Along the modern Road with mountains & scrub steppe-land either side; past a barely noticeable ancient settlement to that of notable medieval Burana. The tower now half its previous size, with the funerary monuments scattered. Dusty roads then to the night in a guesthouse, nestled in the valley at the foot of a gorge. I've taken to riding in the luggage bus where I get a front seat & can see more & take photos. The road this morn first ran alongside ...

The capital Bishkek is quite Soviet-style architecture-wise with ties to the country nowadays too. Found a craft ale bar near to the hotel and with the help of a couple of young people & a translate app, had a good day-end. A walk in the mountains in a national park; the car park was twice as high as the tallest mountain in England & I did feel the altitude as I went up, but beautiful, & the glacier peeking in the far distance. Then to a market and t...

I liked Riga, interesting city with lots of history & culture I confess I didn’t know about & enjoyed learning more. A medieval old town, art nouveau buildings, & a modern centre. We cycled along a great path to the coastal resort - Jūrmala, passing a striking range of wooden buildings & 19thC Russian villas. Next stop Lithuania...

cycling the Baltics 1/3 First stop was exploring Tallinn, Estonia’s capital on the Baltic Sea. Then cycling in the coastal national park & in forests, passing lakes & glacial-era ‘erratic boulders’. On to another area & cycling past ancient towns and churches, with bygone lives of fishing & onions growing & selling. Onto the learning capital of Tartu. I’ve enjoyed the different architecture, landscapes, learning about the history &...

So being in between jobs I decided to take a trip to the south & east, where the future of our planet seems in many ways to me to lie. I wanted to feel the drive and optimism that has characterised many of my trips to that part of the world and in parts of sub Saharan Africa. So this time Asia was my destination. A flight to Colombo via Dubai, from the January London cold, arriving in the hot and bustling capital city some 24 hours later. An afternoon rickety...