Two travelers have ridden the ancient Silk Road by bicycle to bring the money they raised over four years to an NGO in Nepal.  BH went along with these “solidarity adventurers” for the 10,000 kilometers they travelled on their BH Mega trekking bikes.

Emilio Fernández and Machus Rivaya’s odyssey took 326 days.  This couple from Gijón travelled 13,000 kilometers – about 10,000 of those by bicycle – to show some support and bring a bit of joy to a small NGO housed in the Shechen monastery in Nepal, taking the ancient Silk Road from Turkey to China.

Machus and Emilio’s adventure began on February 26th, 2008 and came to a close on January 17th, 2010 – for personal reasons they had to interrupt their trip for two months and return to Spain – almost two years to make their dream a reality. And they did it all to bring the money they had raised over a period of four years to the Karuna Asia Foundation, an NGO nestled in the high peaks of Nepal.

During their journey on the ancient Silk Road, these travelers crossed Spain, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, India and Nepal, and visited such historic cities as Istanbul, Teheran, Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva, Tashkent, Dushanbe, Bishkek, Islamabad, Lahore, Amritsar, Dharamsala, Rishikesh, Kathmandu … An incredible mix of cultures, ways of life, religions, climates, terrains… that have provided them with more than a few stories to tell, but most of all, a feeling of satisfaction and relief for both of these adventurers, once they came to journey’s end.  “More than proud, we are relieved that we were able to fulfill our goal and not disappoint. Pride is a poison that must be purged,” they said wholeheartedly.

Along the way, they went over mountain passes at altitudes of over 4,000 meters at Khargush and Akbaital, to name two; crossed deserts and plains, including Taklamakan and the Pamir mountains.  They lived a thousand anecdotes, and reaped the rewards of many tough days of travelling. “It was a difficult but very edifying trip, and it is very poignant to see and live different cultures,” said Machus, and Emilio agreed, adding that “once you get used to life on the road, many things begin to seem normal.  Now when I see the photographs and remember the places, I have to say that it was an astonishing journey.”

In almost a year of travelling many things happened, both good and bad. Machus had no hesitation in saying that the most difficult days were the ones spent crossing the Pamir Mountains, with their high peaks and vast plateaus that lie between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. They cycled along the famous Pamir Highway, built by the Soviets to get around this dry and rugged area of the world. “We really had to push hard on our bikes there,” she said. Emilio couldn’t say which day had been the hardest. “There were so many,” he said, but “none that really pushed us to the limit.”

Given its difficulty, and for other reasons as well, Machus doesn’t recommend this trip to people who aren’t used to this kind of adventure, but Emilio is more open to the idea. “Central Asia, Pakistan and parts of India and Turkey are not easily recommended to the non-adventurous type, and even less if you are travelling by bicycle. You often find yourself without a place to sleep, or without a restaurant nearby, and without light or water. A trip like this isn’t easy, and it certainly isn’t a vacation. What I would recommend is that you use a bicycle more often as a means of transportation and then use it for some simpler trips, like the Camino de Santiago or some other trip in Europe,” he explained (more...)