GENERAL

days on road: 282

kilometres: 10,000+

countries: 20

average speed: approximately 12 kmph 

sick days:   8 (but Ruth still kept going each and every time)

wilderness poos: yes

naked swims: 4

arguments: 8

saddles sores: fair to middling

altitude highs: 4655 M (Ak Baital Pass, Tajikistan)

altitude lows: 0 M: Adriatic Coast, Black Sea Coast, Netherlands

highest daily expenditure: a budget double in Switzerland 

lowest daily expenditure: camping in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Myanmar

parcels of superfluous items returned to UK: 8

postcards posted: a handful per country, 

longest spell in a single country: Turkey: 31 days

shortest: Greece: 2 hours

anxiety dreams: 7

days our website has been up to date: 0

longest run of days without showering: 5

apps or maps: apps

falls: 6

items lost: 7 but they no longer matter (except you, Bear, we can't believe you jumped ship)

items almost lost: 2 (the bag containing ALL the important stuff left behind twice)

tears: 11

'what the hell are we doing?!' moments: 7 

wrong turns: several

being lost: not so much

being lost in translation: plenty

being rescued: 5 (including twice within the first week; thank you Joe &Verity, Karin & Marten)

approximate bike weight (Oli): 38 kg

approximate bike weight (Ruth): 24 kg

recipes collected: lots; yum

coffees consumed: too many

most Morrison's bags but least Morrison's stores: Kyrgyzstan 

we saw the most haystacks that look like wombles in Albania

we met the most other cyclists in: Tajikistan

we slept under the stars the most in: Uzbekistan

best coffee since Craven Coffee: Brio, Osh

most experimental roadside lunch: chickpea & carrot rostis in Kyrgyzstan

slowest breakfast: braising cabbage and poaching eggs on a yak dung fire at over 4000m (3hrs)

strongest wind: Tajikistan - it snapped the tent poles

most noodles and Snickers carried: 24 & 20

most dinners in one day: Turkey, at the end of Ramadan

most old German trucks:  Kyrgyzstan

least people: Shakdara region, Tajikistan

most people: Utter Pradesh, India 

most humid: Meghalaya, India.  Or perhaps the road to Mandalay, Myanmar.

 

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WEATHER:

sunburns: 2

soakings: 6

worst headwinds: The Netherlands, Uzbek desert (the curse of the flat countries)

coldest temps: Germany (-12)

hottest: Uzbekistan (around 50)

 

 

MECHANICAL

dirty bearings: 2

front rack lug fail: 2

 mystery noises: 1

punctures: 4 (ZERO until Uzbekistan when our balding Vittorias couldn't uzbeki-stand the heat & we got 4 in a day)

new brake pads: 16

new tyres: 4

new wheels: 2

new chains: 2

bent chainring: 1 courtesy of Shakdara's fun 'roads'  

snapped cables: 2

broken racks: 2 (on THAT jungle track in Myanmar)

 

 

 

CREATURES OF NOTE

snakes: too many to count now

dolphins: 24

red squirrel: 1

overly curious blackbird: 1

kites: too many to count but we think they've been present in every country

jackals: several pairs of eyes in the darkness

terrapin: 1

tortoise: 4

beaver rats (AKA coypu/nutria): many many happy families grazing in Italian wetland areas

wild boar: 1 (huge)

herons: many

owls: 1

jays: lots

storks: lots

lizards: lots

golden oriele: 5 (Mike and Katti's garden in Georgia)

camels: a handful

rat: 1, in a toilet

long tailed marmots: mountain-fulls

hoopoes: dozens

golden headed lizards 

egyptian vultures: 3 (circling Ruth and Dosh when they lay sick by the road)

yak (herds and herds)

tolai hare: 1

golden eagle: 2

monkeys: galore

cranes

elephants

vampire bats

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ROADS

best: Switzerland, Slovenia, India (Assam)

worst:  Myanmar (generally great highways but my THAT clay jungle track)

 

 

DRIVERS

best: Holland, Albania, most rural places to be honest

worst: England, Italy, 

honkiest horns: India

 

 

MOST LISTENED TO

podcasts (Ruth): Woman's Hour, The Guilty Feminist, Invisibilia, This American Life, By The Book, 

podcasts (Oli): Desert Island Discs, Homo Sapiens, The Moth, Kermode & Mayo, Above & Beyond: Group Therapy,

music (Ruth): Hannah Williams & The Affirmations, Dory Previn, Childish Gambino, Big Thief,  (& all the power ballads),

music (Oli): all the friends' playlists: THANK YOU ! (& all the folk podcasts)