Michiel van Dijk: Cycle trip Berlin-Singapore
Cycle trip Berlin-Singapore, 1998-1999

After working 2 years in Berlin I had planned to travel to my girlfriend Anna in Singapore. The question was: how? For sure it had to be an overland trip. By bus and/or train seemed the answer, but this didn't provide the challenge I wanted, since it wasn't anything new to me. I had given myself 2 months to make up my mind. Then a colleague made a funny remark saying: why not by bicycle? I just smiled. OK, I wanted to end my stay in Germany by doing some sightseeing in the surrounding provinces and if the time allowed it (I also had to dissolve my Berlin household) I had considered a little cycle trip through the area. But all the way to Singapore, no, out of the question. I had never made a cycle trip of more than 1 day. But then again, I had cycled all my life (no motorbike, no car) and enjoyed it. The idea attracted me more and more. I made a rough estimation of the time needed (9 months minimum, 2 years maximum), but how long I would like it on the saddle and how long my bike would survive ????. Within a month I decided to do it and prepare myself and my (still unsold) bicycle for the journey. I informed Anna about it: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is I'm coming to Singapore straight away. The bad news is that I'm coming by bicycle..". She had to get accustomed to the idea of course. We decided to make Istanbul the first target and place where we would meet. I could by then evaluate everything again and decide whether to go on or not and how, so I didn't apply for any visas yet and left on 30 September.

Photos:

Summary: Facts and highlights
Europe: Sep98 - Nov98
Turkey: Nov98 - Feb99
Iran: Feb99 - Mar99
Pakistan: Apr99 - Jun99
China: Jul99 - Sep99
Laos: Sep99 - Oct99
Thailand: Oct99
Malaysia/Singapore: Nov99

Let's go:

Home: Index