Great video! Enjoyed every minute. You packed a brilliant adventure into 28 minutes! You also showed that when you have a great story to tell, you don't need tons of elaborate video footage - you did an excellent job with mostly still shots. Hope you continue to have more great adventures.
Well that was certainly a great film you put together there of your epic trip ! Brilliant photos and superb narration. Some truly beautiful scenery. A brilliant trip !
Absolutely beautiful video, professional, and up to details... I just cannot believe you cycled all the way from London to Thessaloniki with no puncher. Amazing. Regards from Serbia. Iwished I could welcome you in Serbia
This is probably the best well presented bikepacking doco i have seen. Great light hearted entertaining narration. Great effort on the trip. I bikepack sometimes (I live in Asia) and also motorcycle and public transport. Connected overland/sea lines on maps is my travel focus so love the solid line you created from UK to Turkiye.
Have watched and enjoyed every second of your tour to the city that I dream to cycle one day from London. You have taken the really challenging route; not usual Danube Euro Velo 6. Thanks for sharing the video.
That's interesting. I chose that route as we wanted to go to Czech first to go to my friends home and then there were countries I wanted to visit along route that I hadn't been to before. Hope you get to do your trip one day.
Congratulations to you both for achieving what you did. Have to say ferocious dogs are one of my biggest fears. Great video thanks and best wishes for your future plans.
Great stuff. I am no cyclist, but do like to get around a bit. Istanbul is probably my favourite city, and Montenegro perhaps my favourite country. Enjoyed your post.
A great video from an obviously fantastic and exciting trip. And a really good edit and voiceover. Beautiful photos and video shots. I enjoyed every minute of it :-)
Wonderful adventure! We're planning to ride from Croatia to Istanbul then back over to Portugal starting next month. It's adventures like yours that are character building. 💯👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Fellow cycle tourer here. Great story well told, I do not watch many TH-cam videos where people use photo's but your story was very entertaining. Next time please try to show on a map where you are going and where you have been, I kept trying to imagine in my head where you are now and why you were following that route(not a complaint just a suggestion). I see you are mostly into hiking but please continue making cycling videos.
Thank you. I actually did that trip about 4 years ago and was a bit gutted I never documented it but then recently I had the idea of making a short film mainly from photos. If you look at the end of the film there is a map of my route. I went that route because we wanted to go to kamila's home country and then there were various countries I wanted to visit which I'd never been to before. I plan to cycle to Denmark, Norway and the Faroe Islands next year, so keep an eye on my channel if you're interested! Cheers! ✌️
Very well done video, see lots of nice places through this video. Never experienced any motion sickness watching. Narrative is well done. Still planning on doing a bike tour for my own, too bad have to wait a bit longer due to current pandemic.
@@WestGoesEast --Happy for you. I live in Canada and now is winter and will stay indoor till Spring, riding indoor trainer and when it warm up a bit will go ride my fat bike in the snow trail. Keep cycling.
Thanks for that, appreciated! Being from Aotearoa NZ I'd be coming the other way i.e. Turkey to England. Very much looking forward to doing something like that once, well, you know. Sigh.
No worries. Yeah, hopefully one day soon the world will go back to normal and it'll be easy to get out and explore again! I travelled NZ when I was 23. Worked on a carrot farm in Ohakune!
@@WestGoesEast 1st day to Chester was fine. day 2 was a mare: Got a puncture at the end of the first day, could only pump back up to about 40psi, no bike shops open on the Sunday! had a backcarrier and heavy courier bag too. That and was hitting a brick wall, had to walk up a couple of the hills by the coast road to Holyhead Broke the last 30 miles down to 5 mile segments; water, energy drink. and onto the next 5 miles Hoping to do all the way from London to Dublin this summer, but use a geared bike; 150 miles per day should be ok :-)
What an epic journey. You are truly inspirational and congratulations on a great achievement Phil if I haven't already said so❤️ As always, I'm looking forward to your next adventure 😊
Congratulations on an epic trip, beautifully captured here with your photos, clips and narration. The dogs issue is scary - any tips for not getting bitten? Happy cycling!
Thank you! My technique with the dogs was to pedal as fast as you can and put pace them but apparently that's the worst thing you can do. You're meant to get off your bike and move slowly but that's easier said then done!
Istanbul is indeed special and appriaching it by bike really stressful. My journey brought me into the city on the Via Egnatia from Durres in Albania (having arrived by ferry from Bari in Italy). Crossing borders is only possible on the main highways as a rule. Well done completing your journey abx all tge way back too! 👏
@@FifaProSkilzz There are many roads going into Istanbul from the west and you can avoid the main highways. Should avoid the main highways. I'd be surprised if an official route is on a main highway, but anyway you can diverge at any point and especially close to the city.
I wasn't on any official route. There isn't one as far as I know and my goal was following loosely the original Roman route ie Via Egnatia. My route involved avoiding all main highways and the side streets of Istanbul were hard work
Wow thank you! What a compliment. I'm planning to cycle landsend to John o groats this year and and the islands above. I cycled to Norway last year which I vlogged on my channel too
Thank you. Tbh it didn't cost much and I can't remember my budget. The only expense was food and the occasional accommodation. Id say in total for the 2 months it probably cost about £500? Hope that helps?
Great inspiring video. I'm interested in doing this trip (Edinburgh - Istanbul) but am quite overweight. I fear that I cannot do 50 miles a day especially if there are so many inclines. Are there flatter routes or is hill climbing inevitable? What month(s) did you travel? I imagine you build fitness and lose weight as you said. Do you arrange e-visas on the way or before leaving home for Albania, Bosnia etc?
Thank you. I think it was August when I left. If you take the route I took you'll inevitably encounter hills, some in Germany, Austria, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece mainly. But yes you will get fitter and certainly lose weight! As for visas, I think the only one I needed was an E-visa for Turkey. The other countries, you just show your passport at the border ( Although I don't know how this may have changed due to Brexit)? The first actually proper border post was Croatia. Before that there was just a sign and you could cross freely. I believe there is a simpler more direct route on the Euro Velo (you'll have to research which one though). Hope that helps!
Hi! I really liked this video. What was the tent you used? It looked like you stored your bike in the external covered section, which is a feature I really liked.
Hey Phil, Wow loved this, so much adventure and unique experiences! We have been chatting about a similar cycle tour trip (Maybe Barry, Wales to Bali...). We are just starting to get our head around how we would do this so this was really nice and got us excited. We have a few questions about bike setup and logistics/time to leave UK etc we would love to ask if we can pop you an email maybe? Chris & Paloma :)
Thank you :) No worries (add me on insta @philrwesty and I'll answer any questions on there) Bali as in Indonesia? That would be one hell of a trip with lots of boats I assume?
@@WestGoesEast hey Phil, ha yes Indonesia, so will need a lot longer time to be doing that, maybe up to a year maybe if we take time to stop!? We are able to work remotely though so maybe we will have to take it slow and find WiFi where we can to work... Lets see!!
Amazing journey!! Very very inspiring!! I was curious how your bike computer kept recording for so long. Did you have to keep it on all the while to make it record the whole journey as a single trip?
Thank you. I just had a simple speedo that kept track of my overall miles and another function where I could keep track of how far I'd cycled that day. ✌️
Nice one! Has me thinking...Belfast to Istanbul ;) I think people randomly drop camp sites onto google maps. Do you have the route to share by any chance? Best wishes.
Go for it! There's a map at the end of my film but if you want one you can zoom in I can send you the link? It's not necessarily the best route. There were countries I wanted to see along the way.
I cycled to Istanbul about 4 years ago the fucking dog attacks did my head in that and getting hit by two cars and three busses and the mega storms coming down into Turkey from Burgas were epic all in all a great trip and got totally smashed with the locals 👍
I really enjoyed you video ! I'm planning to cycle from west England to Germany in 2022 so picking up tips. How did you find the camping spots I'm Belgium and were they free?
Thanks. Yes, the camp spots in Belgium are free and they are dotted around. Shame other countries don't have them too. They're called bivouac zones I think and found them with the help of a website. Maybe there's an app for them too but not sure. Good luck with your trip. I really recommend following the river Riene when you go... Its beautiful.
@@WestGoesEast thanks for the advice and I think I found the site today, definitely planing to cycle a good part of the Rhiene down to Mannheim. We're campsites easy to find along the Rhiene? I considering the best navigation options
I cycled to Mont Saint Michel in France a few year ago which was great! Such an amazing place too! Tempted to cycle to the Arctic circle next year and would love to do South America and the Pamir Highway at some point!
My bum was sore and I was fed up of getting chased by dogs everyday! 😂 A small part of me regrets it but I really enjoyed travelling up the Eastern block countries after. I plan to do another big cycle trip next year.
I'd love to do something like this in the future but how do you know where it's safe to camp? (especially in the balkans with bears, wolves/wild dogs and minefields)?
Go for it. All things things ads to the experience! Haha. I'm not gonna lie there were a few times I worried about all those things except wolves but hey, I'm still alive!
hey my man, Congrats. The window is opening back up on my world very soon and as somebody who mountain biked a fair chunk of the world 15-20 years ago, i'd just like to know what the situation regarding covid is going to be for me? I'm British and double jabbed. Thanks mate John
Thanks John. I've been wondering the same. I guess it'll be a case of getting PCR tests before you enter each new country and paper work no doubt? What a faff!
@@WestGoesEast oh, sorry Pal, i didn't realise this was before. I know people have bike-packed all the way through the pandemic but i haven't asked them. Check out Iohan Gueorguiev btw, he sadly passed away a few months back but he made some beautiful videos of his rides.
@@jolive3743 Will check out his videos. Yeah, I've also wondered how people have continued to travel during the pandemic. I watch Itchy Boots on youtube and it seems she has to get the tests before she enters the new country
She caught the train back to her home town and eventually went travelling to South America. She met an English guy there and now lives in Prague with him and their child!
Love it! Planning this for next year by Tallbike hopefully :) did you have any issues getting over borders with covid etc? Assuming it was 2020-2021. Did you need a vaccine passport? Did you have to isolate in every country if not? :)
Thanks Alex! What's a tall bike? I did this before the covid sitch so wasn't a problem. I'm hoping to do another next year so I hope the situation gets better!
@@WestGoesEast ah okay that makes sense, I’m hopeful that they’ll let me into most countries using my EU passport but might not always work in disputed territories etc as I’ve been warned😅. A Tallbike is like a really tall bicycle - a bit like a penny farthing except the wheels are normal-sized (26”), but my Tallbike is 6 feet tall and designed to carry cargo too. It weighs at least 35kg when completely unloaded, so is very heavy going up hills 😂 I plan to be the first person to travel across Europe by Tallbike :)
@@WestGoesEast thanks! I have a GoPro and a drone so I hope to film the scenery, but it’s hard to film *me* without having a second person on the trip annoyingly :(
@@WestGoesEast Makes sense. Thanks for answering. No one ever really discusses this part of the journey. What about keeping your phone and any other electronics charged? How do you do that?
@@dividenddaddy3769 Well I have 2 powerbanks. When everything needs charging i'll book a guest house. I would like to get a solar power charger. Also you can get dynamos on your bike which would be great but you may have to compromise with ease of pedalling. Hope that helps?
@@WestGoesEast Definitely helps. I'd like to do longer bike rides (longest I've done is a week) and stay only in hostels, hotels or other lodging. I'm not one for camping at my age. Just not sure if that's feasible.
@@dividenddaddy3769 Well you've actually given me a great idea for a new video. 'Things they don't tell you when bikepacking' So watch this space and hopefully all your questions will be answered :)
@@WestGoesEast I am also planning for future . So which company cycle and camping Tent did you used and How much does it cost and any extra cycling gear or equipment needed for long tour.
@@ImranShaikh-ob8gr I had a bike from an independent English brand named Pearson. And my tent was a berghaus peak pro. The expense really is food and accommodation if you don't camp.
@@WestGoesEast ah sorry to hear that. I cycled to Budapest from Holland. Navigation was pretty easy. Just followed the Rhine and the Danube. How did you navigate? Komoot or something like that?
Great video! Enjoyed every minute. You packed a brilliant adventure into 28 minutes! You also showed that when you have a great story to tell, you don't need tons of elaborate video footage - you did an excellent job with mostly still shots. Hope you continue to have more great adventures.
Thanks so much! Much appreciated 🤗
What a great video!
28 minutes absolutely jam packed with interest.
Thanks very much 👍
Glad you enjoyed it 😎
Enjoyed this immensely. No frills but enough detail to get a good impression of your trip.
Cheers geezer!
Well that was certainly a great film you put together there of your epic trip ! Brilliant photos and superb narration. Some truly beautiful scenery. A brilliant trip !
Thanks for your kind words! 🙂
Absolutely beautiful video, professional, and up to details...
I just cannot believe you cycled all the way from London to Thessaloniki with no puncher. Amazing. Regards from Serbia. Iwished I could welcome you in Serbia
Thanks Dragan. Very kind of you to say. Yes it's those schwalbe wheels....very good!
This is probably the best well presented bikepacking doco i have seen. Great light hearted entertaining narration. Great effort on the trip. I bikepack sometimes (I live in Asia) and also motorcycle and public transport. Connected overland/sea lines on maps is my travel focus so love the solid line you created from UK to Turkiye.
Ah thank you for your kind words.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)
Keep enjoying your adventures! ✌️
Have watched and enjoyed every second of your tour to the city that I dream to cycle one day from London. You have taken the really challenging route; not usual Danube Euro Velo 6. Thanks for sharing the video.
That's interesting. I chose that route as we wanted to go to Czech first to go to my friends home and then there were countries I wanted to visit along route that I hadn't been to before. Hope you get to do your trip one day.
Congratulations to you both for achieving what you did. Have to say ferocious dogs are one of my biggest fears. Great video thanks and best wishes for your future plans.
Thank you. Yes, scary dogs are not fun eh!
Great stuff. I am no cyclist, but do like to get around a bit. Istanbul is probably my favourite city, and Montenegro perhaps my favourite country. Enjoyed your post.
Nice one. Yeah I really like Montenegro. And Turkey in general is great too!
A great video from an obviously fantastic and exciting trip. And a really good edit and voiceover. Beautiful photos and video shots. I enjoyed every minute of it :-)
Wonderful adventure! We're planning to ride from Croatia to Istanbul then back over to Portugal starting next month. It's adventures like yours that are character building. 💯👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Thank you. Good luck with your trip... Will be great!
Amazing. Thank-you for such a watchable travelogue.
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow I really enjoyed watching your tip. What an adventure
Thanks for watching. Glad you enjoyed it!
Well done !
Just a note, you mentioned Würzburg but you show photos from Bamberg. Cheers
Thanks. Yeah I got them muddled. I thought I had a subtitle mentioning that?
Thanks for sharing, it was a great film.
Thanks Adam. Glad you liked it
Amazing trip and nicely narrated , would love to do this one day.
Nice one. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing, an amazing trip and video.
Thank you ✌️
Really enjoyed that, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching! Appreciated 😊
Omg that photo of the dog! Epic trip. Can’t wait to do the same and cycle back to oz 😀🖖🏻
Have a great cycle. Not envious at all!
That poor little pooch was so looking forward to his dinner of a big juicy calf, nice and lean from a couple of thousand miles of cycling!
Underrated channel. I like ur faroe island blog. Inspired me to go there 👍
Nice one. Thank you 🤙
Some upcoming artist named banksy or something 😂😂 amazing video and amazing journey! 😊
Haha. Thank you 😁
Well done Sir very enjoyable. 👏👏
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it!
Superb video. The way you describe your trip is just right. Great :)
Thank you!
Fellow cycle tourer here. Great story well told, I do not watch many TH-cam videos where people use photo's but your story was very entertaining. Next time please try to show on a map where you are going and where you have been, I kept trying to imagine in my head where you are now and why you were following that route(not a complaint just a suggestion). I see you are mostly into hiking but please continue making cycling videos.
Thank you. I actually did that trip about 4 years ago and was a bit gutted I never documented it but then recently I had the idea of making a short film mainly from photos. If you look at the end of the film there is a map of my route. I went that route because we wanted to go to kamila's home country and then there were various countries I wanted to visit which I'd never been to before.
I plan to cycle to Denmark, Norway and the Faroe Islands next year, so keep an eye on my channel if you're interested! Cheers! ✌️
Very well done video, see lots of nice places through this video. Never experienced any motion sickness watching. Narrative is well done. Still planning on doing a bike tour for my own, too bad have to wait a bit longer due to current pandemic.
Thanks Patrick. Yeah the pandemic makes it harder. I want to do another one next year
@@WestGoesEast --Happy for you. I live in Canada and now is winter and will stay indoor till Spring, riding indoor trainer and when it warm up a bit will go ride my fat bike in the snow trail. Keep cycling.
Mate this video is class well done
Cheers dude!
Great vid! Great tour! Greetings from Graz! 🚵🏕️🤙
Thank you! I enjoyed my time in Graz!
You’ve inspired me :) thank you
Thank you. That's always nice to hear!
Amazing experience man - congrat
Cheers!
Great video , something I really fancy doing in the near future thanks for posting cheers 👍
Thanks. Go for it!
Fantastic 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you 🤙
Thanks for that, appreciated! Being from Aotearoa NZ I'd be coming the other way i.e. Turkey to England. Very much looking forward to doing something like that once, well, you know. Sigh.
No worries. Yeah, hopefully one day soon the world will go back to normal and it'll be easy to get out and explore again! I travelled NZ when I was 23. Worked on a carrot farm in Ohakune!
I love the way you travel, great.
Thanks you! ✌️
Unreal cycle! I did Leicester to Dublin (via Holyhead) last Summer over 2 days on a single speed..but this is legendary! Top Man!
Nice one, Thanks. Bet the single speed was tough with the hills?
@@WestGoesEast 1st day to Chester was fine. day 2 was a mare:
Got a puncture at the end of the first day, could only pump back up to about 40psi, no bike shops open on the Sunday! had a backcarrier and heavy courier bag too.
That and was hitting a brick wall, had to walk up a couple of the hills by the coast road to Holyhead
Broke the last 30 miles down to 5 mile segments; water, energy drink. and onto the next 5 miles
Hoping to do all the way from London to Dublin this summer, but use a geared bike; 150 miles per day should be ok :-)
@@mossy199 sounds like you had a bit of a nightmare at times. 150 miles a day is very good going!
What an epic journey. You are truly inspirational and congratulations on a great achievement Phil if I haven't already said so❤️ As always, I'm looking forward to your next adventure 😊
Thanks Piaw :)
Love it! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! 😎
Great vlog, thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thank you. Appreciate that
Congratulations on an epic trip, beautifully captured here with your photos, clips and narration. The dogs issue is scary - any tips for not getting bitten? Happy cycling!
Thank you! My technique with the dogs was to pedal as fast as you can and put pace them but apparently that's the worst thing you can do. You're meant to get off your bike and move slowly but that's easier said then done!
Great journey. I hope one day I can go for mine too.
Thanks. Go for it ✌️
Thank you for making this
Thank you for watching!
Istanbul is indeed special and appriaching it by bike really stressful. My journey brought me into the city on the Via Egnatia from Durres in Albania (having arrived by ferry from Bari in Italy). Crossing borders is only possible on the main highways as a rule. Well done completing your journey abx all tge way back too! 👏
Thank you and well done on yours too!
Albania is hundreds of miles away you could have come into Istanbul any way
It's a curious comment. What other way do you arrive following the Via Egnatia from Durres to Istanbul?
@@FifaProSkilzz There are many roads going into Istanbul from the west and you can avoid the main highways. Should avoid the main highways. I'd be surprised if an official route is on a main highway, but anyway you can diverge at any point and especially close to the city.
I wasn't on any official route. There isn't one as far as I know and my goal was following loosely the original Roman route ie Via Egnatia.
My route involved avoiding all main highways and the side streets of Istanbul were hard work
Wouahhhh, thanks for your vidéo, we Will follow your adventures 🙂
Thank you ✌️ will follow you guys too!
@@WestGoesEast ohhh thanks a lot, really appreciate 🙂 have a good ride and take care!
Wow amazing 🎉🎉🎉 - greetings from Germany 🇩🇪🍻⛪⛲🥨🌄
Thank you very much!
woke up surrounded by a herd of sheep, and then got the hell out of there 😂😂😂 had me rolling LOL
😝😂
enjoyed it, well done.
Thank you!
I've watched a lot of cycling docs on TH-cam - that is probably the best one I've ever seen! What a great adventure. Do you have any others planned?
Wow thank you! What a compliment. I'm planning to cycle landsend to John o groats this year and and the islands above.
I cycled to Norway last year which I vlogged on my channel too
Just watched the Norway one - another great video! You've clearly got a gift for travel vlogging 👍 Looking forward to seeing your LEJOG trip!
@@iamjoestafford thank you! 🤙
Wow, amazing. I would love to do the same. Do you think a Fuji touring bike with Sora STI shifters are ok or should I get bar end shifters?
Tbh I've not used end shifters before but sti shifters are nice once you get the hang of it
I LOVE YOU LONDRES ❤️
LONDRES LOVES YOU
멋지네요^^ awesome^^ 👍💚💜💛💘
1:20오른쪽 🤣👏👏👏👏🤳🍷🍻🥂🚵♂️🚴♂️😋
🙌✌️🤙😎🌍🚴♂️✌️🙌💪👌
Great vid
Thank you!
Thanks Phil, what a really great and well-narrated video.
If you bussed, trained and hiked to Norway, what did you do with your bike?!
Thanks Dom. My friend Lex who you see in the film kindly took it back to England on the plane for me
What a great video. Thanks! Just one question…. What was your daily and overall budget for the trip?
Thank you. Tbh it didn't cost much and I can't remember my budget.
The only expense was food and the occasional accommodation.
Id say in total for the 2 months it probably cost about £500? Hope that helps?
Great content, nice to see your video style develop through the trip. Did you ship the bike back to UK from Istanbull or sell it all?
Thanks! My friend Lex took it back to England for me.
Great inspiring video. I'm interested in doing this trip (Edinburgh - Istanbul) but am quite overweight. I fear that I cannot do 50 miles a day especially if there are so many inclines. Are there flatter routes or is hill climbing inevitable? What month(s) did you travel? I imagine you build fitness and lose weight as you said. Do you arrange e-visas on the way or before leaving home for Albania, Bosnia etc?
Thank you. I think it was August when I left. If you take the route I took you'll inevitably encounter hills, some in Germany, Austria, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece mainly. But yes you will get fitter and certainly lose weight! As for visas, I think the only one I needed was an E-visa for Turkey. The other countries, you just show your passport at the border ( Although I don't know how this may have changed due to Brexit)? The first actually proper border post was Croatia. Before that there was just a sign and you could cross freely. I believe there is a simpler more direct route on the Euro Velo (you'll have to research which one though). Hope that helps!
There's the Eurovelo route 6 which I believe is an "easier" route
Hi! I really liked this video. What was the tent you used? It looked like you stored your bike in the external covered section, which is a feature I really liked.
Thank you! It was a berghaus peak pro. Yes that was the reason why I got it. For extra security and to keep dry
Hey Phil,
Wow loved this, so much adventure and unique experiences! We have been chatting about a similar cycle tour trip (Maybe Barry, Wales to Bali...). We are just starting to get our head around how we would do this so this was really nice and got us excited. We have a few questions about bike setup and logistics/time to leave UK etc we would love to ask if we can pop you an email maybe?
Chris & Paloma :)
Thank you :)
No worries (add me on insta @philrwesty and I'll answer any questions on there)
Bali as in Indonesia? That would be one hell of a trip with lots of boats I assume?
@@WestGoesEast hey Phil, ha yes Indonesia, so will need a lot longer time to be doing that, maybe up to a year maybe if we take time to stop!? We are able to work remotely though so maybe we will have to take it slow and find WiFi where we can to work... Lets see!!
Sounds great! Slightly jealous
@@WestGoesEast Haha we got lucky with that. Do you have more Svlabard videos to upload?
@@RollingRoutes No. Just the 2 🙃
Amazing
Thanks!
Amazing journey!! Very very inspiring!! I was curious how your bike computer kept recording for so long. Did you have to keep it on all the while to make it record the whole journey as a single trip?
Thank you. I just had a simple speedo that kept track of my overall miles and another function where I could keep track of how far I'd cycled that day. ✌️
Amazing!
Thank you!
My intrigue is this: How did you get your kit back to London?
My friend Lex took a lot of it back for me in a bike bag. I travelled eastern Europe with a pannier as luggage :)
@@WestGoesEast Thanks
That's Bamberg at 7:00. For me it's known for its traditional beer ;)
My bad! And good spot. Muddled up my 'bergs'
Wow. Amazing trip. What did you do with the bike when you started hitchhiking and busing?
Thank you. My friend Lex kindly took it back on the plane to England for me
What did you do with the bikes once you got to Istanbul ?
My friend Lex took it home for me whilst I carried on travelling the Eastern block countries.
Nice! Next time you are welcome in Bulgaria!
Thank you!
Nice one! Has me thinking...Belfast to Istanbul ;) I think people randomly drop camp sites onto google maps. Do you have the route to share by any chance? Best wishes.
Go for it!
There's a map at the end of my film but if you want one you can zoom in I can send you the link?
It's not necessarily the best route. There were countries I wanted to see along the way.
I cycled to Istanbul about 4 years ago the fucking dog attacks did my head in that and getting hit by two cars and three busses and the mega storms coming down into Turkey from Burgas were epic all in all a great trip and got totally smashed with the locals 👍
Sounds like a great trip.... I think!?
I really enjoyed you video ! I'm planning to cycle from west England to Germany in 2022 so picking up tips. How did you find the camping spots I'm Belgium and were they free?
Thanks. Yes, the camp spots in Belgium are free and they are dotted around. Shame other countries don't have them too. They're called bivouac zones I think and found them with the help of a website. Maybe there's an app for them too but not sure. Good luck with your trip. I really recommend following the river Riene when you go... Its beautiful.
@@WestGoesEast thanks for the advice and I think I found the site today, definitely planing to cycle a good part of the Rhiene down to Mannheim. We're campsites easy to find along the Rhiene? I considering the best navigation options
@@sminettsmith I think there were several along the way if I recall
Amazing! Have you thought of doing any other cycling adventures in the future or not?
I cycled to Mont Saint Michel in France a few year ago which was great! Such an amazing place too!
Tempted to cycle to the Arctic circle next year and would love to do South America and the Pamir Highway at some point!
@@WestGoesEast oh wow bet the Arctic Circle would be incredible to do!
I want to do this to. Did u plan to meet angry dogs and maybe bears on the trip.
I didnt plan on meeting them but you will get dogs chasing and barking at you. I was a bit concerned about bears in Greece but didn't see any
How many miles per riding days did you do???? I'm doing the math and if you never stopped, it's 53 per day!
Tried to do at least 60 but sometimes more and sometimes less. A few days off too
Is there a map of your route?
At the end of the video it shows my route :)
Approx. Budget of this trip ? Just asking .
I didn't spend much at all. Only expense was on accommodation and food. I'd honesty say about £500 but not entirely sure tbh.
A+++. How come you stopped cycling in Istanbul?
My bum was sore and I was fed up of getting chased by dogs everyday! 😂 A small part of me regrets it but I really enjoyed travelling up the Eastern block countries after. I plan to do another big cycle trip next year.
Epic!
👍
I'd love to do something like this in the future but how do you know where it's safe to camp? (especially in the balkans with bears, wolves/wild dogs and minefields)?
Go for it. All things things ads to the experience! Haha. I'm not gonna lie there were a few times I worried about all those things except wolves but hey, I'm still alive!
@@WestGoesEast survivorship bias ahahahaha. Loved the video!
@@tomasmills8258 cheers mate
👏👏👏
hey my man, Congrats.
The window is opening back up on my world very soon and as somebody who mountain biked a fair chunk of the world 15-20 years ago, i'd just like to know what the situation regarding covid is going to be for me?
I'm British and double jabbed.
Thanks mate John
Thanks John. I've been wondering the same. I guess it'll be a case of getting PCR tests before you enter each new country and paper work no doubt? What a faff!
@@WestGoesEast oh, sorry Pal, i didn't realise this was before. I know people have bike-packed all the way through the pandemic but i haven't asked them.
Check out Iohan Gueorguiev btw, he sadly passed away a few months back but he made some beautiful videos of his rides.
@@jolive3743 Will check out his videos. Yeah, I've also wondered how people have continued to travel during the pandemic. I watch Itchy Boots on youtube and it seems she has to get the tests before she enters the new country
One question. What happened to Kamila?
She caught the train back to her home town and eventually went travelling to South America. She met an English guy there and now lives in Prague with him and their child!
@@WestGoesEast Cool. Thanks.
Sir ,If possible can you share the route map ?
Head to 27 mins 30 in the film ✌
Love it! Planning this for next year by Tallbike hopefully :) did you have any issues getting over borders with covid etc? Assuming it was 2020-2021. Did you need a vaccine passport? Did you have to isolate in every country if not? :)
Thanks Alex! What's a tall bike?
I did this before the covid sitch so wasn't a problem.
I'm hoping to do another next year so I hope the situation gets better!
@@WestGoesEast ah okay that makes sense, I’m hopeful that they’ll let me into most countries using my EU passport but might not always work in disputed territories etc as I’ve been warned😅. A Tallbike is like a really tall bicycle - a bit like a penny farthing except the wheels are normal-sized (26”), but my Tallbike is 6 feet tall and designed to carry cargo too. It weighs at least 35kg when completely unloaded, so is very heavy going up hills 😂 I plan to be the first person to travel across Europe by Tallbike :)
@@TallBikeTour cool. Are you gonna film it? I'll subscribe.
Good luck with it... Enjoy those hills!
@@WestGoesEast thanks! I have a GoPro and a drone so I hope to film the scenery, but it’s hard to film *me* without having a second person on the trip annoyingly :(
@@TallBikeTour check out my South downs hiking video. That was alone. May give you some ideas of how to do it?
Sound cut out from 20m to 22:30?
Ah that's annoying. Thanks for letting me know.
hi can you please post the route?
Just sent a insta message...
How long was the journey
Took me 2 months :)
No one ever mentions it but how do you use the bathroom and shower?
Well i'm not always camping. I stay in hotels sometimes. But in between, theres always rivers, lakes and public toilets to wash.
@@WestGoesEast Makes sense. Thanks for answering. No one ever really discusses this part of the journey. What about keeping your phone and any other electronics charged? How do you do that?
@@dividenddaddy3769 Well I have 2 powerbanks. When everything needs charging i'll book a guest house. I would like to get a solar power charger. Also you can get dynamos on your bike which would be great but you may have to compromise with ease of pedalling. Hope that helps?
@@WestGoesEast Definitely helps. I'd like to do longer bike rides (longest I've done is a week) and stay only in hostels, hotels or other lodging. I'm not one for camping at my age. Just not sure if that's feasible.
@@dividenddaddy3769 Well you've actually given me a great idea for a new video. 'Things they don't tell you when bikepacking' So watch this space and hopefully all your questions will be answered :)
Nice adventures journey
Thanks! ✌️
@@WestGoesEast I am also planning for future . So which company cycle and camping Tent did you used and How much does it cost and any extra cycling gear or equipment needed for long tour.
@@ImranShaikh-ob8gr I had a bike from an independent English brand named Pearson. And my tent was a berghaus peak pro.
The expense really is food and accommodation if you don't camp.
@@WestGoesEast Thanks for your reply.
Enjoying this 😀 Route map share?
If you watch till the end there is one :)
@@WestGoesEast fantastic. Watching in NZ during business hours 🤫 lol
@@infour44 Watching in Tamaki Makaurau under L3 lockdown lol
Bike?
Pearson. Iron in the fire. Steel frame
What happened to it? - great film about your adventure. I love that you mostly used stills.
@@stewarttaylor5522 sadly it got stolen 😔
@@WestGoesEast ah sorry to hear that. I cycled to Budapest from Holland. Navigation was pretty easy. Just followed the Rhine and the Danube. How did you navigate? Komoot or something like that?
@@stewarttaylor5522 just used Google maps. I think if I did something similar again I might try another app designed for cyclists
Are you still friends?
Ha. Yes we are still friends but she lives in Prague now with her husband and child so we don't speak as much as we did.
Good that you mainly did safe routes because other vehicles do not have much respect for cyclists.
Always nicer to ride quieter roads and paths 👍
Wonder what happened to Viera?
She cycled through Turkey and made it to Georgia!
@@WestGoesEast it’s incredible the amount of energy you use for such a trip. Anyway back to Viera, timing is everything !!
Amazing!
Thank you!