Cycling to the Crossroads, an epic journey from the UK to Hong Kong

Cycling to the Crossroads

The story of an expedition to cycle halfway around the world from the UK to Hong Kong raising vital funds for the charity Crossroads International. Cycle 2 Crossroads

The Route

This is my planned route at the moment. I'm still looking for any contacts along the route so please e-mail if you think you can help. :) Due to time constraints as well as the danger of cycling across the desert of Western Kazakhstan it is likely that I will take a train from Atyrau to Qandyaghash, if time permits I will attempt this section but I will have to consider this nearer the time.

My plan as it stands is to start the journey from my home in Salisbury, UK. From there I will cycle to Dover and take the ferry over to Calais. I will then cycle from France, through Belgium and Germany. Germany will lead to cycling across the Czech Republic, along the bottom of Poland and into the Ukraine. This is the easiest part of the trip in many ways as language should be less of a problem, the roads will be reasonably maintained (particularly in Western Europe) and no visas will be required.

From Kharkov I will go South further through the Ukraine, crossing the border into Russia near Luhansk. I'll then cycle across to Volgograd and down to Astrachan before crossing into Kazakhstan along the coast of the Caspian sea. Through Kazakhstan I'll travel through Aytrau, Qandyaghash, Qyzylorda, Shymkent and finally Almaty before crossing into China near Yining. I have a number of contacts along this route and I'll be able to see a lot of Kazakhstan including parts of the Silk Road. This route covers approximately 2000 miles of Kazakhstan. Depending on the time it takes me to cycle through Europe and to Almaty I may have to get a train over the border into China, firstly because I will have to enter China by the 25th October because of my visa and secondly because the 2000m pass just past the Chinese border will not be safe for me to tackle after mid-October because of snow.

It’s then a long 3000+ mile ride across China via Urumchi, Lanzhou, Xi'an and Chongqing to Guangzhou where I will probably use public transport to get across the border into Hong Kong. From Lo Wu I will then cycle the last stretch along Hong Kong’s western side to Tuen Mun and finally finish at the Crossroads depot on the Gold Coast.

This route is still quite fluid and within the countries I’ll mostly be following my nose (and a map and compass!). If you live anywhere near the route or know of anyone who does, I’d love to hear from you and would be keen to visit if it is possible.

Feel free to e-mail me with any questions, comments or suggestions.