BiCicladi

Travelling with a Folding Bicycle

ISTANBUL and BACK

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What happens when a long dreamed, awaited and imagined journey … becomes reality?
First of all, you try to live it to the fullest – and for as long as you can – collecting experiences, places and meetings, which one day will become your memories of the Silk Road. A baggage of indelible – and incredible – memories, which you would never think you could be able to create.
Then you leave your bicycle somewhere.
Because even if you want to believe that by now everything is all over … you actually know that nothing will ever end.... Read More

GEORGIA: Caucasian chronicles (Part 2 – 26 November / 7 December)

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If – after China, Central Asia and Iran – Armenia had suddenly cleared the table, Georgia was about to overturn it completely.
The charms of Tbilisi, the history of Uplistsikhe and Gori, the magical views of Mtskheta and the snowy peaks of Kazbegi; few – cold – days, yet one of the purest and most enduring gems of my entire journey.
And then a race to the shores of the Black Sea, before the last, long ride to the borders of Europe.... Read More

ARMENIA: Caucasian chronicles (Part 1 – 16/25 November)

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One month in Iran had plowed deeply in me; I wanted to stay there much longer, but the Caucasian winter was already preparing its grip. Armenia and Georgia – I confess – were two big question marks for me. Knowing nothing at all about them, the shock was immediate.
Ancient Persia was only a few kilometers away; however, already in Meghri, the change was impressive.
So Armenia presented itself like that, subverting everything.
A secret land, tender but sharp, proud and never tame, with a long, incredible and controversial history, where nature and monasteries recall everywhere tales and wounds which are still alive. A rough and difficult corner of the world, dug between boundaries of all kinds.
Nevertheless … of a boundless beauty.... Read More

IRAN: in Wonderland. The real one. (16 October – 16 November)

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The flight from Turkmenistan was not planned, but happened in record time.
Two months in Central Asian countries had given me so much, but Iran’s call was now out of control.
Thirty-three days, a birthday, a stolen phone, nights in trains and in deserts, minarets, teas, bazaars, spices and non-alcoholic beers; and then traditions, cultures, religions, citadels, gardens, parks, landscapes, flavors and stories of a land with a million-year history.
But most of all, the warm hospitality and the smiles of a unique … and simply unforgettable people.... Read More

TURKMENISTAN: a 23-hours transit!

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A world record I’m not particularly proud of, coming out from bizarre circumstances and a sometimes too instinctive temper.
From Uzbekistan to Iran, by land and without motor vehicles, in 23 hours.
Turkmenistan crossing … in less than a day.... Read More

KAZAKHSTAN: Almaty, Shymkent and Turkestan (15 – 22 September)

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After three surprising weeks in Kyrgyzstan, the journey took an unexpected detour.
The East and Uzbekistan were supposed to wait for eight more days; another huge country was about to catch my attention.
Too big to be totally revealed, Kazakhstan showed me only a few of its innumerable details: Almaty‘s richness, the splendor of its mountains, the desolation of Shymkent and the first blue domes of my Silk Road, in Turkistan.... Read More

KYRGYZSTAN: from South to North, wonderful nature all around (25 August – 14 September)

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After crossing Irkeshtam Pass with a broken chain, I entered a country whose name I couldn’t even pronounce.
Completely unknown to me, a land which immediately struck me for the enormous differences with the neighboring great China: Cyrillic language, Soviet influences, nomadic peoples and a pristine amazing nature.
From Osh to Bishkek – camping in Arslanbob, in front of Issyk Kul lake and, with the nomads, among the magical silences of Song Kul lake – discovering one of the most amazing countries of my whole journey: KIRGHIZISTAN.... Read More

CHINA: from Hong Kong to Kashgar, on the Silk Road (28 July – 24 August)

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The FIRST PART of the journey, from Milan to Bangkok, was brought to end, after ten months, with a surprise.
The SECOND PART – an adventure which I imagined for years, along the ancient Silk Road – started in Hong Kong.
Almost a month, to cross the old path in Yangshuo, explore the Tibetan regions of Sichuan and Qinghai and reach the mythical cities of Turpan and Kashgar … before passing into Kyrgyzstan.... Read More

Back Home with a Surprise – END OF PART ONE

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9 months of solo travelling to decide to stop and go back home.
1 month to prepare a big joke, like April’s fool.
Here the last 4 days of my bizarre Milan – Bangkok, without airplanes and with a folding bicycle (with the final VIDEO).
And the end of FIRST PART …... Read More

THAILAND (Second Part): Koh Tao and Khao Sok (10 – 28 March)

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The last part of the journey and of ten months of solo travelling – before the unexpected return home – was devoted to two of the various pearls of Thailand: Koh Tao island, with its pristine beaches and stunning sunsets, and one of the most uncontaminated and breathtaking places I ever visited in my life, Khao Sok National Park.... Read More

LAOS briefly again and the entrance to THAILAND (25 February – 9 March)

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On February 24th, I definitively abandoned Vietnam and entered for the second time in Laos.
A brief stage into a country I had already lived in, to meet two friends and to reach – by land – the ultimate destination and goal of my trip.
An exotic and distant goal, thinking about the day I left.
One goal that, finally, on February 28th 2017, unraveled there in front of my eyes: Thailand.... Read More

VIETNAM (First Part): Saigon, Da Lat, the Southern Coast and Hoi An (24 January – 10 February)

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So many questions I had that day, as I was quickly and abandoning Cambodia and preparing to cross the border with Vietnam.
How will the traffic in Ho Chi Minh be? And the mountains in Da Lat? Will it be worth pedaling to Nha Trang? What is the “TET” holiday? What about weather forecast for the Southern Coast? Will it really be as beautiful as they say, little Hoi An?
The answers would not be too late to arrive …... Read More

CAMBODIA: Phnom Penh and Koh Rong Island (11 – 23 January)

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Closing the wonderful “Laos Chapter“, the descent continued to the land of the ancient Khmer Empire.
Perhaps because I was still too dazzled by Laos’s surprises, perhaps because the first impact – in a chaotic Phnom Penh and in the terrible recent history of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge – had been distressing or simply perhaps because I was starting to suffer the terrible heat of Southeast Asia (which I tried to soothe for a few days on the beautiful Koh Rong island) … but, unfortunately, Cambodia didn’t know how to give me what I was looking for and I was not able to find what I needed at that time of the journey.
Only 13 days, and then I left  for Vietnam.
Primising myself, however, that one day … I would be back.... Read More

LAOS (First Part): the North, Luang Prabang, Phonsavan and Vientiane (15 – 31 December)

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After two months in China, Southeast Asia finally arrived.
Leaving behind me one of the world’s largest Nations, once I came to Boten border I thought that the land I was facing would be short, simple, and far from being surprising.
Well, never before I had been so wrong.
On December 15th, I set foot for the first time in a country I didn’t know anything about and that would have been, for a month, day after day, nothing but astonishing: Laos.... Read More

CHINA – YUNNAN II: Dali Lake and Xishuangbanna (9 – 14 December)

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Relying from a day-dream, I realized that my Chinese Visa was about to expire.
The passage for Laos was still hundreds of miles away, and so, on December 9th, I left again.
Always in Yunnan, but southwards.
First towards the blue shores of Dali Lake, then towards the first palm trees and Siam huts in the land border called Xishuangbanna.
My Chinese days had come to the end, and I still remember the sensations of those moments: a great desire to explore new countries, the tiredness of those two difficult months in Zhong Guo (ancient name for China) and a bag of joy and gratitude for all the experiences I had the fortune to live and which I had to list, before going out, in order to be able to believe that I had really lived them.... Read More

CHINA – Shaxi: the Way to a Dream (8 December)

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8 December, Shaxi (China) | Day 190 🇨🇳
I’m not used to write down the detailed history of my days (as I think it’s boring for me and for those who read me), but today I’ll make an exception.
What will follow may seem coming out of my fantasy, but nothing is invented.
A surreal day, between dreams and reality, which I’ll keep forever among my best memories.
Of this journey, and of my life.... Read More

CHINA – Yunnan I: Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge and Shaxi (30 November – 7 December)

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After 40 days at the Yanghsuo Outside Inn, I felt it was time to move on.
I wanted to walk through new roads and explore some unknown regions; Southeast Asia was very close, but I decided to follow the call of a Chinese region I had so much heard about and which had been nourishing for years my hidden travel fantasies.
Yunnan, for a few weeks, would have been my new horizon.
My theater. My jubilation.... Read More

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