The ride around the world - a few final words, a few souvenirs and a few numbers
I went around the globe...
Aaand they are over, the two years... And damn, they went by quickly! When I arrived back in Berlin, it didn't feel like I had been traveling for so long. Everything immediately seemed so familiar again. But as soon as I take a look at the picture folders or the travel diary, I immediately realize what I actually experienced in these two years!
All kinds of emotions accompanied this journey. These two years included some of the hardest, but most of all, a lot of the most beautiful moments of my life. Nothing was as constant as the change of plans. Wars, crises, uprisings or simply the seasons of the year often forced me to completely re-plan. Crossing India was part of plan B, crossing the Arabian Peninsula was part of plan C. When I started this journey in March 2022, I could never have imagined cycling there. But looking now back, India and Saudi Arabia, together with Southeast Asia, were among the most impressive parts of this entire circumnavigation of the world! The last thing you need for a long bike trip is a detailed plan. It'll go down the drain sooner rather than later anyway. But it was precisely beyond any planning where the most magical moments waited for me. At the end of this paragraph is a collage of some of the wonderful encounters from the trip. Not a single one of these encounters was planned in advance.
This journey took me through sandy deserts and the rainforest, through vast open plains and over high mountains, through lonely stretches of land and megacities. Only very rarely did a landscape look the way I had imagined it before. From Bulgaria on everything was new for me until I reached familiar territory again in France. How does a desert actually begin? What does it look like in the extremely densely populated Ganges plain? How does the rainforest feels like? Now I know. No matter how much you read about it beforehand, no matter how many photos and videos you look at it, it feels completely different once you're there.
Aside from a momentary arrest, a possible near-attack by a wild elephant and a few fairly close overtaking maneuvers, I had no major worrying incidents and was very lucky. At this point I would like to remember those cyclists who set off on their great adventure but never returned. I have become aware of three such cases in the past two years. In contrast, there are thousands who were able to experience the greatest adventure of their lives. In my opinion, no one should therefore allow security concerns to stop them from undertaking such a project. A certain risk lurks always and everywhere, regardless of whether we stay at home or head to the remote corners of the world.
Now I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart all the people I met on this trip and who made this experience so unique. I experienced so much incredible hospitality, helpfulness and warmth! I am forever indebted to you!
What a time it was…
A few items that came with me to Germany
You can't take a lot of souvenirs with you on a bike trip due to weight and space reasons. However, a few small things have accumulated over the two years, other items were left behind somewhere. Here I present a selection of things that came along during the trip.
The running shirt of Tuz Gölü: Sonja and I took a short break at a gas station south of Ankara when we were approached by Ugur from Istanbul. He and his family were on their way to a running event on the Tuz Gölü salt lake, where we camped in the middle of the camp of hundreds of runners and spent the evening with Ugur and his family. At the end, Ugur gave me the T-shirt that was given out to the starters of the run.
The leaf of the Mahabodhi: The most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhism are located in the Ganges plain in northern India. This is also where the cradle of this philosophy lies. In Bodhgaya in the state of Bihar, the Mahabodhi, a poplar fig, stands on the spot where Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment under such a tree. Buddhists from all over the world come here to meditate and pay respects to this place. Depending on where they come from, they do this very differently. Some stand and recite mantras, some kneel on the ground, some lie flat. Every now and then, after a breath of wind, leaves fall from the Mahabodhi, which are collected by those present. I was able to pick up two of these leaves, which I then dried between the pages of the Serbian customs documents (for the Rohloff spare parts...). I gave one of the two leaves to a Buddhist cyclist in Thailand, and I brought one with me to Germany.
The Batu Solar (“sun stone”): I met Syaf and his family in Padang Aro in western Sumatra (Indonesia). First he showed me his small rubber plantation, then we worked a bit on his bicycle. As a farewell, Syaf gave me a ring that has a “Batu Solar” on it. The men in West Sumatra wear these rings in everyday life with this stone, which is mined in the local mountains of the Barisan Mountains.
Jade’s batik drawing: I cycled on Java with Jade. After hitchhiking on a truck from Bandung to Yogya (Yogyakarta), we took a day's break in the city on the south coast and learned the first steps in batik drawing. Jade’s batik drawing found its way into my panniers.
The mug from Hobbiton: On the North Island of New Zealand I visited the famous film set of “Hobbiton”. However, part of the area was closed due to construction work - as compensation, every visitor received one of these mugs. I then wanted to see if I could get it to Germany in one piece. And it actually survived over 12,000 kilometers of cycling between clothes and a stove unscathed.
One coin from each country: I took a coin from each country. Unfortunately I lost the coins from Serbia and Turkey somewhere in Thailand. I was only able to take one banknote with me from Nepal because coins are no longer in circulation there. But the most notable coin is certainly the coin from Fiji, which is printed in color.
The book from Oceania: Usually, books in particular are only temporary companions on a long bike trip until they are exchanged for something else somewhere. But when Alec gave me a book about the life of a woman from Kiribati in Nadi on the main island of Fiji and asked me to take it with me to Germany, of course I gladly took it with me.
The “credencial”: In Spain I first cycled largely parallel to the Via de la Plata and then to the Camino Francés, both branches of the Way of St. James. However, in many pilgrim hostels it is only possible to stay overnight with a pilgrim ID card, the “credencial”. In Mérida I was able to acquire my credential on the third attempt.
The little ride in numbers
Distance cycled: 36’000 kilometers
Climbs cycled: 212’000 meters
By country:
United States: 6710 km, 89.5 days
Indonesia: 3190 km, 58.5 days
India: 2910 km, 51.0 days
Türkiye: 2610 km, 67.0 days
Saudi-Arabia: 2530 km, 52.0 days
Poland: 2320, 40.0 days
Germany: 1470 km, 29.0 days
Malaysia: 1400 km, 21.0 days
Spain: 1390 km, 27.0 days
France: 1380 km, 17.0 days
Thailand: 1280 km, 22.5 days
United Arab Emirates: 830 km, 44.0 days
New Zealand: 810 km, 17.5 days
Fiji: 800 km, 16.0 days
Bulgaria: 690 km, 16.9 days
Israel: 670 km, 20.5 days
Serbia: 580 km, 36.0 days
Georgia: 530 km, 21.0 days
Hungary: 490 km, 8.0 days
Czechia: 470 km, 6.0 days
Nepal: 460 km, 12.0 days
Jordan: 370 km, 18.0 days
Netherlands: 350 km, 3.0 days
Portugal: 350 km, 7.5 days
Oman: 340 km, 8.5 days
Armenia: 340 km, 15.0 days
Belgium: 230 km, 3.0 days
Cyprus: 150 km, 8.5 days
Slowakia: 120 km, 5.0 days
Austria: 100 km, 1.0 day
West Bank: 90 km, 2.0 days
Singapore: 50 km, 4.0 days
Greece: 40 km, 0.1 days
A few more numbers:
Total duration from Munich to Berlin: 748 days (there was a little detour…)
Days without cycling: 275
Number of flights: six
Number of ferry trips: seventeen
Number of earthquakes felt: three
Number of tornado warnings: two
Highest altitude: 2507 m (Emory Pass, New Mexico, USA)
Lowest altitude: -430 m (Dead Sea, West Bank)
Maximum temperature: 42 °C (India)
Minimum temperature: approx. -5 °C (Texas, USA)