Project VELAIA

I want to thank the following sponsors very much for the equipment they’ve supplied:

Here’s a listing what I got from the sponsors:

• Rohloff has checked my gear hub and supplied me with replacement parts, lubricants and repair tools at tour start. Continuing the tour after Beijing Rohloff always supplied everything necessary to keep me shifting properly.
• Brando has sent me a foldable bluetooth keyboard and a case for my Dell x51v PDA at the beginning of the tour. Several times Brando subsidised when I had to purchase technical stuff, like the Canon Digital EOS 450D camera. After the tour Brando sent me a smart phone with GPS where I am doing OpenStreetMap cartography with.
• Ortlieb Waterproof gave me a waterproof camera bag and two Front Roller Plus bags (GREENPEACE) edition. After finishing the first part, they gave me new panniers, a handlebar bag and later on a new camera bag and sleeping pad. All the supplied gear is still in usage either by myself or my father, great, waterproof and durable stuff.
• Schwalbe has supported me with kilos of tires and tubes. They have been very generous and also given tires for my father. I came to appreciate especially their Marathon XR tires in the rough Andes and had incredible experiences with the slightly heavier Marathon Plus (22,500 km to the first puncture with the first tire!)
  For commuting and ongoing tours I will get a new and specially for recumbents designed set of waterproof bags from Ortlieb.
• From the Adventure Company in Heilbronn I got a 200€ gift card. I’ve encashed it through a sleeping bag inlet, a biwak sack, Luxeon headlights and a knife. Due to a tight budget they couldn’t continue supporting me.
• From the Radhaus Ilsfeld I got a pair of long windstopper and one of short trousers, an undershirt, new cycling shoes and clips for the shoes. They put together the mountain bike I was riding with for the second half of my trip and sold it to me for just above trade price.
• Magura has sent me spare parts and brake pads for my brakes and shirts, long-arm shirts and trousers. They also wanted to send me a replacement for my 2001 front disc brakes which I denied because I’m completely content with them. They couldn’t continue sponsoring me after I had reached Beijing due to used up sponsoring budget.
• HAIDS gave me a discount on the GPS receiver WINTEC WBT-201. Unfortunately I lost the cute little device in Iran.

The plans about crossing Central Asia have not gone very far yet. It’s not clear how the situation in Iran will be for example. I’d like to go through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and either Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan. But if geopolitics make trouble I’ll probably decide to take a northern version through Armenia and Azerbaijan crossing the Caspian Sea either to Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan. I’ll also have to look how the weather conditions will be when I arrive there.

Please have a look at my flickr set Day 56 Istanbul for pictures of the last 3 days with visa application, touring and doing jobs that were on my TODO list.

Hey my friends and readers,

I have to wait for my Uzbekistan visa – still! Therefore I have taken a bus to Esfahan/Isfahan where I am getting a bit more familiar with the Iranian culture and history. The internet situation over here is not perfect to say the least. It is nearly impossible to upload a picture to flickr from Esfahan internet cafes – but I won’t give up.

Tonight I will take a bus to Shiraz and explore the ruins of ancient Persepolis over there, setting out by bus to Yazd the next day. I will hopefully be able to pick up the Uzbekistan visa before next Wednesday because Wed and Thu the travel agency is closed as far as I know.

I also have a mobile with an Iranian number and SIM card now – for security and management reasons My number here in Iran is 09192671563 – the predial for Iran is 0098. From Germany you can predial 01017 and pay 5,94 ct/min to call into Iranian mobile networks (information from billiger-telefonieren.de)

So stay tuned while I will be trying to upload the pictures of these phenomenal mosques, palaces and gardens during my stay in Iran!

I am leaving Tehran tonight. Have only a few days left here in Iran. With the travel agency I had some communication problems so that I will leave the capital without visa for Uzbekistan and therefore also without transit visa for Turkmenistan

If I get to Mashad before next Tuesday and manage to get the Uzbekistan visa until then I will hopefully get a transit visa for Turkmenistan within one day (for $51) – but I have to arrive on Tuesday because the consulate of Turkmenistan has only open Tue, Wed, and Sat I think.

Wish me good luck!