Help! North Korea to Cape Town: the Axis of Evil by Bike
 

Hi,

My name is Dan, I've only done one tour before and this is certainly a big step up in scale, danger and logistics! I still struggle to change an inner tube in less than 20minutes and am rubbish at repairing the inner tubes once I do have them out! I'm planning on cycling from North Korea to Cape Town, through the Himalaya during winter, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, then across Northern Africa and down the west coast.

Has anyone done any simular trips? Can anyone offer me any advice on the best cycling gear to get for the cold weather. I have only done hot weather tours before. Does anyone have any tips for getting visas for Iran? Is it even possible to get a visa for Iraq or am I going to have to sneak in?

Of the 36countries on the route I've only been to four of them-so any advice on any countries security situation/road conditions/people/campsites/hostels/anything would guarantee you a beer when you're next down my way-(which is near Cambridge in England).

All advice will be greatfully recieved!

Dan Martin

you'll have to explain the North Korea part to me. Can you get into North Korea? I doubt very much that you would be allowed cycle through North Korea at all. I thought all visitors were under supervision 24/7 by their "guide"

I'm in South Korea!

North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran
Are you sure that's a good idea with whats going on in those countries?

Dan- Much of Afghanistan is completely impassible in the winter. What is your motivation in doing this trip?

Ummmm....Himalayas? In Winter?? Iran?? Iraq?? Afghanistan?? North Korea??? Dude,I only have one question....(and please don't take this the wrong way) Just what in gods earth are you smoking?!?!? And where can I get some,that S**t sounds GOOD!!
You have got to be kidding,those mountians in winter would kill the average person in no time! much less an IED,greanade or suicide bomber!!!

Mmmm, exciting stuff. Some guy named Masood Maybodi says in the recent "På Sykkel" magazine: Iran is a beautiful place to bike, better than Norway.

Edit: Also, you might want to go "Beyond the Axis of Evil", which includes Cuba, Libya and Syria.

The OP is a troll.

+1, don't feed it

As a satire of the Flic thread, not too bad. 7/10 on the troll-o-meter.

Hmm, seems awful familiar to the only other thread this guy has started. He made this sort of post two years before we knew who Flic was. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=66820

:roflmao:

Hey, maybe you could join our regular training ride to help prepare. It's an off road course, we used to use the Antarcric ice floes, but the global warming is making that harder, so now we tag onto the Fiji-Samoa group ride on Wednesdays and free-ride the Nose route on El Cap on Fridays.

Ooh, BAD Cave, feeding the troll...

http://www.londontocapetown.co.uk/

Say no more. He's already cycled London to Cape Town.

You'll also find him on LP Thorn Tree OYB branch - http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/me...entid=0&from=1

It would have been considerate of Dan to come back here to update us on what happened on his earlier ride two years ago especially those who gave him suggestions.

+1

Big hint is only 15 posts.

If you follow amaferanga's links, you would see that he is not a troll...just an inconsiderate person.

Hi,

Sorry for being inconsiderate and not updating/telling you guys how it was going. I feel bad now. I'll try and do better this time-being called a troll was a little harsh though. I am no Striker.

As for North Korea, well it's going to be tough, I am in South Korea at the moment and have filed papers to try and cycle from South Korea to North Korea-it's been approved by the first government office (only three more different departments in South Korea, the UN Command and then the North Koreans) but I'm not holding my breath! I have contacted a company, Kyoro Tours, who organise tourist trips to North Korea.There was a cycling trip done a few years back and I will try to get some cycling involved in the tour but it's looking unlikely. I have semi resigned myself to just going on the week long tour of North Korea (which costs a silly amount) and then start the pedalling at Dandong on the Korea China border.

Himalayas during winter-this is what I'm really worrying about, I've had some contact with some people who live and work there and few people who have cycled through there (in the summer) and it still concerns me. I think I'm going to get some Schwalbe studded tyres and am trying to work out exactly how I'm going to stay warm. There's a main road-the Friendship Highway I think, that I'm told is kept clear.

As for the axis of evil then one of the main reasons I'm cycling this way is to disprove the name tag. I cycled through the Middle East in 2005 and had my preconceptions completely shot out of the water (poor choice of words maybe). I have no worries about Iran, Iraq (I'll be passing in and out through Turkey into the Kurdish area in the north) Syria or Libya. Afghanistan concerns me, partly because of the weather at the time I'll be passing through wont make anything easy and also because of the security situation. I'm commited to cycling through Afghanistan but this trip is not an elaborate suicide I wont/dont do anything that I think may get myself killed! My main concern with regards to safety is cycling down the West Coast of Africa-has anyone had any experience down this side of Africa?

I will try and be more regular with my internet checks-when I get going should I post updates here or in the travelogue part?

Thanks for all your past and (hopefully) future help!

Dan
http://www.londontocapetown.co.uk
http://www.koreatocapetown.co.uk This website should be up in the next week or so.

First off,mabey I was a bit harsh with the first post...I still think you've lost it,but after reading your website mabey I spoke before I looked into this,My apoligies. If you actually do this you sir have more and bigger Cahones than most I know(They must be brass too)...Good luck and keep us posted as best you can!

Ok...apology accepted (at least by me). Some of us thought that you had passport trouble in Damascus and that was the last that we'd heard.

Apologies.