How and Where?

Where are you travelling to?

What matters is the journey, not the destination – that’s what good old Goethe said already a long time ago. Because unexpected things often happen on a long trip we only made detailed plans for the first part: We will travel along the Silk Road, following the trail of Marco Polo. This will take us from Turkey to China, across Syria, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan (the so-called ‘-stan-countries’). Once in Beijing, China, we will decide on where we are going next. Ideally, we are going to make a detour to Nepal on our way to Melbourne, Australia, where we plan to finish our trip with visiting friends.

Why did you choose the Silk Road?

With all our travel destinations we mostly have been inspired by books, travel documentation or even just an impressive picture. The Silk Road belongs to one of the oldest and most important trade route networks in the world. Many of its different routes go across countries which we often hear about in the media, but still don’t know anything about them. That’s why we want to get our own picture of the different cultures. We are also curious to meet people along the way and want to get to know their all-day life. Travelling at a relatively slow pace gives us the opportunity to experience the gradual changes in culture from country to country. It lets us explore the breath-taking scenery and absorb the diversity and richness of our planet.

How long are you going to travel?

Pretty much eleven months. This has some occupational and organizational reasons. We will leave Germany by train on March 12th and will be back in February next year.

And how are you going to travel?

As much as possible by train. We will probably also end up taking buses, shared taxis, horses, camels, donkeys and what else will cross our road. And, well, when going to Australia we won’t get around some boat trips. Unlike all of our last trips this time we are going to completely neglect the airplanes.

Are you on the road the whole time?

Of course not. At some stage we will probably get sick of packing our backpacks over and over again. If we like the place we just stay a little longer. Except for some time restrictions due to visa validity we are not bound to a timetable.

So, how are you going to communicate?

Within the countries along the Silk Road our English and German won’t get us very far. Over the last weeks we’ve been trying to learn how to write loops, hooks and dots of the Persian alphabet. Hopefully this will save us from getting totally lost. Within the ‘–stan-countries’ we hope to get around with our antique Russian knowledge and in China we will have to rely on big smiles, hands and feet.

What about the political situation?

We are no desaster jounalists nor do we need the big kick going to Afghanistan, Tadzhikistan or Pakistan. Even though we are convinced about the beauty of these countries’ landscapes (the Pamir, the Khyber Pass and the Karakorum Highway) we prefer to take the safer route. We will inform us about the political situation of the countries on a regular basis. If anything seems to get rough, we are out.

How can you afford such a trip?

Unfortunatly no-one is sponsoring us (we are probably too ‘normal’). Therefore we are using the money which we saved for this occasion and other things. We don’t own a house, we have no car and no kids and are not tied to any big payments (our flat is rented out to a subtenant). We don’t need much. We are travelling with our backpacks – no space for souveniers. We will stay in cheap hostels, often in dormitories and we will regularly cook ourselves and get food from the markets. Still, we don’t know how much this all is going to cost us. That’s why we will stick to a tight bugdet.

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