Our route and accomodation thus far...

(Please click on the maps for more detail than the current view)

UK: London, Swanscombe, Canterbury, Dover

France & Belgium: Dunkerque, Ypres, Tournai, Mons, Sivry, Olloy-sur-Voine, Rochefort, Bastogne

Luxembourg: Vianden, Echternachtenbruck

Germany: Trier, Mannheim, Heidelburg, Eberbach, Heilbronn

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Austria: six part train trip to take our bikes to Bratislava

Slovakia: Bratislava, Dunajska Streda, Komarno

Hungary: Komaron, Esztergom, Visigrad, Szentendre, Budapest, Velence, Balatonszesped, Gabalok

Croatia: Ludbreg, Krizevci, Sisak, Veljun, Otocacs, Rab, Pag, Zadar

Greece: Patra, Akyata Campıng, Mycenae, Tolo, Epıdavros, Kallonı, Methana

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Turkey: Bodrum, Mazı, Ören, Akbuk, Akyata, Goçova, Kale, Tavas, Denizli, Pammukkale, Dinar, Oluborlu, Yalvac, Fele, Konya, Nevsehir, Goreme, Avanos, Kayseri then overnight train to Malatya, Nemrut Dagi, Siverek, Diyarbakir, Bingol, Erzurum, Kars, Arpacay, Ardahan, Hanak, Seyitoren, Turkgozu.

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Georgia: Vale, Akhaltsikhe, Akhalkalaki, Ninotsminda, Poka, Manglisi, Tbilisi,

Armenia: Shnogh, Haghpat, Alaverdi, Vanadzor, Spitak, Yerevan

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Iran: Nurduz, Jolfa, Tabriz, Zanjan, Soltaniyeh, Qeydar, Hamadan, Esfahan, Yazd, Taft, Eglid, Aspas, Ahmadabad, Pasargarde, Persepolis, Shiraz

Sri Lanka: Negombo, Chillaw, Pas, Wariyapole, Padeniya, Daladagama, Anuradhapura,

The best cycling bits

France:

Eppe Sauvage to Moustier en Fagne - easy route on quiet road;

Houyet to Rochfort cycle path - long flat stretch along a hedge-lined laneway.

Belgium

Vesqueville to Moircy - little traffic on this forest road and new bitumen stretch.

Luxembourg

Wiltz to Kautenbach - a road worthy of a luxury car ad, winding downhill through forest.

Germany

Moselle route from Treir to Koblenz - easy cycling, gets a bit busy around Winnigen & Guls;

Eberbach to Zwingenberg along the Neckar River - dirt paths through forest, few minor hills then a tiny ferry across the river.

Slovakia

Gabcikovo tp Medvedov cycle path - easy cycling along the embankment;

Backroad just before Vel'ky Lel that's parallel with the MTB route - big dusty potholes that are like a roller coaster.

Hungary

Tahitifolu to Budapest cycle path - easy cycling into the city;

Balatonalmadi to Balatonszepezd - Lake Balaton cycle path;

Galambok to Nagyrecse (the signposted minor road, not the N7) - rollercoaster hills.

Croatia

Apatovec to Don. Glogovnica - switchbacks opening to wide downhill curves through farmland and finally a beautiful flat stretch edging the forest, barely pedalling for 5km;

Korenicko to Babin Potok - 1km downhill that opens onto a plain. Easy run to Babin Potok across the basin plain. Stop at the roadside restaurant in Babin Potok, it's frequented by tour groups but worth the wait for a kilo or pork or fresh trout.

Vratnik lookout to Senj - 17km of switchbacks down to the coast. Great for speeding!

Tovarnele -Novalja, Pag island - after the initial short 20% climb out of the harbour at Tovarnele, it's undulations all the way. Few long climbs but compensated by long downhills

Greece

Coastal road from Patra to Methana - some fantastic stretches and if on a Sunday, few vehicles on the road in the morning

Turkey

Oren to Akyata - rollercoasting along the coast, inland then back to the coast. Good wild camping spots in the forest and little swimming spot 6km before Akyata.

Mugla to Kale - quiet highway climbing through the forest. Loads of long uphills and 10% gradients but rewarded with sweeping downhills and springs at the bottom of the hills. Plenty of wild camping spots

Highway 650 turnoff to Uluborlu - Uluborlu-Yalvac - a thousand landscapes and easy riding along good roads.

Malatya - Nemrut Dagi - this is a series of gruelling climbs that we did in three days, stopping in Kubbe Gedici and Tepehan. We couldn't find much info about it, so hope this helps anyone planning to tackle Nemrut from teh north. The first day to Kubbe Gedici is all uphill. Second day, a half day to Tepehan is a climb then downhill into the village. The third day, Tepehan-Nemrut Dagi starts off with a downhill but is as tough and steep as first day. After arriving at the ticket office, it's another 5km uphill.  Second day we made a half-day stopping in Tepehan. Camping: Can camp on Kubbe Gedici summit or at the locanta 3km downhill in the village. There's camping 3 km before Tepehan or stay near the spring 2km on the other side of the village. Food: markets in Malatya, Pazarcik and Tepehan. Locanta at Kubbe Gedici. There's only an overpriced cafeteria at Nemrut Dagi. Water: 1st day, nothing between the Yenice and Kubbe Gedici mountain spring so stock up.  2nd day, Pazarcik and Tepehan. 3rd day, stock up in Tepehan and river valley 14km before Nemrut.

Bingol - Erzurum - perversely, we enjoyed this mostly uphill highway.  It's a fantastic route up into the high pastures

Arpaçay to Çildir Gölu - easy ride around the lake

Hanak to Turkgozu - loads of hills but stunning climbs, plateaus and then the forested valleys near Posof. Three days of riding, not many markets.  Hwy D988/E691 but fairly quiet road 

Georgia

Vale - Akhaltsikhe - Akhalkalaki - bitumen road, sweeping curves and a few ruins to see on the way. A short climb up into Akhalkalaki.

Armenia

Spitak - Az - the pass isn't so bad as maps make out. Long switchbacks but nothing more difficult than from the border to Vanadzor.

Iran

Eglid - Pasargarde - details to come.

Sri Lanka

Chillaw - Wariyapole - easy cycling on a secondary road, so less traffic. Road varies between smooth tarmac and disintegrated, potholed bitumen.

Accomodation en route

Iran

Yazd - Silk Road hotel or it's sister hotel across the road, Orient Hotel. $5 dorm beds. Most beautiful hotel we've stayed at and good food.  

Sri Lanka

Negombo Beach  - De Phani guesthouse (1000R), or Ruwini Restaurant (700R) both on Lewis Place road

Chillaw - Government Guesthouse (1100R for 4-bed room) - turn left at the roundabout and through the market (turn right then left again), over the bridge and uphill to the Thai restaurant sign. It's beachside on the LHS. Has restaurant.

Wariyople - saw a couple of hotels here

Daladagama - Rathniya guesthouse (600R) - orange monstrosity near crossroads. Not one for solo lady travellers. Has A/C rooms for 950R plus service charge.

Anuradhapura - Charm Inn Backpackers (750R) - billboard and laneway on the RHS just past the 'City Centre 0.70km' sign. Shelton has clean rooms and good local info.

Horowupotana - government guesthouse closed. No accommodation in town (Dec. '09)

Uppaweli beach - French Garden Anton guesthouse (750R room, 150R dinner) - near 6km roadpost north of Trincomalee, first guesthouse as you go down the lane. 200m ahead are other beachside rooms.

Kantale - just as you come into Kantale (from the north) a no-name guesthouse sign on RHS points to a laneway on LHS "Rooms Restaurant"

Habarana - expensive government guesthouse at the crossroads (2000R) or head east on Polonoruwwa hwy 500m past Jude's Shop. There's a guesthouse down a dirt  side-road near Catholic church (1200) but discounts for no a/c or hot water

Morgaswena - saw guesthouses near hwy turnoff to Sigiriya. More guesthouses and hotels at Sigiriya.

The planned route

We have a basic idea of where we'd like to go - avoiding mountains for the first few months! From London to Dover we'll ferry to Dunkerque then hoof it south-east to Hungary, down through the Balkans to Greece and Turkey.

Across Georgia to Azerbaijan where we'll hopefully catch a ferry to Kazakhstan... or may have to sit around in Azeri carpet shops waiting for it. Loop through Kyrgystan to escape the summer heat in the mountains, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and finally Iran where we hope to extend visas and spend a few weeks! Ferry to UAE and Oman then fly to Sri Lanka.

Up to India (big hills we'll have pretty much avoided until we hit the Himalayas), Nepal, Tibet, and down into China.

Arriving in Cat's second home of South-East Asia we'll visit friends in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

And from here another difficult choice: Thai beaches or Aussie beaches ... but we will return to Oz eventually.

All depends on our energy and co-ordination, and Mr Obama's magic touch for world peace, love and happiness.

Thanks to all who've already given us contacts for the road. If you know of anyone between London and Melbourne who'd be happy to show us around their town or even lend two weary cyclists a floor or bed we'd love to meet them.