The plan

The method I used to decide where to go next is pretty simple. I had a look at a map of where I’ve cycled, and picked the one continent I’ve not yet been to. So next up: Africa.

Morocco and Mauretania, the two northernmost countries in West Africa, both currently have closed borders. That made my decision for me; East Africa it is. The prevailing winds are North-South, so that’s the way I’ll be riding.

It’s not currently possible to get to Africa by land. Turkey is easy to get to, but then Syria and Iraq stop me going south. There are no passenger boats crossing the Med. If Iran’s borders were open, one way would be to go to Iran, take a ferry to the UAE, and cycle across Saudi Arabia. Iran has yet to re-open it’s borders, though.

That leaves flying. Rather than fly from the UK, I decided to make the flight as short as possible – if nothing else, it would be good to start with the “easy” riding across Europe rather than diving straight into cycling across the Sahara Desert.

So, for now, the plan is to cycle to Ankara, Turkey and then fly to Amman, Jordan.

I cycled over to Portsmouth to get the ferry. While there I had to go to a chip shop, of course – it could be a long time until I next get the chance…