Cycling The Globe

It was on a cold October morning in 2010 that I left my home in Copenhagen, Denmark and started to cycle south. This is a selection of 25 special places and moments I captured with my camera along the way.

#1 Wroclaw Bridge

 

It’s a tradition that young couples put a lock on this bridge in Wroclaw, Poland when they get married. I spent a couple of days in this beautiful city with good friends who were also perfect guides. Poland is an interesting country. So close to Denmark, yet culturally so different. You don’t have to travel around the globe to experience a different culture.

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#2 Anna

 

Until Ukraine I felt that my motivation to take photos had been somewhat missing. I was probably too tired, the weather was too cold, or my mind was somewhere else. But, this day, walking around a beautiful city in nice company, I think it is safe to say that the inspiration came back.

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#3 The Merry Cemetery

 

The Merry Cemetery in Săpânţa, Romania is famous for its colourful tombstones with paintings describing the persons that are buried there as well as scenes from their lives. A lovely place that I enjoyed to visit.

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#4 The Bosphorus

 

In Istanbul you take a short ferry ride across the Bosphorus strait and suddenly you are in Asia! I went there an early morning and got this shot of a bird flying behind the ferry.

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#5 Snow in Damascus

 

When I reached Turkey I thought I had managed to escape the winter. Not quite. In Damascus, Syria I was taken by surprise by 5 days of snow. Not at all a bad place to be stuck though.

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#6 Escaping the Crowds at Giza

 

I expected the pyramids in Giza to be swarmed with tourists. In some parts they were, but I found my own path leading behind one of the pyramids and spent three hours there all by myself reading a book. Possible the most special place I have ever read a book.

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#7 The Paryaya Festival in Udupi

 

I was lucky to arrive in Udupi, India just in time for the annual Paryaya festival. A spectacular show.

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#8 The Center of Attention

 

In rural India a western guy on a bicycle will draw a lot of attention. This is usually what happens if I stop for 5 minutes in a village to buy a bottle of water.

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#9 Hampi

 

Hampi and the ruins of Vijayanagara is a fascinating area that you could spend weeks exploring. The area is so big that cycling between the ruins is the best way to move around.

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#10 Orissa Street Scene

 

In a small town like Bhadrak, 400 km south of of Calcutta, there might not be any tourist attractions to see. On the other hand there is plenty of street life. What the picture doesn’t capture is the sounds and the smells that are also a very integrated part of traveling in India.

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#11 Thai Beauty

 

While talking about natural beauty, the beaches around Krabi in southern Thailand are hard to beat. A perfect place to rest the legs for a week or two.

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#12 The World’s Biggest Water Fight

 

The Songkran festival is the celebration of the Thai New Year and is also known as the biggest water fight in the world. If you venture out in the street during those 3 days, you will get wet. With the temperature around 35 degrees I didn’t mind the extra cooling as I cycled towards Malaysia.

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#13 Chinatown

 

I didn’t have a chance visit China yet, but in SE Asia you will usually find large Chinese neighborhoods. Here in a Chinese temple in Penang, Malaysia.

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#14 The VIP has Arrived

 

The welcome I received by my wonderful friends in Malaysia was beyond anything I could ever imagine. For several days I was cycling with escort, giving interviews, and feeling as much as a VIP as I ever have. Yes, those cameras are all directed at me.

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#15 Evening in the Mountains

 

One afternoon my friends in Bandung, Indonesia took me on a trip to the mountains. I was happy I didn’t go there by bike as the slopes were so steep I don’t think I would have made it. It was a night filled with nice talks, laughter, and good views.

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#16 Bromo Erupting

 

I spent my 28th birthday on top of the erupting Bromo volcano on Java, Indonesia. I didn’t know what an erupting volcano would be like. That night I had to clean my bags and wash my clothes as there was ash everywhere.

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#17 Aboriginal Kid

 

In Northern Territory in Australia you will meet many aboriginals. While the adults can be somewhat shy and not like cameras, the kids are the opposite.

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#18 Uluru

 

The iconic Uluru might just be a big rock, but what a rock. I happened to go there on a rainy November day. I guess not many people get to see Uluru in it’s rain colors.

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#19 Mount Cook Cycling

 

New Zealand is just such an incredible beautiful place. When you add to that the fact that the Kiwis are also some of the friendliest people on this planet, you got a killer combination that makes cycling touring there a pure pleasure.

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#20 Along the Andes

 

I was following the majestic, snow capped Andes Mountains all the way from Ushuaia in Patagonia towards the northern end of South America. Being out there among the mountains was a hard ride, the wind was usually not in our favour, and we climbed several times to over 4000 m of altitude. If there was something I learned from all this it was: A hard ride is worth it!

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#21 The Milky Way

 

The ride north of Mendoza in Argentina and into the mountains was one of the most desolated places I have been. I was cycling with my Swedish cycling mate Petter who took this photo of the Milky Way one day as we were getting ready to sleep. Our 5 million star hotel room for the night.

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#22 Laguna Brava

 

After I had teamed up with Petter, the cycling became even more adventurous. We were loading up the bikes with 20 days worth of food as we would climb towards Laguna Brava at 4400 m. That would turn out to be an epic ride.

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#23 Camping at Salar de Uyuni

 

I knew I was in for something special as I left the strange tourist town of Uyuni and headed towards the famous salt lake. Just how magic the place would be I couldn’t have imagined though. As I put up my tent I felt like the only person left in the world.

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#24 Fiestaaa

 

It was only a few days cycling from the Salar de Uyuni that I arrived in a village where the biggest fiesta of the year was reaching it’s climax. Everyone in town seemed to be out dancing and drinking! The somewhat reserved Bolivianos had suddenly turned into real latinos!

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#25 Climbing Chachani

 

It was in Peru that we decided that we would no longer just look at the summits of the Andes Mountains from the bike – we would try to climb up there to enjoy the view as well. We aimed for the 6057 m high Chachani volcano close to Arequipa. Climbing the mountain was no walk in the park, but the feeling of standing at the summit for sunrise made it absolutely worth it.

Thomas is currently cycling through Ecuador on the way towards Canada. You can follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instragram as well.