Nexus Expedition

Nexus Expedition in the Arab Republic of Egypt (العَرَبِيَّة‎‎/English version)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 19:56:00 +0000

Arab Republic of Egypt

٩سبتمبر ٢٠١٨

إلى مَن يَهمه الأمر

إننى ديمترى برنارد هنرى ميشيل كِيفِر مواطن فرنسى الجنسية ، وإننى فى منتصف رحلة بدأت من ألاسكا فى الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، للتجوال حول العالم باستعمال الطاقة الجسدية وحدها.

تاريخي

بدأت هذه الرحلة من مدينة أنكوراج فى ألاسكا، فى فبراير 2005، وتقدمت فيها بشكل متقطِّع، حسب قيود الحصول على التأشيرات المحلية والأحوال الجوية، وقطعتُ حتى الآن 24,215 كيلومتر (15,046 ميلا) من أنكوراج حتى العقبة فى الأردن، بادئ الأمر سَيرا على الأقدام فالسباحة فالتزلج فالتجديف، عبْرَ ألاسكا فمضيق بيرنج إلى تشوكوتكا فى روسيا، ثم استعملت الدراجة عبر الشرق الأقصى فى روسيا ومنغوليا والصين وكازاخستان وكيرغستان وطاجكسان وأوزبكستان وتركمانستان وإيران، ثم استعملت القارب المطاطى عبر مضيق هرمز من إيران إلى عُمان، فالدراجة عبر الإمارات العربية المتحدة، والمملكة العربية السعودية والأردن.

المرور بمصر

انوي الدخول الي مصر يوم١٣ سبتمبر ٢٠١٨ من خلال الحدود ايلات – إسرائيل توجهاً الي طابا – مصر

في مصر سوف اقود استخدم الدراجة لقطه حوالي ٢١٤٦ كيلومتر الي ان أصل للحدود السودانية في أرجين

بعد مصر سوف أكمل جنوب غربي في ساحل افريقيا الي ان يقطع المحيط الأطلنطي.

حالياً انا بقوم باستخراج فيزا المرور الي السودان والتي أتوقع استلامها في السفارة السودانية في اسوان.

العضويات

يُعزز نادى الروَّاد Explorers Club الأمريكى فى نيويورك https://explorers.org/ ويدعم تماما رحلتنا، كما إنه يتتبع تقدمها باهتمام كبير، وإليكم خطابا مرفقا من رئيس ذلك النادى.

لأستطيع إتمام رحلتي باستخدام القواعد الأساسية الي تحتم على استخدام الطاقة الجسدية فقط الرجاء السماح لي باستخدام الدراجة المشي في كل رحلتي في مصر ولا أضطر الي استخدام أي وسيلة انتقال بماتور في رحلتي في مصر

انا اعتذر أنى لا أستطيع التحدث بلغتكم ولكن اتمني ان نستطيع التفاهم في كل الأحوال..
اشكركم على ضيافتكم ومساعدتكم

ديمترى كِيفَر

نيكسوس إكسبيديشَن http://www.nexusexpedition.com/

=============================================================

September 9^th 2019

To whom it may concerned:

My name is Dimitri Bernard Henri Michel Kieffer
I am a French citizen and I am currently in the midst of an expedition originating from Alaska, USA, to circumnavigate the world using only human power.

Background:
Having started this expedition in Anchorage, Alaska, in February 2005, I am progressing intermittently, according to local visa restrictions and weather conditions.

I have so far covered 24,215 kilometers (15,046 miles) from Anchorage to Aqaba (Jordan).

At first, trekking, swimming, skiing and rowing across Alaska, the Bering Strait and Chukotka (Russia).
Then, cycling through Far Eastern Russia, Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
I then kayaked across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran to Oman and cycled further across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

=============================================================
Egypt crossing:
I plan to enter Egypt on September 13th through the border crossing of Eliat (Israel) – Taba (Egypt).
In Egypt, I will cycle approximatively 2146 kms, until I get to the Sudanese border in Argeen.

After Egypt, I will cycle towards the southwestern coast of Africa, where the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean will begin.

Concurrently I am working on my Sudanese visa (the next country after Egypt), which I am expecting to receive at the Sudanese consulate in Aswan.

Affiliation:
The Explorers Club in New York, USA (https://explorers.org/) has fully endorsed and is supporting our expedition as well as following the expedition’s progress with great interest.
See the attached letter from the president of the club.

In order to comply with the established regulations of a human powered circumnavigation of the globe, I am requesting to be allowed to cycle or walk every single kilometer in Egypt and that I am not obligated to use any motorized vehicle while continuing my route through this country.

I apologize that I am not able to better communicate in your language.

Hopefully, we will be able to understand each other nevertheless!

Thank you in advance for your hospitality and your kind support!

Dimitri Kieffer
Nexus Expedition
http://www.nexusexpedition.com/

2 options across the Egyptian Sudanese border

Nexus Expedition in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (العَرَبِيَّة‎‎/English version)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 15:05:00 +0000

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Introduction to Nexus Expedition, written in December 2016

To whom it may concern amongst the authorities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan:

My name is Dimitri Bernard Kieffer
I am a French and American citizen and I am currently in the midst of a human powered expedition around the world which I started in Anchorage, Alaska, USA in February 2005, progressing intermittently, according to local visa restrictions and weather conditions.

I have so far covered 24,215 kilometers (15,046 miles) from Anchorage, Alaska to Tala Bay, Aqaba (Jordan).
At first, trekking, swimming, skiing and rowing across Alaska, the Bering Strait and Chukotka (Russia). Then cycling through Far Eastern Russia, Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.
I then kayaked across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran to Oman and cycled further across the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

I entered Jordan on February 26th 2017 through the border crossing of Haql (Saudi Arabia) - Durra (Jordan).

In Jordan, I then cycled 13 kms, until I reached the resort of Tala Bay, Aqaba.

I am currently a guest of the Tala Bay Resort : “Jordan Bay Kept Secret!” who is kindly welcoming me while I am working with the Egyptian authorities and Jordanian authorities to secure permissions to kayak across the Red Sea from Tala Bay, Jordan to Taba Heights, Egypt and being able to continue my human powered circumnavigation of the globe.

In this route, I will be following the “footsteps” of the 5 Egyptian kayakers Nouran, Yara Shalaby, Sherif AbdelAzim, Charif Khedr, and Ahmed Nayer who were the first to kayak across the Red Sea from Tala Bay (Jordan) to Taba Heights in Egypt on September 23rd 2016.

More details on their successful crossing are available here: http://scoopempire.com/kayaked-egypt-jordan-back/

And you can read more on Yara Shalaby here: http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2016/12/15/meet-yara-shalby-first-cross-taba-aqaba-kayak/

My wife Gulnara Kieffer is going to start cycle with me again in Egypt and together we will progress towards the southwestern coast of Africa, where the row across the Atlantic Ocean will begin.

I apologize that I am not able to better communicate in your language.
Hopefully, we will be able to understand each other nevertheless!

Thank you in advance for your hospitality and your kind support!

Dimitri Bernard Kieffer
Nexus Expedition

Red Sea from Aqaba

Aqaba

Egypt landscape across the Red Sea from Tala Bay.

Tala Bay marina

Tala Bay promenade

All the way through KSA!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 10:59:00 +0000

As part of Nexus Expedition, I am glad to share that I was able to complete recently the crossing of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by bicycle.

Afterwards, Dimitri cycled alone across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, (since Gulnara, as a female cyclist, was not able to receive a visa). - See more at: http://www.nexusexpedition.com/nexus.php#sthash.QtOi8ULI.dpuf

My wife Gulnara was not able to join me for this section since as a female cyclist, she was not able to receive a visa.

30 days: Jan 28th - Feb 26th.
2270 kms
23 days spent cycling and 7 days spent visiting and resting.
(3 days spent in Riyadh, 1 day in Hail, 1 day in Al Jaharah, 1 day in Al Ula/Mada'in Saleh and 1 day in Tabuk).

YB Tracker: https://my.yb.tl/NexusExpedition/2617/
Route details: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer…
Elevation chart: https://www.doogal.co.uk/RouteElevation.php?url=GPX/1f5c0ac3-b402-43a1-97f0-10ee4a89c94c.gpx

I am very thankful to the Kingdom for having allowed me to make this successful crossing, and for the incredible amount of support it has provided to me along the way.
I am also very grateful for all the friends who have helped me with this endeavor throughout KSA.
This has been a great journey and a memorable part of the expedition.

Thank you all very much!
شكرا جزيلا

Nexus Expedition on its way to Saudi Arabia.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 06:42:00 +0000

After having waited 1.5 years, working with 6 Saudi consuls in 3 countries, Dimitri finally obtained in December a transit visa for Saudi Arabia.

Indeed Dimitri has now received a 40 days transit visa allowing him to cycle the 2000 kms across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia towards Aqaba, Jordan.

He is very thankful to now have the privilege to be allowed to cycle across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and want to thank the authorities for entrusting him with this permission.

Dimitri plans to start cycling again today January 26th 2017 and first complete the remaining 140 kms in United Arab Emirates

Click here to see details on the remaining section in United Arab Emirates.

Gulnara was not allowed to receive a visa to join Dimitri and cycle across Saudi Arabia because as of now, women are only allowed to cycle in city parks and in the desert but apparently not on open roads.

Therefore, Gulnara is waiting for him to reach the Kingdom of Jordan so that they can be reunited and continue together towards Egypt and further to the southwestern coast of Africa, where the row across the Atlantic Ocean will begin.

Click here to see details on the planned detailed route through Saudi Arabia.

Click here for an explanation in Arabic and English on this route through Saudi Arabia.

Click here to follow Dimitri's progress.

Over the last few weeks, Dimitri and Gulnara took the opportunity that they were on the Arabian peninsula to connect with a very wide spectrum of old and new friends in the United Arab Emirates, as well as in Bahrain and Qatar, which Dimitri was able to visit after Gulnara departed.

Arabian Peninsula

Hopefully soon, when Dimitri will finally start to write long posts again... he will share here what he has learned and experienced during this enriching period.

Above all, Dimitri now wants to take the opportunity to thank everyone for the kindness, support and hospitality that they have demonstrated towards him and Gulnara, during their stay in the region.

Nexus Expedition in Saudi Arabia (لعَرَبِيَّة‎‎/English version)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 04:48:00 +0000

Click here to see the planned detailed route.

Click here to follow Dimitri's progress.

To whom it may concern in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:

My name is Dimitri Bernard Kieffer
I am a French and American citizen and I am currently in the midst of a human powered expedition around the world which I started in Anchorage, Alaska, USA in February 2005, progressing intermittently, according to local visa restrictions and weather conditions.

I have covered so far 21,807 kilometers (13, 550 miles) from Anchorage, Alaska to Ruweis (United Arab Emirates).
At first, trekking, swimming, skiing and rowing across Alaska, the Bering Strait and Chukotka (Russia). Then cycling through Far Eastern Russia, Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman and United Arab Emirates.

I plan to enter Saudi Arabia around January 27th 2017 through the border crossing of Al Sila’a (United Arab Emirates) - Al Bat’ha (Saudi Arabia).
I have been granted a 40 days transit visa by the Saudi consul in Abu Dhabi (UAE).

In Al Bat’ha, I plan to cycle approximately 2000 kms through the towns and cities of
Riyadh, Tuwaiq, Shaqra, Buraydah, Tabuk, Halat Ammar.

In Halat Ammar, I will pass the Mudwara border crossing to enter the Kingdom of Jordan, for which I already have a Jordanian visa that I received at the Jordanian consulate in Abu Dhabi (UAE).

I apologize that I am not able to better communicate in your language. Nevertheless, I hope that we will be able to understand each other! Thank you in advance for your hospitality and your kind support!

Dimitri Bernard Kieffer
Nexus Expedition

Nexus Expedition in United Arab Emirates (لعَرَبِيَّة‎‎/English version)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 20:53:00 +0000

لجانب دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة القديرة،
11 يناير 2016
تحية وبعد،

اسمي ديميتري برنارد كيفير. وأنا مواطن فرنسي، أخوض حالياً حملة استكشافية بشرية حول العالم، بدأتها في أنكوراج، ألاسكا، الولايات المتحدة الأميركية، في فبراير 2005. غير أن حملتي تسير بشكل متقطّع بسبب موانع التأشيرات المحلية والظروف المناخية. وحتى اليوم، قمت بتغطية 20,920 كيلومتراً، منها 5230 كيلومتراً مشياً على الأقدام خلال 6 مواسم شتاء، و15,690 كيلومتراً على الدراجة خلال 5 مواسم صيف.

منذ انطلاقي، مشيت عبر ألاسكا ثم أكملت طريقي من خلال وسائل عدة كالسباحة والمشي والتزلّج عبر مضيق بيرنغ لأحطّ في روسيا في أبريل 2006. وتابعت أمشي وأتزلّج متقدّماً نحو جنوب غرب روسيا حتى وصلت إلى أومسوكشان، في ماغادان أوبلاست، روسيا.

ومنذ ذلك الحين، انضمّت إليّ زوجتي الروسية غولنارا كيفير، وقد ركبنا الدراجات معاً عبر روسيا، ومنغوليا، والصين، وكازاخستان، وقرقستان، وطاجيكيستان، وأوزبكيستان، وتركمانستان، وإيران، إلى أن وصلنا إلى بندر عباس في ديسمبر 2015.

أما خطتنا التالية فهي التقدّم سواء على الدراجات أو في قوارب الكاياك باتجاه جنوب غرب إيران وعبر جزيرة قشم وصولاً إلى جزيرة هنجام. هناك، سنقوم باجتياز مضيق هرمز للوصول إلى خصب في شبه جزيرة مسندم، عمان.

وما إن نصل إلى خصب، نخطّط لاجتياز 45 كيلومتراً على الدراجات عبر شبه جزيرة مسندم والدخول إلى دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة حوالى الأول من فبراير 2016، وذلك عبر اجتياز حدود بخاء/مسندم (عمان)-رأس الخيمة (الإمارات العربية المتحدة).

وخلال زيارتنا للإمارات، ننوي ركوب 600 كيلومتر على الدراجات عبر مناطق عجمان، والشارقة، ودبي، وجبل علي، وأبوظبي، والطريف، لنغادر بعدها الإمارات عبر اجتياز حدود الغويفات (الإمارات العربية المتحدة)-البطحاء (المملكة العربية السعودية).

يمكنكم قراءة المزيد من التفاصيل حول حملتنا الاستكشافية على موقعنا الإلكتروني: http://nexusexpedition.com/

وتفضلوا بقبول فائق شكرنا لدعمكم القيّم!

ديميتري برنارد كيفير وغولنارا كيفير
نكسوس إكسبدشن

My name is Dimitri Bernard Kieffer.

I am a French citizen and I am currently in the midst of a human powered expedition around the world which I started in Anchorage, Alaska, USA in February 2005, progressing intermittently, according to local visa restrictions and weather conditions. I have already covered 20,920 kms: walking 5230 kms in 6 winters and cycling 15,690 kms in 5 summers.

Since my departure, I walked across Alaska and then proceed to swim, walk and ski across the Bering Strait to land in Russia in April 2006. I then continued to trek and ski, progressing southwest until I reached Omsukchan, in Magadanskaya Oblast, Russia.

Since then, my Russian wife Gulnara Kieffer has joined me and we have cycled together through Russia, Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran until we reached Bandar Abbas in December 2015.

We now plan to cycle and kayak further southwest in Iran through the island of Qeshm and until we reach the island of Hengam. From there, I will kayak across the Strait of Hormuz to reach Khasab in the Musandam Peninsula, Oman.

Once in Khasab, we plan to cycle 45 kms through the Musandam peninsula and enter the United Arab Emirates around Feb 1st 2016 through the border crossing of Bukha/Musadam (Oman) - Ras Al Khaimah (United Arab Emirates).

While in the United Arab Emirates, we plan to cycle 600 kms through the towns of Ajman, Sharjah, Dubai, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi and Tarif.

We plan to leave United Arab Emirates through the border crossing of Al Ghuwaifat (United Arab Emirates) – Al Bat’ha (Saudi Arabia).

Thank you in advance for your support.

Dimitri Bernard Kieffer & Gulnara Kieffer

Nexus Expedition

Nexus Expedition in Oman (لعَرَبِيَّة‎‎/English version)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 03:05:00 +0000

11 يناير 2016
لجانب سلطنة عمان القديرة،
تحية وبعد،

اسمي ديميتري برنارد كيفير. وأنا مواطن فرنسي، أخوض حالياً حملة استكشافية بشرية حول العالم، بدأتها في أنكوراج، ألاسكا، الولايات المتحدة الأميركية، في فبراير 2005. غير أن حملتي تسير بشكل متقطّع بسبب موانع التأشيرات المحلية والظروف المناخية. وحتى اليوم، قمت بتغطية 20,920 كيلومتراً، منها 5230 كيلومتراً مشياً على الأقدام خلال 6 مواسم شتاء، و15,690 كيلومتراً على الدراجة خلال 5 مواسم صيف.

منذ انطلاقي، مشيت عبر ألاسكا ثم أكملت طريقي من خلال وسائل عدة كالسباحة والمشي والتزلّج عبر مضيق بيرنغ لأحطّ في روسيا في أبريل 2006. وتابعت أمشي وأتزلّج متقدّماً نحو جنوب غرب روسيا حتى وصلت إلى أومسوكشان، في ماغادان أوبلاست، روسيا.

ومنذ ذلك الحين، انضمّت إليّ زوجتي الروسية غولنارا كيفير، وقد ركبنا الدراجات معاً عبر روسيا، ومنغوليا، والصين، وكازاخستان، وقرقستان، وطاجيكيستان، وأوزبكيستان، وتركمانستان، وإيران، إلى أن وصلنا إلى بندر عباس في ديسمبر 2015.

أما خطتنا التالية فهي التقدّم سواء على الدراجات أو في قوارب الكاياك باتجاه جنوب غرب إيران وعبر جزيرة قشم وصولاً إلى جزيرة هنجام. هناك، سنقوم باجتياز مضيق هرمز للوصول إلى خصب في شبه جزيرة مسندم، عمان. ومن المفترض بنا الوصول إلى خصب قبل 25 يناير 2016.

نحن حالياً في بندر عباس، إيران، نقوم بإتمام كافة المستندات اللازمة مع خفر السواحل الإيرانية والعمانية، ومسؤولي دائرة الهجرة، وسلطة الموانىء البحرية، وفرق البحث والإنقاذ، ووزارة الخارجية الإيرانية، ووزارة السياحة الإيرانية، ووزارة الشباب والرياضة الإيرانية.

وما إن نصل إلى خصب، نخطّط لاجتياز 45 كيلومتراً على الدراجات عبر شبه جزيرة مسندم للوصول إلى الحدود العمانية- الإماراتية، مروراً بإمارة رأس الخيمة.

وتفضلوا بقبول فائق شكرنا لدعمكم القيّم!

ديميتري برنارد كيفير وغولنارا كيفير http://www.nexusexpedition.com/ نكسوس إكسبدشن

My name is Dimitri Bernard Kieffer.

I am a French citizen and I am currently in the midst of a human powered expedition around the world which I started in Anchorage, Alaska, USA in February 2005, progressing intermittently, according to local visa restrictions and weather conditions. I have already covered 20,920 kms: walking 5230 kms in 6 winters and cycling 15,690 kms in 5 summers.

Since my departure, I walked across Alaska and then proceed to swim, walk and ski across the Bering Strait to land in Russia in April 2006. I then continued to trek and ski, progressing southwest until I reached Omsukchan, in Magadanskaya Oblast, Russia.

Since then, my Russian wife Gulnara Kieffer has joined me and we have cycled together through Russia, Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran until we reached Bandar Abbas in December 2015.

We now plan to cycle and kayak further southwest in Iran through the island of Qeshm and until we reach the island of Hengam. From there, I will kayak across the Strait of Hormuz to reach Khasab in the Musandam Peninsula, Oman. We plan to arrive in Khasab before January 25th 2016.

We are currently in Bandar Abbas, Iran, finalizing all of the proper documentation with the Iranian and Omani coast guards, immigration officers, Port and Maritime Organization search and rescue teams, the Iranian ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Iranian Ministry of Tourism and the Iranian Ministry of Sports.

Once in Khasab, we plan to cycle 45 kms through the Musandam peninsula to reach the Oman-UAE border crossing towards the UAE town of Ras al Khaimah. Thank you in advance for your support!

Dimitri Bernard Kieffer and Gulnara Kieffer
Nexus Expedition

Kayak & Swimming crossing Strait of Hormuz

Sari, Iran

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 20:40:00 +0000

Back in Sari after having spent the last 24 days in Tehran working on administrative paperwork with the Iranian authorities to prepare our crossing by kayak of the Strait of Hormuz. Tomorrow, we will start to ride 1400 kilometers on our bicycles towards the Strait of Ormuz. On our way we will cross the desert of Dasht-e-Kavir. Administrative paperwork included: Getting permissions from the Omani embassy to arrive in Oman by kayak. Getting permissions to leave Iranian waters by kayak from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Roads (Ports and Maritime Organization, Licensing section, Search and Rescue Operation), Ministry of Tourism, Sports Medicine Federation of Iran, Iran Canoe and Rowing Federation. Getting fully medical tested, scanned, x-rayed and ECGed. We now want to thank each one of these organizations for their support and cooperation!

Southbound for Bandar Abbas!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 22:42:00 +0000

We are finally able to reach a decision after having met today for a third time with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran. I was told indeed that I will “most likely” be allowed to kayak the approximate 50 kms across the Strait of Hormuz from Qeshm island to Khasab (Musandam
Peninsula), Oman.

In addition, after having been in contact with our fifth Saudi consul (so far 3 in Paris and 2 in Iran), we were also told that we have "a chance" to be granted the permission to cycle across the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, once we will get to Dubai, UAE.
Insha'Allah!

So, after taking all of these probabilities and risks in mind, we are now ready to take the plunge and choose our Southern route, which could lead us from Iran to Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and proceed further south through the Eastern coast of Africa.

Quite enjoying the experience we are having while cycling through Iran. A very hospitable and fascinating land.

We have already been in this country 40 days and hopefully quite a few more to go.

Thinking of you all, wherever you are.

"The Traveler" - North American dates at the Trail Running Film Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 21:25:00 +0000

While we are currently cycling westward in Iran, pushing forward with our Nexus Expedition, we are very excited to let you know that the 53 minutes version of our film "The Traveler" was given two awards by the Trail Running Film Festival:

- the Best Feature Film
and
-the Best Use of Humor in a Film

This movie is a coproduction of Nexus Expedition and our friends at 1iOpen Productions.

Here is the original trailer for "The Traveler": https://vimeo.com/100878773

Our feature has also been selected by the Trail Running Film Festival to be part of their Fall 2015 North American Tour and will consequently been shown in 30+ cities over the next few weeks.

Here is the schedule: http://www.trailfilmfest.com/tickets.html

Sept 15 Buffalo, NY
Sept 16 Rochester, NY
Sept 18 Boston, MA
Sept 19 New York City, NY SOLD OUT!
Sept 20 Pittsburgh, PA
Sept 21 Cleveland, OH
Sept 22 Columbus, OH
Sept 23 Chicago, IL
Sept 24 Bloomington, MN
Sept 28 Denver, CO
Sept 29 Boulder, CO
Sept 30 Salt Lake City, UT
Oct 1 Spokane, WA
Oct 15 Baltimore, MD
Oct 19 Washington, DC
Oct 20 Asheville, NC
Oct 21 Chattanooga, TN
Oct 22 Atlanta, GA
Oct 25 Austin, TX
Nov 1 Los Angeles, CA
Nov 2 Santa Barbara, CA
Nov 3 Healdsburg, CA
Nov 4 San Francisco, CA
Nov 5 San Francisco, CA
Nov 6 Monterey, CA
Nov 7 Sacramento, CA
Nov 8 Bend, OR
Nov 9 Boise, ID
Nov 14 Portland, OR
Nov ?? Vancouver, BC Coming Soon! Nov ?? Victoria, BC Coming Soon!

Not quite sure yet when it will be either available online and/or shown in Europe and elsewhere but we will keep you posted when that will become the case.

-Dimitri & Gulnara

Nexus Expedition in Iran (Persian / English)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 15:53:00 +0000

برای آنها که علاقمند به دانستن در مورد سفر ما به ایران می باشند :

من دیمیتری برنارد کیفر هستم.

که هستم دنیا دور به انسانی نیروی از استفاده با سفر یک میانه در حاضر حال در که هستم فرانسوی شهروند یکمن لنگرگاه شهر از را خودسفر

فوریه درآلاسکا2005 تاکنون و کردم شروع17800 ام کرده طی متناوب صورت به را کیلومتر :5000 در پیاده پای با را کیلومتر6 زمستان

آلاسکاو بین آبی مرز آن از پس . کردم روی پیاده به شروع آلاسکا از حرکتم زماناز نهادم سر پشت اسکی و شنا روی، پیاده با را شرقیسیبری

آوریل درتا2006 در اومسوکچان به تا دادم ادامه غربی جنوب سمت به پیشروی و روی پیاده و کردن اسکی به سپس رسیدم. روسیه به

ترکمنستان و ازبکستان تاجیکستان، قرقیزستان، قزاقستان، چین، مغولستان، در هم با ما و پیوست من به کیفر گولنارا روسم همسر بعد به آناز

و بجنورد، شیروان، قوچان، مشهد، سرخس، شهرهای از دوچرخه با و شدیم ایران وارد اینکه تا زدیمرکاب در و گذشتیمگرگان22

دوچرخه با خواهیم می ما ساری ازپس 1400 چوپانان، جندق، معلمان، دامغان، کیاسر، شهرهای از گذشتن از پس تا زده رکاب راکیلومتر

هرمز تنگه از پارویی قایق یا کایاک وسیله به خواهیم می ما عباس بندر در برسیم. عباس بندر به سیرجان و انار، مهریز، یزد، میبد،اردکان،

خارجه امور وزارت نجات)، و امداد (اداره رانی کشتی و بنادر سازمان گردی، جهان سازمان از را لازمه مجوزهای ما سفر، این انجامبرای

و 12800 کیلومتر را با دوچرخه در 4 تابستان.

ماگادانسکایا اوبلست در روسیه رسیدم.

سپتامبر2015 (31 شهریور 1394) به شهر ساری رسیدیم.

عبور کنیم تا به بندر خصب در شبه جزیره موساندام در عمان برسیم.

ایران، و سفارت عمان در تهران دریافت کردیم.

برای اطالعات بیشتر می توانید وب سایت ما را ببینید: http://nexusexpedition.com

ما از اینکه بهتر از این نمی توانیم به زبان شما ارتباط برقرار کنیم عذر می خواهیم. با این حال امیدواریم که بتوانیم یکدیگر را درک کنیم!

سپاس فراوان بابت مهمان نوازی و کمک های مهربانانه شما ...!

برنارد و گولنارا کیفر

سفر نکسوس

My name is Dimitri Bernard Kieffer.

I am a French citizen and I am currently in the middle of a human powered expedition around the world which I started in Anchorage, Alaska, and progressed through, intermittently since February 2005. I have already covered 17,800 kms: walking 5000 kms in 6 winters and cycling 12,800 kms in 4 summers.

Since then, my Russian wife Gulnara Kieffer has joined me and we have cycled together through Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan until we reached Sari, Iran on September 22d 2015, after having cycled through the Iranian towns of Sarakhs, Mashhad, Quchan, Shirvan, Bojnurd and Sari.

From Sari, we plan to cycle 1400 kms, south through the towns of Eskard, Sangham, Fahrabad, Reshm, Hoseinan, Dolashi, Jandaq, Chupanan, Ardakan, Meybod, Yazd, Mehriz, Anar, Jowzam, Sirjan, Baqat, Gohreb and Bandar Abbas.

In Bandar Abbas, we will then row or paddle in a kayak across the Strait of Hormuz to reach Khasab in the Musandam Peninsula in Oman.

For this matter, we have received permission from the Iranian Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Marine (Search and Rescue Department) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We have also received permission from the Oman embassy in Tehran. You can read more details on our expedition on our site: http://nexusexpedition.com/

We apologize that we are not able to better communicate in your language. Nevertheless, hopefully, we will be able to understand each other!

Thank you in advance for your hospitality and kind support!

Dimitri Bernard & Gulnara Kieffer

Nexus Expedition

General Information about Nexus Expedition in Turkmen / Russian

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 11:52:00 +0000

Meniň adym – Bernard Dimitri Kieffer, men Fransiýadan. 2005-nji ýlyň fewral aýynda ABŞ-nyň Alýaska ştatynyň Ankoriž şäherinde, ýörişde diňe adam mümkinçiliklerini ulanyp, men dünýä boýunça ekspedisiýa başladym. Häzirki wagtda men ýörişimiň ortasynda. Geçen wagtyň dowamynda 17.800 km ýol geçdim, olardan 4 tomusyň dowamynda 12.800 km welosipedde, 6 gyşyň dowamynda bolsa 5000 km pyýada geçdim.

Syýahaty başlap, men Alaskany geçdim. Ondan soň ýüzdim, pyýada ýöredim we lyžada Bering bogazyny geçip, 2006-njy ýylyň aprel aýynda Russiýa ýetdim. Geçilen ýerler boýunça syýahaty günorta-gündogar ugurda trekking we lyžada dowam edip, Russiýanyň Magadan oblastynyň Omsukçan şäherine ýetdim.

Şol pursatdan başlap, meniň aýalym Gülnara Kiffer hem goşuldy we bilelikde welosipedde 2014-nji ýylyň awgust aýynda Buhara şäherine ýetinçäk, Mongoliýany, Hytaý Halk Respublikasyny, Gazagystany, Gyzgyzystany, Täjigistany we Özbegistany geçdik.

14.08.2015 ýyldan, Alat-Farap BGN-dan başlap, Türkmenistany welosipedda geçmegi meýilleşdirýäris. Türkmenistanda jemi welosipedda 455 km geçmekçi, ýagny Türkmenabat, Merw, Mary we soňra Saragt şäherlerini geçip, Eýran Yslam döwletine geçmekçi.

Türkmenistandaky syýahatymyzyň dowamynda birnäçe günüň içinde Garagum çölüni we Aşgabat şäherini görmegi meýilleşdirýäris.

Бернард Димитрий Киффер родом из Франции. В феврале 2005 года в г. Анкоридж, штат Аляска США стартовала его кругосветная экспедиция Nexus c использованием только мускульный силы человека.

На сегодняшний день Димитрием пройдено расстояние в 17800км, из них 12800км, передвигаясь на велосипеде за 4 лета и 5000км, пройдя пешком за 6 зим.

С начала экспедиции он прошел Аляску, пересек Берингов пролив, достигнув России в апреле 2006 года, передвигаясь только пешком, на лыжах и вплавь. Продолжая путешествие пешком и на лыжах в юго-восточном направлении, он дошел до поселка Омсукчан Магаданской области, Россия.

В Омсукчане к нему присоединилась его жена Гульнара Киффер, вместе они проехали на велосипедах через Монголию, Китай, Казахстан, Кыргызстан, Таджикистан и Узбекистан, до тех пор, пока не достигли города Бухара в августе 2014 года.

В августе 2015 года они планируют продолжить экспедицию с Бухары, где остановились в последний раз и двигаться в юго-западном направлении через Туркменистан.

В Туркменистан они планируют въехать на велосипедах 14 августа 2015 г. через КПП Алат- Фарап. В Туркменистане они проедут на велосипедах 455км, проезжая города – Туркменабат, Мерв, Мары и далее до города Серакс, где они пересекут границу из Туркменистана в Иран.

В ходе путешествия по Туркменистану они также планируют посетить в течение нескольких дней пустыню Каракум и город Ашхабад.

2015 Nexus Expedition Route in Uzbekistan

2015 Nexus Expedition Route: Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan - Iran and more...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 20:20:00 +0000

2015 Nexus Expedition
Proposed Route: 6530 kms

Click here to see a more detailed version of the 2015 proposed route.

Nexus Expedition Future route

Click here to see a more detailed version for Nexus Expedition future route for the next few years to come.

Visa status as of today, Monday July 20th 2015
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman: YES
Saudi Arabia: Maybe....

After a required very long hiatus which we have had to take for multiple administrative reasons, since we last stopped our route in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, on August 28th 2015, almost 11 months ago, we are finally getting close to resume our Nexus expedition!

It has not been easy to secure all of the visas needed for the countries we are hoping to cycle through over the next few months, taking as well into account the combination of Gulnara's Russian passport and my French one!

Indeed, since our current immediate goal is to reach, by human power, South Africa, to start the rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, we hope we will be able to travel via the eastern coast of Africa.

But to be able to reach Eastern Africa the most directly, we first and foremost need to cross the Arabian Peninsula, while skipping obviously any country which are currently facing domestic wars and/or facing the threat of potential ISIS, al-Qaeda, or else, related kidnapping and/or murdering, especially in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya.

2015 Hot Spots in Northern Africa and the Middle East

Source: French Ministry of Foreign Affairs

We spent the last two months in our respective native countries of France and Russia, where we have been already able to secure our visas for Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Oman.

These are not some of the easiest countries to travel through as globetrotter Gunnar Garfors recently wrote in his blog: "The World's 15 hardest countries to visit": #4 Saudi Arabia, #9 Turkmenistan, #11 Uzbekistan. (Keep in mind though that this list might somewhat vary according to your own citizenship. For example, it can be quite difficult to get a visa for Europe/USA/Japan/etc.. when you come from a developing nation..)

We also have secured visas for Kazakhstan and Russia, if for one reason or another, we are no longer allowed to cycle entirely across Iran, and therefore need to go around the northern side of the Caspian sea, via Kazakhstan, Russia and Georgia.

We expect as well to be able to get while "on the road", the "easier" visas for the countries of United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt.

In order to obtain our visas, we have had to provide to either the Saudi, Iranian, Omani and/or Kazakh consulates, a multitude of documents and received an approval from each country Ministry of Interior.

For example, the Saudis asked us to submit a notarized and certified letter by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs justifying the legitimacy of our Nexus Expedition, as well as medical reports, copies of our wedding certificate, birth certificates and filled out applications where we were asked to share a large amount of personal information such as our religious affiliation.

The Iranians asked us to disclose the complete list of all the countries we have ever visited, a proof of international insurance and a registration number provided by a travel company in Tehran.

They also explained very clearly to each one of us, (at the Iranian consulate in Paris, France for myself and at the Iranian consulate in Kazan, Russia for Gulnara) that in no shape nor form we should hold the Iranian government accountable for any harm which could be done to us physically, materially or financially while crossing their country.

This request can be quite intimidating but this was not the first time for us and probably not the last...

Indeed, in the past, I have had to sign similar waivers with local authorities in order to be able to secure visas/permits to cross by foot remote parts of Russia (Chukotka) and the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan, which in the end, we had to skip because of Tajik administrative reasons.

Now, the remaining main obstacle to secure our entire route to Egypt, is whether or not we are going to be allowed to cross Saudi Arabia by bicycle.

Indeed, over the last two months in Paris, Gulnara and I have met with three subsequent Saudi consuls in Paris, whom thankfully, were all very supportive of our expedition.
While in Paris, we were able to stay with my cousin Babeth Rouzeau who very kindly welcomed us in her apartment for such an extensive period of time.

Being told to be extremely patient, we have, nevertheless, checked once or twice a week with the Saudi consulate in Paris for any further development, submitting additional documents when requested.

The closures of the Saudi consulate during the month of Ramadan, as well as the large amount of pilgrims applying for visas for their Hajj to Mecca, probably did not help as well the expediency of our case.

We have been told repeatedly that this was the first time they ever had, at this consulate in France, a request to cycle across the entire Saudi Arabia, and this is probably why it is taking so long to obtain an answer.

Although, apparently, the legacy of Nexus Expedition with its 17,814 kilometers trekked, skied, cycled and swam since Anchorage, Alaska, has helped gain some legitimacy in the eyes of this consulate.

Spending countless hours in the Saudi consulate in Paris over the last few weeks, we have seen a large amount of applicants been swiftly rejected because they did not properly "dot their i's and cross their t's" in their business visa applications or for their Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

So, the fact that after two months, we have not been rejected yet, allow us to remain hopeful for a positive outcome.

So far, we have heard of only four non Saudi individuals who have been able to recently cross Saudi Arabia by human power:

- In 2015, the Turk long distance cyclist Gürkan Genç.

- In 2013, The American journalist Pulitzer prize winner Paul Salopek with his "Out of Eden" 7 years walk, sponsored by the National Geographic.

Paul Salopek recently shared with me:

"It took eight months of personally lobbying the royal family with the considerable leverage of National Geographic behind me. The only basis on which the Saudis agreed was that it was a cultural and scientific undertaking.
I suggest writing to the Saudi embassy in your home country, and playing up the cultural value of your journey. Be persistent. It is a long process. "

- In 2006, the German long distance cyclist Peter Smolka was allowed to pedal across Saudi Arabia from Egypt to Yemen on a 15 days Transit visa.
At the time, apparently, the Saudi officials were extremely accommodating, they even provided to him a motorcade which escorted him the whole way and allowed him to cycle the entire distance.

- Date unknown: Extract from travel forum Tour.TK: " We have met a Japanese cyclist who cycled through Saudi Arabia on a transit visa. He entered from Yemen and exited in Jordan. Transit visas are only issued if you can prove that there is no other way to get to where you want to go, than by traveling through the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

Note: Soon enough, we will either hopefully receive a positive answer from the Saudi consulate or go on with an alternate route through Iran which instead of taking us southbound towards the strait of Hormuz, will take us straight west towards Turkey, southern Europe, etc...
At that point, we will revise our route and maps, and shared it on this site.

But for the time being, here is the plan which we are excited to share with you!

Uzbekistan:
105 kms

We are scheduled to return in Bukhrara, where we last stopped on July 31st 2015.
There, we plan to spend a few days regrouping our gear and tuning our bicycles which we were kindly allowed to store in the Nazira and Azizbek guesthouse over the last 11 months.

If time allows, prior to resuming the expedition, we would like to take the opportunity to venture out west in order to visit the ancient city of Khiva, the Karapalkastan region and the Uzbek side of the quickly vanishing Aral Sea.

From there, back in Bukhara, we will cycle 105 kms southwest and cross the Uzbek-Turkmen border between Alat (Uzbekistan) and Farap (Turkmenistan).

2015 Nexus Route - Uzbekistan
105 kms

Turkmenistan:
455 kms

Turkmenistan is one of the most reclusive countries in the world, let alone in central asia.
Therefore it can be quite complicated to secure a visa to cross this country freely.

In addition, we were told that Gulnara, as a Russian citizen may even have a more difficult time to secure a tourist visa to be able to cross this ex-Soviet state, which is keen on showing its independence from its ex colonial Slavic ruler.

Nevertheless, we thought that we might still go for one of the two following options:

- A 5 days transit visa to quickly cycle the shorter distance across the country of 455 kms of windy desert roads with our laden expedition cycles, in high 30's Celsius temperatures.

or

- A 10-15 days tourist visas, where we can somewhat cycle freely but are requested to hire an escorting "guide" with whom we need to be in contact on a nightly basis.

Having heard of a few rare cases, where cyclists were given an exceptional transit visa of 7-10 days, we decided to get in touch with the Turkmen consul in Paris, with whom we met twice.

Nope, he was definitely not willing to give us anything more than 5 days, and actually stated, as could be expected from a diplomat / bureaucrat:
"7 days, ludicrous! you are lucky to get 5! I could cycle the whole thing myself in 2 days!"

We recalled then that we heard from french contacts we met on the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, last summer, that they had a great experience cycling through Turkmenistan while being required to meet on a nightly basis with their guide Artem Gubaev and his company Travel Notoria.

We contacted Mr Gubaev and this is how we have decided to secure our tourist visas, allowing us to not only cycle through this country (via the towns of Turkmenabat, Mary, Saraghs) but also to take the time to visit intriguing sites such as the capital Ashgabat and the Crater of Darvaza, also known as "The Door to Hell".

This is not going to be the cheapest solution to cross Turkmenistan but at least it will give us ample time along our way to see what seems to be such a fascinating country.
After that, we plan to leave the country through the Turkmen-Iranian border crossing of Saraghs (Turkmenistan) – Sarakhs (Iran).

Important Note:
We have found recently that it is not allowed to enter Turkmenistan with a Satellite Phone.
If the customs officers find it, they will either confiscate it or not allow you into the country.

2015 Nexus Route - Turkmenistan
455 kms

Iran:
1600 kms

To secure our Iranian visa, we worked with the company Iranianvisa.com.

In Iran, we plan to cycle approximately 1600 kms, south through the towns of Sarakhs, Mashhad, Torbat-e-Heydariyeh, Gonabad, Ferdows, Deyhuk, Nayband, Ravat, Kerman, Bardsir, Sirjan, Gahkom and Bandar Abbas.

This route has been marked in Green on the map, attached below.

In Bandar Abbas, we plan to row in a rowing boat or paddle in a kayak across the Strait of Hormuz to reach Kumzar in Oman.

Note on alternate route:
If we are not able to secure Saudi visas, we will then have to find an alternate route to continue our expedition and that is the 1900 kms alternate route marked in orange on our map.

Through the cities of Sarakhs, Mashhad, Sabzevar, Shahrud, Semnan, Tehran, Qazvin, Zanjan, Mianeh, Tabriz, Marand, Khvoy, Maku and finally cross the Iranian Turkish border in Gurbulak.

2015 Nexus Route - Iran
1600 kms

2015 Nexus Route- Strait of Hormuz
190 kms

Oman:
45 kms

We plan to enter Oman by water after having either kayaked or rowed across the strait of Hormuz, coming from Bandar Abbas in Iran.

We plan to land near either the towns of Bukha or Kahsab in the Musandam peninsula and cycled afterwards 45 kms through the Musandam peninsula to the Oman-UAE border crossing towards the Saudi town of Ras al Khaimah.

2015 Nexus Oman Route
60 kms

United Arab Emirates:
600 kms

We plan to enter the United Arab Emirates through the Oman-UAE border crossing of Bukha/Musadam (Oman) - Ras Al Khaimah (United Arab Emirates).

While in the United Arab Emirates, we plan to cycle 600 kms through the towns of Ajman, Sharjah, Dubai, Jebel Ali, Abu Dhabi and Tarif.

We plan to leave United Arab Emirates through the border crossing of Al Ghuwaifat (United Arab Emirates) – Al Bat’ha (Saudi Arabia).

2015 Nexus Route
United Arab Emirates
600 kms

Saudi Arabia:
1870 kms

We plan to enter Saudia Arabia through the UAE-Saudi Arabia border crossing between Al Ghewfiat (UAE) and Al Bat’ha (Saudi Arabia).

From Al Bat’ha, we have two options to consider:

A. Cycle approximately 1870 kms through the Central route.

Through the towns of Al Kharj – Riyadh – Al Majmaah – Buraydah – Abu Ajram and Al-Qurayat where we will pass the Umari Border Crossing to enter the country of Jordan.

or

B. Cycle approximately 1820 kms through the Northern route.

Through the towns of Al Hofuf, Nairyah, Hafar al’Batin, Rafha, Arar, Turaif and Al Qurayyat where we will pass the Umari Border Crossing to enter the country of Jordan.

2015 Nexus Route - Saudi Arabia
1870 kms

Additional notes for anyone planning to apply for a Saudi visa:

"My Kingdom will survive only insofar as it remains a country difficult to access, where the foreigner will have no other aim, with his task fulfilled, but to get out."
King Abdul Aziz bin Saud, c. 1930

It has been difficult to get into Saudi Arabia for many years, as a "westerner" unless you are:

- an engineer or equivalent, invited by a company to come and work in the oil/gas/construction/manufacturing industry.
- a teacher/ professor invited by a university/school.
- a Muslim going to either Mecca and/or Medina on your Hajj / Pilgrimage.
The Hajj visa also usually limits your visit to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, (which only Muslims can visit). It does not allow anyone to freely cycle across the entire country.

- an overland traveler, crossing the country in his car, and for which he might be able to receive a 3-4 days transit visa. It is very difficult to obtain a transit visa for a longer period of time.

One needs to follow a proper dress code to be allowed to cross the country by bicycle.
Men can wear bicycling shorts while riding but need to put on pants when they stop.
Women need to wear an abaya and probably need to cover their hair.

Saudi regulations are currently changing and more women are now allowed to cycle, as long as they are in company of a man.

If anyone ever plan to enter the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is also highly recommended to show that he/she have no affiliation whatsoever with the state of Israel.

Finally, the current situation in neighboring Yemen, turmoil in Bahrain and recent arrests in Saudi Arabia does not help anyone, by any means, getting a tourist visa for Saudi Arabia.

Click here to read more information on Wikitravel Saudi Arabia visa related matters.

Jordan:
400 kms

We plan to enter Jordan through the Saudi Arabia - Jordan border crossing between Al Hadithah (Saudi Arabia) and Al Ghadaf (Jordan).

In Jordan, we plan to cycle approximatively 400 kms, south through the towns of Al Umari, Al Jafr, Maan, Ras An Naqb and Aqaba.

In Aqaba, we plan to row in a rowing boat or paddle in a kayak across the Red Sea to reach Nuweiba in Egypt.

Nexus 2015 Route - Jordan
380 kms

2015 Nexus Route
Red Sea Kayak crossing
70 kms

Egypt:
1280 kms

We plan to enter Egypt after having either kayaked or rowed through the Red Sea, coming from Aqaba in Jordan.
We plan to land in the town of Nuweiba and afterwards cycle 1280 kms through Egypt to the border crossing South of Aswan on Lake Nasser.

We plan to cross the towns of Nuweiba, Taba, Suez, Cairo, Al Jizah, Al Minya, Asyut, Suhaj, Qina and Aswan.

In Aswan, we plan to row in a rowing boat or paddle in a kayak across the Lake Nasser to reach Wadi Alfa in Sudan.

2015 Nexus Route - Egypt
1280 kms

Future Sections

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 02:34:00 +0000

As of July 25th, 2015, the best guestimate for the total amount of mileage to be covered is 65,500 kms / 44,700 miles.

Dimitri has covered so far 17, 814 kilometers (11, 069 miles) from Anchorage, Alaska, USA to Bukhara, Uzbekistan, which means that approximately 27% of the kilometers have been already completed by foot and cycle.

47,703 kilometers to go...

Click here to read more on the history of the expedition.

Now, here is what's next:

Thirteenth section from Bukhara, Uzbekistan to Aswan, Egypt

Distance: Cycling 6530 kms (1718 miles) from Bukhara, Uzbekistan until Aswan, Egypt.

Time frame: Starting August 14th 2015 in Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

Click here to read more information about this Bukhara - Uzbekistan section.

Note: If we are not able to obtain the permission to be able to cycle across Saudi Arabia, we will then proceed with our alternate route through Iran which instead of taking us southbound towards the strait of Hormuz, will take us straight west towards Turkey, southern Europe, etc...
At that point, we will revise our route and maps, and shared it on this site

Fourteenth section: From Aswan, Egypt to Cape Town

Distance: Cycling 9524 kms
Time frame: TBD

Fifteenth section: Cape Town to Florianópolis, Brazil

Distance: Rowing 7000 kms
Time frame: 4 months

Sixteenth section: Florianópolis to Tres Cerros, Argentina (2d Antipode)

Distance: Cycling 3736 kms
Time frame: TBD

Seventeenth section: Tres Cerros to Seattle, Washington USA
Distance: Cycling 15249 kms
Time frame: TBD

Eighteenth section: Seattle to Knik Lake, Alaska (The starting and ending point of this circumnavigation.)
Distance: Kayaking 3641 kms
Time frame: TBD

We will have completed the entire expedition, upon reaching Knik Lake, after having circumnavigated the globe, crossed the equator and reached two antipodes via human power.

Update on antipodes
July 30th 2015

While further studying our Nexus Expedition route (completed and future sections), and the antipode map, we have been able to define a new set of antipodes, which will be easier to reach, 600 kms closer.

This is once again, in order to comply with the current definition of a Human Powered True Circumnavigation.

Indeed, the new antipode is going to be near the town of Tres Cerros, Argentina.
It is located on the eastern coast of the southern hemisphere, 600 kms, east of the previous antipode which was located in Caleta Yungay, Chile, on the western coast of the southern hemisphere.

New antipode: Tres Cerros, Argentina

As a result, the two new antipodes are:

1st antipode: N 47° 49' 8.7278" E 112° 31' 46.2158"
Location: On the trail between Choibalsan and Bayan Ovoo, Mongolia, which I crossed in October 2014.

2d antipode: S 47° 49' 8.7278" W 67° 28' 13.7842"
Location: North of Tres Cerros, Argentina, which we plan to reach in the next few years.

New Antipodes: Bayan Ovoo (Mongolia), Tres Cerros (Argentina)

Antipode Map

So, here we are.... Going for a human-powered Mongolian-Argentinian "Earth Sandwich"!

Summer 2014 Route: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 16:22:00 +0000

2014 Nexus Expedition Completed route

Bishkek, Osh (Kyrgyzstan) - Dushanbe (Tajikistan)

Ishkashim (Afghanistan) - Samarqand, Bukhara (Uzbekistan)

Click here to see Interactive Map #1

Nexus 2014 Summer Route

Click here to see Interactive Map #2

Kyrgyzstan section: 964 kms in 24 days

Tajikistan section: 1284 kms in 29 days

Uzbekistan section: 702 kms in 10 days

Total: 2950 kms in 63 cycling days

Kyrgyzstan Section

964 kms in 24 cycling days

In the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan), we first took the time to go tour around Lake Issyk.

We then started cycling south on M41 and passed the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan Border at Bor - Dobo - Kyzyl Art Pass.

We cycled through the towns of Bishkek, Sokuluk, Belovodski, Kara Balta, Otmok, Toktogul, Torkent, Ketmen-Jöbö, Karaköl, Tash Kömur, Kochkor-Ata, Massy, Bazar-Korgon, Jalal-Abad, Ozgön and Osh.

In Osh, we started cycling on the famous Pamir Highway (M41), also known as the "Roof of the World", where we climbed through mountain passes as high as 4600 meters (15,000 feet).

Click here for more information on the Pamir Highway.

On our way, we passed the towns of Gülchö, Sary Tash and finally crossed the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at the Kyzyl Art Mountain Pass.

Kyrgyzstan Nexus Route

Tajikistan Section

1284 kms in 29 cycling days

We passed the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan Border at Bor-Dobo - Kyzyl Art Pass.

In Tajikistan, we cycled through the Kyzyl Art Mountain Pass and the towns of Karakul’, Muzkol, Rabatakbaytal, Chechetky, Murgab, Karasu and Sasyk-Kel’.

Near Sasyk-Kel', we left the Pamir Highway, in order to to ride the southern Tajik Wakhan detour.
We then proceeded through the towns of Khargush, Lavangar, Vrang and finally reached the Tajik-Afghan border crossing in the town of Ishkashim.

After our "detour" in the Afghan Wakhan corridor, we proceeded through the Tajik towns of Khorog, Rushan, Dekh, Barawin-Tar, Qal'ai Kumb, Khost, Komsomol Abad, Obi Garm, Takhtakhamit, Fayzabad, Vahdat, Dushanbe, Gissar and finally crossed the border between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan at Denau – Tursunzade.

Riding the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan

Click here to see the pictures we took in Tajikistan.

Tajikistan Nexus Route

Afghanistan section

We were planning to enter Afghanistan through the border crossing of Ishkashim in the Wakhan Corridor and spend a few days, visiting the Wakhan National Park.

Click here for more information on the Afghan Wakhan corridor.

However, we had a few Tajik "administrative issues" which prevented us from being able to re-enter Tajikistan, after having gone in Afghanistan, therefore we decided against going to Afghanistan, even though we had both a 1 month visa which was issued by the Afghan consul at the consulate in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Afghan Wakhan Corridor

Uzbekistan section

702 kms in 10 cycling days

We entered Uzbekistan through the border crossing of Denau – Tursanzade and cycled through the towns of Sariasiya, Denau, Boysun, Karashina, Dehqanabad, Ghuzar, Qiziltepa, Shahrisabz, Kitab, Qaratepa, Kenagas, Samarkand, Charkin, Juma, Kattaqorghan, Aqtash, Ziyadin, Karmana, Qiziltepa and finally Bukhara.Click here for more information on the "Magic of Bukhara" .

Click here to see the pictures we took in Uzbekistan.

Nexus Uzbekistan Route

EXPEDITION HISTORY (2005-2014)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:15:00 +0000

Click HERE to get more details on this map

Dimitri Kieffer is currently in the middle of a human powered expedition around the world which he started in Anchorage, Alaska, USA in February 2005.

Since his departure, he has walked across Alaska from Anchorage to Wales and then proceeded to swim, walk and ski across the Bering Strait to land in Russia at Uelen, Chukotka Okrug in April 2006.

He then continued to trek and ski, progressing southwest through Egvekinot, Anadyr, (Chukotka Okrug), Kamenskoye, Manily, Paren, (Kamchatka Koryak Okrug), Evensk and finally Omsukchan (Magadanskaya Oblast).

In August 2011, Dimitri returned to Omsukchan, where he started to cycle westbound in company of his girlfriend Gulnara Miftakhova, who since then has become his wife. Together, they cycled 1962 kms to reach Nizhny Bestyakh (Yakutsk) on the Kolyma Highway, also known as the "road of bones".

Summers 2012, 2013 and 2014, Dimitri cycled further southwest a total amount of 10,472 kms (6506 miles) from Yakutsk, Russia to Bukhara, Uzbekistan. He was accompanied by his wife Gulnara Kieffer for some of these sections.

Total Mileage (as of July 25th 2015):

Dimitri has covered so far 17,812 kms (11,067 miles) since he started, which he has accomplished over the course of 514 days of motion (279 days trekking/skiing/swimming and 235 days cycling/rowing).

- 5228 kms (3250 miles) in 6 winters (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011) while trekking, snowshoeing, skiing and swimming through Alaska, the Bering Strait and Far Eastern Russia.

- 12,584 kms (7,819 miles) in 4 summers (2011, 2012,2013,2014) while cycling through Far Eastern Russia, Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and rowed across the Aldan river in Yakutia/Sakha Republic, Russia.

Summary per year:

2014:
Dimitri and Gulnara cycled 2950 kilometers (1833 miles) across the Central Asian nations of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
They cycled through the famous Pamir Highway (M41), where they climbed through mountain passes as high as 4600 meters (15,000 feet).

Pamir Mountains : mountain range in Central Asia at the junction of the Himalayas with the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush ranges. They are among the world’s highest mountains, and since Victorian times, they have been known as the "Roof of the World".
Kyrgyz, Tajik, Pamiri, Afghan sheep/camels/goats/horses/yaks herders
Uzbek melon/watermelons/grapes farmers,
Silk Road Cities of Bukhara and Samarqand: blacksmiths, rug makers, artists, painters, puppet makers

2013:

Dimitri cycled further 3473 kms (2158 miles) from Kharkhorin, Mongolia to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Gulnara was able to join him for 1504 kms (934 miles) from Urumqi, China to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Mongolian steppe, Chinese desert, Mongols, Han Chinese, Uighurs, Hui Chinese, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, sheep/camels/goats/horses/yaks herders, factory workers, miners, farmers, cotton and pimentos hand pickers.

2012:

Cycling 4049 kms (2515 miles) from Yakutsk to Kharkhorin, through Russian Far East and Eastern Mongolia.

Taiga, steppe, sand dunes, Yakuts/ Sakhas, Evens, Buriats, Mongols, lamas, road wokers, miners, herders, Takhi wild horses, camels, yaks, eagles, prairie dogs and reached the first antipode of the expedition.

2011:

Trekking and skiing 595 kms (370 miles) from Paren to Omsukchan through Far Eastern Russian tundra

Cycling 2110 kms ( 1310 miles) from Omsukchan to Kachitkatsy, through the mountainous Omsukchan road and the M 56 Kolyma Highway, aka "Road of Bones", with Gulnara. Gold and Coal mines, Gulag relics, Road workers camps, Sakha farmers and Sakha horses.
Rowed across the Aldan River in Yakutia/ Sakha Republic, Russia.
Rode the last 150 kilometers alone from Nizhny Betyakh to Katchikatsy and had to stop there for the winter because of mechanical failure (broken free hub).

2010:

Back on the Trail! Trekking and skiing 700 kms (430 miles) from Vayegi (Chukotka) to Paren (Kamchatka), Far Eastern Russia, tundra, reindeer herders, trekking in company at first of Nyurgun Efremov and afterwards in company of the dogs Rice, Rex and Dunia.

2009:

Dimitri sustained a tragic accident at home while working on his roof, unsecured.. Fell 15 feet on a concrete floor. Back surgery: split L1 lombar vertebrae and relate joint were successfully fused with T12 and L2 vertebrae with the help of 6 titanium screws and wire, therefore avoiding potential paralysis.

Consequently, Dimitri was forced to take a year of convalescence, wearing a "turtle shell" for the first three months,and reflecting on Kafka's "The Metamorphosis"

Followed intense physical therapy, travelled in europe, hiked the GR20 in Corsica, rode a motorcycle through the continent and met Gulnara Miftakhova while visiting friends in Morocco.

2008:

April: Knee arthroscopy to repair a torn meniscus.

Spring: Trekked and skied 965 kms (600 miles) from Egvekinot to Vayegi, Chukotka.

Fought the Spring conditions: rapid melting snow!

First skiing, then trekking with a backpack and pulling the sled simultaneously then finally swimming and/or using the sled as a kayak while going down remote Chukotkan rivers. Encountered numerous grizzly bears but no humans in a 30 days timeframe!

Late Fall: Returned to Vayegi! Started too early in the season: rivers were not yet solidly frozen, had a limited amount hours of daylight, equipment failure. Therefore aborted after one week and decided to come back in the winter.

2007:

Return in Russia! Trekked and skied 685 kilometers (425 miles) from Uelen to Egvekinot through desolate Chukotkan tundra with Karl Bushby. Reflecting on the Bering Strait, the history of civilization and species migration and recognition from Seattle Metropolitan Magazine...

2006:

Trekked 185 kilometers (115 miles) from Nome to Wales, Alaska with Karl Bushby.

Completed Bering Strait Crossing successfully in 322 kilometers (200 miles) with Karl Bushby, trekking, skiing and swimming from one ice surge to the next, among spotted seals and polar bears. First Eastbound crossing completed in modern times. Recognition from National Geographic, and Seattle declares June 23rd 'Dimitri Kieffer Day'...

2005:

Nexus Expeditions began in February of 2005 at Knik Lake in Alaska. Dimitri Kieffer competed in the Iditarod Invitational Race, traveling 1,770 kilometers (1,100 miles) in 37 days by foot and snowshoe from Knik Lake (near Anchorage) to Nome. He was the 6th person to ever finish this race by foot since the race started in 1989, following the trail of the infamous Iditarod dog race.

As a surprise, his father, Henri, met him near the village of Solomon after flying all the way from France and having travelled on a snowmobile to surprise him.

During the course of the race, Dimitri met Karl Bushy and together they spent the rest of the year for their 2006 Bering Strait crossing.

From this beginning, Dimitri would embark on a human-powered journey to circumnavigate the world.

==============================

Summary per section:

First Section:

Knik Lake (near Anchorage, Alaska) - Nome (Alaska)
Feb – April 2005
37 days

1100 miles 1770 kilometers
Completed by foot (trekking and snowshoeing)

The expedition started on February 26th 2005 at Knik Lake, near Anchorage, Alaska. Dimitri completed in 37 days by foot and snowshoe the Iditarod Invitational race from Knik Lake to Nome (1100 miles / 1770 kms). He was the 6th person to ever finish this race by foot, following the trail of the infamous Iditarod dog race. During the race, he met with Karl Bushby at the old woman's cabin between Kaltag and Unalakleet. Karl Bushby was on his Goliath trek exclusively by foot from the tip of South America to London.

1st section: Knik Lake (near Anchorage, Alaska) - Nome (Alaska)

Second Section:
Nome (Alaska) – Wales (Alaska)

Feb 2006
9 days

115 miles 185 kilometers
Completed by foot (Trekking and Back Country Skiing)

Dimitri joined Karl Bushby as part of the Goliath expedition. Together, they trekked northwest from Nome to Wales in Feb 2006 completing the 115miles (185 km) in 9 days.

2d section: Nome (Alaska) – Wales (Alaska)

Third Section:
Wales (Alaska) – Uelen (Russia)

Bering Strait Crossing

March 17-31 2006
14 days, 5 days where swimming was required
200 miles 322 kilometers
Completed by foot (Trekking and Back Country Skiing) + Swimming

In March 2006, Dimitri was able to complete the first successful Westbound crossing of the Bering Strait between Wales, Alaska and Uelen, Russia covering 200 miles (322kms) in 14 days, with Karl Bushby as part of the Goliath Expedition while swimming, trekking and skiing between and on ice floes.

See article describing the Bering Strait crossing: Seattle Times, New York Times.

3rd section: Nome (Alaska) – Uelen (Russia)
Bering Strait Crossing

Fourth section:
Uelen to Egvekinot (Chukotka, Russia)

April 12- May 16 2007

34 days

425 miles 684 kilometers
Completed by foot (Back Country Skiing and only trekking after Vastoshisno)
Uelen- Anguema (with Goliath expedition - Karl Bushby)
Anguema- Uelen (solo)

For more details on this section, please consult:
2007 Route completed - Uelen - Egvekinot 425 miles

In April 2007, Dimitri continued his human powered Nexus expedition in Chukotka, Russia, starting in Uelen where he was last stopped after having crossed the Bering Strait. He covered 425 miles (684 kms) in 34 days from Uelen to Egvekinot by foot and skis while pulling a sled along the Siberian coast and across the frozen tundra with Karl Bushby.

4th section: Uelen to Egvekinot (Chukotka, Russia)

Fifth section:
Egvekinot to Vayegi (Chukotka, Russia)

April 15- June 7 2008
600 miles / 965 kms
83 days
Completed by foot (Back Country Skiing, trekking with a backpack and pulling the sled simultaneously, swimming, using the sled as kayak while going down rivers).

In April 2008, Dimitri continued his expedition solo, in Chukotka, Russia, starting in Egvekinot where he had last stopped and covered 600 miles.

He completed this section by foot and skis while pulling a sled along the Siberian coast and river beds. As the spring advanced and the snow started to rapidly melt, Dimitri had to trek some of the last hundred miles with a backpack and pulling the sled simultaneously, swimming, and finally using the sled as a kayak and a shovel as a paddle while going down rivers.

For more details on this section, please consult:

2008 Route completed - Egvekinot - Vayegi
Report provided by explorersweb.com

5th section: Egvekinot to Vayegi (Chukotka, Russia)

Sixth section:

Vayegi (Chukotka, Russia)-Paren (Kamchatka Koryak Okrug, Russia)

March 11th - May 13th 2010

707 kms completed, 63 days.

For more details on this section, please consult:

2010 Route completed Vayegi - Paren
Report provided by explorersweb.com

In January 2009, Dimitri accidentally fractured his L1 vertebrae while being back home in Seattle, USA.

As a result, he underwent a successful Posterior Spinal Instrumental fusion surgery, which thankfully allows him to fully function today, after having taken a required 1 year sabbatical "vacation" from the expedition.

In March 2010, Dimitri returned to the village of Vayegi and continued by foot and skis while pulling a sled moving Southwest towards Kamchatka. He completed the first month in company of Yakut trekker Nyurgun Efremov who stopped in the village of Slautnoye, Kamchatka.

From there on, Dimitri completed the next 200 kms in company of three beautiful roaming dogs and reach Kamenskoye. After having left the 3 canines in good company, he continued solo, mostly following the coastline where he could still find barely enough ice to slide his sled on, swimming and backpacking along the way and was finally able to reach the remote koryak fishing village of Paren.

Dimitri was also enthused to be able to meet and stay for a few days along the way with two different "brigades" of reindeer herders, a chukchi one and a koryak one where he was able to learn about and appreciate their nomadic culture.

6th section: Vayegi (Chukotka)- Paren (Kamchatka Koryak Okrug)

Seventh section:Paren (Kamchatka Koryak Okrug, Russia) - Omsukchan (Magadanskaya Oblast, Russia)

March 6th - April 25th 2011

595 kms completed, 51 days (39 trekking days and 12 storm/rest & repair days)

For more details on this section, please consult:

2011 Done with the Missing Link!
2011 Route completed Paren-Omsukc han
(Report provided by explorersweb.com)

In February 2011, Dimitri returned to Kamchatka to continue trekking and skiing 595kms from Paren in Kamchtaka Koryak Okrug to Omsukchan in Magadanskaya Oblast.

7th section: Paren (Kamchatka) - Omsukchan (Magadanskaya)

Eight section:Omsukchan (Magadanskaya Oblast, Russia) - Yakutsk/ Nizhny Bestyakh (Republic of Sakha, Yakutia)

Aug 13th - Sept 30th 2011
1962 kilometers completed, 42 cycling days ( + 7 rest/visiting/repair days)

In August 2011, Dimitri returned to Omsukchan, where he started to cycle westbound in company of his girlfriend Gulnara Miftakhova.
Together, they cycled 1962kms to reach Nizhny Bestyakh (Yakutsk) on the Kolyma Highway, also known as the "Road of Bones".
Rowed across the Aldan River in Yakutia/ Sakha Republic, Russia.

For more details on this section, please consult: 2011 Nexus Expedition Summer Cycling section

8th section: Omsukchan (Magadanskaya) - Nizhny Bistyekh/ Yakutsk (Yakutia)

Ninth section:Yakutsk/ Nizhny Bestyakh (Republic of Sakha, Yakutia) to KM150 marker on Lena Highway between Katchikatsi and Ulu

Oct 10th - 12th 2011
150 kilometers completed, 3 days

9th section Nizhny Bestyakh to KM150 marker on Lena Highway(Republic of Sakha, Yakutia)

For more details on this section, please consult:

2011 Nizhny Bestyakh - Km marker 150 on Lena Highway

Tenth section:Yakutsk (Republic of Sakha, Yakutia) to Kharkhorin (Mongolia).
June 1st - Oct 31st 2012
4049 kilometers (2515 miles) completed, from Yakutsk to Kharkhorin, through Russian Far East and Eastern Mongolia, 63 cycling days
Taiga, steppe, sand dunes, Yakuts/ Sakhas, Evens, Buriats, Mongols, lamas, road wokers, miners, herders, Takhi wild horses, camels, yaks, eagles, prairie dogs and reached the first antipode of the expedition.

Tenth section: Summer 2012 Nexus Expedition Route4049 kms / 2515 miles covered

Tenth section: Yakutsk (Russia) - Kharkhorin (Mongolia)

Eleventh section: Kharkhorin (Mongolia) - Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.Aug 18th - Dec 18th 2013
Dimitri cycled 3473 kms (2158 miles) from Kharkhorin, Mongolia to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
64 cycling days
Gulnara was able to join him for 30 days: 1504 kms (934 miles) from Urumqi, China to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Mongolian steppe, Chinese desert, Mongols, , Han Chinese, Uighurs, Hui Chinese, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, sheep/camels/goats/horses/yaks herders, factory workers, miners, farmers, cotton and pimentos hand pickers.
Damages caused by Mongolian sandy trails: broken freehub, gear shifter, derailleur and a few flats.

2013 Completed Nexus Route

Twelfth section: Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) - Bukhara (Uzbekistan)
2950 kms (1833 miles) 63 cycling days
Dimitri and Gulnara cycled across the Central Asian nations of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
They cycled through the famous Pamir Highway (M41), where they climbed through mountain passes as high as 4600 meters (15,000 feet).

Pamir Mountains : mountain range in Central Asia at the junction of the Himalayas with the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush ranges. They are among the world’s highest mountains, and since Victorian times, they have been known as the "Roof of the World".
Kyrgyz, Tajik, Pamiri, Afghan sheep/camels/goats/horses/yaks herders
Uzbek melon/watermelons/grapes farmers, Silk Road Cities of Bukhara and Samarqand: blacksmiths, rug makers, painters, puppet makers

For more information on this section, please consult:
2014 Route: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

2014 Completed section

Announcing Nexus film, new logo and leaving Tajikistan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 19:53:00 +0000

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

We have so far completed 1,220 kms in Tajikistan, mostly while riding through the infamous Pamir Highway, also known as "Roof of the World" and through the Ishkashim corridor.

Along the way, we took some time off in Murghab, Khorog and finally Dushanbe where we visited friends.

In early July, we also had to leave Tajikistan for a few weeks to attend a family reunion in Kazan, Russia, in Gulnara's family, renew a Tajik visa and repair a bicycle rear wheel!

Riding through the Pamir 4000 meters+ mountain passes as well as encountering a very rich and welcoming local culture was a terrific experience.

We definitely plan to share this great experience in details (through stories, photos, videos) on our website and blog in late September but for the time being, we need to start cycling west towards Uzbekistan before my new Uzbek visa expires!

In the meantime, we are proud to tell you that we have just completed an 80 minutes full-length documentary which relates the first few years of Nexus Expedition :

"The Traveler: The Missing Link"

Click here to see the trailer.

If you wish, "like" the Facebook page "The Traveler", to receive updates as the distribution adventure begins!

This movie was co-produced by Erik Nachtrieb and Vivienne Smith.

Thank you Erik and Vivienne for your great support while having sieved through terabytes of raw film!

Finally, we would like to announce that we have a new logo for Nexus Expedition!

We have decided that it was time to get a new logo to better reflect the different human-powered modes of transportation used by Nexus Expedition in the past, present and future while circumnavigating the planet!

Thank you, artist David Verchot for this great new logo!

Nexus Expedition new logo

Neksus Ekspeditsiyasi (O'zbek tili / Uzbek Language)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 17:53:00 +0000

Oʻzbekiston mahalliy ma’muriyatidagi barcha manfaatdor shaxslar diqqatiga:

Mening ismim Dimitri Bernard Kieffer.

Men Frantsiya fuqarosiman, va men hozirgi vaqtda 2005 yil fevral oyida AQShning Alyaska shtati, Ankokridj shahrida boshlangan inson mushaklari kuchi hisobiga amalga oshirilayotgan dunyo boʻylab ekspeditsiyaning yarmini bosib oʻtdim. Men shu vaqtga qadar 15000 km masofani bosib oʻtdim: buning ichiga uzunligi 5000 km boʻlgan masofani 6 mavsumdagi qish davomida piyoda hamda 10000 km maosfani 3 mavsumdagi yoz daomida velosipeda bosib oʻtdim.

Men yoʻlga tushganimdan beri Alyaskani bosib oʻtdim, shundan soʻng suzishga oʻtdim, yana piyoda yurdim va 2006 yil aprel oyida Bering qoʻltigʻi orqali changʻida Rossiya qirgʻoqlariga etib keldim. Shundan soʻng men changʻida yurishni davom ettirib, janubi-gʻarbiy yoʻnalishda Rossiyaning Magadan oblastidagi Omsukchan degan joyiga etguncha harakatlandim.

Shu vaqtdan boshlab menga mening rossiyalik turmush oʻrtogʻim Gulnara Kiffer qoʻshildi, va biz birgalikda velosipeda Moʻgʻoʻliston, Xitoy, Qozogʻistonni velosipeda bosib oʻtdik, shu yoʻsinda biz 2013 yil dekabr oyida Qirgʻizistonning Bishkek shahriga etib keldik.

Qirgʻizistonda qish oylarini oʻtkazib (2014 yil yanvar-mart oylari), biz 20 aprelda velosayohatni janubiy yoʻnalishda Qirgʻiziston va Tojikiston orqali davom ettirmoqchimiz.

Biz Oʻzbekistonga 2014 yil iyul oyida Denov-Tursunzoda chegara oʻtish yoʻli orqali kirib borishni, bunda velosipeda Sariosiyo, Denov, Boysun, Qorashina, Dehqonobod, Gʻuzor, Qiziltepa, Shahrisabz, Kitob, Qoratepa, Kenagas, Samarqanda, Charkin, Juma, Kattaqoʻrgʻon, Oqtosh, Ziyodin, Karmana, Qiziltepa va nihoyat Buxoro shaharlari orqali oʻtishni rejalashtirganmiz.

Yoʻnalish xaritasi:

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212111032970980715660.0004f69ba97927e086b4a&msa=0&iwloc=0004f69cd45bc67348c37

2014 Neksus Ekspeditsiyasi
Oʻzbekiston

Biz Sizlar bilan Sizlarning soʻzlashadigan tilingizda muloqot qila olmasligimiz uchun uzr soʻraymiz. Shunga qaramay, biz bir-birimizni tushunamiz deb umid qilamiz!

Sizlarga mehmondoʻstligingiz uchun va yuksak darajada qoʻllab-quvvatlaganingiz uchun oldindan minnatdorchilik bildiramiz!

Dimitri Bernard Kieffer va Gulnara Kieffer
Neksus Ekspeditsiyasi

Hectic first steps into Tajikistan!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 12:27:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, prior to starting cycling through Kyrgyzstan (an experience in itself, which we will relate in later posts), while in the northern capital of Bishkek, we planned ahead and were able to obtain a 45 days Tajik visa, a quintessential GBAO permit, and even a one month Afghan visa in order to be able to venture in the safer Afghan Wakhan corridor, which is historically nudged between Tajikistan and Pakistan.

On May 23rd, as we got closer to the Tajik border, we were informed by some of our "warmshowers" friends in Dushanbe that in Pamir’s largest city, Khorog, there had been violent clashes/riots between locals and the police forces, resulting in three deaths.

Consequently, the region was currently closed to foreigners.

In addition, knowing how slooooww we were progressing South through the Kyrgyz 3000+ meters incessant roller coaster, Gulnara and I felt we could continue forward with our plan, assuming that by the time, we would enter Tajikistan on our bicycles, the recent turmoil would have hopefully been resolved.

Sary-Tash, Kyrgyzstan

So, after having departed from the “Urban type settlement” (посёлок городско́го ти́па ) of Sary-Tash, a village at 3200 meters, conveniently situated on a wide open plain at the convergence of three roads leading to Osh (Kyrgyzstan), Murgab (Tajikistan) and Kashgar (China) where the economy mostly lives off the income of stationed border guards, cross-border legal and supposedly illegal trafficking as the rumors go, and finally animal husbandry involving a few yak, cattle and sheep herders.

In summer time, the town also caters to the intrepid climbers storming through town on their way out or back from the culminating 7,134 meters Peak Lenin.

Yaks in the valley of Sary-Tash

As we left town, we first noticed, impressive soviet-style border guards barracks, located on the flanks of the adjacent southern mountains where we could perceive in the distance, border guards busy playing basketball, while their colleagues were diligently guarding all borders to possibly prevent any Chinese or Tajik invasions…

We proceeded further southeast and ran into a German-Australian couple, two motorcyclist writers, Christopher and Laura, who were coming out of the Pamir highway, in our opposite direction, on their iron beasts (a Yamaha Ténéré and a 1996 BMW F650), fully loaded with everything and I mean everything; including an Uzbek cactus, folding camping chairs, a stuffed bear riding a stuffed dolphin, and a built-in iron clamping vise conveniently placed on the rear bumper to repair parts!

Christopher was sporting a beautiful WWI Finnish army leather overcoat which gave him a Mad Max look, lost in the middle of Central Asian landscape.

We exchanged a few words, sharing with each other’s, information on road conditions and abodes we could encounter along our ways.

We also pondered about each other’s choices in vagabond life and agreed that we should reconvene someday, somewhere on this planet to share a glass of wine.

Encountering Christopher and Laura

Laura and Christopher

A few hundred meters further, while cycling towards the snow covered intimidating 7000 meters+ Pamir mountain range which was widely spreading all across our southern horizon, we started noticing in the middle of the wide open plain, two giant "golf balls".
Intrigued by this perfect symbol of Soviet minimalist although futuristic architecture, I felt immediately magnetically pulled towards them.

Gulnara, as she had experienced in previous similar ordeals where my curiosity lead me to some kind of trouble, chose instead to wait for me on the main road and observe from far what was about to happen to me.

I arrived at an old soviet gate, adorned with a beautiful red star, and decided to proceed further in, to get even closer to the giant balls and to other derelict radar equipment left nearby.

At first, their sublime simplistic design reminded me some of the giant iconoclast structures I have observed over the years, planted in the middle of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, during the yearly Burning Man festival),

Then, I found them attractive because they were reminding me similar defunct radar antennas I have seen over the last few years while walking through Far Eastern Russia (Chukotka) and especially in Alaska, USA, where they were built during the height of the Cold War, to enable Russian and Americans to better listen to each other, way before NSA’s Edward Snowden was ever born.

They were the “ears” of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line and its Soviet counterpart.

After all, it made perfect sense for some of them to be here as well, rusting / deteriorating, since we were right at the junction between the ex-Soviet Union Empire and Mao’s "ex-Middle Kingdom".

Two communist neighbors who were also relishing in the 1980s at the idea of being able to secretly (or not) listen to each other.

As I was about to pass through the rusty abandoned gate, I saw behind me a 10 years old young Kyrgyz boy galloping on his donkey from a distant yurt and rapidly approaching me, or at least as rapidly as a donkey can fathom.

The young boy arrived and spoke to me exclusively in Kyrgyz. I tried to explain to him in Russian that all I wanted to, was to approach the giant golf balls, take a few shots and immediately leave.

He responded with a resounding “Niet! ” and gestured to me that if I was about to make one more step further through the gate, men with machine guns will come and shoot at me.

No idea where they could have come from and how quickly they could have been deployed, nevertheless, I decided to leave the vicinity illico-presto on my bicycle.

Call me crazy but for me and at that moment, no close-up photographic shots of defunct radars could justify the risk of a few actual bullet shots.

I rejoined Gulnara who was, by that point, smirking away, amused at the entire comical situation.
Her late 40’s supposedly grown up man, chased away by a 10 years old boy on a mighty donkey.

Kyrgyz yurt nearby

10 years old Kyrgyz security guard and his mighty donkey

We proceeded further south on our deserted asphalted road, not encountering any traffic for hours, since this Kyrgyz road had been blocked/barricaded with concrete blocks and yurts for the last few days, 70 kms further “upstream”, by protesters in support of detained opposition MPs.

Not an uncommon practice in the democratic republic of Kirgizia, when one group wants to voice loudly his opinion.

Usually, it tends to be more effective if the road blocked is one where usually large Chinese trucks pass through, importing machinery for Chinese owned refineries, cement factories, and mines on Kyrgyz territory.

I can only imagine how bewildered and possibly furious Chinese managers must be, when the Kyrgyz government chooses to not intervene for days or weeks.
It would probably not goes the same way in neighboring mainland China.

As a direct result of this protest, I was unable to find transportation for our spare bag of white gas, extra bicycle tubes and tires, Nuun electrolytes as well as additional peripheral spare items.
I was indeed hoping to send this bag aboard an inviting vehicle, possibly hundreds of kilometers ahead into Tajik territory to a location we were planning to reach at a later date.

The “second expedition” as I like to call the moving of these extra supplies, which I have been dragging along since Alaska, 16000 kms away and which is very hard for me to still forego…

Eventually, we will run out of this precious white gas and this extra bag will either get lost or potentially be stolen somewhere along its way.

But for the time being, I was not willing to forego this “buoy” and decided to drag it alone, strapping in on top of my already way overloaded long framed Surly Big Dummy cycle.

Don’t ask me why, I am not quite sure what to answer!

Leaving Sary-Tash
with an extra bag strapped on top of my already overloaded bike....

Let’s just say that during the earlier years of this expedition, I was free to play “snake”, loading all what I wanted while pulling a sled through the arctic tundra.

I quite enjoyed having all of the extra comfortable gear with me, such as extra warm clothes, a roomy 4 seasons tent, white gas, a large selection of food supplies, electronics, computer, etc… etc…

Making in a way, my sled and tent, a second home!

Old habits die hard and I have not been able yet to make the complete switch to “light riding”.
I am actually not quite sure if my brain will ever be able to cope with this necessary adjustment.

Resting...

On our way, we stopped for a small picnic made up of a can of peas, a few slices of bread, Kyrgyz “Swiss cheese” and above all, a few wild rhubarb stems, which we were able to buy from younger boys on the side of the road a few days earlier.

The Kyrgyz call these wild rhubarb stems: “kislichka” (“Bitter ones”). They need to be peeled before eaten raw to somewhat reduce their outer bitterness and still somewhat require adventurous taste buds.

I mostly enjoy eating them because of the novelty they represent to me, and because we only have a limited choice of fresh vegetables in this south eastern corner of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyz boy selling wild rhubarb stems

Transporting wild rhubarb stems

While eating, we had at one point to stop and rapidly cover our food with our tent floor mat, which we use to comfortably lay on, whenever we are stopping to picnic along our way.

The fast “duck and cover” operation happened because a sand whirlwind stormed through our “dining room” while we were peacefully seating.

Indeed, later on, while riding further south through this plain, we could observe a large amount of magnificent whirlwinds and were also puzzled how low the clouds seem to be, or more appropriately how high we were, progressing towards 3400 meters.

Nexus route across the Kyrgyz - Tajik border

A few kilometers further, longing a river, we entered a small canyon where around a bend, we came to the Kyrgyz border post, open all year along at an altitude of 3475 meters.

Kyrgyz border post

An impressive infrastructure, ready to inspect tall trucks in a place where actually no large trucks come through but simply an average of 3-4 cars a day: a few ubiquitous soviet UAZ-452 mini-buses (‘Uazzik’) transporting Tajik and Kyrgyz families between Sary-Tash and Murghab, as well as a few European travelling in 4*4 cars/trucks, a few international motorcycles and about 100 to 200 intrepid cyclists a year.

We first had to pass through a chained gate which we could simply open ourselves and proceeded to the first barrack.

There, the young Kyrgyz customs officer invited us inside to stamp our passports. In his office, on the side of a tall metal locker, I noticed a large amount of western european, eastern european and russian travelling motorcyclist vinyl decals, and asked him if we could also emblazon his piece of furniture with our own Nexus Expedition cycling one!

Having done that, I was also given the permission to take a picture of the armoire.

Of course, I pushed it a step too far, taking a shot of the detailed AK 47 schema which was also on this wall.

The customs officer immediately became mad and asked me to promptly leave which I obviously obliged to.

Border guard's armoire adorned
with travelers stickers

The next step to complete in the following barrack was in company of a young coughing Kyrgyz immigration border guard.

He was clearly frustrated to see how “poorly” my French passport had been stamped by the Kyrgyz border officer in northern Bishkek.

He mentioned that he nevertheless was able to spot on our Kyrgyz entrance stamps, the matriculation number of the Bishkek officer and was planning to report her for poor workmanship (in her crucial stamping skills) .

He finally proceeded to mark our both passports with this time, beautiful clear exit stamps!

Considering that it was 18h00 and aware that before we could reach the Tajik border checkpoint , we had to cover 23 kms away across this “No man’s land” and over our first 4300 meters pass via a muddy/dirt trail, precautious Gulnara decided to ask the officer if we could be allowed to plant our tent in between the two borders in this unoccupied mountain pass.

The officer ,at first, kindly offer us an old barrack ,near his own, where he was inviting us to plant our tent inside, and finally agreed to authorize us to proceed further through in order to sleep in this “disputed” territory.

He then asked to ride one of our bicycles.
Gulnara offered hers which he gladly accepted for a quick spin around the barracks.

Kyrgyz border guard riding Gulnara's bicycle

We decided to leave the barracks, moved five kilometers further up the canyon and as the sun was about to set, around 20h00, we found a nice and flat spot near the trail to camp.

We planted our tent, made a diner of ramen noodles and quickly fell asleep.

Around midnight, we were woken up by a screaming voice:
“Come out (of your tent)! It’s a border zone, you are not supposed to be here.
We saw you leave the border post and we assumed that by now you would have reached the Tajik border post. You need to move now!”

I came out of the tent, explained to the screaming voice that the first officer at the barracks had allowed us to camp in this “No man’s land“ and that we were planning to leave early in the morning.

The Kyrgyz border guard agreed.

I noticed at that point, that while this first man was pointing straight into my face one of the brightest torches/lamps I have ever seen, I could discern behind him, the shadow of a 2d guard holding in his hands an AK-47 type of machine gun.

Very glad to observe that neither one of them were trigger happy, and that we had come easily to an agreement, I went back to our tent and tried to fall asleep as quickly as I could in company of Gulnara , while visualizing all of these Kyrgyz border guards marching through the night, protecting their borders against trespassing and potentially marauding Tajik smugglers, bringing over the border imported Afghan opium and whatever else they could sell.

The next morning, I woke up excited to the sound of a car, the first we heard in 24 hours and the first we were about to hear for the next few hours.

I jumped out of the tent and stopped Mamoush’s car, a Kyrgyz who was transporting a few veiled Kyrgyz women and a few men coiffed with their beautiful kalpaks.

The first Russian words I was able to utter were:
“Pomogite mne!”, ( “Help Me!”).

After having carried for 35 kilometers this 15 kgs spare bag of supplies, needless to say that I was ecstatic to find for it an alternate mode of transportation.

Mamoush agreed to take our bag 80 kms away, and especially two 4300 meters mountain passes further to a distant guesthouse on Lake Karakul and in exchange, accepted, upon our insistence, the modest sum of two hundred soms, (4$).

Gulnara passing on the "spare bag"
to Mamoush

After Mamoush’s departure, relieved, we gleefully ate hot porridge for breakfast, packed our tent and remaining gear.

Campsite in the No-man's land

We then started cycling/climbing up hill on a muddy dirt trail towards 4300 meters Kizil Art pass.

On our way up, we had the pleasure to be serenaded by a large amount of hissing intrigued marmots, busy staring at us, standing on their promontories, while eagles were circling above….

As we were climbing up, we came across two cars descending. The first one was an older German couple in their large camper can who obviously did not want to mingle much, concerned with the potential protests ahead of them on the road, and eager to get to the civilized world of Osh after having spent a few weeks through the Pamir Highway.

The second car was a VW Syncro 4*4 van driven by a younger German couple, Fabian and Verena, travelling peacefully through the region.

They had apparently quite enjoyed their time through Tajikistan and referred to it as “the end of the world”.

Very kindly, they gave us two bottles of Tajik sparkling water.

Fabian and Verena's VW Syncro van

Fabian and Verena

A bit further, at 4000 meters, and right before we were able to embark on the serpentine leading to the mountain pass, we came across three intriguing young kids and one father, inviting us for tea in their home, an old barrack built to house road workers / road menders in charge of maintaining the access to the mountain pass, throughout the year.

We declined sadly an invitation for tea because we were both eager to make it to the mountain top and across the consequent border crossing, prior to the night.

Road workers' children
inviting us for Tea!

Road worker

Road workers camp

Road workers camp...

Right before reaching the mountain top, we came across an “expedition” of four Swiss motorcyclists, who were travelling Northbound with no gear or bags, while an escorting 4*4 vehicle was transporting it all.

Climbing to Kyzyl Art Pass
4300 meters

Somewhat out of breath, because of a bad cold and the increasing altitude, as well as feeling a bit disoriented, with our heads spinning, we finally pulled our loaded bicycles to the top of Kyzyl Art Mountain pass at 4300 meters.

There, rejoiced, we filmed, took a few pictures, ate dried apricots and pistachio nuts, put on warmer clothes and proceeded further down to the Tajik border checkpoint, located 2 kilometers further down at 4230 meters.

Kyzyl Art Mountain Pass
4300 meters
Kyrgyz - Tajik border

Right before the border post, we decided to take a few shots of the approaching Tajik barracks and tall structures.

I also mounted on my head my GoPro camera in order to capture a bit the essence of this mountainous border crossing.

Tajik border post

As soon as we arrived, we were first greeted by five young Tajik border guards, wearing their thick uniforms/ fatigues, intrigued to look at us and our bicycles.

They were kind enough to stamp our passports, fill up to the rim our 10 liters MSR dromedary water bag, and even willing to take away our garbage which we had carried along, as usual.

They spoke mostly Tajik with one of them able to converse in Russian.

We were then sent to a second post, in charge of narcotics/ drugs enforcement which we were able to clear within a minute, without, thankfully, having our bicycles searched.

Proceeding through a muddy area, we reached a third post which was the customs office.

There, we were greeted by two jovial Tajik officers, who first asked me how I had found the time to steal a Tatar woman and how much I had pay for my dowry.

I responded: “Nothing” to which they replied: “Not fair, we are still all paying for dowries in Tajikistan!”

One of the two men told us then that the 4000 meters high valley we were about to cross was traditionally called “долина смерти” (Death Valley), a very windy and dangerously exposed place.

They were inviting us to spend the night in their barracks, and suggested that we should tackle the Death Valley on the following morning.

We graciously turned down their offer, both eager to get further going and find some peacefulness in our tent in a more isolated location, away from border guards…

The people of mountain Badakhchana (GBAO) are welcoming you!

We started proceeding down further on a corrugated washboard road, where everything was vibrating on our bicycles.

As a result, Gulnara lost a thermos bottle and a strapped water bottle which we were able to recover.

Cycling further on, while I was busy reminding myself that I needed to check and tighten on that evening all of our bicycle rack bolts to prevent any loss, I saw Gulnara stopping ahead of me and scream:
“I have a big problem!”

She had indeed, this time, lost one of her bungee cord which had nudged and wrapped itself in the bicycle cassette.

I stopped, looked at the mess, and was able to remove the bungee after having removed the wheel.

Once again, this was a reminder that having bicycled thousands of kilometers on paved roads through China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan , now that we were in Tajikistan, we were definitely back in washboard gravel-land, where EVERYTHING needed to be very well secured on our bicycles to avoid any potential loss and/or accidents.

Tajik corrugated washboard road begins!

A bit further on, we started riding along the Chinese barbed wire fence, constantly reminding us that we were at the land junction between Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and China.

Riding along the Chinese barbed wire border fence

We quickly came across an interesting welcoming sign, decked with a magnificent iron yak where we started to feel indeed “welcomed” in Tajikistan by a few snowflakes and a stronger wind.

Iron Yak!

At around 20h00, while I was busy securing our tent with pitches as hard I could into the soft sand we were camping on, Gulnara casually joked about how beautiful it would be of a spectacle if our tent flew into this magnificent wide and empty horizon….

We buckled down in our tent, ate ramen instant noodles and proceeded to quickly fall asleep.

Setting up camp

Setting up our tent for the last night...

The next morning, unbeknownst that this was going to be a very challenging day for both of us, Gulnara and I ate and started packing down.

In the process, I removed all of my bags out of the tent, and Gulnara proceeded to do the same.

While she was busy folding our protecting MPI Space All Weather Blanket which we used as a floor mat inside the tent, and our Z-lite Therm-a-Rest mattresses, she turned around and left the empty tent unattended, which was by then un-pitched and without its 2d fly which had already been put away.

Provoked by one stronger gust of wind, the possessed restless tent made then one little “bunny hop”, clearly got a running start and here she went….

Having been through a very similar experience, 12,000 kms away and four years ago while pulling a sled through southern Chukotka, with Yakut Nyurgun Efremov, I was stricken with horror!
I knew what it meant…

Nevertheless, overly optimistic, I started racing after my tent and yelled to Gulnara to chase it as well with her bicycle.

As I knew, set in the right environment, our very robust 4 seasons Mountain 25 North Face tent can indeed become a beautiful kite, or more precisely bouncing like a giant tennis ball.

At 4,000 meters, with a bad cold, and somewhat out breath, I was definitely not able to gain some ground on this speeding flying tent and neither was Gulnara while riding slightly uphill on this corrugated washboard trail.
My only hope was for this tent to land and somewhat nudges itself in one of the moon-like craters on this alkaline dry surface or against the Chinese barbed-wire fence….
Of course, none of that happened.

But, after about 40 minutes, came in my direction a couple, Briton Edward and Welsh Roslyn, aboard a huge ex-military “converted for recreational use” British camper truck, one big enough to facilitate the invasion of a Banana Republic of some sort.

And here is what ensued next: (Excerpt from Edward and Roslyn’s blog):

“That morning we spotted a man in a yellow coat walking along the most horrendous bumpy road ahead of us, on route to the border. He put his arm out to hitch hike. We stopped to give him a lift.
He told us that his wife was ahead on her bike looking for their tent which had blown away in the wind...

The valley was massive, and we spent all morning helping them to find their tent.
I sat with Gulnara for a little while, while Ed and Dimitri continued to look.
She was a lovely lady.
A Tatar from Russia, who was joining her husband on part of his round the world trip, cycling from Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) to Dushanbe.

Sadly the tent (which was bright yellow) was never recovered and we wished Dimitri and Gulnara good luck on their trip.
They didn't have too far to get to Karakul (a small village with homestays) and possibly in Murghab or Khorog they could buy a new tent.”

Wide open area where the tent vanished...

We are very thankful that Edward and Roslyn took so much time out of their journey to help us search for this tent in every nook and corner of this vast plain as well as offered us cold medicine and water. Wishing them the best for the continuation of their overland journey to Magadan!

Undeterred by our “tragic” material loss, Gulnara and I decided then to push forward south into Tajik territory, towards Lake Karakol, which was 58 km and another 4300 meters mountain pass away.

Knowing that the weather could change rapidly at this altitude, we were preparing ourselves mentally at the idea of spending a night tent-less under the potential falling snow.

After 500 meters of intense corrugated washboards, my B17 Standard Brooks bike seat collapsed for the sixth time.

Indeed, I have had problems with the metal brackets underneath my bike seat ever since I inadvertently yanked on it with all my strength in order to get my bike out of the deep Mongolian mud in August 2013.
A dumb move I regret until this day.

I had the brackets underneath the seat welded together then and all of this held well, until a few weeks ago, when the welding broke apart upon reaching the Northern Kyrgyz city of Kara-Balta.

Since then, unable to find a replacement bike seat “on the road”, I have had four different welders progressively amending this seat as best as they could.

But this time, enough was enough!
As we were embarking on hundreds of kilometers of corrugated gravel trails, I understood that the show could not go on and I needed badly to get a new seat!

Broken Brooks bike seat
after 5th welding job

This is when we decided to turn around and move back towards Osh, Kyrgyzstan where we could order a new tent, a new bike seat and take care of our bad cold which was rapidly gaining on both of us.

We started cycling back towards the Tajik border when we were suddenly pounded with a snow storm combined with a strong head wind.

At that point, knowing that the expedition had come to a halt where we had lost our tent, we decided to hitchhike back for our retreat when we came across one of those famous UAZ-452 mini-buses (‘Uazzik’) on its way from Murgab (Tajikistan) to Sary-Tash (Kyrgyzstan) with on board a large Tajik ethnically Kyrgyz family.

That was our call!
We stopped this uazzik, stuffed our bags and Gulnara’s bike in the back, while we strapped my long bicycle on the roof.

The driver Tadjibay agreed to take us all the way back to Sary-Tash, across both borders checkpoints.

On our way, the amused Tajik customs officer, recognizing us, was of course very keen on telling us a Russian equivalent of “I told you so”, clearly reminding us how much he had warned us of the Death Valley’s winds, and offered a place to spend the night….

With our tails between our legs, full of shame, we proceeded forward to the town of Sary-Tash, where we were able to hitch-hike a ride the next morning all the way to Osh.

We now have been back for a week in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, licking our “wounds”, taking care of my bad cold with strong antibiotics.

Our new tent and bike seat just arrived on a cargo flight from Moscow, (thanks to the tremendous help of Gulnara’s brother Marsel and his wife Olya), where the shipping process has been nothing but complicated….

Having said that, we can say that this Moscow-Osh cargo route is actually the fastest and cheapest solution to obtain a new sturdy tent and bike seat.

Better indeed than shipping it from Europe/US or considering buying any of the alternate products available in Osh or even Bishkek as my warmshowers friend Nathan researched.

One caveat though: be aware that for example the company "The North Face" has no official representative in Russia and you could be potentially picking up a fake product, if you are not careful.

If all goes well, we should be back in Tajikistan in the next 48 hrs where we last stopped, ready to proceed further South on this infamous Pamir Highway…

So long and Happy trails to you!

Tоҷикӣ - Information on Nexus Expedition in the Tajik Language

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 16:10:00 +0000

Маро Бернард (Дмитрий) Киффер меноманд.

Ман шахрванди Фаронса мебошам ва дар холи хозир аз нисф бештари саёхати гирди чахонамро анчом додам. Ин сафарамро бо истифода аз куввати мушакхои баданам огоз намуда будам. Мохи феврали соли 2005 масири харакатам аз минтакаи Анкорича ва Аляскаи ШМА шуруъ гардида буд.Аллакай масофаи 15000 км-ро пушти сар намудам: аз ин микдор тайи 6 зимистон 5000 км-ро пиёда рафтам ва дар муддати 3 тобистон фосилаи 10000 км-ро дучархасавор гузаштам.

Аз замони шуруъи ин барнома тамоми Аляскаро убур намуда, сипас ба шино икдом кардам. Бо кумаки лижа аз гулугохи Беринг гузашта, апрели соли 2006 ба каламрави Русия ворид шудам.Баъдан, пиёда ва гохе савори лижа ба самти чанубу гарб харакат намуда, худро ба шахри Омуксчана , вокеъ дар вилояти Магадани Русия расонидам. Дар ин чо хонумам, Гулнора Киффер, ки шахрвандии Русияро дорад, ба ман хамрох гардид. Дунафари, савори дучарха аз каламрави Мугулистон, Чин ва Казокистон убур кардем. Мохи декабри соли 2013 ману хонумам ба шахри Бишкек , маркази кишвари Киргизистон расидем.

Дар Киргизистон айёми сарморо гузаронида ( моххои январ- марти соли 2014) максад дорем, ки шуруъ аз 20 апрел дучархасавор ба суи чануб харакатамонро давом дихем. Максадамон ин аст, ки то 19 майи соли 2014 аз тарики гарданаи ( агба) Бор-Добо- Кизил Арт сархади Киргизистону Точикистонро убур созем.

Дар Точикистон мехохем ба воситаи дучарха, аз тарики гарданаи кухистонии Кизил Арт ва нуктахои ахолинишини Карокул, Музкул, Работак Байтал, Чечетки, Мургоб, Каросу, Сасик – кул, Харгуш, Лавангар, Вранг, Ишкошим, Хоруг, Рушон, Декх, Баравин-тар, Калъаи Хум, Хост, Комсомолобод, Обигарм, Тахтахамит, Файзобод, Вахдат, Душанбе, Хисор, Турсунзода гузашта ва дар нихоят, аз рохи Дехнав ба каламрави Узбекистон ворид гардем.

No 1 - Накшаи сахтсайр

No 2 - Накшаи сахтсайр

Мо ду хатсайри эхтиёти низ дорем, ки дар холати пеш омадани зарурат, масалан , махдуд шудани муддати саёхатамон ва ё тагир ёфтани обу хаво, аз онхо истифода намоем.

Ин хатсайрхо иборат мебошанд:

А. Харакат ба самти гарб, бо хатсайри М41,аз Сасик-кул ба суи Хоруг, аз тарики мавзеъхои Тагаркаки, Челанди, Шазуд ва Вин.

В. Харакат ба самти шимол, ба суи Душанбе, аз тарики мавзеъхои наздимарзии Узбекистону Точикистон, Бустон- Дехконобод, бо масири Варзоб, Калон,Анзоб Работ, Айни, Шахристон, Истаравшан, Нов, Пролетарск, Хучанд, Такели ва Бустон.

Three Days side trip to Lake issyk, Kyrgyzstan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 May 2014 13:57:00 +0000

Lake Issyk

Lake Issyk and Kyrgyzstan

Three days side trip around Lake Issyk

In mid April, while waiting for our Tajik and Afghan visas in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and before we could start cycling south, we had the opportunity to be able to go and tour the glorious Lake Issyk.

Over 170 kms long and 70 kms across, it is the second-largest alpine lake in the world, after Lake Titicaca in South America. Its name Issyk-Köl, means "hot lake": a combination of extreme depth, thermal activity and mild salinity ensures the lake never freezes. Its moderating effect on the climate, plus abundant rainfall, have made it something of an oasis through the centuries, a force of nature!

We first went directly to visit our NABU friends on the northern side of the lake, near the kyrgyz village of Anan'yevo,

In January 1999, the NABU established an anti-poaching unit for the conservation of the snow leopard: the "Gruppa Bars". It has already confiscated scores of snow leopard skins and bones and freed three living snow leopards from foothold traps. Dozens of poachers have been arrested and convicted. In the patrol area of the "Gruppa Bars", poaching has declined significantly since then.

Click here to learn more about the current illegal trade in snow leopards.

Our NABU friends were very kind to invite us to spend one night at their "Rehabilitation Center of wild animals", where they operates the world's largest outdoor enclosure for snow leopards.

The two snow leopard ladies Alcu and Bagira have been at home here since 2002. In the following year, they were joined by male snow leopard Kunak. All three were saved by the "Team Snow Leopard", but the injuries they had suffered from the poachers' foothold traps made it impossible to return them to the wild.
At an altitude of 1,850 metres and on an area of about 7,000 square metres, the three snow leopards now have enough space to roam. In 2009, they even gave birth to two cubs, Kolyuchka and Fialk.

Snow Leopard

Snow Leopards are native to twelve Asian countries.
They are counted among the world's most critically endangered big cats.

One interesting fact we learnt was how the increase in cashmere production directly impacts the life of snow leopards.

National Geographic recently stated: "A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Snow Leopard Trust suggests that the booming trade in cashmere is causing Central Asia's goat herders to expand their stock in search of increased profits.

This creates a welcome economic boost, but an array of rare or endangered species like snow leopards, Bactrian camels, and Tibetan antelope are paying the price. Wild habitat is shrinking dramatically, and the animals are increasingly coming into conflict with humans and their livestock."

The world's largest outdoor enclosure for snow leopards

The rehabilitation centre also nurses other confiscated animals such as birds of prey back to health and then releases them again.

One poor lynx, who was previously used as a pet, in Osh, where it was paraded around town on a leash is now condemned to a life of captivity, unable to survive on its own in the wild.

Lynx

View on Lake Issyk from the Rehabilitation Center

Injured donkeys being treated at the center

The cabin where we had the pleasure to spend a night

Guards / Caretakers' cabin

Kyrgyz guard/caretaker Assubek

Russian guard/caretaker Sergey

One of the three guarding dogs

We had the pleasure to spend two meals with guards/caretakers kyrgyz Assubek and russian Sergey, learning about what their lives and dangerous work entail as well as listening to them reminiscing the Soviet days when Lake Issyk was off limits to foreigners, while guests from all over the USSR used to come and rest in health spas, lined along its shores.

Rehabilitation Center Director Viktor Kulagin

It was especially interesting to learn from Viktor Kulagin, the director of this rehabilitation center, the struggles he constantly faces from the local population, not fully comprehending the necessity of an ecological center in a country where a section of the population is itself, not very well nourished.

Assubek, Dimitri, Viktor,Sergey and Sergey

After having spent 24 hrs at the rehabilitation center, Viktor offered us to drive us over to the nearby hot springs in the village of Chong-Uryukty , (чон орукту горячие источники) where we were able to alternate between dipping into the hot springs and enjoying a swim in the "refreshing" nearby majestic Issyk lake.

Chong-Uryukty hot springs
чон орукту горячие источники

Tea time

Lake Issyk beach on its northern shore

Karakol

We spent the next day, visiting Karakol and its surroundings.
Karakol, a bustling town, is the administrative capital of Issyk Kul Province where Kyrgyz, Chinese muslim Dungans and orthodox ethnic Russians have cohabited since 1864.

Chinese Dungan Mosque

Ethnic Uzbek man at the Dungan Mosque

Karakol Holy Trinity Orthodox wooden cathedral

Karakol surroundings

While in Karakol, we also had the pleasure to visit Nikolay Przhevalsky's Museum and Memorial, where the great Russian explorer was rested in peace.
An intriguing place where we could further acquire knowledge on his great travels, research and exploration throughout central asia and far eastern russia.

Russian explorer Nikolay Przhevalsky

Nikolay Przhevalsky's Museum

Nikolay Przhevalsky's Memorial

Near this museum, we were able to spot in the Mikhaylovka inlet, an entire polygon or military-research center complex where the Soviet navy used to test high-precision torpedoes, far from prying western eyes.

Military-research center complex where the Soviet navy used to test high-precision torpedoes,
far from prying western eyes.

Karakol's Dungan specialtyAshlyamfu
ашлямфу по каракольски

On our third and final day, we were hiked around the Jeti-Ögüz Rocks, and extraordinary formation of red sandstone cliffs.

Jeti-Ögüz Sandstone cliffs

Finally, we were able to hike in the magnificent Fairy Tale canyon "сказка каньон" before returning to Bishkek.

Fairy Tale canyon "сказка каньон"

Buying radishes on the side of the road

Lake Issyk southern shore road

Кыргыз тилиндеги Nexus Expeditions проектине болгон кириш сөзү

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 08:25:00 +0000

Апрель 2014-жыл

Менин атым Бернард (Дмитрий) Киффер.

Мен Франциянын жаранымын, жана азыркы учурда мен 2005-жылдын февралында Анкориджада, Аляска, АКШ баштаган адамдын булчуң күчүнүн эсебинен жүргөн жерди айлануучу экспедициянын жарымын басып өттүм. Мен учурда 15000 чакырымды басып өттүм: анын ичинен 6 кышта узактыгы 5000 чакырым аралыкты жөө бастым жана 3 жайда велосипед менен 10 000 чакырым өттүм.

Жолго чыккан учурдан баштап мен Алясканы кесип өттүм жана андан соң суу менен сүздүм, жөө бастым жана 2006-жылдын апрелинде Россиянын жээктеринде Беринг кысыгын лыжа менен басып өттүм. Андан кийин мен жолумду улантып жана лыжа менен түштүк-батыш багытында жүрүп Россиянын Магадан облусундагы Омсукчанга жеттим.

Ушул учурдан баштап мага менин жубайым – россиялык Гульнара Киффер кошулду, жана биз бирге велосипед менен Монголияны , ошондой эле Кытайды, Казакстанды басып өтүп, 2013-жылдын декабырь айында Бишкекке жеттик.

Кыргызстанда кыш айларын (2014-жылдын январь-март айлары) өткөрүп, 20-апрелде түштүк багытта веложүрүш баштоону пландадык жана 2014-жылдын 19-майында Бор-Дөбө – Кызыл-Арт ашуусунда Кыргызстан менен Тажикстандын чек арасын кесип өтүүнү пландап жатабыз.

Биз велосипед менен Кыргызстандын Бишкек, Сокулук, Беловодск, Кара-Балта, Өтмөк, Токтогул, Торкент, Кетмен-Тобе, Каракол, Таш-Көмүр, Кочкор-Ата, Массы, Базар – Коргон, Жалал-Абад, Өзгөн, Ош, Гүлчө, Сары-Таш шаарларын басып өтүп, соңунда Бор-Дөбө – Кызыл-Арт ашуусунда Кыргызстан менен Тажикстандын чек арасын кесип өтүүнү пландап жатабыз.

Маршруттун картасы:

№1-чи онлайн картасы

№2-чи онлайн картасы

Толукмакаланы орус тилинде бул шилтемеден көрүнүз:

Вечерний Бишкек – 7-март Жума, 2014

Сүрөттүн барагын караганга бул жерге баскыла

Arrived in Zharkent, Kazakhstan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 16:11:00 +0000

Zharkent, Kazakhstan
44°10′N 80°0′E

Казақ тілі - Nexus Information in Kazakh language

2013 mileage in Mongolia= 1320 kms / 820 miles
2013 mileage in China = 1332 kms / 827 miles
2013 mileage in Kazakhstan = 45 kms / 27 miles as of Nov 21st
2013 Total Mileage: 2697 kms / 1675 miles in 49 cycling days

Very happy to report that we have arrived in Kazakhstan!

We would love to relate to you on this blog in pictures and words how went our 1332 kilometers in Xinjiang province, China, but at this stage we prefer postponing this matter until we take a break from the expedition in late December.

The temperatures are rapidly dropping in southern Kazakhstan, and therefore we need to first and foremost keep moving west during the next few weeks.

In the meantime, feel free to enjoy a few shots we have taken in China and posted recently on Instagram.

So, we were able to contrive our way to cycle the 7 kms No man's land / buffer zone on Wednesday night between Khorgas,China and Хоргос, Kazakhstan, without been forced to ride any bus as it has been somewhat customary recently for some other cyclists/walkers going across this border.

No GPS were confiscated, 2 time zones were gained, and we had the pleasure to witness one of the most circus-like border crossings we had both ever seen.

A scene out of a Fellini's movie, giant Russian black-clad contracted security guards wearing intimidating black face masks, carrying and lifting my bicycle over a 4 meter high separation wall, while shouting at a myriad of smuggling Kazakhs, busy shoving each others and pushing their large bags full of Chinese Adidas/Vuitton/Gucci counterfeits...

Last year, there was a deadly incident in the region which could explain the tense environment at this border crossing.

Once past the initial threshold described above, we were very well greeted by the multiple Kazakh border guards/ immigration officers we met, all welcoming us to Kazakhstan.

We were also amused to hear several Kazakhs shout in English: "Welcome to Kazakhstan" out of their moving cars as they were overtaking us while we were riding our first Kazakh kilometers in the night...

Since we arrived in Zharkent three days ago, we first spent an enjoyable diner with two helpful young Kazakh cousins Ernur and Ermek.

We also spent time at the local bazaar/market where we observed a mishmash of Kazakhs, Uyghurs and ethnic Russians, all selling some of their respective traditional food items which we were glad to sample, such as Uighur kebabs, pilafs, home baked bread, Kazakh manti and Russian pirozhki .

At the market, I received free service from a welder and a cobbler, both telling me that they couldn't charge a travelling cyclist, no matter how much I insisted to pay.

This definitely made me feel even more welcomed in Kazakhstan!

While in Zharkent, we also took the time to visit the local orthodox church which was the first christian establishment I visited since the time I spent at the Catholic cathedral in Ulaan Baatar, back in August.

Indeed, since then, on our way, we have mostly spent reflecting time in Mongolian or Chinese Buddhist temples as well as in Chinese Hui, Uighur or Kazakh mosques.

In Xinjiang province, we also had the opportunity to visit Buddhist temples and Manicheist ruins which were built by Uyghurs before they converted to Islam, 600 years ago.

On this topic of coexistence, we had the pleasure today to visit as well in Zharkent, a beautiful Chinese designed mosque which, with its floating roof, resembles more of a pagoda.

Now, on a separate matter, let me warn anyone else planning a similar westbound route by bicycle or by foot from China into southern Kazakhstan:

Kazakhstan has complex registration rules for foreigners.

Gulnara, as a Russian citizen does not have to register for one month, but myself with my Kazakh visa on my American passport, I am required to register within my first five days in Kazakhstan at one of the two migration police posts "nearest" to Zharkent, either 300 kms away in Taldykorgan or 300 kms away in Almaty.

To avoid this wasteful and cumbersome task, I tried to register with our hotel in Zharkent and at the border crossing as it is customary in other places. The hotel gave us proper documents to allow us to register but couldn't do it themselves.

We then talked to the chief of the immigration police in Zharkent who told me that no one could register me in Zharkent and that I had to do the 600kms round trip. This information was confirmed by the immigration police in Almaty.

The problem is that I am travelling by bicycle and was not made aware that I couldn't register in Zharkent until my 3rd day.
Usually people enter the country by car, train, bus and therefore get to Almaty within the first 5 days.

So, yesterday, I had to travel a fast 600 kms round trip in an affordable shared taxi in order to go and register at the Almaty migration police office. At least now, I am properly registered for an entire month in Kazakhstan.

It definitely helped my case in Almaty to have the docs provided by the hotel and a long letter we wrote which explains what Nexus expedition is all about and what we are doing in the country.

I am now back in Zharkent where I have been reunited with Gulnara and my bicycle!

Starting tomorrow morning, we plan to ride 350 kms from Zharkent to Almaty and visit on our way the "Valley of the castles" in the Charyn canyon .

Cheers!
D&G

Click here for more information on our Zharkent-Almaty route

Казақ тілі - Nexus Information in Kazakh

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 01:44:00 +0000

Қазақстанның жергілікті әкімшілігіндегі барлық мүдделі тұлғаларға берілетін мәлімет

Менің есімім Димитри Киффер.

Мен француздан шыққан америкалық азаматпын, және бүгінде бұлшық еттің күшімен әлемді айналып шығу экспедициясына қатысудамын, оны мен АҚШ, Аляска штаты, Анкоридж қаласында 2005 жылы бастаған болатынмын.

Сапарға шыққан сәттен бастап Анкориджден Уэльске дейін Алясканы жүріп өттім, сонан соң Беринг бұғазы арқылы жүздім, жаяу жүрдім, шаңғымен сырғанадым, кейін 2006 жылдың сәуірінде Ресейдің Уэлен ауылында түсіп қалдым. Сонан соң сапарымды жаяу жалғастырып, соңынан велосипедпен, шаңғымен Ресей мен Монғолия арқылы оңтүстік-батысқа жүріп отырып 2013 жылдың қыркүйегінде Қытайға жеттім.

Жолымды Қытай арқылы жалғадым, әзірше қытай-қазақ шекарасына (Қорғас) жеткен жоқпын.

Қазақстанда Қытай мен Алматы шекарасының арасында мен велосипедпен келесі елді мекендер бойынша жүріп өтуді жоспарлап отырмын: Қорғас, Пиджим, Ават, Жаркент, Көктал, Чунджа, Шарын ұлттық саябағы, Көкпек, Шелек, Бәйтерек және Гүлдала.

Маршрут картасы:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212111032970980715660.0004dd29b731cf5fc3d3a&msa=0

Толығырақ мына сайттан көре аласыз:

http://nexusexpeditions.blogspot.com/2013/06/summer-2013-nexus-expedition-planned.html

134 км: қытай-қазақ шекарасынан Қорғас арқылы Чунджаға.

(Пиджим, Ават, Жаркент, Көктал арқылы)

233 км: Чунджадан Алматыға дейін.
(Шарын ұлттық саябағы, Көкпек, Шелек, Бәйтерек және Гүлдала арқылы)

Алматыға келген соң мен кейінгі маршрутты таңдаймын:

— Қырғызстан мен Тәжікстан арқылы оңтүстік бағытында
немесе
— Өзбекстан мен Түркіменстан арқылы батыс бағытында
немесе
— Қазақстан арқылы Ресей Федерациясына қарай кері жүретін солтүстік бағытында

Сіздің тіліңізде жақсы сөйлей алмағаным үшін кешірім сұраймын.

Дегенмен, бірімізді біріміз түсінеміз деп сенемін!

Қонақжайлылықтарыңыз бен қолдауларыңыз үшін алдын ала алғыс айтамын!

Димитри Киффер
Nexus Expedition

Riding through the Middle Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 07:42:00 +0000

Ürümqi, Uyghur Autonomous Region, Western China

1863 kilometers cycled since Kharkhorin, Central Mongolia

1223 kilometers in Mongolia; 640 kilometers in Xinjiang Province, China

34 cycling days since Kharkhorin

Cycled into Urümqi (Chinese Xinjiang Uighur autonomous Province) on Wednesday October 23rd.

First of all, let me say that after my first 640 kms through this Chinese western "new frontier", I can honestly say to anyone who still thinks of China as a sweat shop on the Pearl River, to please come and see this place with their own eyes.

It is definitely definitely a very rapidly changing country, at the forefront of technology, computing and medicine. The scope of the industrial development, even in this "far flung" western province is mind boggling by any world standards, let alone cycling out of Mongolia...

So, here are the latest news on the expedition:

- Gulnara flew in Urümqi on Thursday Oct 24th from Kazan to cycle the next section with me.
Quite thrilled to have her back on the trail by my side!

- In addition, my 1 year Kazakh visa has been approved and it will be ready on Thursday October 31st.
This gives us in the meantime, one week to explore Urümqi and its surroundings and start cycling westward 660 kms towards the Kazakh border on Nov 1st.

You might wonder: Why am I asking for 1 year Kazakh visa?
To give myself all the flexibility that I need in the event that I try to go through Iran, get denied entry and decide instead to proceed north around the Caspian Sea through Kazakhstan.
Stay tuned for that one...

2005-2012 Pictures Update!
We have posted new Nexus Expeditions pictures in Flickr for the years 2005-2012, from Anchorage, Alaska until Kharkhorin, Mongolia !

We will probably wait until we stop cycling sometimes this winter for a limited period (to take care of administrative and visa related matters) to seriously update the blog with latest stories from Mongolia and China as well as post 2013 pictures!

It is indeed not the easiest to access/update this blocked blog website within China (because of current Chinese governmental imposed restrictions) and therefore it makes the most sense to wait until we have cycled on to Kazakhstan and further west to do so.

In the meantime, we hope you will enjoy these shots taken on the trail between 2005 and 2012!

Cheers!
Dimitri & Gulnara

Nexus Expedition

Nexus Expedition in the Arab Republic of Egypt (العَرَبِيَّة‎‎/English version)

Nexus Expedition in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (العَرَبِيَّة‎‎/English version)

All the way through KSA!

Nexus Expedition on its way to Saudi Arabia.

Nexus Expedition in Saudi Arabia (لعَرَبِيَّة‎‎/English version)

Nexus Expedition in United Arab Emirates (لعَرَبِيَّة‎‎/English version)

Nexus Expedition in Oman (لعَرَبِيَّة‎‎/English version)

Sari, Iran

Southbound for Bandar Abbas!

"The Traveler" - North American dates at the Trail Running Film Festival

Nexus Expedition in Iran (Persian / English)

General Information about Nexus Expedition in Turkmen / Russian

2015 Nexus Expedition Route: Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan - Iran and more...

Future Sections

Summer 2014 Route: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

EXPEDITION HISTORY (2005-2014)

Announcing Nexus film, new logo and leaving Tajikistan

Neksus Ekspeditsiyasi (O'zbek tili / Uzbek Language)

2014 Neksus EkspeditsiyasiOʻzbekiston

Hectic first steps into Tajikistan!

Tоҷикӣ - Information on Nexus Expedition in the Tajik Language

Three Days side trip to Lake issyk, Kyrgyzstan

Кыргыз тилиндеги Nexus Expeditions проектине болгон кириш сөзү

Arrived in Zharkent, Kazakhstan

Казақ тілі - Nexus Information in Kazakh

Riding through the Middle Kingdom

2014 Neksus Ekspeditsiyasi
Oʻzbekiston