In 2013, 37 year old London based computer programmer Ioannis, set out on the trip of a life time – a journey which would see him cross 13 time zones and encounter some of the harshest roads the world has to offer.
Setting off on his own, with his Michelin Anakee II shod BMW 1200 GS, Ioannis left London, setting his sights on the other side of the world.
Recently, he has been speaking to Michelin about his incredible journey:
“One Sunday morning in late June last year I hugged my girlfriend goodbye and rolled out of our flat in north London down to the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone.
This was no ordinary Sunday though. This time the ride had no journey back. Instead I would keep going South and East until I ran out of road, at the south island of New Zealand.
This was a journey into the unknown, and I was nervous.
Ahead of me lay the wilderness of Turkey’s eastern Anatolia, Mount Ararat of Noah fame, and the Caucasus in Georgia.
Across the Caspian Sea, Asia proper would start with vast tracts of land and bad roads that make up the central Asian steppe, the sand deserts of Uzbekistan and their ancient Silk Route towns.
Then the mightiest mountains on earth: the Pamir, Karakoram and Himalaya ranges. The Hindu Kush and Wakhan valley in northern Afghanistan, one of the most remote and inaccessible regions in the whole of Asia.
A transit through the Xinjiang region of China with all the delicate paperwork and escorts required. The beginning of the iconic Karakoram highway, which would take me south into Pakistani Kashmir and past Nanga Parbat – the deadliest mountain on earth. Then the tribal regions of Pakistan, the Taliban and security worries associated with a western bike traveling through these restless regions.
After the remoteness and solitude of the mountains I would get into some of the most densely populated regions on earth. I would have to drive the whole length of India, through the plains of Uttar Pradesh, the breadbasket of a country of 1.2 billion people.
After India I would join up with my girlfriend and together we would continue into the exotic Mekong peninsula. Thailand, Cambodia, Lao, Malaysia. Tropical, mysterious, unfamiliar and inviting cultures.
Then Indonesia, a vast archipelago of Islands. We would have to cover over 2,000 miles in a month, negotiating old ferries and a road network that has some of the worst traffic in the world. With jungles, volcanos, mesmerising beaches, ferocious coffee and tobacco to match, Indonesia would be unforgettably tough and wonderful.
We would then have to manage the tricky sea freight leg from impoverished East Timor to Darwin, northern Australia. The unreliable cargo agents and schedules and the notoriously strict Australian quarantine inspections.
The Northern Territory in Australia would be like stepping back in time and into the set of Mad Max. The outback would be a vast, inhospitable and magnetic place.
From Sydney we would air freight the bike to New Zealand, where, after the trials and tribulations of six months travelling, we would have a month of care free travel through magical landscapes.
8 months on the road. No support. No sponsorship. Just ourselves, the bike and one set of tyres.
20,000 miles over broken asphalt, corrugated dirt, sand, shingles, rock, mud, clay, floods, rivers and the tyres never let go.”
Get more information on the Anakee II, or see our full Michelin adventure range.
