Biketour experiences – Page 5

Archive by category "Biketour experiences" (Page 5)

Shanti Dom

Candid July 21, 2016 August 29, 2016

Due to our short visa, we had to take a train to skip most of the 400 km of cycling from Brest to Shanti Dom, a yoga farm with an international volunteering programme about 70 km west of Minsk. Lucky as we are, it started raining cats and dogs just after we got out of the train to cycle 40 km, but when we finally arrived, we were greeted with a beautiful sunset and rainbow. Shanti Dom is an old school building on the countryside in the middle of nowhere that a young hetero couple is turning into a yoga…

belarus border chaos

CharlieCharlie July 18, 2016 April 28, 2017

When the 2016 biketour collective first discussed going to Belarus, we expected that the visa would require some work, but after doing considerable research into the process, decided it was a manageable task. We did some preparation, but then expected that everything would fall into place when we met together at the starting point in Warsaw and would proceed as planned. It didn’t. So, heres a list of all the ways in which we almost failed to get to Belarus (a blog post about how we actually made it into Belarus to follow…) 1 – firstly, we needed an invitation…

Zamieszanie z wizą na Białoruś

ola July 12, 2016 April 28, 2017

Sorry, this entry is only available in Polski. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. W tym roku jesteśmy mniejszą grupą niż w poprzednich latach i zastanawialiśmy się, czy zamieszanie z wizami na Białoruś nie odstraszyło wielu osób. Przez pierwsze dwa tygodnie bike toura, większość rozmów i wysiłków było skierowanych na zdobycie wiz. Najpierw staraliśmy się o wizy w ambasadzie w Warszawie, gdzie napotykaliśmy na coraz to nowe wymówki dlaczego nasze podanie nie może zostać przyjęte. Były problemy z naszym zaproszeniem, z…

The Żubr

Candid July 8, 2016 April 28, 2017

The Żubr (bison) is the biggest land mammal in Europe. Żubrs have been extinct in many parts of Europe for centuries, the last ones living in the wild were killed in the 1920s. After the second world war, some Żubrs living in zoos were released into the wild to create a new population. All Żubrs that live in the wild today are the descendants of only 12 individuals that were released from zoos, which is quite threatening to their genetic health. The biggest population of about 800 individuals lives in Białowieża Forest, where we stayed for several days. Male Żubrs…

Białowieża Forest

Candid July 6, 2016 April 28, 2017

Białowieża Forest is a big forest that spans across the border between Poland and Belarus. It is known to be the only leftover primeval forest in Europe and home of its biggest bison population. We stayed on the Polish side of the forest for 5 days. We were also planning to cross over to the Belarusian side through the newly-opened bike-only border crossing, but unfortunately the Belarusian border guards didn’t want to let us pass with a dog. The forest was impressive, but at the same time a bit disappointing. It was amazing to cycle through it. It is so…

Pierwsze koty za płoty

ola July 4, 2016 April 28, 2017

Sorry, this entry is only available in Polski. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. Ecotopia zaczęła się w tym roku w Warszawie 14-go czerwca. Gościna Radykalnych Ogródków Działkowych, feministyczny Marsz Godności, spotkanie na Syrenie, budowanie nowej przyczepki rowerowej i ciągnąca się lista spraw do ogarnięcia sprawiła, że zostałyśmy niemal dwa dni dłużej niż planowałyśmy, wyjeżdzając 19-go czerwca. W Warszawie byłyśmy pod wrażeniem osiągnięć ROD. W ciągu zaledwie półtora roku udało im się przekształcić opuszczone ogródki działkowe w miejsce gościnne i mające…

campfires, sandpits, cow pastures and swamps

Ecotopia Biketour 2016 July 3, 2016 July 3, 2016

Finally the group somehow has improved its routine. Cycling, cooking and camping is working. We where so occupied with the visa for belarus that we hardly could organize our daily tasks… But we found nice sleeping places every night and we cycled through very beautiful landscapes. Especially the area around the Bug was nice. In the tiny villages, every house has a bench in front, where the people hang out and meet each other. We are always a big attraction cycling through. The dogs running after us, barking, and then suddendly jumping back when Knoedel, the biketour-dog barks back.

This year’s theme

ola July 2, 2016 April 28, 2017

It seems like trying to live in a sustainable way in a mobile community we constantly find ourselves reusing other people’s trash. We can’t grow our own but we try to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible, finding alternatives to buying new. Obviously, Western European trash is very different from the trash we see in the east of the continent. Last year in Scandinavia we were able to source nearly all of our food (and even clothes and shoes!) from supermarket food skips without much effort. We had a dumpster diving team on the rota every day and…