Around the world on two wheels, around the earth on a motorcycle

A trip around the world is probably the dream of everyone who likes to explore the world and his or her own abilities. For land travelers, i.e. car and motorcycle travelers, it means driving through all six continents and parts of the world, except Antarctica. In this case, you need to cross the equator and pass at least a couple of points-antipodes, located at opposite ends of the globe.

Our heroine Olga Narinskaya, the first Russian woman to circumnavigate the globe on a motorcycle, decided to make a daring experiment. It took her just over a year – 13 months. She shared her experience with us and told us about her most vivid impressions.

Olga Narinskaya

experienced traveler

Tells about her round-the-world trip.

Table of Contents

Travel route

My way started through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, where I realized that it is no more difficult to drive through unfamiliar countries on my motorcycle than in Russia. It was a little more difficult in the next point, Mongolia, because the locals do not speak English (and even less Russian), and gas stations and signs on the “roads” are very rare. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the pristine beauty of the vast Mongolian steppes untouched by civilization and finding my way to Karakorum. This is the ancient capital built by Genghis Khan, where the medieval Buddhist monastery of Erdeni-Dzu is still partially preserved.

Asia

Next, I traveled to Europe, rich in must see sights that every tourist aspires to visit. Sure, I climbed the Eiffel Tower in Paris and walked around the Acropolis in Athens. But I remembered more other, not so famous places. For example, Krakow Castle, guarded by a dragon that spews flames at the request of visitors; Emir Kusturica’s movie town, lost in the Serbian mountains, where the movie “Life as a Miracle” was filmed; the oldest subway in continental Europe, a branch of which has been preserved intact and still operates in the center of Budapest.

Europe

After traveling through two dozen different countries, I crossed Europe

From north to south – from Poland to Greece, and from east to west – from Moldova to Belgium, where the bike was loaded onto a ferry and sent on a transatlantic voyage to a new continent – North America. After meeting my bike in the port town of Halifax, I traveled through several provinces and Canada’s Golden Horseshoe to Niagara Falls, located in two countries at the same time.

And I entered the States, where all the most interesting things are far from big cities: Great Lakes, deserts, mountains and canyons (among which the Grand Canyon, although the most famous, is not the only one worth seeing).

North America

On a side note: The main attraction for traveling motorcyclists is the legendary Route 66, which runs from Chicago to Los Angeles. It has been called the Mother of Roads and America’s Main Street. Along this historic route you can find a huge number of museums dedicated to it, as well as retro gas stations and even ghost towns.

North America

Closing the loop on the Northern Hemisphere, went to Africa

Except that due to sudden difficulties with shipping a motorcycle, I had to limit myself to just two countries – Ethiopia and Kenya. But it turned out that they are both worth devoting more time to them and going around completely rather than skipping through. For example, in Ethiopia there are two unique historical towns: Harer (near the Somali border) and Lalibela (high in the mountains in the north of the country) with monolithic temples carved in the rock.

Africa

Kenya is more attracted by the beauty of nature: the “five-thousanders” Kenya and Kilimanjaro (which, although belonging to the territory of Tanzania, but visible from Kenya), white sand beaches on the shores of the Indian Ocean and many national parks with giraffes and zebras.

Ona side note: For auto and motorcycle travelers of special interest are beautiful yellow signs installed in those places where the road crosses the equator. There tourists are also shown the trick of water swirling in different directions. But the most impressive is another equatorial feature: a horizontal moon looking “horns” upwards. In combination with the left-hand traffic, which is unusual for us, all this gives a magical feeling of some unreality of what is happening.

Africa

I continued my journey on the left side of the road to Australia. This is the most remote, small and hard to reach continent. But it is definitely worth visiting at least once to see wombats walking along the road, countless parrots that keep you awake in the morning, a huge variety of endemic plants, and to take away a $1 coin with the image of Elizabeth II on one side and a kangaroo on the other.

Australia

The last mainland, South America, traveled along the Chilean coastline

Explored parts of Patagonia and the Atacama Desert. Located on the shores of the largest ocean, it is the driest desert on Earth. There are places in Atacama where it hasn’t rained in over 400 years. There is also a medieval high-mountain oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama; the Laguna Chaxa Reserve with salt lakes inhabited by a population of pink flamingos; and even a modern 11-meter art object called “The Desert Hand,” symbolizing man’s insignificance before the forces of nature and his loneliness on the road.

Atacama Desert, “Desert Hand”

Instead of a farewell

Impressions are, of course, the most vivid. The ones that are remembered for a lifetime. Finally, I would like to say a couple of important words. Is it worth going on a round-the-world trip? If there are doubts, definitely not. And those who are sure of their desires and possibilities do not need any advice. Instead, I can give practical advice: to study in advance the peculiarities of entering each country, not to take unnecessary things, and to calculate money and time with reserve. And remember that any unexpected incident on the road is an adventure.