Maps My primary navigation was using the GPS on my smartphone. I used google maps and Maps.Me which uses open street map, mapping data. I found that Maps.ME uses slightly more battery, but both are pretty battery hungry and will run down the battery in very much less than a day if used continuously. Even plugged into the Dyno hub & USB converter, this could not keep up with the battery drain with the phone being used continuously as a sat-nav. Generally I just ran the map application periodically to check direction at junctions. I used the satnav screen for the final run into large towns and cities. I visited Stamfords travel book shop in London for a paper map of Asia before I left. I kept this and had a compass in case of problems with the smartphone GPS. I was able to get further maps in Bishkek. I was unable to get a paper map of the Pamirs in Osh but was able to print sections from one which was available online at a local internet café. Base Camp It is a very good idea to have a friend or relative act as base camp. Whilst I carried all the normal spares such as brake pads, brake hose connectors and gear cables, the things that actually broke I was not able to carry such as pedals. Spare parts for high tech European and North American bikes are not available in many parts. In one example basecamp were able to quickly send out replacement pedals by DHL. Post I found Parcel force available at British post offices rubbish. They quoted 4-5 days for international delivery to India but the item I was hoping to receive actually took 14 days. They also claim fully tracked but are in fact are unable to track items going outside of Europe so all the tracking window shows on their website is collected by Basingstoke Depot which is not much use when what you really want to know is if it has cleared customs which is where delays usually occur. DHL were reliable. Make sure the agent records the actual value of the package. Although their standard insurance covers a value up the £75 pounds, you should record the actual value as you will be charged import duty. Low value goods are often exempt from import duty so if you keep the value low, there is less chance of the package being held up at customs. Communication I found that many places except in very remote areas have internet access. I had a UK phone on contract which allows mobile roaming which I kept for emergency use. Telefonica / O2 appeared to have by far the largest range of countries in which roaming was allowed and covered all the countries I needed. At £1.50/min it is no good for calling home. For this I used Skype. You can talk computer-computer free. However, my parents are not so good with tech so I purchased some Skype Credit that allows you to call normal telephones. This costs the same as a local rate call. I purchased £20 of Skype credit and still have more than half left and I spent several hours in total on the phone. I also used Skype for calling the bank when they had put one of my cards on stop. If you need to receive incoming calls on Skype there is also an option to purchase a subscription which gives you a phone number which can be dialled from a normal phone. I found that from some hotels access to my UK email was blocked. I guess this was down to their internet service provider blocking access to other providers email server. I had a backup Gmail account that always seemed to work in these situations. I also installed a Virtual Private Network (VPN) app that got round these issues. The VPN also allowed me to access internet services from countries that sensor access such as Iran and on the odd occasion when sufficient bandwidth was available, allowed me to access the BBC Iplayer. I used Cloud VPN but there is plenty of choice. Just make sure you download the app from a reputable source like Android Play store or Apple App store. Travel Money For most of the trip I was able to withdraw money from ATM’s using my debit card. I set up two current accounts with different banks in case a card got skimmed and an account emptied. I also had several credit cards in case of emergency. I split up the cards and carried in different bags. I carried 1 debit card and a small amount of cash on my person for daily expenses along the road such as water and food. I had $200 dollar at the bottom of my pannier in case of emergency and being unable to withdraw money. Carrying a small amount of cash and a debit card in a day wallet avoids advertising that you are carrying much money when going into shops etc. for refreshments. It also provides protection if you have a numptee moment such as I did where I left the wallet on the counter in a shop. Actually it took 3 attempts at this before someone did run off with the wallet. So I lost €20 and 1 card, but there was no evidence of any attempt to use the card which was of the chip & pin type. It is always best to keep several days cash in-hand. Communications in some of the countries is not 100% reliable and ATM’s will not dispense money for international bank cards if it is unable to communicate with the outside world. ATMs are not available in Uzbeckistan. I used Western Money Union to wire myself Dollars for collection from a local bank in Dushanbe. Although many of the ATMs in Dushanbe had an option to withdraw cash in Dollar, I did not find a single one that actually contained Dollars. As I was entering Tajikistan in the mountains there would be no ATM until I reached a major town. I therefore changed money in Bishkek and Osh to make sure I had plenty to see me through. I was surprised when I was able to change the Kyrgyzstan Som I head remaining in Murghab. ATMs are widespread in Iran but are not able to accept international bank cards. This is a result of the international sanctions which have prevented Iranian banks from connecting to the SWIFT international bank messaging system. Following the Nuclear non-proliferation agreement reached between Iran, the EU and the US, some sanctions have now been lifted so the situation may improve. However, the election of Trump as US president adds a rather unknown quantity into the mix and progress on normalising relations may be affected. (February 2016). During my travels the only way to get money into the country was to carry cash in US dollars. I used Western Money Union to wire myself Dollars for collection from a local bank in Dushanbe.
Another reason for taking multiple cards is to cope with cards being put on stop. I notified the banks of my travel plans. However, I still found that certain combinations of transactions could easily result in a card being put on stop. Typical examples were:- Withdrawing cash from two countries in one day, withdrawing the maximum allowed from an ATM several days in a row. The withdrawal limit in some countries is quite low so this can easily be required in big cities where the hotels are more expensive. I found Santander handled these issues the best. When the transaction they think is suspicious is declined they send you a text message. When you reply to the text message the card is reactivated. (Ensure contact details are up to date before leaving) With other banks I had to guess if the transaction had failed because the communications were down or they had put my card on stop and phone to get it reactivated. Insurance Comprehensive travel insurance is essential. Fortunately I did not get to test how good my insurers emergency response was. In India at least, they literally will not scoop you up of the street if the ambulance does not know who has the credit card or insurance to pay. Many insurances will be invalid if travel includes destinations that your countries Foreign Office recommend against travel to. I used Tag Direct which was one of the few without limitations. However, there are clear exclusions in the policy against mishaps resulting from war, insurgency and civil unrest. www.tgic-online.com