Asia Archives - BIKEPACKING.com

Expedition Alay

Guest Routes — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 12:10:25 +0000

Belén and I have spent four summer seasons in Kyrgyzstan both guiding group trips and riding our bikes around. And we’ve never been more compelled to come back to a particular section as when we cycled in the Alay region. If there’s one place bikepackers should see in Kyrgyzstan, it is Alay! Learning about Kyrgyzstan’s […]

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The Lanna Kingdom

Guest Routes — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 12:01:57 +0000

Idolised by generations of travellers, Thailand needs little introduction. For many, “the land of smiles” is synonymous with tropical beaches, bustling cities, and full-moon parties. But, away from the tourist trappings, the mountains of Northern Thailand are emerging as one of bikepacking’s best-kept secrets. Home to the smallest mountain in the Himalayas, Northern Thailand is […]

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The Annapurna Circuit (Bikepacking Route)

Guest Routes — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 12:09:33 +0000

Ride on rickety suspension bridges, quickly cross over active landslide zones, and gaze at peaks while going up against gravity. Spin the Buddhist prayer wheels clockwise when you ride along them and get mesmerized by clouds falling over the white giants after a long day in the saddle. This is the Annapurna Circuit. Although the […]

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The Bartang Valley, Tajikistan

Guest Routes — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 12:58:13 +0000

Beginning with a climb through the vast no man’s land between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the route emerges onto the barren, wind-whipped moonscape of the Murghab Plateau, stopping in the end-of-the-world village of Karakul beside a deep blue lake at nearly 4000m. The track then turns west off the M41 Pamir Highway across the lonely high-altitude […]

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The Border Roads, Tibet

Guest Routes — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 12:42:20 +0000

Tibet is much more than just the tightly restricted Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). The Tibetan Plateau extends far to the east, with the ancient Tibetan region of Kham existing — accessibly — in the far west of the provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai, allowing visitors to the area to experience a Tibetan landscape and culture […]

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Tian Shan Traverse, Kyrgyzstan

Joe Cruz — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 13:22:02 +0000

We’ve camped at the edge of a small village and a young sheep herder has come out to greet us. With us lacking Kyrgyz or Russian we communicate through pantomime. He has an idea. His cousin lives in the USA, so he calls her on his mobile so that she can translate. Nuri is stunned […]

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Khangai Mountains Traverse, Mongolia

Cass Gilbert — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 12:15:57 +0000

Dirt, grass and gravel roads abound. Where there are none, simply pedal your way across open steppe – the rolling, grassy terrain that makes up the majority of the country. Given the range of conditions – hardpack to corrugation to sand to bog – large volume mountain bike or midfat tires are ideal, especially for freestyling […]

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Tso Kar – Tso Moriri: Bikepacking the Indian Himalaya

The Pikes — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 12:21:16 +0000

Despite the fact that gradients on many of the uphills are too steep to ride, it’s all pushing rather than carrying, and the descents are thrilling. There are four lofty passes on the route, and in the valleys in between nomadic herders set up tents in the summer months. A profusion of non-technical peaks in […]

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