Le Pari Vélo

Nicolas Dubois Paris, 27th August 2015

« Le Pari Vélo » project

Winner of « Paris Jeunes Aventures » prize

Category « sports challenges » (2014-2015)

Contact : nicobici1987@gmail.com

Assessment of the trip and anecdotes

ABC of the « Pari Vélo »

A) Aventure (Adventure)

Le Pari Vélo, a 10 000 km bicycle adventure. It was my first 6 months long bicycle trip on my own. My goal was to meet with the locals, discover new cultures and make my way through remote areas. I discovered Japan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy and several regions of France by bike from January to August 2015. I also stopped in the US and in India (not using the bicycle as my main means of transport). Travelling in Europe probably made things easier. Thanks to my European bearings, I managed to adapt quickly. It’s convenient to find where to go for groceries; one can find pharmacies, cafés… I experienced “adventure” when I crossed the mountainous region along the Vietnam-Laos border. My paniers were full of food supply for 3 days. I was cycling on a winding mountain road, partly under construction, on which I only bumped into truck drivers carrying wood from Laos to Vietnam. Some of them were taking some time off, chatting under their trucks, while playing cards. I regularly had to push the bike, in the dust and under the heat. I randomly met two hunters stepping out of the jungle. I was lucky enough to find a cabin built on the side of the road. It was an ideal spot to rest and stay overnight.

Navigation wasn’t always easy. In some countries, the only maps available weren’t detailed at all. The signs were almost non-existent or were written with letters I couldn’t read. Some cities had different names according to the language that was used. I had to ask my way and sometimes ask the inhabitants to draw sort of a diagram, for me to know which way to go. In the other countries, I was using downloaded off-line maps on my smart phone.

It was a physical challenge for me to reach Siemp Reap from Stoeng Treng in Northern Cambodia. The road was made of good quality asphalt, but the heat was very strong and I couldn’t find many supplies (only a few tiny shops). The land was dry and poor. I was hosted by a couple who explained to me how to wash myself at the village’s well (wearing a loincloth). Later, they pointed at a cart on which I could go and rest (more ventilated and therefore more comfortable).

B) Boire (Drink)

Lacking water is a real danger. Every day, or even every other hour, I had to think about filling up the water bottles. I was always trying to keep one full (therefore not waiting to drink the last drop before looking for a tap or a spring). In Japan, I was drinking 2/3 litres a day whereas is northern Cambodia I was consuming at least 7 litres a day. I chose to buy bottled water in several countries instead of using purifying water pills. In South-East Asia, when I couldn’t be sure where the water was coming from, I sometimes bought soda cans (often for sale along the road in ice boxes). Beer seems to be the national drink in most countries (Beer Lao, Cambodia Beer). I ended up throwing my broken flask in Greece, and replaced it by a plastic bottle of a similar capacity. Water was essential to wash fruits and veggies, to brush my teeth, to refresh myself, to wash my clothes. I started drinking tap water again in Turkey , refilling the same bottles as many times as possible.

C) Chaleur (Heat)

The heat: my worst enemy. I had to organize my days according to the hour of sunrise. The hottest countries were Cambodia in April (39° in Preah Vihear), Malaysia in May (not as hot but much more humid), India in June (one day was 42°, but no cycling), Italy in July (38° before reaching Florence). During the hot days, I was cycling from 7 to 11am and then before sunset. In Vietnam I bought kind of a beekeeper’s hat that was covering my neck and shoulders. By the end of June, after 3 months of heat, I finally experienced fresh air in Bulgaria, under a grey sky and even rain.

I also experienced cold weather in the US and in Japan: when I reached Yamanaka lake (on the foothills of Mount Fuji), a signboard was displaying a temperature of 2° at 2pm, and it snowed all night long. On the following days, I rode along the coastline where the temperatures stayed quite low.

D) Danger

I never felt that I was in danger during this trip. I was taking care of my belongings, especially in large cities. In order to find a place to camp, I used to talk to the locals to make sure the chosen spot was a good one. One night, in Malaysia, while I was camping near an abandoned hotel, I caught sight of flashlights coming from the beach. I didn’t get where those lights were coming from and I started to worry a bit. An hour later, I realized that it was coming from teenagers catching crabs.

The worst danger was traffic. One has to get used to local habits: driving on the left or the right side of the road; the fact that the biggest vehicle has priority over the other ones; understanding the meaning of never ending honking horns (in Vietnam). The most dangerous road was probably the huge bridge linking Johor Bahru (Malaysia) and Singapore. Cycling in Hanoi also was quite chaotic. An example of a peaceful road was the « Cycling Riviera » which is a separated double bike lane built on an old railroad (region of San Remo and Imperia, Italy). I was involved in one small accident (I was guilty and absolutely alone): on my last day before reaching Paris, in Etampes, I was day dreaming and I (quite slowly) cycled straight into a massive piece of concrete urban furniture. I ended up on the ground surrounded by my paniers and everything else (nothing serious happened).

E) Entretiens pour le Pari Vélo (Meetings for Le Pari Vélo project)

One of the three themes of the Pari Vélo project was to meet stakeholders (NGOs, associations, individuals, city governments…) involved in promoting cycling (in every way possible and for all its potential uses). My goal was to study the use of cycling (culture / infrastructures) in many different countries: 1) on my own, every day, using my bicycle, 2) through and thanks to those meetings. I am very thankful to:

USA (end of January/February 2015) : Bicycle Film Festival (Brend Barbur, Director of the festival : www.bicyclefilmfestival.com) ; Time’s Up (Simon, volunteer : times-up.org) ; Transportation Alternatives (Ollie, employee : https://www.transalt.org)

Japan (February/March) : Khuns gallery/Coffeeshop in Asakusabashi, Tokyo (Junichi, owner : http://www.kuhnsbar.com) ; Kaze Bicycle Messengers (Fujimura and Kenya, bike messengers : https://www.facebook.com/messengerKAZE.osaka)

Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia (April) : La Bicicleta, cultural center and coffeeshop in Hanoi (managed by Gium, also a member of the association The Hanoi Bicycle Collective : https://www.facebook.com/THBC.VN)

Malaysia/Singapore (May/June) : Farred, bicycle activist (http://klcycleguy.blogspot.com) : he is also involved in developing the Cycling KL Map : http://cyclingkl.blogspot.com ; Love Cycling SG (Francis Chu, organizer and volunteer : Love Cycling SG)

Turkey (late June) : Istanbul Bisiklet Festival, the international bicycle festival of Istanbul (organized by : http://bisikletliler.org) ; meeting with Murat, who represented Turkey at the Vélocity forum 2015 in Nantes : http://www.velo-city2015.com

Greece/Italy/France (July/August) : The City of Thessaloniki (George Dimarelos, Transport and Mobility elected member : www.thessaloniki.gr/en) ; the Bicipolitana Cycling Network – City of Pesaro (Luca, employee at the City Department of the Environment: www.pesaromobilita.it) ; Montélovélo, Montélimar (Gilbert, volunteer and coordinator : montelovelo.free.fr).

All the reports regarding those meetings are available on the blog: http://parivelo.blogspot.com

Some remarkable examples of efficient initiatives and good quality infrastructures: the broad bicycle parking at every metro station in Tokyo, allowing inhabitants to combine their means of transport (bicycle+public transit); the Mamachari bikes are very common to get around but also to carry groceries and children. Walkways are shared between pedestrians and cyclists (one half is designed for bikes on the road side and the other half is for pedestrians only).

One counterexample would be the city of Kuala Lumpur, which is experiencing an incredible growth without taking into account the needs of pedestrians and cyclists. The planning and the layout of the city aren’t at human scale. The secondary roads network isn’t easy to access and one has to use the main and dangerous roads, to get from one part of the city to another.

F) Fujisan (Mount Fuji)

I will never forget the first day of this cycling trip … From the rooftop of my friend Shin’s house in Mitaka, Tokyo, one could see Mount Fuji in the background. Sunrise, time to go! I started cycling with a warm coat towards Yamanakako and Fujisan, 90 kms away and 900m above sea level. At night, temperatures were below 0°, therefore I decided to ask for a room in a small Minshuku (a traditional Japanese inn), that looked deserted. I put on the slippers that I was given by the employee and I made my way to the smoky and bubbling O-Furo (bath) for the first time. This first day was full of emotions, beautiful and intense!

G) Générosité (Generosity)

I was lucky to meet very generous and welcoming people in every single country. Strangers offered me to stay in their family homes, locals bought me coffee in Turkey, I was given ice cream in Greece and fruits in Croatia, bicycle mechanics fixed my bike for free in Singapore and Greece … When you wander around being open to the others and when you reach a place without expecting anything, interacting and meeting people is unique and authentic. Modest crowd as well as wealthy people are often willing to share.

H) Hébergement (Accomodation)

I chose to be fully equipped for this trip, in order to be autonomous. All my camping gear was kept in one panier. I was able to camp in remote areas and I also spent a few nights in campsites when I had a good opportunity to do so. I am a member of the Couchsurfing network since 2008 and Warmshowers since 2013. Thanks to these amazing hosting websites, I was able to meet really interesting people along my way. I was hosted by friends in Tokyo, on Shikoku Island, in Phnom Penh and in Lyon. Finally, if I really needed to, I was spending a night in a hostel (ex: on Honshu island in Japan because of the cold weather, or in Laos because of the heat).

I) Internet

Now that we have entered the age of internet, it is probably easier to travel. My original goal was to try and “disconnect” from the world I know, as much as possible, but I realized that this tool was really practical and essential for such a trip (checking online maps, weather forecasts, the news in the different countries, communicating with relatives…). I could regularly and easily find Wifi and I was using my smart phone to go online. I usually stopped once a week in an internet café in order to publish an article on my blog.

J) Journée type (Typical day)

One day in July in Italy: Waking up at 7:30am (I fold my tent and say goodbye to the farmers who had let me camp in a field nearby). I make my way down towards the valley. At 8:30am, I find a coffee shop to eat, charge the batteries, fill up the water bottles and decipher the local paper. I avoid the main roads and around noon I reach a larger village for lunch. I choose a small bakery to sit in the shadow. A wooden stage in under construction on the main square (1:15pm): what an ideal place for a ventilated nap! I start to cycle again at 2:30pm but it is still way too hot. I decide to stop again at 3pm in another village. I spontaneously find an ice cream place and I listen to a couple debating near me. Phew! Finally some clouds! During cloudy days, I usually cycle much farther and longer. I arrive in Pontassieve (not far from Florence) where I met some young guys. I introduce myself and I ask them if they know a place to pitch the tent for the night. They invite me to follow them and I end up at their place, 5 km away, which is an old shared-house in the vineyards. We prepare a large quantity of pasta for all the guests and we spend the evening talking using a mixture of English, Italian, Spanish and French.

K) Kilomètres (kilometers)

I usually cycled 80 km each day. I was taking one or two breaks a day. I was spending this time visiting, walking around, cleaning my equipment and filling up my paniers with food supply etc. Cyclists know that wind can be your best friend but also your worst enemy. In Japan, it took me hours to cover a distance of 45 km, from Toyohashi to Irago-Misaki (with a strong head wind). On the contrary, I managed to cover a stage of 110 km in a day in southern Laos thanks to a gentle wind pushing me along the Mekong River. On flat grounds, it is possible to cover 100 km (example from Thessaloniki to Edessa in Greece). But if one needs to cross mountainous regions (ex : from Komotini to Zlatograd or from Grasse to Castellane), it is much better not to plan anything and stop before your body gets hurt 50-60 km max). The road quality is also a key point (ex : dirt roads from Attapeu to Champasak ; roads under construction in Vietnam -gravels- ; or on the contrary smooth asphalt roads in Japan).

L) La chaîne de cadeaux (« The gifts’ chain »)

One of the goals of « Le Pari Vélo » project was to carry out a “gifts’chain”. My intention was to give a present to the first family who would host me, and ask them to hand something over to me that made sense to them. The goal was then to transport this new object on my bicycle, and hand it over to the family that I would meet at the end of the next stage (and try to repeat that operation as often as possible). I wanted to carry objects that tell a story (seeds, drawings of children, a piece of embroidered fabric…) and be kind of a messenger during one day. This activity led to short stories, each day, within the cycling adventure.

This operation mostly worked spontaneously, without explaining the whole project or this concept (because of the language barrier for example). Nonetheless, the objects or gifts that families gave me led to interesting anecdotes. For example, one Japanese family who hosted me spontaneously gave me some Shiitake from their garden (mushrooms) and I cooked them the following day with my Mexican host, a really good cook living in Japan. Another more recent example is local honey, that I was given by a French couple near Montelimar, which I offered to my hosts in Tournon-sur-Rhône, who were initiating a “Locavore” (selling local food products). The objects that I gave the most are safety yellow reflecting T-shirts, that I collected during the International Bicycle Festival in Istambul (I even gave some to Greek hosts).

M) Merci ! (Thank you !)

I want to thank Paris City Hall and the jury of the Paris Jeunes Aventures competition for their trust and for choosing me as the winner of the prize (category: sports challenge). I want to thank Damien and Antoine for representing me at the prize-giving ceremony. Thanks to: my family, my friends, my colleagues and all those who will recognize themselves. Thanks to: all the families who were willing to help and host me spontaneously or through the great Couchsurfing and Warmshowers networks, and those who participated in the gifts’ chain. Thanks to: all the associations that accepted to be interviewed regarding my study of bicycle culture/infrastructures and cycling initiatives in their city. Thanks to all the people I met during my trip for their useful pieces of advice. I would like to thank all those who followed me, help me, directly or indirectly to undertake, conduct and achieve this project.

N) Nourriture (Food)

One constantly needs to adapt to local food. You can’t find everything everywhere. Eating “local” is the best way to dive into local culture. I chose not to bring cooking gear, therefore I had the opportunity to share my meals everyday with locals, in small shops along the road or in markets. I learnt how to “slurp” as Japanese do with their ramens, I drank litres of Pho on tiny plastic tables in Vietnamese streets and walkways, I ordered many Nasi Lemak in Malaysia, I tasted (fresh?) Lassis in India, I stocked fat during breakfast with sweet Baklawas in Turkey, I ate slightly lighter lunches with Greek salads, I sipped delicious cappuccinos in Italy and finally I ate up tasty quenelles at my friend Aurélie’s place in Lyon.

I also had to store food supply in my paniers in order to have enough energy to pedal. I was always carrying some fruits and biscuits in case. I made a mistake two or three times: buying chocolate that melts instantly…!

O) Outils / Mécanique (Tools / Mechanics)

Unbelievable : almost no problems on the road (despite a ride of 10000 kms). I was carrying the most useful tools but luckily I didn’t have to use them all. I had taken a few mechanics classes before leaving but I didn’t have many opportunities to practice! Only one flat tyre (thanks to the very good quality tyres I bought), in Croatia. One nail broke through my tyre in Greece but the incredible “puncture resistant pneumatic” resisted. One spoke broke and one of the paniers fell off due to a damaged hook. I want to thank the bike mechanics from Singapore and Kalamaria (Greece) who checked my bike for free. I also broke one spanner when I was setting up the pedals of my bicycle after stepping out of Istanbul airport. The following day, I looked for a new spanner and the sales assistant handed a huge one meter long tool to me! It was a good laugh and soon after we found a solution.

P) Portraits

The third goal of the Pari Vélo project was to shoot portraits of inhabitants in each country. I took some good quality pictures and some portraits, after asking the person (e.g.: taxi driver in Delhi, shepherd in Bulgaria, little Japanese girl thrown in the air by her father…), but it was more difficult than what I thought to go and ask people if I could take a photo of them. I didn’t want to bother them; I was scared to “destroy” the authenticity of a particular moment; I didn’t want to intrude. Regarding the coming photo exhibition, I chose a variety of photos, such as spontaneous life scenes / street life, with several subjects. I also chose to show a few landscapes that impressed me during the trip. Finally, I will show photographs representing bicycle culture in different countries.

Q) Quatrième art (Fourth Art)

Music is art, a way to express feelings, a universal language that exists in every culture. Since I landed in New-York, at the very beginning of this adventure, I was charmed by Marjorie Elliott’s jazz improvisations in Harlem (she welcomes the public in her apartment). In Japan, I went to many temples where I was discretely listening to the prayers of monks and pilgrims. In Laos, I ended up in small villages’ festivities during Bum Pi Mai (the local New Year’s celebration). In Phnom Penh in Cambodia, I reached a street concert with curious instruments that looked like xylophones. In Malaysia, near Malacca Straight, I danced with a group of people who were celebrating their first reunion over the last 10 years. In Singapore, I was invited for dinner at Mark’s place, whose daughter was a violin prodigy. She played two pieces with panache. In India, on the rooftop of a hostel, I met with fellow travellers from Korea and football players from Ivory Coast who were escaping Nepal (after the earthquake), where they played in the professional league. They taught us some songs from their country. In Greece, I was hosted by a half Russian half Greek rapper who sang one of his songs in his home-based recording studio. Finally, in Italy, I was celebrating my host Paolo’s birthday with his friends who were clapping their hands and striking up: « Tanti auguri a te ! ».

R) Rencontres (Meetings)

One example of spontaneous meeting: this day was a long stage in northern Cambodia under a suffocating heat. I asked the inhabitants if I could pitch my tent somewhere in the village for the night. They say no. Ten kilometres farther, still nothing, and suddenly (in English): “Hello ! Come here ! ». It was Mr Ou Samkouy, police officer in Siem Reap, great badminton player, who recently bought a property in this rural area 40 kilometres away from the city. He tells me to join him. We have a nice chat and Ou translates our conversation to his friends. He tells me about his new land, about the area. Oh, look! Here comes a man on a motorbike arriving from Tonlé Sap Lake to sell fish. We buy some and Ou’s sister prepares some on the barbecue. Ou is currently constructing a gas station which will become his second job during week-ends in addition to his profession. Sadly, the storm from the day before damaged the recently built embankments and the building’s foundations. It doesn’t matter! Ou is always full of positive energy and seemed very happy to host me!

One planned meeting: when I was in Montenegro, I had contacted Marko (member of Warmshowers), an incredible man, in his seventies, who lives in southern Croatia. This curious character has a thousand stories to tell. He fled his country when he was 17 on a stolen boat with his friends. He arrived in Italy, and then reached France, before immigrating to Canada where he lived a wealthy life during 40 years. Now retired, he is broke and decided to come back to his country (even though this part of Yugoslavia is now called Croatia). He lives in improved containers and trailors, in the middle of nowhere, a few kilometres away from Plocice. The shower is made of a hose located in the garden, also used to water his plants. Despite his age, Marko undertakes several projects. He is trying to develop a kind of ecological reserve and to reactivate an old railway line, in order to attract tourists to his region. He declares himself a communist and speaks English with many swearwords like an American teenager.He told me about Woodstock… and then even told me that he met Fidel Castro in person! It was a very funny and interesting meeting.

Bicycle travellers I met: In Malacca in Malaysia, I meet a French family who is travelling by bicycle for a year and a half. They had never left France before that but Natalie, Jean-Marie, Zoe (10) and Yan (8) decided to go and explore the world by bike. They toured Africa for one year, India for 6 months and they were undertaking their tour of Southeast Asia when we met. They were using a Pino tandem bike (one person reclining in the front, one person sitting in an upright position in the back) and two more bicycles. I meet them again three days later near Lake Chini and we decide to camp on the pier, with two of their Belgian and French friends who they had met in India a few months earlier. This is truly an amazing adventurous family and they were all real citizens of the world (http://parentheseavelo.blogspot.com).

S) Santé (Health)

I didn’t experience any health problems. I had contracted a good insurance with a repatriation service in the event of an emergency. I endured two or three scratches but I was equipped with a full pharmacy kit and it was enough for the trip. Issues: always make sure to be protected from the mosquitos in certain regions, and from the sun, almost everywhere! One had to be very careful with water and uncooked food. In India, people sell repackaged water that they buy in greater quantity into smaller water bottles (that look very similar to industrially treated water bottles). It is also difficult, though, to escape from all the bacteria and germs, therefore one needs to carry quite a wide range of common medicines.

Physical and mental health: good general condition during the whole trip. I started the trip going “too fast” in Japan, trying to cover quite a long distance each day, during the first two weeks (knees aches). I decided to slow down and find a more efficient and sustainable pace; there is no reason to hurry!

My energy decreased while approaching Montenegro and Croatia. Luckily, I took a 3 days break in Split and Ancona and that helped me to recover all the required power. During a long trip, one needs to listen to his/her body, needs to know his/her limits and remember not to go over them, because the next day one will have to pedal again. Here are examples of days when I felt particularly good on the bike : from Bai Tam Tan An to Khâm Đức in Vietnam (peaceful and rural area), on Shodoshima Island in Japan, the downhill stretch from Paso di Bracco to Sestri Levante in Italy (nice bends going down the mountain at sunrise), the Gorges of Verdon… Mental health: when the road is long and monotonous, you have to be strong ; you can think it's never going to end. However, there is almost always “something” to watch or to do along the way. The traveller sees faces, looks at people in the eyes, stops to take photos. If there isn’t much to do, the traveller focuses on the physical effort or loses him/herself in his/her thoughts. We can get used to almost anything. During the breaks and at the end of the evenings, it was time to look for a place to stay and time to meet local people.

T) Temps (Time)

As explained above, the hours one spends on a bicycle can be long, and it feels like the day is never ending (until you reach your final destination at night). Luckily, that’s the exception. Generally, I keep watching things all around me and I keep myself busy. I stop when I’m hungry, when something catches my attention, when I want to keep a photo of a particular moment or place. The hours and the kilometres come naturally one after another and movement becomes the norm. Paradoxically, on a more difficult road (uphill, sharp bends), time really flies by. On a long straight flat road (e.g.: at the border of Turkey and Greece; or part of the East coast in Malaysia), time is long and elastic, like marshmallow.

A seven months journey, is that long? I would say yes and no. I decided to go to specific countries that I wanted to discover, and that were relatively small, to be able to explore them on a bicycle. This way, in one specific country, I was able to discover regions of the seaside, rural areas, as well as mountainous areas, within a few weeks, before reaching another neighbouring country. I think the experience is different for bicycle adventurers who decide to go through China or Russia. I met a Canadian guy, Keith, who had left home with his bike 7 years earlier. Keith became nomadic. The way nomadic people perceive, feel and live “time” is different from sedentary people. I learnt how to appreciate time differently. Sometimes, one needs a very tight schedule to take advantage of every single opportunity that comes to him/her, but there are moments when it’s better to go slow and take time to live things in a more intense and authentic way, to adapt to a different rhythm that is not necessarily ours, originally.

U) Unesco

During this adventure, I was very lucky to visit numerous sites that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage List (http://whc.unesco.org/fr):

- Japan : Fujisan, sacred place (2013)

Historical monuments of Kyoto (1994)

Historical monuments of Nara (1998)

Sacred sites and pilgrims ways in the Kii Mounts (Mount Koya - 2004)

- Vietnam : Monuments of Huê (1993)

Old city of Hoi An (1999)

- Laos : Vat Phou and the old establishments in the cultural landscape of Champassak (2001)

- Cambodia : Angkor (Siem Reap - 1992)

- Malaysia : Melaka, historical city of the straight of Malacca (2008)

- Singapore : Botanical Gardens of Singapore (2015)

- India : Fatehpur Sikri (1986)

Taj Mahal (1983)

The Red Fort (2007)

- Turkey : Historical zone of Istanbul (1985)

- Macedonia: Natural and cultural heritage of Ohrid region (1980)

- Montenegro : Natural and cultural area of Kotor

- Croatia : Old city of Dubrovnik

Historical city of Split

- Italy : Historical center of Florence

Piazza del Duomo in Pisa

Historical center of Urbino

Genoa, the Strade Nuove and the Palaces system of Rolli

- France : Historical site of Lyon

V) Voyage (Journey)

For several years, I have been learning a lot thanks to my travels. Travel is an infinite source of renewal, an opportunity for anyone to grow, change, learn and discover oneself. When you go for real, you win a lot, you lose a lot. Let’s travel.

« Quand tu aimes il faut partir

Ne larmoie pas en souriant

Ne te niche pas entre deux seins

Respire, marche, pars, va-t’en »

B. Cendrars, Feuilles de route, 1924.

W) Wagons

I will always remember this moment in a train in India. Two Indian ladies wearing colourful saris are sitting not far from me and are chatting in an unidentified language. On the other side, a young man is sitting on the bench, day dreaming, with his chin against his knee. His face is almost touching the window while he is looking outside. The train is moving slowly. One can hear the noise caused by the wheels hitting the rails one by one, and the noise of the rusty fast-running fans. Above me, I can see the swinging legs of the passengers using the bunk beds, following the natural movement of the train.

X) Xénophobie? (Xenophobia?)

I haven’t witnessed any xenophobia or racism acts during this journey. In some countries, I did note that populations from different origins coexisted, sometimes side by side, but I didn’t see any particular tensions. For example, in India, one can see that people from different casts have different statuses. In Malaysia, some villages are mostly populated by Malays, others by Chinese Malays, and others by Indians (who arrived many generations ago). These populations don’t mix much but it feels like they coexist in peace (they usually speak their own language within their communities).

Y) Y a-t-il des questions? (Do you have any questions ?)

If you do, I will be more than happy to answer. Don’t hesitate to contact me at the following email address: nicobici1987@gmail.com

You can also reach me via my blog http://parivelo.blogspot.com and the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/parivelo .

Z) Zlatograd

Probably the only « Z » of the trip. Zlatograd in Bulgaria: a mysterious singular little world. As I was burning under the Greek sun, I decided to go north and cross the mountain range over to Bulgaria where I found grey skies and rain, a very different atmosphere. It was like jumping to the past when I discovered the beautiful mansions made of wood and old stones (that reminded me of Switzerland), and also the damaged large buildings built during the former Soviet era. My joyful host Anton, a polite and generous man, offered me to taste a huge variety of local specialties and national dishes, in only one evening. Bad luck, because on the next morning, before leaving and cycling back to Greece, he informs me that I had to taste one more thing before going: it was a tripe soup. Nothing could have been better than that for me to cycle very fast towards the next city. Travelling is always full of surprises..

Le projet Pari Vélo

Articles (date) :

samedi 1 octobre 2016

Viaje Viagem Trips :)

mercredi 11 mai 2016

Photos du vernissage de l'expo - Fin du Pari Vélo !

mardi 3 mai 2016

L'expo est installée ! Dernière étape du projet

samedi 23 avril 2016

Vernissage - Expo photos - le mardi 10 mai 19h-21h

dimanche 1 novembre 2015

Restitution du projet / Journée Vivre Mieux du 17 octobre 2015 (La Riche, Indre-et-Loire)

lundi 28 septembre 2015

Soirée Conclusions du Pari Vélo - Maison du Vélo - Bastille - Paris (25-09-2015)

mardi 1 septembre 2015

ENGLISH: Conclusions of the project "Le Pari Vélo"

Liens / Links

Merci / Thank you