From one city to another (part 1)
From one border to another, I have most often crossed vast expanses of countryside. However, cities remain equally interesting must-sees. From the worst experiences to the most fantastic, I briefly describe some of those that have marked me, photos to support.
This article first appeared in the excellent magazine Vélo Mag, May-June 2019 edition, and now online on their blog.
SINGAPORE: The rigid
The Southeast Asian city-state is one of a kind. It is often described as a fine city. The pun is reminiscent of the allure of this clean and lush city, but also that it is so regulated that it is possible to be ticketed for just about anything, including chewing gum or attempting to import it into the country!
SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina): The bruised
Sarajevo is known in particular for its two wars and the holding of the 1984 Olympic Games. To cycle there is to go back in time. We pass over the bridge next to which Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated, plunging Europe into the First World War. The ravages of the siege of the city in the 1990s are still very present, including the many buildings riddled with bullets.
TAIPEI (Taiwan): The bicycle
The capital of the East Asian island has the longest traffic lights I have ever seen! Probably designed to facilitate automobile traffic, these lights, for the most part with endless countdowns of 90 seconds, gave me plenty of time, at each intersection, to admire the modernity of the place. Like the rest of the country, where cycling is extremely popular, Taipei is crisscrossed with cycle paths.
TOKYO (Japan): The nice one
For a metropolitan area of 43 million inhabitants, Tokyo is strangely easy to approach. In order to avoid the busier boulevards, I walked through the immense labyrinths that are the residential districts of the Japanese capital. Children, all by bike or on foot, find their way there with the help of figures of different animals drawn on the ground: lions, elephants, crocodiles. And the Japanese are so respectful, polite and silent, that even at the most central point of the city, I never felt like I didn't have my space.
HANOÏ (Vietnam): The swarming
Hanoi is the complete opposite of Tokyo! My arrival in the Vietnamese capital was one of my most dangerous urban entrances. Twenty kilometers before the city, transport trucks roll quickly on a road without shoulders and motorcycles slip by wherever they can, all in a deafening cacophony of horns. In town, cycling was nevertheless easier, among the motorcycles which made one think of swarms of birds which opened and closed around me. At first glance, the scene is confusing, especially for a pedestrian. We quickly learn that it is better to follow the current of this human tide rather than trying to go against it.
ISTANBUL (Turkey): The multicultural
The Pearl of the Bosphorus is another city with a difficult approach. Coming from Western Europe, the roads converge on a few bridges where the traffic is so dense and still that street vendors stand in the middle of the highway, offering water and food. Once in the old town, it is preferable, for a few days, to abandon the bike for the espadrilles, time to explore the history, culture, markets, architecture and the other wonders that this place shelters. fabulous. Close to Asia, Istanbul has the beauty of the intermingling that occurs at the confluence of continents, religions and civilizations.
The Hagia Sophia Museum, icon of the metropolis, in the heart of Istanbul.
KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia): Not used to
The Malaysian capital is constantly modernizing. During the year I lived there, I witnessed the arrival of self-service bicycles and the appearance of bike paths, painted sky blue on the asphalt from the giant Petronas Towers. Yet cycling in this humid and sweltering tropical climate is still rare. And motorists are so unfamiliar with it that it is with zeal and patience that they keep their distance from the few pedal pioneers.
BAKU (Azerbaijan): The oil
At the heart of a conservative country at the same time as incredibly welcoming, on the edge of the Caspian Sea, Baku clashes and surprises. Built with the wealth of oil from the sea, it now has a Formula 1 circuit painted on the roads encircling the ancient walled city. The rest of the year, you can cycle there, between historic buildings, others with Soviet looks, and completely modern ones erected with the aim of proving the renewal of Azerbaijan.
KHIVA (Uzbekistan): The serene
A surprising oasis of 50 inhabitants in the Uzbek desert, in Central Asia, the city with porcelain minarets was, according to legend, founded by Noah's son, Shem, who dug a well there. Here as elsewhere in this hospitable country, the majority of the population seems to get around by bicycle.
TBILISSI (Georgia): The motley
The dazzling Georgian capital, established in the XNUMXth century, is today a successful blend of medieval and classical architecture, where buildings from the Stalinist era stand alongside other resolutely modern constructions. You eat well, get around easily, and the cost of living is very low. Tbilisi, like all of Georgia, was one of my favorites.
Discover the first 28 km of adventures in the book "Histoires à dormir dehors».
Vélo Passion, the pleasure of the peloton