Water and bike travel (gallery)
This gallery shows how the daily search for water impacts our lives on the road as bicycle travellers.
How much water, how it is collected and where from varies greatly on a bicycle trip. Evan and I come from different schools of thought. I was trained by Ilona, who never carried much water and didnāt drink coffee or tea in the morning. During a brisk spring we climbed up, over and eventually down from the high and dry elevations of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with no more than a single plastic water bottle each.
Before I met Evan I had upgraded to an eight-litre unwieldy jug that was rarely a challenge to fill in the South Caucasus with its taps and springs.
When he bought the equipment for his upcoming āfour-year bicycle ride through remote mountainous regions,ā (his own words), Evan suspected he would go a week at a time without a way to obtain water, and bought gear accordingly. His week in solitude has not yet materialized, but the 25-litre capacity in water bags he packed in preparation have proved very useful. Iāll add, tongue-in-cheek, that the āminimalistā strategy taken by Ilona and I in Central Asia was in fact undertaken in a āremote mountainous region.ā
The bicycle traveller needs water for drinking, cooking, and the more-optional washing of dishes, clothes and bodies. Getting this water at the right place and time requires a little bit of planning and equipment, or none at all, depending on oneās philosophy.
Bicycle travelling isnāt yet taking place on the Moon. Even in remote regions, people cling to survival. To survive they must have water, which means there will be some around, somewhere. In our search for water we have experienced both generosity and glimpses of lives different to our own. Water has been a way to learn about the intersection of people and environment.
Caption: A leaky water tap by the road in Turkey
Caption: Giving Stan a wash at a gas station in Turkey
Caption: Ilona collecting stream water in Tajikistan
Caption: Collecting spring water in Nagorno-Karabakh
A clean water delivery truck, Kenya
Caption: Brewing coffee, Kenya
Caption: A five-thousand litre cistern in coastal Kenya
Caption: A man at work filling water jugs, Kenya
Caption: Water break, Tanzania
Caption: Evan collecting water in Uganda
Caption: Cycling through the rain in Karamoja, Uganda
Caption: Surrounded by the water provided to flush the toilet, Kenya
Caption: Pushing through the mud in Kenya
Caption: Camping lakeside, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Evan collecting water in Rwanda
Caption: Ilona disembarking the ferry in Rwanda
Caption: Filtering water, Uganda
Caption: Hand washing station, Uganda
Caption: Alum carrying water, Uganda
Caption: Evan having a bucket bath, Uganda
Caption: Evan fixing the water filter, Kenya
Caption: River crossing, Kenya
Caption: Filtering water at camp, Kenya
Caption: Filtering water in the rain, at camp, Kenya
Caption: Cycling on a snowy road, Georgia
Caption: River crossing aided by a man on a horse carrying our bags, Nagorno-Karabakh
Caption: Drinkable plumbing in Georgia
Caption: Ilona at a pump in Rwanda
Caption: A man refilling our water bottle with boiled water, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Evan using a water bucket at the AT House Warmshowers in Bishkek to find a leak in the camp pillow, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Black tea, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Diluting water, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Waiting for horses to finish, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Ice in the shape of our cooking pot, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Beer bottles become water bottles, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: All my jugs, Kazakhstan
Caption: Beside a spring, Azerbaijan
Caption: Insulated bottles are nice but not necessary, Canada
Caption: Carrying capacity for beer, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Pumping water, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Squat toilet, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Looking for a place to collect water, Kyrgyzstan
Caption: Snow into tea, Kyrgyzstan
