About The Adrien and Martin Joly Blog
Brothers Adrien and Martin follow in the footsteps of many travelers who crossed the Balkans from antiquity to modern times. But they do it by bicycle! Starting on October 6, they have given themselves one month to cycle the nearly 2,100-kilometre distance between Venice and Istanbul. In their blog, they reflect on and document their journey as they travel through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Their blog in French is at http://balkansavelo.unblog.fr/
We start our journey today
October 06, 2008 • Comments Bulgaria
Crossing the Balkans from East to West, we will be walking in the footsteps of many travellers, like the Romans who used the “via Ignatiu” which used to join the Orient to the Occident, or the merchant’s caravans of the Silk route which would travel up to china to bring rare porcelain back to Europe, or the first crusaders of 1096 who were massacred by the Turks, or even these adventurers of the Grand tour like Lord Byron who would wear local dress to explore the Balkans when it was still controlled by the Ottomans. This region has always symbolised the cross between the occident and the Orient.
We will follow the same tradition, using our bicycles which should be an interesting challenge as we will need to cycle about 1300 miles in just a month.
We think it is a good time to cross the Balkans as they are going through a very interesting transition. The declaration of Kosovo’s independence, the amazing development of Croatia, and the negotiations in Brussels about the integration of the major Balkan Countries are signs that the area is moving toward another direction.
This is why; it seems so important to us to explore the Region at this crucial moment. Travelling by bike is the best way to meet these neighbours who were isolated from us because of political conflict for such a long time.
We leave today. We will update this website as often as we can during our journey. You will be able to follow our adventure across the Balkans.
Your comments are welcome, and do not hesitate to contact us if needed.
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Adrien and Martin Joly
French brothers Adrien and Martin – both passionate travellers, embark on their first journey together as they cycle across the Balkans. When not travelling, Adrien works as at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton as an interpreter, while Martin works for an NGO in Paris. Adrien considers his first important journey to have been when he travelled along the Amazon River and relied on the local people’s hospitality 10 years ago. Martin, who also practices photography as an amateur, spent a year in Central America and walked across Iceland, the Pyrenees and Peru.
