It took Nicole Franke and Tobias Pieper exactly 1001 days to cycle around the world. The University of Oldenburg graduates set off in March 2009 and arrived back in Oldenburg to great acclaim in December 2011.
Their record: 31 countries, almost 50,000 kilometres and 78 flat tyres. "Tobias came up with the idea of travelling the world by bike," says Nicole Franke. "He had already done a tour of Europe by bike in 2000." Back then, Tobias Pieper cycled as far as Greece - and the idea of cycling around the world never left him. It was on the Landscape Ecology degree programme that he met Nicole Franke, the "right" friend for such a plan. "At first, our studies took priority," Franke looks back, "but as we approached the end of the programme, it was clear that we wanted to travel the world."
While writing their diploma theses, the two began to organise new bicycles, vaccinations and visas. Their travel plans initially took them from Europe south of the Caspian and Black Seas to China. Franke and Pieper later decided on the route via South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South America and the USA. They stayed in Australia for a three-month working holiday to replenish their travel funds - Franke worked on a campsite, Pieper as an arborist.
The two globetrotters had to suppress a few uneasy feelings both during the planning and on the trip itself: "We had just decided on our route when Russia invaded Georgia," says Franke. By the time the two cyclists crossed Georgia, the fighting was already over - "but I felt uneasy when I stood in front of a destroyed bridge that I had heard about on the news," recalls Nicole Franke.
Franke and Pieper were impressed by the warmth in the Muslim countries, which swept away all fears and prejudices. "This tea culture is unique, you get waved off the street by complete strangers and invited for tea," says Franke. In contrast, the hospitality in Laos and Cambodia was almost unpleasant for the pair. "There is great poverty in the countryside, and yet people share their rice with you because there is no supermarket nearby," reports Franke. In general, the most important thing Franke and Pieper learnt from their trip around the world is the "common humanity": "We were always impressed by how many people opened their homes to us, let us camp in their gardens, offered us a bed or food," says Franke.In contrast, the cyclists found the destruction of nature and environmental pollution in many countries shocking.
After 1001 eventful days, which the two of them recorded in their blog entitled "Journey to the Horizon", their parents, friends and acquaintances gave them an enthusiastic welcome in Oldenburg in December. Franke and Pieper are now looking for a new direction and want to start by working in Tobias Pieper's parents' bonsai nursery in Enger (North Rhine-Westphalia).
