Frog on a bike - Arnaud’s cycling adventures

Today I saw a travel nurse in preparation for my 2008 trip to Russia and Asia.

I will get these recommended inoculations (descriptions from the official NHS travel website):

• DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and polio)
• Typhoid and hepatitis A
  Spread through contaminated food and water. Typhoid causes septicaemia and hepatitis A causes liver inflammation and jaundice. In risk areas you should be immunised if good hygiene is impossible.
• Rabies
  Spread through bites or licks on broken skin from an infected animal. It is always fatal. Vaccination is advised for those going to risk areas that will be remote from a reliable source of vaccine. Even when pre-exposure vaccines have been received urgent medical advice should be sought after any animal bite.
• Tickborne encephalitis
  Spread by tick bites. It is a serious infection of the brain and vaccination is advised for those in risk areas unable to avoid tick bites such as campers, forestry workers and ramblers.
• Japanese B encephalitis
  Spread by mosquitoes. Risk is only in the very far east of Siberia close to the Chinese border. Advised if likely to be repeatedly exposed to mosquito bites, such as during prolonged stays (e.g. more than 4 weeks), or repeated visits to the infected area.

So far I got the DTP and Hepatitis A inoculations.

I’ll get the ones for Typhoid and Rabies closer to departure, probably around the end of January. I will also need to see a doctor for Japanese B and Tickborne encephalitis as these are not free on the NHS and need a specific prescription.

2008 will be my big cycle trip across Eurasia. I’ve been thinking about this for a few years and I would have done it this year if not for PBP.

My rough plan is to leave around April 2008 at the latest, spend a month travelling through Germany and Eastern Europe (Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) and finally stop for a couple of months in Saint Petersburg to study Russian in a private school. 8 weeks of study with accomodation in a host family should cost less than £3000. It will be useful to improve my very basic Russian and also give a nice focus to the journey.

After Saint Petersburg I am thinking about cycling to Irkutsk near lake Baikal. It should be around late September by then, and just the time to cross Mongolia before it gets seriously cold. After crossing the Gobi desert I would then get into Northern China and from there probably head towards Beijing.

Mike Vermeulen has just recently finished a similar tour to Vladivostok: http://www.bikerussia.com/.