Ep 257: Chinese Backpackers, Mountains Clad with Solar Panels, a Giant Lenin Statue & Delightful Almaty: An Epic Overland Journey from Bali to Britain, with Stuart McDonald

“I wish I had 640 days to do this trip, not 64.” Bali-based Stuart McDonald, founder of Travelfish, is 34 days into an ambitious two-month overland trip across 18 countries from his Bali home to Leeds in the UK. So, why is he doing it? What has he experienced en route? And what have been the finest discoveries of the journey so far?

This week, Gary catches up with Stuart in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to track back across his train and-bus route so far, which has taken him from Bali to Jakarta, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Stuart describes the dramatic natural landscapes viewed from numerous train windows. He also tells compelling stories about his encounters with Chinese backpacking culture, entire mountains clad with solar panels, the lowering of a giant Lenin statue, an under-construction China-Central Asia railway, and the cultured urban delights of Almaty.

We preview the anticipated highlights of the rest of the trip, including Tbilisi, Istanbul, Bucharest and Budapest, before a rapid dash to Paris to catch the Eurostar to London - and a connection to the journey’s end: Leeds. A remarkable journey, which Stuart describes as “exhausting” and a “gruelling mission”, but - overall - the “trip of a lifetime”.