I’m extremely pleased and excited to have been awarded a Peter Kirk European Travel Scholarship. The scholarships – which were set up to commemorate the work of the late Sir Peter Kirk MP – include a grant of £1,500 to enable young people from the UK and Europe to conduct a research project in a country other than their own. They’re typically restricted to individuals between the ages of 18 and 26 but – fortunately for me – will occasionally consider oldies up to the age of 29 if they impress enough. I was even more fortunate in that I initially received a rejection but due to a cancellation from another candidate I got a last-minute interview slot and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

My successful proposal is titled 20 Years Later: the Soviet Legacy in the Baltic States”. I’ll be spending around two months later this year in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania exploring both the physical and emotional remains of the Soviet period in these most Western of former Socialist Republics, and examining whether its impact still has ramifications today.

It should be an extremely interesting and enjoyable study, at least from a personal perspective, and one that I would simply not be able to do without the help of the Peter Kirk Scholarship trustees. I’m very grateful for their interest in this project and I look forward to producing an insightful report when I return. Now to arrange some interviews..!

I’ve recently returned from a brief trip to Transnistria, the result of a competition run by Wanderlust magazine I won back in the Summer.

It’s probably fair to say that a lot of people have never heard of Transnistria; indeed, it’s difficult to even find a definitive spelling of the place, with Transdniestr or Transdniestria just some of the versions commonly found in print. Without a doubt it must rank as one of the most obscure countries in Europe – and even that description is up for debate…

Transnistria – or the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, as it’s known locally – is an internationally unrecognised country forming a narrow strip of land between the Dniester River and Ukraine. Created in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse in the early 1990s, tensions between the mainly Russian-speaking Transnistrians and Moldova – of which the PMR is considered an integral part by most international observers – broke out into a bitter civil war that witnessed around a thousand killed. A de facto state of independence has been maintained ever since, with the presence of the Russian army all but guaranteeing the current status quo.

It’s also a place that, to put it mildly, has suffered something of an image problem over the last two decades. Weapons smuggling and human trafficking as well as human rights abuses are all accusations regularly directed at the authorities in the capital Tiraspol. So it was obvious that I was going to have to check the place out.

To get to Transnistria on the cheap I would need to take advantage of cheap flights, and I duly did so by travelling to Bucharest with budget outfit Blue Air. From the Romanian capital it was then a matter of an overnight bus to Chişinău in neighbouring Moldova and then a shared ‘maxitaxi’ – what we’d call a minibus – to Tiraspol.

Aside from the self-evident attraction of visiting a place that sees few visitors, another of Transnistria’s claims to fame is the retention of communist symbols and monuments that have long been consigned to the scrap heap in other areas of the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries, a little like Belarus (a country I visited back in 2008).

During my time in Transnistria I met up with Mila Selezneva, a local student and trainee journalist with Dnestr TV; she had heard about my impending trip to the region and was keen to talk about  the media and life in general back in the UK. After a chat over a coffee we travelled to the station’s studio housed in an apartment block in the neighbouring city of Bendery, and there we had an impromptu talk (with Mila translating) to the rest of the team in front of the cameras – you can see a brief clip here.

Mila also introduced me to Aleksei Buchkov, current president of the Student Community of Transnistria and all-round political activist. Between the three of us we had some interesting chats about Transnistria’s current political status, identity issues and what it means to be Transnistrian – and Russian at the same time. It was with some sadness when it came to saying goodbye the following day.

Mila and Aleksei were both very keen that I should return to Transnistria, and I’d very much like to take them up on their offer; 24 hours isn’t nearly long enough to understand this place and why it stubbornly decides to go it alone. I also had the privilege of meeting two very mature and intelligent young people, and the opportunity to explore more of their country – as well as socialise with good friends – is one that’s simply too good to pass up.

In the meantime I’ll attempt to write this trip up in a more readable fashion, and also upload the bulk of the pictures that don’t feature here already; I’ll post an update when the time comes…!

Update 11/02/2012
I’ve finally uploaded some of the pictures from the trip here. In case you’re unfamiliar with Panoramio, it’s a website which features uploaded photographs on Google Earth, which is a nice way to guarantee that at least a few people should see them.

So it seems appropriate to provide an update of progress so far on the expedition…

Sponsors
As predicted this is proving to be the hardest aspect of the expedition. From local bikeshop to multinational corporation, it would seem that the current economic climate has decimated budgets across the business spectrum. Many have pointed out that they already contribute to charitable causes or – in the case of a select few – already offer sponsorship to professional teams and athletes. The vast majority of those who have come back with a negative have still very kindly wished me success in my future endeavours; a full list can be found here.

But not all the news has been bad. I’ve had several pledges of support from several organisations, namely 4Sevens, ipadio, Schwalbe and Specialized Water Bottles. All will play their own part in getting me around South America and I really look forward to putting their products through their paces and – dare I say it – giving them some fantastic publicity at the same time!

Bursaries
There are a surprising number of bursaries and other competitions offering funding for adventurous expeditions, although it goes without saying that these are extremely competitive. I sadly failed to win the Berghaus Adventure Challenge but being shortlisted  was still a great experience, and in the coming year I’ll be submitting applications to  the Bill Wallace Grant, the GORE-TEX® Shipton/Tilman Grant, the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, and the Royal Geographical Society’s Journey of a Lifetime. I’ve also recently been awarded a Peter Kirk European Travel Scholarship and although this isn’t directly connected to Cycling South America it’ll still help to spread news of the journey further afield.

Training
So far the training schedule is running along smoothly. I’m clocking up the miles on the bicycle, the hills of West Yorkshire providing an enjoyable and picturesque backdrop to the more serious business of building up stamina. I’m also practicing my maintenance skills and am planning to undertake a course in the near future, the same applying to Spanish.

That pretty much rounds up a busy four months. The next big date is the 14th January, when I’ll be heading to The Outdoors Show in London to hand out booklets and generally tout for business; other than that, more of the same..!

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,600 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 27 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

In order to vote just click here; it only takes a moment and even if I’m not successful it still offers a great opportunity to promote the Cycling South America project…

If I somehow make it to the shortlist it comes down to a public vote. I need say no more; you’ll know what to do..!

Polartec® might be associated more with more “outdoorsy” activities – indeed, this year’s winners are mainly climbers and the like – but there’s a possibility that they’ll consider an (amateur) expedition such as this so it’s worth a punt. Obviously if I get anywhere you’ll be the first to know!

Oh, and if you’re also considering applying you’ll need to be quick as the deadline is at the end of this month…

My idea is to visit Transnistria, a small de facto but internationally unrecognised state on Moldova’s eastern border with Ukraine. Transnistria is chiefly famous for existing as if the Soviet Union never disappeared, with Hammer and Sickle emblems and public monuments to communist heroes aplenty. It should make for a fascinating visit.

I’m not going until January – I’ll be flying to Bucharest the day after attending The Outdoors Show – but I’m already really looking forward to it. No doubt you’ll hear all about it when I get back..!

So if you’re planning on going to the Show and see a slightly frazzled looking fellow desperately off-loading packs to passers-by please do come say hello..!