Javier M. de la Varga has been cycling around the world for 7 years
Neither typhus, malaria nor the attacks he has suffered in some countries have made him change course. At 32, this photojournalist has turned his two passions, travel and cycling, in their way of life
With more than 77,000 kilometres behind him, he has already cycled halfway around the world, from Indonesia to Cape Town. He has lived and recorded experiences ranging from fascination with humanity to the fear caused by violence and deprivation; from the beauty of a silent landscape to the exhaustion left by malaria or typhus.
His name is Javier Martínez de la Varga and as a child he already felt a special attraction for maps, which has now transformed into his passion for travel. On social media he is known as Javier Bicicleting, is 32 years old, is a photojournalist and began his bike adventure almost six years ago.
- I started in Indonesia in September 2010. Before this round-the-world bike trip, I had already been travelling since 2004. As a photojournalist, I visited conflict zones and produced reports. After difficult experiences amid Africa's wars, and seeing a young man killed beside me in Palestine, I wanted a change. I wanted to keep travelling, but differently: to share positive, optimistic news instead of documenting only the negative side of the world and its people. That is what the world needs. And what better way to feel good and reach anywhere than by bicycle? I flew to Indonesia with my bike and the bare essentials. Since then, it has become a way of life rather than a journey.
Mounted on his bike, he has travelled many countries in Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Tibet, Nepal, Uzbekistan...), Europe (Italy, France...), Africa (Kenya, Congo, Nigeria, Namibia...), and is now on the American continent, near Patagonia, after crossing the Atlantic and entering South America through Rio de Janeiro, with the intention of pedaling to Alaska in the next three or four years.
Javier is a 21st-century nomad who cycles an average of 100 kilometres a day, depending on the heat and road conditions. He has a daily budget of 5 euros, financing his adventure through photography by selling reports and prints on his blog, www.bicicleting.com. He carries all his belongings on his bicycle, which weighs 75 kilos including luggage. That may not seem much for someone aged 32, compared with everything that can accumulate in a flat, but it can become an almost unbearable burden when crossing snowy valleys, deserts or mud-flooded roads.
– How do you pack your bike to fit everything?
– The bicycle has panniers, and I keep everything separate as if it were a flat. One pannier is the kitchen, with my stove and pots. Another is the bathroom, with toiletries, a first aid kit and a towel. The third is the bedroom, carrying my tent, sleeping mat and bag. The fourth is the wardrobe, for clothes, the computer… Drop me anywhere and I have everything I need. But sometimes it is too heavy, especially climbing hills or pushing the bike through desert sand…
- And where do you sleep?
– I mainly use my tent, my favourite accommodation 90% of cases. And the remaining 10% is usually in people's homes.
- And in all these years, you've never wondered what I'm doing here?
- There are moments… In Armenia, I almost died. I got lost in the mountains without food or water. I was given wrong directions and reached a snow-covered mountain pass. I couldn’t go back, and ahead lay about 20 kilometres of deep snow. A storm caught me, but luckily I found an abandoned military truck with a jar of jam in the cab. The next day I covered 4 kilometres in 12 hours and spent 4 days pushing the bike through metres of snow. I have also had difficult health experiences: malaria twice and typhus twice in Africa, the first time in Ghana.
- And how did you get treatment?
- I went to a public hospital. These diseases are common there, so doctors recognise them quickly and treatment is available. The second time, I was coming from Congo, one of the hardest countries I have travelled through, and caught malaria and typhus. It struck while I was camping somewhere remote. But I knew the diseases and had treatment with me, so I recovered, though slowly. Nigeria was difficult too. I was attacked several times because people thought I was a Boko Haram terrorist. When I reached the border, it was closed because of Ebola, so I was stuck for five weeks. But I never considered returning to Spain.
- And why were you attacked in Nigeria?
– It is a complicated country. The south is very dangerous, with murders and kidnappings, while Boko Haram is in the north. I crossed through the centre, passing remote villages. When people saw a foreigner with a heavily loaded bike, they thought I carried bombs and belonged to Boko Haram. 2 minutes after leaving a village, I would see people following on motorbikes and bicycles in my rear-view mirror. They made me stop and took me off the road. Frightened at first, I showed them my bicycle and belongings: this is my tent, my passport is Spanish, I am Catholic… I convinced them and continued, but the same thing happened in the next village. This went on for four or five days.
- And from which country did you get the worst impression?
– Congo. That is where the soldiers are. most corrupt and dangerous in the world. It is a failed country, and they haven’t been paid for years, so they get money by extortion and theft… There is no electricity or roads, healthcare is terrible, water is contaminated and food is awful. I ate so poorly that, needing energy to cycle, I lost weight and became anaemic… It was an ordeal. But in the end, it all balances out. These countries are very hard, but their people are wonderful, and the people you meet make the journey.
- I read that bureaucratic issues can be a problem...
–What has brought me the most headaches has undoubtedly been the bureaucratic processes in the former Soviet republics, where to obtain visas me tookhalf the time spent in that area. But even those moments, the I remember as interesting because it brought other experiences. I travelled part of Tibet illegally and obtained permits for another part, which cost me 4 months’ budget.
- What was the most incredible moment? of your trip so far?
– One of the most fascinating moments happened in a remote part of the Congo jungle, on a muddy dirt road surrounded by 30-metre trees and forest sounds. Suddenly, I looked up and saw a gorilla crossing my path three or four metres away. I stopped. The gorilla, about 3 metres tall, looked at me for a few seconds, then screamed and beat its chest before disappearing into the jungle. I heard branches breaking as it moved away. Adrenaline surged and I was petrified, but once I realised it had gone, I began to laugh—intensely, purely, with tears of happiness. It was incredible.
Which landscape made the greatest impression on you?
The Indonesian islands, partly because they were among the first places I visited: magnificent jungle, volcanoes and crystal-clear waters. Then the Himalayan region, from Tibet and Nepal to Afghanistan, with roads passing 8,000-metre peaks, and the Congo jungle. The landscape itself is not spectacular — it is dense jungle and you cannot see beyond three metres — but the feeling of being there, surrounded by its sounds, is fascinating...
– The most hospitable country you have encountered is…
– Central Asia: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Muslim countries place particular value on hospitality, because Islam spread through travellers.
- And the least...
- Italy. They even charged me for water in restaurants. I asked them to refill my water bottle and they refused. I had unpleasant moments in India too. To them I was an outcast: if I rode a bicycle, I could not afford a flight, and if I travelled alone,No one wants to go with me. So I noticed disrespect in some villages.
– You have travelled through extreme climates. Do you prefer cold or heat?
- After 2 years in the tropics, I want cold weather now. Cycling in the cold is easier and more bearable. In Namibia, I cycled at 52 degrees in the shade. Taking clothes out of my bag was like taking them out of a tumble dryer. I prefer the cold.
– Can travelling alone for so many years get difficult? Don’t you miss family and friends?
You know people and, for example, I met a girl from Majadahonda in India and we were traveling together for two years. She's a nurse and she was volunteering. In three weeks we fell in love. She went back to Spain, left everything, sold the car, took a bike and returned to India. We spent two years together. And, as for my family, my mother has a good habit of coming to visit me every two years to a country that is easy: she has been to Vietnam, Turkey, Morocco and, last time, Tanzania.
- In general, what are the differences inbetween so-called rich and developing countries?
- In poor countries, where they have few material things, they try to achieve happiness with humanity, hospitality, generosity, friendship. While, in rich countries, that has been forgotten and happiness is thought to come with money. People are more selfish, less hospitable and more afraid.