In this article, we use so-called affiliate links. With every purchase through these links, we receive a commission from the merchant. All relevant referral links are marked with . Learn more.
There's no such thing as impossible, thought the two Austrians Tanja Willers and Johanna Hochedlinger - and set off from Cape Town to cycle over 24,000 kilometres to Vienna with a few detours along the way. In 445 days, they travelled through 21 completely different countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. They were begged and laughed at, slept in their tent in schools, abandoned hotels and in the desert, between lions in Botswana and wolves in Iran, tasted oryx sausages, crocodile steaks and elephant stew and almost died on the road more than once - from fear. But everywhere they travelled, they found one thing in equal measure: Hospitality.
The Book is based on 36 original reports written during the trip. It is an illustrated book, an adventure report and a source of inspiration, complete with maps and plenty of tips, which also addresses the essential questions: What do you need to take on a tour like this? How do you cook and wash while travelling? Isn't that terribly dangerous, especially for two women? And what is it actually like travelling through the Orient as a same-sex couple?
Reading sample: a look inside the book
Namib, Namibia, Namibissimo: From the Fish River Canyon to the gigantic dunes of Sossusvlei
... Between rusty car wrecks, cacti and buildings with a saloon look, we feel like we're on a sprawling western film set. We get directions from locals of all colours called Axel, Wenzel, Uschi and Klaus. We pass mission houses and fortresses from the German colonial era through places like Seeheim, consisting of a thatched hotel castle at an abandoned train station, Bethanien, not much more than a petrol station with a general store and a gold-toothed owner, and Helmeringhausen, a former farm whose shady garden now serves apple pie as well as white sausages, pretzels and wheat beer - to celebrate the month of October. The Germans were only here as colonisers for a good thirty years around 1900 (whereas the South Africans were here for more than twice as long), but that seems to have been enough.
The weather has been making many a surprising caper these days, but we are lucky: in the face of a raging sandstorm in the evening, the night watchmen of a dam give us shelter in a discarded wash house. Thankfully, they have already split the house scorpion in two. And before the storm the following afternoon, we are able to save ourselves - unfortunately a little too late and therefore only soaking wet - in the dusty but fortunately unlocked billiard hut of an unmanned campsite. After the two workers, who are apparently in charge of rebuilding the camp, discover us in the dark hut, we are allowed to roll out our mats in a small, somewhat leaky but nevertheless cosy bungalow and listen to the rain from inside.
And then everything becomes, well, a little more extreme than before. We soon have to give up the belief that we can expect to cover just under eighty kilometres a day on the section of the journey to our next big destination - the gigantic red dunes of Sossusvlei: The wind doesn't always come from behind. Nor is it always pleasantly cool, but from now on resembles a hot-air hairdryer. The distances between the towns seem to grow. We also realise that some places have only existed on maps and road signs for years, but not in the mighty landscape, which increasingly looks like the Africa we imagined as children. We often try in vain to make out a house, a shop or a petrol station with squinted eyes. Nothing. Nada. We are alone in the wide open spaces...
The route: From Cape Town to Vienna
As "Roaming Pedals", Tanja and Johanna reported on their experiences during the journey and their travel presentation was recognised as the best of the year at Discovery Days 2024. You can follow the route of their crazy, first-ever 24,000-kilometre bike tour on their Instagram profile:
At this point, you will find external content that complements the article. You can display and hide it with a click.
Info about the book
- Price: 28 Euro >> available here
- Tanja Willers & Johanna Hochedlinger, Two women, two bikes, one tent, Through 21 countries from Cape Town to Vienna, Roaming Pedals
- 288 pages, 451 colour illustrations and 11 maps with marked routes and 1 overview map, 16 x 21.5 cm, Flexocover
- Tyrolia-Verlag, Innsbruck Vienna 2025
- ISBN 978-3-7022-4253-4,
- Also available as an e-book, ISBN 978-3-7022-4268-8
Barbara Merz-Weigandt
Editor-in-Chief
