We had an interview with François Lemancel, a French traveler who is traveling around the world by bicycle. The 28th country he is traveling to is Mongolia.
How did you get a passion for traveling by bicycle around the world?
I’ve traveled by bicycle with my parents when I was a child. Every year we traveled for a week to different parts of France. After that, I got a passion to travel around the world.
And I've seen a video on YouTube about three guys who travel around the world on bicycles. Then I want to do that too. And it stuck in my mind for a long time. I always wanted to travel the world by bicycle since I was 13 years old. And when I saw that video, my life was built around the idea of traveling on a bicycle.
I have seen some of your videos on YouTube and one of them was a canoe trip. When did that trip happen?
Have you seen that? You are the first one who asked about it. It's one of the big things of my trip. When I left home five years ago, part of my mind I wanted to go down a big river like the Amazon or Nile. In Australia, I just bought a canoe for 60 USD which was very cheap. And for three months on the canoe through the river, I reached Adelaide from Canberra. And the trip was 2300 km. We don't really imagine, but it's like going to Moscow from Paris or crossing all of Europe on a canoe. And it was quite a big adventure for me.
How many kilometers have you spent on all this travel?
It was almost 50,000 km.
That's incredible. How many countries have you traveled to?
I just counted this morning because I didn't know. I have been to 28 countries by bicycle in the last four years. So, when I go to a country, I like to stay a long time in that country. For example, in Africa, I've been to only five different countries because in each country I stay maybe two or three months same in Mongolia. When I go to a country, I prefer to stay as much time as I can.
Tell us about your travel to Gobi in Mongolia. You mentioned that it was the most interesting travel session compared to the other places.
Gobi Dessert was not the first dessert I crossed on a bicycle but maybe was the most impressive and also the vastest, it's a very big space area. And when it's cloudy, you don't have a blue sky and you camp in the middle of nowhere, you wake up in the morning and you would feel like wake up in a cloud because you don't have demarcation between the sky and the ground. When the ground is white, and the sky is white, and feels like you are dreaming. The first day I woke up from my tent, it was quite emotional.
In Mongolia, it's very cold. Especially in the winter at midnight. One of my big curiosities is that you spend the night in a tent in the middle of the frozen winter. So how did you adapt to that cold weather?
Yeah, there is no secret. So maybe the most important thing is the equipment. You need good equipment, but also you must think about a lot of details. For example, when you set up your tent, you should have gloves, because if your hands are wet with snow those would be cold. So, you must take care of those simple issues. Same when you wake up in the morning, you are in your sleeping bag, but your tent is totally frozen. And if you move your tent, all the frozen stuff is going in your sleeping bag. And if it's humid or if it's wet inside, you don't sleep because you will be cold. And the same when you're on the bicycle, you try not to sweat. So, you remove your jacket, you put again, remove, put again. And sometimes I spend a lot of time removing my clothes, putting them on again just to avoid sweating.
How do you make solutions when you are sick?
I think in Mongolia it's too cold to get sick. Because bacteria and viruses are killed by the cold. But I have everything on my bicycle, which is medicine in case. My bicycle is almost like my home, and everything is on there. And even if I have a big accident, I can normally fix what I need by myself. But when it's very cold, it's a bit more challenging to fix a bicycle when it's -20 -25 or -30 degrees. So first reach a warm place, then I check all my bicycles and take care of it. My bicycle is very simple. After four years, I can say I didn't have many issues.
I mean I am always well organized to the next destination. I organize myself even if in the worst situation. For example, If I get stuck in the middle of nowhere for five days, right?
Please share your unforgettable memories of when you were traveling, maybe it's good or bad.
Fortunately, in the last four years, I've never had a bad experience. I don't know why, I think you have some bad people, but it's a very small part of the population and maybe. When you are on a bicycle, I think you don't attract bad people. Maybe I've met thousands of good people and only one bad person. And my trip is always based on relationships. So, most of the time I sleep in my tent or I sleep in a house, in a people’s house. So, I don't spend much money on accommodation. I have to trust people. If I don't trust people, I think it's impossible to travel by bicycle.
I think you are so brave man. What do you think about yourself compared with your old version who was four years ago? Do you feel more confident or proud of yourself?
It's a bit difficult to answer. Because talking about yourself is not easy. I think the first three years, I wouldn't say that. But now, I can feel more confident, more patient, and more sociable. It's easier for me to talk with people. I'm more open-minded, I'm more helpful, I think everything is more crazy. But maybe this is the biggest gift I give to myself that I can enjoy myself. I don't need anyone else to enjoy something. And I feel very grateful for that. Before I was traveling with people just because I didn't want to be alone. And now if I'm with someone to travel, that person is very important to me and it gives me a lot of things, not just because I'm afraid to be alone.
What is your main purpose of traveling? Do you have any targets for countries you want to try to reach?
Yeah, I just told you I counted how many countries I've been to. But for me it's not very important. The number of countries or the number of kilometers is not very important. Even the time like five years, six years, or two years is the same.
Which country do you want to go to most?
I have some countries I want to go to. Pakistan is the next big destination. I absolutely want to go there. And Russia has always attracted me. And maybe I would like to go back to Africa, then go to the western part or northern part of Africa. It's a bit special and different there to travel than other countries and other continents. About the main purpose. This is not easy to answer. When I left home, it was mainly for learning things about people, about myself, about geography, and about history. I didn't speak English when I left home four years ago.
You speak very well now.
Yeah, not much. But four years is a long time. I've never opened a booked English book. But for the first year in Europe was awful. Sometimes people in eastern Europe don't speak English. I didn't speak English very well.
Please share your toughest and funny time?
When you are traveling on a bicycle, sometimes you can have many things to do on the same day. It's crazy. Sometimes I can even feel like I can live three days on the same day because too many things happen on the same day. So, it's not easy to remember one thing.
In China, some people paid me for luxury hotels, but it was too much luxury for me. And it was a bit uncomfortable because everyone in a nice suit, I used to sleep in my tent, and I looked a bit dirty. Then they paid for my hotel room for a few days. It was crazy for me.
How many days did you spend there?
Four days. And for me, it's crazy. They paid for a room which was €200 per day. For me, it's what I spend in one month. So, these things are even like in Africa. I spent five days in a clandestine boat on the Tonganica lake. And I slept in a very small space and had a small portion of food. There were children, some of them had a cold and they came to me, but you have to be kind and warm. You don't know them, and they are just close to you. And you can see this scene in Africa every day. During five days, people are smiling, singing, and dancing on the boat, even if they are very poor and the situation is very dangerous for them. Because the boat is very old and fragile. And I think they don't know how to swim. So, if the boat sank, everyone could die. But I know how to swim. But at this moment, everyone was very joyful and very inspiring for European people like to see that.
Are you planning to write a book about yourself, about your travel?
I don't write much, but maybe about Mongolia. I will make an exception because there are a lot of books about traveling the world on bicycles in Africa, Asia, and America, but not about Mongolia in winter.
Before coming to Mongolia, I was looking for guys who crossed Mongolia in winter by bicycle. In 2009 few guys traveled to Mongolia by bicycle, but they didn't write a book and didn't share their stories.
Maybe it can be interesting and important to talk about my trip, because especially here, Mongolians think I will die while crossing Mongolia by bicycle. I saw that on social media. It's crazy. Because they think it's too cold, especially when they see me sleeping in my tent. For them, it's too crazy or they can't imagine it's possible.
By the way, what is your next destination after Mongolia?
I'm going to north Irkutsk. I would like to cross the frozen Baikal Lake by bicycle and go back to Mongolia. Then I will follow the northern border of Mongolia and go to the western part of the state, then go to China again, then Kazakhstan. And after that, I would like to go to Turkestan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, then maybe Turkey and Europe. I would like to be back home at the end of the year for Christmas. But I don't know because you never know what will happen on the way.
And how do your parents and your family encourage you? Do they agree with your travel decision? Yeah, they do. The main thing about my trip is, that all my family and my friends support me, not just say “Okay, you can go”. They think it's great what I'm doing, and I think they are very proud of me. But they don't say it, but I think they are. I miss them of course. But I feel very lucky. Because when I make any decision, I feel free, they always say yes even if it is the wrong decision. Because they think I will see and feel by myself after my own decision.
Are most of the French parents like that?
No, but maybe it's a bit. French parents are a bit more open-minded compared to some countries but it's not very common especially maybe my mom is a bit worried about my trip in Mongolian winter. But she doesn't tell me. But I know she's worried. But after four years, they know that they can trust me. They know that I'm not stupid, I'm not crazy. I'm just a normal guy who takes care of my life.
We had an interview with François Lemancel, a French traveler who is traveling around the world by bicycle. The 28th country he is traveling to is Mongolia.
How did you get a passion for traveling by bicycle around the world?
I’ve traveled by bicycle with my parents when I was a child. Every year we traveled for a week to different parts of France. After that, I got a passion to travel around the world.
And I've seen a video on YouTube about three guys who travel around the world on bicycles. Then I want to do that too. And it stuck in my mind for a long time. I always wanted to travel the world by bicycle since I was 13 years old. And when I saw that video, my life was built around the idea of traveling on a bicycle.
I have seen some of your videos on YouTube and one of them was a canoe trip. When did that trip happen?
Have you seen that? You are the first one who asked about it. It's one of the big things of my trip. When I left home five years ago, part of my mind I wanted to go down a big river like the Amazon or Nile. In Australia, I just bought a canoe for 60 USD which was very cheap. And for three months on the canoe through the river, I reached Adelaide from Canberra. And the trip was 2300 km. We don't really imagine, but it's like going to Moscow from Paris or crossing all of Europe on a canoe. And it was quite a big adventure for me.
How many kilometers have you spent on all this travel?
It was almost 50,000 km.
That's incredible. How many countries have you traveled to?
I just counted this morning because I didn't know. I have been to 28 countries by bicycle in the last four years. So, when I go to a country, I like to stay a long time in that country. For example, in Africa, I've been to only five different countries because in each country I stay maybe two or three months same in Mongolia. When I go to a country, I prefer to stay as much time as I can.
Tell us about your travel to Gobi in Mongolia. You mentioned that it was the most interesting travel session compared to the other places.
Gobi Dessert was not the first dessert I crossed on a bicycle but maybe was the most impressive and also the vastest, it's a very big space area. And when it's cloudy, you don't have a blue sky and you camp in the middle of nowhere, you wake up in the morning and you would feel like wake up in a cloud because you don't have demarcation between the sky and the ground. When the ground is white, and the sky is white, and feels like you are dreaming. The first day I woke up from my tent, it was quite emotional.
In Mongolia, it's very cold. Especially in the winter at midnight. One of my big curiosities is that you spend the night in a tent in the middle of the frozen winter. So how did you adapt to that cold weather?
Yeah, there is no secret. So maybe the most important thing is the equipment. You need good equipment, but also you must think about a lot of details. For example, when you set up your tent, you should have gloves, because if your hands are wet with snow those would be cold. So, you must take care of those simple issues. Same when you wake up in the morning, you are in your sleeping bag, but your tent is totally frozen. And if you move your tent, all the frozen stuff is going in your sleeping bag. And if it's humid or if it's wet inside, you don't sleep because you will be cold. And the same when you're on the bicycle, you try not to sweat. So, you remove your jacket, you put again, remove, put again. And sometimes I spend a lot of time removing my clothes, putting them on again just to avoid sweating.
How do you make solutions when you are sick?
I think in Mongolia it's too cold to get sick. Because bacteria and viruses are killed by the cold. But I have everything on my bicycle, which is medicine in case. My bicycle is almost like my home, and everything is on there. And even if I have a big accident, I can normally fix what I need by myself. But when it's very cold, it's a bit more challenging to fix a bicycle when it's -20 -25 or -30 degrees. So first reach a warm place, then I check all my bicycles and take care of it. My bicycle is very simple. After four years, I can say I didn't have many issues.
I mean I am always well organized to the next destination. I organize myself even if in the worst situation. For example, If I get stuck in the middle of nowhere for five days, right?
Please share your unforgettable memories of when you were traveling, maybe it's good or bad.
Fortunately, in the last four years, I've never had a bad experience. I don't know why, I think you have some bad people, but it's a very small part of the population and maybe. When you are on a bicycle, I think you don't attract bad people. Maybe I've met thousands of good people and only one bad person. And my trip is always based on relationships. So, most of the time I sleep in my tent or I sleep in a house, in a people’s house. So, I don't spend much money on accommodation. I have to trust people. If I don't trust people, I think it's impossible to travel by bicycle.
I think you are so brave man. What do you think about yourself compared with your old version who was four years ago? Do you feel more confident or proud of yourself?
It's a bit difficult to answer. Because talking about yourself is not easy. I think the first three years, I wouldn't say that. But now, I can feel more confident, more patient, and more sociable. It's easier for me to talk with people. I'm more open-minded, I'm more helpful, I think everything is more crazy. But maybe this is the biggest gift I give to myself that I can enjoy myself. I don't need anyone else to enjoy something. And I feel very grateful for that. Before I was traveling with people just because I didn't want to be alone. And now if I'm with someone to travel, that person is very important to me and it gives me a lot of things, not just because I'm afraid to be alone.
What is your main purpose of traveling? Do you have any targets for countries you want to try to reach?
Yeah, I just told you I counted how many countries I've been to. But for me it's not very important. The number of countries or the number of kilometers is not very important. Even the time like five years, six years, or two years is the same.
Which country do you want to go to most?
I have some countries I want to go to. Pakistan is the next big destination. I absolutely want to go there. And Russia has always attracted me. And maybe I would like to go back to Africa, then go to the western part or northern part of Africa. It's a bit special and different there to travel than other countries and other continents. About the main purpose. This is not easy to answer. When I left home, it was mainly for learning things about people, about myself, about geography, and about history. I didn't speak English when I left home four years ago.
You speak very well now.
Yeah, not much. But four years is a long time. I've never opened a booked English book. But for the first year in Europe was awful. Sometimes people in eastern Europe don't speak English. I didn't speak English very well.
Please share your toughest and funny time?
When you are traveling on a bicycle, sometimes you can have many things to do on the same day. It's crazy. Sometimes I can even feel like I can live three days on the same day because too many things happen on the same day. So, it's not easy to remember one thing.
In China, some people paid me for luxury hotels, but it was too much luxury for me. And it was a bit uncomfortable because everyone in a nice suit, I used to sleep in my tent, and I looked a bit dirty. Then they paid for my hotel room for a few days. It was crazy for me.
How many days did you spend there?
Four days. And for me, it's crazy. They paid for a room which was €200 per day. For me, it's what I spend in one month. So, these things are even like in Africa. I spent five days in a clandestine boat on the Tonganica lake. And I slept in a very small space and had a small portion of food. There were children, some of them had a cold and they came to me, but you have to be kind and warm. You don't know them, and they are just close to you. And you can see this scene in Africa every day. During five days, people are smiling, singing, and dancing on the boat, even if they are very poor and the situation is very dangerous for them. Because the boat is very old and fragile. And I think they don't know how to swim. So, if the boat sank, everyone could die. But I know how to swim. But at this moment, everyone was very joyful and very inspiring for European people like to see that.
Are you planning to write a book about yourself, about your travel?
I don't write much, but maybe about Mongolia. I will make an exception because there are a lot of books about traveling the world on bicycles in Africa, Asia, and America, but not about Mongolia in winter.
Before coming to Mongolia, I was looking for guys who crossed Mongolia in winter by bicycle. In 2009 few guys traveled to Mongolia by bicycle, but they didn't write a book and didn't share their stories.
Maybe it can be interesting and important to talk about my trip, because especially here, Mongolians think I will die while crossing Mongolia by bicycle. I saw that on social media. It's crazy. Because they think it's too cold, especially when they see me sleeping in my tent. For them, it's too crazy or they can't imagine it's possible.
By the way, what is your next destination after Mongolia?
I'm going to north Irkutsk. I would like to cross the frozen Baikal Lake by bicycle and go back to Mongolia. Then I will follow the northern border of Mongolia and go to the western part of the state, then go to China again, then Kazakhstan. And after that, I would like to go to Turkestan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, then maybe Turkey and Europe. I would like to be back home at the end of the year for Christmas. But I don't know because you never know what will happen on the way.
And how do your parents and your family encourage you? Do they agree with your travel decision? Yeah, they do. The main thing about my trip is, that all my family and my friends support me, not just say “Okay, you can go”. They think it's great what I'm doing, and I think they are very proud of me. But they don't say it, but I think they are. I miss them of course. But I feel very lucky. Because when I make any decision, I feel free, they always say yes even if it is the wrong decision. Because they think I will see and feel by myself after my own decision.
Are most of the French parents like that?
No, but maybe it's a bit. French parents are a bit more open-minded compared to some countries but it's not very common especially maybe my mom is a bit worried about my trip in Mongolian winter. But she doesn't tell me. But I know she's worried. But after four years, they know that they can trust me. They know that I'm not stupid, I'm not crazy. I'm just a normal guy who takes care of my life.
