Cycling odyssey: City workers quit their job to pedal from the UK to Japan (4)

On the road again! Andre, pictured, loads up his bike for the ride to Assos, a small historical town on the Turkish Aegean Coast

While embarking on such a journey may seem prohibitively expensive, Claire insists that a budget of ￡12,000 between the two of them has been sufficient for 18 months on the road.

To cut costs, Andre and Claire purchased second-hand touring bikes and have scoured thrift shops and eBay to find all of the equipment they need.

'While on the trip itself, we avoid restaurants, wild camp as much as possible and shamelessly accept hospitality wherever we can get it,' she explains.

'We have slept in churches, mosques, schools, a cattle shed and many other interesting places.'

Claire and Andre have made plenty of new friends along the way, including elephants and camels (pictured)

There's always time for sightseeing! In Istanbul, the two took some time off the bikes to explore the Blue Mosque

Here, Claire snapped a quick photo of Andre as the two passed through the border of Bulgaria to Turkey