MONTODINE – Thirteen thousand kilometers on the pedals, five months of travela zigzag on the map from Beijing until Venezia. In the middle of, half the world: deserts, mountains, forgotten frontiers and encounters impossible to forget. The journey is to Matteo Stellamountain bike and trekking guide who lives in Aosta Valley. Along the way, a stop could not be missed: Montodineat the confluence between Adda and Serio, the girlfriend’s town Naomi.
«Why start from China? It all started from a story I read in the seta – tells -. For centuries no one really knew how it got to Rome. It was a mystery. The silk made such a long journey that traces of it were lost.” Yet that thin thread already united very distant worlds. «In Pompeii there is a mosaic with women dancing wrapped in silk veils. Virgil wrote that perhaps it came from a down that grew on trees, others thought of an Anatolian sheep. One thing is certain: that route connected much more than we imagine today.”
«More than simple trade: Everything has happened on that road: goods, of course, but also philosophies, knowledge and religions. The heart of this world was Samarkandthe capital of Tamerlane’s empire. I have always imagined it as a large open-air university. Because of this Samarkand was an obligatory stop».
The journey took Matteo through China, Mongolia, Kazakistan, Kyrgyzistan, Tagikistan, Uzbekistan e Afghanistanbefore returning to Italy passing through Türkiye, Greece and Albania. In Afghanistan one of the most surprising chapters. «I was in the desert, the wind was very strong and I had nowhere to sleep. I saw a two-story building in the middle of nowhere and tried to ask for hospitality. It was a Taliban checkpoint». He smiles, thinking about it. «There were about ten of them. Very friendly, even smiling. It must be said: the Taliban treat women and children indecently, but I, a foreign man, was treated well. They offered me food and drink.”
«Then the surreal scene. At one point the boss received a phone call: ‘The intelligence is coming to get you’. They have really arrived. They just wanted to show up and take me somewhere safe. In the end they accompanied me to a hotel where I slept… on the floor.”
There was no shortage of difficulties. «The hardest moment was sui Altai mountainsin Mongolia. One of the most remote areas on the planet. I cycled for weeks without meeting anyone, crossing mountains where there wasn’t even a road.” There the journey almost became a challenge with nature. “I found snow, freezing wind from Siberia, minus thirty degrees. Even the army failed to give me directions on how to cross that range.”
In the midst of all this there is also theamore. «Naomi I saw her again at the airport Bishkek. We hugged for ten minutes. Then we both cried, before I left for Afghanistan.”
The return to Italy was another journey within a journey. «I walked there Via Francigena. I am profoundly Catholic and along that road I rediscovered the beauty of Italy and the hospitality towards pilgrims. It is a tradition that we are losing.”
«Leave again immediately? Not for now. Now I want to distill what I’ve learned. This is what great adventures are for: bringing something into everyday life.”
