Around the world, 2003 - 2006

Today did not get off to a great start. I planned my day and went to Granny's to adjust the sag. I had loads of things going through my head and, having put some stuff in the top box, started the engine. I waited for a gap in the traffic and rolled the throttle on to ride straight off the pavement onto the road.

What's the strangest thing you've ever sent?When I was at Heathrow having my bike crated I asked Dave, who was making my crate, what's the strangest thing he’s ever sent?

‘I’ve been in this job for twelve years’, he replied, ‘the strangest thing I’ve ever packed was a penis’.

‘What markings were on the box?’, I asked, ‘one careful owner?’.

‘You’re having me on!’. Exclaimed Pete, he had a shaved head, two nose rings and ‘venom’ tattooed across his neck. They'd been working together for four years.

I was trying to decide whether I would travel with Dom and Leah on their bikes for a few days as we are basically going in the same direction. The only problem is that they get up and go to bed late whilst I get up and go to bed early. This suggests a fairly basic incompatibility. I met Dom and Leah at the bike rally in Creel. Dom is a plant manager and Leah a civil engineer. They met whilst working on the same construction project on the M25. They are riding to Buenos Aires on Kawasaki KLR650’s they bought in Vancouver. From BA they’ll fly to Oz and start up a business together.

The day started off so well.

I was finally feeling confident of making the rally. The bike was running perfectly, there were no signs of any trouble when I changed the oil the day before, I had just fitted two new tyres that would last at least ten thousand miles and I had all the cooking equipment I needed. I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxation as I set off for the border.

I 'asked' to enter the cab. The driver looked at me and smiled. He was pointing to the rear of the train. I was a bit confused thinking he was asking me to go and join all the other toursists again. I looked at him enquiringly and he then pointed down a bit. I clicked. He was pointing at the ladder!

I am now in Valle de Bravo, a beautiful town on the edge of a large lake, only two hours away from Mexico City. It is the 'French Riviera' for the wealthy and a lovely place in which to learn Spanish.

I was going to do a Spanish course in Guatemala but it seems silly not to do it as soon as possible since I'll be spending more time in Mexico than in any other country. I expect to be here for at least a month.

Therefore, I doubt I'll update this site until the New Year.

I wish you a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

So much for travelling light.

I've now bought a bicycle whilst staying in Valle to keep fit while learning Spanish.

The tricky bit is how to take the bike with me as I head south.

Taking it is made more difficult because of the panniers and top box so Andy Tiegs' method won't work for me:

This is what Plan A looked like, but more importantly, what did it ride like?This is what Plan A looked like, but more importantly, what did it ride like?

The next morning I packed up all my stuff into four bags, two side panniers, top box and bag across the seat behind me. I put them on the bike, added my camera tank bag as well, checked the bicycle mounts were tight and set off for my shake down ride.

I'd have to remove the smaller pannier and put the bicycle down the side of the bike.
That gave me two options:

- decide what stuff to leave behind in Valle and continue with only one pannier or
- move the top box back three inches and fit the pannier on the seat behind me.

I spread out all my stuff on Juan’s floor. I reorganised it into piles and soon realised the only way to ‘loose’ thirty-one litres was to leave my camping stuff behind. This was my tent, tent poles, pegs, ground sheet and Thermarest mattress.

The sweet sounds of ‘Blowing in the wind’ drifted down the street from the open upstairs window. The guitarist also had a good voice.I went into the hotel and found the staircase. I went up to the door and listened for a while to make sure I had the right room.

I hammered on the door.

‘Senor Conte. Per favor, stop that dreadful noise!’

The playing and singing stopped abruptly.

I heard the door being unlocked and Senor Conte opened it slowly to see who was complaining about his superb playing and singing. He did not look very happy.

I grinned at him.

I had just entered Costa Rica from Nicaragua and I was in my usual euphoric state from being in a new country with the added relief of having cleared Immigration and Customs.

About ten minutes later I could see a cyclist up ahead, going the same way as me. That made it easy to chat as neither of us would have to stop.

As I slowed down I noticed her pony tail.

‘Wow’ I thought.

I started to dribble along side her bike.

‘Hi’ I said ‘Where are you going?’

I have wanted to visit the islands for many years. By being in Quito and being able to go at short notice I got a rather nice 45% discount off the normal rack rate.

Here are a few examples of what I saw:

Clicking on an image will take you to a bigger picture on my site www.fowb.co.uk. Use the 'back arrow' to return to this page or 'Home' to see more photos on my site.

There was no traffic and lots of police about. They had close the road. 'No wonder he’s late' I thought 'the traffic must be a nightmare'.

Eventually he turned up full of apologies.

It all started with another dreadful breakfast.

I had asked Aracelli for eggs, toast and coffee. After about half an hour I was presented with a hard boiled egg.

I cracked the top with my knife and was just about to cut the top off when the white poured out onto the table cloth.

Here are a few specially selected new products and shopping experiences available in Peru:

Ricardo had advised me not to miss this road.

There are about forty tunnels as the road winds it's way up the valley.

This was a rare exception - a naturally lit tunnel. There were no electric lights in any of them so, if the tunnel curved it was impossible to see anything when going from very bright sunshine to total darkness.

This has been the saddest day of my trip.

It’s one thing to read or see film about an earthquake, the loss of life and destruction. It’s quite another to visit a town totally destroyed by one and the subsequent landslide.

In stunned silence and almost in slow motion I watched my helmet bounce off the top of the barrier and spin off into the valley below.

I was on my best Lima to Caraz run yet. My earliest start and fastest time. I'd already covered 200 of the 500km to Lima and it was only 12am. I needed to stop for wee number two and was looking for a suitable spot. As I rounded a corner I saw a crash barrier – perfect.

Colca Canyon is almost the deepest canyon in the world. The neighbouring Cotahuasi is 163m deeper but is a lot harder to get to and doesn't have the condor fly by.

Both are twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. From the view point to the river below is just over 1,000 m. I was feeling slightly dizzy sitting on the wall so made sure I kept one leg behind me.

The condors are huge and are capable of carrying off small sheep and motorcyclists.

This was one of the weirdest things I have ever done. My bike has been blessed by a Catholic priest.

I parked in front of the church and found the priest. He had two cars and a lorry to bless before my bike. Truly funded by the profit motive he will bless anything for ten Bolivianos. About $1.20.