Trip PreparationThe amount of work involved in doing a long distance overseas trip depends on who you are. I work in a job that depends on good preparation,so have been putting heaps of work into getting everything prepared so I feel that I can do the trip with minimal fuss. ( famous last words, hope not). Horizons site has been most valuable with this preparation.
Bike has gone and only 5 weeks to go for us. We have liftoff with Pakistani Visa, we are sorted with Iran, travel insurance is paid for (easy) just sorting bke insurance for UK/Europe.Bike has gone and only 5 weeks to go for us. We have liftoff with Pakistani Visa, we are sorted with Iran, travel insurance is paid for (easy) just sorting bke insurance for UK/Europe. We are going through the list looking at things we need to do. Just sorting out GPS software for the Archos 5 it so we can get around easily using the GPS.
The plane trip with AirAsia was fine. A bit of a long wait in KL before the trip flight to Stanstead in England. With our first night sleep on English soil under our belt we set-out to do some sight seeing around London. Over the next couple of days we continued to familiarise ourselves with London and surrounds. This included a ride around every possible tourist spot around London on a double decker bus.
The narrow roads that the bus had to navigate was an eye opener. We were flying through gaps with inches to spare.
Wales and southern england
The trip down from Edinburgh was pretty uneventful once we got out of the city. We missed one turn because I had decided that the GPS was making TOO much noise.
The weather didn't look to good once again. So on we go. We thought we had programmed in A roads into th GPS but it decided to take us down the motorway instead.
As it was raining we chose to stay on the motorway and cruise on down to Wales.
Bron did quite a bit of the ride down to Wales which was fantastic as I felt like I needed a rest. Wales and southern england
France Germany
Got off the ferry at 6am ish. It was weird driving on the other side of the road again. I have a bit of tape shaped in an arrow on the screen in front of me to remind me what side to be on but it is still awkward at times and I have made a couple of minor blews on my first day.
Nothing too serious. Our first stop was St Michel.
The ride from Munster to Freiburg was pretty uneventful.
We had decided we would buy breakfast in Munster but when we arrived there was a market that made trash and treasure in Ballarat look like a car boot sale. We wandered round for a while and found some food Germany Scandanavia
Spent the morning getting to the motorbike shop, neither of us has had any brain waves as to what might be wrong and causing the bike electronics to be dead. I went in search of a hire van to take the bike to a Suzuki dealer near stockholm.
Uppsala.
Spent the morning getting to the motorbike shop, neither of us has had any brain waves as to what might be wrong and causing the bike electronics to be dead. I went in search of a hire van to take the bike to a Suzuki dealer near stockholm.
Getting around without a GPS can be quite stressful ( I would swear at this point but this is a family blog so I wont) A few more wrong turns later and we were in Prague.Rode from near Tarp in to Berlin today. Only a distance of 350 or so klm's but took a bit out of us today. We got into the outskirts of Berlin and searched for a camping spot on the GPS as per normal practice. The GPS finished up taking us quite a few kms through traffic, and heavy traffic it was to a non existant site.
We didnt feel like we could have all of this criteria met coming into a small town on the eastern most region of Turkey, but we always try. Well we arrived in town and asked a local where a hotel was. He organised for a motorcycle escort to the hotel which we followed through a myriard of streets. We go to the hotel and were immediately surrounded by 10-20 people. As is the normal course of events, Bron goes inside and finds out about the accomodation while I stay outside this time with the mob.
Overall I loved Iran, Bron may disagree as she had the restriction of having to wear the scarf whenever, wherever we stopped and I know that was difficult for her. The highlight for me was the people.Iran
The first painful 24 hours.
I really enjoyed Pakistan. The scenery was amazing and the people were by far the friendliest that we have experienced so far. The decorated trucks were fantastic and the truck drivers were really proud of their decorations. It was amazing that the average speed of these trucks was only around 20kmh. They loaded them to the hilt but drove accordingly. It was dissapointing to have to have the escort all the time but they were really nice blokes (with a couple of exceptions).Pakistan
It is wonderful to be in the real India. And the real India is everything I could have hoped for.India
Entering \India
It was nice to get away from the escorts in Pakistan and have the freedom to stop when we liked again.
My first impressions of India was that it seemed to be richer and faster paced than Pakistan. The vegetation seemed lusher and thicker. The roads are lined with gum trees (there were lots in Pakistan as well but these are older) The food is more available (due to Ramadan) and more varied.
But then the morning came and we discovered that they had taken a liking to my riding boots. We were most upset. After 5 months and 30,000 kms with 50% of it camping, this was the first thing we have had stolen. Crossed the border from India and the changes were immediate. The border people at customs and imigration were far more relaxed. The road was in good condition, there seemed to be much more color and the streets were cleaner. We rode around town to find a hotel where we could park the bike.
As usual with Nepalise roads they are windy and dangerous. The drivers dont help and we are in a bus traveling for the first time. I miss the bike and it is only day 1, hour 1.Tibet
Arriving home
Arriving home led me to lots of mixed emotions. I have found it hard to be focused on anything and have felt a bit overwhelmed at times.
There is so much to do. My list is so long. Wrapping up stuff from the trip as well as sorting out things at home and work.Kualar Lumpar.