RTW Aug 2001 - 2003

Starting Out
LOADED AND READY TO GO

Familiar SurroundingsAt 6am on the 24th August 2001 we wobbled off down the road and headed
south, not knowing when we would be back. The bike had the aerodynamics of
a HGV but handled remarkably well considering we had 70kg of luggage as
well as the two of us. We had always planned to do 60mph maximum, no matter
how good the roads, any quicker and you miss things going on around you and
there is no point using juice too fast, as there is a long way to go! We
bought our one-way ticket for the ferry to France. It was strange seeing

Organised Chaos and 9/11The Brindisi ferry was an experience in itself. Unlike the Dover-Calais
crossing, this was a free for all when it came to getting on board. There
was no organisation by the Greek owned ferry company. There was a
bottleneck jam as everyone squeezed to get on at once. I had to secure the
bike with tie down straps I had bought myself as the car deck crew had no
intentions of securing the bike once I had parked up. The 9 1/2 hour
crossing took us across the South Adriatic Sea to Igumenitsa, Greece. We

Turkish DelightsTo cross the Greek/Turkish border we saw a total of eight officials. It
only took one hour and was straightforward. Down Western Turkey, the first
stretch towards Gallipoli was a complete contrast to Greece. It was much
poorer and people still used donkeys to carry goods and horse and cart or
tractors were still common forms of transport in rural areas. The busy city
of Izmir was full of polluted air from traffic and trucks belching out
black exhaust fumes, breathing this in, sitting in congested traffic stung

Hospitable not HostileMoney changers came at us from all angles, offering what they said was the
best exchange rate. It is not, it is far better changing money into Iranian
Rials once through customs on the other side of the border, were better
rates are on offer. With no black market to speak of now it is easy to get
money changed and the only thing the Iranians like about the US is its
dollar! Iranian customs was easy. Nobody wanted to check any baggage only
the Carnet de Passage against the chassis number. It took about an hour and

Detour to DubaiOnce in the UAE, Dubai customs kept our bike from Midday Thursday when we
arrived to Saturday morning as this is their weekend and customs was closed.
Dubai was so expensive and although very modern, spotlessly clean and had
beautiful beaches, we had to find a way to India to save money and quick.

CRATING FOR INDIA

Sunburnt HorizonsThe electronic doors of the arrival terminal at Australia’s Perth Airport
opened up as we approached them in what appeared high tec fashion. It was
so different to anything we had left behind in India and Bombay Airport. We
walked out to a warm March Autumn afternoon and a crystal clear blue sky,
there wasn’t a pig, cow, goat, chicken or scabby dog in sight! Not a car
horn could be heard. Not a foul smell sensed and we breathed good clean
pollution free air. No one looked at us as we made our way to the car of