I thought I'd start my blog off with our training run which we've completed over the last couple of days. Myself and Al met up at Scotch Corner services to take a cheesy photograph and begin our assault on the Yorkshire Dales.
We wound our way from the A1 through Richmond and into the dales, stopping for the odd scenic shot.
I thought I'd better explain for those that don't know...... where we're going!
The route is basically as follows...
France
Italy
Slovenia
Croatia
Bosnia
Montenegro
Albania
Macedonia
Greece
Turkey
Azerbaijan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Kyrgystan
Kazakhstan
Russia
Mongolia
You can find more details and read the thoughts of Al, the other half of this ridiculous idea at
http://rideroundtheworld.com/
hi all, thanks for your badgering to those who have been waiting for an update. Net access not easy to find when you're doing big distances. I'm only using my phone for this so it'll be limited for now! We have made it into turkey. I'll try and upload some pictures soon!hi all, thanks for your badgering to those who have been waiting for an update. Net access not easy to find when you're doing big distances. I'm only using my phone for this so it'll be limited for now! We have made it into turkey. I'll try and upload some pictures soon!
OK, time is short!
Here's some pics and one liners....
Luxury start near Brighton with Al's family
On the start finish straight at the old Reims GP circuit
hi all, we've made it to baku. Hope to do a proper update if i get some laptop time! Big ups and downs getting across turkey (damn its big) georgia (wet) and azerbijan (hot). Bikes are now in customs and we're awaiting the ferry, hopefully tuesday!
We crossed into Georgia and eventually stopped just outside Tiblisi, having had a few dodgy experiences with the traffic. Apparently its fun to serve towards bikers and see if they fall off. We like to do this overlanding stuff with style.
I'm very behind the times so time for a little retrospective!
We're starting in Turkey and amazing Istanbul! I'd recommend a visit, when you're not used to it the call to prayer here is spine tingling, another world from the west. Our hostel (as they mostly are) was located in the old city not far from some of the most famous sights. Here is the compulsory photo of the Blue Mosque!
After our first slightly troublesome border crossing, as much because of the heat as anything else, we headed through Azerbijan pretty quickly as lots of it is scruffy roadside population, and its all pretty flat so there's not too much to make you stay. We had only been given 3 days to get our bikes into customs to leave Azerbijan on the ferry at Baku, even though our own visas had plenty of time. So we just stayed one night in Ganca, where we recovered at the hotel Lyuks.
We collapsed over the border (harder to get out of Turkmenistan than it was to get into Uzbekistan) after a fairly interested customs official gave my bike a serious going over. The first town of any size is Nukus, and after asking the locals we found Hotel Nukus. It's the worst hotel I've stayed in thus far in my life and I advise giving it a wide berth. Unfortunately due to our various states of ill health we had to stay 3 nights. Things improved after the 2nd night when we managed to upgrade to an airconditioned room which didn't smell of crap quite so much.
Into the Stans! After the very long, tedious and expensive procedure of getting into Turkmenistan we slept the night in a strangely big hotel which had no water between 1pm and 6am for some reason, then set off with our guide towards the capital Ashgabat. Turkmenistan is very hot and very deserty.
Heading into the Pamir mountains we came across our first dodgy looking bridge. There were big holes in it and the support beams were all bent. Still, if the trucks can come this way....
First night in Kazakstan was another unofficial camp spot, this time in the Sharyn Canyon. I'd climbed up a cliff which turned out to be a lot steeper than it looked to get this photo and a mobile phone signal!
Next day we made it to Almaty, the former capital, and civilization!
The road after the border is pretty steep mud and gravel, it is another version of the Stelvio pass, recreated in more dangerous form!
We're now suddenly in the land of the Yurt, everyone looks different too on this side of the border, like a taste of what Mongolia might be like.
Bukara old town is full of old Islamic architecture, in particular tiled mosques and similar buildings mainly with blue colouring. They're really vivid in real life, I'm not sure if the photographs really do it justice.
Getting into Tajikistan was pretty easy and friendly although it did cost us $15 each for something, I'm not sure what! Getting out of Uzbekistan wasn't too bad, we didn't get the full customs search we had been warned about but we were apparently missing a vital yellow customs form which as far as I could tell we should have picked up in Bukara. Once they finally conceded that we really didn't have one (or a carnet, the first people to mention one) they filled in some more lines in a big ledger that they're so fond of and let us out.
Shortly after getting through the border into Mongolia we stopped for lunch and met these guys. They sat and watched us eat lunch with great interest. They were really keen on having their photo taken as well. One of them was riding the first of many bikes we'd come across in Mongolia. They are much more prevalent here than elsewhere since Europe.
OK, so we left Almaty. Bike in a worse condition than before thanks to the very accomodating but fairly useless mechanics at My Town Moto. The road was very long and flat, you really feel like you're crossing the whole of the country not just nipping up one edge as we were. The scenery looks a little bit like this....
During the lengthy Russian border process we met another Dave, hence the third tent at our first camp in Russia.
Next day we headed into Barnaul, which gives you a taste of the Soviet architecture. All very large, brutal and impressive!
So with the bike no more, I made it to Beijing, a big change from Ulan Bataar! It turns out that contrary to popular belief leaving a motorbike in Mongolia is actually very easy. If your reading this and need to know how, get in touch. Beijing is huge, very busy, and littered with amusing translations, which will now litter this blog since I found it funny!
