The Eastern Trail Nirvana

Ride report for a 15.000km (that's 10,000 miles) trip from Belgium to the Pamir area in Tajikistan, riding gravel, mud and sand for a good amount of time, on a 1998 Suzuki DR650SE. The ride started early May and was completed in 60 days with a focus on camping, lightweight off-tarmac riding and exploration.

Highlights:

• 19 Countries: BE-NL-DE-AU-IT-SL-HR-BA-ME-AL-MK-BG-TK-GE-RU-KZ-UZ-TJ-KG
• 60 riding days, 15.000km. Left home on May 7th 2017
• Off-tarmac trails as of HR (Croatia)
• 66 POI's from Dangerousroads.org, like Bayburt, Buzludzha, Anzob, … To be fair, the most interesting sections were found by following our nose
• All trails prepared in advance, pre-checked on Google Earth. Haven't used routes or tracks from others.
• 750km dessert crossing in Kazakhstan, through Aral Sea
• Steppe crossing in Russia
• Gravel and sand in Tajikistan, including Wakhan and Zorkul, exploring unused tracks (read: dealing with navigation screw-ups  ).
• Wildcamp and campsites mostly, or guesthouse/hotel when prices are good and shower was needed.
• No workshops or mechanics, all service and repair done on the road with own tools and hands.
• No ferry, plane or trailer, every km has been driven on the DR, except crossing into Asia on a boat.
• DR bike modified for better handling, suspension, weight, power, fuel range, … (separate post)
• Dust, dust and even more dust.
• Crashes, bribes, food probs, heatstroke, mechanical challenges, collapsed bridges, river crossings, flats, snow and ice, … most of these bonus items were present and accounted for, all with happy endings.
• Having the honor to meet the greatest and most friendly people I could have imagined, in places where some would not expect it.

The trip started solo, as I have a shitty personality and don't like riding in a team. Strangely enough, i met a German rider (not an inmate) with a similar "reserved" personality and after a couple weeks riding together and splitting up, it seemed we could ride as team without killing each other. The last 3 weeks were completed in duo. Other rider is Ben or Benjamin Hacker (wheretheheckisben) on his GS650 Dakar, who's now preparing for BAM and OSR.