marokko

hallo leute,

ich habe heute mal wieder lust auf den blog. ich bin immer noch in fes/marokko. der campingplatz ist recht schön, die sanitären anlagen gerade noch erträglich. immerhin gibt es eine warme dusche.

Palengue, Mexico

Simon, It worked!!! Thank you so much for your help!
A big hug, Maya.

The little howler monkey on the campsite in Palengue, Mexico.

Agua Azul, Mexico.

Things that go Grunt in the Night

Just as I finished writing yesterday Hame appeared with a mended bike, thanks to those lovely guys at the BM Shop. Sharon, Steve's partner, had kindly let me use an office computer to write up the blog so Hame picked me up from there and off we went for camping supplies, before heading off up into the hills.

The Long Goodbye

I had an unreasonably early morning call to get to the airport, after a late night eating turkish borek. I was flying out via Seattle to catch up with friends there, but as I was delayed 24 hours by order of the US Customs Department, I missed the "Welcome Back Tiffany" party in the George and Dragon pub, arriving in time to witness the bleary eyes and hangover of Mick and friends at Vallantine Motorworks. At least Shaun the dog greeted me warmly and definitely seemed to remember me from seven years ago

Day of the Dead and what's around the corner

So we ended up missing Jim in Rincon de Guayabitos. We waited around for an hour but to no avail. It was quite the adventure in itself getting to his house on the hill, severe inclines on cobblestone paths. We left for Bucerias, down the coast and ended up passing Jim going the other way and waved, as is done by most bikers. We stayed at the Cactus Hotel in Bucerias, just off the Mexico 200 highway, a little expensive but secure parking, and a place we had stayed before. Next stop was Barre de Navidad.

Update

March 2010, somewhere on the ocean.

HEAVY GOODBYE'S, DROWNING SHARKY AND SAILING HOME.

On January 15 we crossed for the last time the border from Chili into Argentina. After many nights of wild camping we stayed indoors, in a place with a shower, oven and TV and behaved as greedy piggies, after plundering the local supermarket.
We were just back in time in Bariloche to catch up with Tony and Hazel. We had a great meal together and the next day they took of by bus in the direction of Cordoba.

People we've met on the road

Paco (franko)
Lovely spanish guy who helped translate english to spanish to help fix Rob's forkseals in Algeciras.

Marcel & Monique The sweet dutch couple who we relaxed with in Tarifa, Spain. Playing chess, drank and ate Hagel Slag. Thanks to Marcel, we now have hemi lights for our travels! (they still havent run out yet) and of course Woody, the Siberian husky became my new buddy.

And then there was one....

Twenty four hours later and Tobi's bike went in the luggage compartment of a bus from Laayoune to Tangiers (about 1500 kms) he also took a bus, while I rode on through torrential rain - the frst rain I had seen since setting off six weeks ago, it turned some of the desert road into a quagmire of mud, the following day I was hit by vicious sandstorms, then the bolt on the broken shock absorber snapped - whoops!

dirt roads!

We ve had an interesting few days, remote off roading in the andes! Before that though we met a couple push biking from the states through SA they had done 9 months with another 6 to go! looked seriously hard work in the mountains! We stayed in Vilcabamba a small town that attracts a lot of backpackers and hippies as it apparently holds the secret to a long, healthy life, there is something in the water in the 'valley of longevity' we ll wait and see!

Bangs and Benin

Just pulled into 'Chez Monique' a camp-site and Auberge which is in the 'book' (Lonely Planet). After having a difficult day I've dived straight for the easy option, getting myself a room and a beer quickly! The run from Lomé to here wasn't bad save for the accident this morning when some idiot on his scooter ran into the back of me! I was just pulling up to the insurance office to re-validate my cover, Crap timing for an accident! The guy and his passenger were fine, a couple of scrapes but nothing bad. But you'd have thought they were going to die the way they were putting it on.

Monterrico

I didn't want to spend too much time in Guatemala because I had visited the main attractions previously. However, I met two other riders who let me tag along and I was tired of riding alone.

Travelling without a bike

I have just had a fantastic month with my sister Abi and my nephew Claudio (aged 5 and my biggest fan). They arrived from England armed with family-sized bags of Salt and Vinegar Chipsticks and also 96 Jaffa Cakes (English biscuits) - a welcome taste from home.
So this BLOG entry is not about biking really as we took to the buses - it has made me appreciate travelling by bike all the more now -16 hours on a bus and I was pleading to be let off.