Snakes and Other Animals

The sealed roads in Laos (both of them) are very good; yesterday five of us blared 500 miles from Pakse, via Savannakhet, to Vientiane and had a lovely ride.The rest of the roads are mainly dirt tracks, but very well maintained so it's possible to do 50-ish between villages (providing there's no-one in front - too much dust).

Laos is a lovely country. Very unspoiled. Tan said it's like Thailand was 20 years ago. It produces the best coffee in the world, and as you ride through the countryside you smell wafts of roasting beans from time to time.

Morocco April 30, 2016

April 30, 2016:
Departed Gorges du Dades around 09:30, took the R704 north to Agoudal and then onto Imilchil. Great ride back up into the mountains, I had the road to myself, except for the donkeys and mules.
Camels on the mountain horizon:

Pyramids

The main experience in visiting the Giza pyramids has nothing to do with the pyramids themselves.

But firstly, many many years ago, I attended a lecture given by a chartered Mechanical Engineer at the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London. The speaker was a serious amateur Egyptologist and his lecture had been published in magazines of the time and carried by BBC radio. He gave an irreverent but comprehensive debunking of all the romantic folklore written about the construction of these things.

A bientot Maroc, bienvenue Europe (encore)

This latest offering sees us out of Morocco and back in the land of supermarkets and toilet roll....

The Atlantic coast is quite different from the rest of Morocco and, to be honest, not that exciting, other than the world's 3rd largest mosque and the thrill that is Casablanca (but you do have to think of of as the 1940's rather than now), and it's the only part of the country that we saw that didn't have donkeys as regular road-users.

Final Chapter

Every tale needs an ending. Mine is biological.

I am having aluminium boxes made (again) in Viedma, southern Argentina, when an email arrives from Europe. Rachel has just got back after a tough trip down the pan-American highway - weeks of gravel roads, camping rough and being blown off her bike. There’s some big news.

Photo by Lois

Having a Rest

I'm back in Bangkok again, and this afternoon Sonja took me to Bumrungrad. I'll tell you about that later.Yesterday I managed the ride from Phnom Penh to Bangkok in around 12 hours. It's only about 450 miles and a border crossing, but more than 10% of it was unsealed road and worse. I rang Bruce when I'd crossed the border and filled the tank (fuel is an horrendous price in Cambodia - nearly $1 a litre; and the pumps are calibrated in US dollars rather than riels) and we arranged a place I could find in Bangkok to meet from where he'd come out and lead me to his and Sonja's apartment.

San Juan Festival

June 24, 2013
The pole is up and greased, black axle grease.
From June 25, 2013

Musical Compilation - Tanzania

Most of the music that I heard in the streets and the bars and cafes of Tanzania, I was told, is Congolese in origin.
And some Kenyan as well.
So I'll try to stick to Tanzanian stuff here.

Well, I didn't go to Zanzibar - so here's what I missed:

(Although the skyscraper scenes are Nairobi. For contrast I suppose.....)

Some Tanzanian jazz - the Jamhuri Jazz Band.

After entering Tanzania, I took the long dirt road to Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika.
You can get a train there as well. The Central Line, but not as I know it, (the one where I grew up).

Back to School!

I´m starting Spanish School today for 3 weeks. The school (The Cuernavaca Language School) has put me up with a nice Mexican family, Mom, Grandma, and 20 year-old son. I take all my meals at the family table and have been made to feel part of this family. Of course they don´t or won´t speak a word of English around me. I think it is a great way to get "acculturated" to Latin America.

American Fastguy Takes Silver and Green in La Vuelta in Best Possible Form

As I said in a previous email, the Vuelta a La
Republica is the Indy 500 of Ecuador. It is a 7 day
race around the country and it is huge. As the only
North American, I recieved a lot of attention. I
tried to make it clear that I was racing the same bike
I rode from BA and was heading back south to Ushuaia
on the same bike after the race, that I was just here
for fun, etc. I was actually making excuses because
my bike was by far the heaviest and slowest in the
race.

A Day In The Life Of . . .

Six days, 2,000 miles and three border crossings from Arequipa; and thanks for the birthday wishes. Now in Argentina and only three hours behind GMT.A Typical Day (yesterday actually)

Iron Butt Rally 2013

Eric Bray started the IBR 2013, July 01, 2013.