Pamukkale

Not much to say. Very beatutiful, although very turistic. We approached Pamukkale by side roads from NW direction (from the road Sarigon - Buldan we turned left from the main road a little before Buldan) and found a nice small camp in a small unspoilt village Develi (10 eur for a tent and 2 persons).

Canada Week 2

From Wawa to Calgary.
Sorry guys, it is a bit of a cheating, but it seems the easiest way to continue the blog - to do a compilation of emails to family (we have to report every day of our whereabouts).11 June Wawa to Thunder Bay

Today things seem a bit better.On the wildlife front, Tasha has seen a set of Moose, one large with a hat-stand on its head, and as we stopped in the Thunder Bay tourist centre, a chipmunk. Very cute!

image

We are now in a nice hotel with a view of the railway line and the yacht harbour.

Cruisin' through Colombia

A busy border crossing, after a march for peace (see previous blog)

Lake Toba and beach paradise

Lake Toba was my next stop - to quote from the guidebook:

"Damau Toba is, like, this big huge lake yeah, in the middle of a ginormous collapsed volcano thing".

(I really must get a better guidebook).

The road into the ancient crater from the west is dramatic, snaking down the wooded slopes of the crater wall, and leads you onto the Western shore of the island of Pulau Samosir - not really an island as it can be reached by a narrow isthmus of land.

Into Iran

Iran is big. Really, really big. Bigger than the UK, Belgium, Holland, Germany, France and Switzerland put together. Three times the size of France and one fifth the size of the US. Get the picture? It's big. We left Lake Van and headed North through the Kurdish mountains to the border town of Dogubayazit. Both the weather and scenery was beautiful - although the temperature dropped and we did have a small rain shower crossing one of the higer summits just to remind us of home. More village kids hurled bits of roadside furniture at us with a worrying improvements in accuracy.

Canada - Yukon and BC

Onwards to Canada - Yukon Territory and British Columbia. Entered Canada via the Top of the World Highway. 40 miles are gravel on the Alaska side, but a great road none the less. Its narrow and twisting, with only a few RV's and bikes for company. The Canadian border / customs post is kind of strange - right up in the mountains all by itself. On the Canada side the road runs along a ridge with great views down over the hilltops on either side. The lanscape here is more rounded - not quite as rugged like Alaska.

Still waiting for the ferry...

As unfortunately predicted, no ferry ran this week, therefore we're off across the border to Thailand tomorrow to renew our visas and chillout on a beach in anticipation of a ferry running next Friday (5th May). The agent informs us, as he has done on previous occassions, "100% definitely maybe", therefore there is hope!

The Last Chapter and Epilogue

I ended up spending more than two weeks in Rio Gallegos. As was to be expected in this Latin American culture, I got a series of “mañana, mañana” responses regarding my parts ordered from Buenos Aires. Luis, the mechanic, got as frustrated as I did when he continually phoned the Kawasaki dealer to prod them along. Five days after promised, the parts arrived and soon thereafter I had a redone water pump (complete replacement of the broken shaft would have cost $375 and three weeks wait), completely refurbished front suspension, and a few other minor improvements.

Tarifa

Ich bin auf dem Sprung nach Afrika. Nachdem ich vor dem schlechten Wetter im Norden geflüchtet bin, nun eben recht warmer Südwesten. Die Gegend nennt sich Costa del la Luz -Küste des Lichts- . Stimmt, das Licht hier ist wirklich fantastisch!tWas dann zu vielen Sonnenuntergangsbildern führt.

Könnte aber auch Küste der Kites heißen.

San Rafael, Argentina, October 23, 2009.

San Rafael, Argentina, October 23, 2009.

CROSSING A SALT LAKE, RED VOLCANOE'S AND WORKING ON THE FARM.

Bike stolen! Rob's trip, adventure and dreams are shattered!

Help Rob continue his motorbike journey home!!!

SADLY SO, AFTER TRAVELLING FROM LONDON TO CAPETOWN VIA WEST AFRICA, ROB HEADED BACK UP EAST AFRICA AND AFTER 37 COUNTRIES, ROB TRAGICALLY GETS HIS BIKE STOLEN IN DUBAI!

HE IS NOW STRANDED WITH NO BIKE, AT A COMPLETE LOSS AS HIS DREAMS OF RIDING BACK TO AUSTRALIA ARE SHATTERED! HEART BROKEN, I AM TRYING TO GET HIM A NEW BIKE, SO HE CAN FINISH WHAT HE STARTED.

GO TO www.hardwayhome.blogspot.com and help Rob get back on the road to Australia.

Crossing the first part of the Pacific

On the good ship M/V Rus Majur, with its fine complement of unsmiling waitresses and sleazy truck drivers. It has been quite an experience. Women are few and far between on these boats and after a few vodkas, the truck drivers obviously couldn`t see staright and made a beeline for us. I was sitting with Rebecca and Lorna who had arrived in Vladivostock on the Trans Siberian express, six days non-stop from Moscow. Rebecca the Kiwi also suffers from seasickness and was very interested in my accupressure wrist bands which work really well for me.