Homeward-bound in Mauritania

I am in Nouakchott and the sand storms are blowing. it's like being in thick fog but more painful.

Ethel and I limped into Mauritania from Mali -her suspension has gone - Ooooh yes, just 300 kms south of Timbuctoo so it has been a painful ride over hundreds of kms of corrugated dirt tracks and as for the sand - trying to steer though it while the bike is like a bucking bronco is almost impossible at times.

reached Nouakchott and relative sanity (as well as cold beer courtesy of the chinese restaurant- getting quite a liking for this rice beer)

Episode I: First days in Santiago

Dear Family and Friends,

Here it is, the promised blog entry.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Alex and Ping
(slightly cold in Santiago...)
We WERE freezing in Santiago - five days ago...it's only taken me (Ping) that long to find another computer to finish this off...Alex is doing the next blog.
Wait for it...you won't be disappointed...
(ha!!)Well here we are...
First blog of our trip.

5. Colombia

Finally! Yes, finally I have some time and clear mind for writing, a not easy task while traveling as I just noticed after leaving. I´m now in Chiclayo, Peru, but let’s start from the beginning.I flew Calgary-Toronto-Medellin without problems. In Medellin was Suzi (my Suzuki DR-650) waiting for me, who will be my bike and girlfriend for the next 5 or 6 months. In a week, while being with my parents, I got parts, installed a rear rack and case, tested the way for tying the saddles and made some rides to be comfortable with the bike, but mainly, with the local way of riding/driving.

Pacific Coast Mexico 1

I had to go north first but I was finally riding down the Mexican coast.I spent the morning in Topoblampo where the port is a dolpin sanctuary. There is not much in the port anymore, although there are plans for a new marina and fancy hotels. (I would hear this story in almost every coastal town along the way.) In addition, the big tuna factory was shut down because the U.S. is boycotting Mexican tuna because of they are not dolphin safe.

Travelling as a Duo

After a great five days in Puerto Vallarta, we left this morning, waved off by Janet (who has agreed to ride again with me next year - she is now 70!), Bruce and the latest Travels with Thelma fans- Lana and Gary.

We have loaded the extra stuff onto Gullu, I was having a bit of a nose at the stuff that Savas had´picked up from his friend's apartment- including a Turkish flute. The bike is more loaded up now and we look quite funny clambering over the various stuff onto the back of it.

Such fun – or how to avoid the hard work of planning your trip.

On August bank holiday Sunday we met up with Martin and Mark. They had just returned from their RTW trip and a thoroughly good time they had. You can read about their exploits on their blog here http://strimstrum.blogspot.com/. They were really nice chaps and full of useful advice and info. So many thanks to them for giving up their Sunday afternoon to face our barrage of questions.

friends

Oggi arrivato in Leshan dopo un po' di peripezie e trovo nella mia posta un sacco di sorprese.
un sacco di belle sorprese.
trovo e ritrovo amici.
e trovo parole che mi fanno pensare, e che mi fanno rivedere il volto diei miei amici in italia.

amici.
che parola strana.
che parola unica.

Vladivostok

The road from Slavyanka to Vladivostok was good for the most part. This picture above is very typical of all Russian roads west of Ulan Ude. There is obviously going to be a very swank highway one day, as most of these sites were active with workers and heavy machinery but it's at least ten years off.

Passing traffic was easy for motorcycles but as you can see, cars were also using this sizeable dirty hard shoulder.

I've reached Vladivostock

Which is a milestone destination as it marks the far eastern reach of the Eurasian landmass. I have been dipping my toes in the Pacific Ocean and soaking up the sunny weather and unbelievably blue skies above the city.

It took a while for me to realise what warm weather is after crossing Siberia, and I have slowly removed the seven layers of clothing I was wearing under my jacket.

The journey across Siberia and beyond has not been without its problems and mishaps.

Pins and needles – well just needles really

Ant and I had our jabs for Yellow fever a couple of weeks ago. I wouldn’t recommend it. Random parts of us would ache for no apparent reason, but it only lasted for a week or so and I’m sure it’s much better than actually getting Yellow fever. We’ve just got 2 to go on the 25th of October and then we will be immune to everything the world has to throw at us ………. Well mostly.

Mexico in general

Although first we were in doubt if it was a good idea to start our trip in the middle of the Mexican winter, Dezember is actually the perfect month to ride through Mexico. in 30 days we did not have a single day of rain. In the mountains of Durango and Puebla it was chilli but actually fine with proper gear. On the Yucatan peninsular it actually was too hot and humid to ride. Visiting the Maya ruins of Pelanque, Edzna and Chichen Itza the heat was actually unbearable. Fortunately we were always able to leave our clothing at the bikes.

Photos ' San Miguel & Pie de la Cuesta

San Miguel de Allende: The main church there. Pretty futuristic looking, makes me think of the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz.

SMdA: The main plaza. The whole town looks like Guanajuato, only flatter (a relative term) and more Yuppified.

Taxco: Typical street scene.