10-09-04 STAGE 5 - BACK INTO THAILAND

I once again have to tend to Doris and my equipment, as the constant rain and bad LAO roads have taken their toll. I am glad I am riding a duel purpose bike; a big roadie would not have survived it.
First of all the standard battery in the Dakar is up the shit, it is a standard type, which in the tropics, just looses water through evaporation, VERY RAPIDLY! At least every 2 weeks in these conditions.

Condor

The great thing about hotel buffet breakfasts is that you can make yourself a packed lunch.Pootled up into the mountains today. Santiago sits at around 2,000ft; I´m staying fairly centrally, and five miles up the road the city stops abruptly; you fork right on to a country lane which starts rising rapidly; and it only takes another half hour to get right out of the city and up to 7,000ft. Around 25km further and you're at nearly 10,000ft and the road stops, about 5 miles from the Argentine border.

Shipping bike out.

Taking bike to Egham to be crated and flown out. Taking bike to Egham to be crated and flown out. Hope to follow a week to ten days later, Both worried and excited, what have I forgotten, guess it doesn't matter as they sell things over there as well and cheaper than excess baggage costs.

Memory of last trip on a bike to Africa.

Clearing The Way

Had a particularly enjoyable outing through more Surrey byways on my latest trip to Guildford.
There's a huge patient support centre at St Lukes with a wide range of activities and therapies, some free, some almost free. So I joined the art class. One morning per week, everything provided, making for a much more relaxed visit than when undertaking treatment there.
Ideal for getting lost and muddy on a motorbike on the way.

Merhaba

Since almost 3 weeks I'm now in Turkey. I chilled out for 6 days in Istanbul, applied for visas, met lots of turkish people and had some adventure on the way to Ankara and Antalya where I was rock climbing for a good week at the cliffs in Geyýkbayiri.I had a pleasant start in Turkey in the town of Edirne. It's not so touristy but big enough to have some sights and I was able to wander through a typical turkish city in full swing with market, the food, mosques, the call for prayer and so on. I also got a haircut, which was quite an experience and learned my first turkish words.

Honduras

The plan here was to ride the 3 hours straight through Honduras, and try for San Salvador, El Salvador.

The border at Honduras was something else... TOTAL disorganization....different ramshackle buildings with no markings...that houses the customs, imigration, insurance, security, and the ever present fumigation people.

I was instantly besieged by at least a dozen kids, shouting in Spanish and waiving hand made, plastic laminated ID's in my face, essentially saying that they will facilitate my passage through the "system".

Of MiGs and the Centre of Europe

I'd forgotten what a 486 PC running Win98 was like. But this is Riga.When I tried to find the centre of Europe this morning it all went a bit pear-shaped, really. I tried to find the A14, I really did, and I followed the signs until they disappeared. And according to the sun I was going in more or less the right direction. But I wasn't. So I found a road which claimed to go left across country to the place I wanted. And across country I went. A few bits of the 43kms were tarmacked, to be fair, but most wasn't.

Francistown, Botswana

Where next?Francistown,
Booked here for three nights of luxury, need to sleep you see. Great place even if pricey, tried to contact Stella but in Gabs so will try again later, went to the museum and the lovely lady remembered me from my last visit, bike may have helped.

Delayed in Romania

As this Cape Town adventure is still five months away (only five months??? Oh s*^#*!!), and recent preparation only comprises ordering a new starter motor for the TTR (an acknowledged weak point), here's a brief account of part of our previous trip to Istanbul by Ducati 900SS. A sort of reflection before heading off across the Bosphorus again.

Decisions

Wednesday 10th November 2010 – When I returned to Melbourne I was in a bit of a quandary about whether I should sell the bike and get a car. Because I’d be here for a month, it would give me time to sell it, but, surprisingly, I found I wasn’t that keen to do that just yet. However, I explored all the options, like buying or renting a car, putting the bike on motorail, leaving the bike in somewhere like Brisbane then flying to Whyalla, but none of them were going to be that easy or inexpensive. Then, yesterday, I decided to see what I’d get for the bike if I sold it.

A "quicky update".

At 2000h on the 17 September, I sadly left Mexico, and crossed the border into Brownsville, TX. (on the Gulf of Mexico).

Stay tuned for the Costa Rica and the return trip stories.

N

Twintraveller leaving the USA 10.12.2004

Twintraveller leaving the USA
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Twintraveller Newsletter from California (Die neuen Bilder in der Gallery kann man jetzt auf Vollbildschirmgroesse vergroessern)

......deutsche Version....see english
version below !!!!!

Liebe Freunde,