Up, up and away

The last-minute flurries are over, the alarm clock has rung for the last time for 5 months and the plane awaits.In that moment of silence between kissing your family good-bye and turning to face the boarding gate, some things become clear. It is like the image burned on the retina by a camera flash in a darkened room. Vivid, static, monochromatic and stark. It is a still life of my family with all their hopes, fears and love frozen in my mind.

Ever North

Christmas is long gone, as are the chills of Tierra del Fuego and for the first time in 2 years the compass is reading due North. In less than a month Tierra del Fuego was over 4000 miles behind us and we were back in the North of Argentina fighting off the mosquitoes again. These last 4000 miles had been an odd mix between enduring howling winds, the boredom of endlessly straight roads and the enjoyment of experiencing a vastness of flat landscape like nothing we’ve ever seen before.

I, Robot

At the tollbooth there were a couple of bikes in front of me. Naturally, a ciggie stop was in order after paying the toll.

"We're going to the Dragon Rally down the road."
"Can I come too, please?"
"'Course you can."So I went to the Dragon Rally not in Wales with snow. Christo, Victor, Quintin and all the others made me very welcome, dispensed large amounts of cold beer (Windhoek - jolly nice) and generally looked after me. Obviously, there was a man from Torquay as well (Chris). I even won the long-distance award (which was cheating really).

Finding A Supermarket In Bungoma

I'm in Bungoma, near the Ugandan border. It's another ordinary town, a bit like Kericho but a shade bigger, and not even in my guidebook. So that's good.
The sort of place I usually end up staying in for a while.
I've wandered around, and like Kericho, saw no other white faces. There's nothing for tourists here.

I suppose both towns could be considered the Kenyan version of Caterham, about the same size more or less as Caterham, Caterham on the Hill, Warlingham and Whyteleafe.

Verluste beim Bergsteigen

Nach 2-3 Tagen in Kappadokien hatte ich genug von den Backpackern. Eigentlich sind die meisten Touris gar nicht so schlimm, aber das Verhalten der Einheimischen ist in Touristenorten oft vom Kommerz gepraegt, nicht mehr urspruenglich und authentisch. Da helfen dann auf laengere Dauer auch die bizarr-komisch-fantastischen Felsformationen von Kappadokien nicht mehr drueber weg.

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Akklimatisierungstour auf den Hasan Mountain, 3256m

COMPLETION OF STAGE 2 SINGAPORE TO KOH SAMUI

I am riding along CHAWANG Beach in shorts and sandles, when a German guy rides past shouting out "were is your helmet", I thought "bloody cheeky bastard" and give him the finger.....Singapore to Koh Samui, total distance 2240km, and if you want to travel non stop it will take you around 33 hrs. Well thats what my GPS says!

I caught the vehicle ferry from DON SAK on the main land, about 70k east of SURAT THANI, it cost 90b and takes about 1.5 hra to THONG YANG on the west coast of SAMUI.

Completely Crated (Again)

Yesterday was fun - third crating experience, different yet again from the previous two. Had to do a bit more dismantling this time than previously as the crate is a tad smaller, but it all jigsawed in satisfactorily in the end.The only Hazardous Cargo stuff I had to do was to let down the tyres a bit, make sure the tank was less than a quarter full, and disconnect the battery. This is because she's going on a cargo flight instead of a passenger flight, probably via Washington.

Cape Town

Few days sight seeing.Spent the last few days ignoring the world and looking around Cape Town, fantastic City, loads to do but running out of time. Shipping the bike home tomorrow and hiring a car until mid March. Weather better improve by then.

Photos and things to follow.

Keetmanshoop

Here I am in Keetmanshoop. Plans in disarray, trying to make sense of the options available.

Welcome to China

I've left the russian influenced zone of central asia and am now finally in a complete new World: China!

Guadelajara, MX., continued

After Parque Mirador it was off to Tlaquepaque, which is sort of a suburb of Guad. It's raison d'etre today is centered on it's creative talents and has converted many old 19 century country homes into stylish restos and galleries.

It´s back

I´ve had a wonderful wlecome from the BMW Club of Thailand. They took me out for dinner last night, and tomorrow is their annual bash to which I´m invited. Not only that, but they´re having a Club outing to Laos next weekend for a few days and have insisted I join them, which fits in brilliantly with my plans.Got the bike back this afternoon - five hours of paperwork then frenetic crate destruction and bike reassembly with the help of a forklift truck.