TOTAL BOOK STRUCTURE

• Start with nearly being robbed in Ireland…
• Then back to the trip itself and how I got to Ireland….
• Rest of the Trip…
• At the end Pros & Cons from all 5 Over landers I met.

For the video:

• Use postcards as country separators (perfect)
• Fix world map that shows Route
• Filter video and image of value
• Do a speak voice through the whole thing

General:

• Complete the front (contact Karl again, do I owe him money?)
• Get video editing program (Do a Thailand Compilation)
• Complete Ireland as a beginning.
• Complete final Thailand Writing -> Find Suitable Photos.
• Contact the other Overlanders

FIRST ATTEMPT:

As educator Thomas H. ones wrote in his ‘Teacher’s Manual’ in (1840) – ‘’If you first don’t succeed try try again’’.

My global circumnavigation recently completed (https://www.facebook.com/BonodoCowMan/) was not my first attempt to do a 360 ‘overlander’, but my second’.

I first set of 2001, 3 years before Ian McGregor, Charley Boorman (plus crew) set of in 2004, and thinking about it, as I never returned to where I started you could argue that I have been on the road for the past 16 years.🙂

Memories from my initial attempt – The weather had been amazing for three weeks straight and on my day of departure it started to rain. I loaded my scuba diving gear on to the bike (my plan was to top up my travel funds by working as dive instructor at designated spots) and set of in the unknown.

My journey took me from Sweden to Denmark and after only 6 hours of traveling it started to snow. Wet and cold and decided to overtake a lorry although visibility was bad, met an oncoming Audi and had to put myself and the bike in a ditch to avoid collision. Hit a log in the process, flew over the handlebar and landed on my back. Embarrassed I ‘held my hand up’ and apologized to the two drivers who had stopped to check that I was not injured (needless to say that it was the last time I overtook a car in that way no matter how cold or wet I was).

The motorcycle was luckily OK and continued my journey via Netherlands, Belgium, France, England, Ireland and Wales without incidents and got a taste for freedom as I met amazing people and enjoyed breath-taking scenery on the way.

Leaving UK I carried on through France and Spain (all good bar for a flat tire) with the aim to catch a ferry from Cadiz (South of Spain) to Gran Canaries. On arrival to the port terminal I realized I missed the ferry by a day (only sail once a week) why taking the opportunity to use a payphone to report back home to my mother.

From the payphone booth I in my horror saw how a 75 year old Spanish lady in a car reversed over my bellowed XRV750 and was now happily parked on top of it. 4 Hours later I had managed to get the car of my bike and fix it to a point where I at least could continue my journey (as the whole front had come off and needed to be repaired).

Caught the ferry 6 days later and worked for a couple of months in Gran Canaries in order to get money for the next part of trip (crossing in to Africa), but life had other plans as I had managed to fall in love during my trip, as well as got a record deal (played in a band at the time), why I decided to abandon my dreams of traveling around the world for this time and return to the UK.

The ‘failure’ (as I saw it) regards to not making it around the world came to haunt me for years and was only put to rest when I during my recent second attempt managed to complete my quest on the exact same bike as I initially tried with 16 years prior. 🙂

If you first don’t succeed try try again….

IRELAND – DUBLIN (START OF THE BOOK – GUINNESS MUSEUM)

I felt that I had found a great location to stop and make some food (scallops) so parked my motorcycle…

Happening: Lady outside IKEA, Gypsies on field…

IRELAND – GALWAY (WEST COAST DIVE)

IRELAND – BELFAST (TITANIC MUSEUM)

WALES – CAERNARFON (CASTLE)

WALES – SNOWDONIA (SNOWDEN MOUNTAIN)

SCOTLAND – GLASGOW

SCOTLAND – FORT WILLIAMS (BEN NEVIS)

SCOTLAND – FORT AUGUSTUS (LOCH NESS)

ENGLAND – Happening: Urgent MOT and tire change….

DENMARK – ESBJERG

• Arrived to Esbjerg Ferry terminal – Took E20 to Copenhagen and drove over some Impressive bridges during the 298 km drive.
• Stopped and had different combinations of ‘Polser’.
• Stopped at the little mermaid as a must.
• Took the short ferry from Copenhagen to Malmo. (Or Helsingor/Helsingborg?)

DENMARK – COPENHAGEN

 SWEDEN – HELSINGOR/HELSINGBORG

• Stopped at a motorway Hotel
• Drove straight to my friend Henrik
• Replace break-pads
• Wasa Museum
• Tunbrorulle
• Took Fairy from Stockholm to Tallinn (Estonia)

SWEDEN – STOCKHOLM (VASA)

ESTONIA – TALIN

LATVIA – RIGA

LITHUANIA – VILNIUS

 

It was time to say goodbye to Vilnius and all it had to offer, took the E28  road heading for Belarus border with the aim to cross over at the ‘Kamenny Log’ checkpoint, only a 50 km ride from where I started from. The closer I came to the border the worse the road got and the forest around me thickened. I finally arrived at the check point and an armed guard slowly approached me., greeted him with a big smile as exited to hit what I felt was the first ‘Exotic’ country in my eyes on this trip. In broken English with a Russian accent came the words ‘Passport and Visa please’… I had my passport but as far as I knew it Belarus was a Visa free country if you came in from Lithuania as a Swede…or was it? Realized quickly after a few words exchanged that I had not done my homework properly as it turned out to be a Visa required. Said my good byes to the guard, drove a couple of hundred back the same way as I had come, stopped and got my map out. With Ukraine as my destination my only option was to head west along the Belarus border until I hit Poland, and enter Ukraine from that direction.

I set of on small country roads and rode for a few hours , stopped at occasions and asked for direction to ‘Poland’ and was kindly pointed in the right direction by locals. Finally a new ‘border’ sign appeared, set of on another set of smaller roads until I arrived at a smaller Checkpoint then the previous one (this one was more of a toll gate design with a coupe of guards). Exited I got my Passport out for the approaching border guard just to be met with the same words again ‘Passport and Visa please’. It turned out that I had not driven far enough and instead had hit a second Belarus border crossing named ‘Privalka’ just 50 Km from the Polish crossing. Same routine again, said my goodbyes to the guard who found it slightly amusing when I asked him if it was the Polish crossing, drove back on myself a few hundred meters and got the map out. One hour later I hit the actual Polish (none Visa) border, crossed over without any problems and headed for the next biggest city I could see on the map ‘Lublin’.

Arrived in cover of darkness, tired from a long days driving I stopped at a KFC restaurant I saw, had a ‘boneless banquet’. It was kind of surreal as had no intention to go via Poland but here I was, guess my first taste of hitting an obstacle and finding a solution on this trip, only the first of many to come.  Used the free Wifi, and located a couple renting out a spare room not to far away from where I was. A bit of luck was involved as the owner told me on the phone that he usually did not check his booking in the evening but had this time, and that usually people booked for arrival weeks before coming.

POLAND – LUBLIN (GOT LOST TWICE BEFORE AND HIT WRONG BORDER)

The house was located in a suburb just outside Lublin, fairly easy to find as I had pre-loaded my SatNaw (GPS) with all European roads before setting of. It brought me to the street of the house which was good enough, made a last phone call when I arrived and the owner stepped outside his gate and waived me down as I passed. After a quick introduction I asked him for the best place to park the motorcycle out of sight and was guided to the back of the house. The property had a little garden and a shed (to small for the bike) so parked it next to the house, secured it, covered it up  and of-loaded all the bags. I was guided to my room at the top floor and was told to use bathroom and shower as I pleased. Tired from the long drive hitting two Belarus checkpoints and the extra drive to Lublin I quickly made myself some noodles that I had in my food bag and hit the sack.

Waking up to a new day, blue sky and sun shining. Although tired from the previous days adventure I felt great, this started to feel like a real adventure. I was in a country that I had not planned to visit, met new friendly people and got a feeling of how they live, felt free. Eager to get on the road I said my good-bye’s, mounted and secured my bags on the motorcycle and set of. The first couple of hours of my driving was spend on country roads and started to experience things I never seen before, like the herons nesting on top of telephone poles [Photo], big birds with even bigger nests respected by the locals. Massive rape-seed fields like golden lakes everywhere [photo]. Such a good feeling, riding on a road you do not know the name of and seeing things you have not seen before, freedom.

Had promised myself to try to sample some of the local foods in every country I passed I stopped at a restaurant and asked for something ‘typically polish’. I was served [see diary] and in high site it might not have been traditional Polish food but more traditional fast food, never the same it was tasty and I was none the wiser. 

Joined the E373 towards the Polish-Ukrainian border and the ride went smooth, bike running like a dream and the sun still high in the blue sky. Arrived at the border around noon and sat in a line of cars for an hour before reaching passport control. Drove up to the hut and handed over my papers…

Who needs original motor-certificate papers?

Reached the Ukraine border coming in from Lublin (Poland) to be told that my ‘copies’ of the Motor-certificate is of no use. In the border agents own words ‘Big problem!’. She takes the paper to her ‘boss’ (both dressed up in old Russian style decorated army uniforms), but unfortunately with the same result, big ‘no-no’. I end up talking with the border agent for a pretty long time and as it was a friendly conversation and explaining my journey I asked if she would like to stay in contact and get updates from the trip (Bonodo). She then brings me in to a private room, close the door and makes a phone call, all I can hear is the word ‘Swedish’, I am now getting seriously worried that I have offended her in any way in my proposal, maybe she thinks I tried to bribe my way in as she hardly speaks English? She passes me the phone and a voice says ‘hallo’, I say ‘Hallo’ back in anticipation, It turns out to the girls brother who’s English is a bit better, I explain what I had told her and he replies (‘my sister is married’), ha ha, had not really asked her to marry me but anyway, learned that engagements ring sits on the right hand in Poland and Ukraine, not left as I rest of Europe). I Apologize for my mistake at what point I am being shown pictures of her sister on her mobile phone being asked if she can contact me instead, I embarrassed decline the kind offer and say that I need to get going. Lesson learned.

To stick to schedule I do a quick calculation that I have 14 hours to get this fixed (get original papers) to stay on track. No time to loose so back to Lublin (Poland) to find a small airport that fly to Heathrow, got one of the last seats. Arrive in London at 22:00pm, rented a car, did the 4 hour drive to Chester (UK), pick paper up and even got three hours sleep in my own bed, then back down to
London (Luton airport) this time to catch flight back to Lublin, arrived back at border that evening with the papers and were finally aloud to pass through border control.

 

UKRAINE – KIEV (KOTELVA VILLAGE)

Where am I? It is now midnight, pitch black and I am in Ukraine when my GPS goes black, can smell burnt rubber and realize that the charge cable for it has come loose and burnt of against the hot exhausted pipe. Pitch black and no idea where to go I decide to find the first hotel available. Find one (pound 10 per night, not bad) and go to bed. Next morning I have bike in pieces and eventually manage to fix the broken cable.

Let the party begin:

Hit my first police and army road block, thought I glide through it smoothly without drawing attention to myself. The soldier waived for me to pass by and as I kicked the bike in to second gear to take of my chain broke and left me standing. The soldiers and the head police chief all tried to figure out if it could be fixed there and then but no luck. I passed the police officer a bottle of whiskey I had with me as a ‘thank you’ for helping me, he looked a bit stressed and passed it to the soldiers who happily took
it. The head police officer then called a friend to come and take a look, the guy turned up and confirmed that the bike needed to get back to his backyard garage.
Next thing I know I am being towed by guy on a scooter. He is all over the road and I first think
it is just the weight of my bike that makes him go all over the place when realizing that all of them are crazy drunk. Back at the garage I find another guy that has passed out on a bed (all in there late twenties). The bike is hoisted to the ceiling by a chain and balanced on an old wooden chair and the vodka starts flowing. After allot of fiddling around a temp solution is found and after sharing some shoots with them it is time to leave. At this point the mechanic who is not only drunk but also only 165cm height want a fun drive (cant reach the ground with his feet as the bike is big), luckily he came back in one piece and so did the bike. A drunk female neighbor shows up and start hanging around my neck. Not speaking a word of English I have to wriggle myself of her drunken arms and politely say it is time to head towards Kiev.

The ‘Gentleman’ police officer:

On my last leg between Kiew and Poltava I was waived down by a police officer who explained that I had failed to stop on command a while back. He went on to explain that it is an offense that you will loose your license for….unless I could find $200 dollar to make the whole incident magically go away. He happily drove me to three cash-points so that I could raise funds before explaining that it was not official and our secret (as he put the money in his pocket). As I started to feel that he was completely lacking of ethics and morals he gave me $20 back and said I could keep it for food, ahhhhhhh:) What a
nice man:) Karma will sort him out at some point down the line for sure.

Decided to leave Ukraine on a high note as the experience with the corrupted police officer had put the country in a bad light. Found a local aviator guy in the village of Kotel’va who agreed to take me up in his tandem para-motor. He was very eager to point out a lake below that had a special shape (ha ha, say no more, see photo). As he was a trick pilot with allot ow award under his belt he gave me a flight to remember, flew so low I could almost touch the tree tops with my hands, flew above river with threes close to us on each side, a flight I will never forget as truly amazing. More amazingly, he built his own aircraft and did so very well.

Frogs Galore:

Managed to rent a canoe and did a 8 hour paddle down the local river. Full with king fisher birds and noisy frogs. Weather amazing and ones again such an experience. When arriving at my destination a local guy decided to wash his hunting knife in the river a little bit to close to me for my liking. Spider senses going of but he just turned out to be curious as guess they do not have many visitors in this remote area.

“Peter the Great’:

Went to the battle grounds of ‘The great Northern war’ where 16000 Swedish lost there lives during the final battle against ‘Peter the great’ (Russia) in the Poltava battle. Learn that the guy himself was 2.05 cm tall (giant) so no wonder we Swedish gut our butts kicked (that and the fact that we were heavily out numbered and did not have any artillery). Visited the Swedish memorial site and the stone raised by Swedes in honor of the fallen to pay my respect. Interesting experience.

And here we go again!:

On the short route to the Russian border I got stopped by police three times, the two first ones just wanted to know where I was heading. The third unfortunately ones again demanded 50 Euros to pass by passport back to me. Being a good ‘noodle’ I payed up and was asked to put the money under a newspaper in the back seat of the police car (as you do, ha ha). I expected it this time so was not as intrusive as the first experience, now used to the whole game.

Who speaks English?/Travel Tip of the day!:

Spent a few days in Russia (Kursk, Voronezh and Saratov) and can honestly say that I have not seen a single sign in English nor met anyone that speaks a single word of English. As my Sat Nav/GPS does not work in Russia and do not read Russian it has proven nearly impossible to find my pre-booked hotels. After four hours of searching for hotel and asking 20 people for direction and failed this is the solution: Grab a Taxi, give him the address, drive behind him to the destination, job done:)

Happening: Marriage problem at border

Happening: Sat Navigation cabled burned off middle of the knight

Happening: Balaclava / Drunk Mechanic experience

Happening: Flying, River, Amazing Village

Happening: Money – Money – Money – money under newspaper in back of police car.

UKRAINE – POLTAVA (GREAT NORTHER WAR MUSEUM)

RUSSIA – KURSK

Happening: No Petrol, One legged man, BS Card Police… (False BS Card for Russian embassy call).

Russia – Taxi drivers (Angels in disguise):

Left Ukraine and drove straight across the border to Kursk. I very quickly found out that with every sign only in ‘Russian’ and no one speaking a word of English finding my hotel without GPS /Sat Nav in a big city like this would be nearby impossible. Searched for 3 hour, asked 20 people (my ears hurt from taking on and off my helmet) then gave up as completely fruitless. Found another hotel that was full, the second one I found was full. As it now was getting late I asked them to please help me to find me another hotel and also to call me a taxi that could guide me there. So they did and the Taxi trick was something I came to use through the whole time in Russia and Kazakhstan to get in and out of Cities.

Spent a few days in Saratov, weather amazing and river Volga so beautiful. Visited the history museum which held a really high standard so enjoyed that. Strolled the city and recharged for my journey across the border to Kazakhstan.

Petrol, anyone?: Set of in the morning and drove for 6 hours to find the quality of the roads deteriorating fast. Ended up taking a wrong turn (zero signs to follow) and followed a road all the way to the end of it. Problem now was that I had no petrol left as expected to have arrived at border-control instead of in the middle of no-where. Had only seen one village during 2 hours of driving so headed back in that direction in the hope to find some petrol. Ended up knocking on doors and was pointed towards a house. Was soon surrounded by 15 people that never seen a ‘tourist’ or a ‘MC’ before. Managed to buy 12 liters of fuel that the man had in a plastic container in his shed. Village chief seemed to be a one-legged war veteran so tried to pay him as much respect as possible.

Pulling the ‘Embassy Contact Card’: Just as I was about to leave the police/military shows up. They took my details and wanted me to follow them. I ask to make a phone call and pull up my home-made Russian embassy business card. I stay on the phone for 10 minutes (no on picked up) and it seemed to have done the trick as they instead changed their mind, handed back passport and guided me in the right direction instead. Reached the border and could cross without any issues, reached Hotel in Uralsk with the help of a taxi driver.

RUSSIA – VORONEZH

RUSSIA – SARATOV

KAZAKHSTAN – URALSK

Kazakhstan – 2 Bullet wholes, seriously….?:

Woke up in the morning and was happy to see a French family from Paris on a similar trip like mine but doing it in a camper-van. Was less happy to hear that they had been pulled over by police at least 10 times in Kazakhstan being asked for bribes. The more worrying thing was that the man showed me two bullet holes at the back of the camper-van. Whiles camping in Kyrgyzstan someone had fired at their van. Te bullets had not penetrated the inside plate of the back door, if they had it could have mortally wounded 2 of his 4 children sleeping there. Preparing for a rough ride ahead. Set of to Aktobe.

Aktobe – Bikers Unite: Arrived in Aktobe tired and could not spot a taxi. Instead saw the first motorcycle ever seen in this country, spoke to them and explained that I was looking for a hotel. They without hesitation offered guide me the 20 minute drive (amazing hospitality). Arrived at hotel, ate a nice meal, walked the streets close proximity to hotel and went to bed.

Highway To Hell – Shalkar – Did a 10 hour drive on the worst roads I have ever seen in my life. Filled with pot-wholes the size of cars and sometimes no road at all but instead just a track in the desert. Dehydrated and exhausted my spirit was lifted by seeing heard of camels and massive eagles and other bird of pray sitting along the route. This was probably the scariest part of the trip so far as saw only 5 cars during these 10 hours, no houses and only desert in 50 Celsius. Finally made it to Shalkar, found a hotel and went to sleep.

Kamikaze Bird, bad omen!:

Set of in the morning, the road was still bad and after a hour of driving I was hit by a bird who flew straight in to my helmet. No damage done and only wondered what the odds were of that happening as had seen very few birds that morning. After around 130km I reached the ‘real’ motorway leading to Kysylorda. To my joy I passed two other motorcycles and waved, they were going the opposite way and seemed to be on a mission just like I was. Realized that I was running out of petrol again and met another biker, flagged him down to ask if I could by some spare petrol. He was from Croatia and had just had his frame welded as it had snapped on one of the bad roads. I took comfort that it did not happen to me whiles being in the dessert. Unfortunately he had no spare petrol, emptied my tank and had to use spare 2 liter bottle I carry with me. Due to head it was only a liter left as the rest had evaporated. Finally found a station only when I had 2 km left of petrol in tank (to close for comfort).

Tiny 10mm Nail, Massive Impact: Had only 260 km left to Kyrsylorda and felt positive when I suddenly felt the bike starting to swirl on the road, first thought it was strong wind as it was blowing allot but when I slowed down realized it was a rear puncture. 50 Degrees Celsius on highway a had no choice but to sort the problem out. Luckily I could use one of the side pannier pack boxes as a stand for the bike so that I could get wheel of. Ones flat was fixed I assembled the bike and felt that something was not right with back wheel as it was not running as it should, realized that a side spacer was missing. Frantically looked for it in the gravel/rock surface as without it the journey was over. A car stopped and two guys helped me look and one of them found it after 15 minutes. Gave them a big hug as illiterately felt as if they had saved my life.

Spent 2.5 hours fixing bike and was now severely dehydrated and exhausted. Jumped on and drove 500 meters to feel that the air had gone out again. In that moment a pickup wan with three road workers pulled over. Agreed that for a fee they would take me to a mechanic/hotel. Arrived late in the next city and was dropped of at a hotel with the aim to get bike fixed in the morning. Was invited in to the hotel owners house to meet his children and wife and as his oldest soon took a liking to my Leather-man tool (like a swiz army knife) I gave t to him as a token of appreciation (believe this gift got be out of trouble later).

Met two young Kazakhstan workers who was working on building the highway. They explained that they were taking the train in the morning (conversation taking place via Google translate) and that if bike was still broken I could probably get it on the train to Almaty where I had better chance to get spare parts then in this tiny village. Woke up early and made a second attempt to fix puncture, the reason for second puncture was that I had left a piece of gravel in tire before assembling which quickly made a second whole. Fixed bike and asked hotel owner to see if possible to take train anyway. He spend the next four hours arranging it for me via his friend at the station. Only way to do it was to bribe myself in to ride in the cargo carriage for 10 hours, then get a real ticket for the remaining 14 hours. As working things out I was approached by police who asked to see my papers. They then took man away and when he came back he explained that they wanted money from me but he said no. Believe that my gift to his oldest son had made me a honored guest of his so bribes was out of the question as far as he was concerned. Train came and 6 people lifted the 300kg bike the meter distance in to the cargo hold.

After the 10 hours I swapped to a real cabin and when doing so another train official tried to tell me that I did not have the correct papers (which I do) and finally let me on anyway as I refused to pay him.

Arrived in Almaty and found the bike packed in the corner so had to help rearrange att the parcels for an hour, when it was time to of-load bike the train started to move so had to wait another 30 minutes for it to stop.

Third Time Unlucky: Drove in to Almaty city to find allot of traffic. Very quickly was caught up by a guy on a scooter and asked him if he could guide me to the Bishkek road. He explained that he had to drop something of at his fathers and after that could show me the way personally. Had a great meal at his fathers and set of through town. Just when he was about to leave me the third flat came. Tried to fix it but inner tube was to messed up to be repaired again. Dima (his name) and two of his friends ended taking me to Bishkek in their pick-up van, bribe the boarder control to let me through as I had not ‘registered’ my migration card within five days. All in all it took them 8 hours and they refused to take a penny, even for the money they spent on petrol and bribes. The only thing they kept saying was ‘you are a guest in Kazakhstan’. They most have returned back to their home around 8:00am in the morning after dropping me of. Forever grateful to all three.

Now in Bishkek where I will have to wait for the Chinese/Tibetan border to open at the end of celebration for the ‘Year of the horse’. My conclusion is that the Kazakhstan people are extremely kind and helpful, only sad that the country itself is corrupted to the core on an official level.

Good Tool: http://caravanistan.com/border-crossings/

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1Ml8xrhk9Jwr00_GdccYtBrEYScU

Landmark: ‘Taskala’ Border (Saratov to Uralsk) – Ozinkin / Taskala which is on the road which runs from Saratov east to Oral (Uralsk) in Kazakhstan. From here the road is pretty good all the way to Astana.

Happening: Beautiful mosaic border (no photo)

Happening:  Really bad road after boarder in to first city (taxi escort)

Happening: Evening with football on TV – Bullet holes in van…

Happening: Bad Road, Camel Eagles – Landmark: Baikonur Cosmodrome (space Station)

Happening: Space station, car window down, guide to hotel – Given soup / Printed Maps

Happening: Drunken lorry driver wants to drive bike

Happening: See two adventure riders, one stop with broken frame (no petrol) – Riding on fumes.

Happening: Silk Road puncture 1 (lost Spacer)

Happening: Second puncture (Road workers – back road)

Happening: Invited in to house, gave Leatherman to son.

Happening: Police pull man out of train station (bribe train people) – Ride in parcel train.

Happening: Suspicious parcel (need to leave train, second attempt to get money of me by train guy)

Happening: Arrive in big city, struggle to get out of the train station due to high tracks. Road with guy on the back.

Happening: Meet Dima in town, eat at his fathers – During guide out I get my third flat. Try to fix but no luck (friend with truck). Stop and eat at cool road side place. People: Dima

Happening: Arrive at border 01:00am, sleeping guard, angry officer, bribe and finally through. Next border issues.

Now in Kyrgyzstan.

KAZAKHSTAN – AKTOBE

KAZAKHSTAN – SHALKAR

KAZAKHSTAN – KYZYLORDA

KAZAKHSTAN – SHYMKENT

KAZAKHSTAN – TARAZ

KAZAKHSTAN – ALMATY

KYRGYSTAN – BISHKEK

(‘Yurt’ = ‘Cold’)

Please know that the ride through Kyrgyzstan went well and only had one minor incident with regards to a flat tire. Managed to meet up with some friends that kindly showed me the Lake Issyk-Kul, (the second highest navigable lake in the world) and spent a great day there.Biggest impression was staying the night in a classic Mongolian tent (also know as a ‘Yurt’) at Tash Rabat (well-preserved 15th century stone caravanserai at the Bashy district, Naryn Province, Kyrgyzstan located at the altitude of 3,200 meters. Fell asleep in the ‘Yurt’ like a baby, but woke up at 2:00am as it was absolutely freezing and struggled to go back to sleep. Arrived at the Chinese border as planned where rules and regulations directly became a bit stricter.

Question: Border Name?

Landmark: Mountains

Landmark: Yssu Kuul

KYRGYSTAN – NURA (BORDER)

CHINA – KASHGAR (NOT LIKE CHINESE)

CHINA (Petrol, Anyone?)

Managed to buy bad petrol and spend a full day trying to buy new petrol after having emptied the tank. Found out that I needed a police permit to by petrol for a start, and it was strictly forbidden to fill Jerry-Cans at a petrol station due to government being afraid that I would use it to set fire to myself in protest?! Ended up having to ask an old man to fill up is car and after that use a hose to drain petrol put of his tank in to my Jerry Can. He explained that he could get 3 weeks in prison for that ‘horrendous’ crime so was grateful for his help:) – Left Kashgar in China and drove 2000 km East before turning North heading toward Tibet. Every 300 km there was a police road block asking to see permits. Bike broke down 5 times on the way and it was touch and go that I would make it all the way. Had an interesting meal where the head of the chicken was left in my soup, not sure that would go down well in Europe. Had the fortune to be able to visit Potala Palace in Lhasa (former residence of Dalai Lama before the Chinese invaded and he received asylum in India). Beautiful building seen on a beautiful day. Stopped to sleep at 4800 meter above sea level and woke up the next day thinking I was dying, headache, nausea, lethargic, shortness of breath… High altitude sickness… Bike felt the same way so had to remove the air-filter to allow it to get enough oxygen to function. When arriving to the foot of Mount Everest on the Chinese side we had all slowly started to feel and were soon back to normal again. Arrived in to Kathmandu and visited the ‘Monkey Temple’ as holds a breathtaking view over Kathmandu. Will now prepare for the 2 week trek to Mount Everest Base Camp which is an old dream of mine:)

Happening – CDI Break Down

Happening – Lost Passport (David)

• POINTS IN BETWEEN

CHINA – LHASA (POTALA PALACE IN TIBET)

CHINA – BORDER TOWN

Happening – High Altitude Sickness

Landmark: Turgart Pass (Highest point with Praying flags)

NEPAL – BORDER TOWN WHERE WE HAD LANDSLIDE ISSUE

After many weeks of traveling through China, dealing with all the restrictions that are enforced in the country (you need a police permit to buy fuel for a start), it felt great to arrive at the Nepalese border. With the help of a ‘fixer’, a friend of our guide, we were able to pass through passport handling and the stamping of our Carnet de Passage fairly quickly. Over the past couple of weeks I had had the pleasure of riding with two guys from the UK, David and Anthony, and we’d shared a Tibetan guide between us. By law you have to have a guide as you ride through China and so we’d spent that portion of our journey taking it in turns giving the guide a lift on each bike; in a way it was nice and I enjoyed riding with a pillion for a change. As we entered Nepal we had been receiving conflicting information about the state of the Araniko Highway, the road I was to be riding to Kathmandu. Three kilometres of the highway had been hit by a terrible landslide in August, some locals told us that it was possible to pass while others just shook their head saying ‘impossible now’. The initial slide had been bad and, according to the same locals, it had killed over 200 people (official figures put the death toll at 156) when it crushed most of the houses in a village unfortunate enough to be in its path. We arrived at the beginning of the section of affected road in the late afternoon and although it had started to rain slightly we decided to give it a go. We were met by a caravan of lorries, each one of them waiting to attempt to cross. Most of them had double parked so close to each other that our pannier-laden bikes wouldn’t fit through, so we had to dismount the panniers, squeeze through and get to the front. We eventually passed the lorries and arrived at the beginning of a temporary road that had been constructed.

Just 200 metres into the road we approached the first lorry which had become stuck. Again we had to hop off our bikes and dismount our panniers in order to pass by on the outside. 150 metres later, another lorry stuck next to a JCB. It looked tight but we decided we had to give it a go. I went first while David and Anthony waited and after I’d passed I went back to give them a push. Both of them managed to squeeze through but due to the deep mud and the sheer steepness of the mountain road both of their clutches decided that they’d had enough. The two bikes came to a standstill in exactly the same spot. The heavens opened with monsoon rain and the road began to take on the appearance of a river. Rocks and mud flowed down the mountainside and I had to make a decision. We agreed that there wasn’t much that we could do for their bikes and, as I had a strict schedule, we gave each other a hug and said our goodbyes. I rode on through rivers and mud, leaving my British friends behind. I was certain that I’d end up with a broken leg as I kept getting it trapped between ground and pannier every time I had to correct the bike, especially as I had to keep momentum up so that I wouldn’t get stuck. After two kilometres I was met by some Nepalese men frantically flagging me down, shouting ‘road is gone’. My reply, not wanting to believe what I was hearing, was ‘what do you mean road is gone?’. They explained that the rain had triggered yet another slide and that there was no road around the bend and they were turning back. I decided to take their word for it. I had no energy left to waste on even a short 10 metre ride to find out if it was passable, so I turned round. Trying to turn my big 300kg Africa Twin was a mission in itself, it was impossible to reverse the fully loaded bike in the mud by myself and as I saw locals disappearing panic began to set in. Not only was the rain coming down harder and harder but it was getting dark. Fortunately I managed to manoeuvre the bike around and I made my way back from where I’d came. To my joy David and Anthony were still securing their bikes. At this point I was struggling with exhaustion, I could barely speak. I rode into Khasa, found a hostel and went back to pick them up one by one as they walked down the road.

A bed to sleep in can perform miracles and the next day I woke up ready for a new attempt. I wanted to leave as early as possible as I didn’t want to risk riding in the rain. In an attempt to limit exhaustion to myself and overheating my engine I decided to tackle the three kilometres of road in four stages which turned out to be a good idea. Twice during the hard slog through the mud and boulders I was stopped by police stationed in areas where football sized boulders were crashing down the mountainside and bouncing over the road. They observed the mountain before shouting to me ‘go-go-go!’. Along the route I once again came across lorries that were stuck. Off with the panniers again with the only thing between my tire and the sheer drop off a cliff to my right being a few centimetres. Then back again through the mud to collect my panniers, mount them and carry on. After an hour I started to see houses at the bottom of the mountainside. Sensing that I was close to the end I asked one of the passing lorry drivers if it was a long way to go, he pointed to the same houses with a smile and said ‘that is the end’. I had made it past the landslide! I wrote this piece from the Kathmandu side of the landslide on the Araniko Highway, sat down in the shade next to a rock, splashing water on my face to cool down with a sense of relief. There’s only 80 kilometres left on the road to Kathmandu but from here on the quality of road gets better and the scenery is amazing. At the time of writing this, the two other bikes are still stuck on the landslide road and David and Anthony have spent most of the last day sourcing parts (it’s not possible to buy parts for a Triumph 800XC in Kathmandu so they’ll have to be shipped from the UK). The plan is to stick the two bikes on a lorry when the road is better and get them to Kathmandu where they’ll hopefully be mended. Worst case scenario; David and Anthony will have to be airlifted by helicopter past the slide.

NEPAL – KHATMANDU

Spare Plane anyone?

Nepal (besides Kazakhstan) has by far been the most physically challenging country. As you know from previous newsletter there was a bit of the struggle to pass the 3 km land-slide area between Tibet & Nepal. Ones I arrived in Kathmandu it was now time for an old dream of mine, to trek to the Everest base camp. To get to the mountain range (Himalayas) I first had to fly to Lukla which is one of the most accident pron airports in the world (because of weather and design of runway. It is very short, built on an upwards hill due to it’s lack in length to make it quicker for the pilot to get to a stop, and faster to take of as t ends with a direct drop. To make it more fun it also have a mountain in front of it so the pilot has to do a direct turn to the left after take-of. The first flight I boarded mall-functioned why we needed to of-load, the second flight did the same (something with the breaks), so had to go to another company who agreed to fly us and all went well.

Stay away from the mountain hooligans called ‘Yak’s’!

The 7 day trek up to Base camp (5364 meters) went well and I am still processing the breathtaking scenery of places such as ‘Khumbu Ice-fall’ etc. Had a minor fight with a ‘Yak’, (long haired Tibetan mountain cow with long horns). The mountain paths are very narrow at some places and you are sharing them with farmers who used them to transport their yak’s. During one of the passing I managed to startle one of the Yak’s who dug his horn in to my right thigh and rip my trousers. Luckily I was standing on the mountain side as been taught and not on the cliff-drop side as could have gone bad as he easily picked me up and threw me to the side. Luckily the tip of the horn was rounded so instead of penetrating the skin it caused a 30 cm surface scratch and a bruise. Needless to say that I stayed well away from the yak’s during all the rest of the passes:)

Mountain Sickness

There are other dangers around high altitude treks that I want to mention as I underestimated this myself. Mountain sickness can progress to high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or high altitude cerebral edema (HACE), which are potentially fatal. Unfortunately a 21 year old British girl lost her life in the camp I stayed at (4500) as she had ignored the warnings. 4 Days before I arrived to the camp another Australian guy had suffered the same fate. If you go then make sure you follow altitude acclimatization rules and drink plenty of water (3 liters a day).

NEPAL – EVEREST

Landmark: Mount Everest

NEPAL – INDIA BORDER (ALMOST NOT A BORDER AS OPEN)

INDIA – GUWAHATI

India – Cows, crowds and slum – Mad Max style,

As a European know that you are a far way from home when you start encountering road signs saying ‘Elephants have right away at all times’, and ‘Wild elephants’. Roads through India is not the best and as you drive along you will have to maneuver around allot of cows (on the motorway), dogs, cheep and crowds of people. The road sometimes goes from good, to bad to really bad, to ‘is this a road?’. Did have a couple of amazing hours of drive through the tea field in Darjeeling, and parts of the jungle driving through the northern part of Bengal. After that it got more industrial and less fun…Twice I had to speed up rather then stop when hoards of people in the middle of the road try to flag you down. Had been warned in advance that it is groups of people that has come up with the idea that if you pass their village, as they have no job and need money for recreational drugs they will demand this of you for using their road. Both times I managed to avoid them but always left me with an unpleasant feeling.

Arrived to the City of Guwahati which contained a mix of nice building and slum. I am now planing my last 600km until I will reach the Burma border and although India is a beautiful place it is far to crowded for my liking. Most of the time in city traffic it is a total stand still and mayhem, this on top of the intense heat from the sun can make it a bit uncomfortable at times.

India – The land of contrast.

As I was already in India I decided to park the MC, do some internal domestic travel and to catch up with some new and old friends. I arrived in Mumbai to find a huge contrast between wealth and slum. India is the land of diversity, many different cultures and ethnicity living under the same flag. The people I met were kind, positive and hard working and really enjoyed my stay. Met an Indian family on Mount Everest that kindly invited me to Pune so took the train over to stay with them for a night. The son had arranged for me to speak at the local MC club which was a great experience as all great people with a huge passion for motorcycles like myself.

India – ‘Dumbo’ in the Wild,

Left Guwahati heading East and whiles driving through a beautiful jungle area I had to slam my breaks as a male elephant came out of the forest just meters in front of me. A priceless experience and moment that I never will forget. I jumped of the bike and managed to capture him before he disappeared in to the opposite side of the forest. Had a huge urge to follow him on foot to get better pictures, but if remember it correctly they can be a bit dangerous, if you are unlucky, so decided to let him roam of and head on instead:)

India – Give the kids some land!!!

Arrived to the city Imphal (a city that I had been warned about by both Swedish and British foreign departments as being ‘unsafe’). Imphal (being part of an area known as ‘Manipur’) is a part of India that would like to be a independent country so for years they have expressed this urge pretty much the same way as Irish IRA, or Spanish ETA did (armed assaults and bombs).

On arrival I was directly told by some people being there on business that you do not go out after 16:00pm to ensure safety. I decided to keep a ‘low profile’ (if now that is possible being 6’4 on a monster bike no one has ever seen in that area, ha ha), and felt that it was better to move on as soon as I could. Told the hotel receptionist that I was planning to set of early morning but was told not possible as police would not allow it? Later explained that I had changed my travel plans and would set of more normal times instead when I then was told that the ‘Students Union’ had started a strike as they wanted 3000 square meter of land from the government for a project they had in mind.

The first thing they had done was to block all the roads going out of the city and I was told that if I tried to navigate around these barricades and they caught me then both bike and passport would be instantly destroyed by them (Ok?!). The strike escalated in riots, teargas and smoke grenades were used in an attempt to disperse the activists and on my question regards how long it would take no one really new.

I started to get a bit worried as had my Myanmar (Burma) guide waiting at the border at this point, luckily the strike was over within 3 days so that I could set of. Counted another 8 police/military check points on the last 200 km to the border and felt like a UFO driving through each of them.

India – Saved by mother nature…

I was happy to get through and pass the last military check point before doing my last hour to the Burma border. The road had been long and demanding so was at this point both physically and mentally a ‘little bit fried’. The police man at the first check point had kindly made me multiple paper copies of my passport to make future check points passages as easy as they possible could be (great guy). I had stored the copies in my right, front jacket pocket and when looking down whiles driving I realized I had lost them. Slammed on the breaks, did a U-Turn on the tiny dusty road, lost my balance, failed to take the weight of the ‘top heavy’ bike and felt myself and bike catapulted over the side of the mountain road. When I came to my senses I realized that the bike and I had fallen half a meter of the road and was only saved by a layer of bushes and roots along side the road.

I was lying in the bush, and the bike hanging in two roots and some form of water hose running along side the road (without that we would have both kept on going down the mountain side). Front of bike smashed, handle bars wonky… Started to take of all the heavy packing in the hope to prevent bike from sliding further in case of roots snapping. Tried to get bike up but proved to be impossible. Ones again, as always during this journey, within minutes when I am in need of help a solution presents itself. An army convoy from ‘Assam Rifles’ battalion drove by and 8 men instantly offered to help getting the bike up on the road again. Their last words before driving of were, ‘You are a very lucky man’, guess I am in many ways!?:)

Happening: Elephant on road

Happening: Student Riot

Happening: Crowds on Roads Trying to stop me

Happening: Came of the road and helped by Assam Rifles

Happening: 3 Questions – Are you carrying a Knife? Are you traveling alone? Brave man, unerving By guy at hotel, and by last of the 6 border controls.

Landmark: Darjeeling Tea leaf fields

Landmark: Amazing oasis I went to with my three business friends

INDIA – DIMAPUR

INDIA – IMPHAL

MYANMAR – 

Burma – Anyone have a spare ‘blind dog’?

Finally reached the border of Myanmar (Burma), where my four tour-escorts were waiting in a white car. They were all happy although I was 2 days late (Student Strike in Imphal), as it just meant more money for them. It was a odd looking bunch, the driver was short, covered in tattoos and liked his whiskey, (later found out that he was an airport taxi driver standing in for his brother who was supposed to have done the journey but was ill). It was the Government official that resembles a very feminine ballet dance teacher, (guess he had some power though as military at checkpoints through the whole trip was ‘told’ to move out of the way, rather then ‘asked’). It was the guide himself who was the only one speaking English and also the only one that I later on could trust. Then finally a chubby extra passenger which huge urge to eat all the time slowed us down, he was the brother of someone (could never figure out to whom or why he was there).

We set of and I felt as royalty as escorted by a car with the warning hazard lights on, ha ha;) Anyway, due to time restraints we did allot of driving and very little sightseeing as first planned. The driver had come up with the idea that if I was not on time to the last mountain passage leading to Thailand then we would have to extend by two extra days (and he would get more money). The reason for extension is that the road is so narrow that you can only drive in one direction on a specific day, and the following day the traffic go the opposite direction.

Due to this he suddenly explained that his eye-sight was so bad that he could not drive after 18:00pm every night when it got dark, and suddenly the average speed we did had gone down from 110km/h to 80km/h. Everyone pretty soon had figured his plan out and my guide kindly suggested for me to lead the convoy instead of following it, to force the driver to have to follow my speed. The plan worked and arrived to the Myanmar-Burma friend ship bridge with an hour to spare, said my Good Bye’s and crossed in to Thailand.

THAILAND ENTRY – MYANMAR – MYAWADDY (MAE SOT or TAK?)

Thailand – Mechanic please…

As I arrived to customs in Thailand at the border crossing my bike’s electronic was all over the place, reserve lights were indicating although I knew I had full tank, other warning lights coming on/off randomly. I knew that if I turned the bike of it would not start again so grabbed one of the officers, explained the situation. He kindly took me passed the 200 people long line so that my papers could be stamped faster whiles the bike was still running. Now it started to overheat instead so had to hurry before any permanent damage was done to it. Finally got through and later found out that the ‘Chinese’ battery I had fitted in China had been turned on its side by another mechanic doing some work, consequently it had started to swell and was no more of a football shape then a square (due to this also stopped working resulting in problems).

Fixed bike, headed towards Bangkok, stayed in Bangkok 20 hours before feeling that the town was far to crowded with traffic and people for my liking. Spent the next few days driving South toward Phuket, and finally on the way down reached the Gulf of Thailand. Met a Spanish couple and together managed to find the empty beaches and water falls (absolutely empty), wild monkeys eating from our hands, and felt my energy starting to return as a result. This was scenery and places I had only dreamed of and was thrilled to have made it this far.

Will now figure out how to get myself and bike over to Australia via Malaysia and Singapore, will most likely be some form of Freight Container:) Bike is a mess so also need to source a huge array of spare parts first:)

• [Where did the police block was where I was asked by police if I had slept with Thiai girls and if I had weed on bike?]
• Arrived to the border mid-day and felt so relived as Myanmar had been a strange country due to time pressure and the driver who was slowing down on purpose to get more money.
• Stamped my passport and set of over the bridge and arrived on the other side where the Thai border was.
• My electrical system was like a pinball machine, nothing worked came on and off. Realised that if I turned it of it would not start again. Left bike running and spoke to guard who let me bypass around 200 people. Bike almost overheated in the sun but managed to jump on and drive of.
• Stopped a traffic police and asked for nearest town and he pointed me towards ‘X’.
• Arrived when it started to get dark, pulled in at the first Hotel sign I saw and got a room, put the cover on the bike and of-loaded all my stuff (goof opportunity to get stuff washed and fixed).
• Went straight out and had an ice cooled Mango smoothie, and another one together with a sea food salad and a Pad-Thai. Lipped burned from the chilli.
• Caught conversation of French speaking girl at table next to me, her friends asking her why she was not eating? – She accidentally ate Dog the day before (pale) as she randomly had picked something from the menu and later found out what it was. Struck up a conversation with them, most of them aid workers.
• Walked down the street to get my bearing and also try to find a laundrette, found one that was open next morning. Also walked in to a pharmacy and got some chap stick as my lips were dry, spoke to the shop keeper who after failing to give directions in English asked me to come back tomorrow and she would take me to place where I could buy a new battery.
• Next day, had an amazing hotel breakfast, went on her scoter to Honda but they did not have a battery, went to the bank and got some money out instead then back to shop.
• Handed in clothes that I later got back perfectly ironed and packed in plastic.
• Found a typical small bike shop and the guys managed to make me two new pannier brackets (to ensure I did not lose panier again like I did in Myanmar), get a new battery as the old blue one I got in China looked like a football, and also re-attach my rear break that came off in the mountains in Myanmar.
• I now had time to relax, and visited the local market, eels, turtles and everything under the sun in bowls for sale.
• Met a girl (check country she is from and name – believe Spanish gypsy) who was there working as an aid worker helping Burmese refugees (ask for more details around this), had coffee and went shopping for a dress for a wedding she was going to attend. Said our good byes.
• Went to a local Buddhist temple and hid a photo behind a statue for my friend as had promised to do so (Jai).
• Felt I had seen enough of this town and left early morning heading for Bangkok. It felt like a new chapter, bike was kind of fixed, clothes were washed, I felt rested, the weather was amazing and I was in Thailand (still had no wind wiser from crash in India)
• Drew through the day and started to approach Bangkok, traffic started to get bad so pulled in at the International airport to get a breather, stretched my legs.
• Kept on going in to Bangkok without really having a plan with regards to where I was going, came to a toll section where a policeman shouted at me explaining that motorcycles were not allowed on the main road? He explained that fines were high but decided to let me go as I clearly looked like I had no clue. He asked me to reverse up and unhooked a chain and let me out on a side road. I now felt I was driving around aimlessly.

THAILAND BANKOK

• Drove around a bit in the hope to find something (signs) that made sense, heat, traffic and endless of spaghetti junctions made me finally pull over and park the bike and on foot try to find something. A couple of hundred meters away from the parked bike I found a Hotel, very basic but never the less very welcome. Picked up bike and parked it at the end of the underground garage.
• Next to bike was a gold shrine with offerings, was amused by the fact that several people had offered their Fanta, Sprite and Coca Cola. Unpacked and went to Hotel room.
• Met a (May Mog) where was he from) that spoke a little bit of Swedish as he lived there many years ago. He openly talked about how much money he had and that he was on the way to Phuket to open a coffee shop. He also mentioned two different occasions picking up girls who turned out to be ladybugs and that he went with it.
• Next day went to travel agency and picked up free street map, walked up and down the near streets and found an internet cafe where I checked my emails and VISA stuff for Australia.
• Found a shopping centre and had a KFC (or similar copy of it) and an ice cream, chilled and did some people watching.
• Realized that I would never find my way out of Bangkok in the traffic so spoke to the took-took drivers outside the shopping mall and arranged for one of them to meet me early morning so that he could guide me out.
• Next morning came and he had kept his word and stood waiting for me. Would have struggled without his local knowledge as it almost took an hour to get through the city through heavy traffic (pregnant woman and kids on the back of Motorcycles).
• Pulled over and he left me at a petrol station, had some food and continues my journey, met some Malaysians on Honda Gold Wings heading back to Malaysia at one of the other petrol stations on the way.

THAILAND – PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN

• The roads were good, the weather amazing but very hot. I decided to stop at a town called Prachuap Khiri Khan as I knew it was my first chance to see the water (Gulf of Thailand). As I pulled of the road the first thing I saw was a tree and area filled with hundreds of Monkeys, drove slowly past them and came straight on the water front. The Ocean was amazing, felt so good to see open water again after all inland driving. What a contrast to dirty and busy Bangkok.
• I drew up and down the coast line to get my bearings and found a Hotel not too far away from the water line. Unpacked, covered the bike and went for some food.
• Met girl on peddle bike who travelled by herself, told me about the temple and sleeping Buddha.
• I was told that there was a ‘sleeping’ Buddha’ statue in a cave in the mountains worth visiting so headed in that direction. Drove past amazing temples and a beautiful fishing village where the fishing boats peacefully were moored up. Finally found the stairs leading up the Mountain, climbed them all and arrive to a secret place. Small statues and a massive Buddha statue.
• On my way out I met Andrea and Miki’s (from Spain), an awesome couple that travelled to PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN as they wanted to see a different part of Thailand.
• Spent a few days with them where we had milkshake (milk shake bar), the most amazing sea food at an outdoor restaurant.
• Drove to the most amazing national park that was completely derelict, miles of white sand beach for miles and no one around, swam and it was just breath taking (have to go back).
• Next day, rented a scoter as well as the heavy bike was a bit OTT on the small roads. Decided to go and see a water fall. Drove for an hour and arrived to the most amazing hidden away place where we swam in the waterfalls and could feel the fishes brush against our legs. The place also had a section where people had left their fine dresses? No idea why? Said my good byes to Andrea and Miki’s and carried on towards the next village Chumphon.

THAILAND – CHUMPHON

• Drove 200 km South and good roads and amazing weather, very early came close to Chumphon. Stopped asked for direction was misled twice, had to go back on myself.
• Arrived to Chumpon and stopped at the first restaurant on its main road (pirates) and had a coke and some food.
• Met Peter and his wife and Karl from Norway (roller skies) and spend some time with them eating and also going to Chumpon beach where they were looking to build a little holiday village (allot of sand flees on the beach but beautiful).
• Spoke to some people who had a kite surfing school on the main road and after that set of again towards Mai Khao.

THAILAND – MAI KHAO

• Stayed in a luxury hotel and watched the sun go down.

THAILAND PHUKET

• Drove in to Phuket and tried to get my bearing as I had visited the place twice in the past when I was going to work as a Underwater photographer but house sale fell through and 3 weeks later the Tsunami hit.
• Found the old dive school (oceanic) that I previously had visited but they had changed owners (Now a British couple) (Check names).
• Was recommended by a friend (Mona) who was still out there to rent a room from restaurant ‘2 Chefs’ as owned by another Swedish guy with the same name as me (Henrik). Stayed there for a few nights and was later due to room shortage invited to stay with him and his family instead (in the pool house).
• Found a mechanic who sorted out my wind screen (created a bespoke, black Harley version) and also changed my brake pads. Bike now ready for heading towards Malaysia.
• Said my goodbyes and headed towards the Thai – Malaysian border.

THAILAND TRANG

• Set of early morning – Scoter riders pointing at my legs trying to tell me to cover up – later burned them as I did not (stopped at a police station and got covered up).
• Drove through the day and did good progress, as it started to get dark and I was getting closer to the city of Trang suddenly from a side road three bikers on BMW adventure bikes pulled out. Got me really excited as had been riding sol for so long. Caught them up at a red light and asked them where they were going, said back to Malaysia. Asked them if we could ride together and so we did.
• On the way we were caught up by a third rider who had left his passport in Thailand.
• Rode up to the city of Hat Yai and decided to stay the night as it was 23:00pm

THAILLAND HAT YAI

• Parked the bikes in the Garage of a Hotel and decided to split a room with one of the guys. Had a massage (mediocre) and got the feeling that they were not in to classic massage.
• Went out for a meal with my three new found friends (midnight). On the way we were approached by several older women showing pictures of girls on their phones. Realized that this border town was the place Malaysians go to play away from home.
• Went shopping the next day (or the guys did and I came with them) then set of for the final stretch towards the border.
• Huge wait at the border (arrived around 14:00) as we had to wait for the border officer that was going to stamp my Carnet. Eventually he arrived and confirmed that he never stamped one before so had to guide him through it. I was now in Malaysia.

MALAYSIA BORDER

• Got my Carnet stamped and continued my journey now joined by my new Malaysian friends. The bike was running fine, weather was great and felt safe as I was riding in numbers. When I say safe I mean in case anything happens to bike. Remer the feeling of relaxing and feeling extremely content.
• Road through the afternoon and it got dark, could see the Kuala Lumpur city lights in the distance and was ridding last in the convoy as I suddenly heard what can only be described as broken cogs rattling from the engine and the bike stop pulling. As a one-way road I quickly flashed my headlights to catch the attention of the guy in front of me, luckily he noticed it in the dark and slowed down. My bike ran to a stop me fearing the worst.
• Took my tools out and rather than being my gear box failing it was the teeth of the drive shaft that had work out (learning later that it is known weak spot of the Africa Twin). The cog wheel was spinning on the shaft, quickly shut bike down tired as close to midnight.
• My friends flagged down a lorry that could not help, and another, but the third could as had an empty trailer. It took me to one of the riders friends motorcycle shop / garage.
• Remember seeing the street lights through the wooden planks as I was lying next to bike in the trailer during the 1.5-hour drive to the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Despite being cold and bumpy I managed to catch some sleep. Arrived to shop, put bike away safe and headed for X house as I was told I could sleep in his warehouse.
• Slept in fabric warehouse, basic but perfect for what I needed at the time. Meet wife was politely asked not to shake hands.
• The next morning, we went back to the garage and checked the damage on the bike. It was decided that getting a new shaft or even engine would be impossible in Malaysia so welding the cog on to the wheel was the only way forward. It was a nice garage filled with brand new BMW adventure bikes so felt like a vintage rider.
• Spent the following days worrying less about the bike and was taken around Kuala Lumpur where I visited the Petronas towers (luxury) and other landmarks (mention them by name). All in all Kuala Lumpur is an amazing place with amazing people.
• Went out to eat with X friends and family and watched Karaoke
• Arrived back at the Garage to find that one of the guys kindly had welded my sprocket on to the shaft. Although weld was good I suspected that it might not have been fixed in centre so took a ride and found that the cog was so of centre it would have to be done again. As only a few days left before bike had to be flown to Perth in Australia I decided that I would have to get it fixed on arrival before attempting crossing the Null Abor as if not the bike would without a doubt vibrate to pieces.
• With Singapore being around the corner and a small place I did a day trip over and visited the theme park (name). It was one point in particular I was interested in and that was the most Southern point (name) so went there to plant my flag. Ate some traditional Malay food (fermented), had a Singapore sling at Raffles (story about first drink) and was server by a kind chatty bartender that I still to this day is unsure to if it was a he or a she.
• Back to Malaysia and spent two days stripping bike down and cleaning it as the Australian laws around introducing seeds or bugs to the wildlife are strict (2000 dollar fine). Heard stories about people with allot of issues. Took tank of and scrubbed every part, was advised to get rid of air filter as place customs will look so did that. Packed all the content of my paniers in to some old suitcases my friend gave me as wanted custom to inspect bike clean. Ended up costing me $400 as had too much weight on my own flight.
• Became an honorary member of their bike club ‘Adventure rider’. Got stickers and t-shirts and felt it was a great ending to Malaysia.
• My friend road with me to airport as he knew a guy who could help with getting bike flown to Malaysia. Hs friend was quite eccentric but was good to know as he guided us through the process (still took a good 4 hours). Got the bike wrapped in plastic and left at Cargo before I took off to terminal to catch my own flight. Said my good buys and me and the bike were flying on separate flights and landed more or less within an hour of each other in Perth west coast Australia.

SINGAPORE

PERTH AUSTRALIA

 

Flying Bike: After Singapore I had to completely dismantle everything on the bike as part of a rigorous cleaning process. The bike was about to do it’s first flight in order to get to Australia and the Australian Customs and Border protection is extremely strict. If they find a single fly or seed on the bike then heavy fines are to be expected and huge delays with regards to getting the bike through quarantine ones in Perth. Bike was delivered to airport, air filter removed (as was advised that it would be of huge interest by the inspector), wrapped the bike in plastic and bordered a separate flight. Me and the bike more or less landed 6 hours later at the same time. After that it took 5 days worth of paperwork before the bike could be released and luckily the quarantine check went perfect. Been told of some bikers that has had to wait two weeks to get bike out so was happy with the result.

Crazy Kangeroo: Made some good friends in Perth and set of towards Sydney. I had been warned about the long stretch of nothingness (middle part of Australia) that connects West with East called the Nullarbor. Nullarbor means (No Trees) and is a suitable name for the area as so dry and lifeless. Before setting of I had the opportunity to visit the ‘Lucky Bay’ beach in Esperenze in the hope to see a bunch of Kangaroos that hang on the beach hoping to get cookies from the visitors, unfortunately they were not there that day. On the way back towards the highway a massive Kangaroo jumps out of no where and just as with the elephant I had to slam the breaks again (still an amazing experience). They are fast and big which was a good lesson before crossing the Nullarbor.

Stranded Asians:

Due to the extreme heat and huge distance I had packed 13 liters of water and made sure everything was working properly. Came to a part of the road where I had to turn around as a raging bush fire and after that arrived to Norseman which is the start of the Nullarbor. Set of and counted over 200 massive dead Kangaroos along the way, unfortunately they chase the headlights so the road-trains driving at night has no chance to stop whiles driving (the smell from the cadavers sometimes not fun). I had to be careful as the crushed bones scattered on the road easily would puncture the tires if hit. During my crossing I came across an Asian couple in an old car that had broken down. The couple had ran out of water so got a chance to share some of mine. Police showed up and ordered a tow truck that would arrive within 4 hours so felt safe leaving them.

Bad Orcas!!:

Headed to Port Lincoln as had been told you could do some shark cage diving but unfortunately on arrival was told that a group of Orca’s had arrived three weeks earlier and killed one of the great whites and the rest of the sharks had not been seen ever since. Carried on to Sydney where I met up with some friends of the Malaysian riders. A couple that had done a similar trip to the one I was on where they had driven from London to Sydney (only they took a different route). The bike is now loaded on a Freight liner on it’s way to Vancouver Canada as I am going home via North America:)

CANADA – VANCOUVER BORDER 

USA

I am happy to share some photos from the last and final leg of my journey (North America), and to finally be able to say ‘I did it!:) – As my bike got delayed by 5 weeks when getting stuck in Norh Korea during deliver I did not get the chance I had hopped to explore some areas as planned but all in all it was still a great ending to the adventure.

United States – A BIG multicultural country with breathtaking coasts, forest, lakes, plains and deserts. Parts along the way extremely hot but luckily plenty of places to cool down (swam in the the Pacific, Lake Michigan and the Missouri river – through Nevada I had to settle for drenching my t-shirt in water). Friendly people that treated me like family, and a million of things to see and do along the way. Majestic Californian Elephant seals, and wild Elks along US1, endless miles of breathtaking Canyons in Nevada for a start. A perfect end to my Global Circumnavigation.

This part of the trip went without any major mishaps, had some minor issues around my battery but got that fixed so all good. Felt a bit uneasy regards safety when got lost in Detroit, but bar from that it was a safe and great part of the trip.

 WHAT BROKE? – Fellow adventurers, since my return back from my 360 global circumnavigation (https://www.facebook.com/BonodoCowMan/) I have had a chance to reflect on parts I had to fix or replace along the way.

Please find the below ‘workarounds’ allowing me to complete the trip and ‘lesson learned’ along the way, in the hope that it will come in handy to anyone planning to travel to remote areas on an XRV750 RD04.

Besides 3X flat tires, coming of the road in India and the normal ‘wear and tear’ (3 x sets of tires, 3 x cogs and chain, and normal service items), there was a couple of breakages that I had not foreseen, some I would like to call the XRV750 RD04 ‘Achilles heel’ after all the mileage these bikes have done up to date.

Here is what happened, where it happened, how it manifested itself, workaround applied and Lessons learnt:

Ukraine – Chain
Incident: Chain and Sprockets were over-due to be replaced, and the chain was not tense enough resulting in chain being damaged when putting bike in to 2nd gear when traveling at slow speed. This happened at a military checkpoint so luckily the village mechanic was called to assist.
Workaround: carried a replacement chain that was used / Lesson Learned: Look after your chain and do not put of making sure it is greased and tensed correctly.

Kazakhstan – Front Mud Guard
Incident: Hit a pot-hole and high speed and the mud guard got stuck in the engine cover plate which made it push against tire and burn through.
Workaround: Good old silver tape / Lesson Learned: Avoid ‘large’ pot-holes at high speed when your front mud guard is not positioned properly.

China – Solenoid
Incident: Start motor would not kick in after turning bike of (rusty solenoid).
Workaround: Had to shortcut the solenoid points to get the start-motor to kick in. Attached two cables to the solenoid so that I could shortcut it without having to take the fairing of to get to battery every time until I came to a city and could buy a new solenoid. / Lesson Learned: Bring one with you if you can as fairly affordable and take little room to store).

China – CDI
Incident: Tried to start bike and no spark on spark plugs. Identified issue as partly broken CDI.
Workaround: Got a second hand CDI from another motorcycle and wired the two together, used the parts from the original CDI still working and complemented the broken parts with the other CDI. / Lesson learned: CDI’s are expensive so not always feasible to carry as spare but if you can then it can be the difference between ‘trip’ or ‘no trip’.

Malaysia – Cog wheel/Drive Shaft 
Incident: Cog wheel started to spin freely on the drive shaft due to drive shaft teeth being worn. Horrendous noise from the engine (first though the gear box had gone) and bike stopped pulling.
Workaround: Had to apply a ‘bush fix’ and weld the cog straight to the shaft, removed it in Australia and welded it back again before crossing the Nullarbor Plain, as first weld was not straight. Lesson learned: This is a weak spot on the Africa Twin and there is special sprocket that can be bought and used even though teeth has worn away. If I knew this before I set of I would have carried a spare as it then would have saved me allot of money, effort and time.

Myanmar – Rear Caliper
Incident: Rocky mountain road, big rock hit the rear caliper, luckily I heard a noise and stopped instantly (lucky as the impact had snapped the bolt fixing the caliper to the bike and the whole caliper had swung in to the spokes.
Workaround: Taped the caliper to the rear swing and had it repaired when I later reached Thailand. Had to slow down quite a bit as I did the rest of Myanmar’s steep mountain roads (some cobbled) with only front breaks and a heavily packed bike. / Lesson learned: Avoid hitting hard rocks as you are driving.

USA – Linkage Arm Bearings
Incident: Both Bearings gone on the rear shock absorber linkage arm. So close to New York at that point I decided to avoid any speed bumps for my last stretch.
Workaround: None / Lesson learned: Check these parts before departure to ensure they are in good shape before departure.