NZL04

Rainbow and Molesworth Stations

2011-01-25T03:01:00.000Z

Had the opportunity to mount the Dakar again. Interesting. After 100,000 km it still takes some tiome to adjust to.
So with Chris a competent rider unlike myself we set off from Havelock toward Rainbow Station. It started to rain as we approached St Arnaud so on with the wet gear which stayed on all day as it was cold the whole day.
Anyway down the farm road to the Rainbow Gate. Paid our $15 and off we went on a recently opened road after the flood damage. Great. Rivers, and high country and just plain beauty in the remoteness.
Made it to Hanmer for Lunch.
Back over Jacks Pass to Molesworth again for a really ebjoyable ride up the river valley.
New Zealand at its best. Just fantastic.
The ride from Molesworth down the Awatere is a long drag, but part of the pleasure, over the Jackson Pass to Blenhiem and so back to Havelock.
About 500km on every sort of terrain imaginable for about 10 hours of magical riding.
Even if you are slightly tempted, go do it.
It is pretty manageable, but some experience of off road biking is essential. There were a bunch of rev rev "Dusty Bum" riders on the Rainbow as well, but it accepts all skill levels and if in doubt go slow.
What a pleasure. Can't wait to do it again.

Robbie Crickett High Country Tours

2011-01-25T02:46:00.001Z

Had a great three days in the South.
High Country Tours in Alexandra arranged a ride. Included a day with Chris Birch.
Had a great time scrambling round the hills (everyone else just calmly rode, but I am learnming), up tracks, over farmland, powerline tracks, farm tracks, Hobbit Country, huge views, lakes, mountains, back country hotels, rivers,(quite a few of them !) but huge fun, lots of learning, and all the time with a great bunch of people. Not all of them were old like me, in fact none of them, but what a great bunch of good helpful supportive people.
If you ever get the urge to go ride a bike off road, see these guys first.

Chris Birch

2011-01-25T02:39:00.000Z

Had the benefit of attending a KTM riding class arranged by Robbie Crickett at High Country Tours.
It is a priveledge to be in the company of guys like Chris Birch. A man on top of his game. World famous in his trade Enduro Bike riding and "unknown" pretty much everywhere else.
He shared with our group a whole lot of real wisdom on how to survive on a motorcycle, particulrly off road. Should be compulsory.
I have ridden round the world as anyone that has read this blog would know. Wish I had met Chris before I went ! Now I will have to go again, bugger !

AA Carnet du Passage ; post script

2010-03-28T09:53:00.004+01:00

The Carnet process is invaluable. In NZ it is administered by the AA, by a delightful fellow that has been with the AA for longer than I have been riding bikes I expect.

I would not have mentioned this but it needs to be said. If you are going to need a Carnet and will use the offices of the Auckland AA ( the only place you can get one), be prepared to get frustrated.

I was. I attempted to communicate my concern to the management of the AA and frankly felt from the reaction as if I had accused the AA of sinking the Rainbow Worrier. I had attempted to tell the hierarchy that the guy doing the Carnet job might do with some help.

The things that concerned me were poor advice; a lack of understanding of the process; lack of appreciation of risk; that the AA is there to assist members.....and so on.

Then I met another biker and he told me a similar story. The overstated risk and the need to ante up huge amounts of cash as security, delays, lacking understanding, and generally a frustrating experience.

Its a pity. The AA needs to lift its game. Sadly there is no one else, so if you are a member tell them their game is substandard. If you are going to need a Carnet, then be prepared for an unusual experience.

Biker

Where next

2010-03-28T04:06:00.002+01:00

I have survived a year at "home". Well nearly survived. I experienced my first "spill". I have had an off or two but this was a beauty. Have no idea how it happened and no recollection of it at all. Not even any pictures. I just did a beaut crash. Broke a bone or two, but thankfully they heal, although slowly I now find. Happily NZL04 is mostly unscathed. Fortunately I have a friend that works magic with bikes.

So now my plans are up in the air.

I still want to ride from the top of the US to the bottom of South America.......sometime. This is a nature ride because it has some of the best remote riding I have ever seen.

And I still want to ride round the Mediterranean. Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Croatia, Italy, etc to Frankfurt. And this is an historical ride. I started off on these ventures to try to get some understanding of the world and the people. It has been fantastic. So now I have one more place. The Mid East. It has more human history than the rest of the earth I believe. So I want to go.

I will keep you posted.

NZL04

1 April. New Zealand.

2009-04-08T04:50:00.004+01:00

This is just an short entry to record I have made New Zealand.
The shiping experience was satisfactory. Delivered the bike to a depot in Brisbane and it obviously got to the boat.
Went to retrieve it and got the usual red tape bulldust, however found a helpful guy after a day sitting in their office and on Wednesday the 1st ( yeah April Fools day !) collected the bike and headed south. Great ride down to Taupo. Stayed the night and the next day to the ferry to the South Island. Spent a night with family, and then on to a small village in the centre of the South Island after a stuning ride through the Buller Gorge to the West Coast then over the Arthurs Pass in the Southern Alps. I had forgotton how beautiful it was.
The next day it was a ride to Bluff. Made it at dusk as the sun set. Oysters and beer as I had promised then I just crashed.
Sadly the weather was poor for photography so I will cobble something together, but the beauty of the little country is so great that I will have to ride south again to get some good pics to show.
So the journey is over.
Sad that it is complete and also great joy.
I will write an epilogue but for now a big thanks to all those that have been in touch during the ride. It was great to have your company.
nzl04

Brisbane 23 March

2009-03-22T23:02:00.003Z

After a rapid ride across Australia, 3500k in 5 days I have made it to Brisbane.

It was a strange feeling to be in Aussie after the crowds of everywhere else. First class roads, and no one on them. No traffic at all. In 5 days I was overtaken by about 10 vehicles. It was wierd. Also Australia is so flat. I came down one hill nearing Brisbane. The rest was flat. It ranged from flat and dry to flat and green and flat with trees........just no people.

There was little to see or observe on other than the dead animals on the road. There were so many of them. Mainly Wallabies, or Kangaroos, but also an Emu, a Fox, some Dogs a Cat and birds but so many it was amazing and smelly as you may imagine.

There were lots of birds (live) and a couple of what I took for Eagles. Huge birds. Must have stood as high as the handlebars. What an impressive bird. I did see other live things as well you will be pleased to note and a bushfire by the road. Not a person anywhere, just a merry blaze !

So I have made it across Australia.

Now I put the bike on the boat to New Zealand.

So its then on to Bluff to complete the journey of Top to Bottom !

nzl04

Darwin and no bike 13 March 2009 !

2009-03-13T11:58:00.003Z

The boat is due Saturday 14 March (a day late).
Customs do not work Saturday or Sunday apparently.
They do work Monday I assume, however to clear a motorcycle through customs and quarantine, will take them three days.
Astonishing that after all of the countries I have visited, all the borders I have crossed and the longest time it took to enter anywhere in the world by boat, plane, or land, was 5 hours, yet in Australia it takes 5 days from the date of arrival in the Port.
Amazing really.
nzl04

Indonesia

2009-03-13T06:20:00.014Z

Finally left the bike on the wharf after returning to the Woodlands border for my stamp. Getting there was fun. 8 lanes of bikes about 1kilometer long to cross through the border, and that was a quiet day.
So I flew to Jakarta. It took longer to get from the Airport to the Hotel than it did to fly there. I was so lucky to meet a couple of locals who took me under their wing, booked me into their Hotel, took me in their Taxi, and then to dinner. What a really nice couple. Jakarta is hellish big crowded and dirty, plus it floods.
I took the train to Bandung. It was great to be able to look out the window and watch the countryside pass by. It was lush, green, intensely farmed with paddy fields scrambling up the hillsides. People working, planting harvesting and busy getting on with life. It was a great trip. The warnings that abound about travel in Indonesia seem to be overdone. The railstations and public places are habitred by the usual "hustlers" taxis, hotels, etc but when I finally found the taxi company I wanted which was Blue Bird ( Having been told often "no Blue Bird here") I also then got to the Hotel I had identified in a travel book. The people at the Hotel were great. The Hotel was great. I stayed the night and the next day I paid for the petrol and was taken for a tour. We went to the volcano which was clouded in rain sadly but again the countryside was magnificent. The rain forest, the nurseries, (by the mile) the villages, the gandening, the fruit trees, just a most pleasant place. Sadly as I said it was very wet.
So I stayed another night and went for dinner with the two guys from the Ahadiat Hotel, such a pleasant place to stay, and we were entertained by a local band playing pretty good music. A good stay.
Next day away early for the 8 hour train ride to Yogyakarta. This is also a most pleasant city and the ride throught the mountains and plains of Java was just great. Lots of rice and just so many busy people planting harvesting weeding, and caring for their fields.
Yogya as it is called has a Palace which was closed for the public holiday but I went to the most significant historical site in the southern hemisphere the book says, the Temple of Borobudur.
Then it was away to the plane to Bali. Short flight and a short ride to the beach at Sunur. Not an "upmarket" place but pleasant. I managed to get some sand and sun and a trip to the local Volcano. Again I greatly enjoyed the countryside. The plantings, the tress, the almost manicured look of the hillsides that contrasted with the rubbish everywhere else sadly. So after 3 nights it was time to move on to Darwin.
I am having trouble deciding whether Indonesia is a place I would want to visit again. To be able to ride the bike through the islands would be great but it is a nature ride for the beauty of the countryside. I would like to have seen some of the wildlife and that may be a reason to return.
Why people come to sit on beaches is still a wonder to me.
nzl04

11 March Reflections on entry and exit, Singapore

2009-03-11T10:06:00.005Z

My frustration with Singapore was complete. What a bloody awful place. The rules, the nonsence, the ticket clipping. Where should I start !
I arrived in Singapore and was "waved" through customs after having my panniers "looked in" and assumed all was in order. The path through immigration and customs was amazing. A dedicated bike lane with hunderds if not thousands of bikes.
So I went to the shipping agent. I was told that I could not export the bike due to not having completed the Carnet. However in order to complete the Carnet I first had to visit the AA to buy insurance and a Certificate to allow me to use the vehicle in Singapore.
I suggested that I did not want to do that and "was there another way" ? Yes I could pay an extra $50 and get a certificate that would allow me to ship without the Carnet. Great so I went to the Port. There I was stopped. No Carnet. Go back to AA I was told. So I did. At AA I was chastised for not bringing the Carnet to them before entering Singapore. That is the system. Arrive in Malaysia and go to the border. Leave the bike in Malaysia, and go to AA in Singapore. They will "validate" the Carnet and issue insurance and Licence. Return to Malaysia and collect bike. Ride to customs and immigration and exhibit Carnet which they will stamp. On the way back to Singapore find and hire an electronic card reader which is attached to the bike to enable fees to be collected if visiting the CBD. I somehow forgot to do that. Return to shipping agent and get anothet "letter" to enable Port entry pass to be issued ( after fingetprinting and photgraph). Enter Port. Process Carnet. Told by Customs that I should not ride bike in Port. Told by Port Police that I cannot ride bike in Port even 500 metres to loading shed. Can I push the bike I asked. No not permitted ! I ask Port Police to ask "Boss". Head office reply "too dangerous". So I now wait for two hours for a tow truck to arrive. We load the bike on the truck. Drive 500 metres and unload in shipping agents shed.
That process took me three days. The only reason I went to Singapore was to get the bike to Australia, having established that my plan to ride Indonesia would fail as I could find no way to get from Bali to Dili where I could ship to Oz. Talk about a buggers muddle !
nzl04

3 March Singapore

2009-03-03T02:32:00.004Z

I left my beach resort after a day of walking in the sand, swimming and having a day off. It was great. Went to the south of the peninsula, a fishing town of Ringit, and enjoyed a crab and fish lunch. That was great. The blue crab in Georgetown however was better if you ever go to Penang.

So on Monday I headed for Singapore. The ride to Johar Baru the southern entry point was very pleasant, the roads in Malaysia are good.

The fun started when I approached the City, as all reference to Johor Baru disappeared. I rode round for an hour looking for any indication that Singapore was close, and nothing. There is the odd sign for Woodlands, which is I astablished the first town on the Singapore Island.

The Malaysians certainly do not like their neighbour it seems, but are happy for the tourism they bring.

The motorway system on Singapore Island is comprehensive however thay have yet to work out that signs help.

Crossing to the Island was interesting, there is a bike lane, and once on it the reason becomes apparent. They cross in their hundreds. Only problem is that even with my distinct appearance they ignore the formalities. So I was "inspected" with a look in one pannier and then "waved" through customs where I should have had the Carnet stamped. The AA in Singapore are living in the past. They said when I got the email from them, that I should have left the bike in Malaysia, travelled to Singaopre AA in the City to have the Carnet validated, then return to Malaysia to collect the bike and get my validated Carnet stamped as I crossed the border, so I could in turn the next day take it to the wharf for shipment.

They also isue a data card for paying tolls and Insurance so perhaps that is the real explanation.

However the Carnet was not stamped. The shipping agent says they can provide "documentation" that will allow the shipment ( at a cost of $50 Sing) so here we go, I am back in the world of petty officials and lots of pointless rules. I better get used to it because it gets worse, Australia is next.

Apart from that it is fascinating to be here. There economy is built on nothing, just providing a service. They do not even have sufficient water to survive, and they recycle an enormous proportion of it. Still building huge buildings, still busy it seems, lots of expats, Aussie accents everywhere. But it is great, it is vital, and energetic, and it is warm, very warm.

So I want to include a pic or two that will reflect the last two days.

nxl04

27 Feb Kluang Jahor State Malaysia

2009-02-27T10:30:00.003Z

I have been sitting in Melaka trying to organise a trip to the jungle on the worst internet connection I have had to tolerate for a while. The Holiday Inn has not got its act together at all.
So I tried Indonesia, Serawak, Bornoe, the Malay Highlands this time by rain and could not get the timing right or the information I needed to actually endertake the trip.
So finally I spotted a gap in the clouds and was off. It has rained every day. I didn't get far. just down the coast and then inland to Kluang.
The coastal strip in Malaysia is very fertile, and would appear to grow just about anything. Sime Darby however have a considerable number of Palm oil plantations. There are crops of dragon fruit which I can assure you are the fastest and most effective laxative I have ever experienced. The food in general is a disappointing mix of Malay, Indian, Chinese, and about everything else as well. Never mind it is tasty.
I hope I can find some shots of Melaka which is also a confusion of flavours Dutch Portugese British Asian and lots more as well I think. Melaka has a reputation as a good tourist location, perhaps earned in desparation as there is not much going on for the visitor in Malaysia it appears. Like about every city I have ever been to it has a "new mall" full of "international" tenants, from McDonalds to Hush Puppies, and the inevitable food halls, and shops full of what I call junk, but noticably empty of patrons. The shops are empty of people eveywhere. The Hotels are empty.
Its an odd feeling.
nzl04

Holiday Inn Melaka Malaysia

2009-02-27T10:13:00.002Z

I have observed I believe that I considered there was now an undercurrent in most of the recent countries I have visited, that feels like "go home white man".
It started in the south of Iran. The north was good and the welcome was genuine I felt. In the south the welcome smile lasted a split second.
Then in Pakistan the welcome was there but no warmth.
However India was worse. There was no welcome, just an enquiry, where are you coming from ? Or whats your name. A response to either question did not elicit much more communication.
Thailand as I have mentioned is no longer the warm welcoming country it was however Cambodia felt more like Thailand used to.
Malaysia, the welcome is indifferent. Motorists/bikers give me the "where you coming from" but the people in the street in the hotels and the shops, plain indifference bordering on something less than a welcome I felt. I am an oddity because of the bike however.
So today when I was loading the bike which had been parked at the front door of the Holiday Inn with 24 hour security, and near the Bently owned by the "Boss" I was not expecting any suprises. I left the cloth that I had washed the bike with to dry on the pannier, and it was there that I found someone had taken a crap in it and left it there.
I don't know what thet says about the Malay culture, the Malaka society, or the Holiday Inn security but it does make me feel that my intuitive feeling that colonists have left behind some bad feeling is correct.
As this USA sponsored financial decline worsens, I feel that the white man welcome in some of these badly affected countries will get less pleasant. There is no hiding the fact that you are not a local. Unrest is on the increase already in most of the places I have visited.
Just my opinion.
nzl04

Malaysian images

2009-02-24T04:59:00.005Z

Some pics.

Penang to the Malay Hills and Malacca

2009-02-24T04:07:00.008Z

I got away from Georgetown and headed for the Cameron Highlands. Just a really good ride through the flat land of the Malaysian coastal strip then climbing into the hills.

Not a long ride but a good one.

The Cameron Highlands is a popular place for Malaysians. It is pretty, it is cool ( but high humidity )and has a holiday atmosphere. Met a biker from Singapore, he and his 5 mates had ridden there for the night.

It is full of rather tatty high rise Hotels and some "old style Tudor" hotels from Colonial times. A pleasant place but what a relief to be riding in the trees on good roads.

The Cameron Highlands is the tea growing area.

Next day I headed down to the plains again and the rains. I got wet ! Firsy time I have had rain since Albania. As usual I watched the sky, and shot into a service station to shelter. It cleared and I was away through the trees again and suddenly it fell down. I got drenched. So I headed back into the hills this time to Frasers Hill. Other than the rain it was another great ride. Up to about 1000metres and again an old resort area. Poor and expensive Hotels. In fact the place I stayed in could be styled an old dump. Never mind the fan ran all night and the riding suit got dry.

Next day down the mountain on more magnificent riding thropugh coconut plantations rubber plantations, and all sorts of trees and bamboo.

Sadly also more rain showers, so I got to spend some time in bus shelters.

Riding Malaysia is pretty good. And the roadside food stalls are pretty good. Spicy food, cheap, tasty and with tea.

So in the afternoon I did manage to find the waterfront at Malacca and an expensive Hotel.

And that is where I am as the rain showers continue. I will make a run to Singapore when it clears.

Malaysia is a place that seems to have as many Chinese and Indians as Malays. I am unsure that the relocation of other races is a good idea. I am yet to be convinced that moving large numbers of Asians and Indians to New Zealand is of any benefit in the long term. It sure does make NZ like every other country in the world and I ask myself why a European Tourist or an American if they can afford to travel any longer, would want to come to NZ to eat Indian and Chinese food.....stay in foreign owned and staffed Hotels, and end up like I am in Malaysia thinking .......where are the Malays ?

The world is becoming a multi cultural motorway with a McDonalds at each end in a Shopping Plaza the same as the last one ( they are all the same) and Shell stations every 50 k along the way. The same roads the same plants and lanscaping the same advertising the same lighting the same signs, the same same same......

If New Zealand has any future it is in tourism, we have little else, and that means creating a Kiwi feel ........is it already too late ?

What I have seen and NZ needs to make the investment, and that is roads are not upgraded they are retained and new motorways built near the old roads so the locals still have a road and those that want a motorway also have one. It transforms the countryside.

It also makes cycling and walking possible. If NZ has a future that is where it is, eco or green tourism ( bad names but individual travel on foot or cycles) ....or is it too late.

nzl04

20 February in Penang

2009-02-20T01:08:00.004Z

The ride from Thailand to Malaysia was simple. The border crossing was to say the least casual. I did track down someone that finally stamped an exit entry in my passport and Malaysia was similar. Did get a stamp but no one looked at the bike or the documents, so hope I can get out when the time comes.

And the time is taking longer as I can not find a ferry to take me and the bike to Indonesia. There must be one. Failing that its a boat ride direct from Singapore to Darwin. That would mean missing Indonesia, Bali and Dili and that would be a pity, so lets see what happens.

Malaysia is hot and busy. The motorways are toll free for bikes. Fortunately as I had no local money. Thought I was pretty snaert until it came to the bridge to Penang. Toll 1.40 Ringit, so after 10 minutes of smiling and shrugging they finally accepted 20 Baht and let me cross.

Penang has very much the "colonial" feel, similar to Brisbane. Its a pleasant place but very warm. The "location" or where am I on the blog actually does show my position on Google Earth, and if you zoom in far enough yesterdays Spot send was by the pool I was very pleased to be in !

So its more searching for ferries and then perhaps I may get to the Highlands. The Hill Country Estates, where the "Brits" escaped the heat apparently and grew Tea.

Sounds interesting.

nzl04

Thailand 18 Feb

2009-02-18T14:43:00.003Z

Well my visit to Thailand is almost over and I have mixed feelings.
It is not the place it was not so many years ago, an opinion shared by so many of the people I speak to. It is more commercial, less friendly, fewer happy people, in fact it has been a big disappointment. Even the food has lost its fascination, or seems so.
I left Bangkok and rode south to Hua Hin on the inland coast. What a shock. Europeans mainly German, all obese, many couples but also many of the sort I saw at Pattaya a few years ago. Blokes my age with Thai girls under 25. It is very unattractive.
So on I rode down some magnificent roadways. It was a pleasure to ride on such a good surface, polite drivers and they even obeyed the rules of the road, wow ! However it was a flat boring ride. Its about 700k from Bangkok to the port where the ferry leaves for Ko Simui. And that was where I went for a couple of days rest for the leg. Its a lot more of a worry now that its oficially broken.
However a few days on a beach never did anyone any harm. Beer swiming sunburn mossies, the usual complaints.
So today it was a ride south, 300k to what turned out to be a suprising city on the sea, Songkhla. Old and interesting (a bit like me really) plus a Tourist Resort on the seafront with special rates. And I soon found out why having asked about facilities, pool, sauna, gym.......wow I was hooked. But the pool was closed, as was the sauna, and the gym was well........
In the spirit of the last night in Thailand I wanted to leave on a happy note despite no swim no sauna. The dining room had a singer, and I was one of three occupantsin a room that would seat 200. The Thai green curry prawns was great, as the singer burst into the Everly Brothers, now that will date a few of you and yes they were popular back in ..., however his rendition of "Ever Rusting Ruv" was cerainly not true to the original. The intentions were good.
I see on the news that President Obama has mortgaged the future of all of the USA to pay for 5 years of consumption that they couldn't afford then and can't afford to pay for now. It is a staggering turn of events. The US is broke, so they will print some money to pay off a dead horse, which will fuel inflation and that will make it all OK. Can't actually see how myself.
However whats this got to do with Thailand, a lot. Tourism must and will be affected. Who if they got a windfall tax refund would spend it on a holiday overseas ? So many of these "tourist destinations" will be very badly impacted. The unrest that is apparent already ( a Policeman was blown up in his car a few miles down the road from here). It will get worse. Trade will suffer. The world will be a very uneasy place for quite a while I fear. The fallout from this "bankers cock up" will be with us for a lot longer than the politicians expect. For my two bobs worth I would put the Banks into Liquidation. Sue the employees for the Bonus payments that any fool could see were unsustainable and let them feel the pain as well. However in a real world things are different. Just as morality has flown out the window so has accountability.
Pics to follow ( sorry)
nzl04

12 Feb still in Bangkok

2009-02-12T01:27:00.004Z

There was a time when that would have been a plus, "stuck in Bangkok", but now, I am unsure. The happy Thai people are less happy. The tourist is not greeted warmly, but commercially, and the costs have gone up and the service has gone down. All in all its disappointing and "over-run" with tourists.

I felt Cambodia was where Thailand used to be. Happier people.

So I went to Angkor Wat. The getting there and back was a bit of an ordeal. A backpacker trip in a mini van really. The border crossing just silly. It seems there is a desire to make the crossing unpleasant, why I can not understand, it will not stop people.........but the roads in Cambodia were worse. They are having trouble creating a decent road, however once at Siam Reap (or wherever) where Angkor Wat is, the city is a vast array of some of the biggest Hotels I have seen in a small community, dozens of them. If there is any doubt that this is not the economic engine of Cambodia then forget it. Thousands of people and dozens of Hotels spending US dollars. The Cambodian currency is given as change.

What can one say about Angkor Wat. It has a world wide image. I went there to see if it had a "feel", and to see it. For me Matchupichu had no "feel" either. Great to look and and ponder mans inhumanity to man !

The place is in my perception a number of walled religous buildings. The area is about 1 km square. Inside a "Temple" and really small for external image of the place. There seemed to be little internal space, not the sort of place 500 monks could fit into so it left me with many unanswered questions really. No question the place is dramatic and the structures impressive even amazing, the delicate stone work and the images ....... Built around 1180 I believe, about the time of the crusades so it was an interesting time.

I took some pictures having gone there for sunrise and sunset so I hope I can capture some of the beauty of the place. The soul I am sorry I couldn't find or picture. I guess in short there was no sense that many people were actually here and doing things despite the size and beauty of the construction. I did really enjoy the forest that has taken over however. The trees are magnificent.

Pleased to have gone there however.

nzl04

Bangkok 7 February a bikers bitch.

2009-02-07T03:11:00.006Z

I have been through the entry debacle.

Pic 1 is the manual handling at Nepal.......slide it and lift it courtesy of about 8 small Nepalese.

Pic 2 is the strip needed to change the water impeller. Take off all protection, pipes, covers, expaust pipe, considering that the water pump/impellor is the single most troblesome item on a Dakar having to spend an hour disassembling the bike to access it makes little sense. I have had water pump issues 4 times so far. 2 mechanical (BMW) failures, two mechanics failure.

I can still not get an answer from Thai Air as to my freight cost. Estimate $350 (US) actual $850 (us). I think I was robbed and I believe the freight forwarder Eagle Eyes has a pretty good business of tricking foreign riders. Come to Nepal for cheap freight to BKK ....yeah !

So then it was my turn at the Bangkok BMW dealer. The biggest dealer said "we might fit you in next week" so I went to the other guys.

Two days..........later I got out but at a fair price I reckon ! The main problem was my water leak. My mechanic ( with no English ) was sure it was the seals on the impeller shaft, and he was right. It seem there was a bad job done in the UK.

Then there was the matter of the tyre and tube I had carried 20,000k, the tyre fitted but the BMW dealer in the UK had supplied the wrong tube ! So the old one went back in.

If this depression puts BMW out of business great !

I have said often enough that the main problems with a BMW is BMW themselves. Incompetent is a word that springs to mind !

I went on theweb to get a GPS map. Garmin have a Thai map, but it is out of date apparantly and still costs $400, but the Southeast Asia Map which I need is only supplied from the US on an SD card. So if you want the map when you are in Asia hard luck. You can have it in the US however !

If there was a thing I really wanted from this depression that the US have put the world in, it would be that companies like Garmin (and Motorrad, BMW bike servicing) go out of business and let someone with a focus on customer service get into the market. They deliver a bad product, out of date before its released and there is no way you can actually talk to these people, or even email them !

BMW have turned their dealerships into "sales centres". You are a customer if you are buying something but if you want service you are a just bloody nuisance. Their bike design is "rubbish" as well. put water into the radiator I have to ;

Take off a luggage box at the rear of the bike

Take off a hatch cover, to release the seat,

Remove the seat,

Take off the indicator light ( at the front) 4 screws,

Undo 3 screws to take off the front left body part,

Then access the radiator cap.

Thats supposed to be good design for a touring bike, not a commuting bike, this is for rough road long distance where you may actually want to check the water. Its a bit like taking your clothes off to blow your nose.

They do not supply sufficient tools to repair a punture (or put water in the radiator). Or a centre stand which made oiling the chain difficult or fixing a puncture absurdly difficult (lie the bike down !). Anyone considering a new 800GS would be well advised to look at the cost of getting on the road before buying one to go touring ! Like, bike protection, racks for panniers, tools, I had to change, handle bars, suspension, fit centre stand, change panniers (plastic to metal) and those metal panniers are just plain dangerous to the legs in a slow/stationary fall. Touratach should acyually be sued for that design. The rubbish required that Touratech supply to make the 650 GS suitable for touring is just silly, including the hand protectors that break if the bike falls over.

Well that must be enough.

Its actually pleasant to be in Bangkok agian. I love the food and the calmness of this place.

nzl04

1 - 4 Feb now in Bangkok

2009-02-04T09:26:00.003Z

Well I spent a day in the goods store at Kathmandu packing NZL04 into a large tea crate. That was pretty much a shambles but we got it done.
I had the pleasure of a walk through the"old town" where my packing mate advised me "white face in door price double" so any plans I had of assisting the Nepalese economy went west.
So I walked and watched the other white faced "donors" and eventually wandered back to the Hotel. There is little to do or see in Khatmandu ( for me). The mountains are the attraction and I can see why. They are special for sure.
So my last night in this part of the world. After a poor meal last night and a fair fuss, tonight at the insistence of the manager, I had the Nepal special, soup, main, desert, and it was great. even a Carlseberg.
So I made the airpot in time. It was very odd being in a confined space with so many people.
I no longer enjoy the "thrill" of flying.
I was collected at the Airport, for once I had booked ahead.
Being nearby it was easy to return to assemble the bike , which took most of the day. I would like to quickly run through the process as it was a circus.
Go to airport and, eventually, find Thai Cargo. Not many Thai understand "Thai Freight" it seems.
So I was dropped at a cafeteria. There a man wanted to take an order for tea and "talk" to me. Another tout however showed me to the actual Thai Freight office.
There I was told that I needed to go to Customs, next building up stairs.
At next building up stairs I was to go get two copies of "everything"....next building.
I found a lady with a copier in next building and got two copies of everything and returned.
I presented the two copies of everything and was told "we closed for lunch come back 1 hour"
So I went back to "next building where there was a cafeteria that worked on the coupon system.
I inspected the stalls and saw what I fancied, fish rice and greens.
I purchased the coupon and returned.
I ordered and was asked for 1 more coupon......so back I went for another coupon.
I returned received my meal and enjoyed a VERY spicy lunch. then waited.
About 45 minutes later I returned and sat andwaited. Soon I got my papers. And some directions.
First go to Customs and pay bill. That meant first going to "inward goods" showing my documents, receiving a bill and returning to the cashier to pay. Then having paid returning to Inward goods for the documents. So I did.
Then it was up 4 floors to security where I presented my documents and was presented with a bill. Pay at cashier down there, so I did. And I returned and received a pass to allow me into bond.
So I walked to Thai Freights huge shed. We walked down rows of dock gates until at one I spotted my tea chest. I was able to convince them that was mine so some young chap in the office grabbed my papers had them processed and we left, and so did he.
A supervisor wanted to know what I was doing, so I said as directly as I could papers taken, bike here, no tools......so we went for a walk to find the man with the hammer. This was after being assured by the freight forwarder in Kahtmandu there will be people there to help...yeah !!!
So I set to my tea chest, and out she slowly came. I called for help to get the bike on the centre stand as it had no front wheel. That accomplished it was "put her back together".
That took me a while.
Eventually it was done and the bike ran allways a good feeling when it starts.
Then my "man" with my documents came back with a customs man and said we go. No I said I go when I am ready and at that point he advised me that his services were 4000 bt.. The ensuing row had many parties arrive to "mediate".
So it was finally a ride down the goods dock to many shouts of encouragement ( this is the second of these Bond store rideouts) and they really do get quite excited by the bike.
A short ride to customs. Two young girls who had no idea of what a bike was so eventually I got the helper out of the way and we found the information they wanted.
Then it was my turn for a suprise, having insisted on having the Carnet, and copies of the carnet when it came time to process it they said we do not use Carnet.....
Last it was time to "pay" the man that I discovered was not an employee of Thai but a freelance hustler, so I paid 400 bt a whole lot more than I should have.
Customs were fine and I was out the gate. Found some fuel and after one very odd ride and being 100% lost took to the back streets and using the GPS as a guide actually found myself on the other side of the river from the Hotel. There was a footbridge and I was at the Hotel.
Today I rested !
Tomorrow I go in search of the BMW dealer. Typical BMW dealer reaction to a traveller. Come back next week we are very busy.
I have learned one thing about BMW worldwide, after the bike is sold they do not give a damn !
Thankfully however there are exceptions. The guys at Tunbridge Wells tried, failed but tried, but the BMW dealer in Hasselt in Belgium is the BEST BMW dealership in the world and I have seen a few. Head office in Munich is good but wouldn't you know it they do not carry stock. 1 item on display 1 in store and thats it. If you are the second buyer that week hard luck.
But I digress.
I am in Bangkok in the suburbs. Tomorrow its the city.
Soon I must fly south. Time is racing by.
nzl04

30 January Nepal and Khatmandu

2009-01-31T12:27:00.004Z

Wow what a ride !

It started pretty rough as there was a strike. Some civil servants were being transferred and objected. So they stopped the traffic. Burning tyres, burning branches across the road and angry young men that were obviously not involved but representing the threat to world peace. Stupid young men.

These ones had sticks and as I was passing took a swipe at me hitting the top box.....

I was pleased to be away and soon into the foothills.

Again the advice on road conditions was more than a bit off whack ! It started well enough as I climbed into the foothills. A magic climb up the mountainside to 1930 metres, and a glimps of the mighty Himalayas.

Well then it got rough and I say really rough. The locals were managing it on their light bikes but for me it was a "handful".

I spent a whole lot of money going on an "adventure" ride labeled the pretentious name of the "World Tour". I had more adventure on this ride than the whole Goat riders debacle. What a ride. It had everything including a water crossing, steep ups and downs and a surface that ranged from stones, to dust and everything between.

It was just amazing and 24 hours later I am still feeling stretched muscles, and no I didn't bite the dirt but I inhaled plenty of dust !

Khatmandu was a shock. Its slums on the river and its full on commercialism. Hotel was good though. Internet, clean, and polite people ! Goodmorning can I help you sir ! Culture shock.

Hope I got some OK pics of the ride and the road. The shot with the bike has a background of road not a shingle slide !

nzl04

Before I go some rural images

2009-01-31T12:12:00.003Z

nzl04

29 January Patna to Nepal

2009-01-31T11:53:00.004Z

My last day. It has been rough and tough. The roads bloody terrible to fantastic, the countryside, I loved and the cities I hated. The attractions other than the Taj Mahal were frankly disappointing. The poverty and the dirt and the rudeness just plain unpleasant. As my Granny said politeness costs nothing. Perhaps they have the wrong Grannies ! They sure do have something wrong to live in such poverty and be so miserable.

However the last days ride included the dreadful and the wonderful.

Lets see what inages I can create that reflect the countryside.

Even getting across the border was a shambles. Immigration do not have lighting, so riding past is easy. Customs was a man in the street that stopped me and took me to an unlit office for processing the Carnet. I do not have a passport stamp I said. You do not need one, just go ! I objected but was told to move on.

I was sent back by Nepal to find the Immigration (Police) and get my stamp. Well there you go.

So you guessed it I was again loking for a Hotel in the dark. And I found one and the man was smiling and said welcome ! Aaah a new land !

nzl04

28 Jan Allahabad to Patna

2009-01-31T11:28:00.004Z

I was up early to see the sun rise at the Sangam. No transport. Fortunately I decided against taking the bike.

The Pics are the tent town, well part of it, a small part of it !

The publicity says 80,000 people were there two days prior on Anniversary day. It that was 80,000 then I am astonished. I reckon there must have been more than half a million still there.

I rode into the "camp" and after a Kilometer was nowhere near the river so I headed back and looked for the bridge out of town. It was just bewildering how big this site was.

I frankly still have trouble believing the size of this riverside campsite. If it was a misprint and there were 800,000 then it would not suprise me.

I was heading for Veranasi where the sacred Ganges flows past the Gats, where Pilgrims wash and float their dead and so on. So as usual I rode right past the city and NOT A SIGN DID I SEE. So being the sacred being that I am I took this as a sign and kept on going.

I was fortunate because I had several hours of beautiful rural riding.

Then I paid. The usual truck jam at the usual rail crossing and 40k of horrible road in the dark to find a dump called a Hotel with rude staff. I think they practice rudeness. Every question is met with a blank expression. After repeating the same question often more loudly there comes the reponse which as far as I can tell is exactly what I had been saying. Then a type of communication takes place.

Now that I have left I can say frankly if there is not an anti white resentment alive and well in India then I am totally mislead. I have not in all my travels mixed with a more humourless, sourfaced, unhappy unhelpful, people. Their arrogance that they speak english and what ever I speak is not, is frankly bewildering.

So I stayed a night in Patna with increasing optimism that my India ordeal was nearly over. The truck is "broken down" and there it sits with the driver asleep in the shade beside it.

nzl04

27 Jan to Allahabad

2009-01-31T10:51:00.004Z

What a hell of a day. I got the "dinkum oil" on the road to take......well of course when you get over the hill you just pick up speed so a was off and running and not realizing I was on the wrong road.

The pics, the "bridge" and party of the beauty of the paddy field. The rural area is great.
Sorry about my humour but I couldn't resist "port and sta'board"

Well I got the firsyt 25k right then I must have missed a turn. I had ridden the "bad" section I was warned of, and then came a really good road. The countryside was like nothing else. Magnificent. And you know what no traffic, I should have known better.

Soon the good road got a little narrower, then even narrower, and finnally pretty bad just before it petered out in a river bed.

That was a ooohh shit moment. Then I realised people were walking and not out so I carried on and there was a approach to a culvert through which the water was passing and suffient hard fill to ride over. So I did.

The far bank revealed a suprise, as there was a swing arm barrier manned by a bunch of kids. They asked for 30 rupee. I just sat there. After a while they were getting uneasy so I offered 10 rupees which was accepted and away I went.

The road improved as well. So that was good as I made the half way town. I was then back on the actual road.

So then in succession I got good bad, over a hill on good, bad, over another range of Indias version of the Swiss Alps, or what Yanks ( we need to call them something because American covers a continent) call twisties, then bad, then atrocious, then 10k of truck jam. They are a nightmare. Trucks all over the road. Often caused by a railway crossing that they close for up to 40 minutes at a time. So then the trucks line up on the left and cars and bikes line up on the right totally blocking the road. Yep you can see what happens when the barriers go up. Not much ! What a crazy business.

So again I arrived in the dark.

Allahabad is the point of confluence where the Ganges and the Yamuna and a mythical River the Saraswati meet at the "confluence" which are special to Hindu's and this one the most sacred, known as the Sangam.

So I was here to "see" that.

nzl04

Tigers

2009-01-31T10:48:00.001Z

You thought I didn't get a picture I guess !

nzl04

26 January is Anniversary day in India

2009-01-31T08:54:00.003Z

The small town of Tala no exception with a ceremony at the school of singing and dancing.

I was also interested in getting the washing done ( well it was Monday, washing day !).

Then the highlight a safari.

I should have had no greater expectation really but I did. After the pathetic performance in the other two parks this was supposed to be good, but when you put a youth in a jeep and let him loose on a closed road what do you expect. Yes a very erratic and rough ride. So we raced round in the trees, the only person having fun was the driver. We saw precious little wild life until the call went up Tiger ! and the race was on. 25 to 30 jeeps taking whatever path they could to find the tiger that had been seen. Soon there was a crush of jeeps reving, people talking phones ringing, cameras flaching as this Tiger ( they couldn't decide wether it was male of female which suprised me) strolled out of a creek bed, rolled in the grass and wandered back into the bush !

That was the show folks.

nzl04

25 January Jabalpur to Tala (Bandhavgarh Park)

2009-01-31T08:24:00.005Z

I was pretty annoyed to find the grinning twit with the cover off the bike. The Hotel staff did what they allways do apologise and then nothing !

You will see how attractive and interesting the rural roads are.

The road was just a ride North. I did ask about the "other route" but was assured it was a bad road. They were wrong of course, I got the bad road.

It is easy to forget Indians do not travel. They have no concept of where they are on a map, and the next town may as well be in Pakistan for all the interest they have in it.

So I passed a cricket match, that was good, and then found the town. Finding the way out was more difficult because they have no signs and no idea of where the next town is or even its name ! So it was ride and hope.

It didn't take long for the road to deteriorate finally into no road really at all, just dust and stones loosly connected by random pieces of tar seal and potholes but that was after it got dark.

The evening light in the countryside was of course great. This place is really pretty in the evening off the main roads with people going about their lives.

I had other works to do to get the last 35k in the dark with vehicles with no lights, trucks tractors, bikes, carts, the usual, including trips off the road to avoid the oncoming monster as it loomed out of the dark.

I did find Tala. It is a "reserve" town including the Maharaja's now Hotel. He was the one that found and bred the white Tigers which he sold to Zoo's around the world. ( None in India I was told !) He didn't get to be Maharaja by mistake !

So my lodge was found and a price negotiated. And a great nights sleep. You actually have to pay a lot more to get a decent clean bed and a quiet sleep, but even then there are no guarantees.

nzl04

24 January Amvarati to Jabalpur

2009-01-31T07:47:00.004Z

I am on a mission to make the miles. Its a long ride today and no matter who I ask I cannot get them to agree to a "secondary road". No wonder the main roads are so conjested. It will be about 420 k so I decide not to rebel and head to Ngapur. This would be the most European city I have seen so far. Street signs, curbing, paving, shops, trees without animals under them, some semblance of order and tidyness. Sadly I am just passing and as hard as it is to get round or through a city here I managed this one loosing only about half an hour backtracking.

Sorry I have the wrong pictures. These are typical scenes however. The way out of town is obvious by the road ! and the ladies are everywhere, in great colour, usually carrying something.

The road to Jabalpur is countryside but main road, so trucks, villages where the road disappears and reappears on the other side.

The evenings are a great time to ride with the setting sun and the colours but then it turns to black pretty quick and if a Hotel is not found by then ...problems, because they have no real signage. Anyway I got lucky after trying one place that said "park on street very safe" a journaist said he would take me to a place and he did.

After lengthy explanations and pleadings, "please do not touch the bike" I came down the net morning to find some grinning car park attendant with the cover off showing his mates "his" bike. His explanation, was he was cleaning it ! I really am getting to hate these lying little fukkers.

So another night another Hotel and no internet. Well done India.

nzl04

23 January Ajanta to Amravati

2009-01-24T18:36:00.003Z

The ride through the countryside when away from the main truck routes are great. These are pictures from "along the road".

I really find the Indian countryside a pleasant place to ride of course that means it is necessary to disregard the the driving, the roads, the congestion of animals bikes people and so on.

As for Amravati, I can find nothing to support any justification at all for ever going to that place again.

I had to get a Policeman to find a hotel for me, and then having put the cover on the bike and as I had thought retired for the night I discovered that the security staff had taken off the cover in order to show their friends, sit on it and take pictures.

The Manager could not work out why I was annoyed. And I was !

This is the second time Hotel security staff has held a little side show after taking off the cover, and just one more of the reasons I rail about a lack of morality in commerce here. Not that it happened but that the management could not see why it shouldn't and why I was annoyed. And why was I, because I lost the lense cover in that escapade, and I still have a problem as a result of the tip over when I got hit by the truck that means another knock and I loose part of my handlebar and I would like to avoid that.

nzl04

22 January Aurangabad to Ajanta

2009-01-24T18:20:00.005Z

Aurangabad is a major centre in Maharashtra. It has a Taj Mahal lookalike structure. Smaller but nevertheless it is there. It has some caves, and down the road a walled city, and then the Ellora Caves.

It seems that the early religious groups located these remote places to build their temples in the rock walled ravines of old rivers. There are a number of them, starting in Turkey, and so on through to India and no doubt beyond. Some are ornate, some painted but a bit like seen one seen em all. There is not a lot one can do to a hole in the rocks. I do not mean to be disparaging but stone carving that has been in the main mutilated by those that followed is not a major attraction for me. The poor buggers that lived through the construction and the actual living in them I do have some interest in.

However I was off to the next cave system in Ajanta. The picture is of the line of temples in Ajanta and of course the Duddha in teaching pose. I know you knew that !

As it turns out, all caves are pretty much the same. The getting to and from had a distictive aspect however. I have never been on a bus that contained so many people.

nzl04

21 January Leaving Surat for Aurangabad

2009-01-24T17:23:00.005Z

What a battle getting out of town. The mass of people is unbelieveable. The thing that gets me is that they don't give a damn for anyone else. They drive ride and walk like the world belongs to them, alone. I don't understand that at all. Is it a huge inferiority complex, that says I am so important I can do what I like.....like walk into a moving motorcycle as one did to me, or ride my motorcycle into a far bigger motorcycle as another did to me. What the hell is it about these people that makes them so damn self important that they actually hurt themselves ?

Yes the chickens were alive !

They drive like that as well. It is not unusual to meet vehicles three abreast coming down the two lane road toward me. In that event its the off the road for me. It is very unusual.

My observation and mine alone is that they are so desperate for some recognition. And in a population of however many billion people recognition may be an issue for some. The commercial morality issue is another matter that vexes me.

Do they say what they think you want to hear to again appear important, or is it a deeper moral issue ? The Satyam issue which in India is big news every day is a case of commercial greed, fraud and immorality. Cheating and lying, but that is not just an Indian issue. America has it. New Zealand has it ( and lots of it ). So perhaps it is unfair to see that as an Indian issue. It is a world issue, the lack of morality in commerce and that is why we have a financial crisis.

So as I battled my way across the flats of coastal Maharashtra these things were not on my mind. Survival was. Then the Gats, the mountains that rise on the western coast, with their colourful people, the Sares in the feilds, the villages, all dirty and dusty filled with animals, carts, bikes animals, people, and people, endless people.

But the roads. Signs disappeard, the sealed surfaces disappeared, and it was just hard riding, but that what its about. Frankly there are times when it makes Russian roads look good. So with the signs missing I got the wrong road at Delia and added to my journey, however something godd often happens and as I rode toward Aurangabad in the dying rays of the sun, the fields turned gold and the parade of people and animals making their way home was pretty magical. The buffalo used as cart pulling animals, some white, some gold, and the black ones, milking animals I suspect with the lower curled horns......and the cart loads of grain stalks, and the fields of cotton buds white in the grey fields. It was pretty good.

But I made it to a Hotel. Dirty, rude ( its not a personal thing, rudeness is an attitude that they accept) and the english. Excuse me if I am repeating but I can not get used to being asked to speak english by someone I can barely understand, with statements like "if you will not be speaking english I cannot be helping you" ...that really gets me.

nzl04

19 and 20 January

2009-01-20T14:29:00.004Z

A ride to Surat from Bhavnagar.

A pleasant start up the estuary and through some pleasant rural landscapes. Birds, crops animals, all pretty good. Then came the bad stuff. The main road to Mumbai. With excellent planning the roads board are upgrading the highway so they built the overpasses first. No roads, and the old roads have been completely shagged in the construction process. Then of course there are new sections. Not joined, just randomly constructed, and incomplete. Compacted metal, shagged tarseal, new seal, the whole sideshow. And traffic.

So Surat is the textile city and it surely is. Down every side street are rows of weaving machines (and the odd street barber) all clattering away producing fabric by the truckload, ( and I mean truckload) except it is transported by truck only to the market and then it is carried in large bundles on porters heads.
The textile market has to be seen to be believed. Sadly I couldn't find the diamond market. Surat is the diamond polishing centre for India. It is on the coast, not that I could see it as here I am lucky to see across the road through the airborn grime.
What a hellish city, crowded is hardly adequate, noisy is not adequate, and hell to drive in is a total understatement.
I did find a Hotel. I did find a mechanic, a Royal Enfield specialist, and we did manage to get the treacle out of the bike and replace it with oil. No luxury of a new filter, but clean oil is better than nothing.
Same with the Air filter. It was like beating a dirty carpet the dirt that came out, but back in it went.
Why the BMW is considered a bike suitable for round the world rides does leave me with more questions than answers. Perhaps if you have some mechanical aptitude and a box of spares that may be different but the damn thing is designed to break bits and guess what then you have to buy some new parts....I think Henry Ford had a similar strategy.......let it break and sell em spare parts !
I can report that the "gunge" that does have a trade name but is a mixable resin product that was applied to the leaking water pump gasket is still holding water. That was a result of a well meaning mechanic putting the old gasket back because it looked allright. Well it was for 5000 km but then it failed. The reason it was not replaced was "we do not carry spare parts" and it will take several days to get a gasket, "but it looks good to me". It wasn't. To be fair it was replaced under warranty but no one knows where it is ? It was sent surface mail to India ! Good one BMW !
The most number of problems faced by BMW riders (650's) are caused by mechanical error.
I shall prevail, but think Kawasaki.... Kawasaki.... Kawasaki..... or even Honda a bike they have in in the mega millions.......they are everywhere, I have never seen so many bikes. You could walk across the road standing on them they are so thick however I digress.
With any luck I head for the hills tomorrow. Inland toward Ngapur if you are following this on a map.
Then I turn north toward Nepal but that will take a few more days.
So tonight its yes CURRY ! However it is not really hot and it is tasty and I am actually enjoying it.
I am still hoping to find out for my own curiosity why people actually come here ?
NZL04

18 January to Bavnagar

2009-01-20T14:25:00.003Z

I planned to go to the coast where there is a "special" state that allows the sale of alcohol and is billed as a resort. Yeah !
It took me half an hour to ralise that I was in the wrong place. The portugese influence has long been lost. So I was off to Bhavnagar a city on the coast.

There is nothing like a Temple and some caves......plus a parade !
It was just a night in a city however I did get a direction to a local restaurant, the Gujjerat Thali Restaurant.
8 small dishes great flavours....breads 4 types.... and buttermilk and it was great great great !
nzl04

16th and 17th of Jan Sasan Gir

2009-01-20T14:16:00.002Z

This is a very small town based on a few villages in the wilderness and a Lion reserve.
Why its called a Lion reserve is interesting as I think it should be a people reserve for Lions.
The day I arrived four young men went for a wlk to look for Lions....the lions ate one of them.
The next day a Lion that was living near a village and eating the odd buffalo was tracked by some young men on motorbikes, and one got mauled when they got too close.
But of course you guessed it......I spent a day driving round looking and could not even see one in a distance....dammit !
So that was Sasan Gir.
I must observe however that the Gujjarat countryside is fantastic.
This is so far the most "habitable" part of India.
Sorry still no pictures......in order to get on the net I have to provide proof of identity ! Thats just to get on the web......so WIFI....you must be joking ! But of course this is the IT capital of the world.....again you must be joking.
Their idea of attracting tourists is to charge a 500 rupee "camera" fee in the game parks. OK its $15 nz but they want tourists and tourists take pictures that attract their friends to visit so am I missing something here ?

nzl04

15 Jan Nondescript city in India

2009-01-20T14:13:00.000Z

An overnight stay in a scrungy city

14 Jan Udaipur

2009-01-20T14:12:00.000Z

More to come

12/13 January to Pushkar

2009-01-13T12:46:00.003Z

This is the clasic tourist town, not just foreighers but locals as well. It has a religious past.
For me it has been a place to sit in the sun, eat some lunch at lunch time and do some bike maitenance and laundry duties.
In fact a day off in a short sleeved shirt.
The beauty of the town is destroyed by the idiots on motor cycles that roar through the narrow streets with blaring horns. What a damn shame.
I got a reprimand from an Indian gentleman that read my blog, very nicely, but he was concerned about my criticism of Indian driving. Well there is no doubt it is the worst in the world, and thats a sad fact. That Indians make some concession and adjust for speeding cars that do not indicate and drive on the wrong side of the road because it is smoother, does not change the problem. Dangerous drivers. Another biker has ended up in hospital with some breakages sadly, don't know who caused it but India takes its toll on foreign riders.
So tomorrow I head for Udaipur in the South of Rhajistan. With luck I will find the right road, a new one, it will be fine and sunny and the other vehicles will stay on their side of the road !
With luck I will also find a Hotel with an internet connection so I can add some pictures.
I better add that India is part of the experience. Its a tough part but not to be missed.
nzl04

12 January Bundi

2009-01-13T12:37:00.002Z

A short ride. But what a ride.

This was supposed to be a good road, however I was directed 3 times to the "olf road" and was it old.

Fortunately it was mostly me and the goats.

Despite the atrocious road it was actually a hellofagood bike ride.

The best part was however riding into Bundi.....at last it felt like an Indian town. And it was sort of warmish.

Got the usual bum steer from the Lonely Planet on accommodation but it has now been replaced by a Rough Guide. There are many unhappy people in India with the Lonely Planet.

However met a guy from Florida and we had dinner together (thanks Sean) at a nearby Hotel. Home grown organic food and cooked under Mum's supervision. It was great. So hear is the plug, and thank you Mrs Singh at the Nawal Sagar Palace in Bundi.

The town is great and only the pctures will show you that.

You will have guessed that India is far behind the rest of the world with Internet. In a word, bloody hopless ! How they can claim to be an IT nation is a sad joke.

Never mind, it was warmer.

nzl04

11 January Tiger Day....yeah !

2009-01-13T12:35:00.001Z

The reason for visiting this area was to go to the Tiger Park. Best chance to see a Tiger ! Well as the Hotelier said when I was lamenting the wasted day, "you should be here in the summer, then you see Tigers" !
So I have yet to see my tiger !
nzl04

9 January to Sawai B

2009-01-13T12:30:00.002Z

I have had a change of plans so instead of heading north I am continuing south. I am not enjoying the cold.
The ride across the plains, yes more plains to the town of Sawai B... was pretty ordinary. There is not a lot to see, other than villages and fields of crops between but not luxuriant crops...mainly just green something !
However I found the town, after a battle with conficting "turn right" meaning turn left, and straight ahead, but failing to mention the left turn....
However the room was OK but expensive....hellish when one considered that there was no heating.
So I tough it out.
nzl04

8 January Bharatpur

2009-01-13T12:24:00.003Z

I did make it to the sanctuary yesterday.
Took a rickshaw ( the pedal kind). The Sanctuary was a Marahaja's duck pond, and by the look of it all they did was to put up a fee collection office and a gate keeper.
Yes there were birds however perhaps I was expecting too much.

So Today I finally succumbed to the throat infection that had been building as I "ate my way through the dust". A face mask is essential. Sadly with the fog I was not aware of the dust factor until I got pretty sick.
Never mind, thanks Doc the Anti biotics saved the day.
I still do not quite comprehend that this is India and I am freezing cold !
nzl04

7 January Bharatpur

2009-01-07T08:00:00.001Z

Hoped to go to the sanctuary but it is encased in fog....maybe this evening.
nzl04

6 January to Bhartapur

2009-01-07T07:56:00.001Z

A short ride in the fg.
Went looking for ruins after a very difficult exit from Agra. No signs.....
Still made it, didn't stop at the ruins as there is little known about them and on to Bharatpur to the bird sanctuary.
Took a ride through the town. Another Mughal fort with a moat.
nzl04

5 January in Agra

2009-01-07T07:55:00.001Z

Sightseeing.....more later but nothing had prepared me for the Taj Mahal. It was simply awesome.
nzl04

4 January ?

2009-01-07T07:54:00.000Z

Lost a day

3 January Karnal past Delhi to Agra

2009-01-07T07:51:00.001Z

Quite a ride. Lots of traffic and not much to be entertained by.
So it bacame a haul to Agra which I made in the dark and was fortunate to find the right street for the Hotels.
Anther pretty dirty, run down expensive dump, sadly
nzl04

Tattapani to Karnal 2 Jan

2009-01-07T07:48:00.002Z

Today I rode out through Shimla.
It was a better trip out than the ride in. A pretty good ride until I hit the traffic on the main road to Delhi and the traffic hit me. But of bike damage but nothing too bad.
I am just biding time waiting for parts.
As you may expect nothing happens very fast.
nzl04

New Years Day in Tattapani

2009-01-07T07:45:00.001Z

This is just a wierd "resort" in a valley in the Himalayas where I spent a day trying to enjoy the hot spring.
nzl04

31 December to Tattapani in the Himalayas

2009-01-03T06:32:00.003Z

The bad thing about rushes of inspiration is that they are often not well researched, and this was not. I decided that after riding to Chandegarh yesterday, a dismal ride in the fog, that I should celebrate my success with the epoxy by taking a detour.
So I set off into the Shimla Hills, about 100k I was told and Tattapani a few kilometres beyond that.
The ride to Shimla was an expedition. Bad roads, worse driving, and fact pandemonium and chaos on the road. The road steadily climber from about 350m up into the Himilayas. It was dramatic. Steep sided hills with houses clinging to the sides. Some bush cover, but mainly quite thin and dirt and dust in clouds. The drivers were all over the road. Left right and middle. If an obstruction occurs, they just pile up around the stoppage, both sides of the road until no one can move. Lots of honking as every available inch becomes occupied. Then of course the detanglement must occur and that is a time consuming process. At risk of offending these people are the stupidest drivers I have ever encountered. Rude, selfish and just plain bad drivers.
However I made Shimla after 127k only to find that my destination was another 50k further on on even worse roads.
I had no option but to continue. Past the highest golf course I have seen at 2600m perched on the side of a hill. Very odd. However I still had to go from the top of the mountain to the valley floor at 650m. That was one ride in the fast fading light. The sun on the mountian tops was dramatic but not as dramatic as the road that clings to the hillside and winds its way to the river bed. Goats, monkeys, people, the usual hazzards, and of course buses and trucks with no respect for motorcycles. It was get out of their way or wear them.
Eventually in the dark I found the place reccommended by Lonely P and why did I expect better. A dump which I found had been condemned due to constant flooding, and now they plan to build a dam and flood the area properly. The dam up river releases at night and the river rises by 5 feet in minutes.
However the reason for coming was the "sacred" bathing in the hot water. Now that was good, well did not compare to even a poor facility, in a grimy concrete tub, but it was hot water and I enjoyed the therapeutic benefits. Everything else is unmentionably bad. Bad food, dirty rooms, dirty beds, cold shower, pretty grim.
I lasted two nights. It was cheap but that sometimes is not the issue.
So on the 2nd I set off up the mountain. It was to be fair a damn fine ride in the daylight. Dramatic scenery, I did not see any leopards which I understand live in these hills but the usual goats, dogs, monkeys and women cutting and carrying. In Pakistan the donkey is the "workhorse" in India I think its the women.
The day was pretty clear and it was again a workday so initially the road was not too crowded as I got to Shimla. It amazes me how they make a rubbish heap out of a town even on a mountainside. However the bits of bush were good but again the relentless dust......as I descended the mountain again into the madness of the traffic where a typical idiot in a truck, they have no idea of the extremities of their vehicles, as I stopped for an intersection ran into me knocking the bike amd me over, and breaking the hand protector and clutch lever. He kept on going the bugger, but soon a crowd gathereed and lifted me up and I was again away down the road.
The weather is really suprising. It is cold and foggy. I ran on for 260k for the day, a long way in this traffic, and found the town of Karnal. Not chosen for any purient thoughts I can assure you.
Found a Hotel. A grand place, managed a haggle on the price and decided to stay and catch up on emails and washing.
Washing is a real chore. Clothes are at a minimum. Mostly one of everything and they all need washing, frequently.
So the parts for the bike are still somewhere in the air. My chosen machanical shop in Delhi expects the parts on the 9th. I expect them sooner but I am reluctant to put all my faith in an epoxy patch on the leaking water pump gasket.
That is the problem. Getting repairs done in the UK on the problem caused by a mechanic that did not do the water pump repair properly (left out a washer). As far as I can tell 100% of the problems apart from breaks, are caused by mechanics. Not just roadside mechanics, BMW workshops are places of hazzard that cause untold problems for cross country bikers. They are in the main "not competent". They also lack parts, the BMW model of not carrying any stock at all.
I have to say I question the BMW and its suitability for the job. The engine is a Rotax, but badly maintained by BMW. The body is pure BMW fantasy. To check the radiator first take off the rear top box, then the seat, then the engine cover...... Its not a joke its pathetic design.
So I am in Karnal.
Where to next ?
nzl04

Few Days in Amritsar

2009-01-03T06:28:00.002Z

I needed to rest the fott which is bruised ugly and sore.
The protection equipment we wear is sometimes as hard on the body as the fall. This time the knee protector in my riding suit has given my poor old leg a real bruising. Never mind it still works.
India ( well the north part) is shrouded in fog. Airports closed in Delhi and it is very dismal.
Lets hope for better days soon.
nzl04

Boxing Day 2008

2008-12-28T12:31:00.003Z

I managed a late check out which was good. It was so good to be somewhere clean. Got some washing done. Had a hotel breakfast 3 egg omlette WOW !
Sadly it was soon time to go. So I loaded up and the inevitable Police squad arrived. We were off through the Lahore traffic for the border.
The Border ritual was relatively painless. I have learnt to laugh and make jokes where I can. It usually works. If they dont laugh I ask the guy for identification which he produced and we shook hands and got along just fine after that. However Pakistan was OK. India was a little more precise but no problems.
I then had to park the bike and return to the "border" to watch the flag lowering ceremony.
What a sad joke. Patriotism at its worst. (Pic the very enthusiastic and noisy crowd !) No wonder there is distrust between the two countries if this is how they think. I saw it as a comic sketch , (Pic the comic guard being half the compliment of 6 !) but I am sure the mass of Indians that crushed into the place did not. Essentially there is a gate and 1oo metres of seating either side which is jamb packed, and this happens every day ! Then about six "guards" with highly coloured hats and spat march up and down in an exaggerated fashion. The MC exhorts the crowd to shout cand chant, the flags are lowered, and the guards retreat. The crowd is left to find its way home in the dust and dark. Bloody odd really.
So I was left to ride to Amritsar in the dust and dark. Sadly I now have a bike overheating issue. The same problem (different cause) that I had fixed by BMW in London so I am pretty sore about that.
However I managed to find the Golden Temple and the Hotel. That was actually a bit of a feat.
So I am laid up waiting for business to open to deal with the bike problem and in the meantime the swolen leg is reducing in size and almost able to walked upon without too much pain, so all is not bad.
I will go to the roof of the Hotel and see if I can see the Golden Temple through the fog, and tomorrow I will try to catch up on some photo's.
nzl04

Xmas Day Lahore

2008-12-26T07:02:00.005Z

I moved to the very expensive Holiday Inn. Boy it was worth every penny.
Went to meet some people at a Lonely Plonkers (Planet) reccommended site, for a visit to some events. Lonely Planet is really the pits as a guide book.
The first event involved sitting on a cold floor in a mosque listening to some local music. A most strange event. The pics are two other people at the same venue. The guy in red a "Sufi" known for enlightenment through hashish and growing their hair. His was about 10 feet long. The other guy was a local "hotshot".
Then back to the cafe for a BBQ of spicy chicken, which was sort of OK. There were some people I had met at the border, from Holland, so a friendly face is allways welcome.
Then we went to a "Sufi" event.
It was actually a large number of young and old men sitting on a cold floor smoking dope. After 3 hours a man stood up and played a saxaphone and someone in the "garden" outside was playing drums, rather ordinarily......and that was the major cultural event in Lahore !
Well that was the oddest Xmas I have ever spent.
nzl04

Xmas eve to Lahore 375 k

2008-12-26T06:56:00.006Z

Got the escourt up early and we were away at 8.45. They are a good team, nice guys.
Just out of town I had my biggest suprise of the day, a man walking down the road with a Black Bear on a lead. That was a first but sadly I could not stop for a picture. My escourts get a little short about pictures.
So after many changes and lots of time parked on the side of the road waiting I was waved on 45k out of Lahore. Find my own way !
But I did with some very sketchy directions, but what a noisy dirty dump and this was supposed to be a decent midrange Hotel.
Down the road (with my Policeman) for some food. Well food ?
Greasy curry mutton and not much of it and naan bread.
Hardly satisfying so tried a pastry and tea on the way back. No better !
nzl04

Tuesday 23rd to Multan

2008-12-26T06:46:00.003Z

A short ride and despite the escourt we got there in good time so could get in some shrines and mausoleums. They are very grand edifices, and full of very sincere worshipers. It still confuses me why.
However, I was informed that this was the home town of the Prime Minister so I must travel in the Police ute for sightseeing. It did mean we got to many sites quickly and for me and my four bodyguards we saw what we wanted. The city pict. I chose to show the old and the new and the Mosque was actually very pretty, (yes goats and mosques its time to move on !).
The ride to Mutlan was actually rather pleasant.
Agricultural land. Lots of crops, trees, (avocado I thought) citrus, I was amazed at the level of production but then again the level of consumption is pretty impressive also. There are a lot of people here.
Every concievable for of transport. Women, bikes, trailers towed by donkeys ( the backbone of Pakistan) horses, Ox, tractors, the lot and all loaded up to the maximum.
The busses have people and goods on the roof, the Mini vans have goods and people wherever thay can find a grip to hang on. Even in the rain. They are a hardy lot.
The show stealers however are the goats. They have very elegant goats ( yes I know that sounds odd but they are shiny long legged things with huge drooping ears, they look great.
nzl04

Monday 22nd to Bahawalpur

2008-12-26T06:39:00.003Z

This is just a leg on the way to Lahore really but it included a visit to Uch Sharif one of the "premier" historic sites. A mausoleum, yet again.
Did I mention that I was again escourted by the blue Toyota ute and the armed police. I suppose in the event of a problem I would be grateful, but it does make for pretty bad riding. Travel 35k, change escourt, shake hands 8 times (or more) can't complain about these geys, very nice friendly guys all of them but very inconvenient really.

While stopped on the roadside waiting I took the sunset picture.

However the 300k took 10 hours and we arrived late where I had a Hotel selected but they insisted I go to theirs and it was not pleasant. Overcharged, dirty, unhelpful, a nasty experience.
nzl04

Sunday 21st Day off

2008-12-26T06:38:00.002Z

Well I didn't move much. Sorry about the quality of the picture but I just missed the cattle walking up the street ( past the bike) in my out the window picture, and the goats are a bit shaky sorry.

The Pakistan goats are the prettiest animals I have seen ( No its OK I have not been too long alone) but they are almost elegant. They are I understand milking goats but they have long neck and legs that make them stand out in the goat world and a coat that is really shiny and attractive. Its OK I am allright but they are good looking animals. In fact one of the few good looking anythings that I saw in that desperate country. Pakistan is just a sad place.
But I did get more of that good Dall (Dahl) for dinner.
nzl04

Sat 20th to Sukkur

2008-12-26T06:35:00.005Z

The street scene is an "out the window" shot from the hotel I was not permitted to leave.

Without a sore foot this ride would have been a handful. Bad roads are an understatement. It was about 250k and took 8 hours !
I was "on my own which wasn't bad but it was one hell of a ride.
I was pleased to finally make the town of Sukker (which I felt like) and be in a half clean bed with a not bad meal. In fact the best Dall I have had, it was great.
I remember little of the ride. It was survival mostly. It was long. It was cold. It was pretty barren landscape with little to commend it as a ride. Lots of mud. Lots of villages. Lots of trucks.

Lots of road repairs and roadworks and some very poor surfaces to cling to.
nzl04

Fri 19th Hard day on the road

2008-12-26T06:19:00.005Z

Got away from Quetta in the misty sunlight and into the Bolan Pass.
That was fantastic. bThe rock walls the train running through and the ruggedness of the environment.
Then it all came to a stop.
Road blocked.
Ride down the river bed I was instructed by the Police that had suddenly appeared. So I did. That was a challenge. However I made it. The problem came when I got back on the road by now totally covered in mud. My escourt started to wave frantically that I should speed up, I looked in the mirror into a grill (highly decorated) sitting on my topbox, so by instinct I accellerated....wrong thing to do as I lay face down in the road with the bike on my right foot.
That was nasty and I had a very sore foot.
I was escorted to the next town, second biggest in the province, where the local doctor applied some eniesthetic and a bandage and I was off to the Police station where they impounded the bike and took me to a "hotel" where I was told not to leave !
Fortunately there were a couple of agricultural consultants in the next room that ordered me some food so I eat and lay fully clothed in the dirtiest smelliest room I have ever occupied, with a "toilet" that I was not game to enter. The smell with the door closed was bad enough.
Not a good outcome but without the spill would have been a big adventure day.
nzl04

18th December

2008-12-26T06:19:00.001Z

Lay day in Quetta due to tiredness and rain.
nzl04

Dalbandin to Quetta 17th Dec

2008-12-26T06:16:00.004Z

The road started out fine, for the first 100k perhaps more and I was thinking so much for the "bad road". Well I was premature. It came allright. Not 40k of sand but 100k of almost road.
It was great bike riding but wow it was a ride allright. The sign said look out for sand ! An understatement for sure.

The other pic. is of the chimneys of which there are many. They make bricks out of the red brown earth and build houses out of the red brown bricks so it all becomes red brown.

It was rugged to say the least. It was great desert it was in fact stunning. Everywhere was reddish brown. The dust and of course me !
The last 50k into Quetta in the dusk through the ring of mountains that surround the city was fine, but Quetta was not.
What a first class dump.
nzl04

Iran to Dalbandin 300k across the desert 16 Dec.

2008-12-26T06:10:00.005Z

At least I was at the gate when it opened, ( an hour late) but then I lost an hour trying to find a money changer, after the usual visit to Immigration for the passport stamp, and the Customs for the bike passport to be stamped, it was in fact about 11 am before I did get on the road.
The fuel along the road is dispensed from cans of smuggled Iranian petrol. No gas stations as such. However it works.
The ride through the desert was actually pretty, and pretty good. The towns were dirty but the odd wild Camel made up for that.

And the Trucks. The wild crazy decorated trucks. There is so much "stuff" on them. Huge fronts highly decorated, high sides, loads stacked so high it is a wonder how they get there and how they stay on. Trinkets, whistles bells stars, twinkly stuff lights, every thing imaginable. And they crawl along the road.
Dalbandin is a dump in the middle of the desert where I spent the night. 24 hour hot water was the claim......well it sounded appealing, so did the offer of a beer. Then I worked out the room cost 300 R and the beer 250R so no more beer !
However I did sleep in a sort of clean bed.
nzl04

Destination Iran 15th December

2008-12-26T05:53:00.008Z

This was a straight forward 350k but I was away so smartly that I got to Zahedan easily, a simple ride through the rocky desert with plenty of wind and sand but I found fuel ...allways a fear...... and on the the border. Not so fast however.
35k from the border I was stopped (again) to be looked at. This time the army fella disappeared with my passport...."wait here". I was "inspected" a few more times and finally...."we go" !
I said I no go...no passport....so out of his pocket it came and into my pouch then on to the back of the bike he jumped, sitting on the spare tyre I was carrying.
It must ahve been hellish cold and even more uncomfortable up there, but on we went. After 30k the man on the back changed and we carried on to the border.
There was a great deal of go here go there that all took lots of time. Valuable time as it turned out becfause no sooner had I got passport clearance and bike clearance and got myself to the exit gate, it closed.
What I protested ...why....."Gates close at 4.30" I was told, but I said it is 4.16......"Too dangerous"......go to Tourist Motel, so I did ( No bloody option!)
The Tourist motel was actually pretty entertaining. Mostly truckdrivers and a Pakistani Pom that spoke Urdu...so I managed a sort of interchange of views about many things but these guys were truckdrivers distributing oranges from Pakistan to places like Russia and Iran.
One of them proudly showed me his Automatic Volvo truck and paid for my chicken and rice.
In all pretty good blokes but not the sort you would look at and immediately take a liking to !
So another bad sleep in yet another dirty bed.
nzl04

Kerman to Bam 14th Dec.

2008-12-26T05:46:00.003Z

This was a sightseeing ride really as I visited the town of Mahan which has mausoleu8m for a Sufi, and some famous gardens. The gardens were out of season but very much lacking in maintenance. What a shame.
Down the road to Arg-E-Rayen. This is a mud brick fortress smaller than Bam. Some rich blokes mud house ! It is esentially a brick walled community with the head mans household in part of it. The common people lived within the walls and had their bazaar in there as well. A practical arrangement I guess as it allowed the head man control over all his subjects. Its is all very run down however. The talk about boosting tourism will be just talk unless they actually get organised.

And yes the Pic of the dome is yet another mausoleum in the middle of a roundabout ! They really like their past citizens.
Bam was the big drawcard in this region until it was destroyed and the town beside it, in a major earthquake, and which Unesco seems to have had it land on their plate. What a hell of an undertaki9ng ! For what ? A new mud brick fortress ?
Anyway the Town was mostly flattened as well and that rather poor book Lonely Planet reccemmends going to a guest house to help the good owner recover. Well if the good owner got to work and his lazy son moved once in a while they would not need the sympathy vote ! I think the rewards are greater this way but sleeping on the floor in a very dirty room with no hot water after 5 years of "rebuilding" does not deserve sympathy.

I can not really understand why anyone would want to rebuild anything here at all.
So on to the border with no breakfast again....
nzl04

Shiraz to Kerman 13 Dec.

2008-12-26T05:43:00.002Z

I am on my way toward the border with Pakistan. The southern route to Bam is an unknown so having made good time I chose to do the xtra distance today and rode to Kerman.

It was a simple desert and mountains ride.

Nothing memorable at all but having said that there were huge areas of small silver barked tress like miniature wallnuts that I understand were in fact pistacio.

The Pic is a roadside stall of nuts.

The benefit was that the following day would be easier.

Found a Hotel, again expensive and despite Lonely Plonkers saying discounts are readily available......yeah !

Sorry to so cynical about Lonely Planet but their books are really inadequate. Poorly written poorly researched and often just misleading.

Again the food was ordinary. The Hotel like so many was party refurbished and had no internet and no interest in providing much in the way of service at all.

I did get some advice on the next days ride and that was appreciated.

It had been a pretty long ride however at 540k with only dormant trees and mountains for company.
nzl04

Friday 12th Dec Shiraz

2008-12-12T11:40:00.002Z

They say New Zealand closes down on Sunday.......well welcome to Shiraz on Friday.
At least it is warm ! Hooray for the sun, I think I will become a follower of Ra !
Shiraz is of course the home as they claim of that wonderful grape. Interesting that it is not made here any more.
So tomorrow I start the run East to the home of the terrorists.
It is my great hope that they are busy with other things as I pass, but before I get ahead of myself I still have 3 days in Iran including Bam the home of the huge earthquake that flattened that mud brick city.
I hope to find a hotel still standing !
If you ever want to get over a fetish for eating Kebab, come to Iran, you will never want another !
nzl04

Thursday 11th Dec. Yazd to Shariz

2008-12-12T11:27:00.004Z

I was a little concerned about this leg as it was back over a 2500metre mountain pass and it had been snowing. In fact I just heard that Erzurum (Turkey) is under snow now so I am pleased to have got away from there.
However it was only hard getting out of the city. There are few signposts and even fewer in english. Happily I found fuel with the usual game of where is your fuel card and then, are you a tourist ? which I thought may have been obvious ...... and then I found the road. It was a four lane highway and a good surface. Over the pass with only old snow visible then 80km down the other side.
Finally found the "highway" to Shiraz and shorly after one of the old cities, now a barren plain where Cyrus the Great has his tomb, stuck out in the desert ! (Pic) No matter how flash the tomb, he is still dead !
Then down the road to Persepolis. (Pic) What a heart break. Possible the most impressive place I have ever visited, a marble city that was built totally for the "worship" of the then King, a place they visited at new year to receive gifts, of course these guys were Zaroastrians. It lasted 150 years then along came that bastard Alexander the Great and he burnt it down.
Yes I know the buildings were beautifully decorated and highly polished marble but they were held together with steel and lead clamps, and as the roof was wood on huge beams, the fire he started melted those clamps and it all ( well most of it) fell down.

In the picture you will see in the background (I hope) the front of the tomb carved into the hillside. One of the Kings Xerces of similar.....but still dead !
One of my objects when undertaking these rides was to see mankind, and how inhumane we still are. And we still are. Still driven by fear and greed. Zaroastianism has been replaced by all sorts of religions, in this area, Christianity and Islam ( Coke and Pepsi) one followed the other, and both it seems needing a heavy advertising budget.....but then again that maybe just me !
However after the sadness of Persepolis it was off in the dark to Shiraz. It certainly does test ones resolve to ride into a new city in the dark with the driving that is so scary, it really is the man in front has the right of way but the ways they get "in front" are pretty risky, however with that blind faith...I am in front.....I will not get hit.....and I didn't. So with inadequate maps no GPS and a hint of the direction and the street from a guide book I found myself outside the Hotel I was seeking.

A note on Hotels. Expensive mainly dirty with little service. The better ones have two sheets, the rest a sheet and a blanket. Dining is still pretty scary. I have little idea of whats what and resort to a wander around and finding something someone else has if all else fails. As the food and entertainment capital........well there is little in Shiraz the once proud capital of the wine world...perhaps.
Not much of a city but with the reputation of being the food and entertainment centre of Iran......I am glad I am not here for that !
nzl04

Wednesady 10th Yazd

2008-12-12T11:26:00.002Z

A day of walking through the old city. Lots of mud bricks.
Lots of Mosques.
Lots of old buildings.
A good day really.
More later.
nzl04

Tuesday 9th December

2008-12-12T11:22:00.003Z

I am in an internet cafe ( at last) without my diary.
So I had made Yazd having ridden from Esfahan. It was over a very cold mountain pass of 2600m but I did manage to find my way and the snow was not too fresh.

Yazd is a desert city, famous for its water systems. The picture is the top of a water tank and the towers are for cooling.

The other picture is a builder mixing "muck" a mix of mud and straw ( didnt see the manure but guess it was in there) which is used to apply to the walls of the buildings. Pretty simple process really.
As indicated the ride was mountainous and of little note. Not a lot of attractions.
I stayed in the Silk road Hotel, a budget stye with dormitories a caravanserai I guess, and some rooms opening onto a covered courtyard. Made a pleasant effect.

Met a Canadian there riding a bike to Pakistan. All I could think was there are a lot of pretty staunch young guys out there because that is very hard work.
nzl04

Sheep

2008-12-08T20:06:00.004Z

I am interested in sheep. Having been brought up in close contact with them, but hasten to add they drove me crazy, anyway....

In Turkey and Iran there are little flocks of sheep everywhere. They are big with fatty tails, and interesting shades of brown black white and all shades between.

As I was leaving Turkey a shepherd and his flock came through town.

He was in front leading and calling to them.....not baaaa, but abbbbbbb

These vast cultural differences are totally fascinating !

nzl04

Tabriz to Tanjin 4th December

2008-12-08T19:52:00.004Z

One of the disciplines that I enjoy is obtaining the necessary "green card" insurance.

So away I went to the Information Office. It was at the Bazaar, a huge octopus of a thing with tentacles reaching out in caverns and alleyways. A great mass of traders selling everything imaginable.

However I digress. The man I needed arrived and off we went to the Insurance office. The insurance was arranged, full cover for two weeks, and then off to the Bank to pay the premium of $6 and then back to the Insurance office for the policy. Quite a bargain I thought.

So soon after I was on my way .

More coloured hillsides. The brown soil has many colour patterns which makes it look a little like a huge marble cake.

So it was down the motorway in the cold with the usual tooting and waving. They really do make me feel a bit like the Duke. No reason to be a celebrity at all, but they toot and wave all the same.

Tanjin. Not much to say about Tanjin.

nzl04

Wednesday 3rd Turkey to Iran ( as last)

2008-12-08T18:42:00.005Z

I managed an early start with breakfast at the cafe of Lentil soup ( yes I like soup for breakfast) and scrambled eggs.

The ride out of town was a relief. It was not much of a town. The view from the Hotel window will demonstrate.

The ride out of Turkey was uneventful. Wide valley floors, high ranges snow capped and the browness of the villages and the countryside.

The border was fortunately simple. Turkey was a smile a stamp and "best wishes".

Iran was behind a large steel gate that opened only far enough to admit me. Thereafter however they were good. Stamp by the Police in the passport. Into Customs for the Carnet and a photocopy of the passport and the visa with two of my last three Turkish coins ( and then some currency changed by the same man) and I was on my way.......well nearly as there was another check down the road by some "Police" not in uniform but all they wanted was to look at me and take the last slip of paper.....then I was on my way to the Gas station.

Petrol is the one unknowns in Iran. There is a "permit" system for locals, which appears to be not implemented for tourists, fortunately. So line up ( you can tell there is a Gas station by the queue of cars on the road) and ask for an attendant who will produce a "card" and pump fuel, sometimes all over the bike, but beggers can't be choosers. The stations that have a dedicated bike pump are the best because they fill the bike for $4.... on average ! Now that is nice.

The ride to Tabriz was not even interesting enough for many pictures. May have got one of a lonely village, but before I could get aimed there were two locals beaming and waving !

The architecture is different. The roads are good. The cars are mostly Hillman Hunters (or Avengers) its really odd to be among old cars again. There must be an explanation, perhaps they purchased the Rootes Group car line but I am convinced they are Hillmans.

Anyway they like to get close, really close. amd if you are in their way even closer. Racing rules apply, in that the car in front has right of way no matter how he got there, U turns, crossing three lanes at once, reversing up in the face of oncoming traffic, its scary but you get to understand they do not have many accidents. They will do whatever it takes to avoid contact and with a great deal of tolerance. If road rage were known here there would be a civil war on the roads. They are VERY tolerant yet still drive like it is a race track.

So I found Tabriz on the day the Prime Minister visited. He commands a large crowd. I sort of dead reckoned my way to the Hotel but about three blocks short called for help from two guys on a bike and they "delivered" me. The Hotel was full, first time that has happened, so I was in the Hotel next door with the bike in the foyer again. Pampered bike !

Dinner. Found the local recommended by the Hotel, and then with the help of the guy at the table, a bread baker, and the staff and the owner I discovered how to eat a Dizi which is a claypot of slow cooked meat and vegetables. First tear up some flat bread in the empty bowl. Then tip the fluid off the Dizi. Soak it up and eat it. Then tip pot contents into the same bowl and mash ( with a masher supplied) and eat the brew. Its delicious ! Accompanied by a pot of Aryan a sort of drinking yoghurt. Also delicious.

So I survived day one. I was sort of relieved.

nzl04

Erzurum to Dogbiscuit 2 December

2008-12-05T17:32:00.005Z

Well I was finally away thanks to Tabatabie at the Consulate. He will never know how grateful I am.

I thought I did well. Got away early. Then 10k down the road the world turned white. I managed a few more k's before the helmet lens froze so I opened it to see and my glasses froze.

Fortunately a garage appeared and I went in, got fuel and retreted to the office where there was already a crowd. Two locals and three traffic Police. It was the Policeman that offered me a Chai, which I gratefully accepted, and then he took to my helmet with some demister/anti fog that he found. I was very grateful.

They said 40k then sunshine, in their best pantomime acting. I was pleased and left but not so pleased when it lasted 100k. Finally I came over a 2200m pass and sunshine.

It stayed that way as I rode through the brown villages in the brown countryside with the brown sheep. Wide valley floors and steep sided hills and snow caps.

Finally over the brow of a large hill and there in the distance was Mount Ararat. I then spent the rest of the day approaching it.

Finally making its base as the sun sank and I rode into Dogbiscuit in deepening gloom.

It was a dark dank dirty place and I searched for a Hotel. I stopped on a corner to have a look around and was enveloped in a mass of dark faces very close, arms waving and the babble of Otel...Otel...Otel..... so I followed a man claiming to be the owner back up the street. That was the last I saw of him as I rdoe the bike in through the front doors to park in the Lobby.

Very convenient. The man who now appeared in control laughed as I took a picture, "everyone take picture" he said.

He said there were two restaurants, I found one and the lentil soup and ghoulash never tasted so good.

nzl04

Zoroastrians

2008-11-29T08:21:00.004Z

From the very little I know about religion of any sort it appears there were a people in this area Iran, Turkey, that called themselves Zoroastrians. They may have been the original "greens" as they believed that the earth should not be contaminated ie by burying bodies in it.

They did not have a being that they worshipped apparently.

How they came to be "aware" of Jesus is interesting but the story has it that the three wise men were Zoroastrians.

Now what is the reason you may ask for all of this, well, on and in the Monastery were a number of pictures/depictions, and on an outer wall were Mary and Jesus (missing) Joseph, and the three wise men. So I took a picture.

nzl04

More 964 AD Monastery

2008-11-29T08:13:00.002Z

Pictures

Images

2008-11-29T07:57:00.003Z

I have some pictures of the Monastery and the ride there. Some good images that I wanted to share.
nzl04

On the road - briefly 27 November

2008-11-28T09:26:00.004Z

After several days of sitting waiting Chris and Kadri on the DLR650 and I went for a ride. It took us a while to find fuel and the right road but the ride that followed was great. Over the snow capped range and up a long gorge with patches of four lane and patches of road works. The lanscape was dramatic and a little warmer as after the range we reduced altitude.
Old villages on hillside, hay bales stacked on roofs, sheep and cattle in small herds on the hillsides, it was a step back in time other than the roadworking machinery. Thats the same everywhere.
The colours in the hillsides were great. Not much grows here apart from poplars down the river beds.
We turned off eventually about 100km and would our way up the valley until the monastery appeared nestled in a small village.
The usual turnout ensued, where are you from but we were saved from prolonged inquirey by the call from the tower beside the monastery.
It is falling into dispair sadly but this country has so many monuments to the past whats another monastary built in 964 with some stone carving and paintings inside. For me it is a great feeling. 1000 years ago this was a community centre. It was built up a blind valley for protection no doubt ( no army is going over the tops) and apparently there was a large christian community here.
Unfortunately we only had the option of riding back the route we came in order to be back before dark.
So another night of soup and Kebab and early to bed to watch the drama in Mumbai unfold on the BBC. In a month I had planned to be there.
I fear the US created financial crisis will see more downturn and and harship and more of this madness and I am left with the thought that the same silly games of greed envy fear and distrust were present in 964 when the monastery was built.
We have not progressed very far have we !
nzl04

Holiday in Turkey courtesy Iranianvisa.com

2008-11-26T08:17:00.002Z

The irony is that I now want a holiday in Iran, not Turkey !
There is a lot more to this story but perhaps it should be told at another time.
Pictures are not so easy. It is a cold grey city surrounded by snow.
I understand the earliest I can expect an answer to my latest application thanks to a very courteous and overworked Consul, is Monday 1st December so the Speights and those Bluff oysters are getting further and further away.
Tehran closes Thursday and Friday and Sunday is the local day off. So not much happens in a week.
Oh well there are lots of things that are worse and perhaps I can get a flight to Corsica or somewhere warm for 4 days.

nzl04

Ezrurum 25 November

2008-11-25T08:48:00.004Z

When I left London I wrote in my book "last day to cross to Iran 25 November"

And here I am.

I applied thru iranianvisa.com

The partner of the owner is a relative of the Iran Ambassador in Istanbul. If you go to the Embassy you are given a slip of paper and told apply to this website, on-line. Of course no one tells you that iranianvisa let you fill in the form, advise you to pay the urgency fee if you are leaving Istanbul, and then DO NOTHING !

So inevitably we all pay the 55Euro and end up stuck in Erzurum. And for most of us the only time we hear from iranianvisa is when we are told "application declined". Then its a battle. Some return to Istanbul and ship, some reapply (after two weeks I am told), I am pleading with the Consul. He wants Hotel bookings which of course is a joke outside Iran. They don't answer phones emails, websites faxes.......nothing ! So its going to be tough.

Met some fellow travellers last night Chris and Kadri. He is a Scot and she an Estonian. What a neat couple. They are on a DL650 as I recall heading to Oz. It was good to spend some time with some real people. They are "waiting" on iranianvisa as well.

I hope my expedition does not stall here, that would be a disaster. If anyone knows someone in Iran that would invite me to visit that would be a great help.

What is totally confusing is that most do eventually get a visa, after spending $US2000 and two weeks longer in Turkey than wanted, time and money Iran should have had !

Turkey must love iranianvisa. They make more money for Turkey than they do for Iran and they live in Tehran.

Life is odd.

So its back to the Consul toady and hope !

I need a picture so will go dredging. The single spire is included for its tile work 700 years old. The city for its "town planning". So much of the housing expansion in Turkey is like this. They build towers in the sand around the cities. The colours are I guess a bit like painting the fronts of bee hives. How else do you find your way home ?

nzl04

Friday 21st Erzurum

2008-11-21T19:13:00.004Z

I can not recall when I last spent 5 days in one place. How it came to be this place is bewildering. The city is grey and the hills are white. It snows and rains and is cold. Freezes at night and not much better in the day.

I have walked the town. There is little to see. There are two significant buildings from about 1300 as I probably mentioned. The curse of modern cities is here as well and I refer to kids. They pester they are rude and demand money and when refused become very agressive. They throw sticks and stones and really make cities unpleasant places. However its not all bad. There are many friendly and helpful people. The Policeman outside the Police station had a cheery word so I stopped and talked with him. I asked if he learnt English at University. Yes he said. So I responded, you need a degree to carry a machine gun in Turkey thats good ! He enjoyed the humour.

I am going to have difficulty finding a picture today. The building with the twin towers is an old one beautifully decorated and made before the days when they put the pointy tops on.

The fellow in the window is not me !

Its an old fashioned city. Men wear hats caps and skull caps, and many of the women fully cloaked, and the younger ones with long coats and scarves. Lots of beards. The city structure is like China. In this street copper pots, the next nuts and spices, then hardware, then elektroniks, and then tyres, and so on. The suprising thing is the markets, both in the street selling all sorts of items including fruit, lots af good fruit and vegetables and fish, and then behind inconspicuous doors several levels of shops.

Its a very male society. Groups of men sitting drinking tea, in tea (cay) shops playing cards or backgammon and smoking. I went into the dining room tonight. The air was blue with smoke. 30 men dining in groups and drinking Raki. Only one couple. They were drinking wine which is the first time I have seem that. I suspect romance was the cause.

The diet has sorted itself out. Hard boiled eggs bread olives and tomato for breakfast. Soup, eggplant and mince with rice for lunch: and soup, salad, and something like stuffed olive leaves, stuffed peppers, or spicy fried liver, and with all meals, bread and Cay ! But I do manage a Raki at night and its very pleasant.

So I hope I can soon report on the road again.

nzl04

Wednesday Urzurum

2008-11-19T07:27:00.004Z

Well after lots of emails to info@iranianvisa.com and after three days they responded. It was to tell me they don't reply to emails but do so daily. Hogwash.

They claim the visa is lodged, but not processed. After nearly 3 weeks that is preposterous. The Embassy says allow 10 days, Iranianvisa say pay extra and it will take 5 days....yeah !

So I sit and wait. The dangers of "on-line" commerce. No recourse ! They do not take visa or pay pal ( US embaro against Iran ?) so its cash up front. The worst aspect is thet the Embassy insisted I use them. I have heard an expression Bakshish ! I wonder what it means ?

However I again walked the city. The two best shots I got were out the window.

Fingers crossed for wheels rolling soon.

nzl04

Urzurum 18 November

2008-11-18T18:36:00.003Z

This city I assume is very old. There is not much available in English. The city is in a basin surrounded by snow clad hills. There are some significant buildings of the 1300 era and a city wall, that only remains in parts, but other than that little.

Its a pity as I sit here waiting for a visa. Typical online purchase drama. You pay and hope. If what ou pay for you do not get, you have no recourse.

I suspect Iranianvisa is a company operating from the US contrary to the no trade with Iran policy so it is difficult to know how real they are.....

My problem is that the Iran Embassy insisted I use them. Somebody is getting paid I guess.

The guy in the Embassy couldn't be nicer, but says he can do nothing. Seems nor can I.

If they dont perform tomorrow I may have to ask everyone to send em an email asking what they are doing ?

I will have to look through my photo's to see if anything else will interest.

Yes I was impressed by the carpet washers as well.

nzl04

Monday 17 November Iranianvisa

2008-11-17T13:20:00.004Z

The Embassy in London, to me go to Istanbul. Quicker for Visa.

I went to Istanbul. I was told we do not issue Visa. Apply "on-line"

I applied on-line. The "on-line" party is a private organisation.

The process was seemingly simple other than the payment instructions. They cannot use "pay-pal" because of US economic sanctions ?

So we remitted the money. Plus a fast processing fee. It can take 10 business days if I do not pay the fast processing fee ! That was 10 business days ago.

The fast handling feee was to get the visa in 5 working days.

So I sit in a Hotel in the coldest city I have ever been in, and wait.

Meanwhile iranianvisa.com do not respond. They have one contact info@iranianvisa.com .......

This may be a major problem for me. It is getting cold. I have already been delayed 2 weeks with Visa's and this is the last straw really.

It would make for a much better feeling if they responded but when the line goes dead it feels like a scam.

There is a "US" telephone number which also makes me uneasy. US business morals are suspect at the best of times. Sorry to my US mates but having dealt with Goat Riders, Goofy maps, Microwhatever, and others too numerous to mention, I hold a view that they believe the customer is a resource to exploit. Sad really, but who dreamed up this financial scam that has stalled the worlds economies.

I would like some feedback on this one. If trade has turned from plus 2% to negative 2% (say)how come 5% is such an issue ? Or has it really slowed far worse than that because the consumer is struggling with a property hangover ? Really, all the world ? Or in reality had the world geared up to produce more than we needed and this is the consequence, oversupply falling demand...too much of everything and when I ride past houses partly completed and look like they never will then perhaps thats an explanation.

Lets hope it all comes right tomorrow as its 3.30 pm and getting dark.

As its a no ride day I will see if I can find a couple of snaps that relate to other things that you will recognise.

nzl04

Sunday 16 to the cold in Erzurum

2008-11-16T18:43:00.004Z

I got a good start out of Tevan. It was crisp so I had 5 layers on but needed another so the raincoat that will not fit over 5 layers I put on backwards. It worked.

As usual the landscape is dramatic. High ranges, villages, spectacular views, rivers, and a most unusual sight as I crossed a bridge. I was cold but there in the river bed were people washing carpets. It was an astonishing sight. How they could work in water that must be close to freezing was truly impressive.

We do not know we are alive.

I was treated to boiled mutton for lunch, very greasy but very welcome as it was hot. The usual attendees watched me eat accompanied by the usual questions, where are you from, New Zealand, odd look and repeat, where are you from, Australia....Oh yes Australia thats godd do you like Turkey, ..yes, how old are you ?

The road was the same as well, the usual tractors, sheep goats, roadworks, very poor villages with some sadly substandard accommodation but as well today, the cold.

I could not understand how it could be so cold on flat plains but then realised they were 2000m above sea level.

As the city approached I could see snow on the hills, ice from last winter in some shaded gullies so yes it was cold.

The city is like most. Crowded, noisy, polluted, but unlike others was dark at 4pm. The call to the Mosque is made just the same, and I suspect it is done from a computer via a telephone line. Even the mosque is not safe from technology.

I have become used to the food so it must be time to move on although I sense a more arabic feel about the people, darker skin colour, and a sence of a different people, but Turkey is a big country with many races merging into one society.

I hope you see the carpet washing in sufficient detail, I was on a bridge, and the village was very isolated and poor.

nzl04

Saturday 15th Lake Van

2008-11-15T20:05:00.003Z

It seems this is a crater lake. Had I known that I would also have expected it to be cold and of course made an effort to leave earlier. It was 300k, no trouble I thought, well yes.....
The departure down the hill and onto the plain was dramatic. There is one thing about Turkey, the landscape is huge and dramatic.
I thought a couple of times I was in Arizona. The sun on the mountains the shadows, the colours are fantastic.
The villages on the hills. Not at all like anywhere else. These houses are all brown. A li8ttle way short of Batman ( yes I had to get that in, its real) is a place called Hassankeyf. Again houses built into the cliff faces and a very old town that had a very old bridge, which is a river who's name seems to be the Dicle Nehri that flows into Syria.
Clearly a place with a great deal of history and a fascinating place. Another fascination appeared a few miles down the road. I guess it would have been called a train once, a string of donkeys, perhaps a horse and a mule or two, giving the appearance of the family and their posessions. They were a very interesting group. I was busy looking at them and trying to get a picture and at the same time giving them a great deal of amusement, by my appearance.
So I was back on the road and it was good until I approached the last leg into the town of
Bitlis and Tevan. What I didn't know was that this was a gorge in which the road was being rebuilt and rising to about 1600m. So the road was rough and rougher, climbing into colder and colder, and the sun set at about 3.30 so getting darker and darker. It was an interesting ride.
The town was seemingly a very ordinary very cold very dark place. I was through it and onto the lake plateau and then it got properly cold, bone chilling cold. And it was pitch dark, the full moon was obscured, and did I mention cold ?
I was lucky to ride direct to the Otel where for 50ytl I got B + B with central heating. Great.
By now you can guess, spicy soup, salad, shish, with lots of bread and tea.
nzl04

Friday 14th to Mardin

2008-11-15T19:48:00.003Z

This was a planned destination at last. I left my two friends after breakfast and headed to Urfa. Interesting but I could not find the copper market and it was too early to eat so I went south to Harran.

I mentioned sheep well they are everywhere. This is in a town. And the mud huts are in Harran.
This is a pretty well had it tourist attraction based on a community of people that lived in mud houses. They claim to have had the first University in the world although I have no details on that. It was sort of interesting. The town was a thriving market place that served the surrounding villages. Mostly it seems they grew cotton here. As usual the car of choice is a tractor. They sem to get a lot of people on a tractor, although later in the day I did see three men on a motorcycle with two more on the sidecart. Poor little bike.
On the way to Mardin much later than expected, having tried a "shortcut" through an area that seemed to have those roads that get narrower and rougher and then hard to find... I spotted Ismail by the road. He had collected another friend Janel so I followed them to the Otel where we stayed the night. This was a Boutique otel so the cost went up to 70 ytl but a very nice place in a very ordinary town. The site was as usual incredible however. Perched on the side of a hill with the usual steep cobblestoned roads, and the usual fort on top.
This place is close to Syria ( lots of army presence) and at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the middle East. There would have been more posessors of this little mountain than owners of a Model A.
But it was worth the visit and we had a fun night. I was very fortunate that not only were these guys good company but all had pretty good english.
Anul had been unfortunate in that as a mountaineer he had been struck by lightening while up the mountain. To know two people that have survived a lightening strike is unusual I think.
I discovered the Turkish drink of preference. Raki (well thats how its pronounced). An annis type of spirit with a kick like a mule.
So late to bed.
nzl04

Thursday 13th Nemrut

2008-11-15T19:00:00.004Z

Well I was fortunate not to have ridden on in the dark. The road was under repair for a long part of the trip which would have been a nightmare, and then the road up the mountain was narrow and windy so I would not have fared well at all.
The morning ride up te mountain was great. The mountain was unbelievable. The old King of Macedonia had a range of statues 10 metres high seated in huge stone chairs, Zeus, Apollo, Hercules, Commagene, plus an Eagle and a Lion and these statues were at rge East side and the west side, and between them a Tumulus of 30,000 cu metres of small rocks. He was determined to beat the grave robbers it seems.
Interesting place. Sort of erie to visit. I met Patrick + Christina from Australia who shared their beer nuts with me. They were hitching round the world. If you are interested they have a blog "travelpod.com/members/bird_dream"
So that was a good experience.
Then it was a scamper down the road. Interesting again but when I made the ferry to cross Turkeys huge hydro lake the ferry was disappearing round the corner. So off to the cafe. There were four men so I sat down and asked if they would like a Cay. (Tea). Yes they said and the tea came and back came my money. They wanted to buy. They were Kurds they said and that was about the conversation apart from where from and how old !
Then another bike arrived. Two young Turks on a Trans Alp. Ismail and Anul were good blokes and we caught the ferry together along with four goats and a couple of cars and trucks and an assortment of locals on foot.
It was again dark as we alighted and made for Siverek. (Not Sanlurfa known as Urfa). Anul had made some enquiries and got the name of an Otel and then a restaurant so we dined pretty well and were accommodated pretty poorly, but for 10 ytl ( about $6 US) ...of course I can complain. It wasn't just the very noisy neighbours or the room 1 foot wider than the very uncomfortable bed nor the smelly pillow but the footpad and hole toilet which is a challenge for someone with bikers knees ( they don't bend) but finally the "shower" that ran hot or cold but nothing between. Aaah the romance of travel.
The dinner was fine. Lamb stew, they like mutton in Turkey, salad and bread, and of course Cay.
Not a bad day for an old biker.
nzl04

Wednesday 12th to Adiyaman

2008-11-15T18:38:00.004Z

This was not where I intended to be. I was supposed to be up the Mountain, Nemrut, where Antiochus I built himself a mauseleum on top of a mountail in about 650BC I am told. More of that later.
So away I went, it was cold and long. The hills were mountains and cold.
It was however a hell of a ride. Good challenging roads and dramatic scenery, colourful trees, rocky mountains, some with pine trees, plains, sheep goats, the whole vista. It was a good day but sadly too long so I had to stop in Adiyaman. The Otel was OK and I was very grateful to be in bed.
nzl04

Tuesday sightseeing in Cappadoccia

2008-11-15T18:18:00.004Z

The Otel has a restaurant on top of the building so the view in the morning is fantastic.

The left pic is my Otel and the right where other people lived !

So I visited Avanos, famous for its ceramics; Goreme, the outdoor musues of old buildings and religous sites in the hillsides; and then to Kaymakli famous for an underground city (or two).

There were in fact I was told 26 of them. And connected by tunnels. Earthquakes have wrought havoc on them but two remain.

Originally Hittite settlement. They lived there to avoid detection, as did the Romans, some time later, then the christians (hiding from the Ottoman).

It was a very erie feeling. Thinking that people actually lived down there many levels down. And the pasage ways were not big ( apparently the hittites were small).

I have to say I was pleased to out of there.

Back to the town of Urgup for dinner in the square. Usual thing. I stop the bike. Anything from 1 to 5 people immediately appear. Where you from ? How old you ? Both answers causing a similar reaction of wonder/curiosity/amusement. However the first man up was the carpet merchant wanting to talk bikes. (First time a carpet man didn't try to sell me a carpet. He did reccommend the meatballs at the restaurant we were outside and I have to agree they were great. And I was lucky enough to have a local red wine which was pretty good, a turkish coffee and a Tiramisu. All for about 22ytl which was good. The accommodation cost 50ytl.

It was again a very cool day as winter approaches.

nzl04

Tuesday 10th to Urgup in Cappadoccia

2008-11-15T18:01:00.003Z

The usual breakfast was even more spartan today. Olives cheese and bread but it was redeemed by the presence of the gardener. He is well connected with the hotel and the restaurant they sent me to last evening. However he sat with me and eat his bread and cheese and talked non stop. Not a word of which I undertsood, so he gets a picture today.

The ride to Cappadoccia was pretty good initially as I skirted Ankara. to avoid that smog bound city, and rode through farm land and they grow a plant like a swede literally by the truckload, or should I say trailer load, as the tractors and trailers were up and down the road again, yesterday olives, today swedes or big black turnips.

However as I am prone to I found a shortcut. For a moment I thought I had slipped back in time, Russian roads again, but my idea worked and I found the road I wanted and was sorry I did. It seems Turkey has had a massive ibjection of roading money and they are upgrading repairing just about every road I ride on. So it was a slow journey and I had to take another shortcut which I was afraid may be my undoing as the garmin map seemed to loose itself about that time and I ended up on dusk in a deserted village. It was very wierd. Almost like they inhabitants all walked out on the same day 40 years ago. (Pic). So I had to navigate by nose and fortunately it worked. I found familiar ground and a familiar city ( last years visit) and soon the Otel at the top of a steep cobbled street (arent they all). It was a hotel in the hillside. Very quaint living in a cave.

So I dined in town, the usual safe bet soup salad and shish ( or kebab) and lots of glasses of Cay pronounced chai or similar and is of course the national drink, tea.

nzl04

Sunday the 9th Iznik to Beypazari

2008-11-15T17:43:00.003Z

After a stooge around the city on a Sunday, all the Muze (Museums) were closed or being refurbished which was a pity. But like most historic places the "good stuff" has been "relocated". Stolen ? Like the Elgin marbles.

Anyway the ride was wonderful. marvelous autumn colours, lots of trees and vines and lots of olives being picked. Irrigation has changed the face of this land. It is a productive vegetable growing area now. It was a good ride. Dry but cool. As it does here, the sun goes down early so it was in that nice golden light that I found the village of my destination.

It was old. It has narrow cobbled stret full of market stalls and is charming. However first I had to find the Otel, which I did and it was old and perhaps charming as well. Uneven floors, toilet and shower in the wardrobe (converted) and quaint is probably a better description.

So was the "old guy" that greeted me, he was 64 and his mate 67. He insisted that I sit on his stool and eat some bread, which I did. It seems he is the self appointed gardener on that peice of street.

After unloading I went looking at the town and found some dinner. All good. The people really are very kind, a little fascinated perhaps by my appearance, but they handle it well. The food is great really. I managed a yoghurt soup, some olive leaf rolls and because I was in Turkey a baklavar. And I enjoyed it.

These old hillside town are as quaint as can be really. Narrow and steep cobbles, houses almost touching and lots of people. And os course in the evening and the morning the call from the mosque. It is great in a slightly larger place where there are often up to 5 mosques in shouting distance and they seem to compete with their calls from the Minarets ( I hope thats what they are).

nzl04

Saturday in Iznik

2008-11-12T19:14:00.005Z

Iznik was previously known as Nicaea. It was a very old centre occupied by Thracians, and called Helikare then Romans who called it Antigoneia, then Christians and somewhere it got the name of Nicaea, whether as by legend where Dionisyus the God of wine who had his wicked way with Nicaea daughter of Cybele and Sangarios ( the River God) or the wife of one of Alexander the Greats, Generals.....

Whatever the truth is regardless of my ideas, it is a place with a huge history for such a strange little settlement on a rather ordinary lake. And history is everywhere. The churches, later mosques, now museums, and the walls, old walls about 5km of them, the place is amazing.

One of the revalations so far is the history of this whole area. Whether it was in Albania, Greece, Turkey, the area has been occupied by invaders from every quarter, and more than once.

I stand in awe to think that as in so many of these places, men were doing all these things in this place 3000 plus years ago.

And as with my visit last year to Troy where the story of Adysseus started, there were civilisations built on top of one another many times over. It seems that recycling was alive and well, and why find a new place when the present one is fine and having wrecked it there are already building materials available.

So much history has been "lost" by recycling. That I guess is the benefit of building in stone. So you should see some gateways and walls, and who knows who built them.

nzl04

Saturday 8 Nov. Istanbul to Iznik

2008-11-08T14:33:00.003Z

What a week I have had in that great city. I was fortunate to have the hospitality of two very kind and generous people.

I had the bike serviced, and caught up on some planning. I also had the pleasure of some wonderful home cooked meals, and to stay in an apartment that overlooked the Golden Horn and the old city of Istanbul.

It was pure joy. You must go to Istanbul at some time in your life. The age, the history, the people, the sense of this place is just wonderful. Managed some "sightseeing" and hope I have the right shots of the Red Mosque built for christians and changed to a Mosque by adding the minarets but later turned into a museum by Attaturk I believe, and the Sophia, the Blue Mosque built around 1616 ( I think).

But sadly today I took my leave. I was on the bridge that spans the Bosporous and joins Europe with Asia and a motorcyclist indicated I should follow. We took off up the inside the inside lane, the traffic was heavy, and at the toll gates he stopped and asked if I had a toll card ( all electronic) which I didn't so he motioned me to ride beside him as we then went through the toll booth on his card. Nice people. I am getting toots and ,waves, and conversation whenever I stop.
So, soon after leaving Istanbul and a way down the motorway, I was off toward a ferry to take me across the bay and then over the hills to the Lake and town of Iznik. This is of course an old city (they all are here) of 22,000 and home to a wide assortment of Roman ruins, of course walls that go back thousands of years, even Hadrian came here, and he likes walls, and then the inevitable mosques. Pretty ones, famous ones, the lot. I understand there is an organisation re-established to make the tiles that the area was famous for. They were used in the palaces and the mosques including the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul. I may get to see them here. The countryside is hilly but the lakeside is home for huge agricutural production, and it is olive harvest time so there are tractors and trailers aplenty.
A short day to get me started again, windy cool and overcast, but it is well into autumn here so I must soon expect snow before I can get to Iran and head south and warmer climes.
nzl04

Monday 3rd to Istanbul

2008-11-05T11:36:00.004Z

The ride to this incredible city along the route of the old ancient roman way. It is not an attractive ride. There is plenty of pollution in the air, lots of industry, and lots of road.
The apprehension I face when approaching something as daunting as riding into Istanbul is tangible.
It is scary.

This minor obstruction was encountered along the way. I took it to be an aquaduct.
I followed the road/motorway as far as I dared into the city, then asked a taxi driver for the way to the Taksim Square. He mostly with signs indicated, ahead, up hill, turn left, so we moved on only to have a lady draw up beside me and ask what directions I asked for in very good english, so I said Taksim, ahead, up hill, turn left,....thats good she said and drove off.....
So I found with the aid of a phone call to Kazim my way to his house.
One of the joys of travel is the people you meet. This man is one of those joys.
So I have the pleasure of his and his companions hospitality and it is hard to express how much that kindness is appreciated.
Being a nomad sounds like fun, riding round the world sounds like fun, and they certainly are fun, but like everything you do a lot, it can get trying at times. The wash and wear lifestyle, the eat sleep and ride mentality, the uncertainty of the external factors, not only finding the way but negotiating it with sometimes no language in common whatsoever. But who would have it any other way as I prepare for Iran.
The visa applicationm process is a curious one. London said it will take a long time apply in Istanbul, much quicker. Istanbul said apply on line and collect wherever you nominate. Sadly an inconsistency in the information process has cost me many days waiting. Incidentally it seems the Visa process is run from the US....so much for trade sanctions !
Its a funny world.
nzl04

Sunday 2nd to Asprovalta

2008-11-05T11:27:00.004Z

Yes I know where Asprovalta is but why go there. There is only one reason. It was dark and there was a Hotel. Otherwise it was not a pleasant place.
The day had started better in Parthenona however. Breakfast delivered by my host. Sitting on a balcony in the hills with the sun filtering through on the Aegean was pretty good. My hosts were delightful people
Soon the fun of the day started. The locals from the district walk run ride drive across the mountain and then have lunch in the square with music and traditional dancing.
It was great fun and the locals all had a great time. The food was a stampede and the wine came in a plastic barrel which I think might have been home made Cypro ( if I got the name right) but a pretty interesting brew.
However the large greek men in black and while costumes and frilly skirts were truly "real". Not for tourists this was a local gathering and great fun and I was fortunate to be there.
Sadly I had to keep moving so a ride through the olives and beach towns of Sithonia was great.
Greece is a very pretty country.
nzl04

Saturday 1st Nov to Parthenona

2008-11-05T11:19:00.002Z

Short ride after a morning in Starbucks on the net catching up on emails.
I was hailed on leaving by a fellow, George, who has a BMW 650, loves to ride and wanted to ride with me and show the way out of town. Thanks George.
Then a ride down the coast to Sithonia one of the three legs (penninsula) as they call them that are at the head of the Aegean. This is olive country. They cover the hills. Narrow roads and olive trees. Then the vilage in the hills overlooking the Aegean.
The locals are friendly, although most live in Thessaloniki and come for the weekened.
It was a haven in the hills.
nzl04

Friday to Thessaloniki

2008-11-05T11:07:00.002Z

The road took me past My Olympus, which I sadly had some other huge mountains to compare with so its not much of a mountain and the sacred home of Zeuss lots all its glamour when I saw the sign to Mt Olympus skifield.
I carried on. I made Katerini and a Kantina (roadside fast food) for lunch. But I had a mission, I was looking for Vergina, and as usual very few signs, so I rod efor seemingly a long time and suddenly there was a small sign to the Royal Tombs. This was the Kumulus of Phillip II the father of Alexander the great and the man that I understand joined the Greeks as one nation. That was a long time ago. He was murdered and his son Alexander built the Kumulus, a tomb, or in this case several (four I think) with magnificent front doors and a tomb in which the ashes were placed with some belongings and sealed up, then the whole thing covered with a huge mound of earth. It was unbelievable to be at the door of this Tomb thousands of years old. It of course had been pillaged by grave robbers some many certuries ago, no matter how well meaning I have an abhorrance of these people that did up graves and claim some destinction as an "explorer"...yeah robber.
Anyway it was memorable, the only problem was that I then had a ride in the dark to Thessaloniki.
That worked out OK and I found a Hotel, and they sent me to a street with a fantastic restaurant. It was a very good day.
nzl04

Thursday 30th Iaonina to Larissa

2008-11-05T10:54:00.003Z

Dinner at the Taverna as interesting last night. An all male place that served a diet of food wine and football. There are many men taverna in Greece where they sit and talk, play, and watch football mostly quite loudly.
However I had a calling today to visit the site of the Dodona Oracle. The old oak tree where Odyssius visited the oracle and later became a place of temples and worship and an amphitheatre that seated 17,000 that the Romans converted for blood sports, killing people and wild animals. They were not sitting round playing backgammon and watching football. They also had a sports track for competitions. What a place. So old.
Back through the city toward Metsovo, a very old village on the side of a hill. It has been resurected by some industrial beneficiaries so it feels alive. Cobbled streets and a square where the souvlaki is the food for lunch, which I enjoyed also. Then it was away to Kalambaka to ride round the Meteora, the monastaries built on the top of cliffs and totally inacessable (unless invited) and quite a stunning picture in the fading light and lowering sun as the night fog rolled in obsuring almost everything. Then away over Greeces highest pass the Katara to Larissa. That was a suprise. What a city, what a society, I doubt if I have seen such a place of coffee bars and cafes in the square. I eat Greek. Lamb stew. Good too.
nzl04

Wednesday 29th Albania to Greece

2008-11-05T10:33:00.003Z

Got away after a visit to Duress to find some Roman ruins withoiut success, but did my new trick, go to the Bank get them to direct me to an Insurance Company and get the Green card that I didn't get at the border.
Durress however was crowded and dirty. I was away down the road feeling pretty confident of a good ride. Then as I turned into the hills to go over the range to Greece it got very black so as the rain sport started I stopped to tog up. I was there dressing and up to the gate behind me came what might be described as a crone. She was short, dressed in black totally just a little wrinkly face waving me away from her gate. I stayed. So she watched, and after a short time a flicker of a smile then a serious pointing at the black clouds and shaking her head. Finally she left with a cheery wave and some words that I took as complimentary at least wishing me well.
Shortly however her warnings became real. High winds, belting rain and some of the most challenging roads that I have ever ridden. It was fatastic. Stretches of new blacktop two full lanes wide, then roadwors where ther road was hard to find in the mud, then broken seal metal flat stones that I suspect may have had more to do with Romans than Albanians. All the time the snatches of mountain views and coastline were just awesome, and the old guy with the donkey just visible under a huge load, and he walking ahead with a big hat and a coat that only Joseph Stalin would have thought looked good just added reality to this erie scene.
If any place is crying out for adventure riding (on a road) its here.
So finally in the fast disappearing light I found a border crossing, that was easy, and I was down the road in the darkness toward I hoped, Ioaniana. It was and I found a hotel.
What a day. 320k of sheer excitement.
nzl04

Tuesday 28th to Montenegro

2008-11-05T10:11:00.003Z

Nothing like familiar food and todays omlette was a beaut.
Then there I was at yet anothe border. This one totally civilised. Big welcome smile. Give me your passport, go to the next office and get a green card, which I did, quickly and simply and there I was back to pick up the passport, welcome and enjoy your visit.........and at the bike was another guard with a country sticker for my pannier. Some places just make you feel good.
And so did their country. Unfortunately it was small and I was able to ride through it with little reason to linger longer. It was very appealing. Steep sided high hills, almost a fjord, towns on the water, evidence of Roman influence everywhere.
This pice of land on the Adriatic had been fought for for hundereds perhaps thousands of years and only recently obtained, so perhaps persistant fighting does yield its rewards.
Unfortunately once away from there and on to the capital it became dirty untidy and providied no desire to stop, so on I went to the border with Albania. If first impressions count I would not have proceeded. The border was confusing and untidy and I was told so many stories about how to get a green card I just carried on, over some very very bad roads, very dirty roads, in fact might be called an open rubbish dump for about 20k. What an eyesore. The other interesting thing was no roadsigns. I was flying blind pretty much. But slowly the roads improved and signposts emerged.
I had miscalculated again so ended up riding in the dark on roads that were not marked but the GPS indicated I was going the right way, and I was and fortunately I found a sign to Duress where I found a Hotel, owned by the Gas station of which there were an abundance. Never seen so many petrol stations.
The waiter at the Hotel was happy to talk and he assured me that after the country opened up there was a lot of crime but then the government got tough and locked them all up. Now he claims people are working and honest and Albania very safe. I took him at his word and so it seemed.
I have to add that after a good breakfast I had a great dinner, roast vegetables in olive oil, then a plate of mixed spring rolls, kidney liver beef with garlic toast, and lots of olive oil, what a feast.
This was a recently built hotel with so much bedroom furniture it wouldn't all fit but it was clean, and had the usual hall mark of hotels in this area, a hole in the sheet !
Footnote. I have not made sufficient reference to beauty of the coastline and the autumn colours, the abundance of grapes all turning red, gold lining the plains and the hills and the forests covering the hillsides, right the way from Slovenia down to Albania.
nzl04