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the World in 20 days, cruising up the Amazon, 'the best way to enlightenment',
the world's best tattooed women, 39 of Ali Baba's thieves, wedding vows in
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'big dirty hills' in Azerbaijan, debauched lifestyles in Cairns, winter riding
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Today is Canada's national day, so Happy Canada Day to the Canucks, and soon Happy 4th of July to the Yanks. And happy us, as we and the the bike are almost ready to head across the country to Trenton, Ontario, and beyond... For those going to the BMW Rally who haven't heard, we'll be hosting the First Eastern Canada/USA Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers Meeting from July 11-14 at the BMWMOA Rally in Trenton Ontario, where we will also be presenting two slide shows. First up, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. on Friday, July 12 in Club 105, a show about our RTW trip then, on Saturday, July 13, from 8:45-10:15 a.m., same room, a 'How to do it yourself' show. There will be handouts (checklists), and Horizons t-shirts and stickers are available! Hope to see many of you there! More details on all the seminars on the BMWMOA Rally pages. Afterwards, we think we'll continue riding across to the Maritimes, so we can say we've ridden across our own country! Then, a leisurely return via the USA, where we hope to take in some rallies and meet some of the Horizons Communities. Drop us a note if you think there's an event we shouldn't miss on our way! Special thanks to Andy Miller for his invaluable assistance with the bike prep. See 'Seen on the Road' below for more details.
The Second Annual Horizons Unlimited UK Travellers Meeting is set for July 12-14, 2002. Mark your calendar and book now for the highlight of the UK motorcycle travellers season! Over 80 people registered so far!! LATE NEWS: the Men and Motors TV crew is expected to be there filming the event, so this is also your chance to be famous! To be held at The Black Horse Inn, 358 Nottingham Rd, Somercotes, Alfreton, Derbyshire, UK. Slide shows are confirmed for Friday and Saturday night. Presenters include Chris Scott, Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, (also a raffle of an Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, Desert Travels and a video of his), Chris Bright (London to Cairo and Cape Town), Austin Vince (Terra Circa's experiences in Siberia and Russia), Steve Raucher (the Asia leg of his RTW trip), Karim Hussain (desert biking in North Africa), Paul Pratt (the Pan-American Highway leg of his RTW trip in the 60s), and Cynthia Milton (UK to the Taj Mahal and back in 6 weeks!) Full details and registration here. Glynn Roberts and Chris Bright are organizing this. Thanks guys!
What's in this Issue?We thought about just deciding to skip the July issue, since we're also busy preparing to leave for Trenton. But there were so many good stories and pics we just had to do it! There are stories from intrepid travellers in the Amazon, the Khunjerab Pass in Pakistan, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Australia, Thailand, Africa, Estonia, New Zealand and Siberia. A few of our regulars haven't reported in this month, you know who you are! Some of you are clearly goofing off, so get back on the road and write us! We Want Your Travel Story!You'll get a lot more readers here than in some obscure corner of the web. There are plenty of new stories in the Travellers Stories section, the new Movable Type Blogging software is getting a workout. Have a look! Don't forget you can post your story there too, it's easy, and the price is right. And you can do it from anywhere on the road at any internet cafe, no software required. To see how it looks, see Ken and Carol Duvals' stories. If you don't have a web site (or you're tired of maintaining your own), click here for more info and to request a 'blog' of your own! Please submit news reports, web links etc. to us for inclusion in this newsletter. We try to link to your website if you have one. And if you don't have a website, we can help. This is a free service for travellers everywhere, both on the road and (temporarily;-) off. Your support is greatly appreciated.
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Plan where to be when!If you know of any events of interest to travellers, send me a note. International BMW Motorrad Biker Meeting, in south Bavarian Garmisch - Partenkirchen, July 5-7, 2002,This will be the BMW event of the year, with 10,000 visitors expected. More info. O'Keefe Ranch Rally, Vernon, BC, Canada, July 6-7 2002,This year featuring a show and shine, flat track racing and a longer scenic road rally. Jim Green 1-250-542-9191 BMWMOA International Rally, Trenton, Ontario Canada, July 11-14 2002,AND Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers Meeting Canada/USA EastBiggest BMW Club Rally on the planet. And we'll be there to do a couple of slide shows! See ya there! The Second annual Horizons Unlimited UK Travellers Meeting is set for July 12-14, at The Black Horse Inn, 358 Nottingham Rd, Somercotes, Alfreton, Derbyshire, DE55 4LP. Tel: 01773 602575. Slide shows by Chris Scott, (Adventure Motorcycling Handbook), Chris Bright, London To Cape Town, Steven Raucher, Karim and more, on Friday AND Saturday night. Full details and registration here. Lew Waterman's wedding, Lima, Peru"Hi Grant: I would like to extend an invitation to any and all adventure touring riders who may be in the vicinity of Chami Restaurant, Chorrillos, Lima, Peru on Friday, July 12, 9:00pm to join in celebration of my marriage to Achi Rodriguez. Due to the unknown number of riders who may accept the invite, I cannot include the catered filet mignon dinner, but drinks are on me." Black Dog AMA/Suzuki National Dualsport Ride, USA, July 13-14 2002,If you're seriously into dual sporting... info Stella Alpina, near Bardonecchia, Northern Italy, 10-19 July,"a large trail bike Rally with several thousand bikes turning up over the weekend to ride up the mountain road on Sunday morning. It is not a competitive event but more a large gathering of like minded people." More info. Street bikes go up too! 30th Anniversary Top O' the Rockies Rally, Colorado, USA, July 18-21, 2002,"In honor of the 30th anniversary, Special door prize drawing BMW F650GS Dakar. 70 miles SW of Glenwood Springs Colorado. Door prizes, and loads of vendors, BMW Denver onsite, free camping in the shady city park, hot showers, food vendors, music, Saturday evening dinner, field events, and great roads to ride in beautiful Colorado. Check out website for info and a preregistration form." XI JÕGEVATREFF, Kuremaa, Estonia, (165 kilometres from Tallinn), August 1-4, 2002Price of ~25 EUR includes admission to the Motor-Summer Festival in Põltsamaa, breakfast in Sunday morning, camping place, sauna, music groups in three evenings, competitions for prizes and other events within the Programme. Services: beach, saunas, bars, points of sale, beer and food tents, etc. Note: Striptease starting at 12.00 PM. Sounds like a party! For further details, check out their website in many languages (click on the UK flag for English, then on Events Calendar 2002). Allroad Tour, Finnish Lapland, 3-10 August 2002,Allroad Tour is a special route ride ridden in Finnish Lapland. It is focused on heavy touring enduros. More info. Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Sturgis South Dakota, USA, August 5-11, 2002,The biggest rally there is, primarily Harleys and cruisers, but interesting. 2002 Alcan 5000 Rally, August 14 - 22, 2002, Washington State USA to Alaska, YT and to Jasper"For those people who cannot RTW but want a fun rally to participate in for two weeks." This is the first year for Motorcycles! Big Dog Ride 2002, Colorado, USA, August 14-15,"Not for the poseur or beginner, this event is known as 'the world's highest, toughest BMW motorcycle ride,' and is limited to BMW GS models (including F650, HPN and prototypes). Entrants for 2002 include ISDT qualifiers, veteran BIG DOG riders and Paris-Dakar BMW factory rider Jimmy Lewis. Participation is limited, with veteran BIG DOGS getting priority for entry. Information here, Woof, Woof." BMW Club (South Africa) Central's Annual Gathering is at the Wild Coast Sun from the 15th to the 18th August, 2002."Everyone is welcome, you don't have to be a clubmember
to attend. Club Central have arranged a three night package (includes dinner,
bed, breakfast - contact Club Central for more info on this)." The Buckride Rally, Offroad Touring Club, Norway, 15-18 August 2002,"...In the heart of Jotunheimen in the central part of southern Norway. Jotunheimen is among the most beautiful parts in our country and consists of Norway's highest mountains, national parks, forests, wild rivers and great motorcycle roads." "6TH EAR" (European Airhead-riders Rendezvous) Sept. 2nd to 6th,Likely in the south of France. Details. Motorrad Reise Treffen Gieboldehausen in Gieboldehausen, southeast of Hanover, Germany, 6 - 8 September 2002A great travellers meeting, well worth attending. Book early, attendance is limited. Details in English and German "Intermot 2002" is being held in Munich between
18 - 22 September 2002.
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There are many 'Helpful People' listed on the Links page, a huge thanks to all of them. How about you? Or you can join a Community, or start your own!
"Would like to recommend a Kawasaki/ Suzuki/KTM dealer (but will service all bikes) in Nelson. They have dealt with many long distance travellers and have the photos up to prove it. Very friendly. Got a new front tyre (the stock had done 9000 miles) and they let me install it in their workshop even!
Ian Corner Kootenay Sleds and Wheels R.R. #1 S-28, C-25
(708 Hwy 3A)
Nelson BC V1L5PA Phone 354-4141 Fax 3541137. Website
That address looks terrible but what it means is that they are on 3A heading east out of Nelson just after the big orange bridge on the right hand side."
"The company Spiegler USA you have that link on your site was very helpful. They were the only ones who could send me brake pads for my bike. Not even my German dealer knew in which other model they are used but those people there Chris and John they are brilliant."
in other words somewhere there isn't a large number of shops? (Also of course any shop that specialises in travellers equipment and repairs is of interest.) But we're particularly looking for those rare items, good repair shops in South America, Africa and Asia etc. Please post your info in the Repair shops around the world Forum on the HUBB.
Getting some interesting listings here - Casablanca, Cairo, Chiang Mai - and that's just the C's! Then there's a major list of KTM shops from the boys on the KTM forum. Post your favourite"on the road" shop here!
Sorry - Grant's too busy working on the bike to put any tech tips in this month!
Submit your tips and questions here, anything goes! Got a great idea for travellers, found a new solution to a problem? Send it in! If you're having a problem, just ask, there's a lot of people with a ton of experience out there to help.
When you meet people on the road, and they haven't heard of this ezine or the website, we'd appreciate it - and hope they would too! - if you get their names and email addresses and send it in to me, or better use the recommend form available on most all pages of the website.
Thanks, Grant
Tarisius, an Italian living in Nigeria, travelling with his girlfriend who is British, needs a carnet de passage, and has been having no success with the AA or RAC (or ADAC). He was told RAC don't issue CDP to non-British, and AA doesn't issue CDP any longer. Anyone have any better information, especially can anyone in the UK confirm that the AA doesn't issue carnets any more? E-mail Tarisius if you can help.
"We are travelling with a Vespa and its trailer. We managed to come to Indonesia. We are looking for some information concerning shipping us and the scooter from one island to another Pedang in Sumatra to Bali (or to Java). Thanks, Morgane et Emmanuel" E-mail Chevalier Emmanuel
"Can you recommend and 1150GS experts in Vancouver. Our bike developed a bit of a misfire during its last few hours in Malaysia. Its now on the boat to Canada.
I'm hoping its just a dirty fuel filter - but then again it might not be..... Any info much appreciated..... Merv (and Ruth)"
Plenty more questions and answers on the HU Bulletin Board! We've over 1600 registered users on the Board, which I think is pretty amazing, and gives a huge resource of knowledge and experience to help you with anything you might need to know.
"Seems things are changing a bit and apparently import
of BRAND NEW (originally crated) bikes is possible after a lot of paperwork.
Met a fellow who imported a 2002 BMW R1150R and the whole progress ended up
like 300000RMB (approx.37000US$) but he still has no registration. There are
tons of unconfirmed rumours about changes due to WTO, but as usual nobody
in China will confirm. As well, one more serious advice, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE
TRANSFER LOTS OF MONEY IN ADVANCE to some shady 'wannabee' tour operator in
Mainland China!!! Best regards & Seeya in the pub or on the road somewhere....
BUTCH
Founder / Webmaster
Red Devils MC Shanghai
"Some more accurate info from the guy who tried to get in May 2002:
The border guards were really good and friendly on the Vietnam border despite what every said. The problem is nothing to do with the cc of the bike, they just do not recognise the carnet de passage for the import. The story I got from one of the guards is that they had reason to claim on a carnet within the last couple of months and because Vietnam do not officially partake in the carnet agreement, they couldn't get any money. Result is that it is now not a valid document for Vietnam.
I heard two solutions for this. One is to get a Laos - Vietnam vehicle permit. I was lucky in that I had the help of an English speaking guide who I met in Lak Sao on an organised trip. He helped me try to get this permit, but despite trips back and forth to and from Lak Sao, I could not seem to get hold of the one guy in the region capable of doing it. I was then sent to Paksan, and couldn't face going there for more red tape, so wrote the process off.
The second is to get permission from Hanoi... military police were mentioned, but I was too disheartened at this stage to do it."
Wouldn't YOU like to know all about the border you're approaching - what it should cost, paperwork required, 'tips' needed, and who to talk to, etc.?
When you cross ANY border, take some notes, and pass them on to us. Thanks!
The Shipping page on the site is HUGE! It can be reached directly or from the Shipping link on the Trip Planning page.
If you have any information to contribute, there is a form at the bottom of the page which you can submit and we will put it on the page. Thanks!
The Foreign Office in London's Travel Advice Unit advises against all travel to all sorts of places. Check out the listing before you start!
The US State Department has issued travel advisories, information and/or warnings.
"'Fresh' off the boat from Iquitos, I decided to jump straight on the next one for Manaus the same afternoon. I figured the more tired I became, the more likely sleep would come in the hammock during the next three nights. The price for the voyage had doubled in comparison to Peru, at 37 USD for me, the same for the bike. The street wise manageress tried to talk me into a cabin with Air-conditioning and a fridge for those all important beers, but at nearly 200 USD I wasn't about to get soft...
Life can be hard in a Hammock....
I cleared immigration in Tabatinga no problems, but to my surprise and despair customs were closed that Saturday morning (I thought this was quite ridiculous considering Tabatinga borders Colombia, Peru and Brasil.) I asked the Police Federal to write me a note, but they went one step better and used the radio to advise Police further upriver what was going on. Quite thankful I did really, as no less than 14 Police Federal marched on board at 11.30 the first evening and searched at least one bag from every passenger. The one suspicious package I had to unwrap was an oil filter, that seemed to calm him.
I met various nationalities on board, including a Colombian couple who agreed with my not wanting to travel through their country, and also a French couple on their way to French Guiana at the end of their South American trip. We shared a very memorable cruise up the Amazon, pooh-poohing those who said the river would be too wide to see anything. The views, sunsets, moonsets (I don't know what other word to use, as the suns light reflected back off the moon onto the river), and village stops gave us all a feeling this was a spectacular part of each of our journeys."
Ed. Check out Jeremy's new blog on Horizons Unlimited!
"The road between Gilgit and Sost, and on to the Khunjerab Pass is one of the most spectacular ones we've ever ridden, if not THE most spectacular. We find ourselves virtually alone in a splendid ever-changing theatre of gorges and torrential mountain rivers, the highest peaks all around and barren valleys. Between 3 and 4,000 meters on some mossy patches we see groups of the very funny and very furry Golden Marmots, whistling like referees. And in the end, we arrive on a plateau over 4,700 meters stretching towards China. A-w-e-s-o-m-e, all of it.
Coming down we look around in the Hunza valley. Normally Hunza is Pakistan's major tourist attraction - now we're again almost alone. Only a handful of long-term travellers or people like us, with Pakistan on their route, still travel here. Hotels and guest houses, but also local grocery stores who sell to the hotels, are desperate. Many involved in the tourist industry have expensive loans to pay back. Mr. Yacoob, the manager of Madina Guest House in Gilgit, sells furniture every couple of weeks to keep going. We can do nothing but spend our money.
On our way back to Gilgit and fully loaded, we want to pay a short visit to the 600 year old fort Baltit in Karimabad. A stone paved road leads a kilometer up to the fort, but our guest house manager failed to inform us how steep it is. Only halfway up, we realize it gets steeper and steeper. Then we see it's a one-lane road with two-way traffic... Never in my life have I blown my horn so furiously! And after we finally find a flat side lane, we just know there's no way we can ride this down again. Not only is the road way too steep for any vehicle, but it also has a thin layer of sand and a very sharp bend in the middle. After asking around, the villagers point us to a much less steep sand track down. We 'only' have to ride on a small wall to reach it. I manage to tumble off it spectacularly. No harm, only ego damaged. Till the end of days these people will consider women not fit to ride motorbikes, I'm sure.
… This afternoon we sit along five Buddhist nuns involved in their daily religious discussions, each point of logic sealed by a loud handclap and a strike across one arm. Sometimes very serious and even angry, then rolling over with laughter. We're informed that this discussion's topic is 'the best way to enlightenment' but haven't got a clue about the details. We watch with utmost fascination."
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"My trip from Australia to Singapore went well. I flew the bike on Qantas airlines and picked it up at air cargo in Singapore myself. This saved me agent fees of 2 or $300. I spent a week in Singapore where I met some wonderful Gold Wing members who showed me around and looked after me like I was family. I will be forever grateful to Simon Lee and his family.
I left Singapore June 8th and headed for Melaka. The border crossing at 9:00am was jam packed with bikers. Four lanes of 50 - 250cc bikes crowding into 2. These little bikes were squeezing in all around me until I figured out that I had to get aggressive and push my way through. Once at the booth everything went smoothly.
I travelled on the main highway for a while then took #5 along the west coast. It was much slower going but a good route to see the country and smaller villages. I soon realized the riding rules at home don't apply here. After a few kilometers of bikes scooting around me on either side and lorries pulling out onto the highway with no worry of oncoming traffic, I concluded the safest place for me was to stay as far ahead of everyone as possible. Not an easy task with the millions of drivers on the road. I found myself quickly picking up some of their bad driving techniques - necessary to stay alive.
I arrived in Melaka about 5:00pm and drove around for an hour before finding the Kancil Guest house that had been recommended to me. The look of the buildings on this street made me wonder if I should be here, but I stopped anyway. I met three other bikers here, John from Switzerland and Jen & Maarten from Holland. The guesthouse was nice inside with a fenced and locked yard for our bikes. I thought that was a bonus but as it turned out - NOT! Our bikes were broken into overnight. I lost my riding boots, heated pant liners, first aide kit and some small items. Jen & Maarten lost a new laptop. Not a good way to start a Sunday morning. We reported the incident to the police, who were very nice, but we knew our items were gone for good. The good news is that our bikes weren't damaged except for the locks on Jen & Maartens' boxes. The locks on my cases are totally useless; they were opened without any damage.
After the break in
Jen & Maarten invited me to travel with them for a few days - it's great to have travel companions again. We saw some wonderful country on the way to Kuala Lumpur. This is the real Malaysia, the part you don't see if you just go to the city. K.L. is full of big beautiful buildings. It's very westernized, not at all what I expected. We spent a few days here wandering around to see the sights and take care of business. From here we are on to the Cameron Highlands."
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"Ssalamu 'lekum and bessalama Morocco. 'Hello' and 'Good-bye' Morocco. This part of the world can be tough or easy, depending on how you travel. I met a couple on a huge BMW motorcycle, complete with CD, GPS, and matching riding suits. They were having a wonderful time ducking into $100.00 US per night hotels, using their cell phone to call their friends back home and carrying only a credit card and 2-3 changes of underwear. Another traveler I met, on a tired Honda 250 XR, had had stolen his camera, tool kit, backpack and tent. In his backpack was his money. I was lucky. The thieves, probably the best in the world, clipped me for some small stuff. Nothing I could replace in Morocco, but most that I can once I reach Europe, a ferryboat ride away from Tangier.
In Morocco I bagged several good roads, camped and did some cheap hotels, rode the sands and the beaches, and only got crashed twice. One night at the beginning of the Hippie Highway (Marrakesh) was all I could take, because I saw some very ugly snakes there. Casablanca was a plus (meeting a nice female at King Burger) and a minus (Humphrey Bogart was away from his office at Rick's Café Americana).
Tattooed women often intrigue me. I had been told some of the best tattooing of women in the world was done in Morocco, so I hunted tattooed ladies.
What an intriguing display of tattoo work! The women have their feet and hands done in this intricate work with henna ink. This body art is to make the woman more attractive. In a country with veiled women (98% Muslim), about all you can see is their hands and feet, so tattooing their exposed body parts makes sense, I guess. On Madison Avenue in New York, the advertising executives would call it 'packaging.' I am not sure how much good it does, because a large percentage of the Muslim marriages are arranged.
If you want to see how a multi-time world traveler was 'slicked' (American slang for 'taken or hustled'), robbed, and plundered in Morocco, you can look at 'What's New.' I was gotten very good, and laughed as I went rode away, thinking, 'Isn't this a country known for Ali Baba and his 40 thieves?' I must have met 39 of them, and maybe Baba himself! I now think if you have not been thieved, you have not been to Morocco.…but I will return. It was wonderful motorcycling, often open and free, elements hard to find as the world gets smaller.
My route will next take me back to Europe, then north to Latvia, and across Russia, riding across eight time zones in less than three weeks, through the den of the bear."
Check out Greg's website on Horizons Unlimited for great pics and stories.
"Hi Grant: I would like to extend an invitation to any and all adventure touring riders who may be in the vicinity of Chami Restaurant, Chorrillos, Lima, Peru on Friday, July 12, 9:00pm to join in celebration of my marriage to Achi Rodriguez. Due to the unknown number of riders who may accept the invite, I cannot include the catered filet mignon dinner, but drinks are on me.
My new Harley riding friend, Pedro-Pablo Kuczynski, Peru's Minister of Economics and Finances, the second most powerful man in Peru, will honor us with his and his wife Susan's attendance. Ricardo Rocco Paz (Around The World For Peace) is riding from Quito, Ecuador to be my best man.
Achi, Punky, and I will honeymoon on a 2 week ride to a warm scenic place at a low elevation in the Andes (it's winter and cool in Lima) in Coroico, Bolivia, 4 hours northeast of La Paz in the Yungas. The Lonely Planet guidebook says the road to the Jungas is the most dangerous in The Americas. That will scratch Bolivia (hopefully not us) from the list of all 24 countries in the Americas we will visit on our tour.
In October, Achi will join Punky and I finishing the tour of Chile, Argentina (Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego for Christmas), Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil (Rio for Carnaval), French Guyana, Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela. Not sure yet whether we will ride back through Central America and Mexico, but definitely not Colombia. May fly from Caracas to Cuba and then to Cancun and ride back north. Achi, Punky and I will probably return to live in the USA around July 2003. We are currently readying a petition for an alien spouse visa for the US Embassy.
Hop a plane, take a train, catch a bus or ride fast, but be there for the party if you can. I knew this tour could involve life changing experiences, but WOW, what an adventure this is turning out to be. Later, amigos."
"June 23rd -- Puno, Peru -- along Lago Titicaca: We have just entered Peru, our 42nd country on the trip so far. Although we just arrived, and only spent 1 month in Bolivia, we miss Bolivia as it is one of favorite destinations so far. We have survived the 'World's Most Dangerous Road'-- north of La Paz, Bolivia, and had a great time to boot!
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Crane working to collect the cargo from a truck that slipped off the edge days before. See the blue tarp in the bottom right corner and the avalanche effect above it.
The other day we went to the historic town of Tiwanaku, on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca for the Winter Solstice Celebration. It was an interesting experience, but being outside 2 hours before sunrise, in winter, at over 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) can be quite cold!
As the sun rises for the Winter Solstice in Tiwanaku, participants reach their frozen hands up to catch the force of the first rays of sun; while (below) sacred woman bless locals with burning ash.
In other news, we've come up with a new 'master plan'...... at least, for the time being: We will visit Cusco (Machu Pichu) and the Nazca Desert here in Peru, than make our way back to La Paz in a few weeks. We will work our way east across Bolivia to Santa Cruz, and hope to take a 24-hr train to the Brazilian border where we will visit the Pantanol and eventually the Atlantic Coast (Rio de Janeiro?). It will take us a couple of months to ride up the coast, visiting the famous beaches before arriving in Belem in the north. We will then take a 5-day ferry UP the Amazon River to Manaus, and ride north to Venezuela from there -- again, all this can change tomorrow :-)"
"We had been told of a motorcycle rally just north of Rio de Janeiro, so we decided to head straight down south for the rally. Itaborai is where the bike rally is being held. All the hotels are full but the manager of one vacated her room for us, at a price of course. We are in the city now, a different Brazil, people have less time, therefore less friendly, more motivated to making money, therefore more rip offs, more people without money, therefore more potential theft.
The bike rally was totally different from any we have been to. All bikes and sizes were here. All aged riders. Many too young to have a license riding mainly beginner bikes, 50 cc step throughs and small trails. They were doing tricks and stunts on them in the street surrounding the park where most of the stalls were set up. Wheelies and donuts mostly and amazingly enough burn outs. There were many clubs and some took turns in a closed off area to show off what they could do on motorcycles. The earlier twenties age group had bigger bikes, noisier, and again performed smokier burnouts, destroying the rear tyre and probably damaging the engine. The older groups had mostly cruising bikes to just look at. The bigger imported bikes here are very expensive. The noisy rock band pretty similar to most venues along with the beer drinking.
... Rio has kept its appeal, despite overpopulation, by having an open park and beach front area without buildings. You can drive the freeway with almost uninterrupted views of park, beach and ocean, from the city centre for over 10 km south. We walked down onto Copacabana Beach in the evening to sit at the ocean and listen to the BBC on radio. The 4 km of beach is flood lit and people are about walking and jogging, sitting on the sand and playing football. We had only been there for a few minutes when someone asked us for the time and while I was looking at my watch he drew a knife threatening me. Two others came from behind, one holding Kay down and the other pushing me over, looking for valuables. While I wrestled with the man with the knife in the sand my wallet was lifted by the other man and within a minute they were gone. They had no time to remove watches or any interest in the radio. A girl jogging in the area immediately called the police but the three had run along the waters edge out of sight. The wallet had only $US 25.00 but the usual cards and drivers license you often debate is it safer with us or in the hotel room. We oscillate between the two and obviously should have left them in the hotel this time. The tourist police were helpful, taking a statement over an hour, but little hope of getting anything back, a seemingly placating tokenism for tourists. When we phoned to cancel the credit card it had already been used, just 30 minutes after the robbery, a $US 300 purchase, which Mastercard said should be refunded. Our laws in Australia very much with the cardholder when fraud is involved. So it took 50 years to get mugged, without injury or great financial loss, might we be so lucky for the next 50 years.
... We are in Colonia, Uruguay and head for Buenos Aires tomorrow, our last port of call this trip. We return to Australia from Buenos Aires on the 5th of July returning on the 8th of September to continue south to Ushuaia and the West coast etc."
Ed. Peter and Kay have travelled to 127 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and South America. Horizons Unlimited is proud to host all their stories on our site. Fantastic adventures and great pictures!
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"We spent another whole day at Divisadero and then Falk's foot was better so we decided to go down to Ulrique. The road was paved until San Rafael but after this village, oh I tell you a bad, bad dirt road started. Falk's BMW could manage the bumps quite well but my Suzuki, she behaved like a stubborn jack! I don't know how, but I kept going. Then after only 5 kilometers I had a flat tire!!! I waited for Falk to return, it took him 10 minutes to realise that I'm not following anymore. We thought it's no big deal that flat tire. We put in a new tube and that's it. First we looked for the reason and found a nearly one inch long metal thorn. The new tube was inside and Falk started pumping up the tire. And he pumped and pumped, a quarter of an hour. Then I pumped, but nothing happened. What's wrong? We thought maybe the new tube has a hole too? So the whole procedure again. But we couldn't find a hole so we put the things together again. Then we looked at our new Touratech high-tech air pump (very expensive) and found out this thing is shit (forgive me this bad word, but it's true). It didn't work! After that Falk used one of these special cartridges. It was not enough pressure. Fortunately a truck passed by and had pressure air, in one second the tube was filled with air. Now we had only to build the wheel in and could take off. We were sweating, hungry and quite exhausted, we had spent three hours in the heat of the sun.
Falk changing THE tire
The next day we left our luggage at the hotel and drove down to Ulrique. The dirt road was sometimes good but the last miles where you go down in the canyon was difficult. It was a small road with steep grades, many bumps, rocks and curves. At the bottom in Ulrique it was hot! But it's beautiful there, the Mango- and Papaya trees, the little streets and the children playing in the river. Very calm and peaceful. We left Ulrique in the early afternoon and went back to Bahuchivo. The way up the road was more difficult then down and I had problems with the heat, my head was red and aching. So we had a little rest after the first kilometers. At the top I felt better because it was cooler and then the way back was easy. Without the luggage we nearly flew over the road!
With Tarahumara children, Mexico
It's always a pleasure to visit your site. So long. Reina and Falk"
"… It's worth mentioning at this point a curious ploy found in Azeri restaurants. You order some food and they bring it out, along with other dishes 'you might like' - often little things like cheese or jam. You have to send back the extra dishes or you'll have to pay for them - even if you don't touch them. Bloody cheeky, but it happens throughout the country. We've not found the practice anywhere else (yet!).
The bike was parked outside the hotel and so got a lot of attention from the locals, including from the local bike club - a 3-man band. They invited us out on an evening's ride-out - an offer that could not be refused. The bike club turned up, lead by Elgar on his Jawa 350. The other 2 members were on Minsk 125s - very similar to BSA Bantams. One brought along a huge video camera to capture 'the day the foreigners fell off'.
First we had to ride round town in convoy, to show all the locals our machinery. Then a challenge - the local 'big dirty hill'. We all stopped at the bottom of a limestone track, with a hairpin halfway up. The recent rain had turned the fine limestone powder into a firm porridge, but it looked do-able. We then had 10 minutes of them asking us 'problem da?' and 'problem yes?', and we replied 'problem nyet' and 'problem no'. So they'd have to go up it and we'd have to try. The pull was a bit squirrelly, especially with road tyres and touring pressures, but we got up it cleanly - much to their surprise - English honour upheld!
… One last challenge for the drowned rats before retiring - get into the hotel - an old ferryboat moored in the centre of Baku. The Kompass Hotel also has a seedy restaurant and disco and is a brothel - lovely. The room checked out ok, even if the plumbing in the loo was a bit smelly, baggage up to the room, and so to security arrangements for the bike. Ride the thing up the stairs, through a door and onto the ferry's old car deck. Seemed like a bloody stupid idea, but once we press-ganged (nautical note there!) a bunch of spectators we managed the feat.
We managed to sleep through the sounds of Azeri 'bizneezmen' and Russian tarts dancing and arguing and next day we rejoined the search for a procedure at the port. We arrived at about 1pm as the only vehicular passengers (save for the trains that turned up some time after midnight) and we managed to get onto the boat by about 6.30pm. Some sort of record in itself? We quaffed the beer we'd brought along and waited for the boat to sail..."
Ed. Check out Simon and Georgie's new blog on Horizons Unlimited!
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"We're 2 months and 7500 km into the journey. We have travelled throughout the British Isles starting in the middle of England, northern Wales, up to the beautiful beach at Durness on the rugged north coast of Scotland and down the road past Ben Hope (spectacular) and finally, twisting through the mists to Land's End in Cornwall. The pubs, the roads and especially the people make Britain a great place to ride. Unfortunately, our gearbox died and we had to put a rebuilt one in, which is holding up fine so far.
We renewed old friendships, John and Iris in Chester, Ruth in Glasgow and Steve in Shropshire - they all treated us royally and gave us tours of their favourite local places and we met new friends like Norman (a local) in northern Scotland who flagged us down on a remote road, riding an overloaded BMW RS100 to discuss the differences in windscreens as he was considering an RT for better rain protection! A thing one needs in Britain... The ferry price from Dover to Calais was eased a bit by discount (30%) coupons in the Motorcycle News - a tip passed on by Steve, a wonderful host and rider.
We travelled up through Belgium to Holland and stayed first with Maarten (Maarten Munnik, our HUBB Moderator) in Almere who we made contact with through HU and who will be leaving very soon (August) on his own RTW. We also stayed with Freek and family near Balkburg, north of Amsterdam, (he'd just returned from a quick tour in northern Scotland) Very fancy digs - we stayed in his authentic log cabin and met his very good friend Hank (a BMW rider who had done a major overland several years ago). South then to Germany and the Rhine River valley and a ride down the Mosel to Luxembourg - where we ran into a HOG rally!
Peter and Carol at Freek's log cabin. Picture by Freek Knol
East and south again through the Semoix River valley (very nice ride) and then into the Champagne area of France. Good camping at the municipal camping grounds in Epernay and good tour of Moet et Chandon caves. West to Paris where we have finally found the space and time to put this update together. Heading west to the coast of France (Mont St. Michel, St. Malo, and then south, down the Loire to Spain. Lately the weather has been great - getting hotter as we move south. That's it for now - see you on the road! Peter & Carol"
"I am settling down to more vet work in Cairns, in order to continue financing my debauched lifestyle.
I have been in contact with Mark in hospital in Adelaide - he is still equipped with various tubes and plumbing, the last month has been a very trying time for him, continually improving and then deteriorating again with infections and such like. It looks like he is finally on the mend though. I think this is a very strong argument in favour of wearing a kidney belt!
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Enclosed are some pictures of the Plenty Highway, plus a shot of the front end of Mark's Tenere after his argument with the Outback Highway. Cheers for now... Connor"
Connor contemplating the quality of sand in Australia's outback
"Leave early (around 8am) and continue north west towards the Malaysian East Coast. The scenery is the same as yesterday….breathtaking.
Blue Mosque, Malacca, Malaysia
Not overly impressed with the driving skills of the locals but we ride accordingly (very carefully) We stop off for the night at Rantau Abang which is famous for the leatherneck turtles which come ashore to nest their eggs.
The last couple of days we have got lost more than once and have had a little difficulty conversing with the locals. Imagine our surprise when we booked into a hotel to be greeted by and English accent!!! Dahimah moved here 15 years ago after marrying a Malaysian man. She showed us real hospitality and even took us down to the beach to look for turtles, but we had no luck spotting any!"
"Guess what, it worked already out today. After John was having a look into it yesterday evening, we found out, that VW beetle, Passat and Scirroco have all the same ignition control unit. So early this morning (11am) I was checking a lot of VW car automotives and found the piece with a Chinese guy at Calle Espana, I was charged USD 33 and that's much less then I ever hoped. So, I went back to the BAVARIAN motors and installed it, the motorcycle guy was back in his holidays and the other guy from the spare parts department was very surprised seeing BOO starting the first time I pushed the ignition button. Yeeeeees, that's it.
I left the shop after I paid USD 50 for: review of the electrical system and was very happy. The motor was not running to smooth but with the help of mighty John Myland we could advance the coil a little bit and ever since BOO is working like before. Will change the fuel-filters (23000kms) and also try to get some smaller jets, since John had the intention that 1.35mm is a little bit to rich. Should have changed them months before, we where still in the altitude.
Heading to Costa Rica on Saturday, since Marcel is getting a second (imagine) tattoo, tomorrow from our dear friend and buddy: the incredible John alias Alfred E. Neumann. Don't do anything I would not do. de BEE"
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Looking for a travel book for someone special? Go to our Books pages, where we have listed some of the best motorcycle travel books, as well as a number of BMW books, general motorcycle books, and travel guides.
There's links to Amazon USA, Amazon UK, and Amazon Deutschland, so no matter where you are - Canadians and Aussies order from Amazon USA;-) you can order books at great prices, and we'll make a dollar or a pound or a Euro, which goes to supporting this e-zine.
There's also links to search Amazon sites for all their products, books, CDs etc., and yes, we get a tiny piece of that too. We really appreciate it when you start your book search from our website! Thanks for the support! Book suggestions please!If you have a book or want a book that you think other travellers would be interested in please let me know and I'll put it on the site. Thanks, Grant |
"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered.
An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered."
--G.K. Chesterton
"Courage is more exhilarating than fear, and in the
long run, it is easier."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
"Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects"
--Will Rogers
"Hereby we confirm
that we would like to became a new Horizons Unlimited Community in our town
(Kiel) in Germany. Thank you for offering such a great platform for all traveling
people on motorbikes all over the world. We had such good experiences by using
the hospitality of other communities on our trip, so we like to give something
of this back and share the faith...! All the best"
Frank Bremer & Jenny Brakel, Germany
"First of all, thanks for your great website! it's
really useful and good fun."
Steven Derungs, Zurich, Switzerland, Zurich to Cape Town
"Thanks for Horizons Unlimited, and I hope to "BLOG"
many more journeys before these knees (and ribs!) wear out <g>. I appreciate
the "global" resource represented by the Horizons Unlimited site,
and also the personal attention that you have given me. Keep up that good
work, and, I hope to meet you and Susan one of these days. "
Mike Paull, USA
"I read Horizons quite regularly and I read about
people bumping into each other all the time, well it happened to Fionnuala
and I today! We met up with a guy from England who is riding RTW. His name
is Jason and he will be going the same way as us so hopefully we will meet
up along the way somewhere. We have been using the ‘Communities’
section with great success, so we thank you. Cheers!"
Ralph Dixon & Fionnuala Livingston, Australia
"Keep up the good work, it's a great site!"
Sam Rutherford, UK
"Good afternoon Grant, thank you for the latest edition
of the newsletter, fantastic as always."
David J Rees, Australia
"Congratulation for your web site. We recommend it
to bikers we meet on our trip."
Jerome Maurice, France
"Your site has been wonderful, an absolute wealth
of information. I'm heading out on the road from Lagos to Dublin in 3 weeks
time and, without your site, I'd be much less prepared. Thanks for doing this,
its a great community too. Stay safe out there and see you on the road I hope."
Brian Greaney, in Nigeria
"Excellent site - looking forward to first long trip
-UK - Denmark then down to romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and back. Finding your
site has given me confidence to do something I have wished to do for a long
time - was weighing up choice of trains n planes or bike - bike it is!"
Gavin Bell, UK
"At times like these (remember the Carnet trouble?)
I'm really happy to know that there are some people out there that take care.
Especially when you are alone it's sometimes very hard... But outside the
sun is shining... there will be a new morning with a new chance."
Stefan Thiel, Germany, in Adana
"That "recommend" utility is cool! Just
one more part of an excellent site."
Richard Lees, UK
"Terrific site!"
Bruce Redding, California, USA
"Can u believe it...there are SO many people biking
around the world some have not even heard of your website."
Ron Grant, Brisbane, Australia
Well, make sure you tell everyone you meet!
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ISSN 1703-1397 Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers' Ezine - Copyright 1999-2002, Horizons Unlimited and Grant and Susan Johnson. All rights reserved.
REDISTRIBUTION is allowed, indeed encouraged, but other than the following requirements, only with permission. You may forward copies of the Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers' e-zine by forwarding it yourself by hand. You must forward the issue in its entirety, no fee may be involved. Please suggest they Subscribe!
Legal gibberish disclaimer: (particularly for those in countries that have more lawyers in one town, just for instance, New York, not to name any names, than some whole countries, as another example, Japan. Again, not naming anybody specifically you understand) Recommendations are based on positive or negative experiences of somebody, somewhere. Your mileage (kilometrage if you insist) may vary. We are not responsible in any way for any product or service mentioned, and do not warrant any such mentioned product or service, and are not responsible for any bad things that may befall you. You are responsible for yourself! Act accordingly. We check all links and information given as close as possible to publication, and all info is correct as best we can determine at that time.
This month, we're awarding the 'Hard Luck' Prize to Tom Anspach, Jeff's dad, who was riding with Jeff and Linda up from Oregon to the Horizons Travellers Meeting in Pemberton and hit a deer on the road in Washington, breaking his wrist. Jeff tells the story:
"The bike slammed to the asphalt and my Dad flew over the handle bars (he was going about 40 mph by this time) and his first point of impact was dead center on his forehead. His full face helmet had quite an impact on the chin and face shield also. I'm convinced that if he didn't have a full face helmet he would have taken off the front of his face. As I continued to watch he rolled about 4 times. I wasn't sure he was conscious until the third roll where it looked as though he was trying to roll out of it. He almost finished the 4th roll on his feet. By this time I had spun around and dismounted and started to yell at him to lie still. But once he realized that he was in the middle of the street he started to roll off the road into the ditch. This certainly didn't help his already shattered wrist but after we took an impromptu inventory he was in amazingly good shape for a 69 year old involved in such a nasty wreck.
While slurping down fine wine and gourmet food we debated the effectiveness of my Dad's lucky shark's tooth necklace (I was wearing my lucky pooka shell necklace). Was it unlucky that he hit a deer or was he lucky to be alive? Only the motorcycle Gods know the answer to that question. The surgery went well and after a steel plate, six pins and some sort of wire tying it all together my Dad is in pretty good shape. My Dad was the editor of his local BMW club back home and is steaming towards his 200,000 mile patch. He has attended numerous rally's all over Canada and the US over the past several years and this was his first broken bone."
So, Tom, at least you're alive, and though it's not much of a consolation for the accident and missing the rally, we have a T-shirt or book or video and some Horizons stickers for your bike.
A T-shirt with the new Horizons Unlimited logo and 'One World, Two Wheels...' slogan.
Dr. Gregory Frazier, round the world traveller and author extraordinaire, has very generously contributed a FREE book (or video) a month.
Gregory Frazier's books:
Visit Gregory's website, find out more about these great titles, and have a look at some of his many other books and videos, there's sure to be one you can use.
Thanks Greg!
"23 June 2002 - Hi Everyone. It's over! UNOFFICIAL AS YET BUT HERE ARE THE STATS! GLOBEBUSTERS - AROUND THE WORLD BY MOTORCYCLE. 19,490 miles! 19 days and 8.5 hours. Web site has been updated with the latest. Euphoric Regards, Julia and Kev"
Ed. Congratulations to Kevin and Julia! Let's see, we managed to do the same trip in just over 11 years from start to finish...
"I am in cape Town now! I did not get a Libyan visa so I travelled via Greece, turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, south africa...and I am going back...different way! Nicola"
Ed. Way to go, Nicola!
"All a bit tame really. But then what can compare to Bangkok? Perth is quiet, undemanding, and beautifully not hot. Currently planning the trans-Australia by dirt route. Rachel is looking for a bike for herself.
Wide open spaces beckon. After a year in Asia, it will be quite an effort not to drive like a maniac. Already shocked to see people stopping at red lights, keeping lane discipline and hesitating before blind bend overtakes: crazy these Aussies. Simon Kennedy"
"I will be entering Russia from Estonia in the next few days. I am headed for Izhevsk, and am not sure of the best route. I would also like to meet any bikers in Moscow who would like to meet me (I'm an Australian travelling solo around the world), or who had any advice... Thank you very much. Richard Kickbush"
"Just back from a 3000km ride to Hamilton and Bay of Plenty (10 days). Wet only on two days and even then only for a few hours and the most magnificent ride down the South Island after 10-15 cm of snow fell on State Highway 1. 50 km with heavy snow in the paddocks and the mountains looking like I have never seen them before. Quite cold but we had good gear and the handlebar heaters helped! Pure magic - wish you were here!
All roads crossing the mountains are either still closed or dicey with the Homer Tunnel on the Milford road having more snow and all vehicles needing chains. Might flag that chance! Roger"
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"We're now in Melaka and met Gion from Switzerland and Doris from Canada here. Today we had a sh** day as this morning they broke our panniers on the bikes open. Both Doris' panniers, both mine and one from Jeannette. From Doris they took boots and raingear and from Jeannette our computer. Mine were a big mess but nothing's missing. So we had the police around and we were packing our boxes and check for more missing stuff. So take great care when entering Melaka and especially the Kancil Guesthouse. Although the bikes were in a fenced garden with a locked gate this wasn't enough to prevent happening what every overlanders nightmare is (except the bike stolen). But we (try to) keep smiling and get our locks repaired tomorrow. Martin & Jeannette"
"Hi chaps my name is Freddy. I have just crossed from Nigeria to Ethiopia via Chad, Sudan on my bike. The road is very bad loads of sand. As for safety I don,t think you will have any problems if you are aware of what's happening around you and your paper work is in order (e.g. visas< carnet). We camped the whole way as staying in the towns we got mobbed by literally hundreds of people. It was the first time I have been that popular."
"I started my trip around Africa in September 2001. And have since travelled around West Africa. At the moment I'm preparing the next leg through Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo and Angola.
I have my own website with an online diary: CYBER CYCLE DIARY. I update my diary every week, or so with entries for every day (incl. photographs). So, have a look and enjoy! Steven"
"So far we have been to Amsterdam, Belgium, Luxembourg, Baden-Badem, Prague, Bratislava and at the moe are in Salzburg. Would highly recommend Bratislava - really nice place and cheap.
We left on the Monday, stopped at a bike repairs on Wednesday to do some work on Jenny's suspension spring as it was too weak for the weight of her luggage. On Wednesday of this week we are taking Cliff's bike to the local BMW dealer in Austria to get that fixed (typical - the only job on his bike we had done at a dealer in the UK and it is knackered). PS all replies with the gossip are welcome. Cliff & Jenny"
"Hello Friends, I am in Sjita for the moment, a town in Siberia around 6000 km east of Moscow. Weather is fine here, around 35 degrees warm. I plan to be in Ulaan Bataar,Mongolia,early next week. All is fine, bike is doing fine as usual. I send you more news later. Herbert"
Andy Miller, UK, around the world, in Vancouver, leaving July 3 for Alaska, KTM LC640. We've just made Andy the first Horizons Unlimited Lifetime Gold Member, for several weeks hard work as an excellent mechanic's assistant helping Grant get the bike ready for its cross-Canada run to Trenton for the BMWMOA Rally. We lured him back from the potato farm with the promise of Nanaimo Bars, and chained him in the garage. But we did keep the Nanaimo Bar promise, and compared to shovelling potatoes, maybe not such a bad deal. Thanks heaps, Andy! BTW, Andy is still looking for travelling companion(s) up to Alaska, then across Canada to Halifax. Anybody going that way, e-mail Andy.
Andy Miller shoveling potatoes in Pemberton
"Spotted in Moab, Utah, USA at the annual Adventure Touring/Dual-Sport gathering. Andres Londono from Colombia is touring N. America on his Africa Twin after riding around S. America. He is working his way toward Seattle and ferrying to Alaska then touring Canada and the Eastern US before finishing in Miami."
Hi Grant, of course we are no Goldwing riders. But we met Bruce Redding at the train station in Los Mochis and he was very helpful with the disembarking of our bikes. So I promised him to send you this picture with the Goldwing.
Unloading Bruce Redding's Goldwing from train in Los Mochis, Mexico
"Dear Grant, last Sunday, 23.6, we crossed the border Pakistan-India,
and while waiting for our Carnets to be processed on the Indian side, all
of a sudden a big old BMW (I thought R 80 G/S) with a man and a woman rode
by. We ran after them (our bikes were hidden behind bushes) and had a very
pleasant long chat. ONLY, we forgot to exchange co-ordinates, and never
even came to the idea of asking their names. But I'm pretty sure you must
know them.
- they are British
- have travelled extensively in Africa
- now on their way back from Cambodia
- want to be home by Christmas
- have been on the road for 3.5 years by now
- both slim, no glasses, I guess in their thirties
- bike has a 45 liter Acerbis tank
- loaded quite compact with alu panniers and a rear soft bag
Any idea who they could be?"
Later, after we beat up Trui and Iris for failure to get names and e-mail addresses, they came through: "via Belgian bikers currently in Cambodia, we were able to trace the 'unknown Brits'. Here are their co-ordinates: Patrick and Vanessa on a 100GS." We'll write to them and see if we can get more info.
"We strolled the street stalls and came across Fernando Valsesia, an Argentinean, selling silver jewellery to finance his trip around the world on his Honda ST 1100. He has been travelling now for 7 years visiting 40 countries on his 260,000 km journey. Needing to finance his trip as he goes he has had to work at many different things, mostly selling, even writing peoples names on grains of rice."
"In July 2002 we are leaving for a journey, from Slovenia to Australia, via Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India and further through Thailand and Indonesia. The estimated duration of a journey is six months. We didn't do much planning, we rely upon our ability to improvise, like we did in Africa.
Our bike will be Moto Guzzi Quota 1100ES, the same one, we used on our first trip across Africa and South America (1 year, 65 000 km). Wish us luck. Best regards."
Message to the Dallas Horizons Community: "Hey guys, Tom Sewell here, park cities house painter leaving June 28 for cool dry weather in the Montana Rockies and Oct 1 from there for South America for 9+ months on KLR. How can anyone really stay here all summer- just like our Montana winters cept ya'll huddle around the AC. :)"
"I'm heading out of the UK, I'll be getting to Vancouver this evening - staying with friends for a couple of days before heading up to Alaska. I should also be putting something together for the ezine, just to let people know that Thelma (my bike) are back on the road again. Hmmm, perhaps I'll try that when I'm not quite so hectically busy. Look forward to seeing you if it all works out, best wishes Tiffany"
"Hello Grant, just wanted to provide you with more details about our coming trip. Nathan (sorry still don't know his second name!) and I (Viktor) are both from Australia - Nathan is from Perth Western Australia. We will be riding a DR-Z400 and a Suzuki Djebel. We intend to leave Japan (where we have been working) on the ferry service to Vlad on the 5th of July '02. We will follow the well worn route close to the Trans-Siberian to Mongolia where we will spend about 1 month from July 25th. We will then re-enter Russia and cross the rest of this country via Moscow and St. Petersburg and enter Eastern Europe via Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. From here plans become less certain but essentially I will spend a month or so in Southern Spain and Portugal for the northern winter before crossing to the UK in January 2003. I will ship my bike back to Australia and fly home in early Feb 2003. We will be making postings to this site (exceptional as it is) when possible (just as soon as we learn Russian for 'internet cafe'). Thanks for your excellent support. Viktor"
"We will be leaving Ireland on Sept 1st 2002 on our world tour travelling down through Europe and Africa arriving Capetown sometime in November where we hope to air-freight our bikes to Rio in south America."
"It is like a dream coming true, I am finally leaving for the equator. I am riding a 1150GS from Cape Town to Kampala and back. After the September 11 attacks on the USA the value of the SA Rand dropped from R7 to R13 to $1 and I thought that I can kiss my trip good buy, something I have dreamed of since '97. Luckily the Rand picked up again and now I will be able to afford it.
I'm leaving Cape Town on Saturday 29 June and are going to travel through Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and back via Zambia and Botswana. I'll be back home round about 5 August and will write a short report/ dairy that you can publish on your excellent e-zine. I will be writing a longer version on the South African BMW site, in Afrikaans, for those who can read Afrikaans. Thanks Johan"
"I'm leaving June 23 from New York to Nova Scotia, then back to Quebec for the Jazz fest, then out west to Alaska, possibly the Arctic Circle if I have time, then back down to Burning Man in Nevada, and some hiking in Northern Cal. From there I should be in Mexico, Oct 1, with a goal of landing in Peru or Ecuador (Arne - Galapagos Islands interest you?) around Dec 15. Then down to Chile, up through Argentina to Carneval, and then somehow back up to the Atlantic coast (Venezuela, Guianas.) I've got a 650 GS Dakar. My goal is not to miss any good parties.
Anyone want to set up and intended rendezvous point in Mexico? I'm thinking south of Mexico City, since the various paths that people are going to want to take (east from Texas, west from California) will start to converge there. Also, there's tons to see..."
"Hi all, As you might know I just got back from a 8300km long trip around Morocco. I just got the pictures online. I hope to add the story later. There are much more slides and I think that's the best way to see it (besides going to Morocco yourself), but who knows you'll see them one day. You can find the pictures here. Safe travels to everybody out there! Take Care, Pieter Maes."
"We arrived home two weeks ago, and are still in culture shock. Our thoughts each day run along the lines of: must get a job soon, pay off credit card and then save like mad so we can get on the road again.
We loved every minute of the trip even though it did not go as planned, due to unforeseen circumstances we did not take our bikes with us on the trip, we rented in Thailand and bought one and rented the other in Oz. Other than the open roads the most memorable part of our trip had to be the people we met either on the road or via the HU communities. The north of Thailand has the most magnificent roads, we followed some of the routes recommended by David Unkovitch, and had great fun on the small bikes.
Special thanks have to go to Greg Aldis from the Sydney community, who met us at the airport, put us in touch with a friend of his who owned Basejump.org, where we rented the XTZ660 and chauffeured us around looking at bikes and camping gear. Being the rally goer type of biker, we had to attend one in whilst in Oz, as we were getting withdrawal symptoms. We headed along some brilliant winding roads to a small rally situated in the middle of nowhere at Licola in Victoria, and meet up with the most friendly and mad bikers ever. We struck up a friendship with the SMP Tourers, and later accepted an invitation to their homes, and became honorary members of their club. Just as we were due to leave Melbourne, Maarten (Netherlands on BMW GS1150) and Kath (Kathryn Yore, UK on BMW 650GS) arrived, so we stayed to help them rebuild their bikes that they have air freighted in from Thailand and had our 4th reunion. We met them for the first time in Turkey and have managed to meet up six times in all. Their trip is also at an end; they are probably on a plane on the way home as I write this.
Maarten, Netherlands and Kathryn Yore, UK
The outback was one of the highlights of our trip, we loved the open spaces, the silence, the roads!!, and the people. Thousands of kilometers later when we rode into our first large town we felt as though we had lost something precious.
We had received an invite from Ken & Carol Duval to visit them in the Brisbane suburbs, so eager to hear about their travels first hand we accepted their kind invitation, and received more of the great Australian hospitality.
Is that Ken Duval in a suit???
After 9 months away we were broke and living off our credit cards, so it was time to head home, but we couldn't resist taking in Thailand again for a few weeks sun, sea and sand on the way home.
Our advice to those of you contemplating a trip, no matter how much or how little time and money you have, go for it, don't miss the chance of experiencing the freedom of the open road, even if it is for only a month or two. Our experience was mild towards many other peoples, but as first timers it gave us the background knowledge and experience to try for a more adventurous trip next time. Thank you Grant and Sue for this great web site that benefits so many people, without it we may not have met up with people like Greg and Ken and Carol. Joyce & Mark"
Just a reminder to all, when you JOIN a Community in your area, send a note to the Community introducing yourself and suggesting a meeting for a beer or a ride or something. It's a good way of meeting like-minded individuals in your own town.
There are
140+ Communities in over 50 countries running already. A big thanks
to all those who took the first step and established the Community in their
area. Latest additions are Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Grande Prairie,
Alberta, Canada, Sheffield, UK and Kiel, Germany!
For details on how you can join, or use the Community to get information and help, or just meet people on the road or at home, go to the Community page.
Send me some photos - with captions please - and a little text and you can have a webpage about your Community! A few links to webpages about your area would be useful too.
"What about a travellers meeting in PORTUGAL!! Great SUN, WINE and Sea Food waiting for you! I'd be pleased to receive everyone to a meeting..."
Would YOU like to help, or go to the meeting? Check here and add your input!
Have you thought about a 'Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers
Meeting' in your Community area? Following the successful launch
of the UK (2001) and Canadian (2002) Travellers Meetings, I'd like to see
at least one a year on every continent - I think there is enough interest,
it's just a (small ;) matter of doing it! It doesn't have to be anything elaborate,
just a get-together at an interesting location. Let me know what you think
- we'll do all we can to support you and your Community.
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To subscribe, or even UNsubscribe 'now why would you want to do that?' to this e-zine. Please recommendHorizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers' e-zine to a friend! Just forward it to them, or send them the link to the newsletter on the website. |
I am working on a listing of people who have ridden around the world, as well as what I call 'significant journeys' e.g. the first across Africa. Any information you may have on this topic, please let me know. Preferably e-mail me direct. I currently have information on over 100 world travellers listed, but there are many more. See Bernd Tesch's page for more. Bernd lists around 245 long distance travellers. And there's at least 20 enroute to an around the world. Have YOU done it? Let me know! We hope you've enjoyed this issue, and do please let us know your thoughts. It's your newsletter, so tell us what you want to know about! It is not the unknown, but the fear of it, that prevents us from doing what we want...
Grant and Susan JohnsonLive the dream! at:
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Omega. 400 Watts. Light and heat for 1970-95 Boxers.
YeeeHa! The end of that greatest limitation of the air cooled Boxer,
a small capacity charging system!" 
