Im sure you can Neil, ( oooooooh! Bites his tongue......... cos he can be a propper sarky begger sometimes can Martyn.....)

Dunno about the rehab! Did Pegasus in MIlton Keynes once and only the Once....... never again.
I decided there and then i was doin it myself. Funny thing was, I was at Rehab for a drug dependancy that I didnt want or ask for!
Bike accident( Bust Pelvis) and 5 Months on 'Oromorph' left me with a Morphine Dependancy and the Dr said I had to go there to be 'weaned' off.
I turned up, looked at the people exchanging needles and jacking up outside and said " oh dear, I don't think this is quite my scene......." or words to that effect.
What I can say on the subject of withdrawl is this. I fully understand why addicts stay on the stuff. I had 4 Days of sheer hell and months of craving, even now I cant take any Morphine based Painkillers.

I was Lucky, I had the guts and determination to do it alone, it wasn't easy, giving up Weed was even Harder ( its a Social thing ya see...), the Coke was easier and so was the Amphetamines........ The hardest thing to Kick? Even Harder than the Booze?

Tobacco! That nearly killed me!

Martyn

Go East young peter to the Stans...it grows wild there...

dscn6991.jpg

And I agree with Peter...whether you choose to enjoy Corvoisier, cannabis, Chateau LaFite, or a Speckled Hen...you shouldn't be judged so quickly...

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edde
93 BMW K75s
www.motoedde.com

+1

I gave up the fags last September ['07] - trouble is that now I'm hooked on Nicorette freshmint gum! ..

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Right Way Round ...

Also the only wild garlic left on the planet grows in the stans. Or so my missus tells me!

The only drug that I have regretted taking is nicotine. Well in the long term. There are a few shots I have regretted in my time

I would suggest a lot of people would feel the same.

Funny how thats the legal one! Goddam is that hard to shake. After five years of trying I think I am getting there. Cold Turkey is the only way!

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Ollie

www.jollyfollies.com

Land's End to Sydney 2009

here here on the anti over-zealous judgement, choice is key!
I didn't try and buy any weed while away on my bike, but got given some by a cop in Kazakhstan (so I guess it does grom in the 'stans!).

My advice would be just don't care about it, even a hardened british pot-head will not feel the need for any extra stimulation whilst on 2 wheels. When it comes to taking a break let it find you, don't go looking for it......

Ignore the republican/neo-conservative element but be wise and stay safe, be aware of the different cultural/legal implications and act accordingly.

Cornish, Wild Garlic grows abundantly here in Spain. if you know what to look for, most people only know its there when it has turned to seed and has a huge round 'Dandelion Clock' type flower on it.


The reason Tobacco is the "legal" one is ... its seemingly innocuous looking stuff, very addictive AND HEAVILY TAXED!

Martyn

Once in Pakistan when I was sick with some kind of giardia problem, I was given a block of hash as big as my thumb by a detective in the Punjabi Police. He had heard about my problem and said that it was to help with my appetite. He said that with a completely straight face and was completely genuine. Funny thing was, I'm sure he'd of nicked me had he known about the hip flask of gin I had. God only knows what would 've happened if the customs bloke had found the Salman Rushdie novel I'd forgotten about in my bag.
I think it's a bit rum to tell people to grow up and describe their habits as filthy. What makes smoking cannabis filthy and juvenile?
Possesion and use of cannabis is illegal in most countries I would imagine, but how many millions of people use it in the world? Is is immoral to light up? Are you evil if you want a toke on the happy pipe?
To those people who answered this post with a tirade of personal abuse and sphincter stretching anecdotes: thanks for nothing. You are the reason why many of us decide to pack our panniers and disappear from the all reaching narrow mindedness that some suburbanites in the developed world have. You have the same mentality as those folk who look at me sideways and cite CNN reports when I tell them I rode to Sierra Leone. But I suspect that you'll never do a Sahara crossing, or put your bike in a canoe to cross a river. Maybe you'll take the GS to Spain wearing the BMW adventure motorcycling catalogue 2007 kit.
Another example: I'm on a Africa trip now and stopped using toilet paper in Southern Europe. I make like the locals with my special kaka water container. Some Westerners have described this practise as barbaric, but more than half the world does it. Travel, it can change your thoughts on life. If sometimes only temporarily.
This is an adventure motorcycle forum and I think the price of goods in foreign countries is a legit question. I've given up on the wacky-backy myself but grew up in a country that weened babies on and some kind of alcohol derived violence was the most common ending to the boys night out. Ever seen rastas fighting in the pub on Friday night?
By the way, I wouldn't pay $50 for anything in Africa, except visas maybe. Average wage of your common garden African is about $2 a day. They're not going to give up more than a months wage for an oz.
Regards,
Cam J

Interesting post Cam.

Gin, "Rum", Beer, I like your thinking!

I've no idea what "Giardia" is BTW: explain please, if you wish.

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Dave

Walkabout,
You're lucky mate if you haven't met giardia yet.
From the internet:
Giardia infection can cause a variety of intestinal symptoms, which include
Diarrhea
Gas or flatulence
Greasy stools that tend to float
Stomach cramps
Upset stomach or nausea.
These symptoms may lead to weight loss (hence the appetite stimulant gift from the Paki rozzers) and dehydration. Some people with giardiasis have no symptoms at all.

Basically a bad time all round and can last for weeks. Makes travel very difficult.
Cam J.

this is probably one of the funniest and most controversial topic's i have seen yet. panderingpeter, i wish u good luck on your search for electric lettuce.

some may say this is not the place to discuss such matters, and i will not agree or disagree either way, but pot smoking is about freedom of choice, and last time i checked, motorcyclists preach the free lifestyle.

i'm sure everyone on this website is GUILTY of speeding, and more people die from that every year than smoking pot. In Canada the fine is even bigger for speeding than for personal possesion.

i know u are probabaly a good and honest citizen who contributes to society and holds doors open for old lady's at the bank and would never drive/ride under the influence.

my experience in asia/south america is that the substance in which you want to obtain is always so much cheaper than here that you wont have to worry about. get the feel for the locals first and make sure that they are not cops. if you frequent place's that travelers do, there will be somebody trustworthy there to point you in the right direction, because they of course want to keep the toursist's happy, and out of jail.
my view is dual sided so please everyone, dont bash my opinion to hard! haha

and as rastafarian Ben Harper said " if you dont like my smoke than dont come around, because i'm going to burn one down"

Weed is pretty cheap, I don't have the price but from the people who can take their daily dose it must be only slightly more expensive than regular cigarettes. A pack of Malboro is about a dollar fifty.

If you are on a bike I guess buying should not be a problem, I see a lot of foreign kids (15 and above) hanging around bar beach marijuana joints in Lagos with no problems. What you do not want to do is carry it on the bike in quantity.

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inyang

Port Harcourt, Nigeria

I've been thinking about this thread today while searching Freetown for parts for my bike (found a late model Triumph Speed Triple for anybody who is interested). One extra point I'd like to make is that this is not a pure motorcycling website as infered by other posters. It is a website for those who choose to travel by motorcycle or other types of vehicle either through the 'dark continent' or where ever.
Adventure motorcycling.
Notice the adventure comes before the motorcycling. Shipping, border crossings, cheap hotel location, camping tips, visas & price negotiation fall directly under adventuring in my humble opinion. Track day dates, knee slider discussions, best roost vests, tyre warmers and van rentals are what you'd expect to find on a 'real' bike site. But I don't see anybody talking about them here.
My point being something along the lines that no stranger has appeared out of the blue at a motard meeting and tried to sell me drugs. While traveling through Africa, it happens at quite regular intervals. Its a fact of traveling.
Am I right..?
Cam J.

Thanks again all for the thorough and thoughtful follow-up posts. The sort of prices which you quote are indeed unbelievable; this is something I will need to investigate in person, and in much greater detail, once in situe.

Cam, I wonder if you would be kind enough to afford me some info about Sierra Leone; it is somewhere that I am considering visiting whilst in the region. My questions are:

1. Is the visa now readily available at the border? If not, where did you get yours? Price?

2. What are your highlights of the country so far? I fancy visiting the more mountainous north of the country, have you climbed any of the peaks? What else stood out?

Kind regards,

The Filthy Toker

Filthy,
The thing is I've lived here for the past year upcountry doing goody-goody work in a hospital. My contract finished and I decided to do an overlander from Spain. It's a completely do-able trip to get here, but SL is recovering from it's horrific war and the place is set up for NGO and UN workers, so it's quite expensive. Cheap hotels are hard to come by in Freetown, but you can buy almost anything here, including oil caps for KLR 650's if you have a few contacts.
Visa is available in Conakry for $100US. Because I could tok small small Krio they gave me a 3 month visa, but the border is only able to issue a 1 month stamp. I have a carnet but I bought a lassier passer in Conakry for 40,000 Guinee franc per month (I forget how much that it but not much).
There is almost no organised tourism here and outside of Freetown you'll be dealing with village chiefs for permissions to climb mountains or land on islands and all that kind of stuff. Guides don't exist like Mauritainia, but I'm sure someone you meet might be able to help you out, for a small fee. Loads of college students around who are usually pretty trustworthy. Have a look at the following for ideas about where to go in the eco-tourism menu on the left.

Sierra Leone Travel and Tourism Information

For me SL is about rockin nights out in Freetown and some of the best beaches in West Africa meaning great seafood.
Cams.

Hey Cam. good to hear you still floating about! stuck in congo at moment trying to go south. might fly over angola because of all the crap i am having.
as for spliff I bought some bush weed for 5000cfa here in point noire. hand full! just because i was bored!
obviously got ripped off but who cares.
smoked it in a 300euro/night hotel but that is a LOOOOOOONNNG story.
keep well mate!
Orrin

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