Motorcycle Travellers' News Report - May 2016, 104th Edition

"So exciting! It's been months since we've traveled by motorcycle and we're eager to hit the road again. Hopefully our license plates will be waiting for us in Chiang Mai by the time we've finished the loop, because we want to continue exploring SE Asia after this short trip. Fingers crossed!

So true to form, we're already deviating from the Mae Hong Son loop on our first day. We're going to spend a day at the Mae Ngat Somboon Lake, which is actually a reservoir created by a dam at one end of the river. It's only 70 kms away.

We travel slowly.

... I think most visitors take a taxi or tuk tuk to get here. There's not a lot of parked vehicles down here. We just stick our bikes behind the huts and hope they will still be there when we return. I think I'm being overly paranoid about the security here in Thailand, but it's our first road trip with these motorcycles, so I don't really know what to expect. Neda listens to me clucking on about locking everything up, 'Don't worry so much, it'll be fine!'

Riding down to the docks, the soil beneath our wheels is kicking up an orange-red cloud behind us

A private longboat takes us out onto the lake. The coast of the artificial river is sparsely lined by houseboats, floating accommodations that you can stay overnight in and hang out and swim in the lake during the day! The most popular houseboat that was recommended online was fully booked, so Neda just chose another one by random. We're a bit worried because it has no reviews. I guess we'll find out what we signed up for soon!

It's not a perfect blue-sky/clear-water day here on Mae Ngat Somboon Lake. The smoke from burning season has tinged the air just a few shades more opaque and the water in the reservoir almost matches the sky.

Every time we approached a nicer-looking houseboat, I secretly hoped that our longboat would stop in front of it. But, it always passed those nicer ones... :( And then when we approached the decrepit-looking ones, I also hoped the longboat would not stop in front of those... In the end, we ended up docking at what looks to be a middle-of-the-road houseboat. Not run-down, but definitely not as nice as some others along the lake. :( We have to plan ahead a lot earlier the next time we do this!

As the sun sinks below the horizon, we stare at the lights from the houseboats across the lake reflecting off the water. But what really captivates us are the fields on fire on the hills around the lake. Burning season has become much more vivid at night-time. This is what we'll have to ride through in the next few days! Fun times ahead!"

"It feels really awesome to be back on the road again. I took a ferry to Qeshm Island. First stop was Shib Deraz beach. Bumped into a cycling couple from Switzerland. We camped at the beach to wait for turtles to lay eggs. I was dozing off when the park ranger alerted us about Turtles. An Iranian family next to us drove us to the site.

Every night some two to five turtles will come to the beach to lay eggs. 83 eggs for this one.

...In the midst of dull grey living quarters of Hormoz, I followed the smatters of vibrant colours on the wall to find this. There is a museum and gallery of Dr. Ahmad Nadalian, an environmental artist whose work can be found all over the world in rivers and nature."

"This was never meant to be a gargantuan off-roading adventure. This was meant to be a shortcut. With the added bonus of a change of scenery, perhaps, but a simple shortcut nonetheless.

Leaving our friends heading for Banda Aceh and the lovely island of Weh, Chris and I decided that we were indeed in desperate need of a change of scenery and, even more importantly, some cooler temps. Google insisted there was no road across the volcanic Barisan Mountains which traverse western Sumatra, but rumours told us otherwise. Some evil motorbike overlander even went as far as to write 'totally cool jungle off-road' on one of the maps we came across, and the legendary tales of this elusive road, linking Blangkejeren to the east and Babahrot to the west, started to take momentum.

By the time we turned off westbound in Blangkejeren, we'd surmised the road was 'quite good' in fact, about 135km in length and had parts which 'may or may not be slippery when wet'. This shall now go down in my travel history as the understatement of the flamin' century.

I read a BBC article yesterday, about the making of a psychopath. About how difficult it is to profile them because they are so adept at appearing charming, and normal, and friendly. Until they turn evil. Well... this road we took was the epitome of a psychopath. The first 50kms out of Blangkejeren were simply stunning. We rode through a pine forest, saw autumn colours, admired buffalo cooling off in lakes. We were so happy and awestruck we completely let our guards down. But then again, evil hardly ever comes with a warning.

...It's a pity that photos can't quite portray the angle of a road. At least, not whilst you take them lying down.

As usual, I trailed behind Chris. I find this to be the safest way for me to ride on dirt roads, as while he's busy working out the best route, all I do is follow in his wake. I then only make adjustments if I see him wavering. What I hadn't counted on, was his bike stalling on the steepest part of an insanely gravelly pass. The scene played as if by slow motion. I saw Chris desperately trying to hold his bike upright and stop it from sliding backwards. His brakes just couldn't hold the weight, at that angle, on such slippery rock. The moment he gently laid his bike to the side, I had nowhere else to go. Well... except horizontal, of course.

As I laid off the accelerator to prevent myself crashing into Chris, Pixie stalled too. My brakes? Bloody useless. I then did the most idiotic thing ever. As Pixie started to slide and tilt on the downhill slope (gravity's a bitch), I should have simply hurled myself on the uphill side and let the bike go. But no. That would have been way too smart. Instead, I ingeniously decided to pit my left leg against the gravity-assisted slide of a 280kg heavy bike, thinking I'd have the strength to tilt Pixie the other (and much safer) way. Yes, I'm also still laughing about that.

I heard the 'pop' in my knee almost as soon as I said to myself 'this may not be your brightest moment yet'. The agony was excruciating. I screamed into my helmet and was overcome by nausea, which is never a good sign.

In hindsight, it wasn't a big fall at all. It was just an incredibly unlucky one. The big fall was yet to come. "

"Winter 2015 'Shakedown Run' Southern China - very good times once again, really pleasant weather with balmy water for a surf or relaxed swim, skateboarding, solid great mountain and off-road riding, let's not forget outstanding very tasty and well prepared food.

Nothing comes close to that sensation of the tropical wind in your face, the million smells, the sh*t you've gotta dodge -- dogs, goats, buffalo, kids, scooters, trucks, spilled diesel and oil on the best curves, escaping coconuts, man-eating potholes -- I miss it all already... definitely will be back for some more Hainan Island cruising in the future...

The RELAXED WAY HOME from Hainan Island to Shanghai through different provinces with a bike cruising and exploring day at Mao-Town = Shaoshan...

Mao's home in Shaoshan, China

"Well we are back on the road this week. Flying to Madrid and then traveling about 200 km south to get the bikes out of their winter storage in our friend Modesto's garage. We have some maintenance to do including oil changes, some upgrades to the crash bar hardware, new chains and sprockets, install new headlights and rewire bike lighting, install voltage meters, install new wire harness for the 650, and remove the 'tool tubes'.

We are also headed back to the Schengen Zone. WTF is the Schengen Zone you may ask? Well so did we. I have polled a lot of North Americans and none knew what it was or what the implications are for non-Schengen residents."

Palais Royal on the Plaza Oriente Madrid

"...The Mayan site of Uxmal, pronounced "ooshmal", is about 18 miles from Santa Elena and the first thing you notice about the roads is just how good they are. There is a network of roads on the peninsula specially designed to waft visiting tourists in their air conditioned coaches effortlessly between one Mayan attraction and the next. With this in mind we got to the site early before the many tourist buses started to arrive from about 10:00 onwards. It's amazing just how little time some people spend at these places. Watching them slavishly follow their tour leader as they are led round in less than 1 hour is a real eye opener and I'm not sure if anyone on these tours really appreciates what they see, or probably don't see!

With the luxury of time we were able to enjoy the site for the whole day, taking it all in, having a break at the peak visitor time and resuming our exploration once most people had been bussed onto their next whirlwind stop. We really liked Uxmal.

...After the excitement in Tulum we decided it was time to track down a nice beach which took us to the sea side town of Mahahual. Many travelers we'd spoken to raved about this place but we just didn't get it. It's a sleepy but not particularly attractive place with a very narrow, mostly sea weed afflicted beach. The peace and tranquility however is shattered when cruise ships, which dock a short taxi ride away from the town, arrive and hordes of visitors descend on the place. We stayed a couple of nights and moved on.

I have to say that Bacalar was one of my favourite places in this part of Mexico. Bacalar is both the name of a pretty nondescript town but also the name of a beautiful lagoon. Finally managing to find a place next to the lagoon that was in budget we settled in and really enjoyed our few days here including camping in the grounds of the hotel once it became clear that the room we were occupying was already booked! Still, it was nice to break out the camping stuff next to the lagoon.

Exfoliating with the mud in Bacalar Lagoon

From Bacalar to Xpujil is about 140 miles. As is the case with much of this part of the world the riding is not too interesting. The landscape is flat and the roads are, for the most part, dead straight. Xpujil would be our jumping off point for a visit to another Mayan site, this time at Calakmul. Xpujil would also mark our 18 months on the road anniversary, has it really been that long?

Jungle and sky from Calakmul pyramid

We really enjoyed Calakmul. There are few visitors and the site itself is about 40 miles from the main road. Riding through the jungle to the site is a delight and leaving early in the morning meant that we were able to see some of the wildlife here. There are a couple of tall pyramids which poke their way through the jungle canopy affording an amazing view over the surrounding jungle. For as far as the eye can see, and 360 degrees around, there's nothing to see but jungle. Spider and howler monkeys are also numerous here and with some of the vantage points from the ruins being at jungle canopy height we get a great view of them."

"Nicaragua gave us a special welcome with sky and rainbow.

Heading south, we detour to Lake Nicaragua to explore the beautiful Ometepe Island which hides many adventures, sunsets and unique places. Then we finish the route through this beautiful country with a stay in a quiet and recommended Playa Marsella.

Before crossing to Ometepe, we met its two volcanoes.

The following route through Nicaragua remained one of the most beautiful in Central America. We felt very safe adventuring on its cobblestone roads, meeting friendly people and policemen who gave us a wave in farewell.

First stop, Restaurant Antojitos del Desierto. Recommended by our friends in El Salvador. He who dares to experiment with meat, this is your place... we ate boa and armadillo."

"Just in front of our bungalow on Agonda Beach, a sea turtle laid her eggs the day before we arrived.

Sea turtle fence

Last Tuesday another turtle came early in the morning to lay her eggs. She went back at sea, rudely ignoring all request for selfies. The 'Olive Ridley' turtle is a sea marine reptile who loves the open ocean. The shell is about two feet long, and it can weigh up to 100 lbs. It is an omnivore; her favorite food are jellyfish, snails, crabs, and shrimp. The females migrate hundreds or even thousands of miles every year, and return to the beaches where they were born.

After she left, the forest department crew checked with a stick to locate the eggs under the sharp criticism of the locals... They are relocated in front of the hut where the turtle crew camps for the season. After 50 days they hatch. They were very adamant to go out to sea. When released they knew exactly where to go. They all crawled to the sea as fast as they could, resting a few seconds every few feet. The closer they were to the water, the faster they got going. When in the water, they were gone in seconds."

"we rode the 'Lagunas Route', a multi-day trip through rugged terrain between Uyuni in Bolivia and San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. For us it was the most beautiful long distance off-road trail we rode in South America. It was a definite highlight of our trip!

The roads in the area are not signposted, so we will have to rely on the GPS and the tracks in the sand. Based on information from other travelers, we put different routes in the GPS and make waypoints for places to sleep. Along the way, we will not be able to buy fuel, so we have to bring enough for the whole route. We fill the jerry cans and tie two water bottles filled with fuel on each motorbike. A total of 25 liters, which should be enough. We can take 18 liters of water, which we use for drinking, cooking and brushing our teeth. That is not enough for four days, but if the information is correct we can buy some more on the route.

The motorbikes are now quite heavy because of the extra fuel and water. That will not make riding in the sand any easier. To prevent putting even more weight on the bikes, we cut down on the food we take. We only take nutritious food that does not weigh too much and is quick to prepare: oatmeal, tacos, boiled eggs, peanuts, noodle soup, pasta and packets of soup that can serve as a pasta sauce... It will be no culinary delights, but it is certainly enough to feed us for a few days.

Here comes the... cloud!

At the top of the hill, we are at the level where we just saw the clouds. From the valley a huge cloud comes floating towards us and moments later everything is gray. We are riding just underneath the cloud, it's like someone just closed the cover over our heads. We turn left onto a gravel road and say goodbye to the asphalt. The next 400 km we will ride on gravel roads and dirt tracks. To have some more grip on the soft surfaces we let some air out of the tires, and continue in the direction of the border."

"Most adventure bike owners love to ride to a Starbucks on a sunny weekend. As Duncan and I were riding south to Lima through mountains, we also wanted to find a Starbucks but we ended up making our own at the campsite. Some of the sections were paved recently, but we managed to find some good dirt tracks along the way. Please watch in HD."

It took some time to get here, but the scenery was worth it. Should be around 4700 metres.

"In spite of my hot irritation of wrongly assuming we wouldn't need our heated clothing by late March in the southern states, a sudden need to shiver settled in my flesh. The bracing air probed my riding gear with such icy fingers, I couldn't help shivering shortly into the 75-mile motorcycle ride from Page in northern Arizona to Kanab, just north of the state line into Utah. Riding the last ten was no easy task with fingers beginning to stiffen like clubs from the cold.

Situated on the Colorado Plateau, the Wave is a series of sandstone buttes, which sit at the bottom of Utah's Grand Staircase, Escalante National Monument and the upper section of Arizona's Paria Canyon—part of the Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness area. Scores of travelers gravitate from all over the globe with an unyielding desire of experiencing the Wave. Although obtaining a permit is on a par to winning a Willy Wonka ticket. We just happened to get monumentally lucky.

Famed for its gallery of implausibly twisted sandstone resembling: uncannily American pancake stacks, deformed pillars, textbook-perfect cones, domed mushrooms and other unfathomable creations. As part of the Jurassic Navajo Sandstone, the Wave is notorious for a handful of fatalities each year. People often undertake the hike in summer armed with sunglasses and a litre or less of water—get caught royally unawares, heinously lost and succumb to dehydration. Around a gallon per person: check."

"Nine generations ago in 1788 my ancestor was unceremoniously dumped on a far flung island called Australia as a convict.

We're BACK!

I've loved my first few days in London with my wonderful adventure rider friends Jim and Caroline Carver. I'm adjusting to the chilly weather by wearing ALL my clothes at once.
It's taking a little getting used to. There are no holes in the streets or footpaths, people are incredibly polite and friendly, give way to me with their cars (which also don't choke me with fumes), don't push in front of me in lines, speak to me in English (of a sort hehe).
There are no piles of rubbish, no skinny dogs wandering the streets, safety barriers around building works and road works, no hanging live power wires, no sewage leaking onto the street, and recycling exists.

On a coffee break in Brazil

There are food choices from across the globe, magnificent buildings dating back hundreds of years nestled in modern sculptures of glass and steel, theatres, museums and castles to rediscover arts and culture.

I've loved my two years in Latin America and I'll return in a heartbeat. In the meantime thank you London for welcoming back to the western world. I can't wait to see a concert!"

"... the only problem for now in Baja California, it seems, is that it will be hard to decide in which of the many amazing places that we put our tent. The Baja is one of those places to reconnect with nature, sunrises and sunsets, yoga, and millions of stars to accompany us in the fire. It doesn't matter that we have only instant soup for tonight.

...the route in Baja California brings us every day new friends coming down from the north, and all with the same news, escape from the cold which is always harder to take. So we have to use the chance of the warm turquoise waters of the Sea of Cortes and give ourselves a last farewell swim."

"A Sunday ride north of Bariloche, Argentina was deliciously slow paced, warm, and an utterly satisfying way to spend a lazy afternoon. Since entering Patagonia, we slow down or stop at every bridge to look for trout. None spotted here in Lago Nahuel Huapi but a worthy stop nonetheless.

 
Even the trees need sweaters in Patagonia.

"Camping has to be one of the greatest joys of motorcycle overlanding and essential for those of us on a budget, which let's face it, is pretty much all of us, except of course for the Dynamic Duo film stars! And one of the best things about riding around the entire world is that you get to camp just about everywhere. In much of Africa bush-camping is free, but in heavily populated countries like India it can be virtually impossible.

Here in this photo, in heavily mined Angola where you dare not venture off the roads even to pee, we have set up camp in a village with the chief's permission. You just have to realise that you become the entertainment for the evening. The friendly villagers set up their seats and stared, fascinated by our every move, and there they remained through to the morning, even the Chief who was blind!

Don't ever set off without that tent, unless of course you want to restrict yourself to a tiny percentage of the Earth's surface with all its accommodation options."

"It's time to say kwaheri, goodbye, to Kenya and to this part of Africa. Tomorrow I catch a flight to Spain, the moto is departing today and will meet me in Madrid. Africa's been a great adventure along with meeting lots of good people and making many great friends.

I'm excited about moving on though and hopefully I'll be back in the saddle in a few days."

"Unfortunately my self-congratulations of last week on a successful border crossing into Egypt proved a little premature - an email from the shipping agent I'm to use to get the bike out of Egypt and back to Europe told me I'd failed to get an important piece of paper at one of the towns near the border and without it the bike won't be leaving. The easiest solution was go back and get it, so one thousand kilometres later...

... I had the above. Only a very creative bureaucracy could dream up a system where you need to get a piece of paper saying you've got no outstanding traffic fines from the Traffic Court closest to your place of entry, before allowing you to drive the length of the country to your port of departure. Bizarre.

I was advised by the shipping agent that before my bike could leave Egypt I would need to obtain a certificate showing no outstanding traffic fines are due.

Egyptian bureaucratic logic says that if you enter from the south (i.e. Sudan) this can only be issued by the Aswan Traffic Court despite the fact this is at the opposite end of the country to where I was planning to leave from (Alexandria).

As a further complication it is only valid for 15 days - the bike must enter the port boundaries within this time or you need a new certificate.

If you are shipping within the 15 days after you pass through Aswan you can get it yourself , if not I was told you have to use a fixer to get it and then courier it north (no doubt at significant cost - sorry I have no more info on this).

Getting it yourself in Aswan is relatively easy and is cheap - the certificate costs 10EGP (just over a dollar). The process is:

1) Get one photocopy each of your passport and the A5 card Arabic Registration document they gave you when you crossed the border.
2) Take these, plus the originals to the Traffic Court which is located at N24.06195 E032.88609. This is a nondescript set of rooms on the ground floor of a white painted apartment building (it does not look anything like the normal European idea of a court building). Look for the small white sign showing a small "scales of justice" (see the photo) to confirm you are at the right place.

Aswan - Getting certificate showing "No traffic fines"

3) Go to the rear of the building and you will find 4 small service windows, go to them and explain you want the certificate showing no fines due. Hand over the photocopies (which will be checked against the originals so have these with you) and 10EGP.

4) Come back 1 - 2 hour later and collect certificate. Note the court closes at 2pm so make sure you get there at a reasonable time in the morning if you want the certificate the same day.

Hope this is of help."

"Different from the Continental Divide Ride…is the longest mountain bike ride in the world, at nearly 2800 miles, running from Banff, Alberta to Antelope Wells, New Mexico.

The route follows, as close as practicable, the Continental Divide while crossing it 30 times. It's mostly made up of unpaved roads and trails. And it's a bucket list ride for a lot of riders.

Molly messaged me a couple of years ago about putting together a small ride (as in number of riders) on the Continental Divide some autumn and I was honored she offered the chance for me to tag along. I knew the autumn of 2014 wouldn't work because Brian and I were still traveling. And last autumn didn't work since I had some other things lined up... like Horizons Unlimited, etc. maybe the third times the charm, because this autumn will be the third since Molly mentioned the idea (where does the time go?) and we are going to try and make it happen this year.

While I won't be able to do the whole ride, what with my job and all, at least I hope to tag along for a couple of weeks. So now begins the planning…what bike? Which maps? What gear? What to pack? What to wear (kidding... well, sort of)?
Eeks! Exciting!"

"Baños is a small, tourist town in a lush valley, complete with hot-springs and famous for its hand-made taffy. Baños was first established after a vision of the Virgin Mary was seen at its main waterfall, so it was primarily a religious site. Up to this point, we had been told by every backpacker we met, that we had to visit Baños. Not having learnt our lesson yet (we are slow learners) we listened, and got ourselves appropriately excited. What we were met with, was a heavily touristy town, with gringo-style fast food restaurants, a million tour companies, and locals trying invasively and forcefully to sell you some or other form of crap on every corner. All authenticity has been lost, and the mighty dollar has taken over.

But it's not all bad. If I stop being a grumpy old arse for 10min, I remember the great craft beer, pulled pork sandwiches and fantastic hot chocolate and chocolate slabs for which Ecuador is so famous. We also had a nice little day ride up to the 'swing at the end of the world' through curvy cobbled streets we climbed up to the swing, where you swing out over the clouds and the void whilst marveling at the gigantic volcano staring back at you from across the valley. There are highlights to the touristy stuff sometimes, no matter how much I complain."

"13 years between the photos. Good to see that the old trees are still there and the walls haven't crumbled further."