Devon TRF Group Forum

rich xr · Clubman B

floating of the Titanic (Mongolia, maybe, travel diary)

rich xr · Clubman B

RE: floating of the Titanic

Pearcy · Expert

Wow, what a trip Rich!

Sounds like you have had it prety harsh all ready - but what an experience!

Wild boar bbq!! how cool is that!!

Please keep us informed, fantastic read first thing in the morning here

Good luck with the bike too & watch those mosquito bastard things.

Cheers

TTR · Powermonger!!

Pearcy wrote:
Wow, what a trip Rich!

Sounds like you have had it prety harsh all ready - but what an experience!

Wild boar bbq!! how cool is that!!

Please keep us informed, fantastic read first thing in the morning here

Good luck with the bike too & watch those mosquito bastard things.

Cheers

Ditto!

Nice to be able to get an adventure fix again since Andy went to ground in Poland 4 days ago....

-- Edited by TTR on Saturday 25th of June 2011 04:35:41 PM

L'orange · Devon's Best

Wey hey! finally your on the way. wink

Thanks for the update Rich, looking forward to the installment biggrin biggrin biggrin

slip a long · Clubman A

excellent Rich best run report on here so far even better when we get pics biggrin

Wheely · Expert

Excellent write-up Rich. That made for a great read and glad your having such a fun adventure. Make sure those ticks get sorted, Lymes disease aint so good!!

My adventure today is sat in my hotel room, but going for a visit to Nantes town in a minute - weather scorchio. Tomorrow off to the beach at Pornichet. With a name like that hoping to see some tasty french totty smile

.....then another week of work out here

Hoops · Elite

Really great read Rich, very interesting and thanks for posting. What an adventure, think I'll pass on the sheep tick though (eww. Haha Eww, ewe geddit?).

jt · Powermonger!!

Brill!

Not read it all yet - will save some for later, Love this bit -

"I clucked like a chicken and moved my elbows in and out today in a café, and got served pizza and chips"

Made I proper laugh

Tigerman · Expert

Great report Rich, thanks for taking the time to keep us informed smile . Enjoy your Adventure!!

kevinred · Clubman A

Fantastic read Rich.

I'm glad to see you got your adventure underway after our chat at the Adventure Travel Film Festival. I really hope your luck with the bike improves.

Thank you for keeping us posted, you provided a great read for sure.

Good luck Rich, keep safe wink

SteveGT · Clubman B

Great stuff, keep it coming. Looking forward to the next installment.

rich xr · Clubman B

The hotel 100 dollars and I just got asked my room number by the piano player, not for me. Also unfortunately not a good place for bike maintenance.

People here are much calmer than in Russia, Theres a Buddhist influence, which I like.

Saturday 25

A late start and an early camp today. Late to start because of a lot of faffing with luggage, repacking the bike from a hotel stay, and re-airing up the rear shock, both my pumps are inadequate and garage compressors only seem to manage 110 psi.

No doubt my most tranquil campsite but not secluded. All the little lanes round here go somewhere and all have a degree of traffic, I was passed by a posh 4x4 and a van earlier. Im by a little lake, reasonably big but very shallow. I fully expect to wake up to camels drinking from it in the morning.

A car passed me earlier and the passenger made a sign as if to shoot me, its the only unpleasantness of the trip so far. I guess the British arent popular around the world, if I speak to anyone Im sure to tell them Im Scottish, which in the passed has always helped with international relations.

On that note, the winds here would do Scotland proud. Good sideway 40mph winds, be sure to hold on tight when an artic goes by in the opposite direction at 80mph. I had hoped to be on desert tracks by now but this is probably the best road so far.

The land is totally flat and the sky massive. At any one time you can see 3 or 4 black thunderstorms ahead, maybe 10 miles big in diameter. I try to dodge them by speeding up or stopping for coffee. The road is more or less straight so I try and ride in the gaps between them depending on the wind direction, so far so good but it makes slow progress. At home I dont mind the rain but I havent been able to find any waterproofs and Im tiered for getting soaked. If you get caught in one of these storms it is torrential. The road floods instantly with rain the size of concurs. That said it also dries pretty quick in the wind.

The sunsets here have all been spectacular, its nice to stop early and drink tee at the campsite. The wind has dropped and in the distance thunderclouds are lighting up with lightning. Cant say for sure but theres a good chance one of the storms will pass over me tonight. The bike is a few inches taller than my tent and the only object for miles, wonder what will happen if its struck.

I like to eat dried fish. They sell it here in the garages instead of crisps, you can have o-natural, hot an spicy, sweet and sour or candy coated. Its my staple to eat whilst riding. Not easy to get in my gob with a full face helmet on. Hoping for an early start tomorrow and some off road riding.

Sunday, A bath in half a litre of carbonated water.
I wasnt woken up by camels but by frogs, dozens of them all hopping around as if theyve just grown legs. And just as I write this one has hoped over the laptop and into my helmet I think.

Todays a day of meeting people. 1st 3 guys and a girl on 3 1930s Chinese Urals outfits, riding from Shanghi to Paris. 2 of them have a sidecar hire tour company in China. Therere sponsored and are aiming for the longest sidecar ride, I thing Andy Landistow might have some comment on that. It wasnt going to well for them as their gps hadnt stored the track log so there might have problems with evidence. Also they could only ride one hour at a time. One hours riding and 10 minutes bike cool down time. They had worked out that this rhythm was preferable to pushing the bikes and then spending all night fixing them. I caught them up on the road and we all stopped to chat at the roadside. A train that I had passed 10mins earlier caught us ups and stopped to wave at us, blowing it whistle
Im at the Uzbekistan Boarder and there are 2 British overland 4x4 trucks, only met one set of occupants, a retired couple who at one time or another had pretty much been around the world. Do it now while the diesels affordable.

Bone shaking roads today, also shake the bike to hell, so chose to ride the desert at the side of the road. 100km off road the start of things to come.

Couldnt get into Uzbekistan! My visa is dated for this time next month and I didnt notice until now. I dont know if this is my mistake, the visa companies or the embassies but there is nothing I can do about it now. The Uzbek boarder guards couldnt be nicer, apologizing for not letting me pass. The buch tattooed lorry driver looking me up and down as if for dinner didnt look so friendly, hope I dont meet him in a dark ally. I try to buy a transit visa but this has no hope. I wish I had asked to call the Uzbek embassy but I dont think anything was going to work. I was really looking forward to the Arial sea the company of other travellers and a day or to in a hotel. I ride the 100km off road as fast as I can now as I have to get my Kazakhstan visa validated somehow before 5pm today as I will have been in the country now for 5 days.
On the ride back I notice that my chain has jumped a cog on the rough ride, (could I have been so unobservant as to fit it incorrectly at Volgograd) The answer to this thankfully is no as it jumped a cog again the next day. This has never happened to me or anyone I know. Could it be that the bike doesnt like the oversized rear sprocket? I have the chain adjusted uncomfortable tight with the bike at rest, I guess the full travel of the suspension is enough to slacken the chain and jump the cogs. Im careful now not to give the bike any gas when the suspension is compressed, which in most riding conditions is counter intuitive. If it happens again I will have to change back to a standard rear sprocket and one tooth off the front. Not ideal but the tight chain must be stressing the engine internals.

3 hours for chasing my tail in the heat of the day and my Kazak visa is sorted. The immigration police are not the most friendly. I ask the police to look at a map of Kazakhstan; they didnt like showing it to me.
Dinner in a café with a couple of off duty coppers is calm and relaxing, even though we have no shared language the company is pleasant and welcome. Seems like everyone here is a copper of one sort or another, is there anything else to do here?
Im resigned to driving back the way I came to regroup my thoughts. There is a road parallel to the one back north that goes all the way south again alongside the Uzbek boarder. This road is about 500km to my right across the Steep (desert). A more seasoned overlander might be tempted to try and traverse the steep by compass here. Im not confident in the bike enough, dont have the fuel range. I know there is at least one railway to cross and finally I can see in the distance a long large cliff front. I figure the road I want is either on top of it or on the other side of it so there is no way I will attempt the traverse.
100km along the road a UK overland Landrover passes going to the Uzbek boarder. We dont stop to talk and I feel very much like Ive been ejected from the party.
Even though its 200ish km I decide to ride back to the frog campsite, as there is nothing else around. I think how nice it would be to get drenched by one of those thunderstorms but the sky is blue and bright. I stop for a swim at a river crossing and am given a beer by so youths doing the same. Finally at the campsite for sundown, 9pm, I give myself a was down with bottled water. There are mosquitoes here but they didnt bother me much last time I was here 2 nights ago, their buzz is worse than there bight. **** no, they must have come of age in the last two days and my feet get ravaged. Swollen and sore in the morning I shake all the frogs out of my kit, rap my feet up in my bike boots and start riding north.

29th June

1) Take care of a - double faced person, but not of a knife with two blades.
2) Meek and mild, meek as a lamb.

North then turn right for 300km ish then south again. The road detieriates until it is unrideable. Riding the sand roads alongside the road is the only option. I have my 1st tumble, not bad and didnt do any damage. The dark wet sand is like quicksand and you instantly sink, there is also drifting sand which is very hard to ride but Im enjoying the riding. I stop for fuel and as the garage staff are very friendly I decide this is a good time to try air up the rear shock. I dont attempt this unless there are friendly people around to help out if it goes pair shaped. Again, just as well as the shock does its trick of dumping all its air. Again local compressors will only manage 100ish psi. The solution at last is a lorry compressor that does the job with ease. The lorry owner insists that I wheelie up and down the street with him on the back as a thank you, I do my best.
Hot from all the effort I get a shower from the garage staff, the normal wooden shack with water tank on top. There are no showers in Kazakhstan in the winter; its well below freezing so no outside water.

As evening falls I cross another river and have to stop for a swim. There is a family on the other side doing the same. I know the riverside will be swimming with mossies come sunset so I ask the family if there is a hotel around. Im sure there isnt but Ive heard a lot about Muslim hospitality and am testing the theory a bit. With no hesitation the family insist that I stay with them. I have to say that they are the nicest people I could hope to meet. He is 26 with 2 young children and lives with his father mother and two young brothers. There house is simple, no shower or tolet but very clean and bigger that expected, with 6 large rooms and several outbuildings. They have camels and horses, all free wondering out on the steep until they come home to be eaten in the winter. Well the camels get eaten and the horses milked.
Im feed well and over dinner asked if I know about the wolfs that live out on the steep. A little more coversation and it seems that the wolf feed on camels and me if I happen to be around. Camping tonight and ignorance would be bliss. Im treated to a sauna and a Turkish style bath in the morning. Its the bath for the village rather than belonging to the house. My host asks me if I had seen Borat, this is not Kazakhstan he says. The he says the name Osam Binladen, this is not Islam he says. Funny that its all in the same sentence. The children are very well behaved and there is no demanding to sit on the bike, as has been the norm. Over lunch (chap-chap) the mother translates for some route advice. It seems my new detour will take me through a military live fire area; she circles this area on my free map from the friendly fuel station. She also tells me that this region will be unfriendly cynical in her words, to westerners, that I must not camp here, that I should drive through and not stop. As I leave she hands me a peace of paper, which says: -

1) Take care of a - double faced person, but not of a knife with two blades.
2)Meek and mild, meek as a lamb.

I take the knife with two blades to mean not to fight back

As we say our good buys and shake hands someone says come back soon, not in a million years is written all over my face, I hope they dont notice before I have time to change my expression.

Midday and Im on the road again. I say road but mean the sand track than runs along side. As far as I can tell the road is only there to reassure you your going in the right direction. Having said that I have to alternate and ride it occasionally. The sand can be very bright and a snow blindness means I have to suffer the black stuff to rest my eyes and refresh my concentration. A new American artic going in the opposite direction flags me down, I thing of the buch truck driver at the Uzbek boarder but all is calm. The driver just wants to know if I know where Im going, we have a cigarette and consult the map. I never say were Im really going just give my immediate route; its always good to confirm I havent missed a turning whist riding the sand lanes. On several occasions locals have flagged me down to make sure Im on the right road or to guide me out of towns were the rout is not obvious.
There is distant rain in two large clouds and I wish it would fall on me and cool me down. It is incredibly slow going. Im camped now and still havent covered the 300km before the turning south. At this rate this detour will take me a week, but what else is there to do.

30th June

Starting to see eagles at the side of the road. I wonder if a big eagle could talk a wolf in an alien ve predator kind of way.

Ive made some progress, Im now directly opposite were I started this little detour 4 days ago, Ive done 3 sides of a square and am just north of the Arial Sea again.
The road climbed to around 400 meters, most of Kazak Ive been riding through has been around 10meters below sea level. I guess I must have been riding on to of the mountain ridge I saw from the boarder road 4 days ago.
The landscape changed for about a 100km earlier today and I figured I must be in the live fire zone. It was an area of lots of small hill, ideal I thought for playing soldier, there were suddenly dozens of pylons and telegraph poles and high fences for no good reason and the area was very busy with trucks, some military and some civilian. The only personnel I saw was a truck driver tacking a dump in the reeds at the side of the road. I didnt want any bike problems here and road steady with mechanical empathy foremost in mind. Not for the 1st time on this trip I thought of the simplicity of a XR650R. There were lots of barracks dotted around and I stayed to the road, no mater how bad it got when the lanes through the hills looked very inviting.
100km later as the landscape returned to normal steep I began to relax thinking the stressful bit was all behind me. People today had not seemed so friendly, not checking that I hadnt broken down as I stopped for a rest at the roadside, which had been the norm. However all my fears and the advice from the Kazakh family were nonsense. Just goes to show that on a trip like this you have to have a positive mindset or you can end up worrying about everyone you meet and everywhere you happen to be. How do I know: -
In the distance there was a lone figure pulling what looked to be a wheelbarrow, I got closer and saw that he was western. Ole from Berlin, was walking from Berlin to Shanghi in China. Not all in one go but in three years and in three stages. Last year he had to end his challenge early as he broke his neck diving into a river in Kazakhstan, the doctors here didnt diagnose it and he struggled on for 7 days before giving in and returning home were he was immediately taken to hospital. Ole was covering around 40 km a day and had camped in the hilly area last night. The barracks I saw were for workers, the area was industrial, extracting ore from the rocks. Oli had stopped in the workers canteen the day before. We made B line for some rare shade and combined our supplies to make lunch and drink coffee. I drove around the town I had been warned against, not intentionally, I just couldnt find my way out of it, what a dump. But then again all of Kazakhstan so far has been. As my host from a few days earlier said Kazakhstan is not for looking, by which he meant, this is not an attractive place. It is a dump, with litter broken glass and assorted crap lying everywhere.
Im a short distance, once I find the right road, from the Arial sea and a swim is very much called for, but I have no expectations of it being a nice place, just a necessary cool down.

1st July
Ive been in Kazakhstan far to long, 10 bloody days. Its like being on the moon, theres a light side a dark side, some litter left by the Americans and you can get in your moon bug and drive around a bit. Here all there is, is craters rocks sand and dusk, litter everywhere and **** all to do but drive from north to south. If you have to come through this way, pack your sandwiches and dont stop.

Couldnt go bloody south, I couldnt find the road. Even if there was one. 200km north to turn south again. Arrive at the Arial sea just as the mosquitoes start to swarm so drive on by. Cant weight to get out of Kazakhstan but theres still 1000km of desert to ride through.

3rd July

Driving south, theres a 40 to 50 mph wind mostly catching me to my left but as the road turns left I get it head on or even to my to my right hand side. Aar verity, the spice of life.
Hotel and bike service time 6000ish miles covered. The suspension is set up better now and doing a reasonable job. The bike is sluggish down to around half power, hopefully an air filter cleaning will solve that. Ill change the oil at a friendly garage tomorrow.

5th July
I wish I could say that I was out of Kazakhstan but after thrashing through Im two days early for my Krijistan visa. Since my route is now upside down none of the visa dates flow anymore, if they ever did!
2 nights in a hotel, its not the end of the world. Up until know hotel stops havent been restful. A hotel stop is just time to catch up on choirs, wash cloth and maintain the bike. Now for the first time this trip I have to sit down, drink a beer and catch up on the Internet. Its not so straight forward finding hotels in cities. The obvious ones are usually the most expensive ones; I had to drive around for two hours to find one. The nicest one in my opinion with good parking and half the price of the first one I saw. Stupidly I had actual left Kazakhstan before the Krijistan boarder official told me my visa wasnt valid for another two days. Once again the guards were hospitable and as friendly as you could imagine. I have to go back again in two days at 10 oclock and Ive been told not to be late. The boarder officials had to bend the roles not to stamp my passport as on exit but they wouldnt bend the roles enough to let me pass, this there were very apologetic for. The all think that Im strange for not being married. One guard told me he had two wives and I have to show them a photo of my x girlfriend to get conversation flowing again. Thank you Izzy!
Everyone Ive met in Kazakhstan has told me not to go to Tajikistan, I will be shot there revolution revolution war they tell me, and Id begun to get slightly nervous about it. Tajikistan started a revolution in 2005 and then again in 2010. Dont quote me on the dates; its information I got over breakfast conversation. Two days ago I chatted, via a young interpreter, to a Russian solder who told me not to go as to Tajikistan; there were many goasts of the past, none of whom would welcome me. Given his age, I guess he was a Russian fighting Osama Binladen when Binladen was funded by the USA. Ive shrugged of these warnings as simply one region, country being sceptical of another. When I was a kid growing up in Scotland, the lads from Methlic (one small Scottish town) would tell tall tails of fights and daring does with lads from Tarvis (the neighbouring small Scottish town). Id had experience of this miss trust of the neighbouring region from the stories of the live fire zone. But the boarder guard today confirmed to me that travelling through Tajikistan should be no problem.
Im eating lightly, one meal per day and have lost any weight I started with. Its difficult to eat here as its so hot, the portions for the locals are small, which I guess reflects this and its one a day for me. My dinner in a resterant yesterday was free, another example of Kazak hospitality, the owner sat with me once the local lads had moved on and simply wouldnt take my money, wishing me good travels. The generosity and good will from the rural regions can go to your head. So I was a little taken back last night when I stopped to ask directions in the city and found myself interruption the local pimp or mafia man in the middle of his dodgy business. He was slightly affronted to be quizzed by a stranger and didnt welcome the helpful role he found himself in. A young Russian looking man with his shirt open to the waste and wereing the only crucifixion Ive seen this trip. He was overseeing the exchange of stuff from one blacked out car to another, which in turn was being observed by a posh 4x4 I had just ridden around.

As for the Kazak police. Ive stopped 4 out of the 8 times that they have tried to pull me over. The Chinese I met told me that when theyre flagged down they simply wave back and keep driving. This is not as easy as it sounds, Ive tried it. My tactic is to tuck in behind a truck as I enter towns or pass by on the outside of them when I can. Or just drive by as if I havent noticed them. When I have stopped theyve been friendly and no fine/bribe asked for. Only once did I know that the situation called for money to be paid. I had stopped to ask where was the nearest benzene in the entrance to a local business. The Lada police screeched up and demanded to know where I was going. The man I had just asked directions from came to my aid and the conversation (I think) went something like this:- Please dont embarrass me by harassing this tourist whilst he is my guest (as I was on his land and had stopped to ask his assistance) He, me, goes for petrol to the next town and will pass by this way again after that. Leaving it unnecessary to say that they could pull me over again on my return. It was a major crossroad on a newly made stretch of road and they had parked their Lada in the middle of it, I simply drove around them being sure not to make eye contact. The Lada police are local and dont pursue you, probable dont have fuel in the car. I stop for the ones with there guns out. These guys had made a show of being aggressive (unusual here, perhaps they had holidayed in Russia) and itching for some tourist tax, I was hungry hot and in the middle of the 500km detour that meant I missed the Aerial Sea and in no mood for tourist tax.

On a completely different topic, I met a Japanese man I would say was in his 50s yesterday, cycling towards china. He had been around Europe, Turkey, Georger, Azerbyjan, Kazakhstan and was heading home. He didnt want to stop his legs were in a zone, I know the feeling. But we said hello and went on our ways.

I havent felt any ill effects from my MS out here. Perhaps its the lack of any humidity or the

rich xr · Clubman B

Hi all, it's my diary, one size fits all as I don't seem to have the time for edits. Sorry about the photos the internet is so unreliable its too frustrating uploading them. I'll show them in the pub at a meet when I get back. thanks for reading.

Hoops · Elite

Awesome stuff Rich smile

L'orange · Devon's Best

Excellent stuff Rich, keep it coming when you get chance.

Dont worry about editing the copy, we know what you mean!

rich xr · Clubman B

does anyone have a link to andy landistows page?

rich xr · Clubman B

maybe these photos will work

Harty · Devon's Best

Only just found this thread! No wonder with a title like that Rich. An exellent read, keep it coming. I thought you were meeting up with other riders along your ride?

GREGORYPEECK · Clubman B

RE: floating of the Titanic (Mongolia, maybe, travel diary)

slip a long · Clubman A

keep them coming Rich excellent biggrin

kevinred · Clubman A

Great stuff Rich! Can't wait for the next instalment! wink

FBF · Clubman A

I see you browsing the forum Rich! How you doing?

rich xr · Clubman B

Todays entry more on the ride stuff when I catch up with the diary
21 7 2011
Years ago I had three appointments of dentistry for root canal surgery, the dentist didnt give me a choose of treatment but after the three appointments and £800 on the NHS he told me that he didnt manage to get all the root out and that this might be a problem some time in the future. I say he didnt give me a chose of treatment because a little later in a conversation with a friend, dentists were likened to estate agents in that they could have removed the tooth in the first place but it would have been much less work for them. So here I am in Tajikistan with chronic tooth ach and a thumping headack, the bike isnt quiet by any stretch of the imagination. I decide to hold out until I reach Bishkek, the capital of Kyrijistan rather than visit any local dentist, no one has any teeth in these parts. Its a 5 day ride to Bishkek and although the riding is wonderful the trip is tainted by my pain, sore head and now one side of my face is quite badly swollen. In Bishkek by chance I find a hotel with a dentist in the building. He tells me that my teeth are all sealed OK and that I would need a photo x-ray, and gives me an address. This second place is just like a good western dentist surgery and Im very relieved. The dentist in the hotel was more than a little suspect, one room and he was much more interested in flirting with the previous customer than he was in my teeth. The x-ray done and yes the earlier root canal surgery was infected. It was suggested that I have the tooth removed and I agree, I see no reason to try and save it I dont want any more problems further down the road. The catch is that no one at that surgery can do it until Saturday, its Tuesday now. Im given the address of the public dentist surgery, open 24hr from what I can tell. Christ, on arrival it does not give a good impression and I wish I had walked away. There are very sorry looking people with bandages or scarfs around there face and generally jaw area. Im seen quickly, novelty of a foreigner I think, by a big no nonsense type of man. After some talk in different languages some drawn diagrams and some prodding about in my mouth and we are agreed that the tooth should come out. We discus the root, again more diagrams, and he assures me he will remove it. The surgery is a flat table, no reclining chair here, with a large lamp with only two of the eight bulbs working. The only concession to hygiene is that I have to take my shoes of before lying on the table. Its that thing about shoes again, like china, no one in the countries Ive visited has an aversion to spitting in the street or on café floors, when you eat in cafes you sit up on a bed like platform and take your shoes off. Im OK with dentist jabs but the guy stabs at me with the needle I fight back, and the nurse holds my hands down. They use a pretty strong anaesthetic cause Im numb in a moment, he is clamping down with tools inside my mouth and out comes a tooth and I didnt feel a thing. After hes plugged the hole with a tampon I sit up and he puts the tooth in my hand. Its the wrong tooth. Not the troublesome capped infected root, root canal tooth but the perfectly healthy one next to it, Im dum struck. This guy isnt going to put it back. What can I do, Im given instructions to rinse my mouth with salt water and not to eat for 24hr. I go back to the posh dentist and explain what has happened, blank faces meet me. Now Im angry and return to the butcher at the hospital and start an argument. Im more that a little pissed off. The big guy is convinced he has removed the offending tooth and says there is nothing wrong with the root infected one. Now Im at fall down stage, I havent eaten much in the last month, less in the last week and my rage only exhausts me. I colabs into sleep at the hotel after shouting at the taxi driver because the fare was double back as it was there, I split the difference with him. In the morning I have the x-ray printed, The posh dentist gave it to me on disk but the hospital doesnt even have light bulbs let alone a computer. I ride to the hospital to show it to the tooth removal man, hes not around. I go to the bank and return to the removal man, Im going to show him hes and idiot. Again hes not around, I draw diagrams on the print showing the infection, the good but now removed tooth and the infected root canal one, I right in large print you are an idiot and leave it in his desk.
The posh dentist now say they can care for the root tooth in three days time. Im going to hope the anti biotics Ive now got stop the infection. I think I will ride on tomorrow and continue with my journey. I have to go to Astana, the Kazakhstan capital next for bike bits and there will no doubt be a posh dentist there if I need one.

Harty · Devon's Best

Jeez Rich, perhaps that's the reason no-one has any teeth! Hope you get it sorted mate, nothing worse than agonising toothache doh

Pete · Devon's Best

I burnt my arm yesterday on the kiln at work but I don't feel quite so sorry for myself now after reading your tale of woe.

Probably too late now but I have been told that a tooth once knocked out can be replaced and will settle in again if done soonish.

Although I have explored more widely than most around here your travels certainly put that into a different perspective and I look forward to the next instalment. I woke up today wondering why we hadn't heard from you for a while.

slip a long · Clubman A

well at least its not raining biggrin

Hoops · Elite

Bloody hell. I can sympathise, had similar root canal probelms not so long ago and it's bloody painful and you can't do anything to relieve it furious Hope the pain/problem tooth gets sorted soon for you Rich.

jt · Powermonger!!

Oh man.... disbelief .....nightmare... cry

rich xr · Clubman B

7th July

It seems Im destined to ride this trip solo

Out of Kazakhstan and my god what an immediate difference. Packed the bike early, I had to be at the boarder for my ten Oclock appointment. Ten Swiss had arrived at the hotel on TTR600s and a Japanese on a BMW 800. I didnt meet the Japanese but arranged to ride with the Swiss. The young night watchman for the car park had pinched my penknife but one of the Swiss, on hearing that I didnt have a map, promptly gave me one. (easy come easy go). I left before the ten Swiss confident I would meet them at the boarder, but my own impatiens and the heat made me decide to ride around a bit and then come back for them. Off-course I missed them, not only that but I got lost, fell over and got stuck in the mud, all for around 4 hours. I can read a map but can never seem to find the right road or pick the right landmark to gauge things by. This time there was a huge three tier reservoir and dam system. Was It on the map, was it ****. I even got chased away by a solder for taking a photo of the first flowing water Id seen in weeks. Never mind, the road I want is second on the right after the boarder, according to the map. On the ground it was first on the right. I head off up this wonderful little lane for 40km only to find it goes nowhere. On some tricky bit the weight of the bike gets the better off me and down it went, I lost around a gallon of fuel in the time it took me to strip it down and get it upright. Next I got it completely stuck in deep sticky mud (is there an other kind). Some locals came to help but four of us couldnt free it. My bike was at risk of becoming a fossil if it hadnt have been for a donkey that hee-oured in the face of stuck BMWs, I call it super donkey and it pulled the bike out backwards via the luggage rack, nice one gas chief. There is no point in asking directions here, no one knows where they are nor where anywhere else is and if they do, they dont want you to do there and especially not by the route you want to go by. If you show them the map its probably the first one theyve ever see and they spend half an hour deciding that its the right country but to be fare the map probably isnt even in the right language. On top of all of that half the locals are drunk and just want to talk to you about football. Theyre also not keen to help and prefer just to look at you. One guy expected payment for directions I knew I couldnt understand or would turn out to be useless, I told him, Im not American. Again I didnt change enough money at the boarder, its seems arrogant or foolish to change 100 dollar notes at these scabby looking kiosks with lots of people around so I just changed the Tenga Kazak currency, I had left. No were near enough but will get me by for a while and I have dollars if I get in a jam.

On the right mountain pass now. And wow, it is wonderful. Im camped up near the snow. I continued until my fingers, in fingerless gloves could take no more. And to think that in the desert Id been cursing myself for carrying the extra weight of a fleece and warm shirts and dam near gave them away, Im cold, its ganna be a cold night and its very refreshing. The riding is fantastic and the bike is doing not to bad. I was stopped at a military checkpoint, there, I think to stop people going up the mountain if the weather is bad. They wanted to see my papers but after a friendly handshake settled for a look at the map. Everyone shakes hands with everyone else here at any occasion. There are lots of tailless rodents running around, I dont know one rodent from another but they were also in the desert. I leave some pasta and salmon dinner at the entrance to their burrows, might keep em out of my stuff in the night.

8th
Woke up to patiant shepherd weighting outside the tent, he wants to say hello, I give him tea. I say that I saw his yurt last night and he says that he saw me looking for somewhere to but my tent. Again I could have camped next to him but I wanted privacy. He makes a sign as if to cut his throat and gets up to leave. I dont know if he was inviting me to drink cattle blood with him or if he was saying that he was now going to Slater an animal and that I should come. I settle on the action meaning that he doesnt like my tea and I dont go to join him.
The mountains flatten out and just as Im praising the bike, it dies suddenly as if it has an electrical fault, **** I think, never mind out in the mountains, nowhere in this country has a hope of fixing it. Imagine my relief when I get off the bike and see petrol pissing everywhere, this at lest I can fix. Its just the fuel line and before I have time to strip the luggage of to inspect it, a father and son in a passing car stop. Thankfully non-smokers. I put the fuel line back with a jubilee clip but rush the job because the father wants to push at every connection on the bike as hard as he can, if he had had a hammer he would have found something to hit with it. Never mind the bike, yes its fixed now so come to my house for tea. Honestly they couldnt get the luggage back on the bike fast enough, such was the urgency to get a traveller back to show some hospitality, nice but very annoying.. I have lunch with them, turns out hes an engineer, that enplanes his need for a hammer and the roads and bridges round here. He wants me to stay the night and makes an action as if to cut his throat, two invitations that dont go well together if youre a westerner. I ask about drinking blood and they dont do it, just slorter the animal for a feast. Incidentally this action to cut your throat also means, fill it up at fuel stations and a few other things I havent deciphered yet

Camping that night I take the time to check the bike over. Seems the fuel line came off because one subfame bolt had vibrated out and the others were all loose. I take the jubilee clip Id put on the fuel line off, thinking that it acted as a good warning, tighten the bolts and coverer every bolt with gaffa tape. The fuel line also gets covered in gaffa, it is abrading on the mounting for the long range tank.
Next day more mountains, beautiful but Im starting to think about fuel now. I had lost some when I dropped the bike and again with the pipe coming off. Pay tourist price for some out of a shed but no worries.
Meet 2 *******s by the river, no-one can leave you in peace here Some bolts on the luggage rack had come out, a luggage strip down, more bolts and gaffa tape. And have to leave this beautiful spot before tempers fray.
Later in the day swim in another river with some children and cattle. A bit of offloading over hill sized hard conpackted dunes to sleep out, no tent.

Wonderful but short ride over the dunes back to the road heading for Osh for no better reason than to get Internet to work out my route. I chew on shoe leather at this point cause its the first time Ive been relieved to be on a modern road, the black stuff. I had wondered when this moment would come. Stop for another swim in a lake. After Osh Im heading south for the Pamer Highway, the roof of the world, 4000 meters high. Its the part of the journey I was looking forward to the most and it is wilderness and beautiful. The lakes are salty and rivers fast flowing, both way to cold to swim in. My tyres are down to there last few hundred km but have to last at least a two thousand more until the first chance to get some more. Im riding trying not to use the brakes so stretch tyre life as much as possible. Ill get down to 1000km of were I would have been if I had come through Uzbekistan, only missing out on Dushanbe and off course riding back partly the way I came.
Tajikistan and the Pamar are a harsh place. In the places we stayed homestays people live without water or electricity or candles. There are massive lakes but theyre salty and from what I understood theyre empty of fish. There are no boats. At our first homestay there was a German film crew doing a documentary on the nearby lake, They explain that there is no reason for the lake to exist other than a meteor strike that formed the basin that held all the water that absorbed the salt from the land. Its an extreme and hard life here with a diet of potatoes bread biskets and sweets. Milk rice was a luxury for breakfast one morning but wasnt nice on account of the sour milk, no pasteurization, straight from the cow and not fresh for long. People have skin like leather and my hands are going that way from the simultaneous combination of sun wind and cold with no water to wash. Strangely you dont feel dirty even though you havent washed in a week. Its the air the wind and no humidity, you dont sweat or if you do it doesnt become sticky People become less Asian and more Arabic looking the further South we go and there are rivers again. On my last day in Tajikistan I really became exhausted, a combination of tooth infection the altitude and poor diet, my MS kicks in and I spend a night shivering with a fever.

On the road near Osh Im passed by a 4x4 that later stops and we discover were going the same way. Theyre a Polish father and son travelling in a kitted out pick up truck and dinner and a few beers are very welcome.
I travel with these two through the Pamer for a week. At times when I would be writing this diary, Im drinking vodka and chatting instead.
The son speaks English the father Polish and Russian. The father thrives on contact with locals and interacts at every opportunity. I prefer to camp but stay mostly in guest houses this week to accompany them. At times I was frustrated by my travel companions, we were travelling the same way on the same roads and time frame but I didnt understand why the father who spoke no English wanted so share his father son holiday with me. I would say to them not to weight if I fell behind but there was always a text to say they were weighting for me or the gps of that nights guest house. At boarder crossings the father would talk in Russian on my behalf to the boarder guards. I got frustrated with this as I felt I was missing out on this part of the adventure so started to ride in front of them near boarders so as to carve may own way through this trip. When we reach Ishkashim, the Southern most point on the Pamar Highway I get a little insight. I have been travelling on the very limit of my Michelin tyres, its looking very dodgy that I will get the 2000km back to Bishkek on the front tyre, making jokes about rapping them up with gaffa tape. Passing a small bridge the father stops and lights a Polish memorial candle and places it on the bridge. A friend of his died at this spot last year with a front wheel blow out. It was a slow speed crash but he cut his throut on the bikes wind shield. At that moment purely by chance a local walks by and the father asks him if he knew of the accident. Not only did he know but he had the bike at home weighting to know what to do with it. The exact spot of the crass is pointed out and the candle properly placed and the local instructed to relight it if it were to blow out. The father is friends with another Polish guy that does bike tours in this area, we meet him in the next couple of days going to Ishkashim to retrieve the bike. This guy has a part worn front tyre in the back of his van for me, I suspect that this was arranged but it is never directly said. I also arrange to buy a set of deserts from this guy in Bishkek and am weighting to hear from him now.
Met some Italians on two Yamaha 650s heading the other way off-course.

My Polish friend and our host are drunk on vodka but Im to tiered to join them. Im sat outside cooling off and dont have a drinking head on. He had to have some welding done on his truck, the non-drinking Muslim mechanic would only fix the truck if the polish and the host drank vodka all the time he was working, it took several hours and a bottle each. For the welding five dollars were asked and a ten year guarantee on the work was given. Shame Tremlets doesnt follow the same pattern.

Coming down of the Pamar I meet another solo rider, Zimmerman David @Gmail.com (going in the oboist direction off-course) who gives me a great bike sticker and these contacts. Almaty: Boris 007773652984, Barnaul {Russia} Lena 0079039487642, Baltiyskaya street 80.

Im happy to be out of Tajikistan, the landscape in Kyrijistan is far more friendly, I swim in the first fresh warm lake in over a week. There is a feeling of abundance compared to Tajikistan and Im invited to share lunch with locals at the lake side. I decline because my teeth hurt and a dentist is still three days away. The mountains and lakes here are impressive on a massive scale but assess to them is rare as the landscape is steep and sharp. With a thumping head convinced Id blown the baffle on the bike, it was just my headache exaggerating things. I decide to try and ride down to the waters edge for an early night. The short ride down a goat path took a good hour struggling the bike over difficult terrain. I dont pitch the tent thinking Ill ride again at dawn and catch the Polish. My early night is the worst of the trip, dont laugh but it was the ****ing frogs. Never before have I heard such a natural racket. At first I laughed and went looking for the source of the noise, thinking it was a hen of some sort. Each frog had a call as loud as a dogs bark and as the sun went down they all began to call out. There were about ten of them but trust me, ten is enough and at this stage I had no idea it would continue all night. Then it rained not heavily so I thought Id just last it out in my bivy bag but it kept on raining and the frogs kept on calling. I would stick my head out of the bag and hope to see signs of dawn, no luck. Once the bivy and sleeping bag were soaked I gave in and pitched the tent. Now all of my stuff was wet, no tent meant my clothes were out in the open. In or out of the tent the ****ing frogs were destroying my head. I guess that when the sun goes down they cant see predators and just shout all night, Im save Im safe Im safe Im safe Im safe. If you approach them, one by one they shut up and hop into the water. The only way I could rest my head was to stand were they wanted to be so they would hop into the water. I stood there in the rain much longer than was sane to rest my brain. Come dawn theyve all gone quiet and I have to get the bike back up the goat trail with no enthusiasm at all. Amazingly I only dropped it once, down a big rocky hole I just didnt see, my neck hit the top of the windshield and I thought of my Polish friends dead friend. Once the luggage was off, it was easier to right the bike than expected, the rocks giving good footing and making a ladder effect. Ever since I bought the bike one of the forks have been slightly bent. The drop down the rocky hole straightened it perfectly, with no more bike modifications Im back on the black stuff for around 7.30am. My ride gear is wet but I figure it will dry once the sun gets warm. Having not been paying much attention to the map I didnt realize I was about to climb to 4000 meters and stay there most of the day. At the top I give up and dress in all the cloths I have, glad I brought those winter gloves with me now. Its sports bike territory, good roads no straights and amazing views. I got a text from my Polish friends giving their position and asking me to catch up which I didnt like receiving but all things considered I made the effort to join them for breakfast. The evening before we had had a miss communication and they thought I was in trouble and they wanted my gps position to come and help. They wanted to know how far behind I was, I had text them saying that I had gotten the bike down a goat trail to the waters edge and was sleeping out. They had interpreted that getting the bike down had meant that I had crashed and reassurance was needed.
The climb down from 4000 meters is sudden and the views and good roads vanish. Now in crazy city traffic it is hot humid and dirty. The police want to pull me over, I ignore them, they dont follow. The drivers here are the worst so far, no indication and no obvious intention, overtaking two abreast in the face of oncoming traffic. But what annoys me is that they drive close along side me and just stare, and yes they have probably never seen a bike before, there are only a few small 2 stokes here. Shout Akooda (where are you going followed by where are you from) at me and completely box me in on the road. Dodging around the traffic is the local way and the only option.

My polish companions say good buy to me in Bishkek, a bottle of vodka is put in my pocket. I might stay with them a night on my way hom

My first food in about 30 hours, Lobster tails and banana smoothy mmm delicious, I grant that cities have some redeeming features.

Friday 22nd July
I thought it was Thursday but now I think I will stay in Bishkek and meet the dental appointment I made for Saturday at the posh dentists. The ant-biotics have taken the anger out of my toothache but I still have a root infection that needs treatment. I was going to travel on and put up with it but this is probably not the best idea. Maybe my travel insuranse will stomp up for the hotel and dental costs.

rich xr · Clubman B

Faffed around a lot today, indecisive about what to do. I wasnt going to stay in Bishkek for any one reason but there were two reasons, first to make my dentist appointment and also the promise of some new Desert tyres. The Deserts turned out to be a red herring although I was offered some half warn Knobblies, not to be sniffed at in these parts.
At the dentist, turns out I was wrong about the butcher dentist and he did have good reason to remove the healthy tooth. I dont have a root canal infection but a gum infection. The Posh dentist tells me I have to get it cared for. So I have to consider where to go from here. So not as planned to Issyk-Kul lake in Kyrgyzstan because the Boarder near there is now closed to foreigners making it a 500km round trip rather than somewhere on route. Will have to enjoy the national park in Kazakhstan instead. Head north toward Barnaul Russia as if I were still going to Mongolia, its 1800km directly but I will add to that by taking the scenic route. Ive been in contact with Lena there who has some tyres, fingers crossed. When I get there I can then think about Mongolia. Theres a fuel shortage there at the moment which means foreigners cant buy diesel, if the diesel is in short supply I thing it must have a knock on effect on the transportation of petrol.
Im going to pass on the half worn Knobblies, go to Almaty Tomorrow, if there are no tyres there Ill run mine down until Barnaul.

rich xr · Clubman B

Last night after my indecisions I very nearly ended up back at the 70 dollar Dostock Hotel but managed to find the guesthouse I looked for in the first place. 30 dollars per night and looking just like a posh English house in the middle of the city, all be it behind a walled garden.

24th July
Back in Kazakhstan, or as I now see it, friendly Kazakhstan. Passed a bike shop on the road into town so stopped at ask about tyres. An hour or so later the owner on a little scooter drives halfway across town to direct me to the shop with the best chance of having any. Theres a hotel next to the tyre shop and the bike shop owner then arranges me a room in the hotel and safe parking for the bike. I wasnt sure I wanted to stay at first but actually it pretty good, maybe the best so far 30 dollars and a balcony the size of the room I had last night. I am very board of staying in hotels and eating in restaurants. I want to camp and cook. It cheaper here off-course, I can have a feast and have been doing so for the last week for the price of cheep pub grub back home but I dont want to be spending all this money.
Made an effort to be in Almaty in time for the tyre shop only to find its closed on Mondays. The chances of tyres being in stock are slim but after todays riding I know my front wont reach Russia even if the back goes on forever.

25th

spare front strapped to the bike and out of the city. Its the ride north to Russia passing the Kazak lakes on the way. Stopped for a swim at the 1st one 70km out of Almaty, think small pleasure cruisers trip boats, tropical like water and fine sand. Didnt think to take a photo.
Next lake in the National Park, I didnt pass any shops and have no supplies so I figure a quick swim and back to the main drag. Some Russian hospitality later and Im well feed drunk on vodka and am sharing a trailer with a Belgium couple.

26th
The dusty ride through the national park which was OK, once again I didnt have any supplies so couldnt linger or enjoy the situation that much. On leaving me the two *******s that stung me for 80 Dollars, dont bother going here, once youve seen one singing sand dune youve seen em all. Nice camp site up in the hills.

27th

Second lake, think the see but dead calm. Its probably the size of England, fresh water, no boats and only 21 meters deep in the middle, so Im told. Paid tourist rate for fuel and didnt like my guide much. Him and his friends said they would only travel in Arabic countries.

28th July
North north north, coppers tried to pull me twice today but I didnt stop for either. Silly really, cause by chance one might have a fresh pot of coffee steaming speak good English and happen to know whats going on in the moto gp season.
Back in the land of the sudden thunderstorm and it is really kicking off out side the tent and once again Im on top of a hill and the only thing for miles. Ive never won anything on the lottery so I figure my odds are good. There are no forests here so its not a forest fire but the landscape is a blaze on the horizon. Its not dissimilar to Devon Mooreland so it must be the scrub thats burning, a good ten miles of it, I guess started by the lightning. I tried but my camera cant get a picture of the orange glow. Ive got no reason to stop in Semmey, other than some dental floss and mouth wash. So should be back in the USSR for the afternoon. Wonder how long it will take the coppers to point their toy radia at me. Have to check my Russian visa soon and see when I have to start heading west.

29th

starving hungry and no opportunity to find food I finally find a shop in a small Russian town. The boarder crossing was routine and simple but there was nowhere to buy a Russian green card, insurance, so I dont have any. Im camped 1 km from the road in a farmers field which is lovely cut grass and its going to be a comfortable night, colder than Ive become used to but thats just fine.

30th good teeth and enduro tyres

6am and Im on the road to Brunaul 200 km away, its early enough not to worry too much about the Russian police. Entering the town and I stop at a bike shop for a look-see. After a few enquiries and Im on the phone to Victor who says he can help me with tyres. But I havent decided my route or what type of tyres I want yet, also Im hungry and want to eat and unload into a hotel before I start meeting people. Ive also been in contact with someone called Lena who tells me see has tyres and want to find her first.
At the Burnaul Hotel I meet a Russian biker whos was travelling with his friend who crashed and did a lot of expensive damage to his new BMW 1200. Now travelling alone he invites me to ride with him to far eastern Russia. Its not long before victor turns up, he has his phone number on a bike travellers help list and the Russians call to meet him. Turns out that all roads lead to Lena and victor takes me there, I buy Russian off road tyres, which means I commit myself to going to Mongolia. To be honest Im not full of enthusiasm .
A visit to the dentist shows that my gum infection is under control and Im directed to buy some ant-biotic cream as Ive reached the limit if the tablets. Dinner and a few drinks and Im not allowed to pay anything.

!sty
A day of bike maintenance, not for me but the Russian guy has suspension problems, it takes all day and I suspect most of tomorrow, so no tourist sight seeing and who cares. Victor organizes Russian insurance for me, the insurance agent thinks nothing of coming to meet us at the bike garage on a Sunday to sell me 3 months insurance for 1650 Rupees.

slip a long · Clubman A

keep them coming mate biggrin

rich xr · Clubman B

whenever I get the internet

Fixer · Sportsman

The shortage of diesel is because President Putin stopped the export of it until Russian stocks were replenished. There was no shortage of petrol in Mongolia in June nor did they expect there to be as petrol was not banned from being exported from Russia.

Been there, done it! biggrin

rich xr · Clubman B

I stay another day in Barnul, not my best decision because I spend my day just weighting for Karill however Victor is riding down to the Ati Mountains tomorrow and I fancy the ride company and his local knowledge. These few days in Barnul at Victors garage is the first time Ive seen the fix anything attitude,
Im told by everyone I speak to to be careful in the Ati region. The local people here are a breed apart ant not the type to meet in a dark ally. Ive heard this before on this holiday but this time its the advise from everyone I speak to and I will take note. So no wild camping in this region, which is a shame because its stunning.
I drive the 400km into the mountains with Victor several bmws and transalps pass in the other direction coming back from Mongolia and Im surprised and embarrassed that that dont stop for a chat, Victor thinks no nothing of it and is in a hurry to get were were going. and am left at his friends place to camp.
Its a bikers summer home and well known by all Russian bikers. On arrival Im dispatched to the shop to buy the alcohol. No problem, Ive received enough hospitality to undertake this task happily. The night deteriorates or escalates depending on your point of view into a fine Russian piss up and I have a wonderful time. After a few beers we climb on some bikes, not mine, and head off fishing, no luck. Again I am humbled by the thought that I cant imagine this happening in the UK. A Russian sauna, banua is lit and I get the full treatment. The sauna is as in the UK but much hotter than our H&S would allow but its a dry heat, no water is added to the fire. On the way back from the fishing trip we stop to collect young silver Burch branches, these will be used for wiping in the sauna. First time in is standard, sit in the heat, then out for a rest. 2nd time in and my host whips my feet with the Burch branches. Its a very gentle wiping but the branches have been socking in scolding water and brushed against the saunas wood burner are way to hot for me, the sawn s wooden bench is so hot I cant even lay my feet on it. I have to get up and out. 3rd time in and my host dips the branches in cold water before the wiping begins. It still hot enough to strip skin but I thing thats the whole idea, I enjoy it and my host is very good at the technique. 4th time in and I get a honey massage. Honey is pored over my back, worked in and scrapped of, ending a bucket of water being pored over me. Lovely. As you can imagine all this works wonders with the alcohol consumed and a great night is had by all. Im in no hurry and decide to hang around the next day and chill out here. After finding it rare that anyone speaks English, 4 out of the 8 people here do.

3rd
A tourist tour and I chilled out day, stupidly I didnt carry my camera so I hope someone here emails me some pictures of the day. Really stunning with two outrageous rope brides that made my hair stand on end. Bikers leave and bikers arrive. There is no bike snobbery here, any bike is a cool bike and no mater what theyre riding at the time, everyone Ive spoken to has or has have a Ural with sidecar in a garage or shed somewhere and all foreign bikes in Russia cost a fortune, almost double the cost of Europe.

4th
Almost at the Mongolian boarder and I meet two KTMs and a Landcruser, you guessed it, going in the other direction. They tell me it took all day to cross the boarder, its now around 6pm so I decide to backtrack 10km with them and share a campsite, safety in numbers but we werent disturbed. The first campfire of my trip a beer and the exchange of maps and some travel info. Theyre two Australians and a Canadian going around the world ending up in the UK, very chilled out people.

5th

Crossed over into Mongolia today, 4 or so hours at the boarder spent talking to some Swiss in 4 by 4s. A new country always brings refreshing optimism but entering Mongolia is really special. The road disappears and immediately you get the sense that there will be thousands of km of dirt tracks. I tire very quickly and aim for an early camp but not before attempting a ridiculous hill climb in search of some flat ground. I dont make it and really struggle getting the bike back down the rocky incline. So Im camped on a windy hillside and enjoying some home comforts of my tent, will start to try and find my way across this country tomorrow.

6th
Met 3 Russia bikers this morning they were heading north, I was going south.
There was a time earlier in this trip that I didnt fancy travelling in much of Mongolia, boy am I glad that Im here now. It is the highlight of the trip. The riding is superb and the scenery stunning. Looking at the scenery is often followed by a wobble or a heart in your mouth moment as the bike finds deep gravel or soft sand.
My Russia enduro tyres are rubbish, the back prefers to dig holes rather than drive the bike and the front cant hold a line on or off the road. Michelin Deserts would rule the world if only you could buy a pare.
As for the old argument, which is better, a sat-nav or a map, out here it is irrelevant, no matter which direction you choose to drive you know that its all just guess work. The camp this evening is overlooking an enormous valley and lake and once again the lightning gives an amazing display.

7th

Woke up this morning feeling my MS, which means lack of energy and enthusiasm head of down the track and very soon arrive at my first river crossing. If theres one thing you need when trying to negotiate an overloaded bike through a river its energy and enthusiasm. I stalled and pondered for a while and it wasnt long before a local came along in the other direction and demonstrated the route through the water. Once on my side he offered to take my main luggage over in his 4x4 for me, I accepted and revving the bike just to give me some gusto I followed him back over, no problem but a milestone never the less. Two hours or so riding and Im feeling back on form. The bike has a funny way of doing that for me.
Just outside the next town theres a lot of activity outside three gurs (Mongolian yerts) and a pull up to see whats happening. Its a Mongolian wedding and Im invited in. Im feed and given vodka, I down the glass Russian, Polish style thinking it the right thing to do but its not the Mongolian way and people laugh. Here the glass is given to you be someone stood in front of you, you then pass it back to him, he tops it up and hands it to the next person. Its a constantly full glass that gets passed around no doubt symbolizing abundance. Im given a huge leg of mutton and milk tea. Im told I have to give a gift to the bride and groom and to sing a song. I give one of the torches that I have, luckily I have two and resisting the temptation to sing anything by the sexpistols or Ian Dury I manage to remember one verse of the flower of Scotland My relatives would be ashamed of me. The bride and groom are overwhelmed by the gifts they recive from there friends and family, not my torch. And quietly cry. Everyone cries at weddings. At the head of the table there is no best mans speck but fathers and grandfathers of the couple introduce there families and someone quietly reads a half hour long poem. I say my good buys after around two hours and head off. (The wrong way) I dont mind the error the views are a pleasure but after 4 hours or so riding I find myself back at the wedding. I ask to pitch my tent near by and join the celebrations. The men all sitting on the right side of the gur protected under the sun and the women sit on the left side, protected under the sky. (As its translated to me) The men are all singing and getting drunk. Vodka from bottles from the men is passed around in a shot glass and homemade milk vodka is passed around in a small bowl from the female side of the family. I dont drink much by Russian standards but seem to probably drink a fare amount by Mongolian standards. Each table is covered with enough sweets to last a lifetime of Christmases yet all the Mongolians under 50 have perfect teeth? Im really noticing peoples teeth on this trip.
I turn in around 11ish the singing and drinking goes on long into the night. 4am, dawn and the men start to sing again. I imagine they all have stinking hangovers and are encouraging themselves and each other to get up and start the day. I had been told the previous evening that Mongolian people start their chores at 4am. The heard of cows and goats also wake up and all divide that my tent is the best thing to try and lie on top off just like a bouncy castle for the four legged and hoofed. I have to punch and kick at them from the inside as I get dressed to stop them crushing it. When Im dressed and open the tent door a little white goat looks in at me and really wants to come inside, I feel totally stupid for getting pissed of with such an animal. So its an early start for me to. I try to find someone to say goodbye to but therere all out doing whatever they do or else theyre in a heap on the ger floor in no state to be disturbed. An hour down the track and I stop to make myself some coffee. Thats when it hits me. I couldnt really expect to get away with drinking milk vodka and unpasterized milk tea. Although I always new I would try it at some point in this trip. I spent the next two hours being sufficiently unwell that I dont need to try these things again.

My route so far has been totally indecisive. The Australians on the KTMs I met a few days ago told me that there was an impassable river north of one of the lakes here. True to form Ive forgotten which lake they pointed out so have started my journey though Mongolia taking the first few lakes to the south aiming to turn north sometime soon. Im not on the mountainous northern route or the Gobi southern route but smack bang between the two. With this in mind I think it very unlikely Ill meet any other bikers. Just then two Polish on 350 x-army Harleys come over the hill going in the opposite direction. They tell me that theyre coming this way because theres an uncrossable river to the north. I know that I can now turn north to the Mountains but after a rethink am going to keep heading south and see as much of this country as I can. That said Ive spent today riding the flat lands, its a little to much like the Kezak steep for my liking, the track is corrugated and bike braking and bone shaking. You can try and skip over the corrugations by riding fast, 50ish but there is always a reason to slow up and this is no place to have a tumble.

8th
So today travelling in the opposite direction Ive met one guy on a Suzuki v-storm on a round world trip, he was making good time and was in a hurry so we didnt chat for long. And now Im camped with an Italian couple riding a 1200cc moto-guzzi, the most ridiculous bike to have in Mongolia but hes an engineer and the bike was given to him by way of sponsorship. There a lovely couple and we shared a miniature whisky and pasta dinner. Its raining now and has rained all day, I dont feel like complaining about it yet, overall I/e been very lucky with the weather, maybe tomorrow will highlight my lack of waterproofs, my goat skin seat cover which doubles as a sleeping mat is smelling very goaty now that its damp, as I suspect I do. (for those of you unfamiliar with the smell of wet goat think, pack of wet dogs) Road around 250km of off road track today, very enjoyable.

9th

The bike fell over again, it does this as the air shock slowly sags when its on the side stand. This time it broke the screen which as it turns out Im very happy about. Its amazing the psychological effect of making the bike feel bigger than it is the screen has. Now its gone I have my nimble off road bike back and my riding is ten times better for it. A fare amount of maintenance needed today, I got paranoid about the front wheel barings and had to check them, so far so good. The bike decided to piss petrol from somewhere on the top of the original fuel tank, it did this twice for no obvious reason other than my very enthusiastic riding sloshing the fuel around excessively. Ive decided to take it easy when both tanks are full and keep the taps on the touratech tank turned off to ease the strain on the seals, ( it sucks fuel passed the taps anyway off or on)
Although Ive ridden full pelt all day Ive zig zaged again and havent covered much ground. I have however made an executive decision about my route, more on that later as it is dependent on the rivers ahead being fordable.
Again Mongolia is a landscape of science fiction, my rational mind cant take it all in at once, there is more sky more mountains and more lakes than you would think possible to fit into one view. Certainly my camera cant do it justice or even attempt to because its broken down, If you want a more petrol head description think your own personal off road race track more than twice the size of France. Other damage due to bike falling of stand is that the luggage rack is now out of shape and will need some attention soon. Its official, gaff tape really does stop bolts from vibrating loose, I had to re-tighten all the un=gaffered bolts today/
After a typical Scottish misty morning the rest of the day has been glorious sunshine with all the thunder clouds dropping there rain somewhere else in the sky. Im camped down by a river something I would normally avoid but although its swarming with mosquitoes outside they are leaving me and the tent alone, to busy dodging all the jumping fish.

A very slow day, gaff will stop bolts vibrating loose but it doesnt stop them snapping. I spent the morning fixing the luggage rack as best I could but no one here will have a drill for 1000 km. If your going to make your own luggage rack be sure to drill a out all the bolt hole4s over size because linning them up again once its all a little bent and twisted is a pain in the but.
After deciding to go south Ive only managed to do 75 miles east, there was a river to the south and the route was extreme 4x4 only. No Im in 2 minds again were to go, Ive finally turned south but am thinking about calling it a day and heading north again to Russia. My bike and I are loving Mongolia but if anything brakes I have no paddle Ill ride south for one day and then rethink at my next camp.

12th

so today in the other direction we had an Africa twin and an GS800, the 800 is not an off road bike and the off roading today has been some of the best. Just before I met these guys I got hit smack in the face by an eagle. Normally as you approach birds that are stood in the road they get out of the way but not on this occasion. The big slow bird just managed to get airborne and head height. Straight in the face. I felt like Id been hit by a medicine ball, I turned the bike around curtain there would be a lame eagle in the road. It was stood stunned at the side of the road but flew of as I approached. The guy on the GS800 told me it was probably a falcon but the difference was academic to me.
My bike is absolutely the ride bike for Mongolia. Even the rear shock has performed well, it can handle an undulating landscape very well, maintaining good grip and never bouncing me out of the seat and Ive not been riding timidly, getting my heavily loaded bike in the air on several occasions, its the short frequency bumps that it cant handle. I also have to eat my words when it comes to the Russian enduro tyres, in Mongolia they are brilliant, dont carry expensive ones all the way here just buy these in Barnul 1000km from Mongolian boarder.
In the afternoon I made a direct line for a biggish town to try and find an electric drill to repair the rack, which meant a little asfelt, mission accomplished. Now I can head south across the mountain pass although at the moment damp and dirty my enthusiasm is wanting a bit. It has pored with rain all around me today resulting in very muddy condition but Ive missed the worst of it mealy getting damp from all the puddles, my luck cant hold out for ever.
Im camped up by the tree line and have left my wet goat outside the tent tonight, I dont want to draw the attention of the local wildlife inside. (Bears and wolfs). Ive got the Mongolian weather sussed, every second day it rains somewhere else.

15th

I should have turned `south to day, its the reason I came this direction but I just doesnt seem to want to happen. Ive been ridding around looking for the south road out of town, even through a diving test zone to a few waving fists. I cant find the route and I also cant conger up the enthusiasm to head further away from my eventual turning point.
Turning east and homeward has been weighing on my mind the last few days, it would be far simpler just to keep going east, the world is round after all. I had intended to exit Mongolia North of Ulum Battar and meet the Russian biker I met in Barnul at the Bikal Lake in Russia. Everyone says this area of Russia is beautiful and I can pick up on some of Walter Colbaths waypoints there. But Mongolia is also beautiful and if I want to see a big lake then there is one here. Completely undecided about what to do I head out across the hill North. Im not riding any tracks, just going north across the hills. There is a track heading North East about 20 km north of were I am. This track them curves around North West. This will make my turnaround point gradual and take me up to the standard Northern route across the country around 300km away.
I know I have no chance of meeting other western travellers riding this way. It is only a random set of occurrences, needing to fix the rack and my total indecision that has led me to this route. You would have to be me to be here. It is two and a half days of off roading on the smallest of lanes and only one dead end. I find the track I want by heading for the largest valley I can see, distant gurs make a bread crumb trail for me to follow and I have a great since of achievement that Im no doubt the only westerner to go this way. (Maybe)
The Mongolian goat hearers make a lot of noise. At first I thought there were drawing attention to them selves when they saw me, but now I can see that they are shouting and calling out to tell the beers and wolfs that man in coming. There are quite a few forest covered hills on my route. I camp close to them but always feel a little uneasy with my back to them at night. My wet goat is now to dirty to be used as a sleeping mat but Im not ready to dispose of it yet.
I

gaschef · Devon's Best

Hi Rich

Good to hear that you are having an interesting time, I was going to say fun but having worked in some of the places it is infuriating

Glad to hear that the luggage rack is holding up, never thought you would be using it as a tow bar, still I do try to build them strong, then I see you are having to fix it, so I hope our design plan for possible repairs enroute works out

Keep up the good work, see you when you get back

-- Edited by gaschef on Monday 15th of August 2011 02:53:37 PM

Harty · Devon's Best

Brilliant write up Rich, can't wait to do this myself. I'm surprised at the amount of bikers you are meeting on a whole variety of bikes. Don't come home yet, there's only riots and mediocre weather! You're in the best place, so make the most of it!

rich xr · Clubman B

The Mongolian goat hearers make a lot of noise. At first I thought there were drawing attention to them selves when they saw me, but now I can see that they are shouting and calling out to tell the beers and wolfs that man in coming. I join in one morning by singing DAYO IS-A DAYO, it feels good to make a noise after all this travelling by myself. There are quite a few forest covered hills on my route. I camp close to them but always feel a little uneasy with my back to them at night. My wet goat is now to dirty to be used as a sleeping mat but Im not ready to dispose of it yet.

15th and 16th
Pull into a hotel for a western restaurant, if there is one thing that will get you to leave Mongolia and Tajikistan prematurely its the awful food. Im sat at the internet eating lunch and dinner in one sitting. Im not ready to head west yet so decide on a final excursion up to a large lake in the north. Its around 80 miles away and I find a single track to it over the hills. Again I cant believe my luck with the weather. All around are thunderstorms pissing rain and over me a small path of blue sky. I arrive at the lake to find out that the route I want is for horses only, I dont want to stay in any of the tourist Gers that are set up here so head of to the other side, over the hills and find some flat ground in the forest. I bought my first little bottle of Mongolian vodka but it tastes like pain stripper smells and I through it away.
It is getting very cold at night in these parts.
Im woken at dawn by a pack of wolfs outside the tent. They sound exactly like the impersonation the Italian on the Moto-guzzi did for me a few days ago, if I didnt know better I would have guessed them to be wild boar. There are at least three very interested in snorting and sniffing under the tent and I can hear more wandering around a few meters away. The sniffing and snorting gets more and more enthusiastic, I cant see anything but can hear that snouts are now under the tent porch. (No ground sheet here). I had had thoughts about this happening and imagined that I would get dressed into my bike gear but in reality this is no time for rustlings and movement inside the tent that would only cause more interest. Ive been staying very quiet but now is the time for action and so at the top of my voice I sing out DAYO IS-A DAYO IS-A. This works a bit and the wolfs jump back but they dont leave, now pacing around a few meters from the tent. They pace around the tent for a good 30 minutes and in that time lots of sounds cause me to imagine lots of things. There is some running, several low deep throaty yawns, then the snapping of twigs on the ground. Then a very load deep growl, could that be a bear! A lone animal now circles the tent. The locals near by, about a quarter mile away wake up and get up, they start to make a lot of noise as is their way, Shouting and then chopping wood, its the unmistakable sound of a heavy thump on a tree stump cracking through the air. Slowly the noises outside my tent get more distant. I desperately want to sneak a look but Im no fool and stay still for another ten minutes. Now its time for me to get up, Im desperate for a piss and so singing DAYO all the time I get dressed and out of the tent, its cold and Im hungry.
I rethink my route again, after that experience Im not going to risk the mountain road that would have me camping in the woods again. Im very glad I didnt prepare any food last night that would have left scraps around. All the local cafes are still closed so now Im back at the hotel restaurant that I eight in yesterday. Its all west from here.

MartinG · Novice

Bledy nora Rich! Im so close to the edge of me seat ive spilt me cornflakes on me lap.

Mate ive owned and worked a team of huskies and done a bit of work with wolves,i think what you herd was a fire breathing snorting Mongolian forest monster all i can say is your dam lucky you didnt start singing a Kylie song(lucky,lucky,lucky wink ) Keep safe.

rich xr · Clubman B

. Anyone reading this still want to go travelling without a tent?
Its all west from here.

16th 17th

I was going to write about how getting lost was a thing of the past, that the word lost should be struck from the language, unless its describing a moronic never ending sit-com. My traverse from the middle Mongolian road to the northern one was seamless even though there was no direct route. There are valleys and hills, valleys have Gers in them and Gurs have tracks linking them to other Gers and intern other valleys and places. To find your way, you pick a valley running in the direction you want to go, in the valley you ride towards a Ger were you will find a track, simply do this following the compass direction you want. Your sat-nav will tell you where youve been in relation to where you are even if, like mine, its only a line on a blank screen.
I arrived in Moron (a northern Mongolian town) 300km across hills and fields following this pattern. Moron has a hotel with Internet and a great restaurant. From there I rode up to wolf lake and even though I dont like to backtrack, hunger brought me back to the Moron hotel restaurant. From there I headed west yesterday. I didnt bother to look at the map I just picked any road heading west as I have done up to now. I soon realized I was on the wrong side of a large river. Checking the map I could see two towns ahead with roads that crossed the river, feeling pretty pleased with my self that I was riding lovely little lanes and making good progress west, rather than the main route that was no doubt a nasty road and confident in my navigation technique I continued on. I was heading into a region of the country that is bounded to the west by the Russian boarder, bounded to the north by some mountains and the Russian boarder and bounded to the south by this river. I would find a valley and a track going the right way only to find that it curved around to another valley that also didnt have any particular direction. Every time I asked directions I was directed back the way I had just come no mater which way I was heading. Not only that but no mater how curious I was, no one here seamed to want to give me the time of day. Even one guy I helped to change the tyre on his little bike couldnt be bothered to look at my map and simply pointed me back the way I had just come. I headed south as best I could reaching the river at one point down a rocky track that it was obvious no vehicle had been down in a long time. When I reached the river I could see why. Just because the map shows a road crossing the river doesnt mean that theres a bridge. Maybe this river is fordable at another time of year but there is no hope of crossing it now. I make camp. Today I spent most of the day persisting in my attempt to find a way south and west but eventually, demoralised, I resigned myself that all I could do was return to Moron. I had done just over 200 miles and was now back exactly where I started, at the Moron hotel restaurant for the 3rd time. Leaving town this time I follow the map and still find myself at dead ends. Had I crashed and died already, was this my ground hog day, was I lost? At six in the evening I finally get on the main northern road. Its dirty and rocky nothing like the wonderful lanes Ive been on so far, not nice to ride, Im tiered and in desperate need of rest and a shower and even though the hotel is cheep and clean Im determined to make some progress west, which I have, but only a few miles. For the first time in Mongolia I am actually tiding a main route.

One cutesy I was show in this dead end region was early in the morning once I had struck camp, a woman from a ger a reasonable distance away, walked over to me with a pot of tea. Very nice.

18th
The bloody bike fell of the stand again this morning, just got it loaded up put it into neutral, which allowed the chain to slacken, the air shock sagged and down it went. The rack is bent again but no worries the bummer is that it crushed the sat-nav power lead in the steering lock. I can hear all the told you so s from here. I headed west with it on battery power. Leaving the next town I take a track that curves round northwest instead of west, its a dead-end on the map.
Desire lines, is a term used by planners and architects to describe a path in the ground made by walking directly from A to B when the actual path the planners have built for your use does something different. This pretty much sums up Mongolian travel.
On my journey through Mongolia I have ridden the faintest of desire lines and occasionally ridden over hills where there are none at all. This isnt because Im good at navigating, far from it, it comes purely from a dogged refusal to back track. Today may be the most extreme of examples of this. Ive ridden 100ish miles to progress maybe 30 and found myself in the most remote of places with no sign of vehicles passing this year. It has been glorious weather here the last few days, had it rained todays traverse Im sure would have been imposable. Miles and miles of bog and marshland. Just before the battery died on the sat-nav I found a track running my way, southwest. I pushed on along it until even I was resigned to turn around and ride the two, three hours back to town. But I met a hunter that confirmed that this track did indeed join the main northern route again at some point. But passable with what, on foot maybe. The sun was setting and this was my only navigation aid. Its a forest rich area and no place to camp and make food, there are no gers with dogs to bark at wolfs, no livestock or any sign of life. Im now back in an inhabited valley somewhere close to the northern road. I bought some cheep Chinese USB leads from a small shop but theyre crap and at one point I thought theyd fried the sat-nav for good, now having spliced a few cables together Im charging the sat-nav from the laptop, Ill only get away with this once as I can only charge the laptop at hotel stops.

19th
Now were did I pack that compass. In the morning I know I want to head directly west down the valley Im camped in, but I cant ride the valley because its largely dry bog with some wet bog and a few muddy streams. I ride around picking up tracks but none of them want to go anywhere decisive. Eventually I spot two western bikers riding east fast. I dont try to catch them and they dont see me but theyve just identified the northern route for me about a quarter mile to the north, I take this track west.
The part of the northern route Im ridding now is a bit more remote than perhaps Id given it credit for and my progress is slow. I guess Im going to be in Mongolia for a few days yet. Its been pissing with rain all around me again but Ive travelled in my own pocket of blue sky. Although now Im camped the storms have found me and its pretty dramatic outside.
I dropped the bike twice today both times in soft sand, first time I had come to a stop but had no footing, it was like a very close contest arm wrestle, the bike wanted to lay down to the right and I had to hold it up to the left, nether of us moved for some time and then the lack of breakfast got the better of me and down it went. Second time at about 20mph the soft sand grabbed the front wheel and off I came, both time was I luggage strip down before I could right the bike.
I was called over to a Ger at around 2pm, this happens a lot and I pick my moments as to whether or not I stop. Ive been feeling the lack of good food and running on reserve energy all day, any chance to stop for a few minutes is welcome. This guy had just slaughtered a sheep and was washing the blood of his hand as I pulled up. He had invited me over because he had an abundance of food to share. He was a happy chappy and very likable. His wife was cleaning out the intestines in a bole, it looked like she was preparing sausage skins and he was about to cook the liver. He cuts up the liver and equal amounts of fat and fries them. The liver is good, the fat not so good but Im getting used to it and he insists that they are eaten together. I like the taste of Mongolian tea, its like warm soya milk with a tiny amount of tea, I just dont want to drink it in case it makes me ill, so I sip at this politely. Next the heart and lungs get boiled, I havent seen any haggis or sausage like food here but they mast have it.
Bolts vibrated out of the sub-frame again, hope I have a spare.

rich xr · Clubman B

The northern route is not all its cracked up to be, the riding and the scenery havent been the wonder of the middle route.

There are to two downsides to motorbike travel, one is that if there is a **** in the vicinity he will always find the bike, the other is the xchallange saddle.

There are often several tracks going in the same direction here, this happens when the first track gets to erode and drivers simply drive next to it and his happens again and again. Usually the outside tracks are the newest and best to ride. But this also means that you can end up on a track going somewhere else as you drift further away from the middle one. So Ive found myself ridding the most north of the northern route and am now back in a desert. I pull into a town with a fresh water well and am looking forward to a rest splashing about but the village idiot finds me and I have to move on. Tiered and hungry and a bit niffed that Im in a desert again.
I met some Mongolian rally drivers, thats not a race, its when you drive to Mongolia and then donate your car. They tell me about the same impassable river to the north and I know I have to head south again but I need a hotel stop to recharge me and my gadgets. Im looking for a campsite, not riding any track but just across the desert. I see a horse lying down in the edge of my vision, do horses sleep standing up? A short time after I have to hit the brakes as I come across a set of old tracks square on. These are discarded routes to rutted to still be driven, theyre like a ploughed field but about 2ft deep. I bound over the first two but the bike goes down hard on the third. The lie of the land is with me and I pick it up but it drains the last of my emery, I have to stop. Ive but the tent up but its to windy to cook anything and in the distance I see this dead horse. I know its not a good place to camp, the carcass must attract wolfs but Im to exhausted to continue. Weighting for the wind to die down I try and get some life back into the sat-nav. This means taking of the longrange tank, if Im going to do that I may as well clean the air filter. So Im camped in the desert in view of a dead horse. Ive watched enough David Atinbough to know that carcass could bring every wolf for 50km here by dawn and Ive dismantled my bike and used my drinking water to clean the air filter, I know this is not my proudest day for decision making. Everything is just back together by the time the sun goes down but the wind hasnt dropped and Im getting very uncomfortable about this dead horse. I think a coffee will help and them maybe just an hours sleep in my bike gear. Nothing works, I have to pack up sticks and move on, you see just how dusty the desert is when you ride by night, I head over to photograph my dead tormentor but just with the bike lights I cant find it. I ride 20km west before stopping and setting up camp again, the wind has died down by now, it around 2am. I didnt manage to fix the sat-nav. I buy cheep (its all you can get) mini USB phone charger leads and try splicing them to the charge cable, but the sat-nav just thinks its connected to a computer and goes into data transfer mode, in which you cant navigate.
I would be happy to be back in the Moron hotel restaurant but Im in an Ulaangom fleabag with no wi-fi.
My main priority is to get the bike out of Mongolia with no mechanicals, Its easy to imagine horrible noises. The toolbox is down by the engine and the tools can rattle around, the dry chain makes a cyclic rumble like wheel bearings, at one point a dog I hadnt seen ran up behind me barking franticly and I immediately thought O **** what have I broken now.

22nd
Met another German agriculturists at the hotel last night, expect german run farms in the north in the future. He employed a translator how spoke American so I took the opportunity to find out if the northern route had a troublesome river. The Mongolian rally guys I met told me a story of a cyclist who walked through it up to his chest caring his bike. However according to the office of exclusivity, this route is passable without any obstacles? So taking all desire lines to the south this time Ive had a great time riding the first enjoyable tracks so far in the north. I made one mistake riding up a dead-end, the track deteriorated to a horse trail only, even I wasnt stubborn enough to push on.
Ive camped early, with plenty of ride energy left just because after last nights fleabag and the night before in the desert I wanted to spend the night somewhere beautiful. Once again thunderstorms have raged all around but I have my personal blue sky. Now Im camped by the troublesome lake for my second last night in this country.

23rd
Can you imagine a 200km detour to find some food and the Internet and when I get here there is no electricity and no Internet, still some decent food though.
I had asked the Dude Longman to find out how long it would take to DHL me some parts, 5 bloody days. Ill see if Andrey in Barnual can order them through a BMW car garage. (Two bloody weeks)
I can still be at the boarder this evening and cross back into Russia tomorrow but theres no hurry if the parts take a week, although my toolbox has stripped the thread on the bolts that hold the belly pan to the bike so perhaps lay of the off-roading.
Met two gs800s today heading up the mountain pass, I was coming down it.

24th

I was slightly emotional saying goodbye to Mongolia, its a wonderful place for those that enjoy a bit of rough riding. Any softly softly thoughts I was having were soon turned to irritation at the 5 hour Russian boarder crossing. There were ten different passport checks and Im not exaggerating.
Back in the USSR for the third and final time.

25th

In the Ati region again on sports bike roads with lovely corners and very few straights, filled up with decent 95 octane fuel and am enjoying the bike. On a rare straight, doing the legal speed limit, whatever that might be, the air shock collapses, the back wheel locks and I come to an abrupt halt. Im in the middle of my lane unable to move the bike and none of the locals stop to help. Infact Im in greet danger of being hit by a car as they dont want to slow down or even give me any space, swerving round me at the last moment, Im constantly primed to leap to the side of the road and abandon the bike to the oncoming vehicles. But the Russians stop. 1st one just to help me get the bike off the road, then three cars stop to help as much as they can, making phone calls and sandwiches and Im given the phone number of a motorcycle journalist in Moscow. I text Andrey who contacts Koyster, who will come and collect me but it will be a 600 km round trip for him. The Russians flag down a local lorry, my bike is loaded on board and Im taken 250km to meat Koyster. Im in need of some vodka and drink my fill.

26th
Strip the bike down the piston shaft in the shock has sheered but there is no further damage, only torn plastic from the tyre hitting the under side of the bike.
There is a search happening for a second hand spring for me. I will also get on ebay but Im worried that the parts may be held up at customs.

Hoops · Elite

Another great update Rich You know what they say about dead horses..... It seems like you're having fun in between all your tirals and tribulations, you're certainly having a better time than I am here! Look forward to your next update smile

Pete · Devon's Best

rich xr wrote:
one point a dog I hadnt seen ran up behind me barking franticly and I immediately thought O **** what have I broken now.

Did make me laugh long and loud, and only partly because of the cacophony emanating from my knackered secong gear recently, not to mention the scream that used to be a rumble from the main bearings.
The diary continues to be entertaining. Nationally TRFers will be eagerly anticipating the next instalment in the monthly Trail magazine

brownie · Expert

keep it coming rich, great reading!

Simmo · Clubman A

Pete wrote:
Nationally TRFers will be eagerly anticipating the next instalment in the monthly Trail magazine

Makes a change! wink biggrin

rich xr · Clubman B

I road 4600km to Moscow on a broken shock from a 250. a lot of it stood up in the rain. I have a lot of diary to catch up on but for now I'll just say that of all the shocks in all the world I have to find another xchallange air shock here.

rich xr · Clubman B

If you ever want to re-kindle you faith in human nature, ride a motorbike in Russia.

Kostya drove me 1000km, 2000km round trip for him for little more than the cost of the fuel and a wheel bearing on his truck.
Dema and Andrey worked to try and repair this air shock. I didnt want the shock repaired and tried to persuade them to look for/or cobble together an alternative. I didnt want to ride with it again but they were insistent that no alternative could be found. There are very few bikes in Russia and second hand parts are rare. Dema and Andrey are skilled machinists and mechanics and after three days work even Im beginning to think that theyll manage it. The shock and piston are re-made, the bellows section of the shock is repaired but on final fitting the bellows cant be successfully sealed to the mechanical parts and thankfully it blew in the workshop and not on the road with me on the bike. The next day they try fitting the shock from a Goldwing but settle on an adapted unit from a Yamaha 250. It is never going to win awards for handling and bottoms out on every slight bump in the road but the bike is moving, this is all I expected, Im happy and I reach Moscow safely. I change the oil on the bike.

Someone told me one that moths navigate by the moon, I dont know if this is true. Imagine their sheer joy when they find a lamp to fly around, must be like finding Mecca for them.

So here I am riding again, to Moscow. Treating the suspension with kid gloves makes for slow going and overtaking only when the road surface is flat and level, not often on this road. The last two days of the ride and its throwing it down with rain. My goat skin does a good job as an old mans planked over my legs and is responsible for keeping me warm when Im soaked. I make a rule only to stop for a break every 50 miles, I later toughed up and make it every 100 miles. One of these stops I ask some guy for a light, my lighters are all soaked. This guy insists on buying me dinner. He is the owner of the café Ive stopped at and everything is on the house. (Hes Russian off-course)

In Moscow Im the guest of the Dubaser MC (motorbike club). I stay at Karil apartment which is in the centre of town and very comfortable, his friends come round to meet me and we drink vodka. Kaeil has a lot of links in Moscow and the word is sent out that I need rear suspension. Can you Adam and Eve it, the only shock that can be found is another BMW air shock. Another xchallange owner has upgraded and is selling it 2nd hand. I haggle the price down to £300 and karil takes me to collect it. Not only that but he gets me a rear road tyre at good discount through another contact. Im taken out to a local bar/restaurant to meet the rest of the Dubaser MC, Im feed and bought vodka until I drink myself into understanding Russian, I suspect Karil had to carry me home but cant say for sure. It takes me a few days to recover from this schooling. Karil also gives me the night tour of Moscow. Alexander, also from Barnaul, takes me out later in the week for a city tour and dinner and cigars in one of Moscows finest restaurants, guess what, Im not allowed to pay for anything. These two and Wasyli, another Dubaser, change my tyres for me fit the shock and even have it filled with Nitrogen! Im speechless at the help hospitality and friendship and can only hope that some Russian Biker in the UK is able to tell a similar story.

People I met in Russia that were the salt of the earth.
The Russians who stopped at the roadside in Alti
Koyster who should have received more for the help he gave
Andrey and Victor from Barnaul, the dynamic duo to the rescue
Victor and Natalia in Alti for taking my stress away with good company and campfires.
Demma and Andrey from Novosibirsk who got me rolling again.
Zip how put me up in his apartment.
Karil Alexander and Dubaser MC who made my stay in Moscow a time that I wont forget.

16 Sep
Left Moscow on a bright sunny day and looking forward to a few nights camping. I tweak the suspension a bit and the bike is running well. I need new chain and sprockets but will get them in Poland.

19th sep
Meet world cyclist at 70, Heinz Stucke, hes been cycling around the world for 50 years and can talk the hind legs of a donkey. This is all fine by me, we find a good campsite and drink a few beers. Everything he tells me is either intelligent or funny and I hope I bump into him again.

20th
The bike breaks down just as I enter Gdansk. Theres not much I can do, everything is dirty and wet and its getting dark. I have to push the bike in heavy city traffic, there are a few houses ahead, I will ask to leave my bike at one of them and taxi into town, sort out a van for the bike in the morning. But my luck is better than that. Michel who speaks English has a van, offers to take the bike to BMW, which is near his house, in the morning and tonight he drives me to my friends in the centre of town.

The electrics for the fuel pump have fried. I had been worried about the fuel pump, it has to suck fuel out of the long rang tank and this must be an extra strain it wasnt designed for. My X would tell me that it fried because I was thinking that it might, take the blue pill.

I dont like BMW garages, theyre places were people throw money after the babysham theory. Its £80 an hour which pays for the swanky showroom. (Babysham is that 80s fizzy drink. It was cheep when it was first introduced to pub shelves and no one bought it. Babysham put the price up and sales improved until it became very popular, thinking it was better because it was more expensive. The fuel pump its-self is OK, its only the little plastic 3 pin connection to it thats fried, guess what, BMW have to replace the whole unit, £300, no surprise there then. But what really annoyed me is that I received an email from them this afternoon, and they want a £60 deposit before ordering the pump, it took them three days to tell me that and the parts will take 3 to 10 days to arrive and they dont take credit card payment over the phone. ****ing hell, I can pay that much for pizza over the phone but not international BMW, I have to go there in person.

rich xr · Clubman B

That's all folks, arrived home in time for a pint yesterday

Pete · Devon's Best

Welcome back Rich.

I look forward to hearing more tales of your adventure and seeing some pics