Russia / Ukraine

We bid farewell to Kazakhstan and head for the border! It’s a weekend and a small queue holds us up for a while but soon things get moving and we exit Kazakhstan with little trouble and enter Mother Russia. All our paper work gets checked by the border guards and we enter Russia with little hassle.

(Apart from one who never got a Russian visa!!! mention no names)

We enter the very tip of western Siberia and head for Kurgan well over 11,000 kms from our starting destination and our BMWs are going strong. The roads are fairly good and we start making progress with over a week to go before we come to the Ukraine border. We stop in Ufa where we take a fantastic ride on a river boat up the Volga River and combine this with a wonderful evening meal and magical river sunset. Riding is what we are all here for but it’s great to take in the sights and sounds of the cities we go through and one unforgettable experience is our stop in Volgograd formal Stalingrad ‘meaning city on the river’ where we are treated to a guided tour of the epic battle for the city in WW2. We visit the statue of Mother Russia and the Museum. It’s staggering to know that this city could have shifted the outcome of WW2 and to think of the many Russians who gave their lives protecting the city. In total over two million lives were lost over 201 days. A great film starring Jude Law was made based on a Russian sniper who inspired the Russian army to victory called ‘Enemy at the Gates’

We move on to Rostov our last night in Russia before we cross into Ukraine. Again we have no real dramas crossing from Russia into Ukraine and we notice a change in prosperity levels as we ride through small villages and towns. A farming community at heart we notice many sellers on the roads mainly selling produce that they grow either commercially or from home. The riding in Ukraine is stunning with rolling green hills and winding roads. Our last night takes us over the Ural mountain range and onto Uzghorod ready for our border crossing into Slovakia.

China

We arrive in Luan Nam Tha our last day in Laos before we cross at the Mengla Border into China. Laos has been stunning full of natural beauty combined with a basic infrastructure that allows its population to farm and be self stainable to the most part. A lovely people who are the friendliest we have encountered so far on this epic adventure.

South East China is currently experiencing heavy rain fall so we all make sure we are ready for any downpours. It doesn’t take long before the heavens open and the humid 34c drops to a nice 28c. We reach the Chinese border control and find an ultra Modern border crossing the likes we rarely see! We all seek cover in the arrivals building and find the Chinese border guards can not only speak English but they also have a top spec passport reader that scans your passport and prints your entry ticket into China and registers you on the authorities computers. There is a very small amount of motorbikes allowed into China each year and we feel privileged to be in this very elite club.

Border formalities over we meet with our Chinese guides and make our way to our chosen hotel. All our accommodation is chosen for its strategic location and themed settings and today’s accommodation in Jianshui is a perfect example of a 19th century Chinese house with picturesque gardens and a coy carp lake. Our rooms are no different with giant wooden doors and courtyards all around. We venture out to sample food and entertainment in the local town where we find traditional Chinese shows. Changing landscape as we head west from the paddy fields of south china to banana plantations and potato crops. The riding is challenging with all off your senses tested to the max, old roads meet new highways and small towns bleed into large cities, we soon head into to Chengdu with a population of over 14 million sky scrapers and a very nice hotel awaits that once used to be an army military academy for officers is now a 5 star hotel that is still used for top brass meetings and seminars. Our free day today includes a fantastic visit to see the giant Pandas of Chengdu, this is followed by an evening acrobatic show of epic proportions and face changers.

We leave Chengdu behind and marvel at the progress this great city is making. Xining in our sights we stop at some wonderful locations on route and ride some fantastic roads. We stop in a small village for lunch and as normal friendly crowds start to gather. Many Chinese have never seen a foreigner apart from on TV and we generate much interest not just because of our looks but also the motorbikes of this size and cc are really if ever seen by these small villages. The head of the village joins us at our roadside table and starts to bring food and drink on a banquet scale! We all eat our fill of wonderful local cuisine and after a few hours chatting and picture taking we ask for the bill. To our surprise the local food vendors have all contributed to our feast and refuse any offer of money. We thank everyone and make progress to our next encounter!

We continue with our journey west, heading for the walled city of Xian a great blend of western influence mixed with the affluent Chinese middle class. We stop for a rest day and take in the site, bell tower, city fortifications and the best of all the Terracotta Army. This magnificent attraction can be viewed in all its splender just 40 mins ride from our hotel. Our Chinese guides give us the guided tour and what a site to see. We return latter that day and few in the group succumb to the lure of the Mcey D’s just over the road from the hotel! Some of us head for a great French restaurant others opt for a German restaurant on the outskirts of town we have such a great choice of food Our time in China is slowly coming to an end as we head towards our crossing point into Kazakhstan. China still has a few surprises for us before we leave and our visit to China wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the great wall of China. Our Hotel in Dunhuang borders great sand dunes and sits within 10 mins of the great wall. Its a fantastic setting with dry high temperatures and sand all around. It’s now time to head towards our border crossing in Horgas and to make our way to our four day rest stop in Almatey for servicing and repairs. China was so many different things to so many of the group but we can all sum it up by saying that it has been the most challenging country to ride in some of the best food we have eaten, beautiful and mysterious!

Welcome to Thailand

Clearing 15 motorcycles from Customs in Bangkok was always going to be a tall order, especially trying to get it all done in one day. Most riders will take one day to get just the one bike out! Everyone arrived at 8am, fresh for Customs who opened at 8.30am. Everyone (mostly!) patiently waited for their beloved bikes to arrive. By 9pm that night (and way past normal hours – thanks to the agent team!), it was done. We are all relieved that we are out and the trip can start for real. Except for the new guy, Martin, from Canada. His bike ran out of fuel before making it to the petrol station and was the first bike for this Section to end up in the Van to the hotel! Freight and Customs are never the best bits of a trip and many developing countries insist that each owner has to be there for documentation and customs.

Most riders are up today at 0500 ready for the start of Section 5, the final leg from Bangkok back to Europe. Add all the previous sections and this makes the ride the longest supported motorcycle tour ever undertaken. We leave Bangkok at 7am and it’s already 32c and 90% humidity, as 22 bikes make their way through the already heavy Bangkok traffic, trying hard to head north towards the mountains and motorbike freedom.

Sweat pours out of every orifice, as the sun starts to rise and the city traffic is oppressive, but after an hour or so, we leave the outer limits of Bangkok and reach a fast moving dual carriageway road north to Sukhothai. We take a break for beef noodle and we are all trying to acclimatise to this heat. Dinner and early night after all the works been done.

In the cool of the sun rise the next morning, we ride to see the ruins of Sukhothai and the Giant Buddha. They are incredible to monuments to times gone by. There’s no let up from the heat - 33c again - but at least there is no busy traffic to contend with. We stop off at the mountain side market for noodles with chicken – it’s cooler here are we are higher up, but the insects are buzzing around, all wanting a piece of you! Stand still for too long and prepare to be snacked on!

Our third day is a bigger riding day today - 250 miles of twisted roads through primary and secondary jungle all around. We stopped for a few coconut ice creams on route, which cost only 5 Baht (so 10 pence in GB money), better than or nearly better than a Magnum ice cream! What do you think, Gunter? (Our resident German ice cream connoisseur!)

The road skirts the Burmese border, where we passed almost permanent refugee camps. It looks an idyllic setting but these Burmese refugees are not allowed to leave the area – there are police checkpoints along the route, where we are waved through but the refugees are not. It remains hot and muggy – May is not the perfect time for Thailand, but on a round the world route, there’s always compromises to be had.
Tonight we are in Mae Hong Son, with a trip to the Lang Neck Karen (another refugee camp) planned for tomorrow morning.

Trouble Free Trip

We left Tom Price to another great section of dirt road out from the Park and back out to the Great Northern Highway. There is always something about being on a dirt road that adds an extra excitement and touch of risk about a ride, as well as the feeling of isolation and a road less travelled. This is only a tiny road, but it is exactly like this. You can stop and look around and there are no signs of anything but wilderness and the only sounds are the birds. The dirt road trails in front and behind and there is nothing else. It’s the best feeling!

Back on the tarmac, we’re onto the beach hunt. Coral Bay is the home to the Ningaloo Reef and some of the best diving and snorkelling in the world. A couple of the riders, Joachim and Gunter, are PADI divers and have been eagerly awaiting this opportunity; others stick to the glass bottomed boat over the reef. The waters here are warm and clear and shallow. Only a few metres off shore and manta rays shimmer in the sand and brightly coloured fish dart about. We’re also here for whale shark season, but at a ridiculous AUD$390 per person, everyone sticks to better value activities. A free snorkel in the shallows is equally rewarding.

It’s also free to be with the wild dolphins at our next stop, Monkey Mia, so at 7.45am, we are all up to our calves in warm blue waters, waiting for the dolphins to appear. Never work with animals and children. We were patient and patient and waited. After half an hour, many started to drift off and then the little buggers showed up. They are really strict about monitoring how this activity takes place now. In the old days everyone frolicked with the dolphins, touched them, swam with them and fed them anything. The result was that many ended up dying as they lost their ability to hunt and look after young. Now you have to stay back and just let the dolphins do their own thing and they only get a small fish snack.

It’s hard to believe we are only a couple days away from Perth. We’ve been in contact with the freight agents and they are all ready for us. Our pallets are all pre-built, most are shipped over from Sydney from our USA freight shipment into Australia and are being re-used (cheaper to freight the pallets across the whole of Australia than get a man to build more in Perth – crazy, eh?) It’s been a largely trouble free trip. A few minor incidents with kangaroos, turning cars and dirt roads, but nothing that has resulted in any serious issues. After a small hiccup with a few bikes in week one of this trip, there’s been no mechanical issues to deal with, and despite our initial fears, tyres held out much better than expected. Only Alex, our pseudo team photographer, with his brand new Bridgestone tyres in Sydney, rolls in smooth.

We had only three nights in Perth to turn around the team. That’s no mean feat. On Thursday lunch time we rolled into the hotel, removed luggage and immediately headed out to the airport. Our agents were already waiting and the pallets were out on the warehouse floor ready for the bikes to rolled on and strapped down. Alex, intrigued by the freight process, decided to stay behind with the support crew to help with strapping down the bikes, whilst everyone else got back to the hotel for a shower. By Friday, all bikes had been checked by Customs and the airline. On Saturday, they left for Bangkok. Many thanks to Guy in Perth and Josh in Sydney for their excellent freight service.

So we departed Australia in a flurry, with the excitement of Section 5 ahead!

Karijini National Park

On our day off in the Kimberleys, Kevin takes the riders to the Gibb Rover Road. This is quite an infamous adventure road, 590kms of dirt and plenty of river crossings. It’s not for this trip. The rainy season has been so bad that most if it remains closed to traffic, but the riders get to have fun on the first 60kms to the Pentecost River. The Pentecost is deep and wide and by the looks on a couple of 4WD’s coming through the waters would be over the cyclinder heads, not to mention how much the 4WDS are bouncing from side to side, the invisible river bed must be pretty rocky. With still another 4000kms in Australia and a whole final section from Bangkok to Europe still ahead, everyone admires the view, plays at the water’s edge and leaves crossing this raging torrent to the 4WDs. There are plenty of small creeks and mud puddles back along the 60kms to the main road.


From the Kimberleys we head to the small seaside town of Broome and the beautiful stretch of white sands and turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, called Cable Beach. This feels like a traditional holiday – sun, sand, sea. We pop into the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile farm, a sort of rehabilitation place for bad tempered crocs terrorising the public along some of the creeks, except they don’t get out. It’s a life behind bars, being feed and watered and their off spring to becoming handbags!

Broome to Port Hedland ranks as one of the most hypnotic rides on the planet. These are straight roads at their best, with an upsurge of the amount of road trains, all used for transporting the iron ore mined here. Port Hedland is a stopover, a mining town, where prices are sky high because the mining industry can pay whatever it has to. Still it brings us closer to our diversion into the Karijini National Park, some dirt roads and amazing gorges.

We turn off inland and finally, the roads starts to curve gently over the Hamersley Range, ridges, escarpments and crags appear. Once in Karijini, it’s a great dirt road to get to see Weano Gorge from Oxers Lookout. The dirt flies up coats everything and stains the tyres a deep red. Getting out from the gorge was harder for some than others. 8kms from the end of the road, the gravel suddenly deepened and the good track that had been easy to follow disappeared into a sea of pebbles. The best of us, lurched as the bike skated from side to side and for those with little dirt experience, it was the undoing of what had been a great ride. Alas, Ingo on the hire bike went down (and so did his AUD$2000 deposit) and Angelica’s sterling effort also ended with her and the bike splatted. Thankfully both were just bumped and bruised and the bikes were none the worse – just cosmetically they sported a few scrapes.

We stopped over in Tom Price. There’s just the one motel and filled with miners and construction workers. Once again, Terry’s attempts to order a night cap of a straight whisky were thwarted by the strict drinking rules here. Makers Mark would only be served as a single in a glass full of ice and tonic. Sacrilege! A few minutes before ten o’clock, everything stopped and we had to be out. Saturday night in Tom Price is not the most exciting of experiences! The irony of it all was that outside the bar was a bottle shop, which would sell you a whole bottle of Makers Mark that you could drink neat straight from the bottle – provided you were in your room with your door shut! No drinking in public.

Kakadu National Park

It’s a desperately long trek to get to Kakadu National Park high up in the Northern Territory. I’d love to boast about the amazing road we are riding, but that’s not quite it! There’s no doubt that the vastness of this wilderness, the massive distances of nothing, the endless scrub and tiny crooked trees is nothing like home. It’s fascinating enough, for a while and then it’s a bit like getting through the Atacama Desert! There has not been too much variety when it comes to riding over the past few days. The roadhouses are basic, but have entertained us with the local stories and they get everyone outside with a cold beer, chatting about the day – no mobile phone or internet here. It’s a small escape from the “modern slavery”.

By this stage we are all eating up the spare back tyres that the van is carrying. There is something in the roads here that gobbles up the rubber, even more so it gets hot and if you are less than gentle with the throttle (we’ll keep you anonymous too . . . . ) Very few riders will make Sydney to Perth on the same back tyre.

We know we are near Kakadu when we see our first Crocodile Warning Sign. That and the temperatures hitting 32 degrees and more. Suddenly things feel dense and swampy. The rains that have held on for so long mean that some of the roads remain shut, even this late into the dry season. The road to Ubirr was still under water, but the ride out to Nourlangie remained do-able to walk the escarpment and take in the rock art. We take a sunset cruise and spots crocs lazing through the beautiful waters. In the heat it could have been so tempting to take a swim, but for these beasties.

From here we have pushed west and yesterday arrived in Western Australia. Our first stop is Kununurra, just short of the Gibb Rover Road. With the infamous Pentecost River still above its seasonal norm, and various sections remaining closed, we are having to keep to the tar, but not before a day off to explore the Gibb and El Questro Wilderness Park as much as the waters allow.

No more kangaroo!

I spoke too soon. That very night, one of the riders had a nasty tangle with a kangaroo. We don’t want riders coming in when it’s dark, but this bike had had to go into Adelaide for a quick fix and that meant no option but a final couple of hours at night to catch up with the main group. It was a small roo, killed outright but enough to batter and bruise one of the team and leaving the war wounds visible on the bike. Still, no permanent damage done and a salutary lesson to all.

The stop at Quorn was the night of the Royal Wedding and it felt like the whole town had turned out and crammed itself into the only pub to watch it on the big screen. Our hostess, Nadine, managed to keep the food coming but everything stopped for the wedding vows – even the most cynical of outback bloke, seemed to shut up. The next morning we leave early, to Nadine’s warning “Watch out for the hoppers – it’s still early. They’ll be up on the Pass”. And so our final bit of twisty road (in the whole of Australia!!) was met with a gentle ride to avoid the fate that had befallen one of us the night before.

The temperatures climb as we reach Coober Pedy. We’re in an underground cave hotel, formerly an old opal mine, which keeps things cool. A fascinating tour by the owner shows us a complete labyrinth of tunnels under where we sleep – on tunnelling out the mine to make rooms, he also tumbled on an ancient pocket of opalised sea shells, which he keeps for display to the visitors rather than sell for the cash!

It’s onto the Northern Territory. The Outback for real. And Uluru. I went expecting not to be impressed. Just a lump of rock in the desert, right, and some very long straight roads to get there. Not to mention the rain! How can it rain in the desert?! All the locals say it’s been the wettest season they remember, so it was a chilly and wet days ride to get to the huge monolith. We were to be denied a sunset on our first night, as the rock stood under stony black skies. But the next day was bright, the roads dry, and we took a ride around the rock – the road so unbelievably close – you are just drawn to it, it is mesmerising, it holds your gaze. It felt a privilege to be there. And that evening, the whole team rode out to the sunset. Just beautiful and worth the square tyres to get to see it.

A quick dip into Alice Springs en route north, where Van Man, Brenden, has a different type of tangle with a kangaroo. His is a nicely done fillet on his plate that reeks its revenge during the night and wipes him out for the next 48 hours. (By the time Brenden feels ready to try kangaroo again, some five days later, his body tells him no and that’s another night up – no more kangaroo, eh?!).