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?!).

Leaving in Rain...

Touch down in Sydney.  Our bikes arrived before us and thanks to the hard work of our agents (handling Customs clearance all over the week-end no less), the bikes are collected within hours of our own arrival.  Pulling off the bubble wrap and wheeling them from their pallets, everyone is grinning and happy.  Procycles BMW on Princes Way (thanks guys!) deal with the service work, whilst we all soak up the Sydney sights. 

The hotel is within spitting distance of the harbour.  In fact the Harbour Bridge greets us every morning as we step out and for those wanting a longer view, a beer at the roof top pool boasts fantastic views.  Enough!  We are supposed to be adventure riders – still you can’t blame us for some R&R when we have 12000kms ahead of us in the next 4 weeks.  We are joined by four new riders on this section, two of them are going onto Section 5 – the Bangkok run back through China and Russia to Europe.  The other two are here for Australia.  A quick dip into the Discover our Earth atmosphere.

Ironically, just as in Buenos Aires, we leave Sydney in torrential rain.  The down pour really kicks in only 15 minutes before we head out.  Its buckets of the stuff, so within the first hour we are soaked to the skin (at least those who dared not to get out the waterproofs).  By the time we got to the Royal National Park and our first view over the ocean, the rain had stopped and the clouds were already breaking.  The rain had given that special damp green leafy scent that only pristine forests emit under a deluge and that riding a bike, you are lucky enough to acutely smell. We trace a coastal route south to the small town of Narooma, set back on an inlet with palm trees and a deep blue lagoon.

Our next two days crossed the mountains, first north to the small town Albury and then back south to the coast and onto Melbourne.  This has to be some of Australia’s finest riding roads.  Perfect twisties and swooping bends through the Snowy Mountains, into the Kosciuszko National Park (Kosciuszko is Australia’s highest peak at a mere 2268m), and along the Great Alpine Way.  The time of year makes it even better.  Its early Autumn here and the trees are all turning a warm red golden hue.  We pass through many small historic villages and past old homesteads and get a glimpse of a charmed and rural existence, as the leaves dance behind us. 

But not too fast!  The riders are accumulating speeding tickets at a fast rate – thanks to the lower limits here and extremely vigilant and intolerant police.  Not that the police are rude, in fact they are particularly pleasant in explaining the rules, wishing you a great journey, hoping that they are not going to spoil it too much with a AUD$400 ticket and remember to take it easy . . . . . some even make the mistake of passing a police car when overtaking a solid line – mentioning no names!  That’s another ticket then.

Everyone has mellowed into Australia’s relaxed and easy going nature (police excepted!).  We arrive in the Barossa Valley for a well earned rest at the time of the Barossa Vintage Festival. All the small villages and wineries celebrate their pioneering days and heritage, with a mass of activities from grape crushing competitions to scarecrow making, locally produce and plenty of wine flow, along with music and a party spirit.  Our day off is on Tanunda Pioneer Town Day and all the locals are dressed from the 1850’s, vintage cars and bikes are about and the whole day is just great fun.

We’ve now started the long haul north.  From the Barossa Valley, the team have explored the Flinders Ranges and their first sample of dirt roads.  The race is on to spot kangaroos.  The count of dead spray painted, ballooning kangaroos roadside is big, but the real thing?  It’s like trying to spot bears in Alaska so far!  The glimpse of a few hind legs is all we’ve got.  Not that we want to be too up close to the things when moving rapidly on a bike. Nooooo!  Anyway, we’re opal mining tomorrow in Coober Pedy and then it’s the 500 mile desert day to Uluru (Ayers Rock).

What on earth is the time?

Hildago De Parral is in Chihuahua which is on a different time zone to the rest of Mexico.   No problem we just arrived an hour “earlier” than we thought.   The following days ride is one of the most scenic and enjoyable in Mexico.  The road twists and winds through pine forests towards the Copper Canyon Area.   We climb and fall and twist ant turn for hours on end.  Small towns with fuel are up to 60 miles apart with little in between.   It is easy to realize why in this area there are still a large number of indigenous people living relatively un changed lives in villages that are up to 3 days walk from the nearest “civilization”  

The roads here really are a joy although the challenge is whether just to ride them or to take it a notch or two down and relish the views.   Most people do something in between and strike a happy balance.   The ride runs us past the entrance to Copper Canyon and a few hardy souls venture a few miles down to see the Canyon itself.  However this road, while initially welcoming, fast becomes a rocky narrow track with 300+ metre drops and no barriers.   It takes most of a day to get to the end of the road and another to get out.  Unfortunately we don't have the time in our schedule as Los Angeles is beckoning. 

After an overnight in Creel our last full day in Mexico is a ride towards the border and a last night before we cross to the USA, or as four of our group call it “home”.   

Creel provided us with conundrum that took time to solve.   We had all adjusted out watches to Chihuahua time and the evening before we had a briefing to which everybody arrived on time.   However in the morning Kevin and Richard are the first up and packing the bikes ready to check out.  No-one else from the group is anywhere to be seen.   The time is checked and yes they are on time and the hotel breakfast is being served.  Is there some sort of group practical joke going on?   When the first risers appear for breakfast they all believe they are an hour early for breakfast?   All the group think it is 7am.  Kevin, Richard and the locals all think its 8am.   How can all the group have the wrong time and yet have been on time for the briefing the evening before.   Every-one suspects that there is some joke being played but no-on can work out by who?   The answer turns out to be Daylight Saving Time!   Chihuahua went daylight saving time at 2am.   Kevin and Richard rely on their Blackberry's for the time, and being smart-phones they were smart and adjusted for this in the middle of the night all by themselves!    But what we don't know is what the time will be when we cross to Arizona on Mountain Standard Time?   Does Arizona have daylight saving time?  Who knows!

The exit from Mexico and the entry into the USA are important to get right and both are bureaucratic in their own way.   We will ride as a group and cross as a group.   This is partly to ensure that all the paperwork is correctly completed (particularly important as we are flying the bikes out of the US in just a few days) and also because this is border / bandit country in Mexico.   Unfortunately one of our group stops off for photos and then rides straight past the rest of the group stopped for fuel, despite Kevin waving frantically from the hard shoulder and beeping his horn!   We arrive at the border and there is no sign of the missing rider.  We try to call him to no avail.   After a couple of hours completing our exit from Mexico we are ready to start the process to enter the US and still no sign, so we call our Hotel in Tombstone. “Oh yes he checked in about 30 minutes ago” says the very helpful Kristy   However when we speak to him he has missed the Mexican customs completely and entered the US without exiting Mexico.   A big problem as the Mexicans take your credit card details as a guarantee and so if he doesn't exit his bike then they will charge him!    He rides the hour back to the border and arrives just as the last of the group are ready to leave the US side.   He then has to exit the US, and go to the Mexican customs office and tell them he wants to exit Mexico.   When all the paperwork is complete he then turns round and goes back to enter the US again.   The US guards eye him suspiciously as this must have been one of the shortest ever visits to Mexico!  However they do let him back in for the second time in the day.

Our first stop in the USA is Tombstone.   Yes the real thing!  A small cowboy town with great heritage and history.   A evening spent in the Crystal Palace Saloon caps the experience with steaks, ribs and pitchers of beer rounded off with some sipping whiskey at the bar.  Welcome to the USA!

Our final stop off on the way to Los Angeles is at 29 Palms, on the edge of the Joshua Tree National Park.  Inspiration for the name of the U2 album by the way as they stayed there when they recorded it.   The town is there to serve the park and also the nearby US Marines base, which is the final staging post for service men and women before being posted overseas.  There are a number of serious looking guys in town, and it's not us!  The local barber gets visited by a few people but they only really do one style.   The name of the shop is the “Combat Barbers” so you can probably guess what style of cut they do!

And so we are riding across California (another time zone!) towards Los Angeles, or more specifically Hollywood.   We have several nights here to allow for the bikes to be flown to Sydney for Section 4 of the trip.  The ride in is remarkable.  Los Angeles is a total of 420 square miles and the buildings start some 45 miles from our hotel. There is no break in them all the way in.  We queue through typical LA traffic, eg stationary, and glimpse he famous Hollywood sign as we ride in.   The stationary traffic gives us the chance to chat to local drivers who are fascinated by the group of bikes with foreign plates and by the support vehilce with the steering wheel on the wrong side.

A quick stop at the hotel is followed by a long stop at the Sunset Car Wash where we spend 4 hours cleaning the bikes as the Australians have very strict rules on the import of vehicles.   After this we are off to the freight agent, who is super efficient and we ride into the warehouse and literally ride the bikes straight into the crates already lined up for us. As we are stepping off the bikes they are already strapping them down!  

And so after the team photo we are waving goodbye to our bikes for a few days as they fly to Australia and section 3 of Discover Our Earth draws to a close.   We have crossed Central America, visiting 7 countries along the way.  We swam in the Pacific and the Atlantic, and a few hotel pools; visited  ruins, answered the challenges of many borders,   shopped in markets with the locals, ridden some great (and some terrible) roads, stayed in old monasteries, and even had a day in a cowboy town.  Apart from not always being sure what the time was it has been a successful section. 

The group now have a few days to explore Hollywood and Los Angeles before the long flight across the date line to Sydney, and section 4.   The story continues.....

Hot and Sticky

The ride to the Guatemalan border is a little over 6 miles and so we arrive in the cool of the morning. The exit of Honduras is straight forward and so would be the entrance to Guatemala, except for the recently installed computer system. The computer works but nothing will print. If they can’t print the permit for the bike then you can’t get in the country. For the first couple of hours there is no movement. Bikes and Trucks are mounting up and there are now forty to fifty people waiting to get processed. Richard ends up on the wrong side of the counter behind the iron cage trying to fix the problem as they are talking about sending for an engineer! With a bit of luck and patience it gets fixed and the process starts. We lodge one guy at the counter and keep feeding in the documents to ensure we don’t get jostled out of the way. The truck drivers are patient and after another three and a half hours we are in.

The colour and vibrancy of Guatemala cannot be more obvious than in the market at Chichicastanango. It is the largest indigenous market in Central America. The locals are here to trade and exchange and also to sell to the few tourists that make it here. As a group we stand out somewhat as we are slightly taller than the average Guatemalan, who seems to be under 5 feet tall.

The riding in Guatemala is stunning and the mountainous roads are lined with green and beautiful lush scenery which is very memorable. We are only here a short time before we cross to Mexico and the final border crossing before the USA. The Guatemalan side is in the middle of a market and so Guatemala remains colourful, vibrant and bustling to the end. We enter Mexico into the Chiapas region, which only ten years ago was in the middle of a revolution. Our destination, San Cristobal De Las Casas was taken by the Zapatista rebels at one stage of the conflict. San Cristobal is now a bustling town with a strangely large number of good Argentinian Steak Houses. Some of the group take the long stairs to the church overlooking the town, which helps walk off some of the steaks!

After a day riding along the coast we had in land to El Tajin, some of the largest ruins in Central America, originating from the first century and built by the Mayan and Teotihuacan Indians. With 12 “ball” Courts and several pyramids the site is extremely impressive. The stories of the ball courts vary about how the game was played and who played. However the constant theme is that the outcome for the losers seems to have been very bad!

Inland and through the mountains towards to the former hippy hangout of San Miguel Allende. There are still quite a lot of artists, writers and poets around, as well as one of the most stunning and unique churches in Central America. The plaza is not only home to this great church but also to a small bar serving some of the best Margueritas of the trip so far. The town is surprisingly quiet. All becomes clear when we realise that Mexico is playing Venuezala at football and the match is televised. We didn’t let this stop a good night out at a favourite local bar with great local folk music. The band plays wine is drunk and the Mexicans draw the football so its not too bad a night for them either.

On a day off in Zacetecas we have time to do some final preparation for the USA crossing which seems to be the most bureaucratic of the trip so far. We need all sorts of forms and permissions authorised before we take our foreign vehicles in. Zacatecas is another bastion of colonial architecture and also has a Ski lift. Well they call it the Periferico and it goes up to the top of the hill overlooking the town and provides stunning views. Most people spend the day updating bits of maintenance and cleaning on the bikes and enjoying the city. Gunter even walks up the hill just to shame the rest of us.

A big days ride follows as we move north to Parral. A town famous as the location that the USA assassinated Pancho Villa. Allegedly of course. The American riders with us seem certain it wasn’t them, and as we have no Mexican riders we defer to their claims of innocence. And so our timw in Mexico is drawing to a close. We have a few more days before we cross the border and head for Tombstone, Joshua Tree National Park and then Hollywood. Rumour has it the Arnie the Governator will be there to welcome us personally? However its probably just a rumor….

Central America, Central to Discover Our Earth

The air freight from Bogota to Panama goes relatively smoothly and all the bikes arrive on time in Panama and are swiftly cleared through customs, in less than a day. This leaves Larry’s bike still to arrive as he re joins the group after time at home to allow his broken ankle to heal. His bike arrives a day late but he catches the group by the end of the first days ride. The swift clearance means we have additional free time to make the most of Panama. We take the chance to visit another SOS Children’s Village. The kids love the bikes and a morning is lost giving rides on the bikes around the village. There is also time to visit the Miraflores lock at the entrance to the Panama Canal. Seeing the huge tankers manoeuvring through the locks with only metres to spare is always impressive. For some people the chance to swim in the Atlantic and the Pacific on the same day cannot be missed and a crowd set off for a day out to do just that. And then it is time to get back on the road. The first day is a straightforward ride along the Pan American. Straight forward for all, except Cathy who collides with a stray dog but skilfully manages to keep it upright. She takes the impact on her ankle leaving her sore and limping for a few days, and her bike needing a new footpeg. The following day we cross to Costa Rica and ride along the Pacific Coast. The cool breeze off the sea reduces the effect of the heat and humidity. However a long hot day is spent at the border for a Kevin as he and two riders hang back and negotiate the day away with the customs officers. One rider had been to Costa Rica years ago but unfortunately the company that sent his bike home did not complete the paperwork correctly and customs think the bike is still in the country. You can’t have two vehicles in the country so they refuse entry for his bike! A potential trip stopper! After a long day of discussion and negotiation a “solution” was agreed. This means the first night in Costa Rica the group are split with some at the planned hotel and some still at the border. However we are all back together again the next evening after a nice dirt road ride into the mountains of the Rincon De La Vieja National Park. Our hotel has natural hot springs and mud baths, which those who arrive early enjoy. It makes a change from the mud baths that resulted from the flooded roads in Argentina just a few weeks ago! It is another border day and we are crossing into Nicaragua. There are over 100 trucks queued on the Pan American waiting to get into the border compound. We slide past them all and begin the lengthy process of crossing with the assistance of our local helper. The process changes all the time but our helper, a smile and being patient get us through pretty quickly. Quicker than the South African Bikers we met who spent an hour and a half in one queue to find they had missed one of the “inspecion” and so had to go back for this and then re join the queue all over again! The beautiful old colonial town of Granada, on the shores of Lake Nicaragua is our home for a few nights. We are treated to dinner courtesy of Terry and an old family friend Guillermo Perez-Arguello. Gui;;ermo was a formerly a senior advisor to President Ortega and the Chief Nicaraguan Ambassador. We are eating in a restaurant that was once his Great Grandmothers Family home originally built in 1906 and featured in National Geographic Magazine in an article about Nicaragua in the 1950’s. It is an entertaining and interesting evening. Granada has a wild side to it and there are some no go areas, but it is a city not to be missed with the action focussing on the main plaza right outside our hotel. Arriving in Honduras we are riding through the highlands. Stunning sweeping roads with sections of dirt are enjoyed by all the riders of the group. The scenery is lush and green and we are fortunate that the weather is warn and largely dry, with low humidity. Almost perfect riding days. We ride towards Copan and another day off to visit the ancient Mayan ruins. The ruins were discovered in the late 19th century when the whole site was bought for just $50 by an Englishman John Lloyd Stephens. It was reclaimed by the Honduran’s some time later but it is not clear if John Lloyd Stephens ever got his $50 back. So after a little time off here in Copan we are looking over the hills to Guatemala where we will be in just a few days. From there Mexico is our next country, where after all the smaller countries in Central America we will be for almost two weeks. In Central America we are at the central point of this epic ride, with four months ridden and four months still to go. The core team who set out from Mieming are still together. Some new friends have joined for sections of the ride and are now at home again but the ride rolls on…….

Pot holes, chickens and the grinning llamas

The ride from Cusco to Nazca is one of the best in South America.  Not only is the scenery stunning but the riding is amazing.  Challenging in places as we weave around pot holes, chickens and the grinning llamas.  Then we are blessed with hundreds of bends and with the Peruvians upgrading their roads, the surface improves as we head towards to the small desert town of Nazca.  20 miles from Nazca we are presented with the stunning view of Cerro Blanco, at 2,080m the highest sand dune in the World.  The temperature has risen from 5 degrees C on the altiplano to a blistering 30 as we ride along the desert roads into Nazca.. The town has developed over the years as the staging post to visit the famous Nazca lines.  Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994, it is a collection of ancient geoglyphs varying from simple straight lines to complex patterns and figures including a spider, hummingbird and monkey.  The only way to really see the lines is from the air and the group had a day off to take a flight in one of the small planes that circle the area.  The advice was to have a small breakfast as the pilots seem to take great pleasure in banking the planes left and right to give everyone a good view.  A few of the group returned looking very pale and an afternoon lie down was needed. The coast of Peru is very different from the riding we had had up until now.  It is a lot of desert and straight roads and is also the main run to the capital, Lima.  With a population of 9 million and the main Pan Am running straight through, it would be combat motorcycling to get through the traffic.  It would make a great training ground for despatch riders, trying to read your notes and look at road signs whilst avoiding the swerving cars and trucks and street sellers.  A few riders ended up off route having missed some turns, but we all got through and settled into the ride north. Our destination in northern Peru was the city of Chiclayo.  Known as ‘The Capital of Friendship’ this would be our base for visiting one of the best museums in South America.  The ‘Lord of Sipan’ is considered to be one of the most important archaeological finds in the last 30 years.  The tombs date back 2,000 years and were only discovered in the 80’s fully intact, which also meant they had not been robbed of their riches.  A six million dollar museum was built to house the artifacts and is another must see in Peru. Leaving Chiclayo we headed away from the desert to the small border at Macara, Ecuador.  It was very hot and we were pleased at how quick the Peruvians exited us and within 5 minutes each we were riding across the bridge to the Ecuadorean customs.  They were pleased to see us all and asked many questions about our journey and the motorcycles.  It took a bit longer to obtain our vehicle permits as one customs official tapped away on his computer.  Only a few years ago all permits were hand written and now most have computerised their systems.  This is great progress for the countries but is a little slow until they get to grips with the new process.  It also didn’t help with so many different nationalities and vehicle titles. We were soon winding our way through the mountain roads in Ecuador.  Our Garmin gps units were getting closer to showing us all the zeros as we approached the equator.  After a stop over in the capital, Quito, we were set to ride into the northern hemisphere.  We stopped for pictures on the line and fiddled with our gps units to make sure we were exactly on the equator.  With pictures of one pannier in each hemisphere completed we headed to our last country in South America, Colombia. Colombia has done a lot of good work over the last few years to shake off the bad image that has been hanging over them.  We were the first tour company to take a group through Colombia in 2009 and now it is on everyones itinery and rightly so.  It requires full concentration to negotiate the miles of bends through the central route north to Bogota.  The trucks can be a major problem as they crawl their way up and down the mountain roads.  This often causes long lines of vehicles backed up behind them and then the leap froging  starts as you manoeuvre past the slower cars.  Although every few bends someone coming the other way is also doing the same and sometimes it is a truck overtaking another truck! Our first stop was the ‘white city’ of Popayan, with its wonderful colonial architecture and many churches.  When we arrived at our hotel there seemed to be a heavy presence of police and soldiers.  After checking in we were told that Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia would be staying at the hotel that night.  Most of us were excited about this whilst others were worried due to the security!  Our bikes were checked by the police and we tried to get a picture with him and the bikes but I think he had other more important issues on his mind. A visit to Colombia would not be complete without staying over night on a coffee plantation.  So on route to Bogota we stopped for a night in the coffee growing area of Armenia.  With a cold beer  in hand and looking out across the many miles of coffee plants and banana trees, it gave us all time to reflect on our achievement and the last two months of riding through South America, section 2 was almost complete. As we rode into Bogota as a group our thoughts we now firmly on the logistics of the freight and moving all the motorcycles to Panama.  But first we had to get all the bikes serviced and fit new tyres.  This was completed in two days with the help of our friend Bernardo at BMW Autogermana and then we delivered the bikes to the warehouse at the airport.  A day was spent filling out forms and getting stamps and signatures and police inspections.  We were then ready to depart for Panama City and the start of section 3.  A final group meal before we fly and we said our fair wells to Chris and Marcelo who were finishing in Bogota, but for the rest of us it was on to Central America.  A long day awaited us as we landed in Panama City.  With all our bikes collected and cleared customs in half a day we are now ready for section 3.  Central America will be hot and sticky and a border every few days will test some of the patience of the group. The original team is also back together as Larry re joins us.  Los Angeles is 5,000 miles away and we have 5 countries to cross before entering the US.  New countries and new roads await us as we continue to Discover our Earth and section 3 begins.