Richard and Jude’s travels continued...

There are stories abound about this road. It has claimed many a tyre, wheel, vehicle and travel plan and more no doubt more.

The 317km long desert road from Kungrad, near the Aral Sea, in western Uzbekistan to the Border with Kazakhstan certainly lived up to its reputation.

The previous day we arrived in Kungrad from Khiva and checked into the hotel. We were early having left at 5am and arrived at 9:30, after filling up with fuel. The bike was out of the front of the hotel under a cover and insight of the hotel reception.

After eating lunch out at a local restaurant and giving the bike a thorough check over - nuts, bolts, spokes, tyre pressures etc- we retired to our room. Shortly after the skies darkened, lightening lit up the room along with the sound of torrential rain and very high winds. Then there was a knock on the door. Come quick! Come quick! Your bike has been blown over! (Oh shit). I swiftly put my shoes on and dashed downstairs and out into the storm. It was howling. The rain was horizontal and debris from buildings was falling. Two locals had kindly already lifted the heavy bike back on its stand. I checked for damage and other than a few scratches to the crash bars and a broken strap holding the bike lock on everything looked OK. There must have been a hell of a gust to blow the 300+kg of bike over, the bike cover no doubt contributing. I moved the bike so it was facing into the wind getting a real soaking in the process.

If you look at Google maps it estimates the time it should take to cover the 317kms is 9 hours and 50 minutes. That’s an average speed of around 32km/h. Alarm bells started to ring.

There are lots of reports on this road and we had met a fellow biker in Khiva who had just been on the road a few days before: “Simply awful. Worst road of my trip” it had bent the forks on his motorbike. We had also heard of others who had punctures and other damages to their vehicles.

In China we had met Mike and his friend Paul in their beautiful 1967 E-Type who had traveled this road a week or so before and they kindly gave us their report. (See below for further information on their amazing adventure)
So in anticipation of a 9 hr ride in temps close to 40c we set off from Kungrad at 5:30am, the sun just coming up but the skies still dark with rain clouds. Lots of drinking water packed and food for a lunch stop as there are no services along the way.

The road out of town was pretty good and I was just willing it to go on for as long as possible but knowing it would change.

A few rain showers later and about 190km still to go the road suddenly deteriorated, as they often do in this part of the world. The surface roughened, pot holes appeared and it narrowed. Gradually the potholes became more frequent, wider and deeper, many were over 30cm deep with vertical edges. We weaved across the road avoiding as many as we could trying to maximise speed but avoid as many of the larger obstacles as we could. Sections of good road appeared to tease you into thinking it was all over only to be followed by a worse section of road. Eventually all the original tarmac surface of the road vanished leaving only the large sharp rocks of the road base covered with a fine lawyer of dirt which oncoming traffic and trucks lifted into the air blanketing the road making it sometimes impossible to see the road, other vehicles or the obstacles.

The bike shook and Jude and I with it. The suspension and frame tested to its limit as it tried tirelessly to soak up the deep holes and endless rocks, stones and gravel.

Trucks and cars littered the sides of the road fixing punctures or waiting for tow trucks. We saw one car whose offside wheel and suspension had come off completely!

The road then narrowed to a single lane so we had to go off into the sand to avoid the oncoming traffic, which happened to be a wide load. We had to follow trucks which lifted more dirt into the air. The bike snaked about in the bull dust which billowed up and fill our lungs. 30kms to go! Now we were only averaging about 20-30kmh bouncing around up feeling every hole and rock.

Relief was in sight with border post knowing that once the other side there was a new highway to our destination for the evening, a further 90kms away.

We survived this challenging stretch of road. We cleared out of Uzbekistan, an easy and swift process, and were kindly chaperoned through the Kazakhstan immigration and customs by young officials quickly, politely and efficiently and then we were on our way, bones and muscles aching and lungs full of dust but the bike and us had survived.

E-Type Roadtrip. Please do check out Mike and Paul’s amazing trip in the beautiful 1967 Etype from Malaysia to the UK. I have so much admiration for them given the roads they have travelled on. It’s a testament to Mikes skills in rebuilding the car and both their abilities to drive it and get this far in one piece. Click here…. E-Type Roadtrip
​
#blackdogride #mentalhealthmotorbike

Richard and Jude's travels continued
.
After our tour around truly spectacular Kyrgyzstan we rejoined the fabled Silk Road in Osh and continued our ride west in Uzbekistan and through the ancient trading cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.
When we were planning the journey over a year ago these three cities stood out as places well worth a visit and to spend some time in and we have not been disappointed.

Although much of the amazing architecture in these three cities is not totally original it has, as an estate agent might say, been restored sympathetically and with not much effort you can still see many original parts of the cities dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. The striking blue tiled minarets, madrassas, cupolas and mosques stand out and make you wonder how these must have seemed back when they were built. Dig a little deeper and you will find some great museums, large and small, that provide a great insight into the history of these cities, its culture and peoples.

The roads in Uzbekistan have been pretty good (sounds like it’s going to change for the worse soon); some sections are badly potholed with heavily patched surfaces which shakes the bike and the two of us so at the end of a days ride you are glad for a rest. Goats, donkeys, camels and humans wonder across the highways while traffic passes at high speed.

We have shifted back to our “high heat” riding plan we all adopted in Indonesia leaving at dawn to ride during the coolest part of the day. Temperatures can reach 40+c around 11am and a few degrees cooler makes all the difference.

The scenery is mostly flat farmland and desert, which as we head further west will turn mainly to desert. The drivers on the roads, although very friendly indeed, can set your nerves on end as they come so close to you trying to squeeze past you at high speed within inches of us. It’s not surprising that we have seen more serious traffic accidents here in the short time than any other country.

One thing that is very noticeable when you enter Uzbekistan is the number of Chevrolet cars on the road, mostly white. In 2022 over 94% of all cars sold were Chevrolet! Turns out it’s a state monopoly with a joint venture between the government, 75% majority and GM.

We are now making our way towards Aktau / Kuryk in Kazakhstan to catch the ferry across the Caspian Sea to Baku in Azerbaijan.
​
Richard and Jude.
#blackdogride #mentalhealthmotorbike

Richard and Jude’s travels continued..

There are stories abound about this road. It has claimed many a tyre, wheel, vehicle and travel plan and more no doubt more.

The 317km long desert road from Kungrad, near the Aral Sea, in western Uzbekistan to the Border with Kazakhstan certainly lived up to its reputation.

The previous day we arrived in Kungrad from Khiva and checked into the hotel. We were early having left at 5am and arrived at 9:30, after filling up with fuel. The bike was out of the front of the hotel under a cover and insight of the hotel reception.

After eating lunch out at a local restaurant and giving the bike a thorough check over - nuts, bolts, spokes, tyre pressures etc- we retired to our room. Shortly after the skies darkened, lightening lit up the room along with the sound of torrential rain and very high winds. Then there was a knock on the door. Come quick! Come quick! Your bike has been blown over! (Oh shit). I swiftly put my shoes on and dashed downstairs and out into the storm. It was howling. The rain was horizontal and debris from buildings was falling. Two locals had kindly already lifted the heavy bike back on its stand. I checked for damage and other than a few scratches to the crash bars and a broken strap holding the bike lock on everything looked OK. There must have been a hell of a gust to blow the 300+kg of bike over, the bike cover no doubt contributing. I moved the bike so it was facing into the wind getting a real soaking in the process.

If you look at Google maps it estimates the time it should take to cover the 317kms is 9 hours and 50 minutes. That’s an average speed of around 32km/h. Alarm bells started to ring.

There are lots of reports on this road and we had met a fellow biker in Khiva who had just been on the road a few days before: “Simply awful. Worst road of my trip” it had bent the forks on his motorbike. We had also heard of others who had punctures and other damages to their vehicles.

In China we had met Mike and his friend Paul in their beautiful 1967 E-Type who had traveled this road a week or so before and they kindly gave us their report. (See below for further information on their amazing adventure)
So in anticipation of a 9 hr ride in temps close to 40c we set off from Kungrad at 5:30am, the sun just coming up but the skies still dark with rain clouds. Lots of drinking water packed and food for a lunch stop as there are no services along the way.

The road out of town was pretty good and I was just willing it to go on for as long as possible but knowing it would change.

A few rain showers later and about 190km still to go the road suddenly deteriorated, as they often do in this part of the world. The surface roughened, pot holes appeared and it narrowed. Gradually the potholes became more frequent, wider and deeper, many were over 30cm deep with vertical edges. We weaved across the road avoiding as many as we could trying to maximise speed but avoid as many of the larger obstacles as we could. Sections of good road appeared to tease you into thinking it was all over only to be followed by a worse section of road. Eventually all the original tarmac surface of the road vanished leaving only the large sharp rocks of the road base covered with a fine lawyer of dirt which oncoming traffic and trucks lifted into the air blanketing the road making it sometimes impossible to see the road, other vehicles or the obstacles.

The bike shook and Jude and I with it. The suspension and frame tested to its limit as it tried tirelessly to soak up the deep holes and endless rocks, stones and gravel.

Trucks and cars littered the sides of the road fixing punctures or waiting for tow trucks. We saw one car whose offside wheel and suspension had come off completely!

The road then narrowed to a single lane so we had to go off into the sand to avoid the oncoming traffic, which happened to be a wide load. We had to follow trucks which lifted more dirt into the air. The bike snaked about in the bull dust which billowed up and fill our lungs. 30kms to go! Now we were only averaging about 20-30kmh bouncing around up feeling every hole and rock.

Relief was in sight with border post knowing that once the other side there was a new highway to our destination for the evening, a further 90kms away.

We survived this challenging stretch of road. We cleared out of Uzbekistan, an easy and swift process, and were kindly chaperoned through the Kazakhstan immigration and customs by young officials quickly, politely and efficiently and then we were on our way, bones and muscles aching and lungs full of dust but the bike and us had survived.

E-Type Roadtrip. Please do check out Mike and Paul’s amazing trip in the beautiful 1967 Etype from Malaysia to the UK. I have so much admiration for them given the roads they have travelled on. It’s a testament to Mikes skills in rebuilding the car and both their abilities to drive it and get this far in one piece. Click here…. E-Type Roadtrip
​
#blackdogride #mentalhealthmotorbike

So where are we and what have we been doing?

Tonight we will be in Baku in Azerbaijan and hope to be reunited with our bike tomorrow off the ferry at the port of Alat. We couldn’t ride into Azerbaijan as the border is closed but you can fly in.

We had a blast in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and will be sad to leave. Linda and I always prefer off-road trails to highways wherever possible and these countries have plenty of both.

We have ridden over rocky mountain passes, starting off in 40°C and riding through snow at the top. We have ridden across dodgy metal pontoon bridges with metre high drop-offs and open gaps to the river below. We have crossed sandy deserts and had to dodge camels and even a desert turtle! Another first for me was riding through a plague of Locusts - these hit us hard like stones and I could definitely have done with wipers on my visor!

We met the nicest locals on these. trails and all seem very surprised to see a bike there at all.

There is cost to riding where we do and our poor bike has taken a bit of a hammering. We have a slightly buckled front wheel and our back mudguard has snapped clean off, but what a ride!

A big thank you to Simon Pavey and the team at facebook.com/offroadskills in Swansea for all the tuition on these bikes over the years, it has really given us the confidence to do what we are doing.

​Cheers all
Lobo & Linda
#blackdogride
#mentalhealthmotorbike

And what a welcome! We arrived at the border crossing on the outskirts of Osh at 7am and were ushered through the Kyrgyzstani side in double quick time, very polite and efficient. We then entered the Uzbekistan controlled area where there were only a few people in the queue ahead of us. They stamped our passports and issued a customs certificate for the bike which was stamped by 5 different people, a cursory inspection of our luggage, all done with smiles and interest in our journey. All in all we were done in 40 minutes- both sides! I had prepared myself for several hours so we were very pleased.

In the very short time we have been here the people have been so kind: we stopped for a drink and to buy some food but a truck driver insisted he buy our coffees and the shop owner gave us a local Patir bread! The cars on the road wave as they pass and toot their horns, one very “happy” driver was very insistent we stop, so we did - he wanted to practice his English (he was an English teacher). So far the hospitality has been amazing. The city of Samarkand tomorrow.

Richard and Jude.
#blackdogride #mentalhealthmotorbike

As we departed China, said our goodbyes to the wonderful group we crossed with and entered Kyrgyzstan at the 3,767 mts Torugart Pass on a cold and windy afternoon on Jude’s birthday, 3rd June, Lobo and Linda set off on a more direct and faster route home to get back to their family and friends in Wales, aiming to be home sometime in the middle of July. Safe travels! We are planning a more leisurely trip to the UK after what has seemed a bit like an endurance ride through China.

We have spent the last 10 days riding around Kyrgyzstan, traveling around Lake Issyk Kul in the north east of the country, staying in home stays, bathing in natural hot springs, swimming in cold lakes and rivers and visiting three of the largest cities in the country: Karakol, Bishkek and Osh. We collected our camping gear, which we had sent to a friend of a friend when we were in Perth, which we hope to use along the way.

It is hard to believe the dramatic change in scenery as we crossed from China into Kyrgyzstan. We left an arid country with desert and camels and woke up to green pastures, high mountain forests, cascading rivers and waterfalls and pastures carpeted with alpine flowers of a wide range of colours. The nomadic locals herding their sheep, goats and cattle on horseback high in the mountains with their Yurt homes dotted across this landscape. As I said It’s hard to believe this place is so close to where we were but a few miles away on the other side of the Tian Shan mountains. Not only did the landscape change dramatically but so also does the culture, peoples and cuisine. It feels like we have made a giant leap out of Asia towards Europe.

We are about to cross the border into Uzbekistan, with all it has to offer, and head west towards Kazakhstan to catch the ferry across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, one of the last major transportation hurdles we will hopefully face.
​
Richard and Jude

China, Leg 4. Complete. 8,240 kms. Total distance traveled to date: 22,320kms.
This is a brief summary of our China leg and we will endeavor to provide further updates on this leg in due course as there was so much to report on.

Our China entry date of the 8th May was our one and only fixed date on our journey that we had to meet and there were also uncertainties if we would actually be allowed to enter the country but it all went without issues thanks to the fine work of Drive China whom we engaged to provide our mandatory guide services.
We entered China from Boten in northern Laos to Mohan in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan and we completed immigration and customs formalities and were issued our temporary drivers licenses and Chinese registration documents for the bikes, a process that took about half of our first day. Needless to say we were very relieved when it was all completed.

The Route across China took us from the Southern part of the country right across to the north western region where we exited near Kashgar to Kyrgyzstan covering not only just under a quarter of our whole journey but also many different cultures, climates, landscapes and cuisines. Visiting Tibet and seeing Mt Everest so close has to be the highlight of the trip and a real privilege that will never be forgotten.

We traversed over a dozen high mountain passes over 3000 mts with the a few over 5,000 mts with challenging conditions. The climate ranged from plus 40c to below freezing with snow and ice, lush sub tropical landscapes to the arid Gobi desert, complete with wondering camels.

The Route took us to many ancient cities with rich histories such as Lijiang, Dali, Shangri-La, Lhasa and Khasgar with their wonderful inquisitive and joyful people all wanting to engage, help and converse.

We endured many police checks and bureaucracy along the way, seemingly pointless, but it was always done in a very friendly and helpful manner, they were just doing their job and they all did it with a smile and politeness.
The roads ranged from newly built state of the art highways along the Belt and Road network to the downright hyper dangerous and infamous G318 with its high mountain passes, stunning scenery, poor surfaces, roadworks, tight bends and heavy traffic of both truck and tourist variety. Refueling our bikes could also be a challenge. In some regions we were not allowed to refill at pumps but had to use watering cans, other regions required police checks and passport registrations or did not allow you to travel on toll roads.

As you would imagine the food varied hugely as we traversed the country. Hot and spicy red chili laden food of Sichuan, Yak and goat and barley based dishes in Tibet and the arrival of Turkic influences in Kashgar with Shashlik, mutton, camel and naan type breads and pastries. Choosing dishes was often a lottery and friends mistakenly ordered a goats head. Translations were often amusing.

Exiting China to Kyrgyzstan was definitely the most bureaucratic and farcical day of the trip requiring hours of customs, police and immigration checks, many just a few hundred meters apart performing exactly the same checks. The road out of China up the notorious Torugart pass up to 3,760 mts was under construction much of it a gravel road with trucks thundering along. Once finally out of China we had other issues to contend with, but that’s another story….

#blackdogride #mentalhealthmotorbike

Total distance to date 14,080 kms

It had been 3 months and 6 days since we departed Sydney, 5 countries and God only knows how many steamed rice with mixed vegetables meals we have had.

Since collecting our bikes off the banana boat from Sumatra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the end of March we have seen and experienced so much. We were glad of the better roads, less traffic and extensive choice of food and drink, a contrast from the ultimate chaos of our Indonesian journey during Ramadan. We drank our last “Bintang” beer and welcomed its Thai “Chang” replacement.

We had a wonderful couple of days exploring the old Colonial city of Georgetown on Penang island, Malaysia, with its small cafes, restaurants, interesting architecture and street art before heading to the border with Thailand, a much anticipated part of our journey.

The Thai border crossing formalities went as smoothly as it possibly could have and the towering limestone formations covered in dense deep green foliage made our first days ride in Thailand, “The land of Smiles” a pleasure.

Having read that Thailand ranks second in the world’s most deadly roads report we were apprehensive but pleasantly surprised. We found the roads to be in good condition with spectacular scenery, traffic on the routes taken were generally very light, although we did not go to Bangkok, and the drivers courteous and safe. What a welcome surprise.

There were many highlights to Thailand: living up to its reputation as the land of smiles with its wonderful, kind and polite people, the Sonkran New Year water festival where we all got a good soaking whilst embracing the wonderful custom, the delicious and spicy cuisine and the spectacular scenery seen on the 700km Mae Hong Song road loop with 1,864 bends taking us to the Northern City of Chiang Mai, seeing elephants along the way. It just kept getting better and better. We have had time to do some sightseeing and hikes with a huge choice of caves, temples and waterfalls to visit.

After 23 days in Thailand we crossed the mighty Mekong river on the Australian funded Friendship Border crossing Bridge to Vientiane, Laos, again with much anticipation. It’s always a milestone entering a new country.
Laos’s ancient culture, hospitable people and verdant landscape delivered another unique experience for all of us. We managed to spend a few days in the ancient ex capital Luang Prabang sampling the cultural and culinary delights before heading north towards the border.

Our research had warned us of the poor state of the roads in Laos and they were not wrong. Deeply pot holed, washed away, with landslides, deep gravel traps and bull dust to contend with while trying to pass large and slow moving Chinese lorries making their way to the northern border crossing with China. We took a river trip to remote villages, swam in waterfalls, explored caves and hiked to viewpoints over the densely forested landscapes. Although we only spent 12 days in Laos it was very captivating and we have all vowed to come back sometime in the future.
​
We are now traversing the hugely varied landscapes of China with over 8,000kms to cover in 3 weeks on our journey to Europe.

t's not really called that but it sounds good and did feel like it at times!

We've just had three very nice days in Pai in Northern Thailand and this is Pai Canyon. Pai is a very popular tourist destination and it was a shock for us not being the only Westerners around for a change, paricularly having ridden up through Indonesia. There was definitely more nightlife there than we've been used to and so many more places to choose from to eat out. I think for all of us, Thailand has been our favourite country so far, but we wouldn't have missed the others for anything.
​
We are back on the Mae Hong Son Loop again now and will be making our way across to Laos in a weeks time.

What fantastic timing for us to be in Thailand for Songkran, Thailand’s most famous annual eventA key event in the Buddhist calendar, this water festival marks the beginning of the Thai New Year. What could be better than a water festival during, what even the locals, consider to be extreme hot weather!

The word Songkran come from the sanskrit word saṃkrānti (astrological passage), meaning transformation or change. Officially on the 13th April every year but the holiday now extends to the 14th & 15th as well, so we get to join the celebrations for 3 days. We have also been told that in Chiang Mai, these can last for a full month!

From our perspective, we have noticed two distinct ways to celebrate, but both involve water in some way. The more traditional way, seems to be for somebody to gently douse/sprinkle you with water, in a very respectful, courteous way. This symbolically represents purification, or the washing away of the previous year to welcome the New Year. The water fights that have become synonymous with Songkran are an escalation of this tradition and lead to fully fledged street parties that go on for hours. All celebrations are exceptionally good natured and the ‘family’ atmosphere is an absolute joy to witness.

As riders, we are great targets as we travel along any road! Often you can see the kids in quiet towns gearing up to give you a soaking as you pass, but sometimes the more stealthy, will pick you off from the back of innocuous looking pick-ups as they drive by!
​
Wish us luck!
Team 2up (films of Songkran shenanigans to follow)