With a tent, a few tools and some clothing loaded, we are once again ready for trip. Not by road but by air this time: N29028, a single engine 1974 Cessna will (hopefully) take us South to Mexico, then North to Canada and back to California. Estimated distance to be covered is about 12,000km over 45 days.
After defending their country against the French and the Americans, now the Vietnamese are defending against big engine motorcycles. Apparently, no people managed to bring such bike and travel before 2009. Now, according to gt-rider.com it might be possible, but only with special approval from Ministry of Tourism, the Department of road control, the police, the military and the Trade Ministry.
Since we have no connection at the Ministry of Tourism, the Department of road control, the police, the military nor at the Trade Ministry, we had to rely on Voyage Vietnam to obtain the necessary approvals.
Hopefully they will do it! Otherwise, Vietnam shall be cancelled and the trip will start from Cambodia.
Since Palomina is the one who took the worst hits in the trip, she deserves now most of the attention. So I got her a new battery, bearings, gaskets, filters, chain kit, some plastics, a radiator fan and a better (I hope) rear shock + spring (this one I bought used since brand new would have been over $800). MaxBMWMotorcycles was nice and offered support for the upcoming trip so I was able to get most of the parts brand new OEM. Total spent ~ $1300. Considering this is the first overhaul after 41ooo km in the most challenging conditions, I would say it’s pretty good deal!
Travel guides suggest visiting Nepal after February. To be there on time, we would have to depart around 1st of December. Therefore, the trip (initially scheduled to begin in August) is postponed until then.
While attempting to obtain visas for the countries in Africa I discovered most of them are tourist unfriendly, especially some on the Western coast. Consulates provide little or no help and requirements are difficult to meet. For the purpose of this trip, however, all visas are required and not having a visa might cause an early termination of the trip. Together with the recent unrest, this determined us to start looking elsewhere for the next adventure.
Asia was an old idea so we began studying the options. Visas appear easier to obtain and not always needed. This is the plan, as it looks for now. Will keep posting if anything new happens.
| After arriving home, it took us less than one day to miss the unexpected. So we got back to the map and began planning. This is what we have until now: |
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| Improperly called “Africa 2011” (since, in current projected form, it will be spanning three continents), our next trip will began, most likely, in August-September 2011. I say most likely because the process of obtaining visas for 15+ countries is a complicated, costly and time consuming process, not to mention recent uprisings in some Arab countries.
So please check the blog, as I will be posting more about this in the near future! |