On the way east 2011/ 2012
Inspired by the remote mountains in the north of Vietnam, the vast deserts of Morocco, the fascinating landscapes of Chile, South Africa, the Americas and Asia the idea was born to go on a trip around the world on a motorbike.
Mostly it is the encounters with the local people with their diverse cultural backgrounds, their amicability and their hospitality, which makes this trip, particularly on the motorbike, a very personal and fascinating experience.
Today I am going to name my trip „On the Way East“, in order to define my first sub-goal…human beings can plan beaucoup but proven by experience things can develop their own dynamics and take its own course…
Hereafter you are invited to read my "journal" which I intend to update on a relatively regular basis...depending on access etc.
You might ask why I do not call it a "blog"... well, that is because of my disfavor for the word "blog" :-)
Mostly it is the encounters with the local people with their diverse cultural backgrounds, their amicability and their hospitality, which makes this trip, particularly on the motorbike, a very personal and fascinating experience.
This is my planned route. I will start on the 2nd of April...let's see how the weather will be?!
Today I am going to name my trip „On the Way East“, in order to define my first sub-goal…human beings can plan beaucoup but proven by experience things can develop their own dynamics and take its own course…
Hereafter you are invited to read my "journal" which I intend to update on a relatively regular basis...depending on access etc.
You might ask why I do not call it a "blog"... well, that is because of my disfavor for the word "blog" :-)
The revision and re-design of the Enduro KTM 690 is finalized.
Without my friends Peter and Heli from the Endurobunker in Dachau, close to Munich, it wouldn’t have been possible to meet this...
read more ... 3rd of April 2011
Finally I made it. One day later than planned, but I guess ok…the past weeks were really tough. Everything was last minute even though I planned thoroughly.
After saying &...
read more ... Well, I made it to Odessa; that’s the good message. After an early start in the morning I drove the remaining 50km to the border of Moldova. The border crossing went well and I changed my Lei into...
read more ... I left Malibou (no, the hotel:-)..and yes, Malibou they called it + not Malibu) at around 11am, I wanted to do it relaxed today. I was still stoned from the 480km yesterday.
I let the Ukrainian...
read more ... When I looked out of the window this morning the snow was down to 200m above sea level!
Well, I am on sea level and that is relatively equal to my mental condition...
I took a day "off" In Yalta and...
read more ... It is nice to see your feet again with a normal color, not like post mortem. :-) Even though I had to run in circles after the drops coming out of the shower in my “Hotel”, it was hot water. So nice...
read more ... I got early up, organized my documents, had a good breakfast, got some extra money for the ferry and headed for the “end of Ukraine”, another 18km from Kerch.
When I reached the ferry terminal I had...
read more ... Slowly I can feel and move my fingers again. I couldn’t even close the zipper of my jacket with my left hand because the nerves&muscels were so much irritated.
Hat in hand I am thankful to be...
read more ... I just enjoy now the better weather and I do hope that it will stay with me…if I look outside of the cafe, I doubt it, it gets hazy again!
Yesterday was a great day! The night before I met a couple...
read more ... I am still in Sochi. My tires got stuck in the customs in Moscow.
Meanwhile we organized an alternative set at the motorbike dealer in Krasnodar, not a 100% fit but at least tires which would enable...
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Haa! I always knew it! :-)
The Olympic Games construction sites...sponsored by Oleg:-)
Pomegranate juice in Sochi market place...at this moment still funny
200 Rubles!! 5 Euro he...
read more ... Fascinating Russia!
It took me 4.5h to get to Krasnodar, not too bad. And I found Uralskaya road in Krasnodar on which the Bikeland Russia shop is but… I was at the wrong shopping center.
I called...
read more ... An early start in the morning brought me fast the first 130km to Kropotkin.
After 2 trials I found the right way out of the city. After 10km all of a sudden the road changed to gravel with big pot-...
read more ... Despite the developments the evening before I had a good rest and I enjoyed walking around in Elista in the morning.
After a Cai and some bread I started towards Astrakhan. I enjoyed the more or...
read more ... Even though Putin and Medvedev should arrive in Astrakhan tomorrow for fishing I left :-)
Currently is high season for fishing at the lower Volga. Reason is that they get the fish washed in or down...
read more ... I was too late for covering a distance of 600km in the daytime. I knew already in the morning but after doing my homepage stuff I packed my things and started towards Aktobe.
The first 100km a...
read more ... Early start from Aktobe for my long way to Aral, 670km away. I fought with the wind in a 60-70° angle and from time to time with sand in it. I felt my body aching from all this angular driving. It...
read more ... When I woke up in the morning everything was hazy. In front of the hotel door I found out that this was a sandstorm.
The day before I fought already with the wind and the sand. But now I had within...
read more ... The road from Kyzylorda to Shimkent was basically ok except of some construction parts in between. But the wind was horrible again, partially I drove only 60-70km/h and some gusts of wind nearly...
read more ... Not planned like this but I drove the whole way to Almaty, 730km. And because I pushed so hard I had to pay two times for speeding and I had to drive the last hour without headlight through Almaty...
read more ... 680km - Almaty, Charyn Canyon, Shonzha, Köktal (just 40km to the Chinese border),Taldykorghan
850km from Taldykorghan to Öskemen...
Update will follow.
Approaching Charyn Canyon...
read more ... 25th of May 2011
I left Almaty eastwards towards the Tian Chan mountain range. When I got closer to the Kyrgyz border the weather changed and dark clouds rushed in. I went carefully down into the...
read more ... From Munich to Barnaul I covered a distance of 10.600km. At “Bikeland Russia” in Barnaul I made now my service of the motorbike: tires, oil and filters.
My tires I picked at the transport company...
read more ... I lost some time in the morning with fueling up my bike. Sometimes it so complicated at Russian filling stations because you always have to pay in advance…but how much if you want to fill up...
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Altai Mountains
A group of motocross drivers from Moscow which I met at a fuel stop. They were doing the
Altai Mountains with a suppporting car.
I...
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Olgiy to Hovd - 245km
The next day I went with my bike into the mountains close to Olgiy.
Up there I tested my cooker when a herd of sheep, goats, horses and yaks passed by driven down the valley...
read more ... Hovd to Zereg - 200km: hardcore in the sand and heat
The next day we were according to the GPS about 30km beside the track and instead of following the most used tracks in the steppe we decided to...
read more ... Zereg to Altai - 310km through the steppe
view over the roofs of Altai
read more ... Altai to Bayanhongor - 420km, 8.5h driving time, never ending day
look at the flickering horizon...well we had 35°C
after these animals (what are they doing there??) we met some...
read more ... Bayankhongor to Arvaikheer - 225km
Anecdote
Shortly before Arvaikheer I got afraid that I would fall asleep on the bike and we stopped for a coffee break. Whatever coffee means here: in most cases...
read more ... From Avaikheer to Ulaan Baatar - 440km, all asphalt
We reached Ulaan Baatar at around 4pm and a dust cover hovering over the city gave us a first impression. The road into UB was under construction...
read more ... I was deeply impressed by the performance of the Mongolian National Song and Dance Academic Ensemble. I went into the theatre in the center of UB one evening, the long song, the throat singing and...
read more ... Ulaan Baatar impressions...
Most of the pictures were taken with my mobile.
Andreas Hülsmann and Claudia...and one guy from Switzerland
Swiss Eddie with his wife since 6 years on the road...
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Ondorkaan
Vehicle sales in Ondorkaan :-)
.. and end of nest
some trees are trying hard
The "...
read more ... The sun was bright and the sky had an intense blue when I woke up early in the morning. So, move! Once I had left Choibalsan I did not meet one single car on the next 250km to Ereentsav. Two days...
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modern herder with mobile phone in her hand :-)
Choibalsan...transportation system :-)
that is what I meant with the curves (described a day before)...
I found "my" powerline...
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It was chilly in the morning and when I looked the first time out of my window it looked like it will be a bright day. The second time I looked out of the window: clouds everywhere. Accordingly I...
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What did I write on my homepage: …human beings can plan beaucoup but proven by experience things can develop their own dynamics and take its own course…
One thing to mention before I describe what...
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Two and a half days on the train. My compartment I shared with an elderly woman and only the night before arrival in Vladivostok another guy joined us. Lucky me, this could have been also an...
read more ... First of all I am still alive. I got quite a few questions and comments over the past weeks or was it months...? SORRY about that! An update will follow soon on this page.
24th of August to...
read more ... 24th of October 2011 – Ko Samui to Phang Nga, 270km
Ying flew home the night before. I left Ko Samui early in the morning. Before I reached Thap Put I decelerated a bit and took a right turn right...
read more ... 1st of November – Phuket to Hat Yai, ~500km
The first 150km went fast, then I heard that my bike got louder. I lost the sealing and the carbon cover at the end my exhauster. The titanium end cover (...
read more ... 11th of November – Melaka to Singapore, 270km
Again I missed the customs. It happened before at the Thailand/ Malaysia border. Now here again. The passport control lady on the Malaysian side told me...
read more ... 23rd of November – KL to Penang, 530km...The harder tour
Because the last time I came down the highway from Penang to KL I decided in the morning to take the No. 8 up towards Kotha Baru. I knew it...
read more ... 1st of December - Tuk Tuk to Sibolga, ~200 km, 5 h incl. pauses
From Tuk Tuk I headed North and it was really a nice ride along the coast of the Samosir Island in the middle of this mega volcano...
read more ... 13th of Dec - Jakarta to Semarang; 540km, 10h
On Monday I collected my passport with the visa extension from the immigration office and after that I picked the bike from Hengky. Over the weekend he...
read more ... Tja, what shall I say? During a 250km tour on Bali together with Ying the electronic bug of my motorbike got “bigger”, I mean worse.
Since 10 days we (an Italian mechanic in Denpasar (in the past...
read more ... Early in the morning of the 24th of January I flew out of Indonesia.
3 hours and 40 min later I landed in Perth…it is so close.
The heat welcomed me, 41°C in the shadow but different from the humid...
read more ... 22nd of Feb – Perth to Kalgoorlie, 620km
The road out of Perth took me an hour due to all those traffic lights and the speed limit of 60km/h. But once in the country side I went faster and faster…I...
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