First why don’t we take the bike in south-east asia. The reasons are two-fold. The first one is the cost of transport, we would have to fly the bike from Kathmandu to Bangkok and then again from Bangkok to Bucharest which would be quite expensive. The sea-shipping from Kathmandu is much cheaper.
The second reason is that Vietnam doesn’t allow big motorcycles (more then 200cubic cm) on its territory. As we want to make a tour (Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam-Laos-Thailand) we can’t really leave the bike anywhere and come back to pick it up.

The bike performed admirably throughout the 17.800 km of the trip. The damage to the bike is pretty minimal: the left rear view mirror was broken in an encounter with a van in Iran but I managed to buy a (second-hand!) iranian honda mirror that fits, the lid of the right-hand pannier had a dent from a truck on the Manali-Leh road, and the bottom of the same pannier is dented from a fall in Rajastan. All this incidents took place at very slow speed or even standing still

Apart from the fuel pump which left us stranded on the side of the road twice, we had effectively 0 problems with the bike. This was probably due to a bad case of beginner’s luck as we didn’t even had a flat tyre the whole way…

If you think of doing the same trip with same enormous amount of luggage (and two-up) it would be a good idea to change the rear spring to a stiffer one. The stock spring is much too soft for such a load and you lose a lot of suspension travel due to sagging. A high performance shock is not strictly necessary (although is certainly nice if you can afford it). If you decide to keep the stock spring try to distribute some of the load to the front of the bike. We had all the weight on the rear and the front was very light and prone to wobbling.

A long-range fuel tank is both very expensive and un-needed. We had a 6 litre jerry-can (less then 10Euro), and we only used in Baluchistan and in the Himalayas. Even there we could have managed without it, as there were people selling fuel from jerry-cans on the side of the road.

The Metzeler Tourances performed admirably, the back tyre is squared after the trip due to the load, but the front is still in very good shape. They are not off-road tires by any means so on the sandy and muddy parts you have to be careful but they have decent grip in the wet and are very hard to wear down. A good choice if you decide not to carry spare tyres.
The panniers performed reasonably well (although I still thing they are a bit flimsy). They are rated for 10kg each and we carried almost double…

One of the things that you might want to consider is an alarm. I’ve installed a cheap car alarm with a pager. It has a shock sensor, a leaning sensor (set to engage when the bike is taken off the side-stand) and a trunk-opening sensor wired to the seat. The alarm is installed in the toolbox under the seat. Also a bike cover is a must have especially in India.

we kept records about our spending, this will be detailed in another post.

One question that is likely to be in you mind if you read this contemplating a similar trip is “How difficult is it ?” . While difficulty is a relative thing so my assessment doesn’t really help, it is almost certainly that you will find the trip easier that you think. Once you are on the road you solve the problems as they arise and you don’t have much time to worry about it. There were some tricky parts (baluchistan etc) but they aren’t as daunting as they look from back home.

This being said, expect some very long days when things don’t go as planned and you are quite stressed (our worst day was between Sukkur and Multan), but after you get through them they don’t affect your trip too much. There is so much beauty and excitement along the way that the difficulties that you encounter are comparatively too small to matter.

Before we left there was much discussion among our friends if it’s wise to leave with a single bike. It’s quite clear that with a larger party some of the problems are easier to be dealt with, but it also causes additional ones. If you decide to go in a larger group be sure that you really know (and really like) your travel companions. We were lucky to met very nice people on our way and we went together for a while, but it’s a big difference between riding together for few days and riding together for 6 months, if you choose your companions poorly you will compromise your whole trip.

We are quite happy with going alone, we managed to get over the hard parts by ourselves and I think it added to the feeling of freedom and unburden inherent in this trip.

After almost 4 months and 18.000km we are convinced that riding is the best way to travel and hope we will be able to repeat this trip.

Without any real connection , I add some pictures from our second forced stop. Repairing the fuel pump in Madhya Pradesh with some 20-30 spectators.

n-ati vazut cum aratau miinile mele acum vreo 10 zile

stinga e pictata de mine, dreapta de o indianca… am fost bucuroasa ca nu stia sa faca si ancore sau sageti infipte in inimi cu cele 3 picaturi obligatorii …m-a intrebat doar cum il cheama pe el (nu si pe mine, ca as fi suspectat si un ioana+ciprian=love)

sintem in varanasi,orasul este o poveste intreaga mai ales acum ca e si Diwali, un fel de Craciun cu artificii si pocnitori

am dat o tura cu barcuta pe Gange azi si e o nebunie totala….aici se scalda in fata templului, sa se purifice in apa sfinta, la juma de metru mai incolo spala rufele intregii familii, la inca 2 pasi se sapunesc si se clatesc in aceeasi apa sfinta, mai incolo un pic sint rugurile funerare cu publicul aferent, vacile cele negre se balacesc si ele, mizeria de pe trepte e data cu furtunul in acelasi Gange… n-am bagat nici macar un degetel

orasul vechi e intins pe malul riului , stradute de juma de metru- groaznic de murdare, caldiri ce stau sa cada (doar ca n-au unde), case vechi si murdare,tarabe, omuleti peste omuleti …

acum pe seara am fost pe malul Gangelui sa vedem cum e cu sarbatoarea, arata genial riul plin de barcute din frunze cu luminarele aprinse inauntru …toata lumea era prezenta…in barci sau pe mal, inclusiv turistii cu blitz-urile la datorie. Peste tot, pe strazi, pe terase, pe tarabele cu fructe, in hotel, sint aprinse candele de lut sa-l ghideze inapoi acasa pe Rama.

si o groaza de artificii si mult prea multe pocnitori

poze cu beculetze data viitoare…

sincer sa fiu, nu prea stiam la ce sa ma astept, khajuraho e faimos pt sculpturile erotice si pentru numarul imens de turisti.

pina la urma totul a fost ok, am gasit un hotel fain, grasu’ a dormit linga bazinul cu pesti din curtea interioara a hotelului

templele sunt o demonstratie de migala si armonie

 sculturile erotice variaza de la hilare:

la anatomic imposibile

pina la … informative

desi vizita la khajuraho a insemnat un ocol destul de mare prin madhya pradesh, statul indian cu cele mai proaste drumuri, pina la urma a meritat cu virf si indesat

ieri am ajuns, pe un drum vai mama lui si indrumati de indieni -vai mama lor, in sawai madopur tinta fiind  rezervatia de tigri din rathambore. am gasit o casuta super simpatica intr-o curte geniala si apoi scos grasu la plimbare pina la fortul de la intrarea in parc. Am vazut crocodilul indian si un cerb o frumusete  si maimutele deja intrate in cotidian

azi

ne-au trezit foarte devreme (6:20), ce-i drept cu doua cani de cafea si apoi in 5 minute safari-stul batea la usa sa ne grabim ca ne asteapta jeep-ul   si uite asa am pornit in cautarea tigrilor bengalezi din Rathambore.

jungla destul de deasa doar citeva spatii mai deschise si mai ierboase, un fost riu in timpul musonului, si munte si pe o parte si pe alta. la ora aia cam orice animal era la cafea asa ca a durat un pic pina sa-si faca aparitia. L-am vazut pe Bambi si am fost incintata

si porci mistreti si antilope si o bufnita dorminda si din pisicile bengaleze numai niste urme foarte proaspete pe nisip …cele de mascul erau mai mari decit mina mea intinsa

nici ea nu vazuse tigrul

Aici e cel mai mare fort din rajastan si asta inseamna ceva dat fiind ca aici fiecare sat are fortul propriu

Cert e ca in Chittor te plimbi cu masina prin fort pt ca e prea mare sa mergi pe jos…

prima poza nu e rautacioasa sau ceva, doar va exemplificam modul de viata indian

ne-am rasfatat cu o cina la un restaurant select, chiar pe malul lacului. foarte frumos dar exorbitant de scump la cei aproape 14 euro

am fost si la cumparaturi, ioana si-a cumparat sari.

mie au vrut sa imi vinda un dhotti, dar nu m-au convins:

si o poza cu Grasu printre prietenii lui indieni

gigantic cu cei aproape 5 mil de locuitori, e usor atipic pentru un oras indian. Este o difernta mare intre orasul vechi care e inghesuit, sarac, murdar si orasul nou mult mai curat, plin de magazine etc.

Oricum se vede ca e in plina dezvoltare economica, plin de masini, motociclete etc. In ultima luna fusesera inregistrate 4 crime cauzate de dispute privind  locurile de parcare

Poza 3 e dintr-o fintina gigantica si poza 4 e din ashram-ul lui gandhi

in drum spre bhavnagar am dat o tura si prin alang, un orasel chiar pe malul marii unde esueaza si dezmembreaza manual vapoare. Cum nu prea le place sa se faca poze si nici sa se plimbe omuleti straini in incinta, am fost opriti la poarta si ni s-a explicat o citamai procedura prin care puteam sa obtinem un permis de intrare. cum ar fi expirat viza de india pina sa obtinem permisu am aruncat doar un ochi la tarabele de pe drum care vindeau tot ce se putea vinde de pe vasele cu pricina : sfori, motoare,barci de salvare, dulapuri, mese, tevi, farfurii, haine…orice

bodoganind portarul de la alang ca n-a vrut spaga si ca ne-a stricat placerea cu vapoarele am ajuns in bhavnagar si ne-am cazat peste drum de copacii cu “verze”

sintem in udaipur deja, seara buna, pa pa pa