by Zach
Posted on November 17, 2016
Comments Off on Finishing Up
After re-entering the EU from Morocco, the final few days of the trip were relatively uneventful. From Algeciras in southern Spain, I made my way to Amsterdam via Madrid, Geneva, and Paris. In Amsterdam, Mozes hopped back on the bike for the final leg. We drove southwest to the Channel Tunnel and got on the…
by Zach
Posted on November 17, 2016
Comments Off on Morocco
Departing from Barcelona without a passenger for the first time in three weeks felt odd–somewhat liberating, but also somewhat lonelier. I’d gotten accustomed to the constant conversation that Mozes provided. Regardless, as a solo rider, I could cover more distance, riding nearly 1300km in a day down to Almeria in the south of Spain. There,…
by Zach
Posted on November 17, 2016
Comments Off on The Mediterranean
The ride from Vienna to Venice proved uneventful, and obviously, Venice is a tourist destination for a reason. Even I’m not immune to some cliches. Two days of almost strictly generic tourism was enough, so our next destination was Ischia–a small island off the coast of Naples. Getting there as two non-italian speakers on a…
by Zach
Posted on November 17, 2016
Comments Off on Eastern Europe
The days following our departure from Istanbul was a whirlwind. The first day, we rode to Bucharest (Romania), the next, to Thessaloniki (Greece), and on the third day to Montenegro. Each Balkan country has its own customs procedures, and none of them seemed to accept my standard green card insurance, making the border crossings somewhat tiresome.…
by Zach
Posted on November 17, 2016
Comments Off on Onward to Turkey
After the previous day’s incredibly hard ride, I fell right to sleep after arriving in Tbilisi. Mozes met me the next morning and we spent the day outside of Gori (Lenin’s Birthplace) in an ancient cave town. All in all, our 150km test ride was successful, and we resolved to leave Tbilisi the following day…
by Zach
Posted on July 14, 2016
Immediately after hearing that the Georgian border would be closed for a significant period of time, I researched alternative options and ultimately concluded that Azerbaijan was the best way to proceed. I applied for the visa through a travel agency, and received a prompt response–yes, it was possible to obtain the visa quickly, but given…
by Zach
Posted on June 25, 2016
Comments Off on Russia
After writing my last post from the hotel in Omsk, I packed up my stuff and prepared to depart for Chelyabinsk. My plans took a drastic turn when I saw two guys wearing Harley Davidson vests in the lobby. We looked at each other silently for a minute before they approached. “Are you the biker…
by Zach
Posted on June 16, 2016
Comments Off on Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan
On June 6th, it was time to leave China. Along with my guide (a legal requirement for foreigners operating motor vehicles in the border region), I headed to the Kashgar Customs office to pick up my customs report. After the obscenely large packet of papers had been stamped, checked, and checked again, we headed off…
by Zach
Posted on June 4, 2016
Comments Off on Kashgar and The Karakoram
From Aksu, Little Deng and I made our way to Kashgar. In comparison to Aksu, which wholly embodies the generic Chinese city, Kashgar still hasn’t entirely succumbed to the Han Chinese methods of urban planning. I felt instantly relieved–Kasghar is possibly the most laid back city in China, and it has its own extremely rich…
by Zach
Posted on May 28, 2016
Comments Off on The Road to Kashgar
It was really shaping up to be a rather uneventful week–nothing particularly of note occurred on the road, but the last three days changed everything. Hours after my previous post, the hotel security guard woke me up. “It’s raining outside. Will you still ride?” I assured him that a little rain didn’t affect much at…
by Zach
Posted on May 24, 2016
Comments Off on Central China
11 months ago, I pulled up to an intersection north of Nanjing and met a man riding a motorcycle as large as mine. We started talking, and I ultimately rode from Nanjing to Dunhuang with him and his friend. Along the way, we became extremely good friends and kept in touch. Obviously, my first stop…
by Zach
Posted on May 21, 2016
Comments Off on Two Days to Nanjing
Because the bike is brand new, it requires a “break-in” period. Basically, for the first 1,000km, you can’t ride too quickly and the bike requires a maintenance stop somewhere before it can really be ridden long distance. China has only four or five certified BMW Motorrad shops–all of them in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Nanjing.…
by Zach
Posted on May 12, 2016
Comments Off on The Bike
Even with the right contacts, buying a motorcycle in China is no easy task. On my previous trip across the country, it took a week to find a store that actually sold the right kind of bike, let alone one that was willing to sell to a foreigner. I ultimately found a store called “5号机车”…
