Journey 2 Dakar

One common remark we get when telling people about our trip is about how much our bums will hurt after 2 months on the bike, riding everyday and covering 10,000km.  On an earlier trip riding through Bhutan, I had not felt any major discomfort , but then that was riding for only 3 days (you can see photos of our trip here).

One can always learn though from other riders, we got some good tips from our visit to Touratech’s HQ and its annual travel event…

Africa Twin with sheepskin strapped over the seat for comfort

So guess what?  We’ve got our own sheepskin-covered seat too.  So rest assured, our bums are safe!

Here's MJo preparing our sheepskin seat.

Yesterday was not a good day for our trip planning.  We got a bunch of not-so-good news:

1.  The first part of our journey – the road from Manali to Leh – has been closed due to unexpected snowfall.  Snow in June?!  Well, 2 weeks to go to our trip so hopefully the snow has melted and the sun is shining in full force by then.

2.   Our shipping agent in Malaysia writes to tell us that he was having trouble finding a boat to take our shipment to Delhi.  Unsurprisingly, he’s found a way to get around it but it is going to cost us much more than his original quote.  The last minute price hikes are something we’re getting used to.

3.   Headlines of the WSJ (and most other news providers) is about the violence in Kyrgyzstan.  An estimated 700 people have so far died in Osh from the ethnic clashes.  Well, our route doesn’t take us directly through Osh or Bishek, the major centres of violence, but more through the remote parts of the country. So fingers crossed that the political situation won’t affect the border crossing from neighbouring China from where we will enter the country.

4.  Oh and I think the Karakom Highway is still flooded and covered by a 20km long lake (after the major earthquake earlier this year).

Argh.  Frustrating.

But  I guess we will have to deal with far worse things on our trip, not such a bad thing that we get tested early on.  We will prove our mettle; we are tough cookies.  As MJo put it, “it’s too late, we are committed to this.  Whatever comes our way we will deal with it”.

Sabby is typing this from Fontainebleau, France while MJo is fast asleep in Balingen, Germany.  In 18 days, we will be setting off for our trip from New Delhi, India.  Scary yet exciting!