Join me on my Motorcycle journey around the world...

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Asia 2002-2003

Asia, June 2002 - March 2003

My travels through Asia begin in Singapore on June 2nd, 2002. June 4th I catch a bus to SATS Cargo. The air cargo compound covers several blocks and is surrounded with high steel security fence. The security guard in the entrance booth instructs me to get in line for security check and authorization to enter. I take my position in line behind about a dozen other people and watch intently at everything around me. After about ten minutes I realize that I’m the only woman here. That’s a bit unnerving but there’s nothing I can do about it so I push the thought out of my mind. Eventually it’s my turn and I hand my shipping papers and passport over to the attendant. After passing the ‘twenty question quiz’ I’m instructed to take the bus around to Cargo Shed number 22.

I check in at reception, my paperwork is verified and I’m sent through the doors to wait in the warehouse. Over an hour has passed when I finally see the forklift driver moving a pallet containing a bike secured in shrink wrap. He deposits it in the middle of the warehouse floor and the officer tells me I can cross the line. He verifies the shipment numbers with my paperwork and asks “Is there a truck coming to pick this up”?
“No”, I reply. “I’m going to unpack it and ride it out”.
The poor man looks a bit puzzled so I ask; “can I unwrap it here”?
He takes a few moments to think about this, then motions with his hands to the forklift driver. The pallet is moved slightly off to the side, but still quite central in the big warehouse, where I’m allowed to unpack my freight.

I dig out my little pocket knife and proceed to cut through the layers of shrink wrap. Hellman’s in Australia have done a wonderful job of packaging my bike. Once the shrink wrap is off and my beautiful bike is revealed I take out the little tool kit and start re-assembling my bike. I’ve barely begun laying things out when I notice three young men standing around the bike watching me. Well, maybe they were eyeing the bike and not me. I can’t help but smile as I continue to put the bike back together. No one offers to help, they just watch with interest and big smiles. A few minutes pass before an older gentleman comes over and speaks very quietly to my small audience. The three young men quickly disappear and go back to their work.

It doesn’t take long and I’ve got the bike ready to roll. When I attempt to start it the officer comes over and tells me I can’t start it up in the warehouse. Of course, I should have known that! I ask the officer about the pallet and garbage and he says they will dispose of it. I’m pleased to hear that - in Australia they charged me $40.00 to dispose of the crate. I thank the officer and roll my bike over to the big doors and down the ramp about a meter to the ground. I’m sure every person in the warehouse has stopped working to watch.

Hellman’s allowed me to leave about a liter of fuel in the tank so I can start it and ride to a gas station. The bike starts with no problem and I notice that I have an audience standing on the dock. The fellows are standing there with big smiles on their faces and I’m sure they’d love to be riding this bike out of here. I think I’ve gained their respect! I get my riding gear on and give them a wave as I ride to the exit gates. One more security check before I’m allowed to exit. All my paperwork checks out and I’m set free to explore a whole new world.

June 8th I cross the border to Malaysia. The border crossing goes very smoothly thanks to Simon, a Goldwing member I met in Singapore. Simon is in the import/export business and made certain I would have no problems crossing the border.

I ride to Melaka today arriving at about 4:00pm and start looking for the Kancil Guest House. It has been recommended by Servas members in Singapore and motorcyclists from other countries. It’s my lucky day – I meet 3 other bikers staying here. Marten and Jen from The Netherlands and John from Switzerland.

Sunday morning, June 9th, I’m up early sitting in the garden area working on my computer when Fatima, the owner of Kancil Guesthouse, gets up. She opens the back door and calls me to ‘come see’. I grab my camera expecting to see a pretty bird or something, instead I see the saddle bags on my bike open and stuff scattered out on the lawn. Fatima immediately goes to wake John and Martin and Jen while I start taking pictures of my bike and belongings. My new riding boots that I just bought in Australia are gone, my electric pant liners, first aid kit, international electrical plugs and other small stuff I haven’t realized yet, all gone. By this time Martin and Jen have determined that their new Compaq laptop, bought 4 weeks ago, is gone along with numerous other articles. I’m thankful I had taken my laptop into my room and locked it in my removable top trunk.

We’re devastated by the loss but cannot let this ruin our travels. We make a report to the local police, well aware they probably won’t find anything. Fatima is more concerned about her loss of business, if word should get out about the break in, than she is about our losses. On the good side, I’ve made 3 new friends and will travel with them for a few days.

Over the next 3 weeks we tour Malaysia riding up into the mountain resorts, doing some tramping in the jungles, visit tea plantations, temples, cities and have a great time. On June 28th we part ways, my friends going south and me going north. They invited me to go with them to Indonesia but my plan is to go to Thailand – so we say our teary goodbyes and ride away.
Pictures: Tea plantation Jungle Trail

July 4th I cross the border into Thailand. This crossing is not so easy. I’m sent here and there before getting someone who knows how to process my bike entry. Thailand doesn’t recognize the ‘International Carnet’, they use their own ‘White Paper’ to admit vehicles into Thailand temporarily. Once this paper is completed I’m directed to an insurance booth just across the border. This is handy. I purchase my motorcycle insurance for peanuts and am on my way.
Pictures: Southern Thailand James Bond Island

Pictures: Ruins of Ayutthaya Family Transportation
















My intention was to take a month or two to travel through Thailand but as it turns out I spent 8 months there. The first day I see ads for English teachers wanted and decide to check it out. Yes, you guessed it, I become an English teacher and have some great experiences teaching children and four adult classes for 7 months. Teaching doesn’t take up all my time so I’m still able to tour parts of Thailand and take a short ride to Cambodia and Laos.
July 31st I take a ride to Cambodia. My Thai visa expires and I must leave the country and return to get a new 30 day visa. The first thing I notice when I ride through the gates into the Kingdom of Cambodia is that traffic drives on the right. I make a mental adjustment and find myself on a stretch of road that is solid rock – round, square, sharp, smooth, big and small. Riding on this is treacherous. There is a 30 centimeter path that is cleared of rock and I fight to stay on it. Being much smaller in the pecking order, I must move off and back onto the rocks whenever I see a larger vehicle coming (which is often). After about 10 kilometers of rock I finally reach hard surface road broken often by potholes. It’s heaven compared to what I just left but still takes me 2 hours to ride 50 kilometers. When I stop for the night I make a decision to return to Thailand instead of going on to Siam Reap to see the Angkar Ruins. The rains have made the roads treacherous and I don’t want to chance going further. I still have the same 50 kilometers to ride back to the border.

Time passes quickly in Thailand and this year for Christmas three of my sisters are coming for two weeks. I can hardly wait. Finally December 26th arrives (25th in Canada) and I take a taxi to the airport to meet them. I’m so ecstatic when I see them we hold up traffic in the airport until someone tells us to move on. We spend a very fast 2 weeks traveling to northern Thailand, sightseeing, trekking in the mountains near Chaing Mai, riding elephants, river rafting, shopping and just having a wonderful time together. It’s the best Christmas present anyone could have given me. We bring in the New Year in Chaing Mai watching the fireworks from the balcony of our hotel.

January 27th, 2003 I make a trip to Laos. Once again, one of the reasons is to renew my Thai visa but also to visit this beautiful country. A large percentage of Laos is forested and mountainous creating spectacular scenery and many small mountain villages. Traffic in Laos, like Cambodia, drives on the right. As soon as I cross the friendship bridge over the Mekong River I see a traffic light signaling traffic to switch to the right side of the road.

Going through customs in Laos was painfully slow with me being sent ‘here and there’ until I had met with everyone in the building I’m sure. After a couple of hours I’m finally given a month on my visa stamp but only one week for my bike. Hardly makes sense, but I guess they aren’t required to make sense.

Back in Bangkok early February to finish off my weekend English classes and organize shipment of my bike to Nepal. Everything is arranged for the first week of March. I’ve been in Thailand for 8 months – time to move on.

March 4th, 2003 I arrive in Nepal. I spend a few days seeing the sights of Kathmandu then book a trek to Muktinath in the Annapurna Himals. The trek will take 2 weeks and reach an elevation of 3800 meters. March 14th my guide and I leave Pokhara on day 1 of the Jomson Trek. I feel great! By the third day I feel like a cripple. My guide takes my pack and even without it my knees are killing me. By the 5th day my guide stops at a medical center in a small village in the mountains and I buy mentholated rub and elastic wraps to wrap both knees. Over the next few days my knees feel stronger and I’m proud to say I completed the trek feeling better than when I started.
Pictures: Mountain villages in the Annapurna Himals - Jharkot (below) is at 3500meters

Temporary bridge in Chitwan National Park

After returning to Kathmandu I make some inquiries about taking my bike to Lhasa, Tibet. It seems China has some difficult rules and it would cost me a lot of money to take my bike across. I opt for taking an 8 day bus tour through the Himalayan Mountains passing close to the base camp of Mount Everest. The road through the mountains is called the Friendship Highway and hangs on the side of the mountains with a surface of gravel, rock, pot holes and mud holes. The road bends tightly around mountains and crevices sometimes so narrow it would be impossible to pass another vehicles. I’m quite thankful I’m not on my bike. It’s an interesting trip and the highlight is touring the Potala Palace high on a hill overlooking Lhasa. The Potala Palace was home to the Dalai Lama who ruled Tibet – from the 5th to the 14th Dalai Lama. The 14th Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 when the Chinese invaded Tibet.

April 25th I ride into Bahar, India and spend the next month riding west across the northern states of India to Delhi. It’s been an exciting adventure crossing India. I take a boat ride down the River Ganges, visit the museum of the Nehru family and Indira Ghandi in Allahabad, visit the temples in Khajuraho (known for their exotic sculptures), visit the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort then spend a few days in Delhi so I can get my visa for Pakistan and Iran. From Delhi I ride north to Dharamsala high up in the mountains to visit the new Monastery of the 14th Dalai Lama in McLeod Ganj (further up the mountain from Dharamsala). What an interesting place to visit. The views over the treetops are spectacular. The streets are filled with people, tourists and locals, going about their business. I could have stayed longer.

Pictures: Common scenes in India.
Friday, May 23rd I cross the border into Pakistan. I’m met by the Pakistan Servas President and stay with his family in Lahore. My visa is only for 10 days but I have to extend it because my Iran visa hasn’t come through yet. After some difficulty I get a 10 day extension in Islamabad then continue across the country to DG Khan. From DG Khan I’m given a police escort to Mekhtar where I stay the night at the home of the police chief.

Pictures: Two of my escorts on June 5, 2003


June 6th I continue on to Quetta but become violently ill before reaching Ziarat and can’t continue. I sleep the whole day and night and am still week in the morning. I must continue because I have to reach the border before my visa expires. I make it to Quetta where I pick up my visa at the Iran Embassy then find a room and sleep most of the afternoon.

June 10th I reach the Pakistan/Iran border with one day to spare on my visa. I’m told immediately that I must cover my head so I switch my helmet for a scarf every time I stop. Iran has the most wonderful highways in the world and fuel prices are approximately 10 cents. My bike dies in the Kavir-e-lut desert. I dismantle the seat and discover a loose battery cable. I visit the old city of Bam, Esfahan, Tehran then make my way north to the Caspian Sea.
Pictures taken June 2003: The ancient city of Bam (Arg-e-Bam)
December 26, 2003 The city was destroyed in a devastating earthquake

I spend a couple of nights in Astra, a little town bordering Russia and the Caspian Sea, before heading west and into Turkey on June 24th.

1 comment:

Mayank said...

An excellent report of your adventures I met you at Anand Bhavan,with few other buddies in Allahabad, India and you have been a lot of motivation for me and I myself have become adventure loving peson.We all went to the Planetarium over there, before you taking off.
Anyway an excellent adventure"Thumbs Up!!!"

But all in all it is an excellent view of world

Mayank Awasthi