Portugal to Vietnam

Vietnam and Beyond

2006-04-01T19:44:00.000-08:00

We finished our last leg of the journey riding about 1000kms down the beautiful coastline of Vietnam. One of the most interesting things on this trip is the difference between countries and culture. One hundred metres to cross the border and wham, what does this country have in store for the two hammers?

Vietnam, right away we noticed that the people and the country was a lot louder than Laos. The people in Laos are really easy going and quiet people, no one raises there voice. In Vietnam, the traffic was much more in your face and the people were not shy at all about letting you know they were there. The volume in Laos was about a 3 and Vietnam being a 9 out of 10. Very similar humour though and very light hearted about things. I felt both cultures have a good laugh at us "foreigners" and they also have a good laugh at themselves. The major difference between the two countries is that Vietnam is number 13 and Laos is number 101 in the world for most population per country.

We visited the old capital "Hue" where there was a huge imperial palace fortified by walls for almost a square kilometer. We did a motorcycle trip around the area to visit all the grave sites where royalty was buried, other landmarks and sat in on a Buddhist prayer at this huge Monastery.

We continued south to DaNang, a large port city and the 3rd largest city in Vietnam. We met a friend of Coral's named Brian. He is teaching English in DaNang which has lead me to my next adventure in this experience called life. I met some students of Brian's and had a great time talking and sharing my knowledge of the English language with them. After meeting Brian everything seemed to fall into place. DaNang has about 30km of coastline and surrounded by some nice passes and mountains. You could see why I might want to stay here for a while, fresh tropical fruits, beaches, mountains and a warm climate all year round.

Onwards to Hoi An a world heritage city. There are a tonne of tailor shops there and it was only 30km outside of DaNang so I can get some tailor made clothes for my new career. You could buy new tailor fit clothes, shoes and any style of clothing, bags or accessories for a fraction of the cost of any designer label and the quality is fantastic. There is a lot to see in the area with many reminents of the Cham empire that ruled much of the central region of Vietnam. I can't wait to go exploring in my free time.

The coastline south continued to amaze us, the views were breathtaking. We arrived in a city called Nha Trang were many Vietnamese go to for R&R on the beach. In the area were some hot springs, probably my favourite attraction for a weary cycle tourist. Coral and I(Steve) treated ourselves to a mudbath and massage.

Moving forward we headed into the tea and coffee country to a city called Dalat. This was the honeymoon capital of Vietnam. They call the city little Paris, it has a communications tower that looks like the Eiffel tower. We climbed about 1400m from the sea which turned out to be a long 120km day. There was a 3% grade for the first 70km which can be a bit demoralizing and a 50km climb to finish the day. What a view! The temperature drops at night which was awesome after spending some really hot days riding by the sea. The coffee in Vietnam rivals the Italian espresso and Turkish Kave that will kickstart the day. It's been really neat experiencing all the regional teas and coffees, different ways of preparation and presentation through out our travels. I could see myself living in Dalat, it was the place to be in Vietnam before air conditioning was invented. Waking up with the smell of pines and fresh mountain air, oh yeah!

The final km's were in front of us, 3 days of riding to Ho Chi Minh. It finally set in that these were the last days of our travels. The Two Hammers were about to sing their swan song on this one year journey. Exactly one year from departing Lisbon we arrived in Ho Chi Minh on March 21st. We reached Ho Chi Minh and the days leading in to the capital were extremely hot(35) with 80% humidity, pushing it up to 40%.

Now Kevin is in Canada making his way across the country from Vancouver(by bus) back to Southern Ontario. He will be laboring for another long season of back breaking manual labour at Plan B. I am studying in Ho Chi Minh to be an english teacher. I will be on my way back to DaNang shortly. My days will be spent learning Vietnamese in my spare time, riding my bike in the mountains in the morning, sitting by the sea drinking coconuts in the afternoon and teaching a few hours a night. Sorry Kev, I don't mean to rub it in... hehe. Coral is currently doing some more traveling in SE Asia before she returns to Canada for some back breaking labour as well.

I will be writing some conclusions about our thoughts on the journey. Until then thanks to everyone who fed us, provided us shelter, made us laugh and most importantly made our journey a memorable one.

Laidback Laos

2006-03-07T22:07:00.000-08:00

Been some time now since our last post. Unless you are doing the well trailblazed Lonely Planet routes it is hard to find internet in Laos. It's pretty funny whenever you want to find westerners pick up the lonely planet guide and you will find "Falang" (Laosian for Foreigners).

We spent 31 days of our 30 day visa in Thailand and were charged late fees at the Border... whoops! We arrived in the Capital city Vientiene and met up with Coral's friend another Canadian, Ramsey from Toronto. Thanks to Ramsey and his friend Soo (forgive my spelling) we were treated to some great information about Laos over a delicious Laosian lunch in the park on the banks of the Mekong. We found some wicked spots in Central Laos were few Falang venture.

We headed north to Vang Vieng to meet an organic farmer Mr. T who allowed us to stay in his busy guest house. They really had it going on, many projects on the go with local villagers. They were building a community Library and there was a group of 20 people from a Asian group called AVAN that assists poorer Asian countries to help develop skills and modern practices to increase their standards of living. While Coral and Kevin were farming and working on the projects I decided to take some time off and relax after riding a 7 day push from Bangkok. We met a group of four from the US that I took a lazy day off with. We floated down the river on a tube while many locals were yelling "Beer Laos! Beer Laos! Cold cold! Cmon cmon". Fun in the sun! Thanks Adam, Irene, Allie and Joanna for the good company and many laughs.

On the road again we headed south east towards the Vietnam border to a place known as the Banglor caves. The Laosian country side is breathtaking, we headed up through a steep pass that was probably pushing a 10% grade, no long switchbacks up this hill just pure punishment of our quads. The mountain ranges in this area were unlike anything I have seen on this trip. The ranges were very rigid and the rock formations were stunning. Onwards toward the banglor caves, this lesser known place was off the beaten path and the path was beaten to say the least. Crawling along at about 7 to 12 km an hour we made our way in the deep bush. We stayed a night in a guest house along the river, what a serene place in the mountains far from any sort of civilization. I watched kids play in the river and the local fisherman pulling out dinner for their families, I felt so tranquil and just sat there taking a minute to breathe and enjoy this moment. The next day we had a date with the river men. I had my optimism about placing our bikes on a barely floating river skiff accompanied by my captain no more than a teenager. We headed down the river to the mouth of a 8km cave that passed through a mountain. We had to jump off the skiff a few times to pull the boat up the cascading falls and rapids. We made it to the other side with no problems, but what an adventure!

Two more days on some tough roads, we were still in the thick of things in the Laos jungle roads. Seeing nothing but small villages and astonished faces, we camped out in the jungles scraping by on our rations of food. The final day we headed out of the jungle we came up against some hills that we could not ride up due to steep grades and loose gravel and rocks. Sitting on the 4th hill exhausted, eating our last ration, not knowing how far we had to go, we see a lonely falang heading up the hill. Robert a French worker for a new dam project in the area was going out for his Sunday ride. What a relief, he told us civilization was only two more ascents away. Robert guided us to the village and fooood!!! He returned with a truck to bring us back to the workers compound and treated us to another huge spread of food with desert. Oh yes, we ate again, did I ever say how veracious our appetites were? What an truly amazing time we spent in Laos.

The people in Laos were very quiet and had a very easy going demeanour about them, and not to mention very warm and super hospitable in Laos. Very different volume level from our next and final country Vietnam. We are about 900km from our destination, I can't believe it.

Some big news in the next post, as I have decided to put off my return to Canada.

Steve

Buns of Steel and Banged up in Bangkok

2006-02-04T02:04:00.000-08:00

We have been somewhat stuck here in Bangkok waiting for a Vietnamese Visa. The office was closed due to Chinese New Year... for 5 days! We were able to stay with a friend for the week so that helped cut down on expenses. A big thanks to Toy and Michael from the US who allowed 3 dirty cyclists to take up some floor space in there bachelor pads. They showed us around town and we "made party"!

We went to a floating market outside of Bangkok where all the commerce is done in canals. It was really cool to see gondola like water crafts paked with all their wares. It was a very nice contrast to see a more grass route style of commerce rather than the bland hegemonic american style malls that are plaguing the earth.

A few days ago I had a rough time in the big city. I was playing bumper bikes with Coral. I was looking to merge with traffic as I turn around I got a little up close and personal with Coral's buns of steel and literally bounced of her ass and fell into traffic. Cars honked at me on the ground, luckily no one ran me over. Later on in the same day I was once again looking over my shoulder to merge with traffic and I ran into a stopped car, this time I braked just in time and kissed his bumper with my front tire, the problem was I was clipped in and took a nasty fall trying to get out of my bike. By the end of the day some bruised knees, calves and thighs and another scar to add to my already scarred left knee. Mostly just a bruised ego. The traffic is pretty much the same as every big city, heavily polluted, big parking lots which are called expressways. I hear Canada is having an abnormally warm winter, keep burning those fossil fuels. I hear global warming is all just a big hoax anyways. I have complete faith in the government and scientists to fix everything... right?

We stayed at two Buddhist Temples before arriving in Bangkok. Recently I finished reading the 4 noble truths by the Dalai Lama and it had a profound affect on me. I have really enjoyed the eastern philosophy and their outlook on human nature, compassion and finding inner peace. In highschool I remember learning about Buddhism and I really find the religion is very close to my own views on life. I am really enjoying the immersion into the Buddhist lifestyles. I am looking forward to our journey into two more Buddhist countries Laos and Vietnam. We found out that many Thai will spend a period of time in their life, living as monks in the temples. The beauty of this is that they do this on there own free will, however they do not abandon their old lives and renounce their families like the traditional ways. It is more of a celebration and party nowadays. Some of the old traditions have been lost and the version we see today is a more of a Neo-Buddhism. Like a lot of religions it is always evolving braking off into different sects, changing to the times.

20 countries and counting.

Steve

Malaysia to Thailand, Damn it's hot!!!

2006-01-18T04:12:00.000-08:00

It was a four day ride into KL (Kuala Lumpur). We started in JB and cycled to PK to Muar to PD. Everyone in Malaysia pronounces the cities by their initials like the hip people in Toronto that call the city TO. The Petronas towers stood out in the skyline of KL and helped guide us into the downtown core of the metropolitan city. The infrastructure was well designed by their civil engineers. The light rail transit system was outstanding. We had an inspiring interview in PJ, we took the LRT to meet with a NGO called CETDEM. Ok no more acronyms... Tan Siew Luang and her colleagues provided us with some good information about the organic farming movement, sustainable housing and alternative energy in Malaysia.

We headed north to the Cameron Highlands to meet 2 organic farmers. We met Fung after climbing a 40km 1000m ascent, needless to say our legs were a little rubbery but the scenery and waterfalls were breathtaking. Fung had a great piece of land in a small village in the mountains. He gave us an excellent tour and a great interview of his farm and his practices. We were introduced to another local farmer Mr. Ho and his son Jason. Jason operated the organic farm while his father ran a few local businesses including an organic restaurant where Kevin and I enjoyed and Organic steamboat dinner. It was hands down the best meal we had in Malaysia. The Cameron Highlands had a really cool climate which was a refreshing change from the humidity and hot temperatures in the lowlands. The crops were much different in this area due to the more temperate weather, which was considered the salad bowl of the country.

We continued towards Pinang and bumped into a fellow cycle tourist named David. He took us on a whirlwind tour for the short time we stayed with him. We went to a Chinese Funeral, visited a pottery shop where they made hand crafted pottery on site, a rice mill, 2 prawn farms, a fish farm, to "hell" in a Chinese temple in the middle of a huge palm oil plantation and another Hindi Temple. He also helped us with meeting another Organic Farm in Pinang where David was introduced to Organic farms for the first time. A big thanks to Kenny and Tan who drove us around Pinang to the local organic farm. We saw our first live organic pineapple, I never knew they grow straight up from the ground and take 4 months to produce one fruit, whoa! David then showed us around to some of the local spots where they drink "totty" which comes from a coconut tree by splitting a chute which produces a juice which ferments and turns alcoholic in 2-3 hours. It is only good up to 8 hours but the longer you wait the stiffer the alcohol content. The only downfall is it smells more sulfury near 8 hours.

We are now on an exotic Thai beach getting some well deserved R&R after doing a 7 day haul up the Thai coast. I hope it is not to cold in Canada... hahahaha. We hope everyone in Canada has voted for our new PM, we did our Civic duty overseas here in Kuala Lumpur. We have met up with our friend Coral from Ottawa, she is also an Organic Farmer from Plan B Organic farm in Flamborough Ontario. We have our first female rider woohooo!! I hope I did not scare her off, the first day we met with hit the beach and I broke out my Romanian speedo courtesy of our good friend Gabi. I won't post that picture on the web, we want people to come back and visit our adventure.

Peace out, Steve.

Good Riddance India, Helloooooo South East Asia, phew!?!?!

2005-12-31T01:01:00.000-08:00

After riding 1200km south from Kathmandu to Kolkata we have seen about enough of India to last a lifetime. India is really in a sad state of affairs. There is no education about pollution, food handling and hygiene. The World Health Organization reports that it is a hot spot for Malaria amongst a list of other health warnings. So you might think that there would be some education and thought about combating this problem. Nope almost every Hotel we stayed in had open windows, no screens, windows that couldn't close and even if they could there were many spots where the mosquitoes could get in. The solution for 90% of the mosquito problem, "Here's a coil to burn, Sir". Yeah, I really want to be breathing in pesticides all night, along with all the other black air pollution my poor pink lungs are taking a beating from. Let me get to the air pollution, Kevin's mask had a black outline within a few hours of riding and you could only imagine what it looked like after three days. Everyday our bodies had a layer of black film and I won't go into anything coming out of our nostrils. We spent Christmas day repairing my bike box hours before we had to take our flight to Singapore. The Hotel we stayed at had water all over and they let my box sit in this for days... let's just say we are extremely happy to be leaving India behind.

We arrived in Singapore after spending most of Christmas day in the airport. They say Singapore is a fine city, meaning you get fined for so many outrageous things. Failing to flush the toilet, spitting and even chewing gum is outlawed and punishable. I just read an article that after the 12 year ban they are allowing therapeutic gums, teeth whitening and Nicorette but you have to show ID. If the buyer does not show ID, the pharmacist is jailed for 2 years and fined $2940 dollars. Talk about strict government whoa!!

Ok other than the obscene police state Singapore is in, (Singaporeans are really worried about breaking laws) Singapore is an amazing place. It is a city/country no bigger than Toronto and there is literally mall after consumerfest mall. The place is bustling with commerce and the city is so clean. Leaving Kolkata and entering Singapore was like night and day, total polar opposites. There is sooo much to see and do here we could have spent at least two weeks exploring the beaches, theme parks and limitless amount of malls. We had to do some bike part shopping and finally after hitting every store we were able to locate the specialty rims we required. Singapore is quite the place and if anyone is thinking of traveling to an exotic tropical location, check out Singapore. It is as culturally diverse as Toronto, Indian, Arab, Chinese and even us white cake are spread throughout the streets. There is no religious majority either, a true city of the world. The buildings and architecture is stunning, we could have spent a month here just taking pictures of the scenery here. The food is excellent as well, every meal was fully digested and ready for us to burn on the bikes, did I mention we were ecstatic about being out of India?

We arrived in Malaysia two days before new years, it was a 45k ride out of Singapore. Malaysia so far has been great, the tropical climate is fantastic and we are working on some wicked cycling tan lines. The roads are fantastic, huge motorcycle lanes that we also have free reign in. No more horns that were constantly blarring from the Indian trucks, nice and peaceful with smooth tarmac and no pollution. We are headed towards Kuala Lumpur in a few days, another big hub city in South Asia. We will be interviewing an organization for Organic Farming in Kuala Lumpur. The largest towers in the world are here (CN tower is still the tallest free standing). New years was spent near the coast, not to many people were celebrating. The population is largely Muslim and Chinese so there were no rowdy drunks and the Chinese New Year us not until the end of January.

Looking forward to 2006! Today we had an amazing ride up the western Malaysian coastline. There are so many weird looking tropical fruits on the trees. Ahh fresh fruit mmmmmm!!! We pumped out some good KM's today and I was enjoying a huge high from the endorphine rush, it was unlike any New Years day I have ever had. A good start to the New Year instead of my usual nursing of a killer hang over. A great start to begin 2006.

Happy New Year everyone!!! Happy Birthday to my sister Julie and my Grandma!!

Steve

Nemaste Nepal - Top of the World

2005-11-29T08:34:00.000-08:00

We entered Nepal on November 21st almost walking by the border without a Visa. The western border of Nepal is a relaxed dirt road along a canal with migrating Indians, Nepalese and various assorted farm animals walking to and fro, country to country. Nepal is in the middle of a cease fire with Maoist rebels which will be ending shortly but may be extended with talks from both sides. December 2nd there is a large manifestation being organized to demand democracy at the King's Palace. They are expecting upwards of 1 million citizens. This could be the beginning of a new era here in Nepal. There has been increased pressure from the US and UN demanding the King to listen to the Parliament, the Maoist movement and the people. There are many military checkpoints that we are allowed to pass freely on our bicycles. All buses and other transportation is stopped and searched at each chekpoint for rebel activity.

The locals are friendly and the children ring out "bye bye" and wave very excitedly as we pass them. In the western region there is not much food variety for us and our ferocious apetites. We have been living on biscuits, rice, dal, curried potato/cauliflower and a mustard green of some sort almost EVERY DAY! We decided to spend a couple nights in one of the National Parks named the Royal Bardia. It was amazing, we saw rhinos, leopards, two varities of deer (tiger food) but no tigers. The guide has never seen leopards in his 13 years in the park so we were very lucky to see these predatory cats. We could smell the scent of Tiger pee and saw fresh scratch marks on the side of the trail travelling to the next lookout tower. We then heard an Elephant roar to warn that there was a tiger in the immediate vicinity. We then met up with the Elephant that made our guide turn and almost run for a tree until he looked again and noticed it was domesticated. Our guide was armed with a bamboo stick and his wits. What an exciting day, seeing these large mamals roaming in there natural habitat and not in some zoo. It was $25 dollars for two days and a Jungle trek with lodging and 3 square Cycle tourist sized meals. What a deal!!!

The last few days we started to make our ascent from the southern plains of Nepal into Pokhara. We stopped in the city of Butwal a major hub in Nepal where we finally had a selection of food other than the Nepalese standard (good food but you can only each so much of it). We saw the mountains to the north as we prepared our tummies for the hills ahead. All I can say is we spent almost half our time off of the bike seat stopping to take pictures of utterly breathtaking views of valleys, moutains, forest and river. We arrived in Pokhara on the 29th. Just a few kilometers north of Pokhara is Annapurna the 9th highest mountain in the world WOW!!! (Picture of Annapurna above)

Kathmandu here we come, lets hope the King will do the right thing and listen to his subjects! The next few days will prove to be very interesting as we will be in the heart of the matter.

Stev-0

Chai, Bickies and Numbers

2005-11-15T20:32:00.000-08:00

After spending some time in McLeod Ganj we headed east through the mountains just south of the Himalyans called the Shiwalik range. What an inspiring ride after being spiritually lifted through these intense mountains. The population was much more sparce through the mountains and the air was clean. To the south you could see the haze of pollution which makes for good photos at sun set. There is always a good and a bad for everything.

We picked up another rider to make our bike posse more international. Before heading into Dharmsala we stopped to take some photos of a valley. I saw a man passed out on a small tea hut. I looked again and noticed a fully loaded bicycle. He was also experiencing the after affects (stomach problems) from Lahorrible Pakistan. Alex from Switzerland has joined our ride towards Katmandu Nepal. We have nick named him the Terminator for his deep Arnold-esque Austrian English accent.

We made our way through some mountain villages that made our quads scream and jaws drop. Monkeys were scattered throughout the mountains hanging out on the sides of the roads grooming each other and the mothers carrying their young around. They are amazing animals to watch, they are so graceful playing in the trees. We stayed in the provincial capital Shimla for an extra day. This beautiful city was perched in the foothills of the Shiwalik Range at about 2205m above sea level. As much of a pain the mountain climbs can be there is always breathtaking downhill. I love watching the choreography when we are following each other down the hills picking our lines around the curves, cutting and weaving down the passes.

Today we are at the head of the Ganga river in a town called Rishikesh. At the base of the Ganges the total length is about 2,510 km. It is one of the densest human population belts on earth. We are close to the source which flows from a glacier in the Himalayas. The water is clean here and we are going to take a quick dip in the cold waters. Rishikesh is named the Yoga capital of the world. There are many places to learn and teach many different styles of Yoga, massage and meditation. Cows and monkeys are everywhere here. If you have never tried yoga, I highly recommend it. I was practicing a few months before I left and I never felt so good after the class, all my stress was gone and I felt I was walking on air.

We should be in Nepal climbing back into the mountains in 3 or 4 days. I can't wait for more fresh air and watching more wildlife. There are leopards and other large mammals still living in harmony with the eco systems that have been untouched by man. We are headed towards some national parks in India and Nepal.

India is an amazing place and I will definitely be coming back to spend some time in the mountains for a retreat if I ever feel spiritually, mentally or physically depleted. There is an amazing blend of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and many other eastern religions here. It is truly a spiritually uplifting place. Accommodations are $2 to $5 a night, you can eat like a calorie crazed cyclist spending $3 for a huge spread of amazing Indian food and spend $7 for a full hour body massage. Try doing that in Canada for under $20. Words can't describe it, you have to experience this amazing place for yourself.

Until the next post.
Steve

India Alas!!

2005-11-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

Goodbye Pakistan hello India. 16 countries, 13,000km's, unwanted cultures in our sensitive North American tummies and we're still pushin' pedal!

What a relief it is to get out of Pakistan. My intention is not offend Pakistani's as Pakistan is geographically stunning and the people are very hospitable and enjoyable hosts. It is just a relief to be in India where women can be women (not possessions where they rarely leave the house) and the people are used to seeing tourists. Pakistan is the most oppressive country we've been in so far.

We (Steve, Luke and I) are in Dharamshala beside the Himilaya's now. This is where the exiled Tibetan government lives along with the Dalai Lama. There are a few Buddhist monks in the internet cafe right now. It is funny seeing monks on cell phones and internet. The mountains are frickin massive here. The lowest one is 4050m. We climbed a 10km killer hill to get up here. All in all I think we climbed around 2000m of roller coaster scenic mountain scape. We rode well into the darkness of the night. No matter though as there are people everywhere in India. Every 5 km there is a city, town or village. Crowded but not overwhelming like Pakistan. Man is Pakistan a mess. Another story for another time. It is exciting that there is women around you can talk to without fearing reprecussions from small minded, insecure, very religious muslim men that will go straight to hell, do not pass go,(if there is a judgement day) for their treament of women. This is my experience and opinion from travelling through the south of Pakistan and not seeing any women at all. The Pakistani's are very nice people otherwise. That's my rant for this post.

After leaving Islamabad we bused back to Lahorrible(inside joke concerning severe air and noise pollution along with diahrea and stomach ailments that seem to plague foreigners) with double entry visa's for India at the cost of 3300 rupees.($85 canuck buck) We will be heading through the Himilaya's and into Kathmandu for the next month or so. Exciting stuff. We stayed in Lahore for another night and did a little sightseeing and bike cleaning before leaving Bobby's house for the Indian border. Thanks for the hospitality Bobby and Shumella!

We had our most thorough search at the Indian border crossing where they opened our bags and pulled out a few things. Nothing overly invasive. Just a quick check for the sake of procedure then we headed for the border again to see the infamous closing of the border. Bleachers lined the border where hundreds of people watched the soldiers march to the gates where the Indian soldiers taunted the Pakistani soldiers and vice versa. Chanting about Hindustan filled the air and the soldiers marched up and down with colourful outfits in a manner reminiscent of Monty Python's ministry of silly walks. Quite comical.

We cycled on to Amritsar and visited the Golden Temple. Astounded by the beauty of this wonder we walked around snapping pictures and marvelled at the holiest site in the Sikh religion.

After arguing about cold eggs and poor service at our hotel, we rode a comfortable 110km's to Pathankot, where we were treated to the most visually stunning fireworks display I've ever seen. Literally hundreds of thousands of fireworks went off simultaneously for over 6 hours in celebration of Diwali. The equivalent of Christmas for the Indian people. We lit off a few ladyfingers of our own and drank a little whisky on the rooftop of the hotel whilst taking in a fireworks display that could blow up a small country.

That's what's happening in the land of two hammers and one Kiwi. Lots of photo's and stories that are too much for this website will come when we return!

A little advice for anyone coming out this way. Do not, I repeat do not drink the water or eat the salad. Luke is suffering again from what we believe is a water problem. Unless your stomach is made of cast iron and you have bowels of titanium one should avoid road side restaurants and drinking water! Yikes!

Shaking in Islamabad

2005-10-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Kevin, Luke and I have reunited again in Lahore. I spent a day in a Hostel in Lahore before they arrived. The owner of the Hostel was an amazing, he treated us to a tour outside of Lahore. We joined Malik and went to an inauguration ceremony for his cousin who was recently elected to office. They had some amazing drumming after the ceremony followed up by fireworks. I met with several different ministers of Health, Education, Finance... here I am in the middle of the upper brass of the Punjab region my first day in Pakistan, too funny. We later went to a festival outside of Lahore. I always heard about the cannabis culture here and never knew how big it was, you could smell the hashish everywhere you go. We were invited back to a drum tent were we met the big ticket performers for the night. These "ladies" shook my hand, and I was a little baffled because women are not allowed to touch men. I was sitting in a tent with about 40 men and children staring at me and my friends while we talked with the "ladies". Our host told us they were man "ladies" who performed around the country and this is a good blessing/superstition if they dance in your village. Many of them were hermaphrodite some just very effeminate men. This was one part of the Islamic Republics I never thought I would see. After the dancing was over and the weirdness of 100 men watching 12 un-choreographed "ladies" dance we returned to the hostel. When we arrived we heard music upstairs only to find a live Sufi band playing. We danced and had a good time and the day was over. What a crazy day of random events...

We hooked up with a hospitality club member from the US who is now a resident of Pakistan. Bobby hosted us for a couple days while Luke rested from his stomach problems. Bobby and his wife prepared us some amazing Pakistani food that we thoroughly enjoyed. We needed to head towards Islamabad to apply for our Indian Visa's. We have found out the Karakorum Highway is inaccessible to the north due to the devastation of the earthquake. We were really looking forward to conquering the highest paved pass in the world between Pakistan and China called the Kunjerab pass at 4934m. This will have to wait until another trip.

We arrived in Islamabad on Friday, the civil engineers planned a more western approach creating a grid like infrastucture than other Pakistani cities. We have not seen any major signs of the earthquake but the outskirts of the cities look worse due to their more earthquake prone mud brick homes. I was in my room last night in fetal position (another amoebic party in my stomach) when I felt the bed shaking slightly. I thought Kevin snuck in the room and playing games until I said a few choice words and lifted my head from the covers and no one was there. This subtle shaking went on for about a minute or so and stopped. I thought it was just my delusional state from a high fever and the shakes but it was confirmed that two tremors occurred last night.

So we are waiting for 7 days in Islamabad until our Visa is approved. Next stop India!

Until our next post!

Curry and I'm in a Hurry

2005-10-12T04:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updating for all those concerned.

I am safe and well in Pakistan. I was in the south near the Iranian border when the quake hit.

My friend Luke and I cycled through 1000km's of some of the most stereotypical desert you can imagine. Every travel book we read advised against us riding through southeastern Iran as 3 cyclists were kidnapped 3 or 4 years ago. The locals told us it would be fine as did a seasoned traveller who has done this type of journey, so we pushed on. Sand blew across the road and into every possible orifice and spot that you wouldn't want sand getting into. At the end of one day I emptied a small pile of sand from my right ear. Man is it ever parched down there.

Without getting into too much detail, our highlights involved smashing a washroom sink up by acccident, staying at 2 military installations including accomodations in a military jail cell, passing children with AK-47 machine guns waving at us, passing many burnt out trucks and drinking 40 degree water from water bottles that feel half melted from the unrelenting desert sun.

Now I am in Pakistan about 4 days ride from the earthquake affected regions in the north. Unfortunately we will be passing through this section and seeing the aftermath. This region is very high. We rode up to a 3000m pass today and road a sweet downhill for the better part of 60km's. The road between Quetta and a town called Ziarat was bearly a road. Nightmare ride. Very bumpy, no gravel and totally dusty. I just about rattled every bolt of my bike and every ounce of my being.

The land is very arid here. The towns are dusty and crowded and we are constanly bombarded by 10-40 people at once. I counted 40 today when I went into a shop to buy some bisquits. The people are very friendly and curious and I must keep this in mind. Sometimes it is frustrating to say the least, but it is nice when i am thinking about where I am and how much fun it must be to talk to a strange freak like myself.

I feel that I am very safe. There are a lot of people here an it is alarming, but at the same time we cycle past 2-4 military and police checkpoints a day and we have been escorted twice now by police through two areas.

Luke had a bout with diahrea and nausea yesterday and we took a rest. Somehow I manage to avoid this plague of the cyclist. All that organic dirt I eat when not washing my veggies at Plan B must account for something!

So that's Mr. Kevin. Still pedallin my sorry butt onwards. Our route may shift to Tibet and the Mount Everest base camp via Kashgar in China and south through Tibet to Nepal. We'll keep ya posted. Wish us luck. Steve and I should reunite in 4 days or so.

I miss everyone!

Eye of the beholder... trouble in Iran.

2005-09-28T05:26:00.000-07:00

We are being held captive by some of the nicest people on earth. For anyone thinking that Iran is a terrorist state or not safe to travel please stop watching CNN. I will say, some things are not normal and even not right but you could also say this about any country as well. It all depends on the eye of the beholder.

We left Turkey and saw one of the hugest mountains I have ever seen, Mount Ararat. It is about 5165 metres 16,945 feet high. This is where Noah's Ark is claimed to have landed. I left Turkey in eating some bad food and it left me pretty weak. I fasted for two days and I thought I was good, feeling like Superman I decided to move on. We were ready to take on Iran and the rest of Asia. We climbed about 900 metres out of Turkey and were chased by wild dogs at the border. We stayed at Gurbulak and slept out front on the veranda of a Variety store near some military barracks, oh the places we sleep. We were telling all the soldiers the store was closed and we ended up sharing many interesting stories with them about Turkey.

We arrived in Iran the next morning and had some of the nicest roads to travel on. We learned a valuable lesson about money exchange... make sure you know the price before going into a country. We only lost a dollar or two so no big deal... but lesson learned. We headed further in land to the serene desert like conditions of Iran leaving a cooler Turkey landscape behind. It warmed up quickly as we headed further east past Maku. After receiving some medical attention from my stomach woes we pushed forward. The one night we passed about 10 kms of military troops and headed to the hills to pitch our tent. We were probably about 5 kms away and the night was peaceful in the parched desert mountainside when all of the sudden kaboom! The artillery traces filled the skies like yellow fireflies as they began exploding in the background lighting up the dark night... whoa!!! It finally died down so we could sleep but the military presence is very noticeable here and in Turkey. I guess this is what happens when the terrorist leader George W wants your land and oil. There is no doubt that they are waiting for it, the writing is on the wall or should I say the CNN headline ticker.

We headed into a very lively town called Tabriz. We spent a night there in a Hotel for about $4 CDN. The people were great offering us fresh fruit and helping us out with cheap accommodations. There is a fruit smoothie bar on almost every corner... we are in heaven, they cost about 50cents for a cold refreshing mineral rich drink! Alcohol is not allowed so the occasional beer has been out of our diet but the alternative makes us feel 100 times better after a long day of riding.

Now the trouble... I injured my ankle from climbing Ararat in my weakened condition and I will now be taking some time off for physiotherapy to get me back on my feet. The good thing is we met a cool travel mate in Tehran, our Kiwi friend named Luke who we met earlier in our trip in Ankara. Tehran is a huge city (15Mil) and like most big cities it really suffers the effects of pollution. You can hardly breathe as the city is located in a valley surrounded by mountains. The traffic is horrendous and the Darwinian style of driving as our friend Arya calls it is literally mad. You truly take your life into your hands here... every car, motorcycle, cyclist and pedestrian for themselves. Kevin and Luke will continue riding to Pakistan and I will be I recovering so I can take on the rest of Asia with them in a few weeks. Luke has been traveling by bicycle from Vancouver to NY (in 27 days during some unseasonable weather) and continued on from England to Iran. The guy is a madman, he wants to continue onwards to Nepal in November. We will plan on meeting him back in India after he thaws out if he hasn't turned into a meat popsicle.

Everything is well and our spirits are high, Kevin and I have split up again to go on our own adventures. We separated today in Esfahan a very beautiful historical city and I will be returning to Arya's place in Tehran for treatment. His father is a doctor so I will be in good hands for my recovery.

Peace out!
Steve

We're Baaaaaack!

2005-09-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay for everyone who wonders where the heck twohammers are. We are currently 100kms from the İranian border. The adventure continues. We have 16 day visa's for İran and we are trying to get them extended when we get to Tehran.

I, Kevin, spent some excellent time exploring some of the most beautiful coastline the world has to offer in the south west of Turkey. İ clımbed the equivalent of the Alps twice whilst exploring down there. Killer hills everywhere. İn one day i pushed up two 20km hills passing 1650m elevation in 40C heat. Almost stupid. But İ live to tell the tales. Turkey is by far the hardest country to cycle.

Steve spent time in İstanbul and Ankara resting and visiting with friends.

On a sad note, I am a stupid tourist. I left my backpack on a bus and inside it contained 200 pictures, my journal, minidisc, microphone, some food and my common sense. I feel like crying. My journal and the pictures are the real shame in this situation. The bus company is tryıng to send it to where İ am now. The universe is all i have to help me now. Everyone picture me with a yellow backpack and a huge smile on my face and it will arrive safely with all my stuff!

Otherwise we will update again soon! We miss everyone and İ want to say Happy Belated Birthday to Paul and Tara and me!

Cluck cluck, stuck ın Turkey....

2005-08-03T04:04:00.000-07:00

We are waitıng for our Iranian Visa ın Turkey, it takes up to one month to process. We couldn't be stuck ın a better country for hospitality. The locals here treat us like super stars. Everyone has taken us in and shown us around the town in almost every city we are in for cheap food and accomodations. Sometimes even feeding us meals and provding us shelter for the night.

Our Turkish is improving on a daily basis as we are adding more and more words to our vocabulary. We are currently in the North side of Turkey in the Black Sea region where all the Çay tea is made. We had a 40km downhill to the Black Sea to a place called Samsun, it was a little bumpy and our rims are still intact but I think it is time for me to replace mine, more technical woes. We have been hugging the Northern coastline and the view has been nothing less of inspiring. The Black Sea has beautiful mountains on the right and wide open turquoise sea on the left. My only concern about the region from talking to the locals is the increase of cancer in the area due to the Chernobyl fallout. Some children are getting cancer after 6 months in this area. I'd like to research more of this topic to hear more about the aftermath 20 years later.

So we will be doing some more touring of Turkey over the next few weeks as we wait for our Visa's to go through. It's probably a good thing as the temperature has been in the 30's since entering Turkey. I think Iran will be even hotter. An Iranian man has expressed interest in joining us for the journey through the region. We are looking forward to his expertise of Iran and it will place less stress on us to learn yet another language.

So Kevin and I will be splitting up for a little get out of each others hair. We have been good travelmates, but I think it will be good for both of us and our sanity. The sibling rivalry still continues sometimes but it is to be expected.

Peace out!

Steve

Turkish Delight!

2005-07-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

What a fan-friggin-tabulous country. Any pre-conceived western ideas anyone out there has about Muslim countries can be dispelled immediately upon visiting one. I can't even count how many free drinks we have enjoyed from the hands of the sometimes too friendly Turkmen and women. Yesterday I was handed 10 Lira from a women and told to go have a nice Turkish dinner. This has been the normal hospitality for us.

Starting from the beginning. We entered Turkey from Bulgaria and rode 3 rather swelteringly hot days into Istanbul. We stayed with 2 separate hosts, Emine and Elif. They were both excellent hosts and we enjoyed a night of dancing or 2 and a scenic boat tour up the Bosphorous. (Upon other excursions) We never realized, but upon crossing the Bosphorous, it was good-bye Europe and hello Asia. After applying for our Iranian visas at the Persian embassy we headed towards Ankara.

We took a very smelly busy exhaust filled highway. The stink was all over us and deep into our poor lungs. We took about 70 kilometers of "stick to your ribs" disgusting exhaust before we saw a beacon of hope in the form of a ferry sign to the other side of the sea. Thank goodness.

Whilst on the ferry we met more amazing people. (Excuse me for mis-spelling your names, the keyboard and my mind are in English!) Savas and Doygu. They were totally amazing. They took us all over Bursa the fourth largest city in Turkey and we were treated to all the Turkish delicacies and fantastic hospitality. We miss you guys! We should all experience hospitality like this at least once in a lifetime. Thank you sooooo much guys!

I would like to tell you everything about what we've been up to but I am restricted to the un-fair confines of time. We would like to thanks our hosts in Ankara for a great visit. We now have Pakistani visas! Thanks to Berat, Kurai, Alper, Deniz and Honda! I'll write more about Ankara another time.

In closing this post I would like to share a contrast in ideas and views I have noticed upon visiting Turkey. When trying to get our visas for Pakistan we were asked for proof of identity from our Canadian embassy. Pakistan is known in the west for being a "terrorist" state. This is of course arguable. When we arrived at the Pakistani embassy we were greeted by a guard and we told him we were there to apply for a Visa and he smiled and pointed to the door. Upon entry to the Canadian embassy we were searched, made to go through a metal detector, questioned and we had our pockets emptied our walkmans confiscated and our integrity insulted. We were then spoke to through a fiberglass window with a hole in it from our Canadian representative where he fearmongered us about our chosen route. No wonder he wouldn't come out and talk to us face to face. He seems to be living in fear. Of what I am not sure. Our next visit was much of the same. A canadian representative told Steve to ,"Watch out!" and ,"I am scared for the both of you!" and "Can you ride faster than a bullet?" It was like CNN. What a distorted view of reality we live in. Our treatment at the Pakistani embassy was completely opposite
to our Canadian visit. When was the last time we experienced terror in Canada or when was the last time we heard 1 horror story about a Canadian being beaten or mugged in a foreign country. I stress the word 1. You'll be sure to hear about it on our sensational news. Our representatives and our treatment at the embassy reflect a sad state of affairs that is prevalent in Canadian society. Fear. Give me a break. I am not naive. I take precautions and care everywhere I go. Words like Iran or Pakistan have been severely distorted to conjure up images of god knows what people think having never visited or researched a place. The only place I have ever been mugged, threatened or beaten has been in Canada. This is life. There are crappy people everywhere.

On that note, our Muslim hosts are taking amazing care of us almost to a fault. It is a life changing experience for the both of us and shame on us for ever letting our media taint and distort our opinion and views of such a wonderful group of people and religion.

That is the view from here. We think about everyone often as we sweat away in the 35+ degree turkish heat. I'll have some new blues to bring back to Canada. Lots and lots of love to everyone in the land of baklava and Kebabs!

Philosophizing with a Hammer

2005-07-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

I felt like sharing some of my thoughts in two short poems. I am growing beyond my former self gaining new wisdom from this multifaceted journey of my body, mind and soul... loving every minute of it

Reflection Through Introspection
Learning to fly

New capillaries like rivers,
flow through my body.
Bring oxygen for new demands.
My muscles are pulling me,
like rubber bands.
Almost ready to snap
as I stretch myself, my soul
bending the envelope,
filling these holes.
Pulling my tendons to a new extreme
Redefining,
this new human, being.

My spirit is soaring,
I'm way up here now.
I recognize the past,
this shallow existence,
I hope will not last.

My laden history is past tense,
Stress no longer my friend of time mispent.
My heart has been freed,
I am allowed once again to be me.

Herd Animals

People fighting for scraps,
Sheepishly falling into the traps.

2 kilos of love in my brain,
fill my spirit with renewed faith.
2 kilos of fear ingrained,
driving others with corporate haste.

Humanity in all of it's childish greed
always wanting to fill the need.
Will we learn from history ever,
or will it be to late and never.
Will we always succumb to the Joneses,
or will we let this ego mind own us.

Can we press rewind, and live without temptation
or continue to fastfoward and fall into degradation.
What kind of legacy our we leaving for our future generations
I'm not sure but will the ever forgive us?

Yeah I read Catcher in the Rye recently... so shoot me haha. Beleive it or not, I am an optimist.
Stev-0

From Bulgaria Wıth Love

2005-07-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

We have conquered yet another land mass! Bulgarıa is now just a faınt, mıld tweak in my knee.

What a place. We ended up a week behınd schedule as the Romanians were busy setting a new bench mark for hospitaliy. So we cheated and took a traın for 200km's. We are truly embarassed. We wanted to make it into Sofia so we could enjoy the week-end and our host could show us around. The mountaıns between Vıdın and Sofıa were breathtakıng. A litter problem along the waterways and old reminants of communıst ındustry gone wrong were the only drawbacks to the amazıng vıews.

We arrıved the day before one of those 'democracy' farces we know as electıons. In Bulgarıa it is ıllegal to sell alcochol on the day before the elections so we had to rely on the stock piling of Maria and company. We went out for a bırthday party at Marıa's frıends house and we got to see the aftermath of a bomb that was set at some guys door as a scare tactıc one week prıor. 6 storeys of shockwave had blasted out the wındows in everyones apartments and the staırwell and rendered the elevator useless. I felt kında uneasy lıke gettıng in a lımo wıth a chaffeur wıth a neckbrace, as we walked up the staırs, but we had a lıttle vodka and the world was all Kool and the Gang once again.

We had a great tıme ın Sofıa takıng ın the sights of mosques left behınd from Turkısh rule. Stunnıng architecture ıs everywhere. We went hıkıng ın the mountaıns a bıt and Marıa and her dog were attacked by another huuuuugggggeeeee dog as I yelled and Steve whıstled to scave off another attack. All part of the experıence. Thanks to Marıa for hostıng us! She ıs a wonderful host and person.

We pushed 5 days on to the Black Sea. Clımbıng some nıce hılls here and there and pushıng ınto some headwınds. The people along the countrysıde were pretty welcomıng too. Surprısıng as we were once agaın told how crazy Bulgarıa ıs for travellıng. Much lıke Serbıa, we were treated kındly. At one poınt, we stopped to strecth and a woman pıcked a bunch of fruıt and rasberrıes from her property and gave us a bıg bag. One second after acceptıng the fruıt a woman wıth a lıttle pıg comes walkıng down the road and takes us to the store for ıce cream. She asked me ıf I was sıngle, then took my maılıng ınformatıon and I thınk she ıs sendıng my mom a pıcture of her daughter to marry her off. Beıng sıngle opens doors I tell ya!

We were able to ıntervıew a farmer ın a town called Karnobat whıch is 80km's west of Bourgas and the Black Sea. He had a huge productıon of sunflower, wheat and corıander. He ıs faced wıth the same problem of North Amerıcan farmers. Get bıgger and spray chemıcals to be economıcally vıable or sell the farm and move to the cıty. He saw no solutıon to thıs trend. He was really excıted about the possıbılıty of bıodıesel when I explaıned ıt to hım.

We pushed onwards to Turkey and slept ın the woods about 30 metres from a full on barbwıre fence whıch represented the Bulgarıan\Turkısh border. I thought I kept hearıng mılıtary patrollıng the woods as we slept. İ was so tense you couldn't have gotten a pın up my butt wıth a jackhammer. Another sleepless night in the land of bicycle touring.

We survıved and now we're chıllın' out ın Istanbul and enjoyıng the Turkısh hospıtalıty whıch mıght set a new precendence. Who knows what ıs ınstore for us.

untıl next tıme, peace near the mıddle east!

Kevın

Motorcycles and Beer, and did I mention beer?

2005-06-27T01:16:00.000-07:00

Timisoara Romania was a stop to remember. We hooked up with some awesome people here and we had such a good time we ended up staying a week longer than we expected. Our two hosts Anemaria and Mihai were fabulous, taking us around town and showing us the sights of the 4th largest city in Romania. Kevin and I split up for a few days to keep our sanity, but I feel we have got past much of any petty bickering we have endured through our travels.

We left Timisoara to meet up with some of Annemaria's friends in a town called Resita. They were motorcycle enthuisists and defintitely the best motorcycle gang in Romania. They showed us a good time in Resita which was a similiar city to our hometown of Hamilton (steel producing industrial city). The beer was dirt cheap here in Romania and we were told by our friend Mihai that Romania's first national sport was Football (soccer) and second national sport was drinking... too funny.

We were invited to attend a biker party and headed back to Timisoara and decided to experience the meeting. We joined the Street Wolves pack formerly the MF's from Hell. We had a blast and some good pictures from the weekend that we will be posting shortly. The hospitality we were shown by the Romanian people was out of this world. We could not pay for anything as our hosts would not accept our money. Kevin eventually had to quickly pay for a round once and a while.

Fabi, Muti, Gabi, Flavius, Marius, Vio, Costi and everyone else helped us feel like we have been best friends for years. We had our first bicycle pack as Fabian and Gabi decided to join us on a 130Km ride to and beautiful city called Herculaine. Fabi could only ride a with us for 30K because of other priorities but Gabi joined us for the entire 130!! What a trooper, he had not been out on a bike in about 6 years, I had some doubts if he was going to make it. He was the Man!!! We arrived in Herculaine which was the place where Hercules would stay to relax and soak in the natural Hot Springs. We had a long day and it was dark out so we grabbed some Schnapps to relax with in the springs. Beautiful half naked Romanian women and a hot spring was defintitely the highlight of the night... whoa!!!

We stayed in this beautiful valley surrounded by limestone cliffs in this picturesque setting in the south west part of the Carpatian mountains. Mama Doina hosted us in Herculaine. She has a wealth of knowledge about natural medicine and homoepathic properties of the surrounding encvirontment. People in Romania have a good sense about what is important in life. I feel more and more that I will not remain in Canada as people have lost themselves to a system that will eat itself.

The one downfall in Romania would have to be the lack of proper garbage maintenance. Most river ways were polluted and roadways were littered. It is unfortunate but in the country has only experienced "freedom" for the past 15 years and is still in it's infancy for a developing country. Like most politicians the rich are making decisions to further fill their pockets for personal interests like the rest of the world... it's a sad state politically everywhere.

Romania is definitely a place I think I could live in to help promote environmental change. They share similiar philosophies and live for needs more than wants in life. One day North America will have to share this point of view as our mispending of natural resources will bite us back...

Feed us your children ?!?!?!?!

2005-06-14T02:08:00.000-07:00

The Serbian border crossing was a typical border crossing. The old, “Where are you going”, and “What are you doing”, and “Holy crap your wet.” Routine. Two “shu-gungs” in the passports from the stamping implement and we were on our completely saturated way. We stayed in another hotel that night in Sombor and met a super nice woman in the morning who invited us to her house to stay. We declined and pedaled ahead towards Romania parting an infinite number of puddles along the way until we arrived in Backa Toppola. What a neat little town. It was probably a whole lot cooler because we met a bunch of locals that took us in for the night and treated us like gold. Thank you Robbie, Poofie, Ljosch and Silvia. Robbie owns an underground nightclub and we rocked the night out drinking some local Pivos {beers} and enjoying the local music. The morning finally brought us sunny skies and smooth riding into Romania. Thank you Serbia! The people are fantastic. To everyone who thinks or says, “Don’t go through Serbia. Your crazy.” you should travel to Serbia and turn off the television. People are way too afraid in this world. The media laden, preconceived notions people have like, “I heard a story that something bad happened there to someone once when they were traveling.”, or “That’s a bad place you could get ripped off so be afraid of everyone attitude,” is so far off from reality. I spoke to a woman in Serbia about this and she says, “Yeah. It’s not like we’re eating children for god sake!” In short, people are people everywhere you go. Good and bad. Most of the time people are not mean spirited and they are not out to get or rip you off. Trips like this are good for restoring one’s faith in humanity.

So doe’s anyone out there want to come and join us for a week or two or what?

Onwards Bulgaria!

Where's Noah's ark when you need it?

2005-06-14T01:54:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Timisoara, Romania with 2 more countries down and 12 more to go! My knees are counting them down.

So Steve left off the last post when we were in beautiful Hungary. We stayed in an intentional community called Gyürüfü Ecovillage. It is a pretty neat space. There are 25 residents living there and each family has their own hectare of land. Our host Imre had an incredible house made the traditional Hungarian style, using mud brick and straw to build the walls. Most of the homes are built like this here. Super insulated to hold the heat and it is naturally very cool in the summer. Now that Hungary has joined the European Union Imre said it will be illegal to build homes this way under E.U. law. Ridiculous eh. Good old conventional style homes with poor to terrible insulating qualities that are continually reliable on non-renewable inputs of energy! "That's the kind of house I want daddy." Good planning. Anyways, the roof on his home was of particular interest to me, because it is a reed roof that is made by harvesting local reeds from a nearby marsh. It too is a good insulator and is completely renewable. The only challenge is finding the locals who still have the knowledge to build the roofs like this as it is in jeopardy of disappearing. “Daddy how come nobody can build reed roofs anymore.? Well you see son, it isn’t good for the economy to use local regenerative reeds. You need to use black shingles that get really, really hot in the summer and have to be replaced in twenty years and are made from all kinds of chemicals and petroleum so people sweat and want to buy air conditioners.” Sorry. I have to stop doing that. So anyways, the village is also home to many sheep and cows that are used for making cheese and providing milk for the residents. Really good cheese too! The milkman would come by every morning with fresh milk. Remarkable community. Thanks Imre!

From Gyürüfü we pushed the old pedals towards Serbia. True to form, we got rained on heavily the day that we left. And I mean heavy. Noah himself would have been proud of this torrential downpour. I embraced our 4 days of rain content with the knowledge that it would end soon enough. Steve, understandably, didn't share my enthusiasm for embracing for the crummy weather. We were forced to resort to hotel accommodations in Mohacs on the banks of the Danube. The next morning it was raining even harder. We rode into a little border town and stopped at a super smoky pub to have a couple of cappuccino’s to bring our core temperature up. While I was sitting there I here," Hey you want a beer or what?” Then a woman walks by with a Canada sweater on. Very random. You never know where you’ll bump into a Canadian in the randomness that is life. They invited us for bean soup but we had to push on to Serbia.

A Hidden Treasure... shhhhh

2005-06-07T11:19:00.000-07:00

Slovenia was an unexpected jewel on our travel here through Europe. Kevin and I had a lack of knowledge about this hidden treasure as we began to roam through this big country. I say big country in regards to the vast amount of forest and mountains we were riding through in this untouched landscape.

Oh my, fresh air.... imagine that, I was saying to myself as we left the heavily populated Italian countryside. We could breathe deep and enjoy all that extra oxygen that was not tainted by pollution. It`s always a welcome sign to see large green spaces not molested by industry and ahem... progress. Slovenia and Croatia is one of the few areas left in Europe that bears still inhabit as well as other large forest mammals. The biodiversity in the country was extraordinary as we encountered the largest salamander Kevin and I have ever seen. It was as big as a hot dog bun. We saved it from getting smucked by a couple cars. We ended going up this short cut that turned into an 600 meter ascent with a killer grade... but what a detour. It was some of the most pristine land we have seen in Europe thus far and we caught a glimpse of an eagle maneuvering like a Top Gun pilot through the forest.

We were hosted by a great dude named Robin in the capital city Ljubljana. We found out he was also an avid cyclist who has probably rode more kilometers in his life than Kevin and I both. He has traveled to 85 countries... whoa and get this, he is entitled to 9 weeks vacation! It took me 10 years to get 4 weeks of vacation when I was slaving at my old job ouch! . The city was totally set up for cyclists as it had mulitple bike lanes for us to cruise through to miss all the traffic. The city's population was about 300,000 which was perfect. The population of Slovenia is only about 2 million which was awesome from the overpopulation we have encountered in Western Europe.

Ljubljana was very similar to the rest of Slovenia, full of natural beauty like the countryside. We arrived in town and there were a tonne of police around. We found out there was a NATO convention. There were no protests this time and the city was pretty chill. We got some great pictures around town and they should be posted shortly.

On our way to Croatia we were taken in by another Slovenian couple, Brenna and his wife Tatiana. The Slovenian hospitality was great. We enjoyed some wine and the most delicious strudel. They had a Maltese dog that reminded us of our family dog when we grew up. I'm missing Slovenia already.... what a great bunch of people.

Ok... don't ever plan a cycling trip into Zagreb (Croatia).... it was the worst experience so far on our bikes. The drivers were unbelievably rude as we were honked off the rode more times then I could count on my hands. There was literally no room for cyclists anywhere... we were shooed out of a gas station by some rude employee as we needed to stretch our tired legs. We decided to do a count of single occupancy vehicles and it was pretty much the same as North American metropolitan cities... about 80 percent of the cars. I hate big cities...

Zagreb's downtown core was amazing compared to the unfriendly rodes. The downtown core was full of pedestrian friendly walkways and patios that lined the middle of the city streets. There was a great urban park where we stopped for lunch and many amazing sites to see. I even got a photo of (in my opinion) one of the truly greatest minds of the 20th century Nikola Tesle. If you don't know what this guy has done in his career he is worth researching, almost everything he has done effects our daily lives immensely We could definitely see a difference in the public transportation as the busses were old looking but the infrastructure was great as they had many tram lines in and out of the city.

We are now in Hungary and I'll provide an update on this country soon, I'm going to end this post for now, we will be in touch soon.

Update, pictures are now online!!!! I have sent out a photo album from Croatia send me you're e-mail address if you have not received an e-mail from our yahoo account. :)

Steve

What an Entrance!!!

2005-05-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

Viva Italia!! We started our ascent out of France as we looked ahead to some killer switchbacks unlike we have seen on our journey. They snaked uphill into the Italian Alps about 800m and we counted about 4 to 5 minutes as we observed the one truck reach the summit of the hill. Whoa... so we started the climb in granny gear as we took our time. Kevin is much better at climbing hills as he weighs about 65 lbs less than me (25 kilos for our Euro readers), but I kept up with him the whole way. He was taking pictures from time to time... hehe.

The last 10m to the top... PACCCHHIIINNGG!!! oh shit! My chain goes flying off my bike. Luckily I had purchased a new cog and chain before I left Canada... phew. So I learned to ensure my gears were working properly before I hit anymore hills especially the Alps... yikes. We stopped at the Italian border for a birra and lunch before we hit the killer downhill. At the border town we saw a 5kg jar of Nutella... one of Italia's best known junk food products larger than life in front of us, haha.

We continued on to Sestriere (2035m or 6,676ft) above sea level where the Alpine events are for the next Olympics in Torino 2006. We climbed another 600m up putting our total elevation to 1400m for the day. We figured out that we climbed about 14 Hamilton escarpments in one day... whoa, our poor quads. It was damn cold as there was still much snow on the mountain, the temperature was sitting at 5° and was dropping fast as night fall was quickly approaching. We couldn't find cheap accomodations or camping which was out of the question. We headed down to a small village called Frais to camp which was about 15 Km away. We covered that in about 15/20 minutes on the bike as we descended at blurring speeds of 80kms/hr, what a ride. We wiped the tears from our eyes as the temperature went up about 10°, phew!

The next part of the ride was a breeze, we descended down to Pinerolo for about 40 kms and then onward to meet up with a great organization in Bra Italy. An organization that is changing the world starting from our bellies, "Slow Food" is an international association that promotes food and wine culture, but also defends food and agricultural biodiversity worldwide. This is very important as corporations and GMO production (called OGM in Europe) is threatening our food security for guess what... yup PROFIT. There site can be found at www.slowfood.com check it out, they are doing some extraordinary . We met up with two gracious members from Slow Food who took us out for lunch at The University of the Science of Gastronomy. The University was also initiated by the Slow food movement and is a very unique setting for the institution. We had some amazing food and we had a tour of the facility. The Slow Food initiative is one very close to our hearts and our objective of this trip.

After the visit with Slow food we were set up with some future contacts in Italy. We were literally stunned with Italy and the Agriturismo promotion that was recommended to us by Slow Food. There is a collection of farms here in Italy that offer education about food production and argriculture. We stayed at 3 agriturismo farms meeting some truly gracious hosts that will not be forgotten. We also met another local bee farmer and were taken in for a couple of days with their family as well. We met a gentleman outside of Vincenza who also took us in for the night. We have been blessed with some gracious hosts here in Italy. It has been wonderful as the Italian hospitality has been truly outstanding. It brings a tear to my eye thinking about our travels across this country.

The bike culture is alive and well here in Italia as we have been passing through the cities and countryside. The one day we caught up to a pack of cyclist that passed us by thinking they could leave us in their dust... haha whatever! Kevin and I could tell they were the weekend warrior variety and quickly crept up into their slipstream. Kevin was playing the harmonica as they struggled to lose us... too funny. We rode out about 10kms hitting about 35km/hr while Kevin was playing the harp. They didn't know how fit we are regardless of how much wieght we were carrying, I was cracking up as we were enjoying their slipstream. They finally turned another direction. We have been loving Italy for all the great cycling and food culture as well as activism here.

All they have to do is work on their goverment and get their troops out of Iraq. Everyone we have met has been strongly opposed to the Oil war and Italy's role... sigh, stupid governments...

Otherwise Viva Italia!!!

Steve

The long life

2005-05-05T00:32:00.000-07:00

I have arrived...

I think I have found something truly special and amazing. Approxiametly 30 years ago a community was formed here in France, perched in the Alps, I will get back to this in a minute but excuse me while I go on a small rant.

Begin Rant:

read at your own discretion or continue reading at end rant below

In the past before globalization occurred people used to live in communities where they lived to support each other and survive on a local scale which worked fairly well for the last 1000 years. Now we have globalization and a large scale community which is good for the world right? The media tells us so, and we all know that corporate media is never wrong, they are looking out for human interest right???

Before I get into a huge rant about my thoughts of the corporate world and globalization, I've learned a lot in the past few years because my eyes have been opened to the atrocites (on many levels) of globalization and corporate interests. Bless the internet and indy media, it's probably one of the few sources I can get somewhat unbiased information. Has anyone seen Clock Work Orange where they open the main character's eyes really wide to see atrocites of human behaviour.... that's me unfortunately. I am truly frightened because I can see what possibilities the future has to offer. If we continue down this path we have a dark future, it is happening now. Ok no more rants before people stop reading about our journey heh. For those who know what I'm talking about sorry about reiterating what you already know... for others who don't know, go back to sleep, it was all just a bad dream and everything is going to be ok, just buy... just buy.

End rant

So we stumbled upon a community in France that was started up in the seventies. They are into organic farming, sustainable practices and spreading humanity to people in need through activism. People wanted to get back to our roots and to live life where certain values are held high. Food, shelter and love, what else do we really need in life, think about it. The process began and grew into about 9 communities in Europe and one oustide of Europe in Central America. It offered a place where these 3 values flourished and offered a place where people can find refuge from the growing world of "isms" that are unsustainable for our egocentric species and many other species. Many people from all walks of life are here farmers, mechanics, carpenters, builders and some people that had no prior skills but are willing to learn and grow. I think I have found a place that is very unique and unlike anything I have ever seen before. It is still a microcasm of the world because we are all human but it is something that is near my heart, compassion and the good side of humanity. Something I feel is lost in todays modern society. I really can't say enough good things about the community, I am blown away.

I'm finding in this journey that Kevin and I are caught in temporary"ism" as we travel from space to space. I was seriously considering ending my trip here, but I will continue on with my brother in this adventure. I have found a place I plan to return to. I knew that there would be places that would tempt me to end the journey but we have a goal. Until we are in VietNam I will continue forward as I find myself growing in ways that are not possible in school or corporations.

We took our first week off to stay in this community to assist in organic farming. I was able to assist in the production of 80 loaves of bread for the community. I'm learning skills that will help me to live sustainably in the future and I will surely leave a smaller environamental foot print in the world. Many possibilities and so much to learn. We had a great interview with a British fellow named Nick that will definitely appear in our doucmentary. Thanks to everyone in the commmunity that shared this experience with us!

We are currently in the beautiful French Alps in the highest town in Europe... where did the oygen go... heh. We are close to the Swiss border and heading into Italy to talk with some organic farmers in the next few days.

Over and Out!

Steve

I play Russian roullette with a bullet called cycle touring... Riot Police !?!?!?

2005-04-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

"Life is a matter of inches", I hear Kevin yell from in front of me. Since we've been cycling closer to the Spanish coast it has become abundantly clear that the secondary roads on the maps are non existent. Many trucks take the non toll routes to save money as well as the normal drivers. We crossed another border a few days across to France through the Pyreness and celebrated with a bière! Wow, some gorgeous snow tipped mountains were in our sights as we left Girona, Spain. Some amazing views in yet another historically filled city with old fort walls, ancient churches, farmers markets & astonshing landscapes. I would definitely own a mountain bike here as we inadvertantly took a wrong turn to get out of town and hit some trails to the highway...

Onwards to Marseille to catch the John Butler Trio in which we got on the guest list for. Before I get into that, we passed through a city called Narbonne. We chugged along at a snails pace as we met up with some French wind farms, I smiled to myself as I felt the need to say, "That's my kind of progress!" But... uh oh, winds in the wrong direction which are not any cyclist's cup of tea. We intended on going a lot further that day but settled on 60 km's. We arrived in Narbonne and there were bus loads of riot police??? There was a rally, many wine farmers were upset with new legislation passed down from the government restricting consumption. Here's a link to the whole story, check out the name of this website (paste this into your web browser) http://www.fuckfrance.com/read.html?postid=1195295&replies=12&page=1
So Kevin and I are doglegging around the protest line trying to get to a bike store before the campground closes. We were getting some new tires and our noses start to burn, "What the heck is that?", Kevin said. We ride back and there are fires burning on the streets and the streets we're littered with tear gas cannisters... whoa WWIII was breaking out... well not really but it was something I've never been exposed to. We tried to get to the campsite but the river was blockaded by riot police and angry mobs setting fires, screaming and yelling. We got to the campsite which was closed but luckily we got signed in for the night... what an end to the day!

We arrived in Marseilles yesterday and we're on the guest list to see John Butler Trio, one of my brothers favourite bands. It was an urban folk festival, and a lively crowd to say the least. One thing I've seen from the French is that they are very spirited bunch. The show was fantastic!

I'm going to keep this one short, I'd like to thank Olivier and Marco for hosting us over the last two days. I wish we would have had more time to explore Marseille there are some phenomenal coast lines that I would have loved to explore, but sometimes that's the way life is for us on the road. We are headed to some organic farms in the next few days so over and out for now!

Steve

Ahhhh the Mediterannean!

2005-04-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

Anyone out there that is thinking about planning a trip to Europe should seriously consider traveling around the Mediterranean coast of Espanha by bicycle. Every 40km´s or so would take you to another coastline a little different from the last. South of Valencia the roads are less congested. Nice and flat, easily done by bicycle. Beautiful coastline with fine sandy beaches and mountains that lie just behind the beach a few kilometers away. I feel like a cheesy travel agent trying to sell a package. But seriously, if you want to lie on a beach and relax, this should be a consideration. Cervesas in a hammock, marguarita´s from a girl named Marguarita, a foot massage from a girl named Foot Massage. Alright enough of that!

We left Valencia on April the 13th on Steve´s birthday. What a wonderful city Valencia is. We once again slept in as we didn´t hear the alarm on my watch go off and we got a bit of a late start. We needed to cycle 120km´s up to a town called Alcala de Xibert for 9:00pm in the evening to meet our host Marc. We had a mild headwind for most of the day and it took us a good hour to get on a road that would take us in the right direction. After cycling on a road with craters the size of soccer balls we finally got going at a steady pace. Unfortunately the only road that was direct enough was a major highway that had heavy vehicular traffic. It was pretty much unhealthy to breath the air and cycle on this road.

We cycled into large city called Castello where we had lunch in a big park filled with palm trees and other large ferns and native plants. I must say that the Spanish and Europeans have it going on from an urban planning perspective. Almost every town has a huge pedestrian only urban park that is at least three city blocks long with lots of gardens and trees and playground equipment. We enjoyed a huge lunch of pasta beans and sandwiches. I can´t believe how much we eat. It´s embarrassing. Seriously.

We rode on towards Alcala de Xibert, passing by old castles and lots of lemon, orange and olive orchards. The oranges and lemons are in season right now. We rode through the headwinds and up a good hill with no shoulder and rigs passing us pretty close and into Alcala de Xibert. We went for Steve´s birthday dinner of calamari, Bacalao (Cod Fish) Cervesas and pizza.

We met up with our host and went out for a tour of the town. A bunch of people had gotten together and collectively purchased a space where members could hangout in town. It is awesome. A huge warehouse with lots of bicycles and spare parts. It also has a pictorial history of the Spanish revolution from 1936-1939. Fantastic place. The next morning we went to the beach and enjoyed a few beers before we went to another beach and enjoyed a few beers before going to interview a local farmer. Unfortunately I have come to the realization after smelling chemicals in various places throughout Espanha (especially now that we are in the agricultural region) that Espanha is sadly just as chemical dependant as us. The fellow that we interviewed was the one guy that the locals said would be organic, but unfortunately he said that he has to spray an insecticide to kill bugs. He said that that is the only thing he sprayed and he complained that people want perfect looking vegetables. You know, the kind of vegetables with heavy chemical residues found in supermarkets that pollute our waterways, contaminate our soil, kill the ants, worms, birds and other local native flora and give us cancer at epidemic rates to the tune of 1 in 3 people. Sorry for the rant but it is the sad truth. Fortunately there are over 180 registered WWOOFING (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) farms in Espanha. A huge number in comparison to other countries.

We decided at the days end to take a train to avoid the madness that is highway traffic and we went 150km´s to Tarragona. I forgot my passport and all my ID so I am having it mailed to me in France. Stupid Kevin!

The ride into Barcelona was probably the most scenic, breathtaking, scariest crap your pants rides I´ve ever been on. We rode uphill around 200 feet up the sides of mountains. We wound in and out of scenic looks to cliffs that were a 200+ foot plunge into the ocean below. Unreal. The whole way we had no shoulder. We were both being squeezed to the cliffs edge as big rigs came inches from us. At one point I turned around and saw a big rig chugging behind Steve, followed by 8 or 9 cars. Steve stopped to let the rig by and the rig stopped and told Steve to keep going, as there was no room. It was unnerving. Eventually the rig got around Steve. A few minutes later I got really scared. I went around a corner and the traffic in the other lane came to an abrupt stop. I thought the traffic stopped because there was no room around this corner with the rigs and us. Then BAM a car beside me slammed into the back of another car. The people got out of their cars and I stopped and looked back at the corner repeating over and over, “Come on Steve. Come on Steve. COME ON STEVE!” Then thankfully Steve came around the corner chugging it out slowly but surely. What a sigh of relief.

Then we had a great downhill into Barcelona. Barcelona has a few huge parks. The park beside the place where we are staying is called Park Guell. The park is situated 100metres half way up a mountain. Amazing trees and architecture are filled throughout the park. There are really neat old stone walls of weird dimensions and walkways on top of them running through the park. Little cafes are inside the rock of the mountain and they serve coffee and treats. Our hosts live one minute away from the park and have opened up their house and hearts to us. We enjoyed Paella for lunch the first day we were here and we have been treated like gold.

We are heading to Girona tomorrow and then on to the Pyrenees!

We give a huge thanks to Marc and his father and our other friends in Alcala de Xibert and thanks to Jorge for a one night stay in Barcelona and another humongous thank you to Ernest, Laurae, Vinyet and Maria in Barcelona for taking us in there home and treating us like family!

Until next time…..

Ahh the seat position...

2005-04-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

We pushed through and kicked out a few 100+ km days en route to the east coast of Espanha into Valencia. The last 3 days we started out in Puertollano up through the Cuidad Real on to Manzanares, Villarobledo, San Clemente, Villanueva de la Jara, Castilla de Iniesta, Utiel, San Antonio, Requena, Buñol and finally to the 3rd largest city in Espanha beautiful Valencia.

We had some killer winds from the north keeping it really cold and frosty at night. This brought in a wicked tail wind on the first day of riding. The last two days of riding we had a side/tail wind just enough to push us a little but deter us from really pushing about 40km/hr. When it was behind us we were grinding it in our largest front cog... so much fun!

We camped every night finding some interesting places to duck down around night fall like stealthy blood ninja´s. We took nothing but pictures, left nothing but footprints and killed nothing but time. The one night we stayed at an old broken down restaurant in a pool to get out of the wind. There are sooo many old abandoned places to duck behind when the time is right.

We probably passed through the windiest region in Espanha. There were 3 major wind farms we spotted from the road. They were probably larger than any one wind farm in Canada. If we shifted subsidies from oil to wind energy the benefits would be seen almost immediately. The wind farms would pay themselves off within a few years and the excess energy could be stored in a different form i.e. hydrogen fuel or another alternative. The true cost of oil and coal is so high that from a financial, social and environmental it just makes plain sense. This is one man made site that is a beacon of hope to me, I would smile everyday on the train into Toronto when I saw the windmill chugging along. Human ingenuity has provided us with energy that is renewable. This technology is being utilized heavily in Europe and Germany is the leading user of this power in the world, Spain #2, the US is #3 and Denmark #4 with India at #5. In Paul Martin´s platform for Prime Minister said that Canada will one day be #1 in wind power, let´s hope he puts his money where his mouth is. You think Canada would start to get on to this seeing that we have the largest coast line (33000 Km´s).

The other day we went through a provincial crossing where a huge mountain range divided the provinces. My jaw dropped as the turqoise lakes and majestic mountainside left a feeling of awe in me. It helped me push some extra km´s out for sure with all the extra oxygen in the air. Luckily for us a new autovia (super highway) was built and the roads we cycled on were free of cars. There was a trail of closed down gas stations and other places of business that were left in the dust on the side of the road. We all know that the more highways we build the more "parking lots" are created as demand for more cars goes up. Look at the QEW and the 400 series of highways in Toronto for instance. On a daily basis, how fast is traffic moving on average... 5 to 10 Km an hour... whoa... that´s progress. We saw many other signs of true progress as bullet trains would show up for a few seconds as they flew by at 300 km/hr. That was pretty cool.

There was a huge motorcycle race in south western Spain in Jerez. A tonne of motorcycle enthuisist´s were flocking the roads as they passed us by. We had so many waves from them, a very friendly excited bunch. The one guy had a video camera out and taped me and my rudimentary spanglish. I told him about our trip and we got the same reaction we get from most people... are you loco?? It was neat to see them flying along, as much as I´m opposed to burning fossil fuel, I have a soft spot for sport bikes. They do make some diesel models, so I could always try and convert one to burn some bio diesel... hrmm.

We are headed to Barcelona in the next few days and we´ll be breaking out the French/English dictionary again. I´m looking forward to the coastline, the Pyreness and the Alps... but not the financial burden that France will offer us. We´ve been getting used to the cheap produce and inexpensive living in Espanha. We were just starting to learn more Spanish, Kevin wishes he would have paid attention at Plan B Organic Farm. He knows how to command the stray dogs here in Espanha, not quite the same with people. Oh yeah, anyone looking for some good organic food, Plan B provides the largest Community Shared Agriculture in southern Ontario. Check out www.planborganicfarms.ca, the season is upon us.

I´d like to give thanks to a gracious host in Valencia Teresa, we really enjoyed the stay in this truly beautiful city. I think Valencia has some of the most gorgeous parkland I´ve ever seen running through a city. There´s lots of money in this city and many poor areas where people are doing squats for there rights. The city is alive and well with activism. We had a good interview with Teresa to outline some of the activism going on here.

One last note, I´m putting this out to anyone who feels like buying me a $5 Canadian pint of beer for my birthday. I´m turning 31 tomorrow, April 13th. I never thought I´d be here doing what I´m doing, if you would have told me this a couple years ago I would hae said, "Yeah right...". I´d like to transfer the funds over to buy a digital camera to take some better still shots as my camcorder is limited. Any excess funds will be used to spend on a hosted website where I can post the pictures for a nominal fee. E-mail me at two_hammers@yahoo.ca and I´ll give you my account information.

Time to sign off, Ciao for now.

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone is enjoying our posts. Please send us your comments we love reading them.

Steve