View from the top of the John Hancock building on the side of Lake Michigan.
The Jasper National Park, one of the most scenic rides in the world......
Fantastic scenery and empty roads in the Yukon Territory
Yesterday was a long ride of 440 miles (700 km) from Beaver Creek, Canada (on the border with the US) to Anchorage in Alaska. But, the border crossing only took approx. 10 minutes and even included jokes with the official (Turkmenistan included no jokes and took 8 hours).
The roads and scenery through Canada were fantastic, this is on the way to Beaver Creek, our last stop in Canada before crossing back into Alaska. 
An 18 hour trip on the Dong Chun ferry from Vladivostok brought us to South Korea and normality. Perfect tarmac roads signs in English (and Korean), people who smile and who have heard of customer service :), food is good too. (I didn't write much about Russia at the time but the Russian food is often dull and as a customer in shops, cafes and hotels you feel you are an inconvenience to the person serving you).
The highway runs over the top of China and then 'round the top right hand corner to Vladivostok. The initial 3 days of the 6 day journey were across mostly unmade roads with plenty of other vehicles, earth moving & road laying equipment and of course lots of dust. Several of the riders had some close calls particularly on the freshly laid wet tarmac, I lost the back wheel at one point but managed to stay upright another wasn't so lucky and slid down the road covering herself and bike in the wet tar.
Since Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan where I made the last post we have travelled through Kazakhstan, Russia briefly and then across Mongolia and back into Russia (Siberia). Mongolia was bar far the toughest country of the trip. From entering the gate into Mongolia from the Russian border there were no roads, just dirt tracks, this remained the case for the next 6 days of our trip.
On the 3rd day in Mongolia I was going well with the off road dirt, rocks and shallow sand. Then I hit some deep sand, the front wheel went sharply to the left as I slowed down (wrong thing to do in sand) I corrected to the right and repeated left and right and finally fell off. Bike sliding through the sand and me flat on my back hearing a crack as I landed! Next two days spent in the 4x4 with a painful rib, think it was dislocated, still painful when I laugh, cough and sneeze; but spirits are high and the 4,000km Trans-Siberian highway is next.
I am currently sıttıng ın a hotel lobby ın the old part of Istanbul. The Blue Mosque ıs a short walk away and ıs along wıth the Bospherous vısıble from the terrace bar on the 5th floor.Have fallen off once going up a Swiss pass, no damage done and hairpin turns have improved immeasurably.
Planning a second night out in Prague of a few beers and some traditional food - expect cabbage, pork and dumplings.
-- this post has taken ages to write in the hotel reception, the y and z are the opposite waz around on cyech kezboards and I can§t get the apostrophes or exclamation marks to work.
motorbike combined with my first off-road experience. Quite a reality check, leaving me feeling pretty daunted about the trip ahead. The F800 was a handful off-road, controlling it in the mud was the most challenging, riding up and down inclines of around 45 degrees also required plenty of concentration and 'positive conviction'.
and foggy at first but cleared and warmed up by lunchtime. In addition to brushing up on my cornering skills it was a good chance to have a final test of all the riding gear I will be taking on the 20,000 km trip.
irst-aid course, navigation course, my NRMA international driving permit, new sleeping bag, new gloves and bought a Darth Vader like Arai XD-3 helmet. It doesn't quite seem real, am I really about to ride 'round the world on a motorbike?|
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