127days 

Its good to be back in France ! Wine & Food...We left the house early this morning, cannot sleep more and decided to ride on the highway until Aix en Provence. Nicolas has an apartment in the center and i am looking forward to settle down for the day and update the blog...Today was an easy ride and i ride the KTM... Another story but lets focus on the subject, the Benelli hahaha

When Nicolas was riding my bike, i finally realized how noisy is the Benelli. I am thinking about the hours and hours of ride behind me. Poor Nicolas :(

Finally after 127 days, i am in France...

I left the winery around 10am after a huge home made breakfast and back on the road towards France. I decided to meet up with Nicolas (another one), Ex owner of the Benelli who lives now in Aix en Provence. We are going to ride together in the Alps until Nice where we will spend the night to his friend house.

The roads from Italy to France by the Madeleine pass at 2000 meters was just incredible. super corners, good temperature, perfect Asphalt . A pure pleasure! 

I arrived at the meeting point a bit late but Nicolas and the KTM were waiting for me...Nicolas cannot believe, he will one day see his previous bike here (In France)...Yes man I made it ! The bike changed a lot since he bought it in 2012 (as you can see from the picture below)

The homestay last night was cool. The owner took good care of us and prepare us a huge breakfast. Enough to keep our stomach full until Pula, our today`s destination. 

Pula is a peninsula and like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea and unspoiled nature.

We took half highway and national road to reach the bottom of the Peninsula where we found a camping 50 meters from the sea.

The ride was short 268km done in 3 hours. We spent the afternoon updating the blog from my side, video editing for Nicolas and of course a swim followed by a nap on the beach...Thats all for today. Tomorrow we should be in Slovenia and Italy.

 Pag is the fifth largest island on the croatia coast and one of the longest coast line. It is ridable from the continent. Enough about geography, Pag is a party island...So today, we are going to party.

To reach Pag, we used the main highway until Zadar then switch to the national road which was awesome ! The island is pretty dry, not much trees and green land. The winter winds and sand are destroying everything, except the clubs open 24 hours non stop.

We enjoyed the small apartment we rent last night to get some rest in the morning and went for a swim...The water was 20 meters from our place, very convenient for a morning swim, far from the crowd. We started riding around 11am and targeted Split for the lunch. Split is a little Dubrovnik ! It is one of the oldest city in the area. It also has a fortified old town which we stopped by for our lunch. It is starting to get expensive, food, drinks and accommodation. Far from Asian standard in term of hospitality. We are everybody todays, just traveling with strange plates on the bikes which sometimes attracts people who are trying to guess where these characters are from :)

The town was busy, very busy. On the road, same problem, lot`s of traffic,  so we decided to use the Highway. Less people, faster but boring and hot...

The day started by a small rain when we left Dobra Voda. But nothing can stop us !

Instead of riding along the busy coast road to Dubrovnik (Croatia), we followed the advise of my Shanghai Serbian friend Igor and went for a mountain ride across Montenegro. Thanks Igor !!The ride was awesome, lost in the nature with narrow and curly roads...We passed by the Skarsko Jedero natural reserve until the cute Vranjina village.

Some update about our situation.  We are still in Albania, still in Sarande!! The city is not bad, we have sea view from the garage ;) but we are getting bored...Being stucks in the same place for so long is not our powaaaa philosophy. 

The problem is not solve yet. Our worst fear problem since the beginning is electronic and/or electric problem and that`s what we are facing with the Kawasaki right now. Even if the garage team is helping us, we are feeling a stagnation in the way to resolve our issue. 

We have imagined different scenarios, plans, options, that`s how we spent the 2 last days.

Greece was nice, people, landscape and food.  Most of the Greek people speaks english which makes things easier for us. But today is time for us to ride Albania.

The border was smooth and quick !

Few Km later, we had a beautiful scenary and crossed the lake Butrint on an old school floating footbridge.

Albania is interesting, not as developed but still touristic. Price are cheaper, people do speak english with good hospitality. We like it  !

Getting out of Athens was pretty quick and without any traffic. We changed a little bit our route at the last minute following some advises from a Greek friend. Today will be 423km along the sea with only national mountain roads.

The main stop will be Delphi, a famous archaeological site.

Delphi is best knows for the oracle at the sanctuary that was dedicated to Apollo. 

Today will be difficult - 600km south until Athens, mostly highway, the temperature is 40 degrees and I forgot to mention we went for some beers last night, so did not slept enough.

We ride 200km until Volgo where we stopped for a sea view lunch. Nothing special except our nice encounter with 2 french skippers who kindly invite us on their boat for a refreshing drink. We exchanged our war stories and get some advises about Greece, where to go, what to do....It was cool !

We left Istanbul around 4am to avoid traffic and keep temperature down. Our 1st stop was before the Greek border at the petrol station to spend our remaining Lira (Turkish money).

600 KM today until Thessalonoki...It will be our first Greek town.

We reached the Greek border around 7.30pm. 

The passport controler at the 1st stop asked us our motorbike insurance doc. Ouups ! In China, the insurance is with the license plate but out of China, this doc does`t mean anything...So he told us to go to the custom office few meters away. 

Me : Hello Sir

Him : Hello, what do you want ?

Me : heuuuu, we want to go to Greece...

him : Then, go !

Me : Ok - thanks Sir

So basically, we did not solve our insurance problem but at least we were free to go, so we did not insist and jump on the bike and powaaaa to Greece.

The night was short but good !

Today is going to be a sight seeing tour... Istanbul is big but we have only 1 day, so we will make it happen in 1 day...Lets powaaaa the town.

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and no doubt it is nicer and more interesting than the his sister capital; Ankara.

As our time is precious, we went directly to the Sultanahmet district where all the traditional monuments are located.

Istanbul is a lovely city ! Really... Why ??

Because, we love the locals, who have an endless supply of hospitality, good-humour and insightful conversation at their disposal.

We love the fact that when we walk down a city street, layers of history are showing up.

We love listening to the sound of the müezzins duelling from their minarets (except at night time hahah).

We love the restaurants, the bars and the tea gardens. But most of all we love the waves of energy you can find at every corners.

We left Konya around 2pm, later than planned. Tonight, we want to be in Istanbul. We lost too many days in Konya...

700km on the GPS...It will be the test ride for the Benelli to see if everything is going well.

60Km after Konya, Nicolas realized the left front folk of the Kawasaki is leaking...His front suspension is very very soft...

We stopped at a petrol station and saw a Suzuki Hayabusa. The owner is a cool turkish rider who will bring us to Ankara (Turkey Capital) to check the Kawasaki suspension. 

So we ride all together until Ankara. The highway was fast ! I realized,  how uncomfortable is it to ride without wind screen (broken since the accident). Above 120km/h it is getting difficult...

This weekend is the Eid-al-Filtr, the end of the testing ramadan month. Its a very special holiday for Muslim people and everything is close, people are traveling or celebrating at home with their relatives.

So we had no choice to stay here and wait Monday. The Benelli is in the Kuba motor dealer garage, waiting for her examination on Monday in the order to estimate the damages. 

The sky was superb, the sun was shining, the temperature close to perfect. It was 7am this morning 20km before Konya when suddenly a dog crossed the road at the wrong time. I had no time to break or do anything else, the dog went straight into the back wheel which make the Benelli flying, flipping, sliding and stopping 60 meters later on the left side of the road. It was too quick to realize what`s is happening. 

I am doing fine, luckily only a small injury on the right arm. My Alpinastar motorbike gears saved me from a lot of pain actually. 

The rest of the day was between pounds, police and hospital paperwork.

Turkish police and hospital took good care of me and help us lot. I did not pay any fees at the hospital because it was a traffic accident.

Tonight we are in Konya city, trying to find solution for the motorbike which is not running anymore.

The Goreme national park is part of the Unesco World heritage list since 1985 and while watching our pics, you will understand why !

The park is well known, for his `fairy chimney`, this special rock formation who was years ago home to locals.

The alarm at 3.30am this morning was difficult but once you are above the Goreme park at 800 meters altitude in the balloon with a terrific sunrise then you keep silent and no words can describe the beauty of the scene. So i recommend you to check the photo gallery below. Keep your eyes open :)

The Benelli was ready with her new skin around lunch time. We left the factory after some official pictures with all the Kuba Motor Team. Its is going to be only highway until Cappadocia (and the famous Goreme national park). 480km to destination...The temperature was hot and bikes got very hot, sometimes above 100 degrees. Anyway, no choice, we need to reach the town before the night. We are kuaidi today ~ We need to deliver a package to Kuba shop in Goreme as companies (logistic and others) will be close from tomorrow until next week to celebrate the end of the Ramadan. The package was safely delivered on time after 4 hours. Highway are boring, its hot so we ride fast. It is sometimes difficult to hear our music when we are above 7000rpm, so we turn it off and listen the 4 cylinders noise doing his job :)

Thats all for today. We checked in on the top of the village in a small guesthouse with unobstructed view.

Tomorrow will be our balloon day, alarm ready at 4am for the sunrise flight.

See you tomorrow !

Today, we have to revert our road to Gaziantep (South of Turkey) for a Benelli inspection and small chirurgical surgery. My speedometer sensor is broken, so no more speed and kilometer infos since Uzbekistan.

The bike needs also new oil, new air filter and basic maintenance. The fuel leakage problem cause by Tadjik roads is back and the fuel tank is leaking a bit, so we installer a brand new. The only things is Kuba Motor Turkey which is the exclusive Benelli dealer in Turkey has the brand new Benelli TNT Tornado spare parts only. So my Benelli got a special face lift and became a TNT Tornado with brand new body part. Closer i get from home and newer became the bike (That`s awesome). People will not believe i ride this bike from China hehe..

This is what happened to Nicolas when we take off the training wheels on his Kawasaki !

No seriously, my buddy is safe and without any injuries. More fear than casualty...

A sharp down left, the front wheel slide on melting asphalt, then trajectory change and Nico full on the break but the Kawa ended into the pile of gravel on the side road and feel on the left side.

Result; broken left indicator, engine scrape and a small injury to his toe and arm. He is right now having a massage to recover from his stunt :)

As you can see from the photo, today the ride was between clouds, rain and sun ! A variable weather. We had a great and big breakfast on terrace before leaving Mestia. We feel having breakfast in a ski resort in the Alps during summer time. It was awesome !

Stomach full, we gazzzz down on the same way than yesterday...Quick and enjoyable ride :) Down in the valley, the rain started (just after we washed our bikes). 

Before leaving our home stay, Artur give us few advises about the monuments to see on our way to Mestia. Our first stop will be Kutaisi.

80km later, here we go. Kutaisi is the second largest city after Tbilisi. Since the government decided to move their parliament there, streets, building and shops are in construction, so roads are bad... 

You cannot come to Kutaisi without seeing the magnificent Bragrati cathedral. From the 11th-century, it was rebuilt officially in 2012 after heavy damage ages ago.

After the awesome yesterday ride, we decided  to stay one more day here and enjoy the green area. Funny enough, we are in the town lying the biggest Georgian National park;  Borjom - Kharagauli. Our local friend Artur suggest outdoor activities. Hiking or mountain biking !

2 wheels powaaaa, today is going to be a green ride.

We ride for 3 hours in the national park full of nice single tracks. The way up was unfortunately not rideable on the bike , so we pushed the bike but the way down was funnier and we powaaaa between trees, river and stones.

A great daily exercise ! Since we are  sitting every day on the motorbike, some exercise are necessary.

That was more or less our main activity today.

Tomorrow on the motorbike again towards a city called Mestia (far north). A good 5/6 hours riding across beautiful roads we hope !

We are getting west, far west to touch and had a swim into the Black sea.

Today we have 2 spots to visit; Gori, the birthplace of the Soviet leader; Staline and Vardzia known for its famous rock caves.

We had some trouble to get out of Tbilisi and took the wrong way several times. I don’t know why but roads are confusing and the GPS was not helping that much. Anyway, out of the city, we can speed up a bit on the great Highway which link Tbilisi to west until Batumi (west city on the black sea).

Gori was only 80km away from Tbilisi and in less than an hour we were there.

We did not visit much but took some pictures of the Staline birthday place and the Gori fortress. 

Today is a off day, no ride. Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia and the largest city, lying on the banks of the Mtkvari river. Although the city has been destroyed and rebuilt some 29 times, the layout of the Old Town is largely intact with narrow alleys and big crooked houses built around courtyards. Indeed it is pretty and you can find cozy cafe and restaurant with roof top terrace a little bit everywhere.

We woke up wet. Wet from the raining last night. The weather is not with us today. It is our 1st raining day since at least 2 months (we cannot complain, so we prepare raining gears and get ready to gazzzz).

Since yesterday, we are riding on the Georgian Military road which runs between Valdikavkaz and Tbilisi. This road follow the traditional route used by invaders and traders long time ago.

The Georgian border was only 30km away from our hotel.

As soon as we get on the road, the mountains became bigger and bigger. No doubt ! We are on the way to Georgia! We stopped by a petrol station just before the border and by chance, we met some Harley Davidson riders from Lithuania on their annual holidays trip...Very cool people, so we exchanged some bikers stories as usual.

When we walked last night in Makhachkala, looking for a restaurant, we caught sight of mens walking with guns...From our local source, it seems normal but for 2 french guys, the situation was abnormal.  We decided to end up with Dagestan. We like adventurers, not gangsters !

Today was a 420km of straight line with great asphalt towards Vladikavkaz (just before Georgian border).

On the way, we passed by the Republic of Chechnya and decided to make a small detour for a lunch in the Capital : Grozny !

We were expecting ruins after the second Chechen war which is over 4 years ago but nothing left from those bad times. 

Grozny is a brand new city, locals are very friendly and you feel safer than Dagestan.

Islam is the major religion and muslim people are all in ramadan period, so it was impossible to find a restaurant open. We ended up in a local fast food :(

Finally we met Madam Caspian Sea today !!

She was not too salty, not too hot and not too rough...Perfect for a full relaxing day.

Nicolas and Julien batteries`s are fully recharged and they are ready to powaaaa Tchetchenie tomorrow...

Are you ready to follow us ?? No choice you are IN already :)

We left the hotel around 7.30pm.

Next town, will be Makhachkala. 580Km south along the Caspian Sea. Not Sure, we will do it today or stop for a night on the way...Lets see...

We made at night ! 9 hours later after few detours. Caspian Sea ! We still did not put any feet inside, so we made a detour to Lagan (village who looks close to the sea on the map). To reach the village, we had to do some off road (Grrrrr). Not too dramatic, we did the PAMIR, Come on! But from this bloody village, no way to access to the Sea (WDF). We were a bit pissed off and gazzzz again to catch up the main south road toward Makhachkala (probably the city name the most difficult to pronounce so far).

The road was LONG, STRAIGHT, BORING, FLAT and HOT. The only distraction is too avoid cows crossing the roads...Because we ride fast, its sometimes difficult to avoid and then this is what`s happened. A picture talks better than words !

Finally we stayed one more day in Astrakhan. We heard there are few things to see, so as Russia will be a shortcut in our trip, lets spend one more day. We also decided to do our maintenance in Turkey as they do not have stuffs we are looking for (types + oil). So we went downtown and see what Astrakhan has to offer to us and we were not disappointed ! 

We left Atyrau around 6am after a huge breakfast, fill up benzin and hit the road...We were expecting better roads but unfortunately it was getting worst closer to the Kazakh border. A violent right side wind along with sand storm and rain is a good summarize of our ride today. Boring roads and landscapes did not help us to keep focus but we have to gazzz until Astrakhan.

Along the way, we crossed a kind of desert and found some petrol drilling. We stopped by for a picture and met one the worker. Obviously happy to see us in the middle of nowhere during a sand storm (brave tourist as he said)...

2 hours later, Kazakh border...It takes us more time to exit Kazakhstan than entering in Russia. Before leaving the country, we took some souvenirs pictures with the flag kindly offered by local ladies in Atyrau for a last picture with local police. 

From the Russian side, it was very smooth. Russian customs are kind and efficient...We were expecting a big border like Chinese ones but it was very small, not much traffic.

Roads were a lot better from the Russian side and we cruised at 100km/h discovering Russian landscape,cars, people and architecture.

Atyrau is definitively not a cultural city but its vibrant.

Students and young local crowd gives positive energy to this town. Locals are walking along the Ural river during  day and night times, riding bicycles, eating shashlik and drinking beer while listening loud music from the bars street.

Gun and roses bar is definitively the place to 

Today we are in Atyrau, famous town for its oil and fish industries. Its Kazakhstan`s main harbour city on the Caspian sea at the delta of the Ural river.

The city is considered to be located both in Asia and Europe, as it is divided by the Ural River (see pics on the left). Its a big step for us and Europe is showing up slowly. Cars, buildings, culture, food and others aspect makes us feel closer to home.

Lets get back to last night. We spent all night fighting against mosquitos and around 5am, they won and we decided to leave the place. Pictures below may be shocking, please make sure you are above 18 years old :)

Running after a camel is not an easy task ! Fixing a Go Pro on a camel for a ride is a `mission impossible` but we had lots of fun :)

Today was a quick ride...220km on a perfect asphalt...around 2 hours on the bike...We would love to go further but we have to ride like all these camels...SLOWWWW

However, since we are back to precious SP92, we can play with the throttle and get high in R.P.M. (after 3 weeks under SP80, engine are getting dirty and its time to open the gazzzzzzzz to clean all of this)...

Today we will spend one more day in Beyneu. Not because we like it but because we still have 1 week to kill before entering in Russia.

So today planning looks like :

9am > Breakfast

10 to 12am > Internet surfing (and its fast, so we love it)

12am > Lunch ( Plouv : rice + lamb and some vegetable)

2pm > Internet surfing (watching Enduro`s videos on Youtube)

4pm > Nicolas bike is leaking benzin ! S we went for a small pipe surgery and the problem was solve.

5pm to 8pm > Nap or Youtube (depends our mood)

8pm > Diner (Plouv or noodle) 

Honestly, there is not much to do in this city...The sun is burning from 7am to 8pm, so whats else to do except staying under air condition control.

We are pretty lucky and so far, bikes are running well after the disaster of Tajikistan...The speed sensor on the Benelli is dead, so i do not know anymore my actual speed...Which is a good excuse for speeding a little bit. I will have to wait Turkey to meet the Benelli dealer and replace the sensor. 

The night was short, breakfast quick and lightning preheating !!!

Today is a long ride...420Km until the 1st city of Kazakstan...Enough of Uzbekistan and their bad food...We need to escape A.S.A.P.

The 1st part of the road was awesome until the sunrise...but suddently Nico realized he lost his Go Pro !! Shiiiit the protection boxe was already broken, so i guess the last potholes at 70km/h finish it ! We U-turn and look for it! After 12min, here it is, lying in the middle of the road! Yeahhhhhhhh lucky day...

After 40km of dusty roads, and few camels looking at us, we finally reached the border. 1st Step, getting out of Uzbekistan and of course ! Problem !

Yeah the police officer would like to check my Go Pro and see if by any chance he can find some interesting videos...Up to you man but do it yourself ( i am tired and i do not have Customs video). So he found out, how to connect it to his computer and started watching today`s videos...Nothing was found...Useless action...

Today is an important day for us and we are expecting the moment to see the boat cemetery like kids eating some candies :)

We heard and read a lot about the Aral Sea tragedy and we want to see the reality from our own eyes !

Fist of all, a little bit of story and what is happening here !

The name translates as `Sea of Islands` referring to over 1100 islands who used to be counted in the past. The Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects. By 2007, it had declined to 10% of its original size, splitting into four lakes.

The shrinking of the Aral Sea has been called "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters".The region's once-prosperous fishing industry has been essentially destroyed, bringing unemployment and economic hardship. 

Khiva is 50km away from Urgench but we got lazy to ride, prefer to save Petrol and avoid riding under the burning sun !!

So we took a shared taxi and 20 min later, we check in a small guest house in from of the main gate.

Khiva is the smaller version of Bukhara. Bukhara which is the smaller version of Samarkand. So to summarize, once you saw one of these cities then you can consider you have seen enought.

Its a little bit like temples in China. Once you have been to Hangzhou you can consider you are not punish anymore and you don't need to visit more hehe...

But a little bit of culture, we sometimes like stories of what is happened before human created motorbike

Khiva is evoking slave caravans, barbaric and terrible journey across deserts and steppes infested with wild tribes men. Do you follow me ?

Today is a quiet and relax city where locals are cultivating cottons and fruits trees.  

Yesterday, we spent 2 hours in town, trying to looking for some precious SP91 but after 4 petrol stations we figured out, no SP91 in Bukhara ! WDF :(( Only the shitty SP80… We reached the deadline !!! We have no other choices than fill up the tank against our wish.

We still have 3/4 full tank of SP91 (if we did not get cheated with SP quality in Samarkand, because there is no way for us to tell the difference ! We are Powaaaa and not Chemist). So we decided to mix with the crappy SP80.

Today will be a long and boring ride. 420Km of straight and bumpy roads.

We woke up at 3.30am as planned and gazzzzz direction Urgench. Riding early morning  when the sun is still down is appreciable; temperature down, low traffic and a sensation of freedom -yeah we are Dark riders without the fire hahahah. We love it.

The only inconvenient  is probably the lack of visibility to avoid big holepoles and so on…Yeah we had 2 or 3 big frights.

6am, sunrise above the Kyzylum desert, 16th largest desert in the world. Its name means `red sand` in Turkic languages. It remind us a little bit our time in Xinjiang. Yeah we kind of miss China sometimes :)

280KM done in 4 hours !!!

A pretty good average for the Kawa and Benelli especially with roads conditions.

We left as 5.30am as planned and had an early fresh ride... Samarkand is 35 degrees and Bukhara 42, so we took an important decision to wake up early these days (yeah we hate it)...But in fact, we quite like it...Bukhara is the 2nd steps of our 1800Km Uzbekistan country crossing from Samarkand until the north border.

Today is the last day ! We spent 4 days in Samarkand and its time for us to go. Tomorrow we are heading to Bukkara. Another great Silk road city.

260km to go. 

Motorbikes are ready, full tank + extra full tank. I take the opportunity to change all my break pads. There were not completely dead but then i am not carrying them anymore, getting lighter and lighter, thats the concept.

Samarkand was a good experience between culture, tradition and architecture. The disappointment is the food and the pricing in general. Uzbekistan is very expensive and on the top, locals does not count very well and make lots of mistakes on the bills. Sometime, we are even not sure they do it in purpose.

The other stupid things is the local money. We are carrying tons and tons of notes in our pockets. Their biggest note is 5000 ( which is 1.7E) but very rare, so everybody is using 1000 som (0.34E).

Weather is very good, sunny and hot. The city is beautiful, so we decided to spend more days here and enjoy the tradition and the culture of one of the most famous city along the silk road; Samarkand!!

Known as one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, prospering from its location on the Silk Road. The city has carefully preserved the traditions of ancient crafts:  silk weaving, engraving on copper, ceramics, carving and painting on wood.

Its a very impressive city. The monuments are awesome and rich in stories. And by the way, i feel better, thanks to the Emir Guest house owner. Following his advices and medicines helps me to recover faster.

So yesterday and today we went out to visit the most beautiful seen sights, starting by the The Registran a famous example of Islamic architecture. It consists of three separate buildings. 

We left Dushanbe early to avoid the high temperature. The Uzbek border was pretty close, 80km.

The road was great and smooth. Exiting Tajikistan was easy and fast and we were quickly in Uzbekistan (500 meters after). We know the procedure very well now and today was smooth, no so many people crossing the border (we met a couple of French on bicycle going to ride the Pamir - good luck guys).

Uzbek customs checked a little bit the bike and luggage but nothing to declare, so welcome to Uzbekistan.

We know its going to be hot and bumpy, so we ride safely avoiding as more hole poles as we can. Here they all drive with propan gas, so not so many petrol station and the best you can find is SP91 which is still ok for us.

Our next destination is Samarkand, 2 days ride from Dushanbe. Around 460km, in China on the highway we were able to do it in 1 day but here with road quality, if we do 200km per day, we are lucky.

It was 6pm and we were looking for an hotel , an ATM and a petrol station. 2 bad news. Only SP 80 available and hotel was 44 dollar per night. A way too expensive for our daily budget.

Dushanbe is hot, 3pm this afternoon 35/38 degrees. So riding the bike under this temperatures is becoming a nightmare. Especially in town, waiting at the red light for a minute and our legs are on fire.

These few last days, we visited a little bit the South of Tajikistan by Taxi. It takes 3 hours to reach the  south close to the Afghan border. Taxi is pretty cheap here, we paid 5euro per person for 3hours drive. Regarding the car selection not too many choices; Opel Astra and Vectra or Zafira.

Why ? Just because Germans are sending all their second hands here and cars are cheap. Locals are happy with Opel and all the spare parts for Astra, Vectra and Zafira are easy to find, so Mr Tadjik drives Opel most of the time. Most of the cars are using GPL energy. Cost saving because the gas comes from Russia or Kazakstan.

The SP95 is also cheaper than Europe . 1 Liter cost 0.71euro so no Diesel engine here.

Talking about traffic, police is everywhere. In Dushanbe every 100meters you have 2 policeman who according to their mood will stop you and ask for some money. Drivers have no choice and pay around 0.50E every time they get stopped. Corruption is a big problem here but that's the rule. We heard they can make until 50E per day with this strategy.

So we reached Shaaruz at noon. This place is famous for natural source. We were expecting  something more quite and nice but it was the opposite, crowded and not clean. I mean water was ok, fresh and drinkable but during weekends most of the people comes for a bath and picnic, as you can see on the picture not much space left fit us to enjoy our Sunday. Anyway we had a quick swim, local specialities and a nap before getting back to Dushanbe by night.

We are missing driving and moving forward. We stayed 10 days in Dushanbe but no choice ! We have to wait Wednesday; the starting date of our Uzbeck Visa. So 2 more days and we will share the adventure again with you.

Thanks for following us.

Today, we will explore a nice place called Varzob, 30min away from Dushanbe. We heard the road to go there is awesome.

It will also be a test for the Benelli to see if everything is ok…

We left the house around 10 am and found a beautiful resort along the river a little bit after Varzob…This is the place where we will spend our day…

Swimming pool, juice, BBQ, music and nobody except us.

So, we plugged our playlist, put the max volume and plouf plouf in the swimming pool.

Such a beautiful day, we slept, eat, swim, slept, eat and at the moment to leave the paradise, the kaka had a flat front tire…Shiiit - No tools with us…

We found a garage 10km later and gazzzzz again until Dushanbe where Sephora our roommate was waiting for us for diner.

On the 4th, we decided to go to visit Hisor Fortress, a cute little village very close to Dushanbe…We stayed there for 2 hours, make the 100 steps and back to Dushanbe for some shopping in the afternoon and tonight will be a show at the Dushanbe theater.

Weather is hot here, very hot and we are getting lazy to move around, so these 2 days will be fixing bikes, relaxing and eating lots of Ice cream Mars and Snickers :)

Boris the owner of the Dushanbe motorbike club, kindly help us to use his workshop and work on the bikes. The TajMotowave is a new motorbike club in Tajikistan based in Dushanbe. www.tajmotowave.tj. 

It is also the only one so far. The workshop is nice, some bikes showcased , BMW GS, Honda, and some Galaxy (Chinese made) but also some Suzuki DRZ to rent for the Pamir.

We spend a full day with Boris and Nico to fix the Benelli, set up the new fuel pipe received from Shanghai and make a new stronger back support in metal.

All went very smoothly, we even give a ride to Kashtenka, Marc`s dog...and went for a Tadjik hair style.

The day after, we just relax at Marc`s home. At least a place where we will stay more than a night. Its also a cute lane house with garden, sauna…Paradise for us, so we enjoyed our day on the long chair doing NOTHING !

After 2 days in Dushanbe, we get bored, so as we met Marc`s friend last night, we jumped into their weekend trip plan. 

Nurak is at 1.5h driving from Dushanbe and it is the foreigner get away weekend trip of the foreigners living in Dushanbe, so we will give it a try.

We reached Nurak end of afternoon by Taxi and went straight for a swim and few jumps into the lake.

Tomorrow we plan to climb the mountain called the 5th teeth, a long and hot trekking coming.

8AM ready to hike. No single track to follow but cows and goats steps...It was a difficult 4.5 hours climb under the strong sun and bushes but the top view on the other side was awesome.

The Nurak Private water reserve used for electricity generator.

Some pictures on the top and we were on our way back.  Going down was easier and cooler...

Down to the village, we went for a quick BBQ and back to Dushanbe by night.

 Voila ! We are in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan. Happy to be back into civilization, shower, food and Internet....I am very sorry for the lack of news and blog update but no surfing on the Pamir...

Today is a special day because its Nico Birthday and it cannot be better timing...at the end of the Pamir Highway...What a reward !!!

So we will stay in Dushanbe at least for a week ! Our Uzbek visa start on June 10th (yeah we are in advance on the planning). Nico is waiting for spare part from France (cooling system closing part) and i have to fix the Benelli...

Funny things, we are meeting lots of bikers here and they all stay in the Green house hostel...Great, we will change some tricks on the road and share our Pamir Experience.

Paul and Lee, the Australian couple on KTM we met in Turpan (Xinjiang) is also here, we catch them up (ok we cheated half of the Pamir but still an achievement for our road bikes haha). You can check their world trip on http://bikesnbeers.com.au

So tonight we will relax, drink and party to celebrate the end of the Pamir and NiCo Birthday ! 

Today , we will have to make a decision and yesterday option B seems for us the ultimate solution in the order to avoid killing the Benelli and the Kawa on the horrible 635kms remaining until Dushanbe.

Its 7am and the owner wakes us up and ask us to follow him. He found us a Hyundai mini van able to carry our bike until Dushanbe. Unbelievable ! We were not very confident by finding a guy who will accept to put our heavy bikers into his truck / mini van but the guest house owner made it for us !

After 5 min of price negotiation, its time to try to fit the bikes inside. Task was not easy but we made it…

Our destination will be 16 hours later in Dushanbe if the Hyundai does not break on the Pamir. Believe me of not but the Hyundai made it to Dushanbe with us and the bikes at 5am this morning. The trip was exhausting, seating on the front of the minivan without moving for 16 hours of bumps, rocks, river crossing and hole poles was one of the most uncomfortable drive in our life. The bikes suffers as well with some broken stuffs from but nothing important.

May 26th to 27th -  Murghab to Khorugh

10AM ready for another freezing day with a 4000 meters riding altitude. We know today and the following days are going to be difficult but we have no choice, once you are on the PAMIR, the only way is straight…Probably the most difficult days since the beginning. Our enemies are the temperature and the altitude. These 2 parameters are involving a lot on bikes engine, speed, comfort and our mood. To be honest, we did not much enjoy those riding days. Too extreme and bikes are not doing well at all. I mean the Kawasaki is doing alright but the Benelli and the fuel pipe problems are getting worst. The fuel pipe did not last and even worst, the 2 others broke today…

Because we will have to adjust the pipe and fix it often, we decided to take of all the body part of the Benelli to allow a faster and easier access to the fuel tank and the pipes (Mode Mad Max on). One positive things, luck is still with us, today on the Pamir on the worst rocky roads ever when the pipes broke, we crossed a Chinese truck and ask him for help. The driver kindly gave us some tapes. Better than nothing, hopefully hopefully it will run until tonight village. 

At Murghab this morning, we decided to ship our top boxes to Dushanbe in the order to make our bikes lighter and avoid their destruction on the Pamir. We still have a long way until France, so lets be sweet with them. 

It helps, bikes are easier to ride and absorb better shocks.

On the 26th, we had a similar day, snow, rain, cold and fuel pipe issue, no need to tell more, its was a crappy day. We drive hours and hours and cannot found any guest house. The closest one was in Korugh, our tomorrow destination 60km away but Nico and myself had enough of today and we kindly ask for hospitality to locals. Bingooo ! We found the coolest guy and after a good diner, we slept like babies.

Last night was not too bad, home stay family gave us a good hospitality. Happy to sleep between 4 walls and a roof, especially with negative temperatures and strong winds.

Today we are targeting Mungrah village and we heard they have some fuel (Youpiiiiii)…140Km to ride.

We asked around last night and the only fuel available is SP80 which is not for us. SO today problem will be how to reach our destination with a 3/4 Kawasaki tank and 1/4 for the Benelli. We started by transfering 5 liters in the Benelli and start our daily ride.

Roads became soon a nightmare, no more asphalt and riding temperature super super mega giga low…We cannot feel our fingers and feet anymore (we tired the newspaper technics but it did not work)…Windy, snowing, uphill never stop and we reached 4600 meters with difficulty . At this altitude the Benelli has no choice than running on 1st gear at 10km/h (with the fuel pipe problem seems the mix fuel and air is not good and the bike does not run well anymore)…

Half way, engine stopped and fuel leaking again…Seems bad luck is with us these few last days. The fuel pipe was out of the tube again and we re-insert it plus tight it as more as we can.

We are riding on fuel reserve and the next gas station is 65km away, no way we can make it…At the top of the pass, the luck shows up and we met 2 Italians with their Subaru traveling to Mongolia and guess what they were kind enough to give us some fuel…You guys rocks! thanks again and good luck to you. 

The way down was a bit better with some asphalt and we crossed 2 french guys riding bicycle from Brittany to Beijing who gave us few tips about riding conditions until Dushanbe. We finally made it to Mungragh where we found an Hotel (at least cold shower). We parked the bikes and went straight away to the Bazar to see if we can find some new fuel pipe. Unfortunately nothing, just a crappy Lada shop. Tomorrow will be a challenging day ! Until when the MacGyver fuel pipe we made will last ?! I just wish it can last until Dushanbe (few more days) where normally i should receive some spare parts kindly send by my lovely girlfriend from Shanghai. 

Last night we found a local house to spend the night…no more shower, no more internet and not more mattress…Welcome to the Pamir Highway ! You are lucky if you cross 2/3 cars, most of the time, its empty.

This morning was probably one of the most beautiful morning. Snow everywhere. White mountains, white houses, white Kawasaki and white Benelli.

We are facing - 3 degrees. Today we are going to wear most of our gears to fight the cold. It was probably the most difficult day so far…

The border was 30km away but no more asphalt after 5km. We reached the exit border and as usual its very easy to get out from a country. 30 kms later finally reached the Tajikistan entry border under snow…3 check points…customs guards are kind and even sometimes make some jokes but we soon realized they asked too much money without any justifications, so we gave at the 1st check point but the 2 last ones was less funny and anyway we did not have a any money left, so the Police custom got his 2 dollars and open the gate.. 

Today will be our last day in Kyrgyzstan and we are looking forward Tajikistan and the Pamir Highway.

We did 271KM until Sary Tash, the last city in the south of Kyrgyzstan. 30 kms away from the border.

Landscape are becoming even nicer, river, huge valley and mountains…

We left Jalal-Abad around 10am and went straight to a gas station. 2kms later, no more powaaaa and the bike stopped. A quick look and petrol leaking everywhere…Shiiiiiit!!!

We set up our technical break at an abandoned petrol station and make the Benelli naked to see what`s going on !

We soon figure out one of the fuel pipe was gone…Small problem.

Nicolas went back to town to find some supports to fix it and 30min later, we were on the road again.

The road was superb, no hole, no rocks…just like we like ! we cruise at 100km/h watching huge mountains on the right, on the left and snow straight far away.

We reached Taldyk pass at 3600 meters. With the lack of O2, our bikes had lots of difficulties to climb. For us the temperature is getting lower and lower, so we changed to winter Daft Punk gears lol. 

Today, we will not ride ! 

Related to yesterday`s problem, we have to fix the Benelli before to attack the Tajikistan and the famous PAMIR HIGHWAY.

After checking in last night in the hotel, Nico and myself took off the fuel tank and figure out a small crack where is leaking petrol.

Some screws broke yesterday on the way and the all back of the benelli went down. Fortunately i have the spare part but the fuel tank has been damaged.

This morning we went to find some garage who can help to fix it.

Unfortunately no one was able to help us, so under the we chat supervision of Ronan (our technical coach in SH), we get it fixed by ourself.

We used a cold weld cream to fill up the crack on the tank and wait for few hours to let it completely dry.

Fill up some petrol and powaaaa, the bike is running again.

Tomorrow we will be able to see if our solution is working or not.

So fingers crossed ;)

Today, 200km to ride ! and the second spot to stop by on our list is : Arslanbob.

Its a cute little village at the bottom of the the forest, with nice waterfalls....

We also have to leave the M41 and make a 100km detour to visit this village.

The road until the village was very bumpy and not comfortable at all.Our bikes did not like it...

We managed to reach the village but impossible to get closer to the mountain...Even a  Porsche Cayenne will not make the Job :). So we found a Russian 4x4...Super old, super rustic, super slow but can climb every where. Our driver drove us until his 4x4 stoped (overheating sir !) We walked until the water fall and have some refreshment.. glaglagla super , mega, giga cold but refreshing. Its good for blood circulation, right ??

As we are crossing the country from North to South, we asked the locals, where to stop and what to do...

Our 1st stop will be Sary Chelek Reserve...We will have to do a detour of 50Km from the main M41 we are riding but the problem should be the road condition...Locals says `no Asphalt` aie aie aie !!

Anyway, lets go to see how bad is it ?!

The 1st part was not too bad, some potholes here and there but still ok  ! The second part 16km was not good at all, so we decided to stop by a farm to rest a bit.

After all this detour, we felt a bit disappointed to go back without seeing the reserve and make the way here for nothing.  So we found 2 Kyrgyz having some food and vodka outside the house. We started a negocation for bringing us up there with their car...price deal ok; we are on the way with his old brown Mercedes...

Here we go ! Today we reached 9999.9KM, so lets take a picture to immortalize the moment ! After more than 40 days on the road, we are soon half way to our final destination : FRANCE

Today was a long riding day...We left Bishkek around 1pm and getting out of the town was a disaster. Horrible Traffic, red light, people driving crazy. 30 min later, a big storm started and we stopped by a restaurant to get some food and wait for better driving condition.

Starting from today we are heading south of the country to reach Tadjikistan.

On our way we passed the Tien Shan Mountain. 

They are one of the longest mountain ranges in Central Asia and stretch some 2,800 kilometers.The highest peak in the Tian Shan is the Victory Peak which, at 7,439 metres is also the highest point in Kyrgyzstan and is on the border with China 

The way up (until 3200meters) and down was awesome, even if sometimes quite dangerous with huge trucks going down or up and using all the way to turn the sharp turn. The temperatures dropped a lot and we had an heavy storm which decrease our speed to no more than 50km/h. Thats exactly at this moment we reached the 9999.9KM...So we parked the bikes on the side and clap clap in the camera box...100 meters later, my ODO Trip went back to 0000.0 KM...Allez 1 more round and we should be close to France i guess ! I hope !

Once passed the Tien Shen mountain, the flat valley welcome us with a nice and sunny weather. It was already 7PM, so we stopped and get some rest for the night. 

Voila ! We are in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgystan.

We found a guesthouse not far from the Tadjik Ambassy, small, nice and with lovely peoples...cool !

Today our schedule looks like :

11am : Tadjik Ambassy to apply for Visa and GBO permit to ride on the PAMIR HIGHWAY.

1pm : Found a Go Pro shop to buy a housing for Nicolas`s Go Pro

3pm : Get back our Tadjik Visa...Yeahhhh express service rocks for 75Us dollar in few hours...I thought we will stay here for at least 6 days but seems tomorrow we will be on the road again.

5pm : Relax at the Guesthouse 

8pm : Found a nice terrace and enjoy our diner

So today was pretty relax...Bishkek to be honest is not a very interesting and nice city. So tomorrow we will do what we love to do ride and keep going West :)

Last night was great ! a bit of rain but the road is dry , so we can gazzzzz until Bishkek...Kyrgystan capital, where we will spend few days to do our Tadjik visa.

But on the way, we spotted a salty lake and it was always in my mind to take a news paper and read it while floating...So lets do it !

On the way, landscape as usual superb. We saw a old lady and of course we have to stop by for a picture...

The farmer was not far away and came to us to say hello...so we took the opportunity to take some pics with them.

Today was a short ride ! Only 70km to do from yesterday to reach the lake.

Issyk-Kul is the second largest mountain lake in the world at a 1600 meters. So the ride was pretty cold but landscape just awesome. On the right side the lake (we are riding all the south lake) and on our right the Tianshan mountains.

Roads are pretty bad but we manage to ride at 80-90km/h which allow us to reach Tamga village around 2pm.

We found a family to welcome us and get a room for RMB16/ person...Yeah pretty cheap but also pretty rustic.

We decided to do a little bit of exercise this afternoon as we cannot swim (too cold). So we went for running along the lake and went for some shopping in the village.

Get some pasta, tomato and went back home for cooking.

1st time we have to cook since the beginning but it was kind of cool in fact and we even more appreciated our pastas.

We like this kind of day, short ride and relax afternoon. No internet tonight, so blog will wait for the update.

We did not cross any borders for 30 days ++ in China and suddenly 2 borders in 3 days...

It is getting faster and faster...People are more relax here, even if we have to open, close our top boxes severals times between Kazak and Kyrgyz border but passing was easy...Welcome to Kyrgyzstan said border control boss...

Then landscape is becoming even nicer but roads a way for bad...Our 1st Kyrgyz roads was a track in the middle of the country side for 20km..We did cross some Russian with BMW, exchange few words like how is the road ?? very bad...Ok good luck..Yeah thanks we know we do not have the right bikes at this right moment but lets try it anyway...After 50km, concrete roads again....Yalaaaaa Gazzzz until next ATM then Petrol station and lets grab some food...

Here is wild wild west, farmers, wild cows, old trucks but shiiiiit landscape is beautiful...Seriously, rivers, trees, grassland...We targeted Karakol city to spend the night there. 

I was saying to Nicolas, we did not have any flat tires since the beginning....Clap clap clap, shiiit back tires is dead...So we stopped to a the shop and fix it...Easy boy !

We reached Karakul town around 5pm and found a nice guest house, eat and drink local as usual...

Images is more talkative than my words...check it out

Its time for us to say byebye to China. We reached the border (100km away from Yili) around lunch time...Thinking they will be busy eating their lunch and not give us too much trouble regarding the bikes and documents...

Chinese border was easy, we spoke Chinese, told us the trip story and we got easily our Exit stamp...Welcome to China again said the police man :)

Then we have to ride trough a corridor for 7km...A unique way until the Kazack border. 5 min later, here we go...Not the same story, old buildings, we have no idea where to go and what to do...So the Kazack welcome us and we start the ling and boring procedure, they checked the bikes at least 3 times, we had to line for 1 hours to get our entry cards. Then do the same things for the bikes...I would like to say i missed the quick and clear Chinese procedure.

I forgot to mention, Nicolas`s visa is expiring on the 15th, so it was time for us to leave China...and we made it in 31 days from Shanghai to the border.

Today we will be tourists ( like everyday in fact ). Atina (one of my best friend in Shanghai, owner of Xibo restaurant, you probably know) kindly arrange for us a tour and local lunch with Li Qian and his family...

So Li Qian came to pick up us at the hotel around 12m30pm and drove us with his big Land Rover through small streets to show us the different districts of the city.

At 2pm, we were super starving and they took us to a high standing Kazack restaurant... Food was delicious and we eat everything on the table. We do very very rarely this kind of restaurant (question of budget, but time to time its a real pleasure). The atmosphere of the restaurant was very classy and elegant and again the food was the gathering of all the best dishes of Xinjiang...Miam miam...

After lunch, we had a tour of the old town by horse...Time to take great pictures with locals...

Tonight will be probably diner with Li Qian and all his friends + few beers :). Today was a great day, we loved the hospitality and the way of welcoming friends...Special thanks to Li Qian and his lovely family...Atina, thanks pengyou !

More news about the Kawa starter...Still in the custom, we may be able to get it tomorrow but still wait for confirmation from our Urumqi contacts. So we may spend another day in Yili before the border.

Like Daft Punk, tonight we will rock Sailimu Lake. 

The night was quite and pretty good for a cheap budget hotel, we ride on the G30 direction Yili but today, our target is Sailimu Lake.

We heard a lot about this lake from the Urumqi bikers gang, so we decided to establish our camping spot there tonight !

Allez 100km to go and we will be in the heaven...We reached the lake about 2pm. Our plan is to find a camping spot for the night and ride around the lake tomorrow morning.

After the quick lunch close to the lake entrance, our bikes were pretty thirsty and the next station was 52km away...Oups...So we went to look after some locals to buy some precious SP93...100 RMB for 10Liters, not too bad...So we jia you 5 liters each and go.

We reached Urumqi in 3hours, straight...We knows we will get stuck in town for at least 1 week, so as soon as we arrived as soon we when leave....But we we wrong...Today is May8th and Nicolas starter did not arrived yet...Thanks to the professionalism of Laposte and their Colissimo :(((((

We got one address for mechanical shop and we went right away..The guy was nice but not able to fix our problems...So he gave us another address. The shop of Lei Ze is not as expected, small, crappy with lots spare parts every where, but we know he is one of the 5 guys in Xinjiang able to fix imported bikes. So we will give him 100% confidence.

Our last day in Turpan, we have 3 missions to do : 

1 > Hair and Beard cut...Made in Xinjiang

Task n`1 : Late morning, direction a Lifadian (beard and hair cut saloon n local language) owned by Uighurs people. Uighur's are one of the minority belonging to Muslim religion here.

In Xinjiang you can find Han (Chinese), Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz and Kazacks population. So i let you imagine the numbers of different language we have to deal with every days. Anyway, most authentic shop are owned by Uighurs in the big bazar, so lets go...

Hidden in a small street here we go...We found it...People were a little bit surprised to see us but with some body languages, they got the idea and start cutting. A shaven hair cut for Nico (lol) and a Classic one for Juju`s beard and hair...Job done properly for RMB30. 

Here we go ! Xinjiang...We are in the grapes valley : Tufulan 

Where the sun shine and the temperature rise ( a bit too much 38 degrees today). Thats also our 1st sun burn and our official 2 days off...Today, no more cosmonaut equipment but just tee shirt , shorts and motorbikes.

Yesterday, we found a very nice guesthouse in the center of the city, which allow us to park the bikes inside...Having his bikes at the door of his room is quite convenient...We ride until Tuyugou, an ancient traditional village all made from earth...The local kids shows us the village and his secrets. Some pics to memorize the moment and we were on our way back to the guest house. We played Super Mario Kart on the way back...Throwing bananas away...I got a turtle bonus on the speedway but it didn't help and Nicolas won the race...Tomorrow will be my revenge !

The plan today was to reach Kuoerle (700km south of Ulumuqi). We made it safely with average speed 100km/h fighting strong winds. To save petrol and energy, we made some relay and drove very close to each other in the order to decrease winds influence (old technic but super efficient). 

Officialy in Xinjiang now...Good Lamb and new landscape...We are also looking forward our 2 days off in Turpan and mechanical days in Ulumuqi (where we have a lot to do on the bike : maintenance + upgrade. We have shipped some pieces for our bikes from SH and hopefully get the package soon in ulumuqi. Fingers crossed.

The 2 dead lambs on sale beside the road, makes us stop here to relax and have some tea with the locals...and fun also (picture beside). Fews kms laters, some wild camel...Awesome

Allez 200Km more and we will be in Kuoerle ( Jia You !!)

At the entrance of the city, where we were looking for Hotel, Nicolas saw 2 big bikes parked on the road side....Ok lets u turn and made some friends...Good choice ...The Kuoerle bikers gangs welcome us like Kings. Brings us to our hotels, pay half of the bill and invite us for HotPot...Again, we are very very lucky or maybe Chinese bikers hospitality is far away the Best ! Yeah option number 2, these guys rocks !!

So we changed Wechat, have diner, some beers and back to Hotels...That was a nice day !

10 AM ready to hit the road, warm up the bikes (still need to push the kawa to start), check if no leak from somewhere, that`s our protocol every morning....Today everything is fine...We have to leave the hotel before 10am because the wife`s  owner did not know but she is not allowed to accommodate foreigner, so she gently push us out...Anyway, we know our goal today : RIDE... So we left without complaining...Even if we would love to sleep a bit more :)

The road was as expected from google earth, long and boring, so we start listening our daily music in our comfortable helmets.

Suddenly , winds became stronger and stronger, seems we are going in the middle of the moon again but without any visibility.

We keep riding slower for hours and keep an eyes on our fuel gauge decreasing fast, too fast (facing winds does not help). GPS said next gas station 75km. Nicolas will not make it (mine was still ok, Economic Benelli compare to 125 HP of the Kawa haha). So we keep finger crossed and ride...30min later, only 5km to do and Nicolas started to have some engine cut (Shiiiiit this time is the end, no more fuel). Finally we reached the petrol station and the Kawa definitively stop the engine 30 meters from the pump...Shiiiiit we were lucky today...

Oh yes, i forgot, we had a little bit of fun with local speed signalization hehe

Today we entered in Xinjiang. We are expecting a lot from Xinjiang and we will spend our 1st holiday in Turpan (lets say 2 days off) and drink some good Chinese wine with local lamb, yalaaaaaaa

We slept tight. Thanks to the yesterday hot springs...Today will be a long ride, we know that and we also plan to do our 1st camping in the desert...We started slowly coming back 40km backward to take the G109 in the order to cross the desert by the south road until Ulumuqi. North road is 23hours, south road is 28 hours. We powaaaa for the 28 hours with small roads, looking for adventure and authenticity.

Believe me we were riding on the moon, landscape the same for KMs and KMs...A real mom ride. Starters favorite spot for their movie...

The ride was super long, most of the time straight line but landscape changing time to time and allow us to stop and take some pictures. It is like no man land, nobody, few cars and some trucks but you really feel alone when you look around you and we crossed fingers thats our bikes does not break.

We expected to drive only 300KM today until one lake for camping but we soon figure out, the spot was not great, so we keep going. We keep going 500+ KM later (6 hours of drive), exhausted but happy to find life and petrol station :). We ended up our day in a small hotel in the lost city called Huatugou (The petrol place) Sinopec branch and they even have a small airport. Amazing in the middle of nowhere. 

Yesterday we said today is a off day for us and the bikes. 

But lost in the middle of nowhere, difficult to find distraction so after a quick talk with the local, we decided to push until the next city (200km ahead) and enjoy their hot springs...So we started the bikes and suddenly the Kawa started to leak some coolant - hoho

So we started to make her naked to see whats going on and we figure out quickly nothing important, just a small radiator hose not griped - Safe and happy ! our day can start !

Few KM from the village, we found a huge Solar panel spot, so we detour and shoot some pics..Its pretty impressive, the place is huge and full of them. 

Few KMs later, we saw a signalization for an Alian relic spot. Very curious we stopped by but found out a crappy sculpture, so we gazzzz again on the long and straight line fighting against the wind..We developed few ride positions to make our ride less boring when its long and straight (see the pictures below). On the way, we reached 5000KM since our departure, so hot spring is a must to celebrate it.

We also encounter some mini sand tornado, very nice when its far away, should be another story if you get stuck inside...We heard in Xinjiang we will be sometime facing to big ones (so lets see).

We finally reached the Hot spring city around 3pm and enjoy some hot baths at night. With the fresh temperature, it was absolutely awesome and we relax for hours as tomorrow will be a long long long ride across the TAKLAMAKAN DESERT...

Today average ride altitude, 3500 meters...So let me tell you how cold is it while driving at 120km/h...Body and legs are pretty ok with our equipment but fingers are the worst...Even with 2 gloves layers, it was freezing cold...We reached Qinghai lake around noon. Qinghai means blue sea and to describe in 1 word : HUGE. It is the biggest lake in China and his perimeters is over 400KM. We ride the main G109 from the south, for 150KM , a beautiful straight line. Most of the religious people here walk around the lake for months while praying and sometimes on their knees every meters (crazy but true).

After a local lunch (with some Lamb of course) we decided to keep going until Chaka Salt Lake. 200KM later, windy like hell, we have to force to keep the bike straight. Chaka salt lake is the largest salt mine in the world, so we went to try their local salt directly from the ground and try if our boat is floating. Boat is doing alright on the salty sea hahaha. We took some pictures with local sculpture made from salt but i still prefer our french statue made by sand at la Grand motte ou le Grau du Roi... Anyway...Then we decided to spend the night in Haixi town 200km away. Once there, the hotel war started and no one wants to accommodate Laowai (etrangers). So we called the police and we had a special escort until the only hotel of the city who accept us...But for safety reason we have to stay in the hotel and cannot go out or we have to call the police, so we decided to stay in and update the blog...

 Click on the title for more pictures