OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
Jon here: The final stint, with only 21 days till Christmas. By this stage we had ridden through 24 countries, covering over 25,000 miles. The question remains…..did we make it to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world? Day 217, Friday 14th December. We woke up at 8.30am in a rustic Bolivian farm…
Pete here. Despite slightly tainted from 6 years of absence, the memories of my first exposure to Bolivia’s carnage were still as potent as it’s locally distilled rum. I left the first time feeling like, well, like nothing really works all that well. We’d spent more time waiting for buses than actually riding them and once eventually on the move,…
Jon here: Day 216, Friday 23rd November, it felt great to be back on the road. After the miraculous repair job performed by Meastro and his boys in Pasto, Tough Miles set sail towards Ecuador. Petes bike had undergone some serious surgery, so we proceeded with caution and checked oil and water at regular intervals. It was only a…
Pete here: With every new city comes a new objective. Bogotá, Colombia’s capital brought two. The first of which was to regain possession of our bikes from Colombian customs. The second, remain focused and do not get trapped in Colombia’s outstanding party scene. Neither of which proved as easy as we had initially hoped. Landing in Bogotá just 10 minutes…
Pete here: Day 169, the 7th October had us up at the crack of dawn knowing we had our second of many Central American border crossings in store. Due to his lack of Spanish at the time, Mad Dog Dave was keen to stick with us for the crossing. After all the horror stories we had read online about crossing…
Jon here: For our route through Mainland Mexico we decided to head inland from Mazatlan, stopping at San Blas, Guanajuato, Teotihuacan, Minatitlan and finally San Cristobal. The 250km ride down the coast from Mazatlan to San Blas should have been a straight forward afternoon, but 20km down the road I realised I was missing my headphones and a hoody, yet…
Jon here: Our journey through Central America was about to begin, and whilst camping just outside of San Diego the dreaded border crossing into Mexico was looming over us like a dark cloud. Through out the west coast of America countless people had warned us about the dangers of the surrounding towns. Neither of us knew what to expect. Carrying…
Pete here: After leaving San Fran, Los Angeles was the next major stop but not before a nights camp in Big Sur. We’d heard rumors of there being some decent off road tracks around this region so we spoke to everybody we could trying to plan the best route for the following day. Everybody had hyped up the South…
Pete here: Returning to a place for the second time on the same trip is the closest we get to the feeling of returning home. With the exceptional hospitality on offer at Jo’s place in Whistler, this experience was not going to be an exception to the rule. Our last visit to Whistler was all too rushed and this time…
Jon here: When I thought about Alaska I imagined snow-capped mountains, frozen lakes and 24 hour daylight. I pictured myself fishing with locals through holes in the ice. My preconceptions of Alaska at this time of year couldn’t be further from the truth, and as we crossed the border the weather was so warm that even riding in a t-shirt…
Jon here: We arrived in Vancouver at 1am on the 8th August, narrowly escaping a heavy downpour by timing our fuel stop perfectly. It’s never good turning up in a new city late at night, especially when the hostel is on a street littered with junkies and there’s nowhere to park the bikes. It would appear there are parts of…
Jon here: Day 94 of the trip. Having ridden through Europe, Russia, Mongolia and South Korea it was finally time for Tough Miles to hit up the USA. With the bikes onboard a container ship somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Pete and I took a flight from Seoul to Seattle. The plane [...] Jon here: Day 94…
Pete here again: Clearing the bikes through South Korean customs can only be described as an absolute pleasure. A big leather sofa, multiple glasses of iced-tea, an air-conditioned office and English-speaking officers. The entire process was over within less than 2 hours most of which for us was spent surfing the web over their free wi-fi connection. Service with…
Jon here: The BAM road is not just about motorcycling skill, it is a real test of physical and mental endurance. It is impossible to portray how tough this route really is, and once finally over it is far too easy to forget the pain each kilometer can bring. To ride it you need pure grit and determination. Mongolia…
Pete here. The only time we’ve had the shower gel out in the last 8 days is to lubricate the tyres for a set change or puncture repair. I’ve never felt as filthy as I did on that last night before we made it to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. Everything was covered in sand and mud from numerous falls…
Jon here: Anatoly is an ex Russian speedway champion living in Novosibirsk, Western Siberia. At the age of 20 he had a severe accident and broke his back, leaving him in a coma for over 6 months. Whilst in hospital his friends gave him some radio equipment to follow the teams progress. During this time he developed a love for…
Pete’s Pearls of Wisdom Russia: – The Russians claim that vodka produced in the mountainous region of Altai, Siberia is so pure that it will never give you a hangover. It’s had me in bed for two days at a time crying for my mother on multiple occasions. – The cleanest your three t-shirts will ever look on a round…
Jon here again: The amount of mosquitoes here is unreal, I’m being eaten alive and it’s time to camp along the Trans-Siberian Highway. Bring it on. We left Moscow yesterday, Thursday 17th May, to begin our 6 day journey towards Novosibersk, Russia’s 3rd largest city in Western Siberia. After a full day of easy riding we decided to venture off…
Jon here: Its 3.30am and I can’t sleep. All I can think about is the worlds most dangerous bridge, the Russia Siberia Vitim River crossing we will later face on the BAM road. It’s the 15th May and we are currently chilling in Godzilla Hostel, Moscow. Since our last blog we have travelled from Slovakia to Russia, passing through Austria,…
It’s Saturday 28th April and we’ve set up camp just outside of Bratislava, Slovakia. Despite the campsite not yet being open to this years holiday makers, sticking with it and dealing with not having any running water has had it’s advantages. We’re not paying to be here and the hotel next door was last night hosting a Miss Slovakia beauty…
We were due to meet with the Suzuki press team on Tuesday for the official send off photo shoot however we’ve hit a slight issue which is likely to cost us a few days on the departure date. The nightmares of being stuck in the middle of Mongolia trying to bump start the bikes all [...]…