OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
“It’s all about trust. And when it comes to monkeys, I have none.“ — Anthony Bourdain This is a good quote to live by. I should have learned my lesson a few weeks ago. Brad and I had just awoken and were strolling down a sleepy street in Cherating when we saw kitten sized baby monkeys swinging in the trees…
With every wave that crashed over the bow, our small boat took on more water. The panic on our young captain’s face shattered any hope that we would make it out of this tropical depression without a miracle, and my brain wouldn’t stop humming the theme from Gilligan’s Island. I wonder how the brain can have a sense of humor…
After a stifling day, young people loitered on the cement wall alongside the coast enjoying the sea breeze and eating take away from the bustling outdoor market just a parking lot away. Down below, a mess of boulders formed a wave break. Cats pounced between the rocks, unhindered by their strangely peculiar tails; some were stumps, others crooked, and a…
The sound of jungle insects reverberated through the dense, humid night air. A slow loris crept along an overhead electrical wire strung between a tall wooden pole and a cinderblock structure where a woman cooked rice and noodles for the few people who lived around these parts. The loris stopped midway across the wire to give us a wide-eyed stare,…
“I think team Apec was totally corny. The way that the girl flung her arms around-” “Cut! Can we roll that again? Listen, the team’s name is ‘Apex’, not ‘Apec’,” the director said. “Oh, okay, sorry about that. Apex? Got it.” “Three…two…one…ACTION!” “I think team Apex was totally corny. The way that the girl, like, flung her arms around and…
Like all of the businesses on the block, the lights were out. All of the shop owners had migrated out to the streets, conversing with others, watching the night continue on. We eventually left the moonlight and entered a restaurant that was five shades darker inside than the sky was outside. A wall of heat and humidity built up like…
It’s early afternoon and the sun is high overhead, heating the humid air into a sauna that speckles our shirts with perspiration. Vines climb from the ground into the canopy of a tree, out across the limbs, and then dangle in the air above our heads. We sit on a bench and watch people go by. A Chinese couple passes,…
- Updates – The humblest of my apologies for the wait. I’ve been quite busy lately. No wait – that’s not the word. Lazy. Yeah, that’s it. Also, the computer goblins absconded with a nearly complete version of this at one point, so consider my responsibility shirked. So whither art thou, Adam? I’m in Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya…
Shockingly enough everything with the arrival of the bike went off without a hitch! Instead of giving you all the details, here’s some photos of the uploading. Then it was off to the jungle for riding and special meet that’s been 2.5 years in the making!…
So, with my bike safely (?) aboard a wooden vegetable boat, it was time to get me to Malaysia. In this day an age in Indonesia it involved going to the airport, walking up to the check-in counter and buying a ticket for the next flight. That’s it- no ‘you-didn’t-buy-it-on-the-internet-and-print-your-own-ticket-so-we’ll-charge-you-all-sorts-of-handling-fees’ silliness. As it turns out, my flight was delayed, so…
Getting up bright and early, we felt reluctant to leave Malaysia. We had made so many great friends that we felt so much at home! Tuesday had rolled around and no word from Hakim. We decided…! We were getting on that ferry on our own with or without Hakim. As we decided this, I still had a weird feeling inside. …
To get to Langkawai we had to take a ferry, but we couldn’t take the bike. We left the bike in Alor Setar and boarded a cramped, freezing ferry to the island. We had heard a lot about Langkawai, people raved and raved about it. When we got there it was a real let down. The area with the budget…
It didn’t take us too long to get to Krabi, but when we did, we were so happy! We found a decent place with air con, showered and got settled in. Felt good to not be sandy and sweaty (at least for a little bit!). After taking all the coastal roads and spending the night on the beach, the sea…
Ons vertrek uit kuala lumpur duurde wat langer dan verwacht: de general manager van ons 5-sterren hotel had een medewerker een briefje laten brengen, of we ons even bij de balie konden melden … Dus wij hadden zoiets van: wat is dit nu? Toen we bij de auto stonden om de laatste spullen in te pakken voor vertrek bleek de…
Hoi allemaal! Inmiddels zijn we in Maleisië! En dit land bevalt ons uitstekend! Het land is een stuk moderner, modernere gebouwen, uitstekende wegen (maar dus ook weer tol betalen) en hele vriendelijke mensen. Onze eerste echte stop was de Cameron highlands, de hooglanden van Maleisië. Dus een stuk kouder dan de rest van het land, het scheelt zo’n 10 graden!…
(Em) At the end of our little road trip from Kuala Lumpur across the Malaysian Peninsula with Henry, we arrived in Kuantan on the east coast at lunchtime. Henry had parked up at the Hyatt (very flash) where he was having an afternoon meeting but his appointment wasn’t until 2pm so we sat down for cup of tea at the…
(Em) Kuala Lumpur – what a cool city! And so bike friendly; no sooner had we hit the outskirts than we were getting waves and thumbs up from every man and his dog! Our first encounter with a super-friendly local occurred when we first arrived; we took an exit off the highway in what looked to be the direction of…
(Emily) ‘Welcome to Malaysia’ was emblazoned in big bold letters as we crossed the border, and welcome is certainly what we felt! Customs was a breeze and while James was inside getting the carnets done, I chatted with one of the border guards who taught us a few useful phrases – this is how we usually get some initial familiarity…
Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 18th to 28th February Landing in KL International in the early morning, we are distinctly aware that we are not in India anymore. Everything seems new and modern, shops lined up in neat rows alongside an array of eateries, and we haven’t even left the airport yet! There is a coach leaving soon for Chinatown, which our…
I’ve finally worked out how to make money out of this trip: I’m going to write a book at the end of it all entitled ‘Garages of the World’. Yes you’ve guessed it, more problems with our (slightly less, it has to be said) beloved Land Rover. We last left you in the jungle with the leeches and the sweat,…
I hope you are sitting down people, we have a lot to get through in this blog: It’s been a while since my last big one so I’ll do my best to fill you in with two week’s worth of adventures, hopefully without losing your attention half way in….. During the week following Langkawi we spent three nights in Malacca,…
After getting a phone call on Thursday it turns out that Harriet the Land Rover arrived about a week early to Port Klang! We cut our plans in Malacca short and went down to unpack the container and more importantly, to see if she would start. Our agent, the charismatic Mr $1, said that no Land Rover he had ever…
We’re getting itchy feet, and not because that persistent fungal infection has flared up again. We are stuck, stuck waiting for our car that is hopefully on a ship making its way to Port Klang, Malaysia. Admittedly there are worse places to while away couple of weeks but still, we are getting to that stage where we just want to…
Megan’s just lost all her hair overnight!……. Well, not really but I wanted a headline to launch into this exciting episode and that’s the best I could come up with (actually, I was going for ‘Megan’s been shot!’ but apparently that’s ‘not in good taste’). In reality it’s all very calm and quiet within team Trek to Oz and the…