Had to have a little pit stop today. Saw these guys carving marble sculptures yesterday and wished I had stopped. So today we did. Couldn't really talk to them to ask how long one piece took to carve, but they were amazing.
7C BROWN! We are On the road again! Paul and Camille are adventuring south to Mexico to find some WIND, SAND, SALT and SUN! and music. please follow us here... or on the road.
7CBROWN
Monday, March 25, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Monkeys, Camels and Elephants oh my INDIA!
23 March 2013 somebodies wheat field India 100 Km
The Highway hotel we stayed in last night just happened to have the nicest cleanest pool We have ever seen in India, it was the only hotel on the road and it was dark and nowhere off the highway to camp, we had to stay. It was so refreshing. a few days ago we could not wait to get warm. Now we are looking for ways to cool off. So we got a late start due to the nice pool, rode for a couple of hours and prepared to camp for the night. Pulled onto a dirt road that lead behind some hills off the highway. found a nice flat spot to pitch our teepee up on the hill. minutes later we were getting visitors of course, very curious of what was going on. First man told us “night NO”. Ok? next man said, actually acted like a mean monkey coming to get us. Third man said there were Monkeys and snakes that come out of the hills at night and to follow him down to the flats to his farm where he has a room with a TV. Well we decided to listen so we packed up and pitched our “temple” as he called it outside his room, the room was too hat to sleep in. A couple hours later he sent a night watchman who checked the fields for hours for monkeys to make sure we were safe. No money wanted and no English spoken.
24 March 2013 Jaipur, India 80 KM
Arrived in the “Pink City” of Jaipur today. Coming in we got into more traffic, More Camels and Elephants on the road. Riding by these elephants a crazy feeling. Huge creatures that could trample me in a second and I am riding along side of them a lot of them. WOW! That is why we are here. ELEPHANT FESTIVAL.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Oh India
March 21 Hoshiapur-Karnal 275km
Started off this morning with a beautiful road through the forest. Not one pot hole for 20 km. covered a lot of ground today. The apple,pine trees, and pot have slowly transitioned to rice fields and eucalyptus trees. Monkeys are gone now too. Saw a Lori truck that lost his rear axle then flipped over and spilled all of his goods. Crossing between the freeways today a dad and his two kids dumped their bike in front of me. He hit his front brake to hard on the dirt and it slid out on them. He looked at me and I looked at him. they got back on their bike and took off. Camille says I nearly got hit twice today, but I didn’t notice either one being anything out of the norm.
March 22 Karnal- Reari 211 km
Got a late start because our room was so so nice we stayed till noon. Started off today riding down the wrong way on a one way road. this is totally normal here. The lights on the bikes here have a left hand index finger button for flashing your light. You just alternate between the horn and the light and its all good. You are never in the way of anything in India. Everything merges around. The biggest vehicle, and whoever is in front of you has the right of way here. It actually works better than you may think. the rice fields are now replaced with desert shrubs,sand and goats. Saw a camel pulling a huge cart of straw down the hwy. Made it through Delhi and now we are half way to Jaipur. Around sunset there was a group of people carrying an India flag and parading down the road. The first five or six men were totally nude?? What the?? Well it is India
Thursday, March 21, 2013
On our way to the Elephant Fest.
march 17 220 km manali –nagrota
Beautiful day riding along hwy 21. The road is the last mountain road before you hit the flats of india. You have the mountains over your throttle hand and the flat plains over your clutch hand. It made for a beautiful sunset. Camel dropped her bike doing a u turn today. She always gets so mad at herself. I tell her that its no big deal.She also had a man literally run into the side of her. Its really not safe to run in the streets here in india. Everything must move at a smooth steady pace or it just doesn’t work here. Just another day on India roads. Did I mention that my horn is so so LOUD, and it plays 18 different tunes. Things move out of my way when they hear me coming. Cant wait to bring one home for my bike.
march 20 Mcle ganj- hoshipur 130 km
Left the home of the Dali Lama and headed south today out of the mountains toward the fertile plains where everything grows including Mary Jane. roads today were full of turns and void of straights. fun riding really. The whole day you could smell and see Mary growing all along the road. The temps. are getting warmer now. Monkeys are lining the road waiting for some food to be thrown from bus windows. Passed a truck full of goods and people that had rolled down a switchback. People had stopped and were pulling up the wounded in blankets. some looked real bad off. Read in the paper the next day 3 died and 11 injured. That will make you want to ride a little slower.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Catch up day. January-March 2013
14 March 2013 Manali, India. We are now app. 600 km north of Delhi.
Catch up day.
We spent 2 months in Gulmarg, Kashmir snowboarding. I could go on and on about how good of a season it was but I do not want to make anybody jealous. The snow season was AWESOME. Safe snow pack. Consistent storms. Good touring weather. Amazing Mountains. Awesome Partners. Thanks Paul, Chad and Buck. The VIP Team America. The Resort offered VIP SEASON PASSES this year. Meaning that any VIP pass holders can cut the gondola and chair lift lines any and all the time. As you can imagine we did not make too many friends but we got lots of FRESH TURNS!
This is GULMARG!!
Spring has sprung here and its time for change. It is Motorcycle weather now. We have decided to stay in India and see some new places. Our plan is staying north and traveling to the Northeast states. Previously closed to small groups and requiring special expensive permits for travel in this area of India. The Permits and group size has been lifted and traveling there should be a whole new world.
We bought 2 second hand motorcycles in Delhi. 2012 Hero Impulse 150cc 4 stroke 5 speed. India’s first dual sport motorcycle. for about $950. Just like that we are back on the road. First HOT SPRINGS and MOUNTAINS.
First day loading up the bikes in Delhi. Paul’s bike is the red one, Peewee. and Camille’s is the green one, Hero Krishna.
Leaving the Crazy Main Bazar of Delhi, not even 5 min on the road, Camille’s bike dies. Luckily it was just the stupid plastic seat cover they put on at the shop that got sucked into the top of the air box. easy fix and we are back on the road. the bike has ran great since.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
“It’s the end of the World as We know it and We feel fine” sort of!
Just a few last words and thoughts about our amazing trip down here to Ushuaia.
A lot happens at the end of the road. We arrived here totally different then how we had ever imagined it to be. One motorcycle left. Riding 2 up.(follow the white rabbit) 2 Volkswagen buses and 2 bicycles. (FYI What a small world it is. We had met the 2 cyclists on the Costa Rica/ Panama border last year and hooked up with them a few towns back this year..One of the bikes needed a little help getting to the end of the road) We all found a full house to share for a couple of days while we celebrated birthdays and our arrivals with new Mohawks and tattoos and started making plans for heading north, a direction none of us have gone in a long time.
We have encountered yet another time when you can’t believe what you hear. Everything that I have heard and read online says that its impossible to sell a motorcycle in Ushuaia Argentina. Yet again I have proven the masses wrong. I had money in my hand and no more wheels in less than 24 hours after arriving in town. The White Rabbit was sold in Ushuaia for 1,839 dollars. Not bad considering I paid $2,200 for it 5 years ago, and put 25,000 mile on it. I feel like I got my moneys worth. Without a doubt I’m sold on Honda bikes. Wow! what a strange feeling not having a bike anymore. It all happened so fast!!!.
Ushuaia is a beautiful little city. Since we have arrived here towards the end of the tourism season there seems to be less people around compared to how built up it is for tourism. It sure looks like 100% of their economy is tourism. We took the local ski lift up to do one last hike to a glacier. The color change is beautiful right now for it is autumn down at the end of the world red,orange, mahogany, Green,Brown,and White. You can see why Tierra Del Fuego is called the “land of fire” the colors were so bright it looked like the land was on fire. It brings all the elements together on our trip. A lot of RAIN, strong WINDS, beautiful EARTH/LAND seen and traveled and to arrive at the end, the “land of FIRE” ties it all together and balanced it all out. For sure It was all worth every mile, every rain drop, every motorcycle drop, every tear drop. Worth every breeze, wind gust, every smile, all the laughter. It was worth every mountain pass, every climb, every twist and turn, all the mud and gravel. Getting lost and then found again. Finding new friends, finding new paths, new ways and learning to love and BE in EVERY MOMENT.
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