Saturday, 30 November 2013

Sudan



Day: 229 KLMS: 35,820 Crossing from Ethiopia into Sudan is like stepping out of a packed, noisy bar into a quiet, empty side-street. As you cross the border line, the throng of people seem to just disappear and the noise is simply turned off. Sudan is a big open land, with a small population of...
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11/28/2013 – 147 days/15224 miles



Not surprisingly, Istanbul makes me feel further from home than anywhere I’ve been yet…both geographically and culturally. After five days here, I don’t have much desire to move on. I think this is due to the fact that there’s a … Continue reading →

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Supersize Me.....



We are in NY and camping on Manhattan Island…I bet its the cheapest accommodation in NY. We found the queue to get in a bit much even on Thanksgiving at 2pm. The queue for the tunnel was mammoth. We couldn’t use the tunnel….damn !!! Gas bottle on roof = banned. So we had to...
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Verenigde Arabische Emiraten en Oman



Dubai [...]

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Friday, 29 November 2013

Heading for the Hills



My Family and I had such a great time in Sayulita that I was wondering what we could do to top it. We had spent days with our friends, run on the beach, eaten delicious food and chased giant bugs and lizards. What could be better? Well, it was clearly going to take some time [...]

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Photos of Khiva



I pushed on towards Khiva, rather than camp – it would have been the crap kind of camping. Where you have to hide and make no noise and try not to be seen. There were simply too many houses and people from the main road to Khiva. Nothing like the desert the day before. Besides, [...]

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Clam Digging in the Bay of L.A.



The first thing you need when going clam digging is knowledge and experience on the subject.  Since we didn’t have either of those we set off with eight hands, a […]

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Thursday, 28 November 2013

Navigation



Een avondje internetten om de juiste navigatiekaarten te verzamelen voor onze Garmin navigatie apparatuur. Tijdens onze eerste reis naar Afrika maakten we gebruik van Tracks4Africa en dat beviel ons erg goed. Ook de gratis kaarten van OSM (Open Street …

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Mexico – Belize bordercrossing with a dog



We crossed the border between Mexico and Belize on a Sunday. Before being able to cross the Belizean border with a dog, there are quite a few hoops to jump through though. The first thing you need to do is contact the BAHA – the Belize Agricultural Health Authority for an import permit for...
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Sticker shock



Reality is slowly setting in.  We’ve been talking about this project for a while now.  Talking and mocking up plans and saving bits of scrap wood from the shop just in case we can use it.  Finally, we’re able to actually get to work.  Our tenants’ lease on...
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Let’s try this again. South from Quito and back again.



Finally we headed out again more than a week later. We booked it down the highway to Ambato and then headed up to 14500 feet on the north side of Chimborazo. This is the highest peak in Ecuador and since … Continue reading →

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American Hustle...



some times you just want to scream and I know some of you know what I mean….This morning the diff lock lamp was on ( don’t know if its in lock or not = bad ). The switch they broke was again broken. Not a good soldering job. I am unable to fix it and my second hand spare isn’t...
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The Lost Thanksgiving



It’s Thanksgiving morning and I’m sure the first thing on everyone’s mind when they wake up is, “I wonder what Nacho is doing today?” The truth is, this is the first time in our lives that we decided not to celebrate Thanksgiving. But don’t despair! We spent...
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11/22/2013 – 141 days/14957 miles



The last few days have been filled with some pleasant surprises. First, I’ll go back to Skopje (and earlier). While I was riding the Adriatic coast in Croatia, I passed two people on a tandem bike with a French flag … Continue reading →

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The Badlands of Baluchistan, A Braking Boris & Holidaying in Quetta



Armed with my Iranian visa I set off for the border. Se […]

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November 27th, 2013



So the garage did a efficient job getting us on our way. We left there about lunchtime Tuesday. A few problems with the diff-lock lever which I knew we would. Last time it took me ages to get it working in the correct position. Same this time. Mechanic knew what he was doing after I explained...
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Welcome Dutchies !



Hola, well we should be saying hello since the official language in Belize is English. So a big welcome to and hello to fellow overlanders  ” Dutchies go Global” http://www.dutchiesgoglobal.com/the-dutchies/. Erica, Michel and their dog Dunya have finally made it here to...
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Wednesday, 27 November 2013

11/19/2013 – 138 days/14453 miles



Next stop was Lake Ohrid, on the border of Albania and Macedonia. I stayed on the Macedonian side, at one of my favorite spots yet. A little hostel run by the most hospitable couple I’ve ever met. They made their … Continue reading →

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An Outback in the Outback





If you’ve been a fan of Central Overland for a while, then you know I can be a bit cynical about over-baked trucks and SUVs. Having every possible widget on the finest possible platform is simply not imperative to overland travel. (I hope you’ll humor me by ignoring the fact that I...
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Elliq Qala – A tour of the 50 Fortresses (well, 6 to be exact)



Because it had taken three hours for the taxi driver to find 3 other passengers, it was well after dark when I arrived in Tortkul. So rather than cycling out of town and camping, I found a place to stay. From here I was going to start a mini tour of the crumbling ruins of [...]

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Southern Malawi



Another Border: Mozambique to Malawi Three days of relaxation in Cahora Bassa left us ill-prepared for the drive to Blantyre. Much of the route from Cahora Bassa to the Malawi border is one of Mozambique’s major arterial roads. This is not something that could be deduced from its...
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On the Road...



So the garage did a efficient job getting us on our way. We left there about lunchtime Tuesday. A few problems with the diff-lock lever which I knew we would. Last time it took me ages to get it working in the correct position. Same this time. Mechanic knew what he was doing after I explained...
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Road knits II



They are serious about llamas in this region of the world, and so I have stepped up my interest in llamas as well–by knitting with as many of them as I can. I never thought I’d knit a poncho, let…
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Tuesday, 26 November 2013

11/15/2013 – 134 days/14082 miles



After two days in Albania, I consider myself a total expert, and I’m a bit torn between the two extremes of the place. The views of the mountains, and the riding in them was great…from 2nd gear on dirt and … Continue reading →

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Bahia San Luis Gonzaga



We drove south from San Felipe assuming that we were going to stop in Puertecitos for a few days before continuing to Gonzaga.  When we arrived at Puertocitos to find […]

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Granada & La Alhambra, Andalucía, Spain 10/13



We are in Granada now, a city that always had sort of a magical ring. “Welcome to the Monumental Complex of the Alhambra and the Generalife”. That’s what the brochure reads we picked up at the gate. Certainly “monumental” and “complex” are accurate terms...
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India or Bust



It’s a bright morning in Bangkok, and a beam of light reflects in just such a way from the rooftop of the drug factory across the way as to awaken me from my bear-like hibernation. We’ve been living in this apartment just down the street from the Bang Chak Skytrain station for a...
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2013 Tecate Score Baja 1000



Before the race even started I knew I wanted to come back to Baja for the 2014 Tecate Score Baja 1000 race.  The atmosphere the night preceding the race was […]

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Mexico – a recap



Two days ago we crossed the border between Mexico and Belize. It is time for a recapitulation of our thoughts on the country. Our likes and dislikes on food, people, safety, camping and dogs. Food We had heard and read a lot about the Mexican food and were not sure whether we were looking...
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Atlas mountain & Sahara desert (video)



Κι ένα βιντεάκι απ’τις μέρες που περάσαμε στον Άτλαντα...
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Pakistan – Returning to the Sights & Sounds of Lahore & Islamabad



  On my return to Islamabad I had the chance to ca […]

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San Felipe – Epic Dinner For Two: $12.50



We headed out early and took highway MX3 from Ensenada towards San Felipe. The windy and potholed road took a few hours, but the scenery was epic once again.  We […]

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Transporter...



After a under-informed weekend we were told early morning that our worse fear was realised, the box was still in Chicago….well…I need not tell you I was upset and possibly nearly in tears. The money that this would have cost to rectify isn’t worth mentioning. This was a major...
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Monday, 25 November 2013

11/12/2013 – 132 days/13727 miles



I spent a day checking out some of the sights around Mostar. The first was the village of Medjugorje, a popular sight for many Catholics. In 1981, 6 local children claimed to see the Virgin Mary atop a hill outside … Continue reading →

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Atlas mountain & Sahara desert



Καλύτερη επιλογή απ’το κάμπινγκ Diamand Vert στη Fes δεν θα...
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EVENT: 2013 SoCal Mountain Rendezvous



My inaugural trip to the 2013 SoCal Desert Rendezvous, put on by the American Adventurist, started in Vegas picking up the awesome Maxtrax Toyota FJ from Ben at Outback Proven. Ben couldn’t make the trip this year, but graciously let me fly in and borrow the FJ for the event. Rendezvous is...
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Tatacoa to Las Lajas



After a two day drive from Zipaquira, we ended up in the mysteriously beautiful Desierto Tatacoa.  Stopping for a roadside lunch of strawberries and ham…

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Gonzaga Bay – Is this Real Life?



Whenever we travel, the memories that really stick with us are always different.  In Thailand, it was the incredible food.  In Vietnam, it was a hike through Hmong villages.  In Nicaragua, it was the incredible sunsets. However, for Gonzaga Bay, my most vivid memory will likely be...
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Photos of Bukhara



After Samarkand, came Bukhara. On the route I’m cycling west, at least. It was the same for those merchants from the East trading along the Silk Road so many centuries ago, millennia even. Another central Asian city that has changed hands almost as often as I wash my clothes. First it was...
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Ecuador 7 – Central Highlands – The Quilotoa Loop



5th October – Leaving Quito once again and going south for Latacunga, where we will begin the Quilotoa Loop, a road (part of it unpaved) that travels through the Andean countryside amongst farming villages, a community of painters, indigenous markets … Continue reading →

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Sunday, 24 November 2013

The marmite of Africa: Ethiopia



Day: 221 KLMS: 34,097 Never has a country divided people’s opinions so strongly, as Ethiopia does. It really is the marmite of Africa, you either love it or hate it. For us, we are definitely marmite lovers and all our preconceptions about what Ethiopia would be like, were completely...
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11/07/2013 – 126 days/13154 miles



On the 5th, I left Zadar, for Mostar. Unfortunately, it was raining pretty hard in Zadar in the morning, so I waited around a little bit to see if it would die down at all. It did, but the rest … Continue reading →

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Córdoba #2, Andalucía, Spain 10/13



Having seen the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos fortress and the Cathedral of Córdoba, we realized that there was much more to see in Córdova than we had time for in one day. Abandoning the dusty, noisy overpriced campground, (€32), El Brillante Municipal RV Park,...
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11/04/2013 – 113 days/12904 miles



Last night, I got into Zadar, Croatia. It’s pretty quiet here…the tourism season is wrapping as it’s getting to cold. As I type this, I’m sitting out on a pier, and it’s 70deg…miserable… I took a very long, but great … Continue reading →

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The Karakoram Highway – The 50 Best Scenic Photos



My 10 day trip up the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan to […]

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South from Quito?



Well the last 2 days have been pretty boring. Lying around reading my book with my foot up on a stack of pillows. Daniel has been my butler and ladies maid, but that can’t last too long. The F 800 … Continue reading →

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Photos of Samarkand



Samarkand was founded around 700BC by the Sogdians. It became one of the greatest cities in the world at the time due to it’s central location on the Silk Road, connecting China with the East. Later it became a centre of learning for Islam. In 1220, Chinggis Khan swept through and...
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Insta… Juan?



A few months ago I started playing the Instagram game. So, inspired by Stephanie’s “Instavan” posts, here are a few square images. Follow me on Instagram @juanbuhler.
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Saturday, 23 November 2013

START OF THE ASIA-ADVENTURE



START VAN HET AZIË-AVONTUUR
MALEISIË – PENANG
Na Indonesië vinden we Maleisië een aangenaam land. De vochtige warmte is wel even wennen: alsof er een warme klamme deken over je heen wordt geslagen. Alleen als het regent, koelt het e…

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Embracing the wheel



 
Filming Samburu blacksmiths in northern Kenya.For years and years I refused to use rolling luggage for airline travel. My personal creed went something like, If I can’t carry it, I’m carrying too much. I made month-long-plus trips fo…

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