Albania is full of surprises. I was in some hot springs this morning. Alban, my voluntary tour guide, was watching over me so I do not faint... Prolonged exposure to sulfur can do funny things... He insisted on riding pillion without a helmet. "Go like Valentino Rossi!" is all he kept saying. I wonder how Rossi would ride on these horrible roads with so much load. A few short wheelies is all I could do to please him. Now I'm on top of a mountain pass near the Macedonian border. There are cement military machine gun aprons around. Goats have ...Read More

It's raining again. Packing a wet tent is not a good idea if you plan to use it in the long run. Things take a moment to get soaked, but hours to dry. Rain means waiting. But waiting means writing. So it's not too bad. I'm now in a campground a few kilometers shy of Cannes. There are two German GS riders in the tent next to me. They're also held back by the rain. I tried to fix the GPS mount couple of times. Last time, I managed to think about the fuse... And yes, it was blown. Apparently I caused ...Read More

"Tour de Monde" is how I explain what I'm doing to the French. One man said "brave" as I explained him my route. Another said something like "courageous". They want to be nice. They probably think I'm stupid to do something like this. Bad things do happen. I know that too. But so do good things. There is no point missing the latter because I'm afraid. This isn't bravery. It's just how things work. The day is just as beautiful as the night is scary. And you miss it all if you stay inside. The days are long up north at ...Read More

I had to do this... I stayed in Paris for two days. Now I'm on my way to Lyon and possibly to the Alps... Everything's fine. Just wanted to check in as I'm in brief Wi-fi zone. I'll do a detailed post in a few days... Read More

London has done a few things. First, It forced me to reset all my know-how and habits of riding a bike in traffic due to the inversion of flow (it feels like writing with my left hand). I had to desert the bike and take the 'tube' around the city. This wouldn't be a big issue if I was staying here just for a day or two, which had been original plan. All I had to do was to receive the package Evren sent me from L.A. and move on. But of course, I did not take into consideration the ...Read More