Hey everyone,

Well I was going to do that website thing, but it doesn't seem to be working

out. Someday there will be a web site with my whole trip on it, but for now

I'll just update you a little.

So I rode the bike from California across Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador,

Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador,Peru, Chile and Argentina.

I got to Ushuaia which is a big deal because it is the southernmost town in

the world and because you get there on a dirt road that is a thousand miles

long and has a sixty mile an hour cross wind to keep things interesting.

Then I rode North toward Buenos Aires, but only made it half way because my

driveshaft broke. Got the bike into an eighteen wheeler and we spent a few

days driving across Argentina so we could pick up 63,000 pounds of pears

which left me unable to access my bike. Then the pears and my bike and gear

were refrigerated down to freezing and we finally got to Buenos Aires.

Myself and the other motorcycles travelers got an apartment down town and

relaxed for a couple of months after a long, tough ride. It was like a

retirement home for old bikers. Nobody worked, we just sat around reading

and talking about bikes. Melissa came down for a while and it was really

nice. Buenos Aires is like if you took San Francisco and moved it to North

Italy then got rid of all the vegetarians and tought everyone how to Tango.

Eventually I shipped the bike to Japan and rode around there for a while. I

camped out every night. I didn't know that Japan is 70% forested but it is.

I camped in the woods and bamboo forests and bathed in mountain streams

and just wandered through beautiful traditional Japanese villages with

fascinating shrines all over.

Then I took the three day ferry to Vladivostok Russia. Had a great time in

Vlad. as all the local bikers were waiting for me. I stayed for a week and

went on rides with the guys and someone threw a party for me every night.

They passed me along to the riders in Khaberosk and they passed me on to the

guys in Chita and so on.

Siberia becomes hard work once the pavement ends. There is a stretch that

is about 1,500 miles of mud track. I once canoed the Amazon jungle for

three weeks and I thought I knew what bad insect problems were like, but

I've never seen anything like Siberia. Towns are days of riding apart so I

camped in the mud and rain. I had to keep all my gear on including, and

especially, my helmet while setting up the tent. Then I'd dive in and close

the zipper as quick as possible. Then it was fatty sausage, spoiled cheese

and old bread for diner. That's all I could ever find. Cold water and

Nescafe in a cup made from the bottom of a plastic water bottle for

breakfast- blech. That's the way it went day after day. The riding is hard

and it just......never......ends.

About two days out, I was on a dirt road doing about 55 MPH and I crashed

the bike. It got all smashed up and I have at least one broken rib.

Breathing is a chore now, getting out of bed (off the ground) is the hardest

part of the day- unless I sneeze, that's torture.

So I had to pick up the bike and start straightening parts by banging them

between rocks. I did that then camped in the road and continued to work on

the bike the next day. No one ever came along.

So now I am in Ulan Ude and I'll go to Mongolia tomorrow. My Russian visa

is not properly registered so I expect the border crossing to be difficult.

Everything in Russia is difficult- though my ability to read Cyrillic is

coming along.

I'll get to Ulaan Baatar in time for the big annual nomad festival called

Nadaam. It's the biggest event of the year with horse races, archery and

wrestling contests. Mongolia promises to be a highlight of the trip. There

is a biker there with a shop where I can work on my bike, so that's good.

So that's it for now- so far so good (mostly).

Pete

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