800 km to Iranian border Esendere

That means: 1. I finally got my visa the day before yesterday. It is a transit visa as if I wanted the tourist visa I had to wait until Monday in Istambul. 2. I plan to cross to Iran the day after tomorrow. Btw i am udating the blog and I am really pissesd off with the -games- between google and apple. Things dont work properly due to their commercial war.... Ifinally changed the tires in Bandirmia in Bora eris wwweris.com.tr. Great guy and excellent service. Unfortunatly we couldnt balance the tire and there are some vibrations over 130, anyway I got the tires fixed at the best price in Turkey and I enjoy a dinner chatting with Bora. About Turkey I will just say is a huge country and if you miss trucks in your country is because they all came here. It's unbelivable the number of truks on the road, if economy wealth is measure by the nr of trucks Turkey wins. On the other hand landscape is beuautiful and they have almost everything: forest, coast, snowed mountains ari regions.... I promise next time i will try to write from a cyber and pute some pictures. Rgs

In Istambul Iranıan Vısa problems

Sıtuatıon: I am ın Istambul and my vısa authorızatıon has not been recıved yet at the Iranıan Consulate. I am managıng the authorızatıon number wıth Iranıanvısa.com they are tryıng now to put presure to resubmıt the authorızatıon number agaın from Teheran. Anyhow, I need to learn to be more patıente (I am not goıng to say here what I thınk about thıs sıtuatıon...) Motorcycle problems: small explotıons at low revs were solved ın Tesalonıka by Rakkas, very good servıce and honest guy. I was just the typıcal problem of the ınjectıon clamps. Sorry for not puttıng any pıcture yet (I dont have the camera wıth me now ın the ınternet cafe where I am now) rgs Alvaro

From Greece

Just a quick update from my mobile phone. I am currently in Greece 70 km from Tesalonika. Today i crossed Albania, nice countryside. First day was really crazy, I made a beginers mistake, I did some maintenance and for different reasons I didnt try the bike before the tryp ; result : there was an oil leak due to the fact I didnt properly fixed the clutch pump properly. To make it short thx a lot to suziki oriol in Barcelona as they solved it in a matter of minutes. Great service I still didnt get the number for the iranian visa , hope this is solved tomorrow as I plan to be in Istambul on Tuesday to pick it up.

Tomorrow is the day

Everything ready (or at least that is what I think). Tomorrow is the departure date; I will drive to Barcelona and take a ferry to Italy.

During the last few days I´ve been preparing some spare parts and luggage. Spare parts: thx to Victor from Comremoto (www.comremoto.com), lots of experience and great advices.  I also bought some original spare parts in Suzuki Guadalajara = motos Groba  (also thx for the good service). Visas: Pakistan and India ready. Iran: I hope the needed number is available at the time I reach Istambul (crossed fingers)

Wish me good luck; I will try to update the blog when possible.

rgs


Alvaro

Oct. 20th tips for the trip from a great adventurer Charly (Sinewan) and Anto´s Africa Trip

Yesterday was a great day. My friend Anto invited us to his house for the presentation of the trip he and some friends (Nacho, Alvaro, Jose Antonio, Erenesto,...) are preparing to cross Africa from Cape Town to Morocco by the West Coast. It was also really great and helpful to have in that meeting Charly www.sinewan.com great overlander and adventurer who shared some of his experiences with us. Check his web page and videos you will get many tips for your trip but you will also enjoy his videos and pictures.
There are three really good web pages from Spaniards travelling around the world you shouldn´t miss if you like bikes, adventure and people: www.sinewan.com Charly,  www.unmillondepiedras.com Miquel Silvestre (don´t miss his book: un millon de piedras; In my opinion, one of the best books about motorcycle trips, I really like Miquel´s straightforward way of communication) and http://www.lavueltaalmundoenmoto.com/ from Fernando Quemada. Thank you guys for this really good webpages.

Others: about my trip: Now solving visa issues= Iran I just asked for Iran visa number at www.iranianvisa.com and I plan to get the visa in Istambul, India = already in process, and finally Pakistan.
Monday: Carnet de passage, insurence, luggage.   If you want to have more info on how to prepare the trip check www.sinewan.com and www.lavueltaelmundoenmoto.com   Other good webpage to get info for bike overlanders = http://www.horizonsunlimited.com

Rgs

Alvaro

October 10th. 2012 Now a more serious movement starts. Today I have recevied some camping staff I bouught from Louis  (louis.de): a tent, motorcycle first aid kit, headlamp, roll bag and an air mattress. Well I´ve been playing aroung to fix the tent, some small issues didn´t work properly (I must admint I´m a bit useless for these things), anyhow, the equipment I have just received seems to be ok.

Next steps: solve spare parts issues (brake pads, clutch lever, 2 oil and air filters, new spark plags, transmission kit (I wont change it now but during the trip), I will try to use the current tires up to Turckey (continental Trailattck, with 8,000 km still in good shape. I think they will last up to Turckey as I will use a ferry, see next paragraph).

Trip up to Turkey:  Guadalajara (small town close to Madrid)- Barcelona. In Barcelona I will ship the bike and myself up to Italy in a ferry; Why? well, I dont want to spend my time paying expensive highways, gasoline and hotels to cross France. Better go straightforward Italy, Barcelona-Liborno, then driving to Ancona and from there to Zadar. I will drive to Croatia and there I will meet an old school friend who is living there.

Other relevant things still to be solved: Visas, Vaccines (lets check what I need in Carlos III hospital in Madrid) and some other small things.

Departure date: Not closed yet, but probably Nov. 15th.

Details on dates, stops,....  Well my plan is not to plan too much (this is not work, this is fun / live)

Why this trip?. I start a new professional adventure in Thailand but before that I want to have a break = 2-3 months travelling. I am sepecially interested in Iran, Pakistan and India (I already know parts of Turckey and I must say it´s a great country, I of course also want to enjoy this country again).

Do I want to demonstrate something?, not really, this is a let´s say selfish trip, I mean this trip is for me, but if I can give a message with this trip, it will be that most of the world is beautiful and safe and full of great people willing to enjoy life and help when needed. World is not all we see on TV or read in newspaper, world is a much better place (well, I hope I can go on thinking the same after my trip :-) )

Only negative side of this trip, I will miss Arancha (my wife) and my 2 children: Pipo and Bella (2 small dogs).

Rgs

Alvaro

Spain to Thailand


My name is Alvaro and I am planning a great trip: Spain to Thailand on my Suzuki Vstrom 1000. This blog will be just a summary of this trip. I will write some comments about preparing the trip, some more during the trip and hopefully a more complete article once I arrive to Thailand; therefore, this will be a quite simple blog, but I just want to share this experience with whoever wants to read it. I hope you enjoy it. My email is sanvara@yahoo.com

Best regards


Alvaro