Due to Turkmenistan closing its borders, I had to take the ferry across the Caspian to Aqtau in Kazakhstan and then cut across the desert to Uzbekistan - four days of hot, dusty riding although the route was not as bad as I had feared it would be. On the plus side was the opportunity to camp out in the desert each night.

The late night exchange in Putney of Thelma´s shock absorber for the one that Neil (Steptoe) kindly donated. It was bit of a team effort due to the shorter centre stand I have, so Ian is lending a hand while I oversee and take pictures. Thank you so much to Steptoe from the GS Club for his help and generosity.

Sunday 10th May - Day 2

The first of the thousand mile pictures - 1000 miles and I was on the outskirts of Wurzburg, Germany, having to mind Willi the dog for his bemused owner whilst he took my photo. I´m a bit frazzled looking as I had been on the road for quite a long time already that day.

An article that appeared in a La Paz motorcycle magazine.

All Brazilians spend time on the beach, Thelma and I were not to be left out.

Thelma - my 1992 BMW R80 GS (an 800cc bike for the uninitiated). The amazing bike which has carried me and various friends around the world. I have complete faith in her to get me through or out of any situation, whether it is the horrendous mud in Ethiopia or being pursued by angry Mafia in Nicaragua. I use the BMW hard cases because I can cram so much into them.

On my own looking at the lack of definite trails to head up into the Andes.

A decent stretch of road in Ethiopia, no rivers, sand, mud or donkey herds getting in our way - the only problem being - "Are we on the right road?" As there is also a lack of road signs.

Leaving India, we first had to find a shipping agent in Chennai (Madras) and then arrange for Thelma to be crated up - this was achieved by employing a carpenter to build a crate around her - a made-to-measure wooden number.

Unbelievably this turned out to be the main road heading northwards from the Ethiopian border through Sudan- we were hundreds of miles from the nearest tarmac and dropping Thelma numerous times every day. The intense heat and lack of water made the situation even worse and the deep ruts (created by tractors) were a nightmare to ride through, at this point Thelma is actually wedged upright, I'm not having to hold her.