Category Archives: Photos

Malaysia, Photos

Malaysia!

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Yesterday I crossed the border to Malaysia!

Nice curvy roads here in the north! But the guesthouses are pretty expensive! At least it looks like there will be more possibilities to camp again, I already camped last night. It was the first time camping since Kazakhstan, almost 4 months ago!

But it’s hard to find beer here! Fortunately I still had one from Thailand…


Gestern habe ich die Grenze nach Malaysia überquert!
Schöne, kurvige Strassen hier im Norden! Aber die Guesthouses sind ziemlich teuer hier. Aber warscheinlich kann ich hier wieder öfters im Zelt übernachten. Habe gestern jedenfalls wieder das erste mal gezeltet seit Kasachstan! Das ist fast 4 Monate her!

Aber man findet fast kein Bier, bzw Alkohol hier, Malaysia ist muslimisch.

bike, Photos, Thailand

Motorbike service, replacements and repairs

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Since China, the front forks were leaking oil.
It could temporarily be fixed in Luang Prabang, Laos. But as they didn’t have new seals it started to leak again a few weeks later. No chance to find a descent motorbike mechanic with the right parts in Laos or Cambodia, as they only sell bikes up to 250ccm!


I was looking forward to Thailand to do proper maintenance, replacing some parts and finally fix the leaking.  So I went to the Honda Dealer ‘BigWing’ in Pattaya.

It was the worst Honda service ever!
I had to tell them exactly what to do! They did not have a list of what is to do at the official Honda service intervals! Basically they  just replaced the oil. But didn’t check the brakes or the condition of the bike in general. They didn’t even know the official Honda service booklet!
I then requested that they also clean the airfilters, fix the parking brake and the leaking front forks.
So they took apart the front fender to only realize that they don’t have new seals! And they were not able to put it correctly back together, I had to show them how to do it!
And they didn’t have any spare parts at all, although they sell one AfricaTwin a week! No seals, no chains or sprockets, no brake pads, nothing!


Fortunately the JP Rider shop nearby could organize a chain and sprockets and Oleg knew a tyre dealer in Bangkok (29tire.com).


But I still needed to get the forks fixed! So I got in contact with another Honda BigWing dealer in south of Thailand in Phuket, which ordered the parts and said they will arrive in a week. It took finally two weeks for them to arrive! (they are not shipping from Japan but are produced in Thailand!)

When I finally arrived at BigWing Phuket, they didn’t want to fix the fork that day! I guess it’s too much work for a Saturday… I should come back next week. But they are closed until Thursday because of holidays!
Again I was lucky and found a very good shop nearby called ‘StreetBiker’ which did it right away in two hours. He worked really professionally, had all the proper tools and cleaned every part he got in his hands!


 

 

 

Cambodia, Photos

Cambodia

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I’m in Cambodia!

Except from Siem Reap with the famous Angkor Wat temple complex it feels like Cambodia is a little less developed than Laos.
But they have more beer brands! It’s also less rainy here, but a lot hotter and more humid.
And it’s flat! There are almost no mountains here but long straight roads (boring!).


Laos, Photos

Luang Prabang, Pakse and 4000 Islands in Laos

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I liked Laos very much! It’s a rather small country, so I didn’t need to travel long distances and could stay longer in some cities.
The Kuang Si waterfalls in Luang Prabang were impressive in this rainy season! In Vang Vieng it’s impossible to skip the tubing (see the movie here) and on the 4000 Islands it’s just quiet and relaxed (although there are currently not so much islands due to the high water level in the Mekong).
In Pakse there’s a big golden Buddha and some more waterfalls…


China, Photos

mountain passes in Tibet

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no, I didn’t go back to China, I’m still in Laos!
these are some photos of the mountain passes in Tibet we crossed. some bikers may find these interesting 🙂

my personal record: 5231m
I need to count them all on the GPS track, because we didn’t take pictures on all of them. but I think we did three 5000m passes and about twelve 4000m.


China, Photos

exiting China

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basically, China has been a pain in the ass and I’m glad to be out of this country! maybe I’ll write some blog entries about China later, but for know I just want to close this part of the trip with this one.

The Yunnan province in the south is not so restricted as the other so we could finally enjoy some nice cities there. Shangri-La, Lijiang and Dali had pretty nice and old town centers to explore.

We’ve also got the car out of the truck in the last town just short of the border and it got out of China without any issues! (the car with the failed vehicle inspection).


China war mühsam und ich bin froh, aus dem Land raus zu sein! vielleicht schreibe ich später noch ein paar Artikel über China, aber momentan möchte ich dieses Kapitel mit diesem hier abschliessen.

Die Yunnan Provinz im Süden ist weniger eingeschränkt als andere, daher konnten wir ein paar Städte endlich ein wenig geniessen. Shangri-La, Lijiang und Dali haben schöne, alte Stadtzentren zum Erkunden.

Den Wagen haben wir auch wieder aus dem Truck holen und über die Grenze nach Laos bringen können!