In Downton (not the Abbey
) where I grew up, there was a pub that used to do milk on draft 
Encore une fois
- Thread starter monkeyboy
- Start date
) where I grew up, there was a pub that used to do milk on draft It depends how easily scared you are
It's not really that difficult but it can be hugely time consuming. Add in the fact that its usually really hot and sweaty, and that everything is often a scrum rather than a queue and the language barrier too and it can feel a bit daunting but there is always someone to point you in the right direction.
Most the borders fill in the paperwork for you anyway once you get to the right place. Russia being the exception. But they have examples of filled in forms stuck to the windows of the customs buildings anyway, and they will just mark up and return forms that you don't get right first time. Just always remember to carry a few pens, a few low denomination notes, and assume everyone wants your passport, V5 and driving licence
You just need to be very very patient. One flare up and the officials will likely just ignore you for the next hour or two.Remember too that Russia has a customs union with, I think, Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan and that you only need go through customs on whichever you come to first, and to present the customs form on exit from the last country
Bike Insurance can be a bit more difficult to get and sometimes you have to be prepared to go without.
I should also add the visas tooIt depends how easily scared you are
It's not really that difficult but it can be hugely time consuming. Add in the fact that its usually really hot and sweaty, and that everything is often a scrum rather than a queue and the language barrier too and it can feel a bit daunting but there is always someone to point you in the right direction.
Most the borders fill in the paperwork for you anyway once you get to the right place. Russia being the exception. But they have examples of filled in forms stuck to the windows of the customs buildings anyway, and they will just mark up and return forms that you don't get right first time. Just always remember to carry a few pens, a few low denomination notes, and assume everyone wants your passport, V5 and driving licence
Remember too that Russia has a customs union with, I think, Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan and that you only need go through customs on whichever you come to first, and to present the customs form on exit from the last country
Bike Insurance can be a bit more difficult to get and sometimes you have to be prepared to go without.
The Russians do loads of different visas and some are more difficult than others to organise and more expensive too. None of it is difficult once you know who to contact to get the correct invitation to match the type of visa you're applying for though. That's easy for me to say of course! The Russian application is an imposing set of online forms that wants to know all sorts of stuff you might not want to share with them but personally I don't care about stuff like that. The double entry 2 month visa I got cost me 50 Euros for the invite, £50 for the appointment to apply for the visa in London, then £180 for the visa itself. And you loose your passport for 20 working days because of the areas I was going to. The Tajik one is about 50 Euros too, and another 25 Euros for the invitation to attach to the online application. That takes about 5 days.
It's all just a big process. But when you get to the gate and they wave you through it'a all very much worth the effort
This has been an absolutely top report. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to post 
I have been glued to this for the majority of the day. Bravo Sir! An excellent read, I actually laughed out loud frequently and felt anxious for you on a few occasions. You're a braver man than me but I still felt envious mostly. Many thanks for this latest write up, and ignore your modest alter ego and write these posts up in a proper book.....you owe it to "The Bitch" if nothing else! 
Fabulous write up, equally as good as your previous reports.
A lot of that outside my comfort zone, but kudos to you and doing what you do.
The photographs are great, you have an eye for the subject matter.
Prettiest girl in this report:
But she does not know it,
Just a fuel pump attendant.
A lot of that outside my comfort zone, but kudos to you and doing what you do.
The photographs are great, you have an eye for the subject matter.
Prettiest girl in this report:
But she does not know it,
Just a fuel pump attendant.
You didn’t by any chance see the Vario top box I lost between there & the Georgian border in 2014 did you ?
Jason, you’re a mad fcuker but I love that you do these trips & then let us follow along vicariously
Writing & photos are superb again but I think the ratio of gorgeous babes was a bit down on previous reports
Sorry if its a miss use of the word epic but that trip was truly epic it takes me all my time to get my arse into gear to go out for a few hundred miles never mind thousands.
Thanks for the write up and pics
Thanks for the write up and pics
Take all your trip reports, put them into Sections and chapters within the sections, photos included obviously, and you have a motorcycle travel book.
A skilled editor would fine tune it, adjust but not remove "you" or the story, make it a marketable product.
We all need an updated version of Dan Walsh, These are the days that must happen to you.
I'll read it in front of the fire with a beer, might even have a pint of milk
A skilled editor would fine tune it, adjust but not remove "you" or the story, make it a marketable product.
We all need an updated version of Dan Walsh, These are the days that must happen to you.
I'll read it in front of the fire with a beer, might even have a pint of milk
Milk? You would in your hole Alastair.
Oh noYou didn’t by any chance see the Vario top box I lost between there & the Georgian border in 2014 did you ?
Jason, you’re a mad fcuker but I love that you do these trips & then let us follow along vicariously
Writing & photos are superb again but I think the ratio of gorgeous babes was a bit down on previous reports
I guess I'll have to go back and do it all again then I'm bloody 60 now mate. A lot of the pretty ones run a mile when they see a Mr Burns look-a-like approaching them with his helmet in his hand..
I must admit I've thought about it a couple of times but I think a book with so many pictures would cost a bloody fortune for a start, and TBH I have absolutely no idea where to start anyway. I've done maybe 12-13 trips now that I would consider reasonably big and I've got a mental bucket absolutely overflowing with memories and nonsense. Having a good memory is one of my few attributes, it served me well at work and now it lets me look at any old picture, grab a memory thread and pull it then just keep pulling. The truth is that in my 'real life' absolutely nobody I know, bar a very few fellow travellers, is really interested in this stuff so it sort of discourages you from bothering. I do enjoy writing though 
But I like it
And .. the older I get, the more I look at my life and see the fewer pages of it there are left to read, I get an increasing urge to dare myself more and more. I guess we all do it but it's a dangerous game to play and one I could easily end up loosing. So maybe I should just create a massive photobook for myself and hide it somewhere for people to find when I'm gone
I reckon if you started putting it all together you'd really enjoy it and probably come up with a few good (daft) ideas in the process. It's random photos or memories or maps that give me ideas for trips.And .. the older I get, the more I look at my life and see the fewer pages of it there are left to read, I get an increasing urge to dare myself more and more. I guess we all do it but it's a dangerous game to play and one I could easily end up loosing. So maybe I should just create a massive photobook for myself and hide it somewhere for people to find when I'm gone
And if a decent book comes out of it, all the better.
I've a couple of mates who've written books, I'll ask how they went about it.
Here’s one example of a self print option, plenty others out there
grosvenorhousepublishing.co.uk
Book Printing & Prices – Grosvenor House Publishing
grosvenorhousepublishing.co.uk
Thank you
I'd appreciate thatExcellent. I'll take a look at that tooHere’s one example of a self print option, plenty others out there
Book Printing & Prices – Grosvenor House Publishing
One mate used these folk to print his book (Echos of a dream, a crag rats tale by Alan Richard McHardy)Thank you
Edinburgh - JTCP
jtcp.co.uk
He had a type setter called Monkey gone to Heaven but I can't find them online. There will be others. He printed as many as he though he would sell and made money on each one.
Another mate got a publisher deal and all the marketing etc that goes with it but he only gets about £2 a book from them. In Some Lost Place by Sandy Allan. Published by Vertebrate Publishing but it's hard to get a decent deal with a publisher. Self printing seems the best option.
Similar threads
