Van with no name

Big contest :

We are looking for a name, any ideas ? (a surprise for the winner)

Rain and Fog

The call of the road, that's the true thing. 

You feel the shiver of the departure when you start your motorbike in the morning.

Everything is still covered with dew,

the tent is a bit wet,

cows wake you up,

you surface and in two minutes you're driving in surrounded by mountains and paddy fields.

The call of the rain, it's a bit harder.

You feel the cold water going right through your clothes while you're driving your motorbike in the morning.

Your shoes are still soaked from the day before and are making weird noises when you walk,

your clothes have a rate of 100% humidity.

There's more water than cotton in your underpants,

your hands are numb,

you prefer not to think of the moment you'll have to pitch the tent in the mud.

The call of the bus, it's a bit more dangerous.

You don't really hear it coming and it appears suddenly in front of you, honking and overtake in a bend on a mountain road.

You don't really fool around when you're stuck between two trucks on a slippery road, neither when you're driving in the fog in a mountain where there is certainly oxes crossing the road just for fun.

We've seen death, but it's ok.

We've been close to it...still ok.

We caressed it...it was sexy.

After that we were friends and came closer.

Finally she's not really good company so we ran away !

 

We stopped our engines at Da Nang and unwillingly sold Loraine and Le Tavernier, then we took the night bus to Saigon.

Dear Honda Dream II, we won't forget you ! We'll think about you next week, when we'll be around Darwin, Australia to look for new companions with wheels (or turborocket).

Wooden planes...

Rah !

Our hosts were really nice and we lingered on this morning it was cool ! But we had to set out for Nürnberg. And as we're professionals to survive in the suburbs we got lost while looking for the motorway (I have to stop and think not to write in English or German) and as you're never know what could happen, we found a chinese and an american ! Both living in Germany. So we ate again and drank more coffee (no, Pierre will not overcome his addiction). One of them was from Shangai and the other from Texas ! Great girl she makes wooden planes. Not « models » but real « WOODEN PLANES » which can fly with a pilot. Really cool. In the end they showed us the right way and as soon as we arrived we've been taken to Heilbroon (half way).

Well ! We're resting by the river.

Clément, le 02/08/2011

lolo

La quiche à la moustache

Xi Chao !

We're starting with sad news ; it's with tear in the eye that we're announcing that we're parting from...Belette™. It was the 24^th of November 2011, it was a sunny day and a light breeze was blowing against the pointy mountain of Guilin. This morning, the ignition keys of this temperamental changed hands.

She went away limping for the chinese countrysite so carry six times her weight in wood, straw, rice, and other chickens !

It was a transaction worthy of the biggest black market, eased by the owners and employees of ou Guest House in Guilin who accomodated us for nothing.

In a way its probably better that she explodes in the hands of someone else ! Until the last day we drived her into a corner by leaving for a road trip by the river Li.

Our only salvation was the train and bus to cross the Vietnamese border to go to Ha Noi, where we currently are.

We had to think...how to go to Ho Chi Minh city...To clear our minds we went kayaking and camp in Ha Long bay, more precisely around the island of Cat Ba (and even more precisely on the map)

When we came back, only one solution presented itself to us : 

Thank you, thank you for your support, it gave us the strengh (and enabled us) to do it, to add two new friends to our journey and to be free !

Let me introduce you to Lorraine and Le Tavernier ! 

They will endure the road between here and Saignon, using the old Ho Chi Minh track bombarded by more than 390k-tons of american bombs dropped by B52. Plus the 18000km and trillion of moskitos blood thirsty.

See you in 10 days (or more...)

Carnets de voyage

I slept well, nothing new this morning. A couple of young musicans picked us up. They were heading toward Stuttgart to rehearse for a play. They invited us over so we could have a shower and do our laundry. Now I'm waiting for Pierre while listening to them rehearsing.

We got on well with other people living in the house (it's big). I didn't get all the relationships but it's cool. There are music instrulments in every room. We've been offered to sleep here, we'll leave the bags and visit the city without the 20kg.

Clément, le 01/08/2011

Small anecdote from Casey, american living in Ukraine (from Florida to Zhetomyr).

Having some difficulties pronouncing Ukrainian.

One day when he wanted to ask if people had a good week end he was in fact saying that he was pregnant.

The two expressions are quite close in Ukrainian but I can't remember them so I won't be able to give you the example.

Pierre

lolo