Hi there!

My wife and I are British and are currently in Turkey and 3 months into our round-the-world trip. I have seen your website and it's excellent. We are due to travel through Georgia in about 2 weeks or so and will pass through Tbilisi. I have a couple of questions if you don't mind?

We have a visa for Georgia. Are there any other things we need to be aware about for the border crossing? Any other docs we should have etc.

Do you suggest any particular routes to Tbilisi? We have 14 days before we must cross to Azerbaijan.

Do you have regular bike meetings in Tbilisi? We should love to meet some club members.

Please e-mail back if you have a moment. We should love to meet up at some point. Please let us know anything else you feel may be important or help us in Georgia.

Many thanks.

Matt & Jo Hobbs

Hi Levan,

That's fantastic! Thanks for getting back so quickly. We will aim to be in Tbilisi over a weekend and would love to join one of your rides. Our bikes are old DR650S, so do you have some slow movers in the group who can ride at our pace?

Thanks also for the border advice regarding form filling. We will have more questions I think as we get closer to Georgia. We estimate being at the border in about 10-15 days and then we'll select our route to Tbilisi. It would be great to meet you and a few club members.

As soon as we know for definite our movements and plans we shall let you know.

Thanks again

We look forward to meeting you in the near future.

Regards

Matt & Jo

Hi Levan

Your friend Irakli Soika has been in touch with more advice so thanks for that.

Could we get tyres in Tbilisi and would they need to be ordered? What do you think? Can you let us know and if we must order, can you do it on our behalf? Again many thanks. We aim to be in Tbilisi by weekend 3-4. See you then.

matt & jo

Many thanks for the tyre info. Fingers crossed that we can get something from the market. We are now in Kars not far from the Georgia border so we hope to be in your country tomorrow. This means that we will definitely be in Tbilisi on Friday. We plan to stay in Tbilisi for the weekend so that we can join you for your Sunday ride. Is there any chance that you could help us find accommodation? Because we are travelling for such a long time our daily budget is low. So just something cheap, all we really need is a double room, clean and with access to hot showers and obviously safe parking for the bikes. We really are very grateful for all your help and look forward to buying you both a beer to say thank you.

Levan, we'll give you a call when we arrive. Many many thanks once again for your help. We look forward to meeting you both at the end of the week.

Kind regards,

Matt and Jo

Hey you guys!

Firstly an enormous apology for not having been in touch for ages. we have not had access to an internet since Tbilisi so are now catching up.

Thanks again for the best weekend in Tbilisi. You were the perfect hosts and made us feel most welcome. It has really been a highlight of our trip so far.

Since leaving we crossed to Azerbaijan with no probs. In Baku we found the ferry port and were informed that the bikes had only a 2 day transit and would be impounded that evening at 2200. We were very annoyed as the visa was for one month. We were told there would be a ferry to Aktau that evening so after further problems with corrupt staff we crossed the Caspian. From Aktau to Aktobe took us 6 days as the roads were virtually non existent with some sand thrown in. it was very hard work and we were exhausted. The feeling of total isolation was also a worry but the bikes although taking lots of punishment did not let us down, except I had a burst inner tube and then 5 days later a nail in my tyre. After 13 days without a proper wash and having camped we made it to Tashkent. We are now resting and sorting visas for China, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan. China came up trumps so we do not need to go through Afghanistan.

We shall go to Samarqand and Bukhara on weds then back to Tashkent and then Alma-Ata.

Can you thank the guy on the Suzuki GS750 as he led us to the airport making our departure much easier.

Hope all is well with you in Tbilisi. The website pics are excellent, Jo has forwarded the link to our folks. thanks again for an excellent few days. we shall look forward to returning the honour in the future. will speak again soon. all the best for now

your good friends

m & j

Jo and some hippy she picked up horse riding in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

Jo

My little biker chick in Kyrgyzstan.

Matt

Hello!

We're still in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Having finally been refused an Iranian visa, after many weeks of waiting we will now fly to Pakistan with the bikes on Tuesday. Iran demanded details of hotel bookings for every night that we stayed in the country which was impossible for us to give. To get to Iran we must go through Turkmenistan, who will not issue a visa until they see the Iran visa in your passport. So we didn't know when we'd even enter the country, never mind when we'd get to the towns with hotels in. China will not allow the bikes into the country, and Afghanistan is far too dangerous to attempt to cross on bike, so we were potentially stuck. But thankfully after a lot of shopping around we managed to get a good quote for flights for Pakistan. It has been a stressful few days, but then it can't be a holiday every day!

We are now looking forward to getting into Pakistan. We plan to ride up the Karakorum Highway, then travel through north India into Nepal where we hope to complete a couple of treks. After this we'll head back into India where we'll have about a month to do the tourist bit. Matt's mother is flying out to India on 2 November to meet us which we are both looking forward to. It seems a long time ago now that we saw our family.

After this internet session we're off to our favourite little Georgian restaurant for lunch!!

Hope you are all well.

Take care, safe riding.

M & J xxx

Hi folks!

Now in India, it's been 6 months on the road which is hard to believe. After flying from Uzbekistan to Pakistan we had a couple of days in Istanbul. Pakistan is one interesting place! Everyone was exceptionally friendly (except for the very occasional anti-women tossers), the mountains stunning, and the main roads good. Women are rarely seen in Pakistan, just groups of men. The few women that you do see are completely covered, and in the Northern Areas most still wear Burkas.

However, the Northern Areas amongst the Himalayas are incredible, and made for awesome biking. First stop was Peshawar and a trip to the Afghan border via the Khyber pass. As this area comes under tribal law, we had to take an armed escort with us in a car. Not sure just how good the guard would be though, the door on his side of the car wouldn't even open!!! I think that the chance of being killed in an RTA was far higher than being shot at. Like all passes, the Khyber pass is very narrow and is a series of blind bends. Yet this doesn't stop the race to the top and down again, overtaking everything possible regardless of whether you're on a corner or not. Passed the smugglers bazaar which sells absolutely everything, including a wide selection of fire arms. Saw plenty of hash shops (totally legal there) and gun shops.

At Peshawar Matt finally had his hair cut! As soon as we find somewhere that we can download some photos I'll send you some - guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

From Peshawar we headed north into the mountains and rode over some amazing mountain passes. We had a tough week or so of hard biking, and pretty scary at times. Very narrow rough tracks with very tight bends and sheer drops to the side. I was very glad I have finally learnt how to steer! I lost count how many times I thought I was going to die! The scenery was breath taking. At the bottom clear blue fast running water, up a level is lush green fields and forests, and then above this snow covered mountains, topped off with a crystal blue sky. We didn't see a single cloud for the whole time we were in the mountains.

Once we had crossed over to the east and onto the Karakorum highway tarmac roads returned - huge relief! Before this we would cover not much more than 100km in a 9 - 12 hour day. I can see why the Karakorum Highway has the reputation of being the most beautiful road in the World. The scenery wasn't quite as amazing as on the passes, but the good road meant that pretty much any vehicle would get up and down again. We rode to the top where Pakistan meets China, on the way down we were met by some Pakistani journalists, and apparently we made the papers again.

Crossed into China yesterday afternoon, and are staying in a town called Amritsar. First impressions of India are good. So much more colourful and liberal than Pakistan. Women everywhere, some even riding motorbikes! From here we will head to Nepal as quick as possible, before returning to India to meet Matt's Mum in early November.

Hope all is well with you back home, keep us posted with your news.

Lots of love,

m & j xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello,

just a couple more [pictures] if you can bear them. As can be seen I have my monk hair cut reduced to how it was when I was a soldier boy.

Matt

Hello All!

After Pakistan we rode through northern India into Nepal. We'd done a lot of humming and harring whether or not to go to Nepal as all the Government warnings suggest Brits and Americans stay away thanks to the Maoists. But after speaking to the Brit Embassy in Kathmandu we thought what the hell and went for it, and are so glad we did. What a fantastic country!! We crossed into Nepal at the most western point and stopped at the Royal Bardia National Park for 4 nights. We stayed in a mud and thatch cottage, went on an elephant safari, searched for tigers on a jungle walk and had the park to ourselves - no other tourists or travellers in sight. A beautiful place, loads of wildlife and if you ever find yourself in that part of the World would highly recommend a visit.

From Bardia it was onto Pokhara, the base for the Annapurna treks. Pokhara is well set up for the tourists offering loads of very cheap outdoor shops, western food, and even decent red wine!! We enjoyed every mouthful of the westernised food! At the beginning of our travels we did everything possible to avoid the tourist holes, but by this stage we lapped it up! After a few days chilling out in Pokhara we headed to the mountains for a 3 week trek of the Annapurna Circuit. Absolutely amazing. The route takes you through various different landscapes, cultures and over the worlds highest mountain pass at 5416m. The mountains really are breathtaking. 7 months of sitting on a motorbike really had taken it's toll though, by Day 2 I was in agony! Thankfully though after a few days we got into it and the aches and pains started to ease. We'd heard lots of stories of the feared Maoists who appear at various points of the main treks demanding money from the tourists. Sure even it wasn't long before they found us. But we simply said "no thank you" to their demands for money and kept walking. They did nothing, just watched us walk away. This happened again later in the trek with exactly the same outcome. Maybe we were just lucky.

From Nepal it was back to India. Due to time pressures (we'd organised to meet Matt's mum in the south on 3 November) we decided to take the train to Cochin, south India. The train took 3 days and wasn't as bad as it sounds. The carriage consisted of loads of 3 tier bunks, all open plan. Previous Army experience certainly helped here as this was nothing new to us, shacking up with 50 or so others with no privacy. We'd smuggled some red wine from Nepal into India (long story...) so enjoyed this during the journey whilst enlightening the locals with sounds from Elvis, the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen. This produced quite a crowd around our bunks and was all good fun. Sipping red wine, great tunes, the fresh warm breeze coming through the open windows watching India go past. It was great. The problems came when we tried to get the bikes off the train when we arrived in Cochin. The cargo doors were jammed shut and the train ended up departing with our bikes still on board. Having never left them out of our sight before since leaving the UK (unless in secure hotel parking), this was a tad worrying. To say it was a stressful 24 hours trying to recover them is an understatement! However we finally got them back, all be it with 3 out of 4 broken mirrors and twisted handlebars! But at least we got them back.

We are now with Matt's mum in the Kerala district. We've spent 4 nights in some very luxurious beach homes, cruised the backwaters of Alleppey on board a private houseboat, and are now at Periyar national park - still searching for tigers. It's like a holiday within a holiday! The south of India is much more beautiful than the north, it has a real tropical feel. Once Jean heads back to the UK we'll begin heading north again following the Indian west coast via Goa and onto Bombay where we hope to fly to Thailand to start our tour of SE Asia.

Well I've rambled on for too long already, so will bid farewell. We trust that you are all ok and that life back in the UK is treating you all well. Please keep the emails coming, we love hearing your news.

Take care,

love, m & j xxxx

Dear all,

well after 25,000km through some of the world's worst roads it had to happen eventually. Yes, one of us has had a prang. On our way to the airport on Sunday to say farewell to Matt's mum another motorbike decided to pull straight across Matt's lane to turn right without looking, sending Matt crashing into the concrete central reservation. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet, and has escaped with a broken bone in his foot and some very nasty cuts and bruises to his body. It is so tempting to take off the helmets with such hot weather, but having seen the damage to his helmet and realising that if he hadn't been wearing it that damage would have been to his head, we are very glad that we've kept them on.

After 2 days in hospital he was released today and now we will start to assess the damage to his bike. At the moment it looks in quite a mess, very twisted. But Matt seems to think that the parts that are twisted can be fixed, and that most damage is to the panniers which obviously aren't important. Once we take the panniers off we'll see what the real damage is.

It's been an extremely frustrating few days. Eventually we got Matt to a decent private hospital. Five hours after the accident he finally started to get his wounds cleaned and get some X-rays taken. Whilst Matt was getting treated I had to leave him to start the police procedures and recovering the bikes. I didn't get back to the hospital until late that night, where I then had to start dealing with the hospital finance department. And I thought the police were bad! All they had to do was phone a number in the UK given to us by our insurance company. Would they phone? Oh no that would be far too simple! I even offered to take them to the phone booth opposite and pay for the call, they still wouldn't phone!!! I shan't bore you with all the details, but to say it's been a testing and highly frustrating few days is an understatement!

It is now a case of waiting for Matt to get better and getting the bike fixed as well as possible. As there are no bikes bigger than a 250cc in India, getting spare parts is impossible. We will have to do a lot of improvisation. Fingers crossed we'll get it back on the road. Once we reach Oz we'll be able to get everything we need. We are just very thankful that it wasn't any worse. As I was travelling directly behind him I saw everything and I am still amazed that he is not more seriously hurt. At the moment we are both pretty fazed out with the bureaucratic hassle and stubborn officials. But I'm sure that it'll be no time before we're back on the road and back into the travelling spirit! I guess it can't be plain sailing all the time.

We hope that things with you are going a little smoother, and that life back home is treating you all well. Take care and keep sending us your news.

Lots of love,

Matt & Jo xxxxxx

Hello!

Quick update.

Now in Madras! Had a hellish 2 days getting here. The ride from Cochin on Sunday took us over the worst road we have encountered so far in terms of bad driving. Buses were unbelievable. I lost count how many times we were ran off the road by buses and trucks overtaking everything in front of them with no regard for traffic coming in the other direction. It was just one big race. Everyone had to overtake the vehicle in front even if they were traveling at similar speeds! It really was a slalom course. Poor Matt was seriously losing the plot. With that being his first proper ride on the bike since his crash, it wasn't exactly ideal. We then made the huge mistake of leaving the hunt for accommodation too late. At 5pm we decided it was time to stop, but there was absolutely no where to stay. By 6:30pm we were still looking and darkness came. The buses continued to go at full pelt (they think the accelerator is an on/off switch I'm sure) and did the interesting thing of switching their headlights to full beam as they over took. So we had buses on our side of a very narrow road whilst we were blinded! 12 hours after starting, and 450 Km later, we finally found a hotel.

The next day the road was much better. They are in the process of building a highway, so the rough surface meant the buses had to slow down. Just as we got into Madras my bike decided to break down. First of all it kept cutting out on me then it wouldn't start. So there we were in Madras, Matt trying to fix the bikes at the side of the road surrounded by crowds of on lookers whilst I tried to watch all our kit. To cut a long story short, couldn't get the bike sorted so Matt went ahead and found a hotel and then sorted out a truck to take my bike on to the hotel. Matt then spent the rest of the day and night trying to fix it.

With the bike still not fixed, India has no bikes bigger than 350cc so spare parts are impossible to find, we had a dilemma. Our flights are booked for Saturday to Malaysia, to get the bikes on the next boat we had to crate them yesterday. The following boat does not arrive in Malaysia until the New Year. So we decided to ship the bike broken. We are hoping that parts will be easier to get in Malaysia, and Singapore isn't far either.

Yesterday we spent the day at the port getting the shipping sorted and the bikes crated. A very long and yet another stressful day! But thankfully they are all done now. Today they are loaded onto the ship ready to sail tomorrow. Such a relief.

We fly to Kuala-Lumpur on Saturday night. Not sure where we'll be for Christmas Day. We may be sitting at the port singing "All I Want for Xmas is 2 Suzuki 650's!". But if we get the bikes before the 24th we'll head to the coast. Should be on a Thai island for New Year.

Hope you are all well and are enjoying the Christmas festivities.

Take care and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Matt & Jo xxxxxx

Just a quick one to say happy Christmas and a merry new year. We hope you are all well and looking forward to 2005.

We are ok and have just arrived in Malaysia. our bikes are on a container ship from India and we hope to collect them tomorrow before heading north to Thailand. I had a crash in India but my bike was worse than me. A twisted frame which we straightened more or less with a large metal bar. It still rides ok. I broke a bone in my foot and had 2 days in hospital.

How is the club going?

Well best wishes to you all, we hope you are in good health.

Until we meet again

m & j

Hello,

a couple of pickys from Cambodia.

m & j

We have had a wonderful time in south east Asia and in two months covered 10000 km, driving through north Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. The people are so friendly and the food nearly as good as Georgian food. The riding particularly in north Thailand and Laos was spectacular. There are many excellent routes through some truly beautiful places that must have been designed with biking in mind.

We're now back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, getting ready to ship bikes to Australia, and we fly out on Tuesday. So it's coming to the end of the first stage of our journey. We now go to Sydney, Australia for 12 months where we will hopefully find work.

we hope to see you all in Georgia when we are on our return to the UK.

Love and kind regards,

m & j