So our first Col climb turned out to be up the highest paved road in Europe, up to 2770m. Not the gentlest of introductions! It was just too good an opportunity to miss as the pass had been closed due to remaining snow levels and a recent avalanche. Sunday was Read more
The quest was …….. to find a run route and a mountain bike route that doesn’t require loads of hill climbing. I tried a different run this morning and headed to the international canoe and kayak centre. Unfortunately no one was on the course – I can’t wait to see Read more
When it comes to trying to protect the environment, France seems to be leading the way. In supermarkets all the bags provided for loose fruit are biodegradable, there are sections in most supermarkets to buy nuts and cereals etc by the weight in non plastic bags, there is a chain Read more
So we have found the supermarkets, the odd bar (would have been rude not to), the cinema, swimming pool and even worked out how to use the TV (and how Pete can watch MotoGP). Still on the list is to find a running route without a mountain climb to kill Read more
From Mende we popped 3 hours back North to see some friends now living in Clermont-Ferrand. It was great to see them and meet their lovely girls – even if I did receive a dodgy makeover and glitter nail varnish thanks to their daughter Robyn. Clermont-Ferrand is a lovely city Read more
Le Trefle (The Clover) is a three day motorbike enduro event with 700 competitors and many thousands of spectators – it is huge! We went along to support The Sheepskull Enduro Riders team with a couple of guys from the Isle of Man and a few guys from the UK. Read more
Here in Bourges we decided to buy French Sim cards so updates can be a bit more frequent now. While waiting in the Orange shop we saw (on the news) pictures of flooding throughout the region from all the rain. Perhaps this isn’t normal then???? We keep having sunshine interspersed Read more
With no exact plan as to where we will go in France on our way to Mende (we need to be there in 6 days’ time) we stumbled upon Arras. After a self-guided walk around the town the next morning we climbed the belfry overlooking the main marketplace which, with Read more
Today we arrived in France after a couple of days with friends and family in the UK. The UK weather wasn’t quite up to the Manx summer so we decided not to do more mountain biking and instead spent the time catching up and taking my cousin’s boys to the Read more
The best way to leave the Island by boat or plane is on a still, clear day and today that is fortunately what we had. We took the Ben My Chree boat to Heysham filled with classic bike fans (they’d been over for the Billown Races) leaving Douglas basking in Read more
We had allowed two weeks on the Isle of Man to unpack and get ready for the next leg of our adventure. We arrived with a beautiful sunny scenic flight, although of course we were greeted by the familiar cold Manx breeze. The preparations included finding accommodation in France, buying Read more
People keep saying to us “Wow, have you really been gone three and a half months!” – see time flies. That is why we have to make the most of every day and every opportunity. We took the opportunity to fly back from SE Asia in time for my cousin’s Read more
As we have both been to Bangkok before (Pete twice), we have seen most of the tourist sights therr already but as our visits were 20 years ago we thought it would be fun to spend a day and night in the city and see how it has changed. Since Read more
We rented a moped and, despite the stormy clouds and dodgy weather forecast, took to the roads to explore the island. We went to a waterfall on the East side of the island, called Tranh Stream. By the time we walked up the rocky path to the small falls, we Read more
We decided our last few days of our SE trip should be spent on an island, soaking up the sun. So from Hanoi we flew to the very South of Vietnam to Phu Quoc. After a 2 hour direct flight we checked into the Eco Beach Resort in Ong Lang Read more
We arrived in Ninh Binh and for once checked in at a gorgeous homestay in Tam Coc and got ourselves sorted all before a beautiful sunset. Our accommodation was really quiet and we had soft mattresses – bliss! !!!! We just need to get a message to the cockerals that Read more
A false start, brought about by waking up to heavy rain and thunderstorms, we delayed our trip by a day and spent an extra day in Hanoi catching up on blogs, research, booking of flights etc. Finally we strapped our luggage to the Honda XR150 motorbike and hit the road. Read more
For a second time we are in Hanoi and we were all set for a road trip in the mountains today but woke up to a thunder storm and torrential rain. We decided to postpone for a day but our hotel room was already booked. After a night of dodgy Read more
So everyone has heard of, or seen pictures of, Ha Long Bay and that was where we were thinking of heading until we heard how many cruise boats (junk boats) were all visiting the same places plus within a two day trip you only got to kayak for about half Read more
We have just spent a few days in Hoi An and loved it. Other travellers told us it was their favourite part of Vietnam and we thought it was because of the beaches, but Hoi An is so much more. Hoi An has an old preserved colonial town full of Read more
We kept our motorbike one more day so we could explore the sights around Da Nang. Da Nang itself is a strange place with lots of big hotels but no real centre. It has lovely golden sand beaches and we stayed near My Khe beach – a huge golden beach Read more
Our trip around The Golden Loop had started as an idea of riding the Hai Van Pass, a pass made famous by Top Gear and one which Jeremy Clarkson said was “the best coastal pass (pause for dramatic effect) in the world”. And today was the day to ride this Read more
We headed to Da Nang and rented a 155cc moped from Danang Bikes. Pete navigated the crazy traffic to get us out of the city (in what world does no traffic rules seem like a good idea? – but somehow it does kind of work here) and set off towards Read more
Back on the coast we arrived at Hue to find it raining and cold. We expected that weather in the mountains, not here! Oh well, we dug out our jeans and coats from the bottoms of our rucksacks and it almost felt worthwhile carrying them around for the last two Read more
Da Lat was spared from heavy bombing in the American war so the are still many French Colonial buildings there, however now these are joined by many flash new hotels to cater for all the weekend visitors who fly in from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, as well as Read more