Photo's... FINALLY

Chaz.Harding

So, as some of you may remember, I went on a bit of an adventure in Europe on my motorbike, in the summer.

Here's the pics, for those who are interested.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/army_chaz/ ... 404525719/

Let me know what you think, if you bother to look. I didn't want to do the 'holiday snaps' thing, so generally the photo's are quite 'arty'. Ok then, gay. But meh, bothered...

8)

nicklouse

needs words.

where the hell did you get to.

otherwise Arty and not too shabby.

Richie63

I likey, not a bad bunch of pictures. from what I've seen from the pictures the memories must be so much be much stronger so well done and a superb trip>

bennett_346

Nice quality. Good set of photos.

Chaz.Harding

nicklouse wrote:

needs words.

where the hell did you get to.

otherwise Arty and not too shabby.

PM me your e-mail address, and I'll email you a copy of my writing, if you like? It pretty much goes through most countries. I hit 31 in 32 days.

North as far as Sweden, South as far as Greece, East as far as Belarus / Ukraine and West as far as Spain.... Was a looooong trip!

Chaz.Harding

Thanks, and I know they need annotating, as to their locations, and a little bit about them, but that's gonna take a loooooong time!

nicklouse

thought so. there was a pic that said Sweden and an other that said Greece to me.

31 countries in 32 days ! Whistle stop tour or what.

Andy

Did you speak to your brother yet?

alexj2233

The pictures are pretty awesome, especially liking the pics looking out over the Italian? City with the mountains in the background. Where is that?

I wouldn't mind having a read of your writing

thekickingmule

Nice photos!

So did you camp everywhere you went, or did you find a hotel in every country? I'd love to do somet like this, however I have debts stopping me

Whytepeak

Really great pictures Chaz, brilliant colour - I'm sure the UK is the dullest country in the world :roll:

Here is the story that Chaz posted a while back...
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... =12729896&

Chaz.Harding

Cheers Whytepeak - would NOT have found that... Lol.

UK has some great photo opportunities - just have to be up REEEEALLY early / late to get 'em!

PamPen25

Nice bike.

Is that the Triumph speed triple? 8)

Chaz.Harding

nicklouse wrote:

31 countries in 32 days ! Whistle stop tour or what.

Well, kinda...

I didn't really spend any time in France Belgium, Holland, Germany or Spain, and 'countries' like Monaco, Vatican City, and San Marino are so small, you can see ALL of them in one day. Others which are a proper size, but still small enough to see in 1 day / night, like Montenegro.

Mostly camped out - but washing in rivers, lakes and the sea gets pretty old, so occaisionally I treated myself to a hotel room

And PamPen25, sure is a Speedy

bails87

Thanks for making the photos from my trip look like a bag of sh*t

Great snaps though!

LoUiS1985

pretty damn good set of pics........what camera were they taken with?

soy_sauce

awesome photos.

sheepsteeth

really good pics, agree with the points that they would make for an interesting read with a bit of a description in the info boxes, get it made into an article for the craftsman.

i feel very envious of such a cool trip, id probably want to visit less places but a month on the road sounds ace.

MarcBC

LoUiS1985 wrote:

pretty damn good set of pics........what camera were they taken with?

Nikon D80 - it says so on the right if you click on the first image. :roll:

LoUiS1985

oh yeah...............durrrrr :oops:

Chaz.Harding

sheepsteeth wrote:

really good pics, agree with the points that they would make for an interesting read with a bit of a description in the info boxes, get it made into an article for the craftsman.

i feel very envious of such a cool trip, id probably want to visit less places but a month on the road sounds ace.

Don't really want to write an article - it's too much hassle for something folks will only take the piss for

It was an absolutely awesome trip, and while I was in a lot of different countries, many of them were purely just to say I'd been. Places like the Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Andorra (etc etc) can be pretty comprehensively seen. Western Europe is a bore, really. Too close for a real adventure, and blood expensive! I did, however, fall in love with Italy. A beautiful place, with amazing folks (and SMOKIN' hot women...!). Otherwise, mostly I spent my time out in Eastern Europe. Rich culture's, good food, good beer and awesome weather.

Jealous yet?

My next trip over the x-mas period will be by bicycle in Ireland, as I've never actually been.... Gonna be a bit of a shock when I realise how hard pedalling is again!

bails87

RTW-Chaz wrote:

Jealous yet?

Meh....

Chaz.Harding

bails87

Where were they taken? Looks like a pretty nice place to be, but I'd get restless after about 2 days, lol.

bails87

1. Sairee Beach, Ko Tao, in the Gulf of Thailand
2.in Huay Xai, Laos, in a local wedding that we somehow ended up being invited into!
3. on the Rama VIII Bridge in Bangkok, it was the Loy Krathong festival, hence all the people and lanterns.
4.Fireworks for the water festival over Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Gazlar

bails87 wrote:

1. Sairee Beach, Ko Tao, in the Gulf of Thailand
2.in Huay Xai, Laos, in a local wedding that we somehow ended up being invited into!
3. on the Rama VIII Bridge in Bangkok, it was the Loy Krathong festival, hence all the people and lanterns.
4.Fireworks for the water festival over Siem Reap, Cambodia.

I've decided I now dislike you!!!!

bails87

Gazlar wrote:

bails87 wrote:

1. Sairee Beach, Ko Tao, in the Gulf of Thailand
2.in Huay Xai, Laos, in a local wedding that we somehow ended up being invited into!
3. on the Rama VIII Bridge in Bangkok, it was the Loy Krathong festival, hence all the people and lanterns.
4.Fireworks for the water festival over Siem Reap, Cambodia.

I've decided I now dislike you!!!!

It wasn't all beaches and festivals, I was in the jungle too!

Chaz.Harding

bails87 wrote:

1. Sairee Beach, Ko Tao, in the Gulf of Thailand
2.in Huay Xai, Laos, in a local wedding that we somehow ended up being invited into!
3. on the Rama VIII Bridge in Bangkok, it was the Loy Krathong festival, hence all the people and lanterns.
4.Fireworks for the water festival over Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Always wanted to go way far East. Thailand, Cambodia, China, Malaysia, India, Japan, Korea (I could keep on going for a VERY long list, lol)

Pretty jealous to be fair.

Was it as different to our Western life as you expected? Would you go back..?

bails87

I'd love to go back, I'm already planning a normal* 2 week trip to Cambodia.

It was very different to here, but very easy to travel in at the same time (it was my first trip abroad that hasn't been a family holiday, so I'm no seasoned traveller). I was away for 50 days, and averaged a spend of around £35/day, including all travel, food, accomodation, etc. But that includes a scuba diving course (£200), the Gibbon experience (£200) and a £300 camera. I was also treating myself occasionally, and spent my last night in an executive room in a 5 star hotel in Bangkok. If you wanted to, you could do it for £20/day easily, probably as little as £10-12/day tbh.

But yeah, I loved it, so glad I did it. I'm very jealous of the friends I made who are still out there. I didn't do that much in Thailand, spent most of my time in Laos, which was cool, but I think Cambodia was my favourite place out of all of them (and the cheapest!). If you ever go, don't do Siem Reap just for the Angkor temples, there's loads to do and it's a really cool town to just chill out and spend some time in.

And I'd love to do the Europe thing you did, so it works both ways

*normal=I can just use annual leave, rather than having special unpaid leave for a longer trip.

Chaz.Harding

Sweet. Sounds awesome.

Have to say, I'd go fo rhte cheapest possible places - makes it more interesting. Big fancy hotels really aren't my bad.

Europe is alot easier and cheaper to do though - you don't have a bloody expensive flight out for one!

bails87

RTW-Chaz wrote:

Sweet. Sounds awesome.

Have to say, I'd go fo rhte cheapest possible places - makes it more interesting. Big fancy hotels really aren't my bad.

I was only in a fancy hotel on my last night, the rest of the time it was geust houses, I just chose nice ones that weren't full of cockroaches and rats!

Europe is alot easier and cheaper to do though - you don't have a bloody expensive flight out for one!

True, but then a flight to Kuala Lumpur can be had for ~£350, another £30 for an Air Asia flight to Phnom Penh, and then 2 weeks in Cambodia at £20/day. You can have an awesome holiday/mini-adventure for the same price as a fortnight spent with Wayne and Waynetta at some all inclusive tower block in Ibiza

But what you really ought to do is ride the bike all the way down there.....

Chaz.Harding

bails87 wrote:

RTW-Chaz wrote:

Sweet. Sounds awesome.

Have to say, I'd go fo rhte cheapest possible places - makes it more interesting. Big fancy hotels really aren't my bad.

I was only in a fancy hotel on my last night, the rest of the time it was geust houses, I just chose nice ones that weren't full of cockroaches and rats!

Europe is alot easier and cheaper to do though - you don't have a bloody expensive flight out for one!

True, but then a flight to Kuala Lumpur can be had for ~£350, another £30 for an Air Asia flight to Phnom Penh, and then 2 weeks in Cambodia at £20/day...

But what you really ought to do is ride the bike all the way down there.....

Don't even tempt me...

With a bit of luck and some planning, it's the Sahara desert in 2013 with one of my best mates. New (new to us - 1990's ish) adventure bikes, and about 6 weeks riding through the sand, West to East, through about 5 different African countries.

But then, there's SO MANY places I want to go - all over the far East, all over South America, North America, back to Canada, Russia, Australia....

My list is pretty long...