Blog – Renew Ride

VietnamI say goodbye to my Costa Rican machete which has been carving my pineapples for more than three years.Eight months ago I said goodbye to the Atlantic Ocean in the Netherlands. Now I say hello to the Pacific again in Vietnam. This picture shows these cool little bowl fishing boats used here.

These guys tried and failed to get me drunk on local Laos rice whisky, which goes great with freshly fried pork rindsThe world's most heavy duty mopeds can be found throughout Southeast Asia

In Laos, tree stumps are never wasted

Cycling through the rest of Burma, a rather cloistered country for so long, was a forward step back in time. The world felt old and original, with people still getting around in ox carts, rice fields being farmed in traditional ways, and life moving by just a little more slowly. The transition into Thailand was shockingly stark. I felt the heavy influence of western materialism, and the difference between two neighboring countries was one of the stronger I felt on this trip. But along back country roads through hilly Thailand, provincial Thai farmers still pick tamarinds off their trees by hand, and invited me over to share sticky rice out of bamboo baskets. And while the heat is nearly insufferable some afternoons, the myriad tropical fruits keep me motivated to explore almost every local market to shock my taste buds and watch the happy reaction of the people when they are. Mandalay, Burma 7/2/19 - Vientiane, Laos 3/3/19

I started the New Year riding out of India across the Northeast States, a unique part of India surrounded by Nepal, Tibet, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Burma that many different tribal groups still call home. Crossing into Burma I made my way to the old city of Mandalay where I completed a 10 day Vipassana Meditation course in noble silence. The positive experience left me feeling recharged physically and emotionally, ready to explore more of Southeast Asia. Siliguri, India to Mandalay, Burma 1/1/19-7/2/19 (Warning, the video above contains content that some may find disturbing)

On the dusty roads of Northeast India

I went for my first teeth cleaning in 3.5 years before leaving India. The sounds from the cleaning tool like a rusty screwdriver scraping on glass accompanied by the screams of a little girl sitting one meter away from me contrasted considerably to the dental experience in the United States. But boy are my teeth clean now. Fun fact: while I thought my cavity was due to my excessive consumption of cane sugar here, turns out cane sugar actually has cleaning agents. Even today some Indians use cane sugar as an alternative to brushing their teeth.Outside Mandalay, Burma

Northwest BurmaBurmese Ox Cart

Burmese ox facial hairWhile change currency in a Burmese bank, two men walked in and dumped this pile of cash on the floor out of a white sack taken from a truck parked directly outside the bank entrance. The men then threw stacked piles of cash over the counter.

Food offerings to local Gods during a festival in Manipur India

Endless construction on dusty roads in Manipur India

Manipur, India

Live frogs for sale in a market in Northeast India

Indian soldier on special operations shopping duty

Throughout India I find men bathing around small pools of water at truck stops on the side of the road. I join to wash my clothes and self, or just to cool down in the afternoon heat.

Merry Belated Christmas from India

So there are Baptists in IndiaSo many random gun stores in Nagaland, India, I felt like I was back in 'MericaThis is by far the coolest motorcycle I have ever seen

HOW TO MAKE CHIPATI / ROTI IN INDIA:

India on a protest day

More chickensLive borol (hornet grubs) for sale in a market in Northeast India

Bamboo ox carts in IndiaFrom the way Indians make the most of their bikes, my loaded bike blends right inBollywood feature filmI often saw families fishing in these muddy shallow pools. The children would move their hands through the mud until they found a fish and then throw it five meters up to dry land.

Chickens

Bed nets that I used to see in Northern Africa are common here in India as well

Pig

Unable to secure a visa for Pakistan or China, I had to fly from Uzbekistan to northern India. Cycling with a Dutch couple for a week brought peanut butter and Sinterklaas into my life, which made life more enjoyable amidst the constant din of horns that comes with cycling through crazy India. After a little trekking in the Himalayas, I made my way into Nepal to enjoy the serenity and playfulness of the gentle Nepalese people. Happy New Year to everyone, may 2019 be a special one. Tashkent, Uzbekistan to Siliguri, India 19/11/18 to 31/12/18

I wish these Nepalese signs were posted in India where the horn happy culture creates a din of honking all day everyday. I think my best idea to date is becoming a horn salesman in India, a lucrative endeavor undoubtedly.Helped cut and pack mushrooms with a family on a farm one night

Royal Enfield motorcycles are everywhere in IndiaPancake breakfasts in the foothills of the Himalayas

Kareri Lake in the HimalayasThis guy wins person of the day

Stayed with Hindu monk Swami G!

Met my new favorite Dutch couple, Tim and Gynn, in Uzbekistan and in India we biked togetherWhy is there a stadium built around this stretch of road? The bizarre police marching competition/ceremony that takes place daily at the border between India and Pakistan.

Nepal

A sprint across Azerbaijan and I reached the Caspian Sea, home of most of the world's caviar? While anchored aboard a cargo ship offshore in the Caspian Sea, I enjoyed typical Russian food and taught Russians how to play the card game Bulls**t. I wasn't as strong as the wild horses, the two humped camels, nor Borat in the cold steppe country of Kazakhstan, and so I took an old Soviet platskartny train into Uzbekistan. Biking the silk road in Uzbekistan has been a pure joy, enjoying old cities along the historic trade route, and the overwhelming hospitality of Uzbeks along the way who want to give me everything I could possibly need. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Tbilisi, Georgia through Azerbaijan, cargo ship across Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan to Tashkent, Uzbekistan 17/10/18 to 19/11/18

While biking through the Blakans I helped make local plum brandy with a man on the side of the road, I survived the traffic nightmare that is biking in and out of Istanbul, and a race across Turkey has me into Asia now. I had heard good things about Georgia before arriving, and I have not been disappointed. The autumn season is in full bloom, the first I have experienced in three years, and harvest season means local men fill my hands with walnuts and freshly fallen apples as they greet me in the small farming towns I pass through.

Timisoara, Romania to Tbilisi, Georgia 10/9/18 to 17/10/19

This little guy was close to being my new travel partner, but he couldn’t quite keep upHay runners, gotta love emGrapevine/St. Nino's Cross of Georgia

Turks rival U.S. of Americans with their patriotic display of flags everywhereMosque construction, IstanbulFerry across the Bosporus StraightBulgaria

I had to amputate my girlfriend's foot

This Serbian farmer invited me for a drink of fruit brandy as I biked by his home. While we couldn’t speak one another's language very well, he understood that I wanted to help him distill his next batch. The photo here is him putting the lid over all the plums we had just poured in with old buckets. We then rolled bread dough into long strips to seal all the cracks of the still. Serbians make good use of all the fruit they grow on small farms and in their gardens, even fruit that is spoiling makes for good brandy ingredients.

Rheinfels Castle, Deutschland

Meet Johann Pollinger, an Austrian cow farmer who built this small hydroelectric plant on his land to power his farm and home. He generates more power than he needs and is credited by an Austrian electric company. I have been skeptical of hydro power plants due to stories of environmental damage, but after staying one night on Johann's farm he showed me that on a small scale hydro power plants can work well within the environment. Great work Hans! Salzburg, Austria