Page 8 of 45

Tortillas to Totems

October 31, 2011 / Matthew Cashmore

Tortillas to Totems by Sam Minicom

I’ve been reading Sam’s books for quite a few years now. First there was Into Africa – a journey through the heart of, you guessed it, Africa, by a man who had only just figured out what a motorbike was for (travel of course). Next up was Under Asian Skies which took us right across Asia with Sam and the people he met along the way. The next book out of the already quite impressive stable was Distant Suns which was based on the diaries of Sam’s partner and travel buddy Birgit Schuenemann. Finally we have his latest book – Tortillas to Totems– and what a corker it is.

As regular readers of this blog will know, I don’t often write book reviews. Not because I don’t devour every single adventure motorcycle book out there – but because for the most part… um… they’re not very good. I’ve made some exceptions to that rule – first with Lois Pryce and her book – Red Tape and White Knuckles and eventually I will for Paddy Tyson and his books – but the stand-out daddy of them all is Sam Manicom.

Tortillas to Totems is easily Sam’s best book so far. The writing style is engaging and steady – that horribly addictive style that leaves you realising you’ve been reading for 10 hours straight and just can’t put the book down. The stories he tells don’t just transport you there – they encourage you to get on your bike and ride. For me – that’s the best thing a travel book can do. If you only want to read one of Sam’s books – start with this one, then head back to Into Africa and read the rest – just be prepared to leave a few days clear before you start!

You can buy Sam’s book over at amazon.co.uk (where you can also find his books in kindle format) and also learn more about Sam and his adventures over at his website.

2012 will see me heading out to the Black Sea.

October 5, 2011 / Matthew Cashmore

I’ve been playing with where I should go next… google maps you know. Anyway Top Gear did a run out to Albania earlier this year and that got me to thinking… Italy, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia all sort of form a nice circle from the Adriatic to the Black Sea and back. Which is nice.

Take a look at the map below and let me have your thoughts on the route. No real planning in there so far – just the roads that google maps tracked as I drew the lines. The idea is to get the bike run out to Trieste in North Italy and then run the circle over two weeks. The red line into Bosnia and Herzegovina is only there if I have time on the way back.

View Albania 2012 in a larger map

Dreaded time of year…

September 1, 2011 / Matthew Cashmore

…. the time has come to renew the bike insurance. Hate it. Once again I’ve spent hours going through quotes and trying to figure out which policy is best – I think the thing that winds me up the most (other than making a bunch of phone calls and filling out blasted web forms) is figuring out which policy has which benefits. Does it have breakdown cover? Will it actually cover my bike for everything I need? and on and on and on…..

The reason I’m writing this post is because I’ve found a new insurance company and they’re actually pretty good – I’d even go as far as to say they rock. MCE Insurance seem to cover pretty much everything (even quad insurance should I decide I need a quad…. well I need a quad it’s more a case of persuading Mrs Cashmore I need a quad) – the breakdown cover is supplied by RAC and the online forms (for once) were easy and quick to fill out. Right, enough gushing, I just thought I’d point them out and you can take things from here.

Budapest – The City

July 27, 2011 / Matthew Cashmore

Austria - I had about an hour of dry roads - then rain all day.

Replacement sleeping mat and sleeping bag + covers

Budapest, a set on Flickr.

It’s been a blast getting this far – I’m holed up in a hotel for the day whilst a tummy irritation sorts itself out so I’ve taken the opportunity to get all the photos of the journey so far together – here they all are!

Wet, so very very wet.

July 24, 2011 / Matthew Cashmore

I’ve given up and booked into a hotel this evening. I’ve done this for two reasons. The first is that I forgot my sleeping bag and mat – yeap not just my docs. I managed to swing by Decathlon in France on the way into Germany and bought a €20 bag and a €10 sleeping mat – I can confirm the mat feels like it cost less than €10 to make – every slightly bony part of my body hurts today. Fortunately I don’t have many bony bits.

However, that wouldn’t be reason enough to wimp out of camping this evening on its own – the second reason is that I have been rained on all day. It’s managed to work its way through two layers of waterproof gear, through my top and soaked my thermals right through to the skin. Theres nothing worse than camping in the rain when you’re already soaked through. I’ve found a nice little hotel for €50 just this side of the Hungry border – about 400km west of Budapest.

The run out of France was dull. Belgium was dull, Germany was dull up to about 200km west of Austria. Austria is stunning – what I could see of it through the rain and clouds. It’s fair to say any seven day adventure has to blast through northern France, Belgium and a lot of Germany before it starts getting fun and interesting. But boy was it worth it. Despite the horrid horrid weather I’m still smiling and can’t wait to get out into Hungry tomorrow.

Oh, whilst I remember, Siemens know how to have a work party – hire out an entire camp site, issue everyone with camp fire song books and sit around a very large fire singing into the small hours. I can’t imagine many British companies managing to pull that off without 25% of people off in the bushes doing things with another 25% of people and the rest totally bladdered.

Before I go – a quick photo for Stace

You always forget something

July 23, 2011 / Matthew Cashmore

It’s 7am here in Calais. I’ve woken to a feeling that I’ve forgotten something. A quick check of my camping gear reveals it…. I’ve left my sleeping bag and sleeping mat on the spare bed back at home. I’ve also left my V5 and insurance docs.

This is becoming horribly predictable on my little jaunts. Morocco I forgot a set of poles for the tent, Russia I managed to leave my thermals and now I’ve managed to drag all my camping and cooking gear out of the UK only to leave the most vital components.

The plan now is to drop into a cheap camping shop this side of Germany and see if I can grab a cheap mat and bag for less than €100 – which I estimate is what I’d spend on two nights in ETAP or F1 hotels on the way to Budapest where I’m crossing fingers Catherine can bring out my gear.

Oh, and the weather is really crap this morning. Okay, okay I admit it – I’m having quite a lot of fun 🙂 The run out here was great – Stace would be proud of my 120 miles in one sitting, almost tank to tank 😉 I had a whole carriage to myself on the train and the weather here was stunning when I arrived last night. As I type this I can see the clouds have broken up and a quick google maps search has located a Decathalon just off my route to Germany. Germany here I come.

Budapest, a set on Flickr.

Budapest Itinerary

July 19, 2011 / Matthew Cashmore

The plan for the run out to Budapest started as a straight forward dash out and back. But after asking for advice on the Horizons Unlimited forum for places that were somewhere along my route and that I simply couldn’t miss the Stelvio Pass was pointed out to me – how could I possible go so near the pass and not take a run at it? So here’s the final plan – the itinerary that I shall not ignore, that I shall follow to the letter.

I leave Friday 22nd at lunch time for the train over to Calais. Wish me luck. If you spot somewhere I should be going – please let me know – I’d hate to miss something spectacular because I knew nothing about it.

View Budapest July 2011 in a larger map

[TABLE=2]

Horizons Unlimited Tyre Changing DVD – Review

July 8, 2011 / Matthew Cashmore

I don’t know about you but the very idea of dealing with a puncture when I’m on the road fills me with dread. When I was running tubeless tyres it wasn’t quite so bad – plug the hole – pump with CO2 cartridges and get to a garage. But now I have tubes…. well I’ve been petrified of how I’ll deal with a flat.

Before I rode out to Russia I took a six month City and Guilds motorcycle maintenance course here in London. We spent two hours dealing with tyres and tubes – on beautiful clean, new bikes – what a breeze! The tyres had been on and off the rims so many times you hardly had to use the leavers.

Fortunately at the Horizons Unlimited meet up in Derby earlier this year I was lucky enough to see Grant Johnson run a tyre changing demo… I was blown away (see what I did there) by the aspects that I simply didn’t know and actually, once you have the know-how, how easy it can be… why on earth was I ever worried?

The good news is that Horizons have produced a DVD which is basically Grant doing his demo – in detail and with notes. I can’t recommend it enough – if you’re frightened of dealing with a flat, or even if you just want to brush up on your skills before hitting the road, this DVD is for you.

It’s available to buy from the Horizons Unlimited Store (you need to scroll down some to find it) for $24.99 US or from people like Traveldri-plus here in the UK (I’m afraid I couldn’t find a direct link so just give Les a call).

Here’s the trailer:

Bacon Curry (bacon optional)

June 29, 2011 / Matthew Cashmore

Curry – a basic in most of the world and Britain’s most popular dish – but you can enjoy a great curry on the road without resorting to take-out. Using the most basic of ingredients – tomatoes, celery, bacon (yes bacon), onions & garlic you can create a meal that will leave you full and happy.

Ingredients (4/6 people)

1lb Bacon
2 Large Onions (roughly chopped)
4 Large Tomatoes (chopped)
2 sticks of Celery (chopped)
Olive Oil (generous amount)
6 Tsp Cumin Seeds
2 Tsp Chilli Powder (depending on taste)
4 cups Rice (3x cups of water to rice)
Courgette (sliced)
6 pieces of Garlic
2 Tbsp Tomato Puree
2 vegetable stock cubes

Method

Get your rice going and ‘almost’ cooked – take off the stove and leave covered to keep warm. Pour in your olive oil (a good amount) and then on a high heat soften your chopped onions and garlic. Once good and soft (but not brown) add your tomato puree, vegitable stock cubes, cumin and chili powder – this produces a very dry mix with the onions – but don’t worry it’s exactly as you want it. Give it a good mix and let the onions soften a little more. Turn the heat down a little.

Now drop in your chopped tomatoes, celery, and courgette – mix well and turn the heat right down. Cover and let simmer with occasional stirring for around 15 mins if you’re not adding the bacon.

If you are adding bacon – chop your bacon into thin strips and add to the curry – if you’re using other pieces of meat (like chicken or beef) make sure you brown this off in the pot before you start – with bacon you don’t need to do this as it will cook quite happily in the curry from raw. Cover and occasional stir for around 15 mins.

Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting 2011

June 27, 2011 / Matthew Cashmore

Stopped in Melton Mowbray for a pork pie and coffee

Iain Harper, in his natural environment.

Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting 2011, a set on Flickr.

Wow, just absolutely wow. This was my first Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting – it’s like getting your travel batteries recharged and ready for the road again.

As amazing as you think your trips have been there are people who have done something more amazing and are happy to sit at the bar and tell you their tall tales of daring do and adventure.

Sitting and listening to inspiring stories, or instructional presentations on how to sort a badly mangled tyre or sort your carnet out…. invaluable. I hope next year to run a presentation on why it’s your responsibility to share you travel stories as well as a cooking demo with Danny Taylor of roadkill cookout fame.

I did manage to get one cooking video shot (bacon curry) and will get that edited and up here in the next couple of days.

Can’t wait for the next one.

Fr. Matthew Cashmore