Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - India to UK on KTM 390

Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/)

- Ride Tales (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/)

- - India to UK on KTM 390 (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/india-to-uk-ktm-390-a-88453)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rondelli (Post 548665)

Great photos, I see the Irish and Scottish weather was typically Irish & Scottish.

Gino

Cloudy and rainy weather but Surreal landscape :)

This thread has been dead for long time.It's almost 1 year when i did this ride and while i am getting some time from the busy life.I have started to blog my experience on the road.Will be sharing it in parts.I hope you guys might like it.

Cheers
Biru

Neither 90 nor 900 days are enough for a motorcyclist to scale those roads,we are always hungry for more.But what matter is the moments you lived on the road,memories you have created for lifetime,friends you have made,bars you have broken and strip clubs you have visited.I went with a simple agenda ride during the day and beer during the night.

My original plan was to go for a 6 month roadtrip from India to Australia after leaving my job.But that couldn't happen as my boss gave me an offer for 3 months leave without pay.I would be a dumb to leave that offer,were my initial thoughts and i fell for it.Only to realize later that should have gone for more days.

For most of the countries we have to obtain visa before hand,being an Indian puts you in a tight spot when you apply for tourist visa.We have a bad reputation of landing on tourist visa and not returning back at all.In my case i had to obtain a visa for Iran,Turkey,UK and Schengen.Being an Indian passport holder we cannot go via Pakistan because our governments share a love bond deeper than your imagination.The only option was to ship motorcycle to Iran and begin with the chores.In my case i shipped it from Mumbai to Bandar Abbas.695 USD for sending the bike and 850 USD for receiving it,total rip off but i was out of options.

For luggage options i chose hard luggage over soft luggage.Simple logic was to show off and feel that i am doing overland travel,i guess soft luggage doesn't portray you well as a overland rider.Add some stickers to the box and there you are - "A World Traveler".I got these iron boxes made from a local welder by copying some designs from web and mixing them for better usage on my bike.It only costed me 58 USD.But the entire set up,frame and boxes were of iron.So,it was quite heavy and during the testing..welding from some joints came off.But i still went ahead with the same option.

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Carnet De Passage is another pain in the ass,to export outside India this document is a must.Same for importing it back.Also for Iran this is mandatory for importing and exporting your bike.Getting International Driving Permit is slightly easy to obtain.

For navigation i bought a Chinese GPS which broke up with me at beginning of the trip,totally my mistake plus the product build quality.

I arrived in Tehran during Ramadan and found out that most of the food shops are closed during the day and you cannot drink water openly for the respect of the people who are fasting.Since Ramadan was almost about to end,it was festive/holiday season.So no chance of getting bike out of customs in a week or two may be.Add some bureaucracy to that and some good part of my 90 days are almost lost.I had to take help from an agent because at bandar abbas port foreigners are not allowed for custom clearance plus the language hurdle.My heart pounded heavily as i had to let go my hard earned 850 USD,just for customer clearance.

I stayed at 7 hostels during my time in Tehran and also tried to walk around a bit to do some sightseeing.Sorry for the annoying watermark,i later realized that it has destroyed the look and feel of the photos :/

Azadi Tower
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Streets Of Tehran

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Grand Bazar - Dry fruits were cheap here.Get you bags filled

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Some photos from the US embassy which is a popular tourist spot.So much love for USA :D :p

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Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini - Architecture and design was completely mind blowing around here.very different from the mosques we have in India.

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Cheers
Biru

As my bike gets released from the Bandar Abbas port,I run towards north as it was hot and humid as hell.Even for an Indian who lives through 40 degree Celsius in summers.North Iran is where most of the fun lies apart from the tourist cities Yazd,Shiraz and Esfahan which are must visit for the people who admire architecture as much as offroad trails.
While i compare everything with my country,roads and infrastructure was pretty good.People were very welcoming and free water and food was a surprise where ever i stopped.Most of the Irani people still know India by Hindustan.First stop over was in Yazd, temperature was still high but manageable to some extent.I got myself into a hotel near Jame mosque so that i can easily slip and slide to the nearby tourist places.While i couldn't stick to my original agenda of the trip as alcohol is banned in Iran,i found some people who tried to offer me dried morphine and weed.Wrong place and wrong time,could be a trap and i had to let it go.

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A family i met on the way invited me to their place for evening stay and dinner,but unfortunately i was heading on different direction.Got a photo with the kids as a souvenir.
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I took couple of days in Yazd to feast on falafal and tandoori delicacies.Also the popular sweet dishes of Yazd and basil seed drinks.

Amir Chakhmaq Complex

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Yazdi Sweet Dish
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Jame Mosque

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Alexander's prison was not worth the entry fees. I won't recommend going there.Instead walk around the Old yazd town.it is much more beautiful,totally made out of mud.

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Clock Tower
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Cheers
Biru

Looks like an amazing journey!
Your pictures are brilliant.
Thank you for sharing.
Very inspirational!

always good to see people traveling :) and on a small 390 is even better . awesome photos too :) :thumbup1:

amazing trip, I wasnt able to see all of the photos but the ones are saw look stunning:scooter:

did the bike suffer any issues ?