Mark Dalton

January 2014: 
As we reach the year of departure, time is marching on! 


So this is an update after a rethink of the calendar.. Mostly after speaking to folks who have recently travelled across Kazakhstan. I realised I was probably allowing far too much time to travel that part of the journey.


I sat down with a calendar and worked my way back from my Christmas deadline in Melbourne to try to work out some more settled dates and came up with the following... Not sure how realistic it is and I have to accept that delays will happen or I might make up time in some areas that I don't expect, So this is a bit of finger in the air guess work. Bear with me ! Its how I live my life! 

... 
Setting off last weekend in April... Saturday 26th April

Heading for Holland and cross into Germany by Monday 28th.. 
Travel through Germany that week into Austria and head for the Stelvio pass by the weekend 4th May - Entering Italy on the Monday. 

I then will spend approx 3 weeks travelling through Italy to arrive at Brindisi on the south east coast for the weekend 31st May and cross to Greece. 

I intend to spend 2 weeks exploring Greece before entering Turkey around 21st June. 

I reckon a week along the black sea coast will see me into Georgia by the 25thd and Russia by the following week. 

2 weeks to travel up to Volgograd and down to the Kazakhstan border by the 19th July. (hot!)

A weeks to 10 days to get to Taraz on the Kyrgyzstan border by the 28th July 
That leaves me 5 days to cross Kyrgyzstan to get to the China border will make it the 1st August. 

now here's a tough one - I'm told 5 days to get to  Kashgar and across the Karakorum Highway would make it the 6th August to get to Pakistan.

2 weeks to get to Nepal and into Kathmandu - aiming to airfreight to Bangkok by the weekend of the 27th August to travel on be in Ho Chi Minh to meet my brother a week to 10 days later around the 6th September.

Weekend of the 15th September depart Ho Chi Minh and travel back through Cambodia and Thailand to reach Malaysia by the end of October - Taking in the Sepang Motogp rounnd, to aim to ship to Australia by the beginning of December giving me 3 weeks to travel the great ocean road to Melbourne by Christmas 

Pyrenees KLR650 2001