Looks like the journey is over....

The end or the beginning....

I flew out of Islamabad at 3pm on Thursday 1st October, and it wasn’t a moment too soon.

An hour before check in time I was in the freight company office completing forms in triplicate, typed by a guy with only one finger... well he had ten but only used one of them. At least I can use two so in real terms would have been able to type the forms twice as fast as him. The clock was ticking; I kept one eye on it. I was clutching my ‘E Ticket’ for the Pakistan Airways flight PK701 from Islamabad to Manchester. I just wanted out of there. The airport is only two miles away but I remember well the crowd and bedlam there when we had dropped Sue off for the 3am flight what seemed so many years ago.

The deal had been done, after much waiting for returned calls that didn’t transpire, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, it was dim but nevertheless there to be seen. More disappointments, let downs... and just when I thought things were more or less sorted the talk began of the air line company wanting to describe the two motorcycles as coming under the Dangerous Goods Act. Fuel tanks emptied and batteries disconnected notwithstanding! “So that will be double the price Sir” At least someone realized I was down the river in my canoe without a paddle and the dim light started to brighten. Step in Mr Qamar at Viking International.


All I had to do now was get the two bikes down to the freight office in Islamabad some 85km away on terrible roads.

Sue had spent a horrendous night in the hospital at Abbottabad Monday 21st September. We had set off in good spirits, the bike’s were running well and we were now clearing the weeks of pollution and dust and starting to climb the foothills of the Karakorums. We had just left Hotel Alpine in Abbottabad, a good find, security for the bikes, just off the main road, a warm welcome even from the security guard with a sawn off pump action shotgun! The air was cleaner; the mountains in the distance bode well. Then the prat coming towards us decided to do a U turn and suddenly turned directly in to the path of Sue, thus ending a dream. She didn’t even have time to brake, I swerved and collided with the rear of the car and went down too. Sue had hit him full on, I feared the worse as I scrambled from under my GS which had slid under the metal work of the bridge and couldn’t be lifted. Sue was conscious, a guy trying to make her sit up, wanting to get her in to his car and to hospital. He meant well but I came close to hitting him as he pulled and tugged at her. Slowly we checked her over; the right upper arm was shattered. Just as Sue said she thought the arm was broken I saw the blood coming through her jacket. A compound fracture.... one mans moment of inattention and our dreams were shattered too.

There were dirty bloodstained bandages on the floor of the hospital, rubbish under the beds, the corners of the rooms were full of old and damp cardboard boxes, the corners of the corridors and rooms had several inches of dirt, dust and cigarette ends and rubbish. The tables were a sticky tacky quagmire and hadn’t been wiped down in centuries. The sheets were crusty with stains, red, brown and black and every colour in between. The toilets were awash with urine and excrement. Sue complained and was allowed to use the staff toilets, they were much better. So how come the difference, the doctors and nurses obviously know the importance of cleanliness so why wasn’t a good overall standard maintained throughout. In the early hours of the morning, after fighting the bed bugs and creepy crawlies, Sue has a guy at the bottom of her bed masturbating. She screams the house down but he just casually walks away. No staff came, the other three women in the small ward don’t bat an eyelid, and they pretend to remain asleep throughout. I get a telephone call at 8am. Sue is signing herself out of the hospital and coming back to Hotel Alpine where I have recovered the bikes and our gear back to.

Eventually Sue is flown home ‘business class’ via the Campbell Irvine repatriation insurance we took out ( “That’ll be a 100% loading sir because you’re on motorcycles”), and all of a sudden I’m alone in Abbottabad, northern Pakistan, 7,500 miles from home. The bikes and myself to sort!

Several days of telephone calls, waiting, promises, negatives, and then I’m ready to get the bikes down to Islamabad. The waiting... oh the waiting! The manager of the Alpine Hotel promises a pick up truck for the next morning. I had originally been trying to get a truck for both bikes, until the penny dropped and I realized I could ride my bike to Islamabad, so just a small pick up would do for Sue’s TTR250. I could follow. The truck didn’t come and so I have to start all over again. Eventually we’re on the move, the driver of the pick up has no English, can’t read the address we need in Islamabad, but we’re heading in the right direction. I have the ‘phone number for Mr. Qamar, Viking Shipping, and for once I’m surprised. I expected a small grubby office with an old pallet for a table, but it’s something like out of Dallas. He sends a guy out on to the street to look for us and guide us in. I’m given water, coffee and we discuss the finer points, while my man outside still has Sue’s bike on board. We have to take the bikes 10km to their warehouse where they’re placed under lock and key, I pay my man off with a handsome tip, he hugs me, and I’m taken to a hotel that Mr. Qamar has sorted. Special rates... top man!

The next morning I’m picked up, taken to the bikes and help organize crating etc. I disconnect the batteries and help the lad to drain the petrol from both bikes. He so wants to help so I let him use my ‘Snap On’ screwdriver to help remove the BMW screen. He’s delighted when I point to his own little 125cc Honda and now he has enough petrol for several weeks. Six cans of ‘Polo’ top notch chain spray are deemed combustible and so can’t fly with the bikes..... the lad’s is now ecstatic!

It has taken days of telephone calls for me to get to the airport, the price goes up. We get the bikes crated and in to customs, lids off, the engine and frame numbers are checked. Sealed again, then the narcotics want their little dabble. Open the crates again, further checks that are not thorough regarding drained fuel and batteries, and the Narcotics start probing and searching. Finding nothing the boss man jabs at my BMW windscreen, wrapped in bubble wrap, with a sharp pointed instrument. I go for the throat, prod him in the chest with a rigid finger and tell him in no uncertain terms what I thought of him and his parentage and to stop it. I didn’t use the same expletive twice... he stepped back out of range. I expected to be arrested but he merely told his henchmen to re pack the bikes. He’ll never know how close he came! Probably me too I guess!

Good pal Andy Marper picked me up from Manchester Airport with a pack of German bier for I’d declined a night at his... I just wanted to be home.

So Sue is at her home awaiting surgery to the arm once the dammed infection has been sorted. Meanwhile the arm swings free with a token gesture of slings and bandages to restrict movement, in an effort to stop the graunching and grinding of bone to bone. Now that wants sorting.

I’m at home waiting for the bikes to arrive.....

The end... or is it ;-))

Micky

:beerjug:
 

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:eek:

Glad to hear you're safe and well back home Micky.....what a nightmare!!

PS there's a bed and a drink here anytime if you fancy getting the wheels rolling to somewhere just for the hell of it......:thumb2

:kissy2
 
:eek:

Glad to hear you're safe and well back home Micky.....what a nightmare!!

PS there's a bed and a drink here anytime if you fancy getting the wheels rolling to somewhere just for the hell of it......:thumb2

:kissy2

Cheers Bill... will look foward to that drink with ya matie :kissy2 :thumb

Thanks Decster ... starting to come round a bit now. Already plotting and planning. Maybe when enough cash saved up we go to South America. This aint gonna keep a good team down :eek:

Managed to get the bikes out of the cargo area at Manchester yet?

Not yet John, the bikes didn't fly in on the 6th. as per the Airways Bill given to me, now told that they come in to Manchester on Saturday 10th. Initially I was worried but in all probablity the guy in Pakistan wanted sight of my money before the bikes leave. If so he should have said so, I would understand. Once home I had to transfer a couple of grand in to his mates English bank account to pay for the bikes repatriation.

Total cost to get the bikes home £3,800.00 mainly because they are deemed to come under The Dangerous Goods Act which doubles the price and quadruples the paperwork :eek:

I thought I was being personally screwed, but one of the guys we had teemed up with to ride through the border Iran in to Pakistan, was hit by a car further along the Karakorum Highway, and broke his leg. He was having the same problems with the airline as we had. Once in to India he was going to freight his bike back to New Zealand anyway. They were quoting The Dangerous Goods Act to him :eek:

:beerjug:
 
I know this will sound like a bloody stupid thing to say right now, but well done with the follow-up posts, Micky. A lot of people would have been relieved to just get home and never bothered passing on their experiences to other people.

Hopefully some good may come out of this for someone else in your predicament, simply because they'll have an idea of whats involved..

:clap
 
I know this will sound like a bloody stupid thing to say right now, but well done with the follow-up posts, Micky. A lot of people would have been relieved to just get home and never bothered passing on their experiences to other people.

Hopefully some good may come out of this for someone else in your predicament, simply because they'll have an idea of whats involved..

:clap


Thanks for those words Klanky :)

We read and know of what pitfalls await the motorcycle adventurer be we all hope it happens to the other guy, never us. The two guys we hooked up with for the last couple of days in Iran, through the border in to Pakistan and a couple of days in Pakistan before we went our different ways...

Paul and Andreas had themselves met on their adventures in Russia, and later, after leaving Sue and me, went their different ways. As I was in the departure lounge of Islamabad airport, clutching my 'E Ticket', I received a text from Andreas (F650GS Dakar) he too had been hit by a car way up the Karakorum Highway and was in Islamabad with a broken leg, hobbling round on crutches, awaiting his bike being delivered in a pick up. He now had to sort repatriation out for himself and his bike ... back to New Zealand.

Andreas had the same problems as me, except he was on crutches, he too met with dissapointment and endless waiting, broken promises and frustration. He too thought he'd be better off just banging his head against a brick wall.

I got a text from him last night, he was in the airport departure lounge and it hadn't come a moment too soon!

I'm glad, yet sorry, that I had been in the departure lounge when I first learnt of his misfortune, because I would have been duty bound to stay over in feckin Islamabad and help him sort things out :eek:

:beerjug:

Paul and Andreas headed north east from Quetta, Sue and myself south east, we each had our own armed escorts :eek:
 

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how lucky does one have to be to get through a trip of this scale without mishap...:(
i have to agree with you Decstar - the risk of accident or mishap must be enormous on a journey like this - i mean even if we disclose to our own UK insurers that our annual mileage is going to be high we automatically get hit with a sizable premium - its all very well being an intrepid explorer however the risk has to be evaluated when undertaking such journeys - thankfully micky and sue are home safe and well - it could have been hell of a lot worse
 
i have to agree with you Decstar - the risk of accident or mishap must be enormous on a journey like this - i mean even if we disclose to our own UK insurers that our annual mileage is going to be high we automatically get hit with a sizable premium - its all very well being an intrepid explorer however the risk has to be evaluated when undertaking such journeys - thankfully micky and sue are home safe and well - it could have been hell of a lot worse

Hmm, I guess you were typing this next to a half empty glass! You could quite easily get run over right outside your own front door. In fact, if statistics are to be believed, the majority of motoring accidents happen within a couple of miles of home.
You only get one life so, like Micky and Sue, you may as well get out there and live it:thumb2
As to evaluating the risk, it sounds like M&S are already planning a trip to south America as soon as Sue's arm is fixed.
Think you need to change your insurer too. I am insured for business use (I lead tours in Eastern Europe and North West Africa) up to 75,000 miles a year and my premium is £80 CHEAPER than the standard policy would have been.

Sorry for the rant hijack Micky:D When you bringing the wobbly box to the Slaughtered Lamb:beerjug::beer::beerjug::beer:
 
I totally agree with the pair of you... it's a risk we take. It's a risk we were prepared to take, no whinges over what happened, it's all part of lifes rich tapestry.

It's a risk we're prepared to take again.... :blast

We did over 19,000 miles in six months in 2005, across Siberia, Mongolia, the Gobi Desert and returned through the Stans, so we knew all the possibilities of what can go wrong.

You certainly can't get insurance for the bikes on these trips. In Iran and Pakistan we rode our bikes with none at all, knowing other road users won't be insured either :eek:

The only thing that is a must is the repatriation insurance we took out with Campbell Irvine ... we wouldn't leave home without it and it was worth every penny on this trip :thumb

:beerjug:

Edit.... just seen you pop up with your post Ian... thanks :thumb

Yup ... we're saving up for probably South America next. We've had a bellyfull of Asia for the moment :eek:

I've never had limited mileage on my insurance either... I will exceed their proposed limit in less than a month!

Hope to be away to Ireland next week for a :beer: or five, that's if we get the bikes back. Your beloved TTR is still in a crate in Islamabad, but should fly this weekend along with my 800.

Camper van at the ready, will be down your way before Christmas :beer:
Got a weekend in mind? Shall we let others know?

:beerjug:
 
Mmm, after last time in the Lamb a group of us may be hard to wrangle:D I'll have a word and see what's what. If not there is an equally good pub in the next village with lots of camping and accommodation near by and in easy walking distance for a few in the Stags:thumb2
Will be in Maroc most of November so it's either a rush job or early Dec for me:thumb

Look forward to hearing a few tales over a pint or so:beer::beerjug::beer:
 
Micky,

If you need any assistance at the Manchester airport end let me know .

I have a trailer and would happily pick up one of the bikes and store it at home for you until you could come and collect it. I'm on Paternity leave next week :thumb2
 
Micky,

If you need any assistance at the Manchester airport end let me know .

I have a trailer and would happily pick up one of the bikes and store it at home for you until you could come and collect it. I'm on Paternity leave next week :thumb2

Thanks Rushy ... that's what I like about this 'ere club for tossers :thumb

Many thanks indeed ... but sorted. Using Rainbow's van to collect, hopefully, both bikes on Monday. Youngest son (now swapped his K1200R for an 1150GS-A) giving a hand.

Paternity leave eh :clap we never got that 40 years ago :eek:

Enjoy ... and thanks again :thumb2

:beerjug:

Will be in Maroc most of November so it's either a rush job or early Dec for me Cheers Ian ... ealy to mid December suit me best. Have a good time in Morocco :thumb
 
it's a risk we take. It's a risk we were prepared to take, no whinges over what happened, it's all part of lifes rich tapestry. "quote "

compelling reading Mickey, not in a good way but in a " man will overcome way "
Best wishes to sue and yourself :beerjug:
 


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