India

The majority of the road surfaces in India are fine.   You must be prepared to deal with severe potholes sometimes but this is not the norm.  Indian roadusers do not have the training or the temperament of their Western counterparts but this doesn't mean that their way is completely wrong.  Give way to anything larger than yourself, slow down for all junctions; there is no such thing as 'right of way' and enjoy the absence of all the little rules that govern us in the West.

Letting the bike cool down. Somewhere in India.

Pakistan

Our plan to miss the monsoondidn't work.  The rains came early and our waterproofs simply weren't.  We got very wet for a couple of days but kept moving and by the third day we had good, moderate and DRY riding weather.   The road surfaces were fine, as in India, but there was a noticable lack of bridges over rivers in the West of the country.  This wasn't as bad as it sounds as there was a lack of water in the rivers, too, and we had fun testing the Enfield's off-road potential as we rode across dry riverbeds.

Iranian drivers have no notion of fuel conservation and so drive very fast. Traffic, however, is very light between towns and we had no problems on the open road. In Tehran, however, there is extreme congestion and we were treated to a personal biking first. Gridlocked in traffic a car gently (but deliberately) nudged us out of the way by connecting with our luggage! Never had a driver taken such a liberty with us before.

The political situation was difficult for us in Iran. The EU had recently criticised the Iranian government and induced harsh words from both sides. With this at the forefront of our minds, we put the bike onto a train and covered the distance from Kerman to Tehran overnight, shortening our stay in the country considerably. This was done with prudence but also with reluctance as every person we had contact with in Iran, including the police and the military, were polite couteous and helpful. We were genuinely moved by our experience of the Iranian people.

Turkey

Our plan to miss the cold weather did not work. We rode through much of Turkey with 2m of snow at the side of the road. Very difficult conditions indeed.

The road surfaces are in good condition. Cars are imported and fast enough to be a real danger. Turkish mentality does not lend itself to safe driving and we had more near misses here than in any other country we rode through. We also witnessed a number of accidents, one of which was fatal. Other experienced riders have had problems in Turkey so be very careful indeed.

Europe

Home sweet home. Fast roads and drivers that follow rules. Except in Belgium.

Robber's Road, Baluchistan Desert, Pakistan.

Iran

The weather was cold as we crossed the seemingly endless desert. The wind was strong and, again, our Indian bought riding gear was just not up to the job of keeping us warm. Sand storms were a problem too. Large black clouds on the horizon approached and became abrasive fog that hurt exposed skin enough to make us cry-out as we rode. During sand storms cross-winds were so strong that we be travelling straight ahead but with the bike leant right over to one side as though cornering on a race track. Sand storms only lasted 10-15 minutes and should be considered part of the experience of riding home. There is still sand in the bike's important little places.

Road surfaces are excellent in Iran; presumably a result of having oil in abundance. Fuel prices will warm the hearts of all that ride there. It's difficult to define the price per litre as fuel delivery is not metered for small amounts. We paid something in the order of 10p to fill our 10litre tank! Availability of fuel is actually very bad and you must never pass a fuel station without filling up. You will only find fuel stations in main towns. It's a very good idea to carry extra if you can, we carried 11/2litres. We met long uphill stretches and severe headwinds that shot a hole right through our fuel efficiency and left us empty at the side of the road in the middle of Iran .