Days 8 & 9 - Mission Accomplished & an Unexpected "twist"

Friends, all good things must come to an end and so on Friday Sept 30, we started our journey back to London via Reims France. We started off at schedule at 8 am and as we rode down the last mountain curves I couldn't help but appreciate the beauty of the mountain made by God but the brilliance of the powerful machine made by man. Thank you BMW. You are the best.

We had a big day ahead of us riding from Andermatt to Reims (almost 570 km). Thankfully the weather was perfect and by lunch we had done almost 60% of the distance. At lunch we met an old French couple who tried talking to me first in French and the German but after I told him I only speak English and Portugese he became very excited and wished us well. The weather turned very hot after lunch and I started getting really sore and my legs started cramping a bit but we kept going. Then Vishal had a crazy ass idea. That, to make it all the way to London. I told him he was insane. That would be another 400 km and 5 hours of riding. Thankful he came to his senses. On one of our breaks a car pulled up very close to us and a shady looking Algerian guy came out stood next to us and started rolling a joint. Soon other cars started pulling up and I realized he was selling drugs at this gas station.

I quickly told Vishal to put on his helmet and move away before we got busted with them. Finally got to Reims around 6 pm and made our way to the town center. Reims is a college town and it's big attraction is the magnificent cathedral.

But vastly under rated is the number of beautiful women walking around! It is must vist for any boys trip. Unfortunately we only had a few hours and were too tired and headed back to our hotel for a good sleep.

The last day back was uneventful except we encountered crazy fog on the motorway just outside Reims which made riding a little challenging and it was quite chilly as well. Anyway soon it warmed up and we made our way to Calais where we were able to board an earlier train. This time the UK immigration did check our passports. From Folkstone UK to the bike store was around 2 hours riding but as it turned out the temperature on this day was the hottest ever recorded for London. I was about to pass out from the heat in my full motorcycle gear but I finally made it to the bike store in time to return the bike. Strangely enough I became quite attached to it in the one week I had it. Audrey had arranged a car for me to pick me up at the bike store and I was happy to make it back. End of Official bike trip but the story is not over yet!

Audrey and I planned to go for dinner at a nearby pub. We walked through the park close to her flat and as we came to the exit we realized it was already locked. There was a 5 foot metal fence and we decided instead of walking all the way back we would just climb over it. I went first and got on top of it. As I made my jump my jeans got stuck in the railing and I landed hard on my heel. I can't describe the pain I felt and had to immediately sit down. I knew instantly that something was wrong. Audrey called a taxi and we made our way to the local hospital. The ER was scary, a guy with bleeding from his head waiting to see a doctor, another guy doubled over in agony. I was sure I will never see anyone for a few hours but as I called my friends they all told me this is how healthcare works in UK so just wait it out. I finally saw a Dr who took some x rays and gave me the good news (sort of) that I didnt have any broken bones but just soft tissue damage which was going to hurt a lot and I would need crutches but it will heal on it's own. So I went 3000 km to the alps and didnt even get a scratch and within hours of being back injured my foot seriously. Lesson learned stay away from walking!

This is the end of this trip but the bug has been planted and next year itenirary includes Chile and Argentina!!!

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Day 7- a crazy mountain pass and the "old" road

Our last day in Andermatt was the best. We did a wide variety of roads and went deep into the Italian speaking part of Switzerland. We were planning on doing this trip anyway but this was reinforced by a German mechanic and his daughter staying at our hotel. Our plan was to visit Oberalp, Lukmanier and St.Gotthard. The German told us to make sure we went up the old road onto St. Gotthard. The town before St.Gotthard didn't look like it was part of Switzerland. The signs were all in Italian and the architecture was well. So it was only appropriate that we had Italian for Lunch. We ended up at St.Gotthard but on the new road which was like a highway. Vishal was very disappointed so we decided we were going to go down the old road and come up again. What a great decision. The road is 700 years old and made of stones with very sharp turns which means we had to go very slow but what an amazing time. We loved it and it was a great end to our last day in Andermatt.

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Day 5 - Three amazing mountain passes

Woke up at 8 and went for breakfast. We were finally going to do what I came all the way from Brazil to do. Our itenirary included three famous mountain passes Furka, Grimsel and Susten. At 2431 meters Furka is one of the highest roads in the alps. As you go up, you face many hairpin turns and amazing curves. Your heart beats fast in anticipation and your mind works over time to plan for the turn. I can continue writing about it but you can get the scenery so much better from the pictures. We had planned to finish the day riding only a couple of hundred miles but the roads were so amazing and the experience so unique we rode all the way till 6 pm! Went out to dinner at The Sporthotel Sonne and had some amazing soup and a great pepper steak before calling it a night.

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Day 4 - Nancy, France to Andermatt, Switzerland (350 Km)

Link to PicsWoke up Monday morning and had breakfast in the hotel. Mapped out our final route using the IPad and we were finally on our way to the Swiss Alps. I think after one full day of riding behind us we both were feeling much more comfortable. We had decided to cut across a massive natural reserve in lieu of taking a highway around it and it was totally worth it. There were massive forests and nice windy roads going through the reserve. Had lunch in a very small restaurant in Switzerland where everyone looked at us like we were aliens. I had to speak Portugese to be able to order my food. Here we are outside the restaurant.

 Right after we got through the reseve we were almost in Switzerland. There was once again no immigration or border control and we crossed through Basel. Vishal managed to take the wrong exit even with the Gps but we finally met up after I pulled over and waited for him. Here he is finally showing up.

 It was bloody hot that day. We rode the nice Swiss highways all the way to the alps and around 6 pm we were finally In Andermatt. So a journey that began in Sao Paulo Brazil and literally involved planes, trains, automobiles and motorcycles ended in the Swiss Alps. Our hotel was known to be biker friendly and the owner welcomed us and put our bikes inside the garage. Here is the outside of our hotel.

 Thankfully he also spoke English. The only weird part was that my room number was 13 but who cares ...I am in the Alps ! After a nice steak for dinner I finally went to bed ready to hit the curves the next morning.

A note on Andermatt. Draw a straight line across the alps from Milan Italy to Zurich Switzerland. Right in the middle of the line in the very middle of the alps is Andermatt Switzerland. For centuries Andermatt was the crossroads of the alps. Italy to the South, France to the west, Germany to the north and Austria to the east. Andermatt, according to one author is for Alpinists and motorcyclists. Where the crowds dont go but motorcycles do.

Day 3 - Calais France to Nancy France (534 km)

Woke up at 8 and after a quick breakfast at the hotel we took off for Nancy. Here are we outside the hotel before we headed out.

The French highways were nice and clean but the French Bugs were big and disgusting. I had to clean my helmet after every stop we made. Check it out below.

The side winds in the beginning part of our trip was very strong and both me and Vishal were suffering majorly. We decided to slow down our speed to 110-120 km versus the over 130 km we were doing initially and it made a huge difference. The trip was quite eventful other than the heat which was intense. We got Nancy to around 530 pm and headed to our hotel. As I was taking a much needed shower I managed to get water in my right ear and then suffered the rest of the night with a swimmers ear. We headed to the center to get dinner on foot. Nancy is a decent sized town and there were a lot of choices for restaurants. I sat down at a pizzeria when Vishal excitedly told me that there was a Pakistani restaurant here. We made our way there and guess what there indeed was a Pakistani restaurant only that it was called Le Gandhi!! Anyway, I got over my hurt patriotic feelings and ordered dinner to the owner in a shalwar kameez who spoke to us in Urdu.

The food was fantastic and it was the highlight of of somewhat long and tiring day. Finished the night dreaming of the alps.

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