tim morch

On the morning of Dec. 7, 2017, we set out from Chennai, India, aboard a pair of KTM Duke 250 motorcycles,for 28 days and over 2600 km.

Massive banyan trees dot the highway making for superbly shaded stops and random encounters. From the truck drivers carrying produce to market to the travelling salesman aboard a bicycle, roadside meetings are relaxed and wonderful. The crush of urban India recedes into a quiet, slow-paced rhythm.

A sign indicated it was the first of 22 hairpin turns that lay ahead, our first experience with a numbered switchback highway.

Hogenakkal Falls is popular with Indian tourists who come to bathe in the pools, view the cascade, take selfies and buy tacky souvenirs.

We stumbled on the Sooksavan Cafe. Dating to 1966, the rustic French colonial building now sports WiFi and cappucino amid the nostaglia.

On the road from Villabouly to Xe Pon, we dodged potholes big enough to swallow a truck, finally turning onto a good highway to Muang...

After a smooth ride to Nong Chan, near the Vietnam border, we turned south to get lost. Just outside town, Astried had her first flat...

On Nov 14, 2016, we started a 2,100km mostly off-road motorcycle adventure in southern Laos in search of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. What a ride!