Relaxing in Udon

Another day of relaxing in Udon before we leave for Laos on Thursday.

This morning we took David's bike to Mr Moto to get the gearbox looked at as he was stuck in 4th gear yesterday and refused to shift down. Turns out it was a bent gear selector which Mr Moto ordered and fitted today.

After both bikes had an oil change and David's bike got it's new gear selector, they seemed to be good to go and again running well. 

Later we ran onto a friend in Udon we met last year and decided to catch up for dinner before we left Udon. Good to see you again Captain.

I have to say right now I'm in relaxation mode so not looking forward to the thousands of kms ahead in the coming weeks. Who am I kidding we can't wait but definitely enjoying the unwinding and pampering before we go.

After some riding around we noticed a funny sound from Chris's bike which after some inspecting turned out to be a slightly loose chain. Back to Mr Moto to get that adjusted. When we arrived back at Mr Moto shop we also noticed some oil leaking from the front forks on Chris's bike. Amarin inspected the seals and determined they needed replacing. We agreed due to the late hour to return tomorrow to have the seals replaced. Fingers crossed that will be the last issue with the bikes :-)

We headed to dinner at Sizzler and after a long day, decided to stagger through the night markets to let our food go down before returning to the Hotel and passing out for the night.

All in all a good day and looking forward to getting the seal's fixed tomorrow.

Getting Settled in Udon Thani

Today we awoke to a lovely day in Udon Thani, Still getting used to the time difference so pretty hard to get a sleep in (Body clock keeps waking up at 5 am local time). That said we certainly made use of the day and the early start.

After going for a ride on our trusty steed's to our favorite laundry lady in Udon to drop off the smelly travel clothes we headed to Central Plaza (Big Shopping Center) for a spot browsing and to get help loading our mobiles / modem with plenty of data for the time in Thailand.

At 10 am Chris headed off to the local dentist to get a much needed filling. Whilst the quote from a dentist back home was approx 440 AUD for the work, ended up paying the lovely Udon dentist 40 AUD for the same work! Bargain!

After the drilling and filling and with half a numb mouth we headed over to see our good friend Amarin to say hello and get some adjustments made to the bikes. After some tinkering we were good to go, or so we thought :)

After returning to the hotel we headed for the spa centre and spent some time relaxing in the Sauna / Spa's. Feeling very refreshed we headed back to the room for some well deserved bludging, tis a hard life. :)

After a spot of KFC for lunch (Chilli Cheese Chicken which nearly blew our heads off) we began slipping into a coma (As you do after eating KFC) and again decided to head back to the hotel to chill out.

Later in the day we went browsing the shops and generally just enjoying being back in Thailand. With stomach's grumbling, later we headed to the T Bar Restaurant which was highly rated on Trip advisor. On the way there on the highway David changed his bike into Sixth gear and found he could not shift back down (Stuck in 6th gear which isn't great at traffic lights). The reviews for the T Bar were great and  certainly weren't wrong, the food was awesome and the service and atmosphere just as good. After another head exploding chilli thai sensatiom.

On the way back to the hotel we found David could get into 4th gear but now lower. All you need in Thai/Laos traffic. The problem seemed to stem from when David crashed the bike a few years ago and whilst it mostly lasted last years fix, turns our it has now givven up and just doesn't want to change gears. (Can't get lower than 4th gear).

Tomorrow we will be dropping David's bike back to Mr Moto to pull the gearbox apart and replace whatever is required to get it back running normally. Hopefully we can make this happen before we leave for Laos on thursday, thankfully we are very confident in Amarin's abilities and should have no issues. David then headed to bed whilst Chris decided to go out for a late night ride through Udon. (Trying to stay up late to allow me to sleep in and wakeup at a normal hour.

Thanks for tuning in and for the support from all, we really appreciate it and so you know we are having an absolute blast so far! Keep the good times coming!

Arrived in Udon Thani

Good evening all,

After two days of travelling and a few hiccups, we have arrived in Udon Thani. 

Our good friend Amarin (Mr Moto) had our bikes setup and waiting at the VIP Parking at our Hotel and they look great! Thank again Amarin, you are a legend!

We have 4 nights in Udon Thani before we head to the Laos border on Thursday. It is so good to be back in Udon again, really do love this place it's like a second home to us and a fantastic starting point for our adventures.

Tomorrow Chris is off to the Dentist to get a filling done as it is so much cheaper here for any dentist work, seemed silly to get it done before we left Australia.

Good night all and let the good times roll!

Here we go! :)

Only 9.5 hrs till take off and in true Aussie style, just finished packing and finally ready to go!

Just a quick recap with our fundraising, so far we have raised Approx $1225 AUD, below is a breakdown of where these funds came from:

Indiegogo Online Campaigns: 540 AUD (Still running with 4 days to go!)
Downer Golf Clubs Auction: 55 AUD
David and myself painting the pillars in our office: 380 AUD
Cash donations from family and friends: 250 AUD

So far, we have used the money raised as below:

• Books secured so far - 240 AUD (Only a small amount of stock left in vientiane so we are looking to purchase more books in Luang Prabang on our way)
• Uniforms for the Ban Oh school children - 370 AUD

This leaves approx $615 AUD left to spend. At least 100 of this will likely be spent on more books in Luang Prabang to compliment our already purchased books (Momosign books which are currently not available in Vientiane - Fingers crossed!).

The funds left over after this purchase will be put aside for the next step of connecting the Ban Oh village school to the Water and Electricity from the village (Approx 1km from the school). Whilst we won't be able to be there to see this happen, we will be working very closely with Mr Vongsamay to facilitate and fund the cost of materials required to make these vital connections. So excited to see this come to fruition very soon!

There is still time to contribute to this years event, feel free to visit our campaign by clicking the Donate link at the top right of our blog page, CLOSES IN 4 DAYS!

You can also see where we are on our journey in realtime with our GPS Tracker, see the link at the top right of our blog page.

Thank you again everyone for your immense support and well wishes for our adventure, we are truly blessed to have so many good friends that are willing to share in this experience with us.

Oh well, best be off to bed to get some ZZZZZ's before our early start to the Gold Coast Airport tomorrow morning.

Best Regards, Christopher & David

Only a week to go!

WOW, how quickly the last few months have passed. Here's hoping our month away passes somewhat slower.

We leave the beautiful Gold Coast next Saturday 24th Oct bright and early and fly to Udon Thani Thailand, the starting point for our adventure.

Our good friend Mr Moto (Amarin) has our bikes prepared and ready to roll! New Tyres and heavy duty tubes and we should be right.

Only a few weeks left on our latest fundraising campaign, feel free to check this out here of you can use the link on the top right of our Blog Page. Thanks to your support, we have raised enough money to purchase the uniforms and books for this years event. We had learnt that the school we are visiting doesn't have electricity or running water as the building is located approx. 1km from the village and they have not had the money or resources to make this connection happen. Well that's going to be changing very soon!

Any more funds we can raise will be used to help make this connection, meaning the kid's will be able to have electricity and running water to the village school in the near future. Imagine your child going to a school with no electricity and running water (For drinking and sanitation), something we take for granted in the first world.

Thank you to everyone for helping to make this happen each and every year, we are humbled by your support and dedication to this cause which we are so passionate about, without you, none of this would be possible!

We look forward to sharing this trip with you via our blog, with pictures and stories of our experience throughout this amazing journey. This year we will also have a GPS Tracker so you can see where we are live and watch our progress on the map in real time. Below is the link to this site (Note: It will not show a location until Saturday 24th onwards). There will be a fixed link at the top right of our blog page so feel free to follow us and leave us messages on our journey.

Track us live on GPS!

Kindest Regards, Chris Jilley & David Burrows

2012 Blog Posts Uploaded!

Hey Folks,

We have uploaded our blog from our first solo (Non Guided) tour back in November 2012. This was the longest trip we have ever done and was a real doosy! Check it out, some really cool pics and incidents along the way :D

Will upload a summary and photos from our first Guided Tour in 2009 in the next week to share with you all.

Don't forget, last chance to donate to this years events in the village Ban Oh. Check out the last blog post for details on how to donate. Feel free to share with others and follow us on our adventure beginning 24th October (Under 3 weeks now!)

Last Chance to make a donation to this years events!

Sabaidee!

Only 2.5weeks until we fly, so excited!!!

We have secured the uniforms as well as arranged the books for the party with extra's to give out throughout southern Laos.

The village school we are visiting this year in "Ban Oh" is located about 1km from the village and they have not been able to run plumbing (Water) and Electricity to the school building from the village as yet.

Any extra money we raise for this trip will go towards purchasing cabling and works to help complete this connection meaning the children can have water to drink at the school as well as being able to use a toilet and have lighting/audio etc in the school building. Something we take for granted for our children in the western world.

You can help to make this possible by simply sharing this cause or making a donation at the link below. Donations close Oct 26th 2015. (Book Party currently planned to be held on the 10 - 12th November).

Click Here to Make a Donation!

Whether or not you donate, we would like to invite you to follow us on our journey this year to share in the amazing experience we know we about to embark on.

Stay tuned for more updates and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me directly at illyjay@gmail.com.

Finally, a special thanks to some of our amazing friends without whom none of this would be as easily possible.

• Mr & Mrs Malibayphit as well as their amazing daughters, Angela, Luna and Nana Malibayphit of the Sainamhai Resort in the Khammoune Province of Laos - This family has been helping their communities for many years prior to us meeting, since meeting they have spent a great deal of their own time and resources helping us to help so many children in southern Laos on their learning adventure, giving hope and promise to so many.
• Mr Martin Momoda the creator of Momobooks who has invested much time in creating and publishing these amazing resources as well as the Momosign learning program which has helped thousands. Great work Martin, we are truly blessed to know you.

And of course, all of you taking the time to read this blog and share in our adventure, we appreciate you all more than words can express!

Let's make this year's events fantastic. Happiness never decreases by being shared!

Kind Regards, Chris Jilley & David Burrows