Having
just bought a ruin of a property in Normandy, many people might
think this not an ideal time to set forth on a round the world
trip. Well, it seems like an ideal time to us, what with
winter fast approaching, the cold wet weather of the European
winter is not an ideal time to start work on a building with no
doors and windows to speak of, and only a basic roof. So,
go somewhere warmer and come back in spring. So that's
what we're doing. The
pedantic (or should that be pedants?) amongst you will point out that some of places we will
be visiting could be just as cold as Europe. Well, that
might be so, but it's the best excuse we could come up with and
we're sticking to it. Ideally, we would have left earlier, but
we had to hang around for the French legal system to pull its
finger out and finalise the purchase of our property. We're
off to see some family and friends in North America, and because
the Oneworld Alliance around the world tickets offers 6 flight
segments in North America included in the price of the ticket,
we thought, well, why not carry on and see a few places in Asia
and end up in India again for the rest of winter. And
what about our bikes, I here you ask. We're not taking our
folding Dahon bikes with us this time, as much as we enjoyed
having them with us on our last couple of trips, they are a bit
of a problem when flying as they take up most of our luggage
allowance, and they are prone to getting damaged in the cargo
hold. Also, we have not been able to get spare parts for
them, Our local bike shop has not been able to source
parts, and even Dahon themselves have not been bothered to
answer any of our emails. On that basis, I would no longer
recommend buying a Dahon bike, you can't get them fixed! |
