Fjällbonäs-FarAwayistan:
070608
In your eye
When we wanted to leave Tiblis, Team Farmer-Lips did it all –
two U-turns in 10kms. The picture shows our route through the city,
which is divided by a river and there is only one bridge.
Lukas has suffered a sty in his eye and it has gotten worse every
day. This morning he finally saw a doctor after it had burst and started
bleeding. I see this as a good sign because the bleeding makes the
swelling go down. The bleeding was a good reason to sideline him for
the day, to speak in ice-hockey terms. The referee verdict was penalty
for bleeding. Two days.
Getting into Azerbaijan was easy, with very friendly customs officers,
even though they weren’t on friendly terms with their working
tool, the pen. When I train people I talk about the importance of
using your own body weight and the the weight of the bike for your
own purposes. Using the bike’s weight makes it easier to ride.
The chief of the operation, with four important stars on his shoulders,
was first wrestling my vehicle papers, turning them around and then
passing them on to his assistant, but even he failed. Then I showed
him the carnet and he was overjoyed. Immediately he took it back to
his superior to have him fix it, but he flatly refused so he was back
to go. It turned out he didn’t have a clue what to do. So there
was a third version, on paper, meaning much writing and time wasted.
He used his pen the same way a complete newcomer would go for a race
or like a blind commentating an ice-hockey game. Five hours saw the
completion of the documents…
Azerbaijan is a country where people live in simple conditions and
the main source of income is farming. Transport systems used by entreprenuers
in this sector are sometimes adventurous contraptions.
In places the landscape where cattle is grazing is beautiful.
People live close to each other and along the roads we see them drinking
beer and playing backgammon.
Images:
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High
Performance Riding
www.pgdakar.com |
Per-Gunnar
Lundmark
Fjällbonäs 15
933 91 Arvidsjaur |
Per-Gunnar
Lundmark
Eva.PG.Lundmark@swipnet.se
|
Updated
2007-06-09
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