Navigation, navigation, navigation

Over the last decade Chris and I have navigated approximately 15,000 miles of foreign roads together. With plans afoot to put another 3,000 or so miles of unmarked and unsigned tracks in the Andes and Amazon, you'd expect us to do rather better than we managed last night.

Our attempts to drive Chris from a pub in Bedminster (Bristol) to the railway station (2 miles away) were an incredible feat of ineptitude.

In a hurry to catch the last train home, this was a great test of our teamwork and ability to arrive at places under the pressure of time. Despite having a sat nav device, and both living or having lived locally, we managed to navigate a perfect circle, driving back past the pub where we started 10 minutes after departing.
And so the clock ticked down. We tried route b, pushed the road laws close to their limits (possibly past them if the number of 'Slow down' illuminations are anything to go by), and delivered Chris to the station with barely 10 seconds to spare.

Note to selves, get better at navigation, or plan a circular route :o)

Cliff Face

Okay, so its not a Peruvian road-of-death, but this morning I did my first bit of cliff-edge simulation in advance of the trip; running up the mostly unstable Stonebarrow cliffs on England's South Coast. :O)

Ha. "Plan A" is on.

Silly me for doubting. Plan 'a' is officially a runner. We have secured the use of a legendary mototaxi. This 11bhp beast of a vehicle is a hybrid of motorcycle and sofa; and is so underpowered that the prospect of thraping it over the Andes and through the Amazon is just mouth-watering.

At 2011 draws to a close, Chris and I will fly to the 'lungs of the planet' (Amazon), near the shores of Lake Titicaca to collect our steed. From there we will plot a 3500km route through jungle, desert and mountain to a glorious finish somewhere else.

I literally cannot wait. More on the vehicle and route soon.