Long Way Down
So Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley have been traveling the continent of Africa on their motor bikes. They did a similar sort of trip where they travelled across Europe, Asia, Alaska and Canada on their bikes 3 years ago (as documented in the DVD Long Way Round). I’ve been intrigued and somewhat following their trip this time because it’s Africa, and it’s really dangerous too, more so than the first time.
They’re now in Nakuru, Kenya, and I laughed when I read this on their blog:
‘We’re finding misery on the roads. Very difficult to ride.’ The Kenyan roads – and the police – prove unpredictable.
Ah, the roads. I had almost forgotten about the massive pits that would swallow Jeeps whole. And the roads at Nakuru were some of the worst. The government had finally decided that the roads in Nakuru were so bad that they were willing to put the money to getting them fixed – plowed, paved, the works. So in their infinite wisdom, they tore up all of the pavement and then stopped. Completely. That was at least five years ago when they started the project, and I’ve never experienced such pits and dust storms. The dust storms rivaled blizzards, because at least with those, people actually try to slow down. Those were the times. I should have taken pictures, there is just no way to believe the road conditions.
(I’m really just posting so I can use my pretty pretty icon. Carry on, carry on.)
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Are they going to have this trip televised, too?
Yep. The BBC has gone along on the trip as well. I don’t knw when they are planning on showing it; sometime later this year, I think.
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Oh awesome! I loved Long Way Round (I have it on DVD) and I heard that they were thinking of doing Long Way Down, but hadn’t checked up on the progress of that for quite some time! I hope they televise it and/or release it on DVD. It was so fascinating!
What is the link to the blog?
It’s amazing to me how areas of the world can be so drastically different. A non-functioning road would cause an uproar here and yet people there just go on, regardless. It speaks volumes about so many different things.
Have you read the book that Charley and Ewan wrote about Long Way Round? It was very good! Highly recommend it 🙂
http://www.bbc.co.uk/longwaydown/
They are planning on releasing it – first to the BBC tv and then on DVD, I believe. It’s a lot of fun looking at their blog. They were interviewed today, so there’s a nice audio clip from Ewan that had me giggling.
I’ve um, actually only seen clips of LWR, so I’ll definitely check out the book. 🙂 Thanks!
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I hope Bravo picks it up again. They showed LWR before. If you are comfortable with it, I can burn a copy of the DVDs (I recorded it off TV – so it’s completely legal lol) and send them your way 🙂 If you’d like a copy, send your address to ladyshanae (at) gmail (dot) com. It is so fun to watch! Seeing as we only know each other over LJ, I would totally understand if you didn’t feel comfortable with it – but let me know 🙂