Sahara Bound: KTM 690 Enduro Bike Prep

I love this part of a trip, the research and route planning morph into the final stages of preparation of kit and vehicle before departure.

My KTM 690 Enduro 2014 hasn't had many changes to be honest. I've changed the air filter style and replaced the battery, chain/sprockets, tyres and tubes etc.

The air filter I've been using for years now is the K&N RU1750. This allows good air flow and fits with the Rade Garage fuel tank I installed. According to the ProScan Reader, there is too much air flow though and my biggest concern is that the paper filter will let through fine sand particles into my intake.
I've spent month's looking for a sand filter for it and have given up. So I started to look at alternatives. The general feedback is to use a foam filter. So I found that the Ram Air foam one fits to the injector body, which has a 62mm circumference. They are used on scooters apparently. I bought this last year for £14.99, this year, a spare is £22. So an increase of £7 in lest than 12 months for the same product. 
I've then had to install the air flow sensor into the top of it which is not great. This also creates a problem for fitting any sand filter. So I might have to go old school and find some very fine mesh bag filters to cover the whole thing up. These need to be cleaned daily whilst in the desert and especially after any time in fine sand to protect the engine. That search continues and if push comes to shove, I'll buy some women's fine mesh tights and use them! 

Next up, I checked the lithium battery that has been on for about 2 years now. When you press the Test light, it is showing a fair bit of red and as these batteries fail all at once, I decided this wasn't the time to have a dead battery, so ordered a new one. £115.33 later and its fitted.

Next up was to replace the spark plugs and find out why the bike is slow starting. The ProScan identified the coil pack as an issue, so I stripped out the coil packs and the spark plugs and tested them all with a multi meter. The coils are stick coils on KTM's and they had a good reading plus good continuity, so they were fine. I tested the spark plugs and one had no continuity. I changed these and the starting issue was better, but still slow. So next up was to check the micro inline fuel filter next to the battery. Without it, the bike started crisply, with it, it struggled, so £6 later and new one fitted with 2 spares for the trip. 

Two other filter pads have been installed into the bike now, one around the main fuel filler cover and one above the air filter in the dead space there. I had some foam in the shed, so this has been cut to size/shape and installed to try to reduce sand dust entering crevices/gaps etc.

Next up was tyres. I had a bit of a scare with tyres as I couldn't find any in the UK in the sizes I wanted. I asked Adventure Spec for their Motoz Deserts and they said they have stopped importing them, (another Brexit casualty). So I researched the options for desert tyres and whilst I found a few, their mileage life was between 2 & 3k miles on the rears and none were in stock.
The Mitas E-09 Dakar was the only ones with feedback of 5k ish miles. I found the fronts, but the rear was only available in 150/70-18's and no 140's were due in before the new year. 

Several chats with mates and a bit of a poll online and I bought the pair with 150's from Wheelhouse Tyres in Coleshill, near Birmingham for £211. They fit fine, but the front was a bugger to get on, so I'll add mousse to the tubes in the hopes I don't get a puncture and have to change them in a high heat area. That would ensure some sweating and swearing I'm sure!

Whilst fitting the rear, I checked the corrosion on the rims. I've been meaning to buy new wheels for awhile now, but putting it off because of the £750 cost. It's too late now as there is a six week build wait and I haven't found a second hand one!
The corrosion is increasing, so I cleared the crap off and treated the wheels with a sealant, then spray painted the interior in the hopes that reducing air interaction then they'll last the trip. I'm carrying some metal putty and this will be a last resort thing to get me somewhere. Time will tell I guess. Whatever, this is their last outing.

I've added a sheepskin to the saddle. I've heard so much about their comfort on longer trips and a mate had a skin from one of his sheep going spare. So I cleaned it, shaped it and sent it to DP Leathers at Penrith. He made a saddle for my BSA B40 and did a lovely job. For this he sewed the straps on for me for £5, so now I get to try one for real!

After this lot, I serviced the bike, new filters, new brake fluid, new clutch fluid, DID 520 VX2 chain and sprockets, brake pads all round. Around £200 spent.

I've checked the linkage and wheel bearings. I've got spares of both in stock and will take the wheel bearings with me. The linkage bearings, I'll save for now and change when I get back. There is no play in them at the moment, so its a bit of a gamble as they've been in for awhile now and you need a press to get them out/in.
The wheel bearings were changed about 1000 miles ago, so should be good for this trip, but as they are easy to change, I'll carry spares. 
Head bearings appear to last for years on these bikes. But when I get back they'll be due a strip out and replacements installed as they will have done about 50+k miles by then.

One thing I've just been reading is about marine grease and how good its life span is. Desert stuff is different to a lot of travel in that sand gets into any grease and turns it into a grinding paste, so you need some grease to reduce wear and heat, but not so much that sand clogs it up and prematurely wears parts. So it's going to be a bit of a balance between cleaning/checking and riding time to preserve lifespans of parts.
Marine grease is a purchase for another time as I've left it too late now, but I like what I'm reading about it, so I may change from lithium to marine as a standard on all bearings.

That's it again for now. Next post will be on the road... Have a great festive season everyone.

Sahara Bound: Luggage and Personal Prep

Prepping both myself and my bike for this trip has been a bit of a case of adapting and modifying existing stuff as well as adding in some new stuff. Let's start with the luggage and personal stuff, then move onto the actual bike in another post.

Luggage:
Panniers, I've gone for the Kriega OS18 kit which I've used before. It sits well on the bike and I can add things like fuel bottle holsters etc. For a top bag, I went with a cheaper version off Amazon, the Rhinowalk 20 litre bag has a load of attachment points and effectively copies the Kriega style but also has a few added features. The fabric quality is definitely not as good but at £32 per bag vs £99 per bag, it makes sense as I suspect, these will get trashed. I've also made some small bottle bags to attach to the rear of the Kriega's. These will hold inner tubes and the stove fuel bottle. Finally, I'll carry a drybag for food at the end of each day. This will be strapped into place as needed and when not in use, packed away out the way.

For the longer crossings, I've ended up choosing to use the Desert Fox 20 litre fuel bladder. It comes with a canvas overbag for protection and loads of attachment points. This raises my fuel range to roughly 500 miles, (38 litres x 13 LPM), the cost for that is the extra weight and also having to carry as another bag on the bike. To that end, I've made a cover to go over the top bags to stop them falling off. It's just an oblong piece of polyester/nylon with adjustable straps sewn on. The plan is to strap each bag down separately, then use this cover as a catch all. It's minor additional weight should be outweighed by its usefulness I hope!

Water is going to be an issue is certain parts, so I'm taking 2 x Black Diamond water bags and if needed I'll buy plastic bottles and strap them on. On the train line to Atar, there are huge water bladders stored for the local people, so they'll be useful. Heading into Southern Mauritania will require searching I suspect. In Morocco, every village has a water source, sometimes a spring, sometimes a shop plus the garages will have something.

Front bag. Lucy bought me an Enduristan Sandstorm 4ltr bag awhile ago, so this will go up front with things like charging kit, lip salve , glasses etc in it.

Navigation:
My go to navigation device has been a Garmin Montana for years now. So that is mounted onto the handlebars. The GPX routes I've planned for this trip will be on a laptop as will backups of maps etc. Just recently, I've found that the maps for Garmin units have become a little more difficult to find, so after spending a lot of evenings trying various versions out, I've finally gotten maps that work again.
As a hardware back up though, I've opted for a phone setup. So I have an old Samsung S7 phone with Maps.Me, Google Maps and as Maps.Me has been sold to a Korean investment company which is rapidly killing its functionality, I've also added its replacement 'Organic Maps' to the apps on the phone. 
Both of these are wired into the bike electrics for ease of use and the Garmin has both a rechargeable Lithium and can take 4 x AA batteries. 
Final part is to buy the Michelin paper maps for each country visited en-route, which I can then throw/give away when the time comes.
In Morocco and Mauritania, because these were French colonies in Victorian times and well visited now by French tourists, there are good road maps from Michelin available, however, there are not any modern detailed maps, such as the UK OS 1:50 or 1:25 maps outside of the Atlas.
I've also added some music and podcasts for some entertainment on the rare occasions I won't be riding.

Camping:
I'm taking a Terra Nova Voyager with me this time, it's free standing and I can use the inner without the outer for the hot deserts times. I'll also have a tarp, (made locally in Cumbria by Aiguille Equipment), for resting out of the sun or emergencies.
Cooking will be on my 30 year old MSR XGK stove. It uses petrol, so I then have a small amount of extra fuel if needed. Cooking pot will be a single non stick pan. I have packed a micro gas stove, purely as a back up and maybe to use in Spain / Portugal.
My sleeping bag will be a well used 1 season down bag from PHD alongside a 3/4 length Thermarest. I can use the tarp over this if it gets too cold for the bag, which I've done before at 5000m.

Clothing:
Bike kit will be my Adventure Spec Linesman Jacket, their Mongolia Trail Pants and their Atacama waterproof jacket. An Airoh Commander helmet, Forma Terra Enduro boots, Alpinestars Spartan gloves and Paradise Bikers Winter gloves. 
The Linesman jacket is too hot for the really hot places, so I've opted to remove its armour and take an old Forcefield armour top, which I can then wear under any big tee shirt. The Adv. Spec kit does the job nicely and all works together in a layered system, which I prefer. After around 40k miles now, its well proven for me!
I've used the Forma Adventure boots previously, which are comfy, but offer zero protection, the Terra's are much better, they are comfortable and you can stand up in them for hours.

Personal kit will be the usual for the UK, synthetic stuff including base layers, fleece top and trousers, but for the warmer weather, it'll be loose fitting long sleeve cotton tops. These clothes will be kept to an absolute minimum and/or I'll buy stuff in country if needed.

Toiletries will be very basic, soap, toothbrush/paste and a mini towel. Anything extra I need can be bought.

Medical:
As I'll be alone most of the time, my first aid kit is pretty basic. There are arguments for carrying bigger ones with more complex safety type stuff, but to be honest, most of it can be improvised in some way or another. The best thing is to be careful and avoid things, but after that, there are pain killers, basic wound covers to stem bleeding and, if I can get any in Morocco, antibiotics.
I'll also have my GHIC card and some medical repatriation insurance for the trip as a back up. But to be honest, my main 'serious rescue' is going to be other people passing and that might be down to luck because of the nature of the environment and this trip plan.

Spares/Repairs:
I've put together a tool kit specific to this bike, a set of spares and spares for the camp kit. There isn't much you can do for the electronics as they are mostly disposable, (which I disagree with wholeheartedly).

Camping/Clothing etc:
I've put in patches for the Thermarest, sleeping bag & tent. Some glue for fabric, some spare SR clips, 3 bar clips and G clips for the luggage setup. Then added in stove spares such as a jet, cleaners etc. 

Tools:
Spanners - open end/ring 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19.
Plug spanner
Tyre pressure gauge
Specialized allen key folding tool
Halfords T bar
Sockets 3/8th - 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13.
Screw driver head to fit spinner handle - flat & cross head
Short metal bar - (For wheel bearings)
Tyre lever x 3 (Small x 1) + bead buddy
Wire cutters
Needle nosed pliers
Long Allen keys

Spare/Repair Stuff
Lots of cable ties - mounted to a fork stanchion
Some household electrical cable with some clips on either end to jump start bikes,
A mini hand pump,
A spare bike red light,
Some electrical tape,

A multi meter
Puncture patches and glue
A tow rope made from blue poly prop rope

Fuel hose for transferring fuel

Spare spark plugs
Wheel bearings - front & rear
Brake pads - front & rear
KTM micro fuel filter
O rings
Multiple bike fuses
Spare nuts & bolts, specific to the bike
Thread lock (red 223)
Spare tubes - front & rear
Spare brake/clutch levers
Spare oil filters
Spare air filter - (pre oiled)
Front sprocket & chain splitter tool + spare nut/lockring
Metal putty + radiator sealant

Ideally, I should have two clutch friction plates, one steel clutch plate, an injector and maybe a stepper motor as these all kill the bike if they die, but the extra weight is adding up and I'm starting to cut corners/save money.

One thing I have spent time and money on is a Bluetooth Reader for the fault codes on the bike. I settled on the ProScan Reader and after trying about 10 apps for the phone, I found the Garage Pro app worked with this on a subscription basis, so I bought the lifetime version for $22. It has already paid off, as I found a fault with a spark plug and fueling because of it. At least I'll know why I'm stuck if its bike related! 

Bike Weight:
I'm a few days away from departure now, so I've managed to have a play with the luggage set up and check out loading options as well as weights. The 2014 KTM bike weight is 150kg wet in standard form. I've shaved approximately 20kg off this bike, so 130kg. The luggage weighs 24kg in total. I've got to add to this 26 litres of petrol for the long sections and around 10 litres of water. 

One litre of petrol weighs 0.79kg and water is 1kg per litre, so that is another 30kg. (At least both of these are depreciating weights!). Food will also be added, so lets guess at 10kg for 4 days. So fully loaded I'll be  around 194kg just for the bike. That's a lot to haul out of a sand pit in 50 degrees!!

Paperwork:
Paperwork is mostly sorted en-route on this trip. In Spain and Portugal, entry will require a passport, standard UK vehicle papers, GHIC card and any insurances.
Morocco, the paperwork is done on the ferry, this allows a 90 day visa with a vehicle and you buy a month worth of insurance for 95 euros. 
Mauritania is pretty much the same. You buy your entry visa and insurance at the border in Euros.
In both of these countries, you need to carry a 'Fishe', which is a piece of paper with all of your and your vehicle details on it. These then get handed over at the many military checkpoints and ease the life of the guards on duty, which means you pass through quicker.
I'll carry back ups of these on the laptop and on a USB stick to be sure, plus back them up somewhere. Online access will be restricted to my laptop and an in country sim card paired to the laptop. This helps with online security and as an emergency contact possibility.

Research Info:
Most of my knowledge for this trip has come from online sources, my personal knowledge and some notable desert explorers.
Social Media has a wealth of Facebook groups such as West African Overlanding, Horizons Unlimited & Overlanding West Africa and Morocco, these contain many valuable updates and insights.
Chris Scott has toured all over the Sahara and details much of his travels and local knowledge on his website. His book 'Sahara Overland' has helped me to plan many parts of this trip.
Austin Vince and a group of friends traveled some of this route in 2013. I watched his film Mondo Sahara a few times and he helped me find the train line I wanted to ride in Morocco.
Dave Lomax, from Adventure Spec, helped me with the Eye of Africa  and heading south in Mauritania.

My neighbour, who is a well travelled 80+ year old, has given me two books to read before I go, the first is about the original crossing of the Empty Quarter in the Middle East, 'Arabian Sands' by Wilfred Thesiger, and the second is about a university group who visited the Berber villages in Morocco in 1955. 'Berber Village' by Bryan Clarke. I have friends in the Berber villages of Morocco, so it'll be interesting to see the differences between my knowledge and their experiences.

'Arabian Sands' reminds of another 1800 mile journey I took across West Antarctica with 3 colleagues in 2013, where our main source of info, outside of modern satellite mapping, was a book called 'Across West Antarctica' by John Pirrit. I'm not sure I'll get time to read this book before I go, but it does look a good read.

So for now, that's where I'm at. I'll do a post about the bike setup and costs for this as it has been a bit more intensive/expensive than first thought!

Sahara 2023

For a long time now, I've been wanting to visit Morocco and Mauritania to ride around the Sahara. So for the last couple of months, I've been doing some planning. My work commitments will all be met by Christmas 2022, so I've decided to take three months off and finally go do the trip that's been in my head. I can feel the Desert calling to me!

The rough plan is; 
Ride down through Spain & Portugal on some of the Trans Euro Trail, (TET) and the Adventure Country Tracks, (ACT), then cross into Morocco, roughly follow the Algerian border down to the Anti Atlas on old Paris/Dakar routes and eventually enter into Mauritania via the disputed lands of Western Sahara. 

Once I've given the bike a clean up and fettle around there, I'll head east towards Atar and the Eye of Africa, then south to Nema and slowly make my way back north. This should take me some really remote parts of the Sahara and also get me to many of the off the beaten track villages and towns.

I really wanted to do a loop back up through Algeria, but I don't have enough time now to sort the visa and the necessary invitation letter, so I've shelved that section for another time. I may well go in a 4x4 for that too as its easier to travel and camp etc in these areas with one of those.

There are quite a few logistical challenges to sort out. Fuel and tyres are the main ones. Morocco is pretty well set up for travelling, but Mauritania is not. Diesel is the main fuel used in the country, so getting petrol presents an issue. There will be several sections of 4 - 500 mile distances, so alongside my current bike range of 250 miles, I'm taking a 20 litre fuel bladder, which will be strapped onto my bike alongside water bags. This is going to add a lot of weight to the bike!

There are no motorbike tyres available in Mauritania and the last place to get any tyres will be either Ourzazate or Zagora in southern Morocco. That means I need around 5000 miles minimum out of a set of tyres. The only options are the Desert race tyres from the likes of Mitas, Motoz and Dunlop. There are no tyres on the market that will do 10k miles on the terrain involved, but so long as I get back to Spain, I can sort that out later.

If the bike or myself have a significant issue or breakdown, it's not going to be easy to get it sorted, Morocco may be easier, but Mauritania will depend upon others passing and helping out.

Things like vehicle insurance, visas etc are dealt with at the border to both these countries. I'll need to get my International Driving License and some form of suitable travel insurance, although medical issues are the same as any other third world country, find a clinic if you can, if not, deal with it yourself. 

Both countries use Arabic, French and some English, alongside whatever local language, such as Berber etc. So communication for me will be English and French. 

After watching Austin Vince's film, Mondo Sahara, a few years ago, I was fascinated by the ride along the old 600 gauge railway coming down through Morocco. Since then, I've spent a lot of hours trying to find that route and convert it to a GPX file. Finally, as time is now coming to an end for the trip planning phase, I resorted to contacting Austin Vince direct and asking for his help. He pointed me at a bridge on the route and after that I spent a couple of hours on Google Maps following it and marking it with waypoints into Garmin's Basecamp. So I now have that route and will either ride it heading south or coming back north.

Lots of other parts of logistics are going to come into play. The weather heading south from the UK will be rubbish, cold, wet and maybe icy. I could get a ferry south from Portsmouth to Bilbao/Santander. Its really expensive at over £500 one way, but it will save 1000 miles on my tyres and my comfort, so that is looking likely. I'll need tyres for the return trip though for sure. 

Luggage wise, I'm taking my Kriega luggage set up a tent, the usual camping kit, a change of clothes etc, a range of bike spares, which will have to include wheel bearings and other wearable parts. A new DID chain and the Ironman sprockets should last well, although I'm taking a spare front sprocket to be on the safe side. Air filters are an issue in the desert, fine sand can easily knacker an engine, so apparently, fine mesh women's tights are cheap and easy to buy, they do a great job and take seconds to change each morning! That's a conversation to be had!! ;-)

For the navigation side of things, I'll have two systems. My Garmin Montana 600, which is my preferred GPS system and a Samsung phone with Maps.Me/Google Maps loaded onto it. Both have a 12v power set up, but both also have an internal rechargeable battery, just in case.

Mauritania has virtually no mobile phone signal outside of the coastal areas, Morocco is better set up, but in the southern Anti Atlas, there is little coverage. So  for the most part, its no comms, so no worries!

I can't decide whether to buy a separate film camera for the trip, or just not bother with any film etc and go with pics. Films show more, but its a lot of faff to keep the batteries charged and the equipment protected. That's both extra space and weight to be sorted out. 

That's about where I've got too at the moment. The routes are almost finalised, the kit is sorted, some spares on order. Next up is ferry booking and find some new tyres. The bike is about ready, so finish my work commitments and then get riding!

Ireland: Final Round Up

I made a little film of all the parts of the trip, added it to YouTube, so its below:

Some personal tips for touring Ireland;

1. Make sure you have new tyres, the road surfaces are rough and wear tyres quickly. 

2. Fuel is available in every town, so no need to carry extra fuel bladders etc.

3. Green lanes are hard to find. Everywhere is privately owned and there is no mapping that I've found, so its a bit of pot luck. The best way I found was to use all the small rarely used roads, these are more likely to be part unsealed. But basically plan for a tarmac based trip and enjoy the odd bits.

4. Get off the WWW onto the smaller roads. There is less traffic and better views in the hidden coves.

5. Wild camping is a privilege, treat it with respect and leave no trace of your visit.

6. Get ready for lots of easy chat with the locals and engage as much as you can, lovely people

Enjoy the ride!!

Ireland: The Last Days

We were getting properly into the northern part of Ireland now, the cliffs dropped to smaller heights, the beaches remained white with find sand, but seemed more secluded. After riding over a very secluded pass, we stopped at a couple of lonely fort ruins and found a beautiful waterfall.

In front of the waterfall was a wooden monolith inscribed with Celtic symbols. The place had a very mystical air about it. 

Breakfast was a little late this morning, we found a garage selling some very basic stuff, it did have a 5 litre can of Jizer though!

Riding high above the sea, we noticed a dirt road running alongside the seashore, so a quick U turn and down we headed to try it out. It went for a good few miles close to the shore, before turning uphill through some fields and into a small village.

A short walk saw us at a concrete look out on a hilltop. There were a few folk around, including a biker couple with a little dog. The dog sat in behind them in a little box and seemed really happy to be out on a bike!

A visit to Fanad Head and another little wander along a rocky shore to a rock pinnacle. This was a memorial to the locals there who burned kelp for its iodine and quarried granite to make an income. Further along, Gareth took me onto a beach he used to go to as a kid. It's split in two, half for sunbathers and half for vehicles. We got an ice cream and watched the bikini clad ladies for awhile before heading back onto the roads.

The feel of this north western section is more forbidding for some reason, maybe the grey clouds and the drop in temperature after all these days of sunshine. 

In the late afternoon, the weather turned to heavy rain, so we bailed to Gareth's parents place in Northern Ireland. We missed out Malin Head and the small ferry across from Quigley's Point, saving it for another time.

Soaked to the skin, we arrived to whisky, a hot shower and fish n chips before a night in a warm bed. A proper Irish welcome...

The next morning, I headed back up to the Causeway Coast, riding along the coastline for the morning. I caught the ferry around 3.30pm for the ride back home.

Crossing southern Scotland, I hooked up with an older guy on a BMW. We cruised along together, with him in front. It was a really rare moment of shared camaraderie that you only find with bikers. Neither of us spoke to each other, except for a nod at some traffic lights, yet we shared the road, pointing out hazards as we rode into the foggy and damp night, both enjoying the company, yet with no need to add in social niceties.

He turned off into a hotel around 9pm and I continued home, rounding off the trip on some very familiar tarmac roads, with no traffic because of the time of night.

Time to service the bike and wash my kit... 

Ireland: Wacky Causeways & Achil Island

 Today turned out to be one of my favourites of the whole trip. We found a random causeway heading to two small islands called Inishnakillew and Inishcottle. Really secluded little places tucked away, with a small fishing industry and probably holiday homes these days. 

This whole area is made up of hundreds of little islands. It would be a great place to sea kayak or sail around. 

The WWW winds its way now onto Achil Island. The scenery around the coast line is stunning, the roads were just begging to be ridden, but the coastal views stopped us in our tracks many times.

Eventually, we stopped at a pub for some food. This turned out to have traditional Irish music, so we stayed to listen. During this, we got chatting to a family, who invited us onto another pub after this one, so off we went. Around 2am, we pitched our tents in a beer haze and slept very soundly!!

The next day, woken by munching sheep and a quad bike in the distance, we visited the abandoned village of Slievemore, which is on a peat road. Its history is compelling and the ruins are quite impressive given their age. 

After finding a mad breakfast wrap in a garage, along with some typical garage coffee and a very bubbly attendant lady, we left the island and rejoined the WWW. 

Meandering along quiet inlets and past random white sandy beaches really kept us captivated by the landscape. We rode out to Claggan Island along another beach, this one a mix of pebbles and sand. After a wander out to a rocky point, we then took in the road to the end of the Belmullet headland. 

Lunch was at the weather station that changed the date of the D Day landings. The weather man here, reported high winds and poor weather, which had the effect of pushing the landings back a day. Nothing so dramatic for us though, we just got to watch a school of dolphins drifting by as we ate lunch.

Carrowteige is a headland where peat cutting is still a big thing. We managed to get right to the cliff edges to take photos of Kid Island and the bikes, before going for a wander.

The end of the day saw us finding a small promontory overlooking a small bay. People were wild swimming until around 8pm, so we chilled and pitched our tents, drinking wine and just enjoying the sound of people splashing in the water.

A fire lit, we talked utter shite and watched the sunset.

Ireland: John Wayne, Drystone Walls and More Beach Riding

 We headed around to Westport, where I'd been before and had Guinness and oysters at the bar on my last Ireland trip. I thought I might be on familiar round, but I didn't really recognise any of it. 

Gareth knew the area well though, so he acted as a tour guide and took me to Cong, which is where the statue of John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara stands celebrating the film, the Quiet Man. The town also has loads of beautiful old buildings. 

En route, I kept stopping as there were some unique and interesting drystone walls, something Gareth took the piss out of me for!

We headed towards Omey Island, via the Sky Road, only to find a tidal beach road running across to it. After a quick tour around, Gareth got out the wooden mallet and we had a filming session of him razzing across with Thor's Hammer leading the charge!

We camped next to a massive beach called the Silver Strand. People were camped all over the place in a farmers field and a car park next to the beach. A run back into Killadoon, some 20 miles away, saw shopping for provisions and wine, which saw us sorted for the night.