Long Way Round

The other night I finished watching one of the coolest miniseries I've ever seen. It's called Long Way Round and is a documentary about a couple of British actors (Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman) who ride their motorcycles from London to New York, heading east. I believe the trip happened in 2004. With the exception of a portion of Siberia traveled by train and the distance between Magadan (in Siberia) and Alaska, which was flown, Ewan and Charley rode the whole way on their bikes. It was not easy, of course. There were areas in Kazakhstan and Mongolia where the roads were nearly impassable. And in far east Russia they had to get their bikes across more than one river without a bridge. The North American section of the journey seemed tame by comparison.

Along the way, the duo had quite a few adventures and misfortunes. They stopped in many towns and cities to soak up the local culture and visit popular landmarks. The countries they saw were France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Canada, and the U.S. They actually passed through Russia three separate times. There was not a boring moment in this documentary, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys travel or motorcycles or even adventure in general.