Conan O'Brien

Roads that suddenly decide not to be roads anymore, vicious dogs that might have actually been small bears, and a turbocharged bee sting to the face saw me arrive in Tbilisi.

I checked into Fabrika, a Soviet sewing factory turned hostel, and spent the day stockpiling anecdotes, because that evening I had a little chat with my old friend, Conan O'Brien. We touched upon the kindness of strangers, Soviet orgies, and whether or not I have committed larceny. I'm a bit disappointed in my performance because I didn't manage to get in a single wisecrack - that guy is just too quick. Of course afterwards I came up with all the things I wish I'd said. l'esprit de l'escalier that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Here's the link: https://tinyurl.com/mkzszhfz

Paddy might be the most helpful person I met on this whole odyssey. He circumnavigated the globe on a clapped out Kawasaki several years ago and now runs @onwardmotorcycletours. He gladly lent me his apartment and computer to take the call with Conan, and for months continued to provide a wealth of advice that helped guide me to Bishkek.

I feel like I need to stop mentioning Bishkek for the sake of suspense. Maybe I *didn't* make it there, maybe I'm a *ghost.* Who knows!

Back at Fabrika, I spied an F800GS (like Hobbes) with Korean plates. Cut to a picture of a man against a brightly colored background and bold white text that flies in and says JUNGMIN, followed by that little five note riff - you know the one. Jungmin had ridden across the length of Russia, down Europe, traversed Turkey eight(?) times, and tootled around Iran. He goes by the persona NOBODY and would not stop slapping his stickers on everything. I even saw one on somebody's car.

If every country has a Switzerland, then they all have at least one "death road" where, yes, a lot of people seem to die, but usually because they chose to mix alcohol with a DEATH ROAD. Anyway, Santosh, Jungmin, and I decided that we would tackle this one together and tell our mothers later.

But did we survive?! Tune in next time!