Jyri Koski, a Nokia Team Leader with an adventurous streak, has just set off on a lo-fi dirtbike expedition to the Far East. He’s using the Nokia N96 to document the trip in video and stills, and he’s using Sports Tracker to plot his progress. We grabbed him for a chat about his expedition – and about documenting it with the Nokia N96, as he was packing up the night before the journey.
Innovation Newsdesk: Jyri, your trip sounds amazing. Tell us more.
Jyri: I work in Nokia as a Team Leader, so I love and am really inspired by emerging technology. I’ve been an avid adventure traveller for whole my life. I’m turned on by high altitudes, ice-swimming, rock climbing, mountaineering and mountain biking, diving and any other water sport or adventure sport you can throw at me. I’ve been on hardcore hiking trips in various mountain areas in the world and I love adventure motorcycles. There’s no better way to get off the beaten track. I’m riding with my good friend Ari Vaara, who works in technology too, so we thought this trip would be the perfect way to get our adrenaline pumping at the same time as testing some Nseries technology in some pretty uncompromising situations. Ari and I go back years. He’s not as full-on as me, more of a calm gentleman traveler turned on by Korean food, quality whiskey and Cuban cigars. It’s going to be an interesting journey.
What’s the itinerary?
We’re flying out to Bangkok, from where we’ll take an overnight train to the Thailand-Lao border to pick up the bikes. There are several Safari companies around Asia who arrange trips with crew, back-up car, sometimes a cook, guides and several bikers. This was absolute no for us, as we want to be free, choose our destinations and be independent. We’re going off just with two of us with Honda XR Baja Enduros which are lightweight with good performance and Dakar equipment (big tanks, big double headlights and protective iron). We’ll take only what we need like spark plugs, tools, chains etc., in case we break down. We want to keep the bikes light so we can really have fun and do some real dirtbiking. We’ll be wearing full motocross gear, despite the fact temperatures will vary between 30-40 Celsius every day in the south. The forecast’s not on our side, we’re in for some rain too.
From Vientiane we’re planning to head along the Mekong river and have our first stop at Pak Lay, which is a “boat stop” (as opposed to a Western truck stop). From here we may head to Luang Prabang, which is famous for its ancient temples. But we might go around it and just gun off in the very rural areas. Our mid-point destination is the town of Phongsali in the hight of 1600m. There we’re planning to have one of two days break, hike in the jungles, see tribal villages and just chill out over beer. From here we will continue further to north and visit Out Tai which is the most northern town of Laos near Chinese border. From here we will continue on various roads and paths back south. We estimate this will take 7-10 days. If we are caught by rain, driving on the roads will start to feel like mud-wrestling. A 100km stretch can take an exhausting 8 hours. I’ve told my friend this will be easy, but in reality it will not. So for many reasons we’re keeping our schedules open as there are many reasons why our trip might stop, like bike breaking down or injury due to a fall, and falls probably cannot be avoided. After the trip, we will stay in Laos for few more days but get rid of the bikes. We’ll go to one of the most fantastic chill out places I’ve visited, Vang Vieng, with amazing river mountain scenery and just blend in to the rest of the travelling crowd…
Why this part of the world?
Laos is a fascinating, beautiful, yet very undeveloped country. I visited there around 11 years ago, and back then they were just making the first paved road on their capital. Our pre-trip research told us that nowadays Vientiane and probably Luang Prabang have paved roads and internet facilities, as both places draw some tourism. Our planned 2500-3000km loop rides in the old French colonial roads, which have not been maintained since they were made during the French rule.
And how about recording the expedition?
We’re intending to make a documentary called Dirtbike Diary using content captured on the Nokia N96 device, which has DVD-quality video. I’m really into film, so the idea of the cameras on phone devices getting close to TV-quality is hugely exciting to me. Most of the towns we’ll stop in don’t have electricity (some towns have electricity for three hours a day). So no internet connections in most places in the loop, but we’re expecting to have GPS working.
We’ll bring you their report of the trip recorded on Nokia N96 and Sports Tracker once they’re successfully back home. We’ll also keep you posted with any on-the-road updates the boys send if and when they get access to the internet (access is expected to be patchy and intermittent in the regions they’re heading to).
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