Travel

Sark adventurer George Guille buys motorbike and laps the world FOUR times on it

In the past decade he’s covered enough miles on his motorbike to lap the world four times – yet ironically grew up on an island that has no motor vehicles whatsoever.

George Guille, 33, first left his home island of Sark in the Channel islands nine years ago and since then has clocked up 110,000 miles.  

He quit his plumbing apprenticeship, bought a motorcycle from the mainland and fled the island, which has a population of just 500 people.

George Guille, 33, first left his home island of Sark nine years ago. He is pictured here on his bike in Uganda’s volcanic hills

Guille quit his plumbing apprenticeship, bought a motorcycle and fled the island, which has a population of 500 people and no motor vehicles. He’s pictured reading at the salt lake in Uyuni, Bolivia

Pictured: George Guille, who has travelled the world on his motorbike, with Veysel Bayam, an African hitchhiker from Omo Valley, Eithopia

Since then he’s travelled the world on his motorbike in a bid to discover and understand different cultures.

George, who refuses to use guidebooks, drives aimlessly through countries, following tip-offs from locals about where to visit and then discovers places by himself.

So far he’s travelled to North and South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and has no intention of stopping.

George, an aspiring photographer, said: ‘It was about being a young man going out to explore the world, to fill in the blanks of the world map in my mind, to find a new home, to find love.

‘It was never just a mission to ride in a big circle around the world and come back to the start.

‘I’ve been motorcycling for more than 110,000 miles and have seen so much of the world now.

‘For me it was always a journey of understanding, so I could map out the world in my head.

So far Guille has travelled to North and South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and has no intention of stopping. Pictured in Ushuaia, Argentina

The biker, who refuses to use guidebooks, drives aimlessly through countries, following tip-offs from locals about places to visit and then discovers places by himself. Pictured in Namibia in 2007

Guille captures his view from the saddle, near the hamlet of Pasu, Karakoran, North West Frontier Province in Pakistan in October 2009

Guille was 23 years old when he bought his 600cc Yamaha Motorcycle with the money he’d saved from a four year plumbing apprenticeship. Pictured at sunrise on top of Sinabung volcano, Indonesia 

‘It’s quite ironic I left my home island of Sark, which has no cars or motorcycles and only 500 people, to go motorcycling around the world.

‘I want to continue discovering the world and know that this is an open-ended journey, even better I’m doing it all myself and without a travel guide.

‘I prefer to discover places along the way as it makes it more about the journey.

‘One of the best adventures I had was travelling to find some pyramids in Sudan, we were just told about it by a local and we somehow found it.

‘It was incredible and abandoned that not many tourists would have known about, and so we camped in there.

‘It was so much better than I expected it to be, I believe that was because we had to find it ourselves.’

George was a 23 years old when he bought his 600cc Yamaha Motorcycle with the money he’d saved from a four-year plumbing apprenticeship.

The Death Road in central Bolivia (pictured) has a reputation for being treacherous in the foggy conditions 

Guille has travelled 110,000 miles – the equivalent of lapping the world four times – since he set off in 2007. Pictured in the Namibian Desert, Namibia

Guille said: ‘It’s quite ironic I left my home island of Sark, which has no cars or motorcycles and only 500 people, to go motorcycling around the world’. Pictured in Sark

Pictured on the island of Flores, Indonesia, where locals told Guille he was the first white person to stay there in 40 years

Guille swapping out old bald tyres, after driving 12000km through desert and mud from Egypt. Pictured in Tanzania

The African twin bike being loaded onto a boat to Sumatra, Indonesia, which was the photographers next stop after travelling Malaysia

He set off riding from Europe to Cape Town, South Africa over a period of five years, before returning to study architecture.

He added: ‘After returning home I worked for a little while then set off on a year’s ride across Europe, through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India and then boarded to Indonesia.

‘Every time I worked all the money I saved would go towards shipping my bike across to continue the journey.’

George revealed his favourite place so far has been Indonesia due to the vast, deserted roads.

He said: ‘Some of my favourite times have been just while riding out in Indonesia, there aren’t many tourist attractions to go and see so you get chance to talk to people.

A Pakistani boarder guard gives Guille a stern looks as he crosses over the border on his bike into India

As well as loving travelling, Guille is a keen photographer and is pictured here at Lago Colorado, Bolivia, in October 2015

Guille most recently rode from Valparaiso, Chile, to New York, USA, and now will work in New Zealand for nine-months before hitting the road again to continuing his journey through Japan and Russia. Pictured fixing the clutch of a Yamaha in Egypt

‘I would ride, hop off for a coffee, talk to people, then do the same again and again, it was great.

‘In Indonesia there never seemed like there was an agenda.’

Most recently he rode from Valparaiso, Chile, to New York, USA, and now will work in New Zealand for nine-months before hitting the road again to continuing his journey through Japan and Russia.

Pictured: Guille searches for a place to set up camp while travelling solo through Turkey in late August 2009

Guille said that his travels are about ‘being a young man going out to explore the world, to fill in the blanks of the world map in my mind, to find a new home, to find love’. Pictured: The Yamaha motorbike and the tent Guille carries with him in Bolivia

The traveller stares at Naga Parbat in Pakistan in October 2009. He is dressed in local clothing to be less conspicuous due to the Taliban

Guille said that every time he worked ‘all the money saved would go towards shipping the bike across to continue the journey’. Pictured: A camping spot, in Carretera Austral, Chile