“Can’t go further?!” from Druskininkai to Shanghai on a motorcycle

In August, 1934 the young married couple – Halina and Stanislaw Bujakowscy – set off in the quest on motorcycle from Druskininkai to Shanghai. After 80 years, the two residents of Poznań: Joanna Sobkowska and Daniel Skibiński are going to cover the same route.  On the morning of August 19 they will set off from the muncipal government of Druskininkai, which is housed in a former villa of the doctor Władysław Bujakowski, father of  Stanislaw Bujakowski, in a route of a length over 20,000 km.
“Can’t go further ?!” – Is the title of the project of the motorcycle expedition from Druskininkai to Shanghai. Joanna Sobkowska and Daniel Skibiński want to ride the historic route of Halina and Stanislaw Bujakowskich who on 19 September 1934 set off from Druskininkai and on 15 March 1936 reached China.

The contemporary route is supposed to refer to the route of that romantic trip and run through Berlin, Sofia, Istanbul, Tehran, Quetta, Calcutta, Keng Tung, Shanghai. “We plan to sleep in a tent, with selective moments of sleeping in hostels (severe rains or other crises), but the premise is to be far away from the cities, and as far as possible away from major roads. Though we think that we should cover Europe by raiding on highways in order to gain time (and it is close enough that we can always come back for an extended weekend). The method of spending the leisure time was coded many years ago and we do not intend to change it. When it rains – tent, when it is dry – under a cloud, sometimes a couch with nice people encountered on the route.  Away from the “tourist attractions”- Joanna Sobkowska and Daniel Skibiński wrote about the planned expedition.

80 years ago, Halina and Stanislaw Bujakowscy described their impressions of the trip and send reports from the route to Vilnius and national newspapers. Throughout the duration of the expedition Halina kept a journal, and Stanislaw took pictures. After returning, they planned to publish a book. The war, the long-term separation of the spouses, the post-war exile prevented the realization of these plans. Halina Bujakowska’s reports, illustrated with photographs of  Stanislaw Bujakowski, were published in a book only in 2011, thanks to the writer and adventurer Lukasz Wierzbicki. The book, “My boy, the motorcycle and I” is currently translated into Lithuanian.

The motorcycle expedition of Joanna Sobkowska and Daniel Skibiński – like the pioneering feat of their predecessors – will also be described up to date, and since the times have changed – also videotaped. You can follow it on the Internet at www.dalejsienieda.com