Tag Archives: hotel

Day 287 – Humps and bumps

Totally sealed, Garmin, totally sealed

Totally sealed, Garmin, totally sealed

It seemed we had managed to hit the perfect camp spot – not too hot, not too cold and undisturbed the whole night long. I felt really well rested getting up this morning. Besides, we had only a light day ahead, so what was there not to look forward to?

Maybe I should have been a bit more suspicious of the fact that the Garmin found a “third way” over the mountain that was neither on the Lonely Planet map nor on our Iran paper map. But it was set to avoid dirt roads, so clearly it knew something the others did not…?

The condition of the dirt road deteriorated quickly

The condition of the dirt road deteriorated quickly

Well, as it turns out it may have been that avoiding a 50 km “detour” back to pass number two overruled the no dirt rule. Or the open street map is a bit ahead of its time, since for the most part there were roadworks actually on the way to transform this into a proper sealed pass. For now, however, it was not. For about 60 km we had everything from a perfectly compacted gravel road to “this is a muddy riverbed at a 30° angle, if it rains now, we die”.

You can see our camp spot and the tunnel we came through

You can see our camp spot and the tunnel we came through

In all fairness, it was mostly good though. I mostly enjoyed the exercise, but I also could do without any more drama on this last leg of the trip. In the end, we made it and were rewarded with another set of fantastic view from up to 2400m back down to the valleys to the north.

Once on the other side, the motorway called and we got back into full cruise mode for a short hour to cover the last 120 km. Traffic truly got interesting once we got into greater Tehran, but nothing much surprising left to it. The Lonely Planet calls it “a Darwinian game of chicken”. There are still rules to it, though. They end up in a higher risk game than most sane people would engage in, but on the other hand, people get from A to B much quicker than they would in high survival rate countries under the same circumstances. I just go with the flow and compensate with better gear for the worst case, I guess.

Quite the shock to be on the motorway into Tehran

Quite the shock to be on the motorway into Tehran

We had lunch in a hip cafe at the House of Arts – good burger and veggie pasta for once. A lovely place we probably like to come back to (the House of Arts, that is). For now though, we need to find a place to stay. Hotels are pretty expensive, so we settled on one place slightly too expensive, in the knowledge that A: There is not much else cheaper and B: we had saved some by camping the last few days.

When I parked the bike I saw another overlander bike from the Netherlands and back in the hotel found out that we were next door neighbors, so I knocked and introduced myself. Joris and his partner were busy for the day, but we agreed to catch up tomorrow.

That was pretty much our day, except for the one hour it took me to find some bread around here. The entire neighborhood – a full city block – is exclusively dedicated to selling auto parts. Not even a single little grocery shop anywhere among them for the most part. I did, however, get a replacement for the second screw that had vibrated off our windscreen in Iran.

Day 265 – Bye and Dubai

Leaving the International school in Sohar

Leaving the International school in Sohar

Smooth. Just the whole day went smoothly. We got up in time to have one last breakfast with Lina and Michael at their home in Sohar. After a thankfully brief scene of goodbyes we were alone and ready to pack up our stuff. Two hours after that, we handed the key back to Lina and were on the road for good.

The ride was good as always in Oman. The incoming summer heat was tamed a good bit by light cloud cover and we arrived at the border in no time. We crossed the border in record time. Chapeau to both the Omani and Emirati officials, this was the least painful border crossing yet. Continue reading

Day 255 – Turtle-y awesome

Oh blissful sleep in a real bed. How we had missed you (and showers)! Not that we had any lack of sleep on the road. Going with the sun gives you plenty of that. But there is something to be said about having more than 50x180cm piece of inflated foam the thickness of my thumb for a resting place. Best of it all, we did not even have to pack anything until tomorrow!

Looking along the coast further west

Looking along the coast further west

Under such good starting conditions, it was not even too hard to get motivated to go on an excursion to explore west of Salalah. We thought of going about 75km towards the Yemeni border, where the mountains meet the sea once more. It was still relatively early but already sweltering hot. After some initial confusion that landed us near the harbour, we were on our way along the coastal plain baring west.

The first spot were some active blowholes at Mughsail, right where the first limestone cliffs meet the sea. In the end, the blowholes were nice but not overwhelming. What really got us squealing like school kids were the sea turtles feeding off the rocks right below one of the viewing platforms. The spectacular view westwards helped as well. Continue reading

Day 248 – Muscat, the fairy-tale city

Rise and shine. Time to get moving again.

Rise and shine. Time to get moving again.

Good thing we got up with Lina and Michael today as the early start gave us plenty of time to pack. After eight stationary days, almost everything was unpacked. We also wanted to be good house guests and clean up a little after ourselves. 😉 There were a lot of administrative things we weren’t up to date with and so on and so forth. Lina had said that she will have time off from teaching from 9.40 am onward for a bit so we could drop by at school to hand back the keys.

Arriving at about 10 am, we handed everything back, showed Lina and Jorge the fully loaded bike and said good-bye until we’re on our way back out of Oman. It is weird to leave again. We’re looking forward to exploring Oman immensely, but catching up with her and Michael and living in a real flat had been amazing. Now, we were heading to Muscat, about 250 km from Sohar, which is the capital of Oman.

Waving goodbye to our temporary home away from home

Waving goodbye to our temporary home away from home

Being on the road was different from our last experiences in Southeast Asia. For one, traffic is moving really fast with a speed limit of 120 km/h. But most importantly, drivers reacted to us, something which hasn’t happened in Thailand at all. There would be a tentative honk from behind and then a car would pass us on the fast lane, giving us a thumbs up or a wave or a smile. That was actually quite lovely.

When we were just over the half-way mark, we had a coffee stop. Flo enjoyed the roadside coffee a lot – it seems to have been flavoured with spices. I, however, bought a thin, honeyed pancake as a snack and can only approve of that. 😉 English is spoken widely so we had no trouble ordering food and explaining our trip as the interest in the motorbike was incredible. At the gas station, staff studied our world map before we even finished re-fueling so that it took us a moment to get where the “2015…long trip” comment was coming from. 🙂

Over the first hill. Next up, Matrah and Old Muscat.

Over the first hill. Next up, Matrah and Old Muscat.

Moving, the temperature was fine, just standing in the grilling sun was getting to us again. I took a couple of pictures on the road but really, it was getting into the center of Muscat that was eye-opening. The city sprawls for quite a while before you actually see the sea on one side and the mountains on all three other sides.

We headed to the waterfront as this is the “budget” area. The hotel we had seen in the Lonely Planet was closed and under construction so we asked around in the hotels close by. They were all lovely but way more than we need. This fact was reflected in the price. 60 euro for one night? *cough* They all pretty much stuck to this price. There doesn’t seem to be much backpacker tourism going on which makes more affluent people the most likely candidate for the rooms available. We checked Agoda and one of the hotels further inland had a rate of 40 euro per night. When we arrived, we got a gigantic room including a tv, a kitchen and a bathroom with a bathing tub. All of this is very nice but pricey so we will (have to) camp as much as possible from now on.

With enough space for 20000, the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is a sight to behold.

With enough space for 20000, the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is a sight to behold.

People were incredibly nice to us though. They stopped on the street to have a chat when I was waiting for Flo next to the bike. Some recommended things, others were mostly interested in our travels. There’s a cruise ship in the harbour at the moment, so the German tourists also came by, had a chat and took a picture. I think the most adorable instance was an Omani asking to take a picture of us and then explaining that he is a motorcycle driving instructor.

By the time we’d checked in and unloaded our luggage, it was 3pm. Very hungry, we went out in search for food. Nothing around our hotel was open (siesta?) so we ended up back at the waterfront. Driving around Muscat revealed pretty views but my camera was packed away for most of it. You go along roads, a view opens up and suddenly there are jagged mountains, often even with a round tower or a fort on it. It makes the whole situation slightly unreal and simply looks like a fairy tale. In between the houses, mosques are dotted and you can see domes everywhere, even on the bus stop shelters.

A lot of necklaces

A lot of necklaces

After “lunch”, it was 4.30pm. Instead of rushing to a museum which would close at 6pm, we went into the Mutrah Souq. I was instantly slightly overwhelmed by all the goods, the smells (mostly incense) and again, the attention we attracted in our motorcycle gear. The souq is a maze of alleyways, more or less covered, with stalls selling just about everything. We already found a sticker of the Oman flag to put on the motorbike plus, I bought all of the postcards I will write from Oman.

Pretty dead from a long day, we bought groceries on the way back to the hotel and crashed.

Day 126 – Borobudur

“When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.” – Gautama Buddha as quoted in Civilization V Brave New World

Saying goodbye to Andy who hosted us for a couple of days. He even prepared lunch care packages for us today.

Saying goodbye to Andy who hosted us for a couple of days. He even prepared lunch care packages for us today.

Before heading out, we had one last morning with Andy. He really pulled all the stops for us. Not least of all getting up with us at 7 in the morning. Staff in the cafe remarked on the fact that they have never seen him around this early. Once again, all we can give is our appreciation and gratitude for what he has done for us. We had breakfast together, got the bike out and loaded up. After we got one last of Andy’s treat for the road, all that was left was to say goodbye. It has been a great weekend, just what we needed and a pleasure to meet fine Andy again. Hugs and goodbye, back on the road.

All the routing tips from Andy were absolutely golden. The first one led us away from the truck laden main highway through the fresh green countryside towards our first goal of the day: Borobodur.

Stairs leading up to the platform on top

Stairs leading up to the platform on top

We were a bit apprehensive about going. The price tag is hefty on our new Indo adjusted budget and we had such a bad experience at the Mother Temple on Bali. But then again, it is on the cover of our Lonely planet, so what can you do? Overly prepared to be annoyed we actually ended up having a pretty good time. Yes, the hawkers were the worst in Java, but on the other hands there was almost no crowd. Borobudur is impressive for a 1200 year old structure, with great scenery to boot, but not on the level of the Vatican, Milford Sound or Uluru. I wanted to come here, if only to bag as many Civ wonders along the way as possible and we did not leave disappointed.

Right after the Temple, we stopped in a roadside warung to get some drinks to go with our treats from Andy. The panini with home made pesto were soooo good! We will miss Andy, but we will also miss his food 🙂

And, of course, along the coast

And, of course, along the coast

On we went, following the south coast to Cilacap. Once again, we have to thank Andy for the recommendation. The traffic was light. We passed over several hills and through beautifully green fields and were in Cilacap by 4 pm. For the first time in a long while, we had a bit of a challenge in finding a room for the night. The first hotel was out of our league, the second I turned down because of the horrible smell of cigarettes in the room. We ended up in a rather odd place in the end: The go-to business hotel for the local (state run) Pertamina refinery. The price fit though, and the next day we got the manager really excited when he realised that we were on a big touring bike, so all was well.

Day 111 – Cruising

Taking aim ...

Taking aim …

I was surprised when we did our daily bookkeeping to learn that we only traveled 48 km today. Feels like more. Never the less, it was a good day. Not mind blowing, but enjoyable and entertaining.

It started alright with a good breakfast – which says something. Breakfast is often included in the room prices, but at 175k per night for two, the money has to be saved somewhere. So breakfast, in westernized establishments is usually either a pancake or two slices of whiter than white toast, plus tea or coffee. Since many locals prefer nasi goreng or rice cake, the pancakes are usually of dubious quality. Not this time though! The pancakes were excellent, we got fresh fruit to go with them. For a bit of colour, as our host said 🙂 – what a great start of the day. Continue reading

Day 87 – Balibó and Maliana

Today, we left Dili for good. Quite weird how attached we have become to this place which was our base for more than two weeks. We said our good-byes to Herman and I am curious about what he has to tell us about Dili once the wet season starts.

The beach in front of the resort and restaurant

The beach in front of the resort and restaurant

From Dili it is only a short ride to Cameo Beach, home to the Black Rock Café. Flo met someone at Cyclone in Darwin who told him to go there as his aunt was running it. So we pulled up for a drink but didn’t get a chance to meet the owners. Instead, two kiwi ladies on push bikes pulled up. In their own words “mad malae”. 🙂

It turns out that Jenny knows Herman – Timor is a small place after all. After about an hour, we parted with the lovely company to make our way towards Maliana. Jenny recommended a stop at the fort in Balibó where a new place just opened. We wouldn’t be able to afford the $85 a night but a coffee stop is always possible. Continue reading