Tag Archives: sightseeing

Day 16 – Last day in Spain

We managed to get moving quite early for us, by 9.45am we were on the road. Tomorrow is a holiday though so we ended to stock up before going into Sevilla.

Another gigantic Carrefour, even bigger than the last one, didn’t make for a quick stop. Instead, it took us a while to get the few things that we needed. Then, we were good to go! Well, almost, we needed fuel. After that, we were good to go! Well, yeah, but somehow the wrong sight was selected in the satnav which Flo realized halfway there. So it took us until lunchtime to get into Sevilla.

Another Minarett-gone-bell tower

Sevilla is not really a car-friendly city. That’s good. Trying to find parking when you’re already running “late” is bad. We ended up queuing for a spot on a parking deck for about 30 min. By now, it was most definitely lunchtime for us. Spanish people still think 1pm is early for lunch. It took us a bit to find a place to eat. The first one was more of a super traditional tapas bar than a sit in restaurant which would have been cool…without a baby. Number 3 would have been trampled as no one was paying the floor any attention.

On the way to the next possible place, I stopped at a pharmacy. No one is ill, but Number 3 is fighting hard with his molars. And of course we left the dental gel for pain relief at home. 😉

We arrived at the tapas bar I had picked in the Lonely Planet, only to find out that it would open in 15-20min. I was hungry, the baby was hungry. We couldn’t wait that long anymore. So we went to the place a few doors down and had a good meal including strawberry gazpacho. It looked more like a drink than food to be honest. And it tasted like a dessert.

view two

Finally, we were ready to tackle Sevilla. The main thing to do is visit Real Alcazar, the royal palazzo. We had a brief look at the queue winding three times around the whole thing and decided we couldn’t be bothered. Yes, same day tickets would have been available after an hour or a bit more in the queue but no. Just no. Instead, we queued shortly for the cathedral and had a look around in there. All of the churches here were mosques at one point, some even for several centuries. You can still tell from the floorplan in most cases.

In Sevilla, Christopher Columbus is buried. The 19th century monument is overblown but it was still cool to see. At the end of our visit we climbed up the Giraldo, or bell tower. Great views over the city…and onto all those rooftop pools people seem to have.

We left and were tired of sightseeing. It’s time for us to get into Portugal and a slower pace of traveling.

Speaking of the slow kind: By absolute chance we stumbled into what is the coolest campground yet. Super quiet in the forested National park of Donana. We just needed a place to stay for one night that was closer to Portugal than Sevilla so we took a random camp ground on the way, not expecting anything. The setting in the forest with lots of shade was lovely. It was not too busy and filled with other campers with small kids. It even had a whole array of “toys” in the kiddie pool which we tried again with Number 3. He still isn’t too sure about it.

Once Baby was in bed, we even had time to exchange travel stories with Lu and Eike, who travel around with twins in their Volkswagen Bully (T4).

  • On shady spots like this, we save the time and leave the awning off
  • Dirt – interesting as gravel but twice the cleanup!
  • Old school bodega – cool, but not kid friendly
  • I HAZ the food!
  • Another Minarett-gone-bell tower
  • a lady to keep you company
  • The wait was reasonable, but super sunny
  • For a church, there was an awful lot of fencing going on … something to keep the peasants in line i guess
  • oh, we had som silver lying aroud …
  • The main room only barely higher than the sides. Never seen that in a gothic church
  • The icons wear better crowns than some kings of the time …
  • Rosetta opposite the main altar
  • “I have an idea, let’s put it all up there!”
  • another window
  • 34 ramps up and down makes wee one drowsy
  • great views all around
  • View one
  • Bishops cant rest in anguish, can they?
  • Fancy retcon of Cristobal Colon’s last rest. He died impoverished …
  • view two
  • One can still make out the prior mosques footprint
  • Is this a trick?
  • Ok, now I am certain it’s a trick
  • Ok, really? It feels warm …
  • oh, might be actually warm!
  • Swapping travel and baby tales

Day 306 – Southsun groove

The roadworks picked up at some point in the morning. So although the light morning haze kept the sun from burning us out of our tent, we got up eventually. The morning ritual was performed efficiently if a bit lacklustre in the energy department.

The whole island is taken up by another fort, just off-shore from the castle

The whole island is taken up by another fort, just off-shore from the castle

Soon after though, the rhythm of the road started coming back to us. The wall of high-rise vacation bunkers loosened up and soon we finally felt like riding along the Mediterranean. There was a cool double fortress / castle very early on that got us a bit excited. One castle stood on shore, the other maybe 500m into the sea, fully occupying a small island there. All nicely illuminated by the morning sun shining down a now clear blue sky.

The first planned stop were the caves of Heaven and Hell. The Gorge of Hell is a massive sinkhole that ancient Greek colonists believed Zeus imprisoned the 100 headed monster Typhon. The view down the almost vertical shaft from a little viewing platform perched over one edge was a good warming up exercise. The real star was the massive cave at the bottom of the chasm called Heaven.

The sparsely lit cave was indeed beautiful

The sparsely lit cave was indeed beautiful

After a brief climb down to the “bottom” of the open chasm, an enormous cave opened up at one end of it, leading way deeper into the earth. The footing going down was treacherous, but we managed to reach the lowest part without a tell-tale “mud butt”. The cave was huge, going down almost 200m and was in places maybe 70m high.  The ancients believed that the river at the very end to be an access to the underground river Styx – not for us though, since the river was currently dry 🙂 It was really cool, nonetheless. On our way out, we had a short breather and rest at the Chapel of the Virgin Mary, build in the 5th century by the Byzantines to let a raucous bunch of teenage school kids pass.

Great lunch right at the sea

Great lunch right at the sea

On our way to the next destination, we had lunch at a beautiful and quiet restaurant right on the water’s edge. The eccentric proprietor served us a beautiful vegetarian bean dish and we enjoyed the sounds of the calm sea for a while.

Said next destination were the ruins of Anemurium. This city founded by the Phoenicians was ruled by Romans of one kind or another (Byzantines) until destroyed in 580 AD. The ruins are a magical place and exploring them in the beautiful afternoon light was just the thing we needed to get us back on track. Some of the public buildings still have bits of ancient mosaics decorating them. All can be explored freely and there was almost nobody there. Just an amazing spot.

An overview over Anemurium

An overview over Anemurium

With our spirits soaring, we were ready to tackle the road once more to reach the next campground along the coast. Unfortunately, this one was another 150 km away. Until now, we travelled pretty quickly on the brand new 2 lane coastal highway, with its many new tunnels. The next bit would go through the national park and while supremely beautiful, the more careful routing of the new road meant that it was not done yet. Any other day, this would be perfect for us. A quiet one lane highway, hugging the coastline as close at it can with hundreds of turns along the way.

From Anemurium, it was another 100km to the next camp ground

From Anemurium, it was another 100km to the next camp ground

We made the best of it, grooved along towards the setting sun and enjoyed ourselves. We had one more heart-warming encounter with two Kurdish guys at our last fuel stop and made it to the outskirts of Alanya sometime after 6 pm. The “campground” turned out to be a rather odd thing. Mainly a restaurant, they directed us to a tiny patch of grass within 5m of the diners sitting at the edge of the beach. We did not care much, though, got our cooker out and keeled right over after dinner was had. Earplugs helped a lot to drown out the sound of jolly diners and surprisingly loud peacocks.

Day 271 – Shiraz

Posing over the breakfast table, especially vegetarian just for me

Posing over the breakfast table, especially vegetarian just for me

The girls were sad that we had to leave so early, while they were still in school, but the way to Shiraz was long and we needed the time on the road. We did, however, jump in the car with all of them on Azemeh’s morning school run to say goodbye. Such smart girls, it was a pleasure to meet them.

Azemeh made a special vegetarian breakfast treat for Nina – a tomato and egg affair that tasted delicious. We took a round of goodbye photos and packed the bike. Then, it was time to leave for good. We are so glad to have had the chance to share a day in this family’s life and experience Persian hospitality first hand. It did not stop at their door, either. Azemeh insisted to guide us to the edge of town, where the road that we would need to take goes east. Thank you all!

What a lovely road!

What a lovely road!

We followed the road east across a vast plain until we hit the first of the mountain ranges between us and Shiraz. Instead of following the route suggested by our hosts, we decided on a little detour further south. The shorter route would have led us past Pasargadae and Persepolis. Both of them we wanted to do as a day trip from Shiraz, and we hate doubling up on routes. This way, we got the chance to see some more beautiful scenery and go past three almost dried up lakes.

Flo on his way to play with the salt

Flo on his way to play with the salt

We had a short rest at the first one, before re-fulling and pushing on. A few kilometers out of Shiraz, we passed the last lake – this one is a salt lake. There was a sort of jetty going down and we had a bit of fun playing around with the salt on the shore.

Once we were in Shiraz, we gave Hamid (our contact from Dubai) a call. Instead of him, his wife answered the phone and informed us that Hamid was currently in the operation room for surgery on his hands. Two days after we had left, Hamid had broken both his hands in a motorcycle accident. But this is Persia, after all. In no time, we were offered help and two blokes dropped us off at the hotel we had quickly looked up in the Lonely Planet.

Pretty knackered after a long day of riding, we only went out one more time in search for dinner and some light sightseeing. Dinner proved to be hard once again, with all the recommendations failing to offer any vegetarian dish for Nina. This is kebab land.

Checking out the handicraft

Checking out the handicraft

For now, we resorted to some people-watching across from the old palace, with a cup of tea from a street vendor. It turned out to be mostly people watching us, though, and we continued to one of the three bazars. We saw Persian carpets, spices and all manner of more or less useful wares, but still no food.

As we came out of the bazar, we decided to go for the safe route of bread and cheese instead and started to ask around. Turned out we walked just right past the bakery, obscured by a crowd of shoppers. We got a nice bread straight out of the oven and some veg and cheese and headed back to the hotel. On our way back, it actually started raining – the second time in two days for us in Iran.

Back in the hotel, during dinner, Hamid got in touch with us (bless him) fresh out of surgery. He got us in contact with his sister who lives in Shiraz and soon we got the offer of a guide for sightseeing for tomorrow morning. Pick up 9.30 am. All was well – we love Iranian hospitality.

P.S.: Get well soon, Hamid!

Day 168 – The artsy town

Finally made it to the waterfront!

Finally made it to the waterfront!

Georg Town is actually known for its pretty, colonial era district (also listed as Unesco World heritage) and a lively scene of street art. Since we were occupied with the bike yesterday and then only moved in a radius of 50m from our hostel, today was the day for sightseeing.

We started the day with planning what’s to come after Georg Town. This is our last stop in Malaysia; the border to Thailand is not really far away anymore. However, all the interwebs told us that we will only get a visa for 15 days if we cross over at the land border. 15 days is too short for all of Thailand. So we made up elaborate plans to drive up north to Bangkok, change tyres and then swerve to the right into Cambodia…or try to get a 30 day visa here in Malaysia.

Spontaneously, we jumped on the bike, drove to the Thai embassy in Georg Town…and left again. The first employee we met was able to tell us that tourists cannot get a multiple entry visa here. Really, multiple entries is the only one that makes sense for us so we left again. The visa fees were horrendous as well.

Town Hall

Town Hall

Back in the hostel, we picked up Josy and Peter who had shown interest in doing the 2.5km long “walking tour” through the inner city which the Lonely Planet suggested. Glad to be out of our motorcycle gear again, we started. Man, it was hot. And almost lunch time as well. Not feeling up for a museum, we passed the Penang Museum before crossing the park in front of the City hall and Town hall. Only the 20 ringgit entrance fee deterred us (and the backpackers) from having a look inside Pinang Peranakan Mansion which is one of the best preserved old buildings in town.

From here, a quick walk through Little India brought us to an Indian, vegetarian place that I’d been eyeing up ever since we got into town. The Paneer Butter Masala was delicious while all of my fellows went for the set menu lunch and were rewarded with a tray full of 7 cups with different sauces, soups and even milk rice surrounding a mountain of rice topped with crackers. Flo ordered the deluxe version so had one cup more and chappati extra.

Minions are taking over the world

Minions are taking over the world

Happy and full, we continued from Little India with its blaring music to Chinatown. Starting from Lebuh Armenian, “my” section finally began: Georg Town’s street art. Those tiny little roads are filled with artsy tourist shops, scenes made from a thick metal wire and of course, the painted street art works. It’s hard to describe but I hope you get an impression through the photos. I really enjoyed it.

A bit of relaxing later, all four of us made our way through the city again. This time during dusk, towards the waterfront where Flo and I had picked an Italian restaurant. It was this time of the month again…our next try of Italian food in an Asian country. Checking out the prices at the door, Peter and Josy rather continued to the nearest food market while Flo and I decided to be decadent. Looking like tourists in our hiking pants and jandels, we still didn’t stick out too much. The pizzas were good; the best ones we have tried since leaving the western world but still a

My cake looked at me!

My cake looked at me!

tiny notch under a Scopa pizza for example. Being decadent already, Flo enjoyed a glass of wine to his food while I ate a piece of a rich Equatorial Gianduja cake. So good!

Back at the hostel, we ran into Josy and Peter again. Feeling generous and almost like in Wellington after the good food, we invited them to a drink in the “Behind 50” bar on the opposite side of the street from our hostel. It also looked and felt very kiwi so we got into reminiscing our time in Wellington…

 

 

Day 160 – Confluence of Mud

Not much is left of the namesake mud that gave the city its little complementing name, nor of the tin upon which the early success was founded. There was plenty to discover of the people that came here for that reason and many others, though. From European colonial era buildings to the Indian and Chinese quarters – Kuala Lumpur really feels like the melting pot it has been for so long.

Sultan Abdul Samad Building, one of the landmarks

Sultan Abdul Samad Building, one of the landmarks

We wanted to use the last day in KL to do some more proper sight seeing. So we headed out a bit before lunch to go for a long walk in the city. For a city with millions of inhabitants and teeming with glittering high-rises, KL is surprisingly walk-able. We took a taxi to Merdeka Square to start our walk. The square is surrounded by colonial era buildings with some modern museums thrown into the gaps and feels like a huge contrast to all the skyscrapers all around.

From here, it was a short walk to our lunch spot, an all vegetarian restaurant in Little India. All the food was amazing, but we had it especially for the plain naan bread. Fluffy, smoky and perfect to lap up that butter paneer sauce. An observation I made was that there was a surprising variety in what a main dish consists of. Until now, most Indian restaurants we have been still stuck to the western formula of rice – sauce – maybe bread. Whereas here, I got a tray with something between a naan and a pizza in the middle and 4 pots of sauces around it plus a cup with either a soup or a sauce. Without anyone around to mimic, it can be surprisingly hard to find out how you are supposed to eat your food 😉

Red lanterns mark the whole quarter

Red lanterns mark the whole quarter

With a short walk we crossed half a continent and went from Little India to Chinatown. There are a couple of roofed streets providing much needed shade in the searing afternoon heat. We used that for a stroll over the street markets here, amusing ourselves with knock off handbags and the politely pushy hawkers.

A three dollar cab ride later, we were right at the foot of today’s main attraction: The KL Tower, or Menara Kuala Lumpur. Since we did not get up the Petronas Towers we went all in here and got tickets for the highest (open air) platform for RM210. This one is higher anyway with its 421m on a 90m hill.

We  spotted a Hard Rock Cafe nearby from up top and thought it be a cool way to end the foray with a drink there. Unfortunately it was A: further than it looked from up top and B: we realized too late that we had run out of cash. At least we could pay our overpriced but nice drinks by credit card.

It took us almost an hour to find the nearest ATM in the next mall to be able to pay the taxi home – just in time for Nina’s family call to Germany.

The day was rounded off by another lovely home cooked dinner and wine, compliments of Sonja.