Tag Archives: meeting fellow travelers

Day 25 – To the Donkey!

Good for us, Leonie is a champion of planning ahead. She had a few great options for us to avoid the “we should really not sit on our bums all day” trap ready last night, but we intentionally left the last choice between a fun park and a petting zoo-type place open until breakfast, so that Number 3 could give some input. Interestingly, he went for the “farm animals” option over the playground. 

Good morning from the rooftent window

After a very nice and leisurely breakfast we still had time left to sort the kids out and let them go through some of their morning routines. Of course as always, I ratcheted the stress level up a notch. Instead of going in the two cars of our dear hosts, I thought it a great idea to finally show off puru hiko to someone else. That meant breaking the tent down – something that did not sit entirely well with Nina for a little while …

We got over it, though – and I got to both show off how quick the tent can come down as well as the fun to be had with an EV. Peter and our kids were with me, while Nina went with Leonie and their two rascals. Off to the Kinderparadijs Malkenschoten. 

Goats who stare at Men

A bit of sunscreen and we were starting with some sheep and then straight for the petting zoo full of goats. Number 3 has a love-hate relation with them, this time apprehension won out for the most part. It has been over a year, to be fair to him. 

So we made our way, leisurely, from enclosure to enclosure gazing at sheep, ponies and the odd chicken. All the while, we took the time to stop in between to give the kids time to explore the playgrounds and equipment along the way. 

Unfortunately, around lunch time, we had to adapt a bit more. One of us felt quite unwell, and we hustled to get food into all the kids and get them moving towards the exit. The magic phrase was “go look at the donkeys” – since we knew they were near the entrance of the site. There was a bit of severe discomfort, to which I could thoroughly relate after having joined the 10% of people with this particular chronic ailment about two years ago. 

The kids played so well together <3

Given the need for rest and the excitement for our little team of adventurers this morning, we all retired to an extended nap-time into the early afternoon. I took the tent setup as another challenge and had it up and ready for bedding before our hosts had their front door unlocked 😀

The rest of the day was pretty much perfect for what we expected out of a visit like that – the kids were mostly good, playing well together. Everyone felt much better after naptime and there was plenty of time to catch up and feel comfortable around each other. Even though we all communicated in our second or third language, there is a closeness we feel to Peter and Leonie, based on shared similar experiences, that is quite unique. It turned out it only incresed in the last few years, with all of us going through the experience of having two kids still sort of in the aftermath of our “big trips”. 

Evening talks with good friends

The day closed out with lovely cold (non-alcoholic) beers and way too much Indonesian food. We were delighted and might have gotten carried away with the order, but it is really hard to come by Indonesian food in Germany (even though this batch was Chinese-cooked). We have fallen in love with the Indonesian cuisine on our “Home to Home” trip and tucked in until there was not room for a single extra bite.

We sat outside, enjoying the mild summer evening until the last light had set behind our tent. Thank you Peter, Leonie – what an excellent way to end another (little) adventure.

  • Good morning from the rooftent window
  • Making the most of their time with the tractor
  • Morning playtime
  • Number 3 playing construction site with real sand (!!!)
  • Right behind the entrance at Kinderparadijs Malkenschoten
  • That glow in her eyes – enjoying that gives us back the 10 years we lost over lost sleep with them 😉
  • Goats who stare at Men
  • Momy, are you seeing this!
  • Ok – you first. If they don’t bite your hand off …
  • … maybe it is safe enough. But only the little one!
  • They had humongous chicken and also tiny ones …
  • two and a half little engineers … we could have left them here for the next hour, I think …
  • bit rusty, needs some help
  • Proud engineer, proud dad 😀
  • this photo is misleading – I lived in new zealand, I am not afraid of sheep … 😀
  • big enough to serve as a compfortable mount, if she tried
  • therese were quite magificent – and pretty tall for ponies
  • just a backup, he did not need any intervention
  • he dared the mighty creek – legs crossed and go! mighty proud of him
  • Childlike Flo on a zipline with the Agent in the carrier on his back
  • Trying to feed the Agent
  • The Agent of Entropy munching on a cheese bread roll
  • Number 3 had to have ice cream before we could leave
  • All of the kids loved watching the turtles
  • Turtles in a pond
  • Both big boys on a tunnel adventure
  • There was a tiny calf in the cows’ enclosure
  • Of course, Number 3 also gave it a go
  • Flo on the tree stumps balancing and the Agent is almost in the midst of things
  • Look, the donkeys also had a baby!
  • The donkey enjoyed some pats
  • Number 3 looking at and patting tiny lambs
  • On the way out
  • The food arrived. O.O Indonesian rice table for two persons
  • Preparing for dinner. The kids had to be fed first
  • The Agent in the dool’s pram
  • The kids played so well together <3
  • Masterly inactivity
  • Evening talks with good friends

Day 276 – An unexpected pick-up

Gosh, what a lovely spot. I do look tired though

Gosh, what a lovely spot. I do look tired though

Check out time for our lovely hotel was 12 (noon) and we intended to use every second of that time to relax, enjoy the garden and update the blog while we have wifi. Breakfast was served late from 9 am onwards and we just kept our spot to lounge on one of the platform. After blogging for an hour we had an extra tea or coffee (which was still available from breakfast) and dug into the box with sweets once more.

But even the most chilled out morning in a while comes to an end so we packed and waved good-bye to Yazd which we really enjoyed despite it being rather hard on our budget. It is 316km from Yazd to Esfahan, something that is easily do-able in an afternoon ride. However, we had decided to wild camp tonight to save money so there was absolutely no time pressure on us. Unfortunately, the road led straight through a desert where the sun burnt down. It wasn’t inviting to dally.

I was exhausted already: In the heat and on the bike is not a good place to be ill

I was exhausted already: In the heat and on the bike is not a good place to be ill

Around 2 pm, we stopped at an old roadside caravansary which had some spots in the shade and was probably used as a stop for truckers. A quick snack lunch and an extended break later, we were back on the road. I still didn’t feel well and was really happy with the break. I guess I’m coming down with a bad case of cold or something; my head feels kind of funny from all the slime that is building up inside of it. You are welcome for this description. =P

Once we hit the mountain range behind which Esfahan lies, it got cooler and more comfortable on the bike. Soon, we were starting to look out for a camp spot. Spare time can always be used for the blog and a bit of a lie down cannot be bad for a sick me either. We passed the first “maybe” spot when I suddenly realized that we hadn’t bought anything for dinner yet…and no extra water as well. So the looking for a camping spot stopped and instead, we looked for a shop now to replenish our tank bags.

Such a lovely, welcoming place

Such a lovely, welcoming place

The first place we found was an actual village or small town called Toudeshk. So we turned off the highway and stopped at the first shop we saw…it was closed. Just when we got going again, a taxi pulled up to us, the driver looked out and asked if we were looking for a guest house. Since we weren’t, he pointed out the next open shop to us but then continued to ask if we would come to his guest house…maybe just for a tea. We had the time so why not? Buying bread, cheese and vegetables was done quickly and then we followed Mohammad to his guest house. Turns out that it is Tak-Taku Homestay which is recommended in the Lonely Planet and is a lovely, lovely place. Like a little oasis.

Completely vegetarian: Ash and an eggplant dish

Completely vegetarian: Ash and an eggplant dish

We sat down with Mohammad and parts of his family to eat water melon and drink tea, joined by other guests after a while. It was lovely. Unfortunately, we really really didn’t want to spend money on a guest house but Mohammad insisted on showing us an option. So we had a look. Understanding that we are on a tight budget, he offered us to sleep in the fire room which only has three of the platforms in it and no beds. This would allow us to stay for very cheap. We said yes as all we really need to sleep is a roof and no bugs. Thus, we had a lovely late afternoon at the guest house, an amazing chat with the fellow guests and a great home-cooked vegetarian dinner.

Meeting Leon from the Netherlands, Tilman from Germany and Jose and Jorge from Portugal meant we had very well-travelled company who were also interested in politics, much to Flo’s pleasure. With dinner after dark, I was getting tired rapidly so I opted for an earlier night than Flo.

Day 275 – Jazzed by Yazd

What a great place to wake up to

What a great place to wake up to

The night was cold, but just at the edge of uncomfortable. If I would have worn just a little bit more, it would have been fine. On the other hand, it was not nearly as cold as back in New Zealand, so it seems at some point we will have to buy at least another blanket for the upper regions of Kurdistan and Turkey.

Our camp spot was still beautiful. We took all the time we needed (and not to over-work still ill Nina) to pack up our camp and got back on the road. This road lead us in a bend eastward, down the current mountain range onto the same high altitude plain that Shahr-e Babak lies on. The last 100 km are another vast mountain range and the steep drop down to the edge of the desert. The last pass was impressive; with 2600m it was probably the highest pass Rocinante has ever gone over. At the same time, it was probably the least spectacular – just a simple mountain road.

into the heart of the old town

into the heart of the old town

The heat of the desert really hit us when we reached the foot of the mountains on the Yazd side. We had come down 1500m of altitude on our 25km ride, plus hitting the edge of the desert. The outskirts of Yazd do little to impress, with their sprawling concrete facades. As soon as we turned a corner into the old town though, we were impressed. The big blue tiled entrance of a mosque beckoned us and we turned once more into the maze of mud-brick walls.

First stop was the Silk Road Hotel – their rooms were clearly out of our price range, but the Lonely Planet said that their restaurant would serve the rarity of vegetarian Indian food. Right there on the parking lot was something else that caught our eye: A proper camper van with German licence plate (Hannover to be specific). A brief look around once we were inside and we spotted the potential overlanders and eventually joined them for our lunch.

Overlanders! Such a lovely couple

Overlanders! Such a lovely couple

Helga and Uli are a charming couple who have just reached retirement age. They have driven their van all the way down from Germany for a three month trip. We had lunch and then coffee together and all in all had a great time. It surprises me time and again what a huge unifier traveling is. Time and time we meet people with whom on the surface, we have little in common, just to kick it off like we have known each other for ages.

With a little bit of heavy heart, we pulled ourselves away from the good company to find a hotel and use the time for a bit of sightseeing in town. The cheapest hotel in the old town was still a good bit above our usual budget. Dorm beds would have fitted the bill, but Nina was still sick and we did not want to spread it too much to innocent travellers. After all, the hotel was amazing. An old merchant’s villa, it had beautiful courtyards with fish ponds and greenery. We gave in to the indulgence, promising ourselves a night of camping tomorrow to make up for it.

The most beautiful mosquito breeding ground ever!

The most beautiful mosquito breeding ground ever!

The hotel was really stunning – we were looking forward to letting the day fade out on the platforms by the pond at the inner courtyard. For now though, we had some sightseeing to do. The hotel was right on the route of a suggested walk from the guidebook. Locals still gave us the odd look for wandering around in the afternoon heat (at 3 pm), but with all the shade from the narrow and sometimes vaulted alleys of the old town, it was really not too bad.

Completely covered alleyway

Completely covered alleyway

Disappointment struck soon though, when we found out that the prices for the sights along the route were “a bit” outdated. To be more precise, across the board the admittance for foreigners went up 10x to 20x from 2012. We hesitated, but could not in good conscience spend $10 to $20 NZD for every sight of half an hour. Luckily, we enjoyed then narrow and maze-like old town just fine on its own. It would have been cool though to get a look at one or two more of the old merchant houses. Generally, all houses are unremarkable from the outside here. Plain mud brick walls, that’s it. But like modern shopping malls, once inside, whole worlds unfold.

We continued, also skipping an inside view of the mosque for $4 a person to find what Nina surely defined as the highlight of her tour: Haj Khalifeh Ali Rahbar, a 100 year old sweets shop at the corner of the two main roads. After some guessing on how this shop works, we manage to liberate a mixed box to go with our afternoon tea (or two) for less than a single ticket at the sights. Nina definitively prefers this.

In earlier times, the water from the qanat would have filled the pool, creating a living room underground with cool and fresh air

In earlier times, the water from the qanat would have filled the pool, creating a living room underground with cool and fresh air

We made one exception from our now frugal ways at the Water Museum across the street. Engineering history plus 300 year old merchant house was too tempting for me to forgo. It was pretty cool in the end. The house had two floors up and three down, to a depth of 10m below ground. This was to tap into two Qanats – ancient irrigation channels – below the house. The deepest room had water flowing through it once and would have been used by the inhabitants to escape the up to 50°C summer heat outside.

On our way back, we ran into Uli and Helga once more. They spontaneously joined us and we gave them a super quick tour of the sights in the old town before heading back to our hotel to catch the sunset from the rooftop.

Chilling in the cool night’s breeze with tea and sweets on one of the platforms in the courtyard was an amazing way to let the day fade out …

Day 258 – Encounters

Good bye, camping spot! Back onto the road

Good bye, camping spot! Back onto the road

I underestimated how cold it would get up in the mountains. After a hot night in the desert, I now had to put on an extra layer of clothing every time I woke up in the night. It made for some much interrupted sleep. Given that we had quite a bit of extra time, since our plans with Jebel Akhdar fell through, we took it slowly, slept in and generally enjoyed a cool morning in the tent opposed to trying to pack everything before the sun is up.

Even the most relaxed morning has to come to an end so we got back on the road to drive the last 60 km up to Jebel Shams, our camping spot for this night. A short day of riding indeed.

Picturesque abandoned village in the bend of Wadi Ghul

Picturesque abandoned village in the bend of Wadi Ghul

Before starting on the incline of Jebel Shams, you come through Wadi Ghul, a large wadi that still had some water left. We followed its path for a while and found an abandoned mud-brick village on a bend with picturesque gardens in front of it. The new village is on the opposite side of the wadi but the old one just looks nicer.

The road up to Jebel Shams is about 20 km long with 12 km of gravel road. Pretty close to the start of the incline, we passed a truck that was lying in the ditch so we took a bit of extra care. Further up, just before the gravel part started, we stopped at a tiny coffee shop which had run out of coffee. They also didn’t have any non-meat food so we both enjoyed a Chai tea and some hands-and-feet conversation with the staff.

Fritz drove from Kenya to Oman and was looking to get to Asia from here

Fritz drove from Kenya to Oman and was looking to get to Asia from here

The Lonely Planet recommends the “Sunrise camp” if you want to camp but it is on the flank of a nearby mountain instead of on Jebel Shams itself. So the first thing to do was get up on Jebel Shams and check out the view there and the so-called Grand Canyon. The gravel road turned out to be in quite a good shape except for one part which must have had a landslide and thus was now bumpy. Shortly after, we passed a big truck which could only be an overlander. Both parties stopped simultaneously and we had a nice roadside chat with Fritz from Austria who had driven here from Kenya. Fritz also told us about a wild camping spot up on Jebel Shams which would mean that we didn’t have to pay 10 rial (about NZ$40) to pitch our own tent in the Sunrise Camp.

Vertigo much? Good that there is a fence for once

Vertigo much? Good that there is a fence for once

We stopped one more time on the way up as there was a viewing platform for the canyon. Again, it is so vast that pictures cannot reflect it adequately. 300 meters further away we came to the Jebel Shams Resort right on the top of the mountain. We had no ambition to stay there as it clearly was out of our budget (a pool on top of a mountain, huh?) but while we had food for dinner and breakfast with us, we still needed to find a roadside lunch. The coffee shop here was pricey but chances of finding any other eatery up here were pretty much zero so we both had omelette on toast.

While in the process of ordering and sitting down, a Dutch couple returned to the resort and recognized our motorcycle as one they had seen around Sur. So we started talking over lunch and ended up spending the next couple of hours with Heike and Robin who were camping in the resort. We relocated to their “living room” in the shade under a pagoda, had tea and cookies together and enjoyed meeting other travelers once more. We haven’t had that since Chiang Mai.

The most awesome camping spot

The most awesome camping spot

Around 4 pm to 4.30 pm we actually made it to “the” view of Jebel Shams. By this time, the SD card of the camera was full and we had to make room for more pictures by deleting a couple of old ones. Then, we rode around a bit in search of the best camping spot; in the end we decided to stay right at the edge as there was a bit of a sandy patch to pitch the tent.

Dinner was another round of the horrible spaghetti. It started getting windy and cold so we put on more layers to watch the sunset with a hot cup of tea before hiding in the tent until next morning.

Day 217 – Victory town

Morning road

Morning road

We got up relatively early today. The whole reason to go this far east was to reach a town called Vieng Xai (Victory town) to go on one of the half-day tours there. Vieng Xai is where the leadership of the communist faction hid during the civil war (and for the most part the CIA led a secret war against them while bombing Vietnam). The tours start either at 9 am or 1 pm. We decided on the earlier one. Our gear would stay in Sam Neua, in our hotel room, for the day.

The 30 km ride through the morning mist was quite magical. In good spirit, we arrived at the visitor center. Since we were early, we had plenty of time to get changed and even got treated to a cup of hot tea. Other than us, two families were on the morning tour with us. One Australian NZ expat couple with their two kids and a French family of five overlanding on push bikes. Continue reading →

Day 214 – Tat Kuang Si (7th Month-i-versary)

Lovely French couple travelling the world in their Defender

Lovely French couple travelling the world in their Defender

Adamant that he is up to riding the bike today, Flo decided that we would go to Kuang Si to see the waterfall (even if we wouldn’t swim in it) and so that I could see the bears at the bear rescue there. We had originally planned this visit for an afternoon but Flo’s sickness made it fall through.

The ride there was about 30km long. We stopped once at the roadside when we thought that a modified Defender from France had a problem (which wasn’t the case) and stayed for a short chat with the French couple who spend their retirement travelling the world. They were very cute. 🙂

As I said, tourists are around

As I said, tourists are around

Parking the bike, we entered the “park” where the path leads you through the bear rescue first. We saw a couple of them but then they were called into the closed off part for food so we went on to see the waterfall before coming back for the bears. The waterfall is amazing! I know it is touristy and yes, many tourists are swimming in it but…it is so beautiful. The water has a turquoise colour. You approach it from the bottom where the water runs over some low steps and swimming is allowed here. Further up, the steps become even lower looking how I imagine the pink and white terraces in NZ would have looked like before their destruction.

The actual Kuang Si waterfall

The actual Kuang Si waterfall

The last view you are treated to is the actual, tall waterfall. Again, it’s a beautiful sight. We were very happy that we went on this detour. To make the visit even better, we managed to buy yummy and cheap rice paper spring rolls from a local lady in the park rather than sitting down in the expensive restaurant. So we took our little packed lunch close to one of the waterfalls and happily munched away before returning to the bears.

On the way there, we saw the French couple again, waved shortly and recommended the local lady for lunch. Luckily, Flo remembers way more of his French lessons than I do so it was actually okay to talk. Back at the bears, ALL of them seemed to be out and about, looking for hidden food or just hanging out. One of them gave his best impression of a bear skin rug while a super fluffy one sat at a “table” eating something.

A snap shot of a butterfly on the way out

A snap shot of a butterfly on the way out

It was already 1pm when we left so the 360km to Phonsavan were out of the picture. However, we just started on the journey to see how far we would make it. Not wanting to retrace our steps for too long, we now took the old road down from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. This one is in worse repair as it is significantly older than the “new” one we had taken on the way up. It is also more frequented by tour buses and apparently made for scooters as it twists and turns so sharply that it even effected us on the motorbike…at least speed-wise. Still, the landscape was pretty to both sides.

Somewhere on this road, we passed a sprinter with an Austrian number plate. This is usually a good indicator for overland travelers so we stopped at the next opportunity. And yes, the sprinter pulled up right behind us. Werner and Susi (www.naglwitz.com, it’s in German though) are travelling from Austria to Australia but in intervals of 6 to 8 weeks before returning home to their jobs. This way, it took them more than two years to get to Laos but they didn’t have to completely quit everything at home. More importantly, they didn’t have to save all of their travelling money in one go.

The great view from our abandoned guest house

The great view from our abandoned guest house

At 4.30pm, with the sun already low above the horizon, Flo saw a roadside guest house by chance. He liked the look of it as it sat on the hillside, having a view so we stopped and asked for a room. Being on the cheaper side, we paid and asked for food. This ended in a rude-sounding conversation between two of the ladies and then the answer that food was not available. Slightly caught on the wrong foot, we looked around. The nicer one of the ladies than explained that we could eat out somewhere else in the village. First, we had trouble finding the place before it turned out that it really only was up the road from the guest house. Serving up a delicious vegetarian noodle soup, we then retired to our room.

No one who we had identified as the owners was still around, the shop tightly shut and really, it just looked abandoned when we were back. The only other person, also staying in the guest house tonight, was a dude with a Kalashnikov on his back who was busy putting his scooter into the hallway when we arrived. A dark, almost empty guest house didn’t feel too nice but it seemed to fill up some more before we went to bed.

The room turned out to be not so clean in the end as Flo had to dispose of a big spider before we realized that the bed or at least the pillows were molding. 🙁 Again though, I forget to take a picture as an example of one of our shabby cribs along the way.