Tag Archives: nothing

Day 19 – Sweet little nothing

This feels like holiday to us. The weather is just perfect: 26°C and blue skies. We have shade, we have food – and we made some company. The long talked about full on rest day is here.

We got the blog in order. More importantly, we also spent some time planning the next steps. We had to look a bit further ahead, since we still have the broken front clasp of the roof tent, we needed to find a place to receive shipped parts. We found another great place via rustiek kamperen, which is turning into a bit of an insider tip to all the other German families on parental leave we meet.

Found a stone!

Speaking of those: We got to talk to a German family also on their parental leave trip. Johannes and Maike taking a bit more time for their second boy Kaya. Traveling with a 3 year and a 5 month old, they definitively mark the “one up” occasion to our Blue George compact car setup. They travel with an even smaller slightly older VW Polo – with only the trunk space and a roof box for luggage. Although with their traditional tent, they definitively scored the jackpot regarding the spot. A little bit further away from everyone, in between shady trees hugging a small stream. It looks like an ad for free camping, but with hot showers and cold beer available within 50m.

In the afternoon we shared a beer or two, swapped travel stories. We returned to our camp just in time for a tortilla dinner. Only my second try at a Spanish tortilla, and with the added difficulty of the camping stove, it came out pretty decent. Nina and Baby enjoyed it.

And so, our day of sweet little nothing ended with a fine sunset and a final (real cold) non-alcoholic beer after Number 3 went to bed.

  • good morning campside
  • Still a weird kind of picky eater: Never enough, but alwas brave. Spanish ham, this time
  • too much nothing, sleep needed
  • Everyone in their zone
  • Found a stone!
  • Slightly jealous – but the mossies are even more anoying there
  • A view down the valley
  • Blue George enjoying the sunshine
  • final shot

Day 192 – Argh, argh!

Dragged ourselves out in our "sleeping" cotton shirts :)

Dragged ourselves out in our “sleeping” cotton shirts 🙂

We had planned to go on a little ride-out to find a lookout and hill station in the Bokor National Park. But once we had taken our breakfast at our still lovely guesthouse (we had decided to stay one more day, by the way) did the stomach demon strike. And that was it, pretty much.

We dragged ourselves out two more times to get food – Lunch at the Epic Arts (no experiments) and dinner at a more forgettable expat pizza joint in town, but that is it. A lot of sleeping, a lot of watching youtube.

No – honestly, that is it. So why don’t I use this to give an update on our more recent thoughts on the route from here on out and on our changing plans?

Why?

We had no illusions that all big plans we might have come up with in New Zealand had to have a level of flexibility when it comes to execution. Over the last two months, this has evolved and grown a bit beyond minor details. So, what are the issues? Why change?

First, because frankly, we have run out of money. Even though we have received incredible support to keep us going, we felt that we should at least consider cutting it a bit shorter to reduce our future outstanding obligations.

Further, we have felt an increasing pull to “come home” – to a single place for a good long while. Not so strong that we want to pull the plug entirely, but strong enough. We are both pretty sure that this will be a once in a lifetime trip and we would cut future adventures down to 1-3 months maximum.

Most importantly and urgently requiring a change of plan though was the fact that we realised that we do not want to go to Pakistan. Most importantly through Baluchistan. After a lot of talk it boils down to this: We do not want to risk our lives and more importantly the lives of some poor soldiers just to draw a line on a map. We, for now, have no pull towards Pakistan and would only be there to get to Iran.

There are other, minor bits: Nepal, our other big highlight, is in crisis right now with no clear end in sight. Myanmar required an expensive guide and can be well done some other time on smaller bikes. India is a mixed bag, but the long list of horror stories from the road (including fatalities) are playing into it as well.

The Plan 2.0

Right. So our new plan is to complete the Cambodia – Laos – Northern Thailand loop, then do Bangkok and fly either from there or from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai. Then we would do a little loop through Oman to visit Nina’s best friend and her lovely husband and come back to Dubai to take the ferry into Iran. Persia is, after Laos, the big “want to go there” item on our list.

After that, we would travel on to Istanbul, as a sort of unofficial end point and dash, broke as we are, back home across Eastern Europe.

All of this will probably cut two months out of our trip, making a perfect early summer return date. If all goes according to plan … 😉

planning ...

planning …

Day 29 – nothing, for real

We chilled or recuperated, respectively, today. Still shifting to more and more accept what is happening to us.

Nina is still properly sick, but it looks like a proper cold, to be over in 2 more days. The fever is down and  now the dripping and coughing has commenced 😛

I have caught up on writing blog entries and chased down the motorcycle some more. There is a chance we will get it tomorrow … for real! One more check and then the pickup. Should be doable.

Because of the uncertainty and Nina’s health, we have decided to stay until Thursday, at least. That gives me all of tomorrow to free the bike. Stay tuned …