Tag Archives: sunset

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 210 – On top of things

A joy to ride

A joy to ride

If the map was any indicator, we were about to embark into the real mountainous North today. We heard from other travelers that there was a new road going over a mountain pass instead of following the Mekong and that it would not be used by buses for the steep incline. Obviously we were quite excited about this.

Before we could find out however, there were a bunch of minor annoyances in our way. First, the drive chain was covered in a thick sandy layer of grit and had to be cleaned. Before packing, I fixed up our luggage racks a bit and when we finally were ready to leave, Nina’s headset finally gave out after playing up for a while. This is the forth or fifth one to break on the trip – and the final spare. As much as we love the cheaper wired intercom, it is getting a bit ridiculous. Later that night I went over all the old (and broken ones) again – and at least found one where only one of the earpieces is dead. That will have to do until we can get our hands on replacements later on, probably Oman. Continue reading →

Day 194 – Rural life

Exchange trucks for potholes

Exchange trucks for potholes

Today, we made it almost all the way off the main tourist trail and poked our noses into rural Cambodia. The ride from Kampong Cham to Kratie was pretty short, only 130 km. We decided to take a bit of a back road – the lowest category that is still sealed. The turn off came about 40 km in. There was almost no traffic on this road, a real plus, and we finally saw the return of turns. On the other hand, for the first time really (other than the dirt roads) we also saw the return of potholes.

Other road users...

Other road users…

The houses here are simpler, a good bunch of them still traditional wood – all built on stilts and many with carved stairwells leading up to the first floor. Oh, and a brief return of mosques. The minority of the Cham practice a local variety of Sunni Islam.

Hitting the Mekong once more (there will be many more times traveling up Laos) instilled us with awe once more. The Mekong is truly mighty, even in the dry. It almost feels like an elongated lake rather than a flowing water. A short while later we checked in to our guest house – with river views, of course. The room was huge and still quite cheap. The only downside was that we had to lug all our stuff up three flights of stairs all the way to the “rooftop”.

Lazy and still a bit cooked from the road, we gave the guesthouse lunch a try. Which was – moderately edible. The oddest thing of all, though, was that we both had to change our order after half an hour because they apparently ran out of rice. To be honest, I would not have thought that possible to happen in a country where “eating” literally translates to “eating rice”.

I like that the river fronts are still accessible for the public. Best sunset spots ever

I like that the river fronts are still accessible for the public. Best sunset spots ever

Later that night we went out to enjoy another majestic river sunset. The red orb sank right at the opposite side of the river and we had front row seats on the city’s long promenade. We went to one of the lonely planet recommendations for dinner, but for once it was rather forgettable and we hurried back to the guesthouse. With a last beer / Baileys on the rocks, we finished up a blog entry and retreated to our room. Not much, really, but a nice and well rounded day on the road.

 

 

 

 

Day 190 – Riverside retreat

Leaving Phnom Penh in the morning, we planned to ride to Kampot, the long way around. Kampot is a small river town which had been used as a “seaside retreat” before the civil war. It is still small and charming but on the rise and we decided to check it out rather than the beach town of Sihanoukville.

5m wide, 27m long ... this strange pattern is found all over south-east Asia.

5m wide, 27m long … this strange pattern is found all over south-east Asia.

There is a pretty direct road to Kampot from Phnom Penh, however, in order to see at least a bit of Cambodia’s mountains, we used the “scenic route” which led past the Elephant mountains. The Cardamom mountains still elude us. Lots of eco-tourism opportunities are available for trekking in the National Park of these mountains but they are all not accessible with a motorbike. Most of them actually start in tiny village that you reach via a boat cruise up the river. Leaving the bike behind feels wrong so I guess, we will have to come back to Cambodia at some time.

The route was nice and it was a great change to see some mountains again in this flat country but we completely forgot to take any pictures. Through the detour, the day’s ride was quite long again with 240km; and we drove it almost in one go.

Would fit into an Alsacian town juts as well

Would fit into an Alsacian town juts as well

Entering Kampot via a bridge over the river, we liked it immediately. A sleepy little town with roundabouts as their sightseeing attraction and a great riverside promenade with restaurants and cafes. Our little Pepper guest house, carefully checked out via the internet in advance, also was lovely and the rooms with fan only cost US$7 per night. Glad that we had booked two nights already, we went into town after a shower.

There are many colonial buildings still standing here and it gives Kampot quite the French atmosphere. When we reached the river (not far from Pepper guest house at all), the sun was just starting to set, tinging everything in a warm yellow. Sitting down and watching it for a bit, we then decided to go to a Lonely Planet recommendation for dinner, even if it was a little more expensive than the other options around.

The local fishermen leaving for another nights catch

The local fishermen leaving for another nights catch

Rikitikitavi is across the road from the river so that the terrace looks out over it. While entering, we noticed the big sign of “2 for 1 cocktails from 5-7pm” which was now. So we ended up ordering a mojito, a home-made lemonade and Khmer dinner. The staff was so friendly and while nibbling on the salted peanuts that we received, the cocktails arrived. Just…they weren’t mojitos but we totally forgot to connect this fact with our order and started sipping them away. They were good. Made with fresh pineapple juice. Wait…pineapple juice in a mojito? It was right then that our mojitos arrived as well…and we were really embarrassed that we’d forgotten what we ordered. The waitress said it was her mistake and she gave us the first round of cocktails for free. So in the end, we both ended up with four cocktails at the price of one. 🙂

Day 169 – Run for the sun

Again on the "old" bridge ... it was just shorter

Again on the “old” bridge … it was just shorter

We could not find any more destinations or activities in Malaysia that were able to re-kindle the fire and joy that has been missing for a couple of days. Nina and I talked a lot about how we feel about the trip, what we thought were the reasons and what we might do with it. One decision that came out of this was to call it for Malaysia and head over to Thailand, today. There was still doubt, though. Are we missing out? We also did not want to do Malaysia dis-justice, when we were so hyped up about exploring here after coming over from Sumatra.

My last bid for a set of Heidenau K60 in Malaysia fell short as well, so at 10:30 it was time to hit the road for the last 150 km in Malaysia. Since I could not find them in Thailand either, it might come that we need to settle on a different tire soon. There was an importunity to get the promising looking Metzeler Karoo 3, but unfortunately they do not make a front in Rocinante’s size. Continue reading →

Day 44 – Uluṟu

Rest was needed

Rest was needed

The 508km from yesterday took a toll on us and we decided to sleep in and take our time in the morning. We shortly considered to have a rest day in Curtin Springs but it was only 86km more to get to the Ayers Rock Campground which we classified as a short “hop” and did around lunch time.

We both dreaded the campground a bit, given how indigenous people are treated in Australia and the fact that the local Aboriginal tribe asks tourist to honour the sacredness of Uluru and not climb it while the government does not want to close off the track because it fears a decline in tourism. Talk about being disenfranchised.

Red indeed ...

Red indeed …

The earth turned even redder on our short ride and then Uluru was visible on the horizon. It is quite the sight even from far away. Getting to the campground which is on the expensive side with $40 a night, we were prepared for the worst…and were positively surprised.

The resort is made for different kinds of tourists: The ones with money go into the hotel rooms with Uluṟu view, the others have a choice of the Pioneer Hotel and the campground. The campground is definitely made for A LOT of tourists but it still has a nice character to it. Checking in, Flo got a whole handful of information sheets including a booklet of the resort and its history. (Knowing Flo, you will realize that he read the entire thing). The land was given back to the Aboriginal people and is leased to the government for 99 years. Slowly but surely, the local tribe also got involved in running the Ayers Rock Resort. You can feel it in the respect that is shown towards the Aboriginal customs and stories. Started in 2013, there is also an effort made to have indigenous staff and a trainings program for indigenous people. The campground offers free classes in things like “throwing a boomerang” or “playing a digeridoo”. There is also a free guided tour around Uluṟu . I would think that this is the reason why the campground is rather pricey.

We decided to keep taking it slow. Heading into the resort’s shop, we bought more fresh fruit and vegetables. This is when we realized that we had skipped lunch…and had coffee instead. Well, Flo had coffee and I had an iced chocolate. It was the best thing ever. 🙂

Decorative clouds

Decorative clouds

 

Around 4.30pm, we headed out to the viewing area to see Uluru in the light of the setting sun. From this area, you look onto the mountain rather than into the sunset so you can see the colours change.

The sun set at 6.39pm. We filled the time between taking photos with talking to the people around us which was lovely.

Many, many pictures later it was 7.15pm and we decided to head back to the campground instead of hanging around until the stars come out. The moon was spectacular tonight tough.