Tag Archives: vegetarian food

Day 45 – Bilbao Taster

We were torn – no two ways about it. The Picos de Europa caught our attention, big time. On the other hand, with ¾ of our trip done, we just could not muster the energy for a full day hiking day. Plus, ever since one of my friends came back from a weekend romp to Bilbao raving about it, it was placed pretty high on my list. We are city people, after all.

And so we waved good bye to the impressive peaks and valleys of the Picos and headed back for the coastal highway. I snuck in a brief detour via a particularly recommended beach in Eastern Asturia – but when we got there, pretty much everyone except myself was already sound asleep. Bilbao it is, then.

I don’t even know where – there were many beautiful estuaries up here

After a minor challenge finding a parking garage (google does not differentiate between the public and resident only garages) we were smack down in the old town ready to explore. Briefly, at least – as we were quite knackered and the camping situation for tonight was not fully resolved.

Lunch then: Here came the great hour of a local food culture institution. One that quickly won me over, second to only maybe Warung Makan in Indonesia. Pintxos (pronounced peen-chos) are two bite extravaganzas similar to tapas, but smaller and more elaborate. They are pretty much a standard in any bar or café in town. So we did as the locals, picked two bars we liked and had two or three pintxos in each. The Café Bar Bilbao (while sporting an excellent carnivore selection) had no vegetarian option on offer, but were quick to whip up deep fried vege for Nina. Not as good, but A for effort. The location was great, though, giving us flashbacks to Barcelona almost a month ago.

The second spot was chosen for the vegetarian option. Nina enjoyed her chance to join in the fun. The place, Irrintzi was more our vibe as well – a bit artsy, a bit alternative. After two bars, we were actually full enough for lunch time. Just great – a drink, some food, 14€ for two and off to the next bar. I can totally see doing 3-4 in a night and avoiding both a bit of the hangover and a late night food frenzy stop at the golden arches. I want this at home!

this time, with veggie options (burglar still afoot).

We wandered through the old town a bit more, enjoying the architecture as well was the vibe. But it was time. The next campsite was half an hour out of town, which sort of made the decision for us on how to tackle tomorrow. That was a bit too far for public transport, so we would camp for the night, come back into town to park here and move on towards the Rioja valley once we had our fill.

[Flo forgot the most important food selection of the day. I managed to talk him into going to Opila, a patisserie pretty much next to our parking garage and i.n.d.u.l.g.e.d. while Flo planned the route for the next couple of days.]

The camp was one of those we would always rather avoid – expensive, tiny parcels without shade and not quite in a nice location. It was the closes one, though, and given that it was almost empty and the facilities were freshly renovated, it was kind of ok. We did get a chance to see the sunset – at the cost of almost freezing our toes off (in 10° C).

  • We got some good views …
  • … even on our way out
  • could be ad shots, if not the manufacture of both the car and the rooftent recommend against the combination …
  • I don’t even know where – there were many beautiful estuaries up here
  • as I said, we were in the zone … no idea, still pretty
  • farewell, this was our last glimpse of the high mountains
  • pretty … but the lure of the city had us ensared
  • we really liked these windowed balconies
  • first round, meat monster pintxos (see the burglar?)
  • nice enough to wip something up
  • off to the next bar
  • this square reminded us a lot of Barcelona, hawkers and all
  • this time, with veggie options (burglar still afoot).
  • we both quite like turn of the century to ’20 architecture
  • the burglar has made it to the vault …
  • … he had help!
  • I think he got away with it!
  • sunset always takes longer than expected
  • time to finish with some blogging
  • geometrically, the sun had already disappeared by that point …
  • lit ships anchoring at dusk

Day 25 – Tango to Évora

Still raining … hm. Ah well. Four weeks are long, but not that long. We have to get going. The seven stork families and their clattering are still very enjoyable background sound to our packing up. Évora is next on our little itinerary. Known for a very well persevered roman temple and a lovely medieval walled old town. It is actually part of the Unesco heritage list.

preserved by being turned into a medival storage bnuilding

We found a parking spot near the university within the wall – a good spot to explore on foot – strapped into our gear and faced the ongoing drizzle. It still turned out a pretty good location. Yet, there was a constant battle going for our moods between the grey wet drizzle from above and the picturesque sights right in front of us. We held on, mood wise, and Évora started to evoke other medieval old towns we have seen in the past. For me, it reminded me most of Avignon. Recent Carcassonne came to mind as well, although this was bigger and had a much more lived in feeling compared to the open air tourist attraction vibe of back then.

Lunch was a brilliant experience at an all vegetarian place trying to reinvent local traditional tastes in a vegetarian way. It was buffet style pay-by-weight and we both overstuffed our plate to make sure we can get a taste of everything.

… to make space for more

On our way here, we passed a tantalising window display of an arrangement of pastries. All kinds of tarts, including the mandatory pastel de nata as well as a local treat. The time on our parking ticket ran out, and so we split up. I went to renew the ticket and Nina did some window shopping with Number 3. Once reunited, it was time to tackle the treats! We had one of everything as well and sat down in this barn of a café. It was clear that looks were not what they were going for, but the vibe (and the pastry) were great. We sat right next to grandpa in his break, sipping a coffee and getting a quick round of candy crush in.

It was still raining when we got on our way to Lisbon. After half an hour, we decided that arriving was more important than saving some money and we hopped on the toll motorway. Some tolls we wanted to pay anyway, to get a chance to cross into town over one of the two colossal bridges connecting the south shore with Lisbon proper.

Earlier today, we finally abandoned the idea to switch up accommodation from campground to cheap room. So we arrived at the dreaded Lisboa Camping & Bungalows – and the grey sky amplified everything that seems horrible about this place. Overpriced, under maintained and horribly noisy due to two motorways surrounding it. The things you can get away with for being the only camp in striking distance of the city centre. A white whale could opt for one of the camper parkings, but we cannot.

Town really has to make up for this … at least tomorrow should be the last of this weather.

Wroooommmm …. woooooosssshhhh … wrooooooommmmm ….

  • farewell Mr. Donkey
  • Separation of labour
  • no respect for history
  • cool aqueduct, although this one is from the 16th century
  • preserved by being turned into a medival storage bnuilding
  • a lot of the towers have been integrated into other buildings
  • central square of Évora
  • never spare an oppertunity for an “i was here”, even in a chapel
  • tiles all around, even in the churches. Odd reminder of Iran
  • A lot of austentatious main altars all around
  • that stopped Nina in her tracks
  • Local variity, with cocoa
  • weather bad!
  • guy in a park
  • random free roaming peacocks
  • jup, up there he is
  • walking off our lunch …
  • … to make space for more
  • we take … all of them, please
  • this was when Number 3 called quits
  • 110m Jesus in Lisbon. Build as thanks for no WW2
  • Ponte de 25th Abril over the River Tejo
  • Flo unnerved by driver over noisy grates
  • one more motorway intersection and we are here ….

Day 309 – The Day of the Food Hipsters

The camp ground was lovely. The weather was lovely. And Flo had been pointed towards a job that he just needed to apply for. So we quickly decided to stay put another day so Flo could put his application together. Which in turn meant, I’ll have the whole day to myself…with my book. 🙂

Hipster food shot

Hipster food shot

After the food disasters yesterday, we carefully made sure to have appropriate food hipster food today. At 2pm, slightly late for lunch, we went into a vegetarian café close to the camp ground. It was brand new, in fact yesterday they had still painted some of the outdoor furniture, but it looked cosy and just like our thing. Which it was. 🙂 I had the bread platter while Flo took the falafel plate and we shared equally. It was fantastic food. It made us wonder a little bit on how much amazing food we were missing out because we cook ourselves when we camp.

Going back, more laying in the sun followed for me. In the evening, when Flo had finished his documents, we went out for a real dinner. The Lonely Planet recommends Saraphane which is the Turkish word for “wine house”. This seemed like the right place to celebrate that Flo started

Frist wine since Sohar - offically since Kuala Lumpur

Frist wine since Sohar – offically since Kuala Lumpur

on the application process already. Again, it was amazing. The super friendly cook took me into the kitchen because the menu didn’t feature a vegetarian main and gave me option what she could make for me. She spoke more German than English so with a mix of languages I ordered a cold yoghurt soup as a starter which is refreshing and a great summer dish and got a custom-made pasta plate as a main. The pasta is home-made, too, and with cheese, walnuts and rocket…it was delicious.

But the main attraction is definitely the wine menu. Choosing chicken as a main which will go with red wine, Flo was superbly advised while picking the wine to go with it. A local Turkish red wine. Can’t get much better. It reminded us of so many evenings in Wellington but also in Frankfurt when you have good food and are able to share with friends. Slightly home-sick, we contacted at least one of the ones we thought of.

To round things off, we went for coffee and tea afterwards. Also, superbly done and yummy. Paying, we realized that those drinks were not on the bill and when I asked about it the lovely lady said it was on the house. Happy, we walked back to our tent.

 

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 233 – Tiger Cage

Arriving early to stay for the whole process

Arriving early to stay for the whole process

The warehouse would open at 8.30 am and was only 3 km away as the crow flies, giving us ample time to pack and have a leisurely breakfast. There was a beautiful grey cat with sky blue eyes living at the resort, and she joined us in the hope for scraps. Only one of us was disappointed in the end 😉

Both our resort and the warehouse were at the eastern edge of town, where rice paddies and wooden huts mix with motorways and industrial development on a lot by lot basis. Luckily the GPS was un-phased and we had the coordinates for the place. I sometimes wonder how people found anything in places like this before good maps and GPS …

Battery has to be disconnected. Also note that the wind screen and mirrors are gone

Battery has to be disconnected. Also note that the wind screen and mirrors are gone

At the packing place, people were already busy at work. I was determined to stick around and make sure the box ends up as small as possible, after the disaster in Auckland. Since it was only for sea freight then, the enormous box only lost us about $100, but this time the story was different. I knew how small the bike could be packed from the crate I built for when we shipped the bike to New Zealand. The difference between these two crates would be $1500 NZ in air freight fares, so I was not about to leave that to chance.

Sure enough, the first suggestion from the master crate maker was comically huge – coming out at a volume weight of 550 kg. So with some pointing and an old picture of the bike in the crate I made, he agreed to these measurements – resulting in a crate with 375 kg volume weight.

Third step: Secure the front fork so the bike can't move

Third step: Secure the front fork so the bike can’t move

We had to wait a little while for the guys to finish an urgent order of some 15 pallets – all build from scratch – to finish. That gave us just enough time to finish the paperwork. But soon enough, the base pallet was assembled and I joined the guys in getting the bike in place. Getting the front wheel out was a bit of a mission without a jack, but it worked. Some re-positioning and the bike was being secured on the pallet.

Next step was getting all the other bits and bobs on and shrink wrap it all up like Spiderman’s wildest dream. While taking some pictures, we realised just in time that we had left the surface in one pannier. I rushed down and saved it from the clutches of the wrapper just in time.

The final product: Rocinante in a tiger cage

The final product: Rocinante in a tiger cage

The crate was nice and solid in the end and came in at about 1/4 of what we payed in New Zealand. Then again, also came with an annoyance in the end. Once everything was done, master crater Bob realized that he forgot to take the pallet itself into account and the box ended up 10 cm higher. I once again scold myself for being respectful and nice and suffering the fool in the end. So here we are, with a crate slightly bigger than the one I build myself – costing us another 200 euro in freight more than it needed to.

The whole affair took us less than 2.5 hrs. By 11 am, we were in a taxi on our way to central Bangkok. We even got to use the cursed elevated highways for the meager fee of 75 baht – since this time we were in a vehicle with the “appropriate” number of wheels.

Expensive but moldy "superior" room in central Bangkok...disappointed

Expensive but moldy “superior” room in central Bangkok…disappointed

Our hotel ended up as quite the disappointment. We chose a recommendation from the lonely planet, and it was not cheap (by our standards). Even though the room was big, it was damp, moldy and smelly and overall a lot tourist trappy in its feel.

For lunch, we went to a recommended vegetarian Thai restaurant, but were a bit disappointed again. The area here, near Khao San Road, is called a “backpacker ghetto” by some and we are learning why. Here more than anywhere else, we get the feeling that a lot of the economy is based on whities fresh from the plane with no idea of what things should cost. It is not uncommon that you can get a pad thai of similar quality for 40 bath in one place and 140 baht next door.

One of Bangkok's canals in evening light during our food hunt

One of Bangkok’s canals in evening light during our food hunt

That night we also went through the ordeal of buying flights for Dubai. Initially we wanted to leave on Saturday, but there were no good deals available any more. Only Emirates flies directly and their prices are about 50% more than any other one stop would cost. We ended up with a good compromise with an overnight flight Sunday to Monday via Muscat that was about 10% more than the cheapest flights but would save us one night in a hotel. But just when we wanted to buy it, it was not available anymore! From previous experiences I knew that researching flights can lead to increased prices or even offers being gone entirely because every site locks the flight for 15 minutes or so to complete your booking. Looking at more than one site at once can lead to gridlock. Lucky for us, just waiting an hour to release all the reservation did the trick and we were able to book. Dubai, here we come!