tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63069251695518796732024-03-13T00:24:51.003-01:00Right Way Round ...Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-48808829896104579822015-10-25T16:45:00.011-01:002023-12-07T05:25:16.720-01:00Accomplished<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Wednesday, 14th October</b></div>
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An uneventful ride from Tarifa to the Andalucian city of Seville - skirting Cadiz in the process - brought us to an equally unremarkable stopover, which is a shame, because Seville has much to offer the traveller, so I understand, with top-notch facilities alleged to be full of colour together with a thriving night-life scene; not forgetting the city's famous Cathedral, which is the site of the final resting place of Christopher Columbus.<br />
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Despite all this tourist potential, the words 'just too knackered' summed it up for us.<br />
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The following day (Wed-14th) a 140 km [87 mi] westward ride - about 1½ hours .. </div>
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.. and we were riding across the Rio Guadiana International Bridge that connects southern Spain and Portugal. The first of a few memorable bridges we would encounter during the following few days.<br />
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Entering the Portuguese Republic<br />
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.. and the Algarve region beyond - Portugal's premier holiday destination .. and which, it has been said, sold its beachscape soul to tourism in the 1960s and never really looked back. Nevertheless I still wanted to see the region's brash resorts for myself. <br />
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<b>Wed-14th (afternoon & evening) and Thu-15th</b><br />
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Our brief research of the Algarve suggested that the further west you go from the region's capital, Faro, the less 'conglomerated' it becomes. We didn't want to travel too far west and therefore settled on the resort of Praia Da Rocha, located just south of the city of Portimão, for an intentionally lazy 2-night stopover. <br />
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Praia Da Rocha turned-out to be not a bad choice.<br />
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<b>Friday-16th</b><br />
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Heading north from the Algarve to Portugal's capital, Lisbon, we detoured away from the main highways and headed-up into the Serra de Monchique mountain range .. and came very close to running out of fuel along the way!<br />
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After a run of 270 km [168 mi] from leaving the Algarve coast, we reached the outskirts of Lisbon and the Vasco da Gama Bridge that crosses the Tejo river ..<br />
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.. which is the longest bridge in Europe, with a total length of 17.2 kilometres [10.7 mi].<br />
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Construction began in 1995 and the bridge was opened to traffic in 1998, in time for Expo 98. The world record for the largest dining table was set when some 15,000 people were served lunch along the length of the bridge as part of the inauguration celebrations. It turned-out to be an event that ended sooner than expected (by 1:27pm), as the organisers failed to make the necessary arrangements with a local portable toilet hire company <span style="font-size: x-small;">[← that bit is a joke.]</span><br />
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<b>More Facts</b><br />
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Portugal was one of the original member states of the Eurozone in 1999, when it replaced the Portuguese Escudo with the Euro (€) currency. The Escudo, outside of Portugal, was then only good for wiping your arse .. so who could blame them?<br />
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Lisbon was hit by a major earthquake in November 1755, which at the time was alleged to have caused 10 Million Escudos-worth of improvements around the city. <br />
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After settling into our lodgings at the <a href="http://www.hotelprincipelisboa.com/pt/hotel-overview.html" target="_blank">Hotel Principe Lisboa</a>, we checked the weather forecasts, which confirmed that the rest of the day would remain fair .. but the outlook for the following day (Sat-17th) was for high winds and rain.<br />
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We therefore straightaway went into battle with Lisbon's public transport systems - underground metro, ferry and bus links, to make our way to the Cristo Rei statue before 6 o'clock, at which time admission inside the statue in order to get to the top of it by elevator would close. The views from up there are supposed to be spectacular.<br />
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Cristo Rei is similar to the Christ statue in Rio de Janeiro, standing over 110 metres [360 ft] tall on the opposite bank of the Tejo River from our digs in downtown Lisbon.<br />
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We arrived, puffing and panting .. at 6:05pm, only to be greeted with an unapologetic, <i>"Desculpe .. fechados agora"</i> (<i>"Sorry .. now closed"</i>)<br />
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Bugger. Photos from around the base of the statue only for us then!<br />
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Adjacent to the statue lies the 25 de Abril Bridge, spanning the the River Tejo; the design of which is based in part on the famous Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco.</div>
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And it was somewhere around this vicinity (above) that something really very sad indeed occurred. I lost my trusty - albeit that it was somewhat temperamental at times - Garmin Zumo 660 Sat-Nav unit, especially designed for motorcycle riders (waterproof etc); OR some sneaky little pick-pocket just got the better of me.<br />
<img alt="" src="https://az545065.vo.msecnd.net/skype-faq-media/faq_content/skype/screenshots/fa12330/emoticons/angry_80_anim_gif.gif" style="height: 40px; width: 40px;" /><br />
<i>WAAAGH!</i> <i>.. </i>WILLY BUM SICK- POO! - and I'll admit .. I even said the F-word.<br />
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Four years that little unit had guided me around the world - and I needed just four more days service from it. Bloody Gone! (I'll admit it again, I said the F-word for a second time!)</div>
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<b>Saturday-17th</b><br />
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A little bit wet and windy in Lisbon; therefore a day off for me to find the optimum solution to my new and unplanned navigation problem. Will it be entirely back to traditional paper maps perhaps? .. or some other means to navigate and pilot my way up through the rest of Portugal and across to Santander in northern Spain, by Wednesday evening (Oct-21st)? <br />
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Time enough to also watch the quarter-final matches of the Rugby World Cup on Portuguese satellite TV:<br />
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<li>QF1 - South Africa vs Wales</li>
<li>QF2 - New Zealand vs France</li>
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I had no 'skin' in these games, as England was well and truly out of the competition. I watched just as a neutral spectator, hoping that the best teams won through to the semi-finals.</div>
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It’s not in the Guinness book of records, but Lisbon was the first city to have shipped Guinness out of the UK in the year 1811. O’Gilins is still one of the few pubs in Lisbon where you can drink a perfectly-poured pint of Guinness - continuing a tradition that's now over 204 years old.<br />
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And for the record: the first time I tried Guinness I feckin' hated it. I tried it again a second time, to be sure .. to be sure.<br />
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I didn't go to O'Gilins to watch the quarter-final matches; instead I stayed-in my hotel room (all alone as I recall), in front of a widescreen TV and a bowl of salted popcorn .. with some fava beans and a nice chianti.<br />
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<b>Sunday-18th</b><br />
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Navigation issue was resolved. See, there was a 'Cash Converters' store (a retail pawnbroking company) just around the corner from our hotel. I popped-in, and there inside one of the display cabinets was a near new Garmin Nüvi 1300 Sat-Nav unit with all the standard accessories, still in its pristine original box, priced at €59.90 [GB£44). A bargain .. so I bought it. <br />
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With the appropriate mapping tiles downloaded from <a href="http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/" target="_blank">OpenStreetMap</a> and installed onto the Nüvi's internal memory - I then strapped it to the bike's existing GPS cradle with some duct tape.<br />
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Okay, so the Nüvi isn't waterproof, but it will run on its own battery for up to four hours, which is more than enough for me to navigate in-out and around the cities, where it would be most needed. If it rained - unlikely in view of the forecasts - then I could pop it into a sealable polythene bag.<br />
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And Robert's yer mother's brother .. I was back in the business of navigating by satellites and a fully serviceable GPS device that should continue to provide good usage for years to come.<br />
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A 315 km [195 mi] very fast northbound ride - just three hours - and we were riding across the Rio Douro into the city of Porto, Portugal's second-largest city. At first view it looked more like a pop-up town rather than a typical metropolis.<br />
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Porto's busy street life .. with roasted chestnut stalls on nearly every corner - just like Christmas had arrived a couple of months early.<br />
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<b>Monday-18th</b><br />
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We took an open-top bus tour, which is always a great way to get your bearings and a feel for any city.<br />
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Porto is a colourful tumbledown dream of medieval relics, soaring bell towers and dwellings piled on top of one another, with narrow lanes and stone steps that seemed to zigzag to nowhere.<br />
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With numerous stately beaux-arts buildings tangled-up with ..<br />
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.. ultra-modern architecture, and ..<br />
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.. extravagant baroque churches.<br />
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Right outside our hotel, the mid-eighteenth century Church of Saint Ildefonso. <br />
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Built around the mouth of Douro river. Culturally, Porto holds its own against much larger global cities.<br />
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Enjoy the blue-flag beaches, walk, stroll, run, jog, pedal gently .. or just laze in the sun .. as you like, along the Foz-do-Douro ("Mouth of the Douro") parish of Porto, which faces the Atlantic.<br />
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We liked Porto very much, and would go back in a heartbeat. With the low-cost carrier <a href="http://www.easyjet.com/en/" target="_blank">easyJet</a> now flying direct to Porto from Bristol Airport in just 2¼ hours, returning there for a long weekend break is definitely on the cards.<br />
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<b>Tuesday-20th</b><br />
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The last full day of the whole trip, we left Porto and headed north, and crossed the border back into Spain ..<br />
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.. in glorious sunshine.<br />
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Weatherwise, we've been <i>extremely </i>lucky during this four-week leg of the trip. Okay, we got sprinkled-on a couple of times, but only for an hour or so on both occasions.<br />
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3½ hours later [300 km - 186 mi] we were in the port city, and beachy hot spot, of A Coruña on the Spanish Galician coast.<br />
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It was the very last night of all. 'Mixed emotions' sums-up the way we were both feeling.<br />
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<b> Wednesday-21st</b><br />
<br />
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Setting-off eastbound the following morning (Wed-21st) into a dazzling sunrise. This would be the longest ride since leaving Wroclaw, Poland last month - 455 km [283 mi] to the ferry port-city of Santander.<br />
<br />
Along the way we came across one of the renowned 14-metre (46 ft) high black silhouetted Osborne bulls. <br />
<br />
Over 90 of these unofficial national symbols are dotted on hillsides around the Iberian peninsula. I have wanted to take a picture of one of them for ages. This was my last chance for probably some considerable period of time.<br />
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Late afternoon - Santander. <br />
<br />
We watched at the quayside as Brittany Ferries' flagship cruise ferry, <i>The Pont-Aven</i>, slipped gracefully up to her moorings. For us, she represented the very last ferry ride (of scores since leaving New Zealand.)<br />
<br />
Cast off scheduled at 21.30, followed by a sea passage north across the Bay of Biscay, skirting the island of Ushant. Then a straight run up to Plymouth Sound, south-west England.<br />
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Mid-late afternoon, Thursday-22nd.<br />
<br />
Into Plymouth Sound - looking back over the port quarter of <i>The Pont Aven</i> towards Rame Head, Cornwall .. and suddenly, I was confronted with the imminent prospect of sailing into the bowels of Plymouth.<br />
Now there's a sentence you don't want to say too often if you can possibly help it.</div>
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<br />
Disembarkation at Millbay Docks, Plymouth, was childishly straightforward; followed by a surprisingly uncongested - bearing in mind it was rush-hour time - 50-mile [80 km] run down the A38 /A30 / A392 into a blinding (literally) early winter setting sun.<br />
<br />
65 minutes minutes after crossing the Tamar Bridge into Cornwall .. I was home, of all places. I turned the ignition key of my little black beauty leftwards .. for the last time.<br />
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<br />
And so my moderately adventurous motorcycle ride around the world was finally over.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
During the course of the last few years I had witnessed and experienced many wondrous things that I could never have imagined before it all started:<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I watched the sun rise-up over the eastern horizon at New Zealand's East Cape before anyone else (7 billion people) on Earth</li>
<li>I crashed badly in the middle of nowhere, South Island NZ; spent four days in a foreign hospital and seriously thought about giving up motorcycling altogether - I mean, .. <i>forever</i></li>
<li>I baked in the brutal heat of the Aussie Outback</li>
<li>I began to love Australia </li>
<li>I felt the ground turn to jelly during a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on the island of Bali.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Cambodia-Thailand-Nepal-Oct/i-Q93sg4v/0/S/PB164666-12-S.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Cambodia-Thailand-Nepal-Oct/i-Q93sg4v/0/S/PB164666-12-S.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I was awestruck by the Yi Peng Floating Lanterns Festival in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand</li>
<li>I touched the sacred birthplace of Lord Buddha</li>
<li>I saw the River Ganges bathed in a mellow dawn light at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh</li>
<li>I stroked my fingers across the pink marble walls of the Taj Mahal - probably the most beautiful building in the whole wide world</li>
<li>I watched the pomp and theatre of the brazen Wagah border closing ceremony in the north-western Indian state of Punjab. Absolutely .. Incredible India.</li>
</ul>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I fed wild Orangutans in the remote and ultra-humid jungles of northern Sumatra</li>
<li>I pleaded with Vietnamese Customs officials for two whole hours to allow me free passage to cross their frontier - and I learned in doing so that a smile can take you a very long way in life</li>
<li>I flew alongside the summit of Mount Everest</li>
<li>I paraglided over Himalayan Mountains</li>
<li>I rode on an elephant's back in the jungles of Chitwan National Park, southern Nepal</li>
<li>I've marvelled at so many ancient temples and the vanished civilisations that built them.</li>
</ul>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I rode 3,000 kilometres through Iran, from the southern Hormuz-based port of Bandar Abbas, up to the northern Armenian border. Independent travel was banned for Brits just five days after I received my 30-day unrestricted visa from Tehran. I got very lucky</li>
<li>I smelt the spent butane gas from a floating hot-air balloon at dawn in central Turkey</li>
<li>I strolled around the Acropolis, and the 'Floating Monasteries in the Sky' at Meteora, Greece</li>
<li>I crossed over some of Europe's highest and perhaps least known mountain passes </li>
<li>The ghosts of Auschwitz-Birkenau touched me.</li>
</ul>
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<br />
I have been invited into the dwellings, as an honoured guest .. broken bread, tasted the victuals and savoured the warm friendship of: Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs; Southeast Asian Muslims - Arab Muslims - Persian Muslims - and Turkish Muslims. Believe me, there is <b>nothing </b>to fear from these decent and gentle folk except an unprovoked attack of overwhelming kindness and hospitality.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So many other life-changing events also occurred. For instance, my father and my dear mother both passed away during the course of this journey .. but life goes on .. and the world moves on. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The world <i>always </i>moves on.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I've made wonderful new friendships, across four continents, that I'm sure will carry-on forever</li>
<li>I became the godfather to an adorable little Australian boy</li>
<li>I was blessed with the gift of a beautiful and very cherished granddaughter back home in the UK. </li>
<a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-5KbVrd4/0/M/Spiral%20%234-M.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-5KbVrd4/0/M/Spiral%20%234-M.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-5KbVrd4/0/M/Spiral%20%234-M.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-5KbVrd4/0/M/Spiral%20%234-M.jpg" width="400" /></a> </ul>
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</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<u>Summary</u>:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Over 100,000 kilometres</li><li>Calling for 6,000 litres of fuel</li>
<li>Across 12 Time Zones </li>
<li>Through 40 countries</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Unbelievable</li>
<li>No regrets at all.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"></ul>
<u>Conclusion</u>:<br />
<br />
Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog; a tiny little corner of the world wide web .. and for reading some of the ramblings of a bloke that is rapidly growing older; who has just fulfilled an ambition before it was too late .. which has given him some peace of mind.<br />
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</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='648' height='540' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzojIcSP-SS0E6N2vDkTnyae0XDnSE6ceCsB3-ZInuiteQZOJ0-PVRC8uDmVDuXQdW-ESd972Ib3hhInkBvBA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div>The last video [Click on the forward play arrow]
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Only by chasing dreams will we ever truly know who we are .. and learn who we could be.<br />
<br />
Far better to fail in the chase .. than to never chase at all.</div><div>
<br />
Have a great ride 'round the rest of your life .. and always remember; that in the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away.<br />
<br /><b>
THE END</b><br />
<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">
An ending filled with light.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sVrBx2xojvg_rpuRWcE2SuiVvfFc1o4WsJ_oIDmKOtM/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">My last update</a><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"></ul>
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=========================================</div>
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</div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-11240573838993708462015-10-13T15:00:00.003-01:002023-03-30T09:06:03.858-01:00One Hundred and Eighty°<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<b>Sunday, 4th October</b><br />
<br />
The downpour of rain occurred as predicted, but it all happened during the night-time of Sat-3rd / Sun-4th. No doubting it was the tail-end of the violent storms that hit the French Riviera that night, devastating the region and killing at least 17 people. The <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34437228" target="_blank">BBC News Report</a> of the event.<br />
<br />
We stayed dry in a cosy Ibis Hotel room, watched the match and mourned the temporary setback of the English rugby team, which that night clearly lost to a better side. Whilst down on the car park just below our window the bike got a real dousing, which washed-off the dust and most of the splats of dead bugs.<br />
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Into Switzerland for a spot of luncheon on the northern shore of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva.) <br />
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And not a rain cloud in sight.<br />
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The significantly less than mediocre lakeside Swiss lunch at the O' Les Terrasses du Lac Restaurant in the township of Nyon didn't do much to promote and enhance the country's reputation as far as we were concerned.<br />
<br />
Some fried slithers of lake perch, a kebab of <i>very tough</i> skewered pieces of indigestible beef steak; a few limp salad leaves and some cold processed chips. Accompanied by a solitary glass of cheap Chardonnay and a small bottle of sugar-free Coke.<br />
<br />
Throw-in 90 minutes-worth of crap service - and it can all be yours for the outrageous price of 93 Swiss Francs, which in real money converts to GB£64.<br />
<br />
On the bright side, I never really mind bad service in a restaurant. It makes me feel better about not leaving a tip.<br />
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A quick scoot down the lakeside Route de Suisse (Hwy 1) avoided the nearby motorway and thus cunningly dodging the expense of a Swiss motorway vignette (permit) costing CHF40 [GB£28].<br />
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Brought us to the city of Geneva - and the famous Jet d'Eau.<br />
<br />
I prefer the water jet in Hamburg though, because that one makes rainbows! <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="449" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SgVueR3ybYk" width="598"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
Geneva's Jet d'Eau was first brought to my attention during my early teenage years, as it featured in the opening titles of the 1968-69 hit TV series '<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Champions" target="_blank">The Champions</a>' starring the highly shagadelic - in my adolescent dreams at least - Alexandra Bastedo.<br />
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<br />
And with the earlier restaurant rip-off incident still fresh in mind: Just what have the Swiss ever done for us? Let's take account of some of their major accomplishments shall we:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>To start with, here in Geneva, they hold conventions that no self-respected warmongering dictator pays the slightest bit of attention to.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Banking secrecy - the word 'corrupt' also springs to mind</li>
<li>Army knives </li>
<li>Cheese with holes in it</li>
<li>Velcro</li>
<li>First chocolate factory (Philippe Suchard, 1826) </li>
<li>Cellophane</li>
<li>The potato peeler</li>
<li>Ink blot tests</li>
<li>The "Robidog" (a dog shit collecting system) </li>
<li>Fondue </li>
<li>The psychedelic drug LSD</li>
<li>Electric toothbrushes</li>
<li>Yodelling </li>
<li>The garlic press</li>
<li>Logitech web-cams </li>
<li>Humane ways of flushing goldfish down the toilet, and</li>
<li>Cookoo clocks.</li>
</ul>
Quite a handy list, I suppose, especially if you're fond of goldfish, or partial to tripping on the occasional tab of acid. But apart from that the above listing is not the most remarkable inventory of contributions towards the advancement of our specie is it?<br />
<br />
Maybe I'm missing something? You tell me, just <i>what </i>have the Swiss ever done for us? <br />
<br />
And with all of that, plus outrageously expensive everything of course, together with far too many sets of Geneva traffic lights to contend with we crossed the border out of cookoo clockland .. and re-entered France.<br />
TFFT.<br />
<br />
We then stayed the night in the city of Chambery, in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. <br />
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<br />
<b>Monday-5th</b><br />
<br />
A totally unmemorable - 100% overcast, but nevertheless still dry - ride of 330 km [206 mi] down the A49 and A7 /A9 French motorways brought us to the outskirts of Monpellier, where we spent an equally forgettable night in a <a href="http://www.hotel-bb.com/en/hotels/montpellier-centre-le-millenaire.htm" target="_blank">B&B Hotel chain</a> 'plain vanilla' bedroom.<br />
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<br />
<b>Tuesday-6th </b><br />
<br />
Another dull morning start. But still no rain.<br />
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186 km [115 mi] - about 1hr 45 mins - after leaving Montpellier and we passed through the border, crossing the Pyrenees - the mountain range that separates the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of Europe - then it was like magic .. as we rode through an invisible barrier-line in the sky. Almost instantly we were riding in clear blue skies. What a wonderful contrast - and fab welcome into sunny Spain.<br />
<br />
Less than two hours later and we pulled-up outside our pre-booked hotel, right in the centre of Barcelona; to the voices of Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé singing the city's name in my mind: <i> </i><br />
<i>♫"Such a beautiful horizon · Barcelona · Like a jewel in the sun · Viva! · Barcelona!"♫</i><br />
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<b>Wednesday-7th</b><br />
<br />
We actually walked the four kilometres - there and back - from our hotel to one of the most famous and breathtaking locations in Barcelona, the still unfinished La Sagrada Familia. The anticipated completion date is supposed to be 2026. Yeah Right! <br />
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A 'selfie' .. just to prove ... <i>I was there</i><br />
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With prices starting from €15.00, we took one look at the crowded queues and decided to give entry a miss; then pounded the streets for another four kilometres back to ..<br />
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.. La Rambla, the busiest and most lively street of Barcelona, mostly patronised by tourists, who pay higher prices for lower-quality food and drink. We just bought ice-creams.<br />
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<br />
We met-up briefly with Jordan, whose home town is Las Vegas USA, but has now settled in Barcelona with his Swiss girlfriend, Magdalena. Some good stuff comes from Switzerland after all.<br />
<br />
Young Jordan (35) and I in the past have sent each other numerous messages, talked on Skype, and nearly got together on a couple of occasions in New Delhi and Kathmandu. We even had provisional plans to air-freight our bikes together out of India at one stage .. but it never happened, for reasons that are too lengthy to explain here.<br />
<br />
We met at last here in Barça. What a very cool guy Jordan is, who rode his old beaten-up Royal Enfield motorcycle around India and then across northern central Asia .. all the way to Barcelona. You can read about his adventures here: <a href="http://thescenicroutethroughlife.com/" target="_blank">The Scenic Route Through Life</a>.<br />
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<br />
<b>Thursday-8th</b><br />
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The bike loaded-up. We departed from the most expensive accommodation of this leg of the trip, the <a href="http://www.hotel-caledonian.com/en/" target="_blank">Hotel Caledonian</a> located just 5 minutes' walk from Plaza de Catalunya and La Rambla. Chosen primarily for the secure underground parking facility.<br />
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We then made our way down the Mediterranean coast to Penis<i>·</i>cola (as opposed to Pepsi<i>·</i>cola) on the Costa del Azahar. And what red-blooded girl wouldn't want to spend a couple of nights in a town with a name like that? <br />
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For a northern European the temperatures around the town, with its headland castle, was a very acceptable 23-24°C [mid 70s°F]<br />
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And we were back in mozzie territory; therefore a tube of Boots antihistamine cream was always at the ready.<br />
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It was nearing the end of season, for sure. <br />
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Peniscola has a nice working harbour.<br />
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We watched as fishermen landed their day's catch.<br />
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Spanish sandcastle on the sea front at Peniscola - a 'castillo de arena'<br />
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An old man taking a paddle along the Mediterranean seashore.<br />
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From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1979SzqymVax1OUo5PIEGSGb0TDqWcAw7QjqZcg3xaHE/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The Last Leg - Number 2</a><br />
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From Peniscola, over the course of the following three days we covered around 1,000 km [625 mi] down south through the Spanish costas, stopping-by in some of the less well known tourist destinations, such as:<br />
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<a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-mHkKVpg/0/XL/PA100557-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-mHkKVpg/0/XL/PA100557-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li> L'Albir. We visited this little place, sandwiched between Altea and Benidorm, twice during the mid-late 1990s. </li>
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<a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-sT2wvgS/0/XL/PA100555-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-sT2wvgS/0/XL/PA100555-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
A milestone moment occurred in L'Albir. The odometer clicked over to 00000.0. My little 650 cc Honda Transalp - just 100 metres later after snapping the above photo - had covered 100,000 kilometres. Still going stronger than ever.<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li> El Campello. The perfect - two fat b@stards - couple watch the sun go down at the esplanade.</li>
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Sunrise on Saturday-10th, in-between street blocks, at El Campello. </div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li> Aguadulce, just sounth of Almeria. Nearing sunset time (pic above) at Aguadulce, Sunday-11th.</li>
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<b>Monday-12th</b><br />
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During the late afternoon of Mon-12th we reached the township of Tarifa in the province of Cádiz - the southernmost point of Spain.<br />
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The small port of Tarifa at the narrowist point of the Strait of Gibraltar, with the north African coastline in the background. <br />
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We were no more than 15 kilometres [9½ miles] from Africa. <br />
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And what, you might reasonably ask, is the significance of the small Andalusian township of Tarifa?<br />
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Well, apart from being the southernmost point of the European continent, located even further south of both African capital cities of Tunis and Algiers; it is also known as one of the world's foremost destinations for wind sports (windsurfing, kite-surfing etc.) AND it is the antipodal point - meaning: situated on the opposite side of the Earth - from where I started my adventure.<br />
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Click-on this link: <a href="http://www.findlatitudeandlongitude.com/antipode-map/" target="_blank">Antipodes Map (AKA Tunnel Map)</a> and type-in the name 'Tarifa' into the location field-box (as arrowed in red above) and it will display - in GoogleMaps.com - the Antipodal point of Tarifa in the southern hemisphere, which you will see is very close to New Zealand's SH1 (State Hwy 1); and the Kiwi township of Ruakaka, which is where my bike is still registered to this very day.<br />
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Reaching Tarifa, therefore, meant that I had ridden my little black motorcycle exactly 180° from one side of our Pale Blue Dot .. to the other side. (Please see, listen and read what Carl Sagan has to say about the Pale Blue Dot below.)<br />
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The time had arrived to finally turn north again .. and head for home.<br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w_j-4iY9M_rSFXXy276qlybl-C0QU_aUjggyFNXMptM/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Round the World - Completed</a> <br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-20697670633738259402015-10-03T19:52:00.001-01:002016-10-11T19:29:06.991-01:00Four Hamburgers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Friday, 25th September</b><br />
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A two-hour ride - 128km [80 mi] - after leaving the Polish city of Wroclaw brought us to a seamless Schengen border crossing .. and in the time it takes to blink, we were into the Czech Repuplic and heading for the capital of Prague - or 'Praha' if you want to respect the local language. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-tTphPLS/0/XL/P9250123-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-tTphPLS/0/XL/P9250123-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>On the way to Prague, we dog-legged slightly south for a brief excursion into the historic township of Kutná Hora, especially to visit what appears to be, at first view at least, a quite unremarkable Roman Catholic chapel, called Kostnice Ossuary - better known as the Sedlec Ossuary. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-r7BsMZN/0/XL/P9250118-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-r7BsMZN/0/XL/P9250118-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>You just wouldn't believe the interior architecture and adornments. What a paradox?!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-q7FWPw2/0/XL/P9250106-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-q7FWPw2/0/XL/P9250106-XL.jpg" width="454" /></a></div>In 1511 a chapel was constructed to house the mortal remains from abolished graves and contains the bones of about 40,000 people, arranged by František Rint in 1870.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-VC86Gxk/0/XL/P9250110-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="531" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-VC86Gxk/0/XL/P9250110-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>The beginning of the Chapel's story dates back to 1278, when Henry, the abbot of Sedlec was sent to the Holy Land. On returning, he brought soil from Golgotha and sprinkled it on the ground here. As a consequence, the burial ground was considered holy and became extremely popular.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-d6CfGxq/0/XL/P9250117-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-d6CfGxq/0/XL/P9250117-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>František Rint's work also includes an enormous chandelier incorporating every bone in the body. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-pCFCNLf/0/XL/P9250116-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-pCFCNLf/0/XL/P9250116-XL.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
A cherub with a discerning look on his face ..no wonder.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-2CNbVML/0/XL/P9250119-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-2CNbVML/0/XL/P9250119-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>For better or worse I expected an emotional reaction, instead all I felt was curiosity and a fascination, which was easily distracted by the photographic opportunities of such an unusual grizzly space. <br />
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But it was worth pausing, just for a moment or two, to remind myself that I was actually gawking at the remnants of once real living people.<br />
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90 minutes after leaving Kutná Hora - 75 km [47 mi] - we were pulling-up outside our pre-booked lodgings right in the centre of Prague. <br />
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Finding the Prague tramway system quite unfathomable, we hailed a cab .. and headed for the Castle, the largest ancient castle in the world.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-WKjGhPr/0/XL/P9260434-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="518" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-WKjGhPr/0/XL/P9260434-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>.. and it was <i>busy </i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-P4c6gRJ/0/XL/P9260417-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-P4c6gRJ/0/XL/P9260417-XL.jpg" width="534" /></a></div>.. bustling with excited tourists from all over the world .. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-bHn6gSf/0/XL/P9260420-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-bHn6gSf/0/XL/P9260420-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-QtJwcVm/0/XL/P9260431-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-QtJwcVm/0/XL/P9260431-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-dc4pTgH/0/XL/P9260421-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="447" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-dc4pTgH/0/XL/P9260421-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>.. Camborne excepted!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-s24XSns/0/XL/P9260413-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-s24XSns/0/XL/P9260413-XL.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br />
Delicious-looking al fresco fare on offer outside the castle walls ..<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-VvSnN7p/0/XL/P9260415-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="531" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-VvSnN7p/0/XL/P9260415-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>.. and local wines and ciders.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-pJC7RJ4/0/XL/P9260438-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-pJC7RJ4/0/XL/P9260438-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>Buskers galore ..creating a great atmosphere.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="364" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/140533054" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="648"></iframe> <br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/140533054"></a><a href="https://vimeo.com/user2081379"></a> <a href="https://vimeo.com/"></a><br />
Click on the forward play arrow for a brief (14 sec) sample.<br />
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We then walked, yes <i>walked </i>to the still slightly contentious ..<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-khHWtL6/0/XL/P9260447-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="505" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-khHWtL6/0/XL/P9260447-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>.. John Lennon Wall.<br />
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Filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and extracts of Beatles' song lyrics. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-rF92fN3/0/XL/P9260446-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="473" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-rF92fN3/0/XL/P9260446-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>I felt quite at ease leaning against the Wall. John Lennon .. The Beatles. That was My Time.<br />
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<b>Sunday-27th & Mondy-28th</b><br />
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Next stopover on the itinerary was Hamburg, Germany's second city.<br />
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A ride of 650 km [403 mi] - from Prague to Hamburg - was always going to be just outside our comfort zone; we simply weren't ready (yet) to take-on that sort of distance in one go.<br />
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A stopover was in order, near the city of Leibzig - the home of BMW and Porsche manufacturing.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-zmCdC9D/0/XL/P9280167-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-zmCdC9D/0/XL/P9280167-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>Why Hamburg?<br />
<br />
Well, specifically to be re-united with friends, Sascha and Kerstin, who we first met in June 2012, in the city of Tangerang, west of Jakarta, on the Indonesian island of Java. We have kept in touch ever since.<br />
<br />
It was good to see them again.<br />
<br />
So much common ground. They were riding a <span class="st">Honda XRV750 Africa Twin - the slightly larger cousin of the Transalp (my bike) across the Indonesian archipelago west ~~> east to Australia; we of course were heading in the opposite direction. Our paths crossed in </span>Tangerang.<br />
<br />
You can review their travels by visiting Sascha's blog at this URL: <a href="http://www.rtwbybike.com/">http://www.rtwbybike.com/</a> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-2vjDnTp/0/XL/P9280138-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="499" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-2vjDnTp/0/XL/P9280138-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>Sascha came along with us to the docklands area of Hamburg. Worth a visit. Awesome tonnage carrying container cargo 100 km up the Elbe River from its North Sea mouth at Cuxhaven.<br />
<br />
The picture of Sascha (above) kind of reminds me of a certain Hollywood character:<br />
<br />
<i>"I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle." </i>- And it all fits!<br />
<br />
"Hasta la vista" .. Sascha (und Kerstin.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-cNJSgRM/0/XL/P9280145-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="415" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-cNJSgRM/0/XL/P9280145-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>There are recreational sandy beaches along the banks of Elbe around Hamburg. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-TwjN32X/0/XL/P9280154-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-TwjN32X/0/XL/P9280154-XL.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>Fountain near the Town Hall, Hamburg, reminded me of the Jet d'Eau in Geneva. I'll be able to compare the two within the next few days, as a brief visit to Geneva is on this trip's itinerary.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Tuesday-29th</b><br />
<br />
465 km [288 mi] westwards and by late afternoon we were pulling-up outside our pre-booked lodgings - <a href="http://www.motel-one.com/en/hotels/amsterdam/hotel-amsterdam/" target="_blank">The Motel One</a> - in Amsterdam; a city that I've always wanted to visit. <br />
<br />
<b>Wednesday-30th</b><br />
<br />
A canal cruise .. and why not?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-sVk4GZk/0/XL/P9300470-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-sVk4GZk/0/XL/P9300470-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-hpwcvsk/0/XL/P9300465-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="441" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-hpwcvsk/0/XL/P9300465-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-XNtjbJc/0/XL/P9300468-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-XNtjbJc/0/XL/P9300468-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-3fRmsdR/0/XL/P9300457-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-3fRmsdR/0/XL/P9300457-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-bDdDgW3/0/XL/P9300467-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-bDdDgW3/0/XL/P9300467-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>All on a perfect Autumn day.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Thursday, 1st October</b><br />
<br />
On to Brussels, Belgium.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-LwTWZzT/0/XL/PA010482-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-LwTWZzT/0/XL/PA010482-XL.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
And another afternoon of city exploration. Here (above), walking down to the Grand Place-Grote Markt.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-fQMHVG5/0/XL/PA010491-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-fQMHVG5/0/XL/PA010491-XL.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
The Grand Place is surely one of the world’s most beautiful squares. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-JQSq7zd/0/XL/PA010495-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-JQSq7zd/0/XL/PA010495-XL.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>A short walk from the Grand Place is <span class="vcard" id="Manneken_Pis"><span class="description">a small bronze statue of a boy taking a p!ss, called the Manneken Pis, and thought to represent the "irreverent spirit" of Brussels. Revered by locals.Very odd [?]</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-cPfHJk5/0/XL/IMG_20151001_211212-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-cPfHJk5/0/XL/IMG_20151001_211212-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>Apart from seeing Brussels for what it is - a mixed-up city, an archetypal "melting pot" - the real reason for stopping by was to meet-up with an old friend who I haven't see for more than 10 years; Pieter Huizinga who works for the Flemish Government as an IT consultant.<br />
<br />
Pieter has been described as one of only a handful of Dutchmen that has a crackingly-good sense of humour. Moreover, take it from me, he is also a real gent .. and we enjoyed his company and hospitality very much indeed.<br />
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<br />
<b>Friday-2nd</b><br />
<br />
Before escaping Brussels' really quite severe traffic congestion, I felt a disturbing urge to take a look at the glass space of the Berlaymont building - the Gotham City of the European Commission.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-7vjpmDt/0/XL/PA020179-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-7vjpmDt/0/XL/PA020179-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>This is where so much of our money [we Europeans] is currently being wasted - into a brutal glass monstrosity .. complete with a row of limp EU flags.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-5MNzn3L/0/XL/PA020184-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-5MNzn3L/0/XL/PA020184-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>Have you noticed the skies in the various photos above? Fact is, apart from some fluffy cumulus - you know, the non rain-bearing type - over the course of last weekend and Monday 28th & Tuesday-29th of this week, a huge high-pressure anticyclone sat over north-western Europe has maintained virtually cloudless skies overhead.<br />
<br />
Perfect riding conditions, calm and warm['ish], more than we could possibly have hoped for, especially at this time of year. Sadly, however, .. it's probably not going to last<br />
<img alt="" height="200" src="https://az545065.vo.msecnd.net/skype-faq-media/faq_content/skype/screenshots/fa12330/emoticons/facepalm_80_anim_gif.gif" style="height: 30px; width: 30px;" width="200" /><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-n654wfc/0/O/Weather%20forecast%20-%20Europe%2C%20Fri%2002-10-2015.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-n654wfc/0/O/Weather%20forecast%20-%20Europe%2C%20Fri%2002-10-2015.gif" width="408" /></a></div><br />
Looking ahead for the next 2-3 days we appear to be heading into unsettled conditions as we head south, down through eastern France to Lake Geneva, Switzerland.<br />
<br />
We <i>might </i>stay dry, but it will be touch and go - look at the cloud symbol above Bern (right.)<br />
<br />
There is one certainty, which is as we head south towards the Franco-Spanish border, the ambient temperature is almost bound to increase.<br />
<br />
Once we hit Catalonia (Barcelona) and the Costas further south .. who knows? it could be time to step into my swimmers and flash the ol' man-boobs once again. Bet ya can't wait, eh?! <br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
This trip is starting to turn into a motorway dash from one European city to another.<br />
<br />
Is that a bad thing?<br />
<br />
I mean, is there anything, apart from receiving an unexpected cheque in the post, to beat finding yourself at large in a foreign city on a fair autumnal evening, loafing along unfamiliar streets in the long shadows of a silver sunset, pausing to gaze in shop windows or at some church or lovely square, hesitating at street corners to decide whether that cheerful and homely restaurant will be the one you remember fondly for years .. is it likely to lie down this street or that one?<br />
<br />
I think I could spend my life arriving each evening in a new city.<br />
<br />
The last 10 days, therefore, have been just the ticket. And it all happened during a totally delightful European Indian Summer.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Saturday-3rd</b><br />
<br />
<b>The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg</b> - one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe, yet one of the top three richest countries in the world.<br />
<br />
It was a relatively short ride from Brussels to Luxembourg, just 2½ hours - 225km [140 mi]; we therefore spent Friday night (Oct-2nd) in Luxembourg City .. and why not?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-RBhhSJL/0/XL/PA030190-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-RBhhSJL/0/XL/PA030190-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>Just outside the city, a little south of the airport is the American Cemetery and Memorial.<br />
<br />
The cemetery contains the remains of 5,076 American servicemen. Most of the interred died during the Battle of the Bulge, which was fought around the area during the winter of 1944-45.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-bDvQkGp/0/XL/PA030195-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-bDvQkGp/0/XL/PA030195-XL.jpg" width="488" /></a></div> God Bless 'Merica.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-8mVS4Lg/0/XL/PA030198-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-8mVS4Lg/0/XL/PA030198-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>No more than a 30 km [18 mi] ride through gently rolling uplands and broad shallow valleys, brought us to .. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-q8mrnDq/0/XL/PA030205-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="557" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-q8mrnDq/0/XL/PA030205-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>.. the tiny wine-making village of Schengen, which is located on the tripoint where the borders of Luxembourg, Germany and France meet.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-C8PKDPh/0/XL/PA030203-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-C8PKDPh/0/XL/PA030203-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The significance of this village is huge; not just for the excellent wine produced here, but perhaps more importantly because it was here that the Schengen Treaty Agreements were signed, which effectively abolished border controls for the member states that signed-up to it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And here (below) is the signed Treaty .. [<i>erm</i>] or at least a copy of it.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-qmVXBmP/0/XL/PA030201-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-qmVXBmP/0/XL/PA030201-XL.jpg" width="448" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-rk2hRqL/0/XL/PA030202-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-rk2hRqL/0/XL/PA030202-XL.jpg" width="448" /></a></div>Fascinating, eh?<br />
<br />
.. or am I just a sad b@stard for finding all this stuff so bloody intriguing?<br />
<br />
--------------------------------------- <br />
<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sxWsUMkMj6tlvcSpZs6fQuZSxaJbZ9xUS9WboCngB4w/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The Last Leg</a><br />
<br />
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<br />
Today, Saturday-3rd, we travelled due south through eastern France for around 400 km [250 mi].<br />
<br />
It's good to be back in France, where the toilet facilities are generally still free, e.g. at motorway service stations etc. Unlike Germany where a quick whizz will cost you €0.70; similarly in Holland it'll cost €0.50. I never attempted a leak in a public place anywhere in Belgium or Luxembourg; just holding-on for dear life instead and simply endured the pressure.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Vive la France</span> </span>.. where you can still piss for free!</span><br />
<br />
The weather still holds fair - just about. Tomorrow (Sun-4th), we'll sneak into Switzerland for the day, before heading down through southern France to the Spanish border .. and the warm Iberian sunshine beyond - one hopes!<br />
<br />
<img alt="" src="https://az545065.vo.msecnd.net/skype-faq-media/faq_content/skype/screenshots/fa12330/emoticons/sunshine_80_anim_gif.gif" style="height: 40px; width: 40px;" /><br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WzoSU0WwycOI5KcY4xyCaeaco39VrNoRAUZbs86xuRU/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The Last Leg</a><br />
<br />
=========================================<br />
<br />
</div>Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-50627855092338108592015-09-24T14:16:00.000-01:002015-09-24T14:44:17.526-01:00Last of the Summer Shine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Thursday, 24th September</b></div>
<br />
The day of the Equinox occurred yesterday, September-23rd, when the sun shone directly down onto the celestial equator and the length of day and night was equal. <br />
<br />
Yesterday, therefore, was the official start of Autumn (Fall) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Yesterday was also the day when we left home .. for the very last time, on this fab motorcycle ride around the world.<br />
<br />
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<br />
And it's been a busy first day back in Poland ..<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-j3QHSbm/0/XL/P9240099-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="538" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-j3QHSbm/0/XL/P9240099-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
.. spending the late morning and lunchtime with Tom and Aleksandra, a lovely young couple (one of their welders in-between them, above), and the owners of <a href="http://holan.pl/en/" target="_blank">Holan Moto</a> here in Wroclaw who specialise in the manufacture and supply of aluminium motorcycle panniers & accessories.<br />
<br />
As my old original alu panniers were well and truly pooped, having been dropped and generally abused during the last 70,000 km - since leaving New Zealand 5½ years ago; I decided a while back to replace the whole luggage system with Holan custom-made mounting racks and a pair of brand new Nomada 'Expedition' panniers, complete with 17/24L top bags. <br />
<br />
Another good reason - besides the availability of low-cost Ryanair flights to-fro the UK - why I deliberately chose to lay-up the bike in Wroclaw for 12 weeks during our final temporary absence.<br />
<br />
The Transalp is now transformed .. and I have to say, looking really rather dapper:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-kP5hvXR/0/XL/P9240100-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-kP5hvXR/0/XL/P9240100-XL.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-sjzQKmp/0/XL/P9240104-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="531" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-sjzQKmp/0/XL/P9240104-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-Hkt9c9J/0/XL/P9240103-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-Hkt9c9J/0/XL/P9240103-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
<br />
Now we have more luggage carrying capacity than we know what to do with!<br />
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-jJNbWQk/0/L/Road%20sign-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="383" src="https://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Western-Europe-Set-Oct-2015/i-jJNbWQk/0/L/Road%20sign-L.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Where do we go from here? Well back home of course .. but not in a straight line. Far from it.<br />
<br />
To start at the end: The very last ferry ride, across the Bay of Biscay from Santander, northern Spain → to the south coast of England is already booked for Wednesday, 21st October. During the period between now and then, assuming everything goes according to plan, we will have covered in excess of 6,000 km on this final leg of the trip by the time we ride onto the ferry. This is the full itinerary:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Wroclaw, Poland</li>
<li>Prague, Czech Republic</li>
<li>Hamburg, Germany</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Westward to The Netherlands: Amsterdam → then down to Brussels, Belgium → Luxembourg City.<br />
<br />
From Luxembourg we'll then head due south through eastern France for 440 km [275 mi] to Lausanne, Switzerland, on the northern shore of Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman, or simply Le Léman). After Lausanne:<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Geneva</li>
<li>Montpellier, France</li>
<li>Perpignan, near the Spanish border.</li>
</ul>
It will be 3,000 km [1,864 mi] to the Franco-Spanish border - that will be the HALFWAY mark of this trip. Then through the border to Barcelona, which is one of my most favourite cities in the whole wide world.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
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<br />
As Barcelona, in the region of Catalonia, is a little over halfway along the planned route, I aim to be there by around Friday, 9th October. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="600" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m70!1m12!1m3!1d6287327.944088771!2d-8.234292214448972!3d39.69505588320824!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m55!3e0!4m5!1s0x12a49816718e30e5%3A0x44b0fb3d4f47660a!2sBarcelona%2C+Spain!3m2!1d41.3850639!2d2.1734035!4m5!1s0xd604f4cf0efb06f%3A0xb4a351011f7f1d39!2sValencia%2C+Spain!3m2!1d39.4699075!2d-0.37628809999999996!4m5!1s0xd707601c35c6717%3A0xad1bf1bbb4e31675!2zQWxtZXLDrWEsIFNwYWlu!3m2!1d36.8669997!2d-2.3221621999999997!4m5!1s0xd0c8e5ed47d9061%3A0x4522e85c9af7e6bc!2zVGFyaWZhLCBDw6FkaXosIFNwYWlu!3m2!1d36.0142861!2d-5.6044443!4m5!1s0xd0dd25724ec240f%3A0x40463fd8ca03b00!2zQ8OhZGl6LCBTcGFpbg!3m2!1d36.5270612!2d-6.2885962!4m5!1s0xd1ad616f4493751%3A0x3e5203cb638bef7d!2sCarvoeiro%2C+Portugal!3m2!1d37.1068147!2d-8.4677851!4m5!1s0xd19331a61e4f33b%3A0x400ebbde49036d0!2sLisbon%2C+Portugal!3m2!1d38.722252399999995!2d-9.1393366!4m5!1s0xd2e6c17e4def17f%3A0x1e4a76dbcae5d2e3!2sBetanzos%2C+A+Coru%C3%B1a%2C+Spain!3m2!1d43.2784298!2d-8.213123399999999!4m5!1s0xd49497dbe165b43%3A0x404f58273cb3770!2sSantander%2C+Cantabria%2C+Spain!3m2!1d43.4677177!2d-3.8349976!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1441367216036" style="border: 0;" width="655"></iframe><br />
<br />
Then we'll head further south through the Spanish Costas to the township of Tarifa, which is the southernmost point of the European continent, located <i><u>exactly</u> </i>180° from where this adventure started on the other side of the globe, a little north of Auckland, New Zealand.<br />
<br />
From Tarifa, 8 - 9 more days will see us riding through: → Cadiz → Seville → The Algarve, Portugal → Lisbon → Porto → Vigo, Spain → Betanzos A Coruña → Gijon → Santander.<br />
<br />
Ferry across Biscay to Plymouth on the south coast of England → and home! <br />
<br />
Better get on with it all then.<br />
<br />
=========================================</div>
</div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-7255121291872483682015-07-01T16:00:00.000-01:002015-08-17T17:34:44.639-01:00Time to Go Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Sunday, 21st -to- Tuesday, 23rd June</b><br />
<br />
Into Hungary, which for quite a while during my philatelist childhood years, I had thought, for naive and entirely logical, but forgiveable, reasons ... <br />
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.. was called 'Magyar Posta' in the local lingo. Duh!<br />
<br />
Crossing the border into <i>eh-hem</i> Magyarország was again oh-so easy. A cursory glance by the border official at our European passports .. and we were 'in'. Due to the Schengen Agreement, state borders would be meaningless from now on until we cross the final border into England later this year (because the UK maintains an opt-out from Schengen) .. and there is no question that we will be refused entry into our native homeland .. of Cornwall.<br />
<br />
<i>KERNOW BYS VYKEN!</i><br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Budapest</b> - "The Paris of the East"<br />
<br />
(Hungarian pronunciation: <i>"boo-dah-<b>pesht</b>"</i>)<br />
<br />
I didn't know it before, but Hungary's capital name is a derivative of two neighbouring cities:<br />
<b>Buda </b>- The area west from the Danube River, and<br />
<b>Pest </b>- The area east from the Danube, which is associated with a more pulsating, vibrant atmosphere. <br />
<br />
Through a bit of careful pre-research, we secured some fantastic digs for three night, smack-bang in the heart of the city at the 'Trendy Deluxe Apartments' condominium, which provides access to, most importantly, totally secure underground parking for the bike.<br />
<br />
Sod's law. The one whole day we set-aside for sightseeing .. it mostly pesht down with rain!<br />
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Standing 65 metres high, the Budapest Eye (officially known as the Sziget Eye) on Erzsebet Square. Nearly as good as the real thing in London, which is more than twice as high at 135 m.<br />
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Everywhere you look there's fabulous architecture ..<br />
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.. along with some bizarre paint jobs.<br />
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Matthias Church, Castle Hill<br />
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Heroes' Square<br />
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The Parliament Building (from Castle Hill)<br />
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Outside The Parliament Building are carefully placed, "Shoes on the Danube"<br />
<br />
The memorial of 60 pairs of cast iron shoes honours the memory of the victims who were shot into the icy Danube by the fascist Arrow Cross militiamen during World War II. Very touching.<br />
<br />
I would go back to Budapest .. in a heartbeat. It's a fab city.<br />
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<br />
<b>Wednesday-24th</b><br />
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Not a border official in sight, as we rode straight through the border into Slovakia; eventually finding some quite decent unresearched 'chance' accommodation in Poprad .. located in the foothills of the High Tatra mountains.<br />
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Pushing-on into Poland the following morning (Thu-24th).<br />
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It was cold. The High Tatras were shrouded in mist; therefore no point in stopping to get a cable-car ride up to one of the peaks.<br />
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As we crossed the almost meaningless border, signified only by a modest kerbside post ...<br />
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.. and a change of tarmac grade, and slightly better road lines.<br />
<br />
100 km [62 mi] later and we were checking into our penultimate hotel of this trip in Wieliczka (Polish pronunciation: <i>"vyeh-leech-kah"</i>), just south of the city of Kraków.<br />
<br />
<b>Wieliczka Salt Mine</b><br />
<br />
Wieliczka is best known for its ancient salt mine, which is now a museum; on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. <br />
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Down 65 flights of wooden stairs to reach the first level.<br />
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The mine's attractions include dozens of statues that have been carved out of the rock salt by the miners. The rock salt is naturally grey (in various shades), resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that I was expecting.<br />
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Down further to the second level. The mine reaches a depth of 327 metres [1,073 ft] and is over 287 kilometres [178 mi] long.<br />
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There are four chapels down and around the mine, the show-piece being the ornamented Chapel of St Kinga.<br />
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Salt crystal chandeliers. Amazing.<br />
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<b>Friday-26th</b><br />
<br />
From Wieliczka its about a 75-minute - 80 km [50 mi] - ride to the town of Oswiecim, better known by its German name, Auschwitz.<br />
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The notorious "Arbeit Macht Frei" message over the entrance gates of Auschwitz I Concentration Camp - a German phrase meaning "work makes (you) free."<br />
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As we approached the Camp a contingent of Jewish students were posing defiantly in front of the gates.<br />
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You feel a numbed disbelief wandering around the buildings.<br />
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Inside the Auschwitz gas chamber. Jesus Christ!<br />
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The Death Wall (reconstruction)<br />
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Located in the yard at the side of block 11. The condemned were led here for execution. The SS men shot several thousand people at this location — mostly Polish political prisoners and members of clandestine organizations. <br />
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The wall was dismantled in 1944.<br />
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Even more shocking - if that could be possible - we rode the short distance of about 1½ km to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. <br />
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Construction of Auschwitz-Birkenau began in October 1941 to 'ease congestion' at the main camp (Auschwitz 1)<br />
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The site is HUGE<br />
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We walked the entire length, and a good deal of the breadth, of this second infamous concentration camp ..<br />
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.. and stepped inside two or three barracks along the way.<br />
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Think of the movie <i>Sophie's Choice</i> .. punctuated by Meryl Streep’s silent scream in that haunting, shattering scene, when a rapacious Nazi officer demanded she choose which of her children should survive.<br />
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'Just a movie' you might think, depicting events that happened long ago. That scene, in 'real life' would have happened right at this very spot (above) .. <br />
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.. as it did happen in 'real life' for hundreds of thousands of real people. It wasn't history for them; it was <i><u>real</u></i> .. and it was <i><u>now</u></i>.<br />
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A "Güterwagen" (goods wagon) - one type of rail car used for the deportations.<br />
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If you disembarked a wagon here, at the end of the line, you were very unlikely to see the light of day again.<br />
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For this is where the exterminations took place in the four full-time gas chambers and crematoria.<br />
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Later dismantled, destroyed (with written records) or converted into an air raid shelter by the SS in November 1944, when the Soviet Red Army were nearing the site from eastern Poland. <br />
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I have seen the ghostly past of too much genocide and 'ethnic cleansing' during the last four years, which has been the dark side of my ride from New Zealand. East Timor, Cambodia, Armenia and more recently, Bosnia .. all spring to mind.<br />
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<br />
<b>Friday-26th June -to- Thursday, 2nd July</b><br />
<br />
Onto the city of Wroclaw, in south-west Poland. There is a specific main reason why I chose to end this section of the ride in Wroclaw, about which I shall say more (with pics), when we return to the city in late September. <br />
<br />
A secondary reason is that the budget airline, Ryanair, can fly us home (and back again) - dead cheap! <br />
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I washed the old girl down on Tuesday-30th, in readiness for yet another period of long-term sleep; this time for a period of 12½ weeks, until September-24th, when I'll be returning to Wroclaw to complete the long ride home to Cornwall.<br />
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Then I went and power-washed down my little black beauty at a nearby Auto-Spa facility .. and afterwards delivered it into the safe hands of a local Honda dealer for a thorough service, with a near empty fuel tank .. I was running out of liquidity faster than your average Greek bank vault!<br />
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'Er Indoors had to cope with yet another bout of the squits that she picked-up, we think, from eating a little pre-packed tray of Sushi + cold rice bought, unwisely in retrospect, from a service station on Sunday night. She should have been stuck to the beer (only), like me!<br />
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We did manage to get a little sight-seeing done during Wednesday afternoon; our last full day in Poland, before returning home the following morning, Thursday-2nd July.<br />
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Nice door!<br />
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The city will be the European Capital of Culture, World Book Capital and will host the Theatre Olympics and the European Film Awards in 2016.<br />
<br />
Wroclaw is an important, delightful destination, of which I hope we will have the time to explore and see little more, when we return in the Autumn. It was a good choice to end this leg of the trip here.<br />
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<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
Total success this time 'round .. with no bike drops (for a change!) And as usual, we have seen more than we remember, and remember more than we have seen.<br />
<br />
It will all come to an end in October. For that, I am sad.<br />
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Thank you for taking the time and trouble to visit these pages; my travel blog, my little labour of love. <br />
<br />
Until next time.<br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/18C9PGoUcePw3cc_IV4RwOGpV94AfN_8jUhN9Rxpf9TY/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The Penultimate leg - Hungary, Slovakia and Poland</a> <br />
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=========================================</div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-45796488458667171822015-06-20T14:00:00.000-01:002018-09-15T20:52:11.226-01:00Transalp over the Transalpina in Transylvania<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Friday, 12th June</b><br />
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Did I mention that we stayed at the motorcycle-friendly boutique B&B '<a href="http://www.lobagola.com/" target="_blank">Labagola</a>' in Zagreb? <br />
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..which was just the ticket. Top accommodation, meticulously well-managed by the the owner, Dubravko Primorac (pic above), "Dooby" for short. Top bloke.<br />
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Sort of reminded me of one of my nicknames in times past. Easy to understand why, one particular endearing term, derived from my surname briefly started life as the appellation, "Pooper." Take into account the initials of my forenames ('SK'), and subjoin with a rhyming follow-on name .. and you end-up with the full compellation of one of my most unfortunate and tiresome nicknames .. "Pooper Skooper."<br />
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And I'm not sure why I just mentioned that!?!<br />
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The nickname, thank goodness, is now quite forgotten and very dead. Needless to say, anyone who trys to use it again now .. <i>WILL BE!</i><br />
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Dooby gave me some terrific riding waypoints from Zagreb to Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina.<br />
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Crossing into that war-torn country, we received one of the warmest greetings ever from a very amiable customs officer, Aleksandar Pavkovic, who spoke with a perfect 'BBC English' accent - "How so?" I enquired. <br />
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"Because I avidly watch the BBC World News sir, on quite a regular basis .. actually," was the reply.<br />
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'Proper Job Mate.' I thought.<br />
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That night (Fri-12th) we stopped-over in one of the oddest places yet, the <a href="http://www.dani.ba/" target="_blank">Motel Dani</a> in Travnik, Bosnia. <br />
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The landing walkway to the bedroom (above.) A damn weird place all right.<br />
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<b>Saturday-13th</b><br />
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A quick scoot the following morning of 85 km [53 mi] from Motel Dani took us to the centre of Sarajevo.<br />
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In the 1990s the city of Sarajevo was besieged by the neighbouring Serbs for 1,425 days and was on the edge of annihilation. 14,000 people were killed during that dark period of quite recent European history. How could we forget that dreadful newsreel footage at the time? <br />
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A reminder: Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, where and when the dance skaters couple, Torvill and Dean, earned across-the-board perfect scores, utterly obliterated their fellow competitors, and easily won the Ice Dancing Competition for Great Britain. How could we forget?<br />
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Listen - Ravel's Boléro is now playing in your head:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="486" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t2zbbN4OL98" width="648"></iframe><br />
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<b>Perfect 6</b>. A feat that's never been repeated.<br />
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All afternoon that day (Sat-13th) we wandered, in the stifling summer heat, around the city centre and through dismal ranks of bullet-scarred apartment blocks.<br />
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The city has done well to recover from most of the war damage .. BUT the following generation appears to be hell-bent on defacing every wall and vertical surface in sight with mindless graffiti. It's everywhere.<br />
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Hardly 'Banksy' eh? .. but they (the idiots), together with perhaps the heart-broken locals who might actually still give a sh!t, now have to live with it.<br />
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The view from the restaurant terrace of our Sarajevo-based hotel, looking upstream over the Miljacka river - so the city isn't too shabby in some places, eh?!<br />
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A plaque outside the Sarajevo National Library.<br />
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Which reminded me at the time ..<br />
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.. that the following day, we had plans to ride further east and cross the Drina river .. into Serbia!<br />
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<b>Sunday-14th</b> <br />
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The Bosnian countryside is a very green mountainous terrain, gouged with river canyons.<br />
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You don't need to travel very far at all to see countless abandoned dwellings. The scars of war? .. maybe .. probably?<br />
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<b>Serbia</b><br />
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We crossed the Trina into the contrasting vast northern plateau of Serbia .. and then headed straight for the capital, Belgrade.<br />
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It was a Sunday. The roads were relatively quiet, which allowed good progress. We reached the urban sprawl of the city by mid-afternoon.<br />
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You can't really describe Belgrade as a 'pretty' capital. Again there's too much graffiti.<br />
<br />
We had no intentions of staying in Serbia for much more than 24 hours. It was never going to represent much more than a 'pit stop' on the way to Romania. <br />
<br />
<b>Monday-15th</b> <br />
<br />
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</div>
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The Danube is Europe's second-longest river. We followed its southern bank, on-and-off, for 240 km [150 mi] until we reached the Iron Gate Bridge that crosses the boundary between Serbia and Romania.<br />
<br />
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At this point - just a few kilometres short of the Iron Gate Bridge - the river separates the southern Carpathian Mountains from the north-western foothills of the Balkan Mountains. It was reminiscent of the Colorado River, on a different scale.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
Another <i>very </i>fast border crossing. No more than ten minutes, both sides. In this part of the world, I guess it helps if you're carrying a European passport. <br />
<br />
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<br />
'Welcome to Romania!'<br />
<br />
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.. and the odd stork or two, nesting on roadside telegraph poles, feeding their near fully-fledged babies. <br />
<br />
The first night - and first restaurant - on the outskirts of a small Romanian city called Târgu Jiu ..<br />
<br />
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<br />
I ordered the 'Brine of Crap'<br />
<br />
'Er Indoors typically had the 'Brain egg and onions'<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Tuesday-16th</b><br />
<br />
32 km [20 mi] east of Târgu Jiu starts the southern end of National Road (Drumul Naţional) DN67C, otherwise known as The Transalpina Highway - and 'The King's Road' by the locals - which cuts a high altitude pass over the Carpathian Mountains.<br />
<br />
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Had we turned-up two or three days earlier this spectacular road would have been closed.<br />
<br />
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Between 2007-2012 this formally exclusive military road was re-built .. and re-paved with the highest quality asphalt.<br />
<br />
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Heading north, just ducked-under the cloud base.<br />
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It was cold, dank and windy up there, that morning of Tuesday, 16th. But worth the effort.<br />
<br />
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The highest point, the Urdele Pass, where the elevation is 2,145 m [7,037 ft] above sea level. Actually into the cloud base - it was a near white-out situation.<br />
<br />
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Glancing at my GPS screen, as we were twisting down the northern side of Parâng Mountain group in the Southern Carpathians.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Wednesday-17th</b><br />
<br />
Another day .. another mountain pass. This time, the infamous Transfagarasan Highway (DN7C), described by the BBC's Top Gear presenters as 'the world's best road.' <br />
<br />
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Riding on this occassion, from north to south. <br />
<br />
Ascending the northern slopes, the visibility soon reduced to no more than a few metres.<br />
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At the summit - 2,042 m [6,699 ft] above sea level .. <br />
<br />
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.. it was still mid-winter.<br />
<br />
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At the top the highway passes through the Bâlea Tunnel, which is the longest road tunnel in Romania (884 metres long)<br />
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On the other (southern) side, magically, like flicking a light switch, as we emerged from the tunnel the seasons changed. In an instant, it was summer again.<br />
<br />
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I peered over the edge ..<br />
<br />
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.. down to where we would be ..<br />
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.. and what we would be riding around within the next few minutes.<br />
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---------------------------------------<br />
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At the tail-end of the pass it soon became obvious that we would be in for another soaking if we carried-on much further. We therefore called it a day and stopped-over in one of the sleepy Corbeni commune villages along the southern end of the Transfagarasan.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
Is the Transfagarasan Highway "the world's best road", as rated by Jeremy Clarkson & Co?<br />
<br />
Probably not. The Transalpina is the more exhilarating of the two Carpathian passes, in my humble opinion.<br />
<br />
If you ever go there, just remember that thanks to Jeremy's misguided quote, these highways are now firmly on the "bucket list" of nearly every motoring enthusiast <i>".. in the world"</i>, as the man himself would say.<br />
<br />
We were fortunate enough to be 'doing' these passes during ordinary week days, and early-on in the season. We had clear runs all the way.<br />
<br />
I should imagine that trying to 'do' these highways any time during the course of a mid-summer weekend, and ... well, it's likely you will be taking part in nothing more than a frustrating, slow-motion procession; behind and in-between a continuous ribbon of cars, motorbikes, camper vans, pedal cycles .. and maybe even the odd skateboard and pogo-stick for good measure. Phuck that for a lark!<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Thursday-18th</b><br />
<br />
Riding through rural Romania ..<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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.. towards the landmark township of Bran .. <br />
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<br />
.. home of the medieval fortress, Bran Castle - commonly known as "Dracula's Castle" <br />
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We did the touristy thing and paid the entrance fee to take a look around inside the castle, which is now a museum (and up for sale .. if you're into that sort of thing.)<br />
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The excessively cruel 'evil-bastard' Wallachian ruler, Vlad the Impaler (1431–1476), who was associated with the castle, is the alleged inspiration for Bram Stoker's "Dracula" - although the facts suggest this is just made-up fantasy .. and a load of bollocks.<br />
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Later that night, after dark, I walked back to the castle and took a long exposure photo, which turned-out reasonably well.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Details</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">ISO: 200<br />
Focal Length: 38mm (76mm in 35mm)<br />
Aperture: f/6.7<br />
Exposure Time: 10 seconds</span><br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>What's left?</b><br />
<br />
On Sunday-21st we should arrive in Budapest, capital city of Hungary. From then, there will be just 11 full days remaining until our flight back home to England, from Wroclaw in southwest Poland. <br />
<br />
11 days to cover a total distance of a less than 750 km [< 466 mi]. But we'll do this, with some considerable ease in 4-5 (or less) leisurely days - and finish this part of the trip by the weekend commencing Friday-26th.<br />
<br />
This will allow plenty of time to see what the city of Wroclaw, with its 130 bridges over the River Odra, riverside parks and Gothic architecture has to offer; leaving enough spare days, I hope, to get the bike all cleaned-up spick & span, routinely serviced and stored somewhere safe until the end of the summer (c. late September.)<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m52!1m12!1m3!1d2665341.0540611707!2d16.289483490458473!3d49.2788202637115!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m37!3e0!4m5!1s0x4741c334d1d4cfc9%3A0x400c4290c1e1160!2sBudapest%2C+Hungary!3m2!1d47.497912!2d19.040235!4m5!1s0x47153de36e8ad42f%3A0xf8223f8a0b8b9032!2sBansk%C3%A1+Bystrica%2C+Slovakia!3m2!1d48.736277!2d19.1461917!4m5!1s0x47158a0a021a858f%3A0x7cd47e9dd6255398!2sHigh+Tatras%2C+Vysok%C3%A9+Tatry%2C+Slovakia!3m2!1d49.166512!2d20.1316748!4m5!1s0x471643d805818e4b%3A0x972549aefd93b415!2sWieliczka+Salt+Mine%2C+Wieliczka%2C+Poland!3m2!1d49.983475999999996!2d20.053796!4m5!1s0x4716be2df9c432fd%3A0x42dff2890da1285e!2sAuschwitz-Birkeneau%2C+Czernichowska%2C+Brzezinka%2C+Poland!3m2!1d50.034383!2d19.181362999999997!4m5!1s0x470fe9c2d4b58abf%3A0xb70956aec205e0f5!2sWroc%C5%82aw%2C+Poland!3m2!1d51.1078852!2d17.038537599999998!5e0!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1434725059315" style="border: 0;" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
On the way to Wroclaw we will stop-by and visit:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The High Tatra Mountains</li>
<li>Wieliczka Salt Mine (Poland); and </li>
<li>Auschwitz-Birkenau.</li>
</ul>
Thus far, since leaving home 35 days ago, nearly everything has gone exactly according to plan; fingers crossed that it will continue as such for the remainder of this penultimate leg of my special ride of a lifetime, from New Zealand to England .. 2-up on a 650 cc motorcycle.<br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-16049974623103907342015-06-11T16:21:00.000-01:002015-06-14T18:58:52.285-01:00Serendipity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Tuesday 2nd & Wednesday 3rd June</b><br />
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<b>Albania</b><br />
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So backward was my thoughts about Albania. The fact is that this once poorest relation of Europe, has, over the last 20 years, emerged blinking into the bright light of freedom from its communist slumber and isolation.<br />
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We found Tirana, the country's capital, an interesting and charming place, full of iPhone-toting well-dressed youngsters hanging out in bars. The city is definitely not full of thieves and mobsters, which is often the portrayal in western media. Its 'café culture' rivals, and even surpasses, anything I've ever seen anywhere around the world. <br />
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We took an Austrian-built express cable car ride up Mount Dajti on the northern outskirts of the city. The silence of the sweeping cable car ride over the forest and shrubs was deafening, broken only by the songs of the odd skylark or tree pipit.<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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A hazy view over the City of Tirana - from 1,612 m [5,290 ft] <br />
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It was a nice change to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a couple of hours and get some cool fresh mountain air. <br />
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<br />
<b> Thursday-4th & Friday-5th</b><br />
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An easy 100 km [63 mi] 2-hour ride to the border with neighbouring Montenegro during the morning of Thursday-4th.<br />
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The border crossing was simple, to the point of confusion.<br />
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See, there is no 'No man's land' separating the two states; instead a single border control acts for both countries. We found this out 3 km into Montenegro and had to turn around and head back to the bipartisan crossing to buy insurance (€10), as my green card also didn't include cover for Montenegro.<br />
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How many red-roof buildings can you erect on an island? - the Montenegro coastline has the answer.<br />
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A further 100 km that day and we reached our destination of Kotor, in its stunning natural setting at the very edge of the mountain-rimmed Kotor Bay.<br />
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Blink, and you might have thought you were in a Norwegian Fjord.<br />
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Cruise ships plying the Adriatic Sea call-in daily at Kotor. During the Friday (5th), we counted three funnelling their passengers onto the port's pier; the Old Town of Kotor just five minutes walk away. <br />
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<span class="vcard"><span class="description">We took a ride up to the top of the high eastern surrounding cliffs and enjoyed some lunch at the top .. </span></span><br />
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<span class="vcard"><span class="description">.. an amazing experience with a stunning view! [</span></span>Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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Kotor, a dramatically beautiful town is perfectly at one with its setting. Highly recommended.<br />
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<b>Saturday-6th </b><br />
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Onward to Croatia. <br />
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Bloody hell, the sweeping coastline and its vistas is/are sensational around this corner of the world.<br />
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It wasn't long before we reached Dubrovnik, nicknamed "Pearl of the Adriatic."<br />
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The intact walled Old City was where we spent the rest of the afternoon that Saturday (6th).<br />
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A reflective 'selfie' in a fancy wrought iron-protected glass doorway whilst ..<br />
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.. getting a little pleasurably lost in a maze of narrow cobbled side streets, which reminded me of Venice .. with little prospect of getting your feet wet - therefore surely better than Venice?!<br />
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<b>Victuals</b><br />
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Foodie pics:<br />
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As hardened adventurers [sarc/], grub is something never far from mind, especially when you're sat on your arses for a good portion of the day. We often end-up 'making do' with whatever local protein might stray our way, like ..<br />
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dry-aged meat barbecued over an open wood-chip fire ..<br />
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.. or unfamiliar griddled sea fare, line-caught that morning ..<br />
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.. all washed down with whatever is safe to drink nearby.<br />
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Yep, we're feckin' hard core travellers!<br />
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<b>Sunday-7th </b><br />
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I had messed-up the next night's hotel reservation in Dubrovnik; booking what should have been Sunday night's accommodation somewhere around the city of Split a day later, on Monday-8th, which meant we had an unexpected 24 hours in hand to travel the 230 km [143mi] from Dubrov to Split.<br />
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Some quick-thinking [always difficult?] .. and a change of strategy was therefore required.<br />
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The answer: we would catch another ferry - How many ferries has it been now? Frankly, I've lost count - to the outlying island of Hvar. YAY! Pure bloody genius.<br />
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It's 90 minutes of very easy-going riding - hardly any traffic and no more than 80 km [50 mi] - from Sućuraj on the eastern end of Hvar Island to the township of Hvar located at the western end. <br />
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Countless dry stone walls, almost never ending, built by a long list of past invaders, skirt both sides of the largely narrow, twisting hilly roadway ..<br />
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Lush vineyards, gorgeous beaches with tiny inlets and secluded coves, lead to the township of Hvar.<br />
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We were greeted by our hosts at the 'Apartments Dobrila' with not one but <i>two</i> bottles of homemade white wine. <br />
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Finding Hvar, by a happy mistake, re-defined the meaning of the word 'serendipity' for me.<br />
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<b>Monday-8th</b><br />
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The 2-hour north-bound ferry crossing from Stari Grad, Hvar Island to mainland Split, Croatia's second city, by midday. Whereafter disembarking the ferry, we turned right and rode the short 11km [20 minutes] distance to the nearby town of Podstrana, where .. <br />
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I sat on a beach .. earning 20% [I wish!] .. and<br />
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.. went for my first swim of the year - <i>without </i>getting my hair wet, mind you. That was not entirely a case of instantly turning plums into prunes when the sea temperature is 22°C. <br />
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Did some 'people watching' and<br />
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got proper p!ssed .. in doing so temporarily lost a camera as a result ..<br />
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.. ate some pizza, with side dishes of salad and chips - and viewed the sun slowly sink into the western horizon.<br />
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<b>Tuesday-9th</b><br />
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Along the way to Zagreb in the north of the country, I wanted to visit a Croatian national park .. with waterfalls.<br />
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There are two choices from Podstrana: (a) Plitvice Lakes, 250 km [155mi] and somewhat off the beaten track, or (b) Krka National Park, near Šibenik, around 85 km [53 mi] and only slightly off the beaten track. <br />
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We chose the softer option, Krka NP.<br />
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But unlike many of our co-visitors, passed on the swim .. and ate two large whippy ice-creams (each) instead.<br />
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<b>Wednesday-10th and Thursday-11th</b><br />
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Another day, a very fast sprint for 325 km [202 mi] up the A1 motorway to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, which is where I'm finishing this latest blog post. <br />
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Visually, Zagreb, at first view, appears to be a mixture of Austro-Hungarian architecture .. a bit rough around the edges.<br />
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It has the usual churches and religious monuments that you would expect to see ..<br />
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.. and statues to the country's historic heroes; like the one above in Ban Jelačić Square .. named after the the 19th century Count.<br />
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It would be nice to spend another day or so here in Zagreb, but we must move on as our flight home to England is now booked. We return from Wroclaw, Poland, on July-2nd.<br />
<br />
Just three weeks remaining. Better get a move on then, as we're barely halfway through my planned itinerary.<br />
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Tomorrow, Friday-12th, we head south again, and east into the 1990s war-ravaged country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.<br />
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---------------------------------------<br /><br />From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Cc1w32bnBCyotFySC24NarpSptXNoBMl65Z_HL-AnI/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Montenegro and beyond</a><br /><br />--------------------------------------- <br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-77794347143154768672015-06-03T15:38:00.002-01:002024-03-05T10:50:46.772-01:00I Am The Walrus <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Thursday, 28th May</b><br />
<br />
From Athens, we rode to the archaeological site of Delphi in the valley of Phocis, another UNESCO World Heritage place.<br />
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According to mythology, Zeus released two eagles at opposite ends of the world and they met here, thus making Delphi the centre of the universe. Perfectly logical .. and makes a lot of sense [yeah right!]<br />
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Almost from outset it was soon obvious we were in for a proper soaking.<br />
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We pulled into the first convenient lay-by .. and with a huff, and a puff, we crawled into our wet weather gear. Then the heavens opened. The down pour lasted for the next 2½ hours; easing-up just as we reached the outskirts of Delphi township.<br />
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On foot, our wet gear drying-out back at the hotel, we walked to the Temple of Delphic Apollo, with the rain still just holding off ..<br />
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.. which I have to say, as a spectacle, we found a little disappointing.<br />
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Then it started to pour down .. again, and we ran for shelter into the nearby museum. Entrance fee: €6 each, where we really tried hard to look with interest at B.C. bronzes, bits of Greek chariots .. and statues of blokes with no arms, noses or willy-winkies.<br />
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One of the most striking pieces - and I say this as a full-blooded heterosexual - was the cult statue of Antinoos, a youth of extraordinary beauty from Bithynia, beloved companion of the Emperor Hadrian. Antinoos barely reached adulthood when he was drowned in the Nile.<br />
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One of the most well preserved statues of the youth was erected and later discovered in Delphi.<br />
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Bit of a poof if you ask me .. who should have been told about the benefits of Clearasil Ultra skin care cream.<br />
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We got kicked-out of the Museum's nearby coffee shop <i>just </i>as the rain abated .. and made the 10-minute dash back to our lodgings, more-or-less with dry['ish] clothes and only slightly damp footwear.<br />
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That evening, we patronised one of the local proper-authentic tavernas. <br />
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Where Manos, Thanos, Stelios and Dimitri were playing card games, with outbursts of gasping, quizzical disbelief when one or another won an unlikely hand. Good to watch and hear.<br />
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And Sherba, the pregnant mongrel begging for scraps on the taverna entrance threshold right by our table. She became our friend and even followed us all the way back to our hotel. Still hopeful of a morsel or two. <br />
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Meet Sherba (above), the shaggy shagger from Phocis .. who now probably thinks the English are mean and void of all benevolence to a mutt up the duff.<br />
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<br />
<b>Friday-29th</b><br />
<br />
Headed 340 km [211 mi] north-west from Delphi to the port town of Igoumenitsa, where the aim was to catch the 4:30pm roll-on, roll-off ferry to the Island of Corfu.<br />
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Along the Ionian coast road ..<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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.. sweeping around the near endless bends and curves .. and all of a sudden, for some strange reason, my mind was filled with the music of an unlikely kaftan-wearing Greek sex symbol; the 1970s solo-performer fat bastard, Demis Roussos - although he was actually Egyptian.<br />
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********************************************** <br />
<br />
So I'm back into the 1970s .. <i>again.</i> <br />
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How could I ever forget that decade? - when I grew from a boy into a man (16 to 26 years of age) - and started to consider the T-shirt no longer as simply underwear.<br />
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When every bloke sported a moustache (with a slight downward turn, mind you) .. and I was one of them. From bum-fluff to follicular walrus bristling magnificence .. in 120 months. <br />
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Thoughts of brown shag-pile carpets, mustard fleck fabric wallpaper, and avocado-coloured bathroom suites. Chicken and mushroom vol-au-vents. Vesta boil-in-the-bag prawn curry. The Austin Allegro, the Morris Marina - the metallic blue-mink Ford Capri (with a black vinyl roof), I had one once .. complete with an 8-track cartridge stereo player.<br />
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Disco dancing in flares to the Brotherhood of Man. Fawlty Towers and The Old Grey Whistle Test on a Friday night. Saturday TV and The Generation Game, followed by Starsky & Hutch, or Kojak the lollipop-sucking Greek-American, Telly Savalas. "Who loves ya baby?" Well I never loved you mate, because you were another unlikely sex symbol .. and yet another fat ugly bastard!<br />
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Farrah Fawcett, all hair and teeth, was the best-selling pin-up poster girl of the time. She was once married to another 1970s star, Lee Majors - The Six Million Dollar Man - who for some reason, couldn't keep his left eyebrow down.<br />
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The 1970s - a time when you could still buy a tube of Old English Spangles, when spam was simply canned meat .. and half of Britain's population smoked either Embassy Filter, or Player's No.6 cigarettes.<br />
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It was a different era back then.<br />
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********************************************** <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="363" src="//www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x35kqw3" width="648"></iframe><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x35kqw3_demis-roussos-abigail-s-party_fun" target="_blank">Demis Roussos - Abigail's Party</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/StaceyTad1" target="_blank"></a>StaceyTad1</i><br />
<br />
Back to the future. It's late May 2015 and I'm sweeping around the northwest coastline of Greece .. on a New Zealand-registered motorcycle, and Demis Roussos is singing in his unique whiny voice <i>'Forever and Ever'</i> in looped re-play mode. <br />
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Consider again that vocal sound of Demis Roussos, as I did last Friday afternoon, which brought back vivid memories of a young middle-class ex-department store cosmetics demonstrator, Beverley Moss. The not fully committed wife of Laurence Moss, an estate agent with 'Wibley Webb', who thought leather-bound Shakespeare "can't be read". Sadly, Laurence suffered a fatal heart attack after being hen-pecked just once too often by Beverley. THANK YOU LAURENCE!!!<br />
<br />
Beverley, brilliantly played by the British actress, Alison Steadman, in the unforgettable 1970s stage and TV masterpiece <i>Abigail's Party</i>. Watch the whole play if you ever get the chance. Classic, <i>bloody classic </i>1970s gold.<br />
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Now you have the complete picture of my Friday afternoon, 29th May 2015.<br />
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We easily made it in time for the 4.30pm ferry that Friday afternoon, with around 45 minutes to spare.<br />
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<b>Saturday-30th & Sun-31st</b><br />
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Saturday-30th, after a first night in the township of Corfu ('Kérkyra' in local speak), we rode the longer, more scenic twisty east coast road to Roda in the north of the island.<br />
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Passing through and by little towns and coastal villages and the odd fish farm, always with the Greek mainland - and Albania - on our right-hand horizon.<br />
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Outside our very adequate, exceptionally good value-for-money lodgings - <a href="http://www.angelina-apartments.com/">Angelina Apartments</a> - the garden was full of flowers in bloom.<br />
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Still pre-season, but perfect weather conditions (24° - 27°C) in Roda during late May .. <br />
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the beach was <i>nearly </i>deserted.<br />
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AND we didn't even miss the FA Cup Final match!<br />
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<b>Monday, 1st June</b><br />
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Away from Angelina Apartments, Roda, by 09:00am ...<br />
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.. to catch the 10:30am ferry back to the mainland.<br />
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And the final bit of theatre .. an unwelcome Greek tragedy, just 10 km from the Albanian border.<br />
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I picked-up my third flat tyre of this wonderful trip so far (the first two occurring in Nepal and Iran respectively.) <br />
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By now we knew the drill.<br />
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.. with the front tyre and wheel refitted and re-pressured to 30 psi - tools everywhere, of course - we were on our way again an hour later, only slightly daunted, where upon reaching and quickly passing through the border, we re-gained that lost hour by crossing another time zone into Albania. Just an hour ahead of London from now on (Romania excepted, if and when we get there.)<br />
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During the next week we will cross into Montengro and meander through Croatia, eventually reaching the capital city of Zagreb by next Wednesday, June-10th. <br />
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All is good in the Balkans.<br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-57564020593722068452015-05-27T15:30:00.004-01:002022-04-27T00:16:39.792-01:00Acropolis Now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Tuesday, 19th May</b><br />
<br />
With the bike's Australian battery - still going strong - fully re-charged, essential liquids and lubricants (radiator coolent, brake fluid, engine crank-case oil and 95-octane fuel) replaced, replenished and topped-up; it was then simply a case a pumping a few pounds of air into the tyres to get them back up to a little over their recommended working pressures (psi: 30 front & 35 rear); lubricating the still relatively new Tbilisi (Georgia)-fitted drive chain .. and we would be good to go. <br />
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An idyllic rural view (above) right outside the entrance of <a href="http://motosapiens.org/motocamp/Info" target="_blank">MotoCamp</a>, a real 'home from home' for international bikers; superbly well-managed by a trio of biking enthusiasts, namely: Ivo, Polly and Doug.<br />
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If you're a biker and need a temporary escape from your normal hum-drum routine, then I suggest you go and pay a visit to MotoCamp, Idilevo, northern Bulgaria. Roll-on the throttle, step-up the pace, and you'll find it <i>just </i>over your normal biking horizon .. no more than 3-4 days riding away from most places in western Europe, including the United Kingdom.<br />
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By late morning, on a typical warm and sunny Bulgarian early summer day, we hugged our splendid eastern European hosts, maybe for the last time (although I hope it's not.) <br />
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We then got going. That sublimely familiar feeling once again. After a seven months' absence, it all fell into place .. within seconds. I was grinning from ear to ear.<br />
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We travelled our initial 75 km [47 mi] accompanied by Bob, from Arizona USA, who was riding a classic BMW K75. 90 minutes later we pulled-up at the base of an historic peak high in the Balkan Mountains.<br />
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Can you spot 'Er Indoor (wearing her helmet) at the bottom of the picture?<br />
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Standing 1,400 metres [4,600 ft] above sea level, the Buzludzha Monument is the biggest ideological building in Bulgaria.<br />
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Built by by civil engineering troops from the Bulgarian army (plus a few loony volunteers) as a tribute to the creation of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party in 1891 (a fore-runner of the Bulgarian Communist Party.) It was finally completed in 1981. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-gnJFm4h/0/XL/P5190421-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-gnJFm4h/0/XL/P5190421-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
<br />
Since the political changes that occurred in Bulgaria from 1989, the condition of the monument has been deteriorating from bad to worse.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-VPgXw4h/0/XL/P5190422-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-VPgXw4h/0/XL/P5190422-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
Some of the widespread contemporary grafiti (above 'Communism' imitates the 'Coca-Cola' logo) brought back memories of the early 1970s to me:<br />
<br />
<i>"I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)"</i> <br />
<br />
"Buy the World a Coke" - A groundbreaking 1971 television "Hilltop" [very appropriate in view of my location at the time] commercial for Coca-Cola. If you were born later than say 1980 then you probably won't have a clue what I'm talking about. To put you in the picture, here's the restored version of that original famous TV ad:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="486" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2msbfN81Gm0" width="648"></iframe><br />
<br />
"IT'S THE REAL THING" you know.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-khXZ3sv/0/XL/P5190427-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-khXZ3sv/0/XL/P5190427-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-7VXhL9N/0/XL/P5190430-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-7VXhL9N/0/XL/P5190430-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
In summary, the Buzludzha Monument is a magnificently depressing edifice, which Bob and I decided to privately re-name, "The Commie Folly!"<br />
<br />
Nuff said.<br />
<br />
Another 212 km [132 mi] that afternoon, westwards along Route 6 (E871) brought us into Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Wednesday-20th </b><br />
<br />
A 2-hour 'free' - which means 'Please tip generously!' - walking tour of Sofia's city centre included the usual sights ..<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-r7j2tR6/0/XL/P5200449-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-r7j2tR6/0/XL/P5200449-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
..such as the President's Palace ..<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-TtkPkrp/0/XL/P5200448-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-TtkPkrp/0/XL/P5200448-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
.. where we, by luck of timing, witnessed the changing of the guard.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-dfsm45q/0/XL/P5200456-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="499" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-dfsm45q/0/XL/P5200456-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
My attention was captured by a flowing meadow, quite out of place, so it occured to me, right in the centre of this bustling city centre. Two little sisters holding hands. Quite charming. As a new grandfather to a new granddaughter .. I tend to notice these cute things much more nowadays.<br />
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An Italian member of our walking group. I still notice and admire these things too (from a distance, sadly!)<br />
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<br />
<b>Thursday-21st</b> <br />
<br />
Border crossing #1 of this leg of the trip.<br />
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<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-PpMVPLm/0/XL/P5210463-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="389" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-PpMVPLm/0/XL/P5210463-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
It wasn't too far from Sophia to the Bulgaria-Macedonia border. No more than 115 km [72 mi] .. although I did manage to lose my bearings, which diverted us south and added about 30 minutes to what should have been no more than a couple of hours riding.<br />
<br />
The border crossing was relatively straightforward, apart from getting stung for 50 Euros [GB£36] - the price of temporary Macedonian third-party motorcycle insurance. My green card cover-note wasn't valid in this enigmatic country, right in the heart of 'proper' Balkans territory.<br />
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<br />
The Republic of Macedonia - accepted in the UN under the provisional reference of: the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBeUXW3PPw41dxbWTiby5k1JGnbTI_WMLKqDp2QQGM2isiFtFK9x31PRjEE5sfcihJXUnU72LbVPU6JzCisCR4NUXbLqB4BmbYL-16VCDeYhBxoPuYIF0DLjr8SkzuU60rTDrdSheSyazT/s1600/macedonia-flag.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBeUXW3PPw41dxbWTiby5k1JGnbTI_WMLKqDp2QQGM2isiFtFK9x31PRjEE5sfcihJXUnU72LbVPU6JzCisCR4NUXbLqB4BmbYL-16VCDeYhBxoPuYIF0DLjr8SkzuU60rTDrdSheSyazT/s200/macedonia-flag.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>'One of Europe’s last undiscovered countries: a natural paradise of mountains, lakes and rivers, where life moves to a different rhythm. </i><br />
<br />
<i>The country represents the Balkans in the truest sense, consisting of a fascinating mix of Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, and Mediterranean influences.'</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Capital: Skopje<br />
Government: Parliamentary Democracy<br />
Currency: Macedonian Denar (MKD) - although the Euro is widely accepted<br />
Area: 25,333 sq km<br />
Population: 2,022,547 (July 2007 est.)<br />
Language: Macedonian 58%, Albanian 33%, Turkish 3%, Serbian 2%, other 4%<br />
Religion: Macedonian Orthodox 65%, Muslim 33%, other 2% <br />
<br />
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<br />
Despite the financial setback - which I was partially expecting in any case - we pushed-on, by-passing Skopje (capital city of Macedonia), for a further 305 km [190 mi] and eventually arrived in the lakeside township of Ohrid by early evening .. and I have to admit, quite knackered. <br />
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The following day - Friday 22nd - was grey and overcast. Frankly, we didn't feel like doing much at all, apart from wander aimlessly around the narrow cobbled stone streets ..<br />
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<br />
.. and alleyways of the old town of Ohrid.<br />
<br />
By late afternoon, predictably, the rain fell .. and we finished the day watching endless loops of CNN and France 24 newsreel footage, plus some aussie TV dramas - the only english-speaking channels available - in our nicely appointed lodgings, the Villa Dislieski-Maki Hotel, which I highly recommended if you ever find yourself in Ohrid, Macedonia.<br />
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<br />
<b>Saturday-23rd</b><br />
<br />
Ohrid is the jewel in Macedonia's crown. <br />
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King Samuil's Fortress high above the old town.<br />
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There was once 365 churches and temples in Ohrid - one for each day of the year.<br />
<br />
The ones that remain are extremely well maintained.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXhiEMFBiWZujNRQ5dKtXbk48NcDCIKZy5K70MJcYdq_4l3b7R_ko1P9sfOqKkzhPVFiWE9KGaLoMXx7SfTK_bCbU5fHqkxQFOgzjwB4aDrwHOIork0CpV1NBFjKJCqgGobnmf04bNASb/s1600/P5230481.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXhiEMFBiWZujNRQ5dKtXbk48NcDCIKZy5K70MJcYdq_4l3b7R_ko1P9sfOqKkzhPVFiWE9KGaLoMXx7SfTK_bCbU5fHqkxQFOgzjwB4aDrwHOIork0CpV1NBFjKJCqgGobnmf04bNASb/s640/P5230481.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
We wound around, and up and down, the narrow twisting cobbled streets of the old town, until finally reached the cliff-top 13th-century Church of Saint John (Sveti Jovan) at Kaneo. <br />
<br />
I parked the bike as close as I could possibly get to the Church; a proximity completely out of bounds for all cars, vans and trucks because of the restrictive nature of the narrow tracks and pathways.<br />
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<br />
The picture above reminded me of something I once read [I can't re-call when nor where]:<br />
<br />
<i>"A travelling motorcyclist is someone who rides thousands of miles so he[or she] can be photographed standing in front of his[or her] bike."</i><br />
<br />
How true is that?! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-jrhTKP3/0/XL/P5230485-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-jrhTKP3/0/XL/P5230485-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
Just above the Church, looking-out across Lake Ohrid to the shores of a neighbouring country, Albania .. to the southwest.<br />
<br />
My eyes followed the passenger ferry you see (above), around the headland ..<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-4MBwJWJ/0/XL/P5230487-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-4MBwJWJ/0/XL/P5230487-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
.. and as I peered down into the crystal clear azure waters below I easily understood why medieval monks found spiritual inspiration here.<br />
<br />
Lake Ohrid, 300 metres [nearly 1,000 ft] deep and three million years old. Amongst Europe's deepest and oldest. <br />
<br />
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<b><br />
Sunday-24th</b><br />
<br />
Border crossing #2. Macedonia - into northern Greece. Carrying European passports, immigration was childishly simple. A quick flash of my insurance green card to the Greek Customs official and we were through. 20 minutes (tops) for the whole procedure.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi26hxbscqM4YyNyaqws8plyWY9QtdzrWPtV4vtKlX6KAQ4M-D_4ONeIX8xFuEHVQZL6IaAwuL48MrLeUHcE_Vsh3ogzmlO3vliZ17_WMBjt0hUABYwbE9BK5HVtI7YjHKZnE7yqOUtd96S/s1600/P5240489.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi26hxbscqM4YyNyaqws8plyWY9QtdzrWPtV4vtKlX6KAQ4M-D_4ONeIX8xFuEHVQZL6IaAwuL48MrLeUHcE_Vsh3ogzmlO3vliZ17_WMBjt0hUABYwbE9BK5HVtI7YjHKZnE7yqOUtd96S/s640/P5240489.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
European standard roads. Finely graded smooth ashphalt, lined with poppies in full bloom. An absolute delight. Cruising at speeds well in excess of 100 km/h would be the norm for the next few days. <br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Meteora </b>- literally "middle of the sky", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above" - is one of Greece's gems, and one of the largest and most important religious complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in this region of the world. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJywo-dOHeYY0xA7D5Da7kpJrOg_SnCpNmDBIYsoaXi3TzZ9phdJ_rdYBufuGjIF96xsv4uY3o8hmJOIQQs6NLKIHiyYOCWvkCVJTj1bMYzgGIY-ywa0lalluvqaSxkUrkerjRs_Kq7NH/s1600/P5240490.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJywo-dOHeYY0xA7D5Da7kpJrOg_SnCpNmDBIYsoaXi3TzZ9phdJ_rdYBufuGjIF96xsv4uY3o8hmJOIQQs6NLKIHiyYOCWvkCVJTj1bMYzgGIY-ywa0lalluvqaSxkUrkerjRs_Kq7NH/s640/P5240490.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQI3pRd5o2vVDiBVd5Q7vuXRQnCS6qJ_Lv1CQwYvjGDbXtnlyxdiGkzt8EWsbnNmNgg-ifGTgcUC5afd_wDnAXdhJQK3Bhj30GeG1T2yQegUDYNR-Rg548rVIg9lw-ou0keRlaS-wM4_3K/s1600/P5240494.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQI3pRd5o2vVDiBVd5Q7vuXRQnCS6qJ_Lv1CQwYvjGDbXtnlyxdiGkzt8EWsbnNmNgg-ifGTgcUC5afd_wDnAXdhJQK3Bhj30GeG1T2yQegUDYNR-Rg548rVIg9lw-ou0keRlaS-wM4_3K/s640/P5240494.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
Meteora consists of a number of immense rock pinnacles topped with a total of 24 monasteries built from the 14th until the 16th century. Six of them remain in full use today.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSqs2gY9ZQ6Ef-mltqD-vISfxxu8fXPVpQimVnwErYt9J2BYiKKyRIXujdzvkcQBGtpRKtfuWNEl18ZCAgQukNZ3BHsn0MygNDeGwRT1tuo7NRX9Wd3avpXRLmX2zhnuyY41Vnr3nY5R-/s1600/P5240495.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSqs2gY9ZQ6Ef-mltqD-vISfxxu8fXPVpQimVnwErYt9J2BYiKKyRIXujdzvkcQBGtpRKtfuWNEl18ZCAgQukNZ3BHsn0MygNDeGwRT1tuo7NRX9Wd3avpXRLmX2zhnuyY41Vnr3nY5R-/s640/P5240495.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRB6330Mzx0EmybrNZJt3KSNKPLNrADuZowYG0jQhINTG6TPp7DzSV8byt4k-uti823R33XrAqFQ_uSItQJil55JVVXjM5QA82k5mryJwmYQeJcrfLR8zxNeI7Tn2NLxNkLk1MYKGJK72/s1600/P5240498.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRB6330Mzx0EmybrNZJt3KSNKPLNrADuZowYG0jQhINTG6TPp7DzSV8byt4k-uti823R33XrAqFQ_uSItQJil55JVVXjM5QA82k5mryJwmYQeJcrfLR8zxNeI7Tn2NLxNkLk1MYKGJK72/s640/P5240498.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
... a closer look<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZyRliLiOC0Hjlr5WjnybyEckeRKc73EGIkcTNDAyipea2cKEvgL3eYd2GU8uXQlCzExcyhiKT9l94fyf37speD3ChzwgUlSDkjniHxqeGzqgSRiiaVdovJUeRFEa2SUj5NAFoP4c7aGl/s1600/P5240501.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZyRliLiOC0Hjlr5WjnybyEckeRKc73EGIkcTNDAyipea2cKEvgL3eYd2GU8uXQlCzExcyhiKT9l94fyf37speD3ChzwgUlSDkjniHxqeGzqgSRiiaVdovJUeRFEa2SUj5NAFoP4c7aGl/s640/P5240501.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQyx86EEyNh-7z65BCoFkjAUP4O7ONwbCRltrkLs-KACLJfnJBdisUHB09jT1wAgi5hbcpyw4-IjpGyXHCS4CxUw51f5cQW5984huuDo8j8TjekQekFXe4yIxYERbwpkRLwYtJVlZKjAWZ/s1600/P5240511.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQyx86EEyNh-7z65BCoFkjAUP4O7ONwbCRltrkLs-KACLJfnJBdisUHB09jT1wAgi5hbcpyw4-IjpGyXHCS4CxUw51f5cQW5984huuDo8j8TjekQekFXe4yIxYERbwpkRLwYtJVlZKjAWZ/s640/P5240511.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOSXdsyoVPaXa488mggTsINRq8IpkjFc7EdNz7k-fgDYv2Z7zqZzvh_lYe6KQSQC2cdQR1E5rFv6WLi5Yk_3Qt09NFkCm6rLr42xUFQAijJCsXIk-eu9IoS4S3mh9v9qCNXmKUcaf0xyq/s1600/P5240507.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQOSXdsyoVPaXa488mggTsINRq8IpkjFc7EdNz7k-fgDYv2Z7zqZzvh_lYe6KQSQC2cdQR1E5rFv6WLi5Yk_3Qt09NFkCm6rLr42xUFQAijJCsXIk-eu9IoS4S3mh9v9qCNXmKUcaf0xyq/s640/P5240507.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWm75ilbtd_rCe8ldoYmeiHb08KLgg5PeBuXdIug3_8EtmAJ_viuZmMdiivO4kNdNobQaX1rq1rMBabxzlPGA5eIEQ1gzdYyJ2g1uh5a3mpyAg415Y1Iqp17pTIMO168ayGuvRSbtThPd-/s1600/P5240512.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWm75ilbtd_rCe8ldoYmeiHb08KLgg5PeBuXdIug3_8EtmAJ_viuZmMdiivO4kNdNobQaX1rq1rMBabxzlPGA5eIEQ1gzdYyJ2g1uh5a3mpyAg415Y1Iqp17pTIMO168ayGuvRSbtThPd-/s640/P5240512.jpg" width="648" /></a><br />
Unsurpisingly, the Meteora monasteries have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vRDnJ7tbfSpSAYUbR-A9VkpcMmhPfpGoHVr9xK0pku4/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The Next Leg - The Balkans</a><br />
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--------------------------------------- <br />
<br />
And even more importantly .. it's beer o'clock time! <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzFbHvvNZsj_MhlUqWljBqU5RADdAXb1DfJauDrA0Anl7OCnc8ONdsQsTMNoDUjJleRxjU5PcC00jLYod3pFEWBtUgh32UAtUoAQz6Dxuup4Irx9B4DMnj2Nzec-zX_K-hv8bXNDP9Q5j/s1600/P5240076.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzFbHvvNZsj_MhlUqWljBqU5RADdAXb1DfJauDrA0Anl7OCnc8ONdsQsTMNoDUjJleRxjU5PcC00jLYod3pFEWBtUgh32UAtUoAQz6Dxuup4Irx9B4DMnj2Nzec-zX_K-hv8bXNDP9Q5j/s640/P5240076.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
The two local brews I've cottoned onto are:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The Mythos brand. 5.0% ABV. The company (Mythos), has been a subsidiary of Carlsberg since 2008; and</li>
<li>Fix Greek lager beer. Also 5.0% ABV.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Both good beers, partcularly after the second or third bottle! </div>
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Tuesday-26th and Wed-27th</b><br />
<br />
<b>The City of Athens </b><br />
<br />
I mentioned in the previous post that I had pre-arranged to have a new seat made for the Transalp.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7_MicOve_iGVGLGLdHWsp5aRygSp4f5dhes-TZdQ3oxcW-cPH_EsIe9pSdjUmLxSchvw1IGo_iPKaN2Mmt7QUOL6SyNHYlvgjoiz4RbAV-1ZThoBFapbDkioSLnl_RGF0jJwq4dhCNGO/s1600/P5260086.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7_MicOve_iGVGLGLdHWsp5aRygSp4f5dhes-TZdQ3oxcW-cPH_EsIe9pSdjUmLxSchvw1IGo_iPKaN2Mmt7QUOL6SyNHYlvgjoiz4RbAV-1ZThoBFapbDkioSLnl_RGF0jJwq4dhCNGO/s640/P5260086.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
The highly regarded seat manufacturer, <a href="http://www.motok-seats.com/store/default/">Moto.K</a>, happens to be based in Athens. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjozQzXTSYwBCNHfcGnLlUp-Aa1xFY_vNVJEQ5ETardoW4UcUKkorttAp9qFwS3PO_MHmp_1URzVyUQ9GBFYbLIbivbP8liiH8zIj_lHlqp3k7bFWiRC2PYwGFDK0YDvioKez-GhQ_J14YE/s1600/P5260081.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjozQzXTSYwBCNHfcGnLlUp-Aa1xFY_vNVJEQ5ETardoW4UcUKkorttAp9qFwS3PO_MHmp_1URzVyUQ9GBFYbLIbivbP8liiH8zIj_lHlqp3k7bFWiRC2PYwGFDK0YDvioKez-GhQ_J14YE/s640/P5260081.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
Midday Tuesday-26th I visited their factory - located about 4½ km from our hotel - to discuss my requirements.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWckS99U2vhzIIvTeU6nzVf35GgA04xGcWJBOwaCrR0F9a5Y1voYD-1jKfjzRWSgrvdWEhBz20JM8bWcOs8gbYlre5XtBFG-gvY44TkbRNuzwLsFIfWGQAFzM3UzSdXs14-4uesPovPvw1/s1600/P5270088.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWckS99U2vhzIIvTeU6nzVf35GgA04xGcWJBOwaCrR0F9a5Y1voYD-1jKfjzRWSgrvdWEhBz20JM8bWcOs8gbYlre5XtBFG-gvY44TkbRNuzwLsFIfWGQAFzM3UzSdXs14-4uesPovPvw1/s640/P5270088.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
24 hours later the deal was complete ..<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfddeYiHfP7rYF69fBViAUYlRgeqSbUlofmuVwYxfZJg_-xPsgHKvwFFVV-XIlCXEqmf8owxjLKYEEse4qcYjeTD_lVYvf2hWd2IvRcpjHdcxM-DKZOJ5szZBCHLcMpU7kkoT2dN-9bIk9/s1600/P5270089.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfddeYiHfP7rYF69fBViAUYlRgeqSbUlofmuVwYxfZJg_-xPsgHKvwFFVV-XIlCXEqmf8owxjLKYEEse4qcYjeTD_lVYvf2hWd2IvRcpjHdcxM-DKZOJ5szZBCHLcMpU7kkoT2dN-9bIk9/s640/P5270089.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
.. and I'm now the pleased owner of a brand new custom-made 'Comfort Seat' from Moto.K.<br />
<br />
Thanks guys. My patched and rapidly perishing Airhawk cushion is now consigned to the rubbish bin.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3gkSjzWjTaTDLBL8b2-9YruSxVLkY_2fr0U56mA6rW-tcVfiFZwqCx1NRK7l3lxvC_kYdCyIjnVctOAEiblBMmy9wMFtBfY3XI1QLyEJGY52h481_Zm_1Teiip3li4bk9AeHwm_VpA-b/s1600/P5270519.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji3gkSjzWjTaTDLBL8b2-9YruSxVLkY_2fr0U56mA6rW-tcVfiFZwqCx1NRK7l3lxvC_kYdCyIjnVctOAEiblBMmy9wMFtBfY3XI1QLyEJGY52h481_Zm_1Teiip3li4bk9AeHwm_VpA-b/s640/P5270519.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
Most of Wednesday-26th was spent doing the 'touristy' stuff you would expect to do in Athens.<br />
<br />
Boy, was it hot?! <br />
<br />
The Acropolis - needless to say is a 'must see.' The ancient citadel is located on a high rocky outcrop about 150 metres (490 ft) above the city. The cool breeze up there was very welcome.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGX8Vns67tDqdg74PvevLklRuzD-_9iOUS6THu-sVYTa1FUWPxgkBqL6w0D9PGJzF0nyaKyo1bLYEXAiy3hZ1i85SG-2ohD3szInYiWEE_SN-7gZf4XnNgzmH9eIYdkFa46iHezJw-KjT/s1600/Panorama+1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGX8Vns67tDqdg74PvevLklRuzD-_9iOUS6THu-sVYTa1FUWPxgkBqL6w0D9PGJzF0nyaKyo1bLYEXAiy3hZ1i85SG-2ohD3szInYiWEE_SN-7gZf4XnNgzmH9eIYdkFa46iHezJw-KjT/s640/Panorama+1.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
<br />
The Theatre of Dionysus, nearing full restoration.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyc4VosWVjsgHSggERpMY31svIzbyv7ctcwS1VO3XGuQJ6Mj8oJOYcTUOTB4eSlnIFNH9NT6_Vb4v2hz9RyLVgv2tnDoKS_7q-TegA5AJnU1AiU0hetjsGnojzu9dA_nQ0nz_AZOw3xX-/s1600/P5270525.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyc4VosWVjsgHSggERpMY31svIzbyv7ctcwS1VO3XGuQJ6Mj8oJOYcTUOTB4eSlnIFNH9NT6_Vb4v2hz9RyLVgv2tnDoKS_7q-TegA5AJnU1AiU0hetjsGnojzu9dA_nQ0nz_AZOw3xX-/s640/P5270525.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZobwCsLAjlfwOVI-URa22jSnsQHyRb5lxjKObf7JonSq75dCVo0HJvd6s0t018pW9fygfbRljVt2X93MVz-86D_BIJwxYNr1S0K8SXFfjQzetz50Upp_9VKTpcpaQX819BfUGU2F0dFcF/s1600/P5270528.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZobwCsLAjlfwOVI-URa22jSnsQHyRb5lxjKObf7JonSq75dCVo0HJvd6s0t018pW9fygfbRljVt2X93MVz-86D_BIJwxYNr1S0K8SXFfjQzetz50Upp_9VKTpcpaQX819BfUGU2F0dFcF/s640/P5270528.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
Great views from up there overlooking the city ..<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTCI0hFzNqqWgMc96m8wAUNu1_dFuuwZSDA8GD_J6e2tqXxTiWYY0Gi8kbbk3QgWft1X37eI_yJK5RyeQQ_hdELoRZn2w3-lxXkKdzES8rRlhs1j7SGcESmGsAhLQPVxpujJD7RgpqPNuZ/s1600/P5270537.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTCI0hFzNqqWgMc96m8wAUNu1_dFuuwZSDA8GD_J6e2tqXxTiWYY0Gi8kbbk3QgWft1X37eI_yJK5RyeQQ_hdELoRZn2w3-lxXkKdzES8rRlhs1j7SGcESmGsAhLQPVxpujJD7RgpqPNuZ/s640/P5270537.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
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The Parthenon, dedicated to the goddess Athena, is the big draw for visiting foreigners lke us. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqdee6OIgIX8yelxKOWFAuovgHBrnBp0MqktIE3d8HMpIxYBU7mxtHAo4lAQGValwmxc6ezAhuID96xl1mr6sI_jlLaA8ypd2ZfHbn0FSukQzFKOxOIHHTywDiLV7ia1qeRl5wu1LYhiZ/s1600/P5270540.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqdee6OIgIX8yelxKOWFAuovgHBrnBp0MqktIE3d8HMpIxYBU7mxtHAo4lAQGValwmxc6ezAhuID96xl1mr6sI_jlLaA8ypd2ZfHbn0FSukQzFKOxOIHHTywDiLV7ia1qeRl5wu1LYhiZ/s640/P5270540.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
Still under constant renovation, which may never get finished in view of the Greek financial crisis. But who knows? - maybe UNESCO are helping to foot the bill. After all,the Acropolis site is on the World Heritage list.<br />
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<br />
Tomorrow morning, Thursday-28th, we will head northwest to Delphi, which in the Greek world is considered to be the centre of the universe.<br />
<br />
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<br />
.. then afterwards, onward to the Island of Corfu.<br />
<br />
It's a tough life!<br />
<br />
=========================================<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-83211018526900640562015-05-18T04:30:00.000-01:002015-07-12T08:20:55.112-01:00Things That Make You Go Hmmm.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Monday, 18th May</b><br />
<br />
I looked at the map a second time .. and then again for a third time; studied a couple of climate charts .. and made a reluctant decision: tomorrow, we <b>won't</b> be heading north as originally planned from <a href="http://motosapiens.org/motocamp/Info" target="_blank">MotoCamp</a>, here the sleepy Bulgarian village of Idilevo (near the township of Sevlievo) .. where my trusty Honda has been hibernating for the last seven months in cold-storage.<br />
<br />
The reason is blindingly simple: we have returned to northern central Bulgaria a little bit too early .. by around a 4-5 weeks by all accounts. How could I have overlooked this?<br />
<br />
See, the original plan <b>was </b>to quickly prep the bike - oil+filter change, refill the radiator with coolant, etc - and then ride up to the nearby border, no more than 2½ hours (150 km) away, and onwards .. into Romania.<br />
<br />
Into another former Soviet state where the remnants of communism now intermingle with newly unbridled capitalism; and where the irresistible forces of the EU collide with the passions of the Balkans. Our first night's sleepover - on the road (again) - will now <b>not </b>be spent in the city Bucharest.<br />
<br />
Romania's capital city is now firmly <b>off</b> the itinerary, probably forever. A box on the list of wanna-see destinations, which sadly won't get ticked.<br />
<br />
It was then <i>supposed </i>to be more great riding from Bucharest, 200 km in a north-westerly direction, up into the Carpathian Mountains, to negotiate the two highest roads in Romania; the Transfagarasan Highway and the Alpina Pass. These delights will now have to wait until the middle of next month (June), by which time the blanket of snow that still covers these two iconic Passes <i>should </i>have melted away. <br />
<br />
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<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-KrLj9wg/0/XL/1012-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/East-Europe-and-Balkans-MayJun/i-KrLj9wg/0/XL/1012-XL.jpg" height="435" width="648" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Library pic</span><br />
<br />
Get the Picture: The Transfagarasan Hwy (above), described by the former presenter of <i>Top Gear</i>, Jeremy Clarkson (remember him?) as .. 'THE greatest driving experience'.<br />
<br />
Transfagarasan+Alpina .. I'll see you both another day. Sometime next month, I fancy .. just before the Summer Solstice, when the sun's midday zenith will be nearly at its furthest from the equator .. almost directly over the Tropic of Cancer, and close to its highest point in the Northern Hemisphere sky.<br />
<br />
--------------------------------- <br />
<br />
So I say "Bah!" to Bucherest, instead we will head down south towards the Mediterranean Sea .. and<br />
<br />
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.. during the course of the next week or so we'll travel over 1,300 km [800+ miles]. Along the way we will visit:<br />
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<li> The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzludzha" target="_blank">Buzludzha Monument</a> - currently pictured in the header of this blog (above)</li>
<li> Sofia - capital city of Bulgaria</li>
<li> Skopje - capital city of Macedonia</li>
<li> Ohrid, Macedonia - referred to as a "Jerusalem (of the Balkans)"</li>
<li> The Monasteries at Meteora, Greece</li>
<li> The ancient metropolis of Athens, capital city of Greece, which in many ways is perhaps the birthplace and cradle of Western democratic civilization. </li>
</ol>
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I've just arranged to have a brand new custom-made seat constructed for the bike down in Athens; therefore I expect we'll spend at least 2-3 days exploring the city, where I'll pop along to one of the local tavernas in the hope of sharing a bottle of Ouzo with a local hero of mine .. the posturing, and very eloquant Greek Finance Minister, <a href="http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/" target="_blank">Mr Yanis Varoufakis</a>, who's been riding motorcycles since he was 15.<br />
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I intend to join-in on a couple of anti-austerity protest riots if I get the chance .. where I'll stick a middle finger in the air at the Troika and other eurogroup officials; then make a decent stab at kicking-off the Greek exit ("grexit") from the single currency eurozone. It's about flippin' time .. isn't it?!<br />
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I'll post again when we're in Athens; right at the heart of the current economic crisis, probably in a little over week's time.<br />
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Meanwhile, enjoy a little piece of Greek People "Genius!" ...<br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-53565865494336452262014-10-24T17:29:00.000-01:002015-04-29T19:50:25.047-01:00'Allo 'Allo! .. EUROPE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Saturday, 11th October</b><br />
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There is an old saying - <i>'Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.' </i><br />
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Every schoolboy knows about the legend of the Trojan Horse.<br />
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As the story goes ......<br />
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A long time ago, there was an ancient city-state called Troy, which was protected by a high wall built around the city. Greek warriors had been trying to breach the wall for about ten years but could not find a way in. The Trojans weren't able to drive the Greeks away. A classic military impasse.<br />
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Odysseus, a Greek general, had an idea. His plan was to build a huge wooden horse and leave it outside the city gates. Then, the entire Greek army would <i>pretend </i>to leave, as if they had finally admitted defeat. But the horse would be hollow; thirty Greek men would be hiding inside. <br />
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As the Greek army appeared to sail away, the people of Troy rushed outside, cheering. They found the horse and dragged it inside the gates to keep it on display <i>'.. in triumph and glory.'</i><br />
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That night, while the Trojan people were sleeping, the men concealed inside the wooden horse climbed out, set fire to the city, and opened the gates. Sneeky Bastards! The waiting Greek army seeing the fired city (the signal) charged through the gates. <br />
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And that was the end of Troy. <br />
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But where the hell IS Troy? I never really knew .. did you?<br />
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Well, it's about 80 km [50 mi], just over an hour away, north of Babakale (the westernmost point of the Asian Mainland); a little inland from the Turkish coastline .. and across the Aegean Sea from ancient Sparta. <br />
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Troy (Troia) was our next stop after leaving Babakale.<br />
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Troy still hasn't been unearthed completely yet, and the excavation work continues to this day. It is on the World Heritage List of UNESCO sites. <br />
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The inevitable amphitheatre.<br />
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Hey, you've seen one .. yuv seen 'em all!<br />
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Troy was once a harbour city, but the site now lies 5 km inland from the coast due to the alluvial material carried by the River Scamander, which filled the bay, turning it into fertile flat farmland. <br />
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As I gazed across the farmland I couldn't help but think of the 2004 epic movie <i>Troy</i>, starring Brad Pitt as Achilles, and Eric Bana as Hector. You know the one, the movie that nowadays is usually screened on ITV3 or Five USA at 11:00pm, typically on a Thursday, right after the main headline stories of <i>Newsnight</i> have about finished .. and just after the missus has gone to bed. You switch channels to watch <i>Troy </i>.. for at least the third time. At 2:00am - if you manage to stay awake that long - and after that extra half bottle of red wine .. you eventually crawl into bed, greeted with the softest of grunts. I think we've all been there.<br />
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This (above pic) is precisely where, I liked to imagine, that Achilles (Brad) arrived alone in his chariot at Troy's walls and calls Hector (Eric) .. <i>"HECTOR"</i> .. out to single combat. At first the two warriors appear evenly matched, but Achilles eventually defeats Hector and drags his body from Troy's walls to the Greek camp in a gesture of spite.<br />
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Achilles was always going to win of course, being slightly better looking, and let's face it .. having a <b>much</b> cooler name ('Brad' vs 'Eric' = No Contest)<br />
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About 30 km [18½ mi] to the north of Troy brought us to the shoreline city of Çanakkale, where we rode straight onto the awaiting ferry that crosses the Dardanelles Strait* to the Gallipoli peninsula.<br />
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*<span style="font-size: x-small;">Links the Aegean Sea (Mediterranean) with the Sea of Marmara (and the Black Sea beyond) effectively seperating Europe from Asia. </span><br />
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Mid-afternoon: halfway across the Dardanelles, parked-up on a steel deck, travelling at 16 km/h [8.6 knots] to our lodgings, the Hotel Ejder, 4.7 km [3 mi] across the Strait in the township of Eceabat on the eastern shore of the peninsula.<br />
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<b> More History</b>:<br />
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During World War I, the Dardanelles Strait, which connects the Mediterranean and Black Sea, was the stage of a year-long battle between Britain + France against the Ottoman Empire.<br />
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From April 1915 to January 1916, a joint British and French operation, known as The Gallipoli Campaign, was mounted in an attempt to capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul) to secure a sea route to Russia. The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides.<br />
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The doomed campaign was the brainchild of Britain's First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, who thought it would end the war early, by creating a new front forcing the Germans to split their army still further in order to support the under-rated Turkish forces.<br />
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The Battle of Gallipoli was a bloody disaster of the first order .. and definitely not Winnie's finest hour. Nuff said.<br />
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The assault commenced on April 25th. Within a week the ANZAC* forces suffered 6,554 casualties, including 1,252 killed in action.<br />
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I was quite determined to visit what has since become known as Anzac Cove. Having travelled extensively around Australia and New Zealand over the course of the last eight years, I have grown very aware of just how important April-25th, 'Anzac Day', is to these two countries.<br />
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The 25th April 2015 (next year) will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the troop landings at Anzac Cove, most of whom were contingents of ANZAC.<br />
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When we visited the place it was peaceful and eerily quiet; in complete contrast to what it will be like next April-25th, when this remarkably small cove will be brimming with reverent aussies and kiwis, all there to commemorate one of the most important places and national days in the 2015 calendars of both Australia and New Zealand. <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">*</span>Australian and New Zealand Army Corps </span><br />
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Later that day, we pushed on .. all the way to Istanbul - the 'Queen of Cities'.<br />
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<b>A Nice, But True Story</b>: <br />
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In February last year (2013), I changed my rear shock absorber when I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a more robust custom-built alternative, as Honda's stock unit wasn't up to the job of hauling all our excessive weight.<br />
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I decided to retain the replaced shock just in case the new one was faulty; an extra 6 Kg [13 lbs] of ballast that I really didn't need, what with all the other unnecessary items like: spare wheel bearings, tyre bead breaker (totally irrelevant for tubed tyres), medical unlikelies, travel iron, various Duracells, Duracell recharger, disposable undies, portable bidet, inflatable work-out weights, a hair dryer and other essential hair and cosmetic products - and an Italian restaurant-sized pepper mill (really) .. that we typically carry with us when on the road.<br />
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For some reason, which I cannot re-call now, I carted the original Honda shock unit for nearly two months and thousands of kilometres; up through Thailand, around Laos, Vietnam and into Cambodia. I guess I simply forgot it was still there, in the bottom of the rack bag .. just minding its own business.<br />
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During mid-April (2013) when we eventually arrived in Siem Reap, north-west Cambodia, to see the Angkor temples, I read an 'SOS' plea for help from an on-line Turkish acquaintance (Mehmet) for and on behalf of a Turkish couple (Hakan & Şandan) who were stranded in Kathmandu, Nepal, with a busted motorcycle shock absorber. They were riding <i><b>exactly</b></i> the same make and model of bike as mine, a 2005-06 Honda XL650V Transalp .. coincidentally also exactly same colour.<br />
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It was an easy decision to look into the logistics of somehow to ship my 'spare' shock absorber to them asap. DHL (Siem Reap branch) required a whopping 160 US dollars to do the job. Then, just before sending the unit (via DHL) another travelling Turk, Evgin, happened to be backpacking around SE Asia and also read about Şandan & Hakan's predicament, and without hesitation he volunteered to interrupt his travel plans and hop on a bus from Thailand back to Cambodia (he had only recently been through Cambodia) and personally deliver the shock unit to Kathmandu, which was his next intended destination in any case.<br />
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Result: about a week after broadcasting the SOS, Hakan & Şandan received my old shock unit and soon afterwards they were on their way again. A nice ending to what at the time was quite a dilemma for them.<br />
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This is Mehmet's account of the episode, which he posted on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mehmet.avar.12/media_set?set=a.10152848611374273.1073741858.547244272&type=1" target="_blank">his Facebook account</a>: <br />
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<i>'Two beautiful people - Keith and Evgin - co-operated to help us. We don't know them before, and they don't know each other either. But just for helping us they came together. This should be the real soul of travellers.<br />
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Both of them just has very limited time in Cambodia.<br />
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After learning our [Mehmet, Şandan & Hakan] problem with the rare shock absorber Keith has tried to find someone to send us his spare one just as a gift before leaving the country. At the same time, he was searching alternative ways (like shipping) to send.<br />
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And Evgin, a backpacker just passed from the border to Thailand early in the morning. But after chatting from Facebook, without any hesitation, he has decided to change his way to Cambodia again and travel for 3 hours to get rare shock absorber that Keith has tried to send us.<br />
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Fınally, in the evening they have met and Evgin has got the shock absorber from Keith.<br />
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Story sounds incredible, but real ... we are so lucky to find them. They found us actually.<br />
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Evgin and Keith, thanks a lot for your solidarity, wish to meet you (face to face) somewhere on this incredible world.' </i><br />
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<b>Monday-13th & Tuesday-14th </b><br />
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Istanbul, Turkey's most populous city (14 million), located on both sides of the Bosphorus, the narrow strait between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea.<br />
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Autumn is very pleasant time to visit the city; during mid-October it was neither cold nor hot - average temperature was quite perfect at around 25°C - and it was mostly still sunny, though during the nights it was just a tad chilly on occasions.<br />
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Finally, we met-up with Hakan & Şandan, who were kind enough to host us in their Istanbul apartment during our three days in their city. A Top couple.<br />
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And Mehmet, the great co-ordinator. A Top bloke.<br />
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The famous Sultanahmet Mosque (the Blue Mosque) in the old city.<br />
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The five of us, friends together, after such a long wait - at the entrance of the Blue Mosque.<br />
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We took a tour inside the Blue Mosque - carrying our removed footwear, of course - lit by natural light from more than 200 stained glass windows. <br />
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We all went to the Grand Bazaar, which is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.<br />
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And also wandered around a couple of spice bazaars.<br />
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Gawd knows the varieties of different tea leaves available in the bazaars, including 'Relax' and even 'Love' teas.<br />
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.. and herbs & spices, most of which I had never even heard of. The aroma of it all was close to overpowering at times.<br />
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.. and of course, tons of Turkish Delight.<br />
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The Süleymaniye Mosque located on the Third Hill (of seven, just like Rome), near the southern bank of Istanbul's Golden Horn inlet waterway. It's the largest mosque in the city, and one of the best-known sights of Istanbul. The main dome is 53 metres [174 ft] high and has a diameter of 27.5 metres [90 ft]. At the time it was built (1558 AD) the dome was the highest in the Ottoman Empire.<br />
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Incidentally, there are around <b>3,000</b> mosques dotted around Istanbul. <br />
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Inside the Basilica cistern, an underground reservoir built by the Romans.<br />
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Locals fishing for their supper from Galata Bridge.<br />
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Tram-trolley on Istiklal Avenue. We took a ride on one from Taksim Square (where the recent fatal protests took place) to Beyoğlu Tünel. It reminded me very much of San Francisco's cable car trolleys.<br />
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<br />
<b>Wednesday-15th</b><br />
<br />
After saying our farewells to Hakan & Şandan shortly after breakfast, we were back on the road by 9:15am, struggling through the conjested Istanbul traffic to start our 510 km [317 mi] ride to northern central Bulgaria.<br />
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We originally planned to make our way into Greece from Turkey, then Albania ~~> Macedonia ~~> before finally reaching our ultimate destination of Sevlievo in Bulgaria, where the bike was always going to be stored for the winter months. Regrettably, however, I had to cut the trip short to get back home quickly to deal with some urgent business. We therefore rode straight to Sevlievo from Istanbul instead.<br />
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About halfway, around lunchtime, we reached the Bulgarian border ...<br />
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.. and the The European 'Schengen Area', which functions (mostly) as a single country, including Bulgaria, for international travel purposes.<br />
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As European citizens we had reached 'home' as far as border controls are concerned. No further need for costly visas from now on .. all the way to England. YAY!<br />
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Oddly, Ireland and my country, the United Kingdom, are not fully committed to Schengen - and maintain opt-outs. Should we apologise for this stubborness to our fellow Europeans? I personally think not. Of course, the Channel acts as a natural barrier to the free-flow of traffic in any case.<br />
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On our way through the Bulgarian countryside to the township of Sevlievo, and for the first time in ages we were actually riding through proper hedgerows. <br />
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.. and from the colour of the leaves and foliage, it was clear that we were well into Autumn, with winter just around the corner.<br />
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What did we make of our brief time (3 days) in Bulgaria? Well, it reminded me very much of what Cornwall was like .. <i>40 years ago</i>, which is no bad thing. Stuff is bloody cheap, actually reflecting UK prices from four decades ago.<br />
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Absolutely charming goings-on during market day (Fridays) in Sevlievo. Click-on the forward play arrow above to get an idea of the atmosphere.<br />
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Property? It's easy to pick-up a substantial farmhouse-type property that just needs a little TLC and time spent on it .. for around GB£5,000.<br />
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Grub and victuals? The food is simply wonderful. Fabulous fruit and vegetables. You can buy two HUGE bowls of homemade chicken soup (with half a chicken in each bowl, really!), accompanied by massive fresh bread rolls; followed by meat stew, plus two portions of chips and a green salad; all washed down with a pint of beer and a bottle of local red plonk .. all for about 10 quid.<br />
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Oh, and we're over there pinching their jobs too. Example: the guy who taxied us the 190 km [120 mi] to Sofia Airport the morning of our departure .. was a British expat.<br />
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Bike cleaned, battery removed and coolant drained. Put into hibernation for the next 6-7 months.<br />
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As I mentioned above, we cut short this trip, by about 12 days, as I needed to go home to take care of some important business that had been brewing (badly) since our depature for Tbilisi on Saturday, September-20th. Besides, I needed to see my new granddaughter again (born 18th September.)<br />
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I've never flown with the low-cost airline 'easyJet' before, but from Sophia Intn'l Airport it's the obvious choice, offering cheap direct flights to both London Gatwick and Stansted airports.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.easyjet.com/en/" target="_blank">easyJet</a> was the 26th carrier that has flown us around the world since starting these travelling escapades back in November 2006. Money well spent? You bet it has been!<br />
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<br />
<i><b>"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."</b></i><br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo" target="_blank">Saint Augustine of Hippo</a><br />
<i>Christian theologian and philosopher (354 - 430 AD)</i> <br />
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As I write this final post for 2014, I am back home in Cornwall, without question England's most idiosyncratic time-rinsed county. A tiny corner of the world for the pleasure traveller, the holidaymaker - and the dreaded second homer.<br />
<br />
Back home to Cornwall's wild interior, the storm-beaten coastline, which never fails to reward the path-strayer and persistently nosy; where the scars of its tin mining history and china clay digging - are like those of nowhere else. My god, I'm so lucky to belong here.<br />
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<br />
Thank you for visiting my blog. Sorry if I've rambled on a bit with my narrative on this particular leg of the journey .. but there is always too much to mention.<br />
<br />
I'll be back in Bulgaria next Springtime, probably sometime during May, to continue the ride across to western Europe. By this time next year - late October 2015 - one way or another .. we'll all be back home.<br />
<br />
You know, I really don't want this trip-of-a-lifetime to end.<br />
<br />
Until next time.<br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/14iwjCWaKHwLgFzbtVSQs8VjdMHsbI9TpZjYF94sS-Yc/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Homeward Bound from Bulgaria</a><br />
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=========================================<br />
<br /></div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-8432418784855174622014-10-11T18:27:00.001-01:002015-02-06T07:47:57.120-01:00Totally Ruined<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Thursday, 2nd October </b><br />
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View from our breakfast terrace, Göreme. Click to enlarge.<br />
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Leaving the village of Göreme nestled among the "fairy chimney" rock formations of Cappadocia shortly after breakfast, we faced a 480 kilometre [300 mile] eight-hour ride over the Taurus Mountains, often reaching heights of up to 2,000 metres [6,500 ft] on occasions, before descending to the sandy beaches of Manavgat on the Mediterranean coast.<br />
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As we wound our way down to sea level from the mountains, despite this occurring during the late afternoon, the temperature noticeably increased by around 15 degrees celsius, from 10°C to a warm and balmy 25°C. We quickly shod our wind-protective foul weather gear .. just had to, as the perspiration began to trickle down our bodies.<br />
<br />
<b>Friday-3rd</b><br />
<br />
The last time I visited the Med was during the mid-summer of 1996; Venice was the place as I recall, and now more than 18 years later I had returned to the <i>Akdeniz</i>, "the White Sea" as it is known in Turkey.<br />
<br />
We arrived in Manavgat at the very beginning of the four-day - from Saturday, 4th -Tuesday, 7th October - Islamic 'Feast of the Sacrifice' (<i>Kurban Bayramı</i>), a religious national holiday where sheep are sacrificed/slaughtered and their meat distributed to the poor.<br />
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The reason for a 2-day stopover was to visit (a) the Manavgat Waterfall; and (b) the Roman ruins at the nearby seaside town of Side (pronounced <i>see</i>-day). <br />
<br />
Despite it being a busy holiday weekend, as dusk approached, in the fading light, we managed to find B&B-type lodgings in a 'pansiyon' tucked behind a laid-back restaurant, just a minute's walk from the seafront in Side. By the time we had unpacked it was too late to do much more than buy a beer or two and tuck into a brace of shish kebab. <br />
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By the way, have I mentioned the main local brews yet? No, I don't think I have.<br />
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Efes Beverage Group, is the best known and largest producer of beer in Turkey with approximately 80% of the market. Their flagship product line is called 'Efes Pilsen' (5.0% ABV), after the Turkish name for the ancient city of Ephesus. We shall be visiting Ephesus later in the trip - see below.<br />
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Beer connoisseurs describe Efes Pilsen as having, <i>"a tangy malt and hops aroma, rich malt in the mouth, and a bitter-sweet finish that becomes dry and hoppy"</i><br />
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I say, <i>"drink enough of it, and it gets you p!ssed</i> <i>.. that's all you need to know!"</i><br />
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Efes also produces 'Efes Dark', 'Efes Light', 'Efes Extra', 'Bomonti' and 'Marmara'.<br />
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<b>Saturday-4th</b><br />
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Side, a classic example of mass tourism at its best ..<br />
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.. nope, make that at its <i>worst</i> - with endless rows of beach umbrellas, souvenir shops and matching restaurant menus in various European languages [read: predominantly <b>German</b>] .. AND<br />
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.. I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it! <br />
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<i>"So, that's two egg mayonnaise, a prawn Goebbels, a Hermann Goering, and four Colditz salads."</i><br />
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The Roman ruins in Side are in fairly good condition .. and include among others: <br />
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.. quite a large amphitheatre ...<br />
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... and a temple (to Apollo)<br />
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Manavgat Waterfalls during the afternoon - click-on the above picture to enlarge.<br />
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6 km north of Manavgat, the fall of water is only a few metres high, but the riverbed is wide and the flow high enough to make the falls thunder.<br />
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The waterfall was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 5 lira banknotes of 1968-1983. A national icon, therefore, surely?<br />
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<b>Sunday-5th</b><br />
<br />
A ride along the coast, from Mangavat to Kaş - pronounced 'Kash' - which is a small, relatively unspoilt harbour and tourist town (fishing, diving and yachting) ..<br />
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The bike, my little hero, still running better than ever ...<br />
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.. along what the local biking fraternity around here call this particular stretch of the Lycian coastline 'the Paradise Road'<br />
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Join us for part of the way: <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="364" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/108171052?color=ebf5f0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="648"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/108171052"></a> <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2081379"></a> <a href="https://vimeo.com/"></a><br />
Click the forward play arrow.<br />
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The video finishes (2 mins 35 secs) at Kaş. Notice the acres upon acres of polythene greenhouses and polytunnels (at 1m 50s - 2m 05s). This is all due to political incentives introduced since 1980, which made the land in the region more profitable for investment in <b>agriculture </b>rather than in hotels, luxury apartments and other tourist attractions.<br />
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<br />
<b>Monday-6th</b><br />
<br />
Another 165 km [103 mi] further westwards brought us to the delightfully charming riverside township of <b></b>Dalyan. <br />
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Life in Dalyan revolves around the Dalyan Çayı River that flows past the town. Down river, to the coast, lies nearby İztuzu Beach, which is a breeding ground for the endangered loggerhead (<i>Caretta caretta</i>) sea turtle species. <br />
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We spent the afternoon of Tuesday-7th on İztuzu Beach; riding the short distance of about 12 km [7½ mi] passing endless rows of pomegranates at the height of ripeness ...<br />
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.. and the not-too-shabby Sulunger Lake (Sülüngür Gölü) <br />
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I flashed my man boobs too you know. oh yes! .. and waded into the warm['ish] Med for a brief swim. First time for the year.<br />
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This is precisely where the loggerhead turtles swim to shore between May to October on İztuzu Beach, with an average of some 300 nests per year along this stretch of beach. Unfortunately we were a little late, as this year all the turtles had come and gone three months ago (back in July.)<br />
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<br />
<b>Tuesday-7th</b><br />
<br />
From Dalyan we headed 200 km [125 mi] north to the little township of Pamukkale.<br />
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<b>Background</b>: Pamukkale has been used as a spa since the second century BC, and literally means "cotton castle" in Turkish. <br />
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Do a Google <u>Images</u> search and enter 'Pamukkale' in the search box. You will quickly discover why I felt that Pamukkale (Hierapolis), with all its Roman history and cotton-look terraces, just <i>had </i>to be on the list of 'must see' places to visit in Turkey.<br />
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Part of the nearby Roman ruin city of Hierapolis<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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Our first view of the travertines. <b>Not</b>, as you can see, the beautiful cascading thermal pools depicted in many other photos.<br />
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I overheard one of the tour guides explaining that the end of summer drought conditions were forcing the site authorities to limit the flow of water to small areas, rotated daily to try to keep the calcium formations from damage. <br />
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We took our shoes and socks off (had to) and waddled down the travertine hot springs back towards the township. Crowded as hell, along with dozens of other visiting nationalities.<br />
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Bathing in spa pools, no problem - average temperature of 35°C<br />
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<i>'.. every young couple in love'</i><br />
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Blink .. and it could have been an arctic scene. A young boy in bathing shorts gives the game away<br />
<i>' .. every hopeful child'</i><br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OCE2xZ814S8t3NwdTlrpRyLHUwnmc7ldRDqQhBwfP1Y/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">A Land of Plenty</a> <br />
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<br />
<b>Wednesday-8th &Thursday-9th</b><br />
<br />
Another comparitively short'ish ride west of 185 km [115 mi], 3½-hours, to the town of Selçuk ..<br />
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.. through endless fields of crops, of all sorts, including cotton. <br />
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And it's harvest time.<br />
<br />
You've got to ask, just <i>what </i>does Turkey do with all the mountains of produce it grows.<br />
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This is an incredibly fertile country.<br />
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Selçuk struck me as a likeable, down-to-earth sort of town, with a quite charming neighbouring 'picture postard' village called Şirince close by, which is said to be one of the two villages in the world where there will be no doomsday. Troon village, near Camborne, is definitely not the other one!<br />
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We have good friends, Şandan & Hakan, who are building their dream home (pictured above) in Şirince ..<br />
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.. surrounded by scores of olive trees<br />
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Oddly, despite all their help and guidance during this trip .. even to the point of arranging a homestay with Şandan's mother during our 2-day stopover in Selçuk .. we've never actually met them! <br />
<br />
We shall, however, meet-up when we get to Istanbul. I shall say more about Şandan & Hakan, and the peculiar way by which we all got to know each other, after our visit to that great city.<br />
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Why did we go to Selçuk? <br />
<br />
Well, Selçuk is visited primarily because of its close proximity to the ruins of the Roman city of Ephesus - called simply 'Efes' by most Turks - think reference to beer (above) - which are some of the best preserved Roman ruins in the country.<br />
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Before we went to Ephesus / Efes, we were drawn back to the Med shoreline .. <br />
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.. to Pamucak beach, 9 km (12 mins) west from Selçuk .. just for a couple of cold Efes beers. <br />
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Two hours after the beach run:<br />
<br />
Ephesus was at its peak during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. It was a major Roman city, second in importance and size only to Rome. Ephesus has been estimated to be about 400,000 inhabitants in the year 100 AD, making it the largest city in Roman Asia.<br />
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Coming with the usual amphitheatre - the 'Great Theatre' ..<br />
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.. the largest and best preserved in the Greco-Roman world, with a seating capacity of 24,000.<br />
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Celsius Library, built 123 AD, restored 1970s.<br />
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Hot and tired after too much time on my feet .. I fell asleep at 5:00pm for 1½ hours back at Şandan's mum's place. But what a fine day it was.<br />
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<b>Friday-10th</b><br />
<br />
We rode out to the extremity of the Troad Peninsula, to the tiny fishing village of Babakale, at the westernmost point of mainland Asia at Cape Baba (Baba Burnu).<br />
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The very last sunset in Asia, at: 5:45 pm (local time)<br />
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The furthest east on the Asian mainland we got to on this trip was the Vietnamese city of Huế on the banks of the Perfume River, just a few miles inland from the South China Sea.<br />
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Sunset happened in Huế six hours earlier.<br />
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Asia is indeed a HUGE continent.<br />
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Now Istanbul, the heart of Turkey, beckons.<br />
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Where to after Istanbul? There is nothing specific on the forward planning itinerary.. but I have a cunning plan in mind, as this last 2014 trip moves towards its conclusion. <br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-46252097916156892342014-10-01T12:24:00.002-01:002015-01-02T15:28:55.930-01:00Turkey Feast<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Monday-22 & Tuesday-23, September</b><br />
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Busy in Tbilisi ..<br />
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The rack mounts upon which the aluminium pannier cases hang are again starting to crack and fall apart. A little more welding and grinding solved the problem .. until such time as I eventually arrive in the Netherlands - next year sometime - where and when I plan to get the whole rear luggage system replaced. <br />
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New drive chain .. and sprockets - front and rear. It was about time. The old set-up had powered two slightly over-weight passengers and an excessive amount of luggage since leaving the city of Mount Isa, in the arid desert region of northwest Queensland, Australia .. 35,000 kilometres [nearly 22,000 miles] ago.<br />
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There's the old aussie rapidly wearing-out front sprocket on the left (above), alongside the new replacement on the right.<br />
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I also treated the old gal - the bike that is - to a new set of spark plugs; in addition to a routine engine oil and filter change. A return to 10W-40, in preference to the 15W-50 that I have been pouring into the crankcase in-and-around the hotter regions of Asia. <br />
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As you can probably tell, when it comes to engine oil viscosities .. I clearly don't have a clue.<br />
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Full Mineral, Synthetic, Semi-skimmed? .. lets not go there!<br />
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By Tuesday night (Sept-23rd) we were all tuned-up and ready to leave Tbilisi, for the second and probably the last time.<br />
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<b>Wednesday, Sept-24th</b><br />
<br />
385 km [240 mi] along the Tbilisi-Senaki-Leselidze Highway to the resort destination city of Batumi on the Black Sea coast. And it rained .. and the wind howled .. for the whole six hour-long miserable ride.<br />
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Our first view of the Black Sea, which really was black that afternoon; crashing black stormy waves onto its black sandy beaches under a cold black sky.<br />
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My stereotype vision of this corner of the world, conjured-up from its dark title .. held true.<br />
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Walking the streets from our hotel in the centre of the city, under an overcast and temperamental sky, darkened further by the shadows of 50-year old soviet-style apartment blocks; in late September it can be difficult to appreciate that Batumi is popular with holiday-makers across the Caucasus - including Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Turks and, of course, Georgians.<br />
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The tourist 'season' had, however, come and gone. Everything looked a little tired.<br />
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We walked along the 'grid system' pavements, through the botanical gardens towards the beach front.<br />
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Then it started to p!ss down with rain .. <i>again!</i><br />
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Ellen with her pink brolly .. and me behind the camera, unsuccessfully balancing my black brolly squeezed between shoulder and chin.<br />
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The storms had made quite a mess of the seafront's esplanade. You can normally expect to party along here, with a night life to match that increasingly includes big name international DJs.<br />
<br />
But that afternoon the walkway belonged to the city's council workers busily carrying shovels and pushing wheelbarrows.<br />
<br />
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There are a number of restaurants and bars overlooking the beach .. and we made a beeline for one and watched the waves thunder onto the shoreline .. with warm beer and chips as cold comfort.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Friday-26th</b><br />
<br />
An 18 km [11 mi] ride down to the border town of Sarpi in wonderfully contrasting bright sunshine, stopping along the way to fill the tank for the last time with comparitively cheap fuel; as across the border, in Turkey, the price increases by a whopping 75% from:<br />
<br />
<b>£0.78 </b>(US $1.26) per litre<br />
to <br />
<b>£1.35</b> (US $2.20) per litre<br />
<br />
Turkey's is consistently in the top five most expensive places in the world to buy petrol. Only in Norway and Holland is the price generally always higher. <br />
<br />
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Into No Man's Land with a full tank of petrol - Georgia to our right ..<br />
<br />
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Turkey to our left<br />
<br />
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.. and on with a new and appropriate flag decal-sticker. <br />
<br />
We then headed west, under another greying sky, along a superbly made asphalt Turkish highway for 190 km [118 mi] along the Black Sea coast to the city of Trabzon, where we then turned left and headed inland (south) into the Altındere National Park for a further 39 km [24 mi] until we reached our rustic 'homely' lodgings, the <a href="http://www.kayalarpansiyon.com/" target="_blank">Kayalar Pansiyon & Restaurant</a>, for a 2-night stopover, specifically to visit .. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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.. the spectacular rock-hewn fourth century Sumela Monastery, dramatically perched on a narrow ledge of a steep Altınderean cliff.<br />
<br />
<b>Saturday-27th</b><br />
<br />
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It was quite a trek at 1,200 metres [3,900 ft] to get to up the Monastery, the last stages of which has to be done on foot along an undulating forest trail.<br />
<br />
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The buildings themselves have been fairly heavily restored in recent decades by the Turkish government.<br />
<br />
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<br />
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<br />
The twentieth century, however, has not been kind to the Monastery.<br />
<br />
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The original frescoes have clearly suffered from decades of heart-wrenchingly pointless vandalism by modern-day travellers - and judging from the various alphabets and names scrawled across these religious works of art, it occured to me that just about every culture in the world has taken part in the desecration.<br />
<br />
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Shame on you Antonio Hudson for your stupidity in 1965 - a US Air Force military man should have more sense. There are better ways to build up your self esteem.<br />
<br />
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Out of breath, climbing up the steep stone staircases. I am getting old.<br />
<br />
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No Internet and no TV back at the Kayalar Pansiyon. Fairly decent home-cooked victuals though. Guests eat when the family eats.<br />
<br />
The breakfast spread included: loosely scrambled eggs courtesy of the hens in the back yard, slabs of fresh home-baked bread; farmhouse butter, homemade cheeses, fresh honey, olives and figs from the garden .. and fig jam prepared by our landlady on the day of our arrival .. all washed down with freshly-brewed Turkish tea. Not a rice krispie, nor a sugar puff in sight.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Sunday-28th & Monday-29th</b><br />
<br />
Two hard days' riding followed our deparure from the Altındere NP, again often in rainy and always in cold conditions, which brought us firstly to the Black Sea coastal city of Samsun 365 km [227 mi] further westwards .. <br />
<br />
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.. before we headed inland and south for another 466 km [290 mi] to Cappadocia located in the heartland of the Anatolian Region.<br />
<br />
Eight hours in the saddle through a bleak and bitterly cold arable lanscape at an average height of around 1,150 metres [3,770 ft]. Exhilerating .. in a perverse sort of way.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Cappadocia</b><br />
<br />
Tuesday-30th - and the weather finally breaks. HOORAH!<br />
<br />
Cappadocia is an area in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey .. and during the final day of September we spent an exquisite morning and afternoon exploring the lava-covered plains between the volcanic mountains of Erciyes, Melendiz and Hasan.<br />
<br />
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Cappadocia is best known for its unique moon-like landscape ..<br />
<br />
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.. cave churches and still widely inhabited dwelling houses carved into the rock formations, which presents an 'otherworldly' appearance.<br />
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We visited an underground city in Kaymakli<br />
<br />
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Eight storeys of underground tunnels and caves<br />
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Amazing!<br />
<br />
And on a lighter note, the not-too-pushy (for a change) touts outside were selling the usual, and indeed somewhat unusual, aray of souvenirs .. and Turkish Delight<br />
<br />
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Gotta get me some a dat!<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Wednesday, 1st October</b><br />
<br />
Cappadocia is renowned around the world as one of the best places to fly hot air balloons. I had been dreaming of this moment for quite some time ... and this was the day.<br />
<br />
It meant a pre-dawn start at 5:00 am!<br />
<br />
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Not many words.. just look at the pictures <br />
<br />
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Meet our pilot, local man Osman Uslu.<br />
<br />
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.. who managed to land and park our wicker basket right smack-bang squarely onto the awaiting trailer. Amazing skill and co-ordination.<br />
<br />
I made a short video of my hour-long voyage into the dawn sky. Join me:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="365" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qDLUYprGSEI" width="648"></iframe><br />
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<br />
Tomorrow morning, Thursday 2nd October, we head south, down to the Mediterranean Sea.<br />
<br />
=========================================<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-80387341689900192012014-09-21T13:50:00.000-01:002014-12-24T14:11:45.834-01:00Where the Hell Am I?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Sunday, 21 September</b><br />
<br />
<i>Current location</i>: <b>Tbilisi, Georgia</b><br />
<br />
Below, a snapshot of my three-year Asian motorcycle ride - in five separate stages - westwards, starting in September 2011 from the former Portuguese colony of East Timor:<br />
<br />
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Click to enlarge<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
And now, just two days before the autumnal equinox ((Sep-23rd), am I still in Asia .. or have I made it into Europe?<br />
<br />
You see, after looking into this widely misunderstood question, I have discovered that the definition of 'Europe' is quite diverse.<br />
<br />
For instance, one of the generally accepted borders between Asia and Europe in this region is the watershed area of the Greater Caucasus mountain range. By this particular definition, about 99% of Georgia is firmly located in Asia; and just a tiny part of it, near the Russian border crossing at Kazbegi-Lars, is in Europe. With this criteria in mind, I am definitely in Asia right now.<br />
<br />
This is backed-up by the statistics division of the United Nations, which records transcontinental states as being <i>".. on the continent where they have the majority of their population"</i> - i.e. The UN position is that Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are <b>Asian</b>. Russia, on the other hand, is by UN definition <b>European</b>.<br />
<br />
Politically however, all states that have some territory both in Europe and Asia, seem to prefer association with Europe rather than Asia. For instance Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Israel etc, all play football in the UEFA (Union of European Football Association), rather than the AFC (Asian Football Confederation). They are all allowed to enter the Eurovision song contest .. [<i>sarcasm on</i>] and what self-respecting nation wouldn't say 'Yay' to that? [<i>sarcasm off!</i>] <br />
<br />
Note that Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are all members of the Council of Europe, depite being geographically Asian. Kazakhstan is also allowed to join the Council of Europe if it so chooses.<br />
<br />
My travel insurer defines 'Europe' as: <i>"The Continent of Europe west of the Ural Mountains including all countries with a Mediterranean coastline (except Israel, Lebanon and Libya.)" </i>As Georgia is west of the Urals, I have saved a few pennies on my travel insurance premiums by buying 'European' as opposed to 'Worldwide' cover.<br />
<br />
<b>Summary</b>:<br />
<br />
I think I will settle on a compromise position: For the next few days I'll consider myself to be in 'Eurasia' - until I cross the border into Turkey, often widely referred to 'Asia Minor' and sometimes as 'Anatolia'.<br />
<br />
Only when I arrive in Greece (or Bulgaria) - in about three weeks' time - will I be able to definitively claim that I have arrived 'home' in my native continent of Europe proper. <br />
<br />
Glad I'm not Scottish!<br />
<br />
Let's get started ..<br />
<br />
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<b>Pre-planning - getting here</b><br />
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The cheapest flight leaving from a convenient airport in the UK to Tbilisi is with Ukraine International Airlines: from London Gatwick via Kiev Borispol Airport, Ukraine ... <br />
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.. the second segment of which carries you uncomfortably close to and over the pro-Russian separatist conflict zone north of the Crimean Peninsula. <br />
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Flashback to the recent tragedy of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, when 298 innocent travellers and air crew were blown out of the sky.<br />
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Contemplating that terrible event of July-17th (coicidentally, my birthday), it took me less than five seconds to decide on booking reservations with an different carrier, Turkish Airlines, which takes an alternative and less controversial flight path!<br />
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My slightly more expensive 3-segment flight path to Tbilisi:<br />
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NQY - LGW...................348 km (216 mi)<br />
LGW - SAW................2,530 km (1,572 mi) - Goodbye United Kingdom. See you next in GMT.<br />
SAW - TBS.................1,312 km (815 mi)<br />
<b>Total: 4,190 km (2,603 mi)</b><br />
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A trip always 'starts' for me when I board the plane that takes me to my destination. Leaving home for London Gatwick from Newquay Airport (airport code NQY) meant that this trip started early .. just 7 miles (11¼ km), a 12-minute drive away from my front door.<br />
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NQY at 06:45 - It's no more than a baroque plastered cowshed, which has the bloody cheek to charge departing passengers a fiver (£5) each, which they label an 'Airport Development Fee'.<br />
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A little over an hour after take-off .. and you're waiting to pick your bags off the luggage carousel at London Gatwick's south terminal. Then the onward flights to Istanbul →Tbilisi doesn't happen for 5½ hours.<br />
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Therefore, apart from checking-in .. and going through the all the hassle and indiginity of modern-day travel security checks - just how does one kill 5½ hours in a bustling airport?<br />
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Partake in sipping coffee perhaps .. or supping beer and slurping wine?<br />
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No Contest!</div>
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And here we are .. back in Tbilisi, with all its quirky, yet fascinating architecture and artifacts.<br />
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Back to a shepherd's pie pub lunch ..<br />
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Back to Premiership Football on a Sunday afternoon in front of a 42" wide-screen TV.<br />
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It's good to be abroad again!<br />
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Where do we go from here?<br />
<br />
Well, I have a broadbrush route in mind. After getting the bike all serviced-up and ready for the road:<br />
<br />
We'll scoot westwards to Batumi on the Georgian Black Sea coast, before dropping down to the Turkish border. Then spend a couple of weeks making more westing across Turkey to Istanbul via a most indirect route, which will include a jaunt along the Turkish Mediterranean coastline.<br />
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From Istanbul, maybe we'll pop-into Greece for a week or two; I dunno, this will depend on the prevailing weather conditions and how we feel at the time. If we're not in the mood for Moussaka, then it'll be a ride straight into Bulgaria, where I know I can park and store the bike for the winter months.<br />
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You see, there is now something quite wonderful drawing me back home ..<br />
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<br />
Meet my new granddaughter, Grace Mary - born just three days ago.<br />
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I want to get to know her .. and for this reason I could be home early.<br />
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Life is a funny old thing. It is the way it is, not the way I have imagined it .. up until now.<br />
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More from me .. in a few days' time.<br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Cuxshts5y1VJH6YDePT6fOZPp1YIQnCG46vZ-hDIKtw/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Tbilisi - Georgia</a><br />
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</div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0Tbilisi, Georgia41.716667 44.78333299999997141.337479 44.137885999999973 42.095855 45.428779999999968tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-86221795234606703722014-07-07T19:14:00.000-01:002014-12-24T14:09:38.447-01:00They Think It's All Over<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
.. and this leg of the long ride home is now indeed over.<br />
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But first: The last eight days, <b>from Sunday, 29th June</b><br />
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<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-b2Tg7CJ/0/XL/P6300775-2-1-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-b2Tg7CJ/0/XL/P6300775-2-1-XL.jpg" height="363" width="648" /></a>Starting with our exit from Iran and entry into Armenia at the Norduz (Iran) < – > Agarak (Armenia) border crossing, which was not entirely painless, particularly on the Iranian side. Nevertheless, after two hours of questioning such as, <i>"What is your job?"</i> .. <i>"Where were you born?"</i> .. and <i>"What is your father's first name?"</i> - eventually, we were allowed to get on our way.<br />
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After the border, the Armenian countryside - the land of Mount Ararat and the Arc of Noah - was certainly eye-catching, and reminding us very much of the 'Celtic cousins' of Wales, Ireland and Scotland.<br />
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The outstanding vistas of northern Iran, however, now in our wake, were always going to be a hard act to follow.<br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jD0CrQsaIH2hPm7v5hN0X-64j2asyD92diBAJrE2-Jk/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Iran</a><br />
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The bike starts to really struggle <i><b>again</b></i> with the higher altitudes. I was growing increasingly concerned that this was more than a case of poor (low octane) fuel. <br />
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<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-Q9dfMgj/0/XL/P7030795-6-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-Q9dfMgj/0/XL/P7030795-6-XL.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a>Typical Armenian housing. Former Soviet apartment blocks.<br />
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Our second day in Armenia - the first night spent in the township of Kapan - brought us to a bleak eastern bank of the Sevan lake as the weather closed-in; the largest lake in Armenia and the Caucasus region .. and one of the largest fresh-water high-altitude* lakes in the world.<br />
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*<span style="font-size: x-small;">Altitude: 1,900 metres [6,250 ft] above sea level</span> <br />
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Thunder, hail storms .. suddenly it was winter as the temperature dramatically dropped 15 - 20°C within 30 minutes. We made it to our lodgings, quite exhausted, just before darkness fell. <br />
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Sunset from our hotel (second night), on the eastern bank of Lake Sevan.<br />
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The most famous cultural monument around the Lake is the Sevanavank monastery near the town of Sevan at the north-western shore. We made the mandatory visit.<br />
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Initially the monastery was located on an island, but the fall of the water level turned it into a peninsula.<br />
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<b>Thursday, 3rd July</b><br />
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More Soviet-style concrete apartment blocks on the way to the Georgian border.<br />
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<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-RWCtkzG/0/XL/P7030793-5-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-RWCtkzG/0/XL/P7030793-5-XL.jpg" height="518" width="648" /></a>We crossed the Bagratashen / Sadakhlo Road and rail border with Georgia. The formalities on both sides took no more than 20 minutes .. in record time, compared to the previous 22 border crossings during the trip since leaving New Zealand in March 2010 .. more than four years ago.</div>
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Considered by many to be located at the most south-eastern extreme edge of Europe. It certainly 'felt' (kind of) that we were on familiar territory.</div>
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Just 75 kilometres [47 miles] later and, surviving crazy Georgian drivers and their obsession with speed at any cost, we pulled into the safety of our pre-booked lodgings in Tbilisi, on the banks of Mtkvari River, in the foothills of the Trialeti mountain range.<br />
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Almost 10 times the size of any other city in Georgia, Tbilisi is where 'it all happens'<br />
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Friends of ours advised that we should take a cable car ride to the top of Sololaki Hill - at a cost of one lari (33 pence) each .. well, why not?!<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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The view from the top of Sololaki Hill.<br />
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Although the city has been destroyed and rebuilt almost 30 times, the layout of the Old Town - bottom left in the above picture - is largely intact with narrow alleys and big crooked houses built around courtyards. <br />
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The Hill features the Kartlis Deda monument - The 'Mother of Georgia' - which stands 20 m (65.5 ft) high; erected in 1958, the year Tbilisi celebrated its 1500th anniversary.<br />
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Nice tits<br />
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There's tons of culture to see in Tbilisi. We're looking forward to exploring more of what the city has to offer when we return.<br />
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Set amongst the narrow, winding alleys, handsome religious buildings, and old balconied houses and caravanserais (travellers inns) - in complete contrast, you cannot miss ..<br />
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<i>.. </i>the towering ultra-modern steel mushroom canopies over the roof of the Italian designed Tbilisi Public Service Hall Building ..<br />
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<i>'Everything in One Space'</i> is their motto .. <i>except</i> the means to print-off simple copies of our internet delivered flight and coach tickets!<br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OV-wxvJQvW-FwC846kErnoIw7-lM5W3ZYnxq3KEKlWI/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Armenia, Georgia and home</a><br />
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<b>Monday evening, July-7th </b><br />
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My little black steed is now all bedded-down - put into temporary hibernation for the <b><i>eighth </i></b>time during this trip.<br />
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We'll be back later in the year, probably sometime during the third week in September, when after replacing some essential parts - i.e. a new drive chain and sprockets etc, which will be fitted by a local Georgian bike mechanic <i>extraordinaire</i>, Nico (right) - we'll then ride all the way to England.<br />
<br />
Later tonight, after completing these very last couple of paragraphs of the 63rd post of my blog, my labour of love; having clocked-up yet another 12,568 kilometre [7,809 miles] during the last three months since returning to Nepal in early April ..<br />
<br />
.. we will again go back in time, by a piddling three hours on this particular homeward-bound flight, to my place in the far southwest of England to lay my head on that old familiar pillow.<br />
<br />
Thank you for visiting.<br />
<br />
Until next time.<br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-22260648473559535312014-07-01T15:05:00.002-01:002017-08-08T16:43:02.444-01:00Uninsured - A Sobering Fact of Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<b>Back on Track</b><br />
<br />
We crossed the border from Iran into Armenia on Sunday-29th June. Therefore, as far as the Internet is concerned - <i>'Normal Service Has Been Resumed'</i><br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Wednesday, 18th June</b><br />
<br />
After a 10-hour overnight passage across the Strait of Hormuz our ferry docked in the port of Bandar Abbas around seven o'clock in the morning.<br />
<br />
It then took nearly another eight hours to clear immigration, customs control and the port authority's red tape procedures. Too late to contemplate anything other than a short ride into town and the relative comfort of our first Iranian Hotel.<br />
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Time to stick a new flag on the black beast.<br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-_zHthaRx7oIyowBEQGrtQnaoVq3Mpygk5b3VJsVEx4/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Dubai, Oman and Iran</a><br />
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<br />
<b>IRAN FACTS</b>:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Area: <b>1,648,195 km2 [636,372 sq mi]</b>. Iran is a HUGE country; more than 150% bigger than France and Germany combined.</li>
<li>Capital, and largest city: <b>Tehran</b> </li>
<li>Population (2013 estimate): <b>77,176,930</b> </li>
<li>Religion: <b>Shia Islam</b> </li>
<li>Official languages: <b>Persian (Farsi)</b> </li>
<li>Currency: <b>Rial Toman</b> (x10 Rial)</li>
<li>Time zone: <b>UTC [London] +3:30</b></li>
</ul>
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<br />
<b>Thursday-19th</b><br />
<br />
Away from Bandar Abbas, heading northwest. <br />
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.. and into the fiercesome heat on the southern Iranian desert towards the township of Lar, more or less halfway to Shiraz. Quickly discovering, with a considerable amount of delight, that the price of a litre of standard-grade petrol in Iran is around 20p. The quality is, however, very questionable. The bike's V-twin engine told me so, coughing and spluttering in protest, especially when riding over mountain ranges at heights above of 2,400 metres [8,000 ft].<br />
<br />
After chatting to a couple of local bikers it was suggested that I should insist on 'Euro-4' (European standard) petrol. Unfortunately this type of fuel is only available in-and-around Tehran. The nearest alternative to Euro-4 is 'Super' grade petrol, which provides a still inadequate power potential because of its lowly octane of 88 .. and even 'Super' is not universally available throughout the whole of Iran. I cringed everytime I was forced to accept the standard-grade stuff; apologising to the bike in the process.<br />
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Police check points are commonplace along most Iranian highways. I got pulled over at the very first confrontation with one; more from the police's curiosity than anything else I suspected.<br />
<br />
During the quite jovial at times interrogtion I heard steady hissing sound from closeby. <i>'Sounds like someone's got a puncture, I reckon?' </i>.. I thought to myself.<br />
<br />
Question time over, I attempted to pull away in the mid-afternoon heat of 45°C [113°F] .. BUGGER! .. 'twas my recently fitted new 'heavy-duty' front inner tube that had split which was making all the noise a few minutes beforehand.<br />
<br />
Irreparable, I had no other choice but to change the tube. Ordinarily no real problem .. but in that brutal heat it was very hard work.<br />
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Plenty of help was on hand though to sort the problem, particularly from a young man called Ali Rastgoo (26) - pictured above - who afterwards absolutely insisted that we went back to his place, located about 5 km away in a nearby local village.<br />
<br />
Were we encountering our very first experience of <i>"Ta'arof"</i> we wondered? I had read-up about <i>Ta'arof</i> beforehand, during the winter months at home, before embarking on this leg of the trip.<br />
<br />
Just to clear up: When you meet someone in Iran and you are told come and stay at my house this is <i>Ta'arof</i>, a system of formalised politeness that can seem confusing to outsiders (like us).<br />
<br />
For example, an offer of food should be turned down before being accepted.This gives the person making the offer the chance to save face if in reality they cannot provide a meal. A good rule is to always refuse any offer. When a shopkeeper, restauranter or a hotel manager refuses payment when asked for a bill, it should always be remembered that this is just <i>Ta'arof </i>- The buyer should always ensure that he or she <b>doesn't</b> leave without paying!<br />
<br />
Learn more about <i>Ta'arof </i>by clicking on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taarof" target="_blank">this link</a><br />
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Was Ali simply demonstrating <i>Ta'arof </i> .. we weren't sure? But we accepted his kind offer in any case - and soon thereafter were treated to a tasty feast, prepared in no time at all.<br />
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Iranians - the kindest people in the world, with or without <i>Ta'arof</i>.<br />
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Onwards to Lar, arriving there by around 6:00pm.<br />
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<br />
<b>Friday-20th </b><br />
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Then to the city of Shiraz, typically drinking between 3-4 litres of water each during such a typical 360 km [224 mi] ride. If there's no convenient shelter around .. then make your own, with the aid of an umbrella!<br />
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Great roads all around Iran, which means that rides of 500+ km [300+ mi] can be contemplated; something you would think twice about in say .. India for instance.<br />
<br />
We spent two nights in Shiraz, especially to pay a visit to the Police for Immigration and Foreign Aliens during Sat-21st; to be informed that our visas were good for 30 days from the date of entry (June18th) - and not just until the expiry date of June-22nd, which was in fact the last possible date that we could have entered Iran (and thus start the 30-day visiting time limit.)<br />
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<b> Sunday-22nd</b><br />
<br />
We spent 2-3 hours wandering around the ancient ruins of Persopolis on the way to the city of Yazd located a short ride of 60 km [37 mi] from Shiraz.<br />
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There's Ellen in the centre of the above picture, which gives you a good idea of the size of the stone columns.<br />
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Alexander the Great sent the main force of his army to Persepolis and captured the city in the year 330 BC. <br />
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There's loads of Bas-relief in-and around Persepolis, dating back to 500 BC.<br />
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During the afternoon, on the way to the city of Yazd. Always in constant need to drink more water.<br />
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<b>Sunday-22nd</b><br />
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<b>Yazd</b> <br />
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Masjid-e Jame (Friday Mosque), dating back to the fourteenth century. Its minarets are the highest in the country.<br />
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From mid-morning we rode the 315 km [196 mi] journey westwards to the city of Esfahan ..<br />
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.. along more great roads<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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Climbing up to a height of 2,500 metres [8,200 ft] the V-twin engine started to struggle badly for the first time. I put this down to a simple case of poor quality (low octane) fuel, which was all that was available at the last service station fill-up. <br />
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<b>Monday-23rd &Tuesday-24th - in Esfahan</b>. The oldest but in many respects the most modern and strangely the most familiar for us (in a European-esque type way) city in Iran so far.<br />
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<b>Tue-24th</b><br />
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A visit to Naqsh-e Jahan Square. But first .. <br />
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.. some Chai with a local merchant that befriended us; curious to know what we were doing in his city out of season .. in all the heat! <br />
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Any Persian will tell you that they love to drink Chai (pronounced Cha-ee)<br />
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With <b>two</b> mosques - the Imam and the Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosques - <b>and </b>the bazaar. Naqsh-e Jahan Square is an important historical site, and one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.The square is surrounded by buildings from the Safavid era (circa 1600 AD.)<br />
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With such fine mozaic detail it's no wonder the Imam Khomeini Mosque took almost 20 years to complete.<br />
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A Muslim praying to his God. <br />
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The interior dome roof of the Iman mosque. A mozaic masterpiece - and a wonder.<br />
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<br />
<b>Evening</b><br />
<br />
A walk around and across the Pol-e Khaju (Khaju Bridge) - 1650. Widely accepted as the finest bridge in the province of Isfahan. <br />
<br />
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Ice creams on the way back to our lodgings. Just like a Kelly's Whip (.. without the yellow dye!)<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Wednesday-25th</b><br />
<br />
We left Esfahan and headed for Abyaneh Village for lunch.<br />
<br />
I managed to drop the bike (left-hand side) sliding down the steep polished marble tiles leading up/down the embanked approach and entrace of the Abyaneh Hotel; bending and scarring some more bodywork in the process. BUGGER!<br />
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After leaving Abyaneh we passed alongside the highly controversial Natanz uranium fuel enrichment plant on the way to the city of Qom. Anti-aircaft gun emplacements surrounding the facility guarding its 160 centrifuges, which operate eight metres underground - and protected by a concrete walls 2.5 metres thick. Quite scary, but utterly fascinating at the same time. <br />
<br />
Obviously we got stopped by security police who demanded to see our passports. The young copper (a Tom Cruise lookalike) phoned through to The Powers That Be - I heard him repeat my name <i>'Stanley Hooper'</i> into his walkie-talkie, which presumably all checked out, as we soon we were free to continue our journey. <br />
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We spent the night in Qom, which is one of the holiest cities in Iran, and indeed throughout the Middle East; entrenched in centuries of history. The most important aspect of Qom is the Fatima È Massummeh Shrine.<br />
<br />
We received a free guided tour around the Shrine by two young post graduate guys keen to show us Iranian hospitality and practise their English. <br />
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The Shrine certainly is a 'special' place; you can feel the vibe as soon as you enter.<br />
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<br />
<b>Thursday-26th</b><br />
<br />
Heading further north towards the Caspian Sea, by-passing the western outskirts of Tehran. <br />
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Up into the mountains reaching an elevation of more than 2,700 metres [nearly 9,000 ft]. The vistas along the way were very rugged and green, in complete contrast to the arid southern deserts; a reminder of the Alpine region of central Europe.<br />
<br />
The bike started to play-up - I decided that I <i>must </i>check everything the following day - the problem could be more than just bad fuel. Thus we enjoyed two days on the shores of the Caspian Sea .. and we didn't complain about that.<br />
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Sunset fishing from the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, which is <i>minus </i>28 metres (- 92 ft) below sea (ocean) level. <br />
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The locals do a lot of fishing in this part of the world. Along with camping, picnicing .. you name an outdoor family-orientated activity .. and Iranians love doing it. <br />
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<br />
<b>Saturday-28th & Sunday 29th</b><br />
<br />
The engine's knocking noise turned out to be nothing more than a slack drive chain, which I adjusted to the correct tension. The chain and sprockets at this point had covered 33,000 km [20,500 miles] therefore I really should bring back a new set with me from the UK in late September before I head off, westward and homeward bound, into Turkey and Europe beyond, on what turn out to be the final leg of this incredible trip-of-a-lifetime .. to England. Right way round, all the way from New Zealand.<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
<br />
From our Sat-28th overnight stopover in the city of Tabriz, on Sun-29th we were northbound to the Armenian border. The vistas continued to get better and better .. <br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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.. as we passed-by remote mountain Azeri settlements.<br />
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A truly breathtaking moment at 2,600 metres [8,500 ft] north of the city of Tabriz - getting very close to Armenia - at the Norduz (Iranian) – Agarak (Armenian) border crossing.<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
<br />
The view from my perspective - really quite sensational.<br />
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<br />
<b>SUMMARY</b>:<br />
<br />
I'm going to write a summary of my experiences in Iran when I can think of the right words.<br />
<br />
The near two weeks during which we rode more than 3,000 kilometres with no travel insurance, because you are considered uninsurable by all insurers whilst travelling independently in Iran .. and zero alcoholic beverages .. why, and why not? I'll need to give it all some more thought. Right now it doesn't make sense; or perhaps<br />
<br />
.. maybe, it's simply the Armenian beer getting the better of me?! .. whatever, I'll get back again soonest.<br />
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========================================= <br />
<br /></div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-25232596984975545262014-06-23T16:37:00.002-01:002014-07-27T14:10:58.231-01:00Censored!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><br /></b>
<b>ANNOUNCEMENT</b>:<br />
<br />
Well now then, am I having trouble uploading photos to the Internet here in Iran .. or what?<br />
<br />
I am discovering that the World Wide Web .. isn’t .. so worldwide that is.<br />
<br />
I wasn't aware that almost 50% of the top 500 visited websites in the world, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even the BBC's website .. are all blocked in Iran.<br />
<br />
For your information, my blog and photo albums are hosted by (a) blogger.com and (b) smugmug.com, both of which are partially and fully blocked respectively.<br />
<br />
And unlike you, I can't even see the photos which I've <b><i>already </i></b>uploaded. I can read my captions and other dialogue, no problem .. but the photos, from my point-of-view, are all blanked-out.<br />
<br />
I have considered circumventing this censorship by adopting a VPN (Virtual Private Network), which would effective 'cloak' my whereabouts. But the fact is, I'm not here to offend any Islamic or other Iranian state laws, and with this in mind I have decided not to pursue the VPN option. <br />
<br />
I’ll get back soonest, but this may have to wait until I leave the country and cross the border into southern Armenia, which should occurr around the beginning of July (in a week's time, +/- a day or two.)<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, anyone viewing this, my blog, can still track my whereabouts by clicking-on the SPOT locator link towards the top of the right-hand side bar (.. I can't even see this SPOT picture link - I am <i>assuming</i> <b>you</b> can!)<br />
<br />
Thanks for visiting<br />
<br />
KEITH<br />
<br />
[<a href="http://www.rightwayround.net/search?updated-max=2014-06-23T23:22:00%2B05:45&max-results=1" target="_blank"><b>LINK</b> to my last post</a>]<br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-54928635200925987902014-06-21T08:52:00.001-01:002021-08-28T22:45:53.444-01:00Back in Business<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Islamic weekend, starting Thursday evening, 12th June</b><br />
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Early morning, Friday-13th - unlucky for some - but not for me. <br />
<br />
The problem of the bike apparently stuck in a cargo warehouse somewhere on the periphery of Istanbul Int'l Airport was soon sorted after an exchange of e-mails with an Istanbul-based friend, Mehmet Zeki Avar. <br />
<br />
Mehmet had no hesitation in going to the airport to resolve matters - and later that evening, Thu-12th, after several delayed departures, the bike was on its way to Dubai .. and finally arrived there at 1:30am, Friday-13th.<br />
<br />
I was right back in business .. well, almost.<br />
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It took from around 8 o'clock in the morning to late in the afternoon - 4:48pm to be precise (see online tracking notes above) - to get the bike released from the bureaucratic grips of Dubai's Customs Control officers, who, quite frankly, didn't seem to have much clue about how to organise the temporary importation of a foreign-registered vehicle that turns-up, literally out of the blue, from the cargo hold of a Turkish Airline's Boeing 777-300ER passenger flight.<br />
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Without the help of my newest and one of my now best mates, Saleh Alsharif, solving the multitude of problems as and when they occurred, I'm not quite sure how I would have coped that day.<br />
<br />
I say more about Saleh, and the members of the Dubai Riders Club below.<br />
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By tea time it was all over - a brief, but no doubt comprehensive nervous breakdown avoided - and it was time for a change of flag.<br />
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New tyres fitted; German-made Heidenau K60 'Scouts'. I've always fancied a set, and as these were the only type available anywhere in Dubai .. well, I had little other choice but to buy them.<br />
<br />
Dual purpose (50:50) tyres that are supposed to work very well in dry dirt and on roads as wet as you like, but manage to last for thousands of miles. I'll find out in the fullness of time.<br />
<br />
A 140-millimetre wide rear, which is 20 mm above the manufacturer's (Honda's) recommended width of 120 mm. So far it's working very well; providing more traction, even if leaning into corners is taking a little more effort.<br />
<br />
I had been carrying a spare heavy-duty front inner tube during this particular trip and thought that now would be the ideal time to have it fitted. I shall say more regarding the outcome of this decision later.<br />
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<br />
I must give big thanks to a couple of friends of the family back home in Cornwall, Chris and Verity Rosewarne.<br />
<br />
We had planned on taking-up C&V's kind invitation to stay with them, at their home in the Al Rashidiya suburb of Dubai (close to the airport), for no more than 2-3 nights. Because of the bike's shipping delays, however, this turned into <b>six </b>nights all told, for which we are <i>extremely </i>grateful.<br />
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So THANK YOU guys for all your hospitality, which made the long wait for our 2-wheeled transportation far less painfull than it might otherwise have been. See you back in Newquay one day .. soon, we hope.<br />
<br />
Soft strokes all around too for: 'Sammy' - 'Midas' - 'Gucci' - 'Yellow' - 'Blondie' ..<br />
<br />
.. and even grumpy ol' 'Kit Kat' the pussycat (not in above the picture.)<br />
<br />
.. their pets' names always made me think of: Hugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub! [perhaps an idea for the next generation of the Rosewarne household's menagerie?!]<br />
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<br />
During our 13-day visit to the UAE we went to the premiere private viewing of a movie called <i>'Around Africa by Camel'</i> starring the exploits two Emerati adventurers who last year (2013) rode a couple of camels all the way from Yemen to South Africa, taking more than eight months to complete the trip.<br />
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Pictured above with one of the adventurers.<br />
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Having your picture taken with a dignitary, person of influence or celebrity - or indeed any nonentity (like us) - is a favourite pastime in the UAE; it seems to be the same all over Asia .. and why not?!<br />
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Saleh - the same kind young man who tossed me the keys to his Honda GL1800 Goldwing and his spare mobile-cell phone, and whose help was so priceless during the bike's importation process - took care of nearly all our other requirements; never hesitating to offer and provide a helping hand whenever it was needed.<br />
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In the UAE every Friday is set aside for religious contemplation and family union. Saleh invited me to attend his [all male] family gathering for a typical lunch. Really tasty vittles, eaten the traditional way, sat on the floor around far too much food .. all amongst friendly company. What could be better?<br />
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I had been exchanging emails with Steph, an English girl [well, 'quasi' Welsh actually] for a couple of months. Steph is currently riding a motorcycle around the world - solo - in the opposite direction to me. The twist with Steph is that she intends to circumnavigate by way of all seven continents .. <i>including</i> Antarctica. <br />
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We agreed some time ago that, should our paths cross - for instance, somewhere in Iran, the UAE, or the subcontinent - then we would try to meet-up and exchange whatever useful info we could. <br />
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I am pleased to say that we hooked-up (twice) for drinks and giggles during the near fortnight we spent in and around Dubai. You can follow Steph's travel by clicking on this link: <a href="http://www.stephmoto-adventurebikeblog.com/" target="_blank">One Steph Beyond...</a><br />
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Saleh, together with a handful of the Dubai Riders' Club, provide friendship at the Bikers' Café, Jumeirah Road (sea front road), Dubai. <br />
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There really is an indoor ski slope, with real snow, in Dubai. We had lunch there on Thursday-12th.<br />
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It's the first indoor ski resort in the Middle East, offering a terrific setting for kids especially, to enjoy skiing, snowboarding and tobogganing, or just playing in the white stuff .. when it's 40°C outside. Amazing!<br />
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<b>Saturday-14th</b><br />
<br />
Our ferry passage booked and paid for, we still had two whole days in hand to explore the UAE before our departure on the following Tuesday (17th).<br />
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We therefore headed eastwards across the scorched Arabian landscape towards the Indian Ocean and the Emirate of Fujairah ..<br />
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.. remembering to ride on the right-hand side of the road, something I had not practiced since leaving Cambodia in November of last year (2013.)<br />
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The oil, gas and petrochemical industries together make-up the substantive part of the UAE's economy; it is not surprising, therefore, that the country should want to have an export facility on the Indian Ocean seaboard .. just in case trouble flares-up in the region. To rely exclusively on the narrow Strait of Hormuz as the conduit for oil exportation may not be in the country's best interest - a fact which has not gone unrecognised by the Federal Emirates Monarchy government.<br />
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Sunday morning (15th). Breakfast-time at our stopover: <a href="http://www.sandybm.com/" target="_blank">The Sandy Beach Hotel & Resort</a><br />
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Heading 130 kilometres [81 miles] in a broad northwesterly direction from the Sandy Beach Resort will bring you back to the Persian Gulf and ..<br />
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.. the border of the Musandam Governorate, which is a tiny enclave of Oman that neighbours the UAE.<br />
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The Musandam peninsula juts into the Strait of Hormuz and is dubbed the "Norway of Arabia." We had the time .. so we just <i><b>had </b></i>to go there.<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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It was a sensational ride up to the enclave's tiny capital, Khasab; and at that point in time, definitely one of the highlights of the whole trip.<br />
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Our Khasab-based hotel at night. Still a more than balmy 30°C.<br />
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The ride back to the border and the Emirate of Sharjah beyond was equally as thrilling.<br />
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<b>Tuesday-17th</b><br />
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Evening (Tue-17th) - Finally, after such a long delay, I was at last riding my black beauty onto the ferry at Sharjah docks, which overnight would carry us across the Strait of Hormuz to Bandar Abbas, Iran.<br />
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Who would have thought it .. eh? Iran, that most enigmatic of all countries. <br />
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I wonder what lies ahead?<br />
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Stayed tuned - and just like me, you'll soon find out.<br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-70986726538812673892014-06-11T08:10:00.000-01:002016-10-06T16:37:43.913-01:00Time is Running Out<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Wednesday, 4th June</b><br />
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Our non-stop (direct) 4½-hour flight aboard an Air Arabia Airbus A320 from Kathmandu to Sharjah Int'l Airport, a little north of Dubai, was absolutely brimming with Nepalis young men in their 20s and 30s; just a tiny part of the massive army of subcontinental labour that has transformed the city of Dubai and its surrounding desert region since the 1990s.<br />
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The heat hit us as if opening an oven door, even at 5:00pm, as soon as we stepped outside the Airport's concourse. <br />
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A 40-minute air-conditioned (of course) taxi ride from Sharjah down to the neighbouring Emirate of Dubai the following morning, Thu-5th .. <br />
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.. was a HUGE contrast from what we had grown accustomed to during the previous seven weeks. We were back in a regular, well-organised society. A welcome shock to our systems. Road signs .. and everything!<br />
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It was soon time for a paddle in the warm Persian (Arabian) Gulf ..<br />
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.. close to the iconic 60-story Burj Al Arab. At 210 metres [1,053 ft] it's the tallest operating hotel in the world (not counting mixed-use buildings.)<br />
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Self-proclaimed as being <i>'the world's most luxurious hotel'</i> - if we wanted to stay there in one of the 202 two-storey suites, then we would have to stump-up AED 5,000 [GB£815 or US$1,370]* -to- AED 30,000 [£4,900 or $8,200]** <b>per night</b>.<br />
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* <span style="font-size: x-small;">170 square metres (1,830 square feet)</span><br />
** <span style="font-size: x-small;">780 square metres (8,396 square feet).</span><br />
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Even afternoon tea in the top floor Skyview Bar costs more than a pretty penny. Price: 560 Dirhams [£92 or $153] <b>per person</b>.<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
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Over the next couple of days, our hosts here in Dubai, British ex-pats Chris & Verity, about whom I shall say more in my next post, treated us to a tour of the city's best attractions .. <br />
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Like a trip up the Burj Khalifa - completed in January 2010 at a cost of $1,500,000,000, it's the tallest man-made structure in the world standing at 829 metres [2,719 ft] tall.<br />
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Incidentally, "Burj" is Arabic for "Tower"<br />
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Some images we snapped from the observation (124th) floor - 452 metres [1,483 ft] up:<br />
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Looking down onto the roof of a Dubai Metro Station<br />
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Location of the Rivington Bar & Grill, from where we watched ... <br />
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... the spectacular fountain show, water dancing to music, during the evening of Saturday-7th.<br />
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<b>Sunday-8th</b><br />
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The bike has <i><b>still </b></i>not arrived from Kathmandu! Allegedly it's stuck somewhere within Turkish Airlines' cargo system .. apparently in Istanbul. The latest news is that it will turn-up here in Dubai during the early hours of Friday morning (13th). I am not holding my breath though.<br />
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This is the fourth delay /postponement during the last 10 days.<br />
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I have met and made some good friends during my brief time here in the UAE.<br />
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A young Emerati guy called Saleh (34) has been remarkably helpful. Realising my predicament, Saleh had no hesitation in lending me his Honda GL1800 Goldwing; just tossed me the ignition keys and simply said .. 'Enjoy it.' An astonishing act of kindness and generosity. <br />
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Saleh loaned me his spare mobile phone too.<br />
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Priceless lifelines. I almost wept with gratitude.<br />
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We now had our own independent transport .. and the ability to communicate to help resolve the mounting challenges confronting us.<br />
<br />
<b>Monday-9th</b><br />
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It was, therefore, an easy decision to ride the 160 km [100 mi] down to Abu Dhabi on the Goldwing, the perfect vehicle for the 1½-hour trip and overnight excursion.<br />
<br />
We crossed the Tropic of Cancer on the way to Abu Dhabi, which has special significance around 12-noon on the day of the Summer Solstice (June-21st); about which I will no doubt say more in my next post. <br />
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From our Abu Dhabi hotel - <a href="http://www.theroyalhotelabudhabiuae.com/ppc/index.html" target="_blank">The Royal International</a> - we walked the <i>entire</i> 7 kilometre [4½-mile] length of the city's manicured waterfront called 'The Corniche' - had to be done of course, especially coming from my home 'Cornish' county of Cornwall, in the far southwest of England. <br />
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.. and ended the evening in an authentic English pub, where, together with a couple of fellow Brits, we won the evening's pub quiz competition. 260 Dirhams [42 quid - US$72] better off as a result, which [almost] paid our bar bill. Reeezult!! <br />
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The following morning, Tuesday-10th, on the return trip to Dubai, we stopped at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, which has the capacity for over 40,000 worshippers. It is the largest mosque in the UAE and the eighth largest mosque in the world.<br />
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<br />
Now back in Dubai - What happens next?<br />
<br />
I really don't know. Further progress is now out of my control, and right now I am certainly in a tight corner.<br />
<br />
As mentioned above, the bike's shipment has apparently (according to Turkish Airlines' cargo tracking facility) been re-booked on flight TK760, which will depart from Istanbul tomorrow, Thu-12th, and arrive here in Dubai during the early hours of Friday morning.<br />
<br />
My plan to tour up through Iran to Armenia and Georgia beyond can still work IF the bike does indeed get here on Friday morning. I might not be able to clear Customs at Dubai's Cargo Village until the afternoon, because Friday is an Islamic congregational prayer day and no-one, not even the Customs officials, will start work before 12 noon. <br />
<br />
I need a new set of tyres. If I can get the existing near worn-out ones changed on Saturday; I will then try to catch the Sunday-15th Ro-Ro (roll-on, roll-off) late evening ferry to Bandar Abbas, southern Iran. If I miss Sunday's ferry, then I may still have one last chance with next Tuesday (17th) evening's ferry, but after that it will be 'game over' for me, as I will have no way of getting across the Strait of Hormuz to Iran before my Iranian visa expires on June 22nd. Unfortunately, the ferry only runs on Sundays and Tuesdays.<br />
<br />
If it does all go TU, I will then need to make alternative arrangements, which will take a little time - for instance: arranging the bike's long-term storage somewhere in Dubai; return home direct to the UK as soon as possible thereafter, etc.<br />
<br />
Time - which is disappearing fast - will sort it all out, one way or another.<br />
<br />
And it’s growing hotter by the day, with temperatures easily rising above 40°C [104°F +] well before 10 o'clock in the morning. <br />
<br />
Travelling along the desert roads of Iran in late June will be fiercely hot - like riding through a furnace. It was never planned this way. Damn these miserable delays.<br />
<br />
More soon – please bear with me.<br />
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<br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-20704951135202562622014-06-03T16:28:00.000-01:002016-10-06T16:15:21.212-01:00Backwards to Go Forwards<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>The 'System' </b><br />
<br />
Undaunted – well perhaps mildly daunted – I managed to eventually conclude the bike’s shipment out of India and into Dubai. Done and dusted, UAE customs clearance and all, during the afternoon of Friday, 13th June .. <b><i>four weeks</i></b> behind schedule.<br />
<br />
Misled down too many garden paths by Indian businessmen, so-called, irreparably damaged my previously unrealistic rose-tinted view of the subcontinent.<br />
<br />
The fact is, so I discovered, that misleading people who don't know ‘the system’ in India is quite commonplace ..<br />
<br />
<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s4mzwNkqHSfOqCfuEXCOo5x4EZpvcB7f9DrNKeIBDeI/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Read more »</a><br />
<br />
=========================================<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>Tuesday, 13th May - Tuesday, 3rd June</b><br />
<br />
The last three weeks have been 'challenging' to say the least. I really haven't felt much like posting too much on this blog as a result.<br />
<br />
<b>The facts</b>:<br />
<br />
Attempting to air-freight from Mumbai to Dubai UAE proved hopeless.<br />
<br />
After several telephone conversations to freight forwarders based in New Delhi I received assurances that shipping from this alternative city would be far more straightforward. With this in mind, we covered the 1,500 km [932 mi] between Mumbai-New Delhi at breakneck speed .. in less than three days. Day-2 involved a whopping 660 km [410 mi], which was by far the greatest distance we have travelled on the Transalp so far, ever.<br />
<br />
Yet it was the same story in New Delhi. Around 7-8 negotiations later with as many freight forwarders, all of which led down a series of blind alleys .. I finally gave up on India.<br />
<br />
Reluctantly, and after a great deal of thought, I felt the balance of advantage was to return to Kathmandu, Nepal. It should all be much easier from there .. shouldn't it? Surely it should.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/151CLXBDsH5JXh0mz5hCJrmSRO92EUBSjucymD7ST4Ck/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Goodbye Mumbai, Hello Dubai - possibly</a><br />
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<br />
Despite all the frustration, there were good times in New Delhi.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-nDsbQfd/0/XL/P5250385-1-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-nDsbQfd/0/XL/P5250385-1-XL.jpg" height="640" width="454" /></a></div>One of my oldest friends, Thierry from France, introduced us to Kalpana.<br />
<br />
We spent a wonderful week in Kalpana's home in the south of the city. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-tJ2Tjfz/0/XL/image%20(1)-1-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-tJ2Tjfz/0/XL/image%20(1)-1-XL.jpg" height="557" width="648" /></a></div>What a lovely lady.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-hJJQLxr/0/XL/P5240374-1-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-hJJQLxr/0/XL/P5240374-1-XL.jpg" height="479" width="648" /></a></div>With Kalpana we ate delicious Japanese delicacies ..<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-9BbV67W/0/XL/P5240379-5-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-9BbV67W/0/XL/P5240379-5-XL.jpg" height="640" width="434" /></a></div>.. and sipped supreme teas. Yep, that's not orange juice, but hot autumn tea infused with lemon balm and rose petals. A delight.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-hQcj9SF/0/XL/P5250382-6-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-hQcj9SF/0/XL/P5250382-6-XL.jpg" height="640" width="485" /></a></div>From the finest desserts ..<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-tMDGzcJ/0/XL/image1-2-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-tMDGzcJ/0/XL/image1-2-XL.jpg" height="492" width="648" /></a></div>.. to the most excellently disgusting <i>real ground beef</i>* triple cheeseburgers with bacon strips.<br />
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* <span style="font-size: x-small;">A rarity in India, as cows are sacred beasts.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-DsMxKtt/0/XL/Collage%20%233-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-DsMxKtt/0/XL/Collage%20%233-XL.jpg" height="672" width="519" /></a></div><br />
We met and made new friends, like the lovely Kirandeep (above). A Sikh, who explained, in great detail, the basis of her religious beliefs; the Sikh code of conduct and conventions. It was a fascinating learning curve.<br />
<br />
I wish all my new friends in New Delhi well. Maybe we'll meet again some day.<br />
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<br />
<b>Friday-30th May</b><br />
<br />
Time to leave India. It's 340 km [211 mi] northeast to the nearest border with Nepal. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-mxgMzfL/0/XL/P1050994-1-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-mxgMzfL/0/XL/P1050994-1-XL.jpg" height="428" width="648" /></a><br />
Passing by even more Indian truck carnage along the way. I thought we had seen the last of all this.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-tP8q7xW/0/XL/P5300392-2-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-tP8q7xW/0/XL/P5300392-2-XL.jpg" height="532" width="648" /></a><br />
We're back!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-8h6rRf5/0/XL/P6010407-5-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-8h6rRf5/0/XL/P6010407-5-XL.jpg" height="486" width="648" /></a><br />
It's the end of the dry season in Nepal at this time of year (late May / early June) and yet the countryside remains green, even 'lush.' What a contrast to India.<br />
<br />
Quieter, less congested roads too.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-g4P49RJ/0/XL/P1050995-1-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-g4P49RJ/0/XL/P1050995-1-XL.jpg" height="486" width="648" /></a></div>Just one of the many strange things you see on the road in this part of the world. The low loader trailer (above) is on the move by the way.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-hdsr3cx/0/XL/P5310402-4-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-hdsr3cx/0/XL/P5310402-4-XL.jpg" height="486" width="648" /></a><br />
I picked-up my first puncture at around the halfway point between the Indo-Nepali border and Kathmandu. After 80,000 km [50,000 mi] .. I can't complain.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-ttDRmsk/0/XL/P6010412-6-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-ttDRmsk/0/XL/P6010412-6-XL.jpg" height="486" width="648" /></a><br />
Back into the foothills of the Himalayas.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-hgV726P/0/XL/P6010413-7-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-hgV726P/0/XL/P6010413-7-XL.jpg" height="486" width="648" /></a><br />
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<b>Monday-2nd June</b><br />
<br />
More than 1,000 km [621 mi] after leaving New Delhi - <i>in the wrong direction!</i> - we finally pulled-in through the narrow entrance-way of the Access Hotel, Thamel, Kathmandu. Everything was all too familiar - our third visit since December last year. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-hFX4Z3Q/0/XL/P6020417-10-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-hFX4Z3Q/0/XL/P6020417-10-XL.jpg" height="480" width="648" /></a><br />
For the second time within the last six months the Transalp is partially dismantled and crated.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-6sL5gS5/0/XL/P6020420-11-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-6sL5gS5/0/XL/P6020420-11-XL.jpg" height="480" width="648" /></a></div>I wonder when and where I'll see the ol' gal again?<br />
<br />
More from Dubai in a little while, where I hope this trip gets back on course. <br />
<br />
Fingers crossed that it will. <br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CSXBytJB9-2V4YBohnuNYvvmz1HEfFYyK3g__AYUHWY/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Back in the land of bicycles!</a><br />
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---------------------------------------</div>Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-48358303127271483042014-05-15T04:12:00.004-01:002015-12-20T17:44:19.503-01:00Incredible India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I made the decision a fortnight ago to travel the southern route around Pakistan and Afghanistan. We will therefore ship, by air-freight, lock stock and barrel, from Mumbai to Dubai UAE, as soon the logistics can be organised.<br />
<br />
After a few days in-and-around the Arabian Peninsula, we'll then ferry across the Straight of Hormuz from Sharjah (Dubai) to Bandar Abbas, southern Iran; then take around 18 days heading north up through Iran into → Armenia → finally finish this leg of the trip somewhere in the city of Tbilisi, Georgia.<br />
<br />
Can you imagine? Riding all the way up through Iran, of all places. A proposition in a different time, which I would have expected to have prompted my dear mother to feel my forehead .. and ask if I was feeling alright!<br />
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<br />
<b>Sunday, 4th May</b><br />
<br />
The city of Amritsar, in the state of Punjab. The spiritual centre for the Sikh religion. <br />
<br />
30 km [19 mi] from Amritsar lies the boundary dividing India and Pakistan. <br />
<br />
After the Partition of India in 1947 the village of Wagah was split in two. Today, the eastern half of the village remains in the Republic of India while the western half is in Pakistan.<br />
<br />
There is daily border closing ceremony at the border that starts at around 5:00 pm. All done with fascinating pomp and ceremony that involves tall soldiers in elaborate 'peacock-type headwear goose-stepping about and slamming stuff. It has become a tradition for people from both countries to gather and see the proceedings. Both sides synchronize their parade and the entire event is meant to create a feel-good/patriotic fervour amongst the crowds.<br />
<br />
To our delight we discovered that it's a non-ticket event, free for anyone on the Indian side as of January 2009. We just <b>had</b> to go and see it all for ourselves.<br />
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The Pakistani side of the border .. and<br />
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The Indian side<br />
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Mahatma Gandhi looks down on proceedings (India side, obviously).<br />
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Incidentally, every Indian banknote - ₹5, ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹500 and ₹1,000 - features a portrait of Gandhi.<br />
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The Indian military contingent:<br />
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<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-NGLpdLP/0/XL/P5040180-9-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-NGLpdLP/0/XL/P5040180-9-XL.jpg" height="640" width="470" /></a></div>
The noise and atmosphere of the assembled crowds on both sides of the border is similar to that of a major sporting event .. and <i>bloody</i> entertaining.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="364" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/94501171" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="648"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/94501171"></a> <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2081379"></a> <a href="https://vimeo.com/"></a>.</div>
See for yourself [click-on the forward play arrow above]<br />
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<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-64XgbwD/0/XL/P5040193-12-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-64XgbwD/0/XL/P5040193-12-XL.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a><br />
The formal flag lowering ceremony starts at around 6:30 pm<br />
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</div>
<br />
The show finishes after the border gates are slammed shut and bolted.<br />
<br />
A terrific spectacle. Highly recommended.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
Later that <b>evening</b>:<br />
<br />
We went straight to the Golden Temple after the border closing ceremony. It was dark by the time we got there at around 7:30 pm. <br />
<br />
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The Golden Temple. <br />
<br />
Visiting the Temple is a major pilgrimage for all Sikhs and rightfully so, as it is a very beautiful and unique complex, which was full of thousands of people from all over India during our time there. <br />
<br />
With covered heads and shoes removed, we wandered around one of the most amazing places in India. The excitement felt infectious, and we found it easy to strike-up a conversation with any turban-wearing pilgrim we approached; all more than happy to talk to us about their religion and customs.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Monday-5th & Tuesday 6th</b><br />
<br />
Southbound for 550 km [342 mi] to the city of Bikaner. <br />
<br />
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This region of India was busy gathering-in and transporting its wheat harvest.<br />
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Thousands of trucks all laden to the brim, carting yet another record harvest - <span id="articleText"><span class="focusParagraph">the seventh straight bumper crop in a row - to state storage warehouses dotted around the country.</span></span><br />
<span id="articleText"><span class="focusParagraph"><br />
</span></span> <span id="articleText"><span class="focusParagraph">Talking of transport ...</span></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>India's Traffic Scene</b><br />
<br />
I'll admit that I was more than a little worried about riding around on India's vast network of roads. But it's all over now and this is my summary of the last 6,500 km [4,040 miles]:<br />
<br />
It has been frequently heart-rending, sometimes hilarious, mostly exhilarating, always unforgettable and, when out there, quite often extremely dangerous.<br />
<br />
The secret to survival, so I quickly discovered, is to <b><i>think</i></b> like an <b><i>Indian</i></b> motorist whose mantra is: <i> </i><br />
<i>"To slow is to falter, to brake is to fail, to stop is defeat."</i><br />
<br />
And never forget, ALL manoeuvres, the use of the horn (also known as 'the sonic fender') is absolutely mandatory.<br />
<br />
Here's some picture we took along the way: <br />
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Through a typical city centre ..<br />
<br />
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.. you can't come to much harm. That ox-drawn cart demonstrates that traffic goes only just a tad faster than a snail-pace. No-one dies within the city limits, the speeds are too slow .. except for the odd snail or two.<br />
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A herd of cattle sh!tting their way down a 6-lane major motorway .. can catch you unawares though. Always keep an eye out for new slippery land mines immediately after encountering cattle.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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.. or wriggle your way through a tribe of goats. Too stupid to look right, left .. and right again.<br />
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The unavoidable truck carnage. We witnessed accidents every day, some of them fatal. Dead bodies literally lying by the side of the road waiting for someone - an ambulance, or more likely a mortuary wagon, anyone - to come pick 'em up.<br />
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Always the curious onlookers; like this mob gawping from the back of an autorickshaw.<br />
<br />
And <i>always</i> the same questions. In the end I was tempted to prepare some hand-outs to save time, which would have read:<br />
<br />
<i>- Honda </i><br />
<i>- 650 cc</i><br />
<i>- 5 gears</i><br />
<i>- Around 165 km/h .. with a following wind</i><br />
<i>- About 17 km per litre </i><br />
<i>- A new one? US$7,500 - that's over 440,000 rupees</i><br />
<i>- From England. The bike's from New Zealand</i><br />
<i>- Self-employed, work in banking and finance shenanigans</i><br />
<i>- And finally, before you ask, I'm 59. </i><br />
<i>- Yes, I know, hard to believe isn't it?! </i><br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<b>Tuesday-6th</b><br />
<br />
Onwards and downwards to Bikaner, a dust-swirling outpost city .. with inevitably, its own historic fort.<br />
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We took a ride late in the afternoon, for about 30 km [18½ mi] south to the even dustier township of Deshnok, to see one of India's creepiest attractions, the Karni Mata Temple. Home sweet home .. <br />
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.. to thousands of rats. There is a background story, a legend behind it all of course, which you can read here: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karni_Mata_Temple" target="_blank">LINK</a>.<br />
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<br />
<b> Wednesday-7th & Thursday-8th</b><br />
<br />
330 km [205 mi] southwest from Bikaner brought us to the enchanting desert city of Jaisalmer, the "Golden City," situated no more than about 150 km [93 mi] from the Pakistan border. <br />
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Another outpost city .. another historic fort.<br />
<br />
By this time we were becoming completed 'forted out'<br />
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One of the many shopkeepers we met within the Fort's maze of streets with whom we struck-up a conversation, but ended-up having to say, 'No buy today, thank you.'<br />
<br />
Most of the shopkeepers within the Jaisalmer Castle walls took our refusals to inspect and buy their wares in good spirit and didn't press us any further.<br />
<br />
In fact, it's fairly safe to say that we really enjoyed out brief time in Jaisalmer and its outlying desert scene. A small city in the middle of nowhere with a laid-back ambience, which has some of the friendliest locals we have met on this trip.<br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
<br />
A view of Jaisalmer and the desert beyond from one of the Fort's western bastions. <br />
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Better go up then.<br />
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It was beer o'clock after all!<br />
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<br />
<b>Thursday-8th</b> <br />
<br />
We stayed in a nice little boutique hotel, <a href="http://www.jasminhome.com/" target="_blank">Jasmin Home</a>, for our two nights' stopover in Jaisalmer; very well managed by the owner, Jitendra Bissa - 'Jitu' for short.<br />
<br />
Jitu drove us westwards in his jeep out into the desert for a sightseeing and camel safari excursion. Along the way, about 15 km [9½ mi] outside of Jaisalmer, we stopped at Kuldhara: 'An Abandoned & Cursed Village.' <br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
<br />
The Kuldhara 'event' is one of the weirdest and inspiring stories I’ve ever heard.<br />
<br />
Kuldhara Village is/was the largest village in a wider neighbourhood consisting of 84 villages all told. Once upon a time (dating back to the 13th Century) a very prosperous community.<br />
<br />
However, in 1825 the villages were abandoned overnight when the then lusty ruling king laid his eyes on the beautiful daughter of the village chieftain and proposed a deadline for their marriage, after which he would forcefully enter the village and take said daughter whether willing or not. <br />
<br />
All the chiefs of surrounding 84 villages met and decided that, for pride and honor, they should all leave the villages in the dark of the night. Although nobody knows exactly how they did it, every living soul in all of the 84 villages just disappeared that very night. Nobody saw them leave or figured out where they went – they simply vanished.<br />
<br />
Now a ghost town, a haunted setting in the eerie desert backdrop, which makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.<br />
<br />
A 35 km [22 mi] jeep ride further into the desert, we met-up with a local tribesman, Abdullah, and his nephew (aged 14) and young son (aged 3½)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Abdullah</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
.. and his young son</div>
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My desert ride for the evening .. <i>"<a href="http://youtu.be/gc8WVJQdO3A" target="_blank">I've got very beautiful lips</a>"</i><br />
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<br />
.. technically called a dromedary - a larger, heartier version of the camel with only a single hump. <br />
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Off we stroll, gently swaying back and forth into the arid landscape dodging the scrubby vegetation.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="365" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/94677184" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="648"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/94677184"></a> <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2081379"></a> <a href="https://vimeo.com/"></a><br />
Come ride with me [click on the forward play arrow above]<br />
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An hour later - casting long shadows as nightfall approached ..<br />
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.. we arrive and meet-up with Jitu and the jeep at a makeshift desert campsite.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-8VwWtXT/0/XL/P5080333-11-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-8VwWtXT/0/XL/P5080333-11-XL.jpg" height="486" width="648" /></a>Dinner time. A big emphasis is put on providing enough food for guests in these rustic settings.<br />
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Jitu skillfully prepared and cooked fresh vegetable curry from raw ingredients over a small fire. Spicy for me, not-so spicy for Ellen .. '<i>puhleeze'</i><br />
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.. whilst Abdullah prepares and cooks made-from-scratch chapatti breads.<br />
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And we drank beer.<br />
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.. and poked a few wandering dung beetles in the dunes.<br />
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I have to say that our time riding through the rippling, windswept Rajasthani desert on the back of a camel (okay, a dromedary), and the simple but very tasty camp-fire meal prepared and eaten under the stars that followed, was one of the most unforgettable and enchanting experiences we've had in India.<br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-O1_npQsNGV61bAHuyu394Ipn75_nku7Z_J5BhmraCA/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Amritsar, the Golden Temple and High Kicks</a><br />
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<br />
<b>Friday-9th</b><br />
<br />
278 km [173 mi] to the city of Jodhpur - and another f ff-ff fort!<br />
<br />
<b>Saturday-10th</b><br />
<br />
323 km [201 mi] to the city of Udaipur.<br />
<br />
Udaipur is referred to as the "Venice of the East," and the "Most Romantic City of India" - wrapped around its splendid City Palace, which is built entirely of granite and marble. <br />
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An early evening view of Fateh Sagar Lake from one of the Palace's ramparts. <br />
<br />
And yes, we nearly got caught-up in that brewing thunderstorm you see in the picture above; escaping it only by chance over dinner within one of many 'veg only' restaurants dotted around the city.<br />
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Udaipur macaque monkeys guarding the Castle.<br />
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<br />
<b>Sunday-11th</b><br />
<br />
315 km [196 mi] to the city of Vadodara - and hey, not a fort nor a castle in sight. YAY!<br />
<br />
Vadodara, also known as Baroda, located on the banks of the Vishwamitri river, in the alcohol-forbidden state of Gujarat.<br />
<br />
We didn't hang there around for long.<br />
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<br />
<b>Monday-12th</b> <br />
<br />
I hadn't seen the ocean, any ocean, for more than five weeks at this point; and thought it would be cool to see the Indian Ocean .. from an Indian shoreline? <br />
<br />
So from Vadodara in the 'dry' state of Gujarat, we headed for the coastal township of Daman, which is a popular place to visit because of the freedom to drink liquor, which as mentioned, is prohibited in the neighbouring state of Gujarat. Now you can understand why we were in a hurry to leave Vadodara .. in Gujarat!<br />
<br />
And it gets better: Along with Goa and Diu, Daman is a former Portuguese enclave, and like the other two, it comes with little to no tax on alcoholic beverages .. :-) .. For Daman this, as it turned out, was the only selling point.<br />
<br />
Without pre-booked lodgings, it took us about 90 minutes of speculative enquiries and haggling to suss-out the accommodation scene. As this was going to be our penultimate stopover destination in India, we thought we would splash-out and spoil ourselves with some proper lavishness; finally settling for <a href="http://www.thegoldbeachresort.in/" target="_blank">The Gold Beach Resort</a>, Devka Beach Road, Daman.<br />
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5,400 rupees (54 quid - US$91) per night - and worth every penny.<br />
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First things first, eh?<br />
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A low tide view from the rear patio area of the misnomered Gold Beach [huh?] Resort. You see that dirty grey thin smudge of a line on the horizon beyond the seaweed-strewn rock pools? Well that's the Indian Ocean .. from an Indian shoreline!<br />
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The following morning. A view of the steps down from the back of our hotel to the trash-filled beach. Nobody else around except me. I had a couple of miles of grey sand all to myself; well, apart from the defecating street dogs just out of view. <br />
<br />
I've clearly been too spoilt over the years by past wanderings around the golden, soft sandy beaches of Cornwall, France and Spain .. Thailand and Queensland Australia.<br />
<br />
I have led a privileged life .. haven't I?<br />
<br />
Yes I have.<br />
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<br />
<b>SUMMARY</b><br />
<br />
Mountains, jungles, deserts .. and tropical beaches (somewhere, allegedly). Incredible India has it all.<br />
<br />
And believe me, this monster of a country <i>really is</i> Incredible. <br />
<br />
I've learnt that there is no such thing as a compromise here in India, the word doesn't exist in its vocabulary. It's full-on in your face wherever you roam. Bottom line is that you either grow to love it very quickly, or you end-up hating it even faster. I have experienced a peculiar mind-stirring mix of both, almost every day, almost every hour, for the last month. <br />
<br />
My month-long ride around just a corner of this intoxicating country will surely blaze in my memory, probably forever. <br />
<br />
But I have to say it .. I <span class="text"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 24px;">♥ </span></span></span>India far more than I could ever hate it. I really do.<br />
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Next stop: Dubai - maybe by as soon as this upcoming weekend, commencing Saturday-17th.<br />
<br />
Move with me.<br />
<br />
See you in the Emirates.<br />
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=========================================<br />
<br /></div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-34857697033454992072014-05-03T12:31:00.001-01:002016-03-16T17:06:12.599-01:00A Himilayan Hike on Two Wheels <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Friday, 25th April</b> <br />
<br />
Upon waking-up on our third morning in the city of Jaipur, Ellen somewhat indecently demonstrated that she was again farting with confidence.<br />
<br />
We set off, therefore, on a full day of sightseeing .. and for precautionary insurance purposes, carried a couple of spare loo rolls inconveniently but appropriately packed within our bum bags. <br />
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]<br />
<br />
Bumped along again by private auto-rickshaw, our first stop was the Amber Fort, 11 km [7 mi] north of central Jaipur.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-pKVzGFX/0/XL/P4250007-2-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-pKVzGFX/0/XL/P4250007-2-XL.jpg" height="486" width="648" /></a>Into the bowels - for want of a better expression - by a series of exhausting stone steps.<br />
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The fort and palace grounds are sprawling and at 40°C saps your energy. The main sights within the palace include the Sheesh Mahal, adorned with thousands on thousands of mirror tiles on the walls and ceiling.<br />
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All quite memorising.<br />
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A view of Jal Mahal (Water Palace) from the road to the Amber Fort.<br />
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<b>Evening </b><br />
<br />
That evening we were hosted by Rajesh Sesodiya and his wife and family in their private home, located about three kilomeotres from our hotel.<br />
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Rajesh, a local tour guide operator, had taken good care of all our needs and wants during our three-day stopover at the <a href="http://www.suganniwaspalace.com/home.htm" target="_blank">Sugan Niwas Palace</a>, an old 1940s colonial home that has been converted into a heritage boutique hotel.<br />
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Rajesh is a charming oddity. He asked for <b>nothing</b> in return for his kind hospitality, which I have to say is unusual by Indian standards, as most are more-often-than-not angling and hustling for some sort of payback.<br />
<br />
It was a wonderful and memorable evening.<br />
<br />
If ever you find yourself in Jaipur, or anywhere else in the state of Rajasthan, then look-up Rajesh if you need any sort of help. He's your man. Email: rajeshsesodiya@yahoo.com<br />
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Let's talk beer .. <br />
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<br />
'Kingfisher' is most recognised and widely available beer and the top rival Indian brew, which comes in two broad strengths: 'regular' premium (around 5% alcohol) ..<br />
<br />
.. and a generous 'strong' version at 8.25% abv, which has much more flavor than the regular Kingfisher premium. Strong - and not for the feint-hearted!<br />
<br />
Another variation is Kingfisher Blue, marketed at the young and trendy. This is also a strong beer with around 8% alcohol, but it has a very light watery taste. <br />
<br />
Distinctive and full-bodied Kingfisher Ultra, made from imported ingredients, is the newest Kingfisher label to hit the market.<br />
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<b>Saturday-26th</b><br />
<br />
336 northbound kilometres [209 mi] later, deliberately avoiding the 17 Million inhabitants and scorching mayhem of New Delhi, brought us to the unremarkable city of Hisar in the state of Haryana.<br />
<br />
I say unremarkable, because that is what we were expecting; just a stopover place to lay our heads for a night on our way up to the scenic Himilayan mountain regions of northern India.<br />
<br />
Until, that is, we found ourselves in the middle of a traditional Indian wedding. It started right outside our hotel entrance:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="365" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WSqlT1aGIC8" width="648"></iframe><br />
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Working-up the excitement.<br />
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Next thing we knew we were ushered into the ceremony within the hotel complex.<br />
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Inside the hotel the very nervous bride waited for the groom alonside her father, with a Jaimala/Varamala, which is a decorated garland. Soon after the groom arrived, the bride and groom exchanged garlands. <br />
<br />
On a lighter note, it is considered that, whoever puts the garland first on their partner, will have an upper hand in the marriage.<br />
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<br />
Literally front row seats; we received 'guests of honour' status; then plied with copious amounts of food and beverages - which we really didn't need, as we had just stuffed ourselves over the road at the local McDonald's - and were given jewelled broaches as our souvenirs of the occassion.<br />
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It was a complete surprise, and a privilege, to attend this very colorful affair.<br />
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The bride and the groom clearly stole the show with their exquisite outfits, although the attending families and friends, relatives and other guests were also wearing very grand clothes .. [<i>erm</i>] except for us, in our daytime jeans and t-shirts!<br />
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The lovely bride</div>
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<b>Sunday-27 & Monday-28th</b></div>
<br />
After a second night heading north, stopping-over in the deviantly familiar and idiosyncratic (compared to the rest of India) city of Chandigarh, with all its ostentatious prosperity, it could be compared to many cities in Europe ..</div>
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.. we headed-off towards the foothills of the Himilayan mountain range, and some temporarily relief from the heat of the Indian plains.</div>
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It was great to negotiate curves and bends after two weeks of mostly scorching straight roads.</div>
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By late afternoon of Mon-28th we arrived in Shimla. It was a 'cool' 25°C; the perfect temperature for a couple of previously wilting northern Europeans.</div>
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Air brakes, Shimla style! </div>
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20 seconds after snapping the above picture I was pulled over by the cops; got arrested, had the bike impounded, and after an hour or so of negotiations ..</div>
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.. I was fined 1,500 rupees [15 quid, or US$25].</div>
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Bastards.</div>
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Apparently I had violated some local law by riding through a consecrated pedestrian precinct called 'The Ridge'. No-one told my GPS unit!</div>
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<b>Tuesday-29th, April -to- Saturday, 3rd May</b></div>
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<b>The Indian Himilayas</b> </div>
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We have spent the last few days riding around the Himilayan Mountain Range. As you would expect, the scenery has been simply stunning.</div>
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From the township of Manali, at the northern end of the Kullu Valley in the state of Himachal Pradesh, we rode up the Rohtang Pass as far as we could go. A <i>very</i> popular destination for Indian city-dwellers, often from Delhi, seeking relief from the relentless heat at this time of year.</div>
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At around 2,300 metres [7,500 ft] the traffic scene was chaotic.</div>
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Incidentally, you can buy a car in any colour you like in India .. as long as it's white.</div>
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My GPS unit eventually recorded an altitude 3,036 metre. Almost at 10,000 ft. We had reached the highest elevation of the trip. </div>
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We could go no higher as the Pass was, and still is, closed to all vehicles at this point. It won't be fully open for around another month, at the beginning of June.</div>
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[Panorama - click to enlarge]</div>
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The vista was spectacular. Glad we took the trouble to go, although the bike's carburettors were beginning to complain at that altitude. If I ever take her over that height in the future then I shall definitely need to get the carbs’ jets adjusted beforehand (.. whatever that means!)<br />
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<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XrDX0mZegcgfPvuTcB7Y4T4S7TBJSQtmdRcM8dKmY_k/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Journey towards the Magnificient Himalayas</a></div>
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<b>Saturday, 3rd May</b></div>
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We are currently in the Himilayan township of McLeod Ganj; not far from Dharamsala. Since 1959 McLeod Ganj has been the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile. It seems to be a very popular hang-out for foreign hippies and, as you might expect, students of Buddhism.</div>
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Tomorrow (Sun-4th) we will ride down and west into the furnace of Amritsar, Punjab. I have been looking forward to seeing the sights in-and-around Amritsar, particularly:</div>
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<li>The Golden Palace; and </li>
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<li>The Wagah closing ceremony at Atari on the border between India and Pakistan; a daily ritual described by Michael Palin for one of his television around-the-world travel programs as a display of <i>"carefully choreographed contempt."</i> Should be fun to watch.</li>
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-36661066612560094262014-04-24T13:56:00.002-01:002021-05-20T08:04:00.807-01:00Very Delhi Belly<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Ellen went down with a bad dose of the squits last night, here in the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan. Stuck in our hotel room, within a convenient crawl from the en suite toilet bowl, I thought I would take the opportunity to update the blog a few days ahead of my next intended posting date.<br />
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<b>Sunday, 20th April</b><br />
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<b>The city of Agra</b><br />
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<b>06:00 am</b><br />
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Our first sight of the incomparable - The Tāj Mahal.<br />
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The Tāj Mahal (Crown Palace) - a monument to love. A celebration of woman, and that is the way, I think, to best appreciate it.<br />
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<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-XtMSCHt/0/S/Mumtaz_Mahal-S.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-XtMSCHt/0/S/Mumtaz_Mahal-S.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
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An immense mausoleum of white marble, tinged with a hue of pink, especially at dawn and dusk .. <i>a teardrop on the cheek of eternity.</i> <br />
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Built between 1631 and 1648, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen, by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. He had <b>nine</b> wives altogether.<br />
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Mumtaz Mahal died, aged 40, while giving birth.<br />
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Upon Shah Jahan's death (31 July 1658), his son, Aurangazeb, also had him interred in the Taj next to Mumtaz Mahal. <br />
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I have to say that the Tāj is the most stunningly perfect building I have ever seen, or likely to ever see during my lifetime. Justly denominated one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.<br />
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<b>Mumtaz Mahal</b> (pictured above)<br />
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Ellen listens-in on her personal headphone tour. Mine stopped working after 5 minutes. Well, this is India after all!<br />
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Fabulous.<br />
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Afternoon (Sun-20th)<br />
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<b>Agra Fort</b><br />
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Built between 1565 and 1571, Agra Fort is fantastically well preserved.<br />
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Emperor Shah Jahan - mentioned above - added to the fort's construction .. and ended up a prisoner in it!<br />
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<b> Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb</b><br />
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These little squirrel-type critters were the first to greet us at the Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb, or the 'Baby Tāj' .. <br />
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.. sometimes described as a jewel box and often regarded as a 'first draft' of the Tāj Mahal.<br />
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The walls are white marble encrusted with semi-precious stone decorations. Another very impressive edifice.<br />
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Early evening (Sun-20th)<br />
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We returned to see the Tāj from a distance and different perspective just before dusk. It was teeming with people at that time. Glad we made the decision to go there at first light.<br />
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<b>Monday-21st</b><br />
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Travelling 292 km [181 miles] during the morning of April-21st, from Agra to Ranthambhore National Park in the state of Rajasthan, with the sole purpose of going on a Tiger Safari.<br />
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Oustandingly well maintained gardens around our lodgings at <a href="http://www.ranthambhorevatikaresort.com/" target="_blank">Ranthambhore Vatika Resort</a>.<br />
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We have been determined to avoid 'budget' type accommodation during our time in-and-around India. There are plenty of rooms available at £5-10 per night, which are focused on catering for the prolific backpacker trade. But we continue to stick with 'mid-range' to 'superior' hotels and homestays typically costing £15-£35 [US$25-60] per night. Still ridiculously inexpensive compared to Western prices of course.<br />
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On a couple of occassions Ellen has even had the nerve to cheekily negotiate and beat nightly prices down from £65 [$100] to £35 [$60]. 'Luxury' at nearly half the normal price.<br />
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<b>Climatic conditions </b><br />
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November to January is the cooler winter season, although calling the 25°C (77°F) weather "Winter" would be stretching the concept by British standards. There is also a brief Spring in February and March. April and May are the hotter months. We are therefore currently touring India during the 'shoulder season' when everyone eagerly awaits the life-giving monsoon rains, which will last from June through to September. <br />
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We are finding the temperature hot, but no unbearably so. Weather conditions are by no means oppressive, which will likely be the case by this time next month (mid-end of May onwards), when the heat will be extreme at 40-45°C +<br />
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All the more reason to single out decent accommodation where a working ceiling fan and air-conditioning unit are essential prerequisites.<br />
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We did spot a couple of tigers in the park, just before breakfast time.<br />
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Maybe it was the same tiger we saw, twice?<br />
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1½ tigers it is then! .. I'll settle for that.<br />
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We were lucky, as sighting a rare and elusive tiger <i>in the wild</i> is by no means guaranteed on these three-hour excursions, which costs incidentally 1,200 rupees [£12 or US$18].<br />
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<b>Wednesday, 23rd</b><br />
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The tour continues northward, up into the Indian Himalayas. Next stop: the historic city of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.<br />
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[Panoramas - click to enlarge]<br />
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Taken from the top of the victory tower of Isar Lat.<br />
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Arriving in Jaipur at around 1:30pm, we had the whole afternoon remaining to explore parts of the city.<br />
<a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-xdXFM6W/0/XL/P4235682-1-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-xdXFM6W/0/XL/P4235682-1-XL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="http://keithooper.smugmug.com/Travel/Nepal-India-EurasiaApril-June/i-xdXFM6W/0/XL/P4235682-1-XL.jpg" width="648" /></a></div>
Best carried-out by auto rickshaw .. at 300 rupees [three quid, US$4.50], including the driver's time. Can't go wrong.<br />
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.. and we head off, into the mayhem, through the gates of the 'Pink City'<br />
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City Palace, where Jaipur's Royal Family reside.<br />
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Jantar Mantar (Observatory) - Described on the World Heritage List as <i>"An expression of the astronomical skills and cosmological concepts of the court of a scholarly prince at the end of the Mughal period."</i><br />
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The observatory consists of fourteen major geometric devices that measure time, predict eclipses, track stars' location, etceteras.<br />
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One of the HUGE sundials, which tells the time within an accuracy of two seconds .. give or take a quarter of an hour or so.<br />
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Angles and curves everywhere you look. <i>Very</i> photogenic.<br />
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The Royal Gaitor mausoleum complex, where Jaipur’s royalty are interred. <br />
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The quiet, and when we were there, near empty grounds were in stark contrast to the chaos and ever-present din of the city outside. <br />
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The monkey community love living in the grounds of the Royal Gaitor. A good place to raise a family. <i>"Hey, bring some bananas next time why don'tcha?!"</i> <br />
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Early evening (Thu-24th)<br />
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With Ellen in a slumber and out for the count, I sneeked away and headed straight for the nearest Western fast food joint I could find. After two weeks of curried everything .. boy, it tasted bloody good!<br />
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More in 7-10 days' time - subjec to internet access.<br />
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From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JRoeW3YdaurdgMPL149Gnk_7WE49HrcvVltP_Gw0ipQ/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Varanasi, Agra and the Taj Mahal</a><br />
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Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-51002640767661694832014-04-20T07:15:00.000-01:002015-02-25T02:37:56.790-01:00Curry Hunt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>WARNING</b>: To all dyslexics and inebriates - please be careful how you read and repeat the title of this post in the presence of company <br />
<br />
<b>Sunday, 13th April</b><br />
<br />
We had planned on leaving Pokhara on Saturday-12th, but at the last moment found out that a mate of ours, Caglar, was due to arrive in town, from Turkey, at lunchtime. He asked if we could delay our departure for 24 hours so we could all meet-up Lakeside for a few beers, plus some hugs and giggles. We agreed, of course.<br />
<br />
But the unpredictable Nepalese climate put the kybosh on that idea, as his inbound domestic flight from Kathmandu was cancelled just before departure due to adverse weather conditions (at the Pokhara end.) We completely understood why, as around 1:30pm on Sat-12th the wind picked-up from a dead calm, to almost gale force, within a few minutes - accompanied by severe low visibility. Under such circumstances, you have to ask: who needs a Force-7 fog when flying in a light aircraft?<br />
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Never mind, I have no doubt we will meet-up with Caglar again later this year during September in Istanbul.<br />
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We were becoming restless; the bike was all sorted and running as good as ever. It was time to hit the road and leave Pokhara with all its quirky misspelt hangouts. What a great little lakeside town. I highly recommended it as a base to explore Nepal.<br />
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By 9:45am we were rocking south, down and around the mountains and valleys of the Siddartha Rajmarg Hwy towards the Indian border.<br />
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To get an idea of scale, there are a handful of local people down by the riverside. Can you pick them out? <br />
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A roadside refreshment break in one of the many townships along the way.<br />
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During April/May Nepal is approaching the end of its dry season. In a couple of months' time the dry earth will be replenished with much needed monsoon rains, from June through to September.<br />
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<b>Monday-14th</b><br />
<br />
We picked-out a brand new establishment to stopover the night of our first day on the road (Sun-14th), located no more than a kilometre or two from the border; the spanking 12-bedroom Hotel Lumbini International. So new there wasn't even a proper road leading to its entrance, but we scrambled there in any case. I think we might have been their first guests; certainly the only ones staying that night. No hot water, nor internet. Indeed, the room we liked best was still having its air-conditioning unit installed! And worst of all .. not a bottle of cold beer in sight. Bugger.<br />
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Nice family-run enterprise though, and I wish them well .. 'cept for their bloody dog, who likes to bark and howl at the moon the whole night through. <i>Grrrrr!</i><br />
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It took less than two hours to take care of all the Immigration and Customs formalities for both countries. As we were about to leave Nepal a friendly young Nepali Customs officer said to me, <i>"Do you know the meanings of the names 'Nepal' and 'India'?"</i> I said <i>"No, please tell."</i> He replied back:<br />
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Nepal means, <i>'<b>N</b>ever <b>E</b>nding <b>P</b>eace <b>A</b>nd <b>L</b>ove'</i> .. and<br />
India means, <i>'<b>I</b>'ll<b> N</b>ever<b> D</b>o<b> I</b>t<b> A</b>gain'</i><b><i> </i></b><br />
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Gawd!<br />
<br />
.. and with that, soon afterwards we trundled over the border into India.<br />
<br />
What a contrast?! .. all within a couple of hundred metres. My story over the next month will, I have no doubt, tell the tale.<br />
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Into Incredible India, at last.<br />
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India - a reminder:<br />
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- Capital: New Delhi<br />
- Largest city: Mumbai<br />
- Population: 1.21 Billion (2011 census)<br />
- Official languages: Hindi, English<br />
- Area: 3,287,590 km2 [1,269,346 sq mi]<br />
- The world's largest democracy<br />
- The world's eleventh-largest economy<br />
- Has the third-largest standing army in the world<br />
- A nuclear weapons state. <br />
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Clearly a nation to be taken very seriously indeed.<br />
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<b>Monday-14th & Tuesday-15th </b><br />
<br />
The comparitively modest distance of 300 km [186 mi], from the border to the city of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges (Ganga), turned-out to be one of the toughest stretches of road we've encountered on this trip thus far.<br />
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Too much traffic [Hey, get used to it, <i>again!</i>] .. too much dust .. and too many potholes.<br />
<br />
I shall not elaborate.<br />
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<b>Wednesday-16th</b><br />
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<b>The Ancient and Holy City of Varanasi </b><br />
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We have heard that Varanasi takes no prisoners. With this in mind, we braced ourselves when riding into what immediately struck us as one of the most hectic and blindingly colourful cities in the world that we have visited to date. <br />
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The time had arrived to take a deep breath, put on my best smile and snake around the disorientating backstreets and alleys to the western bank of the Ganges .. where I hoped I could at least attempt to get my Karma sorted.<br />
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Feral dogs, just part of Varanasi's menagerie of street animals.<br />
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There's a lot of demand for firewood in Varanasi - fuel for the many burning ghats where bodies are cremated in public, 24/7.<br />
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Yeah right!<br />
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Photo_graphy is only strictly prohib<b>e</b>ted inside the Durga Temple, which I felt obliged to respect.<br />
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I received a Hindu blessing inside the Temple .. at a cost of 20 rupees -20p [$0.30]. Damn good value.<br />
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Another fine example of a Hindu place of worship; the Vishwanath Temple, which stands inside the huge 1,300 acres (5.3 km<sup>2</sup>) grounds of the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.<br />
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Profound words are inscribed on many stone tablets all around the inside walls of the Temple. Here's an example:<br />
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TO THOSE WISE MEN, WHO ARE FREE FROM LUST AND ANGER, WHO HAVE SUBDUED THEIR MIND AND HAVE REALIZED GOD, BRAHMA, THE ABOVE ETERNAL PEACE, IS PRESENT ALL ROUND.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">GITA 5/26</span><br />
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... well that'll be me then.<br />
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One of the best times to visit the river and ghats - the long stretches of steps leading down to the water on the banks of the Ganges - is at sunset when the main <i>ganga aarti</i> (river worship ceremony) takes place at Dashashwamedh Ghat. <br />
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A great place to 'people watch' ..<br />
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.. and <b>be</b> watched. <br />
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I must introduce you to our very own fabulous personal guide for the two days of sightseeing around Varanasi; a [unshaven] Donny Osmond look-a-like, Cristoforo Rahul Pandit, who happily answered to either 'Cristofer' or 'Rayhool' or 'My Bewdy' .. as you like .. <br />
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.. to which he ordinarily responded with a ..<br />
<br />
<i>'Ehh, What's Up Doc?'</i><br />
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<b>Thursday-17th </b><br />
<br />
<b>05:30am</b><br />
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The other best time is at dawn when the river is bathed in a mellow light as pilgrims come to perform <i>puga</i> to the rising sun.<br />
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50p [US 75 cents] will buy you more than an hour of a local oarsman's time, for which he will row you down the river <i>with</i> the flow of the current <br />
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All the way down to the Manikarnika Ghat (the main burning ghat).<br />
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If you believe in Hinduism, then Varanasi is a particularly auspicious place to die. Since expiring here offers liberation from the tedious cycle of birth and death (Moshka); making it the beating heart of the Hindu universe.<br />
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After reaching the Manikarnika Ghat, we had to watch our poor bloke struggle <i>against</i> the current for an uncomfortable 40 minutes or so. <br />
<br />
Still only got 50p (50 rupees) for his labour though.<br />
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<br />
<b>Summary</b>:<br />
Everyone in Varanasi seems to be dying, or hustling, or cremating someone; or swimming, or washing laundry in the sewage-saturated Ganges River; or praying to the goddess river to clean away their lifetime's sins.<br />
<br />
What a fabulous city. 'Surreal' doesn't do the experience of visiting Varanasi justice. Go there if the chance comes your way.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
From Ellen's journal: click on this link → <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UjWdtLRUinemY3m0__9NADV1EjXoYolRIz7nI7zDn0s/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">India</a><br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Friday-18th & Saturday 19th</b><br />
<br />
Riding from the cities of Varanasi to Agra - 610 km [380 mi] - I made some new mates at one of our essential two refuelling stops:<br />
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<br />
Incidentally the price per litre of petrol here in India is around 76 rupees - which converts to 0.75p [US$1.26] <br />
<br />
Passed by lots of truck carnage in the ditches along the way to Agra:<br />
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A message to all Indian truckers:<br />
<br />
Listen boys, there's no point in applying for a driver's job with Hooper's Haulage; they're not hiring at the moment.<br />
<br />
---------------------------------------<br />
<br />
And now we're in the city of Agra. Home of the Taj Mahal; one of New Seven Wonders of the world.<br />
<br />
There should be some fabulous pictures to see in my next post - in around 7-10 days' time.<br />
<br />
Stay tuned. <br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6306925169551879673.post-58426671850248181502014-04-09T16:45:00.000-01:002014-04-12T00:12:00.938-01:00The Roof of the World - Back on Top<b>Some More Background</b><br />
<br />
A long time ago - exactly 20 years ago to be precise - I was on a long-haul return flight back home to the UK from Brisbane, Australia, way up there in the stratosphere, staring idly out of a British Airways 747 cabin window - from one of the cheap seats behind the wings, obviously - looking down onto a moonlit Asia; when it occurred to me, with a certain uncomfortable forcefulness, that my geographical knowledge was pretty darn poor. <br />
<br />
I didn't know, for example, where on Earth the island of Bali was located; my best guess would have been somewhere in a corner of the Caribbean Sea. I couldn't point at East Timor on any map. I had never heard of the Kingdom of Bhutan, was there such a place? What and where is The Golden Triangle? Is Krakatoa really 'East of Java' .. and [<i>erm</i>] where exactly <b>is</b> Java anyway? If I'm honest, I really didn't know that much at all about the world.<br />
<br />
Staring down on those twinkling cities from 35,000 feet during April 1994 I remember becoming gripped by a quiet but insistent urge to know a little more about these matters and to better understand what's going on around the planet; the only home I had ever known and was ever going to live on. So I decided there and then that some day, when the time was right, I would devote a portion of my life to exploring far off places. <br />
<br />
I had already sampled a taste of adventure travel, as five years earlier, in April 1989 (aged 34) I sailed across the north Atlantic, from Gibraltar to New York City, aboard an ocean racing yacht as a lowly unpaid crew member. That was going to be my vanguard trip to a greater ambition I had at the time to sail around the world, some day.<br />
<br />
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I discovered, however, that there's not much to look at out there, apart from a lot of very deep blue sea. Running before a steady and predictable tradewind; once the sails are configured and rigged there's not a lot to do either, apart from topping-up your tan, peel and prepare some rapidly deteriorating vegetables .. and excogitate the next plateful of pasta (what else?!) <br />
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A cloudless mid-ocean night sky is always a magnificent sight of course, where the nearest city is 2,500 kilometres away, with no light pollution to spoil the spectacle of a star-filled heavens above. <br />
<br />
Occasionally, looking up during the daytime, in-between the fair-weather cottonball cumulus, you might see the odd streaming contrail from the jet engines of a Boeing passenger plane (Airbus was then just a twinkle in eyes of a few ambitious European captains of industry.) <br />
<br />
<br />
Twenty-six days at sea all told, 24 of which were completely out of sight of land, and apart from my crew mates, there was nobody to meet-and-greet and share a moment with, nor exchange a friendly foreign smile. Now and again the occasional kamikaze flying fish would end its life on the foredeck before landing in its final resting place - the galley's frying pan. Take it from me, <i>Cheilopogon heterurus</i> is reasonably good eating - in-between the needle-like bones - with or without tomato ketchup.<br />
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<b>Transatlantic Summary</b>: The departure bit from Gibraltar was great; the arriving on the other side was even better. But the 3½ weeks bit in the middle for me was mind-fumblingly boring. Just a great deal of nothing, until reaching the next bit of something 4,240 nautical miles later on the eastern seaboard of America.<br />
<br />
My romantic dream to one day circumnavigate the world powered by only the wind .. got crushed!<br />
<br />
<br />
What next? Take to the road instead, I thought - and why not?<br />
<br />
The events that followed are now part of my life's script. On and off - sometimes quite literally - since 1992 I have covered around 240,000 kilometres (150,000 miles) on two wheels - and for that I am glad.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Sunday-6th and Monday-7th</b><br />
<br />
Back to present times .. and a return to Pokhara, Nepal.<br />
<br />
<b> </b><b>8:30 pm, </b><b>Sunday-6th </b><br />
<br />
Terminal 3, London Heathrow Airport<br />
<br />
The depature lounge, Gate 22 .. and we're informed that, for some vague reason, our Oman Air flight # WY102 to Seeb International Airport, Muscat, will be delayed for 1½-2 hours. Not that this concerned us too much, as we were facing a five hour layover in Muscat in any case.<br />
<br />
A fair number of our fellow passengers were obviously connecting to onward destinations with tighter transfer schedules ..<br />
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.. and were not amused! Like Mr Grumpy here.<br />
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Mother and Daughter.<br />
<br />
An extra two hours in a dispassionate departure lounge .. just 'people watching'<br />
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Eventually .. <br />
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<br />
A three segment flight path ensued: 8,737 kilometres [5,429 miles]<br />
<br />
<b>LHR</b>--<b>MCT</b>--<b>KTM</b>--<b>PKR</b><br />
<br />
London - Muscat, Oman 5,840 km<br />
Muscat - Kathmandu, Nepal 2,750 km<br />
Kathmandu - Pokhara, Nepal 147 km<br />
<br />
As our arrival at the penultimate Tribuvan Airport, Kathmandu, occurred during the early evening, it was too late to transfer to Pokhara, and so we stayed overnight in Kathmandu.<br />
<br />
Arriving at dusk in semi-darkness, it was completely dark by the time we had navigated our way through the visa issue counter, immigration control, baggage reclaim .. and customs.<br />
<br />
Too tired to negotiate the taxi fare, we involuntarily paid about twice the going rate. A prime example of Westerner 'tax'. A whopping 800 Nepalese Rupee (NPR) - approx US$8 - for the 3 kilometre ride to our pre-booked hotel near to the Boudhanath Stupa. AND the driver demanded a one dollar tip into the bargain, seeming completely untroubled by anything as inconveniencing as a scruple for his 25 minutes' work. <br />
<br />
Taxi drivers the world over - you either hate 'em .. or you hate 'em!<br />
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<br />
<b>Tuesday-8th</b><br />
<br />
As the onward domestic flight from KTM to Pokhara wasn't departing until the early afternoon, we took the opportunity to visit Boudhanath, one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Kathmandu.<br />
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The ancient Stupa is one of the largest in the world.<br />
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No Health and Safety Executive hereabouts!<br />
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Wise words, in private, from a Buddhist Monk to a Believer. And why not?<br />
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Prayer wheels, spinning such wheels will have much the same meritorious effect as orally reciting prayers to Buddha.<br />
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<br />
<b>What Happens Next?</b><br />
<br />
Now here in Nepal - 'over there' from your point of view - some routine maintenance needs to be carried out on the bike, which I'm pleased to say, is exactly in the same place as I left it back in December last year. Aussies <a href="http://www.heartsandtears.com/#!about-us/c1x8x" target="_blank">Matt and Chantal of Hearts and Tears Motorcycle Club</a> looked after the Transalp for our 3½ months truancy from this trip awsomely. Thanks guys - you really are <b>the best</b>. <br />
<br />
Now then, you should know that I have no return air ticket back home to England. Why not? well, you see, because I don't yet know when or where this next section of the trip will end.<br />
<br />
The decision has been made to avoid Pakistan altogether. The revised plan, therefore, is to head south and cross the border into India at the weekend - say on Sat-12th; explore northern India for around 4-5 weeks, eventually arriving in New Delhi or Mumbai by mid-May, then either:-<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li>Air-freight to the UAE or Oman, on the Arabian Peninsula. Explore some desert; maybe ride up to Qatar and Bahrain. Ferry across the Straight of Hormuz from Sharjah (Dubai) UAE, to Bandar Abbas, southern Iran. Spend around 18 days heading north up through Iran → Armenia → Georgia; or</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Air-freight to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, with the aim of riding westwards through 'the Stans' - from Kyrgyzstan →Tajikistan → Uzbekistan → Turkmenistan. Cross the Turkmen border just south of the city of Ashgabat → into northern Iran → Armenia → Georgia.</li>
</ul>
<ul></ul>
</div>
<div>
Which way I by-pass Pakistan and <span class="st">Afghanistan - south or north? - will depend on a number of factors. I would like to journey both routes, but this time 'round can only go one way or the other. Time will work it out .. just like it always does.</span><br />
<br />
----------------------------- <br />
<br />
<b>Other Considerations</b><br />
<br />
<b>VISAS</b><br />
<br />
We have the essential pre-requisite visas. Any others can be applied for and obtained when on the road. <br />
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<br />
The Indian 6-month multi-entry visa was easy to get, although you must follow the prescriptive instructions <i>to the letter</i>. For instance your photo has to be <i><u>exactly</u></i> 50mm x 50mm (2" x 2") square. These are unusual dimensions.<br />
<br />
Submit your application with the widely accepted photo size of 45mm x 35mm and it will definitely be rejected.<br />
<br />
Get it right - and the whole procedure is turned around within a week.<br />
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<br />
Obtaining an Iranian visa was a <i>completely</i> different story. For reasons that are too lengthy to go into here, the whole process took <b>six weeks</b>, from Feb-10th to March-24th, and involved a flying visit (literally) to the Iranian Consulate in Dublin, Ireland.<br />
<br />
In short, the rules were changed, without notice, by the Iranian government during mid-February banning independent travel for Brits and Canadians in-and-around Iran (the restriction already applied to US citizens). We just sneeked-in under the old unrestrictive rules - more by luck than judgement.<br />
<br />
<b>CARNET</b><br />
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<br />
My CPD (Carnet de Passages en Douane), the bike's essential 'passport' for certain Asian countries, expires on October-17th. With this in mind, I'll need to be through the carnet-requirement regions and countries by that time; these include the sub-Continent, the Arabian Peninsula and Iran, although I suppose I could always arrange a 12-month extension for the carnet if necessary .. at a cost in time and money! - just like I did in Australia back in March 2011.<br />
<br />
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I plan to leave Pokhara for the Indian border on Saturday, 12th April.<br />
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Please stay tuned. <br />
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<i>"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone"</i><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neale_Donald_Walsch" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Neale Donald Walsch</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Modern-day spiritualist (born September 10, 1943)</span></div>
Keith Hooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03512349530245936894noreply@blogger.com0