Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas in Romania

We woke to a light dusting of snow here in the old town of Sibiu, it makes the view picture postcard perfect for Christmas morning. We intend to stay here tonight (nice hostel) before moving on tomorrow. Since my last post we have travelled some distance, my lazy blogging at fault there. We went to Haytusa in Turkey, an old Hittite city and impressively large, especially for being over 3000 years old. Becka saw some live music in a Turkish town on the Black Sea, but I was too tired and went to sleep!

We crossed the Bosporus in a bit of a dash arriving at Edirne a bit zonked out, the next morning we saw a wondrous mosque with a dome a few inches larger than the Agia Sophia in Istanbul. After a slightly tense crossing we were into Bulgaria and we headed for a ski town, Bansko. We skied and boarded for two days, the second being after a big dump of snow. Powder awesome.

Our plan was then to head to Belgrade in Serbia and then eventually out of the Balkans through Slovenia, where we both thought warranted a further visit. Unfortunately the Serbians wanted 116 Euros for car insurance, which we only needed for 3 days but was valid for a month. In Montenegro it had been 25, so we headed out of Serbia again and now a couple of days later we are in Sibiu in Romania. Romania is more western seeming than Bulgaria, shops in abundance and latin script but the countryside is buzzing with villages and rural life, and the neat villages have a distinct eastern European feel.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Turkey Two


After we got to Turkey from Iran i was in bed with lurg for two days and only pottering for a third. On the fourth we left Erzurum for the Black Sea. The route we hoped to take is shown above, we made it to the highest pass at 2600m but turned back to camp in one of the deserted villages above. The next day, with only a lot of digging to show for a morning's progress we doubled back and took a longer road. Today we reached the Black Sea, pleasantly warm weather after so long in the snow. We are staying in Samsun tonight.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Heartland

My infrequent blogging is a reflection of a decreasing amount of time spent in hotels or even towns. We've been getting past the beaches and resorts of Turkey to explore the heart of the country. We've seen touristy things like the fairy chimneys in Cappadocia and less touristy things like our exploration of a mountain track which ended up with us turning back due to snow drifts. There's been lots of rough camping, we can usually choose good spots and this often gets us off the beaten track too.

Best night: full moon in Cappadocia surrounded by fairy chimneys, waking up to a skyscape of balloons
Best food: Lunch out in Gaziantep, posh kebabs with lots of side dishes
Worst thing: Not enough showers

Off to see if I can upload any photo's to Flickr.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Happy birthday me

We intended to visit the baths at Pamukkale today but on discovering the price decided against it, to be fair a nice hot shower after lots of rough camping would have been just as nice. We are also getting "ruin fatigue" having been to Delphi, the Temple of Poseiden near Athens and Ephesus we have had some ancients overload.

Instead we pressed on to Egirdir which is a pretty town on the edge of a lake. All day we've been driving through a varying landscape of craggy hills, fertile plains and scubby vegetation and there hadn't been a cloud in the sky.

We're in a friendly guesthouse tonight and the first shower for 5 days was very welcome indeed!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Next stop Asia

We're on the island of Chios, preparing to take a ferry to Turkey, a new continent awaits and I'm excited. Greece has been pleasant and I think we've rushed things as usual, it's also quite expensive after we got used to Balkans prices. We arrived on Chios at midnight last night and found a secluded spot to park up in. Yesterday was mostly just getting back to Athens from the evocatively located temple of Poseiden. This morning we explored some of the mountain tracks here on Chios and gave the car a bit of a work out, 4WD low range definitely needed in some places but the car beasted it all.

Our ferry leaves at 3pm local time so we'll be in Turkey tonight.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Classical education

Today we saw the oracle at Delphi, or to be more precise, the ruins of. I really enjoyed wandering down the sacred way imagining what it might have been like 2,500 years ago with thousands of statues, marble, bronze and gold shining in gaudy competition for the eye. Greek myths and history seem unreal in so many senses but seeing a place that features in some of them makes them a lot more tangible. The other thing that stunned me was the skill used in construction, massive stone blocks that fit together without mortar.

We have also had two excellent beach camping spots since I last blogged, one in Albania and one in Greece. In Albania we had a long sandy beach to ourselves all night and we even had a fire going with a bit of music playing to cap it off. I'll try and get some pictures up on Flickr soon.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Friendly Albania

We've really been enjoying our time in Albania, we've seen some great mountain views, stayed at a "homestay" in the mountains and the people are very friendly. We took a dirt track to Theth in the mountains yesterday and stayed with a family there, though the setup is more like a bunkhouse where the host cooks dinner and breakfast. The views were breathtaking there and the way of like seemed little changed, aside from the relatively minor tourist impact. The village was in a remote valley, two hours drive from the nearest tarmac and three from the nearest town.

We have headed south to Berat and battled the crazy driving to arrive just before sundown and bag a great hotel. Tomorrow we'll do some site seeing in the town and head on, perhaps to the Ionian coast.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Destination Albania

We had a great but busy day yesterday exploring the Tara gorge, which was spectacular, and its hard to believe it started from a great wild camping spot, so many great views. We rough camped next to a mobile phone mast, high above a valley in the Montenegro hills. The views were spectacular and we weren't bothering anyone up there so we were pretty calm about it as a camping spot.

Tara gorge is 1300m deep, only 300m less than the Grand Canyon and I'd hoped to do some rafting but everything is shut at this time of year. The views were jaw dropping though and we even drove down a rough track from the top to the bottom, a good day.

Today we're making a wifi stop in the capital Podgorica before heading on to Albania.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Kotor bay


A bit out of sequence, but we drove around the outside of this bay yesterday before driving up the side of the mountain for a stunning view. Montenegro again.

Tara gorge in montenegro


Waaa! The view here is so stunning it is difficult to comprehend and the picture doesn't do it justice. We spent the past few days coming down through Croatia and yesterday in Montenegro, the scenery here is all great. A day or so longer here and then onwards i think.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Island of Rab


I'm doing a few entries at once because if i use internet once it costs me 2 quid for the whole day. We've been strugglin to find open campsites recently, most closed a week or 2 ago. This has led to some great rough camping spots but a sense of unease at the end of each day. Today we found an open campsite on the Croation island of Rab so we've checked in for 2 days and the picture above is from the site. We arrived in Croatia yesterday and were in Slovenia the previous 2 days which we both enjoyed. We saw 3km of a 20km cave system, staggering in scale. We also got caught in a lot of unseasonal snow and played the smug 4x4 driver card:) After Rab we'll carry on South to the Dalmation coast.

Officially classified as a tank


We saw this tank at the side of the road and i knew exactly the picture i would take:) This was a few days ago at the Austria-Slovenia border. We also saw a sobering bunker complex that would have been manned by Austrian conscripts in the event of ww3. They wouldn't have lasted long.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Sleepy Austria


All yesterday we passed very busy areas in Austria near Innsbruck, even the valley we camped in while surrounded by mountains was pretty bustling. Today we've seen a quieter side of Austria in the south, but we covered a lot of ground and are both ready for a short day tomorrow. We hope to be in Bled, in Slovenia by lunchtime tomorrow where we intend to stay and see some sights.

Manicured Switzerland


We stayed three nights in Switzerland and saw lots of stunning alpine scenery, the rivers seemed to me to be managed, the fields were mown and the villages were picture perfect cute. It made it all slightly unreal. This morning we wake up in Austria and maybe it's the route we took but it has not been as cute as Switzerland, though they had a very helpful Toyota garage that set me up with a new wiper.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Picnic in France


We're having a tasty picnic and we'll cross into Switzerland later today. We've had a pleasant morning pottering around these forests and trails. Yesterday was a driving day which was finished off with rain and me knocking tasty dinner on the floor. Bah. The night before we met some brits at the campsite and chatted and drank into the evening.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Email time.


We found wi fi and made with the internet thing, planning our next move (Reims) and catching up on email. We're in Paris today and will go to the Eiffel Tower later, it was a bit of a pain getting in on the train but the tube is easy. Disappointed to miss the catacombs but the city it beautiful. More photo's when i get the computer back from B.

Casting off


Just leaving Newhaven now and neither of us are looking forward to the windy channel. Waves equals seasickness:( looking forward to the french wine and food though.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Home is where your cat is


We're back home after over 5,000 miles and a massively rewarding trip. It's a good feeling to relax into but i might get itchy feet again soon. We had a pleasant time exploring northern Spain, taking in some sights but mostly finding some mountains and camping. I hear Scotland is quite good for that too... Blog will be dormant until the next trip.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Farewell Morocco

From Marrakech we headed to Rabat and then to Asilah the next night. Both are pretty chilled places which made them fairly relaxing places to stay but it did mean we had a low key farewell to a generally buzzing country. Last night we stayed at a friend of Becka's near Malaga and I type now from Laura's porch, looking out over the Andalucian hills. The sun is shining and we only just finished breakfast at about midday. Laura is sending us away with arm fulls of lemons and oranges fresh from the trees, yum. We will be three more days in Spain before catching the ferry and this relaxing time with Laura should be setting us up for a easy, freewheeling ride up to the north. Looking back at Morocco, it was everything I hoped for in this trip, we saw so many spectacular sights, got in some rewarding offroading and experienced the intimidating emptiness of the desert. The best part was staying with a Moroccan family though, it offsets all the hassle on the streets to give a true flavour of Moroccan life.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

High times in the High Atlas

We had discussed that it would be great to spend a bit of time with some Moroccan people and perhaps accept an offer of eating together, should it come up. Yesterday, towards the end of a road based day trying to get north, we picked up a hitcher. He was a quiet enough chap but he surprised us be asking us in for food when we dropped him off. He spoke no english or french but had a calm yet insistent manner, and we accepted with some tripidation. What would we talk about for a start?

We ended up spending the whole evening wth Hussain and his family, learning and forgetting arabic words for everything and clowning around with the children, of which there were four. We left this morning and felt that our gifts were small compared to the amazing time we had spent with them all.

Our trail over the High Atlas today also turned into a great adventure, there was some gnarly, washed out stream beds to cross and then a snowy piste that led to an awe inspiring view of the High Atlas, the peaks towering thousands of feet above the valley floor. A view all the sweeter for us being the first vehicle to pass that way since the snow arrived.

Tonight we are in Marrakesh and we now wend our way back to our hotel room and then, home.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

All time top ten

Best thing since my last post: Driving across the desert to reach Smara in Western Sahara
Worst thing since last post: About 16 mosquito bites to my ankles in one night at Fort Beau Jerif
Becka: Still talking to me
Highest external temperature: 33 degrees
Car: Just had the spare wheel carrier welded up for 4 pounds.
Best food: 2 quid tajine yesterday in a cafe at Sidi Ifni
Worst food: Becka had a very disappointing and expensive camel tajine in Fort Beau Jerif
Biggest surprise: Amount of traffic on the desert pistes, local dudes in Landrovers everywhere
Alex notices: All the old cars and trucks
Becka notices: Plants and flowers

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

-3 to 23 degrees in 48 hours


Finally things are warming up! We've been dogged by rain and low tempertures for a while and the day before yesterday we set off for the Sarhro mountains and camped out near the top of the pass. There was nice moment as a chap came by on a rickety moped when we were cooking, he pointed at the broccoli "What's that?" he says. We gave him some to try at home as he seemed quite taken with it.

In the morning everything was white, slightly predictable at 2250m it had snowed in the night, and gingerly we made our way down and below the clouds. The view was spectacular and both yesterday and today it has been one amazing vista after another as we wind our way through mountains and jolt across stoney plains.

Last night we stayed in a nice low-key town called Taznakht and tonight we are in Tata. Both are worlds away from the tout ridden areas and people just go about their business, which makes for relaxing places to end the day's travel. The best thing about today though is that it is finally warm!

More pictures on the Flickr page too.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Morocco at last

We arrived in Cueta with some apprehension, but managed the border formalities with little problem and travelled on to Chefchouan, a pretty mountain town in the north. The next day we travelled south and ended up camping in the cedar forests of the middle Atlas, it was very rainy and we apprehensive of the touts we had seen along the road.

The night passed without incident and we had a great day winding our way down narrow tracks in the mountains to end up in Midelt, a Berber town on the edge of the High Atlas mountains. We tagged along with a party of three Spanish 4x4s yesterday and tackled some very tricky terrain, inching our way into and out of rivers and through an amazing gorge. The night finished perfectly with card games and whiskey.

We have parted ways and have just stocked up in Tinnehir and are now heading to the Sarhro massive. Photos took a long time to upload, so there are a small selection on my flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49817855@N00

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The rain in Spain...


We set off from Merida, a town chock full of roman ruins and stopped along the way at this huge roman amphitheatre, one of the largest in the world. Tonight we're staying in Ronda and tomorrow we'll catch the ferry to morocco. Heavy rain has dampened our spirits a bit tonight so we're hoping for blazing sun Africa.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

2 villages, a town and a city.


This the view we woke up to, chilly outside but cosy inside. We managed to pack a lot in today; a walk around a mountain village, visit to a fortified village in the process of being restored, coffee in an alcoholic truck stop, walked around a walled city and finally stopped at a town with roman remains, a roman festival and great tapas. Phew, at a camp site tonight and had better get some more miles covered tomorrow.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Sunny Spain


The photo shows our lunch stop just outside Santander in a warming sun. We trucked on through the afternoon, dashed through Salamanca, pausing only for bakery stop, and stopped in the hills to park up. Now we're fed there's time for a few tunes on the guitar before sleep and the prospect of a sunrise over the mountains.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Stocking up


The car, Becka and i were provisioned up to the max at Jennie and Richard's; fabulous food for the human's and fuel and water supplies for the car. Next stop Spain.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Becka drives the tlc


Where TLC is a toyota land cruiser:) We went off road driving at the scottish off road driving centre. Both the course and the car were ace.