Relaxing yet again, no stress in mind and wrist. Breakfast and accidentally meeting stefan there – who yet again postponed his kep trip 😉
Maybe small dinner now, then movies and second helpings later …
Also becoming a sucker for the iced coffees with sweet milk 😉
Wrist still hurting, but swelling down so will try to drive to PP tomorrow or tuesday.
Days beginning to melt into one, not even sure whether I have already written a blog today or not …
Of course even here some kind of (lazy) routine starts to settle in – first decission of the day wld be whether to get up already or just stay in bed a little longer, then check the weather and decide where to go for breakfast. Developed a taste for khmer and vietnamese soups, VERY tasty and becoming with a little beef and lots of veggies.
Today I ended up at one of my favorite places in old bridge street. I had hardly ordered my soup when Stefan showed up as well 😉
He had decided to go to Kep only next week, so time for a meal and some high end intellectual barang talk early in the morning (well it was 10:30 alteady …)
We then went to hang out a little at his cinema and when Bart (the boatman) showed up, we decided to go for a ride in his kajak – taking a small sidearm of the big river. We drove out to his really nice khmer style house, got the kayak and pushed off – here are some pics:
We went ashore to watch a khmer couple (smiley as usual) cut the leaves of the harvested palm leaves – the stems are not used for anything, while the leaves serve as building material for thatch roofs, walls etc. By the way, the palms growing here are the only palms which can grow in the brackish water of the river. Actually the water is only brackish during dry season when the nearby sea pushes far up the river.
We walked a little further to a really nice guesthouse, located right between the rivers and the rice fields. Had met the the previous owner who had build it (Dirk- german guy) but recently sold it to a very nice french couple who had only recently came here from romania. Nice to see them both enjoying this project, working as a team.
When we got back to Bart’s place, it was getting dark already and we decided to get dinner in town. On the way through the fields we stopped in a small village and tried some of the home made rice wines at the low key version of a small supermarket. They had 3 pots of different flavours – dont know what they were, but one had chinese medical herbs in it. Recognized the taste and I also believe it’s what the propriotor said 😉
The ‘wine’ was actually quite nice, rather smooth for a schnaps. We then headed to a german owned restaurant and splashed out on a steak – the first one for me since leaving germany over 2 months ago!
Walking home some hours later …
Lazy day, going out for breakfast and resting wrist a little. Nice day too, not to hot and no rain after noon shower – so far. Stepping on the balcony reveals rainclouds in the distance and swallows flying low too.
Annoying buddist or political something screamer around corner from hotel. Noice amplified through shitty speakers and has been going for hours. Hope its not one of those daylong events. Anyway, nothing romantic or exotic about it – noice polution in it’s purest form. Imagine some 80 year old reciting the alphabet nonstop, amplified by said sound equipment and any intonation punishable by death.
Went to a pepper plantation today, just outside Kampot. This area is/was/might be again world famous for its pepper. Interesting farm with no machines, only woman sorting each single pepper corn with tweezers. Like diamonds.
Pepper grows in many places around the globe, but as with vine it all depends on the climate, soil etc.
Pepper here is harvested in march/april, so you won’t see any fruit on the plants. Black, red and white pepper is all made from the same plant by the way.
I decided to stay on in Kampot a few days longer and rest my wrist a little longer. If it doesn’t get better I can still have someone look at it in PP – or even Berlin in a week or so.
Got some chinese creme/balm (smells like deep heat) and managed to find an elastic band to keep wrist stable.
Lutz went back to PP today – needs to do some work on his project. Takes him even more effort to get on his bike at the moment – people were asking if he drunk too much 😉
But chinese warm band aids seem to work for him. He also had some electric issues with his bike, but was off eventually – just in time for daily downpore.
I am getting rather comfortable here, small town with many restaurants, a little cinema (stefan) and a bunch of good people I met through lutz and stefan. Also nice hotel, comfy room, wifi and private bath with hot shower 😉
Saw The Killing Fields yesterday – bit dated technically and aesthetically, but OK. Got me to talk to some expats about the country. Little weird that only 14 years ago there was still war going on here – 20 year olds remembering rockets and guns going off around them. Also a lot of former khmer rouge around this region – a little unsettling when going through the villages.
Just back from movies, saw ‘salmon fishing in the yemen’ – love mcgregor and her (what’s her name). Good story too in most parts. Had some beers with stefan and the belgium crowd – cambodian gold. It’s a relaunch and NOT very good. So different brand tomorrow 😉
Stefan going to kep on Sat, might join him on back of his bike – met an australian who apparently build a very nice eco lodge. Love getting ideas. Maybe for portugal or where ever – if I ever get away from berlin. But working on it 😉
Day started well, starting at 10:00 to find long sought offroad connection between Kampot and Kep.
Lutz stayed at the cinema, because of his back (sticking on chinese deep heat band aids) and stefan had to go to a buisiness meeting. So only me and thiran.
We had a great ride and made it to Kep eventually, nature at its best.
On the way back though, a woman on her scooter drove into me and I hurt my wrist coming off. Since it happened next to the police station (yes, on the dirt road near a village), they were there quickly too. To make a long story short, no one was interested in me or the wrist or why the woman drove on my side – the lesson to be learned: If you are a forigner in a 3rd world country, you are automatically the source of income. No matter what- but hey, what else is new. Anyway, with the help of Thiran and various phone conversations with the bike rental and him with the police, I eventually paid a fine of 35$ to the police. Hope they keep most of it.
Thank you also at this point to lutz, stefan and others of the local expat community to make the phone conversations possible (long story).
Here you see the bike (nice pic actually):
Anyway, managed to drive back somehow (right hand side, so throttle!).
Got some ice in the cinema, had some beers. Later I put on some deep heat equivalent and a bandage.
Will try to put bike on minibus to PP tomorrow and take it from there.
Worst part being, that I was invited to a 5 day jungle trail tour to Ankor Wat in 2 days time 😦
Maybe there will be a miracleous recovery …
Last time to enjoy a pot of green tea on the beach – leaving back for Kampot today. We will meet Thearan in Sihanovkuille, he is a tour guide for offroad trails, working for straydogs. He needs to go to Kampot anyway and we decided to team up.
Straight out of town onto a fairly easy/fast mud road – and his bike died in the first deep mudhole.
An hour or so later we had to cross 3 rivers fairly much next to each other. By then my bike has developed the habbit of cutting out and the battery was not getting charged properly either.
We got the bike going by exchanging batteries with Lutz’s bike and at least we could go on. A bit further on Lutz had a fall in a deep mud section and seems to have hurt his back somewhat. But cant stop here and not too bad.
We lost Lutz an hour later because he decided to drive ahead (we were going on the tar road at the time) and we wanted to take another trail. We waited for a while then decided to go off on our own – wld meet up again in Kampot at Stefan’s cinema.
Nice fast ride on very narrow tracks through rice fields and remotest villages (we of course slowed down then and a lot of waving to kids) for about an hour before back onto the tar road.
Looking foreward to a dry hotel room – been driving in the rain for the last couple of hours and walking in rivers don’t help either – boots filled to the brim. And anyway, clothes didn’t get a chance to dry over last few days anyway. Some of the stuff is really starting to smell real bad …
Booked into Paris Hotel for the usual 8$ a room and enjoyed the first warm shower in cambodia. Pizza with Stefan and then back to the hotel. Might try some new trails around Kampot tomorrow 😉
Didn’t do much at first – hanging out by the beach and enjoying the view.
Around 12 we decided to go for a short ride – became 6h in the end 😉
Wonderfull scenery, mud jungle rivers high grass – fun stuff.
Unfortunately my bike is giving me problems – electrics. Cutting out in the middle of the worst mud sections or rivers.
In one really bad section the sand at the far end of a small ravine broke off when I jumped over it and the whole bike dissapeared under me. Went head first over the handle bar and burried my head in the sand. Took us a while to get it out of there 😉
Once we got my bike out of the ground, we soon found greener fields to play in 😉
On the way home we had to cross yet another river (but hey, that’s what we came for). There was a little, slippery wooden bridge under water, but one wrong step or twist of the throttle and the bike will disappear in the deep water. And then it’s pushing it home – would take a day of hard work and means camping in the bush. Without camping gear 😉
Up ‘early’ at 9, swim and then I made breakfast for us – landlady asked me to show her how to make some western style omelette 😉
Since bike working again we decided to go to Sihanovkuille proper – haven’t really been there yet. Wanted to check for flights, email etc.
The place is saturated with hostels and although off season, quite some travellers around. Glad we don’t stay here 😉
But nice to have a milk shake and some food.
Lazy day, rain in the morning – the continueation of previous night’s thunderstorm, which luckily stayed off the coast somewhere at the horizon.
Since heavy rain at first, I went for a dip in the sea, breakie after that and bed again soon after. Have a nice few of the beach and the sea when I leave my door open – it’s only 5m 😉
When the rain turned into a drizzle I moved towards the communal area and watched the dogs in action 😉
By this time it was lunch already and we decided to go to Otres beach proper – 2km up the road towards Sihanovkuille, but still way out of town so quiet this time of year.
Also had some bangles made to pass time and support local school kids 😉
Planned on some jungle excursion after that, but my bike didn’t want to start. Push start OK, but can’t really do that in a river or rice field. Phoned the bike rental in phnom penh and they promised to send someone with a new battery from Sihanovkuille. They would only arrive at 18:00, so decided to spend the afternoon watching the waves while lutz went off with another german guy on an offroad bike also.
Took a photo of old battery as a compromise – originally the rental place wanted me to bring back the old one to PP for prove that it had been changed.
We had grilled baracuda for dinner, we asked our landlady if she could get it for us while in town. Dinner was great – last baracuda I had was in mocambique in 1989. Memorable fish 😉
Planned on sleeping in a bit today, but woke up at 7:30. So woke the barman/owner, ordered breakfast and phoned lutz (sleeping on his ponton next door). Beautiful and sunny day, so should make traveling today easier – road supposed to be worst (tarmac) road in cambodia.
… the road wasn’t too bad if compared to the russian ones. Fairly similar to the SA – Mocambique road in 1989/90 – the usual collection of potholes and construction in progress. The landscape a lush green, a lot of water and rice.
The already expected rain shower was rather heavy today – so out with the rain jackets yet again. But one thing is for certain – rain at 30 degrees is a LOT more pleasant than at 3-15 degrees. Actually it can be quite refreshing – if it doesn’t go on for hours. And of course it’s also possible to stop for a juice/soup/talking bull shit 😉
About halfway to Sihanovkuille we left the tarmac and decided to follow what looked like a small dirt road/stream. Good fun, rock sections, dense jungle, water, mud etc. After a lot of small streams
… we came across a bigger one which proved difficult to cross.
After a couple of hours and various attempts with the compass, we finally found the coast outside of Sihanovkuille and we decided to head straight for a remote beach where Lutz has been to before.
We rented 2 nice basic grass/wood huts right by the beach, very nice khmer lady with 2 kids and a couple of dogs. The bikes parked right next to the huts and a great view with the sound of waves breaking overpowering all other noises. Yes!
Good nights rest im my simple but luxurious wooden bungalow 3m up in the air – safely tugged in under the mosquito net.
Nice breakie on the wooden deck hanging over the river. People swim here, especially during rainy season, when the water looks muddy (and is), but the water quality is better than during summer.
We decided to simply head in the general direction of Kep – maybe look st an old cave temple, supposedly much older than Ankor Wat. We drove through many villages, past scattered dwellings and through plenty of rice paddies – people here always smiley and ready to return a nod or wave. Really quite a difference to russia.
We eventually found the mountain which is supposed to house the cave with the temple in it – but we couldnt find the cave, no matter how many mudpos we crossed.
We did ask the local communities for direction and that was really fun for all parties involved. They loved our map and the compass on the iphone blew their mind. That is despite iphones being as common in cambodia as anywhere in the world. Maybe they simply enjoyed the 2 barangs in their little hut restaurant in the middle of nowhere. As I said, very nice people and also our advantage being, that we go where hardly any tourists go. Ever.
As we got closer to Kep, we came across a fairly new temple, set in the forrest at the end of a dirt road overlooking the surrounding land.
A bit further on we came across this strange building – no windows etc, only small openings …
… apparently it was build to attract swallows – they even play the right bird songs from a CD. The birds start building their nests inside and the eggs or being collected and sold to the restaurants.
Eventually we arrived in Kep and lutz even managed to see a potential customer owning a restaurant
Finished the day with visit to stefans nice little cinema in kampot and after that some beers in the hostel bar by the river.
Up at 8, usual ‘chaos’ getting away with lutz – off at … 11:00
😉
… and 1st stop around the corner for some vietnamese soup
Going to Kampot, famous for jungle, the river banks and green pepper. On the way down we stopped for some juice – and can you believe it, it’s the same spot where i stopped 4years ago – took a similar pic
The road is good – meaning boring for us. On arrival in Kampot we had a nice meal incl. a fresh coconut, so full of water I couldn’t finish it.
We picked a nice laid back hostel on the west side of the river, cant think of the name though 😉
We simply dropped our bags and decided to use the remaining hour of daylight for a quick ride into the jungle. Bliss- after going through some rural area we were quickly into the thick green, mostly following small streams because there were no paths or tracks. This one example shows a small stream, bordered by eroded banks towering next to us with a lid of dense foliage above our heads. The tunnel was about 2m wide and 2m high. Since it curved we were not able to see how long it was and if it carried on at all. Quite similar to driving in a big storm water pipe.
Up and down small ravines, crossing mud pools and always trying not to loose our sense if direction in this. Perfect.
On the way back we stopped at the green house hostel- lutz knowing the owners and we had a nice beer on the very colonial style veranda. They will have a big party on saturday with live bands, let’s see if we are still in the area then. We also met stefan, a belgian guy whom I had met 4years ago in Kep by the sea- he sold his hostel and now runs a small cinema in Kampot.
After dinner and some more beers in our hostel I will now hit the sack – a bit tired, maybe going for a swim in the river tomorrow morning – right from the bar 😉
Got up at some time, now sitting by the riverside – still don’t know what time it is. Surrounded by tuk-tuks, buzz of the city, bike parked in front of the cafe.
Cambodia starting to have it’s effects. Good.
Hung out in PP after lunch with lutz’s client, bought a Lonely Planet and marked some stuff I had not seen last time.
The plan still is to leave for the coastel area tomorrow – bikes kind of ready 😉
Went for a nice massage this afternoon – seeing hands, a project for blind woman. Good stuff.
On the way home I stopped to watch the local fitness addicts – always at sun rise and in the afternoon 😉
Lazy day in PP – early morning though, fell asleep at 20:30 last night!
Bit of work in the bike, setting levers etc, changed front tire.
Then off to lutz’s hotel project and some site work. Nice guys the owners dimitri and gian.
Can only do facebook sporadically, lutz’s provider is vietnamese and there FB is apparently baned. Will try some cafe tomorrow.
Check out the local biltong
We only made it to one party yesterday – house warming, most people working for NGOs, GIZ, (former DED, GTZ), Friends international and many more. We left Lutz’s house on Mekong Island around 20:00 – and it was pissing it down. So rain gear and off on the bikes. After about 5km, right in the centre of PP, my bike died completely. It had already signalled before, that it had problems with the generator/battery.
So there we stood, in the middle of the city, surrounded by heavy traffic and a rain which was trying to flood the city. We decided that lutz should drive to the bike shop (closed), get the tel. no. from the sign and call for help. Apparently the initial reaction was ‘the shop is closed/yes we know/it’s raining/yes we know’. Anyway, the guy showed up and pushed me on my bike while sitting on his (his left food on my right rear footpegs) through the city until we reached a shop where we could park the bike for a night.
Here is a shot of us waiting in the rain – under the roof of some bank, lutz on the phone (my iphone doesn’t like the local sim card. Samsung here we come, soon).
We arrived at the party by nineish, good atmosphere, nice hosts. Met a dentist from japan, now living in australia, doing dental tourism here in cambodia. He showed me many pics of his bikes back home and of patients teeth – he always had the laptop ready 😉
Left at 2 or 3, too late for the other party and slept over at eva’s place just around the corner. Good we thought, sleep in, have late breakie etc. We thought …
By 5:30 the catapilar started to grade a new street below our appartement. Hadn’t stopped when lutz and me left to pick up my new bike (around 11). And today is sunday!
Anyway, we got the bike – feels better, although on this bike something is wrong with the steering head or even the frame. Feels a bit odd going around corners, will try it some more tonight or tomorrow.
Central market then, lutz bought some boots for bike trips and the back home onto the peninsula. Just before a brief shower started.
These shots were taken from the roof overlooking the Mekong river …
OK, will try to catch some sleep before going out tonight. Will go to a bar where local expat bikers hang out, hoping to obtain some info on tracks through the jungle/rice paddies/mountains. Planing on leaving around tue/wed for a week or so. First trip, then maybe back to PP and after that 2nd trip. We shall see what happens.
hh
Raining quite a bit in PP – but it also stops inbetween 😉
Dry in the mornings till midday it seems, so possible activities more then and in the afternoons again. Early eve till whenever rainy again it seems.
Sleeping in huge bed with small mattress – thank you for lending those to me Eva! Put up my mosquito net (good idea here) and had a good nights sleep.
Lutz is again renting the same house on the peninsula in the Mekong river – same as 4 years ago.
Went for breakfast into town – 15min drive – and were just in time for torrential downpour, but at least by that time we were sitting safely inside.
After breakie off to the hotel lutz is doing the lighting design for and then on to find a bike rental. Found a small XR250, same as Lutz’s. Picking it up tomorrow, they agreed to fit new tires, brakes etc – let’s see, asking 17$ per day so good price.
Back at the Mekong ranch we dry ourselves and get ready for a party later – actually 2, one of them a little punk session in a bar which will be demolished in the process since the owner wants to rebuild 😉
Early start – not really used to that anymore I guess. Didn’t even need the alarm to go off at 6:00 – was awake already. Shower, banana and off to the bus station (Bus A11). The driver didn’t have change, so the 40HK$ still in my pocket for the next visit.
Bustrip to the airport from HK island only takes about 40′ and they have wifi on board. Enough time after check inn for brunch
Flying Singapore Airline is a treat as always – good service and friendly staff. Love the menue, drinks etc – well, not spoiled by easy jet and the likes I guess 😉
Also love Singapore, been here last 4 years ago, during chineese new year. Well, this time its only the airport for me – 2.5h stop over, but that’s OK since I need new headphones and there are enough shops, cafes ….
Arrival in Phnom Penh was greated with tropical downpour 😉
Phoned lutz and took a tuk-tuk to meet him in town. The ride was a good, familiar and hair raising experience 😉
A bit lazy today, maybe heat and humidity taking it’s toll? Hope not, more to come over the next weeks I guess.
After some chineese guy woke everybody in the room by packing and unpacking starting at 7:30, I decided to eventually get up at around 8:30. Went for quick breakie with Ben (Kay – FB users might remember him from heavily censorable comments), than off to the south of HK island with rosi. She had been to Stanley in the past, but had time to kill before her university classes in the evening.
Nice small bus ride to Stanley, a far more quiet place when compared to HK. It’s on the same Island and only takes around 25 min. The busses tell you at what speed they are going and the beaches are not crowded at all – what more can you ask for.
On the way back we did a detour to Ladies Market up on Nathan Rd. – rosi buying a bag and me something else.
Back at the hostel I discovered that my headphones had quit on me- hadn’t used them in a while ;-(
Don’t really feel like going out to get some replacement – maybe in Cambodia …
Leaving for Phnom Phen tomorrow morning via Singapore – need to get up at 6 am.
Today almost everybody of this hostel is checking out. That means new people – good although had a really good time with the last bunch. That’s what I love about hostelling, new people, new destinations popping up from nowhere and even friends.
Marshal and me decided to find the famous Lin Heung Tea House – known for its excellent and traditional chineese food, all served in an unpretentious authentic setting. The clock showed 11 when we finally managed to leave the hostel after saying goodbye to georg+georg, the indian and the korean – both of whose names I (and nobody else) ever quite fathomed. Actually that fact was always a source for good fun and laughter – especially for them. Almost as good as the jokes about the french (not present), the english (not present), the americans (marshal) and the indians (the unknown). Nobody knew jokes about the germans. Maybe because there were too many of us? 😉
Anyway, we arrived at the tea house (restaurant) at around 11:30 and were greeted by a wall of noise and delicious smells.
Great stuff, you needed to chase the woman with their trollies (that’s where the food was on) around the restaurant, open all the pots on them and pick one dish. You never really knew what you got, since most dishes were in dumplings or thin dough. But the quality was excellent and I believe in the end we had tasted about 50%of their dishes. Amazing food!
Our second destination was the world’s longest escalator- going up the hill in Central, going past all sorts of bars and clubs. They reverse the direction of movement at certain hours of the day. Didn’t take a photo – more interesting during the night.
We tried to get into the Bank of China’s viewing plattform on the 43rd floor, but they didn’t allow me to enter since I had left the passport in the hostel ;-(
But we went up to the roof terrace of the Hennessy Bld – good views!
After that we headed back to the hostel since marshal needed to get ready for the airport as well. I decided to catch up on some sleep – but that didn’t really happen. As usual. In the end I went out with Rosi …
… to go up to Victoria Peak via that steep whatyoucallit uphill tram. Amazing views of the city’s skyline.
Did I mention already, that I love the HK weired little trams 😉
Picking up some beers on the way back to the hostel – you never know who will check in today …
Up at 9 and todays plan was to go to Macau, get to mainland china and see if the portugeese influence could still be seen.
Trip only takes an hour on the fast catamaran. Macau definately has a different feeling to it when compared to HK. Of course loads of casinos, but also colonial portugeese architecture. Totally different scale in some parts, more human+layed back.
… and some portugeese snacks, bifana and whatever these little tards are called …
Inbetween we came across an old mandarin house, very impressive architecture.
Walking down the streets towards the casinos and restaurants, I came across this peculiar tshirt
We checked out some of the casinos, small Las Vegas, actually not too kitsch though.
Back at the hostel, we were just in time for a small bday party – might get late yet again, what happened to my plan to get to bed early today …
Almost forgot, booked my plane to Cambodia for friday – seeing lutz, do some offroad biking and perhaps get some sleep?
Lazy breakfast around the corner around 10:00 helped to wake me up, warm and getting humid outside. Climate suits me fine, even the humidity is OK. Worst part is the aircon everybody is using and the favorite setting seems to be 16′.
Back in the Hostel five of us decided to pay Lamma island a visit and off we went to Central with the tube and then on via ferry boat.
Pretty little island, only 20 min or so off HK island. Small village by the docks and what seemed to be an established walking route starting from here.
Soon found a nice beach and went for a refreshing swim in the sea – is this the South Chineese Sea? No idea, need to look it up. They even had fresh water showers installed, so loved it.
We decided to find a temple which was meant to be a little more east from the beach and went on despite sun getting hot now. We saw a lot of BIG spiders- tried to take a picture, but with the iphone that meant holding it really close. Did the best I could – hair at the back of my head all up – the things were the size of my hand!
Just before we had to admit that we had gotten lost, I got startled by a really substanstial snake about 2m next to me – size if an average cobra, but black?
In the end we persuaded a fisher man to give us a ride on his boat around the island back to the port 😉
Had a good meal before catching the ferry back – sea food galore.
After a brief rest in the hostel, 7 of us went out to enjoy food on the night market again, don’t get tired of it – especially after russia’s borsch and variaties of goulash.
I saw the bunk at 3:30.
Slept OK, hostel nice but room mates a bit of the ‘hey mate, how many beers did you have’ type.
Checked out Central and parts of Wan Chai today – all west of hostel, on HK island. Culture shock after sibiria of course, just what I needed. Had good japaneese food twice, HK still cheaper than Berlin, even in decent places. Bought the Octopus card (local oyster card) – if you know london, public transport is not much of a problem. So from a tourist point of view: ‘Thank you England for language and public transport’ 😉
While walking I found my next residence 😉
They use these really peculiar double decker trams here, very funny
Went to see the Bank of China bld designed by Pei (with whom I worked on his berlin project Quartier 206 in Friedrichstr.), but the viewing plattform on the 43.floor was closed today.
Some random shots of the walk
Paging through the LP guide and getting info from the Hostel – all still a bit much to take in, let’s see what the evening holds in store.
Suggestions welcome 😉
Took the Star Ferry from HK island to the mainland …
… and watched the ‘lightshow’ of the skyscrapers on the island. Nice quick boat ride, light show pathetic, as I had been warned.
Walked up from Victoria Harbour to Yau Ma Tei – overkill! Shopping, markets and food. A lot more chineese – the way I imagined it anyway – than on HK island. But picked this hostel because it’s nice to get away from the action when you had enough 😉
Long (4,5h) and bumpy flight with Vladivostok Air – but glad customs went well. Had a good chat (actually all through flight) with marius, an american from SF.
Arrival in HK, greeted by 30′ at 22h00 local – 3h earlier than Vladivostok. Jumping around through all these timezones drives me crazy – this is the 10th one!
Anyway, what a change – english and modern, actually writting on airport bus to city 😉
Need to find hostel soon, prebooked 2 nights at Ceck Inn Hostel, getting tired since 2am in my mind and body.
Driving past mountain ranges made from appartment blocks.
The bloody busses here drive like londons- just faster even.
Arrived in hostel – a proper hostel, so glad for that. Minute toilet/shower though – didnt recognize the shower in it 😉
Today was spent with sleeping late, eating and talking to elena+elena about all sorts of stuff and of course packing.
E+E currently finance themselves by translating korean movies into russian (subtitles) and are on their way to moscow after having spent 5 years in korea. They are planning on visiting Irkutsk next, so I recommended baikal and of course Olkhon island – which someone said they should not bother with!?
The new airport is closed because of the summit, so now all flights are departing from the old one. Bus or taxi – first decission of the day …
Sleeping late in my bunk, than big breakfast – local (small) supermarket supplying the standard european incredients. Kind of, but fresh tomatoes, decent cheese, salami etc. Fruitjuices actually having been good throughout russia.
Check out the russian breakfast – had told you about it before: Buck wheat (instead of soggy spagetthi), mayonese mixed in and boiled sausage. Add a gerkin for colour …
After breakie off to town, joined by nice chineese and 1 japanese traveller. We lost him as soon as we got to the market though 😉
Managed to find the right bus to town and had some italian coffee in the pedestrian zone. Concerts still going on in town – looking all cosmopolitan for the summit.
Back in the hostel, cooking small communal dinner – potatoes, cauli flower (spelling?), dumplings…
Why do I still love hostel life, maybe because you actually get to meet people?
Maybe movie later, maybe concert in town …
Slept quite well last night – though the bunk ist short, narrow and the mattress on the sagging frame is thin 😉
Small breakfast in the cosy kitchen – not clean or organised, but OK – with the option of using the washing machine later!
Svetlana picked me up at 10:00 to sort out some paper work for shipping the bike. We droppedu into the office , finalized some documents, had lunch and saw a notary do sign a letter of attorney, giving yuri the means to get my bike through the authorities and ship it out.
Went for a stroll into the city centre afterwards – best city in russia so far. It’s easy to see how much money had been invested over the last years – all in preparation for the APEC 2012. The city is clean, full of historic buildings, surrounded by the sea and generally feels more european. I think it’s the only city I wld come and visit again.
At the central square an open air concert has just started – bands playing heavy metal to folk. A lot of police around of course, but generally a relaxed atmosphere.
Sitting by one of the cities beaches at the moment – it’s right by the pedestrian zone.
Day 310km
Trip 15.740km
Bike 20.765km
Only 300odd km today – but of course rain 😉 The japaneese gentleman on his bicycle who we had met at the hotel, had already left – we passed him a bit later on the road.
The ride was good though – the end of the first part of this journey at arms length. The landscape flattened out a little, but it stayed warm – around 20′.
As we got closer to Vladivostok, the presence of army and police increased a lot – closely related to the APEC summit 2012 in Vladivostok I guess. But no problem, they never stopped us – actually we never were stopped in russia. They are more into cars and trucks I guess.
Around 14:00 we arrived in Vladivostok.
What a feeling, the end of the first 15.000km.
Andreas’s plans change frequently and todays option was to phone the russian visa chap at the embassy in hong kong. By the time we got to Juri – the highly recommended shipping agent in Vladivostok – however andreas was all for going to Ekaterinburg again and wait for his ferry to japan on the 19th. He was off to the travel agent and we were to meet at our prebooked hotel later.
So, Juri and Svetlana (his assistant with excellent german and english) gave me the options for the next part of my journey. Since I do not want to spend another 2 weeks in Vladivostok or russia for that matter, I have to ship my bike home. That’s OK though, need a change of scenery and travel 😉
In the end I went for the shipping to germany (berlin) option and confirmed my flight to Hong Kong on saturday. VERY excited, never been there – and let’s forget about the looming hurrican season …
This decission meant also, that I had to take the bike to juri’s warehouse and sort my luggage (taking bike stuff since one option is visiting lutz in cambodia – actually my favorite option 😉 ), take out the battery, empty the tanks, take off Ollo’s windscreen to fit the bike in a smaller box and before all that, have the bike cleaned!
By the time all this was sorted, it was already 20:00 and I had not eaten all day.
Juri took me from the ware hiuse to the hotel, when I got andreas’s text, that he had changed his plans and that he wld stay at another, more central hotel. Since I did not want to pay for the booked double, Juri offered to check out the local hostel with me 😉
It’s located by the harbour, in an old russian prefab apparment block and seems to be operated by local school kids – all playing guitar hero 😉
Dorm it is, but hey kitchen, washing machine (hey eastseven – in russia I NEVER paid less than 25€ per load!!!) and a great view. This shot was taken without HDR!
After a shower one of the guitar heros called me a cab and I was off to a recommended restaurant. The taxi was the first surprise – private car and 2 pretty blonds driving 😉 Angela (one of them) gave me their number for the return trip. Apparently it’s their after work job.
The second surprise was the restaurant – as I am sitting here, it has turned into a disco. But not tonight, too tired after all this action today.
Anyone ever needs help with shipping, here are Juri’s contact details:
Yuri Melnikov
General Manager
Links, Ltd.
89 Svetlanskaya str., office 312,
690001, Vladivostok, Russia.
Tel/fax: +7(423)222-15-78
Tel: +7(423)222-08-87
Mobile: +7 902 5243447
mail to: ymelnik@links-ltd.com
Svetlana Sen’
Manager
Links, Ltd.
89 Svetlanskaya str., ste. 312
690001 Vladivostok
Russia
Tel. 8-423-2220887
Fax 8-423-2221578
E-mail: info@links-ltd.com
Day 472km
Trip 15.430km
Bike 20.455km
God, really pissing it down outside and the app predicts 2 days of cold rain solid – all the way to Vladivostok :-((
But we probably will have to leave this comfortable, warm and clean place today. Hopefully I can get some info on shipping the bike from Vladi – then I could also book a flight out of there.
Rain most of the day, but warm enough to take the edge off. We started at around 11′ and halfway through the day, the temperature reached 23′. Actually had to take some layers of clothing off. But getting a little tired of the rain – can’t wait to reach Vkadivostok and hopefully I can ship katie back to germany – enabling me to embark on a new venture.
Katie clocked 20.000km today – and gave me a small heart attack when the FI (fuel injection) light started to come on at irregular intervals :-() The only reason for this that I could think of, was the plug I had disconnected under the seat – something you are supposed to do when using petrol below 95 octane. I decided to reconnect it – back from 92 to 95 anyway and so far the light did not come on again.
Passing very close to China – next time 😉
Some spectacular scenery today – almost tropical in its lush green colour.
Eventually found a nice, basic hotel/hostel – hidden somewhere in Kirovskij. A friendly car driver who we had approached showed us the way by driving in front of us.
So, hopefully Vladivostok tomorrow – 300odd km to go and hopefully I can work something out for the next part of the trip.
Lying on my bed now, reading. Have finished 6 books already – love my kindle!
Rain drumming hard and relentless onto our tin roof, making it hard to concentrate on the catastrophies happening in space. And visions of tomorrow’s ride are painted in the all to familiar shade of reflecting gray. Need to sleep.
Day 210km
Trip 14.959km
Bike 19.984km
Todays 200km were rather mellow after yesterdays 1000. We left early and got to Khabarovsk around noon – which gives us enough time to find a nice hotel with hot shower and internet. We checked into the Boutique Hotel, enjoying the friendliest and best english speaking staff of the trip! Just what we need to plan the next part of our trip.
Khasarovsk seems cleaner, better maintained and more relaxed than the other cities we had passed through. A smaller version of Ekaterinburg in a way, but still different. Located on a hilly terrain and actually featuring some green in the streets make it a nice place to go for a walk.
Since we still have approx. 2 weeks to kill by the time we reach Vladivostok and before the ferry would leave to japan on the 19. September, we need to check our options.
Problem is, that we only have a single entry visa to russia – meaning, that we could not leave russia between now and the 19. – to say, Hong Kong and then come back to pick up the bikes and catch the ferry to Japan.
So we have been on the phone with the russian authorities in Khabarovsk, the russian embassy in Hong Kong and our travel agent in berlin – trying to sort a double entry visa for russia. But so far no luck ;-(
Well, if we can’t leave russia for a week or so and return, we wld have to think about alteranatives. Andreas favours the idea to return to Ekaterinburg anyway – he was thinking of doing that to see some friends he met. For me, staying in russia for 2 weeks waiting for the ferry is no option really. Also the fact, that we might not even be aloud to ride our bikes in japan (germany and switzerland not having signed some treaty in the 50ies), makes Japan less and less of an option for me. My alternative therefore being to ship the bike home from Vladivostok and take a plane somewhere – eg Hong Kong and home from there.
Let’s see – any suggestions? …
Day 1.107km
Trip 17.749km
Bike 19.774km
The morning brought no rain, only clouds and 7′. What an improvement to yesterday! Our original plan was to do 420km to the next truckstop, but when we got there the clock only showed 13:00. The fact that it only rained occasionally and not at a continous level like yesterday, made the decission to go on easy.
Amazing country side (sorry, not many photos) – hills, small mountains, forrest, rivers etc. Felt again like riding in a park sometimes. Somehow clean and authentic, not spoiled by humanity squatting on every piece of available space. Of course we came across a number of obscure villages all built around some heavily polluting factory – again surrounded by siberia. Meaning nature only. As far as you can see in any direction.
Travelling with the full 10l jerry can on the back of katie, makes all the difference. It doesn’t matter when the reserve comes on – could still make another 130-140km when the tank runs dry. Didn’t need it yet, even on this stretch of road, there seems to be a petrol station every few hundred km these days.
The road generally is good – still some stretches of bad asphalt and some huge construction works going on still – only dirt road then.
At one of the many petrol stops, I asked a taxi driver from omsk about a place for the night. The information we got was wrong (the 24km became more like 250), but he was a nice guy and when he opened his boot, he pulled out a bottle of ‘Premium Vodka’ and handed it over to me as a present.
It’s in my tank bag now, what will I possibly do with it? Would require a weekend by some siberian lake incl. log cabin and sauna to finish that off. Well, I will find a use for it. Somewhere …
After doing something like 800km, we were actually starting to get desperate for a roadside truckstop with a few rooms for rent. Hadn’t seen any for the last few hundred km. Well, to cut a long(ish) story short, we did another 200 km or so, before we reached a place in the middle of nowhere. Showers actually in the same room as the workshop repairing cars etc. – I gave it a miss, Andreas enjoyed it though. The food was better than usually, the room a bit worse, but beggars can’t be choosers in this part of the world 😉
So, lying in bed now – facing a floral wallpaper and protected by my panama prooven mosquito net.
Ah, by the way – my Lidl pimped BMW rain jacket did not get me soaked today!! Lidl – you make the best plastic bags 😉
offwe_r 