Kar Po & Rob
After 4 years and 6 months in London we finally decided to return to NZ - the long way. We will be travelling from Egypt to China overland taking in 12 countries. This is where the journey begins...Tweedledeedums
Travel Blog Posts
July 24th 2006
A quick search of this website reveals that, aside from an American chap working in Turkmenistan posting his contact details, the last tourist entry for this country was September 2001. So it's hardly surprising then that of all the places we'd planned to visit on this trip the one that aroused the most curiosity amongst our friends prior to departure was undoubtedly Turkmenistan. Those who had heard of it (and they were by no means the majority) had heard of it only in the context of some outrage enacted by the eccentric (some would say insane) president - the ice hotel he supposedly planned to build in the Karakum desert, one of the hottest places on earth (it turned out to be a skating rink - but that doesn't make for such a great story), the ... read more
June 15th 2006
We thought that after 5 months of travelling we'd be starting to feel a little road weary but now that we've reached that minor milestone, far from been tired of living out of a backpack our first few days here in China have left us really really excited about the next 10 weeks in the middle Kingdom. We've spent the last 2 weeks racing across the western deserts of this vast country in order to get to Beijing (where we're currently at) in time to meet my mother, who has arrived safe and well. But to talk about China too much would be getting ahead of ourselves blogwise as we're still a wee bit behind, hence this post about our wonderful time back in April in a country of friendly people, abysmal driving and very very ... read more
May 25th 2006
After a stupendous couple of weeks in the more remote regions of what is by any standards a pretty remote country, Kyrgyzstan, we're now back in the southern capital of Osh getting ready to cross into China via the Irkeshtam pass. When I say getting ready all I really mean is finishing this asap so we can get some sleep b4 the taxi arrives at 2 tomorrow morning. A tad expensive though as we couldn't find anyone to share costs with. Anyone fancy a trip to China tomorrow? Just turn up at the Taj Mahal hotel. The Kyrghz border closing at 11am on a Friday explains the ungodly hour of departure, that and the fact that the 270 odd km trip will take about 8 hours. If we can keep our eyes open though we should ... read more
May 14th 2006
So we finally managed to escape Istanbul (mid March), albeit visaless, and continue our Turkish travels after two somewhat frustrating weeks. We aren't complaining really (well not too loudly anyway) as Istanbul should be high on everyone's list of places to spend a little quality visa limbo time, but if I ever run into that Mr B again..... With visa worries temporarily forgotten we set off for a destination I've been dying to visit for, well let's see now, just about all of my life - Gallipoli! A mere 7 hour bus trip from the metropolis brought us to the village of Eceabat, home for the next few days. We thought a tour would be a good way to get an idea of the lie of the land so we signed up for one the next ... read more
Gobbledy gook from our travels in Turkey
Published: July 21st 2006Middle East » Turkey » Central Anatolia » Cappadocia
May 12th 2006
Ah, I see from Rob's previous blog that I have been implicated as a partner in crime for the tardiness of our travel updates ("we" blew it??). To be fair, it hasn't always been due to someone procrastinating. 8 months sounds like a lot of time to be taking off but we are constantly amazed at how little time we have left at the end of the day for reading and writing when there are so many kilometres to be spanned, places to visit, people to see.........I can't explain. Internet availability and connections have also been patchy. I'm currently on a terminal in Kyrgyzstan (yay we made the border crossing with minimal fuss and in record time!) where I have been told the connection is "dial-up and Sputnik" so it's not exactly the fastest line nor ... read more
May 10th 2006
Before we left on our travels we'd discussed the prospect of eating out - everyday. Well, 4 months down the road, I can assure you it's been all good - we haven't missed doing dishes and there's one less thing to squabble over. There has been the odd day when we wished we had access to a kitchen to whip up some decent pasta or some spicy Malaysian curry but on the whole we have been quite happy letting someone else do the drudgery of cooking and cleaning whilst we lounge away on divans laden with food and drink like nobles in a persian miniature. ho ho ho. The eating out possibilities on this trip have been endless (until we arrived in Iran that is - more later); we have eaten and drunk across a range ... read more
April 20th 2006
Hi all Remember how we promised to get things up to date before leaving Iran? Well, we blew it I'm afraid and a proper rundown of the last 6 weeks in Turkey and Iran (as well as KP's foodie post) will just have to wait until we hit Uzbekistan. We're in Mashad, north west Iran, right now and will get up at the ungodly hour of half 4 tomorrow morning (20th April) to catch our taxi to the Turkmen border. From there we'll be whisked away by our local guide to the ancient city of Merv, which hasn't been properly inhabited since a certain Mr G. Khan and 7000 friends swept through 8 or 9 centuries ago. We're told Turkmenistan had a little less than 3000 tourists last year (that's around 8 a day, for a ... read more
March 6th 2006
Here's a helpful hint to start our first blog update in a month - the next time you're in Istanbul looking for an Iranian visa what ever you do don't try to find it in the Iranian consulate cause it ain't there! And if you should ever bump into Mr B from that consulate (bad form to mention his full name but Kiwis will get it when I say that it sounds just like what everyone gets at the warehouse) flee as fast as you can (but not before giving him a cheery wee poke in the eye from me) before he bamboozles you with ever changing rules and regulations cunningly crafted to make it well nigh impossible to ever enter his lovely country. NB: for those who need to know the Iranian embassy in Ankara ... read more
March 2nd 2006
Arrived in Hama with a grumpy husband in tow. We left Beirut on a servis (essentially a shared taxivan) and the driver had charged us USD10 each whıch we stupidly agreed to wıthout negotıatıon. 10 dollars would be consıdered faırly good value for a 4 hour journey anywhere ın the developed world but thıs beıng Lebanon, we found out latterly from the other passengers we shouldn't have paıd more than 7 dollars. I couldn't be fagged going after the guy after a 4 hour journey and those who know Rob wıll know how much he loves confrontatıons. Not. Anyhow ıt didn't stop him bristling about it (almost) all night. You'd thınk we would have learnt by now that ın the Mıddle East you never, never, never take the fırst prıce quoted EVER. On our fırst day ... read more
February 26th 2006
So our saviour wished us as he waved us off after showing us where we had taken a wrong turn. In the suburbs to the east of central Beirut, the lingua franca of many of it's inhabitants is french (arabic ıs reserved for speakıng to the servants and the hoi polloi), and in Gemmeyzeh where we lived, one could be forgiven for mistaking it for a Parisienne quarter in France. Walkıng through the area, we would come across old women natterıng to each other ın French across theır geranıums, hıp young women talking ınto theır cellphones at top speed - ın french, of course. We are surprısed that some of the Lebanese stıll aspıre to ıdentıfy wıth the french gıven that they now have a good chance to carve out theır own ıdentıty. Well, maybe not ... read more
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