IntrepidToo

Weekend in Kathmandu - May 2010

2010-06-06T03:08:00.003+10:00

Travelling to Kathmandu for the weekend may seem a little bizarre if you come from Australia or Europe, but as we discovered on a recent trip it’s a convenient, cheap and fascinating destination if you happen to live in the Middle East and can benefit from low cost airlines.

Arriving at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport at lunchtime on a Thursday in May, it was a relief to find the recent national strike or Bandh had been called off and traffic and life was as chaotic and colourful as ever. A short ride crammed in a tiny Maruti Suzuki taxi powered by what seemed like a lawmower engine, through streets jammed with cars, trucks, cows and bicycles brought us to the tranquility of the Hyatt near Boudnath on the eastern edge of the city. Now I know that anyone who has read much of this blog will know that the Intrepidtoo generally eschew such sybaritic indulgences in a quest for the authentic cultural experience, but with power off up to 16 hrs per day as the government’s socialist leanings dictate that the limited capacity is shared equally with the rural populace so they too can watch their flat screen TVs, the need to be able to run a hairdryer dominated the select of accommodation. Not to mention the airconditioning and swimming pool.

It proves a good choice as Kathmandu does take a little getting used to if coming straight from a western city. With its collection of fabulous sights, friendly people, fascinating shops and markets and an array of restaurants, bars to satisfy the gourmand its has long been our favourite destination but its congestion, chaos and constant noise require some adaptation. On previous visits Kathmandu comes as a welcome respite from the heat and mayhem of the Indian plains, the austerity of Tibet or the poverty of Terrai. This time however, we had no such aclimatisation so to be able to retreat into the gardens and greenery around the Hyatt and escape from the madding crowd at the end of the day wasn't too much of a sacrifice.

First stop in the afternoon is Darbar Square, the medieval historic centre of the city and now one of the many world heritage sites which crowd the Kathmandu valley. Replete with soaring pagodas, beautifully carved temples and palaces, all-seeing stupas bedecked with eyes and strings of prayer flags, statues of fearsome gods in their various incarnations and wandering sadhus posing for photos, it’s a riot of religiosity and regalia and a cachophony of commerce as vendors try to tempt you with everything from vegetables to Vishnu statues, puppets to pashminas whilst through it all struggle porters with enormous loads on their backs supported by headbands which take most of the weight.

Making our way north through the lanes lined with market stalls and shops selling produce of every conceivable type we duck into to the Garden of Dreams, on the edge of Thamel, where the contrast could not be more stark. In the grounds of a former palace a beautiful high-walled Victorian garden has been restored with assistance from the Austrians, recreating the gardens established in the late 1800s by the son of a former prime minister after winning a fortune gambling with his father. Full of birds, palms, ponds and pavilions, the noise of the traffic outside is the only reminder of where you are; it’s a great place for tea or cocktails, or both.

Suitably fortified by several margaritas, we venture deeper into Thamel in search of dal baht, the ubiquitous dish of lentils which the Nepalese consumed at every meal, but settle instead for salmon wrapped quail, roast duck and asparagus at Kilroys where we are forced to consume yet more margaritas and copious quantities of Everest beer whilst waiting for the evening thunderstorm to pass. On a previous visit Intrepidtoo had adjudged Kilroys’ the best margaritas outside Mexico but we find out later at Dwarika’s the mantle has been passed across the city.

The taxi ride back through darkened streets and alleyways, lit by occasional sheet lighting and the odd shop with a generator is an adventure in itself. The next day sees the Intrepids back in a sardine tin on wheels circumnavigating the “ring road” to Swayambhunath on the western side of the city. By some miracle of perpetual motion the sardine tin keeps moving and deposits us at the foot of the temple with only the same number of dents and scratches it started off with. Climbing up the steps there are fewer monkeys than we remembered until we arrive at the main stupa, a white dome topped with spires and umbrellas and surrounded by prayer wheels, shrines and temples. In the upper gallery of one temple a quartet of saffron and vermillion clad Buddhist monks chant, play gongs and conches celebrating the devotions of a devout couple and their child.

Back in the sardine tin we cross over the river to Patan, the second of the three cities and former kingdoms which make up Kathmandu. Patan too has its world heritage Darbar Square, if anything more impressive than that of Kathmandu, with a fabulous array of temples, palaces and shrines. The main palace has been beautifully restored as a museum by the Austrians who did the Garden of Dreams, and has a great little café in the courtyard for a thali and an everest or two.

In the evening, we do the tourist bit and indulge in a 12 course meal at the Newari restaurant in Dwarika’s hotel, another former red brick palace which has been restored and has beautifully carved doorways and windows salvaged from all over Nepal. Waiting for the promised Nepalese dance show which fails to materialize we sample their margaritas which with the sunburst limes now are officially the best outside mexico. The meal is eaten at low tables seated on cushions and is accompanied by copious quantities or raksi, a sort of firespirit brewed from millet and domestos and used to run maruti suzukis. It’s all delicious and filling, fortunately we didn’t opt for the 34 course version

Saturday, our trusty sardine tin is waiting to take us to Bhaktapur, the third city and world heritage centre about 15km outside the Kathmandu. Before checking out its Darbar Square we go first to Pashupatinath, a sacred hindu temple complex on the banks of the sacred Bagmati river/sewer. Not for the feint-hearted we join the jostling throng to the river’s edge where pyres are already ablaze and saffron wrapped corpses lie on stretchers, their feet in the murky water waiting cremation. Across the river, holy men in assorted stages of dishevelment live hermit like in tiny Shiva shrines whilst monkeys scamper and pick nits from each others fur. Further up the hill beyond the deer forest lies the temple built to honour the resting place of the vagina of Shiva’s consort, whose body he traipsed around with after she had been killed by her father, and who’s bits apparently fell off at this spot.

Set amidst field of vegetables and small brick works, Bhaktapur is a contrast to Kathmandu, with much less traffic, brick paved steeply sloping streets and the feel of a market town. Although Darbar Square is perhaps less spectacular, it still has a full complement of wooden temples, palaces, ‘interesting’ carvings and columns with a café on the tiers of one pagoda offering a splendid vantage point for watching the bustling activity below.

Although nearly overdosed with temples we press on in the sardine tin across fields and through farms up into the hills to visit the last of the world heritage sites in the valley, a Hindu pilgrimage complex at Changu Narayan on a ridge high above Kathmandu.

Back to Thamel in time for sunset cocktails on the roof of la Dolce Vita, pizza and pasta and a foray into the shops to stock up on Norht Face (sic) ski gear, pashminas, teapots and incense burners. With our fill of temples and world heritage we spend the last morning lazing round the pool trying but failing to summon up the stamina to walk to nearby Boudanath which we can see over the garden wall, maybe next time...

Kazakhstan - March 2010

2010-06-06T03:05:00.004+10:00

Looking for a ski resort with a difference, one where more likely to run into Anna Kournikova than Kylie Minogue, where a shot of vodka rather than a hot chocolate is more likely to get you down that black run and where beshbarmak (boiled horsemeat) is the apres-ski dish of choice when its -24C then Chimbulak in the Tien Shen mountains just outside Almaty is the place to go.

Almaty, city of freezing fog on the southern edge of the Siberian steppe may not sound like the place for a weekend but this is party central of central asia and has some of the best skiing outside the Himalayas.

Early March it’s just starting to become bearable, with temperatures hovering in the high (or should that be low) minuses. The city itself is modern and pleasant with wide tree lined boulevards and impressive if austere buildings dating back to the time it was the capital of the vast country of Kazakhstan before post independence it was moved lock stock and oil barrel to Astana 1500km north.

With not a Borat in sight the Intrepids faced off the unsmiling immigration officials at Almaty airport, sporting the silliest largest brimmed Russian army hats, (this may have something to do with the Japanese designed terminal being in the shape of Kazakh hat). Eschewing the delights of soviet era hotels we head for the holiday inn on the northern edge of the city. Newly built in the past 3 years it provides a comfortable base from which to explore the city and reach the ski area at Chimbulak 40mins away above the freezing fog.

The first evening is spent getting acquainted with the city, buying scarves and gloves and coming to grips with a taxi system which enlists just about anyone who has a car. Not having a word of Kazakhi or Russian among us it’s difficult to get around but with smiles, a bottle of vodka and some help from LP we soon find a great restaurant serving traditional food in great surroundings. Plates of beshbarmak, horse on stick and plates of roast goat are washed down with kumys, fermented mares milk. Its snowing a little when we emerge and set off in search of the fabled nightlife of Almaty. First stop is Soho, a sort of cross between a pub and nightclub beneath a nondescript apartment building, and thronged with expats, Koreans, Russians and central Asians. Resembling the inter galactic truck stop where Skywalker meets the Woki, its populated with people from every ethnicity all bumping and grinding to a local band belting out very passable interpretations of the Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams. Groups of girls hog the tiny dance floor with, in universal tradition, the guys around the edge. Its all very free and friendly with member of the intrepid party doing their bit for world peace and international cultural understanding aided by a few tequilla shots.

Saturday the fog outside is as thick as that in our heads, and we can’t see across the street but undeterred, after battling with the ATM we negotiate with the owner of a minibus to take us to the ski area. Communicating by means of a dictionary he finally realizes that we intend a day in the mountains. Halfway there as we climb through the suburbs we suddenly emerge from the fog into bright sunshine and clear blue sky, with snow clad peaks all around. Passing a massive ice skating arena we reach the village of Chimbulak which is rapidly transforming itself into a major skiing venue in time for next years Asian Winter Games.

Ski hire is efficient and friendly, with top of the line skis and boots available for $15 per day although the lift pass system takes a bit of working out and we decide to hang on until the afternoon ticket which runs 1pm to 4.30pm. The slopes are wide, well groomed and relatively uncrowded with minimal lift lines. Despite the limited number of lifts (5 plus one tee bar) they are efficient and give about 1000m elevation with a choice of open piste or runs through the trees, as well as lots of waist deep powder for those who prefer skiing which is more akin to wading.

It’s warm in the sun, the runs are quite long and fast (by Australian standards) and the cafés at the base offer good pizzas and cold beer. Whilst it may lack the range and variety of Whistler or the sophistication of St Moritz, it’s a lot of fun with spectacular peaks and scenery. Riding on the chair lifts we converse with Russians, Kazakhs and the occasional European working in Almaty, but virtually no tourists.

Evening is spent back in Almaty, this time at an incongruous Germanic restaurant with the staff dressed in lederhosen and lots of sausages and cheese are consumed with gusto.

Sunday dawns crisp and clear unlike some of our heads and we are back in the minibus, this time with the owner's daughter as translator and climbing up through the forests to the ski village. We pass along the top of a vast stone embankment across the valley but with no lake dammed behind it we take it to be a monument to futile soviet engineering but which we later learn is actually to protect the city from avalanches, hence the warnings not to stop. Knowing the ropes by now we are quickly suited up and back on the slopes from some exhilarating but not too challenging skiing. It’s the sort of place where in a couple of days you become familiar with most of the runs, but because they are wide and open you can start to sit back and enjoy. We are not sure we would come here for 2 weeks at a time but as a different place, with beautiful snow and an interesting cuisine it certainly beats a wet weekend at Perisher.

In the evening we find an Uzbeki restaurant, which becomes really lively with lots of singing and dancing, no western cover band here, just lots of locals who delight at the party of tourists tucking into the horse on a stick and getting stuck into the vodka. A great evening is had by all, with fortunately no skiing in the morning.

Monday is sunny and warm, well +5C and we walk around the city in tee shirts, first off at the splendid yellow and white rococo wooden cathedral in the centre of Panfilov park and visit the superheros of Almaty, a massive bronze sculpture depicting the small band of Kazakh soldiers who became the saviours of Moscow from the Nazis in the second world war. Next we walk to the green market but because its national women's day it's closed apart from flower sellers selling tulips. Tulips, like apples we learn come from Kazakhstan and spread via Turkey to the west. Although displays of tulips are understandably less prevalent than in Istanbul (the half metre of snow and slush may have something to do with it,) everyone is carrying bunches so there must be lots of greenhouses nearby. We check out the pedestrian shopping mall with a street market with traditional paintings of traditional Kazakhs in their nomadic yurts with their traditional horses, families and traditional land cruisers. We are told we are the first tourists they have seen this year and vow to come back the following year.

Intrepidtoo journey onward - South Africa

2009-08-02T04:02:00.007+10:00

A two week safari to South Africa and Swaziland

1. Friday 17th July 2009 Dubai - Capetown
Why do flights always leave at ungodly hours? Up at 5am to finish packing and off to the airport, busier than we’d seen for some time. Smooth check-in and good breakfast, uneventful but long flight – is South Africa really so far? Dusting of snow on the tops of the mountains as we approach Capetown with, for us, the unusual sight of extensive green fields in the late afternoon sun. Long wait for bags and into the car for a drive into the city, skirting round Table Mountain as we drive into the setting sun. Extensive shanty town of Khayelitsha with multitude of shacks lining the motorway but some evidence of new housing being constructed, mostly single storey two room dwellings but at least they are built of brick with tiled roofs. Glimpse of what look like zebra and wildebeest on the mountain slope then a view over the city and bay.

We arrive as night falls at the Tudor Hotel just off Long Street, the main bar and restaurant strip in the centre of the city. Well located hotel with decent sized rooms and friendly staff, opposite Greenmarket square where a daily craft market is just closing up. Dinner in the African Café with themed rooms and a tasting menu which includes zebra and kudu pate, written on to hornbill shaped jug. Periodically the staff break into song and drumming and processes around the various rooms of the restaurant.

2. Saturday 18th July 2009 Capetown
After a rather noisy night, with taxis outside the hotel with CDs playing all nights and guys setting up the nearby market stands, we leave the hotel on a walking tour of Capetown with Crusty who is to be our fearless and highly knowledgeable safari leader for the next two weeks, visiting the main shopping street, the castle (or fort), built by the Dutch in 1600s and the Company Gardens, a central spine of greenery established by the Dutch East Indies Co to provide victualling to ships voyaging between Europe and the spice islands.

Then we are head out of Capetown to the wine regions of the western cape for lunch at a delightful Noble Hill vineyard where a gourmet picnic awaited us. Sitting in the warm sun on the lawns in front of the cellar we are plied with so many samples of their range from crisp grassy semillion blancs to wonderfully robust shiraz and cab sauvignon that its too late to buy a bottle to go with lunch despite the almost give away prices. However we stock up for later on the trip. After eating and drinking our fill we reluctantly move on to Frankenhoek with its beautiful street full of cape dutch houses, craft shops, cafes and restaurants and then through Stellenboch before returning to Capetown with a quick detour on the side of Table Mountain to see the sunset view from the Rhodes monument. We ignore the sign which says the gates close at 6pm only to find we are locked in and have to wait for half an hour for the guard to let us out. Back into Capetown for another feast, this time at the Fork Restaurant close to the hotel where Kudu and other assorted wildlife are on the menu.

3. Sunday 19th July 2009 Capetown
Another beautiful day (is this supposed to be the rainy winter season?) which starts with an early drive up to Signal Hill with its magnificent views over Capetown and flocks of Guinea fowl, and then we head down the peninsula, much of which is national park. After visiting the African penguins at Boulders on the shore of False Bay, watching them being scattered by a cape fur seal we head into the Cape of Good Hope nature reserve where we spot an eland and are chased away from our picnic by a troop of Chacma baboons. We drive on down the peninsula to the southern most point in Africa (actually its not quite, that’s 300km further east but it will do), with a visit to the lookout at the Cape of Good Hope before returning to Capetown to sample dinner at the ultra smart restaurant at the new One and Only Hotel at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. Instead of the usual duff duff music the taxi driver is blasting out Capetown’s version of the 3 tenors and offers to get the cd for us.

4. Monday 20th July 2009 Johannesburg
Another early start and off to the airport for a flight to Johannesburg where we are met by TK who takes us on a tour of Soweto, including a visit to Nelson Mandela’s house and the Hector Pietersen Museum which chronicles the Soweto uprising in 1976 when police opened fire on schoolchildren protesting against the compulsory introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of education. Hector Pietersen, aged 9 was the first victim in a period of protest and insurrection which claimed over 1000 lives and became a turning point in galvanizing international opposition to apartheid. It’s interesting to see how Soweto has changed to become an established suburb with pockets of prosperity, new housing and a strong community atmosphere and sense of pride.

The night is spent at the Cottages near the observatory in Johannesburg. It’s a group of comfortable thatched cottages grouped around a homestead belong to a former mining magnate in a beautiful garden setting in a gated suburb in central J’burg. Dinner is round a very welcome roaring fire as the temperature drops to freezing overnight.

5. Tuesday 21st July 2009 Sabie
A long drive north from J’burg through undulating farming land interspersed with small towns and large coal mines. Gradually we get into wooded hilly country to arrive at the country town of Sabie, the centre for the local logging industry. Very like an Australian country town, with a wide main street lined with somewhat desolate looking shops. After checking into the Jocks Sabie Lodge (not recommended - a motel type set up just on the edge of the town) we explore the town in search of arty crafty shops and a pub. We find a totally kitsch souvenir shop selling everything but nothing you would want and then a pub with local beer.

6. Wednesday 22nd July 2009 Tshukudu
Early start from Sabie after battles with lack of power and hot water (and no water of any kind), then it’s on via the Mac Mac falls and Gods Window to Tsukoda, a private game reserve on the edge of Kruger National Park. Fortunately the guard on the gate of the Mac Mac falls was up early enough to turn the pump on, or so he claimed with typically laconic African humour. The mamas had been up early too setting out their stalls with hundreds of carved elephants and random assortments of wooden block cars, planes and animals, whilst God had cleaned his window so the view over the scarp to the low veldt is magnificent. Quite reminiscent of the Blue Mountains but with rather more pine plantations stretching to the horizon. On the way down to the low veldt the weather become noticeably warmer. We see Nyala (antelope) and a giraffe or two as well as vevert monkeys, hornbills by the thousand and numerous impala, warthogs and other assorted critters as we drive into the Tshukudu game reserve.

After lunch at the homestead we jump into an open sided jeep for a sunset game drive where we soon spot a family of rhinos, then are besieged by elephants and see a group of hippos heading for an evening bathe. Passing atop a dam in the evening light a large crocodile swims over to investigate. Then with aerial attuned we bush bash for a while in search of an elusive lion but only manage to find two bush babies and several impala. Back to the lodge for dinner around a roaring fire in a corral (or krall) a circular enclosure for guarding animals at night. After a splendid feast we board the jeep for a short trip to see the feeding of the porcupines which have taken to gathering on the porch of a nearby cottage. These animals are surprising large, about the size of a large dog and although usually quite solitary and elusive, some 8-10 gather in the lights of the jeep having trekked for up to 2 km for the nightly feast. They are joined by an equally elusive and equally ferocious bush pig, a coarse haired, ugly creature which in its fight to get at the food scraps endures the barbs and quills of the porcupines.

Accommodation tonight is in cottages grouped around the homestead. They are comfortable and warm with mosquito netted bedding.

7. Thursday 23rd July 2009, Letaba, Kruger National Park.
Awakened before dawn we wrap up warmly for the sunrise walk, accompanied by a ranger with a rifle and two bounding young lions, about 8 months old and already quite large and powerful. They were confiscated from a nearby land owner who didn’t have the requisite permits and are destined for Tshukudu’s breeding program. The lions rush on ahead and practice stalking impala while we spot giraffe and masses of birds.

Then after breakfast we head out to the lion enclosure (a fenced 6ha of bush) where a pride of breeding lions are kept. There are one male and two females each with 2 or 3 cubs a few weeks old who soon appear when they hear the meat truck which throws them half an elephant carcass. The ranger tells us they feed them once every five days so today they are quite hungry, although the magnificent male looks as sleek as satin and fat as butter. After the lions we move on a few kms to the leopard where a mother is raising a pair of cubs. Outside the enclosure (really a large field of several ha) one that has been returned to the ‘wild’ is prowling. It’s at this point that the second jeep gets a puncture and the ranger has to get down to fix it whilst keeping a wary eye on the nearby hungry leopard. (the jeep gets a second puncture shortly afterwards and the entire crew has to walk back 3 km to the lodge through the lions and the leopards). Fortunately our jeep still has four wheels so we visit the cheetah which also has several young cubs and is quite tame.

After lunch it’s on into Kruger park proper after stocking up on provisions in a nearby town. Almost as soon as we drive into the park which at 20,000 sq km is as a big as some of the countries in Europe we see animals everywhere, from antelopes and bucks to elephants, rhinos and giraffes. It’s amazing the profusion and we quickly become adept at distinguishing the greys and browns of a waterbuck or elephant from those of the termite mounds, scrub and rocks. We are also learning to spot eagles and are able to recognize the tailless outline of a bateleur (it means tightrope walker according to a French visitor) from the white underbelly of the martial eagle, and tell a grey backed vulture from a goliath heron at 2km.

Close on dusk we arrive at the Letaba rest camp, just in time as the gates are locked at 5.30pm as it gets dark. We head to the bar whilst the bags are conveyed to our boma, a round thatched cottage, which is fairly basic but adequate, with a heater and hot water.

8. Friday 24th July 2009 Letaba
The day starts with an early drive where we encounter a vast herd of buffalo heading to the river after a long nights foraging. The herd streams past us and across the road, with eventually three young bulls bringing up the rear escorting a lame calf who looks set to be a lion’s breakfast within the next few days. Moving on thru the scrub we are startled when a male impala darts across the road oblivious to a passing four wheel drive. Once across the road it turns and we follow its gaze to glimpse a leopard stalking through the undergrowth. Its camouflage is almost perfect in the shadows and we soon lose sight of it as it slinks away in pursuit of other less observant impala.

We return to the camp for breakfast and a well earned rest and spend the day lazing around, getting the laundry done and watching the bird life before venturing out with a stock of beers for a sundowner or two with the elephants and hippos along the river.

9. Saturday 25th July 2009 Skukuza
Today we journey south through the Park to Skukuza camp, stopping at several picnic stops en route. More amazing wildlife including all the usual suspects although elephants have become JABE (just another bloody elephant), and we yawn at ibex but still stop for giraffe and hippos. However lions are still proving elusive.

10. Sunday 26th July 2009 Skukuza
We have a late breakfast in the sun at Skukuza camp, one of the largest in the park, with a game drive in the afternoon with lots of JABE.

11. Monday 27th July 2009 Hlane Royal National Park, Swaziland
A very early and cold start with a game drive with the ranger leaving at 5.30am before dawn. Just after we leave the safety of the camp we encounter jackals, see elephants, rhino, buffalo and giraffe but the nearest we get to a lion is a footprint in the sand. Returning frozen by 9am we breakfast and leave the park via the Crocodile River after stopping at a waterhole filled with the most enormous crocodiles which seem to co-exist happily with hippos.

Crossing the Crocodile River we are suddenly back in civilization with sugar cane fields stretching up to the mountains on the Mozambique border. We pass through small prosperous towns, stopping to buy provisions at the supermarket before reaching the border with Swaziland. Formalities complete we drive through more sugar cane plantations, these owned by the King who according to the guidebook is the second of 67 sons – it doesn’t recount what happened to the first. King Mzwati III is one of Africas three absolute monarchs, and has some 11 wives, choosing a new one each year at the Reed Festival and allegedly more than 200 children/siblings. Although not as developed as South Africa, the country seems reasonable prosperous at least in the north. We reach the Hlane Game Reserve just at dusk but as this part of the reserve doesn’t have electricity, we decide to take cottages in the second camp 20km further south.

12. Tuesday 28th July 2009 Hlane Royal National Park, Swaziland
We spend the day in the Hlane Royal Game reserve, starting with a walk with a ranger after breakfast. Armed only with the ranger’s magic stick we set off in single file into the bush, quickly coming upon a family of rhinos who eye us off cautiously. Resisting the urge to run, probably the most inappropriate thing to do given that they can get up to 45km in about 3 seconds, we move on quietly after taking lots of photos. In all we encounter half a dozen rhinos on the walk as well as a family of giraffe but manage to stay well away from the elephants and hippos.

After a lazy lunch back at the cottages we return to the main camp for a drive to see the lions, which are in a separate part of the park. After the last lion was seen in Swaziland in the 1980s, the park has become the centre of conservation efforts to reestablish these animals to the country, under the King’s patronage. There are about 10 in the reserve and after a little searching we find a very sleepy male lion stretched out in an area which has recently been burned to encourage vegetation re-growth. We also meet up with elephants and various antelopes before returning to the lodge at sunset for dinner.

13. Wednesday 29th July 2009 Rileys Rock, Mlilwane, Swaziland
Leaving Hlane game reserve we journey westwards across central Swaziland, visiting several craft markets including a factory making skin care products from the fruit of the marula tree and a complex with candle manufacturing and local craft productions as well as an excellent coffee shop.

After collecting a speeding fine from a very jovial policemen, (all of $10) who must have the only speed camera in Swaziland and is treating it as a new toy, we pass through the main town of Manzini and call in at the House on Fire, a slightly surreal art gallery and craft complex cum restaurant which wouldn’t be out of place in Byron Bay. They are getting ready for the 3rd Bushfire festival with performers from across southern Africa at the weekend in a rural setting surrounded by pineapple plantations.

We journey on to the Mlilwane Game Reserve and up to the Riley’s Rock homestead, set in a commanding position with views out over the reserve and surrounding mountains. The reserve, which along with Hlane forms the basis of wildlife conservation in Swaziland has mostly herbivores including a number of species we hadn’t yet encountered including springbok, blesbok, hartebeest and klipspringer the mountain goats of the antelope world. The homestead where we are staying is a hundred year old colonial style large stone house apparently built for Riley who was the local famer and tin miner in return for an oxcart. The Riley family is still active in conservation work and operate the reserve.

14. Thursday 30th July 2009 Capetown
A day of travelling and sitting around, with a short drive to Mbabane airport for a flight to Johannesburg, where we connect with a flight to Capetown. We reach the city at dusk and check back into the Tudor Hotel. Dinner is at the Savoy Cabbage nearby, a delicious meal accompanied by excellent wine in a former slave market.

15. Friday 31st July 2009 Capetown – Dubai
It’s raining! – the first we have seen in South Africa or indeed anywhere since February. We have tickets on the nine am ferry to Robben Island, the former colonial outpost, leper colony and most famously the max security prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 24 years until his release in 1991. It lies 12km off shore and after a slightly uncomfortable voyage we reach the island and board buses for a tour which in addition to the prison buildings, includes visits to the penguin colony and various military relicts from its use as a defence post in WW2. As it is pouring down, we are pleased to be in the bus even though with steamed up windows it’s difficult to see much. However the guide is very informative as is the ex-inmate who takes us through the prison and describes from first hand experience, the conditions and regimes he and his fellow political prisoners were subject to in the 1980s and early 1990s before the prison’s closure in 1994.

Returning to Capetown the weather improves and it’s a beautiful sunny afternoon which we spend at the Waterfront before leaving for our evening flight back to Dubai.

Post Script

2007-11-16T18:12:00.000+11:00

Just a quick update. The car finally arrived back in Sydney only a month after the promised date, having spent three weeks on the wharf in Singapore. This time we had learned the benefits of customs agents and everything was handled smoothly although Quarantine decided our attempts at cleaning were inadequate and sent it for a bath. Now after being serviced where amazingly they didnt find anything much to do apart from replace a cracked fan belt, and having had a few dints knocked out, mostly ones we started with, and a going over by the detailers, it's up for sale - if interested follow the link: . (I like the bit about "one careful lady owner" and "always garaged" - we resisted putting "never beeen off road")

Now as soon as its sold I2 is off to join I1 in the desert fantasy land of Dubai for the next round of adventures. On the cards is a circumnavigation of the Mediterranean once they finish the tunnel from Spain to Morrocco and then maybe a drive from Anchorage to Tierra del Fuego. Maybe we'll start a new blog too- Intrepidtoo DoDubai so watch this space. We might also see if we can condense the 32 hours of video to a 3minute post on U-Tube

Brickbats and Bouquets

2007-09-05T22:17:00.000+10:00

And finally before we head off for a new life in Dubai, we'd like to acknowledge all those who assisted in making the trip possible and such a great experience as well as a few of those who conspired, unsucessfully to derail bits of it. If we have missed anyone who gave us support and encouragement, you know who you are so please accept our apologies and consider yourself included:

(in alphabetical order)
• Alan & Kate for hospitality in Sutton Coldfield and medical support
• Ali for hospitality in Sydney and with Phil, keeping an eye on R&A and storing wine
• Angela for hospitality in Aberdeen
• Anna & David for hospitality in Devon and taking us to the Dartington Rockshop after-party
• Annie Ong of Megastar Shipping in Singapore for dealing with the paperwork in Singapore
• Bergen International, Istanbul for finding a customs agent to extract the car from Turkish customs
• Christine for allowing I1 to take a year off
• David & Karen for proving it could be done, for arranging Edinburgh and for hospitality in Newcastle
• Fiona for being our best blog commentator
• Gail Goodman of Motorcycleservices.com for arranging the Green Card insurance when everyone else had turned us down
• Gerry for a great job looking after our emails and fending off all work related matters for 12 months
• Helen & Steve for hospitality in Newcastle
• Ian & Wendy for company, jigsaw support and forcing us up mountains in the Lake District
• Ian’s Mum for lunch at the Ship Inn at Roose
• Imran Zaki of Maersk Logistics Pakistan for great service in arranging shipping from Karachi to Istanbul
• Linda Czeng, Beijing Caissa International Travel Service for arranging China permits and guides
• Lyn Taylor for suggesting the trek and arranging the guides and porters in Nepal
• Michael for hospitality in Edinburgh and the pancakes
• Mr Li Shunhong, our guide in Yunnan for finding amazing breakfasts but not for navigation skills
• Mr Pu Qiong, our guide in Tibet for taking us to meet his Mum
• Nasir Kazmi, of Dewan Motors, BMW Islamabad for outstanding customer service and looking after the car whilst we were in New York
• Paul Craven of Steppes Travel for arranging our China permits
• Picass, Hari and Binaya for portaging and guiding in Nepal
• Richard & Alexander for support and encouragement and looking after everything whilst we were away
• Roger & Julie for hospitality in Hampton
• Stamford Plaza, Singapore for giving us a suite during the World Bank meeting
• Steve & Alexis for taking us to Skye, arranging a guesthouse to break into in Thurso and in Pitlochry and Spean Bridge as well as the ferry from Bergen
• Stuart & Georgina for hospitality in Singapore
• The guys at Holterman St Motors for the pre-departure car maintenance course
• The Man with the Van in the arctic for helping fix our second puncture near Lakselv in Arctic Norway
• The manager of the Piccadilly Hotel, Lucknow for providing tea and sympathy as well as a nice room when everywhere else was full
• The Sydney Morning Herald for giving us the idea in an article about the Asia Highway
• Vincent & Sophie for hospitality and car-sitting in Delhi

And then those who were less helpful:
• Perkins Shipping for failing to tell us the ship was a sailing a week late from Darwin
• The cops in Prague for clamping the car
• Skymate for providing a useless GPS tracking service
• BMW Alexandropolos for telling us the suspension didn’t need fixing
• BMW Tromso for charging $150 to tell us the suspension was broken but not fixing it
• The Manager, Hotel Valide Sultan in Istanbul for double booking our room

And finally:
• The best Creme Brule is in the Elephant Restaurant in Luang Prabang
• The best Margarita is in Kilroys in Kathmandu

Day 319/320 Mon 27 and Tues 28 August Broadhempston to London to Sydney

2007-09-04T22:14:00.002+10:00

An early start to drive up to London where I2 catches a midday flight to Sydney. I1 has a brief visit to Kew Gardens, our last world heritage site before catching up on the latest news from Dubai from a colleague arriving at Heathrow. Then its a visit to cousin Roger and Julie at Hampton where various members of the clan gather for dinner and a look at some of the photos.

Finally its the last day, the hire car is abandoned at Heathrow and whilst I2 is arriving in Sydney I1 boards an uneventful series of flights to Sydney via Istanbul, Dubai and Thailand.

So for those who may be interested here are a few stats from the journey:
• Total Distance: 51,521km
• No of countries visited: 29
• No of ferries/ships: 16
• No of world heritage sites visited: 98
• Amount of petrol: 6412li
• Average cost per li: $1.67/li
• Most expensive petrol: Turkey ($2.61/li)
• Cheapest petrol: Malaysia ($0.70/li)
• Av fuel consumption: 12.6li/100km
• Av speed: 53.6km/hr
• Total driving time: 961 hrs
• No of hotels: 185
• Average total cost per day $287 (excl pre-departure costs)
• Most expensive country: Norway ($539/day)
• Least expensive country: Laos ($165/day)
• Longest stay in a country: India (42 nights)
• Shortest stay in a country: Brunei, Montenegro, Bosnia/Herzgovina (1 night)
• No of speeding fines: 0
• No of parking fines: 1
• No of times stopped by police: 2 (China and India)
• Max elevation reached: 5205m (Tibet)
• Min elevation reached: -212m (Norwegian under-sea tunnel)
• Number of rainy days (excluding UK): 11

Day 317/8 Sat 25 – Sun 26 August Broadhemston, Devon

2007-09-04T22:14:00.001+10:00

Its a beautiful late summer bank holiday weekend so after a leisurely breakfast in the sun we venture as far as the White Hart in Dartington for ginger beer and mussels on the lawn. Dartington used to be a Cistercian monastery which was restored and turned into an arts and education centre by a GM heiress in the 1930s. It has beautiful gardens and stone buildings and although the avante garde school has disappeared it's still the artistic centre for S Devon although its future is uncertain as there are proposals to move many of its functions to Falmouth. After lunch we take Herbie the new dog for a leisurely stroll to the top of the nearby beacon lookout through wooded farmland.

Sunday dawns bright and sunny and after an alfresco pub lunch we take a drive over Dartmoor where the heather is in full bloom and the Dartmoor ponies are in fine fettle, before returning for dinner with friends of Anna & David who had driven over from Eire. All in all it was a very relaxing weekend and a most pleasant end to the journey.

Day 316 Fri 24 August Sutton Coldfield to Southampton to Broadhemston, Devon

2007-09-04T22:12:00.000+10:00

An early start to beat the traffic and get to Southampton in time for the car to be loaded. It turns out to be an easy relatively traffic free run and we approach the port by 11am. Fortunately the place we have arranged to pick up a rental car is directly opposite the port gate and there are few formalities in delivering the car to the shippers. By now its driven 50,913km since we left Sydney so it deserves its five week sea cruise. Hopefully HM Customs won’t want to take it to pieces as they did in Pakistan.

After the usual hassle with the car rental company we pick up a fat-arsed Renault Megane and set off to explore Dorset and its world heritage Jurassic coast. We stop for lunch in Dorchester, exploring the corn market and Bloody Assizes and visit the Hardy monument on a hill high above the town. We are surprised to find that it’s a monument to Thomas Kiss Me Hardy the Admiral not Thomas Mayor of Casterbridge Hardy the Author, but nevertheless it has splendid views over the coast and Chesil Bank. It’s now a beautiful warm summer afternoon and instead of pressing on to Devon where Anna and David are expecting us for tea, we tarry in Lyme Regis where people are actually bathing in the sea. We reach Broadhempston through the maze of narrow lanes with high hedges just in time to be whisked off to the Dartington Rockshop finale concert, the culmination of the week-long music workshop led by some very talented musicians which David and daughter Louisa have been attending. The evening ends around 2.30am with some 100 participants, family and friends dancing to aspirant rock star Louisa’s rendition of Born to be Wild.

Day 312/315 Mon 20 –Thurs 23 Aug 2007 Sutton Coldfield, England

2007-09-04T22:11:00.000+10:00

A few days spent giving the washing machine a work out, sorting clothes and a thorough clean of the car to satisfy the Aus quarantine requirements. We decide to send it back as no one in UK wants a car without miles on the speedo and find a shipping company in Southampton who promise to have it on a ship by Saturday - of course they don’t but its enough to get us in.

Cleaning and sorting done, we spend an afternoon shopping in Birmingham, buying luggage to put everything in. On Thursday we drive up to Liverpool to visit Kate’s sister and family. We all go to the newly restored Royal Albert Docks to re-live Liverpool’s world heritage maritime mercantile history and visit the Beatles Experience, a cross between a museum and a theme park in a former dockside warehouse. All very interesting but not sure we would have paid $1m for John’s gold specs.

Day 310/311 Sat 18 –Sun 19 Aug 2007 Grasmere to Newcastle to Sutton Coldfield, England

2007-09-04T22:10:00.000+10:00

It's a misty wet Lakeland morning as we leave Fairfield cottage and drive east through Kendal and the Yorkshire dales, stopping for lunch at Hawes in Wensleydale where we dine on cheese sandwiches. Delicious Then it’s on to Aysgarth falls where a river of tea plunges over a series of millstone grit ridges and eventually to Ripon and Fountains Abbey which of course is on the world heritage list. The enormous ruined Cistercian Abbey is set adjacent to the Studley royal water park, providing far too much to see in the half hour before closing. However we visit the gift shop allowing us to tick it off the list.

Then we drive north back to Newcastle to visit Helen and Steve, Sarah, Holly and Penny (the dog) who have just returned from Portugal (not Penny). We have dinner in a fish restaurant created in a local disused church which seems to be an appropriate use for it.

In the morning we have a photo stop by the Tyne bridge, a prototype for the Sydney one and getting lost in the traffic manage to cross it three times on our way south to Sutton Coldfield via the world heritage mills of Saltaire and the Derwent Valley. Unfortunately time doesn’t permit us to detour and we reach Sutton Coldfield just as Chelsea score from an undeserved penalty. Its typical English summer weather so brother Alan and Kate have a fire going.

Day 300/309 Sat 10 –Fri 17 Aug 2007 Newcastle to Grasmere, England

2007-09-04T22:07:00.002+10:00

Stopping at Vindalanda and Housteads Fort on Hadrians Wall, another world heritage site this time shared with Germany and designated ‘Frontiers of the Roman Empire’ we reach Carlisle in time for a late lunch with I1’s aunt Joan and cousin Peter and wife Sue. It's a good family get-together with lots of news of the diaspora to catch up on.

Then it's through the lake district to Ambleside to collect the key for our Lakeland cottage where we plan to spend a week with the minimum amount of driving. Unfortunately all the directions to the cottage have been posted to Australia so it takes us until late afternoon to find it, tucked away on a hillside behind the village of Grasmere. However there’s a pub within 300m and a lovely garden with views over High Side and Loughrigg. After finding the Co-op in Grasmere we make dinner before meeting I1’s school friend Ian and Wendy who’ve driven up from Rutland to spend the week with us.

The rest of the week is spend variously in the pubs and tea shops of central Lakeland, visiting Wordsworth’s home at Dove Cottage, Beatrix Potter’s husband’s office in Hawkshead and a Dante Exhibition in Grasmere. We also find time for a spot of fell walking including Alcock Tarn high above our cottage and the Coffin road to Rydal as well as more ambitious expeditions to the top of Coniston Old Man (with John, another school friend not seen for over 30 years) with splendid views but quite windy at 8.30 at night and Sergeant Man and Pavey Ark in Langdale when David and Karen visit. We also managed to sample the local beers in the Britannia in Elterwater, the Swan in Grasmere, the Old Dungeon Ghyll in Langdale, the Badger Bar at Rydal, the Tower Bank Arms in Near Sawrey and the General Burgoyne at Urswick as well as as visiting the sheep dog trials at Rydal and a summer music evening on the hard pews of Hawkshead Church as well as a nostalgia trip to Barrow to meet Ian’s mum and new dachshund puppy.

All too soon all the jigsaws have been done and it's time to move on again.

Day 298/9 Thurs 8 – Fri 9 Aug 2007 Edinburgh, Scotland to Newcastle, England

2007-09-04T22:07:00.001+10:00

After a rather lengthy detour to New Lanark world heritage site, a mill village developed by Robert Owen along enlightened principles in the early 19C, harnessing the power of the Clyde falls, we cross the border with England and reach Newcastle by mid afternoon in time for Karen to prepare for the evening’s dinner party whilst David and I1 visit the nearby pub.

An understandably late start the following morning and after repacking and vacuuming the car, we venture up the Northumbrian coast to Dunstanburgh Castle and Crasters where we buy kippers from the smoke house. Its another beautiful day although rather windy so we walk along the beach without taking the waters.

Day 296/7 Tues 6 – Wed 7 Aug 2007 Edinburgh, Scotland

2007-09-04T22:06:00.002+10:00

After filling ourselves with Michael’s excellent pancakes we venture out in to a warm sunny Edinburgh (can this really be Scotland?) to meet David and Karen at Waverley Station arriving from Newcastle. In 2006 they had driven from Newcastle (UK) to Sydney via a similar route to ours, but in a Triumph TR4 so naturally they assumed that there would be plenty of room for them and their luggage in our vehicle. Although we had finally jettisoned our unused porta-potty without which I2 would not venture beyond the back o’Bourke, at a Pets without Vets charity shop in Pitlochry (“Oooh I’ve always wanted one of those" the lady said when Jane asked her if she could sell it), there still isn’t much space so we have to do a major repack in the middle of Waverley Station concourse. Eventually we fit everything and everybody in and make our way to Pollock Halls at the University where we spend the next two nights whilst sampling a variety of Fringe offerings.

Our time in Edinburgh's world heritage Old and New Town is taken up sampling a range of performances of varying calibre, from a disgraced former Tory politian and his misses to a few disgraceful aspiring comedians. In contrast ‘Dickens Unplugged’ and ‘Tony the Blair Musical’ are very entertaining and the ‘Rebus tour’ informative but we now know that the only thing funny about three Irish comedians is the interval at the bar and the compere. Edinburgh at festival time is Party Central with streets awash with performers of every shape size and genre, the summer weather beautiful and a great collection of coffee shops, bars and restaurants.

Day 294/5 Sun 5 – Mon 6 Aug 2007 Gairloch to Drumnadrochit to Edinburgh, Scotland

2007-09-04T22:06:00.001+10:00

Sunday morning and we visit Inverewe Gardens, where a southfacing slope combined with gulf stream influences conspire to create a micro climate supporting probably the most northerly subtropical garden in Scotland. There is an amazing collection of plants of all types including snow gums, rhododendrons and azaleas together with exotic greenery in a large walled garden.

Then it's on to Ullapool for a late lunch at the The Ceilidh Place before a trip over the moors to Loch Ness where its raining again. No sign of any monsters as we check into the Loch Ness Lodge. Our 185th and last hotel of the entire trip is good plain Scottish accommodation but we manage to resist the tartan tablecloths and haggis on offer in the wood panelled dining room.

It's raining still in the morning as we head south along Loch Ness, stopping briefly at Urquart Castle (not on the world heritage list) on a rather roundabout journey to Edinburgh which involves lunch in Fort William, a visit to an otter and marine life sanctuary near Oban and a nostalgia trip up the winding east side of Loch Awe. As we approach Stirling the rain clears and its a lovely sunny evening as we arrive at nephew Michael’s flat in the centre of Edinburgh

Day 292/3 Fri 3-Sat 4 Aug 2007 Skye to Gairloch, Scotland

2007-09-04T22:05:00.000+10:00

From Kyleatin we set off in pouring rain to explore Skye, calling at Talisker Distillery which is very crowded as its one of the few things to do on a wet day in Skye, and then on via pottery and paint studios on the northern coast to the main town of Portree where, after lunch Steve and Alexis depart for Aberdeen. The intrepids too set off but quickly get disorientated in the rain and mist and end up heading north and touring the Trotternish Peninsula, past the invisible Old Man of Storr, the Kilt Rock Falls where a river plunges into the sea only today most if it is going up in the gale, and then over the Quiriang with its weird basalt rock formations. Eventually we make it to south of the island past swollen waterfalls to Advasar where we stay in an overpriced below average pub.

The next morning is bright and sunny and we spend the morning exploring the extensive nature trails and gardens of Armadale Castle, built in the 1800s as a mansion rather than a fortification, on the back of the mussel trade but which burnt down in 1855. Then it’s over the bridge to the mainland and after a fruitful visit to the West Highland cheese emporium and ensuing picnic on the beach, we head up the highest road in Scotland to Applecross and on the Gairloch. It doesn’t really compare with those in Tibet or even Norway but its still quite a tortuous drive into the mist at 2000’ Finding no room in most of the inns we come across the splendid loch front pile of Shieldaig Lodge some 5kms from Gairloch. Resembling something from ‘Monach of the Glen’ it was built by a mate of Cecil Rhodes who after being paid to leave Bishop Stortford by its citizens made a fortune in Africa. We sip whisky on the terrace watching the otters play at dusk.

Day 290/1 Wed 1 – Thurs 2 Aug 2007 Spean Bridge to Kyleatin, Skye, Scotland

2007-09-04T22:02:00.000+10:00

We spend the day in Fort William exploring Glen Nevis and taking a cruise on Loch Linnie where we see seals and porpoises before another delightful dinner of Scottish fare. Then after visiting some brochs or iron age dry stone cooling towers it's over the sea to Skye via the tiny Skye ferry and a boat trip on the Bella Jane from Elgol to the Cullins, with dinner in another railway station restaurant, this time without trains but with express service.

The boat trip is spectacular as the weather improves markedly with views to the Hebrides. There are lots of seals playing and basking on the rocks. We land at a remote bay and climb up to Loch Coruisk which hangs amid smoothed granite boulders just above the sea. The return journey is made at speed in an IRB surrounded by clouds of spray.

Day 288/9 Monday 30 – Tues 31 Jul 2007 Pitlochry to Killin to Spean Bridge, Scotland

2007-09-04T22:01:00.000+10:00

After exploring the delights of Pitlochry we visit the nearby Edradaur distillery, one of the smallest in Scotland where unlike the big commercial ones, we get a chance to sample the product BEFORE the inspection. This makes the inspection far more interesting and we see the hand made processes in the pretty whitewashed buildings which we are then easily persuaded to buy. Then it’s a short drive westwards along Loch Tay to Killin where another pub awaits. Waterfalls – the Falls of Dochart – are inspected and the view from Queens View checked out as well as a reconstructed Crannog. Crannogs we learn are defensive iron age wicker houses built on artificial islands in lakes across Scotland. This one is staffed by enthusiastic volunteers who also encourage participation in spinning, fire making, wood carving and weaving. There are hundreds of examples which until today we’d just assumed were natural islands but apparently the iron age Bob the Builders were pretty busy.

On Tuesday the journey lies across the wilds of Rannoch moor, through Glencoe and a detour down midge-ridden Glen Etive to Fort William on the Road to the Isles. We stay in a very pleasant B&B at Spean Bridge and have an interesting dinner in an unwittingly slow food restaurant in Spean Bridge Station where the trains are still running even if the waitpersons aren’t.

Day 285/7 Friday 27 – Sun 29 Jul 2007 Aberdeen to Pitlochry, Scotland

2007-09-04T22:00:00.000+10:00

Two pleasant days catching up with sister-in-law Angela in Aberdeen, washing and sorting out the luggage as well as lunching with neice Louise and enjoying home cooking and domesticity again. On Sunday evening we head west to Pitlochry in the Central Highlands, where we find brother Steve and Alexis where else but in an old pub with its own brewery and a splendid restaurant as well as other members of the clan. They’ve found us another lovely Victorian guest house which doesn’t require us to break in this time.

Day 284 Thursday 26 Jul 2007 Inchmore to Aberdeen, Scotland

2007-09-04T21:59:00.001+10:00

We’ve booked the car in for its fifth birthday treat at the BMW dealer in Inverness so we resort to the bus which does a circuit of outlying sites. First stop is Culloden battlefield giving us a chance to catch up on a little Scottish history. It’s the site of the last main battle fought in UK when the Jacobite army attempting to put Bonnie Prince Charlie on the throne was resoundly defeated. They didn’t exactly chose the best place to fight as its very boggy, making their fearsome highland charge rather ineffective.

Then it's back on the bus to Cawdor Castle of Macbeth fame. It’s a splendid castle dating from the 1600s, still lived in by Mrs Thane of Cawdor, with beautiful gardens and quirky notes which appear to have been written by Mrs Thane.

Next stop is Fort George, which we were told was on the world heritage list but isn’t. Still its a large fort similar in style to Suomelinna in Helskinki (see earlier blog), still used by the British Army although not now to subdue the Scots. Back on the bus we return to Inverness to pick up the car which has been fixed and which surprisingly passes its MOT first time. Its Oz registration expires today so apparently they will accept a UK registration inspection. To our relief the suspension repairs were less extensive (and less expensive) than the BMW guys in Norway had suggested so we feel vindicated in ignoring their advice and continuing on with the journey although perhaps venturing out to the Lofoten Islands in the middle of the North Atlantic was perhaps a bit foolhardy.

Then it's on to Aberdeen over the Cairngorms and through Braemar, stopping for dinner of haggis and salmon en route.

Day 283 Wednesday 25 Jul 2007 Thurso to Inchmore, Scotland

2007-09-04T21:58:00.000+10:00

A grey blustery morning as we leave Thurso for John o’Groats, reputedly the most northerly inhabited place on the UK mainland where we take a cruise on the Pentland Firth to see seals and puffins. The weather clears miraculously as we step aboard the little boat in the tiny harbour but the seas haven’t abated so its quite a rough trip around the cliffs of a nearby island. There are plenty of seals and a few puffins, guillemots and kittiwakes but apparently the birds which normally cover the cliffs with their nests in their millions arrived early this year before the fish they depend upon so they abandoned their eggs and moved on leaving only a few stragglers to greet the tourists.

We moved on too, down the east coast towards Inverness where we found a little inn in Inchmore just outside the city.

Day 282 Tuesday 24 Jul 2007 Bergen to Thurso, Scotland

2007-07-31T07:41:00.000+10:00

An early start but when we pull back the curtains we can see that our ferry to Scotland is in advanced state of loading – well there’s a long queue of cars waiting to get on. So we saunter down to breakfast and eventually make our way round the harbour to the jetty where we drive on board as they hoist the gangplank. Its a pleasant voyage out through the skerries and coastal fjords, with the sky clearing. Soon we are in the midst of a calm, blue North Atlantic surrounded by oil platforms and supply ships. This must be why Norway has the most expensive petrol in Europe. The ship is Faeroese and although it doesn’t have any pyramids does have more puffin on the menu. I2 is again devastated so we settle for herring. We are entertained by Swedish and Icelandic pianists, extremely talented - must be to do with the long winter nights.

Eventually we reach Scotland just after midnight and after minimal border formalities - they didn't spot that the car wasnt British - set off in search of an hotel. We find the one we're booked into nearby but locked and barred at 1am. Despite ringing the bell and phoning them, we can here the phone ringing and someone snoring inside, can't seem to raise anyone. Creeping round the back, trying all the doors and windows, I2 finds a loose window in what looks like an empty bedroom. After only a moments hesitation, we climb in with our bags and fall asleep on the enormous bed, after having signed the register in the hallway.

In the morning whilst half way through a lavish scottish breakfast, the woman in charge suddenly realises that she didnt check us and is puzzled as to why we're here as she had us down for the following week. We're reluctant to reveal the shortcomings of her security systems so leave her to puzzle it out.

Day 281 Monday 23 Jul 2007 Sognal to Bergen, Norway

2007-07-31T07:32:00.000+10:00

It’s raining this morning so we postpone catching a ferry along the Sognalfjord and instead head for Urnes with its World Heritage stave church. This church, reached via a ferry across the gloomy fjord, was built entirely of wood in 1030AD and was the third to have been constructed on the spot, the first in 900AD. It’s interesting to learn how its flexibility or plasticity had enabled it to withstand the ravages of time and how it had been modified to adjust to the changing demands following the Reformation. The church which preceded Ikea was flatpacked, laid out on the ground and assemble on site, possibly by a Viking with an allen key.

After buying some raspberries which grow in profusion around the village, along with apples, we cross back and travel southwest via Flam and Bekke on the WH listed Naeroyfjord to Bergen. The route involves dozens of tunnels, including one which at 24.5km is the longest and quite possibly the most boring road tunnel in the world. Still darkness is still a novelty. The hotel in Bergen, another in the excellent Clarion chain turns out to be on the harbourfront where our room has a balcony overlooking the WH listed Bryggen district of restored wooden warehouses and across from the wharf from which we are due to catch the ferry to Scotland tomorrow morning.

We set out to explore the waterfront and Bryggen with its labyrinth of alleyways and mix of timber and stone buildings, which are now utilised as boutiques, restaurants, art galleries and cafes. The evening sun comes out making it very pleasant and we find a great fish restaurant for our last supper in Norway. Foregoing the whale carpaccio and roasted puffin, we settle for salmon, angler fish, halibut and catfish.

Day 280 Sunday 22 Jul 2007 Valldal to Sognal, Norway

2007-07-31T07:28:00.000+10:00

From Valldal we plan to catch a ferry, well really more a tourist cruise, to Geiranger, which is on the world heritage list. The ferry is quite small and only goes twice a day so we get up early and put the car at the head of the queue before going back to the hotel for breakfast. We have no problem getting on this time and it even turns up on time.

The cruise along the fjords to Geiranger is quite spectacular as is the drive onwards up the Dibbastig, a road which winds up to a lookout on the snowline at 1500m, definitely not suitable for a car with arthritis but it doesn’t seem to mind and the view from the top is awesome although the route is littered with broken down campervans.

Then it’s along the shores of numerous fjords and lakes and through numerous tunnels, with a visit to a glacier coming down from Europe’s largest ice-cap. The blue green ice and crevasses are quite close although it’s retreating rapidly up the mountainside. Soon we reach Sognal and find a little pension and a pizza bar.

Day 279 Saturday2 1 Jul 2007 Trondheim to Valldal, Norway

2007-07-31T07:23:00.000+10:00

It’s a beautiful warm sunny day and we spend Saturday morning visiting Trondheim’s cathedral with its characteristic green copper spire and calm interior and the fort above the town which is full of Trondheimites sunbathing in the unaccustomed weather. Unfortunately there’s no time to linger as we still have a long way to go. It doesn’t look far on the map but there’s lots of fjords and glaciers in the way and we only get as far as Valldal, a small town on the edge of the Norddalsfjord, one of the prettiest fjords in the appropriately named Fjordland region, where we find a pretty hotel near the ferry.

Day 278 Friday 20 Jul 2007 Notvann to Trondheim, Norway

2007-07-31T07:17:00.000+10:00

A long drive today south to Trondheim, through forests, past lakes and across lots of rivers. It’s the longest drive of the entire trip since Australia, much of it done at Norway’s ridiculously low speed limits. It seems anytime there’s a house within 50m of the road, or a junction with a logging track they put a 50km/hr speed limit. Perhaps they are concerned about the wandering moose as everyone drives at 10km below the speed limit. However, despite the speed restrictions, the roads are generally quite good, with the smoothest surfaces we’ve encountered which is fortunate given the arthritic state of the car’s suspension, but are entirely single carriage way, with campervans and caravans outnumbering cars by at least 2:1.

We decide we’ve had enough of ferries and islands so take the inland route, stopping at the Arctic Circle where in contrast to Finland who’ve cornered the market, there’s not a Santa in sight, just an overpriced souvenir shop. You’d think there would be a limit to the number and range of arctic circle souvenirs but there isn’t.
A bit later on we visit Mosjoen, a town with a precinct of old timber houses and warehouse buildings mostly restored as art galleries and cafes. We stop for lunch at one which resembles the village store 40 years ago and enjoy local specialities of barley and sausage soup and a range of different breads.

Then it’s back on the road, for another 400kms, pausing only to visit a rather spectacular waterfall, not high just BIG and wet. We reach Trondheim by 8.30 and find the Clarion hotel in the city centre where we are quick to take advantage of the help yourself supper which along with DVD player and internet is included in the room rate.

Day 277 Thursday 19 Jul 2007 Svolvaer to Nottvan, Norway

2007-07-31T07:11:00.000+10:00

The plan for the day is to drive to Borg, two islands further down the Lofoten chain, where there is a Viking museum in a recreated chieftain’s hall and then return to Svolver in time to take the 2pm ferry back to the mainland. The Viking long house, which is the largest in Norway, discovered in the 1980s, has substantial rooms housing active exhibits of crafts, archaeological finds and an exhibition detailing the Battle of Hastings as portrayed in the Bayeux Tapestry – the connection is that the defeated King Harold was a viking (as of course you knew). Theres’ a lamb stew being prepared over a very smoky fire and a woman with a baby weaving. (We’re not sure if the latter is an exhibit). We drag ourselves away from this fascinating place which dates back to 900AD and forego joining a raiding party on the viking ship on the fjord as we don’t want to miss the 2pm ferry back to the mainland.

So you can imagine our annoyance when the ferry arrives and only has room for half the vehicles in line. Another is due at 3.30 so we think we’ll still get to our destination in time – no such luck – it arrives, fills with a few cars and departs without us! The 4.30 fails to materialise, so the next option is 7pm which actually doesn’t turn up till 8pm – several irate people of various nationalities are by now plotting their own viking raid on anyone associated with the ferry company. We leave the car in the queue and walk back to the town centre for late lunch/early dinner and return in time to pay the usual ridiculous amount of Norwegian kroners for the privilege of wasting 6 hours and having our schedule put seriously out of whack. It costs us more for the two hour crossing than for the return voyage to Sardinia, or across the Adriatic from Croatia to Italy. As with the $70 tunnels we suspect Mac Bank is running the ferry business too.

Nevertheless its a beautiful evening cruise through spectacular mountianous islands and eventually we reach the mainland in bright sunlight at 10.30pm. However there's now with little prospect of making it to Trondheim 800km south so opt for a cabin on a camp site by a lake which we reach just before midnight.

Day 276 Wednesday 18 Jul 2007 Andenes to Svolvaer, Norway

2007-07-31T07:01:00.000+10:00

Andenes is a windswept small town dependent upon fish and tourists, clinging to the northern end of the Vesteralen island chain, with a mix of fishermen's cottages, small shops and sheds associated with the fishing industry. After a visit to the unusual red lighthouse we drive south along the west coast of Andoy, island hopping down the Vesteralen chain, towards the Lofotens, a series of stark and rugged mountains stretching out from the coast of Norway. It's a beautiful but slow drive past mist clad mountains, fields full of yellow and purple wildflowers and sandy beaches on a deep blue green sea, speckled with whitecaps. The journey involves queuing for several ferries, although some of the islands are now connected by bridges.

We eventually reach Svolvaer, the main town on the Lofoten Islands around 6pm and after stripping the tourist office bare of brochures (and puffins), we go in search of dinner. The half empty restaurant which advertises a daily seafood buffet doesn’t have one and doesn’t seem to want our custom so we try another on a little island, where we resort to a $40 pizza and two $15 beers - Norway is seriously expensive and despite the swarms of campervans isn’t particularly tourist friendly, at least not unless you BYO (food, grog, accommodation).

Svolvaer is surrounded by steep, craggy mountains, some with patches of snow, and a harbour filled with fishing boats and tour boats. I2 buys a puffin and is mortified to find its also on the menu, with a red wine sauce, and a jumper from a pommy barrow boy. There are lots of Rubors, red wooden shacks which originally housed the seasonal cod fishermen (which the king ordered built after he saw the men sleeping under their upturned boats – this was not philanthropy – the cod fishery produced substantial tax revenue!)

Day 275 Tuesday 17 Jul 2007 Tromso to Andenes, Norway

2007-07-31T06:59:00.000+10:00

Leaving Tromso with some initial trepidation given the state of the car, as we’re still 500kms north of the Arctic Circle and have 2000km to go to Bergen, we soon grow accustomed to the comforting creaking from the suspension and, throwing caution to the wind (which here is gale force) we head westwards into the North Atlantic. Island hopping via bridges and ferries we reach Gryllefjord on Senja Island along some spectacular coastline and through remote fishing hamlets. Unfortunately the next ferry has mechanical problems which entails a 4hr wait until 7pm before we embark on a 2hr crossing to Andenes on Andoy Island. However the weather clears and we see whales off the starboard bow, trying to forget that they are actually on the menu.

Day 274 Mon 16 Jul 2007 Tromso, Norway

2007-07-17T05:55:00.000+10:00

After the episode with the tyres we decide to have suspension checked out at the first BMW dealer since Pakistan. Unfortunately the news isn’t good, we’re not going anywhere in a hurry but they can’t fix it for two weeks. But whilst one guy suggests we wont even make it off the island, his colleague says why don’t we get it fixed in Bergen (1500km south). He’s obviously been to the same no-worries-she’ll-be right-mate BMW training school the ones in Greece went to who said the squeak from the rear suspension was only a stone and was nothing to worry about. Applying that logic we book it in for repairs in Inverness. For the technically minded the rear suspension bushes aren’t just worn, they are non-existent. We decide we’ve no choice but to press on, perhaps we’ll get it fixed in Bodo, perhaps, as we’ve a ferry to catch in a week.

Fortunately it’s not a great day for driving weatherwise so we stay in Tromso sorting out phones and internet and visiting the Polaria museum with its seals and Imaxtype film about Svalbard. We’re almost tempted to visit till we learn its 1000km north of North Cape (It's the norweigen name for Spitzbergen.)

Day 273 Sun 15 Jul 2007 Alta to Tromso, Norway

2007-07-17T05:40:00.000+10:00

An amazingly beautiful drive along fjords and past mountains replete with snowfields and glaciers, through fishing villages and on and off ferries as we travel south to Tromso. We reach Tromso, a small university town on an island around 7pm and check into a very pleasant hotel. To get there we drive through a maze of tunnels in the hill behind the town, one of which even has a round-about inside it. Sunday evening and Tromso’s a bit dead with most restaurants closed so we don’t get to sample the arctic fare. However its about the first place we've been since Prague where Aerosmith arent playing that night or where the Stones arent touring in a couple of weeks, although Iggy and the Stooges are due here at the weekend - dont think we'll hang around.

Day 272 Sat 14 Jul 2007 Nordkapp to Alta, Norway

2007-07-17T05:39:00.000+10:00

After midnight blogging at the north cape, it’s all down hill from here as we drive south towards Alta. The weather, initially sunny turns to rain as we reach Honnisvag, a busy little very northerly township bustling with cruise ships (three in port today). We take out a second mortgage to go to the supermarket – Norway is seriously expensive but we guess the bananas have come a long way - and to go back through the macbank tunnel. It’s raining hard for most of the journey but clears the instant we reach Alta where we visit the museum to inspect the Neolithic world heritage listed rock carvings. The extensive carvings, which show fishing, hunting reindeer, bear and geese are along a walkway in the birch forest on the edge of a fjord.

Day 271 Fri 13 Jul 2007 Hammerfest to Nordkapp, Norway

2007-07-17T05:37:00.000+10:00

After getting a new tyre and discarding two worn out ones we make tracks northwards. The weather improves as we travel along the coast, around fjords and through tunnels. One tunnel is almost 7km long and drops to 200m below sea level which, given the size of the toll, must be owned by Macquarie Bank. There’s no trees up here at 70deg north, just very low ground cover and reindeer, with cottages on the shoreline and the occasional boat. We reach Nordkapp (north cape) in the late afternoon. At 71deg north its the northern most point on the European mainland, which ends in cliffs plunging to the blue arctic ocean 300m below, where a cruise liner is heaved to. There are more campervans than people up here, seems like most of the Germans and Finns have migrated lemming-like to north cape for the summer, plus a few mad bicyclists.

After obligatory photos and a quick visit to the souvenir shop, the underground chapel and the coffee shop we return to a tiny village a few kms to the south where we find a very comfortable, warm cabin with a splendid view of the midnight sun. It’s strange sitting on the terrace at 12.30am writing the blog in broad daylight. In fact the Mac Bank tunnel is the only place it’s been dark for the past week, maybe that’s why they charge so much – perhaps you can sleep in there.

Day 270 Thurs 12 Jul 2007 Inari, Finland to Hammerfest, Norway

2007-07-17T05:35:00.000+10:00

The day progresses well, travelling north and west through forest and past reindeer until about 50kms from the Norweigan border we get a flat rear tyre. All our plaudits about Mr Coopers tyres are cancelled as we unload everything out of the car and eventually get it changed. We are surprised to find it’s very badly worn on the inside, like down to the wire and beyond, perhaps we should have looked underneath at least once since the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan. The other rear tyre is in a similar state, as we notice that the rear wheels are leaning outwards a bit – well quite a lot actually. Anyway we press on and stop for coffee at the border, where there are no formalities.

Norway is a bit more populated and developed than northern Finland, the weather clears as we reach the coast, journeying around broad fjords with a blue late evening arctic sky and low cloud on the mountains. It’s starting to get quite cold and that’s the sign for the other tyre to blow. This time it’s not an easy change as we have to remove the old tyre and try to fit the other spare we are carrying to the rim. Tyre leavers, luggage and various bags are scattered all over the road but at least it’s not raining or dark. Eventually, assisted by our best Italian extra virgin olive oil as a lubricant we get the old tyre off. Soon a man stops and takes us to his mate’s tyre place down the road where the new one is quickly put on with a machine. Then it’s back to put the wheel on the car and eventually off to Hammerfest, the most northerly town in the world, or so it claims. We check into a hotel which was a former fish-wives dormitory on the edge of town for which they want $200/night. The sun’s still shining brightly so we venture to the top of a hill overlooking the port for some late night/early morning pix and then back to the hotel where reindeer are eating the garden and we try to sleep with the sun shining through the thin curtains.

Day 269 Wed 11 Jul 2007 Rovaniemi to Inari, Finland

2007-07-17T05:32:00.000+10:00

Rovaniemi isn’t the end of the world place we imagined from its Arctic Circle description but a slightly grey town with department stores and pedestrian plaza. It has a splendid Arctikorium with displays of Sami culture and a separate section about the arctic with an impressive slide display on the northern lights.
One of the great things we discover about being at this latitude is that we can mess around for much of the day and start heading to our next destination 500km away late in the afternoon and not have to worry about finding it in the dark. So after the Arctikorium we go to Napapiiri actually on the Arctic Circle where Santa has established his official headquarters. It’s a little bit tacky but quite fun, particularly the post office where they are busy dealing with his mail and a nearby Sami tepee where we eat baked salmon roasted over a wood fire and served on a wooden board. The queue to sit on Santa’s knee is a bit long so we get back in the car and drive north to Inari, on the shore of a large lake which we reach around 10pm.
It’s a bit more frontier-like than Rovaniemi and as the hotels are full we settle for a cabin on the campsite. Once the mosquito hoards are eradicated it’s quite cosy.

Day 268 Tues 10 Jul 2007 Kuopio to Rovaniemi, Finland

2007-07-17T05:31:00.000+10:00

A visit to the town square with its bustling market, fish stalls and vendors selling the local speciality, bread filled with ham and lots of little fish which is then sliced a bit like a terrine, and another Marimekko pilgrimage. Then it’s up to the hill overlooking the town, hills are scarce in these parts and this one is 75m high so has a tower and ski-jump. There’s a fantastic panorama over the myriad of lakes and forest which you really can’t appreciate as you drive through the forests. Lakes stretch in all directions, some very large with hundreds of islands.

Back on the road we continue north to Rovaniemi, through spruce and pine forest which gradually gives way to less dense birch woods as we approach the arctic circle. On cue, a magnificent reindeer from central casting with massive antlers struts out of the forest and saunters across the road followed by female. Then it’s more and more trees, interspersed by the occasional farm with ploughed fields of rye and mirror-like lakes until we reach Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle where we find the City Hotel and have reindeer pasta for dinner in a Spanish restaurant.

Day 267 Mon 9 Jul 2007 Porvoo to Kuopio, Finland

2007-07-17T05:30:00.002+10:00

An early start to breakfast on the terrace overlooking a river and a field full of llama. Finnish breakfast consists of porridge, ham, cheese, herring and delicious dark rye bread with lashings of coffee and cranberry juice. Then its on the back-roads north to Verla, our next World Heritage site, a 19C/early 20C board and timber mill constructed at a point where the rapids interrupted the floating of logs downstream. Being Monday, the universal museum holiday, the mill is closed but we enjoy a picnic on the veranda of the mill-owner’s cottage, now a cafe which is closed.

Then it’s a rather roundabout route via Lappeenranta where we stop briefly to look at the annual sandcastle sculpture competition and Savonlinna where the medieval castle in the lake is the centre of the town’s month long opera festival. There’s not a room to be had within 50kms so we press on through endless forest to Kuopio in the northern Lake district where we find the Spa Hotel. On the lake shore with a large indoor spa and pool with waterslides, it’s a bit overrun by families. We forego the spa as sharing it with half of northern Europe doesn’t attract so we dine on pizza instead (reindeer of course, with blue cheese).

Day 266 Sun 8 Jul 2007 Helsinki to Porvoo, Finland

2007-07-17T05:30:00.001+10:00

The morning finds us on another boat, this time heading across the harbour to Suomenlinna, a group of islands fortified by the Swedes with money provided by the French to resist Russian power in the 1700’s. Once the largest naval fortifications in Europe and intended to be resilient to maritime attach it fell to the Russians after only a short land siege in the 1808s who nearly lost it to the French and Brits a few decades later in the Crimean war. It’s a bit like Cockatoo Island in Sydney with massive dry dock and naval repair installations dating from its inception to the 1960s when it became a national park. Oh and yes its on the world heritage list. It’s all very interesting with some good displays and museums, cafes and art studios.

We return to the city and after a plate of salmon and vendace (like small mullet or sardines) in the harbour marketplace we make tracks for Porvoo, Finland’s second oldest settlement 45km east. Although the town with its red timber houses lining the river bank and cobbled street with trendy restaurants and arty shoppes is a popular tourist destination it has few and very poor hotels. We call a b&b on a farm outside the town but have to wait until the owners get back from their weekend camping trip before checking into a room above the stables. We pass the time having supper in an old sailing vessel moored on the riverbank watching the sun set over the forests at 11pm.

Day 265 Sat 7 Jul 2007 Helsinki, Finland

2007-07-17T05:28:00.000+10:00

Dawn comes early but we are woken in time for a 6am breakfast before disembarking to a showery Helsinki where there are sufficient patches of blue sky to portent a reasonable Saturday. It's too early to find a hotel so we park in the main square beneath the glistening white cathedral with its star covered green domes and find coffee whilst we watch the harbourfront market being set up. Buying a ‘Helsinki card’ from the tourist office and stripping it bare of brochures we embark on a harbour cruise which gives us a good overview of the city against the pale blue northern sky, before catching a city bus tour. By this time it's pouring down so we are glad to be inside listening to a commentary in 11 languages, including Latin (even Rome doesn’t have Latin on its tour buses). After more coffee and smoked salmon sandwiches I2 makes a pilgrimage to the Marimekko shop and we find a Lapp restaurant for dinner where we dine on Elk and Reindeer, followed by cloudberry crème brulee.

Day 264 Fri 6 Jul 2007 Tallin, Estonia to Helsinki, Finland

2007-07-17T05:26:00.001+10:00

After catching up with laundry and internet matters (the apartment has both a washing machine and broadband – we could easily live here) we explore the old town. It’s blustery and showery and quite cold for a change so our exploring is mostly confined to cafes and coffee shops including one in the 15C town hall cellar. There’s a medieval fair in the market square with people in costume selling everything from smoked cheeses and elk salami to Estonian hats and blankets.
We have the inspired idea of spending the night on the ferry to Helsinki and board it in late afternoon. Although the voyage across the Gulf of Finland is only 3½ hrs, you can sleep aboard and disembark at 7am which sounds a good idea to us, particularly as the deal includes dinner which turns out to be excellent, especially if you like herring. The boat has a bit of a party atmosphere with lots of bands, possibly a reflection of the ongoing beer festival in Tallin.

Day 263 Thurs 5 Jul 2007 Riga, Latvia to Tallin, Estonia

2007-07-17T05:25:00.001+10:00

Since breakfast isn’t provided in our B&B, we take a trolleybus into the old town (world heritage listed of course) and find the main cathedral square where croissants and coffee are the order of the day. The town centre, separated from the new town by a ring of parks is very pleasant and we stroll around for a couple of hours, inspecting the cathedral which is suffering badly from structural decay and several other monuments. Returning to the ‘new’ town which comprises an array of art deco and wooden buildings we collect the car and drive north to the “ethnographic museum” which turns out to be a fascinating collection of dwellings from different parts of the country erected in a forest park, with peasant women performing various handicrafts. There are few vistors so we spend a very pleasant afternoon wandering around before setting out for Tallin in Estonia 300kms north.

Tallin is in the midst of a four day beer festival, obviously an essential precursor to its JLL ‘winning city’ status but we find a bed at the Romeo family hotel, which also turns out to be an large comfortable apartment in an otherwise decrepit block in the heart of the old town (on the world heritage list of course). Dinner is in the Pepper Sack restaurant where the staff are all in medieval costume. Afterwards, wandering back through the town square at 11.30 its still light with plenty of people about, going to bars,cinemas and coffee shops.

Day 262 Wed 4 Jul 2007 Vilnius, Lithuania to Riga, Latvia

2007-07-17T05:23:00.000+10:00

Another day another country, although here they’re not much bigger than tablecloths. Actually we are surprised to discover that they aren’t really that small, bigger than Denmark, Belgium or Eire for example, or even Victoria. Still, we get through them pretty quickly and the rear window is filling up with flags. En route we detour to visit the lakeside castle at Trekai and then attempt to find the world heritage site at Karnave. Traki is a redbrick castle set amid pine forests and lakes whilst Kernave, a series of hill forts some of which date back to the iron age is a Lithuanian state secret with no signs or information. However we eventually find it and tick it off the list and make tracks northwards to Riga stopping briefly at what Lonely Planet says is the must-see site in Lithuania, the Hill of Crosses. We think its a bit overrated, its a hillock crammed with thousands of wooden crosses and statues of Jesus, which has become a bit of a pilgrimage place, but which is in need of some order and tidying up. Apparently the tradition of erecting crosses there goes back to the C16 and when the Soviets occupied the place they tired to bulldozed them every day only to find the locals re-erected them each night.

We reach Riga at 8.30 and locate the Riga B&B in the north of the city. Turns out to be a series of apartments in an old block with no breakfast. However the apartment’s spacious with a large ceramic stove in the corner. Nearby is a brewery restaurant where we feast on pork knuckle and salmon.

Day 261 Tues 3 Jul 2007 Kaunas to Vilnius, Lithuania

2007-07-17T05:20:00.000+10:00

It’s raining a bit as we drive east towards Vilnius but it clears up as we arrive. Again the main attraction is the Unesco-listed medieval town centre with its squares, cobbled streets and mass of baroque churches. After finding a hotel in the old town and swapping our Polish Zloty for Lithuanian Litas we start to explore, climbing up to the castle and checking out the cathedral. It's all very laidback and relaxed, without hoards of tourists and the over-the-top prettiness of Italy or Czeckia. We finish our exploration at the Gates of Dawn but as it’s late evening the piper has gone home so we do too.

Lithuania seems determined to go places, since joining the EU. It was the first country to break away from the Soviet Union and the first to ratify the new EU constitution. It’s also tech savvy, on a par with Turkey for free internet wifi everywhere (except in our hotel where its baroque - pronounced broke) Then there are the zeppelin shaped potato dumplings which we are reliably advised taste like eating a teddy bear coated in snail slime. Maybe Unesco should have listed these instead.

Day 260 Mon 2 Jul 2007 Warsaw, Poland to Kaunas, Lithuania

2007-07-17T05:19:00.000+10:00

Eschewing the hotel breakfast we walk into the old town where we breakfast at a cafe on the main square. Largely destroyed by the Germans at the end of WW2, much of the centre has been rebuilt and restored, so although not as extensive as Krakow it has a pleasant atmosphere with cobbled streets and alleyways, quiet squares and colourful buildings. We spend a couple of hours wandering around including inspecting the monument to the Warsaw uprising and the thinnest house in the world before heading north to Lithuania. The road is full of trucks so progress is relatively slow through forests and rolling farmland.

At the border we cross with no delays although on the Lithuanian side there’s a line of trucks stretching almost to the arctic circle, well at least 10kms anyway. It’s getting late by the time we reach Kaunas, Lithuania’s second city, so although the sun hasn’t yet set, we decide to stop for the night. Finding a hotel proves more difficult than expected but we are eventually referred to one 5km north which turns out to be fine. However, we discover there’s an hour time difference and its actually 11.30 by the time we check in and too late to go in search of dinner so for the second night in succession dinner consists of a packet of nuts and a chocolate bar. (The hotel describes itself as ‘Motelis-Restoranas’, which we think could equally look good as a plant label or a dinosaur.)

Day 259 Sun 1 Jul 2007 Krakow to Warsaw, Poland

2007-07-17T05:11:00.000+10:00

Exploring Krakow by daylight, we revisit the old town square (which of course is on the WH list) and the Royal Way, the route leading from the barbican gate to the Castle, lined with churches, palaces, bars and kebab shops (a vestige of Poland's Ottoman empire heritage). Heading for Wawel Hill with its castle, royal palaces and cathedral we inspect the state rooms with their masses of tapestries, oil paintings and medieval furniture.

By late afternoon we decide its time to leave for Warsaw a five hour drive north. Fortunately the roads not too bad by Polish standards and we reach the hotel by 10pm where we arrive starving to find all the restaurants have closed.

Day 258 Sat 30 Jun 2007 Wroclaw to Krakow, Poland

2007-07-17T05:06:00.000+10:00

We explore the centre of Wroclaw remembering to pronounce it Vrotswahf, finding a gnomes house beside two almost as tiny real baroque houses and the Salt Square which once was the forum for the town’s salt trade and is now home to a colourful flower market. Crossing to Cathedral Island, an area largely surrounded by rivers and canals and packed with churches, we ‘climb’ the tower of the gothic Cathedral of John the Baptist taking advantage of the thoughtfully installed lift, which offers panoramic views over the city.

On our way out of town we seek out the World Heritage listed Centennial Hall which isn’t in the guidebooks. It turns out to be part of an exhibition centre, a rather decaying remnant of the Stalinist era which we photograph briefly and then hit the road east. Then is on the expressway to the next stop at Oswiecim (pronounced osh-fyen-cheem – not sure we’re getting the hang of this language) where we visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, a grim and sobering reminder of the Nazi atrocities. Then by contrast we stop near where JP2 hails from and which is also on the world heritage list. It’s an important place of pilgrimage with a series of chapels laid out in the surrounding parkland.

It’s getting late by the time we reach Krakow, one of Poland’s most popular tourist destinations, full of stag parties on cheap flights from the UK so rather than tackle the tangle of pedestrian streets in the old town in search of a bed we tell Kenny to take us the Ibis which is the McDonalds of the hotel industry. It’s actually very suited to our needs, clean, functional and no frills. Dinner is in the old town square, more wild boar, venison, dumplings and this time pike. Again there’s the obligatory sound stage and rock bands although tonight it's mostly citizenship awards and speechmaking. As foreshadowed by the guidebook, it is rather overrun by stag parties and hen nights, attracted by the reputedly highest concentration of bars in Europe. Still as the largest medieval town square in Europe it’s large enough to cope and the horse drawn carriages are doing a roaring trade till after midnight so with a full moon rising over the Wawel castle we make our way back to the hotel.

Day 257 Fri 29 Jun 2007 Prague, Czech Republic to Wroclaw, Poland

2007-07-17T05:03:00.000+10:00

After finishing the novel domestic tasks of washing and ironing we extricate the car from the underground carpark in the city centre and drive north through forests and rolling countryside to the Polish border. We stop to explore a glass museum at Zelezny Brod, a small industrial town which is just starting to discover its heritage of wooden houses and pass through the Sudaten mountains the German occupation of which started WW2. Today they are occupied mainly by some laidback ski resorts and a towns with glass and textile mills.

Crossing into Poland we stop to inspect a world heritage listed wooden 'peace church'built in the 1600s after the reformation when Lutherans were only allowed to erect 'temporary' churches. We reach Wroclaw (pronounced Vrotswahf) by early evening and after trying several hotels check into the Best Western(!) and venture into the nearby main square in search of dinner. Although heavily damaged in WW2, Wroclaw has been largely restored with large central gothic rathaus or townhall dominating the restaurant-lined square. Tonight it’s packed and noisy as there’s a large stage and series of bands performing but we manage to find a quiet corner to sample the local dumplings, wild boar, cabbage rolls and beer from a large ceramic mug as well as the obligatory tub of lard. Seems there’re bands and music performances in every square in Europe at this time of year, from Rome and Lucca through Milan, St Gallen and Salzburg to Olomouc and now Wroclaw and Krakow.

Day 256 Thurs 28 Jun 2007 Prague, Czech Republic

2007-06-29T06:26:00.000+10:00

A blustery day spent exploring Prague old town, inspecting the statues on the Charles Bridge, waiting for the astronomical clock in the Old Town Square and sampling a range of coffee houses whilst avoiding rain showers. Its a fascinating city with lots of lanes and squares to get lost in, a mix of modern and traditional shops and an inexhaustible array of churches, palaces, towers and museums, all competing intensely with their classical music concerts. We visit the castle late in the afternoon, wandering though a maze of courtyards in what the guide book describes as a battle ship beached on the hill above the city. Its dominated by St Vitus Cathedral with its gothic spires and flying buttresses. With another torrential shower threatening we descend to Nerudova St where the apartment is located, just in time to find a traditional Czech restaurant for dinner.

Day 255 Wed 27 Jun 2007 Prague, Czech Republic

2007-06-28T06:39:00.000+10:00

A lazy morning checking out the washing machine, the first we've seen in almost a month, and in the afternoon a leisurely stroll over the Charles Bridge and around the old town. (another Stari Grad like those of Albania and Montenegro – similar languages). It's quite touristy but very pretty, lots of elaborately decorated houses and mansions, narrow streets, squares and lots of spires. The bridge which dates from 1348 and was for a long time Prague's only bridge is lined with statues including one of the patron saint of Prague who was thrown from the bridge for refusing to reveal the dying Queen's deathbed confession to King Wenceslas (we're not sure if it was Wenceslas who wanted to know or if it was to the king that she made the confession). Anyway over he went with a millstone round his neck to join a long list of martyrs. Then we paint an intrepidtoo brick and add it to a wall for a mentally handicapped charity before dining on more goulash, dumplings, cabbage and roast duck.

Day 254 Tues 26 Jun 2007 Olomouc to Prague, Czech Republic

2007-06-28T06:35:00.000+10:00

It’s time to get moving if we are ever to make it through Scandinavia so we head to Prague via the world heritage sites of Litomysl castle, an Italian style palace where they are dismantling the remains of a Smetena festival in the castle courtyard and Kutna Hora with its Church of St Barbara. The church which is supported by an array of flying buttresses has a very unusual roof consisting of three black conical spires which look very gothic and Gormonghast–like. There’s also a silver mine and an ossuary to explore for those who have time.

We get to Prague in the rush hour and find the place in the old town with keys for our apartment which is beneath the castle. We unload the car and return to find it’s been clamped – 40,000kms and we get our first parking ticket. I2 remonstrates and bargains the unclamping fee down from 2000Kc to 500Kc. Still, the apartment's very spacious, light and airy and well equipped so after hugging the washing machine we venture out for dinner of duck, rabbit and dumplings in a nearby restaurant.

Watching CNN we discover much of southern Europe has been suffering an unprecedented heatwave with 46deg in Greece whilst N Europe has been deluged with massive floods in UK and Germany. We put it down to excellent planning that we have so far managed to avoid all the excesses of climate change, moving north across the alps just in time to escape the heat and westwards sufficiently slowly to avoid the most of the rains. Although admittedly our wet day index has increased to 13 from 8 (that's out of a total of 254), having been forced to buy a Mozart umbrella in Salzburg, we escaped the cold of Tibet and the heat of Rajasthan, got though Turkey without getting stuck in the snow, more than once, and made it over the Alps without chains. Now in Czeckia it's ideal sightseeing weather, bright and sunny but not too hot.

Day 253 Mon 25 Jun 2007 Olomouc, Czech Republic

2007-06-28T06:33:00.001+10:00

Awaking at 9.30, we decide that the apartments so nice we’ll stay an extra night and spend a leisurely day exploring the town of Olomouc, much of which is being dug up to renew the tram tracks through the main street. We check out the various cathedrals, churches and town hall with its astronomical clock with communist inspired workers chiming the hours. We inspect the Unesco listed Holy Trinity Column and decide it needs a good clean, it looks as if it only just scaped on to the list and really doesnt compare with the Taj Mahal. In the evening we venture in search of more beer and dumplings and discover that Moldavian wine isn’t too bad either. After Italy, Austria and Switzerland, Czeckia is very reasonably priced for the traveller in terms of lodging and food although there’s a strong emphasis on meat and not too much on vegetables (except cabbage).

Day 252 Sun 24 Jun 2007 Ceske Budejovice to Olomouc, Czech Republic

2007-06-28T06:31:00.000+10:00

It’s a world heritage day today with no less than six Unesco sites to be visited. Kenny gets to work planning the route and takes us first to the Holasovice historic village reservation which has pretty yellow, blue and orange cottages in ‘peasant baroque’ style clustered around a village green. Then its across country to the Historic Centre of Telc, an old town surrounded by defensive fishponds with a large cobbled square lined with more pretty houses and a cathedral tower to climb. We stop briefly to inspect the Jewish quarter and basilica of St Procopius in Tebric before heading for the Tugendhat Villa at Brno. Unfortunately we discover its by appointment only and 7pm on a Sunday evening is not the best time to visit this Mies van der Rohe functionalist house which anyway resembles the Rose Seidler house in Killara. So its on to Kromeriz Gardens and Castle which are also unsurprisingly closed on a Sunday evening. We buy a motorway pass, having decided after reading Kafka that the Czech police are likely to be less amenable than those in Austria and Switzerland to foreigners not paying tolls. Finally we reach Olomouc in eastern Czech (there must be a better name than having say Czech republic each time – may be Czechistan or Czechland or Czechia) with its listed Holy Trinity Column which we inspect after finding a lovely apartment full of antique furniture in the university quarter. There’s a rock band playing in the main square so we find another quieter square nearby for dinner, also with a column although not as fancy as that on the list.

Day 251 Sat 23 Jun 2007 Attersee, Austria to Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

2007-06-28T06:27:00.000+10:00

Setting a course to the north we head for the Czech border, detouring to visit the world heritage listed Hallstadt–Dachstein ‘cultural landscape’ with impossibly green lakes and misty valleys. We can’t find anywhere to park in Hallstadt which clings to the edge of the lake so we press on through Bad Aussee and Windpassing (we spared you our visit to Buggerup in Sardinia) to St Florian where there’s another ornate baroque abbey and monastery. After attending a wedding in the cathedral and visiting Brukner’s organ (and grave)we drive into Czech Republic to world heritage Cesky Krumlov where we arrive to find it in the middle of its summer festival weekend. Sort of Glastonbury without the mud and in medieval costume. There’s not only nowhere to park but there are no hotel rooms and even the campsite is overflowing so after a quick walk around in the early evening sunshine we drive on to Ceske Budejovice, 25km north where we find the Bohemian Hotel and quantities of the local product, real Budweiser beer which sells for $1.50 a litre and which goes down very well with roast duck with dumplings. Apparently the US version simply used the german version of the town's name.

Day 250 Fri 22 Jun 2007 Salzburg to Attersee, Austria

2007-06-28T06:24:00.000+10:00

Plans to go to Cesky Krumlov are abandoned as, after a morning strolling around Salzburg, a visit to the sound of music Mirabell gardens, some shopping and a cruise on the Salzach river, we drive through the lakes district of Austria which is quite like the English lakes. We decide to stop at Attersee rather than pressing on to tackle the Czech border. The hotel on the shore of the lake has a beautiful outlook even though its misty and quite windy.

Day 249 Thurs 21 Jun 2007 Salzburg, Austria

2007-06-28T05:52:00.000+10:00

A leisurely day exploring the Mozart theme park,aka world heritage listed Salzburg including a walking tour of the major sights, visit to the castle (Festung Hohansalzburg)- with its brown/black and white cow used to convince the besieging army they had lots of cows left to eat - and dinner in a baroque room at the world's oldest restaurant (dating from 803) being serenaded by a Mozartian quintet and a couple of opera singers, all in period costume. Sounds dreadfully kitsch but actually very good and definitely one of the trip highlights.

Day 248 Wed 20 Jun 2007 St Gallen, Switzerland to Salzburg, Austria

2007-06-28T05:50:00.000+10:00

In the morning we visit the nearby baroque cathedral of St Gall dedicated to an Irish monk who founded a community here in the 8th century. It’s very ornate and quite different from the ones visited in Italy, set in a square which includes a school and various ecclesiastical buildings. We are taken by the carvings and statues of a bear which St Gall befriended. The bear would fetch firewood and in return St G fed him bread whilst hanging out in the wilderness (actually we think the carvings look more like the bear fetching the rolled up newspaper and St G giving him biscuits). After the cathedral we inspect the medieval library which is housed in a beautiful equally ornate room but rather overfull of tourists shuffling round on the obligatory carpet overslippers. There’s a great collection of ancient maps and books, including C9 illuminated manuscripts which the monks would write. All a bit reminiscent of Hogwarts.

Then its back on the road through pine forests and tunnels, winding our way on Tyrolean mountain roads to St Anton and Innsbruck. Approaching Innsbruck the sky turns black and the heavens open with golf ball sized hail. Just in time we dive into a 5km long tunnel and annoy truck drivers by driving slowly in the hope that it may have stopped when we emerge. It hasn’t so we stop under a bridge watching the lightning. Eventually we move on towards Salzburg cutting across a corner of Germany. (Germany has expensive petrol and expensive toilets and isn’t as tidy as either Switzerland or Austria so we decide not to put its flag on the car).

We reach Salzburg by early evening, find the hotel and park in a carpark burrowed under hill. As we venture out in search of dinner the storm catches up with us so we dive into a nearby beer cellar, where soaking wet we sample its micro brewery output. Fortunately it doesn’t stop raining for a while so we tuck into Weiner schnitzel and sauerkraut before staggering back to the hotel.

Day 247 Tues 19 Jun 2007 Lenzerheide to St Gallen, Switzerland

2007-06-28T05:48:00.000+10:00

A very pretty drive to Zurich, down to Chur and along the lakeshore, arriving just in time to meet the 12.20 flight from London. After collecting I2 from Sydney and managing to avoid the trams we drive around Zurich. It's a small but attractive city at the end of the lake, where we stop for lunch at a lakeside restaurant. Switzerland is enjoying an early heatwave, around 32deg so most of the gnomes seem to have taken the day off to go swimming or boating on the lake. We drive eastwards on the north side of the lake towards St Gallen, passing through lush green countryside full of contented cows and haymaking, timber houses and tidy villages. St Gallen has a world heritage cathedral and narrow pedestrian centre to the old town. We stay in a pension overlooking the cathedral square above an Italian restaurant.

Day 246 Mon 18 Jun 2007 Capo di Ponte, Italy to Lenzerheide, Switzerland

2007-06-28T05:27:00.000+10:00

After 23 days we finally leave Italy, travelling north through Bormio and the Italian alps, over Passo di Gavia (2652m) and Passo di Stelvio (2499m) both pretty scary roads made all the more so by hundreds of motorbikes hurtling down at grand prix speeds, all in multicoloured leathers. Seems the Alps is a race track with far more bikes than cars. The Passo di Gavia is actually a well-established bike and motorbike race circuit but we just wish they hadn’t all chosen today to practice. The scenery is stunning, every bit as spectacular as the Himalayas with similar numbers of hairpins and precipitous drops. There’s snow at the top of Passo di Gravia but nothing like the 7m in the photo in the auberge, and glaciers all around.
On the way down we stop for two marmots sitting in the middle of the road.

By early afternoon we’re in Switzerland, although the only way of telling is the colour of the bus stops and price of petrol as border formalities are non-existent, where we reach Mustair, with its world heritage Benedictine nunnery. The Nunnery was founded in Carolingian times (we’re assuming you are fully conversant with ecclesiastical history) with frescos dating back to 800AD and an interesting nunnery. Then its on to St Moritz (this was the Conde Naste trip wasn’t it?). St Moritz is beautiful with a lovely lake and soaring snow topped mountains direct from central casting or a chocolate box. However Kenny says its too far from Zurich where I2 is due to arrive the following morning so foregoing the Carlton we move on over yet another pass to Lenzerheide, a ski resort with more chocolate box scenery where there’s a lovely little hotel with an very good restaurant – menu all in German but somehow we manage. It also has intermittent internet which is why you’re reading this.

Day 245 Sun 17 Jun 2007 Milan to Capo di Ponte, Val Camonica

2007-06-19T04:05:00.000+10:00

After taking Phil to the airport we head north towards Como where we pause for coffee by the lake. The hills close in quickly and there’s lots of forest. On the way we pass most of Italy out on their bikes, all in bright leotards with all the gear. Its seems a regular Sunday morning pastime but you have to look the part of course.

Como is very pleasant with nice squares, a green domed cathedral and lots of pavement cafes lining the lake front. We travel up the west side of the lake on a road that passes through tunnels and is sometimes at the lake level and often high above. For much of the route the lake shore is lined by villages which cling to the steep valley sides, often with magnificent palazzos and villas. Reaching the northern tip we head east along a deep but rather scruffy valley before turning south via the Aprica pass to descend into the Val Camonica to Capo di Ponte, which is Italy's first world heritage sites.

This one is much older than the rest, ice age, bronze and iron age petraglyphs or rock carvings. Although they are barely discernable they provide a fascinating account of life 8000 years ago, with scenes of ploughing, a man on horseback, ceremonial events and even duels. We stay at a nearby albergo run by the only gay in the village, drink campari and plan the next leg of the trip.

Day 244 Sat 16 Jun 2007, Milan, Lombardy

2007-06-19T04:03:00.000+10:00

A heavy day of sightseeing, starting with a tram ride to the city centre and a tour of the C16 Castle Sfrozza which has an interesting collection of sculpture and armour very well displayed, with a room decorated by Leonardo de Vinci and an unfinished piece by Michelangelo. There’s also a fascinating display of furniture through the ages.

Then it’s off for a look around the shops starting with the Galleria Vittore Emmanuel with its soaring glass and metal roof and mosaics, followed by a visit to the fashion quadrilateral where all the famous and not so famous boutiques can be found, that is if you can get through the wall to wall Ferraris and Bentleys.
In need of some spiritual refreshment after the excesses of materialism, a visit to the Duomo is called for. Its fantastically elaborate gothic facade has been newly cleaned in a process lasting several years, with its spires gleaming in the western sun. Inside it has some magnificent stained glass windows.

After recovering back at the hotel we return to the centre in search of dinner which we find in a lovely brasserie/pizzeria with delicious octopus and seafood.

Day 243 Fri 15 Jun 2007, Calle di Val d’Elsa to Milan, Lombardy

2007-06-19T04:02:00.000+10:00

After bidding farewell to the Relais della Rovere, one of the nicest places we’ve stayed in the entire trip, we discover there are two more world heritage sites in the region we haven’t visited. Unfortunately they’re both in the wrong direction but as Kenny says that its only 3hrs to Milan we decide to check them out. First its a trip through the lanes and woods to val d’Orcia and then its on to Pienza where we have time for only the briefest walk through, sufficient to determine its a place we must visit again with a bit more time. We should be describing the countryside but we’re assuming you’ve all seen the films or read the books.

Back on to the autostrada for a long drive north through some quite spectacular mountain scenery, eventually getting to Milan around 7.30 where we’re due to meet Phil from Sydney. We find the new hotel, just outside the city centre and find a nearby winebar for dinner.

Day 242 Thurs 14 Jun 2007, Calle di Val d’Elsa, Tuscany

2007-06-19T04:01:00.000+10:00

Today its sightseeing by the book, ie we bought the book so now we’re reading it by the pool and looking at the pictures instead of chasing round the countryside. However by 2pm its time to move so we decide to visit Sienna down the road, finding an interesting Abbey on the way which used to be an important stopping point for pilgrims on the Via Franca or road from UK and France to Rome.

Sienna is another town with a medieval car free centre with narrow alleyways and palazzi on every corner. Eschewing the climb to the top of the Torre del mangia we sit in Il campo soaking up the atmosphere before finding dinner at an ancient hostelry where the special of the day is tripe – delicious.

Day 241 Wed 13 Jun 2007, Florence to Calle di Val d’Elsa, Tuscany

2007-06-19T03:59:00.000+10:00

After packing up the apartment and collecting the car, its a short drive to Calle di Val d’Elsa so after finding where the hotel is we head to nearby San Gimignano, which like most of Italy is on the WH list. On the way we stop for a picnic in a wheat field with beautiful views over the Tuscan countryside to consume the last of the cheese, prosciutto, figs and wild strawberries but alas no wine. Then its a quick tour of the town, including ascending the Grosse Torre (big tower) one of 13 remaining from over 100 built in the 1500s by affluent families. The views over the Tuscan countryside are magnificent and are everything they’re hyped up to be. Then a gelato from the world champion gelato maker (They have a world championship – wonder who else enters – maybe its like the world series baseball), which is excellent, best ever.

Back to the hotel in time for a sunset swim. The hotel called the Relais della Rovere is in an old convent, bits of which date back to C11, with a beautiful pool set amid clover lawns and beds of lavender and rosemary.

Day 239-240 Mon 11 –Tues 12 Jun 2007, Florence, Tuscany

2007-06-19T03:58:00.000+10:00

Sightseeing in Florence, a blur of renaissance, Romanesque and gothic churches, frescos, paintings, tapestries and museums, including the Duomo, fabulously ornate on the outside with alternating bands of green and white marble, austere on the inside apart from the dome, the Pitti place, the baptistry and too many more to mention.

Shopping in the supermarket, nearly everyone is speaking English, all cheapskate tourists doing self catering but after paying 9 euros ($17) for a gelato its hardly surprising. I return with enough provisions for a family of four for a week and there’s only me and two days.

Day 238 Sun 10 Jun 2007, Lucca to Florence, Tuscany

2007-06-19T03:55:00.002+10:00

First stop is in the opposite direction in Pisa where we score a parking place underneath the tower. Then the morning is spend climbing the tower, visiting the museum, cathedral and baptistry on the Campo dei Miracoli (field of miracles), one of the most impressive collections of buildings and on the WH list of course. Apparently they are all leaning, although the tower is 5.4m off and was leaning even when they’d only got up to the 3rd floor. They stopped at this point for about 26 years before building the next bit, with the top with the bells finished rather later. The climb up the spiral staircase inside the walls is interesting as sometimes you are leaning in and at others leaning outwards as you go up.

After a gelato its off to Florence about 80km away where an apartment awaits. However finding it is a bit of a challenge as because of building works some of the one way streets have been reversed and no-one's told Kenny. Eventually, finding a parking spot right outside we discover that it's only the pick up place for the key and the actual apartment is a couple of kms away, in the labyrinth of lanes by the Ponte Vecchio. We can probably safely claim to be the only Australian car to attempt to cross the Ponte Vecchio much to the consternation of the pavement artists.
Unable to pull off the same parking solution as in Rome, the car is abandoned in a parking station which costs almost as much as the flat – maybe I could sleep in the car – and we set off to explore the city and have dinner at Piazza San Croce.

Day 237 Sat 9 Jun 2007, Lucca, Tuscany

2007-06-19T03:55:00.001+10:00

Lucca is a bike town so after walking 10mins from the hotel to the city centre, its time to get back on the wheels and get a sore bum from the cobbles. Its a lovely little town with more than its fair share of narrow streets, churches, cathedrals and impressive walls to bike round and restaurants to sample.

Day 236 Fri 8 Jun 2007 Bosa, Sardinia to Lucca, Italy

2007-06-19T03:52:00.000+10:00

A very early start, fortunately we managed to get some petrol, with dawn breaking as we head to Alghero airport for I2 to catch the flight to Rome, HK and Sydney. After making the airport in time, Kenny decides to spend the morning explore Cala Gonone on Gulfo di Orosei on the east coast where there are steep limestone cliffs plunging into the sea. It’s a bit hazy so instead of a boat trip we make do with a cappuccino on the terrace before driving north via an amazing bronze age village of Serra Orrios with remains of 70 or so round stone huts and burial chambers called nuraghe and on to Golfo Aranco in time to catch the afternoon ferry to the mainland at Livorno. It’s another enormous yellow thing, this one even larger and glitzier than the one we went on, with a swimming pool, cocktail bar and full of German kamper vans mostly with a full complement of bikes, scooters, windsurfers and kids. Most of them are old hands at this trip, knowing how to grab the best seats and get to the front of the meal queues

Although its very fast, its pretty late by the time we reach the mainland but Kenny guides us unfailingly through the spaghetti of motorways to the hotel on the outskirts of Lucca, another wotif special.

Day 235 Thurs 7 Jun 2007 Bosa to Bosa, Sardinia, Italy

2007-06-19T03:48:00.000+10:00

Not much happening as the car’s now abandoned opposite the dormant petrol station and isn’t going anywhere and neither are we. Apparently the petrol station owners are protesting about proposals to deregulate the sale of petrol and derestrict the number of petrol stations. Understandably they are up in arms about the threat to their monopoly – interesting to compare petrol stations in the different countries – interesting for us that is, probably not for you but here goes anyway as there’s not much else to blog about today.

In Australia they’re deregulated and disappearing like morning dew as sites are sold for housing. Petrol retailing is dominated by the supermarkets who bought out the retail operations from the petrol companies who never made any money out of selling just fuel or so they keep telling us.
Compare this with India where despite strict regulation on sites, they are opening up everywhere; for example on the main motorway type road from Delhi to Rajasthan, in Haryana state there’s one almost every km with new ones being built in between. At present traffic volumes each car could have its own personal petrol station. Most sell just petrol although a few newer larger ones have food outlets too but there’s no way they make any money, perhaps owning a petrol station is a status thing?

In Pakistan and Nepal they are usually v small, family run businesses, untidy, littered with car parts and selling petrol from Castrol. Hundreds of CNG (compressed natural gas) stations are under construction. They advertise clean loos and wireless internet but we never found either. We also suspect the petrol, diesel and CNG all come out of the same tank.

In Turkey, there are petrol stations everywhere even on quiet roads, usually large with good food outlets, markets, mosques, free car washing and internet and massive but clean toilets. Because there are thousands of long distance buses the petrol stations are designed to cope with 4 or 5 bus loads at a time. There doesn’t seem to be any specific limitations on the number of stations and most sell some food or groceries as well. Frustratingly the advertised prices on the signboards often bear no relationship to those on the pump, appearing to show the prices they were selling petrol for before the Gulf war (remember the one which was supposed to ensure petrol supplies for the free world). However this is partly compensated for by the freebies – we have a nice set of tea glasses, hand cleaners, key rings but have eaten all the boxes of Turkish delight.

Italy is pretty primitive from a petrol retailing perspective, most stations seem to be small owned by private operators with little retailing apart from petrol. They are often kerb side in city centre streets,( a waste of good real estate) have limited hours, closed on Sundays and are self service. Because they are restricted to selling only petrol, which is expensive, they don’t make much profit hence their concerns about deregulation and the lack of anyone to clean the windscreen. Greece is the same except in Greece they don’t have any petrol stations on motorways which is very strange, mind you the motorways are strange too as they have only one lane each way, don’t have central reservations, have two way traffic and overtaking depends on the oncoming driver and the one being passed both driving on the edge of the road, all at 160km/hr which goes along way to explaining why Greece has the highest road toll in the Eu.

Warned you it would be boring, tomorrow if we are stuck here we might blog about comparative breakfasts, equally riveting

Day 231-4 Sun 3 – Wed 6 Jun 2007 Bosa, Sardinia, Italy

2007-06-19T03:46:00.000+10:00

We spend four days in this sleepy little town on the west coast, doing very little apart from drinking coffee in the square, drinking wine on the roof and eating an assortment of local produce which ranges from pecorino cheese and olives to lobster and sardines (what else in Sardinia). We start getting used to the afternoon siesta where everything closes from 1pm to 5pm and everyone sleeps or something.
One day we decide to visit Alghero 45km to the north where we take a boat trip across the bay to the sea caves at Capo Caccia (the Grotte dei Nettune). In the evening we linger too long over pasta and a bottle of semillon watching the sunset to find the 24hr petrol station has closed. The car’s saying it will only go 30km so we waste 10kms in an unsuccessful attempt to find a station which is open.

Crossing our fingers we set off back to Bosa at 11pm, coasting down the hills but by half way its saying only 5km left. Pressing on and trying not to brake on the twisting cliff road we finally make it to Bosa with the car saying minus 15km and park in the first available spot outside the petrol station. In the morning we discover that there’s in fact a nationwide petrol strike which started at sunset and will last for two days and we haven’t even enough petrol to get to the beach. Still there are worse places to be marooned, at least the weather’s fine, the food’s good and there’s no shortage of wine, although whether we will make it back to the other side of the island for the ferry on Friday is another matter.

Day 230 Sat 2 Jun 2007 Costa Smeralda, to Bosa, Sardinia, Italy

2007-06-19T03:45:00.000+10:00

A beautiful drive around the north coast of Sardinia visiting little marina villages and towns with castles on the way, including a stop to buy Sardinian cheeses and ham and another to watch the waves before having a picnic lunch in the lee of a Spanish tower near St Terase dei Gallura. The roads are quiet although quite twisting and most of the villages seem deserted, possibly because its Republic day although there are no signs of the parade that Rome was preparing for. By late afternoon we’re ready to tackle the coast road from Alghero to Bosa on the west side of the island, which clings to the mountainside high above the of the sea, occasionally dipping down to rocky coves before climbing back up again. We reach Bosa at sunset, on the banks of the Tema river where we find a little hotel at the top of three flights of steep stairs.

Day 229 Fri 1 Jun 2007 Rome to Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, Italy

2007-06-19T03:43:00.000+10:00

An early start but the hotel manager, awakened from his sleep on a couch can’t find the key to the garage. Minutes pass anxiously as we have to be at the ferry by 7.15 but fortunately Kenny finds the autostrada after only several wrong turns and a short cut through a carpark, and we are soon cruising at 160km through the dawn to the port. It’s very confusing as there are few signs and lots of wharves but eventually we spot a large yellow ship which we drive onto just as they are raising the gang-plank. It’s a long and boring crossing spent reading about the Popes Daughter and watching Strong Bad podcasts before arriving in a sunny but windy Sardinia in the late afternoon. We head north up the Costa Smeralda to a little marina where we find the Sirene hotel, finish the whisky and dine on pizza overlooking the harbour. The place is a base for charter sailing so we make a mental note to return one day. Packer’s ugly tugboat-like yacht is moored in the bay so we’re obviously in the right place but he doesn’t stop by to say hello – perhaps its too windy to come ashore.

Day 228 Thurs 31 May 2007 Rome, Italy

2007-06-19T03:40:00.000+10:00

Today starts with a visit to the nearby St Maria in Cosmedin with its famous Bocca della Verita manhole cover and the C2 BC Temples of Hercules and Portunus, before catching the open top bus to Piazza del Campidoglio designed by Michelangelo and the Santa Maria in Aracoeli with its miracle-working Santo Bambino figure which daily gets mail from all over the world. After trying unsuccessfully to visit the new viewing gallery on top of the Victor Emmanuel Monument, its so new its closed as some bigwig needing a dozen motorcycle outriders and hundreds of cops to stop the traffic has just turned up to open it. Then its back on a bus to the Pantheon which is the oldest and most complete Roman structure in Rome, a vast circular domed temple which survived after being converted to a church.

Unfortunately the tour buses have stopped running due to a strike so we end up walking to the Piazza Navona with its famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (fountain of the four rivers) by Bernini which is undergoing restoration. However the equally impressive Fontana del Moro is in full flood and after a slice of pizza which surprisingly is sold by weight, we wander through the laneways to the Trevi Fountain where some spare Turkish coins are dutifully thrown over our shoulders. Neptune doesn’t seem to mind and the Tritons attempting to subdue an unruly seahorse and lead a more placid one are unfussed. By now the buses are back in operation and we ride around the rest of the city as the sun is setting, pausing to watch firemen on the colosseum, which doesn’t appear to be on fire so perhaps they are doing abseiling practice or putting up the fireworks for Sunday’s parade. We have dinner in the third restaurant on the piazza before driving across the city to our new hotel for the evening, positioned to enable us to make an early morning dash to the ferry at Civitavecchia. There’s a full moon rising as we cross the Tiber passing the Vatican (does that mean we can count it as a separate country?) and head for the hills above the city.

Day 227 Wed 30 May 2007 Rome, Italy

2007-06-19T03:38:00.000+10:00

Catching a bus to the Vatican we enter St Peter’s Square in time to catch an audience with the Pope who’s on a dais greeting the assemble throng in various different languages. We move on to the entrance to the Vatican Museum where we explore numerous galleries crammed with frescoes, statues, paintings and tapestries including the fabulous Raphael rooms decorated for Pope Julius II in 1508. These include the ‘School of Athens’ depicting the debate between Aristotle and Plato reconciling Christianity, logic and science with some of Raphael’s mates like Leonardo and Michelangelo depicted as philosophers and scholars. Many pictures and statues later we arrive at the Sistine Chapel where we join the crowd with crooked necks gazing at the ceiling and walls decorated by Botticelli, Perugino, Rosselli and Michelangelo who was responsible for the ceiling panels and the end wall Last Judgement. The frescos were restored in 1993 and are amazingly bright and clear.
After a surfeit of art we head back to St Peters with its enormous nave and soaring dome, where the Pope’s conducting a service for visiting nuns. We admire Michelangelo’s Pieta and Bernini’s canopy and tomb of Alexander 9 before catching an open top tour bus around the city back to our hotel where dinner is in the second of the three restaurants in the piazza.

Day 226 Tues 29 May 2007 Tivoli to Rome, Italy

2007-06-19T03:35:00.000+10:00

It’s pouring down in the morning which we decide is ideal weather to visit the Villa d’Este with its world heritage fountain-filled gardens. Created in the C16 for a cardinal with too much money and insufficient piety, on the site of a convent, it has beautiful frescoed terraces and an extensive garden with an amazing array of over-the-top fountains and statues on a terraced hillside. Then it's a quick stop at the Villa Adriana so we can tick it off the WH list before heading to Rome. Fortunately the weather improves and we drive through Rome around the Colosseum and numerous sights before ignoring the no cars sign, we reach our hotel in a tiny laneway in Trastevere, a stones throw from the Isola Tiberina, (island in the Tiber). We manoeuvre into a space designed for a Smart Car which although they may look pretentious and decidedly un-chic in Sydney represent the epitome of auto evolution in Rome, where we manage to leave the car for 3 days safe from predatory tow trucks and parking attendants – the former can’t get in and the latter don’t understand the numberplate.

After checking into the hotel we walk over the river to the Palatine in the Ancient Centre where Rome was founded, with its ruins of Domitus’s palace, Domus Flavia and villa of Augustus, Domus Augustana, past the colosseum and around the Roman Forum before returning via the Piazza Venezia and Capitoline where they are busy preparing from the forthcoming republic day parade. We have dinner in one of the three restaurants on the little Piazza Piscinula next to the hotel.

Day 225 Mon 28 May 2007 Spoleto to Tivoli, Italy

2007-06-19T03:34:00.000+10:00

The overnight rain eases up and we explore Spoleto, reputedly Umbria’s loveliest hill town which lives up to its reputation. The cathedral has a beautifully restored fresco cycle by Fra Filipo Lippi from 1476 depicting the life of the Virgin and Pinturicchio’s unfinished Madonna and Child. There’s also the fantastic 80m high Ponte delle Torri bridge over the river to visit, after which we duck into a nearby wine bar to escape the recurrent rain. It rains hard as we leave Spoleto and an accident on the main road forces on to a series of winding back lanes towards Tivoli outside Rome.

Despite its two world heritage sites, Tivoli has a dearth of hotels and we spend ages circling the old town in search of somewhere to stay. The plan to use this as a base for exploring Rome is cancelled but we eventually find the Hotel Sirene overlooking a temple of Vesta and the gardens of Villa Gregoriana. In the evening we go in search of an internet cafe and get hopelessly lost in the labyrinth of lanes in the medieval city, even Kenny can’t see enough of the sky to find our way back.

Day 224 Sun 27 May 2007 Assisi to Spoleto, Italy

2007-06-19T03:32:00.000+10:00

Awoken by the bells from the church literally just outside our window,(the rooms at the same level as the bells in the tower) we find breakfast in Italy has improved considerably from the hard rolls and cold coffee of 30 years ago and, suitably sated, we wend our way towards Spoleto via Perugia.

We stop in Perugia, another medieval hill top town which like Assisi is largely car free, with carparks below linked by escalators. Climbing up to the centre we find the cathedral and the main museum which occupies us for most of the afternoon with its fascinating art collection housed in a massive Venetian style palazzo. We also find an interesting Etruscan well dating from C2nd BC before driving on to Spoleto where after several circuits of its maze of narrow streets we find the Hotel Charleston and a splendid meal at the Apollinaire restaurant.

Day 223 Sat 26 May 2007 Ancona to Assisi, Umbria, Italy

2007-06-19T03:29:00.000+10:00

Finally we’ve arrived in the historical theme park called Italy after an uneventful overnight ferry crossing from Zadar in Croatia. Comfortable ship and smooth sailing aided by using up our last Croatian kona on the local maraschino cherry liqueur, (sweet but not red). Surprising how many coins we can find tucked away and how many shots they buy.

Dawn sees us driving off the ship through minimal (ie no) formalities into the Italian countryside. Kenny after being dormant since Darwin suddenly springs to life and with only a slight trace of an Italian accent takes us via highways and byways to Assisi where he parks us outside the castle. We tumble half asleep into the narrow geranium filled streets in search of coffee which we find on the steps of a Roman temple to Minerva. Suitably revived we plunge further into the labyrinth of lanes cascading down hill until we are emptied out into the piazza in front of the basilica of St Francis, he of the preaching to birds fame.

We embark upon a visit, firstly to the upper church (there are three above each other) filled with amazing Giotto frescoes from about 1350 depicting the life of St F who rebelled against the excesses of Rome at the time and preached peace and goodwill. Then its downstairs to the lower church, with its equally stunning frescoes, in darker tones and to the crypt where St F is interred. A short walk back up hill brings us to the Duomo and the Cathedral of St Clare with its beautiful rose windows before we return to the car parked high above the town. As we approach a band appears and then a procession of chefs as well as most of the townsfolk, celebrating a wedding or christening, we’re not sure which. We leave Assisi for the nearby village of Ospedalicchio where we find an Albergo in a converted 17C fort with grand rooms.

Day 222 Fri 25 May 2007 Trogir, Croatia to the Adriatic

2007-05-27T17:26:00.001+10:00

Collecting our laundry we leave Trogir and head north to the world heritage cathedral and old town of Sebrinik where we pause for ice creams before moving on up the coast to Zadar, which has its old town on a peninsula and an interest mix of old roman remains, byzantine cathedrals and C14 churches. An interesting byzantine cathedral is built using random bits of roman remains, bits of columns and left over plaques.

After dinner in a lovely courtyard we drive to the port and board the overnight ferry to Italy

Day 221 Thurs 24 May 2007 Trogir, Croatia

2007-05-27T17:15:00.000+10:00

After booking a ferry from Zadar to Ancona in Italy, we decide to stay another night in Trogir and spend the morning exploring the old town, climbing the bell tower of the 14C cathedral and stopping for coffees, beers and wine on the waterfront. Its tough we know but we have to get ourselves into shape for Italy at the weekend. In the afternoon we drive round the island and find a beach (well more like a gravel road but that's what passes for beaches in the Adriatic) and have a very pleasant swim.

Day 220 Wed 23 May 2007 Hvar to Trogir, Croatia

2007-05-27T17:13:00.002+10:00

Up early to catch the 11am ferry, we breakfast on the quay and then head off to join the ferry queue to the mainland. It's about 2hrs across to Split where we visit the Diocletian Palace, built as the Emperor Diocletius’s retirement home in 300AD and later taken over as a town by the citizens of nearby Saloma when they were attacked by the Slavs. Its on the WH list of course and we wander around the narrow streets, stopping for coffee and visiting ancient churches before heading northwards to Trogir, another WH town with strong venetian influences.

We find a hotel on the waterfront overlooking the old town and venture in search of dinner. What appears to the usual Croatian fare turns out to be the most delicious meal for a while.

Day 219 Tues 22 May 2007 Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina to Hvar, Croatia

2007-05-27T17:13:00.001+10:00

Leaving Mostar in an unaccustomed rain shower, we return to Croatia after surveying the war damage. Bosnia is clearly much poorer and more third world like than Croatia or even Albania, but they are busy building what promises to be a very nice park in the city.

Stopping to use up our Bosnian KMs – its quite difficult as everythings quite cheap, we have coffee in a beautiful Ottoman town with obligatory walls, castle and cobbled streets west of Mostar. Its very Turkish in Bosnia, not just the mosques but the hamans (baths), coffee and grilled meat as well as the ottoman houses.
Back in Croatia we while away an hour or two in the Bar Oz waiting for the ferry to the island of Hvar whilst it thunders. Eventually the ferry emerges from the storm looking like something in a Turner painting, and we cross to the island. Its long and thin with a single narrow road running its length. By early evening we reach Stari Grad, an original roman settlement near the western tip. After walking the length of the waterfront we cant find a hotel, although there are dozens of buildings which would make great little inns, and resort to an agency which provides us with a room in a private house. Much of the accommodation in Croatia is in private homes, mostly owned by widows with families in Melbourne, with agencies in each town which arrange bookings. Its quite a good system as most of the hotels are large resorts built in the 1970s and should have been used instead of the Mostar bridge for target practice.

The ferry to Split leaves at 11 the following morning so we decide to visit the town of Hvar for dinner. Its about 16km from Stari Grad and is a beautiful venetian style of settlement based around a little harbour full of smart charter yachts. There’s the obligatory collection of ancient churches and monasteries, castles and palaces, and narrow cobbled streets all in limestone and marble. Dinner comprises the obligatory Dalmatian smoked ham, mussels, fish and Hvarian wine as we watch the sun set once more into the Adriatic.

Day 218 Mon 21 May 2007 Ston, Croatia to Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina

2007-05-27T17:12:00.002+10:00

After one of the best breakfasts of the trip, sitting on the waters edge and catching up with all the admin, mainly ferry bookings and tax, we leave Ston and head inland to Mostar in Bosnia & Herzegovina. We’re fairly ripping through these countries now and the back window of the car where we paste the flags is getting a bit crowded. Still Mostar is on the world heritage list so we have to make the effort. Fortunately border formalities are minimal as we ignore the direction to stop and be searched and reach Mostar in early afternoon.

It’s a bit of a culture shock and our sympathy for the Croats after seeing the destruction at Dubrovnik is lessened somewhat when we drive down the main street of Mostar. On what was the front line between the Croats and the Bosnian Serbs, virtually no building is unscathed with many burned out ruins, windowless and roofless, with every surface riddled with bullet or shell holes. A few have been patched up or restored or rebuilt but the extent of reconstruction appears to be just starting and much slower than in the other Balkan towns we visited. Mostar bridge itself with its watchtowers, built in the 1550s and destroyed in 1993 has been rebuilt and looks splendid, with much of the old town on either side restored. The churches and mosques too have been largely rebuilt but outside a 500m radius from the bridge it still looks like the war zone it was. Who was fighting whom and why is extremely difficult to fathom, its the usual mix of religion (Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish) with shifting alliances combined with ethnicity (Slavs, Serbs, Croats and Albanian). Whilst everyone now is pleasant and cheerful, getting on with making money, or at least a living, its not hard to envisage it all erupting again in the future.

After lunch of ham and smoked meats, cheeses and Bosnian donuts, washed down with Sarajevan beer we explore the town with its narrow cobbled street before staying overnight in a restored watermill.

Day 217 Sun 20 May 2007 Dubrovnik to Ston, Croatia

2007-05-27T17:12:00.001+10:00

A new plan emerges and we leave Dubrovnik for Ston on the Peljusac peninsula, which juts out into the Adriatic for 65km north. Its a pleasant coastal drive and at the landward end we find the village of Ston, with its obligatory 15C walls, madly built up vertical hill sides and its famous oyster beds and vineyards.

On the way we stop for petrol and sit in the car for a while wondering why the little man doesn’t emerge to fill us up, he just watches from the shop. It eventually dawns on us that we are no longer in a low wage economy and we have to do it ourselves, which is a bit of a shock, first time in 4000li since leaving Aus. He even wants 40Kn (about A$9) for a car wash but relents and gives it to us for free once we’ve bought up most of his tank. After visiting Orebic at the far end of the peninsula where there is a splendidly sited Franciscan monastery, the reason for the change of plan becomes apparent when we return to Ston and tuck into the local produce with gusto.

Day 216 Sat 19 May 2007 Dubrovnik, Croatia

2007-05-27T17:11:00.001+10:00

Catching the bus to the old city, we alight at the Pile Gate and enter the old town through a gateway guarded by guards in colourful Croatian uniform. Its a traffic free town within the walls with a maze of narrow streets and passageways, churches, palaces and museums, as well as lots of houses and shops, cafes and restaurants. Although there lots of tourists its not too crowded and its beautiful sunny day. The harbour and sea are an amazing blue with crystal clear water. We notice that most of the buildings appear to have new red tiled roofs and learn that the entire city was extensively bombed and shelled during the Homeland war in 1991-2 when the city was under siege for 9 months. Over half the buildings were hit, many destroyed and there are bullet scars on virtually every wall. However they have done an amazing job of restoring the place and unless you look carefully you’d hardly notice.
After a late lunch on the waterside we explore a Franciscan monastery before walking around the city walls. These walls are stupendous, the most extensive walls around any city and provide superb views, although the steps are quite exhausting.

Day 215 Fri 18 May 2007 Kotor, Montenegro to Dubrovnik, Croatia

2007-05-27T17:10:00.002+10:00

Kotor is another world heritage site, an ancient walled city with interesting passageways, narrow streets churches and coffee shops to explore. Its fairly crowded with tourists, a cruise liner pulled in during the night so after an hour or two getting lost we travel on around the fjord, stopping for lunch on the waterside at Perast before crossing into Croatia and reaching Dubrovnik.

We drive around Dubrovnik checking out hotels, mostly either full or too expensive, before finding one near the beach at Lapad, about 3km north of the old city. Guided by LP we find a very pleasant fish restaurant in time to see the sun set.

Day 214 Thurs 17 May 2007 Shkoder, Albania to Kotor, Montenegro

2007-05-27T17:10:00.001+10:00

Crossing into Montenegro, the world’s newest country founded less than a year ago, at a quiet border post we travel through country lanes before descending to the town of Bar where we discover Stari Bar, no not a place for margaritas but an ancient walled settlement largely destroyed in a series of earthquakes but now undergoing restoration. We picnic on the old city walls and wander round the hilly ruin before journeying on along the Adriatic coast to Kotor on a fjord surrounded by towering limestone mountains. Turning left by mistake we drive along the lake shore through tiny villages and find a pleasant hotel with beautiful rooms overlooking the lake. Unfortunately its too expensive so we elect a cheaper option across the road but are forced, without much reluctance, to return to the nicer hotel for dinner because of the noisy building work. Montenegro appears in a headlong rush to catch up with building works and concrete trucks everywhere. We have an excellent dinner on the fjords edge looking back to Kotor.

Day 213 Weds 16 May 2007 Vlore to Shkoder, Albania

2007-05-27T17:09:00.001+10:00

Leaving the coast behind we drive inland past some weird new house building, well suited to Cherrybrook, and onto Berat, another ottoman walled town built around a castle high above a gorge. In a mixture of Italian and Albanian a boy escorts us round pointing out the main sites and showing us secret passages through the walls and a large underground cistern. Then its back on the road to Shkoder in the north of the country situated on the vast Shkodra lake. Here we find possibly the best hotel since resuming the trip, with free internet and very comfortable rooms.
An endearing feature of Albania is its ubiquitous hemispherical concrete and quite indestructible bunkers which gaze at you from slits on every patch of ground, fields, beaches, front gardens. Apparently there are 700,000 of them scattered everywhere, built to reinforce the sense of paranoia cultivated by Hoxa who wanted everyone to believe that their nation paradise was under imminent threat from all the surrounding jealous neighbours. LP reckons their main function today is as an alternative to the back seat of an old merecedes for losing ones virginity. They’re also useful as tethering posts or mounting blocks for donkeys.

Day 212 Tues 15 May 2007 Saranda to Vlore, Albania

2007-05-27T17:08:00.000+10:00

Starting early to avoid the german tour groups who we are advised come over from Corfu we head south to world heritage Butrint, a little peninsula at the mouth of a coastal lagoon which has been a settlement through the ages from the Greeks in 4CBC to the Ottomans in C19. Its a lovely experience wandering around the deserted ruins in the forest including large Greek theatre and temple to Asclepius, god of healing, with a modern museum in a venetian fortress. The one hour stroll takes three before we reluctantly leave and head back up the coast to Vlore.

The roads aren’t quite as bad as the Greeks prophesied but they’re steep, very narrow and do have lots of potholes. The route climbs over cliffs and plunges down to little coves with fabulous views out over the Ionian sea at every turn. Traffic is fairly light for the main north south highway, with 90% of the cars being a mix of older retired and newer allegedly stolen Mercedes. We climb an amazing pass which ascends in a series of hairpins to 1100m where we picnic on a half built lookout before dropping back down again, reaching Vlore in the late afternoon where we find the incongruous New York hotel on the beach where we watch the sunset. As Vlore is the centre of mafia activity in Albania (car and people smuggling) we decide that it must have been built with Mafia money for mafia clientele.

Day 211 Mon 14 May 2007 Monodendri, (Vikos Gorge) Greece to Saranda, Albania

2007-05-27T17:07:00.002+10:00

The Apktoupos hotel by the gorge is so quiet and comfortable we sleep in till 10am (we’re the only guests) and then check out the Tardis shower. After closing the podbay doors and being beamed up it has a stereo and hands free phone, light and fan as well as foot massage, mirrors and a seat. It also has water which comes out of any number of different orifices and directions. Fortunately we have to move the car to allow the road to be paved or else we might have spend all morning in there.
A quick wander round the village and then its off to Albania. We have been warned by every Greek we meet about the dangers lurking around every corner in Albania. They roll their eyes when they mention the roads – potholes as big as buses and cross themselves before telling you about the Albanian people who apparently are all thieves and vagabonds. (Bit like the Singaporean taxi drivers who sternly warn you when they take you to JB that you’re not in Singapore now so you must be very careful). Anyway suitably cautiously we head over the border having locked the doors and filled the tank with petrol.

Soon we find ourselves in world heritage Gjirokastra, a small Ottoman town perched beneath a castle which even LP tries to frighten us about, describing it as Draculean or Wagnerian. Anyway its closed so we have a picnic below the battlements above the decaying town. On a bright sunny day it seems alright to us, a bit scruffy and rundown like most of Albania but we don’t see any thieves or vagabonds, just a few curiously locals wondering why we are trying to drive up cobbled dead end laneways with nowhere to turn round.

Then its on a narrow winding road over the hills to the coast at Saranda, a very pretty little fishing port being totally overwhelmed by rampant construction. Every patch of ground is sprouting a highrise hotel most of which are empty despite being painted alluring shades of pink, yellow and rainbow colours. We find a nice one right at the tiny harbour and sit on the balcony watching the sunset over the Ionian sea. The road outside the hotel where we’ve parked has become pedestrianised and soon the car is sitting by itself in a sea of promenading Albanians. Needless to say, living up to the Greeks’ warnings, Kenny the kangaroo clinging to the aerial lasts about 3 minutes, giving Albania a score of 9 on our kleptomaniac index, beaten only by India where we got thru three Kennys in a day. Soon we venture out in search of dinner but find that whilst the Albanians fill up all the outdoor cafes which line the esplanade no one is actually eating. They seem to make one drink last forever so maybe they eat early and then go promenading en masse. Eventually we find a cafe serving pizzas which go down well with a bottle of Albanian red.

Day 210 Sun 13 May 2007 Meteora to Monodendri, (Vikos Gorge) Greece

2007-05-27T17:07:00.001+10:00

Meteora, which of course is on the world heritage list is a collection of 14C byzantine monasteries perched impossibly on top of gigantic granite pinnacles. Why anyone would scale the sheer cliffs let alone struggle to build elaborate monasteries on the top of them is confounding. There are six still in use reached by precarious stairways although the road winding around the base of the pinnacles makes it a bit easier than the original way of rope ladders or being hauled up in a net. Once at the top the monasteries are surprisingly elaborate with beautiful gardens and well maintained buildings which have been fully modernised. The churches have beautiful and horrific frescoes, those outside the altar area depicting hell and damnation as well as various tortures being applied to saints (eg their heads being sawn in two, disembowelment and legs being chopped off. One poor chap is attached to a wheel and rotated over gruesome spikes. However once you are inside the sacristy (not sure of our ecclesiastical architectural nomenclature here) its all sweetness and light. There are beautiful carvings and ornate gilded panels with vistas of paradise.

After visiting three or four we decide its time to head off to Ioannina via some lovely mountain roads. Its late afternoon when we get to there so after getting lost driving round the old town where the laneways are a finger nails thickness wider than the car, we find a restaurant by the lake for a very pleasant late lunch. Then its back on the road towards the Vikos gorge and tiny village of Monodrendi. Getting lost in the lanes we find a monastery overlooking what claims to be the world’s deepest gorge plunging 900m.(they obviously haven’t been to Tiger Leaping Gorge or up the Karakoram). Anyway it the early evening its very still and beautiful.

Day 209 Sat 12 May 2007 Delphi to Meteora, Greece

2007-05-27T17:06:00.001+10:00

We manage to make it to the archaeological sites this morning before its overrun by tour groups, starting with the temple of Athena before consulting the oracle at the temple of Apollo, progressing up the sacred way past the remains of the various treasuries where the offerings to the oracle were stored. In order to have your prophecy or problem solved you had to pay a fee and make a special offering. Initially the oracle, a elderly peasant woman, who went into a trance after imbibing the fumes emanating from the sacred spring and delivered an incomprehensible rambling which only the priests could translate, gave prophecies once a year, but later as demand grew she was persuaded to ramble each month, except in winter when Apollo vacated the temple and Dyonesis took over. The prophecies were deliberately ambiguous and vague but great store was set by them including momentous events such as waging war, embarking on voyages and founding cities as well as more prosaic such as weddings. The remains although extensive aren’t as much restored as Ephesus and Troy in Turkey, but nevertheless are still very impressive.

Then it’s back on the road, to Meteora 300km north. We quickly discover that the AA Road Atlas of Europe 2007 edition, isn’t as comprehensive as it purports and in fact is about as useless as the ancient Greek map in the museum for finding the way along white roads in the mountains. We find ourselves on roads not travelled since the Spartans took a short cut on the way to Marathon and after several hours emerge back on a main road about 20km from where we started. So we decide to stick to the motorway henceforth although even that has us heading at right angles to our intended direction. However its fast despite the radar traps and we head back up through Larisa, eventually reaching Meteora, where we find the Sydney Hotel run by an Australian Greek who also has fish shops at North Ryde. He promises us a real aussie breakfast which turns out to be no different from any other Greek breakfast which is generally a poor imitation of a Turkish one albeit with the addition of a slice of processed ham.

As the sun is setting we drive up through the narrow valleys between the amazing granite pinnacles, perched on the top of which are various monasteries which we will visit tomorrow.

Day 208 Fri 11 May 2007 Delphi, Greece

2007-05-27T17:05:00.000+10:00

After a slow start we spend what’s left of the morning at the tremendous new Delphi Museum with its stunning collection of artefacts from the various Greek and Roman remains. These include the brothers, the famous charioteer and statues of Hadrian’s lover who drowned in the Nile, Apollo and Aphrodite. Its all too much so we slowly make our way back to the town and have lunch under the shade of an ancient horse chestnut tree in the main street. Its too hot to go exploring ruins in the afternoon so we have a long siesta before hitting the shops in the late afternoon and dinner at a less crowded tavern with a splendid view of the sunset.

Day 207 Thurs 10 May 2007 Litochoro (Mt Olympus) to Delphi, Greece

2007-05-27T17:04:00.000+10:00

We drive up the side of Mt Olympus through beech and pine forests, with expansive views over the Aegean far below and glimpses of the snow capped summit above, but decide that there’s not enough time to walk to the top – its a two day climb and our trekking days are over. Then we head south on what’s designated a motorway but in reality is a two lane highway along which everyone careers at 160km/hr no wonder Greece has the highest road toll in Europe and is quite the most dangerous place to drive we’ve been through.

There are inlets of the azure sea everywhere – its stunningly beautiful if one can risk a glance. Soon we reach the Gulf of Corinth and drive up to Delphi (another world heritage site) where we check into the Olympic Hotel with its views down to Itrea on the coast far below dinner. After walking up and down the main street we are enticed by a restaurant with a large terrace overlooking the bay but unfortunately no sooner have we sat down than we are joined by hundreds of tour group people so we quickly adjourn to an internet cafe to post the next blog.

Day 206 Wed 9 May 2007 Alexandropolus to Litochoro (Mt Olympus), Greece

2007-05-11T04:45:00.000+10:00

After a brief visit to the BMW service centre as we’ve got a squeak from the suspension (they decide its just mud and give it a squirt with a hose which fixes nothing) we head back to the motorway along the coast towards Thessaloniki . The Aegean is at its best, flat calm and turquoise. We glimpse Mt Athos in the distance and as its on the World Heritage list we feel justified in ticking it off (apparently only males can visit and then only 10 per day). Ditto the Byzantine churches of Thessaloniki which we pass at 160km/hr which are also on the list.
Then we go to Vergina where the list says cryptically ‘archaeological remains’. Not sure what to expect we follow the signs but end up in a massive archaeological dig where there’s nothing to see. Fortunately we stumble across the Royal Tombs which were found in 1978 and which are now in a magnificent underground museum which replicates the original burial tumulus. The tombs, of King Philip II of Macedonia, Alexander the Great’s Dad who died in 335BC, and of Alex’s son, plus various others were filled with treasures, jewellery, pottery, armour, weapons etc which are mostly intact and beautifully displayed. The site is one of the highlights of the trip, all the more so as neither of us knew anything about it before we entered the burial mound complaining about the admission price.

By late afternoon it’s south to the little village of Litochoro nestled beneath Mt Olympus, home of the Gods and the centre of the Ancient Greek world. Its about 2900m and has snow on the top although is less than 10km from the sea. We find the Aphrodite hotel in the village square and a taverna for dinner where the wine is only E3 a bottle (A$5). Think we might stay here for a few days.

Day 205 Tues 8 May 2007 Canakkale, Turkey to Alexandropolus, Greece

2007-05-11T04:44:00.000+10:00

Crossing back to Europe on a short ferry ride to Kilitbahir we stop to explore the magnificent castle built by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1452 and later enlarged by Suleiman the Magnificent before driving round the Saroz bay to the Greek border. It takes about an hour and half of waiting around and following the little man who holds our carnet and passports before we get the necessary collection of stamps. Its a bit of a game as one customs man passes the papers to another who passes them to another and you have to keep track of who’s got the docs and follow them everywhere they go, which is back and forth between the office building and the booths about four or five times. On one occasion they do a dummy pass and you end up following the wrong man for quarter of an hour and then have to race back to see if you can spot the original man and make sure he doesn’t slope off home or change shifts before the paperwork’s finished. Occasionally you get ushered into the boss man’s office, where there is a line of chairs and you move up like in a doctors waiting room or outside the headmasters study. Even the bossman looks at the docs like their written in a foreign language, which of course they are. Just as well we stopped for lunch.

Then its into Greece where the sniffer dogs are too busy pulling a Croatian Ford transit to pieces to bother with us and we’re on the motorway heading west. We stop for petrol in Alexandropolus (about half the price of Turkey) and decide to stop for the night in a waterfront hotel (about twice the price of Turkey) and find a taverna for dinner where we try to decipher the alphabet – its like a full time algebra lesson just as we were getting comfortable with Turkish.

We are sad to be leaving Turkey which has a been a surprise highlight of the trip, with its fascinating and varied scenery, historic buildings and possibly the world’s most hospitable and genuinely helpful, friendly people. The weather’s great, if still a little cold at this time of year, the hotels are generally good with modern plumbing, the roads of a high standard and driving well above average despite its reputation. Even the food was quite good although a bit limited – hope they have bacon in Greece - and the power is reliable. Only the petrol and wine are ridiculously priced - you need a second mortgage (well at least $250) to fill the tank, with either, and the customs service runs a close second to India in bureaucratic obfuscation. In Greece by contrast, there’s no one to carry your bags, wash your car or serve you tea or Turkish delight at petrol stations, but at least you can afford to go to them although unlike Turkey they are very few and far between. However we are beginning to miss the universal Turkish breakfasts, bread, olives, yoghurt, cheeses, cucumber, tomato, honey and tea. Greece tends to be some old bread, jam and Nescafe (from a sample of one).

Day 204 Mon 7 May 2007 Canakkale, Turkey

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Abandoning the car, and crossing the Dardanelles on a ferry, we join a tour of the Gallipoli memorials and battlefields in a minibus. Its quite interesting from both an Australian and Turkish perspective and if anyone is doing a school project we have all the photos. Having seen the terrain and understood a little about Kemel Attaturk its hardly surprising the outcome was as futile as it was.

Day 203 Sun 6 May 2007 Ayvalik to Canakkale, Turkey

2007-05-11T04:42:00.000+10:00

Driving round the coast we stop at Assos, a beautiful little fishing village full of little hotels and restaurants on the waterfront and very few tourists where Aristotle set up his teaching shop in 348BC and where we have yet another seafood lunch washed down with some half decent sauvignon blanc. Then it’s on to (World Heritage) Truva or Troy, stopping to watch a tortoise cross the road, before reaching the wooden horse at the entrance to the city.

Troy proves to be fascinating, its the site of 9 successive city settlements spanning 3500 years from 2950BC to the C5 AD, each one built upon the remains of the previous city, an archaeologists delight or nightmare. Its quite hard to get a true sense of sequence and history, particularly after a good bottle of white in the sun, but we persevere and trudge round the ruins diligently reading all the interpretive signs in a manner that would make Graham’s mother proud. Ticking Troy off the list, we’ve now been to 7 of the 9 world heritage sites in Turkey.

By sunset we move on to Canakkale, the town across the Dardanelles from Gallipoli where we find the Kervanseray Hotel in a restored Ottoman general’s house.

Day 202 Sat 5 May 2007 Foca to Ayvalik , Turkey

2007-05-11T04:41:00.002+10:00

After probably the meanest breakfast in Turkey, we drive on a very pretty coastal road round to Bergama (Pergamon). Here there are two sites to be visited: the Asclepion, a C3BC medical school where Galen taught and put into practice the methods which are the basis for modern European medicine today. (He had daughters called Panacea and Hygena so you’d be pretty safe with but would never know if it was the real thing).

The second site is the Acropolis, high above the town, which follows the usual pattern: it reached its zenith in C 2AD under the Romans, who built a magnificent temple to Athena(or Aphrodite or perhaps both), a theatre cut into the hillside, an altar to Zeus, a palace, etc. Like every other site, it was passed from early times between the various warring countries, who destroyed and rebuilt in their own style. Like many of the other ancient sites we have visited, Alexander the Great wrested it from the Persians, and after his untimely death , one of his generals ruled until he lost it to another aggressor. And so it goes on. Turkey seems to have been the stage upon which all the western world’s great history has been played: Greek, Roman, Mongol, Arabic ,Byzantine and Ottoman, to name a few. It becomes difficult to remember which was where or when. Despite the muddle, it is all fascinating.
Ayvalik, another little harbour-side town where we find the Bonjour Pension lurking in a maze of tiny cobbled back streets. In a former French consuls house with lofty ceilings and ottoman furniture, we are the only guests, which is fortunate as it has shared bathrooms, something we haven’t encountered since Tingri in Tibet. We climb up a rickety ladder to the roof to watch the sunset and drink beers before heading down to the waterfront for dinner, only this time we avoid the overpriced fish in favour of four legged food.

Day 201 Fri 4 May 2007 Selcuk to Foca, Turkey

2007-05-11T04:41:00.001+10:00

A visit to the Selcuk Museum with its splendid artifacts from Ephesus and then a pleasant, leisurely drive around the coast to Foca, a small fishing port a stones throw from Lesbos where we find a new but very mediocre hotel on the waterfront, watch the sun set over the Aegean and have dinner at a nearby cafe.

Day 200 Thurs 3 May 2007 Selcuk, Turkey

2007-05-11T04:39:00.000+10:00

The day is devoted to visiting the historic site of Ephesus, once one of the largest cities in Asia Minor and home to the library of Celsus as well as many magnificent ruins. It’s become one of the most popular tourist sites in Turkey and despite it being early in the year it was fairly crowded although by lunchtime the numbers had thinned out.

In the afternoon we return to the hotel and visit the restored remains of the Basilica of St John, who after the crucifixion came here to live with Jesus’s mum who had a house nearby. John wrote his bit of the bible across the road from the hotel. St Paul too used to hang out here until he was run out of town by the makers of idols whose livelihood he threatened. Anyway the Basilica built in C6 by Justinian (who was also a regular Bob the Builder – although we suspect being an emperor he never actually lifted a brick in his life – he just claimed to be the builder so he could get his name in the history books when in fact it was all done by slaves) was/is the 7th largest cathedral in the world and pretty impressive even in its ruined form.

Then its back to the hotel and from the roof terrace we watch the castle burn down. Amazing, its stood since Byzantine times, built in C6 and withstood earthquakes and attacks from all manner of mauraruders, but as we sit on the roof drinking sundowners it catches fire and all the fire engines from Selcuk eventually arrive and squirt water all over the place. Takes about an hour to get it under control and as the smoke clears we see that its only the grass and bush all around it which has been ablaze.

Day 199 Wed 2 May 2007 Bodrum to Selcuk, Turkey

2007-05-11T04:38:00.001+10:00

By morning the rain has stopped and the sun begins to come out making the hotel look even more like something from a child’s toy box. After a leisurely breakfast we set out through the narrow cobbled lanes to find the castle which guards the harbour. Built by the crusaders on their rampage during the C15 it houses the museum of underwater archaeology with a collection of wrecks and finds from wrecks dating back to 3000BC. Of particular interest are the displays of amphora or earthenware jars used for the transport of wine, olive oil and other foodstuffs, which like eggs, were designed for ease of packing in ships and for handling, the glass ware and fragments found in one of the wrecks and the reconstruction of a ship from 500BC. The castle itself is very interesting: a real castle with lots of keeps, battlements and passageways.

In the afternoon we drive round the peninsula where we are smooth-talked into a delicious but expensive lunch at a table right beside the harbour of a small village, before moving on up the coast to Selcuk, the site of Ephesus and its roman ruins. We arrive in early evening and watch a magnificent sunset from the roof of the Hotel Bella, which sits opposite the gate to the byzantine castle and the basilica of St John. From the roof terrace we can also watch a pair of storks nesting on the lamppost just below, apparently they always return to the same nest and stay for approx 6 months from March after wintering in Africa.