The story so far

I'm conscious that I haven't yet given much of a chronological report of my travels so far so here is a story board to bring you all up to date...


One cold, wet day at the beginning of April 2008 in a lovely place in England called 'Aylesbury', I said goodbye to my much-enjoyed MG F convertible in an about-face turn away from materialistic consumerism in favour of back-to-basics, budget living.








Of course no monumental life-change can mobilise until the obligatory drunken last night out has taken place.

Temple Walkabout: Brent, myself and Isabelle. The longest night out in history taking 3 hours to travel from Walkabout, central London circa 2am to Acton Town circa 5am to cram in one hour's sleep before getting up at 6am to be at the truck for 7am. Destination: Belgium by nightfall.









It was however a bloody good night!

A few beers down the line and everything's rosy.














Not so rosy the next morning though. Especially that well known drudgy feeling of being on the tube at an inhumane hour.





I can reassure you that the glassy look in my eyes has nothing to do with class A narcotics and everything to do with sleep deprivation, euphoria and, quite frankly, disbelief.














Sunday 7th April 2008 and as if the morning is crazy enough already ....



it snows!


Crossing London bridge at some ungodly hour.










So off with a bang and the first night (Belgium) was a nippy -10 degrees celsius. I kid you not. I had to sweep ice off the tent in the morning before packing up and departing at something ridiculous like 7am.

Hammering relentlessly on, lunch on the second day was in the Netherlands. Very, very pretty. We however weren't a pretty sight. 25 Pale, tired and slightly dazed people emerging gingerly from a great orange truck to stumble gratefully into a heated, toileted roadside cafe somewhere in Holland.













country or two later and some welcome relief from sub-zero temperatures and a chance to flex my new solo yoga wings. With a little help from my friend!




Prague at the latter part of the week commencing Monday 8th April 2008. Camping and yoga on the banks of the Danube. True to form, I had developed a stinking cold by this time and hadn't yet caught up on any sleep. Simon however had a fantastic all-nighter at a great nightclub while I wrapped myself up in my wholly inadequate sleeping bag with a book. Sunshine. Please!

Sunshine at last! Vienna. And very, very lovely it was too.


This will have been the week commencing 15th April in Vienna. Another lovely campsite and a bit of welcome warmth.

Out for the day in Vienna we came across this wonderful country fayre where it seems that local producers brought their wares from all over Austria to sell and celebrate for the day.


It was such a lovely surprise and we felt really lucky to have stumbled randomly across what is probably an annual national event. So we soaked up the atmosphere, the sunshine (28 degrees that day!) and a couple of glasses of apple cider in joining in the festivities. Well it'd have been rude not to.

And just as well because it wasn't long before we were plunged back into sub-zero temperatures. Again.


Bran Castle, Romania. This is the legendary setting of the Dracula story. Quite magical but freezing bloody cold. Brrrrrrr!

We also went to Budapest, Hungary (see my next post for those photos) and Bucharest, Romania, where we did zero sight-seeing and took a much-needed break. The pace was pretty relentless for the first 3 weeks and together with lack of sleep and a nagging cold that just wouldn't abate, I wasn't feeling fantastic. The yoga however was still coming along nicely.

Next stop: Istanbul, Turkey. About mid-April.


Out to dinner at a lovely Turkish restaurant about 100 yards from the Blue Mosque which you can just make out in the background. Still not feeling 100% I was regularly caving in to early nights. We also shunned the dorm of 20-odd restless, snoring companions after a restless and noisy first night and rented a room down the road for the next couple of nights for some privacy, silence and sleep.




Not feeling up to facing the frenzy of the Grand Bazaar, Simon opted to go it alone that afternoon.




And brought me back this lovely pic. He almost looks like a local and with his impressive language skills could almost pass for one!










Galipolli. 24th April 2008.


View from the tent at sunrise. The day before the ANZAC Memorial which Simon attended. I chose not to spend a cold sleepless night on bleachers in a field and spent a cold sleepless night in a wet tent and a howling gale instead. Hmmmmm.









Still cold, still tired and still have a cold.





Troy ruins. The last week in April.










Things are looking up at Celcuk (must check that spelling) pronounced sell-chook at a lovely beachside campsite near Ephesus.



Simon on the roof of the truck on Wallah duty. We cook on wood fires and only use gas when fires are forbidden. So mostly it's fires.

Would've been lovely if it hadn't rained solidly for 2 days. Hrumph.








Now this is more like it! Olympos. We're talking private cabin, bed and en-suite. Great location, fantastic food, breathtaking scenery and how many times can you say 'I got up this morning from my treehouse, had breakfast in the woods and walked to the beach through the ruins'?


2 Nights in Olympos at the beginning of May 2008. This is the walk to the beach.












And....


this is the beach. Voila!













An afternoon in the hammock with a book before yoga and dinner. Lovely!





















So, here we are. Wednesday 7th May 2008. Goreme, central Turkey.



The big thing here is hot air ballooning. I counted 20 of them on my morning ablutions walk at around 6.30 am. What a lovely sight to wake up to.















And this is one of the famous 'fairy chimneys'. Hundreds of homes in caves in the sandy-looking soft rock.


We're here for another 2 nights so I'll take some better photos after doing a bit of sight-seeing. Today has been a day of admin (hence the blog-blast), snoozing and leisurely lunch.

On Friday we head East for a bush-camp en-route to Nemrut Dagi and are spending Sunday night (11th May) at Lake Van in Eastern Turkey. It'll be Simon's birthday. Monday 12th we'll be in a place called Dogubeyazit (known locally as 'doggy biscuit') from where we'll be entering the border for Iran.

We'll be crossing Iran for the two weeks until the end of May and I've got mixed feelings about it. I'm not concerned for safety but am aware that it'll be more of an 'experience' than a holiday. And I'll probably be glad of some more cool weather as I'll be covered from head to foot. Sadly Simon hasn't been able to get an Iranian visa so he'll have to either go around overland or fly over to meet us in Pakistan on 30th May. Then on to India in June.

I hope you're all well and happy. I've been thinking of everyone lately now that the pace has slowed and there's been time for reflection. Sadly I'll have to stop here as I'm already late for the yoga class I promised to run at 6pm but more about that another time. Fond wishes. Lx