tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-221950492011-11-29T12:13:54.504ZWelcome to the web log for our round the world trip.Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.comBlogger671100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-89334507258996923562009-05-24T08:42:00.013+01:002009-05-28T16:13:37.781+01:00

We've had so many lovely emails asking us for an update since the end of our trip, so here goes.What can I say? After 322 days, 27000 miles and 35 countries, we headed back to Blighty with the Van of Dreams. The van had made it from the UK to the southern tip of India and back in one piece, via Scandanavia, Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Central Asia, China and Pakistan. And all this with only

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-68567642833617852332008-04-27T18:02:00.002+01:002008-04-29T10:51:46.453+01:00

We arrived in Dubrovnik in glorious sunshine and were able to enjoy it at its best: no tourist crowds as you would get in the middle of summer but warm enough to wander around the city walls, the old town and the water front in short sleeves. Its a lovely city and they have done a great restoration job after all the (sickeningly pointless) bombing during the Yugoslav war. We had by then

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-90720528979825862182008-03-01T18:36:00.001Z2008-03-01T18:36:13.934Z

"Albania", Tirana Originally uploaded by rtw2007. As we shivered away at Lake Ohrid in Macedonia, Albania felt like a rather looming presence on the other side of the lake. We weren’t entirely convinced that visiting was such a good idea, primarily due to the scaremongering in our guidebook and on the Foreign Office website, which both suggest a backward country with poor roads, poor

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-77652611467102992432008-02-18T16:05:00.001Z2008-02-18T16:05:29.763Z

Another chilly night in the van (minus 7.8 degrees!) Originally uploaded by rtw2007. A quick update, written predominately in case we don’t survive the night. When we came back to the van at 6pm this evening, our thermometer was already registering an external temperature of minus 5 degrees and the sun had only just gone in. So quite what the temperature will be by 5am, I dread to think.

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-89006430398085123652008-02-16T08:42:00.003Z2008-02-18T16:01:47.913Z

Bugarian Mural, Veliko TurnovoOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. After a couple of days of R&R in Istanbul, we were back on the road headed north-west into the border area shared by Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. As we approached the border zone, we wondered whether a war had started and no-one had bother to tell us: unlike the modern checkpoint coming in from Greece, the roads were very heavily

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-43810283611529883822008-02-09T10:34:00.001Z2008-02-09T10:34:37.142Z

Turkish Flag Originally uploaded by rtw2007. The flag theme continued long after we left the border areas: Turks clearly love their flags. Apparently Turkey holds the world record for “Biggest Flag Flown at Highest Height” – I’m not sure how many other entrants there were for that prestigious title, though! Another continuing, patriotic theme is the Turks’ devotion to one Mustafa Kemal: a

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-71605277628158210002008-02-02T11:12:00.001Z2008-02-02T11:12:52.754Z

Temple to Athena, Assos, Turkey Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We sailed from Italy to Greece in, quite literally, “animal class”. We slept in the camper van on the open deck, next to two trucks packed with tetchy, smelly bulls. This was probably a class above “tourist class” cabins in the ferry itself, though. The ferry looked like it should have been taken out of service in 1975 and

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-8827920131199101402008-02-02T11:09:00.001Z2008-02-02T11:09:47.170Z

Patterned Trulli roof, Alberobello, Puglia Originally uploaded by rtw2007. After a brief sojourn to Malta to meet Helen’s mum and the Sant family in order to celebrate Barbara’s 65th birthday, we rejoined the van in Rome to continue our journey south. It was all too easy to replace our gas canister (the original having been left behind in India due to shipping regulations), which was a

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-57991561086037203212008-01-17T12:00:00.001Z2008-01-17T12:00:21.218Z

Mole Antonelliana, Turin Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Still nursing slight hangovers from Matt and Babs’ wedding, Pitto kindly dropped us off at Luton airport and we prepared to be thrown back into RTW 2007 (perhaps it should now be RTW 2008?). We had booked flights to Turin simply on the basis of it being the nearest cheapo-airline airport to Genoa, where we were due to collect our

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-73120868282220060262008-01-14T16:28:00.001Z2008-01-17T16:07:34.298Z

Burj al Arab,from Jumeriah Beach ResortOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. Spending a few days in Dubai, as a stopover on our way back from India to the UK, was a huge contrast to the majority of our trip so far. Huge buildings which give you neck ache as you crane to see the tops; acres of glass panelling sporting sunny reflections; shopping malls the size of small nations offering Gucci, enormous

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-86309482428836070212007-12-08T13:22:00.001Z2007-12-08T13:33:22.137Z

Van in a container,Chennai cargo terminalOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. Madras Hotel Room: hot sticky and without our van. The van is now in a box and after 240 days of driving, tomorrow we resort to an aeroplane to Dubai. We have done our final miles of driving in India, which took us to a large container depot north of Chennai. It poured with rain all the way, so Italian customs are bound to

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-13038428753464530662007-12-02T11:13:00.001Z2007-12-03T14:36:35.445Z

Houseboat in KeralaOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. So, we have reached Chennai (or Madras as it used to be called), breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed into the nearest available coffee shop (where we are enjoying watching two Pakistani batsmen giving India an absolute beating… though we have to stay quiet about enjoying this, for fear of getting lynched). This gives us the opportunity to

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-79042467449207056312007-12-01T05:35:00.001Z2007-12-03T14:39:24.381Z

Where do we go now?Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We have spent the past few weeks trying to decide where our trip should take us next. Having been on the road for nearly eight months now, and having never really thought things through much past India (mainly because we weren’t sure how we would feel after this long on the road squished into a camper van), we thought that it was about time that

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-87154044003220262302007-11-25T10:24:00.001Z2007-11-25T10:24:19.978Z

South tip of India - Kanyakumari Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Just a quick note to say that, after two and a half months in this crazy country (and fast approaching 8 months on the road), we have gone as far south as the road will let us.We are in Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of India. From the headland we can see the meeting point of three seas: the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-59206611525780433742007-11-13T11:22:00.001Z2007-11-13T11:22:05.718Z

Agonda Beach sunset, Goa Originally uploaded by rtw2007. As I write this on the laptop, I am sitting outside the van at Agonda beach. Recommended to us as being the best Goan beach for overlanders, it turns out that the recommendation was not just based on Agonda being a beautiful, quiet bay. Agonda seems to be a renowned overlanding hub. Currently, we are one of four vehicles here, the

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-65993711008784520102007-11-02T07:08:00.001Z2007-11-02T07:10:28.894Z

The Gateway of India andthe Taj Mahal Palace Hotel Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We were reluctant to leave Jaisalmer and the desert: we had both really enjoyed the change of scenery, the incredibly colourful dress and experiencing the local way of life. We hit the road east back towards Jodphur and then south towards the celebrated Jain Temples at Ranakpur. Hidden away in a range of

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-60865583346340531942007-10-24T05:48:00.001+01:002007-10-27T10:54:43.502+01:00

Rajasthani Girl, Jaisalmer, India Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Leaving Uttar Pradesh and re-entering Rajasthan is like going to a different country. Suddenly, the overpopulation seems to fade; people have far more time; the scenery changes towards desert, yet the area appears more agricultural; the roads (and perhaps to a lesser extent, the driving) improve; and the local dress changes

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-13154514554861812732007-10-14T07:33:00.001+01:002007-10-14T08:21:21.775+01:00

Elephant Mother, AmberOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. After visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra, we headed towards Rajasthan and the “Pink City” of Jaipur. The highlight for us all was the City Palace, which has marble elephants to greet you at the entrance; guards strikingly dressed in a uniform of white jackets and bright red turbans; intricate doorways carved beautifully with peacocks; and a

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-50365023040860853092007-10-05T17:43:00.001+01:002007-10-05T17:43:39.156+01:00

Taj Mahal II, early morning reflection Originally uploaded by rtw2007. McLeod Ganj, in northern India, nestles amongst lush green hills with a fantastic view out southwards over the plain below. We spent a couple of days there, wandering the narrow streets with their arrays of Tibetan tit-bits (McLeod Ganj, and more generally the district of Dharamsala, is one of a number of refuges in

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-85913298943335018632007-09-23T15:51:00.001+01:002007-09-23T15:51:15.734+01:00

Guard at Golden Temple Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We successfully collected our Indian visas from the Embassy in Islamabad, which gave us the green light to head off towards India (via a perfect, three lane, almost entirely empty motorway) to Lahore to pick up my mum. She arrived in the early hours of the morning to be greeted by a large crowd of men in shalwar kameez, plus the two

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-74870703374891506092007-09-15T15:28:00.001+01:002007-09-16T16:28:23.885+01:00

Michael driving a Pakistani truckOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. The past week has involved much lazing around our campsite in Islamabad, partly due to sheer laziness; partly due to the oppressive heat; and partly because we have both had eye infections which got bad enough for us to wake up Michael’s poor mother for medical advice at 4am UK time and for us to be forced to visit two Pakistani

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-69145694331105806552007-09-07T16:02:00.001+01:002007-09-17T07:49:15.183+01:00

Fairy Meadows Campsite Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Having sounded smug in our last blog posting about the easy life we were having, things have gone a little down hill since then. We have been stranded overnight on a stretch of road which the British Embassy had told us to steer clear of except in broad daylight; a jeep has crashed into the back of our van and dented the boot panel; I

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-42768458847019885022007-08-30T15:50:00.001+01:002007-08-30T15:50:23.813+01:00

Hijab mural, Skardu Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Currently, our life is pretty simple: wake up amid beautiful mountain scenery; drive along the river through more mountain scenery; stop for a dirt cheap and very tasty lunch; drive a bit further; then stop to go for a walk / chat to the locals / eat a delicious dinner. Really, it’s tough. Can’t imagine why we ever gave up work…..

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-19273039419585825312007-08-25T15:39:00.001+01:002007-08-25T15:42:59.154+01:00

Pakistani truck drivers inspectingthe van of dreams Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We are now in Karimabad, Pakistan in one of the most picturesque internet cafes around. As we sit here typing this, we can gaze out of the window down the beautiful Hunza valley, over green villages and the fast flowing river, all in the shadow of enormous snow laden Karakoram peaks. But enough of that; on

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-70719689663565527962007-08-20T06:37:00.001+01:002007-08-25T14:42:57.624+01:00

Uighur man weighing fruit,Sunday Livestock Market,KashgarOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. Well, here we are after a week resting and recuperating in Kashgar, China.We have managed to recharge our batteries by feasting on gorgeous local food. We have become regular customers at a local restaurant where they are clearly not used to seeing tourists – the menu is only in Mandarin and no-one speaks a

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-26613936615633958492007-08-16T10:23:00.001+01:002007-08-25T14:46:27.853+01:00

Big Mao, Kashgar Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We are now in Kashgar, having made it safely over the Torugart Pass, which is pretty spectacular. This crossing had been in the planning ever since Christmas due to the amount of paperwork that is required to take a foreign vehicle into China, and we were glad that we had done it all in advance – some poor Belgians turned up in a Land Rover

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-87709195719803624312007-08-12T11:52:00.001+01:002007-08-12T11:52:21.171+01:00

Kyrgyz Yurt, Lake Issyk-Kol Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Hurrah: the van appears (touch every piece of wood available) to be working!!! And what’s more, the lack of a sodding diesel particulate filter appears to have made it a touch more powerful and a lot more fuel efficient. Who needs environmental filters anyway? And we haven’t actually noticed big black clouds of smoke coming out

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-32873283629136806332007-08-06T13:55:00.001+01:002007-08-06T13:55:11.245+01:00

Kyrgyz man, Sary Tash, Kyrgyzstan Originally uploaded by rtw2007. The VW garage in Bishkek tells us with great confidence that they have fixed our van. We are a little less confident than them, but it is moving again at least. Cue much celebration from us, including a slap-up celebratory meal at a really good Italian restaurant in Bishkek (which came as a bit of a surprise in this part of

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-88500701048936372532007-08-05T10:34:00.000+01:002007-08-05T10:43:05.882+01:00

The last moments in the van before it died - fording a river in Tajik/Kyrgyz no-man's land, where the road had been completely washed away. We were very lucky to get across here, as I am not sure how easy it would have been to tow our van on this section!...and a video diary from MJB sat on the back of the EVI Autocentre pick up truck; whilst scarily descending a pass on switch-back roads at the

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-47216226835199206202007-08-04T12:09:00.001+01:002007-08-04T12:19:13.439+01:00

Giving a lift to two Tajik PolicemenOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. If you are wondering why we haven’t posted a blog for a while, the simple reason is that we have been stranded twice in a week in the middle of nowhere (once on a remote Tajik / Afghan border and once in a back-end of beyond Kyrgyz village) due to horrendous quality diesel in Tajikistan, which combined with an environmental

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-36231335970690681022007-07-23T07:25:00.000+01:002007-07-23T07:48:57.719+01:00

Hello ReadersJust a quick update from here as we are at a very slow internet cafe, in the town of Khorog in Tajikistan. We made it safely from Bukhara to Dushanbe with a relatively painless and friendly border crossing. We then managed to sort out our registration with the 'authorities' (to be done on pain of death round here) and collect our permits for the Pamir region from a dodgy guy called

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-23385705634995218982007-07-17T08:28:00.001+01:002007-07-17T08:28:12.615+01:00

Samarkand Mosque Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Judging from our email inboxes, we are slightly concerned that people don’t think that we are enjoying ourselves after the last few postings. We are: it’s just that Central Asia isn’t the easiest place to travel in… the paperwork requirements and constant police presence around here get more than a little trying (and the bottom of the van

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-86967290639293669032007-07-11T13:37:00.001+01:002007-07-11T13:37:39.560+01:00

Mausoleum Dome, Turkistan, Kazakhstan Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Having recovered from our waster water tank disaster, we drove south to Turkistan and visited the amazing Kozha Ahkmed Yassaui Mausoleum. This Kozha chap is a big dog (our guide book says “revered Sufi teacher and first great Turkic holy man”, but “big dog” is easier to remember) in both Kazakhstan and Turkey. He lived

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-43416886524175332142007-07-08T14:43:00.001+01:002007-07-08T15:57:23.590+01:00

Waste Water tank disaster,M32, Kazakhstan Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We seem to be lurching from one crisis to another at the moment. Having survived the horrendous roads a couple of days ago (see below), we were today plodding merrily along to Turkistan in Southern Kazakhstan when we heard a very loud crash, followed by a horrible grinding noise from the back of the van. We stopped,

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-45796152340223586322007-07-08T14:40:00.001+01:002007-07-08T15:56:20.899+01:00

Following a logging truck on the M32,Kazakh road (Aqtobe - Aralsk)Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We are writing this whilst sitting in the van, in the middle of the Kazakh desert, surrounded by donkeys, chickens, goats, camels and lots of sand. Oh, and the Russian Space centre. Bizarrely, Baygonqir Cosmodrome (from where all of the USSR and Russian space flights have launched) is just on the

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-35861313299211995562007-07-02T16:57:00.001+01:002007-07-02T16:57:25.573+01:00

Manjali Mosque, Atyrau, Kazakhstan Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We have spent a frustrating couple of days hanging around in Atyrau waiting to be registered with the Kazakh authorities. We had understood that this would take 24 hours, but we have in fact only got our little blue stamp three days after arriving. This despite the fact that on day one we were registered both at the border

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-66911939651677054672007-07-02T12:40:00.001+01:002007-07-02T12:40:19.745+01:00

Roadside Camel, Kazakhstan Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We left Volgograd having successfully fixed our water system with the vital red right angle, so we headed south with a lot more confidence given that we now can now access our drinking water tank again. Volgograd was the last realistic point at which we could choose to bail out of this trip and turn back: anywhere after that would

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-20525638821543550832007-06-28T18:31:00.001+01:002007-06-28T18:52:24.203+01:00

"Mother Russia", Volgograd(AKA The Chick with the Stick)Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We are writing this from the Grand Café in Volgograd. After a couple of days of turmoil; several sessions of stabbing voodoo dolls of the traffic police; and wondering whether or not this whole mad-cap trip is worth it or whether we wouldn’t be better turning round and going to Spain for six months, things are

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-75081924825553275342007-06-28T18:06:00.000+01:002007-06-28T18:07:47.595+01:00

We were sorry to be leaving Ukraine. We have really enjoyed the past few weeks there – much of the country is really interesting and (with only a few exceptions, mainly in Kyiv and Yalta) we have found the people to be very friendly (not least Svetlana and family, during our random and bizarre Ukranian family dinner with them – see below). As we headed towards Russia, though, things changed.First

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-41447603948909970472007-06-25T15:07:00.001+01:002007-06-25T15:07:28.346+01:00

Svetlana and family, Velika Krucha, Ukraine Originally uploaded by rtw2007. During Rich’s visit we had been far too sociable and had drunk far too much, so we planned a quiet, alcohol-free night catching up on journals and reading the paper. We arrived in the small village of Velika Krucha nice and early, where we sat reading whilst overlooking the river. All very civilised. Until a group

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-60170855322928139112007-06-25T15:05:00.001+01:002007-06-25T15:05:45.344+01:00

Rich with Reactor 4, Chernobyl, Ukraine Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Partly out of our own interest, but also in large part due to Rich’s mission to visit the “extreme tourism” sites of the world (his trip to North Korea being a prime example), we booked a trip to the site of the world’s world nuclear disaster. Well, why wouldn’t you? Needless to say, you can’t just pitch up and wander

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-47304354056399917232007-06-25T15:03:00.001+01:002007-06-25T15:03:50.728+01:00

Armenian Fish Market, Ukraine Originally uploaded by rtw2007. After a couple of days in Yalta (ЯЛТА) we were all beginning to suffer from the heat; the sheer number of (largely Russian) tourists; and hugely inflated prices, so we decided to start our long trip back to Kyiv. Before leaving the Black Sea (which may well be our last sight of the sea for a long time now) we visited Livadia

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-69019172878455485442007-06-16T16:14:00.001+01:002007-06-20T16:30:59.376+01:00

Swallow's Nest Castle, Crimea, Ukraine Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Richard has joined us for the Crimean section of our adventure, so for the past few days we have had some company on our trip. Following a lazy time drinking and wandering around Odesa, we headed out on the long (but thankfully less potholed) road south to the Crimea. The area is very Russian – people here speak

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-88604696066062188792007-06-11T20:15:00.001+01:002007-06-11T20:15:44.546+01:00

Rich, Mike and Helen in Odesa Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We are now in Odesa (Odessa in Russian), having enjoyed a week or so in the Ukraine. We left Lviv and struggled for an extremely slow 500km along the miserable E40 and past endless roadworks to reach Kyiv (again, Ukrainian spelling) in time to meet the family Broadwith who came out to visit for a long weekend. Here Mum, Jo and

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-78697439266273726112007-06-06T09:59:00.001+01:002007-06-06T09:59:38.140+01:00

Kamyanets- Podilsky fortress, Ukraine Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We’re now in Lviv, in North Western Ukraine. It has a turbulent history and has been ruled buy Germans, Poles and Russians amongst others over the years but is now settled as the most ‘European’ of Ukrainian cities. We arrived reasonably late last night after a long drive. We are staying in the same hotel as Ewan

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-73835315041974376352007-06-06T09:57:00.001+01:002007-06-06T09:57:08.028+01:00

Michael and Helen at Rasnov Citadel, Romania Originally uploaded by rtw2007. After Budapest, we headed towards Romania. In the Hungarian countryside, we met the first person who genuinely thought that I (the passenger) was somehow driving the van without a steering wheel. He was, as you can imagine, extremely curious. He was also very excited to discover that the steering wheel was, in

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-7666204192811991162007-06-03T11:20:00.001+01:002007-06-03T11:20:23.196+01:00

Sleepy Bear in the Moat, Český Krumlov, Czech Republic Originally uploaded by rtw2007. After leaving Krakow, we decided not to head over to Prague as we had planned, but instead to explore the southern part of the Czech Republic. The highlight was a small town called Český Krumlov, near to the borders with Germany and Austria. We have seen so many “Old Towns” on this trip that we thought

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-25831416219888706852007-05-29T12:51:00.001+01:002007-05-29T12:51:40.974+01:00

Wawel Castle, Poland Originally uploaded by rtw2007. After our lucky escape from the mud in the Polish ‘Lake District’, we gave up looking for the completely inaccessible lakes and proceeded south down to the capital. Our initial plan was to camp outside the city in the National Park to the west. After half an hour or so of looking, we manoeuvred the van (via a 67 point turn) into a

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-8303957954518549302007-05-23T19:16:00.001+01:002007-05-23T19:16:08.336+01:00

Helen and Barbara, scared of the Dragon Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Here I am in Krakow meeting up with the intrepid travellers at last. It was lovely to see my daughter at the airport but I was none too convinced about the stranger accompanying her - some odd bloke who she has picked up along the way. He has very dodgy hair. However, it has now turned out that he is a bearded wonder

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-53653640540334515342007-05-18T14:59:00.001+01:002007-05-18T14:59:56.463+01:00

Stuck in the mud in Poland Originally uploaded by rtw2007. On arrival in Poland, we made the decision to stop early as we were both tired and in need of some R&R. So, we headed to the Polish Lake District and arrived in our destination of Mikolajki by late afternoon. We then set about finding a wild camp. Given the enormous swathes of forest and several lakes, this didn’t seem like too

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-61965973523096680092007-05-18T14:58:00.001+01:002007-05-18T14:58:42.624+01:00

Stalin World, Grutas Park, Lithuania - Seated Lenin Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Post the Baltics, we are both now dedicated fans of Double Coffee and Rimi Hypermarkets, which have both featured very heavily on our Baltic itinerary. All is still going well; we are both really enjoying the trip; and we have managed not to kill each other yet, which is always a bonus. It already feels

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-66551193843496479762007-05-18T14:56:00.001+01:002007-05-18T14:56:00.875+01:00

Lady selling flowers, Riga Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We left Estonia and entered Latvia on the coastal road, which is described by our guide book as the “infamous Via Baltica” (in practice just the E67). The differences between Estonia and Latvia were immediately clear – the whole place is far more run down and it feels far more Russian, with many of the signs being dual language (

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-75368581196995264192007-05-09T09:29:00.001+01:002007-05-09T09:41:35.793+01:00

Helen and Michael in Tallinn Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Where did we leave you? In the sleepy town of Mustvee… from there, on the shores of Lake Peipsi, we headed south to the University town of Tartu. We slipped seamlessly back into our standard town/city behaviour of mixing wandering around the streets with a commitment to checking out all the recommended local coffee shops (of

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-54786522549362596942007-05-07T20:34:00.001+01:002007-05-07T20:49:30.890+01:00

Little Yellow ManOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. By popular demand via webog comments: A photo and video (see the link below) showing the 'Little Yellow Man' (as provided to Mr B by Form 12B) taking a rough ride as we headed through the Estonian forest on rather rough tracks.Video of Little Yellow Man in EstoniaYou will no doubt be relieved to hear that he survived the ordeal unscathed and is

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-44143695407097163762007-05-04T16:47:00.001+01:002007-05-04T16:55:38.313+01:00

Church on Spilled Blood, St PetersburgOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. HelloMy name is Helen.I am a girl.A tired girl – it is late.Usually I live in England,But at the moment I live in a van.In a car park.In Estonia.People stare at me as they walk past.I don’t think that they are used to seeing people like me.This is a poem (Ed.: literary masterpiece, I think you’ll find) written by Helen (who has

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-76471609640542197132007-04-29T13:54:00.001+01:002007-04-29T13:54:17.812+01:00

Vyborg Cathedral, Russia Originally uploaded by rtw2007. We spent our penultimate day in Finland traipsing around Helsinki in the rain. Unfortunately Helen has a cold, so this wasn't ideal. A last ditch attempt to make her better was a trip to the sauna. I diligently sat in Wayne's Coffee whilst she sweated away with the local ladies. Upon exit Helen informed me that the results of her

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-76952573317288852852007-04-25T12:07:00.001+01:002007-04-25T12:12:36.874+01:00

Helsinki Cathedral Originally uploaded by rtw2007. The ferry to Finland was a bit of an odd journey. The ferry itself was fine, but we were suddenly on board with lots of Finns heading back to Turku after the weekend in Stockholm. Lets just say that they were an odd bunch – think of a marginally (and we mean only marginally) toned down version of the Finnish band that won the Eurovision

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-84705178331183015992007-04-25T11:51:00.001+01:002007-04-25T11:51:13.711+01:00

Boat and Stockholm skyline Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Having had gorgeous weather for a whole week in Norway (which was lucky given the time of year), Sweden brought us back to earth weather-wise, with rain on the first night and a full on storm (rain, sleet, hail, snow, thunder and lightening all within the space of a few hours) on our second night. At least we have now well and

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-286963658524989512007-04-20T12:12:00.001+01:002007-04-20T12:12:05.284+01:00

Norwegian flag, Oslo Originally uploaded by rtw2007. Helen is still asleep (and will be for the next couple of hours, I predict) so I have grabbed control of the laptop and started typing…When we came to Oslo, it was a bit of a shock to the system after a week cruising around the fjords and ferries of rural Norway. We headed straight for ‘Ringway 3’ which appears to be a carbon copy of

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-13923919182825592962007-04-17T18:03:00.001+01:002007-04-17T18:14:22.489+01:00

Warehouse buildings at TrondheimOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. We have had a really good few days in Norway. In Bergen, we managed to avoid the rain altogether, which was pretty good going given that it supposedly rains in Bergen on 290 days each year. Devastatingly, the Leprosy Museum (which Michael and Rich visited on their trip here last year) was closed. We decided that we could cope without

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-90100261136401572042007-04-12T16:40:00.000+01:002007-04-12T16:41:15.992+01:00

Hurrah! After much planning, we have finally started RTW2007.The end of last week involved a trip back to St Albans for Michael; a visit to York to see the Holbrooks and Granny; and lots of frantic last minute packing.We stocked up on lots of good food (plus at least three Easter eggs) at BJs - we are conscious that we have already spent almost all of our money in planning the trip, so we will

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-72757236261617860652007-04-08T22:31:00.000+01:002007-04-08T22:59:46.313+01:00

A roller coaster few days.....Everything was going swimmingly. We had planned everything so that we only had a final few tasks and 10 days to finish them, leaving us plenty of time to g0 to Welshpool to visit Grandma and the Brooksies, relax in St Albans and then go to Silkstone.On Wednesday, all was going to plan and we headed into London to have a few drinks with friends in Islington. Drunken

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-69121256282218445592007-03-31T20:56:00.000+01:002007-03-31T21:04:37.471+01:00

D day is approaching fast. We are now both unemployed (as of yesterday); homeless (as of today); and very significatly poorer than we were three months ago. But we do have the van of dreams; a set of Michelin Agilis 81 beefy tyres; and visas for Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan, Russia and Pakistan. So that's OK then.Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. Michael is celebrating in traditional style by doing

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-56394023291019708942007-01-02T21:01:00.001Z2007-03-03T23:09:10.004Z

Rannoch Moor IOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. Half term, October 2006: one van purchase later, we set off to the Highlands again for a re-run of Highland Combi Adventure 2005 in order to test out our new VW T5.The van drove brilliantly and zoomed up the motorway just as easily as our car. We rejoiced at the differences between this trip and our trip in Hectar the 1970s VW combi which we had hired

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-57887209740111514952007-01-02T20:46:00.001Z2007-01-03T14:01:22.657Z

Boat on Mud flat III, Southend on SeaOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. There really isn’t much to say about our trip to Southend-on-Sea. Having decided that we wanted to test sleeping in the new van, we thought that the coast might make a good overnight trip and Michael suggested Southend, thinking that it would be fairly easy to get to from London. We stupidly decided to set off on Saturday

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-12514167168246345222007-01-02T20:31:00.001Z2007-01-06T12:25:52.582Z

VW T5 BadgeOriginally uploaded by rtw2007. We spent ages weighing up which vehicle to buy, the standard debate for this kind of trip being Land Rover versus Toyota Land Cruiser (have they all forgotten about Hectar the 1970s VW combi as a "reliable" companion?) and looked at lots of options at the NEC. We eventually opted for an updated version of the van which we had test driven during our first

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22195049.post-54477730136743471012007-01-02T20:29:00.001Z2007-01-03T13:50:42.752Z

VW Combi, Highlands, nr Spean BridgeOriginally uploaded by rtw2007.Half term, October 2006: the test trip that started it all.Having seen an old VW surfer-style camper van chugging up the motorway one day, we started to ponder the idea of buying something similar and heading east on a long overland trip. We vaguely mooted the idea of a year long trip driving from London to Japan. The fact that we

Helen and Michaelnoreply@blogger.com3