In my last blog entry (dated 13th December) I was luxuriating in the fact that we were sat on a sofa in front of a fire gazing out of a window at the mountains of southern Greece. The novelty of having rooms, a hot shower, a kitchen, a flushing loo, sofas to sprawl on, a […]
Category Archives: recap
Shoe Shine Scam
It’s dark and we’re walking back to the hotel. A man walks past and we notice that a small wooden brush falls onto the road behind him. We both don’t hesitate to call out after him about his dropped brush. Captain picks up the brush and hands it to the man who thanks us. I love […]
Winter Wonderland
Having taken what we thought was a short detour around some road works we, instead, ended up on a very long detour in the mountains. (It has to be said that in Georgia and Turkey road diversion signs are non-existent and we got lost many times – as did the Satnav!) But with the recent […]
A Bridge Too Far
In the previous blog I wrote about the importance of all the little details in our daily life that build up, over time, to create the big picture. I mentioned the scary bridge crossing…..well, if you will indulge me….I’d like to tell you more 🙂
Beauty is in the Detail
One of the best things about this trip is that there is a nice balance between routine and spontaneity. I love routine and with a trip like this there’s lots of routines to get your teeth stuck into. Living in such a small space means you have to be organised and you naturally fall into […]
The Happy Ending Story
(This should be read after A Story with a Happy Ending – a somewhat unflattering portrait of Russia.) On our final night, probably ever, in Russia we ended up camping close to the Georgian border in the forecourt of a cafe/petrol station (avid fans will recall my blog post ‘Service Without a Smile‘ and know […]
A Story with a Happy Ending
(This should be read before The Happy Ending Story) I’m starting off with two bits of good news: firstly, we found a bottle of port and some blue cheese in a supermarket in Atyrau! Secondly, as avid readers of the blog, you will no doubt already know that Brian was reunited with us – so […]
The Life of Brian (Part Two of Two)
As you’ll recall from Part One, rather than attempt to take Brian into Uzbekistan, we packed him on his merry way to Atyrau, a small city in the far western part of Kazakhstan that we would be driving through on our way to Russia. It cost us $150 and was worth every cent just for […]
The Life of Brian (Part One of Two)
It is against the law for any foreigner to take a drone into Uzbekistan so we always knew that Brian (our drone) was going to be problematic! Being optimistic people we decided that we’d solve the problem ‘nearer the time.’ And being also procrastinators (well mostly Captain) we found ourselves with only two days until […]
The Hunted
We drove through a beautiful wide valley filled with fruit trees; farmers ploughing fields and small road-side stalls of apples, onions, melons and squash. The road meandered for a few miles following a dry river bed hemmed in by gentle sloping hills on either side. We eventually came across a track that crossed the river […]