Casey - Prague, Czech Republic to Besalù, Spain

CHAPTER 3 – LEARNING

Prague was the final capital city of my Eastern/Central European adventure, and it didn’t disappoint. Teaming up with Claire Murphy, a friend from home, we explored the city for 4 days at a hectic pace. First it must be said that it was great to have a companion after what seemed like an eternity of being by myself. I relished the opportunity to chat about things back home, enjoy some drinks and speak non-stagnated English. It was definitely great to have her company.

In Prague, the magnificence of the structures, richness of history and vibrancy of nightlife soon made me realize that I had been travelling through Europe in the correct direction. No disrespect to the other capitals that I had visited earlier, but in my experience Prague definitely outdid them in almost every department. From the castle overlooking the city, to the history filled city centre, there was plenty going on, it was beautiful and it kept us occupied. We even managed a day trip to an incredible church decorated with the bones of those who had passed. Overall, Prague was a fantastic experience, but I was still looking forward to the next stage of my journey – The Summer Academy, upon which this chapter is based.

A couple of months prior, I had heard about the “Summer Academy on Intercultural Experience” in Karlsruhe, Germany through AFS (the organisation that I went on exchange to Italy with in 05/06 and continue to volunteer for). The course that I applied for revolved around intercultural competence - predominantly what it meant, what information was out there regarding it and how to transfer that knowledge onto others. In my opinion, a pretty good chance to solidify some of my experiences gained so far this year, and maybe put them into some sort of context. After being accepted, I had been actively looking forward to my time there as a chance to once again recharge some batteries, meet some fantastic people and maybe even learn something. My two weeks of the academy certainly ticked off the last two objectives, but recharging any batteries certainly did not happen!

Without going into the details of the course too specifically, my time was split up quite distinctly into two weeks. The first week was a quite academic look at intercultural competence, analysing models that I didn’t know existed and deconstructing everything. To be honest, I was a little out my depth for this part, having not studied anything that you can’t put a number or symbol to since year 10. Having said that though, I don’t think that I was the only one that was a bit lost, which was reassuring and I did definitely learn a lot. Week 2 was much more my style; actively engaging us with training methods, practical activities as well as giving handy feedback. I think that I also definitely gained knowledge from this and hope to bring the skills back with me when I return to AFS in Aus.

The course fortunately didn’t occupy all of our time during the couple of weeks and we had plenty of opportunity to explore Karlsruhe. This exploration included organised activities such as trips to beer gardens or was an opportunity for us to socialize amongst ourselves. On the weekend, a trip to the beautiful city of Heidelberg coincided with the 400^th wedding anniversary of some couple I didn’t really know anything about, but the fireworks at night provided a nice show. On the Sunday a group of us headed to the Black Forest in the south of Germany. It was a beautiful place made even better by the great company, but I doubt any of them really appreciated how amazed I was at how dense the forest was – it was quite the contrast to home and unlike anything I had really seen before.

This chapter would not be complete without a paragraph on what made it an unforgettable two weeks; and they are the people that made it special. The diversity of our group was undeniable; there was fantastic range in age, experience, occupation, beliefs and culture. We had students from the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and myself from Aus – so most bases were covered. I would like to think that I developed a strong relationship with many of our group and regret not being able to spend more time with all of them. From my three great roommates with whom we could laugh about Julian’s morning antics, to the people in my track who made learning such a comfortable and enjoyable experience, it was phenomenal to get to know them all. It would be too much to name names here as the list would be too long, but thanks to those that put up with my capers during the Academy – it was a lot of fun, and hopefully I will see you at some point in the future!

CHAPTER 4 – FRIENDS

This chapter describes a large part of my time in Europe where I seem to have been moving between friends – hence the title. These people range from those have known me since I was a child to those that I have met in my travels this year. Each has been a special experience to me and I find it difficult to capture in a tiny piece of text my gratitude for their hospitality and kindness. However, as I am blogging, I will have to try and so I will describe each in a single paragraph. This may be quite a long chapter…

Yannick

Its funny how, with some friends, time and absence is of no importance; when you catch up you revert back to exactly who you were previously. That is definitely the case with Yannick, my best friend from my exchange year – 7 years ago. On the Monday of the second week of the Summer Academy I took the afternoon off classes (not my style at all) and Yannick visited me in Karlsruhe for an evening of drinking, catching up and reminiscing. Despite both being a little bit more grown up and with a few more experiences under our belt, I felt like nothing had changed and conversation quickly flowed between what we had done since exchange and the shenanigans that we had got up to whilst on it. I even managed to get out a little of Italian with him which was comforting to know that I remembered some things, but still had forgotten a lot. In all it was a great day that brought back a lot of great memories. So cheers Yannick, I hope that we don’t have to wait another 7 years to catch up again. Also, I owe you a few drinks!

Sinja, Sebastian and Ebba

Two friends from the Summer Academy that get a special mention are Sinja and Ebba, with whom I scored a ride with out of Karlsruhe. Sinja and Sebastian (her bf) acted as tour guides in their native Germany for a great afternoon exploring the wine region surrounding the Rhine River.  It was relaxing downtime after the two weeks of the course as we discussed what was learnt and also what was next for each of us. Ebba and myself were also introduced to a local delicacy in the form of Rüdesheimer Kaffee. Finally, in continuing with their hospitality, Sebastian and Sinja organised a car-share for me for the afternoon to get to my next friend. In all honesty I think they just didn’t want me to hitchhike…

Tom and Hanna

Now Tom and Hanna have been mentioned in earlier blogs, as they are the couple that we got on exceptionally well with whilst on our Tibet tour. After Tibet they had continued their own global travels and had only just returned from around 5 months abroad. Needless to say, most of our conversations revolved around the beauty of travel, what there is to see, the experiences to be had and what can be learned. I have found that such discussions harden my resolve to continue traveling – they fill me with desire to see new places and get in amongst it whilst I am there. I stayed with Tom for 3 days in which he was a fantastic tour guide. From grabbing beers together in Cologne and Bonn, visiting Hanna and the Mainz wine festival to exploring many smaller cities along the Rhine, it was a fantastic and relaxing time. I must thank both him and Hanna once again – I hope that I see you both on the road again somewhere.

Sandrine

After Germany (and a brief stint in gorgeous Luxembourg) I made my way to one of the cultural centres of the world – Paris. I will not go on about the beauty of the city, as everyone knows that it is phenomenal, but I will say that having only 2 days to explore is definitely not enough. If you do go in the future – give yourself at least a week. 

What I will say is that the lovely family that I stayed with made my time there all the more amazing. 19 years ago Sandrine stayed with my family in Australia on something of an exchange. During the time, I daresay she acted as a nanny to me and some of my first memories are from the time that we spent together. Now all grown up, she has a husband and family herself, with 3 kids between the ages of 6 and 10. I think that I had also done a bit of growing since we last met, having been 5 at the time. As such, it was really fun to see how things had developed for both of us over the years. As I am sure was inevitable, the photo album of her time in Aus came out as well at some point. We were able to see some ridiculous fashion, crazy haircuts and laugh at some of the experiences that she remembered a little more clearly that I. Thanks to her, Boris and the kids for a memorable time in Paris – I will be back.

Timmy

This man needs no introduction; he is in fact the other earthbound astronaut. I went and found him in his cell in Lyon, France. Actually, a cell is not far from the truth in describing the tiny room that Tim had. But for the price we was paying, I wouldn’t be complaining - but I’ll let him describe that. Anyway, Tim was nice enough to put me up for a couple of nights on his rock hard floor whilst I was on my way south through France. After almost two months apart, it was great to meet up, share tales of our independent travels as well as develop new plans for the rest of the year. We will be doing a podcast together when we meet up next, so apologies for the large gap in time…

Luisa

If there is ever a place to recharge your batteries it is Besalù, in northern Spain. I made my way here to visit Luisa, an AFS volunteer who had spent a year in Melbourne a couple of years back. Besalù is a tiny medieval village in Catalonia heartland and opened my eyes to the Catalonian independence issue that is very prominent in Spain at present. I was amazed that the local school, taught in Catalonian with English as a second language, only offered Spanish as an option – it was not even a compulsory subject! Apart from this, the entire town was draped in Catalonian flags and many featured the flag as t-shirts and jewelry – making a point for sure. My visit also coincided with a medieval festival held on the weekend. It was full of people in medieval getup, makeup and countless performances – really bringing the tiny town to life. I had a fantastic time here and thank Luisa very much for her hospitality.

That pretty much wraps up my Friends chapter. It was no doubt a fantastic way for me to travel through much of Western Europe, and I cannot thank my hosts enough for looking after me so much! You have all confirmed for me that it is the people that make the place J

Casey - Istanbul, Turkey to Prague, Czech Republic

Well, time has certainly flown by since I parted ways with Tim in Turkey. Over 4 weeks has gone and there is plenty to write about. Tim has always written the blog in the past, and I can now appreciate how much work there is too it! Given the rate at which we are doing things, I can see that it will be difficult to decide which stories to put in and which to leave out. However, I will endeavor to keep it fairly short and succinct whist describing my journey. For ease of writing, I will break it up into chapters. So far there are two that I have called; In a Frog’s Shadow and Patience is a virtue.

CHAPTER 1 - IN A FROG’S SHADOW

Whilst Tim was bound for the western side of Europe by plane, it was my intention to continue travelling westward by land. The first country I was therefore to pass through was Bulgaria, a country that I knew next to nothing about. Having no real plan prior to leaving Tim in Turkey, and figuring that I could use an extended period in one spot to collect my thoughts; at the last minute I teed up a Work-Away farming experience in rural Bulgaria. Work-Away is a concept that I had recently heard about were you offer to work at a place for food and board. Not a bad idea for me, given I was money conscious, in need of stability and had no idea where I was going!

So with something of a plan in my mind, I departed Turkey for Burgas, on the coast of Bulgaria to kill a couple of days before heading to the farm. Burgas was a nice enough coastal town, but not worth spending too much time mulling over. It was a shocking introduction to Eastern Europe however, with 2.5L bottles of beer for $2, drugs readily flowing at my hostel and dogs eating out of bins. I couldn’t help but ask myself if I was safe travelling alone. Regardless, I moved on after a couple of days, and after riding through some gypsy slums contrasted against beautiful countryside, I arrived in the small town of Ovchi Kladenets and made my way to Frog Shadow Farm.

I find it hard to describe my time at Frog Shadow farm. The only real adjective that comes to mind is “unforgettable”. Run by Steff and Baz, a young British couple, the farm is a work in progress and a labour of love. There is no end to the number of jobs that require doing, from tending to crops, building the extension, looking after the animals or just making the place homely. Needless to say the guys kept me busy, but I loved every minute of it. Jobs that I had a hand in were; weeding crops, securing a pig pen, plastering, fixing cladding, killing a chicken, painting a thunderbox and that’s just to name a few!

Each morning would start early at 7:30 (which was a crude shock from the midday rises I was used to) with a strong pot of coffee and fresh goats cheese or homemade jam on toast. From there, whatever work for the day would be allocated and done during the day, with breaks for morning tea, lunch etc. of course! Each evening we would relax with a beer, wine or rakia. Rakia, is a hellish drink made of anything with sugar (at our farm, plums and apricots) and is anywhere between 40 and 70% alcohol. By the end of my time in Bulgaria, I was actually developing a taste for it!

Looking back, I relished the opportunity to have some form of schedule, and to have some sort of purpose to each day. My time at the farm was the perfect break from living out of a pack and being on the road.  More than the schedule however it was most definitely the people with whom I was staying that made the experience. Steff and Baz were absolutely lovely and their passion for what they were doing in the heart of Bulgaria was contagious. Steff made the most amazing food and Baz, whilst being quite modest about it, was one of the most travelled and interesting characters that I have met so far. Mention must also be made of Malte, my partner in the “Great Genocide of Colorado Beetles, 2013”. Another work-awayer, Malte was a constant source of laughs and it wouldn’t have been the same without him.  Many thanks to all three of you for the time we shared together.

In total, I spent only 12 days at Frog Shadow Farm, but I could’ve spent plenty more and I was very sad to leave. However, time was pressing and I had finally worked out the next part of my journey – hitchhiking to Prague.

CHAPTER 2 - PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE 

I made this decision very lightly and maybe that was the only way to do it. Thinking about the wakkos, nutjobs and psychopaths that could have picked me up would definitely have made me catch the bus like a normal person. But any thought of Ivan Milat, or a certain Quentin Tarrantino movie was quickly repressed and I pushed on. And so, after 1,876km, I successfully did it, I managed to hitchhike solo from Frog Shadow Farm, in the middle of Bulgaria to Prague, the bustling metropolis in the Czech Republic! It was an adventure in its own right and taught me a great deal, especially the value of patience…

Now, I am not new to hitching, having done a little bit of it with Tim in Mongolia. But this was certainly the first time that I was doing it solo, and relying on it as my sole method of transportation. The idea was daunting, especially when I set of from the farm along an old country road with my 30kg pack. So, without going into each hitch individually, and being personally somewhat interested in statistics, I will display of my journey in terms of numbers. I think that they show a pretty decent picture of my time;

            Number of hitches: 29

            Average waiting time: 38 mins

            Times less than 10 min: 11

            Times more than 1 hr: 7

            Max waiting time: 3 hours

            Times propositioned: 0

            Countries traversed: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, and Czech Republic

As you can imagine, each hitch was an experience in itself, and the stats show the amount of time by the side of the road. But what might be hard for the observer to realize is how much you can get out of hitching. I’ve learnt that through hitching, you get a fantastic chance to engage with locals, you are (if they speak even a tiny amount of English – which an alarming number did) often a guest in their country and they feel compelled to teach you all about it. I have, as a result, learnt a tiny bit of numerous languages, been given local foods and drinks, offered advice and invited to numerous gatherings. Also, I must note, that I was told by no less than 10 people, that whilst they are not racist, to watch out for gypsies! And so, throughout the journey, I learnt a great deal more than I would have should I have been sitting on a bus.

Hitching was of course, only my method of transport. The sights and places that I saw during this chapter were breathtaking. From the beauty that was the region of Transylvania, filled with castles and Dracula souvenirs, to the architectural elegance and history of any capital city, each place has filled me with awe. Also, as photography is something of a hobby, it was a delight for me to wander around with earphones in and camera in hand and just go berserk! A handful of the hundreds of photos I have taken are on the page “Casey’s Europe”.

Given the rate of my travel, I was only able to stay a maximum of 3 nights in a place, which was regrettably only sufficient to give me a glimpse. But one place that I dug a little deeper and will always remember fondly is Bucharest, the capital of Romania. The reason for my affection is mainly attributable to the people that I stayed with, as Bucharest was my first couchsurfing experience. Here I had the pleasure of staying with two 26-year-old locals - Alex and Vlad. Both guys were a lot of fun and together they made my stay a delight. After giving me a guided tour of the city, explaining the interesting history of still recent socialist rule, we went out and delved into the city nightlife. Being taken to local places and being introduced to the other locals was a great way to feel like a guest instead of a tourist. I will be couchsurfing a lot more in the future as a result, and many thanks to them both for their generous hospitality!

Reading back over what I have written, I can see that I have only scratched the surface. There have been many interactions and stories that I have left out. So, instead of writing them all here and making what has already become a long blog, even longer, I will offer to tell them in return for beers at a future date. To spark your interest, I can give you the titles;

1.     My frightening hitch with The Hulk

2.     The time I serenaded drunk, Polish truck drivers with my amazing harmonica skills

3.     My journey to Jebuc, the tiny Hungarian village in Romanian Transylvania

4.     How I learned how “Do you speak English?” is not an effective pick up line

5.     The night I slept in a park like a bum

6.     How to choose a hitchhiking spot – Casey’s Five Point Plan

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed my narrative of my life over the last month. I hope that the next month will continue to provide me with many experiences, lessons and anecdotes. To finish, I would like to use a quote. Whilst I don't agree with it, I can tell you that after a couple of hours waiting by the side of the road, your mind will start to think it!

"The good thing about hitchhiking is that the assholes drive right on by" - Unknown

Almaty, Kazakhstan to Istanbul, Turkey

Our final days in Asia have finally arrived after an incredibly short, experience-rich, five months! We flew through Kazakhstan, jet through Georgia and rocketed through the wonders of Turkey. The Earthbound Astronauts are preparing to briefly part but not before completing their time in Asia with style. The adventure continues!

To listen to the podcast click here!

Almaty, Kazakhstan - June 1^st – June 6^th

We arrived in Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan really unsure of what to expect. Unfortunately the movie ‘Borat’ had tainted our ideas about this formidably mysterious country. When we arrived in Almaty, the biggest city in Kazakhstan, we were incredibly surprised. Almaty was originally the capital of Kazakhstan, and for some unknown reason, the government decided that a city in the middle of nowhere, Astana, would be the capital. Coming from the concrete jungles that were Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan, we were amazed to see that Almaty was one of the most revitalizing cities we’ve visited yet. A city that was beautifully positioned beneath snow-capped mountains, a sight that was becoming increasingly familiar throughout our travels in Central Asia.

We used our time in Almaty to recharge our depleting motivation. Originally we had big plans to venture away from the city into the surrounding wilderness, however these were ‘dampened’ by a torrential downpour, flooding both the city streets and our ambition. Seeing this as a sign, we decided to spend our remaining days exploring the city. This involved visiting the museum to discover that Tuesday was the only day it was closed, determining Kazak kebabs were a godsend and realising vodka was the most prominent and possibly cheapest beverage available. Finally feeling rejuvenated; we were ready to progress onto the newly founded capital.

Astana, Kazakhstan - June 7^th – June 10^th

Arriving in Astana by train, we were completely disorientated by our lack of city knowledge and the resulting sterility produced by a patchwork of contrasting architectural styles. After catching a public bus and arriving in the vicinity of the only hostel we knew about, we spent the better part of an hour deciphering the hostel address, a highly elusive residential apartment. Exploring the city with a maniacally peculiar Ukrainian character, we gawked at the conflicting architectural anomalies that are precariously placed around the capital. A very peculiar aspect of the city was the lack of street based restaurants replaced by a large number of malls and their subsequent food courts. We were lucky enough to make a Kazak friend in our hostel, a relationship that was purely based on our mutual use of Google translate, a very interesting and surprisingly lucrative medium for building a friendship. A few days in Astana were more then enough for us to comfortably farewell Kazakhstan. We boarded a plane to the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, which afforded us the melancholy experience of staying a night in an airport during a layover in Almaty.

Tbilisi, Georgia - June 11^th & 12^th June

Casey and I fearfully observed Tbilisi reveal itself through the plane window, another potential concrete abyss. Wondering what we’d gotten ourselves into, we nervously caught the bus into the city centre towards our hostel. Probably due to our partial prejudice, we mistook the grand ‘Freedom Square’ for a random roundabout that had a very similar symmetry to the actually phenomenal attraction. After searching for our hostel for two hours we eventually realised we were on the wrong side of the river, obviously our navigational abilities hadn’t improved. When we found our hostel, it was positioned in a surprisingly beautiful cobblestoned area of the city. It turned out that Tbilisi was a very westernised city with a very good mixture of both modern and historical buildings, our first true introduction to Europe. The city didn’t have too much to see from a tourist’s perspective, the two main sights revolved around an old fortress, which acted as a city viewing point, and Freedom Square, which we used as a place to observe everyday people. Whilst in Tbilisi, we also met Paul who is travelling the world… on a bicycle, which completely puts our journey to shame. It was at this point we started to notice tourist numbers were on the increase, especially annoying ones…

Sighnaghi, Georgia - June 13^th – June 15^th

Hearing that Georgia was known for its wineries, we felt obliged to travel to the wine region to see for ourselves. We arrived in Sighnaghi, a town that was contained within the walls of a well-preserved fortress. Our guesthouse had a spectacular view of surrounding vineyards, acting as a placebo to improve the taste of the local wine, which was stored in a recycled plastic coke bottle. We organised a winery tour the following day, which turned out to be more of a monastery tour, lacking the copious amounts of wine we were hoping for.

Batumi, Georgia - June 16^th – June 18^th

Preparing to cross from Georgia into Turkey, we headed to the town of Batumi, next to the Black Sea. Batumi acts as the port of Georgia from Eastern Europe acting as a funnel of tourists from Europe into Asia. As we attempted to orchestrate our arrival into Turkey we explored Batumi, which did not seem to have that much to offer on a sightseeing basis. Georgia was definitely a small preview of Europe.

Cappadocia, Turkey - June 19^th – June 21^st

We arrived into the Cappadocia area in central turkey ready to start our fast paced Turkish adventure. Cappadocia is a very famous tourist destination due to ancient houses that were hollowed out of volcanic stone, setting a fantastic ambience. After trying to stay at the Flintstone Cave hotel, which inevitably was the name of numerous establishments in the area, we settled in a hotel that had a fantastic rooftop view of our surrounding landscape. After seeing the price of tourist tours, we decided to see the main sites ourselves. Whilst walking around a deserted area of caves, we decided to rest in a blissfully shady cave that was actually a centuries old church, which just helps describes the immense majesty of the area. We slowly started to see an increase of Australians, which was highlighted by the number of Australian themed hotels and restaurants.

Selçuk, Turkey - June 22^nd – June 24^th

We headed to Turkey’s west to see the largest Greek ruins in the Mediterranean, Ephesus. Ephesus was fantastic! We walked along a marble pathway that was once the thoroughfare of an incredibly vibrant and ever-changing city. Ephesus was a true architectural spectacle, complete with an enormous amphitheatre and surprisingly well preserved sculptures. The weather we enjoyed whilst in Turkey on a whole was perfect, even though we did get a taste of what the sweltering heat of the Mediterranean was like. As we continued speeding through Turkey we readied ourselves for the Australian pilgrimage to Gallipoli. 

Eceabat, Turkey - June 25^th & 26^th June

We arrived in Eceabat, the town where we’d access Gallipoli. Unbeknown to us both, whilst on the bus, we actually crossed from the Asian continent to Europe an exciting milestone to reach after our four and a half month adventure. As soon as we’d arrived at our Australian themed hostel, we booked our Gallipoli tour for that day. The tour took us to all the important sites starting with ANZAC cove. It was difficult to imagine that this beautifully tranquil piece of coastline was the setting for such violent bloodshed only a century ago. It was great to see the amount of respect that was obviously poured into maintaining the memorials and the sites. The Gallipoli area is also an important site to the Turks. This is understandable because, to them, this campaign was a success, even though they lost approximately ten times the number of soldiers as the ANZACS.

Istanbul, Turkey - June 27^th – June 30^th

We’d finally arrived at our final destination together, the Turkish capital, Istanbul. This vibrant metropolis was incomparable to any other, so historically rich yet refreshingly modern. It was easy to see how this city had acted as a centralized point of trade throughout suceeding civilisations. We visited Taksim Square hoping to observe some of the tensions, yet the heightened police presence seemed to have dispelled the majority of the drama. Even though we wanted to visit the Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace, the exorbitant entrance fees convinced us to enjoy them both externally. A sight that couldn’t be missed was the Blue Mosque. The mosque was colossal yet equally as exquisite. The majesty of the Blue Mosque was rivaled by the Basilica Cistern, the site of water storage for the ancient city. It was amazing to see the multitude of pillars that had been taken from various sources through out the ages.

The fabled Grand Bazaar was a sore disappointment for us both as we expected a much more raw experience and were ultimately confronted with a glorified shopping mall. However, the Spice Market, next to the Bosphorus, exceeded expectations. The Spice Market is just what it sounds like, exotic spices, dried friends, tea and every type of Turkish delight imaginable. I was not a fan of Turkish delight before this experience, but my opinion has completely changed! Istanbul was a fantastic place, but you can feel a bit lost in such an active city.

Casey and I said our goodbyes in Istanbul, both heading into Bulgaria, but I’ll leave that for the next blog. As we part, to continue our journeys separately, our appreciation of the places we’ve been, the places we’ve yet to visit and the inevitable impact that this opportunity has had on us both, as one of ongoing self-discovery, continues to grow.

Keep posted.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to Almaty, Kazakhstan

Yet again, a blog and podcast is more then overdue! We have navigated our way through the deserts of Mongolia, circumvented the world’s second largest saline lake in Kyrgyzstan and arrived in the home country of Borat, Kazakhstan. The Earthbound Astronauts have truly landed in Central Asia, pleasantly overwhelmed by antics!
 

To listen to the podcast click Here!

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - May 12^th – May 14^th

We both had heard differing opinions of Mongolia, yet all negatively portrayed the capital, Ulaanbaatar, ironically coined “The city of nomads”. We, however, were determined to arrive in Ulaanbaatar with an open mind unhindered by prejudices formed by others or by our interesting experience in the border town. As we arrived, it became evident as to how hard that would be; presented with a city that was a jungle of concrete and dirt, completely void of any positive emotion. It was our first encounter of a former soviet state and, unfortunately, the soviet influence had definitely left its mark. Not only was there an aesthetic unfamiliarity but as the predominate second language was Russian, communication became just as foreign.

We decided to stay in Ulaanbaatar just long enough to apply for Kazakh visas. As it was the weekend, we had a few days to explore. Surprisingly, on Sunday, Ulaanbaatar was completely lifeless. For those that listen to the podcast, you would know that we had our first run in with an opportunistic thief trying to ’liberate’ my wallet from my pocket, not helping improve our already fragile opinion of Ulaanbaatar. Heading straight to the Kazak embassy the following morning, we somehow had our incomplete applications accepted even though the embassy employee was shocked as to why we even wanted to visit Kazakhstan especially without an invitation. Elated to have the opportunity to escape the capital, we began to devise a plan to leave. To our pleasant surprise, we serendipitously teamed up with the aforementioned Dutch couple, Frans and Sien, and a Finnish/Swiss stallion, Nik, deciding to head to Dalanzadgad, the capital of a southern province and the gateway to the largest of the 32 Gobis or deserts. A day before leaving, Casey, Nik and myself ventured out to a nearby town to visit a small monastery. This is where Casey and I had our first taste of hitchhiking as we jumped into the back of a truck to get to the monastery. We were then offered a lift returning us to the capital, which was our first true glimpse of Mongolian hospitality. Sadly, after being in Tibet so recently, we had been partially desensitized to monasteries, and this one certainly lacked intrigue.

Leaving Ulaanbaatar was a true saga as if we were stuck in a malicious gravitational field. After first going to a bus station that did not have buses to Dalanzadgad, we were mislead by ‘taxi’ drivers that kept our friend’s packs hostage until we paid multiples of what was initially agreed for a ride to the correct station. After finding the robust soviet van heading to our destination and being told we had five hours to wait, even after we offered to pay for the remaining seats to leave then, we waited next to the “Black Market” for almost four hours before being told our negotiated price was now acceptable, even though the van was now full of people. Miraculously, we finally departed for Dalanzadgad arriving the following morning, but not before enduring two flat tires and a five-hour breakdown.

Dalanzadgad & tour - May 15^th – May 19^th

Dalanzadgad was a small town situated amidst incredibly arid terrain. Finding a hotel for the night and having a tour organised twenty minutes after arrival marked the beginning of our amazing adventure in the Gobi. Amusingly, as we just arrived in our hotel room our van driver’s friend followed us into the room used our toilet, took a piece of our salami, smiled at us and then left to the bewilderment of us all. This town did however contain a few hazards that Casey and I both seemed to encounter. I stepped on and partially entered a poorly secured manhole and Casey, whilst venturing back from attempting photography of the stars, plummeted into an unmarked pit, protecting his camera, but losing the key to our hotel room…

We were collected the following morning by our driver in a Russian van identical to the multitude of others we’d seen. We drove through some incredibly diverse terrain, roads and signage a non-existent luxury, relying on the instincts and experience of the driver to navigate through this extremely foreign environment. Arriving at our first ger (tent or “yurt” in Russian) camp situated next to an immense sand dune, we all decided to climb the sand wall to inspect the other side and visualise the landscape we had just traversed. We struggled up the deceptively sheer dune where at the top we marveled at the sand dunes on one side and the incomprehensible greenery on the other. Racing down the dune proved to be the easiest part of the trek, and the most enjoyable, especially as I witnessed Casey trip and hit his face in the sand. The day was then completed by an anticlimactic camel ride that involved our uncontrollable camels relishing the opportunity to eat, prompting the guide to make us grab the reigns of the camel behind, forming a caravan of camel riding shame. Returning to the ger camp surrounded by goats we spent our first night in a Mongolian ger.

After another day driving in the Mongolian wilderness and viewing a canyon where a copious number of dinosaur bones had been found, we arrived at our second ger camp, which was home to a large Mongolian family. Staying in what we believe to be the ‘living room’ ger, we were introduced to various games using sheep knuckles. Feeding us like they thought we’d never been fed before, we stomached traditional Mongolian pasta and rice filled with fat and sand and drank traditional camel milk tea, of which I am not the biggest fan. Enthused by the kindness of the family, Casey and Nik were ushered over to help catch baby goats and place them into a small pen, a highlight for them both. The following day we visited a national park that contained an ice river where we had the opportunity to walk along the ice and marvel at the amazing ice formations. This marked the end of our short tour in the Gobi as we returned to Dalanzadgad in preparation to return to Ulaanbaatar the following day.

Ulaanbaatar - May 20^th & May 21^st

Catching a public bus rather then an unpredictable Russian van turned out to be a very successful experience. We did not need to stop for mechanical reasons and the trip, which had taken us sixteen hours a few days before, only took eight hours to return us to the capital. It was by this point that the capital was a welcome sight as we all looked forward to a meal that had either a little more flavour or less density then food we’d been eating over the previous days. We celebrated collecting our passports from the Kazak embassy, complete with a visa, a triumph for us both. This afforded us another three days before we had to be in the capital to catch our flight to Bishkek, another great opportunity to see another part of Mongolia.

Torelj - May 22^nd – May 24^th

Casey found the Torelj national park, approximately seventy kilometres from Ulaanbaatar, which contained numerous tourist ger camps and, the major attraction, a golf course. Feeling enthusiastically confident about the direction we needed to travel we started walking with the intention of adopting the common Mongolian practice of hitching a ride. We walked over ten kilometres before we decided it was time to raise the arm indicating the desire for a life. Less then thirty seconds passed before our first car stopped to offer us a ride. The first car travelled about a kilometre before stopping at a group of houses. Our spirits partially dampened, Casey sort out a luxury car parked on the side of the road who quickly offered us a lift to our destination. Dropping us off at the entrance to the national park, we thanked the driver for his hospitality and continued following a dirt road adjacent to a beautiful river. After walking for about twenty minutes we caught our third and final ride. This driver attempted to communicate with us and even made a call to his English speaking wife asking her to translate that we would pick her up on the way and that she would recommend a good location. After picking up our driver’s lovely wife, they dropped us at Turtle Rock (a rock shaped like a turtle) leaving us with both advice and her business card incase we needed anything translated.

Walking past Turtle Rock, heading down a dirt road towards a monastery, we saw a small group of gers. We approached the camp and were welcomed by an incredibly jolly man who welcomed us with open arms. We spent the afternoon relaxing looking forward to the impending golf game the following day. Waking early and walking the five kilometres to the Chinggis Khan Country Club to play golf, we were severely disappointed when we discovered a game of golf would cost us $80AUD each, a price we refused to pay. In defeat, we decided to climb an incredibly steep hill before travelling overland to return to our ger camp. This saw us accidently encounter a marsh, which I, unfortunately, was a victim. We left the following day, catching a ride with a British woman we’d met at the camp, but not before the man embraced us both, completing our amazing experience in the national park and solidifying our opinion of the nomadic Mongolian people.

As we returned to the concrete capital, it was hard not to reminisce about our time in Mongolia and the pleasant unfamiliarity of a country and people whom are trying to create their own identity after so recently being part of such a uniform regime. The following day we headed to the airport preparing to enter our first ‘Stan’, farewelling a society, which had sincerely proven that superficial appearances can be deceiving.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan - May 25^th & May 26^th

We hesitantly arrived in Bishkek with an unfortunate stereotype of the ‘Stans’ affixed in our minds. After leaving the airport and catching a van through an incredibly green city to a large apartment complex, which turned out to contain our poorly marked hotel, we were slightly shocked to realise that the private room we had paid $20AUD each for was in fact a vacated family bedroom/lounge room. This was also topped off by the fact there was no door on the room and the family was sleeping in the kitchen. As we walked down the streets of Bishkek, premiering our money belts, it was obvious that people could see we were tourists and stared at us with the cold, interrogating stare we’d first met in Ulaanbaatar. Spending an extra day in Bishkek before we were going to depart for the countryside, we decided to see a movie, Star Trek 2. After enjoying the incredibly cheap price to see the movie and the fact that we could bring a beer into the cinema, we were slightly taken aback when the movie was in Russian… A first for everything. One positive thing that can be said about Kyrgyzstan though is that the pastries and breads are amazing! We were told by our incredibly hospitable ‘hotel’ manager that Bishkek was incredibly safe, which filled us with a mild sense of confidence to venture out and see the city square at night. This was a great experience as we saw fountains in the square luminesced by surrounding lights and people roller-skating. Yet again, our predetermined prejudice and hesitation seemed unfounded.

Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan - May 27^th – May 31^th

Leaving the uneventful capital, we headed to the tourist town, Choplan-Ata, on the northern side of Lake Issyk-Kul, the world’s second largest saline lake. Amusingly, a taxi driver asked Casey where he was from. After Casey answered, the taxi driver exclaimed “What are you doing here?! You crazy!”, a statement that amused us to no endh. As we arrived at this completely desolate town, we luckily found a pink hotel down a side street at a reasonable price. Wanting to explore this beach we had heard so much praise for in Bishkek, we headed to the edge of the lake. Walking along a dirt road past a plethora of abandoned shipping containers that had once contained shops foreshadowed what we were about to encounter. As we found the beach, it was obvious that this potentially once vibrant and prominent site was now a product of neglect, completely tarnished by a human presence.

Staying only a night in Choplan-Ata, we progressed onto Karakol, a town to the far east of the saline lake. Finding a hostel that was highly recommended by Lonely Planet, we decided to spend three nights in this sullen town. After spending a day recuperating we decided to visit the Karokol Valley. We walked about ten kilometres out of town before we reached the ticketing booth of the national park. Being prewarned to ensure we received a receipt, we had a very amusing conversation with a park ranger who attempted to barter a price to enter the national park without a ticket, no doubt a potential source of his side income. The valley was extremely beautiful as we walked past rolling hills covered in greenery and a bubbling brook all incorporated by a backdrop of snow capped peaks. It was hard to avoid thinking that the beauty of the landscape was tainted by humanity. In an ironic response to our criticism, we were offered a lift back into town by a very hospitable family. The following day we caught the bus back to Bishkek, where in just a few days we had lost the hesitation and gained the confidence to walk down the street with conviction without pondering our safety or the safety of our belongings. A true story of growth.

We have just arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan, but I’ll leave that for the next blog. That brings us to now. Entering these two very different yet comparable countries has taught us both some vital lessons. As we continue to travel the world we see differing cultures and the hardships they have and continue to overcome on a daily basis. We are starting to gain an appreciation of why certain cultures seem superficially cold, abrasive and intimidating unreceptive. Whether it is due to past necessity or the effects of rapid change, it is obvious that these cultures we have experienced are true products of both their history and environments. With this in mind, I cannot avoid personally reflecting upon our own culture, pondering the differing perceptions people form of us through their varied experiences of our country and it’s people.

Keep posted.