2017 & 2018 in Eurasia

Legend

Driving
Motorbike
Boat
Bus
Hiking
Plane
Taxi
Train
Cycling

Airole, Italy ‐ Jul 24, 2018
La Spezia ‐ Jul 23, 2018
Riomaggiore
Monterosso al Mare
La Spezia ‐ Jul 22, 2018
Lucca
San Gimignano ‐ Jul 21, 2018
Siena ‐ Jul 20, 2018
Castiglione del Lago ‐ Jul 19, 2018
Gubbio ‐ Jul 18, 2018
Perugia
Assisi ‐ Jul 17, 2018
Spoleto ‐ Jul 16, 2018
Cascia
Norcia
Macerata ‐ Jul 14, 2018
Ancona ‐ Jul 10, 2018
Pátrai, Greece

Our ferry tickets for Italy are booked! We spent a few days near Patras at a campsite and taking care of some car maintenance and paperwork.
Voidokilia beach ‐ Jul 5, 2018

We should have never gone there... With the windy weather and the waves, that place wasn't so nice (compared with what you see on the advertising pictures). Worst of all, our car full of souvenirs, presents and personal items was broken into. When you've been almost all over Asia for a year, poor countries, etc... without anything of the kind happening, it's quite disappointing to realize you are back to Europe, this so-called "modern world" full of greed and thieves! We want to go home now.
Methoni

Sorry for the long delay since our last update... :-) As you can guess, by now we have finished travelling and are back in Airole (Italy). We spent quite some time in the Peloponnese area (2 or 3 weeks), visiting nice landscapes, historic sites, enjoying some greek food and camping. There really many tourists in summer there, especially campervans! The beaches aren't really the best though... We actually came across some of the dirtiest beaches we've ever seen in our lives!

+5

5th July - Methoni castle [Greece]
Byzantin Mystras Castle ‐ Jun 27, 2018

Really nice fortified castle.
Elafonisos ‐ Jun 25, 2018

Nice little island, beautiful beaches. Quite busy in summer and on week-ends.
Monemvasia ‐ Jun 22, 2018

Very nice, well maintained fortified ancient city on a small peninsula.
Korinthos ‐ Jun 20, 2018

Interesting historic place.
Athens ‐ Jun 19, 2018

Back in Athens, we said goodbye to Diego whom we spent a great week with, picked up our car, and planned the next part of our road trip in Greece! :-)
Naxos ‐ Jun 16, 2018

In Naxos we finally got to see some really nice sandy beaches with turquoise water! After touring around with scooters we decided to treat ourselves and booked a sail boat tour for the next day!! :oD It was the first time for Ele and Chris, great experience and company, seafood for lunch, snacks and open bar!! :oD

+20

16th to 18th June - Naxos [Greece]
Paros ‐ Jun 14, 2018

Paros is a bigger island people go for its quietness, water sports, and beaches (which are nice but unfortunately not up to our high standards... after Indonesia and Maldives) :oD!! We toured the island by scooter and overall it was nice and fun.

+12

14th to 16th June - Paros [Greece]
Santorini ‐ Jun 12, 2018

Wooow what an amazing Island!!! Santorini is really particular with spectacular landscapes. The village of Oia is as picturesque and unique as it's been described in all tourist adverts, and the bigger town of Fira was also particularly beautiful - there is a trail between these two villages that is really stunning! We also had a nice guesthouse with swimming pool where we could chill down during the hottest hours (the beaches are not the greatest there).

+16

12th to 14th June - Santorini [Greece]
Athina ‐ Jun 9, 2018

After a week of moving, wild camping and a night trying to sleep in the corridors of the ferry, we arrived in Athens very happy to have a hotel for at least two days! :-D We met Diego the next day and went to enjoy the city and Greek food together. Most attractions are ancient historic places and ruins dating over 2000 years old, including the very famous Acropolis and Temple of Athena. We found a great island-hopping deal at his hostel and so we booked a week together to visit Santorini, Paros [...]
and Naxos - all of them quite popular for tourists.

+16

10th & 11th June - Athens [Greece]
Chios ‐ Jun 8, 2018

Back in the only busy town of the island to take the ferry: destination Athens, where for the second time on our trip we'll meet our dear friend Diego! :-)
Nea Moni

The only site on Chios recognized by Unesco as a World Heritage. It is an old, very well built monastery, that has unfortunately been through terrible events and partial destruction. We met there a French couple who was travelling with their 12-meter sailboat. It happens that their son in law is the doctor is Christophe's childhood town (the world is small, isn't it?). According to them, there are quite many sea travelers / tourists as well!

+9

8th June - Nea Moni monastery [Chios, Greece]
Glaroi beach ‐ Jun 7, 2018

This is probably the best looking sand beach of Chios... It is indeed crowded of young people from town, and it could be the only beach of the island that has sunbeds and is served by a bar with loud commercial music.

+10

6th & 7th June - North-Eastern Chios [Greece]
Lagkada

A sea-side town in the north-west that probably has enough restaurants to feed the whole island! :-D
Nagos ‐ Jun 6, 2018

This town may have one of the best beaches in the north of the island with clear fresh spring water mixing into the sea.
Agio Gala ‐ Jun 26, 2018

A very small village, a historic church and holy cave where according to the legend, a daughter of a king found shelter, healed from leprosy and gained fertility by drinking white water (looking like milk) coming from a breast-looking stalactite. The lady taking care if the tourist attractions and the restaurant let us camp in a nice area near the small river in exchange for consuming at her place.

+5

5th June - Agio Galas [Chios, Greece]
Volissos ‐ Jun 5, 2018

Another nice medieval town... Yes, that's a lot for such a small island! :-D

+7

5th June - Volissos [Chios, Greece]
Anavatos ‐ Jun 4, 2018

An interesting looking town that seems made of many defensive towers (which were actually houses). It also really seemed empty to us, more like a ghost town! :-O We didn't let the ghosts scare us however, and camped on the hill nearby! :-D

+6

4th June - Anavatos [Chios, Greece]
Mesta

Another medieval village next to Olimpi, where we had a lovely lunch - and our first half liter of white wine with it, which got us a bit drunk (after so long in mostly Islamic countries)!

+16

3rd & 4th June - Olympoi & Mesta [Chios, Greece]
Olimpi

Cute little medieval village.
Kato Fana beach ‐ Jun 3, 2018

Beautiful place to swim and where we camped.

3rd & 4th June - on the beach [Chios, Greece]
Pyrgi

A unique village known for its houses covered in decorative tiles.

+6

3rd June - Pyrgi [Chios, Greece]
Emporios

3rd June - Emporeios [Chios, Greece]
Agia Ermioni ‐ Jun 2, 2018

That's where we stayed on our first two days on the island, at a lovely guesthouse with sea view, with the owner Maria spoiling us with their homemade mixed juice, wine and cakes. The weather is still very beautiful - we don't really remember the last time it rained on our trip.

2nd June - Agia Ermioni [Chios, Greece]
Chios ‐ Jun 1, 2018

Finally back in Europe after more than a year! :-O Everything seems so clean and organized, no more free plastic bags at the shops or trash outside, and using Euros again! :-D We we went straight away to Lidl and were shocked to come out with just a few items for 15€... :-() Ahh... for sure, we were not missing the European living costs!
Çeşme, Turkey

For our last days in Turkey, we took it easy, enjoyed the neighboring towns, local food, and we spent our last liras to stock up on Turkish food, tea and spices, and souvenirs including a Turkish tea pot and a third hookah! :-D
Alaçati ‐ May 28, 2018

Nice tourist-friendly seaside town.

+7

28th May - Alaçati [Turkey]
Karaburun ‐ May 25, 2018
Sığacık ‐ Jun 2, 2018

Charming sea-side village.

+6

25th May - Sığacık [Turkey]
İzmir ‐ May 23, 2018

We liked Izmir for its very local, non-touristy atmosphere, the bazaar, the food, and generally good prices for everything.

+10

23rd May - Izmir [Turkey]
Şirince ‐ Jun 22, 2018

Charming hillside village where the locals like to make and sell their own products, especially fruity wines (made of berries or other fruits like apples or melon). We bought ourselves a nice cherry wine!

+9

22nd May - Şirince village [Turkey]
Selçuk ‐ May 22, 2018

Selçuk town is the nearest to Ephesus, and also has lots to see. We refused to pay the ridiculous 90 liras (even the negotiated 60 liras) to put our tent at the local campground, and chose a nice guesthouse for a bit more cash. :-)

+17

22nd May - Selçuk [Turkey]
Ephesus ancient city ‐ May 21, 2018

Turkey's most famed archaeological site, Efessus ancient city.

+20

21st May - Efesus ancient city [Turkey]
Kuşadası

The first town where we saw so many north and south american tourists. Their cruise boats seem to stop here, which makes sense as it's very close to the majestic Efessus historic site.

+9

21st May - Kuşadası [Turkey]
Doğanbey ‐ May 20, 2018

Very beautiful village bordering a national park, with lots of traditional houses.

+11

20th May - Doğanbey village [Turkey]
Miletus ancient city

+11

20th May - Miletus ancient city [Turkey]
Didyma

Little town with a few historic sites around.

+6

20th May - Didyma [Turkey]
Bodrum ‐ May 31, 2018

Another touristic sea-side town up to Marmaris' standards, but with a much more modern architecture. We didn't find it as charming, but we enjoyed our hotel with rooftop swimming pool for a few days! :-D

+7

16th & 19th May - Bodrum & around [Turkey]
Marmaris & Içmeler ‐ May 13, 2018

Very popular touristic destination, similar to the sea-side / beach towns we know in Italy or France. It was hit hard by the recent political troubles... While many western cruise ships used to stop by here until 3 years ago, there are now much fewer tourists (mostly from Russia and the UK). We felt a bit sorry for a vendor in town who told us he lost 500€ per day because of Italian cruises no longer coming here. But for us, it worked out quite well... we had a small apartment with a (shared) [...]
swimming pool for just 10€/night (for us two)! :-)

+15

13th to 15th May - Marmaris & around [Turkey]
Dalyan ‐ May 11, 2018

Nice relaxing riverside town, with good boat connections to the nearby beach, lake, and historic sites.

+13

12th May - Dalyan & around [Turkey]
Fethiye & Oludeniz ‐ May 9, 2018

A nice area with beaches, a lagoon, mountains, a little canyon, etc... We enjoyed a boat trip around the many islands of the bay, and some hiking down the Butterfly Valley canyon.

+5

10th May - hike to Butterfly Valley [Turkey]

+8

9th May - Boat trip around Fethiye [Turkey]
Xanthos ancient city ‐ May 8, 2018

+9

8th May - Xanthos ancient city [Turkey]
Patara ancient city

+10

8th May - Patara ancient city [Turkey]
Kaputaş plajı

Good looking beach.

8th May - Kaputaş beach [Turkey]
Kaş ‐ May 7, 2018

Cute sea-side town.

+7

7th May - Kaş [Turkey]
Karaöz

Beautiful views.

7th May - Karaöz [Turkey]
Çıralı & Olympos ‐ May 4, 2018

We had a nice couple of days these. We slept in a quiet campsite next to the beach, read books, went for swims, visited the Olympos ancient city and the Chimaera site where flames come out of the rocks.

+13

4th to 6th May - Çıralı & Olympos [Turkey]
Aspendos ancient city

Another ancient city, but this one has one of the nicest and best conserved theaters from the Roman era.

+7

4th May - Aspendos ancient city [Turkey]
Side ‐ May 3, 2018

Beautiful seaside town and historic site.

+16

3rd May - Around Side [Turkey]
Alanya ‐ May 1, 2018

Lively city, with a nice castle on the hill with beautiful views. We are starting to see lots of beach tourists, especially Russian and British. It's also an ideal city for stray cats & dogs who have all the food and water they want around the parks. A good example of caring for others.

+14

1st & 2nd May - Alanya [Turkey]
Sapadere canyon ‐ Apr 30, 2018

Little canyon with some nice pools you could jump in. We didn't need this refreshment! :-D On our way back, Elena checked a turtle that was on the road and noticed she was infested with ticks sucking its blood. We brought it to the veterinary to wipe out the colony of around 40 or 50 of these disgusting creatures, and released it back in the forest with some anti-tick powder. :-O

+5

30th April - Sapadere canyon [Turkey]
Anamurium ancient city ‐ May 30, 2018

This ancient city is maybe one of the most impressive we've seen, as it's really large.

+9

30th April - Anamurium ancient city [Turkey]
Mamure castle & around ‐ Apr 29, 2018

Another big castle next to a long beach. It was officially closed but the castle gardener was very nice and gave us a quick tour. We met him again the next morning for tea, and he brought us to visit an old hammam and the fruits & vegetables plantation of his friend / neighbour (mostly strawberries). From here until maybe Marmaris in the south-west, it seems to be a turtle area. Everyday we would stop and move turtles from the road to avoid them to be crushed by careless drivers. This area of th [...]
e Mediterranean is also the home of many sea turtles.

+19

29th April - Mamure castle & around [Turkey]
Gilindir cave & mirror lake ‐ May 29, 2018

A beautiful wonder of nature which entrance is hidden on the side of a cliff.

+8

29th April - Gilindir cave & mirror lake [Turkey]
Atakent ‐ Apr 28, 2018

We decided to have a nice hotel for a change, in a nice, quiet, seaside residential area! :-)
Heaven & Hell sinkholes

An interesting site with two huge sinkholes and a cave that had some mystical meaning and legends for the ancient civilizations.

+4

28th April - Caves of Heaven & Hell [Turkey]
Kızkalesi castles

Two other castles that have seen the Greek / Roman / Byzantine civilizations ruling them.

+4

28th April - Kızkalesi castle [Turkey]
Kanlıdivane ancient city

Another one of the many Greek and Roman towns near the Mediterranean.

+12

28th April - Kanlıdivane ancient town [Turkey]
Tarsus ‐ Apr 26, 2018

Nice town with some historic buildings. We stopped there for lunch before continuing to Mersin for the night.

+4

27th April - Tarsus [Turkey]
Perre ancien cave town

+4

26th April - Perre ancient cave town [Turkey]
Nemrut Dağı Milli Parkı ‐ May 25, 2018

A wild, beautiful, historical and mystical region that really made us love the south-east of Turkey even more!

+32

25th & 26th April - Nemrut national park [Turkey]
Egil ‐ Apr 25, 2018

Little cute town by a canyon.

+5

25th April - Egil [Turkey]
Diyarbakır ‐ Apr 23, 2018

The area of Diyarbakir is very rich in history. Many ancients settlements over 8000 years old have been found and documented in the region. This place has literally seen all major European and Middle-Eastern civilizations going through its lands. And since 3000 or 4000 years, it still has the largest city walls in the world! (if we don't count the Great Wall of China) Today, Diayarbakir is a big city of 1 million inhabitants and one of the main hosts of the Kurdish population. Our host when we [...]
where there, Mehmet, and his family, where one of the warmest, friendliest and most hospitable people we've met. They are actually Zaza, another group of people who also have their own language and culture (a minority however compared with the Turks and Kurds). Mehmet's mother cooked us one of the best traditional dinners we've ever had!

+27

23rd & 24th April - Diyarbakir [Turkey]

+8

23rd April - On the way to Diyarbakir [Turkey]
Mardin ‐ Apr 22, 2018

We had a great time in the old and beautiful city of Mardin, rich in history and wonders (and tourists, mostly Turkish and especially in the weekend!).

+35

22nd & 23rd April - Mardin & around [Turkey]
Dara ‐ Apr 21, 2018

Ancient cave city. History here (and all over southern Turkey) is often talked about in the thousands of years. Mesopotamia is the region of Earth where the first humans started to settle down into permanent sedentary lifestyles - hence the first villages and cities.

+11

21st April - Ancient cave city of Dara [Turkey]
Mor Gabriel Monastery

The oldest surviving Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world, over 1600 years old!

+11

21st April - Mor Gabriel Monastery [Turkey]
Midyat

A great surprise on our way. We haven't heard anything about this town, but thankfully we stopped there for lunch. And walking around the old town center, we discovered a lovely city with beautiful buildings. In Midyat, and also in the towns of the area, Christianity is still in the belief of many people - probably since the time of the crusades. And many churches even use the old Syriac language!

+29

20th April - Midyat [Turkey]
Hasankeyf ‐ Apr 20, 2018

We've been told to visit this historic town now, as in two years from now, sadly, a lot of it will be under water when the dam downstream will be finished.

+12

20th April - Hasankeyf [Turkey]
Nemrut crater lake ‐ Apr 19, 2018

A really nice, unique, a bit isolated lake between the slopes of the big crater. But the weather was quite cloudy and cold when we went there, so our idea to camp at this place went to the trash! :-D

+2

20th April - Nemrut crater lake [Turkey]
Akdamar island

Nice island on Van lake with a very old Armenian / Orthodox church on it.

+7

19th April - Akdamar Island [Turkey]
Van ‐ Apr 17, 2018

We are now heading south, as we haven't visited this region of Turkey the first time. Our European governments strongly suggest to avoid visiting the south-east of Turkey, but talking with many locals, we figured it's clearly a "political closure" by the Turkish government (and diplomats) to discourage foreigners in meeting Kurdish people (and hearing their story about the Turkish government). So we started our trip through the "Kurdish region" (don't repeat that name to Erdogan! :-D) in the ci [...]
ty of Van, where Velat and his very kind family hosted us for two nights. We enjoyed exceptional food, beautiful music and poetry in great company. We see that the Turkish government is really all over the place to keep a tight control on this region. There are frequent police check-points on highways, and big anti-protest and military trucks frequently roaming the city streets - aiming to intimidate any locals with anti-government ideas.

+20

17th to 19th April - to & around Van [Turkey]
Doğubayazıt ‐ Apr 15, 2018

After nearly a year, we're back in Turkey! :-) We are very happy and excited to discover more about this country full of history, beauty, good food and great people. We found a nice campground right near the İshak Paşa palace and went to explore the surrounding countryside. On the same day, we met two other Italian campers and a Swiss one. As they were crossing the border to Iran on the next day, the Swiss guys gave us their remaining two and a half bottles of wine! :-D

+20

15th to 17th April - around Dogubayazit [Turkey]
Kandovan, Iran ‐ Apr 14, 2018

Cute little town with cave houses.

+11

14th April - Kandovan [Iran]
Tabriz ‐ Apr 13, 2018

Tabriz is the biggest city in the North-West, Azeri region of Iran. A lot of people, if not most of them, speak Azeri (and also Persian of course) and have a slightly different culture. Even the landscapes look very much like the country of Azerbaijan, as we remember from the year before. It's a nice city, although not as impressive of beautiful as the central Iranian cities we visited.

+19

12th & 13th April - Tabriz [Iran]
Ardabil ‐ Apr 12, 2018

Our Iranian visa is coming to an end soon so we're continuing towards the north-eastern borders, not sure of which one we'll use yet. Ardabil was a nice one-day stop where we discovered the local attractions and specialties with Babak, our host.

+8

11th April - Ardabil [Iran]
Ardeh ‐ Apr 10, 2018

The scenery in the north or Iran, thanks to the mountains and the Caspian Sea, are a lot greener and wetter than the desert in the south of the mountains. We met Farzin, a nice young guy from a small town who invited us to spend time in his countryside cottage on top of the hills. After a rocky and muddy climb through the forest and grasslands on the hills, our Suzuki brought us to his place. We had a very pleasant and relaxing time.

+6

10th & 11th April - Ardeh [Iran]
Qaemshahr ‐ Apr 8, 2018

We met again with the family of Nooshin and Daniel (whom we met in Persepolis) and had a great evening with them! Nooshin just received a letter of invitation to a university in Prague and is very excited to move to Europe. After telling a lot of drama about how bad people are in Europe (compared with Iran), we reassured her parents that she will be fine and we'll be there for her anytime if needed! :-D

8th April - Our friends from Qaemshahr [Iran]
Babolsar ‐ Apr 7, 2018

Our friends Vahid & Narsis from Isfahan, and Vahid's brother went out to their apartment in Babolsar near the Caspian Sea, and we joined them for two fun days! :-)

+3

6th & 7th April - Babolsar / Caspian Sea [Iran]
Qom ‐ Apr 6, 2018

Since people we met near Varzaneh invited us in Qom and it was on our way, we could not refuse! :-) After some Google Maps confusion and tricky off-road in the middle of the mountains between Kashan and Fordo, we ended up in front of a security gate near a sensitive nuclear plant. After the security guard refused to open us the road to Fordo/Qom, Elena's complaints were finally too much to handle for him... So after checking our nationalities (thankfully we're not American or British!), he final [...]
ly opened the gate - which probably saved us an extra day of unnecessary travel. We met our new friends in Fordo where we visited a honey farm, and two bakeries where different traditional breads were being made. We had a barbecue in their countryside garden, then headed to their family home in Qom where an amazing dinner was served and where we met a lot of interesting people. Qom is a holy city for shia Muslims, so most of its inhabitants are very engaged and respectful towards religion. This was the case of our host, with whom we learned a lot about his religion, visited the holy shrines and Imam Khomeini's house. In other parts of Iran, most young people don't like or even hate Qom because it is seen as the center of the strict Islamic law mandated in the country.

+17

5th & 6th April - Fordo & Qom [Iran]
Kashan ‐ Apr 4, 2018

It seemed to be a smaller version of Yazd to us. Very cute and peaceful desert town. The traditional houses and guesthouses are really beautiful, as are some mosques and the really big bazaar.

+20

4th & 5th April - Kashan [Iran]
Isfahan ‐ Apr 2, 2018

Another one of the major touristic cities of Iran. It is modern, with many historic points of interest. The Armenian quarter and its churches are quite a unique sight in Iran. Our hosts Vahid and Narsis were great cooks, and lovely to discuss and spend time with. We realized there is so much that we don't know about each other's countries.

+18

2nd & 3rd April - Isfahan [Iran]
Varzaneh ‐ Mar 30, 2018

A relaxing desert small town on our way from Yazd to Isfahan. The area offers so much to see and discover! For a change, this time we were volunteering in a guest house: welcoming and talking with guests, helping out with the meals service, etc... This made us realize that Iranian people use so many dishes when they eat - it's incredible! What would normally stand in one plate in Europe or Eastern Asia would require here 3 or 4 plates per person (every different dish requires its own plate; for [...]
example one for the rice, once for the sauce, one for the meat, one for the salad, one for the olives, etc...)! :-O What a nightmare to clean! But for the free accommodation and meals, it was worth it! :-) Iranian cuisine offers really tasty dishes, rich in spices, very different from European and Asian cuisines. And the portions are usually quite big! As a base, rice and bread is generally served in every meal (no rice for breakfast, though).

+23

30th March to 2nd April - to & around Varzanzeh [Iran]
Chak Chak ‐ Mar 29, 2018

An important Zoroastrian shrine / fire temple built on the side of a sacred mountain.

+9

29th March - around the Yazd desert [Iran]
Sand dunes

After a long lonely drive on a sandy road, under the hot sun (and without air conditioning), we reached this isolated camp near the sand dunes. There was a local to offer camel rides, and two or three other cars there from Iranian tourists. For the first time in Iran, somebody pulled out a cold beer from their fridge and gave it to us... Wow, that was amazing! :-D The people we met were clearly not following the country's Islamic rule, as they later started to drink stronger alcohols and the la [...]
dies had their heads uncovered. But in the middle of nowhere there, who cares...? :-D
Kharānaq

A beautiful ancient town not far from Yazd.

+11

29th March - Kharanaq ancient town [Iran]
Yazd ‐ Mar 28, 2018

Beautiful city in the vast Iranian desert in the middle of the country. All the little narrow streets and the particular architecture gave us the feeling to be in a village more than a city of this size! We stayed 3 nights in a very nice traditional guesthouse.

+14

28th March - Yazd [Iran]
Esfandabad ‐ Mar 27, 2018

We had a great evening and morning with Zahra, Ali and family in their small desert village and surroundings.

+14

26th & 27th March - Esfandabad [Iran]
Abarkūh ‐ Mar 26, 2018

Our hosts from Shiraz gave us a rendez-vous in Abarkuh, a small town two hours before Yazd. We were glad to stop again at a smaller, more quiet place (where there are also nice things to visit!).

+9

26th March - Abarkuh [Iran]
Persepolis ancient city ‐ Mar 25, 2018

One of the most majestic and important historic sites in Persia, sadly destroyed by Alexander the Great's conquests, but still well-conserved. Here again, a wonderful family started a conversation with us (happy that we were not in a guided tour) and invited us for lunch. They are from Mazandaran province near the Caspian Sea, and we told us we may meet them there after a week or two. :-)

+9

25th March - Persepolis ancient city [Iran]
Shiraz ‐ Mar 22, 2018

We heard so many great things about Shiraz, so here we are, finally! The city and its historic buildings, the people, and local culture are really amazing. During the Nowruz holidays, the city was full of people, almost all hotels were full, and many people camp in parks outside the city - or even in schools that are kept open for accommodating travellers! With gazoline and diesel costing nearly nothing here, so many people leave for long journeys across their (huge) country. In Shiraz, we had t [...]
he pleasure to meet Zahra and her husband Ali, who hosted us for two nights, brought us to places around town, and whom we met a few days later in another town. Knowing that we are from Europe, Zahra was surprised to learn that we are a married couple! :-D Because most European couples in their twenties or early thirties are just boyfriends & girlfriends (which is a forbidden relationship in Iran) - so on this point, we were just like them! :-)

+29

22nd to 24th March - to and around Shiraz [Iran]
Lar ‐ Mar 21, 2018

We left Bandar Abbas a bit late, so we ended up having lunch in Lar around 4pm... We had a great falafel at a fast food restaurant. The owner was really nice and since we were looking for a bit of Internet, he suggested to use the connection at his home. Then WiFi naturally came with tea, cakes / biscuits, a bedroom in their house, and we ended up spending the whole evening and next morning with their lovely family around town! :-D In short, an incredible experience of hospitality.

+10

21st & 22nd March - Bandar Abbas to Lar [Iran]
Bandar Abbas ‐ Mar 18, 2018

One of our regrets on our way into Asia last year was missing Iran, so we made sure to go through this beautiful country on our way back! :-) It was surprisingly easy to get a visa (online application 2 days before, and we picked up our visa at the airport!). It felt maybe too easy for the Kish Air check-in staff at Dubai who was not aware of it and almost refused our boarding! :-O Since the beginning (boarding the plane), we immediately felt curiously observed by everyone, and at the airport [...]
a couple of people warmly welcomed us to their country and made sure we didn't need any help. We were hosted by a young and very warm couple, who invited us to join their family for the most important celebration of the year: Nowruz, the Iranian new year! (followed by a two-week holiday for most people) We enjoyed the local traditional food and drinks (without alcohol), the company of everyone welcoming us, Iranian music, and a bit of dancing! :-D

+8

18th to 20th March - Nowruz in Bandar Abbas [Iran]
Dubai - United Arab Emirates, United Arab Emirates ‐ Mar 16, 2018

Dubai was just convenient as a stop-over between two flights. Coming from Kathmandu, the level of development and modernity in that city is a shock! But we didn't like it much; although impressive, everything really felt fake and superficial - an outrageous display of what money can buy! It made us sad...

+10

16th & 17th March - Layover in Dubai [United Arab Emirates]
Kathmandu, Nepal ‐ Mar 14, 2018

Our last two nights in Nepal were spent in Kathmandu. We made sure to have enough great Nepalese food before leaving!
Pokhara ‐ Mar 9, 2018

Enough trekking! Two buses took us to Beni then Pokhara, a well located city that became quite large and the main touristic hub of west Nepal (they're currently building an international airport there). Pokhara, compared with Kathmandu, is much more modern and suited to western expectations, less polluted and more relaxing for sure. We enjoyed a few walks by the lake side, delicious food, went up the hill to the world peace stupa, Sarangkot, and another village in between.

+9

10th to 13th March - Pokhara & around [Nepal]
Tatopani ‐ Mar 8, 2018

14th and last day trekking. Quite a nice hike to finish our adventure, as it wasn't on the road and went through a few nice villages. Tatopani is known and much frequented by tourists for its hot springs, which looked a bit sad to us (very small and overcrowded); since we had a nice memory of hot springs in Thailand, we didn't want to ruin it by going there! :-)

+11

8th March - Annapurna circuit day 14 (Ghasa to Tatopani) [Nepal]
Ghasa ‐ Mar 7, 2018

We actually took a break from trekking this day, and decided to go (just a bit) faster with the local bus... On that unpaved rocky and dusty "road" at the back of the bus, it was the most uncomfortable bus ride we've ever been in our lives! In 4 hours, we progressed only 30 kilometers down to Ghasa... x-O
Marpha ‐ Mar 6, 2018

13th day. A little walk for today, only going to the beautiful village of Marpha and monastery. They also make really great apple-based products there, including dry apple slices, apple juice, apple cider and brandy.

+10

5th & 6th March - Annapurna circuit days 12 & 13 (Lupra to Marpha)
Jomsom ‐ Mar 5, 2018

12th day. We continued on the lonely trail from Lupra to the valley, then through the stones of the river bed until Jomsom, capital of the Mustang region. Today's hike wasn't that nice compare to our previous days. Nowadays most people seem to take public of private transportation from Muktinath, so there is no real trail with tea houses as we've seen before, and the bottom of the valley doesn't really offer great views. Jomsom's old town is quite nice.
Lupra ‐ Mar 4, 2018

11th day. As you would understand this day, we woke up late, took all our time, had a nice breakfast, and started to walk slowly. First down to the cute village of Jarkot, then up the hill through a pass and down to Lupra, a tiny and very lovely village a little isolated from the main valleys.

+8

4th March - Annapurna circuit day 11 (Muktinath to Lupra) [Nepal]
Ranipauwa (Muktinath) ‐ Mar 3, 2018

10th day. That night at the high camp was difficult at last. There was ice everywhere around and well below zero temperatures (maybe -15 or -20). Following the advice of a guide, we woke up like them at 3:30am with a little headache and nausea which went away after a few deep breaths and water. We filled up our bottles with hot water from the kitchen (to prevent the drinking water from freezing too early), put on all our available clothes on, crampons, and started slowly under the stars and brig [...]
ht moonlight. The crampons proved their necessity straight away on the slippery narrow frozen trail on the side of the mountain. Our ascent was really slow and our toes quickly felt frozen in our summer trekking shoes... :-S After about 3 hours of frozen patience, we were well above 5000m, about 2 or 3 kilometers from the pass, and the nightmare got worse. As the slopes became less steep and the pass got closer, really cold temperature and strong winds made us rethink our objective and stop for a break. We admitted at this time that it was the most difficult physical and mental effort we've ever done in our lives. Elena (and a Chinese-American woman with us) thought they were going to die today! :-O With this weather, certainly no helicopter would be able to rescue us here, so we came above our worst fears and continued slowly for another two challenging hours with winds disturbing our balance and blowing the snow on our faces (as you can see in some scary alpinist movies! :-D). We walked carelessly near the sign board indicating the highest point (5400 meters) and rushed down straight away to the other side and didn't stop for at least an hour until we could find a place with calmer winds. The long descent until Muktinath (3700 meters) was quite long and hard on our knees but still much more comfortable. We progressively took off our jackets, jumpers, gloves and crampons and took our time to finish our hiking day around noon. After a well-deserved lunch, we spent the rest of the day stretching and resting in the hotel room, with electricity and WiFi Internet finally available (after 5 days without - since Koto!). Glad to be alive and well! :-D

+6

3rd March - Annapurna circuit day 10 (Thorong-La pass & Muktinath) [Nepal]
Thorung High Camp ‐ Mar 2, 2018

9th day. We still felt good after the night, making sure we drink plenty of water all the time, and that we take deep breaths to keep our brain cells alive! (a bit too much for Elena at once who fell "high" with too much oxygen :-D). So we went up to the freezing High Camp at almost 4900 meters, last outpost before the Thorong La pass. The last bit was very steep and very hard to finish. :-O

+14

1st & 2nd March - Annapurna circuit days 8 & 9 (Manang to Thorong-La High Camp) [Nepal]
Ledar ‐ Mar 1, 2018

8th day. After 3 nights spent above 3500 meters, we decided to continue to the halmet of Letdar at 4200 meters. Our pace was getting slower and slower with the air pressure being much lower. After Manang (or maybe Gunsang), there are no more roads or even tracks for the off-road vehicles. So the few tea houses or restaurants on the way are supplied by porters or small caravans of horses. Letdar is very small - a bunch of guesthouses really. The temperature after sunset falls really quickly and r [...]
eally low. There were still some patches of snow and ice around the place.
Manang ‐ Feb 27, 2018

6th day. This morning's hike was the most beautiful of our whole trek through the Annapurnas' circuit. The sun was shining (burning!) through a perfect blue sky and the view of the Annapurnas on the opposite side of the valley was just spectacular! After a very hard hike up in zigzags, we had a very chilled tea break in Ghyaru where we tried the most delicious apple fritters ever! :-O We had lunch in Ngawal which also offered a similar beautiful view. In the afternoon however we took the decisio [...]
n to continue all the way to Manang, which was very long and tiring in the end! We should probably have taken a break in Ngawal and gone through the longer (but nicer) upper trail the next day. Reaching Manang before sunset after 20km, we had the impression to arrive in a far-west / cow-boy ghost town: very quiet, with many restaurants, shops and guesthouses closed! :-D We found a place with hot water for the first day (but still no power); however we heard the neighbouring hotel had a generator running in the evening so we went there the next day to charge our phones (and hoping for WiFi / Internet, but since the area has no power the communication towers didn't work either). On that "rest day" in Manang we went to visit the abandonned monastery in Braka, the Gangapurna lake, and a stupa nearby.

+10

28th February - Annapurna circuit day 7 (a day around Manang) [Nepal]

+16

27th February - Annapurna circuit day 6 (Pisang Upper to Manang) [Nepal]
Upper Pisang ‐ Feb 26, 2018

5th day trekking. After the overnight snowfall and a very cold morning walking up the narrow valley and getting our feet wet, we finally reached upper grounds were the sun warmed us up. The mountain scenery became also very nice, especially when we switched to the north side of the river on the way to Upper Pisang, staying there for the night at 3600 meters. This is our first day without power; thankfully, we could use the guesthouse's solar panels and battery to charge our phone.

+11

26th February - Annapurna circuit day 5 (Koto to Pisang Upper) [Nepal]
Koto ‐ Feb 25, 2018

We climbed a little harder on our 4th day, up to Koto at 2600 meters. We regretfully decided to skip the village of Nache in the morning, but went through Odar, another beautiful village on a quiet hill away from the road and the river. We were aiming to reach Chame on that day but the rain made us stop in the village just before.
Karte ‐ Feb 24, 2018

Continuing through the Marsyangdi river valley, our third day ends in the quiet hamlet of Karte, at 1850 meters. We are starting to feel the cold biting us in our room, the outside toilets/bathroom, and even the dining room. Apparently it's not cold enough for the locals to burn their precious wood. A strong rain battered the metal roof in the evening, which transformed into snow an hour later.

+6

25th February - Annapurna circuit day 4 (Karte to Koto) [Nepal]

+9

24th February - Annapurna circuit day 3 (Jagat to Karte) [Nepal]
Jagat ‐ Feb 23, 2018

End of our 2nd day. Nice hike through a few hills and the side of the mountain, through the nice villages of Lampata (tea break) and Bahundanda (lunch break, dhal bhat again! :-)). We are now at 1300 meters.

+13

23rd February - Annapurna circuit day 2 (Ngadi to Jagat) [Nepal]
Ngadi ‐ Feb 22, 2018

Our first day's hike ended there, a little over 900 meters above sea level. Our highlight of the day was in Bhulbhule: an amazing dhal bhat a local lady cooked for us for just 100 rupees (1$) each, with tea! :-)

+6

22nd February - Annapurna circuit day 1 (Besisashar to Ngadi) [Nepal]
Besisahar ‐ Feb 21, 2018

Where we began our two-week trek through the Annapurnas circuit. We are now at 750 meters.
Bandipur ‐ Feb 19, 2018

Very cute, clean, and peaceful village on top of a hill at about 1000 meters. A popular location for a big cave on the way down to Bimalnagar, local trekking, or paragliding.

+14

19th & 20th February - Bandipur [Nepal]
Bimalnagar

Before our trekking adventure through the Annapurnas circuit, we went for a "little walk" of over two hours and 600 or 700 meters up from Bimalnagar to Bandipur, a beautiful and quiet village where we spent two days. We wanted to leave a day before but a Maoists' protest disturbed public transportation.
Kathmandu ‐ Feb 16, 2018

Kathmandu is still the only landing point in Nepal for international flights. Compared with all other large cities and capitals we've been to, it's quite a shocker: very very much traffic, still no easy way to go from the airport to the touristic city centre (more than 30 minutes by taxi), no modern infrastructure such as trains / trams / metro / bus lanes / tunnels / even traffic lights. We were glad not to have the car for visiting this country. The Thamel area (touristic, with all the guesth [...]
ouses and shops you can imagine) is quite pleasant to discover and spend time around - you can really find everything (but beware of fakes, and remember prices are very negociable!). The food is very good and diverse, with lots of vegetarian options; we were quite pleased. Out of the Thamel area, things are definitely more local and wild; walking is more difficult and the air isn't great to breathe (we bought some masks to make it easier for our lungs). But we found it quite interesting, especially in terms of prices. And even though people speak less or no english, they seem more friendly and interested in us, which gives some local charm to it. Poverty and dirt can be quite shocking in many places. In general, clearly many things are in desperate need of improvement (public infrastructure especially). But maybe this unique chaotic atmosphere is why we liked it so much! :-)

+47

16th to 18th February - Kathmandu [Nepal]
Kuala Lumpur airport, Malaysia

It's time to fly away again! :-) This time, we are leaving South East Asia for good. While our car is being shipped to a surprise destination, we are going to enjoy a month in Nepal with our backpacks (and warm clothes! It's been a while!). Between Kathmandu and Pokhara, with the majestic Annapurna mountains on our way, we'll only be able to show pictures next month as we don't have our computer. We'll still try to update our locations.
Melaka ‐ Feb 12, 2018

A few more rest days spent in Melaka and at our friend Tim's guesthouse.

+5

15th & 16th February - Chinese New Year in Melaka [Malaysia]
Kuala Lumpur airport
Malé, Maldives

Flying back to Malaysia.
Fulidhoo ‐ Feb 4, 2018

After 3:30 hours on a boat over a rather rough sea, our headaches relieved slowly as we were kindly greeted and brought to our guesthouse from the Fulidhoo jetty. They even insisted to carry all our bags on a wheelbarrow! :-D The sun was shining and showed the beauty of the island from a few kilometers away, with its turquoise water surroundings, coconut trees and white sand beaches. It is the type of paradise we were dreaming of for our "little honey holiday". :-) It's an island of about 250 i [...]
nhabitants, quite friendly, which opened its first guesthouses just a few years ago. So the atmosphere was really calm, local, and relaxing. The Maldives being a Muslim country, we were quickly shown where the "bikini beach" is - the only place where we could wear bikinis (or swim without shirt for men). A few restaurants offered decent food and you could find all you need in the local shops. From the middle of the main street, due to the island's small size, you could see the sea in all four directions!

+43

4th to 11th February - Fulidhoo [Maldives]
Malé ‐ Feb 3, 2018

Not much choice but to land there. It's probably the only international airport of the country. While we saw many tourists being brought to their private speedboats probably bringing them to their luxury resorts / private islands, we chose the "budget way": the next public ferry service to Fulidhoo would be the next day, so we had to stay in Malé, just a 10-minute boat shuttle away from the airport. Arriving there, we understood why most tourists get the private airport pick-up directly to the [...]
ir resorts... Malé felt overwhelmingly busy, every square meter of the island occupied by buildings, people, motorbikes and even cars - we really were shocked that people need so many motored vehicles on a 2km long island! :-O In short, not a welcoming place at all; rather far from the dreamy Maldives you picture. And worst of all, neither of our two bank cards were able to withdraw any money from any ATMs! Luckily we had 100 US dollars to save us, and the guesthouse manager on Fulidhoo accepted a bank transfer for payment. We couldn't wait to get out of this island in the morning.
Kuala Lumpur airport, Malaysia

We were really in need of good weather and decent beach time, and at this time of the year our latest beach times in Thailand and Malaysia were rather disappointing. With the monsoon affecting the region for a few more weeks, our best bet was... nevermind the price... the Maldives! :-D
Melaka ‐ Jan 25, 2018

One historic city of Malaysia we've been told not to miss. Quite a relaxing place, with a lot of street art and some nice pedestrian areas, good food, a busy night market 3 days per week, many museums, etc... One favourite places were the open-air olympic-sized swimming pool, Indian restaurants, and the friendly SunB Guesthouse - with its manager Tim and cat Kopi - where we met a good few nice people. We loved going out to share various delicious meals with our host and the people we met.

+27

25/01 to 03/02 - Melaka [Malaysia]
Kuala Lumpur ‐ Jan 23, 2018

Back there to meet some friends. We finally got our back-door opening mechanism fixed/replaced, and visiting a tiny bit more of Kuala Lumpur.

+3

23rd & 24th January - Back in KL [Malaysia]
Lumut
Pulau Pangkor ‐ Jan 19, 2018

Really nice and peaceful island. Not so many tourists so it feels quite local in comparison with many islands we've been to. The beaches are fairly nice but the water is not so great. We had the pleasure to meet hornbills in freedom for the first time! We stayed at a guesthouse where the owner feeds them fruits, so obviously they come back every day around 6:30pm (usual feeding time). They also recognize their feeder's whistle so some of them also show up when he calls at different times! :-D Th [...]
e jungle of the island is quite dense and has interesting wildlife: besides the hornbills and usual monkeys, we saw many birds of prey, a huge wild boar (Muslims don't hunt them), squirrels, and for the first time we even saw an owl! The only species we wished were not there are those damn mosquitos and leeches! :-()

+8

19th to 23rd January - Pangkor island [Malaysia]
Lumut

Getting the ferry to Pangkor island.
Penang Island again! ‐ Jan 12, 2018

Our car got into trouble again and we needed to go back to the same mechanic in Penang for a few days. We were quite lucky with the weather - we only had some showers in the evenings. We of course went back to Tony's fantastic guesthouse and explored a little more of the area.

+18

12th to 18th January - Back in Penang [Malaysia]
Cameron Highlands ‐ Jan 9, 2018

After taking a little bit of altitude through the hills and forests, we reach the Cameron Highlands, an area with cooler temperatures that started to develop interest in the colonial times. There are lots of greenhoused strawberry plantations, many nice old tea plantations, hiking trails, and a lot of Land Rover Defenders! Our friends were not short of spare parts there! :-D

+24

9th & 10th January - Cameron Highlands [Malaysia]
Ipoh ‐ Jan 7, 2018

Some car trouble got us stuck here for the night, but we were glad because we had quite a nice time with the young guesthouse's owner, who was really friendly and keen to make us discover the local food.

+4

8th January - Some food pictures from Ipoh [Malaysia]
George Town & Penang island ‐ Jan 3, 2018

For the 2nd biggest city in Malaysia, George Town at first seemed quite intimidating. Coming from the northern bridge, we see a large pack of tall buildings getting higher and higher as we approach the island of Penang. The traffic is quite busy and motorcycles pass you at high speed from left and right. George Town itself has been well preserved (maybe because of its Unesco protected status). Around the center, the buildings are much lower, the streets are not as busy and it's actually quite ni [...]
ce to walk around. There are plenty of cafés, restaurants, street vendors, temples, museums and an original mix of street art. However it was not too long until we felt the urge again to espace from the city and explore the quieter surroundings in the west of the island. Oh, and we met again with Olivier & Henri with their camper! :-D We also met an Italian biker who drove all the way from Italy in 3 months only - quite a rush! :-O

+12

6th & 7th January - West & south of Penang island [Malaysia]

+17

3rd to 5th January - George Town & around [Malaysia]

Dusky leaf monkeys around Penang Hill [Malaysia]

Waiting for the rain to calm down in George Town [Malaysia]
Kangar ‐ Jan 2, 2018

Easy border crossing: 2 minutes to stamp out, 5 minutes to stamp into Malaysia with the car's carnet - no car nor bags check or any other trouble... We realize that the last border where customs have checked/scanned our vehicles was between Kazakhstan and China 6 months ago! :-O South-East Asia is quite easy in the end. We still had 20 ringgit from our previous quick layover in Kuala Lumpur, and this was more than enough for a delicious Malaysian meal at a roadside buffet. The rest of the day wa [...]
s spent trying to get wifi, cash (successful after a few ATM tries), and a local SIM card to make our life easier. Unfortunately the same sad weather is following us since after Christmas, and the town where we stayed didn't have much to offer. Because of the weather, the costs of bringing our car there, and the reviews we read about it, we decided not to go to Langkawi island.

+3

2nd January - 1st day in Malaysia
Satun, Thailand ‐ Jan 1, 2018

Our Thai visa expiring on the 2nd January, we needed to rush down south. But we still had time to enjoy a hot spring waterfall bath (with many other locals taking advantage of their day off). Really nice! :-) But Elena swore that it would be the last hot spring... She can't take it when it's also really hot outside! :-D

1st January - Thailand's extreme south
Krabi ‐ Dec 30, 2017

Nice & busy city. We enjoyed the night markets and street food, and of course New Year's Eve on the beach a few kilometers away. The beaches were full of people (locals and tourists), fireworks and mini hot air balloons - we made sure we had ours too! :-D Happy New Year!

+17

30-31 December - to & around Krabi [Thailand]

Passing to 2018 from Noppharat Thara beach (Thailand)

Trying to take off our hot air mini-balloon for New Year 2018

Thai people like huge sound & light systems in their cars! :-D
Khao Sok ‐ Jan 29, 2018

Beautiful road again from Ranong to Khao Sok. We met two elephants on the way - one male was eating on the roadside (not sure if he was a wild one), one female a few kilometers further was going home followed by her mahout. We stayed in an amazing bungalow bordered by the jungle/mountain and regretted we couldn't stay longer for some activities.

+8

29th December - on the way to Khao Sok [Thailand]

Nice views on the jungle in Ranong province [Thailand]
Ranong ‐ Dec 28, 2017

Driving day again with the usual sightseeing breaks. The road from the gulf of Thailand to Ranong was quite nice. We felt like driving through a Laotian or Indonesian jungle, with the difference of having roads in an excellent condition here! (many of them even better than in western Europe)

+11

28th December - on the way to Ranong [Thailand]
Bang Saphan ‐ Dec 27, 2017

We need to be out of Thailand on the 2nd January at the latest, so we continue to drive south with a bit of sightseing (and lunch break of course). Elena's birthday present was buying a bucket of corn to feed a colony of macaques at a temple! :-) We also saw for the first time dusky leaf monkeys in the wild, on the roadside - darker colour, with white marks around the eyes looking like glasses. The day was ended with a good pizza at a restaurant and a nice stay in a quiet jungle-side guesthouse.

+9

27th December - on the way to Bang Saphan [Thailand]

Elena's birthday celebration feeding macaques! :-D [Thailand]
Cha-am ‐ Dec 26, 2017

After our elephant Christmas time, we only have about a week to leave the country... our 30-day passport stamp is quickly coming to an end! The weather is not as good this morning: no sun, not very warm, and rain started in the morning. So driving today is maybe not a bad activity, since we stay dry in the car! :-D We drove until the beach town of Cha-am (not our favourite), with two stops at a popular floating market and a town park.

+7

26th December - on the way to Cha-am [Thailand]

The 3 cutest cat brothers/sisters ever! [Thailand]
Ganesha Park ‐ Dec 24, 2017

This is one of the days we will never forget. The owner François founded the Ganesha Park with the idea to rescue elephants from the life of slavery they endure in "Elephant riding" or "Elephant trekking" camps. They now have 7 and will soon have 8. They offer tourists or volunteers the opportunity to discover these amazing creatures, approach them and enjoy some time with them ethically. So we did this on Christmas day! :-) They are very impressive and can scare you at the beginning, but the e [...]
lephants here are all female (less unpredictable), have been used to be with humans all their life or almost, and have a strong relationship with their loving mahouts. After a few minutes or hours, you feel them as adorable giants pets. They even purr like cats sometimes! :-D Apart from the elephants, the Ganesha Park has other adorable animals: 5 dogs, 3 cats, and best friends Wendy (a female macaque, found alone when still a baby) and Kebab (a goat). The staff is also lovely and make you really feel at home. It was a fantastic experience and we would highly recommend you to go there if you ever want to meet the Asian elephants. Please never pay people who use elephants as "trekking vehicles" and even less if they have chairs attached to them! It is fine to be on an elephant if it's done right: on their shoulders, if they are not forced to do it, and at their own pace. Besides their own two or three tons, your weight just feels like if you were carrying a little cat. Visit ganeshapark.com for more info!

+20

25th December - a day with elephants [Thailand]
Kanchanaburi ‐ Dec 23, 2017

We were finally happy to leave Bangkok... It took us one or two hours to leave the capital as there was so much confusion between the GPS directions, all the "double" and one-way streets. :-O While we were waiting to spend our Christmas with Elephants at the Ganesha Park (very excited!), we walked around Kanchanaburi and visited its old "Death Railway" bridge and World War II museum.

+12

24th December - Kanchanaburi [Thailand]
Bangkok ‐ Dec 15, 2017

Bangkok was quite an amazing surprise: it is definitely our favourite big city we've travelled through so far, along with Istanbul. Apart from the main attractions, which are nice but expensive and overcrowded, we tried to discover another Bangkok. We went to lose ourselves into the little streets, markets and parks, watched some surprising animals living in the city: big water lizards roaming in the canals or sunbathing on the riverbanks, kingfishers perched on trees above the water and waiting [...]
for they preys, squirrels jumping between trees or crossing the streets through electric lines, and even a little monkey living freely in a neighborhood. It is lovely to see that people take care of cats and dogs who seem to eat as they please (we didn't see any skinny or miserable one); people even dress them up! :-D We found most people nice, smily and helpful. An off-duty policeman was happy to spend around 15 minutes to advise us on where to go and what to see, or how much a taxi / tuk-tuk ride should cost. Highlights of our wherabouts are the old town (quite entertaining even though it's a big tourist hub), the amulets market, "Little India" where we could find both busy and quiet streets and our favourite foods, the messy but also interesting Chinatown, and some other "more Thai" quarters, both modern and traditional. Some parks and canals are also surprisingly quiet and very pleasant to be around. You can really find anything you like in Bangkok!... Except parts for our car apparently - the Suzuki garage kept our car for a whole week without being able to do much as our car specs are unknown to them. Not even the filters could be changed! We were quite disappointed about it but they didn't make us pay for the check-up and little repairs. For Christmas, Christophe got himself a new phone (to replace the one that fell in Indonesian salt waters), and Elena got a new tooth (to replace the one pulled out in Hanoi)! :-D

+101

15th to 22nd December - Bangkok [Thailand]

Water monitor swimming in Saranrom Park, Bangkok [Thailand]
Pattaya ‐ Dec 13, 2017

Probably the "Las Vegas of South-East Asia", with many high modern buildings, many party places and old westerners going with young Thai girls. But we didn't find it so bad at all. Traffic was fine, and a large nice park overlooks the city and the Gulf of Thailand. We even met nice people: a Dutch woman who - like us - feeds stray cats, and two other westerners who send stray dogs to the clinic to sterilize them.

+13

13th & 14th December - Around Pattaya [Thailand]
Ban Chang ‐ Dec 12, 2017

+12

11th & 12th December - Rayong coastline [Thailand]

Crabs doing their business on a Thailand beach
Lan Hin Khao beach ‐ Dec 11, 2017

Nice area and nice views, but the beach and water were not up to our standards to take a bath. Lots of trash, and you wouldn't see your feet once the water reached your knees...
Klaeng ‐ Dec 10, 2017

We liked our local community tourism experience so much that we went to see another similar place. This time, it was more about discovering the local fruit orchards and food. They took us on a motorbike/tuktuk tour around the local plantations of coconut, durian, jackfruit, mulberry, banana, plam trees, etc... We went to pick up mulberries, which they later gave us with two bunches of bananas. We had the pleasure to drink and eat a delicous fresh coconut, mulberry juice and wine - we also bought [...]
a bottle. For dinner, as well as for breakfast, we were served seafood (between other things). We've probably never eaten so many shrimps and squids in our life! :-D

+26

10th & 11th December - Klaeng village [Thailand]
Mangroves board walk

A nice long board walk in a large forest with mangroves of all ages, shapes and sizes.

+7

10th December - Mangroves board walk [Thailand]
Chao Lao beach ‐ Dec 8, 2017

We finally found a decent beach area to stay at. Cheap and good accomodation and food, a great beach with good water quality and not much trash, nice locals, and not so many tourists (mostly Thai tourists taking advantage of their days off). We regretted we didn't stay longer than two nights.

+10

8th & 9th December - Chao Lao beach [Thailand]
Ban Nam Chieo ‐ Dec 7, 2017

After being in the middle of the party island tourists' craze for three days, we really felt the need to discover a more quiet environment... We went looking for "the real Thailand". Back near Trat city, a mixed muslim/buddhist community lives and likes to welcome tourists to show them their lifestyle and customs. When we arrived, we were lucky to find a group of Thai tourists who came to visit this community as well. We were invited to join them for dinner, dancing, cooking and hat making. We f [...]
ound this experience very funny and entertaining. The village itself is very cute, built all along the canal and between mangroves (it is actually a little fjord). We stayed in one of those stilt houses.

+23

7th & 8th December - Ban Nam Chieo [Thailand]

Preparing delicious sugar & coconut milk sticks [Thailand]

Delicious coconut roti prepared in Ban Nam Chieo [Thailand]

Muslim / Thai dancing in Ban Nam Chieo [Thailand]
Ferry port to Koh Chang
Ko Chang island ‐ Dec 5, 2017

We were expecting to find a quiet, relaxing tropical island with nice beaches, but our hopes were quickly brought down. Driving down on the west side, all the few kilometers from north to south are fully occupied by luxury hotels and resorts, most beaches are private, or overcrowded, and not even that nice. "When you're in Thailand and expect to be in Indonesia..." :-D Traffic is also quite bad for such a little island. And even more than we noticed in Cambodia, we are seeing a lot of western me [...]
n with very young Thai girls; Thailand is indeed well know for sex tourism - especially in coastal areas, islands and party places. Thankfully, the island is a lot more quiet on the eastern side - more jungle, and the beaches are replaced by stones and mangroves.

+10

6th & 7th December - Koh Chang island [Thailand]
Ferry port to Koh Chang

We were curious to visit the 2nd biggest island of Thailand, so we took a ferry to Koh Chang with our car (first time on an island for our car) - there are indeed roads in a good state on the island too! :-)
Trat ‐ Dec 4, 2017

We just took it easy on the first day in Thailand and only went to the next major town. Thailand straight away appeared to us as a developped country - almost like home! Great road infrastructure, modern buildings everywhere and a great choice of everything to buy and eat. There are even large supermarkets / shopping centers!
Koh Kong, Cambodia ‐ Dec 3, 2017

Back in Koh Kong before entering a new country: Thailand! We enjoyed some good food and brought the car to be washed.

+4

29th November & 3rd December - Koh Kong [Cambodia]
O'Soam ‐ Nov 30, 2017

Another remote town with an eco-tourism center. This time, we managed to reach it from the south - the road was indeed in a much better state than from the north, and also quite scenic through the jungle! It's a beautiful area around a reservoir, with much jungle, plains, plantations, etc... We were lucky to meet Mr Lim and stay at his guesthouse. He's a very energetic middle-aged man who helps his village, and gets local and foreign volunteers to participate in his diverse projects. At this tim [...]
e, he was starting to build a school who will soon be used for teaching English and computer skills. It's quite impressive how in one day the main wooden frame of the building quickly stood up; okay, we helped a little carrying the wood from the boat and digging the foundations! :-) We met other travellers who were also really enjoying this quiet and cooler part of Cambodia. We went for an interesting guided hike through the jungle, grasslands and rice fields in a protected area for the critically endengered Siamese crocodiles (we didn't see any). Others went to spend a night in the jungle, or went to discover some remote waterfalls.

+27

30th November to 3rd December - O'Soam & around [Cambodia]

Jungle road from Koh Kong to O'Soam [Cambodia]
Koh Kong ‐ Nov 29, 2017

A good town we used as a stop-over. We just went for a walk through the nearby mangrove forest and enjoyed some western food - after so much rice 3 times a day...! :-O When we returned there on the 3rd December we also decided to offer a good much-deserved wash to our car before entering Thailand. :-)
Chi-Phat ‐ Nov 27, 2017

A quite remote and very cute village that has surprisingly quite much to offer to tourists... thanks to the presence of a community-based tourism organisation. Besides the development of basic needs in the village, the eco-tourism seem to have a positive effect on people towards foreigners: everybody smiles to you and says hello or comes around for a short conversation, without expecting to sell you anything or beg for money. At the time we were there, the village power generator wasn't working [...]
so every house of business worked as much as possible during the day and switched on their own generators when needed for limited hours.

+12

27th to 29th November - Chi Phat village [Cambodia]
Sihanouk / Otres ‐ Nov 25, 2017
Koh Ta Kiev ‐ Nov 24, 2017

Little beach break on this quiet island where we camped one night.

+3

24th & 25th November - Koh Ta Kiev [Cambodia]

Little cliff jump north of Koh Ta Kiev island [Cambodia]
Sihanouk ‐ Nov 22, 2017
Kirikom National Park ‐ Nov 21, 2017

A little haven of peace a little in altitude with very nice temperatures. We enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere near the little rivers, lakes and temples all around those pine tree hills that reminded us a little the mediterranean forests. One of the past Kings had a home there, and it seems to be a popular pic-nic destination now. Fortunately, it wasn't the weekend so we were almost alone. The only negatives are the 5$ entrance fee for foreigners and how much money most local vendors try to get fr [...]
om you... more than double what it's worth, for everything! Always always ask and negociate the prices before, or you better go away if either you or they don't understand.

+16

22nd November - Kirikom National Park [Cambodia]
Udong

Little break from driving. We went to walk and view the nice temples and monuments around.

+7

21st November - Temples in Udong [Cambodia]
Kampong Luong

Impressive floating village (or little city) populated by about 7000 inhabitants. It has everything: grocery stores and boat-riding vendors, phones shops, mechanics and welders, boat dealers, churches, temples, a school, a gas station, etc... If we were dropped in the middle of it with a canoe, we would probably take hours to find our way back.

+21

21st November - Kampong Luong floating village [Cambodia]

Boat ride through Kampong Luong floating town [Cambodia]
Attempt to go to O'Soam ‐ Nov 20, 2017

The wet weather from the past two days unfortunately made it too difficult and risky to reach the Stung Atai Dam reservoir with our car - at least from the north. After almost two hours of 4x4 driving in 1st and 2nd gears, we were forced to turn back as the terrain became dangerously hilly and slippery. Unfortunately our car does not have the appropriate tyres or enough ground clearance for that.

+5

20th November - attempt to go to O'Soam [Cambodia]
Krakor ‐ Nov 19, 2017

Little town near a quite large floating village one of our hosts advised to visit. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great so we just spent a night there and went away the next day to another destination (which we didn't reach either because of the weather).
Battambang ‐ Nov 18, 2017

As the 2nd biggest town of Cambodia, it appeared to us a lot more quiet and easy to drive as Siem Reap. Even the town center wasn't congested and had plenty of parking spaces available. We enjoyed visiting the nearby cave temples.

+18

19th November - around Battambang [Cambodia]
Angkor temples ‐ Nov 17, 2017

Probably the most popular historic site of South-East Asia, it is the symbol and pride of Cambodia. The complex is indeed very impressive and multiple days or maybe weeks may be required to discover it all... but one day at 37$ each was enough for us. The crowds of people (it's a real "mass-tourism factory"!), sun and heat eventually made us escape the site at 4pm. Our last visited temple was the famous "Angkor Wat" which you see on most travel pictures and the Cambodian flag, but we were so ove [...]
rwhelmed by all the site's "challenges" that we didn't fully appreciate it - and our camera had no more battery, and we forgot the phone in the car! :-D

+47

17th November - Angkor temples [Cambodia]
Siem Reap ‐ Nov 16, 2017

With the majestic Angkor temple complex besides and the busiest international airport of the country, it is the main gateway for tourism in Cambodia. We finished our Christmas shopping around the town center's vibrant night market where we also had dinner, and we sent our parcels away to Europe. Driving in that city is hell, so we found a quiet countryside guesthouse owned by a very nice Cambodian lady and her German husband - with lovely food and a friendly dog family (parents & puppies)! :-)

+4

16th November - Siem Reap & around [Cambodia]

+9

16th November - On the road to Siem Reap [Cambodia]

Game of shuttlecock on the streets of Siem Reap [Cambodia]
Phumi Môréal ‐ Nov 15, 2017

Cute little village near the Koh Ker temples complex. It was either "market day" or "market time" of the day, as the two main streets were full of vendors everywhere. We observed how they make coconut milk (never saw this machine before)!

+3

15th November - Phumi Môréal village [Cambodia]
Koh Ker temples

Much less known and popular besides the famous Angkor and Preah Vihear sites, this temple complex probably deserves just as much attention... The structures may not be as impressive, but the peaceful atmosphere, really few tourists & vendors, and the much lower entrance fee make it quite special.

+17

15th November - Koh Ker temple complex [Cambodia]
Stung Treng ‐ Nov 14, 2017

After an hour drive at night on a dark dusty road, we reached the first town after the border for a well-deserved good night of sleep. The Mekong becomes even bigger at this point where the Sekong river flows into it. People are quite friendly, and a lot of things are offered at the shops and markets.
Laos-Cambodia border, Laos

After another 9 or 10 hours of bus, we walked out to get our car in Laos. Nobody stopped us for passport control on the Laos side... anyone could easily enter the country illegally- as Christophe did for 5 minutes to get the car. :-O Love Laos! :-D The Cambodian customs officer finalized our paperwork and tried to get 50$ for this job. He passed us his phone with somebody supposedly from the "Ministry of Tourism" who told us "all of that paperwork" will cost us 50$. When finished, the total cost [...]
on the invoice was clearly showing 55.000 KHR (=14$). So we gave a 20$ note and patiently waited that he gives us back the change (slowly and reluctantly, with a very sad face). Finally, after all that hassle, we were free to go! :-)
Phnom Penh, Cambodia ‐ Nov 13, 2017

We did well to come back to Phnom Penh early enough as our driving authorization was ready a day earlier.
Kampot ‐ Nov 10, 2017

Busy city contrasted with beautiful and peaceful surroundings around the rivers, sea, rice and salt fields, mangrove forests, etc... Higher grounds and colder temperatures are just a 30-minute drive away to Bokor mountain.