Happy New Year!

Dear followers!

A brief update! Tomorrow I'll be on my way to Ko Phangan - Thailand, after I dropped off Hanneke at the airport in Bangkok! Our amazing trip together will end there, after more than 3 months of traveling together! I will miss her big time :(

Fortunately I can look forward to  my 2 good friends, Ron and Michel, who are coming to Thailand as well, to celebrate new years with me on the beach of Ko Phangan! It's gonna be legendary!

For everyone who wants to contact me I have a thai phonenumber: +66 823291668

I wish you all a AWESOME NEW YEAR!

I will update you again next year! :P

Cheeeers B.

Cambodia; Magnificent temples, corrupt police and all-you-can-eat sushi!

Ladies and gents,

first things first. This blog will be dedicated to my travelbuddy - and dear friend - Tamara. The awesome dutchie who I've been traveling with for the past 2 months. The time had come for her to return home, back to reality and the hard life of fulltime work. We said goodbye to her at the airport of Vietnam - Hanoi at the 28th of november. Sad moment, but inevitable. Things haven't been the same without you Tam, but still... I'm having the time of my life here in Cambodia.

After saying goodbye to our friends Neil and Dave, who would continue their journey through 'nam by motorbike, me and Hanneke took a flight from Hanoi on the 30th of November from Hanoi to Phomn Penh, which is the capital of Cambodia. I didn't know what to expect from Cambodia, but to my surprise it turned out to be the most developed country of Asia (except for China) I've been so far. Phomn Penh is very nice and some areas can be considered even luxury to Western standards. Yet everything remains at bargain prices. Since our arrival the temperature didn't drop below a solid 30 degrees and therefore I'm sweating my ass off every single day. But hey, I can't complain knowing that all my friends and family are freezing their butts back home :-).

In Phomn Penh we went to the 'Killing Fields' and the 'S-21' Prison, which has been the scenery of some horrible events that took place in the recent past during the 5 years of governance of the 'Khmer Rouge'. To be honest I never knew or heard of this regime and their acts before, until I read the Lonely Planet. It turned out that the 'Khmer Rouge' had been responsible of one of the most bloody, aweful and terrible crimes agains human rights in the entire history. They killed nearly 25% over the former population of Cambodia  back in these days, a number which - relatively speaking - is much higher than the casualties caused by the Nazi's. Yet everybody of my generation knows of WOII, and I bet very few have heard about the 'Khmer Rouge', which is odd, since it has been only 30 years ago since all these horrible events have been stopped by the Vietnamese army. The Killing fields and S-21 prison are two of the many areas where the former population of Cambodia had been brutally tortured and murdered by the Khmer Rouge. The evidence of these crimes are still to be witnessed by piles and piles of human bones, skulls, clothes, pictures and (un)discovered massgraves! It was impressive and extremely sad to see at the same time.

A more happy moment we experienced in Phonm Penh was when we found a restaurant, called 'Shabu Shabu'. Yes, it is the same restaurant as the ones we have back in Holland. Japanese 'all you can eat sushi'. Only for cambodian prices - for $ 7,80 you could eat AND drink as much as you wanted. Awesome! Needless to say we ate there a couple of times! :-D

After Phomn Penh we took a bus to Siem Reap, the 'world capital of Temples'. I have seen quite a few temples during my (previous) trips already, but after spending some considerable amount of time at the site of 'Ankor' it turned out I had nothing seen yet so far! The site of Ankor is of epic scale. Over 1000 km² in total with more than 1000 temples. You could spend a week in the site and still you wouldn't have seen everything. The mother of all temples was the world famous 'Ankor Wat'. It is believed that this tempel is the the biggest religious building ever conceived by mankind and its absolutely massive and impressive. To give you an idea, the outer walls of Ankor Wat are measuring 1024m x 802m and is surrounded by a moat of 190 meters wide. If this isn't impressive enough you might forget that the temple has been constructed over a 1000 years ago, in which there were no such things as bulldozers and excavators. Everything had been constructed by human hands only! It's comparable to the Great Piramides of Giza or the Great Wall of China. Just mindblowing!

Me and Hanneke spend 2 solid days here, visiting all the highlights of the site. We were driven around by a tuk-tuk which we hired for these days. The site is filled with jaw-dropping temples, jungle and ruins. Funny fact: the movie "Tomb Raider" with Angelina Jolie has been recored here. The actual temple used in the movie was accesable for public as well!

After Siem Reap, we took a boat to Battambang. We were expecting some sort of luxury cruiseboat, but we couldn't be more wrong. A tiny boat, filled with tourists and locals (including smelly baskets of fish) was our transportation for the next 7! hours! We did see some cool stuff though, like floating villages and people living on the water! Battambang itself has little to offer, except for one 'major' attraction which is 'the bamboo train'. Of course we checked this out. The bamboo train consisted of 2 barbell wheels, a - how surprising - bamboo platform and a tiny 5hp engine running on petrol. Everything could be assembled and disassembled in less than a minute or so. And that comes in handy, because the bamboo traines where driving along a single traintrack which is used for 'train' traffic coming from both directions. When you come across another bamboo train from the opposite direction, the bamboo train with the fewest passengers had to come off so the driver could disassemble the train, for the other bamboo train to pass. Funny experience, lots of fun! In Battambang we also met some cool people. A dutch dude named Jeffrey and a couple, Craig and Michelle, both living in London. We hitted it off quite well with the 5 of us so we decided to spend the next few days with eachother.  Next stop: Sihanoukville.

Sihanoukville is a place at the beach in Cambodia. Since I haven't been on the beach for - well the beginning of my trip, I was really looking forward to Sihanoukville. We spend a couple of days here, for some partying, chilling at the beach and boattrips around the many (deserted) beaches and coral reefs. It were some relaxing days with not to much action except for drinking beers in the sun and having cheap BBQ food on the beach. Although, I did something extremely fun. Getting towed at fast speed behind a speedboat (80hp engine) on a big rubber tube, together with Jeffrey and Craig. Wicked and an awesome thrill. The last day, Hanneke, Craig, Michelle and me, rented some motorbikes. We were warned in advance that the police didn't accept foreign driver licences and you might get fined when stopped over! We went on a motorbike anyway. After 10 minutes or so, we drove into a police roadblock with dozens of policemen all carrying big machine guns! Of course we were requested to show our license and of course it wasn't valid. Playing the complete ignorant and wellbehaved tourists we were able to bribe to police officer with 'an amount of money'. The 'fine'?? 1 dollar each! Hilarious!

And with that as our last adventure in Sihanoukville, we left the following day for Phomn Penh again, from which Í'm currently writing my blog. Me, Hanneke and our new travelfriends will keep traveling for the next 5 days or so and then we'll split up again, for a bustrip to Ko Chang situated in Thailand. A lovely 'paradise' island which should be perfect to celebrate christmas. Hard times, but someone's got to do it.

A warm christmas greet from a tanned and happy traveler!

click here for pics.

The Motorcycle diaries: memoires of 'the Beast'

I will never drive a motorbike again! In HOLLAND THAT IS.
Because after what I've been doing the past 3 weeks - a legendary motorbike trip through the north of Vietnam - driving back home will be just too boring, too predictable and too simple.

If people will ask me what the best decision is I've made in my life so far, I would have told them 'going on a world trip'. But now, I will - and only can - answer them with the words, 'buying a motorbike and cruise 'nam.' Really, its so hard to describe what I have experienced. It literally gives me the goosebumps again just writing about it.

It all started about 3 weeks ago. The moment that me and my friends, Neil, Dave, (the guys we met in Yangshuo, China) and the girls Tamara and Hanneke walked in Felix' motorbike shop in Hanoi for our set of wheels. A few hours later, I had purchased a russian Minsk with a 125cc engine. From that moment I had become the proud owner of 'The Beast'.

THE BEAST

I've been nicknaming my Minsk 'The Beast' from the very first moment I took it for a test drive. Why?? It has personality. When it comes to life when kicking the hell out of the kickstart, it makes the noise of an old rusty moped while the exhaust is banging (with the occasional flame) every now and than. It's just awesome. Since  'The Beast' has an old fashioned two stroke engine I need to fill it up with oil every time I stopped for petrol. The obvious result was big white smoke coming from my exhaust because of the oil being burned in the engine. Nobody would want to drive behind me too close for too long, because of the simple fact that the smoke being blown in their faces, was too heavy and annoying sometimes. Absolutely classic!

Half the fun of the actual motorbike trip were the preparations. Meaning, getting proper gear, helmets, a map but most importantly - TOOLS. Luckily Hanoi is Motorbike HEAVEN, and everything, I MEAN EVERYTHING is available for a motorbike or moped. From simple locks, to ultra loud modified sound horns and from luggage racks to actual cages to transport a chicken or 20 (still alive of course). Dave and Neil are real experts on motorbikes. Me... hmmm not so much. Usually I was just pretending to know shit and made a funny comment every now and then or pointed out some obvious statements like 'what about this screwdriver, wouldn't that be handy to take with us?'. Having said this, we ended up, being fully prepared with fancy looking helmets, locks, bungee ropes (for our luggage) and some different sets of tools.

And buying tools for a motorbike trip is the best investment you can make. Because if you are riding a motorbike (which has been bought in Vietnam that is) in Vietnam, it is not the question IF your motorbike will break down, but WHEN your motorbike will break down.

And soon I discovered the downside of purchasing ' The Beast' my 'big piece of pure evil machinery.' I appeared it had it's own will. We were not on the road for even 2 hours on the first night (we left Hanoi extremely early to avoid insane traffic crowds) and my carburetor was already leaking petrol. Luckily Neil and Dave professionally fixed my carburetor by taking it off my bike, dismantled it and cleaning it. Again, I was just watching, handing over the tools and being pretty! However, looking back on my trip now, my leaking carburetor was just one of the 'minor problems'. Because that very same day, somewhere between Hanoi and Sapa, in an absolute shithole in the middle of Vietnam called Hoa Binh,  my chain between the engine and the clutch broke! Meaning a total breakdown, impossible to drive further for even 1 meter! DAMN!

That day I had my first 'getting towed by another motorbike' experience (many other would follow, but still didn't know that then of course). I was towed to a garage. Next problem, there was no chain available for 'The Beast'. It turned out (after hours of asking around, and hopping from garage to garage in that shithole) that the nearest place for a new chain would be Hanoi. A few hours of driving back which was not an option of course. Eventually we were able to convince some mechanics back in Hanoi (by telephone) to put a new chain on the next bus, coming to the Hoa Binh, so the mechanics at the garage in Hoa Binh could pick it up from the busstation and fix my bike. Of course I had the luck the next bus just passed, so I had to wait for a day. We had been on the road for just a few hours and were already delayed one day! LOL. Anyway, after checking in at a hotel (they got hotels and garages in even the smallest villages) we were on the road again the next day! YEAH BABY, THE BEAST WAS ALIVE AGAIN.

Anyway, the next weeks that followed were absolutely legendary. EVERY SINGLE day was just memorable. All the breakdowns of our bikes were not only extremely funny (exhausts falling off, rear suspensions just snapping of the frame, luggage rack losing bolts, resulting in my luggage dropping on the road while my fellow motorbike mates were screaming their asses off, trying to get my attention, ' cause my bike was just too loud  I didn't notice I was just losing half my stuff etc). At one point I was hitting a long stretched road without any turns. So it was time to release 'the immense fury of  'The Beast' on the 'race track.' Since my bike has no speedo meter nor rev counter, I was not able to tell how fast I've been going, but it was pretty darn fast. All of a sudden this stupid flying bug or wasp or bee, or whatever "Godzilla looking animal with wing" was approaching me, flew straight in my helmet and stung me in the head! Screaming like a bitch (mostly of laughter) I was trying to get the bug out of my helmet, while being on a speeding BEAST, zigzagging like a drunken sailor! I didn't fall down, but it was just one of the hilarious things that happened.

The roads we've been driving where from all kinds. From perfect tarmac roads, to 'no roads' at all, with just mud, gravel, dirt and holes! Especially high up in the mountains, it's a real challenge to manage to stay on your bike, when on one moment you're driving a smooth road, and all of a sudden after the next hair pin turn, you're hitting a hole, or mud pool, making your bike slip away. We have been driving a lot through the mountains. It have been the most stunning roads and views I've ever seen so far! Motorbike paradise. The ascents and descents we had to conquer with our bikes were up to 10% steep and my motorbike was barely able to reach the top. Another funny thing, at one point, being on the top of a mountain with many, many sharp turns (and no barriers to prevent your from falling off the cliff of course) I wanted to adjust my front brake a little, because I thought it was not braking well enough. While I asked Dave to fix it for me, he accidantily made it too tight, which resulted in my brake just 'snapping' off while testing it. FANTASTIC. No front brake anymore, and yet lots of miles to cover on the steep mountain roads! Needless to say, I had to go down, so I did. Just very slowly! I made it in one piece and I had another classic experience: driving an unpredictibile motorbike, with just a back brake on steep mountain roads, consisting of gravel and dirt! Brilliant!

You must wonder right now, how much money did Bart spend on his motorbike to get it running or fixed every single time. Funny thing is, when going to a garage it's not the money that bothers me, because that's absolutely ridiculously cheap. (4 euro's for 5 hours of labour and material). It's just the delay of hours and hours you get at a garage. Apparently it's a 'big thing' when 5 westerners (and 2 are girls) show up at a mechanic in a tiny isolated village with fancy looking motorbikes. I'm not kidding, literally dozens of people gather around us and the motorbike just watching us and checking out the bikes. After that, which usually takes 15 minutes or so, they will all watch the mechanic work, still standing in a circle around him. We felt like aliens with fancy spaceships sometimes, the way people were behaving around us.

Halong Bay

After spending two and a half weeks on the motorbike, driving from tiny village to tiny village (with no other westerners, or any english speaking locals) we finally made it to Halong Bay. A touristic place very famous in Vietnam. I'm here now for a few days already, so it's almost time to leave again. Back to Hanoi. I will sell my motorbike there (with pain in the heart and tears in my eye). I have to do this, since I will not be able to drive another two weeks or a month, due to my time schedule! (I'm meeting up with friends in Thailand at the end of december and I still want to visit Cambodia before that). I hope I will get some cash back for THE BEAST because it is actual in a better condition than when I bought it, since all the repairs that have been done!

I will report back to you in a few weeks, somewhere from Cambodia I suppose. Cheeers from Bart, living his absolute dream!

Oh yeah, newsflash: I shaved my hair off,  with just a few millimeters left. Rough motorbike look! (Neil and Dave did so too, after I did it LOL)

click here for pics

Viva la Vida in Laos

Ladies and gents!

Live from Hanoi, Vietnam, I bring to you the absolute highlights of my 2 week stay in Laos! A country consisting basicly of jungle, nature, mosquitos, leeches and cheap food and beer.

In a nutshell; it has been 2 absolutely amazing, crazy and adventurous weeks. The two highlights of Laos were the 'Gibbon Experience' and 'Backpackers Walhalla - Vang Vieng'.

First things first. After the girls and me (still travelling with Tamara and Hanneke) arrived in a shithole called 'Luang Namta'  (which was the first 'major' place in Laos after we crossed the border of with China by bus) we decided to stay here for a few days! The trip by bus was exhausting (being folded with your legs in your neck for 25 hours) so we needed some rest. The minute we arrived in Laos we laughed our asses off because of the prices. A double bed room for 4 euro's per night. A meal for 2 euro. A beer for 50 cents. Its ridicilous. The currency in Laos is called 'kip' - which is dutch for 'chicken'. For one euro you get 10.000 kip. I felt like a millionaire.



The teacher and his student!



In Luang Namtha, we didn't do much, since there was nothing much going on there. However, the countryside, simple villages and hills, were awesome. We decided to rent some bikes the first day and explore the countrysidr with beautiful riceterracces and hills. We met a nice dutch girl that day as well - Heleen. The next few days she would be travelling with us as well. Awesome companionship. The other day in Luang Namtha we rented proper motorbikes. I was going to teach the girls how to drive a motorbike, because for our upcoming trip in Vietnam. They picked it up fairly quick and before I knew it they were driving like mofo's in the countryside, avoiding passing chickens, oncoming traffic and playing children. The girls are now confident enough to get on a bike in Vietnam. Awesome!

From Luang Namtha we took a bus to Huay Xai, near the Bokeo Forest. This is a very small town near the border of Thailand (you could actually see Thailand at the other side of the Mekong river). In this place was nothing much going on either, but the only reason we came here was for the WORLD FAMOUS Gibbon Experience. For everyone who don't know what this is:

With the Gibbon Experience you will hike and spend time in Bokeojungle for 3 days and 2 nights. During the hikes you also have to ZIP from treetop to treetop by long ziplines who are spanned between the treetops, sometimes over lenghts of 400 meters and up to heights of 150 meters above the ground. The first time I took the zipline I experienced the ultimate feeling of freedome. Zipping at high speed through a jungle from a massive tree to another tree, heigh above the ground is just surreal and almost unbelieveble. During the nights of the experience you stayed in massive treehouses, only accesable by ziplines. Another awesome thing.: zipping from a tree right into your 'home' 100 feet up in the air! The smiles I had on my face couldn't be wiped off my face for days! All the meals were included during the trip and were prepared outside of the treehouse in 'the kitchen area' somewhere behind some trees. Our guide would ZIP in with the food hanging in a basket. 

The treehouses were absolutely fantastic. Your 'shower' consisted of a pipe which contained fresh forest rainwater, and while showering you had a panorama view of the forest. (again you still stood 100's of feet up in the air). At the other hand, however, the treehouses were also the home of all kind of shitass creatures. Spiders, the size of a small cup, mosquitos, leeches, wasps, cockoaches, gekkos and even a rat were our 'roommates'. The laughs we had while one of the creatures appeared while having a nice cup of coffee in the darkness of the treehouse, were magnificant.



Absolutely Awesome ZIPPING TIME



We did the experience with a group of 8 people and 2 guides. The group was awesome. They were all of my age or slightly older and from every corner of the world. We met Allix, an actor from the UK who's been afraid of wasps :P. Dan, a latino fella who's been the worst zipper ever (doing 360's by hitting trees, losing flipflops while jumping off on the zipline etc). Jurian, my dutch roommate in the treehouse. Urs, our 'medic' who had tons of bandage and desinfectant with him for all the fucking leeches who were eating my ass alive. And ofcourse Hanneke and Tamara, but I concider them one of my own by now, we're almost traveling for 2 months together now. And last but not least there was Thom, my partner in crime when it came to 'midnight zipping' even we have been told not to go out of the treehouse after dark. (we did anyway hehe). As you might understand, in the middle of the jungle there are no lights. Which means, after 7 pm. you have complete darkness outside of the treehouse. And by complete darnkess I mean ABSOLUTE zero visability. If you hold your hand in front of your face you are not able to see it. Thom and I decided to get out of the treehouse  nevertheless and equiped with a head torch we zipped our asses back into the forest. In can tell you, while zipping for 400 meters in complete 'blackness' with only a headtorch, and the inmense sound of the surrounding jungle creatures, you can not be 'afraid' of the dark ever again any more. It's was absolutely forbidden by our guides, yet absolute amazing to break that rule :P.

Anyway, the Gibbon Experience costed some big bucks, but the experience you get back is simply unforgetable. After three days of hiking and zipping you're dirty and exhausted as hell, but the beer after the hike has never tasted THAT good.

Vang Vieng.



Vang Vieng

Backpackers walhalla. I had heard many great stories of this place before and therefore putted it on my list of 'must do's while in Laos'. Vang Vieng is a another shithole in the middle of bimboefuck in Laos. But very touristic. Why? TUBING BABY. You get yourself an inner tube of a tractor, get yourself to the river and drop your butt in the river. While drifting at a rather relaxing speed over the river, with the burning sun (30C* in Laos) on your head you will pass 'bars' where the locals are 'fishing' you in by throwing ropes at your tube. Simply grab a rope, get yourself reeled in and for 2 euro's you get a bucket of booze! (BUCKET). Besides the bars, the locals also made all sort of 'attractions', consisting of swings, dive towers, glides and ziplines all above the 'deeper' parts of the river. (at least that's what you're hoping for when jumping of a height of at least 5 meters.) Every attraction was very high and to an extreme level sometime. Many accidents happen when tourists drink to much booze (BUCKETS) and pretend they are acrobatics on the swings. But rather than a perfect backflip, they crack their backs flat on the water (so did I - LOL).



Jumping the water!



Another selling point of Vang Vieng are the bars. Instead of regular bars, they only have 'lounge bars' with pillows and sometimes even blankets. While crashing down on one of the pillows and ordering a refreshing 'anti hangover meal', the bars are showing all kind of popular tvshows like FRIENDS and the SIMPSONS almost 24/7 a day. Needless to say, I spend some time there after a long and exhausting day of tubing. Vang Vieng is simply a must do for every backpacker in the age of 20 to 40.

Kuang Si Waterfall

Our last stop in Laos was Luang Prabang. A fairly big city in Laos, from where our flight would leave to Hanoi - Vietnam. We spend one day here and decided to go to the main attraction, the Kuang Si Waterfalls. A large waterfall, surrounded by clear pools of water where you were able to swim, relax, and jump of the rocks! Check the pics!



And now, I'm in Hanoi. All excited for my big motorbike trip. Together with the girls & Dave and Neill, we will leave for our adventure on wheels tomorrow. I bought myself a awesome russian black Minsk, which (hopefully) will bring me to the most amazing places of Vietnam & Cambodia. First we will head to Halong Bay, one of the finest and most gorgeous places in the world, so I've been told. We'll see!

click here for pictures

Living the Dream in China

Ladies and gents,

It has been a long time since my last update. This is because of inregular (or very slow) Internet access, lack of time, but most important, my laptop broke down, so I'm very dependent on pc's in hostels etc. Anyway, tomorrow I will be leaving China already, after spending nearly 4 weeks here. And it has been absolutely amazing! Soooo, I will try to keep it short this time and to fill you in with the major things that happened during my stay here in China. The pics will follow later!

BEIJING!

In the train from Mongolia to Beijing I met 2 dutch girls. Two awesome chicks, Hanneke and Tamara. Up to this moment we are still traveling together. We're a match made in heaven the 3 of us! And the way it looks now, we will keep continuing traveling for the next few weeks as well!

In Beijing I spent 10 awesome days. I can not even describe how it was! But I will try nevertheless. It was my very first experience with China. The minute I walked off the train platform and set foot on the streets of Beijing, I walked into a whole new world! Unbelieveble busy, crowded and completely confusing. Nothing made any sense to me. Every sign, shop, advertisement etc. was written in Chinese. From that minute I realized I would be completely dependent of others helping me out. I mean, I couldnt even order a coke in a simple polite way! Luckily for me, I stayed with a dutch dude who has been living here for quite some years now. He picked me up from the trainstation (although it was already an adventure to meet him in the insane crowd). The first couple of days he was able to help me out perfectly! I stayed in his kickass apartment, 30 minutes outside of the 'centre', where I quickly met some other dudes who were staying there as well. All dutchies, all entrepeneurs and they were all awesome! Some legendary clubnights were held with these fella's I can tell!

The first night in town I met a girl in a bar named Gauri. She was from India. We hitted it off quite well and she told me she stayed with a classmate and friend (also a dutch dude) somewhere in Beijing. We decided to hang out together that week. With these people and also the dutch girls, I did the most awesome things in Beijing. Highlight was - of course - the Chinese Wall. An experience of a lifetime. It was so amazing. Especially since we ignored the 'forbidden for tourist' signs along the wall, and kept on walking. This way, we came on the 'non touristic' area of the wall, which basicly meant, only ruins, no people and lot of nature and stunning views! Take a look at the pics and you'll understand what I mean. The last few days of my visit in Beijing I stayed in a hostel, where the girls where staying as well. The hostel kicked ass. Amazingly cheap beers, clean dorms and great service! From there we booked our trip by train to the next major city! Shanghai!

Shanghai

The most 'futuristic' city I've ever seen. The skyline near 'the Bunt' could easily fit in a sci-fi movie. It's like alien architecture! Incredible but stunning. Shanghai was extreme expensive however. The girls and me stayed in a hostel for 2 days. However, I already contacted a girl through couchsurfing, back in Beijing. It turned out she was able to host me and the girls in her beautiful apartment in city centre Shanghai! Damn her apartment was huge!! Plenty of room for the 3 of us. We stayed at her place for another 2 days. She was awesome! Meg... Thanx again for the best time! Of course we visited the World Expo during our 4 day stay in Shanghai! We were prepared for insane crowds, longs ques and lots of waiting. But we had luck... it turned out, we visited the expo on the LEAST BUSY DAY SO FAR. How cool... hardly no ques, and we were able to visit the Holland Stand without any waiting! Awesome. Funny thing, we ate kroketten en friet there :D. Other than that, Shanghai has little to offer to tourists, so we already planned the next move upon arrival at the city!!! NEXT STOP WOULD BE

Yangshuo - BACKPACKERS HEAVEN

Tears in my eye (figure of speech ofcourse) while writing about this place. It was amaaaaazing. Very small town up in the west of China (30 hours of travel from Shanghai) but man was it worth it. The town was very cosy and small. LOTS AND LOTS of hostels, bars, clubs and shops, but the best part, it was in the middle of the Pointy LIME MOUNTAINS. The view we had from our roof-terrace in the hostel was breathtaking! Check the pics for that! This place kept us busy for almost a week. Were it not for the insane alcohol consumption (happy hour 24/7 - 1,5L beer for 1,5 euro, double whiskey, Jameson, 2,5 euro) we did the most adventurous things so far!

The list!

- Biking through the nature

- Caving, including mudbaths (girls in bikini and mud - muhahahaha), hot springs and cave swimming pools (froze my ass off)

- Rock climbing!!!!!!

- DRIFTING - which i thought was something like 'rafting'. But I couldnt be more wrong. Instead you got yourself a small rubber boat and you were trown off an insane fierce river! The pics will say enough!

- Renting scooters for an awesome trip through the mountain area with peepz from the hostel. Highlight was the 'dragon bridge'. I jumped from it, 10 meters high!!! WHAT A KICK!

- Hiking up to moon Hill, for amazing viewpoints!

- EATING SNAKE. We got ourselves a living snake for dinner. After playing with it first, a lady came and cut off the head with a pair of siccors. I was the 'lucky' one to eat the snake's heart (still beating in your hand) and drink some of the blood! The rest of the snake went into the kitchen for some 'bone soup' and 'snake meat with rice'! NICE!

The best part however, is the fact that I met 2 awesome scottish dudes there. They will go to vietnam the same date as I was planning to. We have decided to get ourselves some motorbikes and drive along the coast for 2 weeks from Hanoi to Saigon. The girls will join too... I CANT WAIT FOR THIS.

And now here I am. The last place in China, before we're heading to LAOS! It's called Lijiang. Very touristic, but incredible pitoresque. From here we did the famous TIGER LEAPING GORGE. A hike which is described as 'the mother of all hikes'. It even claimed a few deaths in the past. (google on tiger leaping gorge). THIS WAS A WORKOUT like I had never experienced before, but man was it worth it. 2 days hiking through the mountains, litteraly with my head in the clouds, and descents of 100's of meters with no fences around to protect you! The girls and I took the hike in the 'worst case scenario'. Lots of rain and on our sneakers! BUT WE MADE IT. It was incredible! It was almost unbearable at some times (soaking wet of the rain, covered in mud, swearing my ass off) but in the end, it was all worht it!

Alright, this was a brief update of my adventures so far. Tomorrow we'll heading for Laos. First thing on the to-do list is the famous 'Gibbon Experience'. Which means we will live in the rain forest in treehouses for a few days, finding our way from treetop to treetop by ziplines! We are warned tho! Some peepz who we met in the hostel here, told us there will be spiders larger than your hand in Laos! And the best part is! There are hardly any hospitals nor doctors in Laos! SWEEET! LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!

PEACE OUT Bert

ps. The pics of Beijing and Shanghai are from the girls, since my pics were stored on my laptop :(. My pics will follow later!

click here for pics

The Yak and other Mongolian stories!

Ok people, live from Shanghai - China, I bring you my update about my Mongolian adventure! The story has been written in Beijing, but I had so much fun there, I simply had not the time to update my blog sooner :D. I hope the stories about Beijing will be on the air soon as well :P. Enjoy!

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In grannies apartment (still in Irkutsk Russia), I woke up around 4 am that morning by my alarm clock. My transfer to the trainstation would be around 4.30. One of the grannies woke up as well and handed me a small plastic bag, and said something like ‘breakfast’. The bag contained a small piece of bread, 2 boiled eggs and a tomato! What a sweet lady! I handed her 150 rubbles (around 5 euro) to show my appreciation and her effort. Ít means little money to me, but it means a few days food to her! She just smiled to me as I went downstairs, to my driver who was waiting for me!

When dropped off at the train station I met Wouter and Linda again, the Dutch couple I ran into one day earlier when I was in the Internet café. It turned out they had the same carriage as me, so that was cool! The next 1,5 day I would spend in the train again. Next destination, the capital of Mongolia, Ulan-Batar. However this 1,5 day in the train were like a ‘walk in the park’ compared to the first 4 days I had to spent in the train. Especially since we travelled over night as well, which meant I could sleep basically half of my journey. When I was awake, I had a good time with Wouter and Linda, we played some games and watched a movie on my laptop (The Hangover) and talked a lot.

But the moment we arrived at the border, I had a nervous moment. Official guards with guns and ‘drug’ dogs (German Sheppards) arrived and looked quite serious and I immediately figured these were not some people to mess with. When one (lady) guard asked for my passport, I handed it to her. When she asked for my ‘immigration card’ I just looked at her. Puzzled! ‘immigration card’? I repeated. I didn’t get an immigration card, where the f*ck should I have got an immigration card from?? I looked at Wouter and Linda, who where holding their immigration card in their hands already! Obviously I was supposed to have an immigration card, which seems logical, ‘cause usual you get those things upon arrival at the airport. But I couldn’t remember I got one, and I even if would have got one, I would be sure to have put it with my official documents and tickets, like usual! Either way… I didn’t have one, and the lady began to stare at me, waiting for the card!

Then… I just did what works usual. I flashed a smile! Saying with my sweetest voice I didn’t have a card, ‘cause I didn’t receive one at the airport! She looked at me, (little angry) and walked off. The next few hours I was a little nervous. I didn’t wanted to get off the train for some stupid questions, or having the guards checking my luggage. And not because I had some prohibited items in my bag, but because of the fact it’s a real challenge to fit everything in perfectly (I really brought too much shit). It takes me about 30 minutes every time to pack :P! And I was quite sure that the lady in official uniform with angry dog, would certainly not say ‘let me pack you bag for you again, sweet innocent Dutch boy, I’m sorry for the misunderstanding’.



Train friends!



When we went off on the platform (the passport checks would take several hours at the border) we joked a little about my situation. In the mean time a nice Swiss couple was standing with me and Wouter and Linda, and together (with me) we had some good laughs about how I would be facing some serious jail time, sharing a cell with ‘Ivan the Terrible’ who would make me his bitch in no time!

Anyway… in the end, the lady came to our cabine again, offered me my passport and walked off. No questions asked! I was so happy and relieved! (The minute we arrived at the Mongolian border (yeah it sounds crazy, but apparently its necessary to check your passports twice) I got an ‘new’ immigration card (this time for Mongolia). I kissed it, I hugged it and treated it as a national treasure for the next few days. (this wouldn’t happen to me again I thought).

So, besides the few nervous hours at the border, the 1,5 day in the train went by in a flash. I made it to Ulan-Batar. After I said goodbye to the peepz I met, I found my guide, a Mongolian man named ‘Bade’ (at least I think it was his name, ‘cause I kept calling him this way haha) who would drive me to my first destination. The Ger-camp somewhere in a national park (Terelij) up in the mountains, 90 minutes outside of the big city!

And man, what a trip was that. I thought the scenery of Irkutsk was nice, but compared to the landscapes of Mongolia, Irkutsk seemed like an ordinary park! For every minute we kept driving, the temperature dropped and the mountains got higher, but still it was (again) awesome weather. Blue sky, bright sun and no breeze. It was amazing to be in an environment like that. After an hour driving through the mountains and ‘no mans land’ I arrived at my park. The park consisted of a few Ger-Tents for the guests, a big ‘restaurant’ tent in the middle and a simple house where the toilets and (nice and warm) showers were. It was absolutely amazing to spend my next two days there. I was all alone, after 2 weeks of travelling and being social with people wherever I came. I spoke to people maybe 30 minutes those 2 days, nothing more. I loved it to the max. In the nights I had a fantastic view on thousands of stars, with nothing but the sound of some insects and an occasional bark of a dog. The perfect place to get rest and thinking over my sins! :-D! I spent the days with some music, some reading, some walking, keeping my old fashioned ‘fire heater’ running by throwing wood on it (and of course play with the fire gnagnagna – Im still a boy) and by eating the most delicious food I got on my trip so far (all included – nothing to pay). Easily one of the best parts of my trip so-far. But rather than trying to describe how it was, just have a look at the pictures. It will say enough!

After my 2 days in the Ger-Camp, my guide – Bade, picked me up again. I already made a deal with him to pay him 50.000 of “whatever you call the currency in Mongolia” (25 euro’s) and for that he would spend a day showing me around in both the mountain area and the city! This became some money well spend, ‘cause he was my guide for 10 hours that day and showed me some fantastic spots and things I wouldn’t have seen if I were by myself. I went to a ‘famous’ rock called ‘the turtle rock’ a massive piece of rock shaped as a turtle. He brought me to a nomad family where I got my first cup (and last LOL) of warm Yak milk!

Speaking of Yaks. I mentioned to Bade, that the minute he spotted a Yak, I wanted to take a picture of it. Of course we passed a Yak which was somewhere grazing in the grass. I asked Bade if a Yak was dangerous (like a bull) or friendly (like a cow). I believe the exact words of Bade were “no no… friendly animal… very calm, you go there… I take picture”. Although I believed him, the fence around the Yak kind of said the contrary. I mean, every animal in the park, (horses, cows (even camels)) were roaming free, with no fences around it and basically free to approach. But the Yak… not so much. A large fence was guarding it. But, I still wanted a picture of me and the Yak, so I jumped the fence, ready for an awesome pic! I thought a movie would be nice as well… so I instructed Bade to make a record of my action which I would call ‘Bart approaching the Yak’. When I was doing my ‘Steve Erwin vs. Crocodile Dundee’ imitation (I WILL NOW APPROACH THE YAK) I sneaked up to him, in a circle motion. When I was a few meters away of the Yak, it suddenly stopped grazing… lifted it’s head up… and we stared to each other for a few seconds. (Damn it’s huge). And at that moment, The Yak made a sudden move and made a LOUD noise in my direction like he was RUNNING TOWARDS me. I RAN LIKE A BIG SISSY hahahahaha. I really thought the Yak was coming after me. ‘cause it was really like the CHARGE motion a bull would have done! But clearly the Yak didn’t. It was just a ‘warning’ movement, which I think meant something like… “back off stupid Dutch boy, or you will become famous as the first dumb shit who has been eaten alive by a Yak”. Anyway, no picture with me and the Yak. But I DO HAVE a classic movie of me running like a bitch, and Bade laughing his ass of while he was recording me! I hope I’m able to upload it soon! Its hilarious!

The rest of the day I spend time in the city for some sightseeing. Also I visited the national museum (which was awesome) with all kind of Mongolian history, 100’s of small and big stuffed animals, and the highlight, a skeleton of a giant T-REX look-a-like-dinosaur. When I was a little boy I was crazy of dinosaurs, so it was so cool to see it. Unfortunately I was not allowed to take a picture of it.

When I left the museum I heard ‘Hiiii Baaaart’. I turned around and there I saw Sarah and her dad David again, the two Irish people I spent my 4 days with, during the train trip from Moscow to Irkutsk. What a coincidence. We chatted a little and we decided to meet up later that day for dinner and a beer together. After that I took Bade (who waited for me all that time) for a beer, before he would take me to the view point, which would give me a great view of the city. Bade told me Mongolia has somewhere around 2 million residents, but 1 million where living in Ulan-Batar. Quite crowded you can say.

My last stop after the viewpoint was some sort of ‘national’ folk dance and throat singing event, for which Mongolia is well known. I paid around 6 euro’s to get in, and it was absolutely amazing. Typical Mongolian dances and music (with some very cool instruments I had never seen before) and some very extraordinary dressed people dancing and singing. It was so cool to see it.

Bade finally dropped me off at a ‘Mongolian BBQ’ all you can eat restaurant. David and Sarah joined me and after I thanked Bade 100 times and gave him his money and a tip, the 3 of us had a massive meal in the restaurant. All kind of meat and different kinds of salads and side dishes were available in ‘buffet style’. You walked to the buffet, got your raw meat on a plate, and walked to the 2 Mongolian cooks, who would prepare it for you on the spot. Including some awesome tricks like ‘flambéing the food’, ‘juggling’ with the knives and flipping pieces of meat from the hot cooking plate right on your plate. Awesome dinner, eating as much a I could, for less than 10 euro’s! 

And with that dinner as the last activity of the day, I said goodbye again to my friends again and started walking towards my hostel. Which was somewhere ‘down that direction’ Bade told me before he left! Well… I didn’t mind. I would manage…. After all, it’s one great experience so far. It would turn out fine… as it always does!

< to be continued >

ps. click here for pictures

The Lake & the City

Upon arrival in Irkutsk I met Pasha on the train platform. My driver who was waiting for me with a sign ‘Mr. Luijk’. That’s me baby! He spoke English very well (what is not very usual in Russia) and was able to answer me all kind of questions. We chatted a lot while we were driving to my first destination. My room near Lake Baikal that is. I had no idea what to expect of the lake, and its surroundings, but the trip to the lake was amazing already. It was like I was in Scandinavia. Lots and lots of nature, forest, lakes and mountains. It was beautiful. Pasha told me all kind of wildlife was living in the forest, including grizzly bears, so I’d better not go to deep into the forest he warned me! Well, thanks for the advice Pasha.

At a certain moment of the trip I was quite excited, ‘cause I thought I saw the lake. It was massive and I reached for my camera. “don’t bother’ Pasha told me immediately. “this is just one of the ‘rivers’ streaming to the actual lake”. I looked at him in disbelief? “just a river’ I repeated? It’s freakin’ massive, the size of a small city at least. And you just call it a river! I couldn’t believe it. Pasha was just laughing. But soon after this rather funny thing, I understood what he meant. The actual lake appeared from the corner of a big mountain.

…… I couldn’t say anything. I was stunned. There was water as far as I could see. (it was very sunny and clear that day, so the vision was perfect). Somewhere at the horizon I saw the shapes of mountains. “that’s one of the shores” Pasha continued his story, clearly not impressed anymore. “The closest shore from this point to that point is approximately 40 km away. It gets a little wider over there, around 80 km from shore to shore. But that’s just the wide of the lake. The length of the lake is more than 640 km. It has the shape of a banana and goes around the mountain, so were a not able to see that.” I was flabbergasted. And yet, this lake is still not the biggest lake in the world (there is one bigger, somewhere else in Russia, near Kazakhstan and the dead sea). However, lake Baikal holds it’s record as ‘deepest lake in the world’. The deepest point is over 1600 meters! It contains enough water to supply the entire world population of fresh (drinking) water for the next 7 years! Amazing.

After a while we entered a little village near the lake, called Listvyanka. This would be my stop. It was very idyllic with small markets and stables were people were selling fish, souvenirs and other crap. The coast consisted of small houses, hotels and restaurants. Other than that there was pretty much nothing else. The village was quite isolated as well, at least one hour away from Irkutsk, by car. My hotel was somewhere up in the hills. The minute we stopped I looked around and I was enjoying again because of the peace, silence and fresh mountain air. After a short walk up the hill we arrived at my ‘hotel’. It was some sort of a big wooden chalet, which can be best described as the wooden chalets people stay in during their winter sport holidays in Austria or Switzerland. (in the winter there are some ski-tracks near Lake Baikal as well). When I entered the common area, where breakfast and dinner would be served, I was welcomed by (I think) the owner. A woman who didn’t speak much English. She told me to get a seat for a while, ‘cause the maid was still making up the rooms. Sure no problem. I got coffee and a delicious breakfast (baked eggs, ham, cheese, bread and a fruit yoghurt). After 4 days being in the train with no ‘fresh’ food, I considered this breakfast as “royalty food”. It was damn good!

The Hotel

My heavenly shower

The next few minutes a few other tourists walked in. 3 German guys (of my age) and an older women from England. We chatted for a while until the maid gave us ‘the green light’ to go to our rooms. Oh yeah! Something I was very looking forward to, after spending 4 days in the train, with no hot water, was a decent shower! The minute the owner showed me my room and the bathroom, a smile with a capital S appeared on my face. I was expecting an ordinary shower but what I found in the bathroom (being used to the dirty toilets in the train) surpassed my wildest dreams! A modern shower, with massage water beams, a ‘rain shower head’ in the ceiling and an ‘ordinary’ showerhead! I was so HAPPY! Besides this luxury shower, a fresh toilet was smiling at me, almost screaming to me that it wanted to be used. (and being used it was hahahaha). Needless to say, the next hour I spent in the bathroom. Enjoying this wonderful moment, seeing loudly under the shower, washing my hair!



My view from the deck



After that I inspected my room. It was small, but cosy and very neat. And the view I had from the deck was absolutely wonderful! I got some clean clothes, hugged the toilet one more time and went outside for a walk in the neighbourhood. This was the first time I was on my own after a while. In Moscow I had Alejandro and the girls. In the train I had my group of people. No I was alone. But I was enjoying it. I got some cash from the ATM in a fancy hotel and hit the road again. After checking some of the stables at the market and made some cool pictures of the lake and its surroundings I saw an ‘internet- / tourist info’ kind of a shop. I decided to go in for a map and some tips.

And there she was. A cute Russian girl, clearly bored, sitting behind her desk. And here I came, Bart, looking for some fun! After 30 minutes or so, I walked out of the shop, not only with a map but also with the phone number of a new made friend, this Russian girl, a local from Irkutsk, who was happy to spend some hours with me later that night in the local pub for a beer. Awesome!

 

Viewpoint



Of course she also gave me some tourist information. So I took her advice and I walked to the museum (which was quite boring actually, but at least I can say ‘been there done that’) and the viewpoint of Lake Baikal. The viewpoint was quite fun. During my walk up there I met this 2 Russian dudes, who seemed a little lost (and so was I) and together we managed to find the view point. They spoke a little English so we chatted a bit and took some pictures of each other at the viewpoint. Nice people, those Russians! 


That evening I was meeting up with Daria (pronounced as Dasha) the girl from the tourist info. While I was waiting for her, she showed up with two dudes. Immediately the thought of me being beaten up by 2 guys, getting robbed and being left for dead near the lake, flashed through my mind. However, it were 2 guys who were staying at her hostel and she asked them to join us. The minute we shook hands, I smiled! It were the same guys I met earlier during my walk to the viewpoint! It was fantastic. We had dinner (fish) and a beer. Also a shot of Vodka of course, since we are in Russia. We had a blast.

When I finally walked home that night I almost got lost. It was so damn dark I couldn’t figure out anymore which porch was leading to my hotel. I accidentally opened a wrong one and heard a big dog barking in the dark! Fuck, clearly wrong porch. At that point I really became a little worried since I was not able to find my hotel anymore. (and I really wasn’t looking forward to spend my night in the horrible cold night (almost freezing). Fortunately I had my camera with me, which contained pictures of the neighbourhood which I shot earlier that day during my walk. As a real ‘McGyver vs. Sherlock Holmes’ I browsed through my pics looking for typical landmarks which could show me the right direction! :P And it worked. I managed to find my way home by watching the pictures and ‘matching’ them with the surroundings! Oh yeah, I rock!! I laughed out loud at that moment. My life is awesome! the first moment you are alone in an isolated village with a big lake, the next minute you have a nice dinner and drinks with complete yet extremely fun and friendly strangers, the following moment you almost face a lonely cold night in the darkness, and the next moment I was in my hotel again. I hit my crib around 3.30 am. (a little later than expected due to the d-tour I took. LOL)

The next morning I got picked up again for my transfer to the city Irkutsk. My accommodation there was described as ‘home stay’ in my bookings, which meant I would stay with a local family in their guestroom. The family in my case consisted of 2 Russian sisters. The minute I heard ‘Russian sisters’ I hoped for 2 blonde twin 23-year old sisters, but of course I wasn’t that lucky. After arrival I met 2 old women instead, who looked like 100 years old! But man it was wonderful. They spoke hardly any English, but they were typical ‘grandma’s’ living in a typical ‘grandma apartment’. Like I was 50 years back in time. One of the ‘grandma’s’ - constantly smiling - showed me my room, the bathroom and toilet. After I said several times ‘thank you’ in Russian and flashed her a big smile, she smiled again and made a gesture to the closet and pointed at extra blankets which were stored there. ‘cold cold’ she said, still smiling! Ok granny, I got ya, when I got cold in the night, I was able to get an extra blanket. But the bed was also typical ‘grandma style’, 400 layers of sheets, blankets, pillows and fur. I was not worried, even an Eskimo wouldn’t get cold with a bed like this! I was sure I would sleep like I princess in granny’s apartment.

That afternoon I walked into the town of Irkutsk. I was lucky with the fact that ‘my home’ was located in the centre of Irkutsk, so It only took a few minutes to the city centre. After I spend some time in an internet café, where I met Wouter and Linda, a nice Dutch couple, doing an amazing trip together which will take around 9 months, I decided to get some food. Along my way looking for a nice place to eat, a random Russian man asked me something in Russian. I gave him the look ‘does not comprendoooo’ and he started a conversation in basic English with me. After I told him I was from Holland, he had all kind of stories about a friend of him who was from Holland as well. He walked with me for a while and showed me the directions to the mall. The world is full of friendly people!

I walked in of one of the food stores and ordered some burger with fries and a coke, in half English (the ordering part) and half Russian (the ‘please and thank you part :P). Smiles guaranteed.

“where you from” someone asked next to me. I looked over my shoulder and this friendly looking Russian dude was looking at me. “Holland” I said, “but as far I’m concerned, I’m not going back again, Russia rocks’. The dude smiled. We chatted a little while we were waiting for our food. After we got our food he said “I’m sitting there with my friend, would you like to join us?”.



Toni and Tim



And so I joined Tim, the next random stranger, and his friend Toni, a girl who was an English teacher and therefore spoke English very well. What started as a lunch, ended in a tour trough Irkutsk, where Tim and Toni showed me around and made lots of pictures (Toni had a big ass camera cause she photographed a lot). After hours of walking, talking, drinking coffee, eating ice-cream and even instant dancing on the street at a random speaker pumping House Music, they made sure I came home safe by walking me all the way home. (which was great ‘cause I think I couldn’t have found it myself anymore despite my map). And there I was again, in a comfortable bed, in grannies apartment, recapturing the last 2 days. How I came alone, but left with a dozen new wonderful memories, stories and contact details of amazing people I encountered.

I fell asleep with a smile… getting my rest for another 1,5 day on the train. The train which would bring me to Mongolia, to new adventures!

< to be continued >

click here for pics.

The Adventure on wheels!

I ARRIVED IN BEIJING!!! but the story you will read below has been written during my stopover in Mongolia, where I spent 2 days in the mountains. (where I finally got the time to write 2 stories - the next one will follow this week) ENJOY reading! (ps. my chinese number for texting or calling is +8613611150352)

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You people are in luck. I’ve got the time again to write a story of my amazing adventure which has been absolutely fantastic so far. At the moment I’m ‘only’ 1,5 day away from Beijing, which means I’m in Mongolia, Ulan-Bataar right now. And I’m not in the city (at the moment of writing this blog that is) Hell no. I’m in Terelij, a national Park of Ulan-Bataar, right up in the mountains. I can’t believe this. It’s so beautiful here, so peaceful and so quiet. No traffic, no shops, no people (except a dozen other guests who are staying in the park) no noise, just nothing, except for beautiful mountains and a clear sky wherever I look. Basically, this is the very first moment, after 2 weeks, that I’m being all alone now, with no other people around. I’m in my own very traditional Ger Tent, behind my laptop near an old fashioned heater which runs on old cow shit (not kidding) and wood! My first alone time, after nearly 2 weeks of meeting people EVERY SINGLE day. 1,5 day for just me and my thoughts! I can’t even think of a better place to be in such situation than here. I’m loving it.

MOSCOW - station

But let’s get back to exactly September the 14th. The day I boarded the famous train Siberian Express. The day another awesome and ridiculous fun adventure begun!

After I woke up (I took my well deserved recovery powernap of approximately 6 hours) the train was on it’s way for quite a while. It was already dark outside and most people were sleeping already, since I saw nobody in de small corridor and most cabines were closed (which meant people didn’t want to get disturbed). In my cabine was no one else, except for one Russian dude (who smelled bad) who was sleeping as well. I travelled 2nd class which meant I had to share my cabine with other people, up to a maximum of 4. Fortunately, I didn’t had lot of ‘room mates’ for the first 3 days, so I used the extra couches for my bags and other shit.

My fellow traintravelers

Anyway, I decided to go for a little ‘walk’, check out some cabines which still might be open, where I maybe could find some peepz to talk to. Also I wanted to check out the ‘restaurant’ carriage, which is basically the ‘middle’ of the train and the place where you can have dinner, hang out and have vodka’s and beers. (this carriage changes during the trip, for example when you pass the border, they will replace the ‘Russian food carriage’ for a ‘Mongolian food carriage’). The restaurant carriage was only ‘3 carriages’ away from my carriage, which (so I found out later) was quite lucky, since I didn’t have to pass a dozen of carriages before I would got there. (I can tell you, it can be quite a trip to walk through a shaking and stirring train, for 100’s of meters, passing all kind of people and obstacles).

When I entered the restaurant carriage, it was empty except for the 2 guys from Finland (who I briefly met right before I took my powernap) and another girl. They were having a beer and were talking. I introduced myself again and I joined them at their table. From that point I made my first ‘train travel friends’. The guys were of my age (mid twenties) and were named ‘Jukka and Rami’. The girl, named ‘Eva’ was in her early 30s and from Chili, but lived in London for many years now. She was quite charismatic, very artistic and spiritual. All 3 of the people were very cool and we had some great laughs that night. The first beers on the Trans-Siberian express became reality, and again, a day without alcohol was an illusion! Oh, hell, you only live once! After 2 (or 3) beers I decided to call it a day (still a little tired LOL), said goodbye to my 3 ‘new made’ friends and went back to my carriage for a good night of rest.

The next ‘morning’ I was woken up by some voices coming from next door. They were talking English. I got out of bed, put on some clothes and walked out of my cabine to see who the people were. On the corridor I met Sarah, an Irish girl of 32. We talked and soon she introduced me to her dad, mr. David, a 61 year old (or young) man. He was awesome. Together with his daughter he was travelling for a while. Very cool! Their cabine was next to mine so we became neighbours. Sarah and David shared their cabine with one more person, a woman (Louisa) from Portugal, who was hilarious as well. She had brought so many stuff (food), she nearly had not enough space to store it. The (last) bed in their cabine was therefore used as some sort of a ‘food shelf’ and was soon to be called ‘Lousia’s shop’. (need some food / chocolate / drinks / soap / whatever?? Go to Louisa’s shop). Together with Jukka, Rami and Eva, the 3 people I met that day became my ‘fellow travellers’ for the next 4 days! And man did we have fun! Before I boarded the train I thought I had plenty of time to write my travel journal, or read at least one book. But I couldn’t be more wrong. I hardly read any page of my book and I only wrote one page in my journal. We had such great fun with the 7 of us I simply didn’t have the time to do other things.

Having fun!!

Me and the group hung out at each others cabines all the time. The cabine of Sarah, David and Louisa soon became the ‘safe zone’ since they were the only ones who didn’t have an extra (Russian) passenger in their cabine. We hung out there every night to play cards, to drink, to eat, to laugh and to ‘stay safe’ from annoying drunk Russians in our own cabines! (coming more on this subject later).

One night, David had a bottle of fine Irish whisky he took from home and he kindly shared it with me! The accent of David became more difficult to understand with every shot of whisky he or I got, but we had so much fun! The night I also played a board game with David, Sarah and Louisa, which in Holland we call ‘mens-erger-je-niet’. A game I haven’t been playing since I was 12 years old. I never expected that a simple game like that, could be that fun because of the circumstances we were in. (the whisky might had to something with it as well)



The 'stop list'



During four days in the train you begin to develop certain routines and behaviour. Sharing food, supplies and drinks in your carriage amongst fellow passengers is part of that behaviour. Its like one giant picnic. The train stopped several times a day, but most of the times only for maybe 2 or 3 minutes, to get passengers on and off. At those stops you were not allowed to get off the train to stretch you legs or got some fresh air outside, because the train would depart immediately again. Instead, we had to wait for the ‘long stops’, usually stops of 20 to 30 minutes (max). Those stops however, came on average only every 4 or 5 hours. Sometimes not at all, and sometimes 2 times after each other. In each carriage their was a ‘time table’ which listed the stops and the stop times.


Soon me and the rest of the group were behaving like ‘prisoners’ who were desperately looking forward to their next few minutes of air time for that day. Simple things like fresh air or stretching the legs became so important. Sometimes I ran around like a crazy bastard on the platforms when I got out, screaming ‘freedom freeeeeedom’. Really you have to experience a trip of 4 days in a small train carriage, to understand this behaviour. But again, it was awesome. On the platforms it was always busy. It was like a little market there. All kind of merchandise was offered. From cigarettes to bread and from smoked fish to eggs. Usually I got myself some water, cokes, chips and other simple food, to survive the days.

The Train

The scenery of the landscapes we passed through Russia (and damn is that country big) was beautiful. Mountains, lakes, cities, villages, forest and plains. It was all there. However, after 3 days in the train you don’t look out the window as much as you did the first day. It becomes ‘usual’.

I haven’t showered at all that 4 days, since there was no shower present. Neither did I go to the toilet for a dump… since it was too ‘dirty’ for my standards. I only used it for a piss. It surprised me that I didn’t got a stomach ache ‘cause I didn’t go to the bathroom for so long. (however the minute I got a decent toilet again, it was like heaven on earth! The poor hotel women is still cleaning it at this moment I suppose hahahah LOL). The toilets in the train were quite unhygienic. But I wasn’t expecting to be on a ‘Hilton hotel on wheels’. So I never complained. Instead I just couldn’t be more happy with my little bottles of ‘no water needed disincentive hand soap’. It became my favourite article in the train. (and of course I shared it with the rest of the group).

The last day of the train, lots of passengers went on and off the train. That last day we had a few drunk Russian guys boarding our carriage. They were old man, and of course I was the ‘lucky’ one to get one of those bastards in my cabine. Well it didn’t matter much, since I hardly spent anytime in my cabine, except for some sleep (the morning I woke up the drunk offered me a vodka already hahaha, crazy man). Another crazy mofo joined the 2 Finnish guys in their cabine. He was so wasted, he kept talking to himself for an hour straight. After he ran out of conversation material he walked outside and started to harass me and Eva, ‘cause we were the only ones outside in the corridor talking for some hours together. After he got a little bit too annoying, (trying to touch me and Eva, wanted to make photos etc) I got fed up with it and start yelling at him and pretending I was starting a fight with him if he didn’t back off. (I figured it couldn’t take much of an effort to floor a drunk Russian guy on a shaky train). Eva grabbed her lonely planet (and those are big) and threatened to hit is face with it if he didn’t get out of her sight! (I loved her south American temper haha… aiaiaiaiaiaia CARRAMBA) Well, it soon became all ‘safe’ again, since the drunk guy had his stop and got off the train.

With that as one of the last many funny or cool things that happened during the 4 days on the train, we reached our first stop finally! (running, screeming, FREEEDOM). We were in Irkutsk. The place where I would stay for the next 2 days. 1 day at lake Baikal. And one day in the city itself. The 4 days in the train flew by like it was only a few hours. I really couldn’t believe that it was over that quick. It was all because of the awesome group of people I spend my time with. If I was alone, it would be a whole different story I suppose.

And so, after I said goodbye to my awesome train friends, I walked on the platform - not knowing yet, what wonderful people I was about to meet in the next few days – towards the Russian guy holding a welcome board which was clearly marked with:

‘Mr. Luijk’.

< to be continued >

click here for more photos!