I’ve been home long enough to decompress and readjust to what passes for my normal life. The 10 months I spent on the road almost seem like a dream, a series of mini-adventures (and occasional frustration, malaise, loneliness and homesickness) that happened in a movie, in another lifetime. I get a lot of the same questions about the trip, so let’s knock...
“And did you travel anywhere else while you were in Portugal?” Can’t answer this question without getting into The Story. The Customs & Immigration official was amazed that I’d go on such a trip alone. I didn’t bother mentioning that, statistically, I was just about to enter the most dangerous country on my route. With a THUD of a...
My introduction to France was clean, curving tarmac through snowy crags, descending through tunnels and graceful bends to arrive at a quaint Alpine village. Shops renting skiing and mountaineering equipment were bolstered by a few cafes and wine shops, topped off with a tourism kiosk sporting maps and local hiking guides. I picked a random cafe and did my best...
I don’t like to admit it, but by the time I left Aswan, travel was starting to lose its appeal. Waiting three weeks in vain for the Sudan visa, I had lost much of my travel momentum, which is so important during long-term, solo overlanding. So the otherwise charming or exotic aspects of day to day life in Egypt had become tiresome: the noise, dust, litter, rip...
There was more sightseeing to be done in Luxor, starting with a cruise on the Nile aboard a felucca (info link). Like the drivers in Wadi Rum, the felucca captains were a constant presence along the corniche, offering rides anywhere from one hour to several days in duration. One captain stood out from the rest with a unique sales pitch, quoting The Bard himself:...
The Jordanian departure procedure was straightforward enough, and soon I was on the fast ferry to Nuweiba on the Sinai peninsula. I’d heard horror stories about the customs procedure when entering Egypt, expecting anywhere from 4 to 7 hours of filling forms, waiting in lines, filling more forms, handing over money, etc. With my loins thus girded, I entered the...
The city of Petra was excavated (not technically built) by the Nabataeans in the 3rd century BC, and from here they controlled trade between Syria and Arabia, levying taxes and extorting protection money from passing caravans. The pink sandstone rock has been transformed into full-fledged city, with religious structures, dwellings, livestock pens, and...
My first stop in Jordan was Jerash, home to ruins that I found more interesting than those at Palmyra. Exploring them had to wait a few days as I dealt with a bout of the flu, complete with sore joints, aching head, fever, sore skin, and lethargy. I found a hotel with campsites 7km west of town, and having time to kill, thought it would be a good time to change out...
The road from the border to Aleppo was clearly signed, but once within the blender of thick traffic, roundabouts and one-way boulevards I found myself once again lost in a large city with sunset quickly approaching. My routine is to follow the main flow of traffic to the city center, locate a landmark to get my bearings, and then navigate to the part of town where...
The coast road was smooth and curvaceous, with the Black Sea’s mellow surf crashing to my right, rugged dark cliffs on my left, dotted with fishing villages, roadside markets and cafes, mosques with missile-shaped minarets, and blue skies overhead. The border crossing procedure was confusing, but eventually US$20 bought me a multi-entry visa, good for 90 days. My...