The Land of Oz!

'So, finally we reached Australia, the land of roos, heat, flies and very long roads. Our first day was spent wandering around Darwin taking in the relatively relaxed environment and marveling at the 'Australian-ish' of everything. A short drive day into Kakadu started our final driving adventure of this epic trip, and a camp by a croc infested billabong added more authenticity to our initial Oz experience. Aboriginal paintings, wildlife, heat and of course the compulsory swarms of flies made us realise that this is indeed a tough, but beautiful land.

Further south and Katherine, with it's stunning gorge and relaxing atmosphere, was next. Followed by Mataranka and a dip in the mysterious thermal pools. Daly Waters pub passed as did Tennant Creek and other infamous Ozzy landmarks. We stopped at the impossibly well balanced 'Devil's Marbles', and asked the question "How big must his Football be?"

Alice Springs was hotter still, as one of us departed the trip, bound for an early bath in Sydney.

Uluru was next, a rather lack lustre sunrise and sunset, due to the clouds......but an inspiring walk and day nonetheless.

Coober Pedy followed, with it's underground dwellings and opals a-plenty. A quick detour involving us pushing the bus out of the bull-dust, and we were once again heading south. Port Augusta beckoned, as did the East bound Barrier Highway. The scenery changed, the climate changed, but still the flies remained!!!

A spot of wine tasting and a supercharged lap around the Bathurst race track brought our final drive days to a close, as we eased our way gently into the CBD area of Sydney to our final destination, Sydney Opera House. An awe inspiring site an indescribable feeling, when you consider all that we've endured to get here. A fitting end to our trip, to the year and to each other, as new friends parted company and we all went our separate ways. We were all left with everlasting memories of our odyssey adventure from London to Sydney, overland. We made it alive, and all still in one piece. Awesome!!!!!!'

Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia

The first major difference we notice is how green and vibrant the landscape is and the second thing is how relaxed everyone seems to be.  With tourism still being relatively new to Cambodia, they certainly went out of their way to look after us as much as possible.

Phnom Penh was our first port of call where we had a couple of days to enjoy the temples and palaces while some choose to visit the Killing Fields and then it was onto the famous Angkor Wat. The temples are monumental constructions with Angkor Wat being the largest religious building in the world.

It was then a big bus ride and border crossing into Thailand and our first stop was the city of Bangkok.  This was our base for the next few days where we took in the sights and then partied and shopped until we dropped!  Heading onto the ‘Bridge on the river Kwai’ we spent a day here before we headed off to the island of Ko Samui and had 5 glorious days to chill out and do everything (diving, jet skiing, snorkeling, trekking, shopping, touring etc.) or nothing (lazing on the beach and relaxing)!  The people were wonderful, the beaches perfect, the food was divine and the weather was awesome!  It was a wonderful break from the constant travelling and a much needed rest! 

The trip seems to be almost flying by now, entering Malaysia we spent a couple of days in the very impressive capitol city Kuala Lumpur where sending all our shopping home was the main priority – we had so much gear we actually bought the post office out of boxes! Travelling on through Malaysia via Melaka we enter the very small and very expensive (for us – it’s a bit of a shock after what we have been use too) very clean and very modern island of Singapore!  Celebrating a birthday at Raffles, we all dressed up in our (newly purchased) finery and partied the night away until the wee small hours!  After exploring Singapore we waved goodbye to our driver and it was off to Indonesia where we were back in the searing heat and not so wealthy port city of Jakarta on the island of Java.  Heading by train to Yogyakarta, we explored the monument of Borobudur in the morning and spent the afternoon in the swimming pool and even more shopping!

Taking the overnight bus to Bali it was a delight to wake up on a tropical island with the most beautiful scenery and views!  Basing ourselves in Kuta we had another 4 day break for everyone to explore and do their own thing for the duration and to prepare owe selves for the next and final stretch of the expedition – the Aussie outback!  Back to cooking and camping it is!

Arriving in Darwin at 3.30am we meet Adam, our new driver and we’re on our way…

Only 2 weeks to go – unbelievable!

China, Laos and Vietnam!

First stop - The Great Wall! Some thing we had always dreamed of seeing! And then straight into Beijing where we spent a few days in this wonderful city!

The Great Wall of China!

Beijing!

Everyone enjoyed it and there was a million things to do (we could have spent a week here easily)! and then it was onto Chengdu to see the Terracotta Warriors and Lijiang to see the Panda's! I think it's safe to say that China was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Then we hit the HEAT of South East Asia! All back in our summer gears we enter Laos and our our first port of call was Luang Prabang, a lovely little village in the mountains which prepared us well for something we haven't really seem since Turkey - other tourists! Obtaining our Vietnamese visas here we continued on to Vang Vieng where some choose to take part in the tubing, rock climbing and others lazed or cycled around the town.

Monks in Laos

Laos

And then it was onto Vietnam! Wow! What a place, the food! the people! the hats! and THE SHOPPING! It was shopping heaven and all of us had dresses, suits and even shoes tailor made to fit like a glove in a matter of hours! Nothing was too much for them and they could create or copy any style you chose and it was all cheap, cheap, cheap!

Vietnam

 

 

 

Feng having her dress made and fitted

Fishing boats

 

Back to the beaches for the first time since Turkey, it is heaven to have time to work on the tan and relax a bit - now that we are on the 'home straight' the trip is just flying by and it really feels more like a 'holiday' than an expedition for sure and we are loving it!

Off to Cambodia next...!

 

Unfortunately the Pamir Highway was still very much closed and heavily guarded so, having travelled right up to the road block, we were turned away.  But as disappointed as we all were we were quickly ‘all over it’ as we were then allowed to travel travelling a different route to Osh , that is normally closed to foreigners,  so we were still privy to some spectator mountain views and we all enjoyed our time in Tajikistan .  Moving on to Kyrgyzstan we spent a few days camping at Lake Song-Kol where some choose to stay in the local yurts and, for those who fancied it, horse riding and walking was on the agenda and for those who didn’t fancy doing much, it was quite nice having nothing to do for a change as no electricity, internet or even a phone signal was to be had – it was simple living at its best.

Tajikistan

Tajikistan

We then headed for the beautiful lake Issyk-Kol, the world’s second largest alpine lake and worked our way around the lake to spend a couple of days at Jeti Orghuz where most took to the mountains for a day walking.

Kyrgyzstan - Lake Song Kol



Kyrgyzstan - Local kids who live at Lake Song Kol

Local horseman - Kyrgyzstan - Lake Song Kol

Mustering their horses - Kyrgyzstan - Lake Song Kol

Jenny and the local girls. Kyrgyzstan - Lake Song Kol

Getting their water from the well. Kyrgyzstan - Lake Song Kol


 

Spending a couple of days relaxing in Bishkek (even if we were in a hostel with 30 people and one bathroom and toilet – this is where our camp shower came in into its own as we put it up in the yard)! We took in the sights and sounds, stocked up on some excellent restaurant meals and then headed for Kazakhstan, bush camping on the outskirts of Almaty at a nearby National Park, where a few choose to go into the Tian Shan mountains on a (rather difficult) overnight trek while the rest of us hit the shops and sights of the city.

Travelling through the rest of the country we stocked up for the next big leg of our journey as nearly a month of bush camping in the wilds of Russia and Mongolia was on the cards!

Siberia, Russia was a real treat, back to cold weather  and all wrapped up we were treated to spectacular scenery and fantastic bush camps, night after night, the landscape was lush and it was a wonderful experience to travel though this vast country (well just a fraction of it really).  With lots of stogy meals of meat stews and potatoes, the (not quite so smiley it has to be said) locals treated us well and we were allowed to camp freely and pretty much do what we want which was rather unexpected.

Lake Baikal - Russia

Camping at Lake Baikal  - Russia

Reluctant to leave Russia but looking forward to experiencing Mongolia we pitch up at the Mongolian border and experience our first (surprisingly)  problem with immigration as the lovely border official refuse to accept the visas in our passports and force us to purchase new ones (it was only a fiver but still… rather annoying).  So after many hours of mucking around and waiting we were finally allowed in!  We make our way to Ulaanbaatar we find it a fantastic city, filled with temples, monasteries and monks walking the streets.  It certainly is an exotic destination but also very modern with stunning women, dressed in the latest fashion and excellent restaurants and a great night life. 

Genghis Khan - Mongolia

Gobi Desert - Mongolia

It was so good we had to spend an extra day here before leaving and entering the Gobi desert, bound for China!

Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

White marble with gold trim!

Onto Azerbaijan and our first port of call was a town called Sheki, famed for their silk production the town is a great stop on the ancient Silk Route. Then we were hit with a totally different landscape which was to be the norm over the next couple of weeks, extreme heat and flat deserts with the harsh realities of desert living on show throughout (loving the camels though)!

After bush camping at the Mud Volcanoes en-route it was off to Baku to pick up Johnny who was joining us there and a couple of nights were spent in the countries ultra-modern capital. The days however were spent waiting…waiting for the Turkmenistan embassy to open… waiting for the bank to process our visa payments to open… waiting for the Turkmenistan embassy to open again…waiting for the ferry to Turkmenistan… waiting for the ferry to leave and finally (having arrived at 8am) and then waiting until our visas kicked in and we were allowed to actually enter Turkmenistan (about 4am)!

Patience was tested but everyone handled it very well with good grace and the overnight ferry ride (about 14 hours) was not the dreaded experience we had all been told nightmare stories about – it was a perfectly fine crossing with us all getting a room to sleep in (and they even sold chips and cold beers)! So we ended up having a great night with the guys from the Mongol rally teams!

Then it was into Turkmenistan (minus Ange and Chris who unfortunately didn’t get their visas in time) and what a ‘different’ country this was! Arid desert was our only view for the next few days but it was certainly an experience like non other, the capital Ashgabat was made completely of white marble with gold trim but had no more traffic than a country village in Dorset on a Sunday afternoon and hardly any people were to bee seen.

Leaving Ashgabat after a couple of days well needed R and R we headed to, what most consider the countries highlight, the Darvaza Gas Craters, more commonly referred to as the ‘Gates of Hell’.It was an incredible sight and one of the best some of us had ever seen!

Having our first taste of sand-matting was a good experience and prepared us for what’s to come in the Gobi desert in Mongolia!

Entering Uzbekistan we were delighted with the old towns and amazing architectural designs and wonderfully preserved buildings and better still we were rejoined by Ange and Chris who had made their way to Khiva to join us.

Darvaza Gas Craters

Bush Camp!

We continued to Bukhara, Central Asia’s holiest city where we spent a couple of days wandering around and then through the red sand desert to arrive at the Silk Route city of Samarkand which has some fantastic sights like the beautiful Registan, Guri Amir Mausoleum and Bibi-Khanym Mosque.

We are currently in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, having spent a couple of nights relaxing and sightseeing before we try for the Pamir Highway this afternoon, having heard so many conflicting stories of whether it’s closed or open at the moment, we have decided to give it a go and see for ourselves if we get in or not, so we are off in a minute to see if we make it past the first check point this afternoon!

Watch this space!

Gates of Hell

Georgia and Armenia

So far...

All of us!

Leaving Turkey for Georgia the difference in the people and landscape was noticeable immediately (in just a few meters... how 'does' that happen...) And although very efficient and still very helpful, we were met with lesser ‘immediate’ smiles (until we learned the trick was to smile first and ‘then’we were in)!

Dipping in and out of Georgia and Armenia we were very happy to find that both were full of scenic mountains views and lots of rivers and the scenery is yet again, stunning (and the beers are dirt cheap :-)

Martin has re-joined us and has brought the rain with him with our first bush camp quickly turning into a flooded pond where we were all mid calf deep in water by the time it was time to go (gotta just 'love' camping in the rain)!



Yerevan, Armenia

Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, was a really nice surprise, filled with lots of trendy restaurants and cafes and even trendier women (most of which sporting 8 inch heels) and the coolest little underground bars. It felt very comfortable and safe wandering the streets late at night and we all had a bit of a wild night out helping our 'very clever girl' Feng celebrate getting a 1st from Oxford!!

Tbilisi at night, Georgia

On to Tbilisi in Georgia, which, once again, was a very interesting place to spend a couple of days (if very, very hot) taking in all the sights on offer.  Then, our bush camp in the mountains went from being a superb location deep in the mountains to the biggest and muddiest swamp in a matter of minutes when the rain kicked in (cheers Martin ;-)

Bogged down flip flops it was easier to go barefoot and the roast chicken and baked potatoes no longer seemed like the wisest dinner choice... BUT now harm was done, we didn't melt and dinner was enjoyed but all (if a little late) and the truck reversed out in the morning without any problems without even needing the 4 wheel drive which was a HUGE bonus!



Gayle chopping the wood to cook dinner!

So Far...

Absolutely loving Turkey!

Turkey has been a very pleasant surprise for some of us as we not expecting to enjoy it 'quite so much' (well our wallets weren't  anyway)! It truly is wonderful country and the people have been very welcoming and the scenery is amazing.

View from the hostel roof top terrace in Istanbul

Drinks in Istanbul.

The change's in the landscape from day to day has been simply remarkable, not to mention the 'ever so tasty' food fare on constant offer (Turkish bread is just divine, arguably some of the best in the world). So with waist-bands increasing and wallets decreasing we make our way through this wonderful country and I think it is very fair to say that Turkey has been thoroughly enjoyed by all of us.


After leaving the bustling city of Istanbul (now with two brand new and very proud Auntie's amongst us ;-) and heading east, we visited the battlefields of Gallipoli where our respects were paid to the many British, NZ, Australian and Turkish soldiers who fought and lost their lives there in 1915. 
Then it was off to the great Roman ruins of Ephesus and beach camping for a couple of nights, taking in Troy en-route.

Gallipoli

Boomerang Cafe

We have started cooking on fire now that we are out of Europe so cook group has become 'just that little bit harder' with a couple of  singed legs and a few blisters to show for our troubles while we are all getting used to it all (not to mention being covered in black soot from A--- end to Turkey ;-) as cooking on gas is a thing of the past unless we've no other option.




The weather is really cranking up now and it is being immensely enjoyed by all (isn't it Nick ;-), day after day of blue skies and 25-35 degree heat is the norm so far and apparently it's just going to get hotter.

Bush camp

Relaxing and lunching on fresh trout by the river!

Taking in a quick side visit to the white calcium-formed landscape of Pammukale we enter the wonderful region of Cappadocia where the scenery is amazing.  With it's unique fairy chimneys, spectacular canyons, ancient caves and underground cities it is an incredible place to travel through.
Hot air ballooning over this amazing place at sunrise was a definite highlight for most and the rest of our free time here was quickly snapped up with Turkish Belly Dancing, carpet shopping and lounging by the pool.

Cappadocia

Ballooning in Cappadocia!

On Yassar's roof top!

But as much as we have loved it, it's time to move on and it's off to Armenia and Georgia we go, 4 bush camps in a row (that's free camping with no facilities) is on the agenda so it might be time to get the camp shower out for the first time...!


Until next time...