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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Sep 24, 2017 08:00 PM All aboard!
Las Palmas has a nice and compact old town wort tostrol around. It is worth to look inside the St Ann cathedral ant to photograph the herd od dogs (monument) in front of it - d you know that the name of the whole archipelago "Canarias" came from canas - dogs in Spanish, not from any birds? The interior ofSanto Domingo church is even nicer...
In the back of the cathedral there s Casa de Colon - the house where Christopher Columbus stayed before his sailings to America - now there is a museum. Las Pmas has also great seaside promenade which will take you to the nice fountain - see picture.
What I do not like here? Traffic noise. Bread rolls for 0,50 euro each. Expensive transport....
But it is m last day here - soon I will walk to the cruise port to board the "Monarch" - cheap cruise ship heading to Panama. It is second-handship. When it was young and pretty it was called "Monarch of the Seas". But for the backpacer like me the price is main the factor. Yes, there is internet on board but it is weak and expensive. So the next mssage you will probably get after one week - when we willand onthe first carribean island. Keep the fingers crossed for the calm Atlantic, please!
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Sep 23, 2017 08:00 PM Fiesta Nuestra Sra del Rosario
I speak my poor Spanish again! Yes, I have been on Gran Canaria before, but focused on the province, so it is nice to refresh memories and go deeper into Las Palmas!
Today I was lucky again. They celebrated here the fiesta of NS del Rosario. Great procession of the people and ox carts were going through the old city playing folk music, dancing, laughing. On the decorated carts there were harvested fruits and vegetables, tropical flowers but also wine, oil, rice and other goods from the shop :).
Everything was taken to the plaza near Santo Domingo church and gifted to the big statue of St Mary taken for this occasions out from the church. It seems that their St Mary loves to see people dancing because every team in folk costumes was dancing also in front of her :)
It took me 4 hours to be with them, talking, taking pictures and enjoing the atmosphere. Almost no tourists! So this was not z tourist show - that's why I liked it so much... The only sad thing to be mentioned is that I did not see there any youngsters playing or dancing. Will this colorful fiesta disappear after the oldies will pass away?
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Sep 22, 2017 08:00 PM Cracow to Las Palmas
My LOT flight from Gdansk to Cracow was on time. It was raining when we reached destination... Nobody checked the size and weight of my luggage, which is bigger then usually - for the 7-weeks trip. In Cracow I had a time to boil a big cup of coffee (there are sockets available opposite LOT check-in counters) and I had my lunch.... Tickets are cheap nowadays but during the flight they are giving you knly thd aater.
Then there was 5-hours flight on Ryan to Grand Canaria. The plane was almost full, little space for the legs... Uuuu.... I was happy when we landed at 6 pm local time. Then I went to departure level, crossed parking lot and found the city bus stop. To Santa Catalina underground station the ride costs 2,95 euro. One bus per hour only 18.15 19.15 and so on...
The ride took 35 min. I found easily my Alcaravaneras hostal (on the picture), where basic room with shared bath costs 16 euro. 23 deg Celsius and high humidity at twilight time. Welcome to Canary Islands!
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Sep 21, 2017 08:00 PM To America, to warm America!
My backpack is packed and cleaned again... I wiill be flying out tomorrow. This will be a longer trip to unfamiliar places in Central America, where I will use ships, buses, planes, and probably also hitchhiking :) At the beginning I will fly by low-cost airline to in the Canary Islands. There I am boarding an old but cheap ship heading across the Atlantic to Panama. Then I want to visit Panamenian islands of Bocas del Toro, Colombian San Andres & Providencia and the north of Colombia - see the map. Short messages in English from the road you will find as always here - in my travel log (If cheap internet will be available, that is not obvious in this region.)
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Sep 18, 2017 08:00 PM From 32 deg in Dagestan to 13 in Gdansk....
The airport of Makhachkala is located in Kaspiysk - half an hour drive south, if no traffic congestions. It was still dark at 5 am when the hotel staff called the taxi. This is the best solition because taxis from official companies are metered and the ride cost you around 470 rou. Street taxi will cost you like 700... 25 deg Celsius at 5 am!
In the little airport only one flight was departing at that time. Soon we boarded the bus and our UTair plane.
Only water is served for free on board, you can orded the meal in advance via internet but this will cost you at least 300 rou...
In Moscow Vnukovo I had a quick change of the plane and then second 1,5 hour flight to Kaliningrad. Wow! Strong wind and rain here... Brrr...
Bus to the bus station for 80 rou. Then at 3 pm long distance bus through the border to Gdansk (565 rou). 13 deg Celsius only at home.
Another interesting trip is over. I brought a nice memories from warm Caucasus...
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Sep 17, 2017 08:00 PM The Grand Canyon of Dagestan
Who knows about Salaksky Canyon? It is one of nature wonders of Dagestan. Let you know: it is about 94 kms from Makhaczkala. First you go by the main highway heading to Grozny. Just before Kizylyurt you have to turn left and on the fork few kms onward take the right road. I rented a taxi from Macha... to get there. Make sure it will be the taxi ordered by phone by your hotel/guesthouse - they make the honest calculation. Street taxis are more expensive. Round trip cost me 2200 roubles. The key issue is to reach village DUBKI. Once in the village you have two bumby roads going to the rim of the canyon. After some 500 m you park the car and you walk to the rim. Wow! The deep-blue Salak River is meandring some 500 m down. It is possible to walk along the rim for the better pictures. But be careful! The local lady was talking there to the kids: -You know, in America they have similar Grand Canyon, but of course our canyon is nore impressive! I wish them to go to Arizona and see... :)
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Sep 16, 2017 08:00 PM Makhachkala - capital of Dagestan
Shared minibus called marshrutka from Derbent to Makha.... costs 200 rou. In the statistics the capital has 900 000 inhabitants, in the reality 1,2 mln -they say. It is huge, hot, dusty and crowded city on the Caspian Sea. I found good locum in the centrally located Tarkho Hotel. Zero international tourists... The last act of terrorism took plase 4 years ago, but the foreigners are still afraid to come here... Local administration does not care about - no info, no marketing, no city or region maps in English or even in Russian.
I feel safe on the street, even in the evening. I took the walk with my tablet in hand to tbe main Lenin Square (Mr Lenin is still alive here and has at least 2 monuments). Then I crossed by underground passage below the raiway line to the city beach. As iin the other Muslim countries it is hard to find there ladies in bikinis... Then it was worth to walk along the commercial Dakhadayeva Street to the Prospekt Shamil. Here on the corner they built the Grand Mosque. Turkey financed the works. The mosque ca accommodate 17000 people!
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Sep 15, 2017 08:00 PM Sleeping below sea level
In the evening there is a nice illumination of the Derbent fortress - see picture. I slept well in my Elit Hotel (1500 rou per huge room with bath and a/c).
It is hard to imagine that I sleep here below the sea level - the Caspian Sea lies in the depression of minus 28 m. The other factor which allows to sleep here well is the delicious Dagestani konyak (brandy) produced here. I saw here yesterday the lorries full of grapes - it is the harvest season now. The 0,5l bottle of this brandy cost 460 roubles - like 8 USD. OH, YES - I try it... :)
Unfortunately down from the city center there is no public beach - you must go north or south. The water in the Caspian Sea is not much salted...
But it is worth to go to the wild beach east from domik of the tsar because you can find there a logt of nice, brown color shells. The domik of Peter the first tsar is just like archeological site covere by glass. Peter I was staying here during his visit to Derbent in 18th century.
On the Lenin street I found probably the only one in the town Russian Orthodox church - cozy and blue. Few Russians live here - most of them escaped to Russia.
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Sep 14, 2017 08:00 PM Derbent on the Caspian Sea
This is the oldest town in the Russian Federation - said Mr Putin... Herodot was here 400 years before Christ, then Marco Polo and others..
Russians say I am vyezunchik - the lucky traveller :) Why? Because I am here on the day of the annual celebration of the "Derbent day"
On the main square whe Mr Lenin still stands the opened many big tents with the display of the regional traditions and crafts. They are singing and dancing since the morning.
Well... in the morning I was climbing to the fortress overlooking the town. They charge 100 rou entry fee and you can take a walk on the top of the walls and there is also an interesting museum. In the evening I was climbing again (again in the heat) to the fortress - there was the concert of the local Lezginka folk group. But the entry only by invitation... No coutesy for the only foreigner in the town (I think) - I was trying to convince twice the sucurity guys but they send me out. Miserable... They did not check the document or the names on the invitations so this was like a comedy...
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Sep 13, 2017 08:00 PM Ruins in the jungle - Dagestan
Kala Koreish - this remote place is little known out of Dagestan. Canyou imagine ruins of the ancient kingdom from 11th century located in the forest on the hill overlooking two rivers? That's it! Where I saw it for the first time I compared it to little scale Machu Picchu. So I call it now The Machu Picchu of Dagestan. Dagestanis do not travel to Peru so no wonder that they do not use such comparison :)
To get there you have to take Kubachi - Urkarakh marshrutka and disembark on the fork 9 kms from Kubachi. There is a sign on the side road "4,5 km to Kala Koreish" It is not easy 1,5 h walk each way - you go all down or up on the return. Take plenty of water.... 4WD car can try go all over the way to the bottom of the ruins but it is still risky... On the site there was only one caretaker. There is a stone mosque, a tomb of 3 imams, nice little cemetery and a lot of ruins. We were there alone - no other tourists... It is one of this magic places out of the beaten trail...
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