|
|
You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Jan 01, 1970 12:00 AM 643 kms to Mendoza
Wow! Blue sky. strong sun. We are driving west through the mountains of Argentina. First two hours we were climbing up to the Parador of Condor enjoying great panoramic views of the rocks, high slopes and deep valleys. There were nice waterfall "The tear of the Indio" right above the road. Then from the La Posta pass there were nice descent to the Mina Valley. Much more green here on thecway to Dolores. In the afternoon we made a short stopover in the colonial city San Luis. The cathedral is under restauration , but Satto Domingo church is interesting and they two shady plazas with monuments and fountains.
Then finally we reached good highway no. y7 heading to Mendoza . Police and sanitarhy controls on the province border. They introduced highway fees - 80 plus 60 pesos on this segment. Hot day! We arrived to Mendoza only at 7 pm. In the evening the city is nicely illuminated - especially the main Plaza Independancia. With High Andes in the background city has many green avenidas and parks. I must confess I am tired. The bottle of regular wine cost around one dollar. Let's drink for the great day. We plan to drive even more tomorrow!
|
Jan 01, 1970 12:00 AM At the bottom of the Andes...
Sunny morning in Mendoza. The liter of petrol costs here 55 pesos - we filled the car tank to full to avoid problems in the countryside. It was 9 am when we started to drive the famous RN40 road... It goes all over the way south - at the bottom of the Andes. Till Tunuyan there were vineyards around and snow visible on the peaks reaching 5 to 6 thousands m above sea level. Then we found ourselves in the semi- desert. The most impressive part of this segment were the canyons around Rio Diamante crossing. See the views on the picture. Then we stopover for the meal in the green township od Malargue. RN40 took us again through deserted hills to Bardas Blancas. We crossed the bridge and... what a challenge! More than 110 kms driving on the stoney/ gravel road. Nice views of the Rio Grande river but I was really afraid about our tyres - no settlements on thd way to repair! We were lucky: with reduced speed I reached after 2,5 hours the bridge on Rio Barranca - the border of the Neuquen province. No single control in such a remote point... Good asphalted road took us up and down the mountains 150 kms away on the RN40 - to the town of Chos Malal - this was the first possible overnight point. We did today 655 kms, but the gravel segment should be multipled by 3 :) Good night from the bottom of the snowy Andes
|
Jan 01, 1970 12:00 AM The funeral and the baptism in Ethiopia
My expensive (50 USD) entry ticket to the churches of Lalibela has one value - it allows me to be there during four consecutive days. So today in the morning I called the church gate again and this was the great idea because the funeral ceremony was performed there under the big tree. Singing, lamenting, priests under colorful umbrellas and, first of all: crowd of several hundered people in the white shammas sitting quietly around the tree (ladies are separated from men). After an hour spent in such a environment I went again to the second group of the churches to discover the lower entrance to the Libanos church and underground corridor to Emanuel Church. The last was the hit of the day with nice facade resembling Petra and friendly priest inside, posing with the big metal cross.
Back in the main group I took a sit between the monks singing near Bete Mariam church. I was enjoying the atmosphere and writing my daily notes. After two hours in the backyard they started the baptism ceremony. What a wonderful chance to observe locals, priests in yellow and crying children!
What a day!
|
Jan 01, 1970 12:00 AM Sailors and travellers in my dacha...
We have lovely, hot and sunny summer in Gdansk this year. Flowers are all around. I am receiving many friends, sailors and travellers, offering them fresh fruits and the travel stories. It is real paradise for me. See my good friend Ela on the picture...
|
Jan 01, 1970 12:00 AM Ladies in Wojtkowka
Three ladies from different corners of Poland visited me in my Wojtkowka. They also travel (at the moment not so far) and they wanted to meet me and listen to my travel stories. Why not? It was short, but very pleasant visit. They bought my book with a special dedication and promised to be back next year! :)
|
Jan 01, 1970 12:00 AM Widest waterfall of Europe, Versailles of Latvia
I started from Liepaja at 9.30, heading initially to the old town of Kuldiga. Roads are almost empty in this part of Curland so at 11 am I was alredy walking the streets of Kuldiga. Why I made a detour? Fellow Latvian from the hostel convinced me to visit this little known township. Kuldiga is proud to offer the longest brick bridge in Europe (164 m long) and widest waterfall in Europe (249 m wide) Well, the waterfall is less the 2 m high, but it is still something special!
From Kuldiga I was driving to the Jevel of Latvia - the Rundale Palace near Bauska. They call this palace Versailles of Latvia and they do not exaggerate... You have to pay 12 euro (no discounts) to visit the nicely restored palace and glorious garden. People are coming here for the marriage ceremonies (I attended one enjoying lovely live chamber music) roses in the rose garden were still in blossom. And inside the palace - thousands of paintings, sculptures to enjoy. Rundale is a must if you are in Latvia! It was already 7 pm when I reached the cottage near the Lithuanian border where I will spend the night...
|
Jan 01, 1970 12:00 AM What I found in the bazaar...
Suleimaniya is more westernised than Erbil. Along the main Salim street you will see high, fancy hotels. There are also more ladies in the European dressing. I had enough time to walk around the centre, visit Azadi Park with the modest Love Monument., talk with many locals. Local bazaar is very crowded and noisy. Smells in some areas not so nice, but is very authentic. I found there the quarter where they sell Kurdish traditional costumes. I had there a chance to try the headdressing of the Kurds. It consists of two parts: little round hat to put on the top of your head and the cloth - to be wrapped around the hat. Look at the picture - I and the sellers from nearby shops we had a lot of fun... What a nice souvenir from Kurdistan. It is necessaryto to bargain, but you can buy both parts for just 10 - 12 dollars :)
|
Jan 01, 1970 12:00 AM Last day in Marrakech
At 9 am when I was walking the narro streets of the medina they were still almost empty. It was nice to see well known, but restored for tourists places, mosques, city walls and gates. They charge now 7 euro for the entrance to the main tourist attractions. At 11.30 I was back in the guesthouse to pack my backpack and go to the airport. They required PCR test - the covid situation is changing the rules every day! They suspended flights to France at all. Fortunately i was flying to Italy. The 3-hours flight to Torino was full. Arab kids wer shouting and crying and I was happy to leave them after landing. Here on arrival they checked only the passenger locator forms!!
I boardeb the bus to the Torino railway station paying hefty 7 euro in the machine. The driver charges 1 euro more. It took us almost one hour to reach the station due to the traffic jams. Here I wanted to buy ticket to the port of Genova. I put the exact money to the machine. But I did not receive any ticket. Attendent opened the machine - no ticket inside! What should I do? -You should buy new ticket, your train departs in 10 minutes! But where is my money?. -You can write the protocol, if you can miss your train, but we cannot give you the money back.
Welcome to Italy!
|
Jan 01, 1970 12:00 AM Exotic Dubai after years
I have my flight home late in the evening. So I decided to book the tour, which terminates in the airport in the evening. In the morning I was still sunbathing on the deck 15 with the nice view of the Dubai skyline. Packing mu luggage didn' take me much time. Cruise line was sio nice and organnized for all guests covid thests required now hy all airlines.
at 1.30 pm I was ready to disembark.
Big bus took us to Jumeira quarter to see fajcy hotels and ine mosques. Then were driving to the oldest part of Dubai, to see old, mud- made houses with wind towers in the narrow streets. Dubai Creek with the souks (bazaars) was the highlite of the day. I liked like years ago noisy abra boats sailing with the people across the river. We sailed too - to see Gold Souq and other parts od the lively market. Picturesque Market found me on the bank of the river - they were just calling from the minarets. Great moment! It was 7 pm when the driver drop me at the peripheral terminal 2 of Dubai airport. It is not very impressive, but it seems that only low cost airlines use it. I have 4 hours waiting for wizzair flight to the cold!
|
Jan 01, 1970 12:00 AM Guagua to the ferry
Wake-up in the darkness. At 7 am I was alreadu marching to the guagua stop "Casablanca". For the historic reason Canarinos call the bus "guagua". So from the south airport area guaguas no. 111 and 450 goes to Christianos - a quite big city in the southwestern corner of Tenerife. I paid 2,20 euro to the driver for the 20-minute ride. He left me at the guagua station - quite far from the port and ferry dock. I was walking about half an hour with all my stuff - good morning exercise! Ferries (for foreigners) are expensive on Canary Islands. Imagine that for one- hour sail on the junk ship to Gomera I paid online 32 euro with a senior discount! Locals pay only 7 euro, and tis is the honest price...
Sun was rising when I was embarking - they scanned only the number of my passport. The view from the deck was great: the port and Christianos town were bathing in the strong morning sun. Soon we departed enjoying the view of Mt Teide and jumping dolphins. Gomera was hardly visible in the mist on the horizon. Soon more...
|
Page:
312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319
|
|
|
