I am sure that there are many villages in Turkmenistan. But none is apparently more special that Nokhur, located in the Kopet Dag mountains fairly close to the Iranian border. Why, it beats me, from the look of it. The place is not particularly attractive, it is just a village. However, the inhabitants, a little … Read more
We head into the Karakum desert, which occupies some 70% of the country. Initially, much of the surface is still covered by some sturdy vegetation, good for camels, sheep and the occasional cow. Although there appears little around, we do come across one of the houses of the first president – why on earth he … Read more
In fact Chaiten is lovely. Nothing like a considerable town, it is a small village instead. Badly destroyed by a completely unexpected volcanic eruption in 2008 – the volcano with the same name as the town, 10 km north. But built back, spaciously, all wooden houses. Of which one is a pleasant B&B, and another … Read more
Perhaps Mostar is not one, but two cities. We are staying in the old town, the Muslim quarters, cobbled streets, souvenir shops, plenty of restaurants, terraces that sell Bosnian coffee, baklava. Even more than the old town in Sarajevo, it is the feeling of being in Turkey. There are also several mosques, and the remains … Read more
As soon as we leave the plains of Assam and enter the mountains to the south, we know we are in Nagaland. We are supposed to show our permits again – for Nagaland we need an Inner Line Permit, an ILP, much easier to obtain that the PAP for Arunachal Pradesh. But there is no … Read more
We take two days to drive the 350 km from Podgorica to Sarajevo, again not along the shortest route, but definitely a more scenic one. Taking in some historically relevant sights, as well. (Two days, scenery and sights, so brace yourself for a lot of photographs again….) The Moraca River Just north of Podgorica we … Read more
Still fleeing the rain, we move ever further east, to Zagreb. Another of those places we have been to some 30 years ago – but we don’t remember much, except that it, then, looked a very pretty city. No more, the first impression is of a run-down place, poorly maintained buildings, lots of destructive graffiti. … Read more
I had to look it up, too, but the Curonian Spit is the name an almost 100 km long, thin dune-covered sand bank that separates a lagoon from the Baltic Sea. About half of it is Lithuanian territory, the rest is Russian, part of Kaliningrad. The Lithuanian part is accessed from Klaipeda, our entry into … Read more
Apparently, nobody knows how many islands Estonia has, exactly. There is a list counting 2355, but I imagine that many are small and uninhabited. Saaremaa is the largest, and to get to Saaremaa, you have to go through another island, Muhu. A good start. Somehow, I had not taken into account that to get to … Read more
Noratus is a fascinating cemetery, adorned with the largest collection of khachkars in the world; as well as with the modern version thereof. Well, we don’t say goodbye to Lake Sevan, yet. In the village of Noratus, close to the lake, is one of the most remarkable cemeteries I have even seen. I told you … Read more