14th Wedding Anniversary in Batumi, Georgia
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Never-Ending Honeymoon: 13th Wedding Anniversary
Today is our 13th wedding anniversary on our never-ending honeymoon. We celebrated it in Tbilisi, Georgia on a beautiful and sunny October day (22°C/72°F). Last year we were in Moscow in freezing temperatures. Not a bad change. We skipped our daily routines such as writing books, making websites, and fixing old blog posts. Instead, we cooked together, had a walk, fixed our broken clothes, watched some old TV series, took photos, and wrote this blog post.
Top Picks of Tbilisi´s Street Art and Lamb Graffitis
On our frequent walks around Tbilisi, we have spotted many graffitis. Some represent famous musicians or celebrities, while others are more unique in style. Perhaps the most eye-catching are the graffitis by the twentysomething, self-taught street artist Mishiko Sulakauri.
Samba Carnival in Rio de Janeiro
Today is the last day of Rio Samba Carnival for us. We are not disappointed to the carnival but not too enthusiastic about it either. We discovered that the value for money was not at all satisfactory and the whole spectacle is utterly over marketed. Foreigners travel to Brazil to dance in Sambódromo with bunch of other people, but nobody can actually dance samba, not even dancers from whom coordination is seriously missing. The focus is in nice vehicles and colourful kitsch costumes made from plastic jewels. Samba in Brazil means tourist attraction. Locals flee from the city to avoid the noise and streets covered with piss, shit, and trash.
Free Documentary Film: Crossing the Darién Gap (2013, 2016)
Darién Gap is one of the most difficult areas on earth to travel and it is considered to be extremely dangerous. This documentary film includes footage from a speedboat ride from Turbo to Capurganá, border villages, and the jungle on both sides of the border between Panama and Colombia. There are interviews with two fellow travellers who crossed the Darién Gap, one from Switzerland and another from Peru. Crossing the Darién Gap (40 minutes, Päivi & Santeri Kannisto, 2013 & 2016) has English, Spanish and Finnish subtitles.
From South Africa to Zimbabwe and Mozambique by Bus
We continued exploring the Southern part of Africa by bus. The whole tour was 5 490 km across South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Namibia. We have cut the journey into two parts to make reading a bit more tolerable:Part I: 2 622 km Johannesburg-Harare (Zimbabwe)-Chimoio (Mozambique)-Maputo (Mozambique)Part II: 2 868 km Maputo-Manzini (Swaziland)-Bloemfountain-Maseru (Lesotho)-Windhoek (Namibia)The trip was typically African: bad roads with potholes, slow and aggressive driving, delays at borders because of visas and custom checks (i.e. corruption), and bus breakups.
Sixteen ways to entertain yourself in the Trans-Siberian train ride in Russia
Start to prepare for the trip well in advance: don’t change your shirt, socks or underpants at least for one week. Eat pea soup before the trip so in the train you will be able to entertain other passengers by farting “International”. Use a lot of deodorant (spray, not roll-on) and other perfumes, or hang a wunderbaum to your neck. Hairy dices in the same rope make an unforgettable impression.
Divided Cyprus - A Rather Schizophrenic Experience
Cyprus is divided in many ways. In 1974, the Turks invaded — or liberated — the North Cyprus depending on which version of history you choose to believe in. After that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was born, while the rest of the country remained under the Greek influence. The difference between the two sides is huge. In the Northern part, life is modest while in the South consumerism has taken over.
Indonesia Visa-Free Entry Cost US $35
In March, 2015 we read that Indonesia will be offering a visa-free entry starting from April 1st. The new offer covered the following passports: China, Japan, South Korea, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Russia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and South Africa. We took the bait.
Travelling to holy and mysterious Tibet
Travelling to Tibet by the new Qinghai-Tibet railway was awesome and easy. No notorious travel permits were needed. Tibet itself with its mountainous scenery and minority people reminded us of Bolivia, which we love, except that it was way more touristy. Still, at least the train trip was worthwhile. Our train trip started from Lanzhou, China. Originally we had tickets to Golmud only, where we intended to stop, but as we entered the train we discovered that it will go all the way to Lhasa. So we extended our tickets in the train without hassle. No-one asked for any travel permits.
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