14th Wedding Anniversary in Batumi, Georgia
Posts
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.
Charming Beirut, Lebanon for Vegans and Wine Lovers
Päivi had seen so many beautiful pictures of Beirut that her expectations were high — yet, strangely enough, she was not disappointed. Beirut stands apart from other world capitals in many ways. It is an exciting mix of different cultures: French and Arab, Christian and Muslim, settled and transitory. It has the reputation of being dangerous and yet we haven't felt so safe in many other big cities. You can walk around at any time of the day without the fear of being mugged or harassed. People are friendly and food is amazing. What more can you ask for?
Travelling in Swaziland, Lesotho and Namibia by Bus
Our southern African tour continued from Mozambique to Swaziland, Lesotho, and Namibia. The two tiny kingdoms surrounded by South Africa are very different. Swaziland is friendly and laid-back while Lesotho is poor and more challenging to enter because of lack of public transport. Both, however, are beautiful, hilly and mountainous. They reminded us little bit of Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Namibia, on the other hand, is very German, particularly the capital Windhoek.
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.
From O.R. Tambo to Johannesburg Park Station Like Locals
Instructions how to travel from O.R. Tambo Airport to Johannesburg Park Station like locals using Metrorail Gauteng. The whole trip takes about 1.5 hours, involves 15 minutes of walking and costs 8.5 ZAR per person (less than 1 dollar/euro). The fancier Gautrain is 19 times more expensive (162 ZAR).
The Promised Land of No Plastic Bags: Rwanda
We entered Rwanda knowing about their dislike of plastic bags. The idea sounded truly wonderful. Everywhere in the world we had spotted plastic trash, even in the Darien Gap. Plastic seems to be the most visible sign of civilization and the legacy of human kind that will last for hundreds of years after we are all gone. What happened in the Ugandan-Rwandan border was a bit less wonderful.
Uganda, The Land of Avocados and Jackfruits
We travelled to Uganda to make a website for a budget hotel and campsite in Masaka and ended up doing also a site for a company offering safaris and tours in Uganda. The project was rather demanding as there are regular power cuts, Internet connection is erratic, and working is limited to daytime because of malaria mosquitoes. That meant a lot of waiting for us which we didn't mind.