Camels !?!

WHoo hoo, you know your somewhere out of the ordinary, when you see hundreds of camels out the window as we fly by the expansive sand of the Karakum Desert.

We arrived in Turkmenistan 3 days ago. All the pretenses of a nightmare ferry ride were not fullfilled, it was a long ordeal but made fun by drinking games and explorations of the ferry in the middle of the night. It also took about 5 hours to get through immigration and customs etc once arrived at the port. We were met by our Turkmen guide who must travel with us everywhere we go, and there are so many police checks on the road that we need our passport on us at all times.

We spent the last two nights on the road, bushcamping. It is noticably hotter this side of the Caspian Sea, with temperatures at least in their 40's especially in the desert.

We are now in a posh hotel in Ashgabat, and the first section of the trip ends tomorrow, and we meet 4 more people joining us for the next bit to Tashkent. I hope thier decent?!

Turkmenbasy Mosque

This mosque claims to be the biggest in Central Asia, is built my Turkmenbasy (the president of Turkmenistan) to celebrate his pilgramage to Mecca (hajj). We went there this morning- it is absolutely huge- the dome has a diameter of 50m. He has his name written in inscriptions above the gate and inside on the dome. Everywhere in this country there are pictures of his portrait, and statues. Arriving in Ashgabat this morning we drove past "The Arch of Neutrality" which has a gold statue of him which rotates to face the sun at all times. (sorry- the image is not good quality, I had to compress it cos the connection is so slow here)

Mud Volcano south of Baku

In Baku

Georgia was just fantastic, we had 9 days there all together and the whole time we were joined by Zaza, who with so much love and enthusiasm for the country was a superb guide. Since my last post in Tbilisi, we spent two days in the main wine growing area of Georgia (south-east). One particular day included 3 winerys starting at 10:30 in the morning. The wine in Georgia is like nothing i've tasted before in England. It tastes like it is so good for you, and I never felt rough the next morning despite the copious volumes consumed.

Unfortunately, we left Georgia and Zaza on Thursday, and now we are in Azerbaijan. We had an interesting nght staying in a converted caravanserai in northern Azerbaijan, then a bushcamp in the middle of a field with the most number of crickets I have ever seen or heard. Now, we are in Baku (the capital) which is a centre of commerce and expats all due to the oil in the Caspian Sea. Today, we went to sea an active mud volcano and a fire temple - both quite different and weird.

Tomorrow we are leaving on a "ferry" to go across the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan. We are not sure when the boat will be leaving, whether we get a cabin or if we can get into Daphne or not once aboard and the crossing can take anywhere between 16 and 26 hours. So it should be quite an experience in itself. Once in Turkmenistan, things could be quite a lot different suddenly. Photographs of any buildings, statues, or actually pretty much anything because of the strict regime. I also dont think I will be able to update the blog much for a while.

When we first arrive in Turkmenistan we have 2 nights bushcamping wiht the nomads in the Karakorum desert and then to the capital Ashgabat.

Hope everyone is well at home. I have just discovered Skype- which is just a phenomenal invention for ringing across the road. If you have an account, then email me and the next time I'm online, I'll give you a ring.

xx

Panorama of Kazbegi

I'm testing out whether I can upload video aswell. This is just the most breathtaking scenary I've ever seen. I realised when I was half way up the mountain, that in fact (contary to what I always try to tell me) I am fascinated by the beauty of mountains- just like a true Ferraro!

A much better blog than mine

I have just added a new link at the top of my blog. Jim and Sian are two fellow overlanders on the same trip as me, and so far they have my far been better at updating their blog than I have. So take a look at their website, especially since they loads more photos than I do. You might just get a better idea of what I'm doing- even so I'll try to keep updating mine.

Enjoy...

The Caucasus

The most amazing view from a 10 hour trek in the Caucasus. I have never been in such spectacular scenary before. The whole group walked to The Holy Trinity church above Kazbegi (the town in the picture), you can also just about see the church on a small hill far below. Then Renee (our leader) and John carried on to the foot of a glacier at 3000m directly below an impressive 5000m peak of Mt Kazbegi.

Georgian Food

The fabulous food of Georgia when we stayed in a homestay in Kutaisi. The only thing missing is the wine, which we definitely drunk enough of later that evening. I'm quickly falling in love with Georgia. It really has the most wonderful food and wine, and the people are lovely. Standing up in the background is Za Za-our guide. He's a bit of a cool dude actually, he's taught us the proper way to toast and down wine from drinking horns etc. (Last night we had a Russian Cultural Evening in Tbilisi, and drank far too much vodka!)

Sumela Monastery

Welcome to Daphne

This is our truck "Daphne" in Istanbul the morning we started. She is a very nice truck if we treat her well and we've already had an intial party to send her rocking. Everything about the Daphne is so well thought out. There's two tables for scrabble and card games, a perfect back bench for sleeping when hungover, even a fridge to keep the beers cold! There's a sound system which we all donate our ipods to, and causes quite a few disaggrements with volume etc. We have been completely sufficient from the truck for 3 days in a row, bushcamping in some amazing places in North Eastern Turkey.

Cappadocia, Turkey

This is our group of fellow overlanders. We are in Cappadocia in Turkey, you can see a whole village but out of the cliff behind us. The guy standing next to me, Pete, is one of our guides- bit of a dude!

Currently in Tbilisi, Georgia- which is literally the best country ever. Fab food, amazing wine, and spectacular mountains. Will update more when I get to Baku, Azerbaijan in a few days.

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul

Trabzon, eastern Turkey

I`m ın the Black Sea coastal town of Trabzon, whıch ısnt that ınterestıng actually. We`ve been on the road for the last 5 days. Fırst of all spendıng 3 nıghts ın Cappodıcıa- a natıonal park ın teh centre of Turkey wıth amazıng rock formatıons and whole villages made out of the clıffs. We had a wonderful guıde and explored varıous underground cıtıes and mosques. We also had an ıncluded "culture nıght" wıth free-flowıng rakı, votka(!) and belly dancıng lessons- resultıng ın a contınuatıon of the party back on the truck ınto the mornıng.

The people on the trıp are really nıce- although there are only 6 at the moment, we`re all gettıng on very well. And the trıp leaders are very cool, tellıng endless storıes of all theır travels around the world overlandıng.

Yesterday we vısıted Sumela Monastery whıch clongs to a very steep hıgh clıff and dates back to 2000BC. We also bushcamped for the fırst tıme last nıght, ın a perılıous spot hıgh above the valley floor wıth our tents only feet from the edge!

Tomorrow we are headıng for Georgıa, where there should be churches, old sovıet culture and plenty of wıne.

Hope everyone ıs well, ıf your readıng the blog- please let me know by leavıng me a message (remember I am actually doıng ıt now- not my Mum!?!)

xx

Arrived in Istanbul

Arrived in Istanbul today, I am staying in a very friendly hostel and have already met one member of the group I will be travelling with for the next 14 weeks. I've got a fully packed day tomorrow- sightseeing, as I am only in the city for 2 days and there is so much to see. I had a kebab for diner- a REAL kebab, none of that end-of-the-night stuff you get in Nottingham after a nightout!

I had a very busy few weeks in England, it was really nice to see most people. I definitely should be able to keep my blog more updated over the next few weeks, so keep an eye on it...

Bye for now xx