Petra, Jordan – Cairo, Egypt

Luka´s getting a kiss from a friendly camel. /Pentax

We´ve just left hectic Cairo and are heading towards Luxor. The desert road does not offer massive variety in scenery. Desert, desert, desert and the odd broken down truck or bus on the side of the road… We can now happily track every move we make with Iridium satellite tracking, usb GPS and Touratech. Once again we find ourselves puzzled over how time seems to just disappear. We have less than a week left on our 30 day Egyptian Visa and end up having to rush trough the Valley of the Kings and Luxor. On Monday we plan to take the weekly ferry to Wali Halfa in Sudan. So, what have we been up to for the last month?

Petra was simply magical. Walking through the narrow gorge leading to this hidden ancient city is an unforgettable experience despite the busloads of tourists. Petra was built in the 3rd century BC by the Nabataeans in a hidden valley completely concealed from the outside world and all the temples and tombs are carved out of sandstone cliffs. The Nabataeans where Arabs who controlled the trade routes of the region in pre-roman times and all the great caravans passing through from Damascus to Arabia with spices, silk and slaves had to pay taxes and protection money. Petra is believed to have been abandoned in AD 555 due to several earthquakes and was left a secret until the early 19th century when a Dutch explorer discovered the mythical city.

The magnificent entrance to Petra. /Pentax

Tanja and Oliver in Petra. /Pentax

After a whole day of wandering around this fascinating site (We worked out we walked 30 km in that day and Tuvalie impressed us all by doing 15km herself!) we were pretty exhausted and although people say you can spend days exploring Petra, which is probably true, we were all quite content with the one day. Dusty, sweaty with aching legs, tired children and one broken buggy we were extremely happy to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a cold beer. On the second day Pia and I took an alternative route in to Petra (not really open for tourist unless you have a guide, which we didn´t) whilst the rest of the gang recovered from the previous day by the poolside at the camp.

Getting a ride back after a long day walking. /Pentax

Tired Tuvalie and Oliver hitching a ride on a donkey in Petra. /Pentax

After Petra our next destination was the desert National Park Wadi Rum. We had a great time driving around this extraordinary desert landscape and only got stuck once. We camped all alone in the middle of the desert and got invited for tea by our Bedouin neighbors a few rock formations further down. A picnic on a rock watching the changes in the scenery as the sun set was a perfect ending to a perfect day!

Stunning scenery in Wadi Rum, Jordan. /Pentax

Picnic in the sunset, Wadi Rum. /Pentax

Pia admiring the view. /Pentax

Richard climbing the rocks in the desert. /Pentax

Luka waiting for his hommos and olives. /Pentax

From Aswan we took the ferry over to Nuweiba in Egypt. We did consider going through Israel to avoid the costs of the boat crossing but since some countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa (Sudan, for example) do not let you enter with Israeli stamps in your passport or carnet we decided not to risk it. Instead we finally got into Egypt after eight hours of ticket buying, paper handling, passport stamping, boat travelling, paper handling and pass port stamping (again) on a ferry that really should take roughly one hour! And it costs too…

Camping 20 meters from the reef in Ras Mohammed national park, Egypt. /Pentax

In Egypt we wanted to spend some time just relaxing by the Red Sea and decided to go separate ways for a week. Richard and Lina headed south for Dahab and then Ras Mohammed National Park, whilst Pia and Milan went north to Basata, a camp/resort that turned out to be a little paradise. We spent the week snorkeling on the reefs and building sand castles. Pia and Milan had a broken vaccum pump to replace and Richard of course had his usual weekly need to empty out and reorganize the entire car, but apart from that we didn´t do anything too exhausting. Pia and Milan met us up in Ras Mohammed national park where we decided to spend a few more days snorkeling and building sand castles. We just can´t get enough of the wonderful and amazing world under water. And Ras Mohammed National Park is probably one of the best places in the world to enjoy this. We camped in a designated area where only campers and researches were allowed, no tourist buses or boats, so we had the place pretty much for ourselves. Luka got hisown set of goggles, snorkel and fins and was splashing around like a mad fish. Both Tuvalie and Luka almost swim by now (and Tanja likes to think she can J)!

Tanja can almost swim! /Pentax

Let´s leave the washing up until later. /Pentax

Underwater wonders. /Pentax

Exploring the deap blue. /Pentax

Milan watching the sun rise on top of Sinai mountain. /Pentax

Beautiful view from Sinai mountain. /Pentax

One day we went into Sharm el Sheik, the city by Ras Mohammed built only for tourists. It is terribly over exploited and with little charm but Richard and Lina wanted to show Pia and Milan their favorite place from when they were here in 2003, a restaurant/beach/bar/club on the tip of Sinai. Unfortunately, just as we were leaving after yet another day mostly spent in the water Luka had an accident in the playground. He had, not only what we first thought knocked one of his front teeth out, but broken part of the bone on his upper jaw. After a long night at the hospital with anesthesia, operation, a replaced bone and a few stitches a dizzy Luka awoke with the comment - I want to have as many eyes as you have, mum.

With a good prognosis and instructions to only eat fluid food for a week, to stay out of the sand and dust for a couple of days and to stay still (! not easy for a four year old) brave Luka left the hospital with two relieved and tired parents. We had to pack up the camp and check in to a hotel in this tourist town. After a couple of nights in a ran down place, which happened to be exactly the one Richard and Lina stayed in five years ago, we swapped for a much nicer, all inclusive resort for another two nights.

By this time Ramadan, the Muslim holiday and month of fasting, had started. For us that meant that we should avoid eating and drinking in public out of respect (children excluded, of course) and it would be hard to find restaurants that serve food between dusk and dawn. And generally, everything will be a bit quieter and slower, since many people spend the hottest time of the day resting. At sunset the places come alive with all the people gathering together for the Ramadan Breakfast. Sometimes we felt it was a little unfortunate that we timed our visit to Egypt with Ramadan, although it gave us a nice opportunity to experience an important religious event, a lot of the places and cities we visited seemed dead and deserted.

On a camel (again) in front of the pyramids, Cairo. /Pentax

We then headed for Cairo, a week or so later than we originally planned. We saw the pyramids, of course, which was quite amazing. But apart from that, none of us seemed too much in the mood for sightseeing and instead we spent a few days dealing with practicalities such as: getting our Sudanese visas, seeing the dentist (for Luka) and servicing the cars. We also spent a couple of evenings with old Egyptian friends (Pia and Milans colleague with family from KTH in Stockholm) and newly made ones (a family Pia and Milan got to know at Basata camp in Sinai). We have found that the nicest and often best way to get to know a country and its culture is by meeting and spending time with the people, and not so much through the tourist sites.

After almost a week we said goodbye to Cairo, an ugly, dirty but strangely fascinating city, and headed for the desert and Luxor.

Happy mechanics in Cairo. /Pentax

Turkey (again!) - Syria - Jordan

Here is finally a short update of what we have been up to lately. A lot has happened and we have seen many beautiful places (and countries!) in the last couple of months. After three wonderful months in Iran we returned to Turkey where we stayed for two weeks to do some repairs on the cars and see places we missed the first time we passed through.

We spent two weeks in friendly Syria after getting our visas without problems at the border. In Palmyra we found the best camp site one could wish for... plenty of shade, a nice pool and right next the magical site of Palmyra. And after that we spent quite a few days in Damascus, since it was simply the nicest city we all have been to.

Jordan next. Another country that we did not have any expectations of. And yet again have we been overwhelmed by friendly locals, beautiful scenery, interesting history and some adventure. We would like to come back to Jordan another time, to spend more time. After a few days in Petra we are now heading for the desert and the nature reserve Wadi Rum. We hope to spend a couple of nights with the bedouins before we continue to Egypt...

Back in Turkey again! Enjoying the beautiful sunset and a very much looked forward cold beer in Dogubayazit. /Pentax

Tuvalie, Oliver and Richard doing some geocaching in Mt Nemrut, Turkey. We camped right by one of the five crater lakes in this amazing volcano, the Green lake. Also called the hot lake since it has several hot springs where the volcanic gas still bubbles up. /Pentax

Camping with our Dutch friends and a week long travel companions Saskia and Sjef. By Lake Van in Turkey. /Pentax

The Poznic family ready for the steep climb into the crater of Mt Nemrut, Turkey. /Pentax

Hasankeif, Turkey. This old village with unique historical and architectural value is one of many in south-east turkey to be covered in water in seven years time, due to an extensive dam project. /Pentax

Tuvalie is reading a story for Oliver at the camp in Nemrut Dagi, Turkey. /Pentax

Richard under the grape vine in Nemrut Dagi, Turkey. /Pentax

Milan, Luka and Tanja fighting the wind on top of Nemrut Dagi, Turkey. /Pentax

These amazing stone heads and man-made peak of pebbles (believed to be an old tomb) can be found on top of Nemrut Dagi, Turkey. /Pentax

Fellow overland traveler from Sweden? /Pentax

The impenetrable crusader castle Crac de Chevalier in Syria – the castle in every child´s dreams. /Pentax

Some odd looking speed bumps on the road to Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Just another morning in the tent for the Poskitt family! Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Sunset in Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Camels with tourists in Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Camping and swimming right by Bell´s Palace in Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Luka in the ruins of Bell´s Palace in Palmyra, Syria. /Pentax

Just outside Umayyad Mosque in fantastic Damascus, our favorite city so far, by far! /Pentax

Richard’s off for some water activities in Wadi Mujib, not only the lowest nature reserve on the planet but a great play ground too! Jordan /Pentax

Pia is bopping around like a cork in the salty Dead Sea, Jordan. /Pentax

One of many fantastic views along King´s Highway towards Petra, Jordan. /Pentax

This is where we are now! Enjoying some wine by the poolside, getting ourselves prepared for some serious hiking in Petra, the ancient “forgotten city” in Jordan. /Pentax

Wild Turkey

From Yazd we drove to Esfahan where we met some friends which we got to know during our previous visit. However, the two days left on our exit VISA forced us to move on to Tabriz early next morning. The border crossing between Iran and Turkey was very smooth, although we overstayed our Carnet (car document) by roughly two months. In fact it took less than one hour to get in to the Turkish side where we spent much more time than we thought. The reason being that Milan and Richard went to acquire a Turkish car insurance but found a duty free shop full of beer whisky and other liqueurs J. Imagine that after 3 very dry months. With the fridge fully loaded we speeded to a previously visited camping in Dogobayazit. Everything was perfect except a small worry which had been growing in Pia’s and Milan’s mind since we left Tabriz. Car trouble...

From Tabriz the Defender 130 has developed both a ticking noise from the valves and a sign of a problem in the rear axle. A valve adjustment solved the ticking problem, at least temporarily as the two valves which were completely out of tolerance were both working on the same cylinder and this may indicate future trouble, but let’s deal with that later. The rear axle problem turned out to be a very worn out driveshaft which had to be replaced. It turned out to be a small hassle to get the parts, mainly do to the extreme overprizing from the dealer in Istanbul who wanted 500 euros for a driveshaft inc. postage. It would have been much cheaper to by the part in UK and have it sent by express couriers and in fact Richards father kindly bought the part for us and was on his way to send it. However, some phone calls later (sounds easy….) the part was on its way from Ankara for less than 50 euros. Waiting for the arrival of the parcel, Richard and Lina decided to move on by themselves to later meet up in Urfa.

After a few days the parcel arrived and so did some friends which we previously met in Yazd. It was the Dutch couple with their dog on their way back home after an overland trip to India in their fantastic Landrover camper. Pia and Milan had a couple of late evenings with their new friends and the purchases from the duty free shop. On the morning at which Pia and Milan were supposed to move on Milan woke up very very early for some reason and thought he will have a nice peaceful morning. After making a strong Turkish coffee he sat down beside the car to enjoy the view when a weird sound interrupted the quietness. “What the hell is that?” was the first thought. The source of the sound was getting closer and now originating from around the back of the vehicle and getting louder. The appearance of a huge Turkey put a smile on his face as it was not an unknown Turkish monster as he briefly had considered. In less than a microsecond the smile changed simultaneously into a shout, jump, run around the car and climb up on the ladders to the roof tent. The wild Turkey attacked!!!

The bloody animal destroyed the morning completely. Everybody where sleeping, except Milan who was the only victim the thing apparently could think about. Every movement he made the turkey ran back the few meters of distance it had given to the stranger. The 20 meters run to the shower would have left Carl Lewis scratching his head on the start line in the Olympics, at least that was what went through the head of a shocked person who had far to much whiskey for his own good the night before.

The not so friendly Turkey. /Pentax

Iran, Shiraz-Yazd-Kharanaq

Luka. /Pentax

Oliver and the 17th century shaking minaret. /Pentax

Tuvalie and friend. /Pentax

Tanja and Pia in Kharanaq. /Pentax

After the decision to change our route to Africa instead, we all feel quite relieved, excited and very happy. Although it means some back tracking, we can now concentrate on enjoying ourselves with not too many worries. We all thought we would have a smooth and fast departure out of Iran, towards our new destination, but once again Iran seems to hold a grip of us…

We passed Yazd on our way back towards Tehran and turkey and decided to go for a slight detour to a village called Chak Chak, the most important Zoroastrian pilgrimage site in Iran. We were hoping to see the annual festival for which thousands of pilgrims gather, but we just missed it by a couple of days. Chak Chak houses a fire temple and one of the few remaining Zoroastrian eternal flame (the fire is said to have been burning for 4000 years). Since we were not allowed to stay the night (only Zoroastrians are) we headed on towards Kharanaq.

Chak Chak in the middle of the desert. /Pentax

The fire temple in Chak Chak. /Pentax

Kharanaq is a beautiful village where parts are believed to be more than 1000 years old and it´s been occupied in some form for more than 4000 years. Some restoration has been done but many buildings are unfortunately deserted and falling down. The views are spectacular though and we enjoyed just wandering around along the ancient irrigation system and getting lost in the old parts of town.

Beatiful Kharanaq. /Pentax

We planned to stay for one night but once again our stay was prolonged by an accident. Our travel companion Chi got hit by a motorcycle and injured her knee, so we had to visit the hospital and stay a couple of days in order for her to rest. Since both Chi and Linas and Richard´s Land Rover where in desperate need of some further maintenance (x-rays and new universal joint) we all headed back to the city Yazd.

We are now in Yazd since almost a week, and Milan has damaged his eye once again (!) and not allowed to leave until the doctor gives us permission. This time it is slightly more serious and Milan has to go for daily checkups in order to make sure the infection does not get worse. So, until Milan gets better we try to enjoy our days in the old winding mud alleys and colorful bazaars. Lina and Richard have taken the opportunity to improve their car slightly, by adding an AC and an extra fuel tank for example.

We just hope we will all be in good enough condition soon (both cars and passengers) in order to continue our travels, now towards Africa!

Slight change of plans…

Back on the mainland, we were all quite exhausted by all the turns at the immigrations office and the news from Pakistan. We had to reconsider our route now, since none of us were that excited about going into Pakistan after the last couple of incidents in Islamabad. Also, after our three month stay in Iran the weather conditions in both Pakistan and India are not exactly ideal… 50 something degrees and aver 70 percent humidity. And then the monsoon... Unless we limit our visit to the mountain areas only, our stay would most likely be somewhat unbearable. And we didn´t really want to rush to south east Asia, since this area would also be too hot and humid to enjoy.

So, one alternative would be to go north through Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Kirgizstan but that route would either take us through China, which we know involve a daunting amount of paper work and money, or through Afghanistan which we did not know if it were possible at all. Our initial option of shipping from Bander Abbas to India did no longer feel like an alternative. Too hot, too much paper work and money and to be frank, we all had enough of bureaucracy for the time being…

A third alternative, and one that had kept popping up a number of times during our journey so far, was to go to Africa instead. We know, it´s not quite what we had planned initially. J But after meeting a number of overlanders coming from this direction, and others coming from the Indian/Pakistan direction, we all thought that Africa would be more pleasurable, less hassle with paper work and Visas, no shipping (!) better climate and a more laid back atmosphere. (For Richard and Lina it is also somewhat like going home… ) So there we are, Africa it is! Our somewhat altered route now goes something like this: Turkey (again), Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. So, for all of you who plan to visit us somewhere on the way, we really hope to see you in Africa instead!

Iran, Kish no 2

So, here we are, one month later and we are still in Iran! We ended up staying a lot longer than planned on Kish Island due to a number of incidents…

1. Oliver stood on a scorpion and had to be rushed off to the hospital. No damaged done though. Luckily for him, the scorpions on Kish are not so poisonous. After an injection he seemed to have more energy than ever! He is now nick named Scorpion Boy.

2. We bumped into Mohammed, who works as a diving instructor on Kish. Pia and Richard were offered to go for a test dive and after that we all decided to get a PADI open water diving certificate. Kostas and Chi kindly offered to look after the kids whilst we did our intensive four day course. A good reason to stay for a couple of extra days we thought…

3. On day three of our diving course Tanja managed to poke Milans eye so badly so he had to postpone his last dive. After a couple of turns to the hospital (again) his eye finally healed enough for him to finish his course as well.

4. It was now time for the turtle eggs to hatch. Originally we thought we would miss out on this but by this time we had extended our stay for so long, we might as well wait for a couple more days for the chance to see the little turtles dig themselves out of the sand.

5. Our visas were expiring and in need of extension. This proved to be harder than we thought, but after quite a number of turns back and forth to the immigrations office we managed to get a few more days in order for us to get back to the mainland where we could extend our visas further.

All in all, five or so days ended up in a three weeks stay. Towards the end, we were all quite desperate to get of this Island. We felt as if we would never leave… But looking back, we had some incredible time and unique experiences on this strange Island. For some of us it was first time breathing under water! Diving is just amazing and we cannot wait for the next bit of coast on our journey where we can test our skills.

Tuvalie and Richard having some fun on the beach. /Pentax

Richard and Pia getting ready for their first dive. /Pentax

Tanja is testing out Oliver´s swim aid. /Pentax

Luka´s found yet another interesting crab! /Pentax

Mourning procession on the death day of Fatime, Prophet Mohammed´s daughter. /Pentax

Inside the great mosque on Kish Island. /Pentax

By the green tree, where people come to tie ribbons around the branches for good luck. /Pentax

And we did manage to see those tiny little turtles with a lot of effort digging themselves out of the sand and scurrying down towards the water. Such cool little characters…! One night turtles had hatched outside one of the fenced off areas so we were all searching the whole beach with torches helping the lost turtles into the water. The waken nights and lost sleep was definitely worth it. And we made some friends for life! The guys at the center for monitoring and protecting sea turtles are like family to us now. Almost for three weeks they let us stay with them, they cooked for us, played with the children and shared their work and lives with us. Hamed, Ali, Camran, Arash, Hossein - we do hope to see you sometime, somewhere again!

Newly born! /Pentax

Getting some help into the water. /Pentax

Just crawled out of the sand. /Pentax

Another close encounter with a turtle. /Pentax

Hamed, Camran and Ali. /Pentax

Preparing the catch of the day for barbecue. /Pentax