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Friday 2004-02-13 - Groningen, the Netherlands
The big decision
I’m in Groningen this weekend to see my parents and have a belated new year’s dinner with them. Yesterday evening I brought up the subject of travel: last year they’d offered to pay for whatever trip I wanted to take but due to a load of different adverse circumstances I never got away. When the brochures for the new season started rolling in, my eye was caught by the special Marco Polo trip organized by Koning Aap this year: all the way across Asia, visiting many old Silk Road locations and other places where Marco Polo had been. More than two months to cross the continent West to East, from Damascus to Beijing … not just an exciting prospect by itself but it would also make up for the missed trip of last year.
When I asked Aap people about it at the vacation fair in January, they told me they’d already had quite a few inquiries specifically for this trip, so there was a good chance it would actually take place. So after my arrival this evening I broached the subject with my parents: a “double-length” trip, would they be prepared to pay for maybe half of this one, since I didn’t get to go last year? They’ll pay for all of this one!
Wow. I’m actually going to do this!
Saturday 2004-02-14 - Groningen, the Netherlands
Documentation needed
Today, we went into town for some shopping before the planned birthday dinner. There’s a very good travel bookstore here in Groningen, and I popped in (dragging my parents along) to see what they had to supplement my set of maps and travel guides for the trip.
I have a good set of guides and maps for Central Asia, but nothing for the Middle East, and nothing for China east of Xinjiang. I couldn’t take a decision about travel guides, but ended up with three maps: a very nice one of Syria, an absolutely huge one of Turkey (there don’t seem to be regional maps of the country any more, and this was all they had) and a “Silk Road Countries” map covering Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia: that one will be a handy to take with me (although the bit of Turkey it also covers isn’t very detailed). I’ll keep looking around for more, but I’ll at least take the last map with me.
Birthday present
While in the travel bookstore in Groningen, my eye was caught by a large book: photographic journey following Marco Polo’s footsteps by National Geographic photographer Michael Yamashita - one of the Marco Polo books on my wish list. My dad bought it for my birthday present. But my birthday is still more than a month away… I can watch it being wrapped up but I’m not getting it yet!
Wednesday 2004-02-18 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Booked!
So, the decision was taken: I’ll do the Marco Polo trip across Asia. Yesterday, I called Koning Aap and heard that for my preferred departure date (early May) the trip will very likely take place: there’s a minimum group size of 8 and there were 4 bookings already and 3 options (they’d turn the option into a booking if there are enough people) - so with me we’ve got 8! I sent off the form today which cheered me up enormously!
It will be really exciting to actually cross Asia all the way from West to East. And I’ve never traveled that long - it can be an advantage to be out of a job…
Can’t wait… but there’s still a lot of preparation to do!
Wednesday 2004-03-03 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
A thick envelope
The confirmation of my booking arrived today. A thick envelope, with a stack of papers, mostly visa application forms, with a sheet of instructions for each. Reading through it all, I noticed they stated that for the Iran visa application women need a ‘veiled’ photograph. Eerr - what exactly is ‘veiled’? That can mean a lot of different things. So I called the visa agency: it means your hair needs to be covered. Not your face(!).
Thursday 2004-03-04 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Mugshots
I won’t just need visa for seven countries. Before that, I’ll need a brand-new passport as well: my old one has expired, and is not renewable anyway: it’s practically full with visa. So, I’ll need a lot of passport photographs for both a new passport and all the visa applications. Off to the photographer.
A stack of regular pics (they just print it multiple times). One set of ‘veiled’ pics — with a nice scarf over my hair; it turned out very elegant!
Friday 2004-03-05 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Passport? Not!
Off to the nearest city office in Amsterdam for my passport (the official one for my neighborhood actually isn’t the closest). “Passport application? Well, you can wait, but it’s going to take a long time,” they tell me. “The computer system was down yesterday, so we have a big backlog. You’d better come back on Monday.”
OK, I’ll do that. “Application?” Oh, right, now I remember that these days you don’t get your new passport straight away. Suddenly I start to worry: I need it soon enough for all those visa applications; I hope it won’t take too long!
Monday 2004-03-08 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Passport application
Back to the nearest Amsterdam city office; it’s quiet in the morning, and I don’t have to wait very long. I’m asking for an extra-thick passport with more pages for visa: I didn’t even know that existed until I got that tip from a fellow traveler on my last trip. They call it a “business passport” — never mind if it’s not for business; it costs a bit more, but not as much as two new passports!
No need to worry either: I’ll be able to pick it up next week, or even this Friday after 9:30. I get my old one back — with three holes punched through it to make it useless for counterfeiters; the visa are not too badly damaged, so it’s still a nice souvenir.
Iranian outfit, part 1
On the way back I want to go to the Ten Kate market: not the biggest market in Amsterdam but it’s a nice neighborhood market with a variety of goods on offer, including clothes. I take a different route to get there than I normally do. Good thing, too: that way I discover a little store that has a clothes rack with long coats outside.
For Iran, we women will have to adapt our clothing, and apart from a head scarf, need to wear a “long raincoat”. I don’t have anything like that, but don’t intend to spend too much money either. The coats on this rack are long, and some are not too thick either. Not sure if the store is Turkish or Moroccan or something else. I don’t find anything on the market though, so I may go back to this store if I don’t find anything else.
Friday 2004-03-12 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
New passport
Back to the Amsterdam city office to pick up my brand new thick passport. To my surprise the color photograph I delivered has been turned into a black-and-white picture in the passport. Interesting, since for some of the visa applications a color photograph is specified, and my old passport had a color photo as well.
Tuesday 2004-03-16 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
From clothes to music
Coming back from the market, I drop into Barry’s bazaar, a place where many people peddle their second-hand wares, often quite fun to browse around. This time, I’m browsing with a purpose: I’m still looking for an Iranian outfit. I soon see there are practically no clothes here (never was much, but it varies); certainly not what I’m looking for.
Suddenly I remember I’m also looking for music from Turkey and Iran: I have nothing from Turkey and only on CD with music from the Lor people in Iran. I’ve seen CDs here with arabic script - so who knows? I start talking with someone who obviously doesn’t have music, but when the man (from Turkey) asks what I’m looking for he says he can try to get something. He tells me to come back tomorrow. He also offers me coffee but I have no time for that now; that makes me feel impolite…
Wednesday 2004-03-17 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Turkish music
Back to Barry’s bazaar; the Turkish music seller soon sees me. Alas, he explains, he wasn’t able to find anything on such short notice. But, he has a tip: there’s a Turkish video store in the Kinkerstraat that also sells music. He gives detailed directions for where to find it. That’s great! I’d never have thought to look for music in a video store! This time I stay for a cup of coffee, and tell him about my trip. He also tells me there are Iranian stores on the Rozengracht; at least one of them should have music. I should have realized: with so many nationalities in Amsterdam, there should be an Iranian store somewhere.
Off to the video store then; I find it easily with his directions. Once there, it takes some explaining what I’m looking for (traditional music, not pop) but the man is incredibly patient, comes with all sorts of suggestions, and lets me listen to everything. One CD has a nice picture of a shaded pool on it that reminds me of Labi Hausz in Bukhara: it’s in Urfa, he tells me; the CD title also has Urfa in it. I buy three CDs, all very nice, and all different in style.
When I get home I do some googling and find that Urfa is actually the same as Şanlıurfa: I’m delighted I actually found music from one of the places we’re going to visit!
Tuesday 2004-03-23 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Passport and visa
I got a phonecall from Sander (from Koning Aap) today - just after I was back home from mailing a photocopy of my brand-new passport to Aap. They needed the new passport data for informing their local agents; he just talked me through the data he needed.
He also told me to send the visa papers to the visa agency (here in Amsterdam) as soon as possible — like today: all those visa take a long time to arrange; no form is needed for Syria anymore: we’ll get a visa on arrival. Since that’s also true for Turkey, the agency will have to arrange the visa for “only” five countries.
Wednesday 2004-03-24 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Visa: papers, papers, papers
Filling in the visa application forms (Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China) wasn’t all that hard — except for working out entry and exit dates, needed for most countries. The itinerary we got just works by day numbers, so I had to count through them to work out where we’d be on which dates. (Well, my parents will want to know that as well.) I added a safety margin either way of about 5 days: I have plenty of experience with all sorts of mishaps that can change a planned itinerary; arriving late isn’t a problem, but arriving early or leaving late could be.
Then when I wanted to staple the passport photographs to the forms, I suddenly ran out of staples. Off to the store…
After lunch I’m off to the visa agency (conveniently in Amsterdam) to deliver my passport with all the forms, indicating that I’ll pick it up myself when it’s all done: I like to be able to make a photocopy not just of my passport (already done) but of all the visa as well; and a quick check if everything’s OK is a good idea, too. (I’ve had incorrect dates entered on a visa — a result of bad form design which confused the public servant doing the visa: half in the group had incorrect data on their visa!)
Jabs - do I need any?
I searched the internet for what vaccinations are currently needed for all those countries we’re going to travel through (Syria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China). It appears that DTP is needed for all, and mine has expired. Typhus is listed for all the countries, too, if your stay is longer than two weeks. Well, apart from Iran and China it isn’t; but adding it all up is of course considerably longer than two weeks. Malaria should be considered as well for some areas of Turkey and Iran; and hepatitis everywhere (but I already have antibodies for that).
Then I needed to find a phone number for the AMC vaccination clinic (the most convenient one for me: in Amsterdam, and easy to get to with tram and metro); finding their phone number was (still) not easy. When I finally had a number it was late; I tried it anyway to check if it was the right one.
(For those searching for the phone number: last time I looked it was 020-566.38.00 to make an appointment, or 0900-95.84 for information.)
Thursday 2004-03-25 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Arranging for my vaccinations
Called the AMC vaccination clinic (in Amsterdam). Next week, early Tuesday morning. That suits me fine!
Shouldn’t forget my feet
After a winter wearing boots, they aren’t in too good condition. And I like to have them taken care of before a trip where I’ll do a lot of walking. Called for an appointment; I’m all set for Monday morning.
Friday 2004-03-26 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Photo equipment
I’d like a new lens with a larger zoom range for my camera. Went along to the photographer’s shop; he’ll call me back on Tuesday with what he finds out about the possibilities.
Sunday 2004-03-28 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
My feet should be OK now
I had my feet done; my funny big toe nail won’t plague me any more. Now I just need to take good care of my feet…
Monday 2004-03-29 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Two jabs, a prescription, and good advice
I went to the vaccination centre of the AMC (one of the university hospitals in Amsterdam, which has a tropical diseases department). Yes, I did need DTP and typhus. Malaria is a smallish risk (I always take care to wear long sleeves and socks in the evenings anyway, and use an insect repellent.) So, no prophylaxis needed but (on request) I got a prescription for a cure for the unlikely case I do manage to catch malaria: better safe than sorry.
Other things to be aware of: a traffic accident might land you in hospital - and that carries the risk of hepatitis B; for a longer trip a vaccination would be indicated, now the advice is just: be very careful. Hepatitis A is no problem: I have antibodies. Another risk to be aware of is rabies which occurs in most of the countries to be visited. “Be careful around dogs, and tell your fellow travellers as well!” Sure, doc. Will do.
Oh, and next time I’ll need a new “yellow booklet” for my vaccinations: this one is full now!
Somehow a visit to the AMC always makes me feel a little festive: this is when a trip “really” starts. I celebrated by treating myself to an extra-nice sandwich for my (belated) breakfast.
No problem with either of the jabs all day, I didn’t really feel anything at all.
Lens?
Didn’t hear back from foto Den Boer all afternoon. I’ll have to call them later.
And the weather was glorious in Amsterdam, so I could have worked on my balcony but I stayed inside especially so I would be able to hear the phone! Grr.
Saturday 2004-04-10 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Using webmail
Interesting problem: my whole approach for this travel blog hinges on being able to use webmail in Internet cafes on the road. I haven’t really looked hard at webmail accounts until yesterday evening though: I never used any.
On the SpamCop newsgroup someone suggested Fastmail (FM) and I decided to try an account. My idea was though to have a string of accounts, throwing each away after being used once. That sounds simple, but isn’t:
- you need another email account to verify the account when signing up; but I’ll be away for 65 days, and (also with other services) accounts will expire after 45 days not being accessed; and with FM if you terminate an account, it still stays active for 7 days
- also, FM doesn’t allow you to have multiple free accounts; Tmicha.net does not have that limitation (but does have the 45-days rule)
- that requires other means of evading keyloggers and sniffers in Internet cafes than simply discarding an account after use; various copy-and-paste strategies have been brought up in discussions, as well as using a USB flash drive (which may not be usable everywhere).
So, we’ll see… I may end up with a combination of strategies and using several providers in a “chain”.
Update 2005-08-19: Sadly, Tmicha.net was teken over by an Irish company and no longer provides free, spam-free email accounts.
New lens!
Since I hadn’t heard from the photographer’s store, I went around again. It turned out they had tried to find what I’d heard exists and couldn’t find it, but had not really given up yet. Whereupon I did — and went for the next best thing: a 28-300mm zoom lens for my Canon EOS. Unfortunately not in stock, but with a bit of luck they’ll have it on Tuesday.
I also arranged for films and more lead pouches to protect them (no, I don’t trust the X-ray machines at the smaller airports).
Tuesday 2004-04-13 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Lens arrived!
Phone call from the photographer’s store: the new lens has arrived! Off to the store to pick it up, and various accessories such as a skylight filter and a close-up lens (for those extra-close macro shots). I also get a quite decent price for my old lens, which makes the financial shock a little less.
Wednesday 2004-04-14 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Pleasant practicing
My parents are coming over from Groningen for a visit to Amsterdam today, and the weather is glorious. An ideal occasion to test out the new lens: I must be sure it works properly before I leave. After a nice lunch near the station we go to my apartment for my parents to admire the balcony I’m transforming into a garden, and then we’re off.
I play around a lot with the lens, making the types of shots I normally make, but also some to deliberately test various aspects, from close-up shots with the extra lens, to trying out the 300mm. The children’s farm also provides some nice subjects.
While we’re walking around, I look closely at what muslim women here are wearing, and whether it looks comfortable. Much of what the young women are wearing actually isn’t appropriate for Iran, but I am getting some ideas. At the end of the afternoon, we have a delicious Turkish pizza at Larende, a Turkish neighborhood restaurant; “Turkish pizza” here is not a lamacun, but a like a regular pizza, only with Turkish ingredients like spicy ground lamb. We all had a wonderful day.
Monday 2004-04-19 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Iranian outfit - success!
On the way back from shopping in the Kinkerstraat (Amsterdam), I go back to the little store near the Ten Kate markt where I’d seen the long coats outside; this time the owner appears and I explain what I’m looking for. “In the back,” he says; he also has coats without lining, for warmer weather.
Indeed: not just a few coats, but racks full of clothing, in both Turkish and Moroccan styles. One Moroccan djellaba (a long, loose, hooded garment with full sleeves) is very nice, purple with some embroidery, but I discover a stain, and another one is a size smaller, not too narrow but not really comfortable either. Then I try on an unlined dark wine-red coat, light and supple, ankle-long and hanging wide; the fabric doesn’t easily wrinkle either, which makes it good for travel. It’s actually quite comfortable, and it looks much better on me than I had expected. It doesn’t take long to decide: it’s not expensive either. The friendly store-owner wishes me a nice trip.
Thursday 2004-04-22 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Using webmail - solved!
SikaSpam on the SpamCop spamcop.geeks newsgroup came with a brilliant idea today: install SquirrelMail on your VPS system. “Takes only 5 minutes,” he said.
Well, installing it took me a bit longer than that (I’m an RTFM junkie, and the FM was somewhat confusing for me, and in one place even incorrect) but it got done — it’s faster if you don’t RTFM! Then I read up on SSL on Apache but couldn’t get it working; it turned out I had to get my host to activate SSL for me which cost $55. (It also turned out that all my reading taught me a lot about setting up SSL on Apache — none of which applied to VPS. Grrr). I actually created my own certificate (cost: 0$). So now I can use SquirrelMail over a secure connection. Then I installed a bunch of plugins that make it even more secure, plus a number of just “handy” plugins. All set up now!
Meanwhile from the Fastmail user forum I also got a list of anonymous webmail forms: no login needed, hence no password to be captured. I’m keeping those, as well as FastMail, as a backup (all listed on a handy help page I made on one of my websites).
I’m all set for emailing; no need for a USB thingy now.
Friday 2004-04-23 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
New bags
The tendinitis in my right wrist hasn’t completely healed yet so packing/unpacking a backpack and hauling the duffel bag didn’t feel like a good idea: I’ll need to favor my right arm. After finding out (from calling Bever, where I bought it many years ago) what the volume of my backpack was, I went shopping for wheeled luggage.
First stop (yesterday) was at the luggage store in the Kinkerstraat in Amsterdam. They didn’t have a small backpack with wheels (they could order one but then they’d need a down payment — and I’m not going to pay for something like that when I haven’t seen it first!). They did have big bags on wheels: a cheap one (don’t risk that on a 2-month trip) and a Samsonite which looked OK. Not much choice though.
Then I went to a store on the Nieuwendijk (also in Amsterdam). Lots of choices, and very nice and knowledgeable service. I got a nice large Samsonite bag, and a Delsey backpack small enough to be acceptable as carry-on luggage on the planes but large enough to pack all my films and whatever else I must have with me; even small enough to (just) fit inside the large bag to get it all home.
Happy with my purchases, I took advantage of the nice weather and walked home. The bag is easy to walk with, and stable even on uneven pavement.
Iranian atmosphere
On the way home I stopped at the Iranian supermarket on the Rozengracht that I’d spotted before, to see if they had any music. They had. It took a bit of explaining to the nice young man to make it clear what I was looking for, but he got the idea at last, and was extremely patient.
When I told him I wanted Iranian music because I was going to travel through that country, that caused a big smile, and earned a pat on my shoulder. I took his personal advice, and bought two CDs. Both turned out to be rather more “modern” than I expected, but they certainly don’t sound “western” either. Nice music from Jahan (male) and Shakila (female; she seems to be quite a star). Both CDs are from the US though — apparently these musicians are Iranian refugees. I actually doubt you can get music from Iran here in Amsterdam.
Saturday 2004-04-24 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
A present
The postman rang the doorbell this morning: he had a package for me. I didn’t expect a package…
Turned out to be a little present from Koning Aap: a small Nomad backpack with their logo, and a compact travel first-aid kit. Nice. Thank you Koning Aap!
Monday 2004-04-26 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Fellow travelers
Koning Aap organized a afternoon for fellow travelers to meet each other before actually leaving on their trip; the meeting was appropriately located in the Amsterdam Passenger Terminal, near Central Station. You could find your companions by the travel codes posted on the tables, and a (very tasty) packed meal with snacks from all over the world was provided. A “travel doctor” was present as well, with some good advice and an opportunity for last-minute jabs for those who still needed them. Danger #1 for travelers: malaria; but we won’t have much risk of catching that on this trip.
The group I met was a nice bunch; I’m sure we’ll get along well together. Unfortunately two couldn’t make it so we’ll still have a surprise when we leave. I brought my Central Asia photographs from 2001, to get everyone into the mood. That went over well.
A nice surprise was meeting Frank, who guided our Central Asia tour in 2001, as well as Piet, the photographer who organized and guided our trip to Mozambique. All in all, a nice evening.
Wednesday 2004-04-28 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Documentation complete
I’d seen a Lonely Planet guide for the Middle East; there’s a nice one for Iran, too, with more extensive information about that country, but I can’t bring a pile of books. This one covers Syria, Turkey and Iran (and more for later trips). I went to one of the travel stores in Amsterdam, the JoHo Company, and was glad to find they had this book. I got manageable maps of Turkey and China as well: not too large so I can actually use them during the trip and leave my huge (but very detailed) map of Turkey at home.
My travel documentation is complete now.
More music: today must be my lucky day!
On the way to the travel store I popped in at a one of the bigger music stores in Amsterdam: I know they have a reasonable section of world music but they don’t know what they’re selling. But I’m still looking for that one CD of Kirghiz music which I know exists, so I tried anyway. I didn’t see anything, but they have world music frequently mis-filed. After much prodding, the girl tried to search for “Kyrgyzstan” in the computer (no, I don’t have an artist’s name!) and to my amazement came up with a title which she proceeded to fetch. It turned out to be a different CD with Kirghiz music! That was an immediately sale: such music is hard enough to get.
Just in case, I asked at the travel store as well: they do have a few CDs, but none with Kirghiz music (different publisher, anyway). But the guy sent me to another music store I didn’t know about. Wow. Not only did they have a separate “Central Asia” section (although small), they had two CDs in there I couldn’t pass up: music from Uzbekistan (by Sevara Nazarkhan), and a double CD with traditional music from Iran. And when I asked about the Kirghiz CD, they actually knew the music publisher (Buda Musique), and offered to order it for me. Done — that should be waiting for me when I get back.
My collection of Asian music is taking shape very nicely. Listening to my new acquisitions now - so far it’s great, and I’m really happy.
Tuesday 2004-05-04 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Presents and power
Yesterday I sorted out the negatives with portraits of people I want to give a print; unfortunately the photo store is closed on Mondays. I called ahead today to find out if it still could be done this week: no problem.
I also needed a bunch of various batteries, including several spare ones for my camera: schlepping 100 films isn’t going to do much good if I run out of camera power… Batteries for my little alarm clock, too; hopefully that will make the alarm actually work again!
Still passport-less
The visa agency (Amsterdam) had indicated all visa probably wouldn’t be arranged until the final week before departure; they’d call me when I could pick up the passport with them.
I’d heard nothing yet but I’m running around so much with “last-minute” shopping, they might not have been able to reach me. So I called. It turned out they were hard to reach, too: the phone was almost constantly busy, and when it wasn’t, I was immediately put on hold, treated to a tape with irritating music and some commercials, and finally had the connection broken again… When I finally got through to a human, I heard the passports were now at the Iranian embassy in the Hague: they’re always difficult with the visa and prefer to hold on to the passports until the last day before departure. Aargh! They should have them on Friday, they say; I can pick mine up in the afternoon.
Friday 2004-05-07 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
No Passport!
Yesterday I’d checked with the visa agency in Amsterdam and arranged with them that I could (finally) pick up my passport this afternoon. That way I can make a photocopy of all the visa before I leave.
But when I get there, after a tram ride all across Amsterdam, they tell me they don’t have it! They’d given it to the person who came to pick it up for Koning Aap, just half an hour before I arrived. “That’s what was arranged with Koning Aap,” they say. Well, not for my passport! They had a firm agreement with me that I’d pick it up right now, and I’m right on time. I’m the one paying for this service, it’s my passport, so they really have no business to give it to someone else when we clearly agreed I’d pick it up personally. I’m very, very angry.
Back home again, I call the Koning Aap office, but they tell me the person who picks up the passports for them is not actually an employee. I get a phone number, though. But when I call that it turns out the lady does not even live in Amsterdam — I’m welcome to pick it up she says. But it would take hours to get there and back, and I still have too much packing to do. I give up - I’ll get my passport at the airport tomorrow, and will have to try and find a way to make photocopies there.
Saturday 2004-05-08 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Near disaster!
Taxi was ordered for 4:30 am but the driver rings already five minutes earlier than that; I’m not quite ready. Still, I grab my bags and hop in; with very little traffic we’re soon at the airport. Five minutes later I suddenly say “Oh s**t!” - I have a backpack full of films but don’t have my camera!
I rush outside and ask the first taxi driver I see if he can get me to Amsterdam and back at Schiphol airport again before 5:50. No problem he says. So we go home, I grab my camera, and back to the airport. The driver jokes that for the price of this ride, I could buy a camera — well, yes, but not this one! We still make it back with time to spare. Disaster avoided.
Monday 2004-07-12 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
How about my foot?
Back in Amsterdam, alas. Early — as early as possible — I called my doctor for an appointment this morning, since my foot still hurts, and there’s still some swelling as well that never quite goes away. Maybe some physiotherapy can help. I can get an appointment for later this morning.
“In view of developments, let’s have an X-ray taken,” she says. When I look doubtful, she explains that sometimes a crack in the bone can be seen, even after 4 weeks; she gives me a referral. When I get back home I phone the hospital for an appointment: this Wednesday.
Later in the day, I bring my film rolls to the lab: 60 rolls in all!
Wednesday 2004-07-14 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Good news and bad news
To the radiology department in the nearest hospital in Amsterdam to have an X-ray taken of my foot; camera around my neck which I plan to deliver at the photographer’s to be thoroughly cleaned after all the desert dust it had to deal with: you can never completely clean that out with a little “blow brush”.
I have to wait to hear how the picture has turned out. When it’s done the assistant tells me the good news is the picture turned out well — but she has bad news, too: my foot is broken. I’m gobsmacked! I walked on it for four weeks, and never suspected that — a crack is the worst I considered.
She sends me straight on to the emergency ward, where the doctor takes a look at the X-ray, and tells me “If you’d come here immediately we’d have operated”: the bone parts aren’t even joined up properly! In fact, there’s a gap of over 4 mm. My mouth drops open: it certainly didn’t feel like that. He sends me on to the “plaster room” to have a walking cast fitted. An hour later I’m outside with my foot in a (walking) cast, and still a little dazed: I had never believed it was broken! The emergency room arranges an appointment with a surgeon in hospital for next week.
After waiting for my cast to harden completely, I go straight home, and call the photographer’s shop to say I won’t be bringing the camera today after all. Then I call my parents: I won’t be over this weekend after all: a disappointment to my mum whose birthday it was last Monday.
Now, I need to learn how to walk with this stiff thing at the end of my leg…
Wednesday 2004-07-21 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
“You’re a tough one!”
I’m back in in Amsterdam hospital to have a surgeon have a look at my broken foot. An assistant talks to me first, and hears my story, how I hurt my foot, and how I walked on it for another month. “Not a good start,” he says. Then the surgeon himself, a big gentle man, joins us, also hears my story, and tells me “You’re a tough one!”
He also explains about the risks of an operation which he prefers to avoid. Just to make sure we understand each other I explain how I missed doing things during the trip, such as the visit to the largely unrestored 10km stretch of the Great Wall near Beijing: I want to be able to do that next year, I say, not just walk in the city on nice, smooth pavement. That doesn’t change his mind: he doesn’t agree with the doctor of the emergency ward last week that an operation would have been necessary: “Let’s see first whether it starts to heal by itself now the foot is supported by the plaster,” he suggests. He gives it four weeks, so he can see me again after his vacation. In fact, I can go on vacation myself, he says — I’d planned a week with my parents in Germany — after all, I can walk on that cast, though not quickly or for very long. The prospect of going on vacation with my aging parents cheers me up though.
Wednesday 2004-08-18 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Four more weeks…
Back in hospital in Amsterdam for my checkup. First I see the surgeon again; I tell him I can walk but sometimes it still hurts. “Let’s see,” he says and sends me to the plaster room to have the cast taken off, and then on to radiology for a new X-ray. Then back to the surgeeon with fresh X-rays.
When I’m back, he calls me into his office where I can see the X-rays myself: it’s clearly visible a little bit of cartilage has formed in the gap between the bone parts, but there’s no ossification yet. Still, the fact that there is cartilage now indicates it’s started to heal and obviously the support of the plaster has helped. At least the prospect of an operation has receded. So… back to the plaster room for a new version — which is a different model and hurts when I stand up. Off it comes again, and a new one is fitted, more like the previous model. This one has to stay on for another four weeks.
Saturday 2004-09-11 - Mijnsherenland, the Netherlands
Reunion!
This morning, I meet up with Carla behind Central Station in Amsterdam; Thom picks us up there with his car, and in Rotterdam we pick up the “girls” from the north who took the train to here (with a detour: they managed to get into the wrong carriage, so we have to wait a bit for them). Then on to Henk and Vera’s house in Mijnsherenland where we are received with champagne! The two of them went to an awful lot of effort to entertain us with lots of delicious food, nice drinks, and funny glasses that serve as conversation pieces — as if we needed that! — to drink from.
We admire each other’s photos, order prints from each other, watch video and slides, and Caroline adds a bit of Turkish spice with a professional belly dance performance! And everyone “admires” my plaster foot of course: most are as suprised as I was that it was actually broken. We all go out for a little walk around the neighborhood, expertly guided by Henk and Vera with interesting background information about what we see.
It’s really nice to spend some time all together again — the “family” feeling is still there, and there really isn’t enough time. Travelling together for over two months really brings you close (if you don’t spoil it by being totally obnoxious, that is). We all agree we’d like to have a second reunion and a tentative date is set for that.
Wednesday 2004-09-15 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Feeling naked
Back to hospital again — straight to the plaster room this time to have the cast taken off, then on to radiology again for yet another X-ray, then to the surgical department, where I talk to the surgeon’s assistant, one I haven’t seen before. He wants to hear my story first and I tell him it seems to be slowly getting better — but I’m obviously not there yet: it still hurts every now and then, especially when I walk more than a little. Then he looks at the X-ray and declares he’s satisfied: there’s ossification now and the original 4mm gap even seems to have become a little smaller. Looking at my sturdy hiking boots, he tells me I can go without a cast now, just wear those shoes, and gradually walk a little more. (Gulp!) Do I have to wear them inside, too? “See how it goes,” he says, “and come back in two months.”
Now while that’s encouraging, not having that sturdy cast around my foot I suddenly feel very naked and vulnerable — and extremely aware that it hasn’t quite healed yet.
Afterwards
The first few days I have to literally think with every step I take to carefully place my foot — otherwise it hurts again, almost as much as in China… Gradually it goes better, but I usually feel no warning signal when I put too much load on it: It will just hurt the next day! So, obviously I’m very careful. I do increase the distance I walk, but when it hurts the day after, I give it a rest again for a day or two. And I’d love to visit my parents but don’t dare, since I’d have to travel by train from Amsterdam to Groningen: especially the thought of getting on and off the train (without the support of the cast) scares me right now.
Sunday 2004-11-14 - Utrecht, the Netherlands
Almost back to normal
Yesterday I felt extremely tired, but I went to bed early and when I got up today I felt fit enough (and my foot felt good enough) to face a major undertaking with a not-quite-healed broken foot: I’m going to the “HCC dagen:” a big three-day computer fair organized by the HCC, the largest computer club in the world. Always great fun, lots of bargains, and interesting discussions. I actually have a shopping list for some small hardware and accessories - but is my foot up to it? Just to be on the safe side, I take along not only a backpack and a small trolley but also pain killers in case I have to quit and head back home sooner than planned.
Surprisingly, the train to Utrecht is quiet, and it doesn’t look crowded on the fair, mainly because it’s set up with a lot of room: there are actually quite a lot of people around but because it’s so roomy I can walk quietly without being crushed or having to jump out of the way; my foot certainly agrees with the relaxed stroll this allows, and I’m enjoying myself enormously. Even better, I get everything on my shopping list, and for a good price. That includes a headset which will enable me to get started with Internet telephony.
I end up spending well over four hours there, with only two breaks to have something to drink and eat and rest my foot; by the end of the afternoon, both my feet are hurting, but that’s pretty damn normal, especially considering I haven’t walked much the last few months! I’m expecting my broken foot will hurt tomorrow, though…
Monday 2004-11-15 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Setting up Skype
I’m stiff and sore all over after my adventure yesterday. That’s OK. Even better, the fully-expected pain in my broken foot never appears — has it finally healed now?
In spite of my sore muscles, I crawl under the computer desk to plug in my headset (correctly, after a lot of fiddling) and install the Skype software: now I can exchange phone calls with other Skype users all over the world - for free. I also create a profile and register at the Skype user’s forum so people may find me; I include a link to this blog as well. When it’s all working I go to bed, tired but satisfied.
Tuesday 2004-11-16 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
China calling
The (Skype) phone rings! I pick it up - and find someone calling from China at the other end: he’d seen my profile, opened my blog in his browser, and seeing I visited China as well, decided to call me!
The caller is an obviously well-educated Chinese, speaking perfect English with only a trace of an accent. The call (fully encrypted, which gives him assurance it can’t be monitored) turns into a fascinating discussion about many subjects, ranging from minorities (no, I didn’t get to Tibetan areas this time, but I was there before and I’m planning to go back soon) and environmental problems in China (lack of clean drinking water in some areas a major concern, as well as the Yellow River being heavily polluted with no plans apparently to clean it up) to technical matters like film scanners (don’t buy Minolta: it may be Japanese but it’s produced in China, he says) and Internet access (professional people, especially those in IT, are likely to have a broadband connection at home, as he has: not nearly everyone is dependent on Internet cafes as I had assumed).
We chat for over half an hour like that - a slight echo every now and then, but otherwise excellent sound quality. I feel like my investment in a (cheapo) headset was a good move!
Wednesday 2004-11-17 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
So has it healed now?
Today is the big day - back to the hospital here3 in Amsterdam. I’m very optimistic after last Sunday’s experience. For some reason it’s extremely crowded today at the surgical department, so I have to wait for a long time. At last I can talk to the surgeon himself, and I tell him it feels a lot better now, and how I walked for hours last Sunday. He sends me back to radiology again, for a new X-ray, then back here.
Another long wait … then he calls me into his office to look at the X-ray. Good news and bad news: the good news is that it’s now “fixed” at one side of the bone. The bad new is that not only is there still a gap at the other side, but that some osteoporosis has set in in my foot: “it looks like a foot of a bedridden patient,” he tells me. It turns out I’ve been too careful, and actually haven’t put enough weight on it! And if it breaks again, he’ll want to operate, he adds. Darn — if only that assistant two months ago had told me to ignore it when it hurts and walk anyway… I’m getting orders now to put full weight on it: give it six weeks, then I should be in the clear. No new appointment; but of course I can make one if it doesn’t feel good by the start of next year. But with the half-bad news, my good mood has disappeared. Knowing that the prospect of an operation still hasn’t gone doesn’t help.
Suddenly walking feels tricky again. On the one hand I’m very aware again that it hasn’t healed completely, and — especially with that osteoporosis — there is a real risk it’ll break again; and I’m not exactly looking forward to an operation with the associated risks. But on the other hand I have to walk on it now, or it won’t heal. So, OK. I walk home from hospital instead of taking the tram, stopping along the way for a tasty Turkish lamacun to cheer myself up a little and have a rest at the same time.
Saturday 2004-11-27 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Back together again, and making plans
Our second reunion for the 65 days across Asia trip, this time at Carla’s place in Amsterdam. I figure out the shortest route and walk over there in just half an hour — good practice for my foot! We’re all there (even Thom, who arrived back from Egypt late last night!), and the “family” feeling that resulted from traveling together for over two months is immediately back. We exchange presents, and photos that we ordered with each other. Carla prepared snacks and a meal with an Uzbek theme (really delicious plov!), and I was able to make small contribution by bringing the herbs-and-spice mix that I was given by a friendly and hospitable local on my first visit to Bukhara; it turns out not to be just good on cucumber but also on the plov.
Unavoidably, we talk not only about our past trip together and earlier adventures, but also plans for next year. We’d already heard from Marie Josee, our travel companion (who seems to be in Damascus right now), that the Chinese are working hard on the railroad to Lhasa; in fact, it looks like they’ll be finishing it even before the planned date. This railroad is expected to make much of original Tibet and Tibetan culture disappear at an increased pace, mostly by a greater influx of Han Chinese; meanwhile we’ve seen the breakneck speed of renovation in Kashgar, and I expect the same to be happening in Lhasa as well — so I’m not surprised to hear the “four girls” want to go to China and Tibet; they want to organize it themselves. I also want to go to Tibet for the same reasons (like now, before it’s all gone), but I prefer an organized trip (no hassle about transport and lodging, more time to explore) and so does Carla who would like to go as well. We also have the same preference for overland travel instead of internal flights; we’re planning to go to the Vacation Fair in Utrecht in January and we’ll likely be able to agree on a trip and go together! And with a bit of luck (September seems to be the best time of the year) we’ll meet the girls there, too! Nothing firmly decided yet, but Tibet is looking extremely likely now.
Wednesday 2004-12-01 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Another call from China
Another Skype phone call from China — from a young Dutch woman this time! She lives there, teaches English at a school and was glad to be able to talk Dutch for a change. We have a nice conversation, about life in China, travel in China (she’s been to a lot of places where I have been as well), and more.
I really should add a “Skype me!” link to the site. If I can find a way to display my status online, that is. Later…
Friday 2004-12-31 - Groningen, the Netherlands
Bidding on Ebay
New Year’s eve, I’m staying with my parents in Groningen to celebrate the change into a new year with them. At 23:00 my cell phone rings (too early for new year’s wishes — who could that be?). When I answer I get someone on the line from Ebay in the UK (OK, it’s only 22:00 there): they have someone placing a lot of bids using an email address @iamback.com. So they’re checking (after obviously having gotten my phone number from the domain registration database) whether it’s a valid email address or I have authorized it.
Well, neither, I explain. It’s certainly not me, and I control the domain and the email server, so no one even could be using an email address @iamback.com and actually get email. Try sending an email, I suggest. That satisfies the caller — who then apologizes for calling so late on New Year’s eve, and wishes me a pleasant evening.
Weird…
Sunday 2005-01-16 - Utrecht, the Netherlands
Tibet!
Today is the last day of the big Vacation Fair in Utrecht; I was going to go together with Carla, but she can’t come today; I promise to do good research on trips to Tibet: both of us are interested.
I go to the stand of Baobab first: they have an interesting trip. A plus is they’re planning a three-day hike along a lake near Lhasa; a big minus is that they’re using internal flights instead of (for instance) the train in China. So let’s see what Koning Aap Reizen (Monkey King Travels) has on offer.
Our travel companion of last year’s trip, Marie Josee, had told me she would be there (an exception, she’s travelling most of the year), and indeed she is. We have lunch together (noodles!) and a long chat: it’s really great to see her again after such a long time. Koning Aap’s trip to (through, actually) Tibet looks attractive too: minus: no hike; big plus: completely overland, no flight anywhere except to Beijing and back from Kāthmāndu. I already know that Carla prefers to travel overland as well. Then comes the clincher (for me, at least): when I mention to Marie Josee that the Baobab has a hike she comes up with two good ideas:
- she’d like to accompany this trip; and
- since we end up in Kāthmāndu we could add an extra week or two and do some hiking in the Kathmandu Valley or near Pokharā — she’d come, too, and she knows a lot of addresses of nice little hotels.
So we make a plan: Marie Josee will tell Koning Aap she’d like to accompany this trip (in September/October), the best time for Tibet, and (if Carla agrees), we’ll book on condition that the trip is accompanied by Marie Josee.
Wednesday 2005-01-19 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The more the merrier
I spoke to Carla on the phone this evening and told her about what I’d discussed with Marie Josee at the vacation fair last week. She likes our little plan, too — in fact, her sister may want to come as well!
Tuesday 2005-01-25 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Back in Turkmenistan… almost
We have our third reunion today — of a sort: Marie Josee, our travel companion, managed to get (through Koning Aap) enough invitations for a special Turkmen cultural evening in Amsterdam that we can all come. There was some hassle over the invitations which didn’t all arrive, but we all confirmed through email anyway and here we all are, properly dressed up.
The reason for the happening (in the West-Indisch huis in Amsterdam, a beautiful venue for an evening like this) is the presentation of the Dutch translation of the book “Ruhnama”, written by the President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, also known as “the Great Saparmyrat Türkmenbashi”. The book — officially referred to as the “Holy Ruhnama” (Book of the Soul) — was written by Mr. Niyazov during 1997-2001; in Turkmenistan everyone reads this book in school, and although some of its contents may be historically doubtful, it has definitely played a role in inspiring a sense of national pride and strengthening Turkmen culture after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The museum in Aşgabat has the book and a number of translations on display; no doubt the Dutch one will be added to the display now.
None of us really had any idea what to expect of this evening. We’re welcomed with drinks, and everyone sort of stands around for a while… until finally someone takes a microphone and welcomes us and especially the delegation of the Turkmen ministry of Culture, including the Minister of Culture, TV and Radio Broadcasting of Turkmenistan, Mrs. Maral Basimovna Basimova. (There had been rumors the President himself would be here, but I guess a minister is good enough.) We all troop upstairs, where after the national anthem is sung we’re shown a video about Turkmenistan. Next is a musician from Turkmenistan who sings and plays traditional music on a flute (targe tuduk), and sings some traditional songs — very beautifully.
Then it’s a (Dutch) magician’s turn; he asks for “help” from the audience, and both Vera and I are among his willing “victims”. (I’m looking him closely on his fingers, and I cannot see what he does to the EUR 50 banknote I lent him, but the promised extra EUR 50 doesn’t appear: instead I get a piece of toilet paper which he says I now know how to turn into a banknote (sure…), and my banknote with now an (illegal) mark on it. One of the Turkmen musicians also “helps” him, and finally, in a spray of fireworks, the book is conjured up.
Next on is the Minister, who tells us about the development of Turkmenistan since its independence, and proudly declares that the “holy Ruhnama” has now been translated into 26 “world languages”; this is followed by a short interview with madame Minister. Wouter van Wijk from Koning Aap Reizen comes up next to present a slide show about traveling in Turkmenistan. This elicits a curious response from the Minister: one of the slides shows a traditional way of baking bread in the desert (I witnessed a demonstration of that myself in 2002, although it was made clear this was no longer daily practice); she gets up and assures us that such primitive things don’t happen any more, the country is more developed now — factually true, maybe, but it demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of what travellers to the country may be interested in (as the video demonstrated as well). It’s a common culture clash: tourists come for history, while inhabitants of a country are proud of their modern development… After this short intermezzo, the official part of the evening is over, and we all move over to yet another large room.
Here we are treated to more drinks, and an international buffet: Italian, Indonesian and… where are the Turkmen dishes? I find them tucked away in a side room off the main hall. And there is music: The little orchestra, part of the delegation from Turkmenistan, is excellent; they play a wide variety of music, from classical (arias), through traditional Turkmen music, to jazz, with singing by two young ladies and an older man; more traditional instruments appear, such as a dutar (a type of lute used in several varieties across Central Asia) and a dili tuduk which is like a piccolo version of the flute we heard before. Among the guests is a young Turkmen who studies at a Dutch conservatory; long after the evening is officially over, he is invited onto the stage by the older (and apparently quite famous) Turkmen singer, and together they sing an aria, in a kind of dialog, taking turns, both just singing for the joy of it, ignoring the audience, and with the older singer very obviously enjoying the young talent next to him. It forms a touching finish to a somewhat weird but interesting Turkmen evening — we felt a bit as if we were travelling in Turkmenistan again.
On the way out, we all get a copy of the “holy Ruhnama”; an attempt to have my copied signed by madame Minister fails (it’s a holy book by our great president, she explains, she really can’t sign that), but the young Turkmen singer is happy to oblige — not that I can read his cyrillic handwriting apart from the date.
Friday 2005-01-28 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Option
Yesterday I called Koning Aap Reizen to take an option for three people for the China-Tibet-Nepal trip: it’s valid until 10 February (on the website you can take an option for only one week). This morning I report to Carla, who assures me that she and her sister will know before then whether they can come, too.
Thursday 2005-02-10 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Option (2)
Today is the day, our option expires: we have to decide whether to book the trip or not. Alas, Carla tells me her sister certainly would like to come but would need permission from her boss to go away for such a long time. So they can’t take a decision yet.
When I call Koning Aap they’re lenient: The option (for all three of us) is extended for another 2 weeks. It’s still early days for a trip leaving in September, but of course if it seems the trip will be fully booked we’ll have to decide whether to come or not — if necessary I’ll book on my own.
Tuesday 2005-02-22 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Good news
Carla called with good news yesterday: both she and her sister will come! The bad news is that Gwendolyn’s boss still needs to give his official permission. Another phone call to Koning Aap is enough to extend our option to 1 March. They also tell me that if we want an extension (for our Kathmandu Valley hike) we should indicate that with our booking: that’s not only more efficient but cheaper as well.
India
Against my better judgment, I try to call Marie Josee, who will be our travel companion again, to discuss our hiking extension. Her partner answers: she’s in India!
Thursday 2005-02-24 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Hiking
Yesterday I sent an email to Marie Josee, and today I already have her reply: since both Carla and me want to stay in the Kathmandu Valley a week’s extension of the trip should be sufficient. She’s looking forward to it, too!
Friday 2005-02-25 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
We’re going to do this!
Carla called this morning: her sister finally has permission from her boss. We’ll turn our option into a booking today!
Monday 2005-04-11 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Out in the sun
(details later)
Saturday 2005-04-23 - Horst, the Netherlands
Asparagus
(another reunion — details later)
Thursday 2005-05-26 - Arnhem, the Netherlands
Hiking training day
(details later)
Thursday 2005-06-02 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Hiking training day
(details later)
Thursday 2005-06-09 - Meijendel, the Netherlands
Hiking training day
(details later)
Thursday 2005-06-16 - Haarlem, the Netherlands
Hiking training day
(details later)
Thursday 2005-06-23 - Castricum - Egmond aan zee, the Netherlands
Hiking training day
(details later)
Thursday 2005-06-30 - Naarden - Muiden, the Netherlands
Hiking training day
(details later)
Thursday 2005-07-07 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Hiking training day
(details later)
Thursday 2005-07-14 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Hiking training day
(details later)
Thursday 2005-07-21 - Zutphen, the Netherlands
Hiking training day
(details later)
Thursday 2005-07-28 - Leerdam - Beesd, the Netherlands
Hiking training day
(details later)
Saturday 2005-09-17 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
“Can you take your shoes off, please?”
I go downstairs with my luggage a bit early and just when I step out the taxi arrives, with Carla and Gwendoline on board. We have a smooth an luxurious start of the trip: we’ll be able to lug our luggage more than enough later! Amsterdam is quiet at this time — but the airport is crowded.
Security after check in is interesting: the gate beeps at me (as I expected since I have a metal buckle on my belt; a lady frisks me. So far normal. Then comes the surprise: “Can you take your shoes off, please?” OK — I’m expecting she’ll take a good look at my shoes, but no: first my feet are frisked, too, and then my shoes have to go through the scanner!
After that we shop a bit, then go to the gate; we leave on time.
Thursday 2006-07-13 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Finally!
Quite often during or at the end of a trip I have a pretty good idea where to go next, or at least several ideas. And when the Vacation Fair comes in January, I usually have decided on one or two destinations and scout out the travel options at the fair. But this year it was quite different — and I don’t know why.
My first idea — quite late already — was “Egypt complete”, a private variation on a month’s tour through Egypt, with Coptic monasteries and Roman ruins added into the mix. I had roughly worked out a plan when the bomb attack happened there, making me postpone that idea for a year or so. And leaving me lost for ideas again — or rather, I had ideas, but nothing that really jumped out at me.
Meanwhile I’d been reading about China’s recent history. As I’ve seen, present-day China is developing at break-neck speed and there’s little left of the old-style communism. And suddenly, a trip to North Korea (officially known as Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or DPRK for short) I’d noted a few years before jumped back into my mind. Although North Korea has developed its own flavor of communism with the “Juche” philosophy, from what I’ve read so far it seems to be quite similar to Chinese communism as it was before the cultural revolution; a visit should provide some background for China, too. And Korea has its own unique culture and language, maintained despite strenuous efforts to wipe out at least the language during the Japanese occupation.
One little “problem” about the trip from Koning Aap (Monkey King): it’s only 15 days. But it starts and ends in Beijing where there is much more to see than I’ve been able to during the two times I’ve been there. A phone call to Koning Aap quickly determines that it’s easy to book an extra week in Beijing, and not too expensive. I opt to stay in the same hotel Dong Fang — maybe not the cheapest but I know the hotel and the nice neighborhood and won’t need to move.
Tonight, back in Amsterdam after visiting in Groningen for my mum’s birthday, I take the final decision and book the trip. I’ll be off again. Finally!
Thursday 2006-08-24 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
What to do in Beijing? Go hiking!
Since I’ll be on my own for an extra week in Beijing, I’ll have to create my program, so I’m busy browsing around for information. The other day I happened on a fun option: go hiking around Beijing! It appears there is a hiking club in Beijing, and they have a hike at least every Sunday. Checking out their site, I found they actually have two the weekend just after we arrive back in Beijing. And they’re light hikes, no worries about something too strenuous when I’m still tired after 10 days in a straight jacket…
So, today I not only subscribed to their mailing list, but I also sent off an email to the organizers to (hopefully) reserve a place on both hikes. I’m really excited about the idea of going hiking outside Beijing, especially since I saw some tantalizingly beautiful landscapes last year when we were hiking on the Great Wall.
Wednesday 2006-08-30 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Go hiking or not?
Although I’d received my first issue of the Beijing Hikers newsletter the day after I signed up, I still have no reply on my mail asking if I could join the two hikes on 16 and 17 September in Beijing. Getting worried that there may be a misunderstanding, or confirmation is sent only shortly before a hike (and I probably won’t be able to read my email while still in P’yongyang) I send off another email.
Thursday 2006-08-31 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Beijing hikes confirmed!
Today I got an apologetic email back from Huìjié of the Beijing Hikers: it turns out that my first mail was received, and understood, and answered. Except this reply somehow did not reach my mail box.
Well, no need for an apology — it’s not her fault the mail didn’t reach me! But I don’t have a clue why it didn’t arrive: I was using my Yahoo email on purpose so there was no chance of a mail being discarded because of a black list. And I did check the ‘bulk’ folder that Yahoo mail uses to store mails it thinks are spam.
But a seat has been reserved for me for the hike on Saturday and Sunday, the 16th and 17th of September: I’m all set. I’m excited — I’m really looking forward to these hikes; it should be a great way to start off my stay in Beijing!
Friday 2006-09-01 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Farewell dinner
Carla invited me over for dinner tonight — that would give me a nice little break during the busy preparations for the trip.
On the way there I go to the photographer’s store with a shopping list
for the different types of batteries I’ll need to take along as spares.
It turns out to be a good thing I go now and not tomorrow (my last
posasible shoppping day) since he doesn’t have the battery for my watch.
“A jeweler’s store wil have it,” Rene says. I also ask for a battery
tester but he only has one he uses himself in the store. No matter, I can
take it with me to test my batteries at home, as long as I bring it back
tomorrow.
Dinner is nice: Carla made couscous, with lots of different side dishes and Moroccan cookies for desert. Meanwhile we chat a lot about — what else — travelling. She’s somewaht jealous now that I’m going, though she didn’t want to come. And I’ll surely miss her during this trip.
Saturday 2006-09-02 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Lots of paper and a blister!
I have a lot of errands to run today; on Saturday the shops are open in Amsterdam but tomorrow only a few in the city center will be open.
First I bring back the little battery tester I had borrowed from the photographer’s store. Next, I still need a spare battery for my watch. When I find a jeweler’s store that has one I ask if they can also clean my silver necklace and earrings from Nepal; hey can, but it will take a fe minutes, which I spend for my next errand: rubber tips for my monopod (also used as walking stick) which I find in a hardware store nearby. Next on the list: a lot of photocopies.
Carla lent me her “Nagel’s China” — a thick book that is both encyclopedia and travel guide — printed in 1968: just after the cultural revolution in China, when the country slowly opened up to foreign travelers again. She’d been there with her husband in the early seventies. The book is of course too precious (and heavy!) to take along with me, but some sections about Beijing in particular (like an extensive one about the Ming tombs) have good information. That means I’ll take along photocopies — and lots of them. Other information for when I’ll be on my own in Beijing as well as some parts of the manual for my new camera get the same treatment. When I’m done I take a little break with a big glass of fresh orange juice.
Finally, I need more writing materials and plastic envelopes to write my stories and store my collectible and ‘photocopyable’ artifacts (things like beer labels and courtesy shampoo and combs you get in hotels).
When I finally get home after more than four hours, I find my little toe hurts a little. On inspection, it turns out to be blister! Clearly I’m out of training (though I grow blisters all too easily).
Sunday 2006-09-03 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Packing and off!
To my relief, I manage to pack all my equipment, cables and films into my small carry-on suitcase, with room to spare for my shoulder bag. That’s a good start.
Next on the list is finishing my documentation for the new version of my travel blog software (so I’ll actually know how to use it when traveling). In the middle of these preparations I get an email from my host explaining about the database problems I’d been having (actually crashing the site); unfortunately, the instructions I’m given don’t work and I have no time left for debugging the problem before I leave; all I can do is print out some emergency documentation so I can “break in” to restart the database if necessary … but I definitely won’t be able to do that while in the DPRK. All I can do then is keeping my fingers crossed the site will keep running.
At exactly 17:00 the taxi is there; the driver calls my phone instead of ringing the doorbell to announce his arrival.
I’m off!
Sunday 2006-09-03 - Amsterdam to Beijing, the Netherlands
Flying over Groningen
At the airport in Amsterdam I meet Frits again, the only fellow traveler I’d met before, and Thekla who will probably be my room mate. The others have gone through check-in already. Since we’re not checking in as a group, we’re also not sitting together on the plane.
On the plane, a China Southern Boeing 777, they tell us we’re going to fly 10,200km, a 9-hours flight. Take off at 20:20. At first, the in-flight information, shown on individual displays mounted in the backs of the chairs, is … well, hardly there: they seem to be setting up or debugging the system, and we see only screenful after screenful of unintelligible numbers. But when they finally get it going, it’s actually nice with a feature I have not seen before: the “satellite view” (showing the plane’s position and route as if from space) is alternated with a kind of “bird’s eye view”, looking forward from above in the direction of the flight.
At 20:30 I note we’re actually flying over Groningen, where my parents live. Mentally, I wave goodbye to them.
After a nice dinner I wait for the worst turbulence to pass before a visit to the bathroom and I go off to “bed”.
Wednesday 2007-04-04 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
No problem, just a light panic
I had been clever and ordered a taxi via an Internet taxi broker. The whole ordering process went smoothly, and I expected the taxi at 8:15 — ready with my luggage outside. Except the taxi doesn’t appear and I had forgotten to put the phone number of the taxi company in my phone. Maybe he’s going to Carla’s house first? I call Carla and get her son: Carla is — just like me — ready outside with her luggage. Helpfully, he looks up the number for me in Carla’s email. But just when I start entering the number, the taxi arrives. We’re just on our way when Carla’s son calls me: what’s happening? “We’re on our way”, I say. The driver had told me he’d just come from the airport, and it was exceptionally busy on the road. Great. And he wants to turn on the meter. No, no - we have a fixed price!
So, we pick up Carla, and (via a slight detour because the driver doesn’t seem to know the fastest route to get out of the city) we’re on our way to Schiphol, Amsterdam. That’s stretching it: we do a lot of waiting at first — it is indeed very busy. Carla has a bright idea: let’s call Sander (the director of the tour operator who’s awaiting us at the airport with our tickets) that we’re on our way. Except I had also forgotten to put Sanders phone number in my phone — and my papers with the number are in the trunk — brilliant. Using my phone, Carla calls home, and manages to call her daughter in law out of bed, who helpfully looks up the number. Then I call Sander, who tells me: “I see happy faces here that you two are coming, too!”.
We’re definitely late now, but the traffic has cleared up. Then when the driver wants to enter the area before the gates, he misses the beam coming down after the car before him, and steps on his brakes. I shoot forward, bump my hand into the driver’s seat (it seems lightly contused) and my hat jumps off my head and lands in the driver’s lap. He apologizes, but I’m irritated. We don’t give him a tip when he drops us off.
Sander is there to welcome us — this must be a great day for him, sending off the first group of his new company! We’re not even the latest. Then, when we start to check in, another panic: Maria suddenly misses her ticket… She’s positive she did get it from Sander, but it’s nowhere to be found. Did she drop it? I call Sander again, hoping he can assist — luckily he’s not far, just upstairs, lingering around for he didn’t know what — my call, obviously. He soon reassures Maria: she can come, all the tickets are in the computer. That helps: now she finds here ticket after all!
From then on everything goes smoothly, and we arrive in Istanbul on time.
Friday 2009-05-15 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Panic mode
I'm spending the day packing — I've almost never been so late packing, and this has various reasons. A minor reason is that I've been "under the weather" for a week or so, so I'm running a week late now. Of course, our plane does't leave later, so I'm trying to squeeze two weeks into one, which means chronic lack of sleep and still too little time.
A more important reason is that I'm also working on starting up with my own web development business, and that's a lot of work. Trying to combine that with preparing for a five-week trip was … interesting. It would not have been a major problem, if only…
If only I'd not decided to handle updating my travel blog a little differently, by using a netbook to directly type my notes during the day, so I don't have to write everything three times (first in a little notebook, then write it out as a story, then type it all in (while watching the clock) in an Internet cafe on an unfamiliar keyboard. And if only I'd not decided that I wanted a lighter camera for travel, and a digital one at that. And if only my new bank hadn't had a special offer for a mobile phone account with a good discount — with phone if you wanted it — and I wanted a different (mobile) phone for my nascent company; and the phone I got has GPS built-in, so If I'd take that I could leave my separate GPS home. The upshot was that I ended up with a lot of new hardware, all somehow intended to make traveling, blogging and taking photographs easier and lighter… but all of that needed to be tested, set up, practiced with, and even connected together.
Still, this week I finally managed to prepare the blog with the itinerary for the coming trip, and now I'm typing this on my netbook, and in a bit will send it on its way to see if the email interface to update the blog still functions nicely (and I haven't forgotten how to use it). So, here goes. And then back to packing!
Panic mode take 2
Well, the mail arrived all right and got posted — now it seems Kmail (the mail program I'm using on my netbook) was using a setting (encoding) that caused lots of weird '=20' and similar codes to appear in the text. I've tweaked it a little, so let's see if this helps. (Then I'll "repair" the previous post so it's readable.) If not, I'll need more experiments, and probably will have to pull an all-nighter to get my packing finished, too.
Panic mode take 3
Not much joy: more of those pesky codes, and it seems it´s not Kmail doing it, actually, though I´m not entirely sure of that either. I´ll try to send this from webmail (through the browser) instead of a mail client. Sigh.
