Let's go on an adVANture
It’s March 2021 when we close the doors of our apartment and open the ones of our van. We start the motor wave our friends & family goodbye and head towards the unknown. It’s time to hit the dusty ways, the tiny paths, the silk roads. With liters of oil, a lot of enthousiasm and not nearly enough knowledge of our engine we start the trip of a lifetime. The trip we dreamed of for so many years. We are driving the ancient Silk Road, following the footsteps of many merchants.
Our adventures in blog form are found below.
Yes we van!
Sorry! We’ve been a little absent lately. It has good reasons though. We weren’t quiet because it was too hot to type, or too wild to share but our adventures were mainly about fixing the van. Maybe Alexine had her own version of the Pandemic flue. So from having to...
Crossing the most dangerous road of Georgia!
The Abano Pass impassable by Volkswagen T2 Locals say it isn't possible, they call us crazy, look at us with doubt. Call us crazy but we have believe in the power of Alexine. We have no doubt whatsoever that she can manage to climb up a pass, located at 2900 mtrs,...
Maffia Monks & Hiking the Chaukhi pass
Freedom can only be found in the mountains, as the Georgians say. So, after a couple of days in Tbilisi, getting Alexine fixed and some work done, it was time to head to the mountains again. Everyone tells us Svaneti is amazing, but that’s on the other side of Georgia...
Oh no, what’s that sound?
Living and travelling in a van isn’t all about the best spots to camp, the thumbs up we get or driving the most scenic roads. It’s also about waiting for the engine to cool down, being anxious about a new sound she’s making and visiting garages while holding your...
Our first impressions of Georgia
We love first impressions. Whenever we are just 10 minutes in a country we ask each other “and? What do you think?” A person has an impression about someone or something within 3 seconds. And this is sometimes the right one and sometimes the wrong one. It takes just a...
Beekeeping in Northern Turkey
Why tourists often skip the Black Sea Region is a riddle to us. It’s definitely one of the most beautiful regions of Turkey! The lush green mountains, delicious food, nice & mild climate. It is here where tea is produced, and it’s also known as hazelnut and honey...
Three months on the road!
We’ve been three months on the road right now, so it’s time to reflect on vanlife so far. Up to now we still feel so privileged and happy that we’re able to do this. Travelling brings us so much freedom, we get to see wonderful places, explore known and unknown...
Capital of the Kurds
After Midyat it was time to move North. Finally we would visit the capital of the Kurdish people in Turkey: Diyarbakir. Yes, the Assyrians and Armenians mostly left this area due to oppression and hate the Kurdish people are still here. Turkey is a wonderful country...
From genocide to rebellion
Along the way here several people mentioned Mardin a must visit on our Turkey trip. Ignoring tips from local people would be a stupid thing to do so we continued our journey East to Mardin. Mardin is a very interesting city. It’s a migratory city with lots of Turks,...
History & myths in Turkey
It is sometimes a bit hard to keep up with the blogs. Not because I don’t like it or have nothing to write but probably because there is too much to write. Every morning, middag and evening another adventure awaits, in the morning we don’t know where we sleep at night...
Faces in the mountain
It was time to leave Cappadocia behind and with that the for me, Milene, known part of Turkey. The kind owners of the hotel we stayed in told us about the best way to travel to Nemrut. And boy was he right. Our first stop would be a caravanserai. This is a place...
Kapadokya, land of horses
In the previous post you could read about my, Milene's, thesis on Cappadocia. Lets see what happened in the past ten years. First a bit about Cappadocia The Persian name of the region was “Kappa Tuchia” which means “The land of beautiful Horses”. Cappadocia is...
Fairytale Castles & the Salt Lake
After a couple of days in the city we were in need of fresh air. Also, if we want to reach China this year we need to keep going. Our next stop would be Cappadocia but that will take about 10 hours. We found two nice stops along the way. One would be Burj al Babas....
Istanbul’a hoş geldiniz
It all started in 2018 when I, Milene, moved to Turkey as part of the Erasmus program. For half a year Ankara was my home and Atilim Universitesi my university. That half year turned into almost two years as i also did my internship in Turkey. My internship brought me...
Greece in a nutshell
One of my favourite writers is Herodotos (writer of ‘The Histories’), but even more do I love stories about him. Like the travels of Herodotos by Ryszard Kapuschinsky, definitely my second best book (after The Hobbit by J.r.r. Tolkien). In this book Kapushinksy...