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Post by rikita on Mar 30, 2013 15:01:38 GMT 2
finally did that overnight trip to my mom's. first time my baby left berlin. we plan to go there again for one night next week.
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Post by sunshine on Mar 30, 2013 19:38:18 GMT 2
ISTANBUL!!!!!!
then Leicster!!!!!!
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Post by sprite on Mar 31, 2013 15:08:12 GMT 2
thailand. currently in booking anxiety. we've decided on a place, but not how many nights. will we do an overnight trek or just day trips... and if we book 3 nights but trek the last will they demand payment...
and it's songkran week so we are worried about winging it.
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Post by sprite on Mar 31, 2013 15:16:39 GMT 2
thailand replaces vietnam--the flights were just hassle-y.
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Post by Orla on Apr 1, 2013 2:12:42 GMT 2
This time next week we'll be on a plane headed to Namibia.
Quite excited and have fingers crossed we make all our connections (in Atlanta, Paris and Johannesburg).
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Post by slowcoach on Apr 1, 2013 4:50:34 GMT 2
Orla, I think you have chosen a beautiful time of the year to go to Namibia, it shouldn't be devastatingly hot during the day but is before it gets all too dried up and a bit nippy at night. Have you been before? Some people find it addictive.  |
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Post by OnlyMark on Apr 1, 2013 11:47:25 GMT 2
Someone mention Namibia?
What slowcoach doesn't know can be written on the head of a needle passing through a camel on the back of a postage stamp.
Or something like that.
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Post by slowcoach on Apr 1, 2013 19:01:37 GMT 2
Thanks Mark, I just hope people will be happy. Personally I feel that it be a pity if one has to go in winter for the days are so short and the distances can fill every hour with rushing ever towards some destination. I think March/April is a good compromise as it can get so hot in during the summer. I would go earlier but I am assured that most, even some of the locals think the summer is nuts and roll there eyes at the thought of travel ling north or away from the coast. The best piece of advice I could give is to enjoy the travel ling. If you watch, the landscape and vegetation is forever changing. It is a wonderful land to reconnoiter. Talking of old fogeys, this might interest some: archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22Ethnography%3A+Africa%22The Armand Denis "documentary" Wheels Across Africa (1936). WARNING: One or more animals die during the making of the film. I would like help to track down a compilation made by Denis for the BBC in 1963 of footage from his 1935 expedition called "The Congo I knew". It is perhaps most famous for its divisive and racist (both as a subject and by its intent) portrayal of the Tutsi vs Hutu. Rwanda and Burundi were then newly independent but Rwanda was already deeply conflicted. It is archived but not I think on the Internet anywhere not even for ready money. |
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Post by Orla on Apr 1, 2013 19:25:13 GMT 2
Yes slowcoach, it's our first trip there and I'm glad to hear you think it's a good time of the year to go.
We'll be doing a self drive trip.
Basically Windhoek->Soussusvlei->Swakopmund->Damaraland->Etosha in 16 days.
Looking forward to the scenery and the camping (we love camping).
I've wanted to go to Namibia ever since seeing a photo of the sand dunes about 7 years ago.
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Post by slowcoach on Apr 1, 2013 20:39:31 GMT 2
Hi Orla, FWIW we toured pretty regularly from 1998? to 2003, so quite some time ago, specializing in the blank bits of any road map of the old Kaokoveld (Damaraland and Kaokoland), and much of that camping. It was during that time I was a regular and pretty copious contributor to the ThornTree. Most of that was canned by the TT many moons ago. You might say we got the bug. I have no specific advice beyond that there is some surprising beauty in the small things which is really what kept us coming back. I think I could happily spend a trip just looking down at the ground, come to think of it  It is that: To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour, thing. That is does BIG is well known and it is rightfully famous for its expansiveness. Anyway just a thought. One historical note, that won't be a spoiler: Etosha is big, it used to be ENORMOUS, stretching west to the coastal NP and way south down into Damaraland. Known as Greater Etosha or Game Reserve No2 it was de-proclaimed and reverted to communal land around 1970 leaving only the current fragment. The point is that much of the wildlife didn't get the message and is still out there. It is pretty spread out of course and I won't say you will see much of it, but it is amusing to know that it is still there. |
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Post by OnlyMark on Apr 1, 2013 22:02:27 GMT 2
As regards accommodation there are many, many choices both camping and otherwise. In many areas bush camping is very hard to do due to the road/track being bordered by fences delineating the farm boundaries. The point of what I'm saying is that like in Swakopmund there is a plethora of places to stay - however as I always had a car it wasn't necessary for me to stay always in the centre of town in a hotel or the A frames near the brewery - I stayed consistently out of town at a place called Sophia Dale. It was a good place - www.sophiadale.org/index.htmlChoose whatever you want, it's just what I used to do. |
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Post by gnd on Apr 2, 2013 10:43:15 GMT 2
Italy
---
Namibia, Orla, how exciting. Enjoy! Good link Mark, looks lovely, the couple seem really charming too
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Post by slowcoach on Apr 2, 2013 14:12:27 GMT 2
Mark,
You've still been going there recently then?
Did you write any of it up?
Is the coast road to and from Walvis Bay still a white knuckle ride due to idiotic overtaking? My wife loathed that road, so we used the one behind the dunes.
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Post by OnlyMark on Apr 2, 2013 17:35:05 GMT 2
The simple answers are - no and no.
It depends on your definition of 'recently'. If compared to the life cycle of a Higgs Bosun, then no. But that of tectonic plates...........?
The last visit was nearly eight years ago in between living in the Philippines and moving to Egypt.
The road between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay I haven't set foot (read, tyre) on for even more years than that. I know Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie gave birth somewhere there but that's about it. I never had much need to go that way.
Did I write any of it up? It wasn't until I stopped going that I realised I should have done. When I went regularly than I just remembered everything anyway. Now I've forgotten most of it.
One thing I do always remember though is where I stayed or camped plus I have mental pictures of road/track junctions. I've often gone again along somewhere with no thought particularly about navigation until I reach a junction when what I see matches up with a mental photo. I can then know which way to turn.
I often have these mental images but can't often place them on a map until I get to that precise place, then all becomes apparent. I used to be able to drive from Kathmandu to London without recourse to a map, for example.
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Post by slowcoach on Apr 2, 2013 18:37:52 GMT 2
OK I thought it was new, but it reading it again I see that it changed hands in 2009 when it was bought by Michaela and Manfred Lütz or so it says. I remember a "Mad Lütz", I never knew his full name, but that was someone quite different. He was the camp manager who lived at the far end of Hartmann's Valley. I don't know if that required madness or simply induced it. I have always had immense difficulty with visual recollection, I know if I have seen something before but I can't picture it before hand. I don't recall seeing a sign for Sophia Dale but that doesn't mean I haven't seen it and wouldn't recognise it. Before long you will be able to revisit via the medium of missed placed geo-tagged Google Street view panoramas like so: www.panoramio.com/photo/15968043Well according to Goddle it is. |
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Post by Hedonista on Apr 3, 2013 12:57:25 GMT 2
Back to KL via Sri Lanka on April 15th, them my usual HK and Macau. It's starting to feel like nothing more than a long commute to work...
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Post by sunshine on Apr 5, 2013 21:21:24 GMT 2
tomorrow moring I'm taking the train at 6.00 to the airport and then - Istanbul, I'm coming.....mini piss up with pepe  with raki and turkish coffee ;D |
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Post by happytraveller on Apr 5, 2013 21:35:03 GMT 2
tomorrow moring I'm taking the train at 6.00 to the airport and then - Istanbul, I'm coming.....mini piss up with pepe with raki and turkish coffee ;D Nonono. I am not jealous. Not one single teensy little bit. Not.At.All. BloodyhellsheisgoingtogettohugpepeandIwont !! ;D |
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Post by Scrubb on Apr 11, 2013 5:29:33 GMT 2
I am really envious of Orla - namibia is high on my list. I almost applied for a job where I'd have been based in Swakopmund, but it would have been really long work days (including 3 hours of commuting) and I'm not sure what Mr_Scrubb would have done while I was gone every day. Though he says he probably would have managed to find ways of enjoying himself, what with living on the beach and all...
I just got back from 4 days in London, 3 days in Paris, and then 13 days in Mexico. It was a great time and felt really like a long break. But now I have no "next trip" planned, which is NOT GOOD!
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Post by slowcoach on Apr 11, 2013 10:08:33 GMT 2
Scrubb: I think you must have an interesting line of work, I reckon a three hour commute based on Swakopmund takes you places needing a: Prospector, Mineralogist, Hydrologist, Lichenologist, Game Warden, Sand Conservationist. Anyway it sounds like it might have been fun. That coast is the only place I know where I could chose death by freezing or broiling on the same day. I guess Orla must be there by now, I wonder how see is getting along. |
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Post by Scrubb on Apr 13, 2013 5:15:06 GMT 2
Heh - my job there would have been something of a combination of the last 4 on your list plus some other stuff!
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Post by lumi on Apr 13, 2013 7:02:05 GMT 2
I'm going to Istanbul on 25 April for a few days - the in-laws will be there on vacation and mr lumi and I will also start our home search for our move in June |
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Post by shrjeff on Apr 13, 2013 7:03:16 GMT 2
lumi, have you gotten confirmation finally? yay!!
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Post by Hedonista on Apr 13, 2013 8:50:41 GMT 2
My next 3 weeks traveling starts Monday evening at Heathrow, then to KL via Sri Lanka, got an 10 hour layover so going out to the same beach resort I went to last time and getting a day room.
Then KL-HK-Macau-KL and hopefully a weekend in Tioman, should come home around May 5th but no flight booked yet.
Any other potter travelling in the region?
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Post by Baz Faz on Apr 13, 2013 10:54:22 GMT 2
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Post by lumi on Apr 13, 2013 15:45:37 GMT 2
lumi, have you gotten confirmation finally? yay!! Yes, finally! We can now go whenever we want but haven't decided yet as it depends on my work and how they react to my resignation (if they want me to fulfill the notice period or not). So we have kind of decided on May 1 but will push it back a couple of weeks if I need to work the full notice period. I was going to update my previous thread about the move but couldn't find it. |
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Post by auntieannie on Apr 13, 2013 15:50:59 GMT 2
looks gorgeous, baz! both you and the mrs enjoy!
yes, I hope Orla is having a good time in Namibia.
Hedon, hoping for good meetings, excellent food and relaxing times as well.
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Post by OnlyMark on Apr 13, 2013 17:38:35 GMT 2
Lumi, I bet you feel a lot happier now. Good for you.
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Post by rikita on Apr 13, 2013 19:10:38 GMT 2
great to hear that they confirmed it finally, lumi!
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Post by sunshine on Apr 15, 2013 17:44:55 GMT 2
tomorrow "Leicester"......
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with raki and turkish coffee ;D
