Photos · 53 from the road
Asia
Turkey
The blue mosque in Istanbul
Istanbul is littered with mosques similar to this one.
The library of Ephesus
At least 4,000 years old Ephesus, A former harbor town, now 8 km inland due to the changing coastline in the last 4 millennia. It is a remarkable place to wander around as long as you are early, before the touring cars start to arrive.
Cappadocia
A strange fairytale landscape created by volcanic deposits, rain and wind. Legend says fairy's once lived in the valley, but they turned into pigeons after one of the fairies married a human.
Houses, and sometimes complete apartment buildings are carved out of the soft rock.
Gasoline?
The more east I travel, the more difficult it becomes to find fuel. Luckily it also becomes more social. No fuel station will let you ride of without at least one or two cups of thee.
Bathroom in the crater of Nemrut Dagi
Camping at one of the lakes in this giant extinct volcano-crater. To enter it you first ride up to the rim at 2,500 meters followed by an seemingly endless decent into a lost world.
Iran
A hot date in Esfahan
Women in Iran are very emancipated when it comes to meeting foreigners. I found myself on a date with six beautiful and intelligent girls. Naturally one of the older brothers joined in to chaperone, but after he realized I did not know anything about soccer, he left.
The dusty desert
Riding your bike through Iran is relatively easy. When the day reaches its end you simply turn off the road and ride into the desert until you find yourself a cozy place for a camp. Since it almost never rains you can save yourself the hassle of putting up a tent, unless you want to keep the snakes out.
The rocky desert
A grassy patch is hard to find, but a good mattress fixes that. The mosquito-net is mostly against snakes and scorpions since there are not too many mosquitoes in the desert. There are a billion stars and it is almost a crime to crawl into a tent.
The salty desert
Riding a salt-lake can be fun. It can also be very muddy and difficult to get out of. After getting out of there I spend the next hours to find a place with water, a hose and a bucket to wash all the salt off.
Thee house in Bam
In Iran you don't go to a bar, a pub or a café. You go to the tea-house where you drink thee, smoke apple-tobacco through a water pipe and most of all, meet other people.
The city-gate of Bam
It does not exist anymore, but the city of Bam was completely build out of mud and clay. It was a remarkable labyrinth of little streets and passageways. Especially during sunrise and sunset the colors of the orange clay changed into a thousand varieties from yellow to red.
The citadel of Bam
For hours one could walk around through the little streets and alleys, stairs, bridges and tunnels of Bam, trying to find the way to the citadel. When finally there, on top of the highest tower the reward was a unforgettable view over the city.
The Luth desert
It's also a great place for camping.
Pakistan
Fuel station
It's time to fill up the fuel tank and you have just passed three fuel-stations so you decide to stop at the next one. 50 Km go by and suddenly your in a sandy desert. Should you go back? Nahhh, there will be another fuel station soon. There always is. Another 30 Km later, just when you consider turning around, you see a fuel station. Relieved you stop and gesture for fuel, but the guys tell you 'there out'. They seem to tell you the next station is close by, so you go on. 15 Km later the next fuel station tells you the same and 20 Km later you hear the same story again. When someone then finds a old barrel you feel so lucky.
Bandit road, Taftan to Quetta
The road from border-station Taftan to the first city Quetta is 650 Km of bad asphalt, large sinters and big smuggle vehicles. Often it's better to ride next to the road in the desert where there is no dust, no corrugation and no truck drivers with a death-wish.
Food poisoning can be nasty
Food poisoning can be a dangerous thing. Especially when you are riding a motorbike in the desert. It was my second day in Pakistan and the egg I eat that morning was filled to the top with salmonella. While I tried to reach Quetta before becoming to sick to ride a bike.... I became to sick to ride a bike. I passed out and landed on my face. I do not know how long I was unconscious, but it was long enough for the desert-sun to bake my face and dehydrate my body. Luckily 'bandit-road' is only a name. The people that live in that area are extremely hospitable. They fixed me up and refused any kind of payment.
Chaotic traffic
Traffic in Pakistan and India is notorious for it's chaos. Anything that can move, moves and does so in any direction it chooses at any given time. Inside towns it's not too bad, but outside the town speeds pick up and accidents are considered 'daily life'.
Hotel parking
So, parking is always done inside. Inside the restaurant, Inside your hotel-room or even inside the hotel kitchen.
Tribal life
The face of a man who has seen it all.
Lunch time
Little restaurants all cook the same thing. Dahl with chapattis. And before you eat, you stir up the fire and make sure it hot enough to kill all germs.
Karakoram back-alleys
Local tribes had put up a road-block on the 'Karakoram highway', but we found a mountain-guide willing to take us past it following small tracks in the mountains. It was an almost mystical route, passing small settlements high up the mountain-slopes. The views on 8,000 + meter mountains makes you feel rather small.
Karakoram back-alleys
On the 'Karakoram back-alleys' there is not much margin for error. Any mistake will be followed by 'a long way down'.
Mogul mosque in La Hore
The last remaining Mogul mosque is located in La Hore. It is also the largest mosque in the world. The 'inner square' is several hundred meters across and it has remarkable acoustic 'tricks'
India
Wagah border ceremony
Since more than 40 years, every night at sunset, the border between India and Pakistan is closed with a ceremony that defies your imagination. The guards dress up in their most impressive tenue and march, salute and shout as if life itself depends on it. Hundreds of spectators come to watch this and the are more furious than soccer-hooligans.
Golden temple, Amritsar
The Sikh are a religion of warriors who's job it is to protect all those who need it. As a result 'the golden temple' harbors daily as much as 3,000 people who need a meal and a place to sleep. Most of them are pilgrims, but there are special sleeping-quarters for tourists as well.
Fakir in Amritsar
What would India be without Fakirs and exotic dancers. Especially Fakirs will do the weirdest things to earn a few rupees.
Colorful beggar in Jaisalmer
Rajasthan is famous for it's colors and smells. Here in Jaisalmer even a beggar girl looks like an exotic princess.
Fata morgana
When I had a flat tire somewhere in the desert I saw this interesting lady. Lucky for me it was not a fata morgana, but a Bollywood actress starring in a music video.
Kitchen of the Bishnoi
The Bishnoi are a Rajasthan desert-tribe that lives in total harmony with nature. If they need fire-wood, they will wait next to a tree until a branch will fall of by itself. They don't pluck fruit, again they wait for it to fall of the tree by itself. Naturally they are vegetarians. To lighten up their sober existence they drink opium-thee.
Bishnoi woman
While the bishnoi man dress in sober white and only change the color of their turban to show their state of mind to visitors, the women are, as most Rajasthan women, dressed in the most colorful outfits with lots of large jewelry.
Bollywood in Bombay
Bollywood, as the Indian movie-industry is called, is like a large factory. Some 800 movies a week are spit out from the dozens of studios. No wonder it is easy to start an acting carrier. There is always a shortage of white (English aristocrats) people. My first part was that of the mayor of Bombay during the 19th century. Salaries are a bit lower than on the other side of the Atlantic. One day of shooting pays approximately 12 euros unless it is a commercial, which pays double.
Fishingboat in Goa
I have spend a month on the beach in the hippy-paradise of Goa. Helping the fisherman to get the nets in would always get me a fresh fish for dinner.
Roads can be tricky
It is not a good idea to dose of while riding on the Indian roads. They come with surprises.
Nepal
Katmandu under the eyes of Buda
Katmandu is one of those cities that lives up to it's reputation. Muddy streets filled with street-vendors that sell everything you need, everything you don't need and much more. Pagoda style roofs lined with prayer-flags make it one of the most colorful places under the sun. And all this in a valley surrounded by the highest mountains on earth..
Himalayas, icy roads
Unfortunately high mountains usually come with a few minor drawbacks. Icy roads being the most significant one. And where there is ice, there is also cold fingers in thin summer-gloves.
Bangladesh
Nice restaurant
Bangladesh is a country that has not yet discovered tourism (or vice versa) and as a result there are no cheap hotels. Luckily the 5-star hotels are still very affordable and management understands the needs of lonely travelers. Since a discount was not possible they tried to ease the price with a free dinner and a free breakfast. Pam was comfortably parked in the carpeted restaurant.
Air pollution in Dhaka
Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, is the most air-polluted city in the world. After being 'in town' for half an hour I had a runny nose and tears in my eyes.
Thailand
Colorful monk
In Thailand monk hood is a bit like military service. Every boy is expected to spend some time as a monk. One week is long enough, as long as the family can say: "My boy has done his duty as a monk". Needless to say the streets are full with this orange army.
Scary temples
Thailand pretends to be a Buddhist country. This is more wishful thinking then reality. Buddhism is mostly used to compensate for the overwhelming influence of the armed forces and the will if the King. In real life most people are animists. For this reason you will never find a Thai in a temple at night. Too many ghosts.
Karen hill-tribes
They came to Thailand as refugees from neighboring Myanmar and were granted a special status so they could stay in selected areas. But after Thailand recognized that tourist would gladly pay to see these traditional tribes the protected villages were quickly turned into a human zoo. Even a special 'replacement' program from the UN failed due to Thailand's unwillingness to issue travel-papers to the selected the refugees. Thailand's fear to loose the tourist-dollar turned these refugees into caged animals on display.
Give way to elephants
The elephant is the traditional work-horse from Thailand and India and it's not surprising to see one walking by, with or without driver.
Jungle scare
Somewhere in the north of Thailand I came across this strange statue that was guarding a cave.
Swallow plague
In Betong, south Thailand they have a strange plague. Millions of swallows inhabit the town, covering every available piece of electricity or telephone-wire. Not a devastating disaster, but you do need to wear a heat or better yet, an umbrella.
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur at night
In the background on the right you'll see the Petronas towers. Tallest building in the world and free to visit.
Indonesia
Arrival in Dumai's free trade port
So man horror stories about entering Indonesia with a motorbike, but when I picked up the bike the only problem was the tide. I had to wait a few hours so the boat would be equal to the dock. I had to ride across town to the customs-house for paperwork and there they told me I might want to visit the police-station to ask for a permit. Only because the 'chief of police' had already left for home I had to come back the next day.
Curious orangutan
Sumatra is the island of the orangutan and naturally I needed to see those gentile giants in the wild. It was not hard. Only a few hours on our way into the dens jungle we were surrounded by curious but shy, fury orange teddy bears.
Crossing the equator
At Bonjol, Sumatra I finally entered the southern hemisphere. From now on I was upside down..
A pretty big tree
In Bogor's botanical gardens on the island java.
Fish in the sun
Fish is being dried in the sun here on the island Lombok. The yellow paste on the face of the young man is to prevent drying out. Sort of factor 500 sun crème.
Comodo dragon in the sun
A few more minutes in the sun and this Jurassic leftover will be very dangerous. They are cold-blooded, so as long as they are cool, things are cool. This 150 Kg, 4 meter long lizard could kill me with one blow of his 10 cm claws, or he could bite me and leave me to die since there is no known antivenin against his lethal saliva.
Another boring sunset in paradise
From my hotel balcony in Kupang on the island Timor.
East Timor
Traffic police
Blue helmets walk around as Clint Eastwood. They own the town. Their arrogance is only surpassed by their stupidity. When I asked a group of blue-helmets that had a roadblock at a junction, which road would bring me to Dili (the capital) they looked puzzled to each other: "Dili? Do you know where Dili is?"
Scary ride out of there
Pam took a boat to Darwin, Australia, but since I was not allowed on board of the freight boat (as usual) I settled for a plane ride in this very old, flubbering and flappering piece of sheet-metal.