Turkey 2024 Part 2

Monday the 15th of April 2024 and we awake to a still morning on our own with a stunning view of the bay. One day its rubbish next day its amazing, you just cant believe the transformation from a windy dustbowl to a stunning bay. How lucky are we, time to be grateful.
 

We cruise the road along the Adriatic before stopping at a beachside stop next to Ahmetbeyli. Another stunning bay, and low key which we like. Its only 11am but we decide to stay, its too nice to drive on. The rest of the day is spent meters from the shore, watching fisherman cast their lines out, hopeful but without success. We have a few dogs about and as usual they are all sleepy in the sun, later we also have some young people turn up, fires on the beach are lit but it looks harmless at this point. Its a great spot to stay but at 3am with those now not so cute dogs barking up and down the beach it stretches the cuteness a bit. We do have some luck, the small campsite at the end of the road allows us to empty and fill our tanks. You really need to be a motorhomer to understand how wonderful the feeling is as you drive off full of water and empty of the rest!

  

Our destination today is the ancient city of Aphrodisias, a Greek city from over 2000 years ago. Yes we have seen a few ancient cities in our travels but cant pass up another with a look at the crumbling ruins, imagining what it was like back then. This one includes a stunning theatre area and what would have been a central bathing area with sunken pools. Pass me another peeled grape please. Its a shame the museum is closed for cleaning, apparently it contains numerous marble statues that would have been good to see. We where going to stay in the carpark overnight but its only 3pm so decide to head the 100km to Pamukkale for the travertine baths which we will check out tomorrow. We are now parked up on a hill overlooking Pamukkale, no dogs yet and we are currently all alone.

     

The only sound we here early this morning are the tinkling bells of the flock of sheep grazing on the adjacent fields. Opening the door we are greeted by the sight of soaring balloons and hang gliders over the ancient site. Its a quick pack up and off to the site before the crowds. We count 20 huge tourist buses as we pull into the carpark, looks like they beat us to it. Its not too bad apart from the selfie crowd. The travertine pools are amazing and a warm flow of mineral water flows down a channel that is popular for dunking your feet into, so we indulge and yes its very soothing. The whole area of these pools is huge but now only a few have water, must have been a site to see in its day. Walking further on you lose the crowds and wander the area into the ancient Roman city of Hieropolis. It covers a staggering area and its preserved theatre area is stunning. Yes another Roman ruin, but a classic. Hopefully the photos do it justice

          
About 100km away is Salda Lake so we decide to go. Maybe an hour and half of driving and we get there, camp up near the waters edge with a couple of German vans. The wind has picked up so we chill out for a while to see what happens. The lake is interesting in its mineral content. Basically a type of magnesium water known for its health benefits, also its a crater lake and about 200m deep so not shallow. There are some cute dogs, just puppies really, so we cook up some rice, add dog biscuits and give them a feed. They seem pretty happy.

The morning is still but along the lake when we walk its cold and windy. Some young Turkish guys that must have made camp later in the night have bogged there little sedan. After a while I manage to grab one of the German guys and we push it out for them, they seem pretty happy with that result. We also have an English van that has arrived later yesterday so we manage a chat with them and swap war stories before we leave. Another bonus is the adjacent camp site allows us to empty and fill with water, so happy days. 

 

  

We continue our journey back to the coast, towards Fethiye about 2 hours away. Its not a pleasant drive at all, dusty and rugged, but we do pass some huge quarries of travertine, limestone and marble which are fascinating to see with the hillside carved away in blocks. On the way we find a roadside stop that may do for the night, but its a tip. A lovely spot next to a small river surrounded by tall pine trees, but it could be your local tip rather than an ideal spot. We obviously don’t stay but are getting quite upset at the amount of rubbish that is your normal everyday picnic rubbish that is just tossed aside. We are used to rubbish having seen it all over the world but it seems to be more intense here and for some reason more disturbing. We eventually end up near the marina in Fethiye, parked up adjacent some huge boats or probably more accurately ships they are so big. We have a quiet evening and don’t see or hear the wild pigs that apparently come down from the hills in the evening and are fed carrots. Lucky its not Italy or all we would have heard are shotguns!

   

Unfortunately Vic is not feeling too good so we don’t stay but head off further down the coast. Its a beautiful drive along the winding coast road, the sea is churning and its a rugged coastline. Our destination is near the town of Kas, its near a lovely beach, just a small cove thats sheltered from the ocean. The park up is noisy and looks like they are setting up for a celebration in the near park so we move on. Its another windy drive down to a small village called Kaleucagiz, then a very tight drive to an area that is a ship renovation spot. Quite staggering the number of traditional Turkish boats being renovated here. They are all set up for touring the islands and it seems a mania to get them ready for the season. Our parkup spot is not great but once they finish for the evening should be quiet enough. Well we didn’t account for the rain which started about 3am, off and on at times quite heavy. The morning is blowing a gale so we hunker down for a bit to see if it clears. Vic is still not feeling too good so I head off up to the fort that looks over us and the bay on the other side. What a stunning view, the inlet is stormy and rugged at the moment but Im sure its stunning and busy in summer. Its such a magic spot and as we leave we see a number of walkers heading in from the other small village, they have probably been dropped off by bus.

        

Once I get back we head off towards Antalya, its another long and winding road along the coast. Its not that relaxing as the Turk drivers are impatient and insane as they continuously overtake on blind corners without any consideration for others, I just hang back and give them plenty of room. We eventually make Antalya and pull into the motorhome parkup they have set up. Apparently its new, has washing machines which we desperately need and its cheap. Not being used to paying to park its nice to know there are some added benefits. After some dramas with the washing machines,(no water), we manage to get through the numerous loads we where carrying and it now looks like a Chinese laundry around our spot. No improvement on Vics part so its a one man dinner again and an early night. Not the quietest night although it is Saturday and we are in a city so to be expected I suppose.
The main centre of Antalya is about a 5km walk so I head off leaving Vic to try and rest and perhaps recuperate. I head to the harbour but its a bit disappointing, no yachts, just tourist boats and terribly gaudy at that. I eventually find Hadrians gate and continue through the main tourist area, but I have to admit its very touristy with numerous tacky shops along the way, not much to see here Im afraid. Off shore on a boat it would be magnificent Im sure.

    

Later that day Vic has taken a turn for the worse and we decide to find a hospital. Google translate does help thats for sure but as you go through the system not everyone understands but we manage to get to see a doctor. Wasn’t that great, but she gets a jab with something, supposedly to relieve pain and nausea but although we continuously mention her erratic heart rate no one checks it. I think they are like most public hospitals, just overrun and understaffed. Anyway we are in and out in 30 minutes, would have been hours at home, hopefully the jab does the trick. Another bonus is we have the BBQ out for the first time this trip, although its again dinner for one.

The morning brings a little improvement to Vics condition so after a food shop we head off towards Side, a beachside resort but with Roman ruins. The trip is totally intense with traffic until we turn off to Side and park up near the beach. Its lunch and a bit of a rest for us now before we head off and see how far she can manage to walk. Turns out we go all the way to Side, past numerous beach resorts and into a nice town, albeit very touristy. Some work is being done on the ruins so we just get a bit of a mini tour and meander the local streets. In summer this place must be pumping, I guess there are a million beach chairs set along the beach front, well maybe a few less but a lot of chairs very close together. Our little spot in Sanur under the palm tree looks pretty good from here.

 
Our evening turns into a bit of a disaster, we did think Monday night should be fine, oh no, music, cars and doors thumping all night. Then at around 1pm the sprinkler system to the adjacent park comes on and every few minutes our van walls are hammered with water spray. Well its not always sweet on tour thats for sure. Vic has gone down hill again and we find a local doctors practice nearby that provides what the hospital should have, albeit at more expensive rate. The doctor is very thorough, speaks English and does all the tests. Turns out she has Swine Flu, well pigs might fly we would never have guessed that. Some medication and we are on our way, although this is going to take a while for her to feel normal. Today she is still very tired and feeling nauseous with a bad headache. Anyway we head off up through the mountains towards Turkeys central area, the traffic really thins out and the roads in general pretty good. We find a stop about 1pm, have some lunch and a well needed nap before deciding to move on to a stop by a dam about 2 hours away. You want serenity and quietness now you have it…  

 

 

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Turkey 2024 Part 1

Its another peaceful night in the back-blocks of Bulgaria. A cold morning but soon becomes warm and the shorts are out. First stop is a toilet empty, and I have spied a spot about 20minutes away. We find the carwash come cafe and after a quick chat we are directed to the chamber to empty. Its a quick and easy process, all free thanks to the generous proprietor. We head off a bit lighter and next stop is a Lidl to stock up on the necessities like wine and gin, oh plus some groceries to tide us over. The Turkish border is about an hour and a half drive on the motorway with minimal traffic. We make our way through the necessary passport and visa gates before being directed to the insurance office. Like most UK insurance policies we are not covered in Turkey so have to purchase 3rd party insurance. Having been through these type of situations before I knew its going to be a long process. Eventually its €178 for 3 months insurance thank you very much and we get a good look over by the customs guys before we are let loose. By now we are pretty tired and attempting to find a spot for the night. In the end we go with our gut feel and head to a remote spot about an hour away. Its down a dirt road for about 2km, isolated next to a small lake, this will do fine.

  
 
Early morning brings some rain but clears by the time we leave. The coast is about 80km away and thats where we head, through farming country and a lush natural forest area before descending down to the coast. Our park up for the night is a marina area for fishing boats, very typical of areas we have stayed in Greece. And just like Greece we are greeted by beautiful large stray dogs that hang out here. They are so placid and friendly and just hang out around the van. We have some dog biscuits and other bits that we feed them with, they are pretty happy I think, as much as you can be living out in the open. We enjoy a restful day, no more long drives for a while, its great to be here at last.

  

Our night is broken with dog barking, we now know why they sleep all day! Its those nights when you just wish they would shut up, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm I have to stop looking at the time. Morning is clear, cold and stunning. Old mate is laying next to the van without a care in the world and looks at me with those sleepy eyes. Its like “whats the problem dude” as I curse him but don’t really mean it.

It turns into one of those days where we go from stop to stop until we find a spot to stay. First option is only 20km away but old SatNav decides to lead us down a goat track where we eventually decide thats enough, manage a u-turn and find a better route. Cool spot but right on the water and its very windy, so after a coffee we move on about another 20km but on the other side of the peninsular and views of the Dardanelles. Its lovely here amongst the pine trees and great views but not really doing it for us so again we move and head closer to Anzac territory. We end up at Boomerang Bar at Eceabat, a well documented stop for doing Anzac. Our park up is on the waters edge and after last night its nap time for this little black duck. Later we take a walk through the town where they have a life-size replica of the trenches from WW1. Only 8 meters apart shooting at each other, its hard to comprehend the courage and also the insanity of it. Our local bar owner Mesut is very happy to welcome us into his establishment and we enjoy a couple of beers while chatting with him and viewing the testament books of previous Aussies and Kiwis that have passed through. After speaking to a couple of UK people we decide to book a Gallipoli tour for tomorrow, it looks like trying to drive around in our big van will be difficult. 

    

Wow that was an eventful night, loud music at 3 am, then a chorus of dogs barking then someone shouting obscenities between 4 and 7am. We have a tour group parked near us, they are on an Overlander tour and camping in tents and seemed to have picked up some poor sole that has issues. Doesn’t really help that the bar is there and the booze flows freely, looks like it was a cocktail ready to explode.

We are picked up at 11.30 for our Gallipoli tour, but there is lunch first in a local restaurant and then we head off on the tour. We visit all the sites, Anzac cove, Lone Pine, The Nek and cemeteries in between. Our guide is well informed and gives us a detailed explanation from day one of the landing on the beaches to the eventual retreat from the beaches. We gain a great understanding of the whole time frame that was Gallipoli. Of course like all battles it was pointless as we all know and that there are bodies lying below the ground you walk on makes it even more so. We also have a Maori guy travelling with us in the tour and he begins singing at Anzac Cove, it makes your hair stand on end, an amazing sound hearing the Maori voice resonating over the cove, his great great grandfather died near here, I think Hill 60? Once you understand that whole battle environment its very hard to comprehend why the Anzacs only made it to the point that they reached on the first day. From then they could not breach the Turkish defences despite throwing mens lives against the lines. Initially we expected to be here for the Anzac day memorial on the 25th but we seem to have travelled faster than we originally planned. As its turns out we have experienced a better understanding of the whole Gallipoli battle rather than being here on Anzac day. Of course if we can we will be back but it looks like we will be miles away by the time the 25th arrives.

          

After another rather broken sleep with the dogs barking we catch the ferry across the Dardanelles to Canakkale, just a short 20 minute trip at around €10. Once we disembark we head to the ancient city of Troy. So at this point its a decision on expenditure, obviously travelling so long you need to make these decisions. Yesterday it was €100 for us and we are happy with the result, it was worth it. Today its a toss up, the ancient city is like many we have visited before, and at times for free or little cost, here its €27 each and the Trojan horse replica was under renovation so its a no from us. Still we now know where its located, and up to today had no idea. The rest of the day becomes one of those journeys from place to place looking for a spot for the night. By 5.30pm we park up at the marina of Babakale, the most western point of Asia. Its also the home of a huge fishing fleet, massive commercial boats all moored ready to strip the oceans.

Its a beautiful morning, the sun is still behind the hill overlooking the marina. Just above us is an old fort and we take a walk up for a birds eye view of the harbour and out to sea. Further along is the lighthouse which is part of the massive seawall protecting the marina. Again we walk past the huge fishing boats and wonder at their size.
  

So from here we head to the ancient town of Assos, its up and over the hill with a staggering ascent in first gear, boy I wish I had a few extra horse power as we make our way across a fertile landscape passing herds of sheep and their shepherds. Something you don’t see very often anymore, the shepherd, and we make sure we give them a hearty wave as we pass, which we receive in return. Although the landscape is similar to Greece where we have travelled here the countryside is very green and lush compared to a dry and barren landscape in Greece. We park up just outside Assos and make are way up the hill passing countless stalls selling tourist bits and bobs before reaching an entrance for tickets. Hmm, we don’t think we will shell out for this one either and make our way back down then a 5km trip to the beach where we park up amongst the Turks in their tiny caravans and camper vans meters from the waters edge. Always wondering whether it will work out we settle in and eventually decide to stay. The view is stunning and after a windy afternoon it settles a bit for hopefully a peaceful night.

  

We enjoy probably our most peaceful night for days and awake to a clear but windy morning but with a chill factor in the wind. We leave and make our way along the coast following a narrow winding road without much traffic. Occasionally I pull over to let the odd car pass but apart from that its easy. We arrive at Kucukkuyu looking for a supermarket as we are in need of some food stocks. Its impossible to park and the Turks all double park on the highway which is fine in a small car. After an illegal uturn we head back and park outside a closed furniture store before heading across the road to a supermarket. Well probably the saddest supermarket I have seen for a long time, probably a result of being so used to easy access to huge supermarkets everywhere. What we manage to forage results in about $20 so thats not going to last long. The rest of the day turns into a progressive search for somewhere to stay for the night. First option is a dusty carpark with numerous caravans and camper vans parked up. We stop, have some lunch and reassess after a rest. Next stop is up the hill but we don’t get far, its too tight and only really suitable for a car. After that its a progression of sad spots and we become despondent as the day ticks by with further travel along the highway. Eventually we stop on the beach next to a couple of other vans, its not great, the beach is very dirty but it will be fine for the night.

 

Europe 2024 through France and beyond

Its a cold and clear Monday morning on the 25th March 2024 and we have a P&O ferry to catch to France. Dover to Calais and it departs at 8.30am. Having caught this ferry many times we know the drill but still leave our park up for the night early and manage a stop to refill our gas as well before lining up to board. Its the slow boat to China today, seems forever on what should be a 1.5hr trip. We are accompanied on the trip by bus loads of UK teenagers who do just teenage stuff I suppose. Its very noisy. At last we are released from the bowels of the ship and make our way into Gods country, France. An hour or so down the motorway and we manage a Lidl stop for the basics like wine and a baguette for lunch so we are good to go. Mind you the eyes start to droop as we head towards our possible parkup for the night. We arrive in Douai, not your typical French name for a town but French non the less. Its actually a very big town and our park up is in the middle, so its busy which isn’t ideal. But it has free electric and we hook up for hair dryer time. That part is very successful and we take full advantage before continuing on to an old favourite from 2018/2019 at Marciong where we pull up for the night.

 

   

 For those that know, France is the home of roundabouts, if you go through one you go through a hundred. It can be mind numbing especially as the satnav is going “ at the roundabout take the first/second or third exit”. Luckily after about half an hour we are on a N road, no tolls but usually dual lane and you can scoot along pretty well. A usual coffee stop around 11am and we make our destination at Saint-Nicolas-de-Port and a rather wet potholed parking area. Considering the weather it doesn’t really matter as we are basically constrained to the inside of our mobile home. Its books out and nap time after a late lunch.

This morning after a quick Lidl stop to load up on cheap French wine we are off again towards the German border and make our way to Muggensturm where we park up for the night. By 7pm its pretty crowded with weekenders making the most of a 4 day break, shame the weather is pretty ordinary. We do discuss this and decide its probably pretty good weather if you have been stuck in doors all winter so we should stop being negative about their weather.

 

The morning brings heavy rain as we make our way towards Stuttgart and beyond, even though its Easter Friday its pretty heavy traffic with wet roads. We get held up with accidents and roadworks, its a struggle today and the kilometres click by very slowly. Vic is nodding off in the passenger seat as its so dreary, cant really blame her its a bit monotonous. A coffee break reinvigorates us and we plow on down the tarmac, what does surprise us is the lack of trucks, so it looks like they are banned on the road today like Sundays. I really don’t know how many cars there on earth but my god you pass a bloody lot during the day, not many electric, all diesel. Fuelled by the Russians. We make our way to Augsburg and park up next to the lake. The sun has come out, people are bike riding and enjoying the outdoors. There is a wake board park in use, beach volleyball as well, its all happening with the long weekend. By evening the camper parking area is full, no Aussies though just Germans. We discuss the distances we have travelled and how far we need to go before we are Schengen free. It really comes down to we need to drive further each day, and how can we do that without any danger of over tiredness. So start earlier, break up the trip more and maybe a rest midway before continuing on. Ok we will see how we go tomorrow.

It wasn’t too bad, we had a relatively easy drive today, no accidents on the motorway thankfully and our side trip around Salzburg to miss the toll roads was fine, by 1pm we are at Bad Ischl parked up in the car park with a few others. After a bite to eat I’m too knackered to bother driving any further. So its a bit of a rest then a walk around the small town which is crowded with cafes. It seems everyone is having cake, Torte to be exact, plus enormous glass jars of ice cream and cream. The sun has come out, its nice and warm which helps the outdoor cafes, I think it reached 19 deg here. A pleasant place to spend Easter Saturday, I wonder what tomorrow Easter Sunday brings with these places? 

  

Well I heard bells at 6am but thats it. Mind you it may have been 7am as daylight saving finished at midnight. We track across the back roads of Austria, at times running next to the motorway that has tolls, through small villages, past towering snow topped mountains and traverse a few hairpin bends. Generally the worst part of mountain driving is downhill. Being so heavy we naturally gain speed and to alleviate the brakes from overheating its a careful game of gears and light touches on the brake pedal. After a few hours we park up behind a large bus station, its quiet and we will see how it goes for the afternoon. We get a few boys on their trail bikes but they are gone after an hour, looks like it should be fine apart from maybe the church bells which are currently chiming at 7 pm. Tomorrow we should cross to Hungary then down towards Bulgaria and our destination Turkey.

Yes we spent a very quiet night and the church didn’t ring their bells until 7am, or if they did I didn’t hear them. We head on another trundle through the very neat fields of Austria and into Hungary.  Some of the roads in Hungary are bloody shocking as we rattle along, plus  the odd maniac screaming past defying death with oncoming traffic. We make it to Lake Balaton and park up in a carpark adjacent to a lake entrance.  In a couple of months it will be heaving here, luckily for us its quiet at the moment but today its warming up at around 25 degrees. I think tomorrow we will make Serbia and halt our Schengen count down for a few days.

 
After a night of heavy rain and wind we leave and stop at a Lidl only 5 minutes away to stock up our larder. Its a tough drive again today, the roads are shocking, more trucks than you really want to see on narrow rutted roads. We pass through many small towns, all very similar and quiet. Nothing much to see here, its just a road to our destination. Surprisingly we are turned away at our first border crossing point into Serbia and redirected across country, about 25km to a larger point. Here we pass through in 5 minutes only to see the number of trucks lined up on the opposite crossing. We lost count but must have been over 300 trucks stationary, all waiting for the border crossing from Serbia into Hungary. Its been another long day on the road and after another half an hour we stop by a lake near Backa Topola for the night. Its an early start this morning as the road noise drives us from the warmth of our bed and we are greeted with a blue sky. The day turns into one of those that doesn’t want to be easy. We come across roadworks where we have to reverse out, one way streets that our satnav tries to takes us on and no internet. Looks like Serbia isn’t on our Popit plan nor my backup Euro E-sim so we bumble our way to Belgrade and manage a clean out and water topup before finding a McDonalds for free wifi and then hooking up a Serbia e-sim. All sorted now and we park up outside Belgrade on top of a hill with a monument to the unknown soldier. Cant wait to reach Turkey, the driving is very tiring, maybe another 4 days?

Well we did think it might be a busy night, and true to form the Serbs are out and about until 4am. Cars continuously parkup near us during the night, its a heavy gravel ground so the noise is also heavy. We don’t have any issues with boys doing burnouts or skidding through the gravel which is good, just the constant arrival and departure of vehicles through the night.

 

The morning brings a respite and we head off down the hill towards Bulgaria. So normally we shy away from toll roads unless it’s Italy, but our destination is showing over 6 hours and it’s about 300km, my first thought is the GPS is wrong but as we approach a toll station we exit and reconsider our route. After a quick google search we decide to get back on the toll road which shows about 2 and half hours instead of 6 plus. It’s a dream drive, not much traffic and by the time we make our destination it cost about $28 so quite happy with that. Unfortunately our first stop isn’t what we planned, it’s too busy and reminds us of last night, but we are a bit tired so it will do for a few hours while we rest and reconsider. There is a monastery not far that allows overnight stops so we head there and park up after a slightly difficult conversation with a guy but it ended with a handshake and a direction to where we can stop. Hopefully a quiet night to be had.

We enjoy a quiet night, and a cold morning in the shade of the mountains before a short drive to the border crossing into Bulgaria. While we are waiting we chat to a Frenchman who appears with backpack and walking sticks. He is on a walk to Jerusalem, 9000km round trip that should take 9 months. Its the ancient Templer route from 1096 where the French went from Dijon in France to conquer Jerusalem. Once through our border crossing we head south and park up near Plovdiv but in the hills adjacent a restaurant and bumbling creek. Tomorrow Turkey…

 

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Europe March 2024

Our Etihad flight from Bangkok lands in Amsterdam on Sunday the 17th of March at 7.30 pm, it looked beautiful as we came in at 30000ft, bright blue skies and sunshine but as we land its grey and overcast, some drizzle but not too cold for us even though we have been living in warm Asian weather for 3 months.

Our flight from Bangkok stops at Abu Dhabi for an hour where we change planes. Pretty weird spot as we fly over ….

 

Its a breeze through customs and we collect our bags before heading outside to the bus stop for our hotel transfer. Next morning we head to the van storage and Peter who stores our van has it all ready as we arrive around 9am to start our new journey. Looks like the mice have had a nice time while we where away, been munching all the stored toilet paper and some dried foods as well. First time we have had them inside but its pretty common. After a clean up its off to Lidl supermarket and big stock up. Our park up tonight is not far away and located behind a small garden nursery on a canal. Well its Holland so bound to be a few canals around. Its a purpose made motorhome stop and allows us to spend the day getting everything prepared for our next journey. The sun has even come out and its about 18 deg so we couldn’t have asked for more. 

 
This year we have decided to cross to the UK from the Hook of Holland rather than Calais. Its a longer crossing at 6 hours compared to 1.5 hours but we save on the long drive to Calais. We berth at Harwich in England and from there its basically cross country to Stratford and our motor mechanic.
Well the 6 hours becomes long and tedious, we board an hour before sailing which is 2.15pm and the time drags on, bit like sitting on a plane just waiting to reach your destination. Our park up once we land is nearby on the waters edge, the road is pretty quiet and we enjoy a peaceful night. Oh, apart from a little mouse we hear nibbling at something on the middle of the night, need a mouse trap.

The morning brings some English drizzle with a grey and wintery view across the large harbour. No walk this morning so we head off towards Cambridge. After about an hour we stop at a large Go Outdoors shop near Ipswich and spend some time looking for decent walking shoes. Undecided we leave with a few camping bits but no shoes. Back on the A14 and we continue across the UK midlands before exiting to a small village called Pytchley and stopping at a pub called The Overstone Arms. Provided you spend some money in the pub they are happy for you to park up for the night in their carpark, it works well for everyone. We don’t eat but just have a couple of beers and a chat with the girls behind the bar. We spend a quiet night with just the local church bells ringing on the hour.

  

We awake to a cold morning but no rain and make our way to the M6 and head towards Coventry where a Decathlon sports store is located. Again its a fruitless search for some good walking shoes, we will have to expand our search. Its only about an hour to Stratford and we head to a canal side stop we have used before. I’m guessing the camp spots will be closed off as they are all grass and will be too soft but hopefully we can use the dump and get some water. It all works to plan and we are thankful for the use of the  facilities, there isn’t a soul around so no chance to thank anyone. A little later we pull into Ellenden Farm Shop to park up for the night. It works the same here, just spend some money in the shop and you can park for the night. Some nice organic sausages, free range eggs and we are set. We spend a quiet night on the farm.

  

This morning, Friday, we have the van booked for its roadworthy, or as it called in the UK an MOT. A simple process becomes a long drawn out saga. Our MOT fails due to a faulty headlight, something we knew and mentioned when we dropped it off. Turns out its fault lies within the power circuit that controls the lights. Not just a bulb replacement unfortunately, 3 hours later we have a solution and pass our MOT so we can head off. Didn’t look too good at one stage, and being Friday we thought we would be back Monday and a rebook of the ferry to France that is booked for Monday. Its a 40 minute drive to the Cotswolds and we arrive at Stow-on-the-Wold and park up in the carpark next to another couple of vans. Looks like our water pump has died, either that or a fuse has failed, but no water in any taps. Its too late to do anything now so a job for the morning, apart from that we have a peaceful night. This photo at Stow-on-the-Wold is just incredible for its clarity, including the stars.

 

Of course the subconscious thoughts prevail during the night with plans for the pump. Is is the fuse? Maybe a micro switch? Is it blocked? Or is the pump cactus and we need a new one? Where can we get one? In the morning the first job at is check all the fuses and not knowing which one is for the pump as there are no labels and the manual is all German. They all check out fine so its not a fuse. I try a trick of tapping the submerged pump with a screwdriver in case its jammed but no luck there either. Looks like a new pump is needed. We had planned on visiting an Ikea in Reading and I find a motorhome retailer with attached shop in Reading as well so off we go through the Cotswolds with a plan. A couple of hours later we have water, replaced the pump and its working fine. Off to Ikea and some new bedding and bits. Tonight we park up on an access road next to Tesco Super Market on a designated parking spot, not too flash but hopefully a quiet one.

 

Yes its a quiet night, we awake to rows of Tesco home delivery vans preparing their daily deliveries, sign of the times really. We have an appointment today at 10 am, catching up with our old mate Jude’s brother Barry and his lovely French wife Marie. We use Barries address for our registration of the van plus its handy to have any small bits delivered there so we can pick them up. We spend a great couple of hours chatting but must get on as we have a drive to Canterbury and a couple of stops on the way. Tomorrow we catch the ferry back to Europe, Dover to Calais. 

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2024 Angkor Wat

Its Sunday the 10/3/24 and we rise early at 3.30am for our trip to Angkor Wat, the 8th wonder of the world.  At 4.20am we board our tour bus and are joined by 5 others plus Sarak our guide for the day. Its a short drive to the entrance where numerous buses, tuktuks and private cars are also arriving. From here we cross the bridge to the entrance and await the sunrise moment we all came at this hour for. If it was the summer solstice then the sun would rise directly over the central temple as it was designed to do.

  

Unfortunately this morning the sunrise is hiding behind thick cloud cover, bonus to that is the temperature remains reasonably comfortable for the trek around the massive area of temples. Built originally as a Hindu temple in the 12C it was transformed into a Buddhist temple within 100 years.  It is so huge that its the largest religious structure in the world, quite amazing. Angkor Wat took 28 years to build, which I think is extraordinary and to add to that the amount of stone used exceeds the total used in all the Egyptian pyramids combined. One last fact, the stone is laid bare and then carved in situ, mind boggling really, just how many craftsmen where there on site? There has been quite a bit of restoration done and still being done currently. Unfortunately the grave robbers have stripped the place bare so its basically bare bones but would have been decorated in gold and copper originally. What they couldn’t take was the miles of elaborate carving running linearly around the perimeter that describes numerous battles and ancient spiritual tales.

  
      

Our guide Sarak is quite good and gives us a basic outline of history plus manages to steer us away from most of the crowds. From here we head for a breakfast break and then onto Ta Prohm temple which is only about 1km away. More famously known as the “ Tomb Raider Temple”, it blows us away with its overgrown and rumbled appearance. 

   

The main attraction here apart from the architecture are the trees that have overgrown the structures. They have been purposely left to avoid the inevitable demolition that would happen if they did remove them. This is what they would call a “flat temple” rather than the pyramid style temple. There is some restoration being done, mainly on collapsed areas and the results are impressive when you see the before photos that are displayed.
 
  

Next is the Bayon Temple, a Buddhist temple famous for its four sided Buddha towers. By now we are little temple full and probably don’t appreciate it as much. The huge Buddha faces are fascinating and the linear carvings around the perimeter show stages of normal life back in the 12C. By now its pretty warm and we are quite happy to shelter back in the bus with the aircon on. Our tour is over and we head back to the hotel for a relax around the pool for the rest of the day. Have to admit a nanna nap is also on the cards.

    

Originally we had booked 4 days here in Siem Reap but decide now to stay another 2 days rather than drag our heavy luggage to another part of Cambodia. We do move hotels but its a short 5 minute tuktuk ride. Apart from the temples there is not a lot to do here apart from relax, have a massage or two, enjoy the food and cold beer and count down the days until we head to Europe.

  

Have to say the food is a highlight, probably our favourite in Asia apart from Yum Cha. Its very cheap and plentiful and there are numerous restaurants to choose from, although if you find one you like you do tend to go there most days.

   

Thursday comes around quick and we have the long 6 hour bus trip back to Phnom Penh.  I chose a different bus company this time and they do the trip quicker without too many stops and we arrive back around 2.30pm. Same hotel as before, we where quite happy with it and the price is good. We return to the central market and find the food section pumping.

   

Our flight to Bangkok is early Saturday morning via Cambodia Air. Its only an hour flight and we breeze through customs, collect our bags and head to our hotel. Seems all to easy so we decide to head out and search for a couple of items we need. A 6km trip turns into an hour plus stuck in horrendous traffic, we never find the items and head back to the hotel, luckily it only takes 30 minutes on the return trip. Tomorrow we head to Amsterdam…..

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2024 Bali and onwards

Wow, its 2024 how did that happen? Of course the answer is life moves so fast that before you know it its nearly passed you by. Never put off travelling until tomorrow, do what you can do today, remember money is replaceable but time isn’t. The memories of places you see, people you meet, history you discover and time you spend just in awe of the world and each day is irreplaceable. 

Our journey this year begins soon and we are heading to Bali, then onto Cambodia for a bit before flying from Bangkok to Amsterdam and picking up our motorhome. Currently expect to be in Amsterdam mid March, with a quick trip across to the UK for a yearly road check (MOT) then back to Europe and then a long trek down to Turkey where we will spend a couple of months or so exploring the country there. 
 

So our journey has began this year in Sanur, Bali, with 8 weeks of sun and beach, eating out every night and long early morning walks. We always felt it was a bit of a test to see how we would go with 8 weeks in one spot, but time drifted by quite quickly and before you know it we are back on the plane to Cambodia via Singapore. Never having been to Cambodia it was a good detour before we fly to Europe.

   

First impressions of Phnom Penh, its very hot by noon, no one seems to walk anywhere, tuk tuks are everywhere and cheap. We use the App Grab which is like Uber but very cheap and super efficient.

Its Tuesday the 5th of March and we take a ride to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda where for $10 US dollars each we gain entry to view all the gilded roofs and towering spires. The Palace is the official residence of the reigning king but Im not too sure if he stays there, maybe he is mates with the King of Thailand and hangs out in the South of France? Its all very impressive but I think the Silver Pagoda area is the highlight with its long verandah’s showcasing ancient murals and huge “Stupa’s” that house the ashes of past royals.

    

After the palace we attempt a walk along the river promenade, we seem to be the only crazy people walking here so its a quick dash across the main road dodging the traffic and head into the maize of local streets. Man its hot, we are walking from shade to shade and literally dripping in sweat before we succumb and order up a ride back to our hotel and the cool water of the roof top swimming pool for a couple of hours. We enjoy a nice meal at the popular Davids Homemade Noodles and a chat with 2 Dutch girls travelling as they all do.

  

Its Wednesday morning and we are picked up at 7.15am in a tuktuk for our pre-booked bike tour to the countryside. The tour starts with a crash as Vic has to dodge a running child and skids on the wet pavement landing heavily on her side and arm. Nothing broken but she is sore and tender with bruises and lumps. A bit of a rest and she soldiers on as we make our way to the ferry across to Mekong island and then ride on with a stop at a huge Buddhist temple.

  

Further on we stop at a local market, sample a sugar cane juice and watch the locals buy their daily food.

  

 

Next stop is at a primary school that shares the land with the Buddhist temple. We manage to attract a few little ones that are cute and cheeky.

 

From here we head further along the road to a tofu skin factory. This is not your standard factory, it’s a hot hell house under a tin roof with boiling vats of soya where they skim the skin to dry. These guys are working in such a hot space they regularly head to a vat of water to drench their bodies. The end result is an expensive product. 

  

We make our way across to another ferry to silk island. Its warming up as we stop at a silk weaving house and have a bite to eat of local snacks. Our last trek is over rough dirt back roads and its stinking hot, by the time we make it to the ferry after 30km we are cooked. After a few hours cool down, couple of cold beverages and we grab another lovely noodle dish at Davids Noodle House before crashing exhausted. Next morning we head out again on a tuktuk to the Central Market which turns out to be a massive labyrinth of alleys off the central building. If you cant find what you want here its not available. There is also a lovely flower market along one side with amazing orchids. 

  

After a quick cool down back at the hotel we find a small restaurant serving dumplings and soup and its a nice find. The afternoon is spent in a cool swimming pool before dinner at a small Thai restaurant that proves to be another winner, well done Vic!

Today we are off to Siem Reap and a 6 hour bus trip awaits us as we head to the terminal at 7.30am. Its a big bus which we wanted, don’t really trust those guys in the mini buses, might be quicker but they travel too fast, best to go slow and safe. Ok its boring and sore backs and bums are normal but we get there after a long trip, its a short tuktuk trip to the hotel and a swim in the pool. Its another great meal out, really enjoying the Cambodian fare.

Siem Reap is all about Angkor Wat but we decide to wait until Sunday before going. Its just as well as its raining early Saturday morning and may been a disappointment for the early sunrise visit. We take a walk into Siem Reap centre and enjoy a stroll around the market, a visit to the Artisans centre where they are carving stone and wood and have a cheap massage and even cheaper lunch. The afternoon 8s spent relaxing by the pool before we return to the centre for dinner. Its pumping now, the riverside is packed with food trucks and people eating out. The restaurant choice is huge with most being open air style. Beer and cocktails are very cheap with a draught beer being 75c. We enjoy a really nice meal with 3 beers and its $8, cant go wrong there. Plus they have banana pancakes like Thailand, Vics favourite.

  

  

 

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Europe 2023 Final days

Time has passed so quickly, its hard to believe our 3 months in Europe is nearly up. But with a strict 90 day visa now we have no choice apart from head to the UK. But not this year as we need to head home. So we continue on a course for Amsterdam after leaving Mesniers-en-Brae and stop at a farm about half way to the Belgium border. Nice of them to let us park up in a secluded courtyard made for motorhomes, its very quiet with only one other van opposite. What is quite common in France on farms or near them are vending machines for their produce. Here we have potatoes, various flours, fresh eggs, rhubarb wine and a few packaged meal options. We don’t need much but a dozen eggs comes in handy and they turn out very fresh and farm yellow.

 

We really appreciate these places offering their homes for us to park up without any obligation. After a very quiet night we continue our trek north, although not very far today as we spy a car wash with ladder access. We need the ladder access to clean the roof before storing it and its not easy but the pressure spray helps. After a number of reverse entries we manage to get most of it clean and make our way to a camper stop in Bully-les-Mines where we park up for the night. This is another great spot provided by the local French community, even has free power hook up if you need it. Another quiet night passes by and we head to the local Lidl shop before heading north past Lille, over the Belgium border, past Brussels and eventually pull up in large car park of a sports arena. Its big and open without much traffic so seems to be ok to park up for the rest of the day. Not much to do but clean and pack, and clean again. By evening we are happy to stay the night and even manage a BBQ as no one is really around. We have a neighbour now, seems to be a single lady in an old motorhome, we just get a wave. The weather is pretty ordinary for this time of year, we get a fair bit of rain overnight and its cold so shorts and t-shirts don’t do it anymore.

 By Sunday the 2nd of July we have made it to Amsterdam and stopped where we started if that makes sense, gives us the chance to  wash out the tanks and complete our clean up and packing. In the morning we drive about 20 minutes to our storage place and take an uber to the airport. Today we fly to Istanbul, country 52 on my list and 49 on Vics.

First time we have flown Turkish airlines and found them very efficient with nice staff. We land at Istanbul airport which is around 50 minutes by a kamikaze taxi driver to our hotel in the old city. Once we check in its late afternoon and we endeavour to find a supermarket or 7-11. True to form we traipse all over the place only to find a small convenient store 20 meters from the hotel. A couple of refreshing drinks and its time to find some dinner, its been a while since we ate out. Not a great success Im afraid, we had some Pide and a kebab, both rather ordinary. Its only early so we make our way to the Hippodrome of Constantinople and the Blue Mosque which are only 10 minutes down the road. The Hippodrome was Roman of course, just like Circus Maximus in Rome and the obelisk is Egyptian, maybe 3500 years old, not sure exactly and the curly Serpentine column is just a measly 2500 years I think. Anyway quite mind boggling and its just a joy to sit and people watch while enjoying the spectacle. The blue mosque is a stunning piece of architecture together with a holy place for the people to pray. We are very lucky that they allow us in and to be able to stand or sit and admire the beauty of such a magnificent structure. Its been a great start to our visit and so far very happy with Istanbul.

   

This morning we head out to visit more of Istanbul’s treasures. Our path takes us past the Hippodrome again, just worth another look, amazing. Further on we visit Hagia Sophia Mosque, another stunning piece of local architecture. We are lucky here, no queues so we cruise through security and enter. Here we can go right into the mosque area although we have to remove our shoes and Vic has to cover her hair. Its a beautiful area, large and open for the prayers and the light streams in from the roof and large windows. Its getting crowded so thats our queue to leave, outside the lines are long so another bit of luck for us. From here we head to the Basilica Cistern, or I should say we attempt to, eventually finding our way back to the entrance like a couple of blind bats. Now we have seen some amazing sights in our travels, and I started to list them but how can you? But I will say this is up in the top 10 maybe top 5 places we have ever seen. When you walk in and the first thing you say is WOW then you know its going to be worth it. In fact I would travel to Turkey just to see this, just incredible. Those Romans, not only built the most amazing concrete structures 2000 plus years ago, but navigated the issues of water with superb engineering and building. Here are some photos but really if you can its a must visit.

  

    

Im not sure how we are going to top that on this trip, just a great moment in our journey. The last photo is interesting, maybe you will find the answer, try google? We head across the old town, through the gold merchants and onto the Grand Bazaar. Touristy it is but take that away and its a great walk through. We admire the ceilings and ornate arches as we negotiate the continuous calls from the shopfronts to visit their shop. 
   

 Its a steep walk from here down to the spice markets, past shops selling all manner of things, whatever you want I suppose. The spice market is again a bit of a tourist trap but well worth the visit. As an Australian Turkish Delight was a small packet of a chocolate covered jelly, thats the best I can describe it. Well here is the real thing and it comes in all sorts of shapes but mostly a rolled version, we had a taste and it was very nice, not tempted to buy any as it would be scoffed down in minutes as we have no self control whatsoever.

   

Next Morning, Thursday we are booked to fly out to Thailand before heading home. We have a couple of hours and they are well spent back at the Grand Bazaar where we secure some nice Turkish towels, about the only thing we can fit in our bags. The only downside is our return trip to the airport by taxi. The driver was a maniac and I eventually told him to slow down which luckily he did but it had been a harrowing experience to that point. Best tip if you come, don’t get a taxi.

To be continued sometime in the near future. 

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Europe 2023 France part 8

Its Saturday the 17th of June and after a long walk from our Chateau park up we venture to the coast and just south of La Rochelle where we stop at Angoulins. Its been a while since we unleashed the bikes, but its ideal here and a path follows the coast into La Rochelle and beyond. Its maybe 15km along the tow path, pretty flat so we handle it ok, no electric bikes here (yet). La Rochelle is busy, its a beautiful old village on a harbour, with huge marina and plenty of old parts, there are restaurants and cafes on every street plus a mass of people. We stayed here many years ago in a hotel so it is nice to revisit but cant say I remember it this busy. Once back we move to a stop around the corner which is at the oyster wholesaler, earlier he wasn’t open but as we pull-in we see people buying oysters. Ok Im out of the van in a flash and manage to grab a dozen before he closes. They are fresh and the lady shucks them while I wait, they generously give me 14 all for the princely sum of €5 about $8 Aus. 
They where superb and I was just so disappointed he wasn’t open next morning as I would have grabbed 2 dozen more!

  

Next morning we take a long walk along the coast past a huge gypsy camp and back to oyster land. We have seen quite a number of gypsy camps this trip, some must be in the hundreds of caravans parked up in a field. We always wonder where their waste goes? 
 
 

So no oysters! Ok we head north along the coast, not that far to La Richardiere where we park up in the car park next to maybe 4-5 vans. The weather is a bit ordinary so we settle in to see how it pans out later. We are just near the pathway that comes from La Rochelle so after it clears we take a walk along the coast. Its a rocky coastline with cliffs and the occasional inlet to a rocky beach landing. We pass a few bike riders, the odd walker with their dog but not much else. We enjoy a quiet night here with a magical sunset. 

  

Next morning its raining with very low cloud so after a slow start we make our way along the Breton coast. We find a park up on the coast road with a view of the rocky bay. The weather clears so we get a nice walk along the coastal path later in the day. No sunset tonight as its setting around the corner and we don’t have a view. The road is quiet after 10pm and we have a quiet night with a couple of neighbours. The morning is clear so we walk the opposite way along the coast with a side track through the forest and a narrow track along the cliffs edge to the next village before returning.

 

The coast is becoming a bit busy in this area so we head inland a bit. In our quest to find a nice quiet spot to stay overnight we end up in the middle of nowhere basically. Our satnav proceeds to take us down a very narrow road with canals either side and paddocks beyond, luckily we don’t meet any massive tractors coming the other way. We do pass a couple walking their dog and i slow to say thanks as they move off the road, well track really. Its not till we reach the end of the track which has a barrier that we realise we shouldn’t be on this road. Luckily the barrier is liftable so we can pass through, otherwise long return trip in reverse. We park up just next to this in a small parking spot at L’ile Chauvet and once the dog walkers we passed arrive I head over and apologise, but they are fine, probably happens all the time. We enjoy a peaceful night along with the frogs, birds and otters. Next morning we retrace our drive with a walk,  its a peaceful area, we are walking along between 2 small canals and we spy a couple of otters making their way to the numerable nests on the banks. Couple of carp I think make a loud splash as they grab breakfast, and the cows stare at us as we past. Sometimes you just have to pinch yourself, how the hell did we end up here? The beauty of slow travel with no agenda.

 

Today we make our way further north, crossing the Loire river over a magnificent bridge not far from its mouth at the ocean. We head into a quite marshy area, with plenty of canals and small waterways and arrive at Breca. Our first sights are lovely thatched houses, very English looking and quaint. It also has its horse drawn and small boat tours for the tourists, but pretty low key and the horses are such strong looking animals. Its a lovely spot, easy to park and stay plus many walks through the forests and along the quiet roads. 

  

 

We continue north basically parallel to the coast but inland and make our way to Manor de Kernault and park in the car park under the oak trees. Some lunch and siesta and we head off for a walk through the forest grounds and the huge oak trees. We pass quite a number of people at this time of day and its always a “bonjour” as you pass which always makes us smile. Its a lovely spot, the manor is closed with surrounding scaffold but the gardens and forest are well worth the visit, we enjoy a very quiet night here.

    
This morning we decide its best not to continue the coastal route, we only have so many days left before we need to leave and be in Amsterdam by the 2nd of July. So we turn a bit north east I suppose and make our way to a stop at Josselin, where we camp by the canal with about 30 other vans. Not really our thing but its fine, the town is lovely, the Chateau is stunning, just dominates the landscape and up close its just huge, the roman style towers are massive and we stand below just trying to contemplate the size of the interior. Next morning we tackle the canal path and its a serene walk past the massive oak trees they would have planted more than 100 years ago. The canal is quiet, not many birds or boats but the occasional bike rider, we walk for miles, sometimes without a word its just so peaceful just the sound of our steps as we go along the paths of France.

   
     

From Josselin we make our way north travelling about 3 hours to a lovely quiet town Melle that has a dedicated stop for us. We manage to grab a bit of shade as its pretty warm today and settle in. Driving that far is enough for us, cant really tackle the long drives anymore, its just best to do it in short steps. We enjoy a quiet night, or was until the bloody donkey started at 4.30am, must have been hungry I suppose.

  

Our travels today take us through Brittany and into Normandy to a stop at a favourite spot in Gonneville-sur-Mer, which lies on the route the allies took after D-Day. Its a beautiful area here, roaming hills, forests, small villages and only 5km from the ocean. We manage to score some shade and make ourselves at home. Its so quiet here, the small village doesn’t even have a bar, just perfect for a chilled stopover. We are in cleaning/packing mode now so there is quite a bit of activity as we endeavour to get the van ready for storage.

   
After a long morning walk around Gonneville-sur-Mer we attempt a visit to Honfleur. This is an Instagram favourite but not really a motorhome favourite unless your prepared to pay for a bit of grass to stop on and thats not us. After a couple of attempts to park in back streets we gave up and went to the supermarket and hardware store instead. Our journey from here takes us through the old town and past the harbour so we get a glimpse of the area, looks lovely, very busy with people and outdoor cafes. Maybe next time we are passing we will have more luck. From here we head north to Ecretteville-les-Baons and park up in a camper spot just outside the village. Nearby is an old chateau, closed at the moment, and a nice looking church with slightly different architectural aspects to it, all interesting to look at. Pretty quiet spot, no donkeys here, couple of trucks early on but thats it. 
 
   

Further north we head and arrive at Mesnieres-en-Bray to stop for the night. Pretty busy here in this little motorhome stop, its on the  path of UK motorhomers heading home after Spain but we manage a spot ok, although by evening we are bookended by new arrivals. The bonus here is the magnificent chateau nearby and the bike/walk road that passes by.

  

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Europe France Part 7

Its Wednesday the 7th of June and we leave our lovely spot and drive to Albi where we park up in a free motorhome stop about 20 minutes from the town. Its a big area and there are quite a number of vans parked up but it serves the purpose and they have all the services of water and emptying as well. We certainly appreciate that they make motor homers welcome, its not always the case and we wonder why as they all spend money in the main village. Our hats off to the city of Albi. Its a nice walk into the centre, across a lovely bridge with views of the old bridge as you cross…

   

Theres a lot of history in France and Albi has its fair share with a lovely old port side where the ships would have unloaded or loaded their stock and the streets windup towards the main fortification and church. The old fort has been added to and demolished in parts over the years by the governing lot at the time, but remains impressive with a nice garden in the courtyard..

   

Albi lays claim to the largest brick built church in the world, and as an old builder I cant help to be impressed by the the size and actual quantity of bricks on view. Stunning and impressive, until you walk inside and view the one of the most incredible churches we have ever seen for artwork on the ceilings and walls, there does not seem to be one spare area left…

  

 

Its a magic spot Albi, especially the river and church, well worth a visit if your in the area. We spend a quiet night and head off next morning to Najac, another stunning French village. We park up just outside the village and walk in, its quiet and very nice. A walk up the main street has camera’s clicking, its that sort of place and being very quiet, hardly a tourist in site. There is a castle on the hill that dominates the area, we don’t head inside, too tight and seen plenty inside. The main square is very attractive, and the baker has so far received the highest rating from Vic for their quiche.

      

Great spot Najac but nowhere for us to really stay so we head off to small village called Monteils where we park up in a small camping car park next to a bubbling brook and parkland. Nice and quiet here and we head off for a walk around the area, not much happening here apart from a senior’s gathering, some high school sports and a few campers setting up their tents. We enjoy a quiet evening, just another couple of vans here. Next morning after a walk up through the hills and paddocks we set off to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, another stunning French village. I feel I need to explain that when you visit these villages it always become apparent that they are all different in some way or with some particular highlight and to me that is what makes France so unique. We park below the village, its a hill top town so we make our way up through the forest and past some exquisite gates and homes. The rain is starting but we continue and climb the stone road towards the peak, the road winds up and around past stone houses on a slippery stone path. Its busier here than previous towns over the last few days, plenty of walkers with their backpacks and walking sticks. Pottery is popular and we purchase some salad bowls for the van as they have been on the list for a while. Definitely put this one on your list..

      

We don’t stay as its not that convenient for overnight stops and make our way to Cabrerets where we park up in a small carpark near the village. A massive chateau is at the entrance and perches above on a the rocks, unfortunately its private so we don’t get a look apart from gazing up. We spend a quiet night and enjoy a long walk through the forest in the morning before heading off to visit another French starred village in Rocamadour.

  

We manage to park in a free car park just outside the village and make our way towards the centre. From where we parked its a bit odd as we walk towards a group of restaurants, roundabout and some old Roman ruins, but as we emerge along the escarpment we spy the village below as it flows down the mountain. Its a fair walk down at a steep incline, we make our way down and encounter the village church that has been built into the side of the mountain. Its quite stunning even before you enter the chapel area, organ music is coming from inside and after a couple of attempts we manage to enter. This is church music but not if you can understand? The sound is stunning, the acoustics just perfect and to me the sound is uplifting and makes you smile. Further down the steps the village emerges, its busy with a lot of people, mostly tourists like us, plenty from the old USA, its a bit too touristy as we walk along so we continue the steep climb back up to the parking area. Having said that, the church is well worth the visit, the construction inside is bare bones so you can imagine the whole construction as you gaze at the individual blocks used to build it. Simply superb to an old builder, I did spend quite a long time gazing at the arches and columns and imagining the construction process. With that and the music its been a good day.

      

We leave Rocamadour and make our way to Carennac, another stunning village. We find a quiet park up under the trees not far from the village centre. After a bite to eat we manage a walk around the village centre…

     

We enjoy a peaceful night, take another walk around the village and along the river, its a lovely spot here. We leave and make our way to Grolejac and a free camper spot under the trees. Not much here but walks, and we partake on long walks through the forest over the river and beyond, we do enjoy the quiet solitude with only the occasional bike rider passing, its a lovely spot. After another long walk in the morning we make our way to Domme, another stunning French village. We park up next to the soccer grounds and make our way up to Domme central, its a steep climb but well worth it. Just for interest Domme was a central point the English and French fought over for a hundred years, and when you reach the pinnacle with the views you can see why. Its a bit touristy here, but the  view at the top is what its all about, just amazing for miles, bring binoculars.

  P   

The walk back down is a lot easier, we don’t pass too many walkers. We drive off and head further around the Dordogne area, before stopping at a spot behind some Gites and a small store selling local goods. As long as you spend some money in the store you can stay here for free, easy. The owner is lovely guy and its not to busy so we are basically on our own. We have a bit of a walk around but the road is busy so we need to do some research before we head off in the morning. Which we do, along a busy road for a kilometre or so before we manage to find a small track through the fields, along the river up across the road through a small back road and down to the amazing village of La Roque-Gageac set on the Dordogne river, its stunning and best early in the morning before the crowds.

     

Europe Spain and France part 6

Its Tuesday the 30th of May and we are heading north towards Andorra. Again its a wide open plain with fields of wheat and grass and not much traffic, we stop around 1pm up above the village of in a parking spot with views across the valleys. Above is a small church and once you reach that there are small iron steps and railings set into the rock face. A walk to the top rewards with sweeping views, not for the faint hearted though and once the wind picks up its a bit dodgy.

  

 

We seem to have a clever artist in the vicinity and soon discover just above our stop 2 goats done in stone and iron, next day on our walk through the fields we spy cows done the same, and as we leave and drive out we spy 2 small snails also, here are the pics..

    

We are now heading towards the Pyrenees mountains and start to climb to a higher altitude.

Our last overnight stop in Spain is at Organya, another free purpose made stop for motorhomes, we have about 3-4 neighbours, they come and go. By morning the weather has come in and the clouds are low on the mountains as we head up into Andorra.

Andorra is a tax free country, small but popular it seems as I only seem to recall maybe 40 odd years ago winding my way up from the other side in an old Combi that it was just a couple of duty free streets and thats it? Now its a small high rise imitation of Hong Kong, Ok maybe not that dramatic but certainly its a large city as we drive through. We did think of stopping but once we saw the huge population we drove straight through and back down the other side. Shame I filled up with fuel a couple of days ago its so much cheaper here, I do cringe as we drive past the numerous petrol stations flaunting their cheap prices.

 

Its a winding road down the other side, not too heavy on the brakes as they start to smell after a while. We end up stopping at a ski village above Ax-Bonascle which entails another winding hairpin road up the mountain, of course once you get there thats forgotten. Its very quiet as you would expect, no snow and summer trekking season has yet to start. Bloody perfect of course!  No one here and we walk the hills and tracks enjoying the amazing scenery.

    

This walk was so amazing we did it again in the morning, at times you feel like you are just on top of the world even though your not. Hard to explain but walking through these forests on your own is just incredible and we are so lucky to be able to experience this.

    
 
We leave and make our way back down the winding road and head north following the river and the exquisite French countryside.
Here is the drive..

We make our way to a small camper stop on the river at Esperaza, where we find a few campers parked along the rivers edge. A walk along the river doesn’t really do it plus the village is a bit tired. Anyway we settle and enjoy a quiet night. In the morning I mention a walk, trek really, that takes us around the village. Turns out we are climbing the hill through a small track, then through the fields and vineyards getting lost at least twice before reconnecting with the track and emerging at the top. By the time we finish we loved it, we had such amazing views as we climbed the hills and the walk back down was sweet.

   

 After a bit of a clean up and empty its time to move and we make our way to a spot at Lake D’Escueillens where we park up under a tree. There are a few fisherman camped up hoping to catch a carp I suppose. Never really understand their style of fishing seems very static. They have all their rods out and sit waiting for a strike, seems they sit for hours staring at the water? We do enjoy a quiet  night and the walks along basically traffic free roads are great with wide open farmland, the odd farmhouse and not much more.
   

After a morning walk we head off  and make our way through the forests and hills before we arrive at Fanjeaux, although it took a few tries to find the motorhome stop.  Amazing view on the way…

Once we succeeded we find a small lovely stop under the trees with another 3-4 vans, a bit of lunch and a relax before we check out the village. It really surprises us, from the small square at the front the village ascends the hill and we pass many abstract pieces of iron art, the old market square and end up at an old church that has the best  views. Fanjeaux has a great feel, its arty but without hordes of tourists, well at this time of the year anyway, well recommended to visit. On our way back we enjoy a beer at the corner bar and watch the traffic wiz by below, seems that road which we didn’t take is popular. We enjoy a quiet night and leave early after a quick clean up.

   

Our destination is the old walled town of Carcassonne, a place I visited about 40 years ago and for some reason we have not returned to this area so we make an early start and reach a parking area about 5 minutes walk from the gates. The hoards have yet to arrive although its already pretty busy. Its a place you need to visit if you can, we are lucky to be near so grab the opportunity to walk the lanes and be amazed by the structure of the walls and towers. Here are some of the pictures but dont really do it justice, we do enjoy our walk around.

   

From Carcassonne we head down and across the plains before we ascend again up to our destination at Lac Des Montagnes, a lake but really a dam. Beautiful spot among the huge trees and forest, after some lunch and a rest we venture out and walk the lake, passing many walkers and fishermen. Its a bonjour from most as you expect in France, the walk is stunning through the old forest and circumnavigating the lake. We enjoy a quiet night and again walk the lake both ways in the morning, this time we only see a couple of fishermen setting up for the day.
 

Once we leave we travel a long way down and are surprised by how high this lake was, it seems we are winding our way through numerous hairpin turns before we reach a flat road and make our way to another star French village called Lautrec. Here are some photos of Lautrec..

    

We leave Lautrec and are rolling through small roads past huge farm fields then forest, the odd one horse town and occasionally a car passes. We have some destinations in mind, the first couple don’t pass, the next couple don’t either, its one of those days, luckily its only a few kilometres between each choice. Eventually we park up at a Voie Verte parking spot, its perfect and under a tree. So a Voie Verte is French for a walking/biking trail in the countryside, and the parking spot is for you to stop and take the dog for a walk. Its a big parking area so we are fine and once parked up we head out along the track, passing through fields of wheat, garlic as well which is well known for this area and patches of forest. I don’t remember passing anyone on the way. We spend a quiet night alone. The morning brings another walk in the opposite direction, this time we do pass some bike riders, dog walkers and runners, not many though. Its a lovely walk this way and becomes more forest rather than fields bordered by thorny shrubs.

  

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