Grand Escapades
Travel Photography & Travel Experiences of Africa, South America, the Middle-East & Asia
Crossing the Border from Mozambique to Malawi on Motorbike-Taxis
Leaving Mozambique and entering Malawi was quick and painless. Luckily, on the Malawian side, young men on motorbikes waited to take people across the 4 kilometer stretch between the two countries. We had not expected the borders to be so far apart and without them we would have had to walk the hilly road with our backpacks. Continue Reading →
Lappet-Faced Vulture or Nubian Vulture (Torgos Tracheliotos), Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, Africa
Being the only border crossing with South Africa it can hardly be avoided, though rumors have it that some tourists even drive a long detour through Botswana and enter Zimbabwe via Plumbtree, just to do so. No, we did not pay any of the “runners” who get your documents ahead in the long queue at customs, all under the watchful eyes of a so called security person. Besides, by the times we had figured out the scam, we were too angry for deals. Even without paying the touts we had to flash money left and right, all kinds of taxes, visa and insurance… Continue Reading →
Grand Palace, that had just been restorated, Bangkok, Thailand
Heidi took a bus from Battambang to the border, walked across to the Thai side, caught a Tuk Tuk to the next town six kilometers away and jumped on a bus to Bangkok, a trip that took all in all 9 hours. Of course, it was not as smooth as it sounds. So here are some details… Continue Reading →
Border Crossing between Laos & Cambodia
The plan was rather simple: we had bought an expensive ticket from our guesthouse on Don Khon to be taken from there to Phnom Penh in one day. That involved taking a boat, a minibus to the border, another minibus from the border to the next town and finally a bus to Phnom Penh, a 14 hour journey. Continue Reading →
Around Luang Nam Tha
Laos welcomed us with a big thunderstorm. While we were filling out our visa application and later had our passports checked & stamped at immigration, the first thunder roared. And soon, the skies came open… Somebody waved us into a “jumbo”, a big tuk-tuk with a roof. We jumped on it and off we went, not really knowing where we were going and actually how much it would cost… Gilles was sure it would take us to the next town to catch a bus for the two hour ride to Luang Nam Tha, Heidi had her doubts. Continue Reading →
Gui Lin Train Station, Guilin, China
We decided to describe this first stretch of our trip in “China proper” in great detail, simply to show how easy it is to travel in an environment where communication is rather difficult. It took us about 23 hours to cover the approx. 750 kilometres between Macau and Yangshuo, but it was hardly tiring or boring. The public bus in Macau took us to the border at “Portas de Cerco” where we crossed into Mainland China together with zillions of gamblers who had spent the weekend in Macau. Despite the big crowd things moved smoothly. Continue Reading →
Approaching Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand
Within minutes of our arrival in this country, a lot of things went very wrong, which consequently ended up in us dishing out 280 Euros due to our ignorance and thoughtlessness. Half of that money was taken by the Authorities of Biosecurity from Heidi, the other half by Air New Zealand. It was definitely not what you call a good start! Continue Reading →
Crossing the Border from Bolivia to Argentina…
What a trip! Going from Potosí / Bolivia to our next destination, Trelew (pronounce it “Tre-le-o”) in northern Patagonia, was a long journey of almost 4.000 kilometer. It took us no less than 5 days! Continue Reading →
View of Sao Paulo from the top of the highest building, the Edicifío Italia, on the 42nd floor … Unbelievable!
The cheapest flights in Brazil leave at unholy hours, so again we left the very cosy Trip Hostel in Santa Teresa in Rio de Janeiro at 04:00 am and we finally hit our pillows precisely 24 hours later in Lima at 02:00 am local time. This budget journey included a 12 hour stop-over in Sao Paulo. Any stopover in a city of 17 millions has to be superficial and unrewarding, but truly there is not much to see no matter how hard the Lonely Planet and the Tourist Office try to promote the historic center. Continue Reading →
Heidi crossing the border from Venezuela to Brazil
A 20 hours travel took us from Santa Elena de Uairen, Venezuela, to Manaus, Brazil: first a collective taxi or “Por Puesto” to the border, where we got our exit stamp, then we walked a few hundred meters to the Brazilian side to fill out immigration documents. At this point we needed a treat and checked out the famous “Churrascaria de la Frontera”, a Brazilian All-You-Can-Eat restaurant. It is so popular and so good value that travelers who stay in Santa Helena take a taxi across the border to fill up for 4 Euros. Continue Reading →