Thank you

Dear all,

We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our adventures during this trip.

It was a lot of work, and sometimes a lot of frustration with Internet that was slow, slower, slowest, but in the end it was also a rewarding job. We heard that many people followed us during the trip, which is a nice feeling and for us it will be a nice memory.

But now Bart,Evert and Helma have to get ready to start their life in Holland while Ed, for the time being, will work in Malawi. We all feel a bit homesick: To have no obligations, to wonder around the earth beautiful places, to meet so many kind and helpfull people on the road and in all the countries. This trip is something we will never forget and carry with us the rest of our lives.

Ed, Evert, Bart and Helma

Bye Bye!!!!

Here we are

The Bovenstraat 21 in Rotterdam

View from our house in the Benedenstraat

We made it!!!

Home sweet home.....

The next day, 6 hours driving and we entered the Netherlands.

We were almost home. The sun was shining although it was ,compared to all the countries we visited, cold.

The first stop was to see Oma, Helma's Mum and then to the Bovenstraat. It was so strange to be back in Holland again.

Black Forrest

They love cuckoo clock in this part of Germany. We even saw the Biggest clock if the world.

In the centre of the Black Forrest, Titi see, we ate a nice sausage and enjoyed the views. Our last stop over was in a Gasthof where we enjoyed a very good meal, with apple sauce bought by Helma in the LIDL...

How many countries in one day?

Italy, Swiss, Austria, Lichtenstein and Germany!! We had forgotten how beautiful Europe is and we enjoyed to trip so much.

The Swiss were very thorough and they gave us a good check-up before they would let us enter the country. Woo. Those mountains and snow on top it was a great view. We ended that day at the Boden see were we managed to find a place at a farm.

Como

We spent some lovely days at the lake. Although the camping place was more cramped then we ever experienced during the trip the view was wonderful, the lake and the mountains. The water was rather cold but refreshing. The boys were very active learning to sail on the splash from Frits and even to do some windsurfing and swimming, while Helma and Ed relaxed and tried to catch up with the dutch news and the dutch newspapers.

In the end Bart and Evert could cross the lake with the splash which was a major achievement.

Road to Italy

The next day travelling went fast. The road were in a good condition. It was green, overwhelming green, something we haven't seen for a long time. We drove through Croatia and ended in Slovenia, the border post to the European Community. However, we noticed nothing. Without any checking, except the passports, we could enter the EU,

We spent the night in Slovenia where we were in holiday country and we even found the first LIDL. We did some shopping there but Helma had to be stopped, because the car was full.

The next morning not the mosque but the church bells woke us up.

Once in Italy, no borders, the traffic was hectic. Traffic jams, something we really have to get used to. So it took us some time to reach Lake Como. Como was beautiful. Although the roads were narrow and there were lots of tourists it maintained its caracter.

Once we reached Pianello Frits was the first relative we saw in a long, long time. But there were more relatives so it was a wonderful reunion.

Finally Europe!!

After our last night in Turkey near the sea where we saw dolphins and cruis ships, it was time to move on. Italy was waiting! The trip was OK and even the formality at the Turkish border was quick. In Bulgaria it was different. We went to 6 different stations. At the first one they gave us a flash card with our details and we had to give that to every station. It was confusing and at a certain point we thought we could keep this flash card. At the last station we had to give it back, but we were in Bulgaria. What a difference to Turkey. Small roads and it started to rain. Our last rain was in Khartoum. It was getting cold as well. So we felt we had to rush on. What is the point staying in Bulgaria. We managed to get to the Serbian border in time, although we had to wait 45 minutes. It was their supper time. But again formalities went smooth. Serbia was in a better condition than Bulgaria. The roads much better and the houses gave us the idea of being in Austria. We managed to find a nice hotel and slept for a long time, because the day after we realised that it was 1 hour earlier.

Photo's from Gallipoli Peninsula

Troy- Gallipoli Peninsula

After Pamukkale we drove to the sea again, the Aegean Coast. We made the decision not to go to Istanbul but to Troy instead. By that time we received an e-mail from Frits, Helma's brother who planned to camp at the Como lake in Italy with the question if we could drop by. The boys were very excited, because from Istanbul to Frits was "only"2000 km.

So we choose to skip Istanbul and went to Troy. Troy famous for Homer's Iliad is a nice historic place. Not too big because 6 cities were built on top of it. You can understand that it must have been a tremendous job to identify which city were the found ruins from. Of course is the horse of Troy the most important thing. You also had a nice view on the Dardanelles. The water was very blue and in the distance we also saw the ships heading for the black sea.

After Troy we took the ferry to the Gallipoli Peninsula. This is a very famous historical place. It was visited by many people. During WWI the allied troops fought against the Turkish army led by Ataturk. At that time the Russian were "our" allies and to ensure an entry to the black sea the allied troops wanted to control the entrance to the black sea. In 1915 many soldiers were sent to this place, from India, Australia, New Zealand, UK and so on. The allied forces lost. The casualties were horrendous so they were withdrawn. In the end more than 20,000 soldiers were unidentified. In 1918 after the war the allied forces came back to bury their soldiers. Most of them are now burried in huge graveyards, but there is a impressive memorial for all these young boys.

Of course many Turkish soldiers died as well. So now it is now a place to visit all the cemeteries, swim in the sea, visit the battlefields. We thought it was an overwhelming experience.

Pamukkale

Pamukkale is renowned for the gleaming white ledges with pools with shining blue waters in pools that flow over the plateau. On top of the mountain is the Roman city of Hierapolis, long ago also known for the spa's. Even in that time the mountain was white due to the calcium in the waters. It was a spectacular view but it is not as beautiful as it was a couple of years ago. Apparently less water comes from the spa's and the calcium dries up and disappears with the wind. That is actually very sad.

The Turkish government tries to slow down the process. So there is police with whistles and they whistle every time if people go to far on the ledges or if they walk with their shoes on.

Some places were still intact, but they have built some swimming pools especially for the tourists. In the past you could swim and soak in the pools but those days are gone. It was wonderful that we could see it because the future for Pamukkale is uncertain.

HOME

Dear all,
It has been a long time since we updated the blog. Believe it or not, we are HOME.
As soon as we have our internet working we will update the blog with our last adventures in Turkey, Bulgaria, Servia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Swiss, Austria and Germany.
Ed, Helma, Bart and Evert.
e-mail adress: e.e.zijlstra@gmail.com

Sick Bay in Antalya

Helma suddenly suffered of lower back pain, Ed had a strained shoulder, Evert had a sore tummy and we were stuck in Antalya. We have to admit there are worse places to recuperate. Antalya has a wonderful old city, with lots of historic things to see and to do. So it was time for a time out!!

We are staying in a nice pension with a swimming pool in the middle of the old town. But tomorrow everyone is ready to move on because we still have a long way to travel.

The Mediterranean Sea

Camping again, sunbathing, swimming.The water was crystal clear, fish everywhere. After 2 days we had to continue to ...Antalya. Only 400 km, but it took us a full day. We camped at Side with sea view. But otherwise it is filled up with package tours. So there are nicer places, although without sandy beaches. But something came up..

Uchisar rock citadel

Castle at UchisarLunchtime!

Again we climbed a rock citadel, but it was well worth it. We had a beautiful over the whole area. the next day we visited the underground city. it was very impressive, very deep underground there was a church cut in the form of a cross. the boys thought it was great, but for Ed was it a little bit too much so he climbed out of the city as soon as possible.

Hard work on the field

We visited the Ihlara Valley, which is a beautiful canyon full of rock- cut churches. The road to the valley was wonderful. But Ed and the boys will the Valley always remember as the place where they all got stung by wasps. Helma was lucky this time. And in the background we saw the Mount Erciyes, a huge volcano like mountain with snow!But it was time for relaxation again so we headed for the coast.

Fresh apricots for sale.

Kapadokya

Deep in the heart of the country lies a fairy tale world. There are ancient churches, cave dwellings and all kind of geological wonders. And suddenly you are in the middle of it. It consists of a soft volcanic tuff that has been sculpted over thousands of years into fantastic shapes by water and erosion.. There are huge stone mushrooms, deep valley, pigeon holes, caves. It was a wonderful place to explore and just look and walk around. we slept in a cave. most pensions are built in caves. Although it was hot outside we needed our duvet in the night because it was chilly.

We slept in the middle of a town called Goreme. In the area are so many things to see. It was a good thing we had our own car and visited some lovely villages like Urgup, the Zelve Valley and Mustafapasa.

Adana

The lake at Adana

Along the road fruit stalls with veggies and fruits

Finally, we are in Turkey. Jordan is not big, the distance we have to cover in Syria is also limited, but who ever thought we would be home once we reached Turkey is wrong! it is a huge country and there are so many historical things to see and to do. But our party notices that we are a little bit tired. Thus we have to be realistic and only do and see some things in Turkey and skip the rest for another time perhaps.

Turkey is modern, good roads, nice people and for the first time Helma can walk in shorts without problems. Turkey is great!

The Adana Mosque
Our first stop after the border is Adana where we tried to camp, but the campsite had ceased to exist, so it was a room again with a very nice swimming pool. The swimming teacher used the boys as guinae pigs to demonstrate all the strokes for their pupils. we noticed that is was humid hot, but nice. Our lights of the breaks were not working so we stopped at a Nissan dealer where we treated, with lunch, watermelon etc. What a service and they fixed the car as well! After all that it was time to move on to Kappadokya.

What can you buy in the souq?

You can buy everything at the souq. here is an impression, but mind you, it is only an impression. You don't smell the odours, hear the noise and feel the heat. They make soap from olives, they have lovely spices, silk and brains.... just enjoy.

Lattakia and Aleppo

After the castle we headed to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a highway so we arrived there very fast. We couldn’t find a hotel that was at a beach because in town it was all harbour, so we went into an apartment. We went to the public beach. You could go to a hotel but then you had to pay 10 euro per person. Well, it is unlike Jordan, high season. It was very crowded and the water was in the beginning very dirty and not refreshing, it was warm. At the beach you could also smoke a sheesha (water pipe) and no one lay on the beach they sat on a chair. Helma bought some tomatoes, onions and cucumbers to make our dinner. After a delicious home made macaroni meal we went to bed. But it took a long time to sleep because the Syrian people enjoyed their holiday with disco’s everywhere. The good thing was that they stopped at 11 pm.
The next day we left to Aleppo. It was a beautiful trip in the mountains with some fantastic views according to my parents. Bart and I were reading (!). Halfway we tanked at a petrol station where a man was smoking while tanking as if there was nothing wrong, rather scarry, but luckily no accidents occurred.

When we arrived in Aleppo we could not find the hotel but a friendly man helped us to find the way. The streets were very narrow and it was difficult to find a parking space. They have especially for Aleppo very small trucks that can even drive in the souq. At last we managed to find a parking spot at the tourist centre. This was especially for tourists, but the people of Aleppo were a little bit annoyed, too many cars with an Iraqi number plate use it as a parking spot. They are refugees and definitely no tourists, but they have a nice parking spot in the city centre. We settled in and went for a walk in the old city. It was a lot like Damascus, although here the souq is world heritage site. The things they were selling were incredible. One butchery shop even sold sheep’s brains. We also saw the lungs, liver and spleen, heart and windpipe. Helma thought it was a nice biology lesson, but Bart was not interested. Helma enjoyed it a lot and bought some silk and apricots but Bart and I didn’t find the souq much and we did not stay long. Aleppo also has a citadel, but we saw enough I guess, or we were a little bit tired and left it. We drank something at a very famous historic hotel ‘Baron’ and ate on top of a roof of another restaurant. The waiter did not understand English but he was very nice. He brought Helma some fresh fruit while she expected some fresh fruit juice. We stayed in a backpacker’s hotel and had a room with 4 beds for 15 euro, basic but OK. Lots of backpackers slept on a roof mattress. It was a mattress on top of the hotel with no privacy at all. I think there were about 20 mattresses. The good thing was that it was very cheap and cool because of the blowing wind. Unlike our room that was rather warm.

Your reporter: Evert

Crac des Chevaliers- photo's

Crac des Chevaliers

After easily finding our way out of Damascus we set off on yet another highway to the Crac (castle). This was one of the castles which the French king of Jerusalem made to protect Jerusalem. A Chevalier is a knight, so in English Crac Des Chevaliers is castle of the Knights. The crusader knights largely expanded the castle around the middle of the 12th century. When we arrived at the Crac we couldn't believe our eyes, it was almost complete. A huge castle with more than six towers standing high in a inner and an outer wall. The reason was that this castle was never truly breached, despite several attacks. they just gave it up. it was too difficult to defend it when it was surrounded by the armies of the Islam. They had supplies for 5 years, but after one month under siege the Crusaders agreed to depart in return for a safe conduct.
When we came in through the main entrance(which was a bridge) it was not easy to find our way, with underground tunnels and houses leading to more underground houses, stables and wells. Once on one of the towers, we had a fantastic view, according to mum and dad. After walking around the castle on its walls we went back down to explore the inner part of the castle.
Once in we saw broken remains of a church and even a mosque. When we had seen all the remains of a kitchen, a hall, a market place and a dining room we climbed up another tower where we sat down to eat a sandwich. The only negative point of this castle was that inside people were building a kind of theatre (which made a lot of noise).
When jumping back in the car we all thought that this was the best castle we had seen so far. Looking back at it once again we set off to reach Syria’s main sea port Lattakia.

Damascus

Al Amayyad Mosque

No comments on our blog, so we will keep the truth a little longer from you, or is nobody reading it anymore?? We hope the reason is holiday and in that case we wish you all a perfect holiday. It won't be too long now before we reach the Bovenstraat, but we still have a long way to go.

But first Damascus........

Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the world. The guide book says that Damascus is one of the most architecturally significant cities in the Middle East. We just thought it was wonderful. It has a nice mixture of tradition and modernity.

We wondered through the Souq al Hamidyiyya in the Old City that is surrounded by a Roman wall. We went to the Umayyad Mosque, where even Helma had to were a grey outfit, which was rather uncomfortable and very hot. We tried to find our way through all the little streets while Evert was guiding us and we had a look in the Azem palace which was built in 1749. Of course we also saw the treasures from the National Museum and even managed to find a sticker with the Syrian flag for the car. The souq was amazing they sold everything, but you will read about that later.

We saw the tea sellers in the souq. On Friday it was quiet but on Saturday it was so busy. It was wonderful. The only thing we did not do was a hammam. There are different days for female and male and the boys could not be persuaded to enjoy the service of a bathhouse.

Where are we now???

Damascus at night


Although you´ll see a nice picture of Damascus by night the question is where are we now? Publish a comment with your answer and we will reveal the truth tomorrow the 23rd of July


Good luck

Barty

Jerash

Roman soldiers and the colonnade

Artemis temple

As we are planning to see Damascus, we skipped Amman and drove direct to Jerash, a well preserved Roman city. It was very impressive. Imagine, we walked on the road that Emperor Hadrian and Alexander the great walked on. A lot of walking though, but it was well worth it. Most beautiful was the temple of Artemis.

We also saw a show with roman soldiers and chariots in the hippodrome, fun. now we are stranded in Irbid, the university town in Jordan and tomorrow we will cross the border with Syria where Internet seems to be a little more problematic.