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  • HA 7
  • angkor 6
  • NAMASTE, hi from INDIA Iiran/Pakistan, soon VIETNAM, CHINA, LAOS...and welcome to our worldtravel site per 4x4camper
  • copyright Luc Brandt
  • newspaper cover in Indian daily
  • 1st month: Turkey
  • fabulous paragliding over blue lagoon
  • Pammukale's white valley
  • IRAN in 6 weeks: October and November, 2004
  • Persepolis of the Kings Darius & Xerxes
  • sanddunes in desert
  • Iranese marriage
  • Shiraz, Isfahan, Qom, ...
  • BAM, what remains of a World Heritage Site
  • welcome , soon form INDIA again, to our wolrd travel site per 4x4camper into Vietnam China, Indonesia etcetera (PART S, YEAR 2)
  • we are OFF, SouthEast Asia here we come in our Toy!
  • even vanuit SRI LANKA
  • elephants in river
  • Siriyaga, ancient capital with Kings Palaces and terracegardens
  • Galle Dutch Fort, Sri Lanka
  • musician at temple during Puja clebration 3x/day, Kandy, Sri Lanka
  • 2nd message 14.10 on our way back to Chennai, East India, to start procedures to ship the car to Malaysia around 25.10.5
  • Vellore sculptures
  • capital at work
  • incredible colours
  • serene Gingee, a new old Hampi-like site
  • amazing Gingee incredible workforce
  • Last days in India, and per ship (car) and plane to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • serene Gingee, a new old Hampi-like site 2
  • serene Gingee, a new old Hampi-like site 3
  • for a few rupees worth of devotion.
  • more rupees to make your wishes come true
  • monsoontime
  • bamboosplicing on the street
  • from Kuala Lumpur, waiting for the car
  • shipping agent also filmproducer
  • handy mouthblowing silversmith
  • Kuala Lumpurs symbol of prosperity
  • NAMASTE, Again? Yes, now from ‘amazing’ Thailand,
  • only 75 km from Bangkok city
  • sunset at Wat
  • Sawadee, (prononounce sawwadiii), or hello from Ayuttayah,
  • beautiful historical site
  • Wats zijn geen watjes hier
  • Loi Krathong festival of riverlights
  • sunset at SUKOTHAI historical Park
  • cattle market with Thai cowboys
  • Thailand chinese fishing nets such as in Fort Cochin (see website India, march 2005)
  • camping at historic Khmer temple SUKOTHAI historical Park
  • Thailand SUKOTHAI historical Park 13.11.5
  • Thailand Elephant 14.11.5 L Conservation Park
  • Thailand Elephant 14.11.5 L Conservation Park (6)
  • ricefield near Mae Hong Son
  • The highest top in Thailand 2556m, but we also visited the most narrow point 10,6km wide in South, bordering to the West at Myanmar
  • Longneck Karen cooking chicken with(out) flu
  • one of the borders to Myanmar we visited
  • teaching Thai, Birmese, English and Karenese languages to Longneck Karen
  • Young LongNeck Karen
  • Laos here we come
  • Black Lihu
  • Thailand SUKOTHAI historical Park 13.11.5
  • Thailand SUKOTHAI historical Park 13.11.5
  • little and big catfish
  • mekong gong gong
  • grilled frogs ready for you
  • French biker
  • Bonzes receiving early morning rice gifts in Mainstreet of Luang Prabang
  • SABAI DII from Laos, North East
  • lady in black
  • dressed to kill
  • colourfull NorthLaos
  • national day
  • more tribal dresses
  • mother and child
  • old and younger
  • 7
  • 7 of 1 million elephants
  • China border flagceremony 4.12.5
  • walking past passee
  • local market with Saint Nicolas food
  • Namta market
  • local alcohol
  • local dresses
  • Hmong dresses
  • Hmong ceremony dresses
  • Hmong
  • Hmong ceremony
  • Again from Laos ???? unfortunately yes…
  • local bridge
  • boatraces
  • Khmer templecomplex 1
  • Khmer temple detail 2
  • returning home
  • traiteur for walking lunch
  • earpiercing
  • fashion
  • oxcarting
  • earpiercing new
  • bamboopipe
  • weaving hightech
    Zoeken in blog

    80monthsworldwide
    discovering the world by campingcar
    10-12-2011
    Klik hier om een link te hebben waarmee u dit artikel later terug kunt lezen.from New to OLD

    Asia? Ok  2004-5

    Africa? Ok 2006-7

    Americas?? All ok 8.10.2008-1.12.2011

     

    10.12.11 Writing this last blog entry for 2011, onboard MS Grande Africa in DAKAR; Senegal. The last link between the continents: from this small island Isle de Goree 1km off Dakar in the course of +-400 years some 15 million!! African slaves have been shipped off to American plantations and mines allover. The old continent of civilised Europe gaining silver and gold (see further).

    1.12.11  Sitting with 2 more globedrivers at this 50.000tons RoRO’s (small) swimmingpool looking out over deepblue waters under the almost vertical sun in between New and Old in the midst of the transatlantic (to Dakar, then Hamburg). We crossed the equator exactly 4 years after our first one in Kenya (11.6), later repeated in Ecuador  (5.10) and Brazil (10.10).

    3 years and 141.000km after the Katamarano arrived by ship in Baltimore, via magnificent sites, nature, people, colours and smells, from afrocaribbean blacks full of alegria to ancient golden (pre-)Inca jewels. From marvels as the Grand Canyon and the Iguazu Falls, from 10’s of superb sunsets and 2 robberies, via 2 short flights to long awaited scenery (Angel Falls and Nasca lines) and  37hours boating on the Amazone estuary, to free goods and dance & music,  and to lost civilizations and lost car parts enroute.Within the Americas the differences in culture, nature, economy and reality are enormous zigzagging from North to South via the Centralamericas.

























    10-12-2011 om 12:06 geschreven door lucas


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    07-12-2011
    Klik hier om een link te hebben waarmee u dit artikel later terug kunt lezen.from NEW to Old 2

    +100.000 of pics and an equal amount of fantastic experiences and opportunities to witness this New Continent. Armed with an open mind, some more than basic equipment, some decent knowledge of languages & what to expect, and a good Lumix camera.

    Yet the 141.000km in 22 ½  months in the Americas are completely different from the 134.000km in 28 ½ months of Africa and Asia . And  I must admit : happy to  have been here, … I’d still prefer southern and eastern Africa… but we still have ANOTHER 29 months ahead of us!

























    07-12-2011 om 00:00 geschreven door lucas


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    03-12-2011
    Klik hier om een link te hebben waarmee u dit artikel later terug kunt lezen.from NEW to Old 3

    The last A  remains to be explored: indeed, the other A –down under- is still relatively unknown to us, as is 80% of good old Europe.

    So don’t cry, for in 2012 … we’ll continue to another continent once more.

     

     

    WHAT a marvel, the Americas!

    We’re glad we’ve seen most of the great things here, but agree not having seen it all. The Galapagos (too expensive) or Ushuaia (too far south with winter coming up), some of the places we could not get to for lack of an adequate 4x4, because of bad continued weather, or cause we simply didn’t know or care of its existence.

    On the other hand we’ve been to places few globedrivers/trotters go to, for the same reasons if with opposite effect. Very few drive all the way to Columbia ‘s National parque of Tayrona or the San Augustin site; Venezuela’s Angel Falls, or the NorthEast corner of Brazil’s splendid beaches. Let alone risk doing the jungle trip in ex-British Guyana-Suriname-French Guiana.

























    03-12-2011 om 00:00 geschreven door lucas


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    02-12-2011
    Klik hier om een link te hebben waarmee u dit artikel later terug kunt lezen.from New to Old 4

    Some mobilhomes or 4x4’s driven here around by Europeans experienced very big technical problems with electronics or else. We do not know of a single vehicle which did not suffer any at all or got completely broke.

    Some of our colleagues got themselves into serious travel-related problems with real robbery at gunpoint, stabwounds from knives, destruction of their vehicle by accident or on purpose. Others have been blocked by serious floods or nasty roadblocks due to strikes, or have seen the inside of a ‘hospital’ during someweeks  due to  insect bites or  tropical diseases.Some have lost all their valuables, some were forced to return home earlier than planned for, we learnt sad stories of corruption, scams or aggression.

     

    Some were very disappointed with (too) many bad experience(s) on the road ...  but without them you cannot travel, not even in so-called civilized Europe or the USA.

    Some came totally unprepared, speaking not a single word of Spanish, without a minimum of  mechanical training. Or arrived withold or false information, or just plain stupidity and ignorance causing them problems which could easily have been avoided.

     

    For some it was the first trip abroad, with a very old or very new mobilhome or 4x4, and who came less prepared mainly suffered more than the seasoned traveller.

     

    For some it means the very last trip (never again such an experience), for others it opened up the desire for more and better. Some travel to meet up with other Europeans living here or also travelling like they do. Some drive to impress the friends/colleagues with ‘see what we dare/can afford/do’ syndrome boasting about with a very elaborate blog or more. Some think they know it all as now really seasoned America-drivers.

























    02-12-2011 om 00:00 geschreven door lucas


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    01-12-2011
    Klik hier om een link te hebben waarmee u dit artikel later terug kunt lezen.from New to Old 5

    In +13 months in the south Americas, 6 months in the north, and 3 in the central Americas the Ford Katamarano’sodometer just hits 145.000km.

    We came not as the x millionth tourist to just enjoy the sites, with some of our footsteps in historical places, to find beaches in splendid isolation, to feel nature abound, for the wide vistas, the colours and aromas, the jungle and deserts, the sunsets; for some unique magical even mysterious hotspots on or off the beaten track.

     

    We mainly drive around traveling to witness the alegria in dance music streetlife, to put in our memory (and that of our HD’s) the small things of local life; to see for ourselves for instance why beautifulCarthagena never got in the hands of pirates as opposed to many other Spanish silver/trade towns including Panama; to discover the few remaining gold treasures or ancient mummies tucked away for posterity; and to see some traditions that will soon disappear as in other countries.

























    01-12-2011 om 00:00 geschreven door lucas


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    30-11-2011
    Klik hier om een link te hebben waarmee u dit artikel later terug kunt lezen.FROM nEW TO oLD 6

    But why DO WE trAvel!! To curiously learnof this mix of ancient cultures of Inca and other indigenas with Africans imported manumilitareand immigrating Europeans lured by a quick dash into gold silver or later on sugarcane or mining or wood…), with some flavour of Japan, India,…; curious to see how this failure of the old colonisers France Holland Denmark Germany Sweden England Portugal and Spain ‘in the name of the King/Queen and the Church’ (but actually just to boost temporarily the next war within the old continent) led in no time to robbery by pirates and buccaneers, later to slave revolts& guerrilla fighting, sea battles &wars for trade and silver and gold, and finally to cries and wars for independencia by local libertadores such as Che and Bolivar, leading again to 19th-20thC dictatorships & military one manshows, and totoday’s +- stable ‘democracies of the rich and powerful’, and even world top economies such as Brazil  (as long as this lasts).

























    30-11-2011 om 00:00 geschreven door lucas


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    25-11-2011
    Klik hier om een link te hebben waarmee u dit artikel later terug kunt lezen.FROM NEW TO OLD 7

    Partly our challenge was to go for some of the mythical stuff, the gold or  medicine or wood ‘diggers’ in the Amazon, the rites by local shamans and voodoos, or the rhythm of capoeira or music inspired by the Afro- grand grand grandparents; to conquer the not done ‘roads’ via British Guyana and the equal ‘offroad’ leading in the end to the Amazona, after Suriname and the Dom of French Guiana; to find out why beautiful Cartagena – free standing spanish city within a fortified walls, with its today’s still  splendid fortifications and hundreds of guns- seems one of the few 16t-18th C  harbours (as an island surrounded by swamps N+E, the open Caribbean W+S, and accessible only by the zigzagging channel into Boca Grande) never been captured and destroyed by the Drakes or Morgans and their lot of pirates resp. buccaneers…; to going that extra mile for a traditional fiesta or that magnificent site off the beaten track, or find another exquisite marvel by Brazil’s baroc ‘Michelangelo’ in Minas Gerais.

     

    Add to these 22 1/2 months on the American Continent (2008-2011) our 28 1/2in Asia (2004-2006) and Africa (back in 2006-2008)and we still got a mere 29 months available (of our total 80 months planned for this worldtour) for Europe, Australia, and maybe China.Mmmm.

     

    !! Enjoy Xmas and START OFF –from OLD to NEW- in A FANTASTIC 2012 !!

























    25-11-2011 om 00:00 geschreven door lucas


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    20-11-2011
    Klik hier om een link te hebben waarmee u dit artikel later terug kunt lezen.FROM NEW TO OLD8

    100 Pics are better than 1000’s of words, here just a few from the last months.Give us a few more weeks to upload the colors of the New continent over our fast line at home.

     

    Why should YOU want to come to SouthAmerica? Because of the DIVERSITY & Variation from N to S, from E to W, even within countries, in terms of :

    Nature!Go and find your spot for days or weeks of solitary discovery in or out the 100’s of national parks. From +45degrees desert to snowcapped +5.000m tops, from kilometerwide streams to hotwet jungle, it is a huge and sometimes raw subcontinent here. You want to raft, ski, surf, kayak, golf, hike, fish? The choice is incredibly wide.

    5.200km from the northernmost spot in Argentina to deepsouth Ushuaia.

    7.400km of (some of the worlds’ nicest) beaches in Brazil alone.

    Cayman rich Pantanal to orka-rich Atlantic.Unspoilt Altiplano till cascading blue glaciers. Fjords, Andes,  andmillions of ha of agriculture for mais, bananas, coffee, cows, horses, mate, … but beware of the coca mafia.

     

    Culture!From ancient and antiques pre-Inca constructions of +2.000 B.C. to world famous 20th C architect Niemeyer, 1.000 years of medicines and shamanism, magnificent Iglesiasfrom 16th C onwards,  be impressed by +2.000 year old pottery or +700 year jewellery in the Gold Musea. Or attend nice jazz, tango … evenings for free.

























    20-11-2011 om 00:00 geschreven door lucas


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    19-11-2011
    Klik hier om een link te hebben waarmee u dit artikel later terug kunt lezen.FROM NEW TO OLD 9

    Alegria! And lust for life, as expressed in Dance and Music! Apart from traditional folk music, you can discover live the rythms of samba, tango, merengue,bossa nova, tropicalia, or afro-inspired cumba, candombe, mapale or porro…and on the Caribbean side of course Bob’s reggae.

    Or read up some of the NoblePrizeliterature like Pablo Neruda or Garcia Gabriel Marquez.

    Meet with giant tapir, river otter, rhea, kondor. Swim with dolphins or piranhas. Or go and see the last of the giant leather &marine turtles, harpy eagles, armadillo, Humboldt and Magellan penguins…And the traditional agriculture in e.g. Bolivia.

    Drive thru the unspoilt Andes or Cordilleras, along active volcanoes, on the last of the famous dirtroads such as the Carretera Austral or theripio-richRuta 40, or in the dusty traces of Paris-Dakar. Play polo with the top, enjoy the best asados and parillas and savour the topwines, pisco sour, caipirinha or local cerveza and succos.Assist the local festivals and spiritual shamanism or other (religious) events.

    But beware of sandflies and mosquitos, tarantula, anaconda and puma.

    History!Go in the foot/horsesteps of dirty war Pizarro, saintly20th C Dom HelderCamara or tough 19th  Cfreedomfighter dentist Tiradentes. Drive from pre-Inca sites (Quilmes, Trujillo…) to the Secret Valley and Machu Pichu. Learn from Generals having lost or won (a) war(s), from El Libertador to el Che…, from cruel 20th C dictatorships to todays scandals and potential dictators.

    Be aware of todays persistent or coming up disasters, such as inflation, FARC and other guerillera, unemployment, inequality. Add to these de-forestation, lack of quality roads once out of the main towns;coming up industry (petroleum chemistry car… ), huge waste and pollution problemsaround mines (nitrate, silver, …), oil or illegal gold and de-forestation sites, and feel the abundance of ozone, or the shortage in drinking water. And likewise acknowledgethe ever expandingfavelas and more insecurity due to poverty.

























    19-11-2011 om 00:00 geschreven door lucas


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    15-11-2011
    Klik hier om een link te hebben waarmee u dit artikel later terug kunt lezen. enjoy FROM old TO NEW

    Food! The famous rodizio restaurants in Brazil where waiters line up with the nicest BBQ carne, the 1$ /menu deals in Bolivia (2 in Peru), salmon or trout at indecent prices.., or line up in Rio’s most crazy restorante at even crazier prices!               

     

    Nice encounters and Great pics!Provided you have a decent camera and loads of memory cards, and you can speak a bit of Spanish and/or Portuguese, and come with an open mind and curiosity built-in: it will be met by friendly locals anxious to meet those strangers on the road.

     

    And why would you not travel the southamericas??

    Security?Costs envolved?? Weather??Diseases??Long distances?Nasty people??

    Security?it is best to take the guidebooks advice as to what areas to avoid (at night) in (larger) cities or even some beaches. Otherwise: hardly more of a problem than travels in Europe. Anyhow it calls for some luck, but we stayed several times opposite Rio and were not even aware of the gangwars with the policia and military, causing e.g. 14 deaths in 1 night (from 1.2007 till 7.2010 just under 31.500 people died in aggressions in Rio alone!).

    Costs involved?? Traveling around by your own mobilhome is as in Europe, at better dieselprices but with huge distances. We spend not much money with 95% of wild camping, and food is rather to very cheap. Of course whatcould prove very expensive: your car must first get there and return, and stay fit on not always tarmac roads!

    Weather??Apart from the El Nino effect, beware of volcano ash and earth shocks or occasional mini-tsunami, periodical torrential rain, extreme heath and high altitude (temperature and lack of oxygen). Aminimum of planning and weekly weather updates for the region you’re going into should take care of most.

     

    Diseases??A good amount of sweaters, KW, fleece, a good travel medicines box, some pre vaccination and a really good travel assistance/ insurance should take care of that as well.

     

    Bad roads & long distances?Of course, this is the south Americas for you to explore. But you do NOT need a 4x4. Some careful driving, avoiding all topes and, hey man you’re supposed to be enjoying your holidays!

     

    Nasty people?? No more than in Europe or the USA. With some precautions where and when to go or park and stay the night it should not , - but potentially could – be(come) a problem.Luckily for campers the bad guys did not yet discover the use of sleeping gas sprays to rob you (but apparently in Bariloche they do!).

    And e.g. Brazil is gradually cleaning up its capital to be ready for the 2014 World football, and the 2016 Olympics. The overall hospitality and friendliness, the thumbs up of the Brazilian, the smile of the villagers outbeat it all.

     

    Will WE come back here??From New Mexico/California onwards going south once more is not part of our future travels for having seen enough of it, partly because also it is becoming  quite more dangerous (Honduras…) and … there simply remains too much to be seen outside the Americas.

    When we can say we are glad to have been around here so long: No, if ever we start allover we would love to return to Africas game scene, maybe even Canada’s northern nature, and maybe even some parts of the USA we did not yet travel.

    And of course continue the second half of India.Although, maybe we one day, taking our lead from James A.Michener’shistoric roman Caribbean, we might just follow Columbus’ first trips here, when he ‘discovered not another route to India or even China’ but this new world arriving at the Americas… via the Caribbean isles.

     

     

    Highlights South America 4.10-1.12.11

    World’s highest waterfall

    World’s largest waterfalls

    Junglecrossing British Guyana

    Dutch Suriname

    Colourful cliffbeaches NE Brasil

    Amazone islands crossing to Belem

    Afro-(brasil) music capoera vibes colours and fullmoondance

    ArtworkbyMichelangelo of Brasil

    Museos de Oro |Bogota, Cuenca, Quito) and Lima’seroticmuseum Rafael Larco Herrera

    Sacred Valley and pre-inca wealth

    Bahias do Rio / San Salvador

    Bolivia’s +4.500m highalteplano and (salt) lakes

    Museo Templo Luna Trujillo

    The blue glaciers Patagonia

    Blessing of the Sea Peru

    Armed robbery Salvador beach, and  seat robbery Iberia

    Pasa de los condores

    Papillon’sprisoncamp

    KOUROU’S Ariane launch site

    Suriname’s bird contests

    Ecuador’s Bullfight and Gold

    Colombia’s exquisite Cartagena and Gold

    Uruguay’s priceless classics

    MuseoFonck Valparaiso

    The fjords, glaciers and pure nature in S Chile

    The desert and  ElTatio Geysers in N Chile

    Colours and smells of local markets

     

    N.B. if someone can help me recover 3.000$ stolen by Iberia (the Number 1 Spanish airline) …. a finders’ fee is guaranteed!


    HAPPY  NEWYEAR AND MERRY XMAS









    15-11-2011 om 00:00 geschreven door lucas


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