Tag: Travel

Day 3-7: Trans Mongolia Express

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Trans Mongolia Express 05-04-2016 – 10-04-2016

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We booked 2 beds in a 4 persons cabin (a private cabin was too expensive) for the train from Moscow to Ulaanbaatar. As soon as the conductor showed us our ‘room’ I was a bit shocked. I expected it to be small, but this? When we booked it we expected the rooms to be bigger but there’s no way you can stand here with 4 people at the same time – just to mention the room was 2 meters by 1.5 meter. The train left at 11.45 pm and Kas and I were lucky – we were still with the two of us in the 4 persons cabin.

The first night was horrible – the bed is hard, it’s the same feeling as lying on the ground. Besides this, the train is moving, makes quite some noise and stopped that night every three hours.

Because of the low season the train is almost empty – except from our coupe. We share the toilet and the sink – yes we couldn’t shower for 5 days – with 10 other people. With some of those people we had drinks together a couple of times – fascinating to see how easily you meet people. For example the conversation with Clautilde – a French girl – she loved the people in Moscow. She told us she learned a bit Russian – just the basic part – before visiting this city. Everytime she spoke Russian, they smiled and helped her out. So maybe a good tip if you are planning to go to Moscow; learn the language.

Speaking about Clautilde, she also has a blog, but not like we expect. She doesn’t write stories, she draws them. And they are amazing. It’s defenitely worth a look. You can find it here!

There’s not much to do in the train besides reading, sleeping, watching the beautiful nature and small talks. Sometimes the train stops at a station – it depends how long, from 5 to 25 minutes -then you are able to go out. It’s good to have some fresh air, stretch your legs and you can buy some food at the small shops of the station or you can buy some food from local woman. Almost every stop they are waiting for the trains to come, with a car of homemade food. You should try this out – its cheap and tasty – defenitely better then the food that they sell in the train.

Among all the young people we had a special and cute neighbour; a baby girl of 2 years old. When she came in we were a bit surprised; 2 years old and 5 whole days in the train? Isn’t it asking for a crying kid? But it turned out to be the opposite, a sweet all day laughing girl. She was traveling with her mom from Mongolia (their home town) to Moscow and now they are traveling back home. Everyday she brought a visit to everybody in the coupe. Playing, singing and talking all day long. Those 5 days we only heard her cry as soon as she had to go to bed – she loved being around all the people.

Another special person we’ve met in the train is Martin; a 75 year old man from Switzerland. Martin doesnt’t want to take the plane because of the pollution. He did this traintrip 3 times already and loves it, in the train he finds the time and rest to learn Chinese and Spanish and play some violin. One night he gave us a small concert, amazing! He is also a great story teller based on all the amazing things he experienced. He negotiated for exemple during the cold war in Russia with Gorbatsjov.

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You can say this train trip was special. Sometimes I was a bit restless; wanted to go outside, have a long walk and after 4 days I looked forward to a nice shower. The sleeping part was only rough the first night, you get used to it and I loved the flow of the train – I will miss it when I will sleep in a normal bed again. The thing I loved the most about this train were the people; it felt like we were one group of friends, traveling all together.

Now it’s time to explore Mongolia till Thursday, then we will take the train to Bejing!

Do you’ve any plans making this train trip? Please make sure you take this stuff with you:
– Food! This one is important. Somebody told me we should take some snacks and food. We are so happy we did. The food in the train is not very tasty and expensive. We took some brown bread, fruits, crackers, nuts, chocolate and ginger (perfect to make some tea)
– Washcloth. Seriously, otherwise you will smell yourself after a few days.
– Toilet paper. Something that’s not available in the train so make it yourself comfortable and bring enough.
– Cards / games. After 2 days of doing nothing you will be happy you brought some games. It’s also a good way to meet people.
– An external charger. There are just a few charging points which are not always working. You will be bored when your Ereader is out of battery, believe me.
– Water. There are days when they don’t have cold water anymore. Boiled water is always available, so you can cool this down if you like.
– Flipflops. The toilet is not clean, so do yourself a favour and put something on your feet.

Day 1+2. Goodbyes & Moscow – Russia.

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Moscow: 04-04-2016 // 05-04-2016

Monday the 4th of April, time to start our journey. So excited to discover the world but also a bit nervous; what are we going to do coming year? The hardest part of this Monday was to say ‘goodbye’ to my mom. But as soon as we ended our hugging and dried our tears, I was ready to go! After a few hours we were airborn from Amsterdam to Moscow.

We booked the first part of our trip with Tiara Tours, it was easier to book the Trans Mongolia Express with an organisation as Tiara. They’ve arranged everything for us; transfers, hostels, excursions, the train, the stop in Mongolia and our VISA. The hotel they booked for the first night was Maxima Hotels. A hotel 20 minutes from the city center of Moscow. Clean, not to big and the rooms were fine – it had everything you need.

Tuesday the 5th of April we explored Moscow with our guide. She took us with the metro to the heart of Moscow. I truly recommend to travel by metro when you are in Moscow. Due to the 11 million (!) inhabitants there are always traffic jams and it will take you hours to get to your destination. The metros in Moscow go every minute – seriously – and besides it is easier, it’s also very beautiful. The metro stations all look like musea – made by Jozef Stalin to impress the world after World War 2. Also to show the citizens a bright future – marble walls, beautiful chandeliers and golden decorations.

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The guide – Elena – showed us the Historical museum, the red square, the Kremlin, the St. Basil’s Cathedral and the lovely shoppingcentre GUM. The red square was absolutely impressive and I loved all the colors of the St. Basil’s Cathedral. We had lunch in the GUM, which you should visit if you are in Moscow. Besides those must-sees this city is a museum itself. The buildings are build in Barok style but all in different shapes and pastel colors.

One of the most impressive things today was passing the side where Boris Nemtsov – a very important Russian politician and criticaster of Putin – was murdered. The reason behind his dead is still not revealed. These moments makes you realize you are just a small ant in the big world.

While we were impressed by the city, we didn’t really like the people. They have a very closed personality and nobody smiled.

After dinner at the hotel we relaxed a bit and at 11.45 pm it was time to take the train. Honestly – I was a bit nervous, something we wanted to do so badly, but how will we actually experience it?

Quit your job & go backpacking

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For a long time I wondered: “What do I really want? What do I want with my life? With my job?” I started to work for a Dutch television company in The Hague and had a good time. Even though my colleagues were fun and I learned a lot, all this time I knew this wasn’t my dream. I wasn’t born for this kind of work. I switched jobs in September 2015 to work for a great company in Amsterdam city center. It was such a relief hopping on a bike instead of a one hour drive.

It was a job with new experiences, new challenges, great people and a lovely working environment. But I still had the feeling something was missing.  kasnick2

A few years ago I talked about travelling the world one day with my boyfriend Kasper. Make a trip together and leave everything behind. “Maybe in a couple of years” is what we said. When I told Kas I was a bit restless, he told me he felt the same. And that people.. was a big relief. Every single day, my day feels the same. I wake up, go to my work, come home, have some dinner and go to bed. I don’t want to live like this at the moment. It’s not challenging enough.

After talking together for a couple of days – yes we did make this decision in a couple of days – we decided to make a one year worldtrip. ONE YEAR! We will have one year to do whatever we want. We resigned from our jobs, found a new place for our cat and booked a ticket. I felt the adrenaline running through my body. A feeling that I didn’t feel for a long – long time.

On the 4th of April 2016 our plane goes to Moskou – Russia. From here we will take the Trans Siberian express to Bejing. And afterwards? We will see.. One thing we don’t want is making plans. I think ‘We will see’ is our new motto this year.

Do you want to know what we are doing and where we are? Please take a look at this website, we will keep you posted!

Previous. South-Africa: KwaZulu Natal – Part 1

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20-12-2014 — 02-01-2015

Part 1: Thanda Private Game Reserve

On December the 20th 2014 we had a few flights on the planning: Amsterdam – Paris – Johannesburg – Richardsbay. When we finally arrived at Richardsbay a transfer from the lodge picked us up and brought us to the Thanda Private Game Reserve. Something special was waiting for us: We were going on a safari!

Day 1. 


For the ones who never had a safari holiday before: this is not a relaxing holiday. The first morning our alarm was freakin’ early. On a normal working day I would be cranky and snooze for 20 more minutes. But when the alarms goes off in magical Africa (just to mention this alarm was at 5 o’clock in the morning) I jumped out of my bed and was totally ready for this amazing day in this amazing country. After a cup of tea the Jeep was ready for us and of course we we’re equipped all with camera’s and binoculars.

After a 10 minute drive in the Jeep I realized how it felt like being in Africa. The smell, the nature, the animals, the noises.. It is actually everything we don’t have in the Netherlands. The first day we were lucky: we saw a group of Elephants, a white rhino, a lot of birds and two lionesses who were chilling in the sun after a heavy meal.

At the end of the day it was time for a siesta in the sun and a swim in the pool. `

Day 2 

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We started the day the same as the day before. The alarm was ringing crazy early and we did another morning safari in the jeep. The day started lovely by seeing 5 cubs. A bit further daddy lion was chilling and sleeping in the sun. While we were next to him, he decided to wake up, jawn a bit and stand up to go for a walk.

While we were driving we also saw some elephants, a leopard and another white rhino.

Our guide had this brilliant idea and told us that it would be fun to make a canoe safari over the hippo river. Surprisingly everybody was excited about this plan, except from me. Anyhow, they guaranteed me I would be sorry if I didn’t come and it wouldn’t be as dangerous as it sounds. Allright, I was in – oh men I’m too easy to persuade. The guide we had during this canoe safari was another guide then we had the rest of the week – he was strong and big and I felt pretty safe with him. The guide we had this time was small, I didn’t understand a word he said and he laughed about everything he said. As soon as we arrived at the hippo river it was time to get in the boats. Mister guide went first and told us there are also a hundreds of crocodiles in the water – I already felt super safe, I felt even more safe because of knowing this – can anybody tell me why this was fun?

I still think it was super sweet of Kas to go in a canoe with me– because I didn’t trust myself at all in a boat like this, in a f….. hippo-crocodile river. While we were ‘happily’ canoeing through the water, I saw the hippo’s bathing and swimming. I would have liked that view if I wasn’t that scared – I was literally shivering.

The guide decided it was time for a break and we followed him to a small ‘beach’. I have to say there were times I felt more relaxing on a beach. The guide told us hippo’s can’t swim, but they can run over the bottom super fast. That is the danger of this animal. Because you can’t see the hippo’s they can surprise you by popping up next to your boat to say hi. Did I tell you we still had to go back?

We went back to the lodge to take a shower and make ourselves ready for the sundowner. We did have the sundowner next to the hippo river, something our guide – luckily it was the big and strong one this time – didn’t tell us. Of course it was super special, but I couldn’t get my eyes off those big killers while enjoying my wine.

Day 3 

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The fact days could be even more exciting then the day before… I didn’t expect that. But it happened. Today.

We started the day full of energy and the same as the days before. On our way we saw a big group of elephants and it was amazing – they were all walking up a mountain and I heard the Lion King songs playing in my head.

Our guide really loves some adventure and drove off road. And voila: there we saw the black rhino. The guide told us in the beginning of the week the black rhino is much more aggressive then the white rhino. This one is aggressive when she is on her own, but this giant animal is even more aggressive when she is out for a walk with her babies.

This one was grazing with her two babies and the guide told us it was super important to keep some distance. Otherwise she would be scared – and we could have a problem. Unfortunately for us, the wind was blowing our smell right in the nose of this sweet rhino. It took a few minutes before the rhino realized she had company. And she didn’t like it – at all. She came closer and closer – the baby’s running behind her – until she was standing next to me.

If their mother didn’t look so angry I could have loved the moment, but unfortunately she did have this look. Our guide started talking to her and told her to leave and explained we didn’t want to hurt her. I think she didn’t understand any South-African and she came a bit closer. I felt her breath. My body told me to run out of the car, to hop in a tree and scream. As if the guide was able to read my mind he told us on the exact same moment: “Whatever happens. You stay where you are. Don’t move. Don’t talk. Don’t scream.” Jup – roger that.

The mother turned around and ran away, together with her babies. I could finally breath. Untill…. I saw her leg moving, like she was preparing a big and fast run. And then she started. She was so, so fast. She stopped right next to me and started blowing. I felt every move she made – every breath she took. The guide wasn’t so sure about this situation and started slamming the wooden stick at the door. I can tell you I already was quite scared, I was even more when I saw the fear of the guide. The mother did this trick again, and again… And then she ran away with her kids. Holy shit.

We decided to go for a little drive – so we were sure the black rhino didn’t smell or see us anymore – and went out of the car for a drink. We all needed this. When it got dark we drove home and we crossed an Elephant. Because it was just a one way street we parked the car on the side, put off the lights of the car and were waiting till Mr. Elephant walked by. This was the biggest Elephant I have ever seen and – thankgod – he walked by. Without even looking at us. Normally I wouldn’t like this – when people don’t even look at me – but I was thankful that mister Elephant didn’t do this. It was enough excitement for today.

Day 4. 

Crazy when you realize it’s Christmas evening. This year we don’t have any Christmas tree, no cold or snow but elephants, sun and a jungle. I can get used to this.

Today we had a good sleep and didn’t wake up for the morning safari. We had another program for this morning.. We put on our walking shoes, ready for the walking safari! With a bit of shaking knees because of the day before, but with a lot of excitement we walked into the sanctuary of the animals. A strange feeling to walk here while a lion could be very close.

After a walking safari of 2 hours it was time for some rest, because at three o’clock our guide was picking us up again. We did another safari in the jeep and when it became dark we were driving back to the lodge – or at least we thought so. It took the guide a long time to drive us back and the guide told us he was a bit lost, but he thought he found the way. After a few minutes we all smelled fire and we were shocked. The guide drove to the fire and as soon as we came closer, we knew our guide was making jokes. What we saw was amazing. In the middle of the jungle they made us a real Christmas dinner. Including campfires, wines and lovely food. It was such a big surprise and it was a great and lovely special evening.

After the dinner it was time to go back to the lodge – the animals did smell the food and it was a better to go home safely. On our way back we had another, last surprise: we saw a hyena.

This safari experience was great and although we were a bit sad leaving– we knew our holiday didn’t end yet: Thonga Beach Lodge we’re on our way!

Previous: South-Africa: Kwazulu Natal – Part 2

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20-12-2014 until 02-01-2015

Thanda – Thonga Beach Lodge. 

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On first Christmasday we drove from Thanda Game Reserve to Thonga Beach Lodge in Thanda. Five relaxingdays were waiting for us.

Day 1. 


On the first day we didn’t do anything. A bit of relaxing, some sunshine, a good book and a wine or a cocktail in our hands. No problem at-all. I love days like these!

Day 2. 

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Our lodges had a view on the Ocean and we immediately saw the ocean was really rough. Swimming was possible but I prefer a bit of paddling. But today there was no paddling on the program, we we’re going for some snorkeling! It was very hard getting the boat into the water but: we did it. We needed a lot of manpower and a lot of patience, but it worked . On our way to a great snorkeling place we crossed a beautiful Dolphin family. Our guide jumped into the water to check if it was safe enough for us to jump into the water. After a few minutes she gave us the signal: free to go! It was amazing and it felt like a dream.  When you put your head under water you heard the Dolphins communicating with each other, so special! There was also a little baby who was swimming to me all the time, while mommy was picking her up. Again, and again, aind again. How special is this underwater world?
Day 3. 


The last day in Thonga Beach Lodge! It was almost time to leave Thonga Beach, but not before we’ve visited a real African wedding and not before we saw the tortoise laying her eggs.

I knew African weddings are very different then the weddings we’re used to. If we knew the Bride & Groom? No. Not at all.  We’ve never seen them before. Secretly: I felt a bit uncomfortable being there. But the Newlyweds were very happy to see us and they welcomed us super friendly. The whole village came to this wedding and I think it was the biggest wedding I’ve ever seen. I was especially very impressed because of the slaughtered cows – this was a wedding gift of the father of the bride.

In the evening we’ve got into the car to look for the tortoises and before we knew we saw one. This was so special, this animal is so huge! The process of laying those eggs is quite interesting. They come out of the water, search for a good spot, spit a hole for the eggs and they can start! Those tortoises can’t see anything when it is dark, so they are walking to the light when they are going back to the ocean – they are walking to the  light of the moon – and they are walking to the dark when they have to find a spot for the eggs – and so they are walking to the beach. I love those nature things.
Umhlanga Rocks – Oyster Box Hotel.  

On December the 30th we travelled a bit further. We went to Umhlanga Rocks – to the Oyster Box Hotel!

This was the last part of our trip and we stayed here for three nights. Those days at Oyster Box were super relaxing. We didn’t do anything else except from sunbathing and getting a tan before heading back to the Netherlands.

 

 

Previous: We have a wedding to attend! – St. Martin

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16-04-2013 until 16-06-2013 

“We have a wedding to attend!” Our trip to St. Martin started with this news. My brother and sister in law (to be) were living on St. Martin and were happily in love, engaged and were getting married on the 18th of April 2013.

Our arrival at St. Martin started a bit messy. I loan a suitcase from my friend – so I could take a bit more stuff – and unfortunately this suitcase looks a bit ‘general’. The suitcase I have is pink and is very noticeable, you will never miss it. Obviously; you can miss the suitcase of my friend.  I think you already see where I’m going.

When we did arrive in apartment – which was crazy beautiful, but later on more about this – I tried to open the suitcase but it didn’t work with the code my friend gave me. I tried it for a hundred of times but it still didn’t work… Jep. I took the wrong suitcase. Perfect! Lucky me, my mom was at the apartment too and she drove me back to the airport. I felt like the most luckiest girl in the world – they still had my suitcase. Unfortunately for the people of the suitcase I took, they had to take another flight and took this flight without their suitcase. Yes. I felt guilty. Super guilty.

Anyhow. The apartment! We were staying at Les Balcons in Oyster Pond.  It was lovely. We had a giant bed, a lovely bathroom and we had our own terrace – with a barbecue and two sunbeds. If you are planning to go to St. Martin and still looking for a good stay, I obviously recommend Les Balcons!  

The bachelor party was a huge success – for both groups. And you could notice this the next morning – especially the men were having a great hangover. We decided to take the boat to Pinel – it was a perfect day to do absolutely nothing except from eating and sleeping.

And then.. It was THE day. The day of the wedding. I love weddings, especially when the wedding is on the beach. This day was like a fairytale. Michiel & Roos were the most beautiful Newlyweds I’ve ever seen. There was a romantic ceremony, a great dinner and afterwards a big party.
The day after the wedding it was time for a big lunch at Pinel with the family – including fresh lobster, sun and sandy toes.

Together with my other brother and his girlfriend, we decided to go to Anguilla on our last day. You can take the boat to Anguilla at the French part of the Island: in the harbor of Marigot. It’s only 20 minutes by boat. The water was quite rough and it is possible you’re getting a bit seasick. Yes – we experienced this ourselves.

I can tell you: the Island Anguilla is worth it. White beaches, blue water and a lot of deserted beaches. We visited Anguilla just for the day, but if you can spend more time here – please do this. It’s so pretty!

What else did we do in St. Martin? Honestly, not that much. We slept, eat, drink – a lot, and enjoyed the sunshine. St. Martin thank you for this perfect stay – hope to see you soon!

 

 

Our first trip together – New York

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Our first trip together – New York

12-04-2013 until 16-04-2013. 

Day 1.
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The 12th of April we flew to New York. NEW YORK! I love New York so much and I hoped  Kasper would like this city as much as I do. Because when he does, there will be a small chance we will move here one day – you know when we win the lottery or find a bag with a lot of money ;).

In New York we booked an apartment with Airbnb. It was a tiny apartment but on Times Square and not super expensive – which is quite an exception in this city. We had exactly three days to explore NYC and we started our first day – of course – visiting the Empire State Building. The view is fascinating and – secretly – I think I love this place so much because it reminds me of Chuck and Blair. Yes, this is the place where Chuck waits for Blair to say the three magic words – 10 point if you understand this.

Afterwards it was time for New York’s symbol. If you want to visit Liberty Island you have to take the ferry in Lower Manhattan. Unfortunately the statue was under construction so we couldn’t get off the boat. This didn’t mean it was less special. The Statue of Liberty close enough to touch, the sunshine on our face and a great spot on the Skyline of New York..

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As soon as we got off the boat we walked through some shopping streets – we didn’t shop a lot, because my love doesn’t like shopping (at all) – and we ended the day at the M&M Store. At the end of the day we decided to relax a bit in the apartment and in the evening we went out for dinner in a real American restaurant: big portions, a lot of meat and huge beers. Yes, it was a good ending of our first day.

Day 2.

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The second day we visited the Brooklyn Bridge. We decided to go for a walk because we both don’t like the public transport. For the ones who never visited New York City: this is quite a walk. What is more fun than walking through New York – and burn some calories in the meantime? Walking through SoHo made me realize I need to live here – maybe in another life, but one day I will live here.

Before going to the Brooklyn Bridge we visited the 9/11 memorial and of course the Financial District. Especially Kas was very impressed by the Financial District. I think he could walk here around for days.

After the Brooklyn Bridge we walked to Meatpacking District where we met a friend of Kas – this lucky bastard is living my dream and lives here. We met at The Standard and as soon as I walked in I realized this was the kind of place you expect in New York. When I decided to smoke a cigarette, the friend of Kas looked at me like I did something really bad. “That’s not done in New York”. If I really wanted to smoke I could walk to the end of the street where a smoking area was. Suddenly I didn’t want to smoke anymore – you would say this stupid trick of New Yorkers work, right?

As soon as we asked the waitress for another round – it would be my 4th glass of wine – you could see she thought we were stupid tourists. When I looked around me, I indeed saw all New Yorker’s were ‘nipping’ their wine or beer. Something we Dutchies don’t know. When we received our check we understood the ‘nipping’. We had a check of 200 dollars for just a couple of drinks. But we had fun. Allright it still is a shitload of money for a couple of drinks. Fun or not.

After this expensive liquid dinner, Kas and I decided to walk home over the High Lane. This is an old railway that hasn’t been used since 1930 so they decided to change it into a park. It is great: you walk over the busy streets of New York and through all the high buildings. And tadaaaa: you can find this High Lane in Meatpacking District. Just where we were!

Day 3. 

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Day three was a relaxing day and it was exactly what I needed. When I woke up I had the feeling of running a marathon the day before and the liquid dinner wasn’t really helpful either. But the good news was: we were still in New York and the sun was shining! We decided to go to Central Park. We bought a coffee, there was a man playing guitar and I had a great spot in the sun. Does life get any better?

After walking through the Central park – very slowly, because my body still felt like I run this marathon – we bought a great lunch at the Whole Foods. We bought two very small – which is exceptional for the USA – boxes of Sushi. This Sushi was super tasty and it was the best Sushi we have eaten in a very long time.

All good things comes to an end – so was our trip. We had to leave the lovely sunshine to pack our stuff at the apartment and go back to the Netherlands.

New York, you were great & now I love you even more.