Getting around
This is more a travelling and planing blog so if you are looking for my daily life, you’ll have to look somewhere else :)At the police station in Otjiwarongo
We had to stop for gas and food in Otjiwarongo. And in just 2 seconds we gut burglers in the car taking Martas bagh with documents and a camera. Luckily for Masha and me nothing was stolen from us. But now we have to spend some time at the Police Station. everything seams to work out well for Marta and African Bureaucracy is not too bad.
So now Maria and I are sitting in the car watching the daily life of Outjo.
Entering Southern Africa
We have just touched down in J-burg and are on our way to Windhoek. Flight was ok, rather empty, so we could use a couple of seats for sleeping. Weather was ok, around 20 and cloudy. We expect more sun and warmer temperatures in Namibia.
Stephan will meet us in Windhoek and bring us to the hotel. We will probably meet the fourth companion also. A Polish girl, living in Germany will join us and that will make us a nice quartet. Both Maria an I look forward to relax al little, perhaps even swim in the pool.
Tonight I guess we all will meet and have dinner somewhere. Stephan has already suggested Zebra Steak. I wonder how that would be.
2015 Namibia/SA tour
So I’m back. This time with a trip to Namibia and South Africa. Niether on Bike nor on Boat.
More to come…
Over the mountains for the last time this year.
Back in Krakow, other hotel though. The last one (Hotel Royal) was ok but the breakfast and the shower is bad. Now we stay in Hotel Alexander. So far very nice.
The drive to Krakow was one the best ride so far on this trip. beautiful roads with nice bends, not so much traffic and a reasonable climate, no rain and around 25 degrees. Judging by all the motorcycles we saw along the road this part of Slovakia must be quite known a good trip. From Banská Štiavnica to Krakow, around 250 km.
Kim’s Moto Guzzi is playing games with us, now it is the ignition switch suddenly fell out. He noticed it as we stopped. As we stood there, on the side of the road, another BMW-biker stopped to help us. We didn’t need any, but put out his toolbox anyway. I must say, we have met so many friendly people on this trip. In every country. Very pleasant.
Kim is reading forums about this on the web right now. It is a known flaw. I say, it’s time to get a real bike…
Tomorrow Wrocslaw, once Breslau. The biggest city that Germany has ever lost. 1945 it was the fourth city of Germany. Will be interesting.
Back in the Slovakai
Another very hot day with lots of sun made us quite wet from the inside as we arrived in Banská Štiavnica. Neither Kim nor me was actually of high expectations for this town, but we were fast overwhelmed by its charm. But first how we got here. We filled up petrol for our last Florints. At the gas station we met this people, travelling on mopeds. One even got motorcycle panniers.
Because of the heat we stopped in the shade of the former Slovavkia and Hungary. Odd feeling to see the building left alone with no people. This picture says everything.
In the beginning the roads were dull and straight but after a while we got into the Banská Štiavnica District and here are hills. And the last run to the town Banská Štiavnica was very nice. Up here, approx 600 m above sea level a very scenic town welcomed us. And the first house brewery for this journey.
In the evening we went for a walk, up to this castle.
The whole town is a former mining town. Even private houses have their own mine in the cellar. And they dug for gold here. It was during the Habsburgs time. Because the town is built on hills you will not find many normal houses. This entrance to a restaurant was not made for Scandinavians.
The last hours we spent together with Bene, a known songwriter from Slovakia. He and his friend joined a local band as the played outside. It was just a coincidence that we got there and I think we were the only one who dared to ask if we could sit together with them at their table. We had no idea who he was. We spoke a little, they were very nice and friendly.
Now we have decided how to get home. Krakow (again – we both liked it so much) – Wroclaw – Poznan – Gdansk is the route.
Tokaj
The shortest ride so far, only 120 km from Eger, took us to the Tokaj district. We are staying in a former school that has been rebuilt to a castle-like building that is now a four star hotel with a windery. It is nice and we could relax for half a day at the pool.
In the evening we tasted wine together with some people from Holland. It was niceand Tokaj really has som good wines. Espacially the sweet white ones.
Over mountains into caves
Caves of Aggtelek
We were prepared for bad weather, the forecast talked about rain all day. So we geared up. 😦 So far the worst breakfast made us decide to make an early stop to get a descent coffee and thea.
It has become warmer and wearing rain gear really made the ride hot, from the inside. But there was no rain. 🙂 Just clouds that actually disappeared. We went through the Slovakian countryside, through many small villages and some bad roads. But it is really nice to see how the people take care of the houses and gardens. You can see people tending to flowers along the street in every village.
After a two-hour ride we arrived to the border to Slovakia, Aggtelek. Her we stopped for an hour to see the caves. It was ok, the guide only spoke Hungarian and it was quite cold. We also had to listen to som prerecorded music for 5 minutes while the guide “played” with the light switches. Not very modern. So if you get here, try to join a tour in a language you understand. And bring a jacket.
From Aggtelek to Eger is just 100 km and the streets are very straight. So it was an easy ride. But Eger is really a hidden gem. We looked for a small pension to stay but it was full so we went on to the Hotel Senator Hodz. And we liked it at once. Safe parking in their garage and a beautiful lobby and a big room made this Hotel perfect for us.
I forgot my summer shoes in the Tatra mountains so I had to get new ones. I found almost the same model here for about 4 Euro. 🙂 Hungary is cheep.
Before dinner we went to the newly renovated Turkish bath. It is recommended in Lonely Planet. But it was not even worth the cheap entrance. First of all it is not a Turkish Bath, there are a couple of swimming pools with different water temperature, that’s all. And not any of the pools are hot. So skip that if you ever gets to Eger.
In the evening we eat at our hotel, it was all right. We discussed the rest of the tour and decided to skip Budapest. It is getting really hot and we preferred to go to the Tokaj. So we booked a stay in a castle with a wine yard.
In to Slovakia
I had to fix one last thing on my bike in the morning, at the workshop so we didn’t get away untill eleven o’clock. Our goal was the Tatra mountains or further down, depending on the mood and weather. The way out of Krakow was, as always in big cities, a struggle between cars and trucks. Soon we got away on the highway heading south. We didn’t go to Zakopane but to a lake with a small castle close to the Slovakian border. It was beautiful but over crowded with Polish tourists. So we skipped the castle tour and just had a short break with a snack.
After entering Slovakia we found ourself driving on some very sweet small roads with nice bends. And hardly any traffic. The air smelled woods and mountains but it sometimes rained. Sometimes even quite heavily. So Kim got to try out if the new boots he got in Krakow was waterproof. And yes there were.
We hadn’t booked any hotel in the Tarta mountains. We passed some very nice pensions but at the end we needed up in the Royal Palace. It was the biggest hotel with a breathtaking view. But we were the only tourists. After a while we understood that the place was a sanatorium of some kind. The beds were bad, hardly any water in the shower and no coffee in the morning. Well it was cheap.
The whole place is all about hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter. So I would like to come back to ski, Kim to go hiking.
Service and salt
Cathedral under ground in the Salt mine
Kim and I have stayed two days in Krakow. Thow reason, one is the nice town and the other is to get my bike done. It needed service ( 40 000 km). In Poland it costs less than half the price so it almost financed my trip, 350 Euro instead of 800.
Before we picked up the bikes (Kim’s bike got a new battery) we went to see the salt mines outside Krakow. It was nice walking down there when it was very hot outside.
In the shaft elevator taking us up again.
Quite impressive bet the tour was one hour too . Two hour would have been enough.
Late afternoon we took a taxi to the repair shop. Taxis are extremely cheap here. Around two Euro for a 15 minutes ride. My bike was cleaned as never before! I was astounded, that I have never met in Sweden. The man who di the service the asked me to com to the workshop and he showed me everything ha had done. He had found some small things that was broken nad had repaired them, for free! One part was missing in stock, so they will do that tomorrow morning before we leave Krakow. I must say that I will come back here for my services in the future. And Krakow is such a nice town.
In the Hotel Kim and I have found our favourite restaurant. Extremely big dishes, quite Polish, but still very tasty.
Tomorrow we will go up in the Carpathian mountains and we will try to reach Aggtelek in Hungary. We will see if we will get that far.
In Krakow – meeting the summer
Broken battery
Eventually Kim and I got away from Lodz. We had to visit three different MC-stores before we got a battery. And the one we got was used and for free. It turned out it was to weak anyway but it was enough to get Kim’s bike (and Kim!) to Krakow. Now the bikes are safe in a workshop, mine is getting service done (40 000 km) and Kim is getting a new battery. Price is less than half of the Swedish prices for work on bike.
Now we rest in Hotel Royal in Krakow. We spent the evening at a Jewish restaurant that was very nice. Live music and very nice food.
Tomorrow we have a day without the biked. We are going to the salt mines and to see the castle.
Getting around 