We arrived in Ankara overnight on the back of no sleep but nevertheless managed to set something of a record by picking up two central asian visas in a day,mainly due to the helpful kindnes of the local commuters, bus drivers and the consul in the tajikistan embassy, who not only waited past her opening hours for us to return but also processed our visa in half an hour!
After a manic day in Ankara, we headed down to the coast, in Kusadasi, where we have primarily spent our time lazing on the beach soaking up the sun! We have managed a trip to Ephesus, best preserved roman site in Turkey, conveniently located 10 km up the road and visited a beautiful mountain village, Sirince, where w hadlunch overlooking a valley of olive groves.
We now feel fully rested for the next part of our adventure through central asia. First stop 10 hour overnight bus ride to Ankara, where we connect to the trans-asia express train for the three day journey to Tehran! To get an idea of the journey check out the following link: http://www.seat61.com./Iran.htm
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Arctic Circle Trail
After the icebergs of Ilulissat, we headed to the mountainous island of Uummannaq, which was a complete contrast as we were the only tourists there apart from a cruise ship which visited on Sunday. Here we were really able to feel part of the community as we stayed with a local family and got to understand what it might be like to live in a remote part of Greenland. This time, rather than just looking on at the drunk people in the pub, we began to understand some of the reasons why this situtaion might occur.
In Uummannaq we also visited a friend of the family we were staying with, who allowed us to try on their traditional clothes - we don´t know who had more fun , us or her! To finish off the traditional evening we stayed the night in a turf hut that the inuit people used to live in before the Danish introduced modern houses. Our hosts also took us to a retreating glacier tongue, where we were able to appreciate the impact of global warming as we also saw a home video of a family trip to the same glacier tongue in 1993. From the same position, rather than looking up to a wall of ice we were looking down on a river.
We then got on our last helicopter ride and headed off to Kangerlussuaq, where summer temperatures can reach 25 degrees. We took a jeep tour to the inland ice, where we were fortunate enough to see a 20m high sheet of ice break off from the glacier and crash into the river below. Even our guide was impressed and told us how lucky we were to see this. We have spent 7 weeks hearing icebergs move and crack but have never seen anything and now it was all happening in front of us.
This was just a bonus as the main reason for coming to Kangerlussuaq was that it was the starting point of our 10 day walk to Sisimiut. We needed to prepare ourselves and stock up on food, which proved harder than expected as there was only one shop in town and it was waiting to receive its second delivery of the year! To say the least the selection was limited and much of it was out of date. Under the circumstances we did well but our packs ended up weighing a bit more than we had hoped.
We write to you now from Sisimiut with a great sense of achievement, having completed the 150 km walk after 11 tiring days in the wilderness. We haven't see anyone since we left Kangerlussuaq but did see 4 reindeer, one of which was very intrigued by us and came quite close. We have been treated to some stunning scenery through mountains, lakes and finally the Fjord, accompanied by sunny weather. We were able to punctuate the long days of walking with a couple of rest days and the experience was made a little more civilised by the small hunters´cabins dotted alog the route that we slept in most nights.
Sisimiut will be our last port of call in Greenland. We can´t believe how quickly the last 7 weeks have gone adn have a feeling the rest of the year is going to whizz by. Next stop is Turkey for some R&R.
In Uummannaq we also visited a friend of the family we were staying with, who allowed us to try on their traditional clothes - we don´t know who had more fun , us or her! To finish off the traditional evening we stayed the night in a turf hut that the inuit people used to live in before the Danish introduced modern houses. Our hosts also took us to a retreating glacier tongue, where we were able to appreciate the impact of global warming as we also saw a home video of a family trip to the same glacier tongue in 1993. From the same position, rather than looking up to a wall of ice we were looking down on a river.
We then got on our last helicopter ride and headed off to Kangerlussuaq, where summer temperatures can reach 25 degrees. We took a jeep tour to the inland ice, where we were fortunate enough to see a 20m high sheet of ice break off from the glacier and crash into the river below. Even our guide was impressed and told us how lucky we were to see this. We have spent 7 weeks hearing icebergs move and crack but have never seen anything and now it was all happening in front of us.
This was just a bonus as the main reason for coming to Kangerlussuaq was that it was the starting point of our 10 day walk to Sisimiut. We needed to prepare ourselves and stock up on food, which proved harder than expected as there was only one shop in town and it was waiting to receive its second delivery of the year! To say the least the selection was limited and much of it was out of date. Under the circumstances we did well but our packs ended up weighing a bit more than we had hoped.
We write to you now from Sisimiut with a great sense of achievement, having completed the 150 km walk after 11 tiring days in the wilderness. We haven't see anyone since we left Kangerlussuaq but did see 4 reindeer, one of which was very intrigued by us and came quite close. We have been treated to some stunning scenery through mountains, lakes and finally the Fjord, accompanied by sunny weather. We were able to punctuate the long days of walking with a couple of rest days and the experience was made a little more civilised by the small hunters´cabins dotted alog the route that we slept in most nights.
Sisimiut will be our last port of call in Greenland. We can´t believe how quickly the last 7 weeks have gone adn have a feeling the rest of the year is going to whizz by. Next stop is Turkey for some R&R.
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