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Michael Spies
Michael Spies

Michael Spies

traveled in 23 countries Read more🇩🇪Icking
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  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Just came over from another ageOr you just motor cycle straight into the historical museumThis is a motor cyclo truckAnd this a motor cyclo trike vanOr a Motor cyclo house

    A million ways to motor cycle

    November 10, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Motorcycles everywhere! Behind you, in front of you, on the sides and weaving in and out of the traffic. TERRIFYING!
    You can motor cycle alone, you can carry your shopping, or maybe a friend as well.
    In front of you maybe your wife, and she could be holding your child in her arms. 5 people on a motor cycle! Why not?    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Suddenly total traffic jam
    Grilled chicken with thin pita breadYou eat sitting on your haunchesFresh pita bread straight from the ovenOranges by the van loadPommegranitesThe butcher elegantly skinning two sheepMotorcycles, vans, trucks and hundreds of annimalsGoats waiting for new ownersSheep huddling togetherProudly presenting his goatsSold by weightWeighing the dealHow much you want to pay for this big sheep?Within minutes the sheep have changed hands, are loaded onto the back of a van, and off they go

    A Morning at the Kuhdasht sheep market

    November 9, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Driving into Kudasht there is suddenly a total traffic jam, grill fires everywhere and hundreds of trucks and shepherds who have brought their sheep to the market. Hundreds, if not more.
    It is autumn and the nomads are coming down into the valleys with their flocks to pass the harsh winter. Part of the process is to reduce the number of animals they have to feed through the winter. That happens at the markets.
    It is chaos and nothing for the light hearted, with animals herding together, terrified, some running away and some being carried or dragged back to the scales where they are weighed and sold. Everywhere people with bundles of money closing deals. Around Fruit is being sold and meat grilled.
    In front of one hut a butcher slaughertered, skinned and prepared two sheep in about 30 minutes with an unbelievable elegance and skill.
    And then, one hour later, the trucks and vans leave again with their new loads.
    AN UNBELIEVABLE SPECTACLE!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    The valley getting deeperSunset as we enter the canyon with the sun shining along the canyon. What a sight!What an atmosphereView out of our doorWashing day!Margot on a walk up the side canyonWater channel bringing water to the trout farmGrilled trout, Iran style!Andy and ElkeUp the side canyonHanging bridges criss crossing the side canyon on the way upNew Kurdish friends on the wayBeautiful rock pools

    Shirez canyon

    November 8, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Drove into Shirez canyon on the Seymare river today and spent two days there next to a tiny trout farm that grilled us the most amazing trouts, Iran style, crispy and full of spices.
    Margot did a day hike alone up the sides of the canyon to beautiful rock pools and to encounters with two local Kurdish on the way to their village with wonderful discussions only with hands and feet.Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    50 year old Mercedes trucks, they just go and go!
    The Souk (market) full of biscuit shops baking freshSpices, nuts and herbs everywhereWhat a loving presentation!Tekiyeh Moaven ol- Molk museumTiled walls with stories of the Martyr Hossein (without face)

    Kermanschah

    November 6, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Kermanshah, relatively close to the Irak border has a wonderful SUK (market) where we topped up on spices, teas and other rarities.
    The Tekiyeh Moaven ol Molk house illustrates the miracles from the life of the martyr Hossein in fascinating painted tile walls.
    Again, "welcome to Iran" everywhere, from complete strangers!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    2800 meter pass behind Hamadan
    Coffee and breakfast at 2700 meters2700 meters also had a wondrous effect on this packet of chipsNomads who have come down to the low plains from high grazing groundsSarazzin Bridge from 12th centuryKing Darius of 148 BC had this huge rock face prepared to inscribe "words of wisdom" that never came

    Over the pass and on to Bisotun Reliefs

    November 4, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Leaving Hamedan we crossed the most amazing pass at 2700 meters into a valley full of walnut trees and incredible vistas, to arrive at Bisotun where King Darius (148BC) had his victories engraved in different languages into the side of an incredible rock massiv leading up to 3.500 meters.
    A further absolutely huge surface had been prepared for further works but he probably died before.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Potato harvest. All by hand! Backbreaking work!
    Hamedan from our elevated overnight spotCute couple cuddling above our overnight spotBeautiful hike up to 2500 meters.Hamedan in the distancePanorama during our mountain tourBustling evening atmosphere in Hamedan at the main squareDinner in a traditional restaurant sitting cross legged on a carpet on a platformAfter eye contact, this boy insisted on giving his prayer chain to MargotAnd then the whole family followedWonderful kitsch for the romanticHamedan by night

    Hamadan

    November 3, 2022 in Iran ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    We stayed two nights in Hamedan, a previous capital of persia which reflects a very open and tolerant atmosphere with many people speaking English, which is very rare.
    The stay was packed full with encounters of people coming to talk with us, led by the phrase "welcome to Iran, we are so happy to have you here"
    On the square in the evening one man came to us only for the purpose of saying that we are the first tourists he has seen in many years and that this makes him so happy!
    Another very moving encounter: Margot had taken up eye contact with a 10 year boy who then came to us insisting that margot accept his "prayer chain" as a gift.
    This chain now hangs in our car accompanying us on our way.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Historical vehicles that are repaired and repairedBeautiful facesAnd more applesEverywhere people pushing their fresh fruit and vegetables to the market

    On the way to Kataleh Khor cave

    November 2, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    As we drive over land it is the smiling faces of people greeting us, wanting to take a photo with us and inviting us to come home with them that moves us deeply.
    This last wish is very touching, but can also be a real problem, because local habit has it that you ask AT LEAST THREE TIMES before giving up. Today we had one gentleman stop me at a traffic light to invite me. Then he followed us to the next traffic light to then phone a friend and ask him to invite us in english, and then later caught Margot in the store while shopping to ask again. Finally he bought us three cans of Tuna before giving up his quest.
    Also very moving is the way people touch their heart while bowing slightly when greeting you.
    People are extremely happy to see us and from everywhere they shout "welcome to Iran!"
    What a warm, welcoming country!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Zendane Soleyman
    Zendane Soleyman, 80meter high calciferous ring, previously holding volcanic water.1The school busHuge haystacks everywhereDogs are everywhere! Usually lost, hungry and sick. A sad sight!Happy birthday whith what we have on board!Early in the morning, akure workers arrive to harvest applesApples everywhere! The result of a few hoursThe eternal dark black strong tea, ready to drink at any moment throughout the dayAbout 3 kg of flat bread for the worker team

    Zendane Soleyman, Takht-E Soleyman

    November 1, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Zendane Soleyman is a volcanic spring emitting warm calciferous water. Over millenia this calcium built a ring that grew higher and higher to 80meters and was a holy place. A few kms further is Takht-E-Soleymann another holy place where in 600AD King Soleymann stole the "Cross of christianity" in Jerusalem and dedicated it to the temple here. Shortly after, an earthquake created a crack in Zedane allowing the water to flow out, a very bad omen! Shortly after the king of constantinople came to regain the holy cross, and destroyed the temple.
    Now what do we learn from this story?
    Don't take away other boys toys!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies

    Kandovan

    October 30, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Kandovan is a fully functional ancient village dug into the rocky slopes of a mountain. Transport of everything up and down the slopes is done by donkey.

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    From the border to Khoy
    Our three"Iranian" beautiesGraffitiThey warned us that this is a meat countryThe souk marketThey sell everything on the soukNow isn't that a beautiful living room furnishing?The menu at lunch. Read carefullyMenu at dinner1Well, that was our dinner, I meant Margot and I! 4,6 million RialWell! Thats the income from 10 visitors, 32 million = 312 banknotes to count2 persons to count the banknotes

    Khoy town

    October 27, 2022 in Iran ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Yesterday morning we drove the 80 Km's into Khoy where Andy and I exchanged €100,- for 31.500.000 Rial in 100.000 notes = 315 notes to count. Absolute stress!
    Really cute was the international menu from the lunch place we went to: "so specal and delisges!

    But even better was the dinner where we paid 32 million and it took 2 persons from the restaurant to count it in a reasonable time.
    Iran has had a high inflation for years resulting in these incredible prices.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Cars in all directions, jamming each other inOur beautiful Iranian ladies"The morning after". Morning calm, Yesterday seems like a bad dream.

    A day at the border

    October 27, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    What a day!
    We arrived at the border at 09 and got through to the other side at 29:30 in the evening with nerves frayed.
    I have never seen such chaos!
    When we arrived there were already 50 Iranian taxis waiting, covered with ice from the night they had spent in their cars. We lined up nicely, as europeans would do with reasonable space between the vehicles only to discover that locals would come shooting past the queue to jump into the gaps. Then 100 Kurds, Iranians, and turks would race forward by foot literally trying to pull the guy out of his car, all screaming at once. He would then lock his doors and just sit there. Then someone would scream that the que was moving (1 meter) In an absolute stampede they would run to their cars and in a drag race type scenario race forward into every gap they would find, and even opening a third queue which didn't exist. Then the Army would arrive with an armoured vehicle with machine gun on the roof , to chase them back to the back of the queue. And then the whole story would repeat again. ALL DAY LONG.
    In between I got into a discussion with an Iranian student about what is going on in Iran (I shall not go into detail here) . After we had been waiting for 5 hours with only about 50 meters of progress, this same guy went to the border post with me to translate to the guards. They said that due to issues on the other side it seemed that cars were being "taken apart" today and that we would probably have to sleep here. They recommended going to another border.

    Then after 6 hours of waiting, suddenly the Turkish border boss came to us telling us to drive past the queue. He was going to help us to get through. No one knows why!
    Having passed the Turkish side (1 hour) with several computer break downs and me having to pay a fine of , hold tight, €0,25 for having not paid highway tax when entering turkey, we passed on to the Iranian side. And this is where real chaos started. 10 military border guards stormed into our car ripping open everything looking for alcohol. Worse still, three guys climbed onto the roof walking over my solar modules as if it were a terrace, ripping at our boxes.
    Then in a chaos of people running to-and-fro screaming, our carnet de passage, visas, passports, insurance, were stamped, carried from A to B, and then to C and then back to A with us not understanding one word.
    AND THEN WE WERE SUDDENLY THROUGH!
    Amiricale which I dont understand!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    My new Iranian wife!Waiting at the border

    IRAN, here we come

    October 26, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C

    Last night we met the other teams crossing the border with us and went shopping one more time for suitable clothing for Margot followed by a wonderful dinner in a classical Lokanta full to the brim with locals all talking at the same time. What a sound level!
    Once again we were witness to the amazing friendliness and kindness of the Turkish and their interest in us. It felt as if they felt honoured to have us in their lokanta.

    Internet has been significantly limited in Iran and we are not sure when we can upload Fotos, so it could take awhile for further news!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Morning discussion with Andi and ElkeRubbish everywhereNeatly packed in a bag and left lyingGlass shards everywhere.The glistening is glass!Tins neatly packed in a bag and leftLast breakfast, unfortunately amidst broken glass and plastic around

    Last day in turkey, a philosophical day

    October 25, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    This afternoon we will head closer the Iranian border, to camp one more time on this side and then cross the border tomorrow morning. Apparently crossing the border takes many hours!!!
    While the German foreign ministery has issued a warning that sounds frightening, we have decided to drive none-the-less, maybe staying a little closer to each other to support.

    This all makes me sad. We live in a world where countries and people who have got on well together for years as is the case between Germany and Iran, suddenly are not supposed to get on because a new government has come to power and sees things differently. (The relationship between USA and Iran is the classical example).
    We live in such a beautiful world and share common humanity and love and our governments just cause chaos!

    Another topic that is going through my head is the physical rubbish that we are confronted with in Turkey. This is such an incredibly beautiful country with such friendly warm hearted people, and yet no matter where you go, no matter how high, how remote or how beautiful the area, the ground is covered with broken glass, plastic bottles, chips bags and "you name what".
    There seems to be absolutely no regard for the environment, what-so-ever. Moreover it seems the Turks feel absolutely at ease sitting down for a picknik amidst mountains of rubbish that get more and more over the years. On the contrary, they add their own rubbish to it, neatly packed in a plastic bag and left lying or thrown out of the window! Bottles are smashed to pieces on purpose resulting in a landscape covered in glass pieces of variing colours.

    I just cannot get it!

    We are given this gift of a beautiful world, and here are people who just don't care!!
    They have homes and cars that are impeccably clean, with driveways that are hosed down with water every few days, they also have kids that grow up and want to visit nature, and yet they treat their nature in a way that I simply dont understand.

    This journey is to discover new cultures. I wonder what else I am going to be confronted with.?????    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Entering the craterIncredible Autumn colouring1The smaller of two crater lakesHundreds of sheep when we left the craterWhat a sheep dog?Climbing up the crater edge to 3000metersAnd while we were having a rest my spiritual bird arrived and circled above usWhat a dream to suddenly see this bird appear and circle above usMy spiritual animal circling above usCrater lakes seen from the edgeAt the top, 3.000 meters!On top of the world

    Nemrut Dagi, crater edge at 3000m

    October 23, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    Wow what a day!
    First this amazing morning waking up over Lake Van, that is 6 times the size of lake Constance, then visiting, the two lakes inside the crater, bathed in the colours of Autumn,
    and then a climb up to 3.000 meters on the edge of the crater. Incredible impressions!
    And then to crown it all, my spiritual anima,l the eagle, comes to visit us while we are resting, circling above us for many minutes.
    What a gift!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Installing a hydraulic tube late at night in pouring rain.
    Another beautiful "everything" shop1The bigest mountain of garlic I have ever seenDelicious Köfte on the roadDarum on the roadside

    Helping each other

    October 20, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Leaving Cappadoccia, we were called by Andi Hoyler, one of the other teams heading towards Iran, whether we could help him. His clutch was not functioning. At their location we ended up spending the day looking for the reason, a hole in a hydraulic tube!
    Having found a replacement, which in itself was an adventure, we installed it in pouring rain and total darkness with headlamps, together with two young mechanics who drove nearly an hour from a workshop on the other side of kayseri to get soaking wet in ice cold rain at night!
    Wow! what an act of helping!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    "The romantic Sunset dinner"
    "The Sunset Horse ride""The Sunset Quad ride""The sunrise Ballon trip"The other side: incredible rock formations with homes and churches dug out of the rocksOne of the cute tea barsHotels built into the rocksAnother cute bar, a pile of oranges and a juice press for anyone wanting to make a juice11

    Cappadoccia, magic rocks!

    October 19, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Our route passes through cappadoccia and so we decided to revisit Kaya Camping, where in 2014 we met several "overlanders" on the way to china or india.
    But alas, even though the Sandstone rock formations with their numerous carved-out homes and churches are still as just as beautiful as they were then, tourism is squeezing the last drop out of the region presenting the "sunset romantic dinner", "the sunset quad tour", "the sunset horse riding tour," "the sunset landrover tour",, "the sunrise balloon tour" at €300/ person etc, etc. It is simply overload and no more real nature experience.
    The most common tourist faces are chinese or Japanese with a few americans between!
    It was not the cappadocia we experienced in 2014.
    None the less we did wonderful walks stopping in the cutest of places for a tea or sitting in the most primitive of juice bars where a huge pile of oranges and pommegranites invited you to press your own juice.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    a gigantesque brand new 6 lane highway with ultra modern bridge crossing the Isthmus into Asia
    Istanbul in the distanceour first Moshee with singing Muezzin. We must be in the OrientThe modern way of parking long vans at a shopping center in Ankara

    ...on to the asian side

    October 18, 2022 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Since we were last here, Turkey has changed dramatically, new modern highways, huge modern cities in the middle of nowhere. Everything new and gigantesque!
    The State has been spending incredible money on developing infrastructure. This can be felt everywhere! But when countries spend money they don't really have it always ends in inflation, and Turkey has "buckets" of that, with last September hitting over 80%, which is frightening!

    On the more beautiful side of things, are the huge moshees with their minarets marking every corner of the landscape, and at prayer time the muezzin singing his call to prayer which echos across the town. This sound warms our hearts and is full of memories. It is the symbol of the orient!    Read more

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