Michael Spies | FindPenguins

Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Salalah
31 Disember 2022, Oman ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Yesterday afternoon Margot and I separated from the group after we had driven out of the critical part of our desert trip and headed towards Salalah on the coast.
We desperately needed to get back into our own space. All these group processes are exhausting and we were longing to just wake up alone on a beach.
And that is what we did, This morning, 01. January 2023, we woke up on a beach to the sounds of the Indian Ocean waves in Salalah when the Muezzin started singing, and watched as the dawn got lighter and lighter and finally when the sun rose.
WOW! HOW BEAUTIFUL IS LIFE!
To all of you, a happy new year 2023.Baca lagi
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PengembaraSo beautiful😍😍 sounds like a reasonable decision! Happy new year!
1/01/23Balas
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
No.8 - It's all about psychology
29 Disember 2022, Oman ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
Today I realized to what extent Driving in the sand is about psychology and that only a part is driving skills.
But let's go a step back.
The day started really cool. The wild sand storm of last night had disappeared, the stress of constantly getting stuck was gone and we woke up into a beautiful calm dawn,
and then I got coffee in bed! YEA!

The group then assembled to discuss today's route which was planed to cross unknown territory between the two red tracks in the
Map (see photograph). This would take between one and two days depending on how much we got stuck and whether a route could be found.
Edi kicked off the discussion explaining that he had studied his "Gaia App" with air photographs all evening and that what we were planning was impossible and irresponsibly dangerous. To cross this region, covered in dunes blocking the path was crazy, one of our cars would tip over, we would get stuck and never get out again. His wife Elsbeth started crying and told that she hadn't slept all night. After lengthy discussion we decided to drive to the beginning of the track in question and then decide there, whether to turn back or not.
We arrived at the point and promptly on the first hill, Tommy (mantoco),the guide, dug his truck into the sand covering both axles!!!!!
We all dug for three hours. The decision had been taken! The question was which route to take to get out?
Here Eddi again showed his App indicating a clear track out of the dunes back to the main road.
The decision was taken to follow this route.
Well, we drove the whole day, miraculously crossing three barrier dunes without anyone getting stuck. Clearly driving skills and courage had greatly improved. Drivers were no longer hesitating, which leads to slowing down and digging-in.
In the late afternoon after 70kms and 6 hours of driving we found ourselves confronted with a dead end. A really high dune was blocking our path with no way over. The only way was back the way we came which would mean three days!Baca lagi
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PengembaraShure, I believe your next journey will be All Inclusive (probabely Costa del Sol)😉
11/01/23Balas
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
No.7: Today, hard-core sand driving!
28 Disember 2022, Oman ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
What a crazy day!
Like yesterday, it started gently at sun rise, cool and without wind.
Then the sun came and with it a wind that gathered force during the day until a fully fledged sand storm had developed that hid the sun, delivering sand into every corner of our vehicles and bodies. A night mare!

It was also a day crossing a desert section where sand drifts and small dunes hd covered the track resulting in us having to find a route through the dune fields of dry fine sand and every one getting stuck at least once.
We spent most of the day digging!Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
No.6: a day with big challenges
27 Disember 2022, Oman ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
This morning, a huge shock! In the early morning hours, Andi's 10-ton truck suddenly dropped 20 cm's. Waking all. Who later stood around marvelling at this catastrophy. A system used for letting air out of and for pumping up the tires while you are driving (necessary for driving in sand) had leaked, and at some stage, the tires had jumped off their rims. ON BOTH SIDES, IN DEEP LOOSE SAND!
So, in the next 6 hours, miles away from the next garage, we dug under the truck to position a hydraulic jack, took off the huge, heavy wheels, and used a method of creating an axplosion inside the tire using inflamable break-cleaner to get the tires back onto the air-tight rims. No one except Dietmar had neither seen nor used this method that can go terribly wrong because you are playing with highly inflammable liquids.
(The video shows a dramatic try, which didn't work. Later on, we succeeded).Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
No.5: how crazy is this, a bath tub!
26 Disember 2022, Oman ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
What a crazy day today!
Driving in the middle of the desert, and suddenly in front of us, is this huge white bath tub, and believe it or not, it is filled with clear cold water.
Within seconds, Tommy was in, me racing behind him, followed by 74 year old Eddy! Then followed Conny. That was the moment where all shame disappeared and the whole family piled in, except one who took the last picture.
The place was a watering place for camels, who hold tight, drink up to 150 litres in one go! The old concrete trough had a huge crack, and the Nomads had grouchy half a water tank into the dessert. The crazy thing was that it was full of clear water, slightly salty, slightly sulphurous, but the best water I have ever seen !!!!!!

Later on in the day, Margot and I bumped into three camel ladies and, in a wave of enthusiasm, pulled out all the vegetables from our cool-box. They ate one carrot, the rest was sniffed at, and then left lying. What a choosy bunch!!!
Tonight, we spent our first night in a Wadi, which is a river flowing from a spring and then disappearing again. A beautiful evening among palm trees with birds waking us in the morning.Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Fourth night, now driving for real
25 Disember 2022, Oman ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Today, following the beautiful evening yesterday, we needed our sand skills for real. Over and over again, the track had been covered by sand drifts requiring us to drive around, frequently through soft sand.
But we all got through without one vehicle getting stuck. We are learning to read the sand!
But the tension, concentration, and adrenalin during such driving is extreme, leaving you exhausted at the end of the day.Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Christmas eve & sand training
24 Disember 2022, Oman ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
Today is Christmas eve, normally cold and snowy, for us it will be a gruelling day training how to drive in sand (you need to only remember two things: reduce your tyre pressure by more than half and never stop. If you do stop, the chances are high that you will spend at least an hour digging your car out of the sand where it has dug its way in. And if that doesn't work, your sand tracks might help. If this doesn't work, then start praying!
We went through all the various phases, including praying. This worked because suddenly, the whole team appeared to help get us out, and the teamwork did it. Margot then graduated with distinction in sand driving when she drove a really difficult route and only got stuck once. (I can't say this for myself)

In the evening, as the day passed away, we celebrated Christmas around a campfire with music in the background as the moon and stars rose in the clear clear quite night.
To crown it, Dietmar had brought a Thai silk-paper balloon with him to carry our wishes into the dark black sky.
Wow! What a mind-blowing christmas!Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Rub'Al Kahli, "the great emptiness"
23 Disember 2022, Oman ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
"The great emptiness," which is brimming full of beauty!
At the time of writing this, we have been in the desert for 5 days driving along the Oman border, crossing huge ancient flat lakes that haven't seen water for thousands of years, and have passed through regions where huge dune landscapes have entered these regions and are slowly wandering through them, and we have seen desert tracks, 100's km long and very straight!
What amazed us most was that there are actually plants growing in the middle of nowhere where the ground couldn't have been more dry and more salty. These plants hardly have roots but have the amazing ability to absorb the dew that develops early in the mornings. And these plants were just flowering!
Solar radiation is incredibly strong, making it almost impossible to drive without sun glasses. Winter temperatures are at 32 degrees! (In contrast to summer temps of 54 degrees!)
The only time of day that is bearable is up to 2 hours after sunrise and before sunset. Most of the night is warm, and you sleep naked without a blanket until about 3am in the morning where temperatures drop to 10 degrees.

I just don't know how Nomads, soldiers, or oil workers are able to live in this extreme climate!!!

Today we saw our first real dune landscapes with dunes up to 200 meters, which we climbed to watch the beautiful sunset to then run down the steep slopes and enjoy dinner in front of our van while the most incredible star sky unfolded above.
WOW! What an experience, what a privilege, what a gift!Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Rub Al Kahli - Second night
22 Disember 2022, Oman ⋅ 🌙 26 °C
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
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Christmas in the sand, no internet!
22 Disember 2022, Oman ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Today we will cross the border into Oman and follow a desert track for 7 days. Away from everything including mobile network.
Margot and I want to wish all who are following this blog a wonderful christmas.

A few days ago I heard that my dear Father is also following my blog. Every day his wife reads the newest entries to him in the old age home where he lives and discusses the content
This fills me with joy, it is like a daily communication with him and motivates me to continue posting.
Happy christmas to all!Baca lagi
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Pengembara So schön 😊 merry Christmas ✨✨✨
26/12/22Balas
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Ar Rub'Al Kahli, what a name!
21 Disember 2022, Emiriah Arab Bersatu ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Ar Rub' Al Kahli, is the largest sand desert in the world, covering 1/4 of the Arabian peninsula, and that is where we are heading!
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Christmas will be in the desert!
20 Disember 2022, Arab Saudi ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We are now heading toward the Oman border and will then be heading off into the sand dessert for 5 days
I hope not longer!!!!
There will be no Internet!!!
Should we not report back, then please come and look for our bones!!!
They should be bleached white by the time you find us.
So what does one do before heading into the dessert? One washes ones car, which is what we did last night.
Then we filled all water tanks and bottles to the brim, filled up the reserve diesel canisters, and off we went.
This is where it gets exciting!
And promptly, we get stuck in the sand directly next to the road. While we were thinking about what to do, a truck stopped and pulled us out.
Hmmmm! A bit humbling!Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Bahrain, and a bottle of wine!
16 Disember 2022, Bahrain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Bahrain was a bit of a disappointment offering much more than glittery skyscrapers at night and otherwise being dusty and without much charm and natural beauty.
But it had one highlight, alcohol is allowed and so we had a beautiful fish dinner and a real, unforged, authentic bottle of wine from Australia.
Downside, it was the most expensive dinner we have ever had! But when you are desperate, what else to do?Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
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Crossing into Saudi Arabia
15 Disember 2022, Arab Saudi ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
We have entered Saudi Arabia.
The most striking element is the women who, to a dominating percentage are covered with an Abaya cloak, Hijab headscarf, and Niquaab face veil, which only leaves a small slit to see through and has a piece of cloth covering their mouth which has to be lifted up for eating. When the women have their face open, and I as a man come in their vicinity, they quickly cover their faces.
So the only way for contact, is between Margot and them with me staying away.
What was strange is that they all wanted to take Photos with Margot, but many did not want her to photograph them.
Those women who are not covered are usually Pakistani. And that brings me to another aspect, everything that has remotely got to do with work, is carried out by non-Saudis. These are dominatingly Pakistani, Indian, African, or Egyptian, and make up the majority of visible society.
When driving through the streets, one has the feeling of being in India.

This is a country going through dramatic change.
In 2015 Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (age 93) became king of Saudi Arabia and promptly elected his son Mohammed bin salman (29 years), as his successor and has put him into a rocket ship career through numerous state positions giving him.more and more power.
The result has been a loosening the rules of clothing and society, opening the country for tourism and sending 250 thousand young Saudis to study abroad (at state cost) .
While clothing habits are changing very slowly, mastering the english language is evident with a high percentage (also women) speaking really good English.Baca lagi
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Pengembara Looks like a tough time !
20/12/22Balas
2 suka
Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Kuwait city, skyline & 30km of promenade
10 Disember 2022, Kuwait ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
3 days of Kuwait city, getting our washing done and eating in a restaurant with wonderful food, what a pleasure!
Among other, I wanted to visit the Sheik Abdullah Al Salem culture center, an incredibly large modern museum for history, the sciences and art.
I started off walking on one end of the city thinking that this would be a walk of a few kilometers. It ended up being nearly 30 km along a never ending promenade along the sea with me mistakenly ending up in the kings palace and swiftly being whisked away by security. The following day I visited this incredible museum for the whole day and just managed two of the 8 buildings. What an incredible museum day.
The next morning this "cool cat" cruised up to where we stayed next to the sea in hi huge convertible, fed a packet of seeds to the birds and pleasured us with the coolest of blues music from his huge car speakers. Kuwaitis have a lot of money and nothing to do, so they either race up and down the boulevard in their ferrarris or they listen to cool musik. I definitely prefer the second.
What a crazy morning.Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
First night in Kuwait
8 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ 🌙 21 °C
Dreaming of hanging off a few days at the beach, we headed off to North of Kuwait city.
It was armageddon!
Huge tuned pick-ups having drag races on the beach, practising full power while pulling the wheel around. In the midst of this, families picnicking, kids playing while million dollar Arab stallions galloped. To top it all, racing quads practising wheelies between the picknickers.
We were flabbergasted!

We had parked on the beach and asked around if the tide would vote up. No problem was the answer that came from several families.
SO WE WENT TO BED AND WOKE UP AT 2am TO FIND OURSELVES SURROUNDED BY WATER! Luckily only 30 cm!
With 4 wheel drive we slowly edged our way out.Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Colourful road leaving Kerbala
6 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Kerballa-shrine of Hussain
6 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Karballa is the shrine of Hussain Ibn Ali, the son of the Ali from Nadschaf and grandson of Allah. He is known as the "Prince of martyrs" , he is the epitomy of courage and heroism, and example for all.
After his father had been murdered in Damascus and Yazid had unrightly seized leadership of the Muslim world, Hussain who was the logical successor and very pious, rode from Mecca to Damascus to negotiate with Yazid, taking only his family and friends with him. On the way, his group of 72 was intercepted by an army of 4000 calvary. A battle to the death ensued with Hussain, the last man standing, his body full of arrows had his head cut off. This place is Kerbala
Hussain is the Che Guevara of the Muslim world and is probably one reason why martyrdom is so attractive (my opinion)
Pilgrims walk thousands of km to come here, reenacting the battle of Kerbala on the way and imitating the suffering of Hussain.
The irony was, however, that the atmosphere at the shrine was totally different to that of Ali in Nadschaf. It was more like a "christmas market" in germany. Families mixed with pious believers, chatting, singing, laughing. Even in the court yard next to the shrine amidst those praying, I saw men talking, arguing and laughing together.
It had nothing of the fanatism of Nadschaf.Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Razarza lake, a break among rubbish
5 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
After Nadschaf we wanted to chill a day at Razarza lake on the outskirts of Karballa, the Tomb of Hussain.
Arriving on its shores in the middle of the desert, it was again the endless plastic rubbish that dominated the picture, followed shortly afterwards by thousands of flies, and then at sunset, by millions of midgets, so small that they slipped through our mosquito netting.
A dream of a place!!!!!Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Ob the way to Babylon and Saddam Hussein
4 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Babylon, the cradle of civilisation built by the king Nebukazdezzar, is today a reconstructed town wall and a lot of old bricks and so didn't impress me too much, instead it was the huge castle on an artificial hill that Saddam Hussein had built himself at this location. Saddam, the dictator and permanent aggressor, obviously saw himself as the modern Nebukadezzar. Looking at this huge deserted building full of graffiti somehow dropped me into deep sadness for this country. Saddam eradicated minorities who bothered him, killed all opposition and then started a terrible war against Iran, followed by his invasion of Kuwait which literally levelled Kuwait, then when forced to withdraw he set fire to hundreds of oil well-heads causing one of the greatest nature catastrophes ever, and requiring months to put out the fires, and then provoked the total bombing and eradication of his country, which is still destroyed today despite being one of the greatest oil producers in the world.
What a great story!
Later, at the Kuwait border, I spoke with a policeman who was 13 years old at the time, his description of the period of burning wells was horrifying. For three years, Kuwait did not see the sun which was covered by black smoke.Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Nadschaf, the tomb of Imam Ali
4 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Nadschaf, together with Karbala, is the greatest destination for pilgrims of the Shia faith (like Santiago di compostella in the Christian world). Here, Imam Ali, the son in law of Allah, who was stabbed to death in front of a moshee to prevent him from taking up the succession from Allah, is buried. It was his death that triggered the schism in the Muslim faith between Sunnites and Shiites.
His shrine is visited by millions each year, coming from Iran, and far away locations such Pakistan.
We visited in the evening during prayer time. (Women separated from men) and had to go through nomerous check points when driving into town and then again three body checks when entering the holy area. (They are terrified of a repeat of what happened in Shiraz).
It was an experience I will never forget. Thousands of people praying with an Imam singing from the loud speakers while another with deep voice kept on repeating "ALLAH".
As I entered the shrine, hundreds of believers, in a religious trance, screaming and shouting, shoving their way into a small space to kiss and touch his tomb with their prayer chains.
Besides feeling panic rising in me, it was also the unstoppable religious energy in the space that made you realise that whoever harnesses this energy for a cause can not be stopped by any number of machine guns (as was the case when Khomeni started the Iranian revolution)
To feel this energy is terrifying. Margot , who experienced the women side of the tomb, reported the same.
In the middle of all this coffin bearers carried coffins (with content) around the shrine shouting "no god, except allah" (see video)
Apparently, the graveyard of Nadchaf is the largest and most expensive in the Arab world because everyone wants to be buried close to Ali. The grave yard occupies 1/3 of the city's surface.Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
UR, the cradle of civilisation
3 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
UR was a large city and capital of the Sumarians next to the Euphrates 4200 years ago with numerous temples, palaces built in the third UR dynasty. It had two harbours connected to the Persian gulf, which today is hundreds of km away. Apparently, Abraham was born in UR.
The citiy's existence ended abruptly when a huge flood from the euphrates covered it in 4 meters of silt still visible today. In the "epics of Gilgamesh" this flood as the flood of Noah.
What was amazing, is that they knew bitumen and used it to build large buildings such as the Ziggurat which was a temple to the moon god Nannar. Unfortunately the realy interesting things found in royal graves are in London and Baghdad.Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
Reflections and Impressions
3 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
When we entered IRAN, Margot and I were shocked by what we saw, the old cars, the apparent poverty and simpleness of life which we attributed to 40 years of sanctions and an inflation of 40% per year for many years. Allthough, I have to add, the roads were more -or-less ok with many new highways and a lot of construction work.
We were fascinated by the friendliness and joy of the people. Most women smiled and when they saw Margot driving greeted her with cheers. Men were fascinated and wanted Photos with her. Most women were open and seemed confident. Many spoke english and in the cities many drove cars. The cities were more or less well organized.
The initial shock of having all communication channels blocked and only very slow intermittent internet while we were constantly being shadowed and followed by secret police slowly changed. We were controlled every day, sometimes, several times, but the police were always extremely friendly, well groomed and usually spoke english, and it became more and more apparent that although they had the task of making sure we were not journalists and were not checking out strategic targets, they were actually worried about our safety and well being. On one occasion, they even brought food and drinks for the whole group!

IRAK seems totally the opposite.
The rubbish and dust here are extreme, making Iran seem clean!
The cities and infrastructure are in a desolate state, with people looking suspicious and seldom reflecting any joy.
Women are hardly visible in society, and when we see one, she pulls up her Chador over her mouth and looks away.
Not one woman is driving!
Military check points are every few kilometers with our passports being taken away by the police or soldiers who then phone around for ages to find out what they should do with them. 2 hours is not seldom. This process is exhausting! Rough commands are shouted at us in arabic and doesn't really give us a relaxed feeling!
No one speaks english!!
But then, is this surprising? This country has literally been at war for the last 40 years, with Saddam Hussein being the key driver!
(Irak/ran 1980-88, Kuwait 1990, first Gulf war 1991, Massive uprising in Irak 1992 brutally smothered by Saddam Hussein, 1998-2003 second gulf war which literally flattened the country.
Before all this, one group was constantly massacring the other every few years while Saddam"s secret service radically got rid of all opposition. After Saddam was gone, it was Al-Qaida and ISIS, all of Sunni faith, who occupied half of the country, massacring everything that had a different religion.
Reading Iraks history is like a horror story and extremely depressing.Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
The wetlands of Mesopotamia
3 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Until the 80's the area between the two rivers consisted of thousands of km2 of wetlands, an ecosystem with channels criss-crossing and 2million inhabitants specialised on living here.
One of the crazy projects of Saddam Hussein was to drain these wetlands to get rid of these people who were causing trouble and to create large-scale agriculture. However, without the yearly floods bring fresh water water and soil , the soil was too salty and nothing grew. The result today, is an endless desert with dust storms and shrubs here-and-there.
An ecological tragedy!
10% of the surface have been declared as national park but the water levels are no longer there.Baca lagi
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Pilgrimage to Kerbala
1 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Islam has a huge schism between the Shiia and the Sunni which is at the core of all fighting within Islam. Like the Jews, who are waiting for jesus, the Moslems are waiting for Mahdi to return to earth. The Shia believe this is a descendant of Allah, the Sunni believe this can be any prophet. This difference has caused wars over centuries.
In Ad 680 Imam Hussain rode to Kerbala to negotiate this point with tje Sunnis and was murdered together with his followers. This is celebrated on "Ashura" by the Shias who do a pilgrimage to kerbala in the thousands.
This last pilgrimage was in September and everywhere we are seeing the traces of this. Along the roads pictures of Hussain, flags in various colours sometimes with Hussain's face on them, along the road small hostels consisting of a toilet and a floor to sleep on, and everywhere plastic drinking bottles.
We had the honour of seeing one Pilgrim walking alone, but found some pictures of the last Pilgrimage in the Web.Baca lagi
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Gypsies on the move Michael Spies
A hundred ways to scooter
1 Disember 2022, Iraq ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
What motorcycles were in Iran, these scooters are her in Irak
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