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Gypsies on the move
  • Michael Spies
  • Michael Spies

Gypsies on the move

To do a long off-road trip has been our dream for years. To have our house with us in the most beautiful places, To discover other cultures, people and nature. Read more
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  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Geometric landscapes
    Endless distanceesTanghe boragh canyonWater everywhereWater gushing out of the walls1

    Tanghe Boragh

    November 18, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Tange Boragh is a small canyon with hundreds of pristine springs gushing out of the stone cliffs everywhere, creating streams and pools. Simply paridise.

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    This is how one deals with what was in a dustbin, it is burnt in nature.
    Among the hundreds of springs, plastic bottles and bagsRubbish neatly packed in a plastic bal and then left lying on the rockPlastic bottles floating in the clearest mountain river I have ever seenBottles and bags from long gone picnics stuck in the reedsPlastic lying on the bank of the streamNeatly packed,and left lyingZoom in and enjoy the plastic

    Another blog about rubbish

    November 19, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    For a month now I have managed to suppress my indignation about plastic in nature, today I couldn't hold back anymore. This pristine place Tanghe Boragh, had plastic bottles and bags everywhere, not visible in the photographs but very visible in real life. And unfortunately it has been like this throughout our time in Iran, and here I have to add, not just here and there but literally everywhere there is plastic. Thousands of Plastic bags blowing across vast expanses of land in the most remote places. It makes my heart bleed! While I try to focus on the beautiful things we encounter, this topic of plastic and rubbish is always present at every moment and every Kilometer. And all this plastic, at some stage, ends up in rivers and finally in the sea.
    Iran, and our world have a huge plastic problem!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies

    Persepolis

    November 19, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    In 600 BC king Kyros the great conquered/ united huge regions ranging from Turkey, through Greece, Egypt to India and central Asia and created an empire that lasted many centuries. His greatest tool in this was a "carta of human rights" for humans and animals which was engraved in a stone cylinder called tje Kyros cylinder! Women had equal rights to men, conquered regions were encouraged to keep their language and religion while one language was used for administration purposes throughout the kingdom. This incredible wisdom was present in 600BC. What jas happened to our world since then?
    Kyros's successor was Darius who established the most incredible palace in Persepolis.
    While earthquakes and 2,5 thousand years have not left much some traces show the incredible skills of architects and craftsmen.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Entering Shiraz the City of poetry, nightingales, plants and romanticism
    This picture symbolises Shiraz so nicelyCarpet sellers discussingBeautiful SOUK, as in every city, but with a multitude of ethnic backgrounds and modes of dressEverywhere selers pushing their wares through narrow corridorsColours eveywhereNot for animal lovers, from nightingails through pheasants to rabbits, locked in tiny cagesThe canary shopPorters transporting goods into and out of the SoukThroughout the day I kept on bumping into this old old man selling his melons.You want some beans, how many boxes???What a cute child!

    Shiraz, city of the poets and love

    November 20, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Shiraz, full of colours, faces and smells. Our favourite so far.
    And yet, one notices many are battling to somehow make a living by selling anything they can get their hands on, even chewing gum.
    One really old man pushed a ton heavy cart loaded with melons around the market all day, selling two melons an hour. He looked way above 80!
    Many beggars looking really bad and unhealthy with many Iranis donating from the little they have.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Picture drawn by a child before it died together with its parents. Moved me deeply

    Shiraz- Mausoleum of Shah Cheraq

    November 20, 2022 in Iran ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    This absolutely huge mausoleum housing the grave of Seyyed Mir Ahmad a brother of of the 8th Imam (8th of 16 prophets including Allah) is absolutely flabberghasting and beats everything I have ever seen in glitter beauty and grandeur. It is one of the major places of pilgrimage for Shiite Islam.
    Our visit at night was overshadowed by a massacre that had happened 25 days previous where a soldier of the "IS" entered with a machine gun, killing 23 and seriously wounding 40.
    The whole shrine was covered with huge photographs of the corpses covered in blood (now celebrated as martyrs) with bullet holes in the walls.
    Here, someone had entered the absolute center of the Shiite religion and created sacrilege of a highest order. This could be felt everywhere.
    One picture moved me particularly deeply, a child had obviously just painted its family visiting the shrine on a piece of paper. This child had been killed, blood was all over the painting.
    I'll let the pictures speak.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Namad winter campFirst signs of plastic recycling. Irrigation tubes after useA wonderful encounter with three generations of the same family from Shi. The youngest spoke endlishSitting in our car in the evening together with Bea, and this guy knocks on the window and asks to jWe set the alarm at 6:30 to get an early start up the mountain. The Iranis were faster!I opened the door to let sunrise in, and there was this group happy to greet usBefore we knew anything, the small group had swelled into this, all wanting a fotoBy the time we got to the cave we had a following of 100. All wanting a fotoBeaAmazing statue carved out of a stalactiteView from the topMargot's school girls fan club, waiting to be picked up at the main street crossing in a village

    Sasani cave with Shahpur statue

    November 23, 2022 in Iran ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Sasani cave is 600meters above the plains in a mountain range. Here in a huge cave, someone, 1000 years ago chisseled an 8 meter high statue of the ruler Shapur the first out of a stalactite that has joined up with a stalagmite and collapsed during an earthquake.
    More interesting, however, is the excitement that we two caused by our presence. Already at sunrise, the first group of hikers was standing in front of our door asking for a photo with us. Within minutes the gathering had grown and continued to do so all the way up to the cave where we then had the whole local hiking club gathering around , each wanting an individual photo with the stars.
    Now, I love being a star (for 5 minutes!) but being a star all day is REALLY strenuous. We now know what its like to be in the skin of Julia Roberts and Clooney.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies

    Anecdotes

    November 30, 2022 in Iraq ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Incredible Friendliness:
    Throughout our stay in Iran, it is the friendliness of the Iranians that has burnt a way into our hearts. First of all، it is their absolute joy that we are here and that they can meet us resulting in them waving to us as we drive past، cheering "welcome to Iran"، cars hoot، people lean out of their windows to photograph us. If we are parked، within minutes 10 people around our car، cheering، asking questions and photographing. When we are outside the car they want a photo with us and very often have gone to great lengths to invite us to their homes.
    They are hungry to try out their english or German and feel very connected to Germany often referring to a relative who lives there.
    The other side of this is that you never have a moment of peace, there is always someone wanting to take up contact, knocking on the car to say "welcome to Iran".
    There have been moments where we quickly closed the curtains and locked the car just to be alone.
    And yet, this great joy and friendliness are going to be missing as we enter the Arab culture. Probably we will be longing for it back.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Smugglers racing past the police check-point in the fields. Like in a James Bond filmAnd back onto the highway!

    Crossing the border to Irak

    November 30, 2022 in Iraq ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    So here we are at the Border to Irak. Getting out of Iran went smoothly, but getting into Irak, I am told will take 8 hours. Step 1 is to get our Visa and we have now been sitting in this very basic hall for two hours while our hand written application is being processed. Then follow the papers for the vehicles and then there is still the actual process of crossing into Irak.
    Allah will take care of us!

    Driving here was fascinating. As we drove along, groups of 3-5 pick-up's all driving very close and loaded in the same way, came roaring past us at high speed. Suddenly they all veered off the highway heading off at high speed into the fields. A few hundred meters later a police check-point appeared. Having passed this we continued on the highway to suddenly notice that the same pick-ups were racing alongside us a few hundred meters into the fields coming closer and closer and then veering back onto the highway to race on as before.
    Don't ask what that was but it looked intensely like the local smugglers ring.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Endless dust!
    Clothing and food being sold in the midst of dust and rubbishEach hut with its individual electric cableCows looking for some grass and accepting empty packaging insteadThis makes the shanties near cape Town South Africa look mildEverywhere truckloads of building ruble dating from the Gulf war in 1991 that wiped out IrakImagine living and shopping hereWater Buffalo looking for waterPeace at last where the two rivers come togetherView down the Euphrates

    Tigris and Euphrates rivers

    December 1, 2022 in Iraq ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    .So here we are, in Irak, at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This area between the two rivers, called Mesopotamia, is where civilisation (cities and agriculture) began 10.000 years ago. It is the place described in the old testament, it is where Babylon was.
    WOW!
    But on a more basic level
    It took the whole day to get across the border. Everything was dust, huge trucks, destroyed roads, and endless plastic rubbish.
    WOW!
    And today, we drove through Basra!
    What a shock!
    We have never seen so much dust, mixed with so much rubbish, broken buildings, broken roads, and millions of wires hanging overhead. Cows looking for something to eat amongst the rubbish, children playing on the street, fish being sold in the hot sun as trucks driving by in huge clouds of dust. It was "Armageddon," and we were gasping again and again at this scenery.
    But there was also beauty when people sat at the river in the evening smoking Shisha pipe or fishing from canoes or from the Ponton of a nearby bridge.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Shia Pilgrim walking to Kerbala
    Everywhere images of HussainEverywhere FlagsA Pilgrim walking alone with his bag and flag in a deep state of meditationThe last Ashura in September 2022

    Pilgrimage to Kerbala

    December 1, 2022 in 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.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Water buffalo, the way they should beWhat is left of the wetlandsDrained wetlands

    The wetlands of Mesopotamia

    December 3, 2022 in 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.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Baking Nan, Indian style
    Margot learning how to bake Nan110 Kilovolt transformer held by two wires to stop it falling, a good electrician at work hereSunriseSunrise quietDive into the craziness of evening shoppingAaaah, Falafel!

    Reflections and Impressions

    December 3, 2022 in 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.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    The Ziggurat of Ur, dating back to 2124 BC!!!!
    Temple Foundation, with clay bricks held together with bitumen!Bitumen used 4200 years ago!!!!These bricks are 4200 years old!Pop star having his next record cover photographed

    UR, the cradle of civilisation

    December 3, 2022 in 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.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Entering Nadschaf, a chaos of traffic and polluted air
    Busses carrying pilgrims came and went till late at nightSelling drinks for pilgrimsMountains of rubbish and "hostels" for pilgrimsWhere pilgrims stay when they arrive by foot from Iran or futherThe most beautiful "pilgrims" aroundConveyor belt to transport us up the hill to the shrineCorridors leading to the building of the shrineCoffins (with content) going through security checkChaos of believersThe women sectorInside the court yard of the shrine with thousands prayingThousands praying (on right)Hundreds pushing into the shrine itselfWomen climbing over each other while screaming and crying (report from margot)Hundreds of women pushing into the shrine

    Nadschaf, the tomb of Imam Ali

    December 4, 2022 in 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.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    The Babylon lion has subjugated the enemy
    Babylon entrance gate, 4500 years oldReconstructed walls in BabylonThe rest of Babylon, many, many bricks for 200.000 inhabitantsView onto the castle that Saddam Hussein built for himself in BabylonHusseins castle,Nice view over the EuphratesBut hate graffiti all over the wallsRich kid celebrating her 27th.birthday in a fast car, while the country suffersA joyful students group.The air we have been breathing for the last 7 daysHere you buy live chickens, sold like this everywhereKitchen for the poor. One of the rules of Islam, "give to the poor"Big scale tea for the poorTea, the national drinkHussain dacorating the back window of a Tuc-Tuc

    Ob the way to Babylon and Saddam Hussein

    December 4, 2022 in 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.    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    Atop a hill above Razarza lake
    Fishermen's hut at the lakePlastic everywhereWarm Sunset, and then immediate cold of the dessertEat on the hill and then throw the packaging over the edge

    Razarza lake, a break among rubbish

    December 5, 2022 in 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!!!!!    Read more

  • Michael SpiesGypsies on the moveMichael Spies
    A lot of cables, all leading to heaven!
    RED, Very advantageous, when trying to identify your wife among 1000 black hoodsA Pilgrim group walking to the shrine chanting prayersPilgrim group led by an Imam, all chanting and prayingPilgrims heading towards the shrineHuge corridor leading to the shrine of HussainCenter Court with praying shiitesImam reading aloud from the KoranImage of Hussain, the same that followed us every 50m since BasraA Pilgrim group singing together, led by 2 cheer leaders with microphoneHundreds of "tuc tucs" transporting pilgrims to-and-froOlder pilgrims are transported like this

    Kerballa-shrine of Hussain

    December 6, 2022 in 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.    Read more

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