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March - December 2019
An epic journey from Australia to Germany by car Read more
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  • Going home
    Day 82

    Japan - more random facts

    May 31, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    A lot of times Japanese say “sumimasen“ when saying hello. It means “excuse me“. Another indication of how polite this nation is (read more about the language in our post "on Japanese language")

    Japanese sweets can be great. They usually feature soy or rice flour and some filling. A lot of times matcha is used, too. However, they can also have a random fishy taste. And it's not always obvious which ones do. So be careful when tasting things!

    "Omiyage" (souvenir or gift, usually brought back from a holiday for friends, family and colleagues) is a thing. We watched people picking up countless boxes at ferry and train stations and were even given some ourselves when we passed on our bus tickets to two ladies. Who wouldn't like almonds with fried sardines as snack?

    Lots of things are offered to the gods. Coins, alcohol, coffee and canned fruits. Seems like they're having a good time. (Cans of beer and coffee cups are also often put on graves)

    Kids seem to go to school on Saturdays as well.

    There are signs on the floor indicating where to board the train. Different trains have different symbols, a ° or a |>, and these are shown on the train schedule displays.

    Cherry trees are apparently grown for their blossoms, not the fruit. The fruit stays tiny and fairly bitter and no one seems to harvest it.

    Japan, just as the US doesn’t start with ground floor but with 1F then going to 2F and so forth.

    There are different shoes to wear inside the house and the toilet. (Your street shoes are left at the door)

    Restaurants are everywhere. Mostly tiny, serving delicious food. No idea how all of them survive in this competitive market though.

    We've never seen large scale agriculture or a stock farm. There are lots of small urban patches where vegetables are grown and even the bigger agricultural areas outside of the cities are divided into small rectangular patches. We wonder where all the meat that the Japanese are consuming is coming from, a bit scary...

    Japanese love to queue. At buses there’s usually a row of max 2 people next to each other with proper distance of course. Cutting the line doesn’t exist here.

    The Japanese don’t blow their noses. Apparently, they find it quite disgusting.

    In Japan you don’t eat while walking. Even if it’s a snack, better sit down for a second.

    Sleeping on the subway is absolutely fine. It shows you worked hard.

    If you see plastic bottles filled with water in front of houses, they are used to deter cats. No peeing on the plants, please!

    English signage is quite common. Sometimes the translations seem a bit odd or funny (yet always clear). The "l" instead od an "r" (e.g. bal instead of bar) happened more often than you would think.    Read more

  • Going home
    Day 83

    Bueno Ueno - our last day in Japan

    June 1, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Do you sometimes have trouble keeping up with dates and such things? I certainly do.
    Our time in Japan has come to an end. Three wonderful weeks filled with beautiful moments, amazing landscapes and interesting cultural experiences.
    For our last stop we returned to Tokyo as there were still lots of neighbourhoods we hadn't seen yet. We decided to stay in a cute hostel up North, in Arakawa, as it is close to Asakusa and Akihabara, the areas we planned to visit.
    Well, today turned out differently.
    Waking up hungry as we had had only minimal dinner yesterday, our first thought was getting breakfast. Not an easy task with someone picky and undecided as me, so we end up walking around in our area, getting on a community bus to explore more and just before we start getting angry due to our empty stomachs, we make it to Ueno station. Lots of bakeries have plenty to offer and we grab a few danishs and rolls and head to the park to eat. *satisfiedsigh*
    We've already seen some of Asakusa but got sidetracked and are off the route now. So what? Our plan certainly isn't set in stone and hence we simply go with the flow and explore Ueno park. The fact that we bearly take notice of all the beautiful shrines and temples might be an indicator for our temple saturation... shrine 126? Ah, ok. A bit sad, to be honest, as I try to imagine it was my first day in Japan and just how delighted I would have been then. We regain appreciation when walking past an Azalean exhibition. Bonsai trees so full of blossoms, you can barely see the tree. They almost look fake, but they aren't.
    Continuing our stroll, we walk past outdoor art installations in the park (the national art museum is right around the corner), tiny little alleys with beautiful art galleries, a craft brewery (couldn't go past it without trying the beer flight) and finally reach Yanesen, an old merchant district of the city that still features many shops and street food stalls. The area is full of people shopping, taking pictures and walking around and we join them. One stall catches our interest in particular. An old guy is playing with spinning toys, an ancient Japanese game, as we learned during the cultural festival a few weeks back. Delighted by us watching, he even teaches us some tricks! Few words and gestures help us understand each other and soon we've fot the spin. How I love these random encounters.
    Afterwards, we continue to Akihabara, the electronic quarter. Instead of electronics, I'm taken aback a bit by the many girls dressed up as sexy (ish) maids trying to draw customers into the cafés they work for. Weird.
    Our tired feet then demand a break. Filled with all these different impressions we decide to head back to the hostel before meeting friends for dinner. Yes, we've made friends :-). We met Nico and Verena from Munich on Yakushima island and realised that we were travelling through Japan on similar itineraries and timeframes. Hence, we had made plans to spend the last evening together, heading to Shinjuku once again. Couldn't have asked for a better end to our trip than joining the izakaya culture in a 100yen beer bar with great company surrounded by locals in the heart of the city.
    Japan, you certainly exceeded my expectations. Thank you!    Read more

  • Going home
    Day 83

    What we ate in Japan

    June 1, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    As we weren't travelling in our car but using public transport instead, we weren't cooking as much as we usually do. Our accommodations ranged from AirBnB apartments to guesthouses, hostels and hotels, but even if we had access to a kitchen we usually spent so much time exploring that there was no energy left to cook. Additionally, we changed locations fairly often and didn't want to carry around too much food along the way. And last but not least, almost every vegetable is wrapped in plastic! Hence, apart from breakfast (I'm just no fan of having a miso soup and rice at 8am), we ate out a lot. Here's a list to give you an impression of our culinary experiences:

    Ramen is a cheap and easily accessible option for lunch or dinner. Finding a vegetarian option is almost impossible though. And choosing your toppings from a vending machine with only Japanese signs can be quite difficult. Nevertheless, it's always going to be a satisfying and filling meal. My favourite was the tomato version we ate in Kagoshima. Lighter than the pork style, fresh and full of flavour.

    Soba is quite similar to ramen, but the style of noodles is a bit different (they're made out of buckwheat) and the broth isn't as heavy. We had a wonderful lunch in Arashiyama, Kyoto's western district, that was made with love. Here I learned that "yasai" is the word for vegetables, very helpful!

    Sashimi and sushi - probably the west's favourite Japanese dishes. We ate not as much of it as I thought we would to be honest. Sashimi (just raw fish) was tasty but could be overwhelming quite quickly. Sushi was great of course, but I was always a bit worried of which fish we were eating and how sustainable our choice was. The language barrier often didn't allow to ask detailed questions and I relied on the help of blog posts such as https://tokyocheapo.com/food-and-drink/sustaina… to choose right.

    Pickles - Japan seems to be the place for fermented food. Miso soup is quite well known but the variety of pastes and pickled veggies is amazing! I liked daikon (radish) and ginger the most. And we were quite amused by the pickled cucumbers on a stick that were offered as roadside snack. (I don't think our guts have ever been healthier :-))

    Sweets - Japanese make great sweets. Funnily enough, my sweet tooth kept unusually quiet on this trip, or maybe it was simply satisfied by the bits and pieces it got from free tastings usually offered in the Omiyage shops around important sights. The rice flour sheets we tasted in Kyoto, a byproduct of sake manufacturing, was my favourite, at least the matcha and cinnamon flavours. In Yakushima, there are lots of sweets featuring the local tankan citrus as well as cookies using some byproduct from the cedar industry (no idea how that works). In the Japanese Alps, sweets with cream cheese and apples are a thing. Lots of snacks and sweets also feature fish though. Definitely something to be aware of.

    Yakitori or Shabu Shabu - BBQ or hotpot. Grilling meat on your own grill at the table or simmering it in a broth seemed to be super popular. We tried some steak once and it was super tasty, but since we're both not big meat eaters and I also had the feeling it would help if you had a local actually showing you how to order and prepare your meal properly, we didn't try again.

    Matcha- the green tea powder is omnipresent in Japan. The most popular use seemed to be matcha lattes and soft serve ice cream. Not only tasty but also quite photogenic.

    Shochu, also called "Japanese vodka". Depending on the region, it is made out of rice, sweet potato or buckwheat. It can be served hot (to bring out its flavours) or cold, mixed with soda, green tea or softdrinks, lots of time with fresh fruit juice as well. Super tasty and hence a bit dangerous. We even had it with beer once.

    I think my favourite meal was a lunch set featuring a bowl of rice sprinkled with smoked salmon and seaweed, served with green tea to turn it into a soup. Definitely worth trying!    Read more

  • Going home
    Day 83

    What we ate in Japan 2

    June 1, 2019 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Japanese cuisine is so versatile, I needed a second post.

    Tempura: this fried food tastes great, but only when hot. Don't repeat our mistake to take a cold box for lunch.

    Okonomiyaki: a noodle or cabbage based dish that looks like a BIG pancake, has different toppings (usually egg, meat, seafood or fish) and is bathed in a thick sauce similar to teriyaki and mayonnaise. Its name actually means "cook as you like" so the possibilities are endless. While I found it too heavy most of the time, it's a tasty and filling dish (and one of friend's favourite- cheers Tibo!).

    Tako-yaki: this was our first lunch in Tokyo. We simply saw small balls being deep fried and served with different toppings. I was hoping for vegetables but it turns out we tried octopus dumplings. Quite interesting, especially the dried fish flakes and powdered seaweed on top. We also had it super fresh in Yanaka on our last day. Crispy on the outside, squishy on the inside.

    Izakaya, meaning a place to drink sake. These Japanese pubs are a great place to go for dinner. The meals are usually small dishes that are shared and ordered consecutively along with your drinks. Not the cheapest, but very intriguing!

    The food hall in department stores: if you don't know what you feel like for lunch and you're in a bigger city, go to the food hall in a department store. All the meals are on display so it's easy to choose. Bring your own cutlery to be able to refuse the disposables and take your food to a park nearby. In Tokyo, we were even able to eat in the rooftop garden.

    Conclusion: Japanese cuisine is super tasty! If you're not vegan or vegetarian, go for it and simply try the local food. Choose places that are crowded and if nothing else helps, point to dishes that are served to neighbouring tables. We've never been disappointed. If you are vegan or vegetarian, you will still find options, you just need to look a bit harder. "Happycow" (online listing website) is a great help. AND: take your own cutlery and chopsticks! It felt like everything in Japan comes wrapped in plastic, it would be great if more people tried to cut it down.    Read more

  • Going home
    Day 85

    Wladiwostok - first impressions

    June 3, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    We made it! We are in Russia, in particular in Wladiwostok, all the way on the East Coast.
    Russia is a country neither of us has been to yet and seems a bit daunting, to be honest.
    We had already been super excited about our granted visa (the process is not the easiest but actually fairly straight forward if you got all the information), but I think we were even happier once we passed immigration (Tom: I almost peed my pants when they triple checked my passport!!).

    Russia is such a vast country, I still can't quite believe we'll be driving through it in a few days!
    We can't start yet, as we're waiting for Hans to arrive.
    Hence, we're staying in a cute hostel, high up in the hills (Wladiwostok is also called San Francisco of the East) and prepare for our adventures.
    Firstly, we learned a few phrases Russian and read about food&culture. Then it was time to go out and explore.

    The city feels quite welcoming and nice to stroll through once you have overcome your initial culture shock. Tom is even already able to read the Cyrillic alphabet (and I try, too), hence street and shop names as well as the signage can be deciphered and suddenly everything doesn't seem so strange and foreign anymore.
    We also discover beautiful neighbourhoods, great street art and nice coffee places and we manage to get a few smiles from people we try our Russian on. I firmly believe this will be a great adventure.    Read more

  • Going home
    Day 90

    On the road again

    June 8, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    He's back! After four weeks and five days of being apart, we're reunited with Hans. Thanks to Brent from Bikes abroad (our Australian agent) and Yuri and Svetlana from Links, LTD. (our Russian agent), the shipping of the car went as smoothly as can be, with only a minor delay of 4days (delays of a week or more are more than common. Ship schedules are a finicky thing.).
    Tom and I were anxiously waiting for Yuri's call this morning. Papers had been cleared yesterday, now it was just a question of when the container would be unloaded. Once Yuri called, everything went super fast. He picked us up and drove us to the terminal where the container was already on the ground. It was opened in our presence and there he was: Hans. The engine started on first try, he was driven out and after we had paid Yuri, he was ours once again.
    No more hostel searching and worrying about kitchen access, we've got our home back!
    A couple of hours later (we needed to unpack our backpacks, rearrange a few things, shop groceries and fill up our tank), we are on the road. Jeez, it feels good!
    Tom quickly got used to driving on the right side again (even in a right-hand drive), but we still need to get a feeling for the road conditions. So many potholes! The landscape is quite similar to home (Germany in this case), the sun is shining and just before dark (daylight is till about 9pm) we find a beautiful spot next to a lake about 15min from the highway.
    Brotzeit (cheese, bread, mustard, vegan dip, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers) for dinner makes this a perfect day.    Read more

  • Going home
    Day 92

    Khabarovsk - beautiful river city

    June 10, 2019 in Russia ⋅ 🌫 20 °C

    Khabarovsk. The first bigger city we stopped at with Hans.
    As always in a city, finding a decent parking spot is difficult. Landcruising Adventures, a Dutch overlanding couple, had shared their option at the cathedral, so we head there first. It is a Sunday and on arrival the parking lot is fairly crowded with groups of youngsters, BBQing, fixing their cars, smoking hookahs, who knows what else. We persuade ourselves that they will leave once it gets dark and explore the surroundings a bit more. The cathedral is beautiful, there are two more war memorials and a fancy looking hotel, not much else. Time passes and instead of people leaving, even more cars arrive.
    Even without opening our rooftop, we wouldn't feel safe sleeping here. So the search begins again. It's dark by now, we don't want to go far, but we need a quiet and secluded spot. After circling around about 3 times, we opt to stop next to an old building in a quiet street, maybe 100m from our original location. This will do for the night.
    Converting the car to sleep "downstairs" takes a bit of time as we're not as used to it, but we manage and almost instantly fall into deep and exhausted sleep.
    The next morning, we're happy everything worked as well as it did, drive up to the cathedral again, have breakfast and walk to the city centre to explore Khabarovsk a bit more.
    The Riverside boulevard is well maintained and lined by parks, the streets are wide and the buildings big and beautiful. We're especially surprised to be approached by a young woman on the street. Galiya (we later get to know her name and family) simply wanted to practice her English and meet some new people and we were super happy to be able to talk to locals! Hence we all headed for a second breakfast, trying some local blinys (buckwheat pancakes) and exchanged some stories about each other. What a pleasant experience!
    But then it is time for us to go again... Still a few 1000kms to go!    Read more

  • Going home
    1
    Day 94

    Random observations in Russia - 1

    June 12, 2019 in Russia ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    In Vladivostok, we only saw people drinking vodka once. In 6 days.

    People walk along freeways. It's not quite clear where to, as there are no obvious bus stops or settlements close by.

    Russians might seem intimidating at first. If you try a little bit and give them a reason to smile, they will. After the first impression was overcome, we had beautiful experiences connecting with the locals.

    Lots of cars are right hand drive even though traffic is right sided again. We've been told this will change the further west we go (and it did).

    You can't drink tap water. It's contaminated not by bacteria but heavy metals and rust in the pipes.

    Water sold at natural springs might turn brown on you. We bought some and even though we filtered it, it did. The guy who sold it to us did mention it's for drinking and washing, but not for cooking. We researched a bit and found out that the discoloration might derive from iron that oxidated with the water's temperature increase (it was quite warm in the car).

    Vegetarian or vegan food is - once again - hard to come by. Unless you cook yourself of course.

    Our first public toilet at a gas station was super clean. But you have to bring your own toilet paper.

    Houses in the countryside are mostly built out of wood and painted super colorful. Blue is a popular color.

    We saw lots of gardening. People seem to grow their own veggies and sell excess on little street stalls. Either next to their house or randomly placed on the main roads.

    At gas stations, you pay first and then fill up your tank according to the amount paid. If you paid too much, you will get the change back.

    Churches often have golden roofs.

    Vast stretches of the country are covered in untouched forests, marshland and pastures. In spring, they're often covered in colorful flowers, really beautiful to look at.

    Birches are incredibly common.

    Cyrillic (the Russian alphabet) uses Latin letters but they have a different meaning. E.g. P=R, H=N, B=V, C=S.

    I've never heard so many cuckoos in my life.    Read more

  • Going home
    Day 96

    Plastic pollution

    June 14, 2019 in Russia ⋅ 🌫 21 °C

    "No, we don't want a plastic bag." As it did in Japan, this sentence causes much confusion in Russia. Sometimes not only confusion but also inconvenience. We learnt to weigh our fruits and veggies in the supermarkets, but little did we know that they will be weighed again at the check-out. It's a bit of a nuisance if all your apples, carrots and who knows what else are rolling around freely in the shopping cart. You should have seen me with 10 different price tags sticking to my fingers, trying to give the cashier the right one for the goods she was trying to balance on her scale....
    And once again, we're short on words on how to explain why we don't want a plastic bag. Stupid language barrier. But working towards a waste free world is simply too important to us to give in. (To avoid disturbed supermarket staff we seem to have to shift to street stall sellers. Better for the local economy anyways. Or pickled veggies in glass.) If it really can't be avoided, we reuse the bags as often as we can.
    At many of the campsites we stay at, we realize just how weird our refusal of plastic bags must be for the locals. Trash everywhere. Bottles, cans, bags, you name it. No one seems to care. If you park by a remote lake in the forest and you're surrounded by 200 beer bottles and just as many cans, it just spoils the wilderness experience. In addition to simply being bad for nature! And while we used to pick up litter in Australia (look up the "take three for the sea" campaign), we don't even know where to start here. We don't have enough room to take that much trash. And we wouldn't know where to throw it away either :(.
    So we do our bit of at least leaving nothing but footprints and move on. Sometimes, if the amount of litter is manageable, clearing up the site as well.
    But then we pass garbage collection points in the villages and smaller cities, as well as a dump site and understand the problem a bit better. The dump site is in the middle of forests and marshland and the way the garbage is dealt with, is being dumped there to rot. Some piles are smoking, suggesting the waste is being burnt. No one seems to care if toxic waste reaches groundwater or toxic gases are released into the air. Maybe I'm exaggerating and I don't know enough. But it just seems so wrong!
    Russia seems to have a long way ahead in terms of its waste management. Hopefully, it will get there fast. Prohibiting and putting a fine on littering might be a good start. In the meantime, we'll try to keep our impact as low as possible. And find words to explain why it is important.
    (Mind you, our campspot tonight is almost spotless. These places exist as well!)    Read more

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