russia: saint petersburg...again

My train from Vologda to Saint Petersburg arrived one minute early, which is quite a rarity. Russian trains usually arrive exactly as scheduled, far more often than not. My train came into the train station further out from the city center, and I could've walked to my hostel, but I didn't. The metro system in Saint Petersburg isn't as extensive as the system in Moscow, but its still better than most cities around the world. The metro ride wasn't long, and the walk from the metro station wasn't long.

I wasn't able to check into my hostel yet, but they were fine with me leaving my bag in a storage room, then sitting in the communal area for a while. I charged my electronics, wasted time online, then several hours later finally walked out the door to start exploring.

The list of sights I wanted to see during this visit to SP was completely random. This first day in the city I stepped into a number of closed courtyards, because I love the photos you can make by looking straight up while standing in the middle. Kindof putting a frame on the sky, if that makes sense. I knew of a few specific places with courtyards where I could do this, and got lucky with finding a few more throughout the day as I walked around.

One of the places I wanted to see was just a random apartment building, but a photo online showed a photogenic spiral staircase. I found the correct address, but I wasn't able to find the specific entrance to see that staircase, argh. 

Another sight on my list was a hotel with a beautiful tiled entrance. I wasn't able to get the photo I wanted, because a car was parked in a place where I couldn't keep it out of the frame. Foiled, again.

Not too far from this hotel was a big yellow church. I had high hopes for seeing something pretty, but only the lower level was open, and that wasn't that interesting. Argh argh argh. The next sight on my list was another church, this one Armenian. The main sanctuary was open, yippee. From there I ended up at yet another church, this one also big and yellow. I finally had a smile on my face because the main area of this one was open, and it was worth seeing. Woo hoo! The interior was mostly blue, with some gold highlights.

There was a metro station nearby, and I hopped on that to get me closer to a sight I've wanted to see for a while. The Lakhta Center isn't really a sight where you learn something or do something. It's just an 'insta-sight' where you try to take a perfect photo for Instagram. The Lakhta Center is a business center, with unique architecture.

After taking my photos I walked back toward the metro station, being stopped along the way by an old lady who told me I should be wearing more clothes. Keep in mind that it was 22C/71F, and I was wearing a medium to long skirt and a t-shirt. I was not cold, and it was the middle of summer. For all the stories of tought Russians when it comes to weather, I've had waaaaay too many experiences with old ladies telling me I'm not dressed appropriately, making me think they whinge far too much.

I took the metro to a stop on Vasilyevsky Island, as I'd found an address where I could see a huge mural on the side of a building. 

By that point I was rather tired, but I wanted to take advantage of the crazy long days Saint Petersburg has in summer. The mural was big and colourful, and I was happy I made the effort to see it.

That being said, I went home from there. Riding the metro back to my hostel, I was able to check in and relax for the evening. I was hanging out in the communal area when I looked out the windows and realized I could see a stunning sunset with the main rotunda of St Isaacs Cathedral in profile. Absolutely gorgeous.

The next morning, when I finally got moving, the first sight I tried to see was a Lenin statue. I was disappointed when I got close, and realized the statue was on a university campus, behind locked gates. Argh.

Next up was another place I went for the solo purpose of taking a photo. I think this building was just a random office building someone realize would look good on Instagram, and the address is listed in a few places. The building has an interior courtyard, with the exterior of those walls all being windows/mirrors. With the summer sun, it just looks nifty in a photo.

As I was leaving this building, two couples were coming in to take their own photos, so it definitely isn't a secret place to take photos.My walk took me past one of the iconic sights in Saint Petersburg, St Isaac's Cathedral. I've been in the church a few times, and climbed up to the exterior of the rotunda a few times, both are worth doing, more than once. This time I didn't go in or up, but rather to the landscaped area in front of the church. There were red roses planted, blooming beautifully. I framed them with the church, hiding most of the people hanging out.

I ended up eating lunch at a sidewalk cafe just because I saw someone with a bowl of soup that looks good. I don't normally stop for lunch, but sometimes it is good to do something different.

During my visit to Saint Petersburg over New Year's I wanted to visit the museum of printing, but it was closed for the holidays. This time I was determined to make that visit happen.

The museum is set up in several apartments in a building, I think some of the apartments used to be part of a newspaper printer. One of the rooms I was able to see was allegedly where Lenin worked when he wrote for a small newspaper. One of the docents figured out I am American, and was determined to practice her English, so I just went with it. She ended up giving me a private tour, I was even able to go behind the ropes in the last room where you can see an old printing press. Fun, but probably not all that interesting for most tourists.

I kept walking, crossing the bridge that took me close to Finlandsky train station, which has a metro station underneath. From there I took the metro a few stops out, to a park. I walked past the park, heading toward a building that houses the Russian State Scientific Center for Robotics and Technical Cybernetics. I wanted to see it because it is different from most 'Russian' buildings.

Instead of taking the metro back to the hostel, I walked. My feet were tired by the time I got back, but the weather was great so I was happy to do it.

I had every intention of doing a day trip the next day, but I couldn't get moving. Instead, I packed up and checked out at nearly noon, whoops. After leaving my bag for the rest of the day at the hostel, I took the metro, a long bus ride, and a long walk out to a place called Lenin Shalash. I never figured out exactly what it is, but since the name included Lenin, I figured why not go see it.

I ended up seeing three statues of Lenin, but the museum type thing was closed because of Covid. Darnit. In other words I wasted about 4 hours, but oh well. Maybe I'll go again someday. Maybe.

By the time I got back to the city center I was tired and hungry, so I went straight to dinner. Yay for cheap pizza. After eating I went back to my hostel, grabbed my backpack and went to the train station.

I was in Petrozavodsk for the next two days, then came back to Saint Petersburg for one more day. I had booked another night at the same hostel as before, so the front desk people remembered me. 

I dropped my bag in their storage room, charged my phone for a while, then went out walking.

My first sight was a cemetery where a bunch of famous people are buried, Tikhvin Cemetery. It is next to a monastery, the cemetery is split into two sections. One section is for 18^th century folks, and the other side is for Masters of Art and Culture. You have to pay entry fees for both sides, which didn't make me happy. The ticket lady wanted me to pay the foreigner fee, but I insisted on paying the local fee, since I live and work in Russia. I chose to visit just one side, figuring I'd be back to the city another time to see the other side.

The 18^th century side was pretty, some of the gravemarkers were in better shape than others. Nearly all of them were quite fancy, and some of them were quite big. Most of them were crammed together, there wasn't a lot of open space between each dead person. When I die I want to be cremated, I have no desire for money to be spent on me after I die.

After leaving the cemetery I visited the monastery, since it was right there. The Nevsky Lavra is an important monastery if such things are important to you. I love visiting monasteries, but didn't find this one any more impressive than others I've visited over the years. 

Even so, I am always happy to step inside a house of faith for a few minutes.

I went out the back gate of the monastery, trying to get to a couple Lenins marked on the map. The first Lenin ended up being a giant profile of his head, high up on the side of a building. The other ended up being another statue behind a fence, so I'm not even sure it was there. Darnit.

Even though I hadn't seen a lot, I walked back to the hostel from there, which ended up being over an hour. The hostel put me in the same capsule as a couple days earlier, it was practically home, hahahaha.

The next morning I was up early to catch a bus to my next destination: Veliky Novgorod. I will definitely be back to Saint Petersburg. 

malta: gozo: salt pans, Xewkija, Ta Pinu and the (former) blue hole

As I planned this 'day trip' to different sights around Gozo I realized one of the places I wanted to go was right next to where I'd just been. Ooops.

My day started with more rubbery bacon from the hotel breakfast, argh.

I caught the same bus as the day before, just staying on a little longer. My first sight of the day was a set of salt pans. The information sign said they'd been hand dug, waaaaay back in Roman times. Life was certainly a lot more physically taxing in those days.

They were full while I was there, so I wonder how they change as the process happens. I walked on the rock areas that separate each little square, and surprisingly didn't fall. (I'm naturally (un)coordinated, this sort of stumble is something I do regularly.)

It was really windy on the coast, I was surprised to see a man fishing off some of the rocks. He was standing very near an area where water continually crashed on the rocks. He was wearing a raincoat, but I can't imagine it helped keep off all the water being blown by the wind.

I caught a bus back to Victoria, and again changed buses at the bus station. Again, I didn't have to wait long for the bus I wanted.

My second sight was another giant church, this one in the town of Xewkija. (Again, I haven't got a clue how that name is pronounced.) I'd seen this church from a distance on two previous bus rides, and I wanted to see the interior.

St John the Baptish church felt even bigger than all the churches I'd already seen during this trip. I don't know if it actually was bigger, but it definitely felt that way. It was decorated differently, but still quite nicely.

There was a giant rotunda, it was the focus of the ceiling, as compared to a long vaulted ceilings as the other churches had. The interior of the church was all white, and there was a fair amount of natural light coming in. The effect was in making the interior feel light and airy.

I walked around and realized one door led to a set of stairs which took me up to the rotunda! There was a suggested 'donation' of 3 euro in order to go up these stairs, and a lady sitting at a table watching to make sure people donated. I paid, and started climbing.

The stairs didn't lead to the interior of the rotunda, instead they led to a door to the roof, and a way to walk around the top of the church. I loved the views. The only way to make it better would've been if I could've walked around the interior of the rotunda. Oh well.

This town was close enough to Victoria that I decided to walk back. After snacks and a thirty minute rest, I went back to the bus station for yet another bus.

This bus took me to yet another church. I'd seen this one marked on a tourist map of the island, so why not see it? The church is called Ta Pinu, or maybe the town has that name? I'm not entirely sure. Either way, the church sits on the very edge of town. The way it sits on the edge of town shows just how big the church is. I found myself wondering how often it is full during a service, if ever.

The interior of this church was different from the others I'd seen. There was a long nave, with a tall vaulted ceiling. This one was mostly white inside, with only the area near the altar having colour. Another nice atmosphere.

From this church I walked to the coast. I used a travel app to plot the course, and I'm not sure that where I walked was actually a good place to walk, but oh well. Near the end I was walking along the edge of cliffs, hoping the wind would've blow me off.

I finally arrived at my last sight of the day. Well, it used to be a sight, but isn't anymore. A natural sight known as the Blue Hole used to be on the western coast of Gozo. The action of water over the millenia created a natural rock arch, which collapsed a few years ago. I don't know if the collapse happened because tourists would walk over the top of the arch, but that wouldn't surprise me. Travelers will often 'break' something amazing due to their desire for a photo.

Though the Blue Hole doesn't exist anymore, the cliffs are beautiful, as was the sunset. If I'd had another night on the island I would've considered coming back for another sunset. I caught the last bus back to Victoria not long after sunset, the timing worked out really well.

spain: canary islands: gran canaria: puerto de las nievas and agaete

I arrived in Puerto de las Nievas on Gran Canaria after a 90 minute ferry ride from Santa Cruz, on Tenerife. The ferry ride was okay, though the weather wasn't great so I ended up slightly seasick. It didn't help that the boat arrived to rain and wind, which I hate.

Puerto de las Nievas is a tiny town on the coast, with a twin town of Agaete slightly up the hill. I'd booked a place in Agaete, so I had to make the walk in the rain. The walk was pretty, as both towns are quite cute. The buildings are mostly painted white, and there were a number of flowers blooming.

I'd booked my accomodation relatively last minute, so it was the most expensive place I stayed during my entire trip. I thought I'd booked a double room for 40 euro, but it ended up being a small flat with a kitchen, small living room, and a bedroom with bed space for 4!! If only I'd been traveling with someone.

I relaxed for a few hours, then went for a walk. The weather had cleared up, it was now mostly sunny, yahooooo!! It took me just a few minutes to walk back through the center of Agaete, to the church in the center of town.

Unfortuntaely the church wasn't open, so I was only able to see the outside. I couldn't find a sign anywhere with open hours listed, I wasn't sure if it would be open while I was there.

More walking took me back down the hill to Puerto de las Nievas. I headed to a different area from where the ferry arrived, as I'd seen a listing of natural pools. To get there I had to walk down a dirt road, which made me wonder if I was going the right way, but it worked out well, as I ended up where I wanted to be.

The pools weren't completely natural, but they weren't completely man made as well. Volcanic rock had been carved out in areas by the constant movement of water over time, creating areas for the water to fill in, like pools. Someone had put stairs into a couple of them, and I saw kids in the water even though it seemed a bit chilly to me. The rock into which the pools had been carved was volcanic, so it wasn't at all smooth, and I was glad I was wearing shoes with thicker soles, not just jandals.

I loved watching the waves crash into the area, over and over again. I could've stayed there for hours, if I'd been planning to stay in the area for more than just one night.

After a while I kept walking along the coast, heading back toward the ferry port. A boardwalk has been built, with extra rocks built up to protect the area from storms and the resulting crazy waters. I walked along the entire length of the boardwalk, then doubled back a little to get to one of the streets of Puerto de las Nievas. (I hope there is a shortened version of the town name, it's annoying to say the whole thing every time.)

The buildings facing the port are all restaurants/cafes or hotels. The next street back had a very small church, but was otherwise full of more hotels, cafes, and souvenir shops. The town is small enough that the number of buildings isn't big at all, though I wondered where everyone lives.

I walked to a tiny beach, and it was finally warm enough that I would've spent time in the sun if I'd worn a bikini during this walk. The view from the beach was gorgeous, I could see a cliff that probably had amazing hiking.

I was in the area long enough to see sunset, which was beautiful. I loved the colours of the sky as background to the beautiful landscape of cliffs and water. After the sun went down I got cold, and was more than ready to head back to my room to sleep.

Before going to sleep I used the stairs in my flat to get to the roof for a view of the town at night. Quiet, and pretty. 

The next morning was the end of my stay in Agaete. I had to walk just six minutes to get to the bus stop, which was awesome.

I would definitely come back to the town if I had time to do some hiking. It's a small area, but I bet the hiking is fantastic. And the small town aspect was quite nice. 

ukraine: kyiv: Kitaeva monastery

I've continued to follow a Kyiv specific page on Facebook, constantly finding information about places to visit in Kyiv that were new to me. Since I don't think I'll be in the city for much longer, I've been trying to use non work and non travel time to visit various places around the city, though I don't know if I'll ever feel as if I've seen everything.

As usual, I didn't have classes Friday afternoon, so I set off for one of these visits after finishing paperwork for the week. (In case you're curious, modern teaching involves waaaaaay too much paperwork, it never ends.)

The sight I wanted to see is called Kitaeva Monastery. It was built in 1716 by the monks of the Lavra (another monastery in the city) who wanted a quieter, more retreatlike place in the city. 50 years after it was first built, a 45 meter tall bell tower was added. Empress Catherine the Great (Ekatarina the 2^nd,) loved the place when she visited in the 18^th century.

I found information saying that there are tunnels and caves under the monastery, but they haven't been fully excavated, and are not open to visitors. There are supposed to be ancient Slavic writings in these tunnels and caves, I bet they're amazing to see.

I used the metro first, then hopped on a marshrutka. It was the right marshrutka, but it turned out to be going in the wrong direction, so I got back to the metro and hopped on another. Thankfully, this one was going in the right direction.

From the spot I got off, I had to walk a little bit, through a residential area, past several storage areas. I saw a lady sweeping the street, to get rid of the end of the winter refuse that lines the streets. Sticks and random leaves and whatnot.

I first walked past a cemetery, which was small but pretty. The gates weren't open, so I wasn't able to get into it at all.

I think the monastery is on both sides of the street. I started by looking into a church on one side of the street. It was made of brick, and at first I thought I was going in a side door. When I got inside I realized that was the entry everyone uses.

As soon as I walked in someone indicated that I needed to put on a wraparound skirt, which was fine. It was a small church, and a service was taking place so I didn't stay inside for long. I didn't get to take photos inside that church.

I exited the church and crossed the street to the other side of the monastery. I think this is where people live, as I saw a building that seemed sortof like a dormitory.

I found two churches in this area, unfortunately both of them were closed. Both of them had signs on the doors saying that worship was taking place in another church at the time, I'm assuming it was the first church I visited. I'm not sure if these other two churches are open at other times, I hope they are.

Next to one of the closed churches was a series of grave markers, above ground. The church itself was white, with green on top. It was a stand alone building, I really wish I'd been able to go inside.

The other closed church seemed much smaller, and was attached to another living area. At least that's what it looked like to me.

Since I couldn't go inside any more areas I exited the grounds of the monastery and kept walking along the street. It didn't take me long at all to get to the area labeled as a park on google maps. It seemed like a waterway with a dam of sorts.

I realized it was sunset, and looking one way from the dam was absolutely beautiful. The colors of sunset were reflecting on the water. I loved it.

After enjoying the sunset for a few minutes I walked back to the street and found my way to a marshrutka stop to get back to the metro station. From there I rode the metro and eventually got home.

Yay for getting to know Kyiv as much as I can before I leave.  

namibia: namib-naukluft national park

I walked from my accomodation to the Cardboard Box, where I'd booked my next tour. Even though my tour wasn't through the hostel, that's where the company did their pickups. The guy picking me up was 20 minutes late, which didn't surprise me, I'd gotten used to these sorts of delays during my trip.

The driver ended up being the guy in charge of everything, but he wasn't the guide/driver. He took me to a supermarket, where we met up with a couple ladies from Luxembourg, and our driver/guide. I took advantage of a few minutes free to go into the supermarket and pick up a few snacks. There are never enough snacks.

From there we drove out of Windhoek. The landscape and road turned very rural very quickly after we left the city. Namibia is mostly desert, though with a wide variety of desert landscapes. While we drove, I got to see mountains in the distance, which were gorgeous. I'd love to go back and hike there. The road was unsealed, which meant our driver had to watch carefully nearly the entire time, so we didn't puncture tires.

We pulled over at a sortof rest stop along the way for lunch. I say sortof rest stop because it was just a couple tables on an overlook. There was nothing else there, but with the views we had, I didn't need anything else.

Our lunch was cold cut sandwiches, yogurt, and orange juice. While trying to capture the views I realized I need a wide angle camera. From this viewpoint we could see the house where the Farmers Union meets every so often. We could see down into a valley, surrounded by mountains. This sortof rest stop was basically at the top of a pass.

From the top of the pass we drove down into the wide valley floor. The road was full of switchbacks, and was 'paved' with stone bricks. It was actually in better shape than the road we'd already driven.

Eventually we got to a small town called Solitaire. It wasn't even really a town. More of a rest stop with a campground and small motel, bakery, and petrol station. There were old, abandoned cars and trucks everywhere, fun to take photos of them. The desert is not kind to old cars and trucks.

After our guide/driver had a tire fixed (it turns out the road is bad enough that punctured tires and tubes happen pretty much everytime you drive,) and got more petrol, we started driving again.

We entered Namib Naukluft National Park, (the first national park established in the country,) and found the campsite. A few minutes later, we piled back into the car, and our driver/guide took us to the foot of several sand dunes. We climbed these dunes in an effort to chase the sunset. It was definitely a workout, which was nice to have after a day of riding in a car. Everytime I got to what I thought was the top, I could see another crest a bit in front of me. I never really caught the sunset, but I tried. As the sun fell lower and lower I really enjoyed the colour of the light, and the peaceful feeling in the area.

While we were doing this climb we were there at the same time as another tour group, which was a bit bigger. It was a mixed group, with Japanese, Koreans, a chick from Ohio State, and a guy who attended the University of Michigan. All of that group was on a longer tour through more than just the national park.

On my way back down the dune I realized my Luxembourger mates hadn't made it as far up the dune as I had. They had gotten confused about the time at which we would meet our driver at the bottom, so they didn't climb as far up.

Back at the campsite our driver/guide cooked dinner for us. We had (marinated) pork steak, and canned veggies. Unfortunately, we didn't have any light, so we weren't able to see our food very well. It was good, but I wish we'd been able to see. What I could see were the stars in the sky, which were pretty incredible.

There was a lodge, where I went to hang out for a little bit after dinner. I used the plugs to charge my phone, and used the light to read on my kindle. There were people there who seemed intent on getting drunk, I wasn't one of them. When I got back to the campsite I found the Luxembourgers had already gone to bed, even though it was only 2100. I tried to take a few photos of the sky (SO MANY STARS) but I don't know how to use my camera well enough for those to turn out well.

I had my own tent in which to sleep, which was awesome.

The next morning my alarm went off waaaaay too early. It was just at the time when I had set it, but it was only 0430, so it was still dark, and cold. Not so fun. Nevertheless, I got ready to go, because I was excited about what was on the itinerary for the day.

We all hopped into the van, and got to an interior entry gate, and waited in queue with other vehicles. The interior gate opened at 0530, and our guide drove with a lead foot. We got to where we were going first.

Dune 45 has the name because it is 45 kilometers from the entry of the park. (I think.) This is a dune where nearly every tour group comes to climb the dune and watch the sun rise. We were the first to start climbing, but we were definitely not the first to reach the top. How do people go so fast up a hill of sand?!? Climbing dunes is a good workout, especially in the dark. In a way I didn't mind being behind a few people, as it was actually easier to follow in their footsteps.

At the top of the dune we all took photos, and people were generally polite in helping others take photos. It is a beautiful, but unreal landscape. I can see why movie studios use this sort of a landscape to make an audience think we're on a different planet. At one point nearly everyone climbing sat on the ridge of the dune and watched the sun rise. Beautiful. The colours of everything seem to change constantly, depending on where the sun is in the sky, but generally you can say that the sand is red on this dune.

Dune 45 is 170 meters high, and the sand is 5 million years old. More than a little of it ended up in my hair. The wind constantly recreates the shape of the dune.

I 'walked' down the dune (definitely easier than coming up, and far more fun) back to the parkplatz. Breakfast was yogurt, juice, cereal and milk, etc...

After packing up the food, we drove a bit further down the road, Eventually we pulled over into another parkplatz, and our guide/driver went to buy us tickets. We didn't know what these tickets were for, but soon found out. We needed these tickets to get on the 4x4 vehicle that drove us to the next spot.

The road to the next stop is a road requiring 4 wheel drive. Even with the proper vehicle, you need to know what you're doing, as the sand is easy to get stuck in. After getting on our vehicle, we saw several stuck vehicles as we drove along.

The dropoff point for our next stop didn't seem special in any way. I wouldn't have known anything special was there. We followed our guide, who took us over another small dune, into another gorgeous area.

This new area was called Sossusvlei, or Dead Vlei. A looooooong time ago there was a river here, so there was more than just sand. At one point in history, the route of the river changed (or it dried up completely,) so all life was lost.

All you see now are the fossilized remains of the trees. They are mostly still standing, in what little clay remains.

It's really quite strange to see the trees, with the blue sky, red sand, and white clay. I was one of quite a few people taking photos, some of whom had giant, professional looking lenses. I don't know if you need that much of a lense to take a photo of something only a couple meters away, but if that was my job, I could probably justify it. I'm pretty sure I took a photo of nearly every tree in the area, trying to keep other people out of the photos.

As we were walking back toward the area to catch the 4x4 again, the wind picked up, a LOT. It wasn't easy to walk with wind/sand blowing directly at me. It's the kind of walk you make somewhat blind because your eyes are almost closed.

It was sortof a relief to get to the parking area, except that there was no shelter for anyone except a couple trees. At that point it was hot, very sunny, and very windy. That's when I learned that there is no orderly way for catching a 4x4 going back the other way. Groups of people wait around, and you hope that one of the 4x4s will come close to your group with room enough for all of you.

There is no designated pickup place, and there is no area for queueing. Well, that's not true, the entire area is for waiting and 'queueing,' much to the frustration of pretty much everyone. The guides form relationships with the drivers, and you hope that the friendship your guide has is stronger than someone else's. There is a lot of dashing across the area when one of the 4x4s stops for a pickup, hoping you can get on. I saw more than one person get really angry, pounding on the vehicle and yelling at the driver. I was getting dehydrated, sunburnt, windburned, and sandburned.

Finally, we got a ride back to our vehicle. Then we drove back to the campground, for what we thought would be a short stop. We packed up our camping stuff, and went inside the lodge to cool down and find ice cream. It was more than two hours before we saw our guide again. It turned out he had gone to get a tire fixed, and grocery shopping, but didn't tell us this, so we spent the time wondering what was going on. Argh.

Our next stop was a canyon. It's not wide, or even noticeable from far away, but when you get there, you can't help but be impressed. It's called the Sesriem Canyon, and is about 2 kilometers long. The bottom is mostly sand, and you can wander through a lot of it. There is some water in some areas, and when it rains they say you have to be very careful for flash flooding.

We didn't have much time in the canyon, I wish we'd had more. If anything, I kinda wish the guide had dropped us off at the canyon while he did his errands, which would've given us much more time to explore. Oh well. I know what to ask for when I come back. The Luxembourg ladies didn't seem to want much time at anything we were seeing, I don't know why.

After leaving the canyon, we drove back to Solitaire. This time we stayed there overnight. I was excited, as it meant I would get to have a treat at the bakery. Unfortunately, we arrived too late for that to happen that afternoon. Darnit. There wasn't much to do there, not even much in the way of places to walk, so I was rather bored.

We chatted a bit with some others camping there, there were a couple RVs with German couples traveling around the continent for 5 months. That sounds like an amazing trip to me! The Luxembourg ladies spoke German (and French, and Luxembourgish, and English,) so they were much better able to communicate, and did some translating for me.

This time we had some light by which to eat dinner. The food wasn't as good, but I loved that I could see what I was eating. We were eating while an amazing sunset was happening, so a couple times I got up and ran off with my phone to try to take a photo.

We were in separate tents again that night, only waking up when the vehicle of a different group was turned on at 0500 in the morning. I'm generally a heavy sleeper, but those overland trucks are loud. Argh. I couldn't get back to sleep, even though it was still dark, so I stared at the ceiling of my tent for a while. Eventually it was light again, and I started reading my kindle again.

Breakfast was the same we'd had the day before. Yogurt, cereal, and toast. This time the bakery was open, so I went with the Luxeumbourg ladies to try it out. I ended up with an apple something or other, and a cup of tea. Pretty tasty.

While we were eating, our guide was packing everything up. After a while, we hopped back in, and started the long drive back to Windhoek. Since we'd come back to Solitaire the night before, our drive wasn't going to be as long. At least, we didn't think it would be that long.

It ended up being that long, and more, because we had to stop several times because of the tires. Several times at least one of our tires went flat, and at least one of those involved a punctured tube. Argh. The road is mostly in the middle of nowhere, I'm just glad we were close to a car shop of sorts when we really needed help. That stop was at least 45 minutes.

Eventually we got back to Windhoek. The guide dropped me off at the front door of my next accomodation, and I said goodbye.

I'd LOVE to go back to this national park. I would skip the sunrise and sunset climbs, or at least do them on different dunes. I want to see Sossusvlet when there are far fewer people around, and see more of the area in general. Plus, I loved the stars at night, I want to see more of those!

south africa: himeville

My 'taxi' from Maritzburg took a couple hours to get to Underburg. That wasn't nearly as long as I expected it to be, but I was happy about it. The problem was, my next destination wasn't Underburg, it was Himeville.

I got some food at the taxi rank in Underburg, chicken curry and rice. With the normal assorted sides, yay.

Underburg isn't really a town, it's barely a village. It's more like a crossroads for the few people who live in the area. There are public taxis that will take you to other small towns in the area, unfortunately none of them were going to where I wanted to go.
Underburg is close to the edge of Drakensburg National Park, a beautiful park of South Africa. By staying in Himeville I was hoping to do some amazing hiking.

I found the information office in Underburg, and asked how I could get to Himeville. The guy told me there should be private taxis waiting around. Unfortunately, I never did see any of those taxis. Argh. While I was in the office I noticed adverts for a couple hotels in the area, as well as tours of the area offered by different companies.

I ended up walking to Himeville. It was 6 or 7 kilometers down the road. The walk was almost entirely flat, and it was really sunny. With the sun, and carrying my pack, I was sweating by the time I arrived at my accomodation.

I was able to check in straightaway, and my room was absolutely lovely.

One thing I realized almost straightaway was that it was actually cold, or at least colder than I'd been during this entire trip. There was an electric heater in my room, and though I didn't plug it in when I first checked in, I knew I'd need it at night.

After relaxing for a while I went out for a walk. My walk wasn't as long as I wanted, but it was my fault for not getting out faster after checking in. I was outside during sunset, which was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

I could see mountains off in the distance. I loved it. I knew I would only be in the area for a couple nights, but also knew I wanted to come back to this area with a whole lot more time to explore and hike. Next time I come back I will have a rental car too, so I can get around to everywhere. There isn't a lot of public transport in this area, argh.

The next morning I got to have another of the hot breakfasts I'd come to love. Fried eggs, tomatoes, bacon, corn flakes, tea, and yogurt. Life is good.

I ended up walking outside just before noon. My first stop was a local museum.

The museum is in what remains of a fortress, and is all about the history of the area. There were displays of items that used to be used in daily life, and descriptions of various important times in the history of the area.

I liked it. My favourite exhibit was that of what the old school room looked like. Maybe it's because I'm a teacher now, but this sort of exhibit fascinates me. Education defines a society.

My next 'sight' was the church in the village. St. Mark's church. It was open, which almost shocked me, as I'd kinda gotten used to everything being closed except for specific times.

St Mark's isn't big, but I was surprised at how big it is. Himeville is tiny, absolutely tiny, so I was surprised at the size of the church.

While I was eating breakfast, the manager told me of a walk I could go on to see more beautiful landscapes. After leaving the church, I headed down the road toward a turnoff I needed. I found the turnoff, and simply followed it for a while.

This road took me through a few beautiful landscapes. I was happy with all that I saw, and wished I had more time. I don't really know how far I went, but it was a good walk. I walked through part of a biosphere reserve, then all the way back to the main road where I'd started the walk.

When I got back to that road, I walked toward Underburg. It made my walking day longer, but I really needed to go to an ATM, and I wanted to refill my snack bag. I ended up back in my room in Himeville a little bit after dark.

The next morning, I was awake early, so I had time to eat breakfast, and get back to the taxi rank in Underburg. Goodbye for now, Himeville.