fragrant vagrants: the other side of the world

Thursday, September 01, 2005

the other side of the world

(copy of a group email...)

we arrived there in the end, far far far away.
Valdivostok.
It does exist!
In a few days we will be in a boat to Japan, not quite ready maybe to deal with the shock of a so different culture.
Travelling in Russia is like going constantly from one extreme to the other, from ugliness to beauty, aggressivity to amazing generosity...
It is a country I came to love in a few hours in a train being offered shot of vodka after shot of vodka while a marvellous lanscape of forests and marshes dotted with timber houses passed by. Endlessly it seemed.
It is also a country where I was afraid of policemen for the first time of my life. Or where getting a smile from anybody behind a counter can seem to be a victory. We are getting good at this sport.
We can't say that we know Russia after just a month in it. It is way to huge for it.
I just know I would like to come back to the East, to Siberia and to the Pacific coast, for the landscape and the amazing people you can meet there.
But probably I will go back to Moscow as well because Ksenia and Alexandra were like gardian angels for us, helping us finding places to stay as far as here (thank you Ksenia!!!), and that we didn't spend enough time with them in a way. Moscow is so complex that we need Moscow people to explain it to us.

From now on we will be heading South, mostly. The US are tempting, so close when you are in Eastern Russia (just look at a map!), but we will save them for another time.

// posted by Solène @ Thursday, September 01, 2005

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# posted by

Unknown : September 08, 2015

where we've been - ou nous sommes alles:

France (Paris, Strasbourg, Marseille, Corse)

Italia (Rome, Napoli, Salerno, Siracusa, Palermo, Aeolian Islands, Taormina, Bari)

Malta (Valetta, Zebbug, Gozo)

Greece (Ioannina, Metsovo, Meteora/Kalambaka, Volos, Delphi, Athens, Syros, Naxos, Amorgos, Rodos)

Turkey (Marmaris, Silifke, Taşuçu, Göreme, Ihlara, Güzelyurt, Şanliurfa, Mardin, Hasankeyf, Tatvan, Van, Doğubayazıt, Kars)

Cyprus (North and South)

Armenia (Yerevan, Sisian, Tatev, Sevan, Dilijian, Vanadzor, Alaverdi)

Georgia (Tbilisi, Davit Gareji, Kasbegi, Gori, Batumi)

Russia (Sochi, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Irkutsk, Khuzhir, Ulan Ude, Vladivostok)

Japan (Fushiki,Tokyo, Chigasaki, Enoshima, Kamakura, Heda, Izu Peninsula, Ashikaga, Nikko, Tajima, Niigata, Otaru, Sapporo, Ermoi, Shosambetsu, Nakagawa, Wakkanai, Hamatonbetsu, Tokoro, Abashiri, Utoro-Shiretoko, Kawayu Onsen, Teshikaga, Akan Kohan, Muroran, Toya Ko Onsen, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Himeji, Shodo shima, Nao shima, Takamatsu, Kochi, Matsuyama, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Shimonoseki)

South Korea (Busan, Gwangju, Gyeongju, Seoul)

China (Beijing, Xian, Chongqin, Wuhan, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Shenzhen, Yangshuo, Nanning)

Hong Kong

Macau

Vietnam (Hanoi, Bac Ha, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Saigon, Ben Tre)

Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Kratie)

Laos (Don Dhet, Tad Lo, Thakhek, Vientiane, Luang prabang, Luang Namtha)

Thailand (Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Lo Lipe)

Malaisia (Penang, Kuala Lumpur)

Singapour

links - liens

vignettes:

vague rants

hospitality networks - reseaux d'hebergement:

you can host fellow travellers? you might find a couch to sleep on in China - vous pouvez heberger des voyageurs? vous trouverez peut etre un sofa sur lequel dormir en Chine

couchsurfing
hospitalityclub

maps... so that we know where we are - cartes... pour savoir ou nous sommes:

mapquest

artists friends - amis artistes:

fellow travellers - voyageurs:

plus

food highlights - delices culinaires:

Gianluca's pike cooked with garlic and porcini mushrooms in Vietri - le brochet aux champignons porcini de Gianluca a Vietri

Greek, Armenian, Georgian and Turkish coffee - cafe grec, armenien, ge n et turc

Turkish mantı: small fresh meat and herbs raviolis served in a yoghurt sauce - manti turc: pe raviolis frais a la viande et aux herbes servis dans une sauce au yaourt

an Armenian salad: sliced mushrooms, onions and gerkins with a lot of dill: amazingly fresh and light - une salade armenienne: champignons de Paris, oignons et cor eminces avec plein d'aneth: fraiche et legere

Armenian sour cream, as simple as that - creme fraiche armenienne, tout simplement: veloutee et epaisse comme les meilleurs fromages blancs

Georgian khinkali: big spicy meat dumplings - khinkali ge ns: gros raviolis de viande epicee

Georgian badridzhani: aubergines slices and fried with a nut and garlic spread - badridzhani ge ns: aubergines coupees en longues tranches et frites, couvertes d'une pate aux noix et a l'ail

Russian porridge, they really know how to make it - porridge russe, cremeux, doux, parfait

a Russian cold soup: kvas (drink made of fermented bread and water), stock, cream, cubes of ham, cucumber, potatoes, spring onion and dill - une soupe froide russe: kvas (boisson a base de pain et d'eau fermentes), bouillon, creme, jambon, concombre et pommes de terre en cube, ciboulette, aneth

sushi, sashimi etc

okonomiyaki

Korean food generally, the diversity is just amazing , from spicy to mild, plain, complex and so on - cuisine coreenne, toute entiere; sa diversite est incroyable

a Korean tea: basically marmelade and boiling water - une tisane coreenne: en gros, de la marmelade dans de l'eau bouillante

Korean bibimpbap: rice topped with anything you can find, sesame oil and chili sauce; basic and great - bibimbap coreen: riz et a peu pres tout ce que vous pouvez imaginer, evec une dose d'huile de sesame et de la sauce pimentee

a soup in Macau: fish stock an soya milk with bread, white fish flesh and chives tiny burgers - soupe de Macau: bouillon de poisson, lait de soja et petits passes de mie de pain, poisson blanc et ciboulette

beer fish in Yangshuo, China: river fish cooked in beer with ginger, garlic, tomatoes, green pepers and spring onions - poisson a la biere de yangshuo: poisson de riviere cuit dans de la biere avec du gingembre, de l'ail, des tomates, des poivrons verts et des oignons nouveaux

vietnamese pork ribs: prok ribs quickly marinated in lime juice, sugar, garlic and ginger with a bit of chicken stock powder and then pan fried - cotes de porc vietnamienne: cotes de porcs marinees dans du jus de lime, du sucre, de l'ail, du gingembre et un peu de bouillon de poulet en poudre puis revenues a la poele

Amok: an amazing cambodian fish coconut curry - Amok: un curry cambodgien delicieux, au poisson et a la noix de coco

lap, Lao national dish: ground white meat or fish with lime, salt, chili, spring onions and sometimes mint - lap, le plat national laotien: viande blanche ou poisson hache avec jus de lime, sel, piment, onions nouveaux et parfois menthe

books - livres:

In the empire of Genghis Khan; a journey Amongst Nomads by Stanley Stewart - travels on horseback in Mongolia. Nice, funny and inspiring

What is Orthodoxy? - bought in the Varlaam monastery; basically why the Pope will burn in hell and there is no salvation out of orthodoxy. Oh, and other stuff as well like whether Christ was divine AND human at the same time or not, and why Peter WASN'T the favorite apostle

Amongst the believers: an Islamic journey by VS Naipaul - a journey in Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia in the 80s, when islamic Iran and Pakistan were still new and to be built

Granta 84 "Over there: how America sees the world" - if you don't know Granta yet, try to get hold of one... new writing, art, photo...

Granta 64 "Russia: the Wild East"

Amongst the Russians by Colin Thubron - a journey in communist USSR in the 80's

I am a cat by Natsume Soseki

Harry Potter 1, 2 , 3...

A widow for a year by John Irving

Le portail de Francois Bizot - le Cambodge avant les Khmers Rouges, Duch, la prise de Phnom Penh... un recit autobiographique fascinant et terrifiant

The sorrow of war by Bao Ninh - Vietnam war from the Vietanmese side, what war does to a country and its youth

wildlife - nature:

legless lizard in Greece - lezard sans pattes en Grece

vultures in Paros - vautours a Paros

turtles, snakes, fruit bats in Cyprus - tortues marines, serpents et chauve-souris a Chypre

eagles and storkes in Turkey - aigles et cigognes en Turquie

camels, reindeer, eagles and monkeys in Russia; well, not quite wild... - chameaux, reines, aigles et singes en Russie; bon, pas vraiment sauvages...

cranes, kites, insects, jumping fish, salmon, dears, bears, tanuki(dog racoons) in Japan - grues, milans, insectes, poissons sauteurs, saumons, daims, ours, tanuki au Japon

thousands of geese in the Korean DMZ - milliers d'oies sauvages dans la zone demilitarisee coreenne

monkeys in the Three Gorges in China - singes dans les Tois Gorges du Yangzi en CHine

gekkos in Vietnam and Cambodia, clinging to any vertical surface - gekkos au Vietnam et au Cambodge

monkeys near Angkor

dolphins in Cambodia, in the Mekong - dauphins au Cambodge dans le Mekong

tamed elephants in Cambodia and Laos - elephants apprivoises au Cambodge et au Laos

fish and sea eagles in Thailand

monkeys in Kuala Lumpur

most useful - plus utile:

a compass for when we are really lost and have no clue which way the map is meant to be - une boussole pour quand nous sommes completement perdus et n'avons aucune idee de l'orientation de notre plan

a heat resistant plastic bottle for taking showers in the transiberian, making coffee in Japan... - une bouteille plastique resistant a la chaleur pour prendre des douches dans le transiberien, faire du cafe au Japon...

silk mummies - sacs a viande en soie

debit cards! - cartes bleues!

a good knife - un bon couteau

a torch - une lampe de poche

thank you - merci

Emmanuel Alby; Sandrine Boissier; Una Reddington, Manfred and Elsa Regula; Ines Iglesias; Gianluca Raimo; Matthew and Ingrid; Jason and Zoya; Christina and Klimis; Ali Eroglu; Anahit and Vahan Stepanyan; Ara Atayan; Tatev; Andrew Page, Adar Cohen, Julie Aurand; Alexandra Levina; Ksenia Kisingo and Sacha; Alexander Khramov; Brid Lange; Katya Samburova; Monsieur Morita; Tania and Natasha Usovy; Galina; those people`s front garden in Tokyo; Soness Stevens; Darryl Mellows; Chris Richardson; Kanke Kohki; Kazu Anazawa; Ai Kimura; Mitsuaki, Chiemi and Caukee Sakaemachi; Meghann Finn; Karen McInnes; Keiji and Yuko Kuroda; Akane and Nana Ryouke; Kunie and Saito Kazuyuki; Nakano Takefusa; Jietsu Kurokawa; Interako Yamakawa and Fox Cafe & Rider House; Takamatsu; Kazuki Nishimura; Mister Arai; Yoko Sugimoto; Masaaki Kohara; Tooru Matsuda; Yumiko Takahashi; Takako Hiraide; Go Shibata; Judy O'brien; Mrs Shinohara; Mayumi Damra, Satoko Chama and Mutsuko Hiratsuka; Hitoyasu Yamahara; Sadae Sato; Stuart Ward; Tatsuji, Takumi and Momoka; Ian Isemonger; Iuske Hamamachi, Iuji Kuranari; Emily Krepel; Sarah Jane Beresford; Melany O'Carroll; Anjuli Grantham; Laure Phi Van Caussiol; Aurore Laugier; Fanny Remenyi, Jacques Raphanel; Emmanuel, Flaura, Gabriel Raphanel; Pierre Delfosse; Dereng Ning; Bon; Michel et Nado Porte, Jacques et Brigitte Gogue; Mark and Kate Goddard; Anya Garus and Iain Stubley; Judith Manigan and mark van Luyk; Pascal Royere; Tan, Tang and Lun; Louis Gabaude; Yves et Myriam; Georges Levillain; Brian and Barry; Marie; Khong and Laure; Jen...

fragrant vagrants