3rd September 2010 by helen
That’s it.
I’ve had enough.
I can’t stand any more.
At all.
I never did like tinned fruit and I force myself to swallow the second piece of peach in syrup of the morning. Paul is quite happy to gobble up the remains of the jar. I pull out some stale bread and dip it in the remains of a jar of jam. Ahhh, that’s better.
In an attempt to find an alternative to always cooking sausage and eggs for breakfast we started buying jars of peaches in syrup. It had to be peaches because that’s just about the only preserved fruit you can buy in the villages. It was OK for a few days but now I’ve had enough. Going to have to find an alternative. Go with the bread and jam. That’s what I thought until we’d been staying at the Oasis for a few days. Breakfast here is described as ‘continental’, which in this case means toast and jam every day. And now I’ve had enough of that too. Think I’ll have to get in the habit of boiling the eggs the night before. Except Paul likes the peaches but doesn’t like plain hard boiled eggs. Sometimes our differences are not so much profound as just plain inconvenient!
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1st September 2010 by Paul
“We’re heading for the Oasis” they said.
These people we met on the road who spoke something of our language, and were travelling overland, by whatever means, all said the same. Initially, we imagined a place with green palm trees and pools of refreshing clean water. But quickly we discovered they referred to the Oasis Cafe and Guest House in the eastern suburbs of Ulaanbaatar. Not quite such a romantic image, nor, you may imagine, a destination so vital.
But in the same way that moths are attracted to bright lights, and magnets drawn irresistibly to steel, people who travel overland are drawn here, as if by some invisible and powerful force.
- Four Romanian motorcyclists in the middle of driving 12,000 miles through Russia to raise money for children’s charities.
- Two young couples attempting to beat the world record for the longest distance ever travelled by quad bike – they’ll succeed if they get as far as Moscow. I have no doubt they’ll make it.
- A small team of Austrians driving a Nissan hatchback converted to electrical propulsion right around the world.
- Lee the plumber, a hulk of a man from Birmingham, with his wife Helen and eleven year old home tutored daughter Beverley, stopping off for essential repairs to their 1992 Defender – they are driving from France to Australia via China and the Indonesian islands, on their way to a new life in a country they’ve never visited, where they know no-one, and for which they have no visa – ‘yet’ says Lee.
- Gerald, a lone 45 year old motorcyclist, nursing a 1996 Kawasaki trial bike all the way from England to the Russian far east. And from there? – ‘who knows?’ he says.
- Ann and Joe, both in their twenties and from Belgium, on their way around the world in an ageing Nissan Patrol.
Like a golden thread running through fine cloth, there is something that runs through the character of those we have met here. Here we have met people who believe that the impossible can be made possible. Here we have found people who, often against the odds, are wresting life out of life.
And perhaps there is something in the notion that an invisible and powerful force draws them here.
Do you ever feel that force?
Do you hear it calling?
What will you do?
Tags: oasis
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1st September 2010 by Paul
A few of our followers have asked us what overlanding is like, seeking something of the experience.
‘Its not a holiday’ we say, ‘its an experience’.
The links below will take you to three of my short written descriptions of our experience in places we have stopped or visited. I have tried to convey more than the facts. I hope they work for you.
Sunset at Semey
Camp at Tsaanaguur
Dancing in the Gobi
Tags: experience
Posted in Paul's ramblings | 1 Comment »
