Tag Archives: walk🚶🏻
please tell me it used to be all blue!
A friend had told me about a village called Radkan northwest of Chenaran. It had an ancient tower and an eco-lodge where I would be able to stay. I decided to walk there, but not on the main highway. Instead, I was going to try to find a way through the countryside. I wasn’t sure […]
hotel hunt
When I woke up in the mosque, and its doors were still shut and my things were still there, and the morning light came shining in from outside, I felt relieved. I was tired as hell, though. So I slowly packed up my stuff, then I turned back and took a last look at the […]
strong winds bring coldness and thievery
When I got up, I first had to finish a large plate of food that a friendly man named Ahmad had brought me the night before. Then another villager, Kerman, took me to his field for a photo session: I have always been bad with plants. I like them, or most of them (the ones […]
invisible Afghans on the old road
When I left in the morning the sky was overcast: I liked overcast, because it meant that it wouldn’t be that hot. The road led me past painted walls most of the time. Some of them were quite colorful: There was a place apparently advertising sheep’s head for breakfast: I passed. Instead, I went to […]
wedding guest
So finally, finally, finally, after all this time, we were on the road again, the Caboose and I. We took a sort of highway out of Mashhad: Then it turned into a country highway in the outskirts: I took a lunch break next to a waterpark: And then I ran into this guy: Poor dude […]
my yoke is easy
So I left. I figured the least I could do was walk to a friend’s house in the western part of the city. Leave the crowded area around the shrine. Leave the roaches. Breathe. It turned into a very angry walk. I squeezed through some of the most insane traffic I had ever witnessed. The […]
Mashhad
Woke up in Hassan’s place, had breakfast, watched some cartoons on the tele. We took some pictures of Hassan: And of his little daughter Mahdiye: Hassan insisted that we comb my hair (he had been a barber at one point in his life), and I suffered in silence: It was all very relaxed: By loading […]
The Longest Meal
Today I learned that this was in fact not Hassan’s place, but that of Mahdi, his son-in-law. How did I find out about this? Well, because Hassan asked me if I wanted to come over. To his place. But first we properly gorged ourselves. We had breakfast: And then we watched some TV and had […]
and when I say perfect
So I left the village of Abravan, and I saw it become smaller and smaller in the distance: Passed another melon stand: And then the industrial outskirts of Iran’s second largest city, Mashhad, started to appear: It was becoming increasingly clear that Iran, just like the other countries on my way, had a trash problem: […]
decorated cars
I left the madrasa early in the morning, and when I did, almost everyone else was in class already. Some of the guys had come to see me off, and I decided to take my Let’s Walk video right there: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock […]
all the verses
The night had been a bit bright with the lights of the mosque, and it had been a bit noisy with the people who came to rest, drink some water, or wash their hands from time to time. But it was okay. I left early in the morning: Saw a shepherd: Saw a truck: Many […]
Sepultachios
Started walking at six thirty in the morning. There was a mountain range ahead that I would have to cross today, so I needed all the time I could get. Walked past the mosque: And past the village: There were many buildings that looked abandoned: And then I was on the road that led into […]
my black flag
When I woke up, I had a Lady Gaga song stuck in my head. The NA clock was still there: And so was the NA tea pot: I said goodbye and left the little mosque: The village still looked a bit like a frontier settlement from the Wild West: But the black chadors everywhere broke […]
The Sultan’s Beautiful Young Daughter
It was the same as every time when I started on a journey: there were worries, and there were preparations to be made. But I had to step out into the unknown at some point sooner or later. So I did: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always […]
really
Last day in Turkmenistan. As unbelievable as it had seemed only two weeks earlier, I was about to reach the border of Iran on foot. I felt tired. I felt excited. It was like a fever. So I left the hotel and looked back: A strange place, but a comfortable one at that. The Boss […]
Tears
When I woke up, Nang was still there, and after I started walking… …he decided to come along! I could hear his little paws follow me on the asphalt, and every now and then I would stop to give him some water and pet him. We were walking together, Nang and I. It was MAGIC! […]
and along came Nang
The night had been pretty shitty. But there was nothing to do but walk, so I did that. I started walking in the dust: Sometimes there was a dirt track right next to the road, so I tried walking there, but that meant even more dust: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy […]
8-0-0-0
I had gone to sleep with 7995km down. So when I woke up, the next celebratory dance was just a bit more than an hour away. I had danced seven times before. Now was the eighth time. Eight thousand kilometers from Beijing to here. So I got on the road, walked a little bit: And […]
a possible shortcut
These are the slippers I had worn for about 100km through the Turkmen desert: They looked the part. I was glad to be back in my regular hiking shoes again. The Caboose was doing a great job, by the way. No problems whatsoever, she was always there, ready to go: We passed what looked like […]
MacGyvered that shit
Not having found any suitable shoes at the bazaar, I MacGyvered something today. Here’s the shoe that is damaged at the heel: Here’s my flip-flop where I cut out a piece: Here is the piece: And here is the fix for the shoe: Let’s hope it works. We left early in the morning, when the […]