Beijing yoghurt is good!
All along the ride people have been asking me: "Why? Why do you do this?", or, my favourite: "What is your mission?" I would answer: "Well, to enjoy myself.." and because I didn't want to come across as a complete hedonist, I would add: "And to learn!"
I did enjoy myself, so what did I learn? Now that I am meeting with friends, family and neighbours (for some time it was hidden behind pictures of Beijing and its inhabitants, but in actual fact I am back in Europe) that question comes up often. First people study me to see if and how the travel has changed me (after 20 or so minutes, they shrug their shoulders and conclude with relief, or perhaps regret, that I'm still the same guy) and then they want to know what I've learned. Or what has been the scariest thing? And my favourite country, the best food, the most hospitable people?
To start with the latter, I do not think people in general have different notions of hospitality. From the outset, I've been received with open arms. I remember how David, Christoph, Matthias, and Katharina and Yves granted me a smooth passing through what used to be East-Germany.. Then all these friendly faces in Poland (Joanna, Joanna, Aurelie, Natalia, Kate, Krysztof and his brother in Wroclaw, Kasia and Aleksander in Krakow), Ukraine, Russia (wow, Sergei, what a good stay!), the friendly farmers and shepherds in Kazakhstan..
My point is, although the style - ranging from Soviet reserved to Iranian pro-active - might have been different, people have been great all along. For a long time I thought that the knowledge gained had to do with my better understanding of geography and infrastructure, the actual added value came from the people with which I had the honour to meet. A real boost for my trust in humanity.
Best food? I must say that home-cooked meals in Iran and Pakistan are excellent, but then there was good Frühstück in Germany, Joanna's mother's potato puree in Walbrzych, Sergei's salt & sour power breakfast in Volgograd, and fantastic fresh noodles all along the road in China (and yoghurt in Qinghai and Beijing!).. So also in this matter it's more kaleidoscopic than focussed.
Favourite country? For cycling 'in the wild' I would say China. So much diversity and as I mentioned above, great food for 1 or 2 Euros outside. (Iran was great too, good roads and all, but come on: Chinese cold beer at the end of a cycle day..)
What I learned about myself is that I love to be outside. Together with outside people, as I came to call them, the farmers and shepherds - it was a great feeling. When you look for shelter to spend the night, your body feels different. Your skin glows, you fall asleep because your muscles are tired, not because your eyes got an overdose of screen.
Cheese! I learned that cheese and the process of producing it must be high chemistry, otherwise more stores would have had it on offer. How I missed cheese.. It's indeed a staple to most Dutch people, and I am no exception. The thought of starting a cheese production development aid organisation crossed my mind..
Typical coming home sensations: my father leaving the car keys on the car outside (no problem in a small Dutch town), my mother leaving the keys to the house on the front door (same), eating a bag full of liquorice and feeling nauseous, cycle lanes with signposts just for cyclists.. Coming to think of it, cycling around The Netherlands feels a bit like being in a big public park. One where it rains quite a lot unfortunately.
But these are trivialities of the new beginning that I made two weeks ago. We didn't get to the ending just before. Maybe there had been a mission after all, a night of karaoke with my good friend Joa. Below, on the top of our lungs: "Like a prayer".
Life is a mystery!
Beijing yoghurt is good!
All along the ride people have been asking me: "Why? Why do you do this?", or, my favourite: "What is your mission?" I would answer: "Well, to enjoy myself.." and because I didn't want to come across as a complete hedonist, I would add: "And to learn!"
I did enjoy myself, so what did I learn? Now that I am meeting with friends, family and neighbours (for some time it was hidden behind pictures of Beijing and its inhabitants, but in actual fact I am back in Europe) that question comes up often. First people study me to see if and how the travel has changed me (after 20 or so minutes, they shrug their shoulders and conclude with relief, or perhaps regret, that I'm still the same guy) and then they want to know what I've learned. Or what has been the scariest thing? And my favourite country, the best food, the most hospitable people?
To start with the latter, I do not think people in general have different notions of hospitality. From the outset, I've been received with open arms. I remember how David, Christoph, Matthias, and Katharina and Yves granted me a smooth passing through what used to be East-Germany.. Then all these friendly faces in Poland (Joanna, Joanna, Aurelie, Natalia, Kate, Krysztof and his brother in Wroclaw, Kasia and Aleksander in Krakow), Ukraine, Russia (wow, Sergei, what a good stay!), the friendly farmers and shepherds in Kazakhstan..
My point is, although the style - ranging from Soviet reserved to Iranian pro-active - might have been different, people have been great all along. For a long time I thought that the knowledge gained had to do with my better understanding of geography and infrastructure, the actual added value came from the people with which I had the honour to meet. A real boost for my trust in humanity.
Best food? I must say that home-cooked meals in Iran and Pakistan are excellent, but then there was good Frühstück in Germany, Joanna's mother's potato puree in Walbrzych, Sergei's salt & sour power breakfast in Volgograd, and fantastic fresh noodles all along the road in China (and yoghurt in Qinghai and Beijing!).. So also in this matter it's more kaleidoscopic than focussed.
Favourite country? For cycling 'in the wild' I would say China. So much diversity and as I mentioned above, great food for 1 or 2 Euros outside. (Iran was great too, good roads and all, but come on: Chinese cold beer at the end of a cycle day..)
What I learned about myself is that I love to be outside. Together with outside people, as I came to call them, the farmers and shepherds - it was a great feeling. When you look for shelter to spend the night, your body feels different. Your skin glows, you fall asleep because your muscles are tired, not because your eyes got an overdose of screen.
Cheese! I learned that cheese and the process of producing it must be high chemistry, otherwise more stores would have had it on offer. How I missed cheese.. It's indeed a staple to most Dutch people, and I am no exception. The thought of starting a cheese production development aid organisation crossed my mind..
Typical coming home sensations: my father leaving the car keys on the car outside (no problem in a small Dutch town), my mother leaving the keys to the house on the front door (same), eating a bag full of liquorice and feeling nauseous, cycle lanes with signposts just for cyclists.. Coming to think of it, cycling around The Netherlands feels a bit like being in a big public park. One where it rains quite a lot unfortunately.
But these are trivialities of the new beginning that I made two weeks ago. We didn't get to the ending just before. Maybe there had been a mission after all, a night of karaoke with my good friend Joa. Below, on the top of our lungs: "Like a prayer".
Life is a mystery!
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