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schalk vd merwe said:
I was down in August so that’s it for this year. Next year if the world keeps turning ...
Living the Dream Solo Around the World Trip
- Thread starter schalk vd merwe
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I was down in August so that’s it for this year. Next year if the world keeps turning ...
That Park is indeed marvelous! That insect farm makes me want to visit Butterly World again
Nice to see you back Schalk.
I was in Switzerland last month. Went to Interlanken and the Swiss alpes. I was amazed at the amount of bikes on the roads over there. You could see most of them were touring through.
Looking forward to the rest of your adventure.
I was in Switzerland last month. Went to Interlanken and the Swiss alpes. I was amazed at the amount of bikes on the roads over there. You could see most of them were touring through.
Looking forward to the rest of your adventure.
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
The following day I hit the road from Luxembourg to France to go and meet up again with a family that I met at Jungle Junction in Kenya when I did the Africa part of my trip.
Halfway I stopped to buy a bratwurst and coffee. I arrived at their place before sunset.
Arnaud & Melanie bought a campsite and guest house on their return from Africa. The Idea was to operate it in the summer months and travel to Africa when it is winter in Europe.
They were busy renovating the place when I arrived there and they gave me a room to sleep in. That night they invited me for a braai and wine at their house around the corner.
The next morning I met Arnaud’s parents and his dad bought one of my books. Every book I sell makes my luggage by 0,7 of a kilogram lighter and I brought 40 books along which translates to 28 kg just for the books. By now I have sold a couple of books and as I said before I sold my book in Europe for quite a bit more than in South Africa.
Arnaud lend me a drilling machine before I left and I drilled a hole in my Visor and put a screw through. That was the end of my troubles with the helmet.
After that I was off to Bern Switzerland to go and deliver a book at a book store. They ordered the book while I was still in South Africa for one of their clients. It is costing me probably 3 times the price of the book to deliver it but sometimes live is not just about making money.
About 80 km before Bern I came to a very big town. As it started to rain I checked for a camp site on my GPS and saw one about 3 km away. Instead of putting my rain suit on I just pushed on a bit and managed to stop under a car port in front of the camp site with my cloths a bit wet by now. The camp site had a very high wall around with a solid door on the street side. Just after I took my helmet off a middle age lady came out. As it was raining fairly heavy I stood under the car port and asked the lady with the umbrella if this is a camp site? Yes she answered but with a difference. I said what difference. She said it was a nudist camp site. I said well I only need to pitch my tent for one night and I will close my eyes a bit if I see something that I am not suppose to see. She then said no you have to be a member… Ok. Just then one of their German male members also came out through the door in the wall and started to chat with me. It turned out that he stayed in South Africa before as well and often visited the Beau Brummel nudist camp north of Pretoria until the government closed it down.
I then decided to rather push through to Bern in Switzerland and I put my rain suit on. It was a beautiful road and snow was lying on the mountains. Close to Bern I checked for a Camp site on the GPS. It took me to a camp site with a huge river. The water in the river was blue and clean and cold. The water came down from the snow caped mountains nearby. I pitched my tent and offloaded the bike. I made some Spaghetti on my small gas stove that night and made ready to go to bed.
With the snow still on the mountains, boy was it cold that night. I slept with my clothes on inside my sleeping bag and my riding jacked on top of my sleeping bag. Well the van der Merwe from Africa survived the night and it was a new experience for me.
Halfway I stopped to buy a bratwurst and coffee. I arrived at their place before sunset.
Arnaud & Melanie bought a campsite and guest house on their return from Africa. The Idea was to operate it in the summer months and travel to Africa when it is winter in Europe.
They were busy renovating the place when I arrived there and they gave me a room to sleep in. That night they invited me for a braai and wine at their house around the corner.
The next morning I met Arnaud’s parents and his dad bought one of my books. Every book I sell makes my luggage by 0,7 of a kilogram lighter and I brought 40 books along which translates to 28 kg just for the books. By now I have sold a couple of books and as I said before I sold my book in Europe for quite a bit more than in South Africa.
Arnaud lend me a drilling machine before I left and I drilled a hole in my Visor and put a screw through. That was the end of my troubles with the helmet.
After that I was off to Bern Switzerland to go and deliver a book at a book store. They ordered the book while I was still in South Africa for one of their clients. It is costing me probably 3 times the price of the book to deliver it but sometimes live is not just about making money.
About 80 km before Bern I came to a very big town. As it started to rain I checked for a camp site on my GPS and saw one about 3 km away. Instead of putting my rain suit on I just pushed on a bit and managed to stop under a car port in front of the camp site with my cloths a bit wet by now. The camp site had a very high wall around with a solid door on the street side. Just after I took my helmet off a middle age lady came out. As it was raining fairly heavy I stood under the car port and asked the lady with the umbrella if this is a camp site? Yes she answered but with a difference. I said what difference. She said it was a nudist camp site. I said well I only need to pitch my tent for one night and I will close my eyes a bit if I see something that I am not suppose to see. She then said no you have to be a member… Ok. Just then one of their German male members also came out through the door in the wall and started to chat with me. It turned out that he stayed in South Africa before as well and often visited the Beau Brummel nudist camp north of Pretoria until the government closed it down.
I then decided to rather push through to Bern in Switzerland and I put my rain suit on. It was a beautiful road and snow was lying on the mountains. Close to Bern I checked for a Camp site on the GPS. It took me to a camp site with a huge river. The water in the river was blue and clean and cold. The water came down from the snow caped mountains nearby. I pitched my tent and offloaded the bike. I made some Spaghetti on my small gas stove that night and made ready to go to bed.
With the snow still on the mountains, boy was it cold that night. I slept with my clothes on inside my sleeping bag and my riding jacked on top of my sleeping bag. Well the van der Merwe from Africa survived the night and it was a new experience for me.
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
Wonderful sharing your experiences - thanks!
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
Ri said:
Only a pleasure my friend
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
Ri said:
Yes I think I want to make an insect farm in my garden for the birds to feed on.
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
Esplin said:
Yes I also saw many bikers traveling in Switzerland but even more down in Croatia along the Adriatic Sea. More RR coming.
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
The Next day was Saturday. As part of the benefits of the campsite was that you get a free tram tickets. I made use of that and went into town. Got off at the terminus and walk around town a bit. Everything was so expensive that I did not even drink anything. Later I took the tram back again. It indeed is a beautiful city.
The only reason why I stayed over was to deliver my book to a book store that ordered the book for a client. To my dismay I found out that the Monday was a public holiday and I would have to stay till the Tuesday. So I had three days to kill in a very expensive country. There were 2 restaurants in the camp site and all the other people were enjoying them self’s and were drinking and eating while this poor South African can only walk past with envy.
The next day I took a train that gets pulled up the mountain by cable in the city. The slope is about 60 degrees and the view from the top is spectacular.
Then Tuesday came and I packed up camp and loaded the bike. I then followed the GPS to the bookshop into town. Arriving there I could not belief how friendly they were. They offered me free coffee. For me even coffee in a restaurant is expensive and I gladly accepted their offer as I did not even have anything to drink or eat for the day yet.
Then I hit the road towards the Alps and the south of Switzerland. The scenery was out of this world with snow on the mountains. Switzerland is one of my favorite countries in the world.
The road was winding through the snowcapped mountains until I eventually came close to the top of one mountain. The road over the Alps were closed with a barricade. Next to that was a frozen lake. I had no option but to turn around and go back all the way down the mountain. Along the road I stopped at the first hotel and enquired about the road. They told me that the road will only open in a months’ time, as it is still under snow and due to land or snow slides they do not open it at that time of the year. As I have not eaten yet for the day and were a bit cold they offered me a free coffee. As they were still closed I pushed the limits a bit and asked about the possibility of a sandwich. That I had to pay for.
After that it was late afternoon and I hit the road looking for a campsite on the GPS. I found one beautiful one in a small town in-between the mountains. I pitched my tent and that night it was another cold one for someone from Africa. Fortunately a bought a bit red wine to warm the blood and it went down well with some spaghetti and cheese that I made on my small gas stove.
The only reason why I stayed over was to deliver my book to a book store that ordered the book for a client. To my dismay I found out that the Monday was a public holiday and I would have to stay till the Tuesday. So I had three days to kill in a very expensive country. There were 2 restaurants in the camp site and all the other people were enjoying them self’s and were drinking and eating while this poor South African can only walk past with envy.
The next day I took a train that gets pulled up the mountain by cable in the city. The slope is about 60 degrees and the view from the top is spectacular.
Then Tuesday came and I packed up camp and loaded the bike. I then followed the GPS to the bookshop into town. Arriving there I could not belief how friendly they were. They offered me free coffee. For me even coffee in a restaurant is expensive and I gladly accepted their offer as I did not even have anything to drink or eat for the day yet.
Then I hit the road towards the Alps and the south of Switzerland. The scenery was out of this world with snow on the mountains. Switzerland is one of my favorite countries in the world.
The road was winding through the snowcapped mountains until I eventually came close to the top of one mountain. The road over the Alps were closed with a barricade. Next to that was a frozen lake. I had no option but to turn around and go back all the way down the mountain. Along the road I stopped at the first hotel and enquired about the road. They told me that the road will only open in a months’ time, as it is still under snow and due to land or snow slides they do not open it at that time of the year. As I have not eaten yet for the day and were a bit cold they offered me a free coffee. As they were still closed I pushed the limits a bit and asked about the possibility of a sandwich. That I had to pay for.
After that it was late afternoon and I hit the road looking for a campsite on the GPS. I found one beautiful one in a small town in-between the mountains. I pitched my tent and that night it was another cold one for someone from Africa. Fortunately a bought a bit red wine to warm the blood and it went down well with some spaghetti and cheese that I made on my small gas stove.
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
schalk vd merwe
Race Dog
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