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The Long Journey to South East Asia

Brasov-Bucarest-Istanbul-Dubai-Singapore.  Tuesday to Friday; April 15th-18th.

Once in a while, you just have to move a lot to get to a new environment and reset the “wow and amazement clock”. Being in one continent and culture loses its intrigue after a while, and you just have to move on. So, that is what these four days are all about: moving, getting limited and/or awkward rest, getting used to new climates and experiencing new sights, smells and cultures in a new part of the world.

Getting as far north as Brasov in Romania was quite a challenge, and now I had to return to Dubai to head to South East Asia. Almost 10,000 clicks, but I am very ready for it. May I remember being cold or cool when I hit the tropics, complete with higher temperatures and humidity.

So this entry will be photo journalism of places I have been to, and what I have seen along the way from the window or sidewalk as I go South and East.

As I left Brasov and headed across Romania and Bulgaria, what sticks with me is the beautiful countryside and farms. They are endless and look busily managed. What I learned is that much has changed in the countryside since the revolution and/or collapse of the Soviet influence in the area; the small family farm is disappearing quickly and being replaced by large corporate farms, with heavy duty equipment and professional management. This is very evident, as the plots of carefully plowed fields are too large for a single farmer, and the precision of the plowing and the early growth suggests that tractors, not cattle, were used to ready the land. Apparently, if you go further north in Romania and get closer to the Ukraine, you will see more of the traditional farming practices.

The entire trip from Brasov to Istanbul was by train, which is a slower way to go compared to a bus, but so much more comfortable. Decided to travel “first class” as it is not that much more. As it was an overnight trip I wanted a good night's rest, as they would be few and far between for the next four days. I was blessed in that I got a very classy berth, with a sink and collapsible chairs. These folded into a spacious bed, complete with a white laundered comforter. Even better, rather than have three in the room, I had it all to myself. Went to bed earlier on Tuesday night, as I was up at 5:40 to catch the first train.  At 3 am I was rudely awoken, and asked to get dressed and present myself to a Turkish border official. If you are Western, white and a male it may not be fair but you sure get treated differently than others. I was led to the side window of the border official’s office by one of the stewards on the train, something was said and my passport was stamped in a matter of minutes. The citizens from Bulgaria and Romania must have queued up for an hour, but I was sleeping again in 15 minutes. What was especially wonderful is that when the train finished its run at the terminal in Istanbul, it was where I had stayed a few weeks earlier. As I came out of the train station, I recognized the McDonalds and Burger King's of old - sometimes you need a bit of a vacation from your vacation, and have deja vue (been there before). It was 9 am, and I had the day free in Istanbul, but I just wanted to chill out and do things that were customary rather than discover new sights. Went to the harbour, crossed the bridge over the waters of the Golden Horn a few times, went to the area of the old palace, the Blue Temple and the Church of St. Sophia and did internet stuff. Had until 2:40 am on Thursday morning to spend pottering about, so I was in no hurry. Ran out of things to do eventually, so I got to the airport at 8:30 pm (6 hours early). I have a deep fear of missing a flight, and I always want a window seat, either for the view or so that I can sleep and not have to deal with someone climbing over me to go to the washroom.

Arrived in Dubai on Thursday morning at 8 am, after a less restful few hours of sleep - the flight is under 4 hours door-to-door. Getting out of the plane, the desert heat hits you immediately, and I thought to myself, this is my reality for the next so many years, so I better get used to it and enjoy. Decided to go to my hotel in Deira, where I had stayed for almost two weeks in February. As I had time, I decided to get from the airport to Deira by public bus for about $4, rather than catch a cab which would have cost at least ten times that. The bus was full of people from the Indian sub-continent, all pushing and sweating and chatting loudly on their cell phones. It took me over two and a half hours to get to my hotel, rather than 90 minutes, as the traffic was gridlocked.  Checked in to my old hotel, and it felt good to be in familiar surroundings. Invented tasks to do to idle the day away, as my next flight to Singapore was at 8:45 on Friday morning.  Nothng meaningful occurred for the balance of the day.  It got to 92 degrees (about 34 C), and if you were in the sun it was significantly hotter than that.  Pretended not to feel the heat, saying to myself at least it was not humid.  Grin and bear it and eventually I will learn to like it.

Up at the break of dawn on Friday morning.  Got a window seat - to date all my 50 plus flights have been window seats, but to get them you do have to arrive early.  Ignored my seat mate one seat over (the next seat was empty), until the last few hours of the flight.  I hate starting a conversation too early, as you feel obliged to continue talking for the balance of the trip, even if you have nothing in common.  The lady was a German/Australian cancer survivor (alternative medicine person), so we had an interesting conversation.  She recommended I not go to Tasmania, but rather go to Cairns and Port Douglas instead.  Took her advice and had my travel agent book me to travel to that part of Australia in early June.

Got to Singapore around 8  pm.  It was so different to be in a warm, humid, sub-tropical, oriental place where the locals spoke English, the signs were in English and everything was orderly, clean and well organized.  Also nice to not be moving about for a few days, but more on that in the next entry.

Good night - it has taken almost 90 hours to arrive here from Brasov; as I left at 5:20 am on Tuesday and got to my hotel at 10 pm on Friday!

Photos / videos of "The Long Journey to South East Asia":