We interrupt our regularly scheduled drivel for a special announcement...
Spring has arrived for some of us. As you were forewarned, one of our TEL community members, Torgeir Higraff, has begun a long-deferred journey to visit new parts of the world - new to him, anyway.
Some call it Wanderlust; some call it Spring Fever. I wonder what his wife and family back in Norway call it. (Attempt at jocularity.)
Thanks to the marvel of modern digital connections, here is Torgeir’s first trip report. Phileas Fogg would be green with envy. Jules Verne, too. (Other TEL community members are invited to send similar articles about their rambles; it’s a big world for us expats.)
First Trip Report, 4 March 2023
The first days of traveling have been exhausting! And I have not started the walks in the Himalayas yet.
My way of communication has been very different in the first four countries. I will start with a short reflection about how to move around safe and easy. Croatia, in rental car from the airport. Austria, public transportation is fantastic. The Emirates, you have to download the Über application. And last, in Nepal – you could get the local taxi app, but it turned out to be impossible to use.
In the past, Croatia has always been easy for me to travel in a rental car. But this time I got 30 cm of snow the morning I was to deliver the car and me to the airport. The drive was very dangerous. I could feel the tires lose their grip several times. I tried to fuel up the car as we must before return – but also that turned out to be a problem. On my map, I loaded two gas stations. Both of these were closed. Maybe because they belong to the Russian oil oligarchs in Lukoil. Finally I found one gas station open, after a detour. Then, at the airport and the rental car office, nobody was there to get the keys and check the car. (Maybe they had hard time driving). I looked around for them. Then I just left the car there with keys in and ran with my luggage to catch the plane. But in the security control line, I could not find my phone (when I wanted to listen to podcasts). I ran through the airport again, to the rental place. There my car still was parked with keys in. On the passenger seat was my phone.
Randy: Torgeir retrieved, relieved, caught flight. My pilot friends say any landing that you walk away from is a good landing. This may be the mirror image of a good landing. At least, he got in the air on the right plane, on time, and without being arrested. A good takeoff.
Vienna was better. Superspeed train wait for you at the airport, extremely well signed so you can not miss it when you arrive. It took me 45 minutes from when the plane landed to I was in my room. (I get rooms on an application, from private owners). If you want to travel easy in a big city, choose Vienna.
I had the time among other stops to see The Museum of Military History. It is an enormous collection of paintings and objects - a wide range of exhibits comprising, above all, weapons, armor, tanks, aeroplanes, and uniforms. For the first time, I understood that there are a few leading individuals in every decade who make wars and get the states and allies among them. Just look at the hundreds of paintings from the history of Austria-Hungary before the end of the World War. All the generals and kings are posing in their uniform, just about to start another war. I also could see the car where the archduke Ferdinand and his wife were shot at close range while being driven through Sarajevo, then the provincial capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, formally annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. I really enjoyed this museum!
After two days in Vienna, my next stop was The Emirates. The splendid thing about traveling there is the Über drivers took me everywhere I wanted. You type on the app where to go, and the driver gets your position. You can choose driver and car. After five minutes the driver arrives at your place. In The Emirates, the drivers use luxury cars. Very spacy and comfortable seats, only for you.
So the driving was the most exciting thing in Dubai. Some things were remarkable about this city. First, I could not see any women in the neighborhoods I visited. There were only men in the streets, in the shops, and behind the ticket booths for the attractions. Even shops selling dresses for women were for men only. Men selling dresses to men who probably wanted to give them to a woman. I saw a couple of women for every thousand men. And they were covered in black niqabs. The driver who took me to my apartment was shocked at my choice. I did not understand. He said, “I can take you to another place. Don’t live here!” I could not change my apartment without spending a great deal of money, so I stayed.
In those streets, there were many women, dressing normally. (I could see their face and hair.) But they were all prostitutes. Hundreds of them. Even near the mosques, these women were standing, outside buildings marked “café”. They just said “Hi” when I passed them on my way to the bay where I wanted to see the sunset and feel the 28 degrees and ocean air. Anyway, I moved the next day.
Nepal is another story.
Randy: I can already see a movie coming out of this adventure. Who shall we get to play Torgeir’s part? Tom Hanks? Clint Eastwood? Ah-nold? All too old. Probably we couldn’t afford them, anyway. Johnny Depp? Call it “Pirates of the Himalayas”?