Hello from Vrecha ...

[vrecha]

As you said, welcome is always welcomed, tnx.

Didn't reply earlier as I've been busy setting off, then busy travelling and haven't been on net much, now we are mostly out of reach of signal, in the inlands of Western Sahara again!!! Just completed one very nice crossing, Gueltat Zemmur -> Boujoudur with lots of sand, sebkhas, lonesome wells (that Spanish colonialists dug in 1940s - 1970s).
Off to desert again today, for a week (or maybe two).

I'm preparing the GPS map of the inlands WS with info that is relevant for overlanders, alpha version will be out this year, ansallah.

Some pictures ...













More on our blog (Slovene language unfortunately) and G+ stream.
Kind regards to all forum members.

 

[nathanrobo]

That's completely awesome! Thanks for posting (& welcome), great read!

 

[clivehorridge]

I want to say "cool" but I'm sure it's not!

I've just come back from a trip to Qatar and Oman and its still 36+ during the day!

Great photos and plenty more to come I hope...

 

[vrecha]

Cool ... what to say.
At day temperatures hardly climb above 30 deg. C but at night they fall to cca 10 deg. C. A little too cold for our taste.

Greetings from Dakhla, where we are staying for two days and then we will move again to the desert.
Just crossed inlands in direction Boujoudur - Irarfia - BirAnzarane - Awsard, part of it as guides. Nice, remote places and not difficult driving. Some pics with comments.

Irarfia area is very green this autumn, consequently many Saharawis settled here for some months. Last year it was really quiet here around, we camped at one well for five days and did't meet a person in all this time. This year it is different, but more people mean more fun.



BirAnzarane holds a strong military post, but nevetheless, if the monsieur Colonel is in the right mood, you are treated with high amount of hospitality.







Along the way we met a lot of interesting places with monuments and tumuli.



In Awsard, we settled for some days and explored the mountains and plains around.











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From Dakhla, we intend to go and explore some southern parts of WS and we intend to reach Awsard again in the middle of December, because there will be a festival of local culture there. The whole village lives for this occasion even the month before.

Again at least two weeks without any connection to the rest of the world. It is going to be fun!

 

[vrecha]

Some impressions from last two weeks, and off (the net) we go again for a week or two (or three).

 

[vrecha]

Festival of Aousard was a very nice experience and offered a unique view on the local culture, music, customs ...

 

[SpinDrift]

Hi Damjan,

great pictures. Time I was on the road again, its been too long.

 

[clivehorridge]

Hi, it's great to see you mixing so well with the "locals". I would imagine that to be the key to enjoyment of such a trip. Trusting the truck is living up to its name!

Keep the photos coming.

Merry Christmas to you!



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[vrecha]

Tnx.
Knowing the locals and living among them really opens new horizons. Among the many nice things are also some less cheerful observations, among them for instance the recognition of cruel reality of the consequences of the political situation here. The self appointed authority here is using all the methods (and more) that were used by Germans in WWII throughout Eu. Being more than just ignorant tourist has also some not-so- desirable consequences ...

 

[clivehorridge]

It's always difficult to understand why these regimes cannot be more sympathetic to the well being of the people. I know we only see part of the story, but man can be very cruel to its own kind. Life is tough enough in these harsh environments, the people need a break, not torture and persecution. When are we going to learn? Sadly sometime never maybe...


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[vrecha]

Very true, Clive ...
Here is one article about the situation here and our experience can only support what is said here and add other similar observations.

But Saharawis are really nice and surprisingly open people, very different from Moroccans, plus they face the troubles very bravely and stoically.

And to continue with the main theme of this post, here is one time lapse video:
-> ClicK <-

Regards to all, off (the net) we go again.

 

[vrecha]

To escape a little from social and political and travelling themes, here are some photos with different subject matter:









The end of December and January is the time when new camels are born. This one is just two days old:

 

[froggy Steve]

ahhh, he is all 'wooly'
Steve

 

[clivehorridge]

The time-lapse is great video clip! Very sociable with plenty of interaction going on there.

The common theme with the "west" being the TV burning away in the corner with nobody watching it. I recon that scenario, when assessed over the worlds total TV sets, must outweigh the difference between regular and hybrid cars scratching away at very small savings in pollution with huge publicity. The "permanently on" TV syndrome doesn't get a mention!

We're no different mind you, but I do keep complaining about it. Up to 5 years ago we managed without one, but I recon my 4 year old daughter would leave home if we got rid now!


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[vrecha]

You're right, Clive!
TV sets are burning all the time everywhere and sometimes it really gets on my nerves as I'm not used to it. I managed to live without TV for past 15 years and didn't miss it at all! Here the always-on TVs are fighting for my attention and it affects my concentration during conversations, especially as my French, Spanish and Arabic are far from fluent.

In Aousserd, the situation is not so bad though, as we have electricity only from 18h in the evening to 2h in the morning, so most of the day we are free from TV slavery.

 

[vrecha]

Again, there were days and weeks and only few minutes of internet access, so report is again a little late.

Mauretania happened in the last month. Again we tried hard to leave the tourist-beaten tracks as soon as possible and go exploring the places the Lonely Planet and similar (mis)guide books "forgot" to mention.

Banc d'Arguin was of course a natural place to start.





Then to Nouakchott to clear visa formalities and of course to visit also the famous plage de peche.







Adrar plateau was our next destination. And to avoid being influenced too much by various misguide books, we relied solely on old IGN maps and intuition. This means that sometimes it took us 6 hours to reach a destination we thought we would have reached in an hour, but as a reward, we found very nice places and meet really interesting and kind people on our way.

The people of Mauretania, so they say, are hard to deal with. And what we found out is that on places where tourists visit regularly, this is to an extent true (although our attitude of kindness, openess and a statement that we are not ordinary tourists, accompanied with obvious fact that we are in no hurry, worked wonders). But when you meet people in places that tourists (and especially amateur rallies - worst kind of tourism in my opinion) don't visit, you see a completely different picture. The Saharan and Muslim kindness to travelers and hospitality still exists.










Then we decided to visit also some friends at the Polisario side of Western Sahara. But first you have to cross the tracks of - so they say - the longest train in the world.





Unfortunately we didn't have time for longer visit on Poisario side. But we managed among other things to visit the marvelous Lejouad, the land of monolites, that is really beautiful.



Some more pics in this GooglePlus post.

Finally, we headed east and south, across Adrar to Tidjikia, a route very similar to Chris Scotts R10 Mauri route.
A route? Well, mostly it was just sand and sand and dunes and ergs ...
Time consuming (no problem for us) and fun!!!



To be continued, inshallah ...
Greetings from Kayes, Mali.

 

[Gav Peter]

Your posts always make me jealous Vrecha - please keep them coming

 

[AndyCook]

amazing - thanks

 

[vrecha]

Time to move on, whatever that will turn out to mean ...

So just to anounce that our vehicle will be shortly available for sale.

 

[Gary Stockton]

Oh - that's sad! Why do that then?? Make a plan and hang on to it!!