Mon March 12 2018  —  e-mail Manfred

A Journey to India that would stop in Egypt, but Hungary is first.

Flag Hungary Flag Slovakia MB307, Hungary.

Sunday, August 02 2009

5 years, 11 days

Budapest, Hungary

About Travel Photography,
Colors of the World.

Manfred is creator of ThisFabTrek.com, travel photography, a travel blog and a photography blog (a journey from 2004 to 2013). 'I set out to see the colors of the world, always I try to capture the colors'.

Seeing, is understanding, so I report and photograph, but formost enjoy and live those different conceptions of life (all that TV [and the web] cannot give). I reject jealousy, animosity, bigotry. Be free!

Manfred in the desert of the Western Sahara

The mind, when pondering at night and always asked those questions. What am I doing in corporate wonderland of bank, university, office or church? Who is the other animal asleep deep inside, the thinker, punk, creative, or Indian, vagabond and healer, maybe artist, writer, photographer, traveler, globetrotter? Oh God, dare you to think. When I saw the lies, gambles and manipulations I follow the old dream and set out for the journey of life lived, the journey to see the colors of the world.

During years on the road I have taken the turns as they came along, and realized one thing: Only such a small part of the planet can be explored and such a vast land and sea mass will always remain unknown, to me; many swamps, jungles, deserts and oceans will never be traveled. But then I am father of twin boys, Daniel and David, my most important, and I show them some of the wonders and colors out there.

ThisFabTrek, Photography and Journey, the Stories from the Road and Life around the World, stopped in August 2013 after more than 9 years, Love and Peace.

Last vehicle.

G20, Chevy Gladiator.

Chevrolet Gladiator G20, The boys in Cordillera Blanca, Peru.
The boys and Chevy van, Peru.

The G20, the vehicle that came to me for the Americas adventures.

6 wheeled Land Rover.

Land Rover Defender 6x6
Link to Foley

The vehicle of the Africa adventures, a Foley 6-Wheeled Land Rover Defender.

Before, the MB307.

Manfred and MB307
Journey, Middle East.

The vehicle of the Middle-East and North-Cape Journeys. See all vehicles.

Daniel and David with nanny Aisha, the best we ever had, black African Woman carrying white twin babies, in Bamako, Mali.

current MB307 882km

Trekking 442km

Ferry 1,654km

Train 3,738km

Land Rover 73,588km

Other cars 70,652km

Travel Blog

contains Festival/Fiesta/Art photography.

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo.

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it, to tell the tale." Living to Tell the Tale - Gabriel García Márquez.

"They never taught wandering in any school I attended. ... they never taught the art of writing a book, either. It's all so mysterious."
"Wandering is an art in itself. Wandering and writing don't mix"
"Writing demands commitment and if one thing your wanderer is allergic to is that very quality of commitment, for once one is committed he runs that very risk of failure ..." Wanderer - Sterling Hayden.

"Photography enables you to grasp a place first time round. ... Photography is a means of exploration, it's a vital part of travel, almost as essential as a car or a plane. " - Wim Wenders.

"The worst prejudice we acquire during our youth is the idea that life is serious. Children have the right instincts: they know that life is not serious, and treat it as a game..." , Egon Friedell.

"How far you gonna go. Before you lose your way back home" - Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, Achtung Baby, U2.

"If you want to be a hero well just follow me." - Working Class Hero, John Lennon.

"When I think of all the things I have done, I know that it's only just begun." - I love you, Lou Reed.

"One does not escape the Sahara - the Sahara let's you go or not" - Touareg.

"Planet earth is blue and there`s nothing I can do" - This is Ground Control to Major Tom, David Bowie.

"Glory for the crazy people/in this stupid world" - Ahmed Fouad Negm.

www.thisfabtrek.com > journey > europe > hungary > 20090802-budapest

Preparation for the great journey to India which became the Middle Eastern Journey.

Map, Hungary.

Download GPS (KML) track/waypoints.

Orth/Donau, cafe on river. Me
Orth/Donau, the beginning.

Well this is me, my story, I am getting old, also older. Still learning photography and to write.

22nd of July passed for the 5th time since I set out on the great journey. And where am I, in Vienna, one full circle. Is the first time in 5 years that I spend the anniversary in Vienna, where it all started, that first day out into the unknown. One full circle, does it mean that there’s another 5 years in for me?

5 years ago I set out travelling west, now east. 5 years past, will it/I be similar in another 5 years - confidently I give myself another 5 years. Will I give myself another 5 years in 5 years? or have run out of money?

Picture of me is taken by Christina, alias Pipona from Lima. She joins me on this first leg down to Istanbul.

The MB307, built 1978. Cool design. Octobus design.
The MB307 built 1978.
Inside the hippie van, Mercedes 307, interior of the camping bus.
Inside, is home.

I finally manage to get the van through MOT, or how do you say - contrôle technique, TÜF or Pickerl in Austria. Then get the inside of the bus ready. A good clean, it has become ant infested over winter, curtains, bed, some wallpaper applied. Cozy! Have a leak in the gaz plumbing fixed. Fridge is not working. Who cares for now, may get it in Syria repaired. Fill up water, leaks, ah - will fix it one day. The next adventure on the FabTrek, I know what it takes for a long journey, not all needs to be perfect, India here it comes.

And - It almost feels like 5 years ago. Almost.

Friday late afternoon 30th of July, later then planned, the grand journey, so-long envisioned, to the east commences. Many days and weeks of not washing much, peeing in the bottle and looking for public toilets lie ahead.

East, straight out of Vienna by the East, north of the Danube, a cafe, a beer in Orth/Donau, try shake off the tensions. Shortly after, at Hainburg, we cross the big stream that so defines Austrians, in school one of the first things children learn is where the river off springs, where it goes, - and in a way this is our journey. We will cross the river many times Galati, where the mouth is and Ostrov, Romania, Belgrade, Serbia, We would follow through the Iron Gate, the gorge, the cut through of the Danube through the Carpathian mountains. And where ever you get down to the banks of the ever widening stream vegetation, wetlands, smell of water, stones and trees will be very similar. So will be the mosquitoes.

So on a bit south, leave Bratislava already in sight to the left, south to Neusiedl, Podersdorf, lake Neusiedl after sunset, into Hungary, first camp somewhere near Papa.

A new morning, new dawning.

Orth/Donau, pier. Au, Wetlands.
Danube near Vienna, Orth.
Windfarming, dusk, Austria
Windfarming, Autobahn.
MB307 in Hungary, first camp. Near Papa
Beautiful, old, van.

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02 Aug 2009 - Budapest, Hungary, journey in the hippie van.

MB 307 in front of corn field.
Hippie van.
Corn field and huge tree.
Corfield and tree.
Corn field, setting sun. Hungary.
Setting sun, Hungary.

Keszthely, Balaton, Hungary.
Keszthely, bit boring.

The Balaton (wiki), largest lake in Europe is busy on a weekend, Honda Golden Wing meeting somewhere, at night like illuminated Christmas trees on wheels, one after another 10 sometimes 50. Keszthely to Siófok, a bit boring, all the same, but somewhere there's a place to take a first bath in the lake, who knows when you get the next chance.

Budapest Danube.
Budapest and Danube.

Sunday Budapest (wiki). Budapest, just through the biggest economic downturn since fall of communism, I like it. Seems that the government is still overwhelmed with the task of/lacks the money to organising/regulating all and everything. Good so. Leaves space for the individual.

driving over Danube bridge in Budapest.
over the bridge.
Budapest bridge over Danube.
into the sun
Sun behind clouds in sky.
Sun behind clouds in sky.
Budapest lit parliament at night, Danube in front.
Budapest, parliament, night.

A closed shop in Budapest.
Crises.
Graffiti in Budapest on Door.
Graffiti.
House, black decoration, mortar coming off.
House.
Sprayed mark on pavement, Convers in Budapest.
Pavement and Convers.
Budapest Synagogue detail, star of David
Synagogue.
Trash baskets, street Budapest.
Trash Collection.
Russian monument, Budapest
Citadelle.
Citadella communist statue and small aircraft in blue sky.
After Communism.
Budapest parliament, arch, European flag.
Europeanism.

Travelling Eastern Europe…

What strikes you as Austrian is that 70 years ago a small country that Austria was (actually Austria then was part of the German Reich), Austrian participation/membership in those NS organizations that were responsible for the Holocaust killings, like SS and Einsatzgruppen was over proportionately high.

Travelling the Europe of the East down south to Greece this strikes especially. Every villages or city we come through the formerly sometimes up to 50% Jewish population was exterminated to a degree of 90 to 100%.

All of a sudden there remains little to be proud being Austrian.

Or as someone has put it his way the other day, "Really one wonders why after such attrocities Israel never declared war on Austria and Germany for what they have done"?

Or "... after such atrocities how could the Allied powers and the rest of the world allowe for Austria and Germany to maintain their sovereignty"?

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03 Aug 2009, Slovakia, architecture is bad, but worse is to come.

It's communist period architecture accompanied by the over compensated ultra modern because-we-don't-know-what-we-do form ... that I mean.

Svolen City, Skate boarder. Slovakia
Svolen City.

In Slovakia, from Forints back to Euros, impressive how Slovakia, still somewhat shunned under Vladimír Mečiar’s (wiki) prime minister ship till about 10 years ago, joined the common currency club in such a short time.

Architecture in towns is harder to swallow; communism’s destructions not erasable in just 20 years, newly laid out plazas miss the aesthetics, no beauty in provinciality. Svolen, City Caffee terrace on 3rd floor overlooking pedestrian zone in the center, a strumming band from down mixes with the East tec pop from up, sunlight gives in to overcast, diffusion turns into confusion, after the 2nd Krusovice frustration sets in, how can I read pages on the Iphone when offline? Cannot be so complicated, I think Apple has lost it in the same way as Svolen.

We enter the Carpathian Mountains (wiki), green, green lush scenery, paradise mountains; the van struggles a bit climbing over 1000m in altitude.

Some Romani settlements, usually at the entrance of villages, desolate communal conkrete blocks (the old communist flats), missing windows, missing pavement, smoke rises at every corner, people besiege the through road offering what they've collect from the woods, black berries and raspberries, chanterelle and porcini, ghetto like, no assimilation, no integration, not the same chances. Antiziganism is strong in many European countries.

A goal for this first part of the trip is follow the Carpathians. Romani/Gypsies (wiki) have come to Europes even before the Ottomans, settled here/roamed here, were enslaved, deported and killed over 600 years. Worse, in the face of the Holocaust their plight over the years has only played a side story for the media, some say their sufferings was proportionately higher.

At noon we descend on Spisska Nova Vers (wiki), a medieval centre, a gothic church, a pleasant surprise. A cappuccino, a beer. Prices are just half of Viennas'.

Spisska Nova Ves
New town.
Spisska Nova Ves Slovakia, Museum.
Muzeum.

So boring!? What do u think?

www.thisfabtrek.com > journey > europe > hungary > 20090802-budapest

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