Farewell favourite auntie

When I embarked last year on my Favourite Aunties and Old Comrades Reunion Tour my main goal, as the name suggests, was to see my old aunties, three of whom were well into their 90s. I was just in time because my most favourite auntie, Dorothea ('Do' for short), died suddenly on October 5, 2017, aged 95. May she rest in peace. 

Lieve Dootje* (you never let me call you Tante* Do when you were alive, so I’d better not start now),

When I said goodbye to you last September we pretended it wasn’t really goodbye. I said something about coming back to see you again in a couple of years, and you agreed, but we both knew it was the last time. Only I didn’t expect you to leave us quite so suddenly.

I told you that you were my favourite aunt, because it was true, then I pedalled back to Ted and Angela’s house and the next day I began the long trip back to New Zealand.

I remember how you gave me my first foothold in Holland, nearly 30 years ago, by inviting me to look after your house while you and Ries spent the winter in Spain. And when you came back you let me stay, and let me feel like that was fine and part of the plan all along, because I didn’t know what I wanted to do next.

Over the years you and Ries, and later just you, were always there for me. Always ready with a cup of coffee, with a room to sleep in if I needed it, with your beautifully hand-written letters in exquisite Dutch, your advice, your compassion for others, your open-mindedness. You really were a woman ahead of your time.

During my last visit you told me some of your stories about the war years, about how you and your sister José pushed bicycles across the country in mid-winter, risking your lives at German checkpoints, to find food for the rest of the family who were starving in Leiden. 

I marvelled at the strength you must have had, and while your body had weakened since then, that strength was still there in your voice, in the way you relived those events of more than 70 years ago.

Lieve Do, my favourite auntie. This time it really is goodbye. 

*Lieve Dootje = Dear Little Do. 'Dootje' is the diminutive form of Do. 
*Tante = aunt. This form of address was strictly forbidden by Do, who found it far too stuffy and formal. 

People I met on the way #2

As promised, here are a few more people who helped make my trip so memorable. This post is for folk I met in Rwanda and Ethiopia.

Village patriarch, near Gisenyi, Rwanda.

Boy with bananas, Gisenyi, Rwanda.

 

Woman and child with Lake Kivu in the distance, Gisenyi, Rwanda.

Yannick Ngabo, 19, a former member of the Rwandan national cycling squad, who took me on a bike tour around Musanze.

Gentleman with henna-dyed beard chewing chat (a mildly narcotic leaf) by the roadside in Harar, Ethiopia. 

 

Men playing dominoes by the main square in Harar, Ethiopia.

A young wedding guest plays up for the camera in Axum, Ethiopia.

 

A girl takes a break from looking after her donkeys in the fields outside Axum, Ethiopia.

A girl and her goats near Axum, Ethiopia.

 

A super-friendly priest holding a processional cross in a rock-hewn church at Lalibela, Ethiopia.

 

Hirut, a schoolgirl from Lalibela, Ethiopia.

Sisay, my guide during a hike to the mountaintop monastery of Asheton Maryam, Lalibela, Ethiopia.

 

Daneal, a history teacher from Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Bruktawit and her daughter at Meskel celebrations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.


 

People I met on the way #1

I met a lot of people on my trip, not just my favourite aunties and old comrades. Here are just a few, most of whom haven't yet featured in this blog. Thanks for helping make my trip so memorable.

A fisherman takes a break on the wharf at Muscat, Oman.

A member of a theatre group parades through Bilbao, Spain,

Alfonso celebrates getting his final stamp on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, Santiago de Compostella, Spain.

Martin and Markéta, members of a Moravian folk group I met at a festival in Romania's Apuseni Mountains.

Cheesemakers Helen and Pepe, who gave me a lift in the Picos de Europa Mountains, Spain.

Kind (but rather shy) school canteen cook, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

Natalia, possibly the most glamorous police officer I've met, and her mum Nina at the Merry Cemetery in Sapanţa, Romania. Natalia not only gave me a lift while I was hitch-hiking to this curiously jolly graveyard, she also insisted on paying my entry fee.

Village woman selling blueberries gathered in the forest, Sighetu Maramaţiei, Romania.

Ioana, keyholder to a medieval wooden church in Ieud, Romania.

Irina, my 70-year-old self-appointed guide when I was looking for a path between the villages of Ieud and Botiza, Romania.

Polish brothers (and avid hat collectors) Jacek and Marcin at a hat stall on top of the Prislop Pass, Romania. The brothers gave me a lift halfway across northern Romania, saving me at least a day's travel and a gruelling bus ride through the mountains.

Marius, a shepherd from Romania's Ukrainian-speaking minority, keeps an eye on his flock near Sighetu Maramaţiei.

A highly entertaining goatherd I met in the hills above Sighişoara, Romania. I didn't need to speak Romanian to understand the grubby jokes he was telling about his goats.

I met this lady when she was trying to sell some kittens on the main street of Chişinău, Moldova. She was there from dawn until after dark. The kittens were priced at 35 lei, about NZ$2 each.

Brother Ifiemi was a lovely orthodox monk I met at Orheiul Vechi in Moldova. The former electrician had spent the past 13 years living in a cave carved into a cliff side.

Things I love about the Czech Republic #3

1. The Kostelec sausage man

Is this the world's most homo-erotic company logo? It was designed almost 100 years ago when a picture of a camp-looking gentleman sucking on a large sausage was perfectly good marketing. Kudos to the company for sticking with their logo, which you can still see around the Czech Republic on tinned meats, trucks and billboards. The only thing about the logo that seems to have changed since I first arrived in the Czech Republic is the removal of the juice dripping from Sausage Man's chin. I do hope Sausage Man will still be there next time I'm perusing the cold meats section of a Czech supermarket.

2. Station masters

One of the joys of travelling around the Czech Republic is the sight of small-town station masters, wearing their official Czech Rail-issued red caps, standing to attention as your train rushes by. They're a charming reminder of the railways of times gone by but, alas, their days are numbered. A few decades ago even the smallest railway station had a station master but they're no longer employed at single-track stations. Ongoing automatisation of the Czech rail system means they'll soon be obsolete at multi-track stations as well. Na shledanou...

3. The right to walk anywhere

Okay, it's not exactly a right, but the fact is you can walk just about anywhere in the Czech Republic. A network of trails branches out from just about every train and bus station in the country, winding over farmland, through forests and along rivers. Fences are as rare as 'no trespassing' signs. I put it down to the Czech love of hiking and - even though it's almost 30 years since the Velvet Revolution - because the idea of private ownership of the countryside has yet to become fully entrenched. (That's my mate Simon, a keen walker, in the picture with his dog in the woods near Olomouc.)

You can also check out lists #1 and #2 of things I love about the Czech Republic.

Video: Ethiopian wedding

During one afternoon in Axum, northern Ethiopia, I stumbled over five weddings. This is one of them. Note the bride and groom's costumes, the women's intricate hairstyles, and the musical instruments - a traditional one-string fiddle and flutes made from lengths of steel pipe.

Video: Street scene in Ethiopia

This was the view from my balcony at Hotel Belayneh in Harar, eastern Ethiopia. I could have sat there all day watching the beggars, the tuktuks, the haggling over chat (a mildly narcotic leaf), the women in brightly coloured dresses like tropical parrots, the porters carrying huge loads on their heads, the donkeys, the stray dogs... Every corner of Harar is bursting with life and in places like this, next to the Shoa Gate Market, it never stops. 

Video flashback: Rwandan dancers

More dancing at Jan and Yvette's wedding in Kigali, this time by a Rwandan dance troupe. 

Video flashback: The bride arrives

The bridal party arrives at Jan and Yvette's wedding venue on a hilltop in Kigali, led by a group of singing aunties. Yvette is at the back accompanied by her brothers and a nephew carrying spears.

Video flashback: Burundi drummers at Jan and Yvette's wedding

The tiny and troubled country of Burundi, Rwanda's southern neighbour, has (so I'm told) the best drummers in Africa. So when Jan and Yvette got married in Kigali in August they of course hired a drumming troupe from Burundi - here's a couple of video clips of them performing for Jan and his best man before the arrival of the bridal party. All these drummers are refugees from Burundi now living in Rwanda.

2016tour: Best and worst accommodation

View from Naseem Hotel, Muscat

I stayed in a lot of places during my 2016 Favourite Aunties and Old Comrades Reunion Tour, ranging from haybarns and broken-down fleapits to a fancy-pants eco-resort. Because everyone loves a list here's a rundown of the best and worst places I stayed...

Best view 

The title for best view goes to Naseem Hotel, in Muscat, Oman. Accommodation in Oman didn't come cheap (18 rials, almost NZ$80 a night) so when I booked a bed I demanded a room with a view. The photo above is the view from my window over Muscat's old harbour, mountains, a medieval fort and the Sultan's private yacht. 

Best free accommodation

Prize for best free lodgings goes to this hay barn in the hills of Maramures, northern Romania. Warm, dry and comfy, and check out the view that greeted me when the mist cleared in the morning. 

The prize for best free lodgings goes to...

View from my lodgings in Maramures, Romania

Highest accommodation

No, we're not talking about Amsterdam, but a hikers' hut - refugio in Spanish - at 1634m in the Picos de Europa mountains of northern Spain. Cold but the views were awe-inspiring. 

Refugio Vega de Ario

That's the refugio in the bottom right corner of the photo

Most Soviet

In the breakway statelet of Transnistria, sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine, I stayed in this flashback to the Soviet Union. The Hotel Aist has not been redecorated or repaired since the collapse of the USSR in 1991 - though the staff were super-helpful, not a typical Soviet characteristic. Felt like I was time travelling. 

Hotel Aist in Tiraspol, Transnistria

Classic Soviet bathroom design 

View from my balcony (yes, I had my own balcony!) towards the River Dnister

Most desperate

During a washed-out folk festival in Romania's Apuseni Mountains I was pretty desperate for a dry place to sleep. The few B&Bs in the nearby villages had been booked out weeks earlier and the rain was too heavy for a heavy-duty tent to withstand, let alone the flimsy sheet of plastic and bits of string I'd brought along... Luckily I found a dry spot above a chicken coop (the lean-to tacked on to the side of the barn in the photo below) where I sheltered for two nights. I'm sure the farmer knew but he was too decent to kick me out. 

My home for two nights in Romania's Apuseni Mountains

Friendliest accommodation

This coveted title goes to IQ Hostel in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. This wee hostel - two cramped dorm rooms, with an equally crowded living room, kitchen and bathroom is owned by two young men with their friends and cousins helping out as staff. I've never stayed in a backpackers hostel where the staff were friendlier, more helpful or more concerned for my welfare. After a few days I felt like family. Saying goodbye was tough.  

IQ Hostel staff Alex, Dana and Daniel. 

Runner-up in the friendliest accommodation category goes to the super-obliging Murugo Hostel in Kigali, Rwanda. 

Evode, a worker at super-friendly Murugo Hostel in Kigali, Rwanda. 

Fanciest accommodation

The most luxurious place I stayed was Butuceni Eco Resort in a village in Moldova. It's a cluster of historic village houses, each of which has been turned into a villa combining creature comforts with traditional decor and furniture. It's the only place I've stayed where I could choose between indoor and outdoor pools; the other guests were wealthy Russians. By Moldovan standards it was a bit of a splurge but it didn't cost much more than a bed in a backpacker's hostel in Western Europe. And it was a lot friendlier...

Butuceni Eco Resort, Moldova

Traditional Moldovan breakfast at Butuceni Eco Resort

Liveliest view

The balconies at Belayneh Hotel, in Harar in eastern Ethiopia. look out over the fantastically lively Shoa Gate Market. I could have sat on my balcony for days just watching the comings and goings of tuktuks, beggars, women dressed in colours like tropical parrots, porters balancing stacks of mattresses on their heads, and buyers and seller haggling over chat (a mildly narcotic leaf). I say I could have watched for days - but I didn't because the Belayneh also won the prize for worst bedbugs. They were even bigger than the cockroaches. 

View from Belayneh Hotel in Harar, Ethiopia. 

Crappiest hotel

This hotly contested title goes to the Continental Hotel (yes, that really is its name) in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia. The lights and fan were operated by sticking a bare wire into a socket, the windows were broken, and with no running water I had to fetch a bucket of water any time I wanted to wash or flush the communal loos.  I wouldn't have minded except that they had the cheek to charge me an inflated foreigner rate of 150 birr, about NZ$10. 

Continental Hotel in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia

Best value

The night after the Continental Hotel I stayed in Africa Hotel in Axum, northern Ethiopia. For 200 birr (about NZ$12) I got a large room so clean I could have eaten off the gleaming floor, an en suite bathroom with unlimited running hot water (!) and free airport pick-up and drop-off. 

Africa Hotel in Axum, northern Ethiopia

Prettiest accommodation 

The prettiest place I stayed was Rowda Cultural Guesthouse in Harar, eastern Ethiopia. This is a traditional, centuries-old home turned into a B&B, with a peaceful courtyard and every square inch of the interiors decorated in the age-old Harari manner with carved bowls, spears, baskets and carpets. I was made to feel at home - at least, I was made to feel like a 12-year-old when I was still at home... Harar is a conservative town and Rowda sets a 9pm curfew (which I ignored). Worth it though to get a first-hand look at a traditional home. 

Inside Rowda Cultural Guesthouse, in Harar, Ethiopia

The courtyard of Rowda Cultural Guesthouse