On Fridays, we put a hitchhiker in the *spotlight. This week it’s Yinj Tan! Scroll down to read hitchhiking stories from her journeys. This spotlight first appeared on the 2nd of October 2020 in the NOMADS – Hitchhiking Club About Yinj First hitch: I guess it was 2014, back when I was still working in Singapore. I went to a walk with a friend and a couchsurfer, we got really tired to walk to the bus stop and the couchsurfer saw some other people hitchhiking, so he also tried and a lady driving a Mercedes sports car stopped and gaveContinue reading
Author: Iris Veldwijk
My First Car Crash in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
This car crash happened on Wednesday the 9th of July, 2021. There will be some gross generalizations about driving in Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan, but these have been my experiences so far. Some things in Kyrgyzstan are fantastic, while others are crap. Today was crap. And writing is how I process shit. Getting a Yandex Taxi After getting our Sinopharm vaccines translated and notarized at Big Ben Translation, we wanted to go celebrate this. We wanted to go to Craft Bar nearby the Ala-Too square. But first, we made a little detour into the Vefa Center shopping mall. I really wantedContinue reading
Getting My Second Dose of Sinopharm in Bishkek
This is about events that happened on Tuesday, the 1st of June. We obtained the second dose of the Sinopharm vaccination in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Click here to read about the more exciting first dose. Returning to Bishkek for Our Second Dose After twelve nights in Cholpon-Ata at Issyk-Kul Lake, we took a taxi back to Bishkek. The driver runs a little restaurant at Cholpon-Ata Bazaar with his wife. He offered to drive us back for a fair price. It was much faster than the first journey. And though I would have liked to hitchhike back, it was a bit tooContinue reading
Getting My First Sinopharm Dose in Bishkek
This is about events that happened on Tuesday, the 11th of May. We obtained our first doses of the Sinopharm vaccination in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Rumor Has It That Kyrgyzstan Vaccinates Tourists When I arrived in Bishkek, a travel blogger colleague of mine messaged me and gave me some tips for this country. In turn, she advised me to follow on Instagram and contact a photographer who sorta lives in Bishkek from what I’ve gathered. I messaged him and we stumbled upon the topic of the vaccination effort against COVID-19 in Central Asia. On Thursday, the 6th of May, he mentionedContinue reading
How to Get a SIM Card in Bishkek, or Anywhere in Kyrgyzstan
When traveling to Kyrgyzstan, it’s a great idea to not save on the wrong end and pick up a SIM card. We did that at the Manas International Airport in Bishkek on arrival. Mobile data is very cheap in Kyrgyzstan. Here’s how to get a SIM card in Bishkek without making the mistakes we made. FYI, the country code for Kyrgyzstan is +996 Which Kyrgyz Telecom Company Should I Choose? Before going to Kyrgyzstan, we looked on the prepaid SIM card wiki for the country. For us, coverage is the most important aspect. Though Kyrgyzstan has not the greatest mobileContinue reading
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan?! Traveling from DXB to FRU (Semi-Live Blog)
After 88 days of 90 allowed days in the UAE, it’s time to leave. Jonas and I chose Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan as the next place to go during this pandemic with limited choices. Follow this post for the coming days to see how things are going. Also, the latest date is always on top. Use the table of contents to skip to the date you want to read about. This is a semi-live blog that I’ll update throughout the journey. I’ll add photos once I’m back on my laptop. Wednesday, 28th of April: Arrived in Bishkek Too sleepy to writeContinue reading
Sharjah’s Abandoned Airport—Al Mahatta Museum
On the 21st of April, 2021 we visited Al Mahatta Museum in Sharjah. The nearby King Abdul Aziz Street is the former runway of Sharjah’s old airport (RAF Sharjah). There’s an Abandoned Airport in the Middle of Sharjah You might already know that I really love visiting abandoned airports. Same for abandoned aircraft, which you can often find there. So when Jonas told me that there’s an abandoned airport right in my favorite city in the UAE, I knew I needed to go. The thing is, Sharjah’s appetite for growth already devoured this airport’s runway whole. It has been thisContinue reading
How the Pandemic Put Me in a Language Learning Crisis
I wonder if any people who love language learning and traveling to speak to people feel the same? Learning Portuguese for Timor-Leste It’s February 2020. I’ve been learning Portuguese on Duolingo for months already. And I picked up the pace again after traveling through Myanmar and losing my streak. I’m back in Thailand and Portuguese is useless here. Why am I learning it? Because in a few months, we’ll go to Timor-Leste. In that country, the two official languages are Portuguese and Tetum. The latter is based in part on colonizer language Portuguese combined with indigenous languages and Malay/Indonesian. PerhapsContinue reading
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Fujairah—How to Visit as a Non-Muslim
This article contains both a story of how we managed to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Fujairah (as non-Muslims) as well as actionable tips. We visited on Wednesday the 7th of April, 2021. To skip forward to the how-to, click here. UAE Mosques that Allow Non-Muslim Visitors There aren’t that many mosques in the UAE where non-Muslims can enter. The most famous ones are in Dubai (e.g. the quite commercialized Jumeirah Mosque) and in Abu Dhabi (also called the ‘Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque’). On our journey from Dibba Al Fujairah to Fujairah City, we made a stop atContinue reading