Three Monts Later...

Dear friends,

It has been a while indeed! At the end of 2010 and three months after the end of my Asia-trip, I though it might be nice to give you an update about the final part of my trip and what happened afterwards.

I just read the previous message on this site, written from a familiar hostel in Beijing. By then, I was about to pick up my Russian and Mongolian visas for the last part of my Great journey in the East: the Trans-Mongolian Express from Beijing to Moscow. It seemed that it would be a great way to end this trip: 6 days non-stop in a train, bridging more than 7.600km, crossing six time zones, bringing me slowly-slowly ("pole-pole") back from the amazing East to the more familiar West...

Finally on board of 'Train No. K3', it soon turned out that I had made exactly the right decision by not taking the easy flight to Amsterdam. Although I had booked the cheapest ticket available (2nd Class - 360euros), I found myself for the biggest part of the journey alone in my '4-bed-Coupé'. The rest of the wagon, I just had to share with one friendly guy from Czech Republic (Lukasz) and a bunch of Chinese personnel, who would accompany us for the entire journey. Armed with a whole bag full of Instant Noodles, a big Thermos for tea and a couple of reads, I was amazed to see the countryside change so much over the first three days. After what seemed to be something like a theatre performance at the nightly border crossing between China and Mongolia, brought to us by a group of smugglers on the train, I soon dozed off... When I woke up the second day, the train was making its way through an endless Gobi dessert. Reading 'Hearing Birds Fly' - a book about nomads in Mongolia - I really got the feeling and Lukasz and I used every opportunity to shoot great pictures of the dessert in the south and the nomadic huts ('gers' or 'yurts') dotted in the lush green landscape of northern Mongolia.

Could there be a bigger contrast: on day three, we woke up next to the world's biggest fresh-water lake: Lake Baikal. Apparently, the dessert had turned into a huge lake and the Mongolians on the platforms trying to sell us cheap instant noodles had been replaced by real Russian 'Babusjkas' selling us freshly smoked fish and Russian bread for breakfast :-) Hours passed and we made stops at places that I had only heard of during geography lessons in high school: Krasnoyarsk, Yekatarinaburg, Novosibirks, Perm... Whereas the first three days had given us a great variety in landscapes, the remaining three days were spent in a beautiful but monotonous Russian tundra. Time was killed by socialising with some other passengers, such as that huge Mongolian businessman who asked us whether "wir auch vielleicht Deutsch sprechen könnten, njaa?!". Cheap Chinese rice-whiskey was shared as we watched movies ('Transsiberian' - 2008) during the night and we kept ourselves busy by adding more layers of clothes the closer we got to our final destination...

Five nights and six days later, we got off at the train station in Moscow, leaving all the stuff we didn't need anymore for the friendly conductors and setting off - still in good shape: the journey had been really comfortable - for our hostels. What a strange experience that was: after about 13 months living among the Asians in relative simple conditions, there were just so many big, white and wealthy people everywhere :-D My Russian Tourist visa unfortunately didn't leave me much more than one evening in the capital and I would have to hurry to do some sighsteeing before boarding the next morning. I took some snapshots at the Red Square and the Kremlin, I walked around the city centre while trying not to be hit by another 'Humvee' and tried to make some small talk with the Russians. After catching the first sunbeams at the Red Square the next morning, I picked up my backpak for the very last time and headed off for Vnukovo Airport...

With the help of my brother (Sander) and my uncle and aunt - where I spent the first night in the Netherlands - I had made my parents believe that I was still somewhere in Russia, doing some sort of cruise on the river Wolga :-) When they came over one evening to visit Sander, I strategically moved to the side of the road with my backpack, pretending I was hitch-hiking... The last thing my mother had said to my father before jumping out of the car to embrace me, was: "Wow, Sander is really beginning to look like Marijn..."

It has been about three months now, since I got back and I have tried to catch up with as many of my friends and family as possible. In the second week already, our 'Montréal-crew' had organised a reunion in Amsterdam and when one of my friends from Stellenbosch got a baby, I caught up with them as well. I could easily pick up an old holiday-job and so it happened that within five days of coming back from Moscow, I was working already in a big European Logistics Centre, close to where my parents live. Slowly getting used to life in the Netherlands was what I wanted and living at my parent's house in the Metropolitan City of 'Meerlo' (ahum..., see Google Maps :-P) seemed to be the right place. I have really enjoyed celebrating special occasions with my family so far. Whereas last year, I had celebrated my birthday during a festival in Darjeeling, Christmas in the Tibetan Colony of New Delhi and New Year's on an icy Dal Lake in Kashmir, this year I'm (extra-) enjoying the company of my family on these occasions!

Even though it might seem that everything is working out quite fine at the moment, I have to admit that one - rather important - issue is still pretty much unsolved..., finding a real job now! Truth being told, I haven't really pushed myself to make the effort of starting the search. International Criminal Law is the subject that I grew to like over the last year and I'm sure my internship at the Cambodia Tribunal has contributed to that. Since finding a job directly at such a Tribunal (Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Lebanon) seems to be quite difficult, I might have to start somewhere else with a somehow related job. At the moment, I'm investigating my options and I believe that with some healthy motivation and enthusiasm, something should work out over the next few months :-)

With a smile from ear to ear, I look back at another wonderful year abroad. Places which come to my mind first are Varanasi, Kashmir, Hanoi and Beijing. Reaching the Base Camp of Mt. Everest, our scooter-adventure in East-India, looking for orangutans in the Jungle of Sumatra and climbing the Great Wall were probably the most special activities. Doing the internship at the Legal Aid of Cambodia and finishing my trip on the Trans-Mongolian Railway really made this year complete!

Before ending, I would like to make use of this opportunity to wish you all the very-very best for the New Year - 2011! Whatever your wishes and dreams may be, I hope you will keep trying to fulfill them. In my experience, a lot is possible, even more than you may think. And if making a trip around the world is one of your dreams, my only advice would be: don't wait, and just do it! It will literally open your world: the people you'll meet, the things you'll see and the situations that you'll end up in will give you so much, I'm convinced that no one will ever take such an experience away from you :-)

And for me: have I travelled enough now, will I stay at home for a while...?? The 13th of January is the answer: south of France and Morocco..., will keep you up-to-date!

Marijn