Saturday, January 28, 2012

Epilogue


Now, when our trip looks like a nice dream, it’s time for a final chapter of our story. 
Many times we were thinking how to describe our feelings but we still cannot find the right words and finally we stopped searching for it - whatever we would say it would sound banal.
But some conclusions we can make because during this trip many things happened to us for the first time.
We never smiled so much as we never saw so many people smiling to us. We never met so many wonderful people. We never learned so much. We never had such a good and positive influence on our thinking and behavior. We never had so strong emotions, both good and bad. We never got so much inspiration on doing what we like to do. We never got so many ideas.
This trip made us rich and happy…
And all this happened to us because we were open and curious. Because we were not afraid and always tried to stay positive. And now we realize that only then the nicest things can happen and you can come back home with full heart.
This trip broke many stereotypes about bad countries and religions we had before we left and taught us more than any university or working place could teach. It gave us knowledge which was often based on feelings and emotions we had while meeting different people and facing different cultures. Now we know very good what the words of prophet Mohamed means: “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled”. This trip was the biggest investment in ourselves!
We can also conclude that we have chosen the best way of traveling. First of all the bike was the best vehicle to travel with, especially looking to our goal to discover new cultures and be closer to locals. Our V Strom was the most popular member of our team. Thanks to it we got many invitations to chat, have a drink, eat or stay over. It helped us to break cultural and religious borders between us and people. And it gave a lot of freedom to drive off the beaten track and discover the things that are not so easy to get access to when traveling by car or local transport. Almost all the nicest things happened off road thanks to our bike!
Four months was a perfect period for us not to get tired from driving, move further with full power and keep interest in discovering new countries and cultures. After four months we felt the routine coming and it was time to come back home and take rest before making next plans. Just nobody told us that the hardest part of the trip would be the coming back...
Traveling low budget offered many nice opportunities. By saving money, eating on the street with locals and trying to sleep as much as possible in their place let us meet the most wonderful people and realize how little you need to be happy.
And what about us? We saw each other in many different situations, had sad and happy moments together, sometimes didn’t want to see each other and even felt lonely, but enjoyed every single moment of the trip deep in our hearts. Now, back to cold Lithuanian routine and fighting with nostalgia we have each other to share the feelings, discuss about the nicest memories of the trip and make new plans. 
Not only traveling plans…


3 comments:

  1. in The Name Of God
    Hi Mester Johan
    My Name Is Akbar (Haji Akbar ) From City Sanandaj Of Iran
    Remember me?
    Please give me an email
    My Email : AvtKurd@Gmail.Com
    Bye

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Guys,

    Do remember the rates you were charged for your shipping from KL to Amsterdam?

    I've been given a quote from MAScargo but its very expensive! 25.92MYR/6.535Euro per kilogram.

    I know from your HU shipping post they gave you incorrect information by email and maybe they were a bit confused with the cost/kg. We might have to wait until we get to KL in February next year before we get the actual costs. At the moment from their email quote its 3169Euro for 485kg of two BMW's... Ouch!

    I enjoyed reading your blog. You guys really got into the local vibe and had a great time.

    Cheers,

    Neil

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Neil,
      Sorry for this late late reply. We didn't check our blog recently.
      Great to hear that you will as well go the same way.
      We were charged for one bike (our bike incl luggage was 235 kg) 950 Euro. Another 150 Euro we payd in Amsterdam. It was very convenient as we were able to leave a few hours after we landed. Make sure you don't crate the bikes, that will save you a lot of money. As well do all the custom paper work yourself (next to the office of MAScargo). We took quite some luggage off our bike when they were weighing it and put it back later on. As well go there a couple of days before the actual shipment takes place because you will need to reserve a place on the plane. MAScargo will explain you how to do it.
      It sounds like a headache but it's all not that difficult. The guys at MAScargo are very helpful.

      Nice that you enjoyed our blog. If you have any other questions please contact me on ongediertebestrijder at hotmail.com

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