Long Way on a Vespa

Living in magazines

2008-05-31T11:40:00.012+02:00

In this months edition of 'Motoren & Toerisme' there's a 12 page story about our journey.
But this article is only the beginning. From now on you'll see us in talkshows, as your favourite action figure, fleeing the hordes of female fans. And on free vespas. Which is nice!

Click on the photo to get the PDF.

Guestbook

2008-05-27T13:10:00.011+02:00

Natuurlijk zijn wij benieuwd naar jullie indrukken van en commentaar op ons reisverslag. Simpelweg een commentje maken...

Express yourself: share your feelings and impressions in a simple comment.

Thanks
Philip & Jan

Back home

2007-12-28T10:28:00.002+01:00

Back home
Don't know why..

La douce France

2007-12-24T18:36:00.001+01:00

Vespa 4x4

2007-12-24T10:00:00.000+01:00

Video with sound!

Impressions Tunisia

2007-12-23T12:25:00.000+01:00

Sneak preview ...

Arrivés à Marseille !

2007-12-18T16:17:00.000+01:00

We decided to skip Italy and took the ferry straight to Marseille.
Take that, Alps!

Impressions Libya

2007-12-11T18:30:00.000+01:00

Libya is all we expected it to be: ...

...wind and sand....

... long distances...

... and very long days.

Yes, the windscreens make us look like your grandpa.

Comfy though!

Leptis Magna, and the usual joy historic sites bring us.

Oogjes dicht en snaveltjes toe!

Longwayonavespa & You: Darth Vader

2007-12-09T21:00:00.001+01:00

We write all this shit, but who reads it? And where? And why?
Since a while now we've been asking for a photo of you reading the blog, but the feedback has been very poor.
Well, our friend Darth Vader just sent us a video from the Death Star. He seems to be a little disappointed...

"The force is strong in you two young Vespa Riders, but your readers lack in commitment! Here's a message to those who have not yet sent their photo..."

SEND YOUR PHOTO AT ONCE, YOU REBEL SCUM!

Impressions Egypt

2007-12-09T20:00:00.000+01:00

Here we go again!

Dahab - Tourist trap at the Red Sea. It took us 30 days to escape.

Ras Mohammed - Apres-dive with Jeremy

Nabq Reserve

Sinai - Check out the Arabic license plate!

Sinai - Freezing desert.

Sinai

Sinai - Sunset at 5pm

Nile delta - Lush green

Cairo - Cheops en Chefren

Cairo - Lots of vespas in this city. But not enough

Cairo - Where we found ourselves an interesting night scene

Siwa - Green green oasis near Libyan border

Siwa - What the vespa is to Cairo, the donkey is to Siwa

Siwa - The revenge of the Hyrax

Micro Macro - Solution !

2007-12-06T08:40:00.000+01:00

So this was...

...what Vespas look like in Cairo!

Sven, congratulations, plus also we'll change our password so you can no longer sneak preview our posts, yes sir!

Entering Lybia

2007-12-03T11:49:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow we'll enter Lybia. Our transit visa gives us only 7 days to cover the 1500km to Tunesia, so it'll be a bit of a rush. Expect to hear from us after that!

Micro Macro!

2007-11-29T22:10:00.000+01:00

In memory of Armand Pien (Armand who? See Wikipedia)!

This is a micro or a macro shot, you have to guess who or what it is!
Send your answer in a comment!
The winner gets a free ride on the back of the Vespa to a coffee shop for a cappuccino!

(Note: an answer is only right if gerechtsdeurwaarder Jo Van Backlé approves!)

De verschrikkelijke Hyrax - climax!

2007-11-29T17:16:00.000+01:00

De verschrikkelijke Hyrax - deel 4

2007-11-27T21:16:00.000+01:00

De verschrikkelijke Hyrax - deel 3

2007-11-26T12:45:00.000+01:00

De verschrikkelijke Hyrax - deel 2

2007-11-25T17:15:00.000+01:00

Wie kan er wachten op deel 3?
Wij niet!
Maar dat moet ook niet, want wij hebben deel 3 hier al!
Maar jullie moeten wachten tot woensdag.
Of misschien donderdag...

De verschrikkelijke Hyrax - deel 1

2007-11-24T17:14:00.000+01:00

nu dinsdag al het spannende vervolg. Ho maar!

Beste dagboek...

2007-11-24T09:59:00.000+01:00

Longwayonavespa & You

2007-11-09T17:34:00.002+01:00

We write all this shit, but who reads it? And where? And why?
Send us a photo/video of you reading the blog and and be on the blog!
Some new contributions:

"Wordt het geen tijd dat die mannen een job zoeken?"
Oskar, Belgium
Photo sent by Karen T

"Coole blog als ge het nog niet moest weten.
PS: Er begint al sneeuw te vallen in de bergen en Ardennen"
Stijn, Belgium, looking for the Vespa feeling.

"So where is the 'bitches' section?"
Ben, York, England
Photo sent by Mike J (whom we met in Egypt) - "I'm sending you a few pictures of my friend reading your blog. His name is Ben"
Other famous quotes by Mike:
"There`s a wreck!" (diving down to the Thistlegorm wreck)
"I can`t get it in third gear..." (while cruising past the Lybian border, oblivious of the officials trying to wave him down)

We zijn niet alleen

2007-11-08T20:57:00.000+01:00

Longwayonavespa & You

2007-11-05T11:34:00.002+01:00

We write all this shit, but who reads it? And where? And why?
Send us a photo/video of you reading the blog and and be on the blog!
Here are those who did, and look how happy it made them:

"Thank you for your blog, it's very interesting and funny"
Tanya, in her office, Kiev

"...ik weet niet of het opvalt dat het geen belgisch courreke is maar een afrikaanse tuin..."
Caro C, in mid-air, Mozambique

"De mensen beseffen niet half hoeveel tijd ge erin steekt."
Jan&Philip, Dahab, Egypt

Walk like a cameleon

2007-10-31T21:23:00.000+01:00

Turn up the sound!

Vespapapapapa

2007-10-31T21:16:00.000+01:00

Just one example of what you find under "Vespa commercial" in YouTube

SS Thistlegorm

2007-10-28T12:09:00.000+01:00

In 1941 ze German Luftwaffe had ze English Cargo SS Thistlegorm gesunken!
Ze Kill has aber never been confirmed! Ueberfeldwebel Franz und Heinz vill go and check in ze Gulf of Suez!

Franz und Heinz

Wass?! Ein strong current on ze vay down!

Gefunden!

Unterwasserkommunikationshandsignalen

Wass?! Ze Enemy is still in ze Schiff!

Dekompressionsgefahr ist gefaehrlich!

Vere ist das Logbook?

Second Dive mit extra Sturmtruppen!

Aktionplan

Heinz und Franz

Impressions Jordan

2007-10-25T18:02:00.000+02:00

At the 'backdoor' of Petra

Dana Nature Reserve

Hiking

Easy beas in summer breeze

Bedouin family with sweet, sweet tea

Nice refreshing aquaduct!

Ready to invade Poland

Relaxing in the sodium Dead Sea

By far the best place for The Da Vinci Code

Deep

Respect the Vespa.

Everyday should be a holiday 2

2007-10-24T19:13:00.002+02:00

(turn up the volume!)

Snorkeling Aqaba

2007-10-17T20:19:00.000+02:00

Das Boot (somewhere between 10 and 20m deep):

Mowgli in the tank (at about 6m deep):

Big smiles

Aqaba Marine Park - Rules and Regulations
Wat mag en niet mag in`t water!

Arabs are from Venus

2007-10-16T09:16:00.000+02:00

Asking the way - easy question, tough answer.

Zuiltjes uit Syrie.

2007-10-14T18:27:00.000+02:00

Wat leren wij zoal op een historische site?

De Rode Ridder - Deel 2

2007-10-10T18:47:00.000+02:00

Wat voorafging: klik hier

Impressions Syria

2007-10-06T12:32:00.001+02:00

Camel sheppard, shepparding his camels across the road.

Camel. Or dromedary.

President Bashar al-Assad is EVERYWHERE in Syria.

An evening at Ryan`s place.

Peugeot 304. And the President.

Opel Ascona 1.3s!

Us.

It`s not a motorcycle baby. It`s a Vespa.

De Punica Oase!

Angry Faces Syria

2007-10-05T12:00:00.000+02:00

From top to bottom, left to right

1. The Servilja Hells Angels: better get out of the way when you hear their 125cc`s coming! They`re carrying "English Grammar 7" on their racks...
2. Mohanned: helpful and friendly lad in Hama.
3. The Man from Apamea: invited us for tea to sell us fake Roman coins.
4. Mahir: our guide at Crac des Chevaliers.
5. Ticketboy: had BIG speakers on his bike!
6. Ikael: son of Ryan, shared with us his ideologies and ideas about politics, women and the Western world.

De Rode Ridder

2007-09-30T10:00:00.000+02:00

Lees binnenkort het vervolg !

The Spaghetti Incident

2007-09-27T23:51:00.001+02:00

Peter Helsen is paying 10 euro to see us cook spaghetti
while riding. (Original post here)
Thanks Peter!

2 minute movie with sound - play it loud!

Binnenkort...

2007-09-25T11:21:00.000+02:00

Volg de epische avonturen van Johan, de Rode Ridder.
Geniet hieronder van een voorsmaakje:

Quiz!

2007-09-25T10:53:00.001+02:00

If you were a Vespa, after 8500km,
where would you break down?

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Yup, smack in the middle of no-mans land.
Entering Syria in style!

Also, if you were a Vespa, you`d make sure you have
a punture while your motor seizes, making pushing
all the more fun!

After a particularly nerve wrecking border control,
this is how we entered Aleppo

So there was some more tweaking,

a new -cheap Indian- flywheel,

and a very nice dentist who helped us find all we needed
in a place where everyone speaks Arabic. Thanks Rian!

Capadocia...

2007-09-24T18:15:00.000+02:00

... is one wicked landscape!
Imagine the possibilities:

you can look at it...

... ride a horse in it (make sure to wear leather)

... crash down it

...build a village in it

... camp in it

... and meet these fine dutchies
(Jan, Ilona and Nico and their 4WD off-road all terrain camper
- we spent a wonderful evening with them)

Angry faces Turkey

2007-09-21T21:08:00.000+02:00

left to right, top to bottom:
1.Emrah - hostel owner in Istanbul, eco-friendly and filosophical. Needs to stop smoking.
2.Safak - only non-Russian on the ferry Odessa-Istanbul.
3.Umit and Serhat - traveling through Turkey with only a towel
4.Ai-Tjunz - boyfriend of ...
5.Zuhal - old friend of Philip
6.Ali - sells dry onions to Belgium. Keep an eye out for Planet Onion.
7.Mohammed - He Who Sells Synthetic 2-stroke Oil in Iskenderun.
8.Sheperd - didn't know, didn't understand, smiled.
9.Horse - didn't smile

Dien avond en dien Vespa

2007-09-17T21:32:00.001+02:00

The Lycian Way

2007-09-08T19:26:00.000+02:00

Three days of walking.
Sun, rocks, and no water.

Along the Aegean Coast

2007-09-01T22:13:00.000+02:00

Cruisinnn'...

More cruisinnn... Tell us if this gets boring.

This week, we have been mostly drinking yoghurt

And eating honey. Which we paid way too much for, we're sure.
Gotta work on our bargaining skills!

Spiritus! Believe me, if it's the fuel your camping stove runs on
and you haven't had any for over a month you're happy to see it.
So we bought TWO! Extravaganza....

Jan with his brand new glasses!!
You wanna ride Vespa you gotta look cool.
Mind the the Italian design to match our lifestyle.
(No, really it's a thing with his contact lenses)

Ephesus!
Something really old that was like... all broken
and then... yeah, restored again, and then, well...
Maybe next time we'll take a guide

Made us happy though.

Where's my brake lever?

This guy fitted a new one. Really, everything he did I
personally did all over again behind his back.
Never trust your brakes to a stranger.

Istanbul

2007-09-01T21:54:00.000+02:00

Aya Sophia and the vespas
(very small and in the dark)

Istanbul is full of all kinds of exciting stuff!

That day we decided to go our separate ways.
Jan drank his tea in front of the Blue Mosque...

... whıle Phil had his in front of Aya Sofıa.
Cheesy, we know.

This was -uhm... Topkapi Palace.
No, we're not too high on historic sites.
Belgian news wasn't too exciting either though.

Although, wait a minute...

All in all we're not the best city-trippers.
Pretty happy to head out of Istanbul then,
catching the ferry across the Sea of Marmara.
No we hadn't heard of that one either.

Everyday should be a holiday

2007-08-25T22:15:00.000+02:00

Krim Impressions

2007-08-19T08:27:00.001+02:00

The best snorkeling spot so far

The best camping spot so far

The best staring-in-the-distance spot so far

Eagle's Nest. Closer than this and you had to pay half a euro.
So this is how far we went.

Ukraine is endless qeueing for trains, buses, food, ...

05:43 - Joy in the morning

Blog Mission Control

2007-08-19T07:58:00.001+02:00

LongWayOnAVespa Underground Command Center
Live Action Shot

Spirali Telescopi gaat lopi

2007-08-19T07:53:00.001+02:00

Jan's rear shock absorber keeps being a pain in the ass (literally). The second one has now busted. F*#ing chinese crap! We`re waiting for a new one to arrive by mail. Should arrive in Odessa "end of next week", so most likely it will be here just after we left for Istanbul.

Angry Faces - Ukraine

2007-08-18T14:40:00.000+02:00

Chris Verhecken wrote:

"Angry Faces, the new festival campaign of Medecins Sans Frontieres as Phil knows very well. So, get us 10 angry faces from each country and it's worth 10l of fuel. En anders ne toek op ou bakkes! (inside joke)"

More info: www.angryfaces.be

___

Chris,

The 10 first angry faces (Ukraine):

Top to bottom, left to right:

1. Dmitri "Talib", Odessa's one and only free biker,
who we met at the border, and who let us sleep
in his bikeshop for a few nights

2. Svetlana, Dmitri's wife
3. Katarina, Svetlana's mother
4. Genia and 5. Andrej, two brothers who came from Kiev
to Odessa to buy a second hand scooter
6. Tanja (+ boyfriend + friend), who we met through Dmitri's
impressive network and guided us around Kiev for a while
7. Alexander and Vladimir (en eenen vreemden snuyter?),
we asked them the way and they
showed us a neat free camping beach in Yalta (Crimea)
8. Lene and Irina (en alweer eenen vreemden snuyter!),
mother and daughter from st Petersburg, we met them
on a dark deserted bus stop and they guided us to Crimea's
nicest beach.
9. Lesya (and Olla) from Kiev, our translator on that beach.

Weddenschap 1: Knappe gast voor Caroline

2007-08-16T12:29:00.001+02:00

Caro C zei:

"Awel 5 euro voor een derde knappe gast op jullie site binnen de 5 dagen. (betaling kan geregeld worden als ik in september terugkom uit mozambique) kus caro...en ik ben kieskeurig he wat knap betreft!! "

Hierzie:

Of anders:

5 euro waard Caroline?

Random shots Ukraine

2007-08-11T13:23:00.000+02:00

Chernobyl 21 years later

2007-08-11T11:53:00.000+02:00

The reactor

Reactor 4, under its sarcophagus (left of the chimney)

You can get surprisingly close.

Reactors 5 and 6, under construction at the time, were abandoned and left to radiate.

Pripyat

Pripyat, a few kilometers from the power plant, was abandoned head over heels after the accident.

Very jetset at the time, it is now a ghost town.

Nature is slowly reconquering it.

Abandoned places

Click for video

Underway...

2007-08-11T11:32:00.000+02:00

Black Sea

2007-08-09T21:43:00.000+02:00

Glad we made it this far

Random shots Moldova

2007-08-08T22:00:00.000+02:00

Drought in Moldova

These friendly people let us camp in their backyard.
They even chopped down a wee tree for it.

The kind of people you meet on the road.
Our speaking a different language does
not stop them from telling us ... well, whatever.

Ivan, Conrad and Vasili

2007-08-08T21:23:00.001+02:00

Ah, Moldovan police... We will miss the way they check our passports for hours on end. And the way they threaten to fine us for no reason. But above all the way they end up telling us to beat up our wives and demonstrating the sirens on their Lada Samara Highway Interceptor (5 different squeeks!).

And the way they order a random sunbather to take our photo.

Vespa is beautiful

2007-08-08T20:53:00.000+02:00

Thank you for buying Vespa

Is Italian

Is beautiful !

Sometimes works

Sometimes not works...

We don't know why

But... still beautiful !

Carpathians

2007-08-07T13:29:00.000+02:00

Click for video!

27-07-2007 : Poland, Impressions

2007-07-29T19:13:00.001+02:00

Medeklinker manie

Auschwitz

Tatragebergte, Zakopane

Tatragebergte, Zakopane

Free camping, bossen van Oost-Polen

Mig-23 verloren in een veld

Introducing Vespacam

2007-07-29T18:18:00.000+02:00

Cameraatje vanvoor op de Vespa gestrapt.
Mooie kiekjes gegarandeerd!
Korte levensduur ook.

26-7-2007: Map update

2007-07-26T22:07:00.000+02:00

We updated the map.
Check it out here

14-7-2007: Technisch probleem nr 1

2007-07-23T23:53:00.000+02:00

Jan zakt door zijn achtervering. In stijl weliswaar, maar ze is wel naar de genoelen. Of zoals de Polen zeggen: "Spirali teleskopi defektion!"

Niks dat niet gefikst kan worden evenwel.

11-7-2007: We vallen Polen binnen

2007-07-23T23:01:00.000+02:00

Polen binnenvallen doe je niet ongepland.
Advies was snel gevonden bij deze twee oostduitse boeren.

Ziehier ons plan

BattledreSS!

Langs deze sluipwegen zag de Pool ons niet komen.

Wat?! De Polen spreken Pools? Dat beviel ons niet.

10-7-2007: We komen nog steeds niet vooruit!

2007-07-23T22:47:00.001+02:00

en de wegen worden er niet beter op
maar de vrolijkheid blijft

9-7-2007: We komen maar niet vooruit!

2007-07-23T22:38:00.000+02:00

koud

nat

en Polen is verder

dan we dachten

5-7-2007: En wijlie weg

2007-07-23T19:54:00.000+02:00

Remote Control Mission 3: Postcard to your granny

2007-06-21T14:30:00.000+02:00

We'll send your granny a postcard from far far away, in your name.
Or your ex, to tell her how life is better without her after all.
Or your ex, from her new partner, to tell her how his life is better without her too.
Ah, the options...

Price: 5€, including card and stamps.
Special requests (specific card, imitating your handwriting): +2€

Remote Control Mission 2: Burnout!

2007-06-21T14:12:00.000+02:00

On simple request, we'll smoke a rear tyre in a massive burnout.
Price: 15€ (half the price of a new tyre - bargain!)
Proof: something like this:

More missions here.
Or your brilliant idea for a mission here.

Remote Control Mission 1: The Spaghetti Incident

2007-06-21T13:57:00.000+02:00

A first idea for "remote control":
We'll cook spaghetti on the vespa while riding.
Both spaghetti and vespa are, after all, Italian, so they should match beautifully.
Proof will be shown in a video if we can upload it somewhere, or a series of photos.
Only 5€!

Introducing Remote Control

2007-06-20T12:08:00.000+02:00

Because we want you to enjoy our travels too, you can tell us what to do!
In the section Remote Control, we'll post fun little missions, and for a small price you can make us do'em. You get some hilarious footage, and your money goes to a Good Cause. Of some sort (we'll see what we find along the way).

Think of something fun yourself? Propose us a mission (write a mail or a comment) and if it's good we'll do it. At a price, of course.

Ah, the convenience of traveling from your desk chair....

How soon is now?

2007-06-19T11:57:00.000+02:00

Leaving in less than two weeks on a somewhat ambitious trip from Belgium to Italy. Via Tunesia. Through Lybia and Ukraine, and everything in between.
Though chances are we'll just see where the old vespas break down, and hope we like it there.

We bought two 80's vespas a while ago. They look like fun things to travel on, albeit a bit unreliable maybe.
For a while we thought of running a bet as to when and where we'd break down, but let's stay positive. Instead we'll run Remote Control! Check back soon.

This is us.