There are a couple of options for crossing the border between Russia and Georgia. The more direct route goes through Abhazia but requires a visa, which we didn't have. Instead, we went to North Ossetia and crossed the border from Vladikavkaz to Tbilisi via the famous Georgian Military Road AKA Invasion Highway that Russian troops have used since 18th century. The scenery was breathtaking and worth the detour.

From Sochi to Vladikavkaz

Our journey begun from Adler (Sochi) on the Black Sea coast. We couchsurfed in Krasnaya Polyana, an alpine ski resort that hosted the Alpine and Nordic events of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and enjoyed awesome hikes with our host. The surrounding mountains are beautiful, air fresh, and there was plenty of sunshine.

From Adler we took a train to Vladikavkaz. There is one connection every other day and the trip takes about 20 hours. It is a slow and pleasant ride, although you will miss most of the scenery because the train goes at night. The majority of the passengers got off well before the last stop and there was only a handful of us left in Vladikavkaz. The city is not among popular Russian tourist sites, although there is a must-see for those practising fashionable dark tourism: Beslan school hostage crisis cemetery, which is located 15 km from Vladikavkaz. When you get off from the train, all the marshrutka drivers will want to take you there.

Vladikavkaz is a rather typical Russian city. There are some architectural gems, while most other buildings are dilapidating. We stayed in Vladikavkaz only one night near the railway station in a very clean and spacious gostinitsa called Amran, where we bargained the price of a double room to 1700 rubles. In the reception, there was a friendly blond lady who spoke English and arranged us a shared taxi for the next day to Tbilisi for 1000 rubles each. Buses go seldom and locals mostly use minivans to cross the border.

The shared taxi system worked well. The driver was promptly on time and patiently waited for us when one of the Russian border guards wanted to have a little chat with us before returning our passports. We were a bit afraid that the border guard would ask us about visa registration, which we didn't do. Registration is a Soviet relic that some officials misuse for extorting bribes. Originally, it was designed for the Soviet union citizens only, but now they want foreigners to have their Russian visa registered within seven working days upon arrival. We had stayed in Russia 2.5 months without registration, but fortunately nobody asked anything. Ten years ago we had some problems, but only in Moscow. It seemed that the border guard simply wanted to practise his English with us. He didn't seem to have many opportunities for that as the Georgian Military Road mainly serves truck drivers and locals. Truck queues were several kilometres long, but fortunately passenger traffic had priority. We spent half an hour at the Russian border and five minutes at the Georgian border.

Georgian Military Road

Georgian military highway is roughly 200 kilometres long. It crosses the Greater Caucasus Mountains and passes through narrow gorges that are squeezed between colossal mountains. The highest point is the Jvari Pass at 2,395 meters. The scenery is magnificent. We travelled the route in late November and expected rain or snow. Instead, we got plenty of sunshine, blue skies, and beautiful white snow on mountain slopes. It was like from a fairytale with picturesque mountain villages and churches, and herds of sheep and cows wandering around.

In total, the trip from Vladikavkaz to Tbilisi took about five hours, border formalities included. We changed minivans after the border, and both drivers were professional and the ride comfortable. There was plenty of space as there was only one other passenger, an elderly Georgian lady with us. Despite numerous warnings on the Internet, we recommend travelling this awesome route.

Päivi fell in love with Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. It is romantically decadent, situated between hills and the river Kura (which, funnily enough, means 'mud' in Finnish). Architecture is stunning and Tbilisians are generally friendly, they speak English and — judging from the number of theaters and cultural institutes — they have other values in life besides money.

Walking around

Tbilisi looks like a mini-Paris without too much dog shit. There is an abundance of gorgeous buildings, most of which, however, have been left to decay. Money is tight and repairs expensive. Georgia has suffered from economic crises during post-Soviet era (since 1991). Many of the roads and infrastructure are in bad shape as the president and the prime minister prefer flashy prestige projects with which they can impress foreign investors and politicians. One good example is Tbilisi's new futuristic buildings that contrast with the city's neo-classical and Middle-Eastern architectural styles.

In the summer, Tbilisi is probably filled with tourists. There were some tourists also in November, although the weather was cold. The climate is more humid than in Russian cities, which means that it feels much colder than it really is. During our visit, the temperature varied between -2°C at night and +8°C in the daytime. Fortunately there was plenty of sunshine every day and we experienced only a small snow flurry on the day of our arrival.

We stayed in Rustaveli Avenue in a small, friendly and super-clean hostel with a wifi. We found the place by walking around and popping into a few other hostels first. Most hostels in the city centre are located in run-down, mold-smelling buildings. The places are not always easy to find as there may be only a small sign outside and nothing inside guiding your way. Prices for double rooms vary between 40-60 GEL (US $16-24, 15-23€) per night in low season. Hotels are more expensive and usually state their prices in US dollars starting from US $50.

Tbilisi is perfectly walkable and most of the interesting sights and neighbourhoods can be easily visited in a few days. Beware of drivers, though, as there's serious road rage. It's always worth making a little detour to search for the nearest underpass.

Language and religion

Asking help and directions is easy as many people speak English. This was a wonderful surprise after Russia, where most people only speak Russian. Street signs are written both in English and in undecipherable Georgian letters. The Georgian language is said to be based on the sort of Aramaic spoken in the time of Jesus. The country is still occupied by the descendants of Christian crusaders who invaded it almost 1000 years ago.

The Georgians seem to be very religious. While Europe is secularised, over 80 per cent of the Georgians belong to the church. If you walk into any of the city's many orthodox churches, there will probably be a mass going on or at least a bunch of devotees praying to their favourite saint, doing cross signs, and lighting candles. On Sunday mornings, the churches are crowded and not only with elderly ladies but also with young men and women. As the city was once home to Persians and Ottomans, mosques can be found side by side with orthodox churches. Perhaps this mix of cultures is one of the reasons why Tbilisi is so fascinating. We will definitely be back, and for a longer period of time so that we have enough time to explore the cultural wealth this city can offer.

Tbilisi for vegans

Georgians love bread, and there's basically a bakery in almost every corner. We loved typical Georgian bread puri that is a canoe-shaped flatbread. It is baked in a deep circular clay oven. Another favourite of ours is lobiani, a bread that is stuffed with smashed kidney beans. It is delicious, especially if you get it straight from the oven.

We found two supermarkets in the city centre: Carrefour and Smart. Besides usual groceries, they sell take-away food. There are surprisingly many vegan delicacies. We particularly liked pkhali, chopped and minced spinach and walnut salad. It is perfect for dipping. Pkhali can also be made of cabbage, eggplant and beets, and it is 100% vegan.

Fall is a great time for vegans as there is a wonderful selection of vegetables, herbs, and fruits available. We enjoyed mandarin and persimmon season. Local persimmons have a low level of tannin and are worth tasting.

Georgia is known for its wineries and it is said that the art of viticulture was born here some 8000 years ago. While most Georgian red wines are semi-sweet, you can easily find also dry red wine. Päivi tasted wine made from saperavi grapes, and it was strong, full-bodied and great for 6.95 GEL (US $2.80, 2.60€) a bottle. Cheers!

When heading to Yerevan from Tbilisi, you can choose between train and marshrutka (minibus). Trains go only every other day, which did not fit our schedule, so we took a marshrutka. The trip was a bit of a hassle, but at the same time culturally interesting.

Ortachala bus station

Marshrutkas leave from Ortachala bus station, which is some 15 minutes from the city centre by bus. Metro doesn't go to the bus station, which is a shame, because it would be more convenient, but buses 44, 50 and 71 do. The trip costs 0.50 GEL and the buses go frequently from a bus stop nearby Freedom Square.

Ortachala bus station is a bit confusing, or at least we were made to run around because nobody seemed to know where exactly the marshrutkas to Yerevan leave from, or they just wanted to sell their own private chauffeur services. In the end, we found the marshrutka office downstairs. We were told that there are only two buses leaving every day: at 10 AM and 3 PM. On the Internet, we read that there should be marshurutkas every hour, but perhaps this applies to the summertime only.

Our marshrutka left late. Passengers arrived late and there were some passengers sitting in the car who were not even going to Yerevan. They only realised they were in the wrong bus When the driver started to ask about passports. Luggage was taken in and out many times and the hassle continued on the way, because the driver was making his own business. He stopped a couple of times to buy mandarins and butter in order to sell them with good profit in Yerevan.

The border formalities were straightforward and quick at both sides, except that one of the Georgian passengers was travelling with an old passport. All the other passengers had to wait more than one hour while her papers were cleared. The lady was obviously very embarrassed about her mistake and apologised. In the end, everybody seemed very understanding and despite the delay, we arrived in Yerevan 4:30 PM. The trip took 6 hours in total and the driver was smoking all the time while driving.

Soviet style Yerevan

In Yerevan, we stayed in an artist hostel near the Opera house and had the whole apartment for our use — one of the perks of travelling during the low season.

As a city, Yerevan is less approachable than Tbilisi. It has Soviet style avenues, concrete architecture, and clumsy statues. Drivers are crazy and traffic lights mere decoration. People we met were very friendly and helpful, but in general they don't speak as much English as Georgians. There are obviously fewer tourists around, which was also evidenced by the fact that we seemed to be the sight most of the time when walking around.

To our untrained ears, Armenian language sounded a bit like German and looked like Georgian when written. Fortunately all the street signs in the city centre are also available in English. Most people speak Russian, but it is no longer an official language, and in school students can choose English instead. However, the Soviet heritage seems persistent. While Georgia is leaning towards Europe, Armenia has remained aloof. Depending on the perspective, this can be viewed as positive or negative — it's for you to decide which one you most agree with.

Oman was a really nice surprise for us. We had long been thinking about going there, but the country never seemed to fall on our route until now that we were heading from Armenia to Asia. Thanks to Ali, who was our work exchange host, we ended up staying two months in Muscat and started to appreciate this hidden jewel of the Middle-East.

Peace and love

Of all the countries in the region, Oman is the most peaceful. The much veneered sultan Qaboos has avoided conflicts with the war-waging neighbours including Yemen and Saudi-Arabia. Even in everyday life, Omanis search for consensus and avoid talking about religion or politics, as they might cause disputes. In fact, talking about these topics is outlawed. The downside is that when many important subjects are never addressed, they cannot be debated or changed. They become (Qaboos) Taboos.

Oman has their own brand of Islam, abadi, as well as sunnis and shias but all Omani muslims look upon each other as brothers. The country is fairly conservative compared for example to Malaysia. While Malay women dress casually, in Oman, local women always wear hijab, the veil, and dishdasha, which is the long and loose dress. While men also love to wear the national dress and the little hat, kuma, or turban that goes with it, they also wear Western style clothes. For men, dishdasha is a choice (except if you work in the public sector), while for women it is a must, or at least there is social pressure to wear it rather than for example jeans. In 40-50°C heat all Omani women must be feeling really hot inside their black dresses.

Men and women usually live separate lives. While we got to know a lot of Omani guys during our stay, we never made acquaintance with an Omani woman. They seem to lead a quiet and secluded family life, not making much contact with outsiders.

Islam complicates dating and marriage also in Oman. If a man wants to get to know a woman, he may start following her in the street to show his interest, which in Western countries would be considered as harassment and stalking! Flirting is of course the same everywhere in the world regardless of the religion. While the women cannot play with their hair, because it is covered, they play with their hijab, with downcast eyes and a little smile on their lips. To get to the point of marrying someone is complicated, although this of course depends on the family. Some are conservative, while others are open to new ideas. Traditionally, the groom needs to pay an equivalent of about 50.000 euro for the bride's family. No wonder most guys we met were single. If the bride or the groom is a foreigner, marriage licence is not automatic. The couple needs to apply for the licence from a special committee, and nobody knows how the decisions are made.

Nationalism and social security

The Omanis are very protective about their nationality, which may look racist. For us, this was not a shock, because the Finns are similar. Even people born and bread in Oman (or in Finland) but coming from immigrant families are not treated and looked upon as locals. In Oman, most of the immigrant workers originate from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. They will always be second class citizens or, to be more precise, not citizens at all because to be an Omani, you have to be born in the country and have purebred Omani parents.

The Omanis, however, just like all other nationalities in the world, are by no means 'pure'. The Omanis have ancestry in Africa, particularly in Zanzibar, and in many places in the Middle-East including Iran. They are proud of their tribes, and many people still live in traditional villages where everybody is somehow related to each other. Oman is a small country. There are only 2,6 million Omanis, but immigrants double the population. Most of the immigrants work in jobs that Omanis don't want to do such as cleaning and construction.

The development in Oman has been rapid. The first oil deposits were found in the 70s, when there was only one school and one hospital in the whole country. Now, all Omanis get free health care and education, and when they get married, they are given a plot of land so that they can build their own house. Nobody is paying taxes, not even firms. The country is wealthy and it seems that the Sultan has done a good job in distributing the riches for the benefit of the whole nation.

Visas and safety

For entering Oman, you need a visa, which is one of the most expensive in the world if you calculate the daily price. For the citizens of the EU, a one-month visa-on-arrival costs 50 euro (1,65 €/1,75 USD /day). It can be extended once for another 30 days and the procedure is simple. No questions asked, they just want to take your money. To stay longer, after two months you need to exit the country and come back. We heard about people who had stayed this way in the country for a year, which seems to imply that there are not restrictions regarding the number of visa-runs.

We arrived from Dubai and had no problems entering, except that the border formalities were slow and we had to pay an extra, arbitrary fee for using the road in the UAE. It took altogether three hours to get through. Sometimes tourists get scammed at the land borders. One family had paid for a 30-day visa but only got a 10-day stamp, which they didn't notice until it was too late. They had to pay a hefty fine of some 800 rials (1940 €/US $2080) at the airport when leaving. Like everywhere in the world, visas are the easiest way to unwelcome tourists.

In general, however, Oman is very friendly and one of the safest places we have been to. People don't necessarily lock their doors and you can walk out any time at night without anybody bothering you. The only hassle is caused by overenthusiastic taxi drivers who honk their horns trying to get your attention. Currently, zika-virus-free Oman is attracting especially pregnant couples.

Weather, beach, and camel beauty contests

We were in Oman in December-January, which is the local winter. There was plenty of sunshine and the temperature varied between 22-30°Celsius during the daytime, and 16-20°C at night. It rained twice, once just a small drizzle, another time there was a bit heavier thunderstorm. Although it rained only for a couple of hours, the streets were flooding. Obviously, rain is so scarce in Muscat that they haven't even bothered to make a proper sewerage system. A big tank truck came and pumped the water off the streets. It was a chaos. Sometimes there are even casualties.

Another, but weekly chaos was at the beaches in Muscat. When weekend comes (in Oman Thursday night is like the Western Friday night and time for partying, Friday is their Sunday which is spent with family, and well, Saturday is Saturday and Sunday a normal working day), people rush to the beaches for having barbecue. Our nearby beach in Al-Ghubrah was crowded and of course after the party, the beach looked like a junk yard. The local cleaning system was efficient, though, and in the morning a pack of guys came to pick up all the rubbish. Locals, by the way, have a funny understanding of beach life. They drive on the beach with cars making beaches more like car parks, while the green areas around the beaches are used for chilling out.

Most tourists coming to Oman rent a car. Public transportation system is not very developed. Among the most popular sights are the historical town of Nizhwa, Wadi Shab in Sur where there is a sinkhole and narrow mountain ravines, and the desert. We managed to escape all the must-see places and instead enjoyed local everyday life. Our kind of tour was a trip to the countryside to fraternise with camels. Petting these huge, overgrown dogs appreciated by locals was awesome. Nowadays they are just pets, because cars have replaced camels, but camel beauty contest are a big thing in Oman and the winners become local celebrities.

Food, internet, and money

We enjoyed the variety of vegetables, some of which grow in Oman including bell peppers and eggplants. Most fruits come from Asia, but they also have their own delicious bittersweet baby banana, which grows in the desert. Like in the Middle-East in general, tahini, hummus, baba ghanoush, moutabel, and pita bread are widely available. The UAE-owned supermarket chain Lulu had huge selection and affordable prices. We only wish they wouldn't use so much plastic, because people throw them around and they kill animals and poison the fish (and eventually those who eat fish).

The Internet in Oman is almost as bad as in India. One of the major reasons for this is the Internet censorship. The Omani Ministry of Truth is making lists of websites that contain abusive, offensive, obscene, immoral information or promote misleading or fraudulent information or illegal material in Oman. The censorship is easy to circumvent using a proxy or a vpn. Many of the blocked websites contain material such as computer hardware fixing instructions and programming language tutorials. Skype is also banned in Oman. You can't even access Skype website and all calls are blocked. Government-owned Omantel is behind the transgression wanting to promote paid phone calls. Thanks to these desperate and dumb measures, Omani Internet has been technically crippled making it slow and unreliable.

Oman's currency is rial, which is pegged to the US dollar. 1 rial is 1000 baisa, which they write with decimals that include three digits. 35,000 rials, for example, is 35 rials. This was a bit confusing in the beginning. If you travel to Oman, please note that not all ATMs accept foreign cards. The ones we used successfully included the Bank of Muscat and HSBC.

It's no news that Thailand is touristy. It has been that way for decades, but still the number of holiday-makers is disconcerting to us every time we travel through the country. This time was no different. Even in the small, quiet town of Prachuap Khiri Khan locals were almost outnumbered by tourists.

From Bangkok to Malaysia

The main reason why we nowadays travel to Thailand is that it is sometimes cheaper to fly to Bangkok than to Kuala Lumpur, and then continue by train to Malaysia, which is almost costless if you choose a third class seat. This time, however, we also took a quick side step to Pattaya to witness how the Russians and the Chinese are taking over the city from the Scandinavians, who used to be the major expat and tourist group around. Russian language is now spoken everywhere, and many of the restaurants, hotels and shops cater specifically to the Russian population. Even our flight from Dubai to Bangkok was mostly occupied by Russians. This is perhaps no wonder as Russians' destination choices have been rather drastically limited now that the old favourites, Egypt and Turkey, are banned.

Prachuap Khiri Khan, on the other hand, draws European pensioners, particularly old French hippies who do not enjoy more touristy parts of Thailand like Hua Hin or Phuket. They like to stay in guesthouses built in traditional wooden houses, cook by themselves, and rent a bicycle for little tours around the area, for which this little town with a beautiful beach boulevard is great for.

When continuing deeper into the south, the number of tourists drops dramatically. The south has never been popular among tourists and probably won't be in the future either as Islam is not compatible with the main items sold in Thailand: the beaches and the girls. Besides, the south has an unsafe reputation. Armed soldiers hop into the train as muslim regions approach to guard passengers. This seems a little exaggerated but this is how it has been for years. Thailand could easily get rid of the problem if they let the Muslim south join Malaysia.

Pros and cons

There are some inarguable upsides in increasing tourism, particularly higher investments in travelling infrastructure. Travelling around in Thailand is very easy as long as you follow the touristic track. There are VIP buses shuttling between the most popular destinations that run frequently and are inexpensive. For example, the bus from Suvarnabhumi airport to Pattaya costs only 120 baht (3,20€) Although there is inflation, hotel prices are still affordable, especially if you stay longer. In Pattaya, you can get an aircon room with a fridge, WiFi, and a flat-screen TV for 9000 baht (240 euro) per month, and if you go further away from popular places, prices are even lower. Life is also made easy by the fact that in tourist destinations, Thais, or free men as they call themselves (Thai), nowadays speak passable English.

The downside of mass tourism include crowded destinations, increasing pollution, westernisation of local cultures, (sometimes) higher prices, and bad customer service. It is now rare to see a genuine smile on Thais' lips. They are tired of tourists and only smile to customers who pay well, and once customers turn their back, the smile fades. Thailand is not an exception in this respect. Customer service tends to be bad in all popular tourist destinations including the Canary Islands in Europe. And the visa procedure in Thailand is as bad as ever for long-stay foreigners.

Numbers

In 2016, the Thai military dictatorship received a record of 32.59 million foreign visitors. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the tourism industry earned 2.52 trillion baht ($71.4 billion) last year, up 11 percent from 2015. With these figures, Thailand is the eleventh most-visited country in the world.

Although we have lived and travelled quite a bit in Malaysia, this was our first visit to Taiping. The town is worth stopping by. It offers a refreshing change for usually ugly, moldy, and dirty Malaysian cities that are filled with cars and rubbish. Moreover, Taiping is one of the most well-preserved colonial sites in the country.

We ended up in Taiping because of work exchange and did a website and a booking system for one of the few Taiping hostels. We lived conveniently in the town centre within a ten-minute walk from the famous Lake Gardens. Päivi exercised in the Gardens every morning with the Chinese who gather there from 5:30 am onwards. Taiping has a Chinese majority, which makes it a bit similar to Taiwan. Even the exercise routines are the same: the Chinese slap themselves, shuffle backward, and do calisthenics. The backward shuffle is supposed to relieve back pain and boost kidney function. Some believe that it even allows you to reverse the sins of the past. Much more convenient that paying an arm and a leg to some church, or burning tons of fake paper money!

Plenty of rain, not many tourists

Taiping is known to be the wettest place in seriously rainy Malaysia but fortunately it was the so-called dry season. It still rained a lot but mostly in the afternoon, while mornings were usually sunny. Because of the rains, there is no lack of mosquitoes. For some reason, these mosquitoes left Päivi alone and feasted instead on Santeri. We don't even want to think about what it will be like during the rainy season.

Taiping doesn't attract a great many tourists as most backpackers head to Penang. While we love Penang perhaps the most of Malaysian destinations, Taiping has its perks. Thanks to the low number of tourists, the town has an aura of authenticity. In the beginning, locals stared at us, which doesn't happen in the bigger and more popular cities in Malaysia. Apparently they eventually got used to us because after a couple weeks, we were able to walk around without feeling to be the sight. Instead, we were regularly greeted by many locals.

Although small, Taiping had everything we needed: plenty of green areas, relatively fresh air for a Malaysian town, a wet market, big hypermarkets including Tesco, good train connections to KL and what is the best of all, all this within a walking distance. There was no need to use any buses or metros and pollute the air any further.

Our book Free as a Global Nomad has been translated into Turkish thanks to our literary agent Zeitgeist Media Group! The Turkish word Evsiz means 'homeless'. The book was published by Beyaz Baykus (imprint of Destek) and it is available for example at www.nobelkitap.com. We look forward to hearing what do you think about our book in Turkish!

Since 2011, we have been helping hotels, hostels and guesthouses all over the world from Costa Rica to Japan with business and marketing. With all the experience we have gathered from the accommodation business, we finally decided to open our own hostel. We rented a beautiful, old colonial house in Malaysia and are now renovating it.

The house was built in the 19th century for a British aristocrat and it is situated in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, within a convenient 30-minute bus ride from KLIA international airport and TBS bus station. As Kuala Lumpur is a huge traveller hub, the spot is ideal for a hostel. We found the house while we were staying in Taiping helping another hostel and got such a bargain price that we didn't even think twice about signing the contract for three years with an option for three more years. So far we have enjoyed staying in Malaysia so why not combine fun and work!

All the paperwork was quick and easy — thanks to Malaysian efficiency — and we will be able to open our hostel to public next August. At that time, we will have three private rooms and two mixed dorms, altogether sixteen beds. All rooms will be equipped with fan, writing desk, chair, and closet, and WiFi is available all around the house. Bathrooms will be shared and we will personally see to it they are spick-and-span. We aim to attrackt ecologically minded backpackers and nature lovers. Pets are most welcome to our premises.

We had a glimpse into the corporate world in Oman. Many things stunned us and not the least the so-called "Omanization". It is an indigenous policy that aims at increasing the number of Omani staff. In Europe, the same policy is called 'discrimination'. While Europeans also prefer to deal with other Europeans, hiring is done more discreetly. The applicant is, for example, required to speak fluently the official language of the country, which is a considerable barrier considering the number of languages spoken in Europe. Or, if the applicant's skin colour, ethnicity or gender doesn't match expectations, the employer may blame fierce competition for rejection.

Omanization guides all human resources (HR) planning in Oman. This is a pity as there can't be innovation without outside influence. Oman has always been isolated and inbred. Today, this can be seen in the lack of higher education and professionalism in many fields, especially in IT, which we experienced first-hand.

The level of IT in Oman is like in Europe 15 years ago: minimal long-term planning and understanding of the systems and security. Even backups are missing. Omani universities don't produce proficient software engineers and IT managers. Most companies hire or recruit Indians, or Omanis travel to India to study IT. Nobody cares that only less than 5% of Indian software engineers are actually capable of developing software. One example is His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said's website that has staggering 49 coding errors. The site does not support a single mobile device, and the 29-second loading time guarantees that only the most patient and devoted followers will wait to see it.

Unfortunately, the impact of highly educated, skilled professionals is not valued or understood in Oman. The country is more interested in implementing a policy called "In-Country Value" (ICV) to maximise the total spend retained in the country. Officially, ICV is supposed to benefit local business development, contribute to human capability development, and stimulate productivity, but in practice it's just short-sighted protectionism. In Europe, similar Mercantilist policies were ditched in the 18th century because of negative effects including trade restrictions that impeded growth rather than boosted it. Despite of its stellar GDP per capita, Oman is far behind its Western counterparts.

Management by tribes and religion

Besides Omanization, there are several other problems within the Omani business context. First, the Omanis are lacking in management and leadership skills. The country is hierarchical and management is associated with Sultan Qaboos rather than with business leaders. Dr. Richard Common, who has studied Omani businesses, writes: "when one discusses leadership in Oman, it is assumed reference is being made to the Sultan." This could be considered a joke elsewhere in the world but not in Oman. The Sultan is highly revered and sovereign. He is almost exclusively responsible for political, social and economic leadership in the country, and any initiative relating to public policy, business and economic direction is attributed to his leadership. Firms usually write on their websites that they owe an "indebtedness to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said for support". Such authoritarian rule is not a fruitful ground for development, because rigid, hierarchical structures don't encourage initiative, participation, and team work. If everybody is just expecting orders from above, nothing gets ever done.

Second, the governance of Oman relies on tribal loyalties as a source of legitimation, which leads to nepotism. Individuals and their own accomplishments do not count; social criteria is the sole thing that matters. Foreigners, who are tribeless in locals' eyes, are treated like trash.

Third, Islam plays a major role in Omani business culture. The majority of Omanis (74%) practise Ibadhism that places high value on communal consensus and traditions rather than critical thinking and innovation. Sharia law is the law of Oman, and everything happens on Allah's will (insha'Allah). This complicates business. Doing long-term planning is impossible as everything is managed from Jannah, the paradise/heaven. Businesses and leaders often behave erratically and there is no way to predict anything because Allah works in mysterious ways.

The way ahead

Although we've seen quite a lot on our 12-year journey, we were genuinely flabbergasted by our experiences in Oman. As everywhere in the world, your view of a foreign country is greatly influenced by the people you meet. On our first visit, we met good and honest people, but our glimpse into the local business world revealed another reality. We are grateful for the experience. It taught us that there is a reason why the Gulf countries are still considered to be second (or sometimes even third) world countries.

Clearly, new blood and skills are needed, but thanks to the current management, HR and immigration policies that is impossible. What will Oman do when the country's oil industry will dry? This is not a rhetorical question. Reports by the country's biggest oil producer, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), show that production in the country's main sites started to decline at an annual rate of 12 per cent at the turn of the millennium. If heavily oil-dependent Oman doesn't focus on higher education and doesn't want to attract foreign professionals to key positions either, the future looks bleak.

We've been living without a mobile phone for 12 years. Before embarking on our nomadic journey in 2004, our friends bought us a brand new smart phone for keeping in touch. We carried the precious gift all over the world and kept purchasing new SIM cards in each and every country we visited.

In 2005, we were in Bali and just about to leave to Australia and New Zealand when we noticed that our phone was gone. We had checked out from our hotel in Kuta Beach and had forgot the phone on the bedside table. We were at the airport but as there was still enough time to get the phone back before the flight, we decided to call the hotel. The receptionist wasn't cooperative. He told us, "You have never been in our hotel", and hang up. That was it. We knew that we were never going to get our phone back.

Soon we discovered that the loss was actually a blessing. We had less hassle and things to worry about not to mention all the money saved. We decided to give it a go and continue living and travelling without a phone. Since then, we have been able to live more in the moment. Wherever we travel, we see people taking selfies and obsessively scrolling their phones. No matter how beautiful the place is, people seem to be more concerned about sharing the experience than enjoying it right there and then. Seeing mobile phone zombies everywhere, even on the other side of the dinner table, is pretty sad.

How to do it?

Living without a phone is not uncomplicated. Sometimes people we meet get suspicious. They think that we don't want to give them our phone number or we have something to hide. With hospitality exchange, this is sometimes an issue. The host may insist on calling the guest or the other way around, even if you write in your profile that you don't have a phone. Avoiding paranoid people and using less hospitality exchange have helped to solve these issues, but sometimes the phone number is also required elsewhere. In India, an immigration official refused to let us leave the country without first telling him our mobile phone number. Finally he realised that we really didn't have a phone, he wrote his own phone number in the form and let us through.

Alternatives for mobile phones and practical tips

There are situations when you really need a phone, or more exactly a phone number. If you want to be part of the monetary system and use a credit or debit card, many banks insist on sending you one-time passwords (OTPs) to your mobile phone. For receiving the OTPs, you need at least a SIM card and a USB modem. There are several options. In Malaysia, an XOX One-X SIM card with two-year validity and a HSUPA USB adapter cost about US 24$/20€. However, this only solves one problem, because sometimes banking assistants may want to call you and get suspicious if you don't pick up. To fix this, you may have to get rid of banks and ditch the economy altogether.

For keeping in touch with friends and family, you can use various applications such as FaceTime, Google hangouts or Skype that are freely available on the Internet. The upside is that there is a video included and you can switch the applications on only when you want to be available. When agreeing meetings, some people may complain that without a phone, they don't have the possibility of making last minute changes or let you know if they're late. The fix is easy: don't be late or change plans. If you promise something, keep it.

Life without phone can be very, very dangerous

How can you find a new place without GPS and a map on your phone? Simply check the route and memorise it or print the map out, or ask directions from locals. All options work. Remember that getting lost once in a while is not bad either. Take your time and enjoy the ride!

If something bad happens and you need to call the police or ambulance, there is always someone nearby who has a mobile phone unless you're deep in the wilderness. In many countries, they still have pay phones, too.

There are some areas left on earth where there is no mobile phone coverage, which is probably one of the reasons why these areas are considered dangerous. We went through one of them when travelling from Colombia to Panama via the Darién Gap. The most dangerous thing there, the lack of mobile phone coverage and electricity, was not so scary to us as we had already got used to living without a phone.

PROs of living without a cell phone

• Being present in the moment
• Enjoying the people you're with rather than your phone
• Enjoying places instead of photographing them and sharing them in social media
• Less things to carry, worry about, and pay for

• Some people may suspect that you've something to hide
• Officials may require a phone number the same way as they require an address
• Banking is more difficult
• You might suffer occasional nightmares of losing your (non-existent) phone or not knowing how to use a phone

We have been travelling and living without mobile phone for 12 years. Have you ever considered living without a phone?

On our frequent walks around Tbilisi, we have spotted many graffitis. Some represent famous musicians or celebrities, while others are more unique in style. Perhaps the most eye-catching are the graffitis by the twentysomething, self-taught street artist Mishiko Sulakauri.

Sulakauri has adorned the city with a project called "Lamb". It features the protagonist-sheep in various settings such as eating khinkali, one of the many delicious Georgian national dishes, or posing as a presidential candidate. The graffitis are funny and sympathetic, but always with irony. While the sheep symbolises innocence and purity, their black, angry eyebrows remind of the heated characters of Angry Birds.

The sheep is an apt choice for the protagonist as agricultural industry, including sheep-herding, plays a major role in Georgia. When we were travelling the Georgian military highway, the sheep were flocking everywhere. In Tusheti, there are also some semi-nomadic tribes that spend winters in pastures and summers in the mountain slopes. Their living conditions are rough — no electricity there or other modern amenities — while the sheep in graffitis joyfully enjoys sumptuous meals and plenty of leisure time. He resembles more us, global nomads, than pastoral nomads.

Enjoy our top picks of Tbilisi's street art and graffitis!

Update on 2017-09-19: Google has included our fix to the Dynamic Views theme so it is no longer necessary to manually patch it. However, if you want search engines to be able to index your website, we suggest not using Dynamic Views, as it does not offer any basic elements that are necessary for successfully indexing websites.

We switched to Contempo theme and started a new project to fix its SEO issues. The fixed theme is applied to this blog. We are releasing all the new fixes, programs and instructions on our open and free discussion forum and web design for hotels and hostels website.

The original post

June 9, 2013 (updated on March 25, 2015)

We fixed the problem with the dynamic views that Blogger failed to fix for over six months. In about every tenth page load, custom CSS fails to load properly, there is no menu, and the dock is empty. This makes websites look ugly and leaves users stranded without navigation. When the bug happens, user has to reload the page with [ctrl]-R or [shift]-[ctrl]-R once or twice before the website gets back to normal.

According to Blogger, over 2 million people use dynamic views making this a serious problem. There were no other workarounds available except reverting back to the non-dynamic, traditional template, or changing the blogging platform. For us, changing was not an option after fixing 180+ blog posts and thousands of lines of javascript code in order to make them work with the new dynamic views template. However, changing the blogging platform might be the only viable option in future, if there will be more critical bugs that Google is not willing to fix.

Thank you, Mishka, for explaining in the Google Products forum that Blogger is not going to fix the issue and does not even perceive it as a bug, but merely as an unwanted feature. After that, we started to read the javascript, which Blogger uses to render the dynamic views templates. There is a timeout function that will interrupt loading, if loading takes too long, and Blogger will render the view anyway. Because of that, when loading takes a bit longer, some parts of the GUI are not yet loaded when the rendering happens causing the bug. To fix this, we changed the timeout function to onload meaning that the page will be rendered only after it has been loaded. The earlier fix of increasing the timeout value was trivial and failed sometimes when loading the page took too long, especially when browsing with mobile devices. Special thanks to O. Marcel Aulenbacher for his help in perfecting the fix. We have been running it now over a year now and it appears to work perfectly.

To access and edit Blogger template, go to Dashboard, select Template from the pulldown menu, and Edit HTML. Then scroll down until you see the following lines at the bottom of the template:

<script language='javascript'type='text/javascript'>setTimeout(function(){blogger.ui().configure().view();},0);</script></body></html>

Change the setTimeout function to window.onload so that the template looks like this:

<script language='javascript'type='text/javascript'>window.onload=function(){blogger.ui().configure().view();};</script></body></html>

Press Save template. After that, go to your website and make sure everything works. If you get your dynamic views fixed, please share this page to others. There are still over 2 million bloggers using the dynamic views version that does not work properly. In case something goes wrong, leave us a comment telling what happened, so we can figure out together how to fix that. Thank you.

A similar incident happened in 2009. Is Google planning to shut down Blogger? Does this imply that the dynamic views template will soon be discontinued? Why Google fails to react to the complaints they have received from angry bloggers? In any case, this is exactly the same kind of customer service that made us ditch Google Books permanently in 2007.

A good travel insurance plan is supposed to give you peace of mind. It covers you if you have an accident, get sick, your equipment is stolen or breaks. Only a few long-term travellers, however, buy insurance, as Päivi discovered in her global nomad research for Tilburg University.

Why not?

1. Global nomads don't have a home (or address) in their country of origin or in any other country, nor do they pay taxes. Upon leaving, they lose access to public services and travel insurance, because most insurances are tied to the social programs of the traveller’s country of origin.. The rules vary. in Finland (part of the EU), you are out of the system if you are away for one year; in Switzerland, you need to have an address and pay for your social security, if you want to be covered also during your travels.
2. While there are international companies selling global travel insurance for hypermobile people such as global nomads, they are very, very expensive. With that money, you can visit a doctor dozens or even hundreds of times on the road in countries that have a high-quality health care system and affordable prices. Popular destinations for medical tourism include Thailand, Malaysia, India, Poland, Hungary, Costa Rica, and Argentina. Even if you are part of the universal coverage in your own country, it may be cheaper to do medical tourism than go to the public hospital to get treatment.
3. Travel insurance companies are businesses. They gladly take your money but are reluctant to pay out. There are always clauses in the insurance contract that will allow them to deny coverage. As one of our nomad colleagues encapsulated: "They [insurance companies] charge too much money for what they do. They make a lot of money. I don’t want them making mine."
4. Travel insurance limits travelling, because it is not valid in countries where travelling is not recommended. For Americans, about a half of the world’s countries are not covered.

Wouldn't you rather use your money for travelling?

Instead of buying a costly world-wide travel insurance, here's what you can do:

• Check out if your bank has included a travel insurance plan in your debit or credit card. That way you don't need to pay any extra, and you are able to prove that you are covered in countries that don't let travellers in without an insurance.
• If you are worried about your equipment, don't take it with you. Carry only things that you are OK to lose.

Happy travels!

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary on our never-ending honeymoon. We celebrated it in Tbilisi, Georgia on a beautiful and sunny October day (22°C/72°F). Last year we were in Moscow in freezing temperatures. Not a bad change. We skipped our daily routines such as writing books, making websites, and fixing old blog posts. Instead, we cooked together, had a walk, fixed our broken clothes, watched some old TV series, took photos, and wrote this blog post.

Compared to our wedding day 13 years ago, our love has not faded and we know each other better now, both in good and bad. What we wrote in La Habanera - The Escape From The Rat Race still applies very much to our life. It is possible to live on the road with your partner without breaking up. We hope that you will also find your life-long travel companion!

We travelled to Uganda to make a website for a budget hotel and campsite in Masaka and ended up doing also a site for a company offering safaris and tours in Uganda. The project was rather demanding as there are regular power cuts, Internet connection is erratic, and working is limited to daytime because of malaria mosquitoes. That meant a lot of waiting for us which we didn't mind.

Village life

We stayed in a little local village five kilometres away from Masaka town, enjoying walks in the jungle with the hostel dog, Odi, who is a mix of collie and German shepherd. The hostel had a nice veranda to sit down, relax and enjoy the green, hilly scenery around. The villagers were growing bananas, maize and coffee beans and had some animals including cows, pigs, goats, and chicken.

Food was amazing. We didn't expect to feast on avocado pasta in Uganda, but there were heaps of avocados that were as delicious as hash avocados in Mexico! The rainy season was just ending when we came so there were plenty of fruits as well including jackfruits, pineapple, passion fruits, papayas and of course various types of bananas. We also loved the local peanut butter, which is pure stuff made of peanuts and sesame seeds only. It doesn't contain any sugar, high fructose corn syrup or other toxic additives!

Christmas was a big celebration as Uganda in mostly Christian. There are also a minority of Muslims. During Idi Amin´s governance, Arab countries offered support for Uganda and in return they got a permission to spread Islam freely in the country. Mosques abound — nearly every village has one.

The weather was nice and cool in November-December, usually around 26 degrees Celsius when it didn't rain. The rainy days were surprisingly cold, but rains never lasted for the whole day. In the afternoon it was usually sunny again.

Mzungu treatment

Ugandans are very curious about foreigners. Everybody wants to say "Bye", "Hi" or "How are you?", and some of them also shout the m-word: mzungu. That can be annoying but we knew to expect it. We had got used to the mzungu treatment in Kenya and Tanzania six years ago. Mzungu treatment includes paying too much for everything. When we went to a computer shop to ask the price of a notebook hard disk, it was 900.000 Ugandan shillings (about US $249). Our work exchange host got a twice bigger disk for only 80.000 shillings ($22).

When using public transport, touts are harassing potential clients everywhere and demanding their share of the price. Their commission is, probably depending on the travel distance, around 2.000 shillings (US 56¢). They can be very persistent. When we had found our bus by ourselves and were sitting comfortably inside, one of the touts came inside and tried to convince us to move to another bus. After we refused, he cleverly lied to us that the bus was not going to Masaka at all, then he told that it will never leave, and finally he revealed that the engine is in such a bad condition that it will surely break on the way. We didn't buy his sales pitch and ended up comfortably in Masaka.

Declining tourism

Uganda is quite similar to Kenya except Ugandans are nicer thanks to the country being less touristy. Kenya and Tanzania draw most of the arrivals, while Uganda just gets the crumbs.

The number of incoming tourists dropped dramatically a few years ago because of political unrest, the anti-gay bill that prompted some Western countries to boycott Uganda, and Ebola & Marburg virus outbreaks in the Western Africa. Although the outbreak took place thousands of kilometres away, tourists were afraid to travel to Africa at all. Päivi had her doubts, too, after reading the news about the latest outbreaks, but naturally governments writing travel warnings want everyone to stay put and spend their money at home. Uganda will be a great disappointment for those seeking danger just like the Darién Gap was for us.

Those who do come here usually want to go for a safari or help locals by volunteering for example in schools and orphanages. Like elsewhere in the world, volunteering (or "humanitarian douchery") is a big business. Volunteers are usually required to pay dearly for the opportunity to help.

We entered Rwanda knowing about their dislike of plastic bags. The idea sounded truly wonderful. Everywhere in the world we had spotted plastic trash, even in the Darien Gap. Plastic seems to be the most visible sign of civilization and the legacy of human kind that will last for hundreds of years after we are all gone. What happened in the Ugandan-Rwandan border was a bit less wonderful.

Customs officers demanded us to open all of our bags and backpacks and started pulling out our staff that was wrapped in plastic bags in case of rain, including our laptops and camera equipment. In exchange for taking the plastic bags that had travelled with us half a decade, they offered to sell us paper bags and reusable, bad quality plastic bags. We didn't quite understand how a paper bag, that is actually polluting more than plastic bags, could somehow protect electronics from getting wet. Reusable cloth bags would be greener if used more than 131 times. At some point one of the custom officers stole Päivi's new jogging shoes that were wrapped in a plastic bag. When Päivi discovered that her shoes were missing, she started to demand them back loudly accusing officers of theft, and finally her shoes were brought back without any explanation or apology. What they forgot was to return Päivi's toothbrushes, dental floss, and lady shavers.

Hutu and Tutsi Genocide

Our Rwandan friend told us that the Rwandan genocide, where one million people got killed out of 7 million Rwandans, was not an ethnic cleansing. Hutus and Tutsis are not clans or tribes but artificially created groups by the foreign oppressors to divide the Rwandan people and conquer the country. Wealthier Hutus owned animals, while Tutsis cultivated the land. If a Hutu lost his herd, he became a Tutsi and visa versa.

The genocide was performed using machetes. The machetes had been ordered from China and paid by the French government or — to be more exact — a close circle of the then French president Mitterrand. Usually only the world's biggest arms exporters are stirring unrest and mongering fear among people to sell their weapons. Our friend lost some friends and family in the genocide, just like all Rwandans. The genocide itself has become a tourist attraction just like the Killing Fields in Cambodia.

Paranoia in Kigali

Kigali is built on hills and streets are going up and down like in La Paz, Bolivia, although the altitude is much lower, only some 1500 meters compared to over 4000 meters. The city is a strange potpourri of everything. There are a lot of armed guards in the streets and in front of supermarkets. To get in, guards search customers with metal detectors and x-ray all bags just like in the Philippines. There are not many guns, however, but the president happens to be paranoid. When he drives through the city, all the streets are closed.

The paranoia can also be seen in Kigali airport, which was quite an experience for us, even after 13 years and over 90 countries. You can get inside only three hours before your flight and that three hours is a must for getting through the check-in and security checks — despite the fact that the airport is almost all of the time empty. When we left, there were three departing flights within fifteen minutes and only 30 passengers. Our Kenya Airways flight had 10 passengers out of 100. On our way from outside to the plane, our passports and hand luggage were meticulously checked six times. The upside was getting to the airport by public bus. Number 104 goes straight to the airport from the city center and the ticket costs only 330 RWF. The trip took about half an hour.

Travel tip: If you are travelling with some extra stuff you need to get rid of, just wrap them into plastic bags and travel to Rwanda!

Instructions how to travel from O.R. Tambo Airport to Johannesburg Park Station like locals using Metrorail Gauteng. The whole trip takes about 1.5 hours, involves 15 minutes of walking and costs 8.5 ZAR per person (less than 1 dollar/euro). The fancier Gautrain is 19 times more expensive (162 ZAR).

Walking map to the closest local train station

Here is a walking map to the closest Metrorail station Isando:

Go to the ground floor of Domestic Terminal B. Walk all the way to the southern end of the terminal until you see a clinic. Go out and turn left. Keep walking on the left side and walk until you see a walking bridge that goes over the highway. Cross the bridge and the railway bridge, buy a ticket from the ticket counter and go to platform one to wait for your train. There are several trains. Take one that has a number starting with 06. The Metrorail train trip takes about 1 hour and the walk 15 minutes. Johannesburg Park Station is the last stop so you can't miss it.

Happy travels!

We continued exploring the Southern part of Africa by bus. The whole tour was 5 490 km across South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Namibia. We have cut the journey into two parts to make reading a bit more tolerable:

• Part I: 2 622 km Johannesburg-Harare (Zimbabwe)-Chimoio (Mozambique)-Maputo (Mozambique)
• Part II: 2 868 km Maputo-Manzini (Swaziland)-Bloemfountain-Maseru (Lesotho)-Windhoek (Namibia)

The trip was typically African: bad roads with potholes, slow and aggressive driving, delays at borders because of visas and custom checks (i.e. corruption), and bus breakups.

From South Africa to Zimbabwe

The toll roads in South Africa are good and the drive to the Zimbabwe border went smoothly (Intercape, 500 ZAR per person). Unfortunately, South African immigration in Beitbridge is inefficiently organised and crowded. There were only two officials serving the passengers of more than six big buses. It seems that all bus companies arrive at the border at the same time so queues cannot be avoided. There is a lot of traffic because Zimbabwe has suffered from a depression for seven years, and those who are able to move abroad prefer to work in South Africa. In our bus, one of the passengers was deported because she had overstayed her South-African visa. Customs inspection was also slow as all bags were taken out from the trunk, although they were not inspected by the officials.

The South-African border, however, was nothing compared to the Zimbabwe border. We got stuck in a queue of over dozen buses. The police had arrested customs officials for taking bribes, and the rest of the officials were protesting by working super slowly. The process took five hours and would have taken even longer if Intercape had not been such a profitable "customer" for the officials. Four other buses, that had arrived before us, had been waiting for their turn for more than 24 hours. Other passengers in the bus were very friendly and helped us at the border as it wasn't always clear where to go and what to do. In Zimbabwe customs, for example, passengers were expected to fetch blue papers from one of the surrounding buildings and the papers had to be filled in a specific way to avoid delays and problems.

Since we were already five hours behind the schedule, the drivers made a generous amount of stops on the way. We did not mind as the bus toilet got stuck right after the departure, and the bus had not stopped even once in South Africa.

From Zimbabwe to Mozambique

If you want to make your visit to Zimbabwe extraordinary and exciting, tell the immigration officials that you are an author — or even better, a journalist. Päivi did this and got a special treatment. The official drew a big circle around the word 'author' and wrote Päivi a "notice of a visitor". We had to decide where we were staying during our visit and from where we would exit the country. We hadn't any plans and said vaguely that perhaps we will return back to South Africa or continue straight to Mozambique. The official wasn't happy about this and ordered us to choose. We ended up mumbling Mozambique. Hence, Päivi was to report at the Mozambique border station in Forbes when exiting the country.

There were not too many bus companies going from Harare to Mozambique. After relaxing a week in Mount Pleasant in Harare, we hopped into the notorious Trip Trans bus (30 Zimbabwe bonds per person). The company is known for speeding and killing passengers and pedestrians. We expected the worst, particularly because the roads in Zimbabwe are not in mint condition, but we were pleasantly surprised; the road to Mozambique was better than the road to South Africa. The bus was not full but the seating was uncomfortable: 3+2 with no leg room. Moreover, bus was damp because there was no air-conditioning. As said, though, the trip was much better than we feared and there were no queues at the Machipanda border station. The only delay was because of the visa-on-arrival. The immigration officials were slow and meticulous. The bus was already hurrying away so we had to run after the bus in the middle of the process and beg the driver to wait for us. Moreover, the price of the visa was outrageously high compared to local price levels: 50 USD/month (on February 16, 2018). We had earlier read on the Internet that the price should have been US $30/month just like in Zimbabwe, but when we told this to the senior immigration official, he got enraged, blamed us that we were lying and insisted on showing him immediately "the proof". We learned later that the trick is to pay the visa in local currency. It should cost 2000 MZN (Mozambican meticais), which is about US $30.

Ride across Mozambique

After relaxing for a while in Chimoio in central Mozambique, we took a bus to Maputo. We chose LTM, which is said to be the safest and most reliable (1800 MZN per person). The bus was quite OK. The seating is 2+2 and the bus had air-conditioning. There was a downside, however: the air-con wasn't adjustable. It was either on or off. When the outside temperature dropped to 22, there was 15 degrees Celsius inside! We had only t-shirts on because we thought that an African AC wouldn't probably work well if at all.

The road from Chimoio to Maputo is very bad until Vilanculo. The potholes were sometimes 2-10 meters wide! The first 100 kilometres took five hours. After Vilanculo, the road was pretty OK for and we did arrive during the same day just as the bus company had promised us. During the whole trip, there was only one driver. His work shift was 15 hours long without a single break. The speed varied between 20 km/h and 140 km/h depending on the road condition, weather, and the time of day. As the driver was not a young guy and still alive, that made him a hell of a good driver, probably one of the best in Africa.

Life in Africa

There are frequent power cuts and water service disruptions both in Zimbabwe and in Mozambique. Interruptions can occur several times a day even in the poshest neighbourhoods. Unless you're in a place that has a backup generator, you will be at the mercy of water and electricity companies. During the dry season, it will be hot and there are no fans or AC available except in luxury hotels. On the other hand, many of the amenities become useless if there is no electricity available.

During the rainy season, roads get very muddy so it's a good idea to pack a pair of old jogging shoes that you don't need to care about. Other useful stuff to take with you include shampoo made for Western hair, particularly if you are going to stay in little towns or villages as they might only have some local egg and apple shampoos for coarse African hair.

Enjoy your trip! You will see a lot of antique things and phenomena. For example in Maputo, we saw a bunch of tailors that were using old treadle Singer sewing machines on the street!

Our southern African tour continued from Mozambique to Swaziland, Lesotho, and Namibia. The two tiny kingdoms surrounded by South Africa are very different. Swaziland is friendly and laid-back while Lesotho is poor and more challenging to enter because of lack of public transport. Both, however, are beautiful, hilly and mountainous. They reminded us little bit of Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Namibia, on the other hand, is very German, particularly the capital Windhoek.

Minibus from Maputo, Mozambik to Manzini, Swaziland

We entered Swaziland from Maputo. There are minibuses going every day, but you have to wait until the vehicle is full. This might take some time. A few passengers had been waiting for the departure since 7 am. We arrived at 11 am and the bus finally left around 1pm. The cost is 190 rand (ZAR) per person and Mozambiquan meticales are not accepted. Luggage is stored in an uncovered trailer. There is quite a lot of hassle in the bus station as touts are trying to grab their share of the fares. You don't need to pay anything extra for your luggage, although the touts will try to convince you that you have to pay 15-30 rand.

The trip to the border took about two hours and the border formalities were easy. There were no queues, and the immigration and customs officials were relaxed. This is typical to countries that do not rip-off tourists with visas and visa-like fees. There are also free condoms available, which was a nice bonus. The rest of the trip to Manzini went smoothly and took another two hours.

Swaziland

Swazi people are very welcoming and friendly. We ended up staying in the Portuguese-owned Mocambique Hotel, which is located next to the bus station. The room was clean and nice, and the staff were friendly and flexible.

Swaziland has its own currency, lilangeni (SZL), but there is no need to exchange currency if you're carrying South African rands with you. They are 1:1 to local currency. Rand is accepted everywhere, although they will give you the change in lilangeni, which has no value outside Swaziland.

Swaziland is known for Reed festival, where the king chooses himself a new wife. In 2018, the king will take his 15th spouse.

From Swaziland to Johannesburg

There are no direct minibuses from Swaziland to Lesotho. You have to go either via Johannesburg or Durban. Locals advised us to go to Johannesburg, because there are approximately 3-4 buses going there every day (230 rand). We arrived at the bus station around 11am and waited for two hours for the bus to fill up. The seats were quite cramped and the air was damp, because other passengers didn't want to have the windows open. Päivi was squeezed between two huge Swazi ladies and was relieved when the bus finally arrived in Park Station in Johannesburg after some five and half hours of driving.

The arrival to Park Station minibus terminal was chaotic. Some passengers wanted to jump out before the station, which attracted a lot of shady guys. They were probably high and in desperate need of money. Some of them were hanging on to the bus and tried to grab whatever they could even when the bus started moving. We were not able to close the door. Then in the station, a group of very persistent touts surrounded us. We said that we didn't need any of their "security" or "guide services", but they kept following us demanding money in somewhat threatening manner.

Unfortunately the last bus to Bloemfontein, which is the nearest big town to Lesotho, had already left and they were closing the station for the night. We decided to stay in a nearby Park Station Inn (F1 hotel chain, 399 rand per room), which can be entered without exiting the station.

From Bloemfontein (SA) to Maseru (Lesotho)

The next day we took an Intercape Mainliner bus to Bloemfontein (230 rand). The trip took six hours and went rather pleasantly except that the one of the officers tried to scam us to pay for overweight luggage by pressing our backpack down while weighing it on an uncalibrated scale.

Finding a bus from Bloem to Lesotho proved challenging. At around 5:30am we were driving around a ghetto-like area with a local friend asking for a bus that Wikitravel had mentioned, but nobody knew anything about it. Lesotho is very poor and South Africans don't really travel there. Fortunately our friend suggested that he could take us there and back as otherwise we would never make it.

Maseru is some 150 km from Bloemfontein. The road was quite good and there were no queues at the Maseru Bridge border post. Everything went smoothly. Maseru itself is not particularly attractive. The main reasons for tourists to come to Lesotho are mountains, mountains, and mountains. Otherwise the country has not much to offer. It is known for traditional conical grass hats and colourful blankets. As in Swaziland, the country has its own currency, loti (LSL), but it's not really needed because rand is accepted everywhere. Just remember to get rid of all lotis you get, because they are worth nothing outside of Lesotho.

We returned to Bloemfontein using another route via Van Rooyen's Gate. The scenery on the way is hilly and there is very little traffic except the occasional cow crossing the road. Again, the border formalities were quick and easy, which made the trip pleasant. Thank you, Johan and Brigitte, for your kind help that made our trip possible!

Namibia

After our country-hopping we headed for Windhoek, Namibia to do work exchange. Namibia is mostly desert, and the bus ride from Bloemfontein was rather monotonous (790 rand). The trip took 28 hours, longer than normally, as we had to wait for a bus coming from Johannesburg. At the border, there were no queues, but the ladies in the South African customs wanted to search all ladies' bags pedantically and touch every single item they saw. The search took about 15 minutes per passenger, and as most of the passengers were ladies, we spent hours at the border. Päivi was interrogated for having condoms in her backpack. The ladies couldn't believe that she doesn't want to get pregnant. After the tiring experience, we swore that we would fly back to Johannesburg to avoid the hassle. However, after three weeks in Windhoek, we felt rested and returned the same route back to South Africa.

In Namibia, we made a website for one of the many hostels in Windhoek. The place was German-owned and run, and the place had mostly German guests as well as a lovely dog and a cat. We enjoyed our morning walks with the 11-year old dog, Vanilla. Our room was a tent in a tree so we lived like Tarzan and Jane!

For an African town, Windhoek is organised and looks quite European thanks to the German colonial influence. This was quite surprising to us as the Germans only ruled for 30 years in Namibia. After that came the South Africans.

Although the town is small and looks peaceful, appearances are deceiving. Muggings and robberies are common. They follow a familiar pattern: a car starts to follow unsuspecting pedestrians, then a couple of guys jump out of the car and grab bags and whatever valuables they can find. Sometimes they have knives, so it is a good idea to have something available as a "tip" for the potential thieves. Walking in the streets at night is not recommended as that is when most of the muggings occur. Ladies with handbags and tourists with backpacks are the most obvious targets.

Windhoek was our last destination on our southern African tour that was altogether 7184 kilometres (4464 miles). Many of the countries on our route were interesting, but there is not necessarily any reason for us to return except to South Africa. Despite its problems, it is still one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Hope whites and blacks can make peace with themselves and each other!