Didier Around The World

Kyrgyzstan

2016-08-29T23:27:00.000+02:00

Unbelievable Iran - A month through an ancient culture

2015-10-29T16:14:00.000+01:00

Are you crazy to go there?
What is your purpose?
Why did you choose such a strange destination?

Before starting my trip I was confronted with the above-mentioned questions. Too many people are neglecting one of the oldest cultures in the world. Hopefully this situation will change in the very next future. The comparison of what I have experienced in this wonderful country has no connection with the idea of too many people that have never been there and will probably never go there. For sure I have never experienced such an immense hospitality. I have to recommend to everyone to visit lovely Iran. Merci for this wonderful experience! Dustet doram Iran!

Let me share some impressions of the old Persia....

Didier around the world

2014-02-21T09:56:00.001+01:00

That is the end of my trip. Goodbye didier-around-the-world

2014-01-14T15:23:00.001+01:00

Day 396, Germany, Frankfurt

I reach my final destination. The airport of Frankfurt in Germany. My trip comes to an end. I have lived and seen so many things. Fantastic cultures, beautiful people. An overall life-rewarding experience. Now I get back to my origins. The place I belong to. Thank you for following my blog during 13 months. Thank you to all the people that I was able to meet. Thank you to the privilege of being able to do this trip. Thank you for everything.

As one last thing I will associate one particular word to every country I have visited during this trip.

Oman - quiteness
Yemen - traditions
Thailand - smiles
Laos - tribes
Vietnam - food
Cambodia - history
India - contrasts
Nepal - dimensions
Malawi - humanity
Zambia - future
Namibia - desert
Botswana - wildness
Colombia - women
Brazil - beach
Argentina - diversity
Cuba - society

Goodbye didier-around-the-world.

Goodbye world

2014-01-14T15:15:00.003+01:00

Day 395, Cuba, La Habana

Goodbye lovely Santa Clara. goodbye Cuba. Goodbye worldtrip. Goodbye to all the people I have met around the world. Goodbye Blog. The most difficult, challenging step of this worldtrip comes for sure today. I will miss all the smiles, all the people, all the cultures, all the funny, sad, lovely, serious, romantic, challenging moments I have lived during 13 months of travel.

Driving around (as Cubans do)

2014-01-14T15:15:00.001+01:00

Day 394, Cuba, Santa Clara

To my surprise a friend comes to visit me on my last day of this huge world trip. He wants me to show his car. A Chevrolet from 1958 with an original 8 cylinder engine and just 3 gears. In my eyes a piece of museum. In Cubans eyes a nice to have car. He drives me through Santa Clara and we become the main attraction of the city to all foreigners.

Walking through the past

2014-01-14T15:14:00.003+01:00

Day 393, Cuba, Santa Clara

Walking through the poor parts of the city, feels like walking through the past. Cubans look at me with many questions in their minds. Why is this foreigner here? What is he looking for? I am just looking for the life of the Cubans. A look inside their houses reveals a 30-50 years old equipment. On the streets you can take shared horse taxis or bicycle taxis and the few cars that are driving through the roads are mostly from the 50's or 60's.

Enjoying the time

2014-01-14T15:12:00.002+01:00

Day 392, Cuba, Santa Clara

I walk around, talk to many people, hang out with friends. That is Santa Clara, that is what I am looking for. I have a really good time and enjoy this society that is socializing and socializing. Probably the most social people I have met during my travels are the Cubans.

The last days

2014-01-14T15:12:00.000+01:00

Day 391, Cuba, Santa Clara

A last long nightbus ride takes me back to the city of Santa Clara. The only Cuban place where I really feel to be at home and where I have the real view of how life is in Cuba. I see again many friends and everyone is happy. Everyone is socializing as usual and I love to be part of the comedy of Cuba. I decode to spend the last days of my worldtrip here just by living as the Cuban do. Slow and relaxed.

Up and down

2014-01-14T15:11:00.002+01:00

Day 390, Cuba, Santiago de Cuba

I am approaching the end. The end of a trip of so many cultures, so many places, so many souls. My feelings are mixed, they get shaken in all possible directions. I feel happy, scared, sad, nervous. The jump back into what I have left more than one year ago is not an easy one. A jump back into the same world, with the same stories. The only thing that has changed is my soul. Everything I have lived in this period has an impact and allows me to look into the world with other eyes. I remember the day I arrived in Bangkok, I started to chat to a Brazilian guy, who was in the end of his one year trip. I talked to him, tried to understand him, but couldn't properly deal with what he was feeling. Now I know. Now I understand.

The music never stops

2014-01-14T15:11:00.000+01:00

Day 389, Cuba, Santiago de Cuba

I am taking advantage of the good Salsa lessons and this is probably the only reason to spend several days in Santiago. This is my last week of travels. What a strange feeling!

Feeling safe

2014-01-14T15:10:00.000+01:00

Day 388, Cuba, Santiago de Cuba

I decide to walk exactly in the opposite direction than usually. Today is Sunday and I want to get a chance and see how people are living in the poorer areas of the city. The orientation is impossible as you cannot read any street names. Everything looks the same for my eyes. I walk and observe. I don't feel threatened and enjoy the fact to be in a very safe country. People live in very poor conditions here. Santiago has nearly no industry and even a low tourist rate. People live on the streets and socialize all together. Children are running towards me in the hope to get something to eat or a pen or just anything. It is very interesting for me to have an insight in the real Cuban life. To return back home I have to ask the people where to walk to and they are extremely helpful.

Rich from outside, poor behind

2014-01-14T15:09:00.002+01:00

Day 387, Cuba, Santiago de Cuba

Cuba is like this. The front of streets visited by tourists is beautiful, but when you get a chance to have a look inside of where Cubans live you realize that this front doesn't represent the reality of Cuba today. There is a lot of poverty. A poverty that is however limited and not endless like in other parts of the world I travelled to. The state, however, is investing money in specific places, that are visited by tourists. Santiago is much quieter and relaxed than La Habana.

Salsa

2014-01-14T15:09:00.000+01:00

Day 386, Cuba, Santiago de Cuba

I decide to spend some days in Santiago before getting back to my friends in Santa Clara and finish my trip there. Here I will use a part of my time to get Salsa lessons. The family where I am staying is really nice and I feel well. I am also happy to see and visit the ancient capital of Cuba.

Eastside

2014-01-14T15:08:00.002+01:00

Day 385, Cuba, Santiago de Cuba

I am on a waiting list for the bus that is going to Santiago. There is only one bus each day and everything is full booked. We are 4 people totally on the waiting list. Fortunately four seats are available and I can start the 12 hours trip. I am thinking about how many days I spent in buses. This has been a huge trip, a life-changing trip. Beautiful!

2014

2014-01-14T15:08:00.000+01:00

Day 384, Cuba, Trinidad

For the second time of my trip the year has changed. I am using this first of January to relax at the beach with a group of friends. Traveling through the world is a fantastic experience. You meet people, you enjoy to spend some time with them and then you split from each other. Every day brings its surprises and you never know what will happen. One thing is for sure, you don't get bored when you travel.

The perfection and the hidden face

2014-01-14T15:07:00.001+01:00

Day 383, Cuba, Trinidad

The colonial centre of Trinidad is the best preserved place of whole Cuba. The narrow streets with stone roads, the colorful houses, the romantic plazas, everything seems to be perfect. A huge amount of tourists is visiting Trinidad. Nearby you can find everything. From beaches to mountains with waterfalls and caves. However the big tourist mass means also a more complex relation towards the Cubans. Many artisans are selling their work in the houses of this stereotypical image. Once you walk out of the colonial centre you recognize the true image of Trinidad. A place like everywhere else. The same poverty, the same life on the streets. The doors of the houses are open, the Cubans are sitting around on their chairs, listening to music, watching TV and socializing. The hidden face of Trinidad is the true face of Cuba.

Enjoying the winter

2014-01-14T15:06:00.003+01:00

Day 381, Cuba, Cienfuegos

Another day at the beach. I meet to lovely french tourists and hang out with them. Travelers and not tourists,like me. Therefore very interested in how Cuba works and willing to dive into the real Cuba.the Cuban winter is hot and sunny and the sea is beautiful.

Cuban nature

2014-01-14T15:06:00.002+01:00

Day 382, Cuba, Cienfuegos

Cuba is an east-west island. Therefore the nature is quite similar all over the island. I decide to jump into the nature here in the centre of the island. The white butterfly flower and the royal palm tree are the national emblems of the Cuban nature. There is a lot of agriculture of tropical fruits and the place I am going to is amazing. Nice waterfalls and clear natural swimming pools. I jump into the fresh water and enjoy a nature that reminds me of Laos, Colombia and the Amazons.

Back at the beach

2014-01-14T15:06:00.000+01:00

Day 380, Cuba, Cienfuegos

I am enjoying another winter day at the beach with a lovely sun and a quite atmosphere. Time to relax, read and listen to music. In the evening a friend from Santa Clara calls me. A part of the group is here and with spend another lovely night all together.

Seaside

2014-01-14T15:05:00.002+01:00

Day 379, Cuba, Cienfuegos

Another journey I am doing with a sad hearth. I will miss my friends of Santa Clara and am pretty sure to return back to them, on this trip. What I lived there is probably the truest part of my Cuba trip. Cienfuegos is lovely and quite at first impact. I am back at the sea and want to profit from it. The weather is good.

How life is

2014-01-14T15:05:00.000+01:00

Day 378, Cuba, Santa Clara

A Cuban gets educated for free in superb universities. Therefore you can meet many people with various university degrees. Your potential may not be used in the low economy of Cuba. Your work for the state generates so little money that you can't live from it. But, you are not allowed not to work. You don't look for a job in relation with what you will earn. The most important question here is what benefits can I get from my job? Can I have access to internet, use the phone, take food or material home so that I can resell them in the black market? Every Cuban walks has his home equipped with stuff that is not available in Cuba. People are very social and help each other out. A Cuban tries to get married to a foreigner, leaves the island and sends money to his family or friends. TheCuban system doesn't work since the end of the Soviets, everyone knows it, but everyone keeps going and laughs about it. A Cuban is like a dolphin that has the water up to his neck but keeps on smiling. What a Salsa!

This is my home

2014-01-14T15:04:00.001+01:00

Day 377, Cuba, Santa Clara

I feel so well here and I feel really uncertain to continue to visit other places in Cuba. I smile about the fact that everyone continues to live in a country that has a system that doesn't work and has to be changed, but somehow everyone keeps on, smiling and living in peace. Everyone breaks some rules to be able to survive and uses his creativity or imagination to keep going on. A country selling a fake product to tourists willing to buy this fake product. A vivid comedy.

A day with a family

2014-01-14T15:03:00.002+01:00

Day 376, Cuba, Santa Clara

Once more I get invited by people I don't really know. Once more I spend a lovely day, learn so much about the countries culture and feel to be at home. Everyone laughs, everyone is happy. It doesn't matter, if there are no chairs. It doesn't matter if everything is old and many things are missing. The happiness of these people makes me feel much better than any perfection. The more I understand how Cuba works, the bigger becomes my smile while I am staying here.

Nothing is everything

2014-01-14T15:02:00.000+01:00

Day 375, Cuba, Santa Clara

In the capital they told me there is nothing to do in this city. After one day I think that I am staying in the place that is made for me. I am staying with wonderful people and having a really good time. I get immersed in the reality of Cuba and learn so much about how life works here. Santa Clara has really important historical sites and is the city of El Che, the Cuban Coca Cola. The product and revolutionary star Cuba is selling to the outside world. But my love for Santa Clara is the life of the youth here. Everyone meets everyday at a specific place on the main square. Everyone shares what he has and everyone chats together. Afterwards everyone goes to one specific place that has every night another musical topic. A unique place on the island. Afterwards you continue to chat on the main square all night long. All in a very positive vibe.