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Number 3 News

We would finally like to share some very good news - Johanna's belly is home to a little one - for the last five months!

Despite us knowing for some time, we wanted to surprise our families in person. We also wanted to prevent them from worrying about three of us travelling through the outback of China.

It was nice seeing the reactions on their faces (so far, mostly positive). We had a lot of jokes that if it comes out with narrow eyes and yellow skin, Lee should consider a DNA test. Made in China.

We believe that pregnancy is contagious, since many dear to us have or will become parents this year. Congratulations to Nadine and Michael, Irene and Johan and good luck to Gemma and Jason.

Germany - should be England...

5 minutes before leaving for the Airport in Turkey, we carefully read our "E-Ticket". We learned that they could not accept online purchase despite giving us a confirmation code. So we arrived at the airport with the exciting task of picking a new destination from the Departures list. Eindhoven won, and that was where we ended up flying to. Ironically it was considerably cheaper than our E-Ticket.

Despite the cool and overcast day, it was sooo nice being back in familiar territory. The grass was so green, the air so fresh, and the people so very Dutch!

We rented a car and drove to Germany to see Johanna´s family, and break the big "news" to them (see next blog)

Here we are enjoying German hospitality until Monday, then a flight to London (this time for real..).

Turkey - week by the pool

After a hectic week of travelling and in order to acclimatize back to the "normal life" we decided to spend a week by a pool. We ended up in Bitez (near Bodrum), which is very popular with the Dutch speakers. This was a much nicer little resort than the nearby Gumbet, which is a British enclave. Gumbet reminded Lee of how his fellow country citizens:
a) Like to drink so much
b) Like to fit into small clothes, especially the larger women

Turkey (or at least Tourist Turkey) was much more advanced and modern than we were expecting - but this was also reflected in prices that are more expensive than Europe for some important things, such as Red Wine. (Yes, Lee is writing this Blog). We had been spoilt by a year of Chinese prices...

One does not travel to Turkey for the international cuisine, but the food was always fresh with very tasty tomatoes and olives.

We made a stop in Istanbul - hard to believe that 13 million live here since it feels very much like a small town. The great mosque was a definite high light of our stop, and the photographs cannot give sense of scale that you experience there. It is also nice to be in a house of religion without lots of pictures or statues all over the place. (Catholic Church, take note!:))

Apart from sleeping, eating, resting we made a little excursion to Efes and the Cotton Castles. Efes is fascinating in that it was an important city before Greek, during Greek and also during Roman empires. It has given Lee a renewed interest in ancient history! The Cotton Castles are a great illustration of how earth is god's chemistry set!

Time went very quickly with us being busy doing very little, but Bitez can be recommended if a lazy and quiet vacation is needed.

Kazakhstan - the home of Borat

Entering this country by train was a bit of a slow process - 32 hours on the train, 7 of which spent on borders. Yet, it was a nice way to leave China smoothly, especially since we were travelling first class, making us feel like former Communist leaders.

To be honest with you, we were a bit disappointed it was nothing like the movie. Despite that, Lee made it his mission to track down Borat's sister and was inconsolable after not finding her.

We found Almaty to be a mixture of Moscow in a mountain desert landscape and a modern globalized city. The food was excellent quality, especially since it was so familiar to us.

The ethnic mixtures of Russians, Asians (mainly from North-Korea), Steppland- people and combinations of all the three made it a stark contrast to the purity of China. Thus, we spent a lot of time people-watching.

Also, we took a two day trip out into the mountains which border Kirghistan. The landscape was absolutely breathtaking and can only be described in pictures.

Overall, we hope to come back with a little more time on our hands to explore this country further.