Once upon a time in Gilgit, Pakistan

I came across a nutty video (at the bottom of this post) which brought about an old story.

• Pakistan ! (how badly I want to return when seeing this…);
• the roads or rather tracks these two guys are riding;
• the way they are riding, a bit… well… say eh… sloppy? (does wearing an Afghan cap as a helmet adds to the thrill?);
• the biker’s age;
• THAT BRIDGE + THAT TUNNEL as of minute 2:45………………

Here is my story about the very same bridge.
2002, Gilgit, Pakistan

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Buzludzha / Бузлуджа, the most mesmerizing building I ever experienced, period.

In 2014, writer Gaea Schoeters, my über-ex and still travel buddy par excellence, set one specific goal on our Balkan journey: seeing and climbing into Buzludzha. And thus it happened. The images I had found on the internet were mesmerizing enough already, but this place must be experienced, for words and images don’t come near to this fascinating, dilapidated communist monument.

On this journey, I revisited it with friend Paul Webble living nearby, and I will time and again whenever I pass. Riding my electric motorcycle up to its front entrance (welded shut of course) was a bit of a challenge and I’m no brave heart for steep off-road, let alone rutted, hill climbing or descending, but I made it. There she was, Xena ‘my’ truly beloved Zero DS, a tiny dot in front of the concrete UFO.

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Witnessing the very sad condition it’s in, I give it another 5-10 years to fall to bits. The roof being perforated, weather has a free play destroying the entire structure below, including its stunning mosaics which are being stolen and vandalized to make matters worse. Truly heartbreaking.

Extract from www.buzludzha.com :
State of the monument
‘Ever since the superseding of Bulgarian president Todor Givkovand and the political changes that occurred in Bulgaria from 1989, the state of the monument has been worsening. Portraits of Ludmila and Todor Givkov have been voluntarily destroyed. The copper adornments have been stolen. The building is slowly disintegrating; marauders are consistently breaking windows and stealing mosaics and ornaments. Nowadays, the monument is abandoned and no public institution seems to be concerned by the conservation of renovation of the building. The Bulgarian socialist party itself is not taking any action towards the maintenance of its most important symbol.’

www.buzludzha.com/history
Buzludzha Monument, Bulgaria : great images and text by Valentin Rüst, February 2014
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouzloudja : the French wiki about the site is the most elaborate.
Inside Buzludja, Bulgaria : this video gives a pretty good idea about the whole site. Made by a certain Andrew, July 2012. He added: ‘video is shaky as fuck because i was shaking to damn much from excitement’.

‘Le temps de l’auto-gestion’

Dat is hoe Eric Postiaux, de Belgische cameraman die al meer dan 20 jaar voor ERT3 werkt, en zijn collega’s, de twee jaar benoemen die ze haast bij toeval als activisten doorbrachten. ‘Mais je ne suis pas un révolutionnaire; je me considère comme un résistant.’

ERT was en is sinds kort opnieuw de Griekse staatstelevisie en -radio, vergelijkbaar met de VRT. Twee jaar geleden, op 11 juni 2013, trok de toenmalige rechtse regering van Samaras letterlijk en figuurlijk de stekker uit de nationale omroep. Officieel heette het omdat ze veel teveel geld kostten aan de belastingbetaler, omdat een groot deel van het personeel geen zak uitvoerde en een te hoog salaris kreeg voor dat nietsdoen. De ‘luie ambtenaren’ én een groot deel van de Grieken wist wel beter. ERT bracht ook ‘links’ nieuws, sociaal relevante onderwerpen, toonde de crisis en waar de schoen duwde.

Over de oorsprongen van de expeditie:

‘Over de oorsprongen van de expeditie: haar ontstaan, haar trage volgroeiing en haar kronkelige wasdom, en hoe de bleke lezer niet alleen zal zien dat de wetenschappelijke overdenking iemands visie op de wereld kan veranderen, maar ook de hindernissen zal opmerken die op de weg van een onderzoeker rijzen, en tegelijkertijd ruimschoots de gedegenheid zal hebben de slimheid en moed van de onverschrokken expeditieleden te bewonderen’

Julio Cortázar & Carol Dunlop – uit De autonauten van de kosmosnelweg

[eerste uitgave 1983, simultaan in het Spaans en Frans, Los autonautas de la cosmopista / Les Autonautes de la cosmoroute ]

Ontdekt door Charlotte Mutsaers, heruitgegeven na twitterstorm door Das Magazin + Meulenhoff: De comeback van een snelwegtoerist

Jadis à Istanbul

In 19th-century Pera (Beyoğlu), a traditional tram trundled along the Grande Rue de Pera (İstiklal Caddesi / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0stiklal_Avenue) for 1.64 km (1 mile) connecting Taksim Square with Galatasaray and Tünel Square. The tram was taken out of service in 1961, replaced by buses. After İstiklal Caddesi became a pedestrian zone, the tram was restored and revived in 1990.

June 26, 2011

Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnıcı)

Our full loaded (fuel) motorcycles, two Suzuki DR 650 SE’s, on our way East towards Central-Asia. Gaea Schoeters and I traveled for 7 months, an unforgettable journey which upon return was summarized in a book called ‘Meisjes, Moslims & Motoren’ (Girls, Muslims & Motorbikes). http://www.facebook.com/pages/Meisjes-Moslims-Motoren/40105884274

In its original incarnation, before restoration and conversion into santralistanbul, the Silahtarağa Power Plant is the Ottoman Empire’s first urban-scale power plant. Now it’s an international platform for culture, arts and learning. I visited it for the first time in 2010 during a very special birthday week; now I plan to arrive there on my electric motorcycle (and shoot a few images if they let me =,-] http://www.santralistanbul.org/en/

June 27, 2011

June 23, 2011