Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Many thanks to our "sponsors"

 
People sometimes ask us if we had sponsors to support our trip. There was nobody who would give us stuff in exchange for praising their products. There were many people, though, who gave us stuff and food in exchange for nothing. We only managed to travel from Europe to Mongolia and back thanks to the generosity of all the drivers who gave us rides, all the people who let us stay in their place, and all the friendly people we met. There were so many of them and it’s not possible to name all. But there still is a list I’d like to share, although it’s by far not exhaustive. It's very long, though.

We namely thank to:

  • Mark from Serbia for tea;
  • A driver from Makedonia for burek and bread sticks;
  • Georg and Georg for Bake Rolls;
  • Mehmet and Bulent for coffee, chocolate, wifi, invitation to restaurant, and tram tickets;
  • Oskar from Karabuyuk for lokum and cookies;
  • The guy who was going to Samsun for cookies;
  • Kolya the truck driver for a dinner and a place to stay;
  • The guys who were going to the mountains for candies;
  • The guy who was going from Kars to Ani for bread;
  • The family from Esenkent for tea;
  • Ayhan and Emine from Kars for dinner, breakfast and a place to stay;
  • The truck driver who gave us a ride through the mountains to Hopa for dinner and a mountain of tangerines;
  • Erasmus students from Trabzon for tangerines and a plenty of other things and Erem and Neslihan for arranging all this;
  • Ozaner and his family for a lot of food and a place to stay;
  • The guy with an orange tree who brought us to Macka for water and cookies;
  • The elderly guys from the market in Samsun who spoke German for an unplanned ride across the city;
  • The sicko for a lunch;
  • Yakub who played us Czech songs for beer and cookies;
  • Ferhat from Hattusa and his mom for a place to stay;
  • The truck driver on his way to Kirshehir for Coke and cookies;
  • Vural for kebab, plenty of veggies and a place to stay in an empty hostel;
  • Emircan for a place to stay and a plenty of other things;
  • The junky going through Konya to Izmir for crisps and juice;
  • The guy at the gas station in the ghost town near Antalya for soup;
  • The Captain in Fethiye for a place to stay, fish, etc.;
  • The guy in Alinca for tangerines;
  • The true Muslim for bread;
  • The group of people near Xanthos for coffee and a plenty of tomatoes and oranges;
  • The Lady in Letoon for spinach bread;
  • The Arabic family on the way to Antalya for bread and tomatoes;
  • Pooria and his uncle for a place to stay, macaroni, etc.;
  • Shukran who had a macaque for tea and bread;
  • Kenan from Saribelen for inviting us home for tea when it was freezing;
  • The goat herders in the mountains for a place to stay when the path disappeared under snow;
  • Salim from Andriake for a place to stay in his hut, fish, shower, and a plenty of food;
  • Pooria from Antalya for a place to stay and alcohol;
  • Students from Afyon for unexpected hospitality;
  • Dogan from Ankara for a place to stay etc.;
  • Aydin from Istanbul for a place to stay, food, sweets, and praying beads;
  • Kübra and Nazlı for a place to stay and breakfast;
  • Yasemin the flight attendant and Ali for their hospitality;
  • Atakan the truck driver who drove us to Ankara for a meal;
  • Ramazan thy cyclist and his family for a place to stay, big dinner, a lot of food, and a shisha;
  • The guy in Ovacik for a borek and rice in a leaf;
  • Hulya from Corum for a place to stay and food;
  • Ecem from Samsun for a place to stay and a meal;
  • Mehmet from Trabzon for a place to stay (even though he was in Lithuania at the time), and Neslihan for arranging this;
  • Neslihan and Zeyneb for a breakfast and coffee;
  • Mustafa who was driving us from Trabzon for a soup;
  • The truck driver who drove us to the border for sweets;
  • The Nomads for a place to stay in Batumi;
  • David and Natya from Kutaisi for a place to stay, a meal, and a lot of alcohol;
  • Zaza the colonel of the General Staff for khatchapuri and apples;
  • Dalibor from Czechia and his roommates from Bahrein for a place to stay in Tbilisi (and for giving Vojta a new towel to replace his lost one, so he can be a true hitchhiker again);
  • Anika and Katalina for a place to stay in Rustavi;
  • Zura, Pekha and the abbot for tea, eggs, and a camping spot in a caravan at the Davit Gareji monastery;
  • People in a monastery including the priest for popcorn, food, and a lot of alcohol
  • Random drivers for home-made wine;
  • John for bread;
  • The driver who brought us to Gurjaani for cookies;
  • Orkhan for a place to stay in Gori;
  • Nina from Gori for a place to stay, a lot of food, and a lot of friendship;
  • A man from Borjomi for coffee and taking an 80 km detour to drive us home;
  • The bus driver on the Turkish border for the sign saying “Hopa”;
  • Deniz from Igdir for a place to stay, food, etc.;
  • Some guys in a hut in Tabriz for a lot of tea;
  • Ali from Tabriz for helping us with a lot of things;
  • M. for a place to stay in Hamedan and a lot of food;
  • Ali the teacher and his wife in Hamedan for food;
  • People in Robat-e-Karim for inviting us for picnic and giving us a meal called ash;
  • H. and his family from Tehran for a place to stay and a lot of hospitality;
  • Yami for a scarf and a T-shirt;
  • N. from Babol and her family for a place to stay, a lot of hospitality and a lot of friendship;
  • The truck driver who drove us across the desert for a meal;
  • R. and E. from Lar for a place to stay and a lot of hospitality;
  • Arazu and her husband for a place to stay in Shiraz;
  • A.’s family in Shiraz for a place to stay and food;
  • The passport cop for a lunch;
  • Another part of A.’s family in Bandar Abbas for a meal and a place to stay;
  • The Polish travellers for a place to stay, non-alcoholic beer, and a lot of food;
  • The driver who drove us to Sirjan for fruit and nuts;
  • The family who drove us to Rafsanjan for a lunch;
  • S. from Rafsanjan for a place to stay and a lot of hospitality;
  • H. from Rafsanjan for a place to stay and all the conversations;
  • M. and his family near Rafsanjan for hospitality;
  • A random guy in a random village for 5 raw eggs;
  • The passport cop for a place to stay in Qaderabad;
  • Ali from Esfahan for an ice-cream;
  • A. and N. from Jahrom for a place to stay and a plenty of hospitality;
  • A guy in Yazd for a box of chocolates that might have been a tarof but we’re not sure;
  • Azin for an ice-cream;
  • The truck driver who went north across the desert for a meal;
  • A. and his family for a place to stay in Gorgan and hospitality;
  • N. and her family for hospitality (again);
  • Azar and her husband for sweets and nuts;
  • M. from Hamedan once more for a place to stay;
  • A. for a place to stay, a lot of conversations, and a lot of happy moments;
  • A guy in Tabriz for two boxes of candies and a ride to an exchange office and back;
  • Akbar and Ashgar for a place to stay in Hashtrud;
  • Rafael for a place to stay in Qobustan, a meal, and beer;
  • The guys in a Baku park for fruits and tea;
  • The truck drivers who went north of Baku for a lunch;
  • Rahib and his family for a meal near the waterfall;
  • Ayaz the Chernobyl construction safety manager and his family for a place to stay and hospitality;
  • The Iranian hitchhikers to whom I wanted to give food and who gave us food instead for the food;
  • The mafia guys for a meal and a place to stay in Baku;
  • Jimmy and Roger for a really long ride through Kazakhstan;
  • The family near Aktau for a shashlik;
  • Johannes the biker for a breakfast;
  • The Turkish hotel owners in Shymkent for a place to stay, a dinner, a shower, and a washing machine;
  • The Uzbek-Kazakh family for a meal in Taras;
  • The Turkish truck driver on his way to Almaty for a meal;
  • R. from Almaty for a place to stay, a lot of food, a lot of hospitality etc.;
  • Karlirash from Almaty for a picnic and a trip to the mountains;
  • The guys from the Children fund in Bishkek for a place to stay and a meal;
  • Valentina and Matteo from the ferry for a shower, coffee, beer, etc.;
  • The Turkish truck driver, Demira the interpreter, and the people from the camping site for a dead sheep, a place to stay, and breakfast;
  • Janela’s family in Tegyzchil for a place to stay and a lot of hospitality and gifts;
  • Memo in Karakol for a shower;
  • The young girls in Djeti Oguz for a round cheese;
  • C. for a place to stay and a lot of food;
  • The Swiss girls for a bracelet etc.;
  • Amanat from Korday for a place to stay, a meal, and a wheat drink;
  • A lady and a guy in Kazakhstan for pirogi and water with ice when it was 45°C;
  • The guard in Kazakhstan for letting us into the lake without paying;
  • Yerlan for a lot of food, a museum, and a place to stay in the mountains near the Chinese border;
  • The shopkeeper on the border for a watermelon;
  • M. for a place to stay and a lot of hospitality;
  • The guy and the young guy who drove us to Urumqi for a meal;
  • People in an Urumqi restaurant for a meal, bread, and eggs;
  • The Uyghurs from Qitai for the biggest feast ever;
  • The Kazakhs from Barkol for cheese and drinks;
  • The two young guys who drove us across the mountains for dried meat, crisps, and a ticket to a shrine;
  • A guy in Hami for a watermelon;
  • The truck drivers who drove us across a half of China for feeding us two days;
  • A Buddhist monk for peaches;
  • A lady in a shop for peaches;
  • A lady and a guy in a restaurant in Guyuan for soup;
  • Dan and her family for mindblowing hospitality;
  • Buddhist monks for a watermelon;
  • A guy in the ruins of an ancient city for an instant soup;
  • The truck drivers who were going west for a dinner and snacks;
  • The truck drivers in Datong for a meal and the people from the restaurant in front of which we were camping for breakfast;
  • The guy who gave us a ride to Heng Shan for water melons;
  • The family at the lake under Heng Shan for beer and a lot of fruits;
  • A shopkeeper in the wrong Sheng Du for apples;
  • The guy in Inner Mongolia who could communicate really good with gestures for a Mongolian meal;
  • Pujee for a place to stay in Ulaanbaatar and food, and Erdene and Dima for arranging it;
  • Dima and his family for places to camp and stay, food, and hospitality;
  • Budee for meals, shower, beer, and letting us stay at his cottage;
  • Budee’s wife and her family for litres of kumys and a lot of hospitality;
  • The party lady in Darkhan and her husband for a place to stay and meals;
  • The people who drove us to the Russian border for a watermelon;
  • Arlat for buze and beer in Kyakhta;
  • The truck driver in Irkutsk for a fish;
  • The Armenian truck driver in Siberia for pirogi;
  • The babushka from Krasnoyarsk for tea and cookies;
  • The lady in the Forestry museum for tea and cookies;
  • The tour guide in the Tomsk museum of oppression for tea and candies;
  • Ruslan the truck driver for a meal in Chelyabinsk;
  • The guy who drove us to the Museum of gulag for coffee;
  • Pavel for a place to stay in Dubna and for food;
  • Konstantin for a place to stay in St Petersburg;
  • The guy who drove us to Tallinn for coffee;
  • Oliver for a place to stay in Tallinn;
  • Paulius for a place to stay in Vilnius;
  • Julius and the Miegantys drambliai crew for a place to stay at a climbing wall in Kaunas, tea, and a meal;
  • Gosia and Gosia for a place to stay in Warsaw and a lot of food and beer and Konrad for beer;
  • Mikhail and and Karolina for a place to stay in Czestochowa, meals, and tea;

…and so many others.
Thanks, everybody. Teşekkürler. Kheili mamnoon. Madloba. Rakhmat. Bayarlalaa. Xiexie. Spasiba. Aitäh. Ačiū. Paldies. Dziękuję bardzo. Hvala. Mersi. Vielen Dank. ...