Hey all. I'm alive. Yet to be squished by a train. My GFY absence can be explained by the fact I switched to mainstream a while back.
The road-trip to Iran was neat. We did France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria.
It was planned to go to Turkmenistan, then Iran, but we got sadly stuck in Sochi in Russia for a week. Sochi will be hosting the next winter Olympics - but don't be fooled, the place is a hole (and also has a civil war 50km to its east, and another with the Georgians 50km South). Ran out of time overall, so abandoned the car with two drunk friends-of-friends in Sophia. No idea if it'll still be there when we get back, or if there'll a mangled corpse in the boot.
Iran is an amazing country. Forget everything that you've learned from the media - the people are amazing, welcoming, gentle and worldly. The government sucks, and if you try, you finding trouble is probably easy enough (fucking with the miliatry / messing around in hot border areas). But the people - amazing. Interesting to note: The burqua (top to toe ninja costume) is rare to see. We saw one woman dressed suchly attired. But we saw a shit ton more (and in Turkey - in the east).
Anyhow, a few photos.
The 'standard' MIG on a stick photo
Those who know me, know that's not me.
Moscow jet & chopper graveyard
Still no idea what this is - Georgia.
Abandoned boats on a salt lake, Iran. Got snapped by the milatry here, too. They're nice guys.
SLR
Magino line bunker in France
..and its bbq
Abandoned wine cellar in Odessa, Ukraine
Leaving Sochi
Abandoned nuclear reactor just outside of Balaklava (yep, really)
Tesla coils outside of moscow
boats
Full links:
Pano:
http://travel.ninjito.com/2011-06-28-RoadTripPano
SLR:
http://travel.ninjito.com/2011-06-18-RoadTrip/SLR
Compact:
http://travel.ninjito.com/2011-06-18-RoadTrip/Lumix