Human rights violations and bathtubs of fairies and trolls

Date:
19.08.2020

Day: 017

Country:
Norway

Location:
Glacier pots

Daily kilometers:
187 km

Total kilometers:
1989 km

Soil condition:
Asphalt

Sunrise:
05:48 pm

Sunset:
9:06 pm

Temperature day max:
24°

Temperature day min:
19°

Departure:
11:00 a.m.

Arrival time:
6:00 pm

(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).

Click here for the podcast!




Link to the current itinerary


(For further contributions click on one of the flags in the map)

Before we set off for our next destination, we find a large supermarket to stock up on food for the coming week. While Tanja is on the hunt for healthy food, I take our garbage away and walk Ajaci. When I return to the vehicle, I meet a young woman standing in front of our Terra Love and studying the world map printed on it. “You’ve been around a lot,” she says with admiration in her voice. “Yes, we’ve been on the road for a long time,” I confirm. “And you’ve already been on tour with your bikes?” “We’ve cycled from Germany to Thailand,” I reply. “We’ve just come back from a 1 ½-year bike trip and actually wanted to stay longer, but corona has made it impossible for us to cross the border,” she explains, somewhat dejected. “That’s also the reason why we didn’t set off on the planned continuation of our e-bike tour.” “And now you’re traveling Norway?” “The next three to four months. Then we’ll see what happens. We hope to be able to travel to Asia again next year.” “Then surely I’ve already been to China?” “Yes, we cycled through this great country from north to south for almost a year.” “Great country?” she wonders. “Well, our experience this time was fantastic. However, we already traveled to China 25 years ago. Back then, we crossed the Taklamakan desert in Xinjiang province with our camels. We had extremely bad experiences with the Chinese there. Out of 10 Chinese people, 9 were unfriendly, sometimes they were even downright vicious. We never wanted to go to China again because of such experiences. I found China to be the worst, most unfriendly and most xenophobic country in the world. No 10 horses would ever have brought me back to China. Then we planned our e-bike tour to Southeast Asia and China was in between. So we went to China again and this time the people treated us super nicely. China has totally changed. It’s a great country,” I chat. “Well, I don’t know. We were also in the autonomous Uyghur province of Xinjiang. It was an absolute nightmare. We were followed every meter by a vehicle. Even when I had to step out, someone would get out and run after me. As if we were the worst spies in the world. The Chinese treat the Uyghurs like lepers, like scum, or rather as if they were sub-human. I have almost lost faith in humanity in China. You simply can’t imagine what goes on there. They control an entire nation with all their might. Surveillance cameras are installed everywhere. The Chinese even eavesdrop on the Uyghurs. Nobody dares to say a word. All petrol stations are security zones sealed off with barbed wire. If you want to fill up your car there, only one person is allowed into the security zone. The passenger has to stay outside the barrier. We weren’t even allowed to bring in a liter of petrol for our camp stove. The Chinese government is afraid of attacks. Everyone who fills up has to register. If a Uyghur wants to make a purchase and the security officer doesn’t like his face, he sends him on his way with a wave of his hand. I’ve seen that several times. There are re-education camps that we were told about where things must be very bad. Massive human rights violations are the order of the day there. More than a million people are said to be imprisoned there. Most of them have never done anything wrong. Their problem is that they are Uyghurs. We have been told off the record that people are now being forcibly sterilized and women are being forced to have abortions. Apparently they want to exterminate the Uyghurs. That is simply unbelievable. The worst thing is that the whole world is watching. Everyone wants to do business with China. This also legitimizes Western countries to tolerate genocide and human rights violations in the worst form,” she reports excitedly, still suffering from her experiences. “Phew, that’s a bad story. I’m sorry for you that you had to go through such miserable experiences,” I say sympathetically. “Don’t be sorry. On the other hand, I’m glad about it. If I hadn’t been there, I would never have found out about it. At least I wouldn’t have believed it. Now I share our experiences and I’m happy to be living in Norway.” “We can only hope that the Chinese don’t become a world power. That’s what they’re aiming for and I don’t think it will be too long before China takes over from the Americans,” I reflect. “Plague or cholera,” says the young woman, raising an eyebrow. In our conversation, we jump from country to country. Because the experienced cyclist comes with fresh information from the countries we want to travel to with our Terra, we also talk about Iran. “The Iranians are a fantastic people. We have had the best experiences there. The hospitality is incredible. But if you want to go there with your dog, you need to know that dogs are considered dirty in Iran. We were told about a traveler who didn’t have his dog on a leash and a policeman shot the four-legged friend in front of him. This is certainly not the norm, but you must take care of your four-legged friend. I wouldn’t take a drone to Iran either. They are strictly forbidden there. While we were in Iran, an Australian couple were thrown into prison because they unfortunately flew a drone over a restricted military area. They are still in jail today,” she reports as Tanja returns from her shopping trip with two heavily laden bags. I would have liked to talk to the traveler for a long time, but today we have almost 200 kilometers to the next destination, which we want to reach before dusk.

We find a wonderful pitch for the night in a secluded wooded area. Once again, we are the only vehicle and therefore the only visitors to the glacier potholes at Sild. We shoulder our rucksacks, pack our rain jackets just in case and I clip my camera to my camera belt. We follow the signpost “Jettegrytene”. The path leads us into a wooded area. It goes over rough tree roots and stones. Then the grove releases us onto an open rocky plateau facing the sea, partly overgrown with purple heather. “Wow, what an idiosyncratic, beautiful stretch of coastline,” I say, gazing over the rocks that have been polished smooth by the last ice age. A gust of wind sweeps my cap off my head and carries the cry of a few seagulls as they fly elegantly over the waves. We climb over the rugged terrain with its large rocks polished by ice, their scarred, time-worn backs stretching upwards like dinosaurs. The sun is low, casting our overlong shadows on the smooth rock, which in many places is penetrated by ochre-colored lichen. Lush green grass thrives in the crevices and edges, with a few vibrant purple flowers rising up into the sky, whose dark blue is interspersed with almost white fair-weather clouds. On the side facing the North Sea, we discover the announced glacial potholes, which are the largest in Northern Europe at five meters in diameter and six meters deep. “One highlight follows another,” says Tanja. “So, do you really want to go for a swim in one of the natural tubs now?” I ask as another cool gust brushes over the rocks. “I think they’re currently occupied by the fairies and trolls who live here,” Tanja replies with a laugh. “Yes, yes, that’s right. If I squint my eyes a little, I can see them. They’re having great fun and certainly don’t want to be disturbed,” I reply, also laughing.

An hour later we are back at our home. “What do you think about grilling the fresh salmon?” asks Tanja. “Great idea,” I say happily, unfolding the base plates attached to the side of the Terra to create a table on which I can place the electric grill. Tanja serves me a Franconian beer, which I have brought from home and enjoy to celebrate the day. “What kind of party?” a thought shoots through my brain. “The celebration of being alive, being free and being born in a country that protects the freedom of its citizens,” I think, reviewing today’s conversation with the Norwegian cyclist.

It is already dark when we enjoy the absolutely fantastic fish with roast potatoes and salad. “Moments like this could last a lifetime,” I say, praising Tanja’s cooking skills…