Fri March 09 2018  —  e-mail Manfred

London, Back to my city of choice.

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Tuesday, August 13 2004

3 weeks, 1 day

London, England

About Travel Photography,
Colors of the World.

Manfred is creator of ThisFabTrek.com, travel photography, a travel blog and a photography blog (a journey from 2004 to 2013). 'I set out to see the colors of the world, always I try to capture the colors'.

Seeing, is understanding, so I report and photograph, but formost enjoy and live those different conceptions of life (all that TV [and the web] cannot give). I reject jealousy, animosity, bigotry. Be free!

Manfred in the desert of the Western Sahara

The mind, when pondering at night and always asked those questions. What am I doing in corporate wonderland of bank, university, office or church? Who is the other animal asleep deep inside, the thinker, punk, creative, or Indian, vagabond and healer, maybe artist, writer, photographer, traveler, globetrotter? Oh God, dare you to think. When I saw the lies, gambles and manipulations I follow the old dream and set out for the journey of life lived, the journey to see the colors of the world.

During years on the road I have taken the turns as they came along, and realized one thing: Only such a small part of the planet can be explored and such a vast land and sea mass will always remain unknown, to me; many swamps, jungles, deserts and oceans will never be traveled. But then I am father of twin boys, Daniel and David, my most important, and I show them some of the wonders and colors out there.

ThisFabTrek, Photography and Journey, the Stories from the Road and Life around the World, stopped in August 2013 after more than 9 years, Love and Peace.

Last vehicle.

G20, Chevy Gladiator.

Chevrolet Gladiator G20, The boys in Cordillera Blanca, Peru.
The boys and Chevy van, Peru.

The G20, the vehicle that came to me for the Americas adventures.

6 wheeled Land Rover.

Land Rover Defender 6x6
Link to Foley

The vehicle of the Africa adventures, a Foley 6-Wheeled Land Rover Defender.

Before, the MB307.

Manfred and MB307
Journey, Middle East.

The vehicle of the Middle-East and North-Cape Journeys. See all vehicles.

Daniel and David with nanny Aisha, the best we ever had, black African Woman carrying white twin babies, in Bamako, Mali.

Land Rover km 4,295

Ferry 131km

Travel Blog

contains Festival/Fiesta/Art photography.

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo.

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it, to tell the tale." Living to Tell the Tale - Gabriel García Márquez.

"They never taught wandering in any school I attended. ... they never taught the art of writing a book, either. It's all so mysterious."
"Wandering is an art in itself. Wandering and writing don't mix"
"Writing demands commitment and if one thing your wanderer is allergic to is that very quality of commitment, for once one is committed he runs that very risk of failure ..." Wanderer - Sterling Hayden.

"Photography enables you to grasp a place first time round. ... Photography is a means of exploration, it's a vital part of travel, almost as essential as a car or a plane. " - Wim Wenders.

"The worst prejudice we acquire during our youth is the idea that life is serious. Children have the right instincts: they know that life is not serious, and treat it as a game..." , Egon Friedell.

"How far you gonna go. Before you lose your way back home" - Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, Achtung Baby, U2.

"If you want to be a hero well just follow me." - Working Class Hero, John Lennon.

"When I think of all the things I have done, I know that it's only just begun." - I love you, Lou Reed.

"One does not escape the Sahara - the Sahara let's you go or not" - Touareg.

"Planet earth is blue and there`s nothing I can do" - This is Ground Control to Major Tom, David Bowie.

"Glory for the crazy people/in this stupid world" - Ahmed Fouad Negm.

www.thisfabtrek.com > journey > europe > england > 20040813-london

Feels like home

Map: Journey that's getting me back to London.

It's summer and it's rain.

I settle on the Abby Woods Campground. By now I sleep really well in my truck. Is it the fresh air or the unlimited amounts of beer I allowe myself?

30 minutes by train from London Bridge, my main destination over the next 3 days, when I mostly meet Simon a fellow trader and friend who I know from my time in London and Michael and Duncan and Dicky.

So it is 3 days of drinking and talking markets. I enjoy being with my friends but I am dying to get out and start the real thing. The seeing-my-friends-trip has been going on for too long.

It's London and it's rain
In London and it rains.
London Collection1
London Collection 1.
London Collection2
London Collection 2.
Michael
Michael outside the dutch Helms pub.

Simon and Isobel
Simon and Isobel.

Danny, Duncan, Simon
Danny Duncan Simon.
Danny, Duncan, Simon
... and again, this is the City of London.

Duncan and Simon

Hey this is London! "12 Pints in a Pub and who still stands up goes for a curry!"

Whoever told me that when I arrived in England years ago. But this is hard business and I am too fragile for that so I usually have a hard time keeping pace with the lads, but nevertheless go for a curry or get dragged along by these fellows.

Claudia says Bye Bye
Claudia.
Duncan and Simon say Good Bye
Duncan and Simon. Say goodbye now.

I leave London

on Friday around lunch time for Scotland and listen for one more time to XFM-Radio, "The only Alternative".

Wow! The X-list is on. Incredible! Oasis, Lou Reed, Foo Fighters and Radiohead followed by some Green Day. Puts me in a good mood. As I travel north I make a stop in Roydon for a LandRover chat with Stuart Foley, who himself built my very 6-wheeler in 1999.

Should we have it converted to 6x6? (it currently is a 4x6). The price tag of 4,500 Sterling does not prompt a quick decision. I want to make my mind up while in Scotland. By then I might have had its off-road capabilities tested and thus would be in a better position to decide.

Further north I drive passing rainy Leicester, listening to Radiohead. Later, leaving Leeds behind, with Radiohead still on, I enter the Yorkshire Dales where I spend a crispy cold night near Thresfield. The morning is even fresher, but very clear and sunny and I find myself surrounded by the wonderful, peaceful countryside of the Yorshire Dales.

Yorkshire Dales
Yorkshire Dales
Cold morning in Yorkshire Dales
August but mornings are freezing.
Cooking Coffee in the Yorkshire Dales
First roadside morning coffee, many will follow.
Land Rover at the Wast Water shore
at the Wast water.
warning sign steep passes of Wrynose and Hardknott
climbing steep passes of Wrynose and Hardknott.
Collection North England
Northern England impressions.

Later this morning, turning westwards I make my way to Lake Windemere in the Lake District.

The Land Rover climbs the passes of Wrynose and Hardknott at a speed of 6km/h in low 1st gear. But it manages the gradients of up to 30% quite well given it is fully loaded.

I allowe myself a pint of bitter at Wastdale Head Inn at the top of Wast Water, a hidden fantastic lake in the Lake District. And I go through my memories and affections to these locations. I traveled with Irene through the Lake District in 1996 and through the Yorkshire Dales in 2001. I think I should be headed for the unknown soon.

And I do. Via Carlisle I enter Scotland on 14th of August.

Land Rover in Lake District
Nikon shots.
Land Rover in Lake District
Wast Water. Weather and light was better in 1996.

www.thisfabtrek.com > journey > europe > england > 20040813-london

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