It's Show Time!

It's Show Time!

Last week I was at the 'Vakantiebeurs', The Holiday Fair, the largest travel show in The Netherlands. It is a massive event which is what you would expect in a country where the annual summer holiday is close to being a religion, where a large section of the population are able, and do, take at least three holidays a year and that's not including the winter sport!

This year I was there to promote a bike tour in Georgia. The first time I was representing Kyrgyzstan. That first time I was seriously surprised by the masses of people with wheeled luggage or large shopping bags scurrying from one exhibit to the next stuffing them full with as many glossy brochures, folders and catalogues as they could manage while keeping a sharp eye out for any free gift that might be on offer!
The smaller, unknown and as yet unloved countries were situated in a small, unknown and unloved hall at the rear of the exhibition complex. Most of the public would only stumble into this backwater by mistake, or to recover in relative peace before taking a deep breath, gritting their teeth and heading back to the fray. Now, with so much information available online, there is not so much glossy paper and a lot more food. Grazing seems to have replaced folder harvesting. The small, more exotic companies are spread  around the fair, between the travel giants, the entertainment and the catering. The, mostly grey-haired, visitors scurried past us trying to avoid eye contact fearing, judging by their expressions, that they would be lured into a trap and end up as sex slaves for a terrorist organisation!
Okay - you guessed it - the Vakantiebeurs is not my thing!
At this time of year, however, there are plenty of other smaller, more intimate and targeted travel shows such as The Distant Destination Event, The Special Journey Vacation Fair and the Hiker & Biker Fairs. We have helped out at all of these over the past few years.

How did we get involved in the Travel Show merry-go-round? Well it all started with that first session at The Holiday Fair in Utrecht. I can't remember if we were asked or we volunteered but that one show led to another..

As anyone will tell you any trade fair is hard work; long hours standing, talking and constantly having to smile. It's even more tiring if there are few visitors or little interest in your product, clocks and watches seem to stand still around three in the afternoon and never get up to full speed again!. Despite our experience guiding bicycle tours many years ago our knowledge of the travel industry was limited. It's a tough business, while it is huge and ever expanding the profit margins are small, the competition is fierce and there are a whole lot of people on the fringes trying to get in on the action. For the smaller companies in particular, besides telling and selling, exchanging ideas and networking are an important part these annual events. Unknowingly and certainly unintentionally that's what we were doing too. We were also making new contacts and friends. One thing led to another, Kyrgyzstan led to  Greece and on to Georgia. Some of our recent trips have been subsidised or paid for as the result of chance contacts and remarks made at these fairs. Yes, these trips have involved work but that work has mostly involved doing what we like doing anyway, just with more purpose, 'paper-work' and more appearances at fairs to promote the results! 
We tested off-road routes and bicycle tours on the Greek mainland. We helped put together a bike tour in Georgia and we guided the first tour. It was also a chance remark during a show in Belgium that resulted in a  trip to Bishkek doing various odd jobs including transporting money and tents, preparing a fleet of bicycles, checking out some city biking and running routes and giving talks at language schools and universities.

This year, however, we won't be participating in many events, just the one so far, but we will visit a few as guests, which really means we have scrounged free tickets. Our preference is for the Hikers & Bikers Fair, the clue is in the name. The public is more diverse than other events and so are the exhibitors. Besides the travel stands there are plenty of bikes and back-packs on display..

We're mostly going just to have a day out and meet up with some old friends.... but then again who knows what will turn up?
As it happens, despite fairs,contacts and friends in far places, despite the pamphlets, promo videos, plastic palm trees and dancing girls we have, as yet, no idea where we will be going or what we will be doing this year. To be honest I quite like the fact that we have no plans, I prefer the unpredictable but that doesn't mean I'm not open to suggestions. Any ideas? Taking into account that we have an ever decreasing budget and an ever increasing realisation that it's the people we meet and the things that happen, more than the cities and sights. that really make a trip. Oh, and keeping in mind that we are usually accompanied by two bicycles and a small guitar.....................

Breb

 

(From the archives: first published September 2015)

Breb

According to the guide books Maramuras is the region where you will find the most authentic Romanian culture. A region where time has stood still. Many of the church towers will confirm this.... the clocks stopped long ago, have no hands or, you'll love this, the clock faces have simply been painted on!

If you happen to be driving on the road from Budesti to Ocna, possibly on the way to Sighetu, you may by chance look down into the valley. An elegant double church spire and one or two rooftops betray the fact that there is some sort of settlement hidden beneath the trees. There is no signpost. but a simple hand painted board will point you towards the only road leading down into the village. This narrow paved road, with relatively few potholes, will take you to the middle of Breb where at a random point it will fade into a series of equally narrow, sometimes steep stone and dirt roads leading in all directions.

 

You may well find it hard to believe that there are more than 400 homesteads hidden among the trees and a population in excess of 1000. Initially you will find it difficult to find your way around. The church towers, normally a useful landmark, are rarely visible through the foliage. Breb is a labyrinth of dirt roads and footpaths, some more visible than others, they lead you through, past and around gardens, orchards and farms. On the way you will pass women wearing head scarves who will smile, wave you in the right direction and bid you good day as you go on your way. You may well be passing the same women several times, it's hard to tell. 

Soon you will manage to find your way from A to B but you will never be quite sure where you really are. You will discover another church, a small wooden one, apparently the oldest wooden church in Romania and still in use.
There is a bus stop. One day you may encounter a mini bus returning villagers from a buying or selling trip to the nearest town. Another day, surprisingly, you could see a real grown up bus waiting at the stop. Several days later it may still be there.
You will find that there are three shops, all selling more or less the same products but you won't find any souvenirs or post cards. There are carpenters, basket weavers and blacksmiths using tools and machinery usually only seen in museums, all in perfect working order. You will be pleased discover that there are at least forty distilleries making Palinka the local moonshine.

Each household grows its own fruit and vegetables, some have enough over to take to market. It is harvest time, unseen there is a great deal of collecting, pickling, jam making and preserving going on.

Many of the houses are ancient and made of wood, built with care and decorated with elaborate carvings. You can find examples of these houses in an open air museum not far away.

Maybe you will spend an evening talking to Silviu. Over several glasses of his home made Palinka he will tell you how people have stopped building wooden houses in favour of 'stone' versions. Stone houses are built cheaply and quickly using concrete blocks. However traditional wooden houses are regaining popularity and Silviu makes a good living building them. It is good to preserve Romanian heritage, he says, but above all they are simply better; warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. He regrets that he built himself a stone house!

This sleepy, friendly village is isolated from its surroundings but, strangely enough, it is not cut off from the world entirely. In rural Romania most shops double as bar and café. Sitting drinking beer on a bench outside one of them you may start a conversation with a Belgian family who are spending the whole summer in Breb, a group of Polish tourist staying for just one night in a B & B or a young German couple with Romanian roots combining a holiday with a family visit. Walking around you will bump into people from the Czech Republic,The Netherlands or Great Britain trying to find their way back to the camp site at the far end of the village. This camp site ensures that, apart from the odd horse and cart, all the traffic passing through the whole length of the village has a truly international character.

At least once a week a large camper van or caravan will get stuck in the narrow, steep, twisting lanes, providing some excitement, amusement and light entertainment for the inhabitants.

Between caravan incidents and jam making life drifts on as its has always done...the worst excesses of communism, the Ceausescu period and consumer capitalism seem to have missed Breb ....as you will if you sneeze, cough or blink at the wrong moment.