source: Volkswagen daily
in the wild in Kyrgyzstan, Sun Yifan (left) met the French bicycle Knight (right one) when he took the Swiss father and son's RV.
picture: Sun Yifan offers a girl of this reporter Gao Xiaolei. After one and a half years of graduation, he resigned his first job and decided to use a year's time as a backpacker, along the ancient Silk Road. All countries, central and South America are traveling around the world. She is Sun Yifan, a 25 year old Ji'nan girl.
from the end of March to early June this year, as the first journey of the year, she spent 71 days by way through Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and finally through northwest China to Xi'an. On the afternoon of June 15th, Sun Yifan made a travel sharing conference in Ji'nan, and talked about her unique experience in 6 countries and her understanding of life in her travels. On the 71 day, basically two years ago, Sun Yifan did not work in a hotel. After graduating from National University of Singapore, he worked in a good foreign company. At the end of January this year, she just quit her job for a year and a half, and began planning her "Silk Road" trip. In early June this year, she completed a "Silk Road" tour across 6 countries. She will soon go to the United States to continue her trip to central and South America.
Sun Yifan shared the meeting in Ji'nan. When he mentioned the word "sofa guest", the audience was stunned. Originally, "sofa owners" is an international group, some families have free houses or sofa, will be free to provide accommodation for visitors, to make reservations for the "sofa guest". In Turkey and Iran, sun Yifan did not live in a hotel for a day, all living as "sofa guest" in "sofa master" home.
in the Middle East, a large number of "sofa owners" families are distributed, and visitors from all countries can choose to make an appointment to live in a local family, not only for free, but also to solve the problem of eating. "Sofa owners" are most hospitable and friendly. Sun Yifan made an appointment with Professor Kong as "the owner of the sofa" in Turkey. Professor Kong told her two or three days in advance that she would drive her where she would go. Sun Yifan arrived at 5 in the morning. Professor Sun Ya took her to the station and led her to watch the local folk dance.
"I like to be a couch, because if I live in a hotel, it is difficult to get to know the local culture directly, live in a local family, get to know their lives at zero distance, and take me to some local people and take part in the local people, which is difficult for ordinary passengers to see." Sun Yifan told reporters. During the 71 day's journey, the whole trip was basically not in hotels. The second leg of "the deepest feeling" of the Iran silk road trip to Iran, according to Sun Yifan, is the most profound journey she has ever felt in Iran.
"before going to Iran, the people around me told me that the locals were more anti American. To go to Iran, they must not mention the United States, otherwise it would be very dangerous. But after I arrived in Iran, I realized that this is a misunderstanding caused by media propaganda. Sun Yifan said that Iran is very traditional in its appearance, and tries to maintain its beliefs and customs.
when he lived in a "sofa owner" home in Iran, the owner of the house began to tell sun Yifan, a few young men, before eating, before going to bed and even saying "prayers" before they were greeted with others. At first, Sun Yifan had a state of respect for local customs and beliefs. It's just a joke with her.
Sun Yifan said that in public places in Iran, such as buses and subways, men and women are all stand apart, serious and pious. "But when I get home in the evening, men and women get together to drink and dance." "I realize that no matter where, people are interlinked, and for this reason, I can easily get mixed up with others." Sun Yifan said. The Swiss father and son RV to listen to the spiritual growth "our pace of life more and more fast, but quiet down to my life 'white', there will be a lot of unexpected surprises. The Swiss couple who met in Kyrgyzstan messed up my travel plan. I followed the father and son for 14 days. It also makes my journey slower and slower. Sun Yifan mentioned the father and son on the journey.
on the first day in Kyrgyzstan, sun Yifan accidentally heard a Chinese sound coming from the small hotel opposite door. After knocking, it turned out to be a 10 year old boy. The exchange learned that this was a domestic car passenger from Switzerland. 9 months ago, the father of the little boy bought a transport car and changed himself to a "RV", with a bed kitchen and a library. It has been traveling around the world for 9 months now.
5 years ago, 5 years ago, the father of the little boy detected a fatal illness. When he was hospitalized, the doctor gave him two lists, which were filled with two aspects of what could not be eaten and unable to do. After seeing his father, he said to his 5 year old son, "I don't want to live here. Let's go out and see the world!" they used a double self that year. The car, the father and the son rode every state in the United States, and two years later, he rode in Hokkaido, Japan, and one year later, from Russia and Mongolia, he rode the whole of Siberia.
SUN Yifan, with his father and his son's "RV", often met all kinds of cycling tourists around the world in their 14 days of traveling together. According to Sun Yifan, foreign riding passengers attach great importance to the weight of the body, even the toothbrushes are cut in half, but they never litter in the wild. When the rides and their sons meet the riding passengers on the way, they will whistle voluntarily and stop to ask if they need to put the garbage on the car. From Kashi, Xinjiang to Xi'an, with her mother, she went on a trip as a girl and went on a trip by himself, and everyone around him warned her about safety, but Sun Yifan had his own opinion.
"you may get hurt when you move forward with your arms open, but you may have more surprises." Sun Yifan said, "if a person stays in Ji'nan, they may also encounter thieves and robbery, and the probability of going out to travel is also almost the same." Will parents agree to quit a good job but travel? Sun Yifan jokes that he has two "countermeasures": one is to pull his parents together, and the two is not to spend a penny on the whole.
"the last stop on the silk road is from Kashi, Xinjiang to Xi'an. I called my mother to complete the trip to China. In 6 countries, 5 other countries spend very little money, live in 17 "sofa owners", and take 10 times to ride on the bus, with an average of up to more than 20 dollars a day. Sun Yifan said, "in China, this figure is far from enough, mainly because tickets for scenic spots and train tickets are too expensive."
in order to save money, Sun Yifan also tried to find "sofa owners" in the country, and found one in Lanzhou and Xi'an respectively, but the "sofa owners" were all Americans. "I don't know why the sofa owners in China are all foreigners." Sun Yifan said to the reporter with a helplessness.