Overlanding Poland: Międzyrzecz Fortification Region

This time, as we left Belgium, we travelled quickly across the Netherlands and Germany to get to some places that we haven't yet explored: Poland, and on to the Baltic States: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. H has been to each of these countries before but he never did any exploring in any of them, so it's all new to him too. 

Our first attraction to visit in Poland was a place said to be the "Longest military defensive system in the world" and "the largest military basements in Europe": Międzyrzecz Fortification Region. It was well worth the visit: it's an extensive network of underground tunnels, built 1934-36, which housed railway systems, war equipment, and even factory facilities. For non Polish speakers there is an audioguide, although you are required to follow the Polish tour (which is difficult because the tour guides commentary and the audio guide are at different paces). 

On our first day in Poland we didn't actually make it to the underground attraction before closing. But nearby, where the road ends on a lake, there's a pleasant campsite with lake swimming and kayaks to use. It was a heatwave across Europe and we'd driven a long way that day without air-con, so we very much appreciated an evening swim before heading underground the next morning. 

Here's a picture, we recommend visiting the campsite and the Międzyrzecz Fortification Region.

One of the underground tunnels of Międzyrzecz Fortification Region.

 Above the ground at Międzyrzecz Fortification Region all you see is the occasional bunker and an entrance wall. 

Switzerland: Beautiful scenery, but expensive

Switzerland is expensive! But, we can't complain too much about it since we mostly had the kind hospitality of Swiss friends who let us pamp for free, and even fed us many times. We also reduced our expenses by fuelling up with diesel and stocking up on non persishable groceries in Germany.

As for free (wild) camping, that can be hard to find in Switzerland but we found that in the mountain passes it was possible whilst also being completely gobsmackingly beautiful. 

With Swiss friends I've had the pleasure of tasting both Fondue and Raclette (Swiss food), and although all our Swiss friends said they liked Raclette better than Fondue, I definitely liked the super garlicky fondue that I was treated to in a mountain restaurant. For me, I'd heard of fondue prior to visiting Switzerland (that's chunks of bread dipped in a cheese-white wine-garlic-and spices sauce), but I hadn't heard of Raclette (that's cheese , personally spiced and melted under a tabletop grill and served on potatoes.) I guess my liking fondue better than raclette shows that the fondue chef did a better job than I did, since I was personally reasonable for flavouring the Raclette cheese. 

Switzerland is beautiful, but I think that is no surprise. What was a surprise was the number of expensive and collectors 'leisure vehicles' touring the mountain passes on this first weekend of summer: Porsche, Maserati, Lotus, old classic cars, all styles of motorcycles, buggies, small airplanes, paragliders, if someone thinks it's fun: it's probably crossing the Swiss mountain passes.

Oh, and let's not forget: one old 'blac' motorhome that's seen more than those young collectors things probably ever will!

How we live, on the road

As I have mentioned, H and I live in a small camper which is currently in South America. This doesn't mean we live in South America or Brazil or Argentina or any other place: we live wherever we are.

The camper is built, by H, onto a Mercedes G300 chassis. It's about 5 metres by 2 metres, and has a double bed, a dining area, a kitchen, cupboards, and a flushing toilet and a hot water shower. H built the sides of the camper by recycling old Belgian road signs. 

The camper left Belgium about 4 years ago, carrying H and his girlfriend (she travelled with him for 2 years before becoming the ex-girlfriend). They first left Europe with a ferry to Iceland, then shipped from Iceland to Newfoundland (Canada) and started driving from there. You have to ship again to get from North America to South America (there are no reliable roads through the Darien Gap). 

By the time I'd met Hendrik he'd been travelling 10 months on his own. I'll tell you how we met sometime soon.

Here's some on the road pictures, showing the vehicles front and back angles. I've started calling this camper Blac, because it's just black... inside and out!