Andre and Linda

No sooner we came out of the plane in Manado (North Sulawesi) then a worker of the tourist office showed up and asked if we needed an hotel. We did. After all problems we had faced in Papua she was very welcome. A quick taxi brought us to our hotel, the Celebes Hotel, which turned out to be one of the nicest hotels during our trip. Manado and Tangkoko The famous naturalist Alfred Wallace wrote already how much he liked Manado. That was about 150 years ago. A lot has changed since then, but Manado has still that special atmosphere, which makes you feel at home. Nowhere on our trips we have met such a friendly people. There are pleasant restaurants along the sea. There is a big shoppingmall with all kinds of fruits and Indonesian ... read more

Ho Chi Minh City It is hardly possible to visit Vietnam while ignoring the hard times the country has had in the near past. The war we, young leftwing students, protested against in the sixties and seventies, is still in our mind. And likewise it is not forgotten by the Vietnamese themselves. But times are changing. Europeans, Australians, Asians and Americans are passing the remnants of the war in long queus, while guided by Vietnamese. The icons of war have become tourist stopovers. Like the Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon), where the first Viet Cong tanks rolled in. Or The War Remnants Museum, where we see the impact of the infamous Agent Orange. At the time we could not believe the Americans could use this poison, which not only defoliated big ... read more

We stayed only one day in our house in the Netherlands after we came back from Iceland. Next day already we left for Budapest, where Vlado picked us up at the airport. It is night and raining while we are driving to Kosice in Slovakia. Linda sits in front next to her father. They are talking in Slovakian. It is strange to hear my wife talking in a language I cannot understand. Now and then I pick up a word. I do not mind. They see eachother only once or twice a year. I like Kosice. It is a beautiful city. Nature around is amazing. One of the days we make together with Vlado a daylong hike across Zadielska Dolina, a gorge near Kosice. We see our family and after a week we leave again for ... read more

Maybe you find it crazy that we go that far to the North of Canada. We have several reasons. First of all we were in Ushuaia, at the southernmost tip of Argentina. Our trip would not be complete if we also did not see the most northern part of the American continent. Secondly -and maybe even more important- we were inspired by the books of Jack London. In the Netherlands (and also as it seems in Canada) we are not aware so much of his books, but in Central and East Europe and in the USA everyone knows them. 'The Call of the Wild' and 'White Fang' have become bestsellers. In the wake of the Goldrush at the end of the 19th century London travelled to the Yukon. He became a rich man, though he never ... read more

It is terrible weather now in Yoho National Park. We hardly can see the road. So instead of exploring the region we decide to drive further to the East past the mountains. And indeed when we finally arrive at Brooks there is even some sunshine. After Brooks we hit some secundary roads through an uninteresting agricultural landscape. Once this was prairie, where bisons used to graze. Now and then we see some little paddocks of prairie in between the vast fields with corn, the breadbasket of North America. Almost nothing is left of the original landscape. Even in the tiniest prairiefields we see traces of oilindustry. But we come neither for the cornfields nor for the oilindustry. We are aiming for the Dinosaurus Provincial Park, the biggest Dino's cemetery in the world. It all started in ... read more