The Swahili are a people and culture found on the coast of East Africa, mainly the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya and Tanzania, parts of Uganda and north Mozambique. The name Swahili is derived from the Arabic word "Sawahil", which means "coastal dwellers". The Swahili Coast, along the Kenyan and Tanzanian coastline, had been the site of cultural and commercial exchanges between East Africa and the outside world - particularly the Middle East, Asia, and Europe... and even though the trade had stopped a long long time ago, the Swahili coast stayed a very unique part of this world, [View Full Entry]

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Remember that I ended my last entry with "... travelling is like blood, and we travellers are like blutlusting vampires, always thirsting for more and more... fresh, sweet, seductive, inspiring new blood!!!", how right these words are! After I've travelled almost whole Southeast Asia, parts of the Middle East, India & Nepal, East Asia, Northern America and most countries in Western Europe, I couldn't help myself but to venture out to a completely new part of the world, where I haven't been before - Africa. The Black Continent!!! Well, I have been to Northern Africa like Morocco and Egypt, b [View Full Entry]

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Sooner or later every journey will end, like everything in life - so the last destination of my Southeast Asia journey were the Philippines. In the past I used to make fun about the Philippines, so whenever friends asked me to visit them there, I was like "What? Philippines?! Hell, noooo way, that's somewhere in the middle of nowhere?!", and it actually is somewhere in the middle of nowhere - indeed!!! A bunch of countless big and small tropical islands, laying somewhere on the other side of this greenblue planet and surrounded by the greenblue water of the greenblue Pacific Ocean... [View Full Entry]

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A white mist shrouds the plain and the first birdcalls across the valleys announce the imminent arrival of another dawn. Slowly the mist dissipates in the rising sun to reveal the spires and Buddhas that meditate in bliss and gradually the forms coalesce to unveil a temple that many who have seen it, consider to be the finest example of Buddhist architecture ever raised to the sky by man - the magnificent temple of Borobudur. Few sights on this planet can compare to the misty sunrise over Borobudur, the world's largest Buddhist temple, one of the three wonders of Southeast Asia [View Full Entry]

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We see the day and the night coming and passing by, the change of seasons, flowers blooming and fading, snow falling and melting, the sun, the clouds, the rain, the storm, the thunder... coming and going... and all that reminds us that this blue-green planet we are dwelling on is in a constant change. In some parts of this world, you have the chance to see volcanoes. Volcanoes have something magical and seducing, they are beautiful and scary, they can be peaceful now and a few moments later destructive. They show that this earth of ours is actually alive and kicking, [View Full Entry]

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Before I travel to a destination, I'll make up my mind about what to do and what to see there. For Bali it was to dive the SS Liberty shipwreck, stroll through some evergreen ricefields and terraces, see a Balinese dancing performance, eat delicious Balinese food, climb one of the volcanoes for sunrise and to watch the sunset at Tanah Lot, one of Bali’s most famous scenic wonders. Some say that Tanah Lot means "Land in the Middle of the Sea" in Balinese, some other say it's "Temple of the Earth in the Sea" as "Earth & Sea" symbolizes the union [View Full Entry]

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How many times on my journeys have I stood at the ocean or sat on a ferry while crossing a beautiful sea and wished that I could dive? I can't remember but definitively too many times! But this time I was ready and well prepared with a diving licence in my pocket for venturing into the deep blue... Scuba Diving is undoubtly one of the most incredibly beautiful and rewarding hobbies you could ever choose, especially when you are a traveller as some journeys will lead you to places of this green-blue planet with some of the most beautiful beaches, seas, [View Full Entry]

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It is said that when the continents and islands had been created on earth, the Gods gathered together. The highest god explained to all other Gods, that there is one more island to be created, a special island for all Gods and that on this island, all Gods will be worshipped and honored util the end of time. So the Gods started to create the most outstanding island of all. The bottom and upper layer, the foundation, the soil and then the bright and colourful sky. The Gods were very delighted with the result and decided to name the island: "BALI" [View Full Entry]

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Kuala Lumpur is one of those places where I have been a couple of times but never felt the desire of exploring it, though I have to admit that I don’t really know why. In Germany we have the expression: „Weder Fisch noch Fleisch“ (neither fish nor meat) so Kuala Lumpur is neither like 'this' nor 'that' for me, it's simply just: Kuala Lumpur. So if you're expecting an useful blog entry about Kuala Lumpur, with plenty of insider tips, I am sorry to disappoint you. Much more this will be about a girl called "Pinky", three Swedish blokes and halfnaked, [View Full Entry]

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I am someone who is not too interested in animals or nature, I am much more into people and their lifes and stories, and I am interested in people and their achievements - like ancient archaeological sites as achievements of past generations and cultures. They show us what mankind is capable of. In Southeast Asia there are - in my personal opinion - a handful of worldclass archaeological sites which are an aboslutely must for everyone who is interested in ancient cultures, history and ruins: Unrivaled Angkor in Cambodia, Sukhothai in Thailand, Borobudur in Indonesia and Bagan in Myanmar, [View Full Entry]

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