http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/JoergandYuki/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from JoergandYuki en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:04:56 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:04:56 +0000 The border crossing between Panama and Costa Rica was surprisingly easy. We almost managed to miss both border controls. We understood this only when there were some confused questions at the Costa Rica side if we enter or leave the country. The whole place was a mess of arriving buses and trucks and stalls and merchandise everywhere. The area was a tax free zone which attracted a lot of people fo http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Bahia-Drake/blog-401732.html The Talamanca coast borders Panama and it was tempting to have a look over the border. We decided on a loop trip and left Costa Rica to Panama on the Caribbean cost and reentered on the Pacific coast. The border already gave indications on the income differences between the countries. The average income in Panama is well below the 500US a month in Costa Rica. Rubber boots and skirts were in high http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Bocas-Del-Toro/Isla-Colon/blog-401729.html I had remembered an old middle school friend who lived in Costa Rica since 15 years. We had emailed and were invited to his home. We had not seen each other since my last visit more than ten years ago. He and his wife surprised us with a delicious cheese and ham plate from the German butcher. It was very pleasant to sit on the terrace in the mild evening air to enjoy the good food and to sip on http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Limon/Puerto-Viejo-de-Talamanca/blog-393000.html We left Durango after three nice days and went further east to reach our final destination Denver. The distances are still pretty big in Colorado and we did not fancy a 7 hour drive. We looked at the map and found a National Park called Sand Dunes. It was only 34 hours and a slight detour. We passed on the way the Rio Grande and crossed the water shed from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The Sand Du http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Denver/blog-391945.html We had known about the low taxes on US gasoline before our arrival. The prices seem on the first glance not so low for someone used to Euros and liters but when you do the conversion exercise the result is shocking a shocking low price. It is average 2.10 US for a gallon. A gallon is 3.8 liters. This is 55 US cent for the liter or a shocking low 40 Euro cent Controversial thoughts crossed eve http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-391942.html We had done a lot of hiking and wanted a change from the National Parks. The Rocky Mountains were within a one day drive reach and we checked for the snow conditions in the ski resorts. Like in Europe the ski season runs until mid of April and there was more than 1m snow. The nice guy at the Monticello Welcome center told us about a ski resort he had visited a year ago. It was in the South part o http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Durango/blog-391938.html The national parks become really quiet after Monument Valley and far less developed. The trails are mostly marked by stone cairns and occasional trail sign show the way. It does not matter very much anyhow what is national park or not. Every dozen miles dirt roads lead into side valleys and canyons and local climbers bolder rocks. The landscape has an amazing variety of snow capped mountains Juni http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Utah/Canyonlands-National-Park/blog-390705.html The Colorado plateau opened impressively up after we left the Grand Canyon in East direction. We felt a little bit like coming now into the real Wild West and double checked the gasoline level of the car. There is only every 3050 miles some sort of town. We still remember a small road side village with a Mc Donalds and the advertisement of a Burger King next to it. Distance only 36 miles 60 km http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Monument-Valley/blog-390124.html We drove with some excitement from Las Vegas to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon since we left the busy areas of the West coast and entered the vast Colorado plateau. There were only small towns sometimes nothing less than few buildings around a gas station as we drove along the interstate. It slowly got dark and while watching the thermometer of the car we realized that despite being in a sem http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-389838.html We left the nature extremes of Death Valley and headed for the entertainment extremes of gambling to Las Vegas. The casino industry was strongly questioned with share prices only the fifth or tenth of the value from last summer and we thought the town might feel empty. Failed Casino halls were despite our fears still filled with people and the main street strip busy with cars. The gambling life http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Las-Vegas/blog-389342.html It was a long drive from Yosemite to Death Valley since the mountain passes were closed for the winter and we could not take the direct route via Mono lake. We had to drive 5 hours South until we could pass the mountain range at Bakersfield and head again Northeast for the Eastern entrance of the National Park. Death Valley is an amazing landscape. You can find colorful badlands snowcovered peak http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Death-Valley-National-Park/blog-388898.html We left San Francisco in the morning to escape a huge pacific weather depression that was heading with a lot of rain for the coast and predicted snow fall for the mountains. We wanted to do the next day a hike at the famous Yosemite National Park and feared this would not be possible due to snow. Also tire chains maybe required at bad winter conditions we had none and were also not allowed to use http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Yosemite-National-Park/blog-388071.html The bay area and the pacific coast give San Francisco a very special atmosphere. The city is surrounded by water with brilliant views on the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge and the terrain is hilly with a lot of green areas. Everybody knows about the cable cars that cross the hills or the winding lane of a short part of Lombard road. It was my third time in San Francisco and there is always something t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-388066.html The highway 1 runs directly along the Pacific coastline while the main traffic takes the faster inland Highway 101 or the Interstate 5 in the central valley. So after Santa Barbara the highway is hardly used. We prepared our first camping breakfast at one of the benches with nice views on the beach and left late morning to drive to the Big Sur State Park 100 miles South of San Francisco. A camping http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Big-Sur/blog-383265.html California greeted us with sun and occasional rain. We got our rental car and navigated along the road grid of Los Angeles. Actually driving in the US is pretty convenient. You just have to remember the roads you want to follow. Each junction has a clearly visible sign with the name of the crossing street and Highways and Freeways are labeled according to number and direction. This means for examp http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/blog-382837.html My Japanese friend who had lived in L.A told me only Japan did have wide varieties of snacks. Actually there are many kinds of and different tastes of snacks in Japan. It is possible for you to eat different flavors of chocolate for two weeks. I want to introduce Japanese Kitkat Tokyo section because it is very special if you compare to other countries.Chocolate in Tokyo might disappoint European http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/Shinjuku/blog-381790.html The middle of February brought the first warm days and fruit trees started to show still shy their first blossoms. It was nice to see in the gardens the first sign of the spring and to feel the warm air. Yuki039s parents life in the suburbs of Tokyo called Ome. This town is famous for its plum blossom and we visited during our last weekend in Japan the Hoshino plum garden. The streets to the p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-381771.html A lot of things are different in Japan and so is the celebration of Valentines. It is not the flowers that are given but pralines and chocolates. And not the men are supposed to surprise the women it is opposite. The women have to take care of their loved ones and not only this. Also male office colleagues are treated with some sweets. So there are a lot of different pralines on offer. Expensive http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-381768.html Tokyo is a great place to view art and architecture. There are hidden places in side alleys as well as major government buildings. One of my favorite places is the new National Art Center in Roppongi right in the city center. It has a beautiful glas front and inside two big concrete cones with a restaurant on top. It is overlooking Aoyama cemetery and it does not feel at all to be in the center of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-380358.html The nicest views on Mount Fuji are in winter when the air is cold and dry with clear skies. We did several hikes were we could see Fuji behind several ridges of mountains but none that was close to it with undisturbed views. The main snow had not arrived in January and we decided to organize an overnight hike to the Tanzawa mountain area. We were 5 people leaving in the morning from Shinjuku High http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-380357.html