Belize was quite a contrast to Guatemala. Within no time you travel from a Latin American country to a very Caribbean style place. With not too much time on my hands I had to pick and choose where to go. After a few days in San Ignacio I headed to the coast to explore the cayes and reefs from a Raggamuffin sailing boat. My camera is not water proof so all the nurse sharks, sea turtles and stingrays only remain in my memory. But the tropical islands are quite nice, too :). After a few hot days (and sunburns) the rains [View Full Entry]

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I had just a week in Guatemala. I based myself in Antigua and did some day trips to the highlands and to Pacaya volcano. After spending 8 hours on chicken buses to get to Lake Atitlan I treated myself to a flight to Flores close to Tikal. After the cool highlands the tropical plains of El Peten felt quite sticky. And then the rains - which arrived about a week too early this year - caught up with me in an impressive thunderstorm in Tikal. Guatemala is definitely a great country. Unfortunately with a quite bad crime record but everything was [View Full Entry]

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My bags stayed behind in Helsinki but my good memories came with me. A week out there in Karelia close to the Russian border with over 20 sled dogs and only a few people - that's a very special experience. Some tracks were prepared. On other occasions Valentijn, our guide, had to navigate his experienced dog team through deep snow and creeks. We crossed countless lakes and Patvinsuo National Park and stayed in log cabins with wood fired saunas attached. These saunas should of course warm you up after a day's sledding in quite cold temperatures but more importantly the stove [View Full Entry]

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Zum Abschluss meines halben "sabbaticals" habe ich mir noch zwei Schitourenwochen in Tirol gegönnt. Wie schon vor 2 Jahren war ich wieder mit Hans und der USI-Gruppe unterwegs. Brennerregion Die erste Woche in der Brennerregion war eher zum eingehen gedacht. Das verregnete Obernberg hat so gar nicht nach Schitouren hergeschaut, aber in netter Gesellschaft lässt sich so eine Woche auch bei bescheidenen Bedingungen aushalten. Die meisten Touren mussten wir vor dem Gipfel wegen Wind, Schneefall und schlechter Sicht abbrechen und so mancher Forstweg am Ende der Abfahrt war eisplank [View Full Entry]

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Can you imagine a place so quiet that it screams at you? Taking a cruise on the Kerala backwaters is such an experience. The boatsman propels the boat with a long pole and only very few fisherboats use engines. There are palm trees as far as the eye can see. After all Kerala means country of the palm trees. Coconuts are used for a lot of different things: you can drink the milk while they are still green and when they are ripe (brown and hairy) coconut powder for a lot of delicious dishes is produced. The fibre of the coconut [View Full Entry]

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Ooty (or if you prefer Udhagamandalam) used to be a British hill station on 2,240m altitude. Now it is a welcome escape from the heat of the lowlands for both foreign and Indian tourists and honeymoon couples. We had a more or less pleasant walk through the hills and tea plantations. Although in the dry season it rained quite heavily in the morning. Some people thought that irreversible climate change was taking place but I guess weather conditions are changeable in the mountains. I was most impressed by a mountain village and its welcoming tea shop. Starbucks could learn a lot [View Full Entry]

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On the sleeper bus to Hampi I have the pleasure to share the rear top bed with another traveller. It's narrow, short (always keep your knees tucked in) and the potholes make you take off from your bed and approaching the low ceiling. Only two metal posts prevent me from falling.... but I should not complain, after all I was lucky to get a place on this bus to start with... Hampi used to be the capital of the South Indian Vijayanagar empire in the 16th century. Then Muslim invaders destroyed most of the temples and left the place deserted. Only [View Full Entry]

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Goa is a very nice starting and finishing point on an India trip. This former Portuguese colony caters for all types of tourists. I prefer the more basic places with bamboo huts on the beach. These places used to be hippie hangouts but these days just anybody looking for a relaxing time goes there. Prices and crowds get crazy over Christmas and New Year but by mid January I found very peaceful beaches with plenty of accomodation to choose from. It's just really nice to have breakfast by the beach in the shade of a beach shack or a few palm [View Full Entry]

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At first sight Mumbai (alias Bombay) didn't seem as full-on and frentic as expected. But you only get to see a small part when you stay in Colaba, the part of town where most travellers stay. Only when I took the local commuter train I started realising what this city is about. I had all my bags with me and got a seat so I thought I was fine. Only when people around me warned me it would be difficult to get off the train I was a bit worried. Two stops before getting off I tried to make my way [View Full Entry]

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Cambodia to me was a country of great monuments, a tragic recent history and great fun loving people - that's the impression I got on my short visit. [View Full Entry]

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