This travelblog is about the places I have visited during my world trip in 2005/2006. Starting in Germany it covers many places in the Middle East, in Asia, in Australia, and in New Zealand. On the way back I visited some parts of South America, Central America and the US. In the end I got on board a container ship to get back to Europe. Have fun browsing the journals.
In the end of a journey it is all about coming home. When the pilot boat led us through the tide lands of the Weser mouth towards the docks of Bremerhaven the sunset over the ocean was the most beautiful one of all the journey. And later walking through the harbours gate to make my way to my home town, just as I had started, hitch-hiking German Autobahn I was sure that I had found my way around the world.... read more
Walking at night from the nearest bus stop into the harbour territory I ended up at Newark Airport. Some taxi driver who was quite familiar with the place finally got me to the right dock. But he said he had never been to this part of Newark and was unsure if this was still officially US territory and he was allowed to drive in the place with his taxi. When I finally walked up the gangway of Maersk Pecem it was in the middle of the night and I had not noticed any official border. The time on board was one of the best times I had during all my travels. Philippine food is not my favourite but I definitely enjoyed listening to the 20kn head wind at the bow of the 200m colossus passing through ... read more
New York is great! It's great for photography, it's great to explore on foot and by subway. I loved to take the trip on the Staten Island ferry, just for the view of the skyline, for passing liberty island and the statue of liberty. For being on a ship, as I was looking forward to the container ship passage. And for the great atmosphere at sunset time cruising just in front of lower Manhattan. I also liked the sights all along 42nd Street, Bryant Park and the NY Library with its nice wood decorated reading halls. And a real highlight was spending half a day on top of Rockefeller Center with a great view.... read more
I had organized the final part of my trip already weaks ago. I wanted to stay in New York for a few days before boarding a container ship in Newark harbour for a passage to Bremen, Germany. To be in New York on time I travelled to Corpus Christi crossing the Mexico US land border catching a flight from Corpus via Houston to New York. I nearly missed the flight, because I was held up at the border in Matamoros by US border control unusually long. Not only that everyone at that border trying to enter the US is treated like a criminal. I was especially likely to have wrong intentions in my request to enter, because my official document was a visa issued at the US embassy in Managua. It was issued for the sole ... read more
Some really peaceful days in San Marcos my sister and me spent with hanging out at the beach, watching the pelicans dive for fish, and preparing prawn for another nice self-cooked dinner. It was like holiday during vacation.... read more
Getting finally there where I had promised my sister to come to, just around the back side of the earth, was overwhelming me with the fact that I had nearly accomplished this journey around the world. That I had come so far savely! It was time for a break before I started for the last part of the trip so I lived at my sister's for nearly a month. In a small language school I brushed up my spanish for some days. In between from time to time I watched the German National Soccer Team play at the world cup in Germany or pushed in a crowd of Mexican fans watching their team perform in a match. The modern university my sister had studied at was a good place for me to have access to the ... read more
On the way to my sisters home in Guadalajara I had a look at the famous sun stone in the antropological museum in Mexico City. After the visit of different maya sites the maya section in this museum was very nice and interesting for me. Many artefacts that have been found at the acheological sites have been brought here. So I finally got to see some of that things were I before had only read in the guide book or on an anoying sign that it has been removed to this and that museum. Very impresive was a huge painting about the mayan world that I also saw in this section.... read more
The best possibility for some pictures in gentle light are in the early moring hours. With the pleasing coolness of the night still present the ruins of Palenque would be more enjoyable than in the hot sun of noon. Thinking that I was at the entrance of the archeological site at six in the morning just to find out that some stupid regulation says you need a "special permit" to enter at this early time and the regular opening time is at eight o'clock. Not for you, my friend, I thought and vanished into the bushes... after about half an hour of tough orientation training in a half-dark jungle I found the first traces of the ancient maya site. Some trimmed white stones under the leaves on the ground were the first sign that I was ... read more
The pictures from my visit to the famous maya site Tikal I have mainly colored in sepia. I think this represents best the mood I found the place in during the foggy days of the monsoon season. Imagine how the sun three hours after dawn just manages to burn away enough humidity from the night that some rays of light can touch the tree tops through the clouds. In the distance a group of howler monkeys can be heard traveling by. A startled Toucan swings away through the green. Wandering between the mighty roots of the jungle I dicover the mighty stone fortresses with their steep stairs rising to the jungle roof. Some of them are still thickly owergrown, the rainy air smells from the humid ground, the fresh cut wood of some recently choped mahogany ... read more
Quite a special excursion I did from Antigua was the visit to vulcano Pacaya. This is a popular one in general, it's easy to climb and the chance to see some vulcanic activity is good. But the latter greatly depends on the latest development. Because it had been recommended to me several time the few past weeks I decided to take a tour even for the rainy season and the bad weather. So the whole hiking part from the parking lot to the actual start of the last cone was through a misty and wet forest and not really fun. The more rewarding was the destination. At the base of the final vulcanic cone we came to a small valley that has developed from piled up lava on one side and the cone on the other ... read more
