well, it's been over a week now for me to get back to normal life... and i'm still not really there the last 9 months have had a…

before i get to the financials, a quick look at some general stats... number of times i've been: robbed: 0 mugged: 0 pickpock…

best beer: beer lao, laosbest beach: ko phi phi leybest mainland beach: hoi an, vietnambest city: tokyobest country: japanbest language: finnishbest …

i don't know if it was luck, a thank you for flying 60000 miles with them on one ticket or my flirting skills with the check-in personnel, but i mana…

for my final stop on this trip i chose again to couch surf and luckily two nice students offered to have me sleep on the comfy air mattress for the 2…

together with an american, a mexican and later an australian from the hostel we formed the ad hoc dream team to conquer the local blonde elite. i mea…

took the night bus yesterday from trafalgar square to swiss cottage, where im staying (good match, hm?)relaxed my eyes and when i opened them again i…

it's true... swedish girls are beautifuli'm in heaven!

well, what can i say.. i'm back in london! my last 'home' before traveling which kind of closes the circle, if it wasnt for the stockholm/helsinki …

quick update on what's happening my travel insurance ran out on 1/7 without me noticing as i thought it's 1/8... i'm lucky i d…

so i'm back in singapore after the exciting sidetrip to the philippines, and im getting nervous; really nervousthis more or less marks the end of m…

props to don king for inspiring this blog entry title, it sums up the experience of departing manila international airport terminal 1 quite welltime …

chona wanted to top my vietnam experience so i was invited to spend the night at her family's home in suburban manila, with loads of (female!) cousin…

best obeserved at jonas fruitshake

our pit stop in cebu was not that spectacular: another manila like city - although a lot greener and cleaner - with funky churches and crappy hotels …

no, i'm not in thailand AGAIN... don't worry. but i get constantly reminded of it, at least of when i was walking around with chona. with about 80% o…

so we decided to give up on palawan as the weather was just too bad (especially after the scary encounter on snake island) and we could not be bother…

the palawan island is one of the highlights of the philippines and less touristy than famous boracay so it was kind of an obvious choiceunfortunately…

there's a bloody typhoon coming near on its way to japan so it's raining, raining, raining, windy and rainingmanila is nicer than people think... mak…

1600 pesos!!! while chona does not really understand my excitement about this, i'm proud like a 10yo winning a spelling competition: i got us a fligh…

i'm in the philippines!remember that cute girl with filipino roots, chona, that i've spent a week with in thailand? well we decided to meet up again …

my jetstar flight from singapore to manila departed at 0750 from the airport which meant mrt is going to be a bit risky so i decided to take a taxi. …

i really like singapore... the three big cultures (malay, chinese, indian) plus the expats & tourists make this city so interesting and colorful.…

there is a lot to say about singapore, and no, almost exclusively positive stuff for once... i like it, a lot. will write a wrap up later, i've met…

remember that crazy chick yelling at me on my first day in singapore?surprise surprise, last night she was sleeping in my dorm room. she's american…

na just kidding, couldn't resist the pun hehethere's a special event / arrangement i haven't yet mentioned to anyone that keeps me in singapore unt…

woke up on sunday at 6:45, packed up my things and took a cab to the pasar akyat bus station, the ghost station that not many people know exists an…

my last day was spent rather untouristy... switched hostels in the morning into the red palm across the street... which is great and so secret, t…

had my touristy day yesterday, going up the skybridge of the petronas towers... which is free, you just have to endure a propaganda flick of petron…

so, another try for kuala lumpur nightlife tonight, it's friday so there must be somethingpaired up with some people from the hostel and the group gr…

that's high tech touting!

nice bus ride from butterworth to kuala lumpur today! i decided to go from butterworth as the new bus terminal in penang is also quite a bit away fro…

while still searching for the best way of travelling... First Class - Luxurious 16 seaters, 2 seats in a single row air-con …

on my second full day in penang i've decided to climb something once more for some nice photo opportunities... so i took the swiss made rail (not rea…

getting up for a 6am train is no fun but i got rewarded by another great, comfortable train journey. as much as i loathe the sleeper trip in thailand…

i've just returned from a discovery stroll through georgetown at night. and i must say i am impressed, more than impressed even.it's like walking thr…

before heading down to malaysia i stopped over in hat yai to break the journey from ko phi phi to penang. it's a funny near-border town and quite i…

after visiting the 3 most popular thai islands (i think?) plus the poor lonely ko samet up in the north two months ago, my personal ranking looks l…

finally, today it was time to visit phi phi lay ( / leh), the sister island where the beach from the movie 'the beach' was filmed. still skeptical ab…

the sun has come out in phi phi and now it's easier to get an opinion on the island. i still think it's very much overrated as a destination... while…

.. that was the main question the about 100 people on board the ferry (a 'speedboat') from krabi to ko phi phi. it was raining all night and everyt…

first impression: VERY big disappointment, ko samui-esque but weather is bad (raining non stop) and i based myself in the town next to the pier whic…

after partying i arrived back in my bungalow on ko phangan at 5am and the alarm clock rang at 5:45am.... pickup for the ferry to the mainland. needle…

ko phangan really is fantastic! even nightlife reaches the critical mass, albeit starting late, with beach parties and even a place (obviously called…

island switch successful and damn, i'm happyit's paradise here! offseason means lower prices (i got a nice modern bungalow with a bit of beach view…

sorry i'm lagging behind... im too lazy to find a shop that lets me connect my laptop to upload the 6 or so blog entries so i'm in ko samui at the m…

so, ko samui, the most famous east coast island of thailand, probably one of the most famous beach destinations in this world... what's my first impr…

well yes, either i've had bad luck or 2nd class upper bunk sleeper in a thai train is the worst form of transportation ever: no window, hot, they don…

in the end, most of my 2 days in bangkok was spent in the best shopping mall in the world - central world plaza... one could argue that i should have…

what is going on... i'm back in bangkok (more on the journey and the last angkor wat days later!) and everything has changed at khao san road! well…

closing the circlei decided to head straight back to bangkok to finish my grand tour of south-east asia where i've started it. i don't know why, but …

having 2 days of intense temple climbing in my knees i've seen it all and probably had enough temples for the rest of my life :)the angkor wat area i…

... was my first question when i read about angkor wat a few months ago... not another temple please. but why am i even in cambodia if not for visiti…

and i got sunburned... really bad even. it is very embarrassing, after 7 months this should not happen any more. to my excuse it didn't take long a…

i booked the direct bus from saigon to phnom penh from capitol tours, a cambodian company. one of the two which offer buses that don't need to be c…

i thought that my last city in vietnam is worth another try in term of touristy activities... so on friday afternoon i visited the war remnants mus…

when the train arrived in saigon at 23:30 i had quite high fever again so was happy that i arranged pickup to my hotel... ... which of course was now…

i'm really obsessed with this train hehesitting in my 5star deluxe comfy chair with power socket next to me and wlanalmost no tourists on the train, …

tomorrow i'm going to saigon, aka ho chi minh city, and will splurge for the 8hours of train madness... after a lot of issues with the actual booki…

so far, vietnam tops the worst traffic rankings for me by far... even in smaller cities like nha trang or dalat the kamikaze motorbikes are everywh…

i am not a big fan of boat trips but usually they are quite fun because of booze. well, not so in nha trang! got dragged into a …

yesterday i left wonderful hoi an for nha trang, the beach capital of vietnam. the beach is not as nice as hoi an's but you don't have to bike 5km …

nok air offers bangkok - bangalore return flight for around 7200 baht now... tempting :)

one more day and they will adopt me, i'm sure :)after the final fitting round this afternoon i got invited yet another time to come to the house of o…

Cafe des Amis is an excellent Vietnamese restaurant located right at the river in Hoi An. In the evening you can order a multi-dish set meal that sho…

they like to give me food here in central vietnam... looks like i've copied the starving kid look well or maybe it's just that my laughable measure…

hoi an is famous for it's cloth-shops... skillful sweatsho... err ex-peasan... err tailors make everything you want, which is mostly dresses for the …

and where is that? in hoi an of course, the ping yao of vietnam, international cheapo made-to-fit tailor center, the city where everything would be…

my first day was spent the way i like to spend days after overnight journeys: strolling around, sitting around, sleeping with me walking around u…

i didn't know what to expect when i sat into the taxi to the train station. attendants yelling at me? people sitting all over me in the bottom bunk…

i woke up spoiled by all the luxuries from the last day and started out with the nice breakfast on deck. nice talks again and a few minutes later…

soooo.... time for my deluxe cruise and time to sample a bit of upmarket tourism industry in vietnam. surprise, surprise, it's a whole lot better t…

yeah i made it... my hotel in hanoi still had my bag in storage and even a room! unfortunately the same as before so again a lot of steps up... nic…

since i was too lazy to go for hikes in lao i decided sapa is one of the last nice opportunities to do so and signed up for a hike to 4 villages or…

so hung around hanoi with my 2 day packs full of (too heavy) electronic gadgets that i didn't want to leave with the dodgy hotel receptionist and …

so had my bday yesterday, was less then spectacular, hanoi lacking any kind of nightlife to speak of (or that i like) during the week at least. a…

there's this computer game classic called frogger you, the frog, have to jump to the other side of the street without being …

if i had to stereotype hanoi in a sentence it would be: "the bastard child of thailand & china, communist boarding school drop…

i'm a flashpacker, money-waster, 'not real'-traveller... i must be ashamed... for flying from vientiane to hanoi instead of roughing it on a bus …

... the absolute highlight so farWOWforget bangkok... i have hell of a hotel room, and the walk through the old quarter - where i am staying - was cr…

laos is really great... i love love love the vientiane vibe... the most relaxed capital city in the world for suredefinitely one of the top places to…

well, i had to pay for it... but it's been a while (since bangkok) so i thought i might spend some money if i can't convince some backpacker girl t…

once again, the plan for this day was set: get my ass to vientiane, the laos capital, as quickly as possible, find a nice & cheap guesthouse, g…

is what i thought when i saw the backpacker crowd lining up for the tubing... seems like the crowd that in the afternoon appears in tv talk shows …

that's what vang vieng is all about laos tries hard not to be the next thailand... and fails miserably... just putting some gre…

... is quite nice flickr set: luang prabang

finally some days rest in a more or less developed city :) i love just sitting in the cafes, reading a book or working on the pictures and enjoy the …

now what the hell is going on here... i arrived safely in luang prabang after a slow boat ride through hardcore rain (1h) and a songtao ride directly…

the second day in muang ngoi was much better than the first - no more feeling sick but slightly feeling bored... it is a really nice little village…

... would be a very shitty place to get sick: small village at the river and only accessible by the river, some guesthouses, restaurants, power only …

at the bus station at 07:30, ticket bought, minivan (argh!!! i prefer normal busses) found, only seat with legroom reserved, breakfast bought, ba…

nong khiaw - the impressions part 2... now it's night in nong khiaw and the town is asleep (well, it was during the day alread…

we were at the bus station at 7, quickly claimed our tickets with a seat number and lifted the bags on top of the minibus. unfortunately seat numbers…

here some pics from both sides of the mekong river, the laos-thailand border dusk (from thailand into laos) the ferry int…

i am still alive, not because i mastered the art of driving half-broken laos motorbikes but because they wouldn't let me rent one. blah - the chinese…

after the bus trip i've teamed up with the kiwi girl and we headed for a guesthouse she had in mind which was a short walk from the bus station on th…

... that is the question. and the answer is: not to!the slow boat between the border at huay xai and luang prabang, one of the main attractions in la…

... was one of the easiest border crossings i've seen so far. fast, no walking, no bribing, even smiling & joking officials... good stuffleft and…

chiang khong is the thai border town at the thai/laos border crossing and is basically one long street with banks, guesthouses and immigration/boat l…

now i have an interesting option for something to do before going on the marathon boat journey in lao gibbon experience (com…

just as i came back to chiang mai from pai, a tropical rainstorm hit the town - a sign of god to get lazy me moving again. and so i did. next stop …

i got my contact lenses delivered to a hostel in new zealand 2 months ago and picked them up, happy that they arrived on time. well, but then it …

after updating my blog i went back into my room to get ready for the nightmarket... while in the shower i've heard the wind blowing... a few second…

gotta love my overnight sidetrips. as with hangzhou & the blue mountains, pai was well worth it. being the flashpacker i've …

when is a good time for deeper looks inside yourself? if a bargirl of questionable gender grabs your ass with the pickup line 'a…

19:00 decide to go clubbing - bubble gets recommended, bubble is my plan 20:00 dressing up, i look like a walking dollar bill …

spent the day at the thai cooking school (partly to escape songkran... i've seen the whole water thing now)and damn.. 750 baht very well spent! 6 d…

songkran, the thai new year, is celebrated with 4+ days of water throwing.. historically, small bits, in modern times it's a water war. big buckets…

being back in bangkok felt like coming home... we decided to head for a different guesthouse as shambara was nice, but not that special. we chose d…

i already wrote how much i love bangkok and basically right after uploading this things got even more interesting. of course a girl is involved heh…

and this day was simply great - exploring the different beaches, cooling down in the aircon room, walking around the island was amazing! the water …

ko samet is the ilha grande of bangkok, a beach island 3 hours away by bus & ferry where all the locals go on there free days to chillout &…

after spending a day all alone in bangkok, which of course included another search for a bloody pacsafe mesh, i enjoyed some ad hoc conversations &…

a place where legends were born, leo drank snake blood, the expression 'backpacker ghetto' was forged and you won't see a single thai person not ther…

damn was i hangover today... had a bunch of those high vol% beers without having eaten dinner and i didn't take it too well... can't remember how i g…

boarding the plane to bangkok was a mixed feeling: i was happy to leave china but was worried about thailand, especially bangkok, being the big touri…

ahh it feels so good, almost like a bit of home, to step foot on an airport you have been before. i have to transfer flights here in hong kong to get…

hmmm, this is more like it! for my one-night trip to hangzhou i got soft seat (equivalent to first class) tickets in one of the modern trains l…

travelling to hangzhou & the west lake was indeed well worth it! it's kinda like the blue mountains near sydney, only without mountains and the…

i'm usually not a big fan of museums but since it's permitted to take pictures in the shanghai museum and it is supposed to …

was spending the day at airline offices in downtown shanghai - qantas first, but as they always do, they've sent me immediately and after some chin…

went early in the morning to the new xiangjang market at science & technology museum stop here is what i got: samsonite l…

... shanghai gets nicer no i don't mean the nightlife... i won't pay 50 yuan for a beer, especially if bangkok is coming soon (…

i am ashamed how bad i was out of sync with my pics, won't happen again. my blog looks pretty dry without pics and so much text - now it's time to …

that was roughly the plan for todayi need a chill out day but decided to move that one to thailand, even though i almost got a heart attack when i re…

finally a nice chinese city!much less spitting, starring, ignorance and all that stuff than before. much cleaner & more impressive than beijing a…

this is a emotional rant, could be interpreted as racism, but before you do so, move your ass down here and travel on chinas railways, then judge.goo…

NOT tibet/nepal/indiareasoning: my stomach says so heheno - there is some rational thinking behind it; for once i don't want to go overland to xi'an …

well.. it started so nice and it got so bad. roller-coaster ride par excellence once again.after enjoying the free breakfast - chinese, which means t…

wow... kaifeng at night is gorgeous! right next to my hotel is the night market.. and what a night market that is! forget hong kong, beijing and all …

kaifeng... first city in a new province in china and i encounter the santa cruz effect. like the city in bolivia kaifeng is showing some hope for chi…

... deodorant!as written in some guidebooks (and read 1 day too late by me...), it is a bit hard to get in china. which is wrong - it is impossible t…

as previously noted pingyao is a restored ancient town. beautiful buildings, a 6km wall surrounding it and tons of tourist shops inside. it is perfec…

i arranged with my guesthouse tickets from pingyao to kaifeng - unfortunately no direct trains so i had to backtrack a bit to taiyuan and take the 12…

pingyao is very interesting, will write more once i'm uploading the pics as it is really picturesque.am worried again about my onward travels: could …

i mentioned it before but as it is such a huge mess it deserves an own articleno online bookingyou have to go in person to the ticket office (or adva…

so hard sleeper it was for last night. after getting some hints from the other travellers i wanted to be at the waiting hall early (to have space for…

sightseeing day! got up early to get my first (free) chinese breakfast. i had no expectations and they were met on the dot - water soup with some stu…

... is a problem hehe i have tons of blog entries & pics on my laptop but i can't get them online :) but i am alive and well, met some great o…

here i am, sitting in my dorm room in datong. good news first, it's only 35 yuan (bit less then 6 swiss francs a night), only 4 beds in the room (2 n…

after the forbidden city i wanted to "get real" and skip the tours to the great wall (which often stop for jade factory shopping tour emprisonment on…

a great new feature for flickr:subsets!!!! finally! especially now that i have tons of sets this feature is a god sendhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/al…

well, there are two things you can't skip when in beijing, even if you are as unattracted by the city as i am: the forbidden city and the great wall …

... is supposed to be the ultimate newbie killer in chinaand that's kinda true hehebeijing train station is really busy, thousands of people camping …

i arrived in china!and beijing is everything i thought it to be: one big communist city - everything is HUGE, especially the public place in front of…

after the surprisingly cheap tokyo and hong kong now it's time to finally go back into south american like costs my hostel in …

after all the text heavy entries some pictures again without many words the gorgeous cute brick-trams the internatio…

already my last full day in hong kong today! i could move my flight at last... funny story: i called cathay pacific hong kong to move my flight an…

this is how hong kong should be experienced... at night! some views from kowloon towards hong kong island and hon…

ok, i am impressed... that was one perfect operation i was worried about my chinese visa since leaving the uk: initially i want…

ahh hong kong... where all my electronic gear has passed through once in its lifetime... and of course i came here for one reason (besides the chin…

ah well... hong kong is supposed to have a nice skyline, right?that's one hell of a understatement! nothing comes even close to the view you have at …

ok i was really really sad to leave japan. being back in tokyo for 2 nights and also visiting chi in her bar again i was reminded how much i love t…

i like!

finally, back in my new home away from home (for 2 more nights hehe) - i am back in tokyo! this time in a hostel in asakura. i…

full day for sightseeing in kyoto today and that meant to choose some worthy sights, not an easy task considering the 4'232'233'246 temples, shrine…

... then he has beaten japan at its own game: turbo-sightseeing! hai! after the unproductive last few days nara had to be co…

do you think osaka is a city? you are wrong - osaka seems to be one huge shopping mall after trying some japanese breakfast …

ah i slept like a baby until 9 and woke up without a headache! great! still a bit weak i decided to check out one of the big tem…

... its financial market crashed!harhar :)not funny actually since my build-a-new-life fund is heavily invested in asia hehe

after the 1.5h, one transfer shinkansen journey to kyoto i still didn't feel better, worse than ever to be precise. and no upgrade this time - dorm…

i am sick: fever, cough, headache, etc... staying in bed all day - no sigh.... ERRR no time for relaxing again! i felt a bi…

i am sick: fever, cough, headache, etc... staying in bed all day - no sigh.... ERRR my jr rail pass starts today! even after …

sunday afternoon in tokyo means one thing and one thing only HARAJUKU the place where all the school outcasts, goth kids,…

i am sick: fever, cough, headache, etc...staying in bed all day - no sightseeing today

as mentioned in the last sydney entry, i proudly present the invasion of my departure gate at sydney airport by a japanese school the video start…

well - sunday in tokyo, harajuku time as already noted in a earlier entrybut the better things were yet to come! chi took me to this really good nood…

so, now, finally, the complete story of the first days of my japan experience!after arranging my jr rail pass with my exchange order from sydney, whi…

well, to make it short: tokyo is everything i expected it to be and more; i can't describe how much, but it was love on the first sight! it's bu…

oh my godi am SO excitedsitting at the airport in sydney, having just bought my lonely planet japan to decide when and where to start my 7 days of jr…

i was happy to leave sydney yesterday for my 1 night break in the blue mountains, the national park about 100km west of sydney, where i stayed in t…

lessons learned while travelling... while write a follow up when ready :)   PLEASE COMMENT hehe bottled water is the biggest rip off kn…

as i was a bit behind with uploading my sydney pics, find below some impressions: they have this strangely shaped opera house.…

yesterday i met the gorgeous couchsurfing member alisha and her friend for a trip to the tropfest, the world's biggest short film festival! open …

finally i got hold of some cathay pacific sales rep! and i was surprised, i could move my flights! meaning i have a whopping 1.5 weeks in japan and w…

well... kings cross is all the fun i expected it to be: hookers next to posh clubs next to cheap indian food, etc... its dirty, edgy, packed, etc... …

once again sitting at an airport... ahhh i missed the feeling, i looooove airports! i don't love new zealand's '25 bucks departure tax or you stay he…

last stop in new zealand before flying out! i'm excited for sydney & asia and looking forward to jump into the unknown once again - no more bus…

irst title i have to write in capital letters, for a reason: it's true! lake tekapo is the most fascinating, beautiful, relaxing and untouristy place…

i arrived in dunedin today, second largest city in the south with deep scottish roots (and further links to edinburgh, e.g. street layout & names…

actually a fjord and not a sound, milford is a beautiful place a few hours drive away from queenstown and a must do while here! the bus ride …

buuh just arrived in beautiful queenstown (4 nights here, yeah!) and did my first bungy jump! which was the original one wher…

i survived! oh my god the nevis is king! 134m of pure fun the suspense is killing you! you wait at the station in q…

ohhh boy, i'm so excited for queenstown - nightlife, scenery, backpacker capital... must be great fun! first stop on the drive t…

or is it? mid twenties temperatures, blue sky, nice breeze and enormous mountains & glaciers in the background... can nature be any more beauti…

helicopter flight up the glacier enjoy!

did some amazing stuff the last few days: going to the south islandabel tasman national park in nelsonwest coast drive & locationshelihike in th…

holy shit! this is the new zealand everyone is talking about... south island west coast (and to foreshadow the next few blog …

the good thing about nelson is that it is the starting point for abel tasman - the mostly coastline national park. took the one day cruise & …

greymouth... the capital of the south island west coast where all the bus companies stop and many other passing by travellers spend a night surel…

time to say good bye to the north island with high expectations for the south - this is supposed to be the 'real new zealand' with postcard scenery…

unedited video from the skydive company part 1: on the ground with the whole load (5 people) part 2: the jumps - my jump is…

as mentioned briefly in my entry from yesterday skydiving is probably the most impressive thing i've done so far although th…

... is a good pizza shop! but other than that, hell seems to become reality more and more here :) i had so high expectations for taupo and they all…

after waiting for 2 more hours at the hangar, we finally did the jump! (through a hole in the clouds directly over the lake)15000 feet1.05 minutes of…

only a short ride away from rotorua is taupo & lake taupo - the north island's queenstown since you can do all the typical nz adventure activitie…

... water rafting! those activities are addictive (which might be a reason why there are millions of tour operators around new …

after the long day in auckland the next 3 days were to be spent travelling to the north of new zealand, to cape reinga while being based in the l…

after enjoying the night back in auckland with already known but still lovely company it was once again time to get up early the next day on the …

travelling pace is speeding up; new continent & plenty of travelling and admin stuff to do :) so im lagging a bit behind with blog entries... i …

new zealand here i come! after a devastating flight from saturday 20 jan to monday 22 jan (bloody hell, my weekend is gone!) next to a fat, snoring &…

the hostel offered a walking (!!!) tour around bel air and beverly hills - a must do, considering me wanting to leave los angeles on glamorous terms …

... but inspecting them closer it looks like they are just homeless people lying around, loads of themlos angeles has an equally interesting characte…

nice, after the luggage dillemma on arrival i now have a delay drama while departing! and both times it seems to be connected to dallas... i ha…

yippie, snow in toronto when i woke up last morning! it doesn't really count as snow for the locals (there were at least 2m missing for that) but i…

after not being able to win the hostel poker tournament the night before i went to bed early to do some refining of my pokerstrategies (read: i w…

well at least the idiot officers at the custom at the airport is... what a jerk, asks me 10 minutes about my motives & financing of coming to can…

no, not another comment about the brutal rents here in new york but the name of the musical i watched today! i'm not really that big a fan of shows…

when i was planning my trip, i didn't want to spend much time in south america because i could not imagine that i would like it: too much sun, crim…

sooo... finally some minutes to deal with my handwritten backlog of blog entries this one is lying there for weeks hehe, a compar…

inca trail? bah, do the manhattan trail! i walked at least as much as on the first 2 days of the inca trail and my feet are h…

well... the first impression was not that stunning... i still got a broken heart from leaving miami that soon and the ineff…

yesterday evening, i had one of the situations where a hostel would have been more practical than being hosted by someone.. i was locked out …

yesterday evening, i had one of the situations where a hostel would have been more practical than being hosted by someone.. i was locked out no…

no, not many day dreams of pink flamingos and multicolored sunsets, but instead i slept from 8 pm until noon of the next day! rio and the flight fr…

holy shit... south beach is great... forget ipanema heheeveryone seems to visit the local plastic surgeon every 2 weeks and the water is beautiful i …

shitty weather on the 31st, that wasnt really a surprise after the last few days unfortunately... it was raining the whole day and of course only s…

one of the recommended "sights" of rio sounds a bit more interesting than climbing on another hill or dodging bullets in a favela, visiting a school …

i´m still alive, btweveryone is getting nervous in rio as there were some 18 people killed on local buses and police stations because of a recent up…

what can i say, rio is getting better and better every day the hostel is now full as well, our 8 bed dorm went from 2 to 8 in one day and everyone is…

on my first day of "freedom" i enjoyed to just stroll around copacabana streets and beach. i like rio more and more every hour i spend here for chris…

oh yes, reason to celebrate and sing i'm in rio, 4 blocks from the copacabana beach and looking forward to 10 nights of night…

rom foz we flew to rio where we had a first glimpse of the city... not a good one, since the way from the airport to the bus terminal is not that s…

a long day awaited us today... first a visit to the impressive itaipu dam (the biggest dam in the world.. although the chinese probably think diffe…

after a huge nightbus journey we arrived at foz do iguacu yesterday early morning. after a breakfast we took a private minivan to get us to the brazi…

from the pantanal we headed to bonito, a small touristy town in brazil, for 2 nights in order to return to normal lodging standards... and there are …

ok... im not a big fan of wildlife trips... but this was a bit too much of wild life (i.e. too many mosquitos) 3 days of mosquito bites, heat & h…

... but completely pissed off by gap now try to ignore that fact during the next 2 days in the pantanal, one of the world's largest wetlands

what a surprise... i'm stuck in bolivia! a country that welcomes you with flat tires and inefficiencies everywhere surely won't let you leave smoo…

after giving our good bye's to more than half our group this morning in sucre (their tour ends in bolivia) the core of us 5 brave travellers flew to …

small status update again to keep up the momentum :)i'm in sucre at the moment, the white city of bolivia... unesco world heritage colonial city with…

the moment i saw the first picture from the salar de uyuni, the huge salt lakes near uyuni in bolivia, i knew i will like itbut standing there in rea…

ah well, travelling with fever on a local bus between peru and bolivia promised to be loads of fun... and it was! on the first foot steps in bolivia…

november 27/28 we had the chance to visit the impressive lake titicaca (huge!) on a boat trip with a homestay with a community that lives on one of t…

best train ride ever! since walking the inca trail in reverse might be fun after arriving at machu picchu, a train ride from aguas calientes ba…

definition of good luck: going on the inca trail 4day hike in rainy season, without proper sleeping bag / thermarest and then having a total of …

day 2 of the colca valley tour started early... at 5:30 am the high altitude influenced dreamful sleep was ended. and all that just for watching…

out of arequipa we started for a 2-day trip into colca valley with a local guide. the bus ride was 4 hours through a beautiful scenery and one of the…

after not being able to do the nazca lines flight i was quite eager to do the ancient pre-inka cemetery tour near nazca so that not the whole day was…

well, as written yesterday, a packed day was ahead: the morning on the ballestas islands, lunch at a pisco distillery and the afternoon driving sand …

... no i'm not pissed yet but the title is just too good :) we took the public bus to pisco today which was quite an interesting experience: the bus…

coming back from the internet cafe i met 4 other people from the group and thank god the first impression was great! we spent the afternoon strol…

after paying the rip off taxes in quito for international flights (31 usd!!) i arrived 2.5 hours later in lima... the flight was with lan peru and …

after a great & relaxed ecuadorian evening yesterday, which was exactly what i needed after my overheating / altitude overkill during the day, i …

woke up in the middle of the night again, clouds everywhere, coldnevertheless, after a healthy breakfast i decided to do the teleferiqo, a cable car …

after a rainy night and a foggy morning we formed an ad hoc group to conquer the equator, aka the tourist trap "mitad del mundo" and as soon as w…

waking up at 3:30am: tolerablechecking in at 5:45am: tolerableflying for a total of almost 15 hours with iberia: urghl worst - airline - ever ok, …

... almost go, but first, i had to fall into the newbie trap number 1: i packed way too much crap i'll never ever needbut i figured what the hell, …

what great timing i have - it's 'herbschtmäss' in basel, the yearly autumn fair which comprises several rides, typical food and lots of fun... …

luck was on my side yesterday, and hell i needed it! first i managed to get my luggage through the tube to city airport (2 changes) between 8 and 8:4…

my days in london are over... the last 6 months were loads of fun and it was a great experience - but i probably won't return to live here agai…

ah crap! i couldnt resist buying the ultrawide angle lens for my canon, a sigma 10-20mm i finally decided that the risk of getti…

today my corporate life has ended, not too soon after it started. am i happy? yes was the time useless / lost? no am i afraid?…

i don't want to bother with my hair too much while travelling - so i just had it cut :)and i used is as a shock effect on my last working day, leavin…

i love the new google feature, creating a co-op search page see below my hostel & travel info search page - just enter a cit…

... a great idea!as i'm currently trying to find out what the weather will be like on my journey (to find the efficient frontier of my clothes / trav…

sorry for the preparations spam :) but it's almost as interesting to document as the traveling itself! time for a new update; only one month to go n…

i hate jabs, ever since i had my traumatic tetanus experience as i child - i simply hate themtoday my vaccination-cycle started... i'm gonna do the…

all my preperation tasks are initiated and i'm waiting for getting my vaccination shots (ouch!), the physical flight tickets (today, yeah!), visas (a…

hmmm paying 4000 gbp with your credit card and all you get is a receipt for it - that doesn't feel very rewardinggoing back to switzerland for the we…

it's done - i'll be leaving my job on 31/10/2006; i'm giving up the flat in zurich now, the corporate flat in london later.all my stuff is for sale: …