Balloons?
On my trip through Malawi I met several times children who asked me for balloons. For a while it was a mystery to me why they wanted to play with balloons and did not ask for other toys instead, or for sweets or money, as …
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Paradise Lost
Back in the nineties, the Koh Phi Phi archipelago was an almost untouched pearl in the island ensamble off the west Thailand coast. With a little luck and advice, backpackers traveling the country at that time, had the adventure of hitchhiking on one of the …
White Beauty
I usually approach the world’s great sights with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I look forward to finally seeing the place with my own eyes, on the other hand, I also know the dark sides that such popular locations possess. When I arrived in …
Worlds apart?
On the western Indonesian island of Flores, life is much quieter and more primal compared to the better known islands of Java, Bali and Lombok. In the center of the island is the land of the Ngada, an ethnic group, some of whose members still …
The magical Forest
Hiking from Cochamó, a small Chilean town located by a long fjord in northern Patagonia, up into the mountains to the Argentine border, takes five full days. The path leads almost continuously through an ancient fairy-tale forest, where practically no one is on the move. …
Fresh Start
Breakfast while traveling has a special meaning for me. It allows me the leisure to process the first thoughts of the day, providing a taste I associate with the country, and it gives me the energy to start the day in a good mood. On …
Picobello
Anyone traveling to Singapore from other Southeast Asian countries will first be impressed by the incredible cleanliness of the city. Sparkling sidewalks, licked facades and parks manicured to perfection characterize the cityscape. The smallest imperfection, such as some peeling paint on the boundary walls of …
Chatting in Portunhol
Every trip to Brazil was a special kind of social experience for me. Although I speak only a few words of Portuguese, and many Brazilians only a little English or Spanish, I found it easy to strike up conversations with the locals everywhere, whether by …