Always start with the first step
Cherry blossom everywhere, Mt Fuji on a cloudless day and the blinking lights of Shinjuku – Japan is an organized wonderland of postcard perfect sights and increadibly friendly people.
Read here how our 12 days passed faster than a Shinkhansen from Tokyo to Kyoto.
Continue reading “The NBA Part 5 – The Final Chapter: Big in Japan”
I run as fast as I can, but the North Koreans are closing in. The saving goal seems impossibly far away. The government van is blasting military music at my heels. Finally, I admit defeat. I step to the side of the road and let the leading Marathon runners pass before continuing my crawl towards the finish at Kim Il Sung Stadium.Here is the story of running a half marathon in Pyongyang.
First sunlight sweeps across the barren plains and paints thousands of pagodas in a golden color. The basket of our balloon gently lifts of the ground and we drift into the dawn. Some claim that Myanmar is the land of perfect sunrises and sunsets. This may be true for all we know. We have enjoyed the must stunning dis-/appearances of our sunwhile we traveled this beautiful but also incredibly poor country. Here is our story.
Continue reading “The NBA Part 3 – Exploring Myanmar, the Land of Pagodas and Sunsets”
90 nautical miles west of the burmese shore, one lonely boat drifts on the open sea. Daylight breaks. Then sounds the battle cry “Diving! Diving!”. We laid anchor on the Burma banks, a largely unexplored diving paradise. The sharks await us below. We could not be more excited. These are the adventures of the dive boat Smiling seahorse with the mission to dive where no diver dove before…
Five nights in Bangkok on the Chao Phraya, the river of Kings. We have lived as such, slept as such and dined as such. “This place has a Michelin star but the food is only so so. That place is much better” is proclaimed on ever street corner. We have eaten in the darkes alley and on the highest tower (?). We have completed the tempel run in less than 12 parsecs. Here is to the start of our NBA.
Continue reading “The NBA (next big adventure) Part 1: Bangkok”
At sunrise we find a large pile fresh dung, only 5m from our tents. While we pack, we keep an eye out. Then we see it; a Kamchatka brown bear on the opposite river bank. The bear starts to fish, at the spot where we caught two trouts last night. As if we are not there, the bear crosses to our camp’s shore. As we enter our rafts, the curious bear is less the 5 meters from our camp. Continue reading “Bears and Volcanos of Kamchatka”
Our sled glides over enless snow-covered rivers underneath the wide Mongolian sky. The only sound is the panting of our 12 sled dogs. The high sun lets the thermometer climb to -20°C. Suddenly, with a bang, the ice gives away and our sled tumbling into the river below. We get back on our feet in the shallow riverbed and quickly climb out of the water. Within seconds, our drenched clothes freeze solid. Luck for us, as not only is the ice a good insulator but also the next Ger with a warm fire is an hour ride by dogsled and Russian army jeep away. Finally, we reach the Ger and painfully defrost our toes. Continue reading “Winter in Mongolia – a dog sledding adventure”
The annual Rotary Convention was held in Seoul, this year. This gave us a good excuse to visit the city (as it turns out, none of the other Rotarians from Shanghai had been to Seoul before, despite frequently traveling via Incheon Airport). Continue reading “Seoul – Rotary Convention”
It all started with an article in a German magazine on the developing tourism in North Korea that I read in early January. The article made me realize that it is actually possible to travel to this closed of country Only 4 weeks later, we boarded a plane to Pyongyang (see our departure pictures here). We spent 8 days traveling North Korea on what was truly lifetime experiences. Here is our story. Continue reading “North Korea – The full story”
We just arrived in Bejing on our flight back from Pyongyang and we are well.
Full report will follow later.
Events to be reported include dancing into the new lunar year with the locals on Kim Il Sung Square, flying with a helicopter over Pyongyang, dog meat delicassies, shooting a russion pistol and me passing out on the flight out of Pyongyang.
Stay tuned.