So, eventually on our last day, with the ring road eastwards-bound still blocked, we decided to hit up the big tourist trail – the Golden Circle. And we were stoked. Not so much by Gulfoss or Geysir, but by nature itself. Up there, a little further inland, with the mountains a lot closer, the …
With only as much as six fleeting hours of daylight per day and quite hostile conditions with strong arctic winds and freezing temperatures, road tripping in Iceland in winter is a challenge. Fortunately, the ring road was in good shape and we only got caught up in a blizzard once (this is an experience I …
Just what you do on a winter morning in Iceland. Get up at 9:00 a.m., leave the house by 9:30 a.m. when a faint yellow line on the horizon indicates the imminent sunrise, and start your hike by 10:00 a.m., being greeted by spectacular light. Hiking through vast lava fields, braving the strong winds, blown …
Roadtrippin’ – we left Reykjavik early in the morning (well, around 8 a.m. when it was still pitch-black dark) and made our way south towards Vík. Along the way, around 9:30 a.m. the sun slowly started to rise bathing the frozen landscape in a pinkish light. Driving was not easy, gales of 100 km/h …
Finally, a few pictures of our recent trip to Iceland. And obviously, I have to start with the quintessential – the very reason I have wanted to travel to Iceland since I’ve started horse riding some 20 years ago. The Icelandic horses. As a kid, I borrowed all the books from our local library that …
A few impressions of our trip to Tokyo. We only spent three days in the city which was hardly enough to cover the essentials. We were based in Shinjuku and could easily move around the city on the Yamanote line which is included in the JR Railpass. Shibuya and Harajuku are a short ride on …
Thanks to our Japan Rail Pass we could just hop on a Shinkansen in Kyoto in the morning and arrive in Hiroshima less than two hours later – albeit the 300 km distance. We were greeted with blue skies and hot temperatures. Hiroshima feels a lot smaller and greener than Kyoto or Osaka, the …
While Kyoto emanates old imperial charm, Osaka breathes big city life. When ascending to the top of Umeda Sky Building, one looks over a city that stretches out to the horizon. Rows and rows of multi-story houses, a few skyscrapers in between, all dissected by an ever-growing network of highways and train tracks. Very …
Upon arrival in Kyoto one is greeted by the big city vibe that is inherent to all Japanese metropolitan cities. However, once you cross the river into Gion, a part of town where traditions reign with the Geisha culture still active and an abundance of traditional wood houses and temples and shrines. Gion is home …
Once I got back from our two-week trip to Japan, I looked at a stash of 2500+ pictures (not to mention another 1000+ cell phone shots documenting snippets of the crazy Japanese lifestyle). Where to start? While I still don’t know how to tackle this almost insurmountable task, I decided to share a few iconic …