Where the Ibex roam
I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Glecksteinhütte SAC high above Grindelwald. Besides the wonderful views of the Oberer Grindelwald Glacier and the extermely yummy apple pie, the hut is regularly visited by a herd of Ibex. They are attracted by the salt thrown onto the stones outside of the hut. This gave me […]
The Carribean North
Judging only from the pictures, one could think the beaches along New Zealand’s South Island northern coast are located in the Carribean. Fair weather, white sands and no soul around. The coast is dominated by the Farewell Spit, a protected, nearly 30km long spit of sand that creates the northern boundary of Golden Bay. One […]
The Wild Wet West
Driving over the Haast Pass we arrived at the West Coast. For several days we had to cope with very heavy rain, up to 20mm/h. The strong wind, the pouring rain and the dark clouds emphasized the roughness and in many parts the wilderness of this area. Though when the sun came through for some […]
The Southern Scenic Route
Making our way down the scenic East Coast of the South Island, we came upon an area that is a bit less travelled by tourists, the so called Southern Scenic Route. It runs from Dunedin along the cost through the Catlins National Park to Invercargill and then turning North, towards Te Anau and Queenstown. The […]
The east coast of New Zealand’s South Island
When it was the century-old ruins and colourful animals in Sri Lanka that fascinated us, it is New Zealand’s landscapes and scenic routes which took us in. The first highlight of our drive along the east coast was the Bank Peninsula. The smooth hills, the windy road, the blue sea and the lush green fields […]
Visiting Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa
Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage is fascinating. Its rich history goes back thousands of years and has gifted the island with countless ancient sites such as temples, palaces and gardens. We managed to visit two important places, the mountain fortress of Sigiriya and the sacred city of Polonnaruwa. Sigiriya was built in the middle of the […]
Visiting Gal Oya and Wilpattu National Parks
We originally decided to visit Sri Lanka because we watched a documentary on the flora and fauna of the island and were astonished by the variety of wildlife inhabiting this comparatively small place on earth. This of course meant that we planned a number of days on safari in two of the numerous national parks. […]
Origin of the Ceylon Tea
After the hot and humid days on the west-coast, the cool and fresh air in the highlands of Sri Lanka was lovely. The drive from sea level on an altitude of around 1800m took us from forests of palm trees and rice paddy fields to huge tea plantations and waterfalls. On our way, we visited […]
Sri Lanka today
We a rrived in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka and enjoyed a few days in Negombo, a town on the beach north from Colombo. First, the calm and organized traffic surprised us. Sri Lankan people (except the private & public bus drivers who tend to race each other) drive very correctly and according to […]
An unforgettable beauty
The Nepali city life is definitely something to get used to when you arrive from the quietness of the mountains. Already in Pokhara we were astonished about the number of vehicles on the road, people walking, sitting, standing in every corner and shop after shop after shop, but it seemed to be double the chaos […]