Dark Tourist or Bright Traveler ?

Welcome ... to the other side ! (Foto taken in Bhutan, the gross happiness dictatorship) - "Dark Tourist" is a deliberate propaganda word, to discredit those brighter travelers who refuse to be programmed by television and take an effort to see reality for themselves. "Dark Tourists" go to Miami, Mallorca, or the Military. Bright tourists …

Hosted in the FARC mountains: Marquetalia, Colombia

The Colombian mountain territory of Marquetalia was declared an autonomous republic by the "Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia", or FARC, in 1948. FARC co-founder Jacobo Arenas (pictured right), surviving the government invasion of Marquetalia, wrote a book called "Diario de la resistencia de Marquetalia" ("Marquetalia Diary") in 1972. FARC founder Manuel Marulanda "Tirofijo" is pictured …

Aleppo (Syria): perfidious ISIS-Battlefield, secret NATO-Bunker, destroyed Grand Bazaar + famous Baron Hotel

We want you to come to Syria - in peace ! Because of the Western sanctions, there are currently only 3 international flights to Damascus (from Baghdad, Moscow and Tehran), so most foreign visitors, journalists or NGO staff enter Syria overland from the Lebanese border, pictured here. After a night drive of 2.5 hours, directly …

Krim: Night Wolves Bike Show + Donbass: Separatist Café

  Our travel team of 4 German friends was invited to meet Alexander Saldostanov ("Chirurg") and his Night Wolves ... at their famous Bike Show near Sevastopol on Mount Gasforta. Nochni Volki = Night Wolves. - This video shows what we had to expect (in German). This is what the UK Foreign Office travel warning …

The ultimate “Gentleman Adventurer” trip: to all 3 Somalias

PG 18: Don't try this at home. You'll miss your flight. - A bit of romantic music? - Oh man The mysterious Mr. Masel Tov called and made the Gentleman Adventurer a generous offer he couldn't resist: a trip to the world's most dangerous country Somalia in private-jet comfort and with professional protection. From Oman …

Hot chicks, cold noodles and a rocket haircut in North Korea

Even after the US embargo forbidding it's own citizens from travelling to North Korea, there are currently three travel agencies that offer entry to North Korea: Koryo Group, Juche Tours and Young Pioneer Tours. Booking and visa procedures are simple. Entry is either by daily plane from Beijing, or two planes a week from Vladivostok, …

Road to Anabar. World’s Northernmost Dead-End !

Putin' on the Rocks. An epic ice-road-trip. Across Yakutia. To the top of the world. And the end of the road. @72°49'NORTH. 10.03.2016 -45 °C Three Lads and a Lada ... ... on the Road to Anabar. World's northernmost road end. "Holiday on ice": drove 4.000 km on official roads from Lake Baikal (Irkutsk) to …

Manpupuner – at the Europe-Asia Border high in the Urals

01.04.2015     We rented a VW Tiguan 4x4 from Avis at Moscow Domodedovo Airport and drove on a slightly northern route 3.000 km towards the Ural ... ... crossing from the European to the Asian continent at this monument between Perm and Ivdel. The end of the road, Vizhay, is a ghost town, ever …

North Pole (via Ice Camp Barneo)

12.04.2014 -30 °C - Ice Camp Barneo - - Each year in April, the Russian Geographical Society builds a spectacular tent camp for scientists, explorers and tourists. The Logistical effort to build Barneo is fascinating. They called it Barneo, because, ahem, well, it is not Borneo ! 🙂 Take off from Spitsbergen, Norway on an …

Inside Varosha Ghost Town + Louroujina Pocket + Kokkina Exclave, on the Atilla Line, Turkish Cyprus

The 180km long United Nations Buffer Zone aka Atilla Line or Green Line divides Cyprus (Source: http://www.militaryhistories.co.uk and own) There are 330.000 ethnic Turks living in the unrecognised "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus", and 1.300.000 ethnic Greek living in the UN-recognised Greek "Republic of Cyprus" in the South. After being predominantly Greek or Byzantian since …

Raid on Rockall

After our daring visit to the Pirates in Puntland, Mr. Masel Tov called again. His latest mission impossible: a Raid on Rockall. This lonely rock in the middle of the North Atlantic ... ... is claimed by Britain since 1955, and incorporated into Scotland since 1972. Illegally - because international law doesn't allow the appropriation …

The Masonic Hotel + Museum + Cigar Bar in Loket, Bohemia (“Montenegro” in Casino Royale)

Loket (formerly called "Elbogen" in German, which translates as "elbow" in both languages) is one of the most pictoresque medieval towns in Europe, in the Bohemian part of today's Czech Republic. Loket and its gothic castle stand high above a bend (elbow) in the river Ohre ... and stood in as film location for "Montenegro" …

7 Days, 7 Continents, 7 Marathons

Thanks to my dear friend Richard Donovan, the ultra endurance runner and extreme event organiser from Ireland, I was able to witness his World Marathon Challenge first hand, without having to run: 7 days, 7 continents, 7 marathons With more than 40 participants from a dozen countries. Foto taken at the start in Capetown. https://vimeo.com/375248997 …

Neu-Schwabenland, Antarctica

Welcome to ... Mysterious Antarctica! Few have ever heard of Queen Maud Land (or Dronning Maud Land in Norwegian), but even fewer of New Swabia (or Neu-Schwabenland in German). Go figure why ... Capetown Airport (South Africa) is one of the two main entry points to the white continent, together with Punta Arenas (Chile). After …

Red Bull Hangar 7 in Salzburg

... been here so many times, finally found the energy for a well deserved blog entry:   Hangar 7 is Didi Mateschitz' daring collection of big boys toys and tickles for culinary tongues, a private hangar at Salzburg's W. A. Mozart Airport, right off the highway border with Germany, at the bottom of mythical Untersberg, …

A Traveller de luxe at Ernst Jünger’s house in Swabia

Under the spell of Jünger's private collection of literature, travel memorabilia and personally delivered bulletholes to the helmet of English soldiers (WW1).   Ernst Jünger (1895-1998) is arguably Germany's most unerring writer, he was definitely the most manly, and - attaining age 102 - he was certainly the bravest. I became attracted to Jünger's lonely …

Who is a sophisticated traveler?

The meaning of "sophistication" has its ancient roots in Greek: sophia = wisdom. In the days of classical beauty, wisdom was inherently linked to aesthetics, defined by rational order and harmonious proportions. This was in stark contrast to later medieval gothics (brought by Barbarians) or modern shard deconstructivism (by another tribe from the East), which has found its extreme …