Welcome to the Danger Zone

Welcome ... to the other side ! (Foto taken in Bhutan, the gross happiness dictatorship) - "The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever." Anatole France - Prepare for some really special places ... (Here: Bosaso, the pirate headquarter in Puntland, Somalia, 2017) …

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At the Babylon Hotel in Baghdad

There is a giant Ishtar Gate at the entrance to the Babylon Hotel in Baghdad. The original was built by King Nebukhadnezzar around 575 BC in ancient Babylon. The remains of the original are today at the Pergamon Museum Berlin. Other names for Ishtar are Astarte or Aphrodite or Isis (!). The Babylon Hotel is …

Mleeta – the Hezbollah Stronghold in Lebanon

Visit to Mleeta in Lebanon Arrival scene at Beirut Airport The (pre-) Roman temple of Baalbek is Lebanon's most famous attraction Few visitors know about Mleeta - the Hezbollah's stronghold sitting high on a mountaintop in Lebanon's South in defence against Israeli attacks. The mountain dug out was not detected by Israel until after the …

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 had …

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, …

Tarawa Battle for the South Pacific (Country Collecting)

The Battle of Tarawa (9. -10. December 1941) was a fierce battle between the attacking US-Americans and the defending Japanese, just 2 days after the Pearl Harbour incident (but 4.000 km away ...), where US bombardments killed as many as 750 innocent Tarawa islander civilians, 90% of the Korean forced laborers (1.071) and 99.9% of …

Best airport stopover: Ololo Lodge in Nairobi National Park

  I'm surprised that Air Kenya does not market this world-unique opportunity at all, despite the graphic displays at Nairobi Airport. Ololo Lodge's friendly driver Sylvester picked me up punctually and in true Safari style at the airport gate. As usual in Nairobbery he couldn't keep such a beautiful car for long ... The drive …

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 …

Roadtrip Russia (5) Road of Bones in Winter at -62°C

14.02.2013   Russia's M56: "Highway from Hell" and "Road of Bones" 4.200 km through the "Pole of Cold" ... 3 days and nights ... nonstop driving with temperatures never warmer than -30 °C ... ... even below -50° C for 2.000 km !!! (like on planet Mars) It was also the coldest winter in Russia …

Aid Drive to Dadaab, the Somali Refugee Camps

World's largest refugee camp 10.08.2011   We flew to Mombasa with private cash donations and stocks of medical equipment, destined for the drought struck refugee area of Dadaab. In a rented Toyota RAV4 we drove via Malindi and Lamu to Garissa in North-Eastern Kenya. The area is 95% Somali inhabited and looks and feels totally …

Blitz Trip to Benghazi (Arab Spring)

We were probably the first "tourists" in this newly emerging Libyan capital 23.06.2011 Two Players in the Conflict Country <---> ==> Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Leader of the "Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" since 1969 vs. Mustafa Abdul Jalil of the "Transitional National Council" leading the new "Libyan Republic" since 2011 (Source: Wikipedia) - Benghazi …

Chechnya, Ingushetia, etc

... North Ossetia-Alania, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachai-Cherkessia, Stavropol, Adygeya, Krasnodar, Abkhazia 24.04.2011 Early 2010. Invited by President Ramzan Kadirov. Flew Moscow to Grozny in Yak 40 by Grozny Avia. Very friendly reception. Totally rebuilt from war devastation. On the way to becoming a modern UAE-style emirate. Impressive leadership. Unique Nakh culture. Very macho. Many Rambos carrying big …

The UN-easy Way: Jeddah (Saudi) to Juba (South Sudan)

A rough overland drive of 4.000km - plus an UN-easy missionary flight - to attend the birth of a new nation: South Sudan 14.01.2011 - 25.01.2011 Our route: Saudi-Arabia View over Riyadh from Prince Al Waleed's Kingdom Tower The perfect GLOBE cigar lounge in the 31st floor of Al Faisaliyah Tower in Riyadh - Heavy …

Meeting: Juliane Koepcke, Sole Survivor LANSA 508 Jungle Crash

I met with Juliane Koepcke (64) at the Bayerische Zoologische Staatssammlung in Munich. Definitely the most amazing life story I ever heard of! Juliane Koepcke, is a German mammalogist. As a teenager in 1971, Koepcke was the lone survivor of the LANSA Flight 508 plane crash, and then survived 11 days alone in the Amazon …

Frozen Italian Eye Candy in Eritrea

... with a shot of Cuba Libre ! A huge painting in the lobby of the Asmara Palace Hotel demonstrates modern Eritreans' long fight for freedom - from Ethiopia - and their affinity with communist Cuba. The EPLF fighters famously wore sandals which even received a 5 meter high monument at Shida (Sandal) Square. Now …

San Clemente Palace, Venice

The best hotel in Venice, owned by my dear friend Selim 01.08.2018 Venice, one of my 3 favourite cities in the world, together with Istanbul and Udaipur The eternal beauty Unfortunately so crowded with mass tourism these days Taking the boat to the private island of San Clemente Palace, a Kempinski Hotel A private shuttle …

Hotel Pragser Wildsee

01.08.2018 Pragser Wildsee (or Lago di Braies in Italian) is one of the most beautiful lakes in the Alps, however it is not so easy to reach. The Pragser Lake & Mountains are located in South Tyrol, in the Dolomites around the Pustertal Valley, between Bruneck and Cortina d'Ampezzo, close to the Austrian Border. South …