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 …

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 …

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 …

Along the ISIS frontline – from Grozny via Erbil to Kobane

05.11.2014 After attending the Extreme Traveler International Congress in Grozny, we decided to drive back home "the hard way" and to learn something about current affairs on the road via Georgia - Armenia - Karabakh - Iran - Iraq - Turkey (incl. Kobane, Kilis and Iskenderun / Ceyhan). Road Map ETIC (click for info) Start …

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 …

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 …

ETIC – Principality of Sealand

On the occasion of the 7th ETIC - Extreme Traveler International Congress, an exclusive group of 25 of the world's most extreme travelers flew in, all the way from Japan, Thailand, Russia, the USA and Europe ... ... to meet at The Pier Hotel in Harwich - and to travel onward to one of the …