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Surfing in Ecuador
Montañita
Montañita
I see vast desolated areas and complete desert. This is a coast of Ecuador. I
get to know a few fishermen and observe how an everyday life looks like in a
fishing town Manta. I spend the afternoon in a bar trying to understand a bunch of drunk Ecuadorians
and it is not easy.
I encounter a peaceful beach of Santa Marianita a bit out of town, but in
fact, the best is yet to come. A small tourist village Montañita
is at first glance an idyllic and a bit calmer variety of Lao town Vang Vieng,
arguably the craziest town on the planet.
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An island break
A new day comes to Ko Samet island, Thailand
A new day comes to Ko Samet
Tired of Bangkok I decide to take a short break on the island of Ko Samet. It
is the last chance to grasp a bit of summer before returning to Europe. Soon I
realize that I am at a certain front line. This is the island on which the
constant tug-of-war takes place. It is still unsettled between
the defenseless, untouched nature and the cruel and relentlessly progressing mass tourism.
The new investments are taking increasingly more areas of natural beauty.
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Vang Vieng
In the Tubing, Vang Vieng, Laos
In the Tubing, Vang Vieng, Laos
The New Zealand Herald
wrote, "If teenagers ruled the world, it might
resemble Vang Vieng". I cannot think of a more accurate phrase to
put it short. Vang Vieng used to be a calm,
picturesque Lao village situated on the Nam Song river. Some distant limestone peaks
fade away gently
behind the river in ever denser fog, while those located just nearby set
unique ambience. Western tourists
long ago realized Vang Vieng has some potential, thus contributed to gradually transforming
it into the ultimate manifestation of freedom and craziness.
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Cross-country craze
Cross-country skis will get you anywhere you want
Cross-country skis will get you anywhere you want
I bet I have traveled
much more on cross-country skis than the combined distance covered by car,
train, bike and on my feet during a nearly five-month long Norwegian winter. Cross-country skis or langrenn (in
Norwegian) is undoubtedly the pride and
the national sport here. Locals are born in a sleigh pulled by a skier (pulk,
in Norwegian) and aged two to three already take their first steps on skis. The last ten years I
have lived in the belief that when it comes to winter sports
it's all about snowboarding. This winter is about to change my point of view.
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Longboard BCN
Barcelona is a longboarder's paradise
Barcelona is a longboarder's paradise
Last time I visited Barcelona I made a mistake and didn't bring my longboard
along. This time I finally got a chance to fix it. Now, my only concern is to park
the yellow car in the center. This is not trivial issue, because by definition,
you can't move by car in Barcelona. Why all the pedestrians, cyclists and
scooters appear out of nowhere to block the only narrow one-way street available?
Here you can not turn, there is no space left and hence no turning back. I am
forced to head the opposite, completely wrong direction. Forget about moving by
car. In the end with a speck of good luck I find a place right on the beach. I plan not to move
an inch for a few days. This is the time for longboarding.
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X-Games 13
Stylish Lazy Boy
Stylish Lazy Boy
On Saturday, August 8 2007 is the X-Games 13 competition. This is the most prestigious
extreme sports event in the world. Being able to see the X-Games means for me the same as
it would be to watch live the final of the World Cup for football fans. X-Games
has an unique atmosphere. This year players perform a lot of new tricks, not
seen before in official competitions. I'm especially interested in vert skateboarding, BMX
and motocross (held here in three different categories, that is Supermoto, Moto-X racing and
of course Frestyle Motocross).
Shaun White is running wild on halfpipe. He performs faultlessly tricks that can
be done by just a few more other people in the world. Even four year old kids
know Shaun. One boy notices a guy wearing green t-shirt and asks his dad, Daaadddy
... is that Shaun?
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Rollercoaster accelerating to 200 km/h in 3.4 seconds
Kindga Ka, the fastest rollercoaster in the world
Six Flags amusement park, New Jersey. Two hour bus drive from New York. The main attraction is
Kingda Ka, the recently opened rollercoaster. Application of the same mechanisms
as those used to accelerate the fighter jet planes off the aircraft carriers (with limited runway length) succeeded in creating ultra
fast and extraordinarily performing rollercoaster.
Fully-loaded rollercoaster accelerates on a horizontal section to 204 km an
hour in as little as 3.4 seconds. The speed gives enough momentum for the
rollercoaster to ascend vertically to a height of 120 meters and then use the gravity to slide down
in a corkscrew path. These achievements made the rollercoaster in 2005 to be
officially considered as the fastest and highest in the world .
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Experiences 
