Emoliente
Emoliente street vendor
Emoliente street vendor
A stranger on a street energetically removes pulp of a plant
resembling aloe. His swift and graceful hands adds some mysterious extracts
from bottles arranged in a row. Then he scoops a cup of hot herbal brew out of a
massive pot and starts blending all the ingredients with a spoon.
Yet still the drink has to reach a desired consistency. This is done by pouring
the content from one cup to another many times. The more spectacular way the
better. In the end, with a smile on his face he hands me a glass filled with a
light-brown liquid of thick consistency. In fact it is quite unique drink. It
is called emoliente.
|
|
Read more...
|
Guinea pig
Peruvian cuisine
Peruvian cuisine
Once in the Peruvian province of Amazonas I decided to look for
traditional Peruvian cuisine . Half-intentionally half-accidentally I find a restaurant
called Sabores del Peru in the town of Chachapoyas.
A welcoming chef and the restaurant owner
Señora Violeta invites me and my friend
Camille to her kitchen. We are able to take a close look at how a guinea pig
is prepared.
While I would discourage sensitive people or vegetarians to continue, on the
other side, all sort of exotic culinary journeys enthusiasts
are welcome to proceed with the article. Today as a main
course our chef recommends "Cuy borracho en salsa de nogal", which
directly translating means "Drunk guinea pig in a walnut sauce".
|
|
Read more...
|
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.
|
|
Read more...
|
A white city in Colombia
A girl dancing on a street, Popayan
A girl dancing on a street, Popayan
Popayan is a small town perfectly capturing the atmosphere
of Colombian province. The mild climate has attracted merchants and sugar cane plantation owners, who settled here looking for a quiet place
away from overpopulated and sweltering Cali. The city started to develop in sixteenth century and has maintained its unique colonial character
up to date. A major landmark is a square called
Parque Caldas and from there on you can get nearly everywhere else on foot.
|
|
Read more...
|
Pablo Escobar and his empire
Escobar had the biggest private zoo in the world
Escobar had the biggest private zoo in the world
The head of the world's biggest cocaine cartel in Medellin, a local patriot
and philanthropist, but also a ruthless criminal. This is Pablo Escobar, a drug baron, who
publicly sentenced to death politicians having
intentions to curb his power. He always kept his word and often
personally killed inconvenient individuals. He even caused a plane crash
with over a hundred victims on board just to get rid of one particular person.
The cartel carried out numerous bombings and a series of armed operations.
I visit Hacienda Napoles, a 20 square kilometers private property of Escobar
to find out more about this legendary man.
|
|
Read more...
|
Venezuelan cuisine
Arepa and perrico
Arepa and perrico
I take a look at Venezuelan cuisine and do my best to experience it. Luckily
most of the time I stay with people who are natural-born enthusiasts and experts
in
this field. Altogether including some extra street culinary experiences, I would
like to present a sample menu. It is a list of things that every
hungry or thirsty traveler will sooner or later come across while visiting Venezuela.
|
|
Read more...
|
A glimpse of Venezuela
U.S. made school bus
U.S. made school bus
A small Caribbean Airlines plane quickly gains altitude. Shortly after the
takeoff it performs a rapid turnaround in a surprisingly limited space. Twenty minutes
after leaving
Trinidad I notice scattered islands, green hills and large, two or three thousand meters
high peaks
on mainland South America. These are the remote territories of north-eastern Venezuela.
|
|
Read more...
|
Into the Wild
Mountains reflected in Store Skålbrekkvatnet
Mountains reflected in Store Skålbrekkvatnet
Preparing for the next trip, in rush, again. I have just a couple of days
left to take care of some remaining stuff before heading north. This time I am going
nearly straight from Israeli desert to far north of Norway. It takes about 3000
km get to
northern coast of Scandinavia. Every night is getting colder,
days are getting longer, the nature becomes wilder and traces of the civilization
are barely visible. Passing through Sweden, the lakes are covered with floes and entering into Finland,
the lakes are already completely frozen. Green grass
becomes yellow and that one is gradually covered with snow. Horses, cows and
deer have long ago turned into
reindeers, elk, foxes and snow-white rabbits, completely invisible on early May
snow. The journey north is indeed a journey in time.
|
|
Read more...
|
Winter season in Austria
Waiting in clouds to see the next thing life brings
Waiting in clouds to see the next thing life brings
The idea to spend a whole winter season in Austria has always been on my mind.
One day I found a way to make it happen. I got a job in Bad Hofgastein,
an alpine village located nearby Saltzburg. Snowboarding, skiing, high mountains,
an
idyllic
town, tourists, lots of snow, Schnapps and Austrian beer, all
these suggest it is going to be a great time.
I pack all my winter sports equipment, start my car and head south to start this winter adventure. As it turns
out quickly, being
a snowboard instructor in Austria is a job, which doesn't have many other rivals
to complete in terms of quality of life and mixing business
with undisputed pleasure.
|
|
Read more...
|
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.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
|
Experiences
