Experiences
Limestone caves around Hpa-an (Myanmar)
It’s another extremely hot morning. You are sweating terribly just from the process of eating breakfast at 7.30. We plan to spend the day on exploring the area around Hpa-an using wrecked but still running relatively strong scooters. These are remote areas characterized by limestone mountains and caves. It’s easy to get lost in the…
Read MoreMawlamyine and the Ogre Island
We arrive to Mawlamyine at six in the morning and to our surprise it is not too early for a very early check-in. Courtesy of Breeze Guest House. Without wasting time, we set off on scooters to explore the area around. The everyday life of the town’s inhabitants concentrates around the market, bustling with retailers…
Read MoreLand crossing into Myanmar
The overland travel to Myanmar, former Burma, had crossed my mind long time ago when visited Southeast Asia for the first time. Even though some of the Burmese land borders began to open already few years ago, the south of the country remained largely isolated from the world until August 2013. Today one can “easily”…
Read MoreSerbia, Danube and bicycles
Let’s move south. Eurovelo 6 is a bike trail going from the Atlantic coast of France, following for some time Danube river, all the way to the Black Sea. Our goal is to cycle along the Serbian section of the this route, commonly known as EV6. We start from Baja, a Hungarian town nearby the…
Read MoreKenyan coast of the Indian Ocean
Finally Indian Ocean We made two thousand kilometers linking Lake Victoria and the Indian Ocean on our bicycles a few days before planned arrival. Now we can use some time to cycle around Diani Beach area, bathe, snorkel and watch sunrises over the ocean. Diani Beach coastline One day we visit Raptile Center, a private…
Read MoreKenyan bush, bicycles and elephants
Life ain’t easy in Taita Hills. It’s getting hotter. We have lost another 1000 meters of altitude. At the end of the day we are at about 750 meters above sea level. We make a stop ahead of Tsavo West National Park, colloquially known as The Man-eater National Park. As suggested by Richard Trillo, an…
Read MoreGoat in the Masai village
Kenyan side of Mt. Kilimanjaro We are heading towards Kilimanjaro along the road C102. Police officers at the roadside station ensure us that we are unlikely to come across dangerous animals at this time of a year. On the way we pass scattered tiny villages with inhabitants taking care of their cattle. It’s nearly the…
Read MoreThe Great Rift Valley
Headmaster and his desktop The newly built paved road stretches up and down and up and down and all over again for another 40 kilometers from town of Narok. At some point we turn into a narrow unpaved track. We stock up with roasted corn, mangoes and bananas at one of local markets. Up and…
Read MoreCycling through land of the Masai
Short break in a village Every day we learn more about African animals, their behavior and nature. We cycle through land of the Masai, yet most of the time it is a no man’s land. Observing the landscape I see only fleeing antelopes, warthogs lurking from the distance, zebras resting in the shade of a…
Read MoreMasai Mara, animals without borders
The Africa I always wanted to see A pink glow appears on the horizon at 6:30 in the morning. Some people living in recently visited villages assured us that if we keep cycling south at some point we would meet a lot of wild animals. We listen in disbelief, but they keep saying, yes, yes,…
Read MoreKenyan Plantations
Lone tree between tea Among Sugar Cane Our dirty and dusty road crosses through giant sugar cane plantations. Car traffic is minimal until late in the afternoon when tractors loaded with sugar cane pop up. Workers are bringing the hard day’s work harvest to one of a few sugar cane factories in the area. We…
Read MoreWestern Kenya and Teso tribe
House in Chamasiri village The border crossing between Lwakhakha, even though it doesn’t exist on many maps, as for African conditions is very easy one to cross. Leaving the border turmoil it quickly turns out that Western Province is a land of friendly and smiling people of Teso tribe. We cycle several extra kilometers and…
Read MoreBiking at the source of the Nile in Uganda
Biking at the source of the Nile in Uganda Cycling in Mabira Forest Reserve The outbound road from Kampala seems to be fairly enjoyable. The initial 65 km stretch takes to Mabira Forest Reserve. Sometime on the way I remember to buy antimalarial pills. In no particular village a pharmacist offers me 20 small green…
Read MoreRolex to start a day in Uganda
We pack ourselves at 6:30. It is yet before dawn, which in Uganda takes place at 7.00. I hear voices coming from street snacks vendors through dense twilight mist. The air is filled with smell of baked chapati, corn flour pancakes. One of the stands has a chalk inscription drew on a wooden plate “ROLEX…
Read MoreBreakfast in the City on the Seven Hills
I see millions of anonymous lights glittering far beyond the horizon. The urban landscape extends endlessly and floods both sides of the Bosporus Strait, a narrow passage of water connecting the Balkans and Asia Minor. This is how Istanbul has gained the status of the only city in the world located on two continents. Maşallah!…
Read MoreCubanacan, the island you don’t know
I exchange two hundred euros for peso cubano and I get two hefty handful of money, probably weighing about one kilo. In my mind there is a thought: Am I able to spend it during the next month? The two different currencies in circulation in Cuba is just one of countless, sometimes absurd, surprises waiting for…
Read MoreSomewhere in Corsica
Colors of Porto Kitesurfing and cycling. An unplanned trip to the GR20 wearing SPD shoes and sneakers. Wild pigs, while imposing havoc on the roads, their meat has gained notable recognition throughout the island and far beyond it. Nearly twenty kilometers uphill bicycle ride takes us from the sea level up to a thousand meters…
Read MoreThe quest for snow and reindeer
A walk along the coast Having spent the winter in South America I began to dream again about winter, a real one. By early March the snow in the Alps has already been gone. There was an alternative idea. Together with my friend Mati we loaded the yellow bus will all sorts of winter sports…
Read MoreRed wine, the best beef and yerba mate
Colorful Buenos Aires Every time I recall Argentina in my mind, I remember all warm and genuine people I met here. It brings back a lot of colorful and intense memories. It is a country where every single day begins with a few servings of yerba mate and in the morning it is impossible to…
Read MoreSipping tereré in Paraguay
Tereré on a hot day Gran Chaco is the second least accessible part of South America (preceded by the Amazon jungle). We pass this giant uninhabited area with a passenger and smuggling bus. The bus is definitely overloaded, there is a crowd in the aisle, lots of bags and boxes with unknown contents cramped all…
Read MoreTierra Caliente in Bolivia
Chatting by the table In the beginning I must admit that the last few weeks spent at over three thousand meters made me feel a bit tired. This feeling is accompanied by longing. I miss early morning sun which warms up my tent and wakes me up. I also miss these pleasant evenings, sitting outside…
Read MoreWork in hell
Sixteen-year-old miner in Potosí, Bolivia I have seen hell nearly five kilometers above the sea level. Working conditions and safety of Bolivian miners in Cerro de Potosí make it one of those places on our planet where loss of health is a direct consequence of commencing work. This is not an air-conditioned room, but 40…
Read MoreThe surreal world
A bus in the Bolivian wilderness I see an endless white space ahead, which unites with the blue sky, far at a distant horizon. After a while I find myself having forgotten that I am still on the same planet. In fact, I am in the middle of a giant salty desert. Delving into the…
Read MoreThe magic of Huayna Potosi (6088m)
Dreams come true Observing vast waters of Lake Titicaca, on that day the air seemed to be much clearer. I walked to the hotel terrace on the Isla del Sol, where I spent the last night and I looked ahead. Far away, almost on the horizon I saw the snow-capped peaks of Cordillera Real. Initially,…
Read MoreThe Death Road
World’s most dangerous road Camino de la Muerte ("The Death Road") is a notorious transportation route in the of Yungas region, going from La Paz (Bolivia’s capital) to the town of Coroico. This 61-kilometer long stretch initially rises up to La Cumbre pass at a height of about 4650 meters above sea level, then it…
Read MoreBackpacking through southern Peru
Laguna de Huacachina An altimeter goes crazy just as a seismograph would register an earthquake. Once again something blows my eardrums and a half-empty bottle of water in my backpack contracts itself. An overnight trip brings me back from a height of more than three thousand meters directly to the sea level. Backpacking through southern…
Read MoreEmoliente 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…
Read MoreGuinea pig for dinner
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 Seńora Violeta invites me and my friend Camille to her kitchen. We are able to…
Read MoreAmazonas in Peru
A resident of Tingo village The crowds go wild, there are fireworks (but more modest than in other parts of the world) and the loud music is coming from several different sources. The countdown begins: diez, nueve, ocho, … tres, dos, uno! New Year has just reached a Peruvian town of Mancora. We take off…
Read MoreNotes from Ecuador
The panorama of colorful Las Peńas and central Guayaquil Traveling through Ecuador I visit some interesting places. Guayaquil is a vibrant and modern city, which despite its size (its bus terminal could easily compete with many international airports in Europe) has a few nice spots captivating with ambience. One of which is Parque Seminario, a…
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