The 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…

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Backpacking 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…

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Amazonas 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…

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A glimpse of Venezuela

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…

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Tobago, the spirit of the Caribbean

Grocery store in Plymouth, Tobago Arrival to Tobago proved to be fairly simple. At first, I did not believe that my luggage would so easily find its way along an intricate route. I grab my backpack shortly after leaving the plane. The immigration officer asks, “Do you have a return ticket?”, my straightforward answer –…

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Into the Wild

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…

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Oasis 101 on Israeli desert

A perfect full moon night on 101 desert It is a real scorcher at the southern tip of Israel. A bath in the Red Sea is the last chance for refreshment. We set off north towards the Sea Dead. The visibility in a full moon night allows us to ride after dusk. We continue until…

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Israel on two wheels

Some places you get an idea that half of Israel is one huge firing area Instead of the promised sun and heat, it is heavy rain to greet us upon arrival. An immigration officer asks a few detailed questions, he stamps our passports and lets us in Israel. Our friend Ohn Debby picks us up…

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Hunting unexploded ordnance in Laos

UXO Lao team in field work Empty streets of Phonsavan resemble an abandoned arid town somewhere in the Middle East. Burning sun penetrates mysterious alleys. The vivid blue sky with occasional little clouds sets an interesting contrast with sandstone architecture. The silence is disturbed by 4×4 off-road cars, rickshaws and motorcyclists. I rent a motorbike…

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Two Laotian tribes

Hot springs to bathe and do the laundry, Muang Vieng Thong I still cherish a hope that an already delayed bus would take me to the east. Luckily it arrives. The journey starts in the early afternoon and lasts until darkness. I carefully observe changing scenery. Mountains, plateaus and valleys of this vast land are…

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A village in the north of Laos

A sticky rice basket is made of dried bamboo, or katip Two days in Luang Prabang is exactly two days more than enough. The main problem is the city is often perceived as the only point on a tourist map of Laos and honestly it is simply overrated. I appreciate the unique night market and…

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Lao motorcycle diaries

While the four guys came up to the fence, the fifth one hid behind a tree Bolaven Plateau is an area located at an altitude of 1000-1350 meters in southern Laos. The region is famous for its picturesque waterfalls. Making your way to the waterfalls you will pass little scattered villages inhabited by ethnic minority…

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Four thousand islands on Mekong

Islanders set off for fishing early in the morning, Si Phan Don The wild south of Laos is mainly empty gravel roads, sparsely populated villages and  fields of rice filling the floodplains of mighty river Mekong up to the horizon. Si Phan Don means in Lao 4000 islands. This is one of the main attractions…

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Ankor Wat and the Khmer Empire

Prah Khan temple, Angkor Wat The history of Cambodia dates back to 2000 years ago. The former Kingdom of Funan grew in power over the years to become the Khmer Empire in the ninth century. Many problems plagued the empire, but still it had been consistently gaining the importance in the region. It is also…

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A cup of Ethiopian coffee

A sensual ritual of preparing coffee I visit a tiny souvenir shop in Addis Ababa. Lemlem is roasting beige coffee beans on a clay hearth. Just within minutes the sun is overcast by dark clouds and an imminent intense rain sets all the shopkeepers to action. I help Lemlem and her sister to hide merchandise…

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Cycling through the Congo

Curious children looking through a window in a bar A red gravel road ahead heralds hundreds of kilometers pedaling into the Democratic Republic of Congo. For the next few days I expect to become absolutely detached from the outside world, with no mobile phones, no electricity, no running water and at most a few poorly…

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The Congo is falling apart

Transportation of barrels in the rural Congo The value of Congolese deposits of natural resources is estimated at over 20 trillion dollars. That is approximate equivalent of the entire U.S. housing market, or ten times the most recent financial crisis. The amount could be alternatively used to buy everyone on the planet a three packs…

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The Congo alongside Lake Tanganyika

Okako, an overloaded ship on Lake Tanganyika The road leads through the wetlands of tall grass, an ideal habitat for tsetse flies. Out bikes make it through holes and muddy puddles on the road. We reach the first border town of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Three kids, in exchange for three flour donuts, lead…

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One thousand hills on a bike

Mzungu among Rwandan kids Tired of a long journey we are looking for a bottle of cold beer. Searching through the mysterious alleys of Kigali all we find is a warm and tart banana wine. We still have to take a five-hour bus ride to Gisenyi, a town on the western end of Rwanda. It…

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When the temperature drops to minus 40 ºC

The temperature is approaching -40ºC Central Norway is the coldest place in Europe. Contrary to the apparent logic, moving further north you will find yourself within the range of warm Mexican current, which makes Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea never freeze. Therefore the air temperature has also relatively small fluctuation over the year. In Gålå…

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Surviving the Norwegian winter

Snowshoe walking I settle down the place where the sun sets at three in the afternoon, merely an hour later it gets completely dark. And so it is until nine in the morning. It’s hard to get used to the long shadows cast already early in the afternoon. The early December’s temperature of minus 20ºC…

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A loop around Poland

A loop around Poland Enchanting trails of Bieszczady mountains First, we pick the most interesting places of Poland and then decide to spend around one month to follow the loop inside our country. We do our best to keep a safe distance of a hundred kilometers from the capital, as in order to stay a…

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Arizona, Nevada and endless desert

Vegetation on the Mojave Desert Weather anomalies. Beautiful, wild and uninhibited nature. Scorching hot deserts. Strictly monochromatic scenery. People and surroundings born in the wild west. Arizona and Nevada. The two states, which despite the common border, currency and language are so much unlike California that it’s easier to talk about differences than similarities. We’ll…

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Feel California Summer

Surfers in Huntington Beach Sometimes all you need is a good place to rest and spend some time with not much of wandering around. California sounds perfect. Now that I found a cheap flights the opportunity at fingertips. There remains only the task to find a good company for such a trip. In fact it…

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Elbrus, the Europe’s freeriding Mecca

Panorama of the Caucasus, view from Elbrus North Caucasus. Elbrus and Cheget are the two mountains, which slopes are covered with hundreds of thousands tones of fresh powder every year. Such snow conditions make it a true paradise for snowboarders. The trip itself to this place takes three and a half days. We take the…

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American Dream in New York City

Times Square by night This is my first trip to the USA. There are five of us to go. The trip will be both full of valuable experiences and shocking confrontations. Especially from the perspective of a person who previously lived in Europe only. New York is the most multicultural urban area in the world. …

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