Indonesia
Majestic Mount Rinjani in a day
By 4AM I had already left the “basecamp village” Senaru and was walking through the rainforest. Strong smells and strange noises surrounded me as I made my way up a seemingly never ending mountain in the dark. It gradually got lighter, the sun rose, and I was still in the […]
Gili Meno – an underwater wonderland
On my way to the Rinjani volcano I spontaneously decided to spend a couple of days on the tiny island Gili Meno, right off the coast of Lombok. It took less than half an hour on a small boat to get to this touristy yet quiet island that is so […]
The Death Cult of Tana Toraja
In the center of Sulawesi lies a region called Tana Toraja. Villages and settlements are hidden away in green rolling hills, connected only by winding roads that follow high ridges or cut through valleys of lush rain forest. Muddy tracks lead off these roads, to access an amazing patchwork of […]
The Togian Islands – My Paradise
The Lonely Planet claims that getting to the Togeans is difficult, but leaving this archipelago is even more difficult. And it is true: These islands are a secluded paradise, located in the middle of the giant lagune formed by the awkward half island that protrudes from the north of Sulawesi. […]
In Palu for the total solar eclipse
Only a week before the solar eclipse I found out about it. As these things don’t happen often, and mostly far away, I did not think for too long, but changed my travel plans to incorporate Sulawesi, to see the total solar eclipse. On the evening of March 8 (one […]
Blue Flames at Lake Ijen
From Cemero Lawang one can make it to Sempol (the “base camp” for trekking to the Ijen Crater) in one day, if one figures out public transport correctly. But since the bus driver of the public bus down to Probolinggo refused to leave before the bus was full it got […]
Indonesia’s Volcano Panorama at Mount Bromo
One night on a crowded train brought me from Yogyakarta to Malang. From there I took a minibus and later an ojek (motorbike taxi) up a steep mountain road and told the driver to drop me off at a certain intersection. From there I would have continued to Ranupani, the […]
Yogyakarta and Borobodur
Like every good tourist who comes to Java I went to Yogyakarta (short Yogya) which is said to be the cultural capital of this island nation. Yogya itself is an autonomous region, where the Sultan who lives in his palace (the Kraton) in the city center apparently has much more […]
10-Day Meditation Course
Numerous people had told me about the Vipassana technique; The first time I heard about it from a fellow traveler in Hong Kong, later several people in Thailand recommended it to me. Since then I had tried to attend a course at one of the numerous meditation centers in Thailand […]
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