Fall was approaching quickly and with it typical rainy weather in Switzerland. Time to escape for a little to somewhere nice and warm. I usually manage to make a compelling case with my wife to go somewhere far away and exotic at this time of year. Somehow that did not...
I’ve been fascinated by places with an unusual colonial history, leading to a special mix of culture and architecture. Examples of this on the blog are the former German colony of Qingdao in China or Portuguese traces in Dili / East Timor. Italy never had many colonies. You could say...
Seen in Giza at the pyramids… I wonder whether it is an honor to be promoted to the Receiving Complaints Unit. I hope they do get their fair share of complaints about the handling of camels and horses near the pyramids.
Cairo. Around 20m people. One world’s largest cities and the largest in the Middle East. I’ve been wanting to visit this unique city for its rich history and finally managed to plan a trip. The political situation has been fragile and tourists numbers have dwindled, only to recently pick up...
After spontaneously changing my travel plans from Turkmenistan to Egypt, I found myself, around 12 hours after booking the flight, arriving at Alexandria’s swanky new Borg El Arab International Airport shortly before midnight. The very first impression was: lots (and I mean LOTS) of men in white uniforms. I was...
Ever since my trip to the “Stans” three years ago, I’ve been wanting to go back to that part of the world. Back then I did not get a visa in time for a visit to Turkmenistan, so that has remained on the bucket list. The chance presented itself head...
We visited Japan in March when it was still cold and grey back in Europe. Weather in Japan could have been better, could have been worse but I knew I wanted to play it safe an include a stop with guaranteed shorts and t-shirt weather. While looking for possible destinations,...
Hardly any first time (or second or third) time visitor skips Tokyo in their Japan itinerary. Not only because it is the main gateway to the county, the capital and a fascinating city of some 14 million people. But also because the city is so rich in history, culture and...
I guess no guide book to Japan is complete without a photo of Mount Fuji somewhere. The 3’776m high dormant volcano (last eruption was in the early 18th century) is often used as a symbol for Japan. Reason for us to add a stop to our itinerary. Not primarily for...
I guess no trip to Japan is complete without a visit to Kyoto, the former capital of Imperial Japan. I had been with some friends back in 2014 and did not necessarily have the urge to go back. But that view was not shared by everyone in the travel group,...