Travel stories from the World

Cycling from Amsterdam to Maastricht (route LF7)

2017-06-07T22:45:00.000+02:00

Amsterdam to Maastricht by bicycle
The Netherlands is a cycling paradise. Mainly because of the completely flat terrain, the Dutch are using the bicycle both as a recreation activity but also as the main means of every day transportation. Amsterdam, the capital is full of cyclists who go to their daily jobs almost exclusively by bicycle. The extensive and safe bicycle lane network also helps.

What is surprising, is that the same well maintained and comprehensive network exists all over the country. It is possible to cycle from any part of the country to any other part exclusively by bicycle and using multiple different routes!

Bicycle network

The way how this works is with a set of numbered points. Every stretch of cycling path starts and ends to a numbered point. Several paths may start and end to a point, similar to the screenshot to the right. So just by writing down the points of the planned route, one can easily travel anywhere.

On top of that, there is a network of 7 routes, all with their own labeling, for long distance routes. They are using the initials LF (ie. LF7) and the distances range from 165 to 1300km! One of those routes is the one we decided to follow and starts from Alkmaar (few km north of Amsterdam) all the way to Maastricht in the very south of the country.

Amsterdam to Maastricht by bicycle

Comprehensive signpost

We followed the route LF7a (LF7b is the other way around, Maastricht to Alkmaar) which is 385km in total. The part from Amsterdam to Maastricht following this route is 317km long and we completed it in 4 days. We did not have any special racing bikes, just normal city bikes so we took it easy, enjoying the countryside. The route can be easily completed in 3 days and with racing bike in 2 but then half of the fun of enjoying the Netherlands is lost. We found that a few signs were missing but in a route of 317km and a few thousand turns, it sounds almost normal. When feeling lost, we checked the map on the mobile phone and quickly found the correct way.

It is a beautiful way to experience the Netherlands. The route took us through places that no car can go and within 317km we could experience the changing Dutch landscape, both in terms or architecture and nature. The route is themed "Oeverlandroute" literally meaning River Bank route and the truth is that we crossed and were almost always next to rivers. It was quite fun crossing some of them by ferries and not so much fun missing the last ferry after a long day of cycling.

Along the river Vecht

Apart from the rivers, the route took us right through major Dutch cities like Utrecht, Den Bosch and Eindhoven but also beautiful tiny villages like Thorn in Limburg, Heusden in North Brabandt and Vreeland in Utrecht province. For the last part of the route, cycling next to river Maas, was almost exclusively in Belgium so we even got to cycle on a different country. And we also got to find some details of the Netherlands that go completely unnoticed, like some beach resort complete with beach bars, water activities, slides etc in Limburg or a village somewhere outside Eindhoven where transportation seemed to be done exclusively with Indian style tuc-tucs! We also used a ferry to cross one of the rivers that the ticket collector did not have enough time from one side to the other to sell all tickets so the captain technically delayed landing on the other side.. Many details like that made the trip a nice experience.

In Belgium!

At nights we stayed in beautiful B&B's of which the Netherlands is full of. And all of them come with parking facilities for bicycles! If you plan to follow that route, it is probably wise to book in advance so you are sure you will find a place to stay. Might be tricky during holidays in the Netherlands.

The experience was amazing and highly recommended. It is not as difficult as it may sound but having a good bicycle is essential. It does not have to be fast or anything, just reliable. The path is in excellent shape and very well maintained. Cafes, restaurants and super markets are in abundance along the way. A piece of advice if you plan to take the route is to take it easy and enjoy it. By planning to cycle around 80km per day, the route can be completed in 4 days which is a good enough pace. Oh, and also try to factor in the weather, which is almost impossible planning such a trip in advance. Still, be prepared for all kinds of weather at any season of the year :-)

Complete route as registered on a GPX file

Sources
Cycling in the Netherlands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_in_the_Netherlands
Long distance routes: http://www.hollandcyclingroutes.com/long-distance-cycle-routes/oeverlandroute

Visit to an authentic Dutch Windmill close to Amsterdam

2017-05-14T12:57:00.002+02:00

Windmills in Holland
The Netherlands, among others things, is famous for its windmills. They dot the flat landscape

"De Onrust" windmill

and harness the power of the almost endless winds that sweep the country. Dutch people have realized the power of the wind as early as the middle ages and have build powerful windmills for a wide variety of functions ranging from water draining to sawing wood and grinding. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and they have certain specificities for each region of the country.

Although some still in use, windmills today are mostly a tourist attraction. One of the most visited attraction in Holland is the famous Zaanse Schans, just north of Amsterdam which in 2015 received the highest number of tourists out of any other place in the Netherlands! Beautiful windmills can also be visited in the UNESCO World heritage sight of Kinderdijk, which is located around 2hr away from Amsterdam with public transportation.

De Onrust

Dutch bridge and windmill

One day in March, on our way to the Aviodrome airplane museum, and due to roadworks we were diverted through provincial roads. And along the way we found this beautiful windmill which we decided to check out. To our surprise, on the site was one of the volunteers who take care of it, named Thon.

As most windmills in the Netherlands, this one is named "De Onrust". It was built in 1809 to pump water out of the nearby lake called Naardermeer. It is still in use, doing the exact same job! It is impressive to note that to pump out 1cm of water the windmill needs to work for 14 hours straight!

As we were curious how a windmill works and Thon was very eager to show us around we had what it turned out to be more than 1hr tour. The whole windmill was just for us, without any other tourists ever showing up. We got to learned the detailed history but also a live demonstration of how it works. Thon showed us everything about how the windmill start and breaks, how the sails unfold, how to turn it to face the wind etc. Having visited many windmills in the Netherlands, this is the first time we got such a detailed explanation. And it was completely for free, although a donation box is available which of course we gave some money which will help preserve this lovely site.

How to visit De Onrust
The windmill is located around 20km from the center of Amsterdam. It is an easy car drive or for the

Location of "De Onrust"

more adventurous, it is reachable by bicycle through a well planned network of bicycle lanes (see in sources for a tool to help you plan your bicycle route). Also public transportation is available but it is a long journey so not recommended.

The exact coordinates, in case you want to plan your route are:
52.315106, 5.091774 or 52°18'54.4"N 5°05'30.4"E

Thon, our guide, who was both very enthusiast and also spoke perfect English, is there almost every Sunday from 11:00 till 16:00 or by appointment to this email: thonstof@gmail.com

"de Onrust" is well worth a visit and it is a much more authentic experience than the extremely touristy Zaanse Schans. If combined with a bicycle tour it makes a fascinating way to experience the Dutch countryside..

Enjoy!

Sources:

Zaanse Schans, the most visited attraction in the Netherlands in 2015: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/04/windmill-park-zaanse-schans-attracts-most-foreign-tourists/
Kinderdijk: https://www.kinderdijk.com/
Aviodrome airplane museum: https://www.aviodrome.nl/
Zaanse Schans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaanse_Schans
Dutch windmills database: https://molendatabase.nl/nederland/
Info about windmills (in Dutch): http://onserfgoed.eu/
Plan a bicycle route anywhere in the Netherlands: http://www.hollandcyclingroutes.com/online-cycle-route-planner

Trip to Belfast and N.Ireland

2017-04-23T14:16:00.001+02:00

Visit to N.Ireland
While growing up in Greece during the 80's I always remember listening to horrible stories about a war that was taking place in a distant land called N.Ireland. Being interested in international history, I was always keen on visiting. Recently, with the Brexit being a few years away, we thought it might be a good idea to visit now as in a few years time we might require a visa which will

Irish countryside

make travelling a far more complicated process. And so we did! In the Easter of 2017 we visited this much troubled part of the UK. Our base was Belfast and rented a car to explore as much as possible of the province. Of course we could not go everywhere but we visited few key places, as described below. One thing we noticed in almost every place we visited, is how well the two communities, -Republicans and Unionists- are separated. In almost every towns and village the Republicans hoist the Irish flag in their neighborhoods and the Unionists the British one. And, of course, colorful murals dot the areas most affected by the Troubles. N.Ireland is much more than the political past as the countryside is beautiful and full of rich history.

Bit of history

N.Ireland is one of the four counties of the island of Ireland, Ulster. The other three, that form the Republic of Ireland, are Leinster, Munster and Connacht. For many centuries the whole island was part of the United Kingdom. Irish tried many times to gain their independence but were all unsuccessful. Amidst the 1st world war, they succeeded and therefore in 1921 the island was split into the Republic

Peace wall in West Belfast. Notice the lonely tree without fence.

of Ireland and the northern part that remained part of the UK. In Ulster (what is now Northern Ireland), the British population (Protestants) was the majority and a large percentage of the was Irish (Catholics). The two communities seem to have lived in relatively peace for some years although Catholics never enjoyed the same status as the protestants did. This caused tensions to built up. Belfast, being the capital of Northern Ireland, was the only city on the island to experience the industrial revolution and it was prosperous (Titanic was build in the famous H&W shipyards of Belfast). Catholics benefited little from this prosperity as the majority of the jobs went to protestants. To make matters worse, in order to get a public paid job, one had to swear an oath to the Crown, which few Catholics were willing to do. This led to virtually no Catholics getting jobs as policemen, judges etc.

Mural in West Belfast.

During the 1960, the whole world was changing. From the civil rights movement in the US to the May '68 events in Paris. This did not leave N.Ireland unaffected. According to many historians, the first incident of The Troubles started with the UK elections of 1964. The Catholics (or republicans or nationalists) managed for the first time to elect an MP in Westminster, Gerry Fitt. The Protestants (or unionists or loyalists) did not like that which led to the first armed conflict in 1966 when members of the UVF attacked catholic areas of Belfast killing 2 Catholics and, accidentally, a protestant woman. The catholic people, influenced by Martin Luther King, staged their own civil rights movement, demanding equality, housing and jobs. The center of those movements was the city of Derry (or Londonderry) and of course Belfast.

Mural in loyalist area

The turning point was 1969, when serious rioting broke out in the Bogside area of Derry, the so called Battle of the Bogside. The rioting went on for 3 days and when it was apparent that local police could not handle the situation the British Army arrived on the island to take control. As weird as it may sound the republicans welcomed the army who thought would protected them from the aggressiveness of the unionists. Soon this changed as the army showed their real mighty. Amidst all that the IRA (Irish Republic Army) who had helped with the liberation of Ireland and had been defunct, become active again.

The next few years are marked with killings, bombings and atrocities from both the republican and unionist sides. The peak of The Troubles was 1972, when in a single year almost 500 people were killed, half of them innocent civilians. On a single day, Sunday 30 January 1972, the British Army opened fire to a peaceful march in Derry, killing 13 people. This event is known as Bloody Sunday.

The next highlight in the history of N.Ireland were the hunger strikes of 1981 resulting 10 dead

Bobby Sands

inmates, most notable Bobby Sands who was elected an MP in Westminster during the strike. Up until 1976 all IRA prisoners enjoyed a special status, similar to that of Prisoners of War (POW). After 1976 they were treated as common criminals, a status they wanted to be reverted. This is the reason that led them to start the hunger strike. The UK government, with Margaret Thatcher as a PM, at first did not satisfy those demands, but eventually gave in to all of them (the so called "Five Demands").

In the years between 1981 and 1998, violence continued and was even spread outside N.Ireland, mostly to the UK,

Republic of Ireland and Germany. In the meantime British and Irish government were trying to bring all sides on the same table and end what seemed like an endless cycle of death. The government of Tony Blair, managed to achieve that and the result was the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 which led to a multi-party government in N.Ireland and an agreement between UK and Ireland. Still today, among others, the agreement mentions that N.Ireland belongs to the UK until the majority of it's citizens want to unite with the Republic of Ireland. Only then, the UK government will facilitate the reunification process.

Mural in Derry

In all, the violence caused throughout the years of the Troubles left almost 3500 dead and more than 45000 injured, many innocent civilians from both sides. Since the Good Friday agreement, peace has been established and the communities are working together for a better future.

Most recently, and with the Brexit closing in, questions of what is going to happen with the border or the status of the Irish citizens have emerged which might destabilize the region again. Few people I spoke with, told me that no one knows what is going to happen. One thing I read is that the EU gives more money to N.Ireland for development than the UK government does Also the region receives the second largest amount of EU funding in terms of percentage of regional GDP behind Scotland.

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of N.Ireland, the most populous city and the financial center. It is rich in tourist attractions, like the Titanic Quarter, the Ulster museum, the beautiful city Hall. Since we did not have enough days, we skipped all those and focused on the Troubles history of the city. To do that we joined one of the walking tours which took us to West Belfast, one of the areas most affected by the Troubles.

West Belfast

To our surprise, there is still a huge fence separating the two communities, republicans and nationalists which is called Peace wall. It is very sad to see but this is the living history. We walked in both communities and watched the murals, some of which were too aggressive. One went as far as displaying burned bodies and comparing ISIS with Sinn Fein, one of the parties that rules N.Ireland. There was much blood and hate in the past but moving forward, those things need to be forgotten. Some parts of the fence were open but with massive gates and a buffer zone, that close every night or when there are tensions. In the buffer zone, companies operate where people of both communities can work together. The government plans to remove all fences completely by 2023.

Our walk ended in the city center which is pretty much like every other European city center, with lovely shops,

Beautiful wall painting in Belfast

restaurants and pubs. According to our guide, this is the place that the communities come together, if only they are convinced to leave their suburbs.

One thing also surprised us was that we came across one of the so called Orange marches.

Orange march in Belfast

These are walks by Protestants commemorating the battle of Boyne in 1690, when King William III (of Orange) defeated King James II and made Ireland part of the UK. Those marches built up on the 12th of July and are much hated by the Republicans. On that day, nothing happened but they marchers where guarded by heavy police force.

There is a lot of redevelopment going on in Belfast but still the past is difficult to forget.

Giant's Causeway

Giant's Causeway is the only UNESCO World heritage site in N.Ireland. It is almost an hour drive

Giant's Causeway

from Belfast and a very beautiful site. It is a unique geological formation, on the cliffs of Ireland. We happen to visit on an extremely windy day which made even walking difficult. Around the cliffs few walking trails are available with a variety of difficulty levels. For those with walking disabilities there is even a shuttle bus. The views are amazing and if you happen to visit in good weather, it is well worth taking one of the longer hiking routes. Entrance to the Giant's Causeway is 10.5 pounds.

Derry

Famous mural in Derry

The Bogside, Derry

As mentioned in the history section above, Derry was one of the centers of the Troubles. Nowadays it looks like a peaceful town with the Catholic and Protestant communities still living separately. It is well worth visiting the Bogside where a number of beautiful murals remind of the troubled past. There are a number of walking tours available but as we arrived late in the day, we could not join any of them so we wondered alone. It is highly recommended that you join any of these as they are inexpensive (around 4pounds p.p.) and have a lot to give. Of course murals are also painted on the unionist neighborhoods too which are on the other side of the Bogside.

Derry is also famous for it's well preserved stone fortifications, which are the best in Europe! The city center, completely inside the fortifications, is very modern with lovely pubs and restaurants and good hotels.

Driving around Mourne mountains

Since we had a car, we decided to see some rural part of N.Ireland. One nice route is the coastal road around Mourne mountains, just south of Belfast. Dotted with beautiful villages and typical Irish nature, it made a pleasant drive. We started from the town of Warrenpoint, just on the border with Ireland and drove along the coast all the way to the Newcastle (apparently there are hundreds of Newcaslte's around the world, one of them in N.Ireland!). Undoubtedly, the most beautiful village along the way is Rostrevor.

Warrenpoint

In between the route, we stopped frequently to explore the surroundings. Most of the time, we spent in the so called Silent Valley which is formed around the reservoir providing water to most of Belfast. It is indeed very silent and a number of walking trails can take you around the reservoir of in a dense forest right in front of the dam.

Rostrevor

Our last destination before returning to Belfast was the seaside resort of Newcastle, a beautiful and busy town. What surprised us the most were the number of indoors entertainment centers for kids and the plethora of ice cream stalls and people queuing at them (it was freezing cold and rainy when we were there!).

For more pictures from N.Ireland visit my flickr album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gpahas/albums/72157681080758240

References:

- A Short history of The Troubles, by Brian Feeney, 2004

- Wikipedia

- N.Ireland and EU funding: http://bruegel.org/2016/05/northern-ireland-and-eu-funds/

- DK, Eyewitness travel Ireland, 2016

Bits and pieces from India

2017-02-06T22:59:00.000+01:00

At the beginning of January 2017 I found myself once again on a plane this time to beautiful India. I had visited the southern town of Bangalore in 2009 for a friends wedding. For completely different reasons, I was once again visiting the same town, this time for work. I was with two colleagues and good friends, which always helps to make any trip a nice experience. Bangalore is the software development capital of India and many foreign and local companies have software delivery centers spread all over the city. Although it is an interesting place, what I will always remember from Bangalore are it's endless traffic jams. As locals always told us, distance is not measured in km's but in the time it requires to travel. And up to 1hr delay is not a delay, it is normal.

During the 2 weeks we were there, we had the chance to travel to the famous Taj-Mahal and New Delhi. As a bonus, we happened to be in India on the Republic day which is a public holiday and gave us a chance to take a short trip in the Karnataka province (of which the capital is Bangalore).

Agra
In order to get to Taj Mahal from Bangalore, we had to fly to New Delhi on a Friday evening and catch a train on Saturday early morning. There are several ways to get from New Delhi to the town of Agra (where Taj Mahal is located) but the train is probably the nicest. There are a number of trains leaving New Delhi train station to Agra Cantonment station, which vary both in quality and speed. The best option for us was the 6:00am to Bhopal Shatabdi. Tickets are easy to buy online on the IRCTC website, provided you know someone with an Indian mobile phone as it is required for registration (no clue why!). The 1st AC class is comfortable and nice breakfast is served (along with newspaper, a bottle of water and snacks). The journey is 2hr long. Upon arriving at the station, foreign tourists are encountered with persisting taxi and rickshaw drivers (who wont take NO for an answer). As always in India, we took a tuck-tuck, negotiating the price in advance. Upon entering the vehicle and until arriving at the Taj Mahal, the driver never stopped trying to convince us to hire him for the whole day. We always said no but this was not an option for him.

Getting off the tuck-tuck we quickly forgot the annoying driver and started walking towards the Taj

Tuck tuck's

Mahal we so much wanted to see. There is a big area around the monument where no diesel powered vehicles are allowed in order to preserve the monument. The options are either to walk or hire one of the available electric rickshaws. Walking is a nice experience as we got to see local people plus the nature including plenty of monkeys and squirrels!

The ticket system to enter the Taj Mahal is slightly different for foreigners and locals. As European (some Asian countries have an even different system) we were required to pay 10 times more than locals and the price includes a bottle of cold water, shoe cover for the main monument and a fast line for foreigners. It is a good deal and well worth it. We wanted to get audio guide but unfortunately there were not available. We regretted not having downloaded the Audiocompass application which is similar to the audio guide. The price is around 1euro for the day.

Taj Mahal

Entrance to the Taj Mahal

Upon entering the gardens of this majestic complex, there is a feeling of magic. Just a bit of history: The Taj Mahal, meaning Crown of the Palace, was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, to house the tomb of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal who died while giving birth to their 14th child. The tomb is the centerpiece of a 17-hectare complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall. It is built next to the river Yamuna river. Apart from it's splendid Muslim architecture and magnificent decorations, it is a much celebrated monument for love.

From every angle and from every corner of the gardens, the monuments with its 4 minarets and its
distinct shape, stands out. We spend a good 2hours, visiting not only the main tomb but the nearby mosque and the small but nice museum. What stands out most from the Taj Mahal is the amazing work on the exterior and interior decorations. The whole monument is made from white marble and it is fully decorated with delicate patterns. Those are not simple paintings, but actually the marble is carved and the various stones are shaped and fitted inside the marble. It is amazing to realize the scale and effort put to complete such a piece of art!

The Taj Mahal

January in general is not a good month to visit the Taj Mahal as it is a known season for low visibility. It was not foggy but certainly visibility was not optimal for us. And Fridays it is always closed since it is prayer day for Muslims.

Agra Fort
A couple of km's away from Taj Mahal, is another beautiful monument also in the UNESCO World heritage list. Although there is an abundance of electric powered rickshaws, horse drawn carriages and bicycle rickshaws, we decided to walk. Remember to keep and show your Taj Mahal ticket if you don't want to pay twice an environmental tax that is applicable to both monuments but paid only once.

The Agra Fort was the residence of the Mughal emperors up to 1638 when this was moved to Delhi.

The walls of Agra fort

It is a massive fortress of various architectural styles. It is a walled fortress and it still stands in excellent shape with much of the original details preserved.

We spent another 2hours exploring the fort, astonished by the level of details, size and the carvings. The visibility had significantly improved and now we could see the Taj Mahal across the Yamuna river.

Agra

Agra

After our visit to the Agra Fort we decided to explore the city of Agra a bit more. We headed towards the Jama Masjid mosque, located near the Agra Fort. Apparently there are many mosques with the same name, not only in India but in the whole Muslim world. The city is not as glamorous as the monuments it is famous for. Around the mosque is a nice bazaar, full of shops that sell everything from textiles and shoes to mobile phones. Still it was amazingly noisily with all the cars, goats and cows squeezing between people visiting the market. The good thing was that since few tourists visit those places, we did not get the usual touts trying to sell us things or get us into their shops for souvenirs.

Family picture in Agra f

We ended our day around Sadar Bazar, another touristic place where we were chased by souvenir shop owners. Among all the stores we found a beautiful, quiet bookstore which was like heaven! One of the few places in India where we walked in and no-one cared about us. We could browse the books in peace and even buy a few nice souvenirs. The place was called Modern Book Depot and make sure you pay visit, if ever around.

After a long day we headed for the station to catch the 21:15 train to New Delhi which was delayed for almost 1:30 hours. Still it was fun sitting on the platform watching trains and sharing stories. Good thing we had booked a hotel right next to the New Delhi train station (highly recommended if you plan to visit Agra by train!) so it was a short 5 min walk.

New Delhi

Jantar Mantar

New Delhi is a big metropolis of 21.000.000 citizens, rich in culture and historical monuments. We had only one day to explore the town so we should make the most of it. Our visit coincided with the preparations for the Indian Republic day. This meant that the part of the town between the India gate and the Rashtrapati Bhavan (the President's residence), the so called "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, was closed. Still, we could easily walk around the rest of the city, which we gladly did. We started around the famous Connaught Place, a circular market neighborhood designed by the British. To be honest it was impossible to enjoy it as we were constantly approached by shop owners who wanted to take us to their shop for souvenirs (and again would not take no for an answer). At some point there was one guy trying to convince us to walk to his store when another one came started walking with us, wanting the same thing! We realized that we would not be able to stay there long so we moved quickly towards the Jantar Mantar, an old observatory. This is a site of 13 massive astronomical instruments constructed around the year 1724. They were built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur and were used both for astronomical and astrological purposes.

India gate

Our walk would then take us to the area where all the government buildings are located, the Rashtrapati Bhavan (the Presidents residence), the Secretariat building and the Parliament of India. As mentioned before, the entire area was mostly not accessible but still we could go around and explore the back alleys (we did not see the President's residence but we found the vice-presidents one :-)). A few hours later we ended up at the India gate, a war memorial for the Indian soldier who perished in the wars between 1914 and 1921 in far away lands (fighting for the British).

Next, we planned to visit the Red fort in the old part of the town but to our bad luck it was closed due

Busy streets of Delhi

to the upcoming celebrations. It used to be the residence for the emperors of the Mughal dynasty up to 1857 (this is the place they moved to from the Agra Fort mentioned above). It must be beautiful so if you make it there, post some pictures in the comments!

We ended up walking on the alleys of the Sadar Bazaar (same name as the one in Agra!) which was far noisier, messier and colorful. On the streets we walked we saw everything on sale, from electronics to jewelry, from second hand mathematics books to bridal dresses and from outdoors barber shops to made-up eateries. A truly authentic oriental atmosphere!

Jama Masjid, Delhi

Before catching the metro to the airport, we visited one last mosque, the Jama Masjid of Delhi, one of the biggest mosque in India and similarly named to the one we visited the previous day in Agra. It was completed in 1656 after 10 years of construction. The Mughal emperor who built it was Shah Jahan, the same as the one who build the Taj Mahal. It was quite impressive and at the time of our visit quite packed. There was a person at the entrance taking a 4euro fee from foreigners for taking pictures. Even if you don't have a camera or don't want to take pictures, you had to pay this fee if you are a foreigner. For locals, taking pictures is free :-)

Karnataka

Gommatwshwara statue

Back to our base, with the Republic day approaching, we wanted to get out of the city. From my last visit I remembered a public bus company, KSTDC that organized nice tours to historical places. We checked with our Indian colleagues and decided to book online a 1 day trip to some famous Hindu and Jainism temples. On the Republic day of 2017, we took the early bus to the town of Shravanbelagola to see the Gommateshwara statue, then to Belur to visit the Chennakesava temple and finally to Halebidu to see the Hoyseleswara temple. It was a lot to see in one day but the temples were magnificent. Good thing with these trips is that they are well planned, with frequent stops in nice restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Priest at the temple of Chennakesava

The first stop was at the Gommareswhara statue, a massive 17m high statue of the Jain God Bahubali. It is located near the town of Shravanbelagola. The bus drops us at the entrance, we take shoes off and start climbing the 600 steps to reach the temple. Indians, young and old seems to do in relative ease. The view from there is truly stunning. Endless forests of coconut trees with a few houses in between. The temple built around the statue was beautiful as was statue itself considering it is more than 1000 years old!

Next stop was for lunch, and we all decided to try butter chicken, truly Indian style. Of course it has little to do with how it is prepared in Europe. I was surprised that it is spicy!

Detail in Chennakesava temple

After the filling lunch, the bus stopped at the magnificent Chennakesava temple. It was build in the center of Belur, the capital of the Hoysala empire. As the name implies, the temple is dedicated to Chennakesava, a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. According to our guide, the temple took slightly more than 100 years to build! When looking at all the details carved into the stone, it is not difficult to understand why. There are literally hundreds of extremely detailed figurines carved out of stone and part of the temple. For being around 1000 years old, those details are extremely well preserved.

The last stop of our journey was the Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu. This was very similar to the

Bull in Hoysaleswara temple

previous temple and apparently was build for the same empire when the capital was moved from Belur to Halebidu. It is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and was completed around 1150AD. What stood out in this temple were the 2 huge bulls carved entirely out of stone. When leaving the temple I was approached by a young girl who wanted to sell me something. She kept asking for money but I explained I did not want to buy what she had to offer. When realizing I would not buy the item (don't even remember what it was!) she asked for a pen. "That is nice" I thought to myself, so I gave her the last pen I had. What I could not imagine is that many more children would come asking for pens! So if you plan to visit, carry some pens to give to those kids...

And with this, the exploring part of our visit to India ended. It was an amazing journey and really want to come back for more of India, perhaps in less touristic and crowded places. The people, the colors and the tastes are truly unique, making each visit an amazing experience. For more pictures from this trip visit my flickr account on this link: https://goo.gl/pQCFJS

Trip to North Korea

2016-09-25T21:09:00.002+02:00

In September 2016 we decided to visit this much discussed part of the world to find out what the fuss is all about. We visited both South and North Korea (in that order). This post is about the Northern part of the peninsula and the South will follow soon.

How to travel to North Korea?
Travelling to North Korea in 2016 is unlike any other trip. From visas, to planning to getting there and leaving, everything is much different and I will get into all the details soon. The actual name of the country is DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and this is the only one being used inside the country.

Socialist realism in Mansu Hill Grand Monument

I knew nothing when I started planning the trip in April 2016 so the natural place to start is the North Korean embassy (yes there are a bunch of them in European countries). So I sent an email to the one in Bern, Switzerland and a very polite person replied that I need to plan a trip through a travel agency attaching the list of ones in my country, the Netherlands. I contacted the travel agencies to get prices and different itineraries. For the visa, we sent the passports to the travel agency who forwarded them to the embassy in Switzerland.

Tower of Juche idea

Travelling to North Korea is very expensive although, all meals, entrances to sights, transportation and hotels are pre-paid as we were not allowed to use the local currency. Euro, Chinese RMB and dollar are widely accepted and you will need some for water, some extra meals or to buy souvenirs. We spent more money in N.Korea for 5 days than in the South for 10 days. Talking to some fellow travelers we met in hotels, we were told that they planned the trip through Chinese travel agencies for much less than we did but then it requires more research and it is probably riskier. To be honest, the experience was well worth the money.

There are only two ways to reach N.Korea for Westerners and both are from China. One is to take the
train from Beijing or the border town of Dandong and the other is plane from Beijing. Both options will take you only to Pyongyang, the capital. We chose to go by train from Dandong and fly to Beijing with the North Korean carrier, Air Koryo. More on those later.

Monument to People's party founding

When in the country, you will have two guides and a driver who are responsible for you, they will be your best pals, show you around, tell you what you can do and what you cannot do, where to go and where not to go, what to take picture of and what not. They are the ones who will make your trip either fun or miserable so better be good and most important listen to them. They will be 24/7 with you, staying in the same hotels and sometimes eat with you. What I found interesting is that every tourist (or group) is assigned two guides because they have to check on each other so one does not become curious about capitalism or western societies and start asking questions (!).

Few things about travelling to N.Korea
Because of what it is, travelling to North Korea is a unique experience. You get a glimpse of how a Stalinist state actually is in the 21th century. Combined with a trip to the South you will get to understand how a single nation can grow so much apart in just 60 years in different conditions. Much as their southern brothers North Koreans are very friendly and kind people and everyone will make sure you have a great stay (provided all the limitations).

When visiting N.Korea you have to be prepared to bow 5 times per day to pictures, statues and

Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il pictures everywhere

paintings of the deceased leaders, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il (the current one, Kim Jong-un, is too "humble" to have a statue, painting or picture). Of course you will get a lot of propaganda but you will quickly get used to it.

There have been stories of tourists detained in the country (most recently Otto Fredrick Warmbier) but if you follow the rules and not act stupidly you will not have any issues at all. Your travel agency will brief you on what you can and cannot do, your guides will make sure you know the rules and it is up to you to follow them. If you plan to make fun of the state or sneak pictures better think twice because the North Koreans will not.

Getting in

Our trip started on the Chinese town of Dandong, just on the border with N.Korea. There we took the train that would take us to Pyongyang. The train starts from Dandong and after crossing the Yalu river, reaches the station of Sinuiju where it stops for a 2hr inspection. Army officers come onboard the train, take all passports and search everything and everyone. For some reason my suitcase was not searched but the officers went crazy on my backpack. They took the North Korea travel guide and were really upset about the TomTom GPS watch but they still let me have it. What was really impressive is that they took all the hangers from the suitcase of a fellow Korean traveler. No clue why!

The route to Pyongyang is around 5hours and from the train I got the first glimpse of North Korea. The landscape is truly unique with many rice fields. The people are visibly poor and the infrastructure old and inadequate. For hundreds of kilometers in the country, I would spot only trucks and buses with a cloud of dirt behind them showing the lack of paved roads. It was very sad, considering the leaders of this country are spending billions on nuclear weapons.

Getting out
Getting out of the country is far less complicated. We flew with Air Koryo, the N.Korean national carrier. Voted as the world’s worst airliner, it was far from that. The plane was Russian made Tupolev Tu-204 as Boeing and Airbus are not allowed to sell airplanes to N.Korea. It looked modern and clean and the stewardesses could speak good English. A fellow European passenger tried to take a picture of one of them and when she realized, she kindly asked him to delete it. We were served drinks (much like any other flight) and a burger.

Air Koryo Tu-204

The Pyongyang airport is modern, clean and spacious. We were expecting for someone to search our backpacks, suitcases and cameras but nothing of that happens! What was abit awkward is that the electronic board with departures for that day, had only 1 entry, our flight to Beijing. Guess if you miss that one you are stuck.

Pyongyang
The capital of N.Korea is a city of 3 million people. This was our base and the town we spent 4 out of 5 nights of the trip. There are only 2 hotels available for foreigners so you will either stay in Koryo hotel or the Yanggakdo International Hotel. We stayed in the Koryo.

Pyongyang

There are many things to see in Pyongyang but unfortunately we got to go only where our guides wanted us to go. I wish I was able to walk around walking in the city. Anyway, these are the some of the places we visited:

Mansu Hill Grand Monument: This is the first stop of our tour and the place we were introduced to

Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il statues

bowing to the leaders. It is a complex of many monuments, with the center of it being two massive bronze and really important statues of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, 22 meters tall each. We had to present flowers and perform a deep bow. Around the statues are 2 revolutionary monuments, one celebrating the Anti-Japanese struggle and the other Socialist revolution.

What was surprising is that nearby the statue was a road and when cars pass-by, they reduce speed! When leaving this place, I wanted to drink some water so I opened my bag and took my bottle out when our guides told me that I should not drink now and do that later. I was probably too close to the statues...

Grand People's Study House: As the name implies, this is a library but also a place where

In Grand People's Study house

N.Koreans can study various topics. It is built in traditional Korean architecture in the very center of Pyongyang. We were shown rooms where students learned how to use computers (Windows XP!), German, English etc.

The highlight in that tour was the music room. Large room with cassette and CD players where students could get to listen music from around the world. The lady working there, when she found out we were Greeks she searched and found a tape with Greek music which she played for us. It was a very old song but still very touching to listen to music from our country in North Korea J

Victorious War Museum: This is a massive museum which tells the Korean War story from the

War museum

N.Korean point of view. Upon arrival, a military officer shows us around and explains the artifacts. In our case it was a lovely lady, both funny and kind. Most of the artifacts we were shown, were captured American weapons from the period during and after the war (from planes to helicopters and guns). The highlight is the USS Pueblo, which was captured venturing into N.Korean waters in January 1968. We were shown around and forcibly asked to take pictures.

What I will remember from this museum is how cold it was inside. Beautiful warm summer day outside and freezing temperatures inside. And lots of details how N.Koreans fought bravely the American imperialists. And a lot of emphasis on how the Americans bombed innocent Korean civilians (which is partially true).

Monument to Party Founding: This monument is dedicated to the 50 years of the founding of the

Taking a picture in front

Worker’s party of Korea. And because of that it is 50m high. The hammer, sickle and calligraphy brush symbolize the workers, farmers and intellectuals. It is one of the communist symbols that are a must see.

Pyongyagn metro

Pyongyang metro: For many years this was one of the few things I knew about N.Korea. According to this page some of the trains in the Pyongyang metro came from the Athens metro. As a kid, riding the metro was something I loved so my father used to take me often. For a short period of time, around 1982, some fancy yellow trains were used and they were my favorite. After a short period they disappeared and I was always wondering what happened to them. Many years later I found that they had ended in Pyongyang and you can imagine my happiness that this childhood mystery was solved! Those specific trains don’t run in the Pyongyang metro anymore but I spotted a couple of them on some stations when coming from Dandong. They were painted blue and fitted with electrical aerials.

The metro is soviet style inspired with chandeliers, paintings and large stations. N.Koreans claim that it is the world’s deepest, dug over 100m below the surface. It serves as a bunker in case of war. Like most of the tourists we saw only two stations.

The metro has 2 lines, each of them having 8 stations. Our guides asked us about the metro in Athens

Reading the news in the metro

and they were quite surprised when we told them that it has 3 lines and around 60 stations. I could not dare telling them about the Seoul metro that has 19 lines.

Cycling in Pyongyang: This was probably one of the best experiences in Pyongyang. Living in Amsterdam, we love cycling. When in N.Korea we were not allowed to walk around freely and always moved around in a van. To be able to cycle in the streets like the locals do, even if only for 7km, was a fantastic experience. We got to see the city closer, listen to the noise, feel the vibe and be free (still with a guide cycling with us). Loved it!

Korea Central Zoo: The zoo is located in the outskirts of Pyongyang and it was not in the foreign

Entrance to Pyongyang zoo

tourist path. One of our guides, worked there and she was very proud of the work she has done so when she asked us if we wanted to visit, we gladly did. I had read reports about how bad the conditions are in there and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was clean, spacious and modern. The animals lived in pretty much the same conditions as the zoos I have seen in Europe. Our guide kept telling us how bad the international sanctions are for the zoo as they could not exchange knowledge with other international institutions. And I can imagine that this is true for many aspects of the Korean life which is sad as common, peaceful, folks have nothing to blame. Still, the zoo has had a lot of knowledge exchange with Skansen in Stockholm (one of my favorites!) and there is even a part of the Pyongyang zoo named after Skansen! A small Stockholm in Pyongyang.

Mangyongdae Children's Palace: This is kind of after school activities place for children. They can learn how to code, learn various musical instruments, calligraphy, ballet etc. Apart from visiting all

Playing the accordion

the different study rooms, we got to see in a large auditorium a 1hr performance, together with all the other tourists in Pyongyang. Some kids had really good talent there.

Kim Il-sung Square: Right in the center of Pyongyang, this is the place where all the military parades take place so you have probably seen it on TV. Modeled after Tiananmen in Beijing, it is used for the same purposes. It is surrounded by important buildings, like the ministry of foreign affairs, the Grand People's Study House and a folk museum. Worth visiting at night when all the lights are on.

Tower of Juche idea and women with Korean dresses

Tower of Juche idea: Built in 1982, on the banks of Tadong river, to celebrate the 70^th birthday of Juche (meaning self-reliance) ideology. For 5 euros we could take the elevator to the top, where we could enjoy nice view of Pyongyang 150m above the ground.
Kim Il-Sung. It is named after the

Kaesong and the DMZ
Around 160km south of Pyongyang lies Kaesong, a historical town. The Korean Demilitarized zone

DMZ visit briefing

(DMZ) is only a few kilometers away. Roughly running along the 38^th parallel, it is the border of North and South Korea. All tourist packages include either a daily visit or overnight stay in Kaesong. We chose to stay overnight.

The drive to Kaesong is on a very bad and almost empty highway. We counted 5 military blocks where we had to stop on each and every one to present a permit to move further. I could not stop thinking how difficult it must be for locals to travel within their own country.

In Kaesong we spent the night on a very simple but clean hotel. We had the chance to meet 2 American doctors, who were there on a Red Cross mission to help set up a (solar powered) hepatitis lab. One of them had visited North Korea in similar missions around 25 times (!). He told us that the situation in the local hospital is very bad and doctors have no way to diagnose the different types of hepatitis. They mentioned the shocking fact that the hospital receives 2 hours of electricity PER MONTH. In high contrast, the lights on our hotel were always on. As we suspected, we were told that hospital for party members in Pyongyang are equipped to western standards.

Joint Security Area (on the back is South Korea)

Visiting the DMZ, includes a stop to the Panmunjom village where the armistice treaty was signed between the North Koreans and the UN forces. Sadly the South Koreans refused to participate and up to this day, no peace treaty has been signed. Next stop was the Joint SecurityArea (JSA) where occasional talks are being held between the two Koreas. It is a set of buildings right on the border with North and South Korean soldiers on each side.

Worth mentioning that on that day I wore a T-Shirt writing some words in English among them was “New York”. This was totally unintended and when the military officer who was leading the tour noticed that, he told our guides that this is provocative and I should not wear shirts like that. In order not to further irritate him, I wore the shirt inside out for the rest of the visit!

In the JSA, we were shown a signature of Kim Il-sung. The story goes that this is his last one, few days before he died. Also, right before his death, he had reviewed and signed a bunch of documents about the reunification of the two Koreas. And right before it happened he died. And since 1994 no one cared to pick it up…

Also in Kaesong are 2 UNESCO World heritage monuments which we visited. First was the tomb of King Kongmin,

Tomb of King Kongmin

an important figure of the Koryo dynasty. The tombs are located on a beautiful hill, far away from any civilization so it was very relieving to be away from all the slogans, the pictures of Kim dynasty members and the stories about the greatness of the leaders. Next was Songgyungwan, a higher educational institute, also during the Koryo and Choson dynasties.

International Friendship Exhibition and the Pohyonsa temple
In Korea it is a custom to exchange presents in every occasion. So when businessmen sign a deal,

International friendship exhibition and Myonhyang mountains

they exchange small presents. When a foreign delegate visits the country, they bring a nice present. In that case Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, during their time as presidents they received thousands of those, so why not build a museum was built to display them and show how much are leaders were loved by foreign countries? This is the International Friendship exhibition, a massive 150 room windowless building, build in the Myonhyang mountains, 160km north of Pyongyang.

According to our guide, the museums has around 140.000 items from all the countries in the world. They are grouped per continent and country. We asked to see the European section. It was fun to see presents from Greek political parties, Dutch organizations and Swedish-Korean friendship organizations. No pictures were allowed so among all the exhibits, I remember some basket balls, an iPad and a whole airplane given as a present from Stalin.

In the museum there are 3 different rooms with wooden statues of Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Suk his wife and mother of Kim Jong-Il, and Kim Jong-Il. We had to pay respect to each one of them (by bowing) but what I noticed is that the guides would walk backwards in those rooms so to not turn their backs to the statues!

A stone throw away from the International Friendship exhibition is the beautiful Buddhist temple of

Pohyonsa temple

Pohyonsa. Heavily damaged by the Americans during the war, it was re-constructed to its original state. We were shown around while listen to propaganda how N.Korea promotes freedom of religion from everyone. The truth is that the constitution promotes freedom of religion but since it contradicts the target of building socialism, it is not practiced. I read there is a Christian church in Pyongyang but only foreigners are allowed to attend.

Anyway, back to Pohyonsa, we got to meet some Buddhist monks. I got the feeling that they were not real monks and were just working there just to get tourist money (we were told how many people from around the world visit the temple and pay respect by donating money…).

My impressions of the trip to N.Korea
My impressions of N.Korea are along my expectations. Of course it is much different reading about a place and visiting one. I got the feeling that people are very scared and struggle too much for their every day life. I had no way to participate to any conversations and all the information came through our guides.

Korean delicacies

A tourist visit is tailored so us foreigners get only to see the best of the country. There is much good to it but I was wondering if most locals ever get to live as we lived. The food was always nice and more than we could eat (and I am a big guy!), the hotels were nice, the sights were tidy. But how are the homes of people, how is life far away from the capital, how is the education? We turned on the TV and what we got was steel production, missiles being fired and military parades. It was all in Korean so no clue what it was about.

All the locals we interacted with, even the ones that did not speak a word in English, visibly tried their best to make our stay as pleasant as possible. And they were not forced, it was genuine. Like South Koreans, people are kind and proud of their country. And I also got the feeling that they know it is a mess and they are embarrassed, so since we are honored guests they want to show us only the best of it.

My only thought of this country is about the N.Korean who is deprived of even the most simple freedoms like the ability to travel between one part of their country to the other. They certainly do not deserve this. It might be difficult and complicated but I wish that soon the two Koreas unite again. And then I want to return to the one Korea and meet again those people who will be free and can dream of a better future.

For more pics, please visit my flickr page: https://goo.gl/0XcG6Q

Trip to Svalbard

2016-06-28T23:08:00.002+02:00

Travelling to Svalbard

Polar bear danger sign

Checking on the map, Svalbard seems like a far-away isolated and probably impossible-to-reach destination. The truth is that is no more difficult accessible than any other town in Norway, perhaps a bit further away. There are daily flights, either from Oslo or Tromso in Norway, both by SAS and Norwegian. If you are looking for a good price, book your tickets long in advance. On Longyearbyen there is a number of hotels and hostels, and the prices vary.

Brünnich’s guillemots

Once there, it is best to plan some activities. Depending on the season, the island is a mecca for outdoor activities lovers. There is possibility of multi day hiking (provided all necessary permits have been obtained, including the riffle one), dog sledge (both on snow and on wheels!), kayaking, cruise, climbing, ice caving, hiking, bus tour.... It all depends on the time, the adventure level, the budget and of course the time of the year. The main portal where all activities on offer can be found is Visit Svalbard

A bit of history
The Svalbard archipelago was discovered by the Dutch in 1596. Trying to find a passage to the East via the North Pole, the explorer Willem Barentsz, made a few attempts as he believed during the summer months, the ice cap would melt completely. He soon realized that this was not the case but he kept coming back and during the 3rd expedition, in 1596, he discovered the Spitsbergen island.

Greenland husky

The following centuries, Europeans travelled to Svalbard for its rich natural resources. At a time when lamps were running on whale oil, whale hunting was a very profitable business. The Europeans managed to almost completely wipe the local whale population and the number still have not recovered. Along with whales, foxes, walruses, seals and of course polar bears attracted hunters.

In the late 19th century large coal deposits were discovered on the island. Americans, Norwegians, Swedes and Dutch quickly set up colonies to extract the precious mineral. After only a few years, only Norwegians and Russians were left on the island as the rest found it difficult and expensive to continue business.

Reindeer in Longyearbyen

After WWI, along with the treaty of Versailles, the treaty of Svalbard was signed (1920). It recognized sovereignty of Norway over Svalbard but any of the countries that signed could (and still can) set up a settlement on any of the islands. The only country that ever did, apart form Norway, is the Soviet Union.

During WWII all the settlements were evacuated so they would not be captured by the Germans. A small Norwegian garrison stayed behind and in 1943 the Germans managed to capture it. Longyearbyen and the Soviet town of Barentsburg were destroyed.

With the beginning of the Cold war started, the Norwegians and Soviets returned to the archipelago. It was now more a matter of prestige than a real economical necessity to have settlements on the Svalbard. Coal was being produced (and still is) and the two communities lived in harmony together.

In terms of transportation, until 1975 Svalbard was only accessible by boat and only in the summer months. The last boat with provisions, Christmas trees etc would come to Longyearbyen in November and the next one only in in April. The coalminers in Longyearbyen would live in isolation during the cold winter months. The airport opened in 1975 which changed completely the life of the locals. For the first time they could get fresh food!

Nowadays, with much of the coal either depleted or financially not viable, the Norwegians are trying to diversify the economy. Tourism and scientific research are two important and growing sectors. There are several meteorological and space observation stations with permanent staff. Russians, also not wanting to give up their part on the island, still extract coal in the town of Barentsburg but have left all their other settlements.

Nordenskjöld glacier

Svalbard of Spitsbergen?
Svalbard in the name of the archipelago that consists of several islands, Spitsbergen being the largest one. The size of the whole archipelago is around 61000sqkm, similar to the size of Sri Lanka. For many years the name Spitsbergen was used but after the Svalbard treaty the Norwegians changed the name to Svalbard.

Longyearbyen
"The town where no one is born and no one is allowed to die"

Yes, this is right! In the largest town of Svalbard, no one is being born because the hospital is not well enough equipped, so pregnant women are flown to the mainland. Also, no one can die there because they cannot be buried (the permafrost makes decomposition a very difficult process). In reality, unless one has a job in Longyearbyen, they are not allowed to stay on the island. So as much as someone would love to stay and enjoy their pension there, they cannot!

Longyearbyen colorful houses

With a permanent population of over 2000, beautiful colored buildings and constant presence of tourists, the city is vibrant and welcoming. There are a handful of well equipped stores and a super market which sells most of the stuff (including fruits and vegetables) that I find in my local super market in Amsterdam! The local restaurants serve excellent food (even at 1:30am which is hard to find proper food at this time in Amsterdam!) and the prices are generally lower than Oslo because there is no VAT. Also alcohol is much cheaper. In Radisson Blue, Barents restaurant I had one of the best pizzas I have ever tried (either it was very good or I was extremely hungry!).

Although a bit hilly, the city can be visited entirely on foot. It is spread out but it is well worth visiting every "neighborhood". The local tourist office (located opposite Hotel Svalbard) offers bikes for rent. Because of the polar bear, they can be used only within the city limits.

Global seed vault

Around 3km away from Longyearbyen, the Global seed vault is located. Although, just outside the city, it is a nice ride to visit by bike or even on foot. There is no way to enter the seed vault but the exterior is still a nice attraction, considering the good purpose it serves. There is no permanent staff, no guard so it is just the entrance you see in the pics. Still it is well worth the visit.

Other things to do in Longyearbyen is to visit the local cinema (Yes there is one!), one of the cafés offering delicious pastries, the Svalbard museum and stroll around to see if you can spot the reindeer that frequently roams the city.

Pyramiden

Artikugol sign

On the island of Spitsbergen and in the Billefjorden, lies the ghost town of Pyramiden (Piramida in Russian). It was founded by Sweden in 1910 and sold to the Soviet Union in 1927. Until 1998 it produced coal, and on March 31 of that year the last wagon of coal left the mine and now lies at the entrance of the city. All the workers and their families quickly left Pyramiden, leaving the buildings and their interior largely intact.

Abandoned kitchen

Currently there are 8 Russians in Pyramiden who take care of whatever is left and run the hotel, the restaurant and the bar. In its glorious days, Pyramiden had around 1000 citizens. The life of those 8 is quite hard, considering the harsh environmental conditions (up to -20 in the winter and absolutely no sun) but also the fact that there is no internet, no telephone and no TV. Once a month, a helicopter comes from Longyearbyen, brining post and other goods from Russia. Cant help thinking how isolated those guys are but then I though it would be nice to detox from internet, social media and all the other beeps and blips of modern era.

Our guide with his gun

Slightly northern than Longyearbyen, Pyramiden is the world 's northernmost city. Despite that, the Soviets managed to create a place where it did not lack much of the rest of the Soviet Union at the time. The workers could enjoy a well equipped cinema and a library, a swimming pool, sports hall a hospital and even an animal farm which produced meat and fresh eggs!

Pyramiden harbor

Pyramiden is accessible by boat and snow scooter from Pyramiden. Since we visited in the summer, the only way to get there is by boat. Upon arriving on the port, a friendly and fully armed (for the polar bear) local guide showed us around the town, allowing us to enter a few of the abandoned buildings. At the end of the tour we had a chance to visit the bar/restaurant and try some delicious Russian sweets made by the cook who lives on Pyramiden for 9 years (!).

More pictures?
You can visit my flickr page on www.flickr.com/gpahas

Weekend in Luxembourg

2014-09-14T21:26:00.000+02:00

Luxembourg town

Luxembourg is a tiny landlocked country squeezed between Belgium, Germany and France. Its name lends to the Lux part of the term Benelux (the other 2 being Belgium, Netherlands). It has a population of something more than 500.000 and measures 80km north to south.

Having been to the capital (its also called Luxembourg) 2 times in the past I simply adore the Grand Duchy so decided to visit for a weekend to explore it a bit further. It's an easy 4hr drive from Amsterdam.

Streets of Diekirch

This time our visit started from the town of Diekirch where our hotel was located. Luxembourg has the lowest fuel prices in the EU and clever as they are, the first thing that the visitor notices (if entering the country driving) is the plethora of gas stations immediately when entering the country! In the fall of 2014, euro 95 gas costs 1.8 in the Netherlands, 1.5 in Belgium and 1.3 in Luxembourg. I guess everyone living right next to the borders fill in their cars only in Luxembourg.

Diekirch is famous for its local brewery which produces a beer with the same name and a war museum. The city itself is very beautiful and what makes a big impression is that on the streets we heard almost exclusively ...Portuguese! Apparently Luxembourg's population is almost 16% Portuguese who arrived long time ago to work on the mines, at the south of the country.

Alzette river, Luxembourg

Our plan was to spend one day in the city of Luxembourg which we did on Saturday. We left the car on a P+R and we took the bus for a 10min ride. The city of Luxembourg is small but impressive. The old part of it is built in a canyon but since then has expanded and the nearby hills are also built. One can still visit the impressive fortifications. To the east of the city the skyscrapers of what is mostly EU institutions stand out. The wealth of this tiny nation is visible everywhere from the impressive and clean streets to the constructions and buildings. There is even an elevator to get to the old town level (called the Grund). The city is vibrant and beautiful and its worth spending time exploring it. I feel the pictures say more than my words will ever will :-)

Esch sur Sure castle

Esche sur Sure

The following day we visited the more quiet village of Esch-sur-Sure (population 314!). It stand amid forests and rivers and it is almost completely encircled by the river Sauer. It makes an excellent base for a number of hikes in the area and this is what we did. The paths are clean and very clearly marked, making it extremely difficult to get lost. The one we followed took us next to the lake Lac de la Haute-Sure. The view was simply spectacular! After a few hours of walk, full of beautiful images of forests, lakes and corn fields, we returned to the village for a nice meal into one of the many restaurants. We decided to go for local specialties, like Judd mat Gaardebounen (easier eaten than pronounced!) and Gromperekichelcher which we washed down with some nice Grand Cru beer. Well fed and rested, the hidden treasures of Esch-sur-Sure awaited us! A must visit are the castle ruins that dominate the hill top. With little effort we climbed to the ruins and enjoyed the majestic view.

The weekend was soon over and we started to drive to the Dutch capital. With a little help from the sunny and warm weather, this was an amazing weekend and Luxembourg certainly will stay in our hearts till the next time...

Thank you for reading this one too..

Colorful houses in Diekirch

The gorges. Adolphe Bridge

The Human trash exhibition

Luxembourg

Alzette river, Luxembourg

Orchestra

Colorful streets of Luxembourg

The Grund, Luxemboug

Bridge in Luxembourg city

Lac de la Haute-Sure

Castle ruins

Visiting Samos, the island of Pythagoras

2014-09-02T23:44:00.001+02:00

Blue and green waters

This summer, after quite a few years I decided to visit the island of Samos. It is located on the Aegean Sea, close to the Turkish coast (actually the closest point is 1.6km straight line).

The island is unique and much different than the rest of the famous Greek islands of Cyclades as it is covered with forests and has waterfalls and vineyards on the sides of its two mountains, Kerkis and Karvounis. Easily accessible by boat and plane from Athens and Thessaloniki but also with direct flights from many European cities during the whole summer.

Ano Vathi

The base of our exploration was Samos town. Not the most historic town of the island, still beautiful, rich with history and the capital. The city has been historically split into 2 different large neighborhoods, the village of Ano Vathi and Samos town. Ano Vathi retains its beautiful architecture, village atmosphere with narrow alleys and traditional architecture. Built on a hill it requires good fitness level to climb from the sea level but certainly the visitor is rewarded by the magic view and traditional architecture. If not fit enough there are roads to reach the top by car or taxi. The church of Ai-Giannakis is a good spot, especially in the sunset.

Gagou beach

The rest of the town is built around the port and is where the market, the bars and cafes are located. In the area behind the old Xenia hotel (an abandoned building that one cannot miss) lies a beautiful square, the city hall and the archeological museum where the largest Kouros that has been found in Greece is on display. It's certainly worth a visit. Near the port there is a row of beautiful bars built on large balconies of old mansions right on the sea. After a long day on the beach it worth visiting for a refreshing cocktail or even better a glass of local sweet wine (vin doux)!

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Near Vathi there are only a couple of beaches accessible on foot, the best one being Gagou, a small bay fully organized with umbrellas, sun beads etc. This year we encountered a pleasant surprise, a seal (monachus monachus) that was sitting among bathers! On the eastern side of the island there is a seal colony but apparently this lonely, young one left the herd and found comfort among people. The locals gave her a name – Argyro- and in the summer of 2014 it visited several of the busy beaches of the island. Next to Argyro, almost always, members of the Greek organization “Archipelagos” sat making sure that curious visitors did not come too close to her, fed it and bothered it. Hopefully she will find her way to the rest of her herd.

Manolates village

Pigi Pnaka

Samos is a big island with bad public transportation (that's true for most of Greece) which makes renting a car a necessity. We did so and started by visiting the villages, Manolates and Vourliotes. Built on high altitude they offer unparalleled views of the Aegean Sea and unique architecture, cobbled stone alleys and taverns lying below vineyards. On the village of Manolates many artists produce and sell their work. You can even see art on the making! Although both villages offer excellent taverns, my recommendation is a very special one built right next to a spring called "Pigi Pnaka". On the way to Vourliotes there is a sign on the main road some 2km before the village. Follow it and it leads to a quiet place, under a huge platanus and next to a spring. The view is breathtaking. As of 2014 it is run by two very friendly Greek guys who cook excellent local food. Don't miss the staffed pumpkin flower and the local chickpea-balls which you can wash down with some souma, a spirit produced on the island.

Good beaches (but way too touristic for my taste) in the proximity of the above mentioned villages are Tsabou and Tsamadou. It seems that few locals ever visit any of those but if you have seen pictures of Samos beaches, the chance is that it is one of those two.

One of the reasons Tsamadou beach is so popular, is that is it lies within walking distance from Kokkari, one of the two main touristic places of the island (the other one being Pythagorion). Whatever you have in mind as a touristic stereotype you will find it there: Greek traditional music and tourists dancing around it, colorful drinks with little umbrellas, plethora of hotels, etc. Nice place and definitely worth visiting both day and night.

Kokkari by night..

Most loved by foreigners on the island is the village of Pythagorion, on the south-east side of the island. Full with taverns, cafes, bars, hotels, souvenir stores and right next to the airport it offers a convenient base to explore the island. Unique are the taverns that offer food right on the beach. Cannot comment on the food as I have never sat there but please leave a comment if you have!

Vourliotes main square

Definitely worth visiting close to Pythagoreion are the Tunnel of Eupalinos and the monastery of Panagia Spiliani (literally: Virigin Mary of the cave). The tunnel of Eupalinos is an ancient aqueduct built through the mountain in order to bring water to the ancient city of Pythagoreion from the other side of the island. The main accomplishment is that construction began on both sides of the mountain and engineers met somewhere in the middle only a few meters apart. Must have been an amazing engineering achievement at the time! The monastery of Virgin Mary of the cave is a nice Greek Orthodox monastery built next to a natural cave in which a tiny church is built.

Statue of Pythagoras

Second biggest town of the island, is Karlovassi on the western side. A modern place with a few University departments is more of a student town than a tourist destination. Still worth visiting and best combined with the Potami beach a few km to the west. Before you dive to the sea, make sure you visit the waterfalls that are located right behind the beach. Bear in mind that even in the warmest summer day, the water on the waterfalls will be freezing cold. When entering the small valley there are a number of waterfalls leading all the way up to the mountain (the visitor can climb few first of them). Few years ago there used to be ropes leading from the 1st to the 2nd, the 2nd to the 3rd etc. In the summer of 2014, those were gone so it makes it pretty tough to climb and that's why most visitors will just see the first one.

With no road access, a few km to the west from Potami beach lies Megalo Seitani, a beach where the monk seals reproduce (and that is probably why access to the beach is difficult). Definitely worth a visit both for the beach and the hike.

One of my favorite villages and rather isolated, is that of Platanos. Few km away from Karlovassi (still on the western side) and in high altitude offers unique view and a number of good taverns.

Poseidonion with Turkey in the background

Finally, I could not leave out my favorite beach on the island, Kerveli. I remember we used to go there when I was a kid and there was nothing but a single house and a military post. Now hotels are taverns have been built making it a lot noisier. Still, the few trees offer shadow under which one can always put their towel and there are no umbrellas and sunbeds. A short drive away is the village of Poseidonion, which is the closest point to Turkey with also lovely waters and a couple of taverns.

For the more adventurous

Church bell of Panagia Spiliani monastery

The unique, mountainous, topography of the island offers the chance to engage in alternative activities like hiking, mountain biking and cycling. Most of the paths are well maintained and signed. A few I can recommend as I have completed myself:

Stavrinides - Manolates (or the opposite): A rather easy hike around 3km
Agios Kostantinos - Vourliotes: Starting from sea level and reaching 350m after 6km it requires some level of fitness for the way up. Still a beautiful hike crossing creeks and almost always walking under the shadow of the trees
Pandroso - Top of Karvounis Mountain: A rather difficult hike as the path is not clean and is extremely steep at points. For the fit enough, it will take you from this beautiful village to the top of the second tallest mountain, where a church and a couple of strange constructions lie. Getting down is a lot easier
Drakaioi - Megalo Seitani: Beautiful hike, will take you from the most remote village on the island to the beach where the seals reproduce. Long but not difficult hike. It’s easy going and slightly more difficult coming back as the village is up on the mountain

Sunset in Aegean Sea

Popular with locals and foreigners is cycling. A good tour is starting from Pythagorion, moving westwards towards Karlovassi, from there on the north side all the way to Vathi and back to Pythagorion. During the summer make sure you start early as it can get pretty warm quickly.

Thank you for reading!

Church of Ai-Giannakis in Ano Vathi

White church

Tavern in Manolates

Kerveli beach

Church in Poseidonion

Samos town city hall

Dining on the beach

Pythaogoreion

Touristic Pythagoreion

Vourliotes

Dutch/Belgian border at Baarle-Nassau

2014-08-18T01:17:00.002+02:00

The famous café lying on the border.

Ever seen those famous pictures of a nice café lying just right to the Belgian-Dutch border, noted by a row of crosses? Well this place is no hoax and is located in the Dutch province of North Brabant but is a bit more complicated than simply the "Dutch-Belgian border".

The map-red is NL, yellow is BE-

So inside the Netherlands there are a few pieces of land that are actually Belgium (exclaves). Most of them are located some 5km from the Belgian border but a few are further inside. They belong to the Belgian Baarle-Hertog municipality bordering with the Dutch Baarle-Nassau municipality. But it gets even more complicated. The Baarle-Hertog is not a single piece of land but more than 30 of them scattered all over the North Brabant province! There are a few Dutch pieces of land completely surrounded by Belgian and all located in the Netherlands. In the picture to the left, the yellow parts are Belgium, the red Netherlands and everything around them, Netherlands.

The complicated border line

Tobacco store

What looks like a mess, is apparently the result of land exchanges and treaties that go way back to the middle ages. The borders as they are today were defined by the treaty of Maastricht of 1834. There have been several attempts throughout the centuries to simply swap pieces of land between the two countries but all have failed.

Today I am pretty sure that no-one is trying anymore as the town is a tourist attraction and created many jobs. On my walk to the Belgian territory I couldn't help noticing the many Tobacco shops (apparently tobacco is cheaper in Belgium) and the many shops selling fireworks (!). I guess its not legal to sell that stuff in the Netherlands.

The easiest way to reach Baarle-Nassau in the Netherlands, is by car. By public transportation, take a train to the city of Breda and then bus 132. It is more than 2hr from Amsterdam.

Apart from walking around in the town in and out of Belgium and Netherlands, the place is full of nice cafes and restaurants. Depending on which side you come from, you can find products to buy at cheaper prices.

Crossing the border

Fun facts

- Few years ago Netherlands and Belgium had different opening hours for restaurants and bars. So places that lied in both countries simply closed the part belonging to the country closing earlier and moved customers to the other that stayed open

- One of the commodities illegally smuggled between the regions was butter, which women put in their dresses. In order to cope with that, the authorities made the border checks next to …furnaces!
- When in 1996 the border was slightly redrawn, one house changed countries. Because the owner did not like that, simply moved his front door to the country of his preference (apparently each house belongs to the country where your front door is located)
- A similar situation with complicated exclaves can be found in the India-Bangladesh border, at the district of Cooch-Behar

Some pictures

Borders

Dutch house numbering

Built in two countries

Store in two countries

Sources:
http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/baarle.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Nassau
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Hertog
google maps

Wadlopen (Mudflat hiking) in the Wadden Sea, Netherlands

2014-06-22T21:25:00.002+02:00

Wadlopers

Wadlopen is something I wanted to do ever since I arrived in the Netherlands. This beautiful northern European country, lacks the wilderness and the feeling of being in the nature that other countries like Sweden and Greece offer. But still wadlopen is something unique and I felt it is one of the most wonderful activities in nature one can do in this country.

So what is wadlopen? As the English translation implies, it is walking in the mud! Yes, thick, watery, black mud. Sometimes you get to walk inside sea water but most of the route is on mud. And this occurs because when the tide is low between the Dutch mainland and the Wadden sea islands, paths form where actually one can walk. Not all islands can be reachable by walking, either because they are too far and in the duration of a single tide it is not possible or because the tide does not create those paths. The waters in the Wadden sea (that is the sea between mainland Netherlands and the islands) in low tide retracts up to 2 meters.

Follow your guide! Step where he steps..

We had decided to walk to the island of Ameland, the fourth of the West Frisian islands. There are many different option to choose from (either walk to another island or simply walk around returning to the same starting point). The tour started on the same pier where ferry boats leave for the islands, near Holwerd. It was kind of a surprise to see boats going even in low tide. Apparently they follow a designated path which takes them only through deep waters. Anyway, having done some research before booking a tour, I found that there are many groups organizing wadlopen and I decided to go with fryske waedrinners simply because the guy was fastest to response to my email! Yet, the organizer was very helpful and polite. The price is around 25 euros and includes the ferry return ticket.

mud!

The walk to Ameland is almost 13km and takes around 3:30 hours. Depending on the tide, tours can start anywhere from 6:00am to 17:00pm. So each date there is a different tour. We got to start at 9:00am with light rain which was still ok. Our tour took us through mud, water, shells and of course on dry sea bed. Most difficult of all those kinds of terrains admittedly is mud. And because it did not yet have a chance to fully dry, we would get deep into it. To my surprise water was easier to walk in. At one point we got water above waist level and had to walk a few hundred meters in it. And it was not as cold as it might sound. The feeling walking on thousands of shells is also strange. One wrong step and falling on them results in bad injuries.

Walking in water

Arriving in the island of Ameland after 3:30 hours of trekking in the kind of terrain described above and feels kind of rewarding to have made it! Yet, upon hitting the beach, there is a 20min walk (on dry land!) to the facilities where we could wash and change our clothes. We had arranged bicycles to wait for us which we used to wander on the island until the last ferry.

Reflections

The whole walk is not extremely difficult but one needs to be quite fit and be accustomed with water. Swimming is not required (otherwise it would be called Mudflat hikingswimming :-)) but you must not be afraid of it. According to Dutch law no one is allowed to wander around in the Wadden sea and must always be accompanied by a guide holding a special license.

Trip to Japan

2014-06-07T11:48:00.005+02:00

Japan is awesome! Well I guess you have heard that from many people who have visited the island of the rising sun. Well, it simply is! When we had already planned our trip and started asking around, we got the same response. Because our expectations were so high that we thought it would not be possible to be so good, we simply stop asking so we would not have any expectations!

We flew in to Narita, the main Tokyo airport. The first person we encountered, even before the passport control simply confirmed what we had been told. Japanese are extremely polite and helpful. After the formalities, we exchanged the JR Pass obtained in the country of origin, with a special permit that allowed us to travel unlimited on all the rail network run by JR plus a few more services.

Nagoya

Tokyo was the last part of our trip so when landing we took the train to the city of Nagoya, some 350 km south of Tokyo. Nagoya is kind of the Detroit of Japan, the city where major automotive industries have their premises. The first building of Toyota (producing looms) is located there. But having no time to visit that, we wanted to get a feeling of the city and of course the castle located at the center. A convenient bus service takes tourists all around the major attractions. In general Japanese don’t speak English, but signs, maps and instruction leaflets make sure that you are never, ever lost! And if you ask someone for help or directions, chances are that they will get out of their way to help you or go find someone that will.

Kanazawa

The second stop of our trip was Kanazawa, a lovely provincial town on the Eastern Sea (that is the one between Japan and China, the other side being the …Pacific!). What strikes most when arriving in Kanazawa, is the amazing train station. Big and impressive, it uses many inspirations from local architecture, like the giant wooden torii.

Arriving at the hotel, the receptionist was the first person we noticed that bowed. Deep bow like we were the emperors or something. We realized what we had read that all Japanese do that. Also when passing something to us (from a few coins to a large package) they always hand it using two hands, never one.

Kanazawa itself is a lovely and quiet for Japanese standards, town. Worth visiting are the Kenroku-en gardens, one of the best in Japan. It is important to know, that entrance tickets to attractions in Japan (museums, gardens, temples) are very cheap, compared to European standards. We never paid more than 9euros for entrance. Must visit is also the old part of the city or the Geisha quarters, where a number of traditional wooden and paper houses remain, some open to the public. For bike fans, Kanazawa has a bike system, similar to the one found in many European cities (like Velo in Paris). There are many stations around the city, and unlocked a bike from one, go to another station, leave it there etc. This is the only Japanese town where we found that system and we simply loved it! Note that in Japan it is perfectly normal to cycle on the pavement...

Hiroshima

Moving on, we took the train to Hiroshima. I had read so much about the bomb, the history, the survivors and visiting this place was a childhood dream. I have to admit I shed a tear or two when I first saw the A-bomb dome, a symbol of nuclear destruction. But apart from that and the museum about the bomb and the Peace memorial park, Hiroshima is a vibrant and modern city. Having nothing traditional to show, the Japanese rebuilt part of the Hiroshima castle, which we did not miss. Like Nagoya, a tourist bus (free with the JR pass) took us around the major sights. We used it for the far away ones (like the amazing Manga library which is located in the mountains) and we experienced the city on foot, as every proper visitor should!

A taste one should not miss in Hiroshima is okonomiyaki. A local specialty made of noodles, eggs, bacon pancake and iceberg, it is prepared in front of you in a large metal plate. It is very social thing where many customers sitting around a bar like metal plate have a chance to watch the “chef” preparing the okonomiyaki. For us it was a good chance to meet locals who were curious about where we come from and how we like their country and also for us to ask about their city.

Miyazima

Close to Hiroshima, is the island of Miyazima, one of the most touristic places of Japan which is accessible by train and then boat (all covered by the JR pass card). Famous because of its large torii, which you can walk or go by boat, depending on the strong tide. We decided to follow the path to the top of the island, some 500m above sea level. The top is also accessible by cable car but for the fit enough, the walking route is strongly recommended. Walking in a beautiful forest, we saw many shrines and dears, which are everywhere on the island! The view of the Pacific and Hiroshima from the top is stunning. Coming back down, near sunset we enjoyed the full colors around the torii. The site is beautiful even at night when the street lights are lit and certainly worth waiting until then. Anyway, ferries and trains run until late. Miyazima is also famous for holding a world record of the largest spatula in the world. To be honest the rest of the sites on the island are far more important, but just mentioning..

Kyoto

Before visiting Tokyo, we stopped for a few days in Kyoto, the old capital of Japan a city rich in attractions. Sparred by the American bombs during WWII, has a huge number of lovely neighborhoods, temples, gardens etc to visit. The sites are all over the city so make sure when arriving at the train station to pick a copy of the bus and metro maps. Being fans of “over ground” rather than “underground” we used bus which is cheap, easy to use and can get a daily ticket right from the hotel reception.

Gion district, Pontocho, the golden pavilion, the silver pavilion, the Philosophers walk are all lovely places to visit. We were lucky enough on a warm night to wander around and find the Kodai-ji gardens open for visit. It was some light festival which we did not know about. Slightly hesitant to visit we decided to give it a go. Wondering around in the garden was one of the most beautiful places I have seen in my life. So peaceful and beautifully lit we did not want to leave the place. If you are lucky enough and it is open when you visit, don’t think twice about entering the gardens. The rest of the attractions in Kyoto are easy to find but be warned that you will face hordes of tourists!

If you plan to shop in Japan, do it in Kyoto. It has everything! Clothes and electronics stores are located in and around the massive train station. We were lucky enough to experience the Japanese attitude towards customers when buying some clothes, the girl at the counter simply did not let us take the bag and go but rather accompanied us with our purchases to the exit of the shop where she handed the bag!

A stone’s throw away is Nara another place full of nice Buddhist temples scattered in a park among hundreds of deer. Most famous is the Todai-ji, built around a Buddha statue of giant proportions. A lovely place to have lunch in Nara is Edogawa, a little old restaurant at the end of the Naramachi shopping arcade. Serving mainly eel it is run by a family (the grandfather welcomed us and daughters served us!) and retains the characteristics of an old Japanese house (wooden, paper windows, tatami).

Also located near to Kyoto and must visit, is Fushimi Inari. A series of torii’s donated mostly by businessmen, they run up on a mountain. The tori are so many and close together that create an excellent path to walk under. Starting at the bottom of the mountain it is extremely crowded but the higher you get the fewer the tourists and can actually enjoy it better.

The only place we did not like during our trip was in Kyoto and it was a theater called “Gion corner”. A huge building in the Gion district, it promises traditional Japanese acts. The acts itself are not bad but the people running the theater make a grave mistake: they encourage tourists to take pictures! For those who just want to watch the show it is impossible. In front of us a bunch of Italians and Chinese (no offence!) where waiving their massive DSLRs, shooting hundreds of pictures with flash. Multiply that by 50 and you get so much noise and flashing that it is extremely annoying. Anyway, this is the only thing I would NOT do in Japan if I would visit again.

Tokyo

Our last destination was Tokyo, a huge city and the largest metropolitan area in the world (35mil!). While being there it was a public holiday so, to be honest, we did not encounter the crowds we were told about. Heavily bombed during WWII, it has no old town or traditional houses (like Kyoto does). Neon covered buildings, shopping arcades and skyscrapers co-exist with humble homes and beautiful parks.

Tokyo metro is complicated but once you get it, it is easy to move around. There are different companies that run different lines, there is metro and train network (but never on the same map) and a number of different tickets. Good news is that JR pass can be used on the JR network (which does not include the subway). Bad news is that we asked around to rent a bike and no one knew where or how.

In Tokyo you should not miss the Ginza shopping area (although I have the impression is not for those on a low budget), Shibuya with the famous neon lights, Shinjukuwith all the skyscrapers but also the busiest train station in the world and of course taking a walk around the Imperial palace. Akihabara neighborhood, which is a heaven for gadget and electronics fans, is a must visit. All the latest and weird gadgets can be found there. Best visited on a Sunday when the stop the traffic on the main road and makes it easier and nicer to move around. Prices in modern electronics and cameras are not any different from those in Europe. Second hand staff is sometimes ridiculously cheap. Good thing is that when buying something tax free, the tax is removed right there and then. Don’t have to wait until the airport. By the way, VAT in Japan is just 8% (compare with 23% in Greece…).

Last day before returning the Netherlands we had the opportunity to visit a traditional Japanese home and eat with Japanese. Located in the mountains some 1,5hours by train from Shinjuku train station we ended up near Kawai the heart of a Wasabi producing community. It was certainly a privilege and a lovely experience to be among locals, eating like locals do in a part of Japan we would otherwise never visit.

Leaving this lovely country but most important, the beautiful people was hard. But Japan is always there and certainly in the near of far future we will have the chance to visit again..

Trip to Poland (Warsaw, Krakow and surroundings)

2013-04-23T19:25:00.002+02:00

This is the first time i visited this beautiful country with lovely people, rich and quite sad history, at least concerning its recent past. Located between Germany and Russia, during the second world war it suffered greatly mostly from the Germans but also from the Soviets. After the end of it

Palace of culture and science

the Soviets, which actually came as liberators, stayed and installed a communist government which lasted until 1989 when it collapsed and free elections were proclaimed.

Since then the country has gone through a huge transformation process and the results are visible to the visitor instantly. Being a member of the EU, the Poles are quickly building a country which will soon have nothing to envy from other Northern European nations!

I flew to the Warsaw Chopin main airport with Ryanair from Eindhoven, Netherlands. Despite from what i had read about Ryanair, their service is just fine and their prices unbeatable. I even booked with my name misspelled and when i called them they changed it in 5 minutes free of charge (stating on their website that such an error costs 80euros!).

Warsaw Old town

Upon arriving at the airport there are a number of ways to reach the city center, easiest one being the train. The ticket costs less than 1 euro (4.4 zl) and can be purchased at the special machines. The trip lasts approximately 20minutes.

Warsaw was completely destroyed during the Second world war mostly by the Germans but also the Soviets so whatever the visitor sees is pretty much built after that period. Even the so called Old Town is not actually old but it was re-built after the war to resemble the original. One cannot fail to miss the combination of various architecture style dominant in the city such as soviet type apartment blocks, modern skyscrapers, baroque style etc.

Having said that, one of the most interesting attractions is the city itself. It has not yet been

Warsaw Old town

discovered by hordes of tourists and therefore even the Old Town is never crowded. The city center is not that big and actually can be enjoyed on foot. Very safe with constant presence of police i walked all over the place with my camera hanging and never felt any threat. Its worth mentioning that i never saw any beggars which is rather weird considering the large number i encountered in cities like Paris and Berlin.

The big surprise was a bike sharing system, with access point spread all over the city, easy to use and extremely cheap (1,3euros a day - 7zl). The registration process is straight forward and can be completed on site. The user enters the phone number (does not have to be a Polish one) and the credit card number. That's it! You can hit the streets of Warsaw with a bicycle which is highly recommended!

Warsaw has a number of important museums but due to limited time i had only time to visit a few.

The Warsaw Uprising Museum which is a must for those who want to get an idea of how life was during the German occupation, the events leading to the uprising and the aftermath. One interesting fact to understand how devastating was the war for the city is that in 1939 the city had a population of 1.300.000 and in 1945 around 1000 people were living in what was left of it
The Palace of Culture and Science a gift from the Soviet union to Poland, once dominated the skyline but now has been dwarfed by the number of skyscrapers that mushroom in Warsaw. Still worth visiting to enjoy the view of the city and some Soviet era style architecture
The Lazienski Palace located in the park with the same name is a Baroque style palace. There

Lazienski Palace

apart from the beautiful architecture i enjoyed the quiet park and the company of many squirrels (which you can feed!)
Finally i visited the Gestapo Headquarters, a small museum located in what is now the Polish Ministry of Education. Very interesting to understand how Nazis interrogated and tortured members of the Polish resistance

Warsaw still has plenty more to enjoy but i had plans to visit Krakow, the Wieliczka salt mine s and Auschwitz concentration camp all of which are located in the south of Poland.

Krakow

The train trip from Warsaw to Krakow lasts around 3 hours and tickets can be booked onl ine. Make sure you have the printout with you. In the train there a round of free coffee, juice and water and the ticket costs 30 euros(127 zl) one way.

Krakow escaped bombing during the Second world war and therefore it is preserved at large. Locals have done a pretty good job maintaining their city and creating a very nice atmosphere. It is much more touristic than Warsaw and there is an abundance of things to see and do.

Wieliczka salt mines are a Unesco world heritage site located 30min by bus from Krakow. Bus

Salt mines underground church!

number to take you there is 304 and it runs almost every 20minutes. The entrance to the mine is 17 euro (70zl) plus 2.5 euro (10zl) if you want to take pictures. Believe me, its worth every zloti!

I walked for almost 3 hours in a magnificent network of underground tunnels complete with sculptures made out of salt, amazing halls (up to 35m high!) and a museum displaying the history and details of the mine. This is a highly recommended site to visit but it requires some physical abilities. You will have to decent almost 150 meters into the ground using a staircase and from there it is almost 2.5km walking in the tunnels.

Hope (Auschwitz - Birkenau II)

Next morning I visited the Auschwitz concentration camp, located 1.5hr by bus from Krakow. The buses leave from the bus terminal located behind the station. For some reason there are no frequent buses and the route took us through villages, stopping at each and single one. The ticket price is 3 euros (13zl).

Arriving to Auschwitz after 10:00 and you must follow one of the guided tours. These are offered in a number of languages and are frequent. Entrance ticket is almost 10euro (40zl). From 8:00 till 10:00 you can enter the site without a guide and wonder around at your own pace. If you have plenty of days for the site, visit once with a guide and once with one as you get to see more things. The guides have to go through extensive education and take a number of tests before they can qualify for the job so be assured that the one that will show you around has extensive knowledge of the historical facts and probably has met some of the survivors.

The tour itself is very emotional and be prepared for disturbing exhibits and images, which

Wired fence at Auschwitz I

unfortunately is history of this camp. As our guide explained, this is not a museum but rather a mass grave site, considering around 1.400.000 people were exterminated here by the Nazi regime. As in the salt mines, be prepared to walk a couple of kilometers.

And with that i concluded my trip to Poland. I was lucky cause i had a friend there who knew the whereabouts and that always makes a trip easier. Still with minimal effort one can have a pleasant stay in the country. Poland is a country of nice and very friendly people, a variety of activities and sites worth visiting which i would strongly advice to visit. I will surely do so again in the near future..

Weekend in Brussels

2012-03-24T21:17:00.002+01:00

After the amazing trip in Northern Scandinavia, a weekend in the capital of Belgium, Brussels awaited.

Having heard lot of conflicting opinions about this city we had mixed feelings and, to be honest, low expectations (which i guess always works as an advantage cause one ends up appreciating things more).

Brussels Gare Central

So we had bought tickets a few days ago but there is always a chance to show up at Amsterdam Centraal and buy tickets there. Seats are not numbered, we saw many people standing so i guess there are always available tickets. The journey lasts 2:30 hours and there are trains every hour!

So leaving on Friday evening we could enjoy a full weekend in the capital of Europe! The first impression after coming out the (impressive i would say) Brussels "Gare Central" station is that of an open and friendly city. People were sitting outside, enjoying their drinks and dining in the fine weather!

The city itself is by no means a place one would call "beautiful" (compared to other Northern European capitals) but certainly enjoys a special character. The "European air" blowing can be felt all around and gives Brussels a special status. Worth paying a visit at the European quarters and the newly opened Parlamentarium for understanding how the European parliament works, what are the foundations of the European Union, key people and even (with the help of technology) participate in one of European Union Parliament sessions! It is for sure a "must no miss" in Brussels and tours are offered in all of the EU official languages. Unfortunately, although we really liked to visit, EU parliament is closed for visitors in the weekend. Promised to visit again on a weekday just for that!

Parlamentarium

No visitor can miss the Grote Markt, the Central square of Brussels which is (totally justified!) one of the most beautiful in the world! It is amazing how the Belgians have managed to create such a nice place but have neglected to update everything that is 5min walk away from that! Possibly Grote Markt raises standard so much that one would expect all Brussels to be like that (and of course are not!). A stone throw away lies a small alley with around 10 Greek restaurants! It surely feels like being to an island. Having tried souvlaki at the one called "Plaka" i can certainly tell that this is nothing compared to what you find in Greece but i am pretty sure it was as good as it can get. What surprised the most is that we met the owner who came to our table, sat with us and even treated us the drinks. It was certainly a nice surprise!

Grote Markt

While researching what to do in Brussels, i had looked up the monuments and came across this church, Sacre Coeur. We had no clue where is was so using our GPS navigator it wrote something around 3km so we decided to walk there. Nice walk to a part of Brussels that tourists seldom will go but we ended at some tiny church which was by no means what we were looking for! Asking locals we found out that the real thing was nowhere close but was at the other side of the city!! We finally visited but it was late and the church had closed long time ago. Even from outside looks impressive!

Atomium (Detail)

Atomuim

Other places worth visiting in Brussels is the Atomium, located outside the city but easily accessible with metro. The monument is pretty impressive from the outside but we decided not to visit as time did not allowed and we had made up our minds to visit Mini-Europe which lies close by. Its an impressive museum that has miniature buildings from all EU countries! Spent a good 2 hours in there before we returned to Brussels for our last stop, the Cinquantenaire park and the Museum of Armed forces. Having built a lot of model planes as a kid this was like a paradise! So many planes i had seen only at a scale of 1:72 or 1:48 all of a sudden were there in 1:1! This brought a lot of memories back but had no chance to complete the tour as the place closed (we entered just 15 before it closed and no-one said anything!).

In the evening after buying a bag full of chocolates and Belgian beers (the best!) we embarked on the train back to Amsterdam! This city challenged us to study and find out more about the EU, its history and the big European family.

Grote Markt

Overall it is hard to say i did not like Brussels. Even as a tourist i have visited cities that i enjoyed but could not live there. Although this was not one of my favorite places, the European Union atmosphere is very appealing and would enjoy going back there again just for that...

Trip to the land of the Saami

2012-02-29T19:30:00.000+01:00

This page tells the story of four Greeks visiting the northernmost part of Sweden (the land of the Saami...) in January 2012. It is in form of a Journal but links are provided where necessary to help those wanting to perform a similar trip. Hope you enjoy!

Day 1:

The trip started from Amsterdam around 11:30. We had carefully planned our arrival to Eindhoven airport (as the flight was with Ryanair to Skavsta) and took the car after having secured a parking spot at the TomTom office which is located only 5min walk from the airport! Driving took almost 1:30 hours and at 13:00 we were there! The suitcase was pre-weighted so we lost no time there and since there was no cue (NO ONE!) this took only a few seconds! The luggage control was fairly simple and they seem to check only the hand luggage that one cannot carry in their back. Ours was less than 10kg so no problems there!

Plane was on time and at 16:50 we were in Stockholm! We had booked tickets for the bus that would take us to the city. The suitcase was on the belt as we entered the terminal (those Swedes….) and the bus to Stockholm left on time. The ride is 1:30 so around 18:00 we were at City Terminalen which is also the Stockholm train station!

The train left with a short delay of 20mins so this was around 21:25. It was really comfortable and the 6berth cabin shared with 2 Swedes was a great experience. At 23:00 lights went off and we took a long sleep after a tiring day as the train slowly approached the Arctic Circle!

Day 2:

Eagar to get a glimpse of the landscape we set our alarms at 8:00 and got a chance to view the beautiful Scandinavian nature until 10:06 when we reached Boden and had to change trains! What an experience to get from +25 to -10 and wait there for 40mins!

Luckily our connecting train was on time (10:43) and we sat comfortably to an almost empty of passengers wagon for the next 3 hours until we reached the mining town of Kiruna at 13:59 sharp!

We had book rooms at a place called Logikonferens which is some kind of school that has apartments for students and whatever is left they use it as a hotel. Still, it was a great choice, very clean, great facilities but a bit far from the city center (around 10min walk). We settled there and started out to explore the city! Don’t expect amazing nightlife, bars everywhere and crowds of people taking their evening walk. You should be happy to spot 1 person and 1 dog every 30min! Still it is nice to explore the town and grab what it can offer.
In our case the church was a place to visit and spend some time there.

When it was 18:00 and we finally started to get hungry the big quest of what to eat started. Don’t expect many choices here..The only place within walking distance (in -12) we found was the Scandic hotel restaurant, a cozy place with nice food (try their Swedish meatballs…). Bit expensive but definitely worth it (as we went there the next day too).

This long day ended with a warm sleep back at our nice hotel room.

Day 3:

The third day started with a wonderful idea! Why not renting a car?? So we did! We tried AVIS and got a good deal (a Dacia SUV) for the day.

We drove off to Nikkaluokta and along the way we had a chance to spot a few wild moose and some reindeers! The village was after a long bridge but not much to see or do there as everything was closed.

At 15:00 we had booked tickets to go to the mine tour which lasted 2:45 and took us underground in the world’s biggest ore mine, just 10min outside the town of Kiruna. The tour itself was very impressive and our tour guide extremely educative and willing to explain everything in detail. In there we had the chance to see a small presentation on LKAB, understand all about the mine (and why it is so important to the economy of Sweden), have a cup of coffee and visit a museum.

Once again over ground we decided to drive to Jukkasjärvi the village famous for its Ice Hotel! I guess it was much more impressive that anyone of us ever imagined and even though we had a drink on one of their ice cups (“on the rocks” has a true meaning here…) we could not stand much the -5. Thankfully the reception is a lot warmer so we spent some time there recovering from the bitter cold!

On our way back we tried a couple of restaurants in Kiruna but nothing was open so we went to our safe place (Scandic, meatballs, you know!).

Day 4:

On the fourth day we checked out the Logikonferens around 09:00 and went to the train station to pick the train to Narvik (leaving at 10:36). It was a cold morning but the sun was bright and sent its warm rays all over the place creating a wonderful atmosphere. On the train we viewed the wonderful scenery consisting of mountains and frozen lakes until we reached the Norwegian border where the fjord started! The view offered by the train is amazing!

We arrived at Narvik at 13:19 and went straight to our hostel. It is a small place called Spor1, nothing fancy, fairly simple but well located. If you thought there is nothing to do in Kiruna well this place is the capital of nothing to do (at least in the winter time). Still one can find nice walks and the view from the mountain is breathtaking. Too bad the day is too short. I guess in the summer time and having a car must be very exciting!

Anyways, we had a relaxed walk, dinner at Peppes pizza (as much as you can for 99NOK!), a drink and then straight to bed!

Day 5:

Not knowing how amazing this day would be, we started at 09:00, slowly walking towards the Narvik station to pick the train at 10:02. Around 13:22 we arrived at Abisko Ostra, where we had booked rooms at a little place called Abisko Mountain Lodge. This was an amazing place, small, warm, nicely decorated with very friendly staff and highly recommended! All of us wished we had not spent the last night in Narvik and instead had one more day here!

Abisko is nothing more than a couple of hotels, a school, a train station and a huge (I mean HUGE) supermarket. All you can enjoy here is nature and the great outdoors. Considered to be one of the driest places in Europe, it is the perfect place for spotting the Northern Lights.

Having though so we booked an activity that would take us up a hill to see the Northern Lights. We had no idea that the previous day the sun had been unusually active and that all forecast was saying the sky would be full tonight. In the meantime we went to the super market close by and got some goodies! Around 19:00 we heard some aurora activity was going on so we quickly wore our warmest clothes and headed for an open space close by. And indeed! The sky was green and lights dancing everywhere! No words can describe what we saw! It lasted half an hour until it disappeared as magically as it had come.

At 21:00 we were ready (given special warm clothes from the hotel) for our walk. Our expectations were not high as we thought our luck had run out for the day. What a mistake! Our guide took us through the forest stopping every now and then and telling nice stories about the animals living there, the aurora itself, Abisko etc until we reach the top of a nearby hill. There was no activity just a greenish dark cloud in the sky. Our guide lit a nice fire (it was -23 by then) and offered warm drinks. All heads turned in the sky and hopes really high, the god of Aurora Borealis (whoever this might be!) heard us and the sky literally exploded! Green lights with a touch of purple started dancing all around us. The so called “night curtain” unraveled itself on the dark starry sky. No matter where we turned our heads there was some green light dancing. It was a sight one can never forget. After an hour, having frozen but so amazed, we started walking towards the hotel. On the sky above the Northern lights did not stop so I decided to have a warm cup of tea and head out there with my camera. After having completely frozen (me and my camera) I decided to go back to bed. The lights kept going on..

Day 6:

Waking up satisfied and happy with previous night, we had our breakfast and prepared for the 12:08 train that will take us back to Kiruna. We had booked 3 nights at Camp Alta with quite few activities. Before being picked up, we headed for the ICA supermarket to prepare for the cabin.

Our cabin (7 person one) was bit isolated from the campus so it was quite difficult to participate on the offered activities (ice fishing, sauna etc). Still on the first day we managed to have a barbeque (!) outside. Oh, yes! We lit a fire on the ground and cooked some delicious sausages, chicken wings and steaks. Best barbeque ever!

Day 7:

We woke up around 08:00 and prepared for the first activity which was snow scooter! We got a chance to drive one all the way from Altajärvi to the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi through dense forest and lakes (around 38km both ways). Those machines can go up to 100km/h! Once again at the ice hotel we had the chance to have a guided tour but decided to skip as it was too expensive (375sek for 30min) so we went around in the village and all the way to the lovely church. Meeting on time we took the snow scooters back to the cabin and after lunch we decided to head to the frozen Altajärvi for ice fishing.

At first we tried axe and shovel but I think we would still be there trying to dig a hole! The ice was half a meter thick and using the axe to break it seemed impossible. So we decided to head to Alta main area (2.5km walk) on the frozen lake where we knew a drilling tool was available. Indeed we got our hands on it, drilled the holes and used our rods in hope for a nice fish in the oven. The result, after 30min waiting in -20 was to abandon the site and head for the warmth of our cabin!

Day 8:

After a good night sleep, we woke up and prepared for the next activity which was dog sledging. We were picked up around 09:00 and headed in the forest where our dogs awaited! After getting warm clothes and instructions on how to drive the sledge, we started our journey! It sounds difficult, but those smart creatures really know their way so the driver’s main task is to let them know when to stop and when to go!

Our journey lasted for an hour until we reached a warm cabin where our driver prepared some mushroom soup, toast and warm coffee. It was really refreshing and gave us power for the way back. At -15 and windy, it was not such an easy task. But we managed and got all the pleasure from riding the dogs in the vastness of the Swedish Lapland!

Upon returning to the camp, we had booked for some sauna but we never managed to light up the fire. It was a pity and we really needed that after a cold day. Instead, when we run out of matches and lighter fuel we walked the 2,5km on the frozen lake to our cabin. Luckily we found some warmth and prepared our nice food.

Day 9:

Feeling happy and full of great memories we took the morning flight at 07:10 from Kiruna to Stockholm, where we stayed for 4 days before returning to the Netherlands...