The Life and Times. Lifetimes.

Ecuador. The Video.

2012-04-06T17:30:00.003+12:00

Me exploring Ecuador together with two Belgian amigos.

Watch out for minute 3:00 :))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkliI7v5gZk

Hint: It is possible that in some countries this video will be blocked by youtube (because of copyright issues); a workaround is to add a proxy, which makes youtube think your location is e.g. in Taiwan and not in Germany anymore. This is a simple EDIT in your favourite browsers proxy settings; for instance, have a look here for Firefox; a list of proxy servers that make your location anonymous is available here.

Manu Chao. La proxima parada es esperanza. :))

2012-03-22T15:33:00.001+13:00

Hola. ?Que pasa? :)

Days are passing by very quickly over here.
Yesterday I couchsurfed the 1st time here in Quito.

And, of course, I went to the Manu Chao concert in the Olympic Stadium.

Two Quito couchsurfers joined in, and a lot of other Spanish students as well.
It was raining heavily when we stood in the queue to get in (in into the "Cancha"); finally we made it almost to the entry, but then way too many people tried to get in at once; and worst of all, there was only one (!) entrance. So it got kind of dangerous, the crowd was squeezed together, moving like a wave, roaring, pushing. We decided to step outside of that mess. And went for dinner instead; I was introduced to a brand-new mall, amazing, what a contrast to the rest of the city. Had really good conversations my CSing host Rick and another Ecuadorian CSing girl Mabel, and then we went back to the stadium; this time around the crowd wasn't there anymore and we just walked in right away. Of course, I missed a bit of the beginning of the concert; but then another surprise hit me: Manu Chao was only the opening act, for a really popular band called Calle 13 (which I didn't know until then). The rest of Manu Chao I saw was great, it was packed, good vibes, no rain anymore, not too cold, dancing everywhere, and the occasional jumping and even moshing going on, too. Great stuff! :))
Have a look here for a few pictures I took of the mess to get in and the concert itself (only with my mobile, so don't expect good quality there...).

On to another topic:
Today was a special day. March 21st. 12 o'clock at noon. The sun was directly 90° up.
That meant: no shadow for a few minutes :))
Me and others from the language school went to Mitad del Mundo aka Middle of the Earth aka the equator. There is an actual line which marks the middle, and we had a short tour on different topics: like whether the water runs clockwise, anti-clockwise out of a sink, and indians. Very interesting!!!

Question for you: what way around the water runs out of a sink directly on the equator ?! :))

I'll upload a few pictures of that trip in my next entry. Along with more news.

Until then. Hasta luego. :))
Bjoern

ps: I need to work on a Spanish presentation for my course now, the topic is: my home country, Alemania.

Perdido en Mariscal, Quito.

2012-03-20T17:13:00.002+13:00

Hola. ?Que tal? :))

This is my 4th day in Ecuador now and finally I got lost.

Quite honestly I don't know where to start; I guess I better start with the beginning then.
Last week I traveled to Madrid, Spain.I was overwhelmed by the Spanish language all around me. The hostel was alright, and I had one day to walk around and get a short impression. I have to say: yes, quite impressive that Spanish capitol! I was most impressed by those massive old-style buildings, plenty of plazas, green parks and broad streets spanning from North to South and East to West (pieced together by the one or other round-about). It seems around each corner there is another museum, government building, massive stone-build casa. The centre is huge, I think I'll come back one day and check out a few museums and the rest of that vibrant city.
Check out those pictures of Madrid.

So finally, on Thursday it was time to enter an Iberia (later more on that) airplane headed to Quito, Ecuador (Wikipedia info here). My first time in South or Middle America. I was genuinely excited to get there; reading up on a few guide books and even watching a Galapagos Islands documentary.
Getting on the plane was an adventure for its own, by my standards; time from Madrid centre to the airport took more than I thought, so at checkin I was informed that the flight is already closed. However, the Senior pulls out his notebook, calls a few numbers and tells me I will receive a hand written boarding pass and I must take by big backpack through the normal hand-luggage security check; I agree. So I run; I discuss the situation and only have to leave my pocket knife at the check-point (I can take two scissors, and all my bath utensils); of course, there is a train to get to the right gate; time is ticking away, 10mins till the flight is supposed to leave; running again; I make it to the gate, and boarding is not even finished half: PUH! :)) Sweating, I leave my rucksack with the Iberia lady when entering the plane. That's done; but, there's more to come ...
Flight time was scheduled with something around 13hrs. They went by pretty quickly (sleeping, watching kind-of-sad "One Day" and talking to my seat neighbour, an English lady by the finest).
As we are approaching Quito, hefty turbulence sets in, roller coaster style. Then there is an announcement by the Captain, en espanol only. The plane gains height again. The reason? Apparently there was an incident involving a military plane not taking off in time and hitting some electronic light thingies at Quito airport; so our plane gets diverted to Guayaquil instead.
Once there, Iberia service kicks in again: we get transferred to a nifty hotel, get dinner and breakfast, and a transfer back to the airport on Saturday afternoon.

So my first encounter with Ecuador was: heavy rain, 95% humidity and 30°C :)

I arrived in Quito on Saturday evening, got a local mobile phone SIM card and actually said my first Spanish sentence re-negotiating the taxi fair to the hostel :))

The hostel I stay in at the moment is alright, a bit dark/damp/empty, but okay to start exploring the old and new part of the city from.
On Sunday I spent my day in the old part; it was selected as the first UNESCO world heritage back in the 1970s. I got a pretty bad sunburn right away. Forgot that we are at almost 3000m of altitude here; I feel it too, when climbing long stairs or walking faster a longer time, I get pretty exhausted. On the contrary, the time change minus 6 hours is not too bad though.
Today, Monday, I attended my first Spanish lessons at the Spanish school in the new part of town. That was amazing! So much input, a great teacher, and only me and a 2nd student; fantastico! There was a round of self-mixed welcoming drink (involving Rum); and I got myself a ticket for a BIG concert of Manu Chao in the Olympic stadium tomorrow night. On the way back to the school we got lost and walked around for ages in that newer part of the city, it is called Mariscal and looks like a backpackers dream with a huge amount of little restaurants, discos, bars and shops. It is cheapcheapcheap over here: todays lunch was 1.70USD, the local bus is 25cents, a hostel night is about 8USD, a Spanish lesson only 7USD, a 15min taxi ride 2USD; and so on and so forth.

Look here for a few more impressions on my first days in Ecuador!

Up to come in the next issue:
- a few facts about living in Quito important for people like me (aka gringos)
- a report on the Manu Chao concert I'll go to tomorrow
- impressions of my first week traveling on my own and being in this Latino world over here
- AND, of course, including more pictures.

Buenas Noches. Björn

Queenstown, NZ: the full monty.

2011-12-11T22:58:00.000+13:00

Hello again. :)
Been some time since the last post.
We are in Queenstown now. Had a wonderful great hike up to Ben Lomond (1700m) and around the area.
I uploaded a few new impressions, see the link at the bottom.
On Tuesday we'll head to Dunedin for our final day on the South Island.
Bye for now. Bjoern

Pictures up until week 5, click here.

Entering the South Island.

2011-11-30T23:02:00.001+13:00

We reached the South Island of NZ; my first impressions: high mountains, snow covered summits; turkis water and long beaches.
Good Night. B.

Explore more, with DOUGIE :) The NZ edition.

2011-11-21T18:17:00.001+13:00

We are on our way back down south, heading to Auckland. Had a fantastic time up in the remote North Lands.

All made possible because of our camper van, Dougie.
Click here for action packed stunt photos driving.

Cheers. More info & pics once we're back to a more populated area.

Bjoern

Kia Ora from the North Lands.

2011-11-18T14:27:00.001+13:00

Today I'm just sitting at the couch in Pickled Parrot Backpackers hostel, and don't do anything.
Until later that is :) Because then we'll head for a 1 day Boat Trip in the Bay of Islands.
Right, that's where we are at the moment, to be precise: in Paihia.
That's quite a nice town we do one of our few stops. Everythings prepared for tourists.
Still it has a relaxed feeling with its little marina and the view on the bay.

Our Van, "Dougie", is running well; a bit swimming when turning right, but that's okay for another week.
We free camped twice so far, not far from the beach, with public toilets around.
Body boarding the rough waves of the West Coast in Piha was cool. In contrast, the east coast, where we're now, is all mellow and low waters.
Exactly what we need a beginners. I'm looking forward to the boat trip we signed up for yesterday; it's supposed to be good, including kayaking, snorkeling, dolphin watching, island hopping, and sleeping on the boat for one night. I keep my fingers crossed the waves and weather stay as is at the moment; calm and sunny.

Have a look here for a few pictures of our 2nd week; touring the North Lands.
I also updated the previous post and included a link of pictures of week 1, our journey to NZ and time spent in Auckland.

Will be back soon. So much more things coming up; sand dune boarding, 90 mile beach, caves.
I think I'll need another break again, very soon :))

Tschuess, Bjoern

Spring in New Zealand.

2011-11-12T20:23:00.000+13:00

We made it. We are in New Zealand. :))
Here are a few first impressions. To see a lot more photos of week 1, go here.

NY, NY.

2010-04-04T17:02:00.000+12:00

Time for rest.
Our travel from Dallas to NY went very smoothly, a flight at 6.25 to Philly, then a 2,5h Greyhound ride into the Big Apple. Yesterday it wasn't clear yet where we would stay and now: there we are, right next to Empire State Building. Very amazing all of this !!

I even met someone familiar on our way :)

Good night.

CA, check. Next stop: TX.

2010-04-01T05:56:00.000+13:00

We're back at an airport, this time in San Francisco :)

After a few great days along Route 1 on the Pacific West coast of California our next stop is Dallas, Texas.

We had a sunny & foggy time and saw awe-inspiring waves in Santa Cruz. Golden Gate bridge in the dark together with rain and clouds looks all like a gate to a New World, somehow ;)

The countdown continues: T - 1 day.

From Desert to Coast in no time.

2010-03-29T20:21:00.000+13:00

After our Las Vegas desert adventure we drove towards the West and reached a small touristy and expensive place by the name of Santa Barbara. This very picturesque town seems to be the non-plus-ultra in tourist spots, it was neat you have to give it to this place, but all too fine for me though. This is our starting point for Highway number 1, our way to go and the goal for the next few days before we head out of CA and into Texas :)

Tonight we reached Cambria, and this is a completely different place in contrast to last night: small, little shops and diners around, all relaxed in its own way; and the nature around is breathtaking. This is like Scotland, only with a lot of sunshine :) We even were lucky to catch the rare occasional foggy fog fog clouds coming in; lets see if they have disappeared by tomorrow.

We'll be heading for Big Sur tomorrow. And then we try to see the elephant seals sunbathing.

Stay tuned... Countdown : T - 4 days

Night and Day, what's the difference ?!

2010-03-27T19:30:00.000+13:00

Las Vegas is just wow:
neon lights, slot machines, music/singing of the slot machines, people with and without money & gambling the whole day long. All of this is mixed with shows of all kinds of types, over-the-top theme hotels and night clubs: we had a great time! And yes, we gambled and ... lost. :)

4hrs of sleep and checking out our hotels adventure dome was enough to get energy and then we drove over the Hoover Dam. Now we are back in Barstow where our Nevada trip started. We had a self made meal in a long time and head for Route 1 and the West coast tomorrow!

Californian sun, here we go again :)

Las Vegas over the top.

2010-03-26T15:13:00.001+13:00

We had a ride on the vastness of the desert Highway 15. Stay in this hotel, 28th floor. And will go out tonight :) Badda Bing.

On the road again.

2010-03-26T08:03:00.002+13:00

Californian Sun.

2010-03-24T06:21:00.002+13:00

San Diego is awesome :)

San Diego, here we come.

2010-03-22T11:29:00.000+13:00

After spending 10hrs at the wonderful Chicago Airport we finally made it on a flight :)

The windy city.

2010-03-21T00:12:00.003+13:00

Hello to both sides of the Großen Teich :)

Our time in Chicago is almost over. Before leaving a few impressions of the days we spent in this big, "clean", diverse and relaxed city.

See you again : in the überbest city