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Norway – The Lofoten (Part 2)

With lots of sunshine the Lofoten was pure bliss.

Pure? Almost, if there wasn’t those dirty people using the bushes as camping toilet. It makes me angry to see how some tourists pollute the nature, while posting about the their passion for outdoor activities. I guess there will be consequences for other tourists and traveler sooner or later. I wonder how much longer wild camping will be tolerated.

Back on the road i noticed wooden frames with left overs of dry fishes. Stockfish is an important good in Norway and its export was recorded back to the medieval times. Although it’s originally not salted, i found some salt on the bottom of these frames.

There are quite a few villages. Most are suited themselves best for tourism. They’re pretty, some have also museums and other information centre. Probably most important are the restaurants and cafes settled on beautiful places.

After a couple beautiful days on the archipelagos i reached the village of Å , where i had a last hike before boarding the ferry to south at midnight.

Dezember 1, 2023November 28, 2023 by Rene Bauer Categories: culture, europe, history, humansofplanetearth, landscape, nature, reportage, roadtrip, tinatortuga, travelTags: bridge, cafe, camping, europe, fish, fishervillages, fjord, landscape, lofoten, mountains, nature, northerneeurope, norway, overland, people, renebauerphotography, reportage, scandinavia, sea, stockfish, tourism, Travel, view, villages Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Norway – The Lofoten (Part 1)

The very famous Lofoten belongs to the best known region of Norway.

As beautiful the landscape is, in summer saison it’s overrun with tourists. All the visitors want enjoy the fjords with crystal blue water, hiking the many peaks or just relax by a good meal or refreshing coffee along the route.

Once i’m here as a tourist myself, i gonna take a hike too, i was thinking. But it wasn’t easy to find even a free parking lot near a hiking spot. The more famous hiking routes i had to skip because of that. Eventually i found a less popular hiking path on a top of a mountain. Surprisingly few wanderer on the route. Maybe they were scarred of the steep slope, especially at the top. But it was definitely worth to stand on the peak with its breathtaking view.

November 30, 2023November 28, 2023 by Rene Bauer Categories: landscape, nature, roadtrip, travelTags: beach, fishervillage, fjord, hike, hiking, landscape, landscapephotography, lofoten, mountains, nature, northerneurope, norway, overland, peak, people, renebauerphotography, scandinavia, sunset, trail, Travel, Village Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Israel – Masada, The Fortress On The Sky

In the tiny rental car the Judaean Desert felt even more huge. A black bitumen road navigates between stony fields, rocky areas and along deep, dry valleys with some rare, green oasis. I have to admit, i always do enjoy traveling trough lonely deserts. All in a sudden a deep blue surface appeared on the edge of a plateau. I reached the Dead Sea region.

Not far from here i arrived at the foot of a mountain. On top of it is the legendary fortress of Masada.

Built by Herod the Great it has two palaces for himself and fortified city on the plateau of the mountain. Beside the space for the inhabitants it also has huge storage rooms and a clever system of water drains and cisterns. King Herod enjoyed life up here with big, painted halls, terraces overlooking the Dead Sea and even heated baths.

Later the fortified city was occupied by the Jewish on the First Jewish-Roman War. The story tells a sad end of the folks up there. When the Romans besieged the fortress, they even build up a ramp to breach the walls. The people inside the city decided not to go in slavery but rather commit a mass suicide.

Nowadays a cable car brings the tourists on the top. There’s still a long, steep way uphill for the wanderers. I preferred to spend some time up there and wander between the ruins. Some wall paintings are still well preserved, as parts of the Roman bath is too. Even the earthen ramp, which was built to breach the wall, is still good to see.

The view is just stunning. On the back raises the mountains of the desert with its nice rock formations. On the front lies the blue Dead Sea with the Jordan mountains on the other side. It was so beautiful and magic, i spent longer than planned, but regret not one minute of it.

März 31, 2023März 30, 2023 by Rene Bauer Categories: history, landscape, Middle East, nature, reportage, roadtrip, travelTags: archeology, archologicalsite, deadsea, Desert, fortress, herodes, history, israel, judaeandesert, landscape, masada, middleeast, mountains, renebauerphotography, roman, romanbath, romanempire, ruins, Travel, wallpainting Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Israel – The Golan Heights

Actually belongs the Golan Heights still to Syria. Since the occupation from Israel in the „Six-Day War“ it was never recognized internationally as part of Israel. But due its strategically importance, the latter never gave it back.

Despite the politically situation, the Golan Heights are known for its beautiful landscape and wonderful views.

Frankly, i’ve been too curious for both reasons. How it looks there, and is any tension to feel or to see when i travel there.

I started very early in the morning from the coast and headed straight to a point, which was marked in my map as memorial and picnic spot in the heights. An old tank was displayed there and some boards telling the stories of the battle in the ‚Six-Dax War‘.

I was honestly disappointed from the view there. Not only was it bit hazy, but also couldn’t see really far.

There was another mark on the map. Merom Golan, it says, was also a picnic spot or so. As i arrived there another ten minutes driving, it turned out as holiday resort. I turned my car at the security gate. Just few hundreds meters back heads a steep, winding road to the top of Mt. Bental with a wonderful lookout westwards over rolling hills of Golan.

On the very top, the view opens to south and east. A big, green valley lies in front, with a few wind mills and small lakes. At the horizon raises big, snowcapped mountains. Mount Hermon, as i found out, is 2’814m asl and already at Libanon – Syria border.

The peak of of Mt Bental is full of old bunkers, ditches and combat positions. It’s nowadays an open air museum, but no doubt, they would put it back into operation and reinforce it, whenever the situation get tense again.

I decided to travel along the ‚buffer zone‘ to the Gamla nature park and have a short hike there. But on my way i got stopped by some military road block, who asked me to turn around, since that road is temporarily closed. As if to underline the soldiers words, a big bang from artillery echoes trough the air. They’re on a training or maneuver, always ready to strike again.

On my way back i saw big trucks parking, ready to take tanks to move them from one spot to another. I rather took a look back to the beautifully and peacefully mountains on the other side.

März 8, 2023März 7, 2023 by Rene Bauer Categories: history, HOPE, humansofplanetearth, reportage, roadtrip, travel, UncategorizedTags: battle, border, bunker, combat, conflict, golan, golanheights, hills, history, israel, landscape, lebanon, libanon, lookout, meromgolan, middleeast, military, mountains, mountbental, mounthermon, renebauerphotography, sixdaywar, snowcapped, syria, tank, Travel, valley, view Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Crossing The Alps – New Journey Starts

It’s already late this year.

My feet got more and more itchy. But finally my #TinaTortuga is ready to take her out for another, bigger trip.

The decision for a destination was hard to find for this winter. There’s no lack on ideas and opportunities, tho. But where to put the priority?

Traveling by my Landrover #TinaTortuga.

Heading to warmer places.

Explorer new regions.

So, let’s start by crossing the snowy Alps, having a coffee in Italy first…

Dezember 3, 2022 by Rene Bauer Categories: europe, landscape, nature, reportage, roadtrip, tinatortuga, travelTags: alps, coffee, europe, italy, Landrover, landroverdefender, mountains, renebauerphotography, roadtrip, snow, swissalps, switzerland, Travel, winter Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Autumn – mystic moods

The day hides behind clouds.

The landscape disappears in the mist.

The colors vanish slowly between shadows.

Autumn in its late days brings up mystic moods in nature.

I embrace the dark times with its smells, its sounds, its secrets.

Where the eyesight comes to its boundaries, there’s more space for fantasy and dreams.

November 26, 2022 by Rene Bauer Categories: europe, landscape, nature, reportage, roadtrip, switzerland, travelTags: alps, autumn, blackandwhite, bw, dark, forest, glarus, lake, landscape, mood, mountains, nature, shadows, switzerland, Travel Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Autumn – the colorful

There was this occasion of a family reunion in a small valley. As a boy i used to spend our family holidays in these mountains in Northern Italy.

Blue sky invites for a hike in nature. From the top of the mountains shines the first snow of the season, and the colors of autumn burst from the forest.

A good opportunity to grab my Nikon and take some shots of this colorful world in autumn…

November 26, 2022 by Rene Bauer Categories: europe, landscape, nature, roadtrip, tinatortuga, travelTags: alps, autumn, camping, color, europe, forest, hiking, italia, italy, lake, landscape, mountains, nature, tinatortuga, Travel Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

OST-EUROPA-MOTORRADTOUR #51: Albanien

Albanien ist bekannt für seine unberührte Bergwelt mit kleinen Dörfer und grosser Gastfreundschaft. Diese abgelegenen Gegenden habe ich vor bald mal auf vier Rädern zu erkunden. Mit dem Motorrad wollte ich aber dennoch an die Küste nach Shkodar und dem gleichnamigen See. In der Hauptstadt Tirana musste doch ein Kaffeestop eingelegt werden. Auf der Suche nach einem netten Café reihte ich mich in den vollen, chaotischen Verkehr ein. Im ‚Marko Polo‘, nach dem berühmten italienischen Reisenden benannt, wurde ich fündig.

Shkodar ist kleiner als ich dachte. Eine kleine, schöne Altstadt ist umgeben von Betonbauten. Der See wird umrahmt von hohen Bergen und gibt der Gegend eine reizende Note. Sie lockten mich hinauf, aber das muss noch etwas warten. Erst genoss ich die wirklich tolle Gastfreundschaft in Shkodar und das Willkommens-Bier meines Hostels.

Oktober 13, 2017Oktober 13, 2017 by Rene Bauer Categories: culture, landscape, nature, reportage, roadtrip, travel, Uncategorized, urbanlifeTags: albania, easteurope, lake, mountains, shkodar, Travel Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

At The Banks Of River Nile

At the other side of the Nile a fishing lodge offers boat trips even into South Sudan, i heard. Fishing lodge sounds posh, but when i arrived it was a run-down lodge with basic facilities. Yet still the charm of better times stays in the air. A small group of locals arrived just after me. They came for a little party under friends, brought a living goat in the car trunk and let them to the butcher to slaughter it in the backyard. There were more animals waiting to get eaten up, but having a peacefully live till then. A pig with a bunch of small ones, chicken, more goats. Eagles circling over the river when i walked along the banks and gave the scenery a peaceful touch of freedom.

März 11, 2017März 11, 2017 by Rene Bauer Categories: Africa, animal, food, gastronomy, landscape, nature, reportage, travel, uganda, Uncategorized, wildlifeTags: Africa, animal, boat, chicken, eagle, eastafrica, ferry, fisherman, goat, landscape, mountains, nature, nile, people, renebauerphotography, river, sunset, Travel, uganda Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Hike Trough Border Villages

Early morning a young guy approached me. He offered tours. Despite my plans to travel further, i got convinced to spend a day longer in this area. Julius, the young tour guide, promised me, not only to guide me for an hike along the Congo border, but also showing me authentic village life, where he’s born. I didn’t regret my decision. Trough villages and over farmland, he brought me to a cave, climbed up an hill with craters, where every inch is used as agriculture land, introduced me with school and showed me the spring, where village people get their drinking water. On this hike, i got the whole lot impression of country life in Uganda.