Iceland: Hunt For Polar Lights

More spectacular landscapes on our way trough the south of Iceland. Even some reindeers crossed our path. But still no polar lights until we reached Reykjavik. So, we decided to have a night out with some beer and live music.

To our surprise, we got a notice about sightings of northern lights just outside the city. A few moments later we’ve been on our search for a dark spot with less light pollution, and witnessed a wonderful heavenly light show. A last amazing impression of Iceland before returning home.

Iceland: Arriving In Reykjavik

The worst was not the temperature of -6°C, but the strong wind. Within minutes out on the car park, searching for my rental car, my fingers got numb. It took me several minutes more to defrost them again and finally got my gloves out of my luggage. Lesson learned, always keep your gloves ready.

Strolling around Reykjavik, enjoying the clear morning air, the long dawn in the morning and of course some bakeries with coffee and sweets. But also visiting some landmarks as the sculpture ’sun voyager‘, the rainbow street or the famous Hallgrims Church. From the bell tower one get a fantastic view over the capital city and the surroundings. It was absolutely worth it.

A worth was also to visit the bar ‚Hus Mals Og Menningar‘ with their daily live music. You can’t end your day better than with a glass of local beer and music from ‚The Bookstore Band‘

Winter In Turkey: Fethiye

Winter in Turkey impressions #13: Fethiye is known as a small fisher village with beautiful beaches. Over the years it changed to a popular holiday destination. In summer it seems to be very busy for party folks but in winter it’s quite and abandoned and many shops and restaurants were even closed for the season. Lucky i found at least a place for a good cafe before hitting the road again.

Winter In Turkey: Göbekli Tepe

Winter in Turkey impressions #8: Göbekli Tepe was of my highlights of the trip. Amazing display of earliest architectures of human beings. This buildings wasn’t used as settlement like Karahan Tepe, rather they were for spiritual use, but quite sure for astronomical observations.

From there i tried to visit also Nemrut Dagi, but couldn’t reach it due the snow. At least i got a wonderful sight of winter-wonderland in Anatolia.

Winter In Turkey: Karahan Tepe

Winter in Turkey Impressions #7: The way to Karahan Tepe brought me to a lovely campsite at the mediterranean sea near Iskenderun, before i continue my trip along the Syrian border to Sanliurfa, near the archeological site. This was merely a week before the huge, disastrous earthquake.

Karahan Tepe is one of the oldest settlement of human history. It is around 10000-12000 years old. Humans settled here approximately 10’000 – 12’000 years ago. Just discovered on early 2000’s it’s a rather young excavation site. In winter the work is paused and many areas are covered in tarpaulin.

Winter In Turkey: Tarsus

Winter In Turkey Impression #6: Tarsus offers not only historical places like the ‚Cleopatra’s Gate‘, but i was also lucky to meet a friend there, who explained me everything about the sweet „Künefe“.

Winter In Turkey: Kas and Demre

Winter in Turkey Impressions #5: A friend from Istanbul spent some times in Kas. I followed his invitation and he kindly showed me around in the area. One of the highlights was also the Church of Saint Nicholas from Demre, the real ‚Santa Claus‘, who was kind to children and gave them gifts.

Germany – on my way back home

I took some time to visit dear friends on my way back. One of them invited me to a pretty special place to camp on a private, very idyllic pond, where we had a barbeque and nice chat.

Every journey comes to an end, but the good memories stays.

Norway – Via Vindhellavegen To Borgund

It was on a random chat with another tourist, when i heard about that wooden Borgund Stave Church. Let’s go there i thought, followed the rainbow and found my way via the fantastic Vindahellvegen to that awesome wooden church.

Norway – The Northern Cape

Another long drive trough beautiful landscape of northern Norway. Even the sun comes out for awhile, just when i was on a hike at Silfar Canyon. Another traveler approached me for a chat. So we went together along the the canyon, shared travel stories and enjoyed the nature around.

Due maintenance the North Cape Tunnel was closed for a couple hours. This roughly 6.9 kilometer long tunnel dives 212 meter underneath the sea and connect the mainland with the island Mageroya.

Just to make it clear: The North Cape is not the most northern spot, neither from mainland Europe (what is at Sletness Fyr), nor from Europe as in general (what is on Svalbard ). It’s simply the most northern point one can reach on road from mainland Europe. When i arrived there unfortunately strong winds brought dense fog too. With that the midnight sun was hidden behind clouds. Just for a minute there was some sun rays pushing through the thick mist, slittering over the surface of the Barents Sea and reached the foot of the cliffs.

A nice surprise to meet my old traveler friend Paolo, who i met before in Africa. He’s traveling for years around the world with his motorcycle. There’s a lot to catch up, and so we spent hours in the cold to share stories.