km 9,961: Santiago de Chile

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The theft happened in the perfect place. The German Embassy in Santiago de Chile is just over two hours away by bus. She agrees to stamp my driving licence copy. After Christmas. The police give me three entertaining Spanish lessons, then I have my ten lines of theft report.

The B’n’B style Landay Hostel is in a central and quiet location in the stately home of the old Chilean poetess Iris. Super friendly staff and lots of good wine round off every evening in these venerable walls. Highly recommended! (more…)

Los Vilos & Valparaiso

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#664

2112

2017

Thu

23:02

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The brilliant World Kite And Windsurfing Guide, which is now also available online, proclaims the cosy little Los Vilos to be the windiest Pacific kitesurfing spot in Chile. In front of the long, flat sandy beach, two metre waves break beautifully and at good intervals in powerful barrels.

Only the wind is missing. But that’s not important. Still flattened by the Embalse Puclaro, I spend two days lying down at my dear couchsurfing host and dentist Cristian’s place. Los Vilos was hit hard by a fish kill caused by mines in the nearby mountains. Many inhabitants are fighting for survival in gambling casinos – or stand in front of them smoking and begging. The rest simply drink themselves to death lying quietly in the park. (more…)

Embalse Puclaro & Vicuña

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#663

1912

2017

Tue

11:16

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The next destination is a good 1,400 kilometres and almost 24 hours by night bus south of the Atacama Desert. In cool La Serena on the Pacific, the fog hangs lower than under the Golden Gate in San Francisco. Behind it, the hot and dry Valle de Elqui rises to almost 4,800 metres to the Argentinian border. The two together create the rocket motor for Chile’s number one strong wind spot.

The Embalse Puclaro is a small reservoir in the vine-covered valley 50 kilometres behind La Serena. The wind is thermal and blows on a gigantic 300 afternoons a year with an average of 25 to 30 knots. Hidden Lines was a guest here. Vicuña is the last lively centre before the Argentinian border, 170 km away, and has a population of almost 2,500. (more…)

km 7.557: Lost @ Atacama Desert

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#662

1312

2017

Wed

21:32

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The bus races down a whole two kilometres of altitude from the high mountains of the Andes. On the 40-kilometre descent over the gentle flanks of the Licancabur volcano, I drop my trousers and wiggle bare-bottomed in the face of altitude sickness. Everything changes! The Chileans are so fed up with the high mountains that they have moved the border control 40 kilometres behind them, right at the entrance to San Pedro de Atacama.

Thick air is great! Dogs that don’t look – or act – like Resident Evil! Sun, heat and no rain – we haven’t had that for weeks! Chairs worthy of the name. Toilets with loo paper! On castors! Cutlery made of stainless steel instead of punched metal, and porcelain instead of plastic. Spices! Good wine! Even the dirt is cleaner in Chile. Goodbye misery! Culture olé! (more…)

Salar de Uyuni

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#661

1212

2017

Tue

18:41

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Uyuni is the last dusty border post with 18,000 inhabitants before the 12,000 km² Salar de Uyuni salt desert. We arrive after midnight. Until the morning, people are constantly leaving the dorm or dropping dead in bed.

The next day I wait in vain for a thorn bush drifting in the wind between two duellists. Together with my travelling friend Francesco, I grab the last free seats in one of the more than 50 jeeps that set off into the Salar de Uyuni every day. (more…)

km 6.291: La Paz

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#660

0812

2017

Fri

23:58

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3836

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The Bolivian tourist smugglers pile 48 people, just as many rucksacks and my kite bag onto the eight metre long boat from Isla Del Sol back to the mainland. Life jackets would only marginally extend the survival time in six-degree water several hundred metres from the shore anyway.

The waves come from the side. Thanks to 20 people on the roof, the boat’s centre of gravity is well above the non-swimmer rate on Philippine ferries. Great rocking, but nobody sways… (more…)

Titicaca Lake & Isla del sol

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#659

0512

2017

Tue

12:22

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The route from Cusco to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, 530 kilometres away, is a real road trip. It wouldn’t be a problem at night, you’d only need one bus. But I still want to see something of Peru.

Early in the morning with Uber to the Cruz Del Sur spaceship. The route to Puno always follows the railway. Peru Rail is a private company licenced by the state, and the Peruvian state doesn’t seem to care about its own citizens. (more…)

Machu Picchu Inca Jungle Trail

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#658

0112

2017

Fri

8:53

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The Andean trout shouts from below: “I never wanted to be sushi! Feliz Montezuma, gringo! Chinga te!”. Whenever something upset my stomach, it was always a posh western restaurant – never one of the dirty little cookshops. So it was this morning at four o’clock in Cusco.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Right at the start of the four-day Machu Picchu Inca Jungle Trail with a small, good group of Americans and Germans, downhill mountain biking, rafting and mountaineering are on the programme. (more…)

km 4.549: Cusco

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#657

2611

2017

Sun

20:58

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3824

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The tourist bus lines all advertise that they would not travel this route to Cusco. CIVA drives the 830 kilometres over the highest Andean passes and the sharpest hairpin bends, 18 hours through the night and by double-decker spaceship.

At dawn, I wipe away the condensation in front of the panoramic seat on the top floor at the wrong moment. You wake up pretty quickly when a truck suddenly comes out of a bend to meet your spaceship as you overtake. On the left, the road descends almost vertically for 300 metres. (more…)

Huacachina: The desert roars

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#656

2311

2017

Thu

23:18

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Huacachina is the only oasis in South America. A few hostels and shops plus plenty of jeep tours line a small palm-fringed body of water. The surrounding sand dunes are up to 200 metres high and very steep. The attraction is the jeep tours into the desert. Today I’m going to do what everyone does.

The improvised three-point seat belts are anything but superfluous. The jeeps are powerful and loud, and the lads really know how to chase them over the dunes. Two hours before sunset, we are hurled through a violent natural rollercoaster. Steep bend, uphill, bum takes off, mogul slope, full throttle. The sand dusts everything. (more…)

Paracas: Kiting with flamingos

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#655

2211

2017

Wed

18:25

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Mad Max was definitely born a good 30 years ago on the Panamericana south of Lima. Four roofless walls in the middle of nowhere proudly proclaim the possibility of renting them as a restaurant. A few abandoned houses stand on the sand. High walls around them protect the nothingness from the nowhere. 20 ice cream stalls once offered “Helado Artesanal”. In between, rubbish heaps burn again and again.

A large display proclaims a golden future for your family in an urbanisation somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The building site was abandoned years ago. Sand dunes, dust, some petrochemicals, a steelworks, hundreds of lorries full of scrap metal and incredible poverty. This is the most desolate area I have ever travelled through. (more…)

km 3.315: Lima? Puta Madre!

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#654

1711

2017

Fri

19:36

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The bus to Lima, 20 hours and 1,300 kilometres to the south, is a spaceship on ten wheels. Board service and reclining seats are crowned by the entertainment programme. Vin diesels at full volume through three outbreaks of human error that are hard to beat.

On the left, the poorest street villages and dusty steppe like in northern Brazil pass by on the Panamericana. On the other side, the sun conjures up a sunset over the Pacific that even Bob Ross would go for. Then the whole bus shouts: “Gooool!” Peru has qualified for the World Cup. Peru is bitterly poor – and its joy is a mixture of Sambodrome, religious fanaticism and GDR. For days. (more…)

Full Moon Party & Kitesurf @ Máncora

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#653

1311

2017

Mon

12:03

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Out of the nine-hour night bus from Ecuador at six in the morning. By tuk-tuk to the last beach hostel. Sleep in, set up the board, pump up, out onto the water. 22 knots sideon on an endless sandy beach behind wild waves. A flock of pelicans passes by. His soloist fishes undisturbed next to my passing kiteboard in the Pacific.

The waves break narrow and close to the beach, no comparison to Santa Marianita with its endless smooth waves at pleasant intervals. The wind here is more powerful, and sideon jumps are more exciting over ten centimetres post-shorebreak anyway. Máncora should be higher up on the worldwide kitesurfing map – plenty of space and lots on offer. There have never been more than seven kiters on two kilometres of beach within a week. (more…)

Panamericana III, km 1.600 : Cuenca

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#652

0711

2017

Tue

8:11

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Latin America is the continent with the most murders, the deepest pain and the most intense suffering. Yet it is here that the most bloodthirsty butchers in film history are shown on every intercity bus. At first glance, this may seem a little disturbing. But once the driver becomes the executioner, the solution to the mystery is immediately clear.

The hermetically sealed partition installed in every bus between passengers and driver/executioner does not serve to protect the latter, as in aeroplanes, for example. It is a manifestation of humanity. Similar to the blindfold of the condemned, its sole purpose is to block the passengers’ view of the fate that lies ahead of them. (more…)

Amazonass @ Banos

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#651

0411

2017

Sat

22:58

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The famous Banos thermal spa is just two hours away by bus on the eastern side of the main Andean ridge at 1,800 metres. We approach the Amazon: green rainforest, bamboo and sugar cane conjure up a completely different world. Crowds of tourists clog up the only road there, and the hustle and bustle in the centre is a welcome change from what Andreas Altmann often called travelling in a lonely continent.

Here on the Amazon side of the Andes, the wind chops down the valley at up to 30 knots over packed thermal pools. Even Nick Jacobsen would probably find them too full for his kite fun. We opt for an empty thermal pool a little further away and relax in the warm volcanic water while the wind carries my towel away. (more…)

Riobamba & Chimborazo

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#650

0311

2017

Fri

21:05

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3801

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On the bank holidays, I travel a good 2,700 metres in altitude and ten hours by bus from the Pacific to the Andes via Ecuador’s second largest city. When changing planes at the Guayaquil terminal, I fly through tens of thousands of Ecuadorians queuing endlessly in front of the counters.

Whole armies of flying vendors storm the bus at 20 km/h past the “Prohibido Vendedores / Comida” sign. The clouds hang low over the steep slopes of the western Andes. Then we break through the top layer and the sun shines over endless high mountain valleys and volcanoes. I have an appointment here with an extremely versatile designer from Quito. (more…)

The fighting dogs of Santa Marianita

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#649

0111

2017

Wed

23:12

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The bus takes us on the first big step over ten hours and 3,000 metres in altitude down to the Pacific. The reclining seats and legroom are pure paradise. I work, blog and edit videos. The sun cream implodes and the Gopro no longer opens. In Santa Marianita, barking dogs chase my taxi to the small Punta La Barca hostel right on the hillside above Kite Beach.

Three of the neighbour’s fighting dogs attack me on my first walk. One of them bites my foot good and hard. Antibiotics iron out the subsequent infection. I’ve had four dogs in my life, I’ve made Nepalese temple dogs sing and hellhounds keep quiet. I’m good with dogs. There’s only one thing that helps with these fucking fighting dogs. (more…)

Rucu Pichincha / Cotopaxi Downhill

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#648

2710

2017

Fri

23:08

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Unfortunately, my volcano fetish was somewhat neglected on the Panamericana II due to the wind enthusiasm of my fellow travellers. In Ecuador, this can now be easily corrected: out of 84 volcanoes, 25 are active, and the Rucu Pichincha, at 4,650 metres, is located right on the outskirts of Quito. Take the bus to the gondola and climb up to 3,900 metres for little money.

A high-alpine friend reported bad altitude sickness. There is no water for sale at either the valley or mountain station – and the forecast of heavy thunderstorms seems to be correct for once today. Some time ago, two climbers lost their way in the clouds around the summit. They were only found dead. (more…)

Quito

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#647

2510

2017

Wed

23:47

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At night, Quito looks like a Christmas tree tipped over stormy mountain waves. Thousands of lights glitter over valleys and mountains. The houses cling to slopes that the TÜV would refuse to approve as water slides. The journey from the airport, at an altitude of almost 3,000 metres, to the city centre by bus and taxi takes more than an hour and a half through a huge 20 km traffic jam.

My hostel is small and beautiful and is located right between the old town and the new centre. El Cafecito serves the best home-grown highland coffee. I am the only guest for four days. The fire crackles in the fireplace. Old jazz sounds catapult me quickly into bed after 23 hours of travelling. (more…)

Dykes break properly

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#646

1810

2017

Wed

23:25

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When I travelled from Seattle to Los Angeles on Highway No. 1 in 2007, I had no plans to turn it into a series. in 2015, I travelled for 10 weeks through 10 countries and incredible stories from Panama to Mexico with valuable travel friends. This year it will be a series. From 24 October, I will be travelling 15,000 km overland from Ecuador to Patagonia for three months.

Home is foreign. I’ve just been told I’m allowed to see it that way. If your world is different, then you have to travel it. Sometimes a little missing “this” in front of a “campfire” at seven in the morning hurls you into space. And sometimes a dear madman who claims you’re the most normal person he knows grounds you. (more…)

Jerusalem

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#645

2307

2017

Sun

22:17

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Two Frenchmen accompany me on the journey through the mountains of the West Bank to Jerusalem. The first checkpoint waves us through at a massive concrete wall. Almost all roads leading into the centre are closed. Several Israeli policemen have been murdered in recent weeks. The reaction was a ban on entry to the Temple Mount for all Muslims under 50 and metal detectors for all those over 50.

This led to massive riots with several deaths and 400 injured. Even on the long search for a car park far outside, I notice masses of military and police, always in groups of five. On the way to my hostel in the centre of the old town on the Sabbath, I also pass a few hundred troops.
(more…)

Nazareth / Gabun / Galilee

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#644

2207

2017

Sat

8:38

day #

3697

978
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My two weeks on the Sea of Galilee are coming to an end. The wind came back a little at the end, but remained far below expectations in terms of strength and frequency with 5 out of 14 days. There is hardly a place in the world where this would be less bad. There was always something to do, even those with a cultural aversion and those who don’t like hiking will be flattened by Galilee’s varied possibilities.

Nazareth is once again one of the big disappointing highlights. I don’t have to do anything! I visit the Church of the Nativity anyway and drown in tsunamis of selfie-taking pilgrims. Apart from a beautiful Arab bazaar in the narrow old town and new craft alleyways strictly separated by trade, there is nothing interesting to discover. (more…)

Minen überall links und rechts neben Wanderwegen auf Golanhöhen

Dead Sea / Masada / Wadi David

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#643

1607

2017

Sun

20:00

day #

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In the early morning, the journey from the Sea of Galilee continues southwards along the initially green Jordan Valley. After 50 kilometres we cross the border into the West Bank. For a long time, the road runs directly along the border with Jordan. After two and a half hours we reach our first destination. The mountain fortress of Masada lies on a 400 metre high rocky plateau at the southern end of the Dead Sea.

Built around 100 BC, Masada initially served as a winter residence for the unpopular King Herod. However, Masada became a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the great uprising against the Romans from 66 B.C. The last 1000 rebels of Judea fled to Masada after the destruction of Jerusalem. The Romans besieged the mountain fortress for several months in the year 73. (more…)

Yehudiya / Mount Arbel / Akko

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#642

1507

2017

Sat

19:10

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The Sea of Galilee lies in the centre of Israel’s most historic region, the Galilee. Believers of all world religions walk in the footsteps of their superstars here. The ancient Jewish settlement of Magdalena is located just ten kilometres from Tiberias, directly on the shores of the lake. An archaeologist talks about the history next to the remains of the synagogue, where Jesus most likely preached before Mary Magdalene. The new luxury resort right next door is funding the excavations.

The shrines of the world’s religions are lined up at small intervals around the Sea of Galilee. Jesus fed the apostles on the site of St Peter’s Church. A UFO church was built over his home a few kilometres away in Capernaum. Buses unload crowds of pilgrims every minute. (more…)

Kitesurfing Israel: Lake Galilee

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#641

1407

2017

Fri

8:25

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