Kampenwand

Being one of the most visited mountains around Munich, we had to climb the Kampenwand by any means. It is just south of the Chiemsee and offers some good views of the lake.

The Chiemsee is the huge lake with the little woody island in the middle.

There are numerous ways to climb the mountain. The lift being the easiest, though most senseless option as you miss out of some views along the way. Speaking of the way, it is by far not as diverse or interesting you may expect from such a famous hiking trail. The main path mainly follows a ski slope that turns out to be a paved road in summer. Not very comfortable to walk as you can image.

The top offers some nice views over the Chiemsee and the Alps.

The last bit - just after the Steinlingalm - requires some little scrambling over rocks and through some decent cave-like narrow alleys.

The gigantic summit cross is enormous and even has solar powered lights on it.

 

Music from the past, Brazil 2005

Sometimes I remember a song without any reason really. Those two songs that came to my mind this time are both from the Detonautas and date back to my time in Brazil in 2005/2006. Enjoy!

Detonautas - Quando o sol se for

Detonautas - Outro lugar

 

Istanbul for a weekend – riding the Bosporus

The weekend started off by getting on the plane in Munich to Istanbul. The weather here in Munich was miserably and we hoped for 3 days of sun and a multicultural city on the edge between Europe and Asia. Arriving in Istanbul late because of a delayed flight from Munich caused us a lot of trouble already on the first day. We only got to the hotel at around 2am. Next time I’m not going to save the money for the taxi and wait 20 min for the local bus. At our hotel –the AsPalace Hotel – the guy at the reception was a bit nervous and offered us straight away a drink – at 2am in the morning. That made me wonder. It didn’t take long to figure out what happened. They had given away our room to someone else, when we didn’t show up during the evening. They made a bet and lost. We finally came, although we lost the game in the end. They told us there were a technical problem with the room though. A half-assed lie. We got sent to another hotel just down the road. It was more of a run-down.

Istanbul instagr.am/p/JsIfP3LWTO/— Steve Behrendt (@derSteve) April 21, 2012

The second day started out with a bit drizzle in the morning, it got warmer during the day though. We explored the main attraction around Saltanahmet, including the Blue Mosque, the “Antik Ayasofya” Mosque, which is a bit hidden, but worth hunting for it, and the huge Aya Sofya. The Blue Mosque is just impressive. Although the mosque is packed with tourists, it seems to be still used by the practicing Muslim. We skipped the Aya Sofya, because heaps of people queued up to get in. It was Saturday and the city was crowded with people. The park around the Palace gave us a good escape from the bustling city center. If you think the Netherlands are famous for tulips, you haven’t been to Istanbul. The park is like a sea of tulips.
On Sunday we decided to escape a bit from the crowed and took one of the numerous boats over to Üsküdar on the Asian site of Istanbul. It was a very calm atmosphere over there. Literally the complete opposite from Saltanahmet with its countless attractions. Travel books say most visitors never even leave Saltanahmet while they are in Istanbul. On one hand that’s understandable, on the other hand, it’s worth going to the other parts, as they differ a lot. In Üsküdar, we visited the Fethipaşa Korusu Park, which sits on top of a small hill and hosts cafes and restaurants with a nice view over the Bosphorus. Hopping on the next boat over the big river again brought us to Besiktas. As I only knew that name for a football club, it also has something more to offer. We walked to the Ortaköy Mosque just to see it undergoing a renovation and therefore fully scaffold. We walked the way back , went to Taskim Sq and walked all the way down Galata. Again heaps of people as this is the main shopping street and even worst today as they had a local classic: Fenerbahca vs Galatasaray.The next day we jumped on a boat again. Man it’s cheap. Just 1 Euro per person wherever you want to go. This time we went to the Western Districts that are heavily influenced by Christian and Jews. This part is not as heavily visited as the other ones. 

Colombia ahead

Tomorrow we will go an a trip to Colombia that takes us on yet another trip to South America. After spending 2005 in Brazil, travelling the hell out of the country and still haven’t seen a lot of it, going on a 2 month trip through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia in 2005/2006 and another trip to Brazil in 2010, this time we’re going to visit the north of the continent.

It will all start off with a wedding of friends somewhere around Bogota. After the weekend most of the wedding guests fly over to Armenia to visit this famous coffee region. The last week of our 2 weeks trip, will be spent at the Caribbean coast just north of Santa Marta somewhere in the world famous Parque Nal. Natural Tayrona. Apparently the beaches along the coast are considered as one of the best in the world.

That’s the itinerary

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A weekend in Munich

UK trip #4 The Lake District

It's raining and the lady behind the desk at the visitor center in Windermere in the Lake District tells us the weather was exactly the last couple of weeks as it is right now; and it will be for the next couple of weeks as she is predicting. That instantly kills our idea of climbing Scafell Pike - the highest peak in England (a bit under 1000m) on the next day.

Windermere is located at a lake and is pretty comparable with Wanaka and Queenstown in New Zealand and Bariloche in Argentina, but a bit smaller. The Lake District is really worth visiting and looks to me pretty much like New Zealand except it has a higher population.

UK trip #3 Wales is ... strange

Leaving Wales has a bit of a strange feeling to it. First of all, there isn't much to see (yes, I know, feel free to teach me on what I missed out). We went to Barry Island, which got a boast in recent years through the BBC series Gavin & Stacey, drove down the southern coast, stopped in Pembrokshire National Park, visited Snowdon National Park and climbed Wales' highest peak 'Snowdon', which is a little more than 1000m high. The hike was great, except for the last 100m to the summit. There was a little steam train carrying heaps of visitor up the mountain and another track joined just before the summit our -until then - very quiet track. On the top was always a crowd of people chasing each other to stay on top of Wales.

All the cities and villages along the coast have something in common. They all got heaps of caravan holiday parks, where most of the people have their holiday home, or to be more precised 'static holiday camper van'. My suspicious is that a lot of those people are actually living in those caravan getthos. In norther Wales on the border to England there is one very dramatic area around Conwy. The region seemed to have lost there hype half a dozen decades ago, probably in the 60ies. These days it really looks like a caravan gettho, stuffed with amusement centers, and fish n chips take aways. And the language - I really struggle to understand you Welsh people :-)

UK trip #2 south England

Pitching the tent is always a good feeling, although it could be a bit warmer and less possible to rain this night. Having said that, the missing inflatable matrass makes my stomach groaning.

It's the second day and Kathrin and I are going to sleep in our tent tonight. The weather doesn't look too bad and we thought we wanted to use the tent anyway. So here we are. We are in Lynchett.

The day was a mixture of castles, city councils with a look and feel of castles and Pubs with a bit of a castle look. Putting that all together we saw heaps of bricks... Starting in Brighton there was the only exception, the Royal Pavillion. To cite a local journal: "Somebody took Saint Paul's Cathedral and pooped." It looks like Taj Mahel built by a number of British born Indians, that have never been to India.

Arundel Castle a dozen miles away from Brighton was closed. We got the idea though: a castle.

Arriving in Chichester, there was the wonderful renovated Chichester Cathedral. A church in a castle look. Many bricks. And here is my guess: "They will all look the same.". We will see what the next castles and churches bring. They had a funny parking system, which I'll write about later. I need to add pictures to that post. One interesting side note, they had credit card enabled donation boxes, as I would call them. They take everything, coins, notes and every card, you may have. Didn't put my miles and more card in there. You never know.

On the way to Lynchett - our final destination for today - we had to do a stop in Christchurch as this was just too Kiwiish not to do a stop for. The city looks actually quite interesting. It has a nice little tower that was once part of a huge castle spanning Christchurch. Go and visit!

Bournemouth has a wonderful beach, by the way. We stopped there on our route. They had little beach huts pretty close to the beach. I will add a picture of those later. They are pretty handy. A  little hut of about 2,5qm.

And yeah: First pub visit in Lynchett. Loving it.

UK trip 2011 #1 - Yes, it can get rainy in Britain

Sitting in a good old-fashioned Bed&Breakfast in Pyocombe near Brighton in East Sussex, the wind and rain gusterly pushing against the windows after a 26h long trip from Munich by car, is a wonderful feeling. Having a cup of tea in one hand, just completes the picture.

We started around in noon in Munich and made our first stop in the evening in Aachen at Manuels place. We gave us a short tour around the city center which isn't that big at all. When we got to Dunkerque, our ferry was already waiting for us, but we had to wait until 5:30 to get on the vessel. We passed the 2h trying to sleep in the car. Wasn't a pleasure though. It got colder and colder as we approached the British Islands and sleeping in a car at around 8 degrees for 2h isn't the highest on my 1000 Things Todo list.

We slept through almost the whole channel crossing. Just from time to time a glimpse of sun, waked me up, jet to let me know, that we haven't reached Dover yet.

The coastal between Dover south toward Brighton is just gorgeous. White cliffs with old fashioned small British villages along the way formed a remarkable picture about this stretch in my head. Unfortunately the wonderful sunshine in Dover seemed to abandon us. As we moved west, the weather got worst and worst. At the end, it was miserably raining in Brighton and freezing cold.

Brighton is a vibrant sea site city. I tend to avoid "vibrant" cities since those are usually packed with tourist and heaps of people anyway. The same counts for Brighton. After a bit of headache created by the common questions arising during a road-tripish holiday - what to eat and where and where to stay - we escaped from the city center and found here in Pyocombe a gorgeous tiny village, not really prepared for visitors. Staying in a B&B is actually on my list, that I haven't done so far. We are staying here at a family house. Louisa the mother of the family is doing here very best to make us a home. She is doing a fantastic job.

Looking forward to a full fledged English breakfast with scrambled eggs, baked beans and sausages tomorrow morning.

Do we really care about politics or the real problems

Everybody in Germany is talking about the protests happening in Stuttgart concerning the conversion of Stuttgart central railway station. Tons of thousands of people are demonstrating in Stuttgart and Germany in general. That's not the point I'm trying to talk about. The fact that now everybody in Germany feels, that we are a country full of people, that care, bothers me. What are we caring about anyway? About an old building in Stuttgart, which is utterly ugly by the way, a huge pile of money and a couple of old trees. That's all. We go out on the street to demonstrate against that, but we stay at home, when we read, see and hear news about the rainforest being lumbered or hundreds of thousands of people being killed in Sudan, Dafur.

But I think that's not solely a German issue, but rather an issue, that every human being shares. We only care about the stuff in front of our house. That is sad. Africa and the Brazilian Rainforest is too far away for most of the people. If that doesn't change, we won't be able to solve the real big issues, that are raising on the horizon.

Good luck human race!

Brazil 2010 Route Overview

Hi everybody,

We are back from our 4 weeks trip to Brazil. Still fighting against the jet lack and sorting out pictures from the trip. But there is one thing I would like to share with you straight away: the route we took.


View Larger Map

To sum it up: it was a blast and we met heaps of old friends from the time in Brazil and New Zealand. We visited familiar and discovered heaps new places, that we loved. The people were great and helpful. We had miserable failings and breathtaking moments. We put 5500km behind us - mainly by bus.

In the upcoming days and weeks I'll post more details about where we go, what we did and I hope you gonna get some warm Latin America feelings from it :-)

Thanks for reading and stay tuned,
Cheers,
Steve

Oktoberfest

It's been a while I haven't posted anything. The occuring Oktoberfest here in Munich seems to be a good reason to write something :-)

What happened during the sommer? Well, first of all I was working quite a bit, so I was not really able to do anything exciting. Except for some happenings... Kathrin and me went Rafting on the Isar in Lenggries. First of all the guide asked us, if we were experienced. Well, a couple of years ago I went rafting near to Mendoza, Argentina, on the Mendoza River (have a look here:
Google Images) and in January this year Kathrin and I rafted down the Shotover River in New Zealand. I assume everybody knows this river from The Lord of the Rings. Have a look here Pics from Flickr. But anyway. How was the Isar rafting. Well, boring. Even though we got our own raft with one other guy without a guide, the isar river is not as compelling as the shotover river in New Zealand. But it was fun, as we got a lot of fun by jumping into the water and pushing the other from their raft.

Last week the Oktoberfest 2009 started finally. I went with a friend the opening ceremony to the Hofbräu Tent, which was quite a lot of fun. The Hofbräu tent semmed to be THE place to be for all Kiwis, Australians and British. Unbelievable. Some of them asked me seriously where all the Germans are... We entered the tent at 9:30 and the first barrel beer got opened at 12 o'clock, which meant 3h of waiting. But we picked up the pace quite fast and it was a lot of fun.

Steve

derSteve ... 2.0 ... realoaded ... tweeted ... you name it

From time to time a change has to happen. Coming back from New Zealand I realised my blog needed a repaint. The most important thing to me is to address some new audience, that wasn't able to follow me, while I was writing in German. The other part of the story is more selfish: I need to keep talking/writing in English. But Anyway...

We are back in Germany, well and Austria. Kathrin is writing her Master Thesis and I just started to work at myDays.de in Munich as a Software Developer with Microsoft Technologies. It's actually better than expected so far in Munich. Unfortunately I haven't got a flat yet, so I'm staying in a little apartment at my company's office. Last weekend we (Kathrin, Gabi, Peter, Martin und Manni) went skiing in Alpbachtal. Some pics are online.

Other than that: check out my social networks on the right sidebar... I gonna add more as I get the time.

Please leave a comment.

Off to the Easter egg hunt...

Das ist also Thailand...

Nur Stunden vom Weiterflug entfernt, ist es an der Zeit ein Resume zu ziehn. Eins steht schon mal fest: ich muss Suedostasien nochmal eine zweite Chance. Das wars bisher nicht. Dann aber sicherlich Loas oder Kambodia.

Thailand zeigte sich uns von seiner dreckigen, stinkenden und ueberfuellten Seite - und das zu einer Zeit wenn sich Touristenzahlen halbiert haben und es "nur" 35C sind.

Wir waren zu erst im Norden in Chiang Mai mit dem Zug. Dort waren wir Trekking. Dann einen Tag an die Grenze zu Burma und Laos. Dann ging es per Flugzeug direkt nach Phuket. Dort haben wir dann ein paar Inseln erkundet und die Insel Phuket an sich. Haben uns dafür einen Scooter ausgeliehen. Wir waren z.B. auf Ko Phi Phi Schnorcheln. Dann gings mit Bus und Bahn wieder zurück nach Bangkok.

Noch 4 Tage im super teuren Dubai und dann gehts heim. In Dubai kosten Hostels um die 50 Euro. Unglaublich, oder? Da kann man auch gleich ins Hotel gehe.

Freu mich euch alle bald wiederzusehen.

Viele Grüße
Kathrin und Steve

Auf wiedersehn Neuseeland 2008/09... und bis bald 2010?!?!

Ich sitz hier in Christchurch im Hostel (eigentlich ein altes Gefaengnis), trink Kaffee und warte, dass Kathrin ihrer letzten Sachen im Rucksack verstaut. Danach gehts noch kurz in die Stadt, um etwas zu essen und dann wartet auch schon unser Fliger nach Thailand auf uns. Das war also Neuseeland 2008/09. Was fuer ein Jahr. Zu viel zum schreiben, also werd ich mich auf die letzten Tage beschraenken.

Wie bereits geschrieben hatten wir ja noch 1,5 tage, um unser Auto zu verkaufen - nachdem uns vor einigen tagen noch ein Maedel beim Einparken in die Seiten gefahren war. Nicht viel also. Heute ist Feiertag, also konnten wir den Tag ohnehin nicht mehr mitzaehlen. Was soll ich sagen? Ich hoffe es war nicht zu schlimm es im Pazifik zu versenken... Ach nee, das war ja Plan B... Wir haben es verkauft. Unglaublich. Es hat genau eine Stunde und 3 Mainzer gebraucht bis wir das Geld in der Hand hatten. Wir waren gerade auf einem Backpacker Auto Markt aufgeschlagen und hatten dem Besitzer 60 Euro in die Hand gedrueckt, dass wir das Auto hier stehen lassen duerfen und schwupps schlawenzeln 3 Deutsche um das Auto. Steve der Verkauefer war also gefragt. Das wuerde normalerweise in die Hose gehen, aber diesmal hat alles wie am Schnuerchen geklappt. Probefahrt gemacht und shon waren wir uns einig. Die Jungs haben uns gleich noch 3/4 in Euro gegeben, was wir auch nicht schlecht fanden. Somit war der Deal perfekt. Auto also weg. nach 1h.

Ansonsten haben wir hie rin Christchurch nicht viel gemacht. Waren nochmal alle unsere Lieblingsrestaurants und Outdoor-Laeden abklappern und das wars.

Thailand haben wir auch schon die Unterkunft gebucht fuer die ersten 3 Naechte. Von daher sollte das auch erstmal kein Problem sein.

Ab jetzt bin ich dann auch wieder unter meiner deutschen Telefonnummer erreichbar : 01719307333

So, ich hoffe euch geht es allen gut. Ich muss jetzt noch hier im Hostel auschecken.

P.S.: Nach Fretterode: Warum ist die grosse Feier gerade einen Tage bevor ich wieder in Deutschland bin ;-) Das war doch so geplant, oder?

Jetboat fahren...

Wir waren heute Jetboat fahren. Um es abzukuerzen hier das Foto:



Danach sind wir Raften gewesen. Dazu gibts leider keine Fotos...

Und nochwas

Wir sind ja jetzt in Queenstown und in ein paar Tagen beginnt der Milford Track fuer 4 Tage. Danach gehts im Eiltempo nach Christchurch und dann ab in Flieger. Aus diesem Grund wollen wir unser Auto hier verkaufen. Leider hat sich heute jemand gedacht, so einfach machen wir ihnen das aber nicht und hat uns beim Einparken nochmal komplett die rechte Seite und die Stossstange demoliert. Wunderbar... Zum Glueck ist er dageblieben und hat uns seine (oder besser ihre) Kontaktdetails hinterlassen. Es war ein gemietetes Auto, sodass es wohl keine Probleme geben sollte den Schaden zu beheben. Problem ist nur, dass wir eigentlich keine Zeit dafuer haben. Ausserdem: wer kauft schon ein Auto, wo die rechte Seit ganz schoen mitgenommen ist. Na ja, wir werde das schon hinkriegen. Zu allem ueberfluss ist heute (zum Monatg) noch Feiertag in Auckland, wo alle Versicherungs- und Autovermietungesellschaften sitzen. Also werden wir das wohl morgen erst ueberhaupt richtig klaeren koennen, wenn wir das ueberhaupt noch geregelt bekommen in der kurzen Zeit, die wir noch hier in NZ sind.

Ansonsten gehts uns eigentlich ganz gut. Sind grad vom Routburn Track zurueck: 3 tage durch die Berge wandern. Eigentlich wollten wir noch im Mount Aspiring National Park ein paar Berge hoch kraxeln (French Ridge Hut). Mal sehn, ob wir das noch schaffen.

Hoffe es geht euch allen gut,

Viele Gruesse aus Queenstown, ich muss Kathrin jetzt noch zum Fallschirmspringen und Rafting die Tage ueberreden ;-)

Steve

Update: Bis Greymouth

Nach all der Reiserei gab es heute mal die erste gezwunge Pause hier in Queenstown. Aber dazu spaeter mehr. Wir sind also hier inQueenstown schon seit 2 Tagen und werde wohl hier auch noch 1-2 Tage bleiben.

Bis her laeuft alles nach Plan. Wir schaffen mehr, als wir am Anfang ertraeumt haetten.

Nachdem wir Uakcland am 26.12. verlassen haben, gings nach Whakatane, um dann am naechsten tag auf White Island zu schippern. Das ist eine aktive Vulkaninsel. Also all das ganze Vulkanszeugs kann man sich dort ansehene. Danach gings nach Rotorua weiter suedlich auf der Nordinsel, wo wir einen kleinen Zwischenstopp eingelegt haben, um dann am naechsten Tag weiter nach Napier zu fahren. Richtig viel haben wir dort auch nicht gemacht. Es liegt an der Ostkueste der Nordinsel, wo eigentlich nur wenige Leute hinfahren. Aber keine Sorge: Deutsche gibts dort auch. Schaetzungweise 98% in unserem Hostel dort. Dann gings ueber ein paar Stopps Richtung Wellington. Geschafft haben wir das an einem Tag aber nicht, also haben wir einen Zwischenstopp in Palmersten North eingelegt. Naechster Tag dann Wellington. Im Mercure Hotel ahben wir ein Sommerspecial entdeckt und dort dann fuer 2 Naechte billig mit super Fruhestueck etc. geschlafen. Es war ja immerhin Silvester. Das enttaeuschenste bisher. Aber egal. Die Stadt war relativ leer. Am Hauptplatz het eine Band gespielt, die 10sec vor Mitternacht kurz pausiert hat, um dann den Countdown runter zu zaehlen. 10, 9... 2,1... Frohes Neues. Dann ging die Musik wieder weiter. Kein Feuerwerk, nix. Wir haben noch einen Security-Typne gefragt, wo das Feuerwerk bleibt, aber er meinte nur, dass es sonst eigentlich jedes Jahr eins gibt. Nur dieses halt nicht. Ok. Da Alkohol innerhalb der Stadt ohnehin verboten ist, sind wir dann wieder ins Hotelzimmer haben dort unsere restlichen Flaschen ausgedrunken und das war es dann. Frohes Neues 2009...

Am 1.1. gings dann mit der Farhre auf die Suedinsel. 3h in einer Autofaehre. Haette sclimmer sein koennen. Die hatten zumindest eine Bar. Als wir ankamen war es auch schon abends und wir haben nur noch schnell ins Hostel in Picton eingecheckt und gut. Dann gings auch schon Richtung Abel Tasman National Park. Geschlafen haben wir im Hostel in Motueka und gleich in Nelson alles fuer den 3 Tagestrack gebucht. Am naechsten Tag gings dann auch schon los. 3 Tage wandern mit Zelt. Morgens hat uns das Wassertaxi zum Ende gebracht und wir sind dann wieder den Weg zurueck gelaufen ueber die naechsten 3 tage. Ach ja Peter, wir haben diesmal in Awaroa und Anchorage gezeltet :-) Im Grunde waren die 3 Tage, einen Berg hoch laufen, kurz durch gebuech bis man den naechsten Strand sehen kann, dann wieder runter zu diesem Strand, ueber den Strand und am Ende wieder hoch ins Gebuech, um zum naechsten zu laufen. Etwas eintoenig. Hab den jetzt 2mal gemacht. Das wars fuer mich... Als wir fertig waren, haben wir noch einen Tag kayaken dran gehangen in Abel Tasman NP.

Dann hat es uns Richtung Kaikoura gezogen zum Waale schauen. Auch eine Abzocke meiner Meinung nach. 80Euro pro Mann hat eine Waaltour gekostet, wo man dann fuer 2min den Waal oder besser gesagt einen kleinen Teil seines Kopfes sieht und dann nochmal fuer 5sekunden seinen Schwanz, wenn er abtaucht. Das wars. Muss auch nicht nochmal sein.

So, von der Ostkueste gings dann wieder durchs Land Richtung Westkueste mit kurzer Uebernachtung in Hanmer Springs, wo wir in Thermale Quellen gegangen sind. Weiter gings nach Greymouth, wo wir im besten Hostel untergekommen sind. Freies Wlan und die Einrichtung war im Afrika-Stil. Sehr sehr nett. Global Village hiess es. Ausserdem war es auch noch das billigste.

So, mehr schaff ich heute nicht. Den Rest gibts das naechste Mal

iPod rocks!

Das ist der erste post von meinem iPod . Ich sitz im cafe in Wellington und surfe munter!

Ansonsten geht es uns beiden gut. Wir werden silvester hier in Wellington verbringen und damn morgen nach picton auf die suedinsel fahren mit der faehre.

Fiji war uebrigens das paradies auf erden! Fotos werde ich erst im maerz online stellen koennen.

Guten rutsch ins neue jahr wuenschen kathrin und ich euch! Bei uns gehts gleich los!

Steve

Wow - 2 Kommentare! REKORD

Wow. 2 Kommentare. Das ist persoenlicher Rekord. Yes :-)