A few days ago I was driving around in Denmark with friends. We discovered an unusually large dune by the horizon and drove there. At sunset we climbed the dune with sand flowing into our eyes and throats. As we reached the summit we discovered the old lighthouse Rubjerg Knude, built in 1899 at the top of Lønstrup Klint.
I recently got back from a road trip in Denmark where the main topic was German bunkers from World War II. I believe we saw almost a hundred of them and entered several dozen. For some it may seem like a wierd vacation but it’s a very real part of history which we always need to learn more about.
If you want maximum travel experience in minimum time, a classic road trip is the way to go. The freedom of roaming with a car is simply unparalleled. You are free to choose between the packed freeways and the lonely dirt roads, and wherever you end up it cannot be stated enough that the journey is the goal in itself more than the actual destination, as TS Eliot almost put it.
For some reason, I often tend to end up in large cities during my travels. While nature is bold and beautiful, there is something alluring about old man-made cities where people have been living for generations and every corner has a history. These are my favorite ones.
I love to spend time in cities, immersed by the creative chaos of mankind. This year I’ve seen a fair share of them. Tokyo, Marrakesh, Ulaan Baator, Novosibirsk, Seoul, Amsterdam, Beijing, Inverness, Irkutsk, Kyoto, Moscow, Oban, Perm, Incheon and many more.
I walked alone in the streets of Tokyo and felt like Godzilla. I almost started humming on “Big in Japan” by Alphaville as I was a six-foot-five gaijin in a sea of short Asians. After deciphering the glyphs of the subway map I managed to find my way and the correct sum to pay for various zones.
Some people might call me a movie buff, but today was one of those days it could be justified. I have walked alone in the streets of Kyoto, visiting temples and shrines at a leisurely pace, just like Scarlett Johansson’s character in Lost In Translation. I even listened to the song “Alone in Kyoto” by Air on my iPod, featured on the movie soundtrack as the backdrop while Scarlett walks around.
I am currently sitting in a dark room at a hostel in Seoul, South Korea. Trying my best to recover from an exhausting day of warfare study. Or should I call it a study of humankind? Earlier this morning I looked into North Korea with binoculars, seeing their flag shaking defiantly in the wind. So close, so far away.
Yesterday I visited a small place discretely hidden inside one of the old hutons (traditional narrow alleys) of Beijing. The owner was a friendly chap and recommended a place called the Banana Club. I was quite skeptical due to the corny name, but he wrote down the address in Chinese letters and we took a cab there.
I am currently back in Ulaanbaatar after sleeping some nights in a traditional ger tent at the Mongolian plains. After five days on the Trans-Siberian train, that freezing tent felt like pure luxury but right now I’m glad to be back in civilization (sort of) with an internet connection and a warm shower.