These photos start from 2011 onwards. For earlier travel photos from China, Central Asia (Kyrgizstan, Kasachstan), Russia, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, US, etc. – please visit my old photo gallery → here!
It was on this trip that I realized that a.) people in Mumbai are far less materialistic than I thought and b.) that the Mumbai hinterland is much easier approachable than the hills behind Delhi. After a short drive of 2 hours we arrived Trimbakeshwar and spent three marvellous but busy days in this stunning landscape of the Deccan.
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Very nice 2 weeks trip to Himachal. We took the Shatabdi (train) to Kalka and then went via Shimla up the Sutlej valley to enter the hidden SangriLaa of Spiti. After some surprising rainfall in Kaza we completed the circuit via Chandratal Lake and Lahaul. Just two days after we crossed the infamous Rohtang La (mud!), it was closed due to heavy snow fall, which also affected the region behind it. Even Kullu valley was closed due to mud slides for some days. Some 'cosmetical' issues with the bikes kept us busy - like crack in one engine, rear wheel bearings broken, malfunctioning brakes and lights - plus mondo discussions about Israel's foreign policy with some enchanting fellow travellers. Wish we had had more time … much more!
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A short trip to the Kathmandu valley. Mostly stayed in Buddhanilkanth. Walks in Patan and Kathmandu. Traffic and smog is still on the rise with little solutions in sight. The airport is probably the worst on the planet and certainly not up to a tourist-economy. Combine the harassments of Israel and the US airport procedures and you are getting an idea. Srinagar is easy by comparison. Kathmandu offers a staggering 3 scans of your hand-lugagge plus two thorrough searches. I keep asking officials how many terrorists they have caught during the past years, which is met with remarkable mimicrys and misunderstandings of this very simple question. However, Svayambhunath is still a very nice place - thouhg now engulfed by concrete buildings from all sides.
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A beautiful valley high above the Walensee with huge granite boulders strewn all over the place. Covered by moss and fern, they make excellent shelters for all kinds of trolls and fairies. To my utter astonishment the first strawberries are ripe already and the cherries not far behind. The lake below is already 'hot' enough for a refreshing swim.
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Strange Place. Once an island in the middle of the then larger Walensee, it had been a sacred place in the late stone age. In medieval times it was connected with the Tannhaeuser folklore and said to be a place of Venus worship. Today it's a perfect example of how modern 'civilization' can gang-rape nature and ancient holy sites. There are still some impressive stones with offering bowls in it and at least one strange tree-circle. However, the whole hill has been systematically destroyed by a stone quarry, massive tractor tracks and the local military unit, which blasted caverns into the rockk all over the place. Some hundred years ago it appears to have been a popular site for cutting out mill-stones - as several of those still in place indicate. Strangely enough, the mill-stone business seems to have ended apruptly, since many of them remain unfinished and are now over-grown by moss…
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I managed to get thrown out of the Aurobindo Ashram compound for taking these highly offensive architectural pictures. When asking for the reasons of the specific regulation that rules that one is not allowed to take pictures, I was threatened with the following by a middle-aged male guy sporting a mustache, probably a teacher identifying his body vehicle and mind with the material light-reflecting structure founded by Sri Aurobindo: - taking away my camera - arresting me - calling the police to arrest me - throwing me out of the country (India, the land of the Aryans - meaning something like "hospitable", which lately it is not anymore). Why this degree of aggression when one takes a couple of pictures of buildings for personal enjoyment - in an compound that, though privately owned, is accessible through open gates. What a fascist police state has India become? Or was it always that way since the Brits already invented much of what later was branded "fascism" under the duce and the Nazis?
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Absolutely stunned by the depth and richness of the images rendered from the RAW files of the Sigma's Foveon sensor. Will I ever be able to use another camera? Well, it's a bit awkward to use and Sigma's RAW software is not very intuitive to use and has some serious flaws. However, photo quality counts most and I definitely have to shoot more with this heavy duty adult tool. Could there be a full-frame rangefinder once with a foveon sensor? Would be the most fantastic toy on earth.
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