Elephanta

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As every guide book recommended it, I could just not NOT do it… a day trip to Elephanta Island, and the temples that have been carved into the rocks. It’s a nice one-hour boat trip from Mumbai, the boats leave every ten minutes from the Gateway of India. It seems like a tourist destination, though […] Read More

Tian Tan Buddha

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I met up with my new Irish friend Connor, who is here on a business trip, and we headed out to Lantau Island, to see the big Buddha statue on one of the mountain tops, the mighty Tian Tan Buddha. Also simply called the Big Buddha, is a large bronze statue of a Buddha Amoghasiddhi, on Lantau Island, […] Read More

On top of it all

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There’s one tourist attraction that every visitor in Hong Kong seems to have to do: take the cable car up the steep hill and enjoy the view over Hong Kong and the harbor from Victoria Peak, or simply: the Peak. I went there on a Sunday, which might have been a bad idea, but as […] Read More

Piknic Electronik

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It’s an institution on Sundays, on Île Ste. Helene in the middle of the St. Laurent river. Piknic Electronik, a Montreal outdoor party tradition with DJs playing house, techno music and other genres. It is held in Park Jean Drapeau from May through to September, right underneath a massive modern art metal sculpture, with a view […] Read More

Up

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Every guide book we had told us not to do the trip to Princes Islands on a weekend. But we had our own mind an planning, and thought it can’t be that bad, as we’re still off season. Well. Ok, the boat was full, but not as crowded as the other ferry next to us. […] Read More

Miyajima Island

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After the sad first day in Hiroshima, I needed something uplifting. A trip to nearby Miyajima Island, best known for its floating torii gate at the entrance to the Itsukushima Shrine. The torii is the traditional Japanese gate usually found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine This one is special though, and it might easily be one of the most […] Read More

Rangitoto hike

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Finally got my act together and set the alarm clock to 9 am. So I would make the Rangitoto Ferry at 10.30. The weather looked ok, warm, with lots of clouds, maybe not the worst to hike up a volcano. The Ferry took half an hour and let us ashore at Ragitoto‘s Ferry Terminal. I […] Read More

Waiheke

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When I first heard about Waiheke Island I thought they were talking about Hawaii. Many names here, taken over from Māori, have a hawaiian ring to me. I only recently found out that they are indeed all related. Funnily, all those polynesian micro-islands in the pacific have been discovered and settled way before the two main […] Read More

Devonport

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My host Harvey gave me a number of insider tips for my stroll around Devonport. I took the ferry in the morning, crossing the harbor in less than 15 minutes, and arrived on the opposite site, in Devonport, a small suburb of Auckland, located on the North shore of the harbor, at the southern end of a peninsula. […] Read More