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Finish

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My itinerary. Starting from Bali, I stopped using airplanes. After nine month of travel I am finally home in Switzerland. I left February 9th 2018 and came back November 2nd 2018 . I found my apartment like I left it. A thin layer of dust had settled down on the floor. A few shops had changed in my city of Bienne, but like every winter the mist was already here. I was happy to see my family and friends again. Now is time for me to put away my backpack and search for a new job. Before I leave this blog, here are some numbers that might be interesting if somebody wants to do a similar trip. While I wanted to go from New Zealand to Switzerland without airplanes, in the end I decided to use airplanes between New Zealand - Australia - Indonesia. There was 3 boat options: 1. taking a cruise, but it was out of my budget, 2. boarding a cargo ship, but it was also expensive and would have taken a few more months to cross Oceania, 3. find a private ship owner that let you work for t
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Austria

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Hofburg in Vienna. The imperial palace of the Habsburg. Austria, last country I am visiting before getting home. From Prague, I took the train to Vienna. After getting lost in the maze of the main train station, I was able to get to my hostel, close to the city center. The next day I went to visit the old town. There you can really feel the historical importance Vienna had in Europe. Of course I went into a Cafe to try the Einspänner. After Vienna, I headed west through the Alps and stopped in Innsbruck. It was a bit early for winter sports, but instead, I went to the mountains to hike. The small city of Innsbruck is pleasant and was culturally similar to Switzerland. In the end I didn't stay too long in Austria because it is quite expensive. I took the last two trains of my trip, Innsbruck->Zurich and Zurich->Biel/Bienne. Donaukanal. Vienna. Snow was already covering the mountains over Innsbruck. Innsbruck is right at the bottom of beautiful mo
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Czech Republic

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Prague's castle. From Krakow I took the night train to the Czech Republic. I made a first stop in Olomouc. A quiet city in the east of the country. Then I went to Prague. I was there right for the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia. I went to see the fireworks on the bank of the Vltava river. It was my second time being in Prague and I am so happy that now they have banned the Segways for tourists. It makes walking in the old town way more pleasant. Fireworks for the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia.
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Poland

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Salt formation in the Wieliczka mine. In Poland, I went to Warsow then to Krakow. The capital is not a bad place, but if you can go to only one city in Poland, head to Krakow. The old town is one of the best I have seen in Europe. When you're done with the city, you can go visit Auschwitz-Birkenau or the Wieliczka salt mine. They make perfect day trip from Krakow. To go to Auschwitz-Birkenau, I went with a tour. It's easier since they organize the transport from/to Krakow and between the two sites. Plus, without some explanation of a guide you miss most of the interest of the place. The camps where bigger than I expected. The way they industrialized the slaughtering of people was horrifying. Auschwitz-Birkenau is a must see if you are in Poland. I went to the Wieliczka salt mine with a mini-bus that left from the bus terminal right next to the train station. Once there, you buy a ticket and wait for the next group to enter the mine. You cannot go on your own, onl
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The Baltic states

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Tallinn, capital of Estonia. The Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Three small countries with a lot of charm. When I first arrived in Tallinn, I felt like arriving in Switzerland. The city was small and uncrowded with a beautiful old town. Next I went to Riga in Latvia. They also have an old town, but it was my least favorite of the three Baltic capitals. Instead I went to Jurmala and the Gauja national park with a Russian I met there. He had a rental car so we went to the beach town of Jurmala in the morning and walking in Gauja in the afternoon. After Latvia, I went to Vilnius in Lithuania. It has an ancient university founded in 1579 and an artists' quarter. This gives the city a student and artistic vibe. To move from one country to another, I used the bus. You can cross countries with the train, but you need to change at the border. With the bus it's easier. You stay inside the whole trip and there is rarely any passport controls. Bird flying
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Moscow and St. Petersburg

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Fountain in front of the Bolshoi theater. My last two stops in Russia: Moscow and Saint Petersburg. They are the two biggest city of the country. Both have many historical places to see, but one of the funniest thing I have done was to visit Moscow's subway. Most of the station are decorated and you don't feel like you're in a subway. They each have a theme and a unique look. We bought a 36 ruble ticket and spent 2 hours touring the various stations. (With a single entry ticket you can stay as long as you want in the subway.) In St. Petersburg, friends from Switzerland joined me to visit the city. The nightlife there is definitely something to try. St. Basil's cathedral in Moscow. Moscow metro. Moscow metro. Moscow metro. One of the longest escalator in the world at the Parl Pobedy station. It took me 3 minutes to go down. Saint Petersburg. Churche Savior on the spilled blood.
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Yekaterinburg

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Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land. Yes that's the official name. It was built were the last emperor of Russia, Nicholas II was executed. Yekaterinburg, the fourth largest city of Russia. I spent a day visiting the city and it's many churches. It's a lovely place, but I didn't spend too much time there. It was more to take a break in the long train ride from Asia to Europe. Pigeon It took 35 hours to go from Krasnoyarsk to Yekaterinburg with the train. It is the longest time I have ever been in a train. While most of the Russians doesn't like their train, I found them very comfortable. You can drink tea in the traditional glass while admiring the view and trying to chat with  your Russian neighbor.
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Stolby nature reserve

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The vast forest of the Stolby nature reserve. After seventeen hours of train I arrived at Krasnoyarsk. The city is pleasantly build along the huge Yenisei river. But the main reason I stopped here was to go see the Stolby nature reserve. It's only 10 km from the city and can be reached with a city bus. I went there with Louis and his dad, Malcolm from London. I met them in Ulan-Ude and by coincidence we were in the same train/hostel in Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk. That's one of the crazy thing about the trans-Siberian, you always meet the same people again and again on your journey. In the bus, we met Aptem, a local guy who was also heading to Stolby to hike. He became our guide for the day. He showed us the best spots. We also met three Ukrainian tourists and they came with us. They all shared their food with us poor westerner who didn't bring anything. It was a wonderful day and more than the beauty of Stolby, I will always remember the hospitality and generosity of 
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Lake Baikal

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Sunset over the Baikal. View from Listvyanka. My first stop on my trans-siberian journey was around the lake Baikal. I first went to Ulan-Ude and hiked the east shore of the lake. Then I went to Irkutsk and hiked the west side of the lake. The Baikal is impressive. It's so huge that when you look at the longest side you can't see the end. My first impression when seeing it, was that it looked like an ocean. It's a beautiful place with nice hikes. The east side is more flat and sandy whereas the west side is more steep and has a Mediterranean vibe. If you are there don't miss the Omul. It's a fish found only in the Baikal and it's delicious. You can eat it smoked, baked or fried, but my favorite dish was the Omul Sugudai. Raw fish with onions and lemon (it's similar to ceviche). The water of the Baikal is so pure you can drink it without filtering. Snowy mountains on the east side of the lake. Autumn colors were starting to pai
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Gorkhi-Terelj national park

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Rock formations of the park. Only 50 km from Ulaanbaatar you can find the Gorkhi-Terejl national park. It's a bit less wild than the rest of Mongolia (you will find tourist camps a bit everywhere), but it's easy to reach from the capital and offers some beautiful landscape. I took a public bus to go there. It was already the low season and the number of bus per day went from 2 to 1. I didn't have any difficulty to find a Ger to sleep during the night. I just went to what looked like a tourist camp and asked. The next day I hiked some more in the park. I really enjoyed the sensation of freedom. You could walk to any place that looked interesting. To go back, I had already missed the only bus to Ulaanbaatar so I hitchhiked. Luckily the first car that came by stopped. It was a group of Korean Christian missionary. They were so nice they even invited my for a late lunch at a Korean restaurant on our way back to the capital. Ariyabal meditation temple.
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