Wandering Fractal

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 ...

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.

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 ...

Kuala Lumpur is a modern city full of skyscrapers and malls. It also offers huge parks (try the KL Forest Eco Park to see wild monkeys) and traditional neighborhood like chinatown. Bird park. Bird park. Amusement park on the fifth floor of the Times Square mega mall. One of the many malls you can find between Bukit Bintang and KLCC. They are literally lined one after another !

Cassowary. A large flightless bird found in Northeastern Australia and New Guinea. Cairns, my last stop in Australia. This town is a good hub to go to the great barrier reef and the jungle. It's a touristic place, so you will find plenty of tour options there. I went snorkeling in the reef and even tried an introductory dive. The small town of Kuranda make a good day trip from Cairns. Use the Trans North bus company. There you can visit the Koala Gardens and the Bird World . They are small zoos, but some of the marsupials and nearly all the birds roam free. You can feed and pet them, but beware of the parrots, they will try to steal everything. Cassowary. Kangaroo Crocodile Lizard Parrot Parrot Flying foxes (bats) around the library in the center of Cairns.

Surfers From Sydney I took the night bus to Byron Bay. This part of the east coast has only one bus option and it's the night one. Prepare some warm clothes because the air conditioning can be quite strong. After 12:45 hours I arrived in this small town near the sea. It has amazing beaches and a hippie vibe. The main activities are swimming, surfing and strolling along the beach. One good walk is to go all the way up to the lighthouse. I stayed in a hostel called Arts Factory Lodge . It's a bite outside of town and looks like a small hippie village (even more than Byron Bay itself). Don't expect a nice and quiet place. It's raucous, dirty and crowded, but it's a worthwhile experience. Tip: avoid the kitchen. It's more a battlefield than a cooking place. View from the lighthouse. Water pool at low tide. Cormorant

Opera house In Sydney I saw the most popular places like the Opera house, the Harbour bridge and the rocks, but the best place was definitely Bondi beach. It's a bit outside of the center, around 45 minutes of bus, but really worth it. I bought a hope-on hope-off bus ticket from the company Greybound (same as the one in the USA). For around 450 Australian dollars it allowed me to go from Sydney to Cairns while making as many stop as I wanted. Once you have the login info, you can go on their website and book the next bus you want. It's a good option if there is many things you want to see on the road and you don't want to rent a car. Opera house by night from the harbour bridge Under the harbour bridge St Mary's cathedral Birds eating from the trash of the fish market.

The Weka is a flightless bird endemic of New Zealand. On the south island, I went sea kayaking and trekking in the Abel Tasman National Park. There I could see: stingrays, seals, fishes, cormorant and the Weka. The best experience was sleeping in a boat in the middle of the park, where we could admire the Milky way in the sky and a bio-luminescent sea around the boat. The water was filled by plankton that would emit light if disturbed, thus moving your arm in the sea would make it glow. All the fishes moving around the boat where leaving a trail of light. It was a magical night. Part of the park seen from the trail. Cormorant. Swimming back to the boat after having jumped from its roof. Drifted stick on the beach growing back.