A Ring around Iceland – My favourites

After spending 24 days of summer traveling around Iceland, I wanted to write multiple posts to dedicate the attention that each region deserves, complete with statistics and academia-style references. But I realised that aiming too high could mean that nothing gets published at all, so let's do this one step at a time and start...

Amateur diving in Philippines

The coral islands is an area that starts with Philippines on the northern tip, stretches along Malaysia's easternmost cost, and continues southwards to encompass Indonesia, which form the triangle's base together with Papua New Guinea and  the Solomon Islands. This is an area recognized for its coral-reef marine diversity, and marked by WWF as a...

DIY Norway in a nutshell… with extras!

For those travelling from Bergen to Oslo. Checking timings for mid-November in the hopes that it'll be similar to late March... (Why ending at Oslo instead of starting at Oslo? Because it's a great idea to fly up to Tromso, visit Svalbard, and maybe drop by the Lofoten islands and take the Hutigruten down. Or...

Accomodation and winter tours in Svalbard

Sample accomodation prices, per room, including breakfast and internet: Gjestehuset 102 (website) - 890kr Radisson Blu Polar Hotel (website) - 1356kr Spitsbergen Rica (website) - 1390kr Snowmobile prices are listed as driver/passenger. Common snowmobile trip: The east coast, where polar bears may be sighted. Tempelfjorden, an artic glacier. Artic Adventures (website): Dog sleds to Bolterdalen (4h,...

Sweden – Transport planning

Sweden public transport planner: ResRobot Sweden railway: SJ (Can also find bus connections to your destination!) Download PDFs of train schedules from ResPlus. Sweden bus companies: The largest - Swebus Other Stockholm departures - Svenskabuss To/fro northern Sweden - Ybuss

Trains in Taiwan – Taipei’s subway and the national railway

Taipei Metro Taipei Metro Map Taipei Metro travel times Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) To check out ticket schedules and prices for long distance train trips: Get the train code from the schedules on the Taiwan Railway schedule planner. For prices, first book tickets on TRA booking website, to get a booking code. Next, "pay" for tickets...

Shizuoka

after a long day at hakone, marked by long queues and long bus rides, we rushed over to shizuoka to catch one of the highlights of our trip, also something which a friend implored me to take EYEWITNESS photos of! because somehow someone you know taking a grainy picture of the real thing is better...

Fujiya Hotel

this. is. the. best. hotel. ever. it is practically a tourist destination itself, with 132 years of history, lived in by the japanese royal family and the swedish monarchy, tour groups passing through in the a.m., beautiful interiors and exteriors, round the clock attentive staff providing 6 star service, a twin room so spacious that...

Hakone – The Sights

following the loop course suggested on Japan Guide, i took the Hakone-Tozan Railway to Gora (with a brief stop at Miyanoshita to drop my bags), the "cable car" to Sounzan (which really looks like a funicular railway to me), the Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan to Owakudani (love it!), then continued to Togendai, to take the...

Hakone – Getting In and Around

before we even got to the train station, i learnt two very important lessons: 1) remember to pack your travel pillow when you wake up; 2) remember where you keep your japan rail pass. i forgot both, and missed two trains and had a panic attack! (the trains in japan run like clockwork, i feel...