Malaysia

I crossed Malaysia twice:

- first, the Malaysian part of Borneo on my way to Philippines to have a look over few remaining orangutans in the Kuching sanctuary and to check some remaining jungle in the Gunung Mulu national park, where the most impressive were hundred of thousand bats leaving a big cave every evening for a nigh hunt,

- and second, the Malaysia penisula as a long stop over between Philippines and Sulawesi. And since I haven't planed or expected anything for this part of my trip, it happened that I really enjoyed spending time in the Petronian towers in Kuala Lumpur, chilling out among tea plantations on Cameron Highlands and yes, challenging my biggest fears of dip waters on Perenhian Islands. The first morning upon my arrival to Perenhian Kecil, I stopped at the first Dive school on my way to the beach and left it only six day later with the Open Water Dive Certificate in my pocket. I still can't belive I did it!!!

Philippines

A Latinoasian country with distinctive "latinofilipino" vibes, colors, sound and smells, 7000 islands, uncountable numbers of overloaded jeepneys, tricycles, ferries, bangkas and other kinds of transport, fast food chains of every kind at every corner, loud karaoke everywhere at anytime, basketball playgrounds everywhere - in every village, in the middle of rice paddies, palm plantations, on the streets and roads, roosters waking you up in the middle of the nights no matter where you were spending the night - town centers, remote beach resorts, ferries and night buses included, obsession with cock fights and gambling in general, beaches, beaches and more beaches dotted with palm trees and surrounded by reach coral reefs boosting with marine life and much more...

But the most important- there were hundred of thousands of smiling Filipinos waving at you all the time :))

In six weeks time I traveled to the remotest villages in Northern Luzon Cordillera region, then all the way down to Donsol to swim with whale sharks, took a short rest on the Negros' remote beaches, visited a shaman on Siquiour - the witch island, had a look over chocolate hills and the the smallest primate tarsier on Bohol and finally reached Pallavan - the remotest but most beautiful of the islands with its spotless beaches and amazing corral reefs.

Not easy to capture the real vibe on photos though...

Gili islands

The ultimate challenge... am I able to lie on the beach, read a book in the shadow and walk only as far as the first restaurant with fresh barbecued fish for lunch and diner for two weeks?

I successfully passed the test on Gili Islands :)

Bali

What a better place in the world than Ubud on Bali, the green sunny happy paradise, to take some rest and recharge batteries after so intensive and long traveling! A local family welcomed me as their dearest guest and I spent two weeks in their big house, which included also a big family temple and a couple of nice rooms for renting to the passing travelers.

Right during the two weeks I spent there, three major holly celebrations took place, among them the Balinese New year - Nyepi, the day on which all the Balines activities completely freeze. Nobody is aloud to leave the home, there are no public services (even the airport stays closed), no electricity and no contribution to the global warming, at list for a day!

On top of that, I've been lucky enough to run into a once in a 10 years holly Hindu celebration in the biggest and most sacred Balinese temple - the Bersakih temple. There were 15 most important Hindu priests that prayed for the welfare of the whole Earth, there were traditional dancings and ceremonies, there was blessing of people and gifts to the Gods and an amazing mix of colors and positive vibes! And I was one of the very few lucky foreigners to be present. Dressed in the traditional Balinese clothes, I've got access to all the temples and ceremonies, so please regard this photos as a very exclusive ones!

Singapore

A big shopping mall? A virtual city? Maybe both? However, a spotless city with a virtual feeling, where even the ongoing constructions looks like a modern art installation. At list the Little India neighborhood maintained some original earthy spirit...

And Bojan, thanks a lot for your generous hospitality in your very posh place! It felt like switching from "Discovery channel" to the "HBO" one for a couple of days ;)

Australia

Dipping into the atmosphere of Sydney and Melbourne, driving on the left side along the Great Ocean Road and trekking Blue Mountains was more than enough for my only two and a half weeks stay in Australia.

I liked it :))

Fiji

Some postcards from three islands I've visited...

...but the real beauty of Fiji lies under the wather, hidden within its colorful and reach corral riffs!

New Zeland

Since the last thing I've done in Chile was climbing the Llaima volcano, arriving to NZ I climbed straight away the volcano in the Tangariro national park - better known as Mt Dome from the movie The Lord of the ring.

In fact, the three weeks in NZ I've spent almost entirely in national parks: I walked Abel Tasman for two days, did a whole day trek into the Franz Josef glacier, walked for three days the Roteburn great walk, visited Milford Sound fjord and climbed up to the Miller hut in front of Mt Cook, the highest mountain in NZ. Of course, I couldn't leave the country without bungee jumping 134m deep into the Nevis canyon near Queenstown!

NZ is a pretty country.

Chile

The first time I entered Chile, down South in Patagonia, it was to trek Torres del Paine, the most famous trek in all Patagonia. Famous for a reason. It's a national park of immense and wild beauty and with such extreme and unpredictable weather conditions, that whoever manage to trek there for at list a couple of days, at the end feels like a hero. Especially when you do it on your own...

During my five days I got wet to the bones, been blown away by extreme wind (my tent as well!) and frozen during the night I stayed in a camp next to the glacier Grey. But, when I've entered the most beautifully valley - Vale Frances, the sun generously shined over all those incredible mountain picks and glaciers. Not so lucky when it came the time to see Torres del Paine... that day it was snowing hard!

The second time I entered Chile was after I left Usuaia, to travel up North. It took me one week of hard and fast traveling to reach Pucon, a town in Chilean lake district. There are no roads in Southern Chilean Patagonia, therefore the trip consisted of several buses, ferries and a two nights, one day boat trip. Finally, I spent a week in Pucon, climbing two volcanoes, rafting, horse riding, canopying and having good time with friendly locals.

Great times under volcano Villarica :)

Usuaia - the end of the world

By the end of the year, I've reached the end of the world - Usuaia, the southernmost town in the world!

There you can feel all the power of the nature, which plays with the most amazing colors and shapes, and that special adventurous atmosphere provided by people heading to Antarctica.

Here Usuaia, Antarctica next time maybe...

Perrito Moreno

Sorry, but I couldn't shrink more the selection of photos of this magic and most famous Glacier of all glaciers!!!

... but you can make your own one :)

El Chalten

You spend 32 hours on the bus from Bariloce to El Chalten, a place deep in Patagonian Andes, if you chose to do the mythical "Ruta 40". All worth when Fizz Roy appears in the distance in front of you. It was love on the first site... no matter in which direction I trekked, I could never drop my eyes off that pure beauty...

Fizz Roy and surroundings

Bariloce

After two and a half months I've finally put on my 3,5 kg pure leather German trekking boots and started to trek Patagonian picks and valleys. Just fantastic!
Unfortunately, no pictures can capture the real beauty of the nature here

Penisula Valdes

I've never even dreamed to come so close to a whale and be surrounded by so many penguins, but it happened on Penisula Valdes on the coast of northern Patagonia!

Check here :))

Uruguay

Uruguay welcomed me with a stunning sunset and immense calm. In the days that followed it nicely surprised me with a chilled out atmosphere, happy people and fairy tale places…

I walked the streets of Colonia del Sacramento, an old well preserved colonial town; been waiting on the beach of Punta del Diablo for fishermen to return from the sea with fresh fish and shrimps for my dinner; wondered over fairylike village of Cabo Polonio, the village inhabited by more sea lions than people and illuminated by millions of stars but no electricity during the night and yes, had the best stake ever in Montevideo, the capital.

You simply should go there!

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires has it all...

you find there nicely renovated river banks that reminds you of London's South bank, Paris like large busy avenues, cosy old neighbourhoods typical of Lisbon and Porto, stylish old buildings, shops and bars of Barcelona and Italian towns and hundreds of bookshops you can't find anywhere else!

All in all it's a busy, vibrant and huge capital. After a week I had enough of it and crossed the river to Uruguay.
Here some captured impressions...

Mendosa

Mendosa was all about wine and Aconcagua, the highest pick on the America's continent. So I did a wine tasting cycling tour across wineries and cellars, caught up with Aconcagua professional guides along a parilla (Arentinian barbeque) and spent a night in picturesque Ponte del Incas, the village at the front door of Aconcagua.

Here some photos...

Salta

In the far North of Argentina, in the region of Salta and Jujuy, the landscape offers infinite colors and shapes. I had been lucky to run into Patrick, an Irish guy, which whom I rented a car and explored the two regions. We drove for four days, 1400 km, across spectacular and breathtaking landscapes on dirt and curved roads, up to a 4200 m high, passing by small villages, salaries, rock formations... A breathtaking epic journey! 

Better you check the photos and judge by yourself...

Brazil

Finally!

Finally, here on the Argentinian side of the Igazu Falls I`ve managed to download some pictures I took so far in Brazil. Hopefully, they can give you a taste of what I was doing so far...

I landed in Rio on 20 September and spent a couple of days there just to overcome the jet lag and to adapt to the idea of being on holidays... I continued to rest and chill out on Ilha Grande, Paraty and Trinidade (all places with nice beaches), before I turned inland to remote wetland of Pantanal, home of on incredible amount of caymans, piranhas, birds... and especially mosquitoes! On my way to Iguazu, I made a stopover in Bonito to swim in a magic clear river full of big, but really big fish!

So far so good! Nice and lazy, but now, crossing Argentinian border, I expect the real traveling to start... First, I plan to head North to Salta and then slowly descend South toward Patagonia. Of course, stopping in Buenos Aires and Montevideo on the way. Will keep you posted.

Click here for photos (hopefully will work)

Greetings from the Iguazu falls, Branka

Rio

Rio is my fist destination! I am happy to be back :)

Just to get some taste of it, here are some photos I took last year.