While traveling in India in 2005 I read the famous novel “The far pavilions” by Mary Margaret Kaye. I started to get bored when the main character never got sick about talking about his princess “golden eyes“. Just a day after, I saw a woman in a bus with golden eyes but I was too slow to take an image. Another day later I saw two girls in the streets of Pushkar with this wonderful golden eyes. Here a photo of one of them.
Damn Yak Dry Goods Wool & Canvas Possibles Pouch:
A while ago Chris from DamnYak featured his handcrafted pouch. A conversation went back an forth, be-cause I thought the shipping fees would be much to high to get this item to Germany. However Chris calculated and I could not say no. The final price of around 30 Euros incl. shipping was by far not too much.
This post is actually waiting for too long, so its images were not shoot in good light conditions and I have to get used to the new camera. But I had the need to finally say thank you Chris. Ok when I got it, it took me a while to actually figure out the best use for it. And “TaTa” it will serve as my new and bigger “grab and you got everything you need pouch” when I´m going outdoors. The basic stuff and some extra stuff which are easily forgotten if you have them not bundled well together.
From the top left:
– Compass
– Earplugs (a must, against snoring guys in the mountain huts”)
– a nose flute (always fun to let people figure out how to play it)
– tape
– matches
– tooth silk (freaks me out to have some jerky between the teeth)
– energy snack
– spare laces for the boots
– Petzl LED light (you never can have enough of them)
– sugar, salt and pepper (tomatoes taste just so much better if you bring it with you)
– mouth drum
– film box, to store the salt and pepper stuff
– fishing line and hooks
– Leatherman tool
– a stainless flask with brandy for the campfire or the cheer someone
– Compeed blister pflaster (never needed it so far, with good boots)
– a candle
– wire to fix heavy duty equipment or to build traps
– tissues ? what for … hmm
– rescue blanket
– fritz the monster – my buddy !
– tobacco and papers (I usually don´t smoke but after a long hike, I have to)
– Sun-blocker
– Fire-starters
Everything fits in the pouch – nearly. The Petzl and the flask/Flachmann are better kept closer. This is just the raw version for the first trip with a more spacious bag, I guess some stuff will be removed and others will move in. Again thanks, the pouch could´t be more stylish for this use.
Morocco – Casablanca, Fez and Marrakech:
Right after christmas we went to Morocco, on the way there we were hosted by good friends in Madrid for one night and on the 26th of december we arrived in Casablanca. Traveling via train to Fez we soon were astonished how green actually Morocco is (winter ?). Fez is probably the most breathtaking market I have seen so far, just try to get lost and leave the main alleys and you feel like you are in the middle age. Unfortunately on this trip my camera got stolen and only the images on the backup camera are available (operated by Maria, thanks!). But I hope the images get you a bit of a feeling how oriental Morocco still is. The food was great, the people really friendly and helpful and at some places you really think time stood still for a couple of hundred years. Sure at tourist hotspots you will witness all the comfort and uncomfort created by, be-cause and for them. But we will come back to go in the desert region and have a more detailed look in the atlas mountains.
Sunday was not a day to leave the house. Foggy, cold, time for a long breakfast and hanging around in the house doing this and that. But thanks to Maria who insisted to climb a bit higher – leave the lake and maybe have some sun over the clouds/fog. The hike itself is a quite path trough the forrest, away from the masses who also had the idea to escape the darkness. Luckily after about 2 1/2 hours and just below the peak, the sun made it trough the clouds and we were rewarded with a perfect blue sky and sunshine. So what ? It´s always worth to do it.
Olympia “De Luxe” travel typewriter with travel case.
Last week finally the seller of this great travel typewriter sent me the Olympia “De Luxe”. For only 1,50 Euros in a very good condition including the transport case and the original instructions I know it was a steal. I really don´t know what to do with it but the mechanic and the look of it is easily worth the money. And due to the compact size and the travel case it is easy to store it away.
Italy / Eat-aly, what a feast. Part of the family went to Turin and to the heart of the Piemonte to see friends. For four continious days a bombardment to the senses. To summarize it, whatever “poor and standard & moodys” says, they have no clue outside their numbers. Poor or rich can not be defined so easy. We experienced a country with its culture so rich it was totally mind-blowing.
Just a few images. Images of the evening dinners are missing due to bad light to use the camera or too much good food and good atmosphere to be interrupted.
I got finally in touch with the best truffles, the white ones. And begin to understand the hype about it. Accompanied with top wines like a Barolo or just a simple Barbera with fresh pasta and butter or grated on top of fried egg the “profumo” of the truffle is untouched.
But also the simple dishes in down to earth restaurants where you have to speak no word, just sit down an enjoy. Plates of just perfected dishes come out of the kitchen one after another. No worries about what to choose from a menu. Leave the decisions to the people who know what is the best – the owners. And needless to say we have not once been unhappy about their judgement.
Last weekend we went for a autumn hike to the Bregenzerwald – Austria and walked from Sibratzgfäll to Schönenbach. It’s the perfect walk in autumn and for snowshoe because you walk in a not to hilly valley by the river with a nice flora beside. It was like an “Indian Summer” in Canada, just in Austria. Thanks to Maria and “Kitty the dog” to drag me out of the bed for this walk. The night before there was quite a party going on with a traditionally dish for autumn “Zwiebelkuchen & Most” (German cider and a cake with lots of onions, bacon an cumin).
Sunset collection:
Yesterday after work there was a wonderful sunset on the lake but I did not carry a camera. Autumn is the best time to see the most impressive sunsets. After I came home I browsed my photo library to look for some sunset images. Here is the outcome, not all in autumn and not all in germany – sorry.
Today in my favorite antique shop I came over 5 old – vintage hiking sticks with stick nails – stocknägel. I could not find the word for a stocknagel in english. To explain it, a stocknagel is a souvenir you nail on your walking or hiking stick from a place of interest – mostly in the mountains. Its a tradition in europe and also a collectable or souvinir of where you have been. Its also a motivation for kids to collect them and some go mad about getting their sticks full. By that they learn to enjoy hiking and climb mountains by play.
Hiking and bivouac in the Lecknertal
Last friday Maria and me went for camping straight after work. Before the temperature drops and snow comes, this might be the last time at higher altitude without the snowshoes. Weather-reports were great for the day/night so we only packed the bivouac bag, no tent and the sleeping bags. It was very evident that the indian summer/autumn was beginning much earlier up there, the leaves turn already yellow and brown. The hike to the “summit” was much longer than we thought, I would say about 2 hours. After we arrived I went straight to collect some wood for the fire while Maria prepared the camp. It quickly went dark and we had a great sunset. We roasted some sausages on sticks and had a bottle of bordeaux nouveau. At higher altitude and without the artificial light of cites, the stars are much more visible and brighter up there and the milky way looks like a cloud, so many stars you can see. When sleeping outdoors you tend to wake up more, but you really don’t mind if you see the stars above you. Next morning we woke up exactly at sunrise at about 7am (at least me) and I prepared some coffee with the bialetti. We had doubt that the sparkling water we brought might taste sour in the coffee – and yes it does. So another lesson learned.
A great adventure, next time we come back there will be snow and the retired early birds on cross country skies will already made the tracks to the peak.
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