Category: Secret Guide

The hardest thing

Climbing Mt. Meru is not for the faint-hearted. But it is highly rewarding. From the massively deep, moon-like crater in the center of it, to the razor-sharp giant rim that surrounds it, Meru is all about extremes.

6 REASONS WHY CLIMBING Mt. MERU SHOULD BE ON YOUR “BUCKET LIST”, AND 1 REASON WHY IT NEVER WILL

It’s 6am, 3 degrees south of the equator, and the sub-zero winds are beating hard. Tired, broken, and exhausted, I glimpse as the first orange rays of sun wash the peak of the mighty Kilimanjaro. I then slump breathless against a frozen rock crevice and pass out for 10 minutes.

Welcome to Mount Meru, voted as the most rewarding and scenic climb in Africa. While I don’t know much about that research, what I do know is that ascending Mt. Meru is the most beautiful climbing trek I’ve done in my life. Yeah, that simple. I also know that despite the above titles, almost no one will follow. Below are all the reasons why you should (and why you’ll never).

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X Marks the Spot

7 TIPS FOR A WEEKEND LOST IN DALLAS

There’s an unreal amount of angry lightning all around. Strange, it was sunny just an hour ago. I’m stuck inside a rented Hyundai in this northeastern corner of Texas. Then, the radio broadcast stops abruptly for what must be the single most terrifying public announcement for someone stranded in commute. “Severe weather warning, 100 mph winds, inch, and a quarter hail. Risk to cars, trees, rooftops, and mobile homes. Stay inside concrete or masonry buildings, keep away from windows. Effective until 7:30pm”. Great! A Tornado warning in the middle of a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam. Welcome to Dallas. There’s more to come.

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6 reasons diving a Cenote is better than drugs

COULD THIS BE THE BEST DIVE EVER?

Remember that famous scene from Trainspotting? The one in which Ewan McGregor dives into the worst toilette in Scotland only to be transported to an aquatic paradise? This is what diving a Cenote is.
I have been diving for 30 years and have more than 300 scuba diving in my logbook, but diving the Chak-Mool and Kukulcan Cenotes in Yucatan, Mexico, is like nothing I’ve ever done. It’s so radical, so different and so delirious it almost unreal. But it is real, and it’s better than drugs.

This is why:

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Back to Black. Black Forest’s complete driver’s guide – part II

5 ADDITIONAL SCHWARZWALD ROADS YOU SHOULDN’T MISS

With more than a thousand Kilometers of great driving roads, little traffic (if you know where and when to go), and few and short connecting sections, the 130 Kilometers (85 Miles) area between Baden-Baden and the Swiss border is the quintessential petrol-head’s playground.

But to unlock this “drivefest” extravaganza you need the right key.
Read below.

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Israel’s top 10 hill climbs

COUNTING DOWN FROM GREAT TO TRULY SUBLIME!

Growing up in Israel, I was always told by my elders “there aren’t any places to drive here.” Years have passed, but not the attitude of the folks around me. “What would you do with your sports car? Stand in traffic all day?” they asked, looking at me with a mix of bewilderment and contempt.
Having driven almost every road in this small country, all can say is BOLLOCKS!

Israel has many fantastic driving roads if you know where to look for them.
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6 essential rules you must know before doing Nepal off-road

AND WHY IT IS SUCH AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE

This is me. And behind me are the High Himalaya’s. More specifically the Northern Nilgiri range of Nepal’s Mustang district. This is a place of enormous vistas, tiny Tibetan hamlets, and temples completely lost in time. Most of the few people who venture out to experience Mustang, do that through their feet. Personally, I believe there’s no better way than to do it riding a motorcycle. Putting it another way, this is – by far and large – the best road trip you can ever take.
Period…

Having stated the above, there few things you probably should know before venturing out yourselves.

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4 Mykonos lessons. Learned the hard way.

STORMY SEPTEMBER, A PUBLIC ORGY & OTHER GREEK ISLAND SURPRISES

Mykonos is the perfect Greek Island gateway, or so says the brochure. My wife and I went there with another couple to celebrate our joint 10th marriage anniversary. Spending four days on the small Aegean Island, we found a bit of what we looked for and a lot of what we didn’t. Some of it, I must admit, was quite memorable. Was it something worth remembering? You’ll be the judge of that. All I can say is that the following year we decided to re-celebrate our 10th anniversary, only this time in Tuscany.

So, Without further due, here are four Mykonos lessons,
learned the hard way…

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The secret gardens of the world’s most packed city

 

TWO PLACES TO BE ALONE IN TOKYO

It’s objectively hard to be alone in the world’s most populous city. Hard, but not impossible. Tokyo is one crazy gigantic place. And by crazy, I don’t mean out-of-control (Phnom Penh takes that title with ease), but rather a place working according to rules only a local would understand.
I was once told that the cheapest ticket to Mars is a flight voucher to Tokyo. Don’t get me wrong, I love that city. I really do. I also love the Japanese, in the same sort of way one loves 3D Anime/Manga. They’re a bit real, but not really.

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4 tricks to create a photo that fools everyone

A QUICK GUIDE TO CRAFT REALITY-BUSTING PICTURES 

A beautiful ancient grand temple shrouded in mystery and lost in time. Lost to all but a single young Buddhist monk and yours truly who just “happened” to discover it all by mistake.

Bullshit!
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