pollution
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust: Stop moaning and start driving!
It has now been four days since all flight traffic over the northern Europe was cancelled due to the volcanic ashes from the explosion on Iceland. The airspace is still closed over: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, UK. It is partly [...]
The pollution is covering Santiago, Chile
Santiago, being the capital city of Chile, is a big city. The city was founded and named Santiago de Nueva Estremadura on Feb. 12, 1541, by Pedro de Valdivia. Santiago has spread over a broad valley plain and is today one of the largest cities in South America. Low foothills surround the valley, and [...]
Pucon: A beautiful lake-side village in Chile
Pucon is a beautiful lake-side village in Chile. It is located 25 km from Villarrica at the east end of lago Villarrica, Rio Pucon in the north and Volcan Villarrica to the south. It is a stunning place to visit during the day.
Pucon is an outdoor activity kind of place. In the summer you [...]
Watch the sea lions in Valdivia, Chile
Valdivia is, at first view, a beautiful city with a breezy riverfront, multiple universities, old architecture and good restaurant. However, a walk down the riverfront changes your opinion a bit. You notice the extremely smoky Celco-Arauco paper mill that sends up constant masses of smoke into the sky. In 2005 some 5000 black-necked swans died [...]
San Pedro and the longing for empty spaces
Arriving in San Pedro was by no means a surprise because I had no expectations for neither San Pedro nor Guatemala.
San Pedro de Laguna is a relatively small village (although not as small as I could wish for) on the shores of Lake Atitlan. It has 13.000 inhabitants spread out on the hillside.
Obviously [...]
Air pollution levels in Chiang Mai rising
Click the button to check the Chiang Mai pollution levels TODAY! It’s getting to that time of year again when the pollution levels in Chiang Mai start climbing to dangerous levels. This happens every year towards the end of the dry season, between February and April and is largely attributable to slash-and-burn farming methods. Last [...]
Video: Rainy season (monsoon) in Chiang mai
The rainy season in Chiang Mai is fascinating and lasts from around June to about October. As opposed to most guidebooks I actually recommend people visit the city during this time of the year. There are several reasons for this: a) the rainy season doesn’t mean that it rains day and night, far from the [...]