I joined for a long week end (close to a week actually: 6 days) my father and sister in the Yucatan, Mexico. Pictures are here.
It was a wonderful trip and I didn’t expect it to be so nice: I thought it was a very touristic region, and we traveled during the rainy season. We actually had a wonderful weather (wonderful for the region: so still warm and humid, but bearable) and the mass-tourism is concentrated on certain beaches (Cancun, Playa del Carmen) and sites (Cobà, Chichen Itza). Here is a suggested itinerary of what to do for a long week end in the Yucatan ! Continue reading ‘Visit Yucatan, Mexico: Mayan Ruins, Colonial Cities, Turquoise Sea’
Or: What to do in New York with your mom ??
I know, this is a difficult question. For some, it’s even more difficult when it comes to your mother in law, although the solutions are more simple: loose her in the Ramble of Central Park or enroll her on a hot-dog-eating contest and forget to bring her water. But you don’t want that for your mom, of course.
Continue reading ‘Definite (non-)tourist guide to visit New York City’
I was working on some administrative stuff for my visa this morning, and at some point had to list my travels (outside the US and Europe) over the last 10 years. My current passport is only 8 years old, so I might be missing some, but here is the list (the links are to the pictures, when available online): Continue reading ‘10 years of travel !’
Two weeks ago, I won an photo contest from my company (Air France KLM) with this picture, and the prize was 2 return tickets anywhere in the world. After a few discussions about where we could go (Iran, back to Burma, Philippines, Uzbekistan were discussed) we eventually settled to do what every backpacker has to do at some point, India. And where to “start” in India if not in the Rajasthan (wiki).
The decision was motivated by a recent gift: I am reading an amazing book about India, a best seller from 1975 written by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins: Freedom at Midnight (amazon).
Freedom at Midnight is a detailed and novelized account of all events that occurred in 1947 and 1948 in India and in the UK that led to India’s independence and partition. It’s a fascinating stack of 800 or 900 pages that flew in just a few weeks. But especially, it made me realize how little I knew about India recent history, and how much there was to know !
Continue reading ‘Freedom at Midnight, and the Partition of India’
Yes, it’s true: I did it. I spent the week end in an all-inclusive resort in Dominican Republic (Iberostar Bavaro).
Me, Laurent Kretz. The backpacker guy who swore he would never do such a thing. The guy who slept in Laos villages on the Chinese border for $0.50 a night watching kids smoke opium with their grandparents (album here). The guy who experienced the 14 centuries old Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, Syria (album, wikipedia). The adventurous backpacker who climbed the cliffs of the Kawah Ijen volcano with the sulfur-carriers on Java, Indonesia (album, wikipedia). To name a few.
Continue reading ‘Yes, it’s true: I did it.’
I eventually finished sorting my pictures from our trip in Guatemala !
The texts are written, photos cropped, flickr slide-shows and youtube videos embedded.
Our trip was a beautiful backpacking adenture that led us from amazing Mayan ruins to raging volcanoes, crossing holy lakes and facing howler monkeys in the jungle. To make it short. ;-)
Continue reading ‘A travel journal from Guatemala’
A year ago I bought my tickets for one of the trips I enjoyed the most: Israel. Had a few nostalgic thoughts about it tonight … Let me share some pictures below. The rest can be found in a best of on Flickr.
I am baptized, but not religious. The last time I’ve been to a church was for a wedding. The time before, well, … I’m sure there must have been a time before. And my views on religion are not completely positive, to say the least. Israel was an amazing trip that I would advise to anyone, for hundreds of reasons. The first one was to live the 1 square mile old Jerusalem where the roots of the three monotheist religions entwine.
Continue reading ‘Jerusalem, a year ago’
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