This photo was taken on a hike with a friend. At first I just found it interesting that the thistle only has one ring of flowers, the upper and lower ones had already fallen out. Then, when I saw the butterfly, I knew I had to take a picture (it was more a must than a want. Slightly compulsive, however there are far worse compulsive behaviors). My friend then also had fun, as similar like on other hikes before, I stood on an ant nests (not a heap), so after the photo I hopped around a bit to shake the ants out of my sandals.
Khua Lek (Iron Bridge) over Mae Nam Ping river, Chiang Mai, Thailand
My first business trip to Thailand was planned at short notice and as I and a friend had arranged to visit me in England, I wasn’t able to stay as long as I (and the project) had hoped. But it was still great, I mean how lucky to be able to travel to other countries for work. And the nice thing was the extra contact with the locals, and so I got a city tour on the last evening, traditionally without a helmet on the back of the moped.
Moonset next to the temple Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, taken in the park of Chiang Mai University, Thailand
Tilos Bridge over the Barranco del Aqua near Los Sauces, La Palma, Spain
After my second weekend bike tour on La Palma (described in La Palma (6)) on Saturday, I was already back on my bike on Sunday. I had sent the bike from Germany to La Palma and had to do without it for 3 weeks, apparently I then tried to make up for the bike withdrawal. In any case, I was much fitter than now that I’m writing about it, I can’t imagine so many meters of altitude on two days in a row at the moment. After heading south yesterday and heading west last Sunday, with only sea to the east, the logical conclusion was to head north this time. I also enjoyed this tour, so many views and experiences to take in. At the end I was really happy when it was almost all downhill from Puntallana.
Faro de Punta Complida in the north of La Palma, Spain.Elevation profile (red) and speed profile (green) of my bicycle tour.Geographic map using the STRM data with my route, created with https://github.com/ronnyerrmann/cycle_logging. The deep valleys are clearly visible in the data, the amounts of bends not so much.
View into the volcanic crater of Kilauea Iki, Big Island, Hawaii, USA. In the background you can see plumes of steam rising from the Kilauea crater.
After my observation nights at the Subaru telescope in Hawaii, I had the chance to spend a few more days on the Big Island, Hawaii. Besides renting a bicycle (who would have thought it), I also rented a car for one day. And so, almost by accident on my birthday, I went to the active volcanoes and the Kilauea Visitor Center. It was a great day, I hiked a lot, stood on a lot of young rock, had great views and learned some geology. Due to the fact that some craters were active during this period (Nāpau crater), it was not possible to hike that far, but I was still active in the National Park all day.
Something I would do differently from today’s perspective is to be more open. Although I had stayed in a hostel, I withdrew very much and therefore spent my free days in Hawaii alone. Occasional activity together has become important to me, especially in the last few years, and it’s nice to challenge social anxiety too. Sharing about the views an exciting excursion is a nice thing to do, and by writing here I do that partly.
Pine forest and volcanic sand forest path close to Los Canarios (Fuencaliente), south of La Palma, Spain
My second weekend bike tour on La Palma (the first is described in La Palma (5)) led south and steadily uphill again. Since I didn’t want to go back to the west side of the island, I used one of the forest paths back. From then on it was very quiet and I didn’t see anyone for a long time. The change in vegetation was also very interesting, from very dry landscape to pine forests and later evergreen laurel forests. In the end I came out again at the Refugio de El Pilar at 1500m. The return trip was great again, the pleasure of converting the work of the last few hours into speed and the wind in your face just felt good.
Evergreen laurel forest and the clouds that keep it green on La Palma, SpainElevation profile (red) and speed profile (green) from my bike tour. I was definitely faster downhill than uphill. And on the road I was faster than on gravel. You can also count the numbers of hairpin bends going downhill, because I slowed down a bit for them.Geographic map using the STRM data with my route, created with https://github.com/ronnyerrmann/cycle_logging
View of the Scottish countryside from Stac Pollaidh.
We had actually attempted to climb Stac Pollaidh twice. The first time from the back, without a path. It was nice, but also quite exhausting, as the greenery is not just grass. So we returned back before it got steep. The second time we went up the hiking trail on the south side. Because of the altitude, it was still good sport.
A time lapse of the sunset from the accommodation can be found on Ronny’s youtube channel: https://youtu.be/UqokoCJz76M
3 hour time lapse of the sunset in Scotland, with sheep, great colours, and interesting clouds
View of the plains of Los Llanos de Aridane and El Paso, Pico Bejenado behind, and La Cumbrecita (the gap in the mountains) from a viewpoint near Montaña Quemada, La Palma, Spain
My first weekend bike tour on La Palma led up the Cumbre along the LP-3, just to see how far I could get. Thanks to the early start, the road was relatively quiet. As a slow cyclist you are otherwise quite an obstacle, as it is not easy for the cars to overtake on the winding road. The altitude meters were challenging, but I was happy when I reached the tunnel portal at an altitude of about 1000m. After the tunnel I continued along the LP-301. I knew that the island gets flatter to the south and therefore expected only little more altitude. I should have looked at the map. The road went uphill for another 500m, only at the Refugio de El Pilar did I reach the highest point. I was very happy to finally be up there. The return trip, on the other hand, was just great.
East portal of the Tunel de la Cumbre with Ronny’s bicycle in front.Elevation profile (red) and speed profile (green) from my bike tour. I was definitely faster downhill than uphill. You can also count the numbers of hairpin bends going downhill, because I slowed down a bit for them.Geographic map with route (there was no GPS reception in the tunnel), created with https://github.com/ronnyerrmann/cycle_logging
Ronny's traveller blog 