Author: Andreas

Mono Lake is a large, shallow saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago and gives the impression to be on another planet.

Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, glaciers, and biological diversity with almost 95% designated wilderness. While Yosemite Valley had endless traffic  jam with some nice but not spectacular waterfalls, Glacia Point with view on half dome and leaving the park over Tioga Pass road is breathtaking.

It has been a major tourist attraction since 1852, when the existence of the trees was first widely reported, and is considered the longest continuously operated tourist facility in California. An absolute highlight with not many tourists

Vising the  former workplace of the Governator. Beautiful city to rest a few days before heading west.

Great atmosphere because of clouds of fog moving over the surrounding hills. They have a great museum with amazing classic works of art and questionable modern art. China Town was much better than in L.A. I like the Bay area.

Exploring the origin of Silicon Valley: It’s birthplace in the Hewlett-Packard garage, the beginning of Apple at Steve Job’s garage in a great neighborhood. Computer history museum with all significant hardware exhibits including Apple 1 and the Utah teapot. Went to Google next and joined a user study for a new service and Stanford. Definitely a must see at the West Coast. First world feeling in the whole area.

From Los Angeles I drove north on Highway one passing old missionaries until I reached the impressive Hearst Castle. The fairy tale mansion of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who died in 1951 was designed by architect Julia Morgan between 1919 and 1947 and is now a National Historic and California Historical Landmark. Unfortunately I couldn’t continue on Highway One because of a landslide but found a detour along beautiful empty hills covered with golden grass land until I reached San Francisco.

While traveling China I met so many Chinese who want to move to USA to follow the American dream. Therefore I decided to spend this summer in the USA to experience it myself.  My first stop is Los Angeles in California. I visited the beach, downtown, Hollywood and China Town. (Warning: Looks only nice on the pictures. Parts of the City looked like a third world slum. Piles of trash on the streets, unbelievable smell,…) and Universal studios. Crazy entrance fee of 100$ but worth it. Harry Potter and transformers ride are definitely the future of amusement parks. Waiting time for Harry Potter was up to 4 hours but I managed three rides without waiting – you must just take the SINGLE RIDER line, that means you can’t sit together with your friends. But instead of waiting 4 hours I waited only 5 min!!! Ask me how if you plan to go. Waterworld was also an amazing show. Unfortunately couldn’t take pictures because my phone got so wet after the Jurassic park ride that it stopped working for a few hours.

I took a one month break in my hometown and visited nearby lakes. You never appreciate your home enough if you haven’t been away for a long time.

The most cheerful moment in human life, is a departure into unknown lands. So I was deeply moved to have the opportunity to venture with Trendy Adventurer on a four day trip to the heavenly wonders of Taizhou. The first day we floated along the crystal-clear Yongan River on a bamboo raft and walked through a wonderful vast garden. The next day, we hiked to Immortals’ retreat, a vast landscape of mountains, rivers and forests, and visited the ancient farming village Potan. On the third day, we visited the Guoqing Temple, a Sui Dynasty temple constructed 1400 years ago and walked through the Qiongtai Valley of the Immortals. On the last day we traveled to the Huading National Forest park to join the Azalea Festival.
During this unique adventure Jason and his colleagues offered us the best travel experience possible. The destinations were all magnificent, the hotels luxurious, the food delicious and the care supreme. The itinerary was perfectly planned with a variety of destinations, everyone with their own characteristics and beauty. I was truly surprised of the stunning beauty and exciting experiences this area has to offer. Unfamiliar at first, our shared love for travelling forged an everlasting brotherhood. We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.