Author: Tom Peeters

Exploring Maya ruins on the Yucatan peninsula: the story of Woody and Pedro

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“Almost every evening, on returning to the convent, the padrecito hurried into our room, with the greeting, “buenas noticias! otra ruinas!” “good news! more ruins!”

(John Lloyd Stephens – Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan)

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The Maya world – Yucatan and northern Central America – is strewn with ruins. Stones that once, more than a thousand years ago, belonged to temples that belonged to ancient cities that belonged to small and bigger empires. There are more historical Maya sites than qualified people to dig them up, more discoveries to be made than money to fund them.

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Walking the long hiking trail of Karula National Park, Estonia

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Neanderthalers are alive in Estonia. They sojourn on the banks of Lake Õdri amidst Karula National Park. A big family of buffoons occupied the whole RMK campsite. Magazines, garden chairs and badminton rackets were strewn all over the ground. They were noisy, ate with their mouths so far open that you could see their uvulas, and farted and burped loudly as if it were their way to honour the company of strangers. A few of the men of the company started chopping down trees to feed the fire. In. A. Protected. National. Park.

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Looking for Jack Kerouac in Lowell, Massachusetts

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“Florida is the hottest city in the USA”, yaps a hobo with a flawed geographical knowledge. He rolls a cigarette and sits down on a bench. The rest of his gang follows his example. They all take out their shag tobacco and cheap supermarket lager and continue to cackle loudly. High above, someone must be nodding approvingly. For we are not in Florida at all, but in Jack Kerouac Park in Lowell, Massachusetts. Fragments from Kerouac’s novels and poems can be read on colossal memorial stones. Together with the hobo benches, these stones form a mandala, referring to his flirts with Buddhism.

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How to access national parks and hiking trails in Estonia by public transport

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However glorious Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu can be, you’re missing out on a quintessential experience if you stick to the cities of Estonia. Nature is what defines this country. Wherever you turn, you’ll find forests and meadows full of wildflowers, dramatic cliffs and sandy beaches, marshes and bogs, lakes, islands, and waterfalls.

Estonia’s nature can be enjoyed in every season, but the long June and July days are especially suitable for berry-picking, swimming in lakes, making bonfires, camping or simply going for a hike. Estonians use these summer months to recharge their batteries for the long and wearing winter.

No car? No problem! Cities are better connected than the countryside, but that doesn’t mean that backpackers or budget travellers can’t enjoy Estonia’s national parks and nature reserves using public transport. As long as you have time and patience, you can get almost anywhere.

Below, we list some options to inspire you. Nature is everywhere in Estonia, so your only limit is your own imagination. Be creative, get off the beaten track. If we can do it, without a car or smartphone, you can, too.

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My Caribbean nightmare: a week in the Mexican Riviera Maya

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Anete could probably live by the sea for the rest of her life, but I’ve never been much of a beach bum. Yet, when we booked a flight home from Cancún, I still wanted to see the Riviera Maya. If only for anthropological reasons. After a week spent in all those Mexican tourist hell-holes, I’m quickly reconsidering. Mass tourism is ugly.

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