The Future of this Blog?

I need some fresh ideas before I can continue with this blog. My other blogs will be active but I don’t yet know what is the fate of this travel blog. Maybe it’s time for what we Finns call a neuvoa-antava? (Turkish version in the photo).

Literally in Finnish that means something that gives you an advice but it is more often used when a group of people are undecided about something and somebody suggests that they should go to a bar for a neuvoa-antava to think it over. A neuvoa-antava can be consulted even if your decision is small – or you just want to have a beer.

The photo was taken at Istanbul airport while I was waiting for my connecting flight.

Nagasaki

It happened up there on August 9th, 1945.The bomb was detonated in the air to cause maximum damage.

Three days after Hiroshima, it was the time for the next atomic bomb. Had the weather been different, Kokura would be a world famous city but clouds and smoke meant that the bomb was delivered to a secondary target – Nagasaki.

When I arrived to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, there were also several very loud Japanese school groups going in. I was not very interested at visiting such an important place with these screaming teenagers but since new groups were arriving all the time, I had no choise but to go in myself.

The items on display where slightly rougher than the ones in similar museum in Hiroshima but I really don’t know how you could make a museum about atomic bomb without photos of injured or dead people. It would be like Olympics without athletes. Destroyed buildings, stopped watches or melted bottles are minor things compared to the human suffering.

After a few rooms I realized that the noisy kids didn’t say a word. Not a word. There are not many things in this world, especially not many museums, that can do that to a group of teenagers. The only thing I heard was the sigh of a girl who was watching a screen that showed photos of atomic bomb victims. Every time the photo changed, she gasped.

Robben Island – Then and Now

Same man, same place. Earlier a prisoner, today a tourist guide at notorious Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned 1964-1982.

Sama mies, sama paikka. Ennen vanki ja tänään opas Robben Islandin entisellä vankilasaarella, jossa Nelson Mandelaa pidettiin vangittuna 1964-1982.

132. Valokuvatorstaissa aiheena “Ennen – nyt.”

You Have Been Warned

Welcome to a Tourist Paradise!

Tervetuloa lomaparatiisiin!

128. valokuvatorstaissa aiheena saapuminen.

What is Obama Going to do with Bush’s Trash?

No, this is way too small.

For a long time there hasn’t been as much hope as today. Not because Barack Obama is the new U.S President but because George W. Bush is finally an ex-president. His administration did things that we’ve used to hear from banana republics but not from a country that calls itself as the leader of the free world. A more responsible U.S will mean a safer U.S and a safer world.

The photo was taken in Johannesburg, South Africa through a car window when we were stopped by a robot. The robot was not used in the war against terrorism but thats the word South Africans use for traffic lights.

You mean we came all the way here just to see a rock? And we can’t even climb it?

Uluru is big, a lot bigger than it looks. If you want to walk around it, you'll need a water bottle even if it isn't hot.

When I told an Australian that I was going to travel by land across Australia from Adelaide to Darwin, he was amazed: “Wow! You are going to see so much nothing!” This giant rock is in the middle of nothing at the center of the red continent. Several days on the beautiful Australian desert dirt tracks had turned our white Landcruiser red long before we arrived to Uluru. Other tourists came to take photos of us while we sat on the roof of our car and watched the setting sun.

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a sacred place for local aboriginals. They ask you not to take photographs of certain parts of the rock and that you don’t climb the rock. Both are requests that most westerners would follow in a church. Climbing is controversial as that is what many tourists expect to do there and you need a ticket to do the climb. If they sell tickets, it should be ok? Yes? No? Maybe? Too complicated, see the article at the end of the post. I decided not to climb.

At times it is unbelievable how the existence of certain groups of people is ignored. I once saw a documentary about Australia that was made probably during the late 1990’s. A guy was explaining that Sir CantRememberHisName was the first man to see the sight that was in the background. But how had he found the place? He had heard about it from the aboriginals.

Resources

• Should you climb Uluru? The Guardian
• Photos from Australian deserts. Outback Australia

The Image of Middle East

This is how Middle East looks like if you just watch the news.

But if you walk in the streets you soon notice that it is actually safer than in western cities of the same size. There are some trouble spots like Iraq, Gaza strip and West Bank where I wouldn’t even go but they are only part of Middle East that was amazingly peaceful. Well, traffic excluded. I walked around in many Jordanian and Syrian cities with an expensive camera clearly visible and I didn’t have any problems.

Jordanian capital Amman is a good place to get your views updated. Some feel that it is already too western. Jordan has many world class sights like ancient cities of Petra and Jerash, beautiful Wadi Rum desert and resorts at Red Sea and Dead Sea.

The photo was taken at Al Kharaneh desert castle in Jordan. I think the guys are actually friends and that they worked in the area. Either they were fooling around or they had a minor argument but nothing serious happened. I’ve spent more than four weeks in Middle East and additionally some time in other muslim areas and this is the only time I’ve seen anything that even looks like violence.

Jupiter, Moon and Venus Together in the Sky

Jupiter, Moon and Venus seen in Syria.

A week ago I was about to go to my gate at Damascus international airport when I noticed that there were “stars” next to the moon. I took a few quick photos (with incorrect settings, too slow shutter speed) before I started to think how I could get a good composition.

But in something like 20 seconds there was someone to tell me that photography is not allowed at the airport. I tried to explain that I’m just taking photos of the moon which is hardly a strategic location in Syria.

When I got home I read from a few city daily photo blogs (Cape Town, Manila) that I had actually witnessed a rare event that won’t occur again until 2052. The three brightest objects in the sky after the sun were close to each other. In Asia they formed a smiling face as can be seen in the Manila photos and in some other parts of the world a sad face.

The event was also recognized by such magazines as New Scientist and National Geographic. NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day has a photo of it as well and the best one I’ve seen so far is is by Flickr user Lucas Janin.

Going to Oslo

A few weeks ago I did a business trip to Oslo, Norway and here are a few snaps.

One of the rare benefits of a 5am wake-up is to see something like this at Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

It was a sunsrise flight but unfortunately we were flying to a completely wrong direction to take advantage of it.

Somewhere near Oslo.

Gardermoen airport had serious problems when it was opened some years ago but now everything went smoothly.

There is a high speed train that takes you to the city center. A ticket without a receipt can be quickly bought with a credit card.

A quick snap at the railway station before joining a short taxi queue.

After this it was all business.