(Day 17 on the road)After Vilnius, I went to see one of the most inspiring sites in Lithuania: The Hill of Crosses. Situated near the city of Šiauliai (pronounced shoo-lay, sounds a bit Asian to me) in the north of the country, the hill houses more than 50.000 (!) crosses. The tradition of placing crosses here dates way back (around the 14th century) and today is the finest example of Lithuanian defiance of foreign invaders. After the second World War, Lithuania was of course part of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet era, the pilgrimage to the Hill of Crosses served as a vital expression of Lithuanian nationalism and Christianity, which the Soviets were of course not keen on either. The Soviets thus repeatedly removed the crosses by levelling the hill and burning the crosses. However, ... read more

(Day 12 on the road)From Berlin I took the train up to the island of Ruegen in the north of Germany, and from there I caught a ferry to Klaipeda in Lithuania. The ferry ride was smooth. The only time a bit of action arose when I decided to burn a piece of paper in my cabin. The crew of the vessel were not amused at all about this, as I soon found out when about seven crew-members appeared outside my door :-) After mediterranean Antalya and hip Berlin, Klaipeda was somewhat of an anticlimax. The guidebook I was reading called it a "grim" city, and this fits it very well. Apart from the small yet pretty old city center, there was nothing really that caught my eye. So after a visit to the rather famous ... read more

(Day 8 on the road)The start to my travels was just fabulous. It began with a week of trekking with my very good friend Tino in the Turkish region of Lycia, a bit westwards of Antalya. We flew into Antalya and then took a bus to a city called Kas (about 4h west of Antalya by bus), from where we walked back to Antalya - well at least part of the way. The Lycian Way is a 500km trekking-path around the coast of Lycia in southern Turkey (from Fethiye to Antalya). It is not very famous yet, which only adds to the beauty of it! I am sure it will become much more popular a the word spreads. If you want to read more about the walk, have a look at . In the 6 days ... read more

(89 days until departure)The first step has been made - I just gave notice to my company that I am quitting my job. After almost five years in the company, I have finally done it. I really like my job and my colleagues, but now having taken that final step feels very good! My last day at work will be the 20st of March, roughly three months from now. I can' wait for this adventure to start... To view my photos, have a look at pictures.beiske.com. And to read the full account of my journey, have a look at the complete book about my trip at Amazon (and most other online book shops). ... read more