I was horrified by the news. Just the thought of people dying on their holiday doing something which for me is one of the best experiences I have ever had, well, that’s just awful. I started following the news to find out the cause of the accident. It’s one of those times where I can’t help but wish for a human error, as it would be too terrible if this was something that could easily happen to all balloons. I wouldn’t want people to be put off by the accident or simply be unable to fly it in the future.

Before going up in the balloon in Cappadocia we were told about an accident in 2009 in the same area. Back then it was due to an in-air collision. The balloon is huge, so the pilot cannot see anything above. This is why the pilots all have walkie-talkie connection to a person following the balloon from the ground. It is vital for the safety of everyone in basket.

Just a month before the crash in Cappadocia another hot air balloon in Luxor crashed when it hit a communication tower and 16 people were injured. All balloons were grounded for 6 months while the security was tightened and pilots re-trained.

Both Luxor and Cappadocia are popular places to do the balloon ride, mainly due to the gorgeous view both places offer. But hot air balloons fly all over the world and in recent years accidents have also happened in New Zealand, Australia, Slovenia and the UK.

But you need to look at the greater picture. The day I was flying there were at least 20 other balloons in the air and in summer there can be around 90 each morning. Do the math and you will realise that a lot of balloons every year fly and land without any problem, so accidents are very rare.

In reality hot air balloon accidents are no more common than a plane crash is. Car crashes kill people everyday, yet we still go behind the wheel without thinking twice. I do hope people won’t stop doing hot air ballooning because one of the thousands of balloons which fly every year crashed.

Yesterday I told a lot of people that I would definitely go on a hot air balloon ride again if I got the chance. So how do I feel about it today? With a trustworthy company which got their insurance and pilot’s licences in order, I would definitely do it again. No doubt about it!

We had some time to relax before our camel ride and I spent that on greeting the camels and taking a couple of pictures. After 5 minutes I had to back in again, though, as the sand was getting into my eyes. Back in the hotel lobby the floor was covered with what seemed like half the desert – some of the other guests didn’t seem to understand why the door was kept closed. The wind was getting really strong now.

One of the camels before the ride

This was one of the things I had been looking forward to the most. Spending time in the desert, walking around the sand dunes. I was gutted that it was so difficult to see anything at all. But when our guide came to make sure if we still wanted to go through with the camel ride there was no doubt. I didn’t want to miss this for the world.

Our guide helped us all tying our scarf around our head like a proper turban. This as well as the sunglasses turned out to be our life-saviour. Without these it would have been impossible to see anything out there, but with a bit of shelter if was possible to keep my eyes more or less open.

The camels were all tied together four by four. I was the first to get on my camel in the back. As the camel got up I had to hold on. First it would get up on it’s back legs with me desperately trying to push myself backwards. Then it was up on all four and I realised that this was actually quite comfortable.

When everyone was on, two local guys were pulling the camels into the big sandy unknown. It was amazing! Walking up and down the sand dunes. I couldn’t believe how the camels could stay up and not fall. That’s certainly what I did, I found out later when trying to climb a big sand dune to enjoy the view.

In what felt like the middle of nowhere with only sand in sight, we climbed at huge dune. Well, I tried to climb the dune but mostly managed to slide down almost as far as I had come up for every step I took. In the end one of the local guys pulled me up the rest of the way. They both seemed to flow above the sand and never sink in.

The return trip was relaxing as I had finally gotten used to the movement of the camels. I got so confident of not holding on that I started taking pictures. I quickly got it packed away, though, once I realised we were going to go down the dune soon. I don’t think I’ll ever get fully comfortable with going downhill when it feels like the camels feet are slipping down the sand dune before taking a next step.

The vastness of the sand dunes made me feel like being in the middle of the Saharan desert and not just a couple of kilometres in. That was until the guy leading our group starting talking on his mobile phone. Back to reality!

When we came back I emptied my trousers pockets and found them full of sand. Actually there was sand everywhere, so I went straight into the shower and found a clean set of clothes. The next morning, however, I would still be removing sand from the corner of my eyes.

The camel ride into the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi was no doubt the highlight of my Moroccan adventure. Of course I still wish it hadn’t been that windy, so I could have enjoyed the view more and gotten some better pictures. The next morning I went into the dunes one last time by myself and it was so calm and peaceful. I wish I could have stayed longer!

Erg Chebbi the following morning

We had two options for transportation up the Nile. The first was a 4-star cruise with en suite bedrooms, restaurant and even the possibility of a massage. The other option was going by a felucca, a small wind-driven boat with no facilities and no privacy. There was really no need for me to think too long about what I wanted to do…

So on a sunny afternoon I boarded the felucca with a bunch of other travellers. We started out with a lunch and after that we started sailing north. We were sailing against the wind which means there’s no way to go straight ahead. After the 2.5 hours of zig-zagging our way up to our stop for the night, we had only covered about 5 kilometres distance from Aswan.

The crew consisted of three guys: One to steer the boat, one to cook our meals and one to oversee everything else. They were mostly quiet, just hanging around in the background, but every once in a while one of them would shout “Hakuna”, waiting for one of us to reply back “Matata”.

The cook was basically cooking the entire day. After breakfast he started on the lunch, after lunch he started preparing the dinner, and after dinner he spent hours cleaning up everything and getting things ready for breakfast the next morning. And the food was so good! It was surprising that this lovely food could come out of a “kitchen” of just 1.5 square metre.

We spent a whole day sailing, only with a break around midday for a bit of lunch and a swim. It was one of the most relaxing days I’ve had in a long time. Before going I had been worried about getting bored, but in spite of not having brought anything else but my book, I wasn’t even bored for one second. The whole morning I just spent lying by the edge of the boat reading my book, spending half the time in the shade and half the time in the sun as the boat zig-zagged its way further up the river.

The following morning the crew got up very early to sail the rest of the way to the shore not far from Kom Ombo. We were to drive the rest of the way up to Luxor in a minibus with stops at a few temples along the way.

By the end of the felucca trip we had only covered about 40 kilometres. But even though we would have spent longer time on the river if we had taken the cruise ship, I didn’t mind the slow-moving boat even one bit. It was very soothing and very relaxing. Besides, it’s all about the journey and not the distance!

Winter

It was early in the year when I finally got to experience Up Helly Aa on the remote Shetland Islands. I had been dreaming about attending this mad fire festival since I first stumbled upon it when surfing the internet years ago. I was not disappointed and I will definitely be going again another year!

The burning of the galley at Up Helly Aa

Then it became time for a trip down memory lane together with my boyfriend. First down his in Belgium and then down mine in the Netherlands. I finally got to see more of Belgium, including the beautiful city of Antwerp, and I got to show off one of my favourite cities, Amsterdam.

Bikes parked by the canals of Amsterdam

Spring

If there’s one thing I regret about 2012 it’s that I didn’t take advantage of the spring. It’s my most favourite season and such a lovely time to travel around Europe and yet I stayed behind in Northern Ireland.

Inside the Titanic Belfast museum

I did get to explore a bit more of Belfast as well as the rest of the country during the spring months, but I still can’t help but think about all the things I could have done.

Derry / Londonderry

Summer

It was June when I finally went to Wales, another place I had been dreaming about visiting for a long time. I spent a lovely week roaming the country and catching up with an old friend from past travels.

The view over Conwy Castle

After a very miserable summer in Northern Ireland, I was hoping for some more sun when I visited my home country with my boyfriend in July. Denmark is generally nice and warm in summer, but it seems like we got the worst of it. We did have a few good days here and there, however, so I did get to show off bits my country after all.

Nyhavn, Copenhagen

It was years ago when I started planning a road trip around Scotland. I love planning and end up planning more trips than I have time and money for, so I was happy when I could finally get out some of my dusty plans and start acting on them. And I’m so happy I got to do it, cause I absolutely adore Scotland!

Eilean Donan Castle

Autumn

Autumn was big for me. This is the time when I finally got to explore the continent of Africa on a trip to Morocco. But it was not just the continent which was new for me, it was everything about the place as it is so different from anything else I’m used to. Except from my slight disappointment in the food, I loved everything about Morocco, from the gorgeous Islamic architecture to the cute donkey carts manoeuvring through the traffic.

The market at Djemaa el-Fna, Marrakech

I had a couple off weeks of work in November and I suddenly had no idea what to do with some of the days.I went to the drawing board and went over different options around Europe when I settled on a wee trip across the water. I had always wanted to visit Stratford-Upon-Avon and built on that until I good a lovely little week around England.

Stratfort-Upon-Avon

In late November I wanted to get one last bit of sun before starting the cold and dark winter, so I decided to explore Egypt. This was now the second trip to North Africa and hopefully it will not be the last. Even though I felt sightly “templed out” at the end of the trip, it was historically one of the most interesting trips I’ve taken. And the food was gorgeous!

Abu Simbel Temple of Ramesses II

I love looking back on all my travels. Thinking about all the places I’ve seen and the people I’ve met on the way is what really keeps me going.

With these new experiences I can’t help comparing these two countries. Both being Arabic speaking and Islam being the dominating religion they have so much in common. But still, there are several differences to find.

Down the street in Kasbah des Oudaias outside Rabat, Morocco

Firstly, Morocco is very photogenic. I probably took twice as many photos there as I did in Egypt. Everything in the country is colourful and exciting, both when it comes to the architecture and clothes of the locals. Egypt, I’m sad to say, doesn’t have the same charm you find in Morocco. Instead you find heaps of rubbish everywhere and the pollution in Cairo is worse than anything I’ve seen before.

The “view” over the city from the Giza Plateau, Egypt

Where I was very disappointed with the food in Morocco I was more than just happy in Egypt. In Morocco I lived off cooked vegetables, often disappointingly bland. In Egypt however I was overwhelmed with Falafel, Baba Ghannoug, Tahini, Kushari, Ful Medames and so much more. This was not only enough to fill me up and keep me going, it was a pleasure to my taste buds!

One of the many vegetable tajines I had in Morocco

The two countries have a lot in common when it comes to the traffic. Cars swoop in between each other and the horn is the drivers best friend. This is just something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to and I’m happy not to be driving by myself there.

Something else which is also similar is the way you will get hassled as a tourist when walking down the street. This can be by people trying to sell you something, often making you pay much more than what items are worth, or tricking you into paying them “tips” for something you didn’t request. Some of these gestures are a culture thing (I have to admit I was never good at haggling) and some even kindness and helpfulness towards the visitors. It just doesn’t always come out as that and ends up being more of an annoyance. They do seem to be much more persistent in Egypt, though.

Souvenir sellers lined up on the way to the boats in Aswan, Egypt

Now people might ask which I enjoyed more, but I can’t say. Food-wise there’s no doubt I loved Egypt. Regarding history it was amazing getting close to the temples and pyramids from the ancient times. However, photography-wise I would always pick Morocco!

So I decided to head to Crosby one late afternoon. Being November the sun would set around 4pm and as Crosby is on the west coast I thought sunset would be a brilliant time to go see the place. Of course you can’t always predict the weather and the day I decided to venture up to Crosby was inevitably the day it was very cloudy. So much of the sunset was unfortunately not to be seen.

The art installation was made by Antony Gormley and was previously seen in Germany, Norway and Belgium before being moved to Crosby. It was only supposed to run here for about 1.5 years, but instead it was decided to keep it in Crosby permanently.

“Another Place” seems simple, but yet I found it somewhat a magical place. I couldn’t help but stare into the horizon like the many figures on the beach, looking for something special. It felt like being in the middle of nowhere, as Crosby is merely a small village and therefore very quiet. Yet the light from Liverpool’s surrounding area was still in view and ferries would be seen passing by, thus giving me a reality check.

I have seen countless of pictures of impressive mosques and did see a few when I had the pleasure to visit Turkey 8 years ago. But when I went to Morocco, that’s when I really got to appreciate the architecture in all it’s glory. I was utterly amazed when I got to visit the impressive Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca.

The mosque is named after the previous king of Morocco, Hassan II, who on his birthday in 1980 declared that he was to have the mosque built. The goal was for it to be finished by his 60th birthday in 1989, but it ended up taking 4 years longer and not until August 1993 was it finished.

This mosque is not only the largest in Morocco but in all of Africa. The 210 meters high minaret (tower) makes it the tallest religious building in the entire world. It was built right next to the seaside and partly on the water. The reason for this due to a verse from the Koran which states that God’s throne was built upon the water.

Fortunately for me, this mosque allows non-muslim visitors and the only requirement is to be decently dressed (cover shoulders and knees). I followed a guide around the building but I could easily have spent even more time just admiring the vastness of the building.

Although the huge prayer hall is the most impressive of the building there’s more to he mosque than that. Underneath it there are 2 big ablution rooms, one for men and one for women, as well as a communal hammam (Turkish bath).

No one knows exactly how much this mosque has cost but it’s estimated to be as much as £500 million, all of which were funded by the public. Of course this raises questions as to how much of this money was willingly donated and how much was more forcefully collected. Also, some might believe that the money would have been better spent on the people who need it to get on with their daily lives.

No matter what questions one might ask about this massive project I just can’t help but still admire the precision and detail that went into this masterpiece of a building.

What is so special about this country is the way the modern and old world is mixed. Wherever you go you can find traffic jams consisting of not only cars and scooters, but donkey drawn carts as well. When walking the tiny streets of Fez you almost believe to have travelled 100 years or more back in time – until you suddenly hear the Nokia ring tone further down the street.

I spent about 9 days in this strange new world. Some things shocked me, other things amazed me, but all in all it was pretty much what I expected. And I do not mean that in a bad way at all.

Traffic

The traffic is mental – no other word describes it better. I have always heard that you shouldn’t drive around the North African countries yourself if you can help it, and I finally understand why.

The rules simply doesn’t seem to apply and people just drive wherever they want – only returning to their own lane when the cars in the opposite lane are getting nearer. Scooters especially go wherever they want and if they can cut through traffic, they certainly will. Pedestrians don’t really pay much attention to the traffic and just cross the road whenever they feel like. Likewise the cars don’t wait at zebra crossings for the pedestrians to cross the road. It’s just one big chaos, especially in the big cities.

The evening I arrived in Marrakech I went out for a wee walk to find an ATM. Women are always warned not to walk by themselves at night, but for other reasons than the traffic. However, at this night it was the traffic which made me uneasy. There were cars, scooters and even donkey drawn carts everywhere. In the huge roundabout across from the railway station they simply just crossed regardless if there were room for them or not, beeping their horn at others until they moved. It didn’t take long until a girl ended up lying in the middle of the road because a car got too close to her scooter. When I was about to be run down by a scooter with no lights on the pedestrian crossing, I had enough and decided to retreat to my hotel.

Traffic on a lighter scale in Marrakech Medina

Architecture

Moroccan architecture has made it to “my world” and it’s a famous theme for many buildings and interiors across the globe. But to see it up close and personal, that was something special. It was no longer a theme but the norm.

As soon as I arrived in Marrakech and I noticed the red-ish colour of the buildings – a colour chosen due to the brightness of the sun. This was exactly what I had imagined! I couldn’t believe I was looking at it for real and not just a picture, and I was glued to the window the whole way to the hotel – even for the more mundane types of buildings.

And it’s simply amazing no matter where you go, whether it is an impressive mosque or just a small town house. My favourite parts of the architecture are without a doubt the many unique arches and the mosaics which complete the buildings as a complete artwork.

Fountain at the Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca

Food

I have always loved Moroccan food and it was the one thing I was looking forward to the most when going there. But I’m afraid to admit, I was a bit disappointed. I’ve had Moroccan bean soup out of a tin which tasted better than anything I’ve had before and yet I didn’t get that experience in the country were it originated.

I just didn’t get to experience the spices and colours which I’ve always seen in Moroccan food. It of course could also be the fact that those ingredients were saved for the many meat dishes. Morocco is, I found out, not the most vegetarian friendly country! Often I would find grated sausage all over a salad, as if it was some kind of spice – even after the waiter swore it was all vegetarian. And most of the times the vegetable tajine was the only vegetarian option. Tajines are lovely, but after 9 days of cooked vegetables, I was happy to finally find a place serving omelette.

My first of many vegetable tajines

People

I’m in two minds when it comes to Moroccan people. On one side there are the people who try to scam tourists, who beg on the street and men who just don’t seem to know how to communicate with women in a proper manner. Unfortunately, those are the ones you hear most about from other travellers, when they share their stories of how they were sexually harassed everywhere they went or how they were all expecting a tip for simple kindness.

But really, this is just a minority and I think people often forget the Moroccans who are no way like that. I met all kinds of kind and helpful people, who actually went out of their way to warn or help and expected nothing in return. Like a girl in the bus, calling me over to warn about a man who looked like he wanted to steal from us or the bus driver who left his bus full of passengers to go help us figuring out which bus to catch to get back to our hotel.

But no matter how nice these people are, I just can’t help but be sad about the fact that these warnings are necessary. I couldn’t imagine living in a place where I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking alone after dark.

The market at Djemaa el-Fna, Marrakech

But no matter what, Morocco is definitely a good place for travellers to visit. It’s a great place to get a taste of the Arabic culture and is fairly accessible. The only thing I would have changed was possibly to get better at my French before visiting. Many don’t speak English – they simply don’t seem to need it when they speak French.

The break doesn’t just give you the chance to stretch your legs get a snack or do what else you’ve got to do. Just across the road from where the bus parks, the path to the Pancake Rocks begins. This is the reason for the bus stopping – to give passengers a chance to enjoy a small walk and to see the rocks which put the village on the map.

What makes these rocks so special is the way they look like stacked pancakes – hence the name. The formation of the limestone began 30 million years ago when fragments of dead marine creatures and plants landed on the seabed and was covered by weaker layers of soft mud and clay. Gradually, the seabed was raised above sea level by earthquakes to form the coastal cliffs and coastline.

The weather was gorgeous that day which was awesome. It was so nice there, the 25 minutes just weren’t enough. Me and my friend enjoyed the walk, trying to find shapes in the cool rock formations and watching the water shoot up from the blow holes.

Three months later I took the bus up the West Coast again. This time around, though, it was raining quite heavily once we reached Punakaiki. So instead of re-visiting the famous Pancake Rocks, I instead settled for a plate of pancakes in the cafe just across the street.

We got to Drumnadrochit in the afternoon. This is a small village close to the edge of the lake, making it an ideal base for people visiting the area. I was happy to see that the sun was out and as the weather still looked promising (I chose to ignore the dark clouds heading our way) we decided to take a wee boat tour on the loch. This tour took us to the deepest part of the lake and then past Urquhart Castle on the way back for a lakeside view.

The guide was a man who has studied the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster since 1967, both above and under water. He has spent many years working with a team who studied the lake in order to get a better understanding of the many “sightings”. They not only tried to disprove or explain the different theories, but also determined what creatures can actually be found there.

On the way back the guide suddenly looked around. “This is the most famous lake in the world and we’re the only silly buggers out here,” he said. And we were. To one side we could see nothing but mist ahead, to the other the open lake with nothing on the water whatsoever.

But just because there were no people on the lake, besides ourselves, it didn’t mean we were alone. We had the great pleasure of meeting some of the creatures living around the lake, when a big flock of ducks came to surprise us. They had not landed on the boat to see us, though, but rather to beg for some bread.

After about an hour sailing around the lake we still had seen no monster, so the next morning we went to the Loch Ness Centre to explore the exhibition. Maybe this was the place we could find some answers.

I didn’t really have any expectations of what I would see there and was pleasantly surprised. The whole centre is set up into different rooms, each with a different theme. First you’d go through the myths and the legends, then further on to explaining what the witnesses might have seen, when claimed to see a giant monster.

I am still not sure if there really is a monster. My common sense says no, but a small part of me still wants to believe (this is the part that also still wants to believe in Santa Claus). But no matter if you are a believer or not, I don’t think you can help but stare out at the water, looking for something unusual.