People always warn for a culture shock when you visit Asia. Japan would be a true culture shock. Chinese are said to be dirty and rude. No such things did I experience in my trips to different parts of Asia.

It had been a long day on the Kumano Kodo. I was not in top physical shape as I had a cyclomegalovirus infection in the past weeks which had me cancel my Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland plans. I felt, however, good enough to hike stretches of the Kumano Kodo in Japan and had switched my plans. And now I was tired.

I had laid myself down on a bench next to the trail not too far from the local inn, ryokan, where I would sleep for the night. After a few minutes a friendly lady approached me and used a translation app on her phone to communicate with me. She offered me tea first. Later some origami she made. We did origami together. She offered lunch. And eventually, I spent my whole afternoon with a friendly lady I had never met before talking in a language I didn’t speak.

The sheer kindness, the completely different culture, the amazing food. It is one of the many reasons why I love Asia.The best way to experience Asia is just by immersing yourself in all it’s culture, flavors, amazing cities and breathtaking nature. From our honeymoon in Thailand to the two weeks I spent in Hong Kong and from my visits to Beijing and Shanghai to my hikes of the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal and the Kumano Kodo in Japan.I have so many memories here, but these are some of my favorites.

My Tokyo bar crawl with strangers.

What happens in Tokyo stays in Tokyo.

My first real omakase in Tanabe.

Eating whatever the chef thought tastes good.

Hiking the Kumano Kodo.

The ancient pilgrimage path.

Our Thailand honeymoon.

3 weeks of pure bliss.Feel free to browse through all the posts or use the button to see the category view.