A ride on the M41, or Pamir Highway as commonly known, is by many considered a journey of a lifetime, and widely seen as one of the worlds epic roadtrips.  In 2019 I made a two week round trip along the M41, starting in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), making a detour through the Wakhan valley towards Khorog (Tajikistan), and then back to Osh (Kyrgyzstan) on the M41. 
Among the highlights there were hikes towards the advanced basecamp of peak Lenin, driving on dusty gravel roads three days along the Afghan border, going through corrupt mad max style border crossings in remote alpine passes, meeting fellow travellers and friendly locals, and staying at homestays with local families. 
But most of the trip, however, is about being out enjoying the vast empty landscapes, wild nature and skyscraping mountains found anywhere along the road…

FINSE is a small settlement located on the highest point (1222 m.o.s.) on the railway between Oslo and Bergen, Norway. The fact that Finse is only accessible by train, without cars or regular roads, gives the place a special tranquil atmosphere. Being surrounded by a vast desolate scenery, it is also known for being amongst the most weather-exposed high mountain areas in Norway. Finse has few permanent residents, but it is frequently used as training ground for polar expeditions, both today and in the past. The famous explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton once traveled to Finse for expedition training, and supposedly described it as an Antarctica in miniature.

Brasilia was built from scratch out on the Brazilian savannah in four year during the 60s, based upon a masterplan by Lúcio Costa. Most of the important buildings are designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. The layout of the urban plan resembles an airplane, containing two main axes with the main governmental functions in what would be the “cockpit” of the plane. The urban plan with its huge open spaces, buildings, streets and vast public squares was meant to be represent an ideal city of future, true to the ideals of modernistic city planning of that time. Today Brasilia stands out as a well planned utopian future city from the past. Whatever the conclusion might be on the urban planning, the collection of buildings stands out as an impressive work of modern architecture.

The abandoned soviet town  Pyramiden is located on the Norwegian island Svalbard. It was a popular place to live in the soviet era, but today it gives the term godforsaken a new meaning.

Aurora Borealis, when you least expect it.  Various places in Trøndelag and Northern Norway.

The Tczew road bridge in Poland was constructed between 1851 and 1857. At that time, with its 837 metres length, it was one of the longest bridges in the world. During WW2 it was blown up and rebuilt several times. The bridge was finally reconstructed in the late 50s. Today it stands out as an impressive steel construction with an unique spatial feeling inside, as well as a beautiful filtered light. 

Got a chance to experience this special historical building from the inside, and its tranquil haunting atmosphere.

A coastal cabin designed by Oslo based architect Jon Danielsen Aarhus.

Villa Schminke in Löbau, Germany, by architect Hans Scharon, 1930.

A small rural cabin in southern Serbia, designed and built by a local architect.

A rural old village house converted to cabin near Eikesdalen, by architects Rever & Drage.

Villa Tugendhat in  in Brno, Czech Republic, is an impressive modernist house from 1930. It is one of the significant early works by Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, and remains strikingly modern and innovative even until these days, almost a century after its completion.

Images from a trip to the famous Båstnäs Car Cemetery in Sweden.

Images from a two day winter trip to the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine.

This year, 2020, I canceled all previous travel plans, and made a roadtrip in an old (but fit), VW T3 1987 WESTFALIA CAMPERVAN. Together we had a great time going through both famous and less famous places in Norway, wildcamping on the seaside, in the middle of forests and on mountaintops. 

The Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway are known worldwide for their natural scenery. They might, however, be slightly lesser known for the tradition of drying fish on wooden racks, commonly known as stockfish. This is an old tradition with roots hundreds of years back in time. The fish is hung on the wooden racks(hjell) and dried during the winter season, from around February to May. Stable cool weather protects the fish from insects and bacterial growth, and the climate in northern Norway is well fit for this old technique. I visited the Islands this winter, and was struck by the presence of the heavy stocked fish racks present almost all around the shores, which are empty during the busier summer months.

In July 2018 I made a  journey through Kyrgyzstan and the southern parts of Kazakhstan, driving a retro Lada Niva 4x4.  These are saturated memories from a trip to a colourful part of the world, which remains quite unvisited, and very unspoilt.