Silke Gondolf // Locations
2023 Ukraine
Lviv, Kyiv, Bucha, Irpin, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Cherson
2023 Moldova & Ukraine
Moldova 2023 – Transnistria, Gagauzia and Odesa
2021 Germany: Mecklenburg Lake District
Mecklenburger Seenplatte: one of Germanies main tourist destinations.
2021 Swedish Lapland
Traveling January 2021 from Lulea to Kiruna.
2021 Stockholm
Stockholm Winter 2020/2021
2019 Iceland
Iceland in December – short days in the South and West
2019 North India
Ladakh: Leh, Matho, Chilling, Likir, Alchi, Lamayuru, Basgo, Rangdum, Padum, Zanskar, Darang Durung Glacier, Parkachik, Nun Kun Mountain Massif, Karsha, Kargil, Dzongkhul monastary, Stod Valley, Mune Gompa, Tsarap River, Zanskar River, Pangong Lake, Tso Moriri, Tso Kar.
Autumn in North India: most tourists have left Ladakh and Zanskar, the farmers and herders prepare for another long and probably harsh winter in the some of the highest Himalayan region on earth.
2019 Ladakh
Pangong Lake, Tso Moriri, Tso Kar
Ladakh magic during Kashmir lockdown 2019
2019 Kerala
Kerala: Trivandrum, Varkala & Kovalam Beach, Edava
Kerala – “God’s own country” – a difficult paradise.
2019 Zanskar
Zanskar has some of the remotest villages and monasteries in the Himalayas.
2019 London
“Ayes” or “Noes” – visiting London. People have enough of politics, they just want it over with (Brexit) and continue their lives.
2019 Seoul
2018 Japan: Hokkaido to Okinawa
Sapporo, Hakodate, Otaru, Kushiro, Teshikaga, Shari, Abashiri, Shiretoko, Ishigaki, Taketomi
Winter in the northern- and southernmost islands of Japan.
2018 Russia
Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kanonerka, Kaluga, Wolgograd, Rossoschka
Russia just before the Soccer World Cup in 2018, a surprising positive mix of people and circumstances.
2017 Japan
Kyushu: Oita, Beppu, Saiki, Ume, Fujigawachi Valley, Hoto Island, Tsukumi, Usuki Buddha, Mt. Shiroyama, Kagoshima, Sakurajima, Fukuoka, Nagasaki. Honshu: Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, Kawaguchiko, Mt. Fuji, Nara, Kyoto, Osaka.
Japan by train, best thing ever.
2017 Trump Country
Ohio, Arizona, Nogales, Tucson, Warren, Arivaca
Traveling in the United States of America 2017: one year with Trump
2017 Cuba
Havanna, Vinales, Santiago de Cuba
The times they are changing
2017 Cambodia
Phnom Penh
The White Building: It’s crumbling, it’s rundown and it’s facing demolition – and its home to 2500 tenants, who mostly pay rent and enjoy to live there.
2016 Nepal
Kathmandu, Pashupatinath Temple, Maha Shivaratri Festival
Witnessing the Maha Shivaratri Festival in Kathmandu. A wild mixture of faith and total craziness.
2016 New York
Wall Street, NYSE, Borough Park
Being a Shabbat guest is special – even more being German. The 2016 NYSE exchange is a relict of former glory. Times are changing fast everywhere!
2016 Georgia (Country)
Tbilisi, Svenetia, Tsvirmi, Mestia
Driving through the North Kaukasus during spring time is an adventure. Stones breaking lose from the mountains blocking the roads.
2016 Denmark
Aarhus
Danish men take out their shorts and T-shirts when it is 8 degrees Celsius. Vikings!
2016 Austria
Vienna
The only country I know, where TOAST is something so special, that restaurants post it specifically.
2015 Cambodia
Siem Reap, Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Phnom Penh
Peace is all people want – and businesses, foreign and local, take advantage of it, exploiting the country and their people to a point of no return.
2015 Thailand
Bangkok
Sukhumvit Road feels like little Tokyo now – wonderful modern architecture, international flair – but still traffic jams you will have nightmares from.
2015 Japan
Osaka, Kobe, Mt Rokko, Tokyo, Tsukiji Fish Market, Kamakura
Tokyo is changing quickly. The famous Tsukiji Fish Market will finally be moved in 2016.
2015 Bulgaria
Varna, Balschik
Cheap Thrills: Golden Sands Tourism. This is the place where European schoolkids party and things get out of control – intentionally.
2015 Moldova
Chisinau, Dorotcaia, Crocmaz
Moldova’s simplicity is comforting. Spending a couple of days in a public school, at the border of Transnistria, was inspiring. Moldovans have solutions for almost everything.
2015 Poland
Galiny, Bartoczyce, Wegorzewo
The north of Poland, with its tree-lined avenues, the never-ending horizon and storks nesting in small villages. Peaceful.
2014 Myanmar
Yangon, Bagu, Bagan, Mandalay, Myitikyna, Wai Maw, Kyaing Tong, Inle Lake
A gold mine for foreign investments. The Burmese government is selling the land and their people. Myanmar has a Chinese touch already.
2014 Cambodia
Siem Reap, Anlong Veng, Cambodia, Northern Thai Border Area
Khmer people are energetic, alert and they havea sense of humor. Cambodia is still recovering from the tragic loss and harm during the Khmer Rouge regime.
2014 France
Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis
Europe, a construction for which no one has a feel.
2014 Italy
Umbria Cobblestone streets, fantastic food and landscapes to make your jaw drop.
2014 Belgium
Brussels Europe, a construction for which no one has a feel.
2014 Poland
Warsaw Working on a reportage for ARTE – womens rights, abortion rights in Poland.
2014 Poland
Warsaw, Praga
Dark tempting alleys in Praga.
2013 Vietnam
Hanoi, Ha Giang, Yen Minh, Pho Cao, Dong Van Province, White Hmong
Pho Cao, this is one of the remotest places I have been. The Hmong believe that people have seven souls and they prepare for their deaths as early as puberty starts.
2013 France
Strasbourg, Colmar
Markets filled local cheese and sausages, lots of empty houses everywhere.
2013 USA
New York, Brooklyn
I often go back to the former home to get inspired. Breathing in the different speed and the energy of NYC. I am glad I have moved away. I am able to come back and be a guest.
2012 Kenya
Nairobi, Dandora, Nakuru, Great Rift Valley, Central Province, Nyeri
I experienced Kenyans as especially sceptical human beings. When you have fair skin and are a journalist – everyone is expecting the worst from you.
2011 Sri Lanka
Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna, Trincomalea, Batticaloa, Galle, Merissa
The Tamil Tigers are gone and the civil war has ended officially, but it is still a torn country with very diverse interests.
2010 Argentina
Bariloche, Esquel, Tierra de Fuego, Ushaia, Isla Martillo, El Calafate, Strait of Magellan, Bajo Caracoles, Nahuel Huapi Lake, Ruta 40, Ushuaia
Gaucho country, endless fields, endless lakes and skies. This country invites you to breathe and open your view. Best steaks ever.
2010 Chile
Santiago de Chile, Osorno, Chanaral, Pan de Azucar, ESO Paranal Observatory, Torres del Paine, Porvenir, Iquique, Humbertstone Salpeter Mine
ESO, the biggest observatory in the world, is in Chile. Seeing the full length of the Milky Way with my bare eyes was a very touching moment.
2010 Peru
Atacama, Lima, Cusco, Tacna Sibayo, Chimbote, Chiclayo, Sipan, Piura, Lambayeque, Arequipa, Nazca Lines, Arequipa, Colca Canyon, Tacna
The Atacama is endless. I swore I will hug the first tree I see, after days of driving through nothing. But then I visited a guinea pig restaurant in Lima.
2010 Ecuador
Quito, Guayacil, Sigsig, Macará, Cuenca, Catamayo, Cajas National Park
Caja National Park has an average of 4,000 meters of altitude – it’s a Tundra. The air is so clear, that you can’t judge distances.
2010 Colombia
Buenaventura, Cali, Ipiales
Buenaventura is a harbor town with some illegal, strange activities. The main police station was on the other side of the hotel – it got attacked 2 days after I left.
2010 Panama
Panama City, Colon, Pacific & Atlantic coast, Darién Gap, Yaviza
The little villages along the Panama Canal are completely untouched, people from those villages work all for the Canal. The Darien Gap, a muddy Isthmus between Panama and Colombia, is called one of the most dangerous places on earth. It is a drug and people smuggling highway, commuting through the dense, uninhabited jungle.
2010 Costa Rica
Golfito, San José, Piedras Blancas, Canoasv, Monteverde National Park, Gulf of Nicoya, Tamarindo, Langosta Bay
Living in a treehouse. Sleeping at eye level with toucans and listening to the night sounds of the jungle. Zoom on long steel zip lines through the jungle of Costa Rica, to the next tree house.
2010 Nicaragua
Border El Espino, Somoto
I got in contact with the wrong sort of Sandinistas, the ones that were, after elections, no longer supported by the newly-appointed government – and since then I am an enemy of the state and I am not allowed to ever travel in this country again.