What a week! A working week, I mean – and one that included both weekends each end of it.

It started on Saturday, September 9, and finished nine days later on Monday, September 18. It was long and it was tough – so quite typical really – and it went like this…

On the Saturday I needed to be in St. Pete – so I off I popped. As I’ve said before on these here pages, I don’t get one bit the bad rep St. Petersburg has in terms of weather. I’m sure it’s an anti-St.P rumor-based conspiracy. Why? Because when I come here the sun’s always shining and the Petersburgers are strolling about all leisurely and tanned – some even wearing shorts. It’s in Moscow where the bad weather’s at – all murky and sticky and blustery and rainy. Meanwhile in Leningrad…

When in St. Petersburg – have a Belgian craft burger ).

Read more: Good news!..

While at the waterfalls called Iguazu, taking a helicopter ride is a must-do!

A flight up above the falls is not only wholly informative, it’s also thoroughly meditative – just how I like it. Oki-doki… off we chopper…

Here’s the Iguazu River downstream of the falls:

Here’s where the Iguazu (river) meets the Parana – the second longest South American river (after the Amazon, of course:). It’s also a spot where three countries’ borders meet: Paraguay to the right, Argentina – top left, Brazil – bottom left. The differences in the quality of housing and roads are quite marked between the three countries (see the photos further below) – highlighting their different levels of economic development:

Read on: Left of the river – Paraguay, right – Brazil…

Hi folks!

As promised, herewith, more from the best stretch of the Argentina-Brazil border.

There’s a good reason why it’s ‘falls’ – in the plural. Apart from the obvious fact that this is for sure a collection of waterfalls all together – some to the east, some to the left, others to the north and south – you can also split the falls in two geographically-politically: some of them fall (pun unintended) in Brazil; the others – Argentina. You can see how on the map: the border between the two countries runs down the middle of the Iguazu River. Anyway – the views from each country are totally different. From Brazil it’s all about panoramic views and water cascading down. From the Argentine side: a spectacle of the almighty power of the waterfalls. There’s also cascading water – only you view it from up top. But enough words; enter the pics!..

So, here we go: first up – Brazil:

Read on: go right the edge and peer down…

Hi folks!

Today I’ll be continuing the South American industrial topic, but with a difference…

Now, should you ever be planning on being in the vicinity of the Itaipu Dam, try and schedule a couple of days in that vicinity. Better still – make those couple of days a weekend. Why? Because on the second day, there’s another must-see you… must see: a mere 40 kilometers away are the inconceivably incredible Iguazu Falls – and they’re always working and always open to the public…

It’s a spellbinding, hypnotizing sight. The mind gets truly blown as the water pounds down making an almighty din. Alas, I can only show you pictures of the spectacle; shame, as the noise is half the mega-sensual experience (and taking a video wouldn’t work – the zillion decibels wouldn’t ‘fit’ through the camera’s microphone). So, as I say often on these here cyber-pages, you’ll just have to get here yourselves one day to hear these waterfalls in the flesh.

Read on: Patience please…

Hi folks!

Like many boys, I’m fascinated by all things industrial, and the more industrial – the better. So when things get massively and grandiosely industrial, I get fairly euphoric. So when I was recently at the massively grandiose Itaipu Dam on the border of Brazil and Paraguay – the euphoria went off the scale…

Read on: view from up in a chopper…

The other day I was in the Argentinian capital for the fourth time in my life – the second time this year! But only this time was I able to get a bit of my favorite pastime in: micro-tourism…

It’s a city of contrasts. There are the historical buildings of yesteryear that hint at the former riches and economic successes of the first half of the 20^th century; then right next to them are thoroughly ugly (second half of the 20^th century) residential buildings; then a bit further out of the center there are the favelas – slums – with overhead highways running through them; then further still there are new business-class apartment blocks with parks, cycle lanes and other cool infrastructure. But – you know me – I tried to take pics of the positive side of the city…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZB9aOunhjq/

Read on: Dictators and the tango…

My business schedule for this fall looks like it’ll be a full one, as usual. So it’s time to warm up before the long slog so as to ease into it gently and in high spirits… First up – a spot of the industrial…

I’ve shown you pics of the iron-and-steel industry before here – from the Novolipetsk Steel Plant. But today you’re getting photos from another of KL’s respected customers…

Severstal! You no doubt will not have visited the city of Cherepovets :) or the Severstal steel mill here… but that’s just fine: I’ll be showing you around the latter in this here post – from where they turn ore (actually – agglomerate) into crude iron…

Read on: Converter, smelter, slabs, rolls!…

One of the most fascinating places along our Upper Yenisei adventure was where the Baliktik-Hem and Kizil-Hem rivers merge. It’s here where the ‘Yenisei’ is first mentioned on the maps (when viewing the rivers going down from the mountains); specifically, that first mention is Maliy Yenisei (Little Yenisei).

Round that corner is the Kizil-Hem, which starts out as a small stream in Mongolia!

Read on: Extreme tourists…

Now it’s time for me to tell you about the ‘living quarters’ – the most important part of any expedition through the great outdoors.

Along the Upper Yenisei, there are lots of campsites – they are dry, comfortable, some have excellent river views, and sometimes they are ideal for fishing. There wasn’t a single campsite that our team didn’t like.

Read on: Icing on the cake…

Rafting on Balyktyg-Khem and Ka-Khem (aka the Little Yenisei) was pretty chilled – there were no particularly dangerous rapids to speak of. The plan of action was simple: keep paddling along the main part of the river, keep clear of rocks and immediately obey the captain’s orders. The instruction that our crew performed fastest was “Stop!”.

There were only a few rapids, probably five. Apart from that there were sand bars with light riffles, fast sections, two or three standstill sections. For rafters, standstills are an inconvenience – you have to paddle! Thankfully, we always had the wind at our backs, or there was no wind at all.

Read on: Unexpected pitstop…