"Saagar's Homepage" Saagar's Profile

WELCOME TO MY VT PAGES! I HAVE ENJOYED PUTTING THESE PAGES TOGETHER, SO I HOPE YOU FIND SOMETHING INTERESTING AND USEFUL FOR YOUR TRAVELS HERE.

I am not in the tourism service myself, but I enjoy travels and encounters with people and places. That's why I have tried to hammer out some of my own travel experiences in writing and placed photographs here on VT. I have no particular mission in doing so other than sharing some of my own happiness of meeting people, places and ideas. Apart from on this opening page you will not find me much in the other photos; I prefer to stay behind the camera.

My work and much of my life as such revolves mainly around environment and development issues, and social organizing for change. Experiencing and analysing the diverse and often abysmal human conditions on this only globe of ours has made me more than just thoughtful and angry at times, but also a Monthy-fan of the lines: "... always look at the bright side of life!...". I am quite good at enjoying myself, being essentially very happy and making the most out of it, on a budget.

I will continue to update my VT pages on places I have been to, build a page on Tioman (Malaysia) and a few casual updates here and there, in part adding info after repeat visits.

My activities on VT are seasonal, with summer as a particular slack season... In fact, the seasonal changes affect us deeply in the far north, for good or for bad; you have to come and visit to find out! I enjoy seeing visitors to my home country, and hope to see more - Norway has a lot to offer to the intrepid traveller, but I admit it freely, this is a country for the specially interested.

On the Mongolian steppe

Just a few words by means of introduction; I originally come from Lillehammer, Norway, but live and work out of the Oslo area, more exactly Asker. My work is mostly "portable" and I frequently travel abroad on job assignments. This working style also gives me the option of staying at my small mountain cabin in the mountains near Lillehammer and in the ancesteral place at Snillfjord on the west coast. Or I can work on rainy days and use the splendours of Asker's nearby lakes, forests and fjords during sunny summer days.

Should I name my second country that would be Nepal. I have travelled to Nepal since 1980, and return to a special village there if I can every year.

Breheimen mountains, July, Norway

It's not hard to get me out of the Oslo area any time, but it is definitely hard to get me out of Norway during the summer... This odd country that I call home has so much to offer in terms of outdoor life and nature exploration in summer, and people open up, too.
My travels abroad are a mix of job-related visits to pure holidays and rough explorations and everything in-between. I have been to many places, and some have stirred me more than others. Nepal, Ladakh (India), Mongolia, California and Afar (Ethiopia) have all left lasting impressions on me. For sheer bliss and beauty the Seychelles takes my first price. But thinking about it, I find that meetings with people is what creates history and memories. The people I meet on the road and those friends I visit are really what make my day. Yet the natural setting is also significant, of course, and I am suceptible to take a liking to almost any climate or scenery, if given time to grasp the feel for it.

Me (to the left)

I am an eager amateur photographer. Landscapes, plants and animals are my favourite, but also people photography once I have gotten aquainted with them.

The photos posted on my pages are ones that I have taken myself (with exception where I am in the picture, or I have given due photo credit). The photos are from the places described in the text. A number of my photos have been published in a book on Arctic nature and culture, some nature photographs are accessible at a photo agency, and a couple of university text books are featuring some of my Himalayan photos, but I remain non-commercial and non-ambitious on this. For more on my photo habits, see my travelogue on my Mongolia page (!).
If you want to use some of these photos posted here beyond VT, please contact me first; I'd like to know.

Mountains near Aduwa, Northern Ethiopia

My pages constitute an eclectic selection of travels and destinations, and I have added a tip here and there where I have felt I might have something to contribute. I have listed destinations that are still empty - but where I have an intention of eventually writing tips. Normally I check others' VT tips prior to adding my own, in order not to overlap too much at least. I am not particularily systematic and strategic about adding tips - Serendipity is the master of my pages. I do it for fun, as a reference for myself (e.g. my Asker pages) and by immediate inspiration.
However, I will seek to develop my Norway, Nepal, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Malaysia, and Iceland pages more fully over some time - I have some potential there. The pages I am most satisfied with myself are the Svalbard, Mongolia, Seychelles, Simikot/Nepal and Greenland pages, and some of the Norwegian locations' pages. The rest is rather scattered and eclectic, I am afraid. As for my future travel dreams and plans, click my wish list on the header.

11pm kayaking, Solund, Norway

Apart from travelling and exploring abroad and at home?
Sea kayaking - sea kayaking, I just love it! The Norwegian coast lends itself superbly to kayaking and wilderness camping, but very few paddle here, even if it is on the increase.
Hiking and associated activities is also a great pleasure of mine, and skiing leisurely in the winter, too. Here in Asker a great delight is to run or jump on the bike after work a summer evening and go swimming in a warm lake or the fjords at sundown on the forested edge of Oslo.
Not that I loathe city life; I work out of Oslo, and my work regularly brings me to some of the world's greatest cities, and I have the chance to sample the best and worst, almost by default.

Erdene Zuu Khiid, Mongolia

Well, based on my info given in these pages and the tip sections I am happy to answer related questions and give further tip. In particular on Norway and Nepal, I should say, but also other places. Should it suit so, it could be fun to meet up as well. I have met some VTers on the road and that' s been very interesting. I have met VT'ers in Nepal, in Thailand and here in Norway.

I get many questions by e-mail from VT'rs who have no personal profile and zero shared info in their pages and that makes me hesitant to respond. Otherwise I am trying my best to comply!

Cool reminder: View from my mountain house door.

This space for "on-the-road"-news:
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Just came back from a week in Nepal.
The next travel of significance will be to London - havn't been there for ages for other than business purposes, seeing the insides of offices.
Will go again to Nepal in the end of January for a few days. Some domestic travelling in Norway is on the horizon. I have considerable leisure time from mid-February through August in 2012, utilizing this perhaps for a stint to Greece, the US (it's been a long time since last), Sweden and Denmark during that time. The situation and money do not allow for extraordinary travels.

Saagar.