Saagar's VirtualTourist Home Page

Just a few words by means of introduction; I come from Lillehammer, Norway, originally, but live and work out of the Oslo area, more exactly Asker. My work is mostly "portable" and I travel frequently 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.

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 take 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.

I am an eager amateur photographer. Landscapes, plants and animals are my favourite, but also people photography once I have gotten aquainted with them. I prefer taking slides to print or digital; they come out more "real" and honest. As my heap of slides grows and the digital cameras get better and cheaper I might have to change my mind....
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 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.

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, Eritrea 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. 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.

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.

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!

This space for "on-the-road"-news:
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A summer of scattered events, some happy and not-so-happy, now early autumn, the cold and the Norwegians are creeping back into the houses. Significant travels only to Northern Norway and Copenhagen, this summer, will see if I can fix up some pages on Tromsø and CPH.
A quiet, job-like autumn with no travels planned, but I guess there will be a Nepal journey this winter.

Saagar, 23 September, 2009.