Hiking in Germany

Photo copyright: Rheinsteig project office

Just before Easter we are off to Germany for a few days of visiting my family ... and hiking! We will be staying in the Rheingau, a gorgeous part of the country, where some of the best wines are cultivated. From there, we have innumerable options for hiking in the woods, along the Rhein river and through near endless vineyards. One option we are considering is a 3-day hike up the Rhein along a trail called the Rheinsteig. The idea of walking out of the house, no transport needed, and just go is very cool.

Hiking in these parts is very well developed and not exactly roughing it. But we can get some serious mileage in and that'd be awesome. In the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis - the Taunus part of which I gre up in - there are many hiking trails we can pick from for shorter jaunts as we head off to see friends and family.

We will blog about the goings on while we are on the trails in Germany :)

Rainy season in Bolivia destructive

Associated Press image

The news from La Paz at the end of February wasn't all good. This la nina rainy season has been creating challenges across large parts of Bolivia. Flooding and mud slides have destroyed houses, people have become homeless. Most recently the news from La Paz, the large city built at the edge of the Altiplano, Bolivia's impressive high sierra sitting at 4,000m altitude, and reaching down the mountain sides into a valley at 3,000m, has seen bucking roads, and mud slides destroying hundreds of houses.

There have been no death reported. People self-evacuated when the saturated hillside started to move and the roads started to buckle.

Our first glimpse of La Paz in November 2010. Every inch
of the hill sides have houses, often right to the edge of the
sharply dropping sides. 

Here are a couple of articles in English that give a sense of what the local people are dealing with.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/massive-mudslides-in-la-paz-leave-older-people-homeless

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=134107477

Spending a month in Bolivia left us with a sense of a resilient people, helpful people despite the daily difficulties due to poverty. I imagine the community will help those affected and the public services seem to be responding quickly. Best wishes to Bolivians as you deal with this challenge and best wishes for finding new homes and basic necessities quickly again.