It was a very special time. In total I was there every weekend for 55 days. Much too little. I wish it would have been infinite.🌠 I will miss it very much!
Goodbye Bad Bodendorf! 😢❤️

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Be yourself.
Know what you want.
Stay curious.
Go your way.
Discover beauty.
Come together.
Enjoy each other.
Enjoy the world.
Run around.
Plant some seeds.

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I went hiking in the Andes again.

No, I wasn't. I just used Photoshop.🤪

More specifically, the generative AI fill of the latest beta. In the past, you had to laboriously select the motif, research the right background image, consider copyrights, insert it, edit the edges and make many adjustments. Today, all you need is a click and a text prompt. What do you think? 🤔

Now anyone can fake just about anything with ease. Admittedly, a closer look reveals a few discrepancies, but only a few look closely. Influencers no longer need to travel and dating profiles can be so much more interesting! On the other hand, if you want to be creative, a lot of work is saved and you can invest more time in other things. Also, almost everyone is already changing their "landscape" anyway, which others would call a beautiful face (wrinkles are natural and beautiful!).😉

Image 1 was created with the input "Mountain hike in the Andes", Image 2 "Landscape of the 2009 film Land of the Lost", Image 3 "Amazon River" and Image 4 is the original (in my neighborhood).

Authenticity is important to me, which is why I always mention content manipulation or generated representations. Except for the Easter eggs, of course, but nobody discovers them anyway.😄

Maybe I should devote myself more to classical painting again. It's not that easy to fake and you still have to do something.👨‍🎨

Behind me you can see the presumed remains of Nürings Castle. Around 1100, the Counts of Nürings built a residence on the mountain. After the male line died out in 1171, the county of Nürings was first taken over by the Lords of Münzenberg and then by the Lords of Bolanden. In 1233, after a division of the family property, Philipp von Bolanden called himself "von Falkenstein". This new Falkenstein line removed the remains of Nürings Castle and built New Falkenstein Castle right next to it.

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The Falkenstein Castle was inhabited from the 13th to the end of the 18th century.🏰 However, after the Thirty Years' War (1618 - 1648) it already lost its importance, fell into disrepair and was only partially habitable.

Not much is left of the castle. The demolition was only stopped in 1842, the entrance gate is a reconstruction dating back to that period. The square bergfried dates from the 14th century with its round turret from the 15th century and is 18 meters high.

The view is very nice, because the small town of Falkenstein looks as idyllic as the intro of a German soap opera from the 80s and 90s.😆📺

A small group of ibexes lived on the mountain until about the 1980s. They were sent from the nearby Opel Zoo in Kronberg.🐏

I didn't stay long there and hiked a bit through the forest.😊

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Traditionally, coca leaves are consumed in the Andes. You get it offered on every corner in plastic bags. The original form of consumption is by chewing the leaves. Mate de Coca is something of a national drink in Peru. It's also available in small tea bags, but I always had loose leaves. There's even chocolate with coca leaves! Very often there are restaurants and bars that somehow refer to coca.

The leaves are used as a stimulant, as a dietary supplement, for ritual and medicinal purposes. They help suppress hunger, fatigue and cold and are very effective against altitude sickness as they improve oxygen uptake. Also, the coca leaves have always had a spiritual meaning.

I found it similar in effect to black tea. There are no known side effects and you won't get addicted to it. It would take about 300 grams of dry coca leaves to extract 1 gram of cocaine by chemical extraction.

And please don't misunderstand, I'm absolutely no friend of the drug cocaine. People who snort this in order to feel superior, thereby contribute to terrible atrocities such as murder and trafficking.

😂 When I waited in Santa Teresa for the bus to Cusco, I met a Swede. He was in transit and brought some rapé from the Brazilian Amazon. He couldn't tell me exactly what's in it. Tobacco and other plants, he said. It looked a bit like crack, so I just tried it. What should happen bad?😅
Shamans use it ritually to establish contact with the Great Spirit. You blow the rapé with a v-shaped tube into the nostrils. The shamans actually take longer pipes and blow each other's nostrils. It's very strong tobacco, which burns in the nose and goes directly into the head. Shortly thereafter, a deep relaxation spreads throughout the body. I found it very pleasant, so I got some on the San Pedro market in Cusco and brought it to Germany. I still have most of it. It is really strong! Always fun to offer it to my friends. 😜 But actually there is a much deeper meaning behind it. Those who are interested should search for "sacred rapé rites".✌☺

With INCA KOLA to the top! 💪💪
I love this drink so much! ❤

Inca Kola is a cola brand from Peru, which was invented in 1910 by British immigrant John Lindley in Rímac / Lima. A main ingredient of the drink comes from the lemon verbena, locally called Hierba Luisa. 🌿
The sweet taste reminds a bit of chewing gum. 🤔

Have you already tried Inca Kola? How would you compare the taste?

I always liked to philosophize about the taste, especially with other fans! 😂

Just another photo of Machu Picchu.

It absolutely paid off to take the first tour of the day. Foggy jungle ruins are definitely an experience. At noon everything was clear.