Among tiny countries and high peaks

 There’s something fascinating about opposites and how strength can exist in fragility, how something small can endure against something vast. Few places capture that contrast better than Andorra.

Tucked high in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, Andorra is one of Europe’s tiniest countries. And yet, despite its size and its powerful neighbours, it has preserved its independence for centuries. While borders across Europe shifted through wars, dynasties, and revolutions, this small mountain principality quietly endured, protected by geography, diplomacy, and a uniquely balanced political system.

We visited Andorra on a one-day trip during a holiday in Barcelona, and it turned out to be one of the most surprising highlights of our journey. If you’re heading to Catalonia’s vibrant capital, don’t overlook what lies beyond the city skyline. Just a few hours away, the mountains open up to a completely different world: dramatic landscapes, crisp alpine air, and a country with a story far bigger than its borders.

Trust me: Andorra isn’t just a detour. It’s an experience. Let's take a short (I promise) look at its complex history:

With more than a thousand years of history, Andorra has a story shaped by legend, diplomacy, and resilience.

Human presence in the valleys dates back to prehistoric times, with remains discovered at sites such as Balma de la Margineda. 

The country later appears in written history in the 9th century, in a document linked to the Cathedral of Santa Maria d’Urgell, which mentions Andorra’s parishes as fiefs of the Counts of Urgell. 

According to legend, Charlemagne founded Andorra in 805 in gratitude for its people’s help against the Saracens, a story that remains part of its national identity. 

In 1278 and 1288, two treaties known as the Pareatges established shared rule between the Archbishop of Urgell and the Count of Foix, creating the Principality of Andorra. Over time, the French co-prince became the King of France, and later the President of France, while the Archbishop of Urgell has remained co-prince to this day. This unique system makes Andorra one of the world’s oldest and most distinctive parliamentary co-principalities.

After this brief historical moment, let's dig into the beauty of the main city. We arrived to La Vella on a fair September day, after a trip in a comfortable bus of less than three hours.

The first impression is that we should have come in winter. If you’re a passionate skier, that’s undeniably the best time to visit, when the mountains transform into a white paradise and the slopes come alive.

And yet, even outside the ski season, Andorra is breathtaking. The dramatic scenery at the feet of the Pyrenees: deep valleys, winding mountain roads, and peaks rising sharply against the sky is enough to leave you speechless.

So instead of trying to describe it all, I’ll let a few pictures speak on my behalf.

I have to admit that prices are slightly higher than what you might expect compared to both France and Spain. However, considering Andorra’s unique mountain location, its spectacular natural scenery, and its rich cultural heritage, it’s hardly surprising.

In the end, when you factor in the setting and the experience, it feels entirely justified.

I know this has been a short post, but somehow it feels like no number of words would ever truly capture the experience. Some places simply have to be seen to be understood.

If you’re planning a trip to Spain, consider adding Andorra to your itinerary. Even better, turn it into a road trip: drive from Barcelona to Toulouse, crossing Andorra and winding your way through the Pyrenees. The journey itself, with its mountain passes, dramatic valleys, and endless views, becomes part of the adventure.

Sri Lanka: is this the return of the Wandering Writer? (part one)

Whether this might be the first signal of the return of the Wandering Writer, I mostly consider it a return to blogging after a series of mishaps on the road.

But as stated in the title, this isn't the time I'll go through those mishaps. This is the time to tell something about another fantastic country to fall in love with.

Explaining Sri Lanka in one blog it's a hard task, and it won't give justice to such a colorful and beautiful country. That's why I'll divide it into two parts, so enjoy the ride with this first taste of this island.

We went to visit Colombo in November. That corresponds to the wet season in Sri Lanka, but as I found out later, this didn't really affect the quality of our journey.

One peculiarity of the rainy season was that from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., the weather was perfect the sky was blue, and the Sun blessed every step we took in the city and the beaches. It was raining from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. as the sky was opening.

Now, at my age, I'm no longer interested in the nightlife, and for me, it was more than enough to explore the city and the country during the day.

My previous travels around the world have taught me that you'll need always to keep your eyes open to the people who will approach you on the street. Most of them will try to sell you tourist services highly overpriced. 

So, understanding this, we took the first day a tuk-tuk to have a round of the main sightseeing of the city. We asked the price beforehand and, after a good deal of bargaining, we jumped in and started our first round.

Colombo isn't a big city and you might reach every place by walking or, at least using the tuk-tuk for short distances.

The first idea, which was also confirmed during our entire stay was that Colombo, and generally Sri Lanka is a very well-kept city. Everything works as it should and the level of safety is high. One thing you'll fall in love with the country is the friendliness of the people. Regardless of the reason why you approach them, they will always welcome you with a smile.

The second is the amazing natural environment and the stunning beaches. Not knowing where to start from, we took the chance to book one journey from a tourist agency to reach farther sites on the island.

The plan was to reach Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District. Considering the distance from Colombo (about 178 km), our tour guide proposed to us also to have a visit to the Elephant Foundation and an Ayurveda garden. We were supposed to arrive at our final destination by 3:00 p.m., to have the chance to visit the whole site.

Unfortunately, nothing went as it was supposed to, but let's go step by step, shall we?

Our first destination was the Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF), a family-run organization and charity set up to rescue and care for captive Asian elephants in Sri Lanka. The foundation is situated on a 15-acre estate by the name of Samaragiri, which is located 10 km northwest of Kegalle, within the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. This is a sort of sanctuary to rescue those gentle giants where we had the pleasure of interacting with them by feeding and spending some time together.

The second stop was the visit to the Ayurveda garden, which was something I wanted personally to add to the tour. I'm a fan of natural medicine and since Sri Lanka is the home of Ayurveda, I couldn't skip this chance. 

In the garden, I've learned something more about natural self-care and I did some shopping (of course).

Time passed by and our driver didn't seem to have any hurry, as if he was on a Sunday trip with the family.

Useless were all our recommendations to drive a little faster, and the scheduled time of arrival stretched from 3:00 p.m. to 6:55 p.m. Just in time to enter the park, five minutes later and they wouldn't have allowed us to enter.

Useless to say that at that time we couldn't visit the entire site, so we headed for the rock fortress:

Yes, that meant climbing 1200 steps to reach the top, and we didn't have much time left. We made it a mission and we started at the fastest pace we could because soon the sun would have set and at least that, was something we didn't want to miss. So we started our journey:

With the first steps...

... followed by other steps, we didn't give up...

And steps that seemed to be endless to climb, yet we were at the point of no return. Up to the top!

Just a few steps more and...

Finally, we reached the top to witness the sunset from something that felt like the roof of the world.

They say that to climb the stairs it might require an average of about two hours. We didn't have that luxury and we had to manage it within forty-five minutes. I'm not sure we set a record; probably not, but one thing was sure, that marathon gave us a bitter taste.

We were supposed to see the entire site, and going there for a second time was out of the question with all the things to be seen in Sri Lanka.

Tired but happy we returned to our hotel room where we simply dropped almost dead to the bed waiting for new adventures to unfold the following days.

Stay tuned because there are more interesting things and facts about Sri Lanka I need to tell you, and I'll do so with the next blog post coming up very soon. :-) 

Doha, you can't even imagine it.

So, here, we were ready to board once again to return back home after our journey. We could not leave Nigeria without anything that made me wonder.
We just passed the check-in and passport control when we reached the gate. However, there we had to go through another security check before entering the plane, which sometimes happens when the flight company does not trust the local screening completely.
I arrived at the counter, and the woman there started to open my carry-on baggage for prohibited items. Everything followed the routine when suddenly she glanced at me: "Do you have anything for me?"
In the beginning, I wasn't sure what she meant, or whether she was just joking, so I just replied that I didn't have anything.
She looked a bit disappointed and seriously: "aren't you, my friend?"
At that point I just thought you gotta be kidding me, bribing at the safety check at the airport? Really?
"No, I am not your friend," I replied firmly.
She checked thoroughly and sent me to the body scan, "well you can scan whatever you want, I am not going to get robbed this way."
Of course, this didn't cause anything more than just a delay to my boarding, but the least I can accept in this world is people trying to rob me.
This was just a little incident and didn't really mean any trouble. Yet it raised a few considerations about what is considered legit and what it is not from the personnel at the airport.

So here we were leaving Nigeria to reach our first stop of seven hours in Doha. The flight went smoothly, and at five o'clock in the morning, we reached the International airport in Doha.
Now the first impression:
You certainly are familiar with the heatwave that hits you when you open the oven to check on your food. The same heatwave hit us as we stepped out the plane. The engine was off, so it wasn't because of it. It was like entering a giant oven at 240 Celsius, barely breathable humid and hot.
I thought I knew about the heat after having experienced the Afar desert in Ethiopia... No, this was more... In Ethiopia at least it wasn't that humid, although the temperatures were much higher than in Doha (around 50 Celsius).
It was only five o'clock in the morning, and the temperatures reached already 30 Celsius!!
We reached the well air-conditioned inside the terminal with our great relief.
The first idea was that perhaps we could have had a tour of the city, but thinking twice we could also take a hotel room, have a shower, a good meal and maybe a tour of the city, before returning to the airport.
That was the best idea possible, and we had a hotel arranged within a couple of minutes. The efficiency of the country reflects on the way the general organization of the services.

Now I need to make a small introduction to Qatar. This little State of about 11.000 square kilometers is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The funny thing is that 88% of the population are expats working there, the rest 12% is Qatari.
I cannot figure out yet a good reason to move and live in such an over, where, going for a walk is totally restricted to the night or early morning.
We tried to have a walk, and our stubbornness found an empty city, where only cars were moving around.

If you have followed the Olympics that is now going on in Doha, you might have heard horrifying stories about the heat, well, let me tell you, they are not exaggerating at all. That place is not fit for humans. Just like the Sahara desert, it is made for very specialized animals.
At least THIS human doesn't consider it as a place for herself. Although I crave the summer and the hot, there is a limit to it. My limit has been abundantly tested in Doha.
So glad to have returned home, where I am free to go wherever I want without fear of dying dehydrated LOL
I wish you, as usual, a great weekend. If you live in similar desertic countries, believe me, you have all my respect and sympathy.

Three... two...one... GO!

So, here I am the day of the departure finally arrived! The struggles we had with the visas for this trip took from me at least ten years of my life. It has been a real tour de force.

These are the times required for the visas process for our journey:

1. Benin visa: 10 minutes with the e-visa.
2. Togo visa: with shipping and handling, three days
3. Ghana visa: shipping to Denmark, handling time, and shipping back: one week.
4. Nigeria visa: Shipping to Sweden handling time and shipping back, three weeks worth of constant calls, email reminders, and a considerable amount of money to set up an alternative method for shipping the passports back.
What do we suggest? Africa is big, beautiful and exciting, avoid Nigeria!

This has been our crazy countdown:

Two weeks before the departure: we had to send back our passports to the Nigerian Embassy in Stockholm, because of a series of misunderstandings.

Eleven days to departure: they received the passports.

Seven days to the departure: they asked us to send more documentation, which was promptly sent by email.

Four days to the departure: they advised us to provide for a courier pickup, which we provided the very same day. The courier pick up was scheduled for the following day, and we would have received it the day after, so two days to our departure.
We informed the Embassy about the scheduled pickup, and they acknowledged it.

Three days to departure: The courier informed us that the Embassy declared not having anything to be picked up.
Panicking we tried to call the Embassy... No answer
We sent four emails, and only the day after they replied that now the courier could come.

Two days before departure: Reschedule the pickup. Finally, the courier got our passports, and we started to feel more relaxed.

The passports reached us safely yesterday, one day before departure.
I have never in my life been more stressed than the last two weeks. I was as tense as a violin chord, but now, it's time to celebrate:

The Wandering Writer is back on the road! Whohoo!

Stay tuned, because I am going to post on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pjmann2016/) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/paperpenandinkwell) a sort of photo journal, and every week you will have them summarized right here in this blog!
Have a great weekend!