PLANETSWIMMER

Welcome to the Planetswimmer blog! Stories from swimming indoors and outdoors, from ice swimming to tropical beaches. Not to mention hotel pools!

More swimming-related articles:

Sauna in Hangzhou
Another visit to a sauna in foreign land! This time in 杭州市 or Hangzhou, China! The sauna was in the Courtyard Marriott hotel that I stayed at. A bit dark and basic, but still large, and most importantly, the temperature was high enough and you were allowed to pour water to the heater!
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October 2016, Courtyard Marriott, Hangzhou, China
Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool)

Cave with a View
There are usually no great views from caves, at least not of the sunset. Except at Rokokallio.
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December 2015, Päällysluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kuusijärvi, Vantaa, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic); Sauna (Smoke); Swimming (Ice, Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Lake, Beach)

Sauna im Stubai
My kids follow me on some of my trips. Not only to enjoy the great skiing, but also to learn about culture. For instance, where else would my sons learn about der Sauna, except by going to the Freizeitcentrum im Stubai, Austria?
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January 2015, Stubaital, Austria; Eisgrotte Stubaier Gletscher, Stubai, Austria; Schlick 2000, Austria; Patschkofel, Austria; Freizeitcentrum im Stubai, Stubai, Austria
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Glacier, Basic, Showtour); Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool)

Santa Barbara biking
Biked in Santa Barbara, in the city, and went to the Shoreline Beach for a walk on the beach and in the waves.
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October 2014, Shoreline beach, Santa Barbara, California, USA
Biking (Bike-Road, Outdoor, Track-Road); Swimming (Waterbody-Sea, Water, Beach)

Two Bunch Palms Swim
Two Bunch Palms Resort is a luxury hotel in Desert Hot Springs, California. It is indeed a nice place to relax and swim in the shade of the palm trees, with spectacular views of the mountains around you. Even if kind of in the middle of the desert.
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October 2014, Two Bunch Palms, Desert Hot Springs, California, USA
Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool)

Lost World
The sun is still bright, but the environment is getting strange. Fog is engulfing us. Plants are starting to look pre-historic. And I'm hanging from a 100 meter rope, above the Lost World, a cave system in Waitomo, New Zealand. And it is starting to look like my landing spot is in the river at the bottom of the cave.
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August 2014, Waitomo, New Zealand
Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, SRT); Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool)

On the Beach
Midsummer in Gotland, Sweden. Perfect place for boating, hanging out on the sand beach, swimming, as well as a little bit of climbing. And all this underground!
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June 2014, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden
Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Boating, Swimming); Swimming (Underground, Water, Waterbody-Cave)

Sheep Skiing
The girl at the sheep farm gate is from Qatar. Most tourists here seemed to be from Middle East, so I ask her why she had come to Austria: "Because it is so cool, and the weather is nice." We are standing in cold rain, but I guess she prefers a change to the weather at home. But come to think of it, I too prefer cold and rainy.
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July 2013, Kaprun, Austria
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Sauna (Normal); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool)

Volcan Copahue
So close, yet so far. I wanted so much to ski down from Volcán Copahue (2953 meters), but despite trying very hard it was not going to happen.
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August 2012, Caviahue, Argentina
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain); Urban-Exploration (Ruins, Buildings); Swimming (Outdoor, Thermal-Bath, Water, Waterbody-Lake)

Mumbai swim
India. Business trip to New Delhi and Mumbai. Not a lot of time for other things than business... except that small excursion to ski during the weekend... and now a quick dip to the hotel pool and sauna after business has been done.
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July 2011, Grand Hyatt Mumbai, Mumbai, India
Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal)

Family and Off-Piste Skiing in Are
As far as I can tell, Are is the best family ski resort on the planet.
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March 2011, Are, Sweden
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Sauna (Normal, Steam); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool)

This is the 19th set of articles. The previous sets were set 1, set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, set 6, set 7, set 8, set 9, set 10, set 11, set 12, set 13, set 14, set 15, set 16, set 17, and set 18. This is the last set.

The Planetswimmer articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, flying, caves, and saunas.