12 December 2011

Soon the end is over

Only one week left in Nepal and this slack life of ours. Then it's back to another reality. People say I'm going back to my real life, that traveling is only an escape from my actual life. But that's not true. Not the way I feel. One part of my life is at home with my friends and family. The other is to vagabond around the world. Both equally real and important.

The anxiety is on top for me to separate from Malli for a while so what's better than make the best of it. And we do it with whiskey, music and love.
















Location:Nepal

04 December 2011

Puking, sneezing and biking

So we left the overcrowded Kathmandu for a little mountain/lake town called Pokhara. And the plan was and still is to do some trekking in the Himalayas. We've been here like over a week already but no trekking so far. I've been sick as a dog with the flue and on top of that food poisoning. Not the way I wanna spend my last time traveling and my last time with Malli but what can you do? Not a god damn thing!

We did however a little bike trip around the lake the second day which was a lot of fun. The roads here are just mad and without springs on the bikes it was quite a challenge but of course we managed without trouble what did you expect?











Location:Pokhara

27 November 2011

Space invader




If you're into street art then you know who space invader is. So far we've seen his work in Kathmandu and all over Varanasi. Of course it's hard to know if it's a real space invader or if it's someone copying his thing. But I'm pretty sure most of the one we've seen is real.




Xx

Location:Kathmandu

22 November 2011

A paus for a portion of western culture




Ok enough of this travel talk for a while. Today we went to the cinema to watch TinTin. Both me and Malli been longing for this movie for so long and our expectations were higher than Mount Everest. Aaaannnnd.... Bombombombom... (epic drum roll) It was really good! Every frame is like a feast for your eyes. A sprinkle of caramel. The details and the tempo is just amazing. I'm very impressed how good it looks and they totally captured the humor from the comics. But (it's always a but) I had a hard time to follow the story. Maybe the tempo was a little bit too fast or it's because I'm not familiar with the story about the unicorn but it's still so entertaining!

One big minus to the cinema we went to tho. In the middle of the movie they stopped it for a commercial brake.. WHAT THE FUCK! A brake in a movie just 1,5 hours long??? What a stupid, stupid thing. But what do I know maybe they always do that in cinemas in Nepal. It's really annoying that's for sure.



Xx

Location:Kathmandu

20 November 2011

This is the end of India

Ok I wrote this epic blog entry about what I've been doing the last month in India but for some fucking reason it just dissapered and I'm not gonna write it again. Sucks for you.

We met Ben, simon and camill; a Swiss and two French guys. They're really cool with a lot of energy and great company. We travelled with them for the last weeks in India which by the way doing my head in right now. I had enough of sneaky and greedy Indians, stinky garbage on the streets and stomping in cow shit. I love India but for now, I had enough. Really looking forward to Nepal. New country, new faces, new adventures.

The photos below is my effort of recapping the last month in India. I'm tired now, fuck this, good night.





Hampi












Hampi















Gorkana
















Palolem















Arambol








Chess, ice coffee and cigarettes in the sunset became a nice routine


Burned out hippies jamming prob like they've always done..



26 October 2011

It's not always sunny in Goa

Yesterday the whole sky was lit up from crazy lightning aaaall trough the evening, but there was no thunder and no rain. Strange we thought, walking along the beach back to our hut. And then:BANG!!! BOOM!! THUNDER!! LIGHTING!! And big big raindrops started to fall from the sky. Icy cold and hard smashing right in to our faces. We started running for no reason really because we were already very wet and it was still long to go to be home. But it's always nice and fun to run in the rain. It makes you feel like a child again.







Xx

Location:Arambol

23 October 2011

Wanna go to the beach biaatch


I know I'm jumping in time now, but it's nothing worth telling between the camel safari and were we are right now which is Arambol in Goa. A really cool and relaxed beach town. The high season haven't started yet so it's quite calm and not too many tourists. And everywhere they're building up huts , restaurants and little shops preparing for the invasion of white people later on.


We spend our days mostly on the beach and in the sea trying to surf the big waves. The currents here are very, very strong so I find myself under water most of the time tumbling around like a little rag doll. Malli loves it and just bought a bodyboard so he plays in the water for hours.


The evenings are dedicated to get pissed. Since the lack of beer in Rishikesh it's hard to resist now when it's so available and cheap. And all along the beach is these cozy and inviting little restaurants with tables, cushions and sofas right on the beach. When you see it from the distance it's like a sea of lights coming from all the candles on the tables, it's just beautiful.



Beware of walking on the beach after midnight tho. Then you might bump into Indian police. It happened to us the second night.
"Where you from?"
"Germany"
"This it not Germany. What time is it?"
The police pointed his flashlight over his watch impossible to see what time it was.
"We don't know, we don't have a watch.." Then a big wave hit the beach.
"Look out for the wave!" Malli said, and then the policemen just left. Fucking DICKHEADS. They were just bored and wanted to show some authority, I can't stand that shit. Military, police, whatever, making themselves more important than they really are. It's just pure shite!



Otherwise it's very nice here. Of course the beaches are full of rubbish which is a real shame. It brakes your heart to see something that could be so close to paradise be destroyed like this. But what can you do? It's India, it's hard to change 1 billion people's habits.

(sorry for the lack of pictures. But for some reason I feel uncomfortable every time I get out the camera)




Xx

Location:Arambol, Goa

16 October 2011

Rock'n'Roll camel safari




6 days and 5 nights, riding 150 km on a camel trough sand dunes and small villages. Sleeping under the sky with full moon and million of twinkling stars. It was one of the best things we've done in India so far.



We had one camel each and another camel with a wagon with all camping gear.We traveled with one guide who told us all about the life in the Thar Desert and three camel guys who took care of the camels and cooked awesome Indian food for us. It kinda made us feel uncomfortable sometimes when they insisted of doing everything for us like they were our slaves, but what can you do, that was the way they wanted it.



It was pretty easy riding the camel, little bit bumpy of course but you almost get into a trance sitting there bumping up and down listening to the silence of the desert, deep into your thoughts. But for some reason whenever you step down from the camel you can't remember what you've been thinking of for the last 4 hours. And your arse gets pretty sore.



My camel was a fussy female, she growled a lot especially when I climbed up on her, she tried to toss me off one time and she puked on her owner, yeah! Rock'n'Roll! Mallis camel was a bigger male and little bit calmer than mine but very, very munchy, trying to eat everything he could reach even my hair once.


The desert isn't only sand dunes and nothing else. It's more small farming villages growing peanuts and watermelon and with cows and goats. And at this point it was right after the monsoon sesaon which made it pretty green. But on the other hand we saw so much wildlife because of this. Deers, lizards, eagles and desert foxes (the cutest things ever!). So it made it a lot more interesting I must say.


Sleeping under the stars in the desert was absolutely wonderful. The bright moon made it a lot harder to see all the stars of course but if you wake up when the moon is about to go down and the sun to go up you'll see the most amazing star sky.

What can I say? It was just so much fun and an extraordinary experience.





Xx

Location:Thar Desert, Rajastan

14 October 2011

Wonderful Rishikesh




The days just seem to float together here in Rishikesh. You have an idea that's it's end of September, but if it's Monday or Friday doesn't seem to matter. You wake up, the sun is shining. You have a chai or two on a rooftop cafe overlooking the river and the mountains and decide what you wanna do this beautiful day. Maybe stroll trough the city with all the market stands, go to one of the waterfalls, take a dip in the river, fight with the monkeys or maybe you feel like doing nothing at all, and then that's what you do; nothing. That's the beauty with this this place.



No wonder the Beatles wrote so many songs here, because your creativity is on top and it's so many things and people that inspires you. In every corner you'll find a underground artist sketching, someone learning to play the sitar or a photographer telling you the stories behind his awesome pictures. It's a little mekka for artists, hippies, vagabonds and crackheads. Its just awesome.




Xx

Location:Rishikesh

01 October 2011

Driving to Rishikesh trough sunrise

Imagine your self sitting in a rickshaw the driver is playing loud indian music and driving very fast on a scruffy road. So fast every time there's a bump, you bounce up from your seat and nearly hit your head in the roof. Imagine its dark and humid and you're driving through an exotic forest with waving trees, rivers and overgrown bridges. Imagine the sun start to rice in front of you and reveal big mysterious mountains surrounding a deep and playful river. That's the way to Rishikesh.


Xx

Location:Varanasi to Rishikesh

25 September 2011

Holy Varanasi

After waiting 11 hours at the train station since the train was delayed we finally got on the night train to Varanasi. Or so we thought. For some reason the train took another turn and we ended up in Allahabad instead. What a little dump that city is. But at least it did have some restaurants compared to New Jaipuguri that had none. Ah well we just had to spend the night there because after 17 hours on a train and try to get to another one the same day isn't the best when you're tired and cranky.


The next day we finally reached Varanasi, the city older than history itself. I must say I really like it. The small and narrow alleys some of them only 1,5 meters wide that builds up the city and Ganges running through, gives it a lot of character. Of course it's hardcore to walk in the alleys with hundreds of other people, motorbikes, holy cows and monkeys everywhere trying to get through and be aware of all the cow shit lying around. I only stomped in it once with my flip-flops, not the most pleasant feeling, but shit happens.


The people here bother you a lot, they start off friendly asking you were you're from and what you think of India and so on but in the end they always wanna show you their silk shop or restaurant and if you say NO NO NO to all of it they try a last desperate move and play the drug card, Hashish? Weed? LSD? Bah! I just wanna stroll around and enjoy the chaos of the city not be hassled for money buying a fake silk scarf or placebo drugs.


Of course we were in Varanasi little bit to early so gangers was very high from the rain season and it wasn't possible to stroll along it to watch people taking a bath or doing the laundry or watch burnings like you normally can. Too bad since that is like 70% of Varanasi. We saw a little of a burning tho, but of course an Indian guy came and annoyed us like hell so we left after just a few minutes. And we did see a ceremony to purify the water in gangers that was pretty cool. It's definitely a city I want to revisit to get the full experience.


Right now were on a train (what a surprise) to Rishikesh. Suppose to be very relaxing, the mekka of yoga and were The Beatles hung out in the late 60's writing song for the White Album.



Xx

Location:Varanasi, Allahabad