Italian summer

Summer is well and truly gone,my friends, I know , but it is still very much in my heart. It's been very different from the last few ones in other continents. This time I was back in my hometown, back in my region in the Alps, the Aosta Valley. There at the feet of the Mount Blanc massif I thoroughly enjoyed being back with my family after a long time away. I helped looking after granny recovering from a fall at her old age, and we had many lovely days together just like we used to when I was living back in the valley. Here's a few photos of our happy days together:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157606930285589/



I stayed at home where I grew up and my mum loved having me as she's alone now that my brother moved out with his girlfriend a couple of years ago. It has been great being with mum again: we talked a lot, we laughed, we philosophized on life, love and the world, my favorite topics. I helped her with her English homework and she played mum, simply the best mum in the world: understanding, patient, strong, supportive, loving and caring. With my brother we went climbing up the mountain overlooking town, the 3,100mts high Becca di Nona! That was a great achievement for mum and a great day for all of us together: check out the fun photos!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157606929277471/



I also went up the other mountain next to that, the 3,500mts high Mount Emilius, with my friend Paolo (truly another outdoors junky) and that was another fun day trekking in the mountains.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157607124729514/



Plenty other activities filled up my summer: teaching English to the kids at summer camps, at revision courses before re-sits, private tuitions, a bar jobs at nights, training at the outdoor cross-training areas, lots of cycling, and lots of coffees and ice-creams with granny! And a great surprise visit by my friend Ale from Rome, touring Europe... so great to see her and family now, after many years!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157606926132438/



I even hooked up with my father after many years of not talking, it was time to stop the silence & make peace. No point holding on old grudges: life is too short!
& then it was my birthday and my family and friends got me equipped with some trekking gear which I gladly received and went straight out to the mountains to test it! The kora of the 4,868mts Mount Blanc was on over the time of the Olympics in China and Les Lions de la Neige, organisation from France, were doing the walk around the sacred mountain symbolically around the Mount Blanc, in support of the cause of Tibet. With my friend Paolo we got tent and a couple of sandwiches and we trekked up to the Elizabeth refuge, joining the Kora if only for one night under a beautiful full moon!
Check the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157606930928233/





And as I was in the mountains all summer, the opportunity came up to take part in a mountain safety awareness course with the Alpine guides, so we went to Punta Helbronner, on the Mount Blanc Glacier to practice rope security, nots, and the very difficult crevasse rescue methods... a very memorable day in very stunning settings, take a look at the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157606964399465/



So the summer came to an end and it was time to say goodbye once again to my lovely granny, my loving mum, my bro, cousins and best friends and after a reunion for a friends' wedding - http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157607181577668/



and several great dinners with friends and cousins - http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157607339328030/




goodbye to everybody and big hug to my best friend in town Mara (arrivederci to Kathmandu!!!) I got on that plane to London… life goes on! But I want to thank everyone in Aosta for all your friendship and support and for making my time this summer a lovely and precious one to remember back in the valley… till the next time!

OZ land

Australia...
What can I say... it's just like home, same prices but better beaches... surfers' paradise! I had a very pleasant time in Byron Bay with my friend Julie who hosted me for a few days. We even went diving against all odds, in rainy weather and in 1 metre visibility hoping to spot the leopard shark and luckily I saw millions of woobegong sharks... really something! Love the photos, take a look:
www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157604630501216/

the Aussie waves....
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=34241554


Australian waves

PaolaMerryGoRound | MySpace Video

Singapore in transit

Everyone says that a couple of days in Singapore is enough and it really is. It is only a big city after all... all mods and comfs to be found, but stay downtown in Little India for some amazing curries, wander around the massive shopping malls for some of the best electronics bargains of the Made in China series, party with the other travellers at the hostel to kill some time faster and then jump on the plane out to the next destination... most people just do Singapore in transit!
I even had the inspiration to visit the oldest Buddist temple in the city... enjoy the photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157604630326150/

Borneo snapshot

Borneo in a nutshell: Although I only went around Sabah and skipped Sarawak, the Malaysian side of Borneo island is still covered by palms for the widespread production on palm oil like the rest of Malaysia, but some parts of Borneo are preserving the primary forests like the Sepilok jungle which is home of the orangutang re-integration centre, near Sandakan. There you can see th young orangutangs still dependent on fruits and plants provided to them, coming to the feeding platform really close and even being cheecky and coming so close tyo shake your hand! Cuties!
The east side of the island biggest attraction is the beautiful Sipadan for the amazing reef wall; sunbathing is however only allowed in T-shirt as the population is still heavely Muslim even on the island. So get your wet suit on and go diving and snorkeling, but if you prefer to stay dry, just take a stroll around Sepourna fish market and you will see most of the fish down there ready for the bbq... blue spotted stingray, pffer fish, porcupine fish, barracudas, needle fish, groupers, snappers and even the beatiful moorish idols... and sometimes entire schools of them... some bomb fishing is definitely still going on illegally, unfortunately! Take a look at the photos evidence... http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157604629756098/

In the deep blue _ Sipadan

For all of you diving fans, I say Sipadan and I've said it all! Undoubtely the best dives of my life!!! And it wouldn't have happened if I didn't bump into my friend Emanuel (remember the dives in Perhentian islands last month?) Yes yes, amazing Emanuel, we dived once hovering around 18mts and stayed down for 70minutes, I got up with barely 40 bar of air pressure left in the tank and he still had 110 bar!!!! What's that about...? He just doesn't breathe!! He's the coolest diver I've met and you'll be lucky to dive with him as buddy! Chances are great to catch him around the best dive sites in the world. And there he was, in Sipadan, just as I only had done a 3 dives day in pretty Sibuan, still hoping for a chance to dive in Sipadan the next day... my only day left available in Borneo!! But nothing, Sipadan island is protected, diving is limited and the next day was all fully booked... And then Emanuel, who booked himselm ahead a week of Sipadan dives, kindly passed on his day reservation to me, as he was going to take a break, rest his hears and underwater pulse computer after several weeks of equalization overtime!! I mean, how lucky was that!!!??? I dived the next day in the deep blue of Sipadan great reef wall! Simply breath-taking!!! Three blissful dives around the wonders of the underwater world: turtles resting in reef caves and around the coral, swimming up 30 metres above to surface for air, white tip sharks coming straight towards us, fin up and then wizzing past, changing direction slightly with a quick swirl of the tale, tunas and barracudas, entire school of moorish idol, trevally, clown fish, enormous puffer fish and the stunning reef of colourful coral.

Exhilarating was the feeling to hover weightless into the deep blue, 30 metres deep along the reef wall, down below never ending, up above the sun shining through the crystal clear water... AMAZING! I can't thank Emanuel enough for having given me this once in a life time opportunity... priceless! And many thanks to Marina for taking the wonderful underwater photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157604467984771

And we also got a video of us 8 buddies, an edited half an hour of the best of the 3 dives in Sipadan: SIMPLY STUNNING!

Just managed to split the 550mb wonder!

Here are the 2 breathless videos: blissful viewing!
Sipadan Video 1
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=34298596

Sipadan Video 2
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=34301041

Amazing Koh Lipe!

WOW WOW WOW!!!

Here it is: another one from the collection of stunning places in Thailand. Tarutao National Marine Park is still probably the best preserved archipelago located in the very South West, at the border with Malaysia, opposite Langkawi island, if you have been there. The only island where it is allowed to build facilities is Koh Lipe and that’s where everyone stays. The island has it all, sunrise beach, sunset beach, party beach. There is something for all budgets, although developing fast for the more upmarket tourism, I was camping at the very reasonable dive shop campsite where my friend Maltese Mark (Marco for the friends) is doing his dive master course together with Julio from Bs.As.


After hitting the party beach with the great party buddies, Max, Sandrah, Camilla, Irene and Marco, I went to sunrise beach and met Kathrin, my best dive buddy and for three awesome days out at sea, we dived with barracudas, we went to see sharky in the cave, we swam with zillions of butterfly fish, like the beautiful morish idol, played with little nemos, waved at parrot fish, watched big groupers, pouted at sweet lips and we went hunting for the cutest nudibranches around amazing coloured hard and soft coral. The underwater world... totally stunning!



Koh Lipe is another paradise on Earth! I watched mind-blowing sunrises, chilled on white sand beaches, snorkeled in crystal clear waters, colourful shallow reefs, waved at the long-tail boats, busked in the strong tropical sun and I am now the colour of chocolate! You must go, my friends... till is still fairly untouched! Hurry before Thai corruption pushes tourist development towards complete exploitation! Here are some pictures for your delight!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157604353624868/

Cliffs on sea -rocking up!

Well my friends, back into Thailand, for some of its best landscapes... one out of the main destinations book: tick! Yes yes I went to Krabi, I couldn’t resist it... yes yes, I was another farang getting ripped off and treated like shit by the ’smiling’ Thai... (???!!!) but hey, what can I say, I had to see it, two days in and out of the mass touristed Tonsay The Beach... stunning cliffs on sea I must admit... and rock climbing paradise... take a look yourselves: here are the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157604227223110/