LifeTrip

Italian summer

2009-11-14T03:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-11-13T07:23:00.001-08:00

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!

2009-11-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

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/

Paradise on Earth...

2009-11-13T07:11:00.000-08:00

Pulau Perhentian... paradise islands!
I will try and describe these fantastic islands, take a look at the pictures and you might just grasp the beauty of it, but my suggestion is: GO!!!
So there I went... I got off the boat, dropped my bag at a lovely chalet on Coral Bay that even gave me discount because we are still in low season, very friendly the Malay people! And off I went straight to the dive shop to book myself for the next few days dives. And then on the hunt for the fabulous secluded white sandy beaches... Perhentian Kecil is amazinly beautiful! Only a short stroll through the jungle and I was on Gold beach, all by myself!!! I layed on the white coral sand, watching the fluffy clouds flying over the palm trees and crossing the blue sky above me, the sound of waves, one echoeing after another, the heat of the sun absorbing through my skin, throughout ny whole body. I felt a soothing sensation of calm and serenity giving me a tingling headrush. I opened my eyes and went to sit on a rock into the sea and stared breathless at the peaceful beauty of nature. Blinding sunshine reflecting on the shimmering waves, crystal waters, glittery sand, lush jungle on shore, swinging palm trees and shining blue skies. A deep feeling of happiness took over me as I felt the joy and priviledge to be part of all this beauty. I wish you could be here to feel part of it too, because you are: be beautiful, be happy share the bliss of being part of ths paradise Earth!
And the underwater world... well, I have no pictures of that, but if you are into diving or even just snorkeling, here it's just amazing: I went to Romantic beach with Titi for a fresher dive, then straight to War beach for some amazing amazing coral formations and lots and lots of colourful tropical fish. Then I dived inside the Vietnamese wreck and snorkelled on shark point... what can I say... simply stunning!!! Enjoy the photos!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157604104036775/

As I was taking happiness at full hands then I had to leave... or I would have fallen in love with all this beauty... but I think it's too late, yes, I love it!!!
So I am going for more... next stop: the beautiful South West coast of Thailand!!!

Check out my video, playing with the waves...
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=31347960

Playing with the sea

PaolaMerryGoRound | MySpace Video

Back to KL

2009-11-13T07:07:00.000-08:00

I was sleeping lightly when I got called for breakfast, pulled up the shutter of my small window and a soft sunrise on a sea of clouds was all around me... I was about to land in Kuala Lumpur! The sky was reminding me it is the end of the monsoon season here and I gladly found a nice 25 degree temperature to give me time to re-adjust from the European winter to tropical climate. I dropped my bacg at the backpackers' hostel and went straight out on the street of Chinatown. Immediately I felt that familiar feeling of the filthy quarter of the capital! The smell of Chinese BBQ pork and Malay fried cakes, the pungent fish sauce sneaking up my nose and making me sneeze, the glittery indian sarhees, the colourful muslim scarves and burkas, the Chinese sellers' shouts across Chinatown market, want a handbag, watch, dvd player, sandals, foot massage, chow mein fried rice... cophee??!!! GREAT! I felt at home and that known feeling helped me keeping at bay the dizzyness and the sheer jetlag confusion from the longhaul flight that was making me rock quite a lot! Or maybe it was that I was missing so much all of what I love and left in Europe, mixed with the enthusiasm and that travelling sensation of anticipation for an itinerary of adventure, discovery and carpediem just started! Here it's exciting time for Malaysia too: it's elections time today!
So I have witnessed the last few days of the campaign, where the party in power Barisan Nasional is quite sure to win again after 35 years in power, backed up by the other Chinese based MCA party. But the opposition is tough and strong of many Chinese wanting a change and moving to support the DAP and PKR party of the Reformasi movement. It's all happening today and we will see if the population will keep backing the palm oil productions of MCA, the introduction of minimum wages pledged by the opposition parties or Cyberspace Mun, the oldest candidate going for a Parliamentary seat at the age of 89, grandma of six, who prayed for any divine intervention and got sent three yuong lads to gear her up into to cyberspace with email and even a blog, check it on: maimuntibintiyusuf.blog-spot.com
An inspiration for us all spring chickens!
Well my friends, take a look at the KL pictures and rock on... a new adventure has just started and this time I will speed-fly through it...
I am off on the jungle train through the north of Malaysia, destination Perentian Islands... diving paradise! Keep Blogged-on!
Ah and it's the 8th of March so... HAPPY WOMAN'S DAY, sisters!

Malaysia -Kuala Lumpur _Dec.07-Jan.08 & back in Mar.08... link http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603791317745/

Following that dream

2009-11-12T16:56:00.000-08:00

Time flies, my friends! Over these last couple of months have been spinning fast on a roller coaster of activities and emotions, yes and nos, positive, negative, now, later, maybe never, what to do? Certainly life, now!! After leaving Malaysia in a hurry to get back to Italy, I've been looking after granny recovering from her accident and I have been spending lots of time with my family, which I have really appreciated after 8 months away!
I also had been called in for consultancy work for a development project with the International Fund of Agricultural Development looking for expertise in scouting and sharing innovations in rural West Central Africa. Very interesting work although programme timing delayed now means a possible but quite unsure cooperation in the future.
In the mean time I have been catching up with the love of my life, so much missed and so gladly found and fond of again, London town, always 'happening', and my fun-loving friends of the metropole.
Back in Italy in February, I have been doing rescue work for Interski for the busy half term weeks of ski courses in Pila Ski resort. Aosta Valley is always charming beautiful, great snow conditions, wonderful sunshine and blue skies: I have been snowboarding lots and all this last week I have been skiing downhill and even some off piste, quite safe now that the snow has been settling since the last snow fall a month ago. People here are praying for snow and I also hope I might get the last run on fresh powder next week, when I'll be out on the snowboard for the last times this season... In fact this is my last week at work, I will be leaving the valley at the end of the month, to go back to my love and passions, stopping in London only a few days, which is NOT enough time to see my favourite dj & friends, to stock up on the feel, the smell, the depths and the vibrations, the London sound, and to lock my heartbeat in sink with the love and dream of my life. Going far away as it might sound, I will be back on the traveling route: I am going back to Asia!!! Love, family & friends; I am going far away from you, but in reality, I will take you in my heart and you will be with me everywhere, blending in with my passions and love for a life of happiness. I will be back following my dreams with yet more chances and challenges to work towards what really matters, to breathe real energy, to rejoy of the pulse of life, to share the shine from within and connect with ALL reflecting the million colours of happiness. Back to Asia it is then, back to Malaysia where I was in December -January. There I spent Christmas and New Year with my friend Laurence, Kung Fu fighter and philosopher, talking together about my favourite subjects of love, life and the universe, sightseeing around the ultra-modern capital of Kuala Lumpur, visiting the peninsula historic town of Melaka, relaxing on the West coast beaches in Penang, watching the fireworks in memory of the Tsunami... and celebrating 2008 on a yatch around Langkawi island: a very good time indeed.
Enjoy the photos!!!
Melaka: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603791033911/
Penang town:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603787629150/
Penang -Teluk Bahang National Park
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603791277245/
Langkawi Island
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603791174435/
Langkawi -NYE yatch party
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603787550008/

One more... party!

2009-11-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

I'm still on the Euro-break, guys, and yes!
I went to London, my favourite Euro-city, to my favourite party, saw my favourite dj/s, boogie'd all night on my favourite music, techno, teckno, tekno!!! Possibly overdid it on my favourite drink... (vodka, eh eh) and had a wild time with my favourite friend/s! And I EVEN had my favourite food, curries! And now I just want to goback there ASAP and do it all over again!!! I just love a party... ONE MORE!!!
Take a look at my favourite photos here below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603900615705/

Europe break

2009-11-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

Panic over! Yes, I know... I have been off line for a while, blogwise, and that's because I've had to fly to Italy on an emergency... granny not too well. But it's all good now, after almost two months from the accident granny is now out of hospital and she's being looked after like a queen in a care home where she will stay for at least the next three months to fully recover before she can go back home. So at the moment I am now working a couple of weeks with Interski on the slopes doing rescue work and enjoying snowboarding in the lovely Aosta Valley. Great snow, lovely sunshine and I even went cross country skiing for a bit of sweating, huffing and puffing along stunning scenery and mountain wildlife! You've gotta come visit this lovely region in the Italian Alps! The Mount Blanc, the Matternhorn, the Grand Paradiso national park... Here some enticing photos... enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603801640283
and watch me snowboarding down La Rosiere slopes:

Check out this video: PaolaSnowboarding
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=28167406

PaolaSnowboarding

PaolaMerryGoRound | MySpace Video

Happy Rat New Year

2009-11-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year 2008!!!

How did you celebrate? I was on a yatch around Langkawi island, North West Malaysia Peninsula, really pretty island, fun people and fun party!
See the fun photos here below: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603787550008/
For everyone into Oriental traditions, Asian styles and all sorts of Chineseries, 2008 is the year of the RAT and for me like many of you rats out there will be "crunchy" time!! Teeth out... ready for the ride???!!! It will be a yummy new year!!!For everyone into Oriental traditions, Asian styles and all sorts of Chineseries, 2008 is the year of the RAT and for me like many of you rats out there will be "crunchy" time!! Teeth out... ready for the ride???!!! It will be a yummy new year!!!

Xmas wishes!

2009-11-12T16:35:00.000-08:00

The 24th December today, it's Xmas eve, it's full moon, I just landed in Kuala Lumpur and met up with Laurence at the airport! In the city we can smell the big festive vibe in the air, there are 30 degrees & we are loving it! For me it's back to civilisation big time, KL city displays the best state of the art technology everywhere... and after spending two weeks with the hill-tribes at border with the Chinese provinces in North Vietnam, I tell you, it's like the world has been taken over by those more advanced aliens... or it was me? Out of this world, at the very furthest corner from civilization...
Back to the hot climate, after the freezing cold in the mountains , I'm only a shot away from the equator here, although there are lots of those pine Xmas trees and even snowmen in white glittering cardboard and santa klaus' hats...
Spending Xmas in the little historic town of Melaka and looking forward to NYE party on the beach... Sending you lots of mantra, tantras, om, prayers and all the rest for a happy festive time from the multiculturally diverse and super cosmopolitan Malaysia!
For Melaka photos, here is the link... Merry Xmas! http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603791033911/

Tribal spirit

2009-11-12T16:30:00.000-08:00

Determination drove me through this last step of the Viet experience: surely by going back on that route off the beaten track, my faith in finding the true Vietcongs had to be revered, appreciated and awarded with many signs of the true Viet spirit. To my biggest surprise I realised very quickly that this route across the North of Vietnam, all the way up near the border with the China provinces, was to be the hardest, thoughest, coldest but the most beautiful, colourful and meaningful of the all state. In the countryside town of Son La it was obvious that not many tourists had passed through here: a couple of noodle eateries, internet rooms only used for video games and only a handful of costly guest-houses were available. Negotiations to drop the price to a reasonable standard took me hours of wandering around town, and only by keeping a firm attitude with a friendly and smiling approach whilst filling a couple of pages with lots of Vietnamese words straight from the dictionary to translate the usual line 'Please I am a girl travelling, a backpacker, I don't have much money, I cannot pay 20 dollars for a room, please don't you have a single room, simple and cheap, please the cheapest you have?' MANY THANKS! Still not sure how they could try and charge such extorcionate prices to such a nice girl like me... Any way, matter of fact that they had no scrupulous and therefore neither should I have had. In Son La, a guest-house put me to sleep in a room on the top next door to the staff, and still charged me a good rate of dollars for it, only thanks to a favourable discount based on my passpart not being from the US... as the lady of the house was happy to underline!
Crossed over into the Lao Cai region, Sa Pa was quite a refreshing sight. In the high mountains, the scenery here was really stunning: deep gorges and green valleys, lots of different hill tribe people around town for market trading and also a fair bit of tourists. Here the Vietcongs started showing a variety of personalities and not only through their colourful tribe clothes. Some could speak English, some could drive a hand cart or a motorbike with the same flair and some even had a mobile phone, but essentially they all looked proud to show their tribe colours and to carry the emblems of faith and honour for their tribal clans.
Here I scored many smiles which confirmed to me that I was on the right track to find the friendly Vietcong. Encouraged by this breakthrough result, I decided to stay on this route through the Northern mountains and to go and find some more hill tribes. Luckily I met EnzoBamba, another crazy Italian mountain fanatic who was going the same way, so we joined forces and put together our negotiation, patience, charm and travelling skills and started the trip along the China border. We found no tourist facilities, no negotiating attitude, no friendly advise, no helping hand and no interest in the foreign factor what'soever... And even the curiousity element became our enemy every so often, luring us into a false sense of safety when instead we were being badly ripped off in the face of having no other options... Several occacions we felt lucky only to realise that there was a second agenda behind the well-posing friendliness of the locals. However that didn't stop us in our quest to discover the North, we managed to visit the really colourful indigenous market of Bac Ha', with the Hmong, Dzao and Giay hill tribes. The next day we cruised through Yen Binh and Bac Quang valleys by motorbike as we could not work out if it was true as the locals said that there was no public transport service across these two towns... Later we did believe local knowledge when we asked directions for cheap accommodation in the little town of Dong Van. The locals advised us to knock on a derelict old house for 'cheap' stay. It turned out that in this building lived many Fine Art University students from Saigon who had come to do some painting practice catching some inspiration from the beautiful mountain landscapes and the rare hill tribe costumes and decorations. They hosted us with pleasure, although with very reserved manners, arty people if anything: many thanks! Their kind gesture took us all the way to another market the next day, in the village of Saphin: this was a really special occasion! I almost couldn't believe my eyes, in front of a spectacle of local indigenous tribes still trading cows and pigs at the open market, sloshing chicken throats and then chopping chicken legs straight into the soup pot, smoking long tobacco leaves pipes that made as much smoke as the wooden fire they were lighting it on... Women negotiating on the price of frilly colourful shawlls, men reparing old cotton trainers, kicked dogs sneaking around strings of hanging sausages and women shouting the price of veggies, the whole scene wrapped in a coat of fog and drizzly rain, chilled to almost zero degrees temperature. Surreal? Almost unreal I say, these snaps just sum up the whole of Viet experience. Now I know, you've got to feel it to believe it, seeing it only, just isn't enough! And that's it why I have not found enough friendly and smiling Viets, because I've taken them as face value, just as they have been treating me, a mean to an end! Perhaps with more time, patience, maybe more language practice and certainly more mutual respect, we might had been able to take down this 'wall' still inevitably linked to historical events, the current pull towards progress, day-to-day needs and local traditions... maybe one day we will join spirits in a tribal dance and become friends... maybe maybe...
Enjoy the photos albums:
Son La and Sa Pa http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603522557364/
Bac Ha' Market
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603525650230/
Ha Giang, Dong Van & Saphin market
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603631124677/

V for Viet

2009-11-12T16:24:00.000-08:00

Ready for the adventure my friends...!??!! Fasten you seatbelts, helmet on, Vietnam here we go! This is the land for though travellers only. I mean, if you want to experience Vietnam full on that is... Otherwise it's well easy: get yourself an open-bus ticket for 20 bucks and that will take you hop-on hop-off to all the main destinations along the coast from Saigon to Hanoi (or viceversa...)
As the coast is not one of the most fascinating in South-East Asia and Halong Bay is all organised into package tours, I decided to go "off the beaten track" on the mountains along the spine of Vietnam from Saigon all the way North of Hanoi, from chilly to cold to even freezing at night. Not what you would think of a tropical country, but Vietnam has even got dry and wet season at the same time of the year across regions, one minute you are wearing a T-shirt, next ninute you need a woolly hat...!
Here we go, first stop: Saigon. Nowadays called Ho Chi Minh City, it gave me a nice welcoming, same climate as in Phnom Penh were I came from, and same chaotic traffic and thick cloud of smog, jam of motorbikes, hell of horns and sticky heat! Happy days! To beat it all Saigon had the great cure: excellent ca phe on ice (ice coffee) and homebrewed Bia Hoi (not pastorised lager beer). And to feel part of it all, with some people from the only hostel dorm in town, Chinese-run, we hired bicycles and got stuck in the middle of city roads mayhem, for a bit of sightseeing... Crazy... yeah, but tonnes of fun! We managed to get to the National Remnants Museum in one piece, if not a little in shock, just to get shocked more by all the vivid photos and witnessing stories of the US-Vietcongs war.. really bloody shocking! To close the Saigon experience in style, we had to try some of the local delicacies and we chose some dog meat bbq on a street stall down a dark ally downtown... Although bit odd, this stringy and tough beef tasting meat went down fine with some rice whiskey (or was it Rum?!), it is apparently a Chinese dish and dogs are 'farmed' on purpose, they are not straight dogs. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and in my tipsy state by the end of it I felt I finally got my revenge from that dog's bite in Salvador three years ago... What goes around, comes around! Here are the photos of Saigon!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603438887951/

In the morning with Kiwi Nick from the hostel, we grabbed a flying street ca phe and baguette breakfast and got on the bus to Dalat, a little town in the mountains, north of Saigon. Dalat almost doesn't feel like Vietnam, the climate here is much colder than the coast as Dalat is at the edge of the mountain spine that runs North to South through the country. It's the land of the flowers, strawberries and all sorts of other fruits which they dry for candy galore. All really good vegetables go into the yummy noodle soups, pho and bun, and a large variety of com- rice dishes. The artichoke is king, they make a really tasty tea out of the dried fat leaves, and they even make a couple of nice red wines, one quite liqueurous and the other one tasting of strawberries... Another Viet bizarre kick for the palate!
Surprised not, we had to hire the (in)famous tandem bikes to run around this garden of Eden, surrounded by lovely green pine forest and a beautiful lake, the waters provided by a reservoir uphill. We visited the Crazy House of the crazy architect wife of Ho Chi Minh right hand man, crazy indeed but lots of fun! Also in town there is a big relay tower that lit up at night looks like the Eiffel Tower and we even got invited by a drunken lawyer to one of the clubs which closed the day with a bit of Paris la nuit spirit... Check out the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603439207225/

Done the singing and the dancing, used up some of the electricity that comes from the nuclear reactor just at the edge of town, it was time to leave, further North and further on the Ho Chi Minh trail... Totally off the beaten track! Going through these green mountains. looking at the lush valleys bearing the signs of heavy bombing, tunnel digging activity, wide slashed and burnt areas, I tried to imagine the war that happened here. The roads are rough and dirt and through the steep mountains land slides often blocked us on the road for a few hours, but trucks and motorbikes didn't blink an eye over a bit of mud... and loaded to the max they rode through -no fear!
This incredible stamina of the Viet people easily shows how they managed to hold through the war even in this hard terrain! On the Ho Chi Minh trail we stopped over in the little town of Kom Tum. It is properly a Viet town, they are no tourist facilities here, only a couple of guest houses, very expensive and not interested in negotiating prices. Shy Viet people here see a maximum of 200 travellers per year, no one speaks English, so we had to unleash the phrasal book, a good dose of firm but patient temper and the best haggling skills in the world... With very little results!
We managed to negotiate to 'buy' a bicycle, as no-one would rent us one, for the same price of a russian tank, but then we opted to negotiate a motorbike ride with the Easy riders, but they would not barge one Dong down from their extortionate prices, which would have taken us all the way to Beijin... so we had to drop that option too! Instead we just strolled around town, tried to find a way to climb up that relay tower for a bit of fun, but there was too much barbwire... We walked through the market area, saying shy hellos to the locals pointing at us and giggling, had dinner with wild boar, dear and goat self-grilled at the table, sipped a couple of Saigon beers and had an early night, knowing that we would get woken up early by the Voice of Vietnam. In fact the next morning, bang on at 5am, the radio news started glaring out of hundreds of speakers in town... Nothing better than a bit of Viet propaganda as early wake up call, try that! Enjoy the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603435170684/

The land of Ratanakiri people

2009-11-12T16:17:00.000-08:00

Despite the heavy bombing of the seventies (or maybe thanks to) Cambodia has managed to keep some really beautiful areas untouched, as many unexploded ordens still lay around most of the Northen area at the border with Laos and to the East at the border with Vietnam. After a quick stop to the world famous World Heritage site of Angkor (check web pages for some world famous snaps, as my photoCD got corrupted...) the great empire symbolising the Golden Age of Cambodia, I made my way East to the Ratanakiri region.

Still populated by the indigenous tribes this jungle has been under heavy logging exploitation in the last decades, but strangely enough the government, although corrupted to the core, has managed to save some of the deep primary jungle around a beautiful fresh water crater lake and secluded waterfalls. Here I understood that the friendly and happy nature of Cambodian people is not just due to the fact that now they are finally free from dictatorship, free from conquerors' insurgencies, living a time of peace, enjoying a time of democracy and equality that doesn't involve names like comrades, a time when mama and papa have been re-instated at the centre of the family nucleus and where the children respect their grandparents, and these few survivors left from the Khmer Rouge era, can now enjoy their rest from forced labour.

Spending time with the Ratanakiri people I understood that their friendly and happy nature comes truly from within. Amongst them I felt so welcome! One morning I set off to the local market to get some breakfast and find some nibbles to take with me on the day: cycling to the crater lake and hunting for one of the many secluded waterfalls through the jungle. The women in the market adopted me like one of their children, sat me down with them and served me a big bowl of noodle soup. Then when they heard I was off for the day, they packed me some sweet sticky rice in palm leaves to take away with me. And as I was leaving another woman sewed me up a Krama, the local Cambodian scarf, and showed me how to wear it to protect myself from the heavy dust and exhaust fumes from trucks on the dirt roads.
Many of the hilltribes on route gave me directions to the crater lake and smiled posing for my pictures. Although we coulndn't communicate much with words, Ratanakiri people are probably the most friendly and helpful bunch in Cambodia, where these two qualities are a constant thread throughout: very special! This people have been living in contact with nature for centuries and have even survived the Khmer Rouge re-shuffling of people, regions and resources. They have maintained peace and harmony with nature and peace and harmony amongst them and with themselves. And they are friendly with visitors who show them respect and set in harmony with them, their culture and traditions, their land and their way of life.

Spending time with the Ratanakiri has been a reminder that friendliness and happiness is based on mutual respect and Cambodian people seem to have it very clear, by nature, something that we all have too, but we often forget... Prime example, here's another occasion I can tell you that shows the peace and harmony of Cambodian people.
Take Phnom Penh the last weekend of November when every year the population trebles, millions of people come from all over the country to the Water festival. And of course, I didn't miss it either.
For three days they watched and cheered the boats of their village racing on the Tonle Sap river in occasion of its change of course at the end of the rain season, when it returns to flow downstream into the Mekong river. It's a unique nature spectacle and a vital activity for the sustainability of most of interior rural areas of the country and Cambodian people celebrate it big time! For the whole weekend they strolled on the river front, improvised bbqs, camped up, played and laughed, chatted and rested, cheered and talked...and some celebrated the winning with some rice wine.
Considering there were more than 2 million people on the capital river front, it all went very peacefully in a very jolly and friendly vibe..
Peace and harmony is the key.
This was my last stop in Cambodia, the 30 day Visa run out and I made my way to the next country in Indochina, although I wish I could have stayed longer with the Khmer people... Thank you for your happy friendship!!
Here some photos for you, the Ratanakiri region.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603415122517/

& Phnom Penh Water Festival.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603613315189/

Peace and harmony to you all!

Helping the cambodian children

2009-11-12T16:13:00.000-08:00

In a far far land the other side of the planet, the lovely and cheerful people of Cambodia are busy rebuilding their country after the hardship of dictatorships, wars and genocides. Everyday when they get up from their wooden, corrugated iron and plastic sheets shacks it's a challenge but they have a smile of their faces, although they know another day starts with the task of making a little money for a bit of rice. So they set off to their little activities which will see them around the streets, the beach or the fields for the whole day, for that plate of rice. Who works the land, who grazes cattles, who cooks at the market stalls, who walks the streets or the beach selling postcards, sarons, or straw hats, who offers massage, pedicure and a nails job, who repairs shoes, who sells fried crickets and frog kebabs, who sings and play the Khmer violin, who passed by showing the result of mines mutilation asking for a little sympathy.

Who are these industious people of Cambodia? Well, most of them are kids: Cambodia is a very young country and the kids here start early, working since they are 4 or 5 years old, helping their family to put together a meal a day... What we know of kids of that age? Surely they should go to school and be allowed to play like we did when we were kids. But to be a kid as we know it it's a luxury in this part of the world.

So as work can't really be scrapped from the daily life, and school is not affordable out of their really skint budget, many organisations have started to support projects in the country to help the Cambodian children. And when you visit this beautiful land and are greeted by so many of these lovely smiling little faces everywhere, you too would be drawn to want to help them. To buy their little bracelets, their cute paper fish, their lovely paintings, and as they want to talk with you to learn more words in English, it is not difficult to end up sitting hours on a street curb or on the sea shore writing new words on the sand and making paper airplanes.

So I did, I volunteered my time and skills teaching English to about 30 kids who every day would be happily skipping to the Goodwill School in downtown Sihanoukville, on the South West coast of Cambodia. HelpTheCambodianChildren is a project started by Henrik, this big hearted man from Sweden who has opened the Small Hotel as a mean to support the project. Very popular with Swede tourists who enjoy their cuisine as well as the delicious Khmer specialities at the restaurant, the project gets a good stream of donations which has enabled Henrik to build the Goodwill School with a nice playground in the front: a little haven for the kids of Sihanoukville. They can get away from street selling for a few hours every day and come to the school where they can play and learn English. At times volunteers like me stop for a few weeks to help with the lessons and give some time off to the local teachers who also offer their volunteered help for their communities. Playing and learning are children's rights and we often take them from granted in our far far western societies, but here are a treat and a luxury of a few.

Visit the website www.helpthecambodianchildren.org and some of the other projects around Sihanoukville like the children painting classes and art gallery, a project on Serendipity beach www.artcambodia.org

HelpTheCambodianChildren enjoy their childhood and get an education.

See photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603250962708/

With the lovely Khmer people

2009-11-12T16:07:00.000-08:00

Here I am, at the lovely seaside town of Sihanoukville, on the South West coast of Cambodia. Cambodia is a lovely country! People are so hospital and always saying hello with a huge smile on their face as we Westerners pass by! And that's incredible if we only think what their recent history has taken them through... Starting from being the neighbouring country of Vietnam, many Vietkongs came to hide in Cambodia during the US war, and as a result, Cambodia was heavily carpet bombed too... And if that wasn't enough, the Khmer Rouge take over in April '75 sent the whole population out in the country to reverse to a communist model of agricultural based society, killed all capitalists, intellectuals and everyone belonging to the richer layers of society and massacred everyone that was even slightly suspected of being against the new system. Through massacres and high level of hierarchical control, the Khmer Rouge managed to empty out in mass exodus all cities and town, and created a society of labourers working in the rice fields (amongst all the unexploded mines...) for the benefit of the whole, hoping to become completely self-sufficient. Needless to say that this crazy idea didn't work, at the cost of millions of lives, leaving the country in fear of any other take over of worse effects, without anything to hang on that we know it: Buddhism was anheliated, money was banned, family values were suppressed to the only possible system that envisaged everyone equal as camarades... And after all this, Cambodian people are still waiting for justice, the country immersed in deep corruption as it is opening up to Western influences and foreign investment. But the Khmer people now can smile and be happy, finally in peace, they are taking life as it comes, looking at one day at the time, still so used to how it was when there was no tomorrow! I have been living with a Khmer family for over two weeks now and I put together a few photos of their everyday life. They are so nice to me and they have taken me in as part of the family: I stay at their shack for free, they cook me delicious meals everyday, and paying for these fabulous cuisine is my little contribution to their lovely hospitality. I also go through the homework with their kids and I love their spontaneity, so true and so honest. And there are so many kids in Cambodia, 40% of the population is under 18... due to the heavy hardship their fathers and grandfathers had been put through in the last three decades... The majority of the kids work, who's on the streets collecting cans and bottles, who's on the beach selling bracelets and small souvenirs, who's joined the arts projects and goes around selling the paintings, and all children are heavily exposed to sex explotation, which is strobgly punished in Cambodia, but with the police being so corrrupted, it is also easily bribed... So for the last couple of weeks I also joined a development project for the Cambodian children, promoting the value of education and working in a school teaching English, a very valuable asset in this part of Cambodia with many seaside resorts and more tourist coming to discover the beautiful coast. I will tell you all about the Goodwill school at helpthecambodianchildren.org in detail on my next blog...
Here below are the photos of lovely Sihanoukville: a day in the life of the sunny hospital Khmer people. And I even got invited to a school teacher's wedding for an insight of local celebrations! Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157603248398347/

In the mine fields

2009-11-12T15:31:00.000-08:00

I was in the beautiful land of Laos and for a couple of weeks I travelled amongst the lovely people of this stunning land, so green and so lush. Although the tuk tuk and touts always try to rip you off here and there, Laos is still not so geared for tourism so the few operators around are bound to try their chances on the few spots that they can take the tourists too... Infact the land in Laos is still largely covered by UXO (unexploded ordnance) from the 70's bombardments linked to the Vietnam war, and frankly if it hadn't been for this reason, Laos would have already lost half of its lush forests and green fields to land exploitation.
With this strong feeling in mind, I went around enjoying every minute of what is now and will soon no longer be, I mingled in with the locals, especially the older generations who still speak some French from pre-war colonisation. Lovely people considering what they have been going through: the hardship of heavy bombardments, famine, fear and misery, but now in peace they have been working hard to secure their children's future and they are happy with little, which is more than they had before: before there was no future. Now they share what they have: truly generous and strong believers. The families of the little guest houses where I stayed all were very hospital and took such good care of me: even when I left, they fed me and gave me supplies of bananas and sticky rice to take with me, and made a blessing ritual for me: tied up white strings around my wrists, blessed on the flame of their home shrine and send me off on the rest of my journey safely...

I visited the capital Ventiane, very French style, and chilled out on the nice riverside bungalows in the village of Vang Vieng. I spent the whole day tubing down the Nam Song river, and stopped in the old capital city of Luang Prabang, although a bit too tourist, more for the upmarket traveller... There the bigger hotels, restaurants and tour operators showed their true attachment to the hard currency, and it looks like they are profiting from both ends: the tourists and the locals. The most hit are the indigenous Hmong villages which get an ever ibcreasing troops of tourist every day, trodding around their little wooden houses on stilts, disrupting their customs and traditions and changing their day to day life, to the point that now it all revolves around selling small articrafts and the homemade whisky. I saw all this when I took a trip on the Mekong river, stopped at a whisky village on the way to the cave of the Thousand Buddhas. The ecotour companies avoid visiting these villages but I think I got lucky to see one of the last ones, as they will soon disappear. In fact the tourist never buy anything there as too overpriced, they rather buy from the shops in town which are ripping the villagers off by negotiating dirt low prices through their buying power, ripping off the villagers and then the tourist on the other side... I enjoyed the trip on the Mekong, the life stream of all Indochina region, it's the 12th biggest river in the world. Back in town I was noticing the many CD and DVD stalls crowed with kids on the running mopeds and shining mobile phones. The Lao new generations is growing with modern TV, internet and telecommunications all readily available from the advanced era we are living in, although not so spread over as in Thailand yet. Their joviality and happy smiles seem they all are totally oblivious of their recent history. As many of them only reach secondary school at best, it is if they give some time to the temples that they can study further, or once they work and already have a family that they might see the need or interest for further studies, and many now want to learn English and the national heritage to become tourist guides. In the huge struggle of cleaning the land from the UXO, the time for change is still far away and it is still possible to see the old trenches and where some of the big bombs where found and detonated. I visited the Plane of Jars, where there are hundreds of these giant stone jars all laying around the countryside, once used to collect the homemade whisky and possibly used later by the locals to hide from the bombs flying from the sky and even to hide dead Vietkongs apparently... A part from the local legends that we will never confirm, it has been quite a surreal experience, trying to imagine the sheer ordeal that the Lao people had to suffer those decades... After this cold and desolated area I felt like a bit of treat and so went back to Luang Prabang and tried to avoid the very luxurious area and the tourist traps and to my surprise I manage to find another nice little guesthouse where the Kheo family took me in and made me feel so welcome, I will never forget them. We went to the market and bought lots of different portion of various dishes, already cooked off corse, the Lao ladies are great chefs, and we also got some meat kebabs and birds on sticks (as I call them) and we ate the whole family together. There I remembered the true heart of people is shown in the simplicity of their life and the simple acts of everyday, like a meal and chat together around the table.

Enjoy the photos of Laos , as usual on www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets

Unfortunately I only had a short stay as I was due to meet friends in Bangkok who never showed up in the end, but that's another story. I am looking forward to close the circle of my travels around Indochina by passing through Laos once again, so hopefully I'll write more stories on this beautiful forbidden (to walk around!) but yet so welcoming land!

Tarot cards or carrot tarts?

2009-08-15T12:14:00.001-07:00

Sun, 04 Oct 2007 16:30:41 GMT

This is the question!..

It was Jim, he offered to do it for me…

So I did it: I had my first tarrot reading, full spread…

I met Jim as I was sipping a cup of delicious immortality tea in 'Good Life' cuscioned chill-out area and we clicked straight away (…not in that way!)

We started talking and withing seconds the conversation was on my favorite topics: life, the world and the universe! Existencialism is a complicated subject, especially if we bring in references from different cultures, traditions and religions or even just personal beliefs. And ultimately we engage in this kind of conversations because we want to know where we are in our path to getting to knoe and understand ourselves, each other, the meaning of life, to see the big picture, if there is one, to understand what we are doing, what we want to do, how to live happy. Deep? Yes, so deep and complicated that often we ditch these topics and we rather live unaware of what we are living for, stuck in our little realities of every day 'life'. But some of us want to know the answers to those questions, so vital! Many people have found quick and easy ways to get answers, like getting a palm reading, a star chart, ask a fortune teller, or ask the tarot cards… They will tell you all you want to know: explain the past, reveal the present, unveil the future about yourself, your family, friends, love, money, career, all aspects of life as we know it! It always sounded a bit too simplistic and easy for me. Anyway, resistence was futile, and although I promised myself I would not believe a single word and I swore not to be influenced by any devil, witch or hanging man cards, I got another cup of immortality tea and sat with Jim in front of my carefully picked full spread of cards, ready for the revelation. Jim explained calmly all the cards one by one. My first one was the very positive 8 of sticks/clubs straight up, followed by the devil card upside down, meaning potential unsuccessful outcome:' Up to you' Jim said.

That is what it all comes down to, basically: up to me! After more than forty cards in the spread, all the 8 numbers came out, really positively strong, a lot of dinar/diamonds cards, meaning wealth, spiritual wealth for me, which I am looking forward to gaining more of. The Hermits came out, meaning the hermit and that other card which looks like the Hermit but it's a Templar, number 11, the strength, scary cards especially as they were upside down.. The Hangman upside down was a bit of a relief card, then two knights representing the romantic loves of my life, and then it all spiralled through some rather gloomy future cards which displayed a large number of high cups/hearts and a pauper leaving it all behind for a life of loneliness to reach the higher status of the last goal the High Priestess. That was my last card!

So, here we go… I knew it, it was all going to be disappointing. I knew the cards would have given me unbelievable and meaningless answers.

Yet the cards spoke clearly: the 8 of sticks is my success card. It means I have full strength and capability although I will need to build some more knowledge on the way, to reach the goals I have set out for myself in this life. Or it will be failure (the Devil card) and I won't be able to break away from my current Karma. This depends on my willingness and strengths to stay focused on my ultimate goal and not fall into temptations, it sounds all very apocaliptic, right?!

I can explain: as I have become aware of what I want to do in life, what makes me happy, my dream of happiness is my goal. So sails up, the wind is blowing in my favour, let's sail on towards the horizon to that big ball of fire that is stretching its rays out to me like beams of energy to reach out to its heart and feel its warm embrace of love, powerful universal love that gives me blissful happiness.

There is only one problem which might stant in the way of me breaking away from my current karma and reach my goal of love and happiness: love, exactly!

I tried to brainstorm over this with Jim. Jim is 45 and has a wealth of knowledge on the philosophy of being, living, karma, chakras, energy, body healing and Buddhism, in fact he is looking to become a monk in the near future. We agreed that in the quest for universal love, individual/romantic love is the first stop and also a big distraction, as it might become the only stop and that is quest over. What to do? By connecting to the universal energy, one becomes highly charged with love, which should mean universal love. It is however a very hard task to stay connected to this universal energy as the feeling of universal love is overwhelming. The realisation that all is one, that we are in everyone and everything around us and that in turns everything and everyone, people and nature, all is part of us, and as we have love for ourselves, then we love everything and everyone and that loves us too. It's an incredible feeling of love so highly charged that when we manage to connect to it, the feeling of happiness is bliss, the sense of calm and peace is so fulfilling and yet for me so thin I am not able to unsustain the connection for more than a few seconds. Jim says it is because at one level we are humans and reaching out to this higher level is almost unbelievable, it is not part of our reality as we know it, so when we disconnect we are left with a feeling of 'did that really happen?'. However it is so strong that we believe that it how we should feel, but on another level we can't fit it logically into our realities, 'too good to be true'. People engaging in full meditation often in complete isolation manage to reach this level on a regular basis and it is ource of great joy and fulfillment for them, the loneliness of their life is completely justified in the light of this ultimate happiness they experience.

Deep down I also know that universal love is the key to existence, my existence at least, but it is so hard to apply it in practice. In this 'real' life we are faced with people and situaltions that come across as a threat and our fear prevents us from loving, which stops the stream of energy to and from the universal source. The opposite is also just as disruptive. Our feelings of preference, liking and loving, specially focused on some people ans situations makes us discriminating and selective which prevents our love energy to embrace everything and everyone to connect to universal love.

The cards explain this concept in very practical terms. My current karma of love, which has always been the very driving force of my life, or lives if you believe in reincarnation. Unfortunately I have come to realise that individual love is not the love that brings me happiness, in fact this love has always been the reason of great disappointment. Hence the only way to break away from this karma is to find another way to reapply my love, by taking it to the highest level, to its fullest meaning. The cards say it straight: I have understood the essence of my life, love is the key, I am aware of my karma and I have made a conscious decision to break away from it and in this life I have the chance to success. The time is right as long as I keep focused on the universal love. This is quite clear to me, a part from the logistics of it. How can I apply all this whilst living in a world of terrain 'temptations' like individual love, like preferences and prejudices, like praises and criticisms???

Jim said that in theory by loving with universal love the world and humanity will respond back the same, just with overwhelming intensity to give totalk blissful happiness! It sounds fantastic, it all has to start from me then: if I love with the power of universal love, I will get love back to the pwer of million zillions from all creation, which would be blissful happiness!

I can barely grasp this concept, but it feel true, I just need to fully focus on it and believe in it. Here I am then, logged the new coordinates on my live navigator, I set off on this new direction, really excited but also quite scared that I might have to face the challenge of loneliness to reach the High Priestess. She's our intuition, our link to the universal consciousness and represents the divine feminine. I can hear her calling me, telling me 'Trust your instincts, they're always right, but watch out for emotional insecurity' -which is what makes me cuddle up to individual love every time.

The cards said exactly all that, but then they are only tarot cards or carrot tarts for donkeys who don't know their way and they need to be led. Like the obvious lines of the daily horoscope: read it in the morning and you'll try and make it happen, read it in the evening and you'll try and fit your day into it. I think I will just listen to my heart and keep on the road that makes me feel happy the most: my quest for universal love keeps rolling on… Wish me luck... and send me your comments, suggestions, feedback, much appreciated -THANKS!

And after this heavy brainstorming, to soothe your mind take a look at the photos of Steve and I snorkelling on the beautiful Thai island of Koh Pha Ngan... These are the kind of temptations I am faced with... what are my odds??!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157602379079368/

The magic spell

2009-08-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, me too, I have been to the magic land of Pai as well. Obviously!

I wanted to feel the magic of the place everyone raves about! And a few drops of its potent potion left a big mark on me too -and I am not talking about the popular scars from moped accidents…

And yes, I too ended up staying longer than planned, here's how…

One night out my drink was spiked and after being sick I passed out in a bar for a few hours, missed the whole of the jammin' sessions and when I woke up I realized all my 'friends' had left me there together with the bill to pay. There was no time to explain to the 'smiling' barmaids that I had not enough money to pay for all due and that I actually just woken up and hadn't even had a sip, there was not time to even mention -IDEA!: I would just go around the corner and get some more money to pay, but no, no time to explain anything before the three Thai graces swapped smile for fury and dragged me by the hair outside the bar and started to kick my head in. Luckily a couple of staggering drunk Farangs came out the bar not too long after I was rolling on the floor bleeding already and managed to take me away from the kicks not after being coerced into paying that bill as my ransom.

So, here's my reason for staying longer, I needed the extra days to recover a bit from the shock in front of the unnecessary fury, a bit from a few ugly bruises and I am still recovering from a deep sense of disappointment… But hey, it's THE GAME: you are meant to be wacked out enough to NOT question the rules, if fair, illogical or even real…

And if you are not wacked out enough, they make you... Happy days!

W democracy, freedom & justice! (Sorry, I lost it there for a minute... I must still feel the effects of that whatever they put in my drink...)

OK! You all know I am totally against generalizations, but if I had any doubts about it before, now I find it even harder to look at that smile and feel it real anymore. Don't you love a bit of magic spell every so often? Especially of the kind that makes you see the truth, although we all know the truth hurts, tell me about it, ouch!! Your pick… spellbound for me!

The land of smiles... still real?

2009-08-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks in Thailand I was forced into an obvious revision lesson on world development. As a reference, let's take small towns like Pai: village size Pai north-west of Chiang Mai, near the border line with Myanmar (Burma). Needless to say that its peace and tranquility is seeked by many travelers who are looking to escape the more touristy Thailand to find its true essence, away from the money driven mentality that is hidden behind that smile: the smile that attracted mass tourism in the first place. Everyone arriving in Pai immediately falls in love with the green paddy rice fields and the tranquility of this sleepy town which wakes up at dusk to the sound of bongos and guitars ready for the live jammin' sessions at the many bars all around the town grid. Perfect for the hippies who found this place already some years ago and already have their bungalows expanding into guest houses, married the locals and sell weed to send the kids to school. A large number of drop-outs or as it seems dazed and confused people is also 'living' here, where the booze is cheap, drugs readily available and sex on the silver plate. This breed had come initially to escape the mass tourism of Goa and Phuket, to chill out and think, to make that important decision in life, to fight their addiction, etc. Pai is that place where you can stop, take your time and make that change in life, apparently. Some people even come here to prepare for Buddhist retreats in the temples up in the hills, to get ready to embrace meditation and isolation for months, even years… See?! Pai is that special place where people feel the magic in the air and stay that one more day, like travelers forever leaving the next day, like drop-outs who are now addicted to Pai, and it can happen to anyone, before they know they find themselves with a kid in their arms on the bus to the closest immigration border on a mission for a permanent stay visa. So what about my lesson on development? Well, so far nothing new: it is the same story as everywhere else, the same development model seems to happen here too. Nice and tranquil village contaminated by the arrival of foreign tourism, lured the locals with the smell of easy bucks to dream big money, set up the perfect environment where tourist come for a few days and end up staying much longer. How? As per demand, giving the tourist what they want: peace and tranquility, some outdoor activities and night entertainment: sex, drugs and rock & roll… all cheap and readily available, and the authorities close an eye or two, and it's all done with a smile. That smile that was the joyful symbol of Thailand and that now feels increasingly deceiving.

Anyway, it's progress they want, it's globalization we love, or don't we? The smokers are happy to find their favorite brand of long papers, the drinkers happily consume the local beer with some chasers of that internationally recognized Swedish firewater… And anything else if obtainable, just for a 'small fee'… Everything is for sale!

The local girls are (very) happy with the 'Farangs' (foreigner) boys hard cash and they would even befriend Farang girls to offer their services along to their friends, and off course hands off the local boys…What a fascinating game… obviously when playing away, the ball is in their corner! A totals win-win local full hand! That's the game, and if it so evident in tranquil Pai, I leave you to imagine how it is all over Thailand. Game on, the tourist don't really care, inebriated by the 'tranquility' overdose, they keep the ATMs busy and the game goes on and nobody questions if it is fair, logical, or even real, under the illusion they are living the Thai hidden dream!

So to sum up my development lesson in two words: same same. This model is just as unsustainable as everywhere else, who made their money from the budget travelers are moving up the ladder catering for the higher paying tourist, bigger guesthouses, air-con bungalows around swimming pools, restaurants with continental menus, and who made their money selling fruit shakes and samsong buckets on the street is now opening sport bars and discos offering with complimentary shots of that famous stolen Cuban rum. the higher paying tourist will demand 'more' tranquility and the authorities will have to tighten controls on the sex, drugs and rock & roll… The tranquility of these small towns as we know will be no longer, by selling its soul, Pai will loose its magic, like the rest of Thailand and the game will soon be over.

Oh well, like the Buddhist say: it's all an illusion anyway….

And this was only a revision lesson: we have seen it happen all before, we (should) know it already...

Bangkok... everything goes!

2009-08-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Sat, 23 Sep 2007 14:21:00 GMT

Here I am... landed in Bangkok three weeks ago and I am still a bit jaded... culture shock hit me again! From total chaos mayhem India, Bangkok seems very chilled out and relaxed to me... but everyone's saying is crazy, with mad traffic and lots of pollution??!!! Am I missing something??!
Well... three days into it I realized the meaning of crazy Bangkok: staying downtown Banglumphu and doing the Khao San road for a few nights in a row and then it all becomes crazy as hell... buckets of taste-alike RedBull & Samson Thai whisky (or is it Rhum?!...), rivers of Chang beer and flying plates of Thai green curries and bowls of Pat Thai noodles, tuc tuc races on route to ladyboys discos and ping pong shows... raggae tip terrace jammin allnighters and it all ends well into the morning hours when everyone's crawling along the Khao San road singing Hotel California sipping huge jugs of green tea... Crazy! Well, sign of a good time!!!

So, after a few days of Bkk night life, I had to re-adjust my look to blend in the thousands travellers around Thailand... so got some dredlocks and some non-sleeves T-shirts... so happy to be able to get my legs and my arms out in the sun after the 'dress code restrictions' of India!!! Fully into the travellers' mode, I organised myself a bit of a job to cover basic expenses like food & board. I am doing some freelance translations for a network of organisations working against child sex exploitation, Cool! I am reading and translating a lot of interesting text on this major problem in Thailand! As the work is all online, I have managed to leave 'the mayhem" of Bangkok and I have gone north near the boarder with Burma, north of Chiang Mai. I have tried to mix in with the hippies out there in Pai, little town in the middle of low rise jungle, mango and papaya plantations, and paddy rice fields!!! My nu dredz are really working well here &... cool dude-ess me!! But I don't think I passed the test completely because they don't understand why I eat so much fruit & go running early morning...!!??? Healthy/detox I explain... but they are happy their daily bar crawling exercise... hippies, eh!!

As I am thinking I must get rid of these dredlocks, look good but I don't think I fit the hippy profile, they are slowly undoing on their own already, and I will have my long flowing blonde hair back soon again!
For now: take a look at the Bangkok photos, link here below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157602057293223/

Bye India... and thanks!

2009-08-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:14:33 GMT

Many thanks India!
Just over three months have gone past since I arrived here end of May and my time in India has come to an end already!!! It has been a wonderful time: packed with many travels, adventures, mind blowing experiences, strong emotions, vivid sensations, intense feelings, big dreams...
FULL ON! And all framed in the stunning Indian landscapes and spiced up with the warmth and friendly vibe of the zillions Indian people!!!
India has really blown me away! Taking time to know the country has been such an eye opener. I met countless number of people, some really inspiring characters, I had many enlightening conversations, I have approached some very interesting topics, increased my awareness, deepened my spirituality, enhanced my sensitivity and I managed to reach up to some complicate philosophical concepts on my favorite topics: life, the world and the universe, people and love…
I feel my life has been lifted up to a higher state of consciousness, yet again!
Many thanks India & goodbye… until my next visit!
I will be back for more...!
On the way out I stopped in Bangalore, modern city of computer softwares: the new Sylicon Valley. And I spent a weekend in Goa... although off season, no mayhem of big rave parties that Goa is famous for, but I still managed to boogie the night away with the goan party people and enjoyed the lovely and chilled white sand beaches, palm trees and the nice sound of waves of the Arabian Sea...
Here below the link to the last photos from India...
Bangalore
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601857812168/
Goa
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157602046081004/

Many thanks to L-Ramp @RIN -Project work IIT Madras

2009-08-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Assignment at L-Ramp /RIN, Chennai, India
July-Sep.2007
MESSAGE to L-Ramp/RIN:
Time to sum up… thank you!
I would like to thank you all very much for the opportunity you have given me to work at L-Ramp.
It has been a very valuable experience for me and it has given me a lot of inspiration for my future direction.
In fact, the web of opportunities in development work is often so thick that it is hard to choose the right direction, the right path.
When I came to L-Ramp I had a clear goal: to gain more work experience in development strategy and practice applying financial and business consultancy in the development sector. Now, after two months of exciting activities with the Lemelson – Recognition & Mentoring Program, I have been exposed to such innovative and creative thinking that my approach to the direction I have taken in life has been 'innovated' and has grown tremendously together with the skills and expertise I have gained at the project.
Working with innovations is probably the most exciting of all jobs! It is working in the future to make it the present: constantly projecting visions, ideas and solutions from thoughts into reality! I have had two months of full immersion in this ingenious environment and I feel it has enriched me very much. It has given me greater heights of optimism, stronger belief in realization, higher capacity to rely on first instincts, and a striving effort for vision and focus on what I want to achieve in the future.
My direction has come that bit clearer and I have a better focus on my dream now! The road to social entrepreneurship is not the easiest but definitely the most rewarding of all!
I would like to thank everyone at the project very very much for the friendship and the great support. I have thoroughly enjoyed the task of re-assessing the innovations screening process. It has given me a great insight of all the factors that come into the equation when assessing the viability of an innovation.
I feel L-Ramp faces some great challenges of growth and the need to choose the future focus and direction is a matter that involves the organization as well as its members as a whole, and I can see the importance of this challenge!
There is a very clear asset at RIN/L-Ramp: the organization is made by many bright individuals, some with extensive experience in the field, some with great strive for growth, some with great vision of direction!
I have full faith that the amazing people of L-Ramp and RIN will take the organization forward through the next challenges reaching greater heights of social enterprising success!
I wish you all at L-Ramp & RIN the strength and focus to face the exciting challenges ahead and to keep reaching higher steps towards personally satisfying and socially rewarding goals! All the best!
Here below are some photos of the MyIdea awards at the program.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601117085723/

The mountains of Toda people

2009-08-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:09:32 GMT

In the mountains ot the southern spine of India, chilly Ooty is perfect to escape the heat of the Indian summer! A pleasant 25 degrees during the day, although better have a jacket for the evening as temperature drops to 5 degrees. It really is a nice reminder of the Himalayas climate: lovely mountains, green forest: that's where the local indigenous Toda people still live, in their tubular shaped houses, they cook in thick smoke and herd the roudy buffalos all day chilling in these green mountains...
In a group of 10 exchange students from IIT, I joined in and spent the weekend in these lovely mountains and even went on the trail of elephants and tigers in the near by Mudumalai national Park... Take a look at the photos, although no tigers I am afraid... there are only 50 in this park, and well hidden, as the locals shoot them if they approach their farms, in fear of loosing a goat or two!!
Link below-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601873448030/

Independence Day -16th August

2009-08-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:08:48 GMT

In India it's a big day the 15th August: celebrations to commemorate Independence are taken seriously and everyone has a little India flag attached somewhere on clothes, hair and sarees. Whilst touring the interior areas of the Kerala state, I found myself increasingly happy and relaxed: the hills are enterily covered by tea plantations and all looks so GREEN in Munnar!!! Green is the happy feel colour, I have heard!
Women work in the fields and colour the green fields with spots of orange and yellow and pink of their lively sarees! It's a really soothing sight!
A little further in the mountains and the landscape changes into low forest and wild rugged land, it's a natural reserve: The Chinnar & Indira Gandhi wildlife park is located in a very secluded part of the country and it is almost incredible there are very few people living in this area... truely a special treat to escape the crowds and the chaos of everywhere in India! The park is hosting tigers and cheetas, but they are very difficult to see... as not very many are left! Anyhow, it was a special day ain the hills of South India: enjoy the photos of Munnar & Chinnar! (link below)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601866542152/

The Vedic Land

2009-08-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:08:14 GMT

What better than a nice treat in the vedic land of Kerala for my birthday!
Yes! Thousands of tourist flock here every year to leave it all behind and relax with the famous Ayurvedic massages, a bit of tropical beach life in Varkala, a few days on the houseboats along the quiet backwaters in Allepey, delicious hot and spicy fish and seafood curries along the Kochi seafront...
Kerala in a nutshell: stunning place... Enjoy the photos, links here below!
Varkala beach
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601758740006/
Allepey -Backwaters
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601858794090/
Kochi -the Venice of India
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601859444620/

To the very south of India

2009-08-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:28:24 GMT
Can't go more South than this in India... Kanya Kumari is the very southern tip of the India subcontinent, and it is the point where the Indian Ocean meets with the Arabian Sea. They say on specific days it's possible to see sunrise at sea on one side and moon set at sea on the other, that must be stunning!
Well, not for us as we missed our stop, still asleep on train at 6pm, an hour after Nagercoil where we should have got off, so by the time we got back it was almost ehm.. lunchtime!
Lovely Kanyakumary, it's a little touristy village, strong winds and strong waves, we still had a go and paddled in carefully! Colourful seashells and green coconuts everywhere gave it a real taste of seaside resort, with the excitement to think we were at lands end, the farthest South of India! Enjoy the photos...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601739861096/

Fun fun fun in Madurai

2009-08-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:27:35 GMT
Here's another weekend full of adventures, spiritualism and fun: seeing the sites and meeting the locals...
I went to Madurai for work on the Friday, for meeting together with my colleague and the head of Department of Chemistry at the TCE college, an innovator of cheaper & more effective dressing pads for wounds, especially addressed to diabetes patients. Really interesting indeed!!! And we even managed to meet an entrepreneur who would be willing to make a prototype of the pads for testing and then take them to commercialisation! At L-Ramp we are organising the incubation program from next month. Exciting!
In the evening Mathieu from the IIT exchange program came to Madurai and we had a great weekend sightseeing all around! Madurai is very chaotic city about 10 hrs south of Chennai, in the interiors. The temple is very famous and really pretty, and a lot more chilled out than the Tirumala colosso... We spent about three hours inside the temple, checking out all the shrines, paintings, statues, figurines, even got a blessing on the forehead and jasmine flowers for my hair from this lady who wanted to sell me anklelets and would not take no for an answer, bless her too! She was so nice: she told us to go and see the blessing elephant-ess, and Mathieu got blessed, although it cost him 10 rupees for the photo in the process...
Then we went to the main market: first the tailors and then we got lost amongst the fruit&vegs... really friendly people all wanting snapshots! A quick rest in the Maharaja derelict palace and then off in the rain in the rickshaw to the Gandhi memorial where we spent about 2 hours reading the whole story of India, the Mughals, the English, the struggle for Independence and the fascinating story of Gandhi... really inspired, we called it a day and went for a beer and some really tasty Tamil Nadu specialties: south Indian food is definitely delicious! Here are some photos to top up the tales:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601541491248/
Overnight we traveled another 7 hrs more South in sleeper class on the train to Kanya Kumari, or Cape Comorin... all the way to the most Southern tip of India... next story!

Mama beach weekend

2009-08-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:26:41 GMT
Weekend on the beach! Yes, this was a nice and chilled time spent with some of the European exchange students from IIT Madras.
Mahaballipuram or Mahallapuram, or Mamallapuram... --or Mama for those who like me will take the whole weekend to learn this name-- this lovely little fishing village only an hour south of Chennai is home of some fine stone carving art, imposing temples carrved in rocks, great fish and seafood, and many kids from the orphanages in town, befriending and playing with the tourists more for fun and amusements... than for a few coins, I thought... Lovely time! Enjoy the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601746574013/

The Tirumala Experience

2009-08-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:25:10 GMT
Whilst doing project work, I still had all the weekends off, so I made sure to visit the surrounding areas. The first weekend I spent it in the old French colony of Pondicherry, about 4 hours south of Chennai on the coast (see blog "A taste of France on the Bay of Bengal"), for the anniversary of the French revolution on the 14th of July.
The weekend after I went 4 hours north instead, into the state of Andhra Pradesh, to visit the biggest Hindu complex on the holy hills of Tirumala.
You should all try the Tirumala experience, it is something... crazy!!!
This massive temple complex is the most important pilgrimage centres in India and in the world: some say even bigger than Rome, Mecca and Jerusalem... Devotes are never less than 5,000 at any one time, around a 100,000 people per day. They come to visit the temple of Venkateshwara, dedicated to Vishnu.
In the pictures you can see a lot of people with freshly shaven heads, it is common to offer the hair to Vishnu and here there are hundreds of barbers who will get you ready for this. And the merchandising and trading that goes on all around this holy site, just confirms the really deep faith of millions of pilgrims who come to Tirumala.
Here is the photos link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601536909806/
Although no camera or mobile phones are allowed inside and along the kilometre long corridors enclosed in caged walls and barred gates there are two very strict block posts to go through metal detectors and body search... We took a VIP entry that cost 100 rupees to shorten the queue and from a 4 hr one we only queued for an hour… Yes I know, madness…! But the worse was that we were stuck in these caged corridors with people pushing impatiently forward and chanting Hindu cantilenas! And for an hour! Then we finally got into the temple and we stayed inside only about 15 minutes, horded around in strict queues again through the shrines by lots of security staff, not possible to stop anywhere, till we got crushed in the queues for the exit, piled up in front of the gates until there were enough people to make a Mexican wave out by the inertia: like the forward push of a horde of bulls… it really felt we were treated like animals, but then I guess there was no other way. In the temple there was no worshiping going on, as no one could stop, people were giving a quick flying 10 rupees donation for the devasthanams (the priests) to burn some incense for them, no stopping allowed for praying, people jumping up on the Vishnu statues to insert coins into the gaps of the golden brass figurines, and loud chanting sounded almost like being at the stadium… It was crazy, a big mass of chaotic religious madness, on the verge of fanatism! You have to be there…!

IIT Madras

2009-08-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:24:17 GMT
Life in the campus! This is where I am based, here in Chennai. Project work at the L-Ramp office is located inside the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) so it's campus life, back to being a student. The campus is geared to cater for all needs, there is even a hospital inside, but no booze bar, just a couple of coffee bars. Sports are really important, so there is a swimming pool, a gym, athletic stadium, badminton ground, tennis, etc... All around the department of studies there is a forest and many green open fields: it's a little oasis in the concrete chaos of Chennai! Dears graze free all around and there are millions of monkeys too: they like more people oriented areas, like the student halls, where they come and steal clothes hanging and take them for ransom in exchange for bananas!!! Cheeky monkeys!!
I had a fabulous time here at the campus, I met Sheebha and Swati who have been my friends since day one, filled me in with lots of tips on Indian life style, North and South differences, and they have been very supportive, thanks very much!!! Swati has now gone to an assignment in Pune (near Mumbai) so it was sad to see her go, but best of luck!! Sheebha is leaving today (end of august) after 2 months of also being my work colleague! She has invited me to her wedding in the next few months!!!
Well, here are some photos for you to get a taste of campus life!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601607879852/
P.S. ah yes... Sheebha and Swati dressed me up in a saree one evening... and they did my make-up, styling and covered me in jewllery, just like a doll!!!

To destination... Chennai

2009-08-15T11:49:00.001-07:00

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:23:17 GMT
Arrived in Chennai... on schedule, 06-07-07! After 27 hours straight on the train from Mumbai across India West to East, here I got to the capital of Tamil Nadu, the most southern state on the East coast. This is going to be my hometown for a couple of months: I have organised project work out here, so first thing: getting acquainted with my new town! Sightseeing around was a real challenge: the traffic's crazy!!! Chennai is probably the loudest and most dangerous city in India: everyone drives with a hand on wheel and one on the horn, always... and I mean ALWAYS!!! It's pure madness, it gets anyone CRAZY and absolutely drained in a few hours... Pollution is the highest I have seen after Delhi, and there is not a chance to spot any tarmac by the sheer amount of vehicles on the road, each one driving at an inch away from one another....!!! Incredible! No wander rickshaw drivers are insane... or alcoholics...!!! Still we trust them, no choice really and pile-up at the rate of 4 or 5 people in them, with record numbers of 8, still all alive... but definitely lost a few screws in there!!!
Well, charming city then, but yet I have managed to take some snapshots to show you my favorite spots in town: the big and very colourful Dravidian temple and the lively Elliot beach...
I also went to a Friends of Live Earth gig over the weekend: local Southern Indian instrumental musical performances, which attracted a few fans and curious characters: an interesting day. I could almost feel the high voltage /electricity/ tension running through the air, maybe as the connection wire across continents... or maybe as the rich spiritual meaning of the day itself: it was Saturday 07/07/07... 7 being the holy number in India: 7 holy rivers, 7 holy cities, I was thinking: the 7 wonders of the world... what do you think? Chennai photo set here below. http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601112663832/

Bombay - Mumbai

2009-08-15T11:40:00.001-07:00

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 08:29:10 GMT

Do you remember my quick note on the 3rd July ‘07 “Entering monsoon zone”?

Wanted to post you some pictures, but the internet connection here is a bit doggy, and with the rain it's wet everywhere and I am risking to get electrocuted every letter I type... will try from Bombay tomorrow. There it stopped raining 2 days ago and the half metre of water in the streets is slowly going down... I might have to get a canoe around town: FUN! Happy summer time! -END-

Well… it was SuNNy in Mumbai!!! How lucky was that! In full monsoon season I manage to escape yet another time the big heavy wash outs!

So I had a great time sightseeing around the modern city, formerly called and still known worldwide as Bombay: home of Bollywood, Bombay mix and happening nightlife! It’s really huge, but spread out from north to south, so it is very easy to travel by bus and lots of fun too, got stuck in with the city crowds!

Take a look at the pictures of this great metropolis like no other in India!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157601114120213

NOTE:

I want to say a special hello to Lisa from NZ: I hope you are well Liz! We met at the Samaritans hostel (dorms there are the cheapest place to stay in Mumbai, because otherwise is very expensive for any budget traveler)

Lisa told me about her fascinating experience volunteering two months for the Mother Theresa organization in Calcutta (Kolkhata)! But she was caught in the middle of two directions, going home feeling a bit homesick and to face a family problem or staying a few months more, brace the elements, show strength and do some more volunteering in India…? Fighting this state of mind and churning it all inside to find the right answer, what she should do… she was emotionally fragile and weak health-wise: another example of how the body works as an alarm bell when we are unable to find our soul: it makes us stop, think, recover and decide hopefully towards direction of happiness!

Best of luck, Lisa! I hope you have managed to find your direction…

FoLLow thAt DReaM…

Rajastan spice of life

2009-08-15T11:38:00.001-07:00

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 11:00:38 GMT
On the beautiful shores of Lake Pichola, I spent a few chilled out days, fully soaking in the tranquillity of the nice and peaceful Udaipur.
Paintings of Rajastani figurines on the white walls in town, the main temple beautifully carved, the city palace in the old town overlooking the lake, the lively ghats on the quiet water shores: all was immersed in the smell of rich spices, shining of colourful silk sarees and the calming effects of the magic slow pace of Rajastani life.
Enjoy the snaps around town:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600921168297/

A day with da kidz in da streetz

2009-08-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:13:55 GMT

Fascinating Jodhpur: the blue city has a hidden precious corner. Right in the heart of the town, the old town inside the old walls, small winding roads hide away a million little workshops where industrious Rajastani tradesmen are busy everyday painting, sewing, cooking, typing, ironing, welding, rubbing, cutting, melting, cleaning, locking, pulling, repairing, and still find time to keep an eye out on the street and on the life slowly passing by them. And I went past them they would smile and 'well-come' me to see their work and explain to me all techniques behind... how to make bangles melting and bending round shapes of a root compound, how to brew a good masala chai, how to apply the stitched technique to make, scarves, etc... Despite the burning hell hot temperatures, sticky dusty and drenched humid climate, Jodhpur call is strong and clear, simple irresistible!
In the mid morning hours I was strolling lazily around the little hidden streets when I turned the corner and I saw these two kids who were one helping the other one, pulling him out from underneath a market stall... What was going on?? But before I knew the answer to that question, the kids saw me and started running towards me, dragging a white big plastic bag full of other plastic bags, paper and cardboard. They were 'recycling' material collectors, of the packaging left overs from markets and shops.
Usually kids and women with young kids do this job in the streets, not employed of course, it's the informal sector, self job creation which earns them enough to buy some dahl and chapatti for meal a day, the equivalent of 50 euro cents.
In a second they were all over me, spinning me around, singing and laughing... We talked for a bit, I mean: they only spoke Rajastani, but they understood my two words in Hindi to say my name is -what's your name? The little girl was Puja and the boy was something very long I could only say half way through so we agreed on the name Raj! And that took about 10 minutes, they were so lovely! As soon as they saw my camera, they wanted to have a picture taken... they love seeing themselves on a screen, it's like being on tv I guess! Then they pulled me towards the market and run across these black planks of wood over a filthy mushy puddle (I wouldn't want to guess what liquid substance was exactly), and I realised they were bear feet, jumping on the hot surface, even they were used to walking bear feet..
Here we go, time for a treat, we took a detour to the sandals stall and we got a nice pair of flip-flops each: they choose for themselves! Then off course I noticed everything else, really poor clothes and dirty outlook... So we went off to the clothes stalls and started shopping for t-shirts. Off course we could not really communicate much, but we seem to get along with signs and pointing out things, and the market stall man was really nice and helped me out in the translation. Turned out that Raj wanted a T-shirt with a motorbike with instead he got this orange bright t-shirt with the wrestling stars... Puja had very clear ideas of what she wanted. She hated her ugly t-shirt, she didn't want a new T-shirt, she wanted a dress! So she choose a nice white flowers and purple spotted dress, looking really happy for it! I thought perhaps they should have tried the items to check the size, but they refused as they were really dirty!
Hence, we had to get clean! Off we pass by Vicky's shop, he does the omelettes the best in all Jodhpur, even if he's not mentioned in the LP guide like the shop in front!), we bought a soap and we got directions for the closest tank, only a few minutes away! There Puja and Ra, and another of their friend (or relative) we met on the way, jumped into the water, got soaped up from head to feet, including the hair! Half an hour later the soap finished so they thought they were clean enough, got out of the water and got dressed in their new clothes, totally a different look! Nice one! Walking back we met Vicky on his motorbike how invited us for omelette, but the kids wanted chapathi and dahl, so we stopped by the clock tower and feasted on a simple but yummy lunch on the street benches. At this point it was over 1pm and I was reaching overheating limits, but I didn't want to leave, the kids were so much fun, we just kept laughing and playing around with anything we found: everything was a game! And as i said BYE a million times with a big teary smile, Raj and Puja with their arms out towards me squeezing my hands and pulling me to keep, I noticed Raj had a large swelled up area on his wrist. We agreed to go to 'doctor' and they knew the meaning of that! We went to ask at the chemist who referred us to a medical walk-in clinic down the road and Raj got some antibiotics, it was an infection. We went back to the clock tower and I left them with Vicky asking him to explain in Hindi to make sure Raj remembered how to take the medicines... Back on the roof terrace of my guest house, contemplating the big Fort on the red rock overlooking the Blue City, I felt overwhelmed by the beauty of this little town, by the intensity of the emotions of the day and the simplicity of the feeling of happiness: so fulfilling! I often think about Puja and Raj, kids in the streets, and I hope one day they will escape life in the streets, but more importantly that they never loose the big smile and happiness that they showed me that day!
Just like a tale, have a look at the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600897234860/

The Blue City & the Red Fort

2009-08-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:52:43 GMT
Storytelling goes on to amaze you and amuse you with another tale from magic Rajastan... And just like MAGIC, from the lovely lake shores of the desert oasis I got to Jodhpur, this pretty little town of many blue walls haveli-style houses: yes magical place!
Everything was glowing in the strong sun... Shining maharajas' palaces, lush gardens, glaring marble courtyards and the imposing Fort overlooking the Blue City from its massive red rock.
Watch me rickshawing around town visiting the luxurious maharajas' palaces of Jodhpur, enjoying the precious decor and the sparkling pleasure rooms...
Photos link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765253341/
>>> NEXT! <<<>>> NEXT! <<<

Like an oasis in the desert

2009-08-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 16:11:47 GMT
Pushkar… simply stunning! This little town on the holy lake is filled with soft spiritual vibrations. The energy was filling the little streets like a gentle breeze and as it went through me, my eyes fogged up temporarily, I felt dizzy, I took a big breath, and another one, then I was better but totally overwhelmed. It was really hot; temperatures hovering around the 40 degrees, at 1pm not many people were left wondering the streets. Me too, I run away from the heat and slowing down with the life around me, I took the chance to catch up on some lost sleep. In fact, no sleeping at night here, celebrations go on well past midnight with chanting and praying, then it's the dogs' turn at some vocal activity around the offerings at the shrines, so before 3am there is no peace... And then life starts again at the crack of dawn, when people come early to the holy waters. So I spent the night watching the moon reflecting on the lake and dreaming vividly with the sound of chanting and the view of the calm and dark lake waters glittering and the stars twinkling... It's impossible not to totally soak in the relaxed atmosphere: Pushkar lovely surroundings give it an exotic and magical feel of an oasis in the desert! The lake is very holy, so in the morning hiding on the balcony overlooking the ghats, I looked at the people coming to bathe in the holy waters, and to release the ashes of their dear relatives past away and to do ceremonial rituals for all the family. Really quite something... Some of the ashes of Gandhi have been spread on this lake, so there is a ghat dedicated to him. I could not have possibly imagined that this peaceful lightly levitating energy could ever be spoilt by anything in Pushkar… but I saw it, the magic could be ruined by too many tricks… As it is a very popular and known place, priests are fiercely competing for 'business' on the lake shores, trying to ask very high 'donations' for
their ceremonial services… I saw two priests fighting each other over a potential blessing…(??!) not cool at all! And rather weird! It felt like a sharp sword had been thrown through the holy waters and stiffened up by the disappointment the surface cracked open in a loud painful scream! Despite the many warnings about the place… tourists still get suckered for cash by the priests, which lure them into the holy blessing ceremonies, give them a string bracelet, a red powder dot and a couple of white lines painted on the forehead, a Hindu blessing, some holy sweet confettis and rice blessed for offerings and… even a postcard?!!! And of course every 100 rupees donation it's one blessing for each of the friends and relatives... so it can work out quite expensive!
Initially I avoided them by changing stairs side, up and down the ghats and I was doing very well. Then I found a string near the Gandhi ghat, just on the stairs, someone must have dropped it, so I wore it immediately as the blessed bracelet and the priests even Om'd at me walking past with a side smile when they saw I was wearing the bracelet, a sign that I had already 'been done'! Great! Although I know business is business and priests of that kind are around in all religions, but it felt like I was cheating a bit. So I stopped on the Gandhi ghat and I sat contemplating the beauty of the lake and even meditated for a while.
Then I sent over my own well-wishing thoughts to all you friends and relatives, and they were very intense wishes, and truer than what a few hundred rupees could have bought, because it came from the heart!
Take a big breath and get overwhelmed too: photos - link:
www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764875422

The colours of magic Rajastan

2009-08-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 16:08:22 GMT
First stop into Rajastan... the roasting hell busy town of Jaipur!
Plenty of action, people wizzing around buzzing everywhere, mad traffic, crazy horns, transports of all sorts and people absoloutely everywhere... FULL ON!
Take a look for yourselves...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765252325/

The 11 profecy

2009-08-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:22:50 GMT
This day was the 24th of June: the day I got MY prophecy!
I was back for one more day in Delhi and counting just two weeks left of traveling around before making my way down to South India to start working at the rural innovations incubation project in Chennai.
I felt a bit sad having to leave Delhi, as I have been back and forth from the capital a few times and it has been my 'base' for this last month.
The day went rocking hot from early morning and the nostalgic feeling was soon taken over by a sunny and happy thought about the adventures ahead. In fact I just booked myself on a train to Rajastan: probably the most stunning, exotic and magic state of all India. Ready for proper leaving do celebrations I went for a bite to eat in Pahar Ganj main bazaar and there I met Consuelo, a really friendly lady from Spain. Fabulous! I was really happy that I was going to show off some of my best Spanish, although in the end I was not the one who did the best talking… Consuelo just left me totally stunned … We were chatting over a plate of veg noodle, main topic being about the India experience. I said that I really like the place, a lot! I think it has a deep spiritual thread that people can search, find and follow and that the peaceful vibe around even the busiest and craziest streets, that the always smiling people of India even amongst the poor and the sick… are just unconceivable in 'our' worlds these days. Therefore I find India filling me up with some very refreshing tips for thoughts and inspiration, which I am avidly taking in, day after day, like a life stream and I am always more thirsty for it!!
Well impressed of this very highly intellectual conversation in Spanish, Consuelo jumped in the act and started to add some of the most interesting stuff I had ever 'heard' in my life. She started talking about me: she told me so many things about me, past events, emotions, feelings, achievements, sufferings, joy, battles lost and won and some still going on…
I was gob smacked… I asked her how could she know so much about me? 'Had we met somewhere before? Were we best friends in a past life? Was she my spirit guide, my guardian angel?' I was ready to consider all answers, even the weirdest ones, because what I 'heard' was just not possible!!!
No, none of the above was the answer she gave me…
Simply she said: "You have told me everything about yourself, I can read you like an open book." WHAT?! I was speechless!!! Then she carried on explaining very calmly and in a very soothing way. "I have some sensorial powers, but I could not have read you so well, if you hadn't been so open. I knew I could speak to you because your energy aura is very strong and I saw that immediately around you." There's me looking very puzzled into her eyes… she continued: "This is because your inner energy flows freely through your body and feeds of the world and the universe both by a taking and giving flow." I was even more stunned at this stage, but in a way they were words I knew, deep down I felt like I knew…WHAT??!!! Then like she almost read my mind, she answered the question I was thinking: "Could she tell me anything about my future?"
She said: "I cannot tell you what will happen, your destiny, your dream is clear only to you when you have it clear to yourself you can see it and when you follow it fully it becomes stronger and the path to it becomes more visible at your eyes. But I cannot see it clearly. I can just see it's a dream of love, love for all, in its purest essence. For this reason, you have it attached to the heart chakra, still very strongly but your heart chakra is not open enough to let go of it. You have to work on your heart chakra, open it and let your dream grow, let your dream of love grow in the immense power of the universal energy, so that you can fulfill your dream." I sat there looking at her straight in the eyes and a warm feeling of knowledge was buzzing in my head and went through my senses and I felt a strong pull at my heart. I took a big breath and I looked away far down the horizon line of the hazed blue sky and a peaceful feeling took me over: I knew! I knew what she was talking about, I knew, somehow I knew and I know.
This day I was blessed by this amazing encounter which has changed my life forever… Well, OK… my life is still quite the same but those words are clear and they have been spinning in my mind for a few years already… So in front of the evidence of having myself echoed inside-out, I can no longer ignore these words. These words are just a few of the ultimate and universal concepts that are developing inside me. I know they make sense: I know my life makes more sense in the light of my dream. I have a dream: it's a dream of happiness, like everyone has a dream and want to be happy. So here I have decided: I take all my courage, honesty and strength (and working on the love chakra already!) and I go following my dream, no more ifs or buts…
The time has come and now the time is finally right: I have decided to pursue my dream, all the way to happiness!
Confused? I bet!
I will try to explain more as I understand it myself… it is a life experience and I'll take the whole life through!!!
And if the coincidences are not enough, here's another one yet.
It is my birthday this Saturday the 11th (YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! :)))
And accordingly to numerology and Consuelo's calculations of my date of birth, the number 11 means 1+1, birth and re-birth, so the start of a new life!
*** I make it my gateway to happiness! ***Happy birthday!***
So keep watching this space: ifyoudreamityoucandoit
Plenty action to come… and join too the quest for happiness!
What makes you happy? What is your dream of happiness? Go and pursue it…
THANX Consuelo! Maybe you were my spirit guide after all…

Burning Ganga

2009-08-15T11:04:00.001-07:00

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 14:09:49 GMT

Varanasi: the holiest of the 7 sacred cities in India.
With great anticipation I got there early morning on the Delhi train, my first train journey in India. It was luxury, real good service: I was only on the 3tier AC carriage, pillow, sheets, blanket and food and drinks service coming round all day! I felt spoilt!
So, although I travelled over night I had a good sleep on the train, so I just put my bag down and I went straight to the ghats at the holy Ganga river shores: that's where it all happens in Varanasi. The ghats are like docks, where people do all sorts of things, bathe, wash clothes, get a shave, kids spash about, some people drink the holy water, others spread the ashes of a relative past away, plenty are the rituals and holy ceremonies, baba read astrology charts, tourists go past on boat trips, smoke and ashes fly in the Ganga breeze from the flames of the burning ghats, where the body burning rituals take place... unbelievable!
There I was, I went up to the tower built next to the crematory ghat because on the shore it was too smoky and only relatives of the burning dead are allowed for
the funerary ceremonies. So watching the whole thing from above, burning bodies on a pile of wood, sparks taken from the eternally burning fire of Shiva. No
pictures to show you, because if caught taking any I would have got the eternal damnation of Shiva and don't know exactly what that is, but I didn't want to
try... respect! Here monsoons had not come yet, so I was in the sweltering 45C degrees and at midday I had to run back to my guest house for a compulsory siesta, unless I wanted to shrivel up and self combust at the shores ofthe holy Ganges as well! Mesmerizing experience, and the heat I think made it all a seriously head spinning experience!
The next day was summer soltice: it was the 21st of June ... the longest day of the year!!! And I had the distict feeling that the day was never going to end...
Woke up from the midday siesta thinking I slept for days and dreamt deep and vivid, but then I realized I only slept for an hour and what I dreamt was not a dream, where the memories of the morning, when I was up at sunrise and went to the ghats for the dawn celebrations on the Ganges... a soft mist was covering the waters, I walked passed the dead body of this man floating near the shore, felt a bit sick, nearby some
kids were playing cricket and others were washing clothes, bathing, shaving, sipping the water, praying, chanting, making offerings... incredible!
I went to the Southern shores and passed the second crematory ghat which is not restricted only to Hindus, but open to everyone. I sat up the stairs above and watched one cremation ceremony from start to set fire, and this weird dom man was explaining to me the whole meaning of it all over again, but I felt a strange vibe from him, he felt strange, like if he was carrying death with him, obviously...?!
At one point a man came over holding a little 'package' wrapped in white cloths and I realised he was his baby dead, needing blessing and so the dom man had to go and offered his services. I thought, 'where is the mother?' Women are not allowed because they weep over the dead and tears are strings that keep the soul to this Earth, so in order for the dead spirit to be freed, no tears are allowed, so no women can be at the ceremonies...
Babies, like pregnant women, people dead from poisoning, chicken pox or leprosy infected dead people are considered already pure so don't get burnt, they simply get tied up to a heavy stone, taken by boat to the middle stream of the Ganges and sunk in the holy waters. So they did for that baby, I watched and then left, feeling a mixture of sadness and relief. Then this boy started talking to me and he could speak some English, so we walked and chatted together till we got to the end of the ghats and he said there was a mela (festival) at the Monkey temple so he took me there and then he took me to the Durga temple and then exhausted I took him for some breakfast, that was really cool. Then I had to go and retreat from the heat so my little guide Kalu took me to the road to get a rickshaw but via the little streets to show me how people work on the sarees and make silk fabrics and embroideries, fascinating!
What more can I say... see for yourself: here's the photos!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764871488/

Missing the sheer heat but I hope you have a mesmerizing experience too!

Magic Taj

2009-08-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:54:00 GMT

It was 5am when they came to pick me up at the hostel to take me to the bus: destination Agra, 3 hours journey, and all day at the Taj Mahal!!! Cool! So, at 6am (obviously) this big Indian man turned up on a motorbike soaking wet as it was raining like hell! He took his helmet off and said, for Agra? 'Yes' I say, so he showed me the back of the bike outside under the pouring rain, I put my poncho on and off we went to the bus. By the time we all got on it was 7am... in classic chilled out messy Indian style… and surprise!

I found myself with a full load of very lively Indian day-trippers on their first visit to the Taj Mahal: all very excited! It was an amazing day! We got the Taj at midday as we encountered all type of heavy traffic on the only 200kms road... walked around the stunning Taj in the strong sun and temperatures of about 45 degrees which made it all very exotic indeed and a bit diZZy!!! The place was mobbed with local Indian tourists: the ladies all parading their best sarees. It was like a catwalk, a full load of colorful tulles and shawls and vests and gowns and dresses and glitters and shining embroideries, and jewelries and more colours all round… I couldn't help taking a wagon load of photos of the people around me, and yes off course some of the amazingly white marble and big domes Taj! The best fun was to be with the bus group, such an excited bunch! I was totally taken and fully shared their excitement about this very special once in a life time visit to the mighty Taj of India!!! Loved it! After a local dal lunch (beans broth and chapatti bread) we got tripped around half a dozen Krishna temples, not many pix taken there as it was forbidden. I must admit this Krishna is not very photogenic, but all the different other gods like elephant-looking and monkey-looking ones and many more fully dressed statues of other goddesses really pretty one, some with the nails done and full make up too! Well, pity I couldn't frame some of them, but it was an exhilarating day, a part from roasting in the midday sun and burning my feet a bit having to walk on the hot brick floors around the temples... no shoes allowed! And at 9pm we were still at it, visiting our last temple in the pitch black, this was spooky, lots of monkeys strolling around with us down this dark ally to the House of Krishna, paintings and dolls of the little baby Krishna everywhere. Petals and sugar offerings and dough balls and some other spices were offered, and it was even possible to buy a stone in the temple to have engraved family name and address... And this Krishna baby with blue eyes and curls had a striking similarity with the baby Jesus, anyway... It was a spiritual walk and some of the Indians in the group were believers so really worshiping full on!

Enjoy the photos, just click on the link here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765251041/

Exiled and refugees... in peace.

2009-08-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:39:00 GMT
Dharamsala: in the mountains in North of India this place was chosen by the Dalai Lama and Tibet government when they fled to escape from the oppression of China occupation.
You have to be there: walk around the steep hills of the town, breathe the intensity of unity and the strong solidarity for the exiled and refugees.
Many people joined in timeless meditation: the powerful energy fields intensify thoughts, feelings and emotions.
Peace reins around the mantra wheels and the cry of white lions echoes across the valleys all the way back to Tibet.
The Dalai Lama teaches compassion for all, even for the oppressor, love is the ultimate meaning of life: energy flowing through people's hearts connecting the minds of the searching souls rejoins all lives to the ultimate peaceful answer: love is bliss.
Do you get the .gif?
Click on the link for some pictures...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764870694/
...or better...
Close your eyes, focus and get inspired...

A taste of France in the bay of Bengal

2009-08-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:02:41 GMT
A totally French weekend this one, with the excuse of Bastille day 14th of July, and I joined a bunch of French students for the rEvolUtioN celebrations. We spent the weekend in Pondicherry, a former French colony: lovely little town a couple of hours South of Chennai on the Bay of Bengal. This area was hit by the last Tsunami, but the still strong French presence here has contributed to a quick recovery as the town attracts a lot tourists. It was a fun weekend, although I couldn't join the baguette, camebert et saucisson, foie gras et vin rouge evening at the Maison Francaise... Why?? Well, although I am a very close neighbour, I could not claim French status... So not even a sniff of the champagne bubbles for me. Well, instead I got a yummy chicken tikka masala on the terrace of a lovely bambu hut and cheered the pompous red glasses with some earthy Kingfisher bottles! Nothing like a good curry night eh, it might be Pondy, but it's still India after all!
Had a good lay in this morning, got up a bit hangover but we decided to be proactive and get some inspiration from the UTOPY town that has been developed over the last 35 years just outside Pondy.
So in the rocking midday sun we jumped all five of us in a rickshaw and went to Auroville: 'an experiment in international living where people could live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, politics and nationalities.' As the words of The Mother who found it in the '70s, this is the vision behind it: 'There should be somewhere upon Earth a place that no nation claim as its sole property, a place where all human beings of goodwill, sincere in their aspirations, could live freely as citizens of the world...'
Striving for unity, this eco-friendly community built around it central soul, the Matrimandir, a big dome space for meditation, where only a beam of sunlight comes in from the top and irradiates the complete whiteness of the marble interior... from outside it looks like a giant gold golf ball -stroke NASA project... will post you pix. Exhausted by the heat, and this simple but deep concept of free world, we headed back to the seafront determined to find a beach and go for a deep. And yes, we did! No bikinis attempted, but anyhow half dressed, I still jumped in with the boys and faced the strong force of the Bengal waves and the fiery pulling undertow! Loved it!
Well, It will take me weeks to get all the sand out of my hair, but it was all worth it for a taste of the Indian Ocean!!!
Lots of pix to follow, & watch this space for the full B(ack) LOGs... coming up!
Places I have seen & most importantly... people I have met & facts, culture, traditions I have discovered, sciences and beliefs mixing together, the body the mind and the soul, life the world and the universe... all has a reason here in India, all is flowing in a natural progression of events and revelations, all is connected, ONE & all... it is all happening here in India: everything is possible! Will tell you more... stay connected!

Doing something useful

2009-08-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 22:13:00 GMT

Yes, yes, after 6 weeks of super-FAB travelling around India, it was about time I did something useful! Today I have started work at the RIN project, in partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology. I have been allocated at the L-Ramp department: recognition and mentoring programmes to innovations in rural development, with the potential to transform the lives of many people...very exciting! I will be working at this project for two months... I hope to see some very cool inventions!

Soooo, here are the overall stats of my travelling in India so far:
25,000 kms, 8 AC trains, 5 overnight bus journeys, 139 cups of chai, 149 litre water bottles (& same amount of sweat!), 16 mango juices, 7 vanilla lassi, 12 chocolate & banana pancakes (yes Nutella!!!), 154 cold showers, 31 close encounters with cows, 17 rickshaw near misses, 1 broken toe nail and 1 food poisoning (YES!!!), a cold (how can I get a cold at 40 degrees???), 10 sachets of fake brand shampoo, 3 trashed T-shirts, 250 rupees donations, 1 million NO THANKS, 1 sunburn, 2 monkey fights, quit smoking and trekked the Himalayas! And yes, lots 3 kilos due to the staple diet of Marie digestive biscuits and salted crisps (no masala flavour pls, I can only eat curry once a day..!)
Well things are changing fast and fat: here at the IIT uni campus in Chennai, accommodation and food is provided, but it's canteen food, so curries breakfast, lunch and dinner... AAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!!! Thank Ganesh they have a gym!
Look out for the travelling stories coming up, photos & all.. if I survive the Hot & Spicy Uni campus regime! Wish me luck!

Entering Monsoon zone

2009-08-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:05:00 GMT

Here I am! Just spent the last ten days in the mesmerizing Rajastan, at the edge of the Tar desert. I am half way down India now and I am entering the wet lands! This morning I got off the train at Ahmedabad (Gujurat capital) and waded across the platform...

If I think I was doing so well! Being in India in monsoon season, I had managed to escape the rain for all this time! Of course it meant that I had to endure the pre-monsoon temperatures of the sweltering Indian summer around the 40 degrees: roasting day & night non-stop! And yes, dry, but sweating like mad! So I am looking forward to cooler temperatures, although it will be wet wet wet... for the next couple of months! And I am thinking about all you lot in England, you've had your share of rain... time for a swap: I'll get the rain and send you some summer sunshine... about time you would say, hey! I wanted to post you some pictures already, but the internet connection here is a bit doggy, and with the rain it's wet everywhere and I am risking to get electrocuted every letter I type... will try from Bombay tomorrow. There it stopped raining 2 days ago and the half metre of water in the streets is slowly going down... Might have to get a canoe around town: FUN! Happy summer time!

A month in India...already!?!??!!!!

2009-08-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:43:09 GMT

Hellooooooooooooo!!!

It is exciting opening up a blog, it's like opening up a new diary, all white pages, ready to be filled with lots of fun, weird, unbelievable, inspiring and amazing stories!

And I have a whole load already!!!

Here I am, In India... and I have been travelling around this beautiful, intense and colourful land for a month now, and I am still trying to take it all in!!!

I have one more week to run around, making my way down south as we speak, to reach Chennai, on the South East coast, where I will stop for two months to work at RIN, an organisation working in rural innovations. I will have time to put together all my amazing photos and travel stories, to give you a taste of India! Look out for updates around mid July! Ciao for now! Paox

A blast from the past: Colombia caribe coast

2009-08-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right my friends. This is the very last tale from the South American trip ended with some magic travels to the very exotic Caribbean coast of Colombia.
Taking you back to October 2006, I crossed over from Venezuela into Colombia and stopped in the first town of Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast. After meeting everyone of the very jolly Colombian people hanging around my hostel, I hooked up with some travel buddies and we joined in the trekking expedition in the low coastal jungle looking for the Lost City - la ciudad perdida.

And sure as, we found it, but only after 6 solid days of trekking through the very humid but beautifully lush and green jungle, we were constantly by wading rivers, sweating buckets and occasional down poor of rain... but the whole area was just magic.

We crossed several hidden villages of the Teyuna people, the local indigenous population still left living in the jungle.

But they are not the only ones hiding away in the very thick jungle... several labs are thought to still be operating inside... we visited one 'supposedly' only there to show the tourists how the coca leaves are processed into paste to then get shipped out and turned into the precious world famous white powder... And so we looked and then decided: no thank you! The process involved so many chemicals, sulfuric acids and petrol and other lethal substances that's enough to put you off temptation for life!

But in the middle of that beautiful jungle, with the clouds coming in and out dusk till dawn, it was like a lost paradise and I felt really good being lost in total silence and only jungle sounds for days!

The crew of us 10 people was great, a very big mix of travelers from all over the world as well as local Colombians. After a week of swapping hammocks, card tricks, plasters, mosquito repellent and malaria tablets, even the odd rum bottle, we became really good friends!

After the trek we all went to chill out at the amazing Tayrona National Park nearby... simply idyllic!!! A quick run around in Cartagena town

and the Colombia experience was all over... I run out of time, I had to fly back and start working the winter season in the Alps on the ski slopes...
So bye bye South America and thank you for all the adventures, for all the great people you got me to met and for all the great experiences you took me through! Till the next time....
Enjoy the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765230639/

A blast from the past: close encounter with the Venezuelan... anacondas!

2009-08-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, here we go... into Los LLanos seasonally flooded pampa, hunting for anacondas! And if you've got NO FEAR of mosquitos, bugs, spiders, poisonous snakes and the mighty anaconda itself, then read on and dive into the tales of this trip... pure adrenaline adventure!!!

We set off on a 4x4 jeep, my friend Julie and and 6 other mad travellers and our guide, the world famous Tony Martin, the anaconda hunter in many National Geographics and wildlife documentaries. At the village in LLos LLanos we stayed with the families of Tony's men, who were going to help in our expedition.

On the shore of many little water streams we took off the first day and went on a canoe trip to discover all the watershores wildlife, with the thourough explanation of our guide Tony, telling us about the very fragile equilibrium of this special environment:

poisonous snakes, beautiful birds, pink river dolphins and millions of capibaras all around!!!

After a stormy evening spent singing along llaneros songs with Tony's guitar, we got swinging in our hammocks and finally collapsed after too much local firewater, although we blamed it on intoxication by the fumes of too much mosquito repellent.

The next day we set off horse-riding in the swamped terrain, still looking for anacondas, we found more wildlife and had fun on the galop around the muddy fields.

That night we got another precious lesson of life in the fields: we said goodbye to Fred the piglet, as we slashed its throat, hang it upside down, skinned it and roasted it on the fire... yummy it was, and that was food for us and the families there for the next two days!

After dinner we took a stroll in the night and Tony showed us some night hunting skills catching alive night birds by naked hand, just amazing!!!

The next morning we set off on another hunting expedition, this time on foot. Big wellies and long sticks, we went walking straight through the swamped fields. The most scarry thought was knowing that the anaconda could be popping out from the mud any moment and twist around us in seconds...

Still, encouraged by the men and the little hunter kid with us, we continued through, encountering a crocodile nest, some capibaras little rodents on the run and some of us toughies even took pictures with them... thrilling!!!

Then we heard Tony screaming Here we go, he's pointing down to the swamp in front of him, he found an anaconda. We all gathered close (-ish!) and he showed us occasional bumps in the mud, signs of the anaconda presence underneath... it looked metres long!!!

So there he went, with his men around, he grabbed the big snake by the tale and he started pulling it out of the mud... next move he'd got it, he grabbed its head and twisted its body around himself. At this point, Tony smiled victorious and he called us over. We just couldn't believe our eyes... there it was: the mighty anaconda!!!

With his men, we unwinded it along and we all grabbed a length of it for a group photo. Its body was firm and chuncky, its skin soft and it looked at us fearless through its piercing eyes... Tony showed us his mouth, teeth and then blew on its face, the anaconda shivered and tightened its muscles.

Some of us brave even got it around the shoulders for a photo, others couldn't bearly stand the sight of it...

The weather turned bad eventually and we left the anaconda back in the swamp mud to enjoy hunting time in the favourable rain!

Back at the village, we prepared some baits of fresh chicken meat and we went on the nearby river to fish for piranas!!! Hours of fun, I tell you, we just couldn't get enough of it.

After a couple of hours and a million trials, we realised how fast the piranas are and as we got the hang of the fishing technique, we started catching the first few, and re-used them to gain more bait... Yes, I know, piranas eat any meat, their own too!!!

By evening we had fished enough piranas for dinner for the all of us, so we went back to the village and we roasted them on the fire: yummy!!! Some of us even wanted to keep their vicious double line of teeth as souvenir, cool idea but they stunk too much! Well the memories and photos are the best souvenirs... take a look at the pictures here below and enjoy the adventures!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764847412/detail/

A blast from the past: Venezuela green lush jungle

2009-08-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Back to September '06, my travels continued straight through the middle of the Amazon forest up North Brazil towards Santa Elena, entry point into Venezuela.

The stunning landscape of the Gran Savana dotted all around by the flat-top mountains just blew me away!!!

After a few days of soaking up the venezuelan vibe, I got on the next bus and reached to town of Ciudad Bolivar where the mighty Orinoco river gently flows throught towards its delta.

Only a day to skip the old Colonial style buildings around town on the beautiful shores of the river. Recovered my beauty sleep with an early night: no night sightseeing, it's just a bit too dangerous to walk the rough Venezuela streets after dark!

The next day I gathered all my patience and charm as I had to cash in the low daily allowance from several local banks to put together enough money for my next trip: Angel Fall! 250 dollars for a 3 day trip into the most secluded area of the interior Venezuela jungle. I flew in a tinny tiny 6 seater piper in the co-pilot seat chatting with the pilot through the headphones speaker. He explained the route as we flew over the amazing flat-top mountains where water tricled down from all sides... and then... there it was: the sheer drop of 1000mts waterfall, the world fanous Salto Angel !!! Mouth wide open, snapping a million pictures, I couldn't believe my eyes as we flew over it a couple of times... just incredible!!!

Then we landed at a little village of Canaima down in the plane nearby. There I got on an canoe type motor boat with a group of French and Dutch tourists who became my travel buddies for the next three days. We cruised on the stunning rivers, deep into the amazing green lush jungle through the high gorges of the flat-top mountains.

Almost at dusk we stopped at a campsite and slinged out the hammocks, then we prepared a tasty BBQ all together, sang and played cards and chatted till too tired. That night, tacked in my mosquito net and swinging in my hammock to the sounds of the jungle which never sleeps, the sweetest lullaby!

The next day we walked from camp through the lush jungle up to the drop point of waterfall, right at the feet of Angel Fall... mesmerizing!!! Looking up a 1000mts trying to see the drop point above us was making us very dizzy, so we jumped in the pools just below the fall to refresh and feel the powerful sprays of the waters dropping on us... really special!

After another night of BBQ, card games and fun altogether at the hammocks camp, the next day we returned by boat to Canaima village and went on a treck around all the other waterfalls around the jungle, not so high but equally stunning!

We walked through, around, along, below, behind and beyond the waterfalls and then jumped in the waters from scarry heights... really an unforgettable trip!

Back on the piper for one last goodbye to Angel Fall and we flew back to Ciudad Bolivar where I got on a coach going North, straight to the seaside village of Santa Fe, on the coast East of Caracas.

After chilling out for a few days on this fabulous beach spot, with a few other backpackers, we decided to cross over to the other side of Caracas, skipping this cahotic, polluted and really quite dangerous capital, to go to another fishing village and fabulous seaside spot: Choroni (Puerto Colombia).

Another few days on the beach and then I left the coast to go back in the jungle and join an expedition in the flooded pampa, South-West Venezuela, at the border with the Colombian jungle: Los LLanos hunting for anacondas. But hey... that is another adventure... for the next blog! Enjoy the photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765233485/

A blast from the past: Brazil - the Amazon river to Manaus

2009-08-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

Back on the boat for an amazing 5 day trip on the Amazon river, just incredible!

Mainly Colombian, Brazilian and Peruvian travel mates, women with kids reaching to other areas of the jungle to meet relatives and many men, tough and loud, all on the boat reaching various areas on work, mainly logging zones in the jungle... sadly! So the boat trip was their holiday time and they went on eating, drinking and partying hard on the top deck for the whole stretch of the trip...

Most of us on the decks below were chilling in the shade, sheltering from the strong sun, reading, playing with the kids and chatting with the locals...

And contemplating the mighty Amazon river... enormous power of calm and peace, but also rocking mad in stormy weather!

You should have seen the stunning sunset colours and from my hammock I could get a peep of the soft lullabying sunrises every morning... out of this world!

Then we disembarqued at the town on Manaus, right in the middle of the Amazon jungle. I imagine it being a mirage, but no, it's a real city, an oasis of concrete (!!!) in the massive extension of the Amazon jungle, a port on the mighty river and a main trading hub. Beautif old buildings and stunning architechture... a real blast from the past!

Lose yourself in Amazonas photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764849622/

A blast from the past: Peru -The North - off the beaten track

2009-08-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

Here's another tale from the past... It was September '06 when i left the project in the slams of Lima and I bussed it up the North coast of Peru to the town of Trujillo were I went to visit the old pre-inca ruins of Chan Chan and the small beach resort of Huanchaco, at the time off season, otherwise surfers' paradise!

I loved the little fisherman village with the traditional totora boats and the Peruvian typical dogs with no hair, sacred for the inca empire and still considered holding healing powers due to their high body temperature!

Then it was time to get back into the mountains, back on the cordillera de los Andes. Trekking junkie... I know! There I went on a 4 day trek around the Cordillera Blanca, from Huaraz to Santa Cruz through century old indigenous villages, along 5000mts mountain passes, across the entire Huascaran valley with incredible views of the mighty Alpamayo pick and Huascaran range. Simply stunning!

Take a look at the photos and enjoy the highs!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764850426

Next stop up the north of Peru took me off the beaten track towards Amazonas. No more roads, waterways only, I went up the river into the jungle from the north-western town of Iquitos to the three-border crossing with Colombia Leticia into Brazil Santa Rosa,and then on the Amazon river starting there... but that's next blog! Stay connected!

A blast from the past: researching Peru -the South

2009-08-15T10:33:00.001-07:00

Back on the South America travel diary, the itinerary took me further North into Peru. Crossed in from the Lake Titicaca border, I stopped over in the rural town of Puno with the amazing floating islands, then I got on another bus and stopped in Cuzco: prime Peruvian destination located at the heart of the old Inca civilization with the world famous Inca site of Machu Picchu, simply amazing!

I visited this and most of the other famous sites during another trip I took to Peru some years before, so I happily skipped all of them this time around, escaped the herds of tourists and focused on the more important reasons for my stay in Cuzco.

I went as a researcher, doing a follow-up study on my Masters dissertation where I analyzed the difficult and delicate subject of child labor, the government approach and internal legislation, the pressure the help of local and international NGOs, and the activity of local communities and civil society. There I was: two years after my masters I was finally in the country and I could verify the progress of the level of protection offered to minors in work in Peru. Specifically I analyzed two realities of child labor and visited two organizations which are supporting the cause of minors in work and helping the children at very practical level.
Some very minimal improvements on the legislation had been implemented, and we celebrated at the CAITH project when I discovered a very recent law approved in August 2006 which requested families taking on under age girls for domestic labor, to stipulate work conditions, pay and school hours in writing down on a formal employment contract. RESULT!!!
That was the first real step forward. Since in Peru kids are working and it is not conceivable for a family not to have their children working some 4 to 6 hours of the day, at least that this work is legally agreed by a contract, whereby the kids are guaranteed to be allowed to go to school, and feel safer under some kind of protection against complete exploitation often edging the slavery status!

So at the centre Yanapanakusun in Cuzco I finally met the very inspiring woman Signora Vittoria Savio, funder of the CAITH organization, and with the girls and a new born baby, we celebrated this first very important step forward towards legality and child protection. Check their website for more info: www.caith.org.

Next, my research took me all the way to Lima, where I checked the progress of another children's organization called CEPROF, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they also geared up to a B&B for alternative tourism as a way of increasing exposure of child labor in Peru amongst Western tourists, as a way of fundraising for the centre and as a way of campaigning for the protection of their workers and children's rights within the local communities, with the government and ultimately with the global civil society. See their website for info: www.ceprof.org

That amazing experience left me with a strong sense of optimism. Things may be moving slowly but they are moving and towards the better, which justifies fully all the hard efforts of those who really believe in change and dedicate their lives in the cause of protecting the more vulnerable, like kids involved in child labor in Peru.

Positively re-energized by these findings, I totally enjoyed the stunning landscapes of Cuzco and the sacred valley of the kings, the chaos, pollution and roughness of Lima, the poverty and the desolation widespread around all the outskirt of the capital.

Looking for a bit of an oasis to re-think and chill-out, I stopped over on the the desertic coast of Ica and Huacachina, a true oasis in the sand dunes. I went on a buggy ride on the dunes, then sand-boarding, watched amazing sunsets... I totally enjoyed the sand dunes!

Take a look at the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765241861/

Comments

By Paola Merryworldround on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:22:39 GMT
Hey David, glad you liked the blog info, more to be told if you need, I can give you more details. Are you still in London? I'm coming over tomorrow, if you wanna meet up before you (and I too) leave at the end of October! Let's catch up! paox

By David_Spanish_stickspinning on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:34:13 GMT
Interesting post. Didn´t know about Peru´s children employment situation. Beautiful photos too. I will have the chance to follow it up in a few months. I finally changed route and booked tickets for Brasil at the end of October, and I´d like to visit Peru and Bolivia (I can´t stay in Brasil more than 6 months in a year). I can´t wait for months of samba and rainforest. I found some environmental sites too, so I guess eventually all will come together... Big hug nutter, david

A blast from the past: North-West Argentina

2009-08-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

OK, I must explain, yes yes yes, if you followed this trip so far, I am going back South instead of continuing on the South-to-North route...

Well the reason is very simple: a dream in the closet perhaps! Yes it was coming up to August and I was in the Southern Hemisphere and I had the opportunity to ski for my birthday, and to ski down the Andean range!!!
I couldn't let this opportunity pass by without even trying!
So here I am back in Argentina from the Northern border with Bolivia, cruising through lands and valleys something like out of the far-west, the Rockies, Utah desert, Death valley... really spooky landscapes, but so fascinating, magic!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765243691/
Then down to Salta, through Mendoza and up to the mountains of Penitentes, the border crossing with Chile, 20 sharp bends up that crazy road... and finally the SNOW!!!! And there was skiing and even snowball fights and lots of friends at the base-camp chalet: the 'cousins' Argentinian and Chilean focusing their minds on winning the complicated card games and finishing the spirits fast, which revealed being their much better skills at night than the skiing during the day!!! So I did!!!! I skied the Andes even if only for a couple of days, as the weather turned awful and we had to hitch back down before they closed the road to the pass all together!!!

Then, back to Mendoza and Tucuman green valleys, the Moon valley of Ischigualasto and gorges of Cafayate. I stopped over and visited many bodegas of the finest Argentinian wine and, off course, I had a few good bottles to celebrate my birthday, 2 years ago...
Happy 34!!! Absoloutely WKD!!! Enjoy the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765243691/

A blast from the past: Southern Bolivia - Uyuni salt plain & Potosì mines

2009-08-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Coming up to August 2006, I was still in Bolivia, making my way down South towards Argentina, when I stopped South West in the freezing town of Uyuni and I got on a jeep for a four day trip in the desert flat planes of the Altiplano: the Uyuni salar, a massive white salt plane, volcanic rocks, green, red and even white lagoons, zillions of flamingos, llamas and even Andean foxes, desert mountains and fuming volcanoes, hot geysers and steaming lakes, a really surreal landscape...
Just take a look at the photos: words are simply not enough for this kind of images!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764857658/

Coming back North a month later I stopped South East Bolivia in Potosi', really poor and really cold town, but with some really nice and simple people. Potos' is the highest town in the world and it's home of some really old silver mines... 4,350mts high. Needless to say that many are the legends are these mines, entire families work in there for days in a row, only chewing coca leaves to numb the pain and the hunger...
It just sounded to cruel, so I wanted to see the hard conditions of this job, where also kids engage due to poverty even from the age of 10 years' old... Not much else I can tell you: the photos speak for themselves:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764846796/

To recover from the shock of this sight, I went to rest in the little town of Sucre for a couple of days. The white city is the administrative town of Bolivia and an important cultural centre. This was my last town visited in Bolivia, in the next blog I will take you through the North of Argentina... watch this space!

A blast from the past: Bolivian jungles

2009-08-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Jungle jungle and more jungle... YES! The Bolivian landscapes haven't ceased to amazed me yet, even now that two years later I'm browsing through the photos of that summer...

From the Andes just North of La Paz you can find the jungle most lush and green forests of Rurrenabaque area, accessible by boat or plane more easily than by bus, I can guarantee you, especially in the winter rainy season! Take a trip on the Yacuna river and float your canoe amongst caymans, capibaras, pink river dolphins and birds of all sizes and colours, in the amazing sunset peace and silence on the waterways through the jungle... simply breath-taking!!!

Then make your way up North towards Riberalta and the most North-Eastern corner of Bolivia, border with Brasil...Guayaramerin,
where Bolivians look very Brazilian and Brazilians mix in crossing over the Rio Marmore' to enjoy the power of their Real currency and sign more of those logging contracts...

Beautiful jungle is for now, but I wonder for how long more... Some wild animals have started suffering already, as the logging business keeps chopping down the jungle, animal sanctuaries have opened spontaneously around the area, looking after many distressed animals left without a house... parrots, monkeys, racoons and even small felines...

Take a look at the colourful photos of the North Eastern jungle of Bolivia:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765235931/detail/

From there going South, take a trip down to Trinidad and then to Santa Cruz, where you can already see a couple of sloths lazing around the trees of the main square, refugees of the jungles already gone around that rural garden of Bolivia. Main crops and farming area, Santa Cruz has managed however to keep a small area of jungle protected: the Amboro' Bio-reserve, but a part from lots of tics from the horses at the indigenous village and small nibbling fish in the many rivers we crossed, we didn't see much jungle fauna, as the primary forest is secluded and protected, and no entry is allowed- or rather no entry is managed without a machete, or a chainsaw...

Fingers crossed for this beautiful jungle area, the last bit of wild nature left in the South-East of Bolivia, where most of the territory has been turned into mass-farming and mono-cultures... Enjoy the photos when with my friend Kim Salome', we trekked around the Amboro' Reserve:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765244677/detail/

Comments

By Paola Merryworldround on Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:16:59 GMT
Thanks Owen! It's great to know I can make people dream of far places through this!

By beithowen on Sun, 07 Sep 2008 03:43:50 GMT
Thanks for all those wonderful pictures. I would have loved to go to all those places but never managed. Instead I get you to take me on a guided tour, I'm really enjoying it!

A blast from the past: in La Paz with the run-away kids

2009-08-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

When I got to La Paz the first time end of May 2006, it was a time of change, Evo Morales just got voted as the first indigenous president and on Mayday he proclaimed the re-nationalization of the whole energy sector... Debates were going on in all corners of town and the city had a fizzy feeling, bubbly and buzzing with life and novelty.. big change was in the air!

It was a real blast, for all tourists too: up 3,600mts sightseeing wasn't the easiest activity, huffing and puffing up and down the little narrow streets of the city centre! All tourists suffered altitude sickness and the bravest were singing the glory of the popular coca leaves: miraculous remedy against all cardio-tiredness and any other symptoms... ya-ya-ya!!
To acclimatise I run a few hundred metres higher and engaged in the down-hill adventure cycling down the most dangerous road in the world (check 3 blogs ago!)

A few days later when I got back to La Paz, the streets of the capital got swamped by rivers of kids. Children and teenagers all below 18, marched in the streets of the Bolivian capital, hats and T-shirts in coordinate, donated by http://www.fighthunger.org, sponsoring the world-wide demonstrations for the International Day Against Hunger, Sunday 21st May 2006.

These thousands of children all came from shelters and re-training centres for street kids and run-aways in and around the capital... I was amazed about how many they were! So chatting with some of the coordinators, I met Mary, from Brazil who was working at the shelter Hogar Marcelina, and she invited me to come and see their centre. I immediately accepted and straight the next day I visited to Hogar Marcelina and decided I was going to work with them, helping in the re-education of the run-away girls hosted there. And so I did! For a month I was with the girls at Marcelina and I miss them all, still. Isabel and Mary, the coordinators there, helped me a lot explaining the main problems the girls were going through before coming to the shelter and the traumas that they were trying to overcome, like complete exclusion and isolation, refusal from their family, non-acceptance and anti-conformism, and extreme lack of affection, on top of the normal children and teenage issues of their age... A tough group, I can tell you! But I was glad to have brought some experience from previous children education centres in Guatemala where I worked a couple of years before!

The girls were following the re-training programs and it was all a game for them, although punishment was not spared when the lessons were not understood, especially about keeping the peace amongst the group, refraining from violence in all forms, showing respect to everyone and developing friendships: paramount! So we played and we learned, we laughed and we talked, we lived and we hoped together.

With the other volunteer, French Kim, we re-joyed and cried at the World Cup football matches and at the end of that fabulous month together at Hogar Marcelina, we sadly left the girls going back to school and we went on an adventure the two of us to the jungle of South-East Bolivia... but that's next blog! Enjoy the photos of the Alalay project in La Paz:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765236761/

Comments

By Paola Merryworldround on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:31:13 GMT
Jette!!!! WOW! how are you?! WOW... just been thinking how long it has been since we last saw each other... I hope you are well and you two kids, still just two...? Still in Copenhagen? Me still going round... experimenting, experiencing, loving it!!! Maybe one day I'll land in Denmark again... who knows! Thanks for the birthday wishes! A wish of health and happiness for you and your family too!

By Paola Merryworldround on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:08:48 GMT
Hey Owen! Thanks a lot for the birthday wishes! I'm glad you got some time out in Denmark, it's lovely, isn't! I visited my friend Jette when I was there... in 2001? WOW, long time ago! I am still in Italy, working the season and looking after granny, but I will be in London end of September for a month, so I hope to see you there and catch up with the CLoxfam group! Say hi to everyone, keep well and see you soon!

By beithowen on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:01:42 GMT
And happy birthday Paola!

By beithowen on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:01:29 GMT
Sorry, Jette, that was me Owen telling Paola that I was in Denmark!

By jettemcnulty on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:23:06 GMT
cannot believe you were here and I didn't meet up with you?!?!?! I suppose it's been a while...Where are you living now? And I suppose a belated birthday wish sent your way.....it was yesterday (or today), right??? Hope you had a good day...

By beithowen on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:57:13 GMT
Isn't great to have memories of good times! Re Jette's suggestion above, I was in Denmark for a couple of days this year and it was lovely. Hope you're keeping well.

By jettemcnulty on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:25:40 GMT
Dearest Italian Friend - hope you've considered writing a book-- your words and tales of the world are fantastic and your feelings shine through so clearly...truly heartfelt... take care whereever you are and give us a call should you consider a trip to Denmark?!?!

A blast from the past: Bolivia trekking the 6,000mts!!!

2009-08-15T10:20:00.001-07:00

It's true my friends, I guarantee you: once you start you can't stop... mountain trekking is just such an exhilarating experience: totally addictive!

After those two fabulous treks in the Bolivia Yungas and on the Isla del Sol on the Lake Titicaca, I stopped in La Paz doing some volunteering work for a month (I will tell you all about it in the next blog!) and I tried to keep that fitness going, although La Paz is at 3,600mts on the level of the sea and I can tell you it's really hard to do gym training there! Anyhow, It was the month of June 2006, chilly but a sunny and dry month, the Football World Cup Germany'06 was on and Italy was playing somewhat much better than this pitiful Swiss-Austria European Cup '08, as we just got defeated by Spain last week at the quarter finals... Well, then in 2006 by the time we got to the Finals, it was my last week of volunteering and I got the opportunity to join a guided expedition to the Huayna Potosi' a massive 6,088mts high mountain at the edge of the Andes, not far from El Alto on the Altiplano just outside La Paz. Irresistible proposition: I didn't think about it twice and I signed my name down for the two day trek to the mighty Huayna Potosi'!!!

Italy won the Final against France in the World Cup and I joined the expedition together with a sore throat, a dripping nose, a bad cold, some fever and even a touch of flu, all prizes for extensive celebrations with all the Bolivians cheering for Italy: we were World Champions! Anyhow, nothing could have stopped me from going on such an exhilarating adventure! Feeling strong of the fact that Italy won the football, I was ready to conquer my own cup, of my own blood maybe, but I was going to conquer my first 6,000mts mountain!!!

And so I went off to join the expedition. Each mountain guide was allowed to take only two trekkers, due to the safety requirements on rope-tight climbing. So in my group, there was only myself and another guy, Swiss Jean-Francois, also a mountaineering junkie. We met and were friends immediately, we got briefed on the trek logistics and checked the weather forecast, we gathered all the mountain gear accordingly: ice boots, crampons, pick, harness & ropes, waterproofs, thermals, sleeping bags, rucksacks, headlights and plenty energy bars, nuts and chocolate. Then by midday we set off from La Paz El Alto (4,000mts.) and we got to the mountain hut at 4,800mts where we practiced the whole afternoon on the old glacier brushing up the techniques for glacier trekking, crevasse emergency stops, ice-climbing and double rope descents.

Then we had a hot dinner back at the mountain hut and slept there the night. The next morning we trekked up the moraine of the old tongue of the glacier in light boots, carrying all the ice-climbing gear, equipment and supplies for the two day trek.

It was a glorious sunny day and we got to the base-camp at 5,200mts in only four hours, an average of 100mts altitude climb every hour, not too bad lung capacity for that altitude! At base-camp we made hot soup, had sandwiches and coffee, although the water took ages to boil as it always does, it takes a lot longer than lower down by the sea, the law of Physics!

Then we prepared the sleeping bags and the equipment for the climb ready in the mountain shack and we rested there the rest of the afternoon, at the feet of the mighty Huayna, busking in the sun to acclimatise to the high altitude.

As soon as it got dark around 7pm we bunkered ourselves in the mountain shack and tried to get some sleep. Mission impossible, I tell you!!!
At that altitude over 5,000mts my heart was beating too fast for my body to relax enough to fall asleep… I only managed a little sleep by applying the meditation techniques, focus on the breathing and relaxation yoga style… I even remember when I slept, as I was looking at my watch every two minutes… Between sneezing, coughing and my blocked nose, I managed to catch a snooze between 8pm & 9pm and between 11pm & midnight when we got up! Oh yes, no point trying to sleep more anyway, we got up, we had coffee and some bread and nuts, we put all waterproofs and ice climbing gear on, hat and front-light and at around 2am we went off into the night. Our crampons were crackling on the icy snow, our steps slow and rhythmical, our breathing deep and heavy, I could even hear my heart-beat running at fast pace underneath layers of thermals: all around us there was only the darkness of the sky the silver shine of the glacier under a pale moonlight, 15 degrees below zero and just silence!

After a long 5 hours of intense and disciplined glacier trek, almost like in a trance, we got to bottom of the last wall and it was almost 7am. We rested looking all around us: stunning sceneries were clearing up in front of us. We saw the sun light coming from far away, an watched a totally mind-blowing sunrise as the first sun rays rolled over valleys and mountains as far as the eye could see… Totally mesmerizing view!

We got to 5,900mts! We only had the last wall to climb! The top was only a shot away, 188mts in altitude, and only about 150mts in length, just this last wall was shot, yes, on 45 degrees of inclination. And I swear to you as I climbed up it I thought I was Spiderman, attached to it vertically as on a skyscraper window, that vertical it felt on a 90 degree! Suspended only on the front tips of the crampons and the pick in my right hand for safety, I was climbing to steps, securing with the pick and resting breathing for 10 seconds and then off again, like this for an hour.

Then we were half way up the wall when Jean Francois was exhausted and he claimed he couldn't go on anymore, but that would have meant to descend without reaching the top… me included as I was rope-tight and the guide couldn't have left me nor J-Francois un-roped standalone.

NOOO, we were just so close, no way. That's what I said to my climbing buddy, he couldn't give up then, he couldn't let me down, he could abort the mission, we couldn't fail, just so close! So I ended up exhorting him for the rest of the length up, losing most of my already little breath, and pulling him up by the rope for another hour till we reached the top!!!

YES! Made it! 6,088mts!!! I almost couldn't believe it! From there we could see as far as La Paz and beyond and even as far as Lake Titicaca and the Andean mountains into Peru… AMAZING views!!!

We couldn't stay there too long, shame really, but it was already 9am, we were already a bit late for descent. The glacier starts melting under the strong mountain sun and it becomes more dangerous for the higher risks of avalanches and crevasses cracking open everywhere on the glacier. Just the time for a juice and an muesli bar, and down we went. Descending the wall was wicked fun: we got down one by one on a double-rope descent secured by our guide at the top: it's almost like running down, so fast and a lot of fun! Then we started the long trek down a the sceneries ahead were just beautiful.

We passed some amazing ice caves along the glacier walls shimmering in the strong sun, we even had to pass two crevasses that apparently we also passed on the way up during the night but I didn't even realize: surely they looked less scary in the dark! And J-Francois was so knackered by then that he almost fell into one, the Polish Ridge crevasse. But I was ahead in the rope-line and I already passed it so I was securing him from the front and our guide was securing from the top at the end of the rope-line, so we manage to contain his swing across the crevasse and we pulled him back to safety! PFFFEEUUU!! That was close!

All is well what ends well, and we made it back to La Paz that same evening after a total of 15 hours walk on the same day and an altitude gap of 800mts up and 1,200mts down, with a peak of 6,088mts top altitude… mission accomplished… simply BREATH-TAKING!!!

The adrenaline and the exhaustion (and probably the overdose of paracetamol and ibuprofen that I took for my flu) were so much that evening that only after two bottles of the finest Bolivian Red wine I finally dropped and crashed asleep! I just love mountains… take the challenge, and enjoy the photos!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765240873

Comments

By elchematias on Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:33:34 GMT
estas a pleno !!!!! se te ve radiante......y ahora, que sigue por escalar? las pictures estan increhibles !!!! estoy viendola con mi amigo, el que conosiste en costa rica, donde pasaste una noche, te acuerdas? bueno, el tambien esta flayando ya que en el año 97 ,tambien estuvo en el pico del Huayna Potosi. te mando un beso muy grande y que sigas bien.

A blast from the past: Bolivia trecks 4000 to 5000 metres

2009-08-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

From the Alps to the Andes! Yes, I am still in the Italian Alps, staying for the summer season, and still writing some more travelling adventures from my South America trip 2 years ago. In fact it was summer time then too, June 2006, and after the Death Road mad downhill biking experience, I got on a discovery of the Youngas mountainous region North-West of La Paz. The border with Peru is not far at all and there lays the highest biggest navigable lake in the world: Lake Titicaca. When I got to Copacabana, the locals there told me immediately that I was in the Titi side of the lake, and that the 'caca' side was over to the Peruvian end... obviously!

They like a joke the Bolivians... and when I asked how far to get to that island in the middle of the lake, they said 3 days (??!!) and pointed to a really wobbly-looking small rowing boat made of hay straws on the shore. Re-thinking my calendar I sat and enjoyed the lake view and made friends with the Copacabana fishermen who told me I could treck to the side of the shore closer to the Island of the Sun and catch a lift on a rowing boat from there for a fraction of the price (and the time!). So I did and trecked across corn fields and improvised football games where the fierce girls were attempting shooting the ball with their small feet popping out of their long puffy round skirts... the funniest sight! After 4 hours of pretty rural Boliviam country side, getting used to the thin air at the 4000mts altitude of the altiplano, I was on the boat to the beautiful Isla del Sol. All around me there were the curious floating islands where the colourful fishermen would jump from one to another, straw sailboats out of Alice in Wonderland book, and the mighty Cordillera de los Andes running along one side of the deep blue shining water of lake Titicaca, a truly mesmerizing view! At the Isla del Sol, I climbed another 300 metres up the many stairs to the high point, and then walked all around the island, greeting the friendly and chatty local people, running away from the eager llamas and goats, visiting old ruins and taking tonnes of photos: simply stunning!

& it turned out to be a good training too in preparation for the next treck: the 5000 metres of Laguna Glacial, a 3 day treck in the Yungas region, up the high Andes mountains, along the steep valley of Sorata...
A long but very pleasant treck, I recommend it! Breath-taking landscapes of the imposing mountains of Illampu and the highest in the Americas: the Ancohuma, standing fierce against an unforgettable blue sky, reflecting its dropping tongue of glacier on the shining lagoon!
The Andes... simply AMAZING!

Enjoy the photos!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764854438

A blast from the past: Bolivia Death Road

2009-08-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

OK, ready for another travelling tale, my friends?

I reset the coordinates time/space: focus - we are still on the Altiplano of the Andes, over 4000mts altitude, and we have just crossed into Bolivia. It's cold although we are in May, after all we are in the Southern Hemisphere and in the high Andean mountains!

Just outside La Paz, there are valleys and valleys extending from the Altiplano down to the jungle: it's the Yungas region. Probably the most amazing way to experience these jungle area is to take the road straight through it and run along it the whole stretch. And so I did: I joined the expedition to the most adventurous and thrilling sightseeing tour of the continent... mountain-biking down the Death Road. Why the name? Because this charming little road is still the oldest road through the Yungas region and although you can only fit one carriage way (it's really small!) buses, trucks and all sorts of heavy-duty vehicles still run up and down it day and night... AAAAAGGGHHH!!! Anyway, scared like hell but charged like Inca warriors, we got to the top of La cumbre were we started the descent in the crispy air of 4,700mts altitude!

The first 1/3^rd of the route was a great buzz!!! It was all tarmac and really smooth road, so we wizzed down at really fast speed, loving it! Then we got onto the old road: a dirt road that we could see winding down the valley slowly through the lush green jungle, along steep ditches, blind corners, dusty clouds of dirt of big trucks and plenty crosses remembering crashes along the way…

With the heart in my throat, eating dust and dirt, praying all saints against near misses, blessing myself at every memorial cross, crashing my hands when breaking like hell at every blind corner, stopping to get a crazy photo here and there, I made it!

We all made it: the mad cyclists… all the way down to 1,200mts of Yolosa, 4 hours of broken arses and knackered legs, sore hands, and still shaking arm muscles, I mean 4 hours later we got to the bottom of the valley in the steaming hot jungle! Laugh at our dirty and red faces… enjoy the photos of the crazy downhill adventure on the most dangerous road in the world! I recommend it!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765238797/

A blast from the past: Chile from South to North

2009-08-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

Here we gooo: more stories from my South American trip!!!
In the last blog I left you dreaming on the Andes mountains around Bariloche, from where I got to Mendoza and then Santiago: 2 days on the bus to cross into Chile. Here the trip got hectic, two weeks of fast-paced-travelling, as it always is with my friend Paolo, who was on a mission to see most of Chile in his 2 weeks holiday! Ready, my friends? Take a look at the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764856742/

The speedy gonzales itinerary included sightseeing and nightlife in Santiago capital, a trip to the colourful seaside town of Valparaiso, built up on the hill-side and connected to the coast through a system of very funky cable-lifts, from where we grasped some cool views of the Pacific Ocean...also an inspiration for the famous poet Neruda.
Then we headed south towards Chiloe' island to visit this Unesco World Heritage site of really pretty wooden churches of all colour, size and shape. From sea to mountains, we trekked across to Pucon on the Andes for some stunning views of the Villarica lake and volcano in the distance.

Here we crossed back into Argentina and passed through Bariloche and the region of the 7 lakes: I know, again(!), but... it's just so beautiful!
Then we wizzed back north to cross the Andes at the border pass Mendoza-Santiago, back into Chile, end of Paolo's holiday... till next time!

I stayed behind and settled in the capital Santiago de Chile where I worked for a couple of weeks teaching English classes in private colleges. I also got involved in the nationwide micro-credit program 'Un techo para Chile': http://www.untechoparachile.cl

This organization is operated fully by volunteers and it aimed to takle the problem of the growing number of people coming to the main cities for work and the lack of housing, causing the worrying expansion of shantytowns at the outskirt of all major towns in Chile.

Once I checked the program in the capital I decided to take a look at other groups. On a discovery of the North of Chile, I stopped in all main cities to meet each regional group of the org and reported on their programs: if experiencing problems, making steps forward, running with/out major hitches, reaching milestones, etc... very interesting!
The North of Chile is really stunning... Check the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765229933/

This route took me out of Santiago, north along the coast to Vina del Mar, Caldera, Antofagasta, through the rugged area of Atacama desert, back on the coast to the old mining towns Iquique and Arica. From here I exited Chile through the stunning 4000mts high National Park Lauca, with mesmerizing views of snow-topped volcanos, high mountain lamas and flamingos, painted-like landscapes on the Andean Altiplano, direction: La Paz, Bolivia... next... keep B-logged in!

A blast from the past: Argentina & Uruguay

2009-08-15T10:11:00.001-07:00

YeYeYe! More tales from my South American trip!!

It was the end of January 06 and after Brazil and a short spell into Paraguay, I followed the river Parana' from Iguazu down into Argentina, through the state of Santa Fe, and I stopped in the town of Rosario. I loved the burning hot town immediately, with the small beach-like resorts on the massive Parana' river and vibrant nightlife, but one thing struck me from day one: the men were totally over the top with their approach to girls. No wonder every day the newspapers reported cases of domestic violence and sexual assaults, yet there was a reason for it: demographics! Rosario suffered of a 7:1 ratio of women to men… I say no more! Social services were gearing up strong to tackle the problem and I got involved straight away with the town hall programs, from taking help calls on the free number to working in the home shelter for young women victims of domestic violence. It took me only a few weeks to feel the effects of machismo latino, kind of reminded me of our Mediterranean hot blooded-men, but taken to the very extreme!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765245545/

Enriched and strengthened by this experience, I left to go camping around the magic hills in the Sierra of Cordoba and paid homage to the house-museum of Che Guevara. Then I travelled some crazy 37 hours on the bus to reach Buenos Aires, Bs.As capital!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765245545/

No doubt, this city truly deserves the title capital of the South American continent! This massive metropolis has a little of all European capitals, romantic Paris, busy buzzy Rome, crazy London nightlife, artistic Barcelona, alternative Berlin… Plaza de Mayo, 9 de Julio, Florida, Recoleta, Palermo, San Telmo, Boca…& tango tango tango everywhere!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765245545/

After only a week of hectic sightseeing, party & baking hot summer temperatures, the capital took me in and spat me out, so I took the ferry across to Bs As in miniature: Montevideo.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765231653/

The capital of Uruguay offered the same but on a smaller scale, more chilled and relaxed, although I avoided the casinos… watch it: betting is the national past-time! At this point, March was setting in sneakily and I had to cut Uruguay short: I needed to head back into Argentina as it was getting to the end of summer and I had to hurry South before it got too cold! On my way back I passed through Colonia and I grasped the most stunning sunsets over the Rio de la Plata, the Parana' river delta of Bs As.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765231653/

Over the month of March '06 I travelled from the Pampas down to Patagonia, following the Atlantic coast from Puerto Madryn to see the sea lions and the killer whales on Peninsula Valdes, and the penguins on Punta Tombo.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764855312/

Another two days on the bus and I got to Rio Gallegos to catch the ferry across the Magellan Strait into Tierra del Fuego. I trekked around the ragged mountains of Ushuaia for a few days and watched some breath-taking sunrises on the Beagle river. Then it was time to head back north as the weather was getting colder and rainy, announcing the arrival of the autumn in this such Southern territory. Ushuaia is the most Southern town in the world, only Antarctica is more south than that!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765243277/

I kissed the ground and waved goodbye to the beautiful Tierra del Fuego, crossed back into Patagonia and stopped in the Chilean southern town of Puerto Natales, ready to embark in some hard trekking like the W-circuit around the National Park Torres del Paine! Bearing in mind that this very austere land gets at the most 6 days of sunshine per year, I managed one day of sun and I took this rare opportunity to trek around the lake Grey, with its massive icebergs floating from the Glacier Grey: a really mesmerizing view… I knew I was very much South but that almost felt like Antarctica. All around me were some of the highest and most imposing mountains of the Cordillera de los Andes, like Los Cuernos and el Cerro Grande del Paine.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765241123/

Then I travelled back into Argentina territory to the next town inside this stunning National Park of the Glaciers (as it translates literally from the Spanish). El Calafate is a very touristy spot because is the closest town to the biggest still growing glacier in the world: the Perito Moreno!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765241123/

This 70mts high monster plunging straight into the waters is a view like you wouldn't believe! Simply breath-taking…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765241123/

The next town up was El Chalten, the starting point of some more amazing trekking: to the Lagoon of Las Torres – Cerro Torres and the mighty mount Fitzroy! Just awesome!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765241123/

Back on the bus, I travelled the infamous Ruta 40 through the rest of windy and dry Patagonia north for 2 days and I stopped where I saw I was back in the temperate region of green pine tree forests.

I spent a few days in the peaceful hippy little mountain town of El Bolson: there I saw the biggest ever sky and the shiniest ever stars of the milky way… WOW! Next I travelled to Bariloche and the region of the shimmering lakes, which the autumn coming was already painting all colours of red, orange and yellow. Wonders after wonders: the Andes are amazing!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600765241123/

Do you want to read more, want more pictures? Next coming up here are the tales of my work and travels in Chile!
South America Photos Collection:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/collections/72157601537404834/

For now, I leave you dreaming on with the photos of this incredible month: I crammed in these sets some of the most stunning sites of Patagonia. Take the slide show and try to imagine the mouth-watering sensations of the world famous Argentinean grilled steak a la parilla accompanied by some of the best Mendoza Malbec or Shiraz wine… after a long trek… blissful! [TO BE CONTINUED]

A blast from the past: Brazil & Paraguay

2009-08-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

I just realized, my friends, that I have a lot more pictures in my collection that you might not have seen, yet!, because they refer back to the trip following the last one I posted of my travels in Central America (blog before this one).
These photos are from the year I spent in South America in 2005-06... what an adventure!!!

Million Zillion of photos are all there on my online pages for you to view:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/collections/72157601537404834/

Just to give you a little thread through them, my South American trip started in Brazil in Dec.05. After running around the metropolitan spots of Sao Paulo and Rio in amazement, I got to Salvador do Bahia where I was fascinated by the black Brazilian traditions and culture. Although the poverty was in your face, the joviality of the people came out from every corner of the Pelhurino old quarter, with big smiles to the sound of drumming music and acrobatic capoheira... simply stunning!

In Salvador I visited the project 'Vida', which really set the focus of my trip.
This shelter/centre offered reassuring arms to abandoned children, women and elderly people of the barrio Boa Viagem. The Vida concept was based on developing an inner search for peace and serenity about life, with the consciousness of belonging to a whole of energy and universal love to which we can connect every moment, day, always and let love and happiness to flow free into us and out to all beings and creation on this Earth. http://www.tudojoia.org/

I felt strongly and positively re-energized and still churning through this really big realization, I traveled south along the Atlantic coast to Porto Seguro and I celebrated for 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year's at the beach party scene of Arrajl d'Ajuda & Trancoso, and then went more south back to Sao Paulo where I decided I absolutely had to get a camera: although the best memories are printed in your head, as they say, Brazil was just too stunning to leave without even one snapshot! So equipped with a new digital camera, I made my way down to Paranagua & Ila do Mel, and surfers' paradise Floripa. Then I got to the border with Argentina and entered Paraguay at the Foz of Iguazu, where I tested my new camera with a million shots of the beautiful Iguazu waterfalls!
Enjoy the photos of (some of) Brazil:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157600764861084/

In Paraguay I went to the capital Asuncion, which was heavily in ruins and falling a part all together, and I paid a due visit to the Institute Dante Alighieri, an establishment across Latin America: there is one in every capital city in South America! The institute is run by academics from the mother land Italy, emigrated in Paraguay and other countries over the first wave of immigration at the end of 1800 and second wave during and just after the Mussolini's fascist dictatorship in 1935-45. In Asuncion capital, dilapidated by its own half-a-century-long recent dictatorship, every young 'cousin' is studying Italian language and literature and putting aside every pesos towards the dream of one day emigrating back, claiming their grandparents' Italian citizenship.Quite an example on how things can reverse completely through the years...!

It was already the end of January 06, so I decided to follow the river Parana' from Iguazu down into Argentina, through the state of Santa Fe, and I stopped in the town of Rosario. [to be continued...]

A blast from the past: Central America photos!!!

2009-08-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

Finally my friends, I have managed to scan through the best of my pictures from my trip in Central America from 5 years ago!!!
Here's the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/collections/72157605380757041/
Central America collection 2003-04
Well I must admit, I was not so good at taking pictures in those days, I still had one of those cameras with the film and I couldn't check the photos and re-take them in case! It was a one snapshot only and hope for the best...
So, my apologies for the low quality, but they are great memories! In 8 months I traveled around the whole of Central America stopping in every country to understand the violence and horror of their recent history of natural disasters, civil wars and human rights abuses. So I stopped and volunteered in the local community working in socio-economic development projects to get some relevant work experience after my Master degree in Globalization and Development.
It's been really an eye opening for me, as I embarqued in the hardous task to change career from the financial sector after working in the City (London) for many years. I tried to work in related fields so to transfer my skills across from the private sector to the non-profit third sector.

As I got to Guatemala, I settled in Antigua and tried out a few projects. Over the 3 months I stayed there, I started off working as English teacher for the school Bendicion de Dios and as social worker, promoting the importance of education amongst the community of Alotenango, aimed at children aged between 5 and 14 years' old. I also worked with Futuro Para Todos on the micro-credit programs run for women's groups living on the outskirt of Guate City. I helped with the collection and management of demographic information by building a tailored-made Access database for all individual details to be used to target training courses and consultancy sessions to women running a similar business activity. I also got involved with the organisation Allianza Los Cimientos, looking after a community of more than 70 families that were living rough in Siquinala' and running an old claim for their land from the government, unfortunately not co-operating much since years back. The families were proposing to be assigned land in the forest where they would be establishing programs of permaculture to grow all produces they would need. A very interesting concept of man+environment long-term sustainability which is currently a pilot project in Pachitulul- near Lake Atitlan. Here are the Guatemala photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157605161368467/

With other volunteers in Antigua we took a short holiday for All Saints (Halloween now) celebrations that autumn and although it was still rain season, we went to the beautiful Bay Islands off the coast of Hondouras to find some sunshine and do some diving around the beautiful coral reef coming down from Belize. Enjoy the Roatan photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157605384678605/

Next stop was in the New Year 2004, Nicaragua, which I traveled down and across all the way to the still trenced off area of the Contras & Sandinistas civil war of Puerto Cabeza, on the Atlantic coast. There I visited AMICA, a local ngo for indigenous women who are running a self-sustainable small resort in the internal fresh water rivers. I also stayed on the stunning Corn Island for a couple of days and then back on the main land I stopped in Granada to work for the former Sandinista health organisation Claudia Chamorro (one of the strong leadership figures during Sandino's days against the military regime backed up by the US Contras). At the Casa de la Mujer Chamorro women came with their children for gynaecologic, paediatric and other medical issues, which I left in the hands of the capable doctors there. I was running the hygiene and family planning training sessions. Here are the Nicaragua photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157605208179061/

In February I travelled around Costa Rica for an organisation called Procesos, who sent me to interview all the women who took part in a training program on democratic leadership and socio-political participation a couple of years back with the purpose to collect some feedback on the usefulness and to investigate the possible demand for a follow-up or a re-fresh course on such training programs. Costa Rica is a very beautiful country with much lush vegetation and lots of fun outdoor activities! I even saw the Carneval celebrations... Pura Vida!
Here are the Costa Rica photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157605375052106/

After a quick stop in the North of Panama to dive in the world famous site of Bocas del Toro, I made my way back north and stopped in El Salvador to follow the party campaign for the run up to the March elections. I was an International observer aligned with the opposition party of FLMN, which remained at the opposition even after the scandalous not regular elections. Together with the Elecotral Tribunal, us observers reported many irregularity in the elections process, such as burning down some remote poll sites, buying votes with all sorts of bribe offers, etc... But it was all worthless as the right wing party from the military regime backed up by the US won for the 4th round in a row... The population of mainly senior people and under-18's still relies on the remises from many parents working in the US who were openly threatened to the risk of embargo of the remises if not 'cooperating' during the elections... Just shocking!
Here are the El Salvador photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157605161656967/

For last destination I travelled through Mexico, mainly the indegenous region of Chiapas and the states around el DeFe, like Puebla, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Guerrero. Here I got involved with the indegenous people still fighting with the government in land disputes since decades ago. In Chiapas it is still very strong the input of the Zapatistas group, who is backing up the indigenous people still battling for the claim on their land. Here are the Mexico photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolacarpediem/sets/72157605380343523/

This first trip for me has been really important for both my personal development and understanding of what's really important and what really counts in life. It has been an important stepping stone in my career too. I cherish the teachings and the great experiences I made those early days.
I thank the organizations that have welcomed me so warmly for the very valuable opportunity they have given me to open my eyes to some important issues on world poverty. And I invite you, my friends to share those sweet memories with me!