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February 08, 2010

UNTERWEGS - ON THE ROAD

marrakesh

ich brauchte 3 1/2 Tage von saint louis in senegal bis marrakesh. es stellte sich heraus, dass die km-angaben in der michelinkarte nicht der realität entsprechen. es waren rund 2.600 km, aber auch das ist nur ein schätzwert.
nachdem ich in nuakchott aus dem internetcafe kam, habe ich bezahlt und bin mal richtung norden losmarschiert. es war ein bisschen warm und nuakchott ist ziemlich weitläufig, deswegen habe ich mir nach 2 km ein taxi bis zur stadtgrenze geleistet. dort wurde mir zuerst ganz mulmig, denn es war irgendwo im nirgendwo, weit und breit nix, was mache ich nur, wenn keiner hält...













i needed 3 1/2 days from saint louis, senegal to marrakesh. it turned out that the amount of kilometers stated in the map (michelin) are not according to reality. it was about 2.600 km but also this is only the estimated value.
after i left the internet cafe in nuakchott, i payed the hostel and started walking towards north. it was a bit hot and nuakchott is quite spacious therefore i took a taxi to the city limits. at first i felt there a bit uneasy, it was in the middle of nowhere, as far as i could see there was nothing, what shall i do if no one will take me...
aber meine sorgen waren völlig unbegründet, denn schon nach etwa 10 minuten hielt ein toyota pickup und nahm mich mit. der besitzer stellte sich als "Maurice" vor und war mauretanier, der fahrer war malier und ein anderer mitfahrer senegalese. wir brausten mit 150 kmh durch die mauretanische wüste richtung norden. an den polizeiposten wurden wir nicht kontrolliert, sondern alle wollten maurice die hand schütteln. die 500 km bis zur grenze schafften wir - inklusive pause - in weniger als 4 stunden, die strasse nördlich von nuakchott ist aber auch in einem guten zustand.
but my worries were absolutely without cause, after about 10 minutes a toyota pickup stopped and gae me a lift. the owner introduced himself as "maurice", he was mauretanian, the driver was a malian and another man was senegalese. we raced with 150 km/h through the mauritanian desert towards north. at the police posts we did not get controlled but all wanted to shake hands with maurice. the 500 km we did in less than 4 hours - a rest included, the road north of nuakchott is in a very good condition - for africa.

an der grenze setzten sie mich ab, reich versorgt mit kaltem wasser und keksen, alle waren dort beeindruckt von mir: "sie ist mit maurice gekommen... " er muss eine wirklich bekannte persönlichkeit sein...
an der grenze war viel los, viele europäer, die nach süden wollten, aber auch senegalesen, die aus europa kamen und ihre familien anlässlich des tabaski festes besuchen wollten. alle drängelten sich an dem schalter, jeder wollte zuerst. mir war das zu blöd, ich gab meinen pass ab, setzte mich in den schatten und wartete...
nach etwa einer stunde wurde ich aufgerufen. der grenzer wollte wissen, wo mein visum fur mauretanien ist:
"ich reise nicht ein, sondern aus, nach marokko, ich bin alleine, ohne auto und trampe!"
"das geht nicht! finde zuerst eine transportmöglichkeit, dann gebe ich dir den pass zurück"
scheisse! alles fuhr nach süden, nach norden sah es düster aus. aber da fuhr gerade ein marokkanischer truck vor. ich rannte hin und fragte, ob er mich mitnehmen wurde. der fahrer bejahte sofort und ich rannte zu dem grenzer, um den pass zu holen, aber wir sind ja in afrika und ich musste mich wieder gedulden bis ich an der reihe war...
they let me out at the border, well provided with cold water and biscuits, everybody there was impressed: "she arrived with maurice..." he must have been a really person....
the border was busy, many europeans driving south but also senegalese coming from europe with cars to visit their families for the tabaski celebration. all were pushing at the counter, everybody wanted to be first. i found it stupid, delivered my passport and waited in the shadow.
after about one hour they called me, the policeman wanted to know where the visa for mauritania was:
"i am not entering mauritania but leaving for morocco, i am alone without a car and i am hitchhiking!"
"you cannot hitchhike here! go and find transport or i won´t give you back your passport"
shit! everybody was driving south, no one was going north. but there was a moroccan truck driving in front. i ran to ask the driver if he would take me. he immediately said yes and i ran to the policeman to get my passport, but we are in africa and i had to wait until it was my turn...

ali, der fahrer lud derweil mein gepäck in den truck und endlich hatte ich auch meinen pass und wir konnten losfahren, aber da fing ali an, mich um geld zu fragen, was wollte ich machen, er wollte 200 dirham bis dakhla oder 400 bis agadir. ich hatte keine dirham, sondern nur CFA, aber "ganz zufallig" war ein geldwechsler da... ich hatte keine ahnung, wie der wechselkurs ist und habe nur 150 dirham gewechselt, die ich ali gab. er war zufrieden und meinte, er würde mich bis dakhla mitnehmen. endlich fuhren wir los.
alle europäer stöhnten über die grenzformalitäten, dabei hat diese grenze "nur" 2 stunden gedauert und war somit relativ flott.
in the meantime ali, the driver had put my luggage in the truck and eventually i got my passport and we were ready to start when ali wanted money from me. what could i do, he wanted 200 dirham until dakhla and 400 until agadir. i didn´t have any dirham, only CFA, but "accidentally" a money-changer came along. i had no clue what the exchange rate between dirham and cfa and euro was so i changed only 150 dirham which i gave ali. he was satisfied and said he would take me until dakhla. eventually we started.
all europeans were suffering the bordercrossing procedure, but this border took "only" 2 hours and was really fast for africa.

ali sprach kein französisch und die verständigung war ein bisschen schwierig. so langsam fielen mir die arabischen wörter wieder ein, trotzdem nuschelte er vor sich hin, er verstand zwar mich, aber ich ihn nicht. aber wozu hat man hände und füsse...
nach 80 km kam eine "fernfahrerkneipe", wo wir gegessen haben. alis bekannter lebt in italien und wir haben uns auf italienisch unterhalten. er erzählte mir, dass ali seit 30 jahren zwischen agadir und nouadhibou hin und herfährt und jeden auf dieser strecke kennt. ali erklärte sich bereit mich auch bis agadir mitzunehmen und diese 150 dirham beinhalteten auch die ganze verpflegung unterwegs. um mitternacht waren wir in dakhla und ich schlief im truck während ali eine andere unterkunft hatte. am nächsten morgen lud er und nahm noch eine 5-köpfige familie mit. yussef, fatima und 3 kleine kinder, alle in der fahrerkabine...
es gab viele polizeikontrollen und jedesmal, wenn sie mich sahen, wurde mein pass ausgiebig begutachtet, was ist mein beruf, wo komme ich her, wo fahre ich hin usw... das wurde uns bald zu blöd und ich ging auf tauchstation an den posten. wir fuhren mittags los in dakhla und nach etwa 2 stunden kam ein schild: AGADIR 1.000 KM
it turned out that ali didn´t speak any french and the communication was a bit difficult but slowly my arabic words came back. ali was mumbling, he understood me but i did not get him. what do we have hand and feet for...
after 80 km there was a truck stop where we had dinner. ali´s friend is living in italy and we spoke italian with each other. he told me that ali has been driving between agadir and nouadhibou and knows everybody along the road. ali agreed to take me up to agadir and the 150 dirham i had given him included also all the food on the road. at midnight we reached dakhla and i slept in the truck while ali found another place to sleep. the next morning he was loading and took also a maroccan family, yussef, fatima and 3 children, all of us in the cabin...
there were lots of police controls and each time when they saw me my passport got inspected very detailed, what is my profession, where did i come from, where was i going etc... we soon got bored of this and i duck at the posts. we started at noon and after 2 hours there was a sign: AGADIR 1.000 km.














es zog sich... in der nacht hielten wir zweimal, weil ali eine mütze schlaf brauchte. ich bekam kein auge zu. nicht nur, weil es ein bisschen unbequehm war, auch die diversen körperausdünstungen hielten mich vom schlafen ab. nicht, dass ich besonders fein gerochen hätte, aber es duftete auch intensiv nach kinderkotze und fürzen...
mittags kamen wir in agadir an, 24 stunden von dakhla. ali setzte uns am busbahnhof ab, die familie wollte weiter nach safi und auch ich bin mit dem bus nach marrakesh gefahren. ich war ziemlich platt und die aussicht 2 km in der sonne mit gepäck zur strasse nach marrakesh zu laufen war nicht besonders prickelnd.
at night we stopped twice because ali needed a nap. i couldn´t sleep. not because it wasn´t very comfortable but also the diverse body odors did not let me sleep. not that i had scented well but there was also a smell of baby vomit and farts...
at noon we reached agadir, 24 hours after leaving dakhla. ali dropped us at the bus station, the family wanted to move on to safi and i took the bus to marrakesh. i was pretty tired and the prospect of marching 2 km to the road to marrakesh with my luggage was not really tingling.
 

der bus war "klimatisiert " was bedeutete, dass die temperatur sich um 1-2 grad unter saunaniveau bewegte. aber wir zuckelten richtung marrakesh, es gab sehr viel verkehr und man konnte schlecht überholen. die landschaft war klasse!!! um 8 uhr waren wir da und ich habe ein hotel in der altstadt gefunden. 3 tage ohne dusche, ohne zähneputzen, ohne aus den kleidern gekommen zu sein...
trotz der müdigkeit bin ich nach der dusche noch durch die stadt gelaufen. die altstadt ist toll, trotzdem, wenn man von süden kommt, hat marrakesh nicht den zauber des orientalischen, sondern ist nur eine andere grosse stadt mit einem markt.
ich habe angefangen zu packen, den rucksack auszumisten und hoffe, dass alles reinpasst. um 12 uhr muss ich das zimmer räumen. ich fahre dann mit dem bus zum flughafen und übernachte dort.
das wars aus afrika. morgen abend bin ich wieder in deutschland, komische vorstellung, ich habe mich gerade so ans reisen gewohnt.

the bus was "air conditioned" meaning the temperature was 1-2 degree under sauna level. slowly we went towards marrakesh, there was a lot of traffic and overtaking was hardly possible. the landscape was breathtaking!!! at 8 p.m. we reached marrakesh and i found a cheap hotel in the old town. 3 days without shower, without brushing teeth and without changing clothes...
inspite my tiredness i was walking through the town after the shower. the old town is great, but when you come from south, marrakesh does not have the magic of the orient but is just another big african town with a market.
i started to pack, to clean out my backpack and hope that all fits in. at noon i have to leave the room. i´m going to take the bus to the airport and will sleep there.
that´s it from africa. tomorrow night i will be back in germany, strange imagination, i just got used to traveling.

FAZIT: es war INTENSIV und hat mir wieder lust am reisen in afrika gemacht, diese lust ist mir in den letzten jahren in äthiopien etwas abhanden gekommen. es war so intensiv und klasse wie beim ersten mal!
RESULT: it was INTENSE and gave me back my lust for traveling in africa. this i had lost a bit in the last years in ethiopia. but this time it has been as intense and great like the first time!

by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at February 08, 2010 22:54

Even Jesus was a hitchhiker...

Amsterdam again

The 17th of December

Hi there, after a while. This time there was no goal in my trip. I was simply headed to casarobino to check out how are things there. The way started with a lift given by my parents to Olsztyn, 70km further. Olsztyn was quite snowy and windy, about -10 degreeds. I managed to get a lift further, then another one, short as well. 3rd driver who stopped took me straight away to Poznań, where I had 2 options. After a while it turned out that I chose the worse one. Standing on the petrol station, already dark, about -15 degreeds. It had been over an hour in such unpleasant circumstance untill I got a ride just a bit KM further, but then the magicial power of CB radio started working and I ended up being brought to Amsterdam without hitching or asking, just switching cars via CB radio.

22th of December

Despite being unlucky in Amsterdam and waiting 1h for a lift the way back was much more interesting.  Young guy took a detour and brought me to the closest petrol station. There I had a lesson of my German and fixed myself a ride to the next petrol station. This one seemed to be kind tiny, but after a couple of minutes kind Dutch man decided to take a detour and help me coming back for christmas. From then on paradise had started. Reluctant Polish driver decided to let me board his truck and drove me to Germany. Then I switched trucks on the rest stop. Driver seemed to be happy to have picked me up and immediately offered a cup of tea and told me to take cigaretters whenever I feel like smoking. After some time another guy was asking if anyone wants to go back to Poland. As the previous driver would drive me just to the border, and the other one was willing to take me to Łódź I accepted. This one was a little bit boring and his driving skills were far from good. This guy wouldn’t listen to my advices which were tested and drove a bit around, whatever. Then I had a couple of lifts from Łódź including first league soccer player, boss of LUKOIL petrol station and some other great drivers because of whom I didn’t feel like sleeping leading me home.

The way back took me 22 hours, the way to Amsterdam 24 hours.

This is what I call entertainment :)

by patrishnik at February 08, 2010 20:36

Meinhard Benn

FOSDEM, meeting Robin Upton

I am so glad to have met Robin Upton at this year’s FOSDEM conference in Brussels. Robin initiated Altruists International a few years back and is doing elaborate non-formal research in the field of gift economies.

While at FOSDEM (where the only other talk I attended was about strophe.js, an XMPP library designed for the real-time web I was playing with recently) and visiting a chocolate factory outlet a bit outside Brussels, Robin, Dante and I mainly discussed his ongoing project Friend2Friend — a possible technical back-end to a fully independent and distributed gift economy. The software is still a prototype, but I believe it is important pioneering work that encourages new ways of thinking about our data, how it is processed and stored.

Robin is a kind and loving altruist and an inspiring thinker with a strong mathematics background. Believe it or not, his black framed glasses are actually fixed with sticky tape, hehe. Please do invite him to talk about his ideas! He will roam about Europe a bit longer and return to East Asia at some point.

Thanks to Petter, Dante and Kasper for connecting us.

by meinhard at February 08, 2010 18:52

Whispering of the Stars

desire everything, expect nothing

From a certain point onward, there is no turning back.
That is the point that must be reached.
-Kafka

Of my madness,
my hunger for a passionate life;
to grow, to become something exquisitely detailed.. sculptured.
you can wander and wander from land to land and still never break y'er damned chains. You will wander forever, you will traverse deserts and rainforests just to find yourself,
you, you, you,
Meanwhile, spring is crawling closer. Last night, after the film, I ask myself - why not live in an avalanche all your life, to be buried in what is the life, that is joy, frustration, despair, exhileration, intoxication, tenderness?
Toi aussi, tu detest la vie. Non, non, pas moi.
And outta the window, a'dam was amidst the breath of a red mexican frog, the air thick with fog, reminds me of homelands. Home severed and lost at the bottom of the sea. Aniia and Heather sleep, Ieva goes to collapse in the slaagroom (=lit. translation - whipped cream..thus whipped cream room). I write. I write poorly, no blood in the stone. Words of faraway lands; latin america, berlin, paris. Is all of this just a way to escape my skin, to never really exist, fully? To always be leaping somewhere else without being here?
So be here with all y'er madness, your despairs, your loves.

the possibility of the visiting of a squatted abandoned lighthouse come monday in denmark. graffiti on freight cars (words! lift me up!), digging in y'er heart for more. Jesus, keep on, you must. The stories have subsided again, drained away, all that's left are aerobatics breathing thoughts, visions, moments of content. Bring a little light towards me, my girl. dream a while, scheme a while, all those things you've pined for. again, I must coil everything into the arms of great tales rather this fragmentary nonsense. 
Amsterdam pivots between the incredible and the dull. Nothing ever really seems to happen in this city, or it's all hidden. I can't imagine magical things to be hidden in this city, but what about y'erself, old man? Yes, yes, yes, dig dig dig. But through the cold dirty bath water of winter; all you need is warmth, tea, good friends and books. This restlessness will lead you to great things. Great things! Know that every moment is absolutely necessary, building, slowly. ..

exultion - The act or condition of rejoicing greatly,


to give me the guts and the love to
go
on.

February 08, 2010 16:02

Digihitch

San Diego, CA to Cape Horn, Argentina - Part 12

Paso Canoas, Costa Rica Nearly to Panama... just on the border, in fact. I stayed at the Bigfoot Hostel for a few more days. I´m glad I did, because I met a very nice and very beautiful Swiss girl there named Nathalie. She's a flight attendant for Swiss Airlines, so we shared all of our stories of air travel, as my dad is a pilot, after all.

February 08, 2010 14:46

February 07, 2010

Cee trampt

Short hitchhiking trip in California

“Hitchhiking in California????? Forget it!! Don’t even think about it!! Yes, there used to be a lot of hitchhikers.. but nowadays there are so many weirdos!” - I can’t remember how many people - Californians and others - gave me answers like this.. But as I was there without a car and as it is [...]

by cee at February 07, 2010 23:22

UNTERWEGS - ON THE ROAD

ouagadougou














der flug nach ouaga war okay. yacouba hat mich um 4 uhr morgens abgeholt und ins hotel gebracht. das zimmer ist okay, sogar mit air condition, nicht ganz meine preisklasse, aber für die woche wird es gehen. ich bin aufgewacht, habe gefrühstückt und dann geld gewechselt und eine simcard gekauft. die nummer ist: 0022672005898. jeder hier scheint ein handy zu haben, die stadt ist ziemlich modern. die leute sind freundlich und es gibt nur wenige bettler. keine madame-cadeau-mentalität wie in so vielen anderen afrikanischen ländern. aber es ist HEISS und SCHWÜL, wie in der sauna 35° mit einer luftfeuchtigkeit von über 90%. du tust nichts und schwitzt trotzdem. mein französich kam nach nur einer woche wieder zurück, nicht ganz fehlerfrei, aber ich kann mich fließend unterhalten.
ich rief die deutsche botschaft an um einen termin für nächsten donnerstag klarzumachen. morgen nacht kommen die anderen und nächste woche bin ich verplant. ich habe zabda boucaré von couchsurfing getroffen. er ist sehr nett und wir treffen uns nochmal heute abend. letzte nacht war ich sehr MÜDE und bin um 19.00 uhr ins bett gefallen. yacouba und seine frau kamen um 21.00 uhr um mich abzuholen und ich habe kaum gehört, dass sie an die tür geklopft haben. wir beschlossen heute abend auszugehen.
the flight to ouaga was okay. yacouba picked me up from the airport and brought me to my hotel @ 4 in the morning. the room is ok, even with air condition, not my normal price level but for this week it will be fine. after i woke up, i had breakfast and went to change money, bought a burkina faso simcard. the no. is 0022672004898. everybody seems to have mobile phones over here and the city is quite modern. people are very friendly, hardly any beggars and no : madame cadeau like in so many other african countries. but it is HOT and HUMID, like a sauna. 35° with a humidity of over 90% you do nothing and sweat anyway. my french returned after a single day, i am not correct but can easily communicate.
i called the german embassy to fix an appointment for next thursday. tomorrow night the others will arrive and i won't be free for the next week. i met zabda from couchsurfing. he is very nice and we will meet again later today. last night i was TIRED and went to bed early. @ 7 pm... yacouba and his wife came to pick me up at 9 i hardly heard them knock on the door. we decided to go tonight.

cari amici italiani: é molto difficile scrivere anche in italiano. il keyboard di computer é diverse ed é difficile to cercare le parole. sono bene arrivata in burkina faso. mi piace molto le gente sono molto simpatica. la prossima settimana saro molto occupata e scrivo ancora fra una settimana.

by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at February 07, 2010 21:57

casablanca airport

willkommen in africa. es hat 10 minuten gedauert um diese seite zu öffnen. ich wollte euch nur wissen lassen, dass ich gut hier angekommen bin. jetzt warte ich auf den anschlussflug. ich habe ein internet cafe gefunden, sehr langsam, das keyboard anders als alle, die ich bisher gesehen habe, aber zumindest nicht auf arabisch.

keine geduld um dieses mal mehr zu schreiben.

welcome to africa, i have been waiting 10 minutes to open this page. i just wanted to let you know that i have arrived safely here. now i am waiting for the connecting flight. found an internet place, the internet is very slow, the kewboard different from every keyboard i have seen so far but at least not in arabic.

i am not patient enough to write more this time


by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at February 07, 2010 19:44

today my trip begins
















diese woche war sehr anstrengend. die ärzte sind freitag auf samstag nacht angekommen. yacouba hat einen bus gemietet. wir hatten viel zu tun und waren die ganze woche sehr beschäftigt. montag bis mittwoch waren wir in dori in nordost burkina. dort ist es viel trockener, sehr heiß aber nicht so schwül. wir besuchten auch den könig mogho naaba, er schien uns zu mögen und rief uns während der woche mehrmals an. wir trafen den gesundheitsminister, der uns auch unterstützt, waren bei der deutschen botschaft und gestern habe ich den op-tisch vom zoll abgeholt. es lief einfacher als erwartet und wir spendeten den op-tisch der maternité des yalgado krankenhauses hier in ouaga. das krankenhaus hat sehr unter der heftigen überschwemmung gelitten am 1. september, innerhalb von 6 stunden fielen über 300 l/m² regen, der nahegelegene staudamm brach und überflutete alles. das wasser stand 1,50 m hoch. das einzige ct des staates burkina faso versank auch in den fluten.
gestern abend waren wir auf dem "oktoberfest" im restaurant "tam-tam" mit bayerischer blasmusik... nicht ganz meine richtung. die docs sind in der nacht zurückgeflogen. ich habe nochmal im hotel übernachtet, meine sachen gepackt und mich von den mitarbeitern des hotels verabschiedet. mein rucksack ist ein bisschen leichter und ich ziehe weiter nach mali. ouaga ist okay, eine typische afrikanische großstadt, ich bin lieber auf dem land.
ich wollte auch einige andere couchsurfer anrufen, aber sie haben nicht geantwortet. ich habe eine burkina simcard gekauft, es ist billig und einfach, wahrscheinlich mache ich dasselbe in mali. mit dem internet ist es schwierig, aber jeder hat ein handy.
nächstes mal melde ich mich aus mali, mal sehen wie trampen in burkina läuft.

the week was very busy. the docs arrived last friday night. yacouba had hired a bus for the whole team. we had lots of things to do and were extremely busy all week. from monday to wednesday we went to dori in northeast burkina. it is much dryer there, hot as hell but not so humid. we also visited the king of burkina faso mogho naaba and he seemed to like us as he contacted us several times during this week. we met the minister of health who is very suportive, went to the german embassy and yesterday i picked up the operation table from the customs. it was easier than i had imagined and we donated it to the maternity of the yalgado hospital here in ouaga. the hospital had been badly affected by the rain that hit the town on september 1. within 6 hours they had 300 l of rain per squ. meter and the dam of a nearby lake broke and flooded the hospital. the water was 1,50 meter high and damaged a big part of the hospital. the only computer tomography of the state of burkina was also damaged.
yesterday night we went to the "oktoberfest" in the restaurant "tam-tam" with bavarian blasmusik.... not my kind of amusement. the docs were flying back and should arrive in germany soon. i slept well and this morning i said farewell to the people in the hotel. i packed my belongings which are a little lighter in the meantime and will move on to mali today. ouaga is okay, a typical african big city, i prefer the country side.
i tried to meet some other couchsurfers but they did not answer the phone. i bought a burkina simcard. it was cheap and easy, maybe i do the same in mali. internet is difficult but everybody seems to have a mobile phone.
next time i will hopefully contact you from mali, now let's see how hitching is in burkina.

by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at February 07, 2010 19:43

hi from mopti, mali














was für eine reise das gestern war. ich bin spät in der nacht in mopti angekommen. 400 km von ouagadougou entfernt, die hälfte der strecke auf schotterstraßen, ich habe an einem rostigen nagel meine hosen zerissen... ich bin mit dem bus von ouaga weggefahren, unterwegs sahen wir auch die letzte etappe der "tour de faso", nach 2 stunden auf asphaltstrasse kam ich in ouahigouya. boucarés bruder zeigte mir, wo ich ein auto nach koro, dem ersten dorf in mali finden könnte. ich habe auch 2 holländische pärchen getroffen, alle einige jahrzehnte jünger als ich. wir warteten darauf, dass der bus endlich losfuhr, aber der fahrer wollte erst fahren als der bus voll war, es fehlten immer noch 3 fahrgäste. schließlich diskutierten die malier und sammelten um für die fehlenden passagiere aufzukommen und endlich fuhren wir los. das auto war ein mercedes transporter, beladen mit 24 leuten und ihrem gepäck (es fehlten immer noch 3), das ganze gepäck plus ein moped plus eine ziege (lebend). die türen ließen sich nicht schließen, nur mit einem strick. für die 90 km brauchten wir 6 stunden, inklusive grenze. die grenze war irgendwo im nirgendwo. die burkina grenzer waren freundlich, aber als wir in mali ankamen wurden wir begrüßt mit den worten: "willkommen in mali, ich hoffe, die reise war nicht zu anstrengend. fühlen sie sich herzlich willkommen in unserem wundervollen mali"
ich habe mich auf der stelle in mali verliebt. der fahrer hatte es plötzlich eilig, weil die grenze um 6 uhr geschlossen wurde und wir noch einen polizeiposten zu überwinden hatten. 

what a trip it was yesterday. i arrived late in the night at mopti. 400 km from ouagadougou, half the trip on dirt roads, i ripped my jeans on a rusty nail... i took the bus out of ouaga, on the road we the the last part of the "tour de faso" and arrived after 2 hours on asphalt road in ouahigouya. boucaré's brother showed me where to catch another car to koro, the first village in mali. i met 2 couples of dutch people, all some decades younger than me. we were waiting for the car to leave but the driver wouldn't move until the car was full. there were still 3 people missing. finally the malians discussed to pay for the missing 3 passengers and eventually we started. the car was a mercedes benz transporter, loaded with 24 people (still 3 people missing!!!), all the luggage on top plus a motorcycle plus a goat (alive!). the doors would not shut and had to be held with a rope. for the 90 km we took 6 hours including the border. the border was in the middle of nowhere. the burkina police was nice but when we came to the mali post some 20 km later - also in the middle of nowhere - we were greeted with the words: "welcome, i hope the road was not too tiring for you, feel very very welcome to our wonderful mali"
i made me fall in love with this country right away. the driver of our bus was suddenly in a hurry because the border would close for the night at 6 pm and we would have another police post to pass.


















als wir in koro in der dunkelheit ankamen, wollten die holländer dort über nacht bleiben, aber die malier organisierten ein anderes auto und wir fuhren zusammen nach mopti. das auto war in einem viel besseren zustand außer dem rostigen nagel. die straße war extrem holprig, aber wir waren nur 8 leute in dem auto. leider konnte ich die falaise de bandigara nicht sehen, die wohl sehr spektakulär in dem mondlicht aussah.
wir kamen kurz vor mitternacht in mopti an. ich wohne im hotel des roses. es ist ein bisschen teuer, aber ich war nicht in der lage, groß wegen des preises zu diskutieren um diese uhrzeit. ich duschte und fiel ins bett. heute morgen habe ich meine hose inspiziert, sie sieht rotbraun aus statt grün und ich habe sie gewaschen bevor ich sie zum flicken bringe. danach frühstückte ich und hunderte von fliegen leisteten mir dabei gesellschaft... ich habe auch eine mali simcard gekauft und bin unter folgender nummer die nächsten 10 tage erreichbar: 76550117. direkt neben dem hotel gibt es ein internet cafe.
mali gefällt mir sehr gut!!! das leben ist schön!!!
when we arrived in koro it was dark and the dutch wanted to stay there for the night while the mali guys organised another car and we went to mopti. the car was in a much better condition except for the rusty nail. the road was extremely bumpy but e were only 8 people in the car. unfortunately i did not see much of the cliffs of bandigara which seem to be quite spectacular as much as i could see in the moonlight.
arrived in mopti at almost midnight an am staying at the hotel des roses. it is a bit expensive but i was not in the mood to discuss for the price last night. i showered and went to sleep right away. this morning i inspected my jeans the looked reddish brown instead of green, so i washed them before i will have them repaired. then i had breakfast together with hundreds of flys... i bought a mali simcard and can be reached under the following no. in the next 10 days: 76550117
the internet place is next to the hotel.

i definitely do like mali!!! life is good!!!

by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at February 07, 2010 19:43

hi from bamako



trampen in mali ist einfach - wenn du geduldig bist. es gibt nicht viel verkehr, vielleicht 5-6 autos in der stunde, die meisten sind busse, die geld wollen, weiße leute nehmen niemanden mit, auch charity organisationen nicht. mopti war klasse, im stadtzentrum jagen dich die touristenjäger, aber sobald man ein bisschen außerhalb ist, hat man seine ruhe und die leute sind normal und freundlich. mir gefallen sowieso die hinterhöfe und schuhputzer besser als der ganze touristenkram und es ging mir dort sehr gut. dienstag morgen bin ich nach djenné gefahren. das war das beste dieser reise bisher. ich war auch auf den ausgrabungen dort. KLASSE!!!
an meinem geburtstag bin ich von djenné losgefahren und es war am anfang ein bisschen schwierig. ich blieb in einem dorf hängen, die dorfleute brachten mir einen stuhl im schatten, man bot mir tee und erdnüsse an und ich verteilte bonbons an die kinder. nach 2 stunden hielt ein auto, dass bis nach bamako fuhr. moses, der fahrer ist ein malier, der seit 15 jahren in genf lebt. wir kamen im dunkeln in bamako an und er lud mich in der katholischen mission ab, die wirklich billig ist. ich duschte und wusch alle meine sachen und machte mich auf die suche nach etwas zu essen und einem bier um meinen geburtstag zu feiern. ich traf baba, einen jungen malier, der mir alles zeigte und wir feierten zusammen und einigen franzosen, die auch in der mission wohnten.
heute ging ich zur mauritanischen botschaft um das visum zu beantragen. ich kann es am montag abholen. es ist viel billiger und schneller als in deutschland. wir gingen auch ins nationalmuseum, es war sehr interessant und ich habe viel über malische geschichte gelernt.
heute abend gehen baba und ich tanzen. wahrscheinlich werde ich nächsten mittwoch wieder unterwegs sein.
Mali ist wirklich eine Reise wert!

hitchhiking in mali is easy - if you are patient. there is not much traffic, maybe 5-6 cars per hour. most of them are busses who want money, white people do not take hitchhikers and also charity organisations will not take you. mopti was great. in the city center the tourist hunters will chase you but once you are a bit outside you will find the normal people that are all very friendly. I prefer the back yards and shoeshine boys more than the tourist stuff and had a great time. tuesday moring i went to djenné . it was the best part of the trip so far. went to see the excavations there etc. WOW!!!on my birthday i tried to get away from djenné and it was a bit hard at first. i got stuck in a village. the village people brought me a chair to wait in the shadow, i was offered tea and peanuts and shared my candy with the kids. after 2 hours a car stopped and was going right to bamako. moses, the driver is a malian who is living for 15 years in geneva. arriving in bamako in the darkness, he dropped me at the catholic mission, which is really cheap. i showered and washed all my belongings before i went to search sometyhing to eat and a cold beer to celebrate. i met baba, a young malian who is showing me everything and we celebrated together with him and a lot of french people who are also staying at the mission.
today i went to the mauritanian embassy for the visa. i can pick it up on monday. i is much faster and a lot cheaper than getting it in germany. went also the the national museum and learned something about malis history.
tonight baba and i go dancing. probably next wednesday i will be on the road again.
mali is really worth a visit!

by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at February 07, 2010 19:42

i found my paradise and i lost my heart in mali






kommt immer alles anders!

an meinem geburtstag war ich 14 stunden unterwegs. ziemlich abgenervt am abend. habe in der katholischen mission mal alles durchgewaschen und bin dann ziemlich abgenervt auf die suche nach einem bier um ein bisschen zu feiern. dabei sind uns baba und ich begegnet und es kam wie es kommen musste...
freitag habe ich meinen pass in die mauritanische botschaft gebracht. am nachmittag haben wir gepicknickt auf einer nigerinsel, auf die wir mit der pirogge übergesetzt sind. samstag haben wir ein moto geliehen und sind nach siby, etwa 50 km ausserhalb bamako, richtung guinea getuckert. dort gibt es einen wasserfall, der absolut paradiesisch gelegen ist. er ist zwar nicht sehr hoch, aber die ganzen felsen drumherum, die exotische vegetation und die einsamkeit sind unvergleichlich schön. wir beschlossen spontan auf den felsen zu übernachten und sind ins nachste dorf getuckert, um etwas zu essen zu organisieren. tagsüber waren ausser uns nur noch einige französische hippies, aber die sind abends wieder nachhause gefahren.
die nacht war ein bisschen frisch, ich habe den schlafsack in bamako gelassen, wie auch mein ganzes gepäck. aber die einsamkeit, die tolle landschaft und der einzigartige sternenhimmel wogen alles mehr als auf.
am montag sind wir wieder nach bamako zurück. die 15 km bis zur asphaltstrasse sind extem schwierig zu fahren und bieten alles was eine anspruchsvolle motocross strecke braucht. felsen, sand, geröll, schotter, mehrere bachläufe sind zu durchqueren. wir sind 3 mal gestürzt, das erste mal im sand, das zweite mal auf schotter und am ende auf asphalt. wir kamen reichlich lädiert wieder in bamako an, das verbandszeug hatte ich auch nicht dabei, eine rippe ist auch angeknackst.

everything comes differently!

at my birthday i have been on the road for 14 hours. pretty stressed in the evening. washing all my belongings at the catholic mission and left in search for a beer to celebrate a bit. there i met baba and it came as it had to be...
friday i brought my passport to the mauritanian embassy, in the afternoon we had picknick on an island of the river niger, crossing the river with a pirogge. saturday we rented a moto and went to siby, about 50 km away from bamako, towards the guinean border. there are cascades, absolutely paradise. not very high, but with all the rocks, the exotic vegetation and the lonelyness it was incredibly beautiful and we decided spontaneously to spend the night there. we went to the next village to organise something to eat. during the day some french hippies were there but they left in the evening.
the night was a bit cool, i left the sleepingbag in bamako, like all my other luggage. but the loneliness, the superb landscape and the unique starry heavens more than compensated.
monday morning we went back to bamako. the 15 km to the asphalt road are extremely difficult to drive and have everything a challenging motocross rallye needs. rocks, sand, gravel, several creeks are to cross and we crashed 3 times, the first time on sand, the second time on gravel and the third time on asphalt. arriving pretty damaged at bamako, i did not take my first-aid-kit, and i also cracked a rib.

in mali gibt es inzwischen auch geldautomaten, aber alle nehmen nur visa, deswegen fahren wir morgen nach senegal, weil man dort auch mit mastercard und eurocard weiterkommt. wir fahren mit dem bus, weil baba nicht trampen will. im moment habe ich beschlossen noch eine woche in senegal zu bleiben und dann auf einer arschbacke nach marrakesh weiterzudüsen.
gestern abend wurde baba im centre culturel francais mein handy geklaut. ich bin also bis auf weiteres nicht mehr telefonisch erreichbar. im centre culturel kam "der blaue engel" von 1929, mit marlene dietrich.
ansonsten ist mali erstaunlich liberal fur ein moslemisches land. frauen sieht man überall, unverschleiert, viele mit hosen und es wird auch in der öffentlichkeit händchen gehalten und rumgeknutscht.
auch die katholische mission war liberal und sagte nichts, dass ich einen mann mit auf mein einzelzimmer nahm. rechts rief der muezzin zum gebet, links sangen die nonnen ihre choräle.
trampen geht ganz gut. natürlich wollen viele geld haben, aber wenn man geduld hat; findet man auch jemanden, der einen kostenlos mitnimmt. aber es ist wirklich klasse, dass man dann von den dorfleuten so bewirtet wird.
das war alles fur heute. ich lebe noch, es geht mir sehr gut, meine blessuren sind geheilt.
bis die tage

there are money machines in mali but they only take visa, therefore we are going to senegal tomorrow, where they take also mastercard and eurocard. we will take the bus because baba doesn´t want to hitchhike. for the moment we decided to spend another week in senegal and then hitch to marrakesh in one go.
last night at the centre culturel francais baba got stolen my mobile. you can´t reach in the future. at the centre culturel i saw "the blue angel" from 1929 with marlene dietrich.
otherwise mali is surprisingly liberal for a mainly muslim country. women can be seen all over, unveiled, many in jeans, and people are publicly holding hands and kissing.
also the catholic mission was liberal and didn´t say anything that i took a man into my single room. on the right the muezzin called for prayer on the left the catholic nuns were singing chorals.
hitchhiking is quite easy. of course many want to have money but when you are patient you will find someone taking you for free. but it is really great that you get fed so hospitably by the village people.
that´s it for today. i am alive, i am fine and my injuries are healed.

by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at February 07, 2010 19:41

das beste an Senegal sind die geldautomaten!
















letzten donnerstag sind wir in bamako um 6 uhr morgens losgefahren. die strasse war gut, auch der bus. wir kamen um 4 uhr in kayes an, etwa 600+ km entfernt. die nacht verbrachten wir in der katholischen mission. das ist immer die billigste möglichkeit in afrika, sehr einfach aber relativ sauber.
überhaupt habe ich bis jetzt wenig kakerlaken getroffen, aber die wenigen waren wahre prachtexeplare. dafür wimmelt es hier überall von kröten.
am nächsten tag nahmen wir den bus um 15.00 uhr afrikanische zeit, d.h. alles ist relativ. wir sind dann kurz nach 5 uhr endlich lostgefahren und ich rechnete mit 4-5 stunden für die knapp 300 km bis tambacounda in senegal. weit gefehlt. wir hatten eine grenze zu überwinden und zwar den hauptgrenzübergang zwischen mali und senegal. es war wie in alten zeiten und dauerte über 4 stunden...
noch ein kleines problem : baba hat keinen ausweis, aber er hat sich den seines freundes geliehen und segelt sozusagen unter falscher flagge. es fiel aber nich weiter auf. der perso ist handschriftlich; das foto unkennlich und es könnte jeder sein.
last thursday we left bamako by bus, starting @ 6 in the morning. the road was good and so was the bus. we arrived @ 4 in kayes 600+ km. we spent the night @ the catholic mission. it is always the cheapest possibility to stay, basic but relatively clean.
anyway i haven´t seen many cockroaches, but the few i have met were huge exemplars. therefore here you find everywhere toads.
the next day we took the bus at 3 p.m. african time, that means everything is relative. we left shortly after 5 p.m. and i thought we would do the 300 km to tambacounda in senegal within 4-5 hours. no way... we had a border to cross and it was the main border between mali and senegal. like in the old times it took over 4 hours.













um 5 uhr morgens waren wir endlich in tambacounda und sind in einem loch untergekommen, anders kann man das "hotel" wirklich nicht bezeichnen, das bett war nicht frisch bezogen und hatte auch andere "mitbewohner", nicht nur die 20 kröten. aber ich war viel zu müde um zu diskutieren.
wir schliefen ein stündchen, aber dann zog es mich zur bank, ich war total pleite und wir konnten nur noch das loch bezahlen. aber welch ein frust: der geldautomat funktionierte nicht!!!!!
seltsamerweise liess mich das alles unberührt, erst mal schlafen, es war ja nicht das erste mal, dass ich in africa gestrandet bin ohne kohle... ausserdem hatte ich mit baba einen wahren lebenskünstler bei mir.
ein paar stunden später probierten wir es nochmal und dieses mal klappte es!!!
another little problem: baba didn´t have a passport but borrowed his friend´s identity card and is sailing under false flag. it didn´t really matter. the ID is handwritten, the photo bad and it could have been anybody.
at 5 a.m. we finally arrived at tambacounda and found a hole, otherwise you can´t name this "hotel", the bed wasn´t made and had other lodgers, not only the 20 toads, but i was far too tired to discuss.
we slept for an hour but then i got drawn to the bank. i was completely broke and we could only pay for the hole. but what a bummer. the money machine didn´t work!!!
strangely i felt very unimpressed, let me first get some sleep, it wasn´t the first time that i got stranded in africa without money... and with baba i had a real artist of life with me.
some hours later we tried our luck again and this time it worked!!!












 am nächsten morgen haben wir einen kleinbus gefunden; der uns die 600+ km bis dakar mitnehmen wollte. dies strecke zog sich, es war heiss; die strecke schlecht; die asphaltstrasse bestand hauptsachlich aus schlaglöchern und der bus hielt in jedem kaff und auch noch oftmals zusätzlich um die vielen polizeiposten zu bezahlen.wir sind in mbour ausgestiegen und nach saly gefahren: schock!!!
was für ein fürchterliches touristennest das ist, es konnte auch irgendwo am mittelmeer sein. aber wir haben trotzdem eine billige und ruhige unterkunft gefunden; ein bisschen ausserhalb, wo wir uns erst mal von der reise erholten und alle klamotten gewaschen haben. die preise in saly haben euroäaisches niveau, grausam.....
deswegen fahren wir morgen erst mal nach dakar weiter; es sind noch 80 km. am montag mache ich mich dann auf den heimweg: dakar - marrakesh; das sind rund 3.000 km, ich rechne mit 3-4 tagen.
the next morning we found a small bus, who wanted to take us the 600+ km to dakar. it was a long way, it was hot, the road was bad, consisting of mainly holes and little asphalt and the bus stopped in every village and even more often to pay the police posts.what a terrible touristspot this is, it could have been somewhere at the mediterranean coast. inspite we found a cheap and quiet hotel, a bit away from the beach. but we rested from the trip and washed all our belongings. the prices in saly are at european level, horrible....
we got out at mbour and went to saly: what a shock!!!therefore tomorrow we proceed on to dakar, another 80 km. next monday i start heading home, dakar - marrakesh, about 3.000 km. i am counting 3-4 days.

by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at February 07, 2010 19:40

Dakar



gestern kamen wir in dakar an. wir sind von saly aus getrampt und es war leicht. dakar ist riesig und wir wurden in der stadtmitte rausgelassen. wir suchten ein hotel, aber das war nicht so einfach. entweder viel zu teuer oder voll. zum schluss fanden wir eins etwa 10 km von der stadtmitte entfernt, aber immer noch sehr zentral. nahe am ozean - touristenfrei, der strand dafür dreckig und unser hotel hat eine schöne aussicht auf die müllkippe. es gibt hier auch viele hübsche junge frauen, alle sehr spärlich bekleidet, man kann die zimmer auch stundenweise mieten...
jedenfalls waren wir gestern im centre culturel francais und es gab ein konzert von el hadj n´diaye, der im senegal ziemlich bekannt ist. wir haben auch für baba ein handy gekauft. es gefällt ihm sehr, ich kaufe ein neues handy in deutschland.
morgen fahren wir richtung saint louis im nord senegal, nähe der mauretanischen grenze und dort werden sich unsere wege trennen. zurzeit denke ich daran von dort aus nonstop heimzufahren. dakar-marrakesh sind ca. 3.000 km
senegal ist nicht mein lieblingsland. zu touristisch, ziemlich teuer und die senegalesen melken die touristen. baba regt sich immer auf, wenn sie auch ihn auszunehmen versuchen aber normalerweise zahlen wir die landesüblichen preise.jetzt bin ich 4 wochen unterwegs, ich könnte es locker noch ein weilchen aushalten, aber das ende rückt näher und meine gedanken bewegen sich langsam richtung heimwärts.
das wars für heute

yesterday we arrived in dakar. hitching was easy from saly. but dakar is huge, we got dropped in the city center and tried to find a place to stay. all hotels were either far too expensive or full. in the end we found a place about 10 km from the city center but still in town, close to the ocean - touristfree, the beach therefore dirty and our hotel is across a dump. there are many pretty young women hanging around, all of them hardly dressed, you can also rent the rooms for some hours...
anyhow yesterday we went to the centre culturel francais and there was a concert. El Hadj N´diaye, a very famous singer in senegal. we also bought a mobile phone for Baba. he is quite happy with it! i will get another one when i am back in germany.
tomorrow we will travel to st. louis in northern senegal, near the mauritanian border and then our path will separate. at the moment i am thinking of traveling nonstop home. dakar -marrakesh are about 3.000 km.
senegal is not my favourite place. it is very touristy, pretty expensive and the senegalese are milking the tourists. baba is always angry when thew try to milk him, usually we do not pay more than the local people.
now i am 4 weeks on the road, i could easily have some more time but as the end is coming nearer, my thoughts are slowly turning towards home.
bye for now.

by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at February 07, 2010 19:39

Nuakchott, Mauritanie


letzte nach kam ich in nuakchott an. wir fuhren von dakar nach saint louis mit dem bush taxi und fanden eine auberge, die nicht zu teuer war. dort verbrachten wir unsere letzten 3 gemeinsame tage. alles in allem hat es mir im senegal nicht besonders gefallen. die geldautomaten funktionieren, das ist das gute am senegal, ansonsten ist es mir zu touristisch und die senegalesen sind nur an deinem geld interessiert. sogar baba musste jedes mal um den preis feilschen, wenn er als ausländer erkannt wurde. ich war froh, dass er bei mir war. in der auberge trfen wir einen anderen malier, der als zauberer arbeitet. am nächsten morgen kam er und meinte er würde gleich nach nuakchott fahren und ich könnte mitkommen. ich freute mich sehr. baba und ich verabschiedeten uns und er ging zum busbahnhof um einen transport nach bamako zu finden. die 300 km bis nuakchott dauerten 10 stunden... auf senegalesischer seite war die strasse sehr schlecht. wir kamen in rosso, der grenzstadt an. es gab eine riesige schlange, weil alle autos und lkws den fluss senegal überqueren mussten. es gibt aber keine brücke. die fähre kann nur 3 lkws und 2 pkws auf einmal transportieren, deswegen dauerte es ein bisschen bis wir das geschafft hatten. auf mauretanischer seite hatte unser fahrer einen agenten organisiert, der sich um alles kümmerte, während wir essen gingen und tee tranken.
um 4 uhr waren wir fertig und fuhren los. in mauritanien gibt es viele polizeikontrollen und wir mussten alle 20 km oder so anhalten. auch schien unser fahrer mohamed jeden einzelnen mauritanier zu kennen und hielt zusätzlich noch öfters. er lud mich in nuakchott in der auberge menata ab, dem treffpunkt aller ausländer, die mit dem auto nach afrika fahren... ich schlief im großen zelt, aber nach der dusche fiel mir mit großem schreck ein, dass ich meinen pass im auto vergessen hatte... zum glück hat mir mohamed seine karte gegeben und ich konnte ihn anrufen. nach 2 stunden kam er mit meinem pass. ich gebe zu, mir ging der arsch auf grundeis... aber er versprach mir auch eine mitfahrgelegenheit für den nächsten tag bis zur grenze. immer noch rund 2.000 km und 4 tage zeit. die nacht war ein bisschen kühl, aber okay.













last night i arrived here in nuakchott. we went from dakar to saint louis by bush taxi and found an auberge which was not too expensive. we spent our last 3 days there. all in all i do noy like senegal that much. the money machines are working, that is the good thing, otherwise it is too touristiy and the senegalese are only interested in your money. Even Baba had to discuss about the price each time. I was glad that he was with me. in the hotel at saint louis we met another malian who is working as a magician. the morning we wanted to part he arrived at our place and offered me a lift to nuakchott. i was very pleased. Baba and I kissed goodbye and he left to search transport to bamako.the 300 km to nuakchott took 10 hours... on the senegalese side the road was bad. we arrived at Rosso; the border town. there was a huge traffic jam as all the cars and the trucks had to cross the river Senegal by ferry, there is no bridge. the ferry can only take 3 trucks and 2 cars at once. it took a while to cross the river. on the mauritanian side our driver had organised someone who did all the paper work for us. we went to eat, drink tea and relax.
at 4 pm we were done and left. but in mauritania there are lots of police controls and we had to stop every 20 km, also mohamed our driver seemed to know every single mauritanian and there were other frequent stops. he dropped me in nuakchott at the auberge menata, the meeting point for all foreigners who want to explore africa... i slept in the tent but after the shower i realised that i had forgotten my passport in the car... I was lucky that mohamed had given me his card, so i could call him and after 2 hours he came back with my passport. i must admit that i was a little nervous... but he promissed me a lift for today to the marrocan border. still nearly 2.000 km and i have 4 days.the night was a bit cool but okay.
 











by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at February 07, 2010 19:39

February 06, 2010

liam's gone awol

Rwanda - The land of NGOs

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by Liam Walls (noreply@blogger.com) at February 06, 2010 21:13

Digihitch

Island hopping with Greek Gods

During the late 60's, right up till 1976, Matala on the south coast of Crete, was famous for being the lesser known, third great hippie capital of the world after San Francisco and Amsterdam. This island hopping expedition via Paros, Ios and Santorini takes you to the magical spot hippies were drawn to in droves. This is an extract from my book Columbus Moments which can be read for free at http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=14719

February 06, 2010 12:24

February 05, 2010

Katja & Augustas

Postbox waiting for inspiration

Mission: Katja’s birthday wish
Deadline: February 18, 2010

Katja’s birthday is approaching in big steps. You know yourself, she loves dreaming BIG. For this year, she has a simple, yet big wish:

Katja wants an overflowing postbox full of mail from You from All Over The World!

She wishes to see it full to bursting. She wants to astonish her Indian neighbors. She dreams of our house looking like the region’s main post office.

Most exciting to her is the idea of you sharing your favourite leading quote in life. What is your own philosophy? What makes you strive? What makes you go further? What makes you realize your dreams? What makes you win?

Katja's smile hiding in front of the postbox

Katja wants to be inspired by You. She believes that You are able to make her wish come true. Just in case, here is our address in India (till end of April):

Katja Lachmann
Panchayat no. IV 653
House name Prem Sree #19

[opposite Vachar Mukku welding workshop]
Vachar Mukku
Varkala
695141 Kerala
India

It’s just as easy as this:

  1. Finding a postcard.
  2. Taking a pen.
  3. Writing “Hello”.
  4. Thinking of your favorite quote.
  5. Adding the quote.
  6. Putting your identity proof signature accompanied by a smile.
  7. Getting a stamp.
  8. Sending the postcard or letter.
  9. Cross your fingers and wait. Katja will do the same.

Surprise our Indian postbox! Inspire Us!

“Waiting for food”, the postbox is speaking… :D

by Katja & Augustas at February 05, 2010 10:11

February 04, 2010

Compared With Me You Are All Tourists

Hitchhikers of the world unite

Forgive me the, um, populist header, but it was after a good few days of intense communist conversation (stretching my wonky makeshift Turkish to its utter bounds) that I left Ankara and started carving an eastward groove out of the map.
The night before I had sold a stack of old, rancid books on a street market showcasing my superior bargaining skills: "How much do you want?" asked the book vendor, entering business with me mostly out of indulgence. "Urgh, um, five, maybe", I answered. "You mean fifty?" - "No, no, five" -and he handed me twenty lira.
The ticket was 19 so I had one lira to spend on a lavish dinner of a bag of nuts to nosh on while I was finally rolling due east on an Erzurum bound train tugging its tottering frame forward at snail speed.

In the morning I hitched on. I had already set my head on entering Iran so it was with a certain reluctance that I accepted an invitation, and that by midday only. But I always wanted to go to the Kachkar region in Turkey and that was where this little family were heading for precisely, just an hour north of my route. It turned out to be one of the most wonderful invitations I have had anywhere in Turkey. The house was full of smiling young mothers, all my age or younger, each with 2 or 3 incredibly ugly kids with crumpled red babyfaces. The village streets were roamed by doting mother cows lovingly licking their tousled, sleepy eyed young, and I discovered the gorgeous rocky surroundings of the village and a few kilometres on I was led down one alice-in-wonderland-like magical canyon of wondrous rock formations that I will never forget.

One day later I entered Iran. Hitching went very well -I found myself sipping on deliciously flavoured tea from a thermos in the first lift- so people turned out just as generous and hospitable as I always heard. Quite honestly after three years of wanting to come here, hearing more and more stories and building up expectations, I am prepared that almost anything can only be an anti-climax…

by Cyaxares_died (vnoetsjka@hotmail.com) at February 04, 2010 02:39

Help...!

Until not long ago I had two sites called "About Africa" and "The confessions of a hitchhiker" made with Yahoo Geocities. Geocities closed down their services and I did not recover my writings.

A part of me actually likes the loss -for it makes me appreciate the moments of inspiration and creativity, the process of writing, and not focus on the product. Because product it is, whether it is plastic preparation purchaseable in stores, or a punk song screamed into the microphone (or, as it happens to be, memories bottled up in words and sentences...).

Yet: If any of you computer savvy ones out there know a way to get back the content of my site please leave me a comment or send me a mail to my adress in the profile. at the adress http://www.about-africa.tk/ I had made the site using yahoo geocities. The geocities adresses used to be http://www.geocities.com/iris_neva/timbuktu.html and http://www.geocities.com/iris_neva/hitchhikingconfessions.html. So far, I have tried archive.net and "the way back machine", but to no avail.

A great many thanks for any help.

Cheerio

Cyax'

by Cyaxares_died (vnoetsjka@hotmail.com) at February 04, 2010 02:39

February 01, 2010

walterheck.com

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-01

Just had the yummiest #vegetarian #BBQ: Portobello’s with garlic/basil cream cheese, sweet potato, zucchini, squash and more goodies! # Going for live #metal in Brisbane @ the Step Inn tonight, yeah! # anybody thinking about wasting time on spartacus: blood and sand -> don’t! that was just embarassing! roman women with fake tits? seriously? # getting ready to [...]

by walterheck at February 01, 2010 18:19

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-01

Just had the yummiest #vegetarian #BBQ: Portobello’s with garlic/basil cream cheese, sweet potato, zucchini, squash and more goodies! # Going for live #metal in Brisbane @ the Step Inn tonight, yeah! # anybody thinking about wasting time on spartacus: blood and sand -> don’t! that was just embarassing! roman women with fake tits? seriously? # getting ready to [...]

by walterheck at February 01, 2010 18:19

January 31, 2010

Ihminen.org - Mikael Korpela

Arpomista

Suomessa raha-arvan ostaminen ei jotenkin kummasti houkuttele. Nehän maksaa niin kovin.

Liettuassa sama arpa ei näin suomalaisittain maksakaan enää paljonkaan, jolloin minunlainenkin uhkapelinyhverö voi ostaa pienen palan jänskätystä! Vaikka monta arpaa kerralla! Iih!

Näin taas huijaantuu seikkailijaparka käyttämään enemmän rahaa kuluttamalla enemmän, kuin muuten tekisi.

Minulle aina välilla naureskellaan kun vertailen jossain Ukrainassa hintoja keskenään (se on maa jossa tupakka-aski maksaa jotain päälle 0,30€). Juu, ei muutamalla hrivnalla suurta käytännön merkitystä olekaan. Se ikävä rikkaanaolemisen tunne ja sen epäreiluus vain hälvenee mielestä edes hetkeksi, kun käyttäytyy maassa maan tavalla.

by Mikael at January 31, 2010 11:24

January 30, 2010

Ihminen.org - Mikael Korpela

Oho meninkin Puolaan

Minulla ei Berliinin jalkeen ollut mitaan tarkkoja suunnitelmia. Olisin esimerkiksi voinut liftata Rostockiin ja ottaa 24 tunnin lautan Helsinkiin. Olisin myos voinut seikkailla tieni Kopenhaminaan, viettaa siela hetken ja tulla takaisin Ruotsin ja Tukholman kautta.

No, Berliinin paarautatieasemalla (kun siella satuin olemaan) heitin randomilla lipunmyyjalle; koskas lahtis seuraava juna lahimpaan Puolalaiseen kaupunkiin? Tunnin paasta lahti ja siella sita sitten Szczecinissa oltiin illalla muutaman tunnin (ja kalliin saksalaisen junan jalkeen). Jumissa sikali ettei jarkevia yhteyksia mihinkaan suuntaan tuntunut liikkuvan, mutta se johtui vain siita ettei lipunmyyjat siella (Puolan seitsemanneksi suurin kaupunki kuitenkin hei, joku roti) puhuneet englantia ja halusivat vain paasta hipista nopeasti eroon. Seuraavanakaan ei lippua Liettuaan loytynyt, eika oikein mitaan muutakaan jarkevaa kansainvalisten tiskien myyjilta. Oijjoijoi oi! Litwa! Oli jarkevin vastaus josta jotain ymmarsin, kun tiedustelin etta miten paasisin Liettuaan.

Otin taas random-asenteen kayttoon ja katselin tovin mahdollisuuksia aikataulunaytolta. Varsovaan lahtisi kivaan aikaan joku juna. Sinne!

Olen nyt oppinut muutamia juttuja Puolan junista niissa yhteensa jotain 15 tuntia istuttuani. Ensinnakaan lammitys ei ihan aina toimi kaikissa junissa. Sitten on talvella aika kylma istua kuusi tuntia paikoillaan. Onneksi ravintolavaunusta saa halpaa kuumaa soppaa. Toisekseen ilmeisesti lahes kaikki junat pysahtyvat valtaosalla asemia, eivatka ne nyt muutenkaan kovin nopeasti eteenpain puksuta. Voin vain kuvitella miten hauskaa on istua kesalla halki Puolan kulkevassa junassa 10 tuntia ilman ilmastointia.

Sama homma oli Romaniassa viime kesana: liftaamalla paasee kolme kertaa nopeammin ja autot ovat ilmastoituja. Rahaahan siina nyt ei taas paljoakaan saasta, eika junalla liikkuminen kallista ole Puolassakaan. Saksassa sita kannattaa valtella. Niin ja Suomessa tietty.

Sitten junat ovat siita hauskaa mallia, etta ne ovat tayna koppeja, joissa on n. 8 istumapaikkaa toisiaan vastakkain. Varsinkin Varsovan asemalla on sitten aika ryysis, kun ihmiset haluavat ensimmaisena reissuporukalleen omat kopit ja muutenkin parhaille paikoille. Jos valttamatta haluat ikkunan viereen, niin ole todella valmiina ja vahan royhkeakin (niin ne on ne mammat muksujensakin kanssa). Se hyva puoli naissa koppijunissa on, etta penkit ovat tarpeeksi pitkia nukkumiseen, jos vain on tarpeeksi tyhjaa.

Varsovasta ei voine paljoa sanoa tassa. Ehka etta hauskaahan siella aina on. Rumahko jattikaupunki pilvenpiirtajineen, mutta ihmiset! Hienoja ihmisia! Time Cafe on sita paitsi ihan paras baari.

Nyt olen Liettuassa, Vilnassa hetken. Seuraavaksi liikahdan kohti Suomea, ilmeisesti nyt sitten ennen torstaita jopa.

by Mikael at January 30, 2010 21:01

January 28, 2010

Digihitch

Route 66 and beyond

Hitching along "The Mother Road" in 1978; encountering the wonderful Marco Rollo, a free Neil Young concert in the desert and eventually to the M eye ss eye ss eye pee pee eye! Then a swing north on a Greyhound finally ending up in Calgary. Another extract from my book "Columbus Moments," which can be read for free.

January 28, 2010 20:06

January 27, 2010

Katja & Augustas

Our hobbies

If you would search information about Varkala, you would find not much more than cliffs and beaches. So you might think our everyday life is like this: Varkala beach for foreigners, Indians are chased away

No, it is not.

We will share with you some hobbies we have, which are also part of our life here in Varkala (India), where we will stay another 3 months. It is important to mention that whenever we have been living on the road (like in Latin America), there was no space at all for enjoying our hobbies. Being on the road means spending lots of time with people we stay with, being dependent on them in certain ways. Also cooking 2-3 meals per day while being mobile takes a couple of hours daily. Life on the road also means having no private space, something necessary for expressing yourself and living your creativity. Last year we realized how important it is to have our own place. Let us call it “Home”. Actually, we always call “home” any place we stay in. However, this time, we are talking about Home with “H” in front. Alright, it is still kind of a mobile Home – few months here, few months there – nevertheless Home. At least it is what we need to fully enjoy and discover ourselves. Ok, let’s get back to the topic.

Creativity in Katja's room

Creativity in Katja's room

Painting and Drawing

This is what Katja was missing the most during the last few years. Now she has a corner for all her tools (brushes, pencils, chalks, colours…) she needs to express herself whenever she feels like. All this “equipment” is too voluminous for our backpacks while being on the road. Now Katja is the owner of her own time and space, so she can sit down and be creative whenever she feels like – in other words no limits :)

Reading

Katja has a hard time when she has no books next to her. She needs intellectual input. She enjoys reading about reality and spirituality. Real stories, real people, sipiritual and esoteric books. In comparison, I am very bad in reading books. Somehow things are happening too slow for me :) In the last 10-12 years I have started probably a dozen of books, and managed to finish only one of them. Wonder which one? “Dharma Punx” by Noah Levine – from punk to buddhist. It took me 2 days to “eat it”.

Raw Food

Energy raw nut bars - almonds, cashews, walnuts

Energy raw nut bars - almonds, cashews, walnuts

Katja tried to introduce raw food recipes in our menu 2.5 years ago, when we lived 5 months in Ecuador. However, something was missing. Maybe taste? Last summer in Lithuania I watched a reportage about a former military officer, a young guy, who decided to live raw. It was shown how he blends various wild plants and herbs with the blender. In order to beat the taste of Green Grass he added fruits (e.g., apples). That hooked me. I tried that and I liked it. Since then I have periods when I feel like trying something new and experimenting with raw food recipes. We make energy nut bars, raw almond cakes, or marinated carrot-pineapple with cashew cream. Delicious! To make it short – time to time I read and watch videos about raw food, its advantages, and try new recipes in the kitchen.

Magic

Magic corner of Augustas

Magic corner of Augustas

One of my biggest hobbies since I was a small boy. We are talking here about creating illusions and art of illusionism, and not weird stuff. During our journey in Latin America I used to show some magic tricks to the kids and families we have met on our way or stayed with. Here in Varkala I am concentrating on learning more about the art of magic. More about performance rather than just secrets. Yes, I want to be a magician! The happy thing is that in Trivandrum (a city 50 km away from Varkala) there is a Magic Academy, where everyone interested in magic is welcomed. They offer courses for magicians of different age and level. At the moment I am taking private classes with the magician Raja Moorthy, an expert in street and close-up magic who is compared with David Blaine inside the Academy.

Writing

As some of you know, Katja has fully documented our 1.5 years journey in Central America, Mexico and Cuba. The overwhelming lot of material Katja documented about the other 1.5 years of our journey in South America are waiting to be shaped. And due to Katja’s creativity, so many new ideas about books are popping up, that at times it seems a real quest what to focus on first.

Guitar

Katja learning guitar

Katja learning guitar

Since Katja got a guitar as a present for her 30 years birthday, she has a dream to learn playing it. There were thoughts to take a guitar along with us on our trip to Latin America. The question was, how to fit the guitar on Katja while she is wearing a huge backpack? There was just no space on her tiny shoulders left, so we finally decided against taking it (to Katja’s sorrow). This time she brought her guitar all the way from Germany to India. Now she is very serious about studying music by herself (PS: any help and advice welcome!).

Singing

Katja is a symbol of creativity. She dreams about everything what lets her express and share herself through creativity. Professional singing is another dream of hers.

Katja's experiment - baking gluten-free bread with improvised oven

Katja's experiment - baking gluten-free bread with improvised oven

Cooking

It is more like a frequent activity, rather than a hobby. Katja likes it more than me. Actually, I recently like raw food cooking (something new, suprise for both of us!). Everything else is Ok.

Internet

Yes, I like it too much. Katja can’t stay put behind the screen for long – she has too many ants in her pants! What are your hobbies? How do you combine them during travels?

by Katja & Augustas at January 27, 2010 16:59

Bad News

It’s been a hard way back #1

In the early morning rain with a dollar in my hand And an aching in my heart and my pockets full of sand I’m a long way from home and I miss my loved one so In the early morning rain with nowhere to go. Cut on runway number nine, big 707 set to go I’m stuck here on the [...]

by platschi at January 27, 2010 12:00

January 26, 2010

liam's gone awol

Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar

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by Liam Walls (noreply@blogger.com) at January 26, 2010 17:55

January 25, 2010

Ihminen.org - Mikael Korpela

Ich muss ein Käsehobel kaufen!

Viikko on mennyt Berliini-teemalla, eli taas on reissujalka vienyt eteenpäin. Lentämällä paljonkin. En ole vielä ollut henkisesti valmis -20 pakkasasteen pimeydessä liftaamiseen pohjoisen Puolan kapeilla teillä.

Schützt unsere Umwelt! (säästä ympäristöä) -kassi

Schützt unsere Umwelt! (säästä ympäristöä) -kassi

Näin taas ystäviä Vilnassa ja isoon Beehen ajauduin vajaa viikko sitten. Vaudevaude tätä kaupunkia, kuten niin monet tuntuvatkin tietävän. Ihan kaikkihan täällä on käyneet? Baareja, pikkuisia design-putiikkeja, klubeja, kahviloita yms. riittää jokaiseen tyyliin ja kadunnurkkaan. Döner-kebuloita nyt ei ihan joka tyyliin, mutta joka nurkkaan kylläkin.

Olen jotenkin taas muistanut henkilökohtaisen matkustamisen tyylini. Ei tarkkoja suunnitelmia eikä suinpäin nähtävyyksien perässä juoksemista. Kas tuolla on pala muuria ja tulla tuo tikku ja se pallo siinä. Ihan kiva siis nähdä nuo ohimennen, mutta ei itseistarkoitus. Vaan it’s all ’bout people. CouchSurfingin käyttäminen auttaa toki paljon. Toisaalta saksalainen kulttuuri ei koskaan ole ollut minulle mikään mysteeri, verrattaen vaikkapa ukrainalaiseen tai japanilaiseen mielenlaatuun tutustumiseen. Siihen pääsee siis helposti sisään, joskaan kaikki ei ole aivan niin ihmeellistä kuin itselleen vieraammissa ympyröissä.

Shoppaillut olen jotenkin ylipaljon. Uusia kenkiä ostaessa (edelliset levahtaa kohta kadulle) ostoskeskuksessa soi Madonnan Material girl. Yeeaah. Toisaalta kirpputorien koluaminen on aivan upea elämys verrattuna Tampereen tunkkaisiin ja ylihintaisiin loukkoihin, joissa pöydät pursuavat vain kulahtanutta H&M:ää.

Mauerpark kirppis, Berlin

Mauerpark kirppis, Berlin

Nojoo, koska tämä on Berliini, täytynee tehdä oikein saksalaiseen järjestäytyneeseen mielenlaatuun sopivasti lista! Nähtävyyksiä! Mutta hieman eilaisia. Nämä nyt tosin tunnutaan lueteltavan lähes jokaisessa UG-listauksessa.

Kannattaa suunnata vaikkapa Mauerparkiin (wall park), joskin kesäaikaan kokemus on varmasti kiireettömämpi. Nyt oli päästävä äkkiä heti pois varpaiden jäädyttyä. Myyjiäkin on varmaan pakkasilla vähemmän. Sama koskee turkkilaisten pyörittämää myyntikojualuetta eteläisessä Kreuzbergissä.

Kahviloista huipuin on ollut Cafe Morgenrot, jonka vegaanibrunssi maistui vasemmistolaiselta ja punkilta. Käykää niin näette mitä tarkoitan.

Spree park, hylätty huvipuisto, Berlin

Spree park, hylätty huvipuisto

Hylätty huvipuisto on toki niin hieno ja jännittävä kuin miltä se kuulostaakin. Aluetta ympäröi aita ja kuulemma vartijakin kiertelee, joten vaatii jo vähän rohkeutta lähteä päiväsaikaan alueelle tutkailemaan. Me tyydyimme kiertämään ympäröivää aitausta, jonka raosta näimme kuinka alueella asustaa asuntovaunussa sen juuri vankilasta vapaaksipäässyt omistaja. Puiston tarinaan kannattaa tutustua vaikkapa tuosta linkistä tarkemmin. Minua kiehtoo, mitä vastaavia hylättyjä juttuja (puistojakin aivan varmasti!) entisen Neuvostoliiton alueelta löytyisi. Pitää joskus tehdä raunioreissu itään.

Tämä on niitä kaupunkeja, joihin ei viikkokaan riitä. Kannattaakin siis keskittyä pienempiin alueisiin, kuin että ottaisi koko kaupunkia haltuun. Pääsääntöisesti lienee selvää, ettei länteen kannata suunnata, vaan koluta ensin näitä itäisempiä kortteleita. Toki, jos lasisten talojen arkitehtuuri kiinnostaa niin siitä vain! Mitään jännää sieltä ei kuitenkaan löytyne.

Huomenna menen johonkin. En tiedä vielä tarkoittaako se Puolaa, Tanskaa vai mitä. Ehkä Rostockista lautalla Suomeen? Huomenna sen näkee!

by Mikael at January 25, 2010 23:03

walterheck.com

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-25

haha, funny! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lYgpxBtJbc # “objection, your honor! He’s reciting the opening to Quantum Leap!” # 57 minutes on the clock away from my first bread baking endeavour, yay! #cooking and #baking # the best thing since sliced bread (i baked one 5 hours ago ): wackentube! http://wackentube.com #WOA #metal # It’s been a while since I worked this [...]

by walterheck at January 25, 2010 18:19

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-25

haha, funny! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lYgpxBtJbc # “objection, your honor! He’s reciting the opening to Quantum Leap!” # 57 minutes on the clock away from my first bread baking endeavour, yay! #cooking and #baking # the best thing since sliced bread (i baked one 5 hours ago ): wackentube! http://wackentube.com #WOA #metal # It’s been a while since I worked this [...]

by walterheck at January 25, 2010 18:19

January 24, 2010

liam's gone awol

Fist fights and Tanzanian films

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by Liam Walls (noreply@blogger.com) at January 24, 2010 05:55

January 23, 2010

January 22, 2010

Digihitch

The Old Black Magic

Hitching around Ireland a few decades ago, slowly now... about the same pace as a good pint of Guinness is poured. The wonderful characters, unexpected delights and of course the "Old Black Magic" itself make the Emerald Isle a glorious destination for hitchhikers.

January 22, 2010 01:02

January 21, 2010

Digihitch

San Diego, CA to Cape Horn, Argentina - Part 4

La Ciudad de Mexico, Districto Federal Hi hi hi there, my little droogies! ¡Hola desde la Ciudad de Mxico! After spending our last day in León doing normal things (shopping for cereal, cameras, and tequila) Manuel and I headed for Mexico City late Wednesday night, around 0200. I thought that we would be driving, but Manuel informed me that we would be taking the bus. Which was fine with me, though I'm not the biggest fan in the world of the bus, as it is smelly and uncomfortable.

January 21, 2010 23:21

San Diego, California, to Cape Horn, Argentina - Part 1

Zacatecas, Mexico Hello all! After four and a half days of pleasant hitchhiking, I have made it from the small beach town of Imperial Beach, California, all the way to the city of Zacatecas, Mexico! It has been a journey full of fun and suprises. I've gotten rides from so many different people, all of them very pleasant and eager to help me on my grand adventure.

January 21, 2010 22:18

January 20, 2010

Digihitch

New Zealanders Heading West Please

This is a chapter from my book "Columbus Moments" (featured in Road Inspiration) which can be read for free at: www.authonomy.com.

January 20, 2010 12:39

January 19, 2010

Classless Kulla

Anti-Antideutsches als Material oder auch nicht

Vielleicht machen wir mal einen Track aus “Der Antideutsche” von Wojnas Bandbreite und schildern darin, wie das für mich und viele andere gelaufen ist, die heute unter das Label fallen: welche Positionen jemand üblicherweise vertrat, bevor es hieß: “Und schon bist du Antideutscher.”

Nicht mal als Détournement- bzw. Rekuperations-Material (je nachdem, wofür es dann wieder gehalten wird) taugt hingegen diese andere Zurschaustellung eines simplen Gemüts (”vielleicht ist das nicht P.C.”), das sich nur die einfachsten Parolen vornimmt und darin nicht die eigene One-Point-Analyse (”der Nationalstaat ist die Wurzel allen Übels”) erkennt:

by classless at January 19, 2010 10:12

January 18, 2010

walterheck.com

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-18

doesn’t really wanna leave paradise. This place is one of those ‘home-on-the-road’ things. More good stuff to come though, I’m sure! #travel # reporting live from Open Query HQ after a nice camping trip with Arjen and his absolutely lovely 4yo. daughter. # Getting familiar with Arjen’s house as he’s leaving tomorrow morning really early. # enjoying some [...]

by walterheck at January 18, 2010 18:19

January 17, 2010

Digihitch

Columbus Moments

Nearly 500 years after Columbus set sail in search of a westward route to Asia and didn't fall off the edge, three Kiwis had a Columbus Moment. That moment when you decide to mount an expedition to some far-flung corner. Abroad in the mid 70's five dollars a day got you bare essential travel. Mobility; a roof of sorts over your head, amber fluid and other basic nourishment. The real value; out of the way locations, fascinating characters and offbeat experiences, often priceless, cost nothing other than time. You just had to be there. This 40,000 mile road journey through the UK, Europe, Ireland and North America, spanning nearly three years, deserved to be liberated after bubbling below the surface for the last thirty three years. Hopefully others, in far-flung corners will continue to experience the joy of a Columbus Moment and what follows.

January 17, 2010 16:31

'Round the world hitchhiker pauses in the North Country

Frenchman Jeremy Marie is about halfway through his world tour. It's a slow trip. He figures it will take him five years, because he's hitchhiking, ride by ride, from his home in Normandy and back.

January 17, 2010 15:55

Classless Kulla

Gelegenheitsmitfahrerei

Des Wetters und des Hustens wegen bin ich nach, in und von Bayern nicht getrampt, sondern fuhr zum Teil per Internet-Mitfahrerei. Das habe ich nun bisher höchstens so oft gemacht, wie die meisten Leute getrampt sind und ähnlich qualifiziert dürfte mein Urteil sein. Zumindest bisher kann ich ja zumindest sagen, daß es bei mir immer - bis auf eben trotzdem eine Viertelstunde in der Kälte warten - funktioniert hat - was bei anderen auch anders gewesen ist (Auto schon weg, kommt gar nicht, fährt doch erst zu spät, ist schon voll, bleibt irgendwo liegen usw.)

Aber irgendwie funktionierte es eben bloß, im Unterschied zum Trampen war es fast ausschließlich die reine Dienstleistung. Mit den Fahrenden oder den andern Mitfahrenden auf ein persönliches Level zu kommen, gelang mir nicht und gelang auch den anderen untereinander dem Anschein nach nicht. Vermutlich ist das auch gar nicht die Idee. Und es könnte andererseits auch damit zu tun haben, daß ich bisher ausschließlich in Sammelfahrten dabei war, also niemals der einzige Mitfahrende war, was ja beim Trampen eher der Standard ist. Wirklich verblüfft hat mich, wie offen abfällig sich die Fahrenden über bisherige Mitfahrende ausließen, was für eine Zumutung es für sie gewesen sei, wenn mal jemand an der Tanke noch was essen wollte und dergleichen. Und wie nicht verhandelbar die laute Radiobeschallung jedesmal war (z.B auch bei dieser Gelegenheit).

Ohne Not wird das wohl für mich keine Option bleiben, außer ich versuche mich mal an der Kombination und verwende die Mitfahrgelegenheitler als Zubringer und Fallnetz. Ich könnte mir das Loskommen von Berlin vereinfachen, indem ich immer erstmal für 5 Euro auf die A9 mitfahre. (Reicht das bis Köckern? Oder gar schon bis Osterfeld?) Und ich könnte mir bei kniffligen Strecken für später am Tag eine Mitfahrgelegenheit organisieren - falls ich trampenderweise dann loskomme, kann ich ja immer noch absagen, das scheint ja recht üblich zu sein.

by classless at January 17, 2010 11:59

January 15, 2010

Katja & Augustas

Annular Solar Eclipse in Varkala, India

Sun projection through a hole on a white paper

Sun projection through a hole on a white paper

On 15th of January 2010 we had a chance to witness the annular solar eclipse which started in Central Africa, passed through the Indian Ocean and Maldives islands, touched the South tip of India, and ended somewhere in China. Sources say it was the longest annular solar eclipse in this millennium.

For non English native speakers – “annular” means that the Moon is smaller than the Sun, hence during the eclipse the Sun can be visible as a ring, or annulus, which surrounds the Moon. In the short video we have made you will be able to see the ring. The Moon covered about 84% of the surface of the Sun. A very nice animation of the view of the whole Solar Eclipse near our area can be found on the eclipse.org.uk website.

Katja enjoying the experiment holding the selfmade glasses, which we got from the people in our community.

Katja enjoying the experiment holding the selfmade glasses, which we got from the people in our community.

The eclipse started around 11:05am, but at that point it was not exciting yet. Around this time our doorbell rang. Outside were standing three young men introducing themselves  as representatives of the local community. They informed about the Eclipse and gave us selfmade glasses for watching the Sun (pieces of silver plastic stapled between a yellow sheet of paper). Already for several days we were thinking of what would be the best way to watch the Eclipse and then these glasses appeared, being everything we needed! However, we tried the projection method – we pinched a hole in a piece of carton and projected the Sun on a white paper. And it worked!

The full overlap of the Moon and the Sun happened around 1:10pm. The coverage of 84% means that it is not possible to look at the Sun with the naked eye. The peak of the Eclipse lasted for about 2-3 minutes (more towards Sri Lanka it was supposed to last for up to 6-8 minutes) and the Moon continued its trajectory by slowly uncovering the Sun. We got less sunlight in the air. It was dim, but bright enough to see everything clearly. Became fresh and breezy. Katja smiled: “This is the weather which would be perfect for us!”.

The Eclipse ended around 3:05pm, but for us it wasn’t exciting anymore to continue watching the Moon partly covering the Sun.

Sun eclipse projected on a paper  Sun eclipse projected on a paper

by Katja & Augustas at January 15, 2010 15:59

January 12, 2010

UNTERWEGS - ON THE ROAD

escaping xmas in italy

after only 3 weeks @ home i started again escaping xmas in italy. the 3 weeks at home had been very stressful. not only that i had to work, there were also lots of appointments in the evenings. besides my body had arrived in germany, my mind was still somewhere in africa.

so i packed again, i haven't had time to buy a new backpack, the old one was a bit fade out after 2 trips in africa. but i bought 2 straps to hold it together and off we went. my tennant olli brought me to the autobahn. it was about -15° cold but after 5 minutes a truck driver picked me up for the next 100 km. his truck was heated and i almost got grilled when i got out. again i didn't have to wait long to find another car for the next 100 km. he dropped me at the last gas station before switzerland and there i was lucky to get a lift from sergio, a sicilian painter who was going home and dropped me right in front of gianni's door at trezzano s.n. at the outskirts of milan. there it was much "warmer" only -4°.

i had hardly arrived when it started snowing. for the next 3 days we were snowed in. gianni didn't do much but watching tv which got on my nerves after a while. one evening some of his friends showed up for dinner and we were chatting all evening.

i called stefano at desio on the other side of milan. he was busy and said i could come on dec. 25 to stay with him and the family. on the 23. i tried to visit him briefly. the streets were still covered with snow and when i arrived at milano centrale the train station was packed with people. i saw that it would take ages to buy a ticket and i knew that i would also have to return in the evening. so i gave up the idea and strolled around milan instead. before xmas it was full of people all hunting for buying the last gifts...

talked to some africans to get information how to call mali with calling cards. bought a calling card but it didn't work... in the end i landed in a mall and bought an adapter for the notebook. at gianni's home it was terrible with the internet. his computer is very old and very slow and the monitor went black after an hour. i brought my netbook but couldn't use it. very unsatisfying.

the other day i wanted to go again to milan. i tried to buy a busticket but the tobacco shop didn't have any, so i went without. i never pay in italian busses. the ticket buying process is very complicated and i never got caught. when i told gianni he was very concerned that they would control me... so i promissed to buy the ticket but i had no luck.

in the end i asked some africans where i could find an internet cafe and how to call mali and this time i was lucky. spoke briefly with baba but it was a bit difficult to speak french after having spoken italian all the time.

xmas eve was quiet. gianni had to work. luckily his apartment ws without xmas decoration and gifts. i liked that. the day after i moved over to stefano's family. i bought a bus ticket!!! and waited patiently for the bus. for more than one hour the bus didn't arrive. in the end i felt cold and started to thumb down a car. it was faster than waiting for the bus. gaetano the driver took me to the train station porta garibaldi and told me his story. his wife had just left him after over 30 years and he was very upset. he started crying in the car and i felt sorry for him. in the end he said he wanted to commit suicide and i thought: hopefully not now. eventually we arrived at the train station. the next train was leaving half an hour later. there were 3 ticket machines, 2 of them were out of order, at the 3rd people were queuing. i didn't make it buying a ticket within 30 minutes and entered the train without a ticket. when the conductor came i told him the story and he wished me merry xmas and let me ride without ticket. it took only 15 minutes to arrive.

stefano, my former exchange student and his brother picked me up from the train station and we went to his family for lunch. we haven´t met for almost 1 1/2 years. it was good and i felt very much at home there. just, when you want to escape xmas you mustn´t go to italy. they seem to have invented xmas and it is worse than in the states.

in desio i stayed for 2 days and then stefano brought me to a gas station at the tangenziale where i found a lift to bologna - after having had some troubles with the cops. in bologna i met with marco, my italian/german language tandem partner. we have been chatting for almost 1 1/2 years but it was the first time to meet. marco showed me around bologna. in summer 2005 i have been here and remembered many places but of course not everything. i stayed a night in a hotel with internet access - very important. i had brought the netbook and all to do some work for my fistula project but so far i haven´t had time for it let alone internet access.

the next morning i decided to take the train and went to the station. but again most of the ticket machines did not work, long lines at the normal counters, i was fed up and decided to hitch. walked along the signs heading for the autostrada and tried my luck. after an hour or so i went back to the train station by bus - without ticket... and queued for a train ticket. they sold me a ticket but not for the train i wanted but the next train 2 hours later. i didn´t notice immediately and when i did finally it was too late to change. arriving at almost 10 pm in napoli, antonio and his family picked me up.

antonio is also a language tandem partner and we have many common interests. his wife antonella and his daughter were also very nice. he showed me around all the historical places which were at this time of the year tourist free. (the weather was also bad...) and i stayed with them for 3 days. then they brought me to the port of napoli where i wanted to take the ferry to cagliari/sardegna. when i wanted to buy the ticket i was told that the ferry was cancelled and the only other ferry was leaving 6 hours later from civitavecchia to olbia, 250 km north of napoli.

there was a man at the counter telling us that he wanted to take the same ferry and i asked him for a lift. he agreed and then the nightmare of this trip started. ilario was 80 years old, had problem with his prostata, was a bit senil and dement. we were speeding with 50 km/h over the autostrada, at every road sign he was slowing down to read it. he had to stop frequently to peee and did so whether there was a parking lot or not.
but the worst was that he was sure that we were on the wrong road and asked me every 2 minutes for the way. near roma he suddenly wanted to turn in the middle of the autostrada and i almost got a heart attack...
in the end we made it to civitavecchia. it was new year´s eve and i slept in the lounge. there were 4 tvs with 4 different programs in every angle but i didn´t care and managed to get some sleep.

arriving in olbia at 5 in the morning it rained, it was cold and windy. took the bus to the city and started hitching towards bolotana. at 10.30 i arrived, cold and wet. antonella picked me up and set a fire in the kitchen where i could warm up. it was good to have met her first as she was preparing to leave for africa some days later. spent the weekend in bolotana and bosa. hitching to daniele in cagliari on monday. it rained most of the time in sardinia and we couldn´t do much. one evening we went to a church to see a concert of sardinian songs, twice we were walking around cagliari and got each time very wet in the end.

from the weather italy was not great this time. but it has been very relaxing and i got all my work done - undisturbed by other obligations. my only concern was that the plane was leaving today. it did. came back to snow covered germany and for the first time in many years i was looking forward to returning home.

by jutta (noreply@blogger.com) at January 12, 2010 23:19

January 11, 2010

walterheck.com

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-11

Saw Avatar 3d today (awesome!), did some demolishing with a jackhammer and some actual work as well. Oh, and I made good soup. #productivity # Looks like I’ll be learning #Thai this year; just signed up for a 1 year thai course at the Khon Kaen #University #Language Institute, yay! # Yesterday: Kicked the sht out [...]

by walterheck at January 11, 2010 18:19

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-11

Saw Avatar 3d today (awesome!), did some demolishing with a jackhammer and some actual work as well. Oh, and I made good soup. #productivity # Looks like I’ll be learning #Thai this year; just signed up for a 1 year thai course at the Khon Kaen #University #Language Institute, yay! # Yesterday: Kicked the sht out [...]

by walterheck at January 11, 2010 18:19

Whispering of the Stars

barren hearts,

sometimes in such hissing dismay (at what lies inside, what breeds, what is not strong) and skin of acid, strange nights skidding through the snow and dancing as if my bones would scatter and tumble everywhere, I stumble upon the realisation that perhaps I should be drinking more water.

January 11, 2010 03:08

January 10, 2010

Whispering of the Stars

The silence of snow,

Today we were walking along a small path filled with ice. The temperature was below zero and I'm sure my nose was blue. I could feel it about to break off. I was telling a story to Camille about sleeping in five feet of snow in Calgary, last year, but more about the silence of snow and how it is to wake up surrouded by it but everything disappears amonst my clumbsy words, these days. The puppeteer has lost his hands, I'm afraid.
The river is full of snow which had settled upon the frozen water. Imprinted in the snow were fresh footprints from a duck. The three prints of each foot became arrows leading out over the water. I saw myself stepping gingerly out onto the ice to follow them and the entire river cracking. It's good to have the pretence of warmth, in these moments.

January 10, 2010 15:24

January 08, 2010

Fabzgy's Life

exhausted but happy

Today I ve got back to San Jose from my bicycle trip. The route was way longer then I expected. According to my road-signs calculation I ve cycled around 950 km in the last 16 days. Since I had two days where I did not cycled 67 km on average. I m estimating my longest day on 110 km. So it s less then I ve did on my trip in France where Chris and I made 125 km on average.

Anyway one point about traveling by bicycle is to decelerate the speed of our life and move with muscle power. After New Years in Bocas del Toro I made my way to various Farms in the southern Caribbean I ve met up with a friend I know from the Critical Mass in San José. We ve chated briefly on a concert of Sonambulo and I invited her to join me on my trip. Since she already had plans for New Year we agreed that she would join me in Puerto Viejo for the last part of the journey.

I did not expected her to join since in general a lot of ideas and compromises are made here in Costa Rica but they do not really get realised very often. Not so this time. I called her on the first of January and after smooth some doubts she joined me from the 4th on. The first day we made it to Puerto Limon and had dinner in the Restaurant based in the Black-Star-Line, an old building named after the organisation founded by Marcus Garvey.

The day after we passed through the American Zone of Puerto Limon, which describes the area of the former United Fruit Company infrastructure,  and made our way to Siquirres. From there we climbed up to San José passing Turrialba and Cartago and the highest point of the trip (~1500 m).

Between Turrialba & Cartago

Between Turrialba & Cartago

On Sunday I m going to the Finca Sonador for around 5 weeks. I m not gonna have any Internet Connection there so don t expect fast answers to any kind of requests.

by fabzgy at January 08, 2010 23:59

January 07, 2010

A Girl and Her Thumb

Black Ice and Back-Loaders


We say goodbye to our forest friends, the frozen lake and – we hope – the bitter cold. Icicles hang from Ed’s beard and moustache as he hugs me goodbye. This is the coldest day yet, as we are soon to discover.

The ice on the road is hard and black. We don’t realise how dangerous it is until it’s too late. I grip Pete’s arm as the van spins round 360, slides off the road and into a field, crashing through a small wooden fence in the process.

It’s ok, we’re all right. A man driving behind us pulls up on the road next to us. He says he was waiting for that to happen (?!) One wheel is still on the road, but we’ve little hope of getting the rest back on unassisted, despite the planks of wood and roll of carpet Pete always keeps in the back.

We ask the man if he knows of someone nearby with a tractor. “Yeah,” he says. We get out of the van and into his car. He drives us up to some houses a few kilometres down the road and points. “The main house up there”. We get out and he drives off.

All of the houses look about the same size and it’s hard to decipher which the “main” one might be. We end up knocking on a couple of doors and windows before anyone answers. A very friendly old couple debate with one another about whether or not their neighbours tractor is broken and finally send us round there to find out for ourselves.

A man answers. He’s looking after the children at the moment but his wife is down at the farm and can probably help us. He’ll phone ahead to let her know we’re coming. As we’re walking down, we meet her coming up in a funny little 4×4 with no walls. She’s got a sheep stuck, she says, and has to go, but she’ll come and meet us at the van straight after.

We start to trek back the way we came. Pete goes on ahead, anxious the hazard lights won’t be enough to warn other drivers. We left the van sticking into the road a bit. I walk more slowly. It’s crazy cold but I want to take in the scenery and would rather walk for longer than stand about waiting. But then I come to a fork in the road I didn’t notice while we were driving up and am not sure which way to go. I wait around for a few minutes, hopping from one foot to the other and walking round in circles to keep warm. Pete’s phone is off.

A van goes past me. Shit, should have put my thumb out. I’m out of the habit. Finally a familiar little 4 wheel drive shows up. It’s the man this time. His wife will be following soon in the “back loader”. I hop in. It’s strange not having any wall to the side of me. There doesn’t appear to be a seatbelt either and I’m afraid I might just fall out.

I’m still not sure which way to go, but fortunately another neighbour drives past and directs us. News travels fast in the country!

When we get to the van, Pete has already got the planks of wood and carpet out and under the wheels. The woman laughs when she sees them. She grinds up behind us in her “back loader” – a giant tractor – hurrah! She has bungees and a big bright light. She knows what she’s doing. I thank her profusely, but she just says she’s used to it. I imagine bedraggled English people stinking of woodsmoke turning up at her door every other day in need of towing out of ditches. Country life in Denmark must be hard. Apparently we have chosen the coldest day so far to get stuck. It’s -23!

Safely back on the road, we’re still a bit shakey. We deliver some blankets back with Ed’s friends in a town nearby and go in search of a cup of tea. If we hadn’t already decided not to go further north, coming off the road did it. Princess (the van) is just not equipped for this kind of weather. We will go to Stockholm to pick up Jim and take him back to Copenhagen, then South to Germany for us.

Jim has spent the past few days in an anarchist shared house just outside the city. Pete and I show up late at night with two sacks full of skipped fruit and veg, which seems appreciated. We are looking forward to a comfy night in a flat before the journey south, but are told a few people are coming round soon for a party. It’s 2am on a Tuesday night. Pete, Jim and I find a room on the other side of the kitchen to where the party is happening in the lounge and squash in, but there are no doors and I’m awoken every now and then despite my earplugs. I got to the toilet at 5am after being woken once more by a lone man playing connect 4 loudly. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.

We’re on the road again, heading in my favourite direction: South. This time the snow by the side of the road is shrinking and becoming mushier with each passing kilometre. This pleases me immensely and I comment on it often. “Look, there’s hardly any snow in the middle of the road now!”

Pete and Jim endure my snow-commentary well. Pete’s Derrick Jensen and non-duality tapes spark off some deeply fascinating discussion which keep us going almost the whole journey. I love conversations like these, they open me up and show me new ways of knowing myself and others.

We rock up into Copenhagen as Wednesday becomes Thursday and drive through it to Teglholm (“Taylhowm”), where we receive the warmest welcome possible. A man with blonde dreadlocks and a red boilersuit bounces onto each of us in turn. “I’m so happy to see you guys!” he tells us enthusiastically. “Who are you?”

Our new friend is Martin. He and a few of the others already know Jim, but regardless, these are the friendliest bunch of anarchos I have ever met. As we’re shown around, I can’t help but try to imagine people from our social centre back home being this hospitable. Nope, can’t do it.

Teglholm was one of the two big convergence spaces during the Cop 15. It’s the one Pete and I never got around to visiting. During that time up to 2,000 people were sleeping here. Now there are around 20. We are shown to a long room with windows along one side and graffiti along the other. Piles of mattresses, blankets and roll mats are scattered around, along with the odd backpack or stray shoe. We are told once more that we are welcome and invited to make a bed wherever we like. Martin suggests building a house or a tower out of mattresses, but we are tired and opt for the boring traditional model of two single mattresses side-by-side, gratuitously piling on blankets despite being warm inside. A good nights sleep at last.

We are awoken at 10am by Martin bouncing around shouting about breakfast. He’s still in his red boilersuit. Where does this man find his energy? In the kitchen we find porridge, fresh coffee and plenty of smiles. What a wonderful place this is. Let’s stay a few days!

by agirlandherthumb at January 07, 2010 14:53

Bad News

It’s been a long way #4

After an hour long walk along hundreds of waiting trucks, eventually the border was in sight. Half a kilometer before is a petrol station located, perfect for warming up a little bit. Entering the cafe, it is the air that catches you. Awesome. The procedure of getting off the gloves, hats and scarfs starts. The [...]

by platschi at January 07, 2010 10:02

January 06, 2010

A Girl and Her Thumb

Return to the Forest


Pete picks me up from the station and we catch up on the past few days over a cheesless pizza in the cafe opposite.

It’s nice to be back. The frozen lake and snow-covered pine trees are even more beautiful now that my lungs are functioning properly. The temperature has risen slightly too, all the way up to -7. It’s practically bikini weather!

M's Shelter

M has disappeared for a few days, meaning we can sleep in his shelter. There are less people now and with the warmer temperature, people are happier to sleep in the tipi. Pete and I somehow get M’s shelter to ourselves for a night. What luxury!

While I was gone, two Swedish guys appeared.

One is a scout leader, the other a gas station attendant.

What a couple of nutters!

They don’t know anyone who lives here, but found the gathering while searching the internet.

They emailed Ed, who politely replied with the details. Unbelievably,

they’re camping in a small dome-tent just behind Ed’s shelter. Each morning they get up early and jog around the frozen lake before breakfast. They teach us how to make bread using only a frying pan, a plastic bag, flour, water and salt.

My second day back, on Pete’s request, Ed gives us a bow-drill workshop. It’s an ancient way to make fire, without matches or lighter. It’s tricky, but the Swedish campers both pick it up straight away. My efforts are useless – I can barely even hold the bow properly. Pete nearly makes fire happen with a piece of wood he’s carving himself. He’s blowing on the ember between two pieces of wood as instructed, but it ends up going out. What happened? “Hang on, let me see that piece of wood…” Ed grabs the top piece that Pete was holding, which on closed inspection turns out to be… a charred banana! Ahhh…the old banana problem, happens to everyone the first time!

Back in Ed’s shelter, the remaning seven of us sit around telling stories and collectively cooking up a big curry. Humour ensues as several people take turns to try to chop a piece of wood for the fire inside the shelter as nobody wants to go and retrieve the big axe from the tipi several minutes walk away. It reminds me of when I used to get stoned and we would sit for hours thinking up ways to make tea without getting up. Ed kneels sweating by the fire in his longjohns, trying and failing to chop a particularly hard bit with a tiny axe. We all fall about in hysterics. It’s a lovely evening, but by the end of it, even Ed ’s had enough of being overcrowded in his humble home. Time to move on, we think. I have had two more days in the forest and Pete has had eight in total. Time to move south and warm up a bit! Even more frozen lake Camping here in January?? Back of Ed's shelter Mr Frosty Even more frozen washing

by agirlandherthumb at January 06, 2010 10:29

liam's gone awol

Drunken Friends in Mbeya

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by Liam Walls (noreply@blogger.com) at January 06, 2010 00:38

January 04, 2010

walterheck.com

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-04

Getting slowly worried over a place to sleep in Sydney. Maybe wing it and sleep in a park? # forget sydney, the new aim is Brisbane by the 3rd. If I happen to reach Sydney by NYE then I’ll look at fireworks there, otherwise ->road # Yay!Made the 100KG exactly when I was supposed to!Also got a [...]

by walterheck at January 04, 2010 18:19

January 03, 2010

Whispering of the Stars

Two Headed Boy,

I'm writing incredibly a lot, as of late, but mostly in notepads and letters...
However, I'm keeping and being nourished by this - Les Deserts de L'Amour; a collage of inspirations, photos, quotes, poetry and things that pull out my blood vessels, a little. 

January 03, 2010 23:06

Katja & Augustas

Appearing in India

Feet in India

Feet in India

First of all, we wish YOU ALL a marvellous HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010! We hope it will be an interesting, fruitful year for each and everyone of you. Live it according to your feelings, listen to your intuition, and follow the signs showing up along your way. For us – this is the recipe to live our life happily, it is the path we are provided from the universe, we just need to go it. Give it a try!

We thought of a little update on our life and how we appeared in India. We enjoyed the summer time in midst of Europe, being among friends and with our beloved family members, and all this in lovely places like the Lithuanian countryside, the creativity-bursting Berlin metropole, the windy and sandy Danish seaside, the beautiful Norway and Sweden, and the breathtaking Ukrainian carpats.

Though, after three years in Latin America (Jan 2006 – Oct 2008), where sun was our daily companion, we got used to warm climate, so it took us a lot of energy to survive last winter (2009) in Europe. Few months ago the upcoming harsh winter in Europe made us decide to leave again. It was difficult this time, especially for Katja who realized that she starts to enjoy staying in Lithuania. However, the longing for warmth and sun was bigger. The greatest wish we had, though, was to finally find a place of our own which we could afford and in which we could rest from our last four years on the road – a desperate need we had already sometime ago in Argentina. We intended to find exactly that upon coming back to Europe in November 2008, but destiny made us understand that Europe is not the right location. Thus, we had to move on – just where to?

Having already explored a big part of Latin America made our interest turn towards Asia, a big continent with plenty of choices. Malaysia scored highest, until we figured that the visa regulations would cause us a hazzle. Continuing the research we were pointed to India which offers a 6 months valid tourist visa. Just…how to pick a place in a country driven by chaos and overpopulation which we had never set foot on?

Signs appeared, among them an Indian CouchSurfer suggesting Kerala state, the most South-Western state of India, as suitable for our requirements. Upon this, Katja remembered “The God of Small Things“, a fantastic novel having a strong background on Kerala’s life. Participating in the 13th birthday of the Vilnius Hitchhiking Club in October, we met a Lithuanian family who used to live for half a year in Thailand with their 2 kids. “What place did you like most in India?”, we asked them, and they took a breath and eventually suggested Varkala town as a worthwhile place to rest for half a year… And so, our minds started to concentrate on one place. Researching the Internet for possible contacts made us get in touch with Alex, a Latvian-Russian CouchSurfer, who lives in Varkala for the last 2 years. He offered us hospitality and help for settling down in Varkala. Having such a wonderful support already before our arrival made our decision for Varkala the final one.

On 18th of November we arrived in Varkala.

by Katja & Augustas at January 03, 2010 16:58

A Girl and Her Thumb

Stockholm


I’m on a train with Jim, Jatta and a dreadlocked guy named Patrick. Jatta is going home to Finalnd for personal reasons. Patrick is going back to Denmark. Jim and I will hang out in Stockholm for a few days and wait for Pete. If we decide to go that way, we’ll give Jim a lift back to Copenhagen. It’s 50/50 at the moment. We both have an urge to see how far north we can get…although to be honest, that urge is shrinking in me.

We find a last-minute CS host for two nights. Micke is vegan and into skipping. He doesn’t need to ask what a primitivist gathering is and he knows the social centre well. These are all good signs. His flat is only one room though, so after drinking a pot of tea with us he bids us goodnight and goes out to his girlfriend’s for the night, telling us to help ourselves to his food. He also imparts his knowledge on metro and train jumping. In Stockholm, hardly anyone pays for the metro. It seems to be a lot more socially acceptable to “plank” than it is in some other countires. There is even an insurance you can pay that will cover the cost of any fines you might get and a video showing different techniques. I mastered the kicking technique quite well. I´ve yet to try the scarf flick.

Stockholm has a great social centre. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see it. It’s shut until the 12th of January, along with the vegan pizza place and other nice cafes. With the traveling and everything, I’d forgotten about New Year. Jim and I spend ours in Micke’s flat without him, watching 1984 on the internet, eating his vegan cheese and watching the fireworks out of the window. Part of me wants to be back in the forest. Another part is snug and smug under my pile of blankets.

We spend two nights with another CS host before I decide to go back to the forest. My breathing is back to normal, I’ve had some space and I feel more like myself again. Jim will stay in Stockholm and I’ll let him know about the lift. He will have to avoid the Rasrisks alone until I get back. Pesky little things.

by agirlandherthumb at January 03, 2010 12:54

December 31, 2009

Digihitch

World Hitchhiker, Ludovic Hubler, Publishes Book of 5 Years On the Road

About 2 years ago, on January 1st 2008, I sent you the last newsletter of my tour of the world by hitchhiking. This newsletter, called Never again, summarized the 5 years I spent thumb up alongside the roads of the world and listed some of the things I learned from this experience. At the end of the newsletter, I also talked about my intention of writing a book about this trip, my "life Phd," where my teachers were not in classrooms but driving cars, trucks or boats. In the last two years, I have received many emails asking me for updates about my book and my life. Today, I would like to apologize for not always having been able to answer in detail these questions. In this newsletter, I will give you the latest news, and also officially announce the launch of my book, entitled "Le Monde en stop, 5 annes à l'cole de la vie" (The world by hitchhiking, 5 years at the school of life), published by Gorama.

December 31, 2009 11:42