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100 things I did in the past 365 days. In 13 countries

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Miercuri, 25 Ianuarie 2012 16:14

Spent time in a Hindu ashram on the banks of Mother Ganga
Had 87 (or whatever... lost count) cups of chai in 34 days
Climbed an active volcano in Chile
Swam with pink dolphins in the jungles of Bolivia
Went in search of anacondas
Looked a piranha in the face and told it “bite me!” (which it almost did btw...)
Slept in a salt hotel. Meaning a hotel made of salt. For real.
Spent 36 hours on a ferry to the “End of the world”. Gained a whole new perspective on sea sickness.
Flew over Patagonia in a 20 people plane and managed not to cry or throw up
Rode on the neck of an elephant in Thailand
Had a chat with the sea wolves in Chile
Sand boarded in the most arid desert in the world
Climbed Wayna Picchu, the peak seen in most Machu Picchu pictures
Meditated inside the sacred Inka Monastery, the Machu Picchu
Ate a dish of pasta and potatoes, with rice on a side – Peru
Picked cocoa fruit, oranges and mangoes straight from the respective trees
Built Eco houses in an Eco Yoga Park in Argentina
Sang Hari Ram and Hari Krishna with hundreds of yogis on the banks of Mother Ganga
Spend special days with an outstanding Inca Priest
Rode a horse through hundreds of years old forests in Argentina. On my birthday.
Almost got robbed in Montevideo
Walked the streets of Uruguay with a mate cup in one hand and a thermos in the other - the real Uruguayan way
Spend 10 days in silent meditation in the Sacred Valley of Peru (Buddhist meditation retreat)
Gained a complete perspective change on the favelas in Rio de Janeiro
Numbed my legs while samba-ing at the rehearsals of one of the best samba schools in Rio de Janeiro
Put cow urine in my hair, in India (holy cow urine, that was)
Stood speechless in front of the majesty of the Taj Mahal
Had the best foot massage of my life in Siem Reap, after 3 days of walking through the temples of Ankor Watt, Cambodia
Checked out the place where Lord Krishna spent his childhood years
Spent 3 days on a motorbike, covering 500km of Indian land
Had a motorbike accident, an infected hand and a powerful revelation that life was too precious and too short for... anything else
Ate too much street food
Ate more pizza in two months that in my entire life up to that point – Argentina
Drank more great wine in two months than in my entire life up to that point – Argentina
Understood that not all Hindu temples are the same
Prayed with some hundreds of Shiks in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India
Rode camels in the desert
Rode a train in Mumbai – quite brave endeavor indeed!:)
Shared a tiny auto with 17 other people in India
Wore a sari, a lengha, a kurta... or more
Listened to Mr Desert share his life story around the fire in the middle of the desert
Had my feet tickled by Doctor fish (dead skin eating fish) in Cambodia
Presented the Petronas Towers to my parents
Made friends with monkeys in India, Thailand and Bolivia
Said see you later alligator to a real alligator
Ate my last durian in Singapore... for a while to come
Finally had those much craved for croissants in Paris
Petted my first baby llama and baby sloth. The sloth winked at me. I swear it did.
Had Inka Cola and Chicha (Peruvian corn “beer”)
Visited the most famous silver mine in South America
By the Lake Titikaka I set and wept
Marveled at the graciousness of pink flamingos in Chile and Bolivia
Had a bath in a hot pool in the largest geyser field in South America. 8am, -7 degrees.
Patagonia, was invited by the ferry captain up in his cabin, then given a personal tour of Puerto Toro, the Southern most inhabited point on planet Earth
Stared and stared at Perrito Moreno, Argentina's gorgeous blue glacier
Finally experienced being served wine and champagne for dinner on a bus – Argentina
Saw the unbelievable: bread – 37 pesos, wine – 30 pesos
While staring at Casa Rosa in Buenos Aires, saw Evita in my mind's eye giving her famous speech from the famous balcony
Went to the circus in the capital of Paraguay
Walked through beautiful Jesuit ruins in Paraguay
Got drenched in the Iguazu Falls
Got a close look at the huge Jesus hugging Rio de Janeiro
Fell in love with Brazilian feijao, acai and caipirinha
Paid 1USD to enter the public toilet on Ipanema beach in Rio
Became addicted to beach volleyball on Copacabana beach
Was escorted by fire flies out of the largest urban forest in the world
Partied and samba-ed the nights away, Brazilian style
Attended my first ever bull fight
First ever Andean baptism
Made and sold truffles on the streets of Peru
Took part in a Temazcal (sweat lodge) and fire ceremonies in a Tipi
Bathed in waterfalls
Managed an impressive 93 mosquito bites in 3 days (not counting my back).With repellent constantly covering my skin, that was.
Visited the people living on the floating islands on Lake Titikaka
Had a picnic on an island full of cactuses, in the middle of a salt desert
Said “hi” to the largest rodent in the world. Then “bye”. Quickly.
Crashed countless weddings in India
Stuffed myself with the best Indian vegetarian food
Sat next to people who were savoring a guinea pig in Peru. Fought hard to keep my own food in.
Spent 60 hours straight on a bus crossing Brazil from East to West. Yes, I did shower during that trip.
Spent 28 hours on a bus that was supposed to take 16. No, I didn't shower during that one. I also managed not to kill myself either.
Found pink flamingos feathers by colorful lagoons
Drank Tsunamis in Chile and Submarinos in Argentina
Exchanged stories with the papacho selling churros by the road side in the Sacred Valley of Peru
Entered 2012 around a fire with beautiful people and a crazy dog, under the fabulous star filled sky and in the sweet sounds of accordion, guitar, drums and divine voices
Woke up at 4 am for 10 consecutive days… and meditated
Had the greatest conversations... with myself
Had lunch on the floor of the bus station in Sao Paolo...
... and caught a guy red handed slowly walking away with my small backpack
Wore the most mismatching outfits and colors and did not care about it for one second
Had a band rehearsal on Christmas night
Ate raw fish soaked in lemon, with crispy corn and sweet potatoes
Bowed in front of the birth place of the Sun God, on the Sun Island in Lake Titikaka
Barbecued vegetables and burnt them beyond recognition. Three times.
Danced my socks away with some hundreds of Brazilians at a concert of the famous Celebrare
Out of the 12 months on the road, I spent 5 as a guests
Mountain biked on an actual mountain
Ran after a donkey down a mountain for 2 hours, on a trail that normally takes 4
Bought flowers from an old lady and shared them with a whole train going to Machu Picchu.

100. Smiled, laughed, cried, ate, prayed, loved, learned, danced, jumped, marveled, glowed, wrote, enjoyed, understood, accepted, thanked. Lived.

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Acte aleatoare de bunătate ... chiar functioneaza!

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Joi, 01 Decembrie 2011 18:48

Cum dai...

Seara dinainte de a părăsi Argentina suntem într-un magazin cumparand ceva de cină şi, cum aşteptam la coada, vedem un baietel în faţa noastră. Are cam 7-8 ani şi ţine strâns in mana doua pachete de bomboane Skittles. Il vad framantandu-se ... o privire îngrijorată pe faţa lui micuta.

Cand ii vine rândul inghite cu greu in sec si ii intinde doamnei de la casa dulciurile. Suspecteaza. Preţul apare pe ecran ... o umbră întunecată ii trece peste faţa. Acum ştie cu certitudine! Se uita la ecran, la banii în mână ... apoi la ecran din nou. Inghite din nou in sec. Doamna ii ia banii din mâna, vede că nu sunt de ajuns şi ii spune.

Intreaga lume i se prăbuşeste intr-o secunda! Acum e oficial, acum ştie si ea... E confuz, nu poate renunta la dulciurile sale favorite ... dar suma de pe ecran pur si simplu nu se potriveste cu banii pe care îi are în mână. Doamna ii sugereaza sa schimbe unul dintre pachetele de bomboane cu altul mai ieftin. Înainte de a avea timp sa reacţioneze, intervin si ii spun caseritei ca acoperim noi suma ce lipseste. Ea zâmbeste şi ne saluta gestul, pe cand băiatul e prea şocat să se uite macar la noi. Inima da probabil sa-i iasa din piept de timiditate, şoc şi fericire pură. Iese repede din magazin fara sa se uite inapoi, şi ne lasa cu cel mai grozav sentiment – acela că tocmai am fericit ziua cuiva!

... asa primesti

A doua zi suntem în autobuz inspre Brazilia, destinatia finala Rio de Janeiro. Pregatiti aşa cum suntem de obicei, nu avem la noi nici un cent in moneda locala. Autobuzul opreste pentru masa de prânz şi intram în restaurant, mai mult ca sa pierdem timpul decât să mancam pentru ca ştiam bine ca nu putem cumpăra nimic. Mai mult decât atât, o dată ce intram ne dam seama că pranzul ar fi fost peste bugetul nostru oricum. Dam totusi o tură întreaga, e tip bufet şi se plăteste pe kg, asa ca suntem fascinaţi de marea varietate de feluri de mancare. Au brânză la grătar (care arata divin!) si tot felul de alte lucruri ce arata bizar ...tipul de acolo are un zâmbet imens şi ne tot ofera diferite lucruri sa gustam (limba de vaca fiind una dintre ele), iar noi ne luptam sa-i explicam ca nu vrem să-l refuzam, dar chiar nu mancam carne.

Imediat ce ne terminam turul şi ne pregătim sa ieşim din restaurant, un om de varsta mijlocie ne prinde din urma şi începe să ne vorbească în portugheză, cu inconfundabilul accent brazilian. Mă lupt să înţeleg şi-mi dau seama ca asta e ceea ce omul spune (pe scurt): "Sunteti tineri, călătorind, poate cu buget strict, doresc să va invit sa luaţi prânzul aici pe cheltuiala mea". Nu ne vine a crede la început, suntem uluiti şi nu ştim nici măcar ce să răspundem. El continuă să spuna că suntem tineri şi vrea să ne ofere masa de prânz, adăugând la sfârşit: "Va ofer din toata inima". Suntem încă şocaţi si ştim că autobuzul e pe cale să plece, aşa că îi mulţumim (din toata inima) şi încercam să-i explicam într-un amestec de spaniolă, engleză şi portugheză că suntem ok si apreciem cu adevărat oferta sa.

Ne intoarcem in autobuz cu niste zîmbete imense, ştiind ca asta e miracolul actelor aleatorii de bunătate:).

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Random acts of kindness... it really works!:)

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Luni, 08 August 2011 01:36

So we're in this shop in Argentina and, as we wait in line, we see this kid in front of us. He's about 7-8 yrs old and he's holding tightly to a couple of packs of Skittles. I see him fretting... he's got a worried look on his face.

His turn comes and he swalows heavily as he hands the sweets to the cashier lady. He suspects it. The price appears on the screen … a dark shadow passes over his face. Now he knows it! He looks at the screen, looks at the money in his hand... looks at the screen again. He swallows. The lady takes the money from his hand, sees it's not enough and tells him.

His world collapses! Now it's official, now she knows it too... He's confused, he cannot let go of his favorite sweets... but the numbers up there just don't match the money he had in his hand. The lady suggests to swap one of the sweets for a cheaper one. Before he has a chance to react, we intervene and tell her we'll cover the balance. She smiles and commends our gesture, but the boy is way to shocked to even look at us. His heart is probably racing with a combination of shyness, shock and sheer happiness. He rushes out of the store and leaves us with the best feeling ever - the feeling that we've just made someone's day!

A few hours later we're on the bus crossing into Brazil, destination Rio de Janeiro. Prepared as we usually are, we don't have one cent of the local currency. The bus stops for lunch and we go into the restaurant, more just to pass the time than to actually eat, as we know we can't really buy anything. Moreover, once we go in we realise lunch there would be over our budget anyway. We do go the whole round though, it's a buffet and you pay by kg so we're just mesmerized by the great variety of the food there. They have grilled cheese (which looks divine!) and they have other funny looking things as well... the guy there has a huge smile and he keeps offering us different things to taste (cow tongue being one of them) as we struggle to explain we don't want to refuse him, but we really don't eat meat..;

Anyway, as we finish our round and prepare to exit the restaurant, this middle aged man catches up with us and starts talking in portuguese, with the of course unmistakable brazilian accent. I struggle to understand and I realise this is what he's saying (in brief): 'You're young people, traveling, maybe on a budget, i'd like you to have lunch here on my expense'. We can't really believe it at the beginning, we're just shocked and we don't even know what to reply. He continues to say we're young and he wants to offer us lunch, adding at the end: 'I am offering it from my heart'. We're still shocked and we know the bus is about to leave, so we thank him (from the heart) and try to explain in a mixture of spanish, english and portuguese that we're fine, and we really appreciate his offer.

We get back on the bus with huge smiles on our faces, knowing this is the miracle of random acts of kindness:).

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America Latina si un alt blog pentru moment

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Vineri, 24 Iunie 2011 13:24

Draga mea cititoare, dragul meu cititor,

ma aflu in mijlocul unei excursii prelungite in America de Sud, si de asemena in proces de restructurare al site-ului de fata. Astfel ca pana voi incepe sa postez din nou aici te invit sa urmaresti aventurile sud americane pe urmatourl site:

www.threebackpacks.wordpress.com

Scrise cu la fel de mult drag ca pana acum :), in versiune romana si engleza.

Te invit sa-mi impartasesti impresii, intrebari, sugestii. Daca sunt lucruri specifice din America de Sud pe care ti-ar placea sa le afli (obiceiuri, credinte, traditii), pot sa fiu intermediarul in acest proces si sa aflu aceste informatii pentru tine, apoi sa le postez pe blog pentru beneficiul tuturor. Deocamdata lucrurile postate sunt cele de care m-am 'lovit' pe traseu, dar asta nu inseamna ca nu pot sa devina mai bogate datorita sugestiilor tale:).

Cu multe multumiri si cu si mai mult drag,

a ta calatoare

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India - Day by Day (22 -34)

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Duminică, 03 Aprilie 2011 00:12

Day 22: The journey was supposed to take one day. Three days and many unexpected events later (roads under construction, strong winds, heavy rain and HAIL, plus other things not to be mentioned here), we finally made it to the Holy land - the Golden Temple!
And that's when my jaw dropped... :)

Day 23: Enough of crazy experimenting - tried a face wash with turmeric powder, and ended up looking like a carrot. Totally unnecessary, as even without it i've been stared at more in the past 3 weeks than i have in the past 25 years... I feel like there's permanently someone on my shoulder shouting at the top of his lungs: "And here, ladies and gents, from the land of crazy hair, we have exhibit number..."

Day 24: Time to kill? Have some chai. Lost your way? Have some chai. Had a bad day? Have some chai. Happy? Chai. Tired? Chai. Alone? Chai. With friends? Chai. With strangers? Chai. Morning? Lunch? Dinner? Chai. In between meals? Chai. Middle of the city? Chai. Top of the hill? Chai. River bank? Chai. Highway? Chai. No reason at all? Chai chai chai!!!:):)

Day 25: 'All scientist say, this food good for health, this one no good... all much confusion. My guruji says, eat whatever you want!! Because in the food, no secret. In the mind, have the secret. If you happy, no matter what food you eat, you will shine! If you eat all the best food, but no happy, you will still sick. So health not about food. But about how you are inside..." (Quote from my yoga teacher). Maaaan, i knew i'd like this place!!:p

Day 26: Never thought i'd actually be at the footsteps of the Himalayas, on the banks of the Ganga river, during a glorious sunset, chanting "Hari Krishna" and "Hari Ram" with some hundreds yogis...

Day 27: Yoga, chai, talks with swami ji, divine music, yoga, apple samosa (!!!), Ganga, walks, chai, cool people... apple samosa :p
And now i think there's a monkey snoring outside my window... oh pls let it be just a monkey... pls...

Day 28:"But EVERYWHERE there is GARBAGE! Even in the most beautiful palace, there is also a toilet. Inside of you, you have garbage - when you see it, you are disgusted! Every palace has a toilet, which is much needed... but what we have to do is NOT TO STAY IN THE TOILET ALL THE TIME!"
Best metaphor I've ever heard for choosing what to focus on and where to settle in life... thank you Puyja Swamiji :)

Day 29: Woman: 'Do you have take-away cups for the chai?"
Guy (thinking)... 'Take... away... Mam, I give you cup, you bring it back!'
How adorable can this place be?? And that's definitely one good way to save the planet:)
Woman: 'Your tea is the best in town! What do you put in it?'
Guy: 'Well, the usual... cardamom, cinnamon, cloves... and too much of love!':):):)

Day 32: One last chai in Rishikesh and one last ceremony by the river. Saying goodbye to the Ganga and the people she has gatthered around her was definitely not easy, but the decision to go back there again had already been made, so knowing that the 'goodbye' was a 'see you later' made it all much easier!

Day 33: After taking good care of me for the full duration of the trip, making sure i was safe and comfortable, and that i was aware of all the good spots to photograph, the bus conductor handed me a piece of folded paper: 'I want go to Europe, this my contact'. After saying our good byes, he paused... looked deep into my eyes... and whispered; 'Miss... you want kiss?

Day 34 was my last day in India. A great day. And a hard day. The sky in Delhi was breaking and the rain was washing all there was... My ego took it as Mother India's way of telling me that she will miss me as much as I will...:) THANK YOU Varun Jain, for opening this country to me like this... It would have not been possible without you!

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