Follow up

This morning, here in Ljubljana, still in a fluffy bad, surfing across various Internet pages, I've found the following citation, posted by my dear Chilean friend Geyson on his Facebook. I couldn't resist to copy it here. Maybe it will give you some hints, why the hell I did it...

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."
— Chris McCandless, from the book Into the Wild

The balance

365 days under the sun and 365 nights under the stars

15 countries

24 flights

hundreds of hours of bus, car, boat, truck, rickshaw, jeepney, scooter and bicycle rides along the most amazing landscapes shared with even more amazing people

one RTW ticket

one backpack

5 kg of cloths

one red dress from Buenos Aires

one pair of flip-flops and one pair of good (but really good) trekking boots

one stolen iPod

one lost pair of sunglasses

two diving curses and 19 dives registered in my little dive book

many, many new friends all around the world

oh, so much delicious food and wine and freshly prepared juices and just ordinary local beer

50 very itchy fire ants' bites and countless just itchy mosquitoes' bites

three antibiotic pills, when some aspirins and carbon tablets haven't helped anymore

some 10.000 photos

to many hours spent on internet in the most dodgy internet cafes struggling to select and upload photos for this blog

miles of coral reefs and sandy beaches

days of walking in the most pristine nature and swimming in the most clear seas

half a million of penguins, 20 whales, 5 whale sharks and thousands of all those colorful fishes you see on TV

a couple of afternoons spent in the huge Asian shopping malls

hours and hours of pleasant conversation with people of all kind of nationalities, religions, ages and professions

10 days of hard core Vipassana meditation

some 100 different beds in as many different towns, villages, beaches and national parks

plenty of funny stories, enough to bother my friends for the rest of my days with

countless priceless impressions and memories

and much more

to make it short

one year of "PURA VIDA"

all for the price of:

a Peugeot 307, HDI, 1.6, 120 Hp, silver color, 5 doors, 3 years old, sold in September 2008

(costs for the RTW thicket excluded)

Burma (Myanmar)

The golden country. A country full of treasures, with its countless pagodas, stupas, monasteries, stunning landscapes, colors, gold and gem mines... But the main and real treasure is its people - the nicest people in Asia, if not in the world! People with their simple traditional everyday life and buddhist dhamma* lifestyle, convinced that more you give, more you get, with their big smiles and their innocent curiosity. It's a country that steals your hart. Unforgettable...

Nobody understands how the hell they've been so unlucky with the present political situation. But they know: it's only a tinny fragment of time in the whole eternity...

My camera got tired and the photos quality is poor, but as you can see, it's impossible to spoil the beauty of this country and its people!!!

ps: *for those who've never heard of dhamma, please check the vipassana web page. Highly recommended!

Thailand and Laos

If you think, that traveling is manly sightseeing, you are wrong. It's not. Not at all! There are places and times you simply enjoy... like reading a book in shadows along Mekong river's banks in Luang Prabang, spending days chasing delicious food and best massages in Pai, taking a cooking class in Chang Mai, discovering posh corners in huge shopping malls in Bangkok, snorkeling, diving and just sunbathing on Thailand's islands among others...

The result: plenty of cozy memories, a nice sun-tent and very few photos of Thailand and Laos in my case :)

The temples of Angkor in Cambodia

Angkor Wat and surrounding temples in Cambodia, believed to be the largest religious structure in the world, are a must see for whoever travel South East Asia.

Three full days were barely enough to visit the most important and impressive ones and they definitely haven't disappointed in their breathtaking grandeur.

Sulawesi

It's a funny story how I ended up there, but it was worth every effort and money. This remote Indonesian island is hiding impressive underwater treasures, full of untouched coral landscapes and encyclopedic variety of fish. I could explore it up to 30 m deep since I've been brave enough to pass my Advanced Dive Certificate there :)

On my way to my dive resort on Tongean islands...

Malaysia

I crossed Malaysia twice:

- first, the Malaysian part of Borneo on my way to Philippines to have a look over few remaining orangutans in the Kuching sanctuary and to check some remaining jungle in the Gunung Mulu national park, where the most impressive were hundred of thousand bats leaving a big cave every evening for a nigh hunt,

- and second, the Malaysia penisula as a long stop over between Philippines and Sulawesi. And since I haven't planed or expected anything for this part of my trip, it happened that I really enjoyed spending time in the Petronian towers in Kuala Lumpur, chilling out among tea plantations on Cameron Highlands and yes, challenging my biggest fears of dip waters on Perenhian Islands. The first morning upon my arrival to Perenhian Kecil, I stopped at the first Dive school on my way to the beach and left it only six day later with the Open Water Dive Certificate in my pocket. I still can't belive I did it!!!

Philippines

A Latinoasian country with distinctive "latinofilipino" vibes, colors, sound and smells, 7000 islands, uncountable numbers of overloaded jeepneys, tricycles, ferries, bangkas and other kinds of transport, fast food chains of every kind at every corner, loud karaoke everywhere at anytime, basketball playgrounds everywhere - in every village, in the middle of rice paddies, palm plantations, on the streets and roads, roosters waking you up in the middle of the nights no matter where you were spending the night - town centers, remote beach resorts, ferries and night buses included, obsession with cock fights and gambling in general, beaches, beaches and more beaches dotted with palm trees and surrounded by reach coral reefs boosting with marine life and much more...

But the most important- there were hundred of thousands of smiling Filipinos waving at you all the time :))

In six weeks time I traveled to the remotest villages in Northern Luzon Cordillera region, then all the way down to Donsol to swim with whale sharks, took a short rest on the Negros' remote beaches, visited a shaman on Siquiour - the witch island, had a look over chocolate hills and the the smallest primate tarsier on Bohol and finally reached Pallavan - the remotest but most beautiful of the islands with its spotless beaches and amazing corral reefs.

Not easy to capture the real vibe on photos though...

Gili islands

The ultimate challenge... am I able to lie on the beach, read a book in the shadow and walk only as far as the first restaurant with fresh barbecued fish for lunch and diner for two weeks?

I successfully passed the test on Gili Islands :)

Bali

What a better place in the world than Ubud on Bali, the green sunny happy paradise, to take some rest and recharge batteries after so intensive and long traveling! A local family welcomed me as their dearest guest and I spent two weeks in their big house, which included also a big family temple and a couple of nice rooms for renting to the passing travelers.

Right during the two weeks I spent there, three major holly celebrations took place, among them the Balinese New year - Nyepi, the day on which all the Balines activities completely freeze. Nobody is aloud to leave the home, there are no public services (even the airport stays closed), no electricity and no contribution to the global warming, at list for a day!

On top of that, I've been lucky enough to run into a once in a 10 years holly Hindu celebration in the biggest and most sacred Balinese temple - the Bersakih temple. There were 15 most important Hindu priests that prayed for the welfare of the whole Earth, there were traditional dancings and ceremonies, there was blessing of people and gifts to the Gods and an amazing mix of colors and positive vibes! And I was one of the very few lucky foreigners to be present. Dressed in the traditional Balinese clothes, I've got access to all the temples and ceremonies, so please regard this photos as a very exclusive ones!

Singapore

A big shopping mall? A virtual city? Maybe both? However, a spotless city with a virtual feeling, where even the ongoing constructions looks like a modern art installation. At list the Little India neighborhood maintained some original earthy spirit...

And Bojan, thanks a lot for your generous hospitality in your very posh place! It felt like switching from "Discovery channel" to the "HBO" one for a couple of days ;)

Australia

Dipping into the atmosphere of Sydney and Melbourne, driving on the left side along the Great Ocean Road and trekking Blue Mountains was more than enough for my only two and a half weeks stay in Australia.

I liked it :))

Fiji

Some postcards from three islands I've visited...

...but the real beauty of Fiji lies under the wather, hidden within its colorful and reach corral riffs!

New Zeland

Since the last thing I've done in Chile was climbing the Llaima volcano, arriving to NZ I climbed straight away the volcano in the Tangariro national park - better known as Mt Dome from the movie The Lord of the ring.

In fact, the three weeks in NZ I've spent almost entirely in national parks: I walked Abel Tasman for two days, did a whole day trek into the Franz Josef glacier, walked for three days the Roteburn great walk, visited Milford Sound fjord and climbed up to the Miller hut in front of Mt Cook, the highest mountain in NZ. Of course, I couldn't leave the country without bungee jumping 134m deep into the Nevis canyon near Queenstown!

NZ is a pretty country.

Chile

The first time I entered Chile, down South in Patagonia, it was to trek Torres del Paine, the most famous trek in all Patagonia. Famous for a reason. It's a national park of immense and wild beauty and with such extreme and unpredictable weather conditions, that whoever manage to trek there for at list a couple of days, at the end feels like a hero. Especially when you do it on your own...

During my five days I got wet to the bones, been blown away by extreme wind (my tent as well!) and frozen during the night I stayed in a camp next to the glacier Grey. But, when I've entered the most beautifully valley - Vale Frances, the sun generously shined over all those incredible mountain picks and glaciers. Not so lucky when it came the time to see Torres del Paine... that day it was snowing hard!

The second time I entered Chile was after I left Usuaia, to travel up North. It took me one week of hard and fast traveling to reach Pucon, a town in Chilean lake district. There are no roads in Southern Chilean Patagonia, therefore the trip consisted of several buses, ferries and a two nights, one day boat trip. Finally, I spent a week in Pucon, climbing two volcanoes, rafting, horse riding, canopying and having good time with friendly locals.

Great times under volcano Villarica :)

Usuaia - the end of the world

By the end of the year, I've reached the end of the world - Usuaia, the southernmost town in the world!

There you can feel all the power of the nature, which plays with the most amazing colors and shapes, and that special adventurous atmosphere provided by people heading to Antarctica.

Here Usuaia, Antarctica next time maybe...