All around the world...

Tibetan Refugees, Golden Tempels, Desert, Camels and the Taj Mahal!

2009-08-25T03:24:00.001-07:00

Sorry, I know it's been a while, but we were just too busy the last couple of weeks! Now Ede has gone back to Germany and I'm back in Delhi, with loads of time to fill you in on the latest events!
So after Manali we spent 3 lovely days in Dharamshala, or more precisely in McLeod Ganj, where the Dalai Lama has his official residence. On the first day it was raining pretty hard and we spent it almost completely at the Tibetan Childrens Village (TCV), where the -mostly orphaned- children of tibetan refugees can live and learn. A wonderful place- so good, that I immediately tried to apply as a teacher there, which unfortunately is most likely to not work out, since I am not a real educated teacher... The next day we looked at the Tibetan Museum and visited the home of the Dalai Lama- rather walked around it, of course! And in the evening I was in for a special treat, since we were actually able to find a "cinema" showing the newest Harry Potter movie in this small little mountain town! On the third day it was already time to move on again, since we had lost too much time before in Manali, and we headed for Amritsar near the Pakistani boarder. There we got up early in the morning the following day, in order to look at the Golden Tempel, the holiest monument of the Sikh. For this we had to dress "appropriately", in other words cover up completely, but hey, funny picture!
We had planned to take a bus to Bikaner from there, but there was none available the next day. Since we didn't want to spend more time there, we decided to head back to Delhi, from where -or so we thought- it would be easier to get a train connection to Jaisalmer, which was our next destination. Back in Delhi we saw, that there were no possible train connections for a couple of days, and since Ede didn't have that much time left before having to return to Germany, we decided to hire a car and driver for the last part of our trip (very posh, I know!).
With this driver we then left Delhi the next day and finally arrived in Bikaner in the middle of the night. The next morning we looked at the fort and the RAT Temple there (I could feel my grandmother turning in her grave!), before continuing on to Jaisalmer. There, almost in the desert, it was probably even hotter than in Delhi, but less humid and thus a little more comfortable. Also, our nice hotel had a pool, and so we spent the rest of the day "beating the heat"!
The following day then took us all the way into the Thar Desert, after having explored the city of Jaisalmer for a while, which basically looks like a giant sand castle! We watched the sunset over the desert and had loads of fun, playing around in the sand like little children (I think the other tourists were a little astonished...). After dinner, we went back into the desert via camel-cart, taking actual beds with us, and spent what was left of the night after the whiskey was finished under the stars. Early the next morning we were awakened by heat and sunlight, and after breakfast, the actual camel safari started. We rode our camels through the desert for about two hours, before stopping for lunch in the shade of some small trees. After lunch, until about 5 o' clock it was not possible to do anything but lie around in the shade, because it was SO hot!!! After this extended lunch break we rode on for about another one and a half hours, before we set up our beds for the night. We spent another beautiful night in the desert and saw some of the most amazing shooting stars ever...
The next morning we returned to "base camp" and afterwards to Jaisalmer, where we had a great dinner with MEAT (only vegeterians there!), cooked by our very own driver!
Our next stop then was Jodhpur which I was unfortunately unable to completely enjoy, as I was sick again. Inspite of this, we were able to see the impressive Meherangarh Fort, where we took part in one of the most interesting tours I have experienced so far.
From the "blue city" of Jodhpur (in former times, the blue paint was a sign for Brahmans living there, today it is still used as bug repellent!) we continued on to Udaipur, passing the Ranakpur Temple on the way. After all the desert landscape, the green hills and lakes of Udaipur were a welcoming change, and we really enjoyed exploring the town and the area around it. By then I had started taking antibiotics and was feeling a little better, unfortunately I was also getting paranoid, though (fuck bacteria and fuck sideeffects!)... this became so bad, that when I was talking to Ahmad on the phone from Pushkar, he decided to come and see me there- its a 450km, 10 hour journey from Delhi to Pushkar... Despite of all the madness we were still able to look at the holy lake in the middle of the town, where we were blessed or something like that and unwillingly henna-painted, before we were asked to "donate" a larger sum of money to charity... That's India, baby ;-)
Then we headed for Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, now with two drivers, two cars, two boys and me in the middle... things there got kind of crazy, too, so I'll just mention the highlights: first bathtub in 6 months and probably the best fish I have ever eaten in a billion-star hotel, thanks to my boyfriend!! We also did some shopping, blankets, wall hangings and stuff like that, which resultet in more madness and confusing discussions about honesty and taking commission... but hey, we got some really nice things!!
The last stop of our pathetic parade was finally Agra and the Taj Mahal. It was a bit weird looking at the ultimate monument of love with two guys at my side but the beauty of the place succeeded in pushing all conflict aside for a while and we witnessed the Taj being bathed in the light of the first morning sun- stunning.

Well, now I'm back in Delhi, a bit "travel-weary" and just relaxing and enjoying time with Ahmad... It's still hot, but starting to rain and to get better, and hey, we have airconditioning and a DVD-player, so who needs the indian street-chaos, anyway...?!

Leh, Manali and spectacular roads in between

2009-08-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hey, we're back- still in Manali right now but moving on to Dharmshala tomorrow. Unfortunately, I spent the last 4 days in bed here sick, one day Ede even got sick, too, but today we had a lovely day walking around town, sitting in cafes and playing chess on a river bank! Due to the illness, that's just about all we did in Manali, but it is a very beautiful place in a valley with a river running through it, surrounded by mountains and forest and with cute little streets with loads of shops and cafes.
The trip here from Leh took us 19 hours- we crossed the second highest motorable pass in the world (about 5500 m) and were able to witness an astonishing landscape ranging from forests over glaciers to almost desert-like wilderness. But I can tell you, even the most beautiful scenery loses some of it's charm after about 12 hours of bumpy "road" and no sleep!
But let me tell you about Leh, wich was quite an experience- very close to what I would imagine Tibet to be like.
On our first day there we climbed up to the old Leh Palace overlooking the town, which is not in use anymore, thus empty, but still posesses an incredible amount of spiritual energy! We felt so peaceful, no, at peace when we were sitting up there, surrounded by buddhist prayer flags...
The next day we just stayed in the town which is lovely by itself, doing some shopping (cheap and colourful clothes- paradise for me!!) and eating a lot of tibetan food which they also have there. On day three we decided, we needed to get out of the city as not to go crazy (happens to both of us after approximately three days at most), so we took a bus to Thiksey, about 20km away. There we looked at the Gompa, which actually turned out to be a whole city of houses, temples and balconies- very impressive and very beautiful! From there we walked about 4 km to Shey, passing a whole field of Stupas, in the middle of which we had a small picknick. Then we decided to not return to the road, but to climb up to Shey Palace from the back. We underestimated the altitude, the sun and also the immense amount of strength you need to wald uphill in the sand, but we finally managed to reach the old ruins of the palace (and were very proud of ourselves, too!). After a short rest we climbed down to the still intact part of the palace, and there we had our most amazing experience yet. We were able to witness a buddhist religious ceremony! At the back of the room was the Lama, who was reading from a book, and in front of him, women were sitting on the ground, chanting and repeating the words he was reading. This had such an overwhelming effect on us, that we were actually both close to tears and sat down on the ground next to them, listening in silence and feeling the energy. When the chanting was over, some monks sitting on the side began playing drums and trumpets and also reading lines from a book, all at once and all different, which resulted in a weird, hypnotizing mixture of sounds. At the same time, tea was being passed around to the women, and when a little girl came over to us and offered us a cup, too, we felt more happy than words could describe. The ceremony ended with the women receiving cookies and bread, and there too, we were included. We left the Palace in a sort of trance, with big smiles on our faces and everyone smiling back at us!
We tried to catch a bus back to Leh, but none came, so we tried stopping a private bus and succeeded- next thing we knew, we were in a bus full of veterinary medicine students, singing Greenday songs and taking pictures with them! Talk about a crazy but perfect day!!!
After this experience we decided, that we didn't need a lot more action for our last day in Leh and just looked at the nearby Shanti Stupa and played chess in a nice little cafe. At eleven in the evening we packed our things in the dark because of another power-out and left for Manali at around one in the morning. The rest of the story you know.
I'm now glad I packed all the meds that I've been carrying around uselessly for the last four and a half months and appreciating being healthy again! Sometimes you just need to feel miserable for a couple of days to be able to appreciate, how good you actually have it!! Looking forward to Dharmshala and McLeod Ganj which will be our final destination there and who knows- maybe we'll even get to see the Dalai Lama...?!

Love you all, peace!

10 days in Kashmir

2009-07-24T00:54:00.000-07:00

Upon our arrival in Kashmir we were, first of all, pleasently surprised by the nice weather- 30 degrees, moderate humidity and a cool breeze compared to 45 degrees, high humidity and no air at all in Delhi! The second pleasent surprise was the houseboat which was really very lovely.
We spent our fist day there relaxing and eating great indian food. On the second day we explored some of the city of Srinagar which wasn't very exciting, since everything was closed, due to a strike (I have never seen so much military presence anywhere else!). Then we went for a boat ride on and a swim in the lake. On day three we took a jeep to Pahalgam National Park in order to do some trekking there. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking and our campground next to a river a perfect spot! After putting up the tents we explored the surrounding area and visited the houses of some gypsie people living there. In the evening it got quite cold and I was very glad that I hadn't thrown away my jeans yet! We looked at the beautiful starry sky and went to sleep to the sound of the river flowing past our tent.
The next day we went on an eight hour hike through mountains, forests and over rivers. Again, we just couldn't believe the beauty around us and had a great time walking. When we got a bit tired on the way back we rode on the horses that came with us, which was also very nice (I think nicer for me than for Ede, though!!). Day two of our trekking was supposed to take us high up to a mountain lake, but I was very tired from the first day of walking and also felt a bit sick- probably caught a cold because of the 40 degree temperature change between Delhi and Pahalgam! So we only walked uphill for about an hour. There we reached a beautiful river bed and I decided to just stay there, while Ede went for another three hours of hiking and climbing. Then we had some lunch and then slowly made our way back to our campsite, passing more gypsie houses, horses, sheep and cows on the way. We took a bath in the ice-cold river and then passed the time with a couple of games of chess before going to sleep for the last time in this lovely place. The following day was basically just spent with packing up things and returning to Srinagar, where we met J.A. who had really kept his promise and came to see us! We had a fun evening on the boat, talking until 4 in the morning and looking at the stars from the rooftop. The next day, Ede and I had another shot at exploring Srinagar, this time more successful than the last! In the evening, we again met up with J.A. and his friends and went to a pretty fancy hotel, where we sat in the garden, having a couple of drinks and some great dinner. J.A. invited us on a fishing trip for the next to days and we happily accepted. So the next morning we packed our things together and again took off, this time in the other direction. At noon we reached a small village next to a river, and the guys did some fishing while I had some rum instead! We spent the night all together on matresses in a room of a gypsie familys home- the people there were so nice and the whole atmosphere so peaceful, that none of us really wanted to leave the next day, but J.A.'s friend had to go back, so we left after the guys had done some more fishing.
We spent our -finally- last day in Srinagar organizing some things and taking some more pictures of the people and the town and then went to the home of J.A.'s family for dinner. It was a wonderful evening with great food and lovely people, and we felt very privileged to be able to take part in something genuine like this, which is probably not possible for all tourists who come to Kashmir. And as one can see (again), everything happens for a reason, and most of the time, things that seem bad in the beginning turn out good in the end- you just have to let them happen and "go with the flow of life". By now I am very happy to have met J.A., although you can't exactely say that we had a good start together!
Now Ede and I are in Leh, Ladakh, a buddhist town in the middle of the mountains at 3500 m altitude. So far I can say, that this is one of the most peaceful and vibrant places I have ever been to, but details will follow in the next post!
So much for now, take care, and always try to see the good behind the bad... life is beautiful.

INDIA- How I ended up in a houseboat in Kashmir.

2009-07-23T23:50:00.000-07:00

Yes my dears, I have made it to the other side of the world to India!
After an exhausting 36 hour journey from Panama City to New Delhi I met up with my friend Ede who flew in from Germany at the airport. We got a taxi to take us to a hotel we had picked out of the Lonely Planet but half way there the driver explained he couldn't take us there for some strange reasons, and we had to go to the tourist information first. Since there was nothing else we could do we agreed, although it already seemed very strange to us, especially since the "tourist information" was located in some dark alley...
There, they called several hotels for us, which apperently were all booked up because of some festival that was taking place in Delhi for the next week. By this time I was really frustrated and in desperate need of sleep! At that point the guy from the tourist information offered us, that we could spend the night at his appartement and I thankfully accepted. His friends picked us up and took us to his place where we immediately went to sleep. The next morning, we wanted to buy a bus ticket to Dharmsala and the guy from the tourist information (his name shall not be mentioned here, in order not to ruin his buisness, therefore I will refer to him as "J.A." from now on...) offered to call the company for us. They told us, that all buses going north from Delhi were also booked for the next six days! Since we didn't intend to spend the next 6 days in Delhi, J.A. offered us a flight to Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, including a 7 night stay on a houseboat on Lake Dal. Although we didn't like the idea of "being stuck" in one place for a whole week and hadn't intended on flying at all, we let us be talked into the trip and went to get the money.
Then we had some lunch and explored some of the chaotic old town of the city. At some point we decided to do a little research on bus tickets and hotel rooms ourselves, as the story with the festival seemed stranger every minute we thought about it more... Of course we found out, that there WERE bustickets as well as hotel rooms available! I started to panick, because I had also left my passport, Visa card, etc. at J.A.'s appartement and we took the next Riksha back. There we confronted J.A. with our "new information" and told him, we wanted our money back! A three-hour discussion followed, in which we all admitted, having made some mistakes and finally agreed on the plan, that we should fly to Srinagar, see how we liked it, and that we could get our money back once we returned to Delhi, in case we didn't. After this exhausting dispute, J.A. invited us to go to a bar with him. We had a couple of drinks and a good time and returned to the appartement around two in the morning. I was really tired and ready to go to bed, but that's when J.A. started talking... he confessed everything- that the taxi driver was paid for taking us to his office, that the phonecalls to the hotels had actually been phonecalls to his friends and finally that -of course- there was no festival! We were shocked but glad at the same time, that we had finally been told the truth, and we liked J.A.. So we asked him to come and visit us in Srinagar, where he was from, anyway, and he agreed.
The next day we were on our way to Srinagar.

Sailing to Panama

2009-07-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the good news is, I've made it to Panama! The bad news is, that I can't really tell you how the trip there actually was because no words could ever describe it.
The feeling I had when the bay of Cartagena had finally disappeared, and all you could see around you was water, is probably the most amazing I've ever experienced.
We sailed for 48 hours, day and night, and the whole time I felt so unreal, so small and so FREE.
When we got to the San Blas Islands that feeling didn't really change much, because it was paradise. White sand, palm trees, the most beautiful colors and the most beautiful people- it all seemed so peaceful and just to good to be real.
We had a nice group of people on the boat, too, although it didn't really matter, as we were all just staring in awe and not talking much. Our captain, David, didn't talk that much either, but he was a great guy and an experienced sailor, and we felt very safe with him. That first day on the islands we actually got to do some "real sailing" when a pretty strong wind and rain came up and the boat was leaning at a 45 degree angle! So much fun!!
That night we also met another captain, Adrian from the Attila, and his friend Nestor, one of the indigenous Kuna people, and we ended up getting pretty drunk! After that things with David were easier, too, and he actually started talking to us- turned out that he's a pretty funny guy, as well!
The next day we spent on Nestors island, looking at the way people lived there, having lunch at the beach and playing with Nestors six (!) little girls. It was such a great community there, and again we felt like we were in paradise. After a beautiful sunset we all returned to our boat, the Tango, and had an even bigger party than the night before, including dancing on deck!
Unfortunately the party was over at about eleven o' clock, as everybody was very tired (and very drunk- we had started at noon!). Adrian and I were the only ones left, so I went with him on his boat where we talked almost until morning. At eight the Tango pulled up to our boat, as it was time to leave the islands and head for the mainland, but instead of going with her, I packed my things and put them on the Attila. And that was the moment I officially left the "gringo-trail", stopped being "just another traveller" and started living!!!
I had an amazing day with Adrian, just sailing around the islands with no particular goal, stopping every now and then to swim or to have a beer, and I never felt better in my life.
The next day he had to pick up two tourists, in order to take them to Cartagena, and together with them and two other random guys we had met we started another party on the boat. Because of this, none of us was really up for doing much sailing the next day (and I didn't want to leave, either!!), so we just stayed at the islands, relaxing for another day, cooking our own food and not partying quite as hard for a change!
The day after that, my seventh day at sea, it was finally time to say goodbye to the San Blas Islands, Attila and Adrian and to the things I had fallen so much in love with- the wind, the rocking of the boat at night, the feeling of freedom you have on your "own" boat, in short, THE SEA.
I took a small plane to Panama City and spent the last two days, trying to cope with culture shock and "land-sickness" (the damn ground just won't stop moving!). Funny enough, I met two people from the Tango here, one of the other captains, Kevin, is sleeping right next to me and I have the most beautiful bed in the whole house, from which I can see the sea... that all kind of helps to cope with the overwhelming feelings I have, because I think I've found what I set out to look for. The life I have experienced in that last week in the Caribbean is exactely the kind of life I want to live. On one hand, this is a very good feeling and I'm very happy, on the other hand though, I now have to figure out, how I am going to go about it to make the dream come true, and that is a very frightening thought at the moment.
It's a good thing I'm flying to India in four days, there I can hopefully sort some things out and find to myself again. Until then I just want to do nothing, see nothing and just "rest my weary head".
My love goes out to all of you, who understand or at least accept what I have just tried to tell you, you are the true friends.

Columbia

2009-06-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it´s been a while! Tonight will be my last night in Columbia and actually in South America, tomorrow I will be sailing to Panamá! So let me tell you about the last month in this beautiful country...
After spending one more day in Popayán I took a bus to Cali. It was incredibly hot there! I arrived on a Thursday night and just wanted to party for the weekend, and that´s exactely what I did!
Luckily, there were a bunch of really nice people in my hostal, because going out in Cali by yourself isn´t a good idea... We spent three nights in a row in different "Salsathekas", drinking and trying to dance with the locals, as the places weren´t touristy at all. In the daytime it was pretty much just chilling, reading and learning some more spanish. I even took two Salsa classes, as well!
On Sunday mornig I wasn´t feeling too well, but I thought I just needed some rest after the wild weekend. By evening though, I started getting a fever, and in the night it actually went up to 40 degrees! I felt like shit and things kept getting worse, so on Tuesday I decided to go to the hospital. "Toncillitis" was the diagnosis and I was treated right away with really strong antibiotics. After another day of relaxing in Cali, I felt strong enough to travel on to Salento, a small town in the "Zona Cafétera" on Thursday. There I spent another three days relaxing, looking at a coffee plantation and taking a short hike through the "Cloud Forest", where you could see the "Waxpalm", the national tree of Columbia. On Sunday I continued on to Bogotá, where I only spent two days. The city isn´t really that pretty, except for the old town, which I looked at in one day. The next day I went north of Bogotá, to look at an underground salt cathedral which was pretty impressive! I also booked my boat trip to Panamá, and since I only had one week left then to get to Cartagena, I decided to skip Villa de Leyva, a colonial town north of Bogotá, but to go straight to St. Marta instead.- My only nightbus-trip in Columbia, 20 hours!!
When I got off the airconditioned bus the next day, I was shocked by the 38 degrees at the Caribbean coast (in Bogotá we had about 18...)! I went straight to Taganga, a small pueblito, very close to St. Marta, where I spent the rest of the day trying to catch my breath in a hammock... The next two days were all lying around at the beach!
On the third night I met André again, who, as it turned out, had been in Taganga the whole time, for an entire month! Of course we had to celebrate our reunion, and so I had to cope with only three hours of sleep, since I wanted to catch the nine o clock boat to Tayrona National Park.
We arrived at the stunning beach after about one and a half hours, which were enough time for me to meet three other girls. Together we rented some hammocks and I spent pretty much the rest of the afternoon sleeping at the beach! Next morning, we hiked to the "Pueblito" together, the remains of an ancient town within the park. It was extremely hot and humid, and when we returned after almost five hours we didn´t want to do much more than to relax at the beach again. After another night in the surprisingly comfortable hammock it was time to leave the park again and to get back to Taganga. I met André and his friends again, and we spent another night partying at the beach with loads of rum, singing and other "typical Columbian things" ;-)
Then, after another ridiculously short night it was time to say goodbye to André, who of course couldn´t be bothered to leave "yet", and to Taganga, and to -finally- head off to Cartagena.
Here I arrived last night and spent the day walking around the beautiful old town for almost eight hours! It´s so pretty here, and I really wish I had more time, but tomorrow at two my boat leaves for Panamá, and first the San Blas Islands!! I´m really gettting excited now, going to meet Ingrid, who is also here, for a "good-bye-South-America-drink" and then going to sleep for the last time on this continent...

It´s been great, and I will definitely be back!!!!

Cross your fingers for me, that everything goes well on the boat, I love you all very much!!

Getting to Columbia...

2009-06-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

In my last entry I said, I was hoping for more excitement to come... well, I hadn't quite imagined it this way.
Early in the morning my guest father brought me to the bus for the ecuadorian-columbian border.
As usual, I put my big back pack in the luggage room underneath the bus and took my small backpack with me. After about an hour, there was a police control and everybody had to get off the bus. I asked the driver, if I had time to use the bathroom and he said "sure". When I got back from the toilet, my bus was gone.- With my big backpack in it!!
Since the police was still there, I told them what had happened. They got into the car with me, and together we started chasing after the bus. At this point I felt relatively confident, since after all, I was with the POLICE and they knew the busnumber, as they had just checked it before. Well, you shouldn't compare them with our police in germany.
When we still hadn't caught up to the bus after about 20 minutes, they explained to me, that they couldn't continue on any further, as this was now no longer their "area of responsibility". So they wrote me a note with the number of the bus and dropped me off by the side of the road! That's when I started panicking!
I stopped the next bus going in the direction I had to go and explained to the driver what had happend. And I was in luck.- The driver put up a chase a la "Speed" and after about half an hour we actually managed to catch up to the bus! We cut in front of it, forcing it to stop, and together with the driver I stormed the bus and got my bag back, yelling at the driver "hijo de puta"!
The rest of the trip to and across the border was without further incidents (otherwise I probably would have had a heartattack!!) and I arrived at my first stop in Columbia, Pasto, at about 5 p.m.
The next day, I took a bus to Popayan, a nice little town about 6 hours north of Pasto, and on the trip there I got a first impression of why people say, "Columbia is the most beautiful country in South America"...
In Popayan I checked into a hostel where I soon met another german girl. Together we decided to take a trip to St. Augustin, an archaeological site another six hours from Popayan in the middle of nowhere, as there was not much to do in Popayan.
The road there was the worst one I've been on so far- the "Highway to Hell"! Six hours of unpaved road up and down the mountains, jumping in the seat about 20 cm high every couple of seconds- our backs and heads hurt even the next day! But bravely we went on a four hour hike, looking at a good portion of the stone sculptures here in the area. It was a nice day and in the evening we enjoyed a great dinner at our swiss-run hostal with other german (or swiss-german) speaking people! Funny, I'm in the middle of nowhere in Columbia and everybody speaks german!
Well, after two nights here it is now time to return to Popayan, as we have no more clean clothes and also no more money! There I will meet up with Ingrid, the french girl from the rafting trip in Tena, and together we will continue on to Cali (after the "backpack-episode" I'm kind of sick of traveling in buses on my own...). Anne is leaving for Ecuador, so unfortunately I won't be able to continue traveling with her. Gotta go, bus is leaving for the "highway to hell"... fuck!!!

Quito, Baños and Tena

2009-05-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

Hola, chicos!
This is my last day in Ecuador and I want to use it to fill you in on the "latest activities"!
The last week was absolute action-week! It started with a tour of Quitos old-town, which is pretty nice; nothing special, though. Lots of old cathedrals and stuff!
The next day we took a trip to "Mitad del Mundo", where we actually walked on the equator line and performed highly scientific experiments like flushing the toilet on the northern and southern hemisphere :-) That evening I went dancing with our homestay family's daughter. We danced salsa all night (I tried!!) to live music with guys from Ecuador, Cuba and Columbia. Apparently I provoked a fight between to men who both wanted to dance with me, although I can't remember, since I underestimated the Ecuadorian drinks which are mixed half and half...
The next day we took a bus to "Mindo", where we were able to look at and even touch some huge butterflies. It was nice, but there wasn't much else to do, so it kind of wasn't worth the 4 hour trip (both ways)... after that I decided, I need excercise and decided to head for Baños the next day, while Andi and Alice wanted to soak in the hot springs of Papallacta and to buy cheap leather jackets near Otavalo.
Before getting on the bus to Baños, I tried to get my chinese visa- and failed! Apperently, the Chinese have changed their international immigration laws again and now it is only possible to get the visa in your home country... This means, I'll have to change my flight to go straight to India, which will cost me approximately 500 Dollars that I DON'T HAVE after Galapagos!! Haven't decided, what I will do yet, I'll keep you posted!!
Anyway, I arrived in Baños in the pouring rain but quickly found a great hostel, where it didn't take me long to meet an english guy and to swiss girls.
The next day, I went horseback riding up to a volcano, which sadly wasn't that great, since it was raining again and we weren't even able to SEE the volcano through all the clouds! But we had fun anyway...
On my second day in Baños we went for a hike to see some of the waterfalls, including one very big one, that you could actually climb behind! We got soaking wet and had a great time walking through the almost jungle-like forest! In the evening we went to a Swiss restaurant where I had a "Brotzeit"! Afterwards we drowned the upcoming homesickness with Caipirinha and Cuba Libre in a bar and played pool against the locals.
After two days it was time to leave Baños again, in order to meet Andi and Alice in Tena, which wasn't so bad, as it was still raining!
In Tena we booked a whitewater rafting trip (class IV rapids!) for the next day and went for a delicious fish dinner.
Unfortunately, Alice was sick the next morning (probably due to Malaria prophylaxis) and so Andi and I had to go on the rafting trip by ourselves. It was amazing!!! So far in South America, the tours had usually been less great than they promised to be, but this one was better!
First, we had to hike down into a canyon barefoot, since the mud went up to our knees, which was an adventure by itself. Then we went for a swim at a beautiful waterfall and Andi even jumped the 8 meters into the water! I didn't join him in that, since I had slipped and fallen on the wet rocks, which gave me a pretty bad bruise to my elbow and -worst of all- made me drop my underwater camera with the Galapagos pictures on it into the water, where of course it was immediately carried away by the strong current! The rafting afterwards was so great though, that I didn't even have a chance to think about my camera anymore!
It was 38 km on the most beautiful river I've ever seen- deep down in the canyon with jungle on all sides, not accessible by any other way than the water! The rapids were huge, and I fell into the water three times, which was kind of scary, since you don't really have a chance to breathe in the white water... but thanks to lifevests and helmets and the help of our great instructor, I (and everybody else that fell into the water) was fine. We had a delicious lunch at a lonely beach, where I got DEVOURED by sandflies- more than 100 bites on both legs!! After 5 hours, the journey was finished and so were we! We went for a huge steak-dinner and afterwards for drinks and dancing, and at 2:00 a.m. I slept like a stone!
The next day it was time to leave for our jungle-trip. Due to the massive amount of insect bites, I was barely able to move my legs, and my arms were sore from paddling, so it wasn't a lot of fun, carrying the backpack that day... I managed, though, and in the evening we arrived at beautiful "Liana-Lodge" in the middle of nowhere. After dinner, we went straight to bed (it was only 9 pm, but there was no electricity...) and fell asleep to the amazing jungle-insect-concert...
When we woke up the next morning, it was litteraly raining cats and dogs, but we were brave and went on our hike, anyway, where we learned lots of things about the use of medicinal plants. In the afternoon we tried ourselves (unsuccessfully) at washing gold and fishing and floated back to our lodge with tubes on the river.
Next day it was time for "the big hike" through the jungle, and luckily my legs were cooperating again! We visited an animal sanctuary for injured animals and saw lots of monkeys and other jungle animals. Coming back to the lodge, we were in for a surprise: Andi and Alice had read their flight plan wrong and found out, that their flight was leaving the next morning at 9 a.m.!
We packed our bags and ran to the busstation in less than half an hour, where we caught the last bus to Tena. There we had three hours time before the 10pm bus to Quito, which we used for a rediculously fancy good-bye-dinner. We got on our bus, but half an hour later we had to stop again, because the bus had broken down on one side! We soon figured out, that this was due to an old woman, who had loaded 2000kg (!) of oranges on it!! So we had to help unload the oranges (and the old woman, too!) and continued our journey to Quito with 2000kg less and a lot more slowly (we had fixed the bus only with a rope...). At 3:30 a.m. we finally got there and started packing. After only one and a half hours of sleep it was then "time to say goodbye"... Andi and Alice left for the airport and I spent the rest of the day sleeping!

So much for the exciting last week in Ecuador! Tomorrow I will be leavin for Columbia and hopefully more excitement- I'll keep you posted!!

Galapagos Islands

2009-05-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!!!
Where to start?! After debating with myself for quite a long time, I decided to join Andy and Alice on their trip to Galapagos, inspite of the 800 Dollars we had to pay for 6 days...
And I can tell you, it was worth it!!
We flew into St. Christobal and went straight to the beach, where a huge colony of sea lions lives, and we were actually able to go swimming with some of the younger animals!
The next day we went to snorkel on two different beaches, where we saw sea turtles, more sea lions, and loads of marine iguanas!
Day three took us to the "highlands" of the island, where we visited a turtle sanctuary, where turtles are brought up and released into the wild. Also we went to the only fresh water lagoon on the island and then finished the day, by taking another swim with sea lions (you can never get enough of that!)
The next day, we took a very early boat to St. Cruz, the most populated of the Galapagos Islands.
After checking into our hotel, we headed for Tortuga Bay, where we were able to swim in a salt water lagoon next to a very quiet and very beautiful beach with absolutely white sand. There we saw Pelicans, more marine iguanas and I was even able to spot a small ray.
Day five started with a visit to the famous Darwin Station, where the even more famous Lonesome George lives (the last turtle of his species), along with loads of other turtles and finally some land iguanas. In the afternoon we took a snorkeling tour, which didn`t turn out quite as well, as Alice and I both got sea sick! After we felt a little better (on land!) we were able to do a quick snorkel, though, and we saw some more turtles, fed some fishes and Andy even saw a shark!
On our last day on the islands we took a day tour to Isla Floreana, where we saw yet more turtles on land and finally took a last swim with sea lions, which we were hopefully able to capture on our under water cameras. The trip wasn't quite what the tour guide had promised, though, so we complained after coming bach to St. Cruz (very german of us!) and each got 20 dollars back, which we immediately spent on a last dinner and souvenirs.
The next day we got up very early again, in order to take a look at the lava tunnels before returning to the airport and catching our flight to Quito.
So that's where we are right now, staying with a very nice guest family, eating our guest mom's amazing food and trying to adapt to civilization again...
The next days will probaly take us on trips around the area, which I will report about on my next entry!
I hope, everybody at home is doing fine, I still miss you all very very much!!!!!

Besos, Sonja

The Beaches! Mancora, Peru and Puerto Lopez, Ecuador

2009-05-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

After 2 months of traveling, I finally made it to the beach!!
From Lima it was an 18 hour journey to Mancora, Peru, where I stayed at a pretty fucked up but cheap hostel, right at the beach! I spent my days lying in the sun (and actually getting sunburned!), sleeping, reading and just relaxing, and the nights drinking and partying with some Swiss, German, Belgian and Irish people. Also I met some people from Peru, Ecuador and Columbia at my hostal, which improved my Spanish alot!
After 4 days of doing nothing, I eventually got bored and headed up to Guayaquil, Ecuador on the 4th of May to meet up with Andy and Alice from my hometown in Germany.
The next day, we left Guayaquil (which is actually a shithole as well!) to go to the next beach, Puerto Lopez. There we spent 4 days at the most beautiful and amazing hostal I`ve been to so far on this trip (a little more expensive, though, too), I`ll try to upload some pictures soon!
It was another four days of chillin` at the beach, reading, and eating great seafood.
Since we didn`t really do anything, there isn`t much to tell, either, just that we had a great time doing nothing, and that I took a vacation from my vacation there, enjoying having my friends with me!

Cusco, Arequipa, Lima... and the incredible journey to Machu Picchu

2009-04-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

Hola from Lima!

First of all: people are right- the capital of Peru really is a shithole... at least at this time of year.- The whole city is covered in a cloud of mist. You can´t see a thing! After 8 weeks of traveling I have finally made it to the ocean and now this! Oh well, you can't in 'em all... I'll just leave the city again tomorrow and that's that. Just stopped here anyway, because it would have been too far to go all the way up north in one day.

Now to more exciting stories!

Things in Cusco got pretty crazy- I left of telling you, that I would meet up with the boys; that was the second day in Cusco. I went to the bar to meet them, when somebody screamed my name. And there were my girls from Salta, who I didn't even know were in Peru, let alone Cusco!! After that of course we got wasted worse than ever before- in Cusco you get one free drink, whenever you enter a club as a big group, so we ended up going to I think six different clubs, got totally drunk and didn't pay a single Sole!
Well, the next day was basically wound-licking and making big plans for going to Machu Picchu the next day. The train there and back costs over 140 US-Dollars, although it's just a two hour trip, so a total rip off for tourist! We decided, WE don't need the train...
We left at ten in the morning for St. Maria, a small pueblo in the middle of the Sacred Valley. The trip there already took us almost 6, instead of 4 hours... arriving in St. Maria we discovered, that the climate there was like in the jungle- hot and humid (mosquitoes!!). Good thing, I brought my big heavy backpack with sleepingbag and warm clothes...
Next, we had to hire a collectivo (taxi for many people together) to St. Theresa, as there was no bus. We arrived there another 2 hours later, at about 6:30 p.m. After each eating a family-sized pizza, we tried taking a taxi to "the powerplant", where the traintracks to Agua Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo) start. The problem was, that there had been a landslide on the road, and the taxi couldn't pass. By now it was dark and looked like rain, and the locals warned us about snakes and more landslides. Apart from those dangers, we only had two flashlights for five people, and the drop next to the path was pretty steep...
We started walking, anyway (we had rum and coca leaves- what could go wrong?!) and about half an hour later, we actually made it to the train tracks. That's when it started raining.
We found shelter next to an empty building along the tracks, but it kept on raining even harder. I walked around the corner of the building, as the wind was coming from infront and found a huge, dry tent!! What luck?!
So now we had a decent shelter and waited, until the rain had almost stopped. By now it was about 11:30 p.m., still dark, still two flashlights and now wet and slippery train tracks.
We continued our journey, pausing only for essential things (rum), balancing on the tacks over bridges that crossed rivers about 100 feet deep (did I mention, the tracks were wet and we only had two flashlights?!). Good thing we had rum, otherwise, we might have been scared.
After about another two hours of walking, we arrived safely in Agua Calientes. It was about 2 a.m. by know and we decided, that it was too late and wet to put up a tent. Since we didn't have anymore water, Will and I walked into town and bought very expensive water (and beer) at the only disco in town, which took us another hour. Coming back to the campground where the others were waiting we discovered, that they had made a new friend: A somewhat mad sheep which kept trying to rub it's head on us, no matter how many times we tried chasing it away! We tied it up, in order to have at least 10 minutes of peace, before it was time to start climbing up the over 1000 steps to Machu Picchu. Of course, we untied it again when we left. The liberated sheep came charging after Pim, knocking him staight off his feet! Laughing so hard, we could barely walk anymore, we continued our journey. We yelled at the sheep and tried chasing it away again, but it actually followed us ALL THE WAY up to the Inka-site!!! André said, it was to give me strenghth for the last part of the way (by now, Freddie was carrying my backpack), and he was probably right. We made it up to Machu Picchu at presisely 4:50 a.m. and were the first ones there that day!
At six we were admitted in and got straight in line for Waynapicchu, another mountain overlooking Machu Picchu, on which only 400 people a day are allowed to climb. Great. More stairs. But getting to the top (it must have been around 8 a.m. by now) it was worth it- the clouds passed and gave way to amazing views of the Inka-site (pictures soon on facebook!!).
Climbing back down was actually more stumbeling, as by then we were going on 26 hours without sleep (and we didn't have anymore water, either). We looked around Machu Picchu for about another hour, and left the site at about 11 a.m. BY BUS!!!
After a quick snack in Aguas Calientes we got on the train to Ollantaytambo (which is only 33 dollars compared to the 77 to Cusco), and from there we squeezed into a cab to Cusco, in which we slept all the way (even Will, who was sitting in the trunk!), much to the amazement of the driver.
Back in civilization we treated ourselves to a huge (and expensive!) dinner, showered and went to bed for a 14-hour sleep!
The next day was the last day in Cusco, which was spent reading, eating and relaxin in the sun!

Then our ways parted.- Will, Freddie and Pim went for a motorbike tour in the mountains, André headed for the coast for some sandboarding, and I left for Arequipa by myself, in order to trek the Colca Canyon.
Arriving in Arequipa was rather a dissapointment after beautiful Cusco, but it was ok.

I walked the canyon myself, without a guide (and even without a tourist ticket, thanks to my talents as an actress- "I must have forgotten it in my big backpack, but I did buy one, honestly!"), having received instructions from a hostal-owner in Cabanaconde. It was a three day, two night trek down the canyon, to the "oasis" and back up again, about 3500 feet (the deepest canyon in Peru, I think, even in South America.)
After the hike back up I decided, that I had done my share of trekking for this country, and that it´s time to head up north to a beach!!!

Well, and here I am in Lima, resting for one night after a 15 hour bus journey.
Tomorrow it will be another 18 hours on the bus (I´m getting an expensive, comfortable one, though!!), and then I will be in Mancora, a beautiful beach (according to the locals) near the Ecuadorian boarder!

I will keep you posted, but don't be disappointed, if you don't hear from me the next couple of days- I'll be soaking up some sun!!!

Love you, thank you for your emails and hasta luego!!!

Lago Titicaca

2009-04-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

Hello again, this time from Cusco, Peru!
I´ve spent the last week or so (loosing track of time here!) at Lago Titicaca, and it´s been very very beautiful!
I took a bus from La Paz to Copacabana, which is right by the lake, and spent the night there. The next morning, it was the Friday before easter (Karfreitag, I don´t know, what it´s called in English!), I climbed the sacred hill above the town with an incredible amount of local people- in fact, I was the only tourist! Up on top I lit a candle for my grandmother, who died 2 weeks ago, and watched the people saying their prayers and having little miniature objects blessed, because they hope to obtain whatever is blessed up there in the future. Then I took a boat to the Isla del Sol in the middle of the lake. A very beautiful, very quiet place, where apparently the Inkas built there first temples and worshipped the sun, before moving on to Peru. There I met Pim, a very nice guy from Holland, and after 2 days we discovered, that we have the same friends- he was waiting for Will and Freddy to return from the trance festival in La Paz and I was waiting for Andre, and we had all been staying in the same hostel there!! It really is a small world...
So Pim and I spent 3 days on the island, hiking, looking at the archeological sites and actually SWIMMING in the freezing cold lake!! On the fourth day we returned to Copacobana, as there was no internet on the island, and we expected the boys to be there by now. And sure enough, an hour after getting there we met them on the street! We spend an evening "celebrating our reunion" , just to split up again the next day. The boys wanted to see the island too, and Pim and I left Bolivia for Puno, Peru. There we looked at the "floatin islands" and finally had our laundry washed, and I had my first Alpaka steak, which was actually pretty good!
Then we took an ENDLESS bustrip to Cusco, where we arrived yesterday after midnight. Our hostel is an old farmhouse, way up on a hill overlooking the town.- Very nice, but a lot more expensive than Bolivia! We were starving, so we went out to eat and drink at a bar, which is why the day today didn´t start until 1pm! After breakfast we -again by chance- met Andre Will and Freddy out on the street! Now I´ve spend pretty much the whole afternoon in an internet cafe and am getting really annoyed!! I´m going off now to meet the boys and -probably- to have my first taste of guinea pig! Next up is Macchu Pichu, probably tomorrow or the day after that! It is still freezing cold in the night, but by now I´ve stocked up on alpacka sweaters, socks, hats, etc., so I´m alright! I´m afraid, I´ll have to stop uploading fotos on this blog, it takes for f**king ever!!! I´ve uploaded most of the pictures on facebook, which is much faster, so please take a look there (mom and dad, I´m sure, Juli will help you there!!).
Ok you all, I hope you´re still enjoying spring time and are all healthy and happy :-)
Love you, miss you and think of you whenever the breathtaking scenery gives me a chance!!!

Bolivia- Tupiza, Salar de Uyuni, La Paz

2009-04-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

Heya all...
So, right now I´m still in La Paz- a completely crazy city!! There seem to be no traffic rules, it´s incredibly crowded and CHEAP!! We´ve been living like kings here- going to the best restaurants in town, shopping like crazy (where the hell am I going to put all this stuff?!) and doing things like riding motorbikes through "Valle de la Luna"! I´ll never get used to prices in Germany again!!!
At the moment we´re a group of nine people- One English guy, five Israelis and Andre and me with one other German. It´s fun doing things together, but it´s also annoying, trying to organize times and places where everybody wants to go... Andre and some of the others will go to a trance festival close to La Paz this weekend, but I´m already so cold, that I said I don´t want to spend 3 nights in a tent!! So tomorrow I will probably be leaving for Lake Titicaca and stay there on the "Isla del Sol" until Andre arrives... I need some time for myself and to relax!! I hope it won´t be too crowded, though, because this weekend is easter weekend, which is a really really big thing here in S-America.
The trip through the Salar de Uyuni was amazing- we spend four days and three nights there. In the day we drove around in a jeep, looking at absolutely stunning scenery, with colourful rock formations, different coloured lakes with FLAMINGOES (yes, there are flamingoes in Bolivia!) and hot springs, and at night we got completely drunk and played card games with our fellow travelers, who were -fortunately enough- really cool people. I hope I can upload the pictures, I´ll try later!
Tupiza was very nice as well- it looks like an old western town, and the movie "Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid" was filmed there! When Andre and I met there last monday night, of course we had to celebrate the "reunion" with a couple of beers, which is probably the reason, why we didn´t feel very well the next day... we managed to go horseback riding though, which was really amazing, with a real "wild west feeling"! My horse was the fastest, but fucking crazy, so I wasn´t able to take a lot of pictures, because I kept dropping my camera... so that was Tuesday in Tupiza, and on Wednesday morning we already left for the Salar.
Well, that´s about all there is to report at the moment. I think I´ve finally gotten used to the altitude, but I´m still addicted to coca mate ;-) When I get back to Europe, I´m going to start a legalization campagne- we went to the coca museum yesterday, and the stuff is really amazing. Not only, that it works better than coffee, but it also cures the problems that come with high altitude and makes you more resistant to the cold, and it even has more vitamins than pretty much all other plants!! Ok, so much for my "ode to the coca leaves", I´m going to try uploading pictures now, and then I have to take some fotos of La Paz- it´s really a fucking amazing city!!

I hear, the weather in Germany is finally starting to feel like spring, I´m happy for you!! Greetings to Stuttgart, Berlin, and the sun over Germany... hasta luego!

Changing Plans...

2009-03-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

Hey Sweeties!
Just a short note to let you know that Chile has been canceled to make room for Bolivia... Border crossing is tomorrow, then I'm meeting Andre there and we'll go to the Salt Flats around Uyuni!!
Right now I'm in Salta, which is actually a really nice place, too bad I'm already leaving tomorrow... Met up with some of the El Bolson girls here and we have a cool hostel room together.
Mendoza was ok, but not my favorite, the wine tour was a lot of fun though! I'll give you detailed reports on Mendoza/Salta later, right now I have to pick up my laundry before leaving civilization ;-) Thanks for all the emails, I'll try answering them all, but time's really short at the moment...

Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing's gonna be alright...!!!

El Bolson II

2009-03-22T11:59:00.001-07:00

Hello again from El Bolson... now don't laugh, I'm leaving tomorrow!!! Already bought my bus ticket, just to be sure... I could really stay in this place for ever and ever and ever and ...

I've met even more amazing people here, three girls from Indiana, one from the Netherlands, three Irish boys, one "Kiwi", one Aussi and even 2 Germans from Munich! It was really weird talking german again, but we all speak english most of the time anyway. On the 17th we had a major celebration of St. Patricks day with the Irish guys and the US Girls that also have Irish ancestors. We actually found an Irish Pub here in El Bolson but Manuel, a boy from Buenos Aires, started showing us how to dance, and so we ended up dancing salsa in the Irish pub... the next day we just had really bad hangovers (actually I didn't- after 3 hours of sleep I started doing all my laundry and got on everybody's nerves with my good mood) and hung around all day. Thursday of course was feria day again, which basically means that we hang around there instead of here, drinking beer and talking, sitting in the sun... Heather, the Australian girl, made me my first dreadlock, so I wonder what I'll look like when I come back (sorry mom!)

On Friday we did an "all girls hike" and went to the "Cajon de Azul", a hike of about 20km through the most beautiful forest next to the Rio Azul with incredibly blue water. We were very proud of ourselves, since everybody had been telling us, that the hike is too hard and long to do in one day, but we were also very very tired! So the next day, yesterday, we went to the feria again and did nothing! It's so funny, everybody is just happy here all the time (by now we call ourselves "the happy hippy family")- we say "this is just too beautiful" about 50 times a day and just enjoy everything, even if its "just" sitting around in the sun or having dinner together. We cook together almost every night, usually for about 8-10 people, so I feel really at home (Gruesse an die Kommune in Berlin!!)

Well, today is finally my last, I'm thinking of going out for some ice cream, but then again I might just stay here and enjoy life :-)

I really really have to upload more pictures (it's all too beautiful!), but internet is really really slow... I'll try again in Mendoza, things should be faster there. Sorry to all of you who I've been wanting to call, there are no phone cards to be obtained here! They just don't exist! But that too will probably work in Mendoza, so I'll try again next week.

Despite how wonderful things are here, I still miss all of you and am thinking of you alot!!

Hugs and kisses from the happiest hippy ;-)

El Bolsón

2009-03-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

Peace, love and happiness.....
I think I've died and gone to heaven! This is the most amazing place with the most amazing people I've ever seen! I was welcomed with the words "just relax and give your soul some time to arrive...." in the evening we had an incredible dinner, cooked on open fire and spacecake for desert ;-) The place I'm staying at, the "Casa del Viajero" is more a commune than a hostel, run by the sweetest people. All the other people staying there are also incredibly friendly, and absolutely everybody here ist just RELAXED!! Most people come here, intending to stay for only a couple of days and thei'll end up staying for a month or longer- Augustin, the owner lets people help with the work around the place and lets them stay for free in return... I was actually thinking of doing that myself, but I'm afraid I don't have enough time... but if anything goes wrong on the trip or I decide to stay here, I'm definitely coming back here!! The scenery around El Bolsón is also beautiful, with mountains (that are actually snowcapped!), forests, rivers,... On weekends and twice a week there is a "feria" where artesans sell their crafts- there are so many beautiful things that I could easily spend all my money here! Only problem is, that it already gets really cold here, especially at night, and I don't have a lot of warm clothes with me, so I end up wearing the same clothes everyday, but who cares ;-)
Yesterday I got talked into climbing a mountain (1500m) which was a lot harder than I thought it would be... I'll try to upload some pictures but internet is pretty slow here. So today I'm really sore and just hanging around, but tomorrow some Irish guys at the hostel will go on another hike on which I'll probably join them and then in the evening we'll get incredibly pissed, since it's St. Patrick's Day!!
I also met a really sweet australian girl here, who's also traveling by herself and with whom I might continue my trip with, at least for some time. So to all of you who are (were) worried about my going alone- I'm in very good hands!!
I hope you are all doing good in Germany, I heard it's finally getting a bit warmer?
Hugs and kisses to all and thanks for the emails!!

LOTS of LOVE from El Bolsón, Hippie-Heaven

Sierra de la Ventana

2009-03-06T11:31:00.000-08:00

Hello again, dear friends!
After two days in Buenos Aires and very little sleep I got on the night bus to Sierra de la Ventana, a small town close to Bahia Blance, approximately 500km south of B.A. Here I´m visiting the daughter of my mothers best friend, whom I haven´t seen for about ten years. She moved to Argentina seven years ago and now has three adorable kids that take up most- no all- of our time right now (the youngest one is only 18 days old!). So again, no time to relax, but good practice for the future ;-) They live in a small house with a large garden, and many, many animals! My favorites are the sheep named Pandora and the huge dog named Paton... I am awakend everyday at around four by the rooster, and then again at seven by the kids... Everything is really small here, and time seems to move a little bit slower. A good place to calm oneself after stressful days of packing things, partying and traveling.
There´s not much to report now, since all I´ve been doing is playing with the kids, bathing them, bringing them to school, and then sleeping for two hours before they have to be picked up again. Only new experience was Mate Tea, which I´m probably going to be addicted to soon!
I´ll probably be staying here for another week or so and then moving on to the little "Hippie-Town" of El Bolson, close to Bariloche near the boarder of Chile.
All is well, I certainly think alot about all of you at home, but I´m glad to be here...
Let me know, how you are all doing, soon!

Hasta luego...

Buenos Aires

2009-03-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

My dears, I have arrived!!
Leider hab ich gerade kein Lust, Englisch zu schreiben, sorry for all that don´t speak german...
Es ist scheiss heiss und vor allem schwuel hier... man kann duschen und ist 2 min spaeter wieder nass! Der Flug war ok (hab fast die ganze Zeit geschlafen, da ich die letzten 2 Naechte vor der Abreise nur 3 Stunden geschlafen hatte), bis auf das schreiende Kind neben mir und das Plastik-Essen. Bin gegen Mitternacht in einem lustigen Hostel angekommen, dass eher wie ein Club oder eine Lounge wirkt, und erstmal ins Bett gefallen! Heute bin ich ganze 8 Stunden durch die Stadt gelaufen und hab ein Bisschen geshoppt- alles viel billiger hier! Jetzt hab ich neue Flip Flops, eine Sonnenbrille und natuerlich Argentinien-Aufnaeher :-) Morgen werde ich mir das "gefaehrliche" La Boca und "posh" St Telmo anschauen und mit meinen Bekanntschaften aus S.Afrika und Neu Seeland ein schickes Steak essen gehen, bevor ich abends in den Bus richtung Bahia Blanca steige. Am 4. komme ich dann morgens in Sierra de la Ventana an, wo ich Britta und ihre Familie besuchen werde (Patentochter von meiner Mutter).
Ihr seht, es ist eigentlich alles schick (Lieblingswort, sorry) und mir geht´s gut!! Hab keinen Jetlag und trinke europaeisches Bier- was will man mehr ;-)
Ich hoffe, euch geht´s auch gut und ihr friert nicht allzusehr in good old Germany :-P
Melde mich so bald es geht wieder, fuehlt euch bis dahin umarmt und gekuesst!!!

Preparations

2009-02-20T05:42:00.000-08:00

My dears...
In 9 days from now, on the 1st of March, I will be boarding a plane from Berlin to Buenos Aires, Argentinia! From there, the journey will continue through Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Central Amerika up to Mexico City, from where the next flight will take me to Beijing, China (unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a chineses visa yet, so I hope it will work out!). From there, the plan is to take the train to Lhasa (getting a Tibetan visa will be the next challenge) and to spend some time with Tibetan monks before continuing on the Friendship Highway to Kathmandu. After having explored Nepal, or at least the area around the capital, I will be continuing on to India, where my first stop will probably be Kolkata. From this huge city I will make my way down the eastern coast and around the southern tip of India by bus and train, passing places like Puducherry, Bangaluru, Mysore and Hampi, before ending up in Goa! Then it's a time- and budget-decision, whether I will take a plane from Mumbai to Bankok or home- if (as I hope) it's Bankok, I will probably finish my world trip with a three months tour through Kambodia, Vietnam and Laos, although I'm also considering the option of going down south and doing a "jungle-tour" through Malaysia, Indonesia and perhaps the Phillipines! All in all, I'm giving myself one years time, at the most. Of course, this route is preliminary and bound to change every two days, or so- but just to give you an idea...
This blog is intended, to keep the "loved ones" at home and -hopefully- some new frinds from "the road" informed about my whereabouts and adventures! I'm keeping it in english, since it's the language I think the majority of you will be able to understand.
Right now, the preparations are in their final throes and I'm really starting to get nervous!!
I've sold my car, took care of my pets (snakey has been sold and bunny is going to Marburg in May, where he will be spending the rest of his life as an "outdoor-rabbit"!) and found someone who will rent my room for the time I'm gone. I've got my US- and Indian-Visa (I'll try to get the Chinese one in Ecuador- will be alot of fun explaining to a Chinese guy in Spanish, that this German girl needs a visa!!), also a Visa-card, travellers checks, insurances and all the other formal shit and had a total of 7 vaccinations done in the last 4 weeks, which is making me feel like I have the flu, permanently. Also I've been trying to learn at least a little bit of Spanisch (una cerveca, por favor!), since English only probably won't get me through all of South America...
Now all there's left to do, is say goodbye to all my friends and family (which isn't easy, either, since they're spread all across the country!), to clear my room and to pack my backpack!
Like I said, my first stop will be Buenos Aires, and I'll try to update and start loading some pics there. I hope you will all enjoy reading about my trip, and that I will have good internet connections, so I can keep you informed regularly. For those of you who don't know, where to spend their holidays this year- I'll always be happy about visitors and fellow travellers!!
I'm really going to miss you all!!! See you next year...and take care!