Posing on top of a hill in San Juan del Sur

San Juan del Sur is a small coastal village on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. The village is located some 30 minutes north of the Costa Rican borders and it is a haven for surfers, tanners and partygoers. It was also me and Pilar’s first meeting with Nicaragua and what a great start it was. What first struck me with this new place and country was the tranquil atmosphere, the low prices and the many smiles around. It was almost as if I was back in India, only all the masses of Indians had been replaced by a few latinos. With beer costing a dollar, quality accommodation 7-10 dollars and a decent meal 7-15….had I found paradise?

Paradise it might seem for the Latin American backpacker – if you have traversed South America, you probably seen some great sights, indulged in exciting cultures and met great people – but most travelers also find South America more commercialized and pricier than before. Nicaragua it seems has just started to attract international crowds, when people told us a place was “touristic” I still found it more relaxing, untouched and genuine than most other places I have seen so far on my trip.

My first meeting with Nicaragua: San Juan del Sur

Crowded beach!

Locals cooling down in Lago de Nicaragua

On a small boat, "Karen Maria", to Isla de Ometepe

Pilar cooling down in "Ojo de Agua" - a place where crystal clear and cool water emerge from the ground

"Ojo de Agua" - a relaxing "Oasis" in the middle of the volcanos of Isla de Ometepe

Volcano Concepcion

Pilar biking on Isla de Ometepe

As we did our best to see most of Nicaragua in ten days, we covered a lot of grounds – took numerous buses, experienced everything from large cities to small rural villages, but most importantly we got to sense the national psyche of the Nicaraguan people. A national psyche shaped by  numerous years of hasty political changes, civil wars and revolutions. The United States has been one of the strongest driving forces behind the many years of violent fightings in Nicaragua. With socialistic groups forming to fight the former Somoza-regime/dictatorship, the US saw the country’s development and nearby location as a threat to themselves.

To battle the feared communism, the US supported for many years first the ruling Somoza family (Read about the horrible Somozas here, especially about “Anastasio Somoza García”) and later the “Contras”. The United States fueled the opposition with huge sums of money and arms to fight the socialistic “Sadinistas”. Supposively, the US used as much as 1 billion dollars to sponsor groups opposing the FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional. This long lasting power struggle has naturally also come at other costs – the country is currently heavily underdeveloped, relies mostly on export of agricultural products, cheap services and has still an undeserved reputation as a dangerous place to visit (it is actually the safest country in Central America).

An excellent book to read for information and stories about the revolution, politics and  power struggle in Nicaragua is Salman Rushdie’s “The Jaguar Smile”. 

Trying to be funny in a roadside mirror

Nicaragua also has waterfalls! Not as picturesque as Costa Rica's - but good enough!

Being silly doing an inside joke

Pilar and the Cathedral in Granada

Sunset in Pochomil

Hugo, Daniel and Fidel - the "evil" best buddies

Daniel Ortega is currently serving (again) as President and his ties with Russia, Iran and Venezuela worries many internationally. A great worry for many is his wish to build a canal through Nicaragua. This canal would compete with the Panama-canal and is currently supported by many large global trade nations (Iran, Russia, China, Venezuela).

As for the Nicaraguan people – they seem to be at peace, they do not all support Ortega and his policies. Perhaps they are tired of politics, civil wars and international intervention – it definitely seemed to me like most Nicaraguans had got a taste of the Costa Rican “Pura Vida” spirit. Most people are willing to talk and discuss politics, but at the same time they also want to move on, enjoy life and try to build the country through tourism.

Pilar and me on the roof of the revolutionary museum in Léon

A homeage to the revolutionaries of FSLN

"Japs" a soldier from the 1979-revolution showed us around in the revolutionary museum

Pilar caught me during a mango-frenzy!

Toña - La cerveza de Nicaragua

Playing with a puppy in Isla de Ometepe

Night time in Granada

Volcano Concepcion - I'm not complaining about the view...

Typical bus in Nicaragua - old retired US school buses

Pilar and me spent some hasty ten days traveling through the country. On our Nicaraguan-journey we explored so many unique places;

• San Juan del Sur – surfing town in the south, this is where the Nicaragua’s upper class go to party and chill in the summer weekends.
• Isla de Ometepe – an island consisting of two volcanos, situated in the Lago de Nicaragua, this island offers a relaxed break from the rest of the country
• Léon – the beautiful old colonial capital, historically important for its revolutionaries. 
• Matagalpa – a highland city which is the country’s major cacao and coffee growing center. 
• Managua – the current capital, situated on Lago de Managua it was defined capital as a mean to create a neutral power base between Granada and Léon. 
• Granada – the old colonial gem, historically an important port where goods such as coffee, gold and sugar were exported on boats to Europe through Lago de Nicaragua and the Rio San Juan. 
• Pochomil – a beach getaway closer to Managua and Léon, although less developed than San Juan del Sur, Pochomil is a popular place for Managuans. It sees much more domestic tourists and this is also noticeable in the quality of food and accommodation offered.

Sweaty and happy on the boat to Moyogalpa

Pilar hiking in the cloud forest of "Selva Negra" outside Matagalpa

Me diving into the cooling and crystal clear water of "Ojo de Agua"

Fixing a beaten toe - Hawaiianas can be dangerous!

One last dip into the Pacific Ocean - where and when will be the next time we meet?

Mitch has NOTHING on me

Nicaragua is a beautiful and geographically unique country. Travelling around the country you’ll see more volcanos in one day than you’ve probably seen so far in your life. Being a land of volcanos the ground is in many places very fertile, giving farmers the opportunity to grow several crops per year. As a Central American country Nicaragua offers a wide range of places to visit; beaches (both Pacific and Caribbean), jungle, rainforest, volcanos, rivers, lakes and deep mountain valleys.

Costa Rica might have better beaches, more gringos and it’s unique “Pura Vida” attitude – but if Nicaragua maintain its stabile political environment the future will probably see many more international visitors.

Yes, its way cheaper than Costa Rica, but don’t go there for the price level, go there for the unique experience of a volcanic gem, wrapped in beaches and lakes – experienced through nights of salsa rhythms and savored with the world’s best rum, Flor de Caña!

This is what I call "Pura Vida": Tossing the shorts, and running naked into the Pacific Ocean!

Parental meet-up and tico-couchsurfing breakfast!
I arrived in Costa Rica on March 31st, leaving Colombia – a good time and a good friend there, I was now heading to a new country and to meet with new fellow travelers. This time around I was so lucky to meet up with my own folks – who had traveled all the way from Stavanger to meet their son, see a new country and of course – enjoy the sun and the temperature. We met up in San Jose and our plan was to spend most of our time on the Pacific Coast, on the Nicoya Peninsula – home to beach towns such as Malpáis, Montezuma, Santa Teresa and Isla Tortuga.

And suddenly I'm on a beach on a tropical island with my parents - life is good

Before heading to the beach – we got an excellent start on our Costa Rican vacation by being invited home to the family of a Costa Rican couchsurfer that I hosted last summer. Pilar Solano visited me in July 2011 when she lived in Stockholm – she experienced Stavanger, Preikestolen and much more. As a first stop on our road to the Pacific Coast, the Solano family “hosted” us for a delicious traditional Costa Rican breakfast experience. This was a great experience, one day you host a “stranger” in your own town and less than a year later your families are eating breakfast together on the other side of the world! What a nice start in a new country! – Pura vida!

Pilar's brother Rodolfo, my father, Pilar's father Rodolfo and me

My mother, Pilar's mother Gabriela, Pilar, me and Pilar's sister - Sabrina

Montezuma - I think it was my fav. spot in CR

Malpais and Santa Teresa, also good - but more touristic and developed

Foamy tidal waves in Malpais!

Costa Gringo? 
Costa Rica is a great vacation spot and it will most likely stay like that for a loooong time. The country dropped its army in 1948 and decided to spend the money instead on health and education. As a result the country has a peaceful and welcoming vibe and the population is highly educated and naturally many works within the tourism industry. Due to its location and its geographical offering – the country has attracted many tourists from Canada and the United States. The tourist industry is hence developed towards the demands and norms typically associated with US travelers. This has pushed up prices and many places and areas are heavily developed.

This does not mean that there are no secluded beaches or cheaper places for backpackers – there are plenty of places for the true traveler seeking relaxed solitude and exotic nature experiences. The authority has created numerous national parks that in varying degrees protect attractive parts of the country. In addition, there are strict restrictions on new buildings and hence resorts, hotels, B&Bs etc are normally required to be located 100 metres from the sea, with minimal esthetic impact on the coastal line.

A crazy gringo jumping from 14-15m waterfall, I chickened out..

Hiking in Montezuma national park

Places visited in Costa Rica, Pacific Coast only: Montezuma, Malpáis, Santa Teresa, Manuel Antonio and Uvita.

For me the highlights were Montezuma and Uvita. Montezuma is a small (formerly?) hippie town with good and nearly untouched beaches, wide range of accommodation and high quality dining. From Montezuma you can hike on the beach, go on boat trips, find surf spots and enjoy both a good party and a good meal at night.  Uvita was a second favourite – mostly because tourism (at a high level) has not yet really reached that part of the coast. It is easy to find secluded beaches and even on crowded beaches you might just meet 5-10 other people.

My second part of my Costa Rican adventure was spent with Silvana, a friend from Buenos Aires. As my parents had to return to cold weather and office hours in Norway – I continued on my journey to explore more of this beautiful country. More specifically, we headed southwards to Manuel Antonio and Uvita.

Posing in front of a cave in Uvita - only visible at low tides

Silvana leading the way to a beach only accessible at low tides

Costa Rica is full of waterfalls - always a good place to cool down after a warm day at the beach

The night view from Finca Bavaria in Uvita

Hiking to new waterfalls

Did I say Costa Rica has great beaches?

Another day - another waterfall

Silvana avoiding dangerous snakes in the rainforest

Like I said, waterfalls - excellent places to cool down after a hard day at the beach

At Volcano Poas, enjoying a normally cloud-covered sight of the crater principal

The wilderness
As Costa Rica is a tropic country, located between two oceans and with varying elevation – it offers the opportunity to observe many different animals within a short stay. From seeing whales, turtles and dolphins in the sea, one can observe monkeys, crabs, birds and numerous species of reptiles on land. 

"Coco" the cocodrilo in Manuel Antonio

Typical Costa Rican crab

The sea "boiling" with yellow-fin tunas

Parrots

Monkeys in Montezuma national park

The beginning of an end
As I am writing this, I have reached the Pacific coast of Nicaragua – I am travelling this beautiful country with Pilar from San Jose.  Life is good, the beaches are lovely and the beer is cheaper than ever on my trip.

But also – for every day that pass I am one day closer to the end of my trip. In less than a week I shall leave Central America. A new part of 2012 will start, and I am looking forward to that. Life is good, even though future beaches might be windy, rainy – and the beer is sold for 10 dollars… Pura Vida!

The things you do with you parents after 2 or 4 caipirinhas...

Stunning!

From vallenato to Sierra Nevada
It’s been a little more than a week since I completed (so far) the hike of my life; the trek to Colombia’s “Lost City”. My friend Joachim from Stavanger was “in the area” (read: Brazil & Argentina) on a business trip and decided to drop by to join me for the hike. What a great trip we had! The hike is normally done in 5 or 6 days, but we signed up for the tougher 4-day version. In the course of the four days you cover 45-50km of walking in varying terrain and at constantly changing altitudes. The trip takes you across rivers, on mountain ridges, green valleys, narrow jungle paths and through local and indigenous communities.

Our trip:
Day 1: Hiking started 1pm, we reached first camp 3/4 pm.
Day 2: Up at 4:30 am, started hiking 5:30 am, reached second camp at 2pm
Day 3: Up at 5:30, hiked for 1 hour to the site – explored the place, hiked to third camp which we reached 4pm.
Day 4: Up at 5:30, hiked back to start, reached beginning of trail 1pm.

The trail was very well marked and it was not necessary to walk with a guide.

A well deserved sweat!
The trek was to what is referred to as the “Lost City”, or “Ciudad Perdida” in Spanish. Ciudad Perdida is the remains of an indigenous settlement in the Colombian Sierra Nevada – the remains of the “Lost City” was first discovered in the mid 70s and it has since then gradually gained popularity among anthropologists, archaeologist, trekkers and travelers. The site itself is located at an altitude of some 1200 meters above the sea level and about 30-40 km into the Sierra Nevada from the coast. The city was inhabited by the local “Tayroni” people around the year 800-900 AD, which means that the city and the society was founded some 600 years before the Inca community of Machu Picchu.

First day, first camp

First day, first camp - we hit the natural swimming pool

Tom doing a dive into the natural pool

The “Tayroni” people lived in communities “leveled” up like stairs along the steep hills of the green mountains. Here they were protected by the jungle, the altitude and most days – also hidden by clouds covering the hills. The community thrived and existed until when the Spanish conquests started arriving to the continent. To prevent that the city was found and the society ruined – the indigenous “Tayronis” split up and established smaller communities around the valleys of the Sierra Nevada. Ever since they left the “Lost City” – the tribes of the Sierra Nevada have had a connection to this ancient and magic place. Many tribes still live in the Sierra Nevada.

The hike to the “Lost City” is made possible by a special agreement between tour operators and the local tribes. Members of the indigenous community work with the tour guides and provide camping grounds, cultural information and places to cook.  For this the community receives help to build better houses, schools and to make improvements to their agricultural life. Even though the indigenous children attends school and speak Spanish – the communities are very well alive and live their lives with the genuine traditions and style of their forefathers.

Dusk in the Sierra Nevada (can you spot me?)

Break where a creek meets the forests and we meet the shade!

Indigenous boy, Vincente, shows off his rock-throwing skills

Second day: break at noon, temperature 30-35, humidity 80-90% ...no wind!

Joachim doing his anaconda-imitation

Climbing the 1300-1400 years old 1200 stairs to Ciudad Perdida

At last! Ciudad Perdida, or at least it's remains

Magic place, and best of all - "no" tourists, no kiosks, no touts, no buses etc!

Magic place, and best of all - "no" tourists, no kiosks, no touts, no buses etc!

Me and the guide, Diego

Joachim, me and the top level of Ciudad Perdida

Colombian Army: there to protect tourists from being kidnapped, and the city from treasure-hunters/robbers

Me crossing the river - carrying our trail dog!

Joachim and Tom on their way back to present day society

On one occasion I forgot a piece of soap in my right shoe

Indigenous village

Majestic views

Done in 4 days! A beer well deserved!

A South American highlight
The hike to the “Lost City” is definitely one of my highlights from South America. The historical site itself might not be of the same size and as impressive as other settlements on the American continent – but the trip itself is a truly rewarding experience. Not only is it demanding and “forces” you to traverse nature, climate and areas that are different to home, but you also get a insight into how “today’s” indigenous people live, how they are connected to the region you pass through and their connection to the site you are visiting.

There are no buses, no trains, no touts pushing souvenirs at the “Lost City”. It is not an easy place to reach, and hopefully and most likely it will stay like that for a long time into the future. As long as concessions are kept between operators that work with the indigenous population – hikers will be guided through the region at the comfort of the indigenous and profits from operators will also benefit the local community. It might not be a perfect and sustainable setup forever, but it is by far the most harmonic and unique approach I have seen in South America.

Cacao and coca
As you hike to the “Lost City” the trail goes through an area of the Sierra Nevada formerly plagued by guerrilla groups. When people first started to hike to the “Lost City” – it was normal to pay a small fee to the local paramilitary groups. This was for them to stay off and not kidnap tourists. The last time anyone was kidnapped doing the “Lost City” hike was in 2003 when a group of tourists were kidnapped and held for 101 days. Now the site is protected by the Colombian army – soldiers are on duty at all hours to protect tourists and to protect the site from treasure hunters.

Many of the green hills in the Sierra Nevada have served the purpose of coca-growing fields and some people are still confident that coca is grown in the region. Most farmers however have shifted to cacao, banana, livestock or coffee production – most have shifted due to more favorable initiatives and support programs launched by the government in the past ten years.

Click here to read about “Ciudad Perdida” at Wikipedia

If you decide to travel – choose South America

If you go to South America – choose Colombia

If you go to Colombia – do the hike to “Ciudad Perdida”

Sunset outside Cienfuegos

I had not engaged myself in a heavy study of the Cuban society, it’s revolution or it’s changing history – but as I was planning my trip for 2011-2012, one of my friends suggested we could meet in Cuba, as it was one of his wanted destinations. Situated in the Caribbean, with beaches, good rum and a unique tradition for tobacco – I thought this was a splendid idea. So did Erlend, another friend of ours, and then we were three – just like the main icons of the Cuban revolution.

I realized that as I was travelling with two friends who were having a brief vacation from work, I would not be able to travel with the freedom and style I preferred. In addition we also only had about 9 days to explore the island. All in all it would be difficult to fully grasp Cuba, it’s people and to get under it’s skin.

Before going, I had watched some movies about the revolution, documentaries aboutCuba and read a few books. All the material had built up a picture of Cuba in my mind. I was curious to find out how Cuba was now – in 2012. With the Castros being old – would it be very different? Newspapers often reported about minor market reforms – changes that allowed more freedom among Cubans. Maybe my picture of this island was outdated? And maybe like the rest of the world – Cuba (at least Cuban population) is also changing bit by bit due to the internet, cheaper technology and a more global society?

Before heading to Cuba I lowered my expectancy to my own travel and focused on enjoying a good time with good friends – on a beautiful island. Easy!

La Habana, beautiful up close - beautiful from a distance

Ché and me

La Floridita - a forever popular place after Hemningway's visit

Øyvind co-driving a Plymouth from 1949

Cayo Levisia - amazing beach

Øyvind - not complaining about onshore....

Bahía de Cochinos - where are the pigs?

My travel companions; Erlend and Øyvind

Trying to look like Vegard

We rented a car in Cuba – it is by far the most convenient and easiest way of getting around if you want to be free from tour guides and tickets. Our drive took us first to Pinar del Rio and Viñales – a classic stop for all tourists interested in the famous Cuban tobacco industry. From hereon we made our way to the north coast and explored the beautiful beaches of Cayo Levisia, a small island off the coast (reachable in 45 minutes by boat).

Before heading back to Habana we wanted to visit Cienfuegos, a city located on the south coast – not too far from the famous Bahía de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs). As we were driving towards the region of Cienfuegos we picked up a local guy that was stranded with friends. Their car had broken down and we helped him to get to his house so that he could arrange help for his friends.

As it happened – our newly acquired friend, Miguel, worked on a tobacco plantation. As a thank you to our gesture of helping him, he offered us a free and high quality tour of the plantation he worked on. This was just what we were looking for – some coincidences are made to happen!

Drying tobacco leaves

Viñales valley

At the tobacco plantation with our friendly hosts/guides

Øyvind getting his smokes on

Touring a tabaco plantation

I'm so cool

Cuba was a good experience – it is an amazing island with beautiful nature and perfect climate. But the most important thing is the people – and yes we did almost only wander in the classic tourist zones – but at least from what we experiences, people were happy – extremely sociable and helpful. Maybe it is the tourism, maybe it is the foreign currency brought in – but then again I did not feel that I saw dollars in the eyes of the Cubans. I saw more pride about their culture – and a wish for them to have us tell others how nice it was.

Surely there will be changes in Cuba in the future. The ruling old generation will fade away and the new younger ones – with less first-hand relations to the old times will take over with interests and experience that are far more international, open and modern. I know Cuba was a lot different 10, 15 and 20 years ago – but at least I made it there while the Castros are in power.

Days after we left Cuba – Pope Benedict visited Habana. One of the things he put emphasis on was to criticize the US-Cuban embargo – to me it seems like the most sensisble ever said by a Pope!

All pictures: Øyvind and Erlend

Two friends meet again in South America

Dodgy taxis
As the airplane landed in Bogotá the woman next to me handed me a newspaper, pointed at an article and told me; “never ever catch a street taxi in Bogotá”. She was referring to a criminal trend in Bogotá where taxi drivers work with robbers in driving victims into their hands. Guns and knives have often been used to rob and threaten locals and tourists. I was put off a bit, slightly worried about what I could expect for the coming weeks. I however thanked the lady for her concern, what a first meeting with a Colombian in Colombia!

Ever since I started my journey – all travelers I had met who have passed through Colombia have spoken warmly about the country and it’s people. I was especially recommended to check out the city of Medellín (“the city of eternal spring”) and the Caribbean coast. Coming (at last!) to Colombia for the first time I was afraid all the fuss and recommendations had put my expectations to high. Upon hearing about my trip to Colombia, younger and less-experienced travelers usually responded with comments about safety and drugs.

I was heading to Cartagena to meet up with my friend Andreas. He had come to Colombia for about a month to paraglide in the region around Medellín. As his paragliding group from Norway returned home, he headed to the coast to meet up with me. We had no plan – often that it is the best plan.

Cartagena is a very beautiful city!
Cartagena de Indias is situated on the Caribbean coast and is split into two parts – the old “centro historico” with colonial buildings, narrow streets and surrounded by the old city wall – and the new part, a beach front area with buildings and modern infrastructure much like Florida, Dubai etc… Needless to say, this city is an important site in the history of Spanish colonialism. The Spaniards built their largest and most impressive fort here (it was never taken over). The old city is declared a UNESCO World heritage site.

Beautiful old buildings in Cartagena

On the "new" beach in Cartagena

Fortress of San Felipe

Despite it’s architectural charm and it’s comfortable weather, Cartagena is heavily invaded by prostitutes and drug dealers. There is almost no dedicated zone for this and so as a young solo traveler – “good times” and “coca” is very proactively offered at many corners and sites of the city. This naturally ruins the charm of the city, but is by all means not “pushy” and does not make a hostile environment for tourists. In fact some 2,000 police men have been allocated to patrol the old part of Cartagena by night. It is almost impossible to walk in a street and not be able to spot a police car, motorcycle, van or officer. The government of Colombia has so far impressed with me their dedication to build a tourism industry. Except for heavy policing, the government has initated programs that help coca farmers to convert their crops to alternative sustainable farming. The past ten years have also seen a more brutal treatment of criminal gangs and the once so powerful guerrilla groups.

Hey, let's go to that place...what did you call it? Taget? Tanga? Taganga!

Running along the Caribbean coast

View towards Santa Marta

Beer at sunset, it takes a lot to beat this

A future tourist gem
From a statistical point of view – it almost seems like Venezuela and Colombia has switched places during the past 10-15 years. The Venezuelan economy suffers heavily, tourists are a rare sight and even Venezuelans head to Colombia for a better and safer life. Colombia on the other hand is experiencing a steady rise in tourism,  boasts a rather stabile economy and I would not be surprised if the country is soon to be found on rankings of “where to go” etc..

Sunset beer with Daira from Santa Marta

In a desert near Cabo de la Vela

After having visited almost all countries in South America I can honestly say that Colombia is simply amazing. The country has so much to offer and is extremely rich in culture, people and geography. Despite it’s small(er) size (compared to Brasil or Argentina) – Colombia offers two coasts, deserts, mountains, river deltas, amazon forests, caribbean islands, green highlands, large and modern cities and many old sites inhabited (before and now) by indigenous people.

What really makes Colombia an amazing destination is it’s people and how you as a foreigner is openly appreciated. In contrast to other places in South America – Colombians greet you with their arms open. Smiles are cheap and most people are interested in small talks. It is very obvious that they appreciate travelers – it is almost like they are saying “we are so happy you dare to come to our beautiful country” – and then they go on talking about how they want to do their best so that you have an amazing time. The openness and friendliness of the people of Colombia can somewhat be compared to that of the people in India. A smile is cheap – but what a difference it makes for a solo traveler venturing into a “dangerous” country.

Hunting high and low
Andreas and me met for the first time in Brazil as we were both visiting a common friend in Fortaleza. We had a good time in Brazil and many days were spent on the beach enjoying cold coco verde (coconuts). Meeting again in South America, we hunted high and low along the caribbean coast in order to find the perfect coco verde (called coco frio/agua de coco in Colombia). Our hunt turned into an expedition and before we knew it we were ploughing the coast, searching through small fishing villages, running up the coastal hills of the Sierra Nevada and at last searching through the odd land of the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

Jumpin' jack flash

Too cool for school

Heide flying high

Can you spot Andreas?

The “expedition” took us to Punto Gallinas – the northernmost point in South America. Punto Gallinas is an indigenous settlement on the tip of the state of La Guajira. It is situated far North in Colombia and is only minutes away from Venezuela. To reach this remote and tranquil place we caught an eight hour bus ride up the coast, followed by a three hour drive in a 4×4 vehicle and a two hour rocky boat trip to the tip of the country. The first leg of the trip was in a small bus. At first Andreas thought it was a part of the arranged tour – no wonder our co-passengers reacted strange and showed weird faces when he set out to shake hands and great his co-passengers. It was rather ridiculous and the scene made for a good joke for the rest of the trip. “Hey, I’m Andreas – welcome to this bus journey!”. All in all it was a long journey for a few days and a coco nut – but trust me, it was definitely worth it.

At the norternmost point of South America

A desert that empties into/start at the Caribbean

Running!

Rollin' and tumblin'

Sunset at the desert

We had reached lobster and siesta heaven. For three days we lived in a small “hospedaje” run by a local indigenous family (Wayuu people). We slept outside in hammocks to the sound of the wind and waves of the Caribbean. The food was excellent with local fish and lobsters as the specialities. Day time activity included running around the half-island, fishing with local fisherman, checking out the marine life along the beach, taking funny photos in a desert that empties into the sea – and of course, enjoying the sunset on the nortnernmost point of South America. The “hospedaje” and its surroundings were crowded with animals; chickens, dogs, parrots and donkeys. Never ever have I been a place where different animals and humans lived so peacefully together – all free with no cages or fences. One particular funny looking dog seemed to get a good liking of us and followed us on trips and slept under our hammocks. It was a white poodle that probably was the result of a weird mix of breeds – it was extraordinarily long and looked very funny!

With a Wayuu family

Fishing with local fishermen

Me taking control of the engine (eyes closed as I got stung by jellyfish!)

Catch of the day (10 fish with 1 kilometre of net!)

Andreas and his new friend, Lorenzo the parrot

Tanking cheap Venezuelan smuggler gas next to the police...

Colombians with knives - Reminder: Always be alert!
As our common journey came to an end we returned to the small fishing village of Taganga. Here Andreas would stick around for a few days before hiking to the ancient “Lost City” in the Sierra Nevada. I was going to do the hike myself with Joachim later – but as we parted ways I headed to Medellín. Before Cuba I was keen on experiencing a large inland city in Colombia.

In the last night in Taganga we headed to a small disco to a last drink and to sum up our short but fun adventure. The place was filled with both locals and travelers and we quickly befriended two girls from Buenos Aires. After a while me and one of the girls decided to leave the disco for some fresh air and a more talk-friendly environment. We went to the beach boulevard of Taganga in a place around two blocks from the disco. After about 10 minutes I noticed two boys (aged 15-18 years) walking around the nearby boats, looking at engines and the ropes. I thought to myself that they were probably locals checking up on their boats.

Before I knew it they both approached us from two different angels. The one that came towards me asked me what time it was. I lifted my wrists slightly and told him I did not know – as I did not carry a watch. Within a second or two the other guy (that came up behind me) grabbed my arm and pulled out something that looked like a home-made knife. At first I was shocked and put out, but within a split-second I realized that this was not a game and shouted to the girl: “run to your hostel”. She grabbed her bag and ran – at the same time I managed to kick the guy of out balance followed by a hit to his head. As I did this he was frantically trying to hit me with his “knife” – I was quickly freed and ran (faster than I have ever run before) away. Since the girl was already running I ran in another direction (towards the police station, three blocks away). As we had chosen two different routes – the boys realized it was no use in chasing us.

I met the girl at the police station, and together with the police officers (who were really helpful) we escorted her to her hostel. After that I had to help the police searching the town for an hour. The officers followed me through the streets of the city with their guns out – either. Seeing as nothing got stolen and no one got seriously hurt – the officers decided in the end to close the case and follow me back to my hostel.

Colombia is a great place, with lovable people – the experience I had that night shows how easy it is to get naive and comfortable just because the majority of the country and the population behaves and treats you so well. I was really lucky and was left with nothing but a ruined shirt and a slight scar in my hand (not really even a wound). I still think Colombia is a rather safe place to travel – I am just a lot more convinced that no-matter-what stay close to friends, be skeptical and keep a good eye on your surroundings. These dangers will always be around – and the more you travel, the higher the probability that something like this can happening.

Two happy guys! - At last, we found the perfect coco verde!

No this is not windscreen washer fluid - it is Laguna Schmoll in Patagonia

Now the city do offer some large parks and a “reserva” in which you can get slightly away from the urban buzz – but needless to say these are just tiny green lungs. A simply walk in the park for a Norwegian mountain goat. But the porteños are happy with what they have – because if you really want to explore the wild nature and vast areas of mountains, plains and jungle or forest – then basically head to anywhere outside this big city.

El Tigre
The nearest exotic option is a large river delta called “Tigre” – this delta comes from the Parana river and empties into the River Plate. In fact it is the largest delta that empties into another river. I was lucky to be invited to a family house in Tigre – Silvana a porteña I befriended at an asado (barbecue party) in Palermo invited me to stay at her father’s place in the middle of the river delta.  I stocked up on anti-mosquito gear and headed there with her to check out what has been for many year’s a day/weekend getaway for the people of Buenos Aires. In 2007 I also visited Tigre, but then only briefly a few hours and the boat trip we took only showed us the outer part of the delta. The place was not an average jungle lodge – this was more of a hidden jungle boutique hotel. Large rooms, amenities, pool, parilla and guard dogs…I suddenly felt like an important person – hiding away from the authorities in the deep greens of the Amazon forest. Thanks for taking me Silvana!

Life is hard! Enjoying a beer in the pool in Silvana's father's summer house.

Silvana picking sweet oranges in the Tigre Delta

In the middle of the jungle, river and away from the chaos and heat in BA

Taking the dogs for a walk in the jungle. It's called "Tigre" because waaaay back there were jaguars and other cats here.

Silvana floating in the pool

Jungle cooking with "primitive" equipment

Bariloche/Patagonia
I spent my last days in Buenos Aires being a self-proclaimed guide for my friend Vegard. He arrived in the beginning of February and was staying in Argentina for two weeks. As we were making our plans for seeing other parts of the country I realized my need to explore more of the nature opportunities offered by this large country (Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world). In seeking back to the nature and coming back to the nature (life) –  we headed to Patagonia and the Andean lake city of Bariloche.

Bariloche even has it's own Lombard Street

Melisa showing Vegard the region of Bariloche on Google Maps

Beer, music and good times with the Lachica sisters and Javier (Me, Claudia, Melisa, Javier, Paula and Vegard)

We headed to Bariloche not only because of it’s beautiful lakeside location and it’s nearby mountains – but also because when I went to Mendoza I met two barilocheneses that invited me to come and stay and be guided around. What an offer! Knowing that the best experiences comes when you befriend people and they show you their places – this was an easy choice. Upon arrival in Bariloche we were lodged in the apartment/office of the Lachica family. Here they did some of their business and they also had a few bedrooms they used for late-nights or visitors. Coming through the door – the family was already waiting for us with pizza and a welcoming spirit!

Out celebrating my birthday in Bariloche

Homer and I

At the start of the hike to "Refugio Frey"

Crossing a creek en route to Cerro Catedral - Vegard, Claudia and Alejandro

Los Vikingos

Cerro Catedral

Hiking up to Laguna Schmoll

The next week we spent in Bariloche – exploring the city, it’s nightlife, nearby sights, a few lakes and a few peaks. The city is young and is driven by tourist seasons both during winter months (june-september) and summer months (december – march). In the winter time Bariloche and the skiing resort of Cerro Catedral transforms into the most popular skiing place in South America. Flocks of Brazilians head here every winter to try to samba their way down the snowy slopes (must be a funny sight!).

Cerro Catedral

Cerro Catedral

Vegard occupying Cerro Catedral!

Having maté in "Refugio Frey"

Me, Vegard, Claudia and Alejandro - on our way up Cerro Catedral

Claudia and me outside "Refugio Frey"

On behalf of Vegard and me I want to express our great appreciation for the hospitality shown by the Lachica family! Great food, great place, great guiding and thanks for letting us be a part of both your family and your family business for that week. See you in Norway! ;)

Dueling!

Maté at Playa Morena

Having a break at Lake Gutierrez

Kayak-dueling with the British doctors!

Can you spot the Condor?

Can you spot me?

The Lachica family runs a seed business. They grow, sell and distribute seeds for plants, trees and flowers. Doing this they naturally know A LOT about all the beautiful plants and flowers in the nature of Patagonia. Claudia is an excellent guide – like me feeding friends with strange and at times fun facts, she’ll feed you interesting knowledge about plants from all over the world. In Patagonia there is a plant called El Calafate - if you eat the berries, you’ll for sure return to Patagonia. Of course I tried the berries!

Leaving Bariloche we caught a bus Northwards to Mendoza and the major wine region of Argentina. Warmer weather, wines and late night clubbing left no photos on the camera. Was it the 3 litre jug of fernet and cola we ordered or was it the amazing indie-rock set played by the DJ that Friday night? Whatever it was it was fun. Let’s just say that we left both Mendoza and Argentina on high note.

Next up; Coco (Loco) Verde Adventure – (Part 2: Colombia)

Beautiful Buenos Aires

During my time I made new friends through my host, Carmen, and events hosted/arranged by websites such as Couchsurfing and Asmallworld. Buenos Aires is a very lively and international city with events and meetings taking place everyday at all kinds of venues. Most internationals are here for a shorter period to work or study – and the locals who attend are normally well-travelled Argentinians who spent time abroad.

Buenos Aires - old good looking buildings and green trees

San Telmo - always lively and colorful on Sundays

San Telmo - always lively and colorful on Sundays

So what have I been doing these past months? The answer is – not too much! I had Spanish class 3 times a week with an excellent teacher that lived just a 15 minute walk from where I stayed. My classes were one on one and focused mostly on conversations, building wide range of useful sentences and getting to know the particular dialect in Argentina. Outside class I have been trying to practice as much as I can with locals or other Spanish-speakers. I probably could have taken more classes and focused more on studying on a technical level, but with open days and a big city to explore I felt my approach was sufficient. Hopefully I will get to practice more as I head North next week to Colombia and the northern parts of Latin America.

Me at "Punta la mujer"

A cool building in La Boca

Vegard and me - enjoying bife de lomo at Desnivel!

In the beginning of my stay I was slightly frustrated as I could not run and work out as much as I wanted to. Palermo, the part of BA in which I was staying, is flat, big and has hard concrete or asphalt surface. It is definitely not runner-friendly. Across the city there are large parks that people flock to on weekends, but these are also concrete hell and only provide a few flat trails. Luckily one day in early January I ran past s newly opened gym two blocks from Carmen’s flat. It was a new CrossFit center and I immediately signed up for one month. The next weeks I attend the gym almost every day making new friends, practicing “gym-talk” Spanish and learning new techniques for working out on the go as a traveller. Check out a video I made from one of our work out sessions here. CrossFit is quite new in South America and just after the gym opened I was invited to come and work out one day when AmericaTV was going to make a report on this new gym. The clip can be seen here, I’m the guy in the blue shirt…climbing down from the roof looking like an out of shape blue monkey!

CrossFit session (I'm in blue)

Me after a session at Crossfit Tuluka

Even Michelangelo enjoyed maté

My excellent Spanish teacher, Judith, and me

Samuel showing me how to cook Colombian food - yummi!

After staying in Buenos Aires for about two months, meeting strangers, making new friends and observing the population – I have made my thoughts about the porteños. However, instead of writing about this I would like to refer to the blog of a friend that I made during my first week in Buenos Aires. Mike is a journalist from New York that is travelling the world for three years. In my opinion he has written to very good descriptions of Buenos Aires, about it’s people (“Buenos Aires: why the long face?) and it’s buildings and cultural life (“Buenos Aires: A city of contradictions”). Check it out!

When life get's tough, I'll think back to when I took this picture.

My Colombian friend Samuel showing how they dance in Bogota

My favourite place for a bife - Desnivel in San Telmo

Buenos Aires is an amazing city. It is huge and its surrounding province is even larger. Up to 90% of the country’s population lives within the greater Buenos Aires area – this surely leaves its mark on the city. Combined with the nocturnal life-style of the porteños and the almost attitude that every day is a Saturday (any day is good for a party!) the city is a haven for international travelers that come to experience the nightlife, the cuisine and the culture of Argentina. Sadly though prices have risen a lot the last years and it is not the fantastic bargain city that it used to be. Quality and the diversity is however present and there are almost an infinite number of bars, restaurants, museums, galleries and events. One thing is for sure – you’ll never be bored or alone in BA.

As I’m wrapping up my stay in Argentina I feel that Buenos Aires is no longer that unfinished book taking up space bedside. I love Buenos Aires but for now it’s a finished story and should I ever return it would be to visit the friends I made during my stay.

Carmen and me posing with a card my mother sent us

Carmen – thank you so much for you hospitality! You made my stay in Argentina and in your city such a smooth and good experience. You are  always welcome to Norway, mi casa es su casa – and it will have maté and cabernet waiting for you!

Chao Buenos Aires!

Samuel and me - enjoying a beer in Plaza Armenia

The video is meant as quick tour of the city – it starts in the Palermo neighborhood (where I am staying), continues through Recoleta, then into the Microcentro (“Downtown”), after Microcentro we check out the “Reserva Ecologica” and finally the modern and maritime area of “Puerto Madero”.

Enjoy our brief video here: Buenos Aires en bici

Chilean side - just outside Santiago

Going back to Argentina I had the obvious option of flying. But why waste two hours to/from airports, queuing and waiting for security checks when you can hop on a bus and enjoy probably one of the most amazing cross-border bustrips in the world? As I entered the bus in Santiago – I knew exactly what I was embarking on, I had done the same trip in 2007. Boring you say? Perhaps, but I love overland transportation and the 7-8 hour drive from Santiago to Mendoza is by far the most beautiful trip I’ve taken.

Chilean side - the curviest climb of the trip. Not at all scary - simply stunning!

The trip will not expose you to much of Chile or Argentina’s population or cultural highlights. Apart from the odd house and farm every now and then – there is in fact very little of human evidence along the route. Catching this bus – it’s all about the landscape, mountains, colors and steep roads. The journey naturally follows the terrain/altitude profile of the continent. This means that the Chilean side is a lot more steeper than the Argentinian side which slowly descends in such a gentle and subtle manner that you hardly notice. Before reaching the peak (approximately 4000m above sea level)  on the Chilean side the bus passes a few skiing resorts which during summer time seem really out of place. These places are medium-sized and are popular getaways for skiing enthusiasts in Santiago. During winters snow depth are normally recorded within 2-3 meteres.

Wow... what a view! The peak in the back is about 5,500m above sea level

Once the peak is passed, the bus descends into a more open terrain where before you reach a small skiing village, pass through the Chile/Argentinian border. At the border crossing there are a couple of kiosks, decent toilets and a building providing shade to waiting travelers.  The shade is much appreciated as most days see blue skies and high temperatures during daytime.

Me outside the border control - technically already on Argentinian grounds

Impressive mountain rows surrounding the border station

Andesmar - a decent company that provides good buses and good service

Me on the Argentinian side - having passed through this border for the second time in my life

I wonder what's the story behind this bus?

Green evidence: As we leave the mountains - we close in on Mendoza

Ah! Mendoza and it's endless numbers of wine bodegas!

Mendoza is an amazing city! It is not too big – not too small. The city is located a few kilometres off the foot of the Andes and because of this location it benefits from the occasional high mountain rains. The water is channeled through a clever irrigation system that allows vineyards to control the watering process based on their needs and wants. This is very different from other places where wine is made – seeing as they apply artificial watering to their plants, these vineyards are less prone to see a cyclical tendency in the quality of its vintages. The Mendoza-region produces some 70%+ of Argentina’s wine. Visiting the city one can drop by numerous “Bodegas” (the vineyards) to get a tour, an insight into the production process and of course a tasting round.

Anders, from Akershus, (Berget 2.0?) and me at the "Taste Mendoza Walking Tour"

But there is more to Mendoza than wine. Aconcagua – the highest peak on the western hemisphere is located nearby, and with its 6962 meters above sea level, it attracts mountain enthusiasts from all over the world. The mountain is very “climb-friendly” with visitors basically following a road up to the peak. The altitude however provides its challenges and thus there are strict regulations on how the ascending is carried out and how many days you use. In general “normal hikers” use 12-15 days up and down. The very famous (and crazy) Spanish skyrunner Kilian Jornet – runs up and down in around 6 hours…. Besides climbing Aconcagua, Mendoza offers a wide range of extreme sport opportunities; rafting, paragliding, ski diving, mountain biking, rock climbing etc.

Claudia said it was a good idea to jump the pool in clothes.. (Me, Claudia and Mary)

Happy pool-party crowd - Yes we're not 18 anymore, but it's still as fun!

Plaza Independencia - This guy played "Uncomfortably Numb"... amazing!

Practicing Spanish with new friends from Colombia and Bariloche

Typical Argentinian meal - steak with a big glass of wine, bread and some salad

The city is also an excellent venue to enjoy good food and the typical Argentinian nightlife. With it’s some 120,000 inhabitants Mendoza sizes up to my own city – Stavanger, however the nearby region has some 800,000 inhabitants. This all makes the city a vibrant and fun place to be. Despite the large regional population – Mendoza provides a relaxed and charming atmosphere, this is mainly caused by its wide streets, green profile and low buildings. Leaving Mendoza I caught a 17 hour bustrip back to Buenos Aires, even though the pampas are green and beautiful – needless to say they are not as spectacular as the Andes!

"Woman making love to a snake". Buenos Aires has an amazing street art scene

Catfight anyone?

There are a couple of things that I would like to ask the porteños (the people of Buenos Aires) – When do you sleep and how do you stay slim?  I know latin culture is very different from my own nordic background. I know the Greeks (who in these days should not sleep or take too much siestas!), Italians, Spaniards and the French – in general most of the culture surrounding the Mediterranean sea, lead a life that is much more nocturnal than that of ours. The day starts later, work lasts longer into the evening, lunch is later and longer and dinner and partying starts anywhere between 8 pm and midnight. But they all have nothing on the Argentinians! Life here is way more nocturnal. I enjoy that a lot – it is convenient with the heat but it takes a while to adjust. Enforcing my own sleep pattern is simply useless, it’ll basically makes me entirely sleepless and soaking of sweat as the sun rises and the temperature hits 30-35 degrees already 8-9 in the morning.

As for eating – the porteños surely enjoy their sweet stuff. It’s all about sweets and steak. At all times of the day – breakfast, lunch and the nightly dinner! It is then surprising that you hardly see any overweight people in the city. I have heard that what keeps them slim is all the maté they chug down throughout the day – simply suppressing hunger.

Carmen and neighbour girls having a laugh over a poodle in the pool (Paula, Melissa and Carmen)

Went to a tango course one night - fun and challenging!

Feliz navidad!
Staying with Carmen I was lucky to get invited to celebrate x-mas with her family. The Argentininan way of celebrating x-mas is a bit like we celebrate new years in Norway. Family (and friends) gather 8-10pm for dinner and drinks, at midnight there is a speech – then fireworks begin and after that people party madly into the wee hours of the 25th of December. Thanks to the Raies family I had an amazing time, I felt really welcomed and as I told all the guests during my speech, “I’m not so much into x-mas – but now I really miss my family. I am really enjoying this evening and your company – today you are my family!”.

Food, food food - Good food!

The dinner and drinks were held outdoors in the garden of Carmen's sister

Posing for x-mas: Me, Carmen, Victoria and Ramiro

And the combined speech-dancing-laughing-cheering session has begun! (Victor, Ramiro, Natalia)

Hello 2012!
To celebrate the “arrival” of a new year I went to visit a friend, Gigi,  in Santiago de Chile. I have been to Santiago before – but in 2007 I only spent some two days there and did not do much exploration of the different parts, the nightlife or its major sights. This time I stayed for a longer time and had plenty of time to check out parks (I went running 4 times), museums and the most interesting part of the city. Santiago is a big – but clean and modern city. Chile in general is very different from Argentina and most of South America. This is mostly due to their economy being much more developed and stable than the economices of its neighbors. Chileans know this and you can easily feel a different ambience than in Argentina. What is unique about Chile is that wherever you are in the country – you are never more than 1,5 hrs from the beach or the mountains. Santiago itself is about 1,5 hours from the beach – located between mountains near the foot of the Andes. The mountains circle the city and this has led to a huge problem with the traffic pollution. The smog of Santiago is not only visible from a far and as dust particles outdoor – but it is also itchy to the eye when you first arrive.

For new year’s eve I went to a Brazilian party hosted by some friends of Gigi. Along came some of Gigi’s friends and we had an amazing dinner followed by a very cool clubbing event in downtown Santiago. The following day we were invited to the coast – to stay in Juan’s, a friend of Gigi, place in Viña del mar. Last time I went to Santiago – me and Tommy opted out of Viña and instead visited the more boheme and artsy Valparaiso. Having now seen both I definitely prefer the more dodgy, artsy and historian feel of Valparaiso.

Chile is GREAT for olives

The Brazilian new year's buffet

Snapshot of the magic moment when we all embraced 2012 (Francisca,Lora?, me, Maca, Gigi and Thais)

Viña del Mar - view from Juan's place.

Me posing in Viña

Sunset in Viña - across the bay is Valparaiso (a city I prefer over Viña)

The parilla (grill) at a rooftop asado (bbq-party)

Me and the Andes

At Plaza Las Armas in Santiago

Hope you all have a great weekend – I promise to return quite soon. I’ll then tell you about my favorite bustrip and how I spend my days in Buenos Aires.

]]> http://www.svangtun.com/martin/2012/01/19/the-city-with-the-people-that-never-sleeps/feed/ 4 http://www.svangtun.com/martin/2012/01/11/my-movie-from-india/ http://www.svangtun.com/martin/2012/01/11/my-movie-from-india/#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:41:49 +0000 Martin http://www.svangtun.com/martin/?p=1873  [...]]]> First of all – happy new year folks!  It’s been a while since I updated my site – but I’ve been busy enjoying myself in Argentina and Chile. I will come back to my latest adventures in the next update.

Me at the Andean border between Chile and Argentina (2800-3000amsl)

So – I finally finished editing my videotakes from India. I had quite a lot of material and I realised in the editing process that I have no experience as a reporter or as a video-reporter. I wish I was as good as my good friend Martin in NRK! My takes are long, boring and travelling solo it is somewhat difficult to make it engaging and interesting (especially if you have not done that before). I have therefor tried to angle the film as brief snapshot of how I saw India – and as you can see, I have been very good filming when I have been on the move…..

In the completion process of the movie I encountered a series of problem that basically made it very difficult for me to upload a full HD version of the film. The version online is good enough. I really wanted to have this film published now, so that you could see my shots and I can move my focus onto writing about South America. Hopefully I’ll manage to work around technology issues at a later stage, so that at least I’ll have a decent copy at home.

The video can be seen here: http://vimeo.com/svangis/india  ”India 2011”

It is about 20 minutes, and if you are only interested in The Great Indian Wedding - then that part starts about halfway through (at 10min). Enjoy!

India has definitely been the most intense and exciting places I have ever visited

 The official tourism industry of India promotes India through the the well-known Incredible India campaign (Youtube). The video is well made and clearly shows the wide range of experiences one might have in India – but yet it is also somewhat disguising the experience of everyday hassle and whatever happens between the highlights.

I could go on and tell you about my adventures, impressions and all the amazing things I saw – but there will always be one crucial aspect missing- the smell! I am not talking about a particular smell – rather not. The most fascinating about India is the change you can observe as you move through the country. Leaving one state for another it is easy to notice how food, clothes, nature, language and people’s looks changes. The same goes for the smell – this is such an important part of the Indian experience. Spending a day in India you’ll go through “stages of smelling” everything from cowshit to amazing street food, sweaty underpaid/overworked workers, exhaust, beautiful blossoming flowers, incense, dust, road side fires, public peeing/2′ing(!) and of course the smell of the tragically and universally accepted littering of garbage everywhere. If it by reading this I make you believe India stink – it doesn’t (only at times!!). But it has a certain smelling characteristic that makes the whole experience unique – in a good and exotic way.

Observations about India

• Indian head wiggle / bobble: Strange gesture done by all Indians, you never know if they mean yes, no or maybe (look here)
• As a tourist – locals/touts try to lure you massively. For basic services (taxi etc) or market products – assume you can bargain down to 30%.
• The Indian smoothie called “Lassie” can be a risky adventure for your stomach, the Bhang lassie can be a risky adventure for your life!
• Always expect delays and never take information/confirmations for granted
• 60-70% of the population is illiterate – hence be patient and polite when instructing drivers of rickshaws and taxis
• Most people are extremely friendly – and you expect people to pull you places to show you things for money, but no – only in rare cases
• There are numerous “spiritual” associations and communities that especially (with “famous” Gurus) appeals to Westerns seeking a change in lifestyle. Many of these claim superiority or special insight regarding future, destiny or skills – among most Indians these are all disregarded as touristic money-luring machines
• Get in touch with locals – and they might show you amazing places and experiences!
• India’s economy is suffering heavily from corruption, large of population is illiterate and major development suffers from both top and bottom economy being run democratically by market forces. The question is – how long will it be a part of the “BRIC“s….
• About 30 % of the population lives on less than 1 Euro per day
• In Mumbai – around 50 % of the population lives in shanty towns or open areas
• India grew by more than 200 million people in the past 10 years

India offers amazing soups!

This is a "thali" from Rajasthan... mmmmm!

It's almost like I don't want to experience another Indian wedding - Arun set the standard!

Which cows are the happiest?

2 of India's more than 200m holy cows munching on garbage = plastic bags, waste and rotten food

India: Holy street cows (read "chaos") - relaxing on the tarmac with some good noisy traffic and tasty exhaust

Argentina: Vacas de Argentina - Proud cows who know their meat is second to none. Plus they eat well and live happy on the Pampas..

Norway:Happy Happy Happy Norwegian cows (yes! they are jumping in happiness!) - these cows know they make the milk for the world's best milk chocolate - and the world's most overrated milk (Tine,Q...).

You probably heard it before, “In India cows roam the streets”, and yes – its true! Except for the most urbane, chic and modern areas of the larger cities – you’ll find cows, single or groups of them “strolling” around as if they own the area. In Hinduism the cows are held sacred and in rural villages cows are almost treated as members of the family. The milk is used, but the meat is never eaten. From the ancient times it was said that killing a cow was equal to killing a brahman (member of the upper priest-caste). The belief and treatment of the cow as sacred is ancient and has not adopted to modern society at all. This is what puzzles travelers - because if a cow was sacred and you treated as a member of the family, why leave it wondering the street like a lost soul?  Cows living in the street eat whatever they come across (garbage, plastic, metal bits, rotten food…), they create traffic chaos (cars have to drive around them to obey their holy status) and of course – they shit whenever and wherever they want. This is perhaps one of the biggest challenges to modern India. In the largest rural villages the cows pose a treat to hygiene and the fact that they wander alone leaves no one responsible for cleaning up the …shit!

Thinking of how fast the Indian society grows and how it becomes rapidly more international – it’ll be interesting to see for how long cows will roam the streets. In a dream world – the cows would be kept sacred and happy in a spacious green field, with a fresh creek and a far away from honking horns, street lights and garbage. The sad truth however is that most cows are owned by families who cannot afford the food nor the space.

A fat man taking a bath/shower/shit in Ganga...

A happy elephant!

India is definitely incredible – but I would rather describe it as captivating. India includes and excludes you! It challenges you and it charmes you!

When I was in India I had days where I really looked forward to South America and the latin culture. Now when I am in Argentina, I feel so at ease and even though this culture is quite different from my nordic background – it feels so close and comfortable as opposed to being in India. My point is that on some days I feel like I am not in an exotic location, I feel “too” home – I do not get that intense feeling of alienation or being foreign to something or anything.Perhaps my surroundings and experiences here are too easily understandable and hence I do not feel “challenged” enough. Maybe that or maybe I just have to move on and find somewhere more random, intense and captivating than India – if that’s possible…

La Boca .....SO touristy! Almost like Montmartre...

In the footsteps of the (a little bit) younger me
In 2007 I visited Argentina together with my mate Tom Erik. We spent abut a month exploring the regions of Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Salta. Almost 1/3 of the population live in and around Buenos Aires – it is a megacity that has both a modern and old charm to it. Mendoza is smaller with about 1 million inhabitants. It is located just by the Andes – about 4-5 hours with bus from Santiago de Chile. Mendoza and its region represents about 70% of Argentina’s wine production. We loved Mendoza – it was small, cosy and had a relaxing feel to it. Good food and a very good nightlife. The streets were wide, and the city is constructed with a clever irrigation system. This allows the rain from the Andes to pass through the city and finally water the wine crops around the city.

Bife de chorizo - Impossible to describe the sensation of eating it... If you are a beef lover, no matter where you went, how much you paid or what you had - if you haven't had a steak in Argentina, then you seriously have something to look forward to (I'll get back to why in another blog post)

Some hours North is Salta – a city located near the mountains bordering both Chile and Bolivia. Salta has for centuries been a place for trade and commerce between Alto Peru (the old name for the region that is now Bolivia) and the ports of Uruguay and Buenos Aires.

Argentina is a about seven times the size of Norway and its situation on the Southern hemisphere gives it the opposite clima cycle that we are used to. The weather in Buenos Aires is often compared to that of New York – only of course with summers around end of the  year and winter in july.

Anchored my sailboat in Puerto Madero - the new and fancy "docklands" of BA

Couchsurfing appreciation – mi casa es su casa?
My plan was always to stay for a quite a while in Buenos Aires. The intention was to settle temporarily to improve my Spanish, really get to know the city and to use it as a base for exploring Argentina. In 2009 I hosted Carmen from Buenos Aires in Stavanger through Couchsurfing.org. During Carmen’s stay in Norway she was unfortunately robbed of her wallet, losing important papers and money. Feeling very quickly that I could trust her I lent her some money so that she could get onwards to Bergen and eventually reach Oslo, where she had half of her luggage plus some money in a friend’s house. Since then we’ve kept in touch online and by sending postcards.

Welcome to Argentina! Empanadas and cabernet at 2 am!

Two years later and it is my turn to surf her couch. The couch is even more than a couch! Carmen let’s me stay in her guest room in her apartment in Palermo Hollywood – one of the trendiest and coolest parts of Buenos Aires. Within just a few hundred meters there are excellent bars, restaurants, night clubs, gym, laundromats, ice cream vendors, bookshops ++.

The building has a roof top pool - excellent for hot and lazy days (i.e. every day..)

Huge meal for 2 people = NOK 100 (Nose is slightly pink because of X-mas season)

Gray day - but this is the view from the pool. I can live with that!

Habla mas despacio por favor
I will be based in Buenos Aires for quite a while. In January I start one-on-one Spanish classes and before that I am reading vocabulary, grammar and practicing as much as I can with the people I meet. This I find to be quite easy – I can easy talk with people about how to get around the city, asking basic questions and talking about what I am doing. People here are also give you a chance – they will try to understand me, even though I might sound very strange and they will try to reply in a modified and easy to understand manner. Every now and then you meet someone who sees an opportunity to practice English with you, which I think is ok – I let them answer in English and try to speak back in Spanish.

Palermo Hollywood by night

Currency depreciation
In 2007 Tom Erik and me enjoyed Buenos Aires especially because of its low prices. Service, quality and selection of food, bars and clubs were high and plentiful – but due to the challenges faced by the economy, prices and currency were in our favor.

It’s been four years and a lot of turmoil in the international financial markets since my last visit. Inflation since 2007 stands at about 45-50%. This means that a bife de chorizo that in 2007 cost 50 pesos (and with the currency rate at that time NOK 99) now costs 74 pesos. 50 % increase in prices over a 4 year period is a lot! It is of course not uncommon in developing or third world countries with such high figures – but Argentina is Latin Americas third largest economy and the past years have seen a more stable environment than that of the years round 2000.

Luckily for me – the currency rate development has come to a rescue! The Argentine Peso (ARS) has depreciated some 28-40 % towards USD, EUR, CHF and our beloved NOK. This means that despite an increase in the price level – the depreciated value of the peso against the Norwegian krone makes prices again lower. The depreciation of the peso is a result of the mix of inflation in consumer prices and the Central Bank’s dollar purchases which keeps the peso low (this is done to keep peso low for export competitiveness).

Norwegian Soprano – Former Argentinean President: 1 – 0

Former President Julio Argentino Roca is on the 100 pesos note

Kirsten Flagstad - Norwegian soprano decorates our 100 kroner note

Ché / Fuser / Ernesto decorates the entrance to the medical faculty of the university in BA

Clubbing with an old and a new friend (Arne and Xavier)

Typical BA street: Wide and green

Me in front of River Plate

"Punta La Mujer" (white bridge) and new skyline in Puerto Madero

Cosy street in San Isidro

Who's this guy?

Typical house in La Boca - maybe the inspiration for Øvre Holmegate?

As I will stay for quite a while in Buenos Aires – I will write more specific entries about my stay here and of course some reflective thoughts about my adventure in India before Argentina.

Enjoying Yerba Maté in Palermo!

A festivus – for the rest of us!
Today (time of writing) is the 23rd of December – on this day many people celebrate FESTIVUS, a made up holiday “to celebrate the holiday season without participating in its pressures, religious aspects, and commercialism”. This original, funny and not so stupid idea comes from the family of one of the writers of the Seinfeld show. If you want to have a laugh, check out this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS7-jcsB_WQ

Happy festivus to all of you from Buenos Aires!

Living in the same building and doing the same degree we formed a study group within the first week. Our group came to be known among other students as “the dream team” as we were one of few groups that sticked together throughout the year – and we also managed to balance academic and social activities without suffering on either part. Arun Nayak – the only non-Scandinavian came to be known as THE GREAT INDIAN – or simply The TGI! 

"The Dream team" celebrating end of a great year in London (June 2008)

Wedding-galore in Bangalore
Early summer 2011 I received a wedding invitation from Arun – he and Aditi was going to get married in Bangalore December 9-11th (yes that’s right…several days!) and I was very welcome to come and celebrate with them. Only problem was that I had already committed my travel plans towards a sailing trip, and in medio December I would be far from Bangalore – more precisely probably somewhere between the Canary Islands and the Caribbean. I really wanted to celebrate Arun and Aditi and I had heard that an Indian wedding was spectacular and something very unique. As a desperate measure to fulfill both my wish for attending it and sailing I considered flying to India and then meeting up with my sailing mate somewhere after the wedding. This however proved very difficult and extremely costly.

The Norwegian-Spanish delegation to Arun and Aditi's wedding

Perhaps I was meant to join anyways – because as the sailing trip fell through I suddenly found myself with full flexibility, and yeah! of course I was going to India! As I realised my new plan and started to look for tickets – I remembered that I had already told Arun that unfortunately I could not join – because  I was going sailing. Arun accepted this, but  I did feel that he felt let down – and it did not feel good.

Faking not attending
Seeing as I knew Arun was a bit let down as I would not come – I thought, hey – if I then come as a surprise, he will be both surprised and extra happy!. I quickly phoned Arun’s brother, Anand, who thought it was a great idea. To cover things up – Anand booked my hotel room in the name of some of his parent’s friends, I wrote an e-mail to Arun explaining about my sailtrip and that I was soon leaving for France and then sailing across the Atlantic. He bought it all and had no clue – everybody else knew and to be on the safe side I also unfriended Arun on facebook. I would not want him to see my updates or pictures from my four weeks in India prior to his festivities.

The smile of suprise = the smile of success
On the 7th of December I had been in India for four weeks and had come as far south as Ponducherry. From there I caught a night bus (9 hours) towards Bangalore – cleverly timed so that I would reached the city early enough to surprise Arun as he would come down for breakfast. At 7 am on the 8th half of the dream team was reunited in a big moment of surprise and happiness. Arun was overwhelmed and super happy that I had showed up, and being very busy with both work and planning the wedding – he had had no time to pick up any clues about me spending already one month in India. I filmed my surprise arrival and it’ll be featured in my short film about my visit to India once that is ready.

Ticket to India (4500kr), Indian wedding clothes (2000kr), ticket from Ponducherry to Bangalore (200kr) – surprising Arun, seeing his shocking smile and getting a good reuniting manhug – pricelesss!

On the day of my surprise arrival.

Wedding with a big W
In India – a wedding is so much more than just a single ritual, a dinner and some drinks. The event is celebrated far beyond any customs and traditions of what we are used to. The weddings normally span over several days with parties, dinners, drinks and rituals on separate days. The different functions are often hosted by different people (grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts/uncles) and attending all parts expose you to a fantastic celebration of colors, dances, smiles, music and delicious food and drinks. Covering all these days also allows for quality socializing with a lot of the guests – which came from all over the world. Everybody wanted to celebrate The Great Indian! 

Arun's father, Ranga and me

It is difficult for me to explain all the functions of the wedding – and it is also very difficult to describe how fantastic it was to experience it. Instead – I’ll list the events of the wedding and let the images do the talking.

Remember; If you ever get an invitation to an Indian wedding – never turn it down!

The wedding functions and events of Arun and Aditi’s wedding:

Thursday
Day time – lunch, drinks and socialising at the groom’s house
Evening – party at a nearby night club for the young ones - free bar and food!

Friday
Morning – reception at a hotel – speeches, dancing (by the mother and grandmothers!), drinks, food and henna tattooing for the girls
Evening – main party at the Vivanta Taj hotel in Bangalore. Dance performances by family and friends, disco floor, drinks and amazing food.

Sunday
Morning – Hindu rituals in the Marriage Hall. Vegetarian breakfast
Evening – Main rituals and amazing vegatarian dinner

Let's start with me and the beautiful couple - photo taken after wedding on Sunday

Steffen, Arun and me - 3/4 of the dream team - clubbing with the young crowd on the Thursday

Watching the ceremony on Sunday morning - Steffen, Ingvild (Steffen's girlfriend) and Mercedes from Spain

Arun and his friend Sidhanth doing the "auto-rickshaw" dance - legendary!!

Arun dancing and showing off in front of his bride, Aditi - check out his pose and all the girls cheering

Ingvild and Mercedes getting traditional henna tattoos

Aditi and her sister

Arun's family gathered for photos - Friday night

Mercedes, Ingvild and me - ready for partying Friday night

3/4 of the dream team - ready for a weekend of partying

Ingvild dancing with Aditi

Steffen and Ingvild - beautiful couple posing in front of the marriage hall

Mercedes showing off her henna - this typically lasts for 2-3 weeks (not the showoff, but the henna!!)

Arun with his cousin, Karthik

Arun's mother, Radha, and grandmothers dancing on the Friday reception

Arun's mother hands over a necklace to Aditi

Steffen and Ingvild

Mercedes and me - enjoying the amazing vegetarian dinner on the Sunday night

Posing on the day of the wedding - Arun looks majestic!

Arun and his brother Anand - my accomplice in my surprise! Great guy!

Arun and the father of the bride - taken during some welcoming rituals outside the marriage hall

Arun and Aditi's father - eating breakfast at the wedding day

The women of Arun's family - waiting for Arun to arrive outside the marriage hall

Arun's grandmother and Aditi

The foreign delegation - watching the rituals in the marriage hall

The musicians - amazing trumpet and sax!!!!

Mercedes dancing to a Spanish song with Arun's 82 year old grandmother!!!!!!!

Wow! This is taken just when the rituals finished - check out the handsome newlyweds!

As with all weddings – hundreds of photos were taken. I have many many more photos available online, some good and some not so good. These can all be viewed at my online gallery here: http://picasaweb.google.com/martin.svangtun.com

Arun and Aditi – you are great couple and thank you so much for everything! I had an amazing time – and would also like to thank Anand and Arun’s parents – they are so incredibly hospitable! You are always welcome to Norway – I won’t show you elephants or cows in the street, but I will do my utmost to show off what we have up north!

PS: Remember to check out my instagram page - where I upload pictures taken with my iphone ALSO – my route page is updated!

 NEXT STOP: Buenos Aires, Argentina (December 15th – March 2012)

Finally a beachshot (have to work on the tan!...got 6 months for that!)

PS: Photos section have been updated + I have added a page called ROUTE 

Auroville
After checking out a local beach north of Ponducherry (swimming in the Bay of Bengali – check!), Eli and me caught an autorickshaw that took us from Ponducherry to the village of Auroville. The township of Auroville is rather unique – it is defined as an “experimental township and the name “Auroville” means “City of Dawn”.

Nice green view from the top of Torkil's building

“Auroville is meant to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity.”

The township was founded in 1968 and is protected by UNESCO. It is located in an area that basically used to be desert – but at the time of establishment, the initial members planted some 2 million trees. Today Auroville is a situated in a big forest, with impressively large trees and a very relaxed feel to it. Here are no loose cows, noisy motorbikes, no littering and all members are dedicated to live in a sustainable way. The buildings are quite fancy, with modern design, smart solutions for energy, water and storage. If you want to live here – you cannot buy a place, you need to apply or talk to a council and then get acceptance to occupy a flat.

To read more about Auroville, visit it’s official site or check out Auroville on Wikipedia

A unique and admirable setup
Torkil has moved to the South of India where he resides with his girlfriend Uma, who runs an exciting organization called Upasana. Torkil works for BESTSELLER FUND – an organization established in 1995 as an independent charitable organization. The organization aim to help with humanitarian work and supporting various cultural initiatives in Denmark and abroad. The organization is established by the private Danish company, Bestseller – and works now primarly with groups from the poorest levels of society in India and China. As stated in their website – its work  is not directly related to Bestsellers activities but serves as a means to give something back to these developing societies.

Torkil showing of the loafy and breezy roof floor - excellent for relaxing and drying clothes

The building recycles all water and has a smart water collecting system

Cool architecture in the middle of the forest

Tranquebar – a Danish-Norwegian colony in India

From BESTSELLER FUND’s website: Tranquebar or Tharangambadi meaning ”place of the singing waves” is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu located about 100 km south of Pondicherry. It was a Danish colony in India from 1620-1845. Tranquebar was founded by the Danish King Christian IV in 1620, during the same period Fort Dansborg was built by a Danish captain named Ove Gjedde.

In 2004 Tranquebar was one of the many places that suffered from the tsunami. The disaster killed many people and ruined many buildings and damaged a lot of the infrastructure. The aid and assistance offered by Torkil and BESTSELLER FUND is through initiating a number of social and educational projects like coastal protection planting, renovation of buildings and monuments, solid waste management, and other employment generating activities.

WORTH A READ: Click here to check out the Tranquebar project on BESTSELLER FUND’s website

Read more about Tranquebar at Wikipedia

In addition to Tranquebar, the BESTSELLER FUND supports many more projects and casues – the main ones are all listed on their website.

Beyond profitability – making changes among people and for the environment
Uma, Torkil’s girlfriend, is one of the core members of Upasana – an organization she founded in 1995. I really recommend checking out Upasana’s website - http://www.upasana.in/introduction - there you can find a list of the amazing projects they do and have done and a good introduction by the members themselves.

Uma showing Eli cotton head gear

Upasana employees sorting clothes

The main projects that Upasana are currently running (taken from the website) – see all the projects by Upasana

Tsunamika:
- A small  doll that is given as a gift to represent hope. The doll was launched as part of  trauma relief during the tsunami – not only was the doll given to people who needed hope but instructions on how to make it was also provided. This gave many women the chance to think about other things and learn how to make something new, helping them to move on from struggling with trauma.  Read more about it here

Wild peacocks!

 Small Steps:
- Making of a textile bag, that is reusable and can be kept in a small textile key-ring bag. The project aims to eliminate the use of plastic bags – one of the biggest garbage problems in India.  Read more about Small Steps here

The Upasana temple (org.HQ)

Uma, Torkil, Eli and me in front of the Upasana Temple

Thanks Uma and Torkil for showing us around – looking forward to come back and see Tranquebar!

Sadhus overlooking river Ganga

I guess I had it coming. Last time I survived 3 amazing weeks without catching the so-called “Delhi-belly”. This time around I was just about to go through my fourth week. That was however before arriving in Chennai after some long awaited debauchery (Calcutta), risky dining (Calcutta again) and a significant increase in temperature (also Calcutta). I did not spend much time in Chennai, and I am not the type that likes to call a place bad names, but – Chennai is a …shithole. And yes I might have been biased. Immediately following my arrival and meeting Eliane (whom I first met in Pune) at our hotel, we went to a local diner for some South Indian Cuisine. After my first bite I felt a sudden nasty and uncomfortable numbness in my body – shivering, forehead warm and cold sweating. I looked around the chaotic and almost street-side eatery and felt more and more dizzy as I watched people slurping food from the table using their bare hands. I HAVE TO PUKE, I realised, feeling my primary instincts kicking in as I was looking for a spot that was pukeable. I got up and walked towards the street – which would be the final resort, looking left looking right I saw cups, bowls, hands – these all became items seducing my body and its need to puke…then suddenly I discovered a wash room and a HUGE sink. Its funny how your body reacts when you make that observation and how the whole machinery just gets activated. I really felt sorry for the guy washing his hands next to me. Needless to say, it felt amazing. It was a true culinary blowout… Indian food 1 – Martin’s stomach 0.

The toilet in the train between Varanasi and Calcutta

My rail journey across India took me from the colorful and majestic West (Rajasthan) towards the more tropic and humid East (West Bengali). Before reaching Calcutta, I would befriend Varanasi – one of the world’s longest continuously inhabited cities.

Troubled (septic) waters
The Holy City of Varanasi is also called Benares. It is situated in the state of Uttar Pradesh (Indias most populous state) and its life nerve is the holy river Ganga. In my opinion my encounter with Varanasi would be too brief and shallow for me to make a good story, judgement or description of the place. It was a place I really wanted to see – and having read a lot about it, and passing through the region it was naturally to drop by – even just for one night. However after spending some time walking through both the old and the new city I felt very modest in wanting to paint a picture of how it is to explore this city. Varanasi is very very different from anything else in India, yet it is is also very similar to much of India elsewhere – especially on a collective level. This means that for the super flash packers who perhaps only drop by India to see Taj Mahal, Varanasi and Jaipur – the experience, and understanding of this old and culturally rich place will probably be quite poor. Varanasi depicts chaos and random events, but being almost 6000 years old there is a purpose and ritual framework behind everything that happens. And yes – river Ganga is dirty. Of course locals who preach it as the holiest and cleanest water have been fed, showered and cleansed in this water since their births. The hard fact however (according to one Canadian microbiologist that I met) is that it contains more than 300 times the bacterial level that is considered unsafe – at which any other fluid is defined as septic. Talk about Holy shit!!

Excuse me cows; I know you are Holy, but you've double-parked...

This dog seemed to be amused by watching passing tourists

A fat man taking a bath/shower/shit in Ganga...

Me and Gukol, my new local friend, he guided me around the Ghats by the river and told me about the different rituals and ceremonies

Sunrise in Varanasi - 6 am. Beautiful!

Calcutta is great (when its not raining)
Having seen Mumbai, Jaipur, Pune, Varanasi, Bangalore and Delhi – I was excited to finally see the “last” of India’s big cities,  Calcutta (or Kolkata as it is now called). I had come to Calcutta not only to check out the city, but also to use it as a vantage point for my return to southern areas of India, and of course also – because another good friend happened to be there those days. I first met Andreas in Buenos Aires in 2007. It was our sisters (they studied together) that thought we would make good friends and suggested we met up for a beer in Argentina – seeing as we happened to be in the lovely city of Buenos Aires the same week. We did, it was cool and we had a fun time telling stories, talking about trips, enjoying world class beer and exploring urban life as young bachelors. We later met up in London and Oslo, and now it was India and West Bengali’s turn. Andreas was traveling with Raj, a friend he knew from London. From our meet up to our departure to Chennai most of our time would be spent surveying beer, night clubs, street food and big ideas and adventures for the future or us, the world, and everyone around us. Young men, big thoughts – thirsty mouths! Calcutta treated us well, we liked the city! I would really recommend going there – it is very different from Mumbai and Delhi, in a really good way. Just make sure you don’t go during the monsoon (annual rainfall is 8-9 meters!!!).

Did I mention I did not like Chennai? I was unwell yes, but it was not the Delhi-belly (or in that case – let’s call it…the Calcutta Cure) – most people I have met (including many Indians) agree that this megacity of villages is nothing but noise, smells, dirty and endless chaos of traffic.  That is why after Calcutta, I went to Ponducheery, wonderful “French” Ponducherry!

French quarter
Ponducherrry is small (pop. 220,000) city located about 3 hours south of Chennai. It used to be a French colony and is now defined as a Union Terriority – which means that several former French colonies are gathered under one administration. These areas are not all in the same region/states and hence the “state” Ponducherry is located several places in South India. This Ponducherry was “The” Ponducherry . The town is no longer French but the streets closest to the beachfront is called the French Quarter and here old colonial buildings are spread out in “Rue”‘s instead of streets and some buildings are painted in charming colors and bear typical french names. Wandering these streets one can easily imagining being on an island in the Caribbean. All in all the city offers a very relaxed experienced – away from the big city, the endless amounts of cows, motorcycles and crazy rickshwadrivers. The beachfront boasts a renovated promenade, there are several high quality bakeries, good restaurants, cafes and being a Union Territory there is also some duty free regulations. – alcohol is very easily obtainable, but nightlife closes at 11pm.

Eli being blessed by the "Blessing Elephant" in Ponducherry

Me smiling and being enthusiastic after receiving my elephantblessing

Cuba? Colombia? Spain? No... Ponducherry!

I would really recommend visiting Ponducherry – especially if you are travelling India for a long time. I spent some really good days in Pondocherry with Andreas, Raj and Eli. This would also be the place where our ways would part.

Next stops; Auroville and Bangalore

Hello my friend! Where you from? England? You Australia? America! Come here my friend!

Probably the two least shy girls in India - they wanted to pose and interviewed me for ages! By the way...these are not the touts I am writing about!! Not at all :)

Local boys playing with kites at a nearby temple

An old man and his cobra

Pools in a temple in Amber

Kids showing off their cute puppies

Camel in Amber

In the evening I was invited to join Push to an engagement party held by some of his family’s friends. The couple was to be married next weekend, but this time the party was only to celebrate the engagement itself. Before hitting the festivities we walked down to a cornershop to meet a couple of Push’s friends for some talk and some good whiskey. Whiskey is always good, and I was not disappointed that the party did not include a bar – for hello! this party was the mother of all party’s that I had been to ever! The entire celebration was set on a big lawn downtown measuring some 100 by 50 meters. The entrance was massive with red carpets, flowers, spotlights, fire and guards. The entire lawn area was decorated with high walls surrounding the party -made to look like the inside of an Indian place. Spread out on the lawn was typical open “desert tents” and wherever you looked there were waiters and cooks serving you the most delicious food from every corner of this great country. I would estimate the party to include some 1000 guests and perhaps 150-200 waiters/cooks. It was a good thing my stomach was crying out for food! This was definitely the munching opportunity of a lifetime! The party was extravagant with a separate disco for the kids – with a professional DJ and a film crew to capture everything (also using a camera lift!!).  The gift corner showed gifts from guests – and included a car, whole furniture collections and lots of things that looked very pricy…  With a party like this, I wonder how the wedding will be!  Unfortunately that I won’t know, then again I’m happy I get to save that experience and wait for my friend Arun’s wedding in about two weeks time. Attending it I have to look proper and adhere to the locals – and to do this Push’s younger brother Joy helped me find a local tailor that made a typical Rajasthani “suit” for me. I shall celebrate Arun, looking like a king -at least feel like one for a night… (see picture at the bottom)

At The Observatory in Jaipur

Push - the first guy I met in India that truly knew peacocking...Perhaps because the Peacock is the national bird of India

The engagement party.... fancy stuff! All you can eat, drink, party, talk etc!

"Special thali" - delicious food at a corner near Push`s place (15kr)

I consider myself to be a dedicated host – I like to have people couchsurf my place and I also like to show visitors my city and our beautiful region in Rogaland. But the hospitality and kindness of Push and his family was really inspiring and I really felt that all the work and energy I had put into having people at my place – really was well worth it. Now I got to appreciate hospitality, history and local traditions from the eye of a visitor. In the evening – Push’s father would talk with me for hours about India, his family background, his business plans, the culture and tradition of his caste and how they live and marry. We also had many interesting discussions how the world has changed and how suddenly it seems a lot smaller than when he grew up.

Push`s father, Daulat, was great and so kind. He took me hiking for hours in the nearby hills, showed me his favourite temples, showed me where he once planted trees when he was younger and he also took me to town showing special places, people and shops. In the evening of the last night he also cooked a very delicious dinner for me.

Hiking in the nearby hills with Push`s father, Daulat

Enjoying chai in Daulat`s favourite temple

Daulat praying to Lord Shiva

A local priest/monk

Buying a turban: Daulat bargaining for me at the local market

Elephants in the street!

A happy elephant!

One part of the Palace in Jaipur

Jaipur provided me with much. Good food, Indian hospitality, old sights, an insight into a typical Rajasthani family and of course new friends that will always be welcome to Stavanger!

Me looking like a Rajasthani King... I wish

As I write this, I’m packing up my gear – tomorrow I’ll catch a 17 hour train ride towards the holy city of Varanasi (also called Benares). This time, I will not go swimming in Ganga….

“Right orientation in life is very important, but good friends are also important” Samvit said as he collected my papers and a copy of my passport. “Yes” – I agreed “But with the right and good friends – it’ll probably be easier to orientate yourself and stay at a good course”. Samvit nodded in the peculiar Indian way (head turning from side to side, a gesture that for westerns looks like a crossover between Yes, No and maybe!) – he replied; “That is why I said your answer was good”.

I was in the city of Udaipur in Rajasthan, a state west in India – bordering Pakistan and situated just north of Gujarat and south of Punjabi. Rajasthan, “The land of Kings” – is a colorful state that for long has been a favourite among travelers to India. The state offers a wide range of experiences, sights and events – from desert and camels in the west, to mountains and lakes in the south and to colorful forts and temples closer to Delhi.

The view from my balcony

Last time I missed out on Rajahstan – this time I was not going to let that happen and I had already booked my train tickets two months in advance. I flew to the majestic city of Udaipur from Mumbai on Tuesday - having no plans but to stroll around the city and be amazed by the old white buildings resting by the lake. “The city of lakes” is a wonderful city and there was clearly evidence of a thriving tourist industry, offering internet, books, massages and international food on every corner and on every roof top (in Udaipur, it’s all about the roof top overlooking the lake). Not being a hidden gem or an undiscovered getaway, Udaipur still had its charm and was far more calm and relaxed than many other Indian cities. The city has an ancient history with the longest ruling dynasty in the world. That family is still around and they reside in a private part of the impressive city palace. Other landmarks such as the Monsoon Palace (on top of a hill 5km outside the city) and the Lake Palace are easily recognizable from appearances in movies such as “Octopussy“, “The Fall” and in many different music videos. Just a few days before my arrival – a famous realty tycoon had just celebrated his birthday at one of the palaces – the entertainer for the night, Colombia’s Shakira – of course.

Udaipur City Palace

Portable tiger trap/cage

The view from the roof top restaurant

Missing out on Shakira – I met up with a Dutch girl who was doing some charity work for a bank in Mumbai. She brought  along Will – an English guy that was in town and had just moved into a local family – trading his skills about permaculture and planting for a place to stay and food. I had little plans, and having spent almost two days touring the city I suggested to Will that I could come along and kick start his project – which in the start required lots of digging. Overwhelmed by my volunteering – Will took me along with the other people in his house to see the new Tin Tin movie – in Hindi (!). The movie was really well made, and at some times funny – and as it was a cartoon, it wasn’t really a problem that it was in Hindi.

The Taj Lake Hotel

Samvit, was Will’s host – and I by chance I had also written him earlier on couch surfing. What a small world! After digging the first day we all went out to eat with a bunch of other couch surfers and local volunteers. We met a Dutch couple – and with Will’s excellent way of talking and of course the charm of a true explorer, he managed to also get them to volunteer. Digging bed number two the next day took less than half the time as the first day. The Dutch brought rum and coke – perhaps it was knowing this that kept us at such a hard and steady pace. All day long Indian workers watched us from nearby rooftops, amazed by our consistent work and efficiency!

The digging machines

There are lots of things to do in Udaipur besides watching the lake and strolling the streets of white buildings. However this time around I felt I had the perfect mix of solo sightseeing around town and meaningful social and fun work with new friends from both the city and abroad. It was very inspiring to meet Will, he was from Brighton and had done several long term journeys before relying on volunteering in Israel, Jordan, Syria and Vietnam. Like always – it was fun trading stories and secrets from past adventures.

We made a time lapse video as we were digging, check it out here: Digging in Udaipur

If you are going to India, definitely go to Udaipur – if I had enough time, I would have continued to Jaisalmer and Pushkar. But for now – my schedule only allows my next destination: Jaipur - “The Pink City”

For the curious readers, I thought I’d write some words about the gear I am bringing. Yes – I have had some spare time the last days, had a cold – and just been relaxing in the sun with tea and good food. It’s also been good getting into the vibe of writing every now and then. If you think I am bringing to much crap then maybe yes, but once I get to South America – I hope to stay for much longer periods in the same place. At least for the first few months… Here we go;

Tech equipment I am bringing along:

Macbook Air – lightweight, decent battery and SSD hard drive for fast boot up. It is very convenient to bring this along as it allows for offloading of pictures, blog writing and listening to music or watching films whenever I am spending time alone.

iPhone 4 – decent built in camera, GPS, wifi, e-mail and skype/viber. If I want to take a stroll through a city without carrying a larger camera or a bag – bringing the iPhone is very handy. It easy to find free wifi networks from which you can pull up maps, check news or write e-mails. By switching off bluetooth, wifi, 3G and decreasing the screen’s brightness – the phone’s standby time becomes very impressive. I have also configured an app for my iPhone that allows me to write new entries on my travel journal.

Gopro Hero 2 action camera – the Gopro camera is the world’s most versatile and most used camera for action and extreme sports. The camera is small, records in impressive quality and is very handy to bring along for any fun and ad-hoc filming. Most of the filming I am doing will be edited into a smaller travel movie once I get settled somewhere for a longer timer (and with a decent internet connection)… PS: Check out the promotional video for the Gopro 2….amazing video!!

Garmin Forerunner 310XT – I brought my garmin GPS training watch as I wanted to record the routes of anywhere I would run or go hiking. The 310XT is waterproof and can log GPS-points for a total of 20 hours.

Panasonic Lumix LX5 – sometimes I wish I had an SLR, but with so much other tech stuff to bring I am happy that I chose the LX5. The camera is rather small, is built very solid and is far from looking expensive or flashing. Ideally SLR would be best for this kind of trip, but this time it would just be too much – both weight-wise and budget-wise.

Black Diamond rechargable headlight – this one is super essential and I carry it whenever I go out and expect to return after dark. Ever since a scary incident in Rishikesh in 2009, a headlight is well treasured.

Polar RS200 – I brought an old and outdated Polar wristwatch. This has good battery life, shows the date, the day and is waterproof.

Online services and tools:

Couchsurfing.org – great for getting in touch with travelers and locals anywhere. It also provides as a good source for up to date and genuine information about places and things to do. Most cities and locations have their own forum and by asking questions or posting messages here you have a big chance of getting some good information from people who live there or from travelers who just passed through. Of course – the site is also good for finding places to stay (both couch surfing and recommendations for guest houses) and travel companions.

In addition I also use Facebook and Asmallworld.net in order to get in touch with locals or find out about where to go and what to do.

Dropbox – I organize ALL my files (except for music, videos and photos) on Dropbox.com. The website is set up to sync down to both my laptop and my iPhone. On my dropbox I have a folder where I keep all the documents I might need when I’m on the road. This is: copies of my passport and my visas, all my tickets, all my insurance papers, bank card, credit card and codes for these cards. The entire folder is shared with my father – who can at any point check out my tickets and assist me with insurance or bank issues. I also made a folder where he puts scanned copies of my snail mail that I receive at my parent’s house. This way – anytime I am online, all the mail I receive in Norway is immediately (and seamlessy) downloaded onto my devices. This makes it much easier for me to manage on my own and also to manage any work towards tax authorities when that time is around.

Should I loose my iPhone or my laptop. All essential information will be available online – and I will have the chance to delete/format the lost device via internet.

My blog – I have a version of WordPress installed on svangtun.com, which is hosted by www.one.com. I have connected the wordpress to Mailchimp.com, which automatically retrieves any new blog entries via an RSS-feed and pushes these out to subscribers at any date at 10:00 AM Norway time.

–> I have now added the comment feature to my blog, please if you comment on any of my articles – do use a proper name, any comments with random names will be deleted.

Picasaweb – I upload all my photos in original size to Google’s photo management site, Picasaweb. This can be a tedious process and requires both time and a good internet connection – which is also why my photo gallery will always be lagging my written journal.

For running I brought my Merrell Trail Gloves (minimalistic barefoot shoes) and a pair of Adidas more made for hills/sharp rocks. I managed to forget to bring my Inov-8 X-talons…. but yeah, I guess I have enough to carry already.

Let’s hope I manage to keep a low profile and not get robbed!  I am aware that my tech equipment costs more than the India’s GDP per capita, and hence I also try to maintain a low profile – I am not afraid of losing or getting stuff stolen, I am more worried about losing material, files or getting hurt if something would happen.

Before I actually started traveling, I spent quite a lot of time online trying to scout out events, festivals or any interesting happenings along my route. I thought it would be smart to do a little effort before en route and hence try to minimize the number of incidents where people would tell me things like “Ooh, you should have been here last week – we had the annual free beer and party all week festival” etc etc…  My best tool for this research is CouchSurfing.org  – and yes, I do not only write girls there – especially in India where the majority of the members are guys (hm.. I wonder why), it is a good place to write local people and simply ask them what should I see and when is the best time to visit your city?

For Mumbai I asked a girl about surfing her couch, unfortunately she had just accepted another surfer the day before. However she could inform me about a “really cool music festival” just outside Mumbai – and it just so happened to be going on the same dates I’d be around. She was talking about the annual “NH7 Weekender” festival – a new and upcoming music festival heavily sponsored by the liquor company Bacardi. And yes you guessed right – this festival did not serve one tiny drop of beer, just vodka, gin and rum! Hey hey hey!

Described by a famous guidebook as city with a “healthy mix of small town wonders and big-city blues” I was excited as I jumped on the bus that would take me 4-5 hours it took to get to Pune. The ride was comfortable, cheap (300 rupees / 30kr), safe (easy driver + Volvo bus) and it had AC. As a bonus they even showed Bollywood movies on a flat screen hanging down just about the drivers head. The trip went úbersmooth thanks to comfy seats and an excellent view of the beautiful coast-to-inland landscape transformation along the road. No luck in finding a couch I searched for a cheap but decent hotel – and ended up in a hotel called Hotel Surya Villa (located about a block from the famous and much talked about “Osho Meditation Resort” …which to me seemed like the biggest tourist rip-off so far).  I settled in a room that put me back 1300 rupees per night (130kr) – it was a double bed room. In India, if hotels do not have single bed rooms – you get a small discount as a solo traveller – but it is definitely worth traveling with someone as it immediately slashes you accommodation budget by 50%.

Midival Punditz and a Canadian rapper

After checking out the area around the hotel, I returned in the evening only to discover that the hotel’s open air ground floor lobby was a popular place for both guests, locals and guests of other hotels to gather for a cup of tea and a chat with strangers or new friends. This is where I met Eliane from Sao Paulo. We quickly found out that we were on a similar mission. She had just left her job after spending severals years in a bank in Brazil and had now hit the Indian roads with no predefined route or return ticket. Eli arrived just before me and had come there based upon a friend’s recommendation. Like almost anyone else in India I talked to – she did not know about the music festival that I wanted to check out. Having already pitched the festival and its concept to many people it took little effort from my side to get her along :-). In the time before the festival we checked out Pune, different places to eat and drink and also met some interesting people in and around the hotel. One of them was Ben – an engineer from England who taken a break from work to spend 10 months on a motorbike through most of India. He certainly had some good stories to tell – and we also got to see his bike and join for a test ride.

A funky modern super expensive house being built in Pune

One day we witnessed a funeral parade that went from an ashram in the city and ended up by the river where ultimately the body was put to fire. This was truly a special and different experience – it started out as a parade that seemed like a carnival parade or a crowd of people marching as if to celebrate something. People were happy, playing drums and other instruments and in the middle of the crowd 4-6 men carried the body of the deceased old man on flat bed of bamboos. It was not before we could see his face (half of it) and his feet that we realized it was a funeral (I guess it is not called a funeral, rather something that resembles a burial/burning ceremony). The crowd consisted mostly of various international people who was attending that local ashram. As the body was burning – people were singing in joy. In contrast to the ceremonies we have back home, where we focus on a person’s life – and what memories we are left with, how we appreciated the deceased – this event was more about having a joyful ceremony celebrating the next journey of the deceased.

The funeral "parade"

The festival took place from a Friday to a Sunday and included numerous international and Indian artists. For the general audience, the most famous names from the lineup were Basement Jaxx, Imogen Heap,Reggae Rajahs, Midival Punditz, Dualist Inquiry +++ (Full lineup). I consider myself to be an experienced festival-goer (3 x Roskilde, 3 x Quart, 1 x RxR, 1 x Hove) and I have to admit that I was really impressed by this new and inspiring event. In terms of size – the festival was small and probably only attracted 5-10,000 people on the most popular day. The festival area included interesting sales booths (not cheap uninteresting tourist stuff, but local and modern hipster stuff), an excellent and fairly priced food area (mmmmmm!) and bars serving drinks in big glasses and pitchers (!). The festival crowd consisted mostly of cool young people from the Mumbai-Pune area and needless to say, I have never seen a better boy-girl ratio in India. In rural or urban areas you most often only see a woman per 50, 100 or 200 men…but in this festival it was almost 1:1. And people got drunk – which was a funny sight! Going back from the festival the last night it was impossible to get a rickshaw – but on our way out we befriended a guy from Mumbai. He invited us to an after party and immediately set out to find a cab. After almost one hour of waiting, a random car stops and asks if we want a ride to a location closer to the city – we thankfully accept this and jump into the car. The traffic was hopeless and we never got a cab – instead he driver took us all the way downtown and joined for an after party in the suite that Mr Mumbai had rented. The night was ended with bollywood music, Kingfischers and a lot of laughter and joy over this random and funny end to the night.

Enjoying a delicious dinner and some beers at ABC Farms

With Eli joining the festival, the stay in Pune ended up completely different than I had ever expected. We might meet up in Chennai in December, but next leg for me was Rajahstan and Udaipur. “The Lake City” as it is also called was a key location in the James Bond movie “Octopussy”….

Galleries with high quality pictures will come as soon as its possible… internet is available everywhere, however at rather slow speeds

But even though I like flexibility and I like to come across as spontaneous, those who know me – know I’m a guy that prefer to stick with the plan. So India it was – and upon touching ground and coming through the Mumbai Airport, I immediately felt a sudden goodness and cool vibe about my arrival. It just felt good. It felt right – and I could barely wait to explore Mumbai.

My first day in Mumbai felt like a bad date. We could both sense from the start that something was wrong, or perhaps not wrong – but just not interesting. Mumbai did not embrace my interest and I did not care much for it at all. I did not like the map, I found it hard to navigate – and it was both stressful to get an overview of what to do and and then find time to do it all. Besides, most places and sights were loaded with tourists and yeah, there simply wasn’t any spark. Had I expected too much?

After just two days – I realized that Mumbai is everything India is – and everything India is not. I would not be able to pull this conclusion had I not toured India two years prior to my visit. Mumbai is “awesome”, beautiful, ugly, green, polluted and also very expensive and chaotic – many times more than other cities I had been to in India. Just like some cities in the Middle East – the whole atmosphere was very much westernized.

For hire. I considered renting this to flatten my overstuffed backpack...

To get an impression of its size and chaos – consider this; getting downtown i had to catch a rickshaw for 30-40minutes to the nearest train station (3-5kr), from where I would catch a train for 45 minutes (1kr), bringing me safely and efficient into the most touristy area of the city. Now I know I could fork out some more rupees and probably stay closer to downtown and ditch the whole transportation scheme – but when you are traveling for 5-7 months, price often comes before location – and surprise, sometimes the best combination of price, quality and location are a bit out of town. At least in mega cities with 20+ million inhabitants. A bonus is of course the genuine experience of commuting like a local.

Just like the myth and all the funny pictures seen on the internet, Indian trains ride with cars that have open doors and massive amounts of people hanging on for dear life! I could not believe it at first. As the train approached the station I searched towards the least populated wagon, sitting down it took me a few milliseconds before I noticed the rather geriatric and disabled nature of my fellow passengers. Looking up I noticed a sign saying “CARS FOR DISABLED, ELDERLY OR CANCER PATIENTS ONLY “. Whoops! Even though I could afford the lousy fine of 500 rupees (50-60kr) I was not going hold the place of some guy who had lost a limb, or somebody perhaps embarking on their last train ride ever. I quickly jumped out and scanned the next cars – both cars on each side was reserved for females. All the other cars had hoards of men flocking to the doors like bees towards honey (at least that’s whappens in Donald Duck”) or Norwegians chasing free/cheap alcohol….- I tried to blend into the crowd and get onboard but as the train started to move I quickly retired, deciding that it would probably be best to catch the next train and get a decent seat. My fellow Indians however, and I am not joking, kept on jumping on to the train, doors open – clinging on to each other, the roof rail and with their friends holding them by their belts and bags!

That new and bizarre episode represents so much more of India than just a simple glimpse of its train and commuting culture. From a Norwegian perspective, the whole thing seems absurd and insanely idiotic. Because it is all about risk and how one as an individual accepts small doses of risk in everyday life. There is risk you can control and risk you can’t really control. And these guys – perfectly at ease are daily putting their lives in the hands of others (train drivers of the train, and bypassing trains and friends holding them) without even raising an eyebrow or stressing if they are not in a position in which they know they can hold on by themselves. It is not bravery, but stupidity. Yes – trains are probably overcrowded at any point during the day – but does that imply that the “smart” ones, the ones who are risk averse are always the ones showing up early to secure a seat? As I saw the train slowly accelerating out from the platform, wheels squealing and people (men!) still jumping on board – I could not help thinking of how it would look like if the train entered a shallow tunnel of if a bypassing train was extra wide or also had a few 100 heads sticking out….

Another stick in The Wall

Locals claim Mumbai is to India like New York is to the rest of USA. I am not sure if I agree on this point – I would recommend people to solely go to NY to check it out, but a solo trip simply to see Mumbai, I would not recommend.  In my mind Delhi is definitely a better and exotic choice (but yet also charmingly chaotic!). Thus Mumbai became a brief encounter for me. After two days, I headed east – to relaxing and cool Pune…

Pictures will follow when internet speed and access allows

These were thoughts that ran through my head one late night in early September. I was carrying my last boxes down to my storage room, cleaning my flat and getting ready for a temporary place to live – all at once. After several months of planning and dreaming of a new adventure I had finally reached the first milestone: renting out my flat and becoming more mobile. In doing this I organized all my things in 3 categories: what I need when I travel, what I need before I travel (Sept-Dec) and what I don’t need before I get home. What further complicated the process was that at the time of moving out I did not yet know whether I would go sailing with a friend or venture out on my own. Finding and buying a sailboat is not something that happens overnight. Having a bit more pressed schedule than my sailboat-buying friend I had set a deadline for my sailboat option to end of September. October came and I quickly realised Plan B had to be initiated.

Plan B was at that time far from being carved out in stone. As opposed to being a sailor on the big blue seas, Plan B would basically consist of me, the world and my instincts. It would also without a doubt bring many different challenges, opportunities and of course a lot more personal independence than being on a boat (I know experienced sailors would argue differently, however unless you are sailing alone – there will always be a lack of freedom and more compromises involved once you share the boat with someone).  But – I had for years been brewing small dreams of going back to South America, travel more slowly, let chance and coincidences be a larger part of my journey , improve my spanish and of course get time to relax, run and think about what I’ll be doing next in life… The more I talked about it, the more it made sense – and the more support I got from friends and family. Despite the support and positive feedback people gave me, I have personally experienced days where I seriously reconsidered everything and simply regretted laying out my plans and just return to “normal”. Luckily my “bad days” were few in numbers and as autumn drew closer and people showed more interest in my plans it suddenly made perfectly sense for me to go. Hence I got more comfortable with the uncertainty of the project and I slowly stopped worrying about what would happen once I got home. Quien arriesga gana etc etc…

Because it’s all about the comfort zone, and I think it’s healthy to challenge yourself by trying to test your own limits (or what you believe are your limits). I am not saying it is something you should do on a daily basis, and there is just so much difference between people, routines, customs, culture and preferences that it is impossible know how we all feel and perceive different situations, tastes, experiences and people relative to our own experience. But its good every now and then to break out of the norm, and feel how its like. So, not having a job and income, nor 100% laid out plans or a “normal” decent travel budget – I would said is a big enough challenge for me. However I do not see it as a big challenge anymore – through Couchsurfing I have hosted so many inspiring people that have told and showed me various ways of travelling, living on the road and enjoying life without using (too much) money, resources or making too manyplans. Be it skills and tricks about healthy cooking, hitchhiking, writing books/articles, locating cheap food and/or sleeping places for free.

India has definitely been the most intense and exciting place I have ever visited. It definitely challenges your comfort zone - but in a exciting and friendly way.

Ever since I backpacked with Tommy in 2006-2007 I always had this sort of project in my head. Since then I have been on numerous exciting trips to Brazil, China, India, USA, Canada, Oman, UAE and the Caribbean. All lovely and fantastic places! But all in all those trips were all rather small, hasty and I never reached the state of feeling like I was living on the go/road. Seeing as taking a big trip is not something you do every year, I have been waiting to do it until it felt like a natural phase in my life. Originally I had hoped to find myself a partner by now, so that we could travel together and share a truly unique adventure. At the time of writing I have not been successful at this point, it was definitely easier to resign from my job, move out and rent out my flat.  But such is life and my attitude and expectations for my trip are so open minded and opportunistic that I believe that wherever the road takes me, I will for sure be heavily enriched – not financially, but definitely culturally and through new friendships and experiences. For me, now is definitely the right moment to go…

That’s the whole point – different and foreign impressions and experiences stimulates and inspires the mind. The above questions was once asked to me during a dinner party in Orange County upon hearing about my plan to go to Venezuela (2007). Hilarious as it was, I then realised people’s different take on other cultures, places and new adventures.

There is not a universal need for this kind of stimulation. People are different in how they desire new ventures, friendships and different experiences. I have to admit that I find it very exciting seeking new places, seeing new faces and having an open end to my adventure. Ever since I started hosting backpackers through Couchsurfing.org I have slowly realised surfer by surfer the intense urge I’ve built up to get out there again. My last trip was rather well planned with sights and locations pinned down in advance – this time around I will seek out my route as I’m on the road. I have learned from unique experiences before that having an open and flexible schedule can be culturally rewarding.

So I’m taking a break from working life, quit my job – rented out my flat and bought a one way ticket to Asia, with a potential return home in May from the US. Initial plan is to travel around India for 4 weeks (November-December) before I head towards Argentina and Buenos Aires. Between Buenos Aires and Stavanger there is not only the best beef in the world but also 6 months and two continents of countries to be explored. Even though my plan is quite open – I expect to visit the following countries; Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Guatemala and United States.

My travel-style will be slow and low budget. To keep down my cost I will seek out places where I can couchsurf for enough days to maintain a stable food budget and also have enough time to obtain cheap transportation between my locations. I am really excited about finally doing some couchsurfing myself as I have had numerous guests in Norway – both in Oslo and in Stavanger. If you are curious about Couchsurfing, read about it here – and check out my profile.

There is less than a month until I leave Norway. Most practical necessities have already been taken care off and basically I am ready to pack and leave any day now.

I will do my outmost to make this travel journal best reflect the experiences and places I will encounter. Entries will be written based upon personal experiences combined with relevant facts and information about my adventure. If you are keen to receive a notification in your inbox every time I publish something, please sign up using the subscription form below. Don’t worry – limited internet access and writing skills will make sure you won’t be spammed!

“3 Sjøersløpet” is an annual halfmarathon organized by the athletics and running club GTI. The name of the race literally translates into “The 3 lakes race” and that is exactly what it is – a race that takes you on a route along and around the three lakes of Stavanger. The distance has been officially measured to be 21,097.5 meters, translating into a half marathon.

The race is held in early November and despite cold weathers and being held in the end of the running season “3 sjøersløpet” is the most popular and crowd-pulling halfmarathon in Western Norway. Perhaps it is the beautiful scenery? The crispy autumn feel/look and smell or perhaps the fact that at this time of the year very few other athletic events draw peoples attention? Anyhow – this year’s event would be my second participation in the race and it would also be my second half marathon and my first half marathon after doing a sub 3,5 marathon in Berlin. In the preface for this race my mind had been set on training for speed, much aware that in order to break my PB from Berlin I would need to train more varied and more interval sessions. My goal was to simply scale down on the long runs and train smarter for two months and then break a new PB in Dubai (January 2011).

“3 Sjøersløpet” would be a sort of a mid-stage test in my training routine for Dubai. After having spent a week in Dubai in late October I had gained more mileage and was comfortable with running on a daily basis. However I quickly realized that I had forgotten about many vital preparations – among those carbing up on energy in the days before the race. Standing on the line waiting for the last 3-2-1-Go! countdown, I felt nervous, empty and I had little “power” available. As always with running on an empty stomach, after 8-9K things are alright and the body has succumbed and started tapping the heavier energy storage – this kept me going for another 8-9K until I started experiencing discomfort and slight pain on the right side of my right knee! I immediately felt nervous and I automatically re-calibrated my pace to see if running slower or with shorter strides would lessen the pain – nope! There was nothing stopping this and with the aim of a new PB in my head I just had to suck it in and stay with the pain. The race was on – and little did it help that opponents kept piling up behind me, some of them passing in a steady and much higher pace than me.

I do not recollect much of the last kilometres but focusing solely on a good pace/stride that at which I did not feel discomfort – there was no chance I would opt out and risk being listed with a DNF! Few minutes later I passed the finishing line at 01:33:35 – just over 3 minutes faster than my first race and despite the pain, a PB is a PB – and that alone is a reason to smile and be proud! :)

 Hi,

All is well in India, the country is still incredible and we are still impressed with the diversity and friendliness of this nation. Our journey has brought us from Amritsar to the Pakistani border, then north towards the Himalayas -where we stayed for two days and celebrated xmas in Dharamsala. This little mountain village is the home of Dalai Lama and his exile Tibetan government. As a contrast to other Indian cities, the place is relaxed, easy going and very at peace. The streets are filled with local merchants, Tibetan monks and cheap restaurants. Most places have different names, but they all serve the same dishes – and its all pretty pretty cheap. Even though the Lama was in town we did not get to see him. However we visited his temple and toured around his house, which supposively yields you good karma! Anything for next year I say!

After a somewhat wild and unexpectantly crazy xmas eve our journey continued eastwards to the holy city of Rishikesh. After 12 hours in a cold taxi (my longest taxi ride EVER, at ca USD 80), we managed to find a semi decent hostel where we could warm our bones and regain consciousness. The next two days were spent exploring the spiritual sites around Rishiskesh, including the Ganges, various ashrams, temples and the famous site of the Beatles in 1968.

Yesterday we arrived back in the supervillage of Delhi. Leaving behind relaxing, spiritualism, peacefulness and the countryside – Delhi once again confirmed to us the chaotic life of an Indian megacity. Meditation, birdsounds and incences were quickly swapped with dust, darkness, cows and endless roads and rickshaws. Luckily we only spent hours there before picking up Fredrik’s better half – Aasne. 6 hours later we were already boarded for the south, namely Bengaluru – to visit my Cass/UK buddy Arun.

We are still in Bengaluru currently residing at Arun’s family’s house. The city is great, relaxing, green and and not even close to the chaos present in Delhi. Since we came we have already met half of Arun’s family, been shopping and dined at the famous and prestigious Bangalore Club (where Winston Churchill still has an unpaid tab!). Tomorrow we are heading south for the Kerala backwaters where we will celebrate new years eve along with Fredrik’s sister, Martine and her friends. Hopefully we will see some elephands and perhaps a tiger on our way down there.

Greetings from me, Fredrik, Aasne and Arun. Thanks for a fantastic 2009 and best wishes for 2010!

Dear all,

2010 is almost here, and a lot of people are now celebrating xmas. For once, Stavanger is covered in proper xmas spirited snow, but I guess I have yet to experience that. This year’s celebration of the return of the Sun and the coming of the New Year has been chosen to be India, or shall I say Incredible India?

We are merely four days into our journey and I am still amazed by the richness of this country and what it has to offer. Everyone has a set of expectations before heading somewhere, but it is the levelling of those expectations with the perceptions once en route that is interesting. It is difficult to describe the first few days of India in few words – also internet in Daramshala does not want me to upload pictures so that is neither of any help. But I think this is a fairly good description: An exotic world of friendly, cultural and mind-blowing chaos! It is true what they say, whereever you go - India bombards you with smells, noises, people, dust, cars, rickshaws, curry, rice, prayers but maybe most importantly all the friendly people.

Me and Fredrik arrived in Delhi on Sunday morning. The first two days we spent exploring the mandatory sights and tips of Fredrik’s sister, Martine, who is working in the Norwegian Embassy in Delhi. Next on we headed with a night bus towards, Amritsar – the holy city of the Sikhs. Explored this and the Golden Temple thourogly before heading for the Pakistani border where we jumped off the bus to walk the last 5km to observe the Indian countryside. At the border we checked out the daily and very entertaining peacocking-battle between the Indian and the Pakistani border guards. Maybe something to consider for the Norwegian and Swedish border?

Today we arrived in Dhramsala, far up north and by the roots of the Himalayas. This is the place where Dalai Lama lives and where his Tibetan Govt is in exile. Hope to spend to relaxing days here, maybe do some yoga classes and tank up on some local food and beverages before we head south east towars Rishiskesh, where Beatles once found their inspiration for The White Album.

Merry xmas to you all!

for the rest of us, there is always Festivus!

Cheers,

Martin & Fredrik

….and we’re back – with a BIG update! prepare for a long read, so get that coffee and pack of biscuits ready

After our Brazilian adventure, we flew down to Santiago de Chile, to start on the last phase of our journey. Santiago would be the most southern destination on our trip, and from here we would make our way northwards towards Quito (from where we fly home in May).

Chile is a very different country than Brazil, very different indeed! With a shape like the crust of Argentina, Chile stretches from the southern tip of South America all the way up to Bolivia and Peru. In other words, Chile´s geography is one much similar to Argentina. Skinny and clinging on to the Andes, which separates the two the countries…Chile can only be compared to Argentina, climate and locationwise. Being the booming economy of South America the most recent years, Chile has the financial strength and stability the other countries are lacking. This is visible throughout the country, with a clear European feel present and the feel that everything is very different from other South American countries. Not only do people look differently, but prices even remind us of back home (no thanks!!!!!!!).

Santiago is by far Chile´s largest city, with appx. 6-7 million inhabitants. The city has a very new and impressive metrosystem, with most stations and trains not being older than a couple of years. When we asked some Chileans if the metro was new, most people answered: “no it is old, at least 2-3 years”. What is not so nice with Santiago´s transportation infrastructure is the heavy smog floating and hovering above the city at all times. To tourists like us, it only took us a couple of hours before we noticed the smog in our throats and eyes, slightly itching and annoying.

We spent two days in Santiago, on beforehand we had heard 50/50 good and bad things about the city. Some people claimed it to be a great venue for late night socialising, others complained about prices and pollution. All in all I guess the experience is very individual, to us it was a very pleasent one, perhaps it was because we stayed in one of the best-value hostels in South America, “Andes” (at the street corner of the metro stop Bellas Artes).

There is a lot to do in Chile, like in Argentina there are almost endless amounts of trekking, horseback-riding, hiking, climbing and skiing opportunities, but this time around we were only there for the cities, and we knew we head to get back on track northwards – so we headed to Valparaiso, hoping to be charmed by the so epically described old town, supposively boasting with artsy decorated buildings, now protected by UNESCO.

Valparaiso is famous for two things: logistics and art. The city is Chile`s most important seaport and has for centuries been a merchant town, acting as a pit-stop for North American ships sailing down and crossing the straits of Magellan. Cape Horn. After the Panama canal opened, the city has lost its monopolic glory on the western coast of South America, but it yet remains an important port to Chile, pacitic cargo boats and eastern Argentina.

The industrial view towards the every so busy port of Valparaiso

As a tourist destination, Valparaiso is famous for its old town, which is protected by UNESCO. This part of the city consists of old, charming buildings from the booming age where the city received immigrants from all over the world – leaving their mark on the city through architecure and cultural life. Many artists are attracted to the city to study the coloured houses, which often have paintings and special decorations on the outside.

After spending a day strolling around the city and checking out the recommended sights and places, we found the local Irish bar, where at night we celebrated St.Patricks day, the day that everyone is allowed to be Irish! The place, “Bar Irlandes”, was crowded with people eager to get their hands on a pint – which on the occasion was coloured green! We hooked up with a Swedish guy from the hostel, Johan, and entered the Valparaiso night scene as Norwegian-wannabe-Irish, perhaps not always convincing for others, but at least a funny evening! (Fun fact: the only Irish in the bar was the owner!)

Local artists leave their political expressions on walls throughout the city… One of the famous lifts that take you between streets in the steep hills of Valparaiso.

Crossing the Andes to Mendoza

A few days later we decided to head towards Mendoza, in Argentina. Johan, the Swede, was going the same way and joined us for the bustrip. Mendoza, Argentina’s major wine region (70% of all wine in Argentina is made there) is only 8 hours from Valparaiso, but to get there you have to cross the Andes, which at daytime allows for some spectacular views! At one point we drove past a alpine center (Chilean side), but there was no snow – so no luck in trying to get a few hours of skiing!

Zig-Zag-ing up the mountains

The bustrip crossed the Andes at altitudes of above 3500m above sea leve, but seeing as this was only for a short while, we did not sense the change in altitude. At times there during the winter there can be metres of snow, but due to the sun and unstable wind and weather, the snow only stays for a short while.

No snow – no skiing!

Mendoza Despues Chile, we headed off to Mendoza. Lovely Mendoza. Warm, pleasant little wine town, or at least it seems so. It feels like a little country village, but has in actual fact close to a million inhabitants. We sought upon us to try what the town had to offer. First up was paragliding, which was so and so (Watch Martin paragliding on YouTube, click here!). Tommy paragliding…

Bike-wine tour, with an American guy that looked like Borat. Very nice. We rented a tandem-bike and together with Borat, Johan the Swede and Yvonne the Germany we explored the fab. tastes and origins of Argentina’s famous Malbec…We visited two wineries, one very modern and high tech…and the other one more oldish, rather more typical-winery-looking. Both were interesting, leaving a good impression on us regarding the production and quality of the region! The wine is filtered several times so that all bits and pieces of grapes are removed…

Mendoza produces 70% of Argentina’s wine, and the most famous grape is the Malbec, which lately have received several good reviews back home in Norway. For those of you interest and capable of reading Norwegian, check out the following links: -“Argentinske godsaker” -“Malbec, Argentinas juvel” -“Du trenger bare kjøtt”

Maybe this is the birthplace for the grapes…the essence of that good wine you had last weekend?

Rafting, pretty poor actually. Horseback riding in this western looking scenery. Where the only thing missing were cardboard indians to fire at. Good fun.

Rock climbing with a Brazilian tour guide. One of the best things about the trip. Junior was his name and he didnt care if I had climbing experience or not. He just climbed ahead and I followed. Worth doing. The guy was like a lot of Braziilans with a lady in each town even though he was married. Solid entertainment he was. Last we went out with our new Irish friend David, who me met in BA,. He was currently studying in Mendoza and took us to the hottest night club. Unreal. So many wonderful looking girls in one nightclub. It even succeeded Vegas standard. Though worth mentioning is, that their conversational skills and social curteousy was at the other end of the specter.

Salta Arriving in Salta, we were determinded to only make it a few day lay over before heading into Bolivia. Noticable activities were watching the premiere of the anticipated 300. What a shame. It may be cinema porno for adolescent easily influentiable teenage spray kids, or your average Brit, but beyond its impressive visual it had a thinner plot than Kate Moss´ wasteline. So much for looking forward to the most homoerotic movie of 2007. We cried ourself to sleep.

Salar de uyuni During our trip, when we met people – we always asked if they had tips and recommendations to locations we were heading to. Most people had the same experiences, they all loved Buenos Aires, some hated Santiago – whilst others were exited with it. Bolivia it seemed made a great impression on most people, South Americas’s only third world country did not impress people with its cuisine or its climate. Personally I think that Bolivia stood out because that is really what it does – it is a very different experience, especially when compared to the atmosphere surrounding the highlife business districts of Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. Unlike other countries, Bolivia is landlocked after a historical war with Chile, leaving them without access to the pacific ocean and no exotic beaches to offer tourists.

When we left Salta and headed to Uyuni (at the salt planes) we knew that we were travelling towards the most budgetfriendly country on our trip. Bolivia is cheap, dirt cheap – in fact, it is so cheap that when I look at the people who live there I feel bad, as if I were an employer and I was underpaying all of them. Of course our stay in Bolivia was a relief both to our budget and the feeling of travelling very poor and literally avoiding any highcost items or experiences.

3kms outside Uyuni is the “cemetrario de los trenes”….a graveyard for old locomotives… In the picture: Boas,Martin,Jeremy,Susan,Jonathan and Tommy.

Uyuni is a small village located in the “outskirts” of the world’s largest salt planes. The “city” (town rather!) has 14,000 inhabitants, of whom most are involved in the tourist industry, with the salt planes as the main (only…) attraction. Locationwise, the town is remotely set in the Andean mountain range at 3400 metres above the sea level, approximately 8 hours north of the Argentinean border. The train ride from Villazon (BOlivia’s bordertown) to Uyuni was one of spectacular views! I have never beore rode a train in such beautiful landscape where every curve and bend of the railroad track provides with stunning almost jawbreaking views of the Bolivian highland. The ride passed the area close to the village of St.Vincent, where the American duo “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” ended their lives in the early years of the 20th century (the men were made famous by Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the movie bearing their names). Some people argue that they were killed, but in fact experts claim that they took their own lives during an ambush by the Bolivian army.

Back to Uyuni! We arrived late at night, it was cold and dark. With our newly befriended fellow travellers (Boas, Jonatham and Susan from Holland and Jeremey from dowunder) we quickly rushed out of the train, ready to roam the streets to make sure that we secured beds for the night, before the other backpackers/travellers! The next day we spent exploring the numerous tourist shacks, offering various tours to the salt planes. After consulting a tourist information office with a ranking service, we ended up with a company called Blue Line, and the next morning we were all off on a 3 day trip with two Bolivian brothers, one of them Franz the driver and the other one, Juan the guide and master of the English language.

Note: This was the FIRST time we used the Norwegian flag… we have not been on a world crusade showing off nordic patriotism!

The trip itself exceeded all my expectations, we had a really good time driving for hours in vast and empty terrain – playing games in the car and listening to each others iPod. For food breaks, the brothers would make meals in the trunk of the car, and every day we had a new dish. We did not see the salt planes until the last day, a decision we made on forehad based on recommendations from other backpackers. By doing this we got to save the bast for the last, and enjoy the sunrise on the gigantic and endless, white salt planes. The planes cover 12,000 square kilometres and vary in depth from just 1m to a 12metres. Any rock or mountain formation that appear in or around the planes contain traces and pieces of coral formations – from waaay back in the past when everything was covered with water.

It is difficult to describe everything we experienced during our trip, because we saw so much and did so many different things. But to sum up I can say that we drove up to a max altitude of more than 5000 m. above sea level, we bathed in hot springs (NICE!!!), saw many different animals, got a sightseeing throuhg a 1000+year old graveyard with authentic mummies stowed into natural coral formations. All in all the trip left us with a lot of impressions, and it was only natural to recommend Blue Line to other backpackers. For 3 days…all included, we paid $80 per person.

At the salt planes, it is both fun and easy to manipulate angles and depths of images…here Jeremy is angry at his fellow travellers and just about to step on us!

La Paz La Paz is the highest situated capital in the world. The city is so crowded and busy that the people who flock to it literally fills up the valley, like an overfilled cup of water. Perhaps not the best analogy – but seeing as the valley actually creates a physical bounday between whats inside the city and outside, a lot of people and business try to “fit in”. This does not necessarily create the Manhattan-effect, where people build taller and taller buildings… no one can afford that in Bolivia. Instead, people are everywhere, and there are almost no regular (private) cars, the streets are merely filled with taxis and random bus services.

A view from one of the hillsides down into central La Paz

The crowded atmosphere does not make it as charming and fascinating as perhaps a business district, it provides chaos. And if you add pollution, cold climate and regular rain – well then I guess you do not really have the most beautiful and efficient city of South America at your feet. Sorry to say, but even though its different to be in La Paz, and see all the people living on the streets, with more pharmacies around than there are Starbucks in Seattle (is it possible???) – it just gave me the feeling of “wanting to get away”. Of course it was culturally exciting to see the extremely religious parades during the easter (no photos allowed!), the whole town kind of had a suppressive and sad feeling to it.

At the witches market you can buy dead lifeforms in many shapes and sizes….dont know what it will be good for, but I guess it cures something?

There are tons of things to do in La Paz, and most people are nice – in addition its dirt cheap, so if it wasnt for the location and the temperature, I might have sticked around longer. But at that point (at least I), we were a bit fed up with the altitude and the temperature. Even Vikings enjoy some sun and hot climate!

Martin at some gathering square in downtown La Paz…yes it was cold!

Leaving La Paz…. Martin and I split up for a bit, having different objectives. He stayed in La Paz, I went with the bus to Rorrenbaque. I had heard things to fear from Bolivian bus trips, so it wasn’t without prejudice I entered the 11 o clock bus for the little Amazon town known as Rorrenebaque. When the bus finally did take off two hours later (an expected delay in Bolivia) it was with me crammed in a seat fit for midgets. The first part was cruisy. Then the latter part of the infamous death road started and the bus was now turning and churning in race car speed with up to 400 meters straight drops on various sides of the gravel path. The bus driver had tecno trance music on the whole time, I think to keep the cocaine flowing freely in him. As the night progressed and the road eventually flattened out and the half dozen chickens and pair of cats and one stinky dog on the bus had quieted down and I kicked my feet up buddha style and leaned back to enjoy a fruitful 3 hours of sleep before somehow the now overdosing bus driver had managed to get the bus stuck in a deep mud pool. This led to the first highly celebrated toilet break of the 16 hour drive. Everyone went out into the bushes and I decided to keep what little dignity I had and go a little further than the rest. Up the road I started focusing on a tree and a big lump it had in the middle of the branches. Mind you it was dark and only possible to see throught the siloutte of the sky. Suddenly that big black lump dropped eloquently from the tree like a wild animal, and I without having interest or a death wish to investigate the matter closer I chose to ran like a girl back to the bus and there I enjoyed the company of the numerous farm animals that would surely be a prey before me. As eventful as only a Bolivian bus tour can be, it ended in the wee hours of the next morning and I joined my pre booked trip to the Amazon

It started strong. First we had to drive four hours to the river side. Along the way we stopped to. you know what, i rushed into the closeby gras and went about my business as I realize my business is also the business of a two meter long anaconda at my feet. Momentarily paralyzed, I in retrospect am glad the snake decided to slither away instead of choking me to death. I managed to muster the words snake and our guide plummeted in after the anaconda to catch it without luck. LIttle did we know that the day after, our daylight hours would be spent in knee deep water chasing a giant acnaconda we never got to catch nor see, neither did any other groups that week, and so it turns out that me and the Australian guy who shared my panic were lucky enough to get to see the infamous beast up close early first day.

After arriving at out riverside we all got on a little river cano with a little engine. We tuc tuct away for two hours amongst monkeys in trees, pink freshwater dolphins and flooded green bushes. It was hot and sweet and as far from home as you could get. A lost world indeed. Halfway along the trip to our pillared bodegas, we stopped to swim with the pink dolphins. Allegedly as long as the flippers are there, the crocs and, piranas and anacondas stay away for you to enjoy the perfect tempered murky, but fresh water. It was delightful. At camp, which is one big connected fleeting wooden tree housed building with sunset teracce, the dinner was waiting. The remaining days were filled with chasing crocodiles, which we did see, harassing monkeys, chasing the elusive anaconda and swimming with dolphins. And everytime we got hungy our own chef lady cooked up a grand meal. All in all, three days with luxury treatment for less than 50 dollars. Bolivia is cheap. So cheap you start feeling like a millionar and not a mere poor backpacker.

After the trip I decided one way with the bus was enough and I had to wait two days for the planes to depart due to muddy take off strip. I spent the days reading and laying in the hostel hammock. And when feeling sociable hung out with two girls from the Amazon trip. An Israeli girl and a German girl, who depsite constant bickering and arguing were good friends. Even though the German girl would say to the jewish girl; snell Jeuden and she would respond vete Nazi. All in good humour. The world has come a long way and I found the lack of political correctness to be hilarious. Screw political correctness.

….our gallery @ http://gallery.discosuperfly.biz is slightly updated, we will however return with one final newsletter in a few weeks, with more pictures and after that, we have a very cool suprise in the form of a creative multimedia product  hehe

Next location: Bolivia
Current location: Salta, Argentina
Last location: Mendoza, Argentina

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Prepare for a BIG update!

Porto Alegre (Martin)
Our first stop in Brazil, was Porto Alegre. The city is appx. 7 hours from the Uruguay border. Porto Alegre is not only one of the largest cities in Brazil, it is also regarded as the one of the most important cities of Southern Brazil. The city is a cultural, economical and political center… but as we quickly found out.. it was not a center of tourism. During our time in PA we saw no other tourists, and there are literally no hostels around, the only decent in price we could find was a semi-dodgy-prison-cell-lookalike “hotel” called “Hotel Uruguai”.

We chose to visit Porto Alegre to meet up with an old schoolmate of Martin from Venezuela, Antonia. At the day of arrival we were tired, hungry and the very humid and hot climate in PA made our hunger for food even greater. As we met up with Antonia, she took us to a highclass steakhouse/churrasceria where waiters would literally lineup to serve you any type of beef. In fact, each guest was given a green/red brick to indicate if you want more (green) or if you had enough (red). During the meat-feasting we caught up with memories from our days in Venezuela, although far from bestbuddies or really close friends at the time – we shared many funny memories about people and places.

Tommy enjoying the company of Antonia`s girlfriends in the backseat…

The food at the restaurant was amazing and it was a perfect star for our Brazilian adventure. After the meal Antonia took us for a drive, showing us around in the city…telling funny tales and old stories from all her good times in the city.

Yes I know I look funny! To my defense I think I was chewing a VERY sour piece of lime… quite sour indeed!

Later, we met up with her friends; Duda, Julia and Moria…. After enjoying a chopp (draught beer) downtown we wanted to head to town and check out the (according to Antonia) very good clubbing scene of Porto Alegre. However, the girls were tired (!!!!) from partying too much the day before. Oh well, I guess we just arrived on the wrong day….

Florianopolis – Ihla de Santa Catarina, Barra da Lagoa (Tommy)

The other days at Ihla De Santa Catarina, were spent tanning, surfing, hakisaking and eating icecream. Lots and lots of icecream. I like icecream. They have icecream parlours were you pay and weigh. Brilliant concept for those of you out there that want to taste every little flavour. In Floridanapolis it is feasible. One tiny little teaspoon of every sweet delicious icecream sabor you can imagine. I like icecream. I´m considering putting straps around a little freezer and have icecream with me everywhere I go. Say it with me, I love icecream. It dont matter if you´re a chocolate, straberry, kiwi, mint, orange, banana, hassel or vanilla icecream. Its all part of the icecream family. I pass no judgement on what color my icecream is. If the world was as liberal as my icecream views are we´d be getting somewhere. Or in the words of J. Seinfeld – Look to the cookie Elaine. I say look to the icecream Martin. Look to the icecream.

When we weren´t eating icecream we visited excellent rock diving areas to show off our fenomonal cannonball skills. Casper a dutch surfer also showed us to a famous beach known as Praia Mole. Praia Mole makes Venice Beach look like fat camp. Stit galore and ssa fantastico.

All in all Florinapolis was good for a little while, but there were some drawbacks. Prices, unfriendly people and the icecream melted very fast are worth mentioning.

In the end of our stay we met up with these two funky Swedes Wictor and Philip who joined us to Foz de Iguazu.

Florianopolis, the view from our hostel in Barra da Lagoa

Iguacu Falls (Martin)
After a looooong busride, we finally arrived on the Brazilian side of the Iguacu Falls. Having been advised to simply skip this side and rush to the Argentinean side we disobeyed the tips and recommendations given by the local tourist boyscout and headed back to Argentina. The difference is more than a border; the Brazilian side has only one look-out to the falls, the city is smaller and considered more boring and the prices are between 30-50% higher. Naturally, if you have good time, one would prefer to see it all from all sides. However, time was not on our side, and even though we were going back to Brazil, we couldn´t waste a second.

On the first night, we took the Swedes out to dinner – and taught them about the Argentinean beef culture… Ingen kjoettbullar her!

As we made it to the Argentinean side we quickly found our way to the hostel, recommended to us by the owner whom we met in Florianopolis. The name was “Hostel Sweet Hostel”, but after a couple of days, I felt more like calling it “Home Sour Home”. Basically, this was a family´s house, with a couple of extra bed rooms, limited water supply shower, no breakfast (even though they said so!) and the “free internet” was merely the family`s own computer, available for usage whenever the teenage child was not enthusiastically enganged in an MSN chat or some dorky computer game. No, even though it was cheap – this felt like a paid intrusion into a home.

The falls are huge and spreads over a large area, making small waterfalls everywhere… the nature around is stunning with 1000s of butterflies, caymans, turtles and plenty of exotic trees and birs!

Victor, Tommy and Martin – posing in front of the massive and humming “Devil´s throat”!

Good hostel – Bad Hostel. At the end of the day, you actually just sleep there, and in Iguacu, there`s hardly time to sleep. The nearby falls are considered some of the largest in the world. Actually, the proper Spanish name is “Cataratas del Iguazú”. The waterfalls consists of about 270 falls along 2.7km of the Iguazu River. The falls range in height from about 60m to 150m (The Devil`s Throat). Some people we met said that Niagar Falls was much better, but by looking at facts and the location and I would surely vote for Iguacu:

Size `em up!
-The water falling over Iguazu in peak flow has a surface area of about 400,000 square metres (1.3 million square feet)
-Niagara has a surface area of under 183,000 square metres (600,000 square feet)
… only the Victoria Falls in Zambia and Zimbabwe is larger with an area of over 550,000 square metres (1.8 million square feet).
In terms of water volume:
-Victoria’s annual peak flow is 9.1 million litres per second
-Iguazu’s annual peak flow is 6.5 million, though in times of extreme flood the two have recorded very similar maximum water discharge (well in excess of 12 million litres per second.).
-Niagara’s annual peak flow is about 2.8 million liters per second,

We did the boat trip, joining a massive RIB with 2 x Yamaha F250`s under the falls. No surprise but we did get soaking wet yes! But it was extremely cool to experience the falls “from within”…

Travelling with the Swedes, we all got obsessed with Borat and the Borat language.. HOW MUCH!??? Jigshemash!

Sao Paulo (Tommy)

Just wanting to check out Sao Paolo briefly, we came in with the bus in the wee hours of the day and put our bags in storage. Having heard several dodgy things about the city we decided to bring all our visa cards and money just to test what these Sao Paolo hoodlings were worth. I bet Kristianslyst is more hard core. Kidding.

With many million users a day, the subway system was highly functinonal and the best way to get around. The city is unattainable big. It was impossible for us to get a proper grasp on it. Mexico city which according to Mr Know it all Martin is bigger but felt half the size. Sao Paolo is almost a country within itself.

No showering for the last 48 hours had us polluting the already polluted air extensivily more. One bar of soap. One handicap toilet. One big sink. Two dirty backackers. And a range of disgusted looks added with five minutes and yours truly were smelling like daisies. We are learning the way of the backpacker. Or the way of the hobo if you want to call it that.

Having given up on seeing Sao Paolo at its fullest we searched for my favourite place. A cinema. After having pursued a dozen directions on cinema locations, only ending up at nudie boot cinemas we at last managed to track down a standard cinema. We watched ghost rider, and thats all i got say about that. In the evening we headed back to the bus station and set our sails (metephorically speaking off course) for Ihla Grande.

Aftermath: In Sao Paolo you are legally allowed to drive on a red light at dark due to car kidnappings and general crime associated with your car not moving. What ever that means.

Morcheeba – Sao Paolo is a sweet song. “Sao Paolo if I drink anymore I will drown.”

Claudia was missing from Sao Paolo. Where were you? Other Sao Paolo girls weren´t that impressive.

Ihla Grande (Tommy)

Wild monkeys like bananas, too bad I stuffed it with acid. Revenge is a bitch. Monkeys on acid. Now that´s comedy for you.

…There were no snow peaked andes mountains. No broken plane. No artic cold. Not a pile of dead bodies from a previous proud rugby team, now all prepared to be eaten. None the less I was lost in the mountains and nobody knew I was there. Ethan Hawk was in Alive, I was as well. After having reached the Peak of the parrot (Pico the papagui, i believe its in Portugese) I managed to loose the trail back and got stuck in a dense tangling bamboo snakey forest. It seems stupidity never eludes me. The cruel little monkeys were laughing at me. Jumping from tree to tree like they were all that. Damn you monkeys. No snakes hissing yet. Maybe I was in luck. After having tangled and untangled for the better of half an hour I managed to get back to the top again and I found the trail. Sweet, sweet trail. Look who´s laughing now monkeys. Evolution, that´s who laughing. Haha…

Florianapolis had been a bit of a disappointment. Ihla Grande was the destination that needed to salvage our Brazil beach paradise impression. We headed out to the island with a charming yellow fishing boat. Clear skies. Friendly sun rays. and azur calm seas had our expectaions rocketing. Paradise was at our feet. After arriving at our hostel, which had its terrace in the lagoon, it was appaerent Ihla Grande was on our side. First day we took a boat to a recognized beach called Lopez Mendez. Its considered one ot the top 10 beaches in the world. It offered everything you want in a beach. Monkeys. Surf on the far side, calm seas on the other end. Rock pool areas. Warm ocean. Shaded palm areas. And most importantly of all, no constructions. No skyscrapers. No cabanas. Only two portable soda stands. After doing what Martin does best. Laying in the sun for hours at an end. We walked back on a nice jungle walk for two hours to get back to the hostel. At the hostel a large barbeque was just starting with as much meat as you could eat. And Martin can eat a lot. Every hostel in Brazil claim they make the best bittersweet caprinha. Aquarius on Ihla Grande is no exception. Who am I to argue. Its good to be a backpacker.

Stranger, Jennny, Martin, Roha, Fairbrother, Sarah

Later that evening after doing social calls I realized that there were almost ten Norwegians at the hostel. I´m telling you. Watch out. Before you know it we will be stocking up our long viking ships and boarding your dock. Just wait, one of these days I tell you. It wont be a pretty sight.

Next day was spent exploring the town, which have 500 inhabitants. All of them which are genuinly nice, and happy to be were they are. On other notes the island have got 90 beaches, 60 of them are uninhabitated. Several jungle treks. Water falls. Monkeys and the occasional snake in Paradise.

The day after, Martin and I felt adventures and went to find a notorious waterfall. First part was easy sailing, but when the trail divided we got lost. And before we new it we passed a crazy deranged black guy yelling Walt. A little further up the track we saw a dodgy arabian looking guy fiddling with some antenna. And when we finally reached the top of the waterfall we saw a stunning beauty showering. It was like a Herbal essences commercial. We named her freckles.

Lopez Mendez, yes, she walked in front of the frame voluntarily

Martin all baby oiled up for your viewing pleasure. Haha

The Island was a delight, but Brazil is expensive so we decided to punch through and leave paradise. Rio was at our feet. Martin left first. I had been looking at the highest mountain of the Island and decided to join him later. Papa de Papagui was gonna be mine… …After having fought through the jungle for 4 hours, I got on a boat and headed for Rio, Ipanema.

Rio de Janeiro (Martin)

Leaving behind the tropical paradise of Ihla Grande, we entered the almost as tropical and almost exotic city of Rio de Janeiro. Until now Buenos Aires has been our favourite city, but Rio despite its higher prices and more dodgy-feel are definitely challenging Buenos Aires. What makes this legendary and so much talked about city beautiful is simply the location and the people! Perhaps one could argue that Buenos Aires` planned layout and clever infrastructure makes it superior in mobility, but BA does not come near to the beauty of Rio de Janeiro. The city is located between hills, small mountaintops, long beaches, green forest areas and lagoons in between the beaches and the hilltops. Never before have I seen a city so close to nature, but still being so urban and metropolitan.

The beautiful view from the Jesus Christ statue, appx 700m above sea level… in the middle is Ipanema beach..

The view towards the Sugar Loaf (center) and Copacabana (right).. notice all the bays, hills and beach areas…

Now in Rio there are plenty of things to do, even when its not Carneval! Since we were flying to Santiago de Chile in less than a week, we cut down activities to the most basic stuff that we wanted. The first day we signed up for a Favela Tour, which is quite pricey, but the trip is organized by a charity… and most of the money the received they use to run and upgrade a child-care center in the Rocina Favel (supposively Rio`s largest favela). Before coming to Rio, we had heard stories of other people doing this trip – and they all said it was worth it, even if it might seem dodgy. Having heard some scary stories from the barrios of Venezuela, I hesitated at first, but on a second consideration we signed up.

Tommy and me on a roof, with the favela in the back… 300,000 people lives here..”

Most houses rests on very unstable pillars of concrete, many houses collapse during a year..

In comparison to a barrio (like the ones in Venezula), Favelas are more organized with people responsible for housing rights, water/electricity rights and throughout the entire favel most services and products can be bought. Even though most people cheat and steal power by connecting a simple cord to the electricity lines that run across the street, things are (at least in this favela) run according to a certain set of rules. If they are constantly upheld, I do not know. But as we were told, firms in Rio have to pay the transportation for their workers, and so workers near Rio are favorized over those living in the cheaper suburbs, hence more people accept a lower standard of living, in the downtown favelas. Our trip through the favela started with a motorcycle trip from bottom to the top, where our guide took us through the narrow streets on a 3 hour walk in between schools, houses, shops, mini-bars and a art studio. It was amazing to see life from the inside, childrens would flock around us and were eager to be photographed. Most people I think appreciated these trips, on weekdays backpackers like us would come by twice a day.

The children were very happy to receive candy, sodas or cakes that we bought in a small favelashop.

I do not just walk into a favela like I walk into a mall in Norway. Having worked with charity and somewhat similar conditions/environment before I felt like taking the opportunity of seeing as I had the chance. Now I know a lot of people would not do it, and some strongly advises against it, but at the same time it is about the attitude and signal you send off, who you are with and the location. We were told that it would be safe (you can never be sure though…), and I did not bring any flashy gadgets, credit cards or money with me… at least not a lot. But – experiencing the favela I realised that even though these people live like this they do not necessarily mean or want trouble. One of the reasons why people do live like this is proximity to the city (workside, prev. mentioned) and the community and nature surrounding Rio. During our trip through the favela we met a lot of different people, children, artists, old/retired people and off course the more dodgy people carrying weapons. Obviously, the place is not always a place of peace. Luckily, the tour operator works together with these “thugs” as they too do not wish to harm the neighboorhood….

Tommy, the tourmembers and the children of the favela – proudly showing off their toys…

On the other days of our Rio adventure we did the classic tourist sites of the Sugar Loaf and the Christ statue. Both deliver spectacular sights, with panorama views in each direction.

Catching the last sun on the Sugar Loaf, Christ in the back…

On the Sugar Loaf, Copacabana beach in the back..

On the Saturday of our stay in Rio, we met up with Fabiola – who we met in Buenos Aires. She took us to a bar and restaurant with her two friends, Monique and Sofie. At first we had a lovely meal on a eat-as-much-as-you-can-pizza place, then a couple of drinks at a nearby bar(with cinnamon! nam nam) and later we went to a local disco/nightclub, were me and Tommy felt like we were the only gringos around! Gringo or non-gringo, the place was cool and the music was cooler. In the later hours, the place played Brazilian funk, which is a very weird genre…consisting of massive funky strange beats and a very ugly boy voice screaming quite dirty words to the audience. Despite my different taste in music, I liked the atmosphere and the funk was cool…

Looking “too” cool at the peak with the Christ statue…

65metres of impressive stonecarving!

In addition to browsing the streets, shops and tourist sights we also checked out the Ipanema and Copacabana beaches. These are perhaps the most famous beaches in the world, and I will have to say that they attract quite a crowd. Ipanema is divided into “cool-zone” (urban jetsettes/beautiful people)… more sporty zone and the gay-zone. Copacabana has even more divisions… but we preferred Ipanema, the area is nicer, safer and the beach looks better. Important to notice though is that the water quality is quite poor…but who goes to a beach to swim??? We did not bring our camera to Ipanema, but suprise suprise…. the atmosphere cannot be caught on tape, go there and experience it yourself… hah

Can you do the JTB?

Current location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Last location: Ihla Grande, Brazil

———-

After several successful days in Buenos Aires, we figured it was time to head north and check out Uruguay and Brazil. As there is only a small ocean/large bay between the Buenos Aires area and the Uruguaian city of Coloniel, we chose to embark on our northbound journey by boat.

Coming from Buenos Aires, we did not really have any expectations towards our stay in Uruguay. We had only heard good things about the country, and we knew it was supposed to be similar both in terms of language and price level. Our first stop was Montevideo (1,3mill.people) , a quiet and very relaxed capital set on the shore. The city is ranked as the city in Latin America with highest quality of life and regarded among the 30 safest cities in the world(I´d go for Buenos Aires!). We didnt really explore the city itself, but spent a good while walking along the boardwalk, enjoying the oceanic view and enjoying some hacky-sack practicing under the sun.

I like Uruguay´s flag! The sun emblem is the ‘Sun of May’; it is a symbol of freedom and independence. The nine stripes represent the nine provinces of Uruguay, which existed at the time of the flags creation.

Regarding the city name, Montevideo. According to Wikipedia, the first theory is that the name originates either from Portugese meaning “I see mountain”, or that the Spaniards recorded the location of a mountain in a map as “Monte VI De Este a Oeste” meaning “The sixth mountain from east to west”. Personally, I saw so many cinemas in the city, I think the name stems from the time when people were building cinemas, hence in Norwegian: Monter Video! haha, typical Martin humour…. ey?

It didnt seem like there was much going on in Montevideo. The hostel we stayed at was nothing like the one in Buenos Aires. Functional-wise it could be compared, but the atmosphere was dull and the Borat-wannabe-without-purpose receptionst was the only thing that made it stand out. Music wise, playing Red Hot´s latest album on repeat is what I would regard as mean audio-torture!!!! Anyways, we survived and left on the morning of my birthday, heading to a small coastal fishing village by the name of Punta del Diablo (about 5hrs northeast of Montevideo, towards the Brazilian border). Most people tend to visit Punta del Este, which is the Argentina-Uruguaian-SouthBrazilian answer to any hot-pricey-partying location in Southern France. A quick look at our budget, Punta del Diablo seemed both more plausible and “unique”.

Punta del Diablo was/is unique, but perhaps not as paradise-ish as we expected, reading and hearing about it. We do not know why it is called “the Devil´s point”, perhaps it is because of all the beetles that appear in the dark of the night, leaving beetles corpses/carcasses literally everywhere. In my opinion, Punta del Diablo is no place to visit if you fear creepy insects or if you can´t handle sudden and unexpected beetles to randomly fly into your face, upperbody or even ears/hair. Haha. On the contrary, the place is a popular site for surfers and hippies/artists. The beaches are nice, the landscape is almost untouched by commerical tourism and the streets are unpaved, with small restaurants/pubs along the mainstreet towards the oceanfront.

Our first night in Punta del Diablo was spent at a “hostel” some 8 blocks (appx, 1km, first time I heard someone calling wild nature “blocks”) from the beach. The place was cheap, but the dorms had some 25-30 beds, the choice seemed simple – a private tent was easily much more preferred. In the evening we had a few drinks with the hostel crowd, and later we searched the town for a open bar…only one place on the beach was open, but it was my birthday, and naturally we had to celebrate. Let´s just say I wasn´t the cleverest guy at dancing that night!

Next day we hooked up with two Norwegian girls, Tone and Linn, who we met in Buenos Aires. They came all the way from Buenos Aires just for one night…quite a journey! We ditched the hostel and rented a somewhat “charming” and rather unfinished beachhouse, at $40 per night.

Our very own beachresidence, quite the experience..

Norwegian meet-up in Punta del Diablo, no clubbing without a proper “Vorspiel”!

I would recommend people to visit Punta del Diablo, it is truly uniqe, and going there you travel for hours seeing many towns and the very beautiful landscape of Uruguay. The location is very remote, with few shops/mercados, no banking possibilites, a bus-station that looks like a kiosk, internet cafes are called “Cyber” and the town itself only has a population of about 400 people.

Getting away from Punta del Diablo, you can either go south to the more urban areas of Uruguay (Montevideo/Punta del Este…) or you can catch a bus to souther locations in Brazil. To do this you need to reach the bordertown of Chuy, located EXACTLY on the Uruguaian/Brazilian border. In fact, the mainstreet divdes the city. Most people speak both Spanish and Portugese and the city has a very “harry (redneck)” feel to it. This means that it can be compared to bordershoppingtowns in Sweden or Germany. Big families from Brazil flock to Chuy to buy cheaper electronics, beer and candy (why is it always that its the stuff that makes you stay home and get unhealthy that is tax-free???).

Arriving in Chuy we missed the first bus at 12.30 to Porto Alegre in Brazil. Next bus was scheduled at 23.00, giving us plenty of time to explore this “very exiciting” town. Before leaving, we had to complete immigration procedures, getting the Uruguaian exit stamp and the Brazilian entry stamp.

More on Brazil and the exotic adventures in country of beaches, capirinhas and bikinis soon…

At last, a few statistical facts about our blog:
-61% of our visitors are returning visitors
-We have had a total of 3,500 pageviews and 1,200 unique visitors
-51% of our visitors get to our site via www.discosuperfly.biz/travel, the rest via links/google/e-mails
-64% of the visitors are located in Norway
-7% of the visitors are located in United States
-English is the dominant language of our visitors
-20% of our users use Lyse Internett (Norway)

Take care, and use insect repellent!

- Martin

Next location: Ihla Grande and Rio (Brazil)
Current Location: Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Last Location: Iguazu falls (Argentina)

In US of A its all about the Benjamins, in Argentina its all about the beef.

The truly amazing thing with the Argentinian beef is not that its the best youll ever taste (it is), its not that its the nicest red color, its not that it costs you close to nothing, its not that it makes you want to go primal and go hunting naked (it does)…

its the fact that it is so tender you can use your tongue alone to handle it. No teeth needed. It is almost like butter, yet with the greatest texture.

But from one type of beef to another, gayclubs and dancing shirtless on stage. Haha, ill get to that.

Martin and I flew in to Buenos Aires from Caracas on a Saturday morning. After having a quick breakfast we went looking for hostel. Luckily it was still early, so that killer summerheat was still dorment. We found a street with three in a row. Things were looking good. The saturday was spent walking around and checking out the city, which is huge and majestetic for the most. Our initial impression was that the Argentinian girls were subpar lookwise compared to the Venezuelans beauties we had left behind. In retrospect, I was wrong. They are a different kind of gorgeous.

Later that Saturday we met up with a friend of Martins from Venezuela called Mario. He was a nice guy and showed us around. Sunday we met up with Andreas a norwegian aquintance of Martin. Cool dude, very similar minded. He took us out to a famous beef place which changed my view on vegetarians from respected animal friendly individuals to fu¨¨ing loosers. If you dont eat meat changes are i dont trust you. haha. After having our religious beef experience we thought it about time to check out the infamous BA night scene. We were told that the only place happening on a Sunday was a semi-gay club called Amerika. A nightclub is a nightclub we figured and headed out with Andreas.

Amerika was fully gay. Half the men had sunglasses and their shirts off. Maybe a nightclub isn´t just a nightclub, but a beer is a beer. Regardless, the night turned into day and we all stumbled home after a great party.

Half way through the week we changed to a hostel called Portal del sur. Best hostel I´ve ever stayed at, staff were legitamately friendly, the guests were all cool and we were a bit like a big family. We ate dinner together and went out together. Good times. Great success.

BA is called the Paris of South America, Martin found that description right on. From the dog shit in the street to the old and classical architecture. A great city to just walk around in

A great place to visit is the famous graveyard in Recoleta. Hundreds of above ground graves. New ones and old ones. Some were creepy as… (hell). Flies were buzzing around and hundreds of cats roamed the alleys. And though many tourists were there, its so big you can wander freely. If it was in US they probably would have put up speakers with crow sounds and chain rattling, but personally I think it was a fairly respectful place for Evita Peron´s body to rest.

Halfway through the week, by freak coincedence, Tone a Norwegian girl I went to University with on the Gold Coast recognized me in the hostel lobby. She and her friend Linn were the first Norwegians we had met on our trip so far, and it turns out I knew one of them. Norway is a small country.

We both undertook spanish courses during the week in Buenos Aires. Martin felt it was better with one lesson there, than his whole 3 months course in Norway. Personally I have learned enough to make myself understood with an extensive amount of hand gestures.

The last day we went outside the city to a little colonial suburbish town of BA called Tigre. A city built around its swampish southern US kind of canals. Charming place.

All in all Buenos Aires is strong on my recommandation list.
it has a has a great vibe to it, safe, pitoresque and dirt cheap for anyone from a country with a stable currency.

Check out the rest of the pictures from BA on http://gallery.discosuperfly.biz

Chao
Tommy

Last location: Caracas, Venezuela
Current location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Next location: Brazil (on Monday)

When Colombus first arrived the Americas (1498) he arrived on the shores of Venezuela. Upon seeing the hut-on-water like civilization they nickname the country Venezuela, meaning “little Venice”. Venezuela has since been known for its petroleum industry, the environmental diversity of its territories and of course, its women (Venezuela still has the world record for most Ms.Worlds). In terms of its nature, Venezuela can provide you with tanning and swimming on the Carribbean coast, hiking in the Andeas at 5000m+, trekking in the jungle in the Amazon, riding on horses like cowboys (Llaneros) in Los Llanos, fishing piranhas in the orinoco delta, the colonial charm of small villages outside Caracas and on the coast and of course, the world´s largest waterfall, Salto Angel in Canaima.

All of these features gave birth to the reference; “Tierra de Gracia” (Land of Grace). Which makes sense, considering these mentioned attributes…if you come to think of it, can you ask for more?

A new brigde is under construction on the highway from the airport to Caracas. The construction area creates a bottleneck that can vary the trip from anything to just under an hour to 3-4hours.

Perhaps the only thing lacking is what is still resisting Venezuela from beckoming a major tourist destination and a rich international economic player…this thing is called stability. Currently there are a lot of political turmoil surrounding President Chavez, his “agenda” and how the Venezuelan people react towards what is happening in their country. In economic classes, Venezuela is used as an example in foreign exchange lectures, no wonder…last year inflation was at 17%, and just recently Chavez said he would cut parts of the VAT to “improve” inflation numbers. In addition to this, the country has already imposed price controls on meat and sugar, another measure to fight instability. Even though these numbers might seem like they could provide a tourist with a cheap vacation, or perhaps a company with cheap operations, there is the additional crime level, which currently are among the highest in South America (particulary in the area of murder and rape…). Some numbers we were presented with said that in the male age group 15-40, more than 35% of deaths were related to shootings/murders. That is very scary…

A very good view of Caracas, behind the mountain (El Avila) is the Carribbean…

We arrived in Venezuela on monday the 5th of February, during our stay we would stayed at my dad´s colleague´s family (Thank you Tjaalands!)..and so they helped us out with transportation from the airport to Caracas. If this is not pre-arranged, you will probably have some 300 Venezuelan men approaching you, literally fighting each other to offer a taxi.

For me this would be the first time in Venezuela since I left in 2001, 6 years ago. For Tommy it was his first time on the continent. Our plan was originally to fly in to Caracas and then catch a bus towards the Brazilian border. However, during our stay in Caracas we realised the risk we would take and after talking to several people, we chose to deviate from Plan A and go south by airplane (to Buenos Aires, where we are now…). The area that we would pass through is far inland, in a poor area influenced by a border conflict (Venezuel vs. Guyana), gold miner problems and we were told, very untrusty (corrupt) officals. Suddenly, Argentina´s $4 steak and $1 beer sounded much more tempting….

Yet another capital city conquered…what´s next?

But we got a week in Caracas, and a good week it was. It was nice to see the city again, and to finally be on the South American continent. To my surprise it was difficult to spot any big changes to the city, the changes were more present in the psyche and the general tension/feeling in the streets. In general people are very friendly and Caracas is a modern and beautiful city, with many green parks and the jungle almost fighting to make it through modern urban civilization.

Me in front of Mirador Plaza, the place I used to live….

During our stay we went hiking in the Avila at 5:45 am (almost pitch black at start!), saw the Simon Bolivar museum, checked out my old neighbourhood, visited and dined in the carming city of El Hatillo and I got to return to the school I attended, meeting the staff and seeing the renovated campus area.

Tommy hiking in the “jungle” of el Avila…

Our week went really fast, and very smooth. We got to see lots of Caracas in a very short while, and we owe big thank´s to Tjaaland´s and Misje/Mossige, who were really friendly and nice to us. Hope they enjoyed having us, because we certainly had a very good pitstop in Caracas….

Tommy enjoying Venezuela´s national dish, Pabellon (black beans, minced beef, rice++).

Big thanks to everone in Caracas…!

Take care,

Martin

Last location: Caracas, Venezuela
Current location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Next location: Brazil or Norther Argentina (on Sunday)

Our website: http://www.discosuperfly.biz/travel
Our gallery: http://gallery.discosuperfly.biz

Its been a while since our last update, actually its been 4 countries and 4 capitals! Our original plan was to only have short stopover in Mexico City, but we decided to fly in earlier, making it 3 days. At first we had our doubts about Mexico City, mostly because of old rumours of heavy traffic and crime. Once in town we settled at the Hostel Mundo Joven, which is a nice and very social traveller’s hostel in the centre of town, Centro Historico. The hostel was cheap, clean and its guests were from all over the world.

First day we joined two americans from our dorm on a day trip to the ancient pyramid city of Teotihuacan (40km outside Mexico City). Before we got to see the pyramids we saw several smaller sights downtown and visited a canteen/ranch were we got a insight into local art, food and drinks (yes, Tequila). The remainders of Teotihuacan depict a very mysterious image of the people that used to live there. At one point in time, the city was considered the largest in the Americas. Basically, the city served as the capital centre of the ancient civilization in Mexico. The city consist of the Avenue of the Dead, that runs from the Pyramid of the Moon (in the above picture) throughout the city, ending at the foot of the larger pyramid, the Pyramid of the Sun. Teotihuacan was home to a population of approximately 200,000.

The view from the top of Pyramid of the Moon.

Once we returned to the hostel, the trip guide, Moncia, arranged for all of us to join her and her friends on a salsa club downtown. After a few hours and a decent meal we headed into the first night out in Mexico. To our surprise, our nordic stiffness and motoric movements did not scare away the local girls, it must have been the way Tommy communited through the extensive usage of his LonelyPlanet Spanish Phrasebooks. I guess the girls found it extraordinarily charming when he approached them, book in hand….asked them to dance – literally reading from the “Social” section of his language bible… (I must say though, just two weeks into South America, his spanish is really improving.)

A police officer in Mexico City…

The next days were spent strolling the streets of Mexico City. To my surprise the city has a very nice feel to it, compared to Caracas it feels much safer walking around as a tourists. People are very friendly, there are a lot of police in the streets (maybe too many??) and the city´s age and size makes it even more interesting. I wish I had more time to see more of Mexico though….Will definitively go back in the future.

Leaving the country I thought I had lost (it was in my backpack) my immigration card (the one you get once you arrive…not a big problem really, as the immigration office can issue one on the spot. But when your flight leaves at 06:50 and the office opens at 08:00, then there is really not much help to get. After a bit of chatting with the check-in-counter-guy I was told to go through the security control and once inside the departure terminal, approach a guy on the immigration desk. At first the man was not willing to help me out, it was difficult to understand his Spanish – as most of his teeth had fallen out…but after a bit of talking I understood this; ” go to the bathroom, put $50 in your passport and give it to me”. On the verge of doing something that in most cases would be considered criminal, I was nervous as I did not know what consequences this could bring me, if caught. Seeing as I did not want to stay back for a later flight, I did as he asked and once airborn, nobody had even checked me for this silly expensive immigration card! I guess that was a lesson learned…

Tommy in one of the empty dodgy streets of San Jose.

The next day we had a 24 hour stop-over in Costa Rica. We caught a cab to the capital, San Jose..had lunch and basically returned to the airport a few hours later. San Jose was not that interesting, a bit dodgy perhaps and it was not comfortable walking around with all our luggage. Next morning we flew to Caracas. We havent got around to upload the Venezuelan pictures yet, so expect another update quite soon…

The football team of Trinidad and Tobago was on our Caracas flight, this guy was obviously embarrassed about the match the preceding day (they lost 4-0 to Costa Rica)….hehe.

Our gallery is updated with pictures from Mexico and Costa Rica, http://gallery.discosuperfly.biz

take care,

Martin

Usually when a girl has her face this close to mine I’m making out. Temptation strikes, but I’ve got a firm grip on my vallet and pass it on as nothing more then a tease for a lapdance earning. I like beer, but beer tastes truly divine when there are hot chicks prantzing around as far as I can see. Some young chump has been escorted to the center stage where five 10’s are undressing him down to his boxers. To my left my cousin is enjoying the fruits of a wellspent 20 dollars. To my right Martin seems to be saying to himself five words made famous by Chris Rock (champagne room and stuff). He is doing well for himself. The three of us are kids in a candystore, an adult candy store. There is a clear danger of a sugar high. We are located in the biggest burlesque show/joint in the world. Only in Vegas baby, Vegas!

After having slept nonstop on the bustrip back to LA, Gunnar my cousin picked us up downtown and our journey to Vegas started. A few obligatory stops on the way saw us arriving in Sin city lunch time. We checked out all the casinos while still daylight, gambled a little bit (lost), and looked around for what to do later.

Nighttime. It was time to show what we where made of. Thanks to the Fijian whiskey we had brought the party progressed very nicely. Nothing much was happening at our casino so we went next door to MGM. Feeling like a milion dollar in my suit and tie outfit I sat down on the texas holdem table thinking it would only be a matter of a few hours before I would get comped up to some pimp ass suite. 20 minutes later and 70 dollars less reality hit. I better start playing clever or the nights partying would be in jeopardy. A natural remedy would be the complimentary drinks. Not being used to tipping, Martin and I had forgot to give the usual gratuity to the coctail waitress, This had caused her to be under our rader for the last half hour. I would be damned if I was gonna lose money and not get free drinks in the progress. After a while I finally spotted her again. Standing up from my table I made a big gesture for her to come over. Tipping up front secured her never being more than a minute away with next drink. Thx Carl Svangtun

It was 12, the night was young. I had won back some lost money and waited for Martin by going to the casino night club. In the que i met three Brazilian dudes, when I said I was from Norway they gave a kind of whatever look. That shit doesn’t slide with me so I naturally pointed out to their agony that Norway is the only country in the world that have beat Brazil more time then they have beat us. It shut them right up. Dont get me wrong, they were cool dudes and said that I should be excited to come to Brazil. Expectations are already high. I met up with Martin in the poker part a little later. He didnt get in with his shoes, so we went to a bar and swapped shoes, I got in having already been in, and Martin could now join. So there we were, two young men from Norway entering a Vegas nightclub. We walked sturdy in and never looked back. The rest is history, our history, not for your eyes or ears.

Next day we entered a Texas Hold em tournament. There were around 60-70 people in the tournament. I was rather hung over and had a constant annoyed face at the table because of it. This proved invaluable, well not invaluable as I know the amount of money I won. Nobody could read my face or reactions as I constantly look like I was in agony. After bumbing out most people on my table including Martin and Gunnar I was moved on to different tables and in the end placed fourth on the final table. Sweet.

Later on we went to stri… burlesque show. The biggest in the world actually. It’s called Saphire, check it out if you are in Vegas. It’s fun for boys and little bit for girls. And it is nothing like that shitty club Hollywood on the Gold Coast. The remainer of the night was spent gambling all games known to man.

I may add, that the casino’s in Vegas are quite spectacular in all their capitalistic excess and pompus extravaganza. The themed hotels, Ferrari stores, million dollar suites and all that disco. I would hate to live in Vegas as it represents so many of the things I detest, but its awesome to see for a weekend and go back on ones way.

We drove back to LA early Sunday. I slept in the back of the car like a sinless baby. A paradox perhaps.

Tommy

Current location: Los Angeles, United States
Next location: Mexico City, Mexico (1-4feb) –> Caracas, Venezuela

(We realise that our newsletter contains a few bugs, messing up the title link…but please bear with us…its all about the content…ey?)

Having seen the famous sony commercial (watch it below, recorded in San Francisco) we simply had to head up to the Bay area to check out this charming and supposively “European-ish” city. The cheapest and easiest option for us was to catch a Greyhound bus, leaving 5 times daily from LA. The bus was ok, for $45 each way we got a 8hr ride in a non-sleeping-friendly environment consisting of stiffy seats, crying babies, a very loudtalking driver and not to mention the same as us aged traveller who looked like MadMax and smelled like a rotten animal corpse….At first we thought it was the combined smell of all the passenger’s BO (of course including us), but the moment this guy left the bus…everything was back to normal. That last 30min of sleepreally helped….

Even though the San Francisco Bay area is home to several million people, San Francisco itself only houses appx. 750,000 people. This makes it a small city compared to LA, NY and other famous US states. Nevertheless, San Francisco has charm, and LOTS of it… If I were to settle down anywhere in this country I would seriously consider to live in SF. The bay area around the city allows for plenty of trekking possibillities, beachtrips, sailing and huge national parks (e.g. Yosemite). During our 3 days in SF we didnt really see any drawbacks about living there…actually the only thing that really sucks about this place are the property prices! Even though California itself is supposed to be expensive property price, San Francisco boasts small charming city houses no smaller than Norwegian cabins…priced at $1,5-2million (if you’re lucky!). Below you can see a perfect example of one of these houses, situated in the heart of SF….With that price, you even get to park at an angle! WOW!

Our first day in SF was spent walking around, simply scouting sights…check out what to do and where to go. The hostel we stayed at (Amsterdam…dodgy name for SF but really a nice place…) was located on Taylor street, basically 10-15min walk from the famous Lombard Street, the world’s most curbing street.Below: Lombard St.

Next day we rented hybrid bikes, $22 for 24 hours. We figured this would be the cheapest and best way of exploring this fantastic city and the surrounding area. Biking over the magic Golden Gate and into the high-end rich sub-urban Sausalito, we left behind at least 30km.
On our way over the bridge:

The Golden Gate itself is the strait that connects the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean, the Golden Gate bridge was built in 1937 and is one of the (maybe the most) most famous suspension bridges in the World. The bridge is 27m wide, with 6 lanes and has a total length of 2,7km….with a span of 1,3km. Sadly the bridge is a notorius site for suicide, on average there is a suicide jump every second week. Funny though, compared to Sydney Harbour Bridge (The Coathanger)…The Golden Gate bridge has no anti-suicide measures other that the standard “do not jump” posters….I guess it’s all about the aesthetics.

With sun all day, we bought food at a local mart and ate lunch outside, roadside…frenchstyle!

After exploring the nearby towns, its high-class marina and the local forest/woods park, we headed to the nearest ferry point to catch a boat back to SF.

“The Rock”, Alcatraz
After logging onto MSN and randomly nicknaming myself “Martin in San Francisco”, my old friend from Norway…Torkjell hit me with an email saying that he was ALSO in SF. I did not know he was there, and he did not know I was there…appearently he had just arrived 2 weeks earlier to commence a study abroad programt at Berkely university. Anyways, Torkjell was excited that some of his fellow Norwegians were in town and even ditched a 3 hour lecture to join our trip to Alcatraz.

Alcatraz was very interesting…even though it was not that mytical and exciting as I hoped. The island and island-area was quite boring and a lot of the pathways were locked off, with a sign saying “Closed – for your safety”. Damn that! I wanna see more!…Actually, the only thing that caught my real attention was the prison cell audio tour, which by the way was ultracool. Everyone got a headset and we all walked around like zombies, guided by different voices in all over the place. The audio even included inside trivia provided by former inmates. On our way out, we stumbled upon a elderly man in the souvenir shop, he had been in for bank robber and did time from 1959-1963. Torkjell bought his book and got it signed.

Torkjell walks the line…

After spending more than a week in LA, meeting with Tommy’s relatives it was finally my time to meet some Svangtuns! Last night in SF, Carl Svangtun, my dad’s cousin flew in from Vancouver for a business meeting the next day. I had never met Carl before, but we’ve emailed a few times over the past years. Carl was superfriendly and very generous as he invited to a nice sushi place, buying us food, drinks and loading off a few clean Canadian jokes. We certainly had fun that night, and o’boy did we have a quiet and sleepy trip back to LA. As soon as we entered the bus Tommy hit the seat and slept ALL the way to LA. Thanks Carl!

Coming to LA its quite the opposite of Fiji. I would not imagine that the day I arrived in California, the state would almost experience record low temperatures. In the first days of our stay we read about snow in LA 2 times (note: we read this in Norwegian newspaper, but we did not see it ourselves!)…we quickly realised that we’d left the tropical and exotic atmosphere experienced in Fiji. Tropical shirts and jeans with holes were no longer comfortable (luckily Mexico and the warmer areas are just 10 days away!..phew!)

I know this looks very warm and romantic, but it was actually bloody cold!! Did not see either the Hoff, CJ nor TC Callaway at the beach…

Another different sight at Santa Monica beach, a memorial for ALL fallen US soliders in the IRAQ war:

We’ve been in California for a week now, and in seven days we have managed to squeeze in a lot of sightseeing, dining, driving,clubbing,cinema and shopping. Tommy’s cousin, Gunnar, is a very friendly host and he is a big help to our visit as he is practially driving us everywhere all the time (thanks Gunnar!). Gunnar has lived in LA for over 18 years and knows a lot about what to see and what to day (and of course how to get there  ).

On the first night, Gunnar took us to his favourite Sushi bar in North Hollywood. I have never really been a BIG sushi fan, but I think this night marked the day where me and Tommy really got hooked on sushi. The chef, Shig Chiba was a true sushi master, and according to Mike (1st from left), Shig makes 10 times better sushi than everyone else.

The next days were spent mostly walking/driving down memory lane, as Alice (Tommy’s mum) was eager to check out all the places she used to know when she lived in California. As anticipated things have changed, bushes are now trees, friendly neighbourhoods have turned into dodgy ‘hoods’ and in general it seemed like the biggest difference was that more areas are filled with houses, factories, highways and business development. No wonder though, this city is HUGE and the distances are GREAT…apperatently California alone has one of the 10 largest economies of the world.

Corona del Mar, a beach area outside LA (appx 40-60min drive) that Alice used to go to. The area is still popular, but heavily populated and very expensive….can’t complain about the views and the beaches….very nice!

Besides revising sites and places we also met up with relatives of Tommy, Alice and Gunnar. On Saturday we had lunch in Orange County at the residence of Tommy’s second cousin. The lunch was very nice and it was fun meeting the people there. The family that invited us had a snake (boa constrict, 1,5m=4-5feet) as a pet… this was a funny experience, especially for me with my jeans (with lots of holes)…The snake slithered it way into my pants torn crouch hole, but with a terrified expression came out of my pants having just realized it wasn’t the biggest snake in town. Haha

Friday night was spent clubbing with Tommy’s friend, Matthew (or Bassman, his alter ego) is a funny fella (See for yourself in the gallery) currently working on Knocked up. Finally seing Matthew after a year, him and tommy spent the first hours sharing stories of debauchery until we took a cab to Hollywood. The cabie I may add was the coolest cabdriver encountered in my entire clubbing career. The bar we went to was small, but friendly with a good mix of people and gals. Nathan, a uni friend of Tommy rocked up. A wholesome southern man he was. In the picture wearing Tennesse jersey. To my aggravation the bar ended its business at 2am. Unheard of. I thought we were in Hollywood. Hollywood.

Clubbing in West Hollywood, Matthew, Martin (me), Nathan, Richard and some weird-looking guy in front (who is that??) today Tommy’s mum left for Norway…and tonight we’re back on the road again catching a bus towards San Francisco.

and at last: a nice picture of a couple doing some kind of fitness-show-off-stretch-out-excercise!:

PS: We have uploaded 80 pictures from Los Angeles, along with captions…see them at our gallery at

http://gallery.discosuperfly.biz

Later,

Martin

Fiji is very nice! The different islands are all scattered around the main island Nadi (pronounced Nandi), and most of them are occupied by at least one or two holiday resorts.

The most striking thing about Fiji is the incredible warm waters!! The bay and the lagoon is like a giant kids pool…which is not really a nice comparison, but its nice knowing its all a part of the great pacific ocean (or the big blue as we call it). Today Tommy went diving, he did a few lessons with an instructor and was immediately upgraded to advanced diver. Due to my pressure problem with my ear I stayed on top and just snorkled…we both got to see sharks though! Black tipped sharks around 2m….

The IT infrastructure in fiji is not impressive, the speed is really bad and its impossible to upload images. Expect lots of new stuff once we arrive in LA.

Cheers,

Tommy and Martin

Its been a while since we wrote, but actually…we’ve been quite busy with…HOLIDAY! Hehe.

After xmas eve we went down to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Sydney. The city, which for the New Year’s Eve occasion was called “emerald city”, was literally crowded with people. Celebrating NYE in Sydney is a really big deal and supposively, the fireworks are the “best” in the Southern Hempishere….no wonder it was a pain finding accommodation! No worries though, these days a few hours on the internet can fix you anything, and by also networking some of our friends we managed to get shelter during the celebration days. The actual NYE party itself was hosted by Jessica (who I met during my time in Aarhus) and the girls that she lives with at Kirribilli (just opposite of the bay across the Opera house). The party was good, the people were cool and the NYE celebration was really one of the best ever…

After NYE, Tommy and Alice headed back to the Gold Coast. Seeing as Tommy was actually not just going on a 5month backpacking trip, but ALSO leaving the country for good (at least this time..), he had lots to do. Stuff to sell, stuff to send home etc etc… While Tommy was “cleaning up his mess”, I headed to Melbourne for a few days (I shared the same row as Danni Minogue on the airplane way from Sydney).

Melbourne was really good, it was like nothing I had expected. The city is completely different from Sydney, in that it is somewhat more European-ish…traffic is lighter, the downtown area is more pedestrian friendly and the city boasts a rich cultural environment (lots of bars, sights and music venues). On my second day in Melbourne I was shown the beach and bay area by Tommy’s friends Kat and Sarah. We had a good time at St.Kilda beach….where it was almost impossible to relax in the almost 37 degrees celcius! In the evening I hooked up with Stu, which I found through couchsurfing.com. Stu had just returned from 4 months of backpacking in Europe and was were eager to show me the bars, have a few laughs and of course drink some beer.

Today we leave Australia. Tomorrow we’ll get to Fiji. On the 15th we’ll be in California.

btw: we have added a few new photos at http://gallery.discosuperfly.biz (Sydney)
cheers!

…thx to the people who let us stay at their houses in Sydney! 

Martin & Tommy

Friday was a busy day…not that we had an awful lot to do – but we wanted to catch the nightlife in Byron Bay before x-mas. But before we could go to BB, Tommy had to drop by the vaccination centre (if he didn’t take the yellow fever vacc. then no Brazil….) – and since our original plan was to check out Brisbane and do xmas grocery shopping, the schedule looked pretty tight. In addition to the above duties, a lot of time was spent driving…BB is appx 1 hour drive south of Surfers, whilst Brisbane is 1 hr north…if you throw in some traffic, carpark spotting etc…we’re talking at least 3hrs in the car.

Anyways. Somehow we managed to check out Brisbane, shop, eat lunch and then get back in time to buy all the groceries needed. After Tommy made a fast and very delicate dish of pasta and chicken we hit the road and headed to BB (Byron Baby! Byron!). In BB we checked in at the Aquarius, which is a decent place for backpackers…sleeping in a mixed shared room with 7 others costs you 30 AUD (appx.NOK 150). The rest of the evening was spent enjoying the fine nightlife….in other words a lot of loud music, talking to random strangers and trying out the local brew.

The next day (which by the way is the offical day for celebrating Festivus!) we hit the beach and met up with Marie and co. After a few hours in the sun Tommy had to drive back to Surfer’s for his last hours at work. I stayed in BB and had more fun 

Notable things that happened in BB:
*Marie and co. saw a “brown snake” at the beach, appearently the 2nd most posionous snake in the world…
*A woman in the Main Street walked for several seconds “on display” as the wind revealed to everyone that she did not wear underpanties…
*A young man and his father in law had a big argument (almost a fight) in front of everyone at the beach. Round 1 ended with the young guy yelling ” Merry F*%$#^& Xmas” really loud…even though it was quite tragic, most people thought it was hilarious….

More pictures from Surfer’s, Brisbane and Byron Bay @ http://gallery.discosuperfly.biz

cheers,

Martin & Tommy

On monday we drove to the town of Byron Bay. It is located in the state of New South Wales, appx 1hr drive from Gold Coast/Surfer’s Paradise. The city/village itself is rather small and has a population of around 30,000 people, and is famous because of its surf/hippie culture and the fact that it represents the most eastern point of Australian mainland. The town has a relaxed atmosphere, with very light traffic and lots of interesting shops and places to drink/eat. Despite its rather small population – the town is rumoured as a decent party place for backpackers. Which is why we have to go back and check tomorrow night! 

see more pictures from Byron Bay++ in our gallery at http://gallery.discosuperfly.biz

cheers,

Tommy & Martin

Arrived on the Gold Coast on Wednesday the 13th.

On our way down we had to wait appx 16 hrs in Bangkok, we arrived 07.00 and our flight to Brisbane left at 23.40… Even though the flight down from Copenhagen was tiresome, we wanted to see more of Bangkok than just the airport (which by the way is brand new, just 2 months old!), so we got in a taxi and headed for downtown Bangkok. Finally downtown I think it was the sudden change of heat and air humidity that drove us from the street and straight into a few of Bangkok’s new and fancy malls.

The first days in Australia have been spent relaxing, checking out the beach, learning the basics of surfing and the occasional partying. Will return with more info and stories from the Gold Coast in the near future…

Our gallery is updated with pictures from Bangkok, check then out at:

http://gallery.discosuperfly.biz

cheers,

Martin

NÅ er det ikke lenge igjen før vi sitter på flyet ned til Australia.

Imorgen er det nøyaktig 1 mnd, og det betyr kun 4 uker mer på arbeid  . Tiden flyr utrolig fort og jeg føler at hvis jeg ikke begynner å pakke/forberede meg nå, så vil det bare bli masse stress og siste-minutt forberedelser de siste dagene.

I den anledning så hentet jeg fram min gamle ryggsekk, 60-literen fra Bergans som jeg fikk i presang av farmor og farfar. Denne sekken er egentlig topp og har gjort en god jobb både på interrail, fjellturer, bussturer og ikke minst våre legendariske turer til Quart og Roskilde Festivalen(e)… Men idet jeg kikket på sekken og la merke til hvor liten og enkel den så ut så tenkte jeg at jeg skulle kikke på noen nye sekker – det måtte da finnes noe nytt, noe mer praktisk og mer “backpacker-vennlig”???

Naturligvis gjorde det! Og ikke overraskende endte jeg opp med en svensk sekk da jeg kom ut fra XXL på Forus. Mor og far synes sekken var så bra og tenkte at siden jeg skulle ut å reise, så ville de gjerne gi meg den til julegave. Tusen takk sier jeg  Merket heter “Lundshag” og sekken i seg selv er kalt “Troja 80″. Vel hjemme la jeg frem de tingene jeg har planlangt å ta med meg… å pakke sekken gikk som en lek, og da jeg var ferdig så innså jeg hvor god idè det var å anskaffe ny sekk. Den nye er nemlig så rik på funksjoner, detaljer og smarte løsninger at jeg ble skikkelig imponert! Her er en liste over tingene som er bra med “Troja 80L”..

www.Couchsurfing.com “Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch At A Time “

Couchsurfing.com (CS) har etterhvert blitt et av nettets største sider. Konseptet er enkelt forklart; en portal/nettsamfunn hvor folk kan registrere seg og tilby gratis overnatting – eventuelt guiding i sin hjemby.Antall brukere er nå godt over 125,000, hvorav de fleste er ‘ungdommer’ og studenter i alderen 18-30 år… Selv om store land som USA og Australia dominerer medlemsmassen er de mange medlemmene godt fordelt over vår klode. Totalt sett representerer Couchsurfing prosjektet nå nesten samtlige land i verden. Mange av de registrerte på CS har gjerne et ekstra ledig rom hjemme, eller de liker gjerne ekstra godt å møte folk som ferdes rundt i verden – konseptet har ihvertfall ført til at tusenvis av backpackere, studenter og omstreifere nå får en mulighet til å både oppleve nye steder billigere og kanskje på en bedre og ikke minst mer original måte.Skal man fx til Buenos Aires, så er det lett å registrere seg på CS og foreta et søk hvor man filtrerer ut medlemmer i Buenos Aires som er i samme alderssjiktet, ønsket kjønn (!) og om de evt ønsker å tilby en sofa eller om de kun vil ta deg ut med på en cafe eller diskotek.Artikler om CS:
Engelsk: Catching the couch-sufring wave
Norsk: Sommerferie på lavbudsjett og gratis overnatting, verden rundt!

Så langt har jeg benyttet meg av siden til å få info om diverse byer i Sør-Amerika og hvordan det best å reise rundt (hva de lokale anbefaler)…men jeg ser ikke bort ifra at vi prøver å komme i kontakt med folk når vi først er på tur – det finnes vel ikke en bedre måte å oppleve et nytt sted på en å henvende seg til de som vet best, nemlig de lokale. En evt bonus blir jo en gratis overnattingsplass 

(selv har jeg vært medlem i over 1 år, og fått flere henvendelser om både overnatting og guiding i både Århus og Stavanger – men i alle tilfeller har det kræsjet med eksamen eller at jeg ikke var i byen…….)