An overnight flight later I found myself in Rio de Janeiro, city of the famous Copacabana and the Sugarloaf 'Pão de Açúcar'. And I was just too happy when I got to my B&B with the funny name "Gerthrudes" early morning that my outstandingly kind host Adriana welcomed me, let me in my room way before check in time to have a shower and even served a wonderful breakfast. I didn't know why I was so lucky again to have found that real gem of an accommodation, not only was it wonderfully situated in the Santa Theresa neighborhood with a great view on the Sugarloaf, it was also filled with lovely other guests and a great vibe.
So in the only two days I had in Rio I did some strolling around town, went to a few beaches, hopped on the cable car up the Pão de Açúcar and took the train up the Corcovado hill, famous for its huge Jesus statue "Cristo Redentor". Well, of course I was in Rio for an ultra short time, however to me it seemed to be a nice place only from above. Especially on the Sugarloaf I felt very peaceful so I just spent a few hours there. Wandering around downtown, hmm, nope, was not my thing.
Taking the next overnight flight I landed in Lisbon, a totally different story. What a wonderful & lovely city :-) It has so much charm around all its different neighborhoods, the old buildings, the historic trams, narrow alleys and the endless numbers of bars, restaurants, minimarkets, and just people from all over Europe or maybe the World being happy & enjoying life. And just a short train ride away you find some small beaches, ok, maybe not the most gorgeous ones, but I know that a little car drive would also lead you there too.
This time however I'm not so much into big excursions, but I guess I will come back to Portugal for a little longer holiday soon and also enjoy the countryside and maybe a few surfing spots. So now instead, with a tear in one eye and a smile in the other, I'm getting ready to fly back home, home that I haven't seen for almost a year. I'm sorting out a few more photos, writing these last few lines in my blog and in my heart & head I'm again going through all the images, experiences, encounters, tastes, sounds, feelings and so on, that I've had during this freakin' awesome year, for which I feel utterly blessed and grateful. I would like to thank each and everyone of my family and my old and new friends who shared this experience with me, who inspired me, by traveling with me for a shorter or longer part, by keeping in touch, by teaching me, dropping a message or just thinking of me: Mam & Dad, my brother Urs and his family, Petra, Fabienne & Robin, my friends, Bär, Patrizia, Sabina, Caroline, Pasquale, Rita, Stöff & Nina with Nik, René & Debbie (missed you guys on the second half ;-), Mario & Rebecca with kidz, Christian & Colette, Matze & Alex, Urs & Daniela with kidz, Stella & George with family, Shenhsing, Christa, Bettina, Marion, Susanna, Sash, Mike, Simon,Vilija, Barbara,Majlinda, Corina, Yamuna, Roger & Häm, Roman, Sulgi, Haydar, far yet close, Jan, Lucia, Alex, Betty, Tanja, Gassi, Maya Karin, Samyra, Sanja, Stefen, Andy & Nadine with baby girl, Esther, Simon & Jenny, Mäse, Mäge & Esther "Die Büssler", Sensei Roland and everyone at Karate Center Rapperswil, Yasuko, Madan and Raj, Tashi & Kinzhang, Intrepid Myanmar group especially Inma, Anne, Sarsha & Tom (thanks a bunch for having me), divemaster Branden, my birthday party troop in Ko Lanta including the pips above as well as Köbi, Anouk & Gig, Nigel the fish, Craig, who led me the way when I was a little lost, thanks so much, everyone at Chandrakirtis, Billy, Regina, Hendrik & Pia, Eimar, Mica and Linda, Claire & John, Steve & Diane, Roger whom I've missed in Nepal and NZ by maybe only days, thanks for making me ready for my tour and good luck on all your upcoming adventures, Abby & Lee, Isha for taking me around marvelous Kauai, Zorrik for showing me how it feels to be completely centered and at peace, everyone at Esalen especially Roger, Jean, Laura and Dave, Marthe, Pops, Dave & Liz, everyone at my Intrepid Peru group, Adriana and Hannes & Lydia plus all the folks at globetrotter.ch. And to everyone I may have forgotten, please accept my apologies. Thanks a bunch, you mean a lot to me! God bless you all <3
It's amazing how far apart worlds can be within only a few hours flight. And getting into Peru it felt so much more like life was actually happening again, more real & authentic, closer to nature and a culture that grew and mixed with new cultures over thousands of years. Sure, Lima is not the most beautiful city and getting ripped off by the taxi mafia right away at the airport is not the warmest welcome one can imagine. Still the city has a few nice corners and some of them were shown to us by the fabulous guide that came with the tour I booked in advance. Generally it was a great decision for me to join the Intrepid "Classic Peru" tour, so in the 10 days I had in Peru I could just see and experience as much as possible without having the hassle of running around trying to organize sightseeing stuff, transport and accommodation. I know, all of this usually belongs to the real fun of traveling too, but this time I just enjoyed it a little bit more comfortable again :-) As i said, I really loved the South American vibe and I knew from the very beginning of my short stay that I will have to come back to explore it all more thoroughly some time. And of course it's always good to have more travel projects on the list ;-) Lucho our tour guide was just perfect, he managed to have everything smoothly organized (even the surprises like a 9 hour delayed flight were handled professionally), he always gave us the right amount of background information about people & culture, not too much but just right, he was a very easy going & patient bloke with a big smile on his face all the time, lots of experience & talent as a guide and the wish to share the love for his home country without omitting the downsides. Also my travel group was a pretty cool one, with lots of diversity in age, cultural background, travel experience and levels of humor and let's just say craziness ;-)
Flying to Cusco, the center or navel of the ancient Inca empire, we changed altitude for a few thousand meters and walking up a few stairs made you already breathe a bit more heavily. The town itself was quite a cute one, of course pretty touristy but also with lots of charm in the historic district. Also our hotel was really lovely and separated from the traffic noise outside, however not from the other guests inside that would scream at 5 o'clock in the morning that "IT'S FIVE O'CLOCK NOW!!" and that the "GROUP IS COMPLETE TO LEAVE!"... thank you so much for this information dear friends, that's exactly what I needed to know while looking forward to sleep in.
Anyway, after one night in Cusco we took the bus to visit a farmers exhibition and a local village, where we were dressed in indigenous clothes and enjoyed a tasty local meal.
Later we took a train to Aguas Calientes which we reached after nightfall and that was going to be the starting point to visit Machu Picchu the next day. And yes of course, there were tons of other tourists at Machu Pichu but still, it was one of these magic places on our planet that one definitely has to visit once in a life time, another acupuncture point on Mother Earth's surface I was blessed to visit. A local guide gave us lots of background info about the Incas and this very special site of theirs and once more I got the feeling, that human knowledge and spirit is much older than commonly believed. So also some parts of Machu Pichu seem to have been built long time before the Inca empire came into power, by a more ancient civilization I guess (but not necessarily by aliens as also pointed out by our guide ;-). Anyway, what touched me once more was the energy some special places do have and again I could have just stayed a couple of hours or even days more in this place just to admire nature and the divine behind it all.
However, at some point it was time to leave and take the train and then the bus back to Cusco. It was a lovely journey too, driving from daylight into the night and enjoying all the magic colors this brings along. Back in town I had a not so tasty dinner at the wrong restaurant but then again a few very tasty Pisco sours with my fellow travel mate Ilkay from London, who also shared some of his interesting and then again funny stories as well as his talent as an actor :-)
We then had one more free day in Cusco and I shortly took over Lucho's job and lead a few members of our travel group to the religious site of Sacsayhuaman (more easily to be memorized as "Sexy Woman") and hired a local guide, who gave us some more insights about the Incas understanding of interconnectedness with the universe and its heavenly bodies and spiritual powers. And maybe the guide also just added a few more details as part of the whole entertainment program, one can never be a hundred percent sure, but it was worth the fun anyway. I definitely liked the place and its history, despite the cold rain that started to pour on us right at the end of our tour.
Well, a hot soup fixed again the freezing and a little break in my hotel room made me ready for a Peruvian dinner. The dinner then was highlighted by a grilled guinea pig, a local specialty, but maybe more for the fun of it and less because of its taste. Too bad I couldn't always try and taste all of the Peruvian cuisine since I had that nasty digestive problem I was carrying with me since Miami, but then again, it wasn't that awfully bad and many of my fellow travelers had one or the other inconvenience too but still we all managed to keep up with our travel program and enjoy it.
On the next day a long long drive was on our program, traveling from Cusco to Puno and the famous Titicaca lake. A very scenic drive indeed, in a wonderfully comfortable bus (best ever I guess), even though riding the train could also have been nice but taken much longer as well. Anyway, by nightfall we arrived in Puno where Lucho took us for a stroll around town and showed us the memorial of his great grandfather, a hero of the Chile-Peruvian war of the 19th century. After dinner it was early bedtime since no one wanted to join me for Karaoke and there was no more coca tea left ;-) but alright, next day would be a long one anyway. So the following morning some bike taxis drove us down to the highest navigable lake where a boat awaited us to sail to the floating village and then further on to Llanchon to our homestay. The floating islands and their people were quite impressive, a life on bundles of dried totora reeds where houses, schools and watchtowers are built and all sorts of tourist souvenirs made.
Arriving in Llanchon we were greeted by our homestay families and Ilkay and me were guests of Matilde, a very nice and hospitable woman and super cute mother with three boys. Our guest room was just very beautifully made, I guess not lest because Matilde's husband is a construction worker who built everything by himself. Unfortunately we haven't met him since he is working in Puno during the week and on their little farm on the weekends. Matilde cooked very tasty meals for us, and Ilkay and me also had the chance to help a little bit out on the farm, plowing the field and getting water down at the village well (quite different from just turning on the tap water, which they just don't have yet). Later on we were invited to play volleyball and football with the local people and I very much enjoyed playing these games and sharing the fun with the villagers. After that we got dressed up again in local dresses and helped preparing our dinner. After the meal everyone was pretty tired and so it was bedtime again, even though it was only something like 8 o'clock. Well, a couple of hours of music listening also made me ready to sleep and under the about five layers of blankets I felt comfortable and warm (and only going to the toilet with freezing temperatures outside wasn't too much fun ;-)
The next day it was already time to say goodbye again and I was grateful for the experiences we were given, the encounter with the lovely people and the stunning views on Lake Titicaca on a perfect morning. Generally, visiting the Peruvian local people often reminded me of the simple lifes and yet warmheartedness I experienced during my trip on the countryside in Nepal. Living close to the elements seems to make people just much more humble, gentle and kind compared to what you experience around the bigger cities. Our bus drove us to the next bigger town so we could take the plane back to Lima. And there the ugly side of life was back again, Julianca was maybe one of the ugliest cities I've ever been, filled with dirt and dubious business. People in this place just don't seem to care for anything else than making money with lots of illegal activities and the city and its surroundings are stunningly covered with tons of garbage that people just throw out of their cars on a regular dumping tour. And nobody seems to give a damn. After we learned that our flight will be delayed until late evening I was very glad that we left the place as quick as possible to do a spontaneously organized sightseeing tour at an archaeological site an hour drive outside town. And finally we left Julianca by 10pm and got back to our hotel in Lima by around half midnight. There we all bid farewell and thanked for a great time together and whereas most of my fellow travelmates had to catch an early flight or tour the next day I was just too happy to be able to sleep in :-) I still had some time left to do my laundry, share some time with locals & cats in a city park, before hopping on the plane that'd bring me to my second last station Rio de Janeiro. Thanks a bunch Peru for this great experience and I hope to be back some day to spend a little more time with you :-)
Flying from Vancouver towards Las Vegas over the desert with its brown colored hills, the lonely roads and a few man made green spots was quite a stunning view. The plane itself was fully loaded with a horde of party people who would just spend a longer weekend in this desert city to have a lot of fun and even more drinks maybe. I guessed most of these guys would just enjoy a short weekend trip same maybe as people from Zurich that drive to the Ticino in early spring to enjoy the good warm weather down there. And then meeting my friend Lucia and her travel companion Sabrina in Las Vegas was definitely good fun :-D Especially when I landed on a roller coaster with a smiling Lucia by my side and me trying to keep my breakfast to where it belongs ;-) And then of course it was cool to have a few late drinks together, share some stories and loose a couple of dollars at the black jack table. No surprise, Vegas is all about gambling, party and everything being big big & bigger. And it's just amazing that you find all of this in the freaking' desert... crazy. But then I learned that all of this is made possible by the Colorado river and the Hoover dam, which was built in the 1930s and is serving the whole region with abundant water and electricity.
After only two days together we sadly had to part company again since the two ladies were driving back to the West coast whereas I would drive towards the Grand Canyon and further. So anyway, I enjoyed a week driving and hiking through Nevada, Arizona and Utah and soaked in the marvels of some of the finest national parks this huge country has to offer. Hiking just a tiny small part of the Grand Canyon's mind blowing vastness that has been carved into Mother Earth's skin during millions of years by the Colorado river, chasing the energy vortexes at Sedona with its magical Bell Rock, passing by the famous Horseshoe bend and then climbing down the tunnels of Antelope Canyon that were made as if some giant magic being had grinded them out of the sandstone with a huge fine sandpaper over the millenniums, strolling around the stone pillars at Bryce Canyon that again looked like coming from a different world, and finally diving into the cool & green canyons at Zion national park that once more had a completely new vibe which I just loved. It was a great week among these wonders of nature, and even though it was kind of high season with a lot of American families and all the kids holiday camps on their way, I never felt bothered but enjoyed admiring God's creation together with them.
After I nearly crashed my rental car early morning on the way to Las Vegas airport (lucky me you find out quite easily that something's wrong when four lanes of traffic approach you all of a sudden and the guy behind you honks like a lunatic) I safely flew to New Orleans, the city of blues & jazz. I had a great stay in NOLA at my Airbnb hosts place Jason and also his neighbor's cat Mr. Grey took good care of me :-) Just shortly after I got there I went to the next bar Dos Jefes Uptown Cigar Bar where people smoked thick fat cigars and an excellent band played some jazz at its best. A day later I strolled along Frenchman Street where bands played their sets in the dozens of bars and even on the street there was music everywhere.
And last but not least, I was so lucky to see Seether & 3 Doors Down at Champions Square and once more I considered myself to be a lucky dumbass judging by the way I got into this concert. Why? Well, first of all I only learned about them playing something like two days before the concert took place (and I really love their music, it's been playing from my iPhone many times during the last months of travel). Then when I got to the concert venue I would have been able to buy some tickets but they maybe were somewhere in the far back row but then again security wouldn't let me in the concert area anyway since my daypack was far too big for them. So what do I do now? Ok, I went to the next hotel and of course it was the luxurious Hyatt Regency and the guy at the reception actually was not allowed to accept my daypack for putting it into the storage room since I was not a guest, but after looking a few times to the left and the right to check if no one else was watching he did it anyway. Thanks a bunch mate! Returning to the concert area there was this other guy then who was selling an extra ticket he had because his wife was just sick and couldn't come. And of course he gave it to me for much less money than he paid and then it was a front stage ticket so I could see the bands from something like 20 feet away! Ha, I couldn't believe it, that was so cool! The music was great and even the one hour thunderstorm break was entertaining (it was an open air concert and all of a sudden there was rain & lightning so for safety reasons they had to suspend the concert for a little while) because during this break a young girl, Kim was her name, chatted me up since she saw the 'Om' sign on my 'Why not bar' tshirt. In her facebook profile she even named herself 'Om' so she basically was just interested in all sorts of spiritual stuff however she had no big idea so far how to pursue her spiritual path and so I told her a bit of my story, of my trip around the world, of the people I've met on my way (for instance Craig whom I've met in that backpackers in Wellington when I was pretty much lost), of my stay in the Buddhist monastery in Nelson, of the books I read on my journey so far and lots of other stuff. I have no idea if what I told her was any inspiring or not, but I just felt like this time I could pass on something to somebody that I was gratefully given at an earlier point on my own way. And overall I felt that sometimes karma just works even within a short period of time, also the story with that concert ticket, I remember myself giving away a ticket for the Paolo Nutini show in Auckland to a girl who was sad that she had to leave her friends who were going to that sold out concert, so I just gave my spare one to her for half of the price and she was very happy about it :-) It definitely was an evening which I was very grateful for.
What I also liked about New Orleans was the fact, that I found all sorts of people are coming together for having fun, no matter if they were black or white, whatever their beliefs were or wherever they may have come from. That was something I haven't seen in other parts of the country, on the contrary, most of the time you find life and culture happening along very distinct lines that separate one world from the other. That's by the way something very peculiar about the USA in general: whenever you arrive in a city, first thing your host or some other person will tell you is where to go and where not to, and often it's just the next block where people and the vibes change drastically. Of course once more I have to point out that I only experience life here on the very surface, I'm only scratching it a tiny little bit, people who actually live here for a longer time may not share my perception. And at the risk of just contradicting myself again I have to say that staying in New Orleans for four days was just enough, I never felt a hundred percent comfortable as there were too many different energies fighting for the same space and I therefore was happy to move on again (sorry, I can't described it more clearly ;-).
Following the call of music I got myself a rental car again in Pensacola (hey, I eventually could attend a baseball game there too :-) and drove up North towards Nashville passing through Alabama and Tennessee. On my way up I had short encounters with the US version of the Apartheid in Birmingham, some big rockets and the space shuttle in Huntsville and with Mr. Jack Daniels in Lynchburg.
Nashville itself was again filled with bands and music history. On my first night out I found that nice little bar where a couple of very talented people would present their songs. I especially fell in love with the voice of Alicia Michilli, whose performance just blew me away. Apparently, and I only found out later, she's also making her way through the shows of America's got Talent right now, I hope she's gonna make it to the top.
The next days I visited the Country Music Hall of Fame, the famous Studio B where Elvis recorded most of his best selling songs and where he trashed some furniture and kicked someones gun with a Karate kick so the gun broke a hole in his guitarists instrument, and saw a few more talented musicians at the legendary Bluebird Cafe. I nearly started my own music career in this town but then decided to move on despite the promise of fame and tons of money ;-) Oh yeah, and Nashville was kind of also the first place where I struggled quite some to get settled in my accommodation, my Airbnb host just forgot about me coming on that very day, she was in Australia and mixed up the dates, but after like 5 hours of trying to reach her and calls with Airbnb I finally managed to get into the house and found my room. I already saw myself sleeping in my car or ending up in some crappy and expensive hotel, which of course I would have survived, but anyway, I preferred to stay at the place I planned to.
Passing through Atlanta and paying a short visit at CNN's and Coca Cola's I landed in the forest, more exactly in the forest hostel near Brunswick, Georgia. Justin from New Orleans kind of sent me there so I finally stayed for three nights, enjoyed some hippie life with good people and even joined a sweat lodge, which was my first so far. And it was a good experience too, also somehow funny since the rain coming in nearly blew out the big fire in front of the sweat lodge and the water flowing into lodge made it heat up dramatically so we had to run out and jump into the lake on our second session. So it all was a little improvised but Pops, the sweat lodge chief guided us through to whole adventure with calmness and an abundance of good intentions. The hostel itself was built almost the day I was born so it's been around for quite a while and Tom the founder together with a bunch of good friends and other beautiful souls put a lot of good energy in this place. And sleeping in a treehouse and having a shower in the morning surround by trees is just a very unique experience. Even so, what I once more discovered about myself is that it usually takes a long long time for me to relax and let go in a new group with new people so often by the time I kind of actually touched ground in the group it's already time to leave again. Hmm, I reckon there's still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to this, even after this year in which I hoped to definitely change this trait.
As a last station in the US I now landed in Miami, where I stay with a lovely couple originally from Venezuela and Colombia, Liz & Dave. That's the cool thing about Airbnb, it's as if you're moving from one share flat to the next, and even tough it's not the same of course, it still feels a little bit like it. So I have my last few days here, checked out Miami beach, drove down to the Florida Keys to Key West where Cuba is only a mere 90 miles away. I had time here to sort out my photos, write my blog, do my laundry and get ready for my next and maybe last big adventure, Peru. And I'm really looking forward to it, a different culture again, different people & food, and I'm looking forward to my Intrepid travel group that I'm going to join the day after tomorrow. So goodbye USA, I'm also a little glad that I leave, since I feel if I stay much longer I definitely become a real American, driving to the next food stop by car, eating burgers all the time and generally living not the healthiest way - I guess I put on at least 10 kg's during my two months here, oh gosh :-)
