128daysoff

Thank you! I'm coming back to...

2010-01-17T20:52:00.000-08:00

Thank you for reading this blog and for being with me for all this time.

See you soon in Europe!

me.

Asuncion & Bogota

2010-01-17T20:32:00.000-08:00

Chickos,

on my way back from Puerto Iguazu I visited two cities in Paraguay - Ciudad del Este (just for a few hours)and Asuncion. Day temperature: 45C, a little bit better during a night: only 31, nice people, very beautiful city centre - post colonial architecture, good party, to sum up pretty nice stay there, although this temperature makes me wet in 10 seconds, so during the day I simply stayed at the hostel. Tried typical fish soup, empanadas (they are really good in Paraguay. Only Bolivian saltenas can really compete) Moreover they have very good radio stations there! Enjoyed them very much.

I had a flight from Asuncion to Lima on Sunday at 8 a.m., spent like 7 hours on the Lima airport (I was sleeping on the sofa and later met a nice Colombian guy - we had a very interesting conversation about Colombian culture and he gave me some music tips as well!) In the evening I finally arrived in Bogota. Again, and my feeling is again very good here! First night I had to sleep on the hammack, as at Alegia´s was no free place. I had an opportunity to meet Calvin again on Monday and Tuesday, what was really cool! Ate great fishes on La Passaje Macarena, enjoyed the city, bought some last staff.

and now...my direction is New York, but unfortunately, due to changes in my flights I won´t be able to get much from this city...

Yo me voy a Europa pronto!

Will keep you informed!

Saludos,

me.

Iguazu!

2010-01-12T05:48:00.000-08:00

Chickos,

after my last (I hope) long bus journey - 19 hours I finally arrived to "my destination" here - Puerto Iguazu. My first impression: this city is just for the tourists visiting the waterfalls, no true life here. I was told that by couple of guys in Buenos Aires, actually I think it´s not so bad....
I visited the Brazilian part straight away. It was spectacular!! Much more than I expected. You know how important Iguazu was for me, how many expectations I had before and for how long I was waiting and looking forward to seeing it...It was much more, already on the first day!!! The energy of this waterfall (or waterfalls, as there are many of them here) is something I cannot describe, you need to see, or better feel it by yourself!!!

On the way back I met Angela,a Colombian girl and...we danced Salsa on the street in front of the buses!! Yeah, I love Salsa!

On the second day I had a lot of time time for the more spectacular - Argentinian part incl. "the devil´s throat" from above...

So I got up at 6 a.m., got ready and started my trip! Took a bus, then a train within a natural park and, as a second person, I arrived to see a devil´s throat, which I had almost for myself for 5 minutes! Spectacular is not enough!

Then, completely wet, I started exploring the rest of waterfalls,which took, more or less, 8 hours. I met - Julie who accompanied me for the rest of the day.

We´ve seen very many beautiful butterflies, ate lunch looking at the waterfalls,had lot´s of fun and finally came back to the hostel like 5 p.m. Now, enjoying one more day of holiday here - swimming pool, good food, good fun!

Amazing, no comments, need to say that my intuition was right regarding this place. Lot´s of water, lot´s of good feelings, lot´s of unbelievable views, lot´s of impressions and inspirations!

Yeahhhhh!!!!! IGUAZU - an absolute highlight of South America!

I´m going to Asuncion, flying to Bogota on Sunday, it´s very probable I will meet Calvin there, he seems to be a true Colombian right now!

Will keep you informed.

Saludos,

me.

p.s. Thanks to small guys, I discovered a sport I didn´t know before - I call it body surfing...Imagine small guys in the rain, first running then going vertically on their bodies with their hands up on this surface. WOW!!!!

Buenos Aires

2010-01-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

Hola chickos,

from Salta I came to Buenos Aires, where I was staying for 4 days in a cosy hostel in San Telmo, a tango district! It's located very close to the city centre, offering nice atmosphere and good connection to all "must see" of the city. For first two days I concentrated myself on the city centre, trying to figure out what is the Argentinian way of life (maybe I should say "portenos way of life") all about. Buenos Aires's extremely big, people rush all the time, it's very much similar to the biggest European capitals, like London for instance. Although there are some nice places where you can rest. Besides, people usually live here in one neighbourhood, so it's more like living in a small city.

I saw Puerto Madero, microcentro, a famous Obelisk of Buenos Aires, talked to some people in the restaurants, in cafes etc, ate meat and pizza (what a surprise!).

Then, on the third day, I moved to a green centre - located near Plaza Italia. Zoo, botanical garden, Japanese garden, bank of La Plata river (to get there I passed illegally 7 lanes street and a rail track), where lot's of people were fishing, than I moved to Palermo Hollywood and Palermo Viajo - very nice and rich district, lot's of cafes, pubs, shops and people. Made some pictures and came back to San Telmo.

I must admit I'm impressed by the public transport here - it works great, you can easily get to every place here for more or less 0,30 USD without any problems, fast and safe. Also the streets are very wide (somebody told me they are the widest worldwide - 7 lanes is pretty common in the city centre).

Last day (Sunday) I spent visiting a famous San Telmo market, watching tango shows and walking on the park and the Boca district. Enjoyed it very much!

So, I left Buenos Aires and have reached Puerto Iguazu (if it's Tuesday after 1 p.m. European time), where I'm going to see my aim number 1 in South America - Iguazu falls, from both sides: Brazilian and Argentinian.

Can't wait. Will keep you informed.

Saludos,
me.

p.s. I promised myself that I would make one "parilla libre" evening, which meant I would pay a certain amount of money and could eat as much as possible (much, I can assure you, I need to care about ROI all the time:))...I did it...ololo!!!! every little part of pig and cow was in my stomach...ololololo!!!!
p.s.2. Do you know you must not drink beer in public places in Argentina?
p.s.3. They have really good empanadas here, so far the best! Only bolivian Saltenas can compete...
p.s.4. I have added some pictures to Picassa album.

Salta - Argentina

2010-01-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

Hola chickos,

I arrived in Salta after 24 hours journey, spent here NYE, met nice people, enjoyed nice climate, listened to good music, had good parties.

Argentina is much more European - well developed: good roads, shopping malls, running people, pretty expensive...I have had a pretty tough landing after Bolivia. First moments were very good though. I arrived two days before NYE, had a small party with people (I was living with 4 Argentinian students - you can imagine:), very nice, party people) For NYE we organized a small party in the hostal and then moved to a huge stadium party. 6 scenes, music mix - everything from salsa to electronic music. I went to sleep at 7 a.m. dancing salsa with 3 nice, Ecuadorian girls.

I spent four more days in Salta (tranquilo), eating good meat (people say it´s the best in Argentina), pizza (lot´s of emigrants from Italy), drinking coke and wine, talking to the locals, dancing local dances (hmm, I should learn them a little bit before I start dancing in front of the wide public:)). Visited on foot almost entire city, very beautiful. Churches, nice restaurants, nice people, nice park, it´s a summer here:) Many thoughts, many places, many people, many inspirations, but...it´s another story.

Direction: Buenos Aires.

Will keep you informed.

me.

Sucre&Potosi, direction: Argentina

2009-12-28T14:59:00.000-08:00

Chickos!

This was a greatest time of this journey, we did a Christmashare action (one of the biggest time I´ve ever had...), you can check details at www.christmashare.blogspot.com.

Besides I met Marco and Steven again, what was great!

We also visited traces from dinosaurs (the biggest traces in the world! Now also supported by Unesco)and Mercado Campesino, where you can find completely everything -from clothes, food to natural medicines (I bought some great tea).

By the way: check this picture out - one of the most interesting and funny thing on my journey:)

Then we moved to Potosi, where I was supposed to spend only couple of hours and go straight to Tupiza, but due to engine break of my bus I stayed a night and visited the famous mines here. It was a very nice experience - from the miners market, through mines to dynamite detonation. I must admit, the miners are more than human beings...I saw a movie (in Sucre) about a 14 years old boy who worked there for 4 years already. It´s really amazing how much people can do for there families...The miners, due to serious lung deseases, live until they are 35-40. This mountain has already sacrified 8 million people. Amazing. Maybe it´s a kind of message from "the mother earth" that she can give us food pretty easily, but we don´t really need silver, gold, diamonds etc...

Anyway, I left Potosi and now am in Salta - Argentina, where I´m gonna spend NYE and, later on, am going to Buenos Aires.

Santence of the week: "que me importa la vida escorta"!

Will keep you informed.

Saludos!

me.

p.s. I have added some new picture to Picassa - check this out!

Uyuni - Solar de Uyuni y las Lagunas

2009-12-21T06:55:00.000-08:00

Hola Chickos,

from La Paz I went to Uyuni, the place you cannot miss during your Bolivia experience. Straight from the bus I was caught by some "hunter" and went on tour straight away. We went on the jeep, only me and 5 chickas (Australian, Polish, Belgian and French). Great experience to be only with 5 great and creative women for 3 days and two nights:)

Anyway, Solar de Uyuni appeared to be a very nice place - only salt, salt, salt...It looks as it was the moon or something. 10582 sq km of salt! People still work there but nowadays it´s mostly a tourist place. Amazing :)

Then we went some marvelous lagoons: Laguna Verde, Laguna Colorada just to mention two of them. Lot´s of flemmings and beautiful views! Different colours, depending on the minerals that consist.

Also geysers seen on the sunrise was an awesome experience (especially on the altitude of 4970m above the sea level). We also saw a dessert where Salvador Dali did some of his masterpieces, visited an old cemetery from 12th century - I am not a huge fun of archeological sites, but this was something great! (check picassa for more pictures)

We slept in a salt hostel, which appeared to be a very nice and interesting place. Temperature on the dessert was from 25 during a day to somewhere close 0 during nights.

I can easily recommend this place and this tour to everybody!

Right now I´m staying in Sucre - probably until January the 5th. At least Christmas and NYE here. Small city (200K), beautiful, but...It´s a different story.

Will keep you informed!

Saludos,

me.

La Paz & more

2009-12-13T15:04:00.000-08:00

Chickos,

I finally arrived to La Paz on Saturday and as Marco, a friend I met in Bogota, told me about the bike tour which he was to do the day after, I immediately called the agency and booked it as well. We did it! Was awesome!!! We started 4700m above the sea level - it was cloudy, rainy and...very fast!We were going down with the speed of 80km/h, wow it´s impressive when you overtake small busses, minivans etc.:) then the normal, hard road changed for a narrow (2-4m) path on the mountain.

More downhill, more humidity and warm. Sometimes I had an impression, that going on such road 50 km/h might be a little bit dangerous, as I saw there was like 65m (or more?) straight down, so, one mistake and...and nothing, after 4 hours of great fun we (I was there with Marco and an American girl) arrived in a small village - altitude of 1185m. Swimming pool, dinner, and back home to La Paz. Crazy:)

We also visited Tiwanaku, which is called the best archeologic site of Bolivia. It isn´t as big as Machupicchu and there are still ongoing works. It was a place for 60 000 inhabitants more than 2500 years ago...Very nice!

Before the trip we also did some small night trip on La Paz - I must say it´s a very interesting city, people are nice, it´s cheaper than elsewhere in South America (some people call this country "dirty cheap"). Lately there was a presidential election here - Evo Morales, supported by indigenous people has been reelected. He is also a friend of Hugo Chavez. Anyway, I´ve heard an interesting discussion of the German people how Bolivia has lost its chance for better future. And immediately a question appeared in my head: "what does better future mean?" More money? More development? More cars, bigger houses, branded staff everywhere? What else? Well. I have seen many writings on walls in La Paz, El Alto etc. supporting their president (maybe they are all fake??)! Looking for the answer I have spoken to some Bolivian people. And they told me that obviously there are good sides and bad sides of his politics, but to sum up they all love it, because he maintain the unity of their society, because they see the difference, because USA don´t rule their country (btw. citizens of USA need to pay 135$ for entering Bolivia). Maybe this we can easily call democracy, maybe they simply have another priorities than "the rich part of the world"? (I hope, I will get to know it soon, as visiting the mountains of Bolivia - 65% of citizens are indigens there).

Funny, strange and interesting thing of the week: I saw an indigenous lady, oryginally dressed, like 60 years old, buying chicken and coca-cola in the Bolivian version of KFC.

I can see Christmas here - how nice!! I also saw the Colombian tv lately - they seem to be crazy about it as well!

I also visited some "miradores" - there are great views for La Paz and the mountains and the coca museum (very interesting)!

To sum up: I really enjoy staying in La Paz:) Now i´m going to Uyuni.

Saludos,

me.

Puno

2009-12-08T13:31:00.000-08:00

Chickos,

I left Cuzco, as it was very touristic place and I simply didn´t feel the climate. On the bus I was going with almost only local people, lots of indigens, lot´s of Peruwianos tambien. I was sitting with Kilder - a vocalist of young local rock band - Suciopolicia666, who also graduated in the faculty of Tourism. He told me many interesting facts about the Inkas, about the culture, recommended some places in Peru. Finally, after 10 hours...

...I arrived in Puno, which is on the lake Titicaca, second biggest lake in South America, located on the altitude of 3812m. Firstly I spent one day looking around (as usually), checking possibilities of getting to the islands on the lake, getting accustomed to the altitude, making some pictures, drinking local alcohol with locals at 11.30 a.m...(what he said?? "I´m Eminemmmmmm":))))

But let´s get back for a while. First night I met an Ecuadorian guy, who lives here. Shew me a couple of interesting places, told me about culture, about dances, we also saw a movie of typical Bolivian dances, ate pollo dorado, drank typical, natural drink Melante, prepared only from herbs - delicious and very healthy (at least I hope so:)) On the way back to the hostel I ate some street food - meat stick with a potato (I miss potatoes from Poznan, although there are many potatoes in Puno!) Regarding food - I have also tried sopa de fideo and seco de pollo - very good!! Going back to potatoes...

I decided to visit two islands: URU floatings and Taquile. A tour on the lake was perfect to me! Not so hot, lot´s of water what I love and the wind! Es una chimba!!:) Views were so good I couldn´t stop making pictures:) URU appeared to be commercial (tv and a hi-fi in an indigens house??) When I told the lady who really wanted to sell me her things that unfortunately I wouldn´t buy anything, she stopped talking to me - strange!:) 1 minute earlier I was the best "amigo" in the world:) On Taquile I climbed to the highest point of the island, which appeared to be an old temple. Perfect 360· view for Titicaca!

Puno itself is a very nice, small city (population of 100K), it was supposed to be touristy as well, but it´s much better! People in Peru are not so open and friendly (at first) as in Colombia, but you can meet wonderful people everywhere:) lot´s of people in traditional clothes, sitting and chilling out with their families near the lake, children playing, young girls...playing football etc.

Now i´m heading to Copacabana, which is on the Bolivian side of the Titicaca and from there directly to La Paz where I´m gonna meet Marco.

Will keep you informed.

Saludos,

me.

Machu Picchu & Cuzco

2009-12-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

Chickos,

from Lima I went directly to Cuzco (my last bus trip of 20 hours, you can Imagine how happy I was after that), where I spent two days, visiting places, looking around, making some pictures and finally I booked my ticket to Machu Picchu. I did the journey on a car trip, unfortunately my ankle doesn´t allow me to hike too much. So I still need to come back here and do the trekking as well :)
Cuzco - very nice city in the mountains (altitude: 3300m), capital of the Inca´s empire, firstly discovered by Europeans in 16th century, called "historic capital of Peru". Lot´s of old buildings, some intersting churches, people in very oryginal clothing, and... lot´s of tourists.

Can recommend visiting this place for one-two days. Funny thing: thursday 9 p.m., I was reading a book (thanks Dave!) in my room - dormitory and now somebody opened the door and it was...Piotrek from Poland in the middle of his 12 months around the world journey!! You can imagine how happy I was to meet him somewhere in Cuzco and had an opoortunity to share opinions and speak Polish for a while!!It´s like somebody unexpectedly started singing "you are not alone":)
Machu Picchu - as I mentioned before I did a journey by car and stayed for two nights in Aguas Calientes, which is the official "Machu Picchu village". Well, it was nice, I started my journey up like 5 a.m., saw also Wayne Picchu which is one hour hike up from Machu Picchu and needs to be visited early in the morning as there is only place for 400 tourists a day. So entire view for the Andes and a climate of these places was awesome, but as it was foggy and rainy day the visibility was a little bit limited! I must say, it´s an extremely commercial place (where are the indians, where is the jungle?????) but it´s worth seeing anyway.

One thing I like about such journeys is an opportunity to meet many different people, our car on the way back was like Babel: French, German, English, Spanish...And the views of the mountains...

Interesting fact: Pizza was invented in Nepal!

Now I´m heading directly to Puno, where I´m gonna visit floating islands and then go to Copacabana (already on the Bolivian side, which is a departure point for Isla del Sol and Isla de Luna. From Copacabana directly to La Paz, which is called "a crazy city" - I´m gonna check why:)

Will keep you informed.

Saludos,
me.

Spring in Lima!

2009-11-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

Chickos,

First of all I need to say I fully recommend "La casa" hostel in Guayaquil! Great people, great atmosphere, sorry I couldn´t stay any longer...My trip to Lima took 30 hours by bus. 2 engine breakdowns, lot´s of platano trees in the beginning, lot´s of sand later on. 3 meals included, 4 movies seen, 3 local people met. Interesting thing about the border: customs is like 40km behind the real border, well, hard to call it "a border" as there are 2 buildings, different for Ecuador and different for Peru, they are like 5km from each other, nobody guards it (or we don´t see them).

Anyway I spent a couple of days in Lima, eating (typical soup: parihuela - delicious!!!!), drinking, sleeping, having some fun, visiting interesting places (like Baranko or the Centre of Lima), watching surfers on the beach, dancing salsa a little bit. I also met an old friend of my aunt and her family, ate dinner with a Polish group coming back home after 3 weeks holiday - it was perfect!! It´s nothing better than meet your country folks after 10 weeks! And, as they all were very nice, it was a perfect dinner.

Many thanks to mrs. Maria, mr. Anibal, Pawel and the entire team of Maria Kralewska turismo y aventura S.A. for invitation and all the support and information given to me! Muchas gracias por todos!

I have an opoortunity to spend some time with the Peruwians (big hug to Katxi Kat), what is really cool! Rumba with local people is great! I visited a small district called Baranko, which is like 20 minutes by bus from the place I stay in. Many bars, clubs, many people playing music in the streets, street painters and...the best place for watching Lima from the mountain, WOW, that was really impressive! I also attended a meeting in the park - every Sunday 5-10 p.m. young people meet in the park, playing guitars, bongos, other instruments, doing some yoga, acrobations, gymnastics - COOL!

Proverb of the week: "If you play hero you will become zero".

Sentence of the week: "De todo un poco".

Saludos!

me.

p.s. the weather here is great!! 18-25C.

towards Peru!

2009-11-25T14:08:00.001-08:00

Chickos,
I stayed 10 days on Galapagos. It was a fascinating experience. There are two groups of people. One which find the islands ugly and the other one that finds it awesome! Have to say, that for me they are (although I saw only 3 of them) very interesting. Although I didn´t like the volcanic scenery at first, I was fascinated by it later on. I am hugely impressed by the possibility of being so close to animals: various species of birds, turtles (both land and sea ones), iguanas, sea lions. It´s a surprising moment when a pelican lands 0,5m from you, looks at you and...smiles at you :)

I was living in Puerto Ayora, visited Santa Cruz island, Floriana, snorkelled with sea lions and turtles, dived (after 5 years, WOW! Sea lions were playing with me, saw Black Mantras, Eagle Spotted Mantras, Hammerheads, Black Tip Sharks, lot´s of colourful fishes etc.), saw post vulcano stuff, chilled on the white sand beaches, ate some seafood and some typical Ecuadorian food.

The phenomenon of Galapagos and its diversity comes from different currents that affect the archipelag. Panama Current - hot from north and Peru Current - colder from south.
Interesting information about turtles, directly from Charles Darwin Institute: scientists discover that the temperature (within the incubator) determines the sex of young turtles. If the temperature is over 30 the young tend to be female, if below 30 - male. Funny, isn´t it?

Sentence of the week:

¨It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.¨

Charles Darwin

So, now I´m heading to Peru, going directly to Lima, will spend there weekend and then Cuzco!

Will keep you informed.
me.

100% nature confirmed!

2009-11-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

Chichos,

after 4 days in Quito tomorrow morning I´m leaving for Galapagos Islands, on my own (not an organized tour), have an open ticket, so I don´t know when I return to Ecuador mainland.

Anyway, looking forward to it as Scott (I met him in Medellin and in Quito as well) told me yesterday Galapagos is an incredible diving site.

Yesterday we went for trekking and, as was extremely cold, we came back after 2 hours. We used Teleferico, which is a cable car and we saw entire Quito from the mountain. Was pretty interesting, although I´m a little bit ill after this.

Interesting thing about Quito. There is a problem with a power supply in Quito, there is not electicity for appr. 5 hours every day. I´ve done some investigation why is that and got to know that almost 30% of the total energy produced in Equador come from water plants. As it hasn´t been sufficiently raining this year, there is a shortage of water in lakes and rivers, so the plants are not able to produce enough energy...

About people from Quito in comparison to Bogota: they are a little bit less friendly to the tourists, not so crazy, I have a slight impression that Quito is a little bit more European. Food was better and only a little bit more expensive in Bogota, parties are similar - lot´s of people on the streets, lot´s of people in the clubs. Prices - for partying Quito is much cheaper (comparing the party district in Quito to Zona Rosa in Bogota, obviously Zona Rosa is more "upmarket").

Besides the Ecuadorians are 100% crazy about football!

I´m tired of big cities, need to switch for nature now.

See you soon!

Saludos!

me.

Quito!

2009-11-12T14:27:00.001-08:00

Hi Chickos!

After several last days in Colombia, I have met a team from Danmark and we moved together from Pasto to Quito. We are sharing our room in the hostel now. Quito is a nice city with nice people, a little bit different than Bogota (but I still don´t know enough Ecuadorian people to compare the countries). For sure it´s cheaper here. Also busses in Ecuador are much cheaper.

I have already seen the old city (actually Quito is on the Unesco list), very beautiful! Also moved to the Ecuator, where the water goes directly straight to the hole (I recorded everything, so I can show you later on). I also saw Indigenous city and got to know where I can get a little closer to this culture. I will probably do it a little bit later. Am also gathering information about Galapagos, but still hasn´t got enough to go there by my own.

Sometimes paragliding comes back to my head, but this is not unusual, as Leonardo Da Vinci said:

"Once you have flown you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to return".

But flying (paragliding or other way) will need to wait a little bit...

Saludos,

me.

Towards Ecuador.

2009-11-07T13:06:00.001-08:00

Chickos,

it´s been a while since I wrote my last note here. Thanks for reading it!

I decided to finally leave Bucaramanga on Wednesday, after several parties with...Wyborowa, it´s not a joke, took the night bus (9 hours) and go to check one of the "party hostels" - PIT STOP in Medellin. My leg´s better now, although I´m still not able to dance. It was a pity to say good bye to all my friends from Bucaramanga, especially to my Swiss team. But, time is ticking away...And I need to renew my visa, see more and feel more.

Not many interesting things about Medellin, but to sum up, it´s time for the sentence of the week: "It´s only one shity thing about Medellin - there is completely nothing to do on a daytime". I drank typical beer for Medellin - 3 different types ¨3 cordilleras¨, visited nice Zona Rosa and some other parts of the city. This city is great for its nightlife. Definitely.

Anyway, I had a great opoortunity to gather some more insights about travellers.
Not many of them learn Spanish, not many of them try to really get to know the local culture. They mostly stay with other travellers, speak their languages, travel together, cook together (mostly food they know from their countries), not many of them want to dance Salsa, are often afraid of local people.

Then I decided to leave immediately (night bus - 23 hours, on Saturday and Sunday) to Pasto, small colonial city near the Ecuadorian border. On my way here, I saw the best mountain views in my life. Finally I arrived in the hotel. It is very nice, located in the city centre, postcolonial, run by great people. Have already set up a plan for tomorrow, done some washings, visited the city etc.
Tomorrow I´m going to cross the border with Ecuador and go straight to Quito.

Will keep you informed.

Saludos.

me.

p.s. I have heard something about possible war between Colombia and Venezuela, but people here...laugh at it...

porque no? :)

2009-10-23T11:10:00.001-07:00

Chickos,

This time I want to tell you about a strapline of my trip: "¿porque no?" which means "why not?" It´s been more than 5 weeks since I left Europe. Up from the very first moment of the journey I have had huge need of exploring, discovering, meeting unknown, observing culture, assimilating it etc. So my internal motivation might be delivered as "porque no" sentence, which I´ve usually used when being asked "Gringo, do you want some?", "Adam, are you going for rumba with us?", "shall we try the brand new meal today?", "shall we go for salsa"...etc.

And now "porque no" is making its carrier! It has been used by many people in many places, people who are keen to discover, have fun and smile more than average. I really like this attitude, it´s worked very well for me, I am going to maintain it until yo termino mi viaje en 21 de enero. Porque no? :)

Cheers!

me.

Colombia and its health system.

2009-10-21T06:21:00.000-07:00

Hola chickos,

lately I had an opportunity to get to know how Colombian hospitals work. I had a small crash when paragliding, my foot hurts, I decided to have it x-rayed and checked by a doctor. I´m really surprised how good the Colombian system works, 3 hours and I knew everything. Firstly they thought it was a fractured ankle, what hmm...would make like 6 weeks off. Eventually - twisted ankle, what I thought (and hoped). So, I´m having now at least 8 days off my paragliding course, have already had 6 flights, should have like 24 more.

Interesting, I had the injury exactly when I really felt my canopy and was doing great kiting. I was trying to launch and....You should always be focused for 100% - a good lesson! I´m not sure whether it will be possible or not to go for the rest of the course, all depends on what the doctor will say in 7 days and how my leg´s doing, so...

let´s wait.

It´s fascinating how much the problems can teach us. About ourselves, about taking right decisions (or decisions in general), about feelings which sometimes determine our problem solving etc...

Anyway, I have met two great Colombian doctors, one of them is a paragliding pilot as well: "welcome to the world of paragliders, Adam...". Besides had a nice chat with nurses, observed people, their smiles, cries, problems, injuries, pains... Sometimes we need to see things differently in order to realize how happy we are...

Now I have time for listening to MUSIC, writing, observing, chilling, watching videos...

Cheers!
me.

p.s. I have called and sent the papers from the hospital to my Insurance Company - I will let you know whether it´s worth recommending or not...I think I should get reimbursement as soon as possible (maximum 14 days).
p.s.2. European food (spaghetti for example) tastes nice after a long break:)
p.s.3. I decided to buy my own electronic shaker for preparing great juices!

fly as a bird...it will take some time:)

2009-10-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

Chickos,

2 more flights done. And 1 more "happy landing" - you can guess what it means here:) besides flew to the restaurant (we can count it as a third flight). Decided to focus on flying right now, it needs it.
Will talk to you approximately in 10 days.

Saludos!
me.

p.s. "it´s wonderful to have the time to smell the roses".
p.s.2. I remember the end of "Go into the wild". I know.

first flight...

2009-10-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

...is behind me. It was one of the greatest moments in my life. Cool!! Looking forward to more. Besides I stay in a cosy hostel on the hill, just opposite to the launch area. 6 person, cooking, paragliding, going to Bucaramanga to party on the weekends. Next 2 weeks and move...

Saludos
me.

Bucaramanga - here you can see the birds´ eyes...

2009-10-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

Hola:)

I arrived here on Thursday evening and went out with Richie, my instructor, to party. Hmm, no limits (after 3 a.m. - you might remember that all the clubs are closed after that) I was somehow lost on the steet, so police simply delivered me to the hostel. ProHuman attitude, I love it here! Unless you mess, you are safe and they are always very keen to help you.

Bucaramanga seems to be a nice play to live in. Something like 1 million inhabitants, it´s called the cleanest city in Colombia, constantly developing its infrastructure, has pretty strong industry, moreover very nice people!:)

On monday I´m going to start my course, which will last at least 10 days. I like the fact, that despite the course oficially lasts 10 days, THE GUYS won´t let you go until they are 100% sure you are ready to begin your own paragliding adventure.

Check the picasa web album for pictures.

Btw. Colombia has a great campaign "Colombia. The only risk is wanting to stay here":) Actually I have already met many people who either set up here or are seriously thinking about it. No wonder, this country has so much to offer: from ocean to very beautiful mountains. From steaks to sea food. From jungle to most beautiful rivers I have ever seen. There are areas of Colombia you should avoid because of Guerilla, but as long as you follow instructions and don´t risk you can easily see many beautiful, breath-taking places here.

I´m really looking forward to seeing Peru as well. Maybe Galapagos as well...

Ok, saludos!

me.

2 boats, 12 people, a lot of fun! San Gil, here I am.

2009-10-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hola chickos!

After leaving Bogota I moved my ass to San Gil, which was recommended rafting site. I didn`t have any reservation so I simply went to a place one friend told my about and it appeared it was no place for me...Fortunately I found the last bed in another hostel...San Gil is a pretty popular place. Funny thing: I`ve met like 5 people who I previously met in Alegria`s.
San Gil is a small and nice city with a cosy market, where people usually sit on the evenings, enjoy climate, drink cervezas, chat and have fun. Like it!

Rafting.
Rio Suarez is a river which needs a bit of experience, it´s not a problem though, you can sign all the papers and simply go:) I´ve done rafting before, in Turkey, also pretty strong... Rio Suarez has rapids like 3 - 5 (actually the maximum scale is 6) A W E S O M E. There were moments when waves were so big that we couldn`t see anything at all. Adams (yeah, there was another Adam on the boat) had front positions, which is pretty demanding and needs coordination between two sides of the boat, rest of the boat should follow `the fronters`. It was sometimes very close to fall out from the boat, but fortunately we`re all in one piece...After reaching each rapid we said "celebration" and moved all the padels up together. We also had some break for lunch and swimming in the river - cool thing!

Great people, great river, great fun! Rio Suarez!

A sample of what we did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nODblD5E0p4

Second day of San Gil: I went to a very nice Parque El Gallineral and had a small bus trip to Barichara. This is what Lonely Planet says about this small village: "Barichara is a kind of town that Hollywood filmmakers dream about. A Spanish colonial town of strinking beauty, the whitewashed buildings and stone streets look almost as new as the day they have created some 300 years ago." Check the picassa album.

It´s time for Bucaramanga.

Saludos!
me.

last week and last moments in Bogota...

2009-10-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

my stay in Bogota is almost finished. News&more:

- espanol: mejor, entiendo mas y hablo un poco mas tambien

- salsa: better as well, although it seems I will skip all the bloody steps and come back to improvisation (although I was called "the most talented gringo ever" - haha)

- law: it´s interesting that all the cabs simply go (on the night) on the red light, nobody cares, even the police. Yesterday we saw a street fight and police were rather negotiating with both sides, am not sure whether they have enough force...Calvin said that in the States they would be lying on the street with a gun near their heads...

- food: I ate lamb lately, also tried all the traditional comidas columbianas: tomal (everything - chicken, potatoes, rice etc. covered by banana leaves), bandeja paisa (grilled steak, fried pork, sausages, rice, red beans, fried egg and avocado), Ajiaco soup (chicken, potatoes, corn, sour cream, capers, avocado and guasca), empanadas, arepas etc. The best is obviously seafood district with a great choice of fishes and some seafood as well.

- people: apart from the "citizens of the world" we met a lot of Colombians. They are very curious about Polish culture, Polish women, Polish food etc. Obviously they also want to know why I have chosen Colombia. The same scenario every time...

Btw. Do you know what MBA stands for? No? "Married but available" - funny, isn´t it?:)

Funny moment of the week: we saw a poster on the street "perro caliente promocion" and we asked Alegria, the owner of the hostel:

We: "Alegria, do you really eat dogs in Colombia?"

A: "yyyyyyyyyy????"

We: "yes, we saw them in one restaurant, had some emotional doubts about eating dogs...are they good?"

A: "yyyyyyy??? what do you mean, is that a joke???"

We: "no, it´s a serious question, we´d like to try them..."

A: "aha, you know what are perro caliente??"

We: "yes, we do, dogs...."

A: "yes, hot dogs!!"

:))))))))))))))

Expression of the week: "Gringo express" - we always use it as we are almost running on the streets of Bogota, we want to slow down a little bit but it simply happens all the time...

For the weekend we moved to Suesca, a small town north of Bogota. We were supposed to be climbing there and guys were but believe it or not it´s impossible to get size 44 here. Are they really so big??:))

Anyway we stayed in Suesca for a night, had a great party with the locals and came back to Bogota on Sunday evening. Interesting thing is that all the buses have some religious stickers on the back...

Tomorrow i´m moving to San Gil (it´s a very nice rafting site) and after that to Bucaramanga for even more adrenaline (paragliding course). Then I might go to Cartagena and Santa Marta (I´m seriously thinking about visiting "Lost city") I didn´t know how much Colombia can offer...

Saludos!

me.

p.s. I think more and more often of shaving my beard...

p.s.2. I´ve put some pictures at picassa...

summary of the week.

2009-09-26T08:43:00.001-07:00

Hola guys:)

This time I will start straight away with the question of the week, last one from the category: philosophy (our professor is back to the States right now and I don't assume anybody can replace him).
So the question is: "how do we know what we know".

This week has been pretty...hmm, I would call it average. I have aclimatised here and now simply do my things. Had three salsa lessons, danced on the street (have a movie of that), improved Spanish a little (although I'm not satisfied about it yet), visited some interesting places, drank some aguardiente.

Visited some interesting museos as well:

Museo del Oro (gold museum): enjoyed it very much. There are a lot of materials regarding history of metalurgy - gold (also a symbolical meaning of it - SUN), silver, platinium etc. (which is interesting) and, what makes things even more exciting, the second floor is dedicated to cosmology and symbolics of ancient indians.
To sum up my visit in Museo del Oro I will use a sentence (certainly it's a sentence of the week) that I read over there:
"Society is viewed by the ancient Amerindian people as being united with nature. People, animals, plants and spirits together form a great cosmic society where relations all are identical to those of humans".

Museo Botero - Fernando Botero is a pretty famous artist in Colombia: painter and a sculpter as well. Interesting style. Besides some works of Picasso, impresionists etc.

Museo de la Policia - guided tour with a policeman.
Yeah, I tried to solve Pablo Escobar's case. My impression is that thanks to him Medelin has become a pretty rich city. Many people think he was the one who governed and improved the situation of the poorest. Even policemen don't say anything wrong about him.
Besides: guns, private property of Escobar, history of the Medelin cartel, police clothing from all over the world etc. And a great view of Bogota straight from the roof...

On friday I came out with some crazy people (mostly from the university) - Colombians, Brazilians, Germans, Poles. We went to Zona Rosa district which was very, very European and pretty expensive as well. Started in Daniel's house, 20 people on board. Went to a club for a party, drank something (+), and after 3 a.m. (strange thing, clubs are being closed at 3 a.m., there is only one place in Bogota for afterparties. But I heard it's different in Argentina...Anyway it used to be even worse in 2000, due to new regulations called: "ley zanahoria", launched by a major of Bogota, all the clubs were closed after 1 a.m. I talked to my teacher about it and she told me it was a new "family and secure policy", but nobody liked it. Needless to ask why:)). Anyway we came back to Daniel's place and later simply went home to La Candelaria). I saw entire Bogota from the taxi.

This weekend I have the last (this week) Spanish class and going to Monserate. Don't feel as going to another party tonight, but who knows...If I feel better in the evening...:)

October the 8th is my time for Bucaramanga, yeah, looking forward to it!:)

Cheers.

me.

fin de semana & nueva semana

2009-09-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

Hola Chicos!

After a crazy party on Saturday (as usually I was the last one who wanted to go home), I had pretty usual Sunday doing nothing for entire day (hangover after discovering new ¨combo¨: aguardiente + beer). On the evening though, we went to a bar (some kind of Hard Rock), small, cosy, playing Colombian´s rock/blues bands. About eleven we had a strange feeling of getting in a trouble there so we simply asked security for help, took a taxi and went home. Another story...

Discussion of the weekend: Mauro (Argentina), Emilia (PL), Adam (PL).
Obviously we didn´t come across any light subject (besides if we had, I would have nothing to tell you about), so Capitalism vs Socialism (or liberty vs. communism). Talked about Hugo Chavez, Polish history, Indians culture (yeah, religion was also involved:) ), great teachers of the world, slovakian authors (not my part, I don´t know much about them). Mauro appeared to be fond of Chavez politics. Well, there were many conclusions, unfortunately (or fortunately) no of them was really "ours".
But we have a question of the week coming straight from this discussion:
"does liberty (capitalism) kill thinking?". What do I think? Looking on our behaviour towards nature, I really wish we had some bees in the world in 30 years. I love honey:)

Sentence of the weekend - "believes are sometimes traditions".

Spanish - I´ve had two lessons with Angie...UFFFFF, I don´t like homeworks....But I stay with her, as she appeared to be a very good teacher, besides even after such short time I can see a progress (I hope not only me:) )

Salsa - .............A W E S O M E. I had my first lesson yesterday, basically it was not only Salsa, but also Merengue (pretty easy to learn) and others incl. hip-hop. I´m a part of a colombian team right now - crazy people, visited their home, went to club, chatted a lot (as you probably predict, I´m a great listener so far). Before the lesson we attended some African dance classes, it was really interesting, Maurizio (the professor) was filming all of this, so I hope movies will be available soon. I´m dancing almost every day this week, so...:)

Traffic in the hostel is getting higher right now - many people come and go. Anyway I met a Canadian girl who has been travelling for entire year, also volunteering in Peru. I have a feeling of incoming interesting discussion:)

Saludos!
Adam

p.s.Colombian kitchen - mostly based on chicken&rice (talk about restaurants in the neighbourhood), although Calvin shew me a great district of seafood over here:) really looking forward to Cartagena and the rest of Pacific coast.
p.s.2. colombian culture of partying - they are open minded, smile all the time, have crazy ideas, no limits, they are fantastic dancers...CRAZY! I really enjoy it!:)
p.s.3.If i can give you a piece of advice regarding travelling to South America (Colombia): take Visa and Mastecard (sometimes there are problems with one of the systems), negotiate all the prices in advance, be careful - it´s not as dangerous as we think about it, but it´s better to watch out, especially when going alone or with another gringo/extranjero late in the evening/night. The best and safest way is to get to know and go out with a local team, besides it´s a great fun, possibility to gather some cultural insights and improve your Spanish:)

fin de semana

2009-09-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

Sabado, 19 de Septiembre

Mucho gente en el hostel. Hay 4 Mexicans, 2 Argentinians, 4 Americans, 2 Poles:) yes, I can speak Polish now:)
And besides we have a great hostel mates. Brilliant team! Tonight we gonna mix all the cultures for Rumba. I have a feeling of something unexpected to happen:) We have 100% of power alltogether. We are all age, we live on 4 continents (La Polaca trabaja en Armenia, el Americano trabaja en Mongolia). I´m really looking forward to it, as you all know I´m a party beast and I love occasions to celebrate:) fin de semana means huge hangover:) Besides, as an ambassador, I really feel responsible for giving guys some insights of our partying culture!

Today I´m beginning my Spanish classes with Angie, I hope I wil have a positive feeling towards our classes, otherwise I need to find a good Escuela de Espanol el lunes. Hablo Espanol as often as possible. Yesterday I attended Spanish speaking discussion and...after 3 hours with my dictionary I felt so tired that I had to go to sleep. I´m trying to solve how my brain works, probably Í will not manage to do it until the end of my journey:)

Sentence of the day (quess who): "ask yourself this: are you a consumer or are just being consumed?"

I like a climate of Bogota - have finally found "my restaurant" here (I´m not very fond of switching places all the time, like to know the staff, regular guests etc.), it´s basically a small, cosy bar, were there yesterday and really enjoyed the food and atmosphere. I also went out of La Candeleria yesterday evening in order to see the true Bogota. Hmm, I appreciate presence of Police everywhere here, but...It´s another story...

Saludos!

p.s.Colombian insight:
"Do you have a girlfriend"
"No, I don´t have money for it"

Strange, isn´t it? But true. Nobody says it, everybody knows it.

"esthetics is an opposite to anestesia".

2009-09-18T06:31:00.000-07:00

Late at night I met an American. Sharing a room with a well experienced philosoph who mostly deals with esthetics and impact of esthetics on the company culture is always very interesting. So this might be even a discussion of the day - we made it a little bit more philosophical:) why people are more efficient when free, with no boss in the neighbourhood, what makes people consider being responsible for the company, what is the right way of treating employees, what are the conditions of the creativity, do people feel positive karma of the place? It reminded me of a chat with my aunt who attended some seminar lately and gave an example of the Polish enterpreneur who cares for people, their families, is deeply involved in their day-to-day living, also spiritually (hes religious and he passes his faith to employees).

Well, apart from the ethical side of the subject, i truly believe that everybody has its mission here. The thing is to help people start to look for it. Money is not the most important thing, its only the outcome of the idea. Every enterpreneur is an artist who creates something brand new. Every employee is a part of an input (2+2=5?), we need to listen what ideas people have, we need to listen what they think about - who they are, what emotions are involved, we need to be open minded. We need to make them be involved! Not only because its more profitable (if you dont agree, please leave your comment), but also because we are human - creatures who use only 6% of the brain power (thank you Ola) and we can absolutely learn from others!
To sum up: to be "open minded" means to let your intuition go freely:) to care, be responsible, listen, engage, create. FEEL.

Besides i drank some more beers and mojitos yesterday (definitely im a Pole) - Stephan last party here, i will miss our chats, mate!
My Spanish is going better. Yesterday had a nice conversation with couple of new mates - looking forward to next three weeks.

Sentence of the day: "i never stay at the hotels! what the hell can i find there?":)
Proverb (well, a kind of) of the day: "1 year of travelling alone is like 5 years at school".

Plans: im going to see some museums here: Museo Del Oro (Gold Museum), Museo Botero (famous Colombian artist), Police Museum (well, I need to know why the museum that is dedicated to Pablo Escobar is called "Police museum¨), gonna have Intermilenio drive, Monserrat for sure, Observatorio Astronomico. And...Salsa clubs, and some dubstep party (might be today, as i understand Spanish:))

Btw. There are some pictures, click for Picassa:)

Saludos!

second day, second sight

2009-09-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hola chickas y chickos:)

Got to know the hostel team better today - great people. couple of new met incl. wonderful couple from The States. Got some tips on my further journey to Peru, and one great tip for another journey, but...it´s another story. For now i decided to stay three weeks in Bogota and then straight to Bucaramanga and, after 14 days of adrenaline, to Cartagena. Cali is still in front of me, city of Salsa, i´m coming:) Today i also heard some enthusiastic opinions about Medelin (not first) from Sam - the American who partly work in San Francisco and in Medelin (lives there).

Dos ideas para Bogota:
- curso de Espanol
- curso de salsa - voy a bailar :)

Met also a very talented clothes&jewellery young designer from Colombia. Chated a little bit.

Discussion of the day: Stephan (NL), Allegria (CO), Adam (PL:) ). About relationships and cultural differencies between couples behaviour in Europe and Latin America. Cold blood vs. hot, how to get to know, what about marriage, cheating, fascination, trust, paying on the first date etc.

Proverbs:
English vs. Colombian.
English: "Absence makes love grow fonder¨
Colombian: "Absence makes 4 people happy" (i´m not sure whether it´s actually a real proverb or a true history of somebody, to be honest)

Saludos!

p.s. food was better today: ¨pollo con salada de frutas y aroz y patatas".

love from the first sight?

2009-09-17T03:59:00.000-07:00

...not that easy...woke up about 6 a.m., adrenaline was still inside me. started drinking coffee and couldn´t stop - best ever! even in a smallest bar it tastes great here. now i fully understand the sentence "it´s a columbian coffee,mate!":) up from 8 a.m. i was having a tour through the city centre with a guy who works in a hostel. visited gorgeous churches: San Francisco, La Catedral Primada, Iglesia de San Agustin. Saw people praying - must admit they seemed to do it so truly that i decided to stay for a while. Also saw Plaza de Bolivar, Presidential Palace etc. Small nap and then decided to walk alone and feel some climate of the city - first observation: not to many gringos here. After 2 hours in a crowdy area i moved to some peaceful area near the univesity (still la Candeleria) - small streets, smiling people, nice kafeterias, "typical colombian dinner" - today i will abolutely take my dictionary with me:) i stayed there until 7 p.m., was already dark, so i moved up, closer to the hill to meet some real colombians and see the sight for the entire city - unexpectedly great area of lights. I bought a juice in a small shop, trying to have a little conversation with the old Colombian lady. she advised me ¨la fria y fresca juga de..." strawberry (as i realised 2 minutes later) :) went to sleep eventually.

today is a brand new day.

saludos!

First moments in Bogota

2009-09-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

After 26 hours on tour (Poznan-Berlin-New York-Bogota) i have finally arrived:) cloudy, temperature around 20, a little bit rainy at the moment. I have already met one Colombian guy who gave me piece of advice regarding safety. I have also met a guy from Israel, who i shared taxi from the airport - he did the same route that i´m planning couple of years ago. Up from tomorrow i´m looking for some Spanish classes, enjoying Bogota and...we will see, what life will show us :)

Cheers:)

let's start!

2009-08-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hola,

I feel a little bit nervous (Germans call it "Reisefieber") before leaving for Bogota now. Still have 5 days left before my departure, my plane is leaving Berlin on Tuesday, 9.35 a.m. local time. I will arrive in Bogota at 9 p.m., have a booking in a cosy Hostel called La Alegria which is situated in an old part of the Colombian capital - La Candeleria. Gonna stay there for 4 days with "an option", which means that if I find a "feelable" Spanish school in the neighbourhood, I will stay longer, up to three weeks more. Then I'm gonna move further for some adrenaline injection after that, but this will be released soon...

Saludos!