Going home for Christmas....

My whole trip was about change, changes, changing... so maybe it won't surprise you to read that: " I'm back in Holland!"

What happend to make this decision? 


Since last October I have problems with my left foot...again...These problems are due to an accident I had in Laos last March. Back then I recovered quite fast, now it was a slow process...but everyday it got a little bit better. I didn't go to see a doctor in October. I didn't have crutches or other kind of walking support, except for a hand or arm from a nice person who helped me sometimes. I just tried to walk as less as possible to give my foot rest as much as possible. Like I said, slowely it got better. For me the most important thing was that my foot would be good or at least healthy enough, to do the yoga therapy teacher training in Mysore, that started on the 5th of December. I thought it was good enough, at least it felt like that....

The first week everything went fine...till last Sunday...all of a sudden the pain came back, just like that, without warning and I couldn't stand on my foot anymore.
This time I did wanted to know what was really going on, so...MRI, CT-scan, X-ray...I did it all. With the main result to be told, that, there's a foreign body right there where I had a cut in my foot and which is probably the cause for, next to general pain, the numb feelings I have in 2 toes since I had the accident. And another foreign body is in my heel, which is most likely a bone splitter, and due to, too much stress for my foot of the little bit of walking I did do.  


"Ahhh doctor what does this mean?" was my question..."honestly", he said..."if you don't want to get osteo-arthritis as a young woman you are now...take rest...take rest for about 3 months"...that was it...nothing more, nothing less.


Sure I could have, like on of my friends suggested, stayed the rest of the time in Goa and do nothing else then "beaching"...Sure I could have undertaken a surgery in India so they could take the foreign body out. Sure I could have just stayed where I was and hang around, and sure you will have a different suggestion as well. 

But do you know what...
I am or was just tired of hanging around, I just had been hanging around for 2 months in Rishikesh. I am or was just tired of traveling around, I just had been traveling around in Asia for almost one year. But the idea of going home for Christmas was just to good to be true :-)

So here I am...

bye bye Asia, India, Mysore...hello Europe, Holland, Amsterdam...


This trip was probably the most intense conscious life experience I've had in my life so far. And I'm so grateful that I've been able to do this. 
I just say thank you to everyone who shared this experience with me in any kind of way. Maybe it was by sometimes thinking about me, maybe it was by sometimes reading my blog, maybe it was by sometimes writing me, maybe it was by sometimes skyping with me, maybe it was by  letting me know you during my travels, maybe it was by visiting me....

And all these experiences, all these connections made my trip to what it has been...a total spiritual journey...a journey so completely different then I thought it would be...
Sometimes it was hard...sometimes it was easy...but I learned the most of the hard times I had.


One person was always there for me. In the beginning physical later mental, energetic, like a soulmate...my sister...she supported me, she listened to me, she cried with me, she laughed with me...she knows how important she is to me...but: "Thank you for being my sister!"

and that's where I am right now....

with metta, carry 

Pictures: of the time I spend in Rishikesh!

India: Rishikesh

Isn't it ironic....don't you think?

What did I write you in my last blogstory? Rishikesh Yogaplanet on earth..or something like that? And the other thing was...everything is changing all the time? Well I can tell you this...after being one month in Rishikesh I haven't been able to join one Yogaclass at all. There was a big Yoga and Indian Music festival going on 2 weeks long...who missed it? Yep...ME :-)

I can just laugh about it and tell you what happened and what I did instead:

In last March I had a little accident and because of that I got some problems with my left foot, but after 6 to 8 weeks I was able to do all different kind of things again like jogging, yoga, hiking...
I don't know why, but in my last week in McLeod, the pain slowly came back in my foot and got worse from day to day. Together with a skin disease in my face I didn't feel really comfortable with this new situation. In McLeod I didn't go to see the doctor but in Rishikesh I did. Just for your information :-) although I was looking forward to go to Rishikesh...it was hard to leave McLeod Ganj with all these lovely people that I met here.



In Rishikesh, I first found myself a place in an ashram on the main road of Ram Jhula (Rishikesh) and after that I went to Laxman Jhula (Rishikesh as well) where I could find the doctor that was recommended by someone I met in Thailand. 


This was an ayurvedic doctor (Ayurveda is the traditional natural Indian healing practice) and natural healers do everything different than the regular doctors do.  He checked my pulse, tongue, eyes, skin, asked me about my sleep and dreams and told me: you have problems with your digestion! Isn't that incredible? Together we decided to start a intense cleansing process for 28 days called Panchkarma. It is a rejuvenating process, massage, medicin, vomiting, enemas are all included :-) but after in total up to 3 months your body will rebuild itself as much as it can,  if I'm taking good care of it of course. I moved to Ram Jhula and found a huge room, light, quiet, with a lovely Indian family as host.

Some more I did or experienced:
- Panchkarma is over now and I don't feel rejuvenated but I do feel refreshed and I'm getting my energy back. I can really recommend doing this and my interest for Ayurveda is growing and growing...could become my next studysubject. 
- Finally my foot got much better as well, so now it's time to join some yoga classes as long as I'm still in Rishikesh. 
- I got my hair cut by Devi an young Indian woman...she was done in 2 Minutes! Since then I prefer to keep my hair more tight up than before ;-) 
- I was able to get integrated in quite some Indian families which resulted in celebrating birthdays, sharing whatever we can share and they took me to an Indian weddingparty which was an interesting experience as well. Some of the Indians, I was able to get to know a little bit better, I will definitely keep in my heart....they gave my stay in Rishikesh an extra touch!  
- last but not least...I did a yogaclass with an 103 year old yoga master...no picture of him but believe me...he knows how to keep himself fit!



Something to share:
Some of the people I met in the Buddhism course I joined in Dharamkot, I met here again. It's just so lovely to feel the connection with people who have the 'same' thoughts or people you can share with and because of this sharing and supporting you feel that the energy is rising.... Why I write this? Well 'normally' I make different experiences...a lot of times I get the feeling when having discussions that I/we try to convince the other or the other wants to convince me from their point of view. There is less or no space at all for both opinions to exist. To my opinion discussions aren't there to create a win or lose feeling...they are just there to share! Sharing feelings, opinions and other experiences without having the feeling that you are defending yourself is just wonderful and we can learn so much from it!


And what's next?
In a couple of days I will change Rishikesh for Mysore. On the way I'll make a stop in Delhi to  visit an old dutch friend and catch the plane to Bangalore. In Bangalore my dear old buddy Dave will be there at the same time, so we'll meet...coincidence or not? After that...10 to 12 weeks 'down under' in an ashram in Mysore to join a yoga therapy teacher training. I'm really looking forward...but... I won't be online for a while so please stay patience till you'll find my next and probably last story and pictures online :-) 

with metta,
carry

Pictures: India: Delhi....McLeod Ganj

India: Delhi....Mcleod Ganj....

Namaste!

It's almost one month ago that I arrived in Delhi and it was a complete different experience than two years ago. Indira Gandhi airport has a new terminal, clean...light...and organized ;-) It still takes you ages to get through the passport control but the waiting was less worse than two years ago, in a moldy, dark and unorganized terminal. The taxi drive from the airport to Pahar Ganj, traveler's district in Delhi, was not that horrible as I remembered and the Main Bazaar in Pahar Ganj completely changed! Everything is changing...all the time...we are normally only aware of these kind of things when we haven't been somewhere for a while...or when we haven't seen someone for a while. Changes are then more obvious...but if we want, we can be aware of this from moment to moment and I was so aware of this my first day in India.

Delhi:
My first challenge was, although all trains were fully booked according to an internet-booking-site, to get a train ticket to the nearest train station of Dharamshala. India wouldn't be India if there's not some kind of a possibility to get on a train anyway...I made it ;-) I wanted to get on the train as soon as possible because I subscribed for a Buddhism Introduction course in McLeod Ganj, a village close to Dharamshala and residence of HH the Dalai Lama when he's in India. I can only highly recommend this course to anyone who visits India and is interested in Buddhism. Check www.tushita.info.
The train trip itself was the second challenge...a woman...alone...in a night train. I used my most self confident attitude and was, after some curious views of some men, accepted and the other morning they were even very helpful. In India you actually never know what the next station is, they say nothing but you know more or less the arrival time, IF the train is on time...and guess what...they never are! So around 6am I just started asking if some one could tell me where we are...and 2 minutes later at least 10 men where helping this white, blond European woman...I got off the train on the right station...it always works...somehow :-)

McLeod:
Since I've been doing some Vipassana retreats, I wanted to know more about the background, the philosophy of Buddhism. Since I was 16 and got my first Buddhism book from my sister, I've had some interest in Buddhism. But Buddhism is like any kind of religion or spiritual philosophy not so easy to understand from just reading books. This Buddhism Introduction course gave me a good impression and interesting perspective of life...living...and being alive....
I met a lot of interesting Israeli and some non-Israeli people :-) and it was the first time that conversations didn't start with: " Hi, how are you, where are you from, where have been, how long are you traveling..." but Hi, what do you think of karma...reincarnation...impermanence....emptiness?" I was so looking forward to have these kind of conversations. If you are in India it's hard not thinking of the deeper meaning and purpose of life.
Lucky me...a couple of days after the course, the HH the Dalai Lama started his teachings in McLeod Ganj. The subject of the teachings and HH the Dalai Lama himself where hard to follow but just his presence is such an inspiration. Tears came just like that....

After I finished this course, I did a workshop about Emotional Balancing and although in the beginning or actually more BECAUSE of the fact that in the beginning I had to deal with a lot of disturbing emotions, this workshop was really helpful with becoming aware of my own and the emotions, reactions and actions of others....

There's so much to do and see in McLeod Ganj and it's surrounding that it's really easy to stay here for a longer time. The atmosphere is due to the mix of Indians, Tibetans and Nepali and others, quite relaxed. I learned a lot about the Tibetan history. It's hard to imagine that similar cruelties they have gone through and are still going through, go on and on all over the world. And how less we actually know what is still going on...all over the world! I sometimes feel quite embarrassed for the not knowing. The Tibetans with their relaxed attitude and friendly faces definitely have stolen my heart!

What else you can do?? Well there are a lot of courses to do: Yoga, Tai-chi, any kind of massage, Reiki, and so forth and not to forget lovely walks in an astonishing surrounding. Together with 4 others I went for a nice hike of 4 hours up to Triund in an afternoon to see sunset, stayed overnight, watched sunrise and walked down the other morning. We had to keep us warm by 'spooning' together in one big bed (lepeltje aan lepeltje for the dutch :-)) We've been laughing like teenagers, we've been talking like philosophers and we've been dreaming like children...

And now it's time to leave...just like that...it's hard...but...it's nice to know I will meet the 'same' and other interesting people on my next stop...Rishikesh...Yoga-temple on earth. If I find my place that feels good to me, I think of staying one or two months till it gets too cold ;-)....but like I wrote in the beginning... everything is changing from time to time...and I want to go with the flow...

with Metta...
carry

Pictures: Java with my mother

A daughter tells stories....

It's been more than 15 years ago that I spend a week or more with my mother alone. So I was really excited about this adventure...

I picked her up from the airport at the 23th of August...tears were flowing...and brought her back on the 8th of September...tears were flowing...

What happened in between:

Java is like the most other islands of Indonesia dominated by the muslims. We knew that August is the Ramadan month, but that it would have such an impact...we didn't expect. The long holiday was from the 22th of August till more or less the 4th of September, with the big final around Idul Fitri, the end of Ramadan. The whole country was travelling and we had to change our plans from the first day....grrrr I still didn't learn it...making plans, makes no sense in asia!

From Jakarta to Yogjakarta....no way!! No bus, no train, no plane everything fully booked. After already staying for a couple of days in Jakarta, with Jonas a friend who lives here, I desperately wanted to get out of this city. I'm not that kind of  a city-girl, more a nature-woman :-) and Jakarta has next to traffic jams and shopping malls not much to offer. We finally found a flight to Solo in central Java. We had to get up around 5 am, but it was whole worth it. 

In Solo we stayed in an old traditional Javanese building with a pool and a nice gardensetting and....Wayhu a nice javanese guy (no mom...I'm not gonna marry him!) who took us to some nice and interesting places. We just loved it to be among all these friendly and lovely smiling javanese people.

For me it was really nice to see how my mother was enjoying all the new impressions and experiences she made. She asked me from the beginning if she could just join me on one of my trips. So I could keep on travelling the way I was used to and she could get an impression of that what I've been doing the past couple of months.

So we did....accept for the first 2 nights, which we spent in an Ibishotel, to let her get a proper sleep and that tthe shock wouldn't be too huge. We slept in more budgetplaces, basic but clean, we ate for 25cents the best food on the street and we've been drinking lots of coffee and cappuccino. And....she was travelling with my old backpack ;-)  

She trusted me that much, that she probably still would be sitting on the trainstation of Malang if i did never show up after organizing  a meal for on the way... The train was there, I was late and she was just relaxed waiting for me although almost all the people where already in the train... we had to run....:-)

I heard a lot of times...oh carry look there...oh this is so beautiful....did you see that?...and so on. She helped me opening my eyes and being curious again. Back to blessed feeling of doing this.

What else happened?:

- we are probably the first tourists, who didn't want to walk to Mount Bromo, after seeing  sunrise in Probolinggo

- we were invited to a village for a Ramayana danceperformance with 'highlight' the interruption of locals being obsessed by the devil...

- we went on a scooter to the Borobudur...quite a ride ;-)

- due to local transport we came to late to enter the Prambanam tempel..but we did see the great Ramayana dancing performance.

- relaxing at the pool, reading, talking, eating, drinking coffee....and so on!

Jonas, thank you so much for your hospitality and giving me the chance to get to know you a bit better! We will see eachother again....

Mom, I feel grateful that I was able to give this too you...

Next stop....and probably last stop....India! See you there....

Pictures: Thailand - Malaysia 2011

Where have you been??

Hello there!


It's been a long time that I caught up with you, which doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about you....on the contrary. But sometimes I just didn't feel like writing...and sometimes there was just no internet. Now I'm here in Jakarta...sitting in a proper chair....in an airconditioned room....sleeping in a huge and lovely bed....being able to take hot showers and cook my own meals. No this is not a 5 star hotel I booked, this is better...I'm staying with a friend :-) thank you Jonas!


But what happened before.....


Finally after almost 6 weeks I left Haad Thien (Koh Phangan) and went together with Simeon (thank you my dearest for getting me out of there ;-)) to Angthong a national marine park....  There we spend some lovely days with kayaking, swimming, snorkeling, walking, building sandcastles, playing beach volleyball,  watching monkeys and some more stuff.... A little monkeystory: these nice little creatures came out of the forest after the tourists left, spend most of the evening and night in a tree close to our tent, where they were eating leaves and slept. Early in the morning before breakfast they played before they dissapeared in the forest again.....so sweet!


Bye bye Angthong and back to Koh Phangan where we joined Ivana, a gorgeous Swiss friend, with her family on Bottlebeach. It was just so nice to be surrounded by all that good swiss energy. Which made it even harder when I had to say good bye and continued my way to Malaysia on my own. What helped to get over my lonely and empty feelings was the serving, (read washing dishes, chopping fruits and veggies) in a 10 day Vipassana retreat. It was my first time I was helping instead of doing the retreat myself. A whole different experience I can tell you. A mixture of  dutch, spanish, indian, malaysian and chinese people made it really interesting.


I met Jasmine a dutchie in the Vipassana kitchen and together we went to the beach of Kuantan, Teluk Chempedak, to get some sun. Because of Ramandan Teluk Chempedak came first to life in the evening, so we had almost the whole white beach for ourselves. We both really liked it there and I can recommend you a nice place to stay.


After meditating and being lazy on the beach we wanted to stretch our legs and went to the Taman Negara for some jungletime....The first impression wasn't good at all. So touristic and though I really like dutch people...it was like a dutch enclave. Because of this and the fact that everything was just too good organised, Jasmine decided to leave after one day of trekking. I decided to stay one more day and did one trek on my own. This one was better...I went after the boardersigns which said: "You are not allowed to pass the sign without a guide"...therefore got almost eaten by leeches but none of them survived my lighter (SORRY!! normally I don't kill animals)...saw some beautiful birds and a group of monkeys...but most important hardly met someone one my way. Just one day of...me...myself...and I...


In Kuala Lumpur I met Jasmine again before I took my flight to Jakarta.....Kuala Lumpur has some nice things to visit and even with Ramandan you can still find yammy places to eat. Jakarta...sorry don't like...huge Shoppingcenters....a lot of traffic...but you know what...I don't have to stay here forever so I'm just going to enjoy my time here with Jonas...I went to the gym today which was just great so I will go tomorrow again...and on wednesday I can pick up my mum from the airport! Isn't that great?


with metta....

It's all about the Sanctuary...

The Sanctuary...one more week to go and then it's 'over'...time to move on. It has been an interesting an inspirational time....time to think things over...time for reflection...time to learn....time to read books....time to laugh....time to cry....time for awareness of a lot of different feelings and emotions...

It's a place where people change from one day to the other....a place where people feel a powerful energy...a place where people have to run away from....a place that people can't leave....

This place inspired me starting writing:

It's Light....it's Dark...

It's Quiet...it's Loud...

There's the Sun....there are Clouds

Sometime my Soul wants to Scream out Loud

The Energy is Vibrating

makes everyone tired

changing all the Time...

the Elements, you....me...

Confusing....best Friends

There's Distance

Excitement....Boredom

Rejected...be Loved

I'm Interested....Curious...

when does my Soul becomes One with Yours....

I'm here...I'm so here

Mother Earth...Heaven Father....

There's Love....There will always be love....

My Soul is lost in Divine....

Pictures: Thailand....again but different

Thailand again...but different!

In november I was in Thailand as well, then with my sister and little nephew. Then we did the northern part of Thailand...now the islands more to the south.

How this all started: After a remarkable trip from Kampot (Cambodia) I arrived late in the evening in Bangkok. Where I picked a guesthouse close to the river near Khaosan Rd. My main goal for Bangkok was buying a proper backpack, because my old one couldn't be called a backpack anymore...more a sack with a zipp. So I went to some huge shopping malls like MBK and DCM...and finally found what I wanted, an Osprey 65 liter...thank you Mariia!

That evening I met my "dutch travelfriend for one week"


Though I hadn't been doing so much sightseeing lately i decided to visit Ayutthaya first for some more temples, ruins and...lovely people, before heading off to the south. Ayutthaya is the old capital of Thailand and about 70 KM north from Bangkok. Ayutthaya impressed me even more than Angkor Wat in Cambodia, maybe because there were not that many tourist. I just loved it to cycle from temple to temple and spend a lot of time taking pictures with my new camara!
My old one broke down again...and instead of getting it fixed again...I bought a new one...enjoy the pictures!

From Ayutthaya I went in a 'some call it a bus' to Krabi. From all the countries I traveled trough so far...for me Thailand has just the worst buses. This time it rained inside the bus as well and we had a non flushing toilet for about 50 people on a 12 hour trip. The only good thing...nothing got stolen which is quite uncommon on these nighttrips.


From Krabi to Koh Phi Phi, where I caught up with my "dutch travelfriend for one week". We found a good place away from the whole backpackerscene...went for a walk...had a good dancesession on the beach...joined a boat trip to 'The Beach island'. The snorkelling was as good though, but we had a great time.


From Koh Phi Phi to Koh Samui...again we found a nice place to stay away from 'the scene' and discovered the island by motorbike and on foot. After a couple of days we had to say goodbye and made our spilt up ;-). He to Koh Tao, me to Koh Phangan...yeahhhhh the party island number one :-)....but not for me.  Because I'm here for yoga...and meditation....




I stay here at Hadd Thien a bay with 3 possibilities to get a bungalow and...the Sanctuary where it's all about. They offer next to daily Yoga and Meditation classes a lot of different artificial activities like, singing, movies, theatre, music...and so on.

The people here makes this place special. A good mixture of spirituality, creativity and partyguru's.  The world most famous Fullmoon party was about one week ago...but the Halfmoon partyis already on it's way. Every friday you can dance from midnight till 9 am on one place and the afterparty is on another beach, about 10 Min. walking distance, till noon!



So nothing to get bored...many people stay here for months...myself i will stay about one month and then...just go on with another flow!


hugs and kisses
carry

Pictures: bye bye Cambodia

Vipassana...

No no don't worry...I won't bother you with what Vipassana exactly is but maybe just give you some insight information about things I had to deal with these couple of days ;-)

Who takes part?

72 women including 6 foreigners are 'sitting' (meditating 10 -11 hours a day) and 15 women are 'serving' (cooking, cleaning, etc.)

30 men including 2 foreigners are sitting and 10 are serving + 7 monks + 1 teacher + 1 translator (both monks)

age??? everything between 16 and 80? though it's hard to guess how old these men and women really are...they just looked old with bended backs, sore knees, hanging heads, wrinkled faces but they where all there and sitting on the floor for hours!

Who is wearing what?

Actually ALL Cambodian women, either nun or not, are wearing white...the foreigners they were wearing whatever they want, but it's has to be over the knee and cover your shoulders with now deep decollete.

The monks are in orange and the men wear whatever they want....

What's in the room?

My room..uhhh sorry cell, is 6m2 with one wooden hard bed, one mattress 5cm, one laundry basket and some nails on the wall.

My first worries:

- the blood circulation stops in my legs during already the first hour...how I'm I going to handle this?!?!

- coughing, sneezing, rattling (spitting), burping, farting, yawning...

- smashing doors, whispering, telephone rings or alerts...

- rattling plates, for creeping...

You'll have to know this is a noble silence retreat so everyone should try to make him/herself invisible to the others... The sounds are even more intense than usual.

What happened to me?

- I damaged a tap..trying to be invisible it made me more visible and more wet than I ever good be :-)

- I've been daydreaming a lot

- I've been sitting on a chair (just one hour, I couldn't do it longer with the view of all these old ladies sitting on the floor, printed in my mind)

- I've truancy every day

- I've been walking till I got blisters on my feet

- I've been crying and laughing

- I've been giving people animal names to deal with all the noises...there was a woman burping hours no days after each other...she for example became my camel ;-)

and after all, it was all worth it and I can only recommend it to EVERYONE!

....if you want to now more about Vipassana : www.dhamma.org and go for it!

may all beings be happy...:-)

Jungling on the beach...

Sofar in all the countries I visited, there was always one place that was really hard to leave. In Vietnam this is definitely Junglebeach, 60 KM north from Nha Trang.

The 5 or 6 days I wanted to spend on Junglebeach became 20 days! Instead I skipped Phu Quoc Island and will go to Saigon straight ahead and (I'm still on Junglebeach :-)) then leave Vietnam to make place for Cambodia again.

Not going to Phu Quoc wasn't an easy descision to make. To me islands are little treasures...and a mystery. There's always something to explore. But after all the exploring the last couple of months I needed some rest, get back to a more in-balance-feeling and I took some more time for exploring my inner self.

Well I can tell you it's not hard to get rest on Junglebeach, unless you don't like killing your time with hanging out on the beach, swimming in the sea, relaxing in a hammock, reading books, doing yoga, eating just lovely food and having the most interesting conversations with completely strangers.

Being at peaceful places with a lot of nature around me and inspirational conversations helps me to dive deeper into myself and trying to find out what this whole traveling does to my inner person...if it's soul-food or not.....

I would love to share some topics of these conversations:

- I met someone who is writing a blog about internet-dating. The research she told me about is just hilarious. So be careful next time when you date someone you met online...it can be just research ;-) here the address: http://musingoncruising.blogspot.com

- Someone answered me on a for him difficult or maybe annoying question: 'Why do women always have to be so complicated!' My first thought was...'hey don't generalize and don't judge about a sex you have no idea of!' But my second thought was...'well though we women are such lovely creatures, I think we are just allowed to ask these 'silly', difficult, for men hard to answer questions. Even if it sometimes end up in a ridiculous discussion'

- I finished the book Shantaram, a novel based on a true story of a man who escaped an Australian jail and ends up in India. He writes about his life as a fugitive, a pretty crazy person with even crazier stories. But anyway I met someone who actually knows this guy from Bombay and had some beers with him. Well...some extra information...the Afghanistan part is made up and he was caught again after smuggling heroin into Germany! Just for your information...

and...i talked a lot about life or in other words everything between the smallest rock and the biggest energy or essence of this Universe...some call it God..

 " Smile when you feel like it"

carry

Pictures: Central Vietnam and Junglebeach

Easy riding....through central Vietnam!

Mr Tien is my driver and guide....about 1100km from Hoi An, through the central Highlands of Vietnam, to Nha Trang.

I met Tien when I was looking for transport from Da Nang to Hoi An. I saw some easyriders, but they already had a job and one of them called Tien. He brought me to Hoi An on a some kind of a 'Harley Davidson' (they can't afford the real ones). On the bike we already started talking....we talked more in Hoi An....there we had lunch together and after lunch I booked a 6 day tour with him.

Tien took me to touristic places, like My Son, the vietnamese Ankor Wat but also for example to minority villages. In one of them we took part on a 'good rice season' ceremony and for the rest have we been driving through an amazing landscape with beautiful sceneries. On the way he explained me everything he knew about the Hoh Chi Minh (HCM) trail we were driving on, Vietnam history, culture, different kind of fruit and other plantages and many more things.

During breakfast, lunch, dinner and the many coffeestops we had nice conversations, now more personal as well.

Sometimes I felt like a litte princess, not only because of the way Tien was treating me but even more of all the waving and hello screaming children we met on the way. No matter what town or village we drove through, there were always waving children, smiling faces and a lot of hello's! Ofcourse I waved and jelled hello...hello...back to them.

Tien and I talked a lot about Vietnam and about the differences between north and south, about the political situation and about possible problems for Vietnam in the future. For me one of the most obvious differences between north and south is that in the south they speak in a for us normal tone to eachother. In the north I always had the feeling that they were mad at eachother. They talk or actually more scream to eachother and that in a high speed! Not that I understood anything about it, but I do hear the difference ;-)

Some other differences are:
- in the south they have more sense of humor
- in the north they like it to show if they are more fortunated
- in the south they laugh...a lot...north is more serious
- in the south the food is more spicy so for me more tasty compare to the north
- south more friendly? I think because the weather is just better here..less rain and not so cold  
- ricewine is definitelystronger than in the south :-)

So make your own conclusion....yes right... I do like the south more...

Junglebeach is where I'm going to stay the next couple of days. After all the travelling I need some rest :-) One bamboohut....one hammock....one beach....and nothing more!

hug! a big one....

Pictures: Vietnam the north

winter in Vietnam....

....because of the Tsunami in Japan?

Anyway the weather in Vietnam is really unsual for this time of the year. It was snowing in Sapa....and that never happened before! At the moment it's raining...raining...raining in almost whole the country, even in the south. I don't know where to go!!! I was 'complaining' that I didn't have a winter this year. Well... it's cold now I can tell you. I've been sleeping with three blankets to keep me warm, unfortunately there was no person next to me, to heat me up ;-(

But as you all know, more things go crazy in Asia. Latest is the earthquake in Myanmar, I'm still waiting for a reply from a dear friend who is travelling there at the moment.

Because of this whole weather thing, that I can't controll...I'm not able to do the things I would like to do. Actually since my last blogstory about 'is this it' a couple of things happened that influenced my journey a bit. Now I'm wondering if these are signs to tell me something like: 'he kid you get a second chance to make your journey more usefull' or 'stop complaining, keep on enjoying' or 'India wants you...right know!' Maybe I've figured this out by the time the sun get's back to Vietnam.

What I've been doing so far in Vietnam? I crossed the border from Muang Khau in Laos to Dien Bien Phu (DBP) in Vietnam. This bustrip was the one with the most beautiful view, despite the rain and fog, but the worst roadconditions so far. In DBP I wasn't lucky because my phone and all my US dollars got stolen from my room while I was having dinner in the lobby downstairs. Suspectives are the daughter and granny from the guesthouse.

I stayed almost a whole week in Hanoi...this is a crazy city! The traffic just doesn't make any sense. It's not the cars...but the thousands of motorbikes that just drives one crazy. They have no rules, they don't look where they drive...and if you want to cross the street it's like a 'run or die' situation. Very scary I can tell you. Despite the rain I did some sightseeing in and around Hanoi and because of the rain I had to do some SHOPPING! I really needed some warm clothes before I made my way to the far north of Vietnam, with temperatures between 0 and 10 degrees.

Sapa is the place to be in the north. I was so looking forward to go there. Renting a motorbike and cruising around, go for walks in the mountains and enjoy the scenery. The landscape must be incredible...but only if you see something! I'll have to keep on dreaming of this beautiful landscape, my pictures are grey and filled with rain...it was so foggy! It's was terrible cold too and after one night, with again a lot of blankets and no one next to me to heat me up, I gave it up and left Sapa to continue to Bac Ha. Bach Ha is still in the mountains, with still a beautiful landscape...if you see something ofcourse...but just a little bit warmer than in Sapa.

Bac Ha is where I am at the moment and unfortunately I will leave this part of Vietnam tomorrow without being able to really enjoy it. I'm going to try to get to Halong Bay...but there it's raining as well...and otherwise...you can find me for the next couple of weeks somewhere...down south...in Vietnam on one of the hopefully sunny beaches of Phu Quoc island...

hug carry

Pictures: Laos...thank you!

something to share....

I left Switzerland almost 5 months ago to fullfill one of my dreams; travelling through south east asia. I love to dream, especially daydreaming though I hardly remember any of my nightdreams. Although I have to say this has changed a bit the past couple of months....sometimes there are some short memories the other morning. But anyway, I love to dream, you can call it fantasizing as well if you want. My dreams though have always been better than reality which is okay, because my daydreams are like heaven or paradise. In reality or daily life I have always my moments of struggling and situations just come out different than I thought they would do.


I told you on my blog I fell in love a couple of times ;-) I told you also I was more or less in balance in Ubud, Bali, but I didn't tell yet I lost this more or less balance situation after I left Bali. One of the reasons is definitely that I got lost of my 'yogastructure'. It's hard to keep on practizing when I'm not alone....so India I'm looking forward to come ;-)

So far I met a lot of lovely, nice and beautiful people on my way (my leatest treasure is Helen from London! Thanks Helen for letting me to know you :-)) and made a lot of different experiences. One of the feelings I have is...and that's one which is for a lot of other travellers and people back home a weird one..."is this it?" Is this what I've been longing for, for so long? There are no really big exciting moments, There are not a lot of moments I would scream it out from joy and happiness. I'm just here....living a different kind of life than at home. I don't feel bored, not at all, but I just feel so normal.

So maybe next time I'm just keep on dreaming.....

One of the things I hoped to figure out during this journey is: what comes after this...or more where go after this. Is it going to be Holland, Switzerland or maybe Asia? I think this question is already answered, but of course can still change. At the moment, or actually since a couple of months before I left Switzerland it feels really like Switzerland. That's mainly because of my friends and swiss nature. I'll thank those who wrote me all these messages or emails so far. It's so nice to be updated from time to time. And it feels good to be missed and loved by the people I miss and love.

One of the things which is on top of my 'things to do when I get back list' is exploring Europe step by step. I'm meeting a lot of europeans and I feel sometimes almost embarrased to tell them that I never went to there country or city. Europe is so amazing, it has so much to offer. The diversity of landscapes, food and people is astonishing and we HAVE the best bread of the world! We can drink tap water and we don't have to be affraid of getting foodpoisend after eating on a local market. Yeah I love Europe...oops there's again something I love ;-) 
I had to get away from my love to find it....I needed my distance from my love to know where my home is. For those who know me maybe a bit better than others do....they know what it means to me when I can say....I found my home.

Asia so far opened my eyes, I'm completing a puzzle step by step...but there's still more to figure out so I won't leave this part of the country so fast. I brought me already a lot and I feel thankfull and blessed for that. I'm glad I didn't just keep on daydreaming but made it reality!

What's next:
The 16th of March I will cross the border to Vietnam, where I will stay till at least the 23th of April. Then back to Cambodia for some more travels and my Vipassana retreat in Battambang. After that is Thailand to be going next....than? Malaysia? India...

smile....carry

Laos: One day out of my life....

....walking and climbing trough the mountains of Muang Ngoi, with Amelie, Mariia, Romain, Noy (guide) and Le (alias monkey, also local guide)

One little backpack filled with nothing more than; 1shirt, 1 pair of socks, 1 longpants, towel, sarrong, soap, toothbrush and paste, 1 set of underwear, headlamp, playingcards, dices, camera, little notebook, suncream, moskitospray, flipflops, 1 longsleeve and 1 warm jacket.
I'm wearing underwear, trekkingtrousers, socks, shoes, hat and sunglasses. I'm ready for a 3-day trekking and leave with motivation, a good mood, a big smile, and good sense of humor. I will need that because it's going to be hard. Three days walking, the first and the second each eight hours and the last four hours. A boat will bring us back to Muang Ngoi.
At 8am we are suppose to leave but at 8.30am, everybody has had breakfast and had gone to the toilet so ready to go. We wait for 30 more minutes for monkey...he didn't finish his breakfast yet...now we leave.
We walk, flat, a lot of talking, nice landscape, tempo is high, monkey leads and he is fast even on flipflops. We cross water by stones and barefoot. Taking shoes off and on a couple of times, wet feet, wet socks. Wondering if my feet are going to like this. For the whole day each of us carries 2 bottles of water. We arrive at the first village, there is a small guesthouse as well, so they are used to see tourists. We take a break, it's getting hot already and not much shade. We continue walking, now it goes up and down, both very steep, sometimes I have to use my hands. There is more shade now, so the sun burns less :-)
Around noon, lunchbreak....breathing, sweating but still enjoying. I feel happy to be in nature, my body feels good although it has been ages that I've been doing something activ.
We continue...there's still a bit of water, but it won't last for the whole day. The main question is...how long to walk till we reach the next village, 2 more hours to go. The guides just wanted to pass the village, we resist and want to get more water. At the third house we ask, we have luck, we buy overpriced, smoky but drinkable water. We continue. I'm getting tired but feel blessed doing this. What do I want more, lovely people around me, walking in the middle of nowhere, with a 'awesome' (Amelie ;-)) view.

It's past 3pm now and we are walking on a dirty road...again no shade. Two hours uphill, downhill but more uphill. I'm fighting with the heat, legs and I feel a blister. You might think this is a wonderful time to think things through\over...but NO WAY this is hard work! There's nothing more than climbing, curve after curve, rest a bit, drink a bit...everyone walks for him or herself. I hear only my own breath and footsteps, my mind is clear....empty. I need salt, minerals. I've sweat a lot and there's nothing else to drink than water, no salty snack. We have a break, 40 minutes more to go we are almost there. We' ve seen the village but it is still far away. I continue. It's better to stay with my rhythm instead of having to many short breaks. Twice I'm getting really dizzy...later I can hardly speak or think normal anymore. After 1 hour Romain and I reach the village where we will spend the night. The one and only 'shop' in town has warm sprite and coke. We go for it and buy some 'chips' too. Soon I feel better and learnt my lesson for the next day. I'll bring something on the road to refill my sources. The people here are not used to see 'white people' and stare at us. Shower\bath or whatever you can call this....food....playing cards, my sense of humor, the big smile and the motivation for the next day are all back!

Thank you Amelie, Mariia and Romain for sharing this great experience with me! Love ya....

Pictures: more of Laos....

Pictures: Laos 1

Transport in Laos

I told you....soon more to read and here I am.

I told you before that Laos is lazy...well they really are. I want to share some travel experiences with you.
My trip from Tad Lo to Tha Kaek was more or less like this: Expecting departure time 9.30am, and arrival time 5pm. I left Tad Lo in a non aircon local bus on time, buses normally do during early morning hours. To get to Pakse it took me for 80 km, 2 hours driving which was still fine. They stop everywhere a long the road to let more people in. 12am we left from the southern busterminal in Pakse. Bus was almost empty, only some locals and 2 tourists, I'm one of them. To stop for people is fine with me, but to stop without knowing why we are stopping somewhere in the middle of nowhere, not really. They do this all the time. Sometimes to pick up rice...onions...a lot of onions (see pictures)...or just nothing and waiting. We arrived in Savannakhet around 6pm and still some more hours to go. In this town we stopped, everyone had to get out of the bus and we waited on the side of the street....the bus dissapeared behind a big gate and we were just waiting. After 30 min. the bus came back....filled with of course...more rice and onions ;-) We drove 5 min and there was the busstation of Savannakhet....we stayed here for 1 hour! Question....why couldn't they do this whole loading thing at the busstation??? Well after the busstation nothing changed...more stops...more onions...and finally around 10.30pm we arrived in Tha Kaek.

One more: Vientiene to Vang Vieng....3 hours :-)

We left around 10am, around 12am lunch....it started to rain, not much just a bit. After lunch the road was steeper...we drove really slow...we slipped...we stopped...we slipped again...we were slipping backwards...everyone out of the bus as soon as possible. We waited for a hour...we decided to walk to they next village...we hitchhiked whole the way to Vang Vieng and arrived there around 3pm! Enjoy the pictures :-)

Last one: Vang Viang to Luang Prabang, departure 2pm, 6-7 hours trip, minivan
Together with 9 other tourists in a minivan we left around 2.30pm....and nothing went slow everything went fast....faster...fastest. Which resulted in one time all most over the edge, one time almost a collision with a bus, one time almost a dog under the car, one time I literally flew trough the bus and bumped my head to the top of the bus, thousand times being shaked from left to right. And this all with an amazing view! We really asked the driver to drive slower, because we wanted to get save to Luang Prabang. We made it! We arrived at 9 pm, including 2 longer breaks...probably he had been trying to improve his recordtime ;-) 

This whole is Laos pure :-) and why I had to extend my visa, and why I like this country....

whatelse happened:
- I went with Tyler and Johnny to Vientiene
- Vientiane is such a sleepy city...the most quiet capital I will probably ever visit
- I got a valentine rose
- I went with Johnny to Vang Viang, where I met Mariia again...now together with Amelie
- Vang Vieng is like Kuta Beach in december
- 2 euro for 20 teabags, 2 euro for a cappuchino, 2 euro for a deodorant, 7.5 euro for sunscreen....
- hardly disabled people....we are still wondering why
- Luang Prabang, world heritage city number one? can I life here...a huge YES!
- I won't discribe Luang Prabang...this is something you have to experience yourself.

I will stay a couple more days in Luang Prabang and definitely do some shopping. Afterwards more to the north for less city but more nature.

I'm still looking for a motorbike to buy and do the rest of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia on a motorbike....so if you know or hear something, please let me know!

Although I'm having a lot of fun and I'm really blessed to be here...I do miss you that's for sure..

love carry

Laoooosssss: the first!

No I didn't forget to write, I haven't been ill, there was just no internet access or I was having to much fun...

Well what happened: I started on DonDet one of the 4000 islands in the south of Laos, which is an island where you can do nothing else than relax, eat and meet other tourists. I met a lovely indian-english couple and stayed a couple of days on this island. Our favorite place to eat was a 'restaurant' (Janine: read...warung) with one big table and 8 chairs. Everyone eating together like one big family. I loved it! Here I met Johnny the first time. I made more or less a travel plan for Laos, because I wanted to see as much as possible in 30 days (visa) of this lovely country. Because of my schedule I wasn't able to visit many more islands. In Cambodia they play Beachvolleyball in Laos they play petangue (jue de boules). Champaksak was the next stop. On the way to Champaksak I met a very nice swiss couple from Schaffhausen and hope to see them again when I'm back in Switzerland. In Champaksak is not much to do, except for visiting the amazing ruins of a Wat...and drinking Coffee Latte :-) Pakse next stop, one of the bases to explore the Bolaven Plateau. Here I met my sweet Mariia (finnisch girl) the first time. Together with the swiss couple we did a day of Waterfalls on a motorbike. And I saw Johnny again... After Pakse I decided to go to Tad Lo and to leave 'my friends'. Tad Lo is a sweet little town with not that many tourists but a relaxed atmosphere and...Mam's pap! (restaurant) and I spent here, like anyone else, more time than expected. Have to tell you that I already new in Tad Lo that I had to extent my visa....Laos is lazy...and so am I! In Tad Lo I was really lucky to find a bungalow in Palamei's Guesthouse. The owner is such a treasure. He and his family had with Austrian money the possibility to build up their little paradise with one secret place to stay called 'the bamboo hut' The day I wanted to leave there was a ceremony for 2 bungalows, one of them was mine :-). 

Short description of the ceremony:

- 7 am wake up 'call' they started to prepare the terrace of the bungalows.

- 7.30 am first alcohol: laolao, kind of whiskey and beer. A glass of beer goes around, you empty almost the whole glass and the last part you throw away.

- praying, singing, with the Monks and giving them food

- more beer....more laolao....

- 9 am first time food

- more beer...more laolao
- 11 am second time food

- and so on... I left around 1pm and ALL women were drunk, getting a bit rude, but still dancing, laughing, eating and drinking....I was back around 5pm and the party was over and the lao people were a sleep :-)

This was a whole experience...the funny thing was. When I saw some of these women, I had been eating, dancing and singing with the other day, they pretended not to know me anymore...  In Tad Lo I met Johnny again, together with some other guys. We decided to do 'the loop' together. The loop means nothing else then renting a motorbike for a couple of days and cruising around!

The loop starts in Tha Kaek. Summary of the loop:

- Just outside Tha Kaek the landscape is filled with beautiful limestone mountains, they will be  our friends for the next couple of days

- Johnny got in total: 2 flat tires, he lost his key. This problem was solved by Mc Gyver with a lighter and a plastic bag! and...his chain fell off. and the others??? NOTHING :-)

- we had to do an emergency home stay, due to a flat tire and a search for an almost impossible to finding cave (we were no longer on the traditional route of the loop anymore ;-)) The home stay was sleeping with 6 person on 3 mattresses on one side of the roof terrace and the locals in one row on the otherside. Loud lao soap television and the lights turned on during the whole night.

- 80 KM of dirty road...with a beautiful scenery 

- Konglor Cave 7 km long...just amazing

- speeding....speeding and having great fun! 

We made it all save and without big accidents back to Tha Kaek.

soon more....:-) 

Cambodia the second

At the moment I stay in Ban Lung which is situated in the north eastern part of Cambodia. I planned to do here a trek in the National Park, but was really disappointed when I found out that they are not only chopping the trees outside the National Park but inside as well. Instead I decided to look for a nice quiet place and spend some more time on my yogapraxis. I found this place and I can tell you it's hard getting away from here!

What happened before I arrived in Ban Lung.....


First I went to Kampong Cham, which itself is quite a dull place...really nothing to do...but more to see and do around town. I Visited some temples, the Man and Woman Hill, an Island and have been drinking coffee and eating muesli ;-) About the Man and Woman hill goes a lovely story, which is too long to tell you now but the essence is that women are more clever than men and that's why there hill is a little bit higher :-) 
People love to play beach volleyball along the Mekong and they are really good in doing this. Next stop Kratie...for some Irrawaddy dolphin watching. I already bought my busticket to Kratie but than a tuktukdriver a met a day before asked me if I wasn't interested in a drive by jeep. Well my first reaction was...noway I'm a low budget traveller...way too expensive. But he said, well it's not that expensive because this men has to go anyway to pick someone up in Kratie and bring this person back to Kampong Cham. All I had to pay was the ferry to cross the Mekong and a bit for the driver. And so I cancelled my busticket, or actually he did, and had an amazing trip along the Mekong from Kampong Cham to Kratie. Would have love to do this by boat, but since the roads improved and buses are cheaper there are no boats anymore that make this trip.

In Kratie I met Emily, Nathan, some funny Spanish guys and a lot more travelers. Emily, Nathan and I went to see the Irrawaddy Dolphins together with just an amazing sunset! The Dolphins where quite far away but the atmosphere was so relaxed that it was all worth it to stay here one night. 

Nathen, Emily and I went the next day together in a mini van for a 6 hours trip to Ban Lung. These Minivan's are just hilarious....13 Seats....and by the end filled with 26 people! Unbelievable the just can't say no...and they find always a way to take someone more. We had to stop a couple of times to check if the chickens at the back were still there :-) All arrived full with orange dust in Ban Lung.

That's what Ban Lung is....orange....there are hardly paved roads, so you' re just the whole day orange. Emily and I stayed here...Nathan went the next day to Vietnam. Emily wanted to do a trek, I decided not to....but Emily never did....and we spent almost one week together with a lot of bicycle fun! Emily hadn't been on a bicycle for at least 10 to 15 years....and it's so amazing how something so natural for one person can be such a crime and horror for someone else. For her it was training, hard physical training....for me mental training...I could test my motivating skills and had a change to be patience. We both trained our laugh-muscles as well! After two cycle days we hired a motorbike to see some more waterfalls. This was something new for me, cause they don't have automatic motors here...well Carry... there you go...we survived and I leveled my driving experience to half automatic now!


And we just loved our bungalow in Tree Top. I met nice people here. Unfortunately 2 lovely danish girls got reallty ill and one of them had to go back to the hospital in Phnom Penh. I hope she is doing better by now. Tree Top, please check this place if you ever plan to come up here. See the pictures. 

Now I'm alone again....Emily left this morning. In a couple of days I'm going to Laos but first I will enjoy my stay here in Ban Lung, doing Yoga, drinking my coffee at the Dutch couple (yes they are dutch and the only ones with a coffee machine in town ;-)) meeting some foreigners at the dutch couple who work here and on Monday I'm invited to spend a morning at a Cambodian  primary school in a village nearby. The teacher already asked me if I want to give English classes....well first the visit and then we will see....Volunteering is still really into my mind!

What I miss most at the moment?....physical contact. Oli where are you at the moment for a great big hug!


love carry



 

Pictures: Cambodia

Cambodia part one

I had no idea what to expect of this country but first impressions came on the airport of Phnom Penh: small, ATM with only US Dollar no riel, no one to pick me up. From the airport into the city....it's so wide and open, though there's a lot of traffic, cars/motos hardly hoot...only when necessary, clean, broad and well prepared streets. People are smiling, like to make jokes, especially about foreigners. It can happen that you pass by a group of Cambodians and whole of a sudden they start laughing. You might think they are laughing about you...well they do! Dancing- or aerobic lessons in almost every park... and so on and so. When I'm writing this I find out that I had expectations, but none of the above. 

After three days Phnom Penh, I went to Siem Reap for the famous well known temples of Angkor and did some temple hopping. Visited 4 Temples in one day and that was enough! I'm not a temple hopper at all... way to exhausting! To get to Siem Reap, I booked a local bus, non air-con and no board toilet, for a trip of 6 hours. I expected something like the local buses in Northern Thailand...but what I got was an air-con bus with incredibly good seats! I really have to stop expecting because this country keeps on surprising me.

The trip to Siem Reap started and ended the same....endless views of rice-fields and of nothing. Really calming scenery, but just outside the towns they are so poor. They have nothing, no food, no clothes, no toys, no medication...just nothing! In between something happened which really shocked me and awakened me. The bus slowed down quite rapidly, but that was nothing unusual. This time I checked out why he slowed down and saw a man laying down on the street, dead, shot down. How do I know this...well it was quite obvious and I talked about it with the Cambodian guy next to me. He whispered "this is nothing special". Why do I tell you this? I know it's not nice to read but...this is Cambodia as well...this is daily life...besides all the smiling and laughing they argue, they fight, they are not satisfied, and yes they shoot.

I'm still thinking about volunteering, Cambodia could really be one of the countries. After the Pol Pot time about 30 years ago now, with all the killing of educated people, there are hardly educated people, hardly any kind of knowledge outside the big cities. Children for example don't know what to do with a pen....they can't even draw. The government is not really investing in these people...who knows where all the money goes.

Discovered the old city of Siem Reap: Can I keep on falling in love? When Phnom Penh is Zurich, than Siem Reap is Winterthur...and I love Winterthur! Joined a Yogaclass, with a dutch Yogateacher :-) and I liked doing nothing, although it's sometimes really hard. I'm still not completely used to it...doing nothing. I always start to read, drink, eat, walk, but just sitting and doing nothing...that's quite hard. The best way to practice is in a bus or train. So I decided to not take my music in the bus from Siem Reap back to Phnom Penh. What happened??? Nothing... except for vomiting kids around me and a lovely Cambodian girl that slept in my arm for hours :-)


Why Phnom Penh again? Well just had to pick up my passport with the visa for Laos and Vietnam...for me no Killing Fields, no horror musea, it don't need this confrontation with cruelty! But keep on practicing doing nothing :-) 

For the next two weeks I planned to go more in north-eastern direction, but take it step by step: Kampong Cham, Kratie, Stung Treng, Ban Lung....Laos.


I'm doing fine!
Carry