Meeting the End of the World

I received an email a couple of weeks ago. Nothing special, I receive dozens each day. It was from a guy called David Crennen who was going to Mexico for the End of the World and offered me to write a guest post on how this event was celebrated in the land of the Mayas. Wow, I really wished to be there ! But as I was supposed to be on the other side of the world (in Cambodia) and I could not be in both places in the same time, I accepted with a lot of excitement. Meeting the End of the World in Mexico… should have been cool. Let’s see what David says…

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Adventures in Varanasi – Episode 2

Varanasi, the shores of the Ganges, 6:00 o’clock in the morning.

Lonely Planet says that one of the best experiences in India is to see the sunrise over the Ganges in Varanasi. So we stumble into an Ambassador early in the morning towards the Ganges. With us, some Czech people. We reach the shores of the Ganges. It is dark and you could cut the fog with a knife. In the waters, the morning faithful get purified of their sins, but probably get full of dirt. We climb a boat and a girl sells some offerings – a candle in a palm leaf. We have to set it free on the Ganges. We buy, we light the candle and we let it flow on the Ganges….Karma reaches new records. Unfortunately the sun isn’t…The fog gets thicker and thicker. We take a stroll next to the Ganges and I remember the Greek Styx legend where the boatman Charon carries the souls of the dead by a boat over the foggy river to the dead world. This is how I am feeling now…From time to time, like in Harry Potter, a boat that is full of tourists appears out of the fog and disappears a few meters ahead. We are told not to take pictures of the cremating ghats. Who sees them? Oh well, the sun was supposed to rise a while ago, the stroll on the Ganges is over…. Karma isn’t that good.  read more…

Adventures in Varanasi – Episode 1

By the end of 2003, I was leaving for almost 2 months to India and Nepal. Part of the time, I was about to travel by myself, especially at the beginning when I went to Punjab and Nepal and late on, my girlfriend, Adriana was supposed to join me, together with another friend, Elena… The plan was to meet directly in Varanasi. I came by plane from Kathmandu, they came by train from Delhi… My first contact with the Indian railways was a real shock. Arriving in India with the classical image of completely full trains, of people traveling on the wagons, I was about to change my impression over night. The round trip Delhi – Amritsar was the top of luxury – with rail attendants that came every 10 minutes to bring us food, desserts, newspapers, or a casual shoulder massage …What else to say, pure luxury…I arrived back to Delhi, I went straight to an internet cafe and I wrote home “Indian trains? Legends… They are Pure Luxury”… I was about to find out later that it was a special train named Shatabdi, that was a premium train J read more…

WOW: 488 euro Madrid – Hawaii Return ! Only until tomorrow !

I don’t remember I’ve ever seen a fare below 500 euro for an Europe – Hawaii flight ! And now, it is one available from US Airways / American Airlines: 488 euro for a flight from Madrid to Hawaii and back ! But, you need to move fast – at these fares, the tickets fly fast and on top, they will be available until tomorrow !

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Bazaar of Amman – The Mecca of all Tourists

The highlight of any visit in Amman is without any doubt the bazaar. The Souk can easily be spotted in the Downtown area of the city, near the King Hussein Grand Mosque. Downtown Amman, referred to by locals as “el-Balad”, sits in the narrow valley between Amman’s seven jabals (hills). It is thus, literally, “down” below the rest of the city. It is also the oldest part of town, where most buildings, although fairly modern, typically date from the middle part of the 20th century or before, scattered around  the city’s Roman ruins. The souk offers an authentic ambiance with typical oriental shops selling aromatic spices and Arabic delicacies, alongside cheap products from China, and an animated fruit and vegetable market.

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