Life's a journey - this is mine!

Our Blog of the Project "Peddling against Climate Change" taken from our website peddling-against-climate-change.com

2009-12-16T18:36:00.002+01:00

Final Summary

We arrived! We survived 8 days of hardship in Sweden! Naaah… to be honest, it wasn’t that bad at all. We were lucky by all means. Weather was pretty good, literally no ice and snow on the roads. Our Couchsurfing hosts were awesome with no exception. All of our bikes made it with some repairs. And finally, individually we finished the journey without any injuries… no, not even a cold. You could say that, basically, a bunch of laymen cycled roughly 750km during winter without any difficulties. How awesome. Some didn’t even know how to change gears at the very beginning, which makes us even more proud. We all agreed that we would do it again.

Our objectives have been met in every regard. Firstly, we made it. Secondly, we raised awareness and inspired people, as we got into the media to make a statement about the cause. We were in the largest newspapers in Denmark and New Zealand and will be in Korea. In Sweden and Canada we got into local newspapers and two radio stations. We were also interviewed by a journalist from the UNEP quarterly magazine, where we’re gonna appear at some point. Some kind of journal in Pakistan may also be interested in reporting on our story, as Nosh, who’s Pakistani participated. Finally, we can say that there has been quite a bit of group bonding. People got along well with each other., while learning about the others. It was a pleasant experience to see how everyone ticks outside the usual Uni hectic.

We hope this inspired you to take action yourself about a cause that you are concerned with. Don’t wait for others to do things, take it in your own hand. Regarding climate change this could be lethal. If we all hesitate to act and no one takes responsibility, humanity is doomed. But let’s assume that humanity is willing to do that when faced with a crisis of such proportions. We have done our part and will continue to fight for sustainability in innovative ways.

DAY FOUR AND FIVE!!!!

Two more days under the belt. Still a full team, and we are all now nearly certain that we will all make it. We are well over half way.

Day four (yesterday) was a second consecutive long day, and our longest on record with us racking up 117km from Motala to Jönköping. But without meaning to sound arrogant, we made it seem easy, arriving for the first time before the sun went down (already noticeably later than Uppsala). A solid performance all round, and a little help from Mother Nature’s free energy – having the wind at our back for most of the day – giving us a good average speed and we all arrived safe and sound to meet Marcus, an industrial design student – our host for the night. All equipment issues seem to have passed, with a day free of hassle, and the view along the way was spectacular, spending most of the day alongside lakeVättern, the route of the legendary 300km cycle ride around the lake each summer.

Day five was a short one, just 80km and the one hour sleep in (until 7am!) was well appreciated. Our luck with the weather finally ran out a little, with morning rain and a slight head wind, but a little rain never hurt anyone and at least it was rain and not ice and snow. Our day started with a pretty decent hill climb, and there aredefinately some tired and sore legs but pretty soon it was again a memory and we were arriving in Värnamo early afternoon to meet tonight’s host Jakob, who had been so thoughtful to cook up a massive batch of spaghetti bolegnaise, always very appreciated by hungry cyclists. It is true we are eating a lot.

But really, it is the spread through the media that is making us happy. Over the last two days we have had numerous contacts with various media outlets in various towns. This evening we met with a local journalist and photographer and expect to grace the paper with our presence early this week. We have been booked for 2 or 3 radio interviews which is great, and we are right now preparing to record a video message to pass to Kim Nguyen, the Australian who has biked all the way from Australia (with a short boat ride you’d assume), and is arriving in Copenhagen tomorrow. He has access to some delegates within the conference and with luck he will pass on our message to them and share it with his supporters too.

Well, that’s about all for now, we have another early start and perhaps our final real challenge with around 115km tomorrow again (to Halmstad).

The Team

THE FIRST THREE DAYS ARE OVER…

Well, what can we say, our dreams are becoming reality and so far all challenges have been overcome – there has been several. Thank you for all those supporters who came out and braved the cold to see us off. How kind it was. And how awesome that the press came to give us some publicity, we have heard we have had quite a bit of coverage on a couple of papers, but we are still just the same down to earth people despite being famous haha.

But seriously, the ride has been amazing in so many ways, and we have luck when we need it. Day one was basically a night ride after a late start but once the traffic died away (south of enköping) the full moon came out and lit the road ahead and made it a surreal and peaceful experience, which stayed with us through the night after arriving at an organic tomato farm and staying in a cozy country cottage by the lake, sauna and all. But the moonlight wasn’t enough light to find the missing bolt from Phils bike trailer after the wheel fell off in the middle of nowhere; for a while things were looking bleak as we huddled on the side of the road feeling a bit glum until phil realised he had a spare bolt of exactly the right size in his bag – a complete coincidence really, unless our sponsor Magnus new something when he gave it to phil to take along. All ended well.

Day two was wrought with problems, first Dawit´s gears not changing (which continues still – they have frozen over), but the day belonged to Farzin, with 2 flat tires and a broken rear wheel, leaving him struggling through the day with a lot of mechanical stops. But the end of the day came and he had little choice but to buy a whole new wheel, leaving us all feeling more positive about today. Thanks to Beatrice in Katrineholm for hosting us all on her floor and introducing us to her friends and making us feel so welcome.

Day three was always going to be the big challenge, but again, things went perfectly and the whole team puled through making it look easy. 115km through the complete backroads of Sweden, in fact most of it on car-less dirt roads and no street signs but Christian´s talent for navigating a maze of frost covered winding streets taking us past a plethora of beautiful, frozen lakes left us all happy to carry on through the pain and arrive safely to a 19th century historic mansion, packed full of leather bound books, chandeliers and musical instruments – our floor for tonight. An almost problem-free day aside from Dawit´s wheel extremely buckled and loosing spokes. We pray for the best and surely our luck will continue.

Stunning clear, blue days and full moon nights, plus todays, fog and frost filled forest. We are truly amateurs in below zero temperature figuring out the best ways at keeping our toes warm, having a load of fun and learning as we go, with a lot of laughs at the same time. Thanks also to the helpful Swede’s we are meeting along the way.

We will keep you posted. Another 115km tomorrow so we better get to bed/floor….

From the Peddling Against Climate Change team

It's all happening!

2009-11-06T23:12:00.003+01:00

Sorry for stealing your slogan DJ :)
The past few days have been one of the most, if not the most busy days of my life. However, I gotta admit that it was mostly a pleasent "busy". I had to work hard for my Master course, study for the extra-course at CEMUS, solve organizational issues for "peddling-against-climate-change" and arrange another Discussion Group. So far all of them seem to be turning out well. Especially the latter two have received a significant boost today. What happened? I always ask this rethorical questions, right? Right? Probably. Well, for the the peddling initiative we had the issue of costs. We had to figure out how to reduce the overall cost of the undertaking, as accomodation (if not free) and extra-equipment would add a lot. Fortunately, Farzin, one of our Iranian team members got to know a manager of a bike shop who likes our idea and who's interested in giving away gear for a lower price. We'll visit him next week altogether. Besides that the couchsurf community responds extremely favourable to the idea and is more than willing to accomodate even 5 of us. We got places to stay in Motala, Jönköping, Halmstad, Helsingborg and Lund (not certain if we choose to get to Lund though). What are still in need of is a place in Strängnäs, Katrineholm and Gislaved. Especially the last might represent a problem, as it is a seriously small town. Let's see what's gonna happen. People are so kind and trusting on couchsurfing :)
Pfff... I am dead tired and need to brush teeth, but there's so much more to write about. I have made myself scarce on my blog recently, which is a pity, as I could write pages over pages over pages. I hope to find some time and will to get some more thoughts on the screen. Meanwhile I gotta keep working to keep things up!

Rock'n'Roll from Uppsala!

Cycling to Kopenhagen

2009-10-07T11:20:00.004+02:00

So, as promised two blogs ago... something inspiring is on the way. Two weeks ago I had the random idea of organizing a bike ride to the Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December. From Uppsala this represents a distance of about 700 to 750 km and takes a week to cycle. First of all I got really excited and had visions on how to turn this into reality. The following few days I was introducing the idea to some of my class mates and a Swedish dude who's just moved into my house. The idea was generally well received, however apart from interest there wasn't much more. I had to get something more substantial together to get people commited. Hence I kept talking to people and found quite a few of them interested while having something to offer such as experience, promotional clip, newspaper articles and plain motivation. Yeah, somehow everything started to fall into place, so I thought "Let's organize a meeting", so everyone would get to know each other. The meeting happened last Monday and was extremely successful. People saw that they're not the only ones interested which made their enthusiasm ballon. Now we're about 8 people who have been divided into subgroups. No specific taks have been allocated so far, but we'll do that next Tuesday (2nd meeting) at Östgöta Nation 7:24pm. I'm extremely happy to work together with such a bunch of inspiring people. It's going to benefit all of us. We'll learn how to create something out of nothing and see that if there's a good idea, it's just the courage that is needed to get things going... everything else will fall into place (at least in Sweden :) ). If you're interested too, but haven't gotten into it yet, here are some info: http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=296886930499
and if you want to contact me personally, here you go: philipperother@gmail.com
We not only need people who want to cycle... everyone who's able to organize, do marketing or provide us with contacts is more than welcome!

Thanks for the attention,

Philippe

Genocide

2009-09-30T23:19:00.004+02:00

I have just read the chapter about the genocide in Rwanda in the book "The State of Africa - A History of 50 Years of Independence". Hutsi vs. Tutsi. I don't really know what to say or think, apart from "o my god". I have read about it beforehand and even watched a documentary, but the book made the context very clear including citations of participants. Here is one quote:

"A group of soldiers and Interhamive attacked the church. They made holes in the back walls and threw grenades through the holes. Everyone tried to take cover. The Interhamive then came in with their machetes and began massacring. At least one uniformed soldier continued to shoot into the church to protect the Interhamive until they were right inside the church and had begun their "work". The Interhamive included women and young boys, about eleven to fourteen, carrying spears and sharpened sticks. They used these to beat a lot of children to death.
As they macheted, the militia disucssed their work, pointing out wounded people to each other to be finished off. After a while they were arguing as to whether they should continue to machete or if they should start looting. They decided to loot before everyone was dead...
I had fallen under some dead. I couldn't move because there were so many dead bodies on top of me. The Interhamive left, thinking everyone was dead."

This powerlesness against societal forces makes me wonder, what the heck I am thinking when I say "I want to change the world... to make it more sustainable/ equal...". On the one hand it is good to be visionary, as without not much would be gained, due to a lack of goal. However, I think I need to incorporate some more humility in my perspective about the world and its dynamics. Humility, because I believe I can change things, but thinking of all those countless people that have perished throughout history to fight for equality and justice, I feel small and insignificant. Confidence is good, but overconfidence can make you blind. Trust in yourself is also good, but can lead to arrogance. So be careful young man by keeping an conscious eye on your development. It is definitively a good idea for me to go back to developing countries and face another reality. From that perspective religion provides many benefits. Humility, love and hopeful being conscious. There are many reasons for why I disagree with people that want to abolish religion. In secular Western societies it is being focused too much on the negative sides.

These were my thoughts of the day, or rather hour.

Let's be human to one another... that's how we change the world.

A month in Uppsala

2009-09-20T18:20:00.004+02:00

By now I think I got used to the town and the daily habit of studying... again. Generally I have to admit that I really enjoy the environment. The people in our course are fun and mostly interested in learning and doing, which is good to start with. When I'm not studying I usually hang out with them, going to pubs, playing football and lately during an extra seminar on Friday. The latter may become a great tool in organizing activities and setting up projects. Regarding the course I'd say that I can only express high satisfaction. Although I have witnessed the most horrible lecture ever, given by an ecofeminist from the WWF, it is by large an extremely valuable experience. Currently we study environmental issues, which I felt pretty ignorant about so far. I have to admit that we're studying only the basics, which I still don't know much about. Thus I got a lot to catch up, but generally think that I do a good job.
Besides going to Uni I try to take other opportunities. I took the chance of joining an extra-course provided by CEMUS (comes pretty close to Open Eduction), which revolves around "Global Challenges and Sustainable Futures." It is every Monday for a few hours during which we get to hear someone talking and discuss the issues afterwards. Another positive feature is that Uppsala seems to be pretty popular in the academic sense, so there are many conferences happening. I have recently been to one about Tibet and another one that was concerned about Africa ("Outsourcing Land for Biofuel Production"). As you can see, I am learning, learning and learning. In the meantime I'm trying to figure out what I wanna do during my internship next year. Somehow, I do not want to limit myself to a specific occupation. There is so much to learn and do, which makes it difficult to say to become this or that. As a result I recently thought that I may try to avoid this reductionist path and try to follow a holistic perspective instead. I may encounter more difficulties, because the Wester world is basically build around reductionism, but I'm sure that I could succeed. I could imagine myself working in the media or as somehow who's got a lot of smart people around himself and simply tries to connect them through his/ her interdisciplinary knowledge. The course I am taking advocates exactly this, so perhaps I will manage to get in somewhere later by on focusing on holism.
The next few weeks will get darker and darker, but better to study I suppose. Who wants to study when the sun is shining haha. We'll have exams in the beginning of October and start taking the course "Man and Society" or something similar afterwards.

That's it. Hope I can come up with a lot of inspiring thoughts, once the course progesses and out of class activities (e.g. trips and projects) start being implemented.

Ahoi!

Uppsala... hmm... I like it :)

2009-08-29T15:13:00.002+02:00

Sooo... I guess I settled by now in Uppsala. General impression AMAZING. Swedish people are awesome, loads of smart & interesting people running around, sun is shining more than it is raining, food is good, landlords are fun and I have met someone who is just completing the course I'm gonna do and he said it is GREAT and crammed with the coolest people from all over the world. Ha! How does that sound :)
A fun topic to explain might be the nations. There are 13 nations in Uppsala, representing the different districts of Sweden. I was told that they were founded to keep an eye on the students in the 17th century. At that time studends apparently were a little more nasty than today (steeling, rioting etc.). The traditions stayed here, hence everyone at Uppsala University needs to sign up in a student nation, which automatically makes you a member of the Student Union (biggest in Sweden). You choose the nation who's activities are most similar to your hobbies. I went to Kalmar nation, which is one of the smaller ones.
Here a short description stolen from Wikipedia.

Kalmar nation, Uppsala is one of the student nations of Uppsala University. It is named for the city of Kalmar. Kalmar nation was founded in 1663 when the old Smålands nation split into two; Kalmar representing eastern Småland and the island of Öland, and Wexiö nation representing the west of Småland. Kalmar nation currently has around 1,700 members and is considered a somewhat 'alternative' nation, being the only nation to regularly provide for vegetarian and vegan diets. The nation is also known for being one of the best music nation i Uppsala, playing a bit more alternative music. Kalmar nation has during the years hosted several popular clubs, often with great live acts. Many unestablished band have played on Kalmar before they got big, e.g. one of Swedens most popular pop group, Kent.

As you may assume a nation can be a lot of fun. First of all it provides opportunities to learn new things e.g. theatre groups, working in a bar, writing circles, event organizer. Moreover since a nation is something like a football club that provides members with some form of identifcation, some form of group cohesion develops that makes it easier to bond with other group members. It is an ideal environment to make friends for life. I have so far shown interest in creating a writing circle that produces a periodically appearing online journal. We still have to salt out how and what exactly to do, but the idea stands. I guess we're first gonna try to advertise our idea and get more people onboard. In the next few weeks the nation is gonna host a dinner and a gasque. I will only participate in the former, as the latter costs a little much with 28€ (drinks and food inclusive). Both are excellent ways of getting to know people. Oh, and by the way, if you've signed up for one nation you can still use the facilities and join activities of all the other nations (apart from a few).

I have also made some pictures of my current "home" that have been uploaded onto my public album at google.

Other than that, I only wish that Díana would be here, as she could add even more spice to the already hot soup :)

Greets to all big and small people!!!!!!!!

P.S.: If DJ reads that... GOOD LUCK IN EUROPE and don't wait too long to show up in Sweden ;)

The End of the Beginning

2009-07-23T23:02:00.017+02:00

The past few years have been an amazing experience. It all began with choosing to study in the UK. Initially I had no idea what would await me, apart from being aware that my life would radically change. I was looking forward to it, as I believed that the path that I had to go was already prepared (due to help of family) and I just had to use it.
The challenges that lay ahead of me were to develop my personality, integrate into the global community and learn to speak proper English. Off all tasks, the first was by far the most important and difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, after 3 years I can proudly say that I have managed to accomplish all of them, including the first. Although I have not been aware of it beforehand, the most recent trip represented something like a final challenge. I chose to do it, as I felt the need for it and can say in retrospect that it was undoubtedly the right thing.
In the following I will reflect on all those things that crossed my mind during the hike. To bring a little order in the confusion I have divided it into various parts, related to what the hike has taught me, personal issues, the world that surrounds me and people that are close to me.

What did I learn from the hike itself?
First of all I began to understand what hard work is. As most young people nowadays, I have never experienced physical hardship, hence I could not fully appreciate what other people do in their daily lifes to sustain themselves and generate products for consumers (me & you). I am reminded of the rice terraces in the Philippines, where I got to see how rice is being grown and harvested, which is an incredibly hard job. Another important aspect belonging to hard work is endurance. For me it is a matter of choice, whether I want to get far in life or not. I will always have at least a little amount of money, due to the securities offered by the state. However, other people are a little less fortunate. For them endurance is not a matter of choice, but again necessary to sustain their lifelyhoods. These people are forced to give everything they got every day, so why can't I do that too? In western societies people need to find different forms of motivation than the bare survival to get anywhere in life. For some it's money or family and others simply because they love their job. Having no such motivating factors in your life, however, kills your drive... it makes you stand still compared to what you could be doing. During the hike I learned more about what type of motivation works for me. I realized that simply looking at the distance and counting the km's wasn't enough or kept me going rather slowly. I compare that to solely looking towards the end of the day and being disgusted of the here and now. I needed to add more meaning into the whole experience, which made me "run" much faster and forget any uncomfortability. Henceforth, I constantly kept reminding myself about the reasons for this undertaking. This often gave me a mental energy boost, providing me with extra power which also kept me going during moments of doubt. Self-doubt often causes you to stop somewhere on the way. It makes you to trust and respect yourself less, which is why it is sometimes important to force yourself over obstacles. For me these obstacles were clearly distance, water and finding places to sleep. All of whom had the potential to make me stop if they were missing. In my case the prevailling slogan "Keep going, asking and the hope for a good nap." The motivation part can be summed up by saying: "To be succesfull it is vital to get to know what it is that motivates you."
Another issue that I noticed was, that simply waiting for luck to get you is dead wrong. I can recall the day I was sitting in a bar till too late while hoping that someone would invite me. Unfortunately I wasn't that lucky and it ended up being one of the worst (if not the worst) night. Instead of simply trusting a chance, try to get it yourself. Our society is, sadly, suffering from the pervasive disease of the kind I just described. Just look at all the gambling activities in casino's and on TV.

Personal Issues
As indicated in the introduction, the hike made me finally realize that I have finished the first phase of my life, or second if you include childhood. The headline "The End of the Beginning" is supposed to mean the same. I believe to have finished the time where I was searching for my "Self". I can give more or less precise answers on where I came from, where I am and where I want to go. Moreover I can pretty much imagine how I want to accomplish my still vague dreams, visions or way of life. The past few months at Uni, with Diana (who's the same as Sara ;) ) and the hike gave big boosts to my confidence and made me realize that I can accomplish these visions of mine. The only thing the could hold me back is myself through a lack of courage and persistence. What is that dream or these visions. Bascially I believe that I am able to combine hobby, career and family into one. I want to be loving what I do. During my travels I got to know loads of people who showed me that it is more than possible for the average human being to not end up being bored of your job. Moreover I believe that it is possible to live outside the system while having a foot in its door. I do not want to rely on any state benefits when I get old. You'll understand me if you comprehend the nature of the current crisis and likelihood it reoccurs. The system is still too fragile to be trusted.

Then there is the issue about vegetarianism. I won't loose many words on it, but just summarize it by saying that I am convinced that it is healthier, but it also reduces the variety of what you can eat. As a result I got to get myself started on cooking different vegetarian dishes. Sara's aunt in Barcelona, where I stayed for 10 days did an amazing job at that. Sara wrote down some recipies, which we're gonna try out later on.

World
The journey has strengthened my belief in idealism. Although it is hard to sustain, as you and your surroundings are everything but perfect, I think it is worth a try and contributes to the general well-being. In order to make that a little easier it is important to accept the world as it is and limit yourself to the area that you are working on. Worrying about issues that lie outside your merit is a waste of time and generally affects your mood negatively. As a result I thought about the area where I could be most useful. I simply do not believe that I could unleash my whole potential if I'd go into politics or study economics. Both are interesting, but often lead nowhere, but discussions. In addition, it is pretty much impossible to progress in politics without loosing your identity (to an extent). I remember what Ron Paul said. He meant that 30 years ago he had the choice of changing the system from the out- or inside. He chose the inside and got very far. However, for me it goes the other way around. I rather work throughout the world, connect people as good as I can and one day found my own organization than being my whole live involved in discussions.

While walking I encountered something that I couldn't stand. Literally half of the hike, if not more, the street was shut off by fences on both sides, meaning that this land is private property. How can human beings divide the world into various pieces and say that's yours and that's mine. Well, you got to make societies run orderly, however I question the extent of the privatisation promoted by the beloved financial instituations and governments. I ended up not caring too much and just jumped fences if needed, to find a place to sleep or a toilet if necessary. I was behaving like the Open Source Community... shitting into Microsoft's garden haha!

As mentioned in chapter one, my respect for people that do simple, but physically exhaustive work day by day has grown by leaps and bounds. It is those people that make our shopping cheap. It's good to appreciate things in your life more, making you more happy and subsequently improves your health.

Moreover while hiking or traveling through alien territorry you are forced to have much more encounters with strangers than usual. My conclusion of all of these is extremely positive (apart from one annoying farmer that wouldn't let me eat beside his plants). Even when I have slept on benches in city centers I have not been robbed or molested in any way. And especially in Spain people were stopping to offer help and honking, which provided me with more trust in the unkown person that sits beside me. It also told me that strangers care. Many may be too shy to show it, but most people indeed care. Do you know these moments when I want to help and you think you should help, but for whatever reason you don't? I believe it is shyness or an unnecessary fear of strangers. The same is mirrored in the fact that many human interactions are being desperately avoided. I remember many people passing me on the sidewalk, but trying to not look at me and pass me as far away as possible. You may argue that I stank and looked a little wild... maybe, but I encounter the same when I look more socially acceptable... e.g. in public transport. People need to trust one another more again, but modern life seems to counteract that utopical wishthought. A good way to do that is to switch off TV first, which is one of the main causes of all that mistrust. What do the news carry everyday? When I watched them in Spain literally every report is about terrorism, killings, war and let's say pollution. Good news aren't worth it, as they do not sell. If you want to keep reading news, but of another type have a look here Positive News or here DailyGood. I think to the saying - that you shouldn't fight evil, but instead promote the good - contains a lot of truth (can't recall the authors name).
If you managed to become more positive and trust people more, then it isn't that far off to believe in humanity again and allow yourself to focus on the good in other people, instead of lamenting their problems. I'm personally not that convinced yet, but it all depends on what I am doing. If I'm home and read the news or discuss them with friends I usually don't. However, if I'm outside, travelling... I DO!!!

People
Since I felt a lot alone I started appreciating the importance of personal interaction more. I enjoy being on my own, but realized that people are more important to me than I have thought before, especially those that inspire me and those that I feel close to. Without them life would get way less interesting. Furthermore I thought about my relationship to Díana. Has been quite productive in that regard too :)

Since the chapter is pretty personal I won't publish too much information about it. Hence only a little conclusion. I knew that my social skills were rather limited so far. As a result I have decided to get my butt on Facebook and do my best to improve that in Uppsala. Social skills are at least as important as your expertise (just googled that)

Conclusion
All in all I believe that this experience has been key to much of the success that I will have in future. I do believe in myself now and feel more energy that keeps me driving. Well, now I am looking forward to get it going in Uppsala. I seriously cannot wait to. For the first time in my life, I will find myself at a place where I can thrive in an environment full of innovation, inspiration and knowledge.

So, hell yeah... let's go!

Adioz,

Philippe alias Don Felipe

Day 40 - Benavente

2009-07-23T22:33:00.003+02:00

Wow... 1 or 2 days and I will have made it. It's about 54km and I'm thinking of hiking it in one... just asked my CS host whether she'd be happy with receiving me a day earlier. If not I'll make a stop in Vila Franca and prepare myself for the FINAL DAY :)
Portugal has been an average experience so far. Streets are more tiring to walk on, as they tend to be a little narrow (no hard shoulders) and the people haven't been as welcoming as expected. Please don't draw any conclusions about Portugese people for my last remarque, so far I have only met a few and all of whom were friends... it's just that people seem a little more suspicious towards me. Let's see how Lisboa will be. Moreover since I'm in Portugal I tend to eat a little different. In Spain it was easy to order Vegetarian food, due to my basic Spanish, but now it is a little tiring. Hence the food tends to be the more and more of the same.
Actually I'm don't want to write Blog today... so ciao until the final entry about this journey from Lisbao :)

Pics and videos will be uploaded whenever I can.

Day 35 - Alburquerque

2009-07-18T22:46:00.003+02:00

HELL YEAH!!! PORTUGAL TOMMORROW!!! Can't believe it :)
Feels like a big boost..... YESSSSSS!

Last few days have been easygoing. Feet went well and I was lucky twice with accomodation. In Miajadas I got a bed from the city council. Well, I'm not sure whether it has been provided by the police, guarda civil or the government. It didn't really look like a prison, but the police had the keys and let me in... how cool :) I had bed shower and toilette, all pretty new and clean.
The day after that I hiked only a little more than 30km to Alcuéscar. You know what I encountered there? The almighty Camino de Santiago!!! These... /("$·!"¿ are being provided with beds in monastries and loads of refugees have been built for them. Yes, they have it much more easy than I do *envy*. Still I got a bed in the monastry... again shower and toilette included. The monks also cared a lot for me by giving me fruits and bread for the evening and let me eat with all the mentally disabled (appr. 40) in the morning. They even asked if I needed new shoes, cause I was hinking and preferred not to use them when I didn't have to :) Well, right now my feet have improved a lot again, thus I do not need to hink in the mornings or evenings.

During the last few days a few great things have happened to my mind. I will include them in the FINAL POST and enjoy them for myself now.

By the way I forgot to mention in my last entry that I have almost died from overeating in Helechosa. I was lying beside the street for 2 1/2 hours. The police stopped to check my documents, coz I apparently looked suspicious :) Has been the second or was it third time??? that I was checked in the past 2 months. I love interaction with the police, but for good! Most of them are fun, but seem to not trust the ones like me *haha*.

Sooo... tomorrow Portugal and 260km left to Lisboa. The hike of my life is almost over. I can't emphasize how much worth it has been to me!

Ahoi and greets to all!!!

Don Felipe

Day 32 - Miajada

2009-07-15T21:14:00.004+02:00

Am sitting in an i-cafe with a backpack and a bag of food. Well, just doing the usual thing... responding to e-Mails, listening to music and trying to get Skype going. In an hours or so I will search a place to sleep.
What happened?
As my last entry has shown, Mora has exhausted me, though it was more mentally than physically. Thanks to all encouraging e-Mails by the way :)
The heat under that I was suffering just before Mora was a little less intense the days thereafter, but still heavy. I was hiking about 8-9 hours a day, but solely streets that were walkable and half empty, thus I did not have to cross fields of stones, or should I say small sharp rocks. I made my way through some national parks along some nice seas and encountered two fun couples. The first talked with me a little in Spanish during a break and even offered me a place to sleep. I denied, as I didn't want to use a car and I still had a few km's to go. After having left them and having hiked another 4km the husband came after me in their car and gave me a bag full of food. I have to admit that it wasn't the most healthy and light (in terms of kg), but many many many thanks to them! I love to see that there are still people that car for strangers. The other couple I met has provided me with a place to sleep for a night. We got into a chat after knowing that we all spoke German (they lived in Hamburg for 14 or more years). They gave me their adress, so I could write them a postcard from Lisboa.
Many thanks also to all those people stopping and wanting to give me a ride. Even though I refuse every time it greatly encourages me to walk. The same counts for those that are simply hoking and smiling...
These experiences and reflection upon the past few years made me realize that I appreciate encounters with strangers a lot (see Couchsurfing and Hitchhiking). Besides doing nice things to another, some of them change the direction of your thoughts and perhaps life. I can't tell you how much I have been inspired by random people... thank you all.
Before I drift to other topics, the facts. Between Mora and Miajada I had to change route again, but this time due to convenience and saved almost 2 days :) How awesome haha! Now it's only about 380km to go, meaning about 9-10 days :)
My current physical and mental state are both very good. Ok, I have to admit that my feet have seen better days, but I think this is due to the shoes and I gotta buy a new pair of hiking boots. Compared to Mora a big improvement. I want to clarify something here, as I also got a worried e-Mail after my last post. First of all I do drink enough... in average about 7-8l a day and on really hot days 10l or perhaps even more. Food, well you can say what you want, but I'll stick to my Vegetarian diet. I have my reasons to do so and will stick to it as long as I do not receive anything that proofs me wrong. Vegetarians live longer, healthier and happier (haha) as long as it's done rightly!!! And now I will try to explain in a short paragraph, why I am doing this "extreme tour". A little more than a year back I have been inspired by Thomas (Couchsurfer), who has walked 2400km from Germany to North-Western Spain in 100 days. He's not in any way a madman, but a musician from Friedrichshafen. I think he's a story for himself...
Since the day we have met I had in my mind to do something similar. The months went by and after my travels last summer I envisioned myself hiking somewhere between Germany and Turkey for a little while. There are loads of long-distance hiking paths that are quite usable. OK... then I talked to Burkhard and he told me that he intends to do the same, but in Spain. Many of you will know the famous path "Camino de Santiago". OK, fine, so we thought about hiking together. Besides having those people that have done or intent to do such a hike, I have read from The Hawk (http://www.hawkwalk.com/index.html) and of course my favourite Karl Bushby with his book "Giant Steps". If you have never met anyone who has done this or something similar, it is easy to misunderstand this trip as solely being there for gaining self-confidence. Surely it plays a significant part, as you realize that you are able to start and finish seemingly huge tasks. However, much more important that this is what you realize about yourself. So far I did not have a second that I was bored, as there is so much to think about, both in terms of hiking and life in general. Especially in a period of your life where you are searching for some answers it is an extremely valuable time. Well, I believe to have already answered many of those questions (or progressed in solving them), most importantly I do now know where I want to go in life and how I want or can accomplish it. Yes, this journey has been hard so far and perhaps too hard once in a while, BUT I will not have missed any second. I'm totally convinced that I am doing exactly the right thing at the right time and greatly encourage people who are looking for answers in life to do something similar. The past few months have reinforced my belief in trusting your instincts. They have guided me for years now and have never left me alone... I have done and experienced amazing things by listening to "them" and would never ever be so content with myself.
Once I am in Lisboa I will have more time to reconsider the time and write all thoughts down...
Again, no time to reread, so try to be happy with random thoughts crammed together :)

16 days left

2009-07-10T13:02:00.002+02:00

I may not have internet the whole 16 days, so don't worry.
I'm gonna do this even if I have to walk on my hands!

Day 27 - Mora

2009-07-10T10:18:00.003+02:00

Cuenca... Mora... fieds, heat, streets, stones, semi-desert...
I'm progressing quickly in terms of distance, due to the straightness of the streets, thus I already passed Madrid, which lies around 100km North. Today I will hike further West and pass Toledo too. It's only 16 days (including today) to go to Lisboa.
A little review of the past few days now. Cuenca has been a nice little city, but no cheap accomodation. As I googled Cuenca I found myself in Cuenca (Ecuador) with hostels for 11$, but of course not in Spain. I realized that a little late and ultimately had to camp just outside the city walls beside a river. I wasn't really sure whether the river had clean water... perhaps, perhaps not... I wasn't drinking it, but washed my clothes. At least they appeared to be dry and mildly fresh and clean the next day.
The day thereafter I hiked into the semi-desert... well it's not sand everywhere, but might be without the fields. It is seriously arid and hot, sometimes unbearably. After Cuenca I slept once in a hammock, once in packs of hay and once on a stage in the city center of Lillo. So far every day has been hard, but in a way acceptable. Yesterday, however, almost knocked me out. It's not like an oven yet, but still heat heat heat and then 42km's to walk. Unfortunately that wasn't all. The last 13km's were a real challenge. I missed one street and had to walk beside the main road, which was way too fast. I realized that after 5 seconds walking on it and decided to find my own path through the "fields". When your attention is lost in the sky and you can barely set one feet in front of the other you do not have sufficient concentration for oncoming cars... thus it's way to dangerous on such a street. The only problem was that the fields were consisting of stones and stones and a little earth once in a while. It was by far the worst I have walked on so far and I can only describe it as horrible. I didn't even want to know what the trees were carrying... I might not eat it anymore. Once I have seen Mora I shed 6 tears of joy and booked into a hotel (as pre-planned). I didn't even have the energy to find a i-café yesterday... only supermarket for food and taking a badly needed bath. Today I feel OK, but the exhaustiong (first time also mental) from yesterday is still in my head at least. Will stay in town until 2pm and then "only" hike about 30 - 35km to stay on time.

My current state is OK. I got quite thin, but it's because of the quantity, not quality of what I eat. Heat kills your appetite...
One more thing about vegetarianism. In a village I said in a bar that I wanted a big sandwich without fish or meat. I got into a chat with the village people and they said I would have not energy without fish and meat. Well, they were looking like what they ate... pigs... and I for my part am quite happy with my own performance, based on a veggie diet. If you still want to tell me that eating no meat/ fish is harmful, at least in the long-term... let me prove it wrong to you!

Fuck... this is all so hard!!!!!!

P.S.: Change in route, due to traffic

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=CM-400%2FCM-410&daddr=Av+de+Europa+to:CM-4017%2FCtra+de+Navas+de+Estena+a+los+Y%C3%A9benes+to:CM-4153%2FCtra+de+Los+Y%C3%A9benes+a+Las+Navas+to:39.408611,-4.934921+to:Carretera+desconocida+to:Ctra+de+Zorta+a+Miajadas%2FEX-102+to:BA-099%2FAv+de+F%C3%A1tima+to:lisboa&geocode=FZSTXQIdkJrG_w%3BFfLmWwIdhgrF_w%3BFbSaWgIdc7fA_w%3BFTkrWgIdfQi8_w%3B%3BFRgJWgIdtCWz_w%3BFZI3VwId7teo_w%3BFVxWVQIdgMSd_w%3B&hl=es&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=4&sz=11&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7&dirflg=w&sll=39.433541,-5.009766&sspn=0.255092,0.441513&ie=UTF8&ll=39.440435,-4.582672&spn=0.510131,0.883026&z=10

Day 22 - Cuenca

2009-07-05T20:03:00.003+02:00

Three weeks on my own tiny epic journey :)

The days after Teruel have been quite similar. Everyday beautiful nature surrounding me while walking 30 to 50 kms and ending up camping somewhere. The most extraordinary things that happened were that I was given a few beers for free (local brewery :) ) and today a meal from some Ecuadorians. Another rater nasty fact is that I feared for one night that I couldn't walk much further for 1-3 days, but fortunately it turned out to be better than thought. What happened? Well, I ripped a whole blister off my heel, while trying to take the tape off it to see what's up. Was the first and hopefully the last day, when I had to rest before my target of the day.
Pics are uploaded and the rest of the trip planned.
These are my destinations... I may not stick to them, but it gives an indication. From now on it's only around 8-900kms to go, so I'm likely to make it BEFORE my birthday to Lisboa HELL YEAH!!! Would be awesome to arrange a bday Couchsurf party over there, then go to Gibraltar and hitchhike up to Barcelone to see Díana. However, before I'm planning too much I gotta walk in average 40km a day to make this little dream come true. Soon I'm also out of the mountains, which make the going easier. So far there has been almost no day without a hill of 1400 to 2000m.
So here the destinations:

Cuenca – Colliga – Villanueva de los Escuderos – Abia de la Obispalia – Huerta de la Obispalia – Torrebuceit – Palomares del Campo – Montalbo – El Hito – Almonacid del Marquesado – Puebla del Marquesado – Puebla de Almenara – Villamayor de Santiago – Corral de Almaguer – Lillo – El Romeral – Tembleque – Mora – Orgaz – Soseca – Mazambroz – Cuerva – Menasalbas – Navahermosa – Cedena – Los Navalmorales – Espinoso del Rey – Buenasbodas – La Nava de Ricomalillo – El Campillo de la Jara – Puerto de San Vicente – Alia – Canamero – Logrosán - Zonta – Alcollarin - Escurial – Miajadas – Almoharín – Arroyomolinos – Alcuéscar - Carmonita – Cordobilla de Lucara - La Nava de Santiago – La Roca de la Sierra – Villar del Rey – Benavente – Cases de Valdescargos – La Codosera – Varzea Grande – Esparança – Arronches – Assumar – Alter do Chao – Monte dos Alateiros – Vale de Açor – Ponte de Sor – Monte de Viola – Vale de Lama – Semideiro - Casalinho – Ulme – Vale de Cavalos – Pinhal da Torre – Alpiarça – Tapada – Santarém – Fonte Boa – Vila Cha de Ourique – Cartaxo – Quinta do Rosnianinho – Casais Lagartos – Azambuja – Vila Nova da Rainha – Carregado... Lisboa

and that's how it looks on GoogleMaps
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=cuenca+spain&daddr=CU-704+to:CU-704+to:CM-2102+to:39.653813,-4.981613+to:Ctra+de+Zorta+a+Miajadas%2FEX-102+to:BA-099%2FAv+de+F%C3%A1tima+to:lisboa&hl=es&geocode=%3BFY8TYwIdwXLd_w%3BFZYvYgIdLhPa_w%3BFdntYAIdssHX_w%3B%3BFZI3VwId7teo_w%3BFVxWVQIdgMSd_w%3B&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=4&sz=11&via=1,2,3,4,5,6&dirflg=w&sll=39.644825,-5.100403&sspn=0.073493,0.43602&ie=UTF8&ll=39.004245,-8.889313&spn=0.074169,0.43602&z=11

Ahoi and I hope I'll be able to wash myself today... I do not feel that clean and imagine that half of my browness is dirt in reality haha

Take care you all :)

Philippe

OH and I have GREAT NEW PLANS!!! However, I'll need to hear the opinion of Díana first, then I will propose them and perhaps invite others to join in. Life's is an amazing journey, it just need to be dealt with rightly!

Something to think about

2009-06-23T22:44:00.004+02:00

Just remembered that Sergio (my Brazilian host in Andorra) told me he was already robbed 8 times in his life... why? Because he refused to give in and shape his life according the environment. In few/ various... cities in Brazil people are being faced with the choice to either protect themselves and hide, so nothing ever happens or expose themselves to the dangers of life and well... get robbed. I consider people facing those dangers as brave. What is life worth living for if you constantly hide and fear that this or that might happen to you, so you simply don´t do it. Well, I do not propose risking your life intentionally, but consciously considering your options and going for things that are worth doing. Thank you Sergio for this insight!

Btw I still need to think more about this, but it's a start :)

Day 18 - Teruel

2009-07-01T21:27:00.004+02:00

Wow... managed to get here. I, again, do not really know how to compromise all these experiences into a comprehensive brief blog entry. Hence I'll start anywhere.
I'm very happy to have started this journey. I suppose it is due to my attitude of taking things too easy. This is what I mostly encounter after having made a decision or commitment, that what I decided to do is more difficult than it was supposed to be. However, indeed I actually think that I can turn this surrealism into an advantage. What if you are too optimistic and expect things being easy, thus committing yourself a little fast BUT you carry it through to the end? Well, if you're able to do this then it is better to be an optimist :)
Ok, what else crawls through my mind? Yeah... that this is the first time I experience hard physical work. Although it is everything but productive, I get to know what it is to get up every day knowing that you have to work/ walk 6 to 10 hours. While walking I often think of sportsmen, labour camps, workers in sweatshops and even guerilla warfar or Stalingrad in 41. Especially the latter examples may sound a little strange, but don't you think that most of the young people nowadays have not the slightest idea of what hard labour means. I believe I don't either. Would I have been born 50 years ago, when Germany was rebuilt by women and children I would have learnt my lesson for life. Please, don't think I try to compare this with my current trip, however it does give you a glimps of what it means. Having this insight is extremely valuable to me and will stick to my mind forever. Nevertheless, I have to admit that compared to sweatshops, I do decide when I get up (usually sleeping till 8-10) and set myself reachable aims. Yesterday I have walked 60km from Cantavieja to Cedrillas (see here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=cantavieja&daddr=Cedrillas,+Teruel,+Arag%C3%B3n,+Espa%C3%B1a&hl=es&geocode=%3BFWgCaQId_wHz_ynL4M1JDkNeDTH4M2E82xQidA&mra=pe&mrcr=0&sll=40.493059,-0.614135&sspn=0.496071,0.883026&ie=UTF8&ll=40.489782,-0.627594&spn=0.496094,0.883026&z=10 ) and I came close to loosing my feet... still I did not cross the border to a region where I am going to break down. I may not do this ever in my life, but I imagine that people who have been so utterly exhausted like those guys who've climbed the first 8000m peak decades ago (book available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Annapurna-First-Conquest-8000-meter-Peak/dp/B000KTMQ1W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246477690&sr=8-1 ). I feel very much inspired to get to know people with this experience, so I learn without being in such a situation.
I'll progress with describing what has happened throughout the last few days, briefly. In Falset, unfortunately, I didn't manage to get the place offered by the German, whom I met on the street. Still, I was lucky since the next day was holiday and all Spaniards celebrated. Hence I ended up in a Bar, where I stayed till 3am. Afterwards I slept for a few hours in a bank (you know these automatic doors that lead to the room with the cash machines), took a day off hiking and booked into a room for 25 Euro's. I enjoyed the day, relaxed and prepared for the root till Teruel. The day I took off was pretty fine, but I was a little angry at myself in the end, coz I got on a busy street that should have been avoided. I managed to not get into danger by walking over fields etc, which isn't that pleasent. By the way I might be on googlemaps's pictures, since the car that drives around with a google camera passed me twice YEAH! When I arrived in Ginestar I was immediately greeted by the Village Town Man :) We chatted a little bit and I learned that I couldn't get to my destination that evening, as I had to take a ferry to the little town called Miravet. I politely refused his offer to drive me around the river... since he was a really nice man anyway he looked for another solution and found that by letting me sleep in the changing room of the swimming pool. Was fun and quite comfortable.
The next day I hiked further and again got into trouble. Why? Because there was a stupid construction site and they wouldn't let me pass!!! Not with me, so I took the for me wrong road until out of side and then made my way through fields and dorns onto the construction side again. I simply didn't want to take the other road and walk 15km more. As a result I ended up walking on a half made street for 12km through the mountains. I wasn't dangerous since local cars were passing, so there was a way I could use. However, sometimes it felt a little like war since I had to jump into the bushes to not get discovered by passing workers hihi. Since night was already taking over I had to intriguing idea of sleeping in a truck (all vehicles were open), which I ended up doing. Well, it wasn't too comfortable, but fun to have done it. Next day again, progress. I walked and walked and went camping for the night. Next day same (beside a mountain lake)... and once I arrived in Cantavieja I couldn't find a camping site, but found the gate to the local swimming pool open. I moved two tables together, took my sleeping bag out and slept well :) Well, this was two days ago, now I'm in TERUEL and about to towards Cuenca. Life is progressing and I tend to forget time and date meanwhile. At one point, where I asked for the tourist information and supermarket, I was told that it is Sunday. I expected it to be Friday ;)
Don't even have time to read through what I have written :)
I'll leave you with a short describtion of how hiking feels. Hot, if the sun is shining. Probably more than 40C on the street :S The heat drives you mad. Feet are pretty much alright, only the little toes are worryingly thick. Blister come and go by popping them up. Usually all at a time... sometimes 7, sometimes 4, and sometimes none :)
Walking is getting better, I believe, as my feet get used to it. So now I hope to manage to hike towards Lisboa or another place at the Atlantic coast, before the 28th of July, so I can see my girlfriend.
Greets to all... Díana, Felix, grannies... and you too :)

Day 10 - Falset

2009-06-23T22:18:00.003+02:00

I´m not as dead as before yesterday, but at least half dead :)
Now sitting in an i-cafe and waiting another hour to call a random German dude I have met on the street 2 hours ago. I was asking him in Spanish whether there are any cheap rooms available down here... of course not. After asking we found out that we´re both German blablabla and he offered me a place to stay tonight. At least 90% sure as he´s a guest too and needs to ask first. He´ll be back around 12 in Falset, when he´s finished some kind of dinner. I´ll call him in half an hour. Let´s see what happens... if not I may have to sleep on a bank somewhere, stinky as I am. Would love to take a shower now.
During the last few days I have hiked through nature, which was generally pleasent, but I felt that I do not make much progress... all these windings streets and ups and downs... I WANT STRAIGHT ROADS TO PORTUGAL!!! Still it was worth the experience. Now I am thinking about walking a street to be quicker, but it seems that the street I have chosen is too fast, thus I may have to look for other paths again.

By the way... WHY THE HECK ARE ALL THE KIDS IN SPAIN THROWING CRACKERS AROUND??? In every single city (or village) I have been to 9 year olds are having their fun and that till late at night... don´t know what to think of that *lol*

So, now press thumbs for me... wanna have a bed tonight and a pool tomorrow morning!

Ciao

Day 9 - Montblanc

2009-06-22T10:57:00.003+02:00

Well... actually I intented to write about the past few days, but first of all YEAH I managed to get a 2nd Class Honour at Uni :) Sure could be better, but with only making a real effort in the final semester... puh. Next time from the beginning haha

So, what has happened during the last 8 days. I´d say quite a lot and it is impossible to write about it all, but I can give you a picture of the whole. Burkhard and me left Escaldes (AND) the first day and almost made it to the border of Andorra. As you may know Andorra is in the middle of the Pyrenees. Somehow we have managed to choose a location to start from that has the biggest climb we have had so far and probably will have for the whole trip. Hiking up, say 800m with a 12kg can be fun, but only to a certain point. The view on the top, however, compensated for much (see Picasa). After that we made our way in a few days to La Seu d´Urgell, Tuixen, Sant Llorenç de Morunys, Solsona and Pinós. That far we were partly camping wild in nature, taking a youth hostel once and twice camping on a camp site. It was fun to share mornings, evening and breaks in between hiking. Unfortunately shortly after Pinós Burkhard had to give up, because he was... let's say "in pain". Sunburn, knee, ankle, sour feet and solely having a distant aim made him give up. I totally understand his decision and consider this being the best for his mental and physical well being. Good luck for you and enjoy to relax :)
After leaving Burkhard behind at a petrol station close to Calaf, I felt a little overwhelmed and sad, because I knew that Í'll be on my own for more than a month facing 1300km. Although I am faster with walking time may feel longer. Let's see how it works out. So far I have to admit I do pretty fine. After hiking very fast for 10-15km I felt that I had gotten over it. On the same day (Day 7) I reached Igualada, making approximately 40km's. I intented to book into a cheap hostel, which unfortunately wasn't available, thus I had to hike out of town and put up my hammock closebye. Luckily I was able to get some food and drinks, as I ran out of it. I resupplied for the next day, slept more or less well and hiked from Igualada to Montblanc. So far this distance has been the longest, as I have covered around 53km's. As you can imagine I was more than happy to have arrived and find a place to sleep for 25€, where I could wash and relax. My feet did not feel all too well, but recovered pretty good for today. In order not to overdo it I'll leave it with 30 to 35 km. I suppose that I will have to camp in the wild tonight, as there is no town nearbye. Let's see what happens, you're often taken by surprise on these kind of trips. I'll finish here, even though I have solely writte about the what has happened and not much about my thoughts. I may do this on a later date, but for now I have to go. Getting new maps to locate the hiking paths and starting to hike again.

Ahoi!

Phil

Out of Andorra

2009-06-15T15:28:00.003+02:00

Am in La Seu d´Urgelle and about to go further :)
It´s fun and we enjoy it a lot. We can´t progress as fast as we wish to, because of food and water supply and other stuff such as post office......

Ahoi

Phil

Please read the following... I have encountered this now various times in the world and makes me very sad :(

2009-06-13T12:48:00.004+02:00

I have met this guy, called Nipun twice and what he says is true, I vouch for him. I have deep respect to this human being, as whenever we meet he gets me thinking. I know that I cannot do much, but I will try to make some calls and contact some newspapers... let's see if I can get anything out of it.
I feel shit being a 1st class citizen!!!!!!!

Luckily I just met some people again who are as eager to change the world as much as they can. All of our conclusion is that you have to live the change you want to see in the world (old and often used phrase, but still very true). So try to make the best out of yourself and stop complaing about the Iraq war... just start being more kind to your neighbour, a beggar or a random person on the street.

In the following I have included the e-Mail I received from Nipun... please read and think, especially those who are from the RICH WORLD.

---------------------------------------------------

Although I've been addressed by many as "Gandhian" or
"Teresa-ish" in my life yet, but perhaps this time i
find it extremely difficult to react and feel so. Why?
Read on and if you share any of such feelings or
contradict them, do reply.

I am Nipun, one of you. Simple, loves travelling, love
people and exploring, dedicated CSer. Last year in
august after coming to Bangalore from Mumbai, good life
in this city motivated me to persue my dream trip - To
meet my father's childhood pen friend in a village in
Sweden. Our families have known eachother since 1967,
though no one has ever met anyone. So i started working
on the plan - how to travel the cheapest way, take
possible routes and apply for a CONSIDERABLY LONG
vacation in office. So i discussed with my boss and she
was more than happy to grant me a 15 day holiday
tentatibely in july 2009 (as sweetheart as she can
be).

I was kind of sure that i will get visa since -
1) I have travelled to europe before
2) have vlid 10 years visa to The US
3) Have invitation from euro country
4) enough money and resources top sustain for petty 18
days
5) I was never denied any visa before
6) Tonnes of european tourists arrive in India
everyday

+ more.

While i did meticulous planning, booked Lufthansa, i
also wanted to apply for visa in march/april. Another
couchsurfing friend of mine from Vienna also invited me
to Vienna and stay witrh him for few days. It sounds
great, so i booked return from VIENNA.

In the meantime i met another fantastic Brit here in
bangalore, fun loving and generous who invited me to
england for a challenging and exciting "3PEAK
CHALLENGE".

After preparing a complete application, i tried
applying it on my own but found it difficult to keep up
with mounting work in office so gave it to a travel
agent. I wanted to apply for "Visa to friend or
relative" category, since i had Appendix E and
convering letter and the tax papers from my aunt. My
agent suggested that i apply for Swedish-schengen viosa
from German consulate in Chennai, since they officially
provide Swedish-schenegn visa in absance of Swedish
consulate in south india.

THATS WHEN THE NIGHTMARE STARTED -

German consulate asked for papers like -
- land ownership papers from my contact in sweden
- 3 years tax papers of the referee
- 6 months salary statement
- copy of passport
- national identity card
- driving liscense + more

Do note that this list grew day by day and nothing was
conveyed at first. Not knowing that Germany is the
mopst beaurocratic country in Europe. I tried arranging
all these from my father's 60 year old friend . But it
seemed impossible. Not only that, the list of required
papers on the websize of VFS SWEDEN & EMBASSY OF SWEDEN
IN NEW DELHI was way simpler.

But this wasn't enough to dampen the spirit of a young
man like me (specially after meeting "moneyless"
european travellers in india - i knew it wont be that
difficult). I decided to apply for TOURIST VISA. So i
got the hotel booked, paying huge advancves in famous
hostels just to make sure that i GET the 20 day visa i
need. AND APPLIED FOR THE VISA FINALLY. Got an
interview appontment in chennai cosulate and went to
chennai from bangalore (400 kms away) in may for a 5
minute interview. When the lady accross the counter
noddeed at the end when i asked if everything was ok, i
understood that visa has been or will be granted. I was
SO HAPPY.... MAD MAD MAD... LIKE I ..... I WAS JUST SO
HAPPY...

Came back, bought a backpack and planned further ahead
and waited for the return of my passport. Told
everyone, while the world rejoiced for me for this
dream trip. It arrived after 12 long days. I opened to
a shock that it was rejected... A 20 day tourist visa
to EU is REJECTED? NEVER HEARD OF THAT BEFORE. NO
REASONS CITED. All my friends in eurpoe as well as
India were angry, while i felt helpless. In this time
of recession, who would reject a tourist visa,
specially hen europe needs every bit of foregn
exchange. Oh! PERHAPS THATS WHAT THEY GETTING BY
ENCOURAGING INDIANS TO APPLY FOR VISA AND THEN
REJECTING IT. LOL. GERMAN BEAUROCRATS!

After having the shock of the year, i moved ahead more
determined than before and decided to apply dirently
from EMBASSY OF SWEDEN IN NEW DELHI. In may end i
started working on papers again but this time wanting
to apply for "Visit to friend or relative" category.

I changed the agent and went to more experienced and
expensive agent. I NEEDED THIS VISA AFTER ALL. I HAD TO
MEET THE OLD LADY BEFORE ANYTHING UNFORTUNATE HAPPENS
TO HER. Kate wrote a longer covering letter stating why
i was coming and why she will not be able to travel to
India to meet my family. We also included a lot more
papers. My travel agent indicated that SWEDISH EMBASSY
IS DENYING ALL THE VISAS OTHER THAN BUSINESS VISAS. It
would be better to check with the visa officer first.

After literally being on hold for 35 long minutes, i
finally got through the visa officer in Delhi embassy
and he mentioned that if was a false information and i
should apply. What a relief i felt... :)

I paid for the visa fee + agents fee again and
re-applied from Sweden early thin month... only to know
TODAY that THEY HAVE REJECTED IT AGAIN... What is it?
Is it a business for european embassies to earn money
from indians as no reason is ever cited for refusal?

"THEY REJECTED A SIMPLE 20 DAY VISA EVEN THOUGH ALL THE
NECESSARY PAPERS WERE PROVIDED"? pHEW!!!

HA HA HA... THIS IS THE FUINNIEST TING I HAVE EVER
HEARD...

I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO REACT WHICH IS WHY I AM WRITING
HERE... I HAVE NOT KNOW ANYONE WHO HAS EVER BEEN
REFUSED A VISA...

NEGATIVE EFFECTS - I WILL PERHAPS NOT HOST, OR ATLEAST
RESPECT ANY BACKPACKER EUROPEAN AGAIN... I mean look at
my refernce list and how i have treated my CS guests
always and look what THEY did...
- LOST 40,000 RUPPEES of my hard earned money in the
process while having sleepless impatient nights.
- Left my old aging aunt Kate to sulk and regret her
own country
- Getting angry and feeling lost
- will become lsser friendly and inviting to any
European (most of which are selfish anyway)

POSTIVE EFFECTS - Learned that INDIA is way lesser
beaurocratic than "FIRST WORLD CONTINENT" ILOVE INDIA
NOW, MORE THAN EVER BEFORE. Yes this is my my land and
i am destined to see more beautiful and better sightas
in india than looking at "pure & platic" sights in
Euro.
I would rather spend my hartd earned money here than in
some rubbish european country.

Just so you know, I did not party, spend any money in
shopping or clubbing or even movies in theatre, cooked
my food every single night, no travelling (other than
chennai) for past 2 -3 months, just to save and save
and save for this dream... ONLY TO END IT THIS HORRIBLE
WAY.

WHAT A WASTE - TO HELL WITH THEM AND THEIR PEOPLE...

I apologise in advance if i am huerting some of you,
but i am really shaken and briekn apart. I desire to
take this further and address it to someone like a
newspaper or somewhere like some international consumer
court... can anyone help...?

Saludos de Andorra!!!

2009-06-13T11:52:00.003+02:00

What to say... the past few days were quite amazing, mainly (or as usual) due to CS and hitchhiking.
Im now sitting in the apartment from Sergio and Jeronimo in Escaldes close to Andorra de Vella (capital of Andorra).
How did I get here? Hitchhiking, but I was cheating a little on the way here from Perpignon. But lets start from the beginning.
I left Milan on the 10th of June and hoped that I would get to Andorra by the 12th. Indeed it worked out very well. The start was problematic, since it is always difficult to get away from big cities like Milano. I took placed myself on the first petrol station on the A8 towards Genova, that could be reached by public transport and walking. The first car stopped after five hours but wanted to go the wrong way. After about 6 hours a "Specialista in Neuologia" stopped and saved the day. From 5pm to 10pm I made it from Milan all the way to Nizza. It's amazing how you experience yourself during the time of waiting... becoming impatient or staying calm and content, smiling to car drivers or being annoyed that nobody smiles back, sitting on my "Holy Stuhl" walking around, waiting at the exits or asking around... these and many more tell you more about yourself. I like doing it since the outcome is literally always better than expected. What you experience while hitchiking is impossible by using public transport. After I was taken the first by the doctor (whom I have to send the address of my blog... he regrets never having done much travel when he was young (functions as reinforcement for oneself)). The second was a lorry driver from Marrocco. He was doing his job for 20 years but seemed content. We spoke a mix of Spanish, Italian and French... wherever I found the appropriate words. Before dropping me off he wished me good luck and gave me a chocolate (kind heart). After waiting another hour and expecting that I would have to stay on the petrol station without an option to sleep anywhere (fence and mountains) another lorry driver picked me up. He was Hungarian and used to be a DJ, cool huh.
He drove me even further than Nizza to Frejus and dropped me at a station where he picked me up the next morning. I slept in the woods nearby

The morning consisted of being taken to Perpignan from where I wanted to hitchhike to Andorra while listening to techno. In Perpignan it went pretty bad and I gave it up around 5pm and took a bus to the city center where I booked into a youth hostel. There I was able to get and overview of how to reach Andorra, which turned out to be really difficult. Not many people drive there at all since the country has ONLY 80.000 inhabitants *lol* After taking a train half way I had to change to bus coz they were working on the tracks. Unfortunately there was a misunderstanding, so I left the bus too early and would have to wait 3-4 hours for the next one aaaaaaah... since I thought I would get another connection to Andorra by then I decided to use the time for hitchhiking, which worked out pretty well. After 30mins 3 young Frenchies took me all the way to Andorra, where they wanted to buy cigarettes and alcohol. Our conversations were funny, as they spoke no English and only little Spanish. So 3 Frenchies and 1 German tried to converse with one another with some basic Spanish. It worked out and was fun. After doing all purchases they drove me another 40 km to Escaldes, where I met Burgi and his hosts. It was even more fun from then onwards, since Sergio and Jeronimo were happy to welcome the guys I just met, thus we had a bigger gathering in their flat. During night we had some drinks and went dancing. I don't wanna describe that in all detail, because it's too much. But to sum it up... being open can give you so much in life... meeting so many random people and blablabla that it is mindboggling or perhaps harmful to be fearful and closeminded as it deprives you of soooo many incredible experiences you love thinking back to once you're older.
OK... what's up now? Sergio is cooking and I'm gonna make or go and buy a salad now... let's see.
Burgi and me are gonna start walking a day later, meaning tomorrow because I have to salt some stuff out and look how I can help a friend from India (see mail above... it's sickening and saddening).

Greets to you all!!!

Don Felipe :)

AUF NACH ANDORRA!!!

2009-06-09T19:16:00.003+02:00

I'm about to leave Milan and hitch my way from here over Genua, Nice towards Andorra. I suppose it's something close to 2000 km or so, not sure though.

The past few days have been a little relaxed, which I desperately needed. It was great to see Monsieur Felix again and his flatmate Emanuela. Besides that I met loads of Africans, Felix's sister and an American Couchsurfer. It's great to recognize that travels and continous encounter with different people gets you back into the whole wide world. I have to admit that I became a little judgemental and complained slightly more than usual just before finishing my degree. Work sucks life out of you haha. Have to learn to cope with it and turn it to my advantage. Before I start to write extensively, here are some pics and that's it.

Ahoi

Crap the image upload isn't working.

You can watch the pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/philipperother/Summer2009#

Plauen - Munich - Milan

2009-06-06T20:41:00.005+02:00

Had some fun days :)

Hitchhiked from my Plauen, where I have met a friend who has just been in Peru. Saw some lovely pictures, which made me think about my own future travels through South America. Crossing the America's on (motor)bike is a dream of mine. I'd have to save some cash and get to know some mechanic knowhow :) Thus it will take a few years, before I can realize that dream.
Back to my trip. Hitchhiking went quite well. It took me only 5 hours to Munich... about 300kms.

Was taken by
- a lorry driver who complained about his job :)
- a dude who studies officer at the german army for 13 years -> interesting opinion about the army and how it is transforming currently. He said that within the army (after a few recent scandals) they want to prioritize humans before order and hierarchy. He also mentioned that it's best to bring change from the inside... so good luck... I hope he does what he said!
- a rumanian guy... didn't talk much. he complained quite a bit, but I suppose he has many reasons to. He mentioned the before Communism collapsed Romania was bad off, but now it's all even worse... SAD!

The romanian guy dropped me at the airport of Munich and I took public transport back to Munich. Tickets are seriously expensive, so I don't pay most of the time. I only paid on the longest trip, where I was checked, not on the other two. During the evening I've met a friend from highschool (see below)

We had a good time walking through the Olympia Park and visited the Irish Pub in the evening. It was pretty cool :)

The day unfortunately couldn't be long, as I had to get up at 6am, coz I wanted to hitch all the way to Milan. Although it is only 550km away from Munich, it is a little difficult to get to and I wanted to see ma old buddy EL GRAN FELIX! I chose a spot from hitchwiki going from Munich towards Zurich and then down south, using the A96. Somehow I got seriously seriously seriously and again SERIOUSLY lucky :D After 15mins waiting time I got a ride STRAIGHT TO MILAN!!! How cool was that, huh? A manager who is responsible for a upper class shoe's firm in Central and Nothern Europe. I can tell you... it was an amazingly interesting trip! We talked the whole time for about 4 hours... never a dull moment. That's why I love hitchhiking. Meeting ramdom people with lots of experience in life and well, getting to know parts of their wisdom.
Now I am with Felix at his shared flat in Milan. We've been walking around with his sister, another CSer from the US and a new flatmate. His new flatmate is from Eritrea and extremely cool and interesting. Today we ate some stuff he bought for dinner, that is local food in Eastern Africa. It is called "injira". Here's a pic:

Ciao from bella Italia!

I'm going for a walk

2009-06-04T13:57:00.005+02:00

I have had this in mind since I have seen his website and done some little walking and camping myself. I love walking both long and short distances. It gives you time to think and liberates you in a way. Whenever I walk I start to cut off connections to the outside world... I feel like having a blank mind and just walk, walk and walk. The further you get into this state, the less you care about things, such as distance, pain, general worries in life and other thoughts that constantly chase you. You start standing still while moving.
To fulfil this desire to get myself free from everything for a while I decided to go on a hiking/ camping trip for a little less than two months in summer. We're (Burkhard & I) gonna walk from Andorra to Portugal and split up there. Burgi is taking some paths to Porto and I will hike down to Gibraltar. We'll have to cover around 30km a day to reach our targets on time. I suppose towards the end I need to walk up to 40km a day. Sure this sounds a little too much, but once we're into walking it may go faster than expected. We've bought loads of equipment that makes it more comfortable walking... hiking boots, socks are essential plus countless other stuff :) I love going into outdoor shops and leaving with an empty pocket. It's somehow better than possessing 2 million pairs of shoes, but whatever... whom am I to judge female addictions.

Here are some pics from our trial walk yesterday. We'd like to call it "DAY ZERO". We hiked around 32km with full gear and were pretty exhausted. I experienced the state of mind I told you about after 25km's and Burgi had problems with his feet (had not hinking boots) and knee.

Us having some lunch

That's the path that leads all the way to Portugal from Easter Germany... how cool.

Break. Burgi's is cutting his toenails... were too long and made him bleed.

Overall the trial was a success and we're looking forward to do this in Spain with degrees hitting the 40's (celcius) in the sun.

Ahoi Comrades!!!!!!!

Done with Leeds

2009-06-04T12:29:00.006+02:00

Moving to Leeds has been the best decision I've ever made. Looking back I suppose it was my preference for intuitive decision making which made me go there. The multicultural attitude of the UK and the young student population of Leeds have opened my eyes in many regards and made me way more tolerant. No wonder, when one comes from a rather backward and isolated region in Eastern Germany :)
Thanks to Leeds I feel ready to face the world and position myself in it somewhere.

The three main themes of my learning process revolved around people skills, purpose and embracing diversity.
I have always been more of an individualist, but Leeds helped me in appreciating people. Couchsurfing was central to the experience. After a friend told me about it in September 2007 I signed up and well... waited a few months before using it. When starting in December 2007 I started being exposed to so many alternative viewpoints about life, which made me leapfrogging. Imagine you're being exposed to say extremists all the time, but all of them completely different. Isn't it likely that you yourself become one of them, only with your very own perspective about life and all that revolves around it. Well, I wouldn't say I'm already at that point, but I'm seeking it... cs def. helps :)
Oh and by the way without couchsurfing I would have never met my girlfriend... such an amazing girl. Working hard all the time, but still finding time for friends. She has amazing people skills and such a lovely smile Go and meet her it's fun :) Her work kind of reminds me of John, who's being funded to travel the world to do his job. She starts doing the same. Both can teach you so much about passion and purpose!
It might be a good point to thank all those people who've helped me during the past years and become good friends :) Special thanks to Burgi, Nina, Constantin, Inge, Sara, Pascalis and those on my travels like DJ, Mikka, Tuntek... and all the unknown faces!!! But no time to get sentimental hihi

OK, I forget about the past... I feel I crap at writing this reflection, for whatever reason :)
So lets turn to the future. Since I've just finished my Bachelor I was on the look for another place to study for a while. In May I secured a place at Uppsala University in Sweden for the course Sustainable Development It's a god Uni and god knows how I got into, maybe it's fait, sheer luck or my travels from last year.. no idea, but who cares! I'll start in August and hope to receive some of my friends as guests. Diana is coming, DJ probably as well and everyone else is welcome... I'm probably gonna have my own flat, hence I can host loads of Cs'ers. I'm pretty excited about the course itself, as I'm gonna meet lot's and lot's of people who are interested in exactly the same as I am. This is gonna give me a lot of room to discuss things with people like global politics, economics, development, poverty, environment and everything related. So far I have never had someone whom I could have a chat with every day about these issues. That more than 70% of the students come from outside Europe is gonna help a lot in widening my horizon and look at issues from different perspectives.

Bottom-line:
The UK has given me the kick-start in my life and I will always keep the experience in good memories, but now it's time to leave and face a new challenge in Sweden.

However before I start anything I will get my mind free and do something I have desired for a while (see next blog entry).

3.5. - That's it!

2009-05-03T13:51:00.003+02:00

Somehow I got lazy with writing my blog in recent days. It was a little too much sitting in front of the screen, at some point you just wanna through this piece of plastic in the trash... and head for the mountains or simply read something :)

Tomorrow I'll be leaving India once again. This time it has been more of a orientation period for my career than spiritual. I have learnt a lot and got really inspired Collin and a few others. So what have I learnt?
- Business can be good
- Clarification for career
- and as usual lots of personal things
Overall it has been excellent and exactly what I needed. The best of all is that I was able to start some networking. Now I've got some contacts within the developing world who are keen on employing me again. So whatever happens to my applications I could just use my savings and ask what I could do for them. Collin mentioned he's happy to sustain the relationship and if time and money allows it he could send us to countries they operate in such as Sudan or use his network to give me with some idea where I could be asking for something to do. How great is that :)

Ok, gotta do some more work and read the remaining 50 pages of "THE WORLD IS FLAT". Highly recommended book by the way!

Ciao!

Phil