My 2nd visit to Thailand January to July 2009.

My 2nd visit to Thailand January to July 2009.

I'm here this time on a mission mainly to study at the Agama Yoga school on Koh Phangon (tropical island in south), do their 3 month yoga teachers training intensive, stick around the island another 2 months (total of 5 on the island) studying the complete 8 limbs of Yoga (the original Yoga, before being turned into gymnastics by Westerners consists of Yama, Niyama, Asanas, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Concentration, Meditation, Samadhi). So, there's lots to learn & focusing on learning this from probably one of the best schools in the world, bringing back the ancient true forms of the complete Hatha Yoga system. They also teach health, healing, tao, tantric sexuality, diet, cleansings, Tibetan studies, lucid dreaming, mantras, & more. Not getting bored here, as each class is a new lecture, video & pamphlet. This school offers 5+ years of the above mentioned system of kundalini tantric based Hatha Yoga. After 9 months in India & checking out many schools there, not to mention back home, & seeking online, i'm grateful for finding this school in Rishikesh, studying some in Vancouver, and now coming to the source of the action, their main school here in Thailand where a great community of over 100 yogi's in training gather, share food, have dance parties, potlucks, meditation retreats, workshops on everything you can imagine, and yes....do Yoga together! Really feels like a 2nd home here!

So, I havnt written much lately as I was offline for most of the teachers training. Was actually very nice to be online only 1 hour a week or so. More time to enjoy LIFE before the internet. Getting to know new friends, snorkeling the coral reef zones near my bungalow & hanging out with the colorful fishees, reading good books & sitting in hammocks for many hours! I even invented a new yoga asana , "Hammockasana" ...the pose of the hammock! Enlightenment gauranteed!

The teachers training was incredibly life-changing experience! I mean really, can you imagine going to daily practice & lectures for 4 hours morning & another 4 hours+ in the evening for yoga 2-3 hours each class (including pranayama, meditation) and lectures, plus other meetings, videos, etc...6 DAYS A WEEK! Our life in between was a hustle to do errands, eat & study. No free-time for other stuff really. But WOWSERS...what a journey! This type of yoga intensive is well known for not only purifying & strengthening the physical body, but activating the prana (what chinese call 'chi', japanese 'ki'...the life-force), stabilizing the mind to deep states of peace & equanimity, and harmonizing & healing the emotional body. A pledge we signed for no alcohol or drugs this time for cleansing the bodies completely. All of us ate yogi diets (vegetarian, some vegan, lots of raw food, thai curry vegetable tofus, etc.). Apparently there are before & after photos of each of us 20 in the TTC on Jason Milne's Facebook page (our main teacher) and you can really see the difference! Growth in the right direction! Health & Happiness.

By the 2nd month some of us were so ready for some NON-YOGA things...like dance parties! Although I swore I would not DJ while doing TTC to totally absorb myself into yoga immersion, I could not resist the offers. They needed me! It was apparent the 2nd week, when they had an Indian themed performance art piece & dance party...with no music for it! So, i hopped on the Agama Yoga dj bandwagon & found myself doing 1-2 parties a month, playing my style of "Beats Without Borders" global electronica mostly. We did have a few smaller beach hut parties , one a Funk party, the other a Gypsy/Balkan Beats party where i played those styles. What fun people to dance & party with!

After the TTC, a few of us started teaching at Agama. I was feeling like waiting until June to teach Agama (as its very challenging style & need to integrate more), so I taught a very small class of 1-8 people , 6 mornings at Monte Vista Healing Center. A gentle Hatha Yoga class that was my first 'real' teaching of yoga. I liked it much more than teaching English (just cant do that anymore, unless its with smiling Buddha Tibetan young adults like in Dharamsala, India).
There was an extracurricalar Tantra 1 workshop I went to April 1-5th. It was very very informative about how to enhance your sex life 10x. 100x. 1000x. The ancient art of tantric love-making explained in 30-40 hours in detail. Wow. Didnt know it could be that good. Another new spiritual path to study & practice! Really, it makes sex a spiritual path, with goal of actually raising Kundalini in methodical manner to reach towards Enlightenment/Nirvana/Samadhi/Enrapture & deeper states of daily bliss, ecstasy & real happiness, healing the self & even sending out healing energy to others. much more but come do for yourself if interested. The books out there these days have too many errors & misinterpretations of THE WAY. Our main yoga school founder, Swami Vivekananda really knows what he is teaching as he's practiced 'fanatically' since he was 19 or so (25+ years). I have decided to bring Swami to host this workshop in Maui next October 13-18th. I hope it will be successful & people can really get inspired from this too.

My plan is to stay here on the island one more month taking it easy mostly. Reading lots of books, sitting in the ole hammock, swimming & watching movies from my new super-patio view home. Still doing month 7 of Agama Yoga lessons, but only 2x a week so lots of freetime. Just signed up for another type of yoga & massage 7 day intensive course which i'm real excited about...and its at Pyramid Yoga on the mountain i live on (5 minute walk)! only $200 for 7 days of learning Abdominal Chi Massage, Anasara Hatha Yoga (lots of partner poses, heart opening focus), and 14 vegetarian meals included! What a bargain!

At this moment I am on day 5 of a 7 day detox colon cleanse/fast. Holy smokes! I never thought i'd do this!!! Well, "maybe when i was older was my excuse." Or, "I've been a healthy vegetarian organic food eating guy since 1994, no need." But man...I talked to many many people here who thought the same. They did it anyway as the testimonials are abundant that it is a very positive healthy thing to do. So, i'm doing it! Yikes! My energy has been fluctuating like a roller coaster ride, up & down, highs & lows! Today, mostly lows. Havnt left the patio all day. Thats why i'm finally finishing these Blogs! All i can say is my highs have been really high. Feeling light at times & people remarking "your shining" several times that exact phrase. OK, when i'm done i hope to be shining more often! I have 'lightened up' a bit too much though in my opinion. Maybe 10 pounds so far & i was feeling totally healthy normal weight of 150lbs lean mean peaceful machine male weight before, but now 140 & looking a bit skinny. Oh well, I will gain it back, & have fun doing it! Food, Food, Food! Oh how I/We LOVE food huh?!? The ultimate attachment. I will be taking a Thai food cooking class at some point! Mmmm....
better not talk about it more right now! I'm drooling...
They say to think of it as "It's gonna be fun gaining back that weight, in a healthy way!"
And speaking of health "Cleansing the colon of wastes and accumutaled mucous and faecal matter is perhaps the single most positive thing a person could do for their health. The colon is the waste bucket of the body, and hence keeping it clean will help to ensure your body runs smoothly and efficiently."

But, if you want to know more about this kind of purification of the body temple done by colonics & how it can give great boosts in health, wellbeing, clarity, energy & deeper connection to the Self, check out the testimony of the man that started Orion Healing Center (where i'm doing it):
http://www.orionhealing.com/ourvision.html

But seriously, I was going to talk alot about personal experiences with this full system of Yoga, but I think i'll just say a few words & keep a low profile on the personal journey. Feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding Yoga & this school (www.AgamaYoga.com).

As for other things non-Yoga (which at this point me & most of us here are craving!)...i'd like to talk politics of all things. Things are heating up with the Thai redshirt protesters in Bangkok with 2 tanks being seized by them on April 12th (hey, my birthday, i should have been partying on those tanks with them)! Trying to oust the current prime-minister isnt easy! Besides that I am writing about other topics such as global changes/worldshift 2012 manifesto, obama nation & his speech to congress which sounds promising & other more philosophical ideas about life, progress, security & success. You can read that blog with link to video of the tank party & other real informative sites:

http://emptythemindnow.blogspot.com/

Trust me...you gotta read up on at least the WorldShift 2012 :: State of Global Emergency, and Obamas speech. Lots of hope & fear in the air! Choose HOPE!



Bless Bliss , Be Loved, Beloved & Enjoy The Universe,

Adrian ::

Thailand :: 2nd visit Jan/June 2009

My 2nd visit to Thailand January to July 2009.

I'm here this time on a mission mainly to study at the Agama Yoga school on Koh Phangon (tropical island in south), do their 3 month yoga teachers training intensive, stick around the island another 2 months (total of 5 on the island) studying the complete 8 limbs of Yoga (the original Yoga, before being turned into gymnastics by Westerners consists of Yama, Niyama, Asanas, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Concentration, Meditation, Samadhi). So, there's lots to learn & focusing on learning this from probably one of the best schools in the world, bringing back the ancient true forms of the complete Hatha Yoga system. They also teach health, healing, tao, tantric sexuality, diet, cleansings, Tibetan studies, lucid dreaming, mantras, & more. Not getting bored here, as each class is a new lecture, video & pamphlet. This school offers 5+ years of the above mentioned system of kundalini tantric based Hatha Yoga. After 9 months in India & checking out many schools there, not to mention back home, & seeking online, i'm grateful for finding this school in Rishikesh, studying some in Vancouver, and now coming to the source of the action, their main school here in Thailand where a great community of over 100 yogi's in training gather, share food, have dance parties, potlucks, meditation retreats, workshops on everything you can imagine, and yes....do Yoga together! Really feels like a 2nd home here!

But let me back up to the first few days I spent in Bangkok. What an ancient Asian labrynth that place is!

It's been 7 years already since the first time here back in Feb/March 2002. Man...i forgot whata lovely place Thailand is! Kind people, beautiful temples & all things exotic & different from what us westerners are used to. Bangkok was again a fun mysterious flow of temples, riverboats, KohSan Road tourist trinkets & the oasis guesthouse, Shanti Lodge. Same Same as 2002, but different. Thats what they say here in their broken English, "Same, same - but different!" I did alot of the same things this time in Bangkok, but somehow it was like a totally new experience. This place continues to intrigue me.

typical smaller riverboat in Bangkok - a great way to get around for about 50cents a ride!

I arrived in Bangkok 6pm December 29th, 2008 after about 42 hours journey from Maui! That consisted of a plane leaving Maui late at midnight, spending the night sleeping on a cement bench (good thing i brought my yoga mat!) at an unusually quite & calm Honolulu Internaitional Airport (where I chained all of my bags up together & slept a decent 5 hours). I woke up & caught the 7am China Airlines long 12 hour flight to Taipei, with a quick transfer to another China Airlines 4 hour flight to Bangkok, arriving to the metropolis about 5pm. From the airport I caught the Airport Express shuttle (only $5, 150baht) one hour to Khoa San road, and then a local tuk tuk (motorcycle covered wagons - called rickshaws in India) to Shanti guesthouse in Thewet area.

me & Confuscious hanging out in Bangkok!

Shazaam! I was thouroughly pooped after that, but managed to have a full power first day checking out the many big temples nearby. The first thing I noticed about being back in Thailand is the spirit of these people. Very light-hearted, kind, gentle, smiling people. A people that are over 90% Buddhist - which means most pray daily for world peace/inner peace, with many meditating regularly, visiting temples for offerings of incense, flowers & prayers for their health, wealth, family & the world. When I changed money at the airport I saw the woman working there do a prayer with palms together (called a wai, same gesture as Namaste in India) & eyes closed before beginning work that morning. When I went to the bank to cash a US $100 bill the next day, a tear came to my eye as the bank teller woman did the "wai" bow to me & the glimmer in her eye shined bright with peace & happiness. The Asian Thai spirit is strong! It is so amazing to be in such a big city such as Bangkok (7.5 million people) and hardly anybody honking (unlike India, and America for that matter!!!). The people hardly even harassed me to purchase things as I experienced in many other countries ("hey friend, want to buy silk scarf"). There is great respect for personal space here. Well, except when you are in a dense over-filled market, filled with people shopping through dozens of baskets of food things you've never seen before, many unidentifiable such as seafood (mostly still alive!) and vegetables that may as well be from another planet! I never cease to be mesmerized by the exotic and sometimes downright yucky aromas of these food markets (well, its the huge piles of fish that gets to ya).

dont mess with the King! pics of him EVERYWHERE & you can get jail-time for talking bad about him! for realio!

The first morning, I took a riverboat down the Chao Phraya river. How fun! Many people get around by these boats for less than 50cents a ride. It was about a 15 minute ride from Thewet area of Shanti Guesthouse to the grand palace & main temple district. So, me, the farang (foreigner) I am, six feet 3 inches high, towered above the average Thai person, and Thai entrances! Ducking down carefully everywhere I go! I went to this one temple to meditate & ran into a happy-go-lucky tuk tuk driver who took me to about 4 different sites for free. Well, not exactly free - he received 300 baht for taking me to 3 different tourist traps (each only 2 minute stop - a custom suit shop, travel agent & jewelry shop). It really made his day...he was laughing & ecstatic for making an extra days wage (i think average day wage here is about $5). We went to Gold Mountain (incredible panaramic view of entire Bangkok), Marble temple (of course these are the western names for these unpronounceable Thai names) & Standing Buddha (100 foot high standing buddha that people prayed to). The Happy Buddha temple was closed. But I was still happy! Here you will see some photos of that adventure. Overwhelmed with beauty & respect for the intricate art that went into making these humongous temples! Deep respect for the people who are devoted to the path of peace & prayer in this Buddhist tradition.

Me & my new job as a "Tuk Tuk" taxi driver! Well, just think, some of your are so gullible you think i'm serious about this!?!

spirit houses (inspired from India) - to feed & pay respect to the ancestors

monks have cellphones too!

New Years eve eve cultural party on KohSan Road.

Wat Arun Temple Entrance - and you can go up to the top for quite a view!

view from the top, yet another temple in the background. mission accomplished!

Hawaii :: grand finale of 16 month trip

Hawaii :: checking it out to see if I want to move here. my 3rd visit to this magical land of beaches, bamboo forests, waterfalls oh my!

for my grand finale of this 15 month global adventure i spent my last month in Hawaii, on Maui with a good ole friend Mattius, who hosted us, and my dad. For my dads 60th birthday present i flew him over to spend 3 weeks with us. This trip was also to sess out Maui & Hawaii & make sure I want to move there next year. at first I had many big intentions for all sorts of activities to fill the days, but I slowly began to understand "maui time" & let go of the agendas. enjoying this time became more about being rather than doing. Mattius has been living in this deluxe yurt that is run off solar power. This is exactly what i intend to manifest! I love these yurts! A yurt combined with a wooden eco-home such as offered by this company: www.mandalahomes.net\ would be ideal & affordable sustainable natural living! He has wireless internet, a nice kitchen, plenty of space for living. but with 3 of us there it got to be a little tight at times.

Daily we feasted on the fresh bananas, papayas & avocados growing in his front yard. how cosmic to have your fruit growing in front of you! i could get used to this...

My dad & I went on a few touristy expeditions. we went on a snorkeling boat trip to Molokini reefs & Turtle Town. I swam about 5 feet from a huge turtle that didnt really pay me much attention (he was probably thinking "yeah, yeah...i've seen thousands of you guys" and i was thinking "wow! second time i've swam with a turtle!"). lots of colorful tropical fish too of course! The other big trip we did was a sunset dinner cruise. This was free because we went to a time-share presentation. Other highlights were hiking in a big bamboo forest, swimming in a waterfall pool at Twin Falls, Spreckelsville beach, HoOkipa point watching the surfers, Little Beach 2 visits, boogieboarding 2x...and seeing Willie Nelson play at Charlies , which was a smaller unannounced show! he lives there half the year & likes to just stop in every now & then.

"on the road again, i just cant wait to get back on the road again."

good way to end my trip...someday i will move to Hawaii, even if just for a year. must be done...

JAPAN #1 :: November 2007 :: 6 action-packed days/5 late nights

namaste Risa for making my japan trip happen in style!

JAPAN :: 6 action-packed days/5 late nights

I finally made it to Japan! Since a young child I have idealized aspects of their culture such as ninjas, martial arts, the samurai strength & willpower. Later I grew fond of their Zen Buddhism, temples, art, architecture & history. Japan, a land where many samurais once roamed, now replaced by business men in black suits who seek a different kind of power. Most things have changed into a post-post-modern futurism of digital buildings & consumerist culture that for me was overwhelming. But…some things never change. The rice, bamboo & seafood are still abundant. The old wisdom within their culture remains, and can be understood if you are an observant outsider.

surfer/musician friend Mikey at his pad in Kamakura...surfs up!
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Coming from total of 10 months in India & Nepal, two of the poorest countries in the world to Japan, one of the richest was again another cultural shockwave. My 6 day visit was short, but action-packed & full of good times & interesting people, thanks to new friend and fellow music freak Risa. Thanks to her I saw 3 music shows (2 for free on guestlist), went to Thanksgiving big dinner in Yokohama, a sleepover & BBQ in Kamakura surfing community & I met many of her music business friends who were all my kinda people…fellow music fanatics. Thank you Risa for giving me the red carpet style tour of your area! The first day in Tokyo I went on a walk & subway to Shibuya, right to the heart of Babylon central shopping district where thousands of fashionable and well employed youth were out shopping as usual. The crowds were interesting to me as I people watched & compared to India/Nepal big cities. So much money in this country! Probably more than all 1.2 billion + of India/Nepal combined in this small country! These people are all rich…my goodness are they rich compared to 80% of the world that lives in poverty! Yen power! Shop shop shoppin’ til your droppin’! I didn’t see anybody in all of Tokyo that wasn’t wearing new designer clothes & sparkling clean (you know Japanese have history of taking daily baths & clean clothes & when foreigners first came over on ships, and today, we were quite stinky & dirty to them). I went to a music store & checked out all the latest gear (I havnt looked at new stuff since I left last year). Wooo…a new KAOS pad…cool! I didn’t go to “Electric Town” where most technology/electronic gear is sold. Not really in the mood to buy. Just here to observe & have fun & meet people! After Shibuya went to Japanese Garden & park to rest, had picnic including that little bottle of wine I stashed from airplane! That night, Risa took me to a huge 10+ band/djs show at the main arena for sumo wrestling, which rarely has music shows. Got there a little late for dj Krush so only caught his last 2 minutes of sound effects outro madness. The rest of the music was not so appealing to me/us so we left to a techno future funk night her friend organizes at a little club. I was uber-tired but managed not to fall asleep standing up, barely! (should have drinken some coffee). Met some more music friends, & I dug the retro Herbie Hancock techno remix tracks that were most definitely funky & to my liking! Finally after almost 2 nights of no sleep (airplane, then this) we went home around 3:30am. Good intro to Tokyo yo!

old japan
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black is the color of choice. dressed to impress like a rolls royce. slave to the fashion, and the money you don’t save. you better not show emotions & be well-behaved. if you focus mostly on material your heart grows cold. missing out on simple things in life & then you grow old. where is the love & big smiles wide?

maybe I will go search the old countryside…

That’s very judgemental yes, but what can I say. poetry in motion.

heck, I too like wearing black, spend money freely, and am trying to not show my emotions as us westerners do. The asian way is more introverted and revolves around saving face (meaning not showing negative emotions in public or you ‘lose face’!), instead of freely expressing your emotions like us westerners have from the beginning of time (“adam, your a fucking jerk!” , “hey eve, go to hell!”). There must be a compromise in between the two ways.

more old japan
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Expressing some in healthy way and therefore not repressing emotions, but not getting out of control. I know in my recent life (these travels) I have begun a quest to control my emotions through yogic exercises such as deep breathing/pranayama, uddhiyana bhanda & other asanas, & just being aware & controlling the mind from being negative & wasting energy.

Hard work but worth the battle, the internal battle, the mind

is your greatest enemy, ya know?

I could not believe how quiet & still nearly everybody was on the trams/subways after noisy husting & bustling India!!! Polar opposites! Here space is respected & everybody is so sensitive!

babylon central
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When you sit down next to somebody they get a little nervous & move. In India you were crammed 3 or 4 into a normal 2 seat

space in a bus & nobody budged. Indians held hands, laughed,

talked the entire way every single bus I went on…alive…living

fully with what they have…friendship, open-hearts & conversation. Talking the latest Bollywood or Hindi pop music or relationship gossip. I’m sure there is another warmer livelier side

high tech toilets! i think it even had bum massage option?
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to Japanese public life that I just did not see. Maybe at their homes, weddings & parties things get looser? Heck, I was only there less than a week so I am no expert on this ancient culture & their modern ways.

Next day, Friday November 23rd…Thanksgiving dinner at her friends in Yokohama (the place I’ve been reading in two Shogun

books – where the foreigners first built a settlement near Tokyo in 1800’s). Now, not so many foreigners. Actually most days the places I went I was the only foreigner in site! I kept noticing how much this tall blond guy with red beard & old faded traveling clothes must look in comparison to them. I stood out, but I’m used to it now after 15 months abroad. While at the dinner party I asked Risa’s friends where I could go to see the poorer neighborhoods, ghettos, homeless & drug addicts of Tokyo…but nobody knew. Guess everybody is rich in this place! They were surprised that I did not eat any turkey & I explained my 99% vegetarian diet last 12 years & that really I am not fully vegetarian but ‘pescatarian’ (seafood eating) as I believe that works for me. I ate lots of stuffing and some fish. To this point I had not drank alcohol in over 3 months and have been purely vegetarian since Europe when I last had some fish here & there. I love seafood, “when I see food I eat it! when I seafood, I eat it!” I lost about 15 pounds in India and am looking like a skinny, but healthy yogi these days. I don’t mind so much as I know I rid myself of many many toxins with that 300 hours of yoga & a few cleansing techniques, but…now I would like to gain back that weight in a healthy muscle building

modern day business men samurai
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& diet of more pasta, seafood etc…(got any other weight gain tricks for me???) That night, stayed night in nearby Kamakura,

a very cool beach town/surfing mecca smaller community nearby.

Stayed at Mikee’s, guy part of Cynic Records and that funky techno night. I felt him a fellow kindred spirit musician friend. His music studio & little home with ocean view balcony was very inspiring (see picture). This is what I crave & will manifest soon…someday soon I hope, inshallah! A place to call home for long-term that is near ocean, lots of hardwood, big windows, a good space for music studio, record collection, zen space, silence,

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and creating a harmonious home. Ahhhh….how this traveler now yearns for that. Funny huh, we always want what we don’t have.

Maybe I’ll get that & then want to travel again someday, but at least I want a foundation to go back to. Am I ready to buy a house

or should I just keep renting nice spaces like this…? Time will tell. Little 7 year old daughter Nina playful in the morning. We all went for a walk to show me some temples & the beach on our way to the BBQ / Buffalo record label cozy day lunch party. Surfers everywhere around here. I like this place! Surfing & music. The simple life…this is it!

15 women & 4 guys is a ratio i can get use to...Thanksgiving party
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5th day I went to Asakusa to see big Shozeiji Temple area. Impressive! Except for the 100’s of stores & market stalls surrounding it peddling products to tourists (can you tell that I am sick of all this consumerism, especially the cheesy plastic tourist crap?). But heh, I couldn’t find a calendar of zen/japan nature but found some postcard art that style. then I got the heck out of the market & went into old japan style…the temple. Offered a yen coin , clapped 2x & prayed as is custom. Walked around & took more pictures than a Japanese of these old style buildings (they were bombed out in WWII and rebuilt after, so not fully authentic). After walked down to riverside park and had sushi picnic on bench and lo & behold…there was a homeless person!

I gave him some sushi & he was like “Ahhh…tank you very much!” It’s rude to eat in front of people with no food so it felt right to share. His smile was golden! After I went to Harajuku,

and again there the next day. Here is supposed to be a more hip area. There were a few street vendor artists selling on the streets that I talked to…I think that makes a ‘hip’ town if there is original art & vendors that are allowed to sell without getting hassled. 2nd day I came back to see the Emperor’s shrine & temple park area which was another nice rebuilt old style temple grounds that has been occupied & a place to pray since around the year 600 AD I think.

When leaving Japan at Tokyo Narita airport the Japan Airlines check-in employee asked “Do you have anything fragile inside?”

I replied, “Yes, my heart!”

India #2 :: September-November 2007

Varanasi/Dharamsala/Rishikesh/Haridwar

On my way south to India by bus from Kathmandu, I spent 2 days at Buddha's birthplace, Lumbini, Nepal. about a dozen buddhist monasteries & temples from various cultures celebrating Buddhahood! This tree & pool is about 50 metres from the exact birthplace of Mr. Buddha!

India trip #2 ::

1) Varanasi – the oldest living city in the world where the big holy river Ganges flows & flows while dead bodies burn & lives yurn as this timeless sequence turns & turns. building & temples decay as young children play where the past has not yet met the future. many still living the old ways. took a few boat rides at dawn to witness the burnings & puja rituals

where the big holy river Ganges flows & flows while dead bodies burn & lives yurn as this timeless

tibetan buddhists protest march in dharmsala about china's new absurd law
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of prayer, music, candles & much devotion (they do this everyday in places along the Ganga like here, Rishikesh, Haridwar & actually most people in India do a little puja offering daily). I had no intention of buying silk but after they showed me the beautiful scarfs & fabric I had no choice. Maybe they hypnotized me? Good salespeople! “Just come look, you don’t have to buy!”. They got me!

Only 2 days here but worth the visit to see a city where people believe that if they die here, they will be liberated from rebirth, moksha, mukti, liberation at last. Guess that’s why it’s so crowded!

anandamayi ashram in haridwar with 10 swamis leading meditation & talks
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2) Dharamsala #2 – back full circle to where I started a year ago. 2 more weeks here (2 months total now). Volunteer at Rogpa Tibetan daycare an amazing & fun experience! Found a Tibetan 2 year old boy & his mom that I will sponsor (actually Tibetans don’t want handouts & value their independence so I will sponsor the mothers paychecks for new craft center job being created instead of just giving $). Good times visiting friend Sivadas & his yoga sangha gals, dinner at Korean restaurant 2x with fun groups, more yoga with Sivadas, a nice room I rented from him with balcony for hammock (oh yeah!), meeting Japanese friend Risa & hiking to Triund & overnight there again…beautiful mountainside!

one of my favorite india pics
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Tibetan protest rally march 2 km to Dharamsala with about 800-1000 people to protest Chinese dictating rules for their Tibetan Buddhism religion. And more good Tibetan food!

Momo’s & Thukpa soup, oh my!

3) Rishikesh #2 – came back with sole , soul purpose of studying serious yoga 2 month intensive at Trika school. Intense it was! 200 hours of yoga in 2 months, most don’t do in a year. More than physical yoga, this school taught us the full path of yoga with kriyas (cleansing techniques), dhautis, bhandas, mudras, meditation initiation using mantra (silent mantra internally chanting), macrobiotic diet, tantric sex, energy yin/yang polarity, health, healing, etc…

93 year old french man who has been at anandamayi's ashram for over 35 years!
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Never a dull moment! This school has 50+ month program in Thailand on tropical island that I will get teachers training in 3 month program & perhaps visit periodically/annually for more. Finally found my mystery school! You cannot find this information systematically given with group practice, lectures & papers daily to keep you on the path to self-discovery. www.AgamaYoga.com

4) Haridwar – Anandamayi Ashram , 4 days/nights at yogaashram nearby. came at right time, 7 day discourse retreat with 10 swami masters leading meditation & teachings, kirtan & bhajans & pujas daily. Good timing! Feel the energy is very high here! Guess meditating all day

1000 year old book in Tibetan Library archives Dharamsala

Kathmandoo-doo :: volunteering, trekking & life in Nepal

Yeti Airlines (yeti is an asian sasquatch that many people have seen in the Himalayas)

I was in Nepal for 6 weeks, 4 of those volunteering, another 2 weeks trekking in the Tibetan regions of north Nepal's Himalayan area called Annapurna Conservation Area.

I began like this:

While planning an escape from my expensive 4 months in Europe I decided to come to Nepal and volunteer before going back to India for yoga school. I found INFO Nepal (www.infonepal.org) by looking on the internet and chose them because I liked the colors of their webpage (really!), well…also they had a quick same-day reply back to me and good communication!

wild Kathmandu streets of Thamel, notice Yeti Health & Massage!
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I arrived in Kathmandu July 13th, 2007 and was happily greeted at the airport by INFO Nepal staff and over the next 5 days taken sightseeing, out for dinner, and received five days of very helpful Nepali language lessons as well. While in Kathmandu I was also greeted by Nepal's ferocious rainy daily gauranteed monsoon weather. It was something i unfortunately overlooked before coming here, but oh well at least i've avoided the hordes of tourists that show up in September-December! Some of the sights our group visited are the legendary so-called Monkey Temple (due to all the monkeys hanging out), real name Swayambhunath which is a holy Buddhist stupa where big Buddha himself is said to have spent time at (this is his neighborhood ya know...from birthplace in Lumbini, Nepal to Bodhgaya, India to Kathmandu he roamed). Back then the enlightened masters could only walk to reach new people & areas to spread their message. Nowadays, we have living saints such as Dalai Lama & Amma traveling the corners of the world sharing their wisdom & transformational energy, but perhaps as they say, most real gurus choose to stay out of the public and live unknown secluded lifes as hermits with a few students. This Swayambhunath temple on top of a big hill is also a holy Hindu site and is interesting for the convergence of both religions. Legend says that this whole Kathmandu Valley was a big flooded water basin , with this holy mountain just having one lotus on top and covered by water until some god (i forget which one?) made the area dry out & declared this the holiest spot. Another holy holy site we went to is Pratishapath, which is like a mini-Varanasi version of burning bodies in ghats on another dirty river. Unfornately foreigners could not go inside the temples at both of these places so we were limited to walking around and seeing everything from limited views. Another sightseeing must see our volunteer group visited was Durbar Square, the old Kathmandu center of temples & royal buildings built in various centuries, many big paghoda style-red, brown, & black with intricate wood carvings. Finally we went to Boudhanath stupa, a mecca for Buddhist, especially Tibetan Buddhists and Tibetan refugees. Huge stupa (white circular temple which symbolizes the 5 elements and is said to be very helpful for prayer as it contains inside the relics of their highest lamas & 1000's of prayers, a kind of time capsule for praying). The stupa is surrounded by the new religion of materialism-lots of Tibetan shops circling the area selling Tibetan crafts, bells, clothes, and the likes. I bought an umbrella, cause it was dumping down heaps of rain that could make you go insane!

My host family, Tikaram & some of his 5 children.
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Kathmandoo-doo, as I have renamed it, is one very interesting ancient city. It is a cross-cultural crossroads of many ethnicities such as Tibetans, Tamang, Gorkhas (famous for their joining British army and being fierce warriors), Newari & dozens of others all mingling in this true melting pot where Tibet, China & India converge & form Nepal. Walking around the streets you cannot help but get a feeling that this place is an absolute madhouse! Swarms of local taxi hounds approach you offering their cars, bicycle rickshaws & others offering you "hash, mr....you smoke, want buy tiger balm?" At first it's not so bad, but after India (which is worse for this constant pestering & desperation) and after many weeks ...it gets very old & becomes difficult not to react in rudeness to their intrusions of space. But one must realize, it is coming from a desperate economy & not their faults they have been raised into this rudeness. Another thing i discovered is that congested traffic makes congested lungs! Respiratory tract infection (which 25% of travelers get) is common due to the clouds of black smoke coming from nearly every car, bus, truck & motorcycle. You need a mask here, maybe even a gas mask! The noise pollution is very bad too-honk, honk, honking becomes the normal sound of daily grinds as you wind around the many roads of Nepal & India. Its because the population is so high here, density of metropolis life causes the urge to honk somebody off the road. We westerners think its rude & uncalled for, but it is actually necessary to keep people out of the way when taxiing through narrow streets-don't wanna run over any feets! While walking around here you can see signs such as "Yeti Airlines", and "Yeti Health &

Sirjana Secondary School, where i volunteered for 2 weeks, very disciplined here, but not in class!
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Massage" (see photos) proving that the legend of the Yeti lives on (the

yeti is a type of sasquatch ape man spotted many times in the mountains

of these lands). You see, this is a very mysterious place full of

ancient secrets, myths, legends & lore. Some make-believe, some

i think pink is in! the female teachers at Sirjana school.
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true & others left unknown to the mystery of this universe. It is common to come across little shops with tables of fresh animal kills for sale, such as big pig & goat heads, huge blobs of bloody unidentified meats, and other flesh for sale. very strange to see on the road with all the dust & garbage piles nearby! would anybody really want to eat this? you are what ya eat! anyhow, those garbage piles were everywhere in Kathmandoo-doo! And piles of doo-doo too, hence the new city name. I read in the papers that there is another protest, this time against picking up the garbage heaps, i believe being led by the agitating Maoist party (communist dedicated to turning Nepal into the ideals of Mao, Lenin & some new ideas). This has caused some eye diseases & other sicknesses to spread around the city!

my trekking guide, Naresh, in the Tibetan Plateau desert region of north Nepal. we wanted to take helicopter back, but walked 13 days instead!
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I saw a few people that had the puffed up red eyes and one told me his doctor said this was caused by the garbage problem. They have no trash bins on the streets here, just the ole pile method...which isn't working! I hope things change here soon as these people deserve a government that funds good city infrastructure, which would include not only garbage bins & trucks, but fixing all these potholed roads, & banning the mixture of kerosene into gas that is causing the black smoke from vehicles! So, you take 2 million + people and add all these factors and you get the dark side of Kathmandoo-doo. On the bright side, it is an exciting place with many good restaurants serving international food for pennies, live local bands playing tunes 7 days a week, & a people that are genuinely good-natured and glad to have you here.

Om Mani Padme Hum Tibetan buddhist mantra carved on rock next to some guy.
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After 5 days of this sightseeing, eating, and many language lessons we went to a village and each stayed in a seperate house with host-family. Going to Dhulikel for 2 days immersed me into village life and was a great experience in itself. My placement in Naudanda was an amazing experience as well. I taught English to 3-4 classes each day (breaks in between) at Sirjana Secondary School, located about 1 hour northwest from Pokhara near the trailheads famous for trekking.

I stayed for 2 weeks with the principal of the school, Tikaram, and his big

the reward view after 3 days in hot deserts, 5 days in rainy jungle mountains, woo-laa...the 20,000 ft + ranges emerge from the clouds!
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family of 4 daugters (ages 7, 9, 13, 15) and one son Pratik (1.5 yrs old….finally had a son on the last try!!!). And what a sweet boy with a radiant smile and great little laugh he has. I was instantly his big-brother ("dai" in Nepali) and made part of the family! Tikaram is probably middle-class for Nepal as he owns his own 3 storey home with a store on the bottom, rooms for his family (and my own room) on 2nd floor, and the top floor is rented out to a family. They have a tv with satellite so many English channels such as HBO, Cinemax, CNN, etc for relaxing after a day at the school. I was here during the heavy rainy monsoon season of July and August so literally there was not much else to do then (unless you like hiking in mud with leeches on the steep slippery hills nearby). Bring lots of books!

Kathmandoo-doo shop altar of masks, crystals...
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Everyday I would usually get up around 7am and read, yoga, meditate until 8am or so, then the tv room was available. At 9am I would eat breakfast with Tikaram, and as a traditional Nepali family that means dhal bhat only, everyday, morning and evening. (I really love my western breakfast so I brought bags of mueslix and ate that with milk or curd, and dhal bhat for lunch and dinner…so still eating it twice a day!).

After breakfast we drove his motorcycle (almost everyday raining) 30 minutes up some mountain roads and one backroad to the remotely located little school. I found the teachers to be all very likeable, friendly, and socialable people! The kids were extremely excited to have me there and every class I entered was with a standing greeting they are taught to say to respect the teachers. They were pretty well behaved, most of the time! The class sizes ranged from 8 to 58 kids per class (the biggest being when a few teachers were sick and I took over a combined class…bring a megaphone for that loud chaos!). I generally used the books that they use for my teaching method, but always made time for some new games or other methods that would be kind of spontaneous.

wonderful Tibetan monks in Kathmandu that i taught english to before leaving to India.
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They love games…that's for sure! I brought stickers to give out to the winning teams, which they really loved. I also helped begin to organize methods for learning typing using their low-fi computers and typing educational software. I encouraged them that this was a very useful important tool for living in these current times. I showed off my fast skills and the fact that you don’t have to look at your hands and "hunt and peck" each letter, and thereby encouraged them that they too can type this fast in 6 to 9 months of serious practice. Before this computer class (which an older German man is doing 3 days a week) it was just chaos and 'messing around' each day. I felt this was as important as learning good English, to type is to communicate faster, save time, and perhaps secure a job with a little more income. Also not just learning English typing , but Nepali. Of course, only 3 of their 9 computers had these typing software, but soon they will have on all. My gift to the school (which by the way you will be expected and a little pressured by Tikaram and staff to give) was a few educational cd-roms. My last day their I found out that the government just approved to have the school rebuilt beginning December 2007, so that is very very good news as many rooms were leaking rain, very dirty and this will be a major improvement!

And remember what Ghandi said…"Be the change in the world you want to see" (was that Ghandi? Did I get that quote right? Anyway…)

13 days trekking in the Annapurna Conservation Area, half of the legendary trek called the 'Annapurna Circuit". I chose to fly from Pokhara in a small plane for 25 minutes to Jomsom village in the desert Tibetan plateau regions of north north Nepal (about 25 km from Tibet border). This region, and many other north areas of India & Nepal are full of Tibetan culture, some refugees, but many have inhabited these lands for centuries if not day one. With my hired guide, 20 year old Naresh, we walked through the ancient village & into dry canyons along the Kali Gadhaki river a few hours to Kagbeni, where we got room & called it a day. Next morning we hiked 4 hard hours or so up the desert hills (no trees here!) to the holy hindu & buddhist temple & village of Muktinath. Here little purple flames come out of the earth & water & are seen as an act of Shiva, & worshipped as such. We walked here, then past the "Bob Marley Lodge" back to our guesthouse for a 2nd night stay. We continued on for 3 days of this desert heat & sun, with a view teasing views of the big snowy peaks beyond, followed by 6 days of grey & rainy jungle mountain trekking with no views of the major HImalayan ranges that hid beneath the clouds! Until...Ghorepani & Gundruk village our 11th, 12th & 13th day...we were finally blessed with the vision of these 20,000+ feet monster mountains! Meeting other trekkers along the way and sharing traveling stories, playing cards, & reading lots of books made this trip a relaxing and interesting adventure.

On the 6 hour drive back on the "tourist" bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu we winded and grinded through many mountains, over many rivers (both using bridges and for the smaller ones just going for it!), and finally got back to stinky Kathmandoo-doo. Here I saw a lady on the outskirts of town along the highway (many of these shacks, homes, little shops just live the noisest life along these roads...not ideal). She was sitting down and had her baby getting milk from her breast in one hand, and puffing on a cigarette with the other. I couldnt believe what I was seeing. That was a first! wish i got a picture..

Outside the Indian Embassy, as I anticipated my return to Mother India (a place I both love & despise), I overheard a young western traveler explaining "the army makes you crazy. The catch-22 is you can get out of it by becoming or pretending to be crazy." Many Israeli travelers know this as they are all required to do service in their army & many travel to escape or recupperate. I talked with one beautiful brunette young Israeli lady for awhile while waiting in line. She lives in a kibbutz. I have just finished reading "Exodus" by Leon Uris and am really fascinated with the history of Jewish people & the forming of Israel as they reclaimed their original lands. Very very interesting & I hope to visit their someday. She told me that Israeli's now only get 2 months after their first 6 months for Indian visas as so many have set up homes in India & overstay their time. Most citizens can go 6 months, leave to Nepal, and return 6 months. US citizens can stay 10 years if they apply for special visa. I only want to return for 3 months maximum. The plan...10 hours south first to Lumbini, Nepal to see Buddha's birthplace, then 10 more hours south to Varanasi. The oldest living city and holiest of holy places in Hindu culture. The center of the universe where Shiva was born according to ancient Hindu texts. 1,700 years or more before Jesus walked the earth people mingled here. It has been destroyed by the Mughal invasion ,but the spirit is unconquerable. They say if you die here, you will not be reborn and instead go to HIndu heaven. THat is why they cremate the dead on their holiest of holy rivers, the Ganges, which is also the dirtiest of dirtiest!

After a day or two only in big, dirty, holy Varanasi i aim to get back to Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj, where i began this long journey last October. I want to spend 2 weeks there seeing Dalai Lama again, visiting Indian & Tibetan friends, practicing more massage (and receiving by being model!), and find a tibetan child to sponsor ($30 month means a life to them! i finally decided to go for it, as i know the Tibetans Children Village is honest & uses 100% $ wisely). Around Sept 20th i will return to Rishikesh for 2 months of intensive yoga at the awesome Trika yoga school (where i studied last November). My grand plan for returning to North America is to fly to Miami and meet my dad and drive across country for our 10th time together (the 1st time when i was 6 months old and these trips are what got me addicted to traveling!). For his 60th birthday present we may go to the Carribean or Hawaii for a few weeks before I return to the lovely but rainy pacific northwest & home in beautiful British Columbia. But...that's then, and this is NOW! One day at a time....

I truly hope that all of YOU, my friends & family, are enjoying your lives, finding meaning, living fully, experiencing good relationships, challenging yourselves to grow & doing what makes you blossom. I look forward to seeing you again upon return to the New World! I am truly excited, after 13 months & 3 more of being a nomad, to settle down again and have a room to call my own, a music studio instead of just my laptop, my old social work jobs and perhaps new one, and music events-community-etc..

But for now...off on another adventure!

Budapest :: thermal baths, yurt living, music fests and hitchhiking!

3 fellow Couchsurfers who greeted me upon arriving in Budapest at the train station & guided me back to our "Couch"...a 2 bedroom home a Hungarian man so kindly let us stay in FOR FREE! yay for www.Couchsurfing.com !!!

I finally left Krakow and Poland for good this trip. All in all about 2 of my 4 months were spent in Poland, mostly because of having a good friend and girlfriend there...it became home-base. Also, the Outrageous Bus Tour became an Outrageous Pain In The Ass for me, and all involved. The bus went through a series

of mechanics garages and was delayed 2 months past the initial May 1st launch. The big problem was that we never knew when it was going to be fixed-it was always next week...and then the next! After waiting patiently, and not so patiently for many weeks, I finally gave up and left on my own to Budapest. I wanted to experience

this is what Couchsurfing is all about! someone has spare room...and woo laa...sleep at last!
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more of East Europe and I heard nothing but good things about this old city and country. Besides, I had hope still that the bus would get fixed and meet me there at its first destination of the tour (but i wasnt holding my breath anymore).

I had a very smooth transition into Budapest as I was greeted by 3 couchsurfers at the train station and led to my hosts home. I stayed with Gyorgy and fellow couchsurfers for 2 nights, but then moved to Dora's apartment, another friendly couchsurfer because there I had the place to myself. The first night at Dora's we walked to the Buda castle grounds to her favorite viewpoint of the city. There we had a drink and talked til about midnight. I loved her irish-english-hungarian accent that she got from spending time in Ireland! She had to work at 7am the next morning and I felt bad for keeping her up, but she insisted we hang out. Turns out almost everybody I met in Budapest is working 2 or 3 jobs or going to university as well as a job. The gals that helped me out at Vista Travel were jealous of my travels. They were too busy working there to take such time off to afford to go all over the globe. Not to mention that the average minimum wage is about 2 euros an hour (compared to 8.50 euros an hour in UK). I felt rich and lucky that I can take this time off work to reflect, relax, and enjoy life in a non-rushed manner. At the same time...I am realizing that I actually miss working! I miss having a sense of purpose and fulfillment that a good job brings. I am in fact jealous of some of these

GyÓrgy, my first Budapest Couchsurfing host for 2 nights.
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people that are so career oriented. Perhaps later these people will have big jobs and be able to travel in the future when i'm still wondering what work to do to save up for the next trip!

After Dora's I decided to try my 3rd and final couchsurfer for Budapest, David Klein. Actually, he lives 30 minutes outside of Budapest in a big village named Erd. I had to take up Davids offer to host me as he lives in a big Mongolian yurt (the type i want to buy). He not only has a big yurt on the property, but a small house with kitchen, bathroom, office, and 3 turtles, and a very small hobbit-house to my very own! And...I had a place to sling my hammock! This was heaven indeed, for as stated earlier...I was tired of being a tourist over & over in big cities with old buildings. It was time for a retreat! But first...a yurt party! The night I got there David threw a party for about 30 guests. A gal ended up getting too drunk and sleeping on my bed, so I being the nice fellow I am, did not kick her out but slept in my hammock until she left. I slept the 2nd part of my morning back in my room and was woken up by a guy that I had special ordered some 'palinka' from. You see...palinka is one of the Hungarian specialties...stronger than vodka, very potent! His grandfather in the neighborhood makes it (turns out everybodys grandpa makes it!), so I felt it was a good idea to buy some. I stayed about a week out here enjoying reading books, catching up on internet stuff, and having many long philosophical talks with David. David is quite the character. He is a semi-celebrity here in Hungary as he has climbed Mt. Everest three times and is attempting summit again...without supplementary oxygen (only 100 of the 3000 who have reached summit has done it this way, he would be the first Hungarian). David also has a keen interest in India and has travelled extensively there. I was pleased to meet another kindred spirit on my travels.

McDonalds in the Old World. Are you really "Lovin It" ???
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I only went out to see one music show, but it was a good one! Anthony B played

his fresh styles of reggae and dancehall at this club on a boat, A3, which i went to with Dora. "mo' fiya! yagga yagga yo!"

By far, the highlight of my stay in Budapest was soaking in 3 thermal bath spas! On my 2nd day I went alone to the huge outdoor pools at the big park (forget the names now). These were nice, but the 2nd ones I visited, Rudas baths, were incredible!

These were inside a 500 year old Turkish building, and previous to the Turks were

Dora, my 2nd Budapest Couchsurfing host.
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modified by the Romans. Being inside these smaller pools was so timeless. looking up at the sun rays shining through portholes in the ceiling, going from bath to hot bath. I cant explain it anymore with words...look at this link i found of other peoples

pics of this amazing place:

http://flickr.com/search/?q=rudas%20bath&w=all

The third bath i went to was Gellert spa. This place was more posh and modern, but still oh so relaxing!

Mongolian yurt on property i stayed over one week outside Budapest...i want one..or two!
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I noticed something different about Hungary. For one, the people are much different than those in Poland. There is more of a free spirit that i sensed here, less conservative, more alive! Maybe it's the influence of the nomadic spirit of this people's past, combined with a high population of Roma (gypsy) people, and a history of Turkish influences as well? It very interesting that the Magyar people came in massive migrations from Central Asia and took over the region of Hungary around the time of 895 A.D. The Magyar language (the official language of Hungary) is not related to the Slavic languages in East Europe I had been hearing (Polish, Slovakian, etc..). In fact it is unrelated to most European languages, as Wiki says "As one of the small number of modern European languages that do not belong to the Indo-European language family, Hungarian has always been of great interest to linguists." The people not only came from Asia, but the Turks lived here for many centuries and had a great influence on the language and culture.

The hobbit house on the left is where is stayed, and kitchen-office-bathroom on right. Simple but effective housing!
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I decided to get out of the city and go to the No Mans Land gathering, an outdoor 4 day music gathering. I borrowed a tent and pads from David and took a bus to the site. There Summer came down from Krakow to join me on some more travels. This festival was mostly a trance gathering, but also had a stage with live bands and chillout djs, and another stage with breaks and more live bands. The highlight for me was seeing Gaudi, one of my favorite producers. He had a microphone hooked up to a megaphone and did some unique vocal stuff while playing his original songs on cd. I also enjoyed seeing Vibrasphere and a few other original live p.a. performances. It was a fun festival, but not as jolly as I expected, so Summer and I decided to go to the allmighty Fusion Festival near Berlin. This was about 10 hours from Budapest and Summer was on an extremely low budget, so...we hitchhiked instead of paying $115 euros for a train or $85euros for a bus. At first I resisted the idea of hitchhiking from Budapest to Berlin. I wanted things to be easy. I wanted to make it there by Thursday to leave my big bag at Ians in Berlin and go to the site with him. I wanted to be there Thursday afternoon so I didnt miss any good music.

Inside the yurt, my host David, has decorated it quite nicely...fireplace, cabinet, altar, bed, beanbags...
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But I surrendered to the unknown mystery and phenomenon we call hitchhiking!

Complete surrender and trust. Actually, hitchhiking teaches us alot of useful ways in life. To trust, let go of planning and live spontaneously, to be in the moment, to be self-sustainable, to live with a lighter eco-footprint, to enjoy nature and free things in life...etc. With this adventure we ended up getting 5 rides in cars, 1 in a diesel truck, and 1 small train ride to Munich. It took two and a half days full of ups and downs.

David, owner of yurt, famous Hungarian mt. Everest climber, and my host for week.
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The ups were getting quick rides the first day. One down was getting out early from a ride we had to central Germany because i thought my friend in Vienna had a ride to the festival for us...which he didnt and we were now

off course and slowed down an entire day. (damn...next time i travel in Europe

I need a SIM card that is good for all countries to communicate better with people).

Another up was camping just outside of gas station properties in the forest. yes...

Friday night yurt party!
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this was fun! Who says traveling in Europe has to be expensive? With couchsurfing

and hitchhiking you can travel and stay in Europe for what it costs to cook

your own food, have a few drinks, and other normal costs. I figure I have

been only spending about $10 to $20 a day here. It is cheaper for me to stay

Rudas furdo, my favorite thermal bath in Budapest!
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here than back home in Canada, where I have to pay rent and live for about $35 day

including bills,rent, food, etc...

So, we made it to Fusion Festival, and although I had to haul all of my bags there, and I missed the Heavyweight Dub Champions feat. Dr. Israel (which i really wanted to see!)...all was well. We found Ian easy enough in the crowd of 30,000 people and together Summer, Ian, and I had a great time checking out the diverse music at about 10 different stages! This whole festival takes place in an old Russian communist airport, with 5 of the stages inside the old hangars! Quite a unique venue! The hangars are decorated with various themes, one was completely devoted to cabaret, circus themes, and performance art. Others hosted live bands, one which I saw new dub artist Noiseshaper play with full band, and Masala SoundSystem (from Poland) played an incredible live set! Other stages set outdoors reminded me of Shambhala, with the "Dubstation" stage on imported sand (sorry, no river here) devoted to chill-out djs and bands all 4 days, and another stage which is like the "Ewok Village" hidden in the forest with tree forts and hammocks. I saw ModeSelektor , mc Tenor Fly with a ragga jungle dj, and some wicked wicked dubstep in this polydome stage! People say that Fusion Fest is the Burning Man of Europe, but really it is unique itself. Burning Man has more of a wild free spirit that only the Wild West in America can bring. Fusion Fest does not have the art installations, wacky costumes, and extreme vibe that Burning Man is famous for. But nevertheless...I had a fantastic time and highly recommend this festival to any lover of music and alternative culture!

another pic of Rudas...islamic architecture thanks to the Turks who built this in mid-1500s! mystical place!
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Oh and...we decided to hitchhike back to Berlin and got an easy ride right to Ian's doorstep!

After spending a few more days in Berlin, Summer and I parted ways again.

She took a job offer to sail the Mediterranean and help out on a big catamaran boat

for 4 months. I took off to Vienna to spend my last week in Europe in Austria.

I didnt do to much there so I will just briefly sum it up on this blog.

I arrived Saturday morning and was met by my friend Manu (whom i met in India).

He spontaneously offered me a dj gig with him that night in Salzburg for a multi-cultural event, "sommerszene07 - a festival featuring china and india". So, after

a few hours in Vienna, we were off on a 3 hour drive west to Salzburg and went

directly to the soundcheck and a late, late night of music and dance.

We ended up staying an extra day and night there so I got a chance to look around

this town with many big old white buildings, big white castle, and posh people.

Back in Vienna we went straight to the Dub Club weekly night at Flex club, a night

made famous from the Dub Club compilation cds of new dub-dancehall artists from

Vienna. It was so nice hearing these songs and more on the big soundsystem!

Maga Bo from Brazil was the headliner and he played a very original set of

global ragga-hiphop styles. The rest of my time in Vienna has just been about

getting ready for Nepal, spending lots of time on the internet, and walking around

the center of the city. Manu and I went to the spa yesterday to soak in the sauna (for a whopping 15euros we went into two steam rooms for an hour. i do this

for $2.40 back home, 15euros is about $23!). Tonight I will be recording a dj

set of originals, remixes and more for Manu's eCube radio show that will be aired

next week. And tomorrow...off to Nepal for my first visit there!