Bike Trip - Kashmir (Sep/2013)

Before start writing about the trip I did with some friends to Ladakh, I want to thank everyone who somehow helped on this mission. And it wouldn’t be so easy to get all I needed to start the journey sorted if I hadn’t had an amazing support of many friends or new friends I made here in India.

Buying/renting the bike I knew would be the hardest task and could be very tricky as well since I’m not an expert on the topic. So through people I already knew and some other I got to know through Facebook or CouchSurfing I got offered their help to join me and check the bikes in KarolBagh, which is probably the biggest market for bikes in Delhi and even in India. Indeed that market was a crazy experience to me; there are thousands of bikes standing in front of the shops and the negotiation isn’t easy as I expected. But at the end I could get a good deal, or I should maybe wait to confirm it at the end of my road trip.

First day: We left Delhi (Gurgaon) at around 3pm and drove for around 5 hours to reach Ambala (around 230km). The traffic in Delhi is usually huge and leaving the city took us maybe 2,5 hours until we reached the highway. We didn’t make any proper stop since we start the trip a bit late, so basically we made two brakes of 5 min to sip some water and then back to the road. 
Putting the Bullet on the road was an amazing experience, the bike is solid and powerful and its noise gives a nice feeling.
Driving at night on the Indian highway was a tough mission, at least for me. Cars and bikes coming on the wrong direction, not much signalization, the fact that lights is “not mandatory” for vehicles and so on. But at the end I survived!
Well, to close the day nothing better than some good Indian food and beer. We also got the chance to meet both "Bhaiji" Preet and Dinesh, who later on joined us in Srinagar as they had the trip planned to start the next days. 

Diving Flores Komodo

Indonesia is well known for its amazing dive sites, stunning coral reefs and an incredible variety of sea life. Indeed all the dives I did in the country were simply amazing, nevertheless Flores/ Komodo National Park is something else and I have no words to describe it.

Seriously, every single dive in Flores has so many high lights that often one does not know what to focus in. Dozens of sharks, massive school of giant trevally, great barracuda, couple of huge napoleon wrasse, several turtles, blue spotted sting rays, massive eagle ray and so on and on and on!

With a go pro I could record some of these many amazing moments underwater.

I fully recommend this experience. The ones who enjoy diving and sea life will not regret trying Komodo. The only problem I believe is that dicing will never be the same after that ;D

Ah, also would like to recommend to the ones going to Labuan Bajo (base town in Flores for dives in Komodo) the dive school called Komodo Dive Center (divingkomodo.net). Moritz is a german guy and runs the dive center. They have amazing dive masters (mostly locals and few westerners), very good boat, brand-new equipment and are very professional; serious on business and relaxed and fun in the water! Go with them!!!

Cheers!

Travel guides for free

Hi there! 

Coming to say hi from Flores, Indonesia, after being away from the blog for so long.

The other day I have spent quite  a while looking for some travel guides available for download (for free of course!) and found a nice compilation of them which I think it's nice to share here.

Southeast Asia:
http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8234227/Southeast_Asia_Travel_Guides_Collection

India:
http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/8673019/Lonely_Planet_-_India

Even though they will not be the latest version, they are still very helpful!

That's it for now.
Peace! :)

Annapurna Circuit - Nepal, Mar-Apr 2013

Coming to Nepal doesn’t only mean going to the Himalaya, nevertheless trek in Nepal is a must! 

With friends I did the Annapurna Circuit and it definitely is one of the highlights of my trip so far. It took us 13 days from Besishahar (830m) to Pokhara.

Starting point - Besishahar, at 830m

On the fifth day we reached Manang (3500m), where we spent two nights to acclimatize, then on the 9^th day we crossed the pass, Thorong-La, at 5416m, and started to descend. It’s amazing to see how much the landscape, culture, people changes along the way. As the temperature constantly drops during the ascent, the volume of the river also gradually reduces and parts of it are frozen as well as many waterfalls.

After leaving Manang, at 3500m

As that area has a very strong Tibetan influence, people are mostly Buddhists; but depending on the altitude villages develop different activities. And the ones on very high altitudes have not many options of agriculture since, apart from few species, nothing else grows up there. Then the porters and donkeys play an even more important role as they have to bring all the supplies to those villages.

One of the many bridges on the way and the tibetan flags 

The path is well signalized and it's not difficult; there are many checkpoints along the way to keep track of people and keep it safe. Thus no need of guide at all, unless you want to hire a porter to bring your backpack – this is cool since it is a important activity for the local economy. But bear in mind that porters are not machines, what means one of them should be enough to carry stuff for one person, not for the whole group in order to save money.

The water and the food are not a problem; we took water purifier drops and used tap water, no problems! For food, pretty much every guest house has its own restaurant and serve the classic Dal Baht and some other dishes, including few western option. They sort of overprice food a little bit and usually offer accommodation for free if you eat there, depends on the deal you agree with them – what doesn’t happen for all trekking routes in Nepal apparently. The rooms are very basic and it means very cold at night, so thermo clothes and a good sleeping bag can make your nights a bit more comfortable.

Village at around 2000m and its few guest houses

After the 3500m, the trekking demands more and more since the air has less oxygen at that altitude; the three days before crossing the highest point (Thorong-La Pass) the body feels a lot the difference on the air and the altitude itself, what slows the pace. But taking it easy is not a problem since you can enjoy it to take some nice shots.

The landscape keeps changing and the agriculture is the main activity

Near Manang

Many other trekkers doing this it daily

At Thorong-La Pass - Ina, myself and Thiago

Choco-Banana Cake from Rishikesh

Dinah, Dinah!

I heard your request made just after you left India and I apologise for not posting this before! hahaha
I wrote that on my notebook and completely forgot to post it later on.

But better late than never,right?! So here comes the recipe for the chico banana cake!!!

Filling:
1. 18 bananas cut in small pieces
2. Bread crumbs (1/2 kg)
3. vanilla (6mm)
4. Butter (150 g)
5. Chocolate powder (100 g)
6. Cinnamon powder (5 g)
7. Sugar (150 g)

Border and top:
1. White flour (200g)
2. Butter (100g)
3. Sugar (75g)
4. Egg (2)

Toping:
Chocolate and Honey

Bake for 35-40 min at 150C.

Boom! There you have your late chocobanana cake :D

You probably remember how this cake looks like, but it should be something like that:

Kathmandu - Biplov Shop (Krishna's Shop)

As soon as you meet Krishna you will understand the reason why I dedicate this post to him and his shop. Such a charismatic, sympathetic and positive person, his "Namaste" and friendly approach will make you stop by sometime, maybe drink a cup of tea with him and get some supplies.

His shop will probably have what you are looking for and for a honest price, "always same price" as he  would say.
It's also possible to be part of the Krishna project, some work which is being done in his village. I haven't been there but apparently one school has been built and now they will start a guest house. Everyone is invited go visit the village and join them donating money or offering any kind of help.

It's not easy to give the exact directions to his shop since I have no clue about the name of those streets; but I believe it's gonna be easy to recognise it through the picture below. It's in the Thamel area of course, on the same street where the "Hotel Visit Nepal" is.
Tel: 016913019
Ask for Krishna Biplov.

Bye Burma

After almost one month of Burma I can say that the experience in the country was positive. there were few things which disappointed me, which I actually was aware of before arriving, so let's not talk about it!
What's important is that my first contact with the country was amazing, I think I've never experienced so many smiles per minute before in my life! Also, my last experience in Burma couldn't be any better...
Saturday, Mar 17th, I was having a tea with another brazilian I met in Burma, Thiago, and one Buddhist monks joined us for some tea and chatting. At the end I asked him whether I could go and visit his monastery in Yangon on Sunday, he was very welcoming and arranged it for the day after at 10am.

Around that time I was there, asking for him here and there and people said I as at the wrong monastery, until this lady came to me and told me to wait; suddenly comes Mr Kuvera. He invited me to go upstairs, where he's living provisionally until he goes back to his permanent monastery in another state.
We chatted for around one hour, mainly about religion, their routine, etc. After that we went for lunch, walked to a tea house for a classic burmese tea, then we moved towards shwedagon pagoda, where we made some pictures; finally we headed to the area where I was staying. arriving there I went to print out some photos I wanted to give to him and he went to get a book he wanted to buy for me. Later we met again, exchanged presents and said bye!

Those are the experiences which make my travels worthier! Getting to know locals, walk around with them, learn about their culture, religion, their point of view about the world, my country and their own country.

The area where he lives permanently is close for foreigners at the moment, but hopefully it will be open soon. So he told me to give his contact to whoever goes to visit Burma, it's his hobby meeting and helping people, especially if one is interested in buddhism I would say. So here it goes:

Mr. Kuvera
Sittasukha Monastery
Pridawtha Quarter
Akyab (Sittwe)
Arakan (Rakhine) State
Burma

That's it for now!