Dear all
As you all know, I'm currently back in Europe. I do write Europe because after landing in London, staying 2 days in Derby, Keith and I drove back to Belgium to spend 3 days at home. Yes, only 3 days because I wasn't ready just yet... I wanted to do a tiny bit more traveling, just so I could spend some quality time with Keith, before throwing myself at finding a job and an apartment. So that's exactly what's happening now. I'm sat at MaisonBleau, typing away... To leave again tomorrow to drive to Switzerland and do 10 days of Climbing. Woo Hoo!!
Anyway, this is the last blogpost about my first ever India Adventure. And I never ever expected it to be this good. I'm still riding the wave of excitement... Really! I wasn't even that happy to leave. I clearly remember sitting in the taxi on the way to the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, thinking that I was not ready to go home. But this is mainly because of the people that joined me on the last month, especially the ones that joined me on the last 4 days. Really, thank you Ruben and LuisFernando! You've made my last days into an unbelievable, never to forget - experience. Because what you experience on the last days of any trip, will stick to you the most. That time leaves the biggest impression, has the biggest impact on the memories from the whole journey. I want to share this with the world: guys, I can't imagine what it would have been without you... I'm sure it wouldn't have been the same.
So people... It's too late to write a lot more because I'm tired and I want to go to bed early to be ready to drive to Switzerland tomorrow. But there's a last picasa album to accompany my last blogpost. There you can see what I've been up to. Always easier to comment a picture instead of writing everything down in prose.
I hope there is many more to come!! But first things first...
Let's earn some more money so I can start planning my next adventure!!
http://picasaweb.google.com/sarademeyer/IndiaOctoberGokarnaMumbai#
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Hampi - Karnataka - India (2)
Hallo iedereen
Heb niet zo heel veel tijd want den afscheidslunch staat voor de deur. "De klimmers" komen nog een laatste keer samen om de meisjes uit te zwaaien. Jawel, na ongeveer 12 dagen in Hampi te zijn geweest is het tijd om door te gaan. Ik vertrek deze avond met Jaione (Baskenland) naar Gokarna.
En 't is zeker met gemengde gevoelens dat ik hier vertrek. Ik had nooit verwacht dat ik zoveel enthousiaste, vriendelijke mensen zou tegen komen. Dus langs de ene kant zou ik graag nog een beetje blijven rondhangen. Ik zit helemaal in het ritme. We staan elke dag op om 5.30 --> tegen 6u hangen we aan de rots (tegen 10pm zijn we volledig kapot, dus early nights). 't Is de max. Ik ben het niet helemaal zeker maar heb, denk ik, twee 6A's geklommen. Voor de meesten onder jullie is dit chinees maar... Voor de klimmers aanwezig, jullie weten hoe moeilijk het is. Dus ik ben tevree.
Langs de andere kant, ben te nieuwsgierig naar wat India nog te bieden heeft dus... Gokarna komt eraan alvorens naar het Noorden, (Mumbai) weder te keren.
Maar ik had jullie natuurlijk foto's beloofd... vandaar dat ik nog een laatste keer op de PC kruip om mijn blog te updaten. Ik vermoed dat het er niet meer van zal komen nu ik nog in India verblijf. Ja ja, 't Einde is in zicht... ook hier gemengde gevoelens. Aan de ene kant content en enthousiast om er volledig in te vliegen, langs de andere kant... 't is hier zo super dat ik graag nog een wat zou blijven. In ieder geval, ben ongelooflijk tevreden en dankbaar met wat ik heb. Tot gauw...
http://picasaweb.google.com/sarademeyer/IndiaSeptemberOctoberGoaHampi#
Heb niet zo heel veel tijd want den afscheidslunch staat voor de deur. "De klimmers" komen nog een laatste keer samen om de meisjes uit te zwaaien. Jawel, na ongeveer 12 dagen in Hampi te zijn geweest is het tijd om door te gaan. Ik vertrek deze avond met Jaione (Baskenland) naar Gokarna.
En 't is zeker met gemengde gevoelens dat ik hier vertrek. Ik had nooit verwacht dat ik zoveel enthousiaste, vriendelijke mensen zou tegen komen. Dus langs de ene kant zou ik graag nog een beetje blijven rondhangen. Ik zit helemaal in het ritme. We staan elke dag op om 5.30 --> tegen 6u hangen we aan de rots (tegen 10pm zijn we volledig kapot, dus early nights). 't Is de max. Ik ben het niet helemaal zeker maar heb, denk ik, twee 6A's geklommen. Voor de meesten onder jullie is dit chinees maar... Voor de klimmers aanwezig, jullie weten hoe moeilijk het is. Dus ik ben tevree.
Langs de andere kant, ben te nieuwsgierig naar wat India nog te bieden heeft dus... Gokarna komt eraan alvorens naar het Noorden, (Mumbai) weder te keren.
Maar ik had jullie natuurlijk foto's beloofd... vandaar dat ik nog een laatste keer op de PC kruip om mijn blog te updaten. Ik vermoed dat het er niet meer van zal komen nu ik nog in India verblijf. Ja ja, 't Einde is in zicht... ook hier gemengde gevoelens. Aan de ene kant content en enthousiast om er volledig in te vliegen, langs de andere kant... 't is hier zo super dat ik graag nog een wat zou blijven. In ieder geval, ben ongelooflijk tevreden en dankbaar met wat ik heb. Tot gauw...
http://picasaweb.google.com/sarademeyer/IndiaSeptemberOctoberGoaHampi#
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Hampi - Karnataka - India
Dear all
It's my 5th day in Hampi. And I've met some people on the bus from Palolem to this magical boulderland. So I've shared a room with an Italian girl for the first 3 nights. Apart from Laura, the Italiana, I've also been hanging out with 2 Austrian girls, 2 German dudes and a Brit. It was good, had a good laugh but... after having spend a lot of time together, I really had the desire for some quiet, calm individual 'Sara-time'. Plus, I had to go to the other side of the river to be closer to the climbable rocks area's (although there are boulders all around - I have never seen this much rock in my whole life). That 'move' happened yesterday. And it is a lot more quiet here, plus also a lot cheaper for my guesthouse. I'm paying 100Rs and I have my own private hut (with bathroom). It's cool...
The down-side of the medal is that the average temperature is around 30C. It is SO HOT! Which isn't bad, I'm pretty used to it already. It just means that I have to alter my daily rhythm slightly. That's necessary if I want to do some climbing. In stead of getting up at 8-9am, and then having a normal day, I'd have to get up really early before the radiant sun makes it too hot.
And because I figured that any non-Israeli person on this side of the river would be a climber, I started approaching people. The first two attempts were successful, so my theory was confirmed. On top, I managed to find a copy of a local topo. And once the guys I met knew, they've spread the word. So I ended up being 'the Belgian girl with the topo' - I must say... The keen (not so efficient) boulderers who didn't manage to find a topo, were very keen to talk to me. Ha ha...
So I had my first session this morning. I got up before sunrise to meet up with Rick. He was willing to show me around. It was great but... a rather painful experience as well. Keith's words are circling around in my head: "Sara, be aware that the rock will be very sharp". As always, he was right. Because climbing on granite rock is as if you're holding on to small pieces of broken glass. The rock consists of very coarse, large & sharp crystals (thank you Keith for helping me to define this type of rock). I'm not keen for overhanging stuff anyway (purely because I don't have the strength to hold on), but for sure, at Hampi I'm not pulling on unless I have footholds to support me. Although that's were granite is easier than sandstone, because you do have a lot more grip with your feet in general.
Ok folks, enough for the day. I'm having dinner with some friends... I'm staying here for an other week (I think). But will try to upload a new picture album before I leave.
It's my 5th day in Hampi. And I've met some people on the bus from Palolem to this magical boulderland. So I've shared a room with an Italian girl for the first 3 nights. Apart from Laura, the Italiana, I've also been hanging out with 2 Austrian girls, 2 German dudes and a Brit. It was good, had a good laugh but... after having spend a lot of time together, I really had the desire for some quiet, calm individual 'Sara-time'. Plus, I had to go to the other side of the river to be closer to the climbable rocks area's (although there are boulders all around - I have never seen this much rock in my whole life). That 'move' happened yesterday. And it is a lot more quiet here, plus also a lot cheaper for my guesthouse. I'm paying 100Rs and I have my own private hut (with bathroom). It's cool...
The down-side of the medal is that the average temperature is around 30C. It is SO HOT! Which isn't bad, I'm pretty used to it already. It just means that I have to alter my daily rhythm slightly. That's necessary if I want to do some climbing. In stead of getting up at 8-9am, and then having a normal day, I'd have to get up really early before the radiant sun makes it too hot.
And because I figured that any non-Israeli person on this side of the river would be a climber, I started approaching people. The first two attempts were successful, so my theory was confirmed. On top, I managed to find a copy of a local topo. And once the guys I met knew, they've spread the word. So I ended up being 'the Belgian girl with the topo' - I must say... The keen (not so efficient) boulderers who didn't manage to find a topo, were very keen to talk to me. Ha ha...
So I had my first session this morning. I got up before sunrise to meet up with Rick. He was willing to show me around. It was great but... a rather painful experience as well. Keith's words are circling around in my head: "Sara, be aware that the rock will be very sharp". As always, he was right. Because climbing on granite rock is as if you're holding on to small pieces of broken glass. The rock consists of very coarse, large & sharp crystals (thank you Keith for helping me to define this type of rock). I'm not keen for overhanging stuff anyway (purely because I don't have the strength to hold on), but for sure, at Hampi I'm not pulling on unless I have footholds to support me. Although that's were granite is easier than sandstone, because you do have a lot more grip with your feet in general.
Ok folks, enough for the day. I'm having dinner with some friends... I'm staying here for an other week (I think). But will try to upload a new picture album before I leave.
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