Puglia

I have just returned from a 2 week holiday (within a holiday) in the sunny south of Italy.
Puglia is quite environmentally different from Bologna up north, and the people are quite different as well. After a crushing 8 hour drive and a 45 euro highway toll, we were finally granted a view of this Italian paradise that most of civilisation has seemed to have left alone.

Standing atop a stone Trullo

The first thing you notice about Puglia is the smell. The air smells sweet, clean and fresh, and the soil is rich and red. The vegetation is also more Mediterranean with grapes, tomatoes, melons and figs being grown everywhere.

The town of Cisternin

The houses are built out of stone with little cones on top, and they are called 'Trulli'. The thick stone walls keep the house naturally cool even in the heat of the Pugliese sun and in the valley we were staying in there is was a constant refreshing breeze.

The food of Puglia is fresh and delicious and includes such things as 'Bombetta' (little crumbed meat packages), mozarella and tomato pasta, and a little folded over pizza thing called Panzerotto. The towns are all really small, old and beautiful with twisting mazes of alleyways, tiny mysterious doors and dead-ends.

As far as the people are concerned, they can be considered the bogans/rednecks of Italy. They are fiercely passionate about their food, really loud, often fat and they close up shop to have a 5 hour siesta from midday, which I like the idea of but its also really inconvenient when you want to buy something.

The town of Ostuni by night

We divided our time mostly between going out for delicious yet incredibly cheap meals, exploring the local towns, going to the beach, trying the local wines and chilling under the starry night sky. Most of the people we met were other holidaymakers from across Italy who are usually relatively well-off and own a small holiday house in Puglia and come down every year to get away from the city. We even went to a party in a massive villa made up of wealthy successful working Italians who were also taking an opportunity to get wasted on the free alcohol and enjoy the food. We also took some time to explore the many tiny abandoned Trulli from many years ago that were most likely built by nomadic people and then later simply left alone to stand the test of time.

Italian meat feasts are a big 'fuck you' to vegetarians

So now what are my plans for the future? In the short term, I will be taking a flight on the 17th of July from Bologna to Amsterdam to attend a festival called Electronic Family with some friends, which features my favourite music in the world- Trance Music. I will also get a good chance to see some of Holland which I have heard is quite a pleasant, fun and forward-thinking country.

And then comes the long-term strategy- initially I had planned to stay in Europe and find myself a travel job, save up some money and continue my travels. However getting a job and sustaining myself here
would take a lot of time and commitment especially considering the currently economic situation. I have realised that is probably time now for me to look more seriously at a future career and tertiary education if I want to facilitate any more future travel endeavours, as opposed to scraping by on odd jobs here and there. This will also bring more financial stability, a sense of purpose and direction in my life, and something to work towards! Not to mention meeting like-minded and interesting people, and increasing my future job prospects. I have learnt, especially with my time spent in Italy, that education is an important privilege entitled to only a lucky minority, and if given the opportunity it should be taken. And even that considered, I am lucky enough to come from a country not suffering overly as a result of the economic crisis. So taking that into consideration, it might finally be time for me to take a little break from travelling for a while, and pursue some new opportunities! And thats as far as I have gotten so far :)

Small moments in life

Monzuno, Sardinia, Bologna, Riccone, and beyond

Well, I have been in Italy for about 3 months, and I have had a good taste of Bologna in this time.

Some Turkish people we met out one night

So what are some of the best things about Bologna? Well, first of all are the people. Bologna is home to the world's first university, which means most of the town is basically made up of uni students. Italian people seem to be pretty passionate about things (especially food and politics), and half the time its impossible to tell whether they are having a friendly debate or an angry argument. I would say on the whole Italian's are more educated and cultured than Australians, but can also be less laid back (a tradeoff I am not in favour of either). Italians are quite openly affectionate in their culture, but can also be somewhat outwardly reserved before you get to know them. People take their studying very seriously here, perhaps because the financial crisis has forced the standard of education higher and people are now competing with others who have a masters or even doctorate at the entry-level job market. As you can imagine most students here are living with their parents or friends, and struggling to survive financially amidst the times of economic turmoil, further aggregated by the corrupt politicians such as former president Bellisconi- who they are now trying to put in Jail.

Tortilinni Alla Panna- probably one of my all time favourite dishes

Defiantly worthy of a mention is the food here. Some of my favourites include Tortelinni con Fungi alla Panna (tortilinni with mushrooms and cream), Pizza (especially tomato with fresh rocket and cheese), Piadina with mozarella tomato and salami, not to mention all the amazing cheeses and fresh meats and

The city also looks pretty awesome with lots of older than-jesus buildings and things with so much history you wouldn't believe. The weather is also pretty good, but apparently it gets way too hot in the summer. Luckily I got here just as winter was finishing.
the AMAZING gelato. All the ingredients are fresh and fresh ingredients are so much in supply here that they are often cheaper then canned food!

Homemade Tortilinni

Meditating at Nicola's house in Monzuno

So what have I been up to with my time here?

First I went with Nicola to a small scenic town called Monzuno where his parents own a little house.








There we spent our time walking around in the nature, meditating, sitting around the cozy little fire and making some awesome home-cooked meals. We also buried his cat who conveniently died when I arrived which is always good fun.

Travelling to Sardinia

Aside from Bologna, I also spent a week in Sardinia on my own. Sardinia is a small island off the south west coast of the boot (Italy). I bought a 30 euro tent from a sports shop, packed my things and got on the ferry. Sardinia is quite a beautiful island and I arrived at a place called Olbia and made my way more than 120 km south to a coast called Cala Luna. Every day had a similar routine- start my day off with a breakfast of some fruit from the supermarket and start walking. Usually I would explore a town along the way and spend the day there, and then I would get on a bus on the way to the next place. My challenge was to find a supermarket in the daytime so that I could eat, but luckily for me there was one in pretty much every town along the way. Then I would set up my tent on a beach somewhere, and sleep for the night. The challenge there was to not get seen by anyone seeing as it wasn't strictly legal (which I guess is understandable because if EVERYONE did it then there would be tents everywhere).  My trip in Sardinia ended up with a 3 hour bush trek with my 20kg pack which wasn't exactly easy.

Nature in Sardinia

Camping in Sardinia

The town of Posada, Sardinia

A farmer let his baby goats out to walk around

We also went to visit a touristy place called Riccone where we ate Piadini (an amazing sandwhich style thing) and ate some amazing icecream (I had Nutella and white chocolate flavour) and admired the hordes of hot Italian women who were out for the night.



When I haven't been travelling around I have been longboarding (skating) which is an absolutely amazing fun discovery, not to mention a fast and environmental way of getting around, going to the gym (i'm almost 67 kg now instead of 64 when I arrived), gorging myself on awesome food, and getting to know people in Bologna.



My time in Italy has been great, and I feel that I have grown a bit mentally and learnt some things about myself, especially with my time in Sardinia and Monzuno. Now my plans for the future are as follows- my friend Alex from Australia is coming to visit on the 22nd of June and then we are going to go together to meet another friend Paris in Amsterdam and go to a festival called Electronic Family. We then plan to perhaps travel around Europe a little bit, although to be honest my money is running really low so I will have to organise making some money soon. I think I would like to try working on a cruise ship as a Deckhand or Seaman (lol) and seeing as it is almost summer in Europe it would be the perfect opportunity! That is only really a vague plan though, but either way things happen I will have to get some kind of income in the near future. Luckily for me I have an English passport so I am legally allowed to work here!







So thats pretty much all the news up until now, I am not sure what the future holds but hopefully if I don't leave absolutely EVERYTHING up to chance then I can get myself some kind of an income in the future and perhaps even get back to Australia one day!

:)

I really love ice cream. 

Thailand to England to Italy

The sun setting over Chiang Mai

After saying goodbye to Bangkok and remembering the good times I had in my 5 months in Thailand, it was time for me to start my long horrible journey to England. First, I got a lift down to the bus station in Chiang Mai and got on my bus for an overnight trip to Bangkok. After a crappy sleep I spent the day with my friend Opal and a eccentric Dutch traveller from Brazil that I met on the bus in and looked at a few things like the awesome Temple of Dawn and a museum with baby fetuses'. Then I slept for a few hours and got on the 6pm plane headed to Mumbai, India. I spend 8 hours in Mumbai airport and after sleeping in a massage chair for a while and feeling really floppy when I awoke, I then got on my connecting flight to London. After arriving in London I then got a subway train to Dorset (which cost 53 pounds!) and finally arrived at my destination, where I would be staying with some family for a while.

Encombe house where I was staying in England

It was actually nice to be back in England again, all of the places brought back childhood memories of growing up. When I looked around London I remembered why I was glad I didn't still live there though, the sky was constantly grey and the people were pale, moody and miserable. The girls were all carting around babies for housing benefits and half of the people look like they wouldn't mind killing themselves or someone else. Heading out of London towards the countryside, England slowly became more bearable. There is a certain magical quality about the smell of the crisp English country air, and something very non-magical about the arctic gales that make walking around a constant battle for survival. In England I was staying with some family who looked after an amazing huge English manor called Encombe House. The house and the valley were owned by some English millionaires, who also went hunting and shooting and drunk tea and wore stupid hats. I was glad to reunite with family that I had not seen in a long while, and was able to go and look at some nice nature around the area. I also went clay pidgeon shooting, which was REALLY fun and I was also good at it, hitting 8/10 moving traps two at a time. I also got a tattoo in memory of someone special, and after spending an eventful week in Dorset it was time to head over to Italy.

Clay Pidgeon shooting 

The city of Bologna

I have been in Italy for 5 days now, and its just as good as expected. There are beautiful old red-brick houses, medieval churches, 1000 year old towers, tiny alleyways and well dressed people. The food is actually AMAZING too! If you think about a meal, it always relies on the quality of the ingredients, and the ingredients here are all varied, fresh, cheap and delicious. Pizza, pasta, cheese, herbs, tomato, salami, proscioutto, pastries, vegetables, bread, gelato, aperetivo and so much more are everywhere and pretty much every meal is an oral festivity.

Nicola has been showing me around Bologna, and he knows pretty much everyone in the city. A third of the city is taken up by a university, and as a result there are many young people everywhere, not to mention scores of beautiful charismatic and intelligent Italian girls. Everything here has a certain charm, maybe because of the novelty of being in a small Italian town and the locals are always interested to meet their first Australian person.

A typical laneway in Bologna

Everywhere I go in the world I see how different societies function and subsequent mindlessness manifesting in many different forms, and I think it is important to take note of them. It is usually expressed through flaws that have become collectively imprinted on people through their culture's standards. In Italy it takes the form of other people's expectations regarding social status, fashion, attitude, maturity, academic performance and other similar criteria. It is easy from the outset to see how these have become more than just a standard to live by, but a negative trait as well, and once absorbed in the culture it can be harder to see it from a point of detachment. Regardless of the culture however, there are nice people to be found everywhere and Italy is no exception.
It is sometimes a great relief to realise all of the things you do not know. You come to realise that the false beliefs you have built up in your lifetime are the only obstacle that stands between you and happiness.

Typical Italian sandwhich with Ricotta cheese

I have been maturing as a person and considering future possibilities as well as enjoying my time travelling. I have even made a schedule and to do list for things I want to do and achieve like starting to study and speak Italian every day, learning a brief overview of the history of the world, exercising, reading more books, and finding a career path, amongst other things.
For now I am just living with Nicola, chilling out, meeting the people who live here and exploring the city. I am planning on volunteering somewhere in Italy soon, perhaps down south or sardinia or sicily at some point, as well as spending summer somewhere nice and warm.


Lastly, an important thing that I have experienced recently is a breakthrough in understanding the truth of life, which comes in the form of awareness. From reading numerous spiritual texts, new-age psychology and other things of that nature, I have come to realise that the underlying message from any true spiritual teacher points to awareness. If you keep your mind in a state of constant and complete awareness of the present moment, there will be no room for the 'ego' or 'false self' to slip in unnoticed. This is the most profound realization that I have recently had that has been able to lead me closer to living in a state of peace. It gives me immense hope for the future, and has opened up a world of positive opportunities for me.

Until next time

Ciao for now :)

Goodbye Thailand

The time has come for me to say goodbye to Thailand. I have been here for 5 months now, and even the woman at the Burmese border has said I can't do any more visa runs. Considering my money is slowly declining (although I have managed to spend not very much in light to how long I have stayed here) I have figured that it would be best to make it to Europe for a few reasons, mainly because I have a UK passport, meaning that I can work and live anywhere in the EU with minimal effort. This will allow maximum sustainability of travel, as well as western countries offering many bonuses, such as:

-Not smelling like poo everywhere

-English speaking people who are not entirely stupid (less of a language barrier)

-Basic rules and standards that keep a country running effectively
-Not almost dying whenever I go near a road
-Basic hygiene (toilets are not holes in the ground)
-Personable and interesting people

-History and culture
-The opportunity to explore future career options
-ETC

So now its time for a quick summary of what I have done in my time here in Thailand. 

-Arrived in Bangkok and was confused

-Did some exploring
-Took the train to Chiang Mai
-Went on a trek in Chiang Mai, Elephant Riding, Bamboo Rafting and partying around the city
-Looked around for a teaching job
-Bought a motorbike (CBR 150R)
-Volunteered working at School for Life at a rural school in Chiang Mai

-Went to Loi Kratong, festival of Lights

-Crashed a big rented motorbike (and didn't end up paying for it)

-Worked with Dragonfly English Camps travelling to different places around Thailand (6 in total)
-Meditated for 3 weeks at a temple in Chiang Mai

-Partied down south with my friends at Koh Pangan, Samui and Tao, including the full moon party

-Explored Pai for a while and worked helping build a temple in exchange for free accommodation at a yoga studio

Not bad for 5 months :) 

I have had a really great time here in Thailand, and over this time my attitude and perspective on life has defiantly changed for the better. 

For example if I am happy now, its because when I wasn't happy, I worked to identify the cause of the unhappiness and resolved it. I like to think of it as 'taking yourself out of the equation' which is all too hard these days, but constant vigilance yields results. I'm recording my thoughts about this more as a personal record for myself to look back on later.

I just watched a movie called 'The Rum Diary' which is based on the life of a journalist called Paul Kemp who takes on a freelance journalism job with a struggling newspaper company in Costa Rica (Central America). He is basically outlining all the flaws in the great 'American Dream' of the 60's and he ends up trying to expose a group of expats on the island who are using money and corruption to establish a group of hotels in the pristine island paradise. It really inspired me (even though he failed in the end), showing how the truth can be expressed through writing. It kind of makes me think about perhaps becoming a journalist one day, or something to that extent. I have always wanted to change the world for the better (but don't we all?) and I have always been good at writing so maybe its something I could consider- photojournalism, videography, writing, blogging, all thee things that can make a difference in the world and public opinion. There are many ways to change the world though, film, music, art, compassion, speaking, fighting, loving, the list goes on. It's about exposing the truth that people have forgotten or had hidden from them. Perhaps I just need to find the way I can contribute my own small part.

So, back to the point- its time for me to leave Thailand!

Next stop Europe... Until next time!

Meditation Retreat, Full Moon Party, Pai

It's been about 6 weeks since I last updated my blog, and I can't believe how quickly the time has passed!

So what have I been up to- well firstly there was the meditation course which I attended which I will try my best to describe. So basically I decided to live and meditate at a temple in Chiang Mai. Why, you may ask? Well, it's pretty simple- meditation clears my mind and helps keep me happy, and who wouldn't want that? Sure I could just meditate anywhere, but being stuck in a temple which you are not allowed to leave, surrounded by other people and monks who are also doing the same thing really helps keep you motivated (and self motivation has never really been my strongest suit).

The Man Himself, Big B

The following is a description of my time living and meditating there. It may not be that interesting to you, so I put it in italics so you can skip through it if you find it a little boring.

All of the time that we were there we were expected to meditate, so if we were not eating, or sleeping, that's what I was doing. We were not allowed to talk to anyone, make eye contact, or 

The daily routine went like this:


4.00 am- Wakeup

The library where I spent most of my meditation

A loud bell is rung for about 5 minutes at this time, along with a noisy choir of howling dogs (all the temples are full of stray dogs in Thailand probably because they get fed and everyone is nice to them). At first I had a sincere motivation to get up at this time, but after a few freezing dark mornings I decided to submit to the fact that I would never be an early riser and would usually get up at about 5.30 or 6, which I think is actually a pretty good achievement for me considering my past record.

6.30 am- Breakfast

I really wasn't used to eating breakfast this early but it was good to have something warm in the freezing morning (the temple is actually near the mountains so its a little cold). It was a simple meal of rice soup with some kind of mushrooms or vegetables.

10.30 am- 'Lunch'

Monks meditating on Buddha Day

Unfortunately this 'lunch' was the last meal of the day and you could only then drink liquid or eat yogurt. You were allowed to have seconds though so I would load up on brown rice to get me through the day. We were expected to eat really slowly, which sucked for me because I am the fastest eater in the world but I got used to it. Also I would buy loads of baked goods from the temple shop and just try to survive till the next morning.

4.00 pm- Reporting

We would then go to speak to the head abbot monk individually about our days meditation. He was everything you would expect from a spiritual guy- wise, quiet and  with an edge of humor and empathy. I asked many questions that confirmed my understanding that Buddhism and Meditation is both a path to happiness, but at the same time not necessarily the 'only path'. 

Ajarn Supan, the Head Abbot Monk

For example Buddhists live in temples to remove themselves from worldly indulgences so that they do not become attached to any 'sense pleasures' but I asked "can people not enjoy sense pleasures in a mindful way?" to which he answered that "anything arising from craving will not satisfy you completely" which is true, but I think that if you are already sustained by the inner well of peace that comes from living in the moment (not to sound cliche but its true) then what does it matter what we do? Can everything not be a form of yoga or meditation? I think only we can answer that ourselves. Buddhism is good in the way that it is not dogmatic. Even Buddha himself (if he did exist) said "do not agree with anything, even something that I say myself, if it does not agree with your inner logic and reason". 

The Meditation Tree

I also asked about people affected by war and violence, and he pointed out that this was a result of not being mindful (which I agree with) but also I think that no matter how much you sit around on your ass meditating in a temple, you are not going to save the people right NOW that are being affected by these things. Sure you can not fight fire with fire, but I believe there can also be some sort of moderation and happy medium, perhaps somewhere along the lines of what the UN aims to do in relation to conflict resolution. I brought this up to the Abbot Monk and he simply said "Acknowledge your wandering mind" which seemed like a little bit of a cop-out to me.

6.00 pm- 'Snack'

The accommodation where I stayed

We then got a tasty and really filling 'snack' which was just a big vat of soy milk that got put out. I stopped drinking soy after a while when I discovered it raises your estrogen levels about 8 times more than normal in a guy :/

10.00 pm- Bedtime

And then you repeat!

A lot of people have asked me 'what did you learn, how did you like it, did it change your perspective?'. Well i'm exactly the same person, just a little happier and with (hopefully) a little less attachment to things that cause unhappiness in life. That's all really- no enlightenment, no going to India to live in a cave for the rest of my life, and no pledging allegiance to the life of a homeless ascetic wanderer.

In a nutshell, meditation helps keep you happy- disregarding all the religious bullshit as there seems to be in most religions, which seems to divide people more than anything else however Buddhism has quite a lot less than most others.

So that was an interesting 3 weeks, and then it was ironically time to head down south to meet my friends from Australia at the full moon party in Koh Pangan! I headed down to the islands  to meet up with them, and it was a MASSIVE trek to get there. First I got a lift from my uncle down to the bus stop from his house, then I stayed for a night at a hostel next to the bus stop. Then I got a bus down to Bangkok, a taxi from the north Bangkok bus stop to the south one, a bus down to Surat Thani, a taxi to a hostel where I stayed for a night, a taxi to Donsat harbour, a ferry to Koh Pangan and finally a taxi to the hostel where they were staying. But at least I got to see some scenery along the way I guess!

A sick club at Koh Samui

The full moon party was interesting and it was pretty much what I expected, loads of drunk tourists everywhere but it was really good to see all my friends from Australia and get wasted and party which is not so bad every once in a while. We also traveled to Koh Samui and Koh Tao where I was able to do some snorkeling. Overall it was good fun but also expensive, tacky and touristy and i'm glad we spent only about 2 weeks there. The best thing was just being able to see my friends again! So i'm pretty lucky in that regard.

The town of Pai

Now I am in an amazing place called Pai, which is north of Chiang Mai. Its basically a little town reminiscent of Byron Bay, Nimbin, Glastonbury, Grenwhich Village, Berlin, San Francisco and all the other hippie collectives. Its still quite a small town, with a collection of meditation places, dreadlocks, yoga centers, little scenic rivers, weird spiritual people, stoners, washed up wanderers, lost souls and most commonly- nice and interesting people. There is a lot of nature to see here too, which sure beats living amongst the traffic and busyness of a city!

On the road to Pai

At the moment I am working to help a 67 year old yoga teacher (who looks 40 and acts 30) to build a hindu ashram in exchange for free accommodation, food and yoga lessons at her school. Also, the majority of Yoga practitioners are girls, she has 2 dogs and a cat, and there is even a nice view!

Basically my days here in Pai consist of 2 hours of Yoga in the morning (10am-12) followed by some food which is usually black rice and vegetables which is what they eat at the yoga school when they are not fasting.

The Hindu Ashram under construction

Then the Thai builders take an hour break for lunch and then I join them at 1pm and usually work for about 2 hours or so. Today I helped with the bamboo-roof rafters and and cut some lengths of wire that hold them together. All I can say is I hope that these buildings don't have to withstand anything stronger than a minor gust! The Thai builders are really friendly and seem happy enough to have someone helping out, even if I am a foreigner. They don't speak any English but they can just point at things and I can get the general idea. It is actually really satisfying putting in some hard work in the hot Thailand sun, building something which is centered around a beneficial concept like yoga, and doing it for free in exchange for some accommodation! Money is not involved at all, and actually most of the materials it is going to be built out of are just (relatively) sustainable bamboo and wood! 

Viewpoint at Pai [Click to Enlarge]

Then I basically have the rest of the day free, so I can just look around Pai, get some reading done (which I have discovered I don't do enough) and some meditation too. I have discovered that yoga and meditation go hand in hand. Previously I was somewhat neglecting my body by not really paying attention to it, so I have discovered that yoga is sort of the other half of that spectrum. I think just as a practice, half an hour of yoga, and 40 min of meditation each morning is very doable, and really not that much time to fit into your schedule if you really think about it.

I have also been looking around some of the more scenic areas of Pai and have been taking some photos too. It's not hard to take a good photo when everything up here is so beautiful. There is an amazing viewpoint that looks over the town (above), and some amazing natural canyons (below). I really enjoy taking photos but sometimes I wonder whether I should be trying to capture the moment at all. Then again if other people enjoy the photos then that is reason enough!

Pai Canyons

Well lastly, I will need to plan out what to do in the future of my journey.

My two main ideas were either:
-Go to India, volunteer somewhere
-Go to Europe, travel, backpack and work


Well that's pretty much all the news for now! If I was to summarize my mindset right now I would say that I can defiantly see a marked improvement (albeit a slow one) in my happiness since I left over 4 months ago, so what else can I ask for really?

:)