Guatemala🇳🇮

Lõpuks ometi olen ma Kesk-Ameerikas. Sihtkohas, mis minu peas keerles juba viimased 5 aastat ajast kui ma oma Lõuna-Ameerika reisilt tagasi jõudsin.p

Esimeseks sihtkohaks valisin ma Guatemala. See oli koht, mille kohta ma olin kõige rohkem tuttavatelt reisisellidelt kuulnud ja tundus turvaline valik.

Seekord pakkisin oma koti (olen saavutanud meistritaseme reisides vaid vajalikuga, sest kogu mu 2 kuu varandus siin reisil kaalus kokku 8kg) 25 veebruaril ja maandusin 26 õhtul Guatemala citys. Ajavahe Eestiga on 8h ja mu reis kestis ka päris pikalt, et seekord oli mul elu kõige pikem ajavahega kohandumine. Kogu aeg oli uni ainult.

Aga rääkides kohtadest, siis Guatemala city ehk pealinn minu silmis midagi erilist pole. Ma broneerisin kõigepealt 2 ööd, et saaks natuke reisist puhata ja harjuda Guatemalaga enne kui kohe trippimine pihta hakkab, aga ausalt öeldes peale neid kahte ööd ma juba ootasin, et saaks edasi liikuda. Järgmiseks sihtkohaks oli seljakotireisijate suur lemmik Antigua. Tegemist on pisikese linnakesega vulkaanide (osad aktiivsed) keskel. Suuri maju seal pole üldse, ainult pisikesed madalad ja väga värvilsed. Ideaalis võiks linna 1 päevaga läbi käia, aga kuna ma olin sellest kohast ülivõrdes kuulnud, siis broneerisin kohe 3 ööd. Suurt midagi ei teinudki alguses. Sain kokku ühe Uus-Meremaa tüdrukuga, kellega kunagi 5a tagasi Boliivias tutvusime ja ta ei läinudki oma reisilt tagasi vaid elab nüüd Antiguas. Ta tegi väikse linnatuuri ja istusime ühes baaris, aga nagu öeldud, siis väsimus mind ikka hullult jälitas, et ega ma pikalt kuskil olla ei jaksanud ega suurt teha.

Lõpuks 2.03 otsustasin teha Acatenango vulkaani matka. Vulkaan ise on peaaegu 4000meetrit merepinnast ja sinna korraldatakse ööpäev kestvaid matku. Esimesel päeval matkasime kuskil 4-5 tunni vahel, et jõuda laagriplatsile. Iseenesest ei tundu see pikk aeg, agaaaaa kohati olid ikka väga retsid tõusud. Ütleme nii, et 85% sellest matkast tundsin ma end kui 80aastane mööda mäge üles ronimas veremaitse suus. Mu parim sõber oli kepp, mille saime rentida 80eurosendi eest ja millele ma toetusin iga 5min tagant, et pilti tasku ei viskaks. Okei võib olla ma natuke liialdan. Aga tõsi on, et alguses oli ka meeletult palav ning hiljem hakkas ka kõrgus vaikset mõjuma ja õhk muutus väga hõredaks. Et kõik need tegurid kokku tegid minu jaoks selle matka ikkagi suht raskeks. Telklasse jõudes avastasime aga täiesti 100% pilvise platsi enda eest. Acatenango vulkaan asub nimelt Fuego nimelise kõrval, mis peaks olema üks aktiivsemaid vulkaane maailmas. Ja oligi. Me kuulsime Fuegot purskamas...aga ei näinud mitte midagi. Mu näost oli lugeda ainult pettumust, sest pilved ei tundunud ka mitte kuskilt otsast taanduvat ja vahepeal tunduski, et tegime lihtsalt retsi matka tippu, et näha...pilvi. Õnneks poole 9 paiku pilved tõmbasid minema ja taevas oli täiesti selge. Ja WOW!!! Naeratust mu näost oli raske minema pühkida. Taevas paistis poolkuu, tähed särasid ja me olime niiiiii lähedal purkavale vulkaanile ja nägime punast laavat mööda külge alla voolmas. Ütlen ausalt, et see kogemus oli nii ainulaadne ja võimas, et ma lihtsalt seisin seal ja mõtlesin, kui õnnelik ma olen, et mul on elus võimalik sellist asja üldse kogeda. Magasime telkides ja kuigi öösel tõmbas miinuskraadideks, siis mul oli isegi suht ok, sest ma kandsin 6 kihti riideid😀 Reisifirma andis kõigile joped, mütsi ja kindad ka, mis olid kõik megasoojad. Öösel muutus Fuego eriti aktiivseks ja mingi hetk läbi une kuulsin ühte purset teise järel ja omaette seal kubujussina magamiskotis mõtlesin, et hmmm, kas see on ikka normaalne. Kell 4 oli jälle äratus ja tuli ette võtta teekond täiesti vulkaani tippu. See kestis umbes tunnikese ja oli ka ikka väga raske. Lisaks sellele, et jalad täiesti süldid olid eelmisest päevast, oli väljas megakülm, kottpime ja väga unine tunne. Õhk oli eriti hõre ja järsemad tõusud tõmbasid korralikult läbi. Aga see kõik oli seda väärt. Päikesetõus sealt tipust oli lihtsalt vaimustav. Kui päike ilusti kõrgel oli trippisime tagasi telklasse, sõime ja hakkasime alla minema. Esimene osa oli eriti mõnus. Nautisin ilusat ilma ja jalutasin rahulikult, aga kui need järsemad kohad tulid lõpus siis oiiiii kuidas mu 80aastase põlved tunda andsid. Kuigi see 24 tundi oli vägagi proovile panev, siis oli see üks kihvtimaid 24 tundi, mis mul väga ammu on olnud. Nii palju emotsioone mahtus sinna sisse ja see kõik oli lihtsalt vaimustav, mis seal üleval oli. Tagasi jõudsime hostelisse lõuna paiku ning kella 4ne äratus ja matk olid nii läbi tõmmanud, et midagi suurt targemat päevaga enam ei teinudki.

Järgmine päev aga seadsin sammud Atitlani nimelise järve äärde. Tegu on päris suure järvega mägede ja vulkaanide keskel ehk merepinnast ikka tunduvalt kõrgemal ning järve külgedel on erinevad külakesed, mida saab paadiga külastada. Mina alustasin Panajacheli nimelisest külakesest kuhu jäin esialgu kaheks ööks ja armusin sellesse kohta pea kohe. Pisike koht, samas piisavalt suur, et kõik asjad on olemas ning sealt näeb imeilusaid päikeseloojanguid. Vahepeal liikusin üheks ööks ka San Pedro nimelisse külakesse teisel pool järve, sest sealt sai teha Indian Nose hike. Ehk taaaaaskord matkamine (kes oleks arvanud, et Guatemala mind selliseks hommiku inimeseks ja matkaselliks muudab). Just siis kui vulkaani matkast hakkasid lihased vaikselt taastuma panin taaskord äratuse 3.30ks ja hakkasin mäe otsa ronima. Seekord ka ilma oma parima sõbra, kepita, kellele toetuda. Aga asi oli tunduvalt sujuvam ja lühem. Peale vulkaani kutsuksin seda rahulikuks hommikuseks jalutamiseks. Peale San Pedrot ja Indian Nose vurasin paadiga taaskord Panajacheli. Kuigi Atitlan on siiani vaieldamatult mu lemmikkoht Guatemalas, siis peale Panajacheli broneerisin bussi Lanquini nimelisse külakesse, mis distantsilt peaks olema suts üle 300km, aga meil võttis üle 10h sinna jõudmine. Olgu tervitatud kõik mägised ja kurvilised teed, mis mul südame pahaks ajavad. Lanquin asub vihmametsas ja põhjus miks inimesed sinna lähevad on Semuc Champey. Looduslikud, ma ei teagi kuidas neid nimetada, nagu basseinid oma türkiisse veega keset vihmametsa ja mägesid. Taaskord tuli suht hard core matk, et vaateplatvormile jõuda ja mööda muda sealt pärast põhimõtteliselt alla libiseda. Aga tuleb tõdeda, et väga ilus koht. Kuigi uuesti ma seda 10h sõitu selle nimel isiklikult kindlasti tegema ei hakkaks. Lanquinis on veel koopad ja üks õhtu läksime kahe belgia tüübiga sinna uudistama. Mingi hetk olime 40m maa all ja ronisime mööda eriti teravaid kive ehk adrekat sai. Lahkusime päikeseloojangu ajal, mil ka kõik nahkhiired otsustasid lahkuda sealt koopast ja oiiii kuidas neid lendas. Ma ikka korralikult hoidsin käsi näo ees, et mõni vastu vahtimist ei lendaks. Öeldi, et neid nahkhiiri pidavat sealt umbes 10 000 korraga välja lendama. Tagasi teel kõndisime mööda muda edasi tagasi libisedes, väljas läks kottpimedaks ja padukat sadas. Mingi hetk hakkas üks tüüp hääletama ja kohe võttiski mingi kastiga kohalik meid peale. Me istusime kastis, kus oli veel köitega kinnitatud mootorratas ja mööda neid kurvilisi teid, vihm näkku pritsimas viis see mees meid mäe otsa meie hostelisse ära. See sõit oli niiii lege, sest auto libises mudas, meie seal kastis, kuskilt kinni polnud hoida, sest läbi iga augu sõites lendasime seal nagunii ringi. Aga teate, sellised natuke lollid, pisikesed ekstreemsed asjad on just need mille pärast ma reisin. Ma ausalt ei suutnud kõva häälega naermist lõpetada terve tee ja kohale jõudes, olles totaalsed mudakollid, oli tunne nagu oleks ei tea mis reisiga just hakkama saanud. Lanquinis peatusin kolm ööd ja peaaegu terve see aeg kui ma seal olin sadas korralikult vihma. Alguses oli pettumus suur, aga tegelikult oli väga mõnus mullivannis paduka ajal istuda ja pärast hosteli rahvaga piljardit ja laumänge mängida. Et see suht ideaalne koht kui on soov end maailmast ära lõigata natuke. Lanquinist lahkudes olid teed ikka väga mudased ja ilm pilvine ja sobune sellega, et me olimegi konkreetselt pilvedes ja midagi väga näha polnud. Teed nagu mainitud väga kurvilised ja koht ilma piirdeta. Ilmselgelt kõikidest minibussidest, kes korraga Lanquinist erinevas suunas liikuma hakkasid jäi meie oma mutta kinni. Mida rohkem andis juht gaasi, seda rohkem vajus buss tagumise osaga kuristiku poole. Meid aeti tagaotsa, kohalikud tulid sinna tee peal oleva otsa juurde kõik lükkama ja ikka vajusime me aina tagasi. Pole vist vaja mainida, et mu pulss oli südamerabanduse äärel, ronisin tee pool olevasse otsa ja tõmbasin akna lahti, sest ilma naljata olin valmis sealt aknast välja hüppama kui buss veel tagasi libiseb. Õnneks kuidagi saime ikka teele tagasi aga mu vererõhk oli veel tükk aega laes. Taaskord lugu, mis sel hetkel tekitas korraliku sisemise paanika, aga praegu ajab naerma. Reisidel ikka juhtub. Mul vähemalt.

Taaskord pikk päev bussis veetes jõudsin tagasi Antiguasse, kust mul pidi järgmine hommik kell 7 minema buss El Salvadori.  Guatemalas juba gramm üle 2nädala selleks ajaks oldud ja sain kõik tehetud, mis tahtsin ehk olin 100% valmis uuteks avastusteks, aga võta näpust. Täpselt 12h enne bussi väljumist jõudis koroona paanika ka lõpuks siia maile ning mulle öeldi, et nii El Salvadori kui ka Hondurase piirid (minu 2 järgmist sihtriiki) on suletud. Muid plaane mul polnud, et suht hetkega pidin oma plaanid täiesti ümber mõtlema. Jäin veel 3ks ööks Antiguasse kuna hakkasin ka kodustelt saama paanikat, et kohe piletid Eestisse ostaks kuna piirid kinni jne ning Antigua hea baaskoht mujale Guatemalas minemiseks ning samas ka Guatemala Citysse kui lennujaama vaja kiiresti minna. Esialgu mõtlesin asja rahulikult võtta ja vaadata mis saab. Sain kokku ka ühe eesti tüdrukuga ning koos meie kohaliku sõbraga läksime hoopis kõrvalkülla väikese kohaliku tootja juurde mayade stiilis šokolaadi tegema, selle asemel, et niisama paanitseda. Ma suur šokoladi fänn küll pole, aga väga kihvt oli näha kuidas kakao taimest läbi koorimiste, röstimiste, purustamise ja vormimise jõubki meieni šokolaad. Saime ka igat protsessi ise kaasa teha ja proovida igas staadiumis kakaod/šokolaadi ehk iga šokohooliku unistus.

Tagasi internetimaailma jõudes oli paanika aina süvenenud ja juba kutsus ka valitsus kõiki koju. Ma selles loogikat ei näe, sest siin koroona veel ei levi, kõik asjad on avatud, elu toimib normaalselt ja päike paistab. Eesti tulles oleksin 2 ndl üksi kodus ehk broneerisin hoopis bussi El Paredoni nimelisse surfikülakesse ookeani ääres ja proovin siin natuke tsillilt võtta ja loota, et Euroopa ja maailm rahunevad varsti maha. Mu esialgselt plaanitud Kesk-Ameerikast kuni Ecuadorini võib vist und näha, sest hetkel tundub, et siit Gutemalast mul väga kuskile liikuda pole kuna piirid kõik kinni. Aga elab päev korraga ja vaatab mis edasi 


I am finally in Central America. A destination that has been haunting me eversince I left South America 5 years ago. My first destination is Gutemala where I arrived on the 26th of February. Firstly I stayed 2 nights in the capital, Guatemala City, to recover before I start exploring around, but tbh I have never had such a long jetlag in my entire life than I had in here. I would recommend to stay in Guatemala City as shortly as possible, not much to see there in my opinion. Anyways I was happy to move on after two nights. My next stop was the main backpacker place in Guatemala, a small town in the middle of volcanos with lots of colourful tiny houses, called Antigua. The main attraction in Antigua is the Acatenango volcano hike. Which I decided to take on the 2nd of March. It’s an overnight hike that takes you to the top of Acatenango which is about 4000meters from the sealevel. Safe to say I had a bloodtaste in my mouth at least half the hike up. It takes around 4-5 hours to reach the camping site on the first day and some parts were veeeery steep. My best friend thoughout the hike was the stick that we were able to rent for 80 eurocents at the beginning. Around 3.30 pm we reached the camping site AND for my massive dissapointment there were only clouds. Could not see anything else and they did not seem to dissapear either. Thankfully by 9.30pm it cleared up and ohhh wowwwwwwww!!! I could not wipe the smile off my face. Halfmoon, sky full of stars and an active volcano called Fuego erupting in the backruound, red magma sliding down. That was just amazing and I felt so greatful that I am able to experince that sort of things. We slept in the tents and altought it was minusdegrees during the night then I was actually okay to sleep. Maybe because I was wearing 6 layers of clothes :D Fuego got extremely active during the night when there was one eruption after another and wrapped in  one million things, barely able to move, I was thinking by myself if this is even normal. Wake up time was 4am to do the hike to the summit. And ohh how I was struggeling there. Body was still like a jelly from the yesterdays hike, was so sleepy, it was pitch black outside, cold, the air was so thin and on the top of that it was sooo steep as well the whole way up. But an hour later we were there and it was 100% worth it. The sunrise we got from there was out of this world. Nothing I had ever seen before. When the sun was high up we went back to the campsite, had breakky and started our way down. First part was like walk in the park but during the steeper part down, it felt like I am 80 y/o and my knees are 90. We got back to the hostel around noon and after recovering for a night I made my way to lake Atitlan. A huge lake in the middle of volcanoes and mountains. Definitely my favourite spot in Guatemala. There are few villages around the lake which are accessible by boat. I chose the one called Panajachel as my main spot and liked it a lot there. Small but big enough to have everything with a bonus of amazing sunsets. For one night I also went to San Pedro to do the Indian Nose hike (who would have known that Guatemala turns me into such a morning person and hiker, huh). 3.30 am wake up to start hiking towards the top of a mountain again. But compared to the volcano I would call this one a lovely morning walk. Again worth doing it since you get the view over the whole lake during the sunrise. Very magical. After 4 nights in total by the lake I took a shuttle to Lanquin. A place which was slightly more than 300km away but it took us more than 10h to drive that. Cheers to all the curvy roads in the mountains that are everything but enjoyable. The main reason why people go to Lanquin is the Semuc Champey, natural pools with turquise water in the middle of a rainforest and mountains. Very pretty but I personally would not take that 10h journey for that again. The whole three days I spent there was pissing down rain. At first I was very dissapointed but it was actually pretty cool to chill in the hot tub in the rain and play pool and boardgames with the hostel people afterwards. Very relaxing and a good spot to cut yourself off this world for a wee while. One day we also went to explore the cave with two belgian guys. At some point we were 40meters underground climbing sharp rocks, pretty cool. During the sunset we decided to leave the cave and so did around 10 000 bats. Never seen anything like it before. Was covering my face so that I wouldnt get smacked by one. When we started walking back it got totally dark and the rain was pouring down and the road was so muddy we were sliding around. One of the belgians hitchhiked to a local guy with a trunk and we had to sit back. That ride was legendary. Roads were curvy and pumpy, we had to go up on a steep hill, the rain was splashing to our faces. The car was sliding in the mud, we were sliding in the back of the car. I could not stop laughing out loud the whole way up. That sort of silly and small things is the reason why I feel so alive when travelling. When it was time to leave Lanquin the roads were crazy muddy and of course our van got stuck in the mud. We were literally in the clouds on the edge of a cliff and the more the driver pushed gas, the van was sliding towards the edge of the cliff. Locals were trying to push, we were ordered to go the the back of the van but still with every press on the gas pedal we went backwards. Safe to say my pulse was high as and in my head I was forming escape plans in case we will slide more towards the edge. Thankfully after a while we got out but my hands were shaking for a good while afterwards. Arriving back to Antigua I tought this was my last night in Guatemala since by then I had been there for a bit longer that 2 weeks and done everything I wanted to. But 12 hours before my bus was supposed to go to El Salvador, the corona panic arrived here as well and I was told that the borders of El Salvador as well as Honduras (my next two destinations) have been closed. I had no plan B so I stayed in Antigua for three more nights to see how this situation will unfold. But it only got worse and I started to get messages from the home ones as well to return to Estonia asap. To ignore the panic tho then me, another estonian girl and our local friend went to a small family owned chocolate factory where they made true mayan style chocolate. Although I am not a big fan of chocolate it was still so interesting to see how the chocolate we know from stores comes from the cocoa plant and what needs to be done with it. We were also able to taste cocoa/chocolate in every stage and try to roast/grind etc ourselves as well. Definitely a chocoholics wet dream.

Returning to the internet world it seemed like the world is going more crazy within every minute and the tought of returning to Europe where everything is closed and I would have to sit first two weeks at home not even able to see anyone, did not excite me at all. So instead I booked a shuttle to a little surfing village called El Paredon by the coast of Guatemala. Long story short then atm it feels like I am a bit stuck in Guatemala and I have no clear plan at all what to do. Will just take day by day and see how this situation goes. But safe to say that my Central- American trip down to Ecuador is just a dream now...

Acatenango hike

Fuego

Atitlan

Panajachel

Semuc Champey

Chocolate workshop

India 2

India...on olemas kohti ja siis on India. Üle pika aja oli see riik, mis mind jälle imestama ja üllatuma pani ning päris ausalt kohe, siis täiesti ainulaadne ja erakordne koht siin päikese all. Kuigi kui ma päris ausalt ütlen, siis kõikidest oma reisidest oli India see, mida ma ise kõige rohkem kartsin. Tõenäoliselt kõikide nende hullude uudiste pärast, mis meedias on olnud. Samuti ei teadnud ma ise väga inimesi, kes Indias on trippinud ja veel vähem, kes seal üksinda on käinud. Aga taaskord võib öelda, et kõik need hirmud olid asjata ning kohalike kohta on mul vaid häid sõnu öelda. See kui sõbralikud kõik minuga olid ja kui palju mind aidati seal, kui ma jälle eksinud näoga ringi uitasin on nii hämmastav ja seal olles lõi minu naiivne pool, kes arvab, et inimesed on ainult head ja abivalmid jälle välja, aga niimodi seal tõesti oli.

Aga alustan kohtade kaupa, et kus ma seal käia jõudsin. Kui esialgu mõtlesin, et kuu aega Indias on meeletult pikk aeg ja selle ajaga mul India ära tüütab, siis kindlasti ei olnud see piisav aeg ja päris kindlasti jäi mul nägemata ja tegemata liiga palju. India on VÄGA suur riik ning punktist A punkti B liikumine on vägagi aeganõudev ja seega pidin ka mina otsustama, et kuhu ma oma kuu aajaga jõuan minna ning millised kohad jäävad tulevikku ootama.

Alustasin oma Indiat Jaipuri nimelisest linnast põhja India Rajasthani osariigist. Jaipur on tuntud ka kui roosa linn ning linnamüüride sees on tõesti eranditult KÕIK hooned roosat värvi. Roosa on ta seetõttu, et kunagi ammu tuli kuningas Edward sinna külla ja selle puhul värviti hooned roosaks kuna roosa on külalislahkuse värv ja peale seda on jäänud kõik roosaks. Seiklused hakkasid mul juba lennujaamast. Nimelt jäid mõlemad mu lennud Sri Lankalt hiljaks ja ma spetsiaalselt olin vaadanud lennud, et ma jõuaksin päevavalges kohale, aga seda ei juhtunud. Maandudes hakkasime lennukis mu kõrvalistujaga jutustama ja tulime koos lennujaamast välja. Ta aitas mu pangaautomaati leida ja siis tuleb välja, et teadmata põhjustel ainuke pangaautomaat Jaipuri lennujaamas ei anna mulle raha. Proovisin nii deebet kui ka krediitkaarti, aga ikka ei saanud midagi. Seisin siis pimedas seal lennujaama ees ilma ühegi ruupiata ja mõtlesin, et mida kuradit ma nüüd peale hakkan. Ja kohe sain tunda India külalislahkust. See sama poiss lennukist hakkas mulle oma uberiga autot tellima ja kuigi ma ütlesin, et pole vaja, sest mul polnud talle raha anda, siis ta ütles, et ta ei lahku enne kui teab, et ma jõuan turvaliselt oma hostelisse. Ja ta ootaski seal minuga ja vaidles juhtidega kuna osa canceldas ja siis lõpuks tuli riksha, kes keeldus pangamakset võtmast. Temaga ta saigi diili, et too viib mind linna ja peatub kuskil, kus ma saaksin raha välja võtta. Kohale ma siis lõpuks jõudsin, vääääga palju aega peale seda kui ma kunagi Sri Lankalt startisin. Minu üllatus oli suur, kui külm oli Jaipuris. Pigem lausa ehmatus, kuna mu pikkade riiete varu oli väga minimaalne. Õnneks päeval läks suht soojaks, aga kohe kui päike loojus oli ikka väga külm. Teine ehmatus oli tuk-tuki sõit lennujaamast hostelisse. Väljas oli pime ja külm ning mu juht ei rääkinud peaaegu sõnagu inglise keelt. Juba esimeste minutitega sain tunda tõelist Indiat, kui sõitsime läbi Jaipuri vaesemate kohtade, kus inimesed magasid papi tükkide peal kuskil silla all. Mõnest kohats läbi sõites tundus nagu me liiguks linnast aina kaugemale, kuna ees valitses ainult pimedus ning tänavad, kus oli vähegi valgustust või liikumist jäid selja taha. Oiiii kuidas ma pipragaasi oma käes pigistasin terve see sõit. Aga nagu öeldud, siis kõik see hirm oli vaid loll ettekujutus mu peas mis õnneks kahe päevaga kadus ning sain aru, et pole mõtet kuulata ja lugeda teiste kogemusi vaid enda omasid usaldada ning nagu öeldud, siis minu kogemused kohalikega olid ainult ülivõrdes head.  Jaipuris veetsin 2 ööd ja minu silmis väga piisav. Terve päeva sõidutas üks riksha juht mind ja ühte saksa tüdrukut mööda vaatamisväärsusi, mis oli päris hea viis kiiresti ja mugavalt linnaga tutvumiseks. Ilmselgelt minu esimene kokkupuude Indiaga tekitas ikka korralikke ehmatusi nähes nii elevante, kaamleid, lehmi, koere, kasse, ahve, kitsi, kanu ja jumal teab mis elukaid veel tee peal rikshad, rollerite, autode, busside, jalgrataste ja inimeste vahel liikumas. Samuti see vaesus ehmatas mind ära. Nähes perekondi magamas pappkastis ja pisikesed lapsed kerjamas oli esimese päeva kohta korralik šhokk.

Edasi liikusin Jodphuri, kus tegin ka siis oma Vipassana, millest on eelmises postituses juttu. Jodphur on siis tuntud sinise linnana ning samuti on ta väiksem kui Jaipur, et seal saab vabalt jala ringi liikuda, mida me ka tegime peale kümmet päeva ühe koha peal istumist. Jodphur meeldis mulle linnana rohkem ning kes sinna satub, siis nime ma nüüd ei mäleta, aga seal on üks meeletult ilus koht, kus avaneb vaade tervele linnale ning mis on eriti ilus päikeseloojangu ajal.

Peale Johphuri oli aeg edasi liikuda Udaipuri, mis on tuntud kui järvede linn. See linn oli tõsiselt ilus ning seda kaootilist ja räpast Indiast oli seal märgatavalt vähem. Udaipur oli ka koht, mis hakkas juba rohkem turistikaks muutuma. Kui Jaipuris ei näinud ma peaaegu üldse ja Jodphuris minimaalselt turiste, siis Udaipuris juba see range riietumisstiil, kus pidi end kinni katma muutus palju leebemaks ka tänavapildis ning üleüldse oli palju läänelikum ning pea kõik rääkisid inglise keelt. (eelnevalt sai ikka korralikult pursitud ja käte ja jalgadega seletatud, mida ja kuhu vaja on)

Peale Udaipurit võtsin liikusin Goasse, sest olgem ausad, veekogu igatsus, mis minu jaoks sümboliseerib vabadust, oli peale vipassanas olemist tõusnud maksimaalseks. Sellega oli ka omaette nali. Kodutöid ma jätkuvalt väga ei harrasta, pigem ilmun kuskile kohale ja siis hakkan alles uurima, et kus mis toimub. Nimelt, piinlik tunnistada, aga isegi veel Indias olles arvasin ma, et Goa on linn Indias. Minu lend Goasse maandus a la kella 11 paiku õhtul ja maandudes oli mu telefoni aku täiesti tühi, et telefoni ei võtnud pilti ette. Lennujaamas pagasit oodates ei hakanud see ka laadima. Ning välja minnes avastasin, et ohoooo Goa ei ole mitte linn, vaid osariik Indias ning külake, kuhu ma olin hosteli broneerinud asus 60km lennujaamast. Bussid see kell muidugi enam ei sõitnud, takso oli utoopilise hinnaga. Istusin siis oma koti peale maha ja mõtlesin, et miks ma nii loll olen ja midgai kunagi ette ei või uurida. Lõpuks kuidagi üks kohalik organiseeris rahvast oma autosse, mis sõitis sinna suunda. Ehk siis taaskord „targad otsused“ olin keset ööd suvakate India tüüpidega suvalises väikeses autos ja lootsin taaskord, et sõidame õigesse kohta. Poole tee peal meie auto peatus, juht astus välja ja tema 12 aastase välimusega vend tuli tema asemel rooli :D mingi hetk tuli raadiost Richard Marxxi Right here waiting ja ma lihtsalt hakkasin omaette naerma, kui random terve see öö on olnud. Kõlab võib- olla veidralt, aga sellised täiesti suvalised hetked panevad mind nii elavana tundma, kui absoluutselt ei tea, mis saama hakkab.

Esimene peatus Goas oli Vagator beach. Ning järgmisel hommikul randa minnes oli pettumus päris rets. Pole ammu nii koledat randa näinud. Ka Vagator oli oli täiesti mõttetu koht ning teadsin kohe, et kui mu 2 ööd seal läbi saab liigun edasi. Vaatamata hosteli rahva pingutustele mulle selgeks teha, et pole mõtet nii kaugele hakata üksi trippima, siis mul tekkis juba kerge hasart, et ma tahan minna Palolemile, mille distants oli küll kõigest 80km vms, aga sealset transporti arvestades võttis mul 4 tundi ja 3 erinevat bussi  ja 3 eurot, et sinna jõuda. Sekund, kui ma randa astusin teadsin, et see teekond oli ainuõige otsus. Täielik paradiisirand. Terve rannaäär oli paksult täis palme, pisikesi värvilisi majakesi ning armsaid restorane, kus õhtuti oli laiv muusika. Palolemi jäin kokku nädalaks ning hea meelega oleks sinna veel kauemaks jäänud. Seal olles hakkas ka tervis tunda andma, et olen Indias ning ühe päeva veetsin haiglas tilgutite all. Haigla kogemus oli taaskord omaette nali. Järjekord oli jõhker, tundus, et kõigile anti täpselt samad rohud. Arst küsis kaks küsimust nign kokku läksid vastuvõtt, kolmed erinevad rohud ja tilguti all passimine mulle 20 eurosenti maksma.

Peale Palolemi paradiisi liikusin ööroniga veel Mumbaisse, kust oli minu tagasilend. Ostsin enda arust teise klassi pileti, mis busside puhul tähendas täielikku luksust, aga võta näpust, rongi puhul kindlasti mitte.Kõigepeal nagu ikka olin ma ainuke turist rongis, lapsed lihtsalt istusid mu vastu ja jõllitasid. Rongisõit ise oli selline, et unest võis seal ainult unistada, sest kõik kolises ja mürises nii hullult. Aga lõpuks ma jõudsin kell 7 hommikul Mumbaisse, maailma neljandasse kõige rahvarohkemasse linna rohkem kui 18 miljoni elanikuga. Ausalt öeldes ootasin ma midagi hullemat ja suuremat kaost, aga minu üllatuseks oli väga palju Mumbaist, kus ma seal ringi jõudsin liikuda, vägagi puhas ja modernne. Omaette tsirkus oli vaid tipptunni ajal metrooga sõit. Sellist hullust pole ma oma elust vist varem näinud. Inimesed lükkasid, tõukasid, elasid üksteise seljas, rippusid ustest välja ja mida kõike veel. Ainuke võimalus oli seal end reaalselt välja lükata maksimaalse jõuga, muidu tsaupakaa õige peatus. Taaskord olin ma ainus turist ja peajagu kõigist pikem seal vagunis ning kohalikult kõik hakkasid minuga seal rääkima ja uurima, et kust ma tulen jne jne ning põhimõtteliselt nad aitasid mind sealt õiges peatuses välja lükata :D Muidu sõidaks vist siiamaani Mumbai metrooga ringe.

Samuti tekkis üleüldse Indias, aga eriti just Mumbais max staari tunne. Olles Gateway of India juures tekkis mulle mingi hetk järjekord inimesest, kes tahtsid minuga koos pilti teha. Olid perekonnad, terved suguvõsad, lapsed. Absoluutselt ulme oli see. Mingi hetk ma seisingi 15 minutit ja tegin ainult pilte.

Kuigi India meeldis mulle väga, siis ausalt öeldes ootasin ma vist esimest korda elus reisi lõppu päris korralikult. Tervis mul reisi jooksul ära ei paranenudki, paremaks läks alles peale Eestisse jõudmist ja antibootikumikuuri. Ning ausalt öeldes, siis olles üle nädala seal troopilises kliimas täiesti haige ja ihuüksinda ning asi ei tundunud üldse paremaks minevat, siis tekkis päris korralik hirm ka endale nahavahele, et mis siis nüüd lõpuks lahti on. Lisaks ka stabiilne väsimus ning päris korralik kaalulangus tekitasid soovi tulla koju ja tervis korda saada.

Lõppkokkuvõtteks ütleksin, et India pole üldse väärt hirmu üksinda reisimise ees ning on 100% väärt avastamist. Jah, seal on räpane ning hoopis teine kultuur, aga see on nii ainulaadne koht fanatstilise toidu ja megatoredate kohalikega. Kindlasti soovitaksin ma võtta India jaoks piisavalt aega, sest see on nii suur ja mitmekülgne. Käies ainult ühes kohas ei saa absoluutselt aimu selle riigi olemusest. Ka minu kuu aega seal oli liiga lühike aeg ning see on koht, kuhu ma tahaks minna tagasi ükspäev. Mitte puhkama vaid justnimelt avastama neid kohti, kuhu ma seekord ei jõudnud.

Jaipur

Jaipur

My star moments

Jodhpur

Jodhpur

Palolem

Palolem

Night train to Mumbai

Mumbai

India is absolutely one of a kind place. This was the destination that I was so afraid myself but now I can say that all the fears were just a stupid fruit that media has seeded in my head. Besides the first night when I arrived alone in the dark and the rickshaw driver went through some very dodgy places, I felt totally safe the whole trip. And the hospitality and friendliness of the locals just blew me away. My first destination in India was Jaipur which is located in the northern part of India in Rajasthan. On purpose I bought my flights from Sri Lanka so, that I would arrive during the daytime, but both of my flights were late and clearly it was dark when I got there. After exiting the airport I found out that the only atm does not like me very much and I couldn’t take any rupees out. So I was standing there in the dark and cold (Northern India got very cold after the sunset during that time) and with no money. That was also the first time when I came across of how friendly the locals really are. The guy who sat next to me in the airplane tried to help me so much and when I couldn’t get any money out he started odering me an uber. Although his brother was waiting for him and I told him that he can leave and I’ll sort smth out. He just replied that he won’t leave anywhere before he knows that I can get safely to my hostel. And that sort of things happened so many times during my stay in India. I have only very good things to say about the locals and their hospitality.

Well anyways I spent two nights in Jaipur and this is known as the pink city of India because most of the building inside the city wall were painted pink. Besides the cold weather after the sun went down I was also schocked about the trash everywhere, rats running all over the place, kids begging and families sleeping on a cardboard. Clearly that was my first contact with India and I was preparing myself to see a different kind if place but for the first two days it still felt so overwhelming. Traffic in India is also something out of this world. You can see cars, buses, rickshaws, bicycles, foot passangers, elephants, donkeys, dogs, cows, monkeys, rats, camels and god knows who else together in the same road.

After Jaipur I did my Vipassana, which you can read about in the last post. And spent a short time in Jodhpur which is known as the blue city of India. Jodhpur is smaller that Jaipur and it’s easy to walk around. There is an amazing spot to check out the sunset on the top of the city with a view all around Jodhpur.

After that I made my way to Udaipur aka the lake city of India. Udaipur was slowly looking like a tourist place with more foreigns, western food places, cleaner streets and locals understanding more english. I actually really liked Udaipur and I would recommend it for people who want to get some taste of India but are too afraid of exploring the less touristy places.

After Udaipur I finally made my way down to Goa, because I missed the ocean like a crazy by then. Of course I still suck at doing homework and wing most of my trips and find out what is what on my way. Sometimes it backstabs me and my arrival to Goa was one of those times when I just tought that why am I so stupid and never do any homework beforehand. So anyways, I though that Goa was a city, but after I landed I realised that it is not a city but a state in India and the hostel I booked (in my eyes in the city of Goa but 1km from the beach) was actually 60km from the airport. I landed around 11pm and clearly the buses didn’t go that time anymore and the taxis had the night tarif which was quite expensive. So I sat down infront of the airport on the top of my bag and was thinking what should I do. The locals went crazy trying to offer taxis, cars etc. Finally a local boy found 3 more guys who were going to the same direction, so in the middle of the night I took a random car with four random Indian guys in it and just hoping to get to the right place. Half way down the car stop and driver’s brother who looked like 12 years old took over the driving. To be honest then that probably was one of the most stupid things I did there but they were all so nice and driving somewhere in India with four strangers in a tiny car Richard Marxx Right here waiting playing in the background, I couldn’t help but just laugh how random life is.

In Goa my first stop was Vagator beach, which was a massive dissapoinment. This is probably one of the worst beaches I have ever seen and for a second I got so scared that what if all the beaches are like this in India. I spent my two prebooked nights in Vagator and then after finally doing some homework I found a beach that looked gorgeous on the photos. Tho everyone in the hostel said that it takes way too long to get there and no point of going, then I already made up my mind that I wanna go to the Palolem beach. And I am very glad I did because it was a paradise. Loads of palm trees, white sand, colourful beach huts, beach bars and restaurants with live music and amazing sunsets. Exactly how I wanted to finish my trip. Palolem honestly is just a chilled hippie village with amazing little vegan cafes and amazing beach. But to end my trip with a bang I got ill over there and things just got from bad to wrorse until I was in a local hospital under the drip. Of course the trip to the hospital was a joke on its own, considering I had to wait two hours to even see anyone and looked like everyone got the same drugs who exited the doctor’s office. But 3 sets of different pills, appointment fee and the drip costed me around 20 euro cents.

After a week in Palolem I also went to Mumbai for a night. To waste less time I took the night train. In my head I booked the 2nd class and I imagined that I will sleep like a baby since the 2nd class in a bus was a proper luxury, but no. Above you can see a photo of the train. Of course I was again the only tourist there. Kids around just sat and stared me for like an hour on a row, the train was so loud and and the freezing nightwind blew in as well. No sleep at all. Around 7am I finally got to Mumbai. A city with a population of more than 18 million people and the 4th most populated city in the world. I was actually very surprised of how modern and clean Mumbai was, in the main parts I mean. I was expecting a much bigger chaos. Although one thing where I actually didn’t know what to do or where to run was a subway ride during the rush hour. THAT WAS INSANE! Never seen anything like it in my life. Subways there have doors on both sides and they are sooooo full that people actually are hanign on the doorways. Since I was AGAIN the only tourist in my wagon and much taller than anyone else there, then a lady came and talked to me and helped me (read: literally pushed me) out when it was my stop because that was the only way to exit whilst masses tried to enter.

Also in Mumbai I got to feel the spotlight because in almost every step someone wanted to take a photo with me. When visiting the Gateway of India there was an actual que standing to take photos. Crazy!

All in all I was finally quite happy to return home, first time ever when I was not sad to end my trip. The health problems affected me quite a lot at the end and a quality healthcare was much needed because I was lacking energy and had lost so much weight by the end of my trip. Although one month in India was definitely not enough. There is so much to explore and each place is so different from the last one. Also I would say that there is absolutely no need to be scared when traveling India, alone or in a group. Many tarvellers I had met previously had said that India is one of their favourite places they had visited and that there is just something about it. I wouldn’t say that it is my favourite but I can agree that there is something special about it and I would love to return one day to explore the places I didn’t go to this time.

India 1 🇮🇳 (Vipassana)

Seda postitust alustan väikese selgitusega, et miks ma üldse seda kõike tegin. Nimelt olen ma alati proovinud olla, (või vähemalt teistele jagan targutades seda nõu) et kui midagi on valesti ja inimene pole rahul kas iseenda, töö, elustiili vms, siis peab seda muutma. Hea küll, alati pole see nii lihtne, aga peaks vähemalt proovima, sest niisama virisemine paraku asju paremaks ei tee. Otsustasin iseenda sõnadel sabast haarata ja vähemalt proovida midagi muuta. Nimelt olen juba päris pikalt tundunud end kui orav rattas, kogu aeg tundub olevat nii meeletult kiire. Sellega seonduvalt olen tundunud ka suurt motivatsioonipuudust, meeletut väsimust ning üleüldist rahulolematust. Teadsin kohe seda reisi planeerides, et see tuleb teistsugune kui mu varasemad ning ma pean leidma hetke, et natuke endaga tööd teha ja maha rahuneda. Mu peas oli midagi stiilis 3-5 päeva vaikust, rahu, joogat, meditatsiooni ja raamatuid ( olgu mainitud, et ma pole ÜLDSE jooga ega meditatsiooni inimene, tahaks väga et oleksin, aga kahjuks olen liiga rahutu hing selliste asjade jaoks vist. Seekord aga tundus, et peaks andma kõigele sellele võimaluse). Mitte üldse polnud mu peas mõtet end 11ks päevaks maailmast ära lõigata ja sellist hard core meditatsiooni teha, aga mida rohkem ma uurisin ja otsisin seda enam tuli vipassana mulle ette ning tuli mõte, et hea küll, kui juba teha siis korralikult.
Oma vipassanat tegin ma põhja Indias Rajastani piirkonnas Jodhpuri külje all in the middle of nowhere. Rääkides täpsemalt, mis vipassana on, siis tegu on vana meditasiooni tehnikaga, mille baasõpe võtab aega 10 päeva. Vipassana ise tähendab näha asju nii nagu nad on ja kuulsin selle kohta meeletult head, kuidas peale seda 10 päeva inimesed tunnevad end nii hästi ja said asjad selgeks jne ehk tundus väärt seda proovida. Kuigi KÕIK, mida ma selle laagri kohta lugesin on täiestiiiiiii minu mugavustsoonist välja ja täiesti vastand minule ja minu elustiilile. Aga vahest peabki oma mugavusest välja tulema ja proovima midagi tãiesti uut ja seda see oli.
Laager oli range! Siin pean ma silmas, et lausa väga range. Telefonid, läpakad, kaamerad, raamatud, märkmikud, pastakad jms välismaailmaga seonduva pidi ära andma. Füüsilist tegevust teha ei tohtinud, sest fookus pidi olema ainult vaimsel poolel. Ainuke füüsiline tegevus, mida me tohtisime teha oli jalutamine (olgu öeldud, et minu toast, mis oli ala kõige tagumine punkt kuni söögitoani, mis oli kõige ees, oli 208 sammu ehk see oli siis see liikumisala). Päevas oli 3 toidukorda. Toidud oli lihtsad taimetoidud, kuid väga maitsvad. Kuigi väga, väga minimaalsete variatatsioonidega oli täpselt sama toit 11 päeva järjest. Päevas oli kokku 10 (!!!) tundi meditatsiooni. Ma olen elus 1x varem proovinud ja nüüd ühtäkki veetsin pmst terve päeva mediteerides. Ning parim osa- äratus oli kell 4 öösel!!!( justnimelt öösel, sest 4 ei lähe mitte kuidagi hommiku alla minu silmis). Terved need 10 päeva pidime järgima Noble Silencit ehk me ei tohtinud mitte midagi rääkida, omavahel ei tohtinud suhelda ka kehakeeles ning silmsidet pidi vältima. Seda kõike, et tekiks võimalikult suur isolatsioonitunne ja kõik saaksid iseenda mõtetega tegelda. Näiteks ka söömise ajal olid toolid asetatud vaatega seina poole. Mu sõbrad pakkusid mu vastupidamisajaks 2 päeva, aga eksisid. Pidasin vastu kõik need 10 päeva, kuigi ütlen väga ausalt, et see oli minu jaoks väga raske ning mul käis pidev võitlus iseendaga, et seal vastu pidada lõpuni. Praegu mul on vãga hea meel, et ma ei andnud alla ja tegin midagi enda jaoks nii võõrast. Aga miks see oli raske? See kella 4ne ärkamine ja vaikus polnud minu jaoks mitte mingid probleemid. Vaikuse osa ma lausa nautisin ja hea meelega oleks veel 10 päeva täielikus vaikuses. Aga mis oli minu jaoks raske oli vabaduse tunde kaotamine. Ma teadsin, et ma olen seal vabatahtlikult ja ideaalis võin oma kompsud võtta ja lahkuda, kuigi see tähendaks allaandmist. Seal olles puudus täielik kontroll asjade üle ning järgisin vaid etteantud päevakava. Teine ja kõige suurem põhjus oli mediteerimine. Ma ausalt niiii vãga tahaks, et ma oleks in selles, aga kahjuks vist pole väga. Minu jaoks on väga raske oma sadat korraga peas tiirlevat mõtet vãlja saada ning hingamisele või sensatsioonidele keskenduda. Ning samuti positsiooni hoidmine. 5.st päeva paluti meil grupisessioonide ajal hoida ainult 1 asendit ilma silmi avamata ja liigutamata. Passi järgi peaksin olema nagu 28, aga seal olles tundus nagu oleksin 78. Polnud vist kohta mu kehas, mis ei valutanud. Minu esimene katse liikumatuna olla toimus vist 4.päeva õhtul, kus otsustasin, et peaks end kokku võtma ja iga 10minuti järel asendi vahetamised lõpetama. Kuna viimane meditatsioon oli kõige lühem ehk ainult 30min, siis see tundus proovimiseks väga hea. Kuigi põlved nutsid valust, siis sain ilusti hakkama. Krapsasin püsti, et lõpuks unne minna( kell oli alles 21, aga und hakkasin juba kl 17st ootama :D ) ning astusin saalist välja. Ja siis…ohsssaaa säde. Mõtlesin, et esimene põõsas, millest ma möödusin, et sinna ma vist kukun ja jään oma ööd veetma. Jalad oli täiesti surnud ja krambis. Imestan, et üldse püsti sain. Lõpupoole sain juba ilusti terve tunni asendit hoida ja suutsin 90% ajast ka õigele asjale keskenduda, ehk selle mõttes olen ma väga õnnelik, et areng oli päris korralik. Aga nagu mainisin, siis võitlus iseendaga oli suur. Kuigi päevakava oli täpselt sama, siis iga päev tundus täiesti erinev.
1. Päev oli kõik uus ja põnev. Nautisin, et ei pidanud kellegagi suhtlema ja elu oli lill. Kuigi tundus, et see 1 päev kestis nagu nädala.
2. Päev möödus selle eest just kiiresti kuna ajakava oli selge.
3. Päev oli kõige raskem. Ja öeldaksegi, et kui selle päeva üle elada, siis on suur raskus seljataga. Too päev olin ma umbes 50x oma peas valmis lahkuma. Selleks ajaks oli uudsuse efekt kadunud ning ees tundus olevat veel üüratu pikk aeg. Kuupäev 14.02 ei paistnudki tabloolt kaduvat ja tundus nagu ka see päev kestaks nädala.
4. Oli jälle rahulik ja taaskord suutsin endale meelde tuletada, et miks ma seal olen.
5. Päeval oli mul jõhker peavalu ehk kogu aeg voodi vahet siblides möödus päev kiiresti. Ja mediteerida oli ka kuidagi lihtsam, sest suur valu ei lasknud muudel mõtetel vist ligi tulla.
6. Pea oli veel paks aga valu kadunud, kuid lisandus täiesti punane ja kipitav silm. Hakkasin mõtlema, et mu keha vist protesteerib selle kõige vastu.
7. Oli kõige edukam. Enesetunne oli okei, kuigi nägin ikka veel korralik punasilm välja. Ning suutsin end ilusti kokku võtta ja KÕIK 3 grupisessiooni+ õhtune ka veel olla liikumatult ja keskenduda vipassanale.
8. Oli jälle täielik langus. Tänu sellele, et eelmine päev istusin nii stillilt, ei suutnud siis kauem kui 15 min ühes asendis olla. Kopp oli sellest kohast ees, mõtted hakkasid otsa saama ja suhkruvajadus oli niiii meeletu. Mu suurim unistus oli pakk küpsiseid.
9. Päev veetsin oma toas, sest sain toidumürgituse vms ning ei suutnud üldse liikuda. Kaks tüdrukut peale minu olid veel samas seisus, kuigi 11kesi sõime täpselt sama toitu ehk väga veider.
10. Viiiiiiiimane päev. See oli kohati maailma tagasitulemise päevana mõeldud, sest pealelõunat sai vaikus läbi ja saime ka oma asjad tagasi. TEHTUD! Küpsised hakkasid juba käeulatusse tulema.

Vaatamata minu allaandvale kehale sai vaim võitu ning suutsin vipassana lõpetada. Ma ei kahetse, et ma sinna läksin. Ei saa küll öelda, et need 10 päeva oleks pildi nüüd selgeks löönud, aga tõesti oli vaja aeg maha võtta ja oma mõtted korda saada ning minu elus on just praegu  see aeg, kus midagi sellist teha. Samas kohati mulle tundub, et see oli nagu pea ees väga sügavasse vette hüppamine minu jaoks. Vipassanat soovitaks me neile, kes on kas tulised meditatsiooni austajad või oma eluga parasjagu tupikus, niisama seda minna proovima tundub minu jaoks väga ekstreemne, aga samas inimesed on erinevad. Pikk jutt tuli. Lisan ka pildimaterjali ja kellel on vipassana kohta küsimusi, siis küsige julgelt.

My room

Söögituba/ dining room

Meditation hall

Jalutusrada/ walking path

Our vipassana girls

I’ll start this post by explaining why I decided to do smth like this in a first place. I am (or at least trying to be and that’s the advice I always give to others) a person who thinks that when smth is wrong and a person is unhappy with themself, job, lifestyle etc then it needs to be changed. Or at least one should try to make a change, because just complaining and whining about it never makes it better. This time I decided to follow my own advise. For quite a while now I have felt very unmotivated, constantly tired, moody and in general bit confused. Whenever I planned this trip I knew it will be different from the ones from the past. This time I really wanted to take time off and work with myself. Although in my head I was planning some sort of 3-5 days yoga/meditation/chillax camp to think things through. But the more I looked then the more I came across Vipassana. At first it seemed quite scary and a mouthful for me but the more I thought about it then  I realised that if to do smth like this then do it properly.
Vipassana is an old meditation style and it means to see the things as they really are. I heard so much good about it and how it changed people’s lives and decided to give it a go. In my life this is the time to do smth like this if ever. The base course for vipassana is 10 days long and ohhhhh boy they have rules. Everything vipassana and the camp are, is totally opposite from me and my lifestyle. But I think it’s important to step out of the comfortzone every once in a while. Tho on this case the comfortzone was so far I didn’t even see it anymore. I did my vipassana course in Northern India, Rajasthani state, close to Jodhpur.
To start, we had to give away our phones, laptops, cameras, books, notebooks, pens and whatever reminds us the outside world. We were not allowed to do any physical exercise, because focus had to be in mental work. Only exercise we were allowed was calm walking, but from my room, which was at the far end of the complex to another end of the complex was 208 steps, so wasn’t a big place :D The timetable was very strict. We had 3 meals a day. All simple, yet very delicious Indian vegetarian dishes. Tho with very small changes we had the same meals for 11 days on a row. We spent 10 (!!!) hours a day meditating (I’ve spent 40 minutes so long in my life). And the wake up was 4am at night (yes, NIGHT, not morning in my eyes). And the whole time we had to follow the noble silence, meaning that we were not allowed to talk. And in that matter not allowed to use any gestures and were supposed to avoid eye contact as well. Just to feel as isolated as possible. For example during our meals the chairs were facing the wall, so we had our food staring at the wall.
My friends told me I will last for 2 days being silent and even I myself were not sure if I can do the whole thing. But I did it and I am very proud of myself for not quitting. This really is one of the most out of my comfortzone things that I have ever done. Although I have to admit that it was hard. Very hard. And I had a massive battle with myself most of the time. Waking up at 4am or being silent for 10 days were not hard at all. In fact I really enjoyed the silence part and would to another 10 on a top. What was hard was firstly the lack of freedom. Even one of my tattoos means freedom, so lacking it sort of freaked me out. And the second and most hardest part was the meditation. I constantly have like 100 thoughts in my head, so to push them aside and concentrate on breathingg or sensations seemed impossible to me. Especially 10 hours a day. Secondly staying in one position. On the 5th day they asked us to stay absolutely still in one position without opening our eyes during group sessions and omg that’s where the pain started. According to my passport I should be 28, but I surely felt like 78 most of vipassana. Every inch of my body was in ache. I think it was the 4th night when I decided I can’t change my position in every 10 minutes and should pull myself together. I thought that the last sitting before sleep is the shortest, only 30 minutes, so this is the best to start being still. And I was able to do it, although my knees were crying half the time. When the meditation was over I jumped up, excited to go to bed (it was 9pm, but I normally started to look forward sleeping time already at 5pm). As soon as I walked out and saw the first bush infront of the hall, I thought I will just fall into that bush and spend my night over there, because my legs were so dead and I couldn’t move. At the end of the vipassana I was able to sit still one hour straight as well and actually concentrate on the things I was supposed to do... At least most of the time. So I am actually very happy that the improvement in my meditation skills was quite good.
But as I said the battle with myself was quite hard and although we had the exact schedule for each day then they were all still so different from one another.
1. Days was all very new and interesting. I was happy to be there, tho the day seemed to last for a week.
2. Day on the other hand went by very fast since we were already familiar with the timetable.
3. Day was the hardest. The effect of novelty was gone and it seemed like forever until the end. This was the day when I was really batteling not to back my things and leave.
4. Day was okay again and I managed to remind myself why was I there in the first place.
5. Day went by very fast since I got a heavy headache and spent every free second in bed. Somehow meditating was first time manageble for me. Maybe because the pain was so strong and didn’t let any other thoughts in, but I was able to concentrate on right things.
6. Head was still heavy but not sore anymore, but I managed to wake up with a red and sore eye that day. Really started to think that my body is protesting against this whole thing.
7. Day was the most successful. I felt better and actually managed to sit through all group sittings+evening sitting still and almost all the time concentrate on what I was supposed to.
8. Was another down day. I couldn’t sit still at all and really started to miss freedom outside those walls. Also I had a sugar craving that drove me crazy. My biggesst dream during that time was a package of cookies.
9. Day I spent mostly in bed. Had some sort of foodpoisoning or smth like this. Which is weird because only 2 girls got the same thing but 11 of us ate the exact same food from the exact same pots and pans.
10. Last day. This was meant to be as a day to return to the normal world. After lunch we got our belongings back and were able to talk again. DONE!!! (And the cookies seemed more realistic now as well)

Despite my body giving up on me, my mind still got the victory and I finished the vipassana. Even if I think about it now it seems like a jump to a very deep water then I am still happy and proud of myself for finishing it. I can’t say that all the problems got solved within those 10 days doing vipassana, but at least I got the well needed time off to calmly think about things. Above there is are pictures about the camp and if anyone has questions then feel free to ask.

Sri Lanka 🇱🇰

Kes oleks arvanud, et täpselt 2 aastat hiljem leian oma tee jälle Sri Lankale. Mina mitte, aga nii see on. Seekord alustasin oma põgenemist külma talve eest 25. jaanuaril ning veetsin Sri Lankal kaks nädalat. Kõigepealt Eesti talvest taastudes ranniku ääres 10 päeva ja siis 4 trippisin keskel ning tegin ära asjad, mis eelmine kord jäid tegemata.
Miks ma üldse Sri Lankale uuesti sattusin on ExtremeTribe. See on nimelt uus ja põnev asi, mis toob kokku inimesed, kellel on võimalus tööd teha kust iganes ning soovivad ka väikest vürtsi ekstreemspordi näol oma ellu. Seekordne trip oli suunatud surfamisele ning võib öelda, et suht edukalt kuna lauale püsti said kõik 😊
Veetsime oma aja mõnusas majas Ahangama nimelises külakeses ning ookean oli meie casast vaid mõnekümne meetri kaugusel. Mulle mitte omaselt oli tegelikult väga kihvt alustada päeva koos päikesetõusu ja surfilauaga lainetes või rannaliival kerget hommikujooksu tehes.
Soovitan kindlasti ExtremeTribe tegevusel sotsiaalmeedias ja kodukal (www.extremetribe.net) silma peal hoida, sest potensiaalselt on need parimad tööpäevad, mis te ette oskate kujutada😊
Mingi hetk saabus padukat trotsides öelda meie casale, tribele ja ookeanile tsau pakaa ning võtta ette reis mägisemasse piirkonda. Mu kindel soov oli teha Ellast-Kandysse rongireis, mis erinevate allikate kohaselt peaks olema maailma kõige ilusaim rongisõit. Ning pettuma ei pidanud. Sõit kestis vist umbes 6 tundi ning valisin varahommikul, päikesetôusuga lahkuva rongi ning tõesti-WOW!! Sõit helesinises rongis, kus sai istuda ja niisama kõlkuda uste vahel, sõites samal ajal läbi mägede, orgude, metsade ja teeistanduste. Meeletult ilus! Seda tehes oli mul hea meel, et sattusin tagasi Sri Lankale ja seda kogeda sain.
Veetsin 2 ööd Ella nimelisel armsas linnakeses ning ühe taanlasega rentisime rollu ja trippisime mööda koski, mãgesid, matkasime Little Adam’s peaki otsa ning külastasime 9 Arch silda. Edasi põrutasime 2ks ööks Kandysse, kust tegime ka Sigirya, mis on siis keset metsasid suur kivi. Kõlab lambilt, aga tegelt on see väga kihvt kui üksikult ja suurena ja seal puude vahel ilutseb. Kuna see on Sri Lanka üks populaarsemaid turistikohti, siis rahvast siblis seal korralikult, aga oligi hea, sest me targa peaga alustasime ronimist keskpäeval ja kuuma oli umbes 35 kraadi. Aga taaskord väga kihvt päev. Kesk Sri Lanka on minu silmis kuidagi nii erinev ranniku omast. Selline tunne nagu oleks hoopis teise riiki sattunud.
Aga ega ma rohkem ei kribagi, kuna mingi jutt Sri Lanka kohta on juba olemas ka 2017. Aastast. Sri Lankat soovitan kindlasti külastada, kellel soovi mõnd uut ja eksoolitilist kohta avastada. Seal on ilusad rannad, mãed, imeline toit, odav sihtkoht ja toredad kohalikud.

7am scooter ride to the beach

Ahangama

Little Adam's peak

Ella to Kandy

Sigiriya

Who would have known that almost exactly 2 years after leaving Sri Lanka I will find my way back here. Not me, but deffinitely an awesome place to return. The main reason for Sri Lanka this time was a thing called ExtremeTribe. It is a community that connects people who can do remotely working and also have a passion for extreme sports. The aim of this trip was surfing and safe to say that first of all Sri Lanka is a great place to learn surfing and secondly it was a great success since everyone got up on the boards. We lived in a cute house, which was loccated about 50meters from the ocean and so unlike me, it was an awesome to wake up with the sunrise and spend the early mornings in the waves with the board or jogging on the beach. There will definitely be other trips as well, so keep an eye out on social media for ExtremeTribe and for more information go to www.extremetribe.net
After spending 10 days down at the coast it was time to back my bags and disvover this part of Sri Lanka that I didn’t last time. I really wanted to to the Ella to Kandy trainjourney, which is supposed to be the prettiest trainride in the world and it definitely is worth the title. I took the really early morning train and riding through the hills, valleys, forests and teaplantations while the sun was still getting high up was just incredible. Also in Sri Lanka the trains are open so half the time we were sitting on the doorstep feet hanging out. Amazing! In Ella we stayed for 2 nights and also did the Little Adam’s peak hike, waterfalls and the famous 9 Arch bridge. After the trainjourney we spent 2 nights in Kandy as well where we did the Sigiriya rock, which is a random big rock in the middle of forest, but very cool. Since Sigiriya is one of the most famous tourist sights in Sri Lanka then there were loads of people and going up was quite slow, but probably it was for the best since we started to climb in the midday so it was like 35 degrees outside.
All and all I would say that Sri Lanka is an amazing place and I would definitely recommend to visit it. If time I would try to to both-the beauuuuutiful coastline with the amazing beaches as well as the mountanious central part since they seem like 2 different countries.

Morocco 🇲🇦

Clearly I am a ridiculosuly slow when it comes to writing my blog. On the 8th of May I finally pulled myself together to write about my trip to Morocco, which was in January. To be honest I have been crazy busy with school and my final thesis and stressing out about it, so the time since January is like a big blur to me anyways. But finally spring is here, sun is out and time to remind the last time I was in a hot weather.

Trip to Morocco was very random, another country that has never been on my list of countries I definitely want to go, but somehow ended up there. Main reason I chose Morocco was the weather. Even in January it feels like a proper summer and since I wasn’t able to get more than a week off, then there was no point to fly somewhere very far. But sun was needed, Morocco is still relatively close and flights were quite cheap.

First I was in Rabat, which is the capital of Morocco, for few days and to be honest I did freaked out a little bit, because no one spoke english and it had hardly any other tourists there. Probably because it was the low season, but I still felt like I am the odd one out, while I was walking around. (Btw fun fact that I didn’t know before, then although the official language is arabic, then french is widely spoken out there)

Rabat has a lovely coastline and is a quite known destination amongst surfers, so it was lovely to walk down there, listen to locals play music, play football and just breath in the tropical air. All and all there is not much to do in Rabat, as I mentioned it is not very touristy, but that is actually why I am happy that I went there and would recommend it to others as well, because it is much better to see the true local life in such places, rather than in places that only focus on tourism.

After two nights there it was time for a half a day train journey to Marrakech, which is one of the most known places in Morocco and the whole vibe was totally different. It felt like being back in a western country, where everyone speaks english, lots of international shops and food places around etc. Marrakech has many palaces, massive market, gardens and in general if I could choose I would definitely pick Marrakech to go to.

What I did like about Morocco is that as mentioned the weather was already amazing, like European summer, in January, but since the cultural differences, I wasn’t able to enjoy it, because it is polite to cover yourself in public and in 25 C heat I was wearing a long skirt and a scarf around my shoulders, when my normal me was crying inside, because I wanted to wear shorts and a tanktop. Although in Marrakech I did saw people with t-shirts and knee-lenght shorts, but I think it is important to respect the country and it’s culture when travelling around, so I chose sweating underneath my scarf instead.

Another thing I liked was the food- all those tagines and cous-cous, which were available everywhere. One of my favourite thing when travelling around is to try typical food in each country and I definitely approve Moroccoan food and sweets. What was a surprise then althought Marrakech is very touristy, then alcohol is not available almost anywhere. We spotted one restaurant that served it, but the price was ridiculous, way more expensive than in a bar in Estonia for example.

Cous-cous meal

Serving Moroccoan tea in Rabat

Thirdly I liked the culture. I could feel it straight away how much culture this country has and it was so different from places I have visited recently.

What I didn’t like about Morocco was that you always have to haggle about the price and I suck at this. Secondly felt very exhausting, we stayed in a riad (Moroccoan typical house, with an open courtyard) and it was in the middle of the markets, so to get to our riad, we always had to walk through the market and BOY it was massive and exhausting. For the locals we just looked like to walking dirham bills (currency there).

Thirdly we had few occasions when what we ordered was not what showed up. Firstly it happened in Rabat when I ordered vegetarian tagine, and infront of me was placed a minced meat tagine. And secondly in Marrakech market, there are pop up restaurants, which are numbered (avoid them!!) when we ordered one cous-cous and one tagine and the guy asked if we wanted fries or salad as well, although we said no, then all of this, including with untasty bread was placed infront of us and we were charged for it later. So in Morocco you can order whatever you want, but you get what they want you to eat :D

And finally, SNAKES!!!! In the markets there are several spots, where local guys play flute or smth and then there are bunch of cobras and other snakes chilling around them, FREELY, without a gate or anything. I still have nightmares about that creepy flute music, knowing there are snakes in the same area with me. One guy started to approach me with one, thinking I want to take a photo or smth. I didn’t see it myself, but one moment my friend was poking me and I almost had an heart attack. Fastest I have ran in years.

All and all I do recommend Morocco and although I didn’t had enough time to explore the country not even near as much as it should be explored, then I think I did get a quite good idea what it is all about and although I am not going to rush back any time in a near future, because my logic is that the world is wide and I want to see everything, then this is definitely a good spot to experience something new and enjoy the sunshine.

Spain 🇪🇸

Finally, over two months later, it is time to write down my adventures in Spain. This post will come only in english, since the estonian one is mostly for my mom, but she was in that trip anyways and to be honest then I already thought I will not write anything about Spain... but here it is.
Why Spain? Because my amazing cousin Kaidi decided to get married in Spain. I don't even know why, but Spain did not attract me at all. I knew it was there, one of the most popular holiday destinations amongst europeans, but somehow I always looked past it when planning my trips, but I was still very excited when Kaidi told me where the wedding is going to take place.
What was supposed to be a week in Spain for Kaidi's wedding turned out to be a 3.5 week long trip for me. I can't remember who, but one of my friend said that I just don't know how to take a regular week or 2week holiday like normal people and I think it is so true :D
We started our trip early morning on the 14th of September from Tallinn to Malaga with quite a long stop over in Brussels, where we spent a day walking around the city. The wedding took place in Nerja, which is about 50km from Malaga and by the time we finally got to our accommodation, we had been on the road for 18 hours and this time I wasn't alone listening to my music all the time. This time my mom, uncle, uncle's woman and Kadi were also with me, so in my mind it was a rather large group to get to the destination and safe to say that after those 18 hours arriving at 1am my nerves were ditching me already :D

Nerja

Thankfully next morning the sun was shining, Spain seemed awesome and I was happy :) The wedding itself was on the 17th of September and all I can say about it is "WOW". It is hard to take my breath away, but when Kaidi walked in, I was out of breath, she looked gorgeous x100. The whole wedding was just amazing and I am beyond happy for the two lovebirds.

Reio & Kaidi

 ❤

With my brother

While in Nerja, we also had a day trip to Malaga, visited Kings Path (Camino del Rey) and Nerja Caves. The week went by very fast, including way too many sangrias and crazy amount of seafood paella.

La Familia

Mom

Camino del Rey

Camino del Rey

Post wedding pool party

On the 21st of September it was time to send my family back to Estonia, I stayed another night in the villa with Kaidi and the day after I sat alone in the bus on my way to Malaga for one night to start my little trip alone. It was so weird, because sitting in that bus I somehow felt so out of comfort zone and in a long time I was a bit afraid to go somewhere alone. Maybe because this week was so full of people and there was hardly any time to be alone and now I was in the same place but alone. Even the whole evening in Malaga I felt a bit out of my comfort zone but then I did a pub crawl and was back in my backpacking zone.
The next day, being wrecked as, I took an 8 hour bus to Alicante. Honestly,  I have no glue why I felt so obsessed that I have to go to Alicante, since I didn't know much about it, but randomly I chose this place to go and now I am beyond happy I did :) Alicante is awesome, with bright blue skies, sunshine, nice beaches, amazing party and a town, that has everything but is not too big. I stayed there for three nights and my favourite night of the whole trip happened in Alicante as well, when we went to the beach with a group of around 8 people, listened to guitar, sang and had drinks there. It was end of September and sitting there in shorts, listening to the waves and watching stars- perfection!

Alicante

X Hostel

After 3 nights I went to Valencia and stayed there for two nights, but after sunny Alicante Valencia seemed just another big city to me. I mean it was also nice, but I have no crazy emotions about it. Despite the fact I stayed alive. I still don't know what happened, but one afternoon my health went from okay to very bad in just few minutes. All of a sudden I was lying on a bathroom floor, couldn't move myself, breath or even say anything. Thankfully Georgie came look for me and got me medicine and water, so an hour later I could at least stand up to go to bed, but honestly I don't think I have even felt so fucked up in my life before, and seriously no idea why it happened.

Valencia

After Valencia I made my way up to Barcelona for almost a week and I have mixed feelings about Barcelona.I do like so many things about it. Cute little narrow streets in the gothic quater, nice cathredals, pretty beach and so much to do, but somehow I wouldn't hurry to return there. Maybe because a week over there was enough but propably because the day I left Barcelona I was proper pissed off and I think that might have put me off a little bit.
But as said then there are many things to do there. We went to Güell park, mount Tibitabo, markets, beach, walked through the old town, had sooo much seafood and churros.

La Sagrada Familia

Mount Tibidabo

On the 3rd of October I was supposed to fly back to Estonia, but because of the Catalonian protests I missed my flight, because the protesters were literally in the middle of a highway and there was a huuuuuge traffic jam. Safe to say I was beyond pissed off, since in my head I was going to sleep in my own bed that night. When I finally got to Girona (where my flight was supposed to take off) and saw I missed it by half an hour, I just sat down and thought "what now?". The flighst any direction towards Estonia were so expensive, I really didn't wanna stay in Barcelona any longer, so in my head I had to turn the bad situation good again and take it as extra days for my holiday. I decided to go back to Alicante and stayed there for another 4 days. Let's say that Spain is not the worst place to be trapped at and it all worked out fine, because I had an amazing time in Alicante.

Alicante

When before I had no emotions about Spain, then now I absolutely love it and can't wait to go back. Amazing food (especially seafood), very cheap drinks ( 1 bottle of wine is 1 euro...#mindblown), nice weather and friendly people. I am beyond happy that I took more time off to explore this beautiful country and once again met so many awesome people during this trip, who will definitely stay in my heart for a long time :)

Nerja

Alicante

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