JensBusse

Winding down with the Weather The morning after my incredible luck at the glaciers, the weather was anything but pleasant. You will not be able to tell from the pictures I have chosen for the blogs, but I have had nasty weather on the way. But I have managed to time it, so that I have been on the road on those days and not missing out on anything really important. It is also a way of cleaning the dust of the EDS. I headed further south - into the mountains and stayed a couple of nights in Wanaka. Some of NZ's skiing territory is in this area, but the season was over weeks before I arrived and the summer activities had not really kicked off yet, so it was nice and quiet. I went tramping ... read more

Same Shit - Different Topic I drove into Raglan, settled down at the bar at a hotel and soon after Katka and her surfer friend Noah joined me. They gave me a quick update on the town. It is about SURFING. Apparently I had stumbled into one of the premier surf spots in the world. A Swedish guy I met at the backpacker place I stayed at, told me that he had been dreaming about that place for 15 years and it seemed like he was almost offended when I told him that I don't surf. I understand him a bit. When I had just started diving on Pulau Weh a group of young Danes showed up. They had no intention (or not enough money) to dive and I couldn't help asking why the hell they ... read more

Deep underwater. Deep, deep underwater Postscript: Damn. It took a long while to find the motivation to actually wrap up this blog. Even though it was more or less written it has taken me forever to make the final editing, but here it is. All of the underwater photos were made by Kari Kulonen. Entering the "real" world again My plan after Vipassana was to either go diving or if the meditation had put me in another mood then just head home. But fortunately my appetite for adventures had not been quenched by sitting still for a while. So after the wierdly emotional goodbyes at the Dhamma Center I went straight to the airport. One final note about the friendliness of my fellow Vipassanars (a new word I think). I was along with a couple of ... read more

Bhavatu Sabba Mangalam Wow. 10 Days Vipassana meditation course completed with almost flying colors, and all I have to do is describe it. Well, not so easy so I have spent a few days figuring out how to go about it. What the hell is meditation anyway? If you are anything like what I was just a couple of weeks ago, you only have a vague idea what meditation is. Something like sitting cross-legged and concentrating really hard and then you would be able to levitate within a few hours or read peoples' minds. I guess the best way to get an understanding is to simply just try it. If not the full ten days then at least 10 minutes. Even though I'm definitely not qualified to instruct anyone in Anapana or Vipassana meditation then here ... read more

Crazy Cambodia When I got of the bus in Phnom Penh there was a mass of tuk-tuk drivers trying to get our attention, but there was an Australian sounding thunder of a voice that caught my attention. It was Sam, a guy my age that spoke a mysteriously perfect English and he was to be my driver for the first two days in Phnom Penh. First of all he got me to a hotel that would be the perfect level of luxury after Southern Laos and then we agreed to meet the following morning. He proved to be an excellent guide! The plan was not a pleasant one. It was in fact to spend a day trying to fathom the attrocoties that Khmer Rouge comitted in this country between 1975 and 1979. I have tried to ... read more