Mark Lilly
All characters and events in this blog -- even those based on real people -- are entirely fictional. The following blog contains coarse language, poor grammar and spelling and due to its content should not be viewed by anyone. bluenazar
Please visit Enlivened.org for information on topics used in my blog such as yoga,meditation and shamanism.
Travel Blog Posts
November 20th 2009
After a quick escape from the tepid and foreboding heat of the north of India we arrived in the lush green mountains of Nepal to the remote little town of Tansen. It was worlds away from the urban chaos of Varanasi and the cool misty mountain air made it so much easier to breathe. Unfortunately, the weather was again not on our side as it was the wet season here the constant downpour of rain made us not able to see more than the four corners of the hotel room. We pressed onwards to the tourist mad hotspot of Pokhara for hopefully a glimpse of the mighty Himalayas but all we saw was heavy cloud cover which even made the idea of any trekking unthinkable. On top of this the multitude of overpriced souvenir shops ... read more
August 23rd 2009
Nothing can prepare you for arrival in India. No matter how many stories you have read or experiences you have heard no preparation can really help for what can await you in this amazingly diverse and huge country. Our arrival to Bangalore airport was without much hassle and we were surprisingly greeted with a chilly night and cool breeze passing through. In the city centre it was difficult to find much around at night so we settled for the nearest hotel we could find even though it was quite a dump for quite a lot of money. The first thing to grow accustomed to in this country is the pollution. Here it comes in almost all varieties possible. Firstly, the stench from many of the unclean streets where people are dumping their rubbish which never gets ... read more
July 6th 2009
Occasionally on my many travels, plenty of travellers would ask me curiously what is the best place I have been to. Of course, this is a question that is extremely difficult to answer for many reasons. For one, you may have had an amazing experience in a place due to the people you happened to be with or just bump into. Perhaps it was due to your particular state of mind you were in at the the time or even something simple as that the weather was amazing that could even turn a dreary city into paradise. You could say it has fantastic beaches but you may not even like beaches or perhaps it has a great pub scene and you dont drink. What could possible make you judge a place in such a fashion. Still, ... read more
June 6th 2009
We powered down the Pacific highway towards our next destination of Sydney at lightning speed. The wide open Australian road made it easy to drive quickly and with little hassle (Apart from the odd speed camera!) There is an indescribable feeling of freedom and power that comes with having your own car. The ability to go wherever you want whenever you want to with one arm hanging out the window, the stereo blazing there is nothing quite like it. With my hair blowing back in the wind it almost felt as if something was wrong. This was all too easy, such immense beauty with nothing to worry about, it was TOO PERFECT. It was as if I felt something should go wrong to make it more exciting. But it wasn’t to be that way, the ... read more
Chased by a cyclone
Published: July 25th 2009Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Litchfield National Park
February 28th 2009
It had been a long and eventful day before I even realised I was on my way back to Australia after so long being out of the country. Four years had past in an almost similar fashion to the past few days in transit, a tornado of flighty, transient memories of great sceneries, interesting people and world ever full of mystery. It was only now a few minutes before touchdown in Darwin, memories from a further distant past came flooding back. I was home. Darwin is not my home city as it is still thousands of kilometres away in this vast continent it nevertheless maintained a familiar feel. As I handed my passport to the customs official rather than a welcoming I was interrogated at length as to my intentions in Darwin, suspicion was aroused as ... read more
February 14th 2009
"We are not trying to selling the tour. We are only give information on how to enjoying our country. Many people will trying to offer better price, but we can giving happy good time and looking after important tourist. We looking after you like family so have to paying higher price, we respecting the tourist so please taking the tour with us..." It had been almost a week of a whirlwind of travel. Intermixing between dusty polluted over crowded cities like Lima, Peru. Then heading westward and north visiting my cousin in cold and chilly San Francisco before finally touching down on a completely different world and reality known in this modern world as Thailand. Thailand is a country that is mentioned at least once on most travelers’ itinerary, and everyone has a different opinion. Some ... read more
January 19th 2009
We were awoken on New years day when the sun was barely rising over the horizon. It was dim and grey with a slight patter of rain tapping on the old tin roof that gave us shelter. Pekon Soi had arrived early looking bright and cheery as he always does and I started to wonder if he even sleeps at all. We were all still a bit dreggy from the previous nights festivities which concluded with some celebratory new years eves cheers and beers, effigy burning and even an alcohol induced fist fight amongst the locals showed that even in the deep jungle there are people that cant handle their grog. Pekon Soi had prepared a big pot of Ayauma fruit and leaves that he had been steeping overnight that we were to take a ... read more
December 31st 2008
Can you imagine a place in this world today where money is no longer needed, where endless varieties of fresh fruit trees are growing surrounded by crystal clear water filled with ample fish that are swimming around your ankles? It almost sounds like a dream to find a place where we are not caught in the endless monetary trap of buying and selling and worrying about bills and car payments working in a job we don’t even like. We thought we found this place in San Francisco yet the local people here are heading the other way. They want all the fancy gadgets the west has to offer and are already trapped in the vicious cycle to pay for these unnecessary things. After living in San Francisco, Peru for almost a month, I met up with ... read more
November 20th 2008
Pucallpa is in the heart of Peru. It lies about 1500kms from the coastal capital of Lima and is known as the gateway to the Amazon. It is on the river Ucayali which connects to Brazil and the mighty Amazon River. My main reason for coming to this area has been due to my long time curiosity with medicinal plants that come from this area and shamans that use these plants to cure apparent life threatening diseases and to gain knowledge directly from the deep states of mind some of these plants supposedly induce. Other bloggers such as Joel Harris and Soul Cultivator have only made me even more fascinated to come here and make my own personal viewpoint to whether it is real or just a big superstition. Pucallpa was quite diffe... read more
November 10th 2008
After crossing the border of Bolivia and entering Peru I passed the usual passport formalities without any hassle. I board a camioneta and head out towards the city of Puno. The area is dry and arid and there are low lying mountains spreading out towards the horizon. The air is cool and crisp and rather thin due to the extreme altitude almost reaching 4000 metres. I’m surprised that it has not affected me a great deal apart from feeling like I have smoked a pack of camel cigarettes after merely walking up a small hill. To my right spans the grand Lake Titicaca that glimmers a cool jewelled blue that strikes against the hot midday sun. As per usual the camioneta is over crammed with everything but the kitchen sink. I take a deep breath to ... read more
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