manuel
WELCOME!weltenwanderer
Perceiving life as a journey of learning and searching for deeper understanding, I have always been interested in exploring myself and the world. Being fortunate of having currently the opportunity to travel and gather valueable experiences far away from home, I feel that this is a very important time in and for my life...
To be able to share at least a tiny little bit with you, I have set up this blog. With only a few fotos per entry and a super-basic written description (sorry for being such a lazy writer) I am aware of the fact that this will only transfer a very small fragment of my experiences to you. But even a little glimpse can be of value and I hope you will enjoy it!
And I also want thank all those inspiring and great people I met and continue to meet along my way. You are an essential part of my journey!
Your comments & remarks are welcome, you can post under "comments" in each entry - in any language, of course ;-)
Love,
Manuel
Travel Blog Posts
the andaman islands - welcome to paradise!
Published: March 15th 2007Asia » India » Andaman & Nicobar Islands
March 13th 2007
A month on the Andaman islands seemed to be quite a long time. But now, when I look back, it is simply incredible how quickly these weeks have passed by... At the 10th of February I arrived in Port Blair, the little capital of the Andaman islands. It was obvious for me from the beginning on that the life on these little islands east of the mainland is very different. The omnipresent overcrowdedness of India does not apply here and the pace of life is way slower. It was not surprising to find out that they even have a "siesta". From 1 pm to 4 pm all the little shops on the islands are closed. I wrote my last e-mails from Port Blair and visited the so called "cellular jail" in town, where the independence fighters ... read more
February 9th 2007
Together with Adi and Melanie I left Hampi on a bus to Bangalore, the "IT-capital" of India. We stayed there for one night. The city is noisy and dirty, but also incredibly "western" - full of fastfood restaurants and huge stores. From McDonalds to Levi's, everything is there... My 2 friends continued to Kerala and I took a nightbus to Pondicherry at the southern eastcoast. Pondicherry is a small french-colonial town where french bakeries and indian foodstalls peacfully coexist. People go there mainly for 2 reasons - either to visit the famous Sri Aurobindo ashram or nearby Auroville, a big alternative UNESCO approved community-village which was founded at the beginning of the 70'ies. I came here for Auroville, but first I spent 2 days in the internetcafes of Pondicherry and worked on this blog. It has ... read more
January 23rd 2007
With Sandie and BJ I took the longest bus-ride in local buses so far - destination Hampi. With 6 different buses and about 3 hours waitingtime at a bus-station we arrived at 4 am in the morning in Hosped. There we slept at the bus station for about 3 hours to take the first connection in the morning to Hampi. Hampi is actually a tiny village in a huge and amazing landscape of strange rock-formations with old Hindu-temples spread all over this huge area. It used to be the heart of a big Hindu-empire - it's enchanting buildings and temples are simply amazing. Due to the e-mail contact I knew that Adrian and Melanie, two of the hometown-friends I met in Pushkar, are currently here too. I found them at probably one of the nicest situated ... read more
January 15th 2007
Together with dhamma-brother Jeroen from the Netherlands I left Aurangabad to go to Goa. With the bus we went first to Pune and from there continuing to Goa. We had heard that Arambol was one of the most quiet beaches in the busy Goa-scene, so we went there. Taking the local bus to Arambol I was impressed by the beautiful scenery of Goa - like a different world within India. Beautiful green nature, palmtrees, ricefields and beaches combined with portuguese architecture and mostly christian religion... But arriving in the highseason shortly after new-year even Arambol was a very busy place, crowded with people and not so peaceful as I hoped it would be... Nevertheless we passed an excellent week there - specially after more people from the Vipassana-crew unexpectedly appeared in Arambol 2 days later too! ... read more
new year with dhamma-people in aurangabad
Published: January 29th 2007Asia » India » Maharashtra » Aurangabad
January 5th 2007
The vipassana-course ended in the morning of the 31rst of Dec. I intended to go directly to Aurangabad to be able to visit the ancient caves of Ellora... Connecting with fellow meditators who are traveling too, we ended up being a huge group of about 15 dhamma-people taking the train to Aurangabad. Although we haven't been communicating during the course until the last day, it was as if we had known each other for a very long time and we enjoyed a very inspiring "togetherness" from the beginning on. After we meditated together, we spent new year's eve calmly in an excellent indian restaurant, going to sleep shortly after midnight... The next day I got my first indian haircut and we made people smile with a little performance in the street. BJ with his amazing devil-sticks, ... read more
January 1st 2007
From Mumbai I continued to a little town called Igatpuri. Exactly in time to start the 10-days Vipassana meditation course I have had already registered for when I was in Bolivia. In Igatpuri you find Dhamma-Giri - the seat of the Int. Vipassana Research Institute and biggest Vipassana-meditation center in the world. Vipassana is a non-sectarian and non-religious meditation-technique discovered by Buddha. The technique was long lost in India but well preserved over generations in Burma, from where it got reintroduced to India by S.N. Goenka at the beginning of the 70's. This 10-day courses are donation-based and run by volunteers. Centers are spread all over the world today... Inspired by my brother, who started to practice when he was in India about 3 years ago, I did a course in Switzerland already a year before. ... read more
one night in mumbai - biggest city of india
Published: January 29th 2007Asia » India » Maharashtra » Mumbai
December 20th 2006
From Jodhpur I took a long trainride to Mumbai - the biggest metropolis of India. Arriving in the morning at the trainstation the first reaction was: ESCAPE - I have to leave instantly, this is too much for me! I was absolutely overwhelmed by the masses of people, the noise - simply everything. But I stayed and I didn't regret. Staying at the only cheap place you can find in Koloba - the dormitory of the "red shield army salvation hostel" I met Allan from France and Anna from Germany. Both had their last day(s) in India and we passed a nice evening together. After a couple of (really expensive) beers we went to the Gate of India where Allan was jamming on his guitar - an excellent musician! Good vibes! Greetings to you both... Alans ... read more
December 18th 2006
Last stop in Rajasthan was Jodhpur - also called the blue city because of its many blue buildings in the old part of the town. A smaller but busy city with an amazing fortress - the Mehrangarh fort. The fort is still owned by a Maharaja - those emperors who used to rule Rajasthan in earlier times... In Jodhpur I met 2 very sympathic norwegians in my hostal, Didrik and Fuscha from Oslo, and we spent two days together exploring the fortress and spending time stroling around in the colourful market of Jodhpur. Trying tea and spices, having good Thalis and nice talks... At the last day - I couldn't believe it - another amazing contact with Austria happened. Finishing a Skype-call in an internet-cafe with a friend in my hometown, a guy sitting there asks ... read more
December 15th 2006
From Pushkar I went back to Jaipur to catch the train to Jaisalmer - a small town with a beautiful fortress in the desert not far away from the border to Pakistan... Having 3 days time there I spent one day exploring the village and the next day I went on a camelsafari for one and a half days which was really good fun. Near the fort-entrance I found the "government authorised bhang-shop", where I purchased some "special cookies" that made my safari very special indeed... :-) The camelmen were really funny guys with good humour, singing traditional songs as well as fun-stuff in the evening around the fire... Sleeping under the clear sky in the desert, bright stars and a fresh breeze - simply beautiful. ... read more
vrindavan, agra, jaipur & holy pushkar
Published: January 29th 2007Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Agra
December 10th 2006
Because I wanted to be at a 10 day Vipassana-meditation course near Mumbai starting at the 20 of Dec., I had to schedule my way down through Rajasthan to Mumbai. Certainly not the way I like to travel normally, I booked my traintickets in Delhi giving me only a few days at some of the interesting destinations in the state of Rajasthan... From Delhi I went south to Agra, having a short stop in Vrindavan - the capital of the Hare Krishna religion. Agra itself is an ugly and absolutely chaotic city, uninteresting if there wasn't the worldfamous Taj Mahal. I have heard different things about it and I probably wouldn't have visited it if it hasn't been exactly on my route. But I have to admit that I was really impressed... It's definetly worth visiting ... read more
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