aaarghaaarghaaargh I am speechless, speechless, me cyant believe what you were storing in your insides, I feel terrible, thanks Claire, have decided that you just package your blog up into one big Booky Wook and that's it! No fancy editing. Just do it. Luv ya.xx
PS: At the beginning I almost didn't want to read about that crystal clear blue water and fishes as I sit in suburban dullness, but.....it just got better and better.
What Will Become Of Us All? So GLAD to have you back on your journey! Girl interupted back in UK did not suit you. I can hear the relief and the joy in your voice again and that makes me very happy for you. Thanks for your amazing account of the little viral Arab airplane boy...so sad that at such an early age sounds like he is already devoid of joy and happiness. Little boys no matter what nationality are supposed to laugh with you... no matter what it is that you are laughing about...sounds like he already has dreaded judgement running through his veins - so terribly sad. What indeed is going to become of us all if a little boy can't find joy in laughter? BIG hug. MUCH love. JUMBO joy. MAC from California
Tidy Kitchen! Good to see you both back at it again. Sorry not to have spoken again before you left. Was Wacko Jacko any help? Should have my flat ship shape just in time to move out. Go in peace, and see you again some day. Big hugx x x
take us places Claire! You really put us off travelling Claire, except when you get there, and then it starts to be more fun, with all those big buddhas around it should be calm no? V for Vendetta is my kinda film, sounds like you are not missing anything in fact. I just heard from a friend in Chile on his journey. We stay-at-homes just escape through the telly. Hugsxxx
bloody england thankyou sweetie,and people wonder why i england is the last place i would want to go to....enjoy your travels.im in L,a by the way,boooop boooooop love twatrick
Beautifully written as always Lovely blog Claire full of warmth and humanity and frustration and misery, travel is good for you no matter where you are going and Zen is it I think, am trying to dive into it but being in London makes one so angry it is difficult. Not sure what road you are both on but its a good one and your writing is superb as always, travels with my aunt is your nephew's creed from now on, luv ya.
You're back! Claire, I love your blog, love hearing your thoughts and your written voice. Take care in Thailand. Make sure all your diving equipment is in tip top shape, if indeed that is the direction your are going in.
I want to move to Bali, with my children. Can you go there while you are on your travels and scope me out a house please?
Kimxxx
Feliz Nuevo Ano! Dearest Claire, What a wonderful piece! I love your observations about England, they echo my experience returning to the US after time in beloved Guatemala. And your experience at Sheila's funeral was profound, a beautiful way to start the year and your new adventures. Thank you for sharing that. Much much much love to you from New Mexico! xoxo
it's all about the image (of the swiss): alps for breakfast Hi Claire
Reading your blog, was like walking the 42keys another time. Of course as Swiss we felt obliged to lead the group, even though we have never been climbing before. Sometimes people forget that Switzerland is, beside being neutral, a sailing (thanks Alinghi) and tennis (thansk Roger) nation. The alps are just a tourist attraction to us ;-)
Hope to read soon from your next journeys to the East.
Dont stop now. I loved your summing up of your brilliant travels so far. I can not wait to read where you go next, you have kept me entertained for months. Wishing you a happy new year. Sam
Going to Peru I loved reading ALL your journal entries and your comments on the different cultures. I, too, love C and S. Am and have just decided to return to Peru and try Columbia ( a first). I hope you are thinking of writing a book about your trip. There are many of us who dearly love those cultures and the sweetness and kindness of the people who live there. Thank you and safe trip home. Carolyn ( blogger name 'gunga')
awful tourists After your trek I hope you gave those Amex people what for! I would go one better and linger over the ruins in a helicopter, polluting your peace and the air and seeing the ruins my way, in fact shouldn't we be seeing all this from space and leave the earth entirely. Bit deep that one. Love your blisters....
visiting places I like your attitude. I always find it embarrassing to be with other visitors who treat the local people as though they are funny or odd, or worse, ignorant. So many tourists forget that people of different cultures often have skills that we are without, and sometimes have absolutely no need of our western skills. And not knowing the real effect of our presence (keeping children at home to attract tourists, for eg.) makes it difficult to know how to tread lightly, and yet show appreciation.
great photos.
Its amazing the different versions people-travellers-tourists are told when visiting somewhere. On these organised tours you can be told anything, then they hurried along to the next location, which I don’t like doing at all, so Thanks for your input I always love to hear from experienced others.
Tourist vs. travelers. Loved your blog. Have been to Cuzco twice ( once for the Solstice and Inti-Rami) and plan to go again. Have been told by several guides NOT to take pictures of little kids because the parents will never send them to school ( which is free)as they become the 'meal ticket'. Also, have been told that one of the reasons for the 'rosy' cheeks is because of the altitude and being so close to the sun.
Your description of the 'trophy wives' and the Texans was priceless. I just returned from a trip to Chile where several participants were solely interested in 'counting coutries' but seldom showed any interest in the culture or what was right in front of us.
Keep travelin'. Carolyn ( blogger name' Gunga')
Blue Balled Wow...closest thing I've ever run across in all my travels to your porno rickshaw driver was a blue-balled monkey who lived alone in a cage just down the hill from where the Delphic Oracle lived and worked on the Greek Island of Delphi and where the Omphalos Stone (thought to be the center of the earth & the universe - said to channel intoxicating vapors that were breathed in by the Oracle)was. This blue-balled boy was wacking his little monkey with the same vigor as your porno rickshaw driver. Perhaps it is all part of a bigger cosmic picture - a requirement of some sort for spiritual growth - a part of the soul journey - symbolic for something ....ah...but what exactly??? now there is something to think about! Hope you are feeling better. BIG hug. BIG Love. MAC from California.
peaceful silence enjoyed reading this part immensely, amiga ... I can relate to your appreciating that deep silence, as I have a similar memory walking in very deep snow in northern Alberta, with the air so cold that it sparkled and the stars snapping bright in the night sky! Also, a deep, deep quiet in the forest at the north end of Vancouver Island, when walking in the silent moss (that, if I am fortunate, is punctuated by the cry of an Eagle or a Raven above the trees ~ thank you so much for triggering those memories for me, and for the laughter I enjoy while reading about your escapades! xox
The Silence Was Deafening Through all the insanity of your journey you will never forget this place. You are so right about the silent places disapearing from the world. I had a similar experience in Juneau Alaska. A helicopter took us up up up up to a place surrounded on all sides by jagged mountain tops leaving a huge kind of snow field of a cereal bowl in the center. The snow had fallen to fill in the crater that the surrounding mountains had created. The snow was miles and miles deep and under the fresh snow was a glacier. No tracks. No footsteps. The sun was shining - it was blinding white snow and blue sky -so beautiful - angelic. We stepped off the helicopter blades and sank into thigh deep pure snow. The silence was deafening. Fabulous. All you can hear is nothing. Total and complete silence. Stillness. Sanctuary. As close to heaven I would imagine that you can get. Pure Peace. Quiet. Stillness.
smile! Oh dear Claire, I now know the reason I stay home in suburbia, safe, boring and salt free. And your lack of smiles for the camera? What's that about. I can understand though...
Love you, keep on trukkin', seriously, and Stu
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Dont worry Hi, just reading your blog as Bolivia was one place we really wished we had gone to on our round the world trip, so much so that we might just go back for 2 weeks sometime next year! Anyway, I read your comment about the 'dreaded' Inca trail and just wanted to say dont worry...it is hard, but TOTALLY brilliant and it makes getting to MP even more special. We did it in May this year and it is without doubt the best thing I have ever done in my life. At times its very tough, but you just have to go your own pace and stop regularly. Just try to enjoy it, the scenery is fantastic and the rest of your group will help to make it great fun. Hope you enjoy it.
pam
non-member comment
aaarghaaarghaaargh
I am speechless, speechless, me cyant believe what you were storing in your insides, I feel terrible, thanks Claire, have decided that you just package your blog up into one big Booky Wook and that's it! No fancy editing. Just do it. Luv ya.xx PS: At the beginning I almost didn't want to read about that crystal clear blue water and fishes as I sit in suburban dullness, but.....it just got better and better.