Today we stand naked in our own homes. Usually our homes are a very familiar place where we know everything, it provides comfort and safety. You know how things work and there’s little unexpected. Then Corona virus (aka Covid-19) quickly developed into a pandemic and confined us to our homes. The territory felt like new. Now it’s the only place…
It is very popular to do an island hopping tour in El Nido on Palawan island. We went to a few different tour agencies, most of them were offering the same tours from A to D. Having dinner at The Happiness Hostel we saw that they also organise the tours. We thought there’s a good chance the people on the…
Choosing whom to go with A couple of days ago, in the evening of our arrival in Kalaw we visited the various agencies and decided in the end for Ever Smile Trekking (EST). It was mesmerising how much the pricing varies for literally the same trek. The popular Jungle King agency seemed like a conveyer belt service, whereas price didn’t…
10 days of no talking, no body language, no food after midday. All you have is you, your mind and your body sitting on the floor 10 hours a day trying to find sensation. Do you know sensation? It can be dry, wet, tickling, vibration, it can be anything. Vipassana is all about the present. The mind always wants to…
We stayed a night in a “village” called Karunagappally, it was the closest to the ashram we could find a decent accommodation in. When we arrived, noone was there and the house seemed abandoned. We had made a booking on booking.com so V gave them a call – number is no longer valid. Convinced this place is no longer rented…
One morning we went to the forest department office in Munnar (online bookings don’t take foreign cards) and booked 2 nights in the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary: One night in Koottar log house in the north of the park and the other at Thoovanam log house in the south of the park. The next day at 10:30am we took a local…
We got off the bus in Munnar and headed straight to the Forest Department Office to inquire about trekking. They only organise things in the wildlife sanctuaries further from Munnar and nothing locally, so they referred us to the KFDC Office. We went there and they gave us pretty much only one option: Trek from base camp to the top…
Dal bhat power 24 hours, one toilet, no shower. This is the mantra our guide introduced to us for trekking in Nepal. We had dal baht daily for lunch, as you get free “refills” and can stuff yourself properly. First days you’re too shy (not hungry enough) to say yes to refills, but you quickly learn and end up eating…