Top of the World!

“I’m the king of the world!”

After hearing tales of the beautiful Munnar, greenery in the sky, tea leaves kissing the clouds. I had to see it with my own eyes. Together with my new friend Braden we braved the government bus to Munnar from Kochi, four people cramped into a seat built for two it was an interesting ride to say the least. There is no concept of personal space in India, quite a refreshing experience to have your boundaries broken and completely ignored. Despite the arduous and uncomfortable journey to the top station our spirits were soaring, we were two young adventurers in search of the great unknown, ourselves. After finding some accommodation with the ‘help’ of a local tuk-tuk driver we were settled into a relatively nice guest-house.

Frigid, Fresh, Free

The next day began like any other day in India, an energizing yoga session accompanied by a steaming, sickly sweet chai. After a stroll around town, we hopped on the public bus bound for top station, the ride to the top left us with pupils dilated with pleasure and chattering mouths like little monkeys. Last stop, top station, walking down the road and the clouds literally passing through you, magnificent! We walked to the edge of the world and instead of being greeted with a view like no other the mist was so thick we were trapped in white.

The White closes in.

We didn’t come all the way to the top for nothing, throwing caution to the wind we leaped over the barrier and descended into the mist. Going off track, we slid, ran and climbed our way down from top station into the jungle. An amazing experience going through, open mountains, to lush rainforest, ending up in a coffee plantation, all with the aim of finding a waterfall we could hear somewhere, sadly we didn’t find the waterfall but none the less it was an exhilarating adventure. The most curious discovery was stumbling upon a obselete coffee ‘factory’, drying the beans on tarp using sunlight and processing them using some strange had spun mill.

Coffee!

After a long and demanding climb back to top station, we indulged in a well earned meal, consuming our food like ravenous beasts, tearing into our $1 meals with bare hands, forcing the food into our mouths as if our lives depended on it. After eating our fill, we sat back in enjoyed the glorious views, fulfilled, left with a sense of achievement and a tingling euphoria.

Content Braden

Ommm

Meet Your Eyes

Specter Shadow

When you came into my life you weren’t strong, but when you left you made me feel like I was only half there. Like I left too and I was only half there. A clean slate, an empty canvas. Childlike once more except I still have all those yesterdays. Gaunt face, blank stare, what have I become? What you have become is not who I remember. Is this the cruel truth of life, what is this swirling? A rough and careless tug, unplugged; gurgling and swirling; unleashing a closing shriek as the last of your lifeblood leaves my hollow heart.
Were you really that person I shared my soul with? I remember when you weren’t strong and you wanted help from someone. This person you have become I do not remember. You were loved, someone I did not want to let go off, when you left, it’s like I left too and now I’m only half here. Has our fire truly been doused? And all my left with is sodden ash and a crumbling home. I try to rest my weary body but my sanctuary has turned into my nightmare. So many colours, now nothing but black and blue; I can still remember when you weren’t strong and you needed help from someone.
Couldn’t you see I wasn’t strong and I needed help from someone, I remember when you weren’t strong and you needed help from someone. Was there a spilt or a crack, what blew out the flame, was it just the cooling of the embers? I once pictured myself strong needing help from no one. You return, but there is no clashing of our hearts, no flint to spark the flame. Is it so hopeless that two travellers pass by, seeking a drier, less cluttered hearth. No warmth to stifle the bitter cold, the icy wind and howling squalls that bite my legs and pierce my ears.
Now that you left I’m only half here, a fake smile, cracked in two. I remember when you weren’t strong and you needed help from someone. You twined your fingers into mine, talking fast, a pleading in your eyes. You were an orphan, lost in a swirling black pool, but now I’m like a child except I’m stuck with all my Decembers. Summers pass and I’m only half here, someone came and took the rest, they put their heart on top of mine, talking fast with little lies.
A transcendence alone, time and space lapse, and yet I’m still only half here. Heavy lids and a heavy heart, slow and stunted breathing, a passage out of time. Phantoms and specters haunt my mirrored reality, this is not what I want. A tiny beam of light pierces my shadow world, an occurrence that echoes between reality and fantasy, where the phantoms and the facts are one. A momentary apparition, to fast too meet my eye, a blink of reality. But I’m only half here, I remember when you weren’t strong and you needed help from someone ………

Glowing Brilliance

A Mountainous Adventure

Splashes of Colour

A bicycle ride in Munnar is no walk in the park, the extreme altitude and the sheer climbs required makes it a laborious journey, attempting this ride on a bike without gears was a foolhardy decision. Thankfully I am blessed with a fools miraculous luck and with unyielding determination I completed the steep climb, the locals were amazed by the bike I was riding, it was in no way a good bike but by far the best they had seen. I stopped off at "photo point" to relax and let the shop owners and the general plebs have a turn of this 'marvellous' bicycle. Once I consumed my fill of freshly sliced pineapple and chugged enough water for a camel I resumed my ride.

Weary Delight

The next quirk I stumbled upon on this ride were the groups of young men selling what I thought at first was home-brewed whisky. To my delight and surprise it turned out to be bottles of honey in whisky bottles, I queried as to where they were harvested from, a smile on their face they pointed to the trees behind them. The trees were overloaded with hives, hanging down and oozing delicious honey. They had been harvesting them for years apparently, I must say it was some of the best tasting honey I’ve had the pleasure of sampling.

Only 300 rupees!

The rest of the ride was full of the usual oddities of India, elephants, monkeys, cows doing whatever they please and gob smacked locals. I felt accomplished and satisfied; Munnar had satisfied and stimulated all my senses.

Combs of Goodness

Munnar, Bustle among the Rustle.

Munnar a hill station in Kerala, India; is a contradiction, just like the rest of India. A hill station by definition is meant to be a place of sanctuary and peace, but Munnar welcomes you with screams, blaring horns and filth. It has pristine beauty and complete silence, only minutes away from all the filth and chaos.

Rolling tea fields, clouds rushing into your face and blue, blue, blue sky. Its beauty, peace, chaos, disorder, purity and filth all packed into one little town. Munnar was my favourite place in all of India, so I plan to write a fair bit about it over the next month or so.

Have a sip of some fresh tea and relax, I will take you on a journey like no other, hahahahahha :).

Has a very dystopic feel to it, a sanctuary from the harsh world.

sethsnap

Covering 2.8 miles of hillside in the forest, the Trillium trail at California Woods Nature Preserve is the perfect afternoon hike location.  Running alongside the Lick Run Creek and traversing rolling hills, the trail reminds one of a roller coaster ride, albeit a very slow one.  Part of the trail is covered with steps and wooded planks to aid those of us who might not be as spy as we used to be.  I hear in the spring, it is covered with wild flowers as far as the eye can see.  This time of year, with the trees bare, it’s easy to see just how the land moves.  Walking the trail, one can easily forget they are within the city limits of a major US city.  It is a nice break from the city streets, honking horns and miles of concrete.

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Death of a Lion-heart

Cat and Dog, Ying and Yang, Ebb and Flow, Push and Pull

I still remember when our family first adopted Charlie into our little pack, he was the smallest git of the litter. He looked nothing like his brothers and sister, a loner. My father named him Charlie, his two brothers were Timmy Turtles Mouse and BJ, his sister was named Holly.
But the runt grew into the largest of the litter and he came back and wrought havoc upon his family, or maybe he was just bonding who knows. But the young pup Charlie looked nothing like his siblings, my Grandfather always claimed
“a filthy little terrier crept under the fence and got into his mother”.
Regardless of his upbringing and parentage Charles Xavier Lion-heart Loughland matured into a dog loved by all. He was always happy, a smile consistently brightening his face a source of joy to everyone in the Family. None of us could resist his unyielding charm and spirited nature.

He even won over my eldest brother Aaron who for a long time despised Charlie for reasons unknown to myself. We carted Charlie around with us, moving everywhere a true traveller. He laughed or barked off the hardships we all faced, we tried to give him away after one move but he kept running away from the new owner, so my Mother had to concede and allow him back into the fold. He was only away for a few weeks, but his joy of being reunited with the pack was truly inspiring.

He was always there until Mum had to give him away again, when we moved into a new house that didn’t allow pets, so for almost a year Charlie was absent from the family, and on one fateful day he was returned to us. He had run away from the home we gave him to a few days before we were moving. His appearance was haggard, he looked as though he had been living real rough, missing teeth, matted fur and a skittish look in his eyes. Sorry fella almost died from excitement when he saw me, the dog catcher had brought him in complaining of him biting a veterinarian. I explained to the dog catcher that we no longer owned this dog, we had given him away almost a year ago, but I said give him here and come back in a few days. Little did he know we were moving to Newcastle in less an 3 days, so little Charles was back but he was never the same after that year away, who knows what those terrible people did to poor Charles.

His years in Newcastle were restorative years, he came back into his old self almost, there was always something different about him, but he was becoming more and more like his younger self. He had found his home in Hamilton, we stayed there for almost 3yrs, a record for our family. But then we moved to Mayfield and Charles didn’t quite click with this new place, too much traffic too many cars for his free spirit. After Mayfield we moved to Tighes Hill, his final resting place, we bonded strongly with our cat Maxxie, they became the best of friends an unusual match.

When he finally passed away after almost 13yrs of life the person who mourned him most was the one who knew him the least amount of time, Maxxie. My little sister reported waking up in the middle of the night and finding Maxxie sitting on top of the microwave doing a weird coughing thing, like he was crying. When I heard the news of Charlie’s passing I had just finished a 2 day camel safari in the Bikaner dessert in Rajasthan. I was flogged, lack of sleep and freezing, the news of Charlie’s death was so unreal I couldn’t even process it. I wanted to cry but I just couldn’t believe it. I went to the train station straight away and bought a ticket to the south, I needed to escape to somewhere warm and comforting, to protect myself from the onslaught of this cold news.

I still miss Charlie everyday, he was so involved in my day-to-day life, I find myself still calling his name and I have to remind myself he is no longer there to answer the call.
Rest in Peace, you were the best of friends, a valiant protector and a true free spirit.

Bathed In Flames

Back home and back in action ‘flame on’ hahahaha. Just arrived home yesterday afternoon, first day back at University. Feeling quite strange its first time in 4 Months I have to adhere to a routine and a set plan. After being off for so long I’m feeling a tiny bit trapped but strangely at the same time I feel more free than have for a long time. The comfort of being back in a safe and secure Country is nice, it is also a weight off the mind knowing I don’t have to worry about losing a passport and getting stuck in some random country.

Definitely a baptism in flames already I back into a full on workload. It feels nice, but I wish I had more time to clean my filthy room, leaving in such disarray was a hard pill to swallow, but education calls. This semester my subjects are Cognitive psychology, Abnormal psychology, Statistics and German. Learning a new language is what I’m most excited for, the only subject I’m not pumped for is Statistics. Statistics, boring, but necessary so I shall grin and bear, this prickly burden.

Let the new year begin, this is my new year celebration a camp fire on the beach.

Photo Courtesy of my little Sister Marguerite.

The Transformation Of Vang Vieng

Last time I left Vang Vieng, I recall making a vow with my cousin that we would never to return this ludicrous little apple. It was a town of complete debauchery and like everyone else I was swept up in the madness. Psychedelic bars lined the Nam Song river, selling every drug your heart could desire. Most bars would supply you with your first bucket free, the standard bucket would consist of 250 ml of tiger whiskey, one bottle of M-150 energy syrup, rumour was they contained amphetamines and lastly some coca cola to top off this potent chemical elixir. Needless to say a town with the majority of the inhabitants being tourists dosed up on varying chemical concoctions resulted in utter insanity.

Now I can’t deny the fact I enjoyed this insanity, but it is in the interest of tourist safety that this place is not what it once was. End of times type stuff I swear, ahhahaha :). The old Vang Vieng in my mind is summed up by a scene I witnessed when I was there back in 2012, I shall describe it for you…. A scraggy one-armed bar tender, uncouthly seizes a bottle of local whisky skulls (drinks rapidly) half the bottle, then proceeds to vomit violently into the Nam Song river, once said vomit is completed he then performs a front flip into his own retching, quite a touching moment, very dramatic and almost beautiful in its absolute grotesqueness.

The Vang Vieng of the present is so strikingly different to its past self, it is in need of a new passport. Tourist groups still meander the town clinging to the remnants of the past; strutting around in their tubing gear and struggling to keep the party going. The party has moved on and now the once abject natural beauty of Vang Vieng can be appreciated and used by a more sober population. Explore the eerie caves, take a dip in the revivify waters of the blue lagoon; or just explore the wide open fields dotted with grazing cattle and bordered by monstrous mountains.

The fruit is no longer forbidden, let yourself be tempted, sample this delectable town.

Vang Vieng of the past:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwxH91Cn0Ns

Kingdom of the Opium Tigers?

A visit to the tiger kingdom is a must if you are in Chiang Mai, are they on drugs? The answer is no, this is a strange rumour that has taken hold among countless travellers, many have absconded from visiting this interesting little site because of misinformation. They are very docile and seem to be in a hazy state, but it is simply because they grow up in a small enclosure, interacting with humans from the time they are cubs.

I don’t believe they are domesticated but they are as close to a domestic tiger as you could hope for. The fox was domesticated in about 50 years by the process of selective breeding, perhaps they are trying to achieve this at the tiger kingdom. According to Nat Geo tigers cannot be domesticated but a cub can imprint on the human keepers if fed by hand. Domestication is a change in the genome of an animal, the phenotype expressed is very distinctive just compare your dog to a wolf and you will be able to spot the differences. The relative size of the paws are dramatically different between domestic and wild felines, this is the feature that stands out most in my mind.

The tigers seemed healthy and happy, shiny coats, clear eyes and a relaxed demeanour seemed to be present in the majority of the tiger population of Chiang Mai tiger kingdom. The older tigers defiantly required more room to exercise, but the juveniles were active and happy.

In a quiet corner of the Tiger Kingdom there was a lone male lion, which lead me to the curious idea that they wished to breed some ligers, the offspring of a male lion and a female tiger. Now a liger park that could take off hahahah :). Wishful thinking on my part, all in all tiger kingdom was more good than bad. I would rather there been tigers in an enclosure than no tigers at all.

LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS! http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/03/taming-wild-animals/ratliff-text

Hazy Island Bliss

The water buffalo of Laos a docile and friendly creature, quite tasty as well. This particular buffalo was a resident of Don Det, one of the larger islands of Si Phan Don (4000 Islands). When we first arrived at Don Det, we were greeted by the sight of this gargantuan fellow producing an explosive stream of watery diarrhoea into a group of tourists frolicking in the Mekong river. The shrieks of horror permeated the usually peaceful island of Don Det, an unusual and comical start to our little Island adventure.

Time on Don Det progresses at a slower pace, much like the rest of Laos, but this listless progression of time seems to be exaggerated on the sluggish paradise of Don Det.
” Yes yes don’t worry you are on Laos time now ” a sentiment uttered by various people, locals and travellers alike, I am unaware who coined this saying, traveller or local? Regardless of the origin of this saying it has caught on and is the catch phrase uttered to excuse the languid nature of the Laotians.

Embracing their unenergetic lifestyle is a prerequisite for an enjoyable time in Laos. So grab yourself a mango shake and expect to wait.

Gotta Love the Chicken.