To nej z Jizni Ameriky/ My favourite stories

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Trip Start Jun 21, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End Sep 27, 2007

  Prague, Czech Republic
Tuesday, January 1, 2008

I look back and remember my three months in South America. I read through my notes (the paper version that I also kept) and see the little things that happened and which I could have already forgotten .. so many things have happened during this time so they fight for space in your memory.  My trip was great, I enjoyed every day of it. It was just at the end of my travels, when I was with a sprained ankle, and as a result of my injury under time pressure (ok I admit it, partially also as a result of my love for Rio), for both reasons unable to do a lot of the things I wanted to, traveling quickly and alone...then things started to feel a bit superficial ... you meet people, go, meet new people only to immediately leave them behind. Sometimes you dont meet any nice people at all. You dont have anyone to share a lunch or breakfast with. I hate eating alone. I got tired of constantly meeting new people and having to be aware and cautious about them, always having to decide whether this person seems safe enough to go somewhere with them ... to their houses, to places they want to show you, to parties they invite you to... are they just being friendly or should you be worried? You never know and you have to be constantly alert. I think after three months it was time to slow down - If I stayed longer, I would have to settle down for a while, perhaps teach English or get a job for a few weeks just to stay at one place, be able to get to know the people you meet better... then I would be ready to travel more.

I am often asked to point out the best experiences from my travels, to pick my favourite countries or places or things I did. To tell something about the trip. It is so hard to sum up three months of life in a few sentences. Its impossible. But I try.

My favourite countries were Bolivia and Brazil. I was already in Bolivia last year and I came back. Despite there were many other coutries in the world that I had not visited yet. That says it all. I am ready to return to Brazil. No, I'm not just ready. I'm anxious to return. This is how I decided on my favourites. And I didn't like Venezuela. The people seemed to be so unfriendly after the after latinos.

Bolivia is poor, by south american standards. For me, it is a different world. The people are so different from us. They have totally different beliefs, needs and preocupations. Sometimes they are naive about the future, those who think about it, at least. Usually they only live for the present. Yet, sometimes, they are so strinkingly same. Especially when it comes to more personal matters.

Their normal life was so interesting for me. To see how they live, what they eat, to see families get together, to see them work. Actually, observing work processes was an experience it itself - so unefficient, moving things there and back, going back and forth, having endless reunions and discussions where no ideas were ever raised. When they wanted to have fun, it was so ...odd. When they met and did things with friends, it felt to me so unreal and so unfitted. They seemed to be misplaced in the theme of having fun. They themselves seemed as if they weren't really enjoying it .. just pretending it was fun and looking whether the gringa was having fun. If they planned some free time activities, then by our european standards, these were quite unentertaining. Ordinary. Too adrenaline-free for those of us who are used to climb mountains, surf, sail, scuba dive, race, shoot or travel to Bolivia in order to have fun. Having fun was the least entertaining thing I experienced there. Everything else was mesmerizing.

However, I have to say, I had a feeling that in the one year between my two visits Bolivia had changed a lot ... it is getting too popular and the number of visitors is taking its toll - the traveler is increasingly being viewed as a source of money ... curiosity is being replaced by calculation. A price to be paid for its proximity to Peru and the unfortunate Titicaca frenze I guess. Which is a pity because Bolivian people were so warm and whole-hearted and I loved them so much. Unless they walked barefoot to a flooded toilet and then put their feet on me on the bus that is it.

Brazil is a different world. With different worlds within. Extreme poverty that looks ever more shocking in contrast to the exuberent wealth. Stunning nature. Great people. Amazing atmosphere. Omnipresent in both of the worlds. Rio de Janeiro, off course. With this bipolarity at its most vibrant. Nevertheless, a place where I could imagine living.

Bellow I pick the experiences that I most like to remember.

For those who do not intend to read my full diary, let it be a guideline where to start reading, should you be of the same taste and liking as the author. ( In which case, you should think of joining me next time :o)

My First 6000Metres Ascend
Rio de Janeiro, MY City
Climbing Sugarloaf. No Sugar.
Favela Party
Favela from a Darker Perspective
Illha Grande - a Paradise Just a Bit out of Rio
Salvador, the Capoeira Hometown
The fancy 'Cruize' on the Amazon River
A Traveler's Guide on How to Approach Taxis in the Most Efficient Way

And I add a few climbing links more
7Via Leste, Pico Maior - 700 metres climb in Tres Picos de Salinas near Rio de Janeiro
Pictures from Iceclimbing on Mt. Huayna Potosi
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Behem me trimesicni cesty Jizni Amerikou se nasli taci, kteri s napetim ocekavali kazdy muj novy prispek, at jiz ze zvedavosti, pro pocteni k ranni kavicce a radnemu nastartovani pracovni moralky nebo jen z touhy dozvedet se, ze stale jeste ziju ...

Pro ty ostatni, kteri muj blog navstivi az po skonceni me cesty, pro ty, kdoz by se snad nechteli prokousavat bloggem celym, a taky proto, aby snad nekoho neodradilo par nahodne nevhodne zvolenych nudnych prispevku, pridavam odkazy na me nejoblibenejsi historky.

Netreba dodavat, ze se jedna o hodnoceni ciste subjektivni, spise nez literarni kvalitou prispevku ovlivnene mymi zazitky a vzpominkami, ale co jineho ode me muzete cekat :))

Vystup na mou prvni sestitisicovku
Rio de Janeiro, mesto mest
Zlezeni Sladke Homole
Favela Party
Navsteva favely podruhe
Illha Grande - oaza klidu kousek za Riem
Salvador, kolebka capoeiry
Plavba po Amazonce
A cestovatelske minimum - jak se jezdi taxikem

Kdyz se na ten svuj vyber zpetne koukam, vypada to ze ma dovolena se skladala z lezeni a navstevy Ria. Bylo spousta jinych krasnych vec, ale tyhle byly proste nej :)

Ale stejne pridavam jeste par dalsich lezeckejch linku

Ledolezeni na Huayane Potosi
Via Leste, Pico Maior - 700 metrova stenka v oblasti Tres Picos de Salinas nedaleko Rio de Janeira

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