lukaszkruk.net

Tien-Shan

2009-10-01T22:55:00.001+02:00

...or the Celestial Mountains (in Chinese) offer a bit of cool air in sun-scorched Central Asia.

Most of Kyrgyzstan is mountainous, so, apart from Bishkek and Kyrgyz part of the Fergana valley, the summer temperatures are surprisingly bearable.

Scenery of the 4000m range just south of Issyk lake features stunning red rocks, most prominent of which is the Broken Heart. Unsuprisingly, the nice view and easy access has prompted the locals to open a small chaihana just next to it. Cafe of broken dreams heart, they call it. Fallout anyone?

A kilometer or so up the valley from the Broken Heart is the once-famous Jeti-Oghuz sanitarium sanatorium. Just as most of the country, it's lacking basic caretaking and, as a result, it is largely decayed. Few remaining statues in the surrounding park contribute to the eerie atmosphere, blocked hallways make it seem almost scary. Best of all, there are tubs which haven't seen any cleaning substance in quite a while - and yet, for 40 som, you can still have a hot, 'curative' bath. The red sign says 'no trespassing', the white one - 'shower 15 som'. Once a place visited by various Soiuz officials, Yuri Gagarin, and even Boris Yeltsin himself, now it has an atmosphere which makes the term 'post-apocalyptic' seem nice and cozy. Fallout anyone?

Kyrgyzstan - Jeti Oguz

Even further up the valley you can finally meet some tourists. Mostly Russian, with tents, stoves and all the necessary equipment, they spend quite some time up here drinking - get this - not vodka, but 'nuclear milk'. 'Gives us energy' - they say. It sure does.

We walk by a small yurt camp, complete with not-so-small hotel, and, confident in my map reading skills, continue towards a 2800m pass leading to the next valley.

The next valley is inhabited by few families living in old buses and trailers, 20km from anything. That's all there's left of a 3000-cow kolhoz - at least that's what a local claims. Few remaining poles prove that there was electricity here once - until the wires have been stolen.

The transportation here is non-existent (as is everything else), but we manage to catch the single passing car just before the storm. Guess how many people you can fit into a moskvich.

On the way west we visit some Kyrgyz cemeteries. They all look completely forgotten, as if people didn't want to think about the ones they have buried. The graves themselves however are very imaginative: some look like yurts, others like miniature mausoleums - but almost all, in addition to muslim symbols, bear some communist stars. Sort of sums up the whole country...

Finally

2009-09-27T02:16:00.002+02:00

I've finally finished some picture series. Click the thumbnail for a picasa album.

Kyrgyz cemeteries

(former) Aral Sea: Muynaq

Boctok-5, come in

2009-08-17T06:22:00.003+02:00

Well, I guess it's time to wrap things up, at least as far as Kyrgyzstan is concerned. First things first: in Bishkek, you're sure not to find yourself out of kvas. This ungodly liquid replaces kymys (which, made of sour horse milk, is not any better and is popular everywhere outside the capital).The capital itself however is much more than you might imagine - and yet much less than it could be. Cafes and restaurants are plenty, absurd amount of parks (excuses for yet another communism monument) contribute to the relaxed and easy-going (if these words can be applied to any city east of Istanbul) feel and the nightlife definitely doesn't bring the word 'islam' to mind. But in the very centre, post and telecom bunkers offices dominate the Chuy and Soviet crossing just as the Russian language dominates Kyrgyz. It seems as if not much, save marshrutkas, has really moved forward here in the last 20 years. And even if mineral water (or spirits) sold per glass on the street are a nice change from bottled cola, they hardly mean progress.

And in the countryside things get worse.

Infrastructure, previously cared for by the Soiuz, is falling apart. Deteriorating roads and electric lines gradually cut off once prosperous regions, living conditions in rural areas are decreasing. And the appaling public education level makes sure things stay that >way.

The money brought in by the tourism, spent on audis as old as the local 'democratic' system here is as far as possible from answering these problems. I can't quite put my finger on it yet, but it's not about money (well, sure, it is, but there's something more).

Current president has just been reelected, which is no wonderconsidering he controls all the media and his rivals had campaign budgets similar to the one I have for the trip. Which frankly isn't much - nor does it suggest a very optimistic nearby future.

I have some more assorted notes, so these should be one more

Kyrgyzstan post. FOTO placeholders will be filled when I get home. With camera phone pictures (never again! - argh).

Uzbek country

2009-08-08T14:30:00.000+02:00

Szybki update (i zadzwiajaco szybki internet toze) tuz zza uzbeckiej granicy. Jak pozbieram notatki bedzie wiekszy wpis, na razie tylko na szybko: czegos takiego jak Fergana jeszcze nie widzalem (co moze nie znaczy jakos szczegolnie duzo, ale trudno wyczuc czy ten kraj taki pokrecony, czy mnie juz pokrecilo od upalow).

Lokalny pogranicznik niezwylke zainteresowany "1984" Orwella - zdaje sie ze ksiazki w plecaku stoja w sprzecznosci z punktem regulaminu "zadeklarowac do oclenia wszystkie dokumenty drukowane"... watpliwosci wyrazal spisujac dane wszystkich chetnych do przekroczenia granicy (milion dzikich Kirgizow) do zeszytu a5 siedzac na kozle... im dalej tym lepiej.

Abrazja i Chuy

2009-07-26T18:04:00.000+02:00

Przepraszamy za usterki-niezwykle udana artystyczna instalacja w Rydze podsumowuje nasza dotychczasowa droge (no, przesadzam, poszlo calkiem sprawnie) i - co wazniejsze - mowi czego spodziewac sie dalej.

Ale po kolei, dotychczas bylo tak: lot z Rygi przez Moskwe do Biszkeku za 3 dni, jedziemy wiec stopem. Droga przez Mazury ladna, deszczu ma nie byc (bo nie wzielismy kurtek), komu w D temu C. Niewiele wyszlo z planow spania nad Baltykiem pod Ryga, ale to wina GPSa kierowcy. Tak czy siak, ladujemy w stolycy, czyli w juz wspomnianych Usterkach. Troche opoznienia, ni-krab-ni-ryba na obiad, i zgubiony bagaz to bilans podrozy Rusflotem. Na pokladzie kapitan osobiscie oglasza ze passengers are allowed to drink spirits, o zalodze nie wspomina. Brak miekkiego ladowania sugeruje, ze pilot pic bedzie dopiero w drodze powrotnej. Kirgizi podniesli cene wiz zupelnie nam o tym wczesniej nie mowiac. Ha, moze trzeba sie bylo lepiej dopytac. Biorac jednak pod uwage ze nas wpuscili kiedy ja zupelnie nic nie powiedzialem w kwestii zaproszenia wizowego, co to zdaje sie innostrancy musza je miec-chyba poszlo niezle. W dodatku nie wiedzieć czemu wpisali ze jestem tutaj jako 'busnes'. Dosc jednak narzekan, teraz plusy: ogolnie nie jest drogo (blizsze rozpoznanie w toku), zarcie do wyboru- przekroj calej Azji od ruskich pierozkow po chinskie kurczaki, no i ogolnie zrelaksowana atmosfera. A, i jeszcze geograficzna knajpa o wdziecznej nazwie Abrazja (no, prawie) przy ulicy o rownie wdziecznej nazwie Chuy (czyt. 'czuj').

Dla szczegolnie zainteresowanych sa tez cogodzinne parady przed ministerstwem glupich krokow.

Sa tez akcenty wskazujące na porozumienie ponad podziałami: -a od kuda wy? -z polszy -z polszy? Czityry czolgisty i sabaka?

Central Asia after all

2009-07-22T11:18:00.000+02:00

So, let's get this thing started. Riga-Bishkek flight is in two days. Tickets and visas are taken care of... sort of. Next stop: Kyrgyzstan.

another site

2009-05-14T02:12:00.003+02:00

I've apparently gone mental - here's another blog:

http://28xr.blogspot.com/

As the title suggests, you're not likely to enjoy it, it's mainly there to keep me motivated to take pictures. But then again, this one's mostly for my personal use as well...

Portfolio's online

2009-04-21T23:40:00.004+02:00

It seems that I've finally managed to get my portfolio online (I am desperately looking for things to do instead of writing my MSc. paper). Clicky!

portfolio.lukaszkruk.net

Hel

2009-04-04T19:44:00.003+02:00

A short trip to Hel has resulted in this:

Planning isn't my forte...

2009-03-08T12:54:00.004+01:00

...so buying a plane ticket for upcoming summer (with mandatory summer holiday) now seems, well, random, to say the least. But I've been told that October AirBaltic flights from Tajikistan are dirt cheap if booked now. Let's see...

Almost like Poland

2009-02-17T15:27:00.004+01:00

I'm halfway through a short break from Tricity´s lack of snow including Tatra mountains and the Alps (namely Bechtersgaden park).

Orwell would be proud

2008-09-15T19:00:00.007+02:00

Being a traveller, hitch-hiker, couchsurfer and perhaps most importantly - a European - I'm obviously prone to meet people with mostly pro-western attitudes. But even that taken into account, the level of opposition against the government in Iran is incredible.

The Islamic Republic is a truly bizarre creation. Because the religion is compulsory, people are turning away from it. Arash, a student from Tehran says that out of 24 people in his group, 22 are complete atheists. Ahad is happy to declare (in local Chief of the Police's office) "I hate Islam".

Khomeini is supposed to be referred to as "Imam" - title originally belonging only to the first 12 (or 8 or 10 - depending on Shia Islam's variation) descendants of Prophet Mohammed, but every single person I spoke to was angry, ashamed or simply frustrated with Khamenei/Ahmedinejad duo. As Iranians are rather passionate about politics, the forms these feelings manfested in were sometimes very... well, theatrical: the driver waving his fist through his Paykan's window everytime we passed one of Supreme Leader's huge outdoor portraits (and these are plenty), man tossing bank notes onto the ground and jumping on them passionately - almost all of them have Khomeini's face.

In addition, lack of freedom of speech, "controversial" international politics and good chance for being punished for actions normal for western countries such as having a drink - or a kiss - in public make Iran a hard place to live in. Many are trying to leave - but they declare to return as soon as the system falls.

The last bit of Iran I met already in Armenia in a form of a truck driver going to Yerevan who had stocked up on beer as soon as he crossed the border. After - on his request - I eloquently summarized Iran by "Khomeini - problem, Ahmedinejad - problem, Iran - no problem" he just extended his hand.

People don't want a violent government overthrow after 1979 revolution anymore, but in a nation where Islam is not that deeply rooted such system has to fall apart. It has already started. Just a few more years. Watch.

Today's Takht-e Jamshid...

2008-09-10T19:06:00.002+02:00

...or Persepolis - City of Persians - is obviously Tehran. Around 15-milion-people busy centre of Iranian economy, transport, education... well, almost everything, it's one of the most depressing places I've ever been to.

You can see women wearing scarves other than black, something uncommon in different parts of Iran, but the city itself is designed to subdue people's minds. To make them not want to laugh.

The colours of the cars in the streets are decided by the government - the names are Dull Grey, Boring Dirty White and Depressing Navy Blue That's Suspiciously Close To Brown. You don't see much greenery in public. The metro with clean, almost sterile, walkways layed out with dark grey stone slabs, narrow and low, is the perfect place to get claustrophobia.

And then there's the behaviour control. Although I did once see a couple holding hands (in an empty, short passage) if you go out in the evening to Baam e Tehran - a hill north of the city, a romantic viewpoint overlooking Tehran you'll see a police car with a searchlight scanning the bushes - guess what for. Ensie, a tiny, dark-haired girl with huge black eyes says passionately "You can't imagine what it's like, to live in constant fear. Everyday". Well, I can't.

Salam

2008-09-06T18:45:00.001+02:00

So, as if the idea of going to Iran (on Ramazan) wasn't crazy enough on its own, we decided to kick off with the difficult bit: we went to Howraman valley, heart of Kurdish territory, close to Iraqi border. Mortar shell-range close. We were not kidnapped, shot or stabbed. We were however invited home for a night and later for a tea, twice.

People here speak different language than 20kms away and women wear colorful and complicated dresses somewhat resembling gypsy clothing. It's their only land that wasn't constantly sacked, plundered or burned by whoever was just passing by. The reason for that isolation is simple: remote location cut off by surrounding mountains - even modern(-ish) 4x4s struggle to negotiate unpaved roads consisting mostly of hairpins. Evidence is readily available: a pile of what used to be a 40-year-old Land Cruiser blocked the road having rolled some hundred meters downhill from a bend directly above just an hour before we passed. There was no blood inside and the victims had already been taken to the hospital - amazingly both of them survived. I helped to get some rice bags (together with cheaper-than-water petrol - the only kind of goods hauled around here) off the road.

Kumoter, zrobimy, pięćdziesiąt?

2008-08-24T21:04:00.001+02:00

Quote by moustache with someone probably behind it, although you can't be sure. Enough to say, polish villages in ukraine don't lack "schnaps".

After accidentally attending Varvara trance festival and inevitable
visit in Istanbul we're relaxing in Olympos. Weather could be better - sun is awful and swimming in the Mediterranean brings little relief. Hope we'll manage.

Iran should expect us in around one week, and so should you. Stay tuned.

Iran?

2008-07-31T23:05:00.001+02:00

In few days I'm leaving for another trip. If I get a visa, that is...

Well, not really the end

2008-03-03T15:51:00.001+01:00

...since a crazy and random hitch-hiking ride through Amsterdam, Brussels, Munich and Vienna followed. Arriving at random cities and sleeping at people's places (special thanks to Jean and Kim here). Choosing next destination on basis "where is this car going". Having the best Turkish (or Kurdish) çay and dinner somewhere in the middle of Austrian night. And exploring the city of Vienna by bike (which made it so much more interesting!). Simply - a tale of randomness.

The first few pictures are from Trier, before Morocco.

Spoko Maroko

2008-02-21T00:04:00.000+01:00

I'm on a train right now, going for the plane to Morocco (well, to Frankfurt first to be honest) which is one day earlier I expected it to be. This caused the amount of time I've got for everything (including this writing) shorten considerably. Thanks to my new mobile whatsitcalled, I can write on the way. Great. The one thing I was always too lazy to do - type everything once a week in an e-cafe should be thing of a past now!

Next day. I'm waiting for second plane in Hahn. The wait was so long that I managed to explore Trier in the meantime. Not bad, but the surroundings of the city were much prettier than the city itself. Sunny hills and small valleys filled with mist (and coldness-tested) created such a beautiful landscapes. And little towns around where main streets are made of stone instead of tarmac-simply brilliant! German "province" manages to amaze me every time. I'll definitely spend more time in it whenever opportunity arises.

German capitalism (by which I mean paid hotspots) prevents me from posting this message right now. Good. You'll get a longer one, possibly with some African impressions already.

Now, a good two days later. I'm hitch-hiking across Morocco, down to Sahara. Great, my thumb has been itching for a good while. This truck picked us up in the middle of nowhere at 23 o'clock and there are now five of us sitting in its cabin. Cozy is the best word here. Both of the drivers claim to be Tuaregs and we know about 10 words in common language which makes discussion about the truck's load so much more interesting and vivid. In general Morocco's people seem to be of two kinds: first are proud of their Berber origins and try to make it clear. Ones involved with tourists wear blue robes associated with Tuareg tribe-the most 'mythical' one. Others on the other hand make clear they have Arab roots and describe Berber "wild". Both kinds are however very hospitable, even if sometimes there is a desire of getting a bit richer behind that.

Common knowledge is often wrong: it does rain on deserts. Once every two years apparently, but when it does-it's for good. We got soaked on a camel "safari" for a lack of a better word. The rain caused small (10 cm wide) streams appear on the desert rendering it impossible to pass on these stupid beasts. They were afraid of drowning most probably. The day and night preceding the rain however were quite incredible: the setting sun over Merzouga sand dunes creates a beautiful show - and the lightning storm all around our tiny camp in the night was even better. Clouds heavy with water and electricity circled in a distance for around 5 hours before it started raining.

This rain also caused some bridges on the country's main roads to become temporarily impassable. The flow of water has increased dramatically. When we arrived around 3pm to the bridge the river was pouring over it and within minutes the steel railings were gone. "Wait until 10pm", said the policeman. "yeah, right. We'll be lucky if we get through tomorrow". But around midnight-there it was. Water was low enough to allow anyone to pass the bridge. However since our tents were already up, we waited until morning. The view was worth it.

Anyway. Today we had a nice little walk in the Todra gorge and it's surroundings. This thing cuts the main Atlas mountains chain in two and features some spectacular sights of geologic nature which is interesting for me in one way or another. Very scientific and so on. But seriously, the mountains are definitely worth much more time than we had to spend in them.

But the other one of my two main goals in Morocco has been achieved (first obviously being the Sahara) and the only thing I seriously need to find yet are kids playing soccer on the streets in the evening. There were some in Fes but I managed to get only few decent shots of them - and I really NEED more. Hopefully you'll see why. But the next stop was Ait Benhaddou - one of the best preserved kazbas around (which means this pile of debris is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Now, on a flight back, after a crazy truck ride through High Atlas with a driver who had to keep his speed over 60 kmh not to fall asleep. I managed to squeeze a short visit to Atlantic coast at As-Sawira - a blue sandbox for a guy with a camera.

The only remaining thing was to endure somehow the 3 days in Marrakesh while waiting for the flight. The city's medina is not as huge as one in Fes, but the Djamaa el Fna square certainly is one of the most vivid and lively places I've been to.

AND, I found the evening soccer players. A good end (well, not really) of the trip.

Old Continent

2008-01-01T18:27:00.001+01:00

And now for something completely different. This time - the west (west from Poland, that is).

Venice and Milano:

Montmartre and Gare du Nord (and some other places):

Tower Bridge and Gloucester Road:

The North - Pictures

2007-09-26T20:47:00.002+02:00

2007/09: Kashmir trek

2007/09: Ladakh

2007/09: India's Portraits

2007/09: Delhi - part 2 - Jama Masjid

Dryzone

2007-09-18T20:45:00.002+02:00

I'm writing this from an internet cafe which exists probably only by a mistake or a joke. The attendant had to turn on the generator to power the computers and connection speed is like that of an old dial-up. Neat.

We pretty much cleared Kashmir and are now in Kargil - a necessary stop-over on our way to Ladakh. I still have something to write about the north-west, so here goes:

Kashmir is more or less a dry (alcohol-free) zone. This allowed us to save some money as in cities of Srinagar and Sonanmarg it is (almost) completely impossible to buy the poison. Instead, ganja grows pretty much everywhere and is free - you could see our attempts to make use of it on one of the pictures in previous blog entry. This is a tradition here. Although it's officially prohibited, militaries smile politely when they see someone (in our case that would usually be Klapek) picking plants right next to the street.

We spent few days in Srinagar living on a houseboat and visiting nearby Mughal Gardens - wonderful places established few hundred years ago to give people much needed cool. The next stop was Sonanmarg - a bit more serious destination.

Surrounded by Kashmiri mountains, Sonanmarg was once a popular tourist destination (or so Lonely Planet says) but during 5 days we only saw a few white faces - and most of them were just passing through. A bit strange, considering incredible surroundings, easy accessibility and sleepy, peaceful atmosphere of the village. The electricity here is turned on only between 18-24 o'clock, which means you need a torch if you want to go five meters away from your room at night. You can sometimes hear artillery fire (the "line of control" is very close here) - India and Pakistan are just checking if the other guys are still around. Just in case. And no, for some reason this does not make this place any less peaceful.

We rented ponies and went for 2 days into the mountains. Not a lot of time, but sights abounded as did pain in the ass. Sleeping in the tent in Himalayas is a thing to remember - the stars were probably of the brightest I've ever seen. It was around healthy 0°C, so we were extremely impressed with our guides (they come in package deal with ponies) - they each had a sweater, a sort of overcoat and a blanket and slept in a slightly sheletered from wind remains of a cottage on cardboard boxes - until we returned to the village. It just happened that doctor visited Sonanmarg for one week to offer his services for free as a part of some govt project. The queue was long - probably every second citizen had half a dozen of long-lasting pains, so it looks like carrying this extra fleece does pay off.

The day after we came back was Sunday so the road to Ladakh ("National Highway") was closed. In addition it is operated on 12/12h basis (the pass is so narrow cars are only allowed to go 12 hours a day in each direction). There are worse places to be stranded in, so we took a day off to lay on the lawn and do some laundry. On Monday afternoon we found some trucks to take us to Kargil - the gateway to Ladakh.

The Indian trucks. Constructed from pure horsepower and car jewellery, these beasts carry all kinds of crazy stuff across the roads no-one in Europe would attempt in 4x4. Waiting in a huge queue on a narrow road glued to - or carved in - a vertical wall of rock, they are extremely impressive. Our driver stops in the middle of the pass and lights a candle at a small Muslim shrine - and another one for us, at a Christian cross. For the process, his helper puts a serious-sized rock under the wheel. It's safer than handbrake. When he's done, the column moves. That was yesterday, Today we leave Muslims and enter Buddhist realm.

The oil is expensive, so that's it for now. Next report probably from Leh.

Kashmir: Im Westen Nichts Neues

2007-09-12T20:43:00.000+02:00

We left Jammu quickly. The highlight of the city for us would be going to the best Bollywood movie at the moment. Read about them anywhere in the Internet - it's all true. Even more funny thanks to bottle of relatively cheap whiskey (security at the entrance didn't seem to care too much about foreigners).

And the next place: Srinagar. Kashmir. A lot to write about and my Internet time is almost up. I'll just leave you with some pictures and try to write something later. Just a note: there's MUCH more military than visible. They're kinda tricky to shoot at, you know.

'

"Black briefs? Good, they'll last a week"

2007-09-09T20:38:00.001+02:00

The Delhi adventure is finally over. This city has more to offer than one could want - in terms of cars, noise and degrees Celsius. We took our train to Jammu hoping to avoid any Kashmir conflict-related unpleasantnesses. The air of disturbance can be sensed everywhere: barbed wires around all government buildings and facilities (that means: a lot), army and police carrying long guns, suspiciousness of many civilians. Perfectly understandable if you consider that occasional Pakistani-Iranian artillery fire exchange still happens.

After few more days in India I think I'm beginning to understand that I don't understand anything. China and Turkey are calm and everything is in perfect order when you compare them to this place. Absurd bearoucracy I mentioned earlier mixes with no respect for rules and law in general. Not that I'm against that - it's just completly different from Europe. Now that I mentioned it - there are some European accents: namely "Sklep u Miska" and "Piotrus Export" in Main Bazar.

Another thing - copying Western ideas and doing it wrong: "hot shower" is a tap with cold water and AC machine placed carefully so its rear is blowing hot air straight into your nose; bus stop sign is placed on a pavement behind a fence, over which everyone climbs to get on the bus. The bus itself in turn doesn't usually stop - if there are just a few people waiting they just hop in when bus slows down a bit. The information about leaving trains is also scarce and the trains themselves don't seem to care about timetable either. But hell, that's one of the reasons I came here in the first place.

Leaving Delhi helped us get rid of the ever-present stench and sights of extreme poverty (about which books have been already written). We await Karakoram and Himalayan sights instead. We already ordered a jeep for tomorrow (roughly mighty 10$ per person) to take us to Srinagar. Will try to write from there.

Oh, and the title quote - it's Krzysiu. Sweating is a major problem here, you know.

Spinach with pancakes

2007-09-07T20:37:00.000+02:00

Delhi - part 1

The much-anticipated heat wave (first just after disembarking the plane, second - upon leaving terminal building) turned out to be even better - or worse - than expected. After we had come to terms with gazillion of intended-for-one-room AC machines in huge airport hall we took our leave. 2-hour night taxi ride was a result of "holiday", because of which "everything is booked" and "there is no cheap accomodation". So yeah. We got ripped off. about 4 euros - not much, but lesson is learned. Buying a good guidebook proved to be a necessity, and that's the first thing we did in the morning. At least now we know where to LOOK for a place to sleep.

Heat takes all will to act so after we had found a hotel we slept until noon - and even then didn't feel rested. The best refreshment, beer, is on the other hand below expectations. Hope I can get used to strange taste. I'll try to call it "exotic" from now on. The first day was uneventful. We didn't feel like rising a finger, let alone go sightseeing. Busy bazars with colorful displays (and yes, I do mean food stands) and quiet parks made our day. But there were also bad points.

Bearoucracy in India is unbelivable. We cannot buy train tickets for our friends (who are flying from Helsinki as I type) without their passports - but no one looks at our own. We can't get stuff from our own backpacks in Cloak Room ("place where we store your suitcase after you wait 20 minutes in queue and rats try to climb on your legs") without checking it out, which obviously takes another 20 minutes. And so on. More examples probably yet to come.

Last, but not least I realise now why there are so many Missworlds from India. And why they say sari is one of prettiest everyday outfits that exist. Will get pictures.

Hopefully incredible India

2007-09-04T20:35:00.000+02:00

So, after 4 months of idleness (that means studying and working and studying again) it's time for a vacation. About time.

In two days I'm flying to New Delhi with two of my friends and there we wait one day for another four to join us. Tickets and visas are taken care of, guidebook and itinerary aren't. We'll have to find the Lonely Planet guide, check whether forecasts and see how is monsoon doing and decide where to go: west - to the Thar desert, north - to Kashmir or east - to Himalayas. South, with Agra, Varanasi and hopefully Goa will wait until we see if we've got enough time.

I'll be trying to update this blog as frequently as possible so stay tuned.