Two weeks equal 2 months

Time is moving very swiftly for me now. I finally got my ticket to India, and I sit in Varanasi writing this to you. Just prior of coming here, I heard that one of my friends died swimming in the Ganges, in this very city, 2 months ago. Life is indeed short and fragile, and in this place this is truly so. I've sat for hours watching the funeral fires, sending Hindus to the next world, at the shores of the river. Extreme poverty and extreme wealth are on top of each other in this holy city.

I came to India some 2 weeks ago, and it has been a true roller coaster ride. Starting in Kolkata, trying to adjust to the climate, I was invited to a wedding in Jamshedpur by an Indian friend I've been chatting with for a couple of years. I had no idea what I was going to as I accepted. 5 days of celebrations, with food, dancing and rituals almost going around the clock. The indian hospitality is truly astounding, they welcomed me as a revered and long lost family member. I have a new father and several brothers, and my new name is Sekvender Singh...

Coming to Varanasi has been a contrast, meeting a friend I met in the Pyrinees. I've caught a cold that has moved into my lungs, so I'm taking it easy. The food everywhere is great, but my body has not adjusted, so I have no appetite whatsoever. Nice way of losing weight. =)

I'll be moving on to Bilaspur to meet two friends I met at the monastery I stayed at in France. We'll celebrate our birthdays, and make chocolate cake for everyone. After that I will seek out a retreat center, taking some true time off the hustle and bustle.


What I left in Norway


Indian traffic rules


Outside the Kolkata Book Fair, getting interviewed live on radio


The happy couple cutting the wedding salad


Me and the other western guest invited for drinks


One of my friends, the couple and me


The nephew of one of my friends

Summer is dying...

A few picks of what I've been doing this summer. Mail me if you want some of them removed or incognito'ized. =)


A trip with friends to Reinsfjellet, south of Trondheim (Click to make it larger)


Stag party


New friends at Arvika music festival


BBQ with friends in Oslo


My cousin and her kid


An ugly amazon we found at a medieval market in Oslo


A kajak trip with friends near the family farm


Working on a storage tent at the family farm


My dad enjoying scenery


Friends on a summit





Blueberry extravaganza at a trip to Geitfjellet


My summer job, rowing fishermen on the river Namsen

A man and his razor

Is anyone supposed to have so much fun with facial hair? Now: An exclusive (exhibitionistic) picture series, by special request. (Please, please don't judge me to harshly. I try to hide this side of me as much as I can. =) ((And please excuse the quality of some pictures. I was laughing quite hard...))

Lots of moustachic potential here...

My favourite

"Yes, Sherlock, I do believe indigenous species are capable of atrocities."

WOLVERINE? I ATE HIS SPLEEN!

"What do you mean, Bruno? Are we _out_ of lube?"

Finished result. Smile kept in check by aftershave. Sideburns are sadly gone at time of writing, they survived 2 weeks.

Yep, folks, that is one giant human hairball

Whoa!

Strange. It is much more fun actually experiencing things than writing about them. Well:

Murcia was nice. I was sherpa and caddie for my mum and her 3 friends for less than a week, in a ghost town golf resort. Much needed rest and restitution ensued. Not in the least because when I went there, there was a fiesta in the neighbouring town, Roldan! Acid-trippy costumes (pics for later), music to blow your head of, and an unforgetable evening with new friends. Oh, I miss you, guys! =D

Then I biked 300 km's in rain and headwind, before taking the train the last 100 to Madrid. On the way I searched for Dulcinea de Toboso in Toboso, but just as Don Quixote, I couldn't find her.

Easter was really great, I met up with an ex colleague, and we spent a lot of time running away from angry Ku Klux Klanners, carrying statues of dead people around in the streets of Madrid. Then we went to Salamanca and Avila for the same thing.

Then, zooming by train to Merida, the brand of my bike, I met up with another friend, and we did a punk festival for 3 days. My ears still hurt. Toy dolls rule!

And then... I went to Portugal. That's it. =)

Santiago de Compostela awaits!

(And sorry. Pics will come later, I'm not exactly working under prime conditions here... =)

Barcelona, baby!

After a 2 day climb to get to the pass of Port d'Envalira at 2408 m, picture below, I spent 3 hours zooming down to the town of Andorra, where I stayed at a camping. Incredibly boring place, all touristic and sterile. Lots of construction work and people in ski suits.

As I will meet my mother in Murcia, quite a bit south in Spain, I made the decision to take the train to Barcelona, and southwards, to maximize the time in this wonderful city. Major sell-out! But worth it. Scrambling on the couchsurfing network, I tried to get hosts to stay with, but with no luck, so a backpacker hostel was the solution chosen. I happened to chat to a good friend at home, and chance would have it that she knew somebody in Barcelona. And I could stay with them! I thanked my lucky stars, and spent a weekend in very good company, before moving to the next host:

At a party I met a friend of my friends of my friend at home, and I could stay with him as well! Once again I rejoiced in good company, and we discovered together the way people eat and drink in Catalunya. The way they traditionally drink wine needs special mention. A bottle with a thin spout (the "porron"), making a fine "line" of wine, which you're supposed to hit your mouth with, with the bottle an arm's length away. Very fun and messy!

I spent a lot of time just wandering through the town. The different facets are fascinating. Gothic quarter, functionalistic Barceloneta, the vivid Ramblas, and the in-between-square-blocks built in the 1800's. I guess everybody want to write something about the Familia Sagrada, so I won't, but I know I'll see it again, perhaps when it is finished, in half a century.

To top it all off, I missed my train, so I had to stay an extra day. But hey, somebody I just met on the street during a photo shoot of some commercial, saved me with his couch! And we actually had the same music taste as well!

Enough rambling. I had a very good time. Now I'm in some golf resort in Murcia, being sherpa and dish washing machine for my mother and 3 of her friends. Life is like a box of chocolates...

And why do they build a Burj al Arab in Barcelona?

I've got suspenders!

And cycle shorts! Just got'em.

Hibernating in a zen monastery really wasn't such a bad idea. To be perfectly honest, it was like a 3 month long group therapy session, and that is something we all could benefit from. People wonder why they keep doing the same mistakes over and over, when they keep doing the same thing, over and over. Stopping for a while, to look at what we're doing and what moves us, should be compulsory.

I'm ready to move on. King Winter has loosened his grip on the world, and now Spain awaits. I think I'll go by Lourdes, a christian holy place, before crossing the Pyrenees, if possible, to reach Barcelona.

Hah! And you thought I would write some juicy stories about the monastery, huh? Well, pictures will do. =)