Bad blogger.... Bad!

I'm sorry for no updates lately. At first there wasn't much to comment on, and then I was playing in the mountains for a week; also Im great at finding excuses. But here goes, with only 2 weeks left to fill people in I better make it a good one.

So after arriving in Essaouira on the coast of Spain I ended up staying for 9 days and have officially deemed this my favorite city in Morocco (even though I have seen less than 6 cities). Here I explored the shops, ate lots of interesting food (raw sea urchin being the weirdest), and played on the beach for several days. I figured i deserved it since I walked over 900kms. But as anyone who knows me might guess, I started to feel a little lazy and stir crazy.

This is when I decided I should climb a mountain; the tallest mountain in North Africa, Mt Toubkal (4162m). Venturing up into the wild with a cool Polish traveller named Radik and our Mule, we hiked for about 5 days though valleys and amazing little Berber villages finishing off with the summit of Mt Toubkal. Photos will come soon, because my camera had died and I need to steal photos from Radik and get my "Konice" disposable camera developed... thats right it says Konice, not Konica. That is why you need to look closely before you buy things in Morocco.

Now... I'm back in Essaouira for the final week before I fly to London.

Morocco's "Grande Taxis"

Ok... for those of you who haven't been to Morocco I'm going to give you a lesson on taxis. Here there are two types of taxis, petit (small) and grande (large).

The petit taxis take you around town and do short little distances much like at home, there is not much you need to know. You can tell its a petit taxi because its usually the size of an old Nissan Micra.

The grande taxis, usually older Mercedes-Benz 4 door sedans, will take you longer distances, quite often inbetween towns and over a few hundred kms. You bargain for the price you want to pay rather than have a meter, so do your research before hand to know you're getting a good deal.

What you dont expect in the grande taxis is that they usually cram 7 passengers plus the driver into this 5 seater sedan. And then they attempt to push this car as hard and fast around crazy corners and around slower vehicles (which is everyone else on the road). Most of these passing tactics are executed on the said corners and through villages with slow spee signs.

Lastly to top it off, not one of us are wearing seatbelts during this journey; I did get to help fix a flat tire enroute though. So needless to say is that I had a great time.

Finally... some hot sunshine and sand.

Ok well the sand I'm referring to is the Saharah dessert, but I'm on my way today to the beach in Agadir.

I finished up spain with a hike to the coast and axplored Fisterra and Muxia, both adorable little coastal fishing and harbour town where the atmosphere is quaint, seafood expensive and weather is crap. (Not crap but just not the sunshine i was hoping for.)

Now I have been in Morocco for 5 days, most of zhich was in Marrakach exploring the palaces and souks and resaurants. I did tqke off on a 3 day excursion to the Sahara dessert. We got to go for a camel ride, sleep in Berber tents in the dessert and ride in a bus for a total of about 16 hours.

Mom, you would be proud; i helped (not that she really needed any) an old Berber woman prep some sheeps and camel wool for spinning and weaving. I would like to thank you for those skills that I'm sure are hereditary.

Today i leave for the coastal beach town of Agadir and soon to Essaouira where I think I'll spend the rest of the month. I surprising chose the safer of two options i was considering. The other option was to head down the coast to Dakar, south of Morocco; but someone told me that to get there I would have to pass through Mauritania which right now is a bad scene where...

"There is a high threat of kidnapping in Mauritania and surrounding countries by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQ-M)."

So Im going to stay by the beach. Ciao

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/middle-east-north-africa/mauritania

Craziness

Ok... I have been putting off this post for a few weeks now because I just thought i was crazy and being foolish. But, I really think i have been seeing everyone's European twins.

Probably about a dozen or so friends, family and so on have a twin living in Europe that they do not know about. I wish i started writing down the names and keeping track but at the time i was still thinking i was crazy.

Wow, that felt good to get off my chest.
Ciao

Santiago de Compostela

Hey everyone! I have made it all the way to Santiago, the official end to the Camino. I am however continuing a little farther right to the Coast. The is a town called Fisterra and it had been deemed the "end of the world" since it was at the time what seemed to be the farthest west anyone could travel. Fisterra is an extra 100kms, so about 3 days which is great since my flight down to Morocco is not until next week.

Hiking the Camino has reinforced my belief that life is about the journey and not the destination. After walking 800kms I thought the end would be a great and glorious moment for the Camino but it was just another city and looking back at the trip I realized that was what I was here for not this city. Santiago's famous cathedral seemed especially bland since in the past 2 months I have been in and seen so many churches, abbeys, cathedrals, chapels and monasteries. Haha, but it was still impressive in its own way.

For the first time in 25 days I am not hiking or walking anywhere; I am just relaxing and giving my little feet a well deserved break... until tomorrow.

The photo is hiking down from Manjarin in the mountains towards Ponferrada. I had picked up this great stone with the intention of leaving it at the next Camino marker, but i only made it 100m.

Professional walker, i should get a sponsor.

So after a few little hick-ups in the health and wellbeing department, I´m back on my feet and marching away. I think I am somewhere around the 600kms marker, it so easy to loose count when you are somewhere in the middle. And its great for sanity if you don´t continuously count the distance everyday.

There is one big mountain and a good long flat bit between here and Santiago. Since writing last, its snowed quite heavily, rained off and on and now its if amazing and sunny. I´m getting a great tan on one of my arms and 1/2 my face (thats the one problem when you are constantly walking west).

I´m missing my shower from home quite a bit, because some of these showers are pretty crap. Talk to you all soon.

Ciao
G

The Camino has begun

Hey, looks like it´ll be a while till my next photo posting. It seems all internet spots in Spain dont allow USB hook-ups. I´ll have to paint a real good picture with my story telling.

I started the Camino on March 3 with beautiful weather for about 4 days. And then... well it started to blow and on one day snow as well. Wasn´t the weather i was expecting in Spain, but then again it is the start of March still.

It took me a few days to realize that this is not so much a sprint as it is an endurance trek. The scenery has been beautiful for the most part, grape fields, rolling hills, epic old cityscapes and a free wine fountain... thats right... FREE. It was along the Camino attached to a large Bodega (vineyard) and offered two taps; one producing red wine and the other water. Needless to stay, it was the mid afternoon pickup i needed for my 43km day (which i am not planning on repeating).

Some days I see several other pilgrims and wish then ¨Buen Camino¨ as we cross paths but other days I have gone the whole day without seeing another pilgrim between each alburgue (pilgrims hostel), and sometimes hours without seeing another soul. Lots of time to think... and talk to myself.

Tonight I´m sleeping in a town called Grañon, in a a parish alburgue attached to the church. After climbing some stairs to an upper suite off the bell tower there is a cozy kitchern, bathrooms, living space and loft for the matts where we sleep on the floor. This has to be the most sureal hostel yet. Wish I could be out exploring the town on this sunny afternoon, but unfortunately the last thing i want to do is walk some more and the really cold strong winds are enough of a deterant to keep my indoors.

It has been great not having a timeline to follow, but i still need to tell myself to stop rushing and take my time. Although, the sooner i complete the Camino, the sooner i get to play in the hot sun in Morocco and relax on a beach. One thing is for sure, my body will continually remind me when I have done too much and give me a good humble slap across the face. It turns out I´m not invincible; I´ve been schooled my two (60+ years old) italian guys who not only kept up grueling distances each day but also did it fast and without complaining. Cheers to them. Its now that I am reminding myself to do my stretched each morning and afternoon to keep my body functioning. Who would have thought walking was such hard work.

Missing everyone at home; but sorry, not enough to come home early. I´ll try to get some photos up soon but its tricky to find good internet spots.

Ciao
G.

Dave Matthews.... need I say more.

Well now, Dave Matthews was ridiculously amazing. When I showed up it was a small this smaller arena, maybe even smaller than SOFA in victoria; but then i realized it was one of those smaller intimate shows and I was able to get right up front of the stage. Sorry Jenn and Lindsey, Ièm not trying to brag... really. lol

Anyways, he plays some great songs and i met some wicked peope to sing very poorly with along side Dave. I even caught one of Carter's drum sticks after the show. Great times, Im so heading to The Gorge this year for Davefest.

Oh yeah, there was some nice architecture in Milan, so if you're into that sort of stuff you would probably like it. lol....


As a side note: Everyone probably knows those annoying guys/gals on the sidewalk trying to spread information and collect money for a variety of charities. I figured out a way to avoid them without feel bad by telling them flat out "no" or "piss off", just pretend you dont speak english. I had one approach me on the street and rattled something off in Italian so I replied, "Good morning! how are you doing?" and he just laughed and turned around. Worked like a charm.

ps. the photo is no zoom.

Silent(ish) but kinda cold

Some nice quiet time to make an entry into my journal. Sorry Dad and Leslie the last one was not holding together so I had to do an upgrade. Hope you dont mind.

The Gothic Duomo, the largest gothis cathedral in the world.

The French Update

Sorry for the slow updates, I had been procrastinating doing another post until i could upload some photos but realized that my huge fanbase and followers need to know what is up with me (thanks Pam and Anne). I sent 4 days in Grenoble with a few little day trip thrown in there with my couchsurfing hosts. And finally got my first day snowboarding up at Vaujany/Oz which was wicked, aside from the fact i had and am still trying to get over a rough cold. Hence why i have only had one day on the mountains, but once I get back form Milan and Dave Matthews, then I'll hit the mountains hard. I have a place to stay for free up in Morzine and i hear they have unbelievable powder. Upon my first day and night in France, I had crepes for dinner, and wine, cheese and baggette at a party later that night where we watched a Lyon vs Real Madrid match. It was a little sureal. And thanks Sarah and Ariel for putting up with me and showing me around for a few days, it was the highlight so far.

Sam to the rescue!

Here are some props to Sam & Stu for putting me up in London (Blackheath) for the few days i am here; they even fed me. And on a side note, this house is amazing (Amy you would love it, exposed concrete and giant glass windows everywhere). This was exactly what i was needing as I was able to stay up long enough to avoid the dreaded jet-lag. Although, the subsequent night i wasn't able to avail the dreaded hang-over. But thats what i get for drinking till 4am and sleeping on a random couch.

Earlier that day was great as I went up to Liverpool St and explored the street markets and found this wicked little weekend vintage clothing market, but unfortunately i kept the pocket strings tight b/c the first weekend of the trip is not the best time to be acquiring new things to carry on my long journey. All in all, a fantastic time.

London, however, is too big for me. I'll stick to cute little Victoria to live.

Warm welcome

Maybe its the beard, maybe i had it coming with my friendly attitude towards the nice security staff at YVR and Gatwick. At the security checkpoint coming through at YVR i was "randomly selected" for a through..... THUROUGH patting down, frisking and searching of all my carry-on baggage. It wouldn't have been as bad if someone bought be a drink or brought me flowers. I just smiled and took it all in stride.

Upon arriving in London, word of advice... humor doesn't get you anywhere with these guys. These certain brits have very little to no sense of humor. When asked if I intend to work in the UK, i responded with "probably not, since I am on holidays". I was met with "no? or probably no?" and then was the recipient of a barrage of questioning and so on to which i was detained for nearly an hour and had ALL my bags searched down to reading through my journal.

But here I am, safe and sound, looking for a bed to sleep in tonight. Wish me luck.
Ciao

Grand opening

Hey everybody,

Its T-minus 31 days till I leave this country for another. The past month has been great and excited as there have been a lot of planning and preparations. If anyone has any suggestions on places to go or information on things to do (or not do), I'd love to hear it as I'm still learning everything i can for these countries.

I'll make sure to get some photo's up on here as soon as I figure it out.

Ciao,
Graham