inside the heart of the angkors

the AM hours were still shrouded in darkness.
im not sure who's alarm went off first but the journey into the mystic angkors of siem reap was finally here and although the sun remained chained,
we knew that in just a few hours its fiery wake would have no mercy.

i can still remember the unseen heat of dawn invading my every pore, hiding in every obscure corner.
our tour guide spoke softly as our van speared through the morning's muggy dew. bun made us aware of the beauty and many hazards of these ancient angkors

but my senses slowly began to drift into the nothing that stares from the other side of the glass.
time drags its fingers across the unseen jungle reminding me of its presence.

darkness finally loosens its grip and faint shadows reveal an exhausted jungle. the pulse of these ancient cities are projected through the cicada,
which at this very moment warn the jungle of intruders.
the van finally stops and i have a strong feeling that i dont belong here.

nevertheless we press on and make our approach through the less popular eastern gate.
massive trees along with broad canopies stand side by side making it difficult for dawn's light to pierce through.

sunrise is moments away and already i can feel the heat rising like the impending blast of hiroshima.


i arrive at the point where east meets the western gate crowd.
i marvel and hang on the outer edges of angkor watt; the moat perfectly catching the reflection of its towers along with the delicate pink hue from above. this moment is holy
and will forever remain so
the thick jungle in the backdrop hides the horizon but i know the chains have fallen.
i am inside the heart of the angkors. 

Tripping through the Balkans (pt.2)

The distance between Podgorica and Tirana is 130 kilometers, which is roughly 81 miles. Back in LA I can travel this in little over an hour; it's a different story in the Balkans. It took almost 6 hours on bus and all I kept thinking about was this.

I arrived in Tirana 4 days ago and in the course of writing this entry yesterday morning, two exhausted Aussies walked into the hostel and naturally we began to chat. 2 hours went by, we spoke of our travels and I found out why they were so exhausted. It turns out that they had just taken a 24-hour bus ride from Athens to Tirana and as our warm homecooked breakfast - omelets, fresh cheese, peach marmalade and toast - was brought to us, the look on their faces was priceless.

I began to tell them about Tirana and how originally I was going to spend only a night but then I told them how thankful that I didn't. I told them that the city is small, very walkable, nothing really that'll blow your mind; not so quite like 
Podgorica but in the same neighborhood. Having said that, again it all comes down to the people. It doesn't seem like it at first because frankly they're also looking at you in the same manner but the Albanians and Albania is still getting warmed up to tourism, which is why its such a great & exciting time to be here. People are very inviting if you give them a chance and that's what I did and what I'll continue to do.

As I begin to wrap this entry I sit on the top balcony of Sunny Lake Hostel, sipping some warm joe, seeing another beautiful sunrise over the mountains.

The location: Ohrid, Macedonia. The journey to this place involved another bus ride (not so long this time) to podgarec, then hopped on a cab to the Albania-Macedonian border where we literally walked across, and then finally waited for a city bus that took us through the mountains and finally here in the early evening.
 From the little that I've walked I can only use one word to describe this place, mystical: the lake, the mist, the thick green algae on the shore, the strewn and abandoned boats laying side by side, the tall mountains in the back, yeah mystical sounds about right and today I'll get to see the full extent of it. 

I had no idea that this trip was going to bring me through the Balkans but that's the beauty of traveling with a blank boarding pass. God is good and I'm very fortunate to be having these moments, 

God bless!

morning: munnar, india

im still trying to process this morning's view
it was unlike any ive ever seen. 

the misty clouds didnt seem to move much, they stayed put like a well trained mascot. down below they were all nestled together in the deepest part of the valley while pockets of them hid below the forrest right above the surrounding tree lines. 

sunrise was at 06:16 and with coffee in hand i had a cool 3 minutes to savor the moment. the birds kept arguing down below our balcony, they were at it for the past few hours but i didnt mind it much. some of the neighbors began chanting and singing something traditional that i can only assume is local munnar tunes. 

the sun finally rose but it wasnt strong enough to pierce through the clouds. nevertheless, the sun's rays did something to the forrest. the clouds that were motionless a few minutes ago began to sprawl up the valley like a giant octopus. something unseen was set into motion: the clouds knew it, the birds knew it and now i knew it. 

i still cant believe im in india. i remember the look my mother gave me when i told her that i was coming here and to a certain degree, rightfully so. ive seen alot of faces on my travels and now that theyve brought me here, i can see why alot of people have a certain impression of india. 

from how they approach customs & immigration or their driving with seemingly no rules of the road but a simple set of car honks. add the long and lingering looks of strangers and india to the western newcomer might seem like a frightening place. 

but if you wait a question through the long gazes might emerge with a "hi, where you from?" or "can i take picture with you?"
out of those loud and annoying honks a pattern will begin to emerge and will quickly realize that all those cars are communicating. 

and, if you wait just a bit longer, out of those long and unwavering stares a smile will peak through. 

this will be day 2 in munnar, india and i feel like ive seen and experienced alot already. ill end with some wise and uplifting words i read this morning from c.s. lewis' mere christianity.

"when a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. when a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. a moderately bad man knows he is not a very good; a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. this is common sense, really. you understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. you can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. you can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. good people know about both good and evil, bad people do not know about either."

God bless 

Patagonia Day 3: El Chalten

the bus to el chalten left at 8:00am from the el calafate bus station. the online weather report read a high of 70. i debated on whether to bring my massive north face jacket or simply bring my vest. i chose the latter and headed downstairs for some brekkie.

i didn't know much about el chalten and i was bit bummed that i wasn't going to see torres del paine on this trip. i shrugged off the disappointment, finished my coffee and walked to the bus station where we greeted the friendly town dogs who at the moment were hustling an asian backpacker for her half-full coca-cola bottle. the dogs won and went on

the bus ride took about three hours. it was pretty much a straight shot north of el calafate; mostly plain, the drive reminded me alot of arizona. and then mount fitz roy and happened and i was left speechless.

it didn't make sense. come to think of it, much of what i saw in patagonia didn't make sense. how can something that massive sneak up on someone like that? i honestly don't know but it was ridiculous. it was as if from one moment all you saw were flat plains and small hills, to the next sitting at the shadow of this giant postcard of a mountain. i couldn't get my eyes off it.

when we finally got to el chalten, breean and i had befriended a couple from mendoza, argentina, fernando y carolina. real nice, funny genuine people. there were many hikes that led you to fitz roy, each one had their own selling point. we decided to take the one with the lake on top.

stunning views of the valley and surrounding mountains were constantly present as we slowly ascended up the steep trail. it took us about 2 hours to hike 4 km. it was tough but completely worth it. when you finally reach the lake you pause and wonder how all of this is even real.


every single element is intertwined here, which makes mount fitz roy one of the most stunning and beautiful things i've ever seen:

the snow capped mountains,
the looming clouds and changing contrasts,
the melting glacier and waterfall in the background,
the fresh lake sitting at the foothill,
the list goes on.

i began to walk towards the edge of the lake and i filled up the nalgene bottle. i hesitated for second, then took a sip and then i took another, and then the bottle was empty again. the water was fresh, it was clean, it was what it supposed to be, it was simply good. we spent an hour lounging and exploring around the lake. then i sat for a bit and savored the last few moments. it was sad, i didn't want to leave.

the trek down was nice but it began to get a bit windy. for some reason it felt a bit longer going down than up. when we finally got to the bottom of the trail we found a hostel and had a few quilmes bocks. we got to know a bit more of our new mendoza friends. shortly after we hopped on the bus and headed back to el calafate.

i slept most of the drive.