Manu chao concert in a few fords

your boxer shorts feels like a wet wiping cloth.


your head hurts from all the spinning and jumping.


at times you breathe more second hand marihuana smoke than actual air.


hours of pure energy and beautiful craziness in this bouncing castle of a concert!!


Thank you Manu Chao and thank you Bogota for this amazing night!

Captain's log, Stardate: Krishna time part2

My Varsana experience

The food

The monks serve you all meals so you feel like a king rather than a volunteer. All meals are warm, vegan and cooked with fresh ingredients from the organic garden. The meals consist of vegetables, rice, quinoa, fruits and other ingredients you have never heard of. They really put lots of effort into their cooking and it tastes so good you barely notice the absence of meat. Combine that with the unbeatable pastries of their restaurant and you have everything a food lover needs. I wasn't really the meat that I missed. It was more the dairy products I missed most. I love my hot chocolate and of course old mature cheese... need i say more??


The people

These monks are really nice and kind people. I stayed there for a month so i got to know them a bit. The krishnas have a simple believe system. Don't do harm to anyone, treat every being with respect and live in conformity with nature. They almost live a self sufficient lifestyle by growing organic vegetables so they only have to buy little supplementary food like potatoes and fruits they don't grow.

They work everyday to maintain the place. A tough job considering the size of that place. In the morning and before dinner they do their chanting in the temple which is also the main house. This includes like i mentioned before chanting, singing, dancing and drumming which they do sometimes for hours. You can participate but you don't have to. It's completely up to you really.

Woman and man do their work seperately to avoid temptation. They also eat and dance seperately. One time I was supposed to help a nun with the recyling. Only minutes later another nun came up to me and told me to do something else instead. It would be too dangerous for the nun to work at my side. She reasoned the nun could fall in love with me. What a romantic setting!
There are 2 nuns to communicate with the volunteers because they are basically the only ones that speak proper english. But still it is not well received when you talk to them for too long.
It was the first time for me living with monks and nuns and it felt great. Well you never really feel like you are part of the group but they accept you and your flaws. If you are up for it you can also learn something about their believs in philosophy class that is helf once a week.

I must admit that i didn't attend any clases as my spanish was not good enough at this time. It was enough for me to know the basic rules. No meat. No drugs, alkohol and of course No sexy time.
I can live by these rules except the one for the sex.

The whole time I stayed there I felt like Bart Simpson in this place. All these people living according to their rules. And then there was me. The german guy who loves to cook, wine and woman.
I really admire their way of life and how they treat one another but the sex thing... I don't know gusy. To me it really feels as if you supress something perfectly natural. I mean not having sex to me is like stop pissing. I don't think it does a young healty man any good to supress that. I don't know about woman but a man just needs that to be balanced.

What i have learned from my stay:

I have discovered a beautiful place with very kind people. In this place felt connected to nature. Without the distractions of everyday life its easier to listen to your body. In the future I would like to treat my body with more respect as well as all the other beings. Within the walls of the monastery consumption did not matter. I really liked this part. If I can I would like to live a similar lifestyle some day. Let us thank nature for it's gifts to us and give something back in return.
I would like to thank these monks and nuns for making this stay an unforgettable one and for showing me their way of life. You have a great way of life and I wish you guys at Varsana all the best for your future.

Unfortunately their way isn't my way. I have to tread a different path.

Captain's log, Stardate: krishna time part 1

My feet are covered with moskito bites and my body still hurts from that damn flight. I am lying in a bunk bed. I feel cold despite the 3 blankets. I normally dont feel cold that easily but this room it something else. It's a 8 bed shared dorm on the first floor of the volunteer house. The coldest room of all (this is the room where they normally put the girls in, sorry girls). It really is the coldest, I know this because throughout the month I stayed here I slept in every single one of them.

The problem with both rooms upstairs is that they both have wooden walls. Between the planks are huge gaps so no heat insulation whatsoever. The cold night wind blows right through the room. For the future I suggest putting the boys into these quartes.

I am getting up. My cell phone tells me it is almost 1pm, lunch time at the Varsana monastary. I know this because the nun told me that last night. It was the nun that had been waiting for me in the dark that night. It was also her that gave me rice and vegetables for dinner and accommodated me into this 8 bed dorm.

The volunteer house

can you see the gaps?

outside the volunteer house

the living room

I really needed a proper warm shower but like I mentioned before you get a cold rinse for a shower. (later I found out that the upstairs shower of the volunteer house can get warm water, the secret is to turn on the water just slightly) But enough of the complaining. This place is amazing!

You realize that the moment you enter their monastary. This place is like single huge garden with the most amazing flowers, rock carvings, beautiful buildings, herb and vegetable gardens.

They have their own restaurant where they offer hadmade pastries. Pastries to die for really.

You have breakfast at 8am work till 1pm and have lunch afterwards. In the afternoon you free time and can explore the surrounding area. There are caves and waterfalls to see. It takes like an hour to get to them but it is worth it. Dinner time is at 8pm. Most of the time you go straight to bed or talk to the other volunteers after dinner. Sometimes you can watch a movie with the other volunteers (the monks and nuns are not allowed to watch with you). There is not much to do at night. You better bring your books. But also thats exactly why I came here.

The shower upstairs

a monk's artwork

a map of the monastary

volunteers will be working with this guy here. Vishnu a true hombre de la tierra
he's always like, muy despacio (slow down)!! and I am like no worries I can arrange that

Captain's log, Stardate: time for the last cigarette?

Here I am standing in fornt of varsana's stone gate. I have seen this gate so many times on the internet. Months ago I had pictured myself standing here and now I am actually standing in front of it. Many thoughts go through my head. I am thankful that I finally reached my destination but I also feel kind of disappointed because there is a horrible road right next to my place for tanquility. This place was supposed to be my place for recollection and relaxation and now this??
It's not that I am sensitive to noise (love techno) but I dont't want to be listening to it 24/7.

I grew up on the countryside the only thing you hear from time to time are the bells of the cows and thats it. I probably wouldn't have come if I had known about this road. But then again I wouldn't have met these amazing people.

I actually had planned on smoking my last cigarette here in front of this stone gate. I had pictured the monastary to be smewhere amidst the peaceful Andes, the sun slowly setting on the mountain tops painting them in a deep red colour. This should have been the setting for my last great cigarette, a setting even the Marlboro man would have envied me for.

The trucks drive by so close I can hardly roll a cigarette. I have to turn around so the tabaco doesn't get blown off by the airstream of the trucks. 

I am glad the Marlboro man doesn't have to see this. Ridiculous!

I lit my rollie and look through the tunnel shaped entrance. There is a person standing in the dark. They know I would arrive late so this must be my reception committee.

I am taking a drag of my cigarette thinking this is like the shittiest last cigarette ever, I owe it to the Marlboro man damn it!!

Unsatisfied I put my cigarette out and step through the tunnel into my new life.

Captain's log, Stardate: time to pray ( the bus ride part 2)

Scene from the city traffic:

Our bus is approaching a T Junction. We stop at the give way sign. From both sides, each left and right a car is approaching. The car on the left is already through.The right one though is still approaching and going fast. Our driver does what every responsible driver would do. He turns on the left indicator (now, really??) honks a few times and thus notifying the other driver that we are going to take his right of way. With even more honking and flashing the other driver indicates that he does not approve. At least that is how I interpreted it. Our van has already turned left and the slower one must adhere to the rule of who is fastest and steps on the breaks immediatly.

Impression of the Highway (to hell?)

Here things are pretty much the same. Traffic lights almost mean nothing over here. I stopped counting after the 3rd light we had crossed and it wasn't just our driver.

Guys always remember, I am from the country of rules and regulations. The people in my country really follow every fuckin rule. I don't mean to be the one with the wagging finger. I am just not used to people not following the rules. I can only show you my german view on things.

Right let's continue. The whole traffic scene is chaos. The proportion of vehicles there are to the number of roads simply does not match.

Later I learn from some Bogotans that the public transportation system is shit because of some corrupt poiticians who thought spending peoples tax money on their own expenses was more important than investing it into transportation. Thus lot's of little private companies have taken on the job which basically means lot's of minibuses instead of fewer bigger buses. The city of Bogota wants to change that of course. Not sure when this is going to happen and whether the small companies will agree to that. 

Back to our ride. It was stop and go in the city and now that we are on the highway traffic is getting slightly better. I think the highway had 3 lanes but I am not sure anymore. You don't want to be a busdriver in this town that I am sure of. Our driver does his best. He squeezes our bus into the smallest space available.

There was one situtation when my heart stopped. Our bus overtook a vehicle and went in front of ti. Nothing wrong with one might think. Well no, if there hadn't been any cyclists in front of the other vehicle. Cyclists on the Highway?? Again not happening in Germany.
So what did the cyclists do? They simply had to be somewhere else but where should they go?
They saw us overtaking. I closed my eyes (I think the driver did the same). The calculations of the driver turned out to be right and nobody was harmed. Still the cyclist were not amused i can tell you that!

We are reaching the outskirts of Bogota and the traffic gets better. Despite the smaller amount of cars on the road we are not going very fast and here is the reason why.
At times there are people along the road trying to catch their bus. Again nothing wrong with that. Only problem is that theses people are standing anywhere they like but not the bus stop. People simply raise their hands the moment they see the right bus. This does sound very comfortable and seems practical at the beginning but if you have a closer look...
Here comes the german longing for efficiency. I am sorry, I really am.
The sheer amount of cars decelerates the traffic already. But now you also have minibuses on 3 lanes that go from the fast lane to the far right and the other way around all the time just because there is a single person standing on the side of the road.
This way there can be no flow in Bogota's traffic. The fun part is still to come. Most of the time the bus that goes left is not even the bus the person wants. How should bus drivers know? They have to guess.
That is why I propose the following solution only until the city of Bogota introduces their changes of course. The goverment should hand out signs with numbers on them. A sign for every bus line. This way people could show the bus drivers which bus they are waiting for.
I think I will never forget this trip to the monastery. If you can avoid Bogota's rush hour, do it. Although I am not even sure if this was rush hour as it was 8pm when I hopped onto the bus. So only 2 and a half hours later (a route that normally takes 45 mins) my driver mumbles the words monasterio aqui and i step out of the bus and into the night.

Captain's log, Stardate: time to pray (The bus ride part 1)

I really was hoping for the window seat so I could at least lean my head against the window and dose off for a bit. But no. Remember my luck with seatbuddies in the past? This time it wasn't a plain but i almost felt like it. In the last minute a fat woman (guys you have to believe me I have nothing against obese people) gets into the front seat so I have to move to the left. Fortunately I  have a tiny ass. But still... To my left there is the driver rubbing the gear stick against my left legg. This is evern worse than the fuckin plane I think. No sleep for myself then.

Both of the people are very nice. They try to make small talk with me  but again the spanish I learned in school fails me and we remain silent for the rest of the ride. Even if my spanish had been good enough I am sure I would not have been able to follow any conversation as my eyes were too busy processing what was going on in front of me. I have to tell you the traffic here is something else really. The scenes I saw very much reminded me of cocumentaries I had watched about India or Thailand. Motorbikes with 4 people riding it plus additional pets. Vehicles of any shape, size and colour. And then there is the lights...

In addition to the headlights, rear lights and indicators every verhicle has extra LED lights, even the motorbikes. The colours of the lights vary from pink to blue and from green to black light. Were I am from this is considered as light pollution and a major distraction from the road.

Not in good ol' Germany guys.

The country of rules and regulations. I think  we are even the inventors of the DIN A format if I am not mistaken. It really wouldn't suprise me

So I am getting into the fairground mood. I like lights and colours. Though this mood doesn't las very long, a ferrys wheel doesn't produce fumes. I know that the air I am breathing is not exactly what my body needs right now and I have to cough a lot. Think I am going to pass on my good night cigarette. Or am I?

To get a better Picture of Bogota's traffic here is a little guide to this madness.
The rules are pretty simple actually:

Rule No 1 

The fastest or the one who dares the most wins. It is not even the size of your vehicle that determines whether you are respected or not. People overtake from left to right and from right to left

Rule No 2

There are no rules....

Captain's log, Stardate: time to arrive part 2

I was deperate and just wanted this trip to end. Desperation makes people do funny things especially when you are in a foreign country.
A traveller I met gave me a nice example the other day (thank you Steve). You are abroad and havn´t had your favourite tipe of cereals for a long time. So what do you do if you finally find them in some shop. You know they are well overprized. To the local people this a luxury item.
Of course you buy them because you want a bite of home. I think we travellers can be 'glad' Coca Cola is a multi national company. It's an affordable sip of home for everyone.
At least to me it is.

I have an idea. I just lie to these sharks. So I tell them I will get a ride whith one of em if they let me use one of their phones to notify my friends that I have arrived safely.
I know everyone needs to make a living and I also don't like lying but the prizes they asked for was daylight robbery.

I am diallin Sofia's number. The phone rings. The ringing stops. Someone answers the phone. Sofia has a very manly voice i think. The voice explains it's name is Christian. Cristian in fact is Sofia's bf who had been sent by sofia to pick me up instead. Like 10 meters I see him waving his arm so I pay the taxi driver for using his phone and take off.

Luckily Christian speaks english and we get along very well. He tells me Sofia is lying in bed with Dengue fever. I truely feel sorry for her and at the same time I am glad she sent her bf instead. He is so kind and helpfull. He explains how things work around here.
Unfortunately my brain has shut off. You are with someone local now. You can relax. Let him do the steering. This vessel only wants to finally reach harbour.
So Christian tells me all these probably very useful things and my brain can only process half of what is said. I think he told me he was biologist. Not???
I am truely sorry Christian..

We are wandering through the city. We are taking some buses. I have no fuckin idea where we are. Thei weight of my backpack gets heavier and i activate my brain to tell Christian two things:

I need a bit of non air plane food (preferably while sitting down)

I need a Colombian pr paid card

Both things we find in a mall. As it turns out the prepaid card is worthless as with some cards you can only make national calls. If you guys want to call your folks at home you need to buy a Virgin card. Apparently Richard Branson's company owns the best operating mobile network in Colombia.

My cell works now so cheers Richard.

I get myself a bite in a little shop that looks like you could buy food and a pair of shoes at the same time. I have a type of fried bread - a local dish - what was it's name again?? Christian told me only a minute ago... Again sorry Christian. One of the things my brain couldn't process anymore.

It's getting dark and Christian tells me that the bus ride actually takes another 1 and a half hours. This number my brain can process just fine. Fuck! Another 1 and a half hours in a crowded bus. At least thats how I pictured it. I am considering my options. I could contact one of my other couchsurfing contacts and see if he or she agrees to spontainiously host me for a night. A hostle would also be an option but nah! Not tonight. I want my own room and my own bed. 

I don't want to be a pain in anyones arse so I agree on purchasing the ticket to Varsana.

Christian explains to the busdriver that I am from Germany and that i don't have a fucking clue where I am going. I am not getting half of what they are saying. That is how much my spanish sucks.

I only understand the word monasterary. The busdriver nods. He seems to know the place. My backpack goes into the trunk of the Minibus. I hop into the front seat and Christian and I exchange a few more words till we say goodbye.