On Places, People and Cultures

As you can see my blog title is ‘On Places, People and Cultures’. Well, I have to say the last two were the ones I’ve been struggling to get close to lately. It’s simply not clicking, and, I have to say, those two are very imortant aspects of the whole travelling experience to me. Unfortunatelly, as much as you fantasize about trotting and exploring the world like Ibn Battuta or Marco Polo would do in their days, it’s seems that with it’s unequel distributtion of wealth and greed, it is a completely different place nowadays, which requires a lot more effort to unlock the cultures and get to know the peoples enhabitating its different parts.

So, as much as it may come as a surprise to the most of you, I’m writing this while already back in London. I have to say it’s great to look back at my recent trip and relive all the great moment I had a long the way. It definitelly fueled my urge to travel as well as tought me a lot about travelling in general, and it’s not going to be long till I hit the road again!

There’s another reason for the timing of my return, however. It’s my birthday today, and I’m looking forward to celebrating it with my friends!

One last thing. Hey, all the UK people I met along the road, e-mail me(denisnv[at]gmail[dot]com), leave a comment here or facebook me (Denis Nemytov) if you haven’t done that already. I’d be keen to hook up with all of you,guys, over a cup of tea or a pint :)!

Out.

One thing that caught my eye as soon as I crossed the Indian – Nepalese boarder was Converse sneakers and some pretty fasionable denim worn by two blokes operating the mini bus I took to Kathmandu, as well as a number of beer and liquire billbords along the road. It was something I hadn’t seen for a duration of my stay in India. I wasn’t sure what to read from it first, before I went to check out some sights around the capital the day after. Generally speaking, things I witnessed, like a woman behind a wheel of public mini bus or just groups of young people hanging out on of the central squares of the city make that place look much more modern, young and alive. I have to say, combined with preatty stunning architecture and significantly less hustling comparing to India, those things made me really like the place.

Check out a few more pictures on Flickr.

Here’s the real deal! Apparently, Nepalese love their movies, as over just a few days I spent in this country, I stumbled upon multiple movie sets. Wicked stuff, really!!!

On the way out of Kathmandu my bus was stuck in traffic jam because the road was blocked by student protesters who wanted to know the truth and bring to public attention the fact that their fellow student had been beaten to death by the police a night before. It started off rather peacefully, but then got a bit hectic as soon as the police had enough force in place to oppose the protesters. It was a bit surreal for me, as that was the first time I witnessed something like that from such a close distance, as well as the fact it was over some ones lost life!

I it’s been only a day since I left Dharamsala and I’m already missing it. Needless to say what a difference it makes when you hook up with locals at a place you visit for the first time. So viva CS once again. Special thanks go to Raja, his mom Maria and his girlfriend Elise.

The first Yoga class (Guerilla Yoga, highly recommended), trekking in Himalayas (Himalayan Explorers, again, more highly recommended) and spending a few days in a gorgeous Tibettain Buddist retreat made my visit to Dharamsala one of the major highlights of my entire trip. Thanks guys!