Andaman & Nicobar islands

It was back in 2009 when my sweet E and I went to the Andaman islands and to be precise to the incredible Havelock.
The trip was exhausting since we were coming from an endless (and sleepless) night spent in the Calcutta airport (one of the ugliest and most uncomfortable I've ever seen), then a flight to a hot Port Blair (little tour of the main attractions such as the cellular jail), a short visit to Ross island (fantastic military reserve with old colonial building being swallowed by the surrounding nature) and finally a ferry to our last destination.
The arrival at Pristine Resort (10 euros per night for a deluxe hut!!!) was very nice thanx to Subi and Macca offering us a fresh juice and showing us right away our humble hut. The place is completely eco, all made of natural materials and settled right next to a wonderful and endless beach called beach #5. Here beaches are named by numbers (they also have indian names but this is the easiest way to get oriented a bit), and probably this island is world famous for its beach #7 (a.k.a Radhanagar Beach).
After getting comfortable with our place, we changed and headed straight to the beach to rest a bit and hang our hammock on some palm trees. Beach #5 is a huge, thin and long beach with crystal shallow waters thanx to the reef you have about a hundred meters out. To be honest this is not the best place for snorkeling or swimming (expecially if low tide is going on), but for that purpose you'd better head to beach #7. I suggest to rent a motorcycle to move around; they're cheap and most of the times in good conditions (indians fix everything very well) and the only two gas stations on the island will never disappoint you.

As I was saying Radhanagar Beach (let's call things with their name) is breathless! Most of the people (especially locals) tend to stop where the path to the beach ends, but I can assure you there's plenty of space both on the left side and the right one. If you like walking and want to discover a little bit more of the island, at the very end of the beach on the right side, just behind a hidden corner, there's a small lagoon with a sweet bay and some reef where you can have some decent snorkel, but if you're too lazy that day place your towel on the divine white thin sand anywhere, enjoy the amazing refreshing waters and wait for one of the best sunset you'll ever experience in your life. If you're lucky enough you might be able to see elephants walking on the beach or in the forest right behind it...but those are not wild ones, and they're always with some man next to them.
But our favorite beach among all was Elephant beach! On the way to beach #7, pretty much half way from where we staid, there's a path starting, and that's where you gotta drop you vehicle and start a nice trek (about 40 minutes walk) in the jungle leading you to a huge deserted mangrove field. Careful with the tides or you might get stuck either in the mangroves (muddy and sticky) or on the beach on the way back! The reason why we loved this beach, was beacause of the tsunami effects and its privacy. Since it's not so easy to reach unless you take part to one of those sad boat tours with hundreds of people, this area of the island is the wildest and most fascinating. The huge trees killed by the tsunami back in time are still there lying on the beach forming a labyrinth you have to go through and scaring you with their massive roots sometimes 3 or 4 times higher then you.
Once you pass this pretty rough area you finally get to a deserted part of the beach where a small river flows into the ocean. That's where you have to stop!!! The beach gets larger and probably you'll be the only one around there for the whole day, and if you're a snorkeling addicted, jump in the water and go find the big reef you have in front of you to spot some amazing fishes.
We also had a one day boat tour to a tiny island called Button island...you if can, go for it! Only Seychelles gave me such feelings in front of such a huge amount of colorful fishes.

I don't know if things have changed a lot since last time I was there (things in India move pretty fast lately), but the island was still quite pristine, with a wonderful rural area in the inside, friendly and not annoying people (people who have visited India know what I'm talking about), and cheap like no other islands around the world with that kind of beaches and natural beauties! I suggest you to try the local restaurants and not to stick around western resorts or diving centers...this is not where you get the real taste of an area and most of the times the quality is not necessary higher then in the small characteristic eateries.
Keep the Andamans clean and enjoy them!

Moonar and the tea plantations

And here are some astonishing views of the Moonar area from my faithful Royoal Enfield.
Enjoy.

Mudumalai National Park

This is a short video of me riding my Royal Enfield through this amazing wild reserve. It's unbelievable how this environment reminds of a savanna: the colors, the kind of trees, the temperature. I was actually a bit scared to go through it all alone on a bike...you're in the middle of a wild tigers reserve and you might look to them just like a gazelle (and I was not riding so fast to enjoy the moment).
Just a little story.
Few days before then I was pretty sick with my stomach and by that time I didn't recover so well...to make it short, I had to take a dump right away and couldn't wait any longer, so all I could do was to go behind a bush and do it. Only then I thought how humiliating would have been to be killed by a tiger while taking a shit!
Enjoy.

Kerala, India 2011

For the third year in a row I chose India as the highlight of my trips.
After visiting the north and the east on the past seasons, this time I decided to go to Kerala...a pretty much turistic place, but only if you stick to the usual path (the one suggested by Lonely Planet for instance).
Landed in New Dheli,Spicejet was once again the airline I picked up to take me down to Cochi. On time and reliable as usual!
The Cochi airport is actually far from the "city", and it takes about an hour and a half by bus to reach the real heart of the town. Fort Kochin was my choice, because I had a friend waiting for me there...the mighty Dheeraj.
He will be the dude helping me for the rent of my loyal Royal Enfield. A nice but quite old Thunderbird 350 cc, that will take me for over a thousand Km in idilliac places, but letting me down just at the end of the tour.



First stop: Malakkaparra (Tamil Nadu).
You can't miss Athrapally watefalls on the way to this small tea workers village. They're considered the Niagara falls of India, and if you see them during the dry season, you can understand why! They're massive and powerful. I met three unforgettable guys there, that took in some hidden places where we could only go and spent having fun and laughing a lot!!!
Once passed the waterfalls you enter a wild tiger and elephants reserve after a check point, and here you start getting an idea of where you're gonna end up. The landscapes are just breath taking and the bad road you find from this point on doesn't matter at all.
From here to the next check point telling you you're definatly in Tamil Nadu there's about 100 kms of pure nature and wild jungle, with some lakes here and there, and always the feeling you're in the middle of a dream.
I was supposed to get to Valparai and rest for the night there, but Malakkapparra is just the perfect place to stop and start to deep yourself in the real atmosphere of the tea plantations.
Mojhil e Kiran happend to be in the same spot of the world...and like two old friends working hard in the tea plantations, we met at the only "restaurant" of the village. Sanji, the room renter, was part of the walls as he was running a sweet and clean hostel across the street. As you can immagine he kwnew everyone there, and suddenly he introduces us (me, Mojhil and Kiran) to the pink guy. A skinny dark man wearing this shocking shirt you couldn't defenatly miss in the middle of the fields.
One big bottle of water will do it for an hour walk I thought.



But the more we were going down, the more the valley down there was becoming true.
Let's get to the tribal village then...will take a rest and the will go back up (the village is about a 45 minutes walk super downhill).
I couldn't resist from the sight I could catch from the point of the mountain and as soon as Pinky asked us if we wanted to get down to the river...we all replied YESSSSS!!!
One more hr downhill and we're finally there. An endles valley with a huge river and quite all around! Massive rocks, cracked dried land, butterflies gently baskin in the sun on their piece of grass.
To make a long story short, we filled our bodies with nature and then we ate fresh fish just cought by the guys from the village in the river.
The tigers cold be anywhere, but we know the scarry elephants will come to the river at sun set (a month earlier an elephant killed 39 persons!!!).
Before it gets too dark we start climbing back, but with no water left and a whole day under the sun, I'm dehydrated and in the middle of the jungle I start feeling bad cramps on my legs...and the forest dept is waiting for us up there to kick our asses for being such idiots risking our lives with the wild animals!!!
From Valparai till I get back in Kerala to reach Munnar is just crazy roads to ride on my faithful Royal and wild reserves for tigers and elephants. The sun burns like hell so I decide to stop in an unknow village in the middle of no where, where a dude climbs a coconut tree just to get me two nuts...sooo refreshing!
Once in Kerala I finally start to climb back and get to Marayur, probably one of the most enchanting places I've ever seen in my life. Crews of tea pickers worked like little ants on this soft and smoth mountains, and the sandal wood trees make everything even more special if possible.
I'm tired like shit after riding almost the whole day, stopping here and there to take pictures, but at dark I finally reach Munnar and The Maria cottage where I'll spend the next unexpected 4 days.
It's gonna be all rides and hikes in the quiet and pieceful up and downs, and every corner is gonna be an emotion and a shock for the beauty of the West Gath (that's how the mountains between Kerala and Tamil Nadu are called). It happened I found myself crying sometimes, facing lands blessed by some god and people living in such a laid back lifestyle.



First of all thanx to my sweet Ele, always next to me wherever I've been through the entertaining book she gave me just befeore leaving (Amori, case, universi written by Fosco Maraini...a perfect book while you're traveling).
Thanx Jhon for the amazing two days trek we had in the plantations and for introducing me to your family in Top Station.
Thanx Mojhil and Kiran for being such great mates during our trip to the eden valley.
And thanx to all the people I met on my way...you made my experience special and were the most important part of it. I will nevere forget you.

Varanasi 2010

Nothing can stop me from leaving for a vacation I've been waiting for a year! Not even a canceled flight, an endless line (close to my departure time) and the thickest fog an airport has ever seen!
We were supposed to fly through Istambul and then to New Delhi from my hometown (Rome), but the airport in the Turkish capital was closed because of an unusual fog. Only Alitalia (and that's the funny part!) could save everyone from being killed by myself!! But still, between us and the tickets there was the longest line I've ever seen at a check in desk. Careless of everything, I just jumped in fron of everyone and 15 minutes later I came out of the crowed with my trophy and started cheering with Elena. Our holiday was safe...we thought!
Once we arrived in Istambul it was just like hell! The airport had been closed the whole morning, and all the flights were late or canceled...and outside the fog was going up and up. No monitor would tell us where and if our flight was gonna take off from, and everyone was just dazed and confused (How do you like this Led Zeppelin quote!?!?!). All we could do was hanging out, eating at this unpersonalized restaurants every airport has, and every once in a while check for any news.
After hrs waiting, and hrs being on line to get on the plain (just check the pictures, how many people were just goin' off), we finally got on! Cool dude...we're leaving!!! Not even man!!! 4 more hrs on board with no air conditioning and no clue whether we where gonna take off or not, since the fog was so thick outside! The situation was pushing us to the limit, and my girlfriend and I were close to a nervous breakdown.
I was prepared to die, I wanted to give a chance to our vacation to happen...we had to take off!!! Even with the captain blind (for the fog outside) and his hands tied on his back. But finally...the engines did roll!!!





But it wasn't over jet!!!
We had to go from the international terminal to the domestic one to go catch another flight...provided by the low cost (but high quality service!!!) airline company Spice Jet.
And there he was!!! My dear friend Muk, waitng for us outside the Varanasi airport. Smiling as usual, he took care of us right away, telling our driver to stop at a kiosk along the road to get a beer and refresh ourselves a bit before going to the guest house. It was afternoon by the time he dropped us where the car couldn't just keep goin' and shipped the two of us in the hands of a rickshaw driver. Danny boy, Elena and our luggage...the skinny dude was gonna sweat his ass off for a K at least, for a bunch of coins...just worthless for us but incredibly important for him.
The "Gampati GUest House" is just lovely! Within an ancient building, you get to stay for low amount of money (we spent 10 euros for a room...I'm sure you can find cheaper accomodations in India, but this was super worth it) in a super cozy, colorful, wooden room, facing the Ganga river and enjoying the sunrise from it's balcony. And once you're hungry, just go up some steps and you'll get to an amazing terrace, heated by the warm indian sun, where you can enjoy your meal while boats are crossing the river, or some monkeys are jumping from one roof to the other.
Once outside the guest house...it's just India! An incredible amount of people, at anytime of the day, getting busy, chilin' out, trying to sell you almost everything, honking the horn, stuck in the traffic. It's like hell on earth! The streets are just terribly dirty and crowded, there's a awful smell everywhere, and you gotta be careful not to step on a cow shit or something nasty.
At first, this could all just seam crazy and senseless, but once you get into the mood, you make all these inputs your and look at everything from a different angle...that's when you start being amazed.
The banks of the river are full of life, with colors catching your attention at any corner. The streets surrounding that area just look terrible and dangerous, but don't miss the opportunity to take a walk in those alleys, cauze you'll miss the experience of your life. That is where you get the closest you can to the indian culture, lifestyle, and attitude towards their social condition.
The "Sanscrit University" and "BHU", are the two many schools in town. The first one is inside a wonderful and peaceful site, where ancient building coming from the english colonnization have been turned into classrooms and cultural melting pots. There's an amazing laboratory you might be able to visit, where an old man with his assistants work 24/7 to produce Ayurveda oils and tablets using the ingredients nature gives them from the botanic garden right across the street. Everything is boiled and steered for hrs in a huge pan...the tradition, incredible rural tools, and knowledge do the rest.
Varanasi is all this and way more (try to visit all the temples they have if you can!!! The monkey temple is something you can't miss though!), but no words or images can truly represent what your eyes might be able to see or run into. I wish I will be able to go back there again and again, to finally catch the deep essence of such a different culture.

India 2008

The time I had to get an idea of this amazing country was not enough and when I started getting used to the many contradictions this culture encloses I had to leave and go back to my home country. By the time I did this tour among Delhi, Jaipur, Agra and Varanasi, I was coming back from the Himalayan region, where everything was quite, peaceful, mystic and totally natural. The shock I had visiting with Delhi was nothing compared to what I was gonna see in the other cities, since being the capital and the headquarter of the political power everything is relatively in a better condition, more organized, more...similar to a western city. But what totally caught my attention at first sight was the strength of the cultural identity this people have. Any other place on earth, after decades of colonialism (in their case English) would have lost most of their habits, such as the food or the way of dressing...but not the Indians! Walking among them is just like walking in the middle of a storm of colors, smells and noises and by the time you get back to your room you'll have your head blowing up for the huge amount of inputs you received walking around. At the end of the day, beside being physically destroyed, I was above all mentally tested, trying to understand what I saw, trying to find an answer to all the questions I usually don't even ask to myself living in a country such as Italy. My traveling experiences brought close to many realities, I came in contact with lots of moving situations, but this was like way beyond everything I could expect. The beautiful was laying next to the awful, the bright next to the dark, the humble next to the majesty...and all this coexists like nowhere else in the world, making possible to this huge mass of people to live next to each other almost ignoring what is happening to the others, being everyone too busy trying to survive in the temple of life. And I didn't use the word temple by chance, but once you'll be deepen in the everyday life in India, you'll notice how religion is fundamental; all the religions delegate special settings for their holy places...not here in India! You can run into a tiny temple just in the middle of a crowded street (and if you've been to India you now what I mean by crowded), you'll be astonished by a cow crossing a highway and watching the drivers almost killing themselves just to avoid them because they are untouchables.
Too bad I didn't have so many chances to get in touch with the locals and get an explanations of all I was seeing happening around me. Every once in a while I tried to get closer to their reality, talking to people from the street,but once again...their cultural identity was sooo strong that the majority of the people didn't speak English even after being for soo long in contact with the English.
But I'll be back...and I'll do my best to have a clear picture of this fabulous world!!!

National Geographic

Last year I was so lucky to join the "Ride the Van" project with National Geographic.
It was my very first time in the Indian subcontinent, and as a start I had the chance to begin with a very mystical and quite region up on the Himalayan mountains. For three days I visited as many schools as I could, in an area called Sitla, with a crew trying to open a window on my country, Italy, to many sweet little kids studying in humble schools and walking tremendous distances to achieve the knowledge they'll need in their lives. My approach was to teach them something about Italy playing with them games that kids play in my country, but also showing them some pictures I took personally for them about our everyday life, things that are obvious for us but not for them. It was amazing watching their astonished eyes in front of a picture of a building's intercom, or of a water fountain.
Each place we would arrive to, did welcome us as heroes and seemed like the children couldn't wait to ask us questions in their very polite and almost whispering way. At the end of each session we gave the kids who asked smart questions some gifts we brought from our country, to stimulate them to be open minded and hold their attention during the whole session.
They filled my heart with joy and pure sentiments, and all this happened in an environment blessed by a immense spirituality.
Beside all this, for National Geographic is also a great opportunity to provide school structures with desks and all the equipment they need to allow the kids to study in better conditions and make their days better. The classrooms I visited where filled with presents from "The Society", and environments that were once naked today have maps on the walls, blackboards and cozy desks to study on top.
I wish one day I'll be able to live such an experience again...and I wish everyone else could as well, in order to understand how lucky we are and how much we can do for countries such India.
Thanx NatGeo.