Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Anafi and switzerland
After the ordeal that was trying to process my Indian Visa in Athens a week earlier, I was prepared for the worst on travelling back to collect it.However when faced with the exact same prison guard of a woman who had me scurrying here there and everywhere seven days ago, this time everything went lîke a dream, all the timings went as planned, the boats arrived on time and didint depart without me and more importantly the lady at the desk in the Indian embassy seemed to have had a personality transplant or a week with a new lover, who knows, she simply smiled sweetly at me and with a bat of her eyes handed me my visa, no problems, no questions asked, Indias open to me. Hoorah
So I hopped on the Romilda, as thats what I call the ferry now that takes you out to the islands, Im so familiar wi-770063.jpg)
th her, I think Ive been on her at least eight times now and headed back to Folegandros, fully expecting to head out to Koufonissi and then on to Turkey. Sleeping on the deck of the boat is an art form, you have to hold on tight in the middle of the night as the wind gets up to gale force and your sleeping bag tries to enter orbit, most people seem to hate this but I find it great fun, its warm on deck and you can see the stars and with the wind and the night it gives a sense of freedom Ive not found anywhere else, kind of brings you back to your inner child as you imagine yourself crashing through monstrous seas in high winds and terrible danger, great fun!
On arriving in Folegandros for the second time I check my emails and find a note from a friend I met on the island a couple of days earlier asking me if Ì would like to catch up in Anafi a small island a couple of hours south of Santorini. So,with a slight change of plans and a little diversion I hopped the overnight ferry to anafi. By this time I was totally exhausted, I had bascially been travelling for three nights on different ferries sleeping on the open deck, with little sleep, poor food and hectic schedules.So when I arrived at the port on Anafi all I wanted to do was find a bed and sleep sleep sleep. However on the island that proved a whole heap harder than expected. After three hours of wandering windy little streets, and riding out to tiny coves, and beaches I finally found a place to rest, put my head down and try to sleep off the exhuastion in the only village high up on the cliffs overlooking the port.
After I woke, I found my friend and we spent the next four days eating and swimming, reading and lazing -770125.jpg)
about with very little to do, it was great. I felt very civilised sleeping in a room and not a tent, in fact it felt like luxury and really quite frivolent, eating out in restaurant, sampling the different fish and dishes. Looking back I think its important to let go once in a while or life on the road can become tiresome and tedious and you can loose your will to move.
And now where am I ? Im in Switzerland at my friends house fixing my bike after catching the ferry from Patras to Venice and riding up to Luzern. A couple of days relaxing in Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland and now taking things easy in a quiet little street in the city. I started to feel very tired of travelling in Greece, and a little worn out constantly moving and began to question what I was doing? So at the moment Im just collecting my thoughts and my energy and figuring out my direction. I will keep you posted. Blessings and peace to you all. Jonny
After the ordeal that was trying to process my Indian Visa in Athens a week earlier, I was prepared for the worst on travelling back to collect it.However when faced with the exact same prison guard of a woman who had me scurrying here there and everywhere seven days ago, this time everything went lîke a dream, all the timings went as planned, the boats arrived on time and didint depart without me and more importantly the lady at the desk in the Indian embassy seemed to have had a personality transplant or a week with a new lover, who knows, she simply smiled sweetly at me and with a bat of her eyes handed me my visa, no problems, no questions asked, Indias open to me. Hoorah
So I hopped on the Romilda, as thats what I call the ferry now that takes you out to the islands, Im so familiar with her, I think Ive been on her at least eight times now and headed back to Folegandros, fully expecting to head out to Koufonissi and then on to Turkey. Sleeping on the deck of the boat is an art form, you have to hold on tight in the middle of the night as the wind gets up to gale force and your sleeping bag tries to enter orbit, most people seem to hate this but I find it great fun, its warm on deck and you can see the stars and with the wind and the night it gives a sense of freedom Ive not found anywhere else, kind of brings you back to your inner child as you imagine yourself crashing through monstrous seas in high winds and terrible danger, great fun!
On arriving in Folegandros for the second time I check my emails and find a note from a friend I met on the island a couple of days earlier asking me if Ì would like to catch up in Anafi a small island a couple of hours south of Santorini. So,with a slight change of plans and a little diversion I hopped the overnight ferry to anafi. By this time I was totally exhausted, I had bascially been travelling for three nights on different ferries sleeping on the open deck, with little sleep, poor food and hectic schedules.So when I arrived at the port on Anafi all I wanted to do was find a bed and sleep sleep sleep. However on the island that proved a whole heap harder than expected. After three hours of wandering windy little streets, and riding out to tiny coves, and beaches I finally found a place to rest, put my head down and try to sleep off the exhuastion in the only village high up on the cliffs overlooking the port.
After I woke, I found my friend and we spent the next four days eating and swimming, reading and lazingabout with very little to do, it was great. I felt very civilised sleeping in a room and not a tent, in fact it felt like luxury and really quite frivolent, eating out in restaurant, sampling the different fish and dishes. Looking back I think its important to let go once in a while or life on the road can become tiresome and tedious and you can loose your will to move.
And now where am I ? Im in Switzerland at my friends house fixing my bike after catching the ferry from Patras to Venice and riding up to Luzern. A couple of days relaxing in Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland and now taking things easy in a quiet little street in the city. I started to feel very tired of travelling in Greece, and a little worn out constantly moving and began to question what I was doing? So at the moment Im just collecting my thoughts and my energy and figuring out my direction. I will keep you posted. Blessings and peace to you all. Jonny
So I hopped on the Romilda, as thats what I call the ferry now that takes you out to the islands, Im so familiar wi
-770079.jpg)
th her, I think Ive been on her at least eight times now and headed back to Folegandros, fully expecting to head out to Koufonissi and then on to Turkey. Sleeping on the deck of the boat is an art form, you have to hold on tight in the middle of the night as the wind gets up to gale force and your sleeping bag tries to enter orbit, most people seem to hate this but I find it great fun, its warm on deck and you can see the stars and with the wind and the night it gives a sense of freedom Ive not found anywhere else, kind of brings you back to your inner child as you imagine yourself crashing through monstrous seas in high winds and terrible danger, great fun!On arriving in Folegandros for the second time I check my emails and find a note from a friend I met on the island a couple of days earlier asking me if Ì would like to catch up in Anafi a small island a couple of hours south of Santorini. So,with a slight change of plans and a little diversion I hopped the overnight ferry to anafi. By this time I was totally exhausted, I had bascially been travelling for three nights on different ferries sleeping on the open deck, with little sleep, poor food and hectic schedules.So when I arrived at the port on Anafi all I wanted to do was find a bed and sleep sleep sleep. However on the island that proved a whole heap harder than expected. After three hours of wandering windy little streets, and riding out to tiny coves, and beaches I finally found a place to rest, put my head down and try to sleep off the exhuastion in the only village high up on the cliffs overlooking the port.
After I woke, I found my friend and we spent the next four days eating and swimming, reading and lazing
-770259.jpg)
about with very little to do, it was great. I felt very civilised sleeping in a room and not a tent, in fact it felt like luxury and really quite frivolent, eating out in restaurant, sampling the different fish and dishes. Looking back I think its important to let go once in a while or life on the road can become tiresome and tedious and you can loose your will to move.And now where am I ? Im in Switzerland at my friends house fixing my bike after catching the ferry from Patras to Venice and riding up to Luzern. A couple of days relaxing in Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland and now taking things easy in a quiet little street in the city. I started to feel very tired of travelling in Greece, and a little worn out constantly moving and began to question what I was doing? So at the moment Im just collecting my thoughts and my energy and figuring out my direction. I will keep you posted. Blessings and peace to you all. Jonny
★ 1 Comments. | Jonny, Wednesday, August 6, 2008 8:42 AM
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