08:16 Hem entrat al avió i despres que un Venezuelano s'hagi oblidat del seu DNI ... Vam baixar tots del avió i tornar a entrar al mateix lloc ... Aqui tenim les fotos de nosaltres mirant el avio desde fora , a dins del bus i un altre vegada a dins .. amb molt de sono!

09:09 Agafem per menjar un Bag de M&M, 1 Muffin de chocolata i un te pel coll de la minina! El nostre flight attendant es de Belo Horizonte. E fala portugues como la Anna! Ara queda 1 hora per arrivar a London Gatwick...

  

10:34 Hem arrivat tard. El avio va parar al mig del sud d'inglaterra i vam tenir que caminar uns 6kms a dins del aeroport. Vam perdre el primer bus de Easyjet i el seguent ja estava plé, tot per culpa del DNI del noi de Venezuela ! Ara a esperar ... en el fred intens que fa al carrer !

 

13:35 Hem arrivat al hotel , la noia russa ens ha informat del esmorzar i que el codi per entrar al B&B es el 5456 (aixo es secret). Per la wifi la password son 10x0 . Dinem en un lloc de menjar de Sri Lanka i India, molt a prop de Buckingam. El primer plat molt picant i els segons MOLT bons ... Chicken Tika Massala & Samossa (£29.43)

17:38 Tornem al hotel despres de passajar per Buckingam , St George Park , Tamesis etc. Hem jugat amb les ardillas un montón i hem agafat a Victoria Station uns Muffins per la nit! (£4 per 4 Mufins... En una capse super fixe que portarem cap a Barcelona). Casi no trovavem la nostre clau numero 3 al B&B... Tenen un equipo de Noias Russas treballant tote la estona al hotel . Nem a dormir , estem MOLT cansados daquest primer dia de Sol a London Town...

Little did i knew that at some point in my life Singapore would be a more familiar place then Oporto ..for instance. It all started in a rainy afternoon on Torres Novas Municipal library. For the first time ever , i was about to experience this Internet Chat thing (IRC ... or Mirc). Logged on, chose some crappy name and got into a "Chat Room". That afernoon i talked with 3 people. All of them from the other side of the world ... Mishty (New Delhi), Zain (Karachi) and Icetuna (Singapore).

Haridwar é uma cidade santa no norte da India a umas 4 horas de Nova Deli.

Em 2006, depois de 4 dias num Raft baixando o rio Alaknanda (e depois o Ganges até Rishikesh), dei por mim nesta cidade á beira rio plantada. A gente do acampamento de Rafting deixou-me aqui ao meio dia e fui á procura de sítio para dormir. "Escolhi" um sítio manhoso , mesmo em frente á enorme estaçao de comboios é que no dia seguinte tinha uma viagem de 14 horas até Orcha e nao queria arriscar a perder a minha ligaçao.

BERLIN (early this year)

For a long time i wished to land in Berlin. I finally did it in the beggining of this year for a cold weekend break in Germany. Fast cheap flight and arrive to our hostel amid a few danger moves on ice.  Tried one of this "free" tours through Berlin for almost a whole day. Spanish version ..hehehe. It was quite entertaining, with this spanish guy talking about and explaining a few things on the city and it's history. We walked around the main part of the Easter Berlin for a few hours passing through the Brandenburg Gate, the jewish memorial, checkpint charlie and so on... and a chocolatier that looked amazing and made us comeback by metro on our final day there. It was so sleepery on the sidewalk that it made it dificult to walk around and extremely tiring also. Loads of photos. A few weeks before heading to Berlin i got me and Anna two tickets for a movie session on the Berlinale film festival  "El Mal Ajeno". It was in original language so that was much better than german language that i do not yet master. I may be getting back one day . Who knows?

LISBOA (May)

Surprise, surprise! Everyone knew but me. For my birthday, my Anna sent me on her company to Portugal, Lisboa. My soccer team (Benfica) was about to win their first championship in 5 years or so and i was there to witness it live on Estádio da Luz. I remenbered perfectly the last time we won , how we hit the streets horn screaming out loud. First we had to infiltrate the stadium .. we had 2 tickets to diferent parts of the stadium and that wasn't good ... so, she jumped the fence and just entered without any problems. It was a lousy lousy game .. but , we won! So it didn't really matter cause we were all happy. Maybe i was happier than somebody else ... after horning my way up to the center of Lisbon i met Flip,Paula,Frade, Sara and the guys for the street party that followed the championship win. It was Great!!!

 MARRAKECH (June)

We went to Marrakech for a few days of relaxing on the swimming pool. I found a nice place on the outskirts of the city (15Kms) that made us feel we were in heaven. Birds singing, 3 swimming pools and rose petals everywhere. That's what we call life. One day we also went with a guide to the center of Marrakech to wonder around the old city. We only had 1 day to spend there, that's why we tought of going there with a touristic guide. He took us to the Royal tombs, one amazing palace that in the begining just seemed like nothing and in the end it's wonderfull, with gardens and decorated rooms. We also went to one of this carpet places where they tried to sell us something we did not want. I'm not a carpet person i must say .. but after a tea and a couple of unconfortable moments we safely arrived to the final NO, thanks! We went for some chicken (again) and afterwards hit the souks on our own , so that we could be harassed as much as possible by the people trying to sell stuff. We bought a pair of things , including Babuskas hardly fought for. Were they too expensive? On our last night i asked for a triple chocolate cake from our hotel and they delivered big time ...cause it was absolutely delicious . hmmmmmm

From some time i´ve been investigating places and feelings. A time comes when choices must be made with your whole life in hands.I´m 33 like Jesus and a few of my closest friends and i have at best 60 years ahead of me. 60 years of a journey i´m hopping will take me to where i want to be with 93 years old. Knowing that i've done all that i could do with my limited resources. I'm talking about the green valuable papers and the colorless ticking time. Where to go? These were my first 4 choices ...from left to right : South Florida Miami, Oman, Cabo Verde and Kenya. Water may be found if looked carefully in all of these pictures. In the end i may head south and go to South Africa. A World in a Country. So ... coming back to my blog with all the things i´m looking for in this trip to mighty SA will be posted on this blog of mine. You're more than invited to tag along ..both on Mapa Riscado or the actual trip next September. Maybe.  Any tips will be more than welcome...  altough i'm counting heavily on a friend that lives and enchants Johannesburg these days.

South Africa, September 2010

Next weekend i'll be heading on to Rome. No money in my pocket but a world of illusion. Hope that's enough somehow. I'll be sleeping near St. Peter's Square.This time i hope i can see the Pope and eventually ask his opinion on Benfica's current form. I'm sure the Catholic church has been following closely the production of the men in red. Specially because Benfica's coach goes by the uncommon name of Jesus. Not Belzebu, Batman, Garfield or Apple Pie ... Just Jesus. He does look kind of weird and crazy but i guess the original Jesus didn't qualify for the "Most Handsome Hebrew this side of the Eufrates". Hey .. this is me just guessing, i really don't care as long as my team keeps winning. So when the Pope comes out his windows, waving, among cheers and long live the Pope chants, i'll throw in my litle stone of wisdom in form of a whistle or song. "Allways look at the bright side of life" by the Monty Pithons was a serious contender but i'll settle with "Ser Benfiquista" our Benfica hymn. I'll try to train a pidgeon or two to emulate our team's Royal Eagle flight before each game ... hope that goes well.
Best Wishes,
Pedro

My Hotel : Orange Hotel, Fluffy Beds
My Team : Benfica, the Mighty Ones
My Pope : Benedict, the Joyful
My Pizzeria : MangiaNapoli, with or without Cheese
My Pidgeon : Not an Eagle but close

Bangkok (Thailand) : Ibrik Resort by The River
Dificult to find but what a wonderful choice for an amazing stay in Bangkok. Would return in a blik of an eye. Waking up to the river sounds. Staring at night to the other shore where the golden temples are. The small market by the Hoetl selling a million strange things. The people working in the hotel had an english vocabulary of 4 words. No more. And it was more than enough for a great breakfasts and massage.














Koh Samui (Thailand) : Red House Boutique Hotel
Keeping on with the desire of staying as close to the water as possible, this was a clear choice in Koh Samui. I'ts in the middle of the fisherman's village near Bophut Beach. Nothing like waking up in the morning, walk down to the beach and dive. Yupeeeee













Penang Island (Malaysia) : Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
Protected by Unesco , won a prize a few years ago as the most excellent recuperation of an historic monument. It's a Museum and a Hotel. Several films have taken place on this amazing location. The breakfast i had in here was the best i had in many years. If you can't stay here , at least visit the house. Not To Miss!














Pulau Perhentian (Malaysia) : Perhentian Tunabay Island Resort
This was the view from my beach hut. Nothing like staying close to the water. Dive and hot water. Clown Fish just in front of my hut. Had a wreck dive that made me feel like Jean Jacques Costeau. A little bit. This was a slice of heaven for me. Heaven.

For the last few days/weeks in light of recent news regarding my labour workload i seriously began evaluating the possibility of fly over to some other country where i could get much better value for money than i do in Spain. I think of this plans in the making as What-IF contigency plan. A just in case scenario.

The Scenario : Ups .. the migration plans of my company do not include all the sub contractors currently employed in diferent projects.

Problem : I'm gently offloaded of my work receiving a very small indemnization fee and also start receiving money from the welfare system the magnificent Kingdom of Spain has prepared for me.

Solution : Realizing that the money i have will not be enough to survive without work for some time, and taking into account that there aren't a lot of open vacancies right now on the work market i think that it may be better to take this little ammount of money i have to some country where i can live with no problems (money wise). I choose Thailand. Good value for money. This last week i've talked with a guy renting a house in Phuket for the pretty ammount of 200€ a month. Yes , it's true.

What do you get in Thailand for 600€ a month (300€ each person) ?
- You can pay the house on the photos
- You get Cable TV and Wifi
- You have perfect weather and beautiful beach
- You may eat everyday on a restaurant if you like
- You may go for an ocasional weekend out to some island
- You may go for a diving or a massage when you want

































Should i stay or should i go?

Perque sempre viatges llun Pedro?

Per nadar en piscines naturals de aigua calenta de emperadores ja morts en una ciutat Romana. per a saltar d'illa en illa a las Aguas Helenicas i encantar-me amb cadascun dels dias, cadascuna de las nits. Per escoltar mil sons, mil persones, mil ciutats. Menjar, dormir i ballar en castells o Palaus... àrabs, cristians, budistes i Induís. Per les sorpreses que m'arravassen la respiració sempre que no m'ho espero. Sempre que m'ho espero. T'espero.

Perque sempre viatges a prop Pedro?
Per la sensació de casa que tens. Per la sensació de pertànyer a un lloc, a una persona, a una llar. Per a trepitjar molt de poc a poc cadascuna de les pedres d'aquest carrer al que has donat el seu nom. Per a adormir al so de les onadas que cada nit al veure't arribar al coixí t'embalen en somnis suaus. Pels nois i noies, pobles i ciutats que t'han fet el que ets, un Príncep blau. encantat.

In case anyone's going this way on Spring/Summer 2009 , and i know some of you will ... here's a guide that may help you trace your route in Mexico land. Inform me .. cause we'll be able to meet somewhere, somehow.

Lonely Planet Mexico Guidebook : link


* Specially addressed to people from El Prat de Llobregat, Seattle and Rio de Mouro.

This is the place i stayed in Carcassonne. The hostess was so so nice (Patricia) . She used to live in Paris and one day decided to go rural. For breakfast she came up with a few sweet Jams, ike Green Tomatoe, that was an absolute delight. I wanted to buy her one jar, but she refused and instead just offered it to me. Nothing but great things to say. The rooms were like covers of Design Magazines and i was just 5 min by car from Carcassonne. Altough the weather wasn't up for swimming or sunbathing, i'm returning in late Spring or Summer to enjoy it fully (waterwise). She proposed the 14th of July, french national day, 'cause they have this huge fireworks on the walls of "la cité".

Aux Anges Gardiens : LINK

7 de Março de 2009

This time i didn't just pass by ... running like hell on my way to a beautifull bath on the mediterranean ... hehehe. I stopped and i enjoyed. And it was cold. And i ate a whole lotta' chocolate.

From Carcassone, this is Pedro Carriço for Mapa Riscado. Over and Out.

I have all the information in the world on travelling. You just tell me wher eyou want to go and i'll deliver the guide for that city, country, region or continent. It's that simple. I have made the first 5 images on this post clickable so that you can get small samples of the chapters available. I hope you enjoy it as much as me. Try me .. ask me for a country. I do not have Lesotho. I think. So forget it. Any other countries i do have. So go ahead!

This is a nice photo from a guy that invents nice photos. I have his app on my Iphone. His name is Eric Lafforgue and he's been photographing for some time now. This photo belongs to a travel set called Oman, a shadow of small tiny little windows. The portraits he has from all around the world are good. Really good. I like photos.

Go and visit :
Eric Lafforgue

In case you want to visit Oman, just drop me a line by email or trained pidgeon.

Where to go next vacations? I allways prefered routes instead of point-to-point travel. This image seems like a nice thing to do. If i had time and/or money there are a few more intense options .. like St. Petersburg to Bali. wow. I have time to do all this travelling and more... i only started to go out of Portugal 5 years ago, and already i've seen stuff around. I'll be enjoying like a midget when i get to be 90 years old (they say things like this here in Spain... don't ask me why).

Suggestions please ... where would you go (21 days) on your vacations with a limited budget ?
(no Round-The-World or Oceania)

You say goodbye and i say hello. I had this Beatles song hoovering on me for a while now. So now it's out. Thank you. This photo was taken in Bocas del Toro (Colón Island) in Panama. I was waiting for a boat to take me to the next island (Bastimentos) Old Point. It was raining. A whole lot. Not the best of things when you're going for a Caribean Sun and Sand week.. but the Naturalito's and the Caipirinha's (juice/alcool drinks) made wonders to forget all the rain pouring down on me.

I recommend a Jack Johnson song called : Sitting, Waiting, Wishing