I remember first hearing about Auroville when watching a documentary online, showing this allegedly perfect city. It described Auroville as a 3000 inhabitants experimental township, where people from 50+ different nationalities live, where no garbage is produced, everything is homegrown or sourced ethically, people focus on self development and on a lot of stuff I consider healthy and important, such as meditation and yoga. A city where education doesn’t have the same flaws as in the west, where welfare and healthcare are free and guaranteed to everyone and where money doesn’t exist. Other people called it a “Burning Man in real life”.

The documentary kept going: Aurovillans have been planting trees for the past decades and now there’s a forest, this changed the microclimate: Aurovillans have the luck to enjoy lower temperatures than the scorching ones of the surrounding areas. It sounded so good that I remember thinking: “Hey, it wouldn’t be bad to become Aurovillan and move there when I retire.”

But is it all really that good? Has Auroville really achieved what they set out to be their vision or is it just a cult?

A Brief History of Auroville

Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity.

Mirra Alfassa

These are the words Mirra Alfassa used to describe her project. Mirra Alfassa is known as “The Mother” and founder of Auroville, frames with her portraits are hanging on most Auroville units and shops, some of these are named after her. She decided to build the experimental town to realise the vision for humanity that Sri Aurobindo, an Indian Guru, had. “The Mother” wanted Auroville to function as a role model for the rest of humanity. A lot of people and Aurobindo followers loved the idea, so a site nearby the city of Pondicherry was chosen to lay the foundations for the City of Peace and Human Unity.

In 1968 124 people from different nations gathered at the site and brought soil from their lands. The soil was stored inside a marble urn to be kept in the Matrimandir, a huge spherical building, which was going to be the heart of Auroville, where people could go and meditate, surrounded by a big green area where silence was to be observed. The Mother herself was choosing who could join Auroville and who couldn’t based on their “energy” (a word you’ll hear a lot there).

It all sounds lovely and poetic, part of this vision worked out very well. There really is a huge forest around Auroville, the Matrimandir is there and it’s a majestic building: Its roof is covered in 56 KG of gold and the insides are made of white marble. Not bad for a moneyless society…

A Closer Look at Auroville.

I arrived at Auroville late at night. The ride there wasn’t an easy one. My Taxi had to go through very dark roads, and after being blocked twice by the local police that was stopping traffic in and out from 2 roads, I managed to make my way to the hostel, through dark, dusty, bumpy streets in the middle of the forest.

My host welcomed me warmly and showed me the bamboo hut where my dorm was. I could just hear the sounds of the forest while falling asleep and I couldn’t wait to wake up in paradise the next morning. The first thing I did upon waking up was to go outside and talk to the other 2 guests that are staying in my hostel, I couldn’t wait to hear about Auroville.

When I asked the first guy: “So, how’s Auroville?” the reply was way different than expected: “Oh it’s shit man“.
“What do you mean it’s shit?” I asked.
He kept going:
“Some stuff that they planned is working alright: Free Education and Healthcare, It’s eco friendly but people don’t seem to be happy here or to have much choice. I spoke to this woman who’s told me she wants to leave and go back home in Europe but she can’t. She’s explained me that she has to work a lot for the community, she get paid very little and can’t even use that little to buy flights or manage to go away cause it’s all in Aurocash. She’s trapped“
That didn’t sound quite right to me, so I had to ask more: “Wait, getting paid? What do you mean by that? Isn’t this a moneyless society?“
“No, you get paid with their currency, called Aurocash. You can’t exchange it outside so you can’t really leave, since you have no money at all if you do.”
“What if you have money in your bank account?”
“That’s the thing, if you decide to join Auroville, they ‘encourage’ you to link all your current accounts and assets to your Aurocard. Once you do that, it goes to the community and the organisation, and you can’t really get it back, even if you leave.”

That sounded way different than the ideal society described in documentaries and newspaper articles. The “perfect city” started to sound to me as a sort of cult. I didn’t want to take the word of another random dude who’s there as a guest though, so I went on and asked the guy who runs the hostel about Auroville.

“So, are you Aurovillan?”
“Fuck no, man.” He said, while rolling a spliff. Something that also surprised me as I was told you can’t bring alcohol or drugs inside Auroville.
“Why? Is it because it’s too complicated to become one?”
“Is not that hard really, you just fucking pay bro. I am not Aurovillan because these people are trapped here. They have no way out and I don’t like that.”
“What you mean just pay? I thought you had to prove you could be a good addition to the community, work and all that”
“Hahaha no man, look around. There are a lot of mansions around here. There are a lot of rich people who decide to become Aurovillan for a number of reasons.”
“Like…?”
“Well, some of them just give Auroville a lot of money, get some land, build a mansion so they have a nice place to stay. It’s lovely to live here. Some others had to escape the law and live here, so they don’t have to worry about escaping anymore.”
“Oh wow.. really?”
“Yeah, some of the people here have done really good or really bad things back in their countries and the police or other people are looking for them. They can’t catch them here though.”
“But your hostel is in Auroville, can you open a business here even though you’re not Aurovillan??”
“Oh yeah, it’s hella easy. The good thing about Auroville is that it’s easier to open a business compared to the rest of India, for foreigners and Indians alike. However, I’m renting Auroville land and I have to pay them 33% of my earnings…”
“33%?? That’s a lot!”
“Yeah, they make a lot of money and no one really knows who handles it and where it goes.”
“So how come you decided to open your business here?”
“Oh man, there are a lot of people looking for me in India. I was a political activist, an anarchist. I’m safe here.”
“It’s beautiful here. Life in Auroville is good if you are not Aurovillan. And even for Aurovillans, if you’re happy to stay forever you can have a really good life. Some people here live in mansions, source their own food, produce no garbage and are at total peace with themselves and the world around them.”

I decided to go check out the city myself. I rented a bike and explored around the city. I really loved it. There are plenty of cafes, restaurants, hostels and communities around Auroville. I checked out the board of one of the local cafes and found hundreds of flyers, all with incredibly cool stuff to do. Workshops on Yoga, Meditation, Reiki, Tai chi, Aikido, Cooking, Permaculture, Sustainable living. You name it. You can learn a lot of stuff in Auroville, especially around self improvement and being eco conscious.

I later found out that all these workshops and cafes are ran by outsiders. That “Auroville, lets you see what they want you to see” as another of the local business owners told me.

“They [Aurovillans] live too deep in the forest. It’s hard to find out where their houses are, they don’t really mingle with non-Aurovillans. Apparently they have a really good life, especially the ones who’ve been here for a while and managed to build their sustainable mansions.” He added.
“I like to stay on the outside. I love democracy and transparency. I wouldn’t be happy without knowing where all the money they make goes. Auroville is really powerful you know? They can issue their own visas and plates for cars.”

The Three Aurovilles.

The more I walked around the more I understood and accepted the fact that there are 3 Aurovilles

1. The inner circle, cult-ish, Auroville. A city that was meant to have a population of 50.000 people and still has just about 3000. Where people who join have to give up everything and be ok with the fact that if they leave, they’ll be broke with no money to spend on the outside. Where outsiders on the waiting lists who bought the dream have to spend 9 months of the year, before going back home to work 3 months and save up to give their “contribution” hoping to be accepted.
2. The part that looked like Disneyland aka “What Auroville lets you see” There’s a visitor centre, where you are encouraged to watch a video about Auroville and an exhibition. Youthen have to follow a path, visit the viewpoint overlooking the majestic Matrimandir, the dome of peace, backdrop of hundreds of selfies taken by tourists.
3. The “Outside Auroville” The miles and miles of communities, shops, cafes, restaurants, ran by outsiders. Where all the workshops and courses are taught, where the meditation and yoga retreats are held, where all the delicious, organic, locally sourced food is served and where you meet a huge number of very inspiring, amazing people. Ready to teach you how to build a sustainable bamboo house, how to grow your own veggies and how to share unconditionally and wholeheartedly, be it a coffee, knowledge, life experiences or whatever may add value to a human interaction.

Conclusion, Should You Go?

Hell Yes. Go to Auroville, find a nice volunteering project in one of the communities around it or just stay in a hostel if you have savings and want more free time. Rent a scooter, wander around, find some cool workshop, learn new skills that you wouldn’t learn as easily in other places. Connect with some really inspiring individuals, learn from them, share your knowledge, be inspired, inspire, create.

Do I still feel like I would like to become Aurovillan and live the dream described by the media and their very organised visitors center? No. I think you can find other quiet places and eco-communities where you don’t have to give up all your belongings and risk to stay there forever. Some of these are right at the doorstep of the secluded, secret parts of Auroville that you won’t see as an outsider, they really welcome all people and are definitely worth checking out.

Have you been to Auroville? Would you like to? Have you heard of it? Leave a comment if you have something to say or want more info 🙂

Heaven is a Jewel shaped Island.

Sri Lanka is often compared to a gemstone due to its shape. Once you go there it won’t take you long to understand why Sri Lanka is not just shaped like a jewel but it really is a precious treasure on Earth. There are countless reasons why you should visit this paradise. Are you into white sand paradise beaches? Are you more of a hiker and adventurer? Are you into Spirituality, and want to discover Buddhism? Are you into wildlife? Are you a Foodie?

If you answered YES even to one of these questions then Sri Lanka should be your next destination. It has everything: Lush green landscapes, mountains, hikes with stunning views, paradise beaches, lovely locals, amazing food. It ticks all the boxes of what most people would consider heaven on Earth.

My Itinerary

I landed in Colombo early in the morning and booked a night there. And here’s my first advice (That matches the ones of several other travellers I spoke to). Spend maximum 1 day in Colombo or skip it altogether. The city is chaotic it doesn’t have much to offer other than some nice hotels and food spots. If you decide to spend one day there I would advise to book a room around Mt Lavinia beach or Dehiwala so you’ll be far away from the chaos and you can spend your jetlag sunbathing and chilling.

Another suggestion I have is obviously start from the inland before you head down to the south: I say that for 2 main reasons:
1. It makes more sense in terms of transportation
2. The moment you’ll hit the coast you won’t want to move anymore. Life is just too good down there!

This is how I spent my 5 weeks there:

Kandy (2 days) – Nuwara Eliya / Ella (3 days) – Tangalle (5 days) – The coast between Matara and Galle (Rest of my stay).

With hindisght and experience I would suggest a slightly better itinerary. I would add a couple of days in Dambulla after or before Kandy to get to see the Sigiriya Rock and the Dambulla Cave temple, as well as an extra day in Ella or Hatton to hike Adam’s Peak.

Enough with the intros, here are the main reasons why I believe you should go and a few photos of this great journey.

Reason Number 1: The People

People in Sri Lanka are just lovely. They are incredibly helpful. In the smallest towns inland, where they are not used to tourist they’ll treat you like a VIP and continuously ask to get a selfie with you or pictures of you. They will always go the extra mile to help you, whether is to find a taxi, accommodation, suggestions on things to do etc. A guy I chatted with for a few minutes noticed I was going to a shop to buy water, stopped me, ran to his bus and gave me 2 bottles for free. Many people were happy to share some food or drinks with me and always ask if there was anything I needed help with and giving me countless tips and suggestions to make the most of the time in Lanka. Locals know how to party and have a great time too and will happily give you advice on the night life, places to go to hang out or party.

A couple of extra tips for how to deal with locals:

If you are a girl travelling solo: Sri Lanka is very safe. However some female travellers I met told me they felt a bit uncomfortable in some parts of the inland and even in the touristy south. I spent some time on a beach at night in Weligama with another backpacker, who had spent several months there and she said it’s not uncommon for locals to get closer when they see couples on the beach at night for a bit of voyeurism or waiting for them to go for a night swim and steal their stuff. Actually when I turned around I realised there were quite a few locals staring at us. Yet again, I met tons of solo female travellers and they never experienced a problem or felt unsafe. So green light on that! Just obviously use common sense as you would anywhere else.

Tuktuks in the south coast will not have a meter and overcharge you all the time. The reason is that the most common TukTuk booking App (PickMe: I highly suggest you to download it to order TukTuks and get fair prices) doesn’t work there, so they can come up with prices 3/4 times the normal fare. If you are visiting the south, I would advise renting a motorbike as it will work out cheaper than a TukTuk. If you are going to move along the coast for parties, obviously don’t drink and drive. Duh!!
Buses are a great way to get around too. Sri Lankan Buses are incredibly colorful, pump music and feel like a roller coaster. Definitely something to experience even if just once.

Another advice: Locals know very well that tourists have money to spend and in some of the most touristy spot will try to get some off you all the time (I found this to happen mostly in Ella and in the South). These stilt fishermen are not actually fishing. They sit next to the spot and wait for tourists who want to take pictures of them to charge them:

Reason Number 2: The Food

Sri Lankan Food is just AMAZING. You won’t believe how tasty it is, some of the things you should definitely try are: Kottu, Rice and Curry, Roti and Hoppers. If you look for a local experience go eat in hotels. That’s how little local food places are called in Sri Lanka and they are incredibly cheap as well. You can leave a hotel spending less than 2 Euros, with a full belly and satisfied.
If you get tired of Curries and Kottu. In the most touristy places you’ll find some amazing international food, especially in the south. Mexican, Pizza, French, Brunch, Burgers, you name it, Sri Lanka has it.
The Gully Kitchen, Cantina Lanka, Hana’s Pizza, The Kip are some of the best food spots in Ahangama. Make sure you also check out the Vegan Nicecream from Cruising Smoothy in Weligama.

A tip if you decide to eat in a local Hotel: If you get a Kottu or Fried Rice and so on don’t get more food as the portions are HUUUGE. Exactly what you need after a day spent hiking or surfing though.

Reason Number 3: Culture and Spirituality

Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country. Around 70% of its inhabitants are Buddhists, this means you get the chance to experience this beautiful life philosophy in several ways. You can sign up for Vipassana silent retreats, you can go to meditate in temples, talk to monks and understand more about the Dharma and the way. It’s also not far from India and is really easy to find yoga retreats and courses anywhere, especially on the coast. Another great advantage of the great spiritual tradition of the country is the number of beautiful temples you’ll find.

I’m glad Kandy was my first stop after Colombo as it’s considered the Spiritual Capital of Sri Lanka. Kandy is renowned for the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. In this temple a relic of Buddha’s tooth is kept and every day at 6 PM the monks hold a ceremony. Devotees come from all places to look at the relic and leave an offer (often a lotus flower) with traditional drummers playing on the background.

Insider tip: Another gorgeous place to go around Kandy that is not very well known to tourists is the Nelligala Buddhist Centre. This beautiful temple was built on top of a mountain and I highly suggest visiting early in the morning or close to sunrise as it offers some stunning views on the beautiful, green surrounding landscape.

For Yoga, if you happen to stop by in Tangalle, you should definitely visit the classes held by Yoga Tangalle at Coppenrath Hostel. The Yoga Shala is right on top of the building facing the beach, which means you get to do yoga while watching the sun rising over the ocean.

Reason Number 4: Landscapes and Hikes.

I had the luck to see the sun rising while flying a hot air balloon in Kapadokya and that’s hard one to beat… So if I say in Sri Lanka I have seen some of the most beautiful sunrises of my life, take my word and go check them out.

Sri Lanka as a very varied landscape. The beautiful hills, valleys and tea plantations you can find around Kandy, Ella and Nuwara Eliya develop into mountains that offer breathtaking views and have been adorned with temples, stupas and colorful houses, that enhance their natural beauty.

Starting from Kandy I would highly suggest to take a train ride to Ella. The train goes through beautiful tea plantations and is one of the most famous train rides in the world as it passes over the Nine Arches Bridges

A MUST DO HIKE near Ella is surely Little Adam’s Peak. You might have to leave your place to start the hike at around 4/5 AM to make it to the top by sunrise but it’s totally worth it. Don’t just take my word for it. Have a look:

A little tip if you are planning to hike it (and you should!) make sure you get there a bit early to explore the area around. The main viewpoint offers a great scenery, but if you walk down the hill and climb up the second peak you get rewarded with an even better view:

Not far from Ella and Nuwara Eliya you’ll find its big brother: Adam’s Peak. This mountain is considered one of the most important places in Lanka for its spiritual value. At the top of the peak there’s a huge footprint that Buddhists believe was left by Buddha himself. The peak is sacred in all religions as Hindus believe the footprint belongs to Shiva and Christians/Muslim think it’s the sign of Adam’s first step after descending on Earth from heaven. (Hence the name)

To make it to the top by sunrise you would have to start the hike at 2.30 AM. It’s a long one. It’s Roughly 9 km one way, 1 km elevation gain and you’ll need to climb 6.000 steep steps to get there. Make sure you don’t go on a weekend or near the full moon. Adam’s peak is a pilgrimage site and buddhists from everywhere go climb it. If you go when it’s too busy you might find yourself queueing for hours to reach the top, as at every day at sunrise during pilgrimage season (January to May) a ceremony is held at the top of the temple.

If you have a bit of spare time in Ella, you can grab a mopad and explore the area around it. You’ll find waterfalls, caves and other beautiful hikes.

Reason Number 5: The Perfect Beach Life to Chill, Surf and Party.

As I said in the intro, once you hit the coast the likelihood to get (happily) stuck there is pretty high. Most of the travellers I met at parties (there are a lot of lit parties down on the coast) had more or less the same story: “I was planning to stay here a week or two, it’s been months now). Which is also what I did, I ditched my initial plans to spend just one month in Sri Lanka and extended my visa to spend more time on the coast.

The beach life between Matara and Galle is just fantastic. The white sand beaches are wonderful. There’s plenty of coconut trees, forests and lagoons a few km away from the sea. The sunsets and sunrises are breathtaking. I remember when I first told my host in Tangalle I was planning to stay just 5 days his reply was: “Oooh wait to see the sunrise tomorrow.” Same happened with another traveller I met in Weligama. When I asked her how did she ended up staying 2 months longer than planned her reply was: “I just can’t get enough of these sunsets.”

But if you think it’s all about views, sunrises and sipping fresh coconut water while sunbathing you’re wrong. There’s so much more to do in the south. Weligama, Midigama, Ahangama have some amazing breaks for surfing. Surfers of any skill level can go and either learn or improve their wave riding skills. Most hostels, cafes and restaurants are very hip and offer organic delicious food, yoga classes and activities. There’s a party happening somewhere every single day and you can go and see turtles, whale watching or on day trips to National parks and elephant sanctuaries. What else could you possibly want?

Oh Lanka, I’ll be Back.

These 5 reasons to visit are also great reasons to go back. Sri Lanka has the most diverse landscapes, the best people, food and vibes, is very affordable and when you’re there you feel blessed every day as your day to day life is pretty much a dream. I believe that as the voice will spread Sri Lanka will become the new Bali. For now is equally beautiful but not yet spoilt. So hurry up and plan your next trip there.

I will never get why Georgia as an European destination is so overlooked. This country has an Eastern European feeling but with a strong Georgian/Caucasian identity. It has everything a traveller might want: A beautiful, vibrant capital, an unique culture to discover, breathtaking mountains, glaciers, forests and some of the most welcoming people of all the European destinations I’ve visited.

This step of the trip is special because it’s the result of one of my favourite things about backpacking: Improvisation. I decided to go to Georgia because a lot of people from the hostel where I was staying in Turkey strongly advised me to. I was also really happy to see how some of my travel buddies from Turkey decided to also ditch their plans and join me on this adventure.

A 1 Week Itinerary

Georgia is a stunning country with a very diverse landscape and a lot of beautiful places are far apart, whilst transport isn’t really great. So I have to say that 1 week felt a bit short and rushed but is enough to get a sense of the country. We still managed to see the main sights and our itinerary consisted of:
3 Days in Tbilisi with daily excursions to Mtskheta and Kazbegi
1 Day to get from Tbilisi to Mestia.
1 Day in Mestia.
1 Day to make my way back to Tbilisi.

As you can see unfortunately we “wasted” 2 full days just on travelling from Tbilis to Mestia and back and although the Caucasus mountains and glaciers are definitely worth it I wish we had a couple of days more to spent in Mestia and check out Batumi instead of having to go back to Tbilisi.

Getting Around

The most common mean of transport in Georgia (and in a lot of former Soviet countries) is the Marshrutka, a sort of hybrid between a taxi and a minibus. The fun thing about Marshrutkas is that you know when you will depart but there’s no way to know how long will it take you to arrive to destinations. The drivers often pick up people on the way (even though there aren’t ufficial stops) and sometimes drops some passengers at their houses or stops for deliveries. The marshrutskas we took stopped on the way to deliver 3 huge bags of potatoes to someone’s house and a bunch of windows for a building under construction. So if you have to be somewhere at a certain time, take into account a bit of extra time because you’ll surely end up being late. Another great way to get around is to hire private drivers. Given how weak the Georgian lari and how low the average salaries are, hiring someone to drive you around even for a full day ends up being a great deal. For our excursions to Mtskheta and Kazbegi we hired a driver that ended up costing us as little as 5 EUR for a full day. Given the hospitable nature of Georgians, drivers are also great fun, on top of driving you around they will happily tell you more about the sights you are going to visit as well as suggesting the best local food places.

Wine and Food: Just Wow!

I have always been biased and thought that Italy, France and Spain were the undisputed kings of wine and food and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that Georgian wine is hands down the best I’ve ever tried. On top of that the local cousine, although a bit heavy is just delicious, you’ll end up having a foodgasm at every meal. Some of the things you must try are:

• Kachapuri: Imagine a boat-shaped piece of delicious bread/dough filled with melted cheese. Yeah, no need to say more.
• Khinkali: Georgia’s national dish. Basically huge dumplings filled with meat, potatoes, cabbage or cheese. The traditional Khinkali are filled with meat and a mix of spices. The meat is uncooked when put inside the dumpling, so it releases all the juices in the cooking process. Don’t use knife and fork! The Georgian etiquette to eat Khinkali is to grab them with your hands, bite them and suck the meat juice. Just plain delicious.
• Eggplant rolls with walnut sauce. Simple, vegan, delicious, addictive.
• Chacha: aka “Wine Vodka” all locals offer a shot of chacha to tourists to welcome them. It could be your taxi driver, a supermarker clerk, a stranger on the streets. They are very proud of this really strong liquor and are happy to offer it at any occasion to tourists. Forget about saying no as refusing to cheer with a glass of chacha is considered offensive and rude.

Tbilisi

Since we made our way to Georgia passing through the small villages at the border with Turkey, I was really surprised to see how vibrant, modern, beautiful city. I expected a ugly capital, with crumbling soviet building and I found a sort of Berlin with amazing vibes. You can immediately tell it’s an amazing city to live in by how many hip cafes, shops, street art you can find when strolling around. The old town is just stunning and beautifully preserved. Beautiful old buildings, churches, towers, cobblestone streets, a small waterfall and beautiful viewpoints. I had the luck to chat with a local met in Istanbul and she’s explained me how the underground scene is up and coming and it’s a great fun place to live in. No surprise its main club: Bassiani is one of the best party venues in Europe.

A couple of days are more than enough to visit the main sites: Holy Trinity Church, Mother of Georgia’s Statue, Bridge of Peace, Clock Tower and the main viewpoints. But you might want to stay an extra day to enjoy the nightlife and just soak up the vibes of this amazing place.

Mtskheta: The Former Capital

Mtskheta is just a short ride from Tbilisi, it’s one of the oldest town in Georgia and it used to be the capital. The city lies in a lowland, surrounded by mountain and at the confluence of the rivers Mtkvari and Aragvi. Climbing to one of the main monuments, the Jvari Monastery will reward you with a breathtaking view of the city and the two rivers with different coloured waters coming together:

The Gorgeous Mountains and the Caucasus

The Caucasus and its mountain range have nothing to envy to The Alps or other famous mountain ranges in Europe. The Caucasus, at the intersection between Asia and Europe, depending on location and elevation offer so many different landscapes. If you love hiking, trekking and landscapes and decide to go, trust me, you’re in for a treat.

The two most notable peaks in Georgia are Mount Kazbegi, the Twin Peaked Ushba and the area surrounding Svaneti, with its breathtaking views. Our driver kindly took us to see Kazbegi on a day trip from Tbilisi for just 5 Euros each and also treated us with a warming, unexpected shot of cognac at 9 AM, before the drive. (Welcome to Georgia!) There’s a beautiful viewpoint structure overlooking the mountain range covered in graffiti and street art.

Another very famous and must see destination is Svaneti it takes a full day trip on transport to get there from Tbilisi, so make sure you plan to stay there 2/3 days or you’ll be exhausted and end up spending most of your time on the road.

Svaneti is inhabited by a particular ethnic sub-group of Georgians, called Svan. These population is said to have retained most of their ancient traditions, including blood revenge. They have small patriarchal families, and hold a lot of respect to the older women of the family. The Svaneti region holds wonderful landscapes. The Svaneti range mountains are separated by high gorges, offering unique treats for the eyes. From Svaneti and Mestia is possible to hike up a few glaciers.

Conclusion

When I’m asked about Georgia I get incredibly excited to give a bit of insight into this wonderful country, its delicious food, its tasty wines, the warm hearted, lovely people and their traditions. It is not a very famous destination for Europeans and I think it’s a shame, since it’s one of the countries I enjoyed the most while travelling and has everything a traveller might need.

The only shortcoming is the transportation from a city to the other. You have to take small Marshrutkas even for long journeys and that means you know when you leave, but have no idea of when you’ll arrive to destination. Drivers usually pick up people asking for rides on the streets, or stop to make random deliveries on the way so delays are very common but, hey, it’s part of Georgia and also something you should experience.

If you get a chance and are thinking about going you definitely should. You’ll be happily surprised.

I must have been 18 or 19 when I picked up “Journey to Portugal” by Saramago from a bookshop and read his adventures across the country. My eagerness to go there kept growing as I went on reading Fernando Pessoa’s poetry at university. If you don’t know who Pessoa was please go on and read his work, you won’t be disappointed as he was one of the best authors of the past century. Fun fact: He had around 70 different heteronyms (kind of multiple personalities) and they all wrote in different styles and reviewed each other’s work… genius and madness! Pair these beautiful reads with a passion for photography and the temptation to tell the stories of A Journey through Portugal in Pictures couldn’t be higher!

Portugal will always have a special place in my heart, not only for the literary and cultural side of it but also because it’s the first stop of my “I’m going to quit my job and travel the world for a year” little plan, decision that was pretty easy to take after going to Burning Man (<- Click to see how that one went…). I also have to admit that the whole solo travelling idea scared me a bit and Portugal was a great first step as the friendliness of the people really wiped all my worries away. At the end of this stop I realised that paradoxically is pretty hard to be alone and to get bored when going solo, especially if you hang out with other backpackers and in hostels. I’ve met some really great people and I’m glad I’m still in touch with some of them and sure to meet them again.
A few quick facts before diving into the photographs:

1. Portuguese People love to take it easy. Doesn’t matter if it’s a bar, restaurant, bank or post office. They take their sweeeet time… don’t get frustrated as slow life here is the norm and try to slow down and take in all its beauty yourself.
2. Wine and food are really good. Although I still think Italian and Spanish cuisine are the best in Europe by far, I tried a lot of typical portuguese dishes and wine and really enjoyed them. Expect Bacalhao to have a very strong, salty, smelly, fishy taste. If you don’t know which ones to choose D’Bacalhao in Lisbon has little tapas of Bacalhao cooked in different ways and it’s good quality. Great way to sample this delicacy.
3. Lisbon loves to party: I knew the Techno and raving scene in Lisbon was good but didn’t expect it to be THAT good! I went to Brunch Halloween, where Nina Kraviz was DJing and was hands down one of the best parties I’ve been to. Loved every aspect of it: Venue, Music, Company were all on point!
4. I would live there. I found both Lisbon and Porto to hit the sweet spot in terms of size, nightlife, fun and culture. Barcelona is still top of the list for now but I wouldn’t mind a year or two in Portugal to learn the language and enjoy a bit of the slow life.

Where to Start? Lisbon, of course!

Being a nerd and Pessoa fan I obviously decided to start in Lisbon and right after checking in at my hostel I went straight to “A Brasileira” the coffee shop where good ol’ Fernando used to hang out and write. The cafe is in the very central Chiado Neighborhood and you can sit down and have a coffee with Pessoa…. well with his statue at least:

Lisbon – Alfama/Chiado

This city really is magic. It’s one of the oldest cities in Europe and you can find examples of different architectural styles everywhere, from Romanesque and Gothic to Postmodern. One of the things that makes Lisbon special is the fact that it’s built on several hills. That doesn’t mean just that you’re going to do a leg and bum workout every day but also that the city is full of Miradouros or viewpoints that offer some outstanding views:

Most of these beautiful viewpoints are spread across the Alfama neighbourhood, which is where I’d advise to start your visit of the city. The Alfama is a beautiful labyrinth of narrow streets, staircases and small squares, where you can find traditional Fado bars and admire some of the best street art in Lisbon.

Sometimes the only way to get from point A to B in the city is through long staircases of elevators and looking up can offer a different perspective of the symmetry and beauty of some of the constructions:

When strolling through the Alfama district you’ll notice that around the area there are still a lot of Remodelados, these are the old trams that rattle and screetch across the narrow streets of the city. If you want to experience taking a ride on one try to take the route E28, which will show you around the Alfama district and some of the historical landmarks. (expect the trams to be packed with tourists… like most places in the city)

Portugal is generally a sunny country, which makes it a great escape from places where the weather is crap.. cough..cough.. talking to you, Londoners! But I found an overcast and rainy weather during most of my stay. In landscape photography overcast means dull skies and uninteresting shots but rather than taking it as a bad thing I decided to challenge myself and find new interesting points of view. Rain also means puddles and puddles mean… reflections! At the end the bad weather was a blessing since instead of the usual boring clear-sky-wide-angle shot of the iconic Pink Street I found a new perspective:

Lisbon – Belém

The foodies will know what Belém means… the neighborhood is home to the famous Pasteis de Belém, considered the best maker of Custard Tarts (Pasteis de Nata and gotta admit they’re pretty yummy… like… I-couldn’t-help-having-one-a-day yummy…

In Belém you’ll find the most important landmarks of the city: The Belém Tower, the Jeronimos Monastery and Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument of Discoveries), the latter is a monument celebrating the portuguese Age of Discoveries and is located where the ships departed to explore and trade, so I decided to use leading lines to render that movement and make the monument look like a ship about to sail.

Attached to the Jeronimos Monastery you’ll find Santa Maria Church. It’s a great example of Portuguese and Spanish 16th century architecture, its construction took a whole 100 years and the beautifully decorated interiors of the building offer a lot of ways to play with symmetry.

Sintra and Cabo da Roca

When researching things to do in Lisbon I saw a comment on a Reddit post saying: “The best thing about Lisbon is that it’s close to Sintra”. Sintra is indeed a beautiful town but its beauty is mostly aesthetic, it lacks the atmosphere, nightlife and creativity that only a city like Lisbon can offer. What Sintra doesn’t lack, given its size and popularity is a flock of tourists with their frigging selfie sticks. 2 days in Sintra are more than enough, 1 full day to visit the beautiful Palácio da Pena, Castelo dos Mouros and Quinta da Regaleira and one for a day trip to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe. Palácio da Pena, is a Romanticist style castle on top of a hill overlooking the whole town, considered one of the 7 wonders of Portugal and for good reasons! The Castle is part of a larger park that offers amazing views over the valley as well as a lot of gardens, small lakes and hidden paths. When I visited the castle was just a couple of days past Halloween and it was covered in fog, which gave it a beautiful, spooky and mysterious look:

Whilst up there I realised my camera battery was draining and about to die, so I decided not to focus too much on taking pictures of the castle and go to the Vale dos Lagos, hoping to use the last bits of battery I had left to get a long exposure of one of the ponds:

I then decided to give myself and my camera a little rest, walk around town and find some nice food (Go to Metamorphosis Restaurant in Sintra, amazing and not a tourist trap unlike a lot of places downtown). The second day in Sintra I decided to visit Quinta da Regaleira during the day and planned a little Sunset Mission to Cabo da Roca with a friend I made at the hostel. I managed to get some shots of the castle viewed from Quinta da Regaleira: The lush gardens of this building allowed me to frame the subject of the picture and the mist around it gave it again a really mysterious, magic look.

I was really lucky since the weather finally improved right when I arrived in Cabo da Roca and as soon as I reached the cliffs it was Golden Hour, which meant perfect lightning conditions to shoot the sunset. I decided to use my 12mm wide angle with a CPL and ND filter to get a few long exposure shots of the cliffs

I’m glad I wrapped up my portuguese adventure in the westernmost point of Europe, since I know that in a couple of month I’ll head to Asia for who knows how long and I won’t see the west for a good while! The next stop in Portugal was Porto unfortunately I had just a day to spend in the city and I regret not taking more time as I found it really beautiful but my flight to Marrakech and my first time in the African continent was waiting for me so had to go. I am writing this from a Riad in the Marrakech Medina, looking back at Portugal with a bit of Saudade (Nostalgia) but thankful for the amazing experience I made and the wonderful people I met.

How bout ya?? Have you been to Portugal? Did I miss out on something? Would you go?? Leave a comment and remember to check out @dalux.photo for the BTS of my shots and my travels. Next stop: Morocco