Home is not so sweet

I never knew that 7 months can pass so quickly. I saw amazing places, met fantastic people and enjoyed almost every minute of every day (not the ones in Jamaica when I wasn't diving). I was supposed to get homesick and be happy when I'm back in my apartment in Hakaniemi but nope, the trip just left me wanting for more. We'll see what happens in the fall, if I stay or if I'll head back to Asia (not Jamaica). It depends a lot on what will happen work wise.

Anyways, I've been home for a week now. That means 3 x running, 1 x climbing, 1 x biking, 2 x yoga, 1 x gym. Only a few beers and loads of coffee with friends. Getting back to normal life it seems. And I finally feel more healthy. So something good about being back at home.

Lots of people have asked about different stuff so here u go:

Money spent
Roughly around 15 000 euro inc. all flights and insurance. Difficult to count the exact amount as I use 2 bank accounts, paid lots in advance, used 2 credit cards and I also had to pay bills in Finland during the trip. The most expensive month was June when I was in Alaska and Jamaica (almost 4000 e). The flight tickets Anchorage-Montego Bay-Boston also were not booked & paid before the trip. On that month I also paid the flight ticket from Nepal to China which was quite expensive. Cheapest month was February in Borneo when I was volunteering at BSBCC, where I spent only a bit over 1000 e.

Security & lost stuff etc
I never got robbed or felt unsafe. That's because I usually stayed inside in the evenings in Jamaica. (yea, I really did not like the place). I lost one phone and broke the other one shortly after I landed at Helsinki-Vantaa... I also forgot my good Billabong sunglasses to an internet cafe in Sulawesi. And my waterproof camera stopped being waterproof in a jellyfish lake in the Togeans. That's it. Once they tried to fool me with money in a restaurant in Krabi (or actually twice in the same evening...) and once I got wrong amount of money back in Iceland. Always count the change...

Sick?
Luckily nothing serious. One eye infection in Thailand, took a few days. Some minor stomach problems and once or twice I kind of had a flu. Or a bad hang over. It's sometimes difficult to tell the difference :P.

Many also have asked me which place I liked the most.
Honestly, that's impossible to say. The most amazing rain forests I found in (Sarawak) Borneo, the best islands & beaches in Togean, Sulawesi and no place can beat the mountains & hiking in Nepal. The wildlife in Alaska was spectacular as well as the food in Japan. I also do know that I don't have to go back to many places, like the southern tourist region of Thailand, China (except Tibet which is not part of China anyways imho) and yea, Jamaica... argh...

Top 3 highlights would probably be climbing my first multi-pitches in Nepal, completing the open water diver course and working with the bears at BSBCC. Check out their new homepage!

Sountrack of the trip
16 Horsepower
Von Hertzen Brothers
Kaya Project
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Led Zeppelin
Baroness

What would I do differently?
Not much. I probably wouldn't book any flight tickets inside Asia in advance and I'd keep the travel plan as open as possible. I'd take 2 pair of bikini's with me and many more basecaps. I would not go to Jamaica.

So I guess this was it with this blog for a while. I might continue on this page later or I might not. Thanx for reading and thanx to Tanja for commenting!

This was it. Last week in Iceland

After spending a weekend in Eistnaflug we continued the road trip towards the northern lava fields in Myvatn. There were quite a few tired girls in the back seat but at least they managed to drag themselves to see yet another abandoned house and the huge volcano crater at Krafla. Needless to say, we loved both!

Near the crater Tanja and I spent quite some just being amazed at the Krafla and Leirhnjúkur lava field. If the moon would be black, it'd look like this...

After Myvatn area it was time to hunt whales, with a sailing ship. Emils lost brother Hjeimir took us on a trip from Husavik and we actually managed to find 2 blue whales!!! We also saw a humpback from distance but as I already spotted quite a few of them in Alaska, I was more than happy finally to see the blue giants of the sea. We also got some really fancy suits to put on. I really don't want to know why mine was wet in the inside, not outside...

As climbing did not happen due weather in the south, the north treated us well! Meri & I climbed a few routes near Akureyri in a fantastic canyon. Meri had never belayed a lead climber before so we decided to use only top rope. Which was easy as the anchors were placed quite near the top and we anyways passed them as we were walkin/abseiling down. Once again, I felt extremely out of practice and I probably looked like an elephant. It had been 2 months already since I climbed the last time in Nepal. I really hope this'll change now when I'm back in Finland.

Finally puffins!!! We found them at Latrabjarg in the west fjords, and not only one or two but hundreds! Thousands! Hundreds of thousands! Or at least that's about the amount of photos I took...

Back in Reykjavik it was time for another party with Oli and some visits in the hot tubs. Also the cat got loads of hugs. We miss u Polse!

Then it was time to leave Iceland and to return to cold & dark Finland, where boredom awaits and the sky is never blue.

Emil

Emil joined us for the whole trip round Iceland. He had to work at some point but we of course kept him company.

Heimir joined Emil for a few days.

Eistnaflug - Flight of testicles

Here u go, a small report from Eistnaflug a week ago, brought to you by the guest writer Carga! Check out also her blog!

Festival time! Most of the metalheads, punks and rockers in Iceland had gathered to the small fjord town of Neskaupsstadur for the local metal festival, Eistnaflug. And smelling a good party, we followed in their wake.

How do you recognize a typical icelandic metalhead? He is gnawing a piece of dried fish and washing it down with a bottle of he local booze called brennivin. He is wearing the traditional woolen jumper or cardigan over a band t-shirt and might or might not be wearing pants. Most likely not, if he's in the moshpit. This species is extremely resistant to cold and rainy weather and to general exhaustion. When they finally collapse and do sleep, they curl up in a tent (or under a table at the venue and even onstage). In the afternoon large flocks of them can be seen floating around the outdoor hot tubs in the local outdoor pool.

Plastic Gods. It was actually a good gig after he woke up.

Eistnaflug, gotta love this small festival! Well, you can't really go wrong with a festival called 'Flight of testicles' but we were amazed at how good some of the local bands were. Every day about 10-15 bands performed and everyday we discovered one or two real gems among them. And not just because we were watching them through beer goggles...

The festival venue was not the best we've seen, a bit too hot and a bit too sterile with a bit too expensive booze. The nearby off-venue called Mayhemisphere was quite the opposite, cold and smoky and dirty – a true underground atmosphere. The (illegal) bar was a small candle-lit corner with quite an interesting selection of drinks. Mmmm, a paper cup of vodka mixed with rhubarb juice or beer spiced with caffeine! Some of the performances we saw in Mayhemissphere were quite underground, too; how about two men dressed as turfs of grass fighting each other in slow motion in the rhythm of weird tribal music?

Solstafir at Mayhemisphere

Anyhow, most of the time we spent at the official venue. Solstafir played two nights in a row on both venues. The official gig was brilliant (not that we expected anything less from them) but the one in the off-venue was probably the most hypnotic, intimate and weird Solstafir gig one could hope for.

All in all, we left Eistnaflug hung over, happy and poorer than we arrived with some new albums and t-shirts from the local bands. Skál!

- Carga a.ka Tanja

Emil joined the festival too.

Hunting houses in Iceland

From Jamaica I flew to Boston, what a lovely city! A shame I only had one night to spend there. But then it was time to move on to the next continent. I'm spending the last 2 weeks of my trip in Iceland. Well, only 1 left anymore, really, am I going back home already??? When I planned the trip I probably thought I have to freeze a bit before going back home so Finland will feel warm. Well, if I look at weather reports in Helsinki then I'm actually having more sun & warmth in here. So I'll stop complaining, right now.

I arrived in Reykjavik on Thursday and Meri was there already waiting for me together with our host, Oli, an icelandic dude I found via Couchsurfers. One day later Tanja joined us and on Saturday the group was completed when Jane arrived. We did some stuff in Reykjavik (lots of BBQ & beverages) before it was time to hit the ring road. I had booked a rental car in advance and we for sure hoped it'd be upgraded to a bigger one as 4 persons with loads of luggage would never fit into an economic one. Well, didn't happen so not only the trunk was full but also all the seats&laps except the one of the driver... Sometimes it's nice to be the one who sits behind the wheel :)

Yes, nature. That's why we are here. Lava fields, volcanoes, glaciers. But really, the most interesting things are the old abandoned houses. Gorgeous places!!! I wanna hunt in them when I'm a ghost. In some of them you can even spend a night, which for sure is better than to freeze in a tent.

But hey, I can't complain how the nature looks like...

The 2nd weekend we spent at Eistnaflug festival located in Neskaupstadur, a small town located by a fjord. But about that there will be another blog update... To tired & lazy now, as we just came back from watching blue whales (!!!). And more about that also later...

Hoboing in Iceland

Hoboing is getting popular around the world.

Hobo on a field.

working hobo.

another working hobo

Hobo  on a break.

Yet another working hobo. These icelandic hobos are really diligent!

Kirkkohobo.

Dreaming hobo

Shy hobo.

Fisher hobo.

Double hobo.

Fiat hobo.

Neanderthal hobo.

Jamaica... I'm speechless

I'm quite desperate here. This island could be a paradise: green hills, turquoise water, long white beaches and spectacular cliffs. BUT. A big BUT. I feel extremely uncomfortable here, never been harassed so much in my life. Hate is a strong word but yes, I hate these people. I'm afraid that I start a massacre every time I have to leave my bungalow and annoyment is gonna be my permanent facial expression. What the f*** is wrong with these people??? Yes, I am a woman and yes, I might walk alone on a street. Does that mean you have to comment (hey sexy baby, hey blondie, come here honey, wanna some jamaican wood???), propose or even run after me? The supermarket is about 100 m from my hotel, I saw 7 men on the way and yea, you can do the math how many macho bullshit comments I got? Don't forget I had to walk back the same way...

Today I went for lunch into a bit too expensive place which is known to be the hang out place for expats and locals usually don't go there or if they do, they leave the customers in peace. Well, don't forget they serve food so they also have a cook! A jamaican man! So, if I want to smoke weed, hang out, have a party, need a cheap place to stay (his house) or whatever, whenever, where ever, I know to whom to turn to. ARGH!!! And I had to be polite as I did not want him to spit on my food. Yea in other countries the best is just to ignore the testosterone filled idiots but hell no, in this country it just makes things worse. It is just fantastic to hear insults as long as you are in hearing distance just because you didn't react to “hello blondie, looking for jamaican wood?”

Walking with an ipod is also not an option, it's just a reason for them to come and rob you. Nice place, ay?

So, I also went to a beach. But only once. It took a few seconds for a dude to spot me but I thought he's too old to want to warm my bed. Nope, that's not what he wanted, he wanted just my money. And that's what happens every time you make the mistake of speaking to a local who first seems to be nice. At the end they just want to empty your pockets.

It's also really expensive here. Luckily it's off season so I got a quite good accommodation for under 50 dollar / night. Then I just imagine what I would have paid for the same quality in Asia. And it almost makes me weep. Yep, good that I came here, now I know to avoid Caribbean and in the future I'll book flights only to Asia. I'd even rather go to Pattaya than back here. But luckily that's a choice I don't have to make.

People who know me also know that I do have quite a thick skin and I can handle lot's of garbage. But this shit actually made me to move from a cute rustic bungalow on the hills to a resort on the coast line. Just because I want to keep my blood pressure in the green area. So I hang out at the pool (ME!!!!!), watch movies in a hammock, do yoga in the porch and eat instant noodles. But that's mainly coz I'm out of money... And YEAH, my room has cable tv!!! Didn't know cable tv could make me happy but yes, it for sure brought a huge smile to my face!

But something good, one of the reasons to come here was the possibility to finally to do the open water diver certification. I contacted Dream Team Divers in beforehand and started the course immediately when I got here (which is Negril a.ka Hell btw). I've done all the theory already, pool sessions and the first dives. Tomorrow is my last dive :´(

This diving business has been the highlight of the week, so much fun! Jamaica might not be the ultimate diving destination but there are loads of corals and we saw a lobster and some cool fish today. And coz it's off season I'm the only student so it's only me & my instructor(s). And the price is for sure right! If all goes as planned I get my certification tomorrow and can start planning diving holidays in Sipadan & Togeans :) But what the f*** am I supposed to do on Tuesday??? There's a shot down Cessna which was used by drug smugglers somewhere in the ocean nearby. Might have to see if some shop is gonna do a diving trip over there...

So, I could have went to Seattle for climbing or to Sacramento/Auburn to hang out with Devin & family but I decided to spend a week in this “paradise”. Was it worth it? I have to say yes, but only coz now I can go to Asia and don't have to spend any time in the pool doing funny exercises but can directly dive into the ocean!

But I can't wait it to be Wednesday, I'm flying to Boston for one day and then to Iceland!!! See you soon ladies!

Last days in the Last Frontier

Where was I? Oh yes, Kennicott. In the old mine which is gonna be my summer cabin when I retire. Well, it was anyways time to leave that paradise behind and go to see some more wildlife, this time in the ocean!

We drove to Valdez, amazing scenery (again, I know, I'm repeating myself...), we literarily drove into a glacier on the way. The town itself doesn't need any extra mentions, a boring place. The reason to go to Valdez is anyways the Prince William Sound. We booked a glacier cruise with the small Lu-Lu Belle ship and I finally saw a whale! And not only one. We followed a mom & baby humpbacks for quite a while. A group of Dall's Porpoises followed the ship for maybe on an hour, we found floating sea otters and loads of sea lions on the coast. This would have been reason enough to come to Alaska.

After 2 nights in Valdez we drove back to Anchorage. The scenery was amazing. Who would have guessed?

In Anchorage we hiked up to flattop mountain on a really hot day and had a midsummer party at Sanna's yard. I might have to admit that grilled Alaskan salmon is ridiculously delicious!!! Especially when u wash it down with too much beer & red wine. The might have been some "champagne" too.

On the hang over Sunday we went to town center where we found Dominic "the Dominator" Cruz!!! YEA! It's a shame I didn't get a picture of Jered's jealous face.

On Sunday Melanie & I drove to the Kenai peninsula for one night. Bad weather, didn't see much and did even less. Mt. Marathon, I'll do you some other year! Now it's time to say goodbye, hug my baby (the pick-up) one last time and put on the flip flops. As I'll land in Jamaica on Wednesday afternoon :) :) :)

In the pick-up in Alaska

After a few days in the trailor I decided to end my career as a white trash biatch and headed towards Denali together with Melanie. We got to borrow a pick-up from Larry and Richelle, Sanna's neighbors and originally we thought of sleeping in the back as there for sure would be enough space. But as girls are, they freeze and rather pay big bucks for fancy motel rooms and cottages in shady camping areas.

We drove through to Denali and took a look at quite a few places (too expensive, Pia got bad vibes, too expensive, no availability, too expensive etc...) until we ended up in a small cottage in a funny place quite near the national park entrance. Good beds, not too expensive and we had cold beers so life was sweet!

On the first in the national park day I hiked up the Mt. Healy overlook trail. It should have taken 2 hours one way but why waste time when you can do it in 2 hours return. And to be honest I really needed some exercise, didn't really move myself at all in Anchorage.

Afterwards we drove around and made a small hike along the Savage river. And saw a marmot.

Next day we took the shuttle bus to Eielson. The return trip took 8 hours during which we finally saw some decent wild life! Here's the proof:

From Denali the trip continued to Fairbanks where we headed directly to the tourist info as we didn't want to knock on every door to find 2 empty beds again. They sent us to a really nice & cosy B&B near the center which was quite expensive (100 dollar for a double with shared bathroom! Yea I'm for sure not in Asia anymore...) But I had blueberries for breakfast, that was almost worth the 100 dollar... We didn't really do much in Fairbanks, drove around, went to pioneer park and slept during the day. And ate loads of BBQ meat. I'm still full.

Also jogging in the forest is rewarding, dunno who was more surprised, me or the moose... The pic was taken after he run away but continued checking out if I was following or not. This was near black rapids lodge on Richardson Highway.

Our road trip continued after a stop at Chena hot springs towards Kennecott, the ghost town in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, which is also the largest in the States. We booked a night in McCarthy, a town with 40 inhabitants a few miles down the road. Both places were just amazing, McCarthy looked like a place I thought all Alaskan towns would look like. We had some beers with the cook of the saloon after he surprised me drinking own beers in the hotel backyard. He turned out to be a metal head from Anchorage. Always nice to meet some locals!

Well Kennecott... I've always had a soft spot for abandoned houses in spooky places. I was like a kid in a candy store. I want to live in that place! Just the summer months though, I for sure don't want to test the winters in the middle of the mountains.

The history of the place is really interesting, but too long to be repeated here so if interested, follow this link. There's a lodge right next to the old copper mine but well, it was way too expensive for us. C'mon lottery win, why is it taking so long???

So it was time to move on, again. I steared the pick-up towards south, Valdez to be exact. Hell yea that was a scenic ride!!! Amazing scenery, left & right, just surreal landscape! We shot “a few” pics from the car, smiling like retards.

And I finally managed to book my next flight, not to Seattle or Sacramento as planned but to Jamaica. Why not! It takes me only 20 hours to get there so it's for sure worth the 6 days... One love! The routing Alaska-Jamaica-Boston-Iceland makes sense!