Billy's Telling

So I was sitting on the roof terrace, drinking beer and watching the sun go down on my last evening in Trinidad, I was messing around and taking some shots with my camera phone and playing with the light and filters, as one does. During the sunset, a whole flock of like racing pigeons were flying around near me, and I actually managed to get them all in a sunset shot, by chance, nah, not really, I was just very patient. After the sun set but it was still light enough to see the birds flying around I started wondering about how amazing it is that they do that. They don't seem to follow one leader or a front bird, they literally wing it, but how? They swoop and change direction and all seem to still stick in a tight bunch and don't veer off in different directions, unlike my army troop did when we were learning to march in basics. These birds, although get divided into separate groups occasionally are well cool in their flying formations. I started imagining in my head that they

I have to say I didn't warm to Cienfuegos and the energy it gave off. The street where I stayed was right off the main square where the statue of Jose Marti was and all the nice looking ornamental buildings, like window dressing. The outskirts of the city were like shanty towns and although there were some magnificent buildings, all were in ruin and dilapidated, it's such a weird thing to see. This island, in its pomp, as I mentioned before, must have been out of this world gorgeous. In the town there were lots of touts and beggars and it took me back to the feeling I have in South Africa where everyone is looking for a hand out and a foothold without trying to better themselves. A cripple in a wheelchair who harassed me so much the previous day, wanting my shorts that were hanging over a bench in the park ( like how was he going to use those as much as I was)? So eventually today I had just bought some biscuits for my trip and passed him again with his hand out, so I gave him

Refreshed and Rolling.. After I put my best foot forward to get myself tanned from head to toe and get rid of the ridiculously fluorescent bits which adorned my torso in a typical cyclist pattern, not a good look in anyone's books, the result was spectacular, that being red. I'll tell you this much for free, if you want to feel less floppy around the edges, don't go on diet or over exert, just get brown, works a treat! That's my story and I'm sticking to it! It was a good thing then that I had not ever turned off the air on in the room I had rented in Playa Larga, and on my return, it did a good job soothing the continuous warm all over throb which was emanating forth non stop. What also aided the sunburn was the ice cold beers I had in my freezer, and mixed with some lemon cold drink, proceeded to sit on the deck over looking the inlet and tried my hand at some poetry. I guess like anything written, this kind of prose is completely subjective, and am not sure I fe

Today was an interesting and far more upbeat day in Playa Larga in comparison to yesterday. I have to tell you that it is considered winter here at present, but it's over 30 degrees every day, it only drops down to about 25 late afternoon, and today I even managed to see some lightening after sunset, but no rain yet. What? Winter? I am led to believe that this is not tourist season down here where I am, but it hasn't seemed to stop the Western Europeans from coming. Having said that, German winter currently is probably a lot worse than this is. I seem to also be the only solo traveler on the island. It does seem people come in twos, whether partners or just friends. In the place I am currently sitting having dinner there are two tables of four and four tables of two....and one of three, my new neighbors, who I haven't yet met. Today I met a man called Miguel who has a taxi business, taking people anywhere they want to go, Havana, Santa Clara, Santiago De Cuba. It's cal

I am finding my feet, slowly slowly but surely surely. The second day in Habana thankfully brought back a lightness, some breathing space and a realization that each passing day would bring new knowledge, another Spanish phrase and an acceptance that I am here for another 35 days before I have any company. When Eldorette arrives to join me for a months adventure I have decided to be wiser to the ways of Cuba, her nuances and her people, culture and beauty. I have decided this will make both our travels better for the 3 weeks that she has decided to join me. We will certainly have a good laugh, as we put one foot in front of the other in our adventure, this much I know. I have also decided that I am going to get some distance covered on my bicycle before then, so there is no pressure on us then to explore every inch of this massive island in a month, and if we find an amazing beach, we can just embrace it for a while instead of rushing off. Havana is an amazing mix of the unbelievable

As I have always professed, the step out the front door is probably the hardest one to take, thereafter it's more or less one foot in front of the other, drawing on your life experiences to make reasonably educated decisions about what comes next. That doesn't ever mean to say that there is not ever a feeling of uncertainty or trepidation, for even the most streetwise and travelled of people. I consider myself relatively streetwise, and on the way to being travelled, but prior to getting to Cuba, there was a full emotional range of feeling of uncertainty and doubt. I dealt with it in one particular way, just reminding myself to try and immerse myself in this opportunity of a lifetime and that the uncertainty too shall pass. I also think a large part of people's hesitation to embark on solo adventures, is the feeling of loneliness and solitude. This can be a tough part of any adventure and it's always better to share an adventure with someone than to embark on it on ones

We had to make a strategic call yesterday, whilst sitting in a square in a small village called Manuel, ( yes there were references made to Faulty Towers if you had wondered ). As we sipped on our Radler Mahou beers and contemplated the weather apps and the information we had just been handed by a local, that it was going to "bucket" down tomorrow. We needed to make a call to abort the Camino Del Cid a day early or trudge through high mountains in torrential rain. As I write this, you can guess which one it was. We were due to camp in a town called Bocairent, perched high on a hillside on the border of Parc Natural de la Sierra de Mariola, a majestically beautiful natural forested wild area. The altitude and weather made the decision, not only the correct one, but also an easy one to reach. Sad as it now is for me, and one day fewer to ride, when I look outside from the warmth of the hotel Agora restaurant bar, I am grateful we have had fantastic weather for 2 weeks and am

So, impermanence, what does that mean to you? Buddhism will tell you that it is in fact one of three marks of existence. "The doctrine asserts that all of conditioned existence without exception is transient, evanescence, inconstant." For me, I agree somewhat with this( not that they will change anything, due to my thoughts) but also that the term impermanence, which I came across somewhere, sometime in summertime*, has had a profound bearing on how I have come to live my life and manage most things, be they either good or bad. Everything that transpires for me, as I see it, and as it enters my thought process at the time of being, be it fleeting or not, can be linked and managed within the very notion of impermanence. For example, I am climbing a massive hill on my bicycle, or having a really shit time with my friend and we are in a disagreement about something, or I have no money this month to buy what I want, it is all impermanent. It will all end. This may sound obviou

We have reached some civilization at last, a town of reasonable size...and people living ordinary lives, it seems. Makes a change... I have to say that if time is a thief, bike mechanicals are the equivalent in being able to steal ones mojo and good Che from you, quicker than you can say Jack Sparrow. I generally service my own bike unless it's something like bleeding the brakes or servicing the forks, but pretty much anything else I do myself and seldom have issues unless something breaks completely. I had ridden 4 days in Spain and my bottom bracket started to make some horrendous noises. Not creaks, but metal on metal hideousnesses. It was responsible for me scowling and frowning and generally cursing and eventually riding with music so it was audible no longer. Such can the effect of a malfunctioning bike be for me. So irritating, I even find my blood boiling whilst typing this. Just so you know, I have let it go, it wasn't easy, but such is the nature of bicycle touring,

I am well aware that the concept of us having one wild precious life, as we have often seen in quotes of wisdom by some or other wise person, is not new or revolutionary, and the fact that some people are somewhat reluctant to ever leave the safety of their comfort zone, may well be ok for them. Perhaps the idea of going on some wild untamed adventure in the name of living life to its fullest, is a bizarre notion that has never been contemplated ever, or if it has, it was well and truly again stored at the back of the mind, for contemplation in another lifetime. A lifetime, when the home and work environment, where we are so comfortable, will not be an accepted norm or an idea which leaves us feeling sated with a life well lived. I am at no point comparing one to the other, or advocating one over another, that is entirely subjective and the choice of each individual, all I am suggesting is the thought about it, and is the status quo an acceptable life for you at the end of the day? I

I love the movie called "Love Actually" and whenever I find myself at an airport I always think of the introduction to the film by Hugh Grant and it showing people giving each other hugs and kisses and happy to see each other, but it doesn't mention the flip side to that coin...when you are leaving a place and one has to say goodbye to the people seeing you off, not actually knowing when, and if you will ever see them again. That was my experience when I left Cape Town international. Not only was I unsure of ever seeing people I love again but when and, indeed if, I would ever be back in the Cape, a place I have called home for the past 10 years. I know I have always spent time away but those have always had return tickets attached to them, this one is an indefinite, unsure departure time away, with no return yet booked. I am sure to some this may sound melodramatic and an exaggerated return of the truth, but I kid you not, I have no plan to return as it stands currentl

Departure... is very imminent now, the last few days have been cray cray busy and a continuous thought that I have forgotten to do the most obvious things. I am so melancholic about going and leaving my peeps, but my adventurous side knows it will be one great fat journey of discovery...me, others, cultures, languages, places, sights, sounds and all the rest. One person commented, " living the dream"...I guess I am and perhaps the realisation will set in soon. Everything is an unknown, except for the very moment we are in, and I do know that that is the only way to have any say on ones future, is to completely immerse oneself in the present, purely and whole-heartedly. I am going forth with a feeling of gratitude that I have been given this opportunity to explore the Camino El Cid, Havana and Cuba with its 1960's theme, flanked by the amazingly tranquil and history filled caribbean sea, both leeward and windward. Mexico and hopefully Belize will follow. I shall explore a