Osmanische Herbege

In the west of Germany near the village of Kall there is a Sufi dergah of the Naqshbandi order (that of the late Shaykh Nazim) called Osmanische Herbege (Osman-i-sha Hair-burger) - means Uthmani Hostel (did you picture a burger filled with hair?!) Set by a national park, it is a tranquil place in a quaint village, built in 1996 with the soul purpose (no pun intended) of providing spiritual nourishment to all. Despite our positive views on Zurich we were definitely ready for some quietude in Germany. The dergah is headed by Shaykh Hasan Dyck, a Sufi Shaykh and musician who regularly tours spreading good vibrations. I hope to meet him one day, his devotees are certainly very welcoming and gentle people, it would be a privilege to meet the source of their virtues.

We have spent our days walking through the local villages and countryside, on one particular occasion visiting St. Herman Josef, a saint revered by the local Muslims and Christians alike. He is known for offering an apple to Jesus, so visitors offer an apple to St. Herman by placing it on his grave. The basilica within which he lies is a very peaceful place, large yet somehow unimposing, perhaps due to the architectural style, or maybe it's St Herman's benediction :-)

Much of the time we have spent doing seemingly mundane activities, sitting on the swing, drinking tea, meditating. Yet we have still been travelling. To quote Rumi, "Everyone is travelling in this direction or that direction, but the saints travel in the direction without direction". I hope we have moved somewhat in Rumi's direction, and here is where words become inadequate.

Pictures: The basilica, me Mandeep and Nooriya (another person staying at the dergah), the dergah in green, our location, dergah garden

Are creativity and disciplined organisation diametrically opposed?'

Zurich is the most collectively organised and disciplined place I have ever visited, yet when enquiring about their arts I got a kind of blank answer - they don't really have any patrons of art nor is it a major part of their cultural expression. The Swiss pride themselves on precision engineering (for example in the watch industry) and quality. Quality being expressed as the degree of robustness, durability and the like - not of passion. Passion here meaning an untamed energy springing forth from within, expressed without inhibition, resonating with our freedom of spirit.

It got me thinking, maybe the energy which we use to cause social disorder is the same energy we use for creative expression, and the Swiss, in quelling social disorder have placed social barriers on the movement of that energy, in all situations, to the detriment of creative expression. Suppose a river bifurcated into 2 streams. One stream bursts it's banks and floods a village, the other remains within it's banks and provides fresh water and kinetic energy to another village. In order to save the flooded village, it would be a great loss to dam the river before the point of bifurcation.

We must be careful in how we repress the spirit. There are natural barriers for our energies, barriers like a cliff edge where it is dangerous to pass. Then there are barriers which we place, like a slick row of white fence posts marching through the countryside (to use a phrase from Gai Eaton). The Spirit is living, it moves toward it's source, it's goal. To place barriers beyond those inherent is a grave injustice.

It begs the question, what is the right balance? How can we encourage creative expression without affecting social order?

Zurich, Switzerland

We only went to Zurich to meet one of Mandeep's old house mates - Ignas,  but we ended up becoming really intrigued by the place itself. This was unexpected - we never like big cities - but this felt different to any other big city we've been to. With a population of 400,000 it's really small for a big city. It has all the tall buildings and commercial centres of a big city, but none of the overcrowding. The transport system is the most efficient and extensive we've encountered. Trams, trains, buses and boats all linked with the same ticketing system. It doesn't feel polluted either as everything runs on electric. Most cars are under 5 years old as the majority of people acquire them on lease, so emissions are low. The clean alpine air seems to channel into the valley where Zurich lies, unlike Athens where the surrounding hills give it a stifling feel. There is perhaps the highest degree of civility among people - no one litters, no one shouts in public, there is no petty crime etc. This tends to correlate with higher financial equality in a society and such is the case for Zurich and Switzerland as a whole - they don't have a 'lower class'. The minimum wage although unofficial is around 40,000 Swiss francs - about 26,000 pounds. Everyone is well paid.

Socially unacceptable behaviour is rigorously enforced by an intrinsic desire among the people to follow law and procedure, even down to things we would consider unnecessary. We were told by our host how they were once told off by their neighbour for using an unofficial bag to throw away their rubbish (they have official bags). Beyond that, should you ever get into trouble with police, fines are very high. For example, we were told about a person who was drunk and found by the police one morning, taken to hospital, checked for ailments, then taken to the station until he sobered up. He was fined 6000 CF for the whole thing, every stage of his recovery needing payment from him. That was probably the last time he drank too much!

It's true, things are expensive here, but not too bad if you don't eat out. Everyday items are a little more expensive than the UK, but eating out is way more. Me and Mandeep easily spent 35 pounds on lunch, another instance me, Mandeep and Ignas spent nearly 50 pounds on 3 portions of spaghetti! It is normal for the locals, the system is such that everyone has a lot of disposable income. No-one has any real assets - 80% of the population rent their homes and most cars are leased. Tax is only 8%. Most of the properties in Zurich are owned by the bank Credit Suisse and rental prices are fixed according to the strength of the economy. Sometimes the rent automatically reduces!

We met a lot of people who work in banks - banks are everywhere. I remember reading 12% of the workforce is in banking (very high compared to other countries). Several people told us about the stress levels being almost unbearable at work, but the benefits of living in Zurich enough to keep them there. Should you become unemployed in Zurich, don't worry. The benefits system pays you 70% of the wage of your last job and helps you to find work suitable to your skills. Unemployment virtually doesn't exist, except for voluntary unemployment.

Switzerland has very strict immigration laws, you can't just turn up and stay. You need to be able to contribute to the economy before being allowed in the country - you need to have a job lined up. Anyone who turns up uninvited is simply ejected from the country. To become a citizen, you need to have worked in Switzerland for 12 years, be fluent in one of the official languages, not have a criminal record and be of sound character. Even then there 3 levels of citizenship!, each giving increased rights. To buy property in the country besides a LOT of money you need a permit (if you're a foreigner), and there's a quota system - so if the quota has been filled you could be a billionaire but that won't get you Swiss real estate.

After learning these things, me and Mandeep couldn't help but ask... how on Earth did Switzerland get so rich? Fortunately, Zurich has a fantastic museum - the Swiss National Museum - so we spent a day there quenching our thirst for Swiss related knowledge.

Due to it's location in Europe, what is now Switzerland has been conquered by many peoples throughout history. Since the bronze age the Celts had it for a while, Romans have had it, Alamanni tribes had a piece, then in became a Frankish kingdom and the Ottomans had controlled it too. With the Christianisation of Switzerland by the Romans from 300 - 600AD, many Benedictine monasteries were established which the museum cites as a source of Swiss punctuality and diligence. The Protestant reformer Martin Luther died in Geneva, so Switzerland was strongly affected by the reformation. The massive influx of printed material in the 18th century was cited as a reason for the secularisation of Switzerland. All this was interesting from a cultural point of view, but we'd arrived at 1850 on the timeline and Switzerland was still a very poor country. It was after this that wealth really started to increase in the land.

Becoming a federal state in 1848 was the first step. The rest of Europe was dominated by monarchies, so the Swiss were ahead of the game. It wasn't banks that gave the Swiss their initial boost of wealth - it was textiles. They were the biggest world exporters of textiles by the late 19th century. With textiles they were manufacturing machines (for production) and chemicals (for dyes). Alongside textiles, the watch industry took off.  The economic boom provided by the textile and watch industry, combined with the stable politics of federal state, meant that Swiss banks became an attractive place to keep wealth. From the earliest days the Swiss have provided banking secrecy and legal security to their clients. Politically, they remained neutral throughout both world wars. While the world was in chaos this small nation surrounded by mountains was quietly doing business... lots of business... and that's how they became so rich.

Their wealth was not formed by trading slaves, nor by looting conquered nations, nor by oppression. Yes, I have issues with the global banking system but in a 'lesser of the two evils' sense I must concede that I really like Zurich. It is safe, secure and efficient and if we were to live in a big city, we would rather live in a place like Zurich.

Mandeep cooked for 6 people one night 

Joined some of Ignas' friends for an Alpine hike

Paragliders lifting off

Ignas' local meadow

The lake at the centre of Zurich

Bosnian flood

It's surreal to think that we left Bosnia on Monday night, by Wednesday the floods began. 3 months of rain in 3 days with continued rain throughout the weekend. 3000 landslides unearthing land mines from the war. Damage comparable to that of the war (with less loss of human life). They say it is of almost Biblical proportions with 1/4 of Bosnia being affected. Please remember the Bosnians in your prayers

Bosnian Pyramids

There is something going on in Visoko that is causing a lot of controversy, Dr Sam Osmanagich - an archaeologist - noticed an unusually high degree of symmetry of some local hills when visiting the area in 2006. When investigating further, he found the hills were covered in concrete - a man made substance. Sending an embedded leaf for radiocarbon dating, it came back as being 30,000 years old!

It was looking like a pyramid so he decided to look for other signs. It had geometrically pyramid shape - unusually triangular for a natural hill. It's 4 sides pointed toward the cardinal points, with greater accuracy than other famous pyramids. And when he started digging he found a network of tunnels running around the pyramid site, a network which he believes will ultimately lead to the pyramids themselves.

Bearing in mind the ancient Egyptian civilisation is ~ 5000 years old, the Mayan goes back as far as 4000 years, this is a really groundbreaking discovery. A 30000 year old civilisation with the means to build huge structures. This would shatter the view of primitive man being ape-like and stupid, unable to take a bath never mind build a pyramid!

Then came the fallout, claims of falsified data and bogus science undermining Osmanagich's discovery. Claims he's made in the past (really unconventional claims) used to indicate that maybe he's coming out with crazy stuff again. Official archaeological boards publicly denouncing Osmanagich.

In any case, I felt it was worth visiting to see for myself. My first impressions of the pyramid, seeing it through the bus window, was that it wasn't as symmetrical as it looks in the pictures. The 'concrete' blocks covering the pyramid were interesting. I can verify that at the excavation sites on the side of the pyramid, I could see several large rectangular blocks of large pebbles bound with a clay-like binding substance. They did not look natural, but I am not a materials expert. Osmanagich has had a sample professionally tested and verified as man made, but critics say the sample was off a nearby hill (not the pyramid), and that the material is in keeping with the landscape i.e. it is natural.

Much more symmetry from the angle shown below:

Above: concrete blocks

Below: close up of concrete block

For 2.5 euro you get a tour through the underground cave found 3km away from the pyramid. The tour was fantastic and I would certainly recommend it, our guide was enthusiastic and willing to answer any questions I had. The cave contains a huge stone megalith, which they say is man made with an ancient form of ceramic. Covered in ancient inscription (which critics say were later added), it's purpose is yet unclear, but the guide mentions it functions as an air purifier. Independent measurements show that the oxygen concentration within the cave is higher than outside the cave - very unusual. There is also a very high concentration of negative ions - air which has therapeutic qualities and is produced in western countries by air purifiers. Still water within the cave has maintained it's purity - perhaps for over 1000 years - due to the purifying effects of the negative ions.

The tunnel network we waked through looked man made - layers of stones set in an arch pattern. Most of the tunnels today are filled with soil - a completely different soil to the stone arches lining the tunnels. This soil filler is 5000 years old. The theory is that the tunnels were made over 5000 years ago by an ancient civilisation, and a successive civilisation filled them up for an as yet unknown reason. Not only did they fill them with soil, but they sealed entrances to tunnels with dry stone walls. Whatever the theory, the dry stone walls were self evident as were the manufactured appearance of the tunnel arches. Not all tunnels have been filled with soil, after several hundred km of digging the researchers found a network of unfilled tunnels - a real progression in their findings.

Sam Osmanagich has opened the tunnels / pyramid to research for anyone who is interested. This attracts all kinds of people - scientists who are interested in empirical measurement and spiritually inclined people who feel the energy currents of the place. As such a lot is said about the pyramids from people of all persuasions, but the modern mind seeks to validate claims through empirical measurement alone before placing faith in something. Those who place no value on non-empirical measurements run risk of throwing the baby out with the bath water, ignoring all the empirical research that is being done on the pyramid.

So to summarise, I will put forward some reasons to believe that something extraordinary is happening in Visoko:
-The pyramid faces toward the cardinal points
-The walls seem to be covered with artificial blocks of concrete
-There is a network of tunnels running near the pyramid complex, the structure of which appears artificial
-There are a high concentration of negative ions in the tunnel, this is measurable and self regulating
-There is a measurable beam of electromagnetic energy above the pyramid

And as we are not people who regard empirical measurements as the truest form of knowledge, it is important to note that we felt at peace in the tunnels. Mandeep felt that she resonated with the surroundings, leading to a feeling of contentment.

Reading around on the internet can be difficult sometimes, in that I never seem to get to the bottom of something. Seeing the pyramids in person was really worthwhile, helping to consolidate some ideas I had regarding them.

Bosnia, breakdown of Yugoslavia

Our initial plan when we left the UK was to spend a week in Croatia working our way up the coast and to do a day trip to Visoko, Bosnia to see the pyramids (oh, you didn't know about the Bosnian pyramids? More on those later!) After leaving Greece we decided on more time in Bosnia and just to pass through Croatia. I'm sure Croatia's really nice, but we kinda weren't feeling sun sea and sand, hotels and island hopping (crazy isn't it). This trip has been defined by the people we have met and we wanted to meet Bosnian people. They are famous for their kindness and hospitality, something laid in the foundation of their capital - Sarajevo. The first building in Sarajevo was a tekke. This is a place where travellers can rest for a few days before moving on, they traditionally had free kitchens and accommodation, with devotional activities (zikr - chanting) on offer for people to take part in. Old Bosnian cities - like all old Muslim cities - are filled with fountains, clean drinking water available to everybody. That priceless commodity recognised as a gift from God to all humanity, a stark contrast to the increasing privatisation of fresh water supplies today.

We wanted to stay in a tekke but unfortunately couldn't find one that runs in a traditional way. Many tekkes still function as centres for devotional activities but not as  places where travellers can rest. Sarajevo seems to have lost it's purpose somewhat. We had been told that there were more Sufis around the more rural areas of Bosnia, but as is the norm with Sufis there is no organisation as such, they can be somewhat elusive. A world of spirituality can very quickly blossom before you if you meet the right person - if you find the door - but that door is seldom found on the internet (a fact I kind of like) - and the Bosnian tourist office couldn't help either! It turned out that a zikr festival was on which we missed - thousands of people gathered to do zikr and no one we asked knew about it. It was a Bosnian Sufi in Zurich who told us - see what I mean about elusive!

So we took some time to learn about the history instead. Here is what I (loosely) gather regarding Bosnia after WW2.  After the war the 6 states of Yugoslavia were liberated from the axis powers (Germany etc) and became a communist republic under the rule of Tito. He dealt strongly with any hint of disunity among his people, which included several distinct cultural identities. While the Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats are all ethnically south Slavic, they have religio-cultural differences in that the Bosnians are Muslim, Serbs Orthodox and Croats are Catholic. After Tito, Yugoslavia became increasingly unstable leading to nationalistic tendencies among the 3 ethnic groups. Slobodan Milosovic, against the wish of his peers, played these tensions against each other. He eventually became president, and in his hopes to create a nation for Serbs led to a genocide campaign against the Muslims. Things got really messy, all 3 groups warred but the Muslim Bosniaks seemed the least prepared and suffered the worst for it. Torture, mass rape - you name it. Around 100,000 people died. Too often I hear of wars bringing out the most evil characteristics in people. Even if you really believe in the cause you're fighting for, why rape your opponents? Overnight, friends of different religions became enemies, we really couldn't understand why.

We met a 32 year old guy called Midhat. While walking around his home town of Visoko he pointed out, "Snipers would shoot and tanks would come down from that hill. School was closed, we stayed in all the time. My grandfather was killed in the war". It was hard to believe, hard to put ourselves in that position as we walked around the quiet village surrounded by hills. How frightening for a 6 year old boy to be faced with that. It all happened so recently - in the 90s! Walking round Sarajevo, we could see bullet holes in some of the buildings. Weird to think this all happened in our lifetime.

Shaykh Nazim, upon him be peace

Shaykh Nazim, the one at the head of the community we visited in Cyprus, passed away on May 7th. We found out whilst in Bosnia on the 11th and it definitely knocked me. I just never actually believed it could happen, but it must happen to all of us.

He was the king of all saints to some, and to others simply a lovely old man. To me he was one like no other I have known. His rapture with the divine presence was always evident when he spoke. He never planned a speech, only spoke what would come to him, "I am like the moon.  When the sun goes, the light of the moon goes.  If the light of my Master leaves me, I am in darkness.  I am nothing.  Whoever sees me as this one or that one sees me through the Light of my Master." His humility made me feel ashamed of myself, how could I possibly see myself as something when he considered himself nothing, "We ask to be no one and nothing.  For, as long as we are someone, we are not complete."

Despite him showing me the greatest things I have seen, I can not claim to be a devoted one. No, I am a weak one, very weak. But perhaps the greatest gift he gave me was hope. Knowing the prevailing confusion among the masses, he looked beneath the surface towards the essence of people and sought to remind us of who we are. Reminding us of our essential nobility and helping us to realise our dignity as human beings. "If you saw the true value of people, you would see everybody around you wearing golden crowns". Yes, for weak people like me he is a great source of strength. Before talking about Islamic rules let us remember who we are and the magnanimity of God. Surely, isn't the one who reminds us of God's magnanimity the one who saves us from ourselves?

So I say thank you. What can I give to one so gifted as Shaykh Nazim? One overflowing and generous. Thank you ya mawlana, may we continue with goodness.

Pashko and Theth

The way to Theth in the Dukagin mountains:

After 3 days of getting frustrated, sitting around in Shkoder waiting for the weather to clear so we could go to the Dukagin mountain village of Theth, an opportunity finally arose - the sky was blue, it was time to go. We couldn't go in the rain against Martine's sound advice, "ven it's ghaining you ghet sudden vaterfalls. Once a vaterfall came and turned our car overgh! I was gheally fghitened for my life!". She wasn't joking - showing us photographic evidence of the van windows covered in water, picture taken from the inside. We didn't want to take any chances.

So we set off with Pashko in his modified Mercedes van. On route he stopped off and bought us loads of veg to eat in Theth. What a safe guy! Unemployed with a wife and 3 kids he put us up in his house free of charge, gave us home cooked food, drove us to Theth, put us up there, toured us around and has agreed to drop us off at the Montenegro border. "He will feed his guests even if it means his children go hungry", Martine explained. Earlier today we gave him some money as a thank you. Guys like Pashko are rare indeed.

The drive to Theth is on a well surfaced road up to a point, then it's a rubble mountain pass with sheer drops for over an hour. It is the most spectacular drive I have been on, the most frightening and the roughest. Pashko has overtaken Indonesian 'G' as my new favourite driver in the world. Parts of the journey didn't resemble anything like a track, it was literally just rocks and cliff edge, the van getting thrown about all over the place.

When we first arrived we were swept away by the scenery, but we quickly forgot about that when we saw 2 or 3 mice scuttling around the living room! Besides that, we were warned of snakes in the countryside (we saw several on our walk today), and even more exotic, there are bears and wolves in these mountains. BEARS AND WOLVES... they're a different level of beast. Fortunately, bears stay away from people and wolves don't seem to make any daylight appearances. And Pashko's a real mountain man, rock solid guy, he's built his own house and has grown up in this village. We're not doing anything beyond what he recommends for us.

On our walk to a local waterfall it became clear, this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It is just a bit too picturesque, like it can't be real. Some of the houses are really isolated, inaccessible by car and a 15 min walk away from the next house. The main village is in a valley with 360 degree snow capped mountains around it. There is a church which opens in the summer and a campsite. Fresh mountain water flows freely, crystal clear and delicious to drink. The place does get a lot of tourists in summer as the weather picks up, both locals and from abroad, but we have snuck in just before tourist season. There are some nice photos, but as I sat on Pashko's front step watching the sun cascade through the mountain ridge illuminating the village, I knew this beauty could only dwell in my experience.

One day Pashko took us an epic hike through the mountains, armed with his AK47!! The risk of a wolf attack is real enough for him to take such a precaution. After over an hours hike up the mountain we reached an isolated abandoned house, "13 years ago a family lived here. They are now in Shkoder". The more we walked, the colder we expected it to become so we were pleasantly surprised when the rubble track became a woodland, opening out onto a meadow ~2000m high! "Very few tourists come here", Pashko informed us. Having a local guide gave us access to an Eden, a secret garden tucked away in the mountains.

Isolated house:

Mandeep with Pashko's AK:

Frolicking in the meadow:

More meadow:

"Slow slow", Pashko kept telling us. There's no rush here. No cinema, no entertainment. The main event one night was when Pashko lit a fire and what a great event that was. We all sat around it in silence, staring in wonderment at it's movement. My mind focussed on the flames, I contemplated the nature of fire. It reminded me of time - how it exists as a process, a movement, but not as a substance. We can't capture fire like we can't capture time but it is definitely there. Earlier while staring at a waterfall the same thoughts arose, as did the following poem:

Time flows like a waterfall
Relentless, it doesn't stop
We only perceive movement
Unable to see a singular drop

By the waterfall I search for stillness
I yearn for such a place
Where I can dwell in the eternal moment
And I am free from time's embrace

The road to Theth is currently being surfaced and we've spotted 3 guest houses in construction. The rubble track kept Theth isolated, a well surfaced road will bring it much closer to the city. We wonder how Theth will change as tourism increases. Martine has strong views on the impact of globalisation on the Dukagin mountain communities. As an anthropologist, she wants to see their culture preserved. "It is not just that the change is happening so fast, but also that it is detaching them from their cultural identity and leading to psychological issues." The last 300 years has seen the largest and fastest change to humanity as a whole than any other period in history. Martine believes, and I agree that we are not equipped psychologically to deal with such change.

Everything came together

We travelled from Athens to Shkoder in north Albania over 2 days via bus, as per Eleni's recommendation. We were surprised to see how genuinely friendly the Albanian people were when we arrived, stopping us in the street to ask us for help, giving us directions. In Morocco any help from locals is followed by a request for money, not in Albania!

Our first night was in a hostel where we met Truman, a Taiwanese guy who's making his way to Taiwan... OVER LAND! Go on, have a look at a map right now. Albania to Taiwan is well far. He asked us loads of questions about Asian culture which we tried our best to answer. I'm usually the one asking all the questions, but as Truman has few south Asian friends it gave us the opportunity to give him some cultural insight. He has such a great smile - I wish we had a picture of us together.

From the 2nd night onwards we arranged to stay with a child psychologist and music therapist called Martine as she lives in the mountains. Our first contact with her over the phone was surreal... amidst the poor line and the strong french accent I heard a voice say, "YOU VILL STAY VITH VEEGHAPEESHA WIFE OF PASHKO. HERE IS HER NUMBER. YOU VILL RING HER AFTER SREE. SHE WILL MEET YOU SREE AND HALF. SHE IS ZE WIFE OF PASHKO. PASHKO IS VITH ME IN MOUNTAIN BUILDING HOUSE. HE IS OK FOR YOU STAY WITH VEEGHA."

Martine:

Veera:

Pashko:

So until sree and half me and Mandeep were completely clueless about what was actually going on. We met up with Veera who was really lovely, offering us use of her shower and making us lavender tea, but that was about the limit of her English. She said Martine is coming in 2 and a half hours, so we sat and waited in Veera's living room, allowing our imaginations to predict what was going to happen - were we going to the mountain to build with Pashko, were we eventually going to Martine's house and just waiting for her at Veera's?

When Martine and Pashko turned up at about 8pm things started to become clearer... sort of. Martine is a child psychologist by profession who worked in Kosovo during and immediately after the war. She came over to Albania to work with children with psychological issues. Realising the importance of cultural factors in therapeutic treatments, she began studying anthropology, all her professional interests coming together in the discipline of ethnopsychology. Veera, Pashko and their 3 kids have become like family to Martine, they live and work together and are currently building a house in the Mountain community Pashko grew up in (the village of Theth).

Over the last 5 years Martine has completely assimilated with the Albanian people. She has learnt their language and studied their customs, particularly the mountain people. Her anthropological work is intimately tied to her personal desire to help the people - it is very clearly more than just a profession. Such an interesting character, I was excited at the prospect of learning from her except that I found her personality difficult to click with. She talks a lot and seems to have an insensitivity to what we say (ironic as she's s psychotherapist). It's all just a bit full on, yet at the same time she has really strived to show us round town, introduced us to people, helped us find information etc. And while reading her thesis I was struck by her sensitivity to the local people and her mission to preserve their culture amidst the onslaught of aggressive globalisation. She has obviously lived some remarkable experiences, but our incompatibility as communicators left me frustrated - so close to a wealth of knowledge yet left waiting at the door. I found her company increasingly tiresome until it all came together last night. As we have integrated into the family, we have become exposed to the family life - warts n all. During a dispute between Martine and Pashko i realised that Martine has sensitivity, that certain things hurt her feelings and she has love for her friends. Somehow, in that moment, all my frustration with her, with my inability to derive knowledge from her left and I was overcome with a contented acceptance. She is how she is, i am how i am and she has a good heart, this is what matters. We must learn to love each other! Everything came together and I felt I learnt an important lesson.

It is difficult to explain
It may sound mundane
But profound character change
May come through events, seemingly plain.

For every step is important
Every moment is gleaming
Where the fool finds insignificance
The wise find meaning.

Below: delicious Albanian sweet - Tri lech (not sure about spelling) tastes like bread and butter pudding

View from Rozafa fortress to Montenegro:

our route to albania:

Athens

Above: The route we took from Samos to Athens

We were warned before entering Greece about the significant levels of racism there. Our host Eleni confirmed those rumors. A keen follower of left wing politics since the 80s, she told us how the Greek Nazis received 7% of the votes in the last election - way too many. Asian immigrants have settled in Greece hoping for a better life and unfortunately they have been subject to much abuse and physical attacks over the last 2 years, "There are incidents where nationalists have entered an immigrant neighbourhood and threatened to destroy the local shop if the business doesn't shut down within a week, and they kept their word. There was another situation where nationalists wanted a particular park to be closed to non-Greeks." Such stories of apartheid like politics are worrying, but what was really frightening was when it came to light that the police complied with the nationalists by deliberately turning a blind eye to such violent incidents. Things came to a head last year when a Greek singer was somehow killed amongst the violence, tensions have since calmed.

Maybe it was all in our head, but we felt people looked at us like some sort of museum exhibit while we were on the ferry across the Greek islands. One man asked us in passing where we are from, when we said UK he just walked off. No conversation, no hello, nothing. When we entered Athens we were put off by a few things. 70% of the population smoke and there are a surprisingly large number of strip clubs and adult stores throughout the city.

So we weren't expecting to meet some of the kindest people we have encountered on our trip in Athens, but that is exactly what happened! Eleni and Kyriakos really went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Kyriakos embarrassed us with his kindness. He picked us up from the city centre, paid for drinks and snacks, showed us around the centre of Athens, arranged our onward transport and dropped us off at the bus station . We were no where near that safe at 23 years old, in fact we still aren't! I'm looking forward to attempting to return the favor when him and his girlfriend Constantina come to the UK in October.

From left: Constantina, Kyriakos

Eleni gave up her room for us to sleep in, let us borrow her car and guided us on hike around Imitos hill, on the outskirts of Athens. 

Her house was full of wayfarers while we were there. There was Rusgard, a Turkish man who is cycling from Istanbul to Amsterdam via Athens. We had Suranga, a Sri-Lankan who has been raised in Italy. Film maker, on the way from Italy to Sri Lanka via... wait for it... Afghanistan. And there was Clara from the Czech Republic, a yoga teacher travelling from Sri Lanka (coincidence). It was our pleasure to cook for everyone while we were there, even if it was a bit too gingery :-)

From left: Rosgard, Suranga, Eleni, Clara

It was really interesting to here first hand about post financial collapse Greece through Eleni.

With a population of 10 million, we were surprised to learn that half of that is based in Athens alone. Eleni explained, "In the 60s / 70s many Greek people moved out of the countryside into the city. Now the trend has reversed as rising unemployment is driving people back to agriculture." Unemployment is high at around 30% but in Greece the state provides financial help for one year only - even if you have children. After that people are left to fend for themselves which usually means seeking support from family and friends. This kind of works as the older generation have good (albeit reduced) pensions, they can support the 30+ year olds. When today's children grow up they won't have the same privilege as their parents are not working now. Eleni is losing hope, "every year we think it could get better but it is only getting worse." Desperation easily leads to corruption, we learnt that it is common practice in Greece for doctors to take underhand payments on top of medical insurance payouts to perform operations.

As the Greek economy doesn't really produce anything, I asked what schemes the government is proposing to alleviate the crisis. "The idea is to invest in tourism, to build large casinos and tourist accommodation. They are have also reduced the minimum wage by 20%. The government wants to attract foreign investors by providing cheap labour." Eleni doesn't like the ideas, "they are going to destroy everything that made Greece beautiful." Once we started talking about IMF payouts to boost the economy, we got onto the subject of world banks and the money printing monopoly. I don't know if I will write a blog on this topic as it is something I do not fully understand but as far as I see it it is the most extensive global injustice that remains un-noticed by everyday people.

Below: wild turtle on our hike

Panorama of Athens from Imitos hill