tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14628069654334210382024-03-19T03:36:46.819+00:00ThomadventuresThomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-87554049482780553082012-07-19T22:06:00.000+01:002012-07-19T22:08:39.793+01:00Traceur<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfFckURRVHXobCVRvIGbxtdTfWoNnKxLPo4K0WO7dxPFTSLtUmQkDjP5O81qPRkxCi5u0VAVeXvKC5dCr-2zq3Azs1gR7P4Xyd8yDsfq3ptfmKuHUkmAB_1Nq5JTS8cmXkuvrkQIbqa7k/s1600/logo_traceur.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfFckURRVHXobCVRvIGbxtdTfWoNnKxLPo4K0WO7dxPFTSLtUmQkDjP5O81qPRkxCi5u0VAVeXvKC5dCr-2zq3Azs1gR7P4Xyd8yDsfq3ptfmKuHUkmAB_1Nq5JTS8cmXkuvrkQIbqa7k/s1600/logo_traceur.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
My very good friend Rudy Duong, who happens to be one of the old school Lisses guys from back in the day has just launched his own brand of Parkour clothing, after 4 years of hard work to make it happen (an obstacle course in it's own right !).<br />
His dedication to staying true to the original Parkour spirit and values no matter the amount of efforts it involves is, i think, of great contrast to a lot of the crap you see commonly today.<br />
If you want to read more, you can check out his website here: <a href="http://www.traceur.com/en/" style="color: orange;">http://www.traceur.com/en/</a><br />
(though mostly in french, there's some videos for the uninitiated ;) )<br />
<br />
Good luck Rudy ! <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-19240711218146778932011-08-06T19:18:00.008+01:002011-09-28T16:29:02.726+01:00India 2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigu0odvlh16CMf4bKw9zN9oBBQUmvNga53A0HQ1zwOmkaNunRXqLK_u1_um0Fte0ygb7V4uOxHtMG_dc7qzWxhDXcD9Lo7OqcmcUoyeslynvOxawVztkQpdB6r29yYvbBzdzxjzrbcqQja/s1600/2011_india_1801_edit_sep11_blog.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigu0odvlh16CMf4bKw9zN9oBBQUmvNga53A0HQ1zwOmkaNunRXqLK_u1_um0Fte0ygb7V4uOxHtMG_dc7qzWxhDXcD9Lo7OqcmcUoyeslynvOxawVztkQpdB6r29yYvbBzdzxjzrbcqQja/s320/2011_india_1801_edit_sep11_blog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657432716259098722" border="0" /></a>From January to April, i travelled to India with my friend Andy.<br />We were lucky enough to get sponsored by Royal Enfield, who lent us for free 2 beautiful motorbikes. Andy stayed only for the first month before heading back to cold old London to work.<br /><br />The following is an article i wrote for Royal Enfield about that first month with Andy.<br /><br />Photos <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/65743496@N06/sets/72157627177037837/">HERE</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It's late January and it's already very warm under the sun but the wind in our face makes it comfortable as we reach our cruising speed. With a series of zig zags, Andy overtakes a couple of characteristically coloured Tata trucks who seem to think the road is theirs. The deep roar of his engine shadows the sizzling hum of the trucks. I follow in his wake, honking to make sure they realise there's two of us (they could check in their mirrors if only they had some). We quickly leave them behind: on our Classics 500, we are often the ones doing the overtaking.<br />We've just started our journey, and with a long 1300km ahead towards Hampi and then Mumbai, and with just 3 weeks to do it, there's no time to waste.<br /><br />I reflect on how lucky we are to be doing this. Since we had landed in Chennai, just 10 days earlier, Susheel and his family had done so much for us, hosting us and introducing us to their way of life. How unlikely was all this to happen ? If Susheel hadn't been a member of the local Parkour community, Andy wouldn't have contacted him before our trip to tell him about our plan to tour India on motorcycles, taking photos of the trip and of me doing Parkour. Therefore we would have never been introduced to Susheel's cousin, Sid, and none of this would have been possible...<br /><br />A dog runs across the road right in front of me, drawing me back to reality as I slam my brakes. It was a close one. There'll be more. In India, unexpected events are to be expected constantly.<br />The roads are busy and dangerous compared to the disciplined driving we're used to on the calm lanes of our countries. We're accustomed to rules and procedures, but Indian roads work in a more organic way. One will overetake wherever and whenever they please, or drive on the opposite lane even if you're on it, and even cut you off without looking, forcing you to either pull off a driving stunt, or crash into them.<br />Sure they have rules too, but who follows them ? One is absolutely free on the road, for best and for worst!<br /><br />Andy's stomach is getting better but the ride is still rough on him. His "Delhi belly" condition had forced us to stay longer than planned in Chennai, but at least it had given us the opportunity to get to know the bikes. Also, we had been introduced to Sachin, Ravi, and Praveen -all working for Enfield- whom we had been put in touch with by Sid, Susheel's cousin and CEO of the company.<br />We had emailed them prior to the trip to let them know of our plans to buy motorbikes, and to find out if they could be of assistance in some way, but we were far from expecting the response we received (which I'm barely summarising here): "Ok, we can get you a couple of Classics 500 for the duration of your trip, nothing to pay apart from the petrol you use, they'll be ready for you when you arrive." !<br /><br /><br />The sun is on its way down as we reach Hampi, after a couple days' ride. The evening light soothes our tired minds and highlights an already spectacular sight. We find ourselves riding among ancient temples, surrounded by palm trees, rice paddies, and boulders as far as the eye can see. But it's not yet time to relax: a large river splits the Unesco protected sight into two, and the only bridge linking them has been taken away by the monsoon floods. We must search for another way across. It's on that other side that we will find the interesting boulders that we've come for. Indeed, Hampi is a world-renowned climbing destination!<br />It takes some effort to find a raft that will take our massive 500s, and even more to actually make the crossing: precariously balancing our bikes on the very edges of the overcrowded raft as it tosses around amid the current. Neither of us would find it very funny to have to go fishing for our 200kg motorcycles, and even less to make that awkward phone call to notify the Enfield people...<br /><br />Hampi is a paradise! In total, we spend 2 weeks climbing, riding, chilling, making people jealous with our motorbikes, and getting an occasional food poisoning. It is a very touristic place, so it's not here that we'll get our "real India" experience, but it is really cool nevertheless! After some days, people in town start speaking about the Parkour guy who jumps from a boulder to another and I even end up teaching a class, at the request of some of the foreigners there. The boulders seem to have been put there for the sole purpose of being climbed and jumped. I seize the opportunity to challenge myself in the way that I like best: by facing obstacles that are as mental as they are physical. And when I'm not leaping over vertiginous drops onto narrow and uneven landing surfaces, I slash my fingertips on the tricky climbing routes, or jog through the paddies and up <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRy0zW5xF00gw9Yqdo1lonQg0qWAfUIXBG9aD53FbvMniEMNwqO-r5JrqTyIegpgSG9JQG668AcSZBY2M02k3iEbhGR411mqurSM8FNCw8m68O4yxc_jjlhp7eiG7s6crxIIfvdtqGv9Rr/s1600/himalayas.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRy0zW5xF00gw9Yqdo1lonQg0qWAfUIXBG9aD53FbvMniEMNwqO-r5JrqTyIegpgSG9JQG668AcSZBY2M02k3iEbhGR411mqurSM8FNCw8m68O4yxc_jjlhp7eiG7s6crxIIfvdtqGv9Rr/s320/himalayas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643763404538066626" border="0" /></a>the sinuous stairs to the perched monkey temple. There, I can admire the panoramic landscape and the monkeys playing and scaling with effortless ease along the steepest surfaces (when they're not busy steeling food and cameras from tourists).<br /><br />When finally we decide that we're ready to ride off towards Mumbai, we realise that we're seriously running out of time. Andy's flight back to London is just a handful of days away, and to add to the situation, his damaged chain sprocket threatens to let the chain loose and cause an accident. Luckily, the Enfield service points are never far, and always efficient. Within an hour the problem is fixed and we can proceed with our journey, relieved.<br />The following day turns out to be intense. Starting at sunrise, we ride all through the day with few stops and decide after sunset to stop for the night. We could camp, but in India, with so many people absolutely everywhere, this proves to be a difficult thing to do.<br />We fail also to find anything else than luxury hotels to spend the night in, no matter how hard we try.<br />Both Andy and I are on tight budgets, and luxury is out of the question anyway, as I strongly believe it impedes the spirit of adventure. The way I see it, adventures should be messy, uncomfortable, and unpredictable. If not, they become mere trips. And at the handle-bars of our kick-ass Enfields, it's adventure that we're after...<br />Finally, resigned, Andy asks out loud what we had both been thinking about for a while:<br /><br />"Should we ride all the way to Mumbai tonight ?"<br /><br />It's already past 10pm. We're exhausted after this already long day of being careful not to die on the road, dodging dogs and monkeys, potholes and bumps, and even people with little care for their own life.<br />As dangerous as Indian roads may be in the day, they are much worse at night. For instance, buses will still overtake each other as you come from the opposite direction, but this time they'll blind you with their powerful headlights when they force you out to the side of the road, while you hope that there is a side of the road...<br /><br />We shake hands, wishing each other luck, and we hit the road.<br />When we finally arrive in Mumbai, it's late into the night, the streets are at rest and we wish we could be the same. Risckshaws are parked and their drivers sound asleep on their back seats, a few lit petrol stations here and there still show some signs of activity.<br />It all feels surreal; here we are in one of the biggest cities in the world, and it feels emptier than the smallest town we've seen in India.<br />We wander around, making wrong turn after wrong turn as we struggle to locate Andy's friend who'll be hosting us there. I don't know whether to laugh or lose patience, so I take turns doing both. At last we find our way.<br />Greetings with Andy's friend, small chat, quick shower (on my own), lights off and I fall asleep before my head touches the pillow.<br /><br />A couple days later, Andy was flying back home, leaving me for another 2 months -without a clear plan in mind- to further discover the wonders of India.<br />I could tell you about the ethereal brightness of the salt desert, or the teaching by the Dalai Lama that I attended amidst the majestic Himalayan range, or even the mysterious chain of events that shaped my path before me... But if I did that, then I would have to mention the wonderful random encounters, the peaceful meditation on long stretches of road, and the incredible rumble that my whole India experience caused within me. And surely a single article would hardly be enough to fit even half of it.<br /><br />India works in mysterious ways; it takes you by surprise on every level. I hated it often, loved it sometimes, but without the shadow of a doubt I feel glad to have gone through it. And I wouldn't have wanted to experience it in any other way than with my good buddy Andy, a Royal Enfield, and the road ahead.<br /><br /><br />.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-7208156459040143972010-12-09T22:28:00.006+00:002013-06-14T13:04:50.656+01:00A bag and a plan : a few tips on travelling<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtm2ZgyZ-7Zqd3VRZRdDcxoqlpuJPs0Ncu3Uo-A8GdwxU8lkESrXNOthtlFXWvg8ARJ-fD_vlRzU1e5xOjPywY5OZDegCASdpKJLkUF_aWeH3DLcUayZOyR3Xrg6Ro5ldBbE4c-DIgqeWY/s1600/P1000272.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548813935113588962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtm2ZgyZ-7Zqd3VRZRdDcxoqlpuJPs0Ncu3Uo-A8GdwxU8lkESrXNOthtlFXWvg8ARJ-fD_vlRzU1e5xOjPywY5OZDegCASdpKJLkUF_aWeH3DLcUayZOyR3Xrg6Ro5ldBbE4c-DIgqeWY/s320/P1000272.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 145px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 258px;" /></a>Since i've been doing my trips, i've had quite a few people asking me for tips on how to pack and how to travel. I thought it'd be a good idea to post something to share with everyone.<br />
Travel is an art that could never be described in a one-fits-all guide to it. Furthermore, my experience can never compete with those of real adventurers and explorers so, had i decided to do so, i would be incapable of covering all of the finer points.<br />
Therefore, the aim of this article is to provide general yet straight-to-the-point tips and pointers on "adventurous" travelling. I won't write about casual tourism stuff (though some principles still apply) as it is a completely different mindset which would require a separate article.<br />
<br />
I hope you'll find this of use, here we go.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><b>Packing</b></span><br />
<br />
<b>What not to pack: </b><br />
Don't pack anything you won't use... It may sound obvious, but think about it: the tent you're bringing, does it need that many pegs ? Your emergency pouch, do you need that many bandages ? Do you know the precise use of every object in the pouch ? Why so many pairs of socks, are you afraid there's no socks on the other side of the world ? Back to the tent, will you actually really need a tent ?<br />
Sometimes we focus so much on the objects that we forget the containers, do you actually need a pouch for your emergency kit ? Why not just pack that stuff in a light (yet waterproof) plastic bag ?<br />
Also, are you travelling alone ? No ? Then why not share that toothpaste with the others instead of everyone all carrying the same item ?<br />
A lot of people carry liquid containers around, but i think ordinary water bottles are ideal: transparent, feather-light, disposable, cheap, and you can get them absolutely anywhere in various sizes.<br />
<br />
Before packing anything, ask yourself how often (if at all) you'll be using that object, and therefore if it's necessary for you to pack it. Over the years, as my travel experience grew, my bag shrunk both in size and in weight. I've cut off (such as the handle of my toothbrush) or got rid (such as my stove and tent) of all the unnecessary things that used to fill up my bag for no reason.<br />
<br />
<br />
Basically, you can be as minimalistic as you want to be. I've read the account of 2 Frenchmen who had crossed the Himalayas from one end to the other, entirely on foot over a period of 6 months. They carried all their possessions in nothing more than tiny backpacks, and they went so far in their obsession for minimalism that they had even stripped down their pens only to keep the ink cartridge and the point.<br />
In general, the lighter you are, the happier you'll be, and the more mobility you'll have. Finding the right balance may take a bit of time, especially as it all depends on where you're going, at what season, for how long, and how much comfort you need to have.<br />
If in doubt, keep the object that has more than one use and drop the one that's limited to only one use.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>What to pack:</b><br />
Again, it depends, but there's a few items that are useful pretty much anywhere, anytime.<br />
<br />
_I'd recommend a Swiss Army knife with at least a blade (obviously), scissors, a can-opener and a flat screw-driver (the rest depends on your personal tastes and needs). Mine is red, which is easier to spot if i drop it somewhere.<br />
_A good quality head-torch is VERY handy, be sure to pack it where you can access it easily, how paradoxical would it be to have to go through all your stuff in the dark looking for your torch.<br />
_A small dry-bag can be useful so you're sure that some important items (passport, camera) will stay dry even if your bag was to fall in a river. Dry-bags can also be used as pillows, they make good emergency water containers or even improvised showers (if they're fitted with an air release valve). Clip on a strap and you have a handy little secondary bag for short excursions.<br />
_A nice thick roll mat is a wise choice too, it becomes essential if you're going to sleep on the ground (i learned the hard way in Tibet) as it's very cold, even in warm weather. My roll mat felt like it was taking up too much space, so i cut a third of it off and never regretted.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><b>Travel tips </b></span><br />
<br />
<b>Before the trip:</b><br />
Some people like to prepare every single detail of their trip, others (such as me) like to improvise a lot and go with the flow. In every case, a minimum of research is required.<br />
Know the visa procedures, some countries allow for land-boarder crossing, others don't or only in certain conditions. Some crossing points might be closed at certain times of the year (winter time or in the case of wars).<br />
Don't forget to check what electricity plugs you'll find and if you'll need a converter (unless you're not carrying any electronic equipment, obviously).<br />
I know it's tempting and reassuring to buy new cool stuff before a big trip, but try not to look too modern like a tourist, the less you draw attention, the better off you'll be, even more so if like me you like to explore "dodgy" places from time to time.<br />
So avoid the eye-catching heavy-duty camera bag, or even worse, walking around all day with your high-tech camera around your neck. You'll get more enjoyable, natural and memorable contacts with the locals and you won't have the word "target" flashing on your forehead. Keep that in mind when you'll decide what to pack and what to pack it in.<br />
<br />
Travelling can seem stressful, even more so before you're actually out there, it's sometimes a big step towards the unknown which may lead us to pack too much or inappropriately. Just remember to stay simple, you're going to some other country, not some other planet ! Whenever i start feeling anxious before a trip, i try to think of the similarities that all human beings share: we eat, we sleep, we laugh, we cry...<br />
There's a universal basis that we can all relate to, we all seek warmth when we're cold, shelter when we're wet, food when we're hungry... This universal basis brings human beings together through a means of communication that transcends languages, lifestyles, beliefs. Back in China, after a cold rainy day of cycling along the Mekong river, i remember having a long "conversation" with 2 girls that didn't speak a word of English, in their house, as i was eating a bowl of noodles that they had cooked for me. Through only gestures, smiles and sounds we expressed so much that words became unnecessary.<br />
Everything always works out eventually, just get out there and you'll find your marks sooner than you think.<br />
<br />
One useful tip for you : Make a list of every single item you plan to take, so you know you won't forget anything, and you can use it as a guideline for future trips. It also makes it easier to see at a glance what you're packing, and therefore operate changes.<br />
My list is divided in categories such as "sleeping gear", "medical", "clothing", etc.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>During the trip:</b><br />
I tend to travel with very few clothes, as they take up a lot of space. I wash them either in the shower with regular soap, or from time to time in a laundry-mat. I mainly use clothing that dries quickly (synthetic) for practical reasons.<br />
Travelling with cheap clothing is a good idea, it means you can easily give or swap the stuff you won't need after a certain point (for example if you reach an area with different climate). Also, it'll mean you won't stand out too much in a crowd of often poorer people. I tend to buy part of my clothing on location, it's often cheaper and more convenient.<br />
<br />
I have a couple hiding places for my money, though i tend to use ATMs so i don't have to carry a lot of cash on me. Be creative when it comes to hiding money, you can take some innocent-looking object and turn it into a cool stash. This came in handy for me when i lost my wallet in Turkey, i was glad i could count on my stashed cash. Never keep all your cash and documents in one unique place (whether on you or in your bag).<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><b>FAQ</b></span> (Note: Once more, this is my style of travelling, which may or may not correspond to your own. Feel free to experiment and come up with your own way).<br />
<b><br />_ Do you use a tent ?</b><br />
Whether when cycling in Tibet in winter, hitchhiking through Europe or riding my motorbike in the desert of Morocco, i've never found any use for a tent. There's plenty of abandoned houses / buildings / sheds / natural shelters, or even hospitable people around, and tents take time to pitch and pack which isn't ideal in rough conditions (wind / cold / storm). Last but certainly not least, they're heavy and take lots of room.<br />
My alternative is the waterproof bivy bag, which acts as an improvised shelter as well as a second insulation layer after the sleeping bag.<br />
The only case i would consider bringing a tent is if my trip was exclusively in a natural setting, far from any human life.<br />
<br />
<b>_ What about a travel stove ?</b><br />
No need for that either, it's easy enough to get warm food everywhere, and if not, cold food does the trick. Having a lighter to start a fire though is quite a good idea, fires will heat your food and your body, and they have a strange friendly aura which is nice if you're on your own.<br />
<br />
<b>_Do you have an emergency kit and if yes, what's in it ?</b><br />
I do have a tiny one. It's a transparent ziploc bag containing a little bottle of iodine (look it up, that stuff is an antiseptic and will purify nasty water as well. It's also extremely cheap), some paracetamol, some anti-inflammatory, and some antidiarrhoeal medication.<br />
Also, i like to have some wound closing bandages, useful in case of open wounds.<br />
No large quantities needed, keep it light and small, get rid of the boxes that you don't need.<br />
<br />
<b>_Do you carry a towel ?</b><br />
Nope, i use a small but highly absorbing cloth. You can find travel towels that look very similar but are more expensive. If you want to travel really light, just dry yourself with a shirt, no towel needed.<br />
<br />
<b>_Anything in particular i should think of packing ?</b><br />
I carry around some ID photos, for border crossings and other administrative needs which often require some. I also have a razor blade (not the full razor) just in case i need to lose the travel beard and look charming :)<br />
I recommend a little mending kit like the ones you find in hotels, for quick repairs of torn garments.<br />
You've probably thought of this already but a little notepad and a couple of pens come in handy, to write down thoughts, addresses, useful information, etc.<br />
<b><br />_I've never done a big trip on my own, i really want to but i don't know what to start with...</b><br />
The beauty of travels is that you can make up your own adventure ! When i did my cycling trip across Asia, i initially couldn't decide where to go. I read about the Mekong river which has its source in Tibet and reaches the ocean in the South of Vietnam, and i thought it could be a cool adventure to follow it, with all the countries and changing landscapes that it could offer.<br />
Just do some research about places, sometimes an article or a photo is all it takes to give you a plan. You might want to start with something small and then move on to bigger things once you're ready: my first cycling trip was 250km long, then i did 500km, then 1000, and finally the 5000 in Asia.<br />
<br />
<b>_I'd like to have some travel adventures but i don't have money or time to do it, any ideas ?</b><br />
Yes ! You don't need either one to have great adventures. I've recently done a week-long trip to the Dolomites (see previous article) which was the best adventure i've had in a long time. It's not the cost, length or distance that makes a great adventure, you might have more fun / excitement / challenges over a weekend in your own country than you'll have over 3 months on the other side of the world.<br />
I you want to make an adventure happen, it will.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm going to stop here for now, i realise this article is getting quite big and i've covered most of the important points, i think... I might add / modify things in the future, feel free to comment or ask stuff and i might adapt the article to it to make it as useful as possible to everyone.<br />
I hope you've found it of some help, thanks for reading and happy travels !Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-36234252841738816102010-10-08T21:29:00.014+01:002010-12-09T22:51:23.997+00:00Still alive !<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrkBkgHgvIjFjSAdZYdV6DpOmk_AKg_2CQnGOBjXvcNb-HqfUoSI-7gV5la9DyWjXn7pij4WyRezyXSUBOE_q29G7U0pxH47bLd397tiW-ZKOkY0-xiZYGy0-R1c7zGKVzG8AwLQ3sefh/s1600/P1000779.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrkBkgHgvIjFjSAdZYdV6DpOmk_AKg_2CQnGOBjXvcNb-HqfUoSI-7gV5la9DyWjXn7pij4WyRezyXSUBOE_q29G7U0pxH47bLd397tiW-ZKOkY0-xiZYGy0-R1c7zGKVzG8AwLQ3sefh/s200/P1000779.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525776148595510482" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqJ5razxwDDKM2elMiKfxIj3lxbAlvX_wNy50fMA8Cz2GkGjHgGX1GLwbgLQ292HD_6iMYncdj9yfMSdSImU4CnaNGy0CJNN-bMnBZrlDqjFwCZ5gYg5emJg8-_hJr2HaZjg5z0X2thf6N/s1600/Spain.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 112px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqJ5razxwDDKM2elMiKfxIj3lxbAlvX_wNy50fMA8Cz2GkGjHgGX1GLwbgLQ292HD_6iMYncdj9yfMSdSImU4CnaNGy0CJNN-bMnBZrlDqjFwCZ5gYg5emJg8-_hJr2HaZjg5z0X2thf6N/s200/Spain.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525777409392422338" border="0" /></a>Well well well, i thought i'd throw in a little update, after all this time...<br /><br />I went to the South of France on motorbike with a friend, and then alone to Spain and Morocco, awesome times overall, even the bad ones such as breaking down in the desert or being chased by people in the mountains... The natural hospitality of arabian people is inspiring, just as i had thought it would be and this encourages me even more to (finally) head towards the Middle-East.<br /><br />In the meantime, i recently got back from an incredible short trip to the italian Dolomites (along with the same friend), where paths take you up and down high perched ladders, and along sheer cliff faces. Climbing gear is of course highly recommended but hey, that wouldn't be any fun now would it ? It's so much more enjoyable to feel "exposed" and vulnerable, rather than overprotected like it's too often the case nowadays... Maybe it's a lesson from Parkour: if a fit body, self-control, and confidence are all you need to overcome a challenge, why use more ?<br />I just can't wait to get back out there to live out some more my passion/fear for heights !<br /><br />Not sure what to do now, depends on money (haven't got a lot of that, you know the shit), more travels are definitely ahead, but to where, when and how ? No one knows for the moment...<br /><br /><br />I hope you enjoy the photos !<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Ix5NDVZsgNTqjl05UuAJGCkEa6z1RzQ8JGm6Z5iVLT5MmTYJb2o_alYCb167U4UEOBYmBeCBV9MdJPZnEVcIhGc6hbQ_3dnHFTKdFaNtZo23C52fhlNAKIfnZej-trQS9IRfhx5_UBZo/s1600/Morocco.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 112px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Ix5NDVZsgNTqjl05UuAJGCkEa6z1RzQ8JGm6Z5iVLT5MmTYJb2o_alYCb167U4UEOBYmBeCBV9MdJPZnEVcIhGc6hbQ_3dnHFTKdFaNtZo23C52fhlNAKIfnZej-trQS9IRfhx5_UBZo/s200/Morocco.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525776391760171458" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXpcuqmYuaoFh1nNa_y2WjN3XWVqmBBwce2npMIKRCuUUA3S8VZ4jBN2XlnrETy1fKvOTy3iddNwW5AEa8QZ8O-HzSkauA4jbsZdMW6ehfLWioqb7TPt44vES12nWsHogZj8oVwl5RNnW/s1600/Morocco2.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXpcuqmYuaoFh1nNa_y2WjN3XWVqmBBwce2npMIKRCuUUA3S8VZ4jBN2XlnrETy1fKvOTy3iddNwW5AEa8QZ8O-HzSkauA4jbsZdMW6ehfLWioqb7TPt44vES12nWsHogZj8oVwl5RNnW/s200/Morocco2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525776594270408514" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHeoANzuk6vcPciZob94HDSm3Tq9Uxy1giN1cX-o9P0jl9VjsFOGK1CyxpvGR_BYV43pepq5sak0rObpMXRCAYcqr8-wtyEJXHf6hoXBNBSnpPj-MTzH_w_RshRIPz4y3DziIEzFdeVBG/s1600/Morocco3.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHeoANzuk6vcPciZob94HDSm3Tq9Uxy1giN1cX-o9P0jl9VjsFOGK1CyxpvGR_BYV43pepq5sak0rObpMXRCAYcqr8-wtyEJXHf6hoXBNBSnpPj-MTzH_w_RshRIPz4y3DziIEzFdeVBG/s200/Morocco3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525776706110775314" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qfSXF5C7usPmH9Emq5MB4vSXAlOlWz5ZP1t7USgrkAd9_u7cDjYPFosGUmYXNO1BEaRPL8oMleGPGWQfqO3UF28wi-AQsdlknrPrXWj9MbzFDWry2rzEbTdk7-FYIWScmdsX9es_jVrW/s1600/P1010376.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qfSXF5C7usPmH9Emq5MB4vSXAlOlWz5ZP1t7USgrkAd9_u7cDjYPFosGUmYXNO1BEaRPL8oMleGPGWQfqO3UF28wi-AQsdlknrPrXWj9MbzFDWry2rzEbTdk7-FYIWScmdsX9es_jVrW/s200/P1010376.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525777128803763266" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVoIys7tozgRr5AQhlidpf1YrBgtpwE6dUojZ2BZeCPVvKOqy3unBe3O0gienPTVb6l7n_FI1WnlcLG_PABq9lhjfz_f_0rO0yfLjIm22K8xC-QareznshtsBjzgf4JH-KfsrbbUGYLdd/s1600/P1010440.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVoIys7tozgRr5AQhlidpf1YrBgtpwE6dUojZ2BZeCPVvKOqy3unBe3O0gienPTVb6l7n_FI1WnlcLG_PABq9lhjfz_f_0rO0yfLjIm22K8xC-QareznshtsBjzgf4JH-KfsrbbUGYLdd/s200/P1010440.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525777328732115170" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDLmEe1WQnSX7UbZBKPH6VVZcLkO54BNBaw3kNAVDZzFQfh4h8awdt_oQqV6YgwfyGzFrMiSET-364qeCk6Ese2PWU7ymsqWXmH8PblWvsvGotj5rqLzBnwdV5s6twi2nESP4WQ7big_Ey/s1600/Morocco4.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDLmEe1WQnSX7UbZBKPH6VVZcLkO54BNBaw3kNAVDZzFQfh4h8awdt_oQqV6YgwfyGzFrMiSET-364qeCk6Ese2PWU7ymsqWXmH8PblWvsvGotj5rqLzBnwdV5s6twi2nESP4WQ7big_Ey/s200/Morocco4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525776805946591442" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOhDCaK85lxMppHf1E3US5IPV4XcMphFvLarZ3DmX9c3XCpoq1zJpBUN215iUSiQDLy5PYDRsS6vEiu9XhObUvN0mOh0kIHGxrh0j2DgFgUr7_Kr57lb19EHFNf8myqdvV_B67F5f1OsX/s1600/P1010284.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOhDCaK85lxMppHf1E3US5IPV4XcMphFvLarZ3DmX9c3XCpoq1zJpBUN215iUSiQDLy5PYDRsS6vEiu9XhObUvN0mOh0kIHGxrh0j2DgFgUr7_Kr57lb19EHFNf8myqdvV_B67F5f1OsX/s200/P1010284.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525776903329254578" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeY_zv2ygL_KFw9RMm7CQnq7LlrBZKBytqo6q4OvEgbpHXo4cwBUkh0w7m8nhRT5snUsq57WPDdu8LZhnU4wa4Oxw1dpxmH-UsLrej5p9XR3_F5ZGG4uaZuTilzfdQ7OIiRObIjKTSsou/s1600/P1010396.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeY_zv2ygL_KFw9RMm7CQnq7LlrBZKBytqo6q4OvEgbpHXo4cwBUkh0w7m8nhRT5snUsq57WPDdu8LZhnU4wa4Oxw1dpxmH-UsLrej5p9XR3_F5ZGG4uaZuTilzfdQ7OIiRObIjKTSsou/s200/P1010396.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525777235357810786" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0faY6DBVCkHNhgLCl5Mggt-l1loWm8laDC3aM58gVoYjuKfHNUPGJeByct4Cxvyp5Imp7JyMKAmvTn2GJ_M3Gm4SyQJUZWpChJB9-uOVT45OJg1STu_WlWKKJO92U1ig5NIMMsXwFDFI2/s1600/P1010335.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0faY6DBVCkHNhgLCl5Mggt-l1loWm8laDC3aM58gVoYjuKfHNUPGJeByct4Cxvyp5Imp7JyMKAmvTn2GJ_M3Gm4SyQJUZWpChJB9-uOVT45OJg1STu_WlWKKJO92U1ig5NIMMsXwFDFI2/s200/P1010335.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525777013418994386" border="0" /></a>Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-55055873850398364852010-03-01T10:53:00.004+00:002010-04-05T16:22:54.268+01:00Learning to learn<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ICULmtODWsh6FHGMbb3o52DASnuIghjoRkiKkM1hCBWBbY1ATOWS09F5j2N6oJKn53iKyB4j_ci7mQNg0AhxRf9C2emJih0rr5iYtjcdy25CGUm2wzr44OJUgJ66ZVyftq7mWJT9mJJ2/s1600-h/Sunset+Thailand.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ICULmtODWsh6FHGMbb3o52DASnuIghjoRkiKkM1hCBWBbY1ATOWS09F5j2N6oJKn53iKyB4j_ci7mQNg0AhxRf9C2emJih0rr5iYtjcdy25CGUm2wzr44OJUgJ66ZVyftq7mWJT9mJJ2/s200/Sunset+Thailand.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445442208879812530" border="0" /></a>Learning to learn, what does this mean? When a new discipline or activity catches our attention, to the point that we decide to devote a tremendous amount of our time and energy to it, instead of focusing entirely on the content do we actually question ourselves enough, if at all, about learning (i.e. the process of absorbing and making ours new skills and knowledge)? What if learning was not just a question of time and effort, but a matter of clarity and vision as well? What if learning was a skill in itself? Wouldn’t there then be a way to optimise every ounce of effort we put in the aquirement of a new technique, and therefore acheive results faster without extra effort?<br /><br />In any discipline or activity, there are always those who train hard for years only to acquire mediocre results, and those who seem to fly over every difficulties in their way, is it human nature, or just a different kind of perception that one could unlock ?<br /><br />This is an attempt to explore these questions...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Being in the moment: the right here right now equilibrium.</span></span><br /><br />The philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote : “May one examine their own thoughts, and they will find them all focused on the past or the future. We almost never think in the present, and when we do, it is only to shed light on what to do with the future”.<br /><br />We live in the present, it is our only field of action, and it is only then that we can interconnect entirely body, mind, and environment to create a sense of pure awareness; but how often do we actually do this? What Pascal wrote has never been so true: most of us have grown up and are still immersed in a world of distractions: television, cell phones, advertising, work, social activities, internet, games... the list is endless.<br />From birth we become accustomed to the habit of being constantly distracted, it is for most of us a normal thing that we accept and agree with entirely, our rare moments of boredom are those that we find awkward and that we will strive to fill with more mind-absorbing activities.<br />How is this related to learning? I had a student who was a very slow learner and had grown to accept it as part of his nature: he would make the same mistakes many times before understanding the lesson, and he would sometimes learn only to drop back into those old mistakes again. I didn’t really know how to help him until I realised something essential: that even when training his mind was constantly drifting away in thought, absorbed in the past or future, inconspicuously slipping out of the “right here right now equilibrium”.<br /><br />I understood that one’s learning is clearly improved by being in constant connection with one’s present sensations.<br /><br />Sensations are feedback, they tell us if what we do is right or not, they show us what we should improve on and how to do it at the condition that we pay attention to them. Repetition alone is pointless if there isn’t constant attention to what is being done, just as it is being done. Learn in real-time, be awake and aware, feel and analyse what you are doing. Trying again doesn’t mean doing again; every attempt is a new opportunity to do better, based on the knowledge and experience of past tries.<br /><br />So avoid any type of distraction when you are training, let your entire self be directed towards what you are doing and all your energy, all your qualities, all that you are made of will cease to be dispersed and wasted but, instead, will work for you towards one clear goal that you have chosen, like a whole army marching in unison towards one unique target.<br /><br />I took the time to explain these things to the student, letting them slowly soak in over time, and he has since then made tremendous progress and is now one of the quickest learners I have ever taught to!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Constructive criticism: the positive vision</span></span><br /><br />Collecting feedback and endlessly integrating it in what you do is a major element of learning to learn, but doing so with absolute positiveness is the key principle that will create the alchemy. When we try and fail, we try harder, but if we fail again, most of us will tend to get upset or irritated, and our emotions conquer us and corrupt the positive learning mindset we were in. It is then very easy to slip into negative criticism and to start asking ouselves the wrong questions, such as “why am I so bad at this?”, or even “why can’t I ever get things right?”<br /><br />The mind, in these cases, is bluntly stupid in the way it works, as it searches for a direct answer to these questions; for instance: “you’re bad at this because it’s not your thing”, or “you can never get things right because you’re not meant to be talented at this”. The answers it gives us are often conveyed on a subconscious level, and thus we unknowingly hypnotise ourselves into failure.<br /><br />Therefore, one must ask themselves the right questions if one wishes to find the right answers: “How can I improve on this?”, “How can I avoid doing these mistakes?”, “What is holding me back from complete mastery?”<br /><br />Condition your mind for positivity and you will get positive results. A positive vision is one that can picture a clear objective and a list of ways to reach it, regardless of what stands in the way. And any resistance in your progress, instead of being a source of frustration, will become a call for a new accomplishment, a treat of self-exploration. You won’t need to ignore your frustration, it won’t be there anymore, transformed into a new exciting feeling of challenge!<br /><br />Training, as intense as it may get, is never but a game so don’t take it too seriously, even if you’re at it every day for hours, be relaxed about it, inner tension will cause outer stiffness, let it flow inside and it will flow outside. Lightness is key. <br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Discovering rather than manufacturing: the blossoming flower concept</span></span><br /><br />“When I and my students think of strokes as being discovered rather than manufactured, they seem to learn the game much faster and without frustration.” Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis<br /><br />I will humbly paraphrase this great book here.<br /><br />As explained earlier, a major part of the process of learning is directly linked to how we visualise things. Manufacturing skills would imply that there is you + all that you’ve learned. Like costumes worn over each other, your skills are not connected to who you are, they are merely added to you in a very impersonal way. Progress, in this mindset, appears as having no end and worse, as being perishable...<br /><br />Now, let’s talk about flowers... flowers don’t grow, they blossom: from the instant they exist as a tiny seed, they are already the future flower that they will turn into, just like a new-born baby is already in essence the future adult it will become.<br /><br />They constantly express themselves as flowers and day by day, instant by instant, they become a little bit more their blossomed selves, what they were right from the start is now fully expressed and they are purely themselves.<br /><br />If you visualise all your skills as being within you right from the start, on standby, waiting to be discovered and released, you will get rid of a lot of the pressure that athletes face with intense training because it means that you are simply learning to express yourself, zeroing in ever more on your true self. One could almost call it a process of enlightenment. In this case, nothing is really learnt, everything is simply revealed and therefore it is an undisociable part of you.<br /><br />Progress is not an addition of bits of knowledge and skill like Lego pieces stacked on top of each other, it is only the elimination of what is keeping you from expressing your true self.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion: expanding the horizon</span></span><br /><br />Throughout this article, I’ve never once mentioned parkour: the reason is that “learning to learn”, once acquired, is a skill that transcends any activity it may be applied to. One who understands it may use it in any field equally.<br /><br />As a matter of fact, in order to explore a single discipline one is required to branch off continuously into other fields, as no knowledge is ever completely isolated.<br /><br />A samurai once wrote about his art: “The practice cannot be confined to swordsmanship, if one limits it to that, they will not even know swordsmanship“. The same warrior added: “I have applied the lessons of my art to every other discipline I have encountered, therefore in any discipline I am my own master”. The road that leads to the mastery of one discipline will lead to the mastery of others; following one is close to following them all because, more than just the discipline, it is ourselves that we learn to explore and know through our practice. The discipline itself is never the end, but the means to a more noble, meaningful and everlasting end: our blossomed self.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-34022451128957834222010-02-18T14:54:00.006+00:002010-02-22T15:51:01.662+00:00What's up ?<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/EPNPOS%7E1.091/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:hyphenationzone>21</w:HyphenationZone> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:2; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 268435456 0 0 -2147483648 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults ext="edit" spidmax="1026"> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout ext="edit"> <o:idmap ext="edit" data="1"> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">
<br /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6vxl0wv2XM6sPn70xXl7XOkfB2IL5LecXxGq8DHu_yln2Cp7Ibz2celYztOS7R_FbxCydwV3a6nEU5rCkdvmrOleK3Iw9E3njJsrSPJma1SxIb27xbqP0qzMTjJMgz2HTX4VdGPK_Vx4/s1600-h/P1000459.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6vxl0wv2XM6sPn70xXl7XOkfB2IL5LecXxGq8DHu_yln2Cp7Ibz2celYztOS7R_FbxCydwV3a6nEU5rCkdvmrOleK3Iw9E3njJsrSPJma1SxIb27xbqP0qzMTjJMgz2HTX4VdGPK_Vx4/s320/P1000459.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439597213374911410" border="0" /></a><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Well, it’s been a while since i posted anything, so what happened ? A lot and nothing ! The second leg of the Eurasia trip was a lot shorter than expected, I flew back to Turkey with a new passport, bought yet another shitty bicycle in Istanbul and set off towards Ankara, the capital. I needed at least that to bring back to mind my Tibetan experience, </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">and the conclusions I had drawn for future trips : “you like challenges and travels, but you hate cycling, so stop travelling the world on shitty bicycles !”.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I kept on remembering the cool 2cv trip to Italy I had done with Blane and Kiell and, as I was being dangerously overtaken by numbers of noisy vehicles on the busy Istanbul – Ankara road, I<span style=""> </span>decided I was done with my “challenge through cycling” era, that I had reassured myself enough to be satisfied about it (isn’t self-reassurance the most common reason for challenges ?) </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">and that I was ready for a more comfortable means of transportation, the motorcycle, in order to explore different aspects of travelling. Yes, in a way, it’s not as honourable as the bicycle, but if it allows me to go to places I wouldn’t have visited otherwise, and to spend more time training and experiencing rather than just peddling all day, then without a doubt it’s a step forward that I’m eager to make (and motorcycles are really cool too !)…<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HSByPN6iWj4ZswHR0WcTZ4ZG0LAyaciSneC3W2o823L-2mPSSaS_rJ-gUY8OZMGQ-VhsyKF_NICznYyLI6YY2CTpVmJjPKTt50FtT3cHto8yhHnx4kJJW74ibW1Wjrq2TnmOWv83_NoZ/s1600-h/P1000635.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 112px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8HSByPN6iWj4ZswHR0WcTZ4ZG0LAyaciSneC3W2o823L-2mPSSaS_rJ-gUY8OZMGQ-VhsyKF_NICznYyLI6YY2CTpVmJjPKTt50FtT3cHto8yhHnx4kJJW74ibW1Wjrq2TnmOWv83_NoZ/s200/P1000635.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439597373677537250" border="0" /></a><span style="" lang="EN-GB">So I still covered the 500km to Ankara</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> (had my share of interesting</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">experien</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">ces, as usu</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">al) and spent some lovely</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> days there before returning to London to teach with Parkour Generations, back to square one. After 5 months of learning the piano (under the supervision of my good friend Tracey), training magic (under the supervision of my good friend the mirror ), having my hair cut short in exchange for a really neat headcam, and also teaching a bit of Parkour, I came back to France (made a stop in Mexico for an event, on the way, kind of…), and bought my motorcycle : a little second-hand Yamaha 125cc, perfect for big travels, as my searches indicated.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">So what’s the new goal ? To have no goal, for as long as it feels right… All I know is that I’ll be heading South very soon, and perhaps East as well later on, I still have some travel-visions on hold for Iran and Pakistan and it’s been waiting for too long…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Not sure how much I’ll be writing about my progress, if at all, but I’ll soon have a new article up for reading as well as a written interview (maybe) I did for a mag a little while ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">In the meantime, bon vent to all and happy doing-what-ever-you-like-to-do </span>:)<span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-72460808401098401132009-04-17T00:58:00.009+01:002009-06-14T19:08:52.043+01:00Eurasia 2009, Part 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOoY60UheQGD8MNGQvptafhxzvuB4YNUNDpJFOyQNVKMFaXmwA411y17lfng3Dky81-BIsRmIhY7LP7wFfw-xPJAjaf_cxcT8sqOYvfOQhUlcqnCDPvmsfml6wH7WQTYwz97Kal8uTalP/s1600-h/P1000312.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOoY60UheQGD8MNGQvptafhxzvuB4YNUNDpJFOyQNVKMFaXmwA411y17lfng3Dky81-BIsRmIhY7LP7wFfw-xPJAjaf_cxcT8sqOYvfOQhUlcqnCDPvmsfml6wH7WQTYwz97Kal8uTalP/s320/P1000312.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325443734736805554" border="0" /></a><br /><b>France : 16 to 18th of February<br /><br /></b>Around 4pm, my mother drops me off at a petrol station along the highway that goes through Tours. I want to go all the way to Asia using all kinds of modes of transportation. I leave with 7kg on my back for the first leg of the trip.<br />I know i have a 1 out of 10 chance of being picked up by someone if i ask him/her directly, instead of waiting on the side of the road with a sign. My technique is now greatly perfected from all the trial and error : i come up to the person with a map in my hand, letting them think i'm going to ask them for directions and, with a somewhat pityful look in my eye, i say : "Excuse me, but if it's in your direction, would you be kind enough to take me closer to ... (i name a nearby big town)". If they refuse, i still smile and thank them for their time (sometimes they change their mind afterwards).<br />However, i don't get very far on this first half-day of hitchhiking and i sleep behind a pile of wood near a petrol station.<br /><br />My second day is much more productive and actually brings me right behind the Italian border, in the Alps. A cold night, but nothing compared to the -20 of the Himalayas. The next morning, i arrive in Milan.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Italy : 18th of February to 14th of March</b><br /><br />I stroll around in this city that i already know quite well and enjoy a hot chocolate and delicious ice cream. I then head to my aunt's who lives just north of Milan in Seregno. I enjoy life here, so i spend 3 weeks in Milan, training with Italian traceurs and meeting up at an event with some of the Parkour Generations guys. I enjoy speaking in Italian with random beautiful girls.<br />At first i want to continue with the hitchhiking, but as i set off, i realise i don't want that anymore, i feel very lost and i can't figure out what i want in my life precisely... I don't want to hitchhike nor to go home, so i think about other possibilities, from cycling to asia to taking a plane for Mongolia, all sorts of ideas rush through my confused mind... In this climate of doubt, i take a train to Trani in the south of Italy and hook up with more traceurs.<br />I marvel at the generosity of Traceurs all over the world and i know that wherever i go, i will find someone to welcome me. The Parkour community is beautiful !<br />My italian friends drop me off in front of the ferry that will take me to Igoumenitsa in Greece.<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Greece, 15th of March to 2nd of April :</b><br /><br /><br />The crossing from Italy to Greece takes 13 hours, and i bought the cheapest possible ticket, so i don't have a cabin and sleeping inside the ferry is impossible because of the lights and noise. So i go out on the deck and find the highest point of the ship to set camp. It's very windy but i'm all tucked in my sleeping bag, under the stars that i try to identify.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZdlNzezCZDiZyyLtsdBm8IBHluD3zUO3yAxrulWX4-6VgpU_noMrc85ofeW1cq9b2zChcJHILXaKADEBt1rxn9MuFv4YDr3FlAkbk3c89egFvNPz05Dcff3WVkK_XYj-wli4EXm8PnvPt/s1600-h/P1000224.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 145px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZdlNzezCZDiZyyLtsdBm8IBHluD3zUO3yAxrulWX4-6VgpU_noMrc85ofeW1cq9b2zChcJHILXaKADEBt1rxn9MuFv4YDr3FlAkbk3c89egFvNPz05Dcff3WVkK_XYj-wli4EXm8PnvPt/s320/P1000224.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325444102102313698" border="0" /></a>In the morning, i stroll around the ferry until i find a nice greek guy who accepts to take me with him in his car towards Athens. He drops me off at the Meteora, a unique and spectacular rock formation on top of which a few monasteries boldly stand. I feel so excited by the place that i spend hours hiking, climbing, exploring, losing myself in the cliffs and caves of the site. When the night comes, i camp at the top of one of the rock formations, not far from a "no camping" sign. The stars are again beautiful, so i lay down my shortened sleeping mat, tuck myself in my sleeping bag and spend an eternity looking up at my heavenly guardians, wondering how humanity can have lost this beautiful habit of sleeping outdoors...<br />I wake up to a breathtaking panorama, overlooking the nearby cliffs and perched monasteries. After a few more happy hours of exploration, i have a refreshing "shower" in a little stream before getting back in hitchiking mode.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuyQ9Y7WGDhHTNLSGQf-dEZOhkRURn9M6lBS_SQeyYU_pS4KDK4yNU2m_a_DgtgtKsNZHtgtMX7oCanGQkOGwFxXQpeNn131C8nMwkaWg9mLnSnBd5Vm8bfOQy-mFmmYbLOwC9vHuD01V/s1600-h/P1000272.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 124px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuyQ9Y7WGDhHTNLSGQf-dEZOhkRURn9M6lBS_SQeyYU_pS4KDK4yNU2m_a_DgtgtKsNZHtgtMX7oCanGQkOGwFxXQpeNn131C8nMwkaWg9mLnSnBd5Vm8bfOQy-mFmmYbLOwC9vHuD01V/s320/P1000272.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325445913025299778" border="0" /></a>At some point a nice guy picks me up on what is supposed to be a short trip : he is going to the city of Larissa, only 60 km from where he found me. However, i discover very quickly the natural sense of hospitality of greek people, as he invites me to have dinner at his mother's and later on offers to host me for the night. I have a great evening in the company of him and his friends !<br />I finally arrive in Athens where i am greeted by Aggelos, a greek traceur. Him and his family are so welcoming that i stay ages at their home ! I train with him and his friends and they take me to the famous Acropolis. The site is closed but i want to visit anyway, so i sneak in past the guards and stroll among the temples. As i come out, i realise that someone has posted dogs inside the site and one of them sees me precisely when i see it. It runs after me and i have to use Parkour among the ruins to dodge it. Using it's aggressive stupidity to my advantage, i lure it into a dead end as i climb down a wall on the other side. I make it out unharmed.<br /><br />I have something in mind, i want to kayak towards the greek islands, so i buy a kayak and set off, only to discover, as soon as i have taken place inside the kayak, that again i have no clue of what i really want to do... In fact, i feel even worse than i had in Italy, and one thing is sure, i don't have enough kayaking experience to set off on such an adventure. I could spend some time building up that experience, but i don't have the energy to do it. I feel bad for a while, as i sit on the shore, telling myself that i am being weak, until it strikes me : this isn't about being weak or strong, it's just about motivation, and i don't have it. I have enough experience to know that i am capable of overcoming difficulties if i really set my mind to it, but in this situation, i just don't want to kayak like this. So why am i there, sitting alone on this beach with a brand new kayak ? I am learning the hard way that a mind is powerful only when it's in peace with its objectives, and mine isn't. There is a time for everything, and one must be in agreement with his own self if he wants to be succesful. But i still can't figure out what my objectives are, why i am even travelling, i feel like a locomotive with no fuel to burn, and no tracks to ride on...<br /><br />Things are not better on my way to the North East of Greece, by train this time. I am even considering heading back home to give myself some time to think. I decide that once in Istanbul, i will make a choice. So i hitchhike once more and, as i arrive in Turkey, as if i had stepped in a powerful energy field, everything changes in my mind, my motivation comes back and i know i don't want to stop here. Is it the "asian vibe" there that arouses my adventurous mind ? Or the simpleness of the local countryside life that appeals to the "Tom Sawyer" inside me ? Maybe it's a bit of both, and something else i can't identify. Nevertheless, i feel back on tracks and ready to explore the world !<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Turkey, 2nd to 8th April </b>:<br /><br /><br />I'm dropped off in the night close to Istanbul, but i must walk over 2 hours to reach the nearest metro station that takes me to the center.<br />The next day, like a complete beginner, i loose my passport and credit card... Did they fall out of my pocket, or were they taken ? It's not very clear, but anyway it's my fault, i should have been more careful. I hate myself for a little while as this means that i am going to have to go back home to get new ones, but having faced other delicate situations in the past, i put a stop to my unconstructive self-insulting reflexe and calmly reorganise my plans for the following days, and promise myself i will be back in Istanbul as soon as possible to continue the trip.<br />I strongly believe that there is always something positive to see, even in negative situations, it's just a question of perception.<br />I go to the french consulate to ask what the procedure is, and as i expect, they tell me i need a declaration of loss from the police. However, as i quickly understand, the turkish police force is not the most hard-working in the world, and they simply refuse to take 5 minutes to write the document, saying they need a proof from the french consulate, that i am a french citizen. So i go back to the consulate only to be told that they can only give me such a document if they have the damn police declaration, so what am i supposed to do ??<br /><br />The guy at the consulate tells me that if i can find someone to help translate, perhaps the police will be more helpful, so i leave the place not really knowing where i can find someone like this who would be willing to take some time to help me.<br />As i step out of the consulate, i randomly turn my head to the left and see a smile, like a flash in my eye. I turn again, and it's still there. It belongs to a very nice and friendly turkish girl (Ozum is her name) who speaks perfect english and very kindly agrees to help out. Together we go to the police station but they still refuse to help, asking again for a proof of my nationality. The guy at the consulate is astonished to see me in such charming company only minutes after he advised me to find a translator.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNGCSYe62tP4GMAXzn4znI5m6kRGEHVr7qoAd8e-gwmiyq2rWY2qjwmFhQBS9b4mn0f4A_VLsEjuqMtJvVu0TRM4sdGIJg9NBJwO6jqRYPBQixnxjrKYhxujkCqokpw6KxfdJZcnkvxQA/s1600-h/P1000353.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNGCSYe62tP4GMAXzn4znI5m6kRGEHVr7qoAd8e-gwmiyq2rWY2qjwmFhQBS9b4mn0f4A_VLsEjuqMtJvVu0TRM4sdGIJg9NBJwO6jqRYPBQixnxjrKYhxujkCqokpw6KxfdJZcnkvxQA/s320/P1000353.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325444783148897026" border="0" /></a>I'm tired and Ozum has to meet up with friends, so she invites me to join them all and we have a great evening. One of them, Serkan, invites me to stay at his home for as long as i need, i feel moved by this spontaneus mark of generosity towards the total stranger that i am. I want to pay some drinks to everyone, but i only have a little bit of cash left and i must keep it for my own expenses, i speak to Ozum about it but she tells me to forget the european politeness, we're in Turkey...<br />I spend the following days struggling with bureaucracy nonsense to the point that i consider passing the borders illegally back to France. A visit to the consulate gives me a flash of hope : someone there tells me they found a passport belonging to a "Thomas something" ! Ideas rush through my mind, if i get my passport back i can get on with the trip, with almost no money, sure, but that's quite exciting ! Turns out it's another Thomas, nevermind, on with the paper work...<br />Takes a few more days but the situation finally clears up. Meanwhile i meet up and stay at Selmin's place, whom i met through the Couchsurfing website. I have a great time in her company and she offers to host me again when i'll come back.<br />I spend my last night at the airport in order to catch my 5:30AM flight back to France. Part 1 of the trip is finished, part 2 is just around the corner...<br /><br /><br />More photos <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25058458@N02/sets/72157616803029876/">HERE.</a><br /><br /><br />.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-62543318705915089322009-03-17T14:00:00.003+00:002009-05-02T00:18:58.141+01:00Interview for Urban RunnersI was recently asked by Ixek from the Urban Runners team in Mexico to do a written interview for their website, so i thought i'd post it here too, here it is :<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Introduce yourself (name, age and how long have you been practising Parkour).</span></span><br />My name is Thomas Couetdic, i'm 24 and i'm from France. I've been into Parkour for about 8 years.<br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">How did you find Parkour?</span></span><br />At the time when Yamaksi was coming out in the cinemas, i saw by chance a short documentary about Parkour on television (stade 2) and was hooked by it ! I new from that moment on that Parkour would play a major role in my life. In those days, Parkour was nonexistant on the internet and it took me a few months to find more information about it. I managed to get in contact with some of the guys training in Lisses (the only experienced practicioners at that time) and they invited me to come over and train with them. They told me in advance that it would be hard, and it was, but that's exactly what i was expecting. I would have been very disappointed if they had been just a bunch of guys randomly jumping around, with no discipline and no objectives, but it wasn't that and my motivation to get stronger grew as i discovered their incredible abilities.<br /><br />My first training sessions in Lisses opened my eyes and gave me some guidance for my training. I would then go back home (in Tours) and apply what i had learned, so most of my training was done alone, which was hard at times but well worth it in the long run. And just every now and then, i went back to Lisses to boost my progress a little bit. If i didn't have money to pay for the travel, i would cycle the 250 km to there, Parkour was my biggest priority in those years and nothing would stop me from training.<br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">What does Parkour mean to you?</span></span><br />My definition of Parkour is "utilitarian displacement" : efficient techniques of movement. My training with the guys from Lisses and the hours of conversation with each of them has made me realise the purpose of Parkour, and i've seen how it was created, the state of mind that triggered this whole discipline. I think that many traceurs nowadays forget to think about all this, they discover the visual aspect of Parkour and want to be able to do the same things, but that's only one dimension of Parkour, they don't try to grasp the original meaning of it, and i feel they miss out on the whole essence of Parkour.<br />I believe strongly in the idea that intention affects action : knowing why you do something determines how you will do it.<br />It's been said before, but practitioners should think deeply about why they train, what they search for in the end.<br /><br />For my part, i've always been interested in outdoor life and adventure, which demand pure efficiency... You can't adventure yourself in remote areas or face critical situations if you're not efficient. You can't be strong, in the broad sense of the word, if you're not efficient. This is why i entirely agree with and follow the original spirit of Parkour, it has a depth that many young traceurs/freerunners completely miss out on. <br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">What do you think about Parkour being related to the medias?</span></span><br />In the eyes of the modern world, Parkour is very stylish and fun, just what the media and advertising companies love, but that is not what Parkour was ever intended to be. Parkour is intended to be trained, not to be shown. Even though i personally take part in such things, because it's a good way to make a living using something i love doing, i'm very aware that it does not take me anywhere as a human being and therefore i never take it too seriously, my life is not there...<br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">In which point do you think Parkour is and where do you think it will go?</span></span><br />The Parkour i've been describing, the one i practice, is not the one that most people train. It's like this now and i think it will always remain like that. It's not necessarily a bad thing as long as the original form of Parkour stays alive so that those who seek it may find it. That's the whole point of Parkour Generations (the people i work with), keeping it alive and accessible. On a personal level, i'd like to see Parkour applied in the field, by people who face critical situations on a regular basis, like firefighters for example. This would also be a good way to maintain the practice of efficient Parkour.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Which advice would you give to people who want to start practicing parkour?</span></span><br />Take your time and never give up. No fortress is impregnable, it all depends on the tenacity of the assailant. No matter where you start from, you'll always reach your goal if you keep trying. Some times are harder than others, but "is lost only he who gives himself up for lost", so never give up.<br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">What do you think about separating parkour from free running or art du deplacement?</span></span><br />I've never really worried about how to call something. I use the word Parkour but it's just for the purpose of conversation. But if we can't even figure out the precise definition of a simple random object such as a chair or a car, then i think we can forget about defining Parkour ! This is because words will never grasp the pure essence of the very things they define. So Parkour, Freerunning, Art du Deplacement etc... these 3 things are different to eachother but the name you give them is irrelevant. Gandhi said : "In reality, there's as many religions as there are individuals" and in the same way, there's as many Parkours as there are traceurs, not two people in the world practice exactly the same thing. Names are only symbolic.<br />As long as people express themselves in what they do and find peace in it, that's all that matters.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">What do you think about body and mind balance?</span></span><br />I think that both work in conjunction with eachother, but i would still give priority to the mind. The reason is simple, the state of the body fluctuates over time, one can be physicaly strong now and weak in one month or less, performance is a very temporary feat, but a strong mind lives on, even in a weakened body. What we learn through experience (and i make a distinction here with knowledge, which is merely the memorisation of information), we keep to the end and perhaps even after, and it affects us in a much deeper and durable way than what is only physical.<br />Over the years, i've come to focus more and more on the mind, adapting my training to it's development. For example, i try not to keep for later a jump i feel i can do now, because most of the time, keeping for later means waiting for the jump to be easier, and the easier it gets, the less the mind is solicited. This also explains why i never train in gyms : having obstacles that adapt to you only offers training for your body, not your mind, which is close to pointless in my opinion.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">How is Thomas (appart from parkour what do you do, hobbies, what do you like doing, etc)?</span></span><br />He says he's fine haha ! I do a lot of travels at the moment (and as i speak, i am in the middle of one). I still love Parkour very much and i train it very often, but i think i've learned what it had to teach me spiritually. I've grown so much thanks to it and i am completely transformed compared to when i started, so now i broaden my horizons, i search for the next step in my growth, and i think i've found it in travels. I also try to share what i've learned with others who may find my experience of use, and i think i'll be doing this more and more in the future, i realise more and more the importance of sharing and giving.<br />On another level, i've also found a big interest in magic with coins and i spend many hours training it. It feels funny to start from zero again in a new discipline, but it allows me to measure the tremendous effects Parkour has had on me. I was saying earlier that what the mind has learned, it keeps, and this is a perfect example of it. I don't feel overwhelmed by the enormous difficulty of learning coin magic, instead i take it slowly and patiently, through trial and error until i manage to do things properly. It takes a very long time to learn but i know i'll get there in the end if i don't give up, smooth sailing on a big ocean i suppose...<br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Do you have any specific training routine?</span></span><br />No, i don't believe in routines though i did spend my first training years doing some. There's something reassuring about routines, because you can visualise precisely what you're doing and in which amounts, and everyone enjoys that kind of classification, it's very "academic", the brain likes it, but the human body is not meant to follow a schedule.<br />So instead i try to ask myself what my body and mind want to do and i go for it. I also often change my plans during the training itself, i really stay away from strict training programmes, it's much better in terms of motivation.<br />I do have a few exercises that i like to do every now and then, but that's about it, the rest is all spontaneous.<br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Anything, comments, ideas or advice you would like to share.</span></span><br />Nothing really, i just want to say thank you to you (Ixek) and your group for giving me this opportunity to express my vision of Parkour. Good luck to you and all the traceurs in Mexico !Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-20637454880939729752009-03-09T09:53:00.009+00:002009-05-02T00:19:36.297+01:00Erwan Le Corre's MovnatMy good friend Erwan aka "Hebertiste" on the internet, is just being featured in the current Men's Health magazine in the USA, in a lengthy article regarding his new/ancestral method of training called Movnat (short for "mouvement naturel").<br />Many of you might have discovered it in this video :<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SKGF-ErsJiI&hl=it&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SKGF-ErsJiI&hl=it&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />For those like me unable to catch a copy of the whole article, a short version can be found on the magazine's website <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=motivation&conitem=7d7caa4e23adf110VgnVCM10000013281eac____&page=1">here</a> .<br /><br />Be sure not to miss it as it's absolutely brilliant !Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-67035001471976924552009-02-02T10:39:00.006+00:002009-05-02T00:19:56.647+01:00The woman's way<p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">I recently wrote an article for </span><span style="text-decoration: underline;">www.girlparkour.com</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> about my experience teaching women during the 6 months i spent in London. </span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">In order to share it with as many people as possible, i'm posting it here too.<br /></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">This is it :</span><br /></strong></p><p><strong><br /></strong></p><p><strong><br /></strong></p><p><strong>Parkour has been spreading like the wind to all the corners of the world - in a worryingly uncontrolled way some would say - but bringing together nonetheless more and more practitioners.</strong> Among them, a community has started to emerge, rapidly growing in numbers and talent to the point that it must now be seriously taken into account if mentioning the global community, I speak of course about the female Parkour scene.</p> <p>I've spent several months in London and have taught at nearly every Parkour Generations Women's Jam and Class, thus getting a good idea of what the ladies are up to. I've also trained with very dedicated women from England but also different parts of the world such as Canada, Brasil and other places, and I hope to train with a lot more in the future. In many regards, I found out that my evolution through Parkour has been very similar to that of many women I've encountered : I started out with a huge motivation, but also a great lack of confidence that I had to fight through. I've seen this in beginners as well as more experienced traceuses but I can say from my own experience that self-doubt is no more than a phase in one's progress, with practice and dedication, one's mind becomes clearer. As Antoine de-St Exupery would have put it : "He who confronts himself to the obstacle discovers himself", and who more than Parkour practitioners confront themselves to obstacles? Just in the same way that where there is light there can be no darkness, where there is awareness there can be no doubt, therefore there will be confidence.</p> <p>Absolutely everyone has a potential waiting to be unleashed. Male or female, tall or small, weak or strong, etc... all this is irrelevant. What matters is not where you start from but how far you want to go.</p> <div class="leftimagevert"><p><br /></p></div> <p>I understand that many women still feel ill-at-ease in an environment that was exclusively populated by males just a few years ago, and that although several traceuses have started to show the path by expressing the women's potential through Parkour, the female "way" remains a big mystery: traceuses have bodies built in different ways than those of their male counterparts, therefore they must move differently.</p> <p>Some inspiration could be drawn from the women practicing rock climbing, by adapting to their morphology they've developed their own way of climbing, which is less powerful but extremely technical, and they can now rival with men in what was a seemingly "male-reserved" discipline...</p> <p>It has happened many times while I was climbing in Fontainebleau (a bouldering heaven in France) that I was completely outleveled by women, though I had the big advantage of superior physical power, and I'm not a total beginner in terms of technique either...</p> <p>In the same way, I know that there will be a women's way of doing Parkour and it will be develloped in the upcoming years. It must be very exciting to be a traceuse in this particular time, drawing a path that so many will follow after them!</p> <p>If, based on my observations, I had to list the main things that traceuses have a hard time dealing with (in general of course, these are not universal laws), it would go like this (in no particular order):</p> <ul type="disc"><li> <p><b>They think too much and too rationnally, and forget to trust their sensations.</b></p> As human beings, we have instincts, and Parkour being based on natural human movements, our instincts are perfectly adapted to Parkour training. This is why it is very important to be aware of the sensations that our body gives us, it's the way it communicates and closing our eyes on it would be (with a little bit of exaggeration) like putting our hand in fire and not realizing it's hurting us! This is a subtle notion and is much easier to explain in the field, but to summarize: our body will tell us if it is ready for a particular move or physical exercise by making these moves/exercises "feel" right or wrong. Too much rational thinking at this stage would just blur that signal and could lead to the traceuse hurting herself, or not trying anything at all.</li><li><p><b>They tend to be overwhelmed by their emotions.</b></p> Because of the lack of confidence that i metioned before, many women tend to become very emotional when training Parkour, either when they bail or when they don't manage to overcome a mental barrier. Parkour is bound to be emotional because it makes us face our own fears and weaknesses, it's like this for everyone, from the complete newbie to David Belle or others. Very few people have never shed tears because of Parkour... You could very well stay at home and do something easy and comfortable, but you go outside and deliberately place yourself in challenging situations, it's a very brave thing to do and really not everyone does it, precisely because it is hard. Nothing worth doing is easy, and Parkour, because of the many great things it can bring you, is worth doing. So express your emotions : cry, scream, get angry if you need to, but don't let them conquer you and turn you down, ever... Giving up is never a solution. In the long run, efforts are always rewarded.</li><li><p><b>They have trouble trusting themselves and tend to underestimate their capabilities.</b> </p><p>I've already explained this, but i will never insist enough : all human beings have an enormous potential that unfortunately, most don't use to the fullest. I'm sure it has happened during your training or in other areas of your life, that you found yourself facing an obstacle that seemed so imposing that you thought maybe it wasn't for you, and that you ended up overcoming only to find out it wasn't that bad.</p> <p>Well that's what happens 99.9% of the time, we build our own demons, we mentally transform the obstacles that we face, the limit is one's imagination! But in the end, it is only an illusion, like those fake facades on buildings in old cowboy films that make a rundown tavern look like the Playboy mansion. Very few people make the effort of seeing things as they actually are.</p> <p>So next time you are in such a situation, ask yourself: am I really trying to see what is rather than what my mind wants to see? And am I confronting this obstacle with my most positive state of mind, or have I given up before really trying?</p> <p>If you still can't overcome the difficulty, it's fine, take a step down, go for something easier and work your way up step by step. There is no wrong or right, no win or lose, only feedback. Don't think that because you are a woman, you are less capable than men, not only because it's not true, but also because by doing so, you would be subconsciously building a barrier in your mind to your own progress. Don't set yourself limits, because no one (including you) really knows where they are...</p></li></ul> <div class="rightimagehor"><br /></div> <p>These 3 points are linked to each other, so if you experience one of them, there's a good chance you also experience the other two. And the other way around : solving one is not far from solving all of them!</p> <p>I see some very good spirits and very good energies among the female community which has convinced me since a long time that women can bring to Parkour at least as much as men have. One of my dearest wishes at the moment would be to train a very motivated traceuse on a regular basis, but because of my travelling plans, this is a project that is on standby for now.</p> <p>Though the real point in parkour is not be able to do incredible things, but rather to explore ourself and conquer our demons on the our way to pure inner peace, I hope to see the female scene express itself and shine ever more among the Parkour world.</p> <p>To all the traceuses in the world, I give you my best wishes and hopes!</p> <p><em>© Parkour Generations Ltd.</em></p>Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-79701553849604880012008-11-09T21:22:00.009+00:002009-05-02T00:20:16.445+01:00Night missions<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWyKnk0FAhSYevPUtxsCON4MHvuUJKGUVoezkVKD8cJjCOkro3Z7TDW_DXmZjHe1AoUfz1qL5Xs77BVZdenAxSj-mwW9Im5fZQh6xaLyhus8Jh1vRghwUtupfXlNpWvzbGD5qpL3pWUEgm/s1600-h/IMG_1575.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWyKnk0FAhSYevPUtxsCON4MHvuUJKGUVoezkVKD8cJjCOkro3Z7TDW_DXmZjHe1AoUfz1qL5Xs77BVZdenAxSj-mwW9Im5fZQh6xaLyhus8Jh1vRghwUtupfXlNpWvzbGD5qpL3pWUEgm/s320/IMG_1575.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278300584003382450" border="0" /></a>Since i moved in London, my life has become busier compared to what it was for the past several years. I can't say that i'm buried under endless amounts of work, far from it, but i do have a certain rhythm that i must set myself to. One would say that life can't always be the way we want, but that's the biggest lie lazy people have come up with to avoid facing their deeper aspirations. Life is made of the decisions we take and he who wants to move a mountain has nothing more to do than to move each stone one at a time.<br />Therefore, my life in London is a chosen one, a new direction on the improvised trail i prolong daily. This doesn't mean that it satisfies all of my needs, indeed my desires for outdoor adventure and life on the move have never been so strong !<br /><br />As i find myself waiting to hit the road again as soon as possible, there are a few schemes i have come up with in the meantime to deceive my impulses. One of them is the solo nocturnal parkour adventure, or night mission.<br /><br />Yesterday night i found myself facing the fortress i had been planning on conquering, an old abandoned factory in the vicinity of a busy street. It was in sight of many cctv cameras, but like many others in London, i suspect they are only monitored if a problem is reported. Anyway, i was going around towards a dark stinky alley leading to the first part of the challenge when i noticed 3 police officers standing there, apparently making sure everything was in order. I turned and innocently walked in the opposite direction. But because i was in a hurry to start the mission, and also since i didn't have anything bad to be found guilty of, i came back into their field of vision, sat down, and pretended to write an sms. As expected, they found my behaviour suspicious and came to question me :<br /><br />_ Evenin' sir, what are you doing here ?<br />_ Just wanted to take a leak but thought it wouldn't be wise to do it near you.<br />_ Haha yeah that's an 80 pound fine !<br />I laughed back and explained that i needed to finish the sms i was writing.<br /><br />_ Ok sir, but be careful, there's a lot of bad boys around here, not a great place to stay...<br /><br />Little did they know that one of them was about to climb the building just behind them.<br />As they left, i traced them a bit just to make sure they wouldn't come back, and proceeded to begin the first climb.<br /><br />Along the factory runs a thin yellow gas pipe that strangely is held at about half a meter away from the old brick walls instead of being right against them. I jumped to reach the first section, which climbs vertically to a first small roof, about 5 meters off the ground. Once there, the pipe then turns at a 90 degrees angle and strolls along the wall, over the first seriously scary part, a massive 15 meter drop. At that point, my only safety is the pipe itself, as i must walk along it with my hands against the nearby wall, which offers nothing close to a hand hold in case the pipe breaks under my weight. Before risking my life on it, i jumped on the pipe a few times to make sure it would hold me. It wobbled a lot but seemed strong so i braced myself and walked the scariest 10 meters ever, breathing hesitantly in and out, as if the weight of my full lungs was enough to fracture my life line.<br />With silent calculated moves, i then hanged and traversed across the next portion of the same length, which offered a hold for my feet, and reached a second roof. I could see people in their homes on the opposite side, too busy with their everyday boring house chores to look up and notice me. As i looked back towards where i came from, i realised that the portion of pipe i had walked on had slightly bent under my weight, it wouldn't be safe to use it as an exit route so i had no choice but to continue forward.<br /><br />I monkey-walked across the roof and ended up traversing along the pipe again, but at a reasonable height this time. At this point, i could have continued like this to find a way to safe ground around the next corner of the building, but i spotted two metallic drain pipes running together all the way to the top of the factory, over 30 meters high. I had set myself to reach the top so after a few moments of mentally studying my climb, i commenced my ascent. Though i had two of them that i could use, drain pipes are nothing close to gas pipes when it comes to strength. They are not, by far, built with the same quality standards and they tend to dislocate if not handled properly. As i moved a hand towards the first hold, a loud noise burst out of a tiny sealed window next to me, it was a little squirrel running off through a small hole which had scared me probably as much as i had frightened it. Fair enough i thought, and continued the climb.<br /><br />I soon realise that apart from being wobbly, old, and weak, my drain pipes are also lacking many of the screws linking them to the run-down wall they are seemingly attached to ! I make sure to push myself up along them rather than to pull, as it is precisely a horizontal pull that would risk dislocating them, thus abruptly precipitating me to safer ground at free fall speed.<br />The last section, which is composed of only one pipe not attached to the wall at all, is the trickiest. I think for a second about coming back down, but figure it might not be any safer, so i squeeze my feet around it and stretch out to grab the top of it. That's when a thought comes to my mind : i remember reading about 2 mountain climbers who had fallen off the mountain cliff they were ascending. As they were falling, they passed close to another group of climbers. One of them later said that they had not screamed during their fall, they had silently let gravity pull them down towards their inevitable deaths.<br />I thought about it and looked down at the far away ground, would i remain silent if i was to fall right now ? Imagining myself suddenly plunge down scared me a lot.<br />I've found myself in similar situations many times, feeling death's frozen breath along my spine and promising myself each time : "never again". Far from being a fascination with death, i believe it is a love of life that draws me to do such things, for never do i measure better the essence of life than when i come out safe and sound from one of these moments !<br /><br />I hold my breath and pull carefully on the pipe as one would handle a new born baby, and reach with my hand the top of the wall ! I bring myself up and breathe out with great relief. I know that going down from the other side will not be of any problem, i can finally relax !<br /><br /><br />I explored the factory's silent rooftops -populated with an infinity of pigeons that would fly off all at the same time when i approached- and spent a moment looking at the view over nocturnal London. I even found a way inside the building, but having no more than a keychain flashlight to illuminate my way, i decided not to venture too far into the rusting entrails of my fortress and made my way back down to the relative safety of the busy streets, in the direction of home.<br /><br /><br />I wish to conclude this account by specifying that such missions require for one to have a lot of experience and practice before attempting them. For my part, i have been training Parkour for about 8 years now and still seldom find myself in such heights or on such old and dangerous buildings. It is necessary to be highly attentive and in <strong>perfect</strong> physical condition in order to limit the risks to no more than simple bad luck. So don't do anything stupid...Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-35446561736192840952008-10-20T22:58:00.012+01:002009-05-02T00:20:36.489+01:00Some news perhaps ?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGCubmuvj1lmtdecNAtTUJfgPuTYLcJsJUHFVRlkfne1bzLUWZaZb3YYvOjmTHQCcfFUCcP7JTUmgc8lo9BFgB-ziVJSB8Er8_o8ectPzsCWsFb48rtDRTB_7utOykvqerUeiJ9j2jyyx/s1600-h/080619_049.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGCubmuvj1lmtdecNAtTUJfgPuTYLcJsJUHFVRlkfne1bzLUWZaZb3YYvOjmTHQCcfFUCcP7JTUmgc8lo9BFgB-ziVJSB8Er8_o8ectPzsCWsFb48rtDRTB_7utOykvqerUeiJ9j2jyyx/s200/080619_049.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259360093993994242" border="0" /></a>It's been a while since i gave some news, probably because i didn't know what to speak about (though it's really not like nothing has been going on).<br /><br />After completing a really cool 3 weeks long trip to Italy (photos <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25058458@N02/sets/72157608259815380/">HERE</a>) with Blane and Kiell (another HUGE thanks to all the Italian traceurs who trained and helped us out !), i moved to London and have been living there for a few months, teaching classes with ParkourGenerations.<br />I enjoy this new life a lot, earning a living with my passion is something really great, and helping people discover their hidden potential is so even more...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPLW9mKeNAexpF6_qb7CUUnwrH69k6xYmKbv8conksLJWgxnpeN-5k4MCwzioRY_Zepi5jzN4_h9MbZTKhD_Tz6kyO2Res7hqGuhI-EwzNMeXmlgezHWgm2dyShGc96qfyfZnNSOZXKTB/s1600-h/italy_end_of_trip.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPLW9mKeNAexpF6_qb7CUUnwrH69k6xYmKbv8conksLJWgxnpeN-5k4MCwzioRY_Zepi5jzN4_h9MbZTKhD_Tz6kyO2Res7hqGuhI-EwzNMeXmlgezHWgm2dyShGc96qfyfZnNSOZXKTB/s200/italy_end_of_trip.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259374229737531122" border="0" /></a><br />Although i enjoy each class i teach for different reasons (regular class, advance, and girls'), i must admit i have a slight preference for the girls' class i teach with Tracey (of course you do, which guy wouldn't ? Smart ass...). Before that, i had only trained with less than a handful of (talented) girls (like Silex, Hollie or Liv), nevermind teaching them, and i thought i would have to learn so much about their psychology before being able to teach them anything, but it turns out i find a lot of similarities between their approach to Parkour, and the one i had during my first years as a traceur (same fears, doubts, etc.), which helps me to identify myself to them a great deal.<br />Some of the girls over here are very dedicated and i find that women are nothing close to being weak, they can be in fact damn efficient (I'll always remember how scared, yet impressively focused and determined Lauren was when she climbed with Kaz and i to the top of the Dame du Lac in Lisses) !<br />The female Parkour scene is still making its first steps thanks to the efforts of a few pioneering girls in different areas of the globe, and i'd be very proud if i could be responsible for at least a fraction of its development and the expression of the traceuses' potential, women have not yet shown all that they are capable of.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwRVf74SS2vUwZANdWF-nXMttDMANZd3hy7V-Q9v3bDjS9338m-h09nDhH9zwFOliAqLFAz4en_RZ21UMKUYooujN0-xqkhCnZjqK3d6kbKJGw2R4v4EAfLP0ACiHVsU750b3HZgPzrnB/s1600-h/080619_150.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 115px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwRVf74SS2vUwZANdWF-nXMttDMANZd3hy7V-Q9v3bDjS9338m-h09nDhH9zwFOliAqLFAz4en_RZ21UMKUYooujN0-xqkhCnZjqK3d6kbKJGw2R4v4EAfLP0ACiHVsU750b3HZgPzrnB/s200/080619_150.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259374795033355010" border="0" /></a><br />Apart from that, I'm starting to go over my travel photos nostalgically, which is a good hint that it's time to hit the road again. I've already got a clear idea of what my next trip will be, it will take me back to certain places i haven't seen enough but also to many new ones, and it should be longer and more intense than anything i've done before (though i will not limit myself to cycling this time).<br />For weather reasons, i won't be leaving before the beginning of 2009, which leaves me time to prepare things comfortably, and to enjoy moments with my friends/students.<br /><br />I'd like to add that i still plan on writing Parkour related articles on this blog, but it's just a matter of finding the time at the moment.<br />Thanks for the support and nice comments !Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-56406952457750857852008-08-08T17:46:00.007+01:002009-05-02T00:20:50.953+01:00Babylon AD out soon !<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_HoVSvr1v8omt49FzjTtX9GF8XVvHGB9ks1glTQOOnW60rWAUc7AxBF5snl3dAByv4yo97uGkjSr0ysqdj5shKI8Sp2mQBUU3XuG11OYVeLGgZYPaJkAD6YBv4qUdBYmCV8_brrZNG_Q/s1600-h/babylon_ad_poster_2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_HoVSvr1v8omt49FzjTtX9GF8XVvHGB9ks1glTQOOnW60rWAUc7AxBF5snl3dAByv4yo97uGkjSr0ysqdj5shKI8Sp2mQBUU3XuG11OYVeLGgZYPaJkAD6YBv4qUdBYmCV8_brrZNG_Q/s400/babylon_ad_poster_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232191799524817538" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">EDIT 7th September :</span><br /><br />Just saw the film yesterday, piece of shit, don't watch it...<br /><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />At the end of this month (august), Babylon AD will finally be released. As a reminder, a team of traceurs including me worked on a short scene of this film. The french official website can be found here : www.babylonadmovie.com and has a few nice videos on it (though lamely dubbed in french).<br /><br />I am working in London with Parkourgenerations at the moment, but whenever i'll be back in France, i'll post more of the photos that were taken during the shooting of the film (the others can be found on another topic of this blog).<br /><br />Although our scene is very short, i'm really wondering what it's going to look like and i'm getting very excited. The bits of rushes that i had seen were quite promising but i can't wait to see the final edit in a cinema ! No incredible jumps are to be expected, it's more of a chase type of scene with quick, simple and efficient stuff.<br /><br />Some nice stuff on the official french website : http://www.bad-lefilm.com/Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-71619628769798071332008-05-21T12:09:00.008+01:002008-07-07T23:38:54.460+01:00Operation "PizzaNinjas"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnwfbymYbgo91ZaD-SwtYB8NHOH_PNACYPH_ZUEr9u40tiN11ZM0THpDZCiZnRWjxIIm8HtLPGB88kj4Z7TW7E4d4zrgfK7oVUy60GTJ_3gvM7Stjf9_x_Eb0Ni4AvIVGrQr2uc9I1yRq/s1600-h/italy_flag.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 115px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAnwfbymYbgo91ZaD-SwtYB8NHOH_PNACYPH_ZUEr9u40tiN11ZM0THpDZCiZnRWjxIIm8HtLPGB88kj4Z7TW7E4d4zrgfK7oVUy60GTJ_3gvM7Stjf9_x_Eb0Ni4AvIVGrQr2uc9I1yRq/s200/italy_flag.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202787419819430930" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">EDIT June 22nd :</span></span><br /><br />After 3 great weeks in Italy, the team has made it back safely home. The car, although losing part of a headlight has proved to be worth its reputation of invincibility and offered us many hours of happy travelling in various beautiful landscapes, despite being even slower than planned (barely 90km/h in the best cases).<br /><br />We quickly realised that we wouldn't have time to do all that was planned and had to improvise according to that. Nonetheless, we managed to train in 5 different cities (Torino, Genova, Firenze, Roma, Milano) and we visited a few other places such as the dolomites, enjoying very memorable moments as we went.<br /><br />Kiell will soon publish some great photos of the trip that i will also add to my blog, and we are expecting a video from Blane too, so stick around.<br /><br />A huge thanks to all the traceurs and people who trained with us, hosted us, or helped us in any sort of way, you will always be welcome in our homes.<br /><br />I also wish to apologise to all the people that we couldn't visit. you have been very kind to invite us but we just couldn't make it, but there will be more trips like this and sooner or later we will train together. I'm sorry if we forgot to contact some people that we said we would, but for our defence, the closing of Parkour.net brought a lot of complications as it was the only way we had of contacting certain persons.<br /><br /><br />---------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />At the very end of this month (May), Operation <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">PizzaNinjas</span> will be launched : a commando of 3 traceurs will be assembled in the secret location of Tours, France (47"25'13 N / 0"42'08 E). Their high risk top secret mission will consist on advancing strategically south all across France, over the Alps and through the frontlines of Italy in order to infiltrate their main designated targets (in order : Torino, Genova, Florence, Roma, Napoli and Milano).<br /><br />Their objectives will be as follows :<br /><br />_ Establish contact with local traceurs<br />_ Train their asses off and enjoy their time<br />_ Gather video and photographic intelligence for further analysis<br />_ Still undercover, return safely to their HQ in Tours a.k.a. "Thomas' place", which is also the extraction point for 2 of them.<br /><br />To help them with their task, they will be equipped with leading-edge technology in terms of tactical autopropelled rapid-maneuvering conveying systems, in the form of a brand new ultralight 1976 Citroen 2cv car that will carry them and their gear at the science-defying speed of 110 km/h or 70 mph (given that the road is flat with little to no wind).<br /><br />The three men commando will operate under highly extreme conditions (sunny weather, tasty food, enjoyable scenery, beautiful ladies, etc.). This is why Parkour's finest and most prestigious traceurs have been carefully selected for this mission.<br /> Unfortunately they refused, so the task has been cast upon 3 random guys :<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thomas "des-bois" Couetdic</span><br />Distinctive trait : Occasionally eats frozen food, posesses Bart Simpson socks and wears them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chris "Blane" Rowat</span><br />Distinctive trait : Enjoys wearing a beanie under any weather condition, believes he draws his strength from eating Weetabix.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Andy "Kiell" Day</span><br />Distinctive trait : People on crack find him a ressemblance to Harry Potter.<br /><br /><br />These men do not know the meaning of fear, or of apocatastasis, or of paraskevidekatriaphobia, but we trust they will carry out their orders with great rigor.<br />In the case of a successful outcome, a debriefing will be made and intelligence will be shared on this very top secret and restricted internet page.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-55394004270090900722008-05-11T14:39:00.008+01:002009-05-02T00:21:37.131+01:00Parkour in BrasilI just came back from a 10-days trip in Brasil in order to teach at a workshop. I had a great time and it was a real pleasure to train with some very promising brasilian traceurs. Special thanks to Bruno and Sofia for their kind hospitality, and a double thanks to Bruno for organizing the event.<br />There should be a little video about it later on. For the moment, you can check out <a href="http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=0RmBn_SnffQ&feature=user"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">this one</span> </a> featuring Alli Shelton during his time with the PKMAX guys.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FCRxH0YNhiKGgqqDzkDSH1hh3mViclm8kgH_6i84huS9r0hMjfqDMcqopb5PcwBkmfPrSzSH-L7wP9vjML0UJ0qSwFqhTV3kdFwVMbukJCTvliWHOX89jGPdIh13mTT8y4lqSPpmGDuK/s1600-h/IMG_6614.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FCRxH0YNhiKGgqqDzkDSH1hh3mViclm8kgH_6i84huS9r0hMjfqDMcqopb5PcwBkmfPrSzSH-L7wP9vjML0UJ0qSwFqhTV3kdFwVMbukJCTvliWHOX89jGPdIh13mTT8y4lqSPpmGDuK/s320/IMG_6614.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199153529594663938" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Good luck to the whole Parkour brasilian scene and keep it up !Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-69401824083721925572008-03-25T06:26:00.026+00:002009-05-02T00:21:54.851+01:00Photos of my cycling tripHere are some of the photos of my trip, it's not much as i am not a very good photographer and it really doesn't do justice to the intensity of some of the places i have seen, but at least it will give you a glimpse. There were so many things during this trip that i have not photographed or spoken about, because i couldn't or didn't want to for different reasons so again, these photos will only show a tiny portion of the whole thing.<br />I have added explanations to several of them too.<br /><br /><br />The photos can be found by clicking <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25058458@N02/sets/72157604279271016/">HERE</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here is also a short sum-up thing :<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number of countries visited :</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>6 (Tibet, China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Trip duration :</span> Over 2 months and a half.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total distance :</span> I didn't really count, probably because distances don't mean much, but i'd say over 5000km.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Average daily distance :</span> Again it depends, it was about 70km around Tibet and China and over 150km in Vietnam, Cambodia, etc.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Max distance in one day :</span> Over 170km.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Coldest temperature :</span> Probably under -25°C.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Warmest temperature :</span> About 35°C.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hardest day :</span> In Tibet, reaching a pass at 5008m with a nearly empty stomach, with a shit bike that i had to push over 35km of an exclusively uphill dirt road with a violent wind bullying me around.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Best day :</span> I had several, but none really sticks out of the bunch.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Biggest disappointment :</span> Laos, which i found simply uninteresting in many ways. And also not finding a way, after i had had a problem with my back wheel in Tibet to complete the 100km to the next town on my own. Instead i hitchhiked and i regret it as it didn't happen again later on in the trip.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Greatest surprise : </span>Yunnan (China), very different from what i was expecting and from what many travellers expect too. The people were really nice and helpful, they weren't sneaky bastards trying to make me pay more than the price (unlike in Laos) and the place is absolutely not touristic except for a few towns that i did not go to, a great joy !<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Worse idea :</span> Buying a bike in Tibet instead of bringing my own.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Best idea :</span> Travelling quite light and with no high-tech stuff, made me enjoy the trip a lot more.<br /><br />.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-43076972663197596492007-12-21T17:46:00.014+00:002009-05-02T00:22:33.938+01:00Plans for the new year<p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">EDIT March 20th : Trip completed !<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></span></span></span></span></p>At last, it's a reality, i have passed all the obstacles in my way and completed my trip. I'm in Saigon now, ready to go home !<br /><br />I left, as i had said, on my little boat but it turns out i didn't keep it very long as it was incredibly boring. It's not that i didn't like to navigate on water, but at this point the Mekong river is very wide and big boats pass all the time in all directions and i felt as if i was on a huge highway and going at the speed of a hiker... I could see a little road very close to the river bank and i was very tempted, as it seemed much more enjoyable, so after completing just 1/4th of the distance to Can Tho, i couldn't resist anymore so i stopped in a village and sold my boat to a very nice school teacher. The whole village was interested in seeing this strange foreigner selling a boat and just before i got back on my way we made a big group photo at the end (Vietnamese love to be photographed).<br />On some future trip, i would really like to travel on a small boat.<br /><br />The road was indeed enjoyable and i cycled as far as i could until night time, feeling the proximity of the end of my trip. It would be my last night on the road before i reached Saigon and for that reason i wanted to camp somewhere, but the Mekong delta area is overpopulated and ressembles a neverending village, there's never more than a few meters between 2 houses so i couldn't find a single place and had to stay at a hotel...<br /><br />On the next day, i was determined to reach Saigon in the evening and cycled at least 180km, stopping only in the morning to buy some bread (the only meal of the day) and a few other times throughout the day for some water.<br />Saigon is a crazy city in terms of traffic. It is filled with motorbikes that go as an unchained river through the streets, flowing around any obstacle that comes in it's way. Being on a bicycle in the middle of that is not the funnest thing in the world and i had a few very close calls last night, when i spent 2 hours searching for a hotel at a reasonable price...<br /><br />Vietnam is a nice country, but quite touristic and the people are more money oriented than in other places i've been to (sometimes, some stranger, not even a bum, just comes to me and shows me his empty hand, expecting that i'll put some money in it, for no reason) and i heard it's worse in the north.<br />I did not see so much of Vietnam, but it didn't arouse my interest like Cambodia had. I realise that i'm always expecting to discover places like they must have been not so long ago, before mass tourism kicked in, and of course i'm often disappointed. Many times, i found myself trying to pass as fast as possible through an area or country (especially in Laos) as i would find no interest in it.<br />I think that on future trips, i'll try to stay away from such places and i'll visit more remote ones with sometimes other means than my bicycle. I'd like to venture where there is no road, for a change.<br /><br />I'm happy to be coming home (arriving in Paris on the 22nd of March) because i can get back to my parkour training and projects, but a part of me wants to keep on travelling. If it wasn't for Parkour, i'm quite sure i would have made the trip back home on the bike.<br /><br />I wish to thank will all my heart the many people who have supported me on this trip, i owe a lot to you all...<br /><br />I'll post some photos of the trip when i'll be in France, along with a few comments.<br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:130%;">EDIT March 17th :<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I was looking for a pirogue but i was told that there aren't any around here, they can only be found more in the north, so i searched for a small boat instead. I was helped a lot in my task by the really nice owner of a small bookstore from whom i bought a map of the area. I think he was really interested in my way of travelling, as it is very different from the usual tourists' who go where their travel guides tell them to and never wander away from that "safety" line.<br />He took me to some of his relatives' who live on floating houses, to see with them if they had a boat for sale, but boats are precious tools around here and none of them wanted to get rid of theirs.<br />We continued our search near other floating homes and finally managed to find a boat for 60 US$, which is very cheap for such a boat : it's about 2,5 meters long and has 2 rows on poles that require to be standing up to be operated. This is supposed to make it faster, as the whole body is used in the process instead of just the arms and shoulders. I tried it out for a bit today and after so much distance covered on a bicycle, my first impression was that the boat is slow, VERY slow...<br />I only have 12 days left before my visa expires, so i'll just row as far as i can and wherever i decide to stop, i can try selling the boat for half the price i paid, which should allow me to limit the expense.<br />I have not exchanged my bike for it, as these people live on the river and don't really need a bike, and also because i'm more attached to my bike than i thought and i want to try to bring it home. Whenever i'll stop rowing, i can just finish the trip on the bike.<br /><br />Many older vietnamese speak french around here and one of them impressed me a lot yesterday by having a conversation in french with me. He was speaking very well, but not in an academic way, his french was that of someone who's been around french people for a long while, and some words or expressions he was using were those of old french people. Because of this, he reminded me of my grand parents, so it was a really nice moment for me. I hope i can have more conversations like this before i leave back to France.</span></span></span></p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">EDIT March 15th :<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I left the very touristic Siem Reap for a bit more than 300km of pure boredom on a main road (one of the only ones in Cambodia that is made of asphalt), quite dangerous too as there was a lot of traffic and the least i can say is that Cambodians are not safe drivers : buses pass just centimeters from me at full speed, motorbikes take sudden sharp turns right in front of me, and people often drive on the wrong side of the road... Annoying honking horns joined the party too, putting my nerves to a serious test.<br /><br />I made it safely though to the town of Kompong Thom but on the next day, i decided not to take a detour on a quiet secondary road (as i had planned to do in order to see more of the Cambodian countryside, which i love very much), as the bicycle was showing some signs of weakness. Since Thailand, the part linking the pedals together had started to make strange noises, but it got worse lately as it is now broken and needs to be replaced. However, i could still cycle although i was slower than usual so i decided not to replace the part, knowing that the trip was almost done. I didn't want to take the risk of being stuck on a secondary road, so i stayed on the busy main one and covered the remaining 170km to Phnom Penh in the day.<br /><br />I thought i would have to stay at least a few days here because it is the weekend and the embassy of Vietnam where i need to go to make my visa is closed on those days, but i went there this morning just to see where it was and i spoke to a security guard. He asked me when i needed to get the visa and i said as soon as possible, so he told me to come back 1 hour later, which i did.<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It appears that normally the embassy was closed for tourists but open for travel agencies making the visas for their customers, but they kindly made my visa for me anyway, which gives me the possibility of leaving towards Vietnam tomorrow instead of Monday or Tuesday.<br />I also visited the Tuol Sleng prison camp, turned into a museum about the genocide in Cambodia, and it felt strange to visit those rooms where many cambodians had been brutally tortured and killed, to walk on a floor that had many times been stained with human blood and to see skulls pierced by bullet wounds exposed on a shelf.<br />Some rooms had boards covered with many photos taken by the Khmers Rouges of the people they had tortured and killed.</span><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:courier new;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Among the more or less 17 000 prisonners that went through the S-21 (the name they gave to the prison), only 7 survived.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm leaving the noisy Phnom Penh tomorrow morning. I'll be heading towards a boarder along the Mekong at no more than 100km from here where i hope to be able to pass as this border is usually used by people travelling on boats and my map is not very clear as of whether or not the border point is on the east or west coast of the river.<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">If i cannot pass there, i'll probably turn back and head full south to another boarder, further down.<br />Shortly after, my plan is to trade my bicycle for a pirogue and to go along the Mekong until a point that i have not chosen yet. I don't know if anyone will want to give away his pirogue for my bike, so if it doesn't work, i'll just finish the trip to Saigon on the bicycle.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On long solitary cycling trips, the bike is a friendly companion that shares all the moments of the cyclists, good or bad, and i feel sad about leaving my friend behind if i manage to get a pirogue, but friend or not, my bicycle is damaged and several parts need to be replaced, which would cost more than the bike itself (as a reminder, this bicycle bought in China is a copy of a famous brand equipped with copies of famous parts and probably not designed for such a long and rough trip), so appart from the sentimental aspect, i have no reason to bring it back home with me (i swear i'm not like this with my human friends, whom i would never trade for a pirogue and who can manage their way back home by themselves anyway).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm also sad about leaving Cambodia so soon, without having explored enough of it. It's the first time on this trip that i get such a feeling, so far i've been happy to leave every country : Tibet because it was damn hard, China because i had been there long enough, Laos because i found it uninteresting, and Thailand because i had discovered it already on a previous trip. I know i </span>h<span style="font-family:arial;">ave to come back before it follows the path of it's neighbours and becomes too touristic to be authentic anymore, which will happen soon...<br /><br />Perhaps i'll be able to access the internet in the following days. If not the next update will be in Saigon, just before the trip back home (on a plane, for once) which will take place before the 29th, date of expiry of my visa.<br /><br />------------------------------------------------------</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">EDIT March 11th :<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I went on my way, completing my remaining kilometers in Thailand, and as i was starting to feel a bit bored on yet another too perfect road, i had a flat tire. Until then, i had had only a few flat tires during all my trips and i was starting to tell myself that i was perhaps some sort of holy man, blessed by a mysterious and all powerful entity and hovering through life without the ordinary problems that mortals have, such as flat tires, but 20 seconds after having repaired, the same loud "Pshhhhhhhhhh" could be heard, putting my beliefs to serious doubt. The hole was just over the repaired spot, right against the wheel, not the tire, and i could simply not understand where the problem was coming from. I checked the wheel many times, and the tire, and repaired again, and "Pshhhhhhhhhh" it went once more.<br />Some nice guys who probably had pity for the poor cyclist struggling under the hot sun that i was stopped and offered to give me a lift to the next bicycle shop, some 10km further. I refused, if i had to go anywhere it would be on foot or on my repaired bicycle. Not knowing what more they could do to help, they left.<br />A few minutes later, some other guys stopped and tried to give me a hand. They didn't speak any english and i had no way of telling them that no matter how many times i would repair, i would always end up with a new hole 20 seconds later, so i just let them try to repair and "Pshhhhhhhh" it went.<br />2 of the guys spontaneously took the wheel and tire and inner tube in their car and drove off to the next repair shop while another stayed with me on the side of the road. They came back with the tire and as they passed it to me so that i could mount it on the bike, i realised it was still flat ! The men laughed and so did i, even the repair guy had been fooled by this inner tube from hell.<br />They went back to the shop and this time came back with the repaired tire. I thanked them warmly as they had helped me a great deal, but they refused that i pay anything. Thai people had proven once more to be very generous and helpful.<br /><br />Everything seemed alright, until the next morning, when the loud "Pshhhhhhh" came to interrupt my thoughts... Luckily, i had just arrived in a small town and i went immediately towards the first repair shop i could find. As soon as the owner had pulled out the tube from the tire and seen the many repair attempts, he said i needed a new tube (it had indeed been through some serious cycling over the last few weeks). I pulled one out of my bag and he mounted it for me.<br />This didn't stop the flat tire series and i had another one later on the same tire, but this time it was a piece of broken glass who was responsible and i repaired it easily.<br /><br />As expected, right after i passed the border point into Cambodia, the roads became dirt ones making me feel like i had gone back in time, especially because the ones in Thailand were all in excellent condition. Before reaching Cambodia, i had told myself that i would cross it as quick as possible, because i was simply getting tired of cycling every day and i wanted to go home, but there is something about Cambodia that i cannot define which triggered a new wave of motivation into me. I fell in love with those little dirt roads that seem to come out of an Indiana Jones movie, going through mine infested forests (as long as i stay on the road i'm perfectly safe) and over cool old style metal bridges, and sending brownish red dirt behind me as i pass, making me look cool. I would only find small villages on my way and it reminded me a lot of Tibet, without the mountains and the cold of course.<br />I'm already planning to come back as soon as possible, before the country's economy becomes stronger and they decide to pour asphalt all over the place, like in Thailand, so that the buses can come and go even faster with their groups of tourists... The fat-ass comfort-seeking tourists always get what they want...<br /><br />Unfortunately, i had to leave my great dirt roads and follow a bigger one (dirt road too, but not as nice because it was a main road) as it was the only one that would take me to the Angkor temples.<br />I rushed as fast as i could in order to reach Banteay Srei (a small temple a bit North of Angkor Park) before the night. I arrived as the sun was setting, and the guard who had evacuated all the tourists a little while before accepted to let me in alone for a little while, after seeing me all sweaty and tired in front of the entrance (he didn't know, however, that i didn't have a pass to visit the temples).<br />On the way out, i asked if i could set my hammock somewhere in the area, as it was too late to reach Siem Reap (the town very close to Angkor temples). He looked at me in shock as if i had asked to do something that would ultimately bring total chaos and destroy the entire universe :<br />_"Tourists sleep in Siem Reap, not here, impossible"<br />_"But i can't cycle to there, it's dark now, and i'm not even asking to sleep in the temple"<br />_"Impossible, tourists cannot stay here, no hotel, no sleep, i go speak to my boss"<br /><br />His boss was the chief of the local police station and he didn't look like a fun guy. He told me the same thing about it being impossible to sleep around here, so i just went on and had dinner a few meters further. As i was paying, the chief came to find me and invited me to set my hammock in a small hut in his yard. We spoke a little bit and i told him about my cycling trip. He became much friendlier and invited me to wash myself at the well and to join him for a second dinner. I think he was just worried about people being around the temple at night, he was just doing his job as well as he could. I figure he prefered to have me where he could keep an eye on me.<br />He was living with his wife and daughter, and mother who spoke a bit of french (like many of the elder cambodian people). I had a very nice evening and a good night.<br /><br />In the morning, as i had just said goodbye, i realised my front tire was flat...<br /><br />After repair, i set off towards Angkor temples and started the visit. Normally i was supposed to buy a pass in Siem Reap for 20$ in order to be allowed to visit the temples during one day, but i didn't feel like going to Siem Reap and coming back, since it was in the South of Angkor and i was coming from the North, so i just went passed some of the temples without going through the gates, and when i was thinking that one of them was looking interesting, i would sneak in through a breach in the ancient walls, or simply pass nonchalantly through the gate when the guards were distracted by something, if they had seen me and said something, i would just have acted stupid and said i didn't know about any pass. The fact that i was coming from the North helped me a lot, because most tourists come from the South, where the airport is and where all the buses go to, so all the checkpoints and such are located in the South, and no one really questions himself about the one strange guy coming from the North.<br />I have to say that i wasn't against paying, as i know Cambodia is a poor country and they can really do with the foreigners' dollars, and i had decided that i would leave 20$ in one of the "help the temples" box at the end of the day, to pay my debt, but unfortunately, i never found one in Angkor Wat, the last temple i visited, so i'll have to find another way to make up for it.<br />The park is huge and i haven't seen everything, but i saw the most famous temples, and especially the one i came for in the first place, Bayon temple, where 160 sculpted faces cover the walls. I don't know why but i'm crazy about those faces.<br />I had another flat tire and i replaced the inner tube with the other new one i was carrying. Now i'm riding with 2 new inner tubes and i hope i'll be able to cover the last few hundred kilometers to Vietnam without too much trouble...<br /><br />I'm now in Siem Reap and i'm taking my time. Maybe i'll stay tomorrow to rest. I'm also thinking about making a detour along another of my beloved little dirt roads in order to see other temples, but since i'll be coming back to Cambodia later, i don't know yet what i'll do tomorrow and in the following days.<br />Phnom Penh is less than 3 days away (a bit over 300km) if i take the short route and then Vietnam is just a hop away. Saigon, my final destination is very close to the border too.</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">---------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br /></p><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">EDIT March 6th :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I've already covered in 1 day and a half more than 200km to Lopburi, along a big flat road (quite boring actually). I've seen some monkeys but not as many as i had expected. Most of them are just hanging out on the ruins of old temples in the center of the town.<br />Thai people are really great, a guy who spoke to me for a while in thai although he could see i couldn't understand a word decided to pay my meal this morning. I've also tested out last night the hammock i just bought, just to be sure that it won't brake if i sleep high up in a tree (which i intend to do). I've seen a few (big) snakes sunbathing on the roads of Thailand and it reminds me that i'm not anywhere near the harmless nature of Europe. I'll have to be careful in Cambodia if i don't want to be bitten by a much more vicious predator : the landmine. They are remains of the war and can be found just centimeters away from the roads so i'll avoid venturing into the wilderness...<br /><br />Cambodia is now just a few days away. Once there, i'll go straight towards Angkor temples.<br />It is not a very big country, and although most of the roads are dirt ones, i should be out of it quite quickly. The part in Vietnam will also be quite short and i'll try to finish on a pirogue.<br />I can see the end of the tunnel now, i'm almost done with my trip !<br />The next internet point should be in Siem Reap, after Angkor.<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:0;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">EDIT March 4th :<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></span></span></span></span>The resting times are over, i've spent much more time in Chiang Mai than i had expected, and all the time i had things to do which gives me the impression of not having rested that much, but i know i will feel a big change physically when i get back on the bicycle. Today i'm taking a train to Phitsanulok instead of cycling there, since i've already covered the distance on the other way and my timing is quite tight.<br /><br />From there, i plan to go south towards Lopburi, a town invaded by monkeys near Bangkok, and after that i'll head east in the direction of Cambodia.<br /><br />Although i've been busy all the time, Chiang Mai was really enjoyable. I spent some time with my friend Alila, and the very friendly couple i had met on the road (Nat and Pattra), and i made new friends too in the guesthouse where i was staying. My bag is now lighter than ever and the roads ahead are flat, so i think it's going to be all good !<br />Yesterday i had a conversation with a guy who was following a meditation course, and he was saying that meditation teaches you patience, you learn to stay calm even when you are bothered by noises, or people, or anything else... I realised that cycling on long trips had some similarities with that. After such a long while on my bike and simply because i had no other choice, i've come to accept most of the difficulties a cyclist has to face : bad roads and uphill ones, cold temperatures, mosquitoes at night, the rain, the wind, looking on a map and seeing that the next big town is days away, etc.<br />Very often when i was cycling i told myself that the physical condition had almost no importance, it was all about patience. That doesn't mean i can now travel in any conditions without being bothered by any difficulty, but with no doubt i can accept them better.<br /><br />Thanks again to everyone for the support !<br /><br />----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br />EDIT February 29th :</span></span><br /><br /></p><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" >I just put my photos on CD for backup in case my memory card brakes so i figured i would post a couple of them on the blog just to illustrate it a bit.<br />One was at 5008m in Tibet (the hardest day of my trip), and the other was in Sukhothai a few days ago. I won't tell you which one is which so you'll have to guess...</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAVW0F6SispazqDtpZotzQ105uuHilVf3UuiKxvUdT1b39BxX5QS6M6k7dEYJLOacQgj1uT6okLNjYTJkwi9Xvw8Ht_thLzSb1hcL_tCeU_pKHdUOPWo4DXqKSEF41bBkXXBlsmmM4Mr4/s1600-h/1.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172316295488252050" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAVW0F6SispazqDtpZotzQ105uuHilVf3UuiKxvUdT1b39BxX5QS6M6k7dEYJLOacQgj1uT6okLNjYTJkwi9Xvw8Ht_thLzSb1hcL_tCeU_pKHdUOPWo4DXqKSEF41bBkXXBlsmmM4Mr4/s200/1.JPG" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittYMOke0O2o9ZBDGFxM082jQ325Y-yw-OSWcEHpZKZTyMAPIlrG-YBCaSUQCcj9UfyQnSPanM7meSWji81QFuaGcb9OAXPqE07wgiQXYOL93sGTRtoKn0PVP8yLdranTec5hV5ENkCS-s/s1600-h/2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172316746459818146" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittYMOke0O2o9ZBDGFxM082jQ325Y-yw-OSWcEHpZKZTyMAPIlrG-YBCaSUQCcj9UfyQnSPanM7meSWji81QFuaGcb9OAXPqE07wgiQXYOL93sGTRtoKn0PVP8yLdranTec5hV5ENkCS-s/s200/2.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span><br />EDIT February 26th :</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" ></span><br /></span><br />Early in the morning i left from Vientiane and covered the 20km seperating the town from the thai border with a beautiful rising sun at my side. The formalities were taken care of quite quickly. I then went passed the many tourists waiting for their buses, and rode over the friendship bridge over the Mekong, seperating Laos from Thailand. At the thai border, a friendly officer stamped my passport at the place i asked him to in order to save some pages for the following trips (they're really not all that nice) and i enter Thailand under a sun almost as bright as the smiles of the thai people.<br /><br />I got on my way on a small road along the Mekong river and rediscovered what roads are all about ! Thailand is very develloped for a South-East asian country, and the roads are of very good quality, even the very small secondary ones. So far i've covered several hundreds of kilometers here and the only few and short parts of dirt road i had were actually like this because the old asphalt road had been destroyed and workers were busy making a brand new one. The signboards are, almost all the time, translated into english, making the navigation easier. In China, almost everything was written in chinese so in order to find my way, i would memorise the chinese words by trying to see them as drawings (which they are, initially). So for example, i would be following, for a few hundred kilometers, "garbage bin almost full + little house with a pointy hat on top", and i would know i would be on the right way. It was not long before i came across a Seven/Eleven, the 8th wonder of the world ! For those who don't know what they are, i'll put it simple : imagin a small shop where you can buy all the basic things you need (food, drinks, tootbrushes, shoelaces, maps, etc), open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a cash machine next to it, and located almost everywhere... It's nothing less than a traveller's paradise !<br /><br />After 2 days, i decided i didn't feel like cycling all the way to Chiang Mai, since it was absolutely not on my way, it was far, and it had always been optional in my trip, so i went towards the town of Phitsanulok where i would be able to take a train over the last hundred kilometers. I arrived there late and was told at the station that the next train was only on the following morning, so i stayed in a hotel for the night and showed up at 7AM the next day, only to discover that because i had a bike, i had to wait until 8:40PM to take the express train, the only one i was allowed to put my bike in... I stayed there at the counter for a bit, not really knowing what to do, and then just hopped back on my bike and left towards Chiang Mai, i would cycle to it after all.<br /><br />Since i had been adding hundreds of unnecessary kilometers to my trip during the last few days, i figured that a few dozens more wouldn't hurt too much so i made the detour to the ancient town of Sukhothai. The ruins reminded me a lot of the film Kickboxer with J.C. Van Damme and perhaps that this is where some scenes were actually shot. The place was packed with tourists, but it still was quite peaceful, making it enjoyable. Although i didn't stay very long, this little stop did a lot of good to me because by then, i had become obsessed with Chiang Mai for it was the place where several weeks earlier, i had decided to rest, so it was like i was programmed to reach it as soon as possible and i was cycling longer and harder than ever on my trip, covering an average of 140km every day, eating only one or two (big) meals, sleeping wherever i would be when the night came (in front of a temple, in a little hut in the middle of a field or on a highway service area). I was a bit bothered by the mosquitoes during the night, because i didn't have a tent or anything close to that, but i really enjoyed those moments in direct contact with the nature. Sometimes i could hear animals hunting in the forest and unusual birds singing in strange ways. Cycling, stopping, sleeping, getting up, cycling, etc. That was my rythme during the last several days, and before noon on the 24th, i was proud to enter Chiang Mai on my bicycle. My legs were really tired and my knees were becoming painful, so it was really about time to get some rest. It felt funny to reach a place that i had visited before, several months ago on my first trip to Thailand. It felt a little bit like coming home, but without the depressing aspect of it. I found my good friend Alila who recognised me very quickly, although my hair had grown a lot and my skin was very tanned and dirty. I also hooked up with some people i met on the way, a french guy and his thai wife (who speaks perfect french) who are travelling by car. I had first seen them just after passing into Thailand, and later on saw them again as they had by coincidence stopped in the same small town as me, so we had chatted a bit and they had helped me out by giving me a copy of their map. A few days later, they passed me on the road again and gave me a nice fresh beer. They told me they had decided to stop a bit in Chiang Mai so that's how we settled to meet up there when i would reach it.<br /><br />I've been resting for a bit, and buying things i need for the rest of the trip. I drink many banana shakes and eat the greatest meals. I'll stay a few more days i think before getting back on the road, as i'm not in a real hurry to leave from Thailand.<br />The next big destinaton will be the temples of Angkor, in Cambodia and i'm really looking forward to it. There's one little thing i want to do there that has been in my mind for a long while, but i'll speak about it later, i just hope i can manage to do it.<br /><br />----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >EDIT February 18th :<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I just arrived this morning in Vientiane, capital of Laos and tomorrow i'll cross the friendship bridge leading me into my beloved Thailand.<br />Unfortunately, i was very disappointed by Laos... I said earlier that the people in Laos were very welcoming but this is only true with villagers. Just like in China or Tibet, the children often run after me, laughing all the way, when i pass by them on my bike and people say hello or wave with a big smile on their face, but i've found most of the shopkeepers or restaurant owners to be very dishonest, and they don't smile much either.<br />Prices are very high in Laos, compared to countries like Thailand or China, but still they try to rip me off all the time by asking sometimes as much as 3 times the real price ! Bargaining may be a normal thing in Asia, but this is different. Here, if you bargain or threaten to leave without buying anything, they look at you as if they were thinking "damn tourist, i couldn't get away with it this time...". It never ends with big smiles and everyone happy like in Thailand for example. This makes me feel uncomfortable to the point where i just don't buy anything else than what is strictly necessary, as i hate to be seen as a wandering cash-machine.<br /><br />Laos is becoming more and more touristic and i think that some people have started to understand that many tourists are quite wealthy, so they try to shake the money tree to get a hold of as much as they can, but i think that at the end, it will do a lot of harm to them when tourists will start passing the word, especially because Laos does not have anything that nearby countries don't have either (no monuments as incredible as in Cambodia, no scenery as good as in Thailand, etc.).<br />Perhaps a few years ago, it could be a good destination for one to refresh his mind, away from the busy touristic machine that Thailand is, but now i really don't see what qualities it has left : if i want to feel transported far away, i'll go back to Yunnan where nothing was adapted to me as a foreigner, and if i want the many comforts of a touristic place, i'll just go to Thailand. Laos is in between these 2 types of places and doesn't really fit anywhere, too touristic to really be "pure", and not enough to be really comfortable.<br />If you add to that the fact that the food is not so good then you'll understand why i'm impatient to start cycling in Thailand.<br /><br />Of course it's not all bad and i'm sure that if i had left the main Luang Prabang - Vientiane axis, i would have probably found some really enjoyable remote places, but tourism is slowly creeping all over the country and i don't know how long these places will keep their authenticity.<br />I did have some good moments, like yesterday night when i spoke over an hour with a very nice and smart young Lao girl who was working in the family shop (yeah she was one of the few cool shopkeepers i met on my way) and who told me the real prices of things, or 2 nights ago when i was invited by some villagers to dinner and to stay for the night, but these good moments couldn't change the fact that i felt like i was escaping towards Thailand instead of cycling through Laos.<br /><br />I'm happy though that when i was in Luang Prabang (the first touristic town since the beginning of my trip, what a shock !) i managed to find the house where my grand parents were living a long time ago, when they were fighting for the independence of Laos. There is still a little bit of french influence in Laos, especially here in Vientiane where i can buy french bread and see a few Citroen 2cv cars, just like the one i have at home !<br /><br />Yesterday, i met Gael and Elena, 2 really nice cyclists that had been traveling for a very long time and still had a long distance ahead of them. They were on a big trip around Eurasia and Gael, who was french, spoke to me highly about some countries often wrongfully considered as dodgy and that i've been really wanting to discover, like Pakistan. I asked him what he thought about Laos and he simply answered "nothing exceptional so far..." and agreed with me about the high exagerated prices.<br /><br />Tomorrow i'll be off towards Chiang Mai, about 500km to the North-West. I'll follow the Mekong upstream on the Thai side and will cross one of my last difficult mountain passes. After a few days of rest in Chiang Mai i'll head again in the right direction towards Cambodia and South-Vietnam, my final destination. I could actually do it from here, which would be much quicker, but back in Tibet, Chiang Mai was seen as my promised land, with all the good food, massages and warm temperatures i could dream of, and although i'm traveling in good conditions here, i still want to fulfill this old fantasy.<br /><br />There's so much more to talk about, but i want to go for a walk now, bye bye everyone, and many sunny thoughts to all !<br /><br />-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br /><br />EDIT February 12th : Leg 1 (Tibet + China) COMPLETED !!!<br /><br /></span>Yep, i'm in Laos since this morning ! How<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" > </span>good it feels to be in a new country ! The town from where i posted the last message was not Mengla like i thought, i later realised that all the signs along the highway were wrong and the distances indicated were completely contradictory. Anyhow, i got back on my nice little unfinished highway, and reached some really unfinished parts. I passed over bridges with holes everywhere and no barriers, and through long silent pitch black creepy tunnels. My progress was still fine until i entered THE tunnel... It was 1km long and the first 500 meters were not worse than in other tunnels, but the workers were still digging the next 500. They were cool and let me pass through when i told them that i could carry my bike if needed, but i never imagined it would be like that. At this point, it was basically a hole in the mountain, with no cement or asphalt, and nothing to prevent the tunnel from collapsing. Water was dripping from everywhere like rain and the ground was a deep mud swamp. The general humidity level was as high as in the jungles of Brasil ! The lighting was not the best either, with only a few spotlights every here and there. I had to climb over construction materials and pipes and rocks, or pull my feet and bicycle out of the mud at every step. I even came accross a sort of bulldozer busy digging the mountain, that stopped working for a moment so that i could pass. I can't believe the workers let me pass through this place, it would NEVER happen in France ! They were just smiling and saying hello, and i was having the time of my life, the place reminded me of the mine chase scene in Indiana Jones and the temple of doom, it was really cool !<br /><br />Not long after that, as i was back on the highway, i met 2 cyclists who were going in the opposite direction, a chinese and an american. We had a chat, they were just on a weekend trip to the border with Laos, so they knew about the road that was ahead of them, since they had passed on it on their way towards the border. As we were speaking, Loren (the american) looked down at my muddy feet and said : "oh, you've been through THE tunnel too ?". He pointed to his feet and i could see dried mud on his shoes, which made us both laugh. These 2 guys were really nice, and after chatting some more about roads and trips and countries, we exchanged emails and went on our way.<br />2 hours later, i passed Mengla (the town i thought i had stayed in the previous night) and stopped 20km further in a village, searching for a place to sleep. I was invited by some people and spent a good night with a little puppy all cuddled up against me.<br /><br />This morning, i reached the border point where some very serious chinese officers checked my passport and finally let me pass through. I then entered into Laos, and not 5 minutes later, i bumped into another cyclist, from Belgium this time. He had been travelling for 3 years in south east asia ! We spoke for a long while and exchanged many tips about the countries we had visited. I gave him some firecrackers, for the dogs, and he told me all about the nice roads and the uninteresting ones, he seemed to have cycled them all ! He convinced me to keep on going South in Laos, instead of turning right away towards Thailand. I have to say i was feeling a bit sad about making one step into Laos and the next out of it, without seeing anything.<br />So when 20km later, i reached the point where i should have turned towards Thailand, i just went straight towards Luang Prabang, which is at more or less 2 days from where i am now. Now that i'm out of China, all the places seem so close to each other, and even with this change of plans, i'll be out of Laos quite soon ! I'll still go to Chiang Mai in Thailand, so this will cost me a few more days of cycling since it forces me to go back North-West for a bit instead of directly going South-East, but i really think it's worth it.<br /><br />Laos is really cool so far, and the people are extremely welcoming.<br />However, i've seen several foreigners and many things are written in english for the tourists, and it's going to get worse as i go towards Thailand, so i hope it won't bother me too much, after a month without seeing a single foreigner and having to guess what was written in chinese everywhere, i was getting used to being in places that do nothing to make things easy to understand for foreigners. I'm so happy to be on good roads, with no big uphill riding that takes ages to pass. I have a big smile on my face when i start the day, and it's still there when i close my eyes to sleep. The trip is now a great pleasure and really seems so easy compared to the parts in Tibet and North Yunnan.<br /><br />I can't wait to be tomorrow and to discover more about this beautiful country !<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br /><br />EDIT February 10th :</span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass">Not long after leaving the last town, my road became another dirt road, which was really not expected, and this one was a tough one because it was paved with stones, which might be good for cars, but for a bike it's a real nightmare, and i had over 150km of it ! Around 3:30 PM, i was VERY surprised to cross the path of another foreigner in this remote area, the first in a month ! He was on a motorbike with a chinese girl and it turned out he was a french guy ! We spoke for a little while, his name was Olivier and the girl was his wife. Together they were visiting her family for a few days, because of the chinese new year. He very nicely invited me for some food and even to stay over for the night, but i told him i wanted to get rid of this bad road so i prefered to move on. He insisted a few times but i refused again and thanked him, so he went his way and i went mine.</div><div class="ExternalClass">After a few minutes, i started to regret my choice, i realised that if i travel like i do, it's not because i want to reach a destination, it's because i want to meet people, to see places, and to experience things. And also, the thoughts of the tasty pork and potatoes that he spoke to me about were starting to haunt me...</div><div class="ExternalClass">However, he gave me a second chance as he met up with me further on the road to insist one more time. This time i accepted and i followed him on a secondary road to a very small village. I met the very nice family and had a great meal ! I tried to demonstrate some Parkour, but after one month of cycling, i was in no shape for it so i couldn't show a lot, yet the grandfather seemed impressed after i wallran up to a roof, so it wasn't all bad.</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">I went to bed early, but everyone started celebrating the new year (in China it lasts a few days, not just one night like in many countries) by lighting up firecrackers and fireworks, so i got up and joined the fun, it was a very nice evening.</div><div class="ExternalClass">After a good breakfast the next morning and many thank yous to everyone, i went back on my way and the road was worse than ever : going up and down all day long (and still a bad paved dirt road of course). I told myself that it was just a bad day that would soon be over and not long before the night, it became a good road again. I stopped in a small village to ask if there was a place for me to sleep, but there wasn't. However, the people invited me for dinner and we all sat down together and ate in the chinese manner : everyone gets a bole of rice and then helps himself with the many dishes on the table. For the first time (at least i think it was the first time) i tasted dog meat and it wasn't bad. After having been chased by a million dogs since the beginning of my trip, i was not unhappy to eat one of those bastards (i also tested my firecrackers against them and it works great !).</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">I then cycled in the night the 15km left until the next town and on the way, i could admire the stars covering the entire sky and shining with great intensity. One of these nights, i'll have to lay down somewhere and just look at them for a while, far from the sounds of engines and busy towns, with just wildlife noises in my ears.</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">My good road did not last long and became a dirt road again but it didn't matter that much, since i was still making some good enough progress, and people on the way were giving me things to drink and eat. I had to refuse some as it would have made my bag too heavy, and when i tried to give some spare stuff to people, they would always give me something else in exchange, a nightmare of generosity ! </div><div class="ExternalClass">I also had several thumbs up from people passing by on motorbikes or in cars and buses. Chinese people seem to have a lot of respect for what i do, and it wasn't like this in Tibet, but there is a reason for it : </div><div class="ExternalClass">In Tibet, some people, in order to prove their bouddhist faith, travel by foot all the way to Lhassa and at every single step, they get down on their knees and touch the ground with their forehead. At this pace, some take over a year to reach Lhassa. I've crossed the path of some of these people, and i think about them a lot when i feel i'm making slow progress, it's always possible to be slower...</div><div class="ExternalClass">I stopped for lunch and was invited by an english speaking woman (who was actually an English teacher) and her family to eat with them. The woman had travelled quite a lot and spent nearly one year in London. We chatted for a while about trips and our respective countries, and she told me that in about 20km, the road was good again, great ! She added that they were making a brand new road that would replace the dirt road and that would be finished in about a year, great... </div><div class="ExternalClass">I went back on my way and little by little, everything around me changed : the people and their clothes, the houses, the plants and trees, the mountains... a completely different environnement. Everything looks more like Laos or Thailand, and not much like China. </div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">Today, the road was really good and i managed to do about 150km. I arrived in the city of Jinghong in the beginning of the afternoon, where i had planned to take the rest of the day off in order to rest my tired wrists after the long bad road, but every time i stop, even for legitimate reasons like eating or sleeping, i hear this little voice inside of me saying : "you're stopping, you're not moving anymore, it's not good, if you don't move you don't make progress..." and i always feel guilty, especially if i stop at 1:30PM like today... So i negociated with myself in order to find a compromise and thought about continuing until the next town, 15km from there. To my greatest relief, myself accepted the deal and so i (we ?) went on.</div><div class="ExternalClass">A few kilometers later, i met 2 girls from Denmark who had just started in Jinghong a bicycle trip that would lead them to Kunming, over 500km further. We rode together for a few kilometers, chatting on the way and then exchanged emails and took pictures before going in our respective directions.</div><div class="ExternalClass">I was now in the town where i was supposed to stop, but there wasn't any cheap hotel so i had to keep on going, i had been tricked by myself !! I also realised that my map was not very accurate at this point and i had gone the wrong way, so i had to climb back up a big hill for a few kilometers before reaching a brand new road. At this point, i was supposed to be at 90km from the town where i am now, but the new road miraculously turned this distance into 40km ! I soon realised the road was a highway not yet finished. A few months later and i would not have been allowed to cycle on it, forcing me to take the shit road for 90km. </div><div class="ExternalClass">I rushed as fast as possible and managed to reach Mengla before the night. I only have less than 150km to the border of Laos so tomorrow or the day after, that's where i'll be ! It should then be a quick trip to Thailand, and i'm very impatient to start cycling in new countries !!!</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >EDIT February 6th :</span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:0;"></span></span>Well what can i say ? By now, the trip is becoming quite an ordinary bicycle trip, now that the big difficulties are out of the way, and i must say that i'm making VERY quick progress : yesterday and today, i did over 100km, and probably more than 130km. With such great travelling conditions (good bike, good road, good weather), i get up before the sun, and i don't stop before it gets dark, and i am happy to say that i am now only a few days away from Laos ! I've decided to push further, all the way to south Vietnam. It shouldn't take too long i think, because the countries i'll be going through (Laos, Thailand, Cambodia) will not represent very long distances compared to what i've done here in China. I will only be a few days in Laos, as i'm heading straight for Chiang Mai in Thailand were i'll meet up for a few days with my friend Alila that i met on my first trip there a few months ago.</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">Tonight, i arrived in the town of Shuanjiang as the sun was laying it's final rays on the mountains and rice cultures all around me, it was a beautiful sight. Before that, i had enjoyed the peaceful moment when the light is such that it seems to turn everything into gold. It's this very special time of the day when every creature, every plant, every mountain, every stone seem to quiet down as the evening sets in. Farmers leave their fields, herders bring their animals in for the night. The atmosphere fills me with serenity as i count the kilometers i've conquered, and reflect about the events, people, or places that have filled my day. With no doubt, these few minutes are my favourite !</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">However, tonight is not as peaceful as usual, it's the chinese New Year ! I've been hearing firecrackers all day long, and it was nothing compared to right now (9:30 pm). Fireworks have joined the party too. If anyone has been disappointed by the way 2008 started out for them, here's a good opportunity to start all over !</div><div class="ExternalClass">I've bought a few firecrackers, not for celebrating, but because i've been having some trouble with dogs in Yunnan that often chase after me as i pass near them and that i sometimes have to kick away if i don't want to be bitten. Now i'm armed with my firecrackers and i wait impatiently for the next canine bastard who'll cross my path...</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">I'm also starting to deal with mosquitoes, but they are of the friendly type (slow and easy to kill), nothing like the jedi mosquitoes of the amazonian jungle, that seem to predict your intentions and fly off at the speed of light just as you're about to make a move. </div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >EDIT February 4th :</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:0;"></span></span>Well, i'm back on the road again, but with a new bicycle this time, and i am truely rediscovering what cycling is all about ! The new bike is faster, lighter, it doesn't have hard gear handles that need to be switched with 2 hands, it has 2 brakes that both work, it has a back wheel that stays perfectly straight under my weight, it's silent (so i can hear the noises, as i cycle of the nature or of the farmers working in their fields), and it doesn't have all these friction points in different parts that were slowing me down considerably. I feel like i'm hovering smoothly over the road, and today i covered over 90km easily (although i had 18km straight of uphill road) whereas i had the hardest time doing 70km with Stan. I just hope it'll last over the many days that remain ahead. I'm thinking of calling him Mugen, like a character in Samurai Champloo, a japanese anime. Mugen is an unpredictable samurai who fights in a very aggressive way and is dressed in red (the color of my new bike). I need an aggressive bike, ready to conquer any kind of road, and there's also written "warrior" on the bike so the name fits very well.<br /><br />I gave Stan to a chinese guy who helped me with several things, including buying the new bike and sending some stuff home.<br />Now that i'm in much warmer areas, i could get rid of some gear for the cold and i feel great with a lighter bag. There aren't any snowy mountains around me anymore, just very green hills covered with beautiful terrass fields and people in tshirt or short sleeve shirts and straw hats. The weather is fantastic and so is the road, so i really think i'll be going fast in the following days, finally !<br /><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:130%;">EDIT February 2nd :<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I'll start by saying something that i forgot to mention in my previous post : after Deqen i finally reached the point where i could use the map i still have so i'm not going blindfolded anymore, and it's a true relief !<br />Almost one month already that i've started this trip, i'm completely losing track of time, to the point where i really have to make an effort to remember where i was and what happened a few days ago...<br /><br />After leaving from the small village where i last posted some news, the road (though still a dirt road) became easier to ride and by the end of the day, i was out of it and had done a small distance along my beloved asphalt road. On the way, my front brake lever broke off and since the back brake was out of service, i unmounted the back brake lever and turned it upside down to use it as a front brake lever. The weather was ok but i still hadn't seen a blue sky since a long time and i was missing it. I stopped for the night in a small hotel next to a bridge that made me cross the Mekong for the first time since i left Deqen.<br />There, i made friends with the owner's very young daughter that kept on following me everywhere and speaking to me in chinese. I couldn't understand a word so i just answered in french, which made her laugh a lot. Together we made some water balloons that we threw in the street.<br /><br />The following day was a very rainy day, but with the rising temperatures, it didn't bother me that much, and the road was good so it was not a bad day, until the road turned into 2 roads, both going to my destination but the first one was a dirt road, and the other one was an asphalt one, but longer and going through a pass in the mountain. Since it was raining, i figured the first one would be a mud hell, so i went for the second and besides, the pass, on the map, was no further than 10km so it didn't seem so bad. On the way up i had a flat tire but i couldn't find the hole, so i just switched the inner tube with the new replacement one that i had.<br />I didn't have time to reach the pass before the night and i was invited for the night by a man and his wife and when i left the next morning, they were still asleep so i couldn't say "thank you" and "goodbye".<br /><br />Now as i said, the pass was to be reached after 10km of uphill cycling, except that in reality, it was 25km, and the road was covered in the thickest snow i've had so far (it's strange that the more i go down in altitude, the more snow i get !) making my progress extremely slow and difficult.<br />I stopped at the only house in the area to ask the people to fill my bottle of water, which they did just before inviting me to join them for lunch, which i happily did since i hadn't had a breakfast.<br />After passing a few cars stuck in the snow, i made it to the top in the beginning of the afternoon and enjoyed 10km of downhill pleasure (yes, on this side it was 10km, what a rip off !).<br />The scenery had now changed considerably since Tibet. I was now entering an area covered in vegetation : banana trees, huge bamboos, all kinds of funny looking plants and even cactus ! I was also rewarded for my efforts by 30km of a nice flat easy road, the first since i started my trip. It must have been a dangerous road, as over a portion of about 15 meters, i saw a truck that had fallen on the river bank, a completely wrecked bus, and a police car with a wheel trapped in a ditch.<br />In the village where i stayed for the night, i stopped a barber shop to get my beard shaved and what a bad idea ! I have quite a stiff beard and when i shave it, i always need a lot of shaving cream and plenty of care, but the girl who shaved it for me used none of these, and with the finesse of a lumberjack, she just moved her razorblade all around my face until i was half dead in the chair... I'll think about it twice next time i need to shave and perhaps i'll go home with the longest beard i've ever had...<br />Just after that, 2 little girls came to me and in a very basic english, asked me tons of questions :<br />_Where you from, what you do here ?<br />_France, i'm travelling on my bicycle.<br />_Oooohhh !<br />_I started in Tibet.<br />_Oooooohhhhhhhh !!<br />_I'm going to Laos.<br />_Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhh !!!<br /><br />They even followed me to my hotel to get my home address and write to me but they had a very hard time reading it !<br /><br />The next morning (today), i realised i was very close to Baoshan and figured i would be there in the afternoon, but after 20km, i had a flat tire, so i stopped and repaired, but as i was inflating, the valve of the inner tube popped out (damn chinese junk). I was very angry that so close to Baoshan, i had yet another problem, as if Stan couldn't make a little effort... I mounted the old tube i had, the one with the unfindable hole and inflated it. Of course, after five minutes it was flat again so i pushed the bike to the next village, 6km further, where an old man brought out his toolbox and helped me to repair, under the fascinated eyes of a dozen children. Together we finally found the microscopic hole and i gave him a few yuans for the help. He invited me to eat something, but i kindly refused, i had some road ahead of me.<br />I ended up again along a bad muddy dirt road before reaching a better one that took me to Baoshan. It's the biggest place i've been to in weeks and it feels funny, i see people in mobile phone or electronic equipement shops and with my dirty clothes, my bandana on my head and my mind full of adventure memories, i feel so far from this world. I still haven't seen a foreigner since Yushu, a few weeks ago.<br />I found a nice bike shop but tomorrow, a guy will take me to another one. I'll buy a new bike and give Stan to someone, i'm not sad about it at all as he's been giving me a great deal of trouble, and besides, he's in a horrible state from wheels to brake lever and he couldn't have gone much further.<br />He was a brave shit bike, but i still have a long way to go and i need some more reliable stuff.<br /><br />The road from now on will often pass over mountains so i hope it won't slow me down too much. I'm quite happy to see on my map that i've done quite a lot of progress lately and in about 2 weeks from now, i shouldn't be very far from Laos.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></span>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /><br />EDIT January 29th :</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><br />There's been a slight change of plans : as i was leaving from my hotel in Deqen, i was advised not to take the road to Zhongdian, as i was told that the pass was innaccessible because of heavy snowing. I then studied my map and decided to follow the road going along the Mekong, the one i had previously decided to avoid because it doesn't go through any town, only villages, and i was worried not to be able to repair my bicycle in case of problem. But since Stan was doing ok, i felt i could take the chance.<br />At noon, i left from Deqen and after a few curves and ups and downs of the road, i started losing some altitude and hooked up with my old pal the Mekong, and all three of us (the Mekong, Stan, and me of course) started going full South on a good quality road.<br />They day went well, although i had to be careful for falling stones which is very common around here. At some point, some men even had to blow up a big rock that was blocking the road and although the first explosion (which echoed all over the mountains for a few seconds) wasn't enough, it didn't bother me as i picked up my bike and walked over the pile of blasted rocks and continued on my way. I covered about 85km before stopping for the night.<br /><br />However, the next day was very different, it was one of those days when you'd want to pull the covers back over your face and sleep until the next day... I woke up with the feeling that i hadn't slept all night (although i had slept quite well), it was snowing outside and i had an empty stomach (my last meal was on the previous morning)...<br />What started as a shit day continued as a shit day. With the temperatures rising over zero, the snow became rain and it rained all day, soaking me to the bone, and i didn't have a real meal before the end of the day.<br />I managed to cover 65km on that day which i presently see as a miracle. I stopped a bit before the night and slept in a cheap hotel (like all the hotels i sleep in) with some of my wet clothes in order to dry them during the night (i only have one set of clothes, in order to travel light).<br />At this point, i'd like to say a word about hotels. Since i started, none of the hotels i stayed in had any heating, and since the windows are always very thin, it's nearly inside the same temperature as outside. They are mostly not equipped with a shower or even a sink which is vey annoying when it comes to washing myself or brushing my teeth (before Deqen, my last shower was in Chamdo, where i bought my bike !). And the toilet is usually just a whole in the ground where people come and go next to you as you take a shit. However, adapting to this is really the least of my problems, compared to the cycling.<br /><br />The following day was much better, the sky was still grey and i even had some rain every now and then but nothing dramatic and i used this chance to make as much progress as possible, and by the end of the day, i had done about 100km. When the good asphalt road turned into a dirt road, just half an hour before i stopped for the night, i thought that it would be for just a hundred meters or so, like it had been several times before, but i was informed later on by a girl speaking a bit of english, in a small village, that it would be like this for the next 80km...Here we go again...<br />I was invited into a small house, just out of this same village by a man and his wife. They gave me some simple but healthy food and i went to bed in a room on the side. It was a strange wooden house as it seemed unfinished since one of my walls was half open to the outside and the door that also lead outside was built in such a way that it could only stay open. However, the temperatures here were much warmer than in my polar tibetan mountains, and i spent a great night on a bed made of boards and straw.<br /><br />This morning i went back on my way only to discover that the road, which had been more or less flat, suddenly started going high up, and with the raining that had been going on, it was nothing more that a muddy trail that i had to push my bike through. I did something between 30 and 40km today but they were intense as this road is the worse i've had so far. I arrived in a village that very surprisingly has an internet connection, and tomorrow i'll be back on my way, hoping to have good weather and to soon reach a road in better condition.<br />In a few days, i should reach Baoshan (at about the same latitude as Dali), a big city where i can hope to equip my bike with better materials for the long way that still lies ahead.<br />The people of Yunnan are very nice and helpful but sometimes they show absolutely no expression whatsoever when i smile or say hello to them, as if they were shocked to see a foreigner in such untouristic areas. I'm also very happy that when they look at me, i don't see "$" in their eyes, and they never try to rip me off. As an example, when in Deqen, i had found some Snickers in a shop which are a great snack for the cycling, i paid them a price that was a bit expensive but since they were hard to find, i figured it was ok and i then asked directions to a bigger shop, 200 meters further down the street. Once there, i was surprised to see the owner of the first shop come to me and hand me some money, he had made a mistake and had asked me too much money for the Snickers. I thanked him for his honnesty, as he could have said nothing and kept the money.<br /><br />I'm off to get some rest for the night, and a good chinese dinner (much better than the tibetan meats that look like roadkills...). I hope to have tonight one of these funny dreams i've been having lately : yesterday i dreamed i was strangling a chicken that would never die, and a few nights before, i was dancing on stage with Michael Jackson to some freaky music !<br /><br />Good night everyone !<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><br /><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br />EDIT january 25th :<br /><br /></span>"When you reach the top of a mountain, keep on climbing" Tibetan saying.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the road i left on was a dirt road in very bad condition, which forced me to go very slowly. However it was slightly going downhill which was of some help until late in the afternoon, when it started going steeply uphill towards a pass. It wasn't long before it became covered in thick snow, forcing me to slowly push the bicycle to the pass (it's not like i wasn't used to this by now). As i didn't have time to reach the pass before dark, i camped in a building that seemed to be there exactly for people like me, who didn't have time to reach the pass before night time. There, i witnessed a beautiful thing : as i was looking at the horizon, i saw a huge red moon slowly coming out from behind the mountains in the distance just like the sun in the morning, it was truely a beautiful sight, and although i took several pictures, i feel that none of them will do justice to what i saw. The sunset was not bad either, although i could only partly see it from where i was. For some reason, it made me want to fly, in a plane or with some other device. One day i think i'll give it a try.<br /><br /><br />I spent quite a cold night, with very little sleep, and i was very happy when the new day started, as i could get back on my way.<br /><br />I reached the pass before noon, and after taking a look at the beautiful snow covered summits all around me, i started my way down on the other side. I was still on a dirt road but now i was going down, so i wasn't going to argue. The view was great, as i could see many small villages on two mountains facing eachother, with the Mekong racing wildly in between them. I finally reached the very well decorated town of Yanjing (the last one before Yunnan !) where i unfortunately didn't manage to find an internet connection. However, i was for the first time since a few weeks under 3000m of altitude and the temperatures were much nicer. On the next day, i continued towards the next town on my dirt road.<br /><br />By then i had made my peace with the difficult conditions. I was going very slowly (on my lowest gear the whole time) but it didn't matter anymore. If the road went uphill, then i would go uphill, and that was it. I wasn't hoping for anything, so i couldn't be disappointed. And anyway, it couldn't be really worse...<br />Actually it could, and it did become worse. Since the temperatures had risen, the snow became rain, and the dirt of the road gradually turned into mud covered with ponds. I was lucky it was a light rain, and the mud, although it slowed me down a little more, wasn't deep enough for my wheels to sink into it. After a little while, i became comfortable with the situation and started singing and whistling as i went, like i do when everything's fine.<br />When i reached the small village with a police checkpoint limiting the access to Tibet, the guard in the station was quite surprised to see me come out of Tibet, but now that i was in Yunnan, the problem had solved itself, so after a few seconds of just standing there looking at me pass by, he calmly went back to his chair. As i kept on cycling through the village, i could see some people tiptoeing across the street, around the ponds and over the mud while i road nonchalantly directly through them, whistling as i went, what a pleasure !<br /><br />I later passed a military checkpoint this time, but the guard couldn't care less about my presence in Tibet, and he even showed a big smile and a friendly "nihao" (hello) as he opened the gate for me.<br />It was starting to get dark and i thought about sleeping in a mine i passed in front of, but i saw a village a bit higher and i decided to check it out. As i was pushing my bike along the small path leading to it, i noticed an old woman and a young girl walking together. I went to them and said hello, with my sweetest smile, and asked if there was a place to stay for the night. The old woman immediately smiled back and said yes and invited me to follow her. I thought that it was funny that even in such small villages, they could have hotels, but little did i know that i was not going to be a customer but a guest, and as i type these lines, i am still very impressed that some people can welcome a complete stranger into their home without a second of hesitation. Imagin if some very dirty, bearded chinese guy came to your place and asked for a place to stay, would you smile to him and invite him in ? I know i wouldn't !<br /><br />Two funny girls, that seemed to have come out of a cartoon, took care of me. They prepared a simple meal with eggs and rice (exactly what i would have asked for if questioned) which was deicious. Although i only spoke a few words in chinese, and they only spoke a bit of english, we managed to have a conversation, with the help of a lot of sign language. They were always smiling and laughing and moving in funny ways, and they made my evening truely delightful. We then went to watch a show on tv that must have been very funny as the whole family was laughing all the time, and i then went to bed in a room i shared with a little mouse that was busy chewing on something all night long.<br />I woke up with the sun and proceeded to wash my face and brush my teeth with the family, in front of the house, with my eyes set on the snowy summits right in front of me, still in their nightrobe of fog... What a perfect and refreshing way to start a day !<br /><br />The 2 girls had to go to Deqen (where i was headed) and offered a lift but i kindly refused, and after thanking them as warmly as i could, i left.<br />After a few kilometers, the road went up, towards what i hope to be my last high pass. I was happily surprised to find out, after half of the way, that the road turned back to an asphalt one, and i was amazed how smooth and nice it felt, after nearly 200km of a chaotic dirt road. I have to say that Stan (i won't call him "Super" anymore) did really well with his new back wheel, and although he hasn't lost his habit of moaning all the time, he didn't cause me any problem, which i am very satisfied about.<br />Along this good road, and although i was climbing for hours as slow as a turtle towards the pass, i was having a good time, reflecting about tons of things. The previous challenges had made this one look easy and, with a lot of patience but without any problem, i reached the top. By then, i could see i was in a more touristic place, as the pass had nothing to do with the others i had seen. Here, not only could i see the traditional prayer flags, but there were also lodges, restaurants, shops, and tourists of course (all chinese) that looked at me in a strange way as i passed in front of them on my squeaking bike. I didn't stay there and soon reached Deqen where i am now.<br /><br />Tomorrow, i'll get back on my way. Since i lost my maps, i don't really know what's ahead, but i think there is a town called Zongdhian 200km from here, we'll see about that. Now that i'm out of Tibet, the conditions are gradually becoming better, and cycling is turning again into a pleasure. I think that from now on, i'll be making quicker progress, at least i hope so !<br />More news when i reach the next town, whenever that is...<br /><br /><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br />EDIT january 21st :<br /><br /></span>About 5km after i left Zogang, the road became a dirt road and started going uphill towards the 5008m pass. Very soon, i felt i couldn't ride the bike anymore and started pushing it. After a few hours, i was travelling on a snow and sometimes ice covered road, surrounded by beautiful high mountains. My progress was extremely slow, so i just stopped thinking about distances and time and switched my mind to autopilot : i'd reach the pass, sooner or later. The more i climbed, the more the altitude affected me, i was constantly out of breath, dizzy and sleepy, but i could not stop to rest too much as i absolutely had to reach the pass before night time (no one lives so high, except wild yaks, so i could not count on some warm shelter if i didn't make it).<br /><br />My watch is equiped with an altimeter, and i could see the progress made, however, it was not set accurately so i could not really tell when i would reach the 5008m and as the watch indicated 5000m, i could still not see the pass, just the road ahead going higher and higher, as far as the eye could see. With the exhaustion (i only had a noodle soup and a few sweets in my stomach), i was starting to become really impatient, where was this damn pass ?</div><div class="ExternalClass">As i got closer to the top, the wind became stronger and stronger and i often had to bend over my bike, tuck in my head, get a firm grip in the ground and stand still if i didn't want to be blown away. Sometimes, i didn't have time and i would painfully receive dirt and snow at full speed into my face. On one occasion, i had the wind in my back and thought it might be a smart idea to sit on my bike and use the strong wind to push me up the road, but it wasn't... After just a few seconds, a very strong burst sent me flying out of the road before i could attempt anything, but luckily for me, it wasn't very high in this area, or the consequences could have been dramatic. I stayed on the ground for a moment, with my bike over me, just to check that everything was alright, then i got up, spit out the dirt from my mouth and returned to my pushing. In the fall, i had ripped open the plastic cover for my maps, at the front of my bike, and i realised much later that i had dropped my only bottle of water, but because of the cold, it was frozen solid, so i couldn't have drunk it anyway.<br /><br />It was getting late, and i was worried that i would'nt get to the pass in time, but about 1 hour before dusk, i finally reached it, to my greatest relief. The view over the nearby snowy summits was fantastic. I quickly took a few pictures and started the way down towards some shelter for the night. I was still on a bumpy dirt road that prevented me from going as fast as i would have liked to, and SuperStan was suffering a lot and moaning louder than usual. After a while, i realised with great horror that both of my maps had disappeared, they had fallen off after i had left the pass. I emmediately stopped, dropped my bag and bike on the spot and walked back up the road looking for them, but the pass was now quite far and the night was coming at great speed. I figured that with the strong wind up there, they could by now be in Mexico, so i turned around and returned to my bag and bicycle. I was very angry at myself for losing them like this, especially because as i left the pass, i told myself i should be careful not to lose my maps, with the torn plastic cover...</div><div class="ExternalClass">I reached an abandonned house, and as i could not see anything better in the distance, i decided to camp there.I found a small room with a closable door and a partly sealed window, which i sealed a little more with the junk i found. I put on all the clothes i had with me, including my rain gear, layed down on the wooden floor in my sleeping bag and prepared for a cold night over 4700m. As i was about to fall asleep, a man and his son came along and decided to use the place for the same reason as i. They were surprised to find a foreigner sleeping there but because of the cold, they didn't want to waste time and just went back to their business. Tucked in my little nest, i fell asleep like a baby.<br /><br />In the morning, i continued my way down the mountain, but SuperStan's back wheel broke, and although i spent an hour attempting to repair it, it didn't change anything... I was forced to hitchhike again to the next town... I was picked up by the truck of a friendly tibetan and his wife and very young daughter. They put me in the back with my stuff as there was no more room at the front. So there i was, bouncing around in the back of this truck on this bumpy road that turned out to be the most beautiful i've seen during this trip. Again, i was very sad not to be able to ride my bike on this road, as i felt i had deserved it after so many efforts... It was not fair that a stupid mechanical problem had taken this reward away from me. I was very angry at SuperStan. "Super" my ass...<br /><br />The road took us along a very narrow high mountain road, over incredibly steep cliffs dominating a lagoonish green wild river, 200 meters below. The mountains were sometimes brown or red or green and the shadows of the small clouds in the bright blue sky covered them with moving tattoos. Every turn of the road offered a new show : sometimes a small village surrounded with green terrass gardens, at other moments an isolated little house or a lonely stupa on the edge of a cliff. I couldn't take pictures as i was holding tight in order not to be tossed all over, so i filled my mind as much as i could with these beautiful sights.</div><div class="ExternalClass">I arrived in Markam in the evening and had my bike repaired. Tomorrow, i'll be back on my way, hopefully on a good road, as i don't think SuperStan can deal with a dirt road again. </div><div class="ExternalClass">I'm following the same road to Yunnan (for which i have the maps) but i'm not sure about distances or locations of towns, so i feel like i'm going blindfolded now, and it's hard to find maps here.<br /><br />We'll see.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br />EDIT january 19th :<br /></span><br />My original plan was to follow the Mekong river as close as possible from it's source and through Tibet and Yunnan, and perhaps more. However, after carefully studying my maps this afternoon, i noticed that the road i intended to take at some point and that follows the Mekong very closely goes through very isolated areas for hundreds of kilometers. As i don't feel safe with the bicycle i have, to follow such a road, i decided to take another one that's parallel to it and that goes through some towns where i can get my bike repaired if i need and where i can most probably find an internet connection to give some news. The Mekong will still be some sort of guideline for me to follow more or less, but i've abandonned the idea to stay close to it at all costs. This will allow me to visit, among others, the town of Dali that seems really interesting.<br /><br />I really miss my good bike that i left in France, which is so reliable and comfortable, compared to this chinese peace of crap that's falling appart as i travel with it and that hurts my back and my ass. Tomorrow should be interesting, with a pass at 5000m. But after that, the road will start to go down more and more to bring me to more comfortable altitudes. I will not be done with the mountains though, as Yunnan is covered with them.<br /><br />-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br />EDIT january 18th :<br /><br /></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">What a ride ! I left from Chamdo in the morning with the best bike i could find (this doesn't mean it's a good bike as you will see by reading on...) and the first kilometers were good, great weather and all, but the road soon started to go uphill and reached a pass at 3465m which was a friendly introduction to what was ahead. On the way, i broke a pedal just by standing on it but i could still go on since there was a metal bar left for me to put my foot on.<br /><br />I stopped for the night in a village and went in circles, hoping to get invited somewhere. Suddenly, a dozen of kids circled me on the road and pulled me in what seemed to be a school. Many people were already inside and i was greeted like the star of a show (i must say that since i arrived in Xining, i have not seen more than 1 foreigner, so for the locals, it must be an event.). They seemed to have some kind of party going on, and i was given food and alcohol, and people were talking to me on all sides, i didn't know where to look. I was then invited to dance to a traditional music, which i did so as not to offend them. By then i was quite sure i would be invited to stay over for the night, but suddenly, some kids led me outside to some sort of hotel and left me there. The whole thing took place in no more than 15 minutes and i was a bit confused, i felt like i had just been through a tornado. One kid did pull out of nowhere a pedal to replace the one i had broken, which was a cool thing.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass">I went to bed in my cold lonely room, i would need all the energy i could get for the next day... </div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">That day was simply the hardest cycling day i've ever been through : the road i was on, which was following the Mekong river suddenly decided to go high in the mountains, forcing me to do 40km exclusively of uphill cycling that lead me to a pass at 4572m. As i was getting close to the pass, the altitude combined with the intense physical effort forced me to push the bike to the top. I was so happy to see the little bouddhist prayer flags that always mark a pass in Tibet, floating in the wind, as the sun was setting. I went on, looking for a place to sleep and found a few isolated houses. Close by, a man and his children were gathering their yaks for the night and i came to them. I asked if there was a place to stay around here, hoping that he would invite me to his home, since there was nothing else around, but he made a move with his hand that i identified as meaning "go fuck off in this direction", so i did... I know these people don't owe me anything, but i don't ask for a lot, just a small space in a sheltered place for me to rest my tired body. And given the cold of the nights at this altitude and time of year, i think he could have shown a little more compassion. I went on and considered sleeping in some sort of small water evacuation tunnel under the road, but the night was not quite there yet so i did a few extra kilometers and as it was getting really dark, i found some sort of abandonned stone and dirt cabin that would do the trick. I was a bit cold during the night but not worse than some nights i've been through, so it was ok. The bike had again some problems, now it was the whole pedal rack that was getting loose, and i was afraid it would end up falling appart, putting me to a stop.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">As i realised on the next day, i had reached a high tibetan plateau, which meant that i was going to ride on more or less flat ground, between 4000 and 4500m, which was a nice reward after the harsh conditions of the previous day. I was, however, feeling really tired and didn't feel fit to push myself physically. My legs felt like they had been emptied of all their strength and i had trouble breathing deeply. I stopped in a very small village to eat something, which gave me a lot of energy, since i'm still often on an empty stomach, and as the sun was high and bright in the blue tibetan sky, i went on to conquer some new kilometers. By that time, SuperStan (the name of my bicycle, because that's what's pretentiously written on it) was continuing to fall appart. This time the spokes were getting loose and the back wheel was dramatically starting to bend under my weight and that of my bag. It's on a limping bicycle that i entered the village of Bamda, where it didn't take a long time to find several helping hands to fix the problems. I slept in a hotel close by, hoping that SuperStan would hold until the next small town of Zogang, where i could hope to repair him properly.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">So today, i went on my way and was soon confronted with one of the worst ennemies of a cyclist : the wind. It is so frustrating to find yourself struggling to move on a flat road, where you should normally be making easy kilometers. The wind has this power to steal away all of one's motivation, blow after blow, and it was quite challenging to deal with it. At least, when you ride uphill, you can see the difficulty in front of you, but the wind is invisible, and he bullies you until he decides he had enough, and you waste your strength litterally fighting against air. In those moments, you can only be patient and hope it'll soon be better. But today, he blew nearly all day long in my face...<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">These conditions demand a lot of motivation, and i often feel like i can't take it anymore, i want to drop my bike in the middle of the road and say : "The hell with this, i've had enough", i swear at the wind, i lose my temper, but there are 2 things that i try to keep in mind in order to keep on going :<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass">_Every meter that i conquer will never have to be conquered again.</div><div class="ExternalClass">_One day, i'll be out of those mountains, with their harsh travelling conditions, it's just a matter of time, i must hold tight.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">It's just when i reached a village that was not on my map that the wind decided to go mind his business and left me alone. As i was leaving this village i saw a roadsign indicating a distance of 65km to Zogang. I was not expecting to reach this town today, but seeing this sign did something to me. It was about 2:30 pm, i put on my special adventure cap (the one that Mike Horn gave me when i met him in Switzerland) and flipped on the "I-must-be-in-Zogang-tonight" switch on the back of my neck and went on as fast as i could.</div><div class="ExternalClass">Now 65 km may not seem like a lot, and compared to the 213km i managed to do in one day on my way to Italy, it even sounds rediculous, but in these intense conditions, it was a real challenge and i took it.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass">The wind came back after a couple hours, as he didn't want to miss the fun but i wouldn't let him stop me, i would be in Zogang tonight no matter what. SuperStan was in a bad state, moaning from all parts and threatening to fall to pieces. I prayed the tibetan gods to protect him until Zogang and, motivated by the countless smiles and Tashi Dele (hello) of the great tibetan people, we finally reached Zogang in the night, exhausted and covered in dirt after a total of 100km for that day. Tomorrow, if i can, i'll take the day off in order to repair SuperStan and to recover from these very hard 4 days of cycling.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">But there is one detail i forgot to mention : i do not have a travel permit to allow me to be in Tibet, which means that i am travelling illegaly. I passed many police cars and none bothered to stop and ask me questions, but tonight, as i was checking in at a hotel, the chinese asshole owner took me directly to the police where i was questioned. I acted friendly and played stupid and said no one told me anything when i entered Tibet (which was true) and that i didn't know about any travel permit (which wasn't true). I added that i was headed for Yunnan and it seemed to work, the police let me go. I just hope not to have any other problems of this kind until i reach Yunnan (where i will be a legal traveller again).<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">I'd like to add that i'm having some technical problems with the updating of this blog, so sorry if everything is not all neat as it should be, i don't really have time to sort these things out.</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">I'm also sorry i wrote so much today, and i didn't even say half of all that happened to me or went through my mind. This part of my trip in Tibet is a very hard one and i'm happy to have made it so far with a bad bicycle and difficult travelling conditions. I think a lot about my friends, my family, myself. I often wonder why i put myself in these situations : i'm cold, i'm dirty, i'm tired, although i could be enjoying the comfort of my sweet home... I don't really have an answer. Sometimes i feel like a child who has put on a suit too big for him, i don't really know if i should be here doing this, but in moments like now, when i reach a goal, when i win my challenge, i feel like i grow a little bit into this suit. I realise one thing in these hard moments i'm going through : all the people who support me or send me positive energy in any way play a very big role in this trip, you are with me when i ride, when i rest, when i smile and when i'm sad, you are with me on this trip, each and everyone of you. Thank you !<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br />EDIT january 14th :<br /><br /></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass">I left on foot from Nangqen and after about an hour, i was kindly picked up in a 4x4 without even asking for it. I was dropped off at the horsepath and walked a few hours along it until a tibetan came along on his motorcycle. I explained by hand signs (i only know a few words in tibetan) that i was going to Chamdo, and he agreed to take me with him. He had a strange look in his eyes and it worried me a bit, but i told myself there was no reason not to trust him.<br /></div><div class="ExternalClass">We drove several hours in a no man's land consisting of valleys, mountains and frozen rivers until we reached a very small village in the middle of nowhere, shortly before dark. Although the scenery was great, it was a rough ride and i was happy to end it after these long hours on very bad roads (whenever we were actually on roads).<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">I soon found out i had been cunned, as we were nowhere near Chamdo. The tibetan lead me in a house made of wood and dirt, where i met the people who seemed to be his family. They wanted me to pay a lot of money to take me to Chamdo. I felt ill at ease, as the whole family seemed to be in the cun. I at first offered a little amount of money, but he wanted a lot more. I was angry and emptied my pockets full of old tissues and candy wrappings, to show i didn't have money for this (I in fact was carrying some money, but it was to be used for travelling purposes, not for paying lying bastards). I noticed a picture of the Dalai Lama in the small room and thought that these people should be ashamed to call themselves bouddists. If i could only speak tibetan, i would have said a lot at that moment...<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">The tibetan was looking at me like someone who is in control, he knew i had no other choice, as i didn't have a clue about where i was.</div><div class="ExternalClass">I decided not to play his game and got up, took my stuff, and left, full of anger, but satisfied not to be anybody's fool. I wouldn't give him anything, he seemed confused.</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">The night was about to set in and after passing by another house and saying hello to the people, one of them came to me on his motorcycle and invited me to the house. I spent the night there and in the morning, i reached a small road that was to take me to Chamdo (I had no idea about the distance). During the whole day, i walked or hitchhiked and i finally reached Chamdo in the evening, i hadn't spent any money since Nangqen, for this long ride that could've cost me a lot, and even now i still don't know where the hell i was during the last 24 hours.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass">I had time to take a walk in Chamdo, the biggest town in East Tibet, and found what seems to be an acceptable bike for the next part of my trip. </div><div class="ExternalClass">I'm happy, as i don't know what i would've done if i hadn't found a proper bicycle.</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">Tomorrow morning i should at last be starting the cycling.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br />EDIT january 12th :<br /><br /></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass">I am in Nangqen. Things did not go exactly as planned : i left from Yushu at noon, after losing time on stuff, and very quickly i realised that it was going to be difficult. The road was ok, either flat or slightly uphill, but the poor quality of the bike (and the fact that it had only one gear) combined with the high altitude (over 4000m) and the weight of my bag (a bit over 10kg) forced me to push the bike rather than ride it. Another factor of difficulty was my bad health condition : since i arrived in China, i've been feeling sick. I keep on throwing up almost every meal i'm having, blood is sometimes coming out of my nose and i have diarreah, and i have to say that local food is not there to help. This didn't bother me that much until i started cycling, i realised how tired my body was.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">After about 30km of pushing my bike in these difficult conditions i decided i didn't feel like going all the way to Nangqen like this, so when a tibetan offered to carry me and the bike on his motorcycle, i accepted, thus moving 10km forward. I then stopped for the night and was invited in a herder's little dirt house.</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">This morning, i figured i was capable of walking all the way to Nangqen, but that i didn't feel like it as it would be a bit boring just to follow the road for over 100km, so i hitchhiked. Since no one could take me with my bike, i decided to let go of the useless piece of shit (really not a great loss)and i managed to get a ride in a 4x4 to Nangqen. The road was simply one of the most beautiful i've ever seen, and i regreted so much not to have a proper bicycle that i nearly wanted to cry. We road through incredible snow covered cliffs and narrow canyons and all that time i was thinking how it would have been great to cycle there.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">Now i still have to reach Chamdo before i can hope to get a good bike, so i think i'll hitchhike to the horsepath i talked about earlier, and i'll walk along it until i reach another road where i should be able to get a lift to Chamdo.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">By then, i hope that i'll have managed to get some strength back as i'm going every day on a nearly empty stomach, which as everyone can imagin is not the best thing for physical activities in subzero temperatures.</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">Thanks for the support im getting through this blog or emails, it's really making a difference.<br /><br /></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass">------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br />EDIT january 10th :</span></div><p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:0;"></span></span>No Mekong source after all... I arrived in Dzato (a very small town close to the source) after a rough bus ride through beautiful wild scenery, and got in contact with a man who could guide me to the source. Unfortunately, he was asking for a lot of money and although he seemed very experienced and turned out to be a very nice man, i wasn't even sure he wanted to take me to the real source. From all the accounts i've studied, the source is only accessible by horse but this man was claiming that it could be reached by 4x4. From what i understood, it is very difficult to access it in the winter and maybe that's why he felt it might be better to take me to a closer secondary source. </p><p>I did not want to waste money without being sure to reach the real source, and anyway, considering the time of the year, and my lack of experience, i wouldn't have been able to treck from it until the nearest village like i intended to in the first place (unless i had paid big money to be accompanied by a professional guide, which is beyond my financial possibilities).</p><p>My cycling will <span style="font-size:0;"></span>start from here (Yushu) tomorrow morning. This starting point is quite far from the source and in all honesty, i could have at least taken my bike to Dzato in order to start from a closer point, but as i said earlier, the bike is proper shit (just 1 gear, weak materials, bent wheels, nearly unexistant brakes... etc.) and i fear that it wouldn't take the 800km to Chamdo (where i hope to find a better bicycle). By starting from Yushu, it reduces the distance to 500 or 600km, which is a little bit better. Because of this, i have a feeling of having cheated and i'm not really proud of myself, but if the bike brakes on the way, i don't want to waste time walking such long distances. I still have a long way to go and i want to get moving. From this point however, i'll do my best not to cheat by using motorised vehicles or skipping planned checkpoints.</p><p>The way to Chamdo is a nice neat road, but i intend to take a shortcut along a horsepath where i should cross the way of tibetan nomad herders. This path is also closer to the Mekong river than the normal road thus making it a better choice.</p><p>Before that, i should reach a town called Nangqen where i might be able to give some news.</p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >EDIT january 7th :</span><br /><br />I am now in Jyekundo (aka Yushu). I took a bus from Xining and travelled the 800km in the night. The bus was full of very nice tibetans and it was a nice ride but a bit exhausting because of the altitude of the roads (over 4500m at some points) and the cold (the windows were covered with frost from the inside !!). On the way, we past a bus that had fallen on the side of the road, but i don't know if anyone was injured.<br />I arrived in Yushu (3700m) with a big headache but i'm now feeling much better and it's a good thing, because tomorrow i'm heading to the source of the Mekong river (5200m), i hope my body will take it well.<br /><br />Tibetans are very friendly people, always smiling and willing to communicate. I regret very much not to have brought a conversation dictionnary in order to chat with them... It's interesting to be in this town, Yushu is a very small town surrounded by mountains, and is filled with tibetans in traditional outfits. The aren't many foreigners who come here, and people look at me with a lot of curiosity.<br />I'm lucky to have met a very nice english-speaking tibetan (one of the only english-speaking persons in the entire town) who has helped me out with numerous things, including finding a guide for the source of the Mekong.<br />The trip should take 5 days, first by car, and then on horses when we'll run out of road. The weather is particularly warm considering the time of the year, but we are still expecting some temperatures between -20C to -30C.<br /><br />After that, i'll be on my way towards Tibet on what has to be the crappiest bicycle i ever sat my ass on. I hope it'll take the 500 or 600 km to Chamdo, where i can buy a better one.<br /><br />More news when i get back here in Yushu, on the 12th or 13th.<br /><br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ></span></div><div class="ExternalClass"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >EDIT january 4th :</span><br /><br />I've arrived in Chengdu after 2 flights, and tomorrow i'll have a final flight to Xining. The weather here is very warm considering the time of the year, but i'm not in the mountains yet so it's going to get a bit chilly in the following days, as i get closer to the Himalayas.<br /><br />Here's my plan (roughly) : I intend to take a bus from Xining to Jyekundo and from there, i'll give myself a few days to find a guide who can take me to the source of the Mekong river (5200m). It's in a very isolated area and without even a gps or a camping stove, and considering the time of the year, i don't want to take the risk of going there alone and getting lost.<br />If after a few days, i still haven't found a guide, i'll buy a bike and start heading south towards Tibet, hoping that i'll manage to dodge the military checkpoints and enter without a proper travel permit.<br /><br />Just walking around in the streets of Chengdu and feeling the atmosphere has boosted my motivation. Finally this trip is becoming a reality, and it smells good, i can't wait to taste it !<br /><br />I should be able to find an internet spot in Jyekundo so i'll post some news then, provided the internet works properly and allows me to connect to my blog (which has been a pain in the ass today).<br />I hope everyone had a great new year celebration, and that 2008 brings your dreams to reality.<br /><br />Bye bye (just for now) !<br /><br /><br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /></div><script>document.getElementById("MsgContainer").innerHTML='\x3cp\x3eRemoi,\x3c\x2fp\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eGuigui, pourrais tu poster le message suivant sur mon blog en utilisant mon identifiant \x3f Voici la procedure \x3a Il ne faut pas creer un nouveau message, il faut editer le dernier message \x28celui ou j\x27annonce entre autres que je pars en Chine\x29 et rajouter le texte qui suit AU DESSUS de l\x27ancien, sans rien effacer.\x0d\x0a\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eEn d\x27autres termes, lorsque on scrollera de\u00a0haut en bas\u00a0de la page, on apercevra d\x27abord le nouveau texte, puis l\x27ancien, et ils feront partie d\x27un seul et meme message. J\x27espere que tu comprends ce que je veux dire.\x0d\x0a\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eJe te remercie de ton aide, si tu peux le faire au plus vite, histoire que les news soient fraiches, c\x27est super cool\u00a0\x21\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eVoici le texte a rajouter \x28n\x27oublie pas les petits traits tt en bas, pour bien marquer la separation avec l\x27ancien texte\x29 \x3a\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cfont color\x3d\x22\x23ff0000\x22 size\x3d4\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cfont color\x3d\x22\x23ff0000\x22 size\x3d4\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cfont color\x3d\x22\x23ff0000\x22 size\x3d4\x3e\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cfont color\x3d\x22\x23ff0000\x22 size\x3d4\x3eEDIT january 4th \x3a\x3c\x2ffont\x3e\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eI\x27ve arrived in Chengdu after 2 flights, and tomorrow i\x27ll have a final flight to Xining. The weather here is very warm considering the time of the year, but i\x27m not in the mountains yet so it\x27s going to get a bit chilly in the following days, as i get closer to the Himalayas.\x0d\x0a\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eHere\x27s my plan \x28roughly\x29 \x3a\u00a0I intend to take a bus from Xining to Jyekundo and from there, i\x27ll give myself a few days to find a guide who can take me to the source of the Mekong river \x285200m\x29. It\x27s in a very isolated area and without even a gps or a camping stove,\u00a0and considering the time of the year, i don\x27t want to take the risk of going there alone and getting lost. \x0d\x0a\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eIf after a few days, i still haven\x27t found a guide, i\x27ll buy a bike and start heading south\u00a0towards Tibet, hoping that i\x27ll manage to dodge the military checkpoints and enter without a proper travel permit.\x0d\x0a\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eJust walking around in the streets of Chengdu and feeling the atmosphere has boosted my motivation. Finally\u00a0this trip is becoming a reality, and it smells good, i can\x27t wait to taste it\u00a0\x21\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eI should be able to find an internet spot in Jyekundo so i\x27ll post some news then, provided the internet works properly and allows me to connect to my blog \x28which has been a pain in the ass today\x29. \x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eI hope everyone had a great new year celebration, and that 2008 brings your dreams to reality.\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eBye bye \x28just for now\x29 \x21\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cbr\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\x3c\x2fdiv\x3e\x0d\x0</script><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkR2YyjtmLhXtyplp9n_MwVMjiks_RbripQFT7J33A-Z2m5i6VRCNkCmq-ut1C3Uj0OWYi0GQOIk2keu67Y0x1zr3bDCUZablKueEGOHhMQL4zavuVw0yJuu4jdyn1KJHUi9CmrX2nYV4_/s1600-h/groupe.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146486137413369554" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkR2YyjtmLhXtyplp9n_MwVMjiks_RbripQFT7J33A-Z2m5i6VRCNkCmq-ut1C3Uj0OWYi0GQOIk2keu67Y0x1zr3bDCUZablKueEGOHhMQL4zavuVw0yJuu4jdyn1KJHUi9CmrX2nYV4_/s200/groupe.JPG" border="0" /></a>It's been a while since i posted any news about me, but it doesn't mean that nothing has been going on, au contraire...<br /><br />First off, as it's been announced on the Parkourgenerations website, i've officially joined the team. I had been involved for a little while with them professionally, and much longer as a friend (i've known some of them since my earliest Parkour days). I was recently in London during a week in order to train and work with them, and to take part in the "Rendez-vous : part 2" event.<br />I'll most likely move to London in 2008 to become a Parkour teacher. The great vibe among the team is something i had been searching for since a long time and this is the main reason that motivated me to join them.<br /><br />I'm feeling very good with my Parkour at the moment. Although i know i could never compete with many traceurs out there, i feel in shape physically, and, most of all, mentally. Since several months, i found a balance in my mind that i had been looking for since i started Parkour, some sort of lightness of the mind that i was desperately in need of. I now see new obstacles as little treats that i devour with the greatest appetite, and not big intimidating walls like i used to.<br />A lot of stress has been blown away from my head, and truely, i feel like i'm just starting now to discover how delightful Parkour can be.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03mf8S0ujKqbzdwh1Ed1q08348ElMMCKE_fKp4MUlpMMHRmBkiNTva_gB5egPrCPdnKPwMkquQyaBQyaELLfAvs4SyqA7OZFbXnInSkrUXKGdujgv9StiLqmXueb3Q2egSiNWsuIZgaYg/s1600-h/Blane_Thomas.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146505232837967618" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03mf8S0ujKqbzdwh1Ed1q08348ElMMCKE_fKp4MUlpMMHRmBkiNTva_gB5egPrCPdnKPwMkquQyaBQyaELLfAvs4SyqA7OZFbXnInSkrUXKGdujgv9StiLqmXueb3Q2egSiNWsuIZgaYg/s200/Blane_Thomas.JPG" border="0" /></a>On my return to France, i had the pleasure of being accompanied by Blane who trained with me during a few days in Tours. We had a really great time and i hope to train again with him soon !<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZXx-onOWfoJmHQwHBqb1vixlLk4sn-i2Zo-bGgeO2BK5ZIbngt_eECcHZ79K0aU0U37K-sZZkdPSM_xcPeTmM-mJzDZpTb8qwXKdmbQgI6FxLfoX3X_xRV58OrAVoLuhUg9kq-Xy9D52/s1600-h/2cv.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146495509032009458" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZXx-onOWfoJmHQwHBqb1vixlLk4sn-i2Zo-bGgeO2BK5ZIbngt_eECcHZ79K0aU0U37K-sZZkdPSM_xcPeTmM-mJzDZpTb8qwXKdmbQgI6FxLfoX3X_xRV58OrAVoLuhUg9kq-Xy9D52/s200/2cv.JPG" border="0" /></a>Appart from that, i'm still deeply interested in travels, and i've recently bought a car, a french 1976 Citroen 2cv (my favourite car !!) which i put back in shape (with a lot of help). Don't judge it by its frail appearance, it's a legendary car regarding its durability. I've already got tons of parkour travelling ideas for it with other traceurs, for when the good weather will be back.<br /><br /><br /><br />But right now, my main concern is my next project. I'm kicking off 2008 with a trip i'll be starting on the 3rd of January : i'm going to Xining (Qinghai province, west China) and from there i'll take a bus to go about 800km south. The first leg of my trip will truely start there, as i plan to travel by bicycle through Tibet and Yunnan (a chinese province south of Tibet), close to the Mekong river. It's winter and at this altitude (over 4000m), the weather, along with several other factors i will speak about later, will not offer the best travelling conditions, but i've been planning this trip for a long time now, and i was always delaying it for multiple reasons, until i ran out of patience and finally decided i wouldn't wait any longer, so January it will be.<br />I'll just have to adapt to what i find, and perhaps change my plans when i get there, we'll see how things work out. I only have a one-way ticket which means that i will come home when i consider my trip done.<br /><br />If i don't turn into a snowman, i'll try to post here some updates about my trip, although some places i intend to travel through will very unlikely offer an internet connection (or even electricity). And also, i won't have a cell phone with me, so anyone wanting to contact me should do it by email.<br /><br />To the people who invited me to take part in very interesting projects and that i had to turn down because of this always delayed trip, i'm very sorry, but i'll try to make up for it when i get back.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcRW-kDSfHorUREwbVFv3azcRG3-4LRAgaQHaQizCqtlJ7kxQxNTsYnsB30uozXruBhmIP9CYWtLHd9lCrAyef0QXNdGhurNywTQ0tEmp8bplVWLvwMWWB5pPGxAslp9TFFlQ02kGAmeT/s1600-h/tibet.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146493494692347618" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 271px; cursor: pointer; height: 97px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcRW-kDSfHorUREwbVFv3azcRG3-4LRAgaQHaQizCqtlJ7kxQxNTsYnsB30uozXruBhmIP9CYWtLHd9lCrAyef0QXNdGhurNywTQ0tEmp8bplVWLvwMWWB5pPGxAslp9TFFlQ02kGAmeT/s200/tibet.bmp" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks to all the people who support me, merry christmas, and a great exciting happy new year to everyone !<br /><br /><br />.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-82194192594838666152007-10-16T20:29:00.002+01:002009-05-02T00:23:29.458+01:00Globetraceurs<span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">I'd like to express my warmest congratulations to the several traceurs that have travelled, are travelling, or will travel on their own adventures, and to those that are exploring any other kind of activity (climbing, marathons, gymnastics, martial arts, music, photography, painting, writing, playing mahjong, etc.) in their perpetual struggle for perfection, as one thing always ends up leading to another.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">It seems that i am not the only one that Parkour is leading to other things, and i hope it will keep on going this way.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">Diversity is strength for ourselves ; sharing it is strength for everyone !</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">Special encouragements to Daniel and Raimundo from the Adrenaline team for their ambitious Paris-Dakar walk.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">Good luck to each and everyone for your projects !</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 153, 51);">.</span>Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-54656495245614940072007-09-21T08:36:00.002+01:002009-05-02T00:23:02.582+01:00Back from Thailand !<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9q0WGXybL3y-_1qrwG2AIWWkO7UrmYSUpfdWFPVjPkwkuqWfdfcRV7q9iiuyEoecxgXMx4yA0lYdvZxsa_GnVxaKCnQX2sSOWp73bTpvwSSU1oPRyYQta4NLmmXzeoOB_k5T17AD65HG8/s1600-h/Climbing+vines.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9q0WGXybL3y-_1qrwG2AIWWkO7UrmYSUpfdWFPVjPkwkuqWfdfcRV7q9iiuyEoecxgXMx4yA0lYdvZxsa_GnVxaKCnQX2sSOWp73bTpvwSSU1oPRyYQta4NLmmXzeoOB_k5T17AD65HG8/s320/Climbing+vines.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112582671003707586" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I just got back from a really cool month in Thailand with Kazuma and Stéphane and, after their trip back to France, alone in northern Thailand and on Phi Phi islands.<br /><br /><br /><br />A few highlights :<br /><br />_A pickup truck ride to Koh Samui (where we spent some really great evenings) with Johann and Julien (Steph's 2 brothers) along with a few other friends.<br />_A one day motorcycle roadtrip to Bangkok with Kaz.<br />_Making a great friend in Chiang Mai (North)<br />_A scooter trip in the northern countryside.<br />_Some crazy solitary island exploration /camping.<br />_All the rest...<br /><br />I was afraid that this trip might pull me away from my goals, Thailand is a country that can mess up a person's mind if he doesn't really know what he wants in life, but it turned out that it made them shine with even greater light and i know now more than ever what really matters to me and what doesn't.<br /><br />Thanks to all the people i spent this month with for making it what it was !<br /><br />Thailand i'll be back...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0F2QXE6bJ_engzp1kGjDXNEJ1jgQ6K4ctRjGC5RCp3JP5l7y09ySwPYExsf1d0XZoE-c2SDwTIvClNNXAhjiw-SyBxu6D6NHPMAmdVuazcHKW_vAjdzWEl6NGRkKiThFgEDtdoC4p84t0/s1600-h/Koh+Samui+1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0F2QXE6bJ_engzp1kGjDXNEJ1jgQ6K4ctRjGC5RCp3JP5l7y09ySwPYExsf1d0XZoE-c2SDwTIvClNNXAhjiw-SyBxu6D6NHPMAmdVuazcHKW_vAjdzWEl6NGRkKiThFgEDtdoC4p84t0/s200/Koh+Samui+1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112579857800128562" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgV3DE5ob43j4JiPWhkNRotPpVUBvHlPL23PVztiFulLmsUgBs7EH2UqlVQqNO79KRFkgzsd6D-RAm0d1a3If2uzqUsLwWEDcWj9KRbVlhGJUegKaaBsNgbOgFrvauw4ASwrIEuLUkQvN0/s1600-h/Koh+Samui+2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgV3DE5ob43j4JiPWhkNRotPpVUBvHlPL23PVztiFulLmsUgBs7EH2UqlVQqNO79KRFkgzsd6D-RAm0d1a3If2uzqUsLwWEDcWj9KRbVlhGJUegKaaBsNgbOgFrvauw4ASwrIEuLUkQvN0/s200/Koh+Samui+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112581120520513666" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8KBYCyc36mwunZIOgWGZo0hLtihEUOL7LQTGsnUrtMCXwr2wIdcTkJ-nv5tus-k7HeuI6dsitrOnxHH2TU5fdHBT4uQH1mGCgIqMnwAKo80AREumbVf8AmYpLfqwk5A6zwJ962asG3_x/s1600-h/Pickup+truck+ride.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8KBYCyc36mwunZIOgWGZo0hLtihEUOL7LQTGsnUrtMCXwr2wIdcTkJ-nv5tus-k7HeuI6dsitrOnxHH2TU5fdHBT4uQH1mGCgIqMnwAKo80AREumbVf8AmYpLfqwk5A6zwJ962asG3_x/s200/Pickup+truck+ride.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112580605124438098" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8KBYCyc36mwunZIOgWGZo0hLtihEUOL7LQTGsnUrtMCXwr2wIdcTkJ-nv5tus-k7HeuI6dsitrOnxHH2TU5fdHBT4uQH1mGCgIqMnwAKo80AREumbVf8AmYpLfqwk5A6zwJ962asG3_x/s1600-h/Pickup+truck+ride.JPG"> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8KBYCyc36mwunZIOgWGZo0hLtihEUOL7LQTGsnUrtMCXwr2wIdcTkJ-nv5tus-k7HeuI6dsitrOnxHH2TU5fdHBT4uQH1mGCgIqMnwAKo80AREumbVf8AmYpLfqwk5A6zwJ962asG3_x/s1600-h/Pickup+truck+ride.JPG"> </a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWt1lM-F3WUGR8I-mlrNjYBqkIqV8OPdfcknXwPGfyf_YN-bBmsWvmSVdPsxWkVeen0dStTXhh8OKNr4qMsoIa55nRNLjcrFzEkU-SDyP9gez5_c8aVL3B_YEk2Fui2U3CF7AEYHbtdSC/s1600-h/Motorcycle+roadtrip+with+Kaz.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWt1lM-F3WUGR8I-mlrNjYBqkIqV8OPdfcknXwPGfyf_YN-bBmsWvmSVdPsxWkVeen0dStTXhh8OKNr4qMsoIa55nRNLjcrFzEkU-SDyP9gez5_c8aVL3B_YEk2Fui2U3CF7AEYHbtdSC/s200/Motorcycle+roadtrip+with+Kaz.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112580948721821810" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hUbVNcV7yeP-Bts9mGxQcgJBdUMibL48uuBGZ9Kp6iGJlAsx02eEpQr7oTeadJ3BQffMyI28EClm70MCfVdQCicxSBMkQptpqfNO7Sr79_hxmTQesXOpqrJLFkVUd9NrBwn5sThoUhwX/s1600-h/Visiting+northern+Thailand.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hUbVNcV7yeP-Bts9mGxQcgJBdUMibL48uuBGZ9Kp6iGJlAsx02eEpQr7oTeadJ3BQffMyI28EClm70MCfVdQCicxSBMkQptpqfNO7Sr79_hxmTQesXOpqrJLFkVUd9NrBwn5sThoUhwX/s200/Visiting+northern+Thailand.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112581640211556498" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_dEzhAVL-e5UgNBwd_tGvSUfujNuAoXy5feT9g2Sz5d3RsrWk0BS2gx5JDNYqDH8QbWua_TxQNbE9wE68HwscTJbc8kGReKiLrNfXd0tbBNAKk67UUjjX4liS9Rlb6msFr_B9bR-ju2l/s1600-h/Koh+Phi+Phi+sunrise.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_dEzhAVL-e5UgNBwd_tGvSUfujNuAoXy5feT9g2Sz5d3RsrWk0BS2gx5JDNYqDH8QbWua_TxQNbE9wE68HwscTJbc8kGReKiLrNfXd0tbBNAKk67UUjjX4liS9Rlb6msFr_B9bR-ju2l/s200/Koh+Phi+Phi+sunrise.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112582954471549138" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWFiUVLTZHACbOev9hNCWAPeCYDakXUiVqRCtDAfjaqjeHcHrHb-_3e0vkVrbSa_D_Nt3K5bta9XP7As-wYpuRrUVnvusMaywRdHp2qAFZR5T_eic7cv6ET1HdpqKKg9mFZqsW99FdoxS/s1600-h/Tasting+Thai+delicacies.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWFiUVLTZHACbOev9hNCWAPeCYDakXUiVqRCtDAfjaqjeHcHrHb-_3e0vkVrbSa_D_Nt3K5bta9XP7As-wYpuRrUVnvusMaywRdHp2qAFZR5T_eic7cv6ET1HdpqKKg9mFZqsW99FdoxS/s200/Tasting+Thai+delicacies.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112583302363900130" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKkQnMHSNoExOy_ZQgoAt0KyCeUk5SDxTFDAz9vDzwC3iz_M2BQgxIitvyFsDfLrg07JVyvaMl49VFsl9T0F4qKAiK2E5xVCiMbg_e4C2-BqM2deJvhcgprE6WZx38dqrB-j8RtHi7P0MR/s1600-h/Island+exploration.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKkQnMHSNoExOy_ZQgoAt0KyCeUk5SDxTFDAz9vDzwC3iz_M2BQgxIitvyFsDfLrg07JVyvaMl49VFsl9T0F4qKAiK2E5xVCiMbg_e4C2-BqM2deJvhcgprE6WZx38dqrB-j8RtHi7P0MR/s200/Island+exploration.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112582267276781746" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIISZ_pltxEtHaxe0UljU9YGYsp7c7BrgDPOu85EhCg4F8SpyEa42vIfEDv52CYO9xxdhXsqc7t6anvgP-7U6rQdz0Ma4Cv0rEjh6bYsjl6hZRujxWG88vuTV9pvrXl61yOBH-5eKNduvf/s1600-h/Tham+Lod+2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIISZ_pltxEtHaxe0UljU9YGYsp7c7BrgDPOu85EhCg4F8SpyEa42vIfEDv52CYO9xxdhXsqc7t6anvgP-7U6rQdz0Ma4Cv0rEjh6bYsjl6hZRujxWG88vuTV9pvrXl61yOBH-5eKNduvf/s200/Tham+Lod+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112583890774419698" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio1swsjdzR5jrmUgcr_jqUGN1UlEYaAkNk_H8pD8PcZSpwZMr6m37xHqtlCuh3QAKahKpXuOrbhQekxcPe6Xg98KuTz83hcACcV1hWhzG_6oQbEnFHKFg-16ieOmDWg1BdeXeGQqY83UYt/s1600-h/Tham+Lod+1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio1swsjdzR5jrmUgcr_jqUGN1UlEYaAkNk_H8pD8PcZSpwZMr6m37xHqtlCuh3QAKahKpXuOrbhQekxcPe6Xg98KuTz83hcACcV1hWhzG_6oQbEnFHKFg-16ieOmDWg1BdeXeGQqY83UYt/s200/Tham+Lod+1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112586433395058962" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-63836338420263563252007-07-05T15:33:00.000+01:002007-07-05T15:41:23.868+01:00Travel plans<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >Hello to all !<br /><br />To anyone for whom it may be of interest : from the 19th of August to the 20th of September, i will not be available for any training session or event. </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >I am leaving on a trip to Thailand during that period.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Thank you for understanding !</span></span><br /><br /><br />.<br /></span>Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-14405328146907738412007-06-28T20:43:00.001+01:002009-05-02T00:24:07.654+01:00And the wheel keeps on turning...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoeToD3_BP5_1mDu65Vh1dJvW6tPIR6EDZAboneulzDI6SN1aDYijvvldw2CoPj4HcbjR7NBAc9PFlyH_dT64jPmYwUvmu1LzaCXhEouSzAtTYHdpO02Q7pRUx6k0ulyR7zFXjAOuW1YAQ/s1600-h/DSCN3217.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoeToD3_BP5_1mDu65Vh1dJvW6tPIR6EDZAboneulzDI6SN1aDYijvvldw2CoPj4HcbjR7NBAc9PFlyH_dT64jPmYwUvmu1LzaCXhEouSzAtTYHdpO02Q7pRUx6k0ulyR7zFXjAOuW1YAQ/s320/DSCN3217.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081206611136978626" border="0" /></a>4 pairs of socks ? Hmm no that's too much, even though i'll be seeing some people (so i have to be able to look clean) 3 should be more than enough. Dark ones, they'll give the illusion of being clean even if they're not ! A second warm top or not ? Nah if i get cold i'll just put on more layers of clothes, it should be fine... What about the food ? How much should i bring, can't i just buy some on the way ? And the water ?<br />Such were the questions in my mind during the whole day of friday the 15th. On the next day i was going to leave from my home in Tours to travel on my bicycle to Milan in Italy, more than 1000 km through forests and mountains for the longest bike journey i have ever done so far !<br />I have planned to first head full East to Besançon, close to the Swiss border because i know someone there, and then a bit north to Basel to see Steve, an excellent traceur and friend. From there, i'll go South to Milan. It's really not the shortest route to Milan but it'll be fun to meet up with friends on my way !<br /><br />On the morning of the 16th, i double check everything, i feel stressed and even a little bit sad. The stress is normal before something like this, but why don't i feel happy ? I'm finally leaving for this trip i've been thinking about for so long, i should be full of joy !<br />Anyway, around 11 in the morning, i hop on my bike and head for the end of the street. I take a right, and i'm off.<br /><br />I still feel down, and the weather is not going to help : it's either very cloudy or rainy.<br />A lot of questions go through my mind. I'm doubting a lot about me, about this trip :<br /><br />"_What are you doing here Thomas, you could be in your comfortable home watching a good film and eating some good food, but you're here, riding all day under this stupid rain... Have you made a mistake ? After all, it's not too late to turn back, you can just say to everyone that you had something important to do, you can create any kind of excuse and it'll be fine...<br /><br />_But if you do this, maybe everyone will believe you, but you Thomas, you'll know the truth, and it makes all the difference, you'll know you just quit because you didn't feel strong enough to finish what you started... Didn't you promise to yourself you wouldn't ever quit anything anymore, that you would do what it takes to succeed ? So just shut up and keep going ! The best things in life often take time to be recognised as such, you're going to do it because you've decided it, because you know it's the best thing for you, because it's part of your personal evolution, don't forget who you are and what you dream of. You want to reach the stars ? Then it starts right here, right now, on this bike under this damn rain. Just think of how worse it could be... "<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJntKWjBTaXTO6P4rECAN14xBHirsp_A8IZ8SX8lGtnVvJ3sPkSxqTLv2WCxbDIWPHnmyufu3EKqXnKeu3u2N1H7EYPByv9MpegMpT-_yDiCEyUTNO8uYsNTK9ynQLoL4ulCcyB9oBXzkR/s1600-h/DSCN3158.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJntKWjBTaXTO6P4rECAN14xBHirsp_A8IZ8SX8lGtnVvJ3sPkSxqTLv2WCxbDIWPHnmyufu3EKqXnKeu3u2N1H7EYPByv9MpegMpT-_yDiCEyUTNO8uYsNTK9ynQLoL4ulCcyB9oBXzkR/s200/DSCN3158.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081204274674769506" border="0" /></a>After a while, i start feeling better. A phone call from Cisco -one of my best friends- cheers me up even more. On the third day, all my negativity is gone, probably blown<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0wm9twyJKDDvV6tI8I48PcAMLzPMgQbMhemcOdfO1jNHADe8krzVwG-5hwd_vyQopq9NSVR-F2KubwjpyBQSoR40DCu4ZNYj9X1Tx2I1UCr0_TNFNkk5wW1T8XZ3UhwUzYVR8IWiGhk0/s1600-h/DSCN3191.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0wm9twyJKDDvV6tI8I48PcAMLzPMgQbMhemcOdfO1jNHADe8krzVwG-5hwd_vyQopq9NSVR-F2KubwjpyBQSoR40DCu4ZNYj9X1Tx2I1UCr0_TNFNkk5wW1T8XZ3UhwUzYVR8IWiGhk0/s200/DSCN3191.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081205481560579730" border="0" /></a> away with the black rainy clouds, it is sunny in every way !<br /><br /><br />In the afternoon, i discover, on the side of a road, a big rock that i decide to climb for fun. I take my camera to the top, and try to tie it to a branch to make a photo (i don't even have a tripod with me). But as i turn around to place myself for the photo, the camera deci<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5f0JvnJV3hgkC5lil-h3CBMvrLDDSlXaFM3LTN975OfWYf9IwNkILeBNHp3XIeDe9m2-RsWIAUbxPMNJAUeCg789TRJVSGLSWeT_URalIiZAK_WTRsOKLAFkgJK64v2zRnp8WdSnZzcAJ/s1600-h/DSCN3182.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5f0JvnJV3hgkC5lil-h3CBMvrLDDSlXaFM3LTN975OfWYf9IwNkILeBNHp3XIeDe9m2-RsWIAUbxPMNJAUeCg789TRJVSGLSWeT_URalIiZAK_WTRsOKLAFkgJK64v2zRnp8WdSnZzcAJ/s200/DSCN3182.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081205000524242562" border="0" /></a>des to do some parkour of it's own and jumps down 10 meters lower (lens open and out) onto a big stone, bounces off, and lands with an awkward roll. From the sound of it, it wasn't very controlled... I rush down to the site of the crash, push back the memory card into it's socket, wipe off the dirt and realise that surprisingly, except for a few bumps and bruises, it's working just fine ! Why does every beginner always start with big jumps ?<br />I get back on my bike, reflecting about the superiority of cameras compared to human beings...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqMXBiSaFO-LFTAwjmvZE6qjXw3mlWsyDsOo7CZx0KHxgu-vsEr9Bb-f9U7rCYAZjhKLKEXTiHZdi9AJJhq8MjdkDf5Ir-C1yweSyhSUkvKUzWvkHwhyphenhyphen94RShjACh2zUVKKcMZJWxkQut/s1600-h/DSCN3171.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqMXBiSaFO-LFTAwjmvZE6qjXw3mlWsyDsOo7CZx0KHxgu-vsEr9Bb-f9U7rCYAZjhKLKEXTiHZdi9AJJhq8MjdkDf5Ir-C1yweSyhSUkvKUzWvkHwhyphenhyphen94RShjACh2zUVKKcMZJWxkQut/s200/DSCN3171.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081204536667774578" border="0" /></a>The next day, Steve calls me, he has things to do and must leave his home, so i can't come anymore. Ah ! I was looking forward so much to seeing him ! Well, at least it'll make my trip shorter since i can go full South just after Besançon. It'll also allow me to go through Château d'Oex, the town of Mike Horn (simply one of the greatest adventurers of all time and one of the men -dead included- for whom i have the most respect in this world !). I've been exchanging a few emails with Cathy, his wife, and even though i heard he'll be away when i get there, it should be nice anyway to travel through his town.<br /><br />I arrive in Besançon on the evening of the 4th day after a total of 500km and i meet up with Maï, a friend from school that i hadn't seen in years. I've finished the first half of my trip, the easy half, since so far i almost didn't have any uphill riding to do. The real challenge, hovering over my mind, is still ahead : the Alps !<br />Maï kindly invites me to stay at her place. I'll spend 2 nights there, resting, taking showers, and of course chatting and spending time with her and her friends.<br />I get rid of some of my stuff, to be as light as possible (even after doing this, i'll later realise that i still have several useless things...) and around 4pm, on the 21st, i leave from Besançon in the direction of Switzerland.<br />I managed, although I left very late, to cover 70km on that day and in the evening, it's very close to the border that i set my tent. Tomorrow morning, i'll be in Switzerland, and it will be the first time in my life that i travel on a bike in another country, it's very exciting !<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDz9o71FHbkDMebgEBe4aFCPgWPjY_lURbz9YN6Ynfs4Twqe1zBt3s6KvlZQGPNJkv7bQwqZqAaGgybKkrfr5ss_oA0oegrGcfqjaGKQ2XcfJyUARjM0_WnrreHGBxHlMTAZRiA9jR11x2/s1600-h/DSCN3207.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDz9o71FHbkDMebgEBe4aFCPgWPjY_lURbz9YN6Ynfs4Twqe1zBt3s6KvlZQGPNJkv7bQwqZqAaGgybKkrfr5ss_oA0oegrGcfqjaGKQ2XcfJyUARjM0_WnrreHGBxHlMTAZRiA9jR11x2/s200/DSCN3207.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081207139417956050" border="0" /></a>The next morning, i pass a deserted border on top of a big hill, not even a "Welcome to Switzerland" sign... It seems they just don't care that people come and go into their country.<br />Cottages, mountains and cows, with no doubt i'm in Switzerland ! I'm very excited, the road, the signs, the background... all of this is no longer France, it's so motivating to feel far from home ! I take a picture of the first swiss person that i see (an old guy on a tractor) and i'm off on my first swiss hill. Many will follow, in the land of mountains.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCNJ2Kkv1M4kRB4zDbX01YDjBNNdfgmKOou7tu-eg6CumVTjPxun1sBN4bvvNLkcP3FppV_dHrQVgsx3f6zQSdjEU8B1wStF5TmQxees8tudaXKBcLAvq14C4rvgFwekWFut6Y4kaIzMM/s1600-h/DSCN3221.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCNJ2Kkv1M4kRB4zDbX01YDjBNNdfgmKOou7tu-eg6CumVTjPxun1sBN4bvvNLkcP3FppV_dHrQVgsx3f6zQSdjEU8B1wStF5TmQxees8tudaXKBcLAvq14C4rvgFwekWFut6Y4kaIzMM/s200/DSCN3221.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081207641929129698" border="0" /></a>As i travel, the hills start to look more and more seriously high. At first, riding uphill nearly all day long can be a bit depressing : you move at 5 or 6 km/h (which is about the speed of someone walking) and you never seem to be reaching the top, but you are always rewarded with a long downhill road, and sometimes a beautiful view too !<br />Once you start to understand that anyway, no matter how fast or slow you are, you're not going to see the end of this damn road before a long time, and there's always going to be another hill or mountain after the one you're riding on, you just keep on riding calmly and patiently, no matter how long and hard it gets. Sooner or later you'll see the end of it...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPJ8K4JTrTYSWzWPNH5HYUZaErFEKYfBwR6cyagGcnkww5JRXmt7ltcv0j-PtgLIthX40YTMg8UdZIY26LFHKIpCAiRcVqbtw8sX7DTvq0MpWPqlFfl9iKPG4JTI-QZY1lB0L-YelzJud/s1600-h/DSCN3237.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPJ8K4JTrTYSWzWPNH5HYUZaErFEKYfBwR6cyagGcnkww5JRXmt7ltcv0j-PtgLIthX40YTMg8UdZIY26LFHKIpCAiRcVqbtw8sX7DTvq0MpWPqlFfl9iKPG4JTI-QZY1lB0L-YelzJud/s200/DSCN3237.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081208075720826610" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHo1BTKWZj6I2DFyaT_NSAYQkJwaD_AbVRfhQd6hL4_k1aaJWfMrB8-OyM8oGtnuVmsmrX6fzAzvGJKMkhZ_L0FWTVQ3QBtTen0knlSeepyAjhiHV0hPD9wAxT-0EbXE_GtFCXu38mWt_/s1600-h/DSCN3240.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHo1BTKWZj6I2DFyaT_NSAYQkJwaD_AbVRfhQd6hL4_k1aaJWfMrB8-OyM8oGtnuVmsmrX6fzAzvGJKMkhZ_L0FWTVQ3QBtTen0knlSeepyAjhiHV0hPD9wAxT-0EbXE_GtFCXu38mWt_/s200/DSCN3240.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081208427908144898" border="0" /></a>Saturday 23rd of June, such a beautiful day ! I wake up in the little barn that i chose as my camping ground for the night, near the town of Gruyère, and after around 20km, i reach Château d'Oex. The last email from Mike Horn's wife (Cathy) that i had received mentioned a hotel, used also as Mike's "office" for the preparation of his expeditions, so that's where i went immediately. Maybe i would meet Cathy and have a chat with her.<br />As i search for the entrance, a man rushes out towards his car, i can't believe it, it's Mike ! I introduce myself and after parking his car, he invites me in, he's just in the middle of packing for a trip, there's stuff everywhere over the floor : dehydrated food, cereals, clothes, climbing equipement, rucksacks, headlamps, etc. !<br />I know he's a very nice man, but he's very busy and the last thing i want is to disturb him, so i refrain myself from asking him the tons of questions that i have and i remain very silent, helping out at moments as i can. I feel so lucky just to be here !<br />I am introduced to Cathy and to two very nice people working closely with Mike : Caroline, and David a photographer/journalist/traveller with whom i chat a lot.<br />I stay the whole afternoon, eating cereal, drinking coffee, and listening to the bits of experience that Mike shares with us as he gets on with the packing. Some of these objects on the floor have been used during his past expeditions, i am fascinated to see them there, with the marks caused by the situations they've been through, each one telling a story of its own.<br />It's only in the end of the afternoon that i get back on my way. This time spent with these people was really good. Although they were all very busy they welcomed me very kindly, gave me some of their time and made me feel comfortable, i can only have respect for them.<br />Mike is a very modest man, yet aware of his capabilities and capable of a lot, those are the characteristics of a strong man according to me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcKCfVqV5LAOMFHcgIfFyVbOUyMWBouZ04gaQ-C-cH1h1WMbEoViQ7GlTreF_32mPSmP1JZQiNozLFMM-sSuhGaVQe7g_enqimsgP7TlpmQlGeeC1leW2KsewyczVZzCbA0Br4a6D3_FB/s1600-h/with+Mike.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcKCfVqV5LAOMFHcgIfFyVbOUyMWBouZ04gaQ-C-cH1h1WMbEoViQ7GlTreF_32mPSmP1JZQiNozLFMM-sSuhGaVQe7g_enqimsgP7TlpmQlGeeC1leW2KsewyczVZzCbA0Br4a6D3_FB/s320/with+Mike.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081208719965921042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZ8_2OPnL6SBE0J9yzmr5f8eAFoLU8x5rV6wvHrO_Nz5fUgXRTTCFcPIGnfulVqlM3Z3Fgm3n09WGgIhkTnoXQ_WTRP2_rMHyVmbirbhrGUFqw9jFeg-9DnlRH7CYvJU55yHkGR9Oi2mT/s1600-h/DSCN3254.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZ8_2OPnL6SBE0J9yzmr5f8eAFoLU8x5rV6wvHrO_Nz5fUgXRTTCFcPIGnfulVqlM3Z3Fgm3n09WGgIhkTnoXQ_WTRP2_rMHyVmbirbhrGUFqw9jFeg-9DnlRH7CYvJU55yHkGR9Oi2mT/s200/DSCN3254.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081209389980819234" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUoFgRvaUHXwd1lz-FGX7tnXsjHPUS4jdlBJzJqs8VngcjtqsQyGQFsR5NlTwDrKb3d6x5Ck3MgHvwyXLavTUTuvMTdWKrAG1bdSuHrD_eY4YfhX7y9omd7EahkQ-MB9m4ONo9Gk2QPlzG/s1600-h/DSCN3257.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUoFgRvaUHXwd1lz-FGX7tnXsjHPUS4jdlBJzJqs8VngcjtqsQyGQFsR5NlTwDrKb3d6x5Ck3MgHvwyXLavTUTuvMTdWKrAG1bdSuHrD_eY4YfhX7y9omd7EahkQ-MB9m4ONo9Gk2QPlzG/s200/DSCN3257.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081209999866175282" border="0" /></a>Motivated by this event, i could now face the main difficulty of my trip, the Sanetsch-pass at 2250m of altitude. The only way to reach it is to follow a footpath streaming along the mountain. I reach the path in the evening and start pushing my bike (it's quite impossible to ride it here) during an hour and a half before setting my tent for the night. In the morning, i get back to work, pushing and carrying my bike and my equipment on this steep stoney path. It's quite a slow and exhausting process but at the end of the morning, i finally reach the top. On the other side, there is a road so things get back to normal, i'm done with my pushing !<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaqzQkeA7eIvahHTS0yJVDGLPuRR3yIB5XlbcKejUG2H1N-v3ByX1Yx6tDNMltfOoH0m6InLxED2SdVfaxgkAmzcHCKP8AJ90Dh7YH-E1EoRSq4pe72nKnlWh8Lghrz5p2_82od9Y7mqS/s1600-h/DSCN3277.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaqzQkeA7eIvahHTS0yJVDGLPuRR3yIB5XlbcKejUG2H1N-v3ByX1Yx6tDNMltfOoH0m6InLxED2SdVfaxgkAmzcHCKP8AJ90Dh7YH-E1EoRSq4pe72nKnlWh8Lghrz5p2_82od9Y7mqS/s200/DSCN3277.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081210949053947730" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobylrPVgpmd0GTaqcX9mz2X34HxBr4SyPKdoBDvqgHaYZOya6a8OWUPF4su7V85JgeDhu18_01A3QypVfF5OyOmS0JRP-OnZ13xfWT-A5QGPDQacL2BNF0foxQ0LBi707W6KQZxjFqXdM/s1600-h/DSCN3270.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobylrPVgpmd0GTaqcX9mz2X34HxBr4SyPKdoBDvqgHaYZOya6a8OWUPF4su7V85JgeDhu18_01A3QypVfF5OyOmS0JRP-OnZ13xfWT-A5QGPDQacL2BNF0foxQ0LBi707W6KQZxjFqXdM/s200/DSCN3270.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5088186610392703570" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTDunCqJLLfT7rJxlaHbr6r7bmvXZOEETKDQOChAGF6fBxnTeYmlKgoNYLsZk9B9EOMruommx93e3GhGvhvu_2PkkaOKsGCV5e4NYDTGsbneakKF2YZrRgu_EP7WMs6PWDW4mAhzYd0CZ/s1600-h/DSCN3273.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTDunCqJLLfT7rJxlaHbr6r7bmvXZOEETKDQOChAGF6fBxnTeYmlKgoNYLsZk9B9EOMruommx93e3GhGvhvu_2PkkaOKsGCV5e4NYDTGsbneakKF2YZrRgu_EP7WMs6PWDW4mAhzYd0CZ/s320/DSCN3273.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081210390708199234" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWdiZ0YykmQffef3OB-5naEl233fsTiyKp0a8SD_23VrxCuSakKaHxj_RZcw-SyHFIS88XV43KDnF4CMX2gQhEP8zByDYmP53qqnjTS0HA1WVthVsCDZfCbOkcGiWekmgGq78QOCP98ITm/s1600-h/DSCN3284.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWdiZ0YykmQffef3OB-5naEl233fsTiyKp0a8SD_23VrxCuSakKaHxj_RZcw-SyHFIS88XV43KDnF4CMX2gQhEP8zByDYmP53qqnjTS0HA1WVthVsCDZfCbOkcGiWekmgGq78QOCP98ITm/s200/DSCN3284.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081212636976095090" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKQ_Il_j-atzmDYOYYCmPkI04GY0WP_9gwX7j2P7uSNORKFBDz5jj9xR3NS-tww0eg6_W3MlCrvvW70G9JPOcyabDW66AVtWEJ0_A90Eb6Y4wsnOEqnRjTnjzspTMqYDcCRXCvjoHG60z/s1600-h/DSCN3280.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKQ_Il_j-atzmDYOYYCmPkI04GY0WP_9gwX7j2P7uSNORKFBDz5jj9xR3NS-tww0eg6_W3MlCrvvW70G9JPOcyabDW66AVtWEJ0_A90Eb6Y4wsnOEqnRjTnjzspTMqYDcCRXCvjoHG60z/s200/DSCN3280.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081211833817210722" border="0" /></a>I'm almost finished with the mountains and with Switzerland, the road i'm now following is between two huge mountains but remains surprisingly flat. The last serious obstacle before Italy will be the Simplon-pass at 2000m. There's a road going there so no problem about that, but it's a long uphill road of around 20km. Just like with the Sanetsch-pass, i start climbing it in the evening, and after sleeping under some sort of bridge during the night, i get back on my way, and again, it takes the whole morning to reach the top. I'm finally done with the mountains !<br />Just a long nice downhill ride and YOOHOO, Sono in Italia !<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrn2rmx9C7HBa8fijrVR_hxQoEtn75vTQnl2Hxwg_5ZJLG0TmtNwbrx94NMbFnNEHiLD1twlK94OgEbS7SVkTc-8VjOsIGaXnRfnT0HCH6dnjwZgKPFkj9AAwmP6zCLk4hlAUy8YZGOfg3/s1600-h/DSCN3316.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrn2rmx9C7HBa8fijrVR_hxQoEtn75vTQnl2Hxwg_5ZJLG0TmtNwbrx94NMbFnNEHiLD1twlK94OgEbS7SVkTc-8VjOsIGaXnRfnT0HCH6dnjwZgKPFkj9AAwmP6zCLk4hlAUy8YZGOfg3/s200/DSCN3316.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081213272631254914" border="0" /></a>I pass the border, and the very first thing i do in Italy is to stop in a bar and ask for a hot chocolate. There's nothing as good as a real italian hot chocolate covered with whipped cream (la pana), i could drink one every hour, it's so creamy that you drink it with the spoon !<br /><br />I expect to be in Milan on the next day so i take my time as i ride on the roads of Italia. Around 2pm, i pass in front of a sign : "Milano 120km" and something tilts in my head. I tell myself that if i hurry and if the roads remain flat until Milan, i can be there in the evening ! So i suddenly start rushing at an average speed of 25km/h, sometimes 30. I don't want to stop anymore, i give all the energy that's left in my legs. I take the wrong road twice but i keep on rushing and Milan gets closer and closer. The last kilometers never seem to end but at last, around 10pm on the 25th of June, i reach the Duomo (the big cathedral in the center) of Milan. I'm thirsty, hungry and completely exhausted ! In this single day i've done 213 km (some of them being in the mountain in the morning) and i have reached my final goal. I did it, and it wasn't so hard !<br /><br /><br />Travelling in unknown places and sleeping wherever i am when i get tired are things that i find very pleasant. The first two days of my trip were just, i suppose, the necessary time of adaptation to a different way of living. I enjoy being on the move, each day being different than the last. Meeting different people, discovering different places, living different experiences, being in perpetual unexpectedness, dealing with problems as they come and always adapting to situations...<br />I realise that when some unpleasant event happens, it often makes way for a pleasant one, as long as i do my best to adapt and to see my new possibilities. I think that this is not very usual in most people's mind, we often build an image of what we want and try to change our reality by making long-term plans until our reality fits this image. If at some point, something goes wrong in our plans (which is always very likely to happen), we get depressed because we feel that our goal is compromised.<br />But things don't go wrong, they just happen, taking and giving possibilities all the time. I know that if i open my eyes to the new possibilities i can probably find a way to keep on moving towards my goal, and maybe it'll be in a way that i had never imagined before.<br />"If life gives you lemons, make lemonade" as they say !<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoHOS751-m1jZIGDopOzKAb-NOB114-PnjHItjehNAHSf36XyZz2Ng4d50JEXHYptTppXvK6ueiCGpyM4sc1Z-OEYhhK7MYwsqx2dhvD_swbG9SYc53aHQlu0v9TDatO_3VZbzCHGL_smK/s1600-h/DSCN3325.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoHOS751-m1jZIGDopOzKAb-NOB114-PnjHItjehNAHSf36XyZz2Ng4d50JEXHYptTppXvK6ueiCGpyM4sc1Z-OEYhhK7MYwsqx2dhvD_swbG9SYc53aHQlu0v9TDatO_3VZbzCHGL_smK/s320/DSCN3325.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081215634863267746" border="0" /></a>When i arrived in Milan, i was a bit sad, not only that i didn't have anyone there to host me (i was going to spend a sleepless night in the street), but also that it was already the end, i was tempted to keep on going, not for the love of cycling (i don't like it that much actually) but for the way of life that i was starting to get really used to. During the night, i roamed around for hours in the empty streets of Milan, it's interesting how cities reveal a completely different face during the night : overcrowded places become human deserts, people act strangely (it's impressive to see how many people go out cycling at 3 in the morning !). When the sun started rising, i went to the train station and started my trip back to France.<br /><br />My "adventure" was over but something was telling me that it was just a start...<br />New ideas of adventure are popping into my mind now, i know i'm capable of going for more difficult challenges. But not here, not in Europe. I'm attracted by wild, far-away places and i feel an urgent need to leave, like a natural impulse waking up violently after years of sleep. I know that so many experiences, so much adventure is out there, and every second that i spend here doing nothing is a portion of time, of life, lost forever...<br /><br />It's definitely true what Mike told me just after we shook hands : "Life is so boring if you don't challenge yourself " !<br /><br /><br />.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-66967320203644439862007-06-01T00:26:00.001+01:002009-05-02T00:24:23.774+01:00It's a wrap, folks !<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8qlMxeI6Z71rRPuUPCZvktMLsy7Lisn8Qi_VjD_ZZteOlXD46sHRyMUafNSp7EMC5YPmlEwyI8Cq-F9y4LbqruttcAz7mygXlpDHwcN_n10jDEFhRhze3gzn02T-dE3lNPIHjOvSOTw4/s1600-h/DSC00297.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8qlMxeI6Z71rRPuUPCZvktMLsy7Lisn8Qi_VjD_ZZteOlXD46sHRyMUafNSp7EMC5YPmlEwyI8Cq-F9y4LbqruttcAz7mygXlpDHwcN_n10jDEFhRhze3gzn02T-dE3lNPIHjOvSOTw4/s200/DSC00297.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070878375170959970" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwMBz4L9L5fxvcXPhvC0qEqsBCdtfALhT1xNmmVMELQhOluRjiXStzFeXq2V2OtWluP-u6B214qxR51yyXJCDCbpMg467foLFoH8_sJOzOzfuVEl_ifjN7kHChrGQMyJEAa6JvuYL70uE/s1600-h/DSC00279.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwMBz4L9L5fxvcXPhvC0qEqsBCdtfALhT1xNmmVMELQhOluRjiXStzFeXq2V2OtWluP-u6B214qxR51yyXJCDCbpMg467foLFoH8_sJOzOzfuVEl_ifjN7kHChrGQMyJEAa6JvuYL70uE/s200/DSC00279.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070878495430044274" border="0" /></a>The shooting of Babylon A.D. is over. The last scene we had to work on was cancelled...<br />Too bad, it was going to be the most exciting to shoot (parkour car-chase scene) ! I have loads and loads of photos but i'll wait before posting them since the film is not out yet.<br />I hope it'll be good !<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkWMVDhUV_-89JSzhvOc4q-YUpcEMPe_-HCTsUDEB-yEcE-KNNPwboXN45OiobrEeetgWO_y7WoQPGnUpKegOp_P6VgxZL70IOU2ZkiOhj08b_gOJ4tAqURst5XAEEUJtBUHDIkCV7vMz/s1600-h/100_0740.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkWMVDhUV_-89JSzhvOc4q-YUpcEMPe_-HCTsUDEB-yEcE-KNNPwboXN45OiobrEeetgWO_y7WoQPGnUpKegOp_P6VgxZL70IOU2ZkiOhj08b_gOJ4tAqURst5XAEEUJtBUHDIkCV7vMz/s200/100_0740.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070878250616908370" border="0" /></a>Just in case they ever read these lines, i wish to give a very warm and sincere thanks to a few great people with whom i've had the delightful pleasure of working on this film. It's not true what people say, you don't only find arrogant, empty people in the world of cinema, these persons are the living proof :<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNh7TU_pEyucaLKroTlSqos4YizMzdrrOfcQoAhlSNldaZOZUUQcWiXytO7vkl5FtS1NgGQBLcruD1471RGkmStPQHFh-8CpJIXIhUmHvglql0bFdu_gCnf3Hn08x1p71NSYyH1Z7t2otC/s1600-h/IMG_0722.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNh7TU_pEyucaLKroTlSqos4YizMzdrrOfcQoAhlSNldaZOZUUQcWiXytO7vkl5FtS1NgGQBLcruD1471RGkmStPQHFh-8CpJIXIhUmHvglql0bFdu_gCnf3Hn08x1p71NSYyH1Z7t2otC/s200/IMG_0722.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070878753128082050" border="0" /></a>Mathieu Kassovitz, Alain Figlarz and his team, Lambert Wilson, Jérome Le Banner, the very kind Michelle Yeoh and of course, my ten hacker/traceur friends !<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYlmMVlnNdd7jvU1rlpzSnDlW9QKCSzOPf6CAP_NRQlcz38MC9vcql9UIL9rEuHNs_kovumV-gnyIPRiTggsoawPkTA0_FtpvOLKjdNLeEg4UudKHO_tqWrFiPcBOBq6SQ4XYCNx-abWv/s1600-h/DSC00312.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYlmMVlnNdd7jvU1rlpzSnDlW9QKCSzOPf6CAP_NRQlcz38MC9vcql9UIL9rEuHNs_kovumV-gnyIPRiTggsoawPkTA0_FtpvOLKjdNLeEg4UudKHO_tqWrFiPcBOBq6SQ4XYCNx-abWv/s200/DSC00312.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070879045185858194" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSiUnYBkik6CvIv0fbejnf127l1t_AAOIg5ECZUkXIVAESSus5fbMdpuoS1ytgW1S9xz8xCKaUH2KJzUZoxlZPBDa30CklIMW13mnpfeJKXUm10chbwE3OhoW2cP2Jtr297w3do6tJggNK/s1600-h/DSC00312.JPG"><br /></a>Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-37273543247358035472007-05-08T14:34:00.001+01:002012-07-23T20:53:00.523+01:00Memories of an early Parkour experience<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGc-wHtxz_FwohePuE2nO-NXuQcA3uMlJO3pORjQpSlgZPNOJkkHWEp11xkCSbVqrHubQMq9jebCsfBuPm6SNzO-JHfCxAl2ZS5YpfPYb7infuWe44jCSWGbzRfSD0kJ0MfYNNrGuy3_92/s1600-h/Dame.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5062183294688405698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGc-wHtxz_FwohePuE2nO-NXuQcA3uMlJO3pORjQpSlgZPNOJkkHWEp11xkCSbVqrHubQMq9jebCsfBuPm6SNzO-JHfCxAl2ZS5YpfPYb7infuWe44jCSWGbzRfSD0kJ0MfYNNrGuy3_92/s320/Dame.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a>Just a few years ago, Parkour was no more than a little underground training method shared by a handful of friends. During the last few years it has exploded into a worldwide phenomenon at an uncontrollable speed, attracting all types of people with all types of motives. Parkour is all over the internet, in ads on TV and in magazines, even on the big screen in cinemas. Some brands are already using it to sell their “Parkour adapted” products. It’s only a matter of time before Parkour finds its way between the fitness and the skateboarding department in your local sports-shop.<br />
<br />
With no doubt, things have changed.<br />
<br />
I feel lucky to have discovered Parkour before the big bang, at a time where a new training video was an event, and when all traceurs knew each other. My first contact with Parkour was a television report: “Stade 2”, soon followed by the Yamakasi film. At this time, there was only one website about Parkour, Tim’s (Tim from the Pisteurs team).<br />
<br />
Only a very little amount of information was available (sometimes true, and sometimes not), making Parkour appear as some kind of lost art. We (the few guys aware of Parkour but not living in Lisses) didn’t really know who these incredible athletes were nor what they were really capable of... Parkour was wrapped in a fascinating aura of secret and mystery.<br />
<br />
My deepest dream, of course, was to find these guys and learn from them. I knew they lived in Lisses, but that wasn’t enough information. After a few months, I managed to get in contact with Mike and Johann (Stéphane Vigroux’s brother). I remember chatting on Msn with Johann and getting into some argument because of a crazy misunderstanding: he thought I wanted to defy the traceurs of Lisses !<br />
I was in the process of explaining that my intentions were at the opposite of this, that I just wanted to come and learn, in the most humble and respectful manner (my admiration for these guys had no limit ! ) when Stéphane took hold of the keyboard and said “If you want to come to learn, you’re very welcome.”<br />
<br />
I was 17, and at this age, traveling alone to another city to spend a few days with some strangers (especially strangers for whom you have the highest respect) was a stressful idea. I bought a train ticket, booked a hotel for three nights, and around September, I was on my way to Lisses ! I was, I think, the first guy to come from another town to train with them, so I didn’t really know what to expect...<br />
Most of all, I was hoping to meet David, probably because I hadn’t realized how good the other guys also were. After making Johann drive from train station to train station in Evry to pick me up (I hadn’t stopped at the correct one), I finally had the honor of shaking some real traceurs’ hands. We were off to Lisses, along with Mike in Johann’s tiny cheap car, it was around 10:30AM, the music was roaring out of the speakers, I was alone in the back seat getting tossed from one side to the other (the memory of Johann’s driving skills makes me shiver even to this day) while empty water bottles rolled at my feet... One of the three best training days of my life was just starting !<br />
<br />
My mind was full of dreams of crazy intense training, and I was really hoping to find this in Lisses. Once on location, we met with Seb Goudot and all four of us trained all day together. Strangely, I do not recall precisely what we did, but I do remember how impressed I was with their skills. They were only slightly older than me, and they had been training for no more than two years, but their level was already very high. Parkour’s reputation was definitely not only made on David Belle.<br />
So many times they showed me a jump that appeared to me as completely impossible, and each time they proved me wrong by making the jump before my wide-open amazed eyes, each time they broke a barrier in my mind, thus teaching me one of the key lessons of my life : forget about “impossible”, it doesn’t exist ! Nothing is ever impossible. If you trust yourself and if you work hard, you can achieve anything ! Nowadays, even in front of seemingly inhuman obstacles, I force myself to keep an open mind, “what if ...?”.<br />
<br />
During these three days in Lisses, even though I met with some of the other traceurs from Lisses, I trained mostly with Johann, Seb and Mike. They gave me their time and energy without asking for anything in return. At this period of my life, my self esteem was very low and I was desperately trying to find some confidence. I think about it now and I realize that I didn’t need much: just someone to tell me “it’s ok, it doesn’t matter if you miss, if you’re scared or if you don’t do it, there’s no shame, take your time there’s no hurry, etc...”, I just needed to see in the eyes of someone that I was capable of achieving something, that I wasn’t a hopeless piece of shit. I was like a little child, I wanted someone to hold my hand and to encourage me, and that’s exactly what these three guys did. They gave me their time and energy, and it changed so many things for me.<br />
<br />
It’s incredible sometimes how a little something for someone can represent a big everything for someone else... I know that i owe so much to them in regards to my present state of mind, they were the trigger that i needed to activate a long thinking process in my mind, leading me to do or to plan things today that appeared as unquestionably impossible a few years ago. For this, they have my eternal respect and gratitude.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgxyhbIT9DU9KAw4nyxJ-VVgzCi2klGES5nmonEP-WcIx4MbKWDH8FxOJcqIwBcmTUwAKV4qtMhiHZbWXk01ts2CFOb0mUzCKbqlauem5ql84x4PDQvW4G-YljLMqBsX7iR3U58OfzHv9c/s1600-h/Thomas+Mike.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5062183110004811954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgxyhbIT9DU9KAw4nyxJ-VVgzCi2klGES5nmonEP-WcIx4MbKWDH8FxOJcqIwBcmTUwAKV4qtMhiHZbWXk01ts2CFOb0mUzCKbqlauem5ql84x4PDQvW4G-YljLMqBsX7iR3U58OfzHv9c/s320/Thomas+Mike.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px;" /></a>They had found the perfect way to communicate with me : sometimes speaking nicely and kindly, and sometimes being strict assholes, yelling on me to push me further. They had some technique that they used often when I didn’t feel like making the jump: they just asked me in a very kind way if I wanted to give up. I felt shameful because I knew their opinion about giving up, so very often, I took the bait and got back in action.<br />
<br />
After the first day, my whole body was already exhausted... Johann once took me to the school in Lisses to do some physical training. Stéphane was already there along with several other guys, repeating some techniques. I was asked to hang onto the edge of the school’s roof and to go across the wall, it was no more than 15 meters long, but given my state of exhaustion, it became one of the most intense exercises I’ve ever done. Before even starting, my hands were in very bad shape, already covered with bleeding wounds while my arm muscles were making involuntary intense contractions. After about 1 meter, I wanted to stop, so I climbed to a “resting” position, with only my legs hanging over the edge. Johann was there on the roof, pushing me to continue, and all the other guys were there looking and probably making their opinion about me, so I felt I had to continue, and centimeter by centimeter I went across the damn wall, often climbing back into my resting position for extended periods of rest.<br />
<br />
All of these guys had been through some much more intense training than me, and there was in Lisses a taste for very hard work. They were all very good at finding a sneaky way to make every exercise, every jump even harder. They did it as a game, creating little “fun” challenges all the time. The emulation in the group was the best I’ve ever seen. If you didn’t train your ass off, you were called lazy ! If one of them made a jump, the others had to do it also. This, combined with the rule of three (Once is never, you must make a jump three times before you can call it a success) quickly turned them into very good traceurs.<br />
A good, positive emulation is the key to great progress when you train in a group.<br />
<br />
They spoke to me about their training under the rain or snow (that I would soon experience), they took me on a 4AM training in Evry (Mike and Johann had done this 3 or 4 times a week during the whole summer). They taught me about never being satisfied and always pushing myself a little more.<br />
<br />
I know that all the training I do or have done is nothing compared to what the first guys went through, especially David. His deeds are told like legends, since very few of his achievements were caught on film or photo : the 1000 jumps from the top of the “hammer” of the Dame du lac, his traversing across a whole portion of the old stone aqueduct every morning, etc. I heard a million stories like this about him. At the time I met him, he was starting to come out of his crazy training period but my respect for him was beyond all boundaries nonetheless (at the Damier, under the big tree -destroyed recently-, one night, we were all stretching and chatting when David offered me some cookies : ”Finish the box if you want” he said. I ate one and kept the rest in the box... It stayed at least one year on a shelf in my room, like a cherished relic).<br />
<br />
<br />
I met him a few times during these three days. He was, along with Stéphane, Kazuma, Seb Foucan and others forming the very unofficial “big guys’ group”, in regards to their advanced level compared to Mike, Jonann and Seb. But I would have to wait a while before doing some real training with him, since I was mainly training with the “little guys’ group”, and because of my extreme shyness to ask him for some training. I think I also wanted to deserve to train with him and the others, I didn’t want to push things, it would happen at the right time.<br />
<br />
I came back to my hometown of Tours, 220km from Lisses and started training alone, staying as close as possible to the Lisses method. I followed some training programs that the guys gave me, and often, I came back to Lisses to learn some new things.<br />
<br />
But little by little, things changed in Lisses. A series of stupid arguments divided the group and the great atmosphere changed into a bitter climate of conflict. Maybe this is one of the reasons that are motivating me to take some distance, to seek some challenges in other areas. I miss this lost ambience... There was no bullshit, no fake attitudes, no dodgy money schemes... just a bunch of friends with holes in their clothes and dirt on their hands, training their asses off together with the best spirit. Several people in Lisses still have this, but things are definitely different.<br />
<br />
I feel very far from all that’s happening nowadays: the freerun stuff, the competitions, the businesses... This is so far from what Parkour used to be... But once in a while, I’m delighted to meet some guys who share this great spirit even though they’ve only been into Parkour for a few years or less.<br />
Maybe I was wrong at the beginning of this post, maybe after all, Parkour is still this little underground thing that it was some time ago, maybe Parkour is no more than a genuine state of mind shared by a few people, and all the rest is just bullshit built around it.<br />
Don’t get me wrong, i’m not against anyone. If some people want to take Parkour to competitions, if they want to do crazy skateboarding moves, or if they want to sell Parkour gadgets then so be it and good luck to them, i wish success to everyone, but i just don’t feel like taking part in it.<br />
My motives are of a different kind : not better, not worse, but simply mine and close to this spirit that i found in Lisses several years ago.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
As a conclusion, here’s an excerpt from an old interview that Stéphane and David did. I think it’s directly related with what I’ve been speaking about. The journalist asked them if there were any similar points between Parkour and martial arts. Here’s what they answered :<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Stéphane:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">No, in the sense that martial arts, in France, are practiced in clubs that encourage performance, while the spirit and philosophy stop at the door of the dojo. When you’re outside, in the cold or under the rain, you must be 100% concentrated to make a jump... It’s in those moments that you learn humility, you forget your pride and your belts...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">David:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">There is some similarity with martial arts, but not here, not in a club where you pay 1000 bucks a year. But concerning the philosophy and the way of life, there are some common points.</span><br />
<br />
.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-62172775175072898032007-05-06T10:47:00.001+01:002009-05-02T00:25:01.101+01:00Synchronised wheels for a Lisses-Tours.<br /><br />_"Should we get back on our way ?"<br /><br />_"If we stay here, we're not moving."<br /><br /><br /><br />Yesterday (Saturday), i arrived at my home in Tours with two great friends from Lisses : Jonathan and Cisco. After a well deserved dinner and a relaxing hot shower, we litteraly fell asleep, completely exhausted.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78wZfE6bhLaIj0AZLDMPlrKfO_C14eeA7GnWC1HQdlsmtHwWBcAK-Vf-a-sDHfoaLxKHJBybPUwNXkiQhQBMLiPV8uNIr4dG9TnEnE2rIAAE-MXtFpkccClYfhvuRK8AiDMkxWXgdp6nP/s1600-h/tom.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78wZfE6bhLaIj0AZLDMPlrKfO_C14eeA7GnWC1HQdlsmtHwWBcAK-Vf-a-sDHfoaLxKHJBybPUwNXkiQhQBMLiPV8uNIr4dG9TnEnE2rIAAE-MXtFpkccClYfhvuRK8AiDMkxWXgdp6nP/s320/tom.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5061421560763623522" border="0" /></a>We had just rode about 245km on our bikes, starting from Lisses on Friday at 6PM. I had done this trip already several times alone some time ago, so i knew the way more or less by heart but for Jo and Cisco, it was a first. Just in case, we had written down a list of some towns and villages that we would cross, this along with my memory of the path were the only "maps" that we had with us. The weather was nice and warm, the sun was calmly starting to set, and we were happy to be travelling together on this mini adventure. For me, it was also the opportunity to test my new bike and equipement that i'll be using on my future travels. I was overloaded with junk that i had to bring back home, which wouldn't be any fun whenever we would have to ride uphill !<br /><br />After a little while, a huge grey stormy cloud appeared far in the distance, and slowly started catching up on us. We were, at first, hoping that it would change direction, but we soon realised it was coming straight on us. The lightning was already flashing. We could hear the deep pounding of thunder echoing close to us and the wind was<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSiGTgg-8cd7dXNGOTbWB5izRjldkEjMTv0HG8eN9OrzUqxYv6Zm1dhJAxb2FwzNGoBqHkFGJVlPai6nlMRR5kBM8lqclA67N4b2mTmdY-I8-mhdGTTYohepmVxO9JC4WAXrqz2382kT1Y/s1600-h/Jo+Tom.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSiGTgg-8cd7dXNGOTbWB5izRjldkEjMTv0HG8eN9OrzUqxYv6Zm1dhJAxb2FwzNGoBqHkFGJVlPai6nlMRR5kBM8lqclA67N4b2mTmdY-I8-mhdGTTYohepmVxO9JC4WAXrqz2382kT1Y/s320/Jo+Tom.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5061421809871726706" border="0" /></a> getting stronger. It wasn't a minute after we put on our rain clothes that a thick, heavy rain starting pouring on us, soon accompanied by whipping hailstones. The feeling was great, Jo and I were feeling so revived under this wild weather, but Cisco, who was a little bit sick didn't feel as enthusiastic ! We reached Etampes, where some portions of the streets were completely submerged with water while people were crazily running around to shelter. The rain kept on pouring during the whole evening, and after 3 hours and 60km of cycling, we stopped under some sort of little shelter in a small village (we hadn't brought a tent). I think it was meant to protect garbage bins from the rain or something like this (athough there weren't any bins in it) and, given our state of dirtiness, I think it wasn't far from it's purpose on that night !<br />We were soaking wet of course but luckily, in all the junk i was carrying, i had some clean dry clothes that i could lend to Jo and Cisco. After a quick "dinner" all three of us lied down on the two camping mats that we had brought, and managed to have a quite confortable, and most of all dry sleep.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRoGfXzEu5nRAla8tZD-htMnoCChg5FlVxfB24fMPEjSWehLU08H-poyz3ZTnCzh79ud3wfJVO4QE5sYf7EHXaursub0BIXYH8AbObLMJOkWQvPKiQn0QQhSjQj5YOHFdpWemm1_EFXJ1q/s1600-h/cisco.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRoGfXzEu5nRAla8tZD-htMnoCChg5FlVxfB24fMPEjSWehLU08H-poyz3ZTnCzh79ud3wfJVO4QE5sYf7EHXaursub0BIXYH8AbObLMJOkWQvPKiQn0QQhSjQj5YOHFdpWemm1_EFXJ1q/s320/cisco.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5061422003145255042" border="0" /></a>On the next morning, in order to keep some dry clothes available, just in case the rain would come back, we decided to put back on some wet stuff that would hopefully dry on the way. Cisco wasn't feeling like wearing wet shoes so he decided to travel with only his socks on !<br />Although the weather was very uncertain in the morning, we didn't have a drop of rain on that day.<br />We left our shelter around 9AM, determined to reach Tours on the same day. We stopped several times but only for short moments, in order to eat and drink (and rest a little bit). We were happy not to have a single mechanical problem and we took the wrong way only once, which made us do no more than 5km for nothing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMt7wg1Dqbo1PiwWOibs5hczog8OP2VNH9W_eo4vgyXZdyFuUlDfvHMhpvIeg0zA9PzlIaca_1TT8rLj1cAERY_E0_ZgAH7_DYzaxfhzwMbecaUYebBG0rhQdca_VfIBLFVCMifzTo5ggl/s1600-h/jo+tom2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMt7wg1Dqbo1PiwWOibs5hczog8OP2VNH9W_eo4vgyXZdyFuUlDfvHMhpvIeg0zA9PzlIaca_1TT8rLj1cAERY_E0_ZgAH7_DYzaxfhzwMbecaUYebBG0rhQdca_VfIBLFVCMifzTo5ggl/s320/jo+tom2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5061422187828848786" border="0" /></a>We joked a lot, laughed a lot, spoke a lot about different things, personnal or not, which was really nice for me since until now, i had always travelled alone on my bike. I enjoy a lot to be alone with myself, but sometimes, having company and especially the company of great friends is a warm and confortable thing.<br /><br />Very often, since i was often slowed down with the heavy stuff i was carrying on my bike, Jo and Cisco would take some distance and i would spend some time riding alone, until the next village, thinking about how great it is to travel like this.<br /><br />We kept on riding until it was dark, getting closer and closer at every second. At about 10PM the lights of Tours were finally in sight ! A few more efforts and we arrived at my home !<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwh0BS0ktE8DOXqeYlpxGYDWgDbSlsJGn_jDRpiaL3a__4qnPq6y1R_Ae1px1-0dLawN7JchKvSuciHVjLpF6onbbrcXWJ3gN98ktWw61iTOORpef0lUg7jLgjVxBHJTev9t-ahcWPHA3J/s1600-h/groupe.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwh0BS0ktE8DOXqeYlpxGYDWgDbSlsJGn_jDRpiaL3a__4qnPq6y1R_Ae1px1-0dLawN7JchKvSuciHVjLpF6onbbrcXWJ3gN98ktWw61iTOORpef0lUg7jLgjVxBHJTev9t-ahcWPHA3J/s320/groupe.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5061422441231919266" border="0" /></a>My speedometer indicates that in total we had rode during 13 hours and 40 minutes, and we had done 186 km on the day of Friday ! No wonder we were so tired yesterday evening !<br /><br />Cisco and Jo are on their way back to Lisses (by train this time), and I think i'll take a day of rest today.<br /><br /><br />Thank you very much my friends for travelling with me, i had a great time with you, and i hope we'll soon go on some other trip like this !<br /><br />And thanks to you, dear readers / friends for all your support !<br /><br /><br /><br />.Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462806965433421038.post-61124754650769399092007-04-12T11:30:00.001+01:002009-05-02T00:25:13.773+01:00Babylon AD : will it ever end ?!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0zr8CRPKH3tgkLaOGHUnJ47vx8tpuVdr_rIzCi8gsfMShLbfqzMwoDEwpaXn2U3mrAP6erBh4wHzJeWQZ642QUazqNV2SlRCIOWQYvHNJx0IkBRq0QTPBvL_igDkRrku9L_YfZ3FfOWOy/s1600-h/ThomasFactory.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0zr8CRPKH3tgkLaOGHUnJ47vx8tpuVdr_rIzCi8gsfMShLbfqzMwoDEwpaXn2U3mrAP6erBh4wHzJeWQZ642QUazqNV2SlRCIOWQYvHNJx0IkBRq0QTPBvL_igDkRrku9L_YfZ3FfOWOy/s200/ThomasFactory.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5052499827036127090" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWN0klLh77g1jCnZ41al23WhSVKBN6_aq9cgIuT7jAit4McLCBJsLfKXBaQFqgA1cuWFslAblNHrKr-7qgNrzZm7kDbkNPLfM1Ix1Wlakx807gZ9wHi0NsS7YzzfCmiCcxdO8VQI5Qa3Jp/s1600-h/badge+babylon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWN0klLh77g1jCnZ41al23WhSVKBN6_aq9cgIuT7jAit4McLCBJsLfKXBaQFqgA1cuWFslAblNHrKr-7qgNrzZm7kDbkNPLfM1Ix1Wlakx807gZ9wHi0NsS7YzzfCmiCcxdO8VQI5Qa3Jp/s200/badge+babylon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5056955502553647522" border="0" /></a>Maybe some of you are already aware of it : i am part of the 11 happy traceurs working on Mathieu Kassovitz' new action/anticipation film : Babylon AD.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNJBi43gpfYATjzgIfQyrqS9iDUn5ut3Ys4vSPpPZNwyVXcrRGqQJWIMQbLD9YRXB9248dRvcoxBNCZ3NHoYu9Z-jfkjP_YCZaXqA5HarXDjeBGmgWC4G6ziFtWEtnVBuui9tda6VJZES/s1600-h/Factory.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNJBi43gpfYATjzgIfQyrqS9iDUn5ut3Ys4vSPpPZNwyVXcrRGqQJWIMQbLD9YRXB9248dRvcoxBNCZ3NHoYu9Z-jfkjP_YCZaXqA5HarXDjeBGmgWC4G6ziFtWEtnVBuui9tda6VJZES/s200/Factory.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057310856154556386" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">We've already been twice in Ostrava (Czech Republic)to do some shooting, and we're heading back there on the 17th of april for the last remaining scenes. The film is not about Parkour but features a few short scenes involving Parkour. Release date, from what i've heared, is planned for either next november or january of 2008.<br /><br /><br />I'll post some photos and a summary when i get back to France.<br /><br /><br /><br />EDIT :<br /><br />After only 3 days of shooting, we're back in France before heading back again to Prague in just a few days (no wonder films cost so much !). What can i say about these 3 days ? The most boring ones in all the shooting !<br />I was carrying pots, and pressing buttons in the background from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. : yeah !<br /><br />Here are just a few photos, out of the millions we took on the sets. I'll update this message when the shooting will be completely finished.<br /><br /><br /><br />EDIT² :<br /><br />The shooting that never ends...<br /><br />We're back from Prague after just one day of shooting (which was supposed to be the last one), and we just learned that we still have 2 scenes to work on. I can't argue as it is a very exciting experience, but i really want to start travelling now !<br />Normally the remaining scenes shouldn't take too long to shoot. Thanks, by the way, to everyone for your very nice comments. I read them with all my attention and they make me very happy !<br /><br />Stay tuned...<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXoQw9ce4X60mZRGteLsgeurRJm4sfWIemyuCTo9GKGcBWTk3FuMAeuAhktT07M69RtSbidQl9lQeKju_RiXY9ILTJGWxrRQflYDXp1f7IXqsaSFE1NmMGDEBpIOsFPYYg_-eP5O23oF00/s1600-h/camera.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXoQw9ce4X60mZRGteLsgeurRJm4sfWIemyuCTo9GKGcBWTk3FuMAeuAhktT07M69RtSbidQl9lQeKju_RiXY9ILTJGWxrRQflYDXp1f7IXqsaSFE1NmMGDEBpIOsFPYYg_-eP5O23oF00/s200/camera.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5056167294450452850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2e4qEYej-VYrn0RKW8udrVP3GxtMyhLx2QSxShPbVALfOH-HEEDutrFa-hMy0-tf5jfkeQjjPySiAP_oHvTPhp0DDLZ4tfnUGcrQn4ovV1zoy0Alw7ckqQYS9BhSpAIQwxikzqV8Ou31/s1600-h/chess.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2e4qEYej-VYrn0RKW8udrVP3GxtMyhLx2QSxShPbVALfOH-HEEDutrFa-hMy0-tf5jfkeQjjPySiAP_oHvTPhp0DDLZ4tfnUGcrQn4ovV1zoy0Alw7ckqQYS9BhSpAIQwxikzqV8Ou31/s200/chess.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5056167126946728290" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOc00dNNeehb8KBslYSFJaJdy74FQJjr288x42XzITk2MOjEOUMfgs3IU94KPlYrhcWRg3a3OwBk08T8DZxJU_GX-wPnu8jvUgmvOeqlRmuH4_6piPbI-L5Tq4QUE3U_6sTrYcuvphvotI/s1600-h/seat.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOc00dNNeehb8KBslYSFJaJdy74FQJjr288x42XzITk2MOjEOUMfgs3IU94KPlYrhcWRg3a3OwBk08T8DZxJU_GX-wPnu8jvUgmvOeqlRmuH4_6piPbI-L5Tq4QUE3U_6sTrYcuvphvotI/s200/seat.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5056167766896855442" border="0" /></a></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcur97NcB5iCDfyZ_bQ5timaXvnNR_exsi6v_5K1W34ojeaZKRq1-8x1mfTQsa-aDPSt7Q24stZMQzHkb3xF1EOvZTUAmAEeIBsnTJU-isTxzHAFX2jHBwA1IBdb_WVd2aKjMHpL4lVEDV/s1600-h/ThomasMichelle.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcur97NcB5iCDfyZ_bQ5timaXvnNR_exsi6v_5K1W34ojeaZKRq1-8x1mfTQsa-aDPSt7Q24stZMQzHkb3xF1EOvZTUAmAEeIBsnTJU-isTxzHAFX2jHBwA1IBdb_WVd2aKjMHpL4lVEDV/s200/ThomasMichelle.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5057075276306631090" border="0" /></a>Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11261083954441003653noreply@blogger.com6