Matador Network's Blog, page 2158

Exploring Morroco's Pink City

MATADOR contributor Paul Sullivan has written and photographed two editions of the Hedonist’s Guide to Marrakech (Filmer). Here, he leads us through the medina and souks of the fabled Pink City, then into the nearby Atlas Mountains, over to the Atlantic coast, and finally to the edge of the Sahara.

This article was originally published on October 16th, 2009

1

The Medina of Marrakech

Marrakech is one of Morocco's oldest and most alluring cities. Despite the constant influx of tourists, the city has maintained an exotic Old World atmosphere - particularly within the ancient Medina, where map-toting tourists attempt to navigate the labyrinthine streets and locals go about their daily business as they've been doing for centuries. Image by Datmater.

2

Artisans

Traditional artisan skills such as weaving, metalwork, pottery, bread baking, and carpentry are all very much alive in Marrakech. In fact the Medina has its own "artisan quarter" where you can watch these craftsmen at work. Image by tuXnOwaR.

3

Traditions

A large part of Marrakech's exoticism are the abundance of old traditions and customs that are kept alive. Here a vendor sells groceries direct from his bicycle. Image by Aitor Garcia Viñas.

4

Prayers

Morocco is a Muslim country. Several times a day the familiar sound of the muezzin (call to prayer) sails through the air and devotees swarm to the many mosques (sitting outside if they're full), or simply kneel and bow their heads towards Mecca wherever they happen to be. Image by David Graus.

5

Djemaa El Fna

During the day, Marrakech's main square, the Djemaa El Fna, is a busy and fairly modern hub for shoppers, traders, and tourist touts (snake charmers, water bearers, acrobatic dancers). Come nighttime the place transforms into the largest open-air barbecue in the world, as the air fills with smoke and locals and visitors sit next to each other to chow down on everything from harira soup to seafood. Image by Rosino.

6

Escaping the city

Sometimes the heat and hassle of the Pink City can get too much. Fortunately, there are a number of easy and accessible escape routes. One of the most popular trips is up to the Atlas Mountains, just an hour or two's drive from Marrakech. The cool peaks provide beautiful respite from the chaos of the medina, and are full of Berber villages and superb walking routes.

7

Essaouira

Another possible day trip from the city is to Essaouira, a small, charming fishing town on the coast. It has good tourist infrastructure, and its distinctive white and blue medina is today a UNESCO heritage site. The seafood here, as you'd expect, is especially tasty. Image by Tiberio Frascari.

8

The Berbers

We also came across these Berber children, who were happy to receive our gifts of jewellery and biscuits in exchange for a photograph. They didn't pause too long given the encroaching rainstorm.

The red pill: 15 films guaranteed to blow your mind

MY ENGLISH TEACHER once told me that good short stories were the ones that spoke to universal truths.

These were the stories that go beyond mere characters and their antics through an imaginary universe. They offer an insight into the human condition: what is life? what is truth? what is reality?

The same could be said for memorable films. Only films convey their meaning in a more sensory way – using both audio and visual elements to enter the mind of the viewer. And perhaps even shift your perspective.

The following 10 films are chosen because they shed light on the forces at work within our lives, this very moment. They use satire and metaphor to approach the truths that would otherwise be too difficult to understand, or too terrifying to comprehend.

Most of all, these films challenge you to wake up.

The Truman Show (1998)

Jim Carrey plays Truman Burbank, the first child ever legally adopted by a corporation. His entire life is constructed inside a gigantic set, encompassing the picturesque town of SeaHaven. Everything is artificial — from the buildings, to the people, to the very sun above his head.

It’s too easy to call the film a satirical extension of “reality television.” Instead, Peter Weir deftly uses the motif of reality TV to present the “un-realities” of our own world. How the majority of us are psychologically controlled, through fear and comfort to, as Cristof says, “accept the reality of the world that we’re given.”

Read more: The Meaning Of The Truman Show

I Heart Huckabees (2004)

Imagine you were experiencing an existential crisis. But rather than work through it yourself, you hire existential detectives to help you track down the source of your suffering. Imagine one of those detectives is Dustin Hoffman with a bad haircut.

I Heart Huckabees is a quirky, rabbit hole of a film. Many of the characters, from the smarmy marketing executive (Jude Law), to the angry nihlistic firefighter (Mark Walberg) act out the various philosophies of the past thousand years.

Read more: Essay on I Heart Huckabees

Waking Life (2001)

What if you were chained in a dimly-lit cave your whole life where you saw only shadows of real things reflected on its back wall?

Suddenly you’re free and come into the sunlight. Would you recognize this new world as more real than your cave world? Would you be able to wake up?

Talk about a mind trip. Richard Linklater’s film Waking Life, is both visually beautiful and intellectually stimulating. The filmmakers use a ground-breaking technique (at the time) called ‘rotoscoping’ to colour over the images to create a dream-like animation.

Just a few of the ideas covered in unbroken dialogues: dreaming versus reality, existentialism, buddhism, situationism, post-modernism, the list goes on.

Read more: Essay on Waking Life

The Matrix (1999)

For obvious reasons, this was a paradigm-shifting film in the world of movies. But it also introduced a whole generation (myself included) to question the nature of reality. What is real? And how do you know it’s real?

The film’s other great contribution to mass society was the possibility that an unseen force is controlling our destiny. Morpheus reveals the ultimate truth that Neo’s mind can barely process: the Matrix is control. And the only way to break free? Open your mind.

Read more: Collection of essays on The Matrix

Dark City (1998)

Do you ever feel like you’re playing a role? Released 1 year before The Matrix, another film introduced the concept of a hidden beings controlling the destiny of humanity.

Dark City follows Rufus Sewell, a man framed for murder, as he’s pursued by faceless super beings that can manipulate time. Unfortunately for the beings, the protagonist is unwittingly gifted with their own powers of psychokinesis, and a challenge for domination ensues.

Read more: Dark City on Wikipedia

American Beauty (1999)

Horny suburban dad obsesses over his daughter’s friend, a vapid cheerleader. But there’s much more to this dark tale of the American dream gone awry.

Notable elements of this award-winning film include the dehumanizing effects of consumerism, the repressed sexuality of a gay military man, and the pot smoking defiance of Ricky Fitts, who sees the beauty of the entire universe in a single, swaying plastic bag.

Read more: American Beauty and the Idea Of Freedom

Fight Club (1999)

“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives.”

Tyler Durden’s words ring true in this dark, angry look at young people’s failures to interact with the value system they’re expected to uphold. Far from being a manifesto for violence, the film is rumination on the lengths we will go to experience real emotion, even if it means (metaphorically) bashing someone’s head in.

Read more Fight Club: A Ritual Cure For The Spiritual Ailment Of American Masculinity

Donnie Darko (2001)

Sometimes, to make something better, you’ve got to burn it all down and start over. Such is the relationship between Graham Greene’s The Destructors, and the cult classic Donnie Darko.

The film seamlessly weaves together notions of God, the non-linear nature of time, mind-control, and the freakiest bunny mask you’ve ever seen. It may take multiple viewings to discern a few messages from this multi-layered flick, but each time around will be just as rewarding.

Read more: Essay on Donnie Darko

Brazil (1985)

A dystopian, black comedy, Brazil reveals the terrifying indifference of bureaucracy in a totalitarian state. Although director Terry Gilliam claims never to have read 1984, the themes are too similar to dismiss.

Sam Lowry, a government cog in their machine, habitually escapes his dead-end job by imagining a fantasy world of romantic struggles.

Unfortunately, the system roots out dissidents with fervour. The villains in the film are neither malicious nor sadistic, they are merely doing their jobs.

Read more: Analysis of Brazil

Network (1976)

The news stopped being about enlightening the masses a long time ago.

Instead, news attempts to portray a world view that allows those in power to stay in power. This is never more true than 30 years after the film Network was released, when Howard Beale proclaimed “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

He called for viewers everywhere to stand up, and demand democratic control over their lives once again. The irony is even more biting when it’s revealed democracy, along with nations, peoples, and countries, no longer exists. The only thing left: the global system of finance.

Read more: The Rise of the Superclass

The Mindscape of Alan Moore (2003)

Even if you’ve never heard of him, you’re intimately familiar with comic book writer Alan Moore. He is the creator of the seminal comics Watchmen, From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and V for Vendetta, whose main character has become the main symbol of the Occupy and Anonymous movements.

Moore as a person is somehow more fascinating than the staggeringly brilliant work he’s created: he’s an anarchist, a magician, and he looks like Hagrid’s evil doppelganger. In this low-budget documentary, Moore explains how language is actually a form of magic, how our culture is changing so fast that it may be “turning to steam,” and how the imaginary world is, in a sense, just as real as the real world. Sound hokey? It won’t. Give it a watch. And read all of his books.

Watch  The Mindscape of Alan Moore for free on Hulu.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Who would have thought Jim Carrey would have made this list twice? Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry’s masterpiece starts as a couple (Carrey and Kate Winslet) are breaking up. Hurting from the split, they both rashly decide to hire a cut-rate company that provides a service: it deletes all memories of the other from their mind.

Most of the movie takes place inside Carrey’s mind as the brain-erasers are pulling Winslet from his memories. As Carrey travels back through their relationship, he begins to have second thoughts about having the procedure.

Aside from being an incredibly good romance, the movie plays with the concept of memory in ways you’ve probably never thought of before, and will have you thinking: would you delete anything from your mind?

Read more: The Neuroscience of  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Princess Mononoke (1997)

All of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies should be required viewing (check out Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, too), but Mononoke is best. The movie is about a cursed young man who gets involved in a war between industrialized villagers and the creatures and spirits of the forest.

While the movie has strong environmentalist undertones, it’s also notable in that Miyazaki refuses to make his polluting “villains” purely evil — he paints them as fully fleshed-out, complex human beings. It’s a movie that will last with you for a good long while.

Read More: The Best Environmental Epic: The Case for  Princess Mononoke

Tree of Life (2011)

You may hate it. You may find it impossible to follow. But you will not finish this movie and be in the same state of mind when you started it.

Terrence Malick’s fantastically ambitious Tree of Life focuses on a small family in Texas back in the 50’s, but it also manages to look at the Big Bang, the creation of the solar system, and the dinosaurs. The film is staggeringly complex, floating its own ideas about the existence of God, and about man’s fundamental choice between pursuing the state of nature or the state of grace. It’s a movie that could change your life.

Read More:  The Tree of Life: Need we choose between grace and nature?

Interstellar (2014)

Interstellar isn’t even in Christopher Nolan’s top five best movies (two of his better ones, Memento and Inception are similarly mind-blowing), but Nolan deserves credit for taking blockbuster money and doing something truly ambitious with it, and for refusing to show contempt for his audience’s intelligence.

Set a few decades in the future, Interstellar features a dying world. When a wormhole appears near Saturn, a pilot, Matthew McConaughey, agrees to take on the mission to discover a new habitable world for humankind. The movie isn’t perfect, plot wise, but its science is better than that of most sci-fi films, and it takes a rare optimistic stance on humankind’s fate: should we resign ourselves to the apocalypse? Or should we transcend our world and travel into the stars?

Read more: Neil deGrasse Tyson seemed to enjoy  Interstellar

What do you think of the films in the list? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Read this article en español

A shorter version of this article was first published on May 27, 2008.

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16 ways to spot a douchebag at the club

We’ve all encountered these self-entitled, self-loving douchebags. Here are the top ways in spotting the worst of the worst in a nightclub. These are our RED FLAG ALERTS!

1. He’s wearing sunglasses in the club. His future is probably not very bright, so the idea of wearing glasses in a club screams “HE’S A DOUCHEBAG!”. He’s either hiding that he’s wasted, rollin’ on molly or just an outright idiot.

2. He’s drinking straight from the bottle of champagne at the VIP table like he’s a frat boy.

3.He’s taking pictures with his friends or with girl throwing up the peace sign or pointing at the person he’s taking a picture with (or himself).

4. He’s a 30k millionaire and he’s trying to inflate his ego and act like he has money. He thinks it’s a good idea to cash in his hundred for 5 dollar bills and begins to make it rain and throw the money into the crowd.

5. He has a blown out haircut that also can be used as a weapon for stabbing when in roid rage fights.

6. He is wearing a tight, low-cut t-shirt to display his pecks and cleavage. This is the guy who thinks he’s prettier than you. The deeper the cleavage, the bigger the douche.

More like this What bartenders actually think of your drink order

7. His tan is brighter than the orange you ate for breakfast. Maybe he’s color blind?

8. He’s seen walking around the club trying to pick up every single girl. His objective is the law of averages: he figures he will finally score with someone as long as he macs on enough girls.

9. He has a YOLO tattoo or even worse, a sun tattoo around his navel.

10. He won’t stop talking about how much money he makes. He also pulls out his iPhone and proceeds to show you photos of his cars that were clearly ripped off the internet.

11. His shirt or jeans has any of the following attached to it: beads, sequins, rivets, pins, gems, rhinestones, studs, metallic paint, or crystals.

12. He’s wearing a shirt, tank-top or hat that says “I love sluts” or “I party with sluts.”

13. He’s wearing a wife beater/tank top in a nightclub.

14. He has patterns of any sort in his haircut or beard.

15. He’s wearing rosary beads or any other religious paraphernalia, yet has no religious affiliation, except for praying for forgiveness for bringing home a “grenade” last night.

16. His dance moves include fist-pumping and grinding women from behind.

So there you have it. Guys, we love you but we are tired of answering the phone from the past. 2005 called and they want their douchebags back.

-S & L

Compiled by Lisa Millar-Jones and the crew at Caprice Nightclub and republished here with permission.

Chile's best coastal towns

Photo: Alobos life

Viña del Mar

Photo: Bruno Trevisan Dini

Since the 1800s, Santiaguinos have flocked to Viña’s beaches to escape the city’s summer heat.

If you don’t mind a crowd (and the towering condominiums), the beach and accompanying boardwalk offer a variety of treats: sunning yourself on a stretch of sand, a seaside artesanía (handmade crafts) market, and smaller stands with refreshments and ice cream.

Vendors wander the beaches selling cuchuflis and dulces. You can watch sand sculptors turn tiny grains into octopi, buffaloes…even characters from the Simpsons.

Since the roads can be congested, a bus from Santiago is most convenient. The ride from the University of Santiago station takes an a hour and a half, and you arrive in Viña, a twenty-minute walk from the beach.

La Caleta (Pan de Azucar National Park)

Photo: Esther Lee

Pan de Azucar is a beachside national park located in the Atacama Desert. Though technically too small to be considered a town, it’s too pretty not to be on this list.

Bring your tent and for 3,500 pesos a night you can sleep under a cabana at Piqueros with a view of the beach to the west and the stark beauty of the Atacama to the east.

Or for even less, camp in the more crowded, party-friendly sites at Piqueros Norte and La Caleta. La Caleta is the “town” in Pan de Azucar, with two restaurants and a mini-market for stocking up on essentials.

Once you’ve had your fill of beach fun, take a boat tour for 5,000 pesos (about $9) to the island where 5,000 penguins have taken up residence. The boat gets close enough to see rows and rows of them, the juveniles still puffy with feathers and the couples standing together in the shade.

You can also hike up to the mirador for a killer view of the desert plain as it spreads out against the coastline.

Isla Negra

Photo: :RoMaNo:

Isla Negra is the site of Pablo Neruda’s favorite beach house. The famous Chilean poet referred to himself as a “cosista,” one who collects “things.”

His retreat is filled with glass paperweights, masks from around the world, colorful dishes — anything that caught his eye.

Outside, you can admire the view that inspired Neruda’s many poems and walk the beach.

The bus from Santiago drops you five minutes from the main highway, with nearby restaurants serving up quality fish like corvina and congrio.

More like this: Ten places not to miss in Santiago de Chile


Algarrobo

San Alfonso del Mar, the largest swimming pool in the world. Photo: Kyle Pearce

Located to the south of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, Algarrobo’s tall waves and expansive sand provide a peaceful respite from the crowds, especially the farther you wander from downtown.

Rent kayaks, swim in calm waters, and take a ride on a raft, all within a protective alcove that makes the ocean look like a lake. Near the private condominium resort San Alfonso del Mar, walk for miles on the beach and lay out in relative isolation — a delightful alternative to normally crowded Chilean beaches.

While you’re there, take a peek at the resort, which claims the Guinness Book of World Records title for largest swimming pool in the world.

Cachagua

Photo: Grauke/O

Located 100 miles northwest of Santiago, Cachagua is a small town with a two-mile beach and not much else.

If you want to relax and enjoy the sun and the waves, Cachagua is the perfect spot. If the water is too cold to your taste (and it will likely be, thanks to the Humboldt current coming from Antartica), take a boat to the nearby rocky island Monumento Isla Cachagua to observe the Humboldt penguins that nest there from September to April. Horse-ridding and surfing are also very popular activities.

Zapallar

Photo: Benja Solar

Five miles north of Cachagua is Zapallar, a secluded small town that is the favourite destination of the weathly inhabitants of Santiago.

Don’t let Zapallar’s population scare you away and enjoy the beautiful coastal trail that provides a view of the ocean like no other. The beach is usually quiet, so it’s great for those in need of tranquility; however, the water is still very cold.

Valparaiso

Photo: DGTXl

Valpo, as it’s affectionately known to locals, is a place of details.

Every corner, every nook offers something different and new: a clothing flea market, a gigantic mural, a purple house, a rustic restaurant with unobstructed views of the ocean, a coffeeshop that serves black coffee and refuses to offer Nescafe (instant coffee is ubiquitous in Chile).

It’s a city that must be walked. Take the ascensor accessed from Esmeralda Street and wander Cerro Concepcion, where you’ll find Café Concepcion on Papudo. The restaurant — and the hill for that matter — has a spectacular view of the bay.

Near the main plaza, order buttery Mil Hojas ice cream at Vitamin on Avenida Pedro Montt #1746.

La Serena

Photo: Aldo Tapia

La Serena is a beachtown, plain and simple. Its broad sidewalks and grid layout are easy to navigate, its people chill.

Visit Mercado La Recova for handmade jewelry, musical instruments, clothing, and plenty of food. Be sure to purchase a jar of homemade manjar, a sweet cream made from condensed milk popular in Chile.

Looking for the beach? Avenida del Mar, the coastal road, provides access to at least 10 of them.

A surfer's guide to Asturias, Spain

Photo by Jose Rebollar

ASTURIAS, THE PROVINCE on the northwestern coast of Spain just east of Galicia and west of Cantabria, is a narrow strip of mountains and coast line, creating steep cliff drops to the Atlantic Ocean.

The whole coast is a series of cliffs giving way to scallop-shaped sand or pebble beaches.

A province of misty green mountains, blue waters, bagpipes, prehistoric caves, Bronze Age dolmens, Iron Age Celtic settlements, and pre-Romanesque churches, Asturias is unlike other parts of Spain. Amidst this ancient smorgasbord, there are dozens of surf spots, some famous but most only known by the locals.

To catch the best waves, you need to travel here in the fall, winter, and spring, which happen to fall in the cheaper off-peak season. There are enough surf spots in Asturias that you can find your own and avoid the localism at the more famous places, like Rodiles and Tapia de Casariego.

Asturians are both sophisticated and earthy people. It is a land of human-scale cities and many, many rural villages set in rolling green hills with views of the big blue Atlantic.

The Picos de Europa, one of Europe’s best preserved natural mountainous areas, sits as a backdrop. City, village, coastline, and mountain are all interconnected by new roads and old footpaths.

It’s the footpaths that are fascinating. At first you may not even see them. I didn’t until I asked for directions many times from locals and kept getting these organic responses with shortcuts through fields and passages along narrow worn paths.

That was when I realized the world of paved roads was secondary to locals. For a surfer, what these footpaths indicate is that the more challenging access to beaches pretty much clears out rabble rousers who might crowd the waters if access were easier.

The true soul surfer can find his or her sweet spot pretty much unmolested.

Photo by Lares

How

Part of the fun of surfing in Asturias is discovering the foot paths that lead to little-known surf spots. I’ve been exploring surf in Asturias for over ten years and have found the best ones through patient exploration into wonderfully wild terrain.

I first go out for exploratory walks along footpaths, asking locals for their expertise as I go. Sometimes I’ll fall into a path serendipitously. And sometimes paths are a dead end at a cliff drop, a mislead forged by the ubiquitous free range goats who also use the paths to get to their own slice of nirvana.

Over the years of trekking and surf hunting in Asturias, through trial and error, I’ve also unearthed three indispensable books that help me unearth the wild reality of Asturias, her footpaths and her surf spots. (They are noted below.)

Having located your access route, checked the surf, and talked to the locals for their invaluable local knowledge, you can fall into a joyous rhythm of coming and going from the surf to the village where you’re staying and to the local cafes and restaurants.

Food & Drink

The Spanish are fierce believers in the basic human right to eat and drink well. They are gregarious and generous people and their villages often have no less than four bars and cafes, even in a population of 300 or less.

The offering gets bigger and headier the bigger the town. In all contexts, the food is always locally procured, fresh, delicious, and affordable. You save a lot of money but get the same quality by ordering the fixed price menus (menus del dia), which are three courses (a starter, an entrée, and dessert), often for around 10-12 euros, including wine and bread.

Asturias is in apple country and produces hard cider, called sidra, a crisp, dry, frothy, apple and sun infused elixir. And because wine country is not far away, including the famous Rioja wine country, really good wine is madly affordable.

Villages across the country, including in Asturias, have weekly open air markets, a good time to see what the locals produce as well as purchase fresh, often organic provisions for eating in and picnicking out.

Photo by Cangues

Playa de San Martin

One of my favorite spots is Playa de San Martin.

Just west of the fishing town of Llanes in eastern Asturias, San Martin can be reached only via footpaths from the village of Celorio.

San Martin is set amidst a cliff that opens to an expansive sandy beach with giant stone formations carved by the ocean. It is a beach break that picks up the swell well and is best at low tide. Winds come in from the south, southeast, and sometimes northeast. Waves are rapid and ridable with variable peaks.

Localism is nearly nonexistent even though this is a beloved spot among surfers from Llanes. If you go, act like a good guest so that localism will remain low here. (The fact holds that most localism in northern Spain emerges from arrogant behavior from visitors and as such incites a local counter-response…)

After a session in the water and climbing up the cliff path that got you there, head back to Celorio’s village beach and enjoy frothy beers and local tapas at the beachside café.

Recommended Tapas

Calamares, shrimp sautéed in garlic (gambas al ajillo), chorizo in cider (chorizo a la sidra), and when in season, little fried green peppers with sea salt (pimientos de Padrón).

Photo by Victor Gomez

Green Note

Most Asturians are environmentalists who love their wild places. Villages and towns have clusters of bins that are for recycling and for trash. Use them.

Respect the wild and human places alike. Asturians are very warm people and if you act with warmth and respect, you will find yourself quickly adopted and will find the life so serene and complete that you’ll be hard pressed to leave.

Camping Sites and Surf Shops

Called “Campings” these sites are sprinkled throughout Asturias. The Guía del Surf listed below tells you when a surf spot is near a camping site. It also lists surf shops and rentals near different spots.

Renting a Rural House

Better than camping, I think, is renting a rural apartment or farmhouse, which in the off-season can be remarkably cheap and much drier and warmer than camping: Asturias is famous for rain in all seasons.

Once you settle on the part of Asturias’ coastline you want to explore (I recommend the area around Ribadesella and Llanes), you can explore the local rentals via Toprural: select Asturias and go in more locally from there.

These sites list rural rental properties by type and price and number of occupants. Each listing shows what it is and tells you how the owner wants to do business. Some owners want an advance deposit while others trust you’ll show up and pay on arrival (so it’s a good idea to do so!). These places often break down to 35-80 euros a day for two to four people.

Top Rural also lists albergues, which are dormitory-style accommodations in rural areas as well as towns. Costing around 8-20 euros a night, these can be bargains for a dry bunk and a great way to meet people.

One-star hotels, hostels, and pensiones can also be bargains in the off-season. Most family run, clean, and simple hostels run from 30-55 euros a night for a double. Spanish standards for cleanliness are pretty high so it is a great rarity to find a cheap place that looks it.

Local Buses and Trains

The main local bus company is ALSA and their buses go pretty much everywhere in Asturias. If you need to get to a little village near the bus route, just tell the driver and he’ll pull over at the nearest stop to your destination.

The website for ASLA only shows timetables for long trips. The more local ones are best discovered at the town bus stations or at village bus stops.

FEVE, the regional train, is a delightful choochoo with room at one end or the other of its two linked cars for boards and bikes. It runs along the coast from Bilbao in the east to Ferrol in the west. You can find the timetables and destinations at their website.

Both ALSA and FEVE run from Asturias’ main cities (Gijón, Oviedo, and Avilés) to the countryside and coast.

Photo by Pedro Menendez

Those Three Precious Books for Trekking and Surfing in Asturias:

1. Aeroguía del Litoral Cantabria y Asturias, published by Editorial Planeta, 1999. It now comes in a cheap pocket size version (bolsillo) and is a terrific photographic guide of aerial shots of the entire coastline. It helps locate beaches, their contours and breaks, and if you look closely, the footpaths meandering along the coast. It costs around 11.50 euros.

2. Guía del Surf en España by José Pellón.

This is a great resource for what beaches are good for surfing, where the camping sites and surf shops are, and what each surf spot’s conditions are. Online it goes for anywhere between 18.50 to 24.50 euros.

3. Guía de las Playas de Asturias by Javier Chao Arana.

This little book is packed with terrific detailed information on each of the hundreds of beaches in Asturias.

It breaks it down to a page per beach, going over each place’s physical characteristics, water quality, sports activities, access, camping grounds, and food establishments. It costs around 12 euros.

Okay, so they’re all in Spanish. But surf and water talk is practically an international language and English speakers with a little Spanish dictionary will get lots of information out of these.

The information in these books is invaluable regarding trekking and surfing the local terrain. Some good online sources for these books are: Casa de Libro; Libreria Nautica; and Agapea.

You can also find them on the ground, in bookstores (librerias) and surf shops in Asturias.

Two Parting Tips

The tide is dramatic in Asturias so be prepared for dramatic water level changes. In some places, the beach entrance will be completely under water and altered at high tide. Stay aware of the tides.

If you really want to surf Rodiles and Tapia de Casariego, these tips still apply. But be forewarned, if you are going to paddle out when that river mouth left at Rodiles is tubing and the locals are there, you better be damn good and not waste their time when it’s your turn.

Know the rules of the water and uphold them for yourself even if others don’t. Be impeccable. And if you’re not good enough to be out there, get out of the way and surf the smaller but fun stuff peeling down the beach (that’s where you’ll find me).

This article was originally published on May 1, 2008.

What not to say to trans* people

Photo: agatha sea

1. What’s your birth name?

What’s your winter weight? Oh, is that rude of me to ask? Is it rude for me to speculate that you may be a different size in the winter than in the summer? Is it completely misogynist to suggest that your shape should not change? Ever? You’re right. Those feelings you just felt, that’s how I feel when you feel like you’re entitled to know my birth name. Would you also like to know my social security number? It’s hilarious to me when people get uptight when I ask who they voted for, but asking me something deeply personal about myself is totally fair game. Transitioning means that you have left behind that person. Yes, part of whoever you were born as, and who you grew up as (depending on when you transitioned) will always be a huge part of you, but that kind of sharing is for family, friends, and my therapist.

2. So what does it feel like?

I actually don’t fully understand what this question means. I wasn’t rebirthed from a dragon’s flaming vagina. I just like, you know, started living life as the person I was meant to be. So I guess, it feels great? How does that brand new job you just landed feel? How does finding out that your crush is totally crushing on you too feel? How does playing with a gaggle of puppies in an open field feel? Like pure joy? Accomplishment? Happiness? A little scary, but a whole lot of perfect? That’s what it feels like.

3. What do your parents think?

What do YOUR parents think about that time you drank too much, got into a cab, and thought that the touch screen was actually mobile karaoke? I’m an adult — while my parents have some bearing on my life, they are not the be all and end all of who I am and how I am. Of course they know. But mad, sad, happy, or impartial — it really would not have mattered. Shall we talk about your family secrets now? No, that would be rude? Oh, well I just figured, because you think we’re the best of friends, we were equally sharing. Me being transgender is not like you deciding whether or not to join the Peace Corps. It wasn’t a choice, so neither mommy nor daddy really mattered. Their support? The best. But this is who I am, with or without them.

4. So who do you date?

Do you have a comfy couch and maybe an eighth of bourbon? Because this could take a while. Being trans*, that’s my gender. Who I date, my sexuality — they aren’t mutually exclusive. I wish I could leave it at that, but I don’t think I’ve gotten you yet. You know how one of your friends likes buff guys, but your other friend is totally into lumbersexuals, and all you really want is a guy you can laugh with, but all of you went to the SAME high school? The fact that you all share the same alma mater has nothing to do with the guys you like.

Let me put it in (kind of) scientific terms: Gender is that thing that was slapped on your birth certificate. It was determined by what was between or not between your legs. If you are a trans* person, that gender marker was wrong — psychologically you were born with a different gender than your baby body represented. Sexuality refers to who you want to sleep with, settle down with, Tinder with, etc.

5. I keep seeing all of this transgender equality stuff in the news. Is it really that big of a deal?

So glad you asked! And with a smile on your face. You amazingly progressive person, you. Yes! Yes times a million, yes to the moon and back, yes infinity! The whole equality thing? Huge deal, seeing as I can get fired in most states for being trans* — that, I’m sure you can imagine, is a huge fucking deal.

Also, not to stay in this dark place but you did bring it up, did you know that a 2013 report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs found that LGBT people of color were nearly twice as likely to experience physical violence than their white counterparts? And according to the Anti-Violence Project, transgender women made up 67 percent of anti-LGBT homicides in 2013. So yes, us gaining not only equal rights, but public acceptance is kind of a big deal. Remember how people used to think that women were second-class citizens? This is kind of like that.

6. I have so many questions. Who do I ask?

I know when I have a lot of questions, I usually turn to the internet before anything else. It kind of makes it clear to me what questions are actually okay to push out of my mouth piece. After the internet I usually like to confide in my friends, though I don’t know if your friends are as cool as mine. I’m sorry if they aren’t. Look, whether or not you have ever realized it, you have met a transgender person. You probably don’t even remember their name, and if you’re being honest, who it was. So what does that mean? Trans* people are just like everyone else you’ve ever met. We are human. Everything else is just a formality.

Story behind the shot: Kokkinias, GR

Photo by the author.

In the midday heat in Evia, Greece, I scaled up this cliff in flip-flops and a heavy camera bag. I felt like the biggest jerk on the planet. Stumbling over the jagged rocks, I reached the crest and sat down to enjoy the view. I looked over Kokkinias Beach where my mates were chilling out enjoying cold beers and saw this guy in a kayak paddling out for his daily workout. “What a lucky bastard,” I thought.

I snapped this shot with my Nikon D700 and the nikon wide angle 16-35mm lens and a circular polariser. I gingerly descended the rock face to join my friends — luckily, in one piece.

A unique journey in Laos

Photo by Dietmar Temps

FIRST, EITHER FLY OR TAKE THE overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, the heart of Northern Thailand.

Chiang Mai is the first stop on a well-trodden tourist trail that runs to Luang Prabang, south to Vientiane, and back to Bangkok. Thousands of travelers funnel through this route each year with hardly a glimpse out the window of their air-conditioned buses.

You are not just another backpacker. You are looking to experience something different, something that will push you beyond your comfort zone and provide a glimpse of the ‘other Lao’, a strange, exotic, and immeasurably beautiful part of the world that exists a mere hundred meters from the path so many travel.

Sunset on the Mekong. Photo by Jack Zalium.

Houay Xai

We must first head north, away from Chiang Mai to Houay Xai, a small town situated on the Lao side of the Mekong River across from Chiang Khong, Thailand. Houay Xai is just a small port town, a jumping off point for people looking for boats down river to Luang Prabang.

You see the river boats crammed with locals and tourists that will chug downriver at a painfully slow pace, and you turn away. You look to the mountains and hills to the north of the town and can feel something pulling you inland, inexplicable and unrelenting.

The Gibbon Experience

In Houay Xai you will find the offices for the Gibbon Experience, quite possibly the most unique and exhilarating wildlife experience in Southeast Asia.

Located in the Bokeo Nature preserve, a 123,000 ha area of protected forest in one of the most remote corners of Laos, this project is fully operated by the local Lammet and Hmong communities giving visitors the opportunity to understand their dynamic relationship with the forests.

Mobility is granted through the thick forest via 11 zip lines spread out across three ridges with tree houses in the canopy as accommodations. The project is quickly becoming one of the more popular in the country, so making reservations a few weeks in advance is recommended.

Bookings can be made through the Gibbon Experience website.

Life in Luang Nam Tha. Photo by Anne Roberts.

Luang Nam Tha

A hard day of riding the bus through the forests of the Nam Ha Biodiversity Area on narrow dirt roads brings you to the small north western town of Luang Nam Tha.

Located in a broad valley on the Nam Tha River, and surrounded by tranquil rice fields and hills, Luang Nam Tha is one of the more scenic locations in northern Lao.

As a recipient of large amounts of funding from the United Nations Development program, Luang Nam Tha has developed into a major center for eco-tourism and is a significant destination for outdoor enthusiasts.

To many, however, the projects have begun to develop a somewhat “formulated” feel – superficial outings that focus on parading ethnic groups about in traditional garb while hawking cheap trinkets are quickly becoming the norm; experiences that provide little opportunity to gain any insights into the people’s lives.

Also, rapidly expanding rubber plantations are eroding the natural areas that once made the area so attractive. A quick browse among the tourist shops along the mainstreet, all sporting advertisements for identical sounding “tribal hill treks” says it all and you find yourself headed out of town on the first bus down the highway to Oudomxay Province.

The Standing Buddha of Oudamxay. Photo by Collin Key.

Oudomxay

Arriving in Oudomxay town can be a bit of a shock. A cursory glance will give the strong impression that this is not a tourist destination. Oudomxay is little more than a highway truck stop with a single strip of old buildings on either side of the highway covered in dust from recent construction and situated in a deforested valley.

Over the last few years, with assistance from a number of international non-governmental organizations, tourism opportunities have been slowly developing in Oudomxay.

Though lacking in the glamor and glitz of more established projects in Luang Nam Tha or Luang Phabang provinces, the tourism opportunities in Oudomxay are new enough to ensure a unique and genuine experience for intrepid travelers.

The most interesting option is an overnight hike to Khmu villages in the highlands of the La District. These communities represent the ‘other Lao’, the part of the country those of us who have lived and worked in the country refer to as the ‘working Lao’, the part that hasn’t been overtaken or transformed by monolithic tourism operations.

The working Lao is a place that has remained largely unchanged in the last 150 years. The best part about these communities is that visitors are still viewed and accepted as guests, not just as travelers, and certainly not as tourists.

Into The Heart Of Lao

The trip starts in the early morning at the offices of the Tourism Authority. (Backpacks and large bags can be safely stored in a locked room in the office).

You are met by a local Khmu guide in a truck and then taken 30km on the highway to the north into the La District, one of the poorest areas in the province.

From there the truck gets off the main highway and drives 12km down a dirt and mud road that barely clings to the side of hills overlooking extensive rice paddies.

Eventually the truck comes to a stop at an indiscriminate bend in the road, and you can’t help but wonder why the guide has chosen this spot to park the vehicle. The guide shows you the trail head hidden at the roadside, just a small, single track running into the forest.

Photo by Collin Key.

For more than two hours you hike through the jungle, crisscrossing a small stream that leads to the village, cut through a narrow, steep valley with thick untouched patches of old growth subtropical rainforest obscuring the sun overhead. This path is the only access to the village, and you meet school children who nimbly pass you by on their way home from another week at school.

You arrive at the village site in a burst of sunshine and green as you step out from the forest and see the thatched and bamboo huts settled on a small hill at the center of the valley.

Idyllic and serene, are words that seem wholly inadequate to you as you walk the last few hundred metres into the village centre, seeing the sunlight slide down the greenery of the surrounding hills and settle around the community in a light golden haze.

The village is largely empty at this time as the residents are all still out working in the fields further up the valley. You are taken to the home of the Phorban (village father) and invited to sit in the shade under the house to wait, marveling in wonder at the magical place.

That night, after the villagers have returned from the fields, and everyone, including yourself, has taken their daily bath in the local stream, you share a meal with the Phorban and his family.

The food is simple, boiled chicken in a broth with vegetables taken from the forest, and a side of sticky rice all shared from a mat placed on the floor.

Through your guide, the Phorban tells you the story of his village, their daily efforts to eke a living from the surrounding hills and fields.

The floor, made from a woven matt of bamboo, dips and shakes with every movement, the vibrations tingling up your spine to the base of your neck, giving you the sensation that every person in the room is interconnected, inseparable.

When the women across the room rock back and forth screaming with laughter, or when the men holler and bellow, encouraging a friend to drink from the communal jar of rice whiskey, you imagine that you can feel their emotions, their joys, hopes and dreams for the future, pulsating through the strips of bamboo bark like notes on vibrating piano strings, tickling your feet, extolling you to release yourself and join them in this special moment of community.

You do, and in that moment you realize that, when you leave, a small piece of your heart will remain in this beautiful valley with these beautiful people.

A young woman in Phongsali. Photo by Andre and Marie Springer.

Phongsali

After emerging from the forests you have a decision to make. You can return to Oudomxay and catch the bus to Luang Phabang, or you can continue your divergence from the beaten path and head to Phongsali province, a 31/2 hour bus ride to the north.

The town of Phongsali is no more pretty or entertaining than Oudomxay was, but that is not the point in visiting this area.

After a nights rest in one of the towns simple hotels, catch a sawngthiew (a truck with a cover and benches in the back for transporting large groups of people) to the town of Hat Sa, about an hours ride away. From here, numerous boats make daily trips down the Nam Ou River to Muang Ngoi Neau and a seat will cost $10.

(If pressed for time, Muang Khua is a good halfway point for catching boats on the Nam Ou between Oudomxay and Phongsali.) .

The ride is long, taking between 7 and 10 hours, and cramped, but this is among the most beautiful stretches of river in Lao, and you are almost guaranteed to be the only foreigner on board.

Mist over Muang Ngoi Neua. Photo by Anne Roberts.

Muang Ngoi Neua

You will be thrilled and relieved to see this small village on the banks of the Nam Ou appear from around a bend. Muang Ngoi Neua, located one hour by boat north from Nong Khiew, is quickly growing in popularity among tourists, but it has managed to maintain its charming atmosphere none the less.

With mountains towering on each side, and a number of decent accommodations and restaurants, the village makes for a wonderful place to relax and recuperate after a long boat ride.

Editor’s Note: Check out Justin Landrum’s Guide to Muang Ngoi Neua.

Nong Khiew

Nong Khiew is a bustling town straddling the Nam Ou River and situated around the Highway 1 bridge. There are a number of hotels that have huts overlooking the river ranging from simple bamboo to upscale rooms charging as much as $18 US per night.

Western style food is available – a definite relief after so many meals of sticky rice and meagre soups of vegetables and broth. Charter boats to Luang Prabang cost about $100, or there are daily ferries that run downriver to Luang Prabang for $10.00 a seat.

It’s another seven hour boatride, though the views are still quite spectacular. For those in a hurry, Sawngthiews can be hired to take you into Luang Prabang within a few hours.

Pha Pon Golden Mountain near Luang Prabang. Photo by hleung.

Luang Prabang

End of the line! A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luang Prabang is a beautiful city replete with boulevards and French colonial architecture. Numerous restaurants and hotels offer respite from your many days in the forest.

Daily flights are available back to Bangkok.

This article was originally published on May 12, 2008.

How to spot a Brazilian

Photo: alobos Life

1. We’re yelling.

Brazilians might start off at a normal voice level, but by the end of the conversation we’re usually shouting, especially when trying to make a point. If there’s a Brazilian group, we’re probably screaming over each other.

2. We’re bundled up when it’s 70 degrees.

Brazilians know two seasons: summer and the dead of winter.

3. We’re crazy aggressive drivers.

It can be thrilling and terrifying to ride in a Brazilian’s car. We have short attention spans and are never afraid to lay on the horn. We’re used to the chaotic traffic in Brazil so we’re zipping in between cars, cutting corners, and getting within inches of other vehicles.

4. We’re constantly taking pictures.

Frequently of banal things like limos and billboards. And if we’re in the picture, it’s always followed by “deixe eu ver” (let me see).

5. We’re problem solvers, in maybe not the most logical way.

One way or another, Brazilians will find um jeito. It might not be efficient, but it will be creative. It might involve a few injuries or a little sucking up in the process, but it will get done.

6. We’re nowhere to be seen for a week in February.

Carnival, baby! We have to watch the floats, compare sambas, and argue about how the results are fixed.

7. We’re speaking Portuguese, not Spanish.

And we’ll let you know it.

8. We’re very neat.

Brazilians frequently clean corners of the house that most people don’t clean yearly. Careful if you live with a Brazilian: dirty dishes are not tolerated.

9. We’re great hosts.

Whether you’re going to a party or just popping by to say hello, Brazilians will make you feel welcome and pampered with good food and lively conversation.

10. We’re pulling off the natural look.

No need for make up or perfect hair. Brazilians are those people who you get out of bed with an angelic glow. It must be something in the water.

11. We have a remedy for anything.

Any time you mention an off-hand medical complaint, Brazilians will dig through their purses or medicine cabinets until find the perfect solution.

12. If single, there’s a good chance we’re living with parents.

In Brazilian culture, kids usually stay at their parent’s house until get engaged or married. There’s no stigma, as in America. And don’t be surprised if the parents still cook and clean for them…

13. We’re willing to share our most private problems.

The simple question, “How are you?” can yield answers from relationship drama to family scandal. #nofilter

14. We put ketchup on pizza.

Yeah, it’s weird.

15. We still think brands like Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch are cool.

Enough said.

16. Every hour is happy hour.

Drinking at 10am? Brazilians don’t see a problem.

17. We’re arguing with you about soccer.

Never enter this argument with a Brazilian. We start appealing to the heart and things you’ll never understand. You’ll never be able to prove that football is as artistic as futebol.

18. We have confidence.

Brazilians fly off an air of self-assurance. We’re happy and beautiful, without being arrogant.

19. Our coffee will put hair on your chest.

There’s nothing a Brazilian hates more than weak coffee.

20. We’re late.

You can always count on the tardiness.