The Land of Avatar

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan Province, China is where James Cameron got his inspiration for creating the famous movie ‘Avatar’.

Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area is located in The Wulingyuan District of the City of Dayong. The stone pillars that are the main attraction there reach over 1km in height!There are approximately 3,000 tall quartzite sandstone pillars.

I really, really hope to climb some of them in future, but now it is impossible. Hard to get permission to climb in a national park…

When the area is covered with dense fog and clouds, it resembles the landscape of Pandora from the Avatar movie.

In Zhangjiajie city you can see the national theatre performing a spectacular show. Acrobats, dancers, singers and thousands of tourists to appreciate their performance.

Those who don’t like temperatures above 30C can hide for an hour below the ground and enjoy the Yellow Dragon Cave.

There is also a beautiful Treasure Mount Lake, a calm and peaceful place in the mountains, where you can take a journey on a boat and listen to the songs of birds as well as singers who perform for the tourists on the way.

The whole park is majestic and beyond human imagination, but this results in it being quite busy and crowded, not what I like when appreciating the wonders of nature.

Enjoy the photos from this mysterious, charming and romantic scenery.

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Kids stand up for the Great White Shark – workshops in Chinese kindergarden

So here I am, in China. This country never stops to amaze and surprize me, day after day.  I appreciate the culture so much, the attitude of people, their hard work and dedication, their ability to rest, dance, enjoy life.

However China is also one of the biggest market for the shark fin soup.

I have seen huge dried fins, belonging probably to whale sharks. They were displayed in the 5 star hotel as a symbol of wealth.

I am volunteering in a kindergarden in Changsha city and today I did a little presentation about sharks and shark finning. Later on we encouraged kids to draw the biggest predatory fish – The Great White Shark. We are going to prepare a huge board with all the drawings and an important message to parents and teachers:

‘Say no to the Shark Fin Soup!’

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Tatra Mountains, Poland

Ski touring trip to highest mountains in Poland- Tatra. Enjoy the selection of photos, taken by my father, Dariusz Drapella

 

 

Pablo Neruda – You start dying slowly

A poem that I know thanks to my dear friend, Ewa. Enjoy!

You start dying slowly
if you do not travel,
if you do not read,
If you do not listen to the sounds of life,
If you do not appreciate yourself.

You start dying slowly
When you kill your self-esteem;
When you do not let others help you.

You start dying slowly
If you become a slave of your habits,
Walking everyday on the same paths…
If you do not change your routine,
If you do not wear different colours
Or you do not speak to those you don’t know.

You start dying slowly
If you avoid to feel passion
And their turbulent emotions;
Those which make your eyes glisten
And your heart beat fast.

You start dying slowly
If you do not change your life when you are not satisfied with your job, or with your love,
If you do not risk what is safe for the uncertain,
If you do not go after a dream,
If you do not allow yourself,
At least once in your lifetime,
To run away from sensible advice…

Pablo Neruda

Map showing the countries I’ve visited so far. New destination: China!

中国 , Zhōngguó or simply China . 

This will be my new destination for July/August 2012.

Aim – To teach English, learn some basic Chinese, live among the people   for the period of one month, understand the culture a little bit more by trying the traditional quizine and engaging in different socializing activities with children in Changsha.  Changsha is the capital city of the Hunan province. It was the site of Mao Zedong’s conversion to communism, there he was learning at school, studying at university and working as a teacher. I have visited my granfather today who has been to China for over 30 times. He is the only person I know who has such a profound knowledge about this country and understands the people there so well. His whole appartment is decorated with Chinese traditional furnitures, there are Chinese paintings and books. He has lend me few books and photo albums so that I can prepare for the trip.

Really, really excited!

Chamar-Daban mountains, Siberia

The Chamar-Daban ( in Russinan – Хамар-дабан) mountains are located to the north of the border with Mongolia. We have climbed one of the highest mountains there- the пик Черского which is 2090 m above the sea level. It was a beaufiful, bright and sunny day. We have left all the heavy bags in the camp, thus hiking was really enjoyable. Crossed several really cold streams and appreciated the pristine landscape.

Adventures of 2011

A year ago I spent the New Years Eve in the plane, somewhere above the steppes of Mongolia. The flight attendant of Cathay Pacific started the count down and we all got champaign and drinks. She wished us safe travels and an amazing New Year.

Even in my dreams I could not have thought of a better year than this. What has happened since then totally changed the way I think. I have gained valuable experience and have developed as an individual. It made me believe that everything is possible if you only dare to dream about it and then work hard to achieve it. Never before had I so many adventures, spontanious trips and  great memories. The people I’ve met will be friends for a lifetime.

This was definitely my favorite year so far. If only whole life could be like that. but asking for this seems to be too much…

Here is the selection of photos!

Volunteering on Christmas Eve preparation for homeless and lonely people in Gdańsk, Poland.

Christmas is all about giving, sharing, helping one another. In our city, Gdansk, you can engage in helping those that are poor, homeless or lonely by dedicating some of our precious time in the end of December.  Not enough to change their situation, but enough to give them some hope and share the Christmas spirit.

Each year we gather in St. Nicolas Church in the Old Town of Gdansk and start by helping with packing the Christmas presents for homeless and poor. Then comes time for cooking a meal. Volunteers cook a soup for homeless almost every Thursday, but this time we went to help with cooking a traditional Polish dish – Bigos. This was then served on Christmas Eve to almost 1000 people!

Thanks for all the sponsors, supporters and volunteers!

Below you can see photos from this year preparations to this event. Photographer – Ewa Janisz.

first videos from our trip to Kenya! Enjoy : )

Finally a video I had to work the most on when editing. Enjoy Africa from a baloon ride with me. And see some animals from Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara national parks of Kenya. At the beginning the baloon crew was setting up a hot air baloon, while we were hidden insite the basket, that is why they seem to be so hot there.

Let’s visit a Masai Village! Check out their dances, though I must say Giriama dances were way more interesting!

And the last one, short video from our clean up on Wasini Island, where children from local village engaged in protecting marine wildlife by doing a beach and a village clean up.

We are free, finally!

There are different kinds of freedom. You can have the freedom of thought, political freedom and can also be free from all the materialistic things, including money. We have left many our personal belongings on Wassini Island. Free of any money, carrying only light backpacks. Mum has left 2 pairs of shoes and is now wearing only flip-flops. I left my sandals and would have never believed that somebody could be so happy to get them! Mum left all the medicines to a doctor in this village. Before doing so, she had translated the most important information from the leaflets into English. A lady who worked at a hospital promised to take antibiotics there, so that only a well-educated doctor will later on give them to their patients. Dad also left his shoes, some clothing and all the money. We are leaving to Mombassa free.  And extremely happy! Those 3 days on Wassini Island were probably the best of our entire trip. Though it is extremely hard to make such a comparison. Each and every day was different, incomparable and unforgettable. We have great memories, interesting stories, hundreds of gigabytes of photos and priceless experiences to take back home with us. Now we are waiting to share them with others!

Kwaheri Kenya! See you soon!

We’re back on the airport in Mombassa. Max came early this morning to pick us up and ensure that everything will go well and we will not be late for the flight. He is such a great guy! I can honestly recommend anyone African Mozaic Tours. Whether you would like to travel to Kenya, Rwanda or Tanzania, Max is the person you would like to have with you. He is the ‘know how’ guy who is very flexible, has tousands of ideas and is ready to cooperate. Thanks to him, our journey to Kenya was so well organized. And we had tons of fun on the way. Plus you would not believe, how good his polish was! In fact, I am truly surprised, that so many Kenyans SPEAK SOME POLISH! The best example, would be a young boy selling wood craft in a small shop on Wassini Island. When he discovered we were from Poland, immediately spoke ‘ooo, Polska, dobra zupa z  bobra?’ with a perfect accent. : )

It is hard to leave Kenya. This beautiful country has so much to offer! And although we used every singe minute or our time here to the maximum, there is still a lot to see. And we will have to come back to Kenya one day, sooner or later!