Podcast: Basque Country & Ordesa National Park, Spain

[Download MP3 | Add to iTunes | Subscribe to Podcasts]

I made this podcast around Easter on a 1500KM road trip from Barcelona to the Basque Country (País Vasco), then on to the beautiful Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park in the Spanish Pyrenees. The trip takes in various locations including San Sebastian, Bilbao, Mundaka, Biarritz (in France), Torla, the Cola de Caballo trek and Cañón de Añisclo.

Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park (in Spanish Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido) has been included since 1997 by UNESCO in the Biosphere Reserve of Ordesa-Viñamala. It is also part of the cross-border Pyrénées – Mont Perdu World Heritage Site.

Location Map


View Larger Map

Links

Photos of the Basque Country, Spain.
Video showing MONSTER surf in Mundaka, Spain
Wikipedia article on Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.
The Basque Country
Cañón de Añisclo (in Spanish)
San Sebastian
Bilbao
Eduardo Chillida

Photos of the Basque Country, Spain

Podcast: Eco Yoga Park, Argentina

[Download MP3 | Add to iTunes | Subscribe to Podcasts]

This podcast has been recorded whilst I’m volunteering at an Eco Yoga Park near General Rodriguez, 60km west of Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Run by Hare Krishna devotees, and known by its other name Nueva Vrindavan, the Eco Yoga Park proved to be a wonderful break after nearly 8 months on the road. At only US $12 a day for food accommodation and yoga and meditation classes, it was also great value.

Show notes

As it’s a longer podcast than normal, I thought I’d include a summary of contents with approximate timings:

0-7 mins – Introduction, temple sounds, why I came to the Eco Yoga Park
7-9 mins – Temple Service sounds
9-19 mins – Interview with Svayam, a Hare Krishna Monk/Devotee
19-21 – Hatha Yoga session
21-29 – Tour of the Eco Yoga Park grounds
29-39 – Interview with Jameson & Laura, two volunteers
39-44 – Sounds, music….

Eco Yoga Park, Argentina

Links

Photos of The Eco Yoga Park, Argentina
Video of the Eco Yoga Park
Laura & Jameson’s blog
Eco Yoga Park website
Eco Yoga Park alternative website (in Spanish)
Volunteer in an Eco Yoga Ashram in South America
International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Podcast: Bolivia

[Download MP3 | Add to iTunes | Subscribe to Podcasts]

In this Podcast from Bolivia I head from Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca (birthplace of the Incas) to La Paz, the capital (and highest capital city in the world), where I go on a mountain biking trip down the most dangerous road in the world – the Death road. Finally, I head to Potosi (highest city in the world), then onto the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in the south of Bolivia

Podcast, Bolivia

Photos of the Salar de Uyuni salt flats

Links

Video of Salar de Uyuni salt flats

Photos of Potosi
Photos of the Death Road trip

Podcast: Panama City

[Download MP3 | Add to iTunes | Subscribe to Podcasts]

Following about a week in Costa Rica – during which time we happily managed to avoid San José and the plethora of gringo-packed ‘eco’ destinations, we zipped straight down to Panama City, somewhere we both wanted to spend a few days. You can listen to the podcast we made whilst in Panama City by clicking the play button above.

Staying in Casco Viejo (the old town, pictured above in the foreground), we spent most of our time just wandering through the old colonial plazas and admiring the wonderful crumbling dereliction of the area.

In this podcast you will hear the sounds of the docks, a street musician, some street performers, the Panama Canal and we discuss some of the ‘personal security’ issues you need to be aware of if you decide to visit Panama City (following the robberies of two friends in a week).

Join us from our next podcast destination: Cartagena in Colombia

Podcast: Isla de Ometepe & San Juan del Sur

[Download MP3 | Add to iTunes | Subscribe to Podcasts]

Isla de Ometepe and San Juan del Sur are two of the emerging tourist destinations in Nicaragua. We begin this podcast with sounds from the trip between Granada and Isla de Ometepe by boat, and finish up on the beach in San Juan del Sur via Maderas volcano & the jungle.

Tom standing on Maderas volcano, Isla de Ometepe

This podcast also contains sound clips from “Crazy Dave” himself, owner of Hideout Surf Camp on Maderas beach. If you’re looking for accommodation on Maderas beach and are thinking of staying there, we suggest you listen to this first :-).

Photos

Photos of Isla de Ometepe and the Maderas volcano.
Photos of San Juan del Sur & Maderas beach.

Podcast: Granada & León, Nicaragua

[Download MP3 | Add to iTunes | Subscribe to Podcasts]

Join us on an audio tour of Granada, with sounds of the market, Lago de Nicaragua and a street parade and band. We round off this podcast with a bit of Nicaraguan history and some thoughts on the highlights of both Granada & Leon in Nicaragua.

Nicaragua podcast

Sound file: Rain storm in Chiang Mai

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/earthoria/Earthoria_S06_Storm.MP3|titles=Sound file 06: Rain storm in Chiang Mai|artists=Earthoria]
[Download MP3 | Add to iTunes | Subscribe to Podcasts]

It is coming to the end of the dry season, and Chiang Mai has just been subjected to several weeks of intense heat, hardly relieved at all this year by Songkran (the water festival). It has been so hot that I have started to find it quite difficult living here. A good night’s sleep has become a thing of the past, and you find yourself sweating around the clock – you wake up damp, and go to bed damp. Not very pleasant at all!

Last night the weather finally broke, and the sounds you hear in this audio file are the sounds of the first storm following this build up. I’m happy to say it’s now gray with temperatures probably back around 30 degrees again! Bring on the rains!