Waking up early?! Do you think it is a travel tip?!
Of course it is my beautiful people, and an important one if you travel to learn, explore and live.
I started thinking about it when I did my first Interrail trip in Europe, the first day in Prague when I arrived at Charles Bridge and I couldn’t see it. There were so many, but so many people that it was impossible not to step on one and elbow another while apologizing without stopping.
“But how can I take a picture here?! This looks like a bridge made of people and not a bridge built of stone in the fifteenth century…”, I thought.
“Hum, I have to get here early tomorrow!”, I continued my thinking.
And so it was, the next day, well before the roosters sounded the alarms and with the street lights still on, I was looking at one of the most beautiful buildings in Prague with just one or a few persons wandering around – a perfect moment! Then, finally, I had time to see all the 30 statues that represent some of the saints and wizards of the time and decorate the bridge on both sides. I also had time to photograph it without rushing and without many heads in front of the lens, only the necessary ones, because for me, people in photography are almost obligatory, they give life to it.
In the village of Palangan, in Iranian Kurdistan, life begins very early, so with the moon still illuminating the sky I was already sitting on the step of the small house where I was staying, and from there I saw the shepherds go with their animals to the fields. Shortly after, at the same time as the sun appeared, children began to climb the hill towards the school and life started to calmly flow in this quiet village.
It was not yet seven in the morning and everyone was still asleep on Gili Meno Island, one of more than 17,000 islands that make up Indonesia. At this hour I was already in the water. Just me, the fish and some turtles that were swimming around quietly. So peaceful, so magical!
It is just as good to walk the streets of London, Delhi or Hanoi with just a few people on the street and see the local monotony appear, as it is to go swimming in waterfalls and at paradisiacal beaches in Indonesia, Thailand or Australia with just a few friends, or even alone. Getting up early has these advantages, as well as making the day much longer and consequently meaning much more time to live.
And now, are you going to start waking up early on your travels?!
PS – I have been a bodyboarder since I was fifteen years old and normally I go surfing in the first light of day, so I am in the sea with only one or two friends where the noise is nothing other than the crashing waves or “IIIII AAAHHH ” – the shouts of excitement from Devo (my great friend and responsible for all the translations on walkingaround.pt) after catching beautiful waves. A few hours later, when most of the surfer community appears to catch some waves, I’m out of there, away from the confusion and with the whole day ahead to enjoy.
Photo: Lombok – Indonesia
*This as all the other articles on this site are translated by my good friend Devo Forbes!!
Cheers!
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