Monkeyrockworld

Matteo Tricarico, whom we followed through his bicycle Odyssey from Vietnam to Italy, has finally reached home after almost two full years on the road. Congratulations to you, Matteo!!! I am so envious of you I am turning green right now!! The following is Matteo’s last diary from Italy. Hoping to be soon able to embark on a similar adventure, I give you matteo’s final words, and I invite you to contact him if you desire to bring him to talk about his trip in your clubs, associations, homes or whatever else in La Dolce Italia….

Day 736, chronicle 098, Manfredonia (N41°37.633′ E15°54.941′) Italy, 15 October 2011 2:55 pm -

The trip ended Sunday, October 9 at 12:15 when I got off my bicycle and I shook hands with the mayor of Manfredonia, Angelo Riccardi, who greeted me at the headquarters of the LUC (Urban Cultural Laboratory). A stage was prepared there and I received plaques, trophies and other awards from representatives of the municipality of Manfredonia, the Olimpic committee of Foggia, the UISP Gargano, associations for diversity “Il delfino” and “Occhi felici” (happy eyes), Avis and the Association Gargano 2000. Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised and genuinely touched by the warm welcome back I received from both the authorities and the citizens of my home-town, a worthy grand finale of two years of travels. It still seems unimaginable and incredible to me, even if I personally experienced it. Although not even a week has passed since I reached my destination, my cycling life seems already distant in time, belonging to another phase of my existence. Not being in the middle of the “action”, I find it hard to tell about the last month cycling from Thessaloniki, where I wrote the previous entry of this diary. I am composing this last chronicle on the old high school desk in my youth bedroom at my parents’ house, and I cannot help remembering all those places where I laid my computer to describe the prominent facts of the adventure. It is the first time in my life that I kept a diary and found it a very useful exercise to rethink and reflect on what happened, besides being a way to ponder and draw lessons. Even if I have always tried to make the story interesting for you, oh my readers, I ask pardon of the tedium I may however have caused you. (more…)

Here we go with the second and last part of Matteo Tricarico‘s report of a month spent in Taiwan volunteering for “Harmony Home Association” helping children with HIV/AIDS. Matteo is now back in Nepal and is heading westwards, down to India first, and into Pakistan and central Asia proper on his long way back cycling to Europe… Monkeyrockworld likes to follow and share his adventures, please show support too!!

The first morning I woke up late and after a quick shower I descended to the ground floor to the loud sounds of children laughing, crying, shouting, playing and doing what youngster’s normally do. What a wonderful scene presented to my eyes! These little human beings were just adorable, busy with their vociferous activities; some of them stared at me with their narrow eyes, looking with a mix of curiosity and fear to see a new face, long in shape, with blondish hair and a big nose between two wide eyes. (more…)

With awkwardness for my lack of writing, I am posting the new diaries from Matteo Tricarico’s epic trip from Vietnam to Italy. This is the report of a month spent working as a volunteer for the “Harmony Home Association” in Taiwan with HIV/AIDS children. As usual, Matteo’s insights are interesting and thoughtful, and hopefully will open some new contributions from yours truly Monkey, who has been quite busy lately and forgot to put pen to paper for your entertainment for a while… I’ll leave you with Matteo, so far.

Kathmandu, Nepal 15 Gennaio 2011

Everything begun here, in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu in mid-September 2010. I happen to be in this corner of the Himalayas as a stopover of a sporty-humanitarian journey, that is taking me riding solo on a bicycle from Vietnam to my motherland Italy, stopping on the way to visit centres for disabled people. A trip of about 30.000 kilometres in two years throughout South-east and Central Asia, Persia and Turkey up to the Mediterranean shores, following a flexible itinerary connecting dots made by the different institutions, hospitals, schools for disadvantaged young people. (more…)

La Travel for Aid ha presentato la relazione dei 300 giorni di viaggio del progetto sportivo-umanitario “Dal Vietnam all’Italia in bicicletta per i  diversabili”, che sta portando Matteo Tricarico a percorrere in bicicletta in solitaria la distanza di 30.000 chilometri dal Vietnam all’Italia. La finalità umanitaria dell’iniziativa consta nel sensibilizzare ed informare l’opinione pubblica sulle condizioni dell’infanzia disabile, andando ad incontrare i bambini in istituti per diversabili nei paesi attraversati.

In questi primi dieci mesi di viaggio sono stati percorsi oltre 10.000 chilometri, da Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, proseguendo per la capitale cambogiana, Phnom Penh (ottobre 2009) e poi per quella thailandese, Bangkok (ottobre 2009). Di seguito, l’itinerario si è snodato nuovamente attraverso la Cambogia (novembre 2009) e a nord sino alla capitale del Laos, Vientiane (dicembre 2009) ed è continuato per il nord della Thailandia (gennaio 2010). Sono seguiti il Myanmar (febbraio 2010) e tre mesi in India (febbraio-aprile 2010) per raggiungere l’estremo sud del Subcontinente e ritornare a Calcutta, prima di entrare in Bangladesh dalla frontiera est. Due mesi (maggio-giugno 2010) in Bangladesh e indi il viaggio è proseguito verso nord al confine sud-est del Nepal e successivamente per la sua capitale Kathmandu, per un soggiorno di altri due mesi (luglio-agosto 2010). (more…)

Se passate dalla cambogia andrete sicuramente a Siem Reap a vedere i templi di Angkor. prima di andare a Poipet e passare in Thailandia, una ottima cosa che potreste fare sarebbe quella di fermarvi a Battambang, città sonnolenta, sebbene la seconda della Cambogia per grandezza, dove alle otto di sera tutto è chiuso e alle 10 si va a dormire stanchi perchè non c’è nulla da fare. Perchè fermarsi, quindi? Perchè potreste fare un’esperienza molto particolare e aiutare della gente. (more…)