Tag: Life on the Run

My Camino Frances – A Spiritual Journey

Jyri Manninen | Kajura

I commenced the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail on my 59th birthday in June of 2025. This personal journey of spiritual growth over 800km took me 22 days, and here I will be present to you the full 4 part series, the initial ‘Road to Saint Jean’ – prologue, and then the 3 main parts to match the 3 phases of the Camino – the Physical, Mental and Spiritual.

The first video above is of that prologue, which describes my journey from Finland to the starting point at Saint Jean Pied de Port, a small town located at the foothills of the Pyrenees by the border with Spain. Below you will find the three remaining videos in the series. I hope that you’ll follow this wonderful journey, and that it will inspire you to also plan for and do something similar, if not the Camino Frances itself. You won’t regret it!

Be blessed,
George

La Fase Física

The second video is the story of that first physical phase, La Fase Física, which sees me walk 325km from St Jean Pied de Port, over the Pyrenees on day 1 and then on to the city of Burgos in 9 days via Pamplona, Los Arcos, Viana and Belorado.

La Fase Mental

This third video is the story of the second or mental phase, La Fase Mental, which sees me walk 196km from Burgos to León over a period of 5 days over ‘La Meseta’ (The Plateau) via Castrojeriz, Frómista, Carrión de los Condes, Sahagun and Puente Villarente.

La Fase Espiritual

This final video is of the spiritual phase, La Fase Espiritual, which sees me walk 323km from León to Santiago de Compostela over a period of 7 days via Astorga, Ponferrada, Sarria , Portomarin and Arzúa.

Ricefields and Beer!

Jyri Manninen | Kajura

With Kelly’s MC, we headed off for a moto tour of a rural village area, which is located some 20km north-east of Siem Reap. After leaving our usual starting place at The River Coffee, it didn’t take long to find ourselves on some super secluded and peaceful countryside dirt roads; and we were even fortunate enough to come across the locals busy at work with their communal rice thrashing. Before heading back home, we also took the opportunity to go for a short trail walk, before finishing with some ‘cold beverages of our choice’ at the local village shop.


Thank you for being here, and I hope that you enjoy the scenery and vibes, as Cambodia truly is the Kingdom of Wonder!

Be blessed,
George

The Devil’s Playground

Jyri Manninen | Kajura

On my Saigon Side Quest, in addition to doing the usual site seeing, I decided to do a walking tour of the famous, or should I say infamous, Bui Vien Street in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City. Now, I did the filming quite early, soon after dark at around 7.30pm, but it was already getting very busy. So, you could imagine what goes on there after midnight, at the epicentre of nightlife activities in a city of some 14 million people.

Apart from showing you just the chaos of the Party Zone, I also explored the relative tranquility of the narrow alleyway network between the buildings, as well as a walk through Saigon’s Central Park, where people were still exercising and socialising. What a contrast to what was happening just a few hundred metres away!

While this type of scene is so far removed from my own areas of interest, I still found it fascinating to observe the variety and vibrant of the area in its entirety, especially the contrast between what I consider the good and, well, not so good … but that’s just my own view. Feel free to make up your own conclusion as you, hopefully, enjoy this walk through The Devil’s Playground.

Be blessed,
George