A N A N D A M A R G A . Ananda Marga, an international spiritual organization, has a strong movement in Portugal. I met and volunteered with their food stall at the last few festivals and was invited to visit their “master unit.” This place is amazing, 60 acres of land with this incredible crispy cold river running straight through the middle of it. They’ve only had the land for 5 or 6 years, but they’ve done quite a lot already and even hosted their own festival there this year. It got news coverage as the first festival in Portugal that was no smoking, no alcohol, and no drugs. They’ve got these two large dome areas, the beach river hangout, a children’s playground area, and this suspension bridge over the river. Much of the rest of the land is being used for farming, but there’s still quite a lot untouched so far. . We camped out there for about 4 days, and it was the perfect place to recover from the long spree of festivals and adventures I’ve had. They do voluntary group meditations in the morning and evening before meals, and there’s nothing as peaceful as falling asleep under endless stars to the sound of a gently flowing river. . But we also did work there, 6 hours a day from 9-12pm and 5-8pm roughly. Breakfast at 830, lunch at 130, dinner at 9. We helped in various ways and had different tasks depending on what needed to be done and how many volunteers were around to help. The work was never pressed on us and we could take as many breaks as we needed, the oversight was luckily not too much. Quite frankly, I was tempted to stay longer, but I decided to press on today because a new friend was heading back to Spain. . My extremely tentative plan is to head north by hitchhiking, and that’s it haha. I have friends in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, but not sure exactly where I want to go. I’m thinking Netherlands first, I’ve always wanted to see Amsterdam, but I have to pass through France first so there’s a good chance I’ll get sidetracked there on the way. . . . . . . . . #portugal #igportugal #cavilho #anandamarga #masterunit #igdaily #iger #igtravel #travelphotography #river #nature #ecocommunity #permaculture #community #lifeabroad (at Covilhã)