Burning Man Part 2

...We found some good music and danced. Then we wanted to find a certain art car, where a great DJ was playing. While crossing the playa, more and more of our bikes broke. The dust is no biker's friend. I got to ride on the back of Colossus's e-bike, which was pretty neat 😁 Generally, the group was so lovely helping everyone and making sure we all got back safely. When the group was apart, we communicated via radios, so we could find each other again. After not finding the DJ we were looking for, we 'settled' for the Mayan Warrior, a huge art car with an out-of-this-world light and laser show, and of course sick music. And because of the lasers, you always find it. Their main laser goes straight up into the sky, and they have to redirect air traffic around it. We finished the night with some exquisite jazz. The 'Jazz Café' was close to our camp. 😎

On Friday, we then had to take care of repairing the bikes, 3 in total. Luckily, a bike repair camp was right on the other side of the street, but it still took around 3 hours. In the evening, we went out on the playa again to explore more art. We ended the night sitting around the fire at camp, which was very cozy.

On Saturday, we went out on the playa during the afternoon. It's fascinating how there are two different worlds during the day and at night. After dinner, it was time to get ready for the big highlight of Burning Man: burning the man 😁. We all went there together and got a great spot. They did a show with fire dancers before the burn started. And then there was an amazing fireworks display. But what I liked the most were the big explosions with huge fireballs, as they actually started to burn the man. After it had all burned down, we walked around the circle; all the art cars had formed around the burning site. When the fire had almost burned down completely, people got naked and danced around and through the fire. We then picked an art car with a good DJ and danced, not naked 😋

On Sunday, it was strike time. The camp had to be rebuilt, and we worked hard all day. In the evening, there was the temple burn. The temple is a place of mourning. People bring pictures and letters to their lost loved ones. That burn was very different from the other one. It was eerie how thousands of people were very quiet, except for some cries and called-out names. And then there was the howling. Every now and then, someone howled like a wolf, and many around them would join in.

After getting back, I finished packing and spent some time around the fire.

The next morning, Monday the 1st of September, it was time to say goodbye to the camp mates and to Brian and Kirsten. I had to take the burner bus to San Francisco, where I would fly back to Germany from. They had another 3 weeks of van travel ahead of them, hitting epic mountain bike trails. So they accompanied me to the bus station, which was close. Brian (bless him) ran back twice to get things I had forgotten ♥️ And then I was on the bus. It was a strange feeling, traveling by myself after being so close for the last weeks. But missing someone makes the reunion so much sweeter 😘