This Sunday I got to do something out of the ordinary PR developing for the restaurant, cleaning, cooking, cattle rounding, and weed pulling at the farm. I got to go with another helper to work a booth promoting the restaurant in Brisbane. Part of this was getting up at 4am and be out the door at 4:30 to drive to town with the middle aged Canadian woman and catch the bus at 5am out to Brisbane. She talks a bit too much for me.
The drive over wasnt too bad, there were 11 other Australians that were entertaining to listen to, what with their accents and all. We got there, set up, then for the next 6 hours I sold apple strudel, which meant talking to random people about what I know nothing about but sounding like I am an ocean of knowledge, something I have become quite good at in life, then cutting pieces of strudel, then putting whipped cream on the plate and doing the money exchange-invigorating really.
My high point of the day was when I scored a free glass of wine. My low point was when I spilled it all over my foot...and oh yeah, the talker. Oh the way the cookie crumbles...
I did have few chunks of lamb on a kebab stick, and a passion fruit soft serve that was phenomenal-another high point.
The ride home was much better-this old lady, 70 maybe, broke up a few bottles of wine and we had some and chatted for the first 3 hours-so that was a hoot.
Then I slept for a good hour before we got back.
I came back to the farm, cooked up a little chicken parmagiana-and now here I am, watching one of the three chanels on my TV-the best thing on-a program highlighting the thriving sex tourism industry in the Ukraine and it's negative impact on the country and its people-interesting.
Tomorrow we are suppose to clean the kitchen and then have the rest of the day off-perhaps go to the national park nearby and do some hiking. Could be nice.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Thunderbolt-Day 1
I am here in Stanthorpe now at Thunderbolt farm and so far it has been really good. They hooked me up pretty much. I have my own room and it is off of the back of the restaurant, connected by the garage and the staff bathroom. Also, the room has cute decor and a really nice view of the mountains and the livestock below. They have sheep, an alpaka/like a llama, goats, geese, peacocks, cats, dogs, and about 30 cattle.
Yesterday I helped round up the cattle and get a Bull into the cattle truck to take to the butcher. It was kinda fun. I thought I was going to get charged by a bull though-so a bit of a rush at times.
The restaurant is a good size and they have a small bar and also the works in terms of food prep and drinks, etc. I was told to help my self to the kitchen and food, espresso machine, etc.
Last night we had dinner together and all helped cook it, it was kind of a mix of left overs which was fine, really good food.
The man Keith is Australian and his wife, Claudia is from Germany. Right now there are two German girls and one guy helping out, and then a woman from Canada named Debra. They are all really kind.
Today is sort of the day off for the farm, I guess I came at a good time-I can rest up and try to get rid of this cold before having to do some real work starting Thursday-the restaurant is open Thursdays through Sundays I think...
Their vines are looking pretty sad right now, I guess they had quite the drought this year so Keith didn't really even mess with them.
I tried some of their wine last night at dinner. They have a good sweet red...I will try the others soon enough.
I will be here for about 4-6 weeks so please feel free to mail me at the following address.
679 Thorndale Rd
Stanthorpe Queensland Australia 4380
Yesterday I helped round up the cattle and get a Bull into the cattle truck to take to the butcher. It was kinda fun. I thought I was going to get charged by a bull though-so a bit of a rush at times.
The restaurant is a good size and they have a small bar and also the works in terms of food prep and drinks, etc. I was told to help my self to the kitchen and food, espresso machine, etc.
Last night we had dinner together and all helped cook it, it was kind of a mix of left overs which was fine, really good food.
The man Keith is Australian and his wife, Claudia is from Germany. Right now there are two German girls and one guy helping out, and then a woman from Canada named Debra. They are all really kind.
Today is sort of the day off for the farm, I guess I came at a good time-I can rest up and try to get rid of this cold before having to do some real work starting Thursday-the restaurant is open Thursdays through Sundays I think...
Their vines are looking pretty sad right now, I guess they had quite the drought this year so Keith didn't really even mess with them.
I tried some of their wine last night at dinner. They have a good sweet red...I will try the others soon enough.
I will be here for about 4-6 weeks so please feel free to mail me at the following address.
679 Thorndale Rd
Stanthorpe Queensland Australia 4380
Friday, March 5, 2010
The Last Three Weeks in a Nutshell...
The Outback
On Tuesday morning we headed out early, waking at 5am, to catch a plane to Alice Springs-the outback.
The flight lasted about three hours, fairly painful for David, as we sat behind a crying baby the entire time. I didn’t mind it too much-she was the cutest baby I have ever seen-a chunky little 11 month old Aboriginal baby.
We got into Alice and were fascinated with how red and brown the terrain was. Immediately I noticed how desolate the outback really was-and how dreadfully hot it was. Arriving at Annie’s Place via their free shuttle service we checked into our nice air conditioned room and took a stroll around the town. Besides the over priced restaurants and the heaps and heaps of Aboriginal art galleries, there wasn’t much to see. We settled on a $4 slice of pizza for lunch before heading over to the K-mart, yes I said K-mart, to get some much needed toiletries. We lazily strolled around the isles, gawking at the insane prices of everything, and then heading back to the hostel for a late afternoon swim. At the pool we met a few people that had just returned from their three day Rock trip into the outback. They had nothing but good things to say and gave us some much appreciated advice on what to bring.
That night we decided to splurge on dinner and try some new game. We went to Overlander Steakhouse, recommended by Lonely Planet, CNN, and every other major travel organization out there, to eat some kangaroo, emu, crocodile, and camel. I will say, the kangaroo was good, damn good-but everything was mediocre and the restraurant was incredibly over priced ($20-60 a plate) and over rated. If you go to Alice Springs, opt out of dinning out, and pick up and cook two fat kangaroo steaks at Coles grocer for $7 instead.
The following morning we woke up at 5am, again, to head out on Mulga’s 3 day $250 Rock Trip.
24 people, myself included, crammed into a 24 passenger bus, and prepared for the five hour drive from Alice Springs to Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. Our tour guide was a young woman named Jess, Captain Jess, from Brisbane. She had been running this tour for the past 14 months and was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and hilarious. To stay awake while driving down the dreadfully boring roads, passing spinifex bush after rock after dessert sands, Jess would blare music and sing along. It was a good thing she had such a great singing voice, I think otherwise the bus rides would have been fairly painful.
A good part of the tour was spent on the bus given the enormity of the outback. The first day we spent about 7 hours total on the bus, more or less, I lose count. We drove first to Uluru, the most famous rock in the world. This massive monolithic chunk of sandstone is a sacred Aboriginal sight, explaining how the land forms came about amongst other teachings to the generations of Aboriginals. From a distance, especially during sunrise or sunset, Uluru is quite enchanting. Up close, however, the monolith loses its appeal and starts to look like a giant orange-red rock surrounded by a lot of smaller rocks, and red sand, and then there is the immense heat and exhaustion from walking around the 10 kilometer base of it…
The first night we had dinner a fair distance away from Uluru and watched the face of the rock change colors as the sun went down. After sunset we went back to our campsite in the “bush” (mind you the site had toilet and shower facilities) for the night. I had a few beers to celebrate my 24th birthday (no acknowledgement, however-with the exception of David) and then go to sleep under the stars in my swag.
The stars out in the outback were the brightest and more gorgeous I had ever seen them. What was even more amazing was waking up at 4:30am to the stars, still shining brightly.
Why wake up before the crack of dawn, you may ask… Well in the outback there is this problem I like to refer to as the “flies.” Now the flies in the outback are not like your normal summer lemonade stand flies that tend to be a bother and occasionally end up in a cup or two of the punch. These flies come in swarms and make homes of your nostrils, ears, and mouth-they cover your food and invade your eyelashes. So eating meals when it is dark-the only time when these flies are gone-is essential. Oh, and a fly net. Thank heavens for fly nets (the kind you wear over your head and then bungee it around your neck so the flies can’t stick to your nose and eyelashes).
The second day in the outback we went back out to the same place in front of Uluru to watch the sunrise. The sunrise was even more magnificent than the sunset the day before, the flies, however, were worse. In the morning we walked around the Olgas, a group of rocks near Uluru. The Olgas were more interesting than Uluru in that you could walk between, up, and down them and see the land in the distance. Also, unlike Uluru, the Olgas were made up of conglomerate rock. We then drove a good five hours or so to another campsite nearer to King’s Canyon where we spent the afternoon lazing around the pool and drinking a few cold beers. After dinner I had a nice shower than joined a group of Dutch, Italian, and French people in a game called Capitan Buff-a memory game of sorts which was a load of fun considering everyone’s accents. The second night was much rowdier than the first, as people had begun to warm up to one another, and the alcohol flowed more freely.
On the third day in the outback, yet again, we woke up at 4am for an early breakfast, sans flies-then headed down to Kings Canyon for a hike before the extreme heat could swallow us up. King’s Canyon is essentially another heap of rocks protruding from the flat red sandy desert in the middle of Australia. Unlike Uluru and the Olgas, King’s Canyon was a mass of sandstone and shale, eroded over time by rivers, streams, and wind which formed the giant canyons, rock formations, and valleys where ancient rainforest plants still survived in the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden also had its own swimming hole, where David and I (out of about 50 onlookers) took a cool dip in the tea colored water.
The end of our Rock Trip was spent on the bus as it was a long haul back to Alice Springs. Getting back to the Hostel in Alice, Annie’s Place, we took a well deserved and glorious shower before joining Jess and a few from our tour for dinner and drinks at the adjacent bar and restaurant. I ended up chatting with the owners for a bit about the Rock Trip and mentioned I spent my 24th birthday in the outback. The kindly responded by giving me a bottle of champagne on the house and a hug-I love these kinds of people.
We ended our trip in the outback on a good note and caught a plane back to Melbourne Airport on Feb. 20th, where we somewhat spontaneously decided to rent a car for a few days and drive down the Great Ocean Road of Victoria.
--------------------------------
The Great Ocean Road
Feb. 20-22
An experienced left hand side driver, I drove our Toyota Corolla hatchback from Melbourne Airport towards the town of Lorne on the Great Ocean Road. Starting from Torquay and ending about 250km west, the Great Ocean Road extends along the southern coast of Victoria. The views are spectacular and the beaches are pristine. After a few hours drive out of Melbourne and a few snack detours later we came upon Bells Beach and decided to relax and enjoy the surf for a while. Hoping to get into Lorne, our destination for the night, before sunset, we headed off just as the sun was beginning to set. We got into Lorne just in time and found a cozy (although noisy) hostel to stay in for the night. The location was charming, along the Erksine river, near the beach-the noise level outside-not so charming. After a trip to the grocery store I cooked up a good dinner and we headed to bed early-thinking we would wake up early and get the most out of our car rental and day ahead.
The next day we awoke from the shrill bird calls outside our window (have you ever heard the banter of a hundred cockatoos at once, not pleasant) and got the show on the road. We drove towards Apollo Bay taking in the views, stopping at a few small beaches, and jamming out to some holiday mood appropriate music.
We arrived in Apollo Bay around 11am and took a minor but necessary detour to the doctor for David’s eye infection before driving on to the 12 Apostles view point (also known as the tweob apapoz to most Asian tourists-ahem). Somewhat disappointed by the extreme tourist train at the viewpoint, we carried on to Port Campbell for a nice sit down and ice cream cone before finding a good spot on the beach to relax for the rest of the day.
That night we stayed in Apollo Bay at Surfside Backpackers, a great spot. The next morning, our last morning on the Great Ocean Road, we attempted to get up for the sunrise, but I failed miserably despite David’s attempts at rising me. So instead we simply had our breakfast and got on our way. The ride back was somewhat stressful as I battled with the broken GPS and David battled with driving on the left side of the road. We did, however, make it back to Melbourne in time for our flight to Sydney.
The Great Ocean Road was really an amazing drive and a good two days. It’s hard to explain the experience, hopefully my pictures (if I can ever get them uploaded) will do it some justice.
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Feb. 22-24
After a full week together, David and I decided we’d had our fill and went separate ways for a few days. I headed to Bondi Beach in Sydney and he stayed in the downtown area.
The first day I lazed around the beach-attempting to work on my tan which looked pitiful next to the everyday Bondi sun worshipers. The second day I was there I decided to check out the Coastal walk which spanned from Bondi to Coogee, a good two hour walk one way. I passed several beaches, stopping to rest at a few. Once I got to Coogee I was famished and decided to try out some Australian fast food which turned out to be fairly decent. I then caught the bus into the city where I decided on a whim, to check out the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House-both magnificent. I wandered around aimlessly for a few hours before catching a bus back to Bondi. On the bus I managed to take a nice nap, but luckily still got off at the right time.
I got a call from David, asking if I still wanted to join him for a few days in the Blue Mountains, and fairly unimpressed by Bondi and the City, decided to go.
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Feb. 24-26
The Blue Mountains are only about a two hour train ride from Central Sydney and boast some spectacular hikes, viewpoints, recreation areas, and charming mountain towns. We stayed in a town called Katoomba, one of the larger in the area. Our accommodation, as recommended by Lonely Planet, No. 14 was the nicest “hostel” I have stayed in…ever. Run by a woman by the name of Mandy, this circa 1913 guesthouse felt like home. The wooden floors, hot showers, modern kitchen, and comfy sofas next to the fireplace set the scene for a nice holiday in the mountains.
The first day David and I headed down to Echo Point, one of the main viewpoints in the mountains. A thirty minute walk through the town brought us to the viewpoint where we could see the majority of the valley and the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters is a rock formation that according to aboriginal legend, was at one time three sisters who, being chased by a monster, were turned into stone by their father for protection. The sisters were never turned back into humans because their father lost his magic bone when he turned himself into a lyrebird, fleeing from the monster. As the story goes, that is why we still see lyrebirds today in the Blue Mountains, rustling in the leaves, searching for the lost magic bone to turn the three sisters back.
From the Three Sisters we walked along the cliff towards the Luera Cascades, then made out way back up through Katoomba town to do some grocery shopping for the next few days. The second day in the Blue Mountains we hiked down to Katoomba Falls, passing down the Ferber steps and then finally entering the valley and rainforest below. We came upon a well touristed area which was once the site of a large coal mine. Back in the late 1800’s the cliffs were carved with over 100 kilometers of mining tunnels. An old funicular from the mining days was still intact, but a new funicular served the millions of tourists each year instead, taking them up the cliff after a long climb down. David and I hoped on the ride, pleading guilty of playing the lazy tourist role, and enjoyed the commentary by the old English couples sitting near us.
The days in Katoomba and in the Mountains flew by. The weather was cool during the day and cold at night. The skies cleared enough for us to grab some incredible views, and the native birds were aplenty. It was so great to see cockatoos, rosellas, lorikeets, and lyrebirds in nature, instead of in a cage.
The last night we were in Katoomba we went to a concert at the Clarenden Hotel. We stumbled upon this place on our way back from a hike one day and saw they had a group playing that night. The Aussie/German/American band was made up of four members and called themselves The Beez. We really didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into…so we had a few drinks before heading over to the venue, and were glad we did. At first it felt like we were watching the robotic bears at Chucky Cheese, the banjo and accordion going. Later we relaxing as we heard some more familiar tunes with a twist, and laughed at the jokes each band member would make. It was a good time.
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Finding time to write has been difficult. I am now on a train back to the Blue Mountains northwest of Sydney. I had a few more days before I needed start up towards Brisbane, and felt I didn’t get enough of the Blue Mountains when David was here-so I am going back for three nights this time.
I spent the last few days in Sydney.
Friday morning we left to head back to Sydney, and back to Bondi Beach, since David hadn’t been there yet. We staying in a ocean view room. It was amazing hearing the waves in the morning and seeing the sunrise from bed as well. We woke up early and went over to Clovelly beach to checkout the snorkeling scene. It wasn’t too impressive and the water was absolutely freezing. I will say, however, that it was worth the trip out there just to see the giant blue grouper. It must have been three feet long and one foot wide, a magnificent creature. I would dive down and swim next to it, watching this harmful fish lazily eat the plants on the ocean floor.
In the afternoon we headed over to our hostel in the city, Wake Up. After a bit of relaxing we walked around and found some reasonable Thai food, then did a bit of souvenir shopping at Market City in the Chinatown area of Sydney. Market City is by far the most reasonable place to buy anything in Sydney. I went by the next day and got some fruit, two pears and three kiwi, for one dollar.
In the late afternoon I wandered around aimlessly while David took a nap. In the evening we got ready and headed out to check out all the rave at the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras parade. It was most definitely a rave, oh and very flamboyant. Annoyed at how dreadfully crowded it was, we headed off to Circular Quay, where you can get a good view of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. We settled on a good looking seafood restaurant and had an amazing dinner of swordfish and kingfish. Afterwards we found a good spot with an even better view and had some dessert and cappuccino at a café. It was a great last night for David-and I was just getting used to having someone around.
Sunday we parted ways and as David headed to the airport, I headed to a different hostel to try and plan out the next few days or weeks.
I ended up meeting some cool people at this hostel, Home Backpackers, who convinced me to join them the next morning, early.
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3/5/10
Last night, or early this morning rather, I spent a good four hours at the Sydney Opera House, naked. So this last statement may seem a little odd, or hell, yeah, really odd, so let me give you some context. Look up the photographer Spencer Tunick and you will understand. Basically several of his works over the past 20 years have focused on nudes in front of monuments, iconic buildings, historical landmarks, etc. I heard that he would be photographing people at the Opera House from a guy at Bondi YHA named Mark. At the time I didn’t really think twice about it. At my hostel last night, Home Backpackers on Elizabeth Street, there were several people staying who came to Sydney solely to be a part of the Spencer Tunick Photo session. They asked if I was doing it, saying that anyone can join so as long as you sign a model release form. So I thought, “Why the hell not!” and got naked with 5,000 strangers in the morning daylight on the front steps of the Sydney Opera House and inside the concert hall. It was nice being able to see the inside of the building, even better not having to pay the $35 to take a tour, and better yet doing it naked. I think when everyone around you is also fully exposed, you get comfortable quite quickly-after all-you’re all equally vulnerable. The hardest part wasn’t being exposed, it was laying on the cold concrete naked, posing on top of theatre seats, and not sleeping for a night (we had to wake up at 3am to get there by 4am-wait for the sunrise-then get naked for the pictures). Exhilarating. And now I am part of a famous artists’ works….and not only can I say I have been to the Sydney Opera House, but I have been there in the nude with 5,000 other people. Beautiful.
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3/5/10
Monday I headed back to the Blue Mountains for a few days of walking, relaxing, and breathing in some fresh air. I went on a few more hikes around the area, went to Black Heath, and then checked out the little town of Leura. I traded in my book-no more Twilight Series (happy now?) and now I am on to the Life of Pi which should be better.
I go to Brisbane March 4th, where I plan to stay with some people I met while traveling in Asia. I think perhaps Monday I will head to Stanthorpe and start my work on the vineyard.
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I knew Australia would be expensive, but holy cow, its insane. The hostels and restaurants in Melbourne were unforgiving, and in Alice Springs, relentless on your pocketbook. A bottled water costs around $4 and if you want to eat a nutritious meal, plan on spending $12-20 a plate. I think I will do some cooking at the hostel the next couple of days to try and cut some costs.
On Tuesday morning we headed out early, waking at 5am, to catch a plane to Alice Springs-the outback.
The flight lasted about three hours, fairly painful for David, as we sat behind a crying baby the entire time. I didn’t mind it too much-she was the cutest baby I have ever seen-a chunky little 11 month old Aboriginal baby.
We got into Alice and were fascinated with how red and brown the terrain was. Immediately I noticed how desolate the outback really was-and how dreadfully hot it was. Arriving at Annie’s Place via their free shuttle service we checked into our nice air conditioned room and took a stroll around the town. Besides the over priced restaurants and the heaps and heaps of Aboriginal art galleries, there wasn’t much to see. We settled on a $4 slice of pizza for lunch before heading over to the K-mart, yes I said K-mart, to get some much needed toiletries. We lazily strolled around the isles, gawking at the insane prices of everything, and then heading back to the hostel for a late afternoon swim. At the pool we met a few people that had just returned from their three day Rock trip into the outback. They had nothing but good things to say and gave us some much appreciated advice on what to bring.
That night we decided to splurge on dinner and try some new game. We went to Overlander Steakhouse, recommended by Lonely Planet, CNN, and every other major travel organization out there, to eat some kangaroo, emu, crocodile, and camel. I will say, the kangaroo was good, damn good-but everything was mediocre and the restraurant was incredibly over priced ($20-60 a plate) and over rated. If you go to Alice Springs, opt out of dinning out, and pick up and cook two fat kangaroo steaks at Coles grocer for $7 instead.
The following morning we woke up at 5am, again, to head out on Mulga’s 3 day $250 Rock Trip.
24 people, myself included, crammed into a 24 passenger bus, and prepared for the five hour drive from Alice Springs to Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. Our tour guide was a young woman named Jess, Captain Jess, from Brisbane. She had been running this tour for the past 14 months and was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and hilarious. To stay awake while driving down the dreadfully boring roads, passing spinifex bush after rock after dessert sands, Jess would blare music and sing along. It was a good thing she had such a great singing voice, I think otherwise the bus rides would have been fairly painful.
A good part of the tour was spent on the bus given the enormity of the outback. The first day we spent about 7 hours total on the bus, more or less, I lose count. We drove first to Uluru, the most famous rock in the world. This massive monolithic chunk of sandstone is a sacred Aboriginal sight, explaining how the land forms came about amongst other teachings to the generations of Aboriginals. From a distance, especially during sunrise or sunset, Uluru is quite enchanting. Up close, however, the monolith loses its appeal and starts to look like a giant orange-red rock surrounded by a lot of smaller rocks, and red sand, and then there is the immense heat and exhaustion from walking around the 10 kilometer base of it…
The first night we had dinner a fair distance away from Uluru and watched the face of the rock change colors as the sun went down. After sunset we went back to our campsite in the “bush” (mind you the site had toilet and shower facilities) for the night. I had a few beers to celebrate my 24th birthday (no acknowledgement, however-with the exception of David) and then go to sleep under the stars in my swag.
The stars out in the outback were the brightest and more gorgeous I had ever seen them. What was even more amazing was waking up at 4:30am to the stars, still shining brightly.
Why wake up before the crack of dawn, you may ask… Well in the outback there is this problem I like to refer to as the “flies.” Now the flies in the outback are not like your normal summer lemonade stand flies that tend to be a bother and occasionally end up in a cup or two of the punch. These flies come in swarms and make homes of your nostrils, ears, and mouth-they cover your food and invade your eyelashes. So eating meals when it is dark-the only time when these flies are gone-is essential. Oh, and a fly net. Thank heavens for fly nets (the kind you wear over your head and then bungee it around your neck so the flies can’t stick to your nose and eyelashes).
The second day in the outback we went back out to the same place in front of Uluru to watch the sunrise. The sunrise was even more magnificent than the sunset the day before, the flies, however, were worse. In the morning we walked around the Olgas, a group of rocks near Uluru. The Olgas were more interesting than Uluru in that you could walk between, up, and down them and see the land in the distance. Also, unlike Uluru, the Olgas were made up of conglomerate rock. We then drove a good five hours or so to another campsite nearer to King’s Canyon where we spent the afternoon lazing around the pool and drinking a few cold beers. After dinner I had a nice shower than joined a group of Dutch, Italian, and French people in a game called Capitan Buff-a memory game of sorts which was a load of fun considering everyone’s accents. The second night was much rowdier than the first, as people had begun to warm up to one another, and the alcohol flowed more freely.
On the third day in the outback, yet again, we woke up at 4am for an early breakfast, sans flies-then headed down to Kings Canyon for a hike before the extreme heat could swallow us up. King’s Canyon is essentially another heap of rocks protruding from the flat red sandy desert in the middle of Australia. Unlike Uluru and the Olgas, King’s Canyon was a mass of sandstone and shale, eroded over time by rivers, streams, and wind which formed the giant canyons, rock formations, and valleys where ancient rainforest plants still survived in the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden also had its own swimming hole, where David and I (out of about 50 onlookers) took a cool dip in the tea colored water.
The end of our Rock Trip was spent on the bus as it was a long haul back to Alice Springs. Getting back to the Hostel in Alice, Annie’s Place, we took a well deserved and glorious shower before joining Jess and a few from our tour for dinner and drinks at the adjacent bar and restaurant. I ended up chatting with the owners for a bit about the Rock Trip and mentioned I spent my 24th birthday in the outback. The kindly responded by giving me a bottle of champagne on the house and a hug-I love these kinds of people.
We ended our trip in the outback on a good note and caught a plane back to Melbourne Airport on Feb. 20th, where we somewhat spontaneously decided to rent a car for a few days and drive down the Great Ocean Road of Victoria.
--------------------------------
The Great Ocean Road
Feb. 20-22
An experienced left hand side driver, I drove our Toyota Corolla hatchback from Melbourne Airport towards the town of Lorne on the Great Ocean Road. Starting from Torquay and ending about 250km west, the Great Ocean Road extends along the southern coast of Victoria. The views are spectacular and the beaches are pristine. After a few hours drive out of Melbourne and a few snack detours later we came upon Bells Beach and decided to relax and enjoy the surf for a while. Hoping to get into Lorne, our destination for the night, before sunset, we headed off just as the sun was beginning to set. We got into Lorne just in time and found a cozy (although noisy) hostel to stay in for the night. The location was charming, along the Erksine river, near the beach-the noise level outside-not so charming. After a trip to the grocery store I cooked up a good dinner and we headed to bed early-thinking we would wake up early and get the most out of our car rental and day ahead.
The next day we awoke from the shrill bird calls outside our window (have you ever heard the banter of a hundred cockatoos at once, not pleasant) and got the show on the road. We drove towards Apollo Bay taking in the views, stopping at a few small beaches, and jamming out to some holiday mood appropriate music.
We arrived in Apollo Bay around 11am and took a minor but necessary detour to the doctor for David’s eye infection before driving on to the 12 Apostles view point (also known as the tweob apapoz to most Asian tourists-ahem). Somewhat disappointed by the extreme tourist train at the viewpoint, we carried on to Port Campbell for a nice sit down and ice cream cone before finding a good spot on the beach to relax for the rest of the day.
That night we stayed in Apollo Bay at Surfside Backpackers, a great spot. The next morning, our last morning on the Great Ocean Road, we attempted to get up for the sunrise, but I failed miserably despite David’s attempts at rising me. So instead we simply had our breakfast and got on our way. The ride back was somewhat stressful as I battled with the broken GPS and David battled with driving on the left side of the road. We did, however, make it back to Melbourne in time for our flight to Sydney.
The Great Ocean Road was really an amazing drive and a good two days. It’s hard to explain the experience, hopefully my pictures (if I can ever get them uploaded) will do it some justice.
_______________________
Feb. 22-24
After a full week together, David and I decided we’d had our fill and went separate ways for a few days. I headed to Bondi Beach in Sydney and he stayed in the downtown area.
The first day I lazed around the beach-attempting to work on my tan which looked pitiful next to the everyday Bondi sun worshipers. The second day I was there I decided to check out the Coastal walk which spanned from Bondi to Coogee, a good two hour walk one way. I passed several beaches, stopping to rest at a few. Once I got to Coogee I was famished and decided to try out some Australian fast food which turned out to be fairly decent. I then caught the bus into the city where I decided on a whim, to check out the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House-both magnificent. I wandered around aimlessly for a few hours before catching a bus back to Bondi. On the bus I managed to take a nice nap, but luckily still got off at the right time.
I got a call from David, asking if I still wanted to join him for a few days in the Blue Mountains, and fairly unimpressed by Bondi and the City, decided to go.
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Feb. 24-26
The Blue Mountains are only about a two hour train ride from Central Sydney and boast some spectacular hikes, viewpoints, recreation areas, and charming mountain towns. We stayed in a town called Katoomba, one of the larger in the area. Our accommodation, as recommended by Lonely Planet, No. 14 was the nicest “hostel” I have stayed in…ever. Run by a woman by the name of Mandy, this circa 1913 guesthouse felt like home. The wooden floors, hot showers, modern kitchen, and comfy sofas next to the fireplace set the scene for a nice holiday in the mountains.
The first day David and I headed down to Echo Point, one of the main viewpoints in the mountains. A thirty minute walk through the town brought us to the viewpoint where we could see the majority of the valley and the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters is a rock formation that according to aboriginal legend, was at one time three sisters who, being chased by a monster, were turned into stone by their father for protection. The sisters were never turned back into humans because their father lost his magic bone when he turned himself into a lyrebird, fleeing from the monster. As the story goes, that is why we still see lyrebirds today in the Blue Mountains, rustling in the leaves, searching for the lost magic bone to turn the three sisters back.
From the Three Sisters we walked along the cliff towards the Luera Cascades, then made out way back up through Katoomba town to do some grocery shopping for the next few days. The second day in the Blue Mountains we hiked down to Katoomba Falls, passing down the Ferber steps and then finally entering the valley and rainforest below. We came upon a well touristed area which was once the site of a large coal mine. Back in the late 1800’s the cliffs were carved with over 100 kilometers of mining tunnels. An old funicular from the mining days was still intact, but a new funicular served the millions of tourists each year instead, taking them up the cliff after a long climb down. David and I hoped on the ride, pleading guilty of playing the lazy tourist role, and enjoyed the commentary by the old English couples sitting near us.
The days in Katoomba and in the Mountains flew by. The weather was cool during the day and cold at night. The skies cleared enough for us to grab some incredible views, and the native birds were aplenty. It was so great to see cockatoos, rosellas, lorikeets, and lyrebirds in nature, instead of in a cage.
The last night we were in Katoomba we went to a concert at the Clarenden Hotel. We stumbled upon this place on our way back from a hike one day and saw they had a group playing that night. The Aussie/German/American band was made up of four members and called themselves The Beez. We really didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into…so we had a few drinks before heading over to the venue, and were glad we did. At first it felt like we were watching the robotic bears at Chucky Cheese, the banjo and accordion going. Later we relaxing as we heard some more familiar tunes with a twist, and laughed at the jokes each band member would make. It was a good time.
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Finding time to write has been difficult. I am now on a train back to the Blue Mountains northwest of Sydney. I had a few more days before I needed start up towards Brisbane, and felt I didn’t get enough of the Blue Mountains when David was here-so I am going back for three nights this time.
I spent the last few days in Sydney.
Friday morning we left to head back to Sydney, and back to Bondi Beach, since David hadn’t been there yet. We staying in a ocean view room. It was amazing hearing the waves in the morning and seeing the sunrise from bed as well. We woke up early and went over to Clovelly beach to checkout the snorkeling scene. It wasn’t too impressive and the water was absolutely freezing. I will say, however, that it was worth the trip out there just to see the giant blue grouper. It must have been three feet long and one foot wide, a magnificent creature. I would dive down and swim next to it, watching this harmful fish lazily eat the plants on the ocean floor.
In the afternoon we headed over to our hostel in the city, Wake Up. After a bit of relaxing we walked around and found some reasonable Thai food, then did a bit of souvenir shopping at Market City in the Chinatown area of Sydney. Market City is by far the most reasonable place to buy anything in Sydney. I went by the next day and got some fruit, two pears and three kiwi, for one dollar.
In the late afternoon I wandered around aimlessly while David took a nap. In the evening we got ready and headed out to check out all the rave at the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras parade. It was most definitely a rave, oh and very flamboyant. Annoyed at how dreadfully crowded it was, we headed off to Circular Quay, where you can get a good view of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. We settled on a good looking seafood restaurant and had an amazing dinner of swordfish and kingfish. Afterwards we found a good spot with an even better view and had some dessert and cappuccino at a café. It was a great last night for David-and I was just getting used to having someone around.
Sunday we parted ways and as David headed to the airport, I headed to a different hostel to try and plan out the next few days or weeks.
I ended up meeting some cool people at this hostel, Home Backpackers, who convinced me to join them the next morning, early.
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3/5/10
Last night, or early this morning rather, I spent a good four hours at the Sydney Opera House, naked. So this last statement may seem a little odd, or hell, yeah, really odd, so let me give you some context. Look up the photographer Spencer Tunick and you will understand. Basically several of his works over the past 20 years have focused on nudes in front of monuments, iconic buildings, historical landmarks, etc. I heard that he would be photographing people at the Opera House from a guy at Bondi YHA named Mark. At the time I didn’t really think twice about it. At my hostel last night, Home Backpackers on Elizabeth Street, there were several people staying who came to Sydney solely to be a part of the Spencer Tunick Photo session. They asked if I was doing it, saying that anyone can join so as long as you sign a model release form. So I thought, “Why the hell not!” and got naked with 5,000 strangers in the morning daylight on the front steps of the Sydney Opera House and inside the concert hall. It was nice being able to see the inside of the building, even better not having to pay the $35 to take a tour, and better yet doing it naked. I think when everyone around you is also fully exposed, you get comfortable quite quickly-after all-you’re all equally vulnerable. The hardest part wasn’t being exposed, it was laying on the cold concrete naked, posing on top of theatre seats, and not sleeping for a night (we had to wake up at 3am to get there by 4am-wait for the sunrise-then get naked for the pictures). Exhilarating. And now I am part of a famous artists’ works….and not only can I say I have been to the Sydney Opera House, but I have been there in the nude with 5,000 other people. Beautiful.
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3/5/10
Monday I headed back to the Blue Mountains for a few days of walking, relaxing, and breathing in some fresh air. I went on a few more hikes around the area, went to Black Heath, and then checked out the little town of Leura. I traded in my book-no more Twilight Series (happy now?) and now I am on to the Life of Pi which should be better.
I go to Brisbane March 4th, where I plan to stay with some people I met while traveling in Asia. I think perhaps Monday I will head to Stanthorpe and start my work on the vineyard.
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I knew Australia would be expensive, but holy cow, its insane. The hostels and restaurants in Melbourne were unforgiving, and in Alice Springs, relentless on your pocketbook. A bottled water costs around $4 and if you want to eat a nutritious meal, plan on spending $12-20 a plate. I think I will do some cooking at the hostel the next couple of days to try and cut some costs.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Austraila- Melbourne
I have been in Australia now for about two weeks. I came into Melbourne on the 13th, spent a few days, then went to the outback for a good 5 days.
Melbourne was an interesting city, very clean, well laid out, full of fashionable people, art, and trendy cafes. It only took about two days to see the more exciting parts of the city.
The first night, I was alone, as David’s flight was delayed due to the snow in Dallas. I walked around a bit, than went to bed around 5pm, exhausted from the flight over. The next day he got in around noon, and we headed straight out to do some sight seeing. We walked around the city center, going into the State Library, which was once the Victoria National Gallery, a beautiful building and excellent library. Later we walked through Victoria Market, unimpressed with the goods on display, then through Fitzroy Gardens and back into the city center, taking in all of the shops and cafes. We ate outside at a cute café where I had a gorgeous green salad for the first time in months, as SE Asia isn’t exactly the spot to eat salad. We spent the rest of the afternoon in St. Kilda, enjoying the bay at a café with a few beers before taking on the St. Kilda Festival and listening to a few bands play. I got to meet up with Phil, an Irish guy I met in Kuala Lumpur in January who lives in Melbourne. We hung out with him and a few of his friends at a bar that night before heading back to our hostel. It was nice to see another familiar face.
The next day we walked around the Southbank area which lines the Yarra river, had some breakfast at a nice café, and then checked out the sports complex, old Olympic park, and Cricket Fields. The afternoon was spend mainly planning the next week or so, and unwinding at the hostel, doing laundry, etc. We had big plans for the night, however.
Our last night in Melbourne we went to the Crown Casino for dinner and drinks. We heard from a few Kiwi guys that there was a summer special going on. For $12 you could get dinner and a drink, what a deal! We went to one of the restaurants in the casino, a Mediterranean restaurant, and had a phenomenal meal. Afterwards we did a bit of gambling. I went for the slot machines and came out $1 on top and decided to stop. David played some blackjack and ended up losing $30, ouch. It was my first time in a casino, and I thought it was just so much fun….Las Vegas here I come.
Overall, I think unless you have loads of money and can shop till you drop, Melbourne is more of a place to just sit at a café and people watch than anything else.
More to come....
Melbourne was an interesting city, very clean, well laid out, full of fashionable people, art, and trendy cafes. It only took about two days to see the more exciting parts of the city.
The first night, I was alone, as David’s flight was delayed due to the snow in Dallas. I walked around a bit, than went to bed around 5pm, exhausted from the flight over. The next day he got in around noon, and we headed straight out to do some sight seeing. We walked around the city center, going into the State Library, which was once the Victoria National Gallery, a beautiful building and excellent library. Later we walked through Victoria Market, unimpressed with the goods on display, then through Fitzroy Gardens and back into the city center, taking in all of the shops and cafes. We ate outside at a cute café where I had a gorgeous green salad for the first time in months, as SE Asia isn’t exactly the spot to eat salad. We spent the rest of the afternoon in St. Kilda, enjoying the bay at a café with a few beers before taking on the St. Kilda Festival and listening to a few bands play. I got to meet up with Phil, an Irish guy I met in Kuala Lumpur in January who lives in Melbourne. We hung out with him and a few of his friends at a bar that night before heading back to our hostel. It was nice to see another familiar face.
The next day we walked around the Southbank area which lines the Yarra river, had some breakfast at a nice café, and then checked out the sports complex, old Olympic park, and Cricket Fields. The afternoon was spend mainly planning the next week or so, and unwinding at the hostel, doing laundry, etc. We had big plans for the night, however.
Our last night in Melbourne we went to the Crown Casino for dinner and drinks. We heard from a few Kiwi guys that there was a summer special going on. For $12 you could get dinner and a drink, what a deal! We went to one of the restaurants in the casino, a Mediterranean restaurant, and had a phenomenal meal. Afterwards we did a bit of gambling. I went for the slot machines and came out $1 on top and decided to stop. David played some blackjack and ended up losing $30, ouch. It was my first time in a casino, and I thought it was just so much fun….Las Vegas here I come.
Overall, I think unless you have loads of money and can shop till you drop, Melbourne is more of a place to just sit at a café and people watch than anything else.
More to come....
Northern Vietnam and my last days in Hanoi
I never did buy a sweater before going up to Sapa-turns out I could have used one. The rice home made rice wine seemed to do a decent job keeping me warm.
Sapa is a town in northern Vietnam surrounded by mountains, valleys, and an abundance of man made terraces for cultivating rice. Many people live in the town of Sapa or the surrounding villages that make up the region. Several Mung and Dao tribes still thrive in this region and make a living either farming or following tourists. The people of these tribes still wear traditional garb, and live a very traditional life style, sans the cell phone that is...
I took the night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, an 8 hour journey. Surprisingly I sleep for the majority of it and woke feeling like I had only been sleeping a few minutes. The first day I joined a group for a tour of BacHa Market, in a town about 70km away from Sapa. The ride there was long and fairly painful, as the Vietnamese tourists shared the microphone and sang karaoke the entire way there, mind you the microphone was not of the best quality, and neither was my patience.
The market itself was not too impressive, but still somewhat interesting. I coupled up with a solo traveler from England, and architect named Nick, and we explored the market together. Besides the normal fare, the only thing that caught my attention was the meat market, dog and all.
After a few hours at the market, tired of wandering around, Nick and I settled down for a beer and some good people watching before our scheduled lunch hour and bus ride to the next destination of the day, the China-Vietnam border.
Another hour or so on the bus, we got out and looked at a traditional Flower Mung village home. The woman working in this home was making traditional “happy water.” The only thing I can liken this particular happy water to is what we Texans call “moonshine.” Its corn based liquor, strong, nasty, and get you going. After a shot of this-mid day-I was ready to get going…to bed.
The bus ride to the border I was out like a light, a nice nap all in all give or take some neck pain. The border was about as interesting and exciting as when you cross over from Texas into Oklahoma, yet less beautiful and there is no formal welcome sign or travel center, only some electric fencing and an immigration office. Oh well, I guess I can say I have seen China now.
The rest of the day I got to take it easy at the Fansipan Hotel in Sapa. I had my own room with the most amazing shower, consistently hot shower, and clean comfy bed with crisp sheets. I went to bed at 8pm and didn’t wake up until my alarm went off. Rare.
The next day was the start of our two day trek. I joined a different group for this part of the trip. There were six of us total, five girls (three from Oz, one from Israel, and myself) and one guy (Ole from Alaska/Mexico). We had a guide named something like Juan but I can’t be bothered to attempt to spell it correctly in Vietnamese.
Day one was supposedly a 19km trek-sure didn’t feel like it. Easy as pie except for the one area where we had to walk down a steep hill for about thirty minutes. The entire time we walked, we were followed by several Mung tribal women. These women would ask us questions is English, attempt to build a sort of friendship, then at the right moment try to make a sale. Mainly they sold jewelry, and other odds and ends made from their woven fabrics. I somehow got off only buy a pair of ear rings for a measly 20,000 Dong ($1).
We had lunch about half way at some random wooden building in the mountains. Lunch consisted of the same exact thing I had for breakfast, a baguette, laughing cow cheese, and cucumber. Delightful. After lunch we continued on towards our homestay for the night. The homestay was in a larger village in one of the valleys and was quite luxurious considering the other homes we had seen on the trek out there. It was a large two story wooden home with a patio and pool table outdoors, and a small TV indoors. Granted the kitchen was all wood fired, and the home lacked most modern amenities, it was comfortable. Due to its touristy nature, the homestay sadly didn’t include much interaction with the actual family that lived there, they merely acted as a host instead. I felt this especially when I asked to help prepare our dinner, hoping to learn a few things and engage in some cultural interaction, and was turned down and told to go sit outside with the other foreigners. I did, however, at one point, convince one of the young girls to let me roll a few spring rolls before she fried them up. Needless to say she was impressed by my skills.
The evening meal was delicious. We ate a number of different dishes: chicken and mushrooms, tofu and tomatoes, pork, pig intestine (eek), spring rolls, and rice. One of the best meals I had in Vietnam. The night was passed playing pool, telling stories, drinking rice wine, and watching the local village men get drunk and smoke tobacco out of a giant bamboo pipe.
Day two was only 10km. Which felt even shorter as we took it slow, and stopped at several small villages and viewpoints. Its hard to describe these villages and their people, I think my pictures will do some justice. They seemed overall happy and carefree, and for the most part healthy despite the living conditions.
The end of the Sapa trek brought us back to Sapa where I did a bit of shopping in the street market/black market, and bought a sweater finally. I then went to a viewpoint café with Ole from the tour group and was convinced to have a cup of Vietnamese coffee with him-arguably the best damn cup of coffee I have ever had given I don’t like coffee.
From there it was a shower and another bus ride to Lao Cai for another night train. There was a mix up with my train ticket, apparently the tour company gave me a ticket for the day before I was suppose to leave, causing some frustration, a few cross words on my part, followed by it all working out alright-somehow. The night train back I didn’t sleep as well-it was bumpy and I kept waking-thinking it was going to derail and crash-not a good feeling.
I did get into Hanoi at about 5am that morning. After haggling with a few taxi drivers, I found a good price and transferred over to the hostel again. I went back to bed and woke up about 10am, ready for another day in the busy city of Hanoi.
My friend Collin, who I met in Thailand and Laos, was also in Hanoi at this point, so we partnered up to take on the city streets for the day. In all honestly, I don’t think we made it farther than about 2km from the hostel, but still, we had a good time. We searched for some real Vietnamese food, noodles and grilled pork called “bun chao.” For about $2 each we ate an incredible meal. Collin was excited to be introduced to some new food, and I was happy to have someone to share a meal with.
We walked around for a while in an attempt to find a traditional Vietnamese beverage made from white or black beans and ice. After walking around the busy streets, perusing all of the markets selling décor for the coming Chinese New Year, we finally came upon the small hole in the wall that was serving the beverage. The place was fairly busy-and seemed a popular cold treat for working women and men in the heat of the afternoon. It was definitely different, but Collin and I both agreed it was tasty.
The rest of the afternoon we lounged around-watched half of a horrible movie, Eagle Eye, what a waste of time…then settled for happy hour at the hostel’s bar instead. Into the evening we decided to go for a change of scenery and search for a bar outside of the hostel’s comfort zone. We ended up at a place I had eaten dinner at a week before, and the beer there was less than a dollar a glass. After some good conversation and good number of beers later we went for a walk around the lake and enjoyed some of the city lights, people watching, and did some tree climbing. The atmosphere around the lake was really nice, and convinced me that Hanoi did, after all, uphold some bit of charm.
I flew out early the next morning-after a major mistake on the date of my flight, and a loss of about $400. Note to self: always read the fine print. My flight was on the 10th, not the 11th. Well shit. I had a pretty horrible day, but by the end of it, sleeping in my comfortable bed in Kuala Lumpur, and knowing I would be flying out to Melbourne the following night, things were starting to look up again.
Sorry but no pictures for a while-I have yet to find an internet connection fast and cheap enough.
Sapa is a town in northern Vietnam surrounded by mountains, valleys, and an abundance of man made terraces for cultivating rice. Many people live in the town of Sapa or the surrounding villages that make up the region. Several Mung and Dao tribes still thrive in this region and make a living either farming or following tourists. The people of these tribes still wear traditional garb, and live a very traditional life style, sans the cell phone that is...
I took the night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, an 8 hour journey. Surprisingly I sleep for the majority of it and woke feeling like I had only been sleeping a few minutes. The first day I joined a group for a tour of BacHa Market, in a town about 70km away from Sapa. The ride there was long and fairly painful, as the Vietnamese tourists shared the microphone and sang karaoke the entire way there, mind you the microphone was not of the best quality, and neither was my patience.
The market itself was not too impressive, but still somewhat interesting. I coupled up with a solo traveler from England, and architect named Nick, and we explored the market together. Besides the normal fare, the only thing that caught my attention was the meat market, dog and all.
After a few hours at the market, tired of wandering around, Nick and I settled down for a beer and some good people watching before our scheduled lunch hour and bus ride to the next destination of the day, the China-Vietnam border.
Another hour or so on the bus, we got out and looked at a traditional Flower Mung village home. The woman working in this home was making traditional “happy water.” The only thing I can liken this particular happy water to is what we Texans call “moonshine.” Its corn based liquor, strong, nasty, and get you going. After a shot of this-mid day-I was ready to get going…to bed.
The bus ride to the border I was out like a light, a nice nap all in all give or take some neck pain. The border was about as interesting and exciting as when you cross over from Texas into Oklahoma, yet less beautiful and there is no formal welcome sign or travel center, only some electric fencing and an immigration office. Oh well, I guess I can say I have seen China now.
The rest of the day I got to take it easy at the Fansipan Hotel in Sapa. I had my own room with the most amazing shower, consistently hot shower, and clean comfy bed with crisp sheets. I went to bed at 8pm and didn’t wake up until my alarm went off. Rare.
The next day was the start of our two day trek. I joined a different group for this part of the trip. There were six of us total, five girls (three from Oz, one from Israel, and myself) and one guy (Ole from Alaska/Mexico). We had a guide named something like Juan but I can’t be bothered to attempt to spell it correctly in Vietnamese.
Day one was supposedly a 19km trek-sure didn’t feel like it. Easy as pie except for the one area where we had to walk down a steep hill for about thirty minutes. The entire time we walked, we were followed by several Mung tribal women. These women would ask us questions is English, attempt to build a sort of friendship, then at the right moment try to make a sale. Mainly they sold jewelry, and other odds and ends made from their woven fabrics. I somehow got off only buy a pair of ear rings for a measly 20,000 Dong ($1).
We had lunch about half way at some random wooden building in the mountains. Lunch consisted of the same exact thing I had for breakfast, a baguette, laughing cow cheese, and cucumber. Delightful. After lunch we continued on towards our homestay for the night. The homestay was in a larger village in one of the valleys and was quite luxurious considering the other homes we had seen on the trek out there. It was a large two story wooden home with a patio and pool table outdoors, and a small TV indoors. Granted the kitchen was all wood fired, and the home lacked most modern amenities, it was comfortable. Due to its touristy nature, the homestay sadly didn’t include much interaction with the actual family that lived there, they merely acted as a host instead. I felt this especially when I asked to help prepare our dinner, hoping to learn a few things and engage in some cultural interaction, and was turned down and told to go sit outside with the other foreigners. I did, however, at one point, convince one of the young girls to let me roll a few spring rolls before she fried them up. Needless to say she was impressed by my skills.
The evening meal was delicious. We ate a number of different dishes: chicken and mushrooms, tofu and tomatoes, pork, pig intestine (eek), spring rolls, and rice. One of the best meals I had in Vietnam. The night was passed playing pool, telling stories, drinking rice wine, and watching the local village men get drunk and smoke tobacco out of a giant bamboo pipe.
Day two was only 10km. Which felt even shorter as we took it slow, and stopped at several small villages and viewpoints. Its hard to describe these villages and their people, I think my pictures will do some justice. They seemed overall happy and carefree, and for the most part healthy despite the living conditions.
The end of the Sapa trek brought us back to Sapa where I did a bit of shopping in the street market/black market, and bought a sweater finally. I then went to a viewpoint café with Ole from the tour group and was convinced to have a cup of Vietnamese coffee with him-arguably the best damn cup of coffee I have ever had given I don’t like coffee.
From there it was a shower and another bus ride to Lao Cai for another night train. There was a mix up with my train ticket, apparently the tour company gave me a ticket for the day before I was suppose to leave, causing some frustration, a few cross words on my part, followed by it all working out alright-somehow. The night train back I didn’t sleep as well-it was bumpy and I kept waking-thinking it was going to derail and crash-not a good feeling.
I did get into Hanoi at about 5am that morning. After haggling with a few taxi drivers, I found a good price and transferred over to the hostel again. I went back to bed and woke up about 10am, ready for another day in the busy city of Hanoi.
My friend Collin, who I met in Thailand and Laos, was also in Hanoi at this point, so we partnered up to take on the city streets for the day. In all honestly, I don’t think we made it farther than about 2km from the hostel, but still, we had a good time. We searched for some real Vietnamese food, noodles and grilled pork called “bun chao.” For about $2 each we ate an incredible meal. Collin was excited to be introduced to some new food, and I was happy to have someone to share a meal with.
We walked around for a while in an attempt to find a traditional Vietnamese beverage made from white or black beans and ice. After walking around the busy streets, perusing all of the markets selling décor for the coming Chinese New Year, we finally came upon the small hole in the wall that was serving the beverage. The place was fairly busy-and seemed a popular cold treat for working women and men in the heat of the afternoon. It was definitely different, but Collin and I both agreed it was tasty.
The rest of the afternoon we lounged around-watched half of a horrible movie, Eagle Eye, what a waste of time…then settled for happy hour at the hostel’s bar instead. Into the evening we decided to go for a change of scenery and search for a bar outside of the hostel’s comfort zone. We ended up at a place I had eaten dinner at a week before, and the beer there was less than a dollar a glass. After some good conversation and good number of beers later we went for a walk around the lake and enjoyed some of the city lights, people watching, and did some tree climbing. The atmosphere around the lake was really nice, and convinced me that Hanoi did, after all, uphold some bit of charm.
I flew out early the next morning-after a major mistake on the date of my flight, and a loss of about $400. Note to self: always read the fine print. My flight was on the 10th, not the 11th. Well shit. I had a pretty horrible day, but by the end of it, sleeping in my comfortable bed in Kuala Lumpur, and knowing I would be flying out to Melbourne the following night, things were starting to look up again.
Sorry but no pictures for a while-I have yet to find an internet connection fast and cheap enough.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Good Morning Vietnam!
So it has been quite a while since I have updated this site. Seeing a trend here?
Vang Vieng was awesome. I had so much fun and hung out with some cool people. I rode bikes to a cave and small natural pool with a few people from the hostel, Ben from LA, Tom, and Emma from Australia. We had a really good time bumping down the rocky dirt roads on our granny bicycles, exploring the dark cave and swimming in the freezing water, dodging sharp rocks. I ended up going tubing with them the first full day, and having a blast.
The second day I took it easy, like I said, and went tubing down the river the full three hours. I was seriously the only person on the river for most of the way-running into local fisherman and little kids mostly. At one point I stopped along the river for a beer, and ended up fishing with a local man for about an hour. His English was incredible, and I learned a lot more about day to day life in Laos.
That afternoon I met up with a friend from my travels in Thailand. Collin and I met in Chiang Mai, a fellow American, we hit it off and were excited when we ended up meeting again in Laos. We hung out the next few days, went out at night, went tubing during the day, and basically just made fun of all the annoying Swedish people staying at our hostel.
I was sad to leave Laos since I had so much fun there-made some good friends.
I set off to Hanoi Vietnam on the 1st of February, arrived late and exhausted, and went on a three day Halong Bay tour the next morning.
Despite the drab weather, Halong Bay was beautiful. It is made up of over 1000 limestone karsts/islands that stick out of the water as far as the eye can see. After a four hour bus ride out of Hanoi, I boarded a large boat with about 25 other backpackers. We checked into our cabins (I got my own room!), and we had a good lunch, and all started to chat and make friends. At first the group was not very exciting, and I questioned how well everyone was going to get along. By the end of the day, however, everyone was having a great time together-jumping off the boat, having a few drinks, playing cards, sharing music, etc.
The second day we moved from the big boat to a smaller one that took us to a tiny island where we spent the next day and night. Castaway Island was phenomenal. There were a few small huts for sleeping pads, toilets, a ping pong table, volley ball court, and a pavilion for eating and drinking. Very charming and cute, not to mention scenic. Had the weather been better, it would have been paradise in my eyes. This is a place I would love to come back to someday.
I really clicked with several of the people from this trip, and hope to see them again someday. I met two English girls, Alice and Lauren, who are traveling for the next eight months and have plans to come over to the states, should be fun. I got everyone excited about coming to Texas and experience some real BBQ, a rodeo, tubing, wine country, and Austin. It is amazing how much people know about Texas.
After three long days at Halong Bay, I was exhausted and spent the next few days in Hanoi doing absolutely nothing. I think today I will actually leave the vicinity of the hostel and go see a sight or two. I just really don’t care for the hustle and bustle of Hanoi, the trash, and the dangerous street crossings. I do, however, like to the Pho.
I leave tonight for a four night tour of Sapa, the northern region of Vietnam. I really need to go buy a warm sweater for this trip-I am not quite prepared.
Vang Vieng was awesome. I had so much fun and hung out with some cool people. I rode bikes to a cave and small natural pool with a few people from the hostel, Ben from LA, Tom, and Emma from Australia. We had a really good time bumping down the rocky dirt roads on our granny bicycles, exploring the dark cave and swimming in the freezing water, dodging sharp rocks. I ended up going tubing with them the first full day, and having a blast.
The second day I took it easy, like I said, and went tubing down the river the full three hours. I was seriously the only person on the river for most of the way-running into local fisherman and little kids mostly. At one point I stopped along the river for a beer, and ended up fishing with a local man for about an hour. His English was incredible, and I learned a lot more about day to day life in Laos.
That afternoon I met up with a friend from my travels in Thailand. Collin and I met in Chiang Mai, a fellow American, we hit it off and were excited when we ended up meeting again in Laos. We hung out the next few days, went out at night, went tubing during the day, and basically just made fun of all the annoying Swedish people staying at our hostel.
I was sad to leave Laos since I had so much fun there-made some good friends.
I set off to Hanoi Vietnam on the 1st of February, arrived late and exhausted, and went on a three day Halong Bay tour the next morning.
Despite the drab weather, Halong Bay was beautiful. It is made up of over 1000 limestone karsts/islands that stick out of the water as far as the eye can see. After a four hour bus ride out of Hanoi, I boarded a large boat with about 25 other backpackers. We checked into our cabins (I got my own room!), and we had a good lunch, and all started to chat and make friends. At first the group was not very exciting, and I questioned how well everyone was going to get along. By the end of the day, however, everyone was having a great time together-jumping off the boat, having a few drinks, playing cards, sharing music, etc.
The second day we moved from the big boat to a smaller one that took us to a tiny island where we spent the next day and night. Castaway Island was phenomenal. There were a few small huts for sleeping pads, toilets, a ping pong table, volley ball court, and a pavilion for eating and drinking. Very charming and cute, not to mention scenic. Had the weather been better, it would have been paradise in my eyes. This is a place I would love to come back to someday.
I really clicked with several of the people from this trip, and hope to see them again someday. I met two English girls, Alice and Lauren, who are traveling for the next eight months and have plans to come over to the states, should be fun. I got everyone excited about coming to Texas and experience some real BBQ, a rodeo, tubing, wine country, and Austin. It is amazing how much people know about Texas.
After three long days at Halong Bay, I was exhausted and spent the next few days in Hanoi doing absolutely nothing. I think today I will actually leave the vicinity of the hostel and go see a sight or two. I just really don’t care for the hustle and bustle of Hanoi, the trash, and the dangerous street crossings. I do, however, like to the Pho.
I leave tonight for a four night tour of Sapa, the northern region of Vietnam. I really need to go buy a warm sweater for this trip-I am not quite prepared.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Laos
Luang Prabang was a beautiful, charming, little town. The first day I got out I joined a group from the hostel and went to Kuang Si water fall which was astounding. It was made up of several tiers and many clear bluish swimming holes. I climbed up the steep side of the hill to get a view from the top-quite a workout-before descending and enjoying a cool swim in one of the pools. The rest of the day I took it easy, roamed around town a bit, then went out to dinner with the group at a place that overlooked the Mekong called “Utopia.” It was a picturesque place that offered sand volley ball, bamboo bungalow style furniture, and several lounge areas. I ended up going back the next day, during the day, to fully enjoy the atmosphere.
On day two I decided to explore more of the town by bicycle. I rode around to the many temples and even climbed to the top of the hill for a spectacular view of the city. In part of this hill top temple was a shrine to the foot print of Buddha, which ended up being quite larger than life…sort of strange the types of relics dedicated to religions in general.
In the evening I perused around the night market and ate on the street. They had the best food I have eaten in a while, full veggie buffet style for less than $1 and then a grilled fish that had been stuffed with lemon grass for around $2-the fish was so good I can’t even explain it.
I ended up buying only a t-shirt and a silk scarf. There were so many beautiful silks and things I wanted to buy-but felt that it wasn’t essential to my being, and passed it up.
The last day in Luang Prabang, I joined a group for Mahout Elephant training. Basically I went to an Elephant Sanctuary and feed, rode, bathed, and played with elephants. I will try to upload some pictures so you get a better idea. But this was such an amazing and surreal experience. I rode on the neck of the elephant in the forest than into the river where the elephants would stand, sit, and move around, scaring the shit out of me but making me fall into fits of laughter, either from fear or joy.
Thursday I took a minivan from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, the tubing/backpacker/party town mid way between Luang Prabang and Vientian. The ride over was gorgeous, and at one point as we scaled up and down the mountain sides, we were actually about the clouds. I got a better view of typical Lao life outside of the tourist areas. Many people live in small huts on the side of the mountain road, farming, making things to sell out of natural resources, and living a simple life with almost no modern luxuries. It seems the children here grow up fast. Many 7-10 year old children looked to be in charge of their infant siblings whilst their parents worked, often carrying them on their backs in slings. It was great to see this side of Laos. Besides the Lao man sitting next to me, invading my personal space, the ride was quite pleasant.
Once here, I scooped out the town, ran into some people from Luang Prabang, Aileen from Ohio and Marizio from Mexico- we had a meal together than goofed off the rest of the night.
Friday I went tubing. “Tubing” here is basically word for swimming down the river going from bar to bar where they blast music, give you free Lao Whiskey, and young adults engage in the type of activities their parents wouldn’t approve of. Really has nothing to do with tubing at all. End of explanation.
It was fun, I didn’t drink very much and decided to enjoy the scenery instead. I think today I will go kayak or tubing down the river, actual tubing, like we do in Texas.
On day two I decided to explore more of the town by bicycle. I rode around to the many temples and even climbed to the top of the hill for a spectacular view of the city. In part of this hill top temple was a shrine to the foot print of Buddha, which ended up being quite larger than life…sort of strange the types of relics dedicated to religions in general.
In the evening I perused around the night market and ate on the street. They had the best food I have eaten in a while, full veggie buffet style for less than $1 and then a grilled fish that had been stuffed with lemon grass for around $2-the fish was so good I can’t even explain it.
I ended up buying only a t-shirt and a silk scarf. There were so many beautiful silks and things I wanted to buy-but felt that it wasn’t essential to my being, and passed it up.
The last day in Luang Prabang, I joined a group for Mahout Elephant training. Basically I went to an Elephant Sanctuary and feed, rode, bathed, and played with elephants. I will try to upload some pictures so you get a better idea. But this was such an amazing and surreal experience. I rode on the neck of the elephant in the forest than into the river where the elephants would stand, sit, and move around, scaring the shit out of me but making me fall into fits of laughter, either from fear or joy.
Thursday I took a minivan from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, the tubing/backpacker/party town mid way between Luang Prabang and Vientian. The ride over was gorgeous, and at one point as we scaled up and down the mountain sides, we were actually about the clouds. I got a better view of typical Lao life outside of the tourist areas. Many people live in small huts on the side of the mountain road, farming, making things to sell out of natural resources, and living a simple life with almost no modern luxuries. It seems the children here grow up fast. Many 7-10 year old children looked to be in charge of their infant siblings whilst their parents worked, often carrying them on their backs in slings. It was great to see this side of Laos. Besides the Lao man sitting next to me, invading my personal space, the ride was quite pleasant.
Once here, I scooped out the town, ran into some people from Luang Prabang, Aileen from Ohio and Marizio from Mexico- we had a meal together than goofed off the rest of the night.
Friday I went tubing. “Tubing” here is basically word for swimming down the river going from bar to bar where they blast music, give you free Lao Whiskey, and young adults engage in the type of activities their parents wouldn’t approve of. Really has nothing to do with tubing at all. End of explanation.
It was fun, I didn’t drink very much and decided to enjoy the scenery instead. I think today I will go kayak or tubing down the river, actual tubing, like we do in Texas.
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