Hi Guys,
And you thought that I had forgotten to email you it has been so long.......
After deciding UK was just too cold and gloomy I left uk on 19/1/02 and spent a week in NY en route to Rio de Janerio for 6 months of hard intensive work in South America (no I didn´t think that you would believe that).
Actually I decided to hit the beaches a few hours down the coast from Rio and retuned to Rio for the Carnival (and hit the beaches again!)
NEW YORK
Was it what I expected ? Amazingly Yes. Almost everything was exactly what I expected - I must have been watching far too many of those US TV programs !
Skyscrapers (The Highs)
- The Empire State Building - Completed in 1930 and once again the tallest building in NY. Majestic against the skyline (most of the other tall buildings are some distance away).
- Brooklyn Bridge - walking across the this web of wires and pylons in the blazing sunshine towards the skyline of lower Manhaten is simply amazing.
- Seeing Winne the Pooh and Friends - now over 80 years old they are barely recognisable as the ones on sale in the nearby Disney Store or FOA Schwartz toyshop (that's because they look completely different - where the tubby version of Pooh came from I have no idea).
- For those whose knowledge of New York comes from watching ´Friends´, Bloomingdales is a shoppers paradise if you can afford it(the most expensive thing I found was a crystal US flag about 0,5m x 0,3m which cost $30,000); and there really is a Pottery Barn and they do sell apocathery tables for $499 (but only by mail order).
Low Rise (the worst bits)
- The remains of the WTC. Physically there is actually nothing left, the rubble has been removed and the site is now a regular building site. All over NY there are messages of hope and pictures of ´missing´ family and friends. Upon every subway car and bus the stars and stripes have been
freshly added; outside most houses and on many cars the flag flies and New Yorkers look at the ´new skyline´ with dismay.
- Shopping at Macy´s, the worlds largest store. It is actually very boring.
- The weather - from snow and below freezing to bright sunshine and 15C in less than a week - I just never knew what to wear when going out.
BRAZIL
The breast bits
- The Carnival. It is hard to give a good overall description of the Carnival in Rio. Most of it is a bit mediocre and it is difficult to find out what is going on where at what time. However the Main parades put on by the samba schools are absolutely amazing. The floats are fantastic with
huge moving parts and the costumes (of which there are thousands in each parade) are breathtakingly detailed - unfortunately most people never get to see the detail as most of us were too far away. Nevertheless here was the glitz and glamour I had been expecting and I was not dissapointed. Each parade lasts 1 hour 20 minutes. There are 14 main contestants for the
championship over 2 nights. We got in there at 1am on the second night, saw 4 parades and it didn't finish until 7am. Knackering.
- The beaches in and around Rio are supurb (Copacabana and Ipanema are the main ones in Rio) white sand which is actually clean, and warm water. The beach culture here is something to be marvelled at - make of that what you will. Oh and hanging out on the beach with a load of other travellers/Brazilians that I just met and having a ball! Cool stuff.
- Managed to get a game of football on the beach in Rio - well we really do have to take on the Brazilians at OUR own game. Scored a goal, pulled a muscle (no pun intended). I was easily the Most Valuable Player on the pitch as I was still wearing my moneybelt with all my cash and travellers cheques in it, but better on the person than left almost anywhere else.
- Views from
Sugar Loaf mountain - great views of the beaches and coastline from 400m up. Rio is actually built around a whole bunch of steep peaks.
Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio. Actually the statue of the late JC is rather ordinary .... but what a view he has - from 700m up it is nearly an aerial view - Does he really live here ... well it may not be heaven but it's pretty close. Up there with views from Table Mountain (Cape Town) and Victoria Peak (Hong Kong).
- The people in Brazil have been fantastic - so friendly even though most of them don't speak english and always willing to help. The bus drivers/conductors even tell you the correct place to get off when you haven't even told them where you are going .... amazing !
The cover up (bad bits)
- On the beach topless is out (except for the boys - any displayed breasts are boys that are part way to being girls). However the Brazilians do have the most minute bikinis imaginable - tiny triangles imaginatively connected by straps. As one girl pointed out this is a bum culture and the girls show as much as they can.
- The weather is a bit oppressive - over 35C in the shade and very high humidity. There are some cooler days when you can walk around without pouring sweat so long as you don´t walk up any hills or carry a backpack! It gets down to 25C at night but is still humid.
- the no. of travellers I have met who have been mugged or robbed (sometimes by thieves in costume), sometimes in broad daylight. There is no longer a distinction between being safe and paranoid.
So at last the hassle of finding accomadation for carnival is over and I actually get to travel somewhere. Next up is a 23 hour, 1500km bus journey down to Iguassu Falls on the border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.
Then into Paraguay and down to Buenos Aires before hitting the cool of Patagonia. Well thats the plan but it will change I'm sure ..... only 5 months left so I'd better get some more sun in ....
Best Wishes
Pete
Saturday, 16 February 2002
Thursday, 15 November 2001
Where 13 - London via Tahiti and Easter Island
HI Peeps,
Back in the UK at this time of year in the cold and dark ? I must be mad ! But after 12 months of travelling comtinuously I decided that I needed a bit of a break as I was getting so blase about seeing all these wonderful places and people. Not to mention moving on every couple of days....... I just need a holiday !
So I'm back near London for a few weeks and planning to go back to South America in January and pick up where I left off. Before I came back I did manage to take in the delights of French Polynesia and Easter Island plus a couple of nights in Santiago, Chile.
The Good Bits
- The strange Moai (carved stone statues) of Easter Island. They are up to 10m high with tiny hands and no legs - really they are all Head and belly ! As well as several ceremonial sites where they stand there are 600 of them at the quarry where they were carved; many of these are hidden up to their necks in the ground with heads of 5m tall.
- French Polynesia (Tahiti and Morea) - This is Paradise! Beautiful lagoons, clear waters, great snorkelling - just like it says in all the advertising blurb!
- Swimming with the Stingrays - they are surprisingly timid creatures and will rub past you with their enourmous 1 metre 'wingspan'.
- Shark feeding - the black tipped reef sharks are up to 3m long. Being in the water with them is adrenalin pumping stuff (no shark cage).
The Bad bits
- Shark Feeding - well they are supposed to eat the fish, but I reckon their eyesight isn't up to much. One of them just swam right into my chest and I felt it (luckily their mouths are set below their snouts and so it didn't get a bite out of me). I decided that shark feeding is not such a great idea !
- the food on Easter Island is the worst on this trip (with the possible exception of Lao). The supermarkets were fully stocked with nothing good to eat !
- French Poly was expensive - I think the most expensive place I've been. Great weather though.
- The UK - This is definitelly the most expensive place I've been. And shame about the weather !!
- The journey back -another long journey from Santiago (27 hours) - somehow I managed to fly into and out of Soa Paulo twice in the same day and not get off either time !
Looking forward to January....
Luv
Pete
Back in the UK at this time of year in the cold and dark ? I must be mad ! But after 12 months of travelling comtinuously I decided that I needed a bit of a break as I was getting so blase about seeing all these wonderful places and people. Not to mention moving on every couple of days....... I just need a holiday !
So I'm back near London for a few weeks and planning to go back to South America in January and pick up where I left off. Before I came back I did manage to take in the delights of French Polynesia and Easter Island plus a couple of nights in Santiago, Chile.
The Good Bits
- The strange Moai (carved stone statues) of Easter Island. They are up to 10m high with tiny hands and no legs - really they are all Head and belly ! As well as several ceremonial sites where they stand there are 600 of them at the quarry where they were carved; many of these are hidden up to their necks in the ground with heads of 5m tall.
- French Polynesia (Tahiti and Morea) - This is Paradise! Beautiful lagoons, clear waters, great snorkelling - just like it says in all the advertising blurb!
- Swimming with the Stingrays - they are surprisingly timid creatures and will rub past you with their enourmous 1 metre 'wingspan'.
- Shark feeding - the black tipped reef sharks are up to 3m long. Being in the water with them is adrenalin pumping stuff (no shark cage).
The Bad bits
- Shark Feeding - well they are supposed to eat the fish, but I reckon their eyesight isn't up to much. One of them just swam right into my chest and I felt it (luckily their mouths are set below their snouts and so it didn't get a bite out of me). I decided that shark feeding is not such a great idea !
- the food on Easter Island is the worst on this trip (with the possible exception of Lao). The supermarkets were fully stocked with nothing good to eat !
- French Poly was expensive - I think the most expensive place I've been. Great weather though.
- The UK - This is definitelly the most expensive place I've been. And shame about the weather !!
- The journey back -another long journey from Santiago (27 hours) - somehow I managed to fly into and out of Soa Paulo twice in the same day and not get off either time !
Looking forward to January....
Luv
Pete
Monday, 29 October 2001
Where 12 Auckland, New Zealand --OR-- SkyDiving into the Freezer for Free Beer?
Dear All,
Hopped over here from Sydney 6 weeks ago and have been travelling around North and South Islands (Such original names - Captain Cook is probably to blame). There is also a West Island (according to some Kiwis) - which some people call Australia! (It's funny the first time but everyone tells the same joke and it wears off really quickly).
High Points
- the highest point reached was 12,000 feet(nearly 2.5 miles/4 km ) above ground. And then inexplicably I jumped out. Yes at last I got round to skydiving (tandem) above Lake Taupo which was an amazing experience travelling at 125mph / 200kph downwards and yet I hardly felt I was moving - and what a view. Recommended if you are mad with an excess of cash -although its a lot cheaper here than in UK).
- Glacier climbing on Franz Joseph Glacier. As if it wasn't cold enough already it started to rain ! It was amazing going through the ice tunnels and squeeaing through the narrow cracks in the glacier - and the ice was so blue - just like a Foxes Glacier Mint!
- Milford Sound - It's a Fiord not a Sound (i.e. carved by ice not water) with sides that go nearly vertically up over 1 mile (1670 metres). Absolutely spectacular ! After a while you get used to the scale and it starts to look smaller..............
- Tranz Alpine Railway between Christchurch and Greymouth - one of the top 6 railway journeys of the world - across the plain to the snow capped mountains, over some and through others....... and as a bonus there is a special wagon where you can stand out in the freezing cold to watch it all !
- Mount Cook (the highest Mountain in NZ) National Park. Had a snowball fight with fresh snow and met a Kea, the worlds only alpine parrot. It followed me around staying 5 metres behind me, just walking in the snow, for some reason it couldn't be bothered to fly. Trying to scare one of these away is not recommended as you have to get so close they will bit you - and
they have big sharp beaks. They often eat windsreen wiper blades and shoes........
- Wildlife - the Yellow eyed penguins are dead cute, the albatross are huge (wingspan is the largest of any bird at over 3 metres) and the Kiwi is fairly stupid (!) although I only saw them in captivity (in the dark and even that wasn't easy). NZ has 80 million possums (imported from Oz originally) and most of them are very flat and live next to the road - or so it seems.......
And there's the rarest duck in the world the Campbell Island Teal with only 50 left in the wild (it's not very exciting though!) I could go on about NZ birds..........but I won't.
Surprisingly the only mammels native to NZ are bats - everything else has been brought in - and as in OZ anything that is not native is hated by most of the population!
- Whale watching (again) This time Sperm Whales the biggest toothed whales. They don't jump out of the water though so actually it was pretty boring - roll on Humpback whales anytime.
- Boiling hot geysers and vigourously boiling pools of water in Rotorua - the whole places does smell of sulphur though!
- To make up for the heat I did my first cold water dive - I had the whole wetsuit with boots and hood and 12kg weights round my waist to make up for the buoyant effect of the suit. And it was still freezing!! (rated *** in freezer terms). The dive site (Poor Knights Islands - another daft Captain Cook name) was rated one of the top 10 in the world by that Cousteau fellah. Fish and plant life were really good though.
- The Maori culture is much more accessable than the Aboriginal people in Oz and the Maoris are much more integrated into society as a whole and there appears to be little racism. Hoorah for NZ and the positive attitude of the Moaris !
The Lows
- The Torrangiro Crossing - usually the best one day walk in NZ. But on the day we walked it the wind was howling over the ridge at around 60 kph trying to blow us off the ridge down the vertical drop, we were in cloud, in was wet, visability was ...er... low and it was bloody freezing (a **** freezer). Just to make it worse after we had come down from the ridge where supposedly the best views were it cleared and the sun came out - for about 5 mins anyway) - a real experience !!
- The NZ wine here is no cheaper than it is back in UK ! Why that is I have no idea.
- The free beer tap in Dunedin. Yes this should be a high.. BUT....... We were told of this free beer tap as we passed the Speights Brewery in a van ... free beer you must be joking ? There was the tap coming straight through the wall of the brewery - but if this tap was really dispensing free beer then surely there would be a queue of people with polypins ... and
there was ! So off we went (sod the wildlife there's free beer in that there wall ... er... I mean this is culture!) and when we got to the tap there is was .... free flowing .... nearly colourless (but then thats Speights beer for you !) ....... and just about tasteless as well (again that's Speights beer). Very very like water in fact (that's Speights!). Are you Seriously saying that all these people
queue up here with their polypins to get water out of this tap when they could just turn on the tap at home ? Er yes they do! NZ has never had a great reputation as a beer drinking nation .... and there is no way it's ever going to get one now. 'Just popping down the brewery for a few pints of water love' just dosen't wash !!!
- And I might just mention that it is a pain travelling with people who can't get into a pub 'cos they are too young - 16 years old to be exact. And before you start thinking THAT - the answers NO!
Next up is Tahiti (where hopefully it will be a bit warmer and less rainy than the North Island of NZ) for 9 days then Easter Island for 4 days and then Lima in Peru to start some challenging travelling !!! I am trying to learn Spanish but it's slow going !
Bye for Now
Luv
Pete
Hopped over here from Sydney 6 weeks ago and have been travelling around North and South Islands (Such original names - Captain Cook is probably to blame). There is also a West Island (according to some Kiwis) - which some people call Australia! (It's funny the first time but everyone tells the same joke and it wears off really quickly).
High Points
- the highest point reached was 12,000 feet(nearly 2.5 miles/4 km ) above ground. And then inexplicably I jumped out. Yes at last I got round to skydiving (tandem) above Lake Taupo which was an amazing experience travelling at 125mph / 200kph downwards and yet I hardly felt I was moving - and what a view. Recommended if you are mad with an excess of cash -although its a lot cheaper here than in UK).
- Glacier climbing on Franz Joseph Glacier. As if it wasn't cold enough already it started to rain ! It was amazing going through the ice tunnels and squeeaing through the narrow cracks in the glacier - and the ice was so blue - just like a Foxes Glacier Mint!
- Milford Sound - It's a Fiord not a Sound (i.e. carved by ice not water) with sides that go nearly vertically up over 1 mile (1670 metres). Absolutely spectacular ! After a while you get used to the scale and it starts to look smaller..............
- Tranz Alpine Railway between Christchurch and Greymouth - one of the top 6 railway journeys of the world - across the plain to the snow capped mountains, over some and through others....... and as a bonus there is a special wagon where you can stand out in the freezing cold to watch it all !
- Mount Cook (the highest Mountain in NZ) National Park. Had a snowball fight with fresh snow and met a Kea, the worlds only alpine parrot. It followed me around staying 5 metres behind me, just walking in the snow, for some reason it couldn't be bothered to fly. Trying to scare one of these away is not recommended as you have to get so close they will bit you - and
they have big sharp beaks. They often eat windsreen wiper blades and shoes........
- Wildlife - the Yellow eyed penguins are dead cute, the albatross are huge (wingspan is the largest of any bird at over 3 metres) and the Kiwi is fairly stupid (!) although I only saw them in captivity (in the dark and even that wasn't easy). NZ has 80 million possums (imported from Oz originally) and most of them are very flat and live next to the road - or so it seems.......
And there's the rarest duck in the world the Campbell Island Teal with only 50 left in the wild (it's not very exciting though!) I could go on about NZ birds..........but I won't.
Surprisingly the only mammels native to NZ are bats - everything else has been brought in - and as in OZ anything that is not native is hated by most of the population!
- Whale watching (again) This time Sperm Whales the biggest toothed whales. They don't jump out of the water though so actually it was pretty boring - roll on Humpback whales anytime.
- Boiling hot geysers and vigourously boiling pools of water in Rotorua - the whole places does smell of sulphur though!
- To make up for the heat I did my first cold water dive - I had the whole wetsuit with boots and hood and 12kg weights round my waist to make up for the buoyant effect of the suit. And it was still freezing!! (rated *** in freezer terms). The dive site (Poor Knights Islands - another daft Captain Cook name) was rated one of the top 10 in the world by that Cousteau fellah. Fish and plant life were really good though.
- The Maori culture is much more accessable than the Aboriginal people in Oz and the Maoris are much more integrated into society as a whole and there appears to be little racism. Hoorah for NZ and the positive attitude of the Moaris !
The Lows
- The Torrangiro Crossing - usually the best one day walk in NZ. But on the day we walked it the wind was howling over the ridge at around 60 kph trying to blow us off the ridge down the vertical drop, we were in cloud, in was wet, visability was ...er... low and it was bloody freezing (a **** freezer). Just to make it worse after we had come down from the ridge where supposedly the best views were it cleared and the sun came out - for about 5 mins anyway) - a real experience !!
- The NZ wine here is no cheaper than it is back in UK ! Why that is I have no idea.
- The free beer tap in Dunedin. Yes this should be a high.. BUT....... We were told of this free beer tap as we passed the Speights Brewery in a van ... free beer you must be joking ? There was the tap coming straight through the wall of the brewery - but if this tap was really dispensing free beer then surely there would be a queue of people with polypins ... and
there was ! So off we went (sod the wildlife there's free beer in that there wall ... er... I mean this is culture!) and when we got to the tap there is was .... free flowing .... nearly colourless (but then thats Speights beer for you !) ....... and just about tasteless as well (again that's Speights beer). Very very like water in fact (that's Speights!). Are you Seriously saying that all these people
queue up here with their polypins to get water out of this tap when they could just turn on the tap at home ? Er yes they do! NZ has never had a great reputation as a beer drinking nation .... and there is no way it's ever going to get one now. 'Just popping down the brewery for a few pints of water love' just dosen't wash !!!
- And I might just mention that it is a pain travelling with people who can't get into a pub 'cos they are too young - 16 years old to be exact. And before you start thinking THAT - the answers NO!
Next up is Tahiti (where hopefully it will be a bit warmer and less rainy than the North Island of NZ) for 9 days then Easter Island for 4 days and then Lima in Peru to start some challenging travelling !!! I am trying to learn Spanish but it's slow going !
Bye for Now
Luv
Pete
Wednesday, 19 September 2001
Where 11 Sydney, Australia --OR-- Searching for Culture through the Bottom of a Beer Bottle (Stubbie)
Wherever you are in the world - chillin' out at a new age encampment between Brisbane for Sydney, for example (which I was), as far away from reality as I could get at that moment, there are things that happen that grab me by the balls and remind me that I am still part of that world that I am trying to get around, like these events in New York a week ago. With these events in mind it is difficult to get my little world in perspective. So for the purposes of this email I have decided to ignore perspective and the real world, and concentrate on the insignificant happenings of the past 6 weeks..... welcome to my world........
Since last time when I was in Bali I have flown to Darwin, toured round the national parks there, gone down to Alice Springs, tripped out to Uluru (Ayres Rock)and The Olgas. Then flown to Cairns at the north end of the east coast and travelled down the east coast stopping off at a variety of (mainly) interesting places en route. Finally I have reached Sydney.
Note : Written with due apologies to any Aussies who may be reading this.
Firstly I should say that Oz is a confusing place e.g.
- the Adelaide river is nowhere near Adelaide
- the Victoria highway does not go to Victoria
- Saltwater crocodiles live in freshwater (this is important when it comes to swimming in fresh water as the Salties may eat you! (or me!))
Up Top (The Good Bits)
- The main highlight of my time in Oz is obvious..... Stuffing Germany 5-1 in their own backyard. I met several Germans after that and mysteriously all claimed to have no interest in football. Odd that !!
- Kakadu National Park (NP) near Darwin - fantastic scenery and waterfalls - although the water was COLD (very).
- Uluru - the climb up was very steep and so windy that halfway up I wished they had closed it - I thought I was gonna be blown off but fortunately there was a heavyweight chain to hang on to (and I did - with both hands). An amazing place, great sunset and sunrise although it would have been better if we hadn't had to stand with a few hundred people sipping champagne to watch it (we had one warm beer between about 10 of us....) The Olgas are worth a mention - they are similar to Uluru but from certain angles they look like Homer Simpson lying down - Yes Really!
- Diving off Cairns with a rather large Green Turtle (although it was brown in colour). I swam along next to it for a few minutes. Amazing complany, it was very friendly waving it's flipper at me as we swam along together although, to be honest, it didn't say that much.
- Seeing kangaroos, dingos, koalas, camels and a duck billed platypus all in the wild (though not at the same time). The dbp was a bit tricky as we had to wait 1.5 hours for it and then only saw it for 5 seconds - but hey I saw one ! PS It was unimpressive ! The koala was better - got to within 2m of it as it munched it's way through loads of leaves ....... OK so that wasn't that exciting either...... my tiny travelling companions thought it was cute though !
- Humpback Whale watching in Hervey Bay - didn't see many of them but the ones we did see were on form as the enormous mammel jumped high out of the water just so we could take photos of them jumping high out of the water.....
- Whitsunday Islands - 3 days on a racing yacht (not that we raced) more of a cruise really, to the fantastic white sands of Whitehaven beach (reckoned to be one of the top 10 beaches in the world - and we didn't even take a bucket and spade; Damn !)
- Driving a 4x4 on the largest sand island in the world and getting stuck loads of times (everyone else had to push but I was OK - I was driving - nuff said).
- Surfing - Well you just have to ! After all this is Australia.
- Learning to play the didgeredoo - Well you just have to ! After all this is Australia.
- The 'occasional' Party nights with loadsa beer - Well you just have to ! After all this is Australia.
Down Under (The Bad Bits)
- 'Occasional' Hangovers every morning after the 'occasional' party nights out.
- The cost of it all - it may be cheaper than UK but it's about 4 times the price of SE Asia from whence I came so it seems really expensive.
- The aboriginals many of whom are displaced and apparently without hope or motivation. Most of the ones I saw just sat around all day doing nothing.
(Not to be mistaken for fellow travellers who may act in a simiar manner!)
- The whole country is culturally devoid (almost).
- The endless number of small and lifeless towns with near negative populations that are strewn about the country. I think some of them may have stopped breathing!
- There are no Australians here (cos they are all working in pubs in London). Everyone is English and surely half the point in getting away in the first place was to meet some different people. In some places 'a local' is an English person who has been in Australia for more than a month.
- The rest of the travellers on the east coast are teenage girls. OK OK ...... so there are some advantages in that ........ but I shall restrain myself and say no more ... not even ...Well you just have to ! After all this is Australia.
There is loads more i could say but you would get really bored and I would run out of internet time....
Tomorrow I'm off to New Zealand for about 6 weeks, and then to some south pacific islands - and they really will be the middle of nowhere...
Bye for now
Luv Pete
Since last time when I was in Bali I have flown to Darwin, toured round the national parks there, gone down to Alice Springs, tripped out to Uluru (Ayres Rock)and The Olgas. Then flown to Cairns at the north end of the east coast and travelled down the east coast stopping off at a variety of (mainly) interesting places en route. Finally I have reached Sydney.
Note : Written with due apologies to any Aussies who may be reading this.
Firstly I should say that Oz is a confusing place e.g.
- the Adelaide river is nowhere near Adelaide
- the Victoria highway does not go to Victoria
- Saltwater crocodiles live in freshwater (this is important when it comes to swimming in fresh water as the Salties may eat you! (or me!))
Up Top (The Good Bits)
- The main highlight of my time in Oz is obvious..... Stuffing Germany 5-1 in their own backyard. I met several Germans after that and mysteriously all claimed to have no interest in football. Odd that !!
- Kakadu National Park (NP) near Darwin - fantastic scenery and waterfalls - although the water was COLD (very).
- Uluru - the climb up was very steep and so windy that halfway up I wished they had closed it - I thought I was gonna be blown off but fortunately there was a heavyweight chain to hang on to (and I did - with both hands). An amazing place, great sunset and sunrise although it would have been better if we hadn't had to stand with a few hundred people sipping champagne to watch it (we had one warm beer between about 10 of us....) The Olgas are worth a mention - they are similar to Uluru but from certain angles they look like Homer Simpson lying down - Yes Really!
- Diving off Cairns with a rather large Green Turtle (although it was brown in colour). I swam along next to it for a few minutes. Amazing complany, it was very friendly waving it's flipper at me as we swam along together although, to be honest, it didn't say that much.
- Seeing kangaroos, dingos, koalas, camels and a duck billed platypus all in the wild (though not at the same time). The dbp was a bit tricky as we had to wait 1.5 hours for it and then only saw it for 5 seconds - but hey I saw one ! PS It was unimpressive ! The koala was better - got to within 2m of it as it munched it's way through loads of leaves ....... OK so that wasn't that exciting either...... my tiny travelling companions thought it was cute though !
- Humpback Whale watching in Hervey Bay - didn't see many of them but the ones we did see were on form as the enormous mammel jumped high out of the water just so we could take photos of them jumping high out of the water.....
- Whitsunday Islands - 3 days on a racing yacht (not that we raced) more of a cruise really, to the fantastic white sands of Whitehaven beach (reckoned to be one of the top 10 beaches in the world - and we didn't even take a bucket and spade; Damn !)
- Driving a 4x4 on the largest sand island in the world and getting stuck loads of times (everyone else had to push but I was OK - I was driving - nuff said).
- Surfing - Well you just have to ! After all this is Australia.
- Learning to play the didgeredoo - Well you just have to ! After all this is Australia.
- The 'occasional' Party nights with loadsa beer - Well you just have to ! After all this is Australia.
Down Under (The Bad Bits)
- 'Occasional' Hangovers every morning after the 'occasional' party nights out.
- The cost of it all - it may be cheaper than UK but it's about 4 times the price of SE Asia from whence I came so it seems really expensive.
- The aboriginals many of whom are displaced and apparently without hope or motivation. Most of the ones I saw just sat around all day doing nothing.
(Not to be mistaken for fellow travellers who may act in a simiar manner!)
- The whole country is culturally devoid (almost).
- The endless number of small and lifeless towns with near negative populations that are strewn about the country. I think some of them may have stopped breathing!
- There are no Australians here (cos they are all working in pubs in London). Everyone is English and surely half the point in getting away in the first place was to meet some different people. In some places 'a local' is an English person who has been in Australia for more than a month.
- The rest of the travellers on the east coast are teenage girls. OK OK ...... so there are some advantages in that ........ but I shall restrain myself and say no more ... not even ...Well you just have to ! After all this is Australia.
There is loads more i could say but you would get really bored and I would run out of internet time....
Tomorrow I'm off to New Zealand for about 6 weeks, and then to some south pacific islands - and they really will be the middle of nowhere...
Bye for now
Luv Pete
Friday, 3 August 2001
Where 10 Bali, Indonesia --OR-- Heaven is an Erupting Volcano
Hi,
Just a few things done in Indonesia - starting in Medan (from Singapore via Penang in Malaysia)on the island of Sumatra, and then down through the island (on some incredibly long and uncomfortable bus journeys)for 2.5 weeks, to Jakarta by 33 hour ferry, through Java via train and bus, then by boat to Bali, Lombok and back to Bali.
The Most Spectacular:
- Mount Bromo in Java at sunrise was the most spectacular natural wonder I have ever seen - a huge crater containing an active volcano (only steam though) backed by another huge volcano belching clouds of steam - you'll have to see the pictures words cannot describe it !! We went down to the active crater and walked approx 1km round the rim which was only 15cm wide in places, a sheer drop on either side and crumbling as each person walked round it. There was one point where I was hanging on for .... something ..... just trying to get across whilst all the locals were almost trotting round it in their flipflops. It was a TOTAL experience the best morning I have ever spent (though some bits I may decline to do again !!)
- Mount Merapi, also in Java (the most active volcanic island in the world).
We went up at midnight to watch the lava coming down the sides (it glows bright red in the dark) and when we eventually did see lava it was bright red rock crashing and bouncing down the slope at an incredible speed (hundreds of miles an hour) and sending off fountains of sparks every time a huge lump hit the ground - absolutely incredible. Over the following few days I heard several stories of people being killed when they got just that bit too close.....
- Lakes Maninjau and Toba in Sumatra - Beautiful lakes set in volcano craters. Toba is supposedly 850m deep in places making it ... deep. The water was really clear and the p a c e
o f l i f e w a s s o s l o w . . . . . And it was so cheap US$ 3 for a lovely room with great balcony views in the top hotel...... sod the culture, I stayed there a while......
- Oran Utans in Sumatra - we went to a rehabilitation centre where they take them from captivity and make them wild again (takes about 7 years). The semi-wild apes come out of the jungle to feed from a feeding station and seeing them in their natural habitat is incredible. They are closely related to humans and it shows. They just hand around (literally - ever seen an ape hang on to branch with one hand, hand on to its baby with another whilst holding a banana with a foot and peeling it with the other foot) and chill out watching us watching them !
- Borobudur in Java - A fantastic circular Buddhist temple on many levels with some really unusual touches, great form and some very well preserved reliefs (2.5km of them) all in stone and built before 850 AD.
- The people in some of the poorer bits of Jakarta; dark narrow alleys with small houses crammed into any available space - but the people are so friendly (the friendliest I have met in any large city) even though most spoke no English, and some of the few people in Indonesia who weren't trying to get money out of me. They gave me a kite which I was trying to fly from
their tiny backyard and I ended up having a kite fight (with another kite) although I was blissfully unaware of this until they exclaimed in unison 'You've Lost' as my kite tumbled earthwards ...........
- Gili Nanggu near Lombok - a tiny island where there were only about 10 other foreigners and a few locals - great snorkelling (huge variety of fish, superbly colourful soft corals etc) and so relaxing i'm yawning just thinking about the place .......
- Another Full moon Party - a tiny affir with only about 50 people but it really mushroomed !
The Least Spectacular
- Travelling in Sumatra - my worst journey so far - 20 hours on a bus where there wasn't enough room to sit up properly - it helps if you know the person next to you quite well !
- the cities of Sumatra - more rats, pollution, mess and awful accomodation than anywhere else I have been.
- travelling on local transport in Bali - it just isn't worth the hassle. I had to bargain for nearly an hour to pay only 6 times more than the locals and just for a 10km journey !
- 5 am prayers. They even stopped the bus so all the muslims (90% of passengers) could get off and pray. And then there are the loudspeakers on every mosque ! Christianity and Buddhusm are definitely in favour at the moment as they are 'quiet religions'. I even had my head shaved as the first step to becoming a Buddhist monk but changed my mind .......
The Summary:
Samatra is Stunning
Java is Fascinating
Lombok is Relaxing
Bali is a touristy Rip Off
Anyway, about half way round the planet now in distance and time, and now for something completely different. I'm off to Oz and looking forward to seeing the Wizard !!
Luv Pete
Just a few things done in Indonesia - starting in Medan (from Singapore via Penang in Malaysia)on the island of Sumatra, and then down through the island (on some incredibly long and uncomfortable bus journeys)for 2.5 weeks, to Jakarta by 33 hour ferry, through Java via train and bus, then by boat to Bali, Lombok and back to Bali.
The Most Spectacular:
- Mount Bromo in Java at sunrise was the most spectacular natural wonder I have ever seen - a huge crater containing an active volcano (only steam though) backed by another huge volcano belching clouds of steam - you'll have to see the pictures words cannot describe it !! We went down to the active crater and walked approx 1km round the rim which was only 15cm wide in places, a sheer drop on either side and crumbling as each person walked round it. There was one point where I was hanging on for .... something ..... just trying to get across whilst all the locals were almost trotting round it in their flipflops. It was a TOTAL experience the best morning I have ever spent (though some bits I may decline to do again !!)
- Mount Merapi, also in Java (the most active volcanic island in the world).
We went up at midnight to watch the lava coming down the sides (it glows bright red in the dark) and when we eventually did see lava it was bright red rock crashing and bouncing down the slope at an incredible speed (hundreds of miles an hour) and sending off fountains of sparks every time a huge lump hit the ground - absolutely incredible. Over the following few days I heard several stories of people being killed when they got just that bit too close.....
- Lakes Maninjau and Toba in Sumatra - Beautiful lakes set in volcano craters. Toba is supposedly 850m deep in places making it ... deep. The water was really clear and the p a c e
o f l i f e w a s s o s l o w . . . . . And it was so cheap US$ 3 for a lovely room with great balcony views in the top hotel...... sod the culture, I stayed there a while......
- Oran Utans in Sumatra - we went to a rehabilitation centre where they take them from captivity and make them wild again (takes about 7 years). The semi-wild apes come out of the jungle to feed from a feeding station and seeing them in their natural habitat is incredible. They are closely related to humans and it shows. They just hand around (literally - ever seen an ape hang on to branch with one hand, hand on to its baby with another whilst holding a banana with a foot and peeling it with the other foot) and chill out watching us watching them !
- Borobudur in Java - A fantastic circular Buddhist temple on many levels with some really unusual touches, great form and some very well preserved reliefs (2.5km of them) all in stone and built before 850 AD.
- The people in some of the poorer bits of Jakarta; dark narrow alleys with small houses crammed into any available space - but the people are so friendly (the friendliest I have met in any large city) even though most spoke no English, and some of the few people in Indonesia who weren't trying to get money out of me. They gave me a kite which I was trying to fly from
their tiny backyard and I ended up having a kite fight (with another kite) although I was blissfully unaware of this until they exclaimed in unison 'You've Lost' as my kite tumbled earthwards ...........
- Gili Nanggu near Lombok - a tiny island where there were only about 10 other foreigners and a few locals - great snorkelling (huge variety of fish, superbly colourful soft corals etc) and so relaxing i'm yawning just thinking about the place .......
- Another Full moon Party - a tiny affir with only about 50 people but it really mushroomed !
The Least Spectacular
- Travelling in Sumatra - my worst journey so far - 20 hours on a bus where there wasn't enough room to sit up properly - it helps if you know the person next to you quite well !
- the cities of Sumatra - more rats, pollution, mess and awful accomodation than anywhere else I have been.
- travelling on local transport in Bali - it just isn't worth the hassle. I had to bargain for nearly an hour to pay only 6 times more than the locals and just for a 10km journey !
- 5 am prayers. They even stopped the bus so all the muslims (90% of passengers) could get off and pray. And then there are the loudspeakers on every mosque ! Christianity and Buddhusm are definitely in favour at the moment as they are 'quiet religions'. I even had my head shaved as the first step to becoming a Buddhist monk but changed my mind .......
The Summary:
Samatra is Stunning
Java is Fascinating
Lombok is Relaxing
Bali is a touristy Rip Off
Anyway, about half way round the planet now in distance and time, and now for something completely different. I'm off to Oz and looking forward to seeing the Wizard !!
Luv Pete
Thursday, 28 June 2001
Where 9 Singapore --OR-- More Western than the West
Hi Peeps
I have been really busy the past few weeks so haven't had time to email (those beaches and clear waters are really time consuming.....)
After Myanma I went South from Bangkok to Thailands east coast and spent 3 weeks on Ko Tao island. Then to the west coast to see the limestone pinnacles at Krabi. South to Malaysia - Penang , Kuala Lumpar, into the jungle (not that KL isn't) in Tamar Negara for a few days, Malaka and then Singapore.....
Highs
- Diving and snorkelling in Thailand was excellent - saw loads of fish, sharks, octopus, squid, hard and soft corals etc... including Xmas Tree Worms which look like tiny colourful Xmas Trees underwater!
- Passed my Advanced Open Water PADI (diving certification) and did night diving and night snorkelling - just a bit creepy night snorkeling on my own!
- Limestones pinnacles rising out of thw water near Krabi - this is where they filmed 007 'The Man with the Golden Gun' in 1973. The bit they used in the film looks a lot bigger on the screen than it did in real life !! (But then in 007 films everything looks bigger than in real life !! - apart from the things that look smaller that is.....)
- Tallest buildings in the world in KL. The Petronas Towers are 452m tall and have 88 floors. The view is good but partly blocked by all the other tallest buildings in the world ! (Actually we could only go up to level 41).
- The oldest rainforest in the world - the jungle at Taman Negara in Malaysia in 130 million years old and is full of trees, bushes, trees, vines, trees and trees and is fantasticly beautiful. The trees grow up to 60 m tall and their surface roots seem even longer ! There are a few animals living there but there is just about zero chance of seeing any (even though you can hear them all night long !) as the jungle is very dark and denser than most US presidents. I spent the last night in a hide deep in the jungle with all the other people who booked it - except that no-one else did and I was alone !! Apart from the bumps on the roof that is ....well .. I mean you've all seen 'Friday 13th' right......
- Full Moon Party on Ko Pha Ngan - it had to be done as it is a bit of an institution. It was good fun but a just a tad over commercialised - maybe the highlight of the night was watching England beat Greece 2-0..........
- The food ! It's just great and cheap - even in S'pore you can get cheap food if you know where to go.....
- Night Safari in S'pore - definitely worth a visit - the best bit was going into a large cage with flying fox bats (the largest bats in the world) they are huge (half rat and half wing)but they are (nearly) cute really!
Not so Highs
- Having my camera stolen on Ko Tao (Ok so I shouldn't fall asleep on the beach at night) - luckily I didn't lose any good pictures....
- lascerating my hand on coral while diving. The worst bit is looking at all the green stuff coming out of my hand ..... After a bit I worked out that all the red light is absorbed by the water at that depth and so blood looks green. Well at least that's what I hoped it was......
- Being attacked by a Trigger fish whilst snorkelling. Thay are less than 0.5m long but are very fast, have big teeth and can easily bite off an ear. On Ko Tao they are very aggressive for no reason. I shoved my sandals in it's face but it kept attacking, 4 times in total. I was as scared - as a fish out of water ! And I didn't go near any trigger fish after that.
- Cost of S'pore (especially the beer). It wouldn't have been so bad but it was just the place for a party so we spent shedloads on the stuff.. and had a great time (I may have to stay in US$1 per night places in Indonesia though...)
- Culture shock in Malaysia and Singapore - the places are so westernised. Everyone had a mobile phone the first I have seen in months. KL has more McDonalds than any other place I have ever been. S'pore is more westernised than any western place I have ever been - where is all the dirt ??? At least they still have rats in S'pore although not a single pigeon ! Any
guesses?
And that was the posh places - now to the grime of Indonesia .......
Best Wishes
Luv
Pete
I have been really busy the past few weeks so haven't had time to email (those beaches and clear waters are really time consuming.....)
After Myanma I went South from Bangkok to Thailands east coast and spent 3 weeks on Ko Tao island. Then to the west coast to see the limestone pinnacles at Krabi. South to Malaysia - Penang , Kuala Lumpar, into the jungle (not that KL isn't) in Tamar Negara for a few days, Malaka and then Singapore.....
Highs
- Diving and snorkelling in Thailand was excellent - saw loads of fish, sharks, octopus, squid, hard and soft corals etc... including Xmas Tree Worms which look like tiny colourful Xmas Trees underwater!
- Passed my Advanced Open Water PADI (diving certification) and did night diving and night snorkelling - just a bit creepy night snorkeling on my own!
- Limestones pinnacles rising out of thw water near Krabi - this is where they filmed 007 'The Man with the Golden Gun' in 1973. The bit they used in the film looks a lot bigger on the screen than it did in real life !! (But then in 007 films everything looks bigger than in real life !! - apart from the things that look smaller that is.....)
- Tallest buildings in the world in KL. The Petronas Towers are 452m tall and have 88 floors. The view is good but partly blocked by all the other tallest buildings in the world ! (Actually we could only go up to level 41).
- The oldest rainforest in the world - the jungle at Taman Negara in Malaysia in 130 million years old and is full of trees, bushes, trees, vines, trees and trees and is fantasticly beautiful. The trees grow up to 60 m tall and their surface roots seem even longer ! There are a few animals living there but there is just about zero chance of seeing any (even though you can hear them all night long !) as the jungle is very dark and denser than most US presidents. I spent the last night in a hide deep in the jungle with all the other people who booked it - except that no-one else did and I was alone !! Apart from the bumps on the roof that is ....well .. I mean you've all seen 'Friday 13th' right......
- Full Moon Party on Ko Pha Ngan - it had to be done as it is a bit of an institution. It was good fun but a just a tad over commercialised - maybe the highlight of the night was watching England beat Greece 2-0..........
- The food ! It's just great and cheap - even in S'pore you can get cheap food if you know where to go.....
- Night Safari in S'pore - definitely worth a visit - the best bit was going into a large cage with flying fox bats (the largest bats in the world) they are huge (half rat and half wing)but they are (nearly) cute really!
Not so Highs
- Having my camera stolen on Ko Tao (Ok so I shouldn't fall asleep on the beach at night) - luckily I didn't lose any good pictures....
- lascerating my hand on coral while diving. The worst bit is looking at all the green stuff coming out of my hand ..... After a bit I worked out that all the red light is absorbed by the water at that depth and so blood looks green. Well at least that's what I hoped it was......
- Being attacked by a Trigger fish whilst snorkelling. Thay are less than 0.5m long but are very fast, have big teeth and can easily bite off an ear. On Ko Tao they are very aggressive for no reason. I shoved my sandals in it's face but it kept attacking, 4 times in total. I was as scared - as a fish out of water ! And I didn't go near any trigger fish after that.
- Cost of S'pore (especially the beer). It wouldn't have been so bad but it was just the place for a party so we spent shedloads on the stuff.. and had a great time (I may have to stay in US$1 per night places in Indonesia though...)
- Culture shock in Malaysia and Singapore - the places are so westernised. Everyone had a mobile phone the first I have seen in months. KL has more McDonalds than any other place I have ever been. S'pore is more westernised than any western place I have ever been - where is all the dirt ??? At least they still have rats in S'pore although not a single pigeon ! Any
guesses?
And that was the posh places - now to the grime of Indonesia .......
Best Wishes
Luv
Pete
Monday, 21 May 2001
Where 8 - Yangon, Myanmar --OR-- Dictating a World of Culture
HI Peeps,
What a month in Myanmar (formerly Burma) - I hardly know where to start or
what to write ........ OK I do know ... as little as possible.
After leaving Lao spent a few days in Chang Mai and then a couple of days in
Bangkok before flying to Myanmar where I spent 4 weeks travelling around.
A few things you should know about Myanmar
- It is a Military State.
- The military lost the elections in 1990 but quashed the result and have
absolute power (there appears to be no ACTIVE opposition and whilst almost
everyone is strongly against the military government they appear to be
content to just wait for something [anything] to happen and bring change
rather than trying to force anything themselves).
- There is no freedom of press or expression of adverse views allowed, and
state informants are everywhere (one comedian was sentenced to 7 years
prison with hard labour in 1996 for telling jokes about the government - and
he is still there). Locals are reluctant to talk to foreigners about
certain issues unless well away from prying ears.
- Corruption is absolutely endemic and is quite open (and therefore all the
top military people are incredibely rich).
- The rest of the population are poor although not desperately poor -
perhaps similar to Vietnam.
- In the rural areas the main forms of transport are pony and trap (for
people) and ox cart (for goods).
- Culture is very traditional - e.g. virtually all men wear longyis (a type
of sarong) - though this is also enforced by law.
- Buddhism is very important - some poor people give up to 70 percent of
their income to Buddhism (this is probably why they are poor whilst the
temples are covered in gold and jewels). In one village the villagers paid
for a monastry to be built rather than spending the money on a water pump to
save them having to collect water from the bottom of the valley !
- The people are very friendly towards foreigners.
- Draught beer is 15cents US (10p) a glass !
The best bits:
- Bagan (Formerly Pagan) - A plain containing over 2,000 temples built
between the 11th and 13th Centuries in brick. A mix of sizes, styles and
colours - majestic in the early morning light - interspersed with farmland
and cart-tracks. A marvellous sight - (although it has be to said that it
does not match up to Angkor, in Cambodia, in size, beauty or detail).
- Inle Lake - A beautiful lake 22km long upon/around which 100,000 people
live from the lake. Most people live on stilt houses and farm the floating
gardens which are staked to the lake floor. Most of the longboats are
paddled standing up using the leg to power the blade through the water.
- Trekking around Kalaw (near Mandalay) - the minority tribes are very
interesting and willing to let you make a fool of yourself joining in the
daily chores such as removing the rice husks with a huge wooden mortar and
pestil (enough said). Stayed at the house of the medicene man in one
village - he gave us some pills which he said contained local herbs,
although on closer questioning it turned out that local herbs included 30%
hash and 10% opium. The're for diahorrea he said ! After that we all had
upset stomachs !!
- There are hardly any foreigners/tourists anywhere !
- Down in the south eastern part where they rarely see foreigners (and the
only bit I did by myself) just walking along the street attracted a huge
amount of attention - everyone saying hello, wanting to shake my hand, buy
me a drink, get me to join in their games etc. After an hour or two it gets
so tiring that I just wanted everyone to go away and stop staring !
- The larest Buddah in the world - still under construction but it will be
160m long when finished in 4 years time (taken 8 years so far and has got
from head to about the knees). I wandered inside (through the missing legs
and up a few floors)to discover in the dim light some newly moulded concrete
statues depicting disturbingly grotesque and realistic scenes of people
being ripped apart by ogres and other animals - apparently a depiction of
hell (it fits into Buddhism between death and rebirth).
- The Golden Rock - An amazing bouldersomehow perched on the top of a cliff
- it should have rolled off ages ago. If Isaac Newton had seen it he would
have reworked his theory about gravity !
On the way up there were stalls selling two main things - religious
artefacts (this is one of the most religious shrines in the coutry) and huge
bamboo guns with rocket launcher attachments that would have had even Rambo
cringing with embarresment at the excess of it all !! And the reason for
this apparent violent tilt at a Buddhist (pacifist) shrine ? I asked one
man - 'It's for the kids' he said !??!
The worst bits:
- The Golden Rock - It's a 4 hour trek - 3.5 if you are fit. So I left at
11am (I had caught the bus at 5am and arrived at the bottom at 10am)and
started to climb but it was so humid I had to stop every 100 yards else I
would have drowned in my own sweat. It was 13km long, all uphill with 1000m
vertical ascent and after walking in cloud and enduring the rain, 5.5
hours later I made it to the top. And then they charged me US$6 to get to
see the boulder !!
The last truck down was at 6pm - BUT they cancelled it because I was the
only passenger. Waited an hour in the then cold rain and eventually was
allowed on the truck carrying all the stall holders down. When I finally
made it back to the guesthouse I told the manager about my day and all he
said was 'You were lucky' ..... er .... How's that then ?
- The heat. Most of the month it was scorching hot - up to 40 degrees C and
it was difficult to do anything between 11am and 3pm.
- At all temples (including ruins) nothing can be worn on the feet anywhere
in the grounds. So whether the path was too hot to walk on or covered in
spikey plants you either suffered or didn't go in (although after the first
time I burnt my feet I cheated a couple of times - much to the annoyance of
my travelling companions who just didn't go in !)
- Being woken up at midnight by the local police who wanted to know what I
was doing there, where I was going and who insisted at looking through all
the visas in my passport - he was particuarly interested in the one from
Egypt 2 years ago !
- Western Pop music is allowed BUT the lyrics have to be in Burmese. So
whilst the music is exactly the same and the words sound very similar, they
have all been sung in Burmese by local artists ! Apparently the words do
make sense but the meaning is not the same. Better than the local music
though..........
Just in cae you thought I was having a holiday here I should just add that
during the last 4 weeks
- I have spent 120 hours travelling (mainly on buses on terrible roads) and
- 30% of the days I have had to get up before 5am either to catch a
bus/train or being chucked off a bus arrived at it's destination - why they
arrive so early no-one could explain !
Now I'm back in Bangkok for the 3rd and hopefully last time (it really is
like coming home !) Anyway after 6 months of travelling at last I'm off for
some relaxation on some remote Thai island (unfortunately the monsoon is
just starting and so I might not get much sun time after
all................)
See ya soon
Luv Pete
What a month in Myanmar (formerly Burma) - I hardly know where to start or
what to write ........ OK I do know ... as little as possible.
After leaving Lao spent a few days in Chang Mai and then a couple of days in
Bangkok before flying to Myanmar where I spent 4 weeks travelling around.
A few things you should know about Myanmar
- It is a Military State.
- The military lost the elections in 1990 but quashed the result and have
absolute power (there appears to be no ACTIVE opposition and whilst almost
everyone is strongly against the military government they appear to be
content to just wait for something [anything] to happen and bring change
rather than trying to force anything themselves).
- There is no freedom of press or expression of adverse views allowed, and
state informants are everywhere (one comedian was sentenced to 7 years
prison with hard labour in 1996 for telling jokes about the government - and
he is still there). Locals are reluctant to talk to foreigners about
certain issues unless well away from prying ears.
- Corruption is absolutely endemic and is quite open (and therefore all the
top military people are incredibely rich).
- The rest of the population are poor although not desperately poor -
perhaps similar to Vietnam.
- In the rural areas the main forms of transport are pony and trap (for
people) and ox cart (for goods).
- Culture is very traditional - e.g. virtually all men wear longyis (a type
of sarong) - though this is also enforced by law.
- Buddhism is very important - some poor people give up to 70 percent of
their income to Buddhism (this is probably why they are poor whilst the
temples are covered in gold and jewels). In one village the villagers paid
for a monastry to be built rather than spending the money on a water pump to
save them having to collect water from the bottom of the valley !
- The people are very friendly towards foreigners.
- Draught beer is 15cents US (10p) a glass !
The best bits:
- Bagan (Formerly Pagan) - A plain containing over 2,000 temples built
between the 11th and 13th Centuries in brick. A mix of sizes, styles and
colours - majestic in the early morning light - interspersed with farmland
and cart-tracks. A marvellous sight - (although it has be to said that it
does not match up to Angkor, in Cambodia, in size, beauty or detail).
- Inle Lake - A beautiful lake 22km long upon/around which 100,000 people
live from the lake. Most people live on stilt houses and farm the floating
gardens which are staked to the lake floor. Most of the longboats are
paddled standing up using the leg to power the blade through the water.
- Trekking around Kalaw (near Mandalay) - the minority tribes are very
interesting and willing to let you make a fool of yourself joining in the
daily chores such as removing the rice husks with a huge wooden mortar and
pestil (enough said). Stayed at the house of the medicene man in one
village - he gave us some pills which he said contained local herbs,
although on closer questioning it turned out that local herbs included 30%
hash and 10% opium. The're for diahorrea he said ! After that we all had
upset stomachs !!
- There are hardly any foreigners/tourists anywhere !
- Down in the south eastern part where they rarely see foreigners (and the
only bit I did by myself) just walking along the street attracted a huge
amount of attention - everyone saying hello, wanting to shake my hand, buy
me a drink, get me to join in their games etc. After an hour or two it gets
so tiring that I just wanted everyone to go away and stop staring !
- The larest Buddah in the world - still under construction but it will be
160m long when finished in 4 years time (taken 8 years so far and has got
from head to about the knees). I wandered inside (through the missing legs
and up a few floors)to discover in the dim light some newly moulded concrete
statues depicting disturbingly grotesque and realistic scenes of people
being ripped apart by ogres and other animals - apparently a depiction of
hell (it fits into Buddhism between death and rebirth).
- The Golden Rock - An amazing bouldersomehow perched on the top of a cliff
- it should have rolled off ages ago. If Isaac Newton had seen it he would
have reworked his theory about gravity !
On the way up there were stalls selling two main things - religious
artefacts (this is one of the most religious shrines in the coutry) and huge
bamboo guns with rocket launcher attachments that would have had even Rambo
cringing with embarresment at the excess of it all !! And the reason for
this apparent violent tilt at a Buddhist (pacifist) shrine ? I asked one
man - 'It's for the kids' he said !??!
The worst bits:
- The Golden Rock - It's a 4 hour trek - 3.5 if you are fit. So I left at
11am (I had caught the bus at 5am and arrived at the bottom at 10am)and
started to climb but it was so humid I had to stop every 100 yards else I
would have drowned in my own sweat. It was 13km long, all uphill with 1000m
vertical ascent and after walking in cloud and enduring the rain, 5.5
hours later I made it to the top. And then they charged me US$6 to get to
see the boulder !!
The last truck down was at 6pm - BUT they cancelled it because I was the
only passenger. Waited an hour in the then cold rain and eventually was
allowed on the truck carrying all the stall holders down. When I finally
made it back to the guesthouse I told the manager about my day and all he
said was 'You were lucky' ..... er .... How's that then ?
- The heat. Most of the month it was scorching hot - up to 40 degrees C and
it was difficult to do anything between 11am and 3pm.
- At all temples (including ruins) nothing can be worn on the feet anywhere
in the grounds. So whether the path was too hot to walk on or covered in
spikey plants you either suffered or didn't go in (although after the first
time I burnt my feet I cheated a couple of times - much to the annoyance of
my travelling companions who just didn't go in !)
- Being woken up at midnight by the local police who wanted to know what I
was doing there, where I was going and who insisted at looking through all
the visas in my passport - he was particuarly interested in the one from
Egypt 2 years ago !
- Western Pop music is allowed BUT the lyrics have to be in Burmese. So
whilst the music is exactly the same and the words sound very similar, they
have all been sung in Burmese by local artists ! Apparently the words do
make sense but the meaning is not the same. Better than the local music
though..........
Just in cae you thought I was having a holiday here I should just add that
during the last 4 weeks
- I have spent 120 hours travelling (mainly on buses on terrible roads) and
- 30% of the days I have had to get up before 5am either to catch a
bus/train or being chucked off a bus arrived at it's destination - why they
arrive so early no-one could explain !
Now I'm back in Bangkok for the 3rd and hopefully last time (it really is
like coming home !) Anyway after 6 months of travelling at last I'm off for
some relaxation on some remote Thai island (unfortunately the monsoon is
just starting and so I might not get much sun time after
all................)
See ya soon
Luv Pete
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