I wanna go Florida

Snapshots of Thailand, thus far.

allwelcome — Sat, 7 Mar 2009 14:02:00 GMT

Hat Yai, Hat Noppharat Thara and Koh Lanta

Road Safety

Its typical to see utes packed to the brim full of people. These people were travelling from Koh Lanta back to the mainland.

Massage

So far we’ve only had one massage each since being in Thailand. I had a reflexology hour with a strong and sensitive man who insisted on helping the energy to flow with a little extra for free. Thanks!

Little Critters

We’re finding, without really looking, little lizards and insects we’ve never seen before.

Locals and Tourists

This is not a great picture, but you can see, basically, the difference in the locals on the beach compared to the tourists.

An interesting dress for the joy stick.

Cultural no-no’s

I’ve seen all of the ‘no-no’s’ being breached within a few days of being in the beach area of Thailand.

What I don’t understand is that when we’re in our own country, we are, en masse, offended and indignant when foreigners do not respect our ways, and yet, when we go to other countries, we abuse the local culture as a matter of course.

If you want to have your say, take a look at Topless in Thailand. Make a comment - defend your point of view, or agree with me. :)

Jesus of Nazareth is a smart man. ‘Treat others as you would like them to treat you.’ No more, no less.

No riding on the motorbikes in your bikini!

No feet on the table!

Don’t eat at the multinational corporations! Support the locals with your money!

The beaches

At sunset – photos can express the beauty a little better than my words.

Having a little fun invoking the eighth chakra.

Photos for belly dance promotion.

It seems to be popular and expected to have some sort of fire show on the beach once the sun goes down. On our beach, Klong Jark Bay, there was a little beach bar called moonlight walk café, and the barman/owner performed every night we were there to Californication.

This is what too much sun and fun does to you.

Jett and Cats

He loves them.

Petronas Towers

allwelcome — Sat, 7 Mar 2009 13:58:00 GMT

Sunday the 11^th – 13^th of January.

The Petronas Towers in K L

We’ve seen the towers! The world’s tallest twin towers. I’m not much of a fan of cities, or big buildings, but all that stainless steel lit up at night is spectacular.

Jett kept repeating ‘That’s just awesome’.

Albert just kept taking pictures.

We walked there, from China Town. We’re staying in a little back packers Wheelers, recommended by the South East Asia on a shoe string by Lonely Planet. As usual with the Lonely Planet books, every thing is pretty much what they say, except the prices. We’ve found the prices have invariably risen 10-20% since the date of publishing. As an answer to our queries, we get shrugged shoulders and a lot of talk about renovations.

We ate breakfast, walked to the Telecommunications Tower, through a little mid city jungle (I got two bites that burnt hot for two hours after – the boys only suffered from the humidity- I put some lavender oil on them), and arrived in the late afternoon. The idea was to see them lit up at night.

I was pleasantly surprised by the parks on either side of the towers. They act as a means for the buildings to be viewed in a pleasant atmosphere, with plenty of space for a long walk amidst an attractive water park and beautifully kept gardens.

Jett loved the water gardens the most and drenched himself quickly. It reminded me of when we were on a little island in India a year ago. There were water parks and he was afraid of them, and wouldn’t touch the water. This time, a year older, he was running and turning and spinning through them.

The towers are big. There’s no doubt – and tomorrow we’ll take the lift to the middle of them to walk across the bridge joining the two. Jett’s morbidly terrified.

(Right now he’s in his room doing his maths work while Albert and I update where we are and what we are looking at.)

We’ve only been here two days, we have taken 402 pictures and seen and done a lot. If we don’t keep writing, our experiences will have been gone (and for me with my water mind) forgotten.

We ate dinner at one of the food courts in the towers. Point out a picture of what you want, and that’s what you get. People everywhere. Afterwards we went outside – and voila.

It was night and the towers were spectacular. People from everywhere were snapping themselves in front of the towers and we happily joined in. Trying in vain to be original. They seem to be using two different types of light, one warm, the other hard – and it adds to the dimension of the buildings. They were impressive and such a landmark for Kuala Lumpur. You can see them from almost anywhere in the city. Unmistakable.

Advice for Using the Lonely Planet Guides

allwelcome — Sun, 1 Mar 2009 13:04:00 GMT

We’ve travelled around half of the world using the Lonely Planet Guides, and we think they are a great way to give you some basic information for your trip. However, they are not, and do not profess to be the gospel of travel, and we’d like to share some of our experience with you to help you get more out of your Lonely Planet Guide.

Do’s

Do treat the Guide as a Guide, and not the be all and end all of information.
We’ve found that nothing beats local knowledge, so feel free to make friends with people on the internet on travel forums and talk to them about their area, before you arrive.
When you do arrive, get advice from ‘impartial’ locals and other travellers.
Do talk to other travellers.
Keep a smile on your face.
Believe most people are just like you. That is, they don’t want to steal from you or trick you or abuse you in any way.
Try the stalls. They are cheap and fun. Choose the ones that have a lot of people in them – they have the quickest turn over of food.
Learn some basics in the local tongue. Nothing lights people up more than a tourist with a little show of respect for the local people.
Listen to advice from other travellers, but also, notice who you are talking to. Everyone is different and has different expectations about their travel needs.
Talk to locals about their leisure activities in the area. They have a few good secrets up their sleeves.
Be spontaneous. Wander around the streets. Keep the hotel card in your pocket and if worse comes to worst, you call always get a rickshaw/taxi home again.
Research where you are going to. It makes everything some much more interesting once you arrive.
Join forums, or just lurk, and find out information that is up-to-date. Many people have great blogs about their travels too, and share their experiences and advice. The internet is invaluable for planning your trip.
Treat others as you would like to be treated. How would you like tourists to treat you and your country when they come to visit you? Exactly.
Have a great time.

Don’ts

Believe everything you read. The writers are people just like you, so their opinions are to be weighed with your own information from other sources.
Just roll up to the first hotel the guide suggests and then feel devastated when its full. Usually, where there’s one hotel, there are quite a few other options, and since they have not been quoted by the lonely planet, then they will be more reasonable and happier to please.
Be paranoid about the violence in ‘hot spots’. As one American we met said (while we were travelling in terrorist infested Sumatra) ‘We have shootings back home every week. Here, I’ve never met a nicer, friendlier bunch of people or felt safer.’
Ignore cultural advice about clothing and greetings.
Be afraid or worried. When you’ve faced problems before, you got through them. Being afraid about something that might happen just marks you as a ‘victim’. Stay positive and sensible and skip the drama.
Treat a country like it’s little more than a potty hole because its currency is low. People are people, no matter where they are from or what their currency is worth, or how they live their lives. I’ve seen the look of utter disbelief on Westerners’ faces when then realise how cheap things and its often mingled with ‘I wonder if this country realises its so cheap for us to come here’ and ‘ahh, they’re poor and deserve my pity not to be like me – privileged.’ They are poorer, many times, than what we are used to. But instead of pity, give them respect and honest kindness. Many of us weren’t so better off ourselves 50 years or so ago. Just ask your parents.

Mistakes/ Out dated Information

Sometimes the maps are not perfect.
Sometimes the information is not exact. Like, this hotel is right beside the National Park (actually, it could be a kilometre or so)
We’ve usually been charged 10 – 20 % more than the latest Lonely Planet Guide has quoted. Sometimes we’ve been charged less.

Thai First Impressions

allwelcome — Sun, 1 Mar 2009 12:58:00 GMT

Our first day in Hat Yai, Thailand. We’ve spend the last 6 days in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, and this is our first foray into the Kingdom of Thailand.

We arrived in relative luxury to our appointed hotel – Lousie, as suggested by The Lonely Planet.

Hotel and Food

We walked randomly down the street for some food, and the first café we came across had a little place describing itself in English, and again, it presented itself as being a recommendation of The Lonely Planet.

This time, the guide was right. The food was good, and we were all satisfied with cashew and tofu stirfry with mixed vegetables and rice.

According to Thai custom, we ate a spoonful of rice to begin with, and only ate with our spoon – leaving the fork to push food onto the spoon with.

The King

We’d read about the Kingdom before we arrived, and heard that recently an Australian man was sentenced to a few years in prison for slandering the king. Still, we weren’t prepared for the reality.

Our hotel is dedicated to the King. There are pictures throughout the entire place showing different aspects of the king’s life, including his time as a monk, his schooling, his marriage and children, his abilities with a camera and the one in our room is of him guiding the rounds with a lamp in his hands.

Every shop has a picture of him. The religious amulet shops have photos of him while he was a monk. He looks rather severe. Intelligent, yes, but severe. His wife, especially in the photos where the children were young, looks radiant and a positive influence upon his disposition.

The Thai Smile

Well, we’d heard so much about it before we arrived, I guess we were expecting a lot more than what we’ve seen so far. People are quite polite, but we haven’t noticed a lot of smiling so far.

Prostitution

Its unavoidable here. Jett (our 9 year old) asked why ‘those girls don’t have much clothing on’ and we talked about some of the circumstances that could arise to create a society where prostitution was so prevalent.

Jett wonders why it’s a bad thing, when one sells and one buys. My answer is ‘look, each one of these girls is someone’s daughter, or mother, or sister, or friend. Nobody I know wants someone they know, to be in this business. Apart from an insignificant number of women, most of the girls would not be in this business if they didn’t need the money.’ He understood in his head, but he’s old enough to still turn his head at a skimpily clad girl and forget the circumstances that have lead her to such a situation.

Basic First Impressions

The streets are cleaner than Malaysia. There isn’t rubbish in the streets. Buddhism is obviously the religion of choice, with temples, statues and shops catering for pray needs littered through out the area.

There are less Indian people here than there was in Malaysia. I’ve barely seen a handful in the streets. There are beauty salons on ever stretch of road, offering massage, manicures and hair service. I haven’t seen this in Malaysia or Sumatra in such numbers.

We like it.

Topless in Thailand

allwelcome — Sun, 1 Mar 2009 12:31:00 GMT

When Western Tourists travel to other cultures for their inexpensive summer holiday, is their consuming passion for the sun, beach and cheap alcohol blinding them to their constant cultural beepers and bloops? In other words, are we

Clueless or Plainly Arrogant?

When tourists walk still dripping from swimming in the ocean directly into the beach side restaurant, are they being clueless or honestly disrespectful to Thai culture?

When happy and laughing tourists travel on a moped around town in their bikinis’ and walk into shops with their shoes on (while there is an obvious pile of shoes around the door), are they just plain ignorant of the local customs, or are they suffering from culture supremacy? (I’m going to do exactly the same here as I do back home because our way is right and your way is wrong and backward.)

Travel guides to Thailand (including The Lonely Planet) recommend respecting the Thai culture when visiting the beaches by not swimming topless or naked, and by covering up when off the beach. Covering up means covering the shoulders with a t-shirt (or equivalent) and wearing shorts or skirts that cover the knees. Displayed on the local map of Koh Lanta, is a request that guests do not bath topless, even if they see other people doing ‘it’.

Since we’ve been in the beach area of Thailand for only four days, and I’ve seen topless bathing, and bikini clad motorbike riders, and dripping customers in restaurants, I started to think that maybe I was being a bit of a sensitive prude. I thought, well, if they are, why can’t I?

I decided to test the advice I’d heard, by asking a local. I questioned a tour operator on Koh Lanta, an island south of Krabi central, what the locals thought of tourist’s behaviour. He began by politely offering understanding of tourists’ different cultural background, and added, but ‘they don’t respect us’.

This man had grown up with tourists coming to his island. He was about 25 years old. He was a tour operator. You’d think, if any one was going to be open minded and used to the tourist’s ways, it would be him. However, the fact remains. ‘They don’t respect us’.

I was a little stunned. Do tourists realise that while they are flirting lightly with the local staff on their ‘bungalow resort’, sipping cold drinks, that the locals maintain their Thai smile while conscious that ‘the dripping, half naked tourist, does not respect us.’

So my question is, are we ignorant, or arrogant? Are we plainly unaware of the social niceties of Thailand, or do we just not care because we’re on holiday and we’re going to get an all over strapless tan even if it shocks every last one of them?

Krabi Province is a mixture of Buddhist and predominantly Muslim peoples. They are modest and friendly people with a high cultural etiquette.

Nobody is suggesting that we learn the intricacies and nuances of every gesture. Just learn a little about Thai culture and people by listening to their advice about your behaviour while you are a guest in their country.

Thai Basics

Thailand is a modest country.
On the beach, do not bath topless or naked. Avoid the g-string.
At all other times, wear t-shirts to cover the shoulders and shorts or skirts to cover the knees.
Do not prop your feet up on a chair or worst, table, especially at a restaurant.
A restaurant is any place that serves food and drinks at a table. Even if its on the sand and twenty steps from the ocean.

Thanks to Nok from Klong Jaark Bay Bungalow's for posing for the photo.

Kuala Lumpur, First Impressions

allwelcome — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:20:00 GMT

The landscape surrounding the city is plain and uninteresting. The land is covered with palms, used mainly for oil. There are many little housing estates being built. Identical houses one beside the other, with fences and an in build community. Something for the future, because nobody is living in them at this stage.

Its humid. I don’t usually sweat, and here I’m always wearing a little moustache of moisture.

We arrived late in the evening, and our taxi driver was more than helpful. He insisted on taking us to the door (he was prepaid) of our accommodation.

We were happy not to be too harassed by the salesmen and taxi drivers. I think our Indian experience toughened us up – and everything has been relatively easy so far as shopping and interaction with the locals is concerned.

We’re very close to street markets and the amount of fake copies of designer goods is extreme. If you think your prestige will increase with a designer handbag, watch, glasses (and can’t afford the real thing) – this is the place for you.

There’s a mix of Malaysians, Chinese and Indian people. And of course the foreigners. Its hard to notice who is who most of the time and there are some who are a blend of all three. We’re very happy to see the city working so smoothly, at least to outside eyes, with so many diverse faiths.

We walked through an area with Muslim schools on one side and Christian schools on the other. Apart from a little sporting rivalry displayed on the placards (not more than Dr Seus’s stars upon thars rivalry that one finds everywhere there is a distinction of one and the other), all was well. A little girl even said ‘hello auntie’ to me, making me feel very welcome and a part of the whole.

Jett asked me who was from where, pointing to different facial and skin differences – and I said, I don’t know, but perhaps its important to notice that it doesn’t really matter. People are people no matter where you are, what religion you practice, what food you eat, and what you wear.

The city is divided up into different areas. We’re staying in China Town – and we’re eating mostly Chinese food. This morning we sent Albert out to buy some fruit for breakfast. We went for a look in the Indian area, looking for Indian sweets for Jett, a Bolly dose and pretty clothes for me.

The closer we came to the centre of town, the cleaner the streets became, and the more western the standards. There were distinct walking areas, the traffic lights worked and there were more police in evidence.

Familiar names for restaurants became evident and the global big designer brands.

And then, there were the towers.

Goodbye Australia

allwelcome — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 22:26:00 GMT

Untying the knot to Australia

I thought to take this opportunity to say my final goodbyes to Australia. We’re finally leaving, with one day spare to Albert’s visa. We’re at the end of our one year stay in my mother country. We’re heading back to Europe, taking a long four month trip across South East Asia to get there.

An Overview of the Last Year

We’ve done a lot this year, and been through some amazing landscapes. I couldn’t help but want to sum up 2008 while casting a nostalgic look back to ghost gums and koalas.

Snakes

I’ve never seen a snake before this year, and now we’ve counted 10 in a year. Pythons, green tree snakes, red bellied black snakes and the brown snake. It did mark my meeting with the earth mother, there’s no doubt about that.

Aussie Trees

One of the things I think of the most when I’m away, is the smell of the Aussie bush. There’s nothing like it around the world. The dry heat and the eucalypts. A sudden heavy odour of pollen from flowers that to human eyes blend into their environment rather than make a grand song and dance. I’ve hugged trees, patted them, felt the earth’s energy flowing through them, felt blessed by them and am thankful. Housing all kinds of insects, animals and giving shade to a myriad of beasts. Not to mention the oxygen thing.

Jett

Jett’s truly developed into a confident and self assured little man. He hasn’t been sick once since we left Europe, even in our trip to India. He’s learnt to swim like a fish and dance hip hop with one of Australia’s leading ball room dancers. We’ve been told we simply must keep him dancing. His English is good, but he doesn’t seem to want to lose his Germanic accent.

Albert

Albert never really cared about coming to Australia. Its not been one of his big destinations. I think he was impressed with the size and variety of the landscape and he’s happy to have come. His English has improved also, but he insists on saying ‘gwhat’ instead of ‘what’ and ‘teoretically’ instead of theoretically. Can’t put a good horse down, so they say.

Highlights

We’ve just been to Sydney for the New Year, and to Uluru. Honestly, it was spectacular – both. But the most impressive experience for me, was the dashing of my old rivalry with New South Wales. I was born in Victoria and have lived a chunk of my life in Queensland, so I had a natural, irrational and undiscovered antagonism towards New South Wales.

And then I discovered the glorious beaches, the Hunter valley, the Blue Mountains and glittering Sydney. New South Wales is the jewel of Australia. It really is. Australia is enormous, but New South Wales, for its size and diversity, should be the number one destination of anyone who has a shortage of time to see Aus.

So again, I say, thanks for all the fish, and see you all at the other end of the universe.

Greenfest in Brisbane

allwelcome — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:49:00 GMT

Last weekend we all went to Greenfest – a place for like minded people to come together and learn about each other’s pet projects.

‘We’ were, Albert, Jett, Geir and me.

We arrived a bit later than expected (we do have a few procrastinators in the team), and we doubted over the $15 parking fee (that actually turned into $36 for 6 hours because we didn’t read the small print) – but the weather was fair, not too hot, and we began the day.

I was sucked straight in by ganesha incense.. It was prettily packaged and smelt gorgeous.

We ate Krishna food (can I complain that I think I gave the guy a $20 and he short changed me by $10 – its REALLY hard to force these issues to a ‘normal’ shop attendant, but to a Krishna follower, it just made me feel mean to bring it up…. Hmmm… Foolish, perhaps, I am.

We saw a few bands – there were two stages – and heard a few speakers – one on stopping the whale hunting, one on organic food, I went to talk to the vegetarian society of Queensland and they were fantastic and helpful – and talked to a mix (Norwegian/Swiss) guy working for the wilderness foundation.

All good.

The highlights?

Well, I watched a couple of cute girls, about 4 or 5 years old, dancing together. They were really pretty and were obviously exposed to a few ‘different’ dance traditions. Really nice to see.

Also, it was my birthday! J I didn’t even drink wine!

All was good and we all had a fun time – being outside and a part of the positive happenings… J

Exciting Fraser Island

allwelcome — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:28:00 GMT

If some days before we were in the epitomy of relax roasting in the sun while laying in the deck of the Habibi around the Whitsundays, the experience of Fraser Island is the absolute opposite.

The thing goes as such, if you want to visit this wonderful island in a rock-bottom budget style. You book a tour with any of the thousands of Fraser Island operators in Hervey Bay or Rainbow Beach. They make groups of 10 with all the budget-conscious backpackers (fashionable label, by the way) and pack them into steel-hard four wheel drives, a very bad map and a list with suggestions of places to visit. And that’s it thank you very much.

And of course, I very much bet that this combination can result in the worse holiday experience of your life. I can think about many reasons on the top of my head: the group you are packed with is horrible; you can’t agree on what to eat; you don’t like dirty experiences; you can’t stand the cold; you can’t stand the hot; you don’t like mosquitoes; you are afraid of driving in uneven surfaces; your driver thinks he is Fittipaldi; you happen to drive into one of the many washouts along the beach; your cars gets painfully stucked in the sand; you are not aware of the dramatic tidal changes, … And that was without even thinking.

Ahumm… and of course, you decide to move your arms frantically while screaming in front of a dingo.

But in our case, happy and lucky people as we are, nothing like that happened. No doubt the thing was dirty, fast, packed and sometimes conflictive, but the sense of adventure derived from it made it an absolute success.

I need to say that in our group, besides the 3 catalans we were (my two friends and me) there were also three basque guys. Some of the few spanishies that I’ve met this year in Australia (in August there were many more, I must say), what made things funnier for us and I guess unfunnier for the rest of the group.

Things about the island: is packed of backpackers. Many of them. And the idea of putting hundreds of backpackers in a party mood driving hundreds of cars they don’t even know how is a bit savage. On top of that, is not that many places to go, so everything is packed. But it is fun, once you get over it.

Second. Is full of fisherman. Damn! How many fisherman!! But this is good because they spend several days and they fish much more that they can ever think about eating, so they are extremely generous with their fish. Australia is an absolute paradise, for fisherman, and they really liven up the myth of going fishing with the mates at any possible occasion.

On top of that, some factual information: Fraser Island is the biggest sand island in the world. This means that is all full of sand. The tracks are sandy and all the attractives have something to do with sand. The Indian Head (which is a rock), the lakes Wabby and Mackenzie or the Rainbow Valley are good examples of fantastic places in a strange environment.

If you have the chance, you should definitely go. In spite of the dingoes and all.

Beautiful Whitsundays

allwelcome — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:26:00 GMT

Millennia ago I was telling you that some friends were coming all the way from Spain (sorry, from Catalonia) to visit us. So finally they came. And of course, to be a proper cicerone, I had to prepare a nice and eventful route for them.

Not to be too original, the biggest events of the eventful route were the mandatory cruise around the beautiful Whitsunday Islands, and the no less mandatory 4WD trip in the wild of Fraser Island. And these two events will be the ones narrated in the two next posts.

It seems they are uncountable operators in Australia that offer you the typical East Coast pack, consisting on Whitsundays + Fraser Island. Some of them even add stuff in Cairns and Missiom Beach, but the most common one is still the first one. All of them seem to have more or less the same, at the same price (300$ + extras). We got ours through the Magnums Backpackers in Airlie Beach, and we are not insatisfied at all, so I can recommend it.

If there are uncountable operators offering boat trips, they are infinite boats serving these trips. The one who had the honour to carry us was the Habibi, a handsome and tight yacht with a nice and friendly crew. We were about 25 in the boat, so we were not necessarily spacious, but was more than fine for the two days and two nights we spent on board at the price that we paid.

Sailing the Whitsundays is probably one of the most relaxing activities you can do around. Doesn’t go much further than laying on the deck (if you find a free spot) and line up for the food when they ring the bell, while meeting fellow travellers from all around the world.

But is not just laziness what is all about. Whitehaven Beach is a stunning white silica beach. They say that is one of the top 5 beaches in the world, though I would like to know who and how is this ranking built. Undoubtably stunning. But not very active either.

The other main activity is to snorkel around a little bit. And doing it at seven o’clock in the morning should be considered something very active. Though technically not in the Great Barrier Reef, the sites around the islands are absolutely magnificient, and I didn’t feel it was worse (at all) than snorkelling outside Cairns. We even saw a huge number of huge wrasses (a big big ugly fish) swimming around us. I remember that in Cairns they said that, if we were lucky, we could see the one inhabitant wrasse of that part of the reef. So that.

And that was about it. Not an activity for adrenalie junkies, certainly, but absolutely beautiful for those who like the sea, who like to relax, or who like beautiful places.

Oh! And my friends also good, thank you!