The journey not the arrival matters

Sizzling South Africa

kish — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 22:05:00 GMT

Juicy Johannesburg

As the plane touched down in Johannesburg, I was mesmerised by a bright yellow moon hovering just above the horizon in the pitch black sky. This magical moment set the tone for the adventure that was about to unfold in this captivating country. In Joburg, we were lucky enough to be hosted by family friends in a beautiful house filled with creamy colours, striking African art work, and 2 lovely maids in crisp blue and white dresses. Tree lined streets were dotted with imposing mansions highly secured with wrought iron gates. It was clear that the wealth divide in Joburg was stark. Just 15 minutes drive from our suburb (where Mandela also lived) lay the famous township of Soweto with it's highly populated shanty towns - rows of cramped tin shed houses, no electricity, and a central water source. Evidently, locals place high value on cars so it was common to see a severely run down house with a BMW or Mercedes parked out front. The centre of Johannesburg was fairly industrial - highways, tall buildings, a massive LED coca cola sign, and mining waste sites right on the fringe of the CBD. In the evening, we re-created a dinner party scene from 'Out of Africa' with a group of guests sharing delicious food, stories and wine. We drank champagne around the fire under the stars and discussed various topics from the Gaza conflict through to the laid back bogan nature of Australians and everything in between. Twenty years post apartheid, I learned that the Black Economic Empowerment scheme has encouraged more black people to own and manage enterprises. Sounds good in theory, however this is occurring to the detriment of white family owned businesses and farms. Furthermore, it seems that only people with connections to the government are advancing - colloquially known as “tenderpreneurs” - businessmen skilled at getting government contracts or tenders. Local newspapers further enhanced my view of South Africa as a nation somewhat struggling to rise from the end of apartheid with ongoing racial divide but a palpable hope for a better future. Despite ongoing government corruption, a stubborn unemployment rate of about 25% and millions of poor blacks, there was definitely a tangible optimism simmering throughout this gritty land.

Superb Safari

3 girls, a tiny red 25-yr old Toyota (affectionately known as the pink prawn), a great spotify playlist and a 4 hour drive... Safari here we come! Ticking things off the bucket list is always fulfilling, but seeing wild African animals in a jeep was really quite incredible!! I was overwhelmed by the number and vast range of creatures I observed during our game drives: running warthogs (Pumba!!), pretty Impalas (nick named McDonalds due to the massive M shape on their bottoms), graceful Kudu (antelope with curly antlers), a massive Crocodile lazing across our path (our guide later told us we were probably too close for comfort in manoeuvring the jeep past him), 2 playful Hippos in the water (they can stay under for about 5 mins max), running Jackals, and a range of lovely birds. The safari park sat under the shadow of the Entabeni mountain ranges with sheer vertical cliff faces of deep red and rust coloured rock with patches of green vegetation. The mountains were a stunning backdrop for animal spotting. It was so peaceful being in touch with nature at it's best - we felt like we were in heaven!! Our luxurious tent was decked with wooden floor boards and olive green material walls, a beautiful front porch looking onto a vast expanse of trees and diverse vegetation leading to the foot of the overarching mountains. Oh and let's not forget the outdoor shower!! Simply perfect! Each morning we set off at 6:30am, rugged up in beanies, gloves and scarves. On the first morning, as the massive golden-pink sun rose across the African horizon I suddenly became very emotional, tears pouring down my eyes. I was completely overwhelmed by the beauty before me, the reality of where I was, being in such great company and acutely aware of how lucky I was to be experiencing the magic of Africa. After tracking the sound of Elephants we eventually found them milling amongst the vegetation, munching on bark and crushing any trees in their path. We spent most of the morning with these beautiful big creatures, watching them cross the road just metres in front of us, playfully engaging with each other, camouflaging (and cleaning) themselves with red mud, eating, and drinking. Later that day, a 3m long Rock Python took us by surprise, sending a shiver down my spine when realising it was not in fact a large water hose. Just metres away from the jeep, we were all captivated by her glistening skin, a mass of sequins shimmering in the morning sun. With the binoculars I was transfixed by her dauntingly big black eyes. She stealthily consertinaed her body and we became more and more anxious before she finally lifted her head and curled back on herself to slink away into a hole. Incredible! We watched a pack of White Rhinoceroses mowing the lawns as the ate their way across the field. It's quite devastating that Rhinos are in fact fast becoming extinct in South Africa due to a massive increase in poaching. A total of 1004 were lost last year - a result of impoverished communities attempting to make quick cash, with Rhino horn said to have a street value of $65000 per kilogram. Our final day delivered yet another highlight sighting as we followed 2 beautiful Cheetah brothers through a stretch of trees - shy, graceful, attentive and elegant. For a final treat, they strolled right in front of our jeep just metres away - their perfect, slender bodies mesmerising all of us. This was followed by a highly anticipated sighting of a beautiful young Lioness basking in the afternoon sun, chin resting on paws, head crooked, not a care in the world. Sadly this Lioness, about 4 or 5 years old was on her own after being shafted by the older Lionesses who were more successful hunters and therefore more appealing to the males. Life's not fair hey? As the sun set that evening, the mountains were silhouetted against a stunning pink-orange sky. Beer in hand, we watched Giraffes idling along the grass plains in front of us while a handful of Kudu chased each other to our left, and we could hear a Lion roaring in the distance. Life really doesn't get any better than this! The night drive back to the lodge turned into a safari sing along - featuring songs from the Lion King, Wicked, Lorde and Alanis Morriset. This turned into an after dinner singing concert and the night culminated with a wonderful Grease medley group performance for our guide and the animals :)

Charismatic Capetown

Combine one cup of mountain with two cups of seaside, 1/2 cup of funky 70s architecture spattered with white colonial glamour mixed with the avant-garde, 1/3 cup hipster bars cafes and coffee joints, a tablespoon of contemporary art galleries, and a sprinkling of trendiness to taste ... and voila, you get charismatic Capetown. What a perfect slice of the world! We couldn't get enough of this place and ended up staying longer than planned. We hiked the jaw-dropping Table Mountain which looms 1km high smack bang in the middle of the city. At the top, we indulged in stunning views of crisp blue ocean and the sprawling Atlantic seaboard residential suburbs. There's a profound splendour in a coastal city which features a uniquely flat mountain that dominates every vista of the cape. Across town, we sussed out the grungy region of Woodstock and devoured a hearty organic salad from a hipster cafe called The Kitchen, decked out with antique crockery and culinary bits and bobs. Here we also found the bustling artisan market at the Old Biscuit Mill - one of the best Saturday markets I’ve come across, with an endless supply of wonderful food stalls and delicious home-made lemonade (the perfect hangover cure!). On our first night, we were lucky enough to be invited to a house party. The text message invite requested 'sparkling white' and we nervously anticipated the local Capetown scene. Three young Australian women at an exclusive rooftop party in the posher part of Capetown = best night ever!! By 930pm we were starving, so some of our new entrepreneurial friends called one of the hippest restaurants in town - Kloof Street House and a table was cleared for us! Within moments of arriving, we were sipping from the largest cocktail I've ever seen and sharing a selection of mouth watering meals like ostrich, tender lamb, osso bucco and beef fillet... A night to remember! Some other new Capetonian friends were going to a 70s party the next night so Hils and I jumped on board and hired costumes for the event. We clearly did not read the invite properly, and were therefore oblivious to the 'glamour' American Hustle theme of the evening which became apparent on arrival. Long legged models in sexy dresses and fur coats accompanied by men in stylish suits walked up the red carpet while I freaked out in my Austin Powers long sleeved bright white dress with kaleidoscopic multicoloured patterns down the front!!! Eventually my horror dissipated and I danced the night away! We spent one afternoon wining and dining with another new friend at a lovely Tapas place built on the breakwater at Kalk Bay. Through the open window I delighted in seeing a whale and a group of seals playing just metres from us! One coffee-joint-hopping morning, we found ourselves at a place called Truth, which ironically facilitated a very honest discussion about life and some of our innermost thoughts, fears and aspirations. With the spirit of comradery in the air, we merrily rode bicycles to Clifton Beach, set down from the modernist villas lining the coastal edge. Pondering the morning’s divulgences, we enjoyed a lovely little picnic at this beautiful beach with pristine white sand. We spent one afternoon at Stellenbosch and Mulderbosch Wine Farm 'tasting' aka 'drinking' some of South Africa's delicious (and super cheap!!) wines. My final days in South Africa were spent being seduced by the natural beauty of the Garden Route. The coast is dotted with great beaches including the lovely Myoli Beach - the perfect spot to rejuvenate our bodies with a morning beach run and yoga. On the road, we passed bright yellow patches of canola flowers next to rich green pastures, picturesque lakes, rolling hillsides and later the looming mountain ranges. With a vast range of vegetation, wildlife, colours and topography, the scenery along this road trip across the southern coast was breath-taking.

South Africa - you've stolen my heart !!

Home Sweet Home - reflections

kish — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 12:04:00 GMT

On April 3rd 2013, I left Australia, ready to see the world, meet new people, experience different cultures and learn things about myself. Luckily, I didn’t have too many expectations and decided to just take it as it comes and make plans along the way. I want to finish up this blog by summarising the things I have learnt along the way and my overall reflection on this journey, but I have been sitting at the computer for a good few hours now and don’t think any any words I write here could ever do justice to my incredible once in a lifetime travel experience. I imagine that I will continue to reflect on the past 9 months for a long time. But, for now, here are a few significant life lessons and achievements from this unique journey:

gratitude - this is a big one - I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to do what I just did…
stunning locations around the world… in keeping with the feeling of gratitude, on a number of occasions I caught myself feeling overwhelmingly grateful for a magnificent view (especially, the Andes mountains at Machu Picchu and sections of Salkantay Trek in Peru, the Zakopane Mountain region in Poland, Lake Bled in Slovenia, and the valleys of Cappadocia in Turkey)
I like hiking, nature and mountains - I definitely always got a real kick out of trekking through stunning scenery and sitting at a higher altitude overlooking the natural beauty of the world - highlight moments for me were always outdoors and marvelling at a landscape (as opposed to historic monuments, impressive architecture, or stunning interior design)
new appreciation for home - family, friends and Australia as a country
broader view of the world - different cultures, religions, languages, and approaches to life - being exposed to these variations across the globe have helped me to recognise what my values are, what is important in order to be happy and live prosperously
increase in confidence, willingness to give something a go and face my fears of the unknown, bit more adventurous, expansion of comfort zone or ability to step outside of it, and generally feel like I have come out of my shell a little bit more - slightly more comfortable with who I am and what I have to offer the world
expectations - don’t make them too high (and even eliminate them where possible) because you never know what might happen, and I was sometimes severely let down or distressed when things didn’t turn out the way I thought they would. Alternatively, I was often pleasantly surprised when my expectations were low!… I don’t like LA —> I want to move there; I don’t like Phi Phi Island —> had an amazing time; I can’t improvise contemporary dance —> actually it’s not that scary and I really enjoy it!
make the most of a crappy situation, I started to realise that c’est la vie, that’s the way it is, so make it as good as possible or change it if it is really not working. I also started to sweat the small stuff less!!
recognition of things I still need to work on eg. fear of not making the ‘best’ decision (because there is no best decision, Kish!!!!), I definitely have a binge eating problem
I jogged in almost every single city I went to, including phnom penh - where the roads were chaotic and poorly tailored with pot holes and piles of rubbish dotted along them, Sfax in Tunisia - where people looked at me as if I was from outter space and traffic was busy, Cusco in Peru - where the hills were very steep and I found it hard to breathe at a higher altitude, and Konya in Turkey where I had to cover my shoulders and legs fully so as not to bring too much attention to myself in the Muslim housing complex I was staying in.
postcard sent to Mum and Dad from every single* place I visited (this proved difficult on the Topdeck tour when we were only in some countries for a day or two so it was a mad hurry to find a postcard, buy a stamp and find a post box to mail it from that country! *one exception - Bolivia’s postcard was mailed from Tunisia because unfortunately I was violently ill at the airport the day I left Bolivia.
… another lesson stemming from the postcard tradition above is that I have a perfectionist personality at times - I still feel very disgruntled and agitated by this anomaly in my postcard sending tradition, and that also relates to my needing to make the ‘right’ decision all the time - an unattainable goal.
the world is big and there is so much to see and do, but it is also small and you can achieve anything if you set your mind to it. Life is short, there is so much to experience, there is no point wasting time doing things you don’t enjoy. Yes, you need money to achieve most things, therefore you have to work (which can be not so enjoyable at times) but then again, some people love their jobs, so try to make money doing something you enjoy, and if you spend money wisely, then you should have some left to do what makes you happy and live a more fulfilling life.

Travelling was certainly not all fun-filled, carefree and amazing - I had extreme highs and lows, with some particularly dark times at the start and mid way through. I learned that I actually really like routine and structure, and goals are important -something to work towards or look forward to. I thought I liked travelling alone, and whilst I still need and love my alone time, generally I prefer to have company to share the journey with. I need to exercise regularly, otherwise I start feeling depressed and my binge eating tendencies are stronger.

Some things haven’t changed - I am still a terrible decision maker, am completely ignorant to my gut feelings and pro-con everything to the Nth degree. But I think that I’m now equipped with new skills to handle situations more effectively and perhaps help to steer me in the right direction when I feel lost. It’s ironic, but right now, I would say my biggest achievement that I am most proud of myself for, was making a big decision… the decision to go travelling this year - I think it was the best one I could have made. This one decision has enlightened me, inspired me, strengthened my character, opened my eyes, made me grateful for everything I have been blessed with, and motivated me to strive for greater fulfilment in life.

Addictive America

kish — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 11:16:00 GMT

Legendary Los Angeles

Hollywood, extravagant parties, piano bars, cocktails and fancy dinners… I had stepped into a completely different world - the legendary American dream city of Los Angeles. Farewell back packer, hello flash packer! It was Adam’s birthday, so we headed straight out for delicious chicken sandwiches and greasy french fries washed down with aggressive Long Beach cocktails - exactly what a girl needs when she’s been awake for almost 24 hours straight!

Needless to say an hour later, we were giggles galore, mucking around taking snaps on the king size bed overlooking the fancy indoor pool - carefree, frivolous and completely ruining the classy ambiance!! Look out LA - Kim, Kourtney and Khloé are in town! :)

Adam recently moved to LA for work, so we were lucky to have a lovely West Hollywood apartment to walk straight home to. The next day (the first of many consecutive hung over mornings) we dragged ourselves to Starbucks for a ‘tall' coffee - the smallest of the cup size options - and a bagel with cream cheese. Joggers on and cameras charged, we joined the outdoor fitness junkies of LA hiking up Runyon Canyon to get some idyllic views of the Hollywood sign and the sprawling city of Los Angeles.

Then Janek and I checked out the scene at Santa Monica and Venice Beach - sun shining and perfect weather - just what I expected in the middle of winter??!! I wondered what on earth all the interesting and alternative characters there on a Tuesday afternoon did for work? Nothing, I think. I was definitely getting a feel for ‘SoCal' (Southern California) - perfect weather all year round, be who you want, dress how you want, do what you want and enjoy life! That evening we treated ourselves to tacos, burritos and margaritas before strolling down Sunset Boulevard to the local Piano Bar, where Janek convinced me to sing at open mic night!! Unfortunately, the piano player didn’t really know the accompaniment for the songs I had chosen, so some bits were atrocious eyebrow raisers, but I still received a wild applause from my fans (Janek and Adam) and admittedly got a kick out of that little dose of performing again! I flirted with a guy for half the night while the boys embarrassingly egged me on… but turns out he was probably gay… I really know how to pick them! :)

The next day, in true LA style, we got our groove on at the infamous Millennium Dance Complex. Actually, it was one of those situations where our expectations were thoroughly misguided and we were challenged to step completely out of the comfort zone. The three of us were psyched for a great workout and to walk out of the studio with a funky routine under our belts that we could spontaneously whip out on the dance floor. Our hopes and dreams were shattered after the warm up when Donyelle informed us that today’s class was going to be about improvisation in the contemporary style (mind you, we were in a hip hop/jazz class… go figure?!) Janek and I had a minor panic attack. We felt silly enough being taught a routine in an LA dance school let alone making up our own moves!?! Adam embraced the moment, feeling a bit more at home being a ex-ballet dancer. After sitting out and watching for a few minutes, Janek and I mustered all the confidence we had, lowered the walls of insecurity and attempted to participate in this highly exposed and vulnerable expression of movement. Every cloud has a silver lining, so naturally by the end of the class we were having a ball creating letters of the alphabet through dance - using different parts of our body at various speeds, shapes, styles and intensity of movement. The unexpected benefits of this experience didn’t end there - it gave us inspiration to choreograph a dance… which we later performed in random places across America, including the glass cable car up to Mount San Jacinto, a gay nightclub in Palm Springs, a gay bar on Santa Monica Boulevard, and of course at the Beyoncé concert in Las Vegas! Just to thicken the silver lining a bit more, I also gained some insightful perspectives on my decision making problems during the dance class when Donyelle likened dance to life. There are an infinite number of ways to perform one movement in dance eg. right or up or point, and sometimes you have to choose just 3 options and play around with them so as not to be overwhelmed by the endless number of options available. I related to this analogy so strongly, it was as if I was just meant to be in that dance class.

In true hipster style, we made our way to Palm Springs in a Ford Mustang convertible. Oh yeah.

Frozen to the core, and rugged up in beanies, gloves and warm winter jackets we arrived in Palm Springs - where desert, palm trees and flat barren plains collide with luscious green forest pine trees and snow capped mountains. I actually got teary here when I experienced falling snow for the first time at the top of Mount San Jacinto!! So special.

Lavish Las Vegas

The next day, the three Kardashians hit Vegas baby!! At the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, our convertible was Valet parked and we checked in to our (upgraded) hotel suite. The Venetian has 4049 suites (a standard room is a suite), and it houses the Grand Canal with gondolas, a Sistine Chapel-like ceiling, exquisite frescos, hundreds of specialty shops and gourmet restaurants in an Italian street-themed retail complex with authentic cobblestones, strolling performers, Madame Tussauds Las Vegas wax museum, a wedding chapel, theatres showing broadway musicals, and a number of other Venetian architectural features and replicas! I took my time in the shower as big as a bathroom; blow dried my hair in the refined Italian marble bathroom as big as a lounge-room; and enjoyed a pre-dinner drinkie in the graceful and sophisticated room as big as a house with an oversized dining table, coffee table, L shaped sofa and ottoman... La Dolce Vita! We strolled down Las Vegas Boulevard aka the Strip, soaking up the glitz and glamour - neon lights, mammoth brightly coloured LED billboards and video screens, the Bellagio’s impressive water fountain show set to music, and dramatic New York-like cityscape architecture including replicas of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triumph. I was dazzled!

And then there was Beyoncé at MGM Grand - the best Christmas present ever! Forever grateful, boys :) As expected, she was phenomenal - such a talented performer in a spectacular show with awesome back up dancers. We were so lucky to be about 5 or 6 metres from the stage, so I could see all her facial expressions, her gorgeous beaming smile, and her incredibly hot bod which dominated the auditorium with agility and sex appeal.

On a tight schedule, we reunited with the convertible, roof closed :( and treated ourselves to a scenic drive with the spiky alien-like Joshua Trees speckling an arid landscape… welcome to Arizona! About 3 hours later we reached our destination - The Grand Canyon - only to be told that there was zero visibility and no refunds on tickets purchased to see the famous natural wonder. So, essentially, we went to the Grand Canyon, but technically, we didn’t actually ‘see’ the Grand Canyon haha. The return journey was definitely a reconciling factor as we marvelled at the unusual yet beautiful Joshua Tree Forest, silhouetted against a remarkable sunset.

Return to Legendary Los Angeles

As If the day wasn’t big enough already - Las Vegas to The Grand Canyon and back to Los Angeles - after arriving home at about 10pm, it was upper class LA party time! In the Hollywood foothills lies a beautiful house owned by the creator of Ugly Betty. Yes, that’s right, I went to an exclusive Christmas party at the house of the creator of Ugly Betty!!!! Janek has connections. As usual, I didn’t want to go initially - none of us even know who’s party it was at that stage, but being a lazy bum and feeling unglamorous, I wasn’t really in the mood for socialising, but also felt like I shouldn’t pass up an opportunity and a party invitation. I asked Janek if he thought there might be some straight guys or girls there, and he wasn’t sure but we hoped there would be… Think again! As I stepped through the front door of the ritzy-looking residence, it literally balls to the wall extreeeeemely attractive, well dressed gay guys, as far as the eye could see!! Not one female in sight. I was completely dumbfounded, lost for words and unsure what on earth to do. Engulfed in a sea of intimidatingly good looking men, Janek turned to me flashing an apologetic pity face. When I found my tongue again, I suggested that perhaps I just escorted the boys to the party and now it was time for me to go. Janek, hesitantly suggested that perhaps I just stay for a few minutes, have a drink and then see how I feel… well, a few (too many) drinks later, I was having a ball! I excitedly introduced myself as a “girl” to the four other females at the party of at least 100 gay guys, and talked the ear off one of the poor female bar tenders while she waited for the toilet. We had photos taken and developed by a professional photographer in a Christmas set at the back of the house - next to the pool, drank far too much free vodka, and met a number of ‘somebodies’ including the producer of Cougar Town and Scrubs, an LA modelling agent, the lawyer for some of America’s big production companies, 7-foot pro basket-baller Jason Collins who is the first openly gay NBA player, and the host himself, Silvio Horta - creator and producer of Ugly Betty and screenplay writer for Urban Legend.

I spent the following week laying low in Adam’s apartment in LA while Janek and Adam went to Miami. One day I had a singing lesson with someone who gave me some great tips and compliments and inspired me to move to New York and give Broadway a go! I did some christmas shopping, went on long walks, met tonnes of friendly Americans, ate far too much unhealthy food (end of the trip blow-out I’m calling it), went to yoga classes at a local gym and decided I really like LA!! Let me just add that this trip came about because I asked Janek what he was up to in December, for some inspiration for the final leg of my journey. When he said LA, I was a bit disinterested and nonchalant, because I had been to LA before and it didn’t really appeal to me…but I decided the company was worth the trip… next thing you know, I love LA and I want to move there!!! Yep, nothing changes, I’m still as flippant as ever and have no idea what I want to do with my life :)

Triumphant Turkey

kish — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 23:56:00 GMT

I am completely taken with Turkey - impressed and mesmerised by the rich history, some of the best cuisine I've tasted, locals with endless hospitality and insightful philosophies, and some of the world's greatest scenery - from the minaret-laiden skyline of Istanbul to the strange and soaring mountains of the capadoccia region. I had this burning question... Is turkey part of the Asian or European continent?! Well in case you also weren't sure - the answer is both!! Turkey is on the Mediterranean, in the Anatolian region of West Asia, with a very small section in Southeastern Europe separated by the Turkish Straits. It has a huge variety of terrain and diverse plant life, and it can exhibit all four seasons at the one time in different parts of the country. This unique mix of East and West has given Turkey a profound depth of culture and I made every effort to immerse myself in it - ate kebaps daily, bought a 40 year old carpet, visited ancient ruins and caves in mountains and meditated to the Whirling Dervishes.

I had a week or so spare between Tunisia and California... So naturally I spent most of my days in Tunisia sitting in a cafe by the sea madly googling top travel destinations, skyscanner-ing every possible flight out of Tunis... and I always seemed to come back to Turkey! Few reasons... Istanbul was actually top of my list for Europe originally, but I had never made it there; workaway.com had a volunteering opportunity I liked the sound of - a family in the centre of turkey - Konya who wanted someone to help out in the house and speak English with the kids for a few hours a day; and this seemed perfect because Konya is the place to see the most authentic presentation of the Whirling Dervishes in Turkey. It has always been one of my dreams to see these ethereal performers after studying them extensively at school in order to base my character and costume for the year 12 drama production on them!! Also, I recently came across one of those "places to visit before you die" websites which included the region of Cappadocia - near Konya!! So, clearly it was meant to be- Turkey here I come! After having planned to volunteer for the week, turns out I just like being a tourist too much!! I packed in a whirlwind tour of Turkey in 7 days... Flew into Antalya (south), 8 hour bus to Konya (centre), 4 hour bus to Capadoccia, flew from Capadoccia to istanbul, flew Istanbul to Konya, flew Konya to Istanbul and finally flew Istanbul to London!!

Kooky Konya

The Turkish Whirling dervishes have become a tourist attraction despite not being intended for entertainment. Sufi whirling is a form of physically active meditation (Sufism being a branch of the Islam religion) and the ceremony is performed to try to reach religious ecstasy. This is sought through abandoning your ego or personal desires, by listening to the music, focusing on God, and spinning your body in repetitive circles - a symbolic imitation of the planets orbiting the sun.

I thoroughly enjoyed the pre-ceremony talk presented on the ideals and basics of Islam, getting an insight into the religion and the meaning behind the Sufi ceremony. While whirling, the dervishes' arms are open - right arm directed to the sky, ready to receive God's beneficence, and left hand turned toward the earth to convey God's spiritual gift to the people. Revolving from right to left around the heart, they embrace all humanity with love. Humans has been created with love in order to love eachother. Rumi (the first Dervish) says, "All loves are a bridge to Divine love. Yet, those who have not had a taste of it do not know!" And with all of this love in mind, I indulged in the meditative sublimeness of the whirling dervishes who spun almost continuously for an hour, so graceful, so entrancing, so surreal.

In Konya I was lucky enough to have been invited to tour the city and a gorgeous waterfall with some photographers from Istanbul and a beautiful local girl, Emine, who spoke no English yet managed to create a special friendship with me! We had a wonderful time sharing delicious meals and raucous laughter when Ati decided that I look like the French actor, Gérard Depardieu, and was determined that I was his daughter!

Captivating Cappadocia

Cappadocia is a hidden treasure in central Turkey with a unique moon-like landscape, underground cities, cave churches and houses carved into rocks. The valley, canyon, and unusual rock formations were formed due to eroding rains, thousands of years of winds and volcanic ash. The end result is what took my breath away - bizzare mushroom shaped, pinnacled, capped and conic shaped formations called fairy chimneys. I went for 3 long hikes - through Pigeon Valley, Love Valley, Red Valley and Rose Valley... each valley more impressive than the one before! Sometimes I thought I was on the moon, other times in the desert or even on another planet, and some views had me so dumbstruck and speechless I found myself audibly gasping at the strange and beautiful landscape surrounding me. These hikes were even more special for me because there was noone else around - seriously one day I went for about 5 or 6 hours before I saw another person! For me this was perfect - just me and stunning nature, having a romantic date and loving it! There were two distinct moments of bliss for me - when I first reached Love Valley, stood on the edge of a steep descent looking along the stretch of mushroom fairy chimneys and realised I had never seen anything like this before and I was definitely not in Kansas anymore; the second was sitting in a little cubby hole I found right on the edge of a mountain face, eating a mandarin and a bar of chocolate (or 4) overlooking a sprawling ancient city on one side, green hills in front of me, deep red mountains on the other side and a myriad of colours of flora and rock formations in between. Heaven. Hiking through the Cappadocia valleys added to the list of pinch-myself moments I seem to be collecting; yet again, astounded by the scenery the world has to offer and forever grateful that I managed to make a decision to come here - and boy, was it a good decision!!!

**stupid traveller mistake no.5**

I got a bit cocky with my hiking skills after a few days and attempted to climb up a very steep soft rock mountain. After getting up about 4 or 5 metres, with a few little slips and poor foot holds along the way, I looked below and realised I was stuffed for getting back down again. The rock was extremely crumbly and useless for gripping on to. But this excited and thrilled me a little bit. Maybe I was just looking for an adrenaline rush, maybe I wanted to prove to myself how daring I could be, or maybe I had migrated into fantasy land (i.e. I was Bella in Twilight) and thought I'd see flashes of sexy Robin Pattinson if I put myself in a dangerous situation. I reached a spot with a 2-3m almost-vertical drop and my heart started racing - when you know that what you’re about to do is not going to end well. I’m not sure how I thought it was going to work...needless to say I landed at the bottom with my leggings completely hacked and ripped open around the bum area, a huge gash in my right butt cheek and grazes on both palms!!

Cappadocia had plenty of other hidden secrets to offer - there are several underground cities that were used by early Christians as hideouts. It is believed that the tunnels were first dug out in the 7th and 8th centuries B.C, and then refined in 5-10th centuries AD. Wandering around inside one of them, I imagined how the people used to live in there for up to 2 months at a time, in the dark, having created the usual types of rooms including a kitchen, storage area, stables for animals, and even a church! The director of Star Wars Episode 1 was apparently so inspired by the otherwordliness of the scenery in this area that he planned to shoot the film here (it didn't end up happening due to political reasons but provided a basis for the set built in the Tunisian desert - which I happened to see a few weeks ago!!!). On a food note, Turkey seems to offer some really nice and cheap chocolate bars... And with prices like that, I just couldn't help myself. So I returned to my usual solo traveller habit of devouring multiple (yes I'm talking 5-8 on average) chocolate bars a day, a large bag of Doritos (they're just so good!), and in between I would always make room for meals... I became a regular at the local kebap place - always getting the same chicken wrap thing (about $2.20), and I was always the only customer :)

Impressive Istanbul

I actually didn't think I had time for Istanbul, so it was a last minute decision when I realised I couldn't possibly leave Turkey without at least setting my eyes upon this vibrant city - even if it was only for one day!! Luckily, Ati (who I met in Konya) is a couchsurfer host and drew me a fabulous map of the most important sites, exactly how I would get from A to B to be as efficient as possible in my mammoth one day tour of Istanbul. Turks take breakfast very seriously, so I started the day in Ati's restaurant, 'Kristal' with a standard selection of hot fries, bread rolls, cheese, salad, spreads and a delicious egg-tomato-herby mixture. After a bus ride to Karakoy, I caught the ferry across to Eminonu freezing my butt off in a severely under-prepared outfit for the crisp late November weather. There I indulged in a delicious piece of baklava (or 4) and headed to the Blue Mosque. It was my lucky day because I arrived just in time for prayer... Told the security guards that I wanted to pray too and next thing I was in a shawl, a wrap around skirt and shoes off. I went upstairs and joined the other women, feeling intrigued and a little out of place. I tried to emulate their actions - stand up, kneel down, head to floor - which meant that I didn't really get a chance to become very spiritually moved in the process. I also noticed there were a few people with iPads and iPhones out, filming the ceremony so I didn't feel too touristy or nervous being there.

I stayed long enough to marvel at the stunning interior of the mosque and enjoy being immersed in a different culture before quietly slipping out and making it just in time for a free lecture on the Muslim culture and the Islam religion. I found this presentation extremely insightful, learnt a lot about the similarities between Islam and Christianity and even scored myself a free gift bag with a stack of books I'm keen to read and discover more about this interesting religion which seems to resonate well with my values! Oh, and that reminds me, I've now spent almost a month Muslim countries- where I've been treated to a call to prayer 5 times a day every day. The 'adhan' can be heard everywhere as it is projected on a loudspeaker by a 'muezzin' from every mosque in the city and lasts about a minute (I even heard it hiking deep in the Cappadocian mountains!!) The call summons Muslims for worship and just means that they need to pray in a mosque at some point in time before the next call. The same words are sung every time - relating to Allah being the greatest *except for in the morning...the first call of the day at dawn has the added line "Prayer is better than sleep" haha :) Actually I just remembered that Ahmed had an app on his iPhone with the Muslim call to prayer that goes off 5 times a day!! (... Not that he paid any attention to it!) After my spiritual morning, I turned to the glitz and glamour of the opulent Topkapi Palace- the residence of various Ottomon sultans between 1453 and 1839. The palace is quite spectacular from the outside - a collection of domes and minarets commandeering the city skyline. The complex is actually made up of lovely grassed areas, courtyards and buildings filled with brilliantly coloured thrones, diamonds, and clothing worn in that era. I marvelled at the opulence of the imperial treasury - ruby studded mirrors, swords encrusted with jewels, gold water jugs, jade bowls, a huge striking diamond, and the gold and emerald Topkapi Dagger (made famous by the movie Topkapi).

**stupid traveller mistake no. 6 - the winner!! **

So I was already running late getting back to Kristal, Ati’s restaurant, which is near Starbucks on Ataturk street. I was lucky to meet two lovely guys on the way to the ferry, and Adnan came with me all the way to Karakoy. There he helped me get on the bus, talked to the driver in Turkish, and I heard “Ataturk street, Starbucks". They chatted a bit more (my internal made up translation was something like "that's where she wants to get off" "ok I'll tell her" "great thanks") but the driver took off in a hurry so I never got to clarify with Adnan. Never mind, I was pretty sure I'd remember where to get off anyway. Well, think again Kish! 45 mins later (now about 11pm) I reached the end of the bus route, in woop woop near a university, with only one other passenger on board - a physics student - who luckily spoke English and came to my rescue when I asked the driver why he didn't tell me where to get off?! (the driver spoke to English). Turns out that initial chat with Adnan was more like "I don't know where Starbucks on Ataturk street is" "oh, well don't worry she knows" "ok". So Mr Physics discussed with the driver, at length, what I should do and then he kindly took me through the deserted Uni to another bus stop where we spoke to people who suggested I get on a bus all the way back to Karakoy and start again!! Ugh. Eventually a bus came and Mr Physics asked New Helpful Guy to take over looking after me. We made a plan for me to get off somewhere close to Kristal, which was tricky enough in itself - phones were passed around with Ati on one end and the driver, me or New Helpful Guy on the other and we finally came to an arrangement that New Helpful Guy would tell me where to get off (he called his English speaking friend to tell me this). The last thing Ati said on the phone was "they will tell you where to get off and I will meet you". By this stage the whole front of the bus was involved in my dramas, sympathetic smiles were exchanged frequently and they all waved goodbye when I got off. It was now about 1130pm and I was on a paved/grass patch in the middle of a busy highway intersection with no other people in sight! I wondered for a minute what I should do, but then a motorbike pulled up about 50m away. I remembered that Ati had a delivery boy and I saw him with a motorbike helmet in the morning. Maybe Ati had sent Delivery Boy on motorbike for me? I slowly wandered over to get a closer look to see if I recognised him. Motorbike Guy just sat there patiently and didn't try and call me over or beckon me onto the bike... which made me think he was Ati's delivery guy, just being polite and waiting for me to come over. When I got closer, I realised he wasn't the same Delivery Boy but when I looked at him, he just shuffled forward on the bike, expecting me to get on. No English meant I couldn't do a whole lot more checking, but I said "Ati"? questioningly, and he said "yes yes" and ushered me onto the bike. I hesitated for a moment, but then made a split second decision that he was legit. Off we drove at a nice slow pace - I felt quite safe with him, but still ever so slightly skeptical. I froze during the ride due to insufficient warm clothing. Suddenly we passed Kristal. I pointed back at the restaurant and Motorbike Guy said "yes yes kebab, eat, restaurant". Aah, so maybe Ati had asked him to take me somewhere for food first (since the kitchen had closed at Kristal). About 5 mins later, we stopped at Dominos Pizza. We got off and he told me to pick a pizza and paid for it. Casually we sat down and exchanged lots of smiles (the usual form of communication with a language barrier) but then my brain actually started to function and I asked Motorbike Guy to call Ati. He seemed lost and confused but willingly offered me the phone. I said, "no, you call Ati'. But it didn't happen. Oh God, maybe he didn't know Ati after all! Trust decreasing. So I dialled Ati's number, only to get a Turkish automated message, argh ... (Imaginary translation = "you have insufficient credit", or "the person you are calling is on another line"). Damn it. I asked the Dominos people to call and they said they had no phone. Back to Motorbike Guy, I pulled out Ati's business card, pointed to it and gestured to call, and he said "no no restaurant closed. Sleeping". Freaking out now. Trust dwindling. Motorbike Guy just kept saying "no problem! food, eat, restaurant" and I kept repeating that I wanted to speak to Ati. Then, I don't know if I was dreaming, or if there's a word in Turkish that sounds like this but I swear he slipped in the word "hotel” ... Arghhhh ok. Not cool Kish. Not cool. So I swiftly went outside and stopped a random guy on the street to borrow his phone... Got the same Turkish message... Shit Ati!!! Ok last check, I showed Ati's business card for Motorbike Guy to look at closely and I observed his reaction… He didn’t try to hide anything - he studied it like he'd never seen it before and again said, "no answer. Sleeping. Restaurant closed". Heart racing, adrenalin pumping to the max, how could I have been so stupid? Shit. Lucky I was near Dominos, sort of safe, but noone else was around. Shit. Shit. Shit. I tried to run around him. He stopped me, grabbed me, but not forcefully, and I said, "please let me go, I'm walking to the restaurant". He said over and over, a bit confused and disappointed, "but eat then restaurant, eat then restaurant!" When I pulled away and started to run he yelled "food! Money! Pay!" Until then I still wasn't 100% sure, but finally then I knew and I just ran and ran. He didn't follow thank God, and I bombarded the guys closing up a nice looking cafe with my story and with super shaky hands tried to show them Ati's number to call! Finally he answered, and to my surprise, Ati said "yes! I sent my Delivery Boy to meet you! Why did you run away!!??" Arghhhhh I explained where I was and 20 mins later, Delivery Boy who I had seen in the morning, came to get me - with a phone call check to Ati first this time :) In the debrief we realised that, no, the initial Motorbike Guy was a weirdo and nothing to do with Ati at all. The real Delivery Boy had in fact come to get me, but was perhaps just a few minutes behind Motorbike Guy. I still cannot believe so many aspects of this story. The fact that Motorbike Guy just happened to be in the right place at the right time to have a stupid, naive far-too-trusting tourist get on his bike!!; The fact that I didn't think to get him to call Ati before getting on (this comes from having met so many genuinely nice and helpful people all day in Istanbul so lowering my skeptical threshold); The fact that he was actually not toooo crazy and let me get off to get some food; The fact that we happened to pass Kristal so I knew we weren't too far away; The fact that I got away alive and unharmed!!...Thank you Allah!! As shaken up as I was after this experience, it certainly didn’t taint my overall awe for this vibrant, treasure of a city in one of the most varied, stunning and exciting countries in the world!

Manic Morocco

kish — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 08:31:00 GMT

In the northwest corner of Africa lies a mixed bag of desert sand dunes, mountain peaks, peaceful national parks and manic market places. Morocco is definitely not for the faint hearted - I'd recommend any potential visitor be prepared to get ripped off and learn French before you go! Nevertheless I revelled in night skies glistening with stars in the mighty Sahara, waterfalls in forested mountains and canyons and bathing with the locals in a communal bathhouse. Of course it was also amazing to catch up with Tina again to share some blissful and crazy experiences! Walking through Moroccan medinas can be quite a taxing activity... keeping your eyes and ears peeled for stray ducks and chickens, men surging through the crowds with hundreds of bits of leather over their heads, and donkeys that don't quite fit in the narrow alleys-their saddle packages bulging with goods that could take you out if you're not careful. We stayed in some really funky hostels with multi-coloured lounges and cushions, shisha by candlelight on tap, never ending offers of mint tea, gorgeous mosaic tiled walls, teapots on fancy ceramic tables, and colourful, plant filled roof terraces with sun beds overlooking the washing on neighbouring rooftops. One night our hostel was fully booked so we slept in the basement which was a tiny but cute bathroom sized room completely covered with blue, white, green and yellow mosaic tiles creating a beautiful geometric pattern. We ate tajines every second night and even helped out to cook one in a hostel - I cut my finger - a reminder that I really cannot cook! Tajine is the local specialty dish here - a spicy stew of meat, vegetables, lemon and olives that has been simmered for many hours in a conical clay pot (from which the dish derives its name).

We learnt to wrap our heads with scarves turban style; caught local buses; and chatted, sang and laughed with Moroccans on the train in broken English with bits of French and Arabic slipped in. Chatting to some local boys at dinner one night we learnt that the girls in morocco are treated like princesses and given anything they want... I did start to wonder whether I should find myself a Moroccan husband! I asked what they thought of girls who wear the hijab and borka compared to those who don't and they said, really it doesn't make a big difference but they recognise that those who cover themselves demonstrate a respect for the culture (also many boyfriends and husbands like their women to cover up so other boys don't get to see how beautiful they are.) It's also customary for the girls go shopping with the future mother in law to buy lingerie for the wedding night!

Hammam

A Moroccan hammam is a truly amazing cultural experience ... It is a communal bathhouse that locals habitually visit at least weekly to clean themselves and socialise. We bought an exfoliating glove from a local store then cautiously, nervously entered a fairly inconspicuous archway with pretty tiles on the walls inside. Ready to be vulnerable and embrace the unexpected, we stripped down to undies (no bra) and boldly waited while the Muslim ladies did the same. They looked so calm and confident with their bodies that I started feeling like there was nothing to be ashamed of and accepted the notion of being naked in this strange place. We were led through a series of increasingly warmer rooms, finishing in one that felt somewhat like a big not-too-hot sauna. The room was about 5x8m and covered in white tiles with a few blue ones on the roof. There was water all over floor, and 2 other completely naked women were sitting casually on mats along one side of the room washing themselves and rinsing with water from buckets. The ladies instructed us to sit on the floor (unhygienic?? ... Hope not!) ... tits out, dignity being challenged, my lady started rubbing 'black soap' all over me. It's actually dark brown, slightly translucent, gooey, and left a slippery and oily residue all over me. I was surprised at myself as to how comfortable I was having someone lather my body with goo, my hand often bumping into her boob and her obviously touching mine! There were no other tourists, the local ladies were just minding their own business, and I was feeling extremely cultural and adventurous! And relaxed! The lady rinsed off the soap with water from multiple buckets of warm and hot water, put my exfoliating glove on her hand and started scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing my arm. It was almost painful initially but soon became therapeutic. She scrubbed to remove 5 layers of skin and I watched all of the grime and dirt that I'd been lugging around after months of travelling rolling into little grey clumps!! After my arms, she moved onto my neck and legs. Communicating without any English and lots of gentle nudges and hand gestures, I was encouraged to turn onto my stomach... So now I was lying naked on a white tiled watery floor with my undies pulled down a bit while the lady was scrubbing my bum. A special moment. Not as special as the next moment when I sat up again and she scrubbed my face ... Without rinsing the glove in between!! Then she shampooed my hair twice, massaged my back and legs, stood me up, pulled my undies half way down my legs, (while Tina distracted herself looking in the other direction and smirking) and poured more buckets of water all over me!!! And that was seriously one of the coolest raw cultural experiences I've had yet!!! My skin felt absolutely incredible afterwards, and I felt the cleanest I've ever been in my life!!! It was so great also doing it with the other Muslim women and seeing first hand the way they obviously take great pride in cleaning, their bodies, and devoting time to themselves in the hammams.

Mad Marrakech

At first I found Marrakech a bit overwhelming, busy and full of false guides and creepy men trying to lure you into their shops ... or their beds!! But the city also had a very cool stereotypical 'Moroccan' feel - lots of red, orange and ochre buildings along palm tree lined streets. The main square was buzzing with people, horses, donkeys, motorbikes and cars honking and pushing past you, and a constant bothersome "Hello white lady, will you marry me", "nice eyes", especially Tina with her alternative side shave, we heard "nice hair lady" every few steps!! The souks are a type of marketplace in a massive hall with hundreds of alleys of Moroccan specialty shops... leather as far as the eye could see, teapots galore, (magic) carpets, and every now and again a kaleidoscope of colours at a fresh food and spices stall. I was quite entranced by all the colours of the bags, scarves and shoes, it's just a pity that with this setting, again comes a constant flow of "hello white lady, I do you a good price lady, look inside lady". I um'd and ah'd over which teapot I wanted ... getting a bit anxious with the number of choices - the tall top, with legs or without, for one or 2 cups, the plumper or slimmer shape, which pattern on the silver etc etc. and I was not comfortable parting with the money until I was convinced I was getting a good deal. Needless to say, the teapot was not bought on this occasion!!

I went for jog one morning and saw a refreshing, slightly less intense side of Marrakech - the hustle and bustle in the smaller market areas outside of the main square and souks. It wasn't too busy, just a steady flow of people buying their morning fresh produce, walking with purpose and riding to work on motorbikes. My senses were stimulated - a myriad of colours stole my attention jogging past the fruit and veggie stalls, Moroccan spices and fresh bread scents wafted through the narrow streets, and I was on high listening alert for the bikes and donkeys that just popped out of nowhere above the background noises of bartering and eager business men inviting me to boost their sales for the day. I got a bit distracted by leather bags at one point and made a sneaky purchase, after which I got lost in the maze of alleys but enjoyed every minute of it, wondering what exciting shop front or food stall I might stumble across around the next corner.

Scintillating Sahara

Winding through the Atlas Mountains at 2260m provided great views - vast expanses of no vegetation, or patches of dry green shrubbery, colours shifting from off white to dusty mustard rock, to red and brown stark cliff faces, with the occasional camouflaged Berber villages etched in the mountain side. First stop was ancient Kasbah Ait Benhaddou, bridging the mountains with the Sahara, where many Hollywood movies such as Gladiator, Prince of Persia and Lawrence of Arabia were filmed! The kasbah (ancient islamic village of large castle looking houses with 4 parapets) here was built in 13th century. This place used to be an important stop for travellers looking for salt and they used to have to walk 3km by camel to get fresh water up until about 4 years ago. The houses are made with mud and clay and need to be re-done every 2 years due to rain.

The mighty Todra gorge presented dramatic cliff sides and a herd of black and white goats hovering by the river and then back to more great road trip scenery - typical African earthy coloured houses with flat (or no) rooves, more barren rocks and shrubs with rugged mountains in the distance. I giggled away watching a few episodes of 'rules of engagement' in between reading and napping. Erg Chebbi are the giant sand dunes that surround the Berber town of Merzouga. We took the traditional method of transport - camel - to the Berber camp in the middle of the silky terracotta desert in time to watch the golden sun dip below the dunes against the bright blue sky. So peaceful and beautiful! The camel ride was quite an experience - very uncomfortable actually, especially since my camel - who I named Walter- was sliding and bumping me all over the place and I had 2 bolts on the side of the saddle digging into my thighs! I really had to hold on tight while bouncing downhill, and definitely got a great core and triceps workout!! Tina and I swapped camels after the sunset so she could take some pics of me from in front and she almost killed me for giving her Walter - validating my horrific experience with bloody Walter! Haha

At the campsite, there were no lights, no electricity, a square of black tents with a mattress, sheet and blanket each, lots of mattresses for chilling on the sand, and we sat around chatting, laughing and watching the stars come out. It was an incredible sanctuary. The stars were so bright and it was such a glorious and fulfilling feeling just staring at them all! We had a yummy chicken tajine for dinner before sitting around a campfire listening to the 3 Berber guys with massive traditional turbans play the drums, some tambourine-type bells and sing in Arabic. This was really special. I felt completely satisfied staring directly into the fire or up at the stars and pulsing to the beat of the drums. After an early rise at 530am we rode the camels back, stopping to watch the sun rise at about 7am. It was incredible - a really magnificent moment watching a glistening yellow-orange peeking above the sandy horizon and then engulfing the entire Sahara with the golden light of day.

The group of about 15 of us bonded over this magical experience and by the end of the trip you couldn't shut us up on the bus. We were so lucky to have a fantastic mix of interesting and nice people from all over the world, and throughout the 12 hours of travel on the last day, conversation shifted from sexism, to travel destinations, to re-telling movie plots, to the Bosnian War.

Funky Fes

The city of Fes was founded in the 9th century and the Old Medina is a UNESCO World Heritage site - the world’s largest living medieval Islamic city. Beige and pastel yellow buildings had a wash of charcoal at the top giving an overall rundown look. The city was enclosed with a medieval crenelated city wall, which I loved, and I felt like I had just stepped into Game of Thrones, entering through the stone wall archway.

I really liked the mix of crazy market sellers interspersed with a few more relaxed shop keepers just passing the time on a little stool or at hard at work shaping a copper tray or threading cotton. The creepy and sleezy false guides that try and ask you where you want to go and lead you to the tourist spots taint the experience a bit but I just had to block them out, whilst being wary of my bag and not getting trapped into a dead end in the crazy maze of alleys within the medina. Within the more populated areas of the Medina, we immersed ourselves in Islamic architecture, passing gorgeous large wooden doors with elaborately carved or bronze and copper patterns, and mosaic doorways and walls of ceramic tiles with floral and geometric designs in every shade of blue, green, yellow or multicoloured patterns. The outside of some mosques were inscribed with beautiful Arabic calligraphy, and I indulged in the raw sight of the artisans making jewellery, metal goods and traditional clothing throughout the Medina. Every alley offered something new - from delicious looking cakes to pashmina scarves, to kids plastic toys!

In the middle of the medina labyrinth we found (god knows how?!) the famous Chouara Tannery - the biggest in Africa, which has been washing, treating, smoothing, and colouring animal skins into soft leather goods for over a thousand years. Leather is Morroco's biggest export - the leather can take up to 2 months to go through the tannery and it is a family business that is passed down from generation to generation (150 families are employed in this tannery). The awful smell of pigeon poo (which contains ammonia to make the leather softer) hovered in the air as I marvelled at the colorful leather-dying pits and the men pulling large strips of skin from the tubs. The colours used to dye the leather are all natural vegetable dyes - poppy flower (red), indigo (blue), henna (orange), cedar wood (brown), mint (green), and saffron (yellow).

Cruisy Chefchaouen

This is probably one of my favourite cities I've come across because it has the perfect mix of things I love - mountains (perfect for hiking and just generally feeling in touch with nature) and a relaxed beachy feel since all the buildings are painted blue (and white). I loved being immersed in blue - it felt cool and peaceful, and it made the city so pretty. Chefchaouen was painted blue by the Jewish refugees in 1930s to distinguish themselves from the red and green colours of Islamic Morocco. It's a popular spot for smoking hash so it's also quite relaxed but still has the buzz of the marketplace throughout the alleys of the medina. Our hostel was super cute - wooden doors, pretty tiles, fresh and clean smell, and a gorgeous rooftop terrace boasting a luxurious blue and yellow beachside villa essence. We watched movies in the little rooftop tv room, hiked to some nearby villages, and watched the sun set at the Spanish mosque which gave gorgeous views of the whole city - sprawling mountains and a slice of blue and white civilisation etched into one side of a mountain.

The weather continued to treat us incredibly well (it was meant to be rainy season - but I felt no rain in aaaaafrica) for a day trip to Talassemtane National Park - perfect temperature, bright sun and blue skies. The God Bridge was a naturally formed beautiful big arched rock formation between 2 of the domineering mountain ranges of the park. I was so pleasantly surprised with how green and luscious the area was - for Africa!! We took a lovely path along a running stream through tree plantations and foresty bits, flanked by massive vertical burnt orange cliff faces. Small waterfalls were dotted along the way and the sound of running water and barely any other tourists made it a really peaceful experience, getting in touch with nature again after relentless Marrakech and Fes. The end point was a spectacular waterfall with interesting eroded shards of rock and moss that came away from the cliff face close to the bottom, creating a unique backdrop for the cascading water. Unfortunately it was quite cold in this little spot, hidden away from the sun so I couldn't bring myself to swim in the invitingly crystal clear and water.

* Epic bus ride from Chefchaouen to Casablanca - 7.5 hours of hell*

The day began by waiting for a running-late bus in the middle of the road, then being shooed on with live chickens. I got a bit car sick after half an hour or so in response to maniac driving, and my view outside was obstructed by a heap of white stuff dribbled down my window. The bus was old, brown and uncomfortable. We seemed to stop at least every half hour, sometimes at a legitimate station to pick up more passengers, but mostly on the side of a dusty, barren road for a transfer of boxes and bags into a dodgy little pick up truck. Tina and I were sure our bags had already been whipped off the bus and sold in exchange for some chickens or drugs at one of the countless stops! Every time we collected more passengers, we'd get an influx of pestering, incessant snack sellers squeezing their way past other passengers trying to find a seat. It was manic. The most annoying ones would drop a block of chocolate into your lap and then walk away so when they came back to collect the chocolate they would insist you pay them! One disgusting guy stroked my leg with the chocolate in his hand to encourage me to buy it. He was bloody lucky I didn't kick him in the nuts for fear that I might get a dose straight back, or end up in Moroccan prison for harassment. Intermittently we seemed to get stopped by policeman who would check the luggage under the bus and eventually let us pass... Until we came across the undercover cop who actually boarded the bus and spent a good 15 minutes making his way down the aisle and patting down anyone looking remotely suspect. We nervously watched him pat down the guy a few seats in front of us - an extremely thorough and invasive check. We sat there fairly silent and tense, both wondering what our fate might be - was he a decent cop just looking for real criminal activity or a dodgy one looking for an excuse to touch 2 innocent white girls?! He slowly lingered past us, gave a brief look, almost passed, but then backtracked (Tina - sitting in the aisle seat flipped out) and said "bonjour". Tina cooly replied with "bonjour", they exchanged a few more words - in French - which I barely remember coz I was too stressed for her and then he smiled politely and moved further down the bus! Pheeewwww!!! This gave us faith in the Moroccan police! While we were busy normalising our adrenaline levels, 4 or 5 guys were escorted off the bus and waited while the policeman searched their bags underneath. 2 guys were handcuffed to each other and then one was released and got back on the bus, while the other was taken away with the policeman!! The rest of the group also were freed to get back on the bus. Overall a slightly stressful but exciting and interesting experience!! There was no toilet on the bus and no loo stops along the way. I needed to pee a couple of hours into the trip and after developing a headache and craving water, I couldn't bring myself to even take a sip in case my bladder burst! It didn't stop after the bus ride - as we got into the taxi, another guy helped us put our luggage into the boot - then demanded 10 dirham for the effort. We drove in the taxi for about 20 mins until the driver got very angry and frustrated - resulting in heated English-French discussions and no comprehension on either side, he looked at the map a hundred times, yelled the same thing over and over in French while I repeated "je ne comprend pas" and "je ne parle pas francais" until we suddenly found ourselves back at the bus station, sunset nearing. Tina on the edge of tears and me just fed up, hungry, thirsty and still busting to pee, we dragged ourselves around the corner from the taxi rank to get away from all the horrid hassling scavengers. Here, we regained faith in humanity when a lovely (and extremely good looking) guy asked if we were ok and what we needed, just out of the goodness of his heart and not in exchange for money or sex!! We could tell he had somewhere to be, but he patiently waited with us to hail a taxi, explain exactly where the hotel was and helped us put the suitcases into the boot. Tina almost cried with joy at the kind gesture we were finally blessed with. As fate would have it, the second taxi driver also couldn't find the hotel, but got us close enough that we knew where we were, then he didn't have any change for the fare and after asking in all the shops up and down the street could only give us change for a fare double what it should have been!!!! Unfortunately this was a pretty shitty ending to our Morroco trip, and I felt well and truly ready to get out of the relentless country. But of course there were also some wonderful moments along the way, and it was so awesome to be sharing them all with Tina!!

Return to Tasty Tunisia

Ok so maybe I fell for Ahmed a bit. Or a lot. It's funny, I think I had such a protection barrier up that I wouldn't even admit to myself that I liked him the first time I was there, despite Ahmed being adorably honest about his feelings. I decided to return and surprise Ahmed, arranged it all with Monta and when the day came, Ahmed was speechless and over the moon!! We had an incredible week together again, singing and dancing around the living room and in the cabaret style night club down the road, swimming most days despite the cooler weather, eating Google's famous tomato chilli and tuna pasta, watching movies and generally chilling out and dicking around!

Of course all good things must come to an end and for a number of reasons, Kish and Ahmed were just not meant to be. I have some amazing memories and am so grateful for the wonderful time I spent with beautiful, fun, loving, caring and sexy Ahmed... "never mind ill find someone like you"...

Tasty Tunisia

kish — Sat, 2 Nov 2013 18:50:00 GMT

On Tuesday 22nd oct I arrived on the balmy, sandy, palm tree-fringed Mediterranean coast of Tunisia - a little slice of Africa, scented with jasmine and fresh fish everywhere you turn. Why on earth did I go to Tunisia?? I was asking myself the same question on my way here, but actually it was one of the best decisions I have made. On my final night in Poland I met a girl with an extremely convincing manner - it was like she cast a spell on me - who had just returned from a few months volunteering in Tunisia. Having loved it so much, she insisted that I simply HAD to go there!!! She assured me that all of her friends would take good care of me and that I would put on a lot of weight trying all of the amazing different deep fried culinary delights!! So, I didn't do any planning for this trip, was about to fly with Syphax airlines (hoping I don't contract some disease like the name sounds) and I realised I didn't know anything about Tunisia! I did a quick Wikipedia search and learned on the plane that it's a strongly European-influenced African country, with the main language being Arabic, but everyone knows French as well, since Tunisia became independent from the French in 1956 (some people know English, but not as many nor as well). I arrived feeling slightly concerned about my lack of knowledge about the country and especially how safe it would be for a single white girl, and the fact that I was relying on Anna's friends to house me! Suddenly for the first time in ages, travelling alone, I felt like what I was doing might be a bit dangerous and naive - just rocking up and trusting random people. In the airport, I was surrounded by people in long African robes and dresses - I was clearly the odd one out white girl in shorts and T shirt! I got slammed with a $75 entry visa I had no idea about, seriously considered turning around and finding the next flight out of there, but built up some courage and was greeted by the lovely Mahdi, who had borrowed a car from a friend to pick me up!! First thoughts outside the airport were - wow lovely warm weather, and holy shit I'm in Africa. Mahdi explained that Tunisia is not really like real Africa - it's more European so he refers to it as fake Africa. But for me, lots of white and pale coloured buildings with flat rooves, old cars buzzing about the road, and many people wearing hijabs - I was definitely in Africa.

Life in Tunisia consists of eating sleeping smoking and being in a coffee shop with friends. Everyone is so laid back and plans are never made until the last minute. Phones are constantly ringing to check, change and make plans. Friends are always coming and going from someone's house. It's one big party usually, with people dotted throughout the house - a few people are looking at something on the Internet, someone is cooking, 3 or 4 are having a siesta on the bed in the living room and a few more are gossiping on the bed in someone's room.

Meal time usually consists of baguette with something - a dipping sauce made with carrot purée, or a spinachy one, a capsicum one, Tuna and tomato, egg, egg with anything, oh and for breakfast, you dip the baguette into olive oil with this sweet condensed fairy floss type stuff. I've also had a lot of deep fried bread with egg and tuna, deep friend pancake with egg and spicy sauce, kous kous and pizza. Tunisians always eat only with their hands, but in order to maintain hygiene at meal times, the cafes and restaurants have a sink with soap next to the tables for hand washing before and after you eat!!! Bread roll with ice cream inside was actually delicious, as was the cup of yoghurt, cream, ice cream, biscuit, nuts, chocolate sauce and fruit all mixed in together!!!

One morning I had breakfast like a real Tunisian - yoghurt from the corner shop - in a jar with no lid- tasted great and fresh, and a hard boiled egg, eaten standing at the counter. Another typical breakfast is a cake called '1000 papers' (translated from the French name) which is essentially a slice of yummy goodness including layers of caramel, custard and pastry, and many mornings I had a baguette piled with sweet condensed fairy floss stuff... I am definitely going to be a whale by the time I leave here!!

Thrilling Tunis

I love the people. I have met so many wonderful Tunisians. Everyone is so friendly, so willing to help me out and show me a good time. Everyone has time for me, or if they are busy (usually with uni) they call a friend or a friend of a friend. Most of the people I have been staying with go to uni, so they actually balance a sense of responsibility with a carefree lifestyle! Mahdi and his friends are crazy and joke around telling lots of white lies, so I can never tell when the truth is actually being told. Achraf and Ahmed invited me to their house for lunch while Mahdi was at uni and I was treated to a decision cous cous and egg spring roll meal. Then Ahmed took me to Sidi Bou Said, a more touristy spot in Tunis, with lovely blue and white buildings- kind of like what I imagine Greece to be like.

We went to the most famous coffee shop and watched the sun set over a cup of suuuuper sweet coffee.

After walking a good 7 or 8 km back home - which everyone else thought was crazy because people are quite lazy here - we were quite hot and bothered, so Ahmed suggested we go for a swim!! The beach is on their doorstep, so I borrowed his underwear and Muna's leopard print pyjama tank top, and bam! we were swimming, frolicking and splashing around in the Mediterranean Sea, watching the gorgeous bright yellow moon ... This was another moment of bliss - I actually felt drunk on freedom and happiness!!! All my luggage and things were at mahdi's but I never made it back that night ... I was just going with the flow, Tunisian style!! One day I went to a uni trade fair/expo with Achraf and the lovely girls Sabrine, Sabrine and Islem... I sat in a meeting listening to the professor talk in Arabic, pretending I belonged there and I even scored a free t shirt which says something along the lines of 'Tunis uni library expo' !!! :)

On the weekend, I caught a 'louage' (minivan that goes to various locations once it fills up- approx 6-8 people in each) from Tunis to Sfax, the second biggest city in Tunisia. Even miss independent me was glad to have Ahmed there to help me buy the ticket and get in the van, since it's quite mad in the louage station and people don't speak much English! Luckily I made a nice friend in the louage, who explained when we were having a pit stop and when it was the last stop! Lovely Rached and his sister, Lobna picked me up in Sfax and we caught the ferry to Kerkennah island, where they have a holiday house. Rached explained that the Muslim holy book is a bit ambiguous about whether women need to cover up or not so that's why some women choose to and others don't. In Tunisia it is not obligatory one way or the other (compared to Saudi Arabia where it is mandatory).

Kind Kerkennah

Kerkennah is so peaceful, quiet and calm. There are no waves at all, just a gentle lapping of water. Life is so simple, fishermen preparing for a day out on the water in one of the super cute little wooden fishing boats that are dotted along the water's edge - all with the same maroon base then a blue and white stripe, whilst other men are repairing and painting old boats along the coastline.

I was so lucky with the weather- blue sky, white fluffy clouds, sun shining bright and a beautiful refreshing breeze, making shorts and t shirt the perfect outfit! I saw the old school way of catching fish that they still use today... Palm tree sticks along the water in line with the current and the fish go along the sticks and into a one way entry net and stay there (alive and fresh) until the fishermen come to collect them. I also saw tonnes of olive trees and ate a few dates from the thousands of palm trees that sprout up all over the completely flat landscape!

It's a pity that the coastline is covered in trash in spots, otherwise it would be even more spectacular. The people really love it here - Rached calls it home, and he knows everyone (population is about 15000). There is one school, one police station, with a few police at the entrance of the island but then no other security after, and there is no crime or need for it! I was treated to a delicious home made prawn marinara pasta, grilled fish with veggie salad, and I even got to watch Arabs Got Talent on TV over dinner. A very refreshing getaway!!

Spicy Sfax

In Sfax I stayed with crazy Fares. Mr I know everyone and everyone knows me, he has almost finished his degree in mechanical engineering, is a terrible student (prefers to do what makes him happiest in life which is partying and sleeping) but is naturally quite intelligent. He has a tiny white Mr Bean car which is pretty much broken in every way - the door opens by jamming it with your shoulder and closes by slamming it - no locks of course, the steering is all over the place (cannot let go of the wheel for a second) and it looks like it should have been buried 20 years ago. He's a real joker, so when his car gets him pulled over by police, Fares gets friendly with them and jokes about how they must respect the old girl because she is his grandmother!!! He always seems to win them over with his charm!!

Fares took me to a local restaurant one night where I had baguette and a tomato spice sauce with bits of meat he tried to tell me was dog!! (I still don't know what it was, but hoping it was lamb!) We got on quite well ...Fares is blunt with a fresh sense of humour, not afraid to give me shit and pay me out! eg. "I thought Australians and Polish people were pretty, so clearly you're not either of those!" I went for a jog one day, which I have done in every country I've been to - but Sfax wins for being the most strange and daunting experience ... everyone (mostly men, and actually some women) massively staring at me, and sometimes whistling and yelling things as I went past! Not sure I'll try that again! I kind of get it, because they are just not used to white girls who are not covered up here... In fact, I actually can't recall seeing another westerner at all, certainly not an Australian, and most of the people I'm meeting say I'm the first Aussie they have ever met!! I feel so ignorant at times, especially when I learned that it is really difficult for Tunisians to get even a tourist visa to come to Australia ... Apparently there is no Aussie embassy here so they need to go to Egypt to even apply and one of their friends has been waiting 2 years after paying a lot of money to try and get a visa!!! Makes me realise how hard it is for various nationalities to travel when there are no international connections between certain countries! One super fun evening with Fares, his Tunisian friends and German girl, we ate pizza, drank beer and wine, discussed important topics like education, politics and different cultures around the world, laughed, danced, sang a lot including the titanic song with full action and drama, took a lot of silly photos and created ourselves a really entertaining night!!

Sunny Sahara

I caught another Louage to Tozeur (the city near the Sahara) and was grateful that I got there in one piece after the van was stopped by the Police, my passport was checked thoroughly and I witnessed a massive screaming match between the Police and the driver (I later learned that the issue was just that he was fined for having part of the windscreen covered with black plastic.) Furthermore, Rached had warned me that there was talk of terrorist activity near the Sahara, which I had looked into and decided was not enough of a threat not to go, but when I got to Tozeur with no one to pick me up, I felt like maybe it was a bit dangerous being on my own in Tunisia. (Note, there was a bomb scare in Sfax the day I returned there, and someone bombed himself in the beachside town I was going to visit a few days later.)

My hotel was nice enough, but there was not one other guest, it was very dark and they spoke no English! Argh. Half an hour later, the one English speaking guy rocked up at my room and invited himself in to chat! At first I thought it was friendly and ok but then I was a bit weirded out... He was kind of creepy and gross, a bit smelly, with dirty teeth and a massive scar across his lip. His English wasn't the best but I managed to work out that I can't go on a 4x4 trip to the Sahara today because there is no group to go with because there are no other people in the hotel!! I was quite upset about this and tried to explain that my friend had called yesterday to ensure there was definitely an option of going on a trip today but what was he going to do now?! Creepy Guy suggested we go to some travel agencies and he would call his friend. The travel agency guy - with good English - said, sure you can go - hiring a private 4WD just for yourself - and it will cost you about $80-90. (For me, too expensive and I didn't want to go on my own!) He explained that it is not tourist season and he doesn't know of any other people who would want to go at this time!! Disappointed, I asked if there was any other hotel he could think of that might have some guests who might want to also go?! (At this point, I was feeling a bit out of my comfort zone being here with no purpose, no other tourists, streets fairly quiet with people staring at me as I walk by, just me and Creepy Guy, and having wasted my time and money). As a last resort, I tried another hotel with a friendly receptionist who had reasonable English and said, no, he also doesn't know of any other people who I could go on a tour with today... How about next week?? Grrr but then he said, wait a minute, let me call my friend (there's always a friend to call here! Haha) ... Yes! There was a couple who were keen to go that day! I was told to wait 10 minutes to confirm the time of the tour and in the mean, a family of 4 from another hotel were suddenly available to go, making a full car of 7 people, to split the cost of the trip - about $10 each!! Stoked, I went for a jog - found a golf course, with the greenery interspersed with desert sand dunes and camels wandering around the entrance, and then found a huge wooden door with big black bolts on it - like from a medieval times - and it was slightly ajar! I got all exited and felt like I had stumbled across the African Secret Garden!! There wasn't a soul in sight so I slowly crept through the door, finding a big open space with palm trees around the edges, and I pretended I was in rural Africa and a herd of animals was about to spring out of nowhere and bowl me over!! Minimal English was spoken amongst the group of Tunisians on my 4WD trip so we just smiled and the company was good enough for me! After a while of driving along a flat road with yellow sand in every direction, we hit the real sand dunes and got a dose of adrenaline and excitement! There was lots of laughter and 'woo'-ing as we drove up and down steep sand hills and along the edge (almost sideways) through the dunes! We stopped at the 'camel's neck' - a rock/sand formation which looked like it's name, saw the site where Star Wars was filmed with the little igloo shaped houses in the middle of the desert, and watched the sun set on the top of some sand dunes - glorious and serene.

Watching the sky turn a myriad of amazing hues of pink and orange, I shared more squeals of laughter with the young girls from the family of 4, running up and down the sand hills. The sand felt so good under my feet, silky and soft. I was so content there on my own, the natural beauty surrounding me, not a care in the world, communicating with body language and mutual joy and laughter.

Back in Tozeur, I demolished a pizza and got myself about 5 different chocolate bars from a snack bar - because I really need more calories right now!! But seriously, I have to try all the local sweets and also I just feel safer with chocolate when I'm alone in strange places!! When I got back to the hotel, Creepy Guy said something about (I think) using my iPad for 5 minutes to check Facebook coz he has no computer!!! Confused and a bit weirded out again, I awkwardly said 'no' with a smile... there was a lot of confusion, he kept saying just 5 minutes and I will come up to your room... (thinking, no bloody way you're coming into my room!) I just kept saying, "5 minutes what? I don't understand, good night and see you tomorrow!!" Ugh. At about 1130pm I got a knock on my door twice, which I'm sure was him but I didn't answer it!! Creeeepy!! For the record, the next day he was not so creepy, and went to buy me a bottle of water when I asked for some at breakfast! Of course I was glad to leave there though and looked forward to reuniting with my new friends again, who now felt like family!

Back in Tunis I had a ball with Ahmed, Monta, Google, Achraf and a few other boys, creating more amazing memories (and a lot of crazy videos and photos) in this unique, relaxed country. I ate Leblebi (spicy tomato, soaked bread bits and bean stew) straight out of the pot late at night with the boys, got my gangster on singing and dancing to a popular song "cha9 cha9" - pronounced "shahque shahque", improved my Arabic and French vocabulary, went swimming at night again, sat at the coffee shop for 4 or 5 hours (without realising the time had passed) discussing relationships, love, monogamy, marriage and the differences between cultures in the approach to life and the future, went shopping in the colourful buzzing Medina, laughing and joking with the beautiful boys all day and night!

I was quite devastated to leave Tunis, having made some incredibly special and long-lasting friendships - I don't know how long the airport hugs lasted but I definitely did not want to let go. The boys begged me to come back and visit, and I'm now sitting on the plane wondering if, when and how I might be able to get back there!! What an overwhelmingly significant and special part of my whole journey this random trip to Tunisia has proven to be!!

Picturesque Peru

kish — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 04:55:00 GMT

Chilled Cuzco

We arrived in Cuzco, Peru, after an overnight bus from Bolivia and checked in to Kokopelli hostel, where we clearly didn't fit in without dreadlocks and hippie pants! Nevertheless it was super cute, in a 200 year old house with wooden floor boards and an open air courtyard in the centre. We explored the gorgeous city centre on a free walking tour- tasting alpaca, fine chocolate, sushi and fresh juice along the way. The next morning I got up at the crack of dawn to attend a church service in the beautiful cathedral only to find I was an hour too early! So I jogged up to this lovely lookout and did some yoga and exercises blending in with the locals doing their morning workout overlooking the vibrant city.

Then I ducked into mass to pray for good weather and to keep us all safe on the trek, before sussing the buzzing San Pedro markets and stocking up on fresh fruit, veggies, dried fruit and nuts. Back in time for the free bread with jam and eggs for breakfast... which has now become a running joke, because budget traveller Kish likes to take/steal bread from breaky and have it for lunch or a snack later... Even better when it's filled with scrambled eggs and then I can add capsicum lettuce and tomato (bought super cheap at the market) and bam that's a great and economic lunch... The girls thought it was disgusting of course :) We met up with a lovely girl from England, Lauren, and had a fully multicultural evening - dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Peru, with 3 Aussies, 2 scots, an Irish and a Brit!! Determined to go to bed after dinner (coz I'm a nanna) I was reluctantly persuaded to check out the savvy San Blas area to hear some live Peruvian music at a little bar called KM.0. Well, after the best mojito I have ever tasted and finishing off Alisa and Mairead's potent rum with a dash of coke, I was in fine form, and the awesome band of 4 on guitar, drums and vocals kept us entertained for the next few hours!! They created such a great vibe with a contagious energy creating groovy South America beats that vibrated throughout the crowded room!!

Salkantay Trek

And that brings us to the big trek. 6 girls. 6 duffel bags. 6 day backpacks. 6 sleeping bags (well, mine had a broken zip but I got a replacement AND my money back!). 6 tired bodies after a 430am wake up for a 530am pick up... And we were off!!

Two additional poor souls joined our group - 56 yr old entrepreneurial Charles (teaches the UK MBA in London and Vancouver, and travels the world on business a lot of the time- was working in Brazil before the trek, has lived in PNG counting coffee plantations, owns a boat and a house on an island and has his pilot licence), and 37 yr old Adam from near Manchester, buff rugby player looking lad who was good company throughout the trip. Our lovely guide, Roger had a super handle of the English language, was funny, witty, caring and all round a good bloke!

The Salkantay Trek has been named amongst the top 25 treks in the world - an ancient and remote footpath located in the same region as the Inca Trail, where massive snowcapped mountains collide with lush tropical rain forests. Rising to 6271m, Mt. Salkantay (savage mountain) has an outstanding glacier-capped summit worshipped for thousands of years by locals.

Food wise we were treated like absolute kings and queens!! Delicious flavours with crumbed chicken, beef stew, quinoa, fresh salads, pancakes with banana and caramel sauce etc. oh not to mention the 'snacks' we'd get with tea every day before dinner - popcorn, fried sweet potato or baked apple pastries! And of course all of this was prepared in makeshift kitchens in the mountains. It was actually quite difficult to restrain ourselves with so much good food being served all the time (well me especially) given that you're not supposed to eat too much at high altitudes because your body can't digest things as well! In keeping with being treated like royalty, the horsemen not only took care of the horses who carried our duffel bags (up to 7kg each), they also set up our tents for us before we arrived at the campsites every day so we could have our scheduled daily siesta in a timely fashion post hike!

Day 1 - 12km/5.5 hrs hiking. Afternoon hike to Hullantay Lake, at 4270m. Walking along, just taking one step after another, I would often stop and look around, take in my surroundings and realise that I am so bloody lucky. I had this overwhelming sense of gratitude from the start and it just grew bigger and bigger each day. Just like I was pinching myself in the salt flats, here too I was completely dumbfounded by the sights I was experiencing... For starters, the Peruvian Andes are huge, just one after another painting a backdrop of valley after valley, mountain after mountain. The domineering snow capped Humantay mountain loomed above the stunning Humantay Lake with its bright aqua colour spreading to the bottom of the Humantay Glacier - which we actually heard crack! Surprise surprise, I ate too much for lunch and afternoon tea so went to bed without dinner and was out like a light at 6pm!!

Day 2 - the big hiking day - 22km/8 hrs hiking. First 3 hours were super steep through the Salkantay Pass, up to the highest hiking point- 4650m, where it was snowing and I was in shorts!! Changed into leggings, rain jackets and ponchos were donned and we began the crappiest part of the trek - 5 hours downhill in constant rain and masses of sludgy mud. Our shoes were absolutely filthy and the 'waterproof' nature lasted for about 3 or 4 hours :) I don't think they were designed for incessant rain and huge mud puddles!! It was a shame that the rain clouds covered all of the surrounding mountains, but my list of positives for the shit weather included - at least we brought all of our wet weather gear for good reason, it makes us appreciate good weather more, and yeah ok that's my list completed, and I prayed for the rain to stop the whole way down! A cup of hot chocolate half way down seriously hit the spot!

Day 3 - 15km/5hrs hiking. My prayers were answered overnight and we were greeted with a morning sun that shone through a beautiful green rainforest filled with millions of little black and red butterflies. We came across lots of waterfalls and precarious bridges to cross. In the afternoon we bathed (and showered, yay!!) in some deliciously warm thermal springs, soaking and rejuvenating our hard working bodies. In the evening, we stumbled across a local traditional children's dance competition and watched these cute little Peruvian kids jumping around full of energy in brightly coloured costumes.

Day 4 - 15km, 6hrs hiking. Most of the walk was along a railroad with rainforest like flora and a river beside us. And finally we reached real luxury - our hotel in Aguas Calientes (the closest town to Machu Picchu). The first thing we did was jump on the beds and watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy. Ahhh home comforts :) :)

Magnificent Machu Picchu

Day 5 - final day - up at 4am, waited in light rain for the bus to Machu Picchu, which I finally saw for the first time at about 630am.... I'm not sure how I thought I'd feel or exactly what I thought it would be like there- I mean, I'd seen pictures and tonnes of postcards, but all of a sudden, I was actually there. I was standing at the top of the famous ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu, on a mountain ridge in the Sacred Valley, flanked by the overwhelming peaks of Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu mountains.

Below me were rows and rows of green terraces with the spectacular addition of misty rain and droopy clouds sliding past the mountains overhead. The eeriness complemented this spectacular and magical moment when I actually got a bit teary...the culmination of a gruelling but satisfying trek and the anticipation of reaching this sacred site.

Again, I got that massive feeling of gratitude. I looked to the skies and thanked God for letting me be there in that moment. Roger gave us a fascinating tour of the ruins and we took tonnes of snaps in between learning about the ancient city. I can't remember most things haha, but here's a few details I seem to have retained... It was built around 1450, took about 40 years to build and was only inhabited for 70 years before the Spaniards came to conquer, but the Incas evacuated and abandoned the city so no one ever found it!!... That is, until it was rediscovered by North America professor, Hiram Bingham in 1911. The 'sacred plaza' next to the main temples sits at 2453m. The iconic multiple terraces aid downward rainfall flow. Ecologically, the area is semi-tropical and highland jungle, and geologically, it is part of igneous rock- 250 million yrs old. The most common type of stone there is greyish-white granite with high quantities of quartz and mica (super shiny silver stuff). In December 1983, UNESCO declared Machu Picchu a "cultural and natural patrimony of humankind" ... It is the highlight of imperial Incan culture and a great example of the Incan's architectural genius. Often referred to as "the lost city of the Incas", in 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.

Because we hadn't hiked enough the past 4 days, we opted to climb the almost vertical Machu Picchu Mountain to get some fabulous views of the city from above. By 9 or 10am the clouds had shifted, the sun was shining and we had been blessed with an absolutely stunning day! I then enjoyed a more pleasant, slightly uphill hike to the Sungate, where I sat and admired more views of the ruins from a different angle. It was so peaceful and soul lifting just staring at this famous arrangement of stone encircled by endless mountain ranges. I couldn't get enough of it and adrenalin must have been keeping me going, so did one more trek to the Inca Bridge, before a final solo sit, contemplating the meaning of life overlooking the eastern slope of the Andes mountains and the alpine source of the Amazon river.

At the end of the hour long climb down stairs back to Aguas Calientes I had finally reached the point of delirium. My feet were killing me, I was hot, bothered and tired, and was craving water and coke so badly it was the only thing keeping me going!! Naturally, sleep that night was amazing!!

Back in Cusco we relaxed, pampered with a delicious massage, and had a super fun saturday night out, dancing the night away! Unfortunately I was struck by a series of weird health issues as I neared the end of my time with the lovely physio girls. Firstly I got this rash on the back of my neck and chest and had hyper-sentive skin down my left arm (not sure if they were related?) then got a sore throat, swollen glands and flu like symptoms, and felt immensely tired and achey all day :( Nevertheless I had to make the most of being in ... the Amazon!! ...

Amazeballs Amazon

I still think it's so cool... I was in the Amazon!!! Ok, I'll be honest, I did fantasise that I was an explorer discovering the amazing luscious rainforest and species of exotic wildlife for the first time!! Trekking through the wet, muddy flora in wellies fit my explorer notion perfectly, especially when we needed to walk slowly and quietly in order to be patient and spot the animals. See, real hard core explorers!!

We came across some gorgeous red, blue and yellow coloured macaws (beautiful, big, long-tailed parrots), a few super cute turtles, millions of different coloured large butterflies, a few other strange and interesting looking birds, and this weird snake/bird head thing that kept popping up out of the water as we silently floated on a lake in search of camouflaged wildlife.

On a night boat ride, we spotted a few caimans (a type of alligator) lurking in the muddy water edges, and on a night walk I saw a few weird looking stick insects and a tarantula!!! It was big hairy and gross!

For the thrill factor, we did a canopy walk, which was essentially walking across a rickety narrow wobbly bridge amongst the tree tops, followed by zip lining above the rainforest - a beautiful and exciting experience, whipping past hundreds of huge green trees!!

I also met an Amazonian family living the jungle lifestyle and it was quite interesting to learn about their simple way of life. They all wear tunics made from tree sap. The 68 yr old head of the family has 5 wives - this is normal. Daily life includes collecting fruit, plant seeds etc and killing animals with a bow an arrow (yep for real!) ... including Macaws which I was horrified about when I questioned where the feathers from the old man's headpiece came from! They speak a completely different dialect, eat very fresh foods and only cook things like meat on a fire without adding any condiments.

Sadly, I said goodbye to Alisa, Amy, Emma, Leanne and Mairead in the Amazon, as they are headed to the scrumptious Galapagos Islands ... Somewhere my budget didn't have the scope for :) Our sensational sixsome had a truly awesome, unforgettable time together!!

** stupid traveller mistake no.4 - lack of sleep**

So, sleep is actually really important and I highly recommend not going 4 days without it... 1) The overnight bus from the amazon to cusco was horrifically windy and in order to remain in the chair at each turn, that meant being awake all night; 2) the overnight bus to la Paz was mildly better but the temperature was all over the place, so again, no sleep; 3) the night before my early flight out of la Paz I went to bed at 11pm with the alarm set for 3am, but checked my phone every half hour because I was nervous about not waking, and then was in the toilet for the last hour because I seemed to have food poisoning (vomited in the taxi and in the airport checkin line and was treated by an airport doctor - given tablets and wore an oxygen mask slumped next to the bin I found to vomit in :( ugh ; 4) The night in between the bus rides, I participated in a Full moon Ayahuasca ceremony ... one of the craziest things I've ever done! ...

Ayahuasca - full moon ceremony

Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic brew made from plant mixture. Taken straight from wikipedia - "People who have consumed ayahuasca report having spiritual revelations regarding their purpose on earth, the true nature of the universe as well as deep insight into how to be the best person they possibly can. This is viewed by many as a spiritual awakening and what's often described as a rebirth. In addition it is often reported that individuals can gain access to higher spiritual dimensions and make contact with various spiritual or extra dimensional beings who can act as guides or healers. It's nearly always said that people experience profound positive changes in their life subsequent to consuming ayahuasca and it is often viewed as one of the most effective tools of enlightenment. However, during an ayahuasca experience, people sometimes report nausea, diarrhea, and cold flashes. Additionally, vomiting can follow ayahuasca ingestion; this purging is considered by many shamans and experienced users of ayahuasca to be an essential part of the experience as it represents the release of negative energy and emotions built up over the course of one's life. Further, the ingestion of ayahuasca can cause significant, but temporary emotional and psychological distress. There are many reports of miraculous physical as well as emotional and spiritual healing resulting from the use of ayahuasca. Long-term negative effects are not known."

After meeting a few boys who had taken the drink and loved the experience, Lauren, the English girl, and I were too curious. We ventured together on a local bus to Pisaq, a strange little town in the middle of nowhere, where the Sacred Valley Tribe have a circular temple in the mountains. We were about to participate in a full moon ceremony, where over 50 people joined together and created a wonderful energy. There were a lot of weird hippy people with ponchos and shawls and all in white, but there were probably about half of us first timers. The incense-filled, peaceful room was quite a sight- each person with a mat, blanket and bucket for purging!! I was told it was a good idea to have thought about a motivation/intention and to ask the ayahuasca spirit to help with that intention as you drink. Lauren had an amazing experience, soared for hours and went on a real spiritual journey, leant a lot about herself, faced her fears and had a beautiful, enlightening experience. I on the other hand had a few issues going on... firstly, as most of you know I'm often very flighty and all over the place, so I had thought of some intentions but there were so many, I tried to cut it back to one important one... Help me to be more in tune with my inner instinct/intuition so I can make decisions more easily. But suddenly when I got the the front of the line to take the drink I got all flustered and nervous and forgot what to ask and my head was in a million different places! The drink itself was revolting. It took a while to feel any effects and I was getting a bit impatient and had too high expectations to gain something from the experience, despite trying to tell myself to have no expectations... that was also hard, because after about 5 or 10 minutes people around me started vomiting. I had anticipated that a few people might vomit, but in fact almost the entire room did, some much louder and more violently than others. Diego, the spiritual leader, a beautiful man with such a calming presence who gave us pre-ceremony instructions and advice had said that vomiting was a sign of getting rid of the bad inside and to embrace the noises around us and feel happy hearing others purge, as this was them ridding themselves of the negative within. But of course, I couldn't vomit, it just wasn't happening for me. The feeling was so strange, tingling in my whole body and everything was spinning ... somewhat similar to a massive night out when you say you'll never ever drink again, lying in bed with the world turning behind your eyes. But then I would get glimpses of bright colours, dolphins and whales gliding through the water and it was so beautiful. Butterflies, more bright colours and flowers swept past me. I kept getting flashes of the words LOVE, COMPASSION and JOY, and LOVE kept being more prominent. I didn't know what it meant at the time, but of course on reflection, as days pass after this experience I'm interpreting things in different ways. For me, I think my reflection will be the enlightening part of my experience rather than the stereotypical one that Lauren and the boys had. The music was glorious - guitar, bassoon, clarinet, drums, a gong, and the regulars singing with beautiful harmonies. The words were meaningful, the melodies peaceful, happy and surreal, enhancing the experience. But then all of a sudden I couldn't handle it again. I realised I was relying on the music to keep me anchored and a tiny bit stable, because when it stopped I got all stressed out and felt out of control. I kept trying to tell myself to just relax and go with the flow and let the spirits take me where they wanted, but they wouldn't...I think because I was too present and conscious - partly because I was yawning so much, I kept breaking any hallucinations and coming back to reality and also because my bloody prickly heat rash was burning up, so I couldn't seem to maintain any decent hallucinogenic journey or thought process. So I started feeling that actually this experience has shown me that I already have a beautiful life and perhaps I don't need to be whisked away by demons or crocodiles or spirits to realise that 😊 Diego called for a second drink session after a few hours and since I hadn't purged yet I forced myself up, but that just made matters worse. Now I had this 'evil' inside my body, in my stomach really, and it wouldn't come out! It seemed that everyone had vomited except me. 😞 I got a bit teary lying there, spinning inside, thinking, right, that's it! I'm a terrible person and destined to be evil forever. I started seeing stick figures and waves of bright white light and then horrible worms crawling out of bags and I so desperately wanted the spirits to come and take away the evil. When the music and singing got louder I felt more nauseas. And then FINALLY about 4 hours after I drank, I had a massive vomit, was all shaky and weak, but felt tonnes better. Then I was able to just lie down and listen to the beautiful music. And suddenly it was 430am and the ceremony was coming to an end. Diego gave a lovely final speech, with some great advice for life, being a better person, finding your path and finding your bliss. Every day since the ceremony I am discovering new interpretations and reflections on what I learnt and experienced, but essentially now I just feel a bit more appreciative of life, reality and everything I have already been blessed with. Even though I didn't get to experience the beautiful awakening others have, I think my experience taught me lots of other things, such as not to have too high expectations about things, and not to be so impatient! All in all, I'm so glad I did it and feel very brave for having endured it all!!!

And that leads us to right now, where I am on flight no 3 out of 4 to get me to Tunisia, where someone called Mahdi will pick me up from the airport in Tunis!

Baffling Bolivia

kish — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 04:37:00 GMT

Lively La Paz

After more than 48 hrs of travel from Kutno to Kraków to Paris to Miami to Lima to La Paz in Bolivia, I finally got some proper sleep, started acclimatising to the higher altitude of 3600m (asl) and met up with my long lost physio pals, Alisa, Amy, Emma, Leanne and Mairead. Day 1 we hit the markets with traditional music complementing the amazing colours bursting from every shop front. I literally fell in love with everything there - the leather bags, beanies, gloves, socks, purses and everything in between made with that traditional South American brightly coloured striped pattern that you just HAVE to buy!!

Day 2 - my first experience horse riding!! And I couldn't think of a better place to learn this exhilarating sport than amongst the strange but incredible scenery in the Bolivian mountains. I was treated to surreal views of La Paz, with the little terracotta, pink, yellow and generally earthy coloured houses dubiously built into the edge of the mountain - the whole city looked like a basin or the inside of a massive volcano. I felt like I was in a mid west movie riding like a cowboy through rugged terrain and strikingly large canyons, at 3900m asl. Our wild and crazy guide Walter allowed us to try galloping - not something I imagine you're supposed to attempt on your first day of horse riding - with barely any instructions other than hold on and give it a go...it was so full on I really thought I was going to fall off!! And let's not forget the fact that I recently discovered that I am not actually covered by my insurance above 3000m!!

Day 3 - Overnight bus to Uyuni for our 3 day salt flats trip. Started well, timely departure, the 6 of us delighted with our big comfy chairs that reclined almost flat and super warm furry blankets. Everyone scared me with how cold it was going to be and that I'd need all my thermals but in fact it was soooo warm with the heater on, they were clearly just being worry warts. All giggly and excited to be starting our journey, we watched the gorgeous city lights out the window, chatted and started to doze. After a few hours, one girl attempted to go to the toilet on the bus, only to find that it was locked and the bus driver said (we thought, based on limited Spanish) it will be open at 2am but we will be stopping (soon) at 10pm. We were all a bit confused by this but hey, what can you do? So hours passed and I must have dozed a bit and next minute the same girl was forcing the bus driver to open the door and let her out to pee on the side of the road because clearly we weren't stopping anywhere and it had become apparent the toilet on the bus was out of order!! I was pretty busting but - on the side of the road?? - yep!! That's what it had to be, so about 1O girls, white bums flashing as cars passed on the highway, did their business! Ok, now for a good night's sleep... Or not... Some time later we stopped on the side of the road for a really long time in my sleepy state, I started hearing loud voices followed by some banging at the back of the bus! Some passengers started saying that we had a flat tyre and the driver was attempting to change it himself. After a while, we drove on a little bit but soon stopped again. Meanwhile, when the bus stops, we lose heating so it started getting pretty freezing and I had to start layering - another pair of socks, another polar fleece, beanie (sexy new Bolivian one with the plaits hanging down the sides) and yet still I was cold :(... The girls were right after all! I also found it hard to sleep because since I wasn't covered by my insurance at the moment, I started imagining the bus rolling off the edge of a cliff and I am sent to ICU in Bolivia but then they run out of medical equipment to save my life so I'm sent somewhere else in South America by helicopter and mum and dad have to fork out their life savings to pay for it all!!!

... And suddenly its a new day, sun has risen, I need to pee again and we're still standing still, in the same spot on the side of the road. Out the foggy window I can see a few run down little shops selling lollies and chocolates that were probably out of date 10 years ago, barren flat plains to one side, grand brown earthy coloured mountains ahead of us, a few stray dogs, a few women and children, a tractor and some minibuses hovering around a tin roof shelter. Ok so this is rural Bolivia. Half the bus was still trying to sleep but the couple behind informed me that the last word from bus driver was that another bus is coming to pick us up in an hour. ... Which was about an 2 hours ago! I went for a wander outside and found 2 American girls having a cup of tea at one of the little stores, jumped on board with so much excitement it was Iike I'd never seen tea before. And ... they had a toilet! It was as if all my Christmases had come at once! Back at the bus there was news that now a mechanic was coming to fix the bus because the problem was in fact to do with the engine! To kill time, we took a few token photos in woop woop Bolivia, bought some snacks from the store, and brushed our teeth on the side of the road, which truly did wonders.

Next minute, word spreads that a new bus is coming from a nearby town in 15 minutes. The time passes. No bus. Nearby, a lady starts cooking eggs in oil and putting them in bread rolls! Bam, did we get on that in a flash or what!! And then, we couldn't believe it, egg roll in hand, the new bus actually arrived!!!!

Sensational Salt Flats

Despite being 6.5 hours late, our tour company wanted us to leave straight away - frazzled, un-showered, having not eaten anything decent all day, off we went!! It's probably a good thing I didn't really know what I was getting myself into here for this 'salt flats' tour for 2 main reasons - firstly, I probably would've shat myself in advance had I have known how much I was going to be roughing it and how cold it would be, but secondly (more importantly) it meant that I was completely flabbergasted with all of the amazing scenery. So here goes a summary... Few facts first: Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometres located in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes at an elevation of 3,656m asl. It was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few meters of salt crust, which has an extraordinary flatness with the average altitude variations within one metre over the entire area of the Salar. It is also a major breeding ground for several species of pink flamingos.

We were blessed with an adorable Spanish-only-speaking guide/driver/chef, Walter. Essentially we embarked on a 4WD trip through the most remarkable, varied terrain - from endless crisp white salt flats with grand snow topped mountains in the distance, to an oddly shaped brown soil island smack bang in the middle of the salt flats covered with thousands of the tallest cacti imaginable, to desert like barren landscapes or rocky valleys with striking volcanoes and mountains bursting with colours I'd never seen mixed together before - earthy brown, red, deep green all rolling into eachother.

Turn the corner and there's rows of sharp jagged icicles next to large chunks of ice and then probably the most magnificent of all were the lagoons - one, a gorgeous turquoise colour and my favourite, the one with deep dusty red coloured water, then a strip of white salt behind, flocks of flamingos across the water and in the distance almost-fake-looking mountains against the backdrop of a perfectly clear bright blue sky.

The flamingos, with their gorgeous pink chests are such elegant and graceful creatures, the perfect life force to take command of such a stunning part of the world.

Honestly some of these landscapes were the most incredible, picturesque and, more importantly, vastly different vistas compared to anything I have ever seen. I kept pinching myself to check that I hadn't just slipped into national geographic or one of David Attenborough's series.

Walter prepared lunches for us on the go - chicken and veggies in the middle of the salt flats, chicken schnitzel and salad in a rock valley and tuna salad rolls amongst the rolling green and rocky hills inhabited by a herd of llamas and alpacas - which we came across quite frequently throughout South America!

Our first night was spent in 'salt hotel' in the middle of nowhere, which was literally made of salt, so when you walked around, the ground crunched like snow and it looked like an icebox - completely white inside (including our bedside tables!).

There was one shower which cost extra for hot water - a necessary luxury after not showering in about 36 hours, and way to warm up since the salt box had no insulation. We were at around 4000m asl and the temperature would have been sub zero - I was a little chilly with a Tshirt, thermal long sleeved top, 2 polar fleeces, a hard core sleeping bag and 5 layers of sheets and blankets. I felt like my nose would freeze off, my lips were stinging and I was so cocooned in my sleeping bag that getting up to pee seemed like way too much hard work! For dinner that night we had llama steak which was actually quite yummy!! But I went a little overboard with the eating both at lunch and dinner and by the next day my body was screaming at me for eating so much at such a high altitude- something you're not supposed to do, oops! After almost fainting at the breakfast table, feeling sick and having the runs that morning, my appetite was back and all physical issues had dissipated by lunch time despite us climbing to altitudes of around 5000m asl! Some spots we stopped at were so bloomin' freezing I wondered why the hell I was putting myself through all of this, not to mention the fact that our 'lodge' for night 2 had no shower, the beds were so soft and uncomfortable we were lying on the cement frame underneath the mattresses and got barely any sleep before the 430am rise, and toilets were hard to come by (needless to say we've all left our mark on a number of spots across this gorgeous Bolivian landscape!) But all of these testing circumstances were quickly forgotten when we bathed (and re-heated) in the thermal spring on the final morning at 630am after watching the sun rise through the mountains on the drive there. It was surreal seeing the steam crawling off the water which overlooked a flat swamp like landscape (mountains in the distance) dotted with smaller puddles and streams of hot steamy water and the odd bird or duck peacefully basking in the morning sun.

This was a very blissful moment for me, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to see and experience this truly astounding part of the world!

Chilled Copacobana

After god knows how many hours on a bus and no shower for almost 3 days, we arrived in Copacobana overlooking the lovely Lake Titikaka. This lake lies in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia, it's the largest lake in South America and is often called the highest navigable lake in the world, at 3812m. A day trip to the island, Isla del Sol in the southern part of Lake Titicaca allowed us to actually test out our hiking abilities at a high altitude and most of us did pretty well! Apart from getting severely sunburnt because of course we were 4km closer to the sun!! (Isn't that crazy to think about!)

The hike around the island was refreshing - the terrain was quite harsh- rocky and hilly, with heaps of - can you believe it - eucalyptus trees!!! We felt like we were back in oz!! There are no cars which was very peaceful and at one point we were walking amongst a herd of donkeys! A delicious trout dinner (from the lake) in a super cute cafe was the perfect end to a big day!

We're trying to learn a bit of Spanish on the go, with the phrase book out some nights and teacher Mairead helping us to memorise important things like - is it close or far? Left right straight ahead, and probably the most important - why has the bus stopped and why is the plane delayed???!!! Haha gotta love South America! And I most definitely do so far!!

Phenomenal Poland

kish — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 04:02:00 GMT

Warm Wrocław

Here, it was all about eating and talking, indoors - Mum's cousin Jurek and his wife Ania had food ready and prepared for us every minute of every day. Since Jurek is a doctor, they were reasonably well off so we were treated to those things you'd never normally do like ride in the horse and carriage around the city square and have lunch in a super fancy restaurant ordering anything and everything!! We indulged in the most scrumptious food - this spread you put on bread called 'smalec' which is essentially pig fat with bacon bits - Sooooo good!!

And of course there was a endless amount of vodka... Couldn't half tell we were in Poland!! We spent an afternoon at a lake, swimming and cooking BBQ with mum's ex boyfriend Janusz (from when she was 18) and his family ... It's very popular to take a portable grill to the lake on weekends here, and also to own a lakehouse- I liken it to an Adelaidean owning a Victor/Middleton shack. The lake is filthy but people swim in it!

Krazy Kutno

We met a few other relatives in other remote parts of Poland but the winning story is the one of Kutno. Crazy crazy Kutno... Ok so bit of background - we're not a particularly inquisitive family (mum, dad and I) when it comes to ancestry etc and mum already knew of a few friends and family in Poland before she left, and we figured that was great, and we'd visit them. A few months before mum and dad left, Mum happened to ask my grandpa on Dad's side if there was any family in Poland he might like us to get in contact with. He came back with a list 5 pages long!! Mum said no way, shorten it and tell me if anyone actually wants to have us stay because if it's just for a quick hi in woop woop, we're not interested!! So the shortened version had a few names including Aunty Zosia and Uncle Wacek. We didn't know (let alone think about) if they had any extended family but we wrote to them and arranged to be there 3 or 4 days... which Zosia was a bit disgruntled about because she wanted longer but hey, it's tough when you're in demand throughout the country!!! Upon arrival in Kutno we were greeted by a sizeable group and headed to Zosia's for dinner... which lasted about 8 hours as different groups of relatives came and went, eager to see the family from Australia!! As lovely as all of this fuss was, mum and I were desperately feeling like we needed to stop eating and start moving, especially since it was a beautiful day outside ... but yet again we're inside being fed!! So when Agnieska (a cousin of sorts) mentioned that she was going to her lakehouse the next day our eyes lit up and we eagerly questioned whether we might be able to join somehow?! Agnieska thought this was a super idea but hesitantly looked to Zosia who's eyes had become fiery and grumpy at the idea of losing us to someone else for a period of time.... It's quite hard to tell this story succinctly and chronologically because of course at the time we didn't understand the situation and naively presumed Zosia would be happy for us to do something more in lines with our interests (being OUTside and at a lake) and only now that we have learned about the pre-existing family dynamics, we know that Zosia wanted to keep us all to herself and not tell certain family members that we were there, so they couldn't see us!! Right, so hang in there, we're getting to the good bit. The next day after going to a beautiful monastery which unfortunately meant being stuck in a car for hours, we demanded that we must go for a walk/jog! ... About an hour into our long awaited glimpse of exercise, near a small forest, mum was stopped by an attractive blonde woman on a bike who said in Polish

Lady: hi, I know you

Mum: haha umm (awkwardly) no you don't

Lady: (with a smirk) haha yes I do! :)

Mum: (bit weirded out now) no, you really don't and I'll tell you why I KNOW you don't... Because I'm from Australia!!!

Lady: yes, I know you are!! Basia jedrzejczak, right?

Ahhh.... And then it all started to unfold. The lady was Nadia (now mum's new best friend and sister) - wife of Grzegorz - another relative. Then along came Jola and Tomek (also relatives) all around the same age as mum and dad, fit, healthy and into exercise! And we started wondering why on earth we hadn't met them or heard about them yet?! ...Well, that was because Zosia wouldn't let them! Zosia refused to tell them what time we arrived at the train station so they couldn't meet us. Jola had offered for us to stay in her house becaus it's big and gorgeous and has heaps of space but, no we stayed at Zosia's which was lovely but very small. So Jola offered to have the big saturday at her house… Still no!. And so when these families realised they were never going to get to meet the relatives from Australia, they had to start devising plans. Jola's mum (Marisha) called Zosia to get some information... She asked how the family from Australia were... Zosia said yes they're fine... Marisha asked if we were there to at least say hello to on the phone... But of course she had to tell the truth and Marisha found out we were 'out for a walk'.... So immediately Marisha gets on the phone to Jola and informs her that we're out walking. Jola calls Nadia to spread the word and they jump on their bikes in a search party to locate us! They rode around for an hour and had separated to cover as much of Kutno as they possibly could and (I still can't believe it) they found us!!! From then on it was just marvellous jokes and fun times. They invited us on a bike ride the next morning but we had to pretend that we were going alone so Zosia didn't hate us!!

They invited me to ride with the boys to the lakehouse and we arranged it all but planned for them to phone me at Zosia's just before hand and pretend to invite me on the spot so I could do the innocent acting - oh wow, what a super idea thank you I'd love to go!!! The lake experience was so great- and that's where I met all my amazing cousins - Jola and Nadia's kids -and became especially close to Adam, Marta, Mateusz and his girlfriend, Ala. Many of our relatives have lakehouses near eachother and spend a lot of summer there cooking grills, drinking vodka, playing cards, ball games and swimming. It was so much fun having a big party with all of these people we didn't even know existed a few days earlier and were now getting on with famously... and they're FAMILY!!!

I knew I had to come back and see everyone again! I mustn't forget the send off at the train station... 25 odd family members all came to say goodbye at 10pm, presented us with gifts, and gave us Polish phones with credit so we could call eachother ... which they did every day after we left!!! So adorable. So special.

Zesty Zakopane

Wow. Poland has some truly incredible mountains in the south. Mum, dad and I turned our quads on max and 3 days in a row did a 6-8 hour hike through some of the most stunning paths around the Tatra Mountains. We saw some beautiful lakes, patches of thousands of Xmas trees and the weather couldn't have been more perfect - blue skies scattered with a few fluffy white clouds.

At one of the most breathtaking spots called Giewont, which you needed to hold onto chains to conquer the final steep part of the climb to the top, mum felt it was the right spot to sprinkle some of the ashes of my Babina and Dziadzio. It was a truly emotional moment that I felt so blessed to be a part of and support mum through.

I think the 3 of us were so protected by Babina and Dziadzio for the rest of the day that we hiked back down (probably one of the steepest and trickiest parts of the whole hike) in record speed, feeling safe, happy and light. Not to mention the butterflies that followed us most of the way down and I'm sure we were all thinking that was them guiding and protecting us. Seriously special.

On our last day in Zakopane we experienced a very cultural raft ride on the river that borders Poland and Slovakia, it was so peaceful and stunning, and cool to see how the 'mountain men' called 'Gorale' make a living in the mountains!!

Final night dinner was an amazing calorie-laden Polish banquet of - well - everything, including my fave - beet root purée and thick potato pancakes with goulash. Sooo goood!!!

Killer Krakow revisited

...Yet another experience with a lovely feeding family - 3 hour breakfast, 4 hour lunch and 3 hour dinner, with oh maybe one hour in between for sightseeing :) haha

Wicked Warsaw

After belgium, I was greeted by my fav new cousins- Adam, Marta, Mateusz and Ala - who all came to Warsaw just to see me and spend time with me. By the way they're aged 19-21 so I've been getting my youth on again!! Unfortunately it seems summer is fleeting in Poland so it rained every day but we still managed to check out the beautiful Old Town, and a few museums.

This time returning to Kutno without the safety net of mum and dad to translate or to take control of conversations was an entirely different experience. Add to my homesickness the feeling of anxiety at not understanding everyone but wanting to so badly, and also wanting to convey my opinion and ask questions but I just couldn't, and suddenly I was becoming quite distressed and feeling uncomfortable a lot of the time when I know it should have been a lovely experience meeting more new family members!! So, I decided another Polish language course was definitely in need!! ... Only that this language is bloody hard, so after a brief 3 week course in Warsaw I was still nowhere near fluent! Whilst I know I've improved, it barely seems that way... Because did you know Polish is in the top 10 hardest languages out of the 2-3000 that exist!!! I think it's actually no. 10, right after Chinese and Hebrew!! But I also find it so beautiful and I am so eager to keep learning it when I get home, especially so when I return to Poland (which I hope will be within the next few years, for Xmas) I can actually communicate with my family!! Haha They actually invited me to come back for Xmas this year but for many reasons (including running out of money and missing home) I thought it might be better to save it for another time.

**spoilt girl**

On September 8th, my super generous loving relatives made my birthday as special as it possibly could have been and I felt so incredibly lucky to have been so spoilt!

On top of that, they were just always so on the ball with everything - Alisia, what do you need for Machu Picchu? Alisia, we'll take you to this shop to buy this and another shop to get that, and we've already bought you some bandaids in case of blisters and here, borrow all our winter clothes and here, I've packed you a massive bag of food for the next week of your language course in Warsaw, and I've bought you some lotion and wooly socks for keeping warm in Machu Picchu ... Honestly it never ended! Even on my final morning- "oh, Alisia, you said you really liked the coffee we have here so we bought you a whole jar of it and we'll send it to you in Australia!! And those slippers you wore every day here? You liked them too, right? Take them!!" Right now I am reminiscing about the fact that a month ago we didn't even know about all of these family members and now I feel so close to them and they're so loving and generous, it's hard to comprehend! And things brings my amazing travels throughout Poland to an end as I train from Kutno to Krakow and begin my 2 day journey to South America.

Enchanting Europe

kish — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 03:48:00 GMT

Wonderful Wales

One of the girls from the tour, Laura -who happens to be from Adelaide but we didn't know eachother and had only one mutual friend on Facebook (yes, we both could not believe it!) - mentioned that she was visiting a friend in Wales after the trip... Sounded cool to me and I didn't have any other plans, so off to Wales we went by bus, for a whole 5 pounds- bargain! We stayed with her friend, Becky and her parents - which I was initially worried about, as I didn't want to intrude too much - but they were so lovely and it was such a welcomed change to feel all homey after the tour. I was delighted to have weet-bix for breakfast in their beautiful garden every morning - another luxury after day in day out of bread, salami and cheese on the tour. We did the city tour and visited the local beaches - which were essentially mud for sand, and muddy water for the sea, and some even had sheep roaming around freely!! Almost everyone at the beach had a portable BBQ - seems to be the craze here! Becky's work friends had bought such a BBQ and meat to feed thousands, however they had absolutely no clue how to start the BBQ at all! So it was left to the Aussies to arrange the coal and lighting cubes, lighting fluid and let the coals turn light grey/ash (they didn't know about this) before cooking the meat... which we also ended up doing!! A delightful finish to the trip was meeting up with James' cousin, Sarah and lunching with her beautiful kids!

Loveable London

So I had this grand plan to surprise mum and dad on the night they arrived in London. I knew the address of their apartment and that they arrived at 1pm. My bus came in at 6pm and I decided to wing it. I had arranged to stay at a friend's place that night (after the rendez-vous) because I didn't want to pay the $50 for an extra bed in their room. Arriving in Notting Hill around 7pm I knocked on their door, hoping that they might have crashed after arriving and be heading for dinner soon, but that was a bit too good to be true. So I wandered around for a few hours, saw that actor who sings the hit Xmas song in 'love actually' in the supermarket, ate dinner in the park and returned to check again at about 9pm. Still not back. 10pm. 11pm. The guys on the front desk changed over and the one leaving wished me well and hoped my parents would arrive soon! The new guy - Mo- got the rundown on the situation and offered me a cup of tea, some water and a chat while I waited :) Finally, at about midnight, waiting in my secret spot upstairs, I hear mum come in and start asking Mo where she can buy a cup of coffee from. Typical! Haha I waited for him to explain that most cafes were already closed :) I made my move and surprised them once they were back in the room!!! Yay happy reunion! After chatting a bit, it was suddenly 130am, and I really didn't feel like going anywhere else to sleep. So mum and I worked our magic together and somehow Mo decided that since I waited for so many hours to surprise my parents, he'd do me a favour and give us the extra bed free of charge! Woo wooo!! The next evening we went for dinner to Jane Hill's house. Jane was mum's best friend when she lived in London, aged 7 to 10, and they found eachother via Facebook a few years back!! I had such a wonderful evening there as Jane got out all of the letters mum had written to her over the years. As they reminisced, I learnt about all these strange and naughty things mum did and thought as a kid that I never knew!! Finding the house that mum lived in just before she immigrated was quite emotional and we both cried when we found it, knocked on the door and the lady who now lives there let us in!!

We saw 2 musicals - 'merrily we roll along' and 'a chorus line' both awesome and both made me wish I was up there performing too!! Was great to have a beer with dad at the pub, dangle my feet in the Trafalgar Square fountain with mum, and generally hanging with them both, crashing their 30th wedding anniversary Europe trip :)

Lovely Leuven, Beautiful Belgium

Catch up with Jono, my very good circus friend from Adelaide... Lovely to see him again, taste the amazing Belgium fries which really were delicious, relax and do a bit of movie watching and being homey with his great housemates. Started getting a bit homesick here and ready to come home but made a decision to book flights to South America so couldn't jump on the next plane home like I wanted to :(

Scenic South-West Germany

I arrived 2 hours later than scheduled in the German city of Ulm (middle of woop woop) after a 21 hour bus ride - interspersed with a ferry ride from UK to France. Although it essentially sucked, I have to say there is something a bit exciting about travelling in this adventurous, roughing-it kind of way. And I was grateful for the forced time to write in my diary, read my book (finished the bronze horseman, loved it), contemplate and reflect, often with gorgeous scenery out the window. I went to Germany to visit a Nicole, Polish friend from the Krakow language course. She mentioned that I was welcome to visit if I had spare time and I had liked her carefree attitude towards life and her patience with my Polish during the course, always encouraging me to just give it a go. From Ulm we headed to her home town of Bad Wurzach - in the middle of the middle of woop woop - this super sweet little town of less than 15 000 people, one church that everyone goes to, everything within walking distance, and the closest train/bus is 20 mins drive away!! I really loved my experience here especially because there was not one other tourist... I doubt many foreigners have ever heard of it, and I felt like I was getting a real and raw German experience. Best not forget to mention that Nikki was also living with her parents (during the summer break) who spoke not a WORD of English, except 'merry christamusu' and my Polish is actually really shit! So it was an interesting introduction whereby I had lost all my confidence even in basics like 'nice to meet you' and I struggled to make any form of small talk at all! After a few days and a bit of wine at the dinner table, I managed to talk in very broken Polish, let's call it a few words, assisted by lots of actions and Nikki translating when it was too hard ...and we all got on like a house on fire. Janina and Andrzej were so similar to my mum and dad and were so excited to have someone exotic - yes, Australia is exotic - to host, entertain and feed! And I felt so comfortable in their home!! Nikki and I also had a superb time together. Despite the 6 year age gap, we got on remarkably well - she's quite mature for her age, or again, perhaps I'm just immature?! We talked all day, every day about anything and everything!! We discussed the meaning of life, the possibility of life's pre-determined chapters, fate, destiny, decision making difficulties, marriage, kids, buying a house, the definition of family, mental illness, good and bad human attributes, how best to live one's life and much much more!!! I went to a German church service, visited their German friend's one-day old baby in the hospital, and supported her younger sister when she played the piano in the school music concert. During the day, Nikki and I went on bike rides - since that's about all there is for one to do in Bad Wurzach!!

We rode through gorgeous green paddocks, farms and fields with those stereotypical beautiful little wooden houses with red flowers in the windows. So simple, but so removed from civilisation - it made it more special for me! One day we packed lunch, rode 15km to the train station, caught a train with the bikes to a lovely town called Lindau surrounded by Lake Constance, then rode a further 10km, around the edge of the lake to the town Bregenz in Austria. I thought that was so cool - that I just rode across from Germany to Austria without even knowing it :)

Upon return, I was rewarded with a delicious home cooked German BBQ to distract me from my aching arse! On my last day, we caught a train to a beautiful city called Heidelberg (about an hour away from Frankfurt). Lovely coloured buildings, a castle, a beautiful red brick bridge with arches all the way across to a luscious green mountain side and narrow cobblestones streets with cafes and restaurants. A very gorgeous city!

And that leads us to the end of that sector, as I write, sitting on yet another overnight bus heading to Wrocław in Poland to meet family and reunite with mum and dad!

**traveler reflection**

I've been away for almost 4 months now and things are changing all the time for me. Both in terms of my mental state, my short term and long term plans and my overall outlook on life. I feel like I'm learning some of the greatest life lessons; about me and the world and just some of the thousands of different cultures out there. There's so much to know and so much to see. I definitely feel like I've chilled out a bit and worry less about small things, like missing trains or buses and bad weather (but I've actually been pretty lucky with that!) I am still pretty terrible at decision making, but hopefully I'm slowly improving and it's nice now to reflect back on a decent length of time away and moving around, and be more aware of the things I do and don't like. Every experience and every moment is providing me with something important - confidence, knowledge, comfort, acknowledgement of my values, joy, happiness, friendship and many more valuable lessons or emotions. It also makes me realise how lucky I am to have such wonderful, special and close relationships with friends and family back home. I hope I continue to savour each moment as much as I am at the moment.

Eastern Wanderer Topdeck Tour

kish — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 03:48:00 GMT

I was initially apprehensive about the type of people who might be on this tour... I imagined a group of stupid 18yr olds interested only in getting drunk and how they look... hot blondes and buff guys and then along comes boring fatty Kish ...But I was pleasantly surprised- we had this really lovely completely mixed bag including a gorgeous mexican 22 yr old gynaecologist and his beautiful sister, some super quiet and shy guys from rural Australia, a body builder, a few hairdressers, a 38 yr old, a few 'I'm-not-sure-where-I'm-going-in-life-but-gonna-have-a-blast-in-the-meantime' folks, an 18 yr old female mechanic, some psychologists and a weird guy who is a military aeroplane navigator and loved to have stimulating discussions about the wonders of the human brain with me!!

** Highlights **

Amazing Austria - Sky diving. Incredible. Was a bit nervous in the morning, excited when I got in the plane, excited and nervous doing the 20min scenic flight around the Austrian alps but then became too distracted by the stunning scenery to be worried anymore and all I remember is putting one leg out of the plane and thinking "holy shit, you're actually going to jump out of a plane, I'm so proud of you, Kish!" And next minute it was happening and with my cheeks plastered to my ears I screamed and screamed at the top of my lungs to the instructor guy "OH MY GOD I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS IT'S AMAZING THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS IS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS SO AMAZING WOW OH MY GOD THIS IS AWESOME" over and over !! Haha an important side note for those interested in jumping - you don't get that horrible stomach drop thing because you can't actually see the ground when falling so the occular-vestibular system etc doesn't affect you! And then of course after the 40 second free fall - which felt like 2 seconds and I wanted it back again as soon as it finished- the parachute opened (thank fuck) and it was just this delightful paraglide down through the luscious green mountains, fresh air, post adrenalin-rush bliss.

In Tirrol, we went for a walk around this super quiet town and stumbled across a drunk 18 year old boy who lost his tennis match earlier and was drinking his sorrows away because losing that match was a "fucking pitch" haha he was adorable with his strange English and after a bit of chatting he invited the 10 girls I was with into the tennis club... The other 18-19 year old boys were stoked of course and next thing they're pouring us shots and handing out beers like they're going out of fashion. I just remember thinking... 'One minute, strolling along the quiet streets of Kirchdorf, NECK MINNIT ... drinking beer with drunk Austrian boys at the local tennis club!!'... and I was reminded why I love travelling and the spontaneity associated with it!!

Stunning Slovenia - Lake Bled- Lubljana. Gorgeous lake surrounded by dark green forest and snow capped mountains and in the middle of the lake, a little island with a beautiful church perched on top. Such a stunning picture to look at from any angle. Brady and Lindsay had told me they swam across to the island when they were here so I was determined!! It wasn't a particularly warm day but we had a few hours of spare time. Most of the sensible people decided to hire a boat and row across, but not me!! No way man! People thought I was nuts. I was happy to do it alone but I had inspired one other looney to go with me and she made sure there was a boat of topdeckers close by in case she drowned!! So I set off and within 10 minutes (it really wasn't that far after all!!) I was at the other side and everyone thought I was a champion!! I felt like I'd just accomplished the English Channel!! Haha On the way back I took my time, swimming alone, floating on my back just constantly turning 360 degrees in the water to soak up the views and I had one of those moments. You know those ones, where you're like, yep, this is it! This is life! This is what it's all about. I don't need anyone or anything else in the world right now. I am so happy in this moment. Here and now. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else, or be doing anything else and I am so glad that it's all mine and I dont have to share this moment with anyone.

Vibrant Venice - gondola ride - the girls in my boat convinced me that I simply had to sing a song and serenade them along the canals. I really didn't want to but gave in when we reached the open water where sound couldn't travel as much... I suddenly thought, why the hell not?! Next thing you know 'Somewhere over the rainbow' is floating across the Venetian canals, people on the bridges have stopped to listen and are throwing 1 and 2 cent coins into the boat! I even made some of the girls cry, after which they said that I had made their experience in Venice so magical beyond their wildest dreams and they'll never forget it blah blah... I was so embarrassed and didn't want to be a show off but I was also so glad seeing the joy it brought them to have their own personal gondola serenader :)

Cracking Croatia - Pag Island - a party island - must say I wasn't so keen and would've much rathered Dubrovnik or something but hey, beggars can't be choosers. The whole group was heading out (nanna kish didn't feel like it really) but I didn't want to be a party pooper... Naturally I ended up having a great time, dancing up a storm!! Turns out dancing is even more fun when you're outdoors on a wooden decagon jetty completely surround by water with a flashing multi-coloured dance floor and strobe lights!!

Pretty Prague - a very beautiful city- they call it the Fairytale Capital of Europe. It is undoubtedly very beautiful with lovely buildings and cathedrals, but I am starting to realise that for me, a city also needs greenery... No matter how lovely the architecture, streets and houses are, I definitely feel more of a love for the cites with parks, trees and green riverbanks. One night we went to this crazy club which had I think 5 different levels, each playing music from a different era- my favourite was the 'oldies' level, grooving away on a dancefloor with changing fluoro coloured squares.

Awesome Amsterdam - I was a bit reluctant to go here since the last time I was there was with Ken, but I'm so glad I did, because we were blessed with gorgeous weather and went on a beautiful bike ride, followed by a group picnic in the park!! Obviously we had to try smoking.... When in Amsterdam :) which was quite funny since the group I was with had no idea what to even ask for when we got to the counter. I was the only one ballsy enough to say, hi, I'd like a joint please and what would you recommend for 5 girls who haven't really smoked much before. I think the guy was laughing inside, but he patiently gave me advice, sold me a 4 pack and we sat like novices passing around a couple of joints, trying not to cough, all pretending we knew what we were doing and that it wasn't affecting us!! Haha I didn't have much, but must say I quite enjoyed the relaxed feeling :) And, no hangover- Perfect! Good thing it's not legal back home!!

Killer Kraków

kish — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 03:43:00 GMT

I fell in love with this city instantly ...It's soul, the energy it exuded, the fact that there is always a festival/concert/celebration, the musical nature of the city with dozens of jazz bars and talented musicians, the food- of course the pierogi and ponćki, but also great bread rolls, sausages and rich soups (yes, I look like a hefalump now!), the lovely big green park near where I lived, the beautiful old buildings and architecture, especially the main city square with St Mary's Cathedral and the beautiful long market hall with archways in the middle, Wawel Castle by the river, the cosy little underground pubs and restaurants with a million different rooms you don't think the place ever ends!, the youthfulness (mostly due to the prestigious Jagiellonion University) and of course the language! It was so cool to just hear it all around me every day... I actually started 'thinking' in Polish as soon as I arrived, but my lack of vocab slowed me down :) ... so time for a language course!!

I lived in a house with 3 lovely girls - 19 yr old Victoria from Germany (who also has Polish parents) and we were a bit of a pair (see what I mean about the youngsters!) - similar in many ways and the age gap wasn't a problem at all! Then there was Sonja from Minnesota - super ambitious and conscientious in her studies of the music of the holocaust... She reminded me a lot of Bella - she's in her first or second year of classical voice using her stipend for a research project to immerse herself in Polish culture, meet WW2 veterans and go to lots of music concerts and operas! Finally there was delightful Lilia from the Ukraine who celebrated her 25th birthday during the course. Every day we caught the bus to school for class from 930-12. I was in class A-1 (the one above beginners) with Victoria, and had great teachers! They spoke only in Polish which was cool but tricky at times, especially when trying to describe more abstract words... One day the teacher tried to explain what the word 'zdanie' means and I just had no idea what it could be when she kept writing something on the board and putting a full stop at the end! ... The word was 'sentence' Haha. I came to realise that my prior knowledge included very limited vocabulary, I had no clue about the grammar and it is hard!!! I had a bit of homework every day and a test at the end with a score of 68.5/70!! I still can't really 'talk' fluently but I definitely improved my vocab and have bought an exercise book to continue learning!! During my post test celebrations (and this was pre-beer mind you) I got my ear pieced 'hook' type... in the cartilage).

In between lessons we had some social and cultural activities including a karaoke night where we performed a Polish song for the drunk English bucks show lads, visits to a few museums including Schindler's factory, a couple of jazz concerts, walks around the lovely city centre and Kazimierz-the Jewish district, and Wielicka- the salt mine museum where there were entire rooms and a church underground, made of salt! One day, I located some family - my grandpa's sister's late son's wife and her daughter (Jadwiga and Agnieska) - an unexpectedly super emotional experience - I cried!! And then spent an hour trying to communicate with them in broken polish- I was so drained afterwards!! I felt so at home in krakow. I had a great routine every day, I actually enjoyed the rain and the cooler weather and I could definitely see myself living here happily ... If it wasn't for the shitty economy and no jobs situation! :( I can't wait to go back there with mum and dad in August!

Yesterday I arrived in Rome. Maybe I'm tired, or too hooked on liking Krakow but so far it's just extremely touristy, dirty, a bit smelly and there's a lot of vandalism. I walked to the Colloseum and it looked pretty amazing but I was too hot, tired and had sore feet and I knew I wasn't appreciating anything. So I've come back to the hostel to chill, write emails and chat with the 19 yr old American and 21 yr old Japanese boys in my dorm who both play professional soccer in Germany!!! Mr USA looks like Tom Cruise and was delightfully distracting, doing pushups and sit ups on the floor next to me while I read... I was on the same page for a good 15 minutes!! :) Well I'm gonna rest up now so I can actually give Rome a better go tomorrow!!

Idyllic Italy

kish — Sun, 2 Jun 2013 03:40:00 GMT

So it's been a while- time for the next installment! It was quite interesting reflecting on my last post and how muddled I was!! Things are definitely a lot clearer for me now... Actually the difference is, I haven't really been 'thinking' about how I feel... I've just been enjoying!!

Captivating Cinque Terra

So we'll start with the amazing Cinque Terra - a magnificent coastal region of Italy. I had a few days spare between Hong Kong and Poland, decided to check out this often-raved-about spot, and it by golly was it a decision well made! I absolutely loved it. I was completely blown away by the beauty surrounding me... it's funny, I have this habit of stopping myself when I'm travelling sometimes to see whether Adelaide has similar beautiful spots - I often find that it does, but just because I'm in another country things seem more amazing (the sunsets at Henley Beach can actually be pretty spesh!!) ... But alas, in this case, no, Adelaide was no comparison... I hadn't ever come across a vista like this before - steep, rugged coastline with a dramatic drop to the sea, and 5 towns with terraces of wonderful pastel coloured buildings and rooftops - yellow, pink and blue interspersed with luscious green park life, flowers and mountains.

One day I hiked around the coastline between 3 of the towns and I could not wipe the smile off my face! The sky was bright blue, the water dark deep blue, butterflies darting amongst the green trees and shrubbery with the occasional patch of vibrant yellow, red or purple flowers. I just kept thinking ... This is paradise!!

After a delicious Margherita Pizza and a glass of red wine, I met a lovely young boy from USA called Joseph in my dorm room and we stayed up chatting and laughing all night! Actually that is one thing I have noticed a lot- most of the people I'm meeting are younger than me and I've barely come across anyone my age... Sometimes I feel ancient or immature, but I like to think I'm just maintaining my youth! :)

Astounding Amalfi coast

Yet again Italy, you never cease to amaze. The astounding Amalfi coast is somewhat similar to the cinque terra region but perhaps a bit more incredible because it's bigger and has more of those gorgeous little coloured houses teetering on the edge of the magnificent steep cliff faces.

One day I was determined to do a recommended hike - 'Sentiero Degli Dei' = 'Path of the Gods' and I would have to say it was the most phenomenal scenery I've ever experienced throughout a hike! I kept thinking over and over how appropriately it was named, given the breathtaking views! So, of course, there's a story - I was told I had to do the hike early in the morning because it gets too hot... But I'm a trooper, I'll be fine in the middle of the day - I'm from sweltering Australia (and I needed the sleep in after absinthe was passed around my hostel room the night before!) so it's midday, it's boiling hot, the sun feels just as sharp as it does in Aus, and I'm catching a bus to woop woop to start this trek, barely anyone else around because of course there's no other mad person doing this!! About 2 hours into the hike ... I've run out of water, I'm saturated with sweaand a guy passes me - the first person I've come across! I try and keep up with him and am so focussed on keeping in time with his stride that I don't see the sign pointing to the right. 20 mins later he enters a gate marked 'private property' ugh!! He realises I'm there and asks me where I was heading- yes, I was meant to turn right but hey, now that I'm here do I want to see his farm?? - of COURSE!! So I meet his beautiful horses, sheep, dogs, chickens etc living on this stunning hillside overlooking the entire coast and I take a moment to absorb the reality of his perfectly located home and the incredible panorama he gets through his kitchen window every day!!

Food wise, I continue to eat up to 5 or 6 gelatis a DAY amongst pizza and bread rolls with ham and cheese (cheapest and easiest option) ... And this would be the section of my trip where I began my transformation into an elephant :(

Blissful Bali

kish — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:34:00 GMT

I had an absolutely incredible week in Bali with Gareth...far better than I ever imagined... Anyone who has ever turned their nose up at Bali (myself included) should come and check it out for themselves ...it has so much to offer beyond boring beaches and resorts, and has some of the richest culture I have come across in all of Asia. The people are simply beautiful- so peaceful, happy and smiling all the time, saying hello without trying to sell you anything and I've had countless conversations with locals who are just interested in who I am and where I'm from. Obviously the super touristy spots like Kuta are a bit gross and stereotypically bogan, but if you avoid those spots, then there is so much more to see and experience in this Indonesian hub of joy and spirituality.

Gareth and I were amazing travel buddies... We created the most perfect itinerary of adventure mixed with a bit of relaxation. White water rafting and swimming in the currents that sucked us downstream, we actually thought we were going to die (such an awesome thrill with only a few cuts, grazes and bruises in the end). We visited temples where there is such a strong sense of peacefulness and happiness, did a full on yoga class at Yoga Barn with poses I'd never come across, went snorkelling, sailing, did a banana boat ride, kayaked through caves, spent an afternoon playing like kids at 'water bomb' on all the slides,

indulged in full body and leg massages, bike rode around Ubud and stayed in a private villa with a pool that overlooked luscious green rice paddies, made flavoured popcorn in a 7-11, ate too much mee goreng, got drunk on bintang beer, hiked up a volcanic mountain, hung over at 330am (after 2am pickup... on barely any sleep because after a few large bottles of bintang the night before, we suddenly needed a leg massage and facial but everywhere was closed so someone called someone who called someone who came to pick us up on motorbikes and took us to some place we didn't even know where we were and then somehow managed to walk home quite pissy and next minute it's time to wake up!) Anyway, we climbed that darn volcano in the dark with torches for about 2 hours to the top (1717m) in time to watch the sunrise - absolutely incredible!!

Afterwards, we stopped off at a Hindu temple where the locals come to cleanse themselves as part of a ritual. It was the craziest experience - heightened by the fact that it was a public holiday so there were many more people than usual! We had to get stark naked and cover ourselves with sarongs, then stand in a long line in an outdoor concrete, temple-like public bath filled with cool fresh water. There were 11 fountains spurting out water - each of which you rinse your face, head and hair underneath and maybe pray and offer a little thing of food and then move along the snaking line to the next fountain through the communal bath with everyone pressed right up against each other, laughing, smiling and exuding so much joy and happiness. After we had been 'cleansed' we changed back into dry clothes (in a communal male/female locker room- awkward!!!!) and wore special sarongs with a yellow sash in the main temple to pray.

It was so great to be a part of this, thanks to our awesome driver who spoke pretty good english and lived in Japan for the last 15 years. I actually ended up hanging out with Made a bit after Gareth left Bali and we became good friends :)

Ultimately Ubud

I actually love Ubud to bits. It's so cute and sort of almost a bit french-y - boutique, arty farty fancy shops and cute windy little roads - heaps of contemporary arts and crafts shops, and all the houses seem to look like temples, scattered between the classy shops!! It's not too touristy here and westerners that are here look a bit more cultured and relaxed. It's a very yoga-focussed, peaceful and spiritual place but also with a calm buzz, and after the brilliant yoga class I did a few days ago I have decided to stay here for another week or so and do a bit of a yoga retreat for myself :) there are lots of gorgeous little cafes with organic foods and vego options, freshly squeezed juices etc and one day (a relaxing chillout one) Gareth and I just sat in 'Kafe' for hours - ordered Bircher muesli for breaky with a few freshly squeezed juices and milkshakes, then played a few card games, read some magazines then ordered lunch - delicious spicy pumpkin soup with more drinks. We had a staple diet of at least 3 magnums a day and plenty of other chips, chocolate and crap, with the thought in mind that we've both put on a bit of weight, plan to be healthier next week so this was a last hurrah! :)

** Stupid traveller moment no. 3 **

I shouldn't forget to mention the day we got stuck with scratchy cards that said I had won 2 t shirts and Gareth was the special prize winner with 3 stars so he wins one of 4 things- book of vouchers, $1000, iPad or a holiday. Of course you had to go to the peninsula hotel to look around before claiming your prize ... Knowing it wouldn't be the iPad, but also wounding if maybe there was that slim slim chance that this wasn't a joke, we decided to go on an adventure and see what would happen. Naturally, 3 hours later, the newly weds, Mr and Mrs Gareth Wilkes have chatted to a talented salesman from the uk about buying a membership at the hotel (kinda like timeshare) and had a full hotel inspection only to tell him we're not in a position to buy right now and we just wanted to claim the prize of a book of shit vouchers, 2 shit t shirts and (thank golly) a free lunch!! Mum, couldn't help but think of you the whole time!! Oh haha and of course the Balinese guy who gave us the scratchies in the first place told us he'd get a higher commission if we were married so we pretended to be, like I said above, but then worried we'd get sprung (no rings, no changed names etc) so explained the lie by spinning this crazy stupid story about having a secret marriage because my parents are Polish and not accepting of boyfriends who aren't also Polish etc etc!!! Hahaha

I'm a bit sad that Gareth just left because this is the first time I've been on my own in a while now, but I'm also kinda looking forward to it! :) Not sure where to after Ubud tho... That's what I plan to work out this week!! I'm feeling I might actually be done with Asia for a bit! And feeling quite strongly about working in Poland- maybe some volunteering or something but need to look into it!! Back to my almond choc-orange mud cake now ... Mmmm.....

** Solo traveller gets emotional **

Wow, so the past few weeks have been a whirlwind, emotional, spiritual, self exploration rollercoaster ride, but I feel I have come out the other side ready to face challenges and start my extraordinary life which I am so blessed to have been given.

As I mentioned before, Ubud is so lovely because its not tooo touristy, has strong culture and all the houses look like temples - including the guest house I lived in for 2 weeks, happy lovely people, and an overall peaceful spiritual vibe. So it should have been perfect... But of course it was the first time I was alone in a month, I was spending all this time doing yoga and therefore being super introspective and reflective and suddenly I felt like I'd been stripped bare, was now dealing with emotions from events over the past year, and I completely lost touch with who I was and what I wanted. I didn't even want to be in my own company! Which was a very horrible feeling. I cried at the drop of a hat and didn't know what to do about it because I couldn't see a solution- going home didn't feel like it would help - I didn't feel 'homesick' per se!! I was craving a hug but even that didn't seem like a long term solution. I had no idea where I wanted to travel to next and that was overwhelming me in a negative way as opposed to a I-have-the-freedom-to-do-what-I-want positive way! ... And you all know I'm the worst decision maker at the best of times!! Binge eating 25c paddle pops and $1 magnums, banana cake, carrot cake etc certainly didn't help my cause!

Eventually I talked to a few random people in Ubud -as if it were fate - who suggested a few things... At one of my low points, sitting in my favourite cafe, the lady next to me started a conversation about the solar flares - which I had no clue about - and explained that these flares are causing disturbances with technology and emotions... and i was like Umm EXCUSE ME?!???!! emotional disturbances??!! yes that's me!! I suddenly got all D&M with her and she recommended a few things. Firstly, a lady called Awahoshi who does crystal bowl meditation... she looked like a goblin/alien/angel from another planet, so calm and peaceful. she plays these crystal bowls which sound absolutely magnificant and the vibrations go right through your body and reverberate in your ears... there was one point where I remember not knowing exactly where my body was in space. At the start of that session, I randomly selected 2 cards from a pack - kind of taro/spiritual type cards ... one had the word 'extraordinary' on it, which I loved, coz it reminded me of that fact that as a kid, I used to think that I could be/would be extraordinary one day... but I had lost that feeling living day to day and doing the routine norm! The second card was a picture which I really connected with - dark purple and yellow swirls with this deep mysterious eye in the centre. That picture represented 'Awakening'... which I feel like I did and still am experiencing. The second person the solar flares lady put me in touch with was a girl from Australia who lived in India for a long time... we just had a good chat and she was quite tantric and talked about trying to experience life through your body not your mind. I think I will always over-think things and have the constant pro-con argument in my head over any decision to be made, but if I can learn to not worry so much about not having made a decision and also to experience things through my body more, I can find more happiness within. For example, she asked me what felt good... and I said singing... she asked why and (she told me later) my eyes lit up, I straightened my back and opened my chest and 'sparkled' saying that I love the vibrations that run through my body, hearing the sound and wanting to make it better and immerse myself in it... and she was like YES that's it - in that moment, when you're singing and feeling blissfully happy, you are living IN your body and the mind is more quiet!!!! I actually understood this!! So, after a few little chats and a reminder (which I prob knew but just needed to hear again) that what I'm going through is normal, I relaxed into just experiencing being in Ubud. It's funny, I could have just left because I wasn't having a great time there, but for some reason I couldn't, I obviously felt like I had to work through it and come out on the other side a stronger happier person. Over the next few days I had a bit more clarity and made a decision - WOW! ... I felt like a little kid who just mastered riding a bike without trainers- I bought a one week unlimited yoga pass at a different yoga place and therefore stayed in Ubud for one more week!!! And I immediately started feeling more positive. I still wasn't sure where to next but was less stressed about the decision and felt good about having a week to mull it over in ubud rather than empty lost and drowning in possibilities like I felt the week before!!

I made a beautiful friend, Made, who I mentioned earlier. (His English was really good, having grown up in an American family and then working in Japan for 15 years). I visited him in his office most days and then in my last week we actually just went and spent the day kayaking, having coffee in the mountains and shopping for some artwork. He was the final piece of enlightenment for me, and after hours of chatting in the car and finding similarities in our personalities, he managed to uncover a few other deep dark hairies for me to mull over and work on!!

The yoga was awesome. Ubud really is the place for it - it's where people from all over the world come for their teacher training and some of the poses are like nothing I'd ever seem or done in Australia - sometimes I got myself into positions I didn't think was possible... and other times I watched other people get into positions that were definitely NOT possible for me! haha Pouring with sweat every morning I felt full of love, life, energy, motivation, ethusiasm, and wonderful inspiring messages and morals provided by the yoga teachers. One really cool class was 'flying yoga' where we had to become very touchy and intimate with eachother, climbing and hanging and making pyramids with downward dogs. I discovered so many wonderful little organic, vegan, vegetarian, eco-friendly (soy skim half strength chai latte haha) cafes and restaurants and indulged in good wholesome meals (... well plus a fair few amazing desserts.... hehe c'mon I'm still kish!)

So, it's funny, after not even wanting to go to Bali in the first place, I now feel like it was meant to be. I had to get down to my core a bit to re-discover a few things, deal with old emotions and help prepare me for the rest of the year. I by no means feel like I'm totally together now, but who is?! I still go round in circles with decisions, not knowing where to next and if it's worth spending X amount of money on Y. But I am definitely more content with it all.

Right now I am in Hong Kong staying with Holly. It's so nice, we had a good girly chat last night and it's nice to have some homey comforts for a few days. I will head to europe next week ready for .... POLISH LANGUAGE COURSE in Krakow, which I'm super excited about!! :) and after that, not sure - maybe a topdeck tour, or if I make some friends in the course, maybe I can travel with them a bit? Sorry for such an in-depth waffly account of my emotional experiences rather than what I saw/did over the past few weeks, but that's not what those weeks were about!

Tantalising Thailand

kish — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:45:00 GMT

Playful Phuket

I made my way to Phuket the cheap/adventurous way... 1 hour ferry from Langkawi to Satun, Thailand. Then an 8 hour bus ride with one stop to Phuket- not the best, but it was ok really. I did an expensive (approx $20) but really good yoga class in a gym overlooking patong beach, took myself out to the movies, got my iPhone screen replaced after dropping and smashing it yesterday- and then...

* stupid traveler mistake no. 2*

.... I left my bloody credit card in the ATM after taking my cash and checking very thoroughly that I was given the right amount. I realised about half an hour later, went back to check the machine- not there, asked surrounding stores in case some nice person handed it in - not so lucky. Tears forming and heart racing, I found a coffee shop with wifi to use Skype to call the credit card company to cancel the card and finally I calmed down after learning that noone had used it!!! Phew

Janek, Adam and I rendezvous'd in Phuket, where we had a raucous time in a massage parlour one afternoon. Three tables right next to each other was dangerous from the start but that was the least of our concerns... What began as a nice relaxing time soon turned into a massive laughing fest as Janek and I attempted to explain to each other in broken polish what unexpected body parts were being treated to the massage! Firstly, I could not for the life of me think of the word for boobs in polish, so I said to Janek (in polish) .... "Oh my golly, she is touching... Not my stomach, not my head, there are 2 of them..." Hahaha he worked it out, asked me if it felt good, I replied with a sort of high pitched mmm denoting, actually, it's not bad at all! :) and next minute we were all laughing uncontrollably! The laughter continued as Janek explained to me in polish that she had also brushed past his 'there are 2 of them' body part a few times!!!!

Kaleidoscopic Koh Phi Phi Island

This was my third time visiting this beautiful piece of paradise with flashy, blonde beaches and bodacious jungles. But even third time round, I rediscovered the glitz and glamour of the azure waters and perfect sunny weather! We stayed in the most gorgeous accommodation I have ever experienced - a beautiful tree house resort, a private boat ride away from the city centre! It was so cool- everything was made of dark luxurious wood and there was a hammock on the balcony. Our days on phi phi consisted of many bottles of vodka, games of UNO, singalong sessions, sunbathing, too many beers over greasy pad Thai dinners, freshly squeezed juices, and lovely walks along the coast and up to a beautiful viewpoint! The laughter continued as we told stories and joked around in our beautiful treehouse. One day we went on a boat adventure to the famous maya beach (where The Beach was filmed) - now a horrible tourist trap, followed by snorkelling and swimming in pristine clear light blue water, with of course some backflips and jumps off of the side of the boat! It was a fabulous week with even more fabulous boys!

Luxurious Langkawi

kish — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:36:00 GMT

This gorgeous little island in Malaysia is literally a slice of paradise. It is just the perfect size to be able to drive around the whole island in one day and everything is so accessible. The amazing 'Holiday villa beach resort and spa' served us well despite the socking first world problems - no free wifi and no included breakfast... Mum bartered down the price of the buffet by about $3 each and we splurged on out first and last mornings!! There was plenty of time spent reading and sun baking, or should I say getting extremely hot and sweaty, then jumping in the pool every 15 mins or so to cool off again!

**typical Basia wins - disappointed there was no free wifi - expressed this to hotel staff who offered us free 10 mins daily; aforementioned breakfast buffet deal; complimentary bottle of water only given on arrival, but mum called every morning for 2 more; one night the air con was leaking so mum requested a late checkout (6pm instead of 12pm) as compensation for the inconvenience!! :)

Langkawi adventures

Day 1 - swim 40 laps in the pool, buffet breaky pig out - roti bread, veggie curry, rice, wedges, waffles, eggs, bacon, pastries etc (also made sandwiches- to take away for later hehe), sunbake and read books, check out our private beach, walk to Cenang beach but never quite make it due to stopping at a tourist info place - special deal for you today only - $8 for island hopping tour... When does it leave? Now!! Ok sold!!! Speed boat to the island of the pregnant maiden (looks like it) and small hike to a freshwater lake within the island - swim. Beautiful! Boat to another gorgeous island with pristine white soft sand, pale blue/turquoise water and towering palm trees amongst an abundance of greenery. Overall a fantastic spur of the moment trip - $8 well spent!!!

Day 2 - hire bikes and ride for approx 2 hours about 1/4way round the island to 'telaga tuju' (seven wells waterfalls). Most of the ride was lovely and flat, with just a few steep windy hills towards the end. Mum did a fabulous job - a lot of the time I had to work hard to keep up with her, the fit bunny!!! Feeling completely buggered, we got to the base of telaga tutu, and hiked for another half hour to the waterfall- lovely. Swam at the base and in a small violent natural bath/spa which had been created in the rock formations. On our way back, we noticed there was an option to keep going up along a rainforest-looking path. ... Why not eh?! At least let's see where it leads after 10 mins?! .... After about 45 mins, mum lost her footing and grabbed onto the trunk of a palm tree for stabilisation! ... Sharp spindles now lodged into her thumb, palm and fingers, mum is very distressed. After calming down, we decided to keep going, just in case we were almost at the end. About 5 mins later we hear this loud noise, not too far away, honking groaning type echo throughout the forest. Mum freeeeeaks out. I probably got a bit more worried than usual because of mum's reaction and started playing out the scene in my head ...where the massive bull-elephant-monster comes charging for us, we can't escape and are eaten alive!!. After we hear the noise again mum is outta there before I can blink, racing back to the start. We then bump into a group of ladies from Sydney who also decided to see what was down the rainforest path (also not expecting it to be so long). Frantically, we tell them about the noise and casually and simply, they ask (or moreso say) ah, so you heard the monkeys!! Hahahaha!! Duh, of course it was a monkey! :) So take two, we turn around again and follow the ladies for another 45 mins of steep trekking. Pouring with sweat, starving for lunch, muscles burning and shaking, devoid of all energy and seriously hanging out for the top to enjoy a great view, food and water, we finally arrive at a sign saying "1736m above sea-level, U-turn" !!!! No real end point, no great view, the sky was not even remotely visible above the trees....Anti climax!!! After 4 hours of biking, 3 hours of hiking, litres of water lost as sweat, and super sore leg muscles, we were home for a well deserved, delicious meal at a local restaurant - spicy chicken, sizzling beef and seafood fried rice.

Day 3 - rest day!! Lazy swim in the morning, few hours by the pool, kayak out to the island opposite our private beach, which was quite hard esp with a breeze blowing the boat in every direction other than where we wanted it to go! So peaceful being out on the water surrounded by mountains, islands and bright blue sky. Evening- walk to Cenang beach and watch the most glorious sunset, with the entire sky changing colours brilliantly and rapidly after the sun had set-orange, yellow, pink, red, magenta. Wow. Kept pinching ourselves!! Green chicken curry, piña colada, G&T on the beach in candlelight :)

Day 4 - hire car for the day. Head to 'gunnung raya' and go up a tower to the highest point on langkawi for 360degree views of the island and surrounding ones. Then drive to 'tanjung rhu', a beautiful beach- prob the best one I've come across in a while. Gorgeous white sand along the slightly concave bay, palm trees and other large green trees behind, mountains flanking the horizon, 2 strange, irregularly shaped rock jutting out of the water in the middle of the bay creating a stunningly unique backdrop for the most amazing sunset - for the second night in a row!! ... Must be a langkawi specialty!! There was barely anyone else around and it was so peaceful and glorious. Mum and I just stood there speechless staring directly at the sun which was a fluorescent orange/pink, savouring every moment as it gracefully slid below the horizon, immediately followed by the sky doing that spell-binding colour changing thing again.

Day 5 (last day) - buffet breakfast pig out no.2. (Reckon I ate about 6 meals worth in one hit!!) and then slothed by the pool for the rest of the day!!!

Bye mum!! :(

Chaotic Cambodia

kish — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:08:00 GMT

Sleepy Sihanoukville

After a few days on my own exploring crazy phnom penh, I caught a 6hour bus to the south of Cambodia to this gorgeous spot called Sihanoukville. I had no idea where to get off as no one spoke any English. Luckily I met a lovely German girl, Susan and French guy, Nikolas just as we got off the bus - as none of us had booked anything so we shared a tuk tuk to the beach (which I had no idea where it was and barely knew anything about). We found a hostel, 'The Moonlight Rock' - the name should have told me to steer away, but hey it was so hot and we need somewhere to sleep. I have actually never stayed in a hostel dorm room before so had no idea if this place was good or bad. The others thought it was a bit steep at $5 a night but couldn't be bothered looking elsewhere. And that's when I started to question what on earth I was doing here... The place was all black - walls, cushions, tables, chairs, even people's clothing, and everyone was stoned and slothing around. My new friends both smoked and drank beer all day (neither of which I was remotely interested in) and I just thought what the fuck, I do not fit in here. This is not me, how do I get out of this? (but also didn't want be a wuss and not stick it out)! After a few days, I learned that no one cares if you're different and I just spent less time at the hostel and more time at the beach front, and I sat at lunch/dinner with the other two and ordered soda water while they drank beer and smoked. And it was just an unspoken understanding that I wouldn't participate and no one judged anyone. So now I'm loving it here and don't want to leave!! I like our little group of 3 coz we're all a bit different but just know we're here for each other for a bit of company. I sleep between the other 2 on a mattress on the floor with a mosquito net around me. There's a small fan that barely does anything but I'm used to it now. I haven't washed my hair in days because I can't be bothered and to be honest, I don't really see the point in showering because I am sweaty and smelly as soon as I get out of shower. But I still like to cast the soap over me in the evenings before dinner for a token wash in the outdoor shower. My feet are filthy and no amount of scrubbing seems to be making any difference! Again though, I don't care!! Our little family of 3 eat most meals together. We don't always talk which is nice and not uncomfortable at all! I find it very hard to understand Nick with his French accent anyway :) Plus he's high most of the time! ... Oh yeah because the place across the road sells joints for $1.50!!!

Things here aren't quite as cheap as I imagined. I'm not sure if it's changed over recent years but as soon as you make everything in US dollars they tend to make everything $1 and then anything extra is 50c on top- it seems cheap but not really when you think about it. ie. coke $1, diet coke $1.50 - which I would pay less for at work in the social fund fridge!! I just walked past a girl selling fruit from the basket on her head and bartered a large bag down from $3 to $1.50. I'm eating that right now as I write!!... Watermelon, pineapple, mango, dragonfruit and banana. The same girl noticed my horrendously hairy underarms and I promised she could find me later and get rid of the hair with threading!!??! I did a 2.5 hour yoga class yesterday which was so delightful - right next to the beach, as the sun set with a cow wandering past and a gorgeous sea breeze. It's all very lazy lazy, cant be bothered, that can wait til tomorrow mentality here and I feel like no one ever leaves!! Or stays way longer than intended - like me! But somehow I managed to organise a boat trip to the surrounding islands. Turned out there was just us 3 plus a 75 yr old Italian man called Aldo. He was lovely and showed me lots of cool stuff in the water as we snorkelled together. I saw so many lovely fishies. I forgot how much I love snorkelling/diving. I think it's because I feel like I'm transported to another world that I forget exists. And I love being amongst all the fish!! It was so peaceful and serene especially when we snorkelled at the end of the day as the sun set! **Happiest moment away so far!! We also went (attempted) fishing whilst snorkelling ... I got so many bait bites but not one bloody fish!! Instead, I got the hook caught on my palm and my foot! ugh luckily the others caught some and we stopped on 'bamboo island' where the boat driver cooked the fresh fish and squid and some veggie skewers on a tiny portable BBQ for lunch. It was quite remote there and the wandering chickens kept us company. I felt like I was really in Cambodia then!! Also I jumped off a 6m cliff - exhilarating!

This morning was an epic fail for me but an adventure nonetheless... So I went for morning jog which I have been doing around 7/730am to beat the sun. Then packed up all my dirty laundry to walk to the next beach over coz it was 75c/kg there as opposed to 1.50/kg here. I forgot how far away that next beach was and my laundry got very heavy... an hour and a half later I found that nowhere could have it done before I leave tomorrow grrrr so I consoled myself with a cup of coffee and found a motorbike to take me back to my beach!! Today's plan is finish my book (First they killed my father, which I'm loving - about the tragic events in Cambodia during Pol Pot era) Such a tough life here in coastal Cambodia!!

* stupid traveler mistake never to make again *

The morning I left sihanoukville, I left my passport in the hostel (locked behind the desk) I remembered about 20 mins away from the hostel and 10 mins from the bus station... I was determined not to miss the bus and was afraid I would if I went back, so I looked to the heavens and asked Babina and God to ensure that it got back to me safely, before asking the tuk tuk driver to call a friend and get him to pick up my passport and bring it to me. I still can't believe I did that, but low and behold I got the passport within 10 mins, safe and sound!!

On the bus ride from Sihanoukville to siem reap I suddenly seemed to have this new air of traveller confidence about me. I knew when to get off, I knew where I was going, I knew how the system went and I was so chilled out about it all! So much so that when we had our first pit stop I moseyed over the the locals cooking on a BBQ and bought something wrapped up in a banana leaf - which I pretty much deduced and later found out was a local specialty - sweet sticky rice stick with cooked banana. It was yum! I was sitting next to a 26yo girl from Cambodia called Monica who told me a bit about her life and at the next stop when I told her I wanted to buy some pineapple she told me she'd get a better price as a local and she bought it for me - saying it was a gift for a new friend. She also introduced me to sprinkling salt and chili over the pineapple - weird but not bad! :)

Sparkling Siem Reap

First impressions - wider streets than Phnom Penh therefore seems less busy despite the same chaotic traffic with motorbikes tuk tuks and cars fighting for a spot on the road and not obeying any road rules. The city also was noticeably more glamorous and cleaner than PP, probably because its more geared to tourists. The main city centre was remarkably small and super cute. It has a frenchy feel to it - gorgeous little alleys with terracotta tiled walkways, plants hanging from the ceiling, bright colours and restaurants/cafes with small tables and white, red or black tablecloths on the alley edges. - perfect for people-watching! :) I indulged in a $2 foot, leg, neck and shoulder massage for 30 mins on side of the road - amazing!! in fact, so good we came back the next night for a pedicure!

Almost every restaurant had an appetising mix of Khmer and western food, including pizza, pasta, steak, curry, salad etc. I made an effort to try a few of the Khmer culinary delights including the Fish Amok - a curry-like dish served in banana leaf and the Lok Lak - diced/stir fry-like beef with a lemon and pepper sauce, served on a salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and steamed rice. Both were quite nice!! I actually made a seafood amok in a cooking class along with a mango salad, and I must say I'm a pretty good chef (when someone tells me exactly what to do and provides all the ingredients)!!!

Angkor Wat - we spent 3 mornings exploring the temples, including Angkor Wat, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. It's funny because there are actually a number of temples in the area, some of them more interesting and beautiful compared to the Angkor Wat temple itself... But Angkor Wat is very dramatic from far away, especially the iconic three rises with jagged edges. It was quite magnificent watching the sun rise around the monument, despite the hundreds of other tourists around because it was Khmer new year! Other temple highlights for me were Ta Prohm (aka tree temple) and Bayon. Ta Prohm had this amazing aspect to it whereby over the years tree roots have grown in and around the temples between the cracks in the sandstone and wrapped themselves around, looking very alien-like!! Bayon was sort of like a main cylindrical rise surrounded by smaller rises engraved with the face of Buddha on each side. The Buddha faces made me feel very safe and comforted walking through this temple, like they were smiling down on me and filling me with good luck, fortune and protection. Most of the temples are made of sandstone and were constructed in the 9th-12th centuries, usually at the request of the king at the time. There was a royal palace and others, like Angkor Thom were a whole city with smaller temples within. The most remarkable part for me was all the intricate etchings into the walls of the temples, done with such precision and detail. The most common themes were a flowery swirly pattern, a cobra and the image of the 'apsara' - a female dancing spirit found in Hindu and Buddhist religion. We actually saw some apsara dancing one night in a restaurant- the girls can bend their fingers back so far and all the movements are slow and carefully placed with hyperextended toes/feet/hands/fingers.

Photos: Kish's travels

kish — Thu, 4 Apr 2013 09:18:00 GMT

Adorable Adelaide

kish — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 09:04:00 GMT

On 3rd April 2013, I embarked on a journey... I wasn't entirely sure where exactly this journey would go, with only a few vague plans, but I knew it would be an important one, with respect to visiting destinations around the world - the physical journey, self discovery - a personal journey, and possibly even a spiritual journey.

I was at a point in my life where I felt old and mature enough to travel on my own, had saved enough (so I thought haha) after working for 5 years, no mortgage or massive debts to take care of, and no boyfriend for the first time in a long while. So, carpe diem!! And without too much consideration (well, ok you know me, there was a fair bit) I decided to seize this opportunity to take the journey into the big wide world..