Pirates of the Cam Logbook

Photos: Ha Long Bay

pirates_of_the_cam — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:32:00 GMT

silk city II

pirates_of_the_cam — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:47:00 GMT

Hoi An is a giant silk tailor shop, everyone gets as much tailored as they can carry, because it's cheap and it's tradition.It is not however necessarily very good.

Alternative activities include renting motorbikes to go to ancient ruins, that are sadly half washed away from the rain and half bombed to dust by the Americans.

The motorbikes made Lisa turn into a speed-demon and got us stylish exhaust pipe burns, which are apparently commonly called Hanoi tattoos or something like that.

-Nora-

True, the cheap garments from Hoi An range from complete disaster (in my case), through minor dissapointment to moderate success (for the guys)

- Eva

one bomb may ruin a whole day

pirates_of_the_cam — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:46:00 GMT

We were superheroes in Nha Trang? Now we turned into viscious beach dragons! Terrorizing french families on the far superior beach in Hoi An, the city of crazy silk tailors.

The whole city seems to be one giant tailor shop and among us there are quite a few measured pieces of clothing on the way, so it seems.

On rented bikes the beach isnt too far but after we had enough shade and salty water, we cycled along the beach. Along little Vietnamese houses with people who all knew one english word and were ready to use it: Hello!

One drunk fisherman tried to have a conversation with us, which we interpreted as "look, this is my boat", "Dont swim here" and lots of other things... so maybe he meant something completely different.

We left the beach village and saw a landscape we hadnt seen here before, dey and sandy, unfinished ruins... we wondered if there may be landmines... lonely planet, what do you think?

"one bomb may ruin a whole day"

Good morning, Vietnam.

pirates_of_the_cam — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:57:00 GMT

It's 10:30 AM, day 5 in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Socialist in name only, seeing as it has the most business-minded people we've seen on this trip so far, but the hammer-and-sickle banners all around Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) make for an exotic touch. We went to the War Remnants museum, formerly known as The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and learned much about the atrocities of the US operations in Vietnam. Disturbing as it was, it was pretty hard not to smirk at the captions being more or less "American soldiers doing this and that to Vietnamese patriots". Also, if there is one thing our travel guides were right about it's this one: the food in Vietnam is AMAZING.

After a day and a half in Saigon we went to Nha Trang, a beach resort that has it all (of which we mostly used the beach, sailng and scuba diving but Ralf and Nora mentioned that already. Aaaa, scuba diving in the Pacific, how jealous are you? :P) All, including all kinds of insects in the otherwise comfortable room. Tonight we're heading off to Hoi An which is supposed to have a stunning old town and a famous silk market.

To clarify: we have THOUSANDS of photos but not much internet time and it takes ages to upload them. They will make their way here and to facebook eventually but it might be after we're back. And speaking of facebook, the hostel blocks it so the best way to contact me is e-mail. Plus I have no roaming.

-Eva

Fire and water

pirates_of_the_cam — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:03:00 GMT

Nha Trang was a beautiful place and then they built those things, so it takes some skill in overlooking atrocious pink monuments and Holywood-type island labels.

The sand glows during the day and at night they have a campfire on the beach, which we utilized to light our poi, soaked with lamp oil, sneakily stolen from oil lamps with the help of a russian birthday girl.

the sound of fire poi with the sound of the camp fire with the sound of the waves and the feel of the warm air and the taste of pina colada, that wasn't served in a fresh coconut.

We are now self proclaimed super heroes, which is not at all megalomaniac in any way shape or form, because we did wear those suits all by ourselves (not zipped them all by ourselves maybe)

Water is very scary and hostile, because you can not breathe it and breathing is somewhat essential and if you accidentally breathe in water it's not only very salty but also youre fucked!

But other than tha we did see turtles and corals and colourful fish and bug sea snails and dived through cages, which makes up for the above since we all survived after all.

-Nora, the non-aquatic-creature-

Photos: Southern Vietnam

pirates_of_the_cam — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:49:00 GMT

Vietnam, here we come!

pirates_of_the_cam — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:36:00 GMT

So, we made it to Vietnam! After just one day in Saigon, a wet and colorful place with thousands of motorbikes and quite a bit of old-fashioned communist propaganda, we took the night bus to Nha Trang. I woke up this morning after some dizzy sleep on the bus and was welcomed by an astonishing picture: We were driving along a costal road. In the background, mountains could be seen rising up against a sky which was painted orange and red by the sunrise. The colours were reflected in the sea and the rice fields passing by. Astonishing!

A few hours later, we arrive in Nha Trang. If travel was sometimes hectic and stressful up to now, this place is the reward. A beautiful beach, mountains, a soft breeze and water as warm as a gentle shower would be are the ingredients here. You can add some watersports as you like (we choose catamaran sailing and, for tomorrow, scubba diving), have a cocktail on the beach or just hang around. And there is some excellent food to be found in vietnam! Once again, street food is on the agenda, we had an excellent meal in saigon. And to Ewa's and my pleasure, there is some good coffee in Vietnam. It is taken in hot or (even better) on ice, and is very thick and short. Good stuff!

-Ralf

Phnom Penh

pirates_of_the_cam — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:37:00 GMT

Tomorrow we have a rather morbid schedule and I probably won't write or at least I won't write about today so here's as much as I can think of right now.

We arrived today in Phnom Penh. It's an unbelievably lively, friendly city and even if a lot of it looks more like Saigon in Apocalypse Now than a contemporary Asian capital it's pretty apparent that the rapidly improving economy of Cambodia is centered here. It's still good few decades behind other countries in the region and apart from new buildings and French, post-colonial houses there are plenty of run down pavillions. The city is building sites and varied conditions. Modern art and ambitions. There is a promenade along the river bank where people have fitness classes incorporating Asian dancing while grinning tourists (ourselves included) take videos of them. So far it seems like people in Phnom Penh speak surprisingly good English. They're also far more talkative than in Siem Reap, where no one dared to complain about the corruption or the government (I'll try and do a separate note about that when I know more).

Some of Cambodia, not the particularly poor bits, reminds me somewhat of Poland circa/before transformation - plastic cloth on the tables, fake coke and sodas so sweet and artificial they taste like bad candy and elements of the west availble and known but not quite widepread.

I don't think I've ever seen smiles as wide and friendly as here.

-Eva

Photos: Angkor impressions

pirates_of_the_cam — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:15:00 GMT

A glimpse of the poor Cambodia

pirates_of_the_cam — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:16:00 GMT

Near the northern end of Tonle Sap lake, some 15 kilometers south of the lively and touristy Siem Reap is Floating Village. It should really be called Floating Town, because about 6,000 people of three different denominations live in improvised houses built on boats and rafts and it stretches over a vast area. Some 60 years ago people who couldn't afford the rent and didn't have or lost their land moved there to live on the water, because living on the water is free. There are floating mechanics shops, floating school and a floating basketball pitch. We even saw a floating church (yep, a Christian church - there are a lot of Vietnamese there on the lake) parked in a canal. We were driven in there with a boat that had an engine that could drown thunder and went between the tin and palm tree (and occasionally wooden) houses. The guide kid took us to an orphanage school on the water where we donated money and took a self-congratulatory photo with the children. Then he took us to a crocodile farm and as we went past whole families of beggars came up to us in their own boats. One didn't have a boat but a wash basin, same one she probably uses for doing laundry in the muddy, smelly waters of the lake.

When we wanted to eat something on the way back we stressed that we don't want a restaurant but something "simple" and the tuk-tuk drivers reluctantly stopped at the local market. And there it all was. The smell of decaying fish, the landmine victims going about their business, all food laid down on the ground and looking more miserable than I have ever seen food to look. Even sticky rice, though hidden in bamboo didn't seem very appetizing. Except when I didn't want to buy it the saleswoman seemed... something... I think my stomach sunk a little when I saw her face. She was this middle-aged woman who probably had just this bike and a few bamboo sticks with rice to make a living with was far better than all the beggars around, Cambodia has no social security. I don't think this place felt this real until now. Toto, I don't think we're in Europe anymore.

-Eva

After almost a week in Southeast Asia in the wet season with only twenty minutes of rain, we already thought something must be wrong here. Today however, we had another glimpse of monsoon. And what a good one! We had hired two Tuk-Tuk-drivers to drive us around for the day, and on a mountain it suddenly started pouring. This nicely warm rain is a welcome refreshment to the tropical heat and the blazing sun you otherwise encounter. Soon, the tiny waterfall nearby was swollen enough to serve as a shower, and the dusty path down the mountain turned into a muddy river! I can see now why travelling in the wet season is hard in places with only dust roads.

- Ralf

Angkor Wat?

pirates_of_the_cam — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:37:00 GMT

That's right, third day in Cambodia and second cycling around Angkor. And we finally saw Angkor Wat today. In fact, me and Lisa hid when the guards were kicking everyone out (we went on a ledge behind a corner and no, it wasn't dangerous cause there was a terrace-thing right under it) and watched the sunset from there and OH MY GOD, empty Angkor Wat, jungle sounds, chanting in the background... it was breathtaking.And then we had to sneak out without running into a guard. Can it get more Tomb Raider?

In other news: Cambodians are unbelievably friendly, they joke around and smile as they pass each other and it's so at odds with the fact that this country had arguably the most cruel regime of the twentieth century mere 30 years ago... Also, they eat sticky rice that comes in bamboo sticks. That's right. Sticky rice in a stick. Oh and all around Angkor there are these little kids trying to sell you tourist stuff and they are multilingual and have lots of facts about different countries memorized. They knew the name of Australian prime minister (even though she only took post 3 weeks ago) and the *correct* capital, number of inhabitants of Germany etc. They weren't so lucky with Poland though. Apparently the capital of Poland is Amsterdam.

-Eva

Ankor Wat - There be ruins

pirates_of_the_cam — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:22:00 GMT

Arrrr!

There be awesome ruins, scurvy monkeys that jump on the back of those whome they reckognize as their kin, nice natives and tasty sticky rice!

This be a fine place to cycle around like a landlubber!

-Nora-

Bangkok, day 2

pirates_of_the_cam — Fri, 9 Jul 2010 12:42:00 GMT

The Bangkok sex district was an incredibly depressing experience. I guess I had unrealistic expectations, brought up on Dita Von Teese and Suicide Girls but I imagined strippers that really enjoy theselves and play with the audience and go crazy because they love it. These girls had "exploitation" and "no way out" stamped on their bored faces and no amount of circus tricks could make it more bearable.

On a more cheerful note, we went to the city centre to look for evidence of recent riots. We found a burned down mall and some bullet holes and I talked to an American couple who live here and apparently the main basecamp was right under the skytrain line, exactly where we got off. A lot of people walk around in "together we can" t-shirts now. It refers to the peace and accord that came after the riots - how very Obama of them. Now, it's probably very typical for Asia but hey what do I know: I don't think one burned down mall makes much difference for the city. The street was literally one mall next to the other. Odly enough the burned down one was EXACTLY where Julian got his suits tailored so we had no idea where to look for another good tailor... Still, we hopefully found one and now 4 of us are getting suits done and let me tell you two of these will be pretty epic. Mine included. But I guess you will have to wait for photos. ^.^

Oh yeah. And it's my birthday. I guess it was a bit of a dissapointment with the sin city plan not quite working out (and we hit midnight in the street looking for the damn area) and I got a tiny bit upset but that will teach me to expect perfection, seriously... I'm in bloody Bangkok! :D

- Eva

Bangkok, day 1

pirates_of_the_cam — Thu, 8 Jul 2010 15:21:00 GMT

SO, after landing in the early morning we had a long exhausting day of debauchery. Well, not fully since we still haven't seen the sin city side of Bangkok, but the time for this will come. I guess it's easy enough to find descriptions of this place that talk about the colours, sounds and tastes so intense you feel like you're a vampire on Auspex and markets where you expect to see snake charmers. Or the cocktails that come with bouquets of flowers or the unbelievably low prices. Oh and by the way, scorpions are yummy and fish massage is SO MUCH FUN!!! Anyway, I'm sure a detailed description's coming (and I sure hope it involves Jules hangin off the back of a tuk-tuk for the ride from chinatown to Khaosan and us getting a fish foot massage and eventually putting our faces in and then jumping into the fishtank...) so I'll just tell you what non-obvious things stand out for me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how everything here is not sanitary, you buy some dodgy food someone's conjured up in the street and it's the best thing you've ever had. I swear that I will do my best not to eat anything that comes in plastic packaging till the end of the trip. Also, there are "long live the king" signs everywhere and portraits of HRM... It's refreshing to be in an ACTUAL monarchy. Oh, and we went to this park where there were Thai cheerleaders practicing, and had routines that had a lot of traditional Thai elements. I guess I should also mention that when we were watching them something that looked like a crocodile came out from between all the tropical plants and into the water. And it seriously looked and moved like a crocodile but Burk says something was different so I guess it was just a really badass lizard.

Julian says it was a dragon. I mean, that it's the name of the lizard.

Then we had a cheesy but so so happy evening of toasts to friendship and smiling like idiots at each other and talking about how even though we've now been apart more than we've been together we're still what we are. I love you guys. Here's to that.

Tonight we're going to sin. It's going to be my birthday, ain't it? Here's to perfect, perfect times.

-Eva

There aren't many days which start by cycling across London, feeling good about living in such a fantastic city... This particular one, however, progressed through supervisor meetings, toasting at 30, 000 feet, desperate attempts to ease our pain by scratching off hours of waiting on a Delhi-based banana, six-to-one taxi rides, and more. Lucky I had that scorpion to keep me going. And it ended with some drunken swimming in a fish-bath while they ravaged my sorry skin, leaving me happy and refreshed.

So... what a day! It's great to be back here, great to walk the same streets again, with the same gauntlet of smells. It changes fast - one second you're hungry as you pass by a foodstall, the next you want to empty your gut as you pass by a sewer. Speaking of which, I am hungry. So I stop now.

- Jules.

Photos: Bangkok

pirates_of_the_cam — Wed, 7 Jul 2010 23:17:00 GMT

Delhi airport

pirates_of_the_cam — Wed, 7 Jul 2010 15:18:00 GMT

Oh man, what did we actually think when booking a flight with a 14 hour stopover in Delhi? Maybe that we can get a short-term visa on arrival and have a look at the city? Well, that turned out to be impossible. Or maybe that at least we can use the facilities of a big, new international airport? Well, that turned out to not be the case either. Instead, after arrival we were placed in the "twilight zone", a small room with transiting travellers waiting for the mercy of their airlines to bestow them with boarding passes. Yes, with boarding passes. We had none for our flight to bangkok and without them, we couldn't go anywhere. At first we were promised to get them within half an hour, well, this turned out to be more like 12-13 hours. Without much chance to contact the airline in the twilight zone and without any facilities at all, all we could do is wait and hope that one day we are allowed out of here. So, if you ever want to transit there, take this into account! Don't do it!

- Ralf

And after all this we got into the Bangkok airport and took a cab and it was air conditioned and smelled of jasmine. I guess it sums up our India vs. Thailand experience ;)

- Eva

Sails up!

pirates_of_the_cam — Mon, 5 Jul 2010 06:14:00 GMT

Before setting off from Warsaw I did the unspeakable. Ignoring my mathematician's self mocking me relentlessly I took a hint from voodoo sages and left a bottle of rum at a graveyard for good karma. So, fully vaccinated and with the spirits on my side I set out first to London to meet the other five.

The night of Lisa's birthday we're all in Hammersmith, plus Axiel, Ali and Jesus. Making sushi and about to go to a salsa club. We've spent the weekend catching up and complaining about our respective PhDs (or lack thereof) and between the firespinning, climbing trees and Pimm's games there's little time for planning, apparently we're gonna do that during the 12 hours we're about to endure at Delhi airport. Oh joy.

- Eva

Bangkok, we're coming! Well, not yet really, still one day in hammersmith, two long flights with a dubious indian airline and some 12 hours on delhi airport in the way. But the set-up is done now, everyone is gathered and excited and we are getting in tune with some sushi made by Jules (ok, on the food road map sushi is some 4000 miles off the track. But who cares, it's at least asian!).

The first nerve test was yesterday when everyone, me the most, got a little bit grumpy, after an hour spent in a bus, stuck in london city traffic and with no food in our craving stomachs. Let's see if more are coming, but "the crew" is well-experienced with these situations (and many more), so we'll handle it!

- Ralf

The Crew

pirates_of_the_cam — Sun, 4 Jul 2010 06:40:00 GMT

This is it, the logbook of the Pirates of the Cam, or to be more specific, of our pillage cruise in South-East Asia! In this very first log, I shall introduce the crew which has now been finally selected. We all turned to piracy last year in the little port of Cambidge, East Anglia. Voila, here they are:

- Eva is usually seen dressed all-black, though in SE Asia she announced a more colourful look so that we ourselves might not recognise her. Beyond her spikes she is a soft one who keeps the group together.

- Nora, though the whole crew is colourful and memorable, stands out through her fierce hand-made clothes and a habit to randomly walk around on her hands.

- Lisa, the tiny blonde, is one to be afraid of. She'd been known to walk jaguars around on a leash and she draws the poi quicker than any other scurvy dog out there.

- Jules, extravagant and dandy has a wild adventurous streak. And I mean it in an extreme English understatement way. With Julian's lead, our trip is bound to be either fatal or the best time of our lives.

- Ralf, with an air of cool and natural stylish hair is not one to be messed with. He will argue the fuck out of you to get his way.

- Burkhard is voice of reason within the group. His cigars and vests add to the vintage touch of wisdom and class.

Photos: Slovenia

pirates_of_the_cam — Sun, 3 Jan 2010 09:33:00 GMT

Photos: Sailing!

pirates_of_the_cam — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:47:00 GMT