From Egypt to Eggplant - A Middle Eastern Adventure!

After five months it was finally time to say farewell to Europe, and leaving Budapest behind (after lunch at Frici Papas of course!), I was set to add yet another continent to my year-long adventure as I boarded a plane bound for Cairo, Egypt. Of course, my departure from Europe also marked my departure from the (somewhat) English-speaking world, the world of western toilets, safe food and drink, incorrupt government and police, set product pricing, safe streets and public transport, and street crossings where pedestrians have even just a slight chance of crossing the road without being run down – however, I didn’t set out this year in search of a holiday, I set out in search of adventure!

Cairo Bakery! Yum!

Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is one of the most ridiculous, busy, chaotic and over-populated cities I have ever been to. With a metropolitan population of just under 20 million (imagine the population of Australia in one city), and what seemed an equal number of car and taxi horns to match, the crammed and congested streets of the city are a hive of activity – accompanied by an equally chaotic soundtrack of spruiking street vendors and traffic (did I mention car horns?), all shrouded by a thick cloud of exhaust smoke, industrial pollution and humidity. Yum.

Still Hungary? Second course is served...

With our week in Greece now behind us, Eliza made her way back to the UK to face the reality of work (a foreign notion to me now), while Ros, Paul and I continued the fun and games in Hungary.

My second visit to Hungary for the year, the week was spent in the country’s capital, Budapest, a city formed in 1873 with the unification of three smaller cities; west-bank Buda and Óbuda, and east-bank Pest. With a population of over 1.7 million people, today Budapest is the largest city in Eastern Europe, and is ranked as ‘one of the most beautiful cities in the world’ by a number of sources (okay, so I Wikipedia’d it). With the beautiful Danube River dividing the city, the spectacular Buda Castle, wide tree-lined Andrassy Avenue, Heroes' Square and the second-oldest underground rail network in the world – it certainly lived up to our expectations!

The Big Fat Greek Birthday!

After a quick stop in at the allotment to check on the progress of the veggies, Eliza and I were on our way to Manchester for one last night of miserable weather and cold, before escaping early the next morning to the heat and sunshine of Greece!

Checking into our hostel in Athens, we were soon to discover we were in for a real treat – my budget-conscious booking had landed us in quite the ‘interesting’ neighbourhood! With streets littered with rubbish and buildings covered in graffiti, broken footpaths, prostitutes on every corner, and a steady flow of ‘unusual’ people, there was certainly a lot to look at!

We spent our first couple of days in Athens exploring the local area, catching up on some much-needed SongPop, and enjoying our balcony view of the street (and the insalubrious business dealings going on) below. With memories of the UK’s weather still fresh in our mind, neither of us seemed to find it too much of a struggle to do very little, and much of our time was spent sitting around in various cafés, restaurants, gelatarias and at the beach, watching the world pass us by, and soaking up the beautiful Mediterranean sun.

Tongue and Puckle... a fair ye Scottish Adventure!!!

Leaving Durham behind, Eliza and I were somehow miraculously still speaking to each other, and were on our way to Edinburgh, Scotland. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the world’s largest arts festival, held annually in venues across the city, and this year our friend Matt (aka Barker) was in a show.

Arriving in Edinburgh, we once again met up with Aaron, and made our way out into the city in the hope of somehow managing to run into Barker – who has a reputation for being rather disorganised, and an apparent allergy to any form of telecommunication device. Of course, my hopes of some sort of miraculous northern hemisphere cure for this allergy were soon dashed, and Eliza, Aaron and myself had a great afternoon guessing where Barker might be, after calling ‘his’ phone number, only to discover the phone did not in fact belong to Barker – but to someone he had met in Scotland, and who had absolutely no idea where our dear Australian friend might be! 

Down in Duuuurty Durham!

Today I write from somewhere between New York City and Washington DC, having spent two days in the Big Apple with Lindsay and Sam (who you are sure to hear about when I finally catch up to writing about Africa!), and having spent more money in 48 hours than in the past two months! My time in New York city is not over yet, however the three of us have decided to head south for a couple of days to give the credit cards a break, and I have another four days back in New York later in the week.

New York City

Not only does this week mark another continent on my trip, it also marked 10,000 pageviews of this blog – an achievement I never dreamed possible! When I left home almost ten months ago, I was expecting my mum to check my blog eight times a week (twice on Sunday), my dad once a fortnight, and then three ‘randoms’ to accidentally stumble on it each month while trying to find the nutritional information of ‘smiley fritz’. This would have provided me with 390 pageviews to date, and I would have been an incredibly happy blogger. However, somehow we have managed to reach 10,000 pageviews (I think it’s more likely my mum is forcing her entire year 2 class to keep my blog as their homepage, and making them reopen their browser before every class!), and for that I want to say a very big THANK YOU! Thank you to those people who have encouraged me along the way, thank you to those who comment and let me know you are reading along… and thank you to my dear friends Stan and Stacey for ensuring I have always had a fair bit of information to keep the blog going (and thanks mum for having a big class!)

After having way too much fun, way too little electricity and even less internet, and way too many bumpy roads through Africa, I am now only about eight weeks behind with my entries… which today I pick up from Durham, Eliza’s home for the year.

Crime, murder and an underground adventure! Shenanigans in Sheffield!!!!

Today I write from the luxury and comfort of a hotel room, having finished my 41 night camping trip through southern and eastern Africa, and somehow having managed to survive the traffic, roads and open sewers of Nairobi. As the noise through my window continually reminds me, this is a hectic city, with undoubtedly the most ridiculous traffic I have seen anywhere in the world. Not only do traffic lights appear to be optional, but so does the side of the road on which one might choose to drive, the lane (or footpath) in which you might decide to career, and don’t even get me started on the speed at which taxi’s drive – usually on the wrong side of the road!!!

However, Nairobi has also impressed me greatly, and while I have been continually reminded of it’s reputation as Nairobbery, and as one of Africa’s least tourist-friendly cities, what I have seen to date has been very pleasantly surprising. However, I’ll leave that for another entry (which gives the local crooks time to change my views), as I still have a few hours left before my flight to New York.

My last entry covered my week in Iceland, from where I returned to the UK, in search of some much needed sunshine. (There are only very few places on earth that could be said to provide less sunshine than the UK, so I thought I’d better use this opportunity to document such a rare event!!!) 

Ice, Ice Baby! A week in Iceland!

Arriving in Iceland, Eliza and I were met at the airport by Stefan, whose wife Gudmunda had offered to have us to stay with her and her family. Gudmunda, Stefan, and their three energetic children live in a suburban home in Reykjanesbær, where we were welcomed with a pillow fight on the couch and dinner with the family, before Stefan took us out for a tour of the Reykjavik Peninsular.

The Reykjavik Peninsular stretches around 50km’s in the south-west corner of the country, and is the least ‘earthly’ place I have ever been – with volcanic geysers, lava cones and craters, and The Bridge Between Two Continents – a man-made bridge which spans the visible gap between the tectonic plates of Europe, and those of North America.

England!!!

Internet in Africa continues to prove almost impossible to find, and while I am posting this entry today, it was actually written over a month ago! I hope to catch up soon!!!

---------------

This evening I write from Etosha National Park, Namibia, a game-viewers paradise, and an absolutely spectacular home to my tent for two nights. Yesterday I ventured out on my first African game-drive, and was not disappointed! Ten lions, five rhino’s, dozens of zebra, giraffe, orix, kudu, springbok, hyenas and an elephant all joined forces to make my first day on safari one which I am sure not to forget. The Etosha campsite surrounds a stunning waterhole, and I apologise in advance for the standard of this entry – the 16 giraffe just metres in front of me, and the spectacular African sunset are sure to drag my concentration away from my computer screen!

"Aarhus, in the middle of our street..."

Today I write from Amman, Jordan, where I have spent the last couple of days in intense relaxation mode after what has been a week of extreme walking, climbing, and subsequent aching muscles, as I explored the ancient city of Petra, and the impressive sand dunes, rock faces and wadis of Wadi Rum. It’s been a sensational week, however I did learn the hard way never to trust a Pharmacist from Northern Ireland – as my planned leisurely stroll through the city of Petra turned into a waterfall-scrambling, rock-climbing, flab-converting race against the setting sun, as a seemingly straightforward adventure off the marked tourist trail dramatically turned into scenes reminiscent of Man vs. Wild. More of that in a future entry of course!

Later this afternoon, the next chapter of my adventure begins, and after a 26hr journey (including what is sure to be a thrilling 12hr overnight stopover in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), I will be well and truly back in the southern hemisphere, as I begin the ‘Overland Africa’ leg of my adventure in Cape Town, South Africa. It is set to be one of the more unusual journeys of my trip – a distance of over 8000km, crossing the Equator, and both the Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer – however while I will end up at a latitude just 1° north of Adelaide, the entire journey will take me across only one time zone! Having only ever travelled long haul to or from Australia, it seems preposterous I can travel that far without feeling the effects of jet lag… however I may feel the effects of sleeping on the floor in Jeddah Airport!!!

My last entry covered my travels up to Mamma’s Potatoes in Odense, Denmark, where I will pick up from today.

Mermaids, Mates and Mamma's Potatoes!

View from my room!

I write today from Cairo, Egypt – a country with evidence of human inhabitation dating back to the 10^th millennium BC, home to the famous Great Pyramids, Sphinx, River Nile, and The Valley of the Kings, and a country so recognisable it even has its own dance-move!!! However, even while surrounded by such rich history, and so many of the most iconic tourist attractions the world has to offer, it is in fact another aspect of Egypt which is more prevalent in my mind today – street food! It turns out my sensational dinner last night of Eggplant Baba Ghanoush, Arabic Bread, Ful Medames, Mahshi, Tahini, Molokhia, Pickled Chillies and a Fresh Salad (no doubt washed in the pristine waters of the Nile!) wasn’t in fact the best decision I have made on my travels. I’m not sure if it was the food, the water it was washed in, or the street vendors stall which very much resembled a portable public toilet block, with exposed plumbing, and a small gas stove on which my meal was cooked – but somewhere along the way the meal decided it didn’t really want to get along with my insides. However, while I lie on my bed in what I would like to rate as moderate-to-severe discomfort, and my guts feel more twisted and knotted than Tutankhamun’s bandages, it does give me an opportunity to catch up on my next blog!!! I’m sure the Egyptians have a God we can thank for that.

The Starr Spangled Banner - A Germerican Celebration!!!

Hamburg, Germany

It’s been almost six weeks since my last blog update – six weeks of great adventure, great fun… and judging by the Incredible-Hulk-like appearance of my shirt today, six weeks of way too much food! With the events of Awful-August now well and truly behind me, and Sensational-September living up to its name, I am now ready to catch up on my blog entries, and update you all on the events of the past six weeks.

My last entry (if you can remember back that far!) finished up in Bremen, on my way to Hamburg. Since then I have had a jam-packed adventure seeing the very best of Denmark, the UK, Iceland, Greece and Hungary – and meeting or catching up with a great assortment of amazing people along the way. To all those who let me into their homes (only once through an open window, thanks to the conveniently-skinny Eliza) families and lives over the last six weeks, I am incredibly grateful, and thank you for helping make this adventure the great success it has been. Also a big thanks to CSI Aaron, Adrienne, Dillon, Nick and Ali, Rachel, Eliza, Ros and Paul, and of course super-mum Amanda for helping me through the dramas of Awful-August – a month I am certain not to forget!

However, more importantly, this entry also signifies the inauguration of my brand new MacBook Air into the world of blogging! Replacing my MacBook Pro, the Air is a welcome addition to my carry-on luggage, and hopefully the slimming down of the computer may be contagious, and my five-months-in-Europe body may just follow suit!

I think that’s it for introductions – it’s time to get down to business!

I'm back!

I'm back!

After a month with no computer, I am finally back online!!! Of course, this also coincides with heading to Santorini, Greece, tomorrow morning, where I am sure to find better things to do than to update my blog entries... but I will do my best over the coming weeks to catch up!

Watch this space. And in the meantime, be jealous!

Edem Beach, Athens, Greece

Our not-so-bright trip to Brighton.

This morning I write from a crap Internet Cafe in Brighton, England, with computer keyboards which require Olympic strength to push individual keys, and an unusual smell which continues to waft from the ‘out of order’ bathroom directly next to me. Adding to the experience is the slight memory of last night, when Eliza, Aaron and I got ‘cakeholed’ at the hostel bar, and somehow ended up at a local cocktail lounge drinking only cocktails topped with whipped cream. MMM!

Unfortunately, after almost seven months of experiencing the very best of the human race, and meeting some of the most amazing, most hospitable and most generous people the world has to offer, two days ago, our luck ran out. The three of us went for a walk along the beach here in Brighton, leaving our luggage locked in a locker at the hostel, and unfortunately returned to find our bags somewhat emptier than we had left them. The padlock on the locker had been broken open, and the zip on my locked bag had been broken – and unfortunately it wasn’t my dirty washing that had been taken!

Sadly, I am now traveling minus my MacBook, camera charger and some foreign currency, and Eliza’s load has also been lightened thanks to the removal of her computer, bank cards and some other stuff in her bag. Luckily I had backed up all my photos a couple of weeks ago, so have only lost my photos of Germany and Denmark, and thanks to facebook, I still have some of these online. All my travel documents and vaccination certificates are now gone, as well as all my printed flight tickets, travel itinerary and insurance information – however we were lucky enough to be left a stolen mobile phone and camera in the bin next to Eliza’s bed... maybe the theif thought we would like to swap technology with some other unsuspecting victim?

Whodunnit???

While I am fairly angry to have lost my MacBook, it is the photos I am most disappointed about – and the fact my camera wasn’t stolen, but the theif decided to take my Australian camera charger (this is just plain annoying, and little use to anyone not in Australia!). The hostel security is fairly good, with the building, and then each room requiring a separate keycard to enter, and the manager went above and beyond to help us out and report the theft. One of the guests in our eight person dorm mysteriously left with all his luggage in the two hours we were down at the beach (even though he had a reservation to stay the night), and the hostel have passed his passport copy and credit card details on to the police – CSI Aaron has decided the guy is guilty, but even if he is, who knows if the passport and credit card were not stolen anyway? The police in Brighton have been extremely helpful, and thanks to the wonderful world of Apple and ‘Find My Mac’, I have been able to send through a map of an attempted sign on to the computer back in London the evening it was stolen.

Unfortunately this means I am computer-less for a while, and am going to have to find something else to do on the trains, buses and planes I usually write my blog entries on. It also means I will no doubt get behind with my entries, but I will do my best to write when I get the chance – and while it is extremely unlikely, I will continue to hold on to some hope I may one day get my photos back!

Pirates, pancakes and parties... My German adventure continues!

Today I write from Copenhagen, where I have spent the past week nursing the fragile Eliza back to full health, and enjoying the very best of what Denmark has to offer. It’s been a great week filled with great people, great weather, great food and great drink – but I’ll leave all that for another entry. For the moment, I will use my summer-tanned fingers to catch up on the rest of my time in Germany!

--------------------------

Wernigerode is a small town in Harz, Central Germany, and was the next stop on my German adventure. The narrow streets of the old town are lined with countless gothic buildings, and the impressive Wernigerode Castle looks down over the city from within the Lustgarten on a surrounding hill. I spent my two days in Wernigerode wandering the small streets and alleyways of the town centre, exploring the gardens, and walking up to the castle to admire the impressive view. The town is home to an abundance of gift stores and boutiques (well out of my budget!) and had more kitchen gadgets and gizmos than I could have ever imagined – the Germans really have thought of everything!!!

Weißwurst, Schießhaus and Kartoffelsalat - The Great German Gastronomic Adventure!

Today I write from Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, and I am fairly certain home to the BEST weather in the world today. The sun is shining, the sea breeze is refreshing, and the temperature has just hit 24° - perfect weather to sit on the grass in the park and catch up on a blog entry! My travels have continued to be action packed, with very little sleep in the last couple of weeks – yet some great memories to go with the long nights and early mornings!!!

I have been incredibly lucky to have stayed with the most amazing people since arriving back in Germany, and to everyone who has opened their homes to me, I can’t thank you all enough! It has been great to catch up with so many people who have spent time on my own couch in Adelaide, or travelled with me over the last couple of years, and I look forward to seeing you all again on whatever adventures the world offers us in the future.

Frankfurt, Germany

183 down... 183 to go. Half way!!!

Today marks the half way point of my journey; a journey which has so far taken me to 27 countries across three continents, has introduced me to an unbelievable number of amazing people, from an incredibly diverse range of backgrounds, religions, beliefs and cultures, and has opened my eyes – and my mind – to a world I could previously barely even imagine, let alone believe exists!

In many ways, it seems like only yesterday I was saying goodbye to my friends and family at Adelaide Airport, and setting out on an adventure I knew would change my life forever. I wasn’t well the day I left Australia, and my departure was a mix of nerves and excitement at the journey ahead, apprehension at leaving my family behind for so long, and plain misery as my fever took my temperature from boiling hot to freezing cold, and left me with a wonderful Australian farewell gift – an entire outfit of sweat-soaked clothes!

Brussels... bon chocolat, bon amis, et une blanchisserie!!!

Brussels, the capital of Belgium, was my next stop, and with Ali still in tow, we headed back across the English Channel in search of warmer weather, cheaper coffee, and after two weeks of taking it easy – another foreign language to deal with! Brussels is a big, bustling capital city – and with a central location within Europe, it also the capital of the European Union (EU), and home to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Where's me jumper? Ireland!!!

This afternoon I find myself in quite the unexpected situation – lying on a couch in the sun, on a balcony in Würzburg, Germany. Making the experience even more authentic ‘Deutschlandish’ is the luxury Mercedes dealership and car-yard the apartment overlooks, the smell of last night’s Wurst and Kammsteak dinner still wafting from the BBQ next to me, and the multiple crates of Flötzinger Bräu Beer stacked next to me – no doubt waiting for someone to find some energy and inspiration in the great weather to deal with them. I have become quite well acquainted with this exposed-to-the-elements couch (it has been my bed for the last couple of nights!), and while I am sure my choice of accommodation is not typical for this rather affluent area, I do consider myself quite the hero of the neighbourhood – I am the self-appointed protector of the entire luxury fleet of Mercedes vehicles below!!! I challenge you to find a guard dog that can not only watch over a full luxury car-yard, but can also dial the Polizia! Of course, I also challenge myself to be able to communicate with the operator once the call goes through.

After a whirlwind week back in Australia, my travels have now resumed as planned, and I am looking forward to three weeks of everything German (I may even try some of the food, just to mix things up a bit!), before heading north to Denmark, and then on to the UK for the remainder of the European summer. My well-intentioned plans to get up-to-date with my blog on the 28 hour journey back to Europe died at the exact moment the family of seven (with new-born twins, and one particularly pesky pair of 8 year old legs that enjoyed the back of my seat) sat down behind me on the plane, and any thoughts of catching up stayed hidden for the duration of the journey. Not that I would complain about such things – it was only a Sydney to Frankfurt flight… a mere 19 hours of fun!

My last entry finished off in Italy – thoroughly wined and dined – and after saying goodbye to Clem, Eliza and Lee, it was time to get in touch with my inner Leprechaun, as the next chapter of my journey began – Ireland!

Making love in Italy!!! Prego!

This morning I write from a massive chunk of engineering goodness, miraculously floating 10,000m in the air somewhere over the Middle East. My travel plans have taken a rather unexpected turn, as today I make the 16,000km journey back across the globe to Australia for a week, before returning to Europe to continue my journey as originally planned. I’ve made the extremely hard decision to fly home for my grandfather’s funeral, and while I am excited about seeing family and friends after over five months away, I am also apprehensive about heading home mid-journey – for this was a one year adventure I set out upon!

Sofia, Bulgaria

I have spent an amazing couple of weeks with friends in Italy, Ireland and Belgium, and my one-week holiday back to my own bed, and my mum’s cooking in Adelaide should provide ample time to catch up on blogs!!! My last update finished up in Skopje, Macedonia, and after a one night, whirlwind stopover in Sofia, Bulgaria, I was on my first plane in a while, on my way to the sunshine, stone-fruit and silliness of Italy!!!

Thanks for the memories.

If there is one thing my travels to date have taught me, it is that nothing in life is ever certain. No matter how thoroughly planned an adventure may be, no matter how well organised we may set out on our journey, and no matter how many possibilities and outcomes we may have imagined in our minds – there will always be times when things are beyond our control, and the big, wide world takes over.

Early this morning, the world I know changed forever. Surrounded by family, Puppa Bird – father, grandfather, great-grandfather, patriarch and chief nest builder of the Bird flock – passed away. I’ve spent some time today thinking about my grandfather, and what a remarkable person he was, and tonight I write from Ireland – a country which just days ago, he fondly recalled from his own childhood memories.

The Notebook

Before I left Australia, a friend of mine gave me something to take away with me. It’s called James Bird’s Traveling Church, and is a small notebook, filled with a series of prayers. Now, they’re not necessarily prayers of a certain religion or denomination, they’re not particularly written as a traditional prayer may be written, and some of them are not completely appropriate for the younger readers of the world, but as I read through them, cover to cover, the other day, I did realise how special they really are.

The prayers don’t all begin with God, Lord, Jehovah, Vishnu etc. and many of them don’t even finish with an Amen. Some of them rhyme, some of the flow well, and some of them are completely out of left field – which is somewhat to be expected, considering their author! Some prayers are of confession, some of them of thanks and appreciation, and some of them quite clearly set out as a challenge to the reader, and as a challenge to be passed on. Sarcasm in religion is always fun too, and there’s one particular prayer which leaves no question as to its purpose, yet entertains along the way.

Puckering up on the way to Pristina!

I am lost and confused today. For the first time in almost five months, I am in an English speaking country!!! I flew into Dublin, Ireland this morning, and am now on a train on my way to Galway, where I plan to be ridiculously lazy for the next few days, before meeting up once again with Ali. Unquestionably a more energetic and knowledgeable traveller than myself, Ali will no doubt inspire me to get out and see Ireland (and then Germany), however I do intend to make the most of the next few days to sit back and relax, soak up the few rays of sun the current gloomy weather will let me have, and of course… eat!

_______________________________

The road to Lake Koman

Up bright and early, I was in for a day of adventure, as I left the chaos and congestion of Shkodra behind, and set out to conquer Albania’s Lake Koman Ferry crossing. Having read about the ferry crossing online, I was surprised by the lack of information provided to tourists in the area, but assumed (being Europe), everything would be very easy, self-explanatory, and comfortable. How wrong I was!

The Balkans

It’s been a non-stop couple of weeks, filled with great food, friends and some of the most spectacular scenery of my trip so far – and today I write from an Italian train, with the rolling hills, vineyards and orchards of Tuscany providing the perfect backdrop and inspiration to write yet another delayed blog entry. I’ve spent the last few days with Muko and Scooder, and as we continue our search for the most amazing food, wine, live music and karaoke Italy has to offer, I do find myself wondering if it really is all that necessary to keep traveling – surely I could just spend the rest of my year here??? We’re off today to Reggio Emilia, where I thought I had struck gold with some absolute bargain accommodation – however it turns out all I struck was the epi-centre of last weeks earthquake – no wonder the prices were so cheap!

From the Poles to the Polls!

Walking across the
Slovakian border

Ždiar is the largest village in a group called Belá Tatras, right near the Polish border in Slovakia. Filled with quaint ‘Goral Cottages’, the town is set in a picturesque valley, surrounded by the most-impressive Tatras Mountains, and is home to a small local history museum, a post office, a few small restaurants, a much-raved-about pizza place (which was never open while I was around!), and The Goulash Man – who drunkenly slumbers in the kitchen of his restaurant, and once woken up, makes an amazing goulash at any hour of the day. Of course, he then goes straight back to sleep behind the counter!!!

I spent three nights in Ždiar, staying at ‘The Ginger Monkey’ – an old house-turned-hostel (where unfortunately one of the staff took an immediate dislike to me, and can only be described as a total bitch) – and conquering the ‘Lake Walk’, the ‘River Walk’, and ‘The Goulash’. I spent every available moment relaxing in the sun, teaching fellow travellers the life-changing goodness of ‘Prawo Dzungli’, reliving childhood riddles and games, and buying a canister of dry ice to burn each others warts and other travel-in-India-related growths off of our bodies. Entertaining to say the least!

The walk was worth it - the lake!

Poland - the good, the bad, and the inside of the wardrobe!

This morning I write from central Romania, speeding along the railway from Cluj Napoca to Sighisoara, a small city in southern Transylvania, and one of the many debated homes of the famous Count Dracula! Tomorrow marks 4 months of travel, and it’s hard to believe I am already one third of the way through my adventure; however I must be beginning to miss the comforts of home, because right now it’s tempting to pay a return air ticket just to pop home for one of mums vegetarian lasagnes, and a decent bread and butter pudding!

The Market Square, Warsaw

Warsaw, the capital of Poland, is a fantastic big and busy city, which has borne the brunt of conflict throughout the ages, and today offers an amazing look at European history throughout the past 1000 years. Unfortunately I unwittingly chose to visit Warsaw on Constitution Day, in which all the shops were closed, and the streets closed for various parades and celebrations, however still had a great day wandering the crowded streets and doing some decent people watching!

Food, glorious food... and a bit of travel!!!

Ingrida explains
Latvian weights

Climbing off the bus in Ventspils, I was met by the always smiling, super hospitable, friendly and chatty Ingrida. Ingrida and her daughter Marija live in Ventspils, a small port city on the Latvian coast, a bumpy three hour bus ride out of Riga, and home to an array of weird, yet wonderful surprises dotted throughout the streets and parks of the small city. Home for the next few nights was Ingrida’s quaint and homely cottage, in the outskirts of the city, and filled to the brim with family photographs, souvenirs, knick-knacks, flowers and food, all surrounded by her beautiful garden – quite the impressive view from her cottage kitchen window!

The BEST cheese EVER!

The cottage has been in Ingrida’s family for many years, and although it has no bathroom, plumbed water or mains gas, has to be one of the most welcoming, warm and comfortable places I have stayed. I was greeted on my first afternoon with a wonderful hot stew for lunch, straight off the wood stove, and accompanied perfectly with delicious dark Latvian bread and butter – and this was just the start of the food!!! Throughout my days in Ventspils, I was incredibly spoilt with amazing Latvian food, happily devouring my way through loaves of dark, seeded bread, multiple desserts, chocolate, coffee, cheese, wine, more cheese, a bit more cheese, and hot cooked breakfast, accompanied by yet more bread… and more cheese of course! The food was ‘sensational’, cooked and consumed beside the wood stove in the small kitchen, and made better only by the interesting, challenging and thought provoking conversations that went with it.

Bring on the Baltics!

Sunshine!!!

It’s been a while since my last update, but I have been inundated with great weather, great company, and great food… and that leaves little time to worry about blogging! Today I have, however, managed to combine these all together, and I am writing from beneath a beech tree, lying on the grass beside the Vilnius Cathedral Square, munging into a selection of thigh-increasing chocolates and lollies, watching the world pass me by. I have been in mainland Europe now (I still don’t know where Russia belongs!) for just over two weeks, enjoying the mild (and now even warm!) weather, learning about the history and culture of the Baltic states, meeting countless amazing people with amazing stories to tell, and getting back in touch with the many western comforts I had come to forget about in my 3 of travel so far.

The end of the line! Moscow awaits!

I may as well call this blog ‘Public Transport of the World’, as I again find myself typing between destinations, this time on an incredibly comfortable ‘luxury’ coach between Tartu, Estonia, and Riga, Latvia. The on-board wifi, coffee machine and flat screen TV do make this a slightly more comfortable and enjoyable journey than some of those earlier on in my travels, and the lack of wandering livestock, potholes, the inclusion of seatbelts and the fact the bus actually has windows makes me feel so much safer – and yes mum, I am wearing my seatbelt!

The smuggle-train to Moscow!

With what seemed a ridiculous supply of two-minute noodles, porridge and packet soup, one final lukewarm shower, and my last glimpse at a motionless toilet seat, we were back on the train, bound for Moscow – a 5 day, 6000km journey that would take us through seemingly endless Russian wilderness, follow the southern banks of the beautiful Lake Baikal, and expose us to quaint, small villages and towns obviously left behind in Russia’s natural resource boom, and the strong post-Soviet economy.

All aboard!!! The Trans-Mongolian begins!

The weather in Moscow is dreary, I have walked around the city for days, and I am feeling incredibly fat and lazy… so it is therefore time to update the blog!!! Don’t miss the map I have now added to the bottom of the blog – it’s beginning to look like a real trip!

 

Confucius says...

Today I write from the Trans-Mongolian Railway, bumping along the tracks between Irkutsk and Zima, relaxing on my incredibly narrow top-bunk as we slowly make our way past small, ramshackle Russian towns, two days into the five day non-stop journey to Moscow. Crossing the Mongolia/Russia border in the early hours of this morning, the day has been spent eating, eating, and eating a bit more, as the train snaked around the shores of the humongous Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest lake (average depth 744.4m), and some of the most amazing scenery Russia has to offer. The five-day non-stop journey to Moscow is sure to be a great adventure – with no shower, no opening windows, and no English speaking Provinitzas adding to the fun. The journey from Beijing, a roughly 8000km trip, takes around 7 days from end-to-end, however stopovers in Hohhot and Ulaanbaatar have reduced the levels of filth between showers, and provided some life-changing experiences (just ask the horse I decided to ride with my 100kg+ self!).

It has been a while since my last update, which ended in Wuhan, China, but with 6000km left to travel, I am sure to catch up on the train!!!

Forget MKR... PRC is where it is at!!!

It’s been two weeks since I arrived in China, and I am only just catching up with my blog! I had very mixed feelings about heading to China, from what had (scarily!) become so comfortable and familiar in India and Nepal, and with a few bad reviews from travellers I had met along the way, I wasn’t sure China was going to be the place for me. However, I have been absolutely blown away by the friendly, caring and genuine people I have met, the experiences I have had, and the many things I have learnt along the way. As the two most highly populated countries in the world, there are definite similarities between India and China, however at the same time, the two countries couldn’t possibly be more different if they tried! China isn’t perfect (for starters, facebook and my blog have been censored by the government!), and there have been countless times when I have questioned my own travels here, questioned the ‘history’ I have read or been told, and countless times I have found myself looking around, wondering if I am the only person to think the latest fact I have been told is actually as disturbing as it sounds, while it is talked up as a fantastic, positive tourism-attracting opportunity. However, while the people may not be as ‘friendly’ as those in India, at least I have some freedom to walk the streets without being called ‘my friend’, and being pressured into a shop, and while I find myself constantly being photographed while walking the streets (or handed new-born children at the zoo to have their photo taken with a tall, western tourist… who cares about the Panda’s anyway!), at least I can travel on public transport without being touched and poked, and without old Indian women admiring my height, before yelling out, “so fat!”. Ah, the things India got me used to!

Shanghai

I arrived in Hangzhou (about 2 hours out of Shanghai), sick, exhausted and in desperate need of a shower and a good nights sleep. With accommodation booked in Shanghai for the next few nights, I found myself a shuttle bus (which I was initially concerned drove on the right hand side of the road… until I realised all vehicles in China do!), and settled in for the 2 hour drive through the outskirts of the two cities (even at their quietest, there was still more going on than in and Australian city’s CDB). This first journey, between Hangzhou and Shanghai, was ample time for me to realise the drastic differences between India and China, and the drastic changes I was going to have to make to my spending habits without delay!!! The bus cost $20!!! That’s 10x more than I had paid just days earlier for a bus that took 7 hours!!! Ridiculous – who do these Chinese take me for? The journey (while outrageously expensive) was smooth and incident free, however also turned out to be incredibly boring – with no livestock to share the vehicle, no pushy vendors to sell their wares at bus-stops and traffic lights, no pot-holes or unsealed roads, no chai-masala-urn-carrying-baristas, no rickshaws to cut the bus off on dangerous corners – and no musicians boarding the bus at the most inconvenient times to busk with absolute no talent, ability, or understanding of basic musical knowledge! What was I supposed to do for two hours?

Arriving in Shanghai, I found my way to the subway (a spacious luxury I had almost forgotten), and made my way to my hostel – where I spent the next three days recovering in my bunk – fortressed off from the rest of the cruel world by a barricade of pillows, sleeping bag and a web of mac and iPad cords – my life support system in my time of greatest need!

Clear footpaths... GASP!

Three days after arriving in China, I decided it was time to finally get some sightseeing done, and set out for a day of adventure. I spent the morning wandering the streets and parks of Shanghai, enjoying People’s Square, The Bund and Shanghai Museum, and avoiding the plagues of scamming young students keen to lure unsuspecting tourists into overpriced tea ceremonies and café’s, the groups of Chinese tourists keen to subtly capture a shot of the tall white guy in their group photographs, and the hoards of street artists eager to write my name and country in water on the pavement… only for it to soon evaporate… and make me feel even worse about the money I obviously wasted by purchasing such a strange souvenir opportunity!

That's how you do a
Christmas Tree, Adelaide!!!

With a population greater than the entire population of Australia, Shanghai is a massive, bustling and energetic city. The streets and parks are well organised, planned, and signposted in English, and the roads, footpaths and buildings are clean, modern, and (possibly the greatest shock to me… supplied with 24 hour electricity!). The city is built on the banks of the Huangpu River, with the old city one side, and the relatively new (built on farmland in the mid 1990’s) Pudong district lining the banks of the other. The curve of the river makes the city’s skyline appear to have been built for photos – and the never-ending work of the countless cranes and workmen on construction sites all over the city make it clear that Shanghai does not sleep while there is work to be done. However, wandering the city street, it became clear there is a lot more to the city than big business and construction, and I found myself easily wiling away my afternoons in the small alleyways and markets of the city (Qibao was AMAZING!!!), and the amazing French Concession district – a district Adelaide should (and easily could) work toward recreating, and where (if I was wealthy!) I would still be right now!

The Yellow Crane Tower

From Shanghai, I boarded a fast train to Wuhan, a small city (population is only half that of Australia) in the Hubei province, about 850km inland from Shanghai. I arrived in Wuhan with a great plan – I was going to turn up at my accommodation, meet a huge selection of western tourists wanting to head up-stream through the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, book a cheap, local, non-English speaking boat together, and spend four glorious nights sailing through some of the worlds most amazing river scenery – completely un-phased by our lack of Mandarin language, and the fact we were on a Chinese river boat. Of course, things never go to plan.

• Issue #1 – Arriving in Wuhan, I was greeted with the train station. Now, I don’t think any words of the English language can possibly sum up the experience of arriving in a Chinese railway station… however I will try. Bedlam. Confusion. Chaos. Crowding. Durrie-smoke-in-you-face. Ridiculous. I have never in my whole life seen so many people in a train station!!! On average, over 4 million passengers catch the train daily in China, and I swear the day I arrived in Wuhan, they had all decided that was the place to be!

• Issue #2 – I only speak English. This hasn’t caused me too many troubles so far, however it turns out that inland China, in a city where you are the only western tourist, and not even the street signs have an English translation, this can be a slight issue. Catching a bus from the station, I then had to find my way to my accommodation – a task which saw me playing all kinds of charade-style games with the locals, who then gave me a range of confident hand gestures as to where I needed to go – from continuing in my current direction, to turning around completely, to turning left at the intersection, and even one woman (who spoke a little bit of English) who suggested perhaps I had already walked past my accommodation but hadn’t seen the sign, as it would no doubt have been placed at a height appropriate to the locals. Thanks love, I’m not that tall!!!

• Issue #3 – Arriving at my accommodation (which had outdoor showers… if only China wasn’t so polluted you could stargaze while in the shower!), I was faced with the biggest issue of my plan so far – I was the only western tourist! Sharing a dorm room with a number of students who were obviously living out of the room for an extended period of time, it quickly became obvious my plan to meet a group of people keen on traveling together was getting less likely by the minute, and I instead decided to focus on seeing what I could of Wuhan in the disgraceful pollution and wet weather, and move on in search of some English speaking company.

I spent two days walking the streets, parks, and tourist sites of Wuhan, learning about the history of the Hubei Province, modern art in China, and how very inconvenient travel is when a city has no metro system, tram lines or busses with English translation or numerical routes. The hostel, while I came across no other western tourists, was a great place to stay, and I enjoyed talking to a number of Chinese students with varying levels of English, and was incredibly lucky to be invited into the kitchen one night, to try my hand at making dumplings, meatballs, and a popular soup which reminded me of dirty dishwater. Yum!

My time in China has been eye-opening to say the least!!! From clean, modern city streets, skyscrapers and underground shopping centres the size of an Adelaide suburb, to ancient temples and architecture which makes the Festival Theatre look modern, China is full of the unexpected. The smells, sounds, sights and excitement of the market stalls, alleyways, and shopping districts, the tourist sites, and the public transport never seem to end, and just when you think you have something sorted out, and you have finally managed to get your head around something, everything changes and you have to begin all over again!