Comin' back - Bent

I, I walked along and I wound my way round
I, I saw a light, shining bright
I, I'm not sure
Is it too late to call
so I keep my eyes to the floor
Oh I, I can't carry this load anymore
Oh I'm so afraid to call on your door

Feeling so alone
Along a lonely road
Feeling so alone
Well I'm comin' back

I walked along the water's edge
I saw my reflection stare back
I don't know where I'm going
But I know where I've been
Some days I don't fit in my own skin
Oh I, I can't carry this load anymore
Oh I'm so afraid to call on your door
Oh I can't carry this load anymore
Oh I, I'm comin' back
Comin' back

Last update (for this trip) and whereabouts

In the last month and a half I've been writing exams, telling about myself to people I've never met and even wearing a suit for the first time! Yes, I was searching for a job in Sydney. During that process I have realized that heading back to Israel will benefit me best professionally at the moment. Therefore I'm packing my stuff and this Saturday, with 21 world leaders (or not, see www.apec.org) I'm flying out of Sydney after six months. I'll spend two nights in Bangkok and on the 10th of September, 23:10, I'll hit the ground of the holy land, 11 months (and two days) after I've left it.

I thank all the people in Sydney, my family, new friends and their friends who hosted me as if we knew each other before (well, some actually did), who have made my visit here so special. I was glad to find that most of you are not riding kangaroos to work, nor fighting crocodiles, eating Vegemite or dodging deadly spiders, and that Max Brener has more branches here than in Israel. I'm glad I came here to find that out myself. If you ever happen to visit Israel don't hesitate to get in touch and I'll take you on a camel ride (kidding, unless you really insist).

For everyone back home, see you very soon!

Closing time - Semisonic

Closing time
Open all the doors and let you out into the world
Closing time
Turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl
Closing time
One last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer
Closing time
You don't have to go home but you can't stay here

I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home

Closing time
Time for you to go out to the places you will be from
Closing time
This room won't be open till your brothers or your sisters come
So gather up your jackets, move it to the exits
I hope you have found a friend
Closing time
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
Take me home

Game Over

I arrived two days ago back to Sydney, ending 2 months of travel in Australia, which are part of a total travel of 9 months (and 1 week) in a corner of the world. In that time I went through 7 countries (actually visiting 6), 5 out of 8 Australian states, more than 5 islands, with the help of 4 Lonely Planet guides (and another I didn't even open, just got it nicely soaked with water), 3.5 reading books, 1 camera which produced about 15GB of data, which are 8248 photos, 961 of them ended up on Flickr, 12 flights (out of them 7 domestic), 2 overnight train rides, almost endless bus rides, day and night, ferries and 1 rented car, who circled Tasmania for 1700km. My longest trek lasted 20 days, my longest tour 11, but the average was 3. I went rafting for 3 days, climbed 4 walls, visited the under water world 18 times, but mostly walked, a lot. I visited 2 doctors, 1 physiotherapist, had 3 colds and 0 traveler's diarrheas. But who counts, right?

This journey would not have been what it was without a lot of people. First, a huge community of travelers. A group of open-minded people who were willing to share the way the life in their countries really are, shading a different light than the stereotypes and TV and newspapers based knowledge I came with. Then there are the people I met from each country I visited, which added the spices and herbs to make each spot more than a collection of natural and artificial attractions. Finally the great group of people I left home (and around the world), my family and friends, who, though far far away, were always there to encourage, support, advise, help, criticize and comment.

If you'll be looking for me, I will be in Sydney for the next two months, trying to figure out what I'll be doing next without a backpack (and keep myself warm with those blasted cold waves). After that you might find me in Bangkok, maybe around Road Rambuttri, eating stir fried rice on the street, or maybe even at Haad Yao, Koh Phangan, reading a book and watching the sunset. Somewhere around the beginning of October, I'll head back home.

חתולי - בוטן מתוק בקרקס

חתול חתולי בתוך קופסת קרטון
תעשו לי קצת חורים אני רוצה לנשום היום
פיתולים פיתולים מתיר את הקשרים
פינת החדר ואני אני ואת

אם את כאן או לא כאן
אם את באה והולכת
אני לבד אני חושב
מי בכלל הסכים לך מי נתן לך רשות
להסתובב אצלי בתוך הלב

בלבולים בלבולים איבדתי מזמן
את הדרך ולאן לאן לאט

אם את כאן או לא כאן
אם את באה והולכת
אני לבד אני חושב
מי בכלל הסכים לך מי נתן לך רשות
להסתובב אצלי בתוך הלב

Do what you have to do - Sarah McLachlan

What ravages of spirit
conjured this temptuous rage
created you a monster
broken by the rules of love
and fate has lead you through it
you do what you have to do
and fate has led you through it
you do what you have to do ...

and I have the sense to recognize that
I don't know how to let you go
every moment marked
with apparitions of your soul
I'm ever swiftly moving
trying to escape this desire
the yearning to be near you
I do what I have to do
the yearning to be near you
I do what I have to do
but I have the sense to recognize

that I don't know how
to let you go
I don't know how
to let you go

a glowing ember
burning hot
burning slow
deep within I'm shaken by the violence
of existing for only you

I know I can't be with you
I do what I have to do
I know I can't be with you
I do what I have to do
and I have sense to recognize but
I don't know how to let you go
I don't know how to let you go
I don't know how to let you go

Private road - Bent

My heart from now is a private road
No thoroughfare
No heavy load
No slow traffic
No graphic details
Cold or collision
No more stories to make me end

I'll always love you, still you are mine
Why do you have to take so much time calling me?
I just wanted it to be easy like
Sunday morning

Snow falls in silence and covers the green
Still you can see where the birds have been
Hungry but alive and free
Waiting

Up along the East coast in a month and a half, part 1

The means: A hop on hop off bus ticket, a golden plastic card backed up with a luxurious bank account and, as one intelligent guy once said, underwear ( In my case, ten of them).

The mission: Go through about 3000km of beaches and other natural attractions, fake ones too, hostels, pubs (sometimes the same thing) and drunk travelers.


15-16 May - Coffs Harbour


A nice town I liked for its nice coastal scenery. My highlight was walking up to mutton bird hill, a nesting spot for the mutton birds! They weren't there when I was but the view was excellent. Other than that there is a nice mangrove walk and pretty big botanical gardens.
The YHA hostel over there was one of the best, with very friendly staff and rides to a local hotel for cheap dinner and backpackers' gathering.

17-20 May - Byron Bay



Hippie Byron Bay is definitely that. But other than that it has a nice beach, a lovely national park with the most easterly point in Australia and a relaxed atmosphere. Off the beach you can see Julian Rocks, my first diving spot along the cost. I went for one dive with Sundive and saw many Wobegong sharks, one Leopard shark and a turtle. The sea conditions were pretty rough as the sun decided to disappear just when I needed it (this element will repeat quite a few times in the story). Nevertheless, the visibility under the water was excellent, one of the best I ever had. It was also the first time I went into the water commando style, rolling backwards.
I stayed first at Arts Factory Lodge, a famous hostel. It was quite unique but a bit too expensive for the facilities it provided. I moved after a few days to Cape Byron YHA which was very good.

21-22 May - Surfers Paradise



A paradise? Maybe, I'm not sure for who. The main activity around here is clubs or pubs "crawling". The bad weather decided to join in on my arrival day. From stories I have heard, I'm not the only one to whom it happened. I believe it might be more than a coincidence.



The main reason I arrived to Surfers Paradise was Dream World, a rides theme park. So the next the day, with excellent weather, I went there for some roller coasters fun. I was disappointed to know that the park closes at five. In contrast, the Six Flag parks in USA close at midnight. On the other hand, I went in the middle of the week and there was not that much to do. So I did the big five thrill rides about seven times each, except for the roller coaster, which was quite lame. The ushers on the big five insist that you strip off your belongings and anything that is not attached to you. Fortunately there are reusable lockers for the whole day. The ride that maintained its excitement level throughout repeated rides was the Claw


The free fall won second place.

23-25 May - Brisbane



Brisbane is a nice spot, but not a lot of places of interest to me. The main area of interest is the South bank of the river. There are quite a few museums for modern art and the like. There is a nice park, some nice take away dining and an artificial beach with real bodies.


I took a bus to mountain Coot-Tha, which has a view over the city.



From there I walked down a trail that leads to a now dried waterfall, because of recent years' draught. Next stop was the planetarium on the way down. I have watched a movie about our galaxy and Brisbane's night sky. The movie was shown around three. Being in a very very dark room at this time of the day meant that I had a good nap too.

I went to the city hall, visited the mayor's office and wondered around. You can go up to the clock tower of the city hall, which is a famous(?) symbol of Brisbane. Sadly, the only view from up there is of the skyscrapers surrounding it. The botanic gardens are a nice spot to have a quiet afternoon.

In Brisbane I met Stacy, whom I met in a hostel in Hobart, Tasmania. She is studying at Brisbane, but originates from Taiwan.

My hostel was a nice one, if a bit expensive. One day before my departure, the cleaners "cleaned" a bit more than they were supposed to. I found some of my personal belongings at their room, one thrown out at the corridor and that's about it. The manager had them look for the stuff but it wasn't found. The story hasn't ended yet. The annoying part is not hearing an apology from him (or anyone else in that matter, though one of the cleaner might have said something...).

26-27 May - Noosa



Noosa was a stop I didn't plan but came out quite well. There are actually a few "Noosa"s around, Noosa head, Noosa hill and more. The place has a mellow atmosphere to it, even though it is quite commercialised and oriented more towards those with deep pockets. Next to the beach is a national park with several walking tracks and koalas, if you can spot them. The marking of the tracks was the best I ever seen. I stayed at the Halse Lodge YHA, which is a historical building (but with modern facilities...).

A trip I did not know about and therefore missed was going through a place called the everglades for a few days with a kayak.

Status update

Hi! I'm still here. I'm just updating verrrry slow. That's mostly due to being busy and to the amazingly "fast" Internet connections around here.

I'm at Darwin at the moment. I arrived three days ago and I will stay here four more days. This is because I made a mistake by not taking into account the school holidays. All the flights to Sydney are booked and the only seats available are for three times the price. Therefore my flight back to Sydney, and the end of this part of the trip, is on the 16th of July.

The weather here is warm and sunny, blue sky and no cloud in sight. After three weeks on the East coast without a glimpse of the sun, fast winds and rain, I'm not in a hurry to go back to cold Sydney. It was supposed to be the dry season on the East coast, but it wasn't. Even the locals admitted it was a bit weird.

Another reason I'm happy to be here is that I had enough of the East coast. After a while, some of the things repeat themselves. My biggest two disappointments were the Whitsunday islands cruise and Cape Tribulation (I will expand more on it later) which wasn't so special. Of course, everything is relative. Cape Tribulation came right after Mission beach, which gave me all the rain forest I needed. The day after I went on a tour to a place called the Atherton Tablelands. It was much better than the Cape Tribulation tour.

On the 5th of July I am going on an eleven day tour, starting from Darwin and ending up in Alice Springs. The tour is actually made out of three separate tours: A three days Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks tour, three days Darwin to Alice Springs tour and four days center tour. The witty ones noticed that there are actually ten days. The eleventh day is a explore Alice Springs day at your own expense (accommodation included).

After that I will be over with traveling for now.

More than meets the eye

I couldn't help it, the heat, the intense light outdoors and the cool and dark promising interior. Not to mention to see my childhood action figures (about eighteen years ago...). Thus I went to see the Transformers. The action scenes were brilliant. They made up for the fact that the movie's skeleton was a teen-flick, boy wants girl, etc. and other senseless acting, especially by John Turturo. The transformers are enough of an attraction without the annoying teenage scenes.
Enjoy!

Sucked in


Spreading out on too many things wastes your time. But it was inevitable and I am now on Facebook too. My main web-sites for the moment are still Flickr and Blogger, but I'll be maintaining facebook too, for the sake of travel "relations". So check it out.

Alcohol

Australia has a lot of laws to limit people's consumption of alcohol. For example, from certain time of the night, alcohol can be served only in small quantities, like pots (for all the serving volumes and their names check here); Two days ago I met someone I knew, who was sitting in an outdoor area of a pub. She stood up to talk to me. After a few minutes one of the pub's guards came over and asked her to sit while she was in that region, because "it is the law"; The law also defines areas where consumption of alcohol is forbidden. They can be inside hostel rooms or even a block of houses.
So why, with all these restrictions, I see so many drunk people around? Probably it has to do with all the bottles shops around... For them (and just to post another song) I dedicate the following song, "Alcohol" by the Barenaked Ladies

Alcohol, my permanent accessory
Alcohol, a party-time necessity
Alcohol, alternative to feeling like yourself
O Alcohol, I still drink to your health

I love you more than I did the week before
I discovered alcohol

Forget the cafe latte, screw the raspberry iced tea
A Malibu and Coke for you, a G&T for me
Alcohol, Your songs resolve like
my life never will
When someone else is picking up the bill

I love you more than I did the week before
I discovered alcohol
O Alcohol, would you please forgive me?
For while I cannot love myself
I'll use something else

I thought that Alcohol was just for those with
nothing else to do
I thought that drinking just to get drunk
was a waste of precious booze
But now I know that there's a time
and there's a place where I can choose
To walk the fine line between
self-control and self-abuse

I love you more than I did the week before
I discovered alcohol
Would you please ignore that you
found me on the floor
Trying on your camisole?
O Alcohol, would you please forgive me?
For while I cannot love myself
I'll use something else.

Standards of living

While I was in Asia Orit, a friend of mine, asked me how do I handle the degradation of the standards of living I was used to. It came to my mind again while traveling in Australia. While I was in Asia I used to have a room all to myself, sometimes sharing it with someone else, with en suite bathroom. I always ate out, whether in restaurants or on the street, whether noodles, rice dishes, organic salads or croissants.

In Australia, a Western country, prices are Western too. Therefore I sleep in rooms of four, six or eight people. My earplugs have finally began proving their worth. The bathroom is en suite some times but it can also be on the other end of a corridor. The quality and prices vary, but they are not necessarily related. I mostly go to YHA hostels. They are a bit more expensive and tend to be quieter, in contrast to hostels defining themselves as "party" hostels. When ordering a package from a travel agency on the East coast, you get vouchers that give discounts for several hostels on the East coast. I use the vouchers to know where not to stay for the night and, on the other hand, where to go out to.

I have a green bag full of groceries I fill up in the big supermarkets, like Woolworths or Coles. For breakfast I eat muesli with yogurt (actually quite good, might turn out to be my new breakfast). At evening I "cook" an instant pasta meal from a bag, improved with some canned "goods" (that's how my cousin, who traveled up the East coast too, calls them) like tuna (in flavors!) or salmon. For lunch I go for the cheapest food I can find. It usually consists of either fish and chips or a burger. I started going for the "works" or the "lot" burger, consisting of a tiny burger topped with lettuce, tomato, beetroot, fried egg, bacon, cheese and pineapple. Unfortunately, in Australia the cheapest food is junk food (nothing like Humus or Falafel). You can get a huge box of chocolate chip cookies for two dollars! and for the same price, half a banana (exaggerated a bit...). The basic menu of take away store will consist of fish, chips and burgers.

There is a positive side of course. Traveling is much easier. Everything is in English and almost everything is online. There are information centers and loads of brochures. Sometimes the huge selection is actually confusing and that's where talking to other travelers helps sorting things out a bit.

And one last complaint, why the Internet tends to be really slow in a lot of places? Why it was easier to burn DVDs in Asia than in Australia??

Shaq

On Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, I was hanging out with Amaya and Nathalie. They have decided to call me "Shaq" in order to deal with the problem of pronouncing my name by languages, like English, without the relevant sounds. I never thought this would come in handy later on. I usually spell my first name when it comes to registering at hostels and similar, but of course it can be avoided when meeting people. If I would have taught each and every one of them, it would have taken ages! So I compromised with "Shaq" and that is how I introduce myself. Last night I went dancing with some English fellows, and you can imagine what happened when the song "Love shack" by the B-52 played...

12

12GB was the amount of space the photos from this trip so far took on a hard drive when I checked it a week ago. So dear friends, no photos presentation when I come back! (More likely, Flickr will do the job for me)

Brainwashed

I forgot to bring along something to connect my MP3 player to the car. Therefore I was obliged to listen to the local stations. I found one that I could receive everywhere, when I had reception. It was Sea FM Hobart. I spent most of my driving time with these guys , which was fun, but I the station has a top 40 limited play list, so I was brainwashed. Here are the songs I was brainwashed to like:

JT - What goes around
Nerina Pallot - Everybody's gone to war
The Fray - How to save a life
Thirsty Merc - 20 good reasons
Evermore - Light surrounding you
Avril Lavigne - Keep holding on. Another waltz song similar to the one from the first album (I'm with you?)
Snow Patrol - Hands open
TV Rock vs Dukes of Windsor - The others
MIKA - Grace Kelly
KT Tunstall - Suddenly I see
Missy Higgins - Steer

My Tasmanian tour

I circled Tasmania in ten days. It was intensive and exhausting and you might want to focus on one area instead. Here's my itinery, which is mostly based on walks.

23-25 April - Hobart. It took me a while to decide what I want to do. It is not necessary to stay there for three days, though it's a neat place.
Things I did and saw:
Cadbury factory - They really have chocolate flowing in their pipes, unlike Max Brener.
Mt. Wellington - Either by walk or by a tour, there is no bus going all the way up. Check the pinnacle state before going, and cross your fingers, it can disappear in minutes. Mt. Nelson is an alternative
Eating fish and chips at constitution dock
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery - Hey, it's free.
Cascade Brewary - I actually missed that.
The botanical garden - A nice place to sit and relax, even if you're not into flora.
Salamance place - For coffee and for the market if you're on Saturday (which I haven't)
Battery point - For historical buildings
North Hobart - Restaurants and pubs. More live than the center at evening. Just go up Elizabeth st. (quite a bit).

Get a car and start moving! (A note about renting cars: The insurance doesn't cover/charges more on accidents happening on unsealed roads. Now guess what? Half of Tasmania has unsealed roads!)
I refer to walks at the 60 great short walks booklet, http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/pdf/GreatShortWalks.pdf

26 April - A taste of the South East. Tahune Forest reserve and Air walk, lake Esperance (30) or South Cape bay (33). In real I haven't done neither of the two walks because I started a bit late. The later one is less recommended because it is a bit far. On the other hand, you'll be on the South most point in Australia. Next stop Antarctica! A night in Dover.

27 April - This was an insane day. Dover lake, then a drive to Kettering, a ferry to Bruni island(check the schedule beforehand so you won't miss a precious hour!), South Bruni walk (34) all the way up to Fluted Cape. Then a ferry back, a drive back to Hobart and to Port Arthur, arriving just on time for a Port Arthur ghost tour, without killing any animals on the road, including yourself. A night in Port Arthur.

28 April - The Port Arthur Historic site includes an introductory tour (a good way to start) and a short cruise (oh well). At one thirty the devils are fed at the Tasmanian Devil Conservation park, you can hand feed a kangaroo at two thirty and continue to the bird show at three thirty. I could use more time at Port Arthur, but that's compromising. This time a night at eaglehawk neck, not far away.

29 April - The blowhole, Tasman arch and Devil's kitchen, then a walk all the way to waterfall bluff (36 + more). I mistakenly started at Devil's kitchen and did exactly walk 36, though you can drive more, get to the bay and start walking from there to the Bluff. A night at Coles bay, quite a drive away. If you have time do walk 44 (too long name, oh well, Loon.tite.ter.mair.re.le.hoin.er.) from Swansea. It was too late for me. I also totally skipped Maria island.

30 April - Wineglass bay lookout (47) to Wineglass bay(48) and back through Hazards beach (Basically we did 49, the whole bonanza. Looking at the map again, I think we had a mixture of the walks. Oh yeah, and that day I walked with Eric and Maike). Cape tourville (46) is your next stop, a nice lookout. A short drive to Bicheno, where I barely arrived to the Penguin tour. Later I discovered I could go and see the penguins on my own, but the tour does add some extra information and knows where and what to look for. A night in Bicheno

1 May - Bicheno foreshore walk, then Apsley river waterhole (50) and gorge (51). The river was a bit high for me to cross it so I had to pass on seeing the gorge. So I went to St. Helens and went to see the bay of fires. At that point I was getting a bit sick of the beaches scenery and look forward for a change.

2 May - St. Helens point walk and Peron dunes. Then I started the drive on highway A3 to Scottsdale, which is the most scenic road I had. On the other hand, it's the most curved one. On the way I stopped at St. Columbia falls (31), in which the walk was more interesting than the waterfalls themselves. For late lunch I stopped at the Pub in the Paddock. Then a long drive to Launceston, and a walk to see the Cataract gorge at night.

3 May - Walk around Cataract gorge. It was raining and I wasn't prepared properly, so I spent most of the time in the cafe there. Then a drive to Sheffield, city of murals, and from there to Cradle valley.

4 May - Dove lake circuit (5) adding the Marions lookout (there are two ways to climb there, one more steep that the other), Wombat pool, Ronny creek and back to the starting point with the free shuttle. Be prepared for harsh weather conditions. A drive to Strahan.

5 May - Vacation! Rivers day. I went on a cruise to rest a bit with Gordon river cruises. We saw Hell's gate, the Gordon river and Sarah island, lunch included. There are different seating options, but you can basically walk everywhere. A drive on Lyell highway and stops at Donaghys lookout (17) and the Franklin river (18). It was quite dark then, and add to it a walk in a forest, creepy! A night in lake St. Clair.

6 May - Echo point walk (21), which is inside a rain forest, full of fungi (watch out for leeches) and the short walks in the lake (19). The short walks are not that great and I had to skip Russell falls (23) as a result. A drive back to Hobart.

Well done, you made it! Now I need a vacation...

Tasmania resources

In every visitor center in Tasmania there are loads of brochures and help. Be careful about the information centers, which are less on information and more on selling stuff, though they are helpful too.

Online:
http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/ - The main web-site
http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/home/index.cfm?siteid=89&subsiteid=1026 - Brochures page, some of them can be downloaded. I used the 60 great short walks, http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/pdf/GreatShortWalks.pdf
You can get a brochure's package by calling them. "Fortunately", the package arrived while I was away. It includes a rather essential map of Tasmania, if you have a car. Luckily I got the same map when I rented a car.
The country is organized to touring routes, explained here http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/home/index.cfm?SiteID=783 though the information is a bit overwhelming.

A park permit is necessary. The recommended one, if you're seeing more than one park (which is rather obvious) is the holiday permit http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/natparks/current_fees.html

The latest Lonely Planet Tasmania was a great help, though it is almost two years old, a time span where things have change at accommodations (which is not a big problem anyhow).

Tasmania

To all of you who have wondered where I was the last two weeks, and to all who have not, I have been to Tasmania. Land of endless green, tons of wallabies, tiny villages, vineyards and dairies.

I booked a flight on the Internet (so easy!) and arrived to Hobart, capital city. After contemplating a bit I have decided to rent a car and see Tasmania on the road. The bus service is quite limited in schedule, sometimes running only every other day and usually just once a day. Renting a car made me rush through things. I started each day with a walk and then drove to the next destination, sometimes arriving a minute or two before the hostel's reception closed (some of them leave you an envelope with a key and a map if you are late) or before a tour began. In ten days I've circled the whole island and still skipped a lot. So it's a must return to destination. Bottom line: I need a vacation!

I visited Tasmania at the end of the season. This meant that I had sometimes a whole dorm room for myself, cheaper prices and easy bookings. On the other hand, I had some awful weather.

My days were consisted of walking and driving. Almost every day I did one of the great short walks (ranging from 5 minutes to 8 hours, so I stuck to the average 3-4 hours) and then drove to get to my next destination. Sometimes I had a tour at evening, so it kept me quite busy. As there is no daylight saving at the moment, dawn is around 17:00, when the animals come out. Luckily I did not run over any of them, but it was not a pleasant experience, and I had to take that into account, basically trying to start my day as early as possible.

At evening I used to plan the following days, which is something I haven't done yet, but was necessary though to the style of this trip.

Driving in Tasmania is great, but can be quite a challenge or fun, depends on your mood. A highway can be a two lanes in each way road, but it can also be a twisting road, with no shoulders, where the maximum allowed speed is 100Km/h but your average speed is somewhere around 40Km/h. This fact has to be taken into account when planning drives.

The age of perpetual upgrade

And so another camera goes obsolete by its new successor

The prayer, by Bloc Party

(ought to be a Spiderman 3 or another super hero soundtrack, ignoring the dancing theme)

Lord, give me grace and dancing feet
And the power to impress
Lord, give me grace and dancing feet
Let me outshine them all
Is it so wrong to crave recognition?
2nd best runner up
Is it so wrong to want rewarding?
To want more, than is given to you

Tonight make me unstoppable
And I will charm I will slice I will dazzle them with my wit
Tonight make me unstoppable
And I will charm I will slice I will dazzle
I will outshine them all

Standing on the packed dance floor
Our bodies throb in time
Silent on the weekdays
Tonight I claim what's mine
Is it so wrong to crave recognition?
2nd best runner up
Is it so wrong to want rewarding?
To want more, than is given to you

Bangkok Women Are Really men

What do you think?
When I went diving in Thailand I had to do a buddy check to my diving partner. I knew the acronym I was taught back home, but I wondered what was the one they teach in Thailand. So here goes:
B - BCD, your buoyancy device, checking the valves, inflation and deflation.
W - Weights, closed and opened with the right hand on emergencies.
A - Air. Not too much to explain here. It's a good idea to check that you have it.
R - Oops I forgot the word, but it stands for the straps check, seeing that the tank and BCD are positioned probably.
What about the men? It's a joke, got it?

Finally resting! Or the story of Koh Phangan



I took a long tail boat from Ton Sai back to Ao Nang, a pickup taxi to the bus station and a bus to the other side of Thailand, to Surat Thani, and arrived at a tour company office. It made me feel Vietnam-ish. I did start at a public bus station, but I guess it was run by a private company. At least I could book my train ticket to Bangkok from there at a decent price, since I have not done it in Bangkok. I tried to make the whole journey on my own again, so instead of buying a bus and ferry combination I just got the bus. The problem was that I did not really know which dock to go to and what is the ferry’s schedule. After sniffing around in Surat Thani I came back to same company and bought a ferry ticket from them. So this time I lost two hours and less then a buck. Not a big deal, right? It’s not that I will arrive to Phangan at 7pm, one day before a full moon party, with everyone else in Thailand, who probably booked a room. Piece of cake!

Once I arrived I had two options: Head to the South beaches, close to Rin beach, where the party is, or go the other way, to the North. I picked the second option, in some hope it will be easier to find rooms there. Phangan island is huge, making transportation (too) expensive. The party beach is located at the South East corner of it. Beaches reachable by transportation are located along the West coast and somewhat to the North. But from there, it’s only by boat. Since I did not want to be completely isolated I headed for Yao beach, which was recommended as one of the beautiful beaches, and is located at the North West of the Thailand, as far as possible from the party zone. Locating a place to stay was an annoying task since the road was quite elevated compared to the resorts, most places were full or had only expensive rooms available and it was around 9pm. Later on I found out that walking between them on the shore is shorter. Finally I found a nice spot and went to a (cold) shower and a sleep.



The islands on the gulf coast (Tao, Phangan, Samui) are much more affordable than their counterparts on the Andaman coast (Phi Phi, Phuket, Lanta and more). Nevertheless, being where I was, I was a captive by rather expensive restaurants. Transportation to the main island village, Thon Salat, was quite expensive. My resort’s restaurant was quite good, but not cheap, even the most expensive I've seen so far.

Yao beach was very nice. Not too crowded. It is full of restaurants along it, but they are not near the water and they are not a disturbance. Being the West coast of the island, we had the best show in town every sunset.



The next day I have decided to venture to the world’s famous party, the Koh Phangan full moon party. I went alone, so I did not expect much, just to see what the noise was about. I have discovered a nice “buffet” of musical genres, some a little too close to each other, making the sounds collide. There were a lot of fire shows along the beach and many viewers. Even so, I have been to bigger and better parties. Tel-Aviv university student’s day attracts more people than there were here, maybe because the tourism season is after its peak. I had some good cheap food, but I would not recommend going for a swim on this night. The price charged for the use of toilets is not cheap and a lot of men picked their alternative. A great surprise was bumping into Aviel, a guy I met in Laos, who I tend to meet unexpectedly.

That’s about it folks. The next day passed leisurely, reading and listening to music, “preparing” for my journey back to Bangkok and then to Australia.

See you in OZ! (Where I am right now, writing this, but that’s a whole different story)

How I beat myself up a bit more, or Ton Sai beach

Krabi is not an island but a town located on Thailand's mainland. Its famous beaches are Raily, Ao Nang and Ton Sai. Raily and Ton Sai are accessible only by boat, because they are surrounded by huge limestone karsts. Raily is a resorts' beach, with high priced accommodations. So obviously I went for Ton Sai.



Ton Sai is quite undeveloped, compared to Raily. It's all dirt roads and most of the accommodations are inside the jungle, a lovely setting, which comes with loads of mosquitoes at night and an active group of monkeys, stealing bananas from kitchens. I was told that Ton Sai is a hippie's favorite location, but I guess fashion changes. The dreadlocks and hoola hoops have been replaced with climbing ropes and quick draws. I barely managed to see one hippie, but all the walls around were loaded with climbers. It is a lonely place to be if you're not a climber.



Therefore to start my climbing session, I took an islands tour. Nothing like another day of swimming and sightseeing. This time the tour was on a long tail boat, luckily not the tiny kind. On the tour I met Melanie with whom I spent most of the day, and a couple from Canada and Sweden. Melanie is actually working for Teva Naot, an Israeli company, in Germany. Meeting people is one of the reasons I take the tours. The tour visited several islands, Tup island being the highlight, whereas chicken island was, well, just an island with a piece of rock resembling a chicken's head. Hmmm...



On the next day I took a half day climbing session. I went with a guy named Dee and he led the climbs for me so I could climb top rope. I had enough of leading in the meantime from my Laos climbing experience. I also asked him for easy climbs so I only went on 5 grades. The wall I climbed on is called “One Two Three” wall. Guess why... It was crowded with beginners, meaning you either had someone climbing right below you or descending above you. This time it suited my level and I had quite a good time, trying more things, and even slipping once. The slip wasn't that great though, as I slipped on my right knee, not a favorable knee to hit these days.

Dee, my climbing partner for the half day, owns and operates his own climbing shop. He opened it two months ago and he has been climbing for about three years. Later on I went back to his shop to rent climbing shoes, in order to help him a bit, instead to the already big climbing schools around. He also knew Adam, another climber who runs his own climbing shop in Vang Vieng, Laos. Of course, I met the guy. Small world...

The next day, surprise! (An e-mail coordinated surprise) I met Shannon and Zack again. They arrived to Ton Sai with a single purpose: to climb! Supriza! (Ok, I'm stopping now). They've been carrying their climbing equipment all around Asia and Krabi is the big opportunity to use it. Next day I went with them climbing. They needed a warm up after a long period without climbing so they mostly took leading 5 grades. Therefore I could climb top rope right after them, with a lot of positive encouragement from below. They urged me into climbing a 6a I felt too tired to even start, but I managed to finish it (though I cheated a bit, by grabbing onto gear instead of rock in a tricky part).




My original plan was to move on, but after the last fun day with Shannon and Zack it was hard making up my mind. I really wanted to sea the East side of Thailand's islands, but it would mean traveling without any company again, not to mention my destination was Phangan island, one day before the famous full moon party, a tough day of travel ahead. A rat or some other rodent woke up at 5am, crunching the wall, as a sign to leave (the crappy bungalow and take another?)

And so I made up my mind to move on to Phangan. But that's a whole different story.

Southern Adventures - Phi Phi island

After some intensive sightseeing in Cambodia, I was looking forward for some rest on Thailand's beaches.

My first stop was Phi Phi island (Koh Phi Phi). It is actually made out of two islands: Phi Phi Don, where the tourist circus is, and Phi Phi Lai, which is undeveloped (except for a snacks shop!) and visited by tour boats.

Reaching Bangkok on my own, I've decided to go to Phi Phi with a package deal. This was in contrary to the no no recommendation by the Lonely Planet guide. It states that you usually don't get what you've booked, for example, a bare bone bus instead of an A/C one, or some lags of the trip are missing. Still, the price was unbeatable and I needed that peace of mind you have when everything is being taken care of, supposedly. Luckily enough, the ride went smoothly, if not comfortably. We had a two hours stop at about 4am. During that journey I met Amaya from Mexico and Nathalie from Canada. Amaya was queuing in front of me when we had to confirm the rest of our voyage at our 4am stop. She was given a piece of paper instead of a ferry ticket and was told it was to be alright. The place where we stopped at 4am was the office of the same company as the one who gave her the "ticket". Nevertheless, it didn't matter much as she had no choice but buy a new ticket. Surprisingly, an hour later she got her money back. I guess something does work. Amaya has already met Nathalie on the bus, so when I sat next to Amaya at the ferry's dock, I was introduced to Nathalie.



Arriving on Phi Phi, Amaya and me ventured on looking for a roof and a bed for the night while Nathalie, which had a stomach problem, stayed to watch over our bags. Searching for a room was quite depressing, because the availability was close to none and the prices were sky high. Finally we found a place named Oasis, which was recently renovated and clean. So we could finally relax, completing the last part of our journey. Our guest house is owned by a couple of Thais and one German woman. I talked with her and she explained to me that the reason lodging (and actually everything) was expensive, other than high demand, is the fact that we are on an island (duh!). Therefore electricity is produced by generators and water are brought from Phuket. A lot of the locals just dig their own wells, because the water delivery is very expensive.

Phi Phi Don is quite a big place and you can walk or take a boat to find quiet spots. There are many beaches around, some quite small, separated by piles of rocks from one another. It is possible to walk around to the close ones, but there are only trails through the woods, otherwise walking through rocks. Another possibility is to take a long tail boat. One day we tried to get to Long beach, but stopped somewhere on the way. Later on I ventured there, to check what the fuss was all about.

On the following day we went up a steep walk to the view point, to see the sunset and the famous shape of Phi Phi, two big lands connected by a narrow stretch of land. I couldn't help it but imagine how it would look with a big wave passing over it. On the way there we visited the Tsunami memorial garden. The island, and other Tsunami stricken areas, have evacuation routes and evacuation sites. Still, it doesn't convey the feeling that much has been done since then. I hope I'm wrong.



We also took a sunset tour, the big boat-loads-of-people tour. The good thing about the big boat is that it carries kayaks and some tea and coffee. The tour circled around most Phi Phi Lai with stops for swimming, snorkeling and kayaking. I really liked kayaking this time. For some reason it was easy to control, compared to what I had in Halong Bay. I wanted to kayak alone one time, but one of the boat's stuff encouraged an Israeli woman to join me. At first she didn't realize I was Israeli too, resulting in some funny comments regarding me. When we went back we met the rest of her group, which were very nice and stuffed me, Amaya and Nathalie with snacks. After visiting (A)Maya bay, where the film “The beach” was filmed, we moved on to a couple of tiny rock formations to watch a magnificent sunset. Right after the sun was gone hundreds of birds filled the sky. It was a wonderful sight!




Wait wait, it's not over yet. If you survived this far you must know that the next day I went diving. I went for two dives, for a hefty 63USD. Cheaper than back home but an expensive activity compared to others. The visibility wasn't brilliant but I've seen, for the first time in my life, a leopard shark, a green turtle, a cuttle fish and a sea horse. The shark was lying around, but I still kept a safe distance. The turtle was quite big but I had to take a closer look this time. It was impressive!

On that evening I took a shower, rubbed behind my ears and prepared myself for the grand meeting! My dear friend Micha and his girlfriend Dana came all the way from Israel just to visit me! Actually they were on vacation and our paths crossed.



The next day Amaya had to go and Nathalie moved to another beach on Phi Phi and so we said our goodbyes. I stayed that day in order to meet with Micha again and to finally have some coveted rest, I haven't been able to find since I arrived on Phi Phi. I talked with my guest house owner, slept and met Micha and Dana again for dinner. A long "busy" day.

The next day I took the ferry back to Krabi, but that's a whole different story.

Almost there

Tomorrow morning I'll hop on a boat, a shared taxi and a night train in order to get from Phangan island to Bangkok. Then I'll get on a plane for a ten hours flight (about the same time as Israel-USA!) to Sydney, Australia, exactly five months after departing from home. This will end my stay in Asia for now, almost two months in Nepal and the rest in South East Asia.

Once I will get there I'll catch up with all the e-mails waiting and update on my South Thailand islands adventures. The really short version: beaches, seas, sunsets, one Micha and loads of money (well, relatively).

See you later!

Back to civi

Oh, it's good to be back. The A/C is powerful, the food is great, the Internet is fast and there are still no rooms in Bangkok. I guess we are still in high season, if not in peak season.

Today I went to whole way from Battambang, Cambodia, to Bangkok, Thailand. I tried to do it myself, without any package, and somehow it all went smoothly. I had to catch a bus in Battambang, without any reserved sit. Throwing the dollars fast at the cashier did the job, but I was lucky there were available seats in the first place. Then I had to stay on the bus until it got to the border (when it says it gets to Poipet, does it actually mean it will bring me to the border in Poipet? Hmmm, good question I forgot to ask). I left Cambodia, walked through loads of casinos to the Thai part and got my visa. Then one tuk-tuk to the bus station, one boiled water made noodles and up on the bus to Bangkok. Bangkok, 19:00, the day is not over yet. I'm at the bus station.
Tauter number 1: "Khao San? 800B"
"No thank you"
Big Taxi driver: "Khao San? 250B"
"No thank you, I'm one"
Tuk tuk driver: "Khao San? 150B"
"No, thank you, how much for a meter taxi?"
"About 140B"
"I'm in" A/C, (fake) leather seat. I'm there.
"How much is it?"
"83B"
"Take a 100B and keep the change"
"Any room available?"
"No"
"Any room available?"
"Yes"
"Oops, shower outside. Hot shower?"
"No"
"Damn! I take it (It's only for one night and I got lucky, it was the last one)"

But, my favorite street food stall is gone. I'm devastated, but no worry, there are others. I tried Singha beer for the first time (made in Thailand). It's good, similar to beer lao (but I can't have any Asian beer being better than beer lao so), but not as good as.
Tomorrow I will start the long journey to the islands. I can't say I'm expecting it (the journey, not the islands). I have to pick between bus, train and a flight. I guess I'll go for the cheaper option (bus), but I'll have to pay with a day of sleep.

Battambang

I arrived yesterday to Battambang. There isn't much to see, but what I did was very nice.

I wanted to rest today so I took the local tour quite late, around 16:00, when the sunset is around 18:00. Nevertheless, I went on a motorbike with a driver (moto taxi) and he showed me around. The countryside is really close by and the tour was about traveling through country roads, passing fields and villages, and no other tourist in sight. Some of the roads were more trails than actual roads. All the kids around said hello to me all the time and low five-d me while I was on the motorbike (Why not high five? Are you nuts? That's something reserved for Shaq only!). We stopped by one house, walked through its backyard/field, ate loads of fruits (for a small donation of course...) and some rice wine (again!). Then we took advantage of the hammocks around. According to my guide, other than chilling out, the hammocks are used to sleep outside around April, the hottest month of the year, and for the babies, who can be "shaked" to sleep.

After that we went to see the bamboo train. I thought it was a joke, but it is a real thing, used by the villages to get to and from the city and the country side. The "train" is a wood platform, sitting on two hinges with wheels and a small engine connected to one of the hinges. When two trains come from different sides, the lightest one has to be deconstructed and constructed again on the other side. I didn't take a ride because it was too late for traffic back to the city and I had to chart the whole thing. So I just took photos and played some coconut football with the kids.

The guide introduced me to the term: "Cambodian snow", so now I have a name to what I'm covered for the last five days. If you haven't figured it out yet, it's dust.

What do you do?



Some thoughts about begging.
Disclaimer: The following is based on information and experiences I collected and my personal opinion. I might be totally wrong about the facts, and in some points, I wish I were.

Angkor raised up the whole begging issue again for me. One worker at a temple told me she doesn't get enough money at her job. But if she could buy a book and learn some English, she could work in a hotel, where the salary is much better. She needs that money because her father died two months ago, her mother is blind and her brother and sister are younger than her and still at school, so she funds the whole family. Righhhhhhtttt... Part of it might be true, where she will get better money at a hotel if she would know English better, but I'm not sure about the rest. I told it to somebody and he told me he heard this story more than once. So what do you do?

Let's see: first there are those who just ask for money. Do you give it?
It is not obvious. For example, in Kathmandu, Nepal, kids on the street ask for money or food. There are orphanages and shelters in Kathmandu. By giving money to a kid you give him a good excuse to stay in the street and not go back to a place, which will probably take better care of him. In Cambodia, on the other hand, I'm not sure there is any well fare system (Anyone knows about a country without a well fare minister?). There are lots of amputees in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap asking for money, so giving it to them might really help. But watch out with the kids again, they might not actually see the money because someone else sent them to beg for it, so here it is maybe better to buy them a meal. So what do you do?

Let's say that you want to discourage giving money for free, but use it to trade for a product. I find it also educating, other than giving it for free. Now you are in Angkor. How about those kids selling T-shirts? Aren't they supposed to be at school right now or working on their home works? Ok, off with that. But here's a band of land mine victims playing music and selling CDs. Buying music from them would surely makes a proper donation. Great! But on the next temple there is another band, and on the next one yet another! What do you do?
In this case I say that you should remember that, unless your name is Bill or Malinda, you are not a charity organization but a single person charity unit. So you should donate accordingly.

What do I do? Good question!

Boat trip from Siem Reap to Battambang

Yes, again on a boat, again on a big, hot river. Haven't I done it before? Won't it be the same?

I took the boat trip according to Lonely Planet's recommendation for a scenic ride and it was so. The floating villages were more or less the same as in Vietnam, but I did find some interesting things. I've seen a floating school and a floating church. There were also interesting fish nets, with a huge bamboo device to put and pull it out of the water. The boat was also more comfortable than previous ones, because the benches had good padding.

Lonely Planet also wrote that the trip might be longer in the dry season due to the low level of water. But the Cambodians know what they are doing, right? Apparently they do (money?). Once we got to the narrow parts of the river the trip became annoyingly slow and the lack of wind didn't help much at the current temperature. The boat driver went slow while another guy used a row to push the boat away from the river's banks, not always with success. After a while we stopped and two pickup cars arrived to pick around forty people, with their luggage. So we were hauled eighteen people in a pickup all the way to Battambang. Not fun!

Happy new lunar year!

Today is the Chinese new lunar year and the Vietnamese new year as well (Called "Tet", same calendar). If I'm not mistaken this year is the year of the pig (mmmm.... pig... Steamed rice with sweet and sour with pork, mmmm....).
Not such a big party around here in Battambang, Cambodia, except for some fireworks and firecrackers exploding for hours. Not too many Chinese here I guess.

Angkor

The biggest attraction in South East Asia and the biggest tourists circus of all. Almost every possible mean of transportation, starting from bicycles to buses, horse carriages, elephants and one big balloon.

Money
Prepare your wallet, for the divine expenses!
40$ for three days pass
Transportation
Day 1 - Tuk tuk for 10$. Overkill, should have taken a moto for 7$ (motorbike taxi).
Day 2 - Moto for 9$. The guy tried to rip me off in the middle, asking for more money for the sunset and for the tour. He didn't get it.
Day 3 - I went for a distant temple, so I had to take a tuk tuk. I took the same one as on the first day for 16$. He was very nice and no money problems. His number is 0987, if you happen to be in Popular guest house.

Food
You'll never go hungry. 2-3$ for a dish in a simple restaurant, a bit expensive. Ice creams, pineapples and cold drinks ("Hello mister, buy cold drink mister?") everywhere.

Watch out! It's hot and humid. Take your time and have lots of breaks.

My story
Day 1 - The general idea of buying a three days ticket was to take it easy. On the first day I managed quite well. I started with Angkor Thom (Saving Angkor wat for the afternoon) and I've seen inside the Bayon (from which I parted with "I'll be back"), the terrace of the elephants, the terrace of the leper king, the Bahpuon and Phimeanakas. After lunch I went to Angkor wat and spent the whole afternoon, including the sunset, over there. Angkor wat is huge and takes time exploring. It has lots of bas-reliefs (stone inscriptions) surrounding it. And I needed the rest.
Day 2 - Baksei Chamkrong, Thommanon, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm, East Mebon, Ta Som, Preah Neak Pean and Preah Khan. Getting the idea? I was done for by the end of that day, totally exhausted . No strength for sunset, not to mention that I really didn't want to give that guy extra money.
Day 3 - I started at noon, after resting from the previous day. I went to a far away temple, Banteay Srei. The bumpy ride made me tired again. It was nice, but not such a big deal. I went back to see Banteay Sarem, Banteay Kdei, which I skipped the day before, the bayon again (I promised!) and Phnom Bakheng with a whole lot of tourists for sunset.

My personal impression - I'm not into old buildings too much but there were a few things that did catch me:
These things survived a thousand years, they should get a credit for that.
Exploring the temples had an inevitable "Indiana Jones" feeling. I just missed the hat and the whip...
Size matters. Some of the structure were amazingly huge. The kings that days knew their job.

Finally, my favorites:
1. The bayon, because the big brother(s) is(are) watching.
2. Angkor Wat, because size matters.
3. Preah Khan, because it looks innocent from outside until you start exploring it and realize how big it is.
Ok ok, Ta Prohm too, because trees coming out of buildings are neat.

Khmer Rouge

From 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge, headed by brother number 1, Pol Pot, tried to create an equal, ignorant, peasant based society. In order to accomplish that they had to get rid of all the people who weren't, such as scholars, teachers and other educated people. For that they created interrogation and torture camps. The survivors of these places and others were brutally killed and buried in mass graves at places who were known after as killing fields. For more info, check here.

Today I went to see Choeung Ek killing fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum to learn about their recent cruel history. It also gave me a little reminder that it's about time I do that concerning my history.

It's a small world after all

Today was a more relaxed day for me. I stayed in bed for a while, resulting in being less tired today. I tried to get into the royal palace, but it was already closed. So I walked, looking for a place to sit, when I stumbled about a beauty saloon. What can be better than finally getting that manicure done? You're serious!? I got my hair cut and now my total body temperature is lower.

After a while I went to the royal palace when nature called and I went to the men's room. Surprise! I met two hot models waiting for me inside! honest! What actually happened is that I met Zack and his girlfriend Shannon (She wasn't in the men's room, calm down). I have been with them on and off since Laos. Meeting people I know in the men's room usually happens back home, not in different countries around the world.

After the royal palace we went to the see a sunset over the lake from a wooden balcony on one of the dozen guest house spread across the lake. Tomorrow each of us go on their separate ways and all that is left to wonder is when we will meet again.

Cambodia

10 Feb - Crossing to Cambodia, an unpleasant ride, made better with the company of John, Sunna and Alice from Korea.
11 Feb - Slow day, waking up late, walking to royal palace, which was closed, getting a hair cut, moving back to the museum an surprise! I met Zack and Shannon again, in the men's room (Only Zack was there, don't get excited...). We went to the lake (forgot his name) and watched the sunset. Until next time...
12 Feb - Choeung Ek killing fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
13 Feb - Bus to Siem Reap
14-16 Feb - The Angkor experience
17 Feb (Happy new Chinese year) - Boat trip to Battambang
18 Feb - A leisurely day in Battambang and a countryside tour on a motorbike, including the fruit village and the bamboo train.
19 Feb - Crossing to Thailand, a multi-buses adventure.

Yet another Asian country

Yesterday I arrived to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. It is a new country for me, so it different and yet the same. The bad road we took reminded me of Laos, the language written looks like Thai and the traffic reminds that of Vietnam. I believe I'm beginning to have enough of it for now.

I don't have much time left in Asia and thus the will to really get into the culture is not as strong as before. In addition, traveling in Vietnam made me tired and coming back to the heat and humidity doesn't help either. I'll try to take it easy and find a nice spot for a much needed rest, but if I won't, I think I will rush through things here and go to Thailand for some islands resting.

Today I'm looking around the city, in a very slow pace. I looked for a place to sit when I stumbled upon a beauty saloon. I didn't go for a manicure but I finally got my hair cut.

I took a two days tour to arrive to Cambodia. On the first day we saw some Mekong delta life. As it happens most of the time, watching the local lives from the boat was much interesting than the tourist oriented places we stopped where everything is oriented towards your wallet. On the first day we saw a floating market. After stopping for the night at Chau Doc, a Vietnamese town, we went the next day to see a floating village. Then we took a boat to the border, arranged our visas and took another boat and a bus to get to Phnom Penh. It was a long day.

(Hastened) Summary time - Vietnam

Tomorrow I'll be heading towards the Mekong river delta. After that I'll be taken by boat to Cambodia and leave Vietnam. This will end 29 days (I didn't check when I got the actual visa expiry date, it was supposed to be 30!) of my stay in Vietnam. I'll try to summarize some of my impressions.

My initial encounters with Vietnamese were unpleasant. They weren't as nice as Lao people. They are very aggressive in trying to sell (giving a very strong, "walking ATM" feeling) and they have less personal space than us. They don't hesitate to touch or grab you, which doesn't always evoke nice reactions (Luckily as a deadly machine I was also taught restraint, saving many Vietnamese from my lethal blows. Yes, I saw the wrong movies as a kid). But slowly, like a hard nut, I discovered also nice people, eager to talk and learn about others. My initial purchase of a Vietnamese phrasebook proved itself again and again, as speaking their language is an excellent ice-breaker. I also have to thank Shiran, a guy I was travelling with for a while, who spent a lot of time trying to speak Vietnamese with the locals and did it quite well. That helped in learning the language, and it is the first country I can actually say whole sentences (not that it means that the Vietnamese manage to understand me).

Vietnam landscape is a lot about water, significantly more compared to Laos. Its rice paddies are flooded with water and the farmers wade their way knee deep tending the crops. Other than that there are huge plains, totally flat and sometimes accompanied by karsts. Or mountains and hills as you get farther from the sea.

Vietnam is much more in the process of becoming Western than other countries I've seen. The kids spend their spare time at Internet cafes, playing online games. The grown ups dress like we do, tight and exposed. I've seen gyms, fancy cars, fancy people, fancy mobiles and a lot of inner tourism.

As inevitable as beer lao in Laos were bia hoi (fresh beer) mostly in the North and coffee everywhere. I'm not much of a beer or coffee drinker back home, but coffee here was inevitable, as I was looking for relaxing moments in the chaos. When I've reached Ho Chi Minh city, the hot coffee was replaced with ice coffee, prepared the same way but poured to a glass full of ice.

Traveling in Vietnam is a 1700km journey from North to South with many stops along the way. It means that I had to discover new places quite a lot. I realized that sometimes I have a 'click' with a place and sometimes I don't, or that it just takes more time. Each time it is a collection of experiences. Arriving to Hanoi was very hard, but I managed to like it and discover its sweet spots. Ho Chi Minh city and me had an instant 'click'. The place has a nice beat to it, despite the double volume of traffic (and people) compared to Hanoi. In Dalat I had a hard time finding my nice cheap places to eat, and in Nha Trang I had in the corners of one junction all the cheap food I wanted: Pho Bo (Noodle soup with beef), Com tam (Rice with meat, I still not sure which), Kem (Ice cream) and Binh Mi (Baguettes usually filled with meat, omelette or cheese).

I used the alarm clock on this trip quite a lot. First, because of a lot of early morning rides. Second, because there are organized tours everywhere, which are a very tempting option, and because doing it yourself can be, sometimes, very hard. In some places I just took a map and walked around or a motorbike taxi for one place to another. In others I just took a private tour, a guy on motorbike who showed me around, but I was (trying to) dictate the time and places. For the rest, it was either tempting joining the crowds or just easier, as 'school trips' usually are. There is also a big benefit than the do it yourself way, you get to meet people.

Every men in Vietnam smokes and everywhere. It is uncommon among women, but I managed to see one or two. For me it was quite disturbing and somewhat of a problem when I was looking for relaxed places other than my room.

I met many tourists who said they are definitely not coming again to Vietnam but they would come back to Laos. Me? If I'll go back to Laos, I'll definitely go back to Vietnam too.

The Vietnam trail

13 Jan - Arrived to Hanoi
14 Jan - Getting my bearings. I went to the water puppet theatre at evening.
15 - 17 Jan - Halong Bay tour
18 Jan - HCM mausoleom and the temple of literature.
19 Jan - Perfume Pagoda tour
20 Jan - The Ethnology museum and bus ride to Ninh Binh
21 Jan - Visiting Tam Coc. Night train to Hue
22 Jan - Hue. Checking the view from the roof bar of a five star hotel.
23 Jan - (Former) Demilitarized Zone tour, including Vinh Moc tunnels, Khe Sanh USA combat base, Ho Chi Minh trail and more. Nothing much to see other than being where history took place and a lovely ride from Dong Ha. Nevertheless, it was my first serious encounter with Vietnam's history.
24 Jan - Perfume River cruise. I visited Thien Mu, two tombs, Tu Duc and Minh Mang, out of the possible four and split from the tour with a motorbike taxi for Hue's citadel.
25 Jan - Bus to Hoi An.
26 - 30 - Resting in Hoi An. I went at nights to a brand new Salsa club and taught the waitresses some salsa and row dancing. The rest of the time they showed me around, taking me to their favorite spots, where tourists are scarce.
31 Jan - Night bus to Nha Trang
1 Feb - Nha Trang sights, Po Nagar Cham towers, the Long Son pagoda with its sitting Buddha and a nice rocky beach, Hon Chong Promontory.
2 Feb - The islands cruise, a.k.a booze cruise.
3 Feb - Bus to Dalat
4 Feb - Private motorbike tour to Bao Dai's summer palace (boring), the crazy house (nice), Datalana falls, Prenn falls , Lang Dinh (the chicken village) and an amazing new pagdoa and a lovely lake nearby.
5 Feb - Visit to Lat village and trekking to Lang Bian mountain (2400m high).
6 Feb - On to Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon)
7 Feb - Dam Sen amusement park
8 Feb - War remnants museum and the reunification palace
9 Feb - Mekong delta tour
10 Feb - Crossing to Cambodia by boat

All aboard the night train

Last night I went from Ninh Binh to Hue (Hwe). Instead of taking the tourists' bus (nowadays taken by locals too) I went by train. Vietnam's Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City railway crosses most of the country. It covers about 1700Km in a slowish day and a half. I decided to take the Ninh Binh-Hue part of the trip by train because, according to Lonely Planet, this is the part that gets the most complaints and it is a nice way to meet local people. The price is more expensive than the bus, as the only thing cheaper than the tourists' bus is walking. Seriously. They get commissions from the hotels and restaurants where they drop the passengers and the fierce competition make the price unbeatable.

I bought a ticket for the lower bed in a hard sleeper cabin. Each cabin has four to six beds in two rows, two to three beds one above the other. The lower the bed is the cheaper the price. Although I had a sleeper cabin, I found out that "hard" means almost no sleep at all. The bed is a metal plate with a thin mattress on it. I had to use some of my clothes to pad pressure points. The ride is quite noisy and not so smooth. In addition there was an annoying whisper low song repeatedly playing that didn't help much. Under the lower bed there is a box for storage, so you can be quite sure that as long as you sleep on it, no one will be able to open it. As a result I was at least calm about my luggage.

The morning started around six AM, when the train stopped, so everyone could buy additional food to the packed bun and tiny water bottle handed in the train, and brush their teeth. Of course, food can't be eaten without some music , right? After an hour of further sleeping attempts his majesty finally rose and met the people sharing his cabin. One elder guy spoke and wrote English quite well, so we managed to have an interesting conversation. He knew quite a bit about Israel and admired our country. I wondered whether to tell him that we are not that great these days and ruin his image of us. He is a writer that write poems (forgot the word...). I found out that the annoying song was a small device he had, with a small figurine of Buddha attached to it and a speaker sounding Buddha's name, chanted by some monks. If I would have known I might have taken the batteries out... or not. Next there were a mother and a son, traveling to Danang. They didn't know much English but you don't really need much to play rock-scissors-paper-needle(?!) and listen to how they pronounce Vietnamese from my brand new photocopied phrasebook. They were very nice and bought me sugar canes as a parting gift. When I went looking at the rest of the train, I met a fourteen years old girl (I didn't know she was fourteen, I swear!), who was brushing her teeth at the moment. She came to my cabin (I didn't make her, officer!) and we had a nice chat. She reminded me how it is to be a child, where your opinions are very black and white, the future seems bright, you are full of enthusiasm about many things (Am I getting old or what?) and blue is your favorite color and not pink (This might mean wrong things about me. I'm talking about her here, ok?). She also knew English quite well but was very apologetic when she didn't find the word, which is expected, but my efforts to convince her not to apologize were in vain. Heck, I'm the same.

So in all, in was a lovely experience. I don't know about you guys, but I'm heading to my soft sleeper bed at the hotel right now.

Hanoi, not so bad after all

Hanoi was my first encounter with Vietnam. It was quite harsh and unkind. But a few days, on and off Hanoi, helped me to reveal its sweet spots. The nice cheap spots to eat, the tree covered boulevards, the peaceful corners and even nice people, wishing to practice their English.

Hanoi center's street are according to professions. The street shops usually sells whatever the name means. Fortunately, on my last hour there I discovered the candies street! The next day I had a candy party. Needless to say, my belly didn't like the idea of so much sugar at once (Nothing happened, other than a bad feeling)

I see dead people

Today was my Ho Chi Minh day (When I say day I mean the part of the day when I still have the will and power to visit monuments, stand in queues, etc.). I started by visiting his mausoleum. The poor guy's last request was to be burned, but instead someone thought it would be better to display his body for the pleasure of the nation and tourists. So yes, my day started with looking at a dead body. Splendid. The place itself is heavily guarded and you can't blink without someone giving you a nasty look.

Then it was already too late. The whole complex closes up at eleven AM and, although I woke up early, I managed to arrive quite late. So until everything opened up again (except the mausoleum), I went to the Temple of Literature. The place was the first academy built in Vietnam, almost a Milena ago. For me it was a nice place with nice buildings and gardens. Even though it has traffic around it, the place manages to be a nice relaxing green spot.

After that I went for lunch at KOTO. Staring at the desserts of the neighbour table, started a lovely conversation between me and two Australians women, mother and daughter, Jennie and Sophie. They have been traveling in Vietnam for three weeks (if I'm not mistaken) and are about to finish their visit and go back. They are from Melbourne, as four other Australians I met on my Halong Bay tour (a story not told yet). So when I get to Melbourne, I have many nice people to visit. I had a great time and great food, and time just flew by.

I picked myself up and walked back to the guy I started talking about. I went to a nice area around the presidential palace where you can see the places where Ho Chi Minh worked and lived. He was a modest guy, my kind of guy. I was looking for his personal toilets, as nature didn't let me the option to be too interested about anything else. It took me a few minutes to realize that the noises of traffic were absent, so I stayed for a while next to the lovely pond.

My next stop was Ho Chi Minh museum. "Unfortunately" time flew by next to the pond and I arrived to closing time. Bummer...

On one of my walks I noticed a familiar flag on a building. The area is full of embassies so I stumbled upon mine. I took my camera without thinking and two seconds after that I was trapped under five men, elite unit trained and armed to the teeth (The real story is sooo boring, but ok. Each place is guarded by some Vietnamese. One of them saw me and just blow his whistle. All of them are armed with it).

Know One, Teach One

Today I had a great lunch (with a price tag), and at the process made a nice contribution to other than my belly. KOTO

The movie of my life

Kathmandu was a kinder garden compared to Hanoi. Yes, Hanoi has sidewalks, but they are used to park motorcycles. I don't think I've really seen people in Hanoi walking. They just go on their motorcycle between places. They even park inside their home!

I'm trying to follow Lonely Planet's instructions for crossing the road. Basically "don't panic" when traffic is coming directly at you. I just walk and look at the upcoming traffic, increasing my speed when they veer behind me and stopping when they horn.

This far I'm still alive. But the movie of my life did pass in front of my eyes more than once. Since it has become quite long, and the next screening here might be five minutes away, I started watching the trailer instead.

Potentially the biggest upcoming event

My best friend Micha and his girlfriend Dana are coming to Thailand around when I'm planning to be there. If we'll manage to meet it will be absolutely fantastic!

Oh great! - Health information

Harvest mites, from Wikipedia. Quote: "...the mites are considered a dangerous pest in East Asia and the South Pacific because they often carry scrub typhus..."

South East Asia on a shoestring book's doctors claims that Doxycycline, the pill I take as a malaria prevention, helps in preventing this Typhus. I'm crossing fingers on this.

Gooooooooooooooooooood morning Vietnam! (It was inevitable)

Or maybe not? A new country always takes time to get used to, but I think this time it will take a bit longer.

I arrived yesterday morning to Hanoi. Getting from the airport to the old quarter and finding a hotel went smoothly. We picked a guy on the way who pushed us hotels. I ignored him. But other people on the street don't let go so easily. Everyone wants a piece of a cake that it's you, and they won't let go so easily. Yesterday I did a mistake to look at the books one guy was selling. I saw he had a Vietnam Lonely Planet for a ridiculous price. Luckily, I've already seen a very cheap offer in Laos, so when he showed me the book, neatly wrapped of course, I quickly recognized that it was a photocopy. So I thanked him and went on my way, but he didn't let go for the next two minutes, following me. It ended up with a nice juicy "F$%# you" in my direction.

Traveling in Thailand and Laos made me accustomed to eating on the streets, where the food is cheap and the company is local. I had a couple of nice places the last two days, in one even I got a how to hold your chop-sticks properly lesson. Nevertheless, today for lunch the "waiter" gave me an outrageous price for a dish. I didn't understand what the dish actually was, but it seemed too much for street food to me. I went the nearby restaurant, which has a menu with the prices on it, and they were much cheaper! And I'm talking about a restaurant here, with all that applies. Of course that they tried to rip me off at the end too, but it was just a matter of checking the bill. I had the means to check that.

The whole thing is part of the package of traveling to Vietnam (Thank Racheli for this phrase), but I believe it will take me a few more days to get used to it. Maybe it is also because of the gloomy weather right now. The sun just didn't show up in the last two days.

Tomorrow I'm going on a three day tour to Halong Bay, UNESCO world heritage site. At least now nature will have it's say too, which is unbiased, no matter what color of skin you have.

Bye bye Laos!

That's it. Tomorrow morning (too early in the morning. I would call it night basically) I take a flight to Hanoi, Vietnam, and make a final farewell to Laos. Summaries will arrive later. But prepare yourself for the inevitable and overused introduction to my next post.

Private lesson



Yesterday I met Phithonn in Wat Si Saket. He is from Phonsavan, but he lives now with his aunt in Vientiane. He studies about computers and programming during the week, English in the weekends and work (I forgot in what). He asked me to come with him to his aunt's place to help him a bit with his exercises. So here I was, trying to warm up those gray cells again.

We worked for a few hours. The language was a barrier that didn't make it easier, but somehow we managed. He had an old programming environment (Borland TC++), which made me remember how it used to be in the old days.

His aunt invited me to have lunch with them. Her family was very nice and generous, although they didn't know a word in English (One of them speaks French. Doesn't help me in this case.). They invited me to visit them when I come back, with my wife ;-)

Dedicated to the recent, expected and future newborns among my friends.

Sorry, Hebrew post!

מילים: מאיר גולדברג לחן: רמי קלינשטיין מהיום שהיא עוטפת את גופו בזרועותיה עד היום שהיא נופלת על כתפיו היא אומרת לו מילים שאת פישרן הוא לא יודע אבל איך שהוא אוהב שהיא לוחשת לאוזניו תינוקי, ילדי הקטן שים את ראשך בחיקי אמא שלך תשיר לך שיר שיר אהבה תינוקי מלאכים שמים בלילה את ראשם בין הכנפיים אפילו הם ממהרים אל החלום ואפילו הפרחים סוגרים ריסים ועפעפיים גם לך הגיע זמן את העיניים לעצום תינוקי, ילדי הקטן... מהיום שהיא אוספת את גופו בזרועותיה עד היום שהיא רק דמות בחלומו היא אומרת לו מילים שאת פישרן הוא לא יודע הוא נרדם כשהוא עטוף בשיר הערש של אמו

Personal feelings

Parts taken from a response e-mail to a friend, making me think a bit about my trip and writing it down.

I try not to determine anything in my trip, but the Australian visa forces me to do so. Even though I have limited visas to South East Asia(SEA) countries, most of them can be extended easy enough (as long as you got the money, they got the rubber stamp... from LP).

Unfortunately, I believe I will have to skip NZ. Shoving it now will force me to run over SEA and I don't want this trip to be like this. Using all my sixth months in Australia will probably leave me without money for NZ, and still, I will be about 2-3 months before the season in NZ starts.

The trip is great, but not everything is chocolate and roses (or something). I am used to be a passive traveler. With my parents I didn't care of a thing, but I don't remember a thing too. But here I have to take care of the logistics of traveling, which can be a pain in the ass sometimes. For example, bringing expensive electronics makes me miss a beat here and there. The more you have the more you have to worry. I mean everything is basically replaceable and not a great loss, but still it does add some stress. At least Laos made me travel a lot, so I go through the drill of packing and preparing everything for the road better. I take all the expensive things with me, not inside the bag that goes up on the roof of the bus. I lock everything, not that it will stop a thief, but at least it might make him look for an easier target.

Another thing is the fact that you can do whatever you want. The options are endless and you have to decide what you prefer and what not to. It made me do two things: The first really listen to myself and try to do what I really want to do, and not all the things that appear in a book. If a certain place has amazing caves everyone recommend, but I rather sit and listen to music, that is what I will do. In such a trip you can overuse yourself quite easily and you have to take some time to relax too, especially as I'm not energetic as I used to be. The second is to acknowledge the fact that everywhere you go there are tons of things to see and do, and you don't have to see them all. Some of them can be left for another trip, or just skipped. And nothing bad will happen.
Basically, normal or not, I don't miss home so much. I think that in general, I'm occupied with other things to think about it. I am very excited when I get e-mails from my family or you guys. I always like reading them and they bring up smiles and memories.

I get to meet fine samples of young and older people from out country, definitely not giving me a good reason to come back. Not to generalize, of course, there are very nice people too.

I did find that I miss something when I tried to explain a pattern of behaviour that I do. I've found out that I like staying in a certain place for a period of time, and going to the same places for meals. Because I think it makes the place familiar and creates something regular. I think that I actually miss the comforts of regular life, staying at the same place, and not worry about where am I going to sleep tomorrow. But after a while I get a thorn in my butt and I move on :-)
The reason for my trip is much more simple than a "must" trip. I don't expect it to change me in any way or make me a better person or something. I didn't have a strong need to do it or else. I did it just because of timing. I saw you guys starting to work and I asked myself if I want to start it now, or wait a bit. I have 30 years of work ahead of me, but now I don't have a job, no studies and no relationship. So it just looked like the perfect timing to make a go for it, not knowing if I actually like it or not. And I still don't know. I usually understand things looking back, not while at it, or when someone puts a mirror in front of my eyes. Someone told me to enjoy the freedom, and I didn't get it the first minute. But I think she meant the fact that I do whatever I want whenever I want, and that's wonderful. Though I don't think about it on my day to day life here.

For now I am a bit indifferent about Asia. I absorb experiences (and food, I really like food tourism :-) ) and even developed an opinion or two about local life and tourism here, maybe even taking something back home with me, but I don't think I will replace the comforts of modern life with it. I miss my hobbies :-)

Small mistake

Apparently I did a small, tiny mistake here. Vietnam has a little bit more than 60 million people. It has about 82 million. Big deal.

Laos trail, last days

first part

2-3 Jan - Staring at the limestone karsts
4-6 Jan - Climbing course, a.k.a "What the hell was I thinking??"
7 Jan - Resting and staring some more
8 Jan - Arriving to Capital city, Vientiane.
9-10 Jan - Hanging around Vientiane, local sightseeing and resting(?). I forgot what else, other than play some bowling
11 Jan - Wat Si Saket, the oldest temple in Laos
12 Jan - Visiting Phithoun and helping him with his computer programming homework.
13 Jan - That's it! Flying to Hanoi, Vietnam.

The new year - Death cab for a cutie


so this is the new year.
and i don't feel any different.
the clanking of crystal
explosions off in the distance.

so this is the new year
and I have no resolutions
for self assigned penance
for problems with easy solutions

so everybody put your best suit or dress on
let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
as thirty dialogues bleed into one

i wish the world was flat like the old days
then i could travel just by folding a map
no more airplanes, or speedtrains, or freeways
there'd be no distance that can hold us back.

Why you have to go and make things so complicated?

Before arriving to Vientiane, I was worried about the numerous arrangement I had to do before going ahead to Vietnam: Extend my Laos visa because I'm stretching my time, get a Vietnam visa and book a flight as one world traveller told me the bus ride to Hanoi was a nightmare.

I guess I was used to the rest of Laos, and not to Vientiane (read the previous post), because in less than five minutes, a flick of a wrist holding my magical golden plastic card and the last two were taken care of. Extending my visa took about ten minutes at the immigration office, some money and an hour of their work to take care of the first.

So now I have a flight to Hanoi, Vietnam (114USD + 3% extra charge for using magic in public + 10USD expected departure tax) and I have to wait three working days for my visa (45USD), plus one spare day I took just in case. So my flight is on my original last day in Laos, before extending it a bit to be on the safe side. On a second thought, maybe it was worth paying more for a one day visa procedure, saving the guest house and food costs for two more days. Too late...

Culture shocks

Vientiane is very different from the rest of Laos. The dirt of roads replaced by the pollution of cars. Instead of motorcycles, it is full of cars, especially brand new pickups and some European cars, like Mercedes and I saw even one Mini. On the way from Vang Vieng I saw many car stores, with huge displays. Like other poor countries in the world, a few people got very rich very fast, and Vientiane looks like their playground.

Back are the Thailand like mini marts, but better, with fresh baguettes, a huge variety and even Lindt dark chocolate (99%! Costs like a night in my guest house, 5$). The difference and problem of Western style life is striking after being away from a big city: You have so many options, but, on the other hand, you have to contemplate more, making a simple life more confusing.

What more? Traffic lights, a huge variety of restaurants and even one skyscraper, blue lit during the night. Prices are higher, forcing me to walk quite a bit to find my local places, where I can eat for more reasonable prices. In contrast, some products' prices are a bit low, as it costs less to bring them here. Guest houses remind the ones in Bangkok, demanding you pay each day in advance and with many posted signs, stating a lot of do's and do not's at their perimeters, as bad experiences with the 'party tourists' have probably taught them. I went to one place recommended by the Lonely Planet book, but it was full. I checked the place next door, where two good humored women from the staff captivated me (anyone can spell F.O.X.?) and rooms that were very clean, though small, were enough to make this place my roof for the next days In Nepal I started picking a place also according to their staff, even if the place is not perfect, but I forgot about it in the last month...

I met a girl who just came from Bangkok, so for her Vientiane is so peaceful. For me it seems like a noisy place compared to what I had until now. Go figure...

In a few more days I will experience my next culture shock. Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam are what I call the "60 million countries" as their population is around sixty something million people. Laos, on the other hand, has only about six million. One digit, huge difference. So I'm heading to a 60 million country again. Yikes!

Vang Vieng - To visit or not to visit?



Before coming to Vang Vieng I've heard a lot of people avoiding the place. They told me the nights are quite dead, if you are not into watching endless reruns of Friends. Sure enough, I don't really like the place too. There are lots of restaurants with low tables occupied by red-eyed people, watching Friends (This phenomenon has just made Friends a TV series I might never watch again. The Simpsons, showed in one place, can not become one. We love you Homer!). That means that my places to eat are limited. In addition, the place is full with other "kinds" of tourists, I am not really fund of. As in Bangkok, you have the showing off, loud, wear almost nothing, party tourists, here for a short time to have fun, conveniently ignoring the local culture.

Nevertheless, I managed to spend a week here. The secret is finding a nice calm place, away for the big mess (unless you want part of it), with magnificent view and a balcony to watch (photo upload somewhere in the future when I'll have broader bandwidth). I've found a couple of places to eat, where there is no television, so I didn't watch any reruns of Friends. I also went rock climbing for three days, which took a considerable part of my time, other than reading my book and listening to music.

Now I only have to decide whether I move on tomorrow or the day after, knowing it is the ending of my visit to this country and the beginning of a new one.