September Archive

Berastagi

So we left Berastagi today and flew to Batam. Berastagi is a great place. There are 2 volcanoes there but unfortunately the weather was terrible. When I say terrible, it was the same as every summers day in Ireland I experienced this year. Ian got to climb one of the volcanoes but unfortunately I've been struggling with a stomach bug so I only made it up a tiny it of the way before coming down.

The town itself is really nice. Everybody was so friendly and would smile and say hello, etc. The first day me and Ian arrived there we got shouted at, a lot, by the local girls. Apparently westerners have a good reputation.

A really strange thing about that town is that they have a monument to a cabbage! You'll see for yourself from the pictures. Speaking about pictures, I have a put up a couple I have taken the last few days. There are more from Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta but I don't have them with me. Remember, I'm only learning and absolutely no post processing was done. So some pics are over exposed, some under exposed.

The food in Berastagi was amazing too. We walk into places and ask for vegetarian snd they gave us a little bit of everything. We ate like kings for about 1.50 between us. So good. And really nice accommodation cost us about 7 euro between us. Amazing.

Anywho, time for some western food, off to Pizza Hut

Later

Brian

Trikora Beach

Hello... just so you know I am still alive and finally in Oz. The first thing you notice is the temperature here. Its cold. Maybe 19 degrees. I have no jumper either so need to get one quick. Since the last post though I did find a little piece of heaven on earth. After our night in Batam, the worst place in possibly the world (well not really but it was horrible), we went to the internet and came across a place called Trikora beach. So we got a boat to Bintan 2 hours later. Trikora beach is on the east side of teh island. The only thing we knew about it was the name of a place called Shady Shacks.

We set off looking for this place and on the road in a taxi/hi-ace with our lunatic driver (he talked to himself the whole time) we drove past some bungalows which Ian mistook for Shady Shacks. We got out anyway and had a look at the rooms and prices. For the whole time I have been travelling I have wanted a hut on the beach. This wasn't quite on the beach though. This was more... in the Ocean. For about 12 euro the 2 of us stayed in this amazing place. Pretty much, it was just us there. We got to know the staff, one of the guys was teaching us how to count and important things like ordering beer. We stayed there then for 6 nights. It was amazing. We did pretty much nothing. Just chilled out, relaxed, played 25 and chess, ate and drank. We'd sit out at night, eat the most amazing prawns and fish (well I did, Ian is a vegetarian for a while) and chat. It was perfect way to end the traveling.

One of the days we went fish. Not a sign of a fish anywhere near us but still we struggled on standing in water up to our waste with fishing rods. When I say fishing rods, I mean bamboo sticks with fishing line tied to the top. We used bait of squid which probably wouldn't help either. Still it was good fun. On the last day we went to white sand island. That was great until we realised that we were really close to the equator in the mid-day sun and not much shade. I got a little burnt but not too bad. Not sure about Ian.

Leaving that place was rock hard to do. Could have stayed for ages more. Everything about the place is amazing. Hopefully at some point I'll have time to sort out pictures to give people an idea but anyone who is traveling go to Bintan and stay in Nostalgia Yasin Bungalows. Its two hours on a boat from Singapore to get there and then 45 minutes to the bungalows.

If you are in Singapore though, don't bother trying to head out. I payed 7 euro for a whisky. I couldn't believe it. Especially sine in the Duty Free I got a bottle of 12 year Jameson for 20 euro. Singapore is a nice city though but after everywhere else it seems soooo expensive. Mad westernised too.

Anyway, it was a long flight and I've been awake 25 hours now so its off to bed for me.

Adios

Brian

Upside Down

Hello from Australia

Yes the land down under and to be honest its a bit disappointing that everything isn't upside down. Although the usual difference in other countries apply. The ads on tv for example are the worst I've ever seen and I've seen ads in Asia. Some of them are funny, like the one that encourages kids to asks for crisps at dinner time!

At the moment we are in St. Kilda. Its a nice area that seems to be where most of the backpackers hang out. This will probably be our base for the next couple of months. At the moment I'm settling down to applying for jobs and looking for accommodation. Thats a depressing task. The weather is still cold but at the moment it is warmer than it has been. Today you might even get away without a jumper which I think puts it at about 20 degrees. Since I've gotten here I have pretty much spent the weekend heading out. I even got to watch the All-Ireland final. Despite what anyone says, that was a good game of football. Not tremendously exciting but watching Kerry in that sort of form is always a treat. Especially seeing as the last game I saw was Galway Sligo. Have been to a few good night spots but will wait til the weekend before I venture out again I think.

Today I have to go and get tax and visa sorted out. Which means queuing in stupid offices. After that, I don't really know what I want to do. We aren't very far from Albert Park which is where the Grand Prix circuit is so I will wander down some day and get a picture of that. The grand prix itself isn't until March but if I'm not in Melbourne then and can afford to, I might come back. There are plenty of other events in Melbourne though, including the AFL grand final which is on here on the 29th. There is a team from Melbourne (Collingwood) in the semi-final so that should be a good one. Might try to get tickets for that but not sure if I'll be able to. They are playing Geelong who are also a team from the Victoria state.

Other than that I have no real news. The sense of adventure has died down and I feel a lot more settled here. At some point I'll put up a post with a review of SE Asia, places we stayed, prices, etc. for anyone who is doing that kind of thing in the future.

Until later....

Brian

Gallery

I have put up some pictures on the gallery. Its decent quality but we'll be changing it to make the pics bigger. All the pics are either from berastagi or Trikora Beach.

Enjoy

Brian

SE Asia, A quick guide

Right here is my guide/advice/review for SE Asia....

We arrived in Bangkok and spent 2 nights there. We stayed ages away from Khoasan road the first time we were there which was a huge mistake. You're stuck in traffic for hours then if you want to get there and it's where most of the stuff is happening too. We went into T.A.T to book our hotel the first time round and while we were there we booked trekking in Chiang Mai and our trip into Lao. If you wanna do it that way then thats fine but they will over quote you so haggle with them. I would advise not booking a place until you've seen it first. You can book something when you get to a place. We got the Vietnam visa sorted there too which is a must because you need it before you go to Vietnam. The second time round, we stayed on Rambuttri in a place called the Orchid Guesthouse. It was reasonably priced quiet location and near to everything (parallel to Khoasan).

In Chiang Mai, we stayed in BMP Residential which was nice, had a pool, was close to town, and organised the trekking. We got a VIP bus up there which was savage. Talking to other people who've been trekking I'd recommend going with the BMP Residential, they're the only crowd who spend a night at a waterfall, from what I gather (thats the 3 days 2 nights option). That for me was one of the highlights of the trip. Outside of Chiang Mai there are other places to see but I'm not sure of where or when.

From there we went to Chiang Kong to catch the slow boat. No matter what anyone tells you, you get you're visa at the border. If you do get the slow boat bring cushions the seats are uncomfortable. Lao is a gorgeous country but we spent the time on the tourist track. Tubing in Vang Vieng is decent but to really experience Lao I think you might need to get off the tourist track a little, I'm not sure how easy that is though.

Vietnam was the same as Lao, we just stayed on the tourist track. Around Hanoi there's Hao Lon bay (check spelling) and Sampa which we didn't see and are meant to be good. You can buy a bus ticket from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh for US$34 which lets you stop off in a few places. You can get suits in Hoi An but apart from a decent beach there is nothing else there. Hue looked nice but we only spent a couple of hours there. There are plenty of tours available but it might be best to see how much of the time you spend in a bus though. We didn't do anything. There is nothing in Nha Trang, maybe diving but Kho Tao is meant to be better.Stay a night or 2 and get drunk but don't waste too much time. The islands off the coast are meant to be nice, again we never made it there. Ho Chi Minh is cool. Its a good city and the tunnels are worth a visit along with the war remnants museum.

Kho Phangan is Ibiza but 10 years later. Full of English and Irish with nothing to do but get rotten drunk on a beach. Its good for a couple of nights but you need to be there long before the full moon to get anywhere. We were there 5 or 6 nights before. We stayed on the sunset beach which I think is close enough and far enough away from the action. Need to ask Jonny though.

Indonesia for me was the best place and the only thing that comes near it was trekking. The people there are amazing. We stayed away from Bali but there are the Gilli islands and Lombark in that general direction that we wanted to go to. We went to Sumatera, stayed as little as possible in Jakarta. If you only have a short period of time then Sumatera is you're best bet. If you want to climb a volcano the go to Berastagi. That place is amazing, the food, the people, everything. Around there as well is Lake Toba and Ketambe which we didn't get to see but heard great things about. From Sumatera we went to Bintan island. This place is a 2 hour boat journey from Singapore so you should make time for it. We stayed on Trikora beach in Yasin Bungalows, which is easy to get to. I would recommend going there during the week because a lot of people from Singapore go there for the weekend. I really recommend making time for the place.

KL is a really nice city and worth a visit but we didn't spend long enough there so I can't tell you completely what I make of it. I did like it though. Singapore is only good if you want to shop. After everywhere else in Asia it'll seem made expensive and drink is extortionate, even compared to Irish prices.

Any questions about anywhere, leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer....

Brian