World Traveler

 

Earthcore festival happens in two states in Australia every year and has been going for over ten years and takes place in two locations; New South Wales and Victoria. The only festival I had been to really was Glastonbury in England which is Europe’s third largest, so when I heard that Earthcore festival was on and it was one of the biggest in Australia I was really excited. Plus the festival was the week before my birthday, yay!

The day of the festival we headed out of Melbourne and drove through a lot of nothingness for about two hours and finally arrived at the festival entrance, where we then sat for four hours waiting to get in! The festival goes on for three days, or so the flyer says! We finally got through the gate at 10pm Friday and I went off to explore straight away.

The first thing that struck me was “where is the rest of the festival?’ It was tiny and hardly any people. I then found out that its always that small, usually attracting a tenth of Glastonbury at about 10,000 people (but I reckon its much less that that!) The partying stopped at 3am and then there was nothing till 12pm the following day! Three day festival? - I don’t think so!

The next day the heat kicked in and there was no shelter from trees and there were huge sand and dust clouds from where people were dancing on the dry ground – I thought it was smoke at first, ha ha! Luckily there was a river near by, loads of people swam naked but I’m a prude so went in with all my clothes on and when I got out even my jeans were dry in less that 20 minutes!

There was no ATM, no shop, nothing! Just a few dance areas and a bar, plus a couple of places to eat – not what I had expected at all but I still had a great time. Maybe Glastonbury isn’t the best festival to go to first!

Read about more parties around the world……

If you are vegetarian and thinking about going to The Philippines, please, think again! I was warned about it before I went but like usual I took no notice and thought that it wouldn’t be as extreme as I had been told. Once again I was wrong!

People seem to survive on eating meat and cakes only, you can’t even find vegetables anywhere and that’s probably why every second shop is a pharmacy! I was there for 21 days and after six hours I was already wondering how I was going to manage.

In the odd restaurant there was a vegetarian option, although that was very rare and I was always asked what mean I would like with it but I spent most of the three weeks I was there eating cakes. Bakeries are open 24 hours, even in remote towns where there are hardly any people – very strange! Cake for breakfast, cake for lunch and, lucky me, cake for dinner. Don’t get me wrong, I love cake but I was actually getting good at being healthy before all this!

As I travelled around some of the 7,000 islands of the Philippines, occasionally I was lucky enough to come across a Pizza Hut so I could actually eat “a real meal� and by the time that my 21 days were up I was craving vegetables, I would even dream of them. At least I finally found a way of getting my mind to stop thinking about cake all day, but it didn’t work for long!

Read more about mishaps in The Philippines……

 

(Photo taken by Trevor Lowe)

I remember going to Egypt to see the pyramids in Giza a few years back. I was really excited to be there even though I was melting due to the heat, and it wasn’t even summer! As soon as I got out of the car I was surrounded by Egyptian men that kept trying to grab me and put me on camels, in a scary way, not in a “please have a camel ride� kind of way. It really freaked me out and there were loads of guys like that, in the end my group had to join in with other people’s groups just for the safety in numbers and it didn’t seem to happen to anyone else – it’s always me!

The safety in numbers thing seemed to work better and as I began to relax I was able to admire the beauty of the pyramids and the sheer size of them. This trip was quite a while ago, back in the days where you could go inside a pyramid, to which I had no hesitation as I hadn’t really thought through what would be in there.

The entrance was pretty small so I had to duck down and there was a line of people going into the pyramid and a line of people coming out of the pyramid, all through the same little tunnel, all the people bending low. About half way down I freaked out, I couldn’t breathe and had a full blown panic attack, and soon realised that I was claustrophobic! Unfortunately there was nothing anyone could do, I had to continue to the bottom and then come back up in order to get out of the pyramid obviously I didn’t therefore pay much attention to what was inside the pyramid. All in all it was a crazy day!

Read more about Africa…….

 

(Photo by Eric Rougier www.fromparis.com)

Personally I hate Christmas, I always have and I always will and I will do whatever I can to get away from it! So I decided to take my mum to Paris for Christmas, ha ha, that was my excuse! I booked the hotel and flight online and it was only for five days so we would be back for New Years Eve (one of the few celebrations that don’t hate me!)

We arrived and jumped in a taxi and gave the taxi driver the address, he blatantly drove us a round in a circle three times before dropping us off and thought that we wouldn’t notice! The hotel was nice, at least that bit wasn’t a nightmare and we went out straight away to explore and set off on foot without a plan. Immediately we found shops, lots of them and the shopping in Paris is absolutely brilliant, very low cost too (in comparison to London, where wouldn’t be low cost in comparison to that!) After a great shop we needed a drink and hit the nearest bar. It was a very strange bar, like most of the bars in Paris that we came across. Ordering drinks is where the language barrier comes in, I did french at school but my pronunciation is not understood by anyone that speaks French! I managed to order a grapefruit juice and vodka; unfortunately I got a whole glass of each so I had to down half of the neat vodka so I could mix the drinks myself!

We set off to do the usually sightseeing activities; the Eifel Tower which was very small compared to how I imagine it; The Louvre which was huge and I ended up lost for hours; Notre Dam Cathedral, very nice but a lot like many other cathedrals. We ended up not taking all the advice we had been given and to check out the real Paris, which worked much better for us, and also stopped in to see a show at one of the famous cabaret’s (careful which night you go on as some are nude – my friend accidentally took her mum to one of those shows!) Paris is a beautiful city and the architecture is excellent, but something’s are very strange. You can only buy tobacco in cafes and tobacconists, not in supermarkets. When you want to have dinner, everything is shut and then opens much later in the evening and there were rarely women anywhere!

Read more about European getaways……

Ananda Apfelbaum doing Thai Massage (www.traditionalthaiyogamassage.com)

I have never really been into massage as I don’t like strangers touching me, but in Thailand for most of the massages they can do it with all your clothes on, this made me feel way more comfortable, plus I was with my mum who wanted a massage at least three times a day and in Thailand that is easily affordable, even for those on a budget!

Thai massages are very strange, the do the job but they pull you into some very strange positions and do some odd things, I couldn’t help but laugh - in fact I actually laughed through nearly the whole massage They sit on your legs and pull your arms back, then twist you and turn you and sit on your back while your sitting up, then haul you onto their knees while your laying down. Yes, very strange. I think I ruin the ambiance of the place as all you can hear is me laughing my head off, especially if its a foot and leg massage as I get very ticklish feet.

There are also a lot of reflexology places, I tried that too but I found it to be a more painful experience than pleasant, almost everywhere they pressed on my feet hurt and I really didn’t like it at all, plus I really don’t think toes should be pulled out of their sockets - is that right??

Then there are head massages. Hmmm, a strange one yet again! I have had a head massage before in England and Thai head massages are very different. Some bits of the massage are nice but some bits feel like someone is hitting you on the head with a big stick, I have no idea if it is a stick or if its hands, all that I know is that is not very nice and fairly painful!

Read more about Thailand…..

(Photo by Wade Shepard http://www.TravelerPhotographs.com)

I had a Moroccan boyfriend and we had been seeing each other for a few years, he never really saw his family back in Morocco, so he took me to go and see them. They lived in a small town an hour or so from Tangiers but trying to get a flight to where you want to go in Morocco is a nightmare. We ended up flying into Casablanca and then getting a taxi for about five hours to Larache, his home town (taxi’s are very cheap).

made me much less nervous as I hate meeting parents, I get really clumsy and smash all their expensive china or spill red wine over their new white carpet, its never good!) I was grabbed and hugged, then they would all talk about me and then grab me and hug me again. It was really sweet.

They made us food, talk about a feast but it was totally delicious, I always clear my plate and eat until I nearly throw up and this seemed to please them but they kept filling up my plate. They ended up making a
huge feast every hour or two and me and my boyfriend were feeling really sick from eating too much so he kept trying to make himself sick to make room for more food, it was totally crazy. In the end we would
wake up early in the morning, have breakfast only, then stay out all day so we just had to do one dinner (instead of three, plus lunch, plus three other meals!) I realised later that if you clear your plate its a silent request for more, whoops!

The only thing I hated about being out all day is that everyone stared at me, in a very obvious “I’m staring at you” kind of way, even three year old children. I hated it. I was always the only woman in any cafe and there is never even a woman’s toilet and I generally got loads of hassle everywhere I went but I guess its a small town and you know what they re like. In that respect I preferred Casablanca much better, plus is mainly French so I could get by on the language!

Read more about Africa……

 

I was in the middle of a two year travelling spert and had been thinking about getting another tattoo for ages but hadn’t thought of the exact design I wanted but knew what type of thing I wanted. Anyway, I was in Bukkitinggi which is a small Indonesian town in Sumatra and we came across a tattooist. He is the only person in the town to have tattoo’s as the town considers tattoo’s to be for criminals, therefore he only gets to tattoo tourists.
 
I went in to have a look at his art work and flicked through some of the magazines and happen to have an idea of exactly what I wanted and decided to get it (its a star as big as the palm of a hand with a space scene inside, and an alien – in case you were wondering!)
 
I had a chat with the tattooist and he said he could do it the following day so I went back to get it done and forgot how annoying tattoo pain was! Plus it was on my spine so I had involuntary twitches and was convinced that I was going to go into spasm resulting in loads of squiggly lines instead of straight ones, but it came out good, luckily!
 
The tattooist told me stories about other people he had tattooed, he remembered one girl in particular as she wanted a stickman pushing a lawnmower where the top of her down-there-hair started. The tattooist was so nervous as Indonesian women, especially in Bukketinggi really aren’t like that!

Read more about Indonesia……

I was travelling Cambodia and was torn between going south to the beach and the parties or going north and seeing the apparently unmissable temples. I really wanted to go south but I heard so much about how fantastic the temples were that I finally decided to go north to see Ankor Wat temples in Siem Reap.

Siem Reap is a cute little town and there are loads of travellers there, like I was, to see these temples, so it was a great place to meet people. The town itself doesn’t have much else too see apart from Angkor Wot but there are loads of cute little restaurants with fantastic food and some bars as well.

The best way to see as many of the temples as possible, easily, is to hire a tuk-tuk driver for the day for about $20. We left early in the morning as there are loads of temples that are scattered throughout the area, with a few temples as far as 150km away. You need to buy a temple pass in order to see the temples, these are available in one, two or three day passes. Everyone told us to get the three day pass but I thought one day was more that enough.

There are some amazing temples and many of them are in great condition, my favorite was one of the temples in the forest where it looks like the temple is growing out of the trees (rather than the other way around) and its amazing of how it got to be that way. Temples are tiring though so I stopped for lunch near one of the temple sights (and wouldn’t recommend it!) I was barraged by a heard of children selling loads of random things. While I was trying to eat my rice they were hanging off of my arms so I don’t think I actually managed to get any in my mouth as the rice was sent flying on each tug of my arm. There was no getting rid of them, and believe me I tried everything! I left pretty quick and went to see more temples. By the time it got to 3pm I was templed out so called it a day.

Everyone goes on about the temples and how amazing they are, and although it was nice to see them I did regret not going south!

Read about more Asia travels…….

I was travelling around South East Asia and luckily I stopped off for a week in Singapore in February, at what I reckon must be the best time of year to get there - Chinese New Year. Arriving just in time for the twelve days of celebrations that the country has. As the majority of the population of Singapore is Chinese, Malaysia and Indian, you can imagine that Chinese New Year is a pretty big thing. There were loads of events suitable for everyone, at different locations around the city so I tried to cram as many of them in as possible.

Along the river there were an abundance of stalls offering food, clothing, fun-fair games, kids fair ground rides and other random things to purchase. The whole area was decorated in lights and giant papier-mâché figures of the Chinese zodiac animals, the whole area was aglow with the amount of colours and lights, really amazing. Horoscopes were set up all over the place, so you could find the giant figurine of your zodiac sign and the read about what was in store for you the following year. There was also a big stage set up with various performances including music and dancing, and a magic show!

Other events around the city included free music performances in a few different outdoor areas around the city, fire works, plus there was a street parade followed with a street party. So much effort went into the parade with some amazing costumes, I watched excitedly for hours, the street party was a bit empty but there was disco lights and smoke machines (I’m a sucker for flashing lights – I must have been a moth in a previous life!)

They also set up huge screens at another riverside location where different films were shown every night, there were also loads of eateries there so you could make a night of it. All the Chinese New Year events were free to all and I had such a good time that I’m going back again this year!

Read about other Asian cities…..

One of the first things that I noticed when I arrived in Melbourne was the strange taste in clothes people seem to have, and the majority of people wear the same style. Its like no one seems to match the clothes that they are wearing, its like they thought “hmmmm, I like those orange leggings, and I love my green skirt, oh, and that red top, teamed with a grey cardigan” with no thought that none of the items go together, and everyone does it. I must say, it took a bit of getting used to, I tried to go shopping so many times but came back with nothing, which is certainly something that has never happened to me before!

I thought that maybe Melbourne only gets the hand me downs from the other cities wholesalers but then I was surprised to learn that its actually the fashion capital of Australia! If that’s the case Australia certainly needs some top designers to come to the rescue. At least when I’m in Melbourne and I can’t really be bothered to make much of an effort I cant just throw on anything and it looks like I’m being “fashionable”.

Spring races draws the crowds from far and wide and that’s when you see some of the true monstrosities. The trend at the moment seems to be ill fitting dresses that make even the girls with the best bodies look a strange shape, and as for the guys, it seems skinny jeans are in. Jeans so tight that leggings look baggy in comparison, these skinny jeans are worn low down, you know, so you can see almost all the underwear and so the crotch of the skinny jeans come down to the knees and it looks liked they have soiled themselves from the back end - how do they manage to run for a bus I wonder? Fashion capital of Australia ay? Australians must have a field day when they go abroad and see what fashion is actually all about!

Read more about Australia….

There’s one thing that you notice immediately when you visit London, everything is grey; the sky is grey, the buildings are grey, everyone wears grey and the people are grey! The next thing you will notice is how rude many of the people are, you’ll be lucky to get the time from someone in the street, most people just totally ignore you, some simply show a hand for you to talk to! And getting directions, oh, for that one you will get a reply but you wont ever get anywhere near where you asked to get to! Politeness and London are rarely found together, there is no “sorry” or “thank you”, “excuse me” yeah right! Everyone just pushes there way through, in their grey clothes, with their grey miserable faces.

Its generally less hassle to look people in the eye as you’ll either get someone try and start a fight with you, or some lunatic following you around all day. No one speaks to strangers, or even looks at them for that matter and London has more than its fair share of rudeness. Its a brilliant city with loads to see and do, so much so that you’ll never get bored, unfortunately its filled with rude people that make it feel like such a depressing place to be. When a shop assistant says “Hi” back when you enter the shop you get a shock and don’t even think about asking the bus driver if he has change as you’ll get shouted at!

http://www.worldtravelerjournal.com/what-to-do-in-bangkok/

I had heard that Ho Chi Minh City was worse than Hanoi but I preferred it as there were loads of cool places to go and it was much easier to venture out of the hotel and a lot less scary. It was my birthday so I decided to treat myself and go shopping; there were so many cool clothes shops. I wanted some jeans so I took a few of the largest sizes into the changing room, most of which I couldn’t even get passed my ankles as they were so small. The shop assistant was laughing at me and went to get loads of her friends; they kept opening the curtain of the dressing room while I was getting changed and laughing hysterically at me!The tops didn’t fit either, I kept getting them stuck when they were half way on and had to get my sister to help get them off again.

Vietnamese people are much smaller than they look (and they look really small too); some of the jeans had knees that were two inches wide -who has legs that small? Even babies legs are bigger than that. Shopping was pointless and embarrassing so I went to get a haircut and a facial (I’d never had a facial before). The facial was first and started off well, until they stuck a hot steamer in my face, which burnt and didn’t allow me to breathe. I think my discomfort was apparent as they quickly took it away. The facial also included a head, neck and should massage. The facial massage was funny as she pushed my face in different directions so I made funny faces (like you do with adults when you’re a kid), then she moved onto my head. I had no idea what she was doing but it felt like she was hitting me on the head with a big stick and it hurt.

The strange and painful experience came to and end and I was moved into a chair to have my haircut. In the mirror I could see the woman behind me, I don’t know what she was having done but it looked more painful than what I had. The hairdresser grabbed her chin in one hand and her forehead in the other and twisted forcefully enough for me to hear the click from across the salon. Then she started poking the woman’s forehead (what that is supposed to do is beyond me) and then slapped her around the face! Glad I didn’t have that done.

http://www.worldtravelerjournal.com/check-out-the-travel-deals-from-the-washington-post/

 

I was in Nha Trang and really wanted to visit Monkey Island so I went on a day tour as it was the only way to get there. The trip included a visit to four different islands and it was such a fab day, I got to feed Emu’s and Deer and saw loads of other animals and beautiful sights – except for the actual Monkey Island itself as they had a bear that was made to do tricks – In the UK I donate to WSPA to help stop stuff happening to bears so I was almost in tears. 

The bear was made to stand on two legs instead of four, which had obviously caused him a lot of pain; his back bent inwards and outwards in three different places, so he looked much worse than the Hunchback of Notre dame.  My sister thought it was a man in a suit at first as it was hard to tell that it was actually a bear (OK, not so much that it looked like a man in a suit as it visibly had bear paws).  He was a smart bear though as he could ride a bicycle and a motorbike!  I’m serious!  I can’t even drive a motorbike, I tried but I veered off in to bush!  He was traumatized and had given up all hope so I reported him to WSPA who said they would help him. Monkeys were also made to do tricks but at least they had a bit of fight left in them, one monkey bit the man and another one ran away!  The dogs loved it though, all wagging their tales ecstatically, keen to show off all their tricks. 

We were also got to feed wild monkeys – not sure how wild they were but they looked like they were free.  My sister was holding a bag of corn and feeding the monkeys, most of which were very polite, but then a monkey jumped at her out of nowhere and bit her hand to grab the bag of corn then ran off with it.  We hadn’t had the rabies jab but the tour guide said it wasn’t a problem and she didn’t die during the night so we though it was fine – until we met someone later in Thailand who had the same thing happen and the doctor told him that some people don’t show symptoms until 12 weeks later!  I kept a look out for signs over the following three months, like sensitivity to lights and aversions to water but luckily she was fine!  

http://www.worldtravelerjournal.com/borneo-orangutans-and-two-different-human-cultures/

We arrived in Hanoi and were greeted with Beep-beep, honk honk!  Tiny little streets with no pavements and a whole rally of motorbikes driving in all different directions, no one paid any attention to crossings or the green man, it was so bad my sister had a panic attack! 

Crossing the road was almost impossible.  It was our first point of real travelling; we had been to Hong Kong for a 3-day stopover but that hardly counts!  We got to the guest house and paid the $15 USD they asked (which is at least four times the price of what it should be) everyone rips you off in Vietnam as we soon discovered, we left Vietnam paying $4 USD for cable, fridge, own bathroom and air-con!) 

We stopped in a cafe to escape the madness of the city and immediately found the language barrier difficult so I just pointed at a random drink on the menu as I cant read Vietnamese and we ended up with two hot orange squash drinks that came with an inch of sugar at the bottom!  I had a language book and we tried to learn some basics like ‘Hello’ and ‘Thank you’ but there are about six different tones for the same word so one word could mean six different things, depending on whether you say it in a rising tone, or a low tone etc so actually managing to speak a whole sentence was impossible!  So we tried pointing at things and doing impressions to get by, but we were rarely understood!

Most of the city is tiny little back streets that all look the same and have no road signs, so every time we left the hostel we got lost for at least four hours, and each time we lost all hope that we would never find our hostel again!  I wasn’t too keen on Hanoi, it was way to manic for my liking and I love cities usually.

http://www.worldtravelerjournal.com/tips-for-traveling-alone/

Lying within easy traveling distance of Cuzco is one of Peru’s most famous tourist destinations, the impressive Inca fortress Machu Picchu. The ‘city of Incas’ is probably even South America’s most coveted archaeological attraction. The ancient city sits high in the mountains, and is particularly interesting because it is relatively pristine and intact–the site itself was never found by the invading Spaniards and was largely untouched until the early 1900s.

Despite constant studies dating back to the time of it’s rediscovery by Hiram Bingham in 1911, the history and purpose of the compound remains a fascinating mystery. Some experts and scholars believe the citadel was a royal vacation palace, while others are convinced the structures actually represent an effort by the Inca to rekindle their dying culture in the final years of the empire. Either way, the incredible stonework and craftsmanship at the site is evidence the compound was of some great cultural significance to the Inca.

The site is open from dawn till dark. Many tours from Cuzco visit the site, but many travelers also visit on their own. However, keep in mind you are not allowed to carry large or bulky backpacks, food, or drinks into the ruins. There is no official visitor center, but tickets to the Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary can be purchased in neighboring Aguas Calientes or through a Cuzco tour agency. Also, the Museo de Sitio Manuel Chavez Ballon is a nice place to get maps and information about the site.

Once you actually enter the complex compound and it’s confusing passageways, keep an eye out for a few buildings and areas that you shouldn’t miss. The Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock is a bit morbid (mummification may have been performed here), and the nearby series of ceremonial baths is captivating and beautiful. Some of the most intricate stonework in the whole site is featured in the delicate looking Temple of the Sun. The tower may have been used for ceremonial and astrological purposes. The Temple of Three Widows has nice views of the Sacred Plaza. The main altar is the Intihuatana, located beyond the strange Sacristy. The small building called the Sacristy has many nooks and niches of all sizes, and an impressive stone bench; the building is especially known for the intricately cut rocks flanking it’s main doorway. The Intihuatana is a delicately crafted rock pillar that may have been used to predict the solstice, and is one of the few remaining such pillars because of the Spanish effort to smash the shrines.

Most people traveling to Machu Piccho stay in Cuzco or Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes sits in a large valley just below the famous ruins, and has many convenient hotels and tour guides. The aptly-named Hotel Machu Picchu Inn is comfortable and clean–we recommend making reservations ahead of time. Cafe Inkaterra is located in the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, and is a quiet and calm place to go after a long day traveling. The foot is both traditional and modern, and the atmosphere is inviting and romantic.

If you want to stay at the ruins themselves, the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge is one of your only choices. The hotel is often full, so book rooms ahead of time. All of the rooms have views of the ancient compound, and the staff is attentive. The in-house food is expensive but tasty.