Hi! Tomorrow I'm leaving for Nong Khiaw in Northern Laos. From there, I'll be traveling into relatively undeveloped places in remote areas for about a week. Some of the places I'll be going don't even have electricity or (gasp!) internet access. As a result, emails and updates from me will be scarce for a little while. My plans are not really completely set yet, so I can't say exactly when I will be returning to civilization -- it should be in about a week, maybe two weeks.
I expect to be sleeping in sleepy little villages where few tourists go. I may go on a multiple-day trek into the jungles and hills. I will definitely see mountains. We will look into hiring a local guide to guide us on our trek and keep us away from landmines and show us the way. We've done some research and have the names of a few guides up in Phongsali.
I won't be traveling alone, though. Alexandra Weaver (from Hamilton, Ontario), and Christine (from Minnesota) will be traveling with me the whole way. We've decided that what we want to do in Laos is very similar to each other, so we will be traveling together for a while. All three of us should probably be together for about two weeks until Chris needs to go to Vietnam. Alex and I will probably stick together for our full 30 days in Laos, at least. We want to hit up the same places -- in both northern and southern Laos, so it's best to have a travel buddy for as long as I can!
See you soon!
--
Rob Szumlakowski
Luang Prabang, Laos
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
New Photos Posted: Luang Prabang
Howdy hi hi hi! I'm here in Luang Prabang, Laos.
I don't have enough time to do a full proper blog entry about the rest of my time here, however, I've managed to upload a set of photos from my few days here. Why don't you check them out?
--
Rob Szumlakowski
Luang Prabang, Laos
I don't have enough time to do a full proper blog entry about the rest of my time here, however, I've managed to upload a set of photos from my few days here. Why don't you check them out?
--
Rob Szumlakowski
Luang Prabang, Laos
Sunday, March 23, 2008
New Photos Posted: The Slow Boat to Luang Prabang
HAPPY EASTER! My Easter gift to everyone is an album of new photos from my river journey in Laos. Enjoy.
--
Rob Sz
Luang Prabang, Laos
--
Rob Sz
Luang Prabang, Laos
The Slow Boat to Luang Prabang
An ancient river flows through a majestic mountain valley, winding its way over rapids, exposed cliff faces, and razor sharp boulders. Herds of water buffalo sip water from the shore. Tiny villages hide among leafy palm trees. Naked children play in the water near the shore. Speed boats noisily buzz by. Where am I? Packed into a slow boat on the Mekong River on the way to Luang Prabang in Laos. I was travelling with a group of about twenty other people, including Alex from Spicythai Backpackers in Chiang Mai.
I spent one day on a minibus to get from Chiang Mai to the border town of Chiang Khong in Thailand. I spent one night there and headed to Thai immigration in the morning. Immigration was cleared without incident and I collected my exit stamp. From there, we boarded a set of small ferries to cross the wide Mekong River. I got a bit muddy stepping onto Laos soil (er, mud) on the other side of the river. I had already arranged my 30 day Laos visa (cost was about CA$60) before, so clearing immigration and earning my entrance stamp was a snap. From there, we were loaded onto a truck to take us to the dock where we could board our slow boat.
We were dumped out at a cafe where I paid 5 baht (CA$0.16) to use a toilet. We all handed our passports to a policeman who held onto them. I hope he didn't do anything sneaky with them. He wasn't gone for too long, though. He returned our passports and gave us our tickets for the boat.
It would be a two day journey, seated on crowded wooden benches. Each day was about 6 or 8 hours of travel on the river. It was boring at times, but we had entertainment. We made new friends, played cards, drank beer, and chatted a lot. Sometimes I turned myself "off" and read a guide book, a novel (currently reading A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood), played DS, or listened to music and stared at the world slowing chugging by.
On the way, the boat stopped and a mob of children swarmed onto the boat to sell the passengers chips, soda, beers, and other snacks from plastic tubs. These kids couldn't have been more than ten years old each. I didn't buy anything, but someone I talked to realized that one of the kids had returned the wrong change to him. The kids were swindlers! I had to be careful in Laos.
We stayed overnight at this tiny one-street village called Pak Beng. I split a room with a Chilean man named Roberto. We Robs gotta stick together, you know. There was no electricity in the town after about 8 PM, and a big group of us ended up visiting a couple different places in Pak Beng,
First, I had dinner with Alex, Christine (from Minnesota) and John (from New Zealand). This group of people would form my group of traveling companions for the next few days (maybe weeks, we'll see). We had our first Laotian food. We were enticed into going into this bar with the offer of buy-one-get-one-free big bottles of Beer Lao. Beer Lao is the government-approved beer which has a 98% market share in Laos. It's actually a fairly decent brew, so drink it without complaint. The beer was 10,000 kip (about CA$1.10) for a 640 mL bottle. Buy-one-get-one-free was a sweet deal. Sadly, when we tried to order our second sets, the restaurant owner said he was all out. He even took me into the kitchen to show that the cupboards were bare. We felt a little conned and left. I did enjoy my meal, however. I had a Laotian fish salad called Laap.
After dinner, I hooked up with most of the rest of my travel group at some other bar. The electricity was long gone, so we sat by candlelight while the town slept around us. As soon as I got there, the guys shouted, "ROB! ROB! DRINK THIS!" and I was handed a shot glass of brown liquid. I gave it a whiff -- it smelled like whiskey. I thought... "What the hey" and downed it. Ugh. It tasted pretty foul -- more foul than your average foul whiskey. Then the guys showed me the bottle. It had a cobra curled up in it, with the tail passing through the mouth.
A COBRA.
I'm not kidding.
The guys there had been drinking from the bottle for a few hours and it was already about half consumed. They continued to drink it, and no one was poisoned, so we wasn't that bad. It still tasted foul though.
In the morning, my roommate Roberto informed me that he hadn't slept all night. He had three shots of the cobra whiskey and was feeling high and delirious. I only had the one shot, so I slept better, but my stomach was still a little off. Ugh. The bed I slept on was rock hard and there was no water pressure in the bathroom to use the sink or shower. There was no electricity in the morning, either, so I had to use the bathroom mostly in the dark. I brushed my teeth using my drinking water, lathered on some deodorant and marched down to the boat dock with my stuff.
I met up with Alex, Christine, and John on the way. When we reached the riverside, I was greeted with gorgeous views. It was really beautiful. Despite the cobras, hard bed, no shower, and woozy stomach, it was all worth it.
The second day on the boat was slightly more crowded than the first. The scenery was just as beautiful... but after two days straight of mountains, rocks, rapids, it got a little repetitive. We docked in Luang Prabang shortly before sunset. To our great pleasure, Pong, the owner of Spicythai Backpackers was waiting for us at the boat dock. We told him that we'd be arriving that day. Since there's only one boat that arrives per day, he knew exactly where to find us.
Pong helped us find a nice guesthouse to stay in. I split a room with John. It was 400 baht, divided two ways (CA$13/2) for a private room with two double beds, fan, private bathroom with heated shower. I checked that the bed was not rock hard, and that there was water pressure. It seemed like a good deal. I really appreciated Pong's help.
We got ourselves cleaned up and met Pong for dinner. We went to a cool outside bar/restaurant called Lao Lao Bar where I had more Lao food and beer. I ate a filling meal with a spicy vegetable stir fry, rice, and large Beer Lao for 43000 kip (about CA$4.70).
Laos is one of the least developed countries in the world. It's very cheap to visit, however, it is slightly more expensive than Thailand. That's because Laos has very little industry and grows only certain kinds of food. Almost everything that travelers would use or eat has to be imported from Thailand... hence the increased cost.
Another interesting thing is the currency situation. The currency in Laos is the kip. It's somewhat inflationary, and very devalued. One US dollar will buy about 8700 kip. Additionally, the Thai baht and US dollars are used here. Using three currencies is rather confusing, especially when the kip is so devalued. I need to keep track of several exchange rates in my head now, and do math involving a lot of zeros. I'm going to have to be very careful here.
Anyways... today is now Easter Sunday. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
This morning, Alex, Christine, John and I (who were all staying at the same guest house) met up with Pong for Easter Brunch at a great little bakery/cafe called Jomo. It was just like being at a cafe back at home, except all the prices were in kip and had lots of zeros on them. I had a really nice little ham and cheese quiche, apple cinnamon muffin, two large coffees and a lot of chocolate. My meal (minus the chocolate) was about CA$4. Not really bad, considering that much food would probably cost twice that in Toronto.
After brunch we went to the money exchange place. I'm pleased to say that I'm now a millionaire. Yes, really. I sold US$200 and was handed 1.6 million kip in a thick wad of bills... mostly 50,000 kip notes. Alex had to go to another place, and bought the same number of kip, but was paid mostly in 5,000 kip notes. Her wad of cash was literally two inches thick. So bizarre. Since I expect to live on about US$20 per day here, it should last me for a while.
That brings me to now. I'm in an internet cafe now, writing this and uploading pictures to Picasa. I'm going to the temple tonight at sunset and heading to a waterfall to go swimming tomorrow.
Ciao!
I spent one day on a minibus to get from Chiang Mai to the border town of Chiang Khong in Thailand. I spent one night there and headed to Thai immigration in the morning. Immigration was cleared without incident and I collected my exit stamp. From there, we boarded a set of small ferries to cross the wide Mekong River. I got a bit muddy stepping onto Laos soil (er, mud) on the other side of the river. I had already arranged my 30 day Laos visa (cost was about CA$60) before, so clearing immigration and earning my entrance stamp was a snap. From there, we were loaded onto a truck to take us to the dock where we could board our slow boat.
We were dumped out at a cafe where I paid 5 baht (CA$0.16) to use a toilet. We all handed our passports to a policeman who held onto them. I hope he didn't do anything sneaky with them. He wasn't gone for too long, though. He returned our passports and gave us our tickets for the boat.
It would be a two day journey, seated on crowded wooden benches. Each day was about 6 or 8 hours of travel on the river. It was boring at times, but we had entertainment. We made new friends, played cards, drank beer, and chatted a lot. Sometimes I turned myself "off" and read a guide book, a novel (currently reading A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood), played DS, or listened to music and stared at the world slowing chugging by.
On the way, the boat stopped and a mob of children swarmed onto the boat to sell the passengers chips, soda, beers, and other snacks from plastic tubs. These kids couldn't have been more than ten years old each. I didn't buy anything, but someone I talked to realized that one of the kids had returned the wrong change to him. The kids were swindlers! I had to be careful in Laos.
We stayed overnight at this tiny one-street village called Pak Beng. I split a room with a Chilean man named Roberto. We Robs gotta stick together, you know. There was no electricity in the town after about 8 PM, and a big group of us ended up visiting a couple different places in Pak Beng,
First, I had dinner with Alex, Christine (from Minnesota) and John (from New Zealand). This group of people would form my group of traveling companions for the next few days (maybe weeks, we'll see). We had our first Laotian food. We were enticed into going into this bar with the offer of buy-one-get-one-free big bottles of Beer Lao. Beer Lao is the government-approved beer which has a 98% market share in Laos. It's actually a fairly decent brew, so drink it without complaint. The beer was 10,000 kip (about CA$1.10) for a 640 mL bottle. Buy-one-get-one-free was a sweet deal. Sadly, when we tried to order our second sets, the restaurant owner said he was all out. He even took me into the kitchen to show that the cupboards were bare. We felt a little conned and left. I did enjoy my meal, however. I had a Laotian fish salad called Laap.
After dinner, I hooked up with most of the rest of my travel group at some other bar. The electricity was long gone, so we sat by candlelight while the town slept around us. As soon as I got there, the guys shouted, "ROB! ROB! DRINK THIS!" and I was handed a shot glass of brown liquid. I gave it a whiff -- it smelled like whiskey. I thought... "What the hey" and downed it. Ugh. It tasted pretty foul -- more foul than your average foul whiskey. Then the guys showed me the bottle. It had a cobra curled up in it, with the tail passing through the mouth.
A COBRA.
I'm not kidding.
The guys there had been drinking from the bottle for a few hours and it was already about half consumed. They continued to drink it, and no one was poisoned, so we wasn't that bad. It still tasted foul though.
In the morning, my roommate Roberto informed me that he hadn't slept all night. He had three shots of the cobra whiskey and was feeling high and delirious. I only had the one shot, so I slept better, but my stomach was still a little off. Ugh. The bed I slept on was rock hard and there was no water pressure in the bathroom to use the sink or shower. There was no electricity in the morning, either, so I had to use the bathroom mostly in the dark. I brushed my teeth using my drinking water, lathered on some deodorant and marched down to the boat dock with my stuff.
I met up with Alex, Christine, and John on the way. When we reached the riverside, I was greeted with gorgeous views. It was really beautiful. Despite the cobras, hard bed, no shower, and woozy stomach, it was all worth it.
The second day on the boat was slightly more crowded than the first. The scenery was just as beautiful... but after two days straight of mountains, rocks, rapids, it got a little repetitive. We docked in Luang Prabang shortly before sunset. To our great pleasure, Pong, the owner of Spicythai Backpackers was waiting for us at the boat dock. We told him that we'd be arriving that day. Since there's only one boat that arrives per day, he knew exactly where to find us.
Pong helped us find a nice guesthouse to stay in. I split a room with John. It was 400 baht, divided two ways (CA$13/2) for a private room with two double beds, fan, private bathroom with heated shower. I checked that the bed was not rock hard, and that there was water pressure. It seemed like a good deal. I really appreciated Pong's help.
We got ourselves cleaned up and met Pong for dinner. We went to a cool outside bar/restaurant called Lao Lao Bar where I had more Lao food and beer. I ate a filling meal with a spicy vegetable stir fry, rice, and large Beer Lao for 43000 kip (about CA$4.70).
Laos is one of the least developed countries in the world. It's very cheap to visit, however, it is slightly more expensive than Thailand. That's because Laos has very little industry and grows only certain kinds of food. Almost everything that travelers would use or eat has to be imported from Thailand... hence the increased cost.
Another interesting thing is the currency situation. The currency in Laos is the kip. It's somewhat inflationary, and very devalued. One US dollar will buy about 8700 kip. Additionally, the Thai baht and US dollars are used here. Using three currencies is rather confusing, especially when the kip is so devalued. I need to keep track of several exchange rates in my head now, and do math involving a lot of zeros. I'm going to have to be very careful here.
Anyways... today is now Easter Sunday. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
This morning, Alex, Christine, John and I (who were all staying at the same guest house) met up with Pong for Easter Brunch at a great little bakery/cafe called Jomo. It was just like being at a cafe back at home, except all the prices were in kip and had lots of zeros on them. I had a really nice little ham and cheese quiche, apple cinnamon muffin, two large coffees and a lot of chocolate. My meal (minus the chocolate) was about CA$4. Not really bad, considering that much food would probably cost twice that in Toronto.
After brunch we went to the money exchange place. I'm pleased to say that I'm now a millionaire. Yes, really. I sold US$200 and was handed 1.6 million kip in a thick wad of bills... mostly 50,000 kip notes. Alex had to go to another place, and bought the same number of kip, but was paid mostly in 5,000 kip notes. Her wad of cash was literally two inches thick. So bizarre. Since I expect to live on about US$20 per day here, it should last me for a while.
That brings me to now. I'm in an internet cafe now, writing this and uploading pictures to Picasa. I'm going to the temple tonight at sunset and heading to a waterfall to go swimming tomorrow.
Ciao!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Chiang Mai
Oh wow. That's all I have to say about Chiang Mai. It's one of my favourite places that I've visited so far on this trip. It's the hot and dry season here, but my hostel, the Spicythai Backpackers' is one of the chillest I've ever had the pleasure to stay in.
I came to Chiang Mai to attend the wedding of my friends Adam Freed and Michelle Gauthier. The story of the wedding is covered in a separate blog post -- I won't repeat any of the wedding story here. I'll just tell you about the rest of my stay in Chiang Mai.
I'm going to consider Chiang Mai to be a Good Place. I use capital letters since I really mean it. It's a smallish city (about 100,000 people) in northern Thailand. The city seems to be located in a wide, flat valley, but surrounded by low mountains. The mountains are one of the southernmost extensions of the Himalaya mountains.
It's an old city -- it celebrated its 700th anniversary just a few years ago. It was the capital of an independent Thai kingdom long ago. However, it was only fully incorporated into the modern Thai kingdom about 70 years ago.
Because of its ancient capital status, it's filled with several pretty government buildings and hundreds of Buddhists wats (temples). In fact, it has 300 temples -- about the same number as Bangkok. That's astonishing, considering that Chiang Mai is a city with only about 100,000 people and Bangkok has something like 10 million.
I stayed at the Spicythai Backpacker's hostel here in Chiang Mai. The owner of the hostel, Pong, is a really cool guy. He's really friendly, hangs out with his guests all the time, takes them on tours, arranges weddings, takes his guests out drinking, and is just awesome in general. The rest of the staff is cool, too.
I generally try to shy away from dorm rooms as large as ten people, but its not so bad here. The guests are really nice, too, and don't cause problems (not like the Danish kid that peed on my in that eight-bed dorm in Coffs Harbour, Australia). I've made good friends with a few of the guests in this hostel, especially: Alexandra Weaver (from Hamilton, Ontario; Damaris Zellweger (from Zurich, Switzerland); and Brent Haas (from San Francisco, California. These are the sorts of people that I want to try and keep in touch with for a long time. I hope that, using the power of the internet, I will be able to. In the short term, at least, I think I will be exploring part of Laos with Alex for a while. Hopefully we can meet up with Damaris in southern Laos in a few weeks -- and maybe in Switzerland in a couple of years! Brent told me about Burning Man in Nevada and I promised him that I would try to go in August 2009. I hope I can make it.
The four of us made one of the saddest bowling teams in history. Lots of gutter balls -- but lots of Singha Beer, antics, and horseplay made it all worth it! We horsed around so much that we would have easily gotten kicked out of any bowling alley in Canada. Good times!
Many hostels have walls with photos on them to show you the cool things that past guests were doing. I'm pretty sure, because of my connection with the wedding, that Spicythai is the first hostel I've been in that now features MY picture on a wall. In fact, I think there's like eight pictures of me up on the wall now!
To be honest, I didn't really even see much of the city of Chiang Mai. I could have spent all eight of my days here exploring the city, its temples, museums, and people. I could have gone on a multiple-day trek into the hills and jungle. I could have ridden and taken care of an elephant. I could have gone whitewater rafting. Mostly, I chilled with my new friends at the hostel (it really does feel like a home), restaurants, coffee shops, and bars. Oh yeah, and we watched a lot of House. Like, a lot.
It doesn't help that my motivation to go out and do things is being slowly sapped. I'm not sure if it's the heat or the malaria pills. I do know that I'm wary of doing lots of tours and stuff because of cost -- I am serious about trying to save money for long term traveling.
I did spend one day wandering around the old town and took random photos. I enjoyed a Thai-style massage at the Women's Prison. It only cost me 225 baht (CA$7) for an hour and a half massage. I've never been hit and pummeled by a women so much in my life. Not quite relaxing, but very vigourous. I felt very loosey-goosey afterwards, which I assume was the goal.
The only very touristy tour that I partook in Chiang Mai was a one day cooking class. It was held on an organic farm about a half hour away from Chiang Mai. I enjoy Thai food a great deal, and learning how to cook it was a great experience. We started at a market in town to learn about some common Thai ingredients and them buy them. At the farm, the instructor, Fias, showed us many Thai ingredients growing in the garden. Since the garden was organic, we got to sample many of the leaves, roots, and fruits directly from their plants.
I made five dishes: red curry with vegetables and tofu, Thai vegetable soup, stir fried chicken with cashew nuts, a Pad Thai, and mango with sticky rice (a dessert). Every dish was made directly from its component ingredients. The cooking school peeled many of the vegetables and cut them a bit for us, but the dishes were probably 80% prepared by the students themselves.
Many of the pictures I've posted to my Picasa Web Albums are from the cooking class itself. That's probably a reflection of how much I enjoyed the class.
I'm going to wrap up this blog entry now. Tomorrow morning I am (temporarily) leaving Thailand and heading to Luang Prabang in Laos. It's a three day journey: one day on a minibus to the border, and then two days on a slow boat up the Mekong River to Luang Prabang itself. I should be back in Thailand in about three weeks. However, if Laos is as good as people say, I might stay in Laos for the full duration of my thirty day visa and go straight to Cambodia from there. We'll have to see!
I came to Chiang Mai to attend the wedding of my friends Adam Freed and Michelle Gauthier. The story of the wedding is covered in a separate blog post -- I won't repeat any of the wedding story here. I'll just tell you about the rest of my stay in Chiang Mai.
I'm going to consider Chiang Mai to be a Good Place. I use capital letters since I really mean it. It's a smallish city (about 100,000 people) in northern Thailand. The city seems to be located in a wide, flat valley, but surrounded by low mountains. The mountains are one of the southernmost extensions of the Himalaya mountains.
It's an old city -- it celebrated its 700th anniversary just a few years ago. It was the capital of an independent Thai kingdom long ago. However, it was only fully incorporated into the modern Thai kingdom about 70 years ago.
Because of its ancient capital status, it's filled with several pretty government buildings and hundreds of Buddhists wats (temples). In fact, it has 300 temples -- about the same number as Bangkok. That's astonishing, considering that Chiang Mai is a city with only about 100,000 people and Bangkok has something like 10 million.
I stayed at the Spicythai Backpacker's hostel here in Chiang Mai. The owner of the hostel, Pong, is a really cool guy. He's really friendly, hangs out with his guests all the time, takes them on tours, arranges weddings, takes his guests out drinking, and is just awesome in general. The rest of the staff is cool, too.
I generally try to shy away from dorm rooms as large as ten people, but its not so bad here. The guests are really nice, too, and don't cause problems (not like the Danish kid that peed on my in that eight-bed dorm in Coffs Harbour, Australia). I've made good friends with a few of the guests in this hostel, especially: Alexandra Weaver (from Hamilton, Ontario; Damaris Zellweger (from Zurich, Switzerland); and Brent Haas (from San Francisco, California. These are the sorts of people that I want to try and keep in touch with for a long time. I hope that, using the power of the internet, I will be able to. In the short term, at least, I think I will be exploring part of Laos with Alex for a while. Hopefully we can meet up with Damaris in southern Laos in a few weeks -- and maybe in Switzerland in a couple of years! Brent told me about Burning Man in Nevada and I promised him that I would try to go in August 2009. I hope I can make it.
The four of us made one of the saddest bowling teams in history. Lots of gutter balls -- but lots of Singha Beer, antics, and horseplay made it all worth it! We horsed around so much that we would have easily gotten kicked out of any bowling alley in Canada. Good times!
Many hostels have walls with photos on them to show you the cool things that past guests were doing. I'm pretty sure, because of my connection with the wedding, that Spicythai is the first hostel I've been in that now features MY picture on a wall. In fact, I think there's like eight pictures of me up on the wall now!
To be honest, I didn't really even see much of the city of Chiang Mai. I could have spent all eight of my days here exploring the city, its temples, museums, and people. I could have gone on a multiple-day trek into the hills and jungle. I could have ridden and taken care of an elephant. I could have gone whitewater rafting. Mostly, I chilled with my new friends at the hostel (it really does feel like a home), restaurants, coffee shops, and bars. Oh yeah, and we watched a lot of House. Like, a lot.
It doesn't help that my motivation to go out and do things is being slowly sapped. I'm not sure if it's the heat or the malaria pills. I do know that I'm wary of doing lots of tours and stuff because of cost -- I am serious about trying to save money for long term traveling.
I did spend one day wandering around the old town and took random photos. I enjoyed a Thai-style massage at the Women's Prison. It only cost me 225 baht (CA$7) for an hour and a half massage. I've never been hit and pummeled by a women so much in my life. Not quite relaxing, but very vigourous. I felt very loosey-goosey afterwards, which I assume was the goal.
The only very touristy tour that I partook in Chiang Mai was a one day cooking class. It was held on an organic farm about a half hour away from Chiang Mai. I enjoy Thai food a great deal, and learning how to cook it was a great experience. We started at a market in town to learn about some common Thai ingredients and them buy them. At the farm, the instructor, Fias, showed us many Thai ingredients growing in the garden. Since the garden was organic, we got to sample many of the leaves, roots, and fruits directly from their plants.
I made five dishes: red curry with vegetables and tofu, Thai vegetable soup, stir fried chicken with cashew nuts, a Pad Thai, and mango with sticky rice (a dessert). Every dish was made directly from its component ingredients. The cooking school peeled many of the vegetables and cut them a bit for us, but the dishes were probably 80% prepared by the students themselves.
Many of the pictures I've posted to my Picasa Web Albums are from the cooking class itself. That's probably a reflection of how much I enjoyed the class.
I'm going to wrap up this blog entry now. Tomorrow morning I am (temporarily) leaving Thailand and heading to Luang Prabang in Laos. It's a three day journey: one day on a minibus to the border, and then two days on a slow boat up the Mekong River to Luang Prabang itself. I should be back in Thailand in about three weeks. However, if Laos is as good as people say, I might stay in Laos for the full duration of my thirty day visa and go straight to Cambodia from there. We'll have to see!
New Photos Posted: Chiang Mai
Hi! I've finished posting pictures from my eight day stay in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Pictures from the wedding are posted to a separate album. Pictures from the rest of my time in Chiang Mai are posted to this new album here.
Enjoy!
--
Rob Sz
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Enjoy!
--
Rob Sz
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
New Photos Posted: A Wedding in Thailand
Wow! I'm up in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Yesterday was Adam Freed's and Michelle Gauthier's wedding here. I was the only friend from Canada who managed to come. The wedding still had plenty of guests, though, as many people from our hostel (Spicythai Backpackers -- one of the best hostels I've ever stayed in), attended.
The wedding started at midnight when we went to the night flower market to buy lots of flowers. We also sampled some food -- sausage, banana pancakes and INSECTS! I tried a whole dried cricket. It burst with an odd flavour in my mouth when I chomped its crunchy abdomen and the legs got caught between my teeth. It was not an experience I'd like to repeat.
After the market, we returned to the hostel and decorated the hostel truck with flowers until 2 AM. Admittedly, I'm not very good at flower arranging, so after I put a few on, I mostly took pictures (which I am good at).
At 6 AM we woke up and drove up to a shrine to offer food to monks and receive blessings. From there, we drove up a twisty mountain road to Doi Suthep temple. This temple is about 700 years old and contains a large golden chedi with a relic of the Buddha. We made more offerings, received more blessings, and heard stories as the hostel owner, Pong, played tour guide. He definitely knew his stuff.
By about 11 AM we drove back into the city and headed to city hall to sign the wedding papers. There was a bit of a bureaucratic hurdle to surmount, but things were sorted out and Adam and Michelle were officially married. We celebrated with sticky rice, bread, and ice cream from a nearby vendor.
The afternoon was spent napping, resting, and recharging for the night's activities. We went to a bar for dinner, drinks, and a toast!
As I was the only friend from Canada who managed to make the big trek to this wedding, I was the Best Man by default. I also served as a witness (along with Jenny from the U.S.A.). Additionally, I served as an amateur wedding photographer (along with Alex from Hamilton, Ontario!).
I've picked out the nicest photos taken by both Alex and me and posted them on Picasa. Enjoy!
The wedding started at midnight when we went to the night flower market to buy lots of flowers. We also sampled some food -- sausage, banana pancakes and INSECTS! I tried a whole dried cricket. It burst with an odd flavour in my mouth when I chomped its crunchy abdomen and the legs got caught between my teeth. It was not an experience I'd like to repeat.
After the market, we returned to the hostel and decorated the hostel truck with flowers until 2 AM. Admittedly, I'm not very good at flower arranging, so after I put a few on, I mostly took pictures (which I am good at).
At 6 AM we woke up and drove up to a shrine to offer food to monks and receive blessings. From there, we drove up a twisty mountain road to Doi Suthep temple. This temple is about 700 years old and contains a large golden chedi with a relic of the Buddha. We made more offerings, received more blessings, and heard stories as the hostel owner, Pong, played tour guide. He definitely knew his stuff.
By about 11 AM we drove back into the city and headed to city hall to sign the wedding papers. There was a bit of a bureaucratic hurdle to surmount, but things were sorted out and Adam and Michelle were officially married. We celebrated with sticky rice, bread, and ice cream from a nearby vendor.
The afternoon was spent napping, resting, and recharging for the night's activities. We went to a bar for dinner, drinks, and a toast!
As I was the only friend from Canada who managed to make the big trek to this wedding, I was the Best Man by default. I also served as a witness (along with Jenny from the U.S.A.). Additionally, I served as an amateur wedding photographer (along with Alex from Hamilton, Ontario!).
I've picked out the nicest photos taken by both Alex and me and posted them on Picasa. Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Bangkok!
My flight to Bangkok was so easy. The plane was maybe only 10% sold out, so there was lots of space. I was easily able to snag a whole row of inside seats and laid down for a nap on the 9 hour flight.
Bangkok is a big, crazy, smelly, city. Some parts are rough around the edges, other parts are ultra modern, shiny, and new. In the same day, I was awoken by roosters crowing outside of my guesthouse window (and I was definitely staying in the city, not a farm!), and took a monorail to the centre of the city and perused huge shopping malls with Porsche dealerships inside of them. It's really a city of contrasts.
I met up with my old friend Nick Taylor. He's been on an around the world trip since August. I only spent two full days in Bangkok, so our time to hang out was pretty limited. We walked around Khao San Road (the super touristy, but very cool, shopping street) and the markets on neighboring steets. Nick's friend Irena (from Slovenia) hung out with us, too. She's flying to Australia soon, so I was able to give her travel advice! Likewise, they supplied me with travel advice too.
Food is very yummy here... and very cheap. Most meals from street vendors are less than 30 baht (that's less than CA$1) !!! The food isn't as high quality as you'd find in swanky restaurants, but its certainly enough to live on -- and a lot of people do.
Nick and I also went out for beers. We drank mostly Beer Chang. Rumour has it that it's made with formaldehyde. Reminds me of goone in Australia.
My second day in Bangkok, I tried to play the role of a tourist and went to see the sights. I went to this fantastic Buddhist temple called Wat Pho. There was a very very large reclining Buddha there -- 42 metres long and 14 metres high. Each of his feet were taller than me. HUGE! It pust the Daibatsu in Nara, Japan to shame!
That day, I also went shopping in the expensive shopping malls in Siam Square. I needed to buy headphones (since I lost another pair), and chargers for my iPod and Nintendo DS. The prices of the headphones and iPod charger were sadly very similar to Canadian prices. The DS charger was a mere 200 baht, though (CA$6).
Not just food is cheap, it seems almost everything is! I knew it was supposed to be cheap, but to finally get here and see it first hand is pretty astonishing. 1 litre bottles of water are usually 12 baht (about 30 or 40 cents), bus fare is 7 baht (20 cents approx), articles of clothing are almost always less than CA$10 in outdoor markets, private rooms in guesthouses are often less than CA$10, too. Sooo cheeap. I need to stay here for a while to reap the benefits, for sure.
I took a careening tuk-tuk ride to Chinatown where I wandered around, enjoyed a steamed BBQ pork bun, and some fresh pineapple. Fruit stands are ubiquitous in Bangkok. It's the easiest thing to find cheap fresh fruit to eat almost anywhere. I'm going to like it here.
Tuk-tuks are little three wheeled taxis powered by smelly two-stroke engines. They are noisy, and are usually driven by annoying touts. They're well known for trying to rip people off and take you to surprise destinations (usually so that they can get a commission). You do have to be careful when you take a ride in a tuk-tuk, but they are a very convenient way to get around, so they are probably a necessary evil. They drive like crazy men possessed -- cutting off taxis, squeezing through gaps, and liberally using their horns.
My next destination was to go to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand to meet up with Adam Freed and Michelle Gauthier to see their wedding. It's a 12 hour bus ride or 14 hour train ride to get there from Bangkok. I booked myself into a sleeper carriage for an overnight train ride to Chiang Mai. It only cost me 680 baht (CA$22).
I know that I wanted to spend more time in Bangkok. I barely got to see any of the sights or hang out with Nick and his crew at all. Getting to the wedding is important though, so I had to hustle out of there.
--
Rob Sz
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Bangkok is a big, crazy, smelly, city. Some parts are rough around the edges, other parts are ultra modern, shiny, and new. In the same day, I was awoken by roosters crowing outside of my guesthouse window (and I was definitely staying in the city, not a farm!), and took a monorail to the centre of the city and perused huge shopping malls with Porsche dealerships inside of them. It's really a city of contrasts.
I met up with my old friend Nick Taylor. He's been on an around the world trip since August. I only spent two full days in Bangkok, so our time to hang out was pretty limited. We walked around Khao San Road (the super touristy, but very cool, shopping street) and the markets on neighboring steets. Nick's friend Irena (from Slovenia) hung out with us, too. She's flying to Australia soon, so I was able to give her travel advice! Likewise, they supplied me with travel advice too.
Food is very yummy here... and very cheap. Most meals from street vendors are less than 30 baht (that's less than CA$1) !!! The food isn't as high quality as you'd find in swanky restaurants, but its certainly enough to live on -- and a lot of people do.
Nick and I also went out for beers. We drank mostly Beer Chang. Rumour has it that it's made with formaldehyde. Reminds me of goone in Australia.
My second day in Bangkok, I tried to play the role of a tourist and went to see the sights. I went to this fantastic Buddhist temple called Wat Pho. There was a very very large reclining Buddha there -- 42 metres long and 14 metres high. Each of his feet were taller than me. HUGE! It pust the Daibatsu in Nara, Japan to shame!
That day, I also went shopping in the expensive shopping malls in Siam Square. I needed to buy headphones (since I lost another pair), and chargers for my iPod and Nintendo DS. The prices of the headphones and iPod charger were sadly very similar to Canadian prices. The DS charger was a mere 200 baht, though (CA$6).
Not just food is cheap, it seems almost everything is! I knew it was supposed to be cheap, but to finally get here and see it first hand is pretty astonishing. 1 litre bottles of water are usually 12 baht (about 30 or 40 cents), bus fare is 7 baht (20 cents approx), articles of clothing are almost always less than CA$10 in outdoor markets, private rooms in guesthouses are often less than CA$10, too. Sooo cheeap. I need to stay here for a while to reap the benefits, for sure.
I took a careening tuk-tuk ride to Chinatown where I wandered around, enjoyed a steamed BBQ pork bun, and some fresh pineapple. Fruit stands are ubiquitous in Bangkok. It's the easiest thing to find cheap fresh fruit to eat almost anywhere. I'm going to like it here.
Tuk-tuks are little three wheeled taxis powered by smelly two-stroke engines. They are noisy, and are usually driven by annoying touts. They're well known for trying to rip people off and take you to surprise destinations (usually so that they can get a commission). You do have to be careful when you take a ride in a tuk-tuk, but they are a very convenient way to get around, so they are probably a necessary evil. They drive like crazy men possessed -- cutting off taxis, squeezing through gaps, and liberally using their horns.
My next destination was to go to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand to meet up with Adam Freed and Michelle Gauthier to see their wedding. It's a 12 hour bus ride or 14 hour train ride to get there from Bangkok. I booked myself into a sleeper carriage for an overnight train ride to Chiang Mai. It only cost me 680 baht (CA$22).
I know that I wanted to spend more time in Bangkok. I barely got to see any of the sights or hang out with Nick and his crew at all. Getting to the wedding is important though, so I had to hustle out of there.
--
Rob Sz
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Monday, March 10, 2008
Melbourne
So, yeah, I'm up in Thailand now. Before, I would write most of these blog posts (especially the long ones) on my MacBook before posting them. However, as a safety precaution, I decided that I wouldn't be bringing my MacBook with me to Southeast Asia. As a consequence, that means that my blog posts will either be shorter or less frequent than they were before. Additionally, fewer pictures will be posted. Sorry guys, but I gotta take care of my MacBook. I love it too much :)
Anyways, I just spent six days in Melbourne. I was at this clean and new hostel called the Urban Central. The hostel had nice services, but it was pretty big, and the staff was generally clueless. They bounced me around between three different rooms during my six days there. They overbooked the hostel and many people were forced to be shuffled around, just like me. They wanted to change my room one more time, but I put a stop to it. They were also generally rude or unfriendly, and that's no fun. There's a night club directly beside the hostel and, on my last night there, it was open until like 3 AM playing very loud dance music. With the constant thump-thump-thump of music, it was hard to get any sleep... especially after my roommates came back at like 4 AM and made noise. One guy, seriously, started talking on his cell phone at 4 AM! I was forced to kick the guy out of the room until he finished the call.
I spent a couple days in Melbourne hanging out with my friends Charles "Chaz" Wong and Daphina Wai. We went out for a swanky sushi/sashimi meal at a swanky Japanese restaurant, went for drinks in an alley (literally), breakfast, and cupcakes. It was fun to hang out with them again.
I also spent a few days hanging out with Joe Clancy, his parents, and his girlfriend Natalie Thompson. We had dinner at his place, went on a road trip to Point Nepean, and went out for drinks at some cool bars (also in alleys). Joe left NeoEdge for Australia about two months before I started working there... so I just missed him. However, we've been talking for a while and I feel that he's already a good friend. It's too bad that I didn't get the chance to work with him in Toronto.
Melbourne is a cool city. I definitely like it more than Sydney. It seems to have a better scene for food, cooler bars (many of them in alleys), a more multicultural mix of people, and a more accessible transit system. It's a very livable city. In my short time time, I spent a lot of time hanging out with friends, rather than acting like a tourist. I know that I will return to Melbourne in the future (I have to get my MacBook back from Joe Clancy, of course!), so I will always have time to do the touristy stuff when I get back!
Anyways, I just spent six days in Melbourne. I was at this clean and new hostel called the Urban Central. The hostel had nice services, but it was pretty big, and the staff was generally clueless. They bounced me around between three different rooms during my six days there. They overbooked the hostel and many people were forced to be shuffled around, just like me. They wanted to change my room one more time, but I put a stop to it. They were also generally rude or unfriendly, and that's no fun. There's a night club directly beside the hostel and, on my last night there, it was open until like 3 AM playing very loud dance music. With the constant thump-thump-thump of music, it was hard to get any sleep... especially after my roommates came back at like 4 AM and made noise. One guy, seriously, started talking on his cell phone at 4 AM! I was forced to kick the guy out of the room until he finished the call.
I spent a couple days in Melbourne hanging out with my friends Charles "Chaz" Wong and Daphina Wai. We went out for a swanky sushi/sashimi meal at a swanky Japanese restaurant, went for drinks in an alley (literally), breakfast, and cupcakes. It was fun to hang out with them again.
I also spent a few days hanging out with Joe Clancy, his parents, and his girlfriend Natalie Thompson. We had dinner at his place, went on a road trip to Point Nepean, and went out for drinks at some cool bars (also in alleys). Joe left NeoEdge for Australia about two months before I started working there... so I just missed him. However, we've been talking for a while and I feel that he's already a good friend. It's too bad that I didn't get the chance to work with him in Toronto.
Melbourne is a cool city. I definitely like it more than Sydney. It seems to have a better scene for food, cooler bars (many of them in alleys), a more multicultural mix of people, and a more accessible transit system. It's a very livable city. In my short time time, I spent a lot of time hanging out with friends, rather than acting like a tourist. I know that I will return to Melbourne in the future (I have to get my MacBook back from Joe Clancy, of course!), so I will always have time to do the touristy stuff when I get back!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Bangkok
This is just a quickie post, but I just want to say that I got to Bangkok, Thailand last night.
It's hot here.
I had Thai food for breakfast... of course, here, it's just called "food."
--
Rob Sz
Bangkok, Thailand
It's hot here.
I had Thai food for breakfast... of course, here, it's just called "food."
--
Rob Sz
Bangkok, Thailand
Friday, March 7, 2008
New Photos Posted: Melbourne
Howdy hi hi! I'm flying to Thailand tomorrow. Before I go, I figured I would up my pictures from my time here in Melbourne. Take a peek! In these photos, you'll also see my friends Charles "Chaz" Wong, Daphina Wai, and Joe Clancy! Pure excitement!
--
Rob Sz
Melbourne, Australia
--
Rob Sz
Melbourne, Australia
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Australia Map
Hi... I'm in Melbourne right now. I'll put up a blog post about Melbourne sometime in the future, after I leave.
Anyways, I'm supposed to be leaving Melbourne on Sunday. My time in Australia (for now) is growing short. Soon, I'll be backpacking around Southeast Asia.
Since I'm not planning any other destinations in Australia, I've put together a map to show the places I've gone to while I've been here:
As you can see, I've followed this path so far:
Flight from Los Angeles to Sydney: February 4, 2008
Flight from Sydney to Airlie Beach: February 5, 2008
Flight from Airlie Beach to Noosa (and car from Brisbane): February 9, 2008
Bus and car from Noosa to Byron Bay: February 16, 2008
Bus from Byron Bay to Coffs Harbour: February 22, 2008
Bus from Coffs Harbour to Port Macquarie: February 25, 2008
Bus from Port Macquarie to Sydney: February 28, 2008
Flight from Sydney to Melbourne: March 3, 2008
Flight from Melbourne to Sydney (planned -- not yet taken): March 9, 2008
--
Rob Szumlakowski
Melbourne, Australia
Anyways, I'm supposed to be leaving Melbourne on Sunday. My time in Australia (for now) is growing short. Soon, I'll be backpacking around Southeast Asia.
Since I'm not planning any other destinations in Australia, I've put together a map to show the places I've gone to while I've been here:
As you can see, I've followed this path so far:
Flight from Los Angeles to Sydney: February 4, 2008
Flight from Sydney to Airlie Beach: February 5, 2008
Flight from Airlie Beach to Noosa (and car from Brisbane): February 9, 2008
Bus and car from Noosa to Byron Bay: February 16, 2008
Bus from Byron Bay to Coffs Harbour: February 22, 2008
Bus from Coffs Harbour to Port Macquarie: February 25, 2008
Bus from Port Macquarie to Sydney: February 28, 2008
Flight from Sydney to Melbourne: March 3, 2008
Flight from Melbourne to Sydney (planned -- not yet taken): March 9, 2008
--
Rob Szumlakowski
Melbourne, Australia
Back in Sydney
It was a seven hour bus ride to cover the four or five hundred kilometres from Port Macquarie to Sydney. On the way, I got a surprise phone call. It was my friend Charles Wong (A.K.A.: "Chaz", "Chazzie") from university. He was in Australia for a couple weeks with his girlfriend Daphina! Wow! I was so surprised! He said he had told me before, but I was probably pretty drunk at the time (it was my goodbye party), so I didn't remember! We made plans to meet up in Melbourne.
In Sydney, I made my way to my hostel, The Pink House, in the Kings Cross part of town. It was close to the CBD (Central Business District), but off to the side (about a twenty minute walk). The area has the reputation of being the seedy area of Sydney, and that was pretty clear when I got there. There was your random assortment of homeless people and adult establishments, but that stuff doesn't really bother me. There were also lots of fun bars and hostels to stay at in the area, too.
My hostel was a really homey place. I ended up in a six-bed dorm. It was the only room with a balcony! Two of the people in my room were employees of the hostel. One girl was a manager -- she had been sleeping in the dorms for over five years! I asked her how she could live in the dorms for so long. I'm not tired of it yet, but I'm sure that I couldn't keep it up for that long. She said, after a while in the hostel, she found it hard to believe that she could return to a "normal life". You grow a really thick skin and learn to deal with basically anything. Impressive. Still, I doubt I would want to live in a dorm for that long. No privacy, no way to collect stuff, new people in and out all the time... that's tough.
That night, I went to World Bar with people from the hostel. The hostel bought everyone a free beer (how nice!). It was Thursday night and the theme was "Loaded!" I don't know exactly what that's supposed to mean, but it didn't matter. The music they played was wicked awesome -- lots of indie stuff -- exactly the kind of stuff I love to hear the most. I danced for hours. Mostly I danced with my roommate Claire (from Montreal). It was fun to hang out with her!
In the morning, I took the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly. It was a half hour ferry ride. Along the way, the ferry afforded stunning views of Sydney Harbour -- including the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, downtown skyline, the eastern suburbs, and the North and South Heads at the entrance to the harbour.
Manly is a beachside suburb of Sydney located on the north side of the harbour. It's located on a narrow piece of land between the harbour and the ocean, with beaches on both sides. The oceanside beach is lined with tall Norfolk Pine trees. It's basically one of the prettiest little beach towns that I've ever seen. I walked along the beachside scenic walkway for a few hours and around the national park on North Head. There were stunning views of the beach from the high rocks there.
After Manly, I took the ferry back to Circular Quay. My next goal was the BridgeClimb -- a three-and-a-half hour tour where you actually get to climb to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge! It was expensive, AU$179, but it was an experience that I'll never forget. The tour operators were very professional and charismatic. I got suited up in a special suit that was designed to keep me warm as I scaled the bridge. It had a belt with a latch that connected to a cable that runs the entire length of the tour path on the bridge, so that I couldn't fall off the bridge. I had clips and straps to hold my glasses, keys, hat, fleece, raincoat, and handkerchief. The bridge was filled with rush-hour traffic, and nothing would be allowed to fall off. It was all set up to keep me, the other people in the tour, and the traffic on the bridge safe.
The climb itself wasn't physically difficult -- a few ladders up and a lot of steps. The views from the top of the bridge were just stunning. I decided to pay the AU$40 for two photographs from the bridge. I'm sure it was worth it.
That night, I met up with Martha Lenio, a friend of my friend Justine Saccomanno from Toronto. We went to her place and made a really nice curry that we ate with her roommates. It was the first time I had (helped) make a curry from scratch, and it seemed like an easy enough process that I should try for myself some time. I need Martha to send me that recipe!
On Saturday morning I took a train to Bondi. On the way, this girl on the seat opposite mine said, from out of the blue, "Are you Canada?" I asked, "How could you tell?" Of course, it was my MEC backpack that gave me away. We talked for a while and she offered me a ride to the beach from the train station. She was going surfing with her friends that day and they would drop me off on the way. Nice! Thanks MEC, for saving me a AU$3 bus ride!
Bondi Beach is a world famous beach. The beach isn't as pretty as Manly, but it was still pretty cool. There was a crashing surf, surfers, swimmers, joggers, and a lot of sunbathers sunning themselves on the sand. I wasn't there to swim or whatever. I just wanted some photos, say, "I went to Bondi Beach," and went on my way.
From Bondi, I hopped on a bus back to the CBD and walked to Darling Harbour. I was lusting after chocolate and had to visit the Lindt Chocolate Café. I got a Lindt Hot Dark Chocolate and two biscuits: one hazelnut and one pistachio. I got a free dark chocolate Lindor, too! Sweet!
With my chocolate-lust temporarily satiated (only temporarily, of course, since a chocolate-lust is never completely satisfiable), I walked across the Pyrmont bridge over Darling Harbour. I visited Darling Harbour on my first visit to Sydney about four weeks before, but it was pouring rain before. This time, the weather was warm and sunny. The views from the bridge were really nice -- you could see all over Darling Harbour, including huge yachts, the skyline of the CBD, and the wicked awesome monorail.
I walked past Darling Harbour, the Sydney Fish Market and on towards Glebe. Glebe is a neighbourhood of Sydney that reminds me of The Annex in Toronto. Lots of bookshops and ethnic restaurants. I saw a Polish restaurant called, "Na Zdrowie," (it means "To your health" -- its what you say for toasts, or after someone sneezes) but it was closed. I guess it was only open for dinner. I shopped for some books and continued my walk. I walked past Victoria Park and the University of Sydney, then back to the CBD.
That night was an event in Sydney called "Mardi Gras." I had no idea this Mardi Gras thing was going on in Sydney. When I got to the hostel on Thursday, people asked me, "Are you here for Mardi Gras on Saturday?" I said, "Mardi Gras? That was like a month ago dude! You know, pancake day!" Apparently, in Sydney, Mardi Gras is the gay pride parade! It's a huge event. I was completely surprised! I was in Sydney to go to a music Festival on Sunday, not to a gay pride parade on Saturday. But, it was a huge event, so I had to see it.
After dinner, my roommate Claire, Becky, and her husband (who's name I can't remember right now, sorry), walked to Oxford Street to see the parade. Later on, we met up with out other roommates Amena and Joe. They had found point pink wigs and were all dressed up for Mardi Gras. The parade was like four hours long. People were drinking on the street the whole time. We found a really good place, on some steps, to watch the parade from. After the parade, chaos reigned on the streets. There was garbage everywhere! People brought milk crates to stand on so they could see the parade. After the parade, it seemed like they just left them behind. There were crowds of people reveling in the streets. No looting or burning cars, though. Still, it was the craziest street party I'd ever seen.
My last day in Sydney was the real reason I was there -- the St. Jerome's Laneway Music Festival. It was an indie rock music festival -- a big selection of Aussie Indie bands. In particular, though, I was there to see some of my favourite Canadian Indie bands: Broken Social Scene, Stars, and Feist. Seeing all three of these bands in one place was a really special experience. Seeing them in Sydney was the icing on the cake!
I wanted to buy tickets months before, but I wasn't sure how exactly to do it. I figured, "Music Festival? It'll be like ten thousand people! I'll just buy scalped tickets when I get there. No problem!" Little did I know, the festival only had about three thousand tickets available -- and they were sold out! Small venue! It was located in Macquarie Place, right in the middle of the Sydney CBD -- only a couple blocks south of Circular Quay.
The gates for the festival opened at 11:30 AM. I showed up around noon and walked around looking for someone scalping tickets. There weren't any scalpers. Scalping is illegal in Australia and there aren't as many of them as there are in Canada. Since it was such a small venue, there wasn't much chance that any would be showing up, either. Eeep.
I stood around for like an hour, chatting with people and asking them, "Do you know anyone selling tickets?" By luck, I eventually found someone who had an extra ticket they didn't need anymore. SO LUCKY! They didn't even rip me off!
It was the smallest venue that I had ever seen Broken Social Scene and Feist. I had to make sure that I got close and stayed there. For dinner, I took a few cereal bars with me. I didn't drink a lot of water (good thing the weather wasn't hot and we got to stand in the shade) so I didn't have to go pee. Once I got to my place in the crowd, I resolved not to move any farther for six hours. Sitting down wasn't an option, either. Sometimes, you just have to make sacrifices to get what you want -- a great view of your favourite bands!
I was wearing my Broken Social Scene T-Shirt that I had got when I saw them play in Toronto back in December. They weren't selling the same shirt at the merch booth in Sydney. People asked me, "Where did you get that shirt!?" I proudly told them that I got it in Toronto. People gave me props!
Soon, I was known as the Canadian Superfan. I talked with a lot of Aussies that day. There were a lot of fans there. People spoke very highly of the Canadian music scene and how the best bands in the world were definitely coming from Canada these days. I felt so proud to be Canadian!
It was a really good festival. I had seen Stars, Broken Social Scene, and Feist several times before, but they were still as good as always. Broken Social Scene always makes everyone dance and feel good. After BSS finished up, I had supreme feeling of bliss. I shouted out loud, "This is the best! It's March! I'm wearing a t-shirt! I'm outside! And I just saw Broken Social Scene! LIFE IS GOOD!" The legend of the Canadian Superfan was born!
FEIST!
Surprisingly, even given her huge popularity, Feist wasn't even the last band. There was one guy after her -- this Australian one-man band called Gotye. I was very impressed with the guy. He projected cool videos from his Macintosh laptop, played the drums for some songs, the keyboard for other songs, and the piano for some other songs. The laptop played the backing music. He was really good. I definitely need to pick up his stuff.
My plan to stand in one place for six hours straight was successful. I didn't have to pee once, and, though my feet were a bit sore, I was no worse for the wear. People around me generally came and went, and I talked with a lot of them. I got the phone numbers and emails for a couple people that I'll probably visit when I get back to Australia later this year. I was invited to a Power Outage party by some girls from the University of Wollongong, south of Sydney. I'll have to try and make sure I get there, Miriam! Though it might be a few months...
The festival was my last night in Sydney. In the morning, I packed up, headed to the airport, and boarded a plane to Melbourne!
In Sydney, I made my way to my hostel, The Pink House, in the Kings Cross part of town. It was close to the CBD (Central Business District), but off to the side (about a twenty minute walk). The area has the reputation of being the seedy area of Sydney, and that was pretty clear when I got there. There was your random assortment of homeless people and adult establishments, but that stuff doesn't really bother me. There were also lots of fun bars and hostels to stay at in the area, too.
My hostel was a really homey place. I ended up in a six-bed dorm. It was the only room with a balcony! Two of the people in my room were employees of the hostel. One girl was a manager -- she had been sleeping in the dorms for over five years! I asked her how she could live in the dorms for so long. I'm not tired of it yet, but I'm sure that I couldn't keep it up for that long. She said, after a while in the hostel, she found it hard to believe that she could return to a "normal life". You grow a really thick skin and learn to deal with basically anything. Impressive. Still, I doubt I would want to live in a dorm for that long. No privacy, no way to collect stuff, new people in and out all the time... that's tough.
That night, I went to World Bar with people from the hostel. The hostel bought everyone a free beer (how nice!). It was Thursday night and the theme was "Loaded!" I don't know exactly what that's supposed to mean, but it didn't matter. The music they played was wicked awesome -- lots of indie stuff -- exactly the kind of stuff I love to hear the most. I danced for hours. Mostly I danced with my roommate Claire (from Montreal). It was fun to hang out with her!
In the morning, I took the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly. It was a half hour ferry ride. Along the way, the ferry afforded stunning views of Sydney Harbour -- including the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, downtown skyline, the eastern suburbs, and the North and South Heads at the entrance to the harbour.
Manly is a beachside suburb of Sydney located on the north side of the harbour. It's located on a narrow piece of land between the harbour and the ocean, with beaches on both sides. The oceanside beach is lined with tall Norfolk Pine trees. It's basically one of the prettiest little beach towns that I've ever seen. I walked along the beachside scenic walkway for a few hours and around the national park on North Head. There were stunning views of the beach from the high rocks there.
After Manly, I took the ferry back to Circular Quay. My next goal was the BridgeClimb -- a three-and-a-half hour tour where you actually get to climb to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge! It was expensive, AU$179, but it was an experience that I'll never forget. The tour operators were very professional and charismatic. I got suited up in a special suit that was designed to keep me warm as I scaled the bridge. It had a belt with a latch that connected to a cable that runs the entire length of the tour path on the bridge, so that I couldn't fall off the bridge. I had clips and straps to hold my glasses, keys, hat, fleece, raincoat, and handkerchief. The bridge was filled with rush-hour traffic, and nothing would be allowed to fall off. It was all set up to keep me, the other people in the tour, and the traffic on the bridge safe.
The climb itself wasn't physically difficult -- a few ladders up and a lot of steps. The views from the top of the bridge were just stunning. I decided to pay the AU$40 for two photographs from the bridge. I'm sure it was worth it.
That night, I met up with Martha Lenio, a friend of my friend Justine Saccomanno from Toronto. We went to her place and made a really nice curry that we ate with her roommates. It was the first time I had (helped) make a curry from scratch, and it seemed like an easy enough process that I should try for myself some time. I need Martha to send me that recipe!
On Saturday morning I took a train to Bondi. On the way, this girl on the seat opposite mine said, from out of the blue, "Are you Canada?" I asked, "How could you tell?" Of course, it was my MEC backpack that gave me away. We talked for a while and she offered me a ride to the beach from the train station. She was going surfing with her friends that day and they would drop me off on the way. Nice! Thanks MEC, for saving me a AU$3 bus ride!
Bondi Beach is a world famous beach. The beach isn't as pretty as Manly, but it was still pretty cool. There was a crashing surf, surfers, swimmers, joggers, and a lot of sunbathers sunning themselves on the sand. I wasn't there to swim or whatever. I just wanted some photos, say, "I went to Bondi Beach," and went on my way.
From Bondi, I hopped on a bus back to the CBD and walked to Darling Harbour. I was lusting after chocolate and had to visit the Lindt Chocolate Café. I got a Lindt Hot Dark Chocolate and two biscuits: one hazelnut and one pistachio. I got a free dark chocolate Lindor, too! Sweet!
With my chocolate-lust temporarily satiated (only temporarily, of course, since a chocolate-lust is never completely satisfiable), I walked across the Pyrmont bridge over Darling Harbour. I visited Darling Harbour on my first visit to Sydney about four weeks before, but it was pouring rain before. This time, the weather was warm and sunny. The views from the bridge were really nice -- you could see all over Darling Harbour, including huge yachts, the skyline of the CBD, and the wicked awesome monorail.
I walked past Darling Harbour, the Sydney Fish Market and on towards Glebe. Glebe is a neighbourhood of Sydney that reminds me of The Annex in Toronto. Lots of bookshops and ethnic restaurants. I saw a Polish restaurant called, "Na Zdrowie," (it means "To your health" -- its what you say for toasts, or after someone sneezes) but it was closed. I guess it was only open for dinner. I shopped for some books and continued my walk. I walked past Victoria Park and the University of Sydney, then back to the CBD.
That night was an event in Sydney called "Mardi Gras." I had no idea this Mardi Gras thing was going on in Sydney. When I got to the hostel on Thursday, people asked me, "Are you here for Mardi Gras on Saturday?" I said, "Mardi Gras? That was like a month ago dude! You know, pancake day!" Apparently, in Sydney, Mardi Gras is the gay pride parade! It's a huge event. I was completely surprised! I was in Sydney to go to a music Festival on Sunday, not to a gay pride parade on Saturday. But, it was a huge event, so I had to see it.
After dinner, my roommate Claire, Becky, and her husband (who's name I can't remember right now, sorry), walked to Oxford Street to see the parade. Later on, we met up with out other roommates Amena and Joe. They had found point pink wigs and were all dressed up for Mardi Gras. The parade was like four hours long. People were drinking on the street the whole time. We found a really good place, on some steps, to watch the parade from. After the parade, chaos reigned on the streets. There was garbage everywhere! People brought milk crates to stand on so they could see the parade. After the parade, it seemed like they just left them behind. There were crowds of people reveling in the streets. No looting or burning cars, though. Still, it was the craziest street party I'd ever seen.
My last day in Sydney was the real reason I was there -- the St. Jerome's Laneway Music Festival. It was an indie rock music festival -- a big selection of Aussie Indie bands. In particular, though, I was there to see some of my favourite Canadian Indie bands: Broken Social Scene, Stars, and Feist. Seeing all three of these bands in one place was a really special experience. Seeing them in Sydney was the icing on the cake!
I wanted to buy tickets months before, but I wasn't sure how exactly to do it. I figured, "Music Festival? It'll be like ten thousand people! I'll just buy scalped tickets when I get there. No problem!" Little did I know, the festival only had about three thousand tickets available -- and they were sold out! Small venue! It was located in Macquarie Place, right in the middle of the Sydney CBD -- only a couple blocks south of Circular Quay.
The gates for the festival opened at 11:30 AM. I showed up around noon and walked around looking for someone scalping tickets. There weren't any scalpers. Scalping is illegal in Australia and there aren't as many of them as there are in Canada. Since it was such a small venue, there wasn't much chance that any would be showing up, either. Eeep.
I stood around for like an hour, chatting with people and asking them, "Do you know anyone selling tickets?" By luck, I eventually found someone who had an extra ticket they didn't need anymore. SO LUCKY! They didn't even rip me off!
It was the smallest venue that I had ever seen Broken Social Scene and Feist. I had to make sure that I got close and stayed there. For dinner, I took a few cereal bars with me. I didn't drink a lot of water (good thing the weather wasn't hot and we got to stand in the shade) so I didn't have to go pee. Once I got to my place in the crowd, I resolved not to move any farther for six hours. Sitting down wasn't an option, either. Sometimes, you just have to make sacrifices to get what you want -- a great view of your favourite bands!
I was wearing my Broken Social Scene T-Shirt that I had got when I saw them play in Toronto back in December. They weren't selling the same shirt at the merch booth in Sydney. People asked me, "Where did you get that shirt!?" I proudly told them that I got it in Toronto. People gave me props!
Soon, I was known as the Canadian Superfan. I talked with a lot of Aussies that day. There were a lot of fans there. People spoke very highly of the Canadian music scene and how the best bands in the world were definitely coming from Canada these days. I felt so proud to be Canadian!
It was a really good festival. I had seen Stars, Broken Social Scene, and Feist several times before, but they were still as good as always. Broken Social Scene always makes everyone dance and feel good. After BSS finished up, I had supreme feeling of bliss. I shouted out loud, "This is the best! It's March! I'm wearing a t-shirt! I'm outside! And I just saw Broken Social Scene! LIFE IS GOOD!" The legend of the Canadian Superfan was born!
FEIST!
Surprisingly, even given her huge popularity, Feist wasn't even the last band. There was one guy after her -- this Australian one-man band called Gotye. I was very impressed with the guy. He projected cool videos from his Macintosh laptop, played the drums for some songs, the keyboard for other songs, and the piano for some other songs. The laptop played the backing music. He was really good. I definitely need to pick up his stuff.
My plan to stand in one place for six hours straight was successful. I didn't have to pee once, and, though my feet were a bit sore, I was no worse for the wear. People around me generally came and went, and I talked with a lot of them. I got the phone numbers and emails for a couple people that I'll probably visit when I get back to Australia later this year. I was invited to a Power Outage party by some girls from the University of Wollongong, south of Sydney. I'll have to try and make sure I get there, Miriam! Though it might be a few months...
The festival was my last night in Sydney. In the morning, I packed up, headed to the airport, and boarded a plane to Melbourne!
New Photos Posted: Sydney 2
Hi all! I've passed through Sydney a second time. This time it was less rainy and I spent more time there.... consequently, there are more pictures. This is a really fun batch! A couple of beautiful beaches, a spectacular bridge climb, a surprise gay pride festival (Mardi Gras), and an amazing concert with some of my favourite bands (Stars, Feist, and Broken Social Scene).
Enjoy!
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Rob Szumlakowski
Melbourne, Australia
Enjoy!
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Rob Szumlakowski
Melbourne, Australia
Saturday, March 1, 2008
A Fine "Port" of Call
I'm going to keep this entry short since I still have a big night ahead of me here in Sydney, but I felt that I needed to get some words in here about my previous location, Port Macquarie.
Port Macquarie (called "Port" by the locals) was an even smaller and quieter town than Coffs Harbour. It's located about 200 km south of Coffs and about 400 km north of Sydney. This is the town where my good friend, Toni Bate, grew up. Her parents, Robyn and Warrick, still live there and I was there to visit them. I stayed at their place. They were fantastic hosts and made me feel like I had a new home away from home. They housed me, fed me, and entertained me. With good hospitality like that, I'll have to make sure to visit them again some day!
Even though its small, I still found activities to entertain me in Port. I took a river cruise on the Hastings River and saw some dolphins. The town has an artfully graffitied breakwall that is fun to walk past and read all the rocks with people saying, "HI! I WAS HERE!" I visited the lighthouse and took lots of pictures of the various beautiful beaches around the town. I rode a camel on the beach! Riding a camel is not really like riding a horse -- they seem to sway more and are smellier! Warrick took me body boarding for the first time. I admit, I wasn't very good at it. There was a nor'easter wind blowing that made the water really choppy. Warrick was basically like a fish in the water... he moved around naturally and jumped through the crashing waves like they were nothing at all, while I floundered around clumsily. I need my sea legs!
I was in Port for three days. Those days were a good break from the backpacking trail. From Port, it was a seven hour bus ride south to Sydney. But, more on that next time.
--
Rob Szumlakowski
Sydney, Australia
Port Macquarie (called "Port" by the locals) was an even smaller and quieter town than Coffs Harbour. It's located about 200 km south of Coffs and about 400 km north of Sydney. This is the town where my good friend, Toni Bate, grew up. Her parents, Robyn and Warrick, still live there and I was there to visit them. I stayed at their place. They were fantastic hosts and made me feel like I had a new home away from home. They housed me, fed me, and entertained me. With good hospitality like that, I'll have to make sure to visit them again some day!
Even though its small, I still found activities to entertain me in Port. I took a river cruise on the Hastings River and saw some dolphins. The town has an artfully graffitied breakwall that is fun to walk past and read all the rocks with people saying, "HI! I WAS HERE!" I visited the lighthouse and took lots of pictures of the various beautiful beaches around the town. I rode a camel on the beach! Riding a camel is not really like riding a horse -- they seem to sway more and are smellier! Warrick took me body boarding for the first time. I admit, I wasn't very good at it. There was a nor'easter wind blowing that made the water really choppy. Warrick was basically like a fish in the water... he moved around naturally and jumped through the crashing waves like they were nothing at all, while I floundered around clumsily. I need my sea legs!
I was in Port for three days. Those days were a good break from the backpacking trail. From Port, it was a seven hour bus ride south to Sydney. But, more on that next time.
--
Rob Szumlakowski
Sydney, Australia
New Photos Posted: Port Macquarie
Yippy Skippy! I finally got my photos for Port Macquarie posted on Picasa. Ch-ch-check 'em out!
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Rob Szumlakowski
Sydney, Australia
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Rob Szumlakowski
Sydney, Australia
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