A dawn to a new trip..
It's been 9 whole months since I arrived back in Oz, though sometimes it feels like a lot more.. so those who knows me wont be too surprised to hear that I'm off to China next month, just for a quick getaway! :)
After weeks of researching and begging for more leave days from work, my kind managers gave in and approved my 3 weeks leave.. It's just been paid, and I'll collect my ticket next week. Here is my itinerary:
1. 12OCT Sydney - Guangzhou
2. 13OCT Guangzhou - Guilin
3. 16OCT Guilin - Kunming
4. 26OCT Lijiang - Xian
5. 30OCT Xian - Beijing
6. 03NOV Beijing - Guangzhou
7. 03NOV Guangzhou - Sydney
Home Sweet Home...
Finally, after 260 days of backpacking across the globe, I'm home again. My final flight arrived in Sydney at 10:45am, 22nd of December, 2006.
My initial feeling of boredom at arriving back in my family home of Asquith (woop woop) was eased when I met up with some old friends for a christmas picnic by the Sydney Harbour, at Balls Head. The glaring sunlight reflecting off the old harbour brought a sense of familiarity as well as some lazy contentment at the thought of being back in my comfy homeland.
Everything is just as I remembered, except for my cat Sunday, who passed away just as I was one month into the trip. His presence is sorely missed in my parent's house, which seems so quiet without his constant purring and affection.
Slowly I'm getting reacquainted with Australia in the festivity of Christmas and New Years. Taking a ferry from North Sydney to Circular Quay was a spectacular reminder of the why this harbour is amongst the most beautiful in the world. I also enjoyed a bit of post christmas sales, though spending more money is probably the last thing I should do. Spent the last few days up at Newcastle, an industrial city a little North of Sydney, in my sister's rented flat. The sun seems to shine even brighter there, and the pace even slower.
Today we went back to Balls Head and sat upon a huge rock that slants steeply towards the ocean, to watch the famous Sydney NYE Fireworks. This is the 75th Anniversary of the Harbour Bridge, so the fireworks are bigger than ever. We were there for both the 9 o'clock family fireworks and the 12 o'clock midnight countdown, where the Harbour Bridge was the centre piece as it spits out colourful fireworks and adorn the symbol of a coathanger on its face, to acknowledge its affectionate nick name by locals - "The Coathanger". As in every year, the entire harbour was beautifully lit up by the awe inspiring fireworks, and when it was over we knew another year has just arrived.
My Greek Odyssey...
Maybe not quite.. but I have been frantically running around Greece in order to coincide my journey with my friend and maximise what I see at the same time.
So after just two nights and one day in Athens I went to Meteora, and spent a gorgeous morning there exploring the hilltop monasteries and then caught 2 taxis plus 3 buses to my next destionation, Delphi, where my friend awaits after his long boat trip from Italy.
Meteora was amazing. Its name literally means "rocks in the air". Its rocky mountain landscape were once segments of an inland sea and caves were formed by natural erosion. Walking around the Meteora cliffs and exploring the monasteries were literally breathtaking... ie. lots of climbing up and down stone staircases and walking kilometers of paved road from one to another.
I met a New York guy on the bus the night before and we explored the area together. He insisted on taking taxi from one monastery to another, but I won in the end and we walked. At midday we caught the first taxi to a nearby town, where he planned to go up North to catch a ferry to Italy and I go south to meet my friend.
Just as my bus arrived into town I realised I left my bankcard in the ATM machine and had to go back to the bank to find it, missing my bus altogether. The lady at the restaurant we ate during lunch kindly drove me about and helped me get my card back. I gave her a little rabbit toy as a thank you. It was a rabit I got from a Manga festival in Barcelona which I planned to feature in my travel photos, but I guess it was not to be!
So I caught a taxi to catch up with the bus in the next town, was on the bus for one hour and then waited another two hours for a connecting bus, which took another hour and half and dropped me at a nearby seaside town to Delphi (called Itea). Another half hour ride later I was finally in town. This is quite normal for bus travel in Greece, lots of changing buses are required, though if you are lucky they may connect and not requiring too much waiting.
Delphi is another beautiful place, this time on the top of a mountain. It is fairly close to the Ancient Delphi, which was famous for the Delphi Oracle - a women who represents the god of Apollo and provide vague answers to pilgrims' questions (so that the gods are never wrong..) Delphi was considered the centre of the world and the importance of a city was measured by its proximity to Delphi. Nowadays it's famous for beautiful ruins on the mountainside, especially the circular dome of "tholos" which appear in many postcards of Greece.
My friend rushed off to the site early in the morning in order to catch an early bus to Athens. His early start beat the tourist crowd and he came away with beautiful photos in the early morning light, without tourists.. I chose the other option and arrived the site close to midday, leisurely visited the musuem which contained many fragments of the ruins and then strolled to the site afterwards. By the time I arrived at the last point, the tholos, all the tourists have also gone.
From Delphi I went to Athens and met up with my friend again. This time I visited the Ancient Agora and Temple of Olympian Zeus as well as the Benaki musuem.. The musuem has a huge collection of art and figurines from as far back as 5000 BC, spread across 4 floors. Attempting to understand the collection after a long day of walking around meant my head was about to explode by the time I reach the third floor.
It has been hard to make sense of all the ruins and the history of Greece in the short one week that I have been here.. the modern Greece is so different to their Ancient counterpart and sometimes hard to believe that they are related at all. In my spare time on the bus I am trying to read up on the Greek history from Lonely Planet and I am amazed that so many of the places on the map have played important part in the Greek's long history. It's strange and a shame that so many of the historical sites are now ruins, as in many of the places in the world, destroyed during one war or another.
Acropolis Now...
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Arrived in Athens two nights ago from London and was shocked by the freezing weather.. at around 3 degrees celcius, it was even colder than London!
Yesterday I saw the changing of the guard outside the Parliment House and visited the Acropolis in the afternoon. The Changing of the Guards were interesting. Every sunday morning at 11am there was an elaborate version, with a band of guards marching down the street, entering into the Syntagma Square followed by two parliment guards marching around their little guard house.. well, you gotta be there to appreciate it really.
The Acropolis stands at a hill overlooking the town and it's a pretty impressive reminder of where you are. It was a sunday and so the entrance was free.. unfortunately I was rushed for time and only managed to have a quick walk around and took some typical touristy shots. From memory I think the Roman Forum was more impressive, but the fact that everything was made in marble made the Acropolis quite beautiful to watch. Also, as a Greek Australian friend pointed out, the Romans copied the Greeks... A significant portion of the site was under restoration and thus resemble a construction site somewhat. Apparently they are going to restore the whole structure to its original form and in 20 years or so the Acropolis will no longer be a ruin but a whole proper temple!
Spent the last night walking the parameter of the Acropolis and seeing the touristy and local cafes. Today I caught a bus to the northern part of Greece, in order to see Meteora tomorrow, a land of mountain top monasteries. I'm staying at a little town of Kastraki, right at the hill of the Meteora cliffs. Unfortunately it was already night by the time I got to town so I can only see the shadows of the giant rocky cliffs surrounding the area, but it seems quite impressive... I'm staying at "Sydney Hotel", complete with boomerangs, a kangaroo statue and other little nik naks from Paddy's Market. It's the nicest hotel I've stayed in Europe thus far.
Hello London!
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So I finally arrived in London this afternoon. It took nearly 3 hours for me to clear custom and get to my hotel at the other side of London and by then it was dark.
I had been looking forward to meeting up with two friends, but one is too tired from his long flight from Bangkok and went to sleep not long after I arrived, and I didn't even get to see the other friend who ran off to catch up with his other friends outside London. As I have already bought an expensive travelcard for the day, I decided to go into the city anyway..
I ended up in Leicester Square. It was a favourite meeting spot amongst my London gang... we loved the cheap Prince Charles theatre which used to show movies for less than 3 pounds, and the proximity to the cheap food in Chinatown. Most of my friends have returned to Australia or moved elsewhere abroad, but going to Leicester Square is almost like coming home. Everything is exactly as I remembered.
Firstly I went to one of the second hand bookshops near the station. There were several on the street, all selling a diverse range of books, like a book lovers heaven.. unfortunately the books aren't cheap once you convert them back to Australian dollars. After much hesitation between "a history of the kelly gang", a travelling novel set in China and a travelling book on the Spainish food, I finally decided on the latter, as my physical hunger and desire to relive my Spanish memories won over my curiousity about China and my desire to feel more Australian..
Second stop was for food... I searched the surrounding restuants for my friend's favourite low cost meal - "salty fish and chicken fried rice". It used to cost £3.50 in some places, and now it's at least £5. Talk about inflation! I ate it for old time sake, but it tasted better in my memory..
After dinner I wandered into Leicester Square itself. The square is dominated by the bright neon signs of the Odeon cinemas, where one is displaying a poster for the up coming 007 movie with that new James Bond guy. It's a popular place for big premieres with hollywood actors... I remember being squashed in the crowd and getting a glimpse of J-Lo in her figure hugging dress for "Maid in Manhattan". Many other times I walked past on a wednesday night unknowingly and saw other big premieres taking place. Along with all the other theatres and playhouses, it does make you feel like you are in the middle of the world, in somewhere important.. quite a difference to the laid back feel of Australia..
So here I am and I have another couple of days to absorb this city and continue our love/hate relationship..
Day 2..
Meet up with friends and went exploring around London. The sky was remarkably blue and memories started flooding back as we walked around central London, in search of a luggage shop that sells Lonely Planet half price. We found it, but now they no longer sell Lonely Planet, but the Eyewitness Guide...
Wanted to go shopping but as I was surrounded by guys it was not an option. Spent the next few days deciding where to go after London.
A Moroccan Escape...
Spent the last week in Spain soaking up on the impressive Spainish culture, arts and tapas, and got a bit monument out.. (too many beautiful buildings, and too much history to absorb) So I decided to head off to Morocco for something a bit different.
Morocco is only 35 minutes by ferry from the southern most point in Spain (ie. Tarifa). Tarifa itself is an idyllic location especially popular with the windsurfers, boasting strong wind and endlessly long white sand beaches. But I didn't see much of it, as on the morning I decided to walk the beach it started to rain really hard, and I had to turn back after 20 minutes or so.
The ferry ride to Tarifa was ROUGH! The huge waves rocked the big boat up and down and it was like a never ending rollercoasting ride. When we eventually arrived at the Tangier port in Morocco I couldn't wait to get out. Except no one told us we needed to get our passport stamp onboard, so when I tried to get off the boat I was turned back, and the police that did the stamp disappeared for 50 minutes or so, leaving a bunch of anxious backpackers onboard waiting for him. After a while they started loading passengers for the return trip and we were worried that we might get carried back to Spain before ever setting foot on the Moroccan soil! Two of the backpackers were Japanese who were only going to Morocco for a day trip (in fact, a two hour trip!), so their time loss was even more frustrating...
Finally we were let off the boat, and I stepped onto Africa for the first time! Morocco is indeed something different. Its Arabic culture pervades through every corner and every moment of its people's lives. From the clothing that women wear to the constant playing of the prayer music on radio, to the prominant mosques and distinctive architecture, everywhere you turn you are reminded that you are in an deeply religious country. During the prayer hours, everyone goes home to pray and the whole town is deserted, the streets empty and shops closed. Right now it's the month of Ramadan, where all the muslims will fast during the day and only eat when the sun go down.
Today is my first day in Morocco, in the town of Marrakech, so these are only my first impressions. At times I felt like I was walking on a movie set, as the narrow winding streets were so distinct and so much like what we see in those hollywood movies or the Tin Tin comics. I joined a friendly American couple on their shopping trip around the colourful markets around the city, and it was an eye opening experience to see the beautiful things they have on sale, as well as the amount of bargaining required for every single item. I'm glad I'm not buying anything, yet.. :)
I am staying in a dingy hotel right in front of the main square. The location is perfect but the cold shower was a shock to my system, despite the warm weather. The square really comes alive at night with hundreds of stores selling food, juices, spices and souvenirs. I was quick to hide my hands from girls selling painted tattos, as I have been warned by a friend who has her hand grabbed and quickly painted by a girl and being forced to pay! Apart from that, everywhere I walk I hear "konichiwa!!" or other Japanese sayings directed to me. Ah, I wonder how the real Japanese deal with it.
Tomorrow I'll go on a 3 day trip to the Sahara desert!
Life in "English Town" in Spain
What a fabulous experience!! Now that it´s over, my only complain is that it was all too short. Just when bonds started to form, the 8 days were up...
In the English Town (aka "Pueblo Ingles") of Valdelavilla, I got to meet a bunch of very interesting (and good looking!) Spaniards and Anglos (ie. Native English speakers from the States and Britain). Most Spaniards were sponsored by their companies to come to this program, with an exception of three who paid out of their own pockets. Many are managers at work, but at Valdelavilla everyone put on their silly hats in the name of learning English, and did many, many fun & crazy things!!
Valdelavilla is the perfect setting for an "English Town". The stoney village was abandoned in the sixties and restored in the recent years. The houses were all made of stone, as were the streets, and the surrounding countryside was where the action took place. It really doesn´t come any more remote than this.. with not one single shop in sight and no mobile phone coverages, there was nowhere for the Spaniards to escape back to speaking Spanish. And we had the place all to ourselves :)
The majority of Anglos in our program are retired couples from various parts of the States, many of whom came from an Education background. There were also a handful of Brits with different background, one Canadian, and I was the solo Aussie.. (except I felt like a bit of a fraud cos I can´t drink and don´t have much of an accent!)
It was all SO MUCH FUN... and I enjoyed the one to one sessions the most.. it was where one Anglo pairs up with one spaniard to talk for an hour, about anything under the sun, while walking uphill or down hill around the surrounding mountainside. If you are lucky enough to be paired up with one of the particularly fit spaniards, then it really turns into a training session as well. Perhaps that was why I was constantly hungry despite being fed aplenty of beautifully cooked food at least three times at day.
Creativity reined supreme in Valdelavilla. We were divided into six groups and in all but one night there was an amature theatre performance by one of the groups, designed around the theme of the English language or our experiences in the vilage. My theatrical debut was as a silent thief, and it was so well received that I was sure that I would be the first suspect if anything ever went missing! We had a multitude of talents on board, including a very good flamenco dancer, an experienced Santa Claus, an advertising guru, a radio announcer and some very very funny actors.. ensuring that we were up in stitches every single night.
On top of that there was a fiesta night where we danced the night away, a ceremony at night where we drank the homestewed beverage to dispel "bad English" from the place (can´t remember what it was called), an excursion day where we visited a nearby abandoned village that was even larger but not restored, and a night where we watched our chef Augustin cooking a massive pot of paella for all of us. And who could forget the presents we received from our secret friends every day?
So many memorable moments, and the people were absolutely the best thing about this experience. We had some real characters who brought lots of laughter and warmth to our group... one guy introduced his home country, Canada, to us, and gave us Maple Syrup biscuits to sample (it was delicious!).. a Spanish girl told us all about the idealogies in the Japanese culture, followed by a spaniard explaining the art of Judo (he has a black belt!)... a guy who forgot to tell a lie during the game "2 truth and a lie).. we even created our own celebrity out of a highly energetic spanish girl (Pilar of course!) who can talk, laugh and run non-stop, is enthusiastic about everything and constantly tells you that you are wonderful and are an inspiration to her! Noone could match her stamina or enthusiasm, and her fame was consolidated at the end of the week with a brilliant sent up of her character in one of the performances and her winning the "Most Entertaining Spaniard" award in addition to being the runner up for almost every other one.. (Most Contagious Laughter, Best Dancer, Youngest Heart..)
If only we had a few more days.. ít´s hard to go back to being a solo backpacker after being surrounded by such a wonderful group of people... at least now I know a bit more about the Spanish culture and history, and know some good places to visit in Spain.
ps. here are some photos of the place we called home from the "Pueblo Ingles" website.
(new!) photos taken by our group.. http://flickr.com/photos/puebloingles_223/
