Don't trust those 'back scatter' scanners that effectively show you naked? Might be hard to choose the pat-down option... From For the First Time, the TSA Meets Resistance:
everal TSA officers heard me choose the pat-down, and they reacted in a way meant to make the ordinary passenger feel very badly about his decision. One officer said to a colleague who was obviously going to be assigned to me, "Get new gloves, man, you're going to need them where you're going."...
the effectiveness of pat-downs does not matter very much, because the obvious goal of the TSA is to make the pat-down embarrassing enough for the average passenger that the vast majority of people will choose high-tech humiliation over the low-tech ball check.
Bah. Remember the days when flying was fun? These days it's an invasion of privacy, a huge hassle and eater-of-time *and* sexual harassment rolled into one.
'WH Smith's exclusive travel book deal with Penguin to go ahead despite outcry from writers', apparently because the OFT doesn't have the resources to investigate the deal? That's ridiculous. And what are Penguin thinking - can they only sell travel books if there's no competition?
The Guardian:
The Office of Fair Trading has decided against investigating WH Smith's deal to stock only Penguin's overseas guides at its travel stores. The deal caused an outcry from travel writers, including Michael Palin, when it was announced in June.Under the agreement, brands such as Lonely Planet, Time Out and Bradt are not stocked in 265 of WH Smith's 459 travel shops, with only Penguin's Rough Guides and Eyewitness imprints on display.
As reported by the BBC, etc.
Belgian city plans 'veggie' days
The Belgian city of Ghent is about to become the first in the world to go vegetarian at least once a week.Starting this week there will be a regular weekly meatless day, in which civil servants and elected councillors will opt for vegetarian meals.
Ghent means to recognise the impact of livestock on the environment.
The UN says livestock is responsible for nearly one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, hence Ghent's declaration of a weekly "veggie day".
Public officials and politicians will be the first to give up meat for a day.
I've never been to Ghent. I'm definitely going to go now, and I guess I'd better make it a long weekend so I can be there on a Thursday. And I guess it'll be easy to find something vegetarian to eat when I'm there. The Guardian reports:
Every restaurant in the city is to guarantee a vegetarian dish on the menu, with some going fully vegetarian every Thursday. From September, the city's schools are to make a meat-free meal the "default" option every Thursday, although parents can insist on meat for their children. At least one hospital wants to join in.
From the Guardian Travel section: Streets ahead: Kingsland Road in east London
The tagline is, "Each week we visit an emerging neighbourhood in a different city". Emerging from what, exactly? From obscurity, or from freedom from tourists?
I think the stories behind how those people ended up in that place at the time they did is part of the reason I like these so much. You also learn what they made of it, and how it's changed their perspective on their own lives and homes. Travel as contemplation is so much more interesting than travel as spectacle.
The New York Times: Why We Travel
Montreal was really quite cool. Lots of restaurants, cafes, bars... good museums, live music. I met some ace people, and had too many late nights. The nicest (i.e. shabbiest) cafes are the ones with free wifi, and I basically spent my first two days there soaking up the sun. Later the weather turned cold but that sun was worth it.
I've come back to lots of grey London skies that are barely distinguishable from the grey buildings, and news of the mole man. At different times that place has been on my route home, and I always hate walking past that house. Not because I think the footpath is going to cave in, but there's something about the intensity of his life that hurries my steps.
Walking home one night this week, I saw three homeless men on a bench. The one at the edge was cradling a man sitting on the ground like a pieta with added Red Stripe.
Not that I've done much - I've realised I probably can't get any more cash out for a few days while a bank transfer goes through, so it's places that take credit card or very cheap things only for me! I'm uploading photos to Flickr from my phone as I go so check there for stuff too.
From my phone yesterday: "First impressions of Montreal - I thought the airport was a construction zone, with loads of sand heaps, but it was old snow.
Not the most glam people so far, but earthy and good humoured. Not sure where I got earthy from after only five minutes, to be honest. Maybe the [arrivals area] reunions and slight roughness of aspect?"
I managed a quick dinner last night before passing out - every time I fly, I hate it a little bit more. I had to leave home five hours before my flight to get to the airport on time - ridiculous! Give me a train anyday.
I randomly came across 'Fictional Cities' while looking for something else.
We all have our favourite places and favourite stories about them. Our idea of these places is usually a mix of experience and imagination, and fiction is usually no small contributor to our mental maps.I love London, Venice and Florence, so I made this site, with lists and reviews of all sorts of fiction set in these three cities.
Monstrous Melbourne presents Melbourne as the city that just keeps growing, and Melbourne dreamtime a reality looks back to the people, flora and fauna that was there before white settlers.
Melbourne seems both utterly familiar and completely strange to me now. It's 'home' and yet it's also a city I'd have to get to know again. I could live here again, but it would be an adjustment.
At least I don't have to feel ashamed of being Australian now Howard is gone. Such a simple thing, but it's such a big change.
I meant to write about this exhibition, having seen it in Tokyo recently, but I haven't had a chance. So in the meantime here's 'we make money not art' on Japanese-ness in Japanese Contemporary Art: 'Roppongi Crossing: Future Beats in Japanese Contemporary Culture'.
Australia pledges to sign Kyoto protocol on climate change
Australia won applause at the start of UN-led climate change talks in Bali on Monday by agreeing to ratify the Kyoto protocol, isolating the US as the only developed nation outside the pact.Soon after an Australian delegate promised immediate action on Kyoto, the new prime minister in Canberra, Kevin Rudd, took the oath of office and signed the ratification documents, ending his country's long-held opposition to the global climate agreement.
In a piece of funny timing, I'll be in Melbourne by NYE, so I'll have a chance to see how Rudd is going for myself.
Lots of shopping around Shinjuku - fetish items like stationery, a Hello Kitty camera (that I had to return cos it was crap), and generally enjoying the randomness of the shops and the shinyness of the roads that take you to them.
The shops around Harajuku are a bit like Camden's Electric Ballroom or stable markets, and the people shopping there are perhaps more interesting than the show-offs on Jingu-bashi.
We accidentally found a lovely friendly lesbian bar - the Anchor. The scene seems small but decent.
US immigration 'worst in the world'
Entry requirements in the United States are the "worst in the world" and visa rules are "cumbersome", causing tourists to steer clear of America, according to a leading figure in US travel and tourism.
It's certainly one reason I'm not going to or through the US.
In other news, organic food really is better:
The biggest study into organic food has found that it is more nutritious than ordinary produce and may help to lengthen people's lives.The evidence from the £12m four-year project will end years of debate and is likely to overturn government advice that eating organic food is no more than a lifestyle choice.
The study found that organic fruit and vegetables contained as much as 40% more antioxidants, which scientists believe can cut the risk of cancer and heart disease, Britain's biggest killers. They also had higher levels of beneficial minerals such as iron and zinc.
Call to use leftovers and cut food waste
Research by the government's waste reduction agency, Wrap, found that one third of all food bought in Britain is thrown away - of which half is edible. Wrap will claim that this discarded food is a bigger problem than packaging, as the food supply chain accounts for a fifth of UK carbon emissions and decomposing food releases methane, the most potent of the greenhouse gases. Wasted food is estimated to cost each British household from £250 to £400 a year.'If we stopped the amount [of food waste] that we could stop, it would be the same as taking one fifth of cars off the road
What more could you ask from a blog? Curious Expeditions are 'travelling and exhuming the extraordinary past'.
Apparently PodCityGuides has free guides to over 300 cities.
After hours poring over passport stamps, emails with flight, train and ferry details, another passport and even checking when photos were taken so that I can fill out a form saying when I've been out of the UK over the past five years, I've worked out that on 32 different trips over 279 days since July 2002, I have gone to:
Greece (Athens), Netherlands (Amsterdam plus ?), Italy (Milan, Rome), Denmark, Spain (Bilbao twice, Barcelona, Madrid), Finland, Estonia (Tallinn), Germany (Baden Baden, Berlin), Hong Kong, China (Shanghai, Shenzen), Macau, Australia (Melbourne), Turkey (Istanbul, Konya, Antalya), Slovenia, Hungary, Ireland (Dublin, festival, M's dad's place, Wexford, Cashel and Waterford), France (Paris), Poland (Warsaw, Krakow), Vietnam, Cambodia (Siem Reap, Angkor Wat), Russia (St Petersburg, Novgorod, Moscow), Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia (Bratislava), Austria (Vienna, because Ryanair landed us not only in the wrong city but the wrong country!), Portugal, Belgium (Brussels, Brugge), Morocco (Marrakech), Bulgaria (transit only, really, but it did take days and I did get out though it was probably illegal) Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Transndneistr, Laos. I think that's 34 countries in total.
And yes, I did used to be very naughty about flights before I realised that carbon off-setting probably doesn't do enough to make up for the damage flying does.
From the Times Travel site, 100 best travel websites including Best for holiday bargains (cheap flights, insurance, etc) or Top-value rooms; Road, rail, ferry, cruise (including the fabulous www.transportdirect.info, seat61 (how to get anywhere by rail), deutsche bahn (train timetables across Europe)); Specialist travel ("Cook, dance, trek, surf, paint, go single or go green - these sites will guide and inspire, plus there's some great tips for travellers embarking on a gap year adventure") and Travel 2.0 (news and tips from other travellers, but see also Inside info).
Travel tip for Bruge, Ghent, Antwerp or Brussels: pop into a youth hostel or bar and pick up a copy of the Use It map and guide for 'young people'. Great tips on where to eat, sleep and drink and how to 'act like a local'. Or check it out online at http://www.use-it.be/.
Just as well we went to Bruges when we did:
Internet auction website eBay today withdrew an unusual second-hand sale item, the country of Belgium, which had attracted an offer of 10 million euros ($A16.68 million)."Belgium, a kingdom in three parts" was posted on the Belgian eBay site as offering "plenty of choice" despite the caveat that it comes with "300 billion of National Debt".
Offered in three parts - Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia - the accompanying blurb said the kingdom "can be bought as a whole (not recommended)".
The vendor also included as added extras "the king and his court (costs not included)".
From The Age.
BBC: Eurostar is making its inaugural journey from Paris to London via Britain's new high-speed line
Richard Brown, chief executive of Eurostar, said he hoped that by 2010 10m people would travel by Eurostar each year."Today marks Britain's entry into the European high-speed rail club."
He said journey times to Paris, even for people travelling from Yorkshire, would be broadly the same as for those flying due to lengthier check-in times at airports.
"It's as quick and more frequent... and we will be matching airline prices."
I know, I was naughty, no posts here while I was away. So in retropsect, it was very hot, dusty. And while a commute that takes in the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya is lovely, any journey that takes 30 hours is a bit horrendous by the end.
I'll be out in Turkey, leaving very, very early this morning, and back August 3rd.
I hope I'm not tempting fate by saying I shouldn't be anywhere near bits that might have bombs around the election (July 22) - we're so far from anything that I can't imagine anyone bothering, and I'm only passing through Istanbul.
A really interesting blog about Edinburgh's dark side across the centuries.
More on free language resources on the moneysavingexpert site:
There's a great US website called Open Culture which lists mostly free language courses that are available as podcasts (in other words digital files you can download onto an MP3 player to listen to).
If only there was a site where I could download some free time to listen to these free lessons!
Rough Guide have updated their phrasebooks, and now they've each got a free audio download so you can practise with words and phrases recorded by native speakers. Hooray!
The audio files work best when you've got a phrasebook in front of you, so Rough Guide probably aren't losing much business by giving away the audio files.
...is where I am. I'm visiting my brother who moved to Berkshire a few weeks ago, and I've (tragically) snuck time online to do some work, and check out what's on at the fair at Highclere Castle we were thinking of visiting tomorrow.
Their website promises 'two days of world-class clay shooting and gundog action', including the Lurcher Display Team and the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club and some gundog scurries, whatever they are!
And if you don't like dogs or clay pigeon shooting, there's ferret racing, stick makers and 'bodgers'. Of course we can't resist all that and we'll be there tomorrow, rain, drizzle, hail or mist.
I really liked this description of the difference between gay and homosexual from gay.com:
"However, there is a difference between being homosexual and gay. As you say yourself, you’re “not straight�…but you’re not gay. Yet.
‘Homosexual’ is a hard-wired hormonal tendency to be turned on by your own sex and not the opposite sex.
‘Gay’, however is not (just) about sexuality, it’s about identity. It’s an achievement, not a predisposition. It’s a label homosexual men initially chose for themselves and it’s still an identity you have to choose – or refuse – to embrace. That’s the stage you’re stuck at right now.
Because gay is a social identity, people piece it together out of a string of stereotypes. That can feel oppressive. Will I have to be camp? Will I have to like Eurovision/give a flying f*** about Big Brother/get a tattoo/take ecstasy/take it up the bum?
The answer to all those is NO, not unless you want to.
More importantly, there are questions about giving up things too. Will I lose my family’s love? My circle of friends? Being a dad? Getting married?
The answer here is also NO, not necessarily – but that yes, being gay may make some of these things harder to achieve."
And also, Moldovan gays defy pride ban
"It also contravenes a recent decision by the Moldovan Supreme Court, which robustly defends the right of all Moldovan citizens, including LGBT people, to freedom of expression, assembly and peaceful protest.
...
The mayor’s [Ken Livingstone] statement was in response to the municipal authorities of Chisinau banning an event planned by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organisation GenderDoc-M for 27 April as part of the 6th Moldovan LGBT Pride festival."
I wish I'd known closer to the time, I would have sent an email in support.
BBC: In pictures: Life in rural Laos
It explains a lot of what we saw as we travelled around - cows or buffalo grazing on scraps of grass in what looked rice paddies. It was 'burning season' while we were there and it was amazing to see how much land was being cleared, particularly on the trip over the mountains from Luang Prabang to Vang Viang, and on down to Vientiane. I couldn't see how much was being cleared in the south because it was dark. I really don't understand why the government lets people clear land they won't be able to irrigate, and I worry that they'll lose their top soil in floods and dust storms once they've cleared the trees and destroyed the infrastructure of the soil. I guess sometimes you can only go for short-term solutions, but it was kinda heart breaking.
I'm back in London... arrived late last night (including one hour standing in the queue at Immigration, thank you UK) and back in the office today. Everything seems slightly surreal but my first meeting isn't until 2pm so in the meantime I'm catching up on email (work and I guess some personal at lunch), RSS feeds, mailing lists, etc. I'll save the forums for later.
Everything seems so green in London now! The trees are suddenly covered in new leaves and the shrubs have started flowering... After a lovely walk through the park, the bus ride to work was uneventful, no shrunken-headed cross-dressing Laotian variety shows blasting from the TV while I'm trying to sleep.
The weather seems nice and cool after Vientiane/Paxse, where it was 37-41 over the past few days. No more $1 meals - it's going to be strange cooking for myself again, I'll have to think of exciting treats I've missed while away. I think I'll go on a mission for some nice cheese tonight because I dreamt about it one night I was away. Surprisingly, I'm not sick of noodles though I never want to see that funny textured protein stuff Thai Airlines serve in the veggie meals ever again.
So, some rambling thoughts for a quick catch-up... the second kayaking trip didn't go quite as planned because there was a really strong wind blowing up the river. We battled it for a few hours then gave up, deflated the kayaks and got a boat down the Mekong to Don Deng. Crashed out for a while then watched the sun set over the mountains behind Champassak. The next day we got a longtail ferry (not a fairy) with the bikes across the river to Champassak and cycled to Wat Phou.
Champassak is meant to be the next backpacker town, but I hope it doesn't go the same way as Vang Viang. Vang Viang left me quite depressed about the impact of travel - apparently it only took a few years for the whole town to change into some kind of backpacker hell. The main tourist street of Luang Prabang was a bit like a mini Khao San Road, which was weird because the food was much better (and cheaper) at the restaurants along the river. I guess there's no reason I should expect every backpacker to resist the call of food and TV from home in the interests of avoiding negative impact on the towns they visit, but it's a shame because it makes travelling seem like a destructive act.
Wat Phou was amazing. There was no-one else there when we got to the first palaces, and it was so peaceful and beautiful. It's hard to believe it was all hidden in the jungle for so long. The new-ish museum was quite good, with panels explaining who the different deities were and what they meant, so that you had some context for what you would see on the site. After the crowds at Angkor Wat, the quiet and the chance to look around without battling through masses of people was particularly special.
Vientiane seemed chaotic and bustling after Paxse, which was amusing because it seemed so quiet and small when I first arrived. It was really hot so we didn't race around, but it's not like you have to rush around to see everything anyway.
We wanted to break up the journey back from Vang Viang and stopping in Vientiene was an easy way to do it. It's lovely and quiet after Vang Viang. Saw the museum today, full of propaganda about the colonialist French and imperialist Americans.
Luang Prabang was very, very wet because the New Year celebrations just went on and on. We saw the procession of the buddha down to the temple where it's washed for the year to come and did some shopping (no jewellry box yet, Min).
We got a bus down to Vang Viang. I had a headache almost non-stop for two days, which pretty much sums up Vang Viang - it's really noisy, and full of TV bars, full English breakfasts and just all the worst parts of backpacker places. We went kayaking for a day, and that was ace fun. We passed the jumping places, and each did a jump. I was sh!t scared but I'm glad I made myself do it. Very tiny rapids, probably just as well because I realised it's actually twenty years since I went river kayaking.
We've booked a trip to go kayaking and cycling from Pakse, with an overnight stay on an island village with no electricity, with a visit to Wat Phou and hopefully it'll be really fun. We're getting the overnight bus to Pakse tonight, then going to find a guest house to dump our bags and head out to the Tad Fan waterfall. There's another waterfall called Tad Lo, and we've had too much fun making bad puns with the name.
It's the first day of official New Year's celebrations in Louang Prabang, though the party started a few days ago. Stayed two nights at the nicest hotel I've ever been too, it was almost too tempting to stay in instead of seeing the sights.
Have been completely soaked and smeared with black powder by people in the street; I think it's going to get more beery and lairy tomorrow. Today is the last day of the old year, tomorrow doesn't really exist and the next day is the first day of the new year. I've only been away for a few days and I've already lost track of time.
Might go to the waterfalls tomorrow morning, then hopefully we'll catch the procession down to the river to wash the buddha and visit some wats in the afternoon.
It's been quite cloudy, today is really muggy so it's almost a relief to get soaked.
I arrived this morning, and slept most of the day. The time difference is only six hours so I'm hoping to avoid really bad jetlag, though I'll try and stay up to 1am tonight to reset my body clock. I didn't sleep much on the flight from London and didn't sleep enough before I left London so hopefully that will help.
So far I've met some random people, including a guy who was just in Uzbekistan (working) and a guy who used to work in the newsagents down the road from Mum and Dad's. I've had French buckwheat crepes, a giant rum ball at the Scandinavian Bakery and a beer Lao. There aren't loads of tourists around but I'm about to go to a bar that's full of them to read my book and work out an itinerary.
In some ways I suspect Vientiane is the Canberra of Laos but it's nice to have time to relax before we start travelling and being proper tourists. It's going to be a mild 28 degrees tomorrow. There might be thunderstorms when we fly into Louang Prabang, which could be interesting. It's going to be New Year's on Friday through Monday. I wonder how throwing water on people works if it's already raining?
I always dig this link out before I go on a trip, so here it is again: the vegetarian passport has phrases explaining what vegetarians and vegans can and can't eat in lots of international languages.
But I'm not looking forward to weeks of vegetarian joy in Laos, though it might be ok.
(Did I mention I was going on holiday? Oh yes. Back in a few weeks).
"It's a real worry that Aussies in Europe are now being tagged "New Yanks"."
"Thanks largely to the 'sixth-most famous man in Kazakhstan', Central Asia is attracting unprecedented attention from travellers. Films come and films go, but after the Borat hype has simmered down, the region's oomph will keep adventurers coming back for more. So which 'Stan has it? Lonely Planet's Central Asian specialists argue the case for their favourite." at the Lonely Planet.
Depressing reading:
'Tourism is already out of control, and unless the Cambodian government takes some pretty radical action to rein it in now much of Angkor's magic and heritage could be lost forever.' Guardian
Yes, blah blah blah, I'm even getting sick of hearing myself crap on about it. But how do I reconcile my travel bug with my hippydom? Is going by rail or road where possible, and flying less and staying longer really enough?
"Travel educates and broadens the mind, and connects us to the rest of the world - which is especially important for Australians.
But how can we do it without being environmental vandals, especially as poor nations are expected to suffer the most from climate change?" Age
I went on a tree planting holiday with Treesponsibility on the weekend. It was too snowy to do any planting on the Saturday so we went for walks instead, but on Sunday most of the snow had melted, and the sun even came out. It was lovely to get out of London, and even nicer to do something proactive for the environment. Treesponsibility are based in the Upper Calder Valley but it would be ace if similar projects were available all over the UK.
Maybe one day this'll be me: Taking the train to a new life in China
"The UK government is to set standards for carbon offsetting schemes to bring "greater clarity" to the industry.
...
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has named just four offset providers that meet its new guidelines -Pure, Global Cool, Equiclimate and Carbon Offsets."
I keep forgetting to blog this... the first thing we saw when we emerged from the U Bahn in Berlin was... an Australian shop.
Of course I bought some VB, so my first beer in Berlin was actually a Victoria Bitter from a stubbie, not a stein of something frothy.
It turns out the Australian Embassy is on the same street so it's not as random as it sounds. I still think it was a pretty good coincidence.
Oh, and Berlin was great. Will post in more detail later. Had colds so spent a lot of time napping but it was lovely to see Dreeny. Watched the fireworks at the Brandenberg Gate from Unter der Linden, where lots of people were setting off their own fireworks. It reminded me of the the Nieuwe Markt in Amsterdam.
Working, working, working... but in a brief moment of procrastination (double checking spelling to send a greeting in Dutch to a colleague) I managed to discover this handy Welsh phrase for the English at the moment: Gêm ddwl yw criced.
And handy for me at all times: Mae bronnau ardderchog da hi.
From Unlikely phrases from real phrasebooks, via omniglot which has its own page of 'useful phrases'. I've often entertained myself trying to get the most innuendo out of innocuous phrasebooks or wondering how a particular phrase came to be included. Once in Turkey I had occasion to use the very very long word for 'you look like the kind of person who disapproves of others having fun'. Not to the guy's face, of course, not least because I wouldn't have a hope of saying it correctly.
I went to Belfast as a tourist a few years ago, and almost every single person I encountered asked what on earth I was doing there. They couldn't believe that someone would voluntarily visit their city. I guess that's all about to change: NI is tipped as top travel spot.
People there were incredibly friendly, Belfast still felt like a big country town.
I'm back in London. It's a long trip back from Ireland by train and ferry, but it was nicer than flying.
One brother is back in Bristol, the other is staying with me for a few days. I said goodbye to Mum and Dad in Ireland, I'll probably see them as they pass through London on their way back home. They have to stay in Ireland until Mum has another x-ray so I'll know more after that.
The drive from Kilkenny to Wexford was quite nice. We passed through Inistioge, which is an almost-too-pretty village in a lovely valley setting.
We're in Kilkenny, and will head to Wexford tonight. We couldn't find anywhere affordable to stay in Rosslare so we'll get a mini-cab to the port from Wexford.
Last night I went out for dinner with my brothers and then we found a pub with live music (trad Irish). It was actually a pretty good night until the band finished and we went to the disco upstairs. I wouldn't last a week living in a small town like this, based on that disco. Still, the crowd in the pub was good value - there was a group of girls out for a night out who sang along to all the songs and actually offered more entertainment than the band.
We were in Cashel the night before, but I didn't get to see the Rock of Cashel cos Mum's cast was tight overnight, and her IV puncture was infected, so we took her to the hospital again. She's fine, but needs to be careful to keep her foot elevated all the time. Being Mum, she was trying to see and do too much still.
They'll probably have to head straight back to Australia after her x-ray appointment in Waterford on the 18th. She says they'll be back in Europe next year, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
"A waiter who looked like a guard from a hospital for the criminally insane would hand you a menu the size of a book of wallpaper samples. Slowly it would become clear that the items described did not constitute a list of items for sale, just a kind of collective folk memory of the entire Russian nation on the subject of food.
Trying to tease out of your server the one or two dishes that were actually available nearly always took longer than the process of eating dinner itself." BBC
It's about the old Russia, but I found that it still applies in the smaller cities of Ukraine.
I'm off to Ireland tomorrow. Instead of flying, I'm trying the Sail Rail deal. It's £45 return for a train and ferry from London to Rosslare, which has already saved me the cost of getting to an airport, let alone the flight and charges. It'll take longer, but I'll see parts of England I've never seen, and I don't have to squeeze into a Ryanair tin can, and I can take whatever the hell I like on board. If it's a rough crossing I may regret it but so far it's looking good.
I'll be travelling with my entire family, visiting places our ancestors came from. If I survive, I'll be back next Sunday.
I was up early for the train to Krakow but I'm tempted by the sound of "Krakow's Q&A" so I might just go out tonight.
The train was a lovely new one but that also meant we didn't do the 'up in the air' wheel-changing thing.
Krakow has lots of vegie places to eat, which is brilliant after Ukraine.
I really missed a trick on all those overnight trains - I should have been treating my fellow passengers to the sight of me in these.
Back to work on Monday, which is really hard to believe.
My trip is nearly at an end. I leave Lviv for Krakow tomorrow morning, assuming I can get anyone to sell me a ticket. I tried at both the ticket office and the train station, but no-one will sell me a ticket (except for first class) until this evening. I have no idea why, I'm sure Min was able to get a ticket two days in advance. Hopefully the train won't be sold out by the time I get there. Otherwise I'll catch the bus, which doesn't sound anything like as comfortable, but would actually be faster. It sounds like lots of people try to smuggle cheaper goods in Poland from Ukraine so hassles and delays at the border are common.
Yesterday I climbed to the 'High Castle' for a view over Lviv, today I've seen some museums. I've also been going to coffee houses, as Lviv is famous for them, and I never need an excuse to drink coffee.
Back in London September 3, in case you're wondering. I may have already said that, I have a goldfish memory.
"An architect of Iraqi descent has said he was forced to remove a T-shirt that bore the words "We will not be silent" before boarding a flight at New York." BBC
Another mixed-up Ukrainian day.
I got the overnight train from Chernivsti to Lviv last night. The one guy in my carriage at the start was a lawyer, and spoke some English, and more German. He was nice, so we chatted a bit. We were woken by the arrival of a Russian Ukrainian couple in the middle of the night, who seemed to have saved their conversation (and meals) all day so they could have them in our carriage in the middle of the night.
When we were leaving the train this morning, the lawyer said he was going the same way as one of the sights I wanted to see, and did I want to go with him, as he had time before his court appointment? He doesn't like public transport, so we ended up walking about 5km (more with detours) to the Lychakivsky Cemetary. It was actually a lovely introduction to the city, and I coped a lot better after we stopped for coffee, and he was able to translate things I never would have guessed.
We had a very late breakfast (of pizza, again) then he went to court and I went to do more touristy things.
On the way, I passed the Lviv Tourist Board office, so I thought I'd pop in and get some free maps and ask a few questions. When I got to their office, there were two signs on the door: "Lviv Tourist Board - Always with you and for you" and "Closed until September 7". So much for that.
I will have to post a link when I remember how I found them, because I'm staying in the best apartment in the world. It's right on Rynok, and it was really affordable, and it's just lovely. I can see the town hall from my bed. And it has a kitchen, so I'm not stuck with waitresses trying to sneak meat into my meals (happened again last night but I spotted it before eating anything).
I really like what I've seen of Lviv so far. It's rainy so tomorrow I'll check out some museums and the coffee bars that Min recommended. Life could be worse.
Arrived on the overnight train from Lviv this morning. Checked into dodgy hotel, spent the day wondering around the fortress.
Had a very strange breakfast (pizza with boiled egg on a sweet base - what?) and a brilliant lunch. Lunch was at Gostynny Dvir, no English menu but I said I was vegetarian and they made me a really yummy veggie lunch.
Khotyn tomorrow, then Chernistvi. I think I'll also pop over to Kolomyya (two good museums, apparently) for a day trip from Chernivtsi.
"Internet firms have been criticised by UK MPs for "collaborating" with state censorship of the web in China.
Businesses such as Microsoft, Google and Yahoo blocking some information was "morally unacceptable", the Commons foreign affairs committee said." BBC
Having seen that even in Ukraine some cafes seem to block gay or lesbian content, it's clear that internet censorship is still an important issue that has a real effect on the lives of a country's citizens.
In other news, while looking for an internet cafe, I managed to stumble across one of the very few gay bars or clubs in Kiev. Woo!
(And in other news, Stary Kiev, listed as a 'gay cafe', has closed).
Tomorrow is Ukraine Indepedence Day (Den Nezalezhnosti), so it's a great day to be in Kiev. IYP says, "to give you an idea of what Independence Day on the streets of Kyiv is like, imagine a cross between a huge outdoor rock concert and civil unrest."
Train to Kamynets-Podilsky tomorrow night.
I've been reading updates from this site for a while now, so it is really strange to realise that I've been at the Khan's Palace in Bakhchysaray so soon afterwards. My experience as a tourist who doesn't speak the language and doesn't have any local contacts is of course really different, so go read this instead: Arrival at the Khan’s Palace, Market conflict out of control.
Just in case you've seen something about a plane crash in Ukraine on the news, we weren't on it. We are flying to Kiev tomorrow, where I'll be overnight, while Min flies onto Lviv.
Had an interesting dinner here in Simferopol last night, the idiotic waitress not only tried to give us meat dishes, she tried to charge us lots of extra hrivna for all kinds of random things. Min has a written thing explaining in Ukrainian what we don't eat, and I explained as best I could in Russian, we don't know if the waitress was just terminally stupid or just greedy and mean. So avoid the restaurant Ulf-Topor in Simferopol, especially if you're vegetarian. We're going to write to them and complain, but also to explain why vegetarians don't like being served meat dishes.
I keep forgetting to mention that we're being followed around Crimea by Russia's Eurovision 2006 entrant, Dima Bilan. He came second, and was the guy with the ballerina in his piano. We've heard the song "Never Let You Go" everywhere we've been, and in fact they're playing what sounds like the live version from last night's concert in the internet cafe right now.
We arrived in Yalta after a long day's travel. From Sudak we got a mini-bus taxi to Alushta, then another to Yalta. We just went into the Yalta Cat Show, as one does. It's always the first thing I check out in a strange town.
Simferopol tomorrow.
No wonder it's felt so hot, it's going to be 46C in Yalta today.
The fortress was amazing. There happens to be a folk festival going on at the moment so there were lots of musical performances as well as a re-enactment, which involved lots of fighting and explosions as well as some hot princess-on-princess action. The Dance of the Gothic Polyesther Princess is going to be the new hit of the summer.
Getting out of Transdniestr was a whole other story, but we arrived in Odessa safely.
We had a night that could probably only be described as 'if Carlsberg made hostels' - we were greeted by a stunning Ukrainian woman all dressed up in a very short skirt and vest top, who showed us around and explained that the hostel was having a party, with free beer and champagne, and that it was her birthday. Lots of her gorgeous friends came over, also all dressed up in very short skirts and one in an amazing pair of hotpants.
We had a beer, admired the locals, then went out for dinner at a lovely Lesbianese restaurant down the road, where we could watch more locals promenading in their Thursday night best. Back to the hostel where the drinks were still flowing and the party games in full swing.
It's a tough life, but someone has to live it.
Overnight train from Odessa to Simferopol last night (first class, cos we're classy), mini-bus to Sudak (ok, mini-bus is not so classy). Our hotel is amusing, but we're really here for the fort. We're hiding from the heat for another hour then heading up to explore.
To use the snappier title, Tiraspol in Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica.
I'm in an internet cafe full of kids playing computer games, to be precise.
There's no left luggage at the train or bus station, so we're taking turns to mind the bags and see the sights.
Last night we met up with some Moldovan lesbians (I hope the kids next to me can't read this) Min found through a GLBT rights organisation. They were really lovely (and quite hot) and we had a really good night.
We were up early today to get to the bus station. No big buses so we got a maxi-taxi to Tiraspol. The border crossing into Transdniestr was interesting - they took me into a back room, shut the doors and tried to get me to pay $US30 for a entry permit, but I knew that it should only be about 50c so I refused. We'd hidden any extra cash so we wouldn't be taken for everything we had - the internet is full of stories about people paying huge fines/visa fees. It took some discussion, but we were eventually ushered back into the front office to pay the local entry fee. The story kept changing but at one point one of the guys was trying to tell us we needed to have $US150 each to show that we could support ourselves while in Transdniester. Considering we'd said we were in transit to Odessa, this seemed like quite a huge amount. We showed that we had cards (Mastercard and Visa), and eventually that we had Ukrainian hrivnia to pay for the next bus to Odessa from Tiraspol. I guess they eventually decided we either didn't have any extra money or weren't going to budge, so they gave up.
It was a little scary but it was just a matter of getting through it.
It's really hot - probably mid to high 30s. We've already walked most of the main street but with our backpacks so we weren't stopping to appreciate the sights. We'll probably be back at the bus station by 5pm to get another maxi-taxi (mini-bus) to Odessa. One more border crossing into Ukraine then staying at a proper backpackers tonight, I'm kinda looking forward to it - mostly because I want to relax with a beer with the most difficult border crossings out of the way.
Moldova was really lovely - you could probably see the sights of Chisinau in half a day, but the parks are nice places to relax and watch people, and nearly everyone I met was really friendly and open. I'd been dreading Moldova a little because the Moldovans I'd encountered en masse in Antalya airport were horrible, rude and pushy, with really awful dress sense. I guess the kind of people who go on a package holiday to Antalya tend to be different to the general population. I'd love to go back to Moldova and see more of the country on something like a tour of the wineries.
We're just been on a big drive on the Transfagarasan Road. We head back to Bucharest from Sinaia tomorrow, then overnight train from Bucharest to Chisinau. We have a day in Chisinau, then leave for Tiraspol the next morning. If we are going to encounter any hassle, it's going to be at the Moldovan border with Transdniestr (the country that doesn't exist), which should be on the 17th, so fingers crossed it all goes ok.
Update: In Your Pocket have an article on the Transfagarasan Road. They're right about the weather conditions - it was so foggy we couldn't see the lake, and freezing cold on one side of the summit, then brilliant sunshine on the other side of the tunnel.
We arrived in Sighisoara, Transylvia, today. It's really pretty, the old town is tiny and very cute. We're going on a walking tour in half an hour. Tonight we're going to cook in the hostel, which is actually pretty exciting - we can eat whatever we want, without being limited to what's on the menu.
The food has generally been pretty good, though I've had salad cravings. I haven't had to eat fried cheese and bread once (so far).
If you're ever travelling around Europe by train, this German railways site is fantastic for timetables, routes, etc - you can't book tickets in Eastern Europe but the times are always right and it tells you how long and how many changes each option has.
Min and I arrived in Brasov yesterday. The name of this place lends itself to bad puns - bras off, brush off (the two may be related), apparently the town also has something to do with Dracula. However the locals appear not to appreciate bad Sesame Street Count-style laughing.
We managed to get Moldovan visas (transit, but we might have been able to get tourist visas too) and today we bought train tickets from Bucharest to Chisinau, so we're actually going there! We'll travel overnight on the 15th and be in Odessa, Ukraine, by the 17th, so it'll be a really quick visit to Moldova/Transdniestr.
There's not much on the internet about the visas, so if you're looking for information on Moldovan visas in Bucharest, Romania, you can get one in a day at the Moldovan Consulate, 8 B-dul Eroilor (very near the corner of B-dul Eroilor and B-dul Mihail Kogalniceanu (Kogaliniceanu?), take the metro to Eroilor or bus 123 from Gara de Nord. There's a pub on the corner where you can celebrate when you get your visa.
You'll need a photocopy of your passport to show the bank when you pay for the visa, or they'll yell at you. They might yell at you anyway, they seem to like doing it.
It turns out that I'm staying right around the corner from the first place I stayed in Istanbul. No wonder it all looked so familiar.
I've done nothing so far today but chill out in my room, have a shower, watch stupid TV and relax. I'm going to have a coffee now and figure out what I want to see and do - perhaps pay a visit to the Blue Mosque, one of my favourite buildings in the world. There's a little kid behind me which is hampering my search for 'lesbian bars istanbul'.
The train is so much nicer when you've got a sleeper. I was incredibly excited by everything - the comfy seats, the bed, the little basin, the little Turkish State Railways soap... I was probably very easily pleased because I'd sent two weeks living with 100 people in a crowded dig house, but it was still all very lovely.
The weather is in the 30s but not as hot as Konya, which has been in the 40s.
My train to Bucharest leaves at 10pm tomorrow night so I've got until then to explore Istanbul again.
It's weird being back, especially around Sultanahmet. Istanbul hasn't changed much, but I guess I have because a lot has happened in the six years since I was last here.
I leave site tomorrow. I'm hot, dusty, covered in bites (mostly mosquito), tired, and I'm looking forward to a room by myself and food that doesn't have to serve 100 people, but I'm still really sad to be leaving tomorrow.
I should be in Istanbul by Saturday morning, then on Sunday night I head to Bucharest, passing through Bulgaria. I hope I actually end up in Bucharest, the agency I booked the ticket through seem a little vague about exactly when and where the train goes after Bulgaria. I've always wanted to go to Serbia but not on this trip.
It's been really busy, too much to do as always, but the work is such a brilliant challenge that I'll miss it when I'm gone. I'll be working on things after the season finishes but it's never quite the same.
It's been quite hot, 40C on the mound. Have taken some photo and video but no idea when I'll get to put them online.
Hard to believe my first week is over. So much to do, but I was determined to get into Konya to have a proper day off, get some groceries, go the hammam and just generally get off the site.
Nothing unusual to report. Organising stuff to travel around the Ukraine has taken so much more time than I actually have, which is a bit of a bummer. Hopefully we're getting there now, at this stage I don't really care what I do as long as I can get to Lviv in time to get to Krakow and I don't get thrown off any trains for not having the right visa.
I'm going to have lunch with a bunch of people from site near the Mevlana museum then do some shopping. It's amazing how exciting grocery shopping seems right now! The food on site is pretty good, but I miss variety.
Have a nasty cold but at least I haven't got the bug that's going around - it doesn't last long but it involves nastiness from either end while it does.
It's hard to believe it's six weeks until I'll be back in London. I have my Big Chill flip flops from last year and I'll try to remember to wear them when it's on. I think I'll be back in Istanbul by then, on my way to Bucharest, with any luck.
It's a brave new world - I just checked in for tomorrow's flight to Istanbul online. I still have to pick up my boarding pass and drop off my checked luggage when I'm at the airport, but otherwise I'm good to go.
Now all I have to do is finish enough work to get out of the office, figure out what documents I need in print or on the memory stick, work out how much luggage I can take once I've weighed the laptop and the tent, pack, clean the flat, leave instructions about the flat, blah blah blah.
And I also have to bite the bullet and book somewhere to stay in Istanbul, finally pick a train or bus from Istanbul to Bucharest and work out how I'm going to get to Lviv or Kamyanets Podilsky or Chernivsti from Simferopol. Eek. I just hope I don't forget anything important.
Marrakech was amazing.
We got lost in the souks, went to the locals hammam, ate some really lovely meals, stayed in a lovely riad (possibly the loveliest place I've ever stayed), saw the museum and the madrassa, went on a trip to the Atlas Mountains, and relaxed in the jacuzzi.
Oh, and we totally rocked the Kasbah. We also did the Funky Cold Medina but that's best left a mystery.
Oh dear. I've just discovered there's a country called the Republic of Dagestan. That explains where my little brother came from.
It would be wrong to want to visit there just because of the name, wouldn't it? (Says the woman who's trying to get to Moldova to find the 'real' Molvania).
"Hello, amateurs of travel!"
Trying to find somewhere to send me a Moldovan tourist voucher that doesn't cost £120 is interesting. The Romanian and Ukrainian visas look like they're on track - someone called from the Romanian Embassy to check details and they should send my passport back tomorrow or Monday, and I can pick up my Ukrainian visa Monday. Now if only I could get everything finished at work, life would be (almost) perfect.
"The key ingredients are budget flights, cheap accommodation, cheap alcohol and strangely enough, a well-preserved historic centre. When it comes to booze-fuelled mayhem, it seems that Brits feel most at home amongst medieval buildings, getting their kicks in Prague, Budapest, Riga and Tallinn." (BBC)
Inching slowly closer... I managed to send my Romanian visa application off this morning, and I've given money to Ukrainians I found on the internet for a Ukrainian visa invitation.
I randomly came across this site about living in the Netherlands - it's a good read and mentions lots of the things that frustrated me at the time.
And catching up on older news... I had a lovely long weekend in Brussels, and came back late Sunday night so I was able to spend a lazy Bank Holiday Monday on Southbank. I went to the Tate Modern to check out the re-hang, then to the pub.
I didn't do anything touristy in Brussels, though we did accidentally come across Manneken Pis and I rubbed effigy of 'T Serclaes. We went to a few small exhibitions, lots of clubs (Just Another Party, Miss Kittin at Fuse) and ate waffles. I find the bilingual thing fascinating - the Walloons and the Flems don't even call the city by the same name.
I'm in Brussels until Sunday night, and so far it's been fabulous. Met Dreeny at the station, and we went to a private party at one of the bars in the gay area. There was a military theme, which meant that everyone was equipped with water pistols, and there was a free-form water pistol battle going on most of the night.
I haven't done much sight-seeing yet but I've been so busy and stressed at work that time spent relaxing is just what I need. Dreeny has lots of cool parties and club nights lined up for us over the next few days.
It's that time of year when I start collecting sites of travel information. I'm booking my flight to Turkey today, and I've booked my flight back from Krakow already, so all I have to do is fill in the gaps to get from one to the other. I've never been this organised about a trip, but we've already worked out how to get from Istanbul to Romania (via Bulgaria), and we're starting to work back from when Min must leave to see what we can see in Romania and Moldova. I'll have nearly a week in Ukraine by myself, but even then there are vast distances to cover so it's not as much time as it sounds.
At least I'll have two weeks of vegetarian food on site but then I'll be needing IVU's Vegetarian Phrases in World Languages and Vegetarian Phrases In Other Languages.
By a very random and circuitous route, here are some Estonian TV commercials from the 70s and 80s.
Should I be worried that Google Maps doesn't think half of Moldova (and all of Transdniestr) exists?
Why we don't be flying again from January's Guardian doesn't go into the environmental impact of flying, but it does make a good case for the joys of other methods of transport.
Really busy day, but exciting news! I have my dates for Turkey, and it looks like after two weeks on site, my lovely friend Min will meet me in Istanbul and we'll either get a ferry across the Black Sea or catch a train through Bulgaria to Romania.
A new site, www.noflying.info has gone live. "The site has potential to be a huge success and be highly beneficial to the cause of sustainable travel." They're looking for people to contribute content or help with development before the full launch around May 20.
I've been typing up some of my travel writing, and it's inspired me to try and get in contact with hostelworld.com about the Paradise Hotel and Hostel/brothel I accidentally stayed in in Riga. I really should get around to scanning in the 'massage menus'.
"At the time I couldn't get the contact form on your website to work but
I'd like to make a complaint about the Paradise Hotel and Hostel.
I had a two night booking for a single room with private bathroom there,
but I only stayed one night as not only were there no single rooms with
private bathrooms available, but somewhat more importantly, the place is
basically a brothel. The only private bathrooms are in the "massage
rooms" and it looks like they prefer to rent them out by the hour.
There's a 24 hour bar downstairs, with a "free drink with a beautiful
woman" if you bring in their brochure, and a 24 "erotic massage" saloon."
What is the real price of cheap air travel?
"The arguments against flying are compelling. ... A return flight to Australia equals the emissions of three average cars for a year. Fly from London to Edinburgh for the weekend and you produce 193kg of CO2, eight times the 23.8kg you produce by taking the train. Moreover, the pollution is released at an altitude where its effect on climate change is more than double that on the ground.
More frightening is the boom in the number of people flying, fuelled by cheap flights with carriers such as Ryanair and Easyjet. In 1970, British airports were used by 32 million people. In 2004, the figure was 216 million. In 2030, according to government forecasts, it will be around 500 million. The trouble is that the people most likely to be aware of these figures, are the ones who probably enjoy popping over to Europe for a weekend. It makes for a large amount of guilt, and a lot of denial. "
This article almost matches the course of my thinking about cheap flights. At first I was off-setting flights by donating to Future Forests to have trees planted, but I've come to realise I just can't justify taking so many short-haul flights.
On the other hand, I hope I'll be taking longer trips and savour them more, or travel more by train. I love train travel anyway - the trip Min and I are planning to Ukraine, Moldova and Romania is designed around the European rail guide.
So far, Portugal has been just lovely. Porto is really pretty, and I had a weird moment when I realised the reason it looked so familiar was that it reminded me of Macau.
There was an election yesterday so the streets were full of cars driving around and around, horns blaring, huge flags being waved out the windows. Having a potter around Porto then off to Braga today.
As this is my year for working on various projects, Life Hacker is bound to come handy at some stage.
I should probably do a budget but I don't think I want to know how much I spend on travel. Speaking of, I'm off to Porto tomorrow (Ryanair 1p flights), back late Wednesday.
Poor Jordan. I really really want to go there, and information like this Lonely Planet rave doesn't help:
"Bible stories, lost cities, Lawrence of Arabia - Jordan has romantic associations up to its eyeballs. It's a country that ought to be awash with tourists, but the Middle East's bad reputation has kept them away in droves. Don't be fooled: Jordan is, on the whole, peaceful.
More than that, it's one of the most welcoming, hospitable countries in the world. Where else could you leave your belongings on the street for hours at a time, and find them there when you get back? Where else do total strangers with nothing to sell invite you into their homes?"
But on the same page:
"Terrorism Warning
The closures of Western embassies in Amman represent high-level warnings to travellers. Unnecessary travel should be postponed until the security situation relaxes. Western intelligence agencies have suggested terrorists may be in the final stages of planning attacks on foreigners. Sixty people were killed and more than one hundred injured by bombs planted in three Amman hotels in 2005. Travellers to Jordan should be informed at all times and avoid visiting areas known to be frequented by Westerners."
Spoof signs and Mock Turner prizes from the BBC.
Bratislava was really pretty, especially when covered with snow. The gay bars were full of friendly and cute girls and boys. Saw some impressive dance floor moves - a cross between Solid Gold, liturgical and interpretative dance.
Food was mostly variations on dumplings but they have a range of hot alcoholic drinks that made up for the food and the cold. I avoided the hot punch that featured bacon and lard in favour of grog or fresh apple drinks.
We were diverted to Vienna on the way there because of a snow storm over Bratislava, and had to get a taxi from Austria to Slovakia.
Back-tracking, dinner with a friend on Wednesday night turned into one of those random London nights and we ended up hobnobbing with slebs at the Groucho Club. Mojo's birthday at Flash Monkey at Cafe de Paris on Thursday was great fun, though I left before the end to go home and pack. Most of the crowd had put a lot of effort into their outfits, and there was a lot of variety. I've discovered that I can run for the night bus in a corset, very useful.
I hope my brother is ok over there with those crazy Canadians.
I'm off to Bilbao/San Sebastian, back Monday. Have a wonderful weekend, and if you're going to the hot tub party, don't do anything I wouldn't do.
Wales was lovely. We went for lots of walks, and climbed (well, walked up) a mountain. The views from Cader Idris were amazing.
We were really lucky with the weather, just enough cloud for beautiful sunsets but it was still generally warm and sunny. Tuesday was quite hot so we spent most of it lounging and reading in the garden.
We ate like (vegetarian) kings all week and tried every drinkable wine in the local supermarket and bottle shop.
I didn't see a newspaper, a television or a computer all week but I did read loads of books.
I'm off to Wales for a week tomorrow, staying in a tiny old cottage on a hill near Dolgellau. I can't wait.
Whoops. I've added up my trips this year, and realised I've been to Poland, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Russia, Turkey and Ireland. I'm going to Ireland (again) and Wales and Spain next month, and Slovakia in October. I might also go to Romania and Moldova and possibly Ukraine before the end of the year. I was thinking about going somewhere a bit warm around December or January, but that might be pushing it.
At one stage I was also going to try and get to Riga, Vilnius and Zagreb this year. Greedy, greedy girl.
Speaking of travel, I'll be using the Slovakian and Basque phrases for "I'm a vegetarian".
Shame on me. I've booked a trip to Bilbao and San Sebastian for Foo's birthday.
Saturday's Guardian nearly convinced me to go to Bergamo again, and reminded me of Budapest's squat bars.
Maybe I should ban myself from reading travel supplements.
Interesting article about the impact of tourism on tourist sites.
I arrived back in London last night and went straight to drinks in Soho. I'll try and post photos up somewhere soon.
I'm considering Flickr cos I keep running out of room at fotopic, but I'm not sure how many photos the free version will let me store and display.
I'm in love with Moscow already. Sergey met me at the station this morning, and took me to breakfast, then I got a tour of the city on the way to my hotel. Hotel Rossiya is right next to St Basil's Cathedral, Red Square and the Kremlin, with Kitai Gorod and the river on two of the other sides.
I've had a yummy three course vegie lunch for a bargain 150 roubles (three quid) and I'm about to go to the Tretyakov Gallery.
I never knew Moscow had so many beautiful Art Deco/Moderne buildings as well as older Russian, Soviet and Constructivist buildings. Sergey is great at pointing out all the different styles of architecture - I think I needed two heads to try and take in all the different sites this morning.
Hi from St Petersburg! I should be out doing touristy stuff but I needed a coffee and to check email. Not that I can actually get into my email from this place, it's an EasyInternet style place and I can't open the putty exe.
I've spent two days in the Hermitage and still haven't seen it all. Today the museums are closed so I'm going to do some walking tours. The others are going to the ballet tonight but at 100 quid a ticket, I'm giving it a miss. I leave for Novgorod tomorrow, stay overnight, then head to Moscow later that day.
I'm not as worried about arriving at 5am now I've seen that it's easy to find 24 hours cafes, and I figure it'll probably be light by then anyway. It barely gets dark here, it's still light at 1am and the sky is getting light again by 3am. So my plan is to head to a cafe, drink lots of coffee and avoid getting robbed until the museums open, then dump my bag in a museum cloakroom until I can check into my hotel. My hotel is right near the Kremlin so I might be able to dump it at the hotel early in the morning. I should be meeting up with Sergey later that night.
S and I went to Russia's only lesbian bar on Saturday night. It was quite fun - a really mixed crowd, like every sub-culture of the lesbian world was thrown together, which I guess is exactly the case. There were some fairly amazing outfits, and some strippers/performers. There are some gorgeous Russian women around, even before the vodkas kicked in.
I'm slowly learning to read Cyrillic, a few letters a day. I've eaten a lot of blini, and eaten at a Georgian restaurant (better range of vegie food) as well as at Russian places.
It was the City Day on Saturday - the anniversary of the founding of St Petersburg. There was a big street parade, and lots of entertainment stages set up along the way. Mostly playing dodgy Russian pop - a lot of it seems to be covers of dodgy Western European songs, so doubly dodgy. We saw the Russian Ali G, unfortunately the real thing, in his mind, not a satire.
Happy birthday Karen, if you're reading this!
Dangerous articles on getting the best deals on online travel including sites for finding cheap hotels and flights.
Is there a feeling quite like that when you click the button and buy tickets to another new destination? I'm leaving for St Petersburg on May 27, and return from Moscow on June 5.
I'm back in London, and luckily the weather is lovely, and my friends lovelier still, making the post-holiday adjustment easier. I was really cold last night, but a few drinks helped. Funny how easy it is to get used to warm weather. I got to offend the patrons of a night bus with a drunken conversation about the concept of 'jazz-hand fisting'.
Hard to believe it's over so quickly, I fly back to London tonight. It's 39 degrees here but it really don't feel that hot. Luckily the weather in London is going to be nice (about 19 degrees) so hopefully I won't suffer too much.
It's weird being in Bangkok. I'm refusing to do any touristy stuff as I've been here before, so my last day will be devoted to shopping, eating and getting massages. I'm not sure I can bothered with shopping, but it seems a shame not to.
Cambodia has been pretty intense. I've been dreaming of land mines and ruined temples. Vietnam seems really rich and established compared to Cambodia.
Angkor Wat and the other temples and structures really are amazing.
We leave for Bangkok tomorrow, and I'm back in London early on Saturday.
We've been in Nha Trang for two nights, after a long day on the train from Hoi An. We're just about to go by motorbike to visit some Cham towers at sunset, then we'll have time for a stroll along the beach and some dinner before we board the Reunification Express for Saigon.
I'm kinda dreading Saigon, it's going to be hot and crowded and noisy, but we're only there for a few days before we fly to Siem Reap. I think it'll be strange meeting Dad there but meeting Mum in Hanoi was almost surreally normal so maybe it won't be strange.
We went on another boat trip yesterday, some lovely snorkling and another on-board feast. I had a dress and some trousers made in Hoi An, but couldn't really be bothered with the shopping/tailoring.
Vietnam celebrates 30 years of re-unification this year, and there are fabulous posters everywhere in the lead-up to the anniversary of the fall/liberation of Saigon in September.
Time is flying by. We leave Hanoi for Hue tonight, travelling overnight on the Reunification Express. Halong Bay was beautiful, one of those places you've seen on the screen so many times it's hard to believe you're actually there.
Eaten lots of good food, fingers crossed we won't get sick.
I'm leaving for Heathrow in just over an hour. It should be a lovely 29 C in Hanoi tomorrow.
Send me an email with your address if you want a postcard from Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City, Siem Reap, Angkor Wat or Bangkok, and I'll do my best.
Amazingly, there aren't any matches for "easyjet addiction" on Google. So maybe I'm not really addicted.
Ok, I am.