I went on a tour with Ultimate Decents up to the border of Tibet to go rafting. I could see Tibet from there 15 kms away. It was really fun! Along the river are terraces with crops such as millet, corn and rice. There quite a few bits where the raft got stuck between a couple of boulders and you all have to get out of the raft then get back in.
The canyoning was the really fun bit and way more challenging than I thought it would be! It involves walking up a hill then coming down via abseiling, jumping and sliding. Asia style, the first abseiling instruction you get is when you're over the edge of the waterfall with a waterfall falling on to your face and your feet on really slippery mosses. It does make it more exciting.
Usually when you start abseiling down, you can't see the bottom. There is one where you start abseiling and the rope just finishes half way. At that point, you have to let go of the ropes, spring yourself of the rock slightly and fall 5m, bottom first, into a pool of water.
The other fun bit was a 50 metre abseil. You can barely see where you're putting your feet because a waterfall was falling into my face!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Singapore
Here's a quick outline of the things I did there:
Zouk and Attica
I went to Zouk nightclub and they happened to have a fashion show the night I was there. The female models were so tall and thin and dressed so outragesously I looked twice because I thought they might have been ladyboys! Zouk had a lot of food such as cakes and donuts beside the catwalk. I certainly took some free food. Amazingly the food was nearly untouched- no wonder the Singapore people are so thin!
We moved to Attica nightclub seeing as Zouk had this fashion show instead of dance. It is quite similar to an Australian night club. The main difference between the Sinapore and Australian nightclubs is the cover charge. The cover charge in Singapore is around $20 which includes 2 drink vouchers. On ladies' night apparantly there's no cover charge for ladies and they get free alcohol.
Sentosa Island
This is a touristy island near Singapore which has the most south- eastern point of continental Asia. There are some beaches and it's different from any beach I've been to because there are huge ships in the near distance! The forest isn't too bad but it is secondary forest because the original forest had been cut down for agriculture some time ago.
Changi Museum
I visited this museum which was about the Japanese occupation of Singapore which is quite worth visiting. I happened to visit this museum on ANZAC day. I was trying to explain the concept of ANZAC day to some European but it kind of sounded like a joke to them. That's probably because in the history of time, Australia's involvement in battles seems so insignificant. But nevertheless important for Australia as I was trying to explain to this guy!
Pulau Ubin
This a small island which is a 10 minute 'bum boat' ride from Singapore. Apparantly it was what Singapore looked like 50 years ago. I went for a bike ride around and saw some bright blue coloured houses. There's a lot of forest and I managed to see 2 quite large monitors, half a metre in length. I also heard the grunting, crashing sound of wild pigs which is quite a scary sound! There is a small beach but it's a pity they have to put a massive fence around it to stop illegal immigrants from landing.
Buddha tooth relic temple
This is the most luxurious Buddhist temple I've ever seen. It's completely shiny and new. Being in Laos the offerings made are usually a simple bunch of flowers. Here you can buy fancy floral arrangements as offerings. The have an amazing collection of Buddha images from all over Asia and a beautiful rooftop garden also. It is located in China town. I usually avoid China towns in the cities I visit but Singapore's is actually really good- probably the best I've ever visited.
Botanical Gardens
These gardens are beautiful especially the orchid garden!
Zouk and Attica
I went to Zouk nightclub and they happened to have a fashion show the night I was there. The female models were so tall and thin and dressed so outragesously I looked twice because I thought they might have been ladyboys! Zouk had a lot of food such as cakes and donuts beside the catwalk. I certainly took some free food. Amazingly the food was nearly untouched- no wonder the Singapore people are so thin!
We moved to Attica nightclub seeing as Zouk had this fashion show instead of dance. It is quite similar to an Australian night club. The main difference between the Sinapore and Australian nightclubs is the cover charge. The cover charge in Singapore is around $20 which includes 2 drink vouchers. On ladies' night apparantly there's no cover charge for ladies and they get free alcohol.
Sentosa Island
This is a touristy island near Singapore which has the most south- eastern point of continental Asia. There are some beaches and it's different from any beach I've been to because there are huge ships in the near distance! The forest isn't too bad but it is secondary forest because the original forest had been cut down for agriculture some time ago.
Changi Museum
I visited this museum which was about the Japanese occupation of Singapore which is quite worth visiting. I happened to visit this museum on ANZAC day. I was trying to explain the concept of ANZAC day to some European but it kind of sounded like a joke to them. That's probably because in the history of time, Australia's involvement in battles seems so insignificant. But nevertheless important for Australia as I was trying to explain to this guy!
Pulau Ubin
This a small island which is a 10 minute 'bum boat' ride from Singapore. Apparantly it was what Singapore looked like 50 years ago. I went for a bike ride around and saw some bright blue coloured houses. There's a lot of forest and I managed to see 2 quite large monitors, half a metre in length. I also heard the grunting, crashing sound of wild pigs which is quite a scary sound! There is a small beach but it's a pity they have to put a massive fence around it to stop illegal immigrants from landing.
Buddha tooth relic temple
This is the most luxurious Buddhist temple I've ever seen. It's completely shiny and new. Being in Laos the offerings made are usually a simple bunch of flowers. Here you can buy fancy floral arrangements as offerings. The have an amazing collection of Buddha images from all over Asia and a beautiful rooftop garden also. It is located in China town. I usually avoid China towns in the cities I visit but Singapore's is actually really good- probably the best I've ever visited.
Botanical Gardens
These gardens are beautiful especially the orchid garden!
Kathmandu
Kathmandu airport looks like something out of the 70s but it's a good solid looking structure. They don't give you a proper rubber arrival stamp, but who needs one. Instead the officer just signs the visa. I felt guilty because some guys got me a trolley and asked for a 'tip' and I gave them one. Maybe I would have stood up for myself it I weren't so disoriented.
The city is quite low rise. Virtually all of the buildings are 3- 4 storeys. They are even like this in the countryside. It's not overly crowded. The cars are old. There are quite a few motorbikes too, and at least people are wearing proper helmets rather than ice- cream containers.
There are scheduled power shortages. They generally go for a few hours everyday but I think the situation is improving and the outages are shorter which some days not have outages at all. Some businesses have generators to deal with the outages. The place where I stayed relied on a water pump to distribute water. So when there was an extended power outage there was no water. Some mornings there was no water to wash my face with- not very fresh at all!
There are petrol shortages also. Apparently some of the traffic is caused by vehicles lining to get into the petrol station when fuel comes back. It seems like hard and uncertain times for Nepal. The Maoists recently won the election although whether they won fairly or not is another question. Some young people I have spoken to believe that there is better opportunity if they moved out of Nepal.
The city is quite low rise. Virtually all of the buildings are 3- 4 storeys. They are even like this in the countryside. It's not overly crowded. The cars are old. There are quite a few motorbikes too, and at least people are wearing proper helmets rather than ice- cream containers.
There are scheduled power shortages. They generally go for a few hours everyday but I think the situation is improving and the outages are shorter which some days not have outages at all. Some businesses have generators to deal with the outages. The place where I stayed relied on a water pump to distribute water. So when there was an extended power outage there was no water. Some mornings there was no water to wash my face with- not very fresh at all!
There are petrol shortages also. Apparently some of the traffic is caused by vehicles lining to get into the petrol station when fuel comes back. It seems like hard and uncertain times for Nepal. The Maoists recently won the election although whether they won fairly or not is another question. Some young people I have spoken to believe that there is better opportunity if they moved out of Nepal.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Singapore
I always envision Singapore to be pretty similar to Sydney but there I some things I come across that I definitely don't think I'd find in Sydney.
- All you can eat durian in the supermarket for $S9.90
- Citibank offering a cheaper Brazilian wax- only $S46 if you use their card (would they do this in Sydney?)
- Daring a guy to eat 5 durian products in Singapore Cleo magazine. He only managed to sample 3
- A bar where you can only go in if you're over 25. The cheapest thing on the drinks menu they had displayed outside was a $S180 champange
- A bar called "Clinic" where you can sit in wheelchairs and have a drink from an IV drip bag
- Free entry and drinks for women on ladie's night
Vietnam food
The food in Vietnam was really good. Some were:
Congee- This is the smoothest congee I've ever had. I think they might make it from rice powder. They give you congee in a small bowl and cut up a fried dough stick so basically you're getting a little congee with your stick.
Avocado shake- I've heard this is popular in Asia but hadn't had the chance to eat it until now! It is really smooth and creamy- delicious!
Fruit salad shake- They put about eight different types of fruits into a cup- longans, strawberries, mango, avocado, watermelon... They put coconut milk and evaporated milk in it. They give you a dish of ice. You put the ice into the salad mix and mash it up and add ice as you go along.
Pho- The typical Vietnamese meal did not disappoint. There were several grades of pho, but I did have a couple which were delicious.
I think the Sydney Vietnamese food is really good too! A lot of Sydney food is exactly the same as what was in Vietnam, if not better.
Congee- This is the smoothest congee I've ever had. I think they might make it from rice powder. They give you congee in a small bowl and cut up a fried dough stick so basically you're getting a little congee with your stick.
Avocado shake- I've heard this is popular in Asia but hadn't had the chance to eat it until now! It is really smooth and creamy- delicious!
Fruit salad shake- They put about eight different types of fruits into a cup- longans, strawberries, mango, avocado, watermelon... They put coconut milk and evaporated milk in it. They give you a dish of ice. You put the ice into the salad mix and mash it up and add ice as you go along.
Pho- The typical Vietnamese meal did not disappoint. There were several grades of pho, but I did have a couple which were delicious.
I think the Sydney Vietnamese food is really good too! A lot of Sydney food is exactly the same as what was in Vietnam, if not better.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sapa
Sapa was my highlight of Vietnam north of Hanoi near the Chinese border. If I hadn't seen Sapa, I think I would have left Vietnam a bit disappointed. It's a town among mountains. On the mountain side are rice terraces that look amazing. I also managed to swim in the river and sit in a hot spring, well it was actually warm.
I did a two day trek in Sapa. Women and children dressed in traditional ethnic clothing follow you for a couple of hours just holding your hand when you're holding it out for balance. They made us all a wreath also. The point of this was to try to sell us something at the end. Pity they have few things on offer to sell but I did manage to buy an applique belt I liked. It's also a pity I saw people handing out pens to children and them fighting over them before chucking them on the ground. And children begging for water bottles and the tour guide saying it was okay to give it to them.
I did a two day trek in Sapa. Women and children dressed in traditional ethnic clothing follow you for a couple of hours just holding your hand when you're holding it out for balance. They made us all a wreath also. The point of this was to try to sell us something at the end. Pity they have few things on offer to sell but I did manage to buy an applique belt I liked. It's also a pity I saw people handing out pens to children and them fighting over them before chucking them on the ground. And children begging for water bottles and the tour guide saying it was okay to give it to them.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Ha Long Bay
Ha Long Bay is a few hours from Vietnam where people go to see the limestone structures from the water. It looked similar to Krabi in Thailand. I went on a boat for one night. Eight years ago there were 20 tourist boats, and now there are 800! We did visit quite a large cave and went kayaking. There are people that live on boats in the sea and sell sea food. There are people that row boats full of alcohol, drinks and food that come to your tourist boat. It is beautiful and a relaxing trip but there is a quite a lot of rubbish and the water was not as clear as it should be.
There was bit of karaoke on the boat so this was a good introduction back into Western culture. Mostly it was British people on that tourist boat. Actually most of the backpackers I've met have been from the UK. I haven't met that many from Asia.
There was bit of karaoke on the boat so this was a good introduction back into Western culture. Mostly it was British people on that tourist boat. Actually most of the backpackers I've met have been from the UK. I haven't met that many from Asia.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)