Annika and Clara are not available at the moment. They have taken a holiday from backpacking and are lying on the beach with parasol drinks and worshipping the sun. Contact with us can be difficult during this time as we are too busy working on our sun tans. We will resume dealing with life and the world upon our return to Arlanda at 1300 h on December the 20th. We apologies ahead of time of any jealousy this might cause.
Sincerely,
Annika and Clara
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
The return of a phobia.
As a kid in Thailand I was often mocked by my older brother Krister regarding my fear of cockroaches which often resulted in me standing on a chair screaming until some poor soul would come save me with one of dad's shoes in one hand and a spray can of insect spray in the other. This fear kept me from going into the kitchen at night for fear of seeing something huge and leggy scuttling away as teh light was turned on etc etc.
I'm older now though. Mature. I realize that cockroaches are nothing but an six legged insect like so many other creatures of this earth. I've turned brave and happily pointed out one humongous cockroach on the street corner after the other to Clara and laughed at her frightened yelps. Haha! Silly one that Clara for being scared at cockroaches.
On our second day at our second guest house in Chiang Mai however things took a turn. While lazing about in the guest house garden, reading and enjoying warmth, we were told to leave and stand on the street for a few minutes while the places was sprayed against insects. A big thick smoke covered the place and spicy chemicals stung our nostrils. Upon returning to our room Clara finds a big 2 inch cockroach crawling on her bag and her yelps scare it enough to scuttle off into the bathroom. Haha. Silly one that Clara for being scared of cockroaches.
We later find the same cockroach on his back in the middle of the bathroom, assumed dead. We attend of buiness of bathrooming, makeuping and other girly duties by cleverly just minding our feet not to step on it since neither of us can be bothered to remove it.
Later. At 4:30 am to be precise I am awakened by a very sore and urgent bladder. I go the bathroom only to find that the cockroach has moved itself just a few inches away from the toilet. And it's not dead. It's thin icky legs are scratching the air. I'm too tired to care and climb over the cockroach and drop my PJs to my ankles. And as I sit there, monged and staring into space and casually looking at the pathetic squiggling cockroach I decide that the time has come. My fear of cockroaches is over for good. I'm going to kill the cockroach once and for all.
So I take the conveniently placed shampoo bottle and wrap some tissue around it and move in for the kill. But as I am just about to hear the squish of the dead bug I hesitate, scared of how gross that squish actually will sounds, and in my moment of weakness the devil of a bug clambers on the tissue, climbs up the bottle and then flings himself into the air, makes a somersault and lands perfectly on his feet and scurries into the corner. I give out a piercing scream but as Clara is sleeping next door I remember to keep my lips shut resulting in my scream sounding more like a mouse trying to imitate a panicking elephant. I stand up and pull up my trousers.
I need to get out of this hell of a bathroom.
The cockroach clearly can read my mind, does a 180 degree turn and comes charging towards me. Once again I pierce the room with my mousish elephant scream, end up jumping in a puddle of water completely weting myself and start frantically flapping my hands with t-rex arms! Then comes my MacGyver moment. I leap over the cockroach, burst the door open and in one swift movement I manage to shut off the light, slam the door shut and leap on to the bed removing me wet Pj trousers in mid air and dive under the covers. Panting I keep seeing in my inner mind how the evil demon cockroach has gathered all his army and will at any moment come charging out of the bathroom towards me and I will die much like Mostafa gets trampled by the antelopes in the Lion King.
But nothing happens. The room is silent and Clara keeps on snoozing completely unaware of the battle at hand.
But for hours I can't sleep and my mind repeating frightful images of cockroaches on backs scratching the air.
Haha. Silly that Annika for being scared of cockroaches.
I'm older now though. Mature. I realize that cockroaches are nothing but an six legged insect like so many other creatures of this earth. I've turned brave and happily pointed out one humongous cockroach on the street corner after the other to Clara and laughed at her frightened yelps. Haha! Silly one that Clara for being scared at cockroaches.
On our second day at our second guest house in Chiang Mai however things took a turn. While lazing about in the guest house garden, reading and enjoying warmth, we were told to leave and stand on the street for a few minutes while the places was sprayed against insects. A big thick smoke covered the place and spicy chemicals stung our nostrils. Upon returning to our room Clara finds a big 2 inch cockroach crawling on her bag and her yelps scare it enough to scuttle off into the bathroom. Haha. Silly one that Clara for being scared of cockroaches.
We later find the same cockroach on his back in the middle of the bathroom, assumed dead. We attend of buiness of bathrooming, makeuping and other girly duties by cleverly just minding our feet not to step on it since neither of us can be bothered to remove it.
Later. At 4:30 am to be precise I am awakened by a very sore and urgent bladder. I go the bathroom only to find that the cockroach has moved itself just a few inches away from the toilet. And it's not dead. It's thin icky legs are scratching the air. I'm too tired to care and climb over the cockroach and drop my PJs to my ankles. And as I sit there, monged and staring into space and casually looking at the pathetic squiggling cockroach I decide that the time has come. My fear of cockroaches is over for good. I'm going to kill the cockroach once and for all.
So I take the conveniently placed shampoo bottle and wrap some tissue around it and move in for the kill. But as I am just about to hear the squish of the dead bug I hesitate, scared of how gross that squish actually will sounds, and in my moment of weakness the devil of a bug clambers on the tissue, climbs up the bottle and then flings himself into the air, makes a somersault and lands perfectly on his feet and scurries into the corner. I give out a piercing scream but as Clara is sleeping next door I remember to keep my lips shut resulting in my scream sounding more like a mouse trying to imitate a panicking elephant. I stand up and pull up my trousers.
I need to get out of this hell of a bathroom.
The cockroach clearly can read my mind, does a 180 degree turn and comes charging towards me. Once again I pierce the room with my mousish elephant scream, end up jumping in a puddle of water completely weting myself and start frantically flapping my hands with t-rex arms! Then comes my MacGyver moment. I leap over the cockroach, burst the door open and in one swift movement I manage to shut off the light, slam the door shut and leap on to the bed removing me wet Pj trousers in mid air and dive under the covers. Panting I keep seeing in my inner mind how the evil demon cockroach has gathered all his army and will at any moment come charging out of the bathroom towards me and I will die much like Mostafa gets trampled by the antelopes in the Lion King.
But nothing happens. The room is silent and Clara keeps on snoozing completely unaware of the battle at hand.
But for hours I can't sleep and my mind repeating frightful images of cockroaches on backs scratching the air.
Haha. Silly that Annika for being scared of cockroaches.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thailand at last!
Most of our trip so far has been slightly rushed, as we've whirlwinded from country to country as quick as can be, to have time to see all the magical places we wanted to see. The entire distance from Sweden to Beijing - which I can tell you from experience is a pretty hefty piece of land - was covered in just three weeks. China got two weeks of our attention, as did Vietnam. Laos we devoted only six days to, just enough time to see a temple or two in Luang Prabang, and do the legendary tubing down the river in Vang Vieng.
So why have we been running around - well, bussing and training it around, really - the entire continent so quickly? Why, because we were so frightfully excited to get to Thailand, of course!
Annika has been telling me stories about how fantastic Chiang Mai is ever since, well, ever since we left Stockholm, basically, and by the time we stepped off the bus on the Laotian-Thai border I was fairly sure this city and this country would have streets paved with gold and rivers that overfloweth with honey (or something even better, like Chang beer), and although this wasn't exactly true, I remain completely enchanted. Chiang Mai is a completely delightful city, the countryside surrounding it is absolutely beautiful, and I've both opportunity to visit the excellent second-hand bookstores that are on every corner and go to the movies! What more could anyone ask for?
After two months of hectic travelling, we're both feeling a little exhausted, and are extremely happy to have a whole ten days in Chiang Mai - it may not sound like so much, but when you're used to spending no more than three nights in a town, ten days in one city is more than enough time to make you feel like a local - and five weeks in Thailand. Annika is enthusiastically teaching me all the Thai she remembers, and we're spending our days here relaxing in the courtyard of our hotel, driving around on motorbikes, and basking in the sunshine (take that, all you rainy days in Vietnam!). If the first two months of our trip were backpackery hard-core travelling, this last month is our holiday. And we're having a blast so far.
When we're not loafing around or getting massages, we've also managed to find the time to go on a trek through the jungle, ride around on elephants and go bamboo rafting. Soon Mirjam and Rasmus are joining us from Sweden and will accompany us down to the beaches of southern Thailand. Life is not too shabby at the moment.
So why have we been running around - well, bussing and training it around, really - the entire continent so quickly? Why, because we were so frightfully excited to get to Thailand, of course!
Annika has been telling me stories about how fantastic Chiang Mai is ever since, well, ever since we left Stockholm, basically, and by the time we stepped off the bus on the Laotian-Thai border I was fairly sure this city and this country would have streets paved with gold and rivers that overfloweth with honey (or something even better, like Chang beer), and although this wasn't exactly true, I remain completely enchanted. Chiang Mai is a completely delightful city, the countryside surrounding it is absolutely beautiful, and I've both opportunity to visit the excellent second-hand bookstores that are on every corner and go to the movies! What more could anyone ask for?
After two months of hectic travelling, we're both feeling a little exhausted, and are extremely happy to have a whole ten days in Chiang Mai - it may not sound like so much, but when you're used to spending no more than three nights in a town, ten days in one city is more than enough time to make you feel like a local - and five weeks in Thailand. Annika is enthusiastically teaching me all the Thai she remembers, and we're spending our days here relaxing in the courtyard of our hotel, driving around on motorbikes, and basking in the sunshine (take that, all you rainy days in Vietnam!). If the first two months of our trip were backpackery hard-core travelling, this last month is our holiday. And we're having a blast so far.
When we're not loafing around or getting massages, we've also managed to find the time to go on a trek through the jungle, ride around on elephants and go bamboo rafting. Soon Mirjam and Rasmus are joining us from Sweden and will accompany us down to the beaches of southern Thailand. Life is not too shabby at the moment.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
You Know You're in Vietnam When...
- you bring a bikini, sunscreen, poncho and an umbrella to the beach (and actually get an opportunity to use all of them!).
- Vietnamese women on the beach try to persuade you to buy their bracelets by offering you 'happy hour' prices.
- bars can afford to give out free rum and cokes, and hostels ply you with free beers.
- it rains so hard the sole of your flip flop melts away and the rest of it disintegrates into a rainy puddle.
- your tour guide won't let you go swimming until five p.m.
- you pay for a book only to discover that it's photocopied and the last pages are missing.
- you can't leave your toothbrush out without it being invaded by ants.
- avocado is featured prominently on every menu but not a single restaurant will serve you it.
- motorbikes are the only form of transportation, regardless of whether you're carrying a bookcase, a sewing machine, or your entire family.
- cows graze in the middle of the highway.
- some people can't cross the border without dropping their pants to their ankles and flashing their undies to the border officials and an amused crowd of tourists.
- Vietnamese women on the beach try to persuade you to buy their bracelets by offering you 'happy hour' prices.
- bars can afford to give out free rum and cokes, and hostels ply you with free beers.
- it rains so hard the sole of your flip flop melts away and the rest of it disintegrates into a rainy puddle.
- your tour guide won't let you go swimming until five p.m.
- you pay for a book only to discover that it's photocopied and the last pages are missing.
- you can't leave your toothbrush out without it being invaded by ants.
- avocado is featured prominently on every menu but not a single restaurant will serve you it.
- motorbikes are the only form of transportation, regardless of whether you're carrying a bookcase, a sewing machine, or your entire family.
- cows graze in the middle of the highway.
- some people can't cross the border without dropping their pants to their ankles and flashing their undies to the border officials and an amused crowd of tourists.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Ooh buses.
Once we left China we also left the era of the trains. I guess when you tuff tuff your way all the way across Siberia it was perhaps now time to move on to some different form of transportation. Such as buses. But unlike the Rossiya trains, buses in Vietnam are very unreliable.
Our first experience went from Hanoi to Hoi An. The travel agent assured us that I was a direct over-night sleeping bus and that it would be a breeze. "Great!" we thought. We came back 5 hours later to and casually ask how long the bus will take and when we'll arrive.
"It's 500 km."
"Yes but how long does it take?"
"Hmmm.....maybe 6 hours."
"6 hours?! But it's an overnight bus! That means we'd arrive at 2 in the morning. Are you sure?"
"Hmmm....maybe a little bit more than 6 hours?"
The night ride is bumpy and whenever you would manage to fall asleep you'd wake up moments later crashing back onto your bed after spend a second in the air while flying over a bump or two. Having " The River of Babylon" with Boney M pumping at the highest volume at 7 am didn't help either though it was quite funny. (Especially "Ra-Ra-Rasputin! Russia's greatest love machine!") We arrive in Hue at 9:30 in the morning ( so yes sweet travel agent lady, it did take a little more than 6 hours....more like 14) and are told to get of the bus. We tell them that we are going to Hoi An and they point us to the travel agent across the street. The travel agent looks at our ticket stamps it and tells ut to come back at 2 pm.
"Why? We're not supposed to stop here. We have a direct bus ticket to Hoi An."
" There is no such thing as a direct bus ticket to Hoi An." Great.
Our second bus experience was from Hoi An To Vientiane in Laos. 20 hours the sign boasted. That can't be too bad we reckon and book the ticket. They tell us it's a sitting bus to Hue (4 hours) then a sleeping bus to the Lao border. There they'll put us up in a hotel for the night and then cross the border and a local Lao sitting bus would wait for us on the other side. We even get picked up at the hotel at 2 pm. Awesome.
And everything is awesome. A taxi even waits for us at Hue to take us to the sleeper bus station and everything is fine. At one in the morning however a guy wakes us and says:
"Vientiane?"
"Yes."
"Get of here please."
I look outside the window and see that we are at a local night open diner with plastic chairs. As soon as Clara and I get of the bus and get our bags the bus engine fires up and drives of. The Vietnam people look at us. We look at the Vietnam people. I walk up to a woman who I assume work there. I point to myself. "Lao," I say. "Vientiane". I point to my wrist and signal a watch. "How long? How many hours?" She raises four fingers. I raise my eyebrows. Dear Lord. We're going to be stuck here forever. And we're both so tired we don't know what to do with our selves.
More foreigner occasionally get dropped of as the night progress and after only 2 hours (lucky us!) the bus arrives. It is now 4 am and we all crowd into an already almost full sitting bus. And there we sit until we reach the border at 7 am. Border crossing is a tired and diffuse nightmare and takes about 2 hours since there is only one man doing about 30 peoples passports and everyone is too tired to take any initiative to help him speed things up. by 9 am we're back on the bus. And we sit. and sit. And then sit until I don't even think I have an ass anymore. Poor Clara had to sit on a pile of garbage the entire time as well which was very unfortunate. at 5 pm, a total of 27 hours later we arrive, hungry, exhausted and dying for a piss.
Lao is lovely and amazing though but the trip was horrible. Despite that we hopped on a bus the next morning and we are now in Vang Vieng. It gorgeous and we love it. Maybe we'll live here in a hut on the riverbank forever. We'll see.
Our first experience went from Hanoi to Hoi An. The travel agent assured us that I was a direct over-night sleeping bus and that it would be a breeze. "Great!" we thought. We came back 5 hours later to and casually ask how long the bus will take and when we'll arrive.
"It's 500 km."
"Yes but how long does it take?"
"Hmmm.....maybe 6 hours."
"6 hours?! But it's an overnight bus! That means we'd arrive at 2 in the morning. Are you sure?"
"Hmmm....maybe a little bit more than 6 hours?"
The night ride is bumpy and whenever you would manage to fall asleep you'd wake up moments later crashing back onto your bed after spend a second in the air while flying over a bump or two. Having " The River of Babylon" with Boney M pumping at the highest volume at 7 am didn't help either though it was quite funny. (Especially "Ra-Ra-Rasputin! Russia's greatest love machine!") We arrive in Hue at 9:30 in the morning ( so yes sweet travel agent lady, it did take a little more than 6 hours....more like 14) and are told to get of the bus. We tell them that we are going to Hoi An and they point us to the travel agent across the street. The travel agent looks at our ticket stamps it and tells ut to come back at 2 pm.
"Why? We're not supposed to stop here. We have a direct bus ticket to Hoi An."
" There is no such thing as a direct bus ticket to Hoi An." Great.
Our second bus experience was from Hoi An To Vientiane in Laos. 20 hours the sign boasted. That can't be too bad we reckon and book the ticket. They tell us it's a sitting bus to Hue (4 hours) then a sleeping bus to the Lao border. There they'll put us up in a hotel for the night and then cross the border and a local Lao sitting bus would wait for us on the other side. We even get picked up at the hotel at 2 pm. Awesome.
And everything is awesome. A taxi even waits for us at Hue to take us to the sleeper bus station and everything is fine. At one in the morning however a guy wakes us and says:
"Vientiane?"
"Yes."
"Get of here please."
I look outside the window and see that we are at a local night open diner with plastic chairs. As soon as Clara and I get of the bus and get our bags the bus engine fires up and drives of. The Vietnam people look at us. We look at the Vietnam people. I walk up to a woman who I assume work there. I point to myself. "Lao," I say. "Vientiane". I point to my wrist and signal a watch. "How long? How many hours?" She raises four fingers. I raise my eyebrows. Dear Lord. We're going to be stuck here forever. And we're both so tired we don't know what to do with our selves.
More foreigner occasionally get dropped of as the night progress and after only 2 hours (lucky us!) the bus arrives. It is now 4 am and we all crowd into an already almost full sitting bus. And there we sit until we reach the border at 7 am. Border crossing is a tired and diffuse nightmare and takes about 2 hours since there is only one man doing about 30 peoples passports and everyone is too tired to take any initiative to help him speed things up. by 9 am we're back on the bus. And we sit. and sit. And then sit until I don't even think I have an ass anymore. Poor Clara had to sit on a pile of garbage the entire time as well which was very unfortunate. at 5 pm, a total of 27 hours later we arrive, hungry, exhausted and dying for a piss.
Lao is lovely and amazing though but the trip was horrible. Despite that we hopped on a bus the next morning and we are now in Vang Vieng. It gorgeous and we love it. Maybe we'll live here in a hut on the riverbank forever. We'll see.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Raindrops keep falling on our heads.
So we reached Vietnam. We left our friends in beautiful Yangshou and accompanied a German across the border. Crossing was relatively painfree and although we do not enjoy buses as much as trains at least we get a more detailed view of the country you are wizzing by.
Vietnam is definately not China (no shit huh?). Everyone actually does wear the cone shaped hats and cars are replaced by motorcycles. It's more layed back as well since people aren't as militaristic about their work and such. The weather is warmer and stickier . We also found bubble tea in Nam! Oh the bliss!
We stayed at Hanoi backpackers Hostel which at first an almost frighteningly large place. But we soon made friends and blew off the hostels rip-off deal of a tour to Halong Bay and went with the dodgy-ass tour agent down the street for half the price. Halong Bay is like Yangshou but in water and since I've already bored you with drawn out descriptions of how I enjoy poscard-esc view I'll refrain this once. We rode around the island in what they called a "junk", which can best be described as something like the wooden rivercruisers that they use in swampy places like New Orleans or the Disney movie "Bernhard and Bianca". Foods included (yummy fresh squid!) and you stop ever so often to inspect a cave, visit a fishfarm or simply to give us enough time to jump off the roof of the 3 storey tall boat and into clear and warm ocean. The weather was warm and amazing.
But only for so long.
Two nights later we're back in Hanoi and there is literally a thunderstorm over our heads. I've never seen such thick heavy rain go on for such an extent of time! you couldn't step out the front door without being drenched. It was so humid that the clothes that I wet after swimming in Halong Bay didn't dry even after 4 days of hanging on the end of my dorm bed. They are lovely and moldy now, thanks for asking. Yet we could not leave Hanoi! The rail tracks were floded and the constantly sulky weather made us so down that we couldn't be bother to move or motivate us to do anything. So we watched dvds. Lots and lots of dvds. It was just what we needed cause after reaching half-way through our trip it was so nice just to chill out and sort out or impressions and just do nothing. Be bored for once! Boredom is awesome.
We're no in Hoi An, sort of the middle of the coast of Vietnam and we're heading on a 20 hour busride to Vientiane tomorrow. But such adventures will be told at another time. However, there is a spoiler .... IT DOESN'T RAIN ALL THE TIME IN HOI AN!!!!!! HALLELUJAH!
Vietnam is definately not China (no shit huh?). Everyone actually does wear the cone shaped hats and cars are replaced by motorcycles. It's more layed back as well since people aren't as militaristic about their work and such. The weather is warmer and stickier . We also found bubble tea in Nam! Oh the bliss!
We stayed at Hanoi backpackers Hostel which at first an almost frighteningly large place. But we soon made friends and blew off the hostels rip-off deal of a tour to Halong Bay and went with the dodgy-ass tour agent down the street for half the price. Halong Bay is like Yangshou but in water and since I've already bored you with drawn out descriptions of how I enjoy poscard-esc view I'll refrain this once. We rode around the island in what they called a "junk", which can best be described as something like the wooden rivercruisers that they use in swampy places like New Orleans or the Disney movie "Bernhard and Bianca". Foods included (yummy fresh squid!) and you stop ever so often to inspect a cave, visit a fishfarm or simply to give us enough time to jump off the roof of the 3 storey tall boat and into clear and warm ocean. The weather was warm and amazing.
But only for so long.
Two nights later we're back in Hanoi and there is literally a thunderstorm over our heads. I've never seen such thick heavy rain go on for such an extent of time! you couldn't step out the front door without being drenched. It was so humid that the clothes that I wet after swimming in Halong Bay didn't dry even after 4 days of hanging on the end of my dorm bed. They are lovely and moldy now, thanks for asking. Yet we could not leave Hanoi! The rail tracks were floded and the constantly sulky weather made us so down that we couldn't be bother to move or motivate us to do anything. So we watched dvds. Lots and lots of dvds. It was just what we needed cause after reaching half-way through our trip it was so nice just to chill out and sort out or impressions and just do nothing. Be bored for once! Boredom is awesome.
We're no in Hoi An, sort of the middle of the coast of Vietnam and we're heading on a 20 hour busride to Vientiane tomorrow. But such adventures will be told at another time. However, there is a spoiler .... IT DOESN'T RAIN ALL THE TIME IN HOI AN!!!!!! HALLELUJAH!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
You Know You're in China When...
- the appropriate wear for your toddler is butt-less pants instead of diapers.
- you go for an innocent bike trip and end up fallen over in a rice paddy.
- bubble tea is from heaven and should be consumed always.
- dumplings is the only true form of breakfast. But beware of the sugar ones!
- you're not a tourist until you and your friends have matching colourful hats and a tour guide waving a flag in your face.
- Chinese think you are part of the tourist attraction when you go swimming in a picturesque river, and show up in dozens to take your picture.
- your chest hair is so impressive strangers feel the need to come up and tug it. (Thank you, David, for giving us many laughs!)
- the best thing on the menu is 'the boiled water explodes the vegetables' and 'pigs hotter in sauce'.
- anything is edible, including chicken feet, pigs' ears, and live turtles.
- you go for an innocent bike trip and end up fallen over in a rice paddy.
- bubble tea is from heaven and should be consumed always.
- dumplings is the only true form of breakfast. But beware of the sugar ones!
- you're not a tourist until you and your friends have matching colourful hats and a tour guide waving a flag in your face.
- Chinese think you are part of the tourist attraction when you go swimming in a picturesque river, and show up in dozens to take your picture.
- your chest hair is so impressive strangers feel the need to come up and tug it. (Thank you, David, for giving us many laughs!)
- the best thing on the menu is 'the boiled water explodes the vegetables' and 'pigs hotter in sauce'.
- anything is edible, including chicken feet, pigs' ears, and live turtles.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Bragging.
I sometimes have to pinch myself that what I see is real. On a bamboo raft cruising down the river with this gorgeous film-like landscape in front of me. The big dramatic hills often seen in Ang Lee movies or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. It's amazing but also so fun! I shared my raft with this new found friend and amazing entertainer named David who can sing "Hit Me Baby One More Time" like no other.
I think Yongshou has been the highlight of my trip so far. It's incredibly tourist, the main street reminding me at times of the night market in Chiang Mai at it's worst with horrible singers bawling out from one tackily named bar after another and epileptic lights. But that does make it quite homey as well. The closer we get to Thailand the more I hear myself talk about it. We even rode motorcycles today! Best thing ever!!!
Tomorrow we plan to mudwrestle in the Moon Cave and afterwards swim to our hearts content. It's so rough living in 30 celcius of heat! =)
I think Yongshou has been the highlight of my trip so far. It's incredibly tourist, the main street reminding me at times of the night market in Chiang Mai at it's worst with horrible singers bawling out from one tackily named bar after another and epileptic lights. But that does make it quite homey as well. The closer we get to Thailand the more I hear myself talk about it. We even rode motorcycles today! Best thing ever!!!
Tomorrow we plan to mudwrestle in the Moon Cave and afterwards swim to our hearts content. It's so rough living in 30 celcius of heat! =)
Saturday, October 18, 2008
In the Politically Correct Far East
Blogging is currently stressing me out a little bit. See, I had a dream last night that I kept typing and typing and everything just came out dyslexic on my screen....sort of what is happening to me now! Oh well...Chinese keyboards are a weird one anyway.
We have now traveled for about 4 weeks and we're not bored yet! Beijing was great and we wish we could have stayed longer. If Mongolia was the era of the aussies then Beijing was definately the era of the Brits. A whole bunch of them had arrived from their own corner or travels and together we hiked the Great Wall. It was amazing! So beautiful everywhere you turned! We trecked the 10 km hike along the wall from Janling to Simatai which tooks a good 3 hours since certain parts of the wall are a good 80 degrees steep.
We've also seen the other tourist classics such as Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, rented a boat on the lake by the Summer Palace and had Beijing Duck! Tasty but yes, a little bit overated.
We then headed down to Hangzhou to visit our good friend from high school Jennifer who's there visiting her grandparents before she goes to Honkong for her internship. It's so nice traveling with someone who speaks the language. Somehow, things becme much easier. She showed us teh beautiful West Lake which is surrounded by beautiful Pagodas and took us to a vegetarian resturant where everything looks, smells and tastes like meat but isn't! Hilarious.
We also did our fair share of shopping and barganing. Clara and I are getting better at being agressive with out digits of 1 to 6 since those are the only ones we know.
We are now in Guilin and will be heading foy Yongshou tomorrow which is supposed to be one of the most picturesque places in China. We're very excited about renting bikes and going to a crazy bar named Monkey Janes! Jennifer is joining us for a few days here so I'm sure everything will go wonderfully smooth. We aim to hit Hanoi by Oct 26. Wish us luck!
We have now traveled for about 4 weeks and we're not bored yet! Beijing was great and we wish we could have stayed longer. If Mongolia was the era of the aussies then Beijing was definately the era of the Brits. A whole bunch of them had arrived from their own corner or travels and together we hiked the Great Wall. It was amazing! So beautiful everywhere you turned! We trecked the 10 km hike along the wall from Janling to Simatai which tooks a good 3 hours since certain parts of the wall are a good 80 degrees steep.
We've also seen the other tourist classics such as Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, rented a boat on the lake by the Summer Palace and had Beijing Duck! Tasty but yes, a little bit overated.
We then headed down to Hangzhou to visit our good friend from high school Jennifer who's there visiting her grandparents before she goes to Honkong for her internship. It's so nice traveling with someone who speaks the language. Somehow, things becme much easier. She showed us teh beautiful West Lake which is surrounded by beautiful Pagodas and took us to a vegetarian resturant where everything looks, smells and tastes like meat but isn't! Hilarious.
We also did our fair share of shopping and barganing. Clara and I are getting better at being agressive with out digits of 1 to 6 since those are the only ones we know.
We are now in Guilin and will be heading foy Yongshou tomorrow which is supposed to be one of the most picturesque places in China. We're very excited about renting bikes and going to a crazy bar named Monkey Janes! Jennifer is joining us for a few days here so I'm sure everything will go wonderfully smooth. We aim to hit Hanoi by Oct 26. Wish us luck!
Friday, October 10, 2008
What to do five days in Ulan Bator!
Following popular demand, and Annika standing by the computer chanting 'Update, update, update!', I've decided to take my responsibilities as blogger seriously and let everyone know what we're up to.
This afternoon we arrived by train to Beijing and are now staying at the slightly disturbingly named Red Lantern House, which luckily is not a brothel, but in fact very nice. Arriving to Beijing was fantastic after spending two weeks on trains and the cold of Siberia and Mongolia. It's sunny and warm, and best of all it's an actual huge city, which is a nice change from staying in nomadic gers in the countryside! Maybe I'm too much of a city girl, but I'm looking forward to going to having more than two food options (and actually being able to order vegetarian food in restaurants instead of just a double sideorder of french fries!), going to nice bars and all that jazz.
But I'm getting ahead of my story! We've spent the past five days in Mongolia, which was a country some of you may know I was dreading (I think my exact words may have been: "WHAT are we going to do for FIVE days in Ulan Bator?"), but after hearing exciting stories from other travellers who'd been there, we were both very much looking forward to going to such an exotic country, and it completely lived up to our expectations!
We spent a few days in UB with our three Australian friends and two new Danish acquaintances. Looked at a Buddhist monastery. Went to see a Mongolian song and dance performance, that included absolutely crazy contortionists that could bend in ways that no human should be able to. Got happily pissed on Chinggis beer with half the hostel at a local pub. Wandered around the enormous black market with a tight grip on our valuables, and stocked up on plenty of winter clothes, as Mongolia was quickly turning out to be the coldest country of our trip.
After a few days of leisurely exhausting UB's tourist attractions (which to be honest are not all that plentiful), it was time to head out to the countryside! A night in Terelj national park with a nomadic family, where we got to stay in a ger with a couple of others from the hostel. We arrived at about nine-thirty in the morning, just as a biting cold snowstorm was gearing up, and were led into the main family ger, where an enthusiastic Mongolian man gave everyone an enormous shot of vodka and instructed us to drink up. Bizarre, but it certainly helped against the cold. The rest of the day was pleasantly spent hiking in the beautiful snowy landscape, and horsebackriding, and the evening spent warming up by the stove and playing cards by candlelight with the other travellers.
Good times. Some day we'll go back to Mongolia and spend more time there, see the Gobi desert and ride two-humped camels. But for now it's all about enjoying the sun and the city life, and getting used to Chinese characters!
This afternoon we arrived by train to Beijing and are now staying at the slightly disturbingly named Red Lantern House, which luckily is not a brothel, but in fact very nice. Arriving to Beijing was fantastic after spending two weeks on trains and the cold of Siberia and Mongolia. It's sunny and warm, and best of all it's an actual huge city, which is a nice change from staying in nomadic gers in the countryside! Maybe I'm too much of a city girl, but I'm looking forward to going to having more than two food options (and actually being able to order vegetarian food in restaurants instead of just a double sideorder of french fries!), going to nice bars and all that jazz.
But I'm getting ahead of my story! We've spent the past five days in Mongolia, which was a country some of you may know I was dreading (I think my exact words may have been: "WHAT are we going to do for FIVE days in Ulan Bator?"), but after hearing exciting stories from other travellers who'd been there, we were both very much looking forward to going to such an exotic country, and it completely lived up to our expectations!
We spent a few days in UB with our three Australian friends and two new Danish acquaintances. Looked at a Buddhist monastery. Went to see a Mongolian song and dance performance, that included absolutely crazy contortionists that could bend in ways that no human should be able to. Got happily pissed on Chinggis beer with half the hostel at a local pub. Wandered around the enormous black market with a tight grip on our valuables, and stocked up on plenty of winter clothes, as Mongolia was quickly turning out to be the coldest country of our trip.
After a few days of leisurely exhausting UB's tourist attractions (which to be honest are not all that plentiful), it was time to head out to the countryside! A night in Terelj national park with a nomadic family, where we got to stay in a ger with a couple of others from the hostel. We arrived at about nine-thirty in the morning, just as a biting cold snowstorm was gearing up, and were led into the main family ger, where an enthusiastic Mongolian man gave everyone an enormous shot of vodka and instructed us to drink up. Bizarre, but it certainly helped against the cold. The rest of the day was pleasantly spent hiking in the beautiful snowy landscape, and horsebackriding, and the evening spent warming up by the stove and playing cards by candlelight with the other travellers.
Good times. Some day we'll go back to Mongolia and spend more time there, see the Gobi desert and ride two-humped camels. But for now it's all about enjoying the sun and the city life, and getting used to Chinese characters!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
You know you're in Russia when...
- you hear the T.A.T.U song as someone's mobile ringsignal
- a murial of Lenin is watching over you as you buy tickets to the metro
- polite phrases are a waste of time
- showing both cleavage and bellybutton isn't too much
- you order a Russian beer with your lunch and you get a complimentary shot of vodka
- you look up from washing your face in the bathroom only to find an older woman examining you with a burning cigarette dangling from her lips
- rollerblading is the cool way to glide (even old men with walking frames use them!)
- fake scaffolding is a good alternative
- you need to plan in an extra 10 minutes to your metro journey for the ride up/down the escalator
- you recieve square sheets for a rectangular bed and there is a big hole in your duvetcover
- when you never can get "Winds of Change" by the Scorpions out of you head.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Leg one of journey completed.
One train later we're in Irkutsk, somewhere in Siberia next to Lake Baikal, the worlds deepest lake and fresh water reserve. Though groggy from very little sleep, arriving at the trainstation at 6am this morning was amazing. As we walked to our hostel we kept exclaiming things like : "There is no time limit to how much fresh air we can have!", "OMG! Can you believe we've walked for 5 min without having to open and slam closed a single door?!" "Clara Clara! No more noodles! We get to eat on plates today!", which got "I think being able to drink tap water is the best thing about Irkutsk!" as a reply.
So how was the train journey? Well, anyone who thought riding on a train for 3 days can go stuff it. Adapting to a new culture is definately an emotional rollercoaster, and especially when most of your energy is dedicating to find something (which might or might not be where it is supposed to be) and communicating. Despite all this the trip went fairly well. We shared a cabin with 40-something couple called Lena And Sergej and were Irkutsk locals. They spoke as much English as we spoke Russian and still they managed to teach us a card game (which we still don't quite understand the rules of but Clara in her never endig talent managed to win anyway) and we taught Lena how to make friendship bracelets in return. We shared food and laughs and they definately thought we were mental for volentarily exploring Siberia. Lena did start to get on our nerves trowards the end though as her motherly instincts got a bit to much. Enough said.
At the of the second day when Clara and I were just starting to feel a bit shit about this whole train thing we stumbled upon an Australian on the platform! oh the joy! Clara and I were starved for english speaking company and wanted nothing rather than to hug him then and there (thankfully we refrained.) So we spent an evening with Russ, Liam and Michael in true Russian style which we were severely punished for the next day. Surprisingly we're on the same train to Ulan Bator together so that will be fun.
Right. Of to the market to grab us some food. Clara's and my stomach haven't been at it's greatest of late so we figured we'd cook our own food tonight. Cheers!
So how was the train journey? Well, anyone who thought riding on a train for 3 days can go stuff it. Adapting to a new culture is definately an emotional rollercoaster, and especially when most of your energy is dedicating to find something (which might or might not be where it is supposed to be) and communicating. Despite all this the trip went fairly well. We shared a cabin with 40-something couple called Lena And Sergej and were Irkutsk locals. They spoke as much English as we spoke Russian and still they managed to teach us a card game (which we still don't quite understand the rules of but Clara in her never endig talent managed to win anyway) and we taught Lena how to make friendship bracelets in return. We shared food and laughs and they definately thought we were mental for volentarily exploring Siberia. Lena did start to get on our nerves trowards the end though as her motherly instincts got a bit to much. Enough said.
At the of the second day when Clara and I were just starting to feel a bit shit about this whole train thing we stumbled upon an Australian on the platform! oh the joy! Clara and I were starved for english speaking company and wanted nothing rather than to hug him then and there (thankfully we refrained.) So we spent an evening with Russ, Liam and Michael in true Russian style which we were severely punished for the next day. Surprisingly we're on the same train to Ulan Bator together so that will be fun.
Right. Of to the market to grab us some food. Clara's and my stomach haven't been at it's greatest of late so we figured we'd cook our own food tonight. Cheers!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
MOCKBA!
After much frustration and walking around in giant circles, we've finally found an internet cafe in Moscow. Hurrah! We're quite exhausted after spending all day yesterday being touristy and walking around, and so have wisely decided to chill out here and at Cafe Chai (which may be called something else entirely, but the Cyrillic characters look something like Chai, so that's what we've decided to name it) on our last day in Moscow.
Sitting down is awesome.
Other than that, we've been to Red Square, taken several jumping pictures in front of St. Basil's - as you do - and seen dead Lenin, which was sort of unreal and creepy, been to the Kremlin and got yelled at in Russian for a bit when we - I think - walked someplace we weren't allowed, and continued practicing our Russian. Every now and then Annika will exclaim "restaurant!" when we're walking along the street and see a sign that says PECTOPAH. Exciting!
We've also managed to eat at McD's twice in one day, which made us both very grumpy, and then blow one and a half day's budget on dinner and waterpipe at a lovely Lebanese restaurant. Well worth it.
We live with a lovely Russian lady named Galina who houses lots of Trans-Siberian travellers and makes a very tasty breakfast. Here we've met a crazy Italian by the name of Fabio who speaks very little English, but is travelling all over the world anyway, and a shy Brit who has something like thirteen padlocks on his backpack and has a hard time getting people to understand his northern accent.
Tonight the next leg of the adventure begins, as we board the three-day train to infinity and beyond! (Or to Irkutsk.) We're very excited about spending three days learning new card games and making a ton of friendship bracelets.
Sitting down is awesome.
Other than that, we've been to Red Square, taken several jumping pictures in front of St. Basil's - as you do - and seen dead Lenin, which was sort of unreal and creepy, been to the Kremlin and got yelled at in Russian for a bit when we - I think - walked someplace we weren't allowed, and continued practicing our Russian. Every now and then Annika will exclaim "restaurant!" when we're walking along the street and see a sign that says PECTOPAH. Exciting!
We've also managed to eat at McD's twice in one day, which made us both very grumpy, and then blow one and a half day's budget on dinner and waterpipe at a lovely Lebanese restaurant. Well worth it.
We live with a lovely Russian lady named Galina who houses lots of Trans-Siberian travellers and makes a very tasty breakfast. Here we've met a crazy Italian by the name of Fabio who speaks very little English, but is travelling all over the world anyway, and a shy Brit who has something like thirteen padlocks on his backpack and has a hard time getting people to understand his northern accent.
Tonight the next leg of the adventure begins, as we board the three-day train to infinity and beyond! (Or to Irkutsk.) We're very excited about spending three days learning new card games and making a ton of friendship bracelets.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Life so far.
Zdrastvuite!
We're in St Petersburg! Me and Clara today concluded that we would not die if we lived here. It's actually quite nice. And I like how we are starting to learn our way around and trying many new and Russian things.
But lets start at the beginning. We took a boat! A fancy smancy flashy things with glass elevators and a pool we never used! Our amazing friends Amy, Anna, Raz and Mirjam joined us on this part of the journey and we raised havock running around in the bollhav and geting turtle tattoos (fake). We stole a bunch of coasters and left funny messages to anyone who found them (sort of like a scavenger hunt) and of coarse jigged on the dansfloor keeping up with the old folks. All in all, very fun but as Clara and I concluded a one way boat trip was good enough for us.
Seeing as we were quite exhausted when reaching Helsinki we mostly ran erands at Stockman (we now own gafa-tape!) and ate Finish-Chinese hamburgers. Amy saw us off at the trainstation and so began our first leg of train journey; a nice, prepatory one of only 7 hours.
Arriving St Petersburg late at night was exciting. We refused to use our guide book and simply walked in one direktion to try to find a metro. It worked! However, although we did everything right and stood on all the right platforms ("it's the one with the name of that starts with a back to front euro sign") our train must have derailed or something cause we still ended up on the wrong line in the wrong place. Oh well we were soon back on track and finally ended up at the right station when new difficulties showed up. It was midnight and dark and we found the street the hostel was to be on but not if we were to walk right or left. We took left. Very stupid. We walked with heavy backpacks until we finally found a sign with a street number on it and then turned around and went all the way back. We did manage to get to the hostel before the reception closed though which we were very thankful for.
Our hostel is clean and nice but was quite intimidating at first. They have no lockers so we have been cuddling our bags all night. But the showers work and the water in the kitchen is drinkable. What more could you ask?!
In P-burg (as the locals call it) we've now eaten bortch (russian beetroot soup), seen a Russian kids ballet in two acts which was colorful and fantastic!, been on a boat tour, visited the Hermitage which has the largest collection of European art in the world, eated at the Idiot cafe which is inspired by Dostojevsky's masterpiece and walked miles in the neighborhood. P-burg is sunny and we've managed to score 2 out their total 35 sunny days a year! Awesome!
We miss home sometimes and I keep saying stupid things and Clara keeps complaining about a certain someone. Everythings grand.
Lots of love.
We're in St Petersburg! Me and Clara today concluded that we would not die if we lived here. It's actually quite nice. And I like how we are starting to learn our way around and trying many new and Russian things.
But lets start at the beginning. We took a boat! A fancy smancy flashy things with glass elevators and a pool we never used! Our amazing friends Amy, Anna, Raz and Mirjam joined us on this part of the journey and we raised havock running around in the bollhav and geting turtle tattoos (fake). We stole a bunch of coasters and left funny messages to anyone who found them (sort of like a scavenger hunt) and of coarse jigged on the dansfloor keeping up with the old folks. All in all, very fun but as Clara and I concluded a one way boat trip was good enough for us.
Seeing as we were quite exhausted when reaching Helsinki we mostly ran erands at Stockman (we now own gafa-tape!) and ate Finish-Chinese hamburgers. Amy saw us off at the trainstation and so began our first leg of train journey; a nice, prepatory one of only 7 hours.
Arriving St Petersburg late at night was exciting. We refused to use our guide book and simply walked in one direktion to try to find a metro. It worked! However, although we did everything right and stood on all the right platforms ("it's the one with the name of that starts with a back to front euro sign") our train must have derailed or something cause we still ended up on the wrong line in the wrong place. Oh well we were soon back on track and finally ended up at the right station when new difficulties showed up. It was midnight and dark and we found the street the hostel was to be on but not if we were to walk right or left. We took left. Very stupid. We walked with heavy backpacks until we finally found a sign with a street number on it and then turned around and went all the way back. We did manage to get to the hostel before the reception closed though which we were very thankful for.
Our hostel is clean and nice but was quite intimidating at first. They have no lockers so we have been cuddling our bags all night. But the showers work and the water in the kitchen is drinkable. What more could you ask?!
In P-burg (as the locals call it) we've now eaten bortch (russian beetroot soup), seen a Russian kids ballet in two acts which was colorful and fantastic!, been on a boat tour, visited the Hermitage which has the largest collection of European art in the world, eated at the Idiot cafe which is inspired by Dostojevsky's masterpiece and walked miles in the neighborhood. P-burg is sunny and we've managed to score 2 out their total 35 sunny days a year! Awesome!
We miss home sometimes and I keep saying stupid things and Clara keeps complaining about a certain someone. Everythings grand.
Lots of love.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Conversations in packy panic:
--"So I bought 6 packs of tissues but I accidentally bought menthol. You think that will hurt when used as toilet paper?"'
--"Do you have my bajsbyxor?"
"No, I hung them on Amy's closet."
"Oh. Ok. Phew!"
"Almost had a heart attack eh?"
"Yeah. Kinda."
--"How many pairs of underwear should we bring?"
"I say 7 or 10. Nice resonable numbers."
"Should we go wild and bring an unresonable number such as 8 or 9?"
"No, that just feels wrong."
--"So I have 2 tubes of resorb. How many do you have?"
"None!"
"Oh dear. We need to go shopping."
--"How do you pack a razor?"
"I know! I mean the heads are fine but how do you pack the actual used razor?"
"Well how about one us brings the actual razor plastic thing and we bring our own heads?"
"Yes, that's good. Let's be in charge of our own heads."
--"How am I going to fit all my stuff in my bag?"
"I dunno. I can fit all kinds of stuff in my bag."
"Do you have a magical bag or something?!"
"No. Maybe you're a bad packer?"
(Yelling) "I'M AN AWESOME PACKER!"
--"Do you have my bajsbyxor?"
"No, I hung them on Amy's closet."
"Oh. Ok. Phew!"
"Almost had a heart attack eh?"
"Yeah. Kinda."
--"How many pairs of underwear should we bring?"
"I say 7 or 10. Nice resonable numbers."
"Should we go wild and bring an unresonable number such as 8 or 9?"
"No, that just feels wrong."
--"So I have 2 tubes of resorb. How many do you have?"
"None!"
"Oh dear. We need to go shopping."
--"How do you pack a razor?"
"I know! I mean the heads are fine but how do you pack the actual used razor?"
"Well how about one us brings the actual razor plastic thing and we bring our own heads?"
"Yes, that's good. Let's be in charge of our own heads."
--"How am I going to fit all my stuff in my bag?"
"I dunno. I can fit all kinds of stuff in my bag."
"Do you have a magical bag or something?!"
"No. Maybe you're a bad packer?"
(Yelling) "I'M AN AWESOME PACKER!"
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
In case we fight...
Clara and I would never fight. NEVER! But in case we do fight there are a number of possibilities of how we can act. We could:
- yell a little bit. Let of some steam after being cautionary quiet while stumbling in at late hours in our dorm rooms never really hurt anyone.
- use the Time Out card. Why fight over dinner eh? Especially if the fight is over whether the candy wrapper is pink or a light red.
- grumble and be silent on the inside over whatever annoys us. Then when asked about it we could yell "NOOO!" and slam the closest door. (Clara)
- be overly straight forward but express ourselves clumsily and make everything so much worse by unintentionally offending someone. (Annika)
- find our individual ipod and sit in our own sphere for a awhile until the worst is over. Then when the need for a hug becomes overbearing make the brave move and go in for the makeup cuddle.
- yell a little bit. Let of some steam after being cautionary quiet while stumbling in at late hours in our dorm rooms never really hurt anyone.
- use the Time Out card. Why fight over dinner eh? Especially if the fight is over whether the candy wrapper is pink or a light red.
- grumble and be silent on the inside over whatever annoys us. Then when asked about it we could yell "NOOO!" and slam the closest door. (Clara)
- be overly straight forward but express ourselves clumsily and make everything so much worse by unintentionally offending someone. (Annika)
- find our individual ipod and sit in our own sphere for a awhile until the worst is over. Then when the need for a hug becomes overbearing make the brave move and go in for the makeup cuddle.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Happy Birthday Song.
Todays my birthday. And in honour of our travels my mum wrote us a song. It's awesome!
Goggle days!
Annika has recently posted some well-chosen words here about my reluctance to blogify our soon-to-be-adventure. Well. I can take a hint.
There isn't all that much to update on, now that we're down to the final days before take-off, except to note that the panic and packlists are growing exponentially, so instead I thought I'd leave you all with a picture that I feel captures the awesomeness that is us and this trip:
How will Greg ever manage to resist our wily charms?
There isn't all that much to update on, now that we're down to the final days before take-off, except to note that the panic and packlists are growing exponentially, so instead I thought I'd leave you all with a picture that I feel captures the awesomeness that is us and this trip:
How will Greg ever manage to resist our wily charms?
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Day of the Chinese Visa
Our day was awesome. After having to struggle so horrendously with the Russian visa (Clara actually having the most trouble with it which you will have to ask her about since she refuses to record it here) the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm was a breath of fresh air. Cause that's literally the time it took me to get my visa. One breath and woosh! All done! Well....then there was the 15 min we spent empying Clara's bag trying to find her passport foto but that's not the communists fault.
So we had all this splendid time on our hands! And what better to do than to visit Kaknästornet. So we did and we let my mobile camera accompany us:
OMG! There's a view up here!
The Chinese Embassy from above (it's the square in orange).
Looking hot at the top.
Running away to make the bus. So stressful we ended up 5 min early.
So we had all this splendid time on our hands! And what better to do than to visit Kaknästornet. So we did and we let my mobile camera accompany us:
On the elevator on the way upp the tower...
OMG! There's a view up here!
The Chinese Embassy from above (it's the square in orange).
Looking hot at the top.
Running away to make the bus. So stressful we ended up 5 min early.
Friday, August 1, 2008
LYING WORKS!
Lies......I love lies.....aren't they great?! Lies have helped me achieve a visa to Russia. Hurrah!
From here on out I won't do anything but lie....
From here on out I won't do anything but lie....
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Please let us in!
Since we only had two kids at Fritids today I have spent all morning prinitng out and fixing stuff for Visas. However, I'm starting to doubt Russia will actually let us in. I mean really, all the paperwork I'm giving them is lies.
See, I've finally received my VISA invitiation from our Russian travel agency which is required to apply for a visa. On it is a signature (which is not real), a stamp of validity (which isn't real either), our itinerary list (which is lies), a receipt for that says we've paid for all our hotels (which is false and includes hotels we won't even go near) as well as our entry and exit ways (which is all lies surprise surprise). What is the point of making a system, that even an honest person as myself has to lie to in order to take advantage of? Don't Russia WANT tourists??
oh well, I guess that's Russian logic for ya.
See, I've finally received my VISA invitiation from our Russian travel agency which is required to apply for a visa. On it is a signature (which is not real), a stamp of validity (which isn't real either), our itinerary list (which is lies), a receipt for that says we've paid for all our hotels (which is false and includes hotels we won't even go near) as well as our entry and exit ways (which is all lies surprise surprise). What is the point of making a system, that even an honest person as myself has to lie to in order to take advantage of? Don't Russia WANT tourists??
oh well, I guess that's Russian logic for ya.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
RIPOFF!
A wise man once said "It's a jungle out there" and yet he wasn't referring to Africa. Subconsciously he was referring to buying tickets on the Trans-Siberian railway! MY GOD! If I was actually able to pull out my hair I would. Why is it so difficult? Well....
- No one knows how much it costs. NO ONE! Not even the fucking ticket vendors! So everytime you email an agency about it they give you a different price.
- By booking now you have to pay ca 50% more than if you would buy it on the spot. Yet if we don't book now, there is no certainty we would get to Beijing when we want to or be able to buy a tickets since my current Russian consists of da, neit, priviet and Slava Boga! (which means Praise the Lord!)
- You have to keep on being strategic. Not only do you want to book with an agency that gives you the best price on railtickets, you want one who will give you a good deal on Visas as well as willing to hook you up with a good hostel in St Petersburg where they can delivery the tickets to the hostel upon arrival (saving you lots of delivery charges) AND register you without you having to bribe the stupid hotel people 30 dollars. (In Russia you have to register every 30 days you're there to the government to make sure you're not organizing the Second October Revolution.)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Prologue.
I'm not quite sure how it came about. Actually, now that I think about it, it wasn't some drunken rambling that somehow escalated into fits of giggles and later a deadly hangover. We were sober, we were happy, the sun was shining and we were walking home to Clara's with a hamburger in a bag. That was it. That's when it came to us. The reason why we are doing this crazy trip by train across the world.
Greg. We simply have to find him. Whoever he is, whatever he looks like, whether he's a boulder with a crew cut or a skinny redhead with freckles. He is out there. Somewhere. And Clara and I take it upon ourselves, as our mission, to find him.
May the Sweet Lord be with us.
Greg. We simply have to find him. Whoever he is, whatever he looks like, whether he's a boulder with a crew cut or a skinny redhead with freckles. He is out there. Somewhere. And Clara and I take it upon ourselves, as our mission, to find him.
May the Sweet Lord be with us.
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