Madrid, Spain
The flight was somehow uneventful. I was once again being mistaken for a Peruvian. The ground staff at the airport looked at my passport (except she opened the backpage which had a stamp from Machu Pichu) and told me that she loved my country. I thought she was referring to Australia and I said it was very far from Brazil. She then replied that it was only 4 hours on the plane, and that she loved Lima and cerviche. I stood there silent for like 5 seconds trying to figure out where in Australia you could eat cerviche and where was Lima in Australia. Then I realised that she thought I was Peruvian! She was so embarrassed when I told her that I was from Australia. See – another friendly conversation with the locals before I left latin America!
Oh, I would have to say security pretty much didn’t exist in Rio airport. They scanned my bag and everything then just before I boarded the plane, I realised that I still had my Swiss army knife with me in my backpack. And I was pretty sure that knives of any kind were prohibited......Because I had to change flight in Sao Paolo, I told the ground stuff that I needed to access my checked in bag. They made such a fuss about it but after I pulled the knife out of my backpack, all of a sudden they went all quiet and quickly sent someone to fetch my luggage. Seriously....
Madrid was an old nice city. It had all the old Spanish architecture that I used to see in the movies. I stayed in the centre of town in one of the cheapest hostels (€15/night) and it included free breakfast! A real bargain for European standard!
I walked around heaps in the 2 nights that I was there. I visited the famous Prado, the big town Square and many old churches. I also went to see Carmen done in ballet/flamenco. It was spectacular then had dinner in this local diner. I had 3 courses plus a drink all for €10. I was so full as I was ready to leave after my paella entree. The World Cup was on when I was in Madrid and Spanish were crazy about their football. As it was such a multicultural city, there were parades before and after the games from people of different nationalities. The spirit was amazing. I went to a local bar one night for the game and drunk and dined with the local Madridans.
The walk home was rather interesting with hundred of arms-pulling prostitutes. I had seen a lot of prostitutes everywhere before, but the ones in the street of Madrid were of different breed. I was surprised when this girl put her arms around me and started to talk to me. I was just like, don’t touch me woman. Then she tried to grab my hands. I was quite offended by her to be honest. I think they did get pretty good business from some football team from South America that night.
I flew from Madrid to Prague, Czech Republic.
Prague, Czech Republic
I really only stayed in Prague one night the first time before my friend George and I went to Vienna the next day to visit our other friends. That night was when my weeks of partying in Europe started. George and I went for a traditional Czech dinner and beer that night. He was very proud of Czech beer and I would have to agree with him. They were very very nice! We then went to this club next door from the restaurant which had a 80s and 90s music night.
I was genuinely surprised that I had so much fun there that night! I never thought I would be into the 80s and 90s music. But now I realised that who can say no to them??? I even danced to Aqua – Barbie Girl! Crazy, I know!
When you go partying with George, time is often an irrelevant subject. We went into the club just before 11pm and we both said we were tired and would just stay for 1-2 drinks then head home. 4 hours later we stumbled out of the club and giggled our way into the tram, then a bus then home. It was not a nice bus ride to Vienna at 7:30am.
Vienna, Austria
George and I met up with Ulrike in Austria. Like George, Uli came to Australia to study about 4 years ago. It seemed that everyone speak English in Vienna even if they claimed that they don’t. When we first got there, we asked a random person for the name of the street that we were on. The conversation went like this.
George: Excuse me, do you speak English?
Pedestrian: Umm, no, I don’t (in English).
George: What is the name of this street?
Pedestrian: It’s struss xxxxx.
George: Ok, thank you.
What the....????
George and I were both exhausted, but we were so excited seeing Uli and her boyfriend, we spent the whole afternoon doing the sight-seeing around Vienna eyes half shut. Oh, the Viennese Schnitzel was super yum! Vienna was such a pretty, clean, structured city. It was voted the most liveable city in the world 2009. I was not surprised. There were so many BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches around. District 1 was where all the historical sights were, the opera house, the great library and a few universities.
We went to an outdoor pub for dinner/drinks in our first night and to watch the embarrassing defeat of Australia by their Germany brothers. Nothing to talk about here about that. I met a lot of local Viennese here thanks to Uli and her boyfriend. They took us to this funky bar in an old brick storage building later to have a couple of drinks.
The next day George and I walked around the historical centre again and went to the top of Stephan's Dome for an overlooking view of the city. The construction of the big cathedral started back in the 13th century and it was only completed in the 19th Century. It was a very majestic church. Pity about the amount of tourists there.
We then visited Schloss Schonbrun just outside the city centre. It was the Austrian Emperor Habsburg's summer palace. It was massive. Apparently it resembled the Chateau Versaille I was told. The rooms in there were massive and it definitely suited for the imperial family. I was impressed with the portraits and the furniture settings and the chandeliers. The gardens were also amazing and of course, all the mazes in there. George and I got lost in the maze a few times and nearly got into a friendly argument on which way to go!
Vienna was such a cultural city. There were so many beautiful architectures and museums, art galleries, fake mozarts, marzipans, chocolates etc. One of the nights I went to visit the famous Vienna Symphony Orchestra. It was so disappointing that I was refused entry when I was literally 10 seconds late. The bastards shut the door on me after I just bought the ticket. Surely the ticket person could ring the door attendant to wait for me. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra supposed to be one of the best in the world too.....Erh, I had better offer anyway – off to be pub to watch Brazil v North Korea.
On our third day, George and I visited a few parks, the parliament and some ancient churches. It was just a relaxing day. We sat in the parks listening to old musicians playing, and generally enjoyed the atmosphere. I really enjoyed Vienna and its vibrant culture.
Back to Prague, Czech Republic
Hung over again on the bus back to Prague from lack of sleep. I had average of about 5-6 hours sleep a night since I got to Europe at that stage. Generally went to bed around 3am and woke up around 8-9am. I was EXHAUSTED. But it was so great seeing the old friends!
George took me to check out the historical city centre of Prague. Oh my gosh, it was GORGEOUS. The old Jewish Quarter from the 14th Century, the old Town Hall astronomical clock, the ancient St Nicholas' Church, the Charles Bridge. It was such a fairytale looking city. I felt like I was in the storybooks wandering the cobble-stoned streets, visiting these ancient sites and absorbing the vibe. The view from the top of church was especially stunning. All the houses around were probably dating back 14-15th century and all have red roofs, white walls and chimneys. George was being an excellent guide by getting us half price concession tickets to all the sights :)
That night we went to see an opera performance with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra at the Rudolfinum. Apparently it is the best acoustic effect in Czech and one of the best in all of Europe. The performance was nothing but outstanding. I wouldn't expect anything less :) Because jeans wasn't allowed, I had to borrow George's trousers which was probably 5 sizes too big. I looked like a clown from the 80s with the big baggy pants half hanging down his ass. It was hilarious.
The next day I went to visit the Great Library (14th century) and the famous Prague castle which dated the 10th century. The castle itself was impressive. But the old Royal Palace was a little disappointing. The St Vitus Cathedral was the highlight though. Not to be missed! There were also little chapels worth wandering around in the Cathedral as well as just outside it.
We also hiked up a hill where a mini Eifle tower stood. It's called Petrin Tower. Great place for a lookout over the city.
I am seriously thankful of all these friends of mine all over the world who took time to hang out with me and showed me their home/city/country.
We went to a huge nightclub that night to celebrate Friday night in Prague. Oh my gosh, that was an evil night. And I already put it on facebook, absinthe was EVIL! I rest my story there. I don't want to go and talk about the Ukrainian witch I met and the dancing. George, you better not be telling anyone the story too!
Oh my gosh, the next day I seriously thought I was going to die in the car to the country side with George and his mother. We got home like 3:30am and had to get up at 8am for the 2.5 hours drive.
I probably spoke less than 10 words in the car and slept pretty much the whole time. After we arrived at George's father's cottage and greeted his father, the first I asked was the bedroom. I am usually really well behaved in others' houses, especially when their parents are home. But that time, all I wanted was to lay down and sleep forever!
His father was making fun of me after I slept for a couple of hours. It was not entirely my fault that I was drinking with a Czech. They are the biggest beer drinking nation in the world per capita! What do you expect???
The country cottage was beautiful. It was apparently built in George's great-grandparent's time and passed down through the family. His father was doing renovations to the place. It was surrounded by the forests and little mountain streams. They do have running tap water, but his father sometimes prefer to drink out of the stream as it was supposed to be fresher. And yes, it didn't taste bad at all.
George and I went for a drive to a castle town (Cesky Krumlov). It was the first time that I ever saw a medieval Middle-European castle town, and I was so wowed by it! It was as if it came out of the story book. I seriously thought there were going to be princess and knights walking around in the town. To my surprise, there were hundreds of them!
I was lucky enough to witness the annual medieval festival which was on that weekend. When I first walked into the village, we saw hundreds of people all dressed up and talking on the streets. We thought it was the weirdest thing, but apparently there were gearing up for a parade and they represented families that have lived there for tens of generations (although a lot of them weren't really from that particular clan they were representing....).
We walked around the castle and also the castle tower for a overlooking view over the town. Highly recommended! It was just nothing but awesome!
Again, I am really thankful that George put me up in Czech and let me experience first-hand what Czech people do, what they eat, what they drink etc. We even had a traditional Czech bbq with meat on sticks and cook them yourself over bonfire. His father also tried to kill me with beers after my massive hangover when I first got to his place.
We stayed for a couple of days here before we headed back to Prague for my next leg to Berlin.
Berlin, Germany
It was very frustrating that there were so many ticket inspectors and police officers on the train between Prague and Berlin. The German police were like scratching my passport and asked me questions etc. I was just like, “What's your problem?”. Apparently they have never seen the 2010 version of the Aussie passport before and weren't sure whether it was real. I was so ill from the night before (thanks to George again...) and was in no mood at all of talking to the police.
Train ride was also very scenic as we passed many small villages with many castles in them.
In Berlin, I had my mate Stefan who greeted me at the train station. After we dumped the bags off at his place, we went for the traditional Berlin food – kebab. Apparently according to Germans that Berlin invented kebab and Turkey stole it from them a few hundred years ago.
Berlin was a very unique city. Everything was just so “German”. I don't know how they train the people, but everything was just so organised, so neat and people just follow orders. Yes, sure, they love their fast cars, beers and music festivals, but even at these places, there were just very organised and well-behaved. Stefan told me a joke about Germans.
A group of tourists doing a prison tour. First room they come to, they see a group of South Americans behind bars with guards with sub-machine guns guarding them. 'Fair enough' they thought, guards need to prevent prisoners from escaping. The next room they come to, they see a group of American prisoners behind bar, but no guards and the prisoners were complaining non-stop at the top of their voice that it was too small and smelly. 'Fair enough' they thought as Americans generally talk loud and complained a lot. Then they walk to the last room and they see a group of prisoners just stand there in the room with no bars and no guards. The tourists were confused and they asked the guide why aren't they locked up? The guide shrugs and says, “they're Germans, all we need to do is put a sign in front of the door that says 'no exit'”.
So true!
We visited the famous Brandenburg Gate, the Halocaust memorial, the Book-burning memorial, Potsdamer Platz, and walked around Central Berlin. That day was also the First day of summer Festival. There were music performances (free!) all over Berlin. We didn't get home till 1am and Stefan had to get up at 6:30 to go to work the next day ;)
Next day I visited Checkpoint Charlie where the famous “You're now leaving the American Sector” sign was. It was incredibly sad and ingenious to see how the East Germans tried to escape to the West. Some of them were hidden in the old VW engine box, some of them were hiding between 2 massive surfboards, some used hot-air balloons, some just jumped from their apartments. It also saddened me to see how freedom that we enjoy today was something that could never be grasped by so many people.
Here in Berlin that I was again refused to see world-class classical musical performance. I was so excited to see Berlin Symphony Orchestra, then got there and all the tickets were sold out! How unlucky! Stefan and I went to the pub to drown my sorrow!
My third day in Berlin was quite busy with sight-seeing. Visited the Jewish Museum (quite boring I found and expensive), Reichstag (Parliament House – very impressive view of Berlin from the top), a couple of Museusm in the museum island and walked around the TV tower (the landmark of Berlin!!!). Germany was playing that night in the world cup, so I joined Stefan and his flatmates to go to the pub. These Germans are fanatics with their soccer. It was State of Origin night, but 10 times more bigger.
I had a really relaxing time on my last day in Berlin. I visited the remnants of the Berlin Wall. It was painted since the fall of the wall by artists from all over the world portraying their versions of peace, freedom and love.
Tubingen, Germany
Party time!!! Tubingen is one of the university towns in southern Germany. I arrived late at night, but no worries, my mate Christian, his mate Kurt and I pretty much went straight from the airport to this huge student party. It was so strange to be in a student party again. It was fun though. Back to the good old days with cheap booze!
Tubingen again was a very beautiful town. A beautiful river flowed through the middle of the town with many little parks and medieval architectures around. Very vibrant city with many young students. We went to a couple of student parties here. I was in love with this town.
We went for a long drive to visit Kurt's town, Freiburg. Another university town, except a lot bigger than Tubin. On the way to Freiburg, we stopped by Christian's home village which was about 30 minutes from Tubingen. It had a really beautiful 12th century castle on the hill and a lovely river. We had a nice German BBQ with his family.
I had a bit of cultural shock coming from Latin America where everyone were very personable/approachable and very small personal barriers among people to the German culture where handshakes were kisses on the cheeks, waving hands were hugs. I wasn't sure what to expect!
Anyway, we drove though the famous Black Forest to get to Freiburg and spent the night touring different pubs and nightclubs. I felt like I was on a drinking tour in Europe! It was so funny considering that I was really careful with my money before I got to Europe, then I spent most of my cash on grog! Crazy stuff.....that's what happens when you go and visit mates!
Christian and I drove to Lake Constance the next night leaving Kurt to recover from the night before.
Lake Constance, southern Germany
It was another very very beautiful part of Germany, Bordensee. The majestic Rhine river flows into this lake and keeps going and finishes in the Atlantic through France. It was very nice just sitting next to the lake watching the moon and sipping beers away. It was funny that both Christian and I thought at the same time, “Hmmm....wouldn't it be nice if it was a beautiful woman sitting next to me, rather than Paul/Christian.” :)
We went from Constance to Switzerland by just walking over the border. It was such a treat for me just walking across the border with no checkings nothing! No passport/ID required!
It was interesting to see that there were more German flags flying around than Swiss flags in the Swiss town that we went to!
We took many beautiful pictures of Constance and went to visit castles nearby. There were just sooo many castles in this part of Germany. Every town has an medieval castle. I seriously lost count on how many castles I visited when I was there. They were all unique and beautiful in their own ways though.
The water in the lake was just pristine blue. There were quite a few people swimming as it was a really warm day (33 degrees if I recalled properly). I wish I could be jumping in too!
We went back to Tubingen in the afternoon the next day. Oh, another beautiful thing about Tubin was that there was a central meeting place in front of this ancient town hall called Marketplatz, and at night, all the students got together there and all BYO beer and just sat on the footpath, drank and chatted. It was such a relaxing and awesome idea. I wish the alcohol law is not as tight here in Australia.
Paris, France
I caught TGV to Paris from Stuggart. After Christian dropped me off to the train station, I later heard that his car broke down on the way to work :(
Paris was MAGNIFICIENT. It was by far the most gorgeous, romantic city in Europe! Boy, there was no way to describe it. It was in a class of its own!
What can I say? The architecture, the cafes, the little parks, the French language, the churches, the fashion. Gosh, todos buenos!
I felt a bit lost when I first got to Paris. I spoke no French at all, but a German girl I met said Spanish worked just as fine in France. So off I went with my broken Spanish :)
I spent my first day literally just walking around Paris city. It was unbelievably hot, but hey, better than snow and rain! Besides, walking in Paris was probably the best way to see the city and to feel the vibe! Everything was so close and easy to navigate.
Lisa was kind enough to let me crash at her apartment for 3 nights when I was in Paris. She also arranged a very beautiful sunset picnic in front of the legendary Eifle Tower. Everything was just magical, especially when it started to sparkle at 10pm when I was taking pictures. Lovely white wine, gourmet French food, great company, stunning surrounding. No wonder people fall in love with Paris!
I visited the Louvre one afternoon. It was one of the best museums in the world I have ever been! It was on par with the Met in NYC and the British Museum in London. They actually housed similar collections among them, but each with their unique treasures. I was very impressed with the 16thCentury architecture and of course the glass pyramid! Oh, I also had a date with Mona Lisa here :) She was a little small than what I had imagined. But the date still went well ;)
I also visited the famous Notre Dame and climbed to the top for a beautiful view over Paris city. It was like everything that I had seen in the movies from the top of Notre Dame. It was built in 12th century. Here I also visited my mate Monsieur H, aka Hunchback of Notre Dame.
The Arc de Triophe was ok. But the Champs Elysees was enjoyable. As it was the very beginning of the summer sale, there were tonnes of beautiful Parisians walking around in their stunning dresses carrying high-end fashion bags. I could seriously sit there for hours just doing people-gazing :)
I spent pretty much a whole day visiting Chateau of Versailles. It was the biggest palace compound I've ever been in! I spent 5 hours on the ground and did not afford to sit down for a small rest at all. It also housed Marie Antoinetee's cottage and King Louis 16th palace. It was very posh inside with magnificent decorations and wall paintings. I don't think I have ever seen as lavish as it before.
Lisa and I caught up with some of her girlfriends for a couple of drinks and dinner before we headed for a night drink in front of St Chapelle. It also offered a decent night view over Paris. It was actually quite feral at night as there were quite a few drunkards around doing the same thing – drinking :) I felt right at home :P
Again, my stay in Paris would probably be very different if it wasn't for Lisa. It was awesome meeting the real Parisians and hung out with them. Best way of travelling!
We got home at 3am again and next afternoon went for a stroll back to St Chapelle to visit the inside of the 13th Century church. This time the front of the church was very different compared to a few hours ago. It was filled with tourists and souvenir stands. I loved these ancient churches. Just sitting there and admiring the stained-glass windows, the old religious paintings and the building itself was relaxing for me.
We decided to go for the world famous Crepe after the church. I had the chocolate crepe and Lisa had sugar crepe. It was strange that being a Parisian, she didn't like chocolate nor cheese. Each to their own! Although I have to say that chocolate sauce in the crepe was super rich, so I ate the whole thing in less than 2 minutes :) Followed by a hot chocolate :)
We were invited to go to a classical music festival in this Chateau outside Paris. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the town, but it was breathtaking. Listening to the orchestra or the quartet, or simply piano or violin with a glass of real champagne in your had was something that I loved about France. Oh, I forgot to mention that we also got takeaway kebabs for dinner (with chips!) from outside. Kebabs were everywhere in Europe! The festival finished with a beautiful synchronised huge firework show from the chateau.
I have to say that Paris is probably my favourite city in all the places I've been in Europe. I was very wowed by NYC, and the same feeling was back when I was in Paris. I never experienced any rudeness that was experienced by many other travellers or locals. Maybe I was lucky enough to have Lisa with me the whole time.
Utrecht, the Netherlands
My train ride from Paris to Amsterdam was quite uneventful. Passed through Belgium which was very beautiful. Along the way there were ancient towns/villages everywhere as well as some really modern cities such as Brussel.
I changed train from Amsterdam to Utrecht where was I was greeted by my friend Carmen. The Netherlands was another country that practically everyone speaks English. It was soooo easy to get around, especially on the bikes :)
We had a couple of drinks at Carmen's beautiful apartment then for a nice bike ride to the historic centre of town where we checked out the facade of the old Cathedral. The whole centre was really pretty with canals, cobble-stoned roads and narrow but tall buildings. Oh, there were also millions of bikes everywhere!
The next day Carmen and I went to Amsterdam for the day. We did a canal/river cruise to check out some of the famous sites dated back to the Dutch Golden Age from the river. We walked around the famous Red Light District which was quite amazing. I have never seen anything as liberal as this. And the girls were not shy at all! We also visited a coffee club where I tried the famous cannabis muffin. Amazingly it had no effect on me at all. We also played chess in the coffee club which Carmen took about 10 minutes to make one move after her joint. :)
The Anne Frank house was amazing. I learnt so much about the oppression of the people under Nazi days. It was difficult to imagine that you cannot use the toilet after 7pm just in case neighbours get suspicious. Or no walking on the floor at night as the floorboard creeks.....
Next day we visited Zaanse Schans where we saw so many of the famous working windmills. Some of these windmills dated 17th Century. It was such a beautiful sunny day to walk around the lake and the windmills and just enjoying life in general! We had a glass of wine each before we headed back to Utrecht for the big night – World Cup semi final in which Holland was playing Uruguay. Germans were crazy about their football. So were the Dutch! Sea of orange army were seen everywhere in Utrecht that night. Even I dressed up in orange! The town was going off when they won the game.
On my last day in Holland, Carmen and I visited Rotterdam and den Hague. Rotterdam was a very interesting city with many modern architectures. High rise buildings were everywhere and the architecture was quite amazing. We went to den Hague to renew Carmen's Bolivian passport. Apparently it takes around 6 months to renew a passport because it was coming from Bolivia. The staff in the embassy also thought I was Bolivian and talked to me in Spanish. By then, my Spanish was so bad that I couldn't even answer back! How embarrassing!
My flight to London from Amsterdam was at 7:30pm and we left den Hague at around 5:30 and had to change 2 trains to go to the airport. By the time we were on the train from Rotterdam bound for the airport it was just past 6pm. I was sweating! As I was flying Easyjet I really needed to be there 45 minutes early at least! We reached Amsterdam at 6:25pm. Another 15 minutes to go to the airport. Train delayed. 6:47pm arrived at the airport. Runing, running and more running. Huge huge queue at the counter. I pushed to the front of the queue then realised that they already closed the London counter.
I nearly died! I had to be in London that night to see my friend Michelle and to meet up with Alex whom I met in Peru. After 2 minutes of begging, the counter staff finally on the phone to the back office who luckily advised that the flight was delayed by 10 minutes and that I was going to be very last person on the plane! How I thanked my lucky star at the moment! That was probably the closest call in my whole travel to that day. As Amsterdam airport is quite big in size, I literally had to say a quick goodbye to Carmen and ran from the check-in counter to the other side of the airport to catch my flight. I was soooo glad when I sat in my seat on the plane. Not even the bitchy trashy talk among the flight attendants disturbed me!
London, England
I lived the true Londoner style as soon as I landed. Met up with Alex Ranouf who was 2 hours late in picking me up from the station. But off we went to our first pub where we met up with Michelle! Gosh how nice it was to see a familiar Australian face! We went to Kings Cross for a couple of English ales and went to a classier joint at Angel. And all with my 2 backpacks! And that was my first encounter with London!
The next day Alex took me to the CBD of Central London where all the big banks and law firms are. There were thousands of people all wearing penguin suits and ties. Gosh, how lucky was I walking around in shorts and t-shirt in the heat among these people! I scored a few envious looks whilst I was thinking that would probably be me in a month or so in Brisbane.
It was an experience to walk around all the massive modern buildings and to get lost in the crowd. It was also sensational that when you turn a corner, you face some few hundred old buildings in the alley way in the midst of the hustle and bustle. And that was London town!
In the afternoon we did a stroll to the Green Park and St James Park and took a glimpse of the famous Buckingham Palace. It was a beautifully warm day by London standard. I thought it was necessary to take such a walk as I had a picnic to go to in 2 days with Alyssa.
We stayed in at Alex's place that night as he had a plane to catch the very next morning to Rio to meet up with Ruth. Unfortunately they had a big domestic over the phone that particular night and he wasn't even sure whether he wanted to go anymore. I had no idea what to say, so I bought him a few Heineken cans from the supermarket instead.
I moved to Nigel's place on Friday in Stockwell. He lived there with 2 other Australian boys. It was actually a very big place. In fact, all the places I stayed in London were quite nice and big compared to what I've heard in the past. I visited the Natural History Museum in the day time and went to the pub with him at night till ungodly hours. I was a little disappointed with the standard of London girls to say the least.
Next day when I was preparing for the picnic, I realised that Nigel locked me in the house! I can't believe I was late to meet up with Alyssa. It was a very expensive picnic for a backpacker, ie me. We had chocolates, strawberries, wine, sparkling wine, fruits, cut up capsicum, dips, cheese and bread! I even surprised myself when I set it up in St James Park!
Anyway, trying to be Casanova, I brought her a flower to her fancy hotel in Chelsea. She was impressed but also very jet-lagged. Anyway the picnic went superbly well, the weather inclusive! The afternoon stroll around the park was also just nothing but beautiful, if I could say so myself. We got a little close.
I met up with Alyssa again for dinner and a few dances that night. We went to a blues/soul restaurant which again was way over my budget. Nevertheless, we had a lot of nice chats about us and about the future and I thought the evening was nothing but nice. We had a lot of fun together and I felt that we were quite comfortable and compatible with each other. We kissed good bye and I felt asleep waiting for the bus at the bus stop at 2:30am.
The next noon I met up with Alyssa and she was a completely different person....for the worse. She was like a stranger to me and vice versa. Everything was just not meant to be. And yes, she was suffering from the morning after syndrome. All the plans we made for the day evaporated. Everything. We said good bye and that was the last time I ever saw her. It was rather disappointing but then what do you do when you will be 10,000km apart???
I finished the day by visiting St Paul's Church as well as the Millennium bridge and walked around Southwark and walked across the famous London Bridge etc. It was again a pleasant walk. And I definitely needed after ending the little fling with Alyssa. The night I met up with Nigel to go over to the local pubs for the World Cup Grand Final between Spain and the Netherlands. We went to this pub that had all the right Aussie flavour including an Australian band playing the good old Cold Chisel tunes.
The next day I met up with my friend Hayley who recently moved to Birmingham with her husband Tim. We visited the Westminster Abbey and the Big Ben and caught up with another mutual friend Carla. It was so bizarre walking around in central London with 3 law graduates but none of us were lawyers!
We also went to the British Library which had many priceless collections that no many people knew about. Original Beatles transcript, Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyer, Sir Issac Newton handwritten scripts, and of course one of the most important documents in human history - Magna Carta! I read so much about it when I was at uni, and seeing it for the first time was UNREAL!
Fiona, Ben, Hayley and myself had dinner in a Turkish restaurant nearby. I ordered some stuff on the menu which I had no idea what it was and was advised by the waiter that it was raw meat, so no surprisingly I changed my mind to something else. Again, I chose something I had no idea what it was, and this time, I had better luck – NOT. It happened to be goats' testicles. It was the funniest thing ever for Ben and Fiona. They were like, that's all for yourself Paul......funny, real funny.
The following day, I walked around the Notting Hill area in the morning. I walked from Highstreet Kensington to Notting Hill then walked around Portobello Road as there was a market there selling heaps of antiques and retro stuff. I also walked past Kensington Palace where Princess Diana used to live. The market in Portobello Rd was really different there and it looked just like the movie “Notting Hill”. The weather wasn't exactly nice, but hey, it was England after all. Couldn't really expect too much.
I also had the opportunity to meet up with my friend Alex. I first met Alex in Chengdu in China then we went over to Tibet together then Nepal then India. Crazy stuff. It was so random to catch up with him again in England. He worked for BBC doing documentary stuff. So I met up with him in the BBC studio then had lunch in the employee's cafeteria. It was so much fun and cheap!
After we said goodbye, I went back to the National Gallery and walked around there with my friend Carla from Australia. I also caught up with Felicity (Alex's girlfriend) whom I also met in Chengdu. So we walked around the Gallery and chatted. I really felt lucky to have so many friends from all over the world that I could catch up with whenever I go and visit them. It was definitely different kind of travelling as you get to see places that no many tourists would know about or ever go to.
Carla and I visited the Sherlock Holmes pub nearby after our Gallery visit for a pint of English brew. The pub was established in 1736. It's crazy isnt it? The pub was there at that very spot before Captain Cook first discovered Australia! Funny that the barman was from Sydney!
Oh, Fiona and I went to see Swan Lake the ballet in London Coliseum that night. It was the first time that I ever saw ballet and I was fascinated by it. It was done by a ballet company from St Petersburg in Russia and the performance was top class! Since then I have decided to be more active in the cultural side of things. It is amazing how a trip like the one I have done has changed me. Before I was never really that interested in art and culture. And part of the trip, I went to see Flamenco, Ballet, visited many museums, art galleries, traditional performances, opera, symphony orchestra etc.
Next day I got up super late from days of stress (with Alyssa!) and late nights. I was exhausted physically by then. So decided to do a lazy day. Just walking around the area, and visited the British Museum. The good things about all these public galleries/museums in London was that everything was FREE! Not even donation was required! Compared this to the Louvre or the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, this was AWESOME!!!!!
The Rosetta Stone was there, heaps of Egyptian, Roman and ancient artefacts from all over the world were present. The British did a great job robbing invaluable goods from all over the place. And yes, they are not deserved to charge an entrance fee! The collection really was that amazing and I spent pretty much 5-6 hours there and it wasn't even enough. It was similar to the Met or the Louvre, but with different famous artefacts. I enjoyed it nonetheless. This was the last world-class museum that I visited.
I caught up with Fiona and Ben for one last dinner. And also Nigel and his mate for a couple of drinks before my departure the next day. It was more of a thank-you dinner/drinks than anything. I was lucky to have these people as friends.
On my last day in London, I walked around and bought a couple of second hand books and visited Tower of London. Tower of London was actually quite beautiful. The view from the top of the castle was spectacular and obviously it was right next to the Thames. It was cold but a very beautiful day. Gosh, the weather in London was so unpredictable. It was hot, then windy then raining then just cold. It was worse than Melbourne! But the city itself was really cosmopolitan. With around 7.5 million people, there was everything you ever need on offer. If you like sports, there were plenty on offer. Same as museums, galleries and other culture stuff. Not to mention pubs! Gosh, there were at least a couple of pubs every second street in London. The pub culture was definitely the most established out of anywhere I have been.
I was a little sad leaving Europe. I felt like I barely scraped the surface of it all in Europe. There were still so many countries I haven't visited, so many decent food I haven't tasted, and the wines from different regions, the people. Gosh. It was just all too short of a trip.
My flight out of London was at night with Kingfisher Airlines from India. It was actually a lot better than expected. First of all, the plane made it to Mumbai without a problem. Second of all, the interior design was beautiful. In the business class, the wine bar was made out of polished wood and there were so many different varieties of alcohol on the cabinet behind. I was mesmerised by it all. The flight attendants were very friendly and pretty. Can't complain there at all!
Mumbai, India
Mumbai airport was a hole. It stopped over in the airport for 11 hour. It was filthy and there was not much infrastructure at all! No internet, no TV, nothing. I did get to sleep for a bit before my flight to Singapore. The airport itself was really disgusting too. I even brought my own food from London (2 sandwiches) so that I didn't have to eat any food in the airport. But I did. After my last experience with food in India, I was petrified of eating another lot of Indian food in India again. Luckily this time, I survived. Or should I say, my stomach did!
Singapore
Singapore is a fascinating city. I was craving for some decent Asian food. It was impossible to find something good in Europe, let alone South America. So as soon as I got my luggage, what was the first thing I did? Yep – Hai-nan Chicken Rice! YUUUUUM! For those you don't know what it is, it is probably one of the yummiest dish you can get out of South East Asia. It is steamed chicken which you dip into chilly/sesame sauce and eat it with chicken rice (rice cooked with chicken soup).
It was one of the best breakfasts I had for a long time by then! My friend Delphine came and picked me up from the airport. It was nice of her coming to pick me up and allowed me to stay at her place. We actually had a Heineken as soon as we got to her place. I forgot about the humidity in SE Asia until I got back to Singapore. You can literally sweat your ass off just sitting in your lounge room. It was raining as well when I was there.
We went out for dinner at this local food market. Had fish, Singaporean famous Chilly Crab, vegetables and rice. It was yummy. And I taught Delphine a lesson – you can bargain for EVERYTHING in Asia. We got a dollar off for ever Tiger beers we consumed as well as 10% discount on all the food.
She took me to Clarke Quay afterwards to have drinks and to go clubbing. Oh, forgot to mention, I took Delphine for a Singapore Sling in Raffles hotel. I love being in the original place they things were invented. And it was in Raffles hotel where Singapore Sling was invented. It was pricey but real yum. I think one cocktail cost us A$20. But hey, it was the atmosphere and the experience that count.
Alcohol in general was really expensive in Singapore. I think the government tries to forbid people from drinking in Singapore. The night we went out, luckily we had all these vouchers which bought us bottles of Moets, one stubby of beer could cost up to A$7. And that's a LOT in Asia.
My second day in Singapore was bit of write-off. We only got home at like 3am! All I did was to go for a late lunch with Delphine to little Chinatown where apparently they have the best “hainan chicken rice” in Singapore. It was yummy. After speaking to Singaporeans, a lot of kiosks/stalls all love to think they have the best chicken rice.
Waved Delphine goodbye for a few days as I would see her in Bali.
Bali, Indonesia
Hmm, what was I going to do for the last 10 days of my 18 months BOT??? Gosh, it was crazy knowing that it was all coming to an end! All the fun, hard work, perseverance and great experience all down to the last 10 days here in Bali. How was I going to enjoy it??? For those who read/seen the move 'Eat, Pray, Love' would know that Bali was all about enjoying yourself and......falling in love. To the truth of second part – hmm....maybe....maybe not.
The flight from Singapore to Denpasar was very non-eventful. After my last experience in SE Asia, I knew that I would be ok and hence I didn't bother book for a hostel before I arrived. Taxi ride into Legian – got dropped off to a hostel that I wanted to stay in. Fully booked. Walked next door – fully booked. Next one – fully booked. After walking around 40 minutes up and down in the humidity looking for a place to stay at 10:30pm, I finally cracked and gave up.
Luckily I was armed with a Credit Card. Walked into a 4 stay hotel in Legian, swiped and signed up for a large air-coned comfy room. 'Why not' I thought, if my whole trip was all down to 10 days, I might as well enjoy myself with a little luxury. The hotel came with a large bathroom, huge bedroom, cable TV and a very comfortable bed. All for myself!
My first experience of Bali was with some locals driving around in scooters asking me whether I wanted accommodation since I had a large backpack on. 'No' I said and kept going. I discovered a lot of them were actually trying to help. Yes, they did want to make a living too from tourists, but they were still trying to help. Some wanted to take me to some cheap hostel further away from the beach which I declined.
The next day I checked in to the Legian Beach Bungalow for a room that cost Rp120,000 which was roughly AU$10 per night. It had air-con and cold water shower. But that was all I needed – a room to put my bags. I then went for a walk around Kuta Beach and Legian Beach and went for a swim. The beaches were ok – there were a lot of tourists. But the clarity of water was nothing compared to Australia. And don't forget about the millions of sun umbrellas on the beach.
It was actually quite frustrating walking about Legian and especially Kuta. There were so many Aussie bums all over the place. It felt like I was back at schoolies week down the Gold Coast. So embarrassing seeing all these young Aussies walking around at 10am with stubbies and shirtless.
Kuta itself was a crazy place. It was like Phuket – full of nightclubs/bars etc. Definitely wasn't what I had in mind for the last 9 days of my holidays. I think towards the end of my trip, I just wanted to chill out on the beach and enjoy some tranquillity and a nice cocktail/beer while reading my books. Maybe I was getting old....
I also had fair bit of time to think what I would do after I returned to Australia. Quite a scary thought to say the least since it had been a long while since I came home. Part of me was like everything would be so different for me and if so, why bother going home. The other part was thinking I was getting tired and needed to rest for a while and no, everything would still be the same and it wont take me long to get used to everything. And yes, everything was still the same back home.......
The next day I returned to my favourite form of transport – scooter riding!!! I hired a bike in the morning and went for a ride to Denpasar. It took me over an hour to get there as there were no signs at all! It was ridiculous – I had to ask about 10 different people on ow to get there. I visited Museum Negeri Propinsi Bali. It was a interesting museum with artefacts displayed in several separate Balinese style buildings. It displayed many cultural and some historical artefacts. It was ok. I wasn't too excited afterwards.
I also visited a local eatery. They are called Warungs. I visited Warung Satria which was just a local restaurant with very cheap local food. I attracted a lot of attention when I walked in with the Brazilian football jersey and board short on. I did especially attract the attention of the local girls :)
You can't come to Bali without visiting the local market. So I did. I went to see Pasar Badung and Pasar Kumbasari. Apparently they were a must-see destination according to LP Guide. I am sorry, but again, I wasn't too excited by it afterwards. Yes, there were a lot of local produce and saffron etc, but I have seen all of these before. I hope I don't sound too much of a snob here.
I took my bike and continued on for about 20km down to South Bali. The ride was spectacular along going through some hills, local villages etc. I rode to Pura Luhur Ulu Watu which was a temple on the side of a cliff with beautiful Indian Ocean view. From the top it was so stunning to see hundreds of waves pounding against the sheer cliff next to the walk way below and the sunset across the horizon. It was also here I was attacked by the monkeys.
The damned monkeys stole me sunnies which was on top of my head. I was warned about the damned monkeys could steal any food or grab your water bottles etc. So I was super protective of these items, but totally forgot about my sunnies. They stole it, jumped on the trees, and started looking at it and chewed on it. The local kids helped me to get my sunnies back by tricking the monkeys with bananas and then asked me for payment! Damn kids! These kids were as bad as monkeys! But hey, this Japanese tourist got his prescription glasses stolen by the monkey that was the funniest thing. And also these white teenagers had monkeys jumped on their head and shoulders and tried to pull their necklaces out. I loved being the spectator rather than the actor in that instance :)
Bali is famous for its seafood. I stopped by the Southern Seafood Warung on the way back to Legian for dinner. As it was during sunset, I took some of the most amazing pictures with local kids walking on the beach with purple sky in the background. There were a lot of people there however a dinner for one was also as entertaining as anything for starving Paul!
I had this huge seafood feast with lobsters, prawns, fish etc. It cost me something like A$20 but I was so full in the end. It was one of the best dinners for a while!
Again, got terribly lost on the way back to the hotel. I drove past the same shop literally 3 times as I couldn't find the road my hostel was on. At one point I was really worried that I might run out of petrol.....
The next day I decided to leave the hustle & bustle of Legian and moved to Sanur on the eastern coast. Now, that was such a great move! The beach was less populated. And the town was a lot quieter. There were quite a few high-end hotels though right on the beach.
I had this Indonesian noodle soup for lunch and got into an argument with this Belgian woman about the price for the soup. Sometimes I wish people could just mind their own business. She was getting ripped off and I bargained for a good price – RP5000 for a bowl of noodle soup – and she was telling me that I should be ashamed for bargaining. I was like, woman, just because you want to have your head shaved, it doesn't apply to everybody.
I found it incredibly unbelievable that some tourists use their price standards from back home to judge on how other people should pay for their goods/services. If they want to pay European prices, then stay at Europe. Go to Italy, go to Spain for beaches. Don't come to Asia. Geez. I am getting fired up just re-thinking about this event.
There were quite a few pagodas out in the shallow sea which were very peaceful and serene. I grabbed my book and beach towel and sat there listening to the wind, the waves and enjoyed some quiet reading. I really enjoyed that. No one around me at all.
What else happened? Delphine flew in from Singapore that night. I was really really excited to see her. She arrived after 1am and we got picked up just after 6am. Needless to say she was exhausted. She decided to spend 5 days in Bali/Gili with me.
Gili T
We got picked up just after 6am when we were waiting for our breakfast. Seriously, a man has to have his food, so needless to say, I sent the driver away to pick up other passengers and came back to pick up us about 20 minutes later. There were French tourists complaining already in the van. Not trying to be bitchy here, but these Froggies seriously love to whine....
We were actually bit scared when we got to the dock as the boat didn't look like what it was shown on the picture. It was like those Indonesian fishing boats that were used to smuggle people into Australia! Nah, just kidding, it was a a smaller sized low-end yacht. Anyway, they started talking about sending some people on the slower boat (5 hours journey) as the fast boat was booked....I started to feel the frustration and just argued my way to our tickets from the boat manager and got us on board whilst other Froggies just stood there and did nothing. Kids, lesson no 150 – Never let tour operators dictate the term.
The boat ride was pretty rough to say the least. We decided to go on the speedboat which took just over 2 hours. I really felt sorry for Delphine considering that the first person threw up on the boat within 10 minutes of the boat ride and it was floating quite close to her.... She gets seasick anyway, but when someone else was throwing up together with lack of sleep, put it this way, she looked like a green-faced alien not too long after we hit the high sea. :(
As it was hot and humid, I almost felt sick myself. I had to go outside to take some air. I didn't realise how beautiful the view was from the outside else I would have been out the whole time. The water was pristine and you can see different islands over the horizon. I was still glad that we made it off the boat....alive!
We walked around trying to get the best deal for accommodation. After about 45 minutes of walking and searching, we both gave up. We went to a place that was kinda nice in front of the beach for RP200k (A$25). This was super expensive for Indonesia. And....wait....AND....the hotel comes with a shower and bathroom. Wait.....with salt water. It was the most hilarious thing. I asked the manger where did the water come from and he said from the well down the back.....which most likely came straight from the sea. Right....
The walk along the beach was stunning with clear blue water and coral just right in front of you. We went for a nice walk around the island and only stopped by for a Sangria and some tapas. Who could imagine sangria and tapas on Gili T???
We also went for a snorkel in the afternoon where we saw green turtles and of course fish and coral. It was really cool as I never swum with turtles before. And I loved how graceful they were in the water.
We spent a couple of relaxing days just going for nice walks around the island, snorkelling boat trips around different islands, eating gourmet food and drinking exotic cocktails on the beach. Life really couldn't get better.
As Delphine was there only for 5 days, we wanted to have some luxury as well. And have some fresh water would be nice. On our third day we decided to move to a nice hotel. It cost us around A$100 for the room. It was HUGE. And probably the best hotel room I stayed in in my BOT. We had TV, mini fridge, HUGE bed, marbled floorboard, and freshwater shower!
I had the best sleep that night. Delphine also did a couple of diving tours around the island. I was allowed to tag along and did some snorkelling myself. It was fun except snorkelling by yourself when you can't any coral underneath because it was too deep was not fun. The current was strong and I was a little scared by it. At one stage the boat was hundreds of metres away and I was very close from just trying to swim ashore myself and walk back to the hotel.
Needless to say we pretty much partied every night when we were there. Eating, drinking, dancing, the whole she bang. What happens when the tide goes down and the beach becomes full of dead corals? No worries, ate/drank at the hotel swimming pool! Talking about living the high life!
After 4 most relaxing days in Gili, we finally went back to Bali. This was where Delphine and I sadly said goodbye. Wait, did I mention any shenanigans that happened on the island???
Ubub, Bali
This was my very last spot in my BOT. Yes, the peaceful, quiet cultural centre of Bali – Ubud. I walked around miles with these 2 other backpackers to look for homestays. We eventually found a place that has just got 1 room for 3 of us. I volunteered to sleep on the floor. Afterall, if I could sleep on the floor of airports, benches in bus stations, I can pretty much crash anywhere now.....especially with a mattress!
The place I stayed in was in a traditional Balinese home with ponds, fishes, women constantly cleaning the floor with brooms. It was definitely a different pace of life in Ubud.
The next day I met my friend Ila (my next door neighbour) from NYC. She was travelling by herself and we got along like peas and carrots. We visited the Monkey Forest Sanctuary where there were heaps of nasty snarling monkeys. I am seriously not sure why it's such a Tourist site. I also had the opportunity to enter an Indian temple where they had a religious ceremony on. It was need to say an entertainment for foreigners with drums, gongs etc.
We also went for a long walk through rice fields into green hills etc. That was really different as we could not hear any cars, traffic, nor people talking. It was a blessing to find a place like that in Bali. There were actually a couple of art galleries in the artists' houses which we visited. It was a huge contrast between the busy Bali that I visited to this quiet paradise where people were relaxed and courteous....
I also attended a Balinese traditional dance that night. It was ok. For me I probably wouldn't go and see it again ever. A lot of head bobbing and handshaking movements. I don't think I am very uncultural, but the dancing seriously wasn't exactly too exciting.
During my stay I also visited the Ubud Palace where the royal family lives. Again, nothing too exciting here.
The Balinese massage was awesome but. It cost me something like $5 for 1 hour for full body massage. And full body it was! I mean, it was relaxing and everything but it was also very sensual that I had to strip all the way down to my underwear and the lady massaged my buttocks and my inner thighs etc. I was pretty embarrassed by it. Whilst I was enjoying the massage, as my big toe nail has mostly come apart (injury from mountain climbing in South America), when she was massaging my toes, she accidentally pulled my big toe and went all the way to the nail......not fun!
Just as things were heating up between Ila and I, I happened to check my email to confirm my flight time. I booked the flight about 6 months ago in February and it was a midnight flight of the 29th of July.
When I double-checked the time on Virgin Blue's website, I realised that it was for the night of 28th/29th nor the 29th/30th......Needless to say, I panicked, called my mother straight away to tell her that I was coming home that night and would see her in the morning!
As I planned dinner with Ila and hanging out with her the whole day the next day, I seriously considered staying in Bali for extra few days to see how things go.
We went out to a nice place for dinner on our last night together. The mood was heavy and uncomfortable. She asked me to stay with her and delay the flight for a few days. I did not what to say.....I mean, it would be extra $300-400 for me for extra 2-3 nights. What would people do???? It was such a test to see whether I was a romantic!!! And I.....failed.....
It was a rushed finish to my 18 months trip overseas. However, I did not even miss one flight the whole time and would not let this one slide! And didn't think it was healthy to cough up $300-400 for a couple of days with someone I just met.
It was raining hard when I was leaving Bali. I felt like it was the universe telling me that I should stay or weeping for me to mark the end of my long trip and returning home....Regardless, it was time to go home whether it was then or 2 more days later....
Arriving in Australia was so weird. I was so excited when I landed and was also petrified. I didn't know what to expect and didn't know whether things would ever be the same again....
As I caught the train back to the Gold Coast from the airport, looking at the bluesky and the buildings passing by, sense of nostalgia hit me. I realised that I was happy to be home, but I really want to be out there exploring and seeing the world. Maybe....just maybe....another adventure is in the pipeline....
The last 18 months have been nothing but extraordinary for me. I have experienced so much as a person. I have seen some of the poorest people in the world. Have conquered many challenges that I didn't think was possible. Met some awesome people and became friends with them that I didn't think I would. Expanded my horizons so much that my views toward life and the world is so much more liberal and broad that it even amazes me now.
It was a trip that I desperately needed to get away from the mundane of the world, of my old life. This marks the end of that chapter of my life. I am sad but looking forward to the next chapter of my life here in Australia.
Paul Chiu. 2010.
8 months later – Brisbane, Australia
I am here writing 8 months after the end of my trip. It's crazy to read through some of the stories that I experienced. Where am I right now? I am employed – back to Banking....I didn't think it was possible....and living in Herston and single.
I turned 30 and that marked a huge milstone for me in my life.
I ended things with Ila after a few months of internet “dating”. I went over to NYC to visit her in February '11 and realised that I could not do it no more. It was way too difficult and Alyssa was right – how could we survive being everything the opposite.
I still miss travelling so much. Settling down in Brisbane has however changed me....for the worse. I feel that I am becoming the old me again. Making judgmental jokes and being an idiot when I roam around town on Friday nights etc. I am slightly disappointed.
I am hoping that I will be in London next year to start a new career and new chapter of my life....will wait and see.
Naomi and I are no more. We considered returning together, but it was just not meant to be for her.
Am still trying to love life, but at times it's really difficult! A lot of pressure in the real world and sometimes it's difficult to handle. Luckily I still have these amazing stories to read when I am bit down... :)
Paul Chiu.
May 2011.
