Meenzer's Travel Blogs

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Patara, Antalya, Turkey

We left our hotel this morning and headed to the bus
station, Otogar (otojar) to board a small, old and rusted mini bus to Patarra.  AS our little itsy bitsy bus crammed with
Turkish laborers and fishermen turned the muddy road to the left, I kept
thinking, "Oh this can't be Patara...they said scruffy in the guide book but they
didn't say Appalachia."  After
rattling along steep mountain roads in driving rain, the windows fogging every
5 minutes, the banter among the men petered out with each one straining to look
out the foggy front window to see if any new boulders had come down off the
mountain. Our left turn down the m
uddy trail was alas the way into Patara. Not quite sure at this point how we're getting out.  No matter.  The Golden Pension is lovely, if deserted.  Something out of a Stephen King novel -
a big wrap around porch and one long central (dark) hallway with rooms on
either side.  After settling in, we
went to the porch for a kahve (coffee) and chatted with the young man in
charge.  We played a little tavla
(backgammon) and then deicded to see what the town had to offer. Patara is 3 KM from the only white sand
beach in Turkey - Patara Beach. 
And this was the only day since we've been here that it rained.  Rained rained rained...never really let
up. We asked our young man which way to head.  He gestured left and so we headed out up the road.  Along the way we noticed that we had
picked up 2 dogs - one white and black female and one black male.  We first happened upon trees cut up and
strewn across the roadway. We had heard that there was a big fire in this region
and we figured that these were the remnants of that wreckage. To the right was
more wreckage-this time in the form of an ancienct temple.  300 BC?  500 BC.  The
guide books are thin about this area and there are no signs and noone seems to
know.  We poked around a bit and
kept walking.  The rain increased.  My tennis shoes began to squeak. The
dogs loped on.  We arrived after 1
KM at a guard post.  They wanted to
charge us to go into the next patch of road where the ruins are and where the
beach is. At this point, we hadn't eaten and in my mind's eye, I could see a
beach front strewn with arcades and hot dog stands, souveneir shacks and the
like. It was only 5 YTL so we said
yes.  Over the next 2.5 KM we
passed ruin upon ruin. Old baths,
a triumphal gate (not so triumphant in the grey rain), the remains of some
temples and two theatres - one small and one magnificent.  Off-Bway and Bway.  Hugo said The Met and City Opera.  This was a city.  A fairly major one. In ancient times,
the harbor came much further in but over the years, it silted up until it was
useless by medieval times,.  St.
Nicholas of Santa Claus fame was born here in the 4th century.  He grew up and became bishop of Demre
which is just up the road.  The
ruins were in terrible shape. Here and there you could see the frantic attempts
of some graduate student in archeology - numbers written on stones, columns
lined up in some kind of order.  We
passed one.  The rain continued.  Our 2 friends ran ahead, circled back
and then chased a couple of rams and were lost for a bit. Finally, as my shoes
becamse really soggy and just as I was beginning to doubt the whole day we saw
a sign that said, Parking lot ahead. 
Then a sign said welcome to Patara Beach.  There was a long boardwalk between pine trees and some
shacks and then the white sand and the ocean.  No one in sight. 
Nothing open.  As we came to
the end of the boardwalk and could see fully the layout - we noticed another
couple of huts off to the left. 
There were 2 scary thuggish-looking guys smoking under the thatched canopy of the a beach cabana as we approached and took refuge under the leaking grass
roofs.  They said they were open. We asked if we could have something and they said, "like beer?"  I said, maybe that or a soda or some
chips.  He said, "Chips?  Maybe a hamburger?"  You don't know how good that sounded to us at the moment.  The only store
in town had been closed when we walked by.  The boy at our pension had fried up a fish for someone when
were arriving but it looked and smelled awful. I had despaired of ever eating
again.  Our two dog friends would
fight over our dead bodies - but now, here was salvation - chips and a
burger.  We came into the little
hut. There was a picnic table strewn with newspapers and 2 glasses of
half-finished milky raki.  A plate
of fish bones.  They sat us down  and fed us our first hot meal of the day.  We hung around the shack watching Turkish videos on T.V. - we talked a little bit about American politics and the election (they all seem to know about American politics).  We headed back to our pension in the rain.  We collected 2 more dogs for the walk home and carefully handed out bones and scraps in such a way to minimize fighting.  We got back and after a few games of Tavla, had a little chicken casserole made by Aydin and then went to bed.  

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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Wednesday
We got the overnight greyhound from Melbourne which took 13 hours and it was torture - Fuller i forgot the goon policy! We arrived in Sydney at 8am and made our way to Base hostel on Kent St. We couldn't checkin until 10am so we flaked outr on the couches till then. Spent the rest of the day recovering from exhaustion. That night we met up with Tamlyn from the Whitsundays tour and we went to a table quiz in Kiribilli notrth of the Harbour bridge. That too was good fun.
Thursday
Back on form again we headed for a day trip to the Blue mountains, all the tours were booked up so we decided to do it by ourselves and get the train there.
On our way we rang Laura to catch up , thanks McEneaney for the tips on the tea and scones shop in Leura - we found it and enjoyed!
The blue mountains trip was really mice and there are great views. I'll attach photos soon.
That night we returned to Sydney and were too shattered to do anything.
Friday
We got up warly and headed for Palm beach where they shoot Home and Away. We saw the surf club and the beach but they were not casting at that time so no sign of any of the actors. We were in a rush back to Sydney though as the bus service is a bit like Dublin Bus - not really on time and we were to meet Sarah's cousin Rebecca at 5pm in North Sydney (and McGarrigle had to wash the hair etc. etc.) Anyhow we made it to north Sydney with a minute to spare and after a few moments scanning the train station found Rebecca who we had no idea what she looked like before meeting her but she was looking out for two pasty Irish people!
We went for dinner in a lovely Asian restaurant across ther road from her apartment which is also really nice and then called into one of the locals in the area. We had a great night but it had to be cut short due to us having to get an early flight to Perth and Rebecca being a bit under the weather from the night before.

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

apologies if this is an appaling blog but i've lost the ability again!

right so hue. so we get there in the early hours of tuesday october 28, after an horrendous sleeper bus journey from ninh binh - our first - during which we'd thought we'd been lucky to escape everyone by choosing to sleep at the very back of the bus, in the more claustophobic 'bottom' compartment, but now, in hindsight, i really don't think it matters where you choose to park your behind on those buses because you aint getting much sleep, of any quality at any rate, on any one of them! anyway, so at about 6am, we arrive in hue, half asleep, grouchy and with a bad neck! it's raining and i'm thinking maybe we should just hide under the covers and go onto hoi an, where we're told it's not raining and a far superior stop! nevertheless, we start picking up our bags to get off and, before we've even had time to get our shoes on, get swarmed by touts, who have actually made their way onto the bus! i mean give me a break! we've only just woken up and already we're being hassled! anyway, after a few minutes of battling to get off the bus, we finally make it out into the rain, where we now have to struggle to locate our bags in the 'hold' of the bus while contending with the still persistent touts. well, in the end, we manage to find them and dig them out from underneath everyone elses and 'yank' them out and are on our way out of the rain, now plummeting it down, to get out the lonely planet and try our damndest to find this blasted hotel, all the while being screamed at by touts telling us to 'come with me please', which i hate because aint no-one ordering any of us around at 6am! after a short while being unable to locate where the bus has actually dropped us, so not knowing where our hotel might be, we decide to go with a friendly tout, who shortly after indirectly takes us to the hotel we'd wanted all along! after not having to lug our bags anywhere because this thai binh gaff (!) has a lazy lift, we check in and go for breakfast, literally opposite, at the renowned cafe on thu wheels cafe, where we are almost automatically accosted by thu herself, who starts reeling off all this london slang to us - two fat ladies, lubbly jubbly etc etc! anyway so taken in by her cocky rhyming slang and the fact that she keeps telling us not to trust any touts or ANYONE outside, we give her a chance and go in for something to eat, where once inside she starts telling us all about her famous bike tours and showing us her book of recommendations from all and sundry! a handy tool for any business person! now all i'm saying is that this woman was a character and a good sales woman at that because within an hour of us going back to the room to mull over our options, and despite sean now being a big fan of renting a bike and hitting the road, we were back saying yes to one of her tours! i mean the fact that hue isn't the easiest place to navigate, and that every sight we wanted to see was outside of town, and that by now it was absolutely pissing it down outside, all definitely worked in her favour; as well as the fact that, in hindsight, she was right and the tour was bloody good! anyway, after getting ourselves kitted up in my good poncho, similar to the ones they wear out here, and sean's bad rain jacket, we were back at thu's and ready to jump onto the back of a bike to tour hue! an odd sight seeing sean hold onto someone, on the back of a bike, seeing as i'd gotten so used to seeing him 'behind the wheel'! anyway, after a little swerving around plenty of traffic, holding on for dear life, we were dropped off at the city citadel, where we were given time to walk around the complex, as best we could as the place was clearly flooded. nevertheless, despite some backing away from going around, we decided to make the most and see as much as we could, including where the 'big dude' who lived there once kept all his concubines! bloody men! after about an hour of difficult exploration, and even more difficulty trying to get our cameras out to take photos without getting them totally destroyed by the rain, we decided to head back to the bikes, but not before sean ducked into a souvenier shop to get himself something that would actually work and keep him dry, seeing as already he looked like he'd been through the wash! after the citadel, the guys drove us onto the thien mu pagoda, which we were told has been rebuilt any number of times following torrential rain and storms. here was also where we got to see the remains of the car belonging to thich quang duc, the monk who set himself on fire to protest against the local regimes. now i don't know too much about the history, but i know the photo and have now seen the car, and it's a pretty awesome thing to do, to burn yourself for something you believe in that strongly. i mean it takes a pretty brave, or stupid, person to burn themselves for a cause. i can't see that many people doing that much for anything these days. i guess that's because we're all so damned selfish these days! anyway, after the pagoda, we got back on the bikes and were driven through town, through yet more swarms of traffic, through more rain and deeper puddles - one of which fully drowned me after a car raced through it covering our bike - until we got up to a clearing on a hill where a group of bunkers sat. here our guide told us about how following the war, the vietcong, pissed with the south vietnamese supporting the american side, took hundreds of south vietnamese down to these bunkers, which had once protected them during the war, and buried them alive. all i'm saying is that that war was f*cked, and after so much that we've now seen (remember it's now november 20), i'm not sure how easy it is to decide which side any of us would choose to be on say if a sequel happened! anyway, after more difficulty taking shots of the hill and the bunkers and the river, the bikes took us onto to tu duc's tomb, a magnificient figure with wives and hussy mistresses (!) and a massive residence. maybe a tiny sized man though because all the statues around seemed really small, perhaps to make him seem bigger! following the tomb and complex, which was stunning with a winding river and fir trees and chinese inspired buildings and shrines, and even more so with less people around brought about by the terrible weather, the guys took us onto our last stop, the tu hieu pagoda. here, we were able to stop and watch some buddhist monks as they began to 'throw' a ceremony. here our guide explained to us why there are fewer monks in vietnam. he said that those who decide to join a temple do so for life, as opposed to the few weeks, months, or years that many choose to do in laos, for example. so if a boy of 12 decides they want to see what the buddhist life is all about, rather than simply taking to it for a few weeks as a kind of fad as they might in laos, in vietnam it's like getting married without the option of divorce. you're in it for life buster! no easy get out clause! afterward, our guys drove us back to thu's, before zipping off, without even giving us the option of giving them a tip, which sucked because they deserved one especially in the weather they'd just driven us through.

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Fiordland, South Island, New Zealand

Kia Ora,

mein siebter Great Walk in Neuseeland ist der Routeburn Track. Der Routeburn Track ist ein sehr alter Trek, hier wurden Touristen schon 10 Jahre vor dem Milford Trek entlanggefuehrt (im 19 Jahrhundert). Auch heute gibt es hier Guided Walks und da der Trek an The Divide, dem niedrigsten Pass in den Alpen und auf der Milford Strasse gelegen, beginnt, gibt es auch viele Tagesausfluegler.

Diese wandern hinauf zum Key Summit, nicht ganz 1000m hoch. Wie man auf den Photos sieht, war das Wetter aber nicht gerade blendend. Der Trek ist nicht sehr lang, knapp 40km, es gibt vier Huetten, aber die meisten Wanderer gehen den Trek in drei Tagen und zwei Naechten. Am ersten Tag wandert man hauptsaechlich durch Wald (mit Ausnahme des Key Summit), man sieht einige Wasserfaelle, unter anderem die Earland Wasserfaelle, die recht beeindrucken sind (und wo man gut nass wird durch die Gischt:-).

Die erste Nacht verbringen die meisten Tramper, die von The Divide kommen, am Lake McKenzie, knapp unter der Baumgrenze gelegen an einem See in einem Hochtal. Dort gibt es zwei Huetten (eine fuer die Guided Tramper) und auch einen Zeltplatz. Auf diesem Tramp hatte ich beschlossen zu zelten. War trotz der Wolken ja auch schoen trocken...

Nun, nachdem ich mir noch den Gespaltenen Felsen angeschaut hatte, begann es dann doch zu regnen... Mein Zelt ist natuerlich wasserdicht, aber besonders viel Spass habe ich nicht, wenn mein Zelt nass ist wenn ich es in den Rucksack packe. Der Zeltplatz war erstaunlich voll, aber man zahlt auch nur 15NZD statt 45NZD wenn man zeltet (der Hut Warden hat aber auch den Zeltplatz kontrolliert, trotz des Regens...).

Gruss
Ralf

P.S.
The size of the wild kea population is estimated at less than 5000 birds.

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Another hot and sunny day to start with. been to the Royal Palace and seen the Silver Pagoda - stunning buildings and beautiful carvings and peaceful atmosphere which was in stark contrast to the afternoon.

Tuc tuc to the former khmer rouge prison S-21 after lunch, and the somber exhibition with prisoners' photographs were very depressing. the prison was previously a high school with a playground in front - the sort of grey colour and damp ish building represented the story well. off to the killing fields south of Phnom Penh wandering was very difficult to imagine the inhumanity of the actions that took place there with sound of school children in the background - but the monument with the skulls of many of the victims was heart wrenching.

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chaolong, Guangxi Zhuang, China

I did some last minute haggling with Luke in Yangshou in the morning....typical bloke needed trousers and a woman to sort it out : o ) it was easier getting a better price when its for someone else.
In the aftertnoon we picked up our bikes....hmmm not exactly state of the art, more like state of the ark. Mine had no gears, which turned out to be an advantage as the ones with the 27 gears only worked in high or low and nothing in between. We did some very serious off road stuff on narrow paths with loose stones and crossed a river to get into the "real" China that most of us came to see. We had an amazing lunch in a village, having worked up an appetite we scoffed everything, even the tofu, the fav dish was the roasted pumpkin. We called in on a local school called Hope School, its named beacuase it is a "free school" built from charity for the poorer village kids to give them hope for the future. They have to walk a couple of hours each day to get there. We arrived at morning break and they came out , lined up and started to do their exercises to music.....Bri joined in at the back, much to the kids amusement at the funny white man. Mable

What a fab day, mountain biking in rural China, great weather, Andy falling off into a river and Mac joining in with the kids doing their keep fit.  His natural rhythm really kicked in and they appeared to love it.

The Outside In Lodge was great but got chiily in the evening AND not all the showers worked,,,, ours did and we rented it out, to date Kristina has not paid us! Food was great including breakfast (in fact the best so far) and beer cheap.

This was the real China, rice field, ox pulling ploughs, suicidal chickens and  rabid dogs.  Do this trip it was FANTASTIC.

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Sidi Ifni, Morocco

My intention for today was to get to Tiznit, a southern Berber town known for its silver jewelry, but by the time my bus from Essouira made it to Inezgane, the last bus to Tiznit has already left. And since today is Independence Day here, getting a service taxi to this surprisngly popular destination was litteraly impossible. So on the spur of the moment, I decided to join a service taxi to Sidi Ifni instead, a beach town in Southern Morocco that used to be part of Spain untill 1969.

This time I shared the front seat with a very energetic and very old man, dressed in a traditional bright blue jelaba and a black head scarf. I was wondering why I found it enjoyable to cozy up with this grandpa, who at times used the upper lip of my pelvis as an arm rest, placed his palm on my knee, and for part of the way, even slept on my shoulder. If I wanted, I could have paid double the price (which would have been only $10 alltogether) and get the front seat to myself, but I truly preferred to have this authentic experience, riding a cab the Moroccon way.

I realized that in the past I have found similar experiences irritating only because I made it mean that I was not good enough, not being able to afford my own seat, or feeling cheated. This time, intending on being peaceful, generous and humble, I delighted in the intimacy of sharing a space with another being.

Once again I find that everything is a matter of perspective, and I'm happy I keep choosing to see my reality from a brighter point of view.

"If you are facing the sun, you don't see the shaddows", right?

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Monsanto, Malawi

It has been nearly a week but our journey is complete the greeting by the villagers is something that cannot be described by words. We are so unworthy have witnessed such a outpouring of thanksgiving for something that is not yet complete, and that we have played such a little part in.

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Siem Reap, Cambodia

Everyone who comes to Siem Reap comes here for one reason; Angkor Wat and all the surrounding temples. And so we were here, doing the same. The temples are a real lifeline for Cambodia and pull in about 2 million foreign tourists a year, bringing in a lot of cash and creating a lot of work. As was the case with Agra, home to the Taj Mahal, the tourist crowd was very different here; a lot of very pricey hotels, a lot of older, wealthier folk; not just the backpackers.

There's really not that much point in describing all the temples, and impressive thought they are they start to blend into one at the end of the day. At least for an uncultured idiot such as myself. They all date from between 11th and 16th century, and many of them are still in pretty good nick. The central area just outside Siem Reap is about 10km by 8km and home to about 50-60 temples. More temples are found outside this area, extending for some 40km. Maybe more. It's a lot of temples, it really is.

We were given a booklet at the hotel with selected itineraries of which temples to see, so decided to stick to it. We saw about five before finishing at Angkor Wat, the biggie, for sunset - like the booklet said. To be honest, I thought it less impressive than some of the others we saw today, but then what do I know?

Angkor Wat is big business. As a result, lots of things are named after it, from pubs to hotels to other tourist type things. One of the two most popular beers here is called Angkor. Its pronounced as you would say "anchor". This is a problem, as the other one of the two most popular beers is called Anchor. This is, predictably, pronounced as you would say "anchor". Either one was just trying to steal the other's market share (in which case, good job) or someone needs sacking.

So sad that after a day of seeing the temples of Angkor this is what I bring home.

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Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

The original plan was to have just one day in JoBerg, having arrived just over 24 hours late we missed our flight to Lilongwe and the next flight was not for another two days.  We put the time to good use, filling up on more food then we should, and taking a day trip into a national park, It was a bit more like a zoo with most of these animals having been born into captivity and were feed game to keep the hunting drive down.  Still seeing lions in Africa beats what ever esle we could be doing back home.  Another good nights sleep, almost adjusted to the time and then it is off to Malawi.

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

After a 6 hour bus trip and no incident at the border e-visa worked well we arrived in a very hot and sunny :> Phnom Penh. Mo was not impressed with my choice of hotel - so a Tuc Tuc later we arrived at a very decnt hotel located on the river front. Leave Mo to find hotels in future LOL.

Enough time in the evening to take in the Natioal Museum which has certainly wetted the appitite for Ankor Wat.

A new beer to try "Ankor Beer" and a very good Khmer curry.

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Lilongwe, Malawi

Our number one task for Lilongwe, was to get our money to pay for the well in Monsanto.  In order to get the money into the country we tried to deal directly with sending it to a local bank.  Upon arrival we learn that American bank has never heard of the Malawian bank, that was reassuring. Plan B Western Union, they really are everywhere.  Walk in no problem, cut to front of the line of people who work all week and get a minuscule little wad of bills to make it through, great, secret code is approved and don't I feel like I know what I am doing.  I should have realized something was wrong when I saw the cart.  Now having more money then can comfortably carried sounds like one of the better problems to have, it is non the less rather unnerving out there all alone.  But at least I can say that I have brought a bank to a complete standstill, you could hear a pin drop.  I barrow Lucky's bag and it is just large big enough to walk out of the bank with every pair of eyes fallowing me.

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Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The motorbike ride in the morning was fantastic. I think all of us (okay maybe not all of us) wanted it to go on for longer. It did help that it was still early and traffic was light. Each driver grabbed a piece of luggage, stuffed it between his legs and then pulled one of us onto the back of the bike. My driver made me hold still while he strapped the helmet on and away we went. Once I got the hang of it, I managed to pull out my camera (look mom, no hands!) and start taking pictures of the others on their bikes. Vicky took pictures the entire time which makes it for a fun adventure. And then, all too soon it our harrowing ride (not really) was over and we were at the docks for our ferry - which proved to be surprisingly small, especially once it was filled with tourists from England and Germany. It may have been a slightly more pleasant four-hour ride if the German man had showered or washed his clothes sometime in the past week but really, who needs to wash?

The guide on the boat with us helped make the crossing into Cambodia extremely easy and as we stepped back onto the ferry with a new stamp in our passports, we were ready to go! Of course the entire ferry ride took almost five hours so we had a while before we really could go. Once we stepped off the ferry and locked our luggage up in the ferry company's office, we managed somehow to shake the crowd of taxi drivers and tuk-tuk drivers and settled down for lunch. The sign said the "Green Vespa" which sounds like it could be a fantastic welcome to Cambodian food. In fact I remembered seeing it in the guidebook so we walked in sat down - and proceeded to order British food since we had found ourselves in a British Pub. The good news is that it was a nice break from various types of fish and noodle bowls - although somehow I still ordered fish and chips which wasn't a complete departure. The happiest though was Katherine, who settled into a cottage pie and for the first time since we started our trip - she had a meal she could enjoy. I think she is the one who is the happiest with Cambodian food.

From the restaurant, we only had a few hours before our flight so we decided that since we were here we should be good global citizens and see the Killing Fields, rather than regret it later in life. The cab driver told us about the government and life in Cambodia as we first drove past the impressive Silver Palace, the French area and many government buildings. Then we drove through the poorer parts where more of the people live. The disparity between the wealthy and the poor in this country is wide. When we arrived at the Killing Fields, we picked up a guide who started describing the grounds to us. In front of the memorial filled with 17 levels of victim's skulls and clothes, he described how they were killed. From under the canopy of trees, he talked about how bones continue to be found. Pointing down there were a few teeth, clothing and splintered bones sticking out from under the dirt. "It rained here last night - there's always more bones that appear when it rains. Not everything has been excavated." His eyes were surprisingly emotionless as he explained what happened to his people - and the cruel acts that were committed by the same people.

On the way to the airport, our driver told us how the country is filled with people who have no family because so many were seperated during that time. It was a very hard thing to go through but in a different way than the war museum. The war museum in Vietnam had been emotionally difficult because of the conflict of being American and seeing it through the eyes of photographers from around the world in the country where it happened. We had a big part of it. The Killing Fields was just horrific in that there was no real reason - only human nature at its worst.

Brushing that off we were early to get to the airport and couldn't check in so we found ourselves sitting in the cafe/ Dairy Queen playing Yahtzee and waiting for turns to use the Internet. The flight itself to Siem Reap was short and happily uneventful. Siem Reap is our resting point for the next few days. We're all excited to see the legendary temples of Angkor Watt as well as just a day to relax and play for the first time in days. Oh, and not getting on a bicycle will be nice too (even though that part of the trip was fantastic if I may say so myself). :-) That's it for now - until next time, enjoy!

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Siem Reap, Cambodia

The minibus was due to pick us up to take us to the bus to Siem Reap at 12 noon. It was forty minutes late but we were relieved to see it arrive at all. We got to the bus, a "two-storey luxury coach" to fins that it was, to our surprise, the same bus as they'd shown photos of when we bought the tickets. Only the pictures had probably been taken some twenty years previous. It was banged up and dented on the outside, and had duct tape covering large cracks on the windscreen. But it was comfortable and only about half full. I managed to get the seat next to the emergency exit, so had about two metres of leg room.

We left at 1pm. The bus went at a good speed and it was a comfortable ride, especially considering the general condition of Cambodia's roads. The only downside was the six or so TVs in the bus playing what looked like Cambodia's answer to The Chuckle Brothers for pretty much the whole trip, with the sound coming irritatingly loud through the bus's speakers. But other than this it was fine, and I even managed to catch up with some of this blog.

In fact we arrived 30 minutes EARLY. Unheard of. We checked into the hotel we'd booked (now that Catherine's mum's with us we've made sure that everything's booked in advance, nothing is left to chance) and headed to its restaurant on the top floor, where we had probably the best Indian meal we've ever had outside India.