Porto

I think Hugo and I decided Oporto was our favourite city before we even got off the train. We got lost finding our hostel but were pretty indifferent to the situation as this city is truly phenomenal. Set on steep banks on either side of the river, old churches stand tall between the many houses that seem to fight for space. I think the combination of Lisboa and Oporto now make Portugal my favourite country...for the moment anyway. I'll write more at a later date but for now it is time for aimless-getting-lost-in-the-streets time.

Madrid

After a two and a half hour train ride in comparative luxury to my travels so far, Hugo and I arrived at Atocha train station in central Madrid. Unbeknownst to me, this station was the site of the 2004 Madrid terrorist attacks. We were also in a pleasant mood as our commute from Sevilla to Madrid was, compared to the Faro debacle, close to perfection. We arrived at Mad Hostel, located right in the heart of central Madrid.

As per my new regime upon arriving in a new city, Hugo and I put a few hours aside to aimlessy wander the many streets of the Spanish capital. As I quickly realised, I had no preconceptions of Madrid and I soaked up the sights and sounds as the city flaunted its beauty. I soon discovered that Madrid is also reknowned for its nightlife, and so it was time for Hugo and I to head off to the supermercado to stock up on, you guessed it, cheap vino tinto.

We were able to rendevous with John Citizen (Connor, who at the time was identity-less, for want of a better word) and head off to an Irish pub to watch Australia play Serbia in the world cup. It was an interesting experience as Germany vs Ghana clearly had preference. As a result, of the pub's 10 TV's, 2 played the Australia game. We had to deal with the commentary of the German game as well as a pub full of Germans. Our little Australian trio was able to make more noise when goals were scored in our game than the German contingent of at least 40. I was impressed. This also made for a nail-biting scenario due to goal difference, as both games were played out in front of us and we were rooting for Germany just as much as Australia.

After the game and the temporary disappointment, it was time for a few games of cards and some wine. Hugo and I headed out to Commo, a local club that charged 5 euro for an open bar of beer and Sangria from 10.30 till 1. This made for a long night and one that, for the most part, I don't really remember. Hugo spent the majority of the night ordering a Spanish girl to teach him Spanish, only to respond to her phrases with "Lo siento, no intiendo" (meaning "I'm sorry, I don't understand.") One step forward, two steps back eh Hugo?

Another surprising thing about Madrid for me was the heat. Our first two days were high 30s reaching 40 degrees at its peak. I could hardly believe it, as compared to the humid heat of SE Asia, the dry heat here makes it seem at least 5 degrees cooler. It was also a great day for laundry, as we discovered.

This morning Hugo and I decide to surrender to the tourist image and take part in a free walking tour. It was well worth the effort, as I indulged again in my interest in history and learnt copious amounts about the tumultuous history of Spain. We were taken to the nooks and crannies of the city, saw the oldest restaurant in the world, tried some of the cookies the nuns from Madrid are famous for and also saw some amazing buildings. The Bank of Spain is "apparently" (I'm not so sure) the most expensive building in the world. We were told that it is made from the most expensive marble in the world, all cut in Italy and shipped to Spain to complete the jigsaw. Expensive or not, it was a truly magnificent sight.

After the walking tour, Hugo and I headed to the train station to book our next train to Oporto in Northern Portugal. We had some unexpected entertainment on the metro. Three seperate groups of buskers armed with amps, guitars and harmonicas bombarded the carriage with music for the whole 20 minute trip. I could hardly contain my amusement, while nearly everyone else on board seemed completely indifferent. The music wasn't too bad either. Due to our initial experience with Eurail in Sevilla, Hugo and I were optimistic. 90 minutes later, and a lot of hating on people (subtlely of course), we finally got to the ticket booth. Our deadline was 4pm, the start of the Brazil-Portugal game. Our broken Spanish seemed to work well, and we had our ticket within minutes. Now to perfect the art of running-through-a-train-station-without-hitting-anyone-but-still-making-the-metro-back-to-the-Irish-pub-in-time. I suceeded and was about to leap through the doors of the train only to turn around and see Hugo almost bowl over an old lady. Luckily he didn't, we only missed 10 minutes, and no one scored anyway so what was the rush?

I also noticed while at the train station that along with the air traffic controller strikes in France, there are also a whole lot of strikes on the trains in Spain leading to cancellations. Fingers crossed that our train tomorrow won't be! I can hardly describe how keen I am to get on a surfboard again. Travelling is obviously a great distraction, but it has gotten to the point of craving. I calculated that this is by far the longest I have gone without surfing since I began the addiction at least 7 years ago. I won't be surprised if I make noises similar to an excited 5 year old girl when I run down the beach for my first surf. Hugo seems to be equally excited.

This again means that we part ways with John Citizen, sorry, Connor. He flies to Marrakesh on Wednesday to meet up with the fellas for a trip to the Sahara. I concede that I am jealous of the boys, and will definately make a trip to Morocco when I have more time but for now the surf is calling...

I feel like the standard of my blogs is slipping, that they are becoming more vague. Maybe it just seems that way because I'm so tired or because I am comparing them to Dave's and Haz's. Either way I know that at least mum is enjoying them. (Thanks mum) This last part of the blog has been added after I discovered that the auto-save feature did kick in after the computer I was on shut down. I was crushed. I forgive you technology. I am writing this section after 3 hours sleep as we got home at 6, woke up at 9 in time to beat check out and get our 10 euro deposit back. Now Hugo and I have to wait till 10pm to get on our train to head to Oporto. (Bit of zig-zagging between Portugal and Spain I know) Don' t think I can muster any more words, so thanks for reading. Gracias.

Lisboa, Faro and Seville

LISBOA

The days we spent in Lisboa were a great start to my European experience. From what I have heard about other European cities, Lisboa seems like a good mediation between South-East Asia and Europe. After locating the supermarket, my next goal was to get a good feel of the city. I thoroughly enoyed simply getting lost in the meandering back alleys and laneways of the city. I believe that an experience as simple as this is one of the best ways to get a proper feel for the city, investigating its nooks and crannies seems to unlock the hidden secrets that you won’t find on the main tourist tract.

As day turned to night, we decided to investigate Barrito Alto, the main area for nightlife in Lisboa which also happened to be in very close proximity to our hostel. I can safely say it is the best place I have ever been out in. Barrito Alto consists of a series of laneways that create a maze-like compilation of bars and clubs. It is completely dead before 12 so we made sure to pace ourselves. After walking up and down a number of streets (which all look strikingly similar), we stumbled upon a Karaoke Bar. It was filled to the brim with Portuguese people singing a mixture of English and Portuguese songs. All six of us had had just enough to drink to agree that we would each sing one song – alone. I waiting anxiously for my name to be called, as did the others. Dave had chosen my song without prior consultation with me. The folllowing is a list of what we each sang:

Me – When You Say Nothing At All, Ronan Keating

Haz – All the Small Things, Blink 182

Dave – What’s my Age Again, Blink 182

Nic – Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice

Hugo – Californication, RHCP

Connor – Complicated, Avril Lavigne (maybe a little out of your vocal range, huh Con?)

The night was all in good fun and Hugo and I stayed out, in typical Portuguese fashion, until just before the sun came up.

The next day we headed up to Castelo de Sao Jorge, a castle perched on the highest hill in Lisbon which provides panoramic view of the red rooves of the city. I also enjoyed going inside the walls of the castle and after a while I found myself comparing European architecture to that of Asia - two vastly different styles. We returned home to cook lunch and I was overjoyed to hear that my bag had been returned, in one piece and nothing missing. Losing all my clothes let alone all the bits and pieces would have been an absolute nightmare.

The next few days in Lisboa were spent in similar fashion. We played football in a park one day with a couple of South African guys, played football on the beach another day (the water was freezing), payed regular visits to the supermarket and each night brought with it a few bottles of red and a visit to Barrito Alto. I think I can get used to the European way of life...

A NIGHT IN FARO

What a hectic 48 hours. I left Lisbon with the intention of heading to Morocco with Dave, Harry, Connor, Hugo and Nic. The following events led me to rethink my plans as I have a really limited time in Mainland Europe. We were meant to catch a bus to a place called Faro in southern Portugal at 10:30am, get another bus from Faro to Seville at 3.30pm, stay the night in Seville and head to Morocco via ferry. We missed the first bus. It must have been a sight to see 6 boys sprinting through metro stations with massive backpacks. Turns out we were 30 seconds late.

“Wait a second, doesn’t that say that a train goes to Faro in 4 minutes?”

“Why yes, it does”

We couldn’t believe our luck, and it was cheaper too!

After arriving in Faro and booking a ticket, Nic voiced his famous last words for the day: “I guess luck is on our side today” Turns out buses leave 5 minutes before the scheduled time of departure. Since we were already paying for a hostel in Seville, it was decided that we would have to sleep in a park of some sort. (plus the cheapest place in Faro that we could find was a hotel.) It was an interesting night. Our dinner consisted of stale bread, tinned beans and tomato sauce. “Can’t wait for breakfast to have it all again!” Luckily enough, due to Portugal’s football obsession and a strong affiliation with Brazil, we found a square with a big screen and a few hundred Brazilian fans who were eccentric to say the least. Adjacent to the screen was a mini football field in the middle of a park. We spent hours playing 5 on 5 with the very talented local kids who must have been half our size and age. This kept our minds off our less than pleasurable outlook for the night. Kids in Europe, as young as 2 or 3, seem to stay up to the early hours every night. I have no idea how, must be genetics? This meant we kept playing till about 1am.

I finally decided to face the fact that we were spending a night under the stars. We found an out of the way park, set up our sleeping bags and put our passports in our pockets ( a crucial mistake for Connor, who shed his trackpants as they were “weighing his bag down” simultaneously ridding himself of his passport...) We thought we’d scanned the area properly but apparently not. At 5.30am, after a surprisingly great sleep, I was awoken by some words that I won’t repeat. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, as I stared in curiousity at Nic who hobbled off with a sleeping bag, backpack and shoes in his arms. Soon after the all too familiar sound filled my ears. Spinklers. I too attempted the difficult task of carrying all my possessions away from the their grasp, while still in a post-awakened daze.

After ensuring that we all got to the bus station extra early (ironically our bus was 15 minutes late), we made the trip to Seville in Southern Spain. After sufficient rest, I was keen for a night out as Spain was playing a World Cup game and there also happened to be a series of stages set up throughout the city of Seville for a music festival of sorts – a bottle of red vinho costs 79 Euro cents so why not?

It was a fun night and everyone enjoyed the final night as a group of 6 for at least the next month or so.

Today Hugo and I took the opportunity to see some more of the city. I was surprised to discover the temperature was 36 degrees, as the difference between a European 36 degrees and a SE Asian 36 degrees is phenomenal. I once again indulged in my love of symmetry at the Plaza de Espana which was an amazing looking building that was unfortunately (similar to Angkor Wat), partly obscured by the horrible eyesore of a worksite. I know restoration is necessary to further enjoyment blah blah blah but I’m sick of going to places only to discover half the place is covered with scaffolding!

As I write this Nic, Haz and Dave should be on the ferry to Tangier, Morocco and Connor should be in Madrid reclaiming his identity. Hugo and I leave for Madrid tomorrow to spend a few days in the Spanish capital. Till my next entry, Hola!

Lisbon, Portugal

I thought I would just do a short blog to voice my first impressions of this city and also to keep the flow of posts running along nicely. After 36 hours of transit, I arrived in beautiful Lisbon (minus my bag and the addition of an infected toe). If this city is anything to go by, I certainly look forward to what Europe has to offer. Our first night in Lisbon also happens to be a reunion of sorts for some of the boys. Nic and Hugo have come from WWOOFing (working on organic farms) in France, Haz from four months in London and Con from back in Aus. Connor and Harry haven´t arrived yet as they are on a later flight from London. Soon after arriving we believe that we dispelled the myth that Europe is expensive for backpackers (well, Portugal at least). We managed to buy enough food to cook for 6 of us for 7 euro, a bottle of red wine for 0.79 euro and a six pack of beer for 3.40 euro. Who says that isn´t cheap?

My first impressions fulfilled and exceeded my expectations (as has been happening throughout all my travels). Who couldn't love a place where bread tastes so good and wine is so cheap?

I'll leave it at that, as I have to prepare myself for a big night as it is Hugo's birthday. I'll just have to hope that my bag turns up in the next day or two. Fingers crossed. Apologies for a seemingly vague blog, I just don't want the flow of updates to come to a standstill...

The End of Asia - and the days of a flashpacker

Our last full day in Asia. It is beyond weird to think that in two days (our transit is 36 hours - yay), we will be in Europe, more specifically Portugal. I realised yesterday that since we have been travelling, it has also been the longest time without a surf since I began surfing. I didn't take much notice at first but I think the time has come to get back on the board again - I think my body is hinting at it. Mine and Dave's excitement for Europe culminated while sitting in our rooms yesterday. We both opened our Lonely Planet - Europe on a shoestring books, and within minutes were hooting and doing all kinds of weird actions. I think the heat is finally getting to us.

As I last wrote, we had just spent our first night in the beautiful World Heritage city of Luang Prabang. Our intention was to stay three nights, we ended up staying six. This was due to a few contributing factors. Our hostel, the city itself, the vegetarian buffet at the night market and also the group of people we hung out with at our hostel (a group consisting of a French Canadian, two Americans, an ex-Russian army guy - craziest workouts ever, a German, two other Canadians, four Dutch guys and a handful of British.)

The hostel was run by a local guy named Shampoo, who had possibly the cutest daughter I have ever seen. Any time we said "Saibadee" she would mime the response coupled with a prayer sign. I think some of the girls at our hostel would have taken her with them if they could have. After a few days at the hostel, we felt like we were part of a weird extended family of sorts.

Our days in Luang Prabang reflected the Laos way of life - relaxed and laidback. There was nothing we HAD to do and no time constraints on anything (one of the many beauties of travelling.) One morning Shampoo suggested we go to a local fishing village and do some fishing and tubing - albeit very different to the Vang Vieng style of tubing. Shampoo was definitely sceptical of our fishing ability and as a result we bought enough fish for lunch at a local market on the way there. After unloading the tubes, we drove up the road in pouring rain (which hurts when you are on the back of a truck at 60km/h) while lunch was cooked. Due to the heavy rain, as we floated down the river we found a giant mud waterfall. I was really keen to get a photo underneath it, but I soon discovered that accompanying the mud were fist size rocks and to stand under it was asking to be knocked out.

The following few minutes involved a decent amount of panic on my behalf. I had my waterproof camera with me on the tube, and somehow I managed to drop it in the river - which of course due to the rain is completely brown. I scrambled off my tube and proceeded to shuffle my feet back up the river. Not only was it the loss of an expensive camera - it was also potentially the loss of every photo I took in SE Asia. Dave joined in and suddenly let out a weird noise suggesting he had found it - nope, that was my foot. All of a sudden I found it, catiously picked it up with my toes and counted myself lucky. I would have bought a lottery ticket if i could. And yes, as soon as I got back I backed up all the photos.

Lunch was delicious but it brought with it the first "man-challenge" of our trip - eating chillies. To the horror of one of Shampoo's crew, we downed our first chilli. "It's not so bad...wait a second, oh shit" Many tears later, it was time for number two. "It's not as bad this time...oh, yep, it is, oh man it's worse" As Shampoo would say, "Oh my Buddha!"

The following few days involved a lot of relaxing, a lot of vegetarian buffets and copious mango fruit shakes. It was a weird feeling when we finally left. On the morning, Shampoo laughed and said "Are you actually going today? Or are you staying another night again?" Unfortunately, we eventually had to leave, if we wanted any chance of getting to Europe. It was a strange feeling leaving, as I had developed a real attachment to the place. Apart from Kyoto, it was the place we stayed the longest. As I said farewell to Shampoo's staff at the bus station, I felt as if I was leaving something behind. I haven't had that feeling since Kyoto and it reflects my obvious affection for the place. I think Kyoto and Luang Prabang are my two favourite cities so far.

After a 12 hour journey through the mountains by bus, we arrived in the capital city of Laos, Vientiane. After a massive and ridiculously cheap Indian meal and (I think we are trying to have Indian in every country) and the opening World Cup game, it was time for sleep. The next morning in Vientiane was a weird experience. Upon the suggestion of a British family, we went to the water park. It was almost completely deserted but it meant no queues and we spent a few hours there - something I never expected to do in Vientiane.

That night we met two English people who we made a deal with. We would watch England vs US if they watched Australia play Germany. We found a funny English ex-pat bar called "Hare and Hound" and watched many a pom get unbelievably frustrated with their national team. Max informed me that "Every World Cup we hope will be different from the last, and every time it's the same"

Saying farewell to Asia is a hard thing to do. The people are so friendly and hospitable, and the burden on the budget is small. Someone suggested we should have gone the other way round the world, so Asia would be a relief after Europe. I'm racing the time I have left so this may sound rushed as the clock reads 1:13 left. I'm sure I can better reflect on Asia when I get to Europe. Till then, enjoy reading.

Statistics Update

Books I have read: 4
Different types of beer I have drank: 9
Nationalities I have met: Approx 40?
Countries visited: 4
Jokes made:1000
Bad jokes made:999
Modes of transport: Plane, Bike, Bus, Train, Boat, Tuk-tuk, Motorbike, Tube, Kayak
Weird delicacies consumed: Goanna, Turtle

It's been a while

The temptation to get lazy with blogging seems to occur regularly. Maybe it's something to do with the influence of Laos culture, as this place is surely one of the most relaxed places in the world. I think I said I would do a post about the Temples of Angkor but since it seems like such a distant memory (only about 2 weeks ago), and also since anything I write on the subject would miserably fall short of doing the place justice, I will regrettably omit writing on the subject. Though I will say that I was able to indulge in my love of symmetry at Angkor Wat. Man I love symmetry...

We are now in the Northern part of Laos after crossing the border from Cambodia to Laos. A day that a supposed 10 hour bus trip eventuated into about 14 hours. I quickly learned that there is no point in checking your watch on a bus in Laos, and if you do get there on time, it must have coincided with some massive cosmic alignment of stars or something. (I also learned that reading on buses, particularly in Cambodia, is virtually impossible as the volume of the Karaoke they play on the bus is hard to believe.)

Our first stop in Laos was just over the border, a place known as the 4000 islands. We stayed on a little island called Don Det and one of the first things I realised was how quickly tourism can technologically advance an area. We have a semi-outdated Lonely Planet (2007), which told us that the island of Don Det had no electricity, and the little village ran on generators. Upon arriving - in a boat that surely should have sunk - we found an internet cafe and plenty of TV's in households. After talking to Mr Vath, a local guy, we discovered that the island received electricity for the first time only 4 months before we arrived. I'm sure internet followed in close proximity. My guess is Don Det is what Vang Vieng (which I'll mention soon) was 20 years ago, though hopefully it doesn't follow exactly the same direction. We also met a Brazilian guy named Adriano who made me so excited for Brazil - too bad we are missing Carnivale because it sounds like the biggest party on the planet.

To say Don Det was relaxed was a gross understatement - I don't think you could go anywhere without finding a hammock. Adriano, Dave and I hired bikes and rode around the islands for the day. The funniest part of the day was Adriano getting a flat tyre. We were a long way from the main village and upon arriving in a smaller local village he asked every house, by saying "Sabaidee" (Laos for Hi) and then pointing at his tyre. After maybe the 20th house we found someone who happily agreed to fix it. 10 bike patches and an hour later it still had holes. The search for a spare inner tube began. Meanwhile, Dave and I amused ourselves by mucking around with the two little Laos kids, who thought everything was funny. They were particularly impressed by being able to see themselves on a screen after their photo had been taken. And that leads me to one thing I have noticed about Laos and South East Asia in general. Back home, it's rare that you ever see little children playing in the street. It seems to me that this may be mainly due to the advancement of technology. Kids in Laos seem to entertain and enjoy themselves with the simplest of activities. Whether it be chasing each other around or playing with animals, they never seem to get bored or resort to technology for entertainment (often because it is unavailable to them.)

After a few chilled days on Don Det it was time to head to a place that is a rite of passage for bakcpackers in SE Asia - Vang Vieng. After about 30 hours in transit, which included a sleeper bus and a VIP bus (don't be mistaken, as it was probably the opposite of VIP), we arrived there.

It was as if I was in some sort of heaven. You may ask why? Basically every restaurant in Vang Vieng, while serving great food and plenty of Beer Lao, has TVs that play one of three things: Friends, Family Guy or Simpsons. We opted for Friends most of the time. We whittled away hours watching episode after episode while chowing down Lao food and drinking mango shakes - although the best shakes in Vang Vieng were definately Mulberry Shakes, from the organic mulberry farm just up the road.

There is one thing that every backpacker in Vang Vieng must do; Tubing down the Nam Song river. It is almost surreal as you arrive with your tube, to see an array of makeshift bars lining the sides of the river, serving anything from Beer Lao and Snake Wine to "Super High Brownies" and "Psychadelic Shrooms" Every bar also has a rope swing and a flying fox - I made sure I had only had a few beers but some people that could hardly walk were launching themselves into the river. One bar even had a big slide. Under the assumption it was plastic, I quickly realised it was in fact made of concrete and tiles. Consequently, two English guys told us of their experience hauling a guy out of the river who after too many drinks had smacked his head on the slide and was definitely in some trouble. Safety was not a high priority and its hard to believe more people don't get hurt.

The next day we decided to take a different approach and booked a day of kayaking, caving and supposed trekking (more of a brisk walk for 30 mins). With our guide Ktoy and a fellow Aussie named Paul, we headed off. After visiting the first cave I was a bit disappointed as it was hardly a cave at all. The second cave was completely different, we went at least 500m into the cave and upon Ktoy's instruction we turned off our torches. It's a weird feeling as you wait for your eyes to adjust, to soon discover that it is so dark that you can't possibly see anything. An eerie feeling as the drips from the limestone echo. Ktoy also thought it would be humorous to tell us that the cave is home to snakes and he saw one just a minute before we turned off our lights...very funny. It was also a welcome relief from the heat and humidity, as inside the caves it was at least 5 degrees cooler...not so good on the way out though.

The third cave was the most amazing, as it was a water cave and the only way to get in was on tubes or to swim. Once again it was an eerie feeling, and the temperature of the water added to the feeling, as it was fresh to say the least. Following the caving, we kayaked for 8kms down the Nam Song, taking in the views of the surrounding mountains.

That night we went out with Ktoy, and quickly discovered he's got something with the ladies. At dinner we sat near a group of two couples from Thailand, and after about 15 minutes Ktoy managed to have both girls hanging of his every word while their boyfriends glared from across the table. It was a truly comical thing, especially since Ktoy is 29.

After many beers, countless episodes of Friends and a lot of fun it was time to leave Vang Vieng for the more peaceful World Heritage listed city of Luang Prabang. Another VIP bus (this one even less VIP than the last), made the slow journey up and down the mountainous part of Laos to the temple lined city of Luang Prabang. We have only been here one night and already have indulged in the beauty of the place. We visited the night market, where Dave was overcome with joy at the sight of an "All you can Eat" buffet of vego food, with a large plate costing 10,000 kip. (About $1.50 AUD.) That night we went to the only nightclub in the town, which is actually a bit out of town because central Luang Prabang has a curfew of 11.30pm. The group from our hostel consisted of Russians, British, American, French Canadian and me and Dave making up the Aussie contingent. The club played one song in English all night but it was still a funny experience. We also discovered that the row-boat dance move is in fact typically Australian, according to some other Australian girl.

I would put up some photos but the last experience with Windows and my camera didn't end well so I'll either figure it out eventually or hold out hope for a Mac somewhere?

Thanks to all who are reading, hope you enjoy!