Greece -- Athens -- 22/12/08--02/01/09

How come teachers don't get a xmas bonus? In Athens even the taxi drivers get their christmas bonuses. A compulsory 1 euro xmas tip on every taxi journey you make whether it's a half an hour drive or a 2 minute one.

What surprises Athens held for me.

Pacific-Medellin-Cartagena-Santa Marta (Tyrona)

The pacific coast.....
A few hours from Cali and we were in BienVentura, along the pacific coast. It reminded me so much of Madagascar and Diego in the north coast there. I suppose the coastal way of life is similar everywhere, what makes a difference is the language, the customs, the food and i guess along with a coastal culture there is also another local culture to differentiate these places along the coast.
From here and another boat ride away and we were along the beautiful coastline where there are secluded beaches with sand as black as rich(not materialistically..of course...we are not talking about the druglords) and the people there and and the ocean so wild but so warm and welcoming.
Here we went whale watching and it was amazing that after about 15, 20 minutes on the boat already we started to see the whales. I could have stayed there all day watching them take over the ocean but unfortunately after a few very good glimpses and an hours worth of rain and rough boat rides, we had to get back to the hotel.
In the afternoon we walked away from the coastline and were taken in a boat along the river and to a beautiful waterfall and then on the way back we were able to meet the indigenous community...this time not a tourist trap but a truly indigenous community.

Medellin...
The flower festival with the silleteros carrying their beautiful flowers through the city in a parade was just amazing. We managed to get a place right at the front, right under the midday sun but it wasn´t a spot we were willing to give up. Already another lady tried to push in and was given a whole lot of abuse and a bottle of water over her. Apart from that we saw the beautiful town of rio Negro and had some delicious dolces, went up the brand new cable cars to get an amazing view of the city and then off to my next destination

Cartagena.
I did not have long enough in this beautiful city. But it was stunning to walk around the old city on a sunday afternoon. It was empty and i had it all to myself. You buy a box of sweets, from the ladies at the gate and eat them as you walk around and admire the old colonial architecture, the hidden beautiful, old fashioned bars and restaurants and just hear salsa coming from underground basements or locked houses. It´s a stunning city . But very different at night, there are seats in the square and salsa dancing and then there are bars like ´the queens´..full of foreigners and local girls looking for a good time.....that was my last night in cartagena...dancing to ymca......quite regretful

Santa Marta...Tayrona National Park...

I didn´t see Santa Marta much at all but it´s just another big colombian city like any other. Taganga in the bay however is beautiful but an American and israeli hot spot which kinda ruins it a bit but from here I got the boat to get to la cabo San Juan and then to the beautiful beaches of Arrecife.....here the atlantic coast is at it´s best. Snorkelling a few hundred metres in and you see a whole new world of underground boulders and beautiful fish. and at night, what could be better that sleeping in a hammock under a stary carpet with the sounds of the waves. The most soothing thing in the world.

COLOMBIA..SUMMER 2008

Arriving to Cali

It was a long journey getting from London to Cali, Colombia. Getting from London to Bogota was a long flight but it was when I got to the airport in Bogota that things were always going to get interesting. I arrived at the airport at 8:45 in the night and was gonna have to spend all night there. As I sat on the hardslippery, wooden benches in the waiting lounge, I thought i was never gonna make it till 4:00 am and there was no way that I was ever going to wake up if I fell asleep. I was exhausted and yet had to stay up. As I sat there wondering what I would do all night, a stranger came to sit opposite me. Should I talk to him, should I just leave him alone...who knows how long he was planning to sit there....was he american...or south american.....but then thanks to the annoyance of a lottery vender, he started a conversation with me. A dutch journalist who had been living in Caracas for the past two months. hearing our English voices, the only other foreigner, a 19 year old girl who had spent the last six months working in a hospital in Quito. It was amazing, we had stories to share, annecdotes to recount and most importantly look after each others belongings when one of us needed the bathroom or a fag. Time passed quickly and before i knew it it was time for us to check into our next flights. I was so glad that I had changed my original plans and was going to Cali instead of Venezuela.....it sounds like the most dangerous city on earth......would like to hear more about it from people who have travelled there.

At check in, I realised I was at the international check in when I had a domestic flight and thats where I met my next new facebook friend. A colombian musician with his guitar going to play in Venezuela. I know I have said it many times but this is what I love about travelling.....meeting people everywhere.

Finally I arrived at Cali airport to the sweetest welcome ever. Valery was holding up a beautiful welcome sign and there was my brother and his wife who I hadn´t seen in such a long time. I was exhausted from not having slept for 2 nights in a row but the warmth and amazing welcome I got from the people here kept me going till midnight. We started the day with a delicious colombian breakfast, hot chocolate and cheese bread...what more could I ask for. Then we went shopping and walked around the old city with my own personal tour guides......such amazing people here.....everyone wanted to meet me and show me around....and finally we went to "La Loma"...to hear the sounds of the beautiful andean music and eat delicious arepas. It was amazing. One guy getting over 200 youths to spend the night learning how to dance indegenous dances and having so much fun instead of them hanging around drinking and not getting up to much good. It was a perfect way to end my first day in Cali. Getting right into the city and its culture with a circle of friends around me at all times.

Bangkok - Shanghai

After Myanmar, Bangkok this time was a bit of a disappointment. People fly hundreds of miles to come and sit at the bars on Khaosan Road just to spend their days and nights drinking and taking all sorts of other things. All the wierdest or i should say 'different' people from all over the world are found here covered in Tattoos, piercings, rasta hair and eyes that are glazed from all the places their minds have wondered too. Of course there are the lady boys too and the old men with their little Thai girls on their arms. It's kind of a sickening place, I suppose you see life being wasted here every minute of every day. There are the regulars who have been there for who knows how long, screaming crazy thoughts out loud to no one in particular or just sleeping on the pavements like they do every night....and these are the foreigners who have been trapped in this hell.
And so I went to Kanchanaburi and here I went on the death railway and walked on the bridge over River Kwai. After coming from Burma, it was nice to cover this bit of history. The railway is just a wonder. How it was built in such a landscape will i think forever amaze people. And now I am in Shanghai. Another big city. It's winter here but after the sweltering heat, it's refreshing being here in the cold. It's bearable weather and with a few layers it's also pleasant. But I have come unprepared. I was getting all sorts of concerned looks walking around in my open toed sandals and even got stopped and told to wear some shoes before I caught a cold. And so I went Shopping and bought some decent shoes. It's great to see people riding around in their folding bikes and I'm right in the centre of town and surrounded by all the beautiful skyscrappers so it was nice just walking around. But also I am reminded of the miserable and rude character of the chinese. In some ways it's almost like being in London. People are too busy to help or give directions, they walk by shoving you and no apology comes forth....but among them there are a few nice people. I met 'Mickey' and she helped me shop for some shoes. Now I await a friendly face from home.

Myanmar

I am back in Bangkok and ready to move on aain. I fly into Shanghai this evening and from now on, I guess it will be only big cities for the rest of my travels. Coming back into Bangkok was a bit of a shock....nice in some ways I guess. My last few days inYangon have made me appreciate so many of the things that we take for granted. Telephones, internet and even just basic electricity. It was impossible to make international calls from Yangon and therefore from the rest of the country too. Internet was extremely hard to find and was only available occasionaly, when central government hadn't cut off connection, in Yangon and Mandalay. In the big cities, everyone had generators for electricity whereas outside the cities people worked with candlelight. And running a Tv for some evening entertainment....I have pictures of at least 10 car batteries and twice as many cables all hooked up to make the Tv run. Arriving into Bangkok, there was just amazing releif in being able to keep communications with home open.
The 'saffron revolution' n September has left Myanmar worse off. There are no tourists. Gasoline prices have been hiked up so high and petrol is rationed so that there are huge queues at the very few gas stations that exsist. On the roadsides people sit with bottles filled with cheap petrol from China half mixed with water and even this is sold at unaffordalble prices. We met restaurant owners near the 'touristic areas' who have shut down restaurants for the year. Everywhere we went, people told us to pass the message on and tell people that it was safe to go to Myanmar and that the people there really need the business. We travelled from Yangon up to Mandalay, from there we spent a few stunning days at Inle Lake and then to the glorious temple filled landscape of Bagan. All along the way we kept an eye out and except for an odd french or german couple here and there we were the only tourists around. Back to Mandalay and from her we took the train up North to Mykthina. Being the only foreigners on board we had a whale of a time...everyone wanted to feed us something, everyone wanted their photo takes, they constantly kept pointing out to us all the sights we passed along the way...look cows, they would all shout and gently push our faces to the window...at times we faked our amazement but at others we were genuinely amazed at the sincere warmth and friendliness of these people.
In Mykthina, we checked in at the YMCA and as we were unpacking, I heard my name and went to check what was going on. The local police had rung up to find out what I, a'British foreigner' was doing there. The people at the YMCA reassured them that I was only a harmless tourist but they follwed our every move. From Mykthina we got the boat to Simbo, a tiny little riverside town of about 400 residents. The place was so small it did not even have a guesthouse so we had to sleep at the house of some of the girls we had made friends with on the boat. However there was an immigration office here and as soon as we set foot on the banks of the Irrawaddy river, there was an officer asking me where I came from and leading me his office to be registered. Next day they made sure we got on the boat and they knew exactly wher we were heading. Staying in Simbo was just amazing. We arrived on the day of the Shan new year and therefore were able to take part in the local festivities and watch the traditional dances. Being a small town, everyone knew who we were and where we came from and as always there we smiles, presents and the 'may i help you'
I fell in love with Myanmar and the people there. It's the safest place in the world because the people there would never let anything happen to you. Now more than ever they need us to go and see the lives they live and help in our own little way.

Myanmar - Yangon

Yesterday I picked up my Visa from the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok and this morning I flew into Yangon.Here we found out and are still registering the fact that Yangon is no longer the capital city of Burma and hasn't been for the last two years. The new capital, where we as foreigners are not allowed to go is a small place (not even a city), still under construction in central Myanmar and the population there consits only of the military working there. This was our introduction to Myanmar. The Inn we are staying at had an airport pick up for us and on the way to the hotel, already we felt the warm and friendly nature of the locals. Unlike other hotel pick ups, these guys talked aand laughed with us, pointed out all the famous sights along the way and were just so friendly. The MotherLand Inn 2 that we are staying at is a clean and welcoming place and here too the staff have smiles on their faces and always ready to answer the millions of questions we have. Breakfast is included, so after eggs and bread, cake and coffee (we once again have good coffee here, not as delicious as lao coffee but a much bigger improvement on the Thai coffee) orange juice and bananas we decided to go explore. We had been up since half past three this morning to catch the bus to the airport and then check in but just being here in Myanmar gave us the incentive to keep going. So we took a taxi to the downtown market and from there we just walked around the downtown are and saw some of the big buildings and pagodas around. But all day we have seen no other tourists. We have been the only two girls walking around and we still have to pinch ourselves to remind us that this is real. I don't even know how I can describe this place in the little time I have. Yangon is completely and absolutely untouched by tourism. There is no tourist infrastructure at all and after coming from Khosan road in Thailand this is just the best feeling being here. There are no restaurants or bars, no tourist areas dedicated to the needs of backpackers and package tourists. There is nothing here except for normal everday life as it has been for probably as long as the people here can remember. Men walking around in their longhys, everyone chewing beetle nut (pan), every pavement available covered on both sides with street vendors selling a huge variety of food andevery other thing imaginable from an old nintendo to Jane Austen books. But the best thing so far has to be the people. Everyone, and I mean absolutely everyone has smiles from us and warm hellos. We stand in a street corner looking at the map in the lonely planet and within seconds someone will stop and politely ask us if they can be of any help at all. We take photos of the food vendors and the children and no one wants any money in return for it. Someone stops to give us directions and we immediately assume it's a taxi driver looking for some double fare customers but it doesn't happen. We get our directions are wished a warm welcome and a good stay and then he continues walking. The rest of south east asia has made us so suspicious that people just being nice here and wanting nothing in return is a constant surprise to us but a very pleasant one. There are people who are vary of our cameras and then we just put them away but for the most part we have just been walking around taking a hundred photos. But this is not a rich country at all. It feels like an ancient city and at the same time a very poor city. The buildings are extremely old and not looked after at all. The big side streets are just dirt roads. There are shanty houses and people living in extremely poor conditions and yet out in the middle of all this, once in a while will appear a beautiful and big five star hotel. The contradictions of everyday life intertwined with richly decorated gold pagodas and big hotel is just amazing to see. After walking around downtown for a couple of hours we went back to the hotel for a much needed nap and now in the evening we decided to walk along the Yangon river thinking that we could sit in a cafe and watch the sunset and maybe have a proper dinner in one of the restaurants. We had imagined it to be like Cambodia and Laos with lots of little outdoor bars and cafes along the river but we were pleasantly surprised when we got to the river front and there were no bars and no cafes and no one but locals. There were men who had tied their longhys up into shorts and were playing football along the tarmaced river bank area as the monks sat and watched the game and families who had just come for an evening walk, fathers and mothers playing with their little babies, children flying kites, vendors selling steamed peanuts and other snacks. It was just great. There is no sing of tourism here at all. As we walk along the river bank, the locals smile and greet us. In a place like this I would normally feel threatened and wouldn't even dare to pull my camera out but here we feel completely safe. We get stared at a lot but we also get the smiles and the hellos and everyone is ready and willing to explain to us everythinhg that is new to us. They are warm and friendly and generous and for once we are not seen as walking money machines. It's a great feeling being here among the most friendliest people I have met so far in my travels. And then we went looking for a good dinner. But this place is so untouristic that there are not even any restaurants for us to go and eat it. The ones that are recommended in the lonely planet are just a few rare little places spread out in the side streets but they are all empty. There are no tourists here:) except us! We went to two of them and they didn't even look like restaurants but someones garage with a few tables and a cooker. So we ended up sitting on really low stools at one of the street corners on the pavement eating nan freshly baked in a clay oven and beans with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. And now we have found probably the only place in Yangon which has hotmail aavailable. Hotmail has been blocked by the government. This is just one of the most amazing places I have been too and I have to keep reminding myself that I am actually here.

In Burma

I leave for Burma very early in the morning and will be there till the 14th. There is no hotmail there and I doubt I will be able to get onto my blog page either. So I guess that means no emails. But if I can I promise to send postcards and update you all on my adventures when I get back to Bangkok.

Bangkok

We have now been to Bangkok for three days but the most exciting thing for me has been going to the Burmese embassy and trying to get my Visa. I am so excited about flying to Burma on Wednesday, I don't even mind the fact that what was supposed to be a completely overland trip has now been broken by a return flight from Bangkok to Yangon. I have heard nothing but beautiful things about Burma and though the politics weigh on my conscious I am sure I've made the right decision to go. There have to be ways in which I can spend my tourist dollar there and help the locals instead of lining the pockets of the military. I guess I will have to wait till I get there to find out.
In Bangkok we have seen some of the major sights, one of them being the majestic and magnificent complex of the Royal Palace. Every inch of it is covered in beautiful and detailed patterns. It was just so stunning, I didn't even know how to capture the beauty and grandeur of the place in my photos. And then we have been to the big golden stupa at the top of the hill and got amazing 360 degree views of the city. Yesterday the Thai people all over celebrated the festival of 'Loy Krathong' ...there were people all day, all over the city preparing small candle floats that they would later that evening take to the river. These were made all from natural materials, the base -a slice of the trunk of the banana tree surrounded with banana leaf shaped in triangles and then decorated with orchids and marigolds and candles in the middle. Everyone dressed up and in the evening with floats in hand went near the riverside where the local firemen had volunteered to lower the floats into the river for the locals. And then like stupid tourists we just expected and waited for a fireworks display but we were very pleasantly surprised when we saw instead of fireworks lighting the sky, huge boats beautifully decorated floated by. It was something completely different and looked so beautiful.
The rest of our time here so far has been spent hanging out around our cacooned tourist area of Khaosan Road. Some of the guest houses here play the movie, 'the beach' continuously and apart from restaurants, bars, guesthouses, dodgy massage parlours and people trying to sell us ping pong shows! and white smoke, there isn't that much here. All the tourists in Bangkok are in this area and I don't really like that whole atmosphere. If I wanted to sit in a 'Traditional British Pub' I wouldn't have bothered leaving Britain. I'd much rather find a local place which served local beers and food. We have spent three days here but thankfully now we are moving around outside of Bangkok. We're going to see the famous floating markets tomorrow and I think I'll just be glad to see something different. I pick up my Visa for Burma on Tuesday so until then we're stuck in Bangkok. The people here are nice, I have good company and there is plenty of good food and a huge variety of it..so it's not all so bad.

Lampang -Thailand

Suji offered Peter a bed at her place too so we all set off to her place. It was pure luxury being driven around and for the next few days we got very used to this. There was no need for maps, buses, haggling for fiar prices with tuk tuk drivers....we just got into the car and were taken to new and exciting experiences. We hadn't showered for two days so after a much awaited cold shower we were ready for some dinner. We went to pick up Suji's cousin and then we spent the evening tasting the local cousin at one of the local restaurants. We walked along the night markets and just exchanged gossip that had been long overdue. It was just the perfect way to end the day. And we were so happy to be here in Thailand. The next few days we experienced Thailand the way the Thai's experience it themselves. We spent the next morning at one of her cousin's graduation, taking photos and then the celebration lunch went on till late into the night. Bottles of whisky were emptied at an amazing pace and even the boys got on stage to sing and dance. We had a great time hanging out and celebrating the Thai way. With little sleep, the next morning we were exhausted but we were up early for Juan Mauels sports day. He was so excited, we had to go cheer him. But this was like no other sports day. There were children dressed in all sorts of beautiful and traditional dress and the whole thing began with a parade down the street to the sports ground. It was hot and the children had been up early and understandably with all the elaborate costumes and the layers of make up they were grumpy but they kept going. The parade was so formal and the children marched with one gloved hand behind on their back. At the sports ground there were speeches and then performances of Kung Fu and hula dancing...it was amazing how good the little girsl were at keeping the hula on their waists and then finally the relay race. Juan came forth but he ran like a champ. After lunch and a much needed haircut (my hair was down to my waist and now it's down to my shoulders and much easier to look after) we drove to Suji's grandmother's house. A small village outside town where she grew up and wher most of her family still lived as farmers. Everyone knew everyone and it was so small you just walked around for 20 minutes and you would have seen every house in the village. Surrounding it though were golden rice fields and we were meant to help harvest the rice and the mushrooms but we arrived too late and everyone was coming back home after a hard days work harvesting. We visited all the houses one by one and said hello to the aunts and uncles and grandparents that we had gotten to know the day before at the party. They were so warm and welcoming and being there watching the mist rise over the rice fileds as the sun set was just one of the best moments in these travels. Back at home we walked around the corner to the noodle stall and had some hot and fresh noodle soup for dinner. It had been a long but really nice day and we went to bed tired but happy. Sunday Anne drove us to a national park an hour away and we walked along a beautiful waterfalls and sat in cosy little housed pools with water in them from the hot springs nearby. It was a perfect way to end the weekend and we felt realxed and ready to move on again.Monday we got to the Mountains in Chiang Mai and managed to see some of the most famous sights in Chiang Mai. The queens winter residence, Wat Doi Suthep and the Hmong village. But the most interesting part was staying with Suji's aunt. Her place ws one of the rows of shops selling tourist gear opposite the royal palace. It was a shop selling traditional clothes, jewellery and food and drink. Behind the shop she had her kitchen and at the top in the small attic was where she and her sister lived. With so little space it was incredible that three quarters of the attic was turned into a big and beautiful shrine, not only for Buddha and Ganesh and other Buddhist important figures but also for the Royal family who here in Thailand are as revered as the gods themselves. She showed us photos that she was so proud of, of her meetings with various members of the roya family and then took us to one of the nearby stands for dinner. It was so strange, they had a community of their own here, lives that they had build here for many years and yet most tourists would only see the rows of shops selling all sorts of souveniers. As we sat there eating our freshly cooked noodles we listened to the local gossip, tried to learn a few phrases of Thai that they were so keen to teach us and just soaked in the friendly and hospitable nature of that little community of souvenier vendors. Next morning we took the tuk tuk and went down to central Chiang Mai and here we have spent the last two days sight seeing. I have been to see the various hill tribes and also some traditional thai long nail dancing. We've missed out on the elphant shows and the cookery schools....just seemed too touristic. And now we move on to Bangkok.

Along the Mekong and into Thailand

It was sad to leave Luang Prabang but it was also time to move on. We decided that getting the boat up to Northern Laos and from there crossing into the Thai border would be the best way to enter Thailand and also get to Lampang, near Chiang Mai, which is where my friend lives. It was time for a friendly face, and a home to unpack for a few days in. The fast speedboats seemed like the way to go, an adventurous ride along the Mekong but the prices were too high and being the budget travellers that we are we decided to settle on the two day slow boat option. We set off early in the morning from Luang Prabang and that night we would be spending in the small northern town of Pak Beng. The Mekong here is very different to the Mekong we spent three days crossing getting from Vietnam to cambodia. Here the Mekong is untouched. On bothe sides it is surrounded by mountain ranges covered in lush green forests, the banks (because the rainy season is over) have turned into beautiful beaches and in the river itself the dropping level of water means that there are huge rocks that just out of the water. There is no life along the river and it is extremely peaceful. Unlike Vietnam where there were rows of houses on stilts and a constant hub of activity in and around the river, here there is nothing but just the occasional boat gliding along. Tourism has yet not touched this part of the world. There were no tourist stops along the way, no stops for venders to come and sell snacks to tourists at exhorberent prices. It was a good thing that we had some bread and cheese with us. We watched the boat as it navigated the rocks in the river, listened to music as we watched the beautiful landscapes pass us by and only when it started getting dark and we had not yet reached Pak Beng did we start to worry about the pace of the slow boat. In the dark we sat praying and hoping that the flashlight the conducter was holding would spot the rocks in the river before the boat hit them. We slowed down even further and when we finally got to Pak Beng there was no spot for us to park the boat. Our asses hurt from sitting on hard wooden benches all day on the boat, we were hungry, tired and getting more and more worried. Finally a compromise was made and the boat was moored. We had to step across three other boats to get to the bank, walk up it's beach in the dark, up a steap hill and then into the restaurant balcony of a very posh hotel. All this we did in the dark. Getting to the hotel, we walked through it all dirty, tired and sweaty with, what seemed like, our huge packs, on our backs and tried to find a guest house for the night. Pak Beng, even though a small towm in the remoter part of Norther Laos is also a midpoint for those crossing either way between Laos and Thailand. Guesthouses are not in the abundance here so when we walked around, everything was full....we were the last boat to arrive into town. After walking around a bit we managed to find a room and also some hashish if we wanted it. We said thanks to the rooma nd no thanks to the fun stuff and after a quick dinner of friend rice ( we were on the last of our kips and didn't wanna change any more money) we had an early night. Next morning we were more prepared. With a few snacks and a packed sandwich for lunch we went to find the port and with tickets in our hand we boarded the boat a second time ready for our final leg of the journey along the Mekong. Here we met Peter, the American and chatting to him all the way made the day go quicker. But also this time we had food to keep us going and we knew exactly what to expect. We could just enjoy being on the river and watch the stunning landscapes pass us by. The only signs of life, an occasional bird, or small villages tucked away high in the forests or the bare patches where the hmong have been using the slash and burn form of agriculture. But the journey was shorter and we got to Hoy Xai, teh border town before dark. On the other side of the River was Thailand and we could see the royal yellow flags everywhere. But also we saw roads and signs of civilization that confirmed to us that on the opposite side of the river was Thailand. We celebrated with dark Lao beer and our final Lao meal of sticky rice and vegetables. After another early night, it was another early morning. We were up and ready for our delicious Lao coffee before we took the boat across and entered the gates of Siam. Before we knew it we had our exit stamp for Laos, we had crossed to the other side by boat and got our entry stamps for Thailand. And we didn't even shop at the duty free along the river bank:) It was all so quick and simple. Crossing borders by land is definitely much easier and simpler. No customs and waiting around for departure gates and the rest of it. From there we took a luxury Thai bus to Chiang Mai and from Chiang Mai a local bus to Lampang. We timed it so perfectly we didn't even have to waste time hanging around waiting for buses. we arrived in lampang at 6:00p.m and there Suji was waiting for us with all her work mates. It was such a nice feeling to see someone familiar, someone who I knew before my travels began and also knowing that for the next few days we wouldn't have to do anything but would just get looked after completely. Our minds and bodies could take a break.