The Epic Africa Trip Report – Part 2: Kenya and Tanzania Safari

(apologies in advance for some of the language in this post – I took serious issue with a few things that happened)

Day 7: Kampala to Nairobbery

Don’t know what I had to worry about only arriving at the airport in Entebbe 2 hours before departure…They didn’t even open check-in until 90 minutes before scheduled departure.  Who the hell knows why they bother to tell people to show up 3 hours early then!  So had half an hour of sitting round doing nothing waiting for check-in to open.  There’s a little café landside, but that’s really it, the other couple of tiny shops were shut.  And since I’d just had breakfast, there wasn’t much point of the café.  Oh, by this time I’d already said goodbye to my guide and handed him a tip.  Yes, I hate tipping, but it’s “expected” in Uganda and people drop some not so subtle hints about it.  Whatever, what’s done is done.  He was a good guide and the trip was amazing.

So after eventually checking in, I exchanged my remaining Shillings back to USD, filled out the exit form and cleared immigration.  There’s maybe half a dozen shops airside: a café, a few souvenir shops and a couple of duty free shops.  I still really wanted to buy a book on Ugandan wildlife, but sadly, despite the fact that there was a bookstore, no dice.  There were a few books on East African wildlife in general, but after flicking through, I noticed they focused almost entirely on Kenya and Tanzania.  About the only mention wildlife from Uganda got was the ubiquitous mountain gorilla.  I want to be able to identify photos of the animals I took in Uganda.  In the end I found one that’s sort of ok.  And also found a cute kids t-shirt with a gorilla on it (I’m lucky that I can fit into a kids “large” if the adult styles don’t interest me – which they didn’t).  No stuffed gorilla toys though L  That makes me sad, since that’s what I collect on my travels – stuffed toys.  They also had the wooden carved gorillas like they had in Bwindi, again, none I liked.  So that’s the result of my souvenir shopping: a half decent book on East African wildlife and a t-shirt.  Still have lots of “souvenir” money left, so hoping that Kenya/Tanzania/South Africa offer more options!

The flight was uneventful, it left about 45 minutes late because the plane was late arriving from its previous destination.  Landed ok and was very glad I’d downloaded and printed out and filled in the visa application form prior to arriving.  Meant I could go straight up to the desk and clear immigration while everyone else stuffed around at the desks filling in more forms (the visa form is separate to the yellow immigration form you get given on the plane).  Easy enough, and US$25 later I’m good to go.  Bag came off quickly and I called the parents to let them know I arrived ok.  At least I can get cell phone reception here!  I know how stupid that sounds when I’m meant to be on holidays, but meh.  Went to find my arrival transfer and was easy enough.  Exchanged $100 into Kenyan Shillings and off we went to the hotel.  Traffic was mad!  Basically one big traffic jam.  Took an hour to get to the hotel when it probably should have taken 15 minutes at most.  But such is life!  What do they say?  “TIA – This is Africa!”?  LOL, so true.

I suppose my run of decent hotels had to end at some point though.  I’m staying at the Kivi Milimani Hotel in Nairobi, and well, it’s pretty dank.  The bed is pretty uncomfortable, the shower isn’t clean, it sort of seems to be falling apart.  It has a pool though and apparently the bar and restaurant aren’t terrible.  I’ll reserve judgement on them for now.  I’m staying here rather than somewhere nicer because this is the hotel where my tour of Kenya/Tanzania leaves from and it saves having to stuff around changing hotels.  I suppose I’ll survive for 2 nights.

Day 8: Nairobi

Had a bit of a sleep in today and ended up going down to breakfast at around 8.30.  Ended up randomly running into one of the people on my safari tour and by pure coincidence she turned out to be the one I’ll be sharing a room with!  Breakfast was ok I guess – western style.  We had to change rooms which turned into a major drama with hotel reception.  Borderline incompetent.  Eventually sorted it out and went for a walk downtown.  Perfectly safe.  Had a quick wander around the Masai craft market.  There’s a bit of harassment, but doesn’t hit the same levels as Cairo or Cambodia.  Cos it’s Sunday, everything was shut though.  Did find one store near the Hilton though that had some totally awesome (and very genuine looking – and priced) souvenir masks/statues.  Plan to head back to when we get back to Nairobi.  Then ventured back to the hotel via a local park.  Would be a good place for a picnic.  Decided to go for a swim in the hotel pool, was a bit a cold, but was still refreshing.  Then back to the room to charge the camera and laptop batteries.  Had a nap for a bit before the tour group meeting at 6.  Everyone on the tour seems nice, though the guide seems like a bit of a tool.  Not a good sign.  Basically he treated us like morons and it really felt insulting.  Hopefully it was a once off moment.  Anyway, we decided to head to Carnivore for dinner.  Got taxis there and back.  It was ok – massively overrated though.  Most of it was meat I would normally eat at home (except for the ostrich and croc, and even then you can get croc in Australia pretty easily if you want it).  So, yeah, for the price (~US$40), not particularly impressed.  Basically just went back to the hotel and crashed after that.

Day 9: Nairobi to Nakuru

Up early to depart at 7am for Nakuru.  We were meant to visit a kids orphanage along the way, but it was pissing down rain and apparently cars were getting stuck on the way up there.  So that got cancelled and we just continued the drive on to Nakuru.  Stopped along the way at a viewing platform for the Rift Valley.  Our guide tried to explain it, but yeah, not a good one.  I thought about piping up and explaining it correctly, but figured it wasn’t worth it.  Nobody would really care.  There were a bunch of souvenir stalls, and the harassment there was worse than at the craft markets in Nairobi.  More like Cairo.  Then continued on to our campsite at Lake Nakuru.  Got there and set up our camp and had lunch.  We were then about to head off for our afternoon game drive when it started pissing down rain big-time.  So shocker, game drive got cancelled.  Was a bit peeved that they didn’t have any kind of contingency plan though.  We just sat around doing nothing.  Eventually the rain slowed and we decided to do the drive, but by this time, one of the windows on the truck had busted and water had come flooding in…And guess what?  It ended up all over MY gear.  Camera got wet, laptop got wet, clothes got wet.  And Intrepid reckon their vehicles are well maintained?  Bullshit.  I know accidents happen, but this is just ridiculous.  Was so pissed off and angry.  Anyway, went off on the game drive and saw a heap of animals.  Giraffes, impala, water buffalo, gazelles, rhinos, flamingos, and LIONS!  Was so cool!  The drive didn’t last that long because we had gone out so late.  Got back for dinner and had to help with the cooking and cleaning etc.  Had an early night after that.  Long day!

Day 10: Nakuru to Naivasha

Because our game drive yesterday was cut short by the weather, we ended up spending about 3 hours this morning finishing it off.  Heaps more animals – some great bird life!  Then went back to the camp and had brunch and packed up the camp.  Fairly straight forward.  Then the drive to Naivasha.  We stopped in Nakuru town along the way to exchange some cash and pick up some groceries etc.  Exchange rate wasn’t great, and it took a good 45 minutes between queuing up and filling out paperwork…And this was cash exchange with USD.  Let alone travellers cheques.  Oh well, TIA as they say!  Then onto Crayfish camp at Lake Naivasha.  Didn’t do much when we arrived, just set up camp and had dinner.  Went and had a drink at the camp bar which is ok.  Then just went back to the tent to crash.

Day 11: Lake Naivasha

So today we had the option of doing a walking tour of Crater Lake or doing a cycling tour of Hell’s Gate.  I chose the walking tour cos it’s hot and couldn’t be arsed cycling.  Got picked up at 8 and drove to the Crater Lake.  From there we got to walk around for a couple of hours or so.  Saw zebras and giraffes and impalas and other animals up close.  Was pretty cool.  Then got to the crater and a couple of us ventured off from the main group and ended up seeing a bunch of colobus monkeys!  Then went back to camp and had lunch before spending the afternoon vegging out by the camp pool.  Had a bit of a laugh later on that night after dinner with a random song and dance show with the other people on the tour.  Hilarity!

Day 12: Naivasha to the Masai village

Left Crayfish camp at Naivasha around 7.30am and drove to Narok town.  Checked emails and stuff before continuing on to our camp for the night.  Stopped for a bathroom break along the way and picked up a Masai blanket to help keep warm at night.  I obviously have a sleeping bag – but it is winter here and it does get pretty cold at night.  I think I paid 700 shillings for it, which was ok and seemed to be a better price than others had got elsewhere.

Tonight we’re staying in a Masai village in Loita Hills.  There was an optional afternoon walk that I opted out of.  Not only don’t I feel 100%, but it’s becoming incredibly frustrating that the prices quoted for the optional activities in the Intrepid trip notes are way off the reality – prices are consistently double to triple what Intrepid said.  Now I can accept a bit of fluctuation, but this is ridiculous.  It makes budgeting impossible.  It’s not that I don’t have the money, I brought plenty with me, it’s the principle of the matter.  And while I may have enough money to cover myself, there’s others in the group whose budgets are totally screwed due to the price discrepancies.  Anyway, around 5 we went to the Masai village for a bit of a look around.  Got to see the women doing a dance and we had to join in.  Don’t get me wrong – I like that we have that option, but I don’t like being dragged (literally) into it if I say “no”.  Anyway, stayed there for a bit before walking back to camp for the night.  Mara tomorrow, so an early night!

Day 13: Loita Hills to Masai Mara

Up at 6.30am again to pack up before our final visit to the Masai village to see a warrior dance.  Was sort of cool, but again being (literally) dragged into things after saying “no” doesn’t impress me one bit.  Especially at the end when the “warriors” told all the females in the group to line up so that they could “choose a wife”…They may find it funny.  We felt it was sick and degrading.  If they want to treat women like shit within their own culture, whateverthefuck, good for them.  But don’t drag us into their offensive, chauvinistic games when we say “no, we don’t want to do this”.  And I have to say, I’m incredibly pissed off with our guide for encouraging this behaviour.  While I’m all for understanding the local culture and participating, when a group of us say “we don’t want to do this because it’s offensive to our culture” he should understand.  Cultural understanding has to go both ways.  And later on, a few of us realised just what a chauvinist our guide really is with his “oh, the females just go help with the cooking and let the men do the hard/dirty work” because we’re apparently incapable and women belong in the kitchen and should never question a man’s words.  Excuse the fuck out of me while I go puke.  Intrepid is a western company, and while I appreciate the fact that they employ local guides for their local knowledge and to give back to the local community, they really need some training on cultural sensitivity.  This guide is great with his local knowledge and all, but I really think he’s an ass.

Anyway, the women of the Masai village then pulled out their little village market for us to buy stuff (shocker!).  I bought a chunky necklace that I plan to have framed for 500 shillings (I’d never actually wear it, not my style).  Then off to the Masai Mara!  Not a long drive – but definitely bumpy.  Arrived at camp just outside the gates (Mountain Rock Camp), setup camp and had some time to do laundry and shower before our evening game drive.  Didn’t see a huge amount of wildlife – a few elephants, gazelle, impala, and then right at the end as we were about to leave and head back to camp, we saw a cheetah!!!  Totally awesome!  It was about 100m away, so I don’t know how the photos will turn out yet.  Hopefully not all blurry and will get a couple of good sharp ones – cos that was epic!  Then we basically just headed back to camp, got to recharge camera batteries and stuff, then had dinner and drinks (there’s a small bar there to buy drinks from).  Early night after that.  Got a full day game drive in the Mara tomorrow!

Day 14: Masai Mara game drive!

Up around 6.30am again to leave at 7.30 to be at the Mara gate at 8 to get into the park for our full day game drive!  Overall, the day was a bit of a letdown, but as they say TIA.  We saw some elephants, a couple of Masai giraffes and a couple of hippos (barely) and that was more or less it.  It’s obviously called wildlife for a reason, but still…And then in the middle of the day we got bogged.  Which turned into a huge drama.  We’d been there about half an hour before a couple of other small vans showed up and offered to help.  The guides in the vans were great, as were some of their clients who offered to help try and push us out.  But there were a bunch of snotty American bitches as well who kept making asinine comments like “haha! You’re stuck, we’re not,” and “why the fuck are we helping you, this is supposed to be our game drive”.  For people who’d claimed to be in Africa to “help” and “volunteer”, they surely weren’t very helpful or prepared to volunteer.  I seriously wanted to just go over and smack them upside the head, but managed to restrain myself.  Exactly the kind of people who travel to Africa for a couple of weeks to “volunteer” just so that they have something to stick on their college application, rather than the people who volunteer because they genuinely want to help out.  I fucking hate people like that, and am so glad that the university system in Australia is grades based and doesn’t give a crap how much “extracurricular” stuff you’ve done.  Eventually we got ourselves out and continued our game drive though.  Didn’t see a huge amount of other wildlife though.  Ended up leaving around 4pm and heading back to camp.  Had a few drinks and dinner and then went to bed since I had a massive migraine.

Day 15: Masai Mara to Narok

Left the Mara around 7am and drove to Narok town where we got dropped off at a hotel for the night while the tour truck goes back to Nairobi for the night to take a couple of travellers back who are only doing the shorter trip.  Staying at the Seasons hotel which seems nice enough.  Went into town for lunch and stopped at the supermarket and internet place to check emails.  Nothing to be too concerned about there, though my dad seems to have discovered the wonders of chain emails “sign this petition for *insert cause here*”…Joy.  Spent the rest of the afternoon updating this trip report and reading before heading down to the hotel bar to watch the football and grab dinner.  After dinner a bunch of us stuck around the bar to watch the football.  Outcome was predictable of course, but still had to see it!  Anyway, sleep-in tomorrow as we get picked up again by the truck at 11am.  Mmmm…sleep!

Day 16: Narok to Kisii

So tired.  Stayed up late last night to watch the football and ended up being woken at around 4am by trucks passing by the hotel.  Ugh, so much for the sleep-in.  Ended up being picked up around 11.30am and had an early lunch…Which none of us wanted to eat because we’d all had a late breakfast just an hour or so earlier.  But such is life I guess.  Then we basically just drove straight through to Kisii.  Stopped a couple of places along the way for a very quick bathroom stop.  One of which almost resulted in a serious tragedy.  The way the camping mattresses are stored on the new truck we have meant that they had a couple lodged up on the side areas of the bus.  And one of them caught on fire.  Yeah, no joke.  We’d been on a bathroom break when it happened and nobody was on the bus.  If we’d come back 5 minutes later, half the bus probably would have caught on fire.  It was quickly taken care of and no major injuries (our guide ended up with a minor burn on his arm).  But this trip is slowly turning into a litany of disasters.  I know they say TIA and all, but seriously?  This shit is just getting dangerous.  There’s been half a dozen accidents on the truck so far, most of which could have been avoided if Intrepid actually maintained their vehicles the way they claim they do.  Anyway, we got to our campsite for the night and found out that we had the option to be put up in basic rooms with a bed and bathroom for no extra cost.  Hell yes!  They are pretty basic, but hey, if I don’t have to set up that tent, I’m all for it!  I don’t mind sleeping in tents, just don’t like setting them up   I think the place is within a school or something, seems kind of like a boarding house, but it’s got a small “bar” and has electricity so I spent a couple of hours after dinner watching tv on my laptop (yeah, I transferred some tv eps over before I left in case I ever got bored).  Travel to Tanzania tomorrow, so probably a long day…Joy.  Hopefully the roads aren’t terrible.  Guess I’ll find out soon enough!

Day 17: Kisii (Kenya) to Lake Victoria (Tanzania)

A long and relatively boring drive.  Left Kisii and ventured into town to pick up some supplies.  Then hit the border at Sirari/Isebania for formalities.  Easy enough as we’d all arranged our visas for Tanzania before arrival.  Only around this point I started to feel a bit ill.  Anyway, a few hours later we arrived at our camp on Lake Victoria (Tembo Camp).  Pretty spectacular – right on the lake edge.  Had a few sodas and ventured in to the little town of Musoma to exchange some money.  Only to find out that despite the fact they advertise the currencies that they will exchange, the fact is that they will only buy and sell USD.  So if you’d exchanged everything for KSh in Kenya and then wanted to exchange that KSh for TSh, you’re up shits creek.  Lucky I had some USD floating around.  After that ventured back to the camp bar and watched tv (football was on) for a while.  Unfortunately at this point my “I feel a bit ill” turned into “I’m going to end up puking my guts up for the next 6 hours”.  Not fun.  Still not sure what caused it, and it turns out I wasn’t the only one who got sick.  But I ended up skipping dinner and just crashing (as best as I could given that I was up every hour puking until around midnight).

Day 18: Lake Victoria to Serengeti

Up early today for the drive to the Serengeti.  A quick stop in town to buy food and stuff.  Managed to check emails quickly – nothing that can’t wait.  I still wasn’t feeling great after last night, but at least I didn’t want to throw up anymore.  Then onwards to the Serengeti.  A couple of hours until we hit the gate.  Then we game drove our way to our campsite.  The totally epic event?  Me spotting a lion with a fresh kill of baby wildebeest!!!  Yup, someone owes me a drink for spotting that, cos we were about to drive right past it when I yelled out stop!  So, so epic!  Got some awesome photos, and I think someone else got some good video.  Plenty of other wildlife, much more so than we saw in the Masai Mara.  But yeah, the lion made the day.  Stopped off briefly at one of the lodges to sort out the hot air balloon details for tomorrow.  Just some paperwork and figuring out pickup/drop off times.  Bloody 4.45am wakeup, so this better be worth it!!!  Made it to our bush camp around 6.30 and setup camp.  I’ve been deserted by my tent mate because one of the other girls is scared to sleep alone in the bush camp and wanted the company.  Meh, whatever.  I’ve done this before.  Some of the other people on this trip crack me up though.  They belong in 5* hotels/lodges with the silver spoon stuck firmly in their mouths…Not camping and *gasp* actually having to help with the cooking, washing up, tent pitching etc.  They’re hilarious, but bug the hell out of me at the same time with their “someone has to do this for me” mantra.  Anyway, such is life.  Think I’m just going to go help with dinner and then crash.  Need to be up way too early.

Day 19: Serengeti!

So woke up at 4.45am to be ready to be picked up for the balloon ride at 5.15.  It was about a 45 minute drive to the launch site.  I’d thought the plan was to be in the air for sunrise, but apparently not.  The sun came up and then we launched.  Got some nice photos of the sunrise anyway I guess.  The balloons here hold 16 and there’s 2 people in each compartment.  I got stuck with this stupid (I mean really stereotypically stupid) American woman.  The kind you just want to slap upside the head with a piece of 2×4.  Anyway, we launched and the first thing we spotted was a pride of lions!  With tiny little baby cubs!!!  Sooooooo adorable.  We were probably a couple of hundred feet up though, so the photos didn’t turn out great.  But still adorable!  Then along the rest of the ride we saw hippos, giraffe, zebra, Thompson’s gazelle, wildebeest…Really cool.  But it had to come to an end and we stopped in the middle of a field full of zebra and wildebeest.  Quite a short ride – it’s advertised as an hour, we were only up 35 minutes.  Guess you can’t do anything about the wind.  Then we had a champagne breakfast supplied before being driven back to the Serengeti visitor centre to be picked up by our trucks for the remainder of the day.  Now here’s where I get pissed off.  I was meant to be picked up at 9.30am.  11am comes and still no truck.  It showed up at 11.30.  Now don’t get me wrong, I know TIA and shit happens and all that.  But you don’t leave someone alone in the middle of the bloody Serengeti and not tell them you’re running late.  The crew have mobile phones, all they had to do was call the visitors centre and tell them to give me a message that they were stuck somewhere.  I mean, common sense, right?  I just got really peeved off at their lack of communication and the total lack of apology when they finally did show.  Anyway, we then went back to camp for a few hours to rest up before our afternoon game drive.  Which turned out to be awesome.  Saw lions and all sorts of things.  Still no leopard, but here’s to hoping we see one at Ngorongoro…After that we went to the Seronera lodge for a couple of hours to watch the sun set and have a drink at the bar.  Nice place, and I expect the sort of place I might stay next time I come to this part of the world (expense be damned).  Then drove back to camp in pitch black.  Saw heaps of eyes staring at us, but no idea what animals they belonged to…Then had dinner and crashed.  Slight sleep in tomorrow, have to be up at 7 to pack up and leave for Olduvai gorge and Ngorongoro crater.

Day 20: Serengeti to Ngorongoro (or the most EPIC day of the trip!!!)

So wake up and pack up camp before game driving our way out of the Serengeti on our way to Ngorongoro crater.  And what do we see just as we leave camp?  A LEOPARD!!!  In a tree!  WIN!!!  Got some genius photos!  Then we saw more lions and other assorted animals.  But seriously, LEOPARD!!!  Fucking made the entire trip worth it!

Then we had lunch at the park gate before continuing on to Olduvai gorge – the place where they found Australopithecus Africanus and other homonoid remains/footprints.  There’s a museum there (though as a scientist, I hesitate to call it a museum…more like a glorified curio shop).  Nice rocks though, and clearly defined stratigraphy.  Anyway, after that we drove to Ngorongoro crater and set up camp on the crater rim.  There’s elephants wandering around the camp site, so should make for an interesting evening!  Oh well, tired after a long day of driving.  And have to be up at 5am for our morning game drive in the crater…Early night!

Day 21: Ngorongoro game drive

Woke at 5am to be ready for the 4wd’s to pick us up at 6am for our half day game drive.  The truck is too big to go down the crater, so we split up into smaller groups and had regular safari 4wd’s and local guides for the game drive.  Pretty sweet.  Didn’t end up seeing any black rhino, but saw quite a few lions (including one with cubs – adorable!!!) and one of them was even stalking Thompson’s gazelle.  Would have been awesome to see it make the kill, but our guide said since the hunt had only just started, it may take a few hours – time we didn’t have.  Also saw a hyena with a wildebeest kill – awesome to see it walk off with the head in its mouth away from the vultures!  Yes, I think the kills are epic.  It’s just unusual more than a morbid fascination with death.  So basically not overly awed by Ngorongoro – the Serengeti crapped all over it.  Maybe we were just there on an average day?  Who knows.

After that we drove on to Mto Wa Mbu (sp?) for a short stop for souvenir shopping and to meet back up with the truck.  Picked up a small painting of some Masai women for about $12, would look cool in my office.  Then drove on to Meserani Snake Park.  Imagine my joy…I hate snakes.  They have a few dozen on display as well as some tortoises and crocs.  Depressing to see animals in cages after just having seen the most epic wildlife in the wild running (or sleeping as the case may be) free.  I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to visit a zoo again.  Anyway, had dinner there and watched a bit of tv at the onsite restaurant/bar before crashing.

Day 22: Meserani to Nairobi

So the end of the trip.  Or the end of the East Africa safari part of the trip at any rate.  Woke up at 5.30am and packed up the tent for the last time (for which I am forever grateful).  Then drove through to the Namanga border crossing and went through formalities.  Pretty quick and easy.  Exchanged my remaining Tanzanian shillings back to Kenyan shillings at the forex bureau at the border.  Exchange rate wasn’t great, but didn’t want to risk not being able to exchange them back in Nairobi.  Then we continued on the road (or what they call a road!) to Nairobi.  Was pretty shocking for a couple of hours, but then the road was pretty good for the last hour or so.  Arrived in at around 3.30pm and checked back in to the Kivi.  Said goodbye to the crew and the others on the tour who were leaving.  A few of us are flying out to various destinations at around the same time tomorrow, so will say final goodbyes then.  Ventured in to town to do some final souvenir shopping – only to find out that the shop that had that totally awesome mask I wanted to buy was shut by the time I got in there.  Craptastic.  So instead I ventured back to the Masai markets and picked up a bowl and a different mask.  Happy with what I paid for the bowl, but still think I paid too much for the mask.  Gonna take a look at the airport in Jo’burg when I fly back home to see if there’s anything in there I want (other than the books and the stuffed safari animal toys).  Then ventured back to the hotel and had dinner and a couple of drinks.  Gonna go crash now though – have to be up at stupid o’clock to leave for the airport.

Anyway, thus ends the epic African animal adventure.  In some ways it was awesome, in some ways I was frustrated.  I loved the itinerary.  I loved the adventure.  I loved the animals.  But I don’t know that I was entirely happy with our trip leader or the tour company in Kenya and Tanzania.  Just a few incidents along the way (some of which I mentioned above) left a sour taste in my mouth.  Maybe we just had exceptionally bad luck with the vehicles. Or maybe they’re not as well maintained as they claim to be. Maybe our guide thought he was being chivalrous.  Or maybe he’s a chauvinistic pig.  Maybe lots of things…But anyway.  I enjoyed the trip, but don’t know that I would necessarily recommend travelling with Intrepid.  I’ll reserve judgement until I travel with them again to see if this was really a once-off type situation or whether it’s systemic.  Churchill Safaris in Uganda were brilliant though.

I think in the back of my mind I’m already making plans to return.  I expect I’m done with Uganda and Kenya.  But I wouldn’t mind returning to Tanzania at some point and staying in the Serengeti at one of the upmarket lodges and doing it the “other” way, and maybe heading out to the coast to do some diving or something.  And maybe tie it in with some time in Mozambique or Madagascar (yup, want to go see them lemur!).  Who knows when I’ll get around to it though…Other destinations are on my must do list, and to be honest, I’ve seen what I wanted to see here.  I saw the Big 5.  I saw the gorillas.  Maybe at some point in the future when I’ve knocked other things off my list I’ll come back.  It’s a nice enough place.

A couple of random final things about Africa though…I couldn’t believe how hard it was to find a decent cup of coffee in Kenya when it (arguably) produces the best coffee in the world.  Apparently they export it all, which blows.  The locals (and caffeine deprived tourists) should reap the rewards of being in the best coffee producing nation!  I don’t know how many times we got served Nescafe when we thought we were getting proper filter coffee.  Ugh, I hate Nescafe.  And also, what on earth makes curio shop owners and market stall owners think I’m honestly going to give away/trade my $250 Oakley sunglasses for a bloody $5 trinket?!?!  I had to have been asked a couple of dozen times if people could have my sunnies or whether I wanted to trade them for a little bracelet or something.  How about NO!  I was nice about it and all, but every time I was asked, I just cracked up laughing.  I don’t know whether they thought I was a stupid Mzungu or whether they genuinely didn’t realise that they were expensive (which I doubt – for poverty stricken countries, they’re very brand conscious) or whether they were just joking.

Oh, and on the whole “Galapagos vs. Africa” question I got asked numerous times: Galapagos.  Sorry, but it’s cleaner and just more unspoiled.  Not to say Africa isn’t epic, but Galapagos just wins that argument.

The Epic Africa Trip Report – Part 1: Uganda

So I know I’ve not updated in ages, but I’ve been really busy since I got back from Africa.  Such is real-life I guess.  Anyway, this is one really long trip report, so I’m going to split it up into parts.  Part 1 will be about Uganda.  Part 2 will be about Kenya-Tanzania.  I’m intentionally skipping out the stuff on South Africa right at the end of the trip.

And so forward!

Day 1-2: Australia to Uganda

So it hasn’t been a great start.  Not an especially complicated route to get from Australia to Uganda – just time consuming.  Had to fly through Perth to get to Johannesburg and there was screw-up after screw-up at the airport.  Half the check-in staff were off sick or something, and then the ticket scanners at the gate weren’t working, meaning they had to process everyone manually.  Took ages to get everyone processed and on the plane.  And then South African Airways stuffed up my meals.  I explicitly put on my passenger booking that I am lactose intolerant and would therefore require a special meal.  Shocker, they didn’t have any suitable ones loaded.  I could have theoretically eaten a vegan meal, but they didn’t have any spare.  And all 4 of the meal options they did have on board either full of cream or cheese.  And then since I had to eat something in order to take my meds, I was forced to eat a meal that had stuff coming out both ends about 30 minutes later.  NOT IMPRESSED SAA!

Landed and got through immigration in Jo’burg pretty quickly – though they are really going to struggle in a week or so when most of the World Cup tourists show up.  Go to check in for the next flight (on Kenya Airways) and yeah, can’t do that either.  Checkin doesn’t open till 9pm.  That’s more than 4 hours stuffing around with my bags. And I can’t get into an airline lounge because they’re all airside.  The food options landside aren’t great, but I have no other options really.  Will find something to eat shortly, lest I starve!  Anyway, I’m tired and want to nap.  Gonna find some chairs and lay down for a while.  More updating when I get to Nairobi/Kampala in the morning.

Oh, and next time I have the genius idea to save a few hundred dollars on flights which have shit connection times, someone please kick my ass.  There’s a direct flight from Jo’burg to Entebbe on South African with more sane flight times, if I ever make it back to Uganda, I’m doing that.

Onwards, made it to Kampala alive.  You know, after being propositioned by a guy in an airport security uniform in Jo’burg to “carry a parcel” to Nairobi.  How about hell NO!  Christ, brings back memories of Schapelle Corby!  South Africa’s trying to convince the world that it’s safe and they’ve cleaned up their act?  And security is actively trying to use tourists to smuggle drugs?  ROFL. Right.  But anyway, the flight to Nairobi was the last of the night, so by the time I’d cleared immigration and security, most of the shops were shutting up (or already closed).  Not to worry, have the chance to buy souvenirs and whatnot on the way home to Oz in a few weeks (saw a few things I really want which if I don’t find on my holiday, I’m buying at the airport).  The Kenya Airways flight to Nairobi was totally uneventful, for which I am eternally grateful.  No comments, I think I napped for most of the 3.5 hours.  Then had a couple of hours in Nairobi airport waiting for the flight to Entebbe.  Boring.  Oh, I remember now!  I got in trouble for taking photos!  Yup, there was this totally brilliant sunrise with planes in the background, so I got my camera out to take a couple of photos.  Then I get told off for it and forced to delete them.  Ok, oops on my part…Only not.  Local black guy does the exact same thing and the woman who told me off is sitting there chatting to this guy while he’s snapping away with his camera.  Gotta love those double standards!  Flight to Entebbe was full, but only 45 minutes.  Boring.  Boring on flights can be a good thing though, trust me!

After landing in Entebbe, clearing immigration was simple enough.  Give the guy your passport, the blue immigration form everyone had to fill out on the plane, and US$50 and you’re set (obviously the whole visa on arrival thing works for some nationalities like Australia, and not others, please check for your specific passport!).  Bags were a bit slow to come out, but not the worst in the world by a long shot.  Then went out and was met by a guy from Churchill Safaris (who my gorilla trekking trip has been booked with).  He’ll be the one taking me out to Bwindi to do the gorilla trekking in a couple of days.  Nice guy!  So then it was about a 1 hour drive to Kampala – we have an older model Landcruiser, late 90s I think, but seems to run ok.  Stopped off at a Forex bureau to exchange some USD (end of May rate was US$1=2150 Shillings).  Then to the Metropole Hotel.

The hotel is nice, reasonably new by the looks of it, and clean.  Not many facilities (no pool or anything), but bed, hot water, flushing toilet, a couple of restaurants – I’m good!  And really, on that note, I’m passing out for the afternoon/night!\

Day 3: Jetlag recovery in Kampala

I’d originally thought that I might head to Jinja today to go white water rafting or something, but yeah, didn’t happen.  Woke up around 8 and got breakfast.  Pretty decent.  Mostly western style: cereals, toast, baked beans, sausages etc. but they also had plantain (sp?) and a couple of what looked like local dishes.  Plantain was nice with a bit of golden syrup over the top.  Then went back to bed for a while and read.  Tried to get lunch – what a hassle.  There’s apparently some conference on at the hotel, and trying to get food if you’re not a conference delegate seems like a problem.  Eventually managed to find someone who could actually make a decision as to whether I could be fed in the hotel or not.  Had to do room service in the end because all the restaurants are being used for the conference.  Wish I’d have been told about this yesterday when I checked in.  Not to worry.  Ordered a satay chicken dish with rice – not bad!  This place is supposed to have the best Thai in Kampala, so figured it’d be safe.  By this stage it’d started pissing down with rain.  And the power went out. Fun times!  I think they have a backup generator though, as I can hear something and the power was only gone for 10 minutes before I heard the noise and it came back on.  Pretty efficient setup!  Oh, and they also have wi-fi!  Genius!  A bit difficult to get a signal strong enough to work, but it’s there, and I can get on for about 10 minutes or so to check my emails before it drops out, so that’s all I really want it for!  Funny though, hotel has wi-fi and my stupid mobile phone doesn’t work.  There’s half a dozen carriers that it detects, but it won’t connect to any of them for roaming.  Not the end of the world, just difficult trying to tell my parents I arrived safely (they’re not much into email or facebook), but got around that by sending my brother an email telling him to call the folks.  Where there’s a will, there’s a way!  Anyway, spent the afternoon reading and napping.  Electricity kept going out.  It’s funny how I take it for granted.  Obviously out bush, I don’t expect electricity, but in the city, I do.  Never really thought much about it, but now I realise just how much I take it for granted.\

Have to be up at 5.30am or so in the morning for the drive to Bwindi – leaving at 6.30am.

Day 4: Off to Bwindi

Had to be up at 5.30am to be ready by 6.30 for the drive to Bwindi NP.  Breakfast isn’t technically until 6.30 though, but they had cereal and toast stuff out at 6 so I managed something.  The drive was very green and if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear we were driving through the Tully/Atherton Tablelands/Mosman Gorge area of North Queensland.  No joke!  The trees, flowers, landscape…Almost identical!  You can definitely tell Australia and Africa were connected at some point in the past.  Anybody who tries to deny plate tectonics after seeing the similarities between the two is a fool.

Stopped for lunch at a small hotel/rest stop type place and got a burger and coke (the curry on the menu scared me – not that game with another 5 hours driving ahead of us!).  Ether, the woman from Churchill who I made all the bookings with rang and wanted to have a chat to see how it was all going.  Certainly can’t fault their customer service!  About an hour later I wasn’t feeling so good though, but thankfully we had to stop for fuel anyway.  Have to get used to squat toilets again I guess.  Joy.

Onwards, and epicness!  Saw eles!!!  And Ugandan Kobs!  And water buffalo!  And that cool looking crane that’s on the Uganda coat of arms!  And monkeys and baboons!  And holy crap, not even been gorilla tracking yet!  Love it!  This morning when my guide said “the roads are bad” I was expecting the worst.  10 hours in and I was wondering wtf he was talking about!  The roads were no worse than any mine site road in Australia – perfectly fine in a 4wd.  Then the last 2 hours happened.  Evilness.  I know I bitched about the roads in Brazil during the floods, but this was worse.  Anyway, we got to Lake Kitandara Tented Camp just before 7pm.  The place seems nice enough.  Big 12 person type tents with 2 double beds in each.  Semi-enclosed outdoor bathroom – has hot water that takes around 5-10 minutes to come through and a flush toilet (yay!).  They supply towels, but no toiletries.  Not a complaint, just pointing it out!  A guy brought around some hot tea and coffee before dinner.  Dinner (and brekky) is held in a dining room at the top of the hill.  Note to self and others: take a torch or headlamp after dark, the path isn’t lit, easy to fall down the slippery stairs.  Dinner was ok, but to be honest, I wasn’t very hungry and I left half my main and skipped dessert.  I just wanted to sleep.  Yes, I hate being in this part of the world and wasting food…But hopefully this won’t be a recurring issue.  Got back to my room (tent) and someone had put hot water bottles in my bed!  Love it!  It really can be the little things that impress me sometimes.  Anyway, mozzie nets are on and tent is zipped up.  Just about to set my alarm and nod off.  Because tomorrow is GORILLA DAY!!!

Oh, and a PS: I know being called “mzungu” isn’t meant as a derogatory term by most little kids.  They’re cute and excitable and make me laugh that they’re so happy to see a white chick.  But the way some of the older kids kind of spat it at me, it really did make me feel uncomfortable.  It is what it is of course, but this has been my experience and my feelings on it.

Day 5: ZOMG! ‘Rillas!!!

So up at 6.30am and found a fist sized spider in my tent.  Not quite sure how it got in since it was all zipped up and stuff.  Breakfast at 7.  A bit average, but today, I really couldn’t have cared less.  Went down to the UWA office just before 8 and got our briefing on what/what not to do on our tracking day.  Things like “stay 7m away from the gorillas” and “if they charge at you, crouch down “ etc.  Not a big list, but I’m not going to list all the rules here.  If you ever go, you too shall hear the list from the rangers and trackers.  Anyway, I was set to track the “R” group.  Since I wanted to focus on my photography, I hired a porter (US$15) to carry my backpack/water for me.  It turned out the porter was entirely unnecessary since we managed to find our group of gorillas in about 10 minutes!  Thus began our 1 hour viewing time (that goes all too quickly).

And ZOMG!  So cute!  And baby ‘rillas!!!  They like to go tumbling down the hill “roly poly” style.  And they act so much like humans it’s scary!  The different body language and stuff.  Anybody who denies humans and gorillas are related is a delusional dumbfuck (but ya’ll already knew my thoughts on such people already I’m sure), especially after seeing how they act in the wild.  They also seem to make a game out of falling out of trees.  Also very cute!  Sadly our hour had to end and we walked back down to the office to get certificates.

We were back by 10.30am and had the rest of the day to veg out or do another “walk”.  I chose to do the “waterfall” walk ($10) because my guide and tracker this morning said “you’ll get to see some other primates and birds” – I figured brilliant!  Yeah, no.  Didn’t see a single primate and only 2-3 birds.  It’s obviously called wildlife for a reason.  Can’t guarantee anything.  The waterfall was nice I guess, but not why I went.  Not the end of the world though, since I already saw THE primates today.  Anyhow, early night since I have to be up early to be ready for the drive back to Kampala at 6.30am.

Day 6: Back to Kampala

Tired.  Left at 7am and gave a lift to a couple of UWA vets who were heading to another national park to check on some animals.  Along the way they helped with my improvised “game drive” and helped keep a lookout for eles and stuff.  Saw a few and some cool looking birds.  Dropped them off somewhere in Queen Elizabeth NP and continued our drive back to Kampala.  Was long and boring.  Stopped in Mbarara for lunch, apparently that’s where President Museveni is from.  Food was good, but seriously, wtf is up with people in this country not understanding the meaning of “no milk/cream/cheese”?  If I order a BLT, I amazingly enough, do NOT expect it to come with melted cheese on it (meaning I can’t pick it out)!  I didn’t send it back like I would have at home, but I still have a stomach ache.  It’s like they think if it’s not on its own (like a glass of milk) then it’s ok for you to eat (like using milk in a sauce).  I’ve been good about it so far, but after putting up with it for 4 days now, my stomach is really rebelling and I really don’t feel so good.  I’m hoping when I get to Kenya it’ll be a bit easier.  Anyhow, then kept driving to Kampala and didn’t end up getting to town until after 7.  I wanted to buy a book on Ugandan wildlife, so we went for a quick drive around town to see if we could find one, but everything was shut.  Kind of expected it given the time, so I’m really hoping to find something at the airport tomorrow, because as it stands, I haven’t bought any souvenirs yet.  The wooden gorilla carvings in Bwindi weren’t really what I wanted.  And looking at the wood, I’d be surprised if I got one back past AQIS back in Oz anyway.  There’s apparently some shops at the airport, so I’ll try my luck.  Got back to the Metropole hotel around 8 and had a much awaited shower.  So good!  And electricity!  This new room I’m in can’t find the wi-fi though which sucks.  Maybe at breakfast in the morning.  Have to be up early as we have to drive back to Entebbe at 7 for the flight at 10.  I wanted to leave a bit earlier, but my guide insists that’s enough time *shrug*.  Anyway, gonna head to sleep now.

Easter Island (aka Isla de Pascua; aka Rapa Nui) at Easter

Apologies in advance for the paragraph that contains the swearing.  Once you get to it, hopefully you’ll understand why.

Oh, and more testing for the Peru vs. Chile pisco sour debate…Peru is still way ahead.  Sorry Chile!  Better luck next time!

Day 1

What a long couple of days.

Flew into Sydney on the red-eye and had a few hours layover before having to catch the flight out to Santiago.  The flight was ok Sydney-Auckland.  Got stuck next to this lady who was going to NZ…And (literally) she couldn’t understand a single word of English. We (me and the flight attendant) were trying to ask her if she was going to be staying in NZ or travelling through to Santiago, and she couldn’t understand a word of it. I wonder how the hell she’s gonna deal with immigration and stuff?

So yeah, on LA800/QF321 to Santiago, but it has a short stopover in Auckland to refuel.  Not so bad I suppose. Get to get off the plane and use a real toilet and freshen up and wander the shops for 45 minutes before they reboard.  Picked up a pair of silver earrings, cos the ones I have in now are pissing me off and I didn’t bring any others with me.  Got held up a bit leaving Auckland though, because I think they may have overbooked the flight or something for that segment, because there were several people who boarded and found someone already sitting in their seat who’d been assigned the exact same seat allocation on their tickets.  Took a while to get that all sorted out.  Dunno if they disembarked anybody or just shifted them up to business though.  Speaking of business…I am looking forward to the day when work will pay for me to fly business class!

Ended up watching Avatar…and crying. Again.  It’s a brilliant movie, but well, makes you (read: me) think.  I mean of course, I know it’s a movie…But I have to wonder if what I do for a living contributes to that kind of thing.  Ok, so yes, I know it does.  But I try to make up for it in other ways in my personal life.  But watching it again (and really watching it, as opposed to just going ZOMG! Look at the CGI!), makes me wonder if I’m still not doing enough.  I know if I quit and changed fields that it’d still go on, with or without me.  But it makes me feel incredibly guilty that what I do has seriously messed up implications for the natives and for the environment.  Cameron probably took it a few steps beyond, but in principle, that sort of thing happens.  All the time.  Anyway, this probably isn’t the time or place for such a philosophical discussion.

There was this really twat-like Argentine couple sitting in front of me on the plane from Auckland to Santiago as well.  And I mean that in the worst possible way.  They got into a ridiculous argument with the flight attendants and the guy even got up and looked to threaten them at one point…All because they didn’t have the “special” meal that they forgot to pre-order.  Now I know that airlines usually carry a couple of extra vegetarian meals for those who forget to put it into their bookings.  But these 2 apparently had some really odd dietary requirement, hadn’t put it into their booking, and so, unsurprisingly, the airline didn’t have any that fit their requirements on board.  Now ok, yes, sucks for the couple.  But how the hell is the airline meant to know unless you tell them beforehand so that they can let the airline caterers know to put it on board for that particular flight?  I’ve seen some very strange dietary requirements over the years, and know airlines can cater to just about anything, if you give them enough warning!  90 minutes out from landing in Santiago is not enough time.  Strange that.  I wanted to slap them upside the head, but that wouldn’t bode well for the start of my trip.

Just been a really long trip to Santiago.  I think I’m counting that I’ve been awake over 48 hours now.  I managed to get some decent rest on the plane, but it’s not actual sleep.  I expect when I get to the hotel in Santiago, I’m probably just going to crash.  I’m already checked in (online – was easy) for the LAN flight to Easter Island, so no worries there.

Anyway, gonna shut the puter down now for a while.  Save the battery.  Will write more when I get to the hotel in Santiago.

So at the hotel at last.  The instructions I was given for the hotel transfer from the airport were wrong.  Because of the earthquake at the end of February and the damage done to the airport, they’re still running stuff out of tents and whatnot in some places.  The documentation I got said “go to the transvip counter and request the transfer”.  Well, the transvip counter doesn’t seem to exist right now.  They’re operating in a tent after you leave the actual terminal.  Which I didn’t know.  Took me ages to figure it out.  After having the stupidest taxi driver try to con me well and truly.  He saw me wandering around trying to find the transfer desk, and said he could take me to the hotel for 50000 pesos.  That’s US$100 by the way. Uh, how about (a) this is not my first time to Santiago, and (b) the hotel is less than 5 minutes drive away and shouldn’t cost more than 2500 pesos and (c) while I fully admit my Spanish isn’t that good, it isn’t non-existent – I can speak and understand some, so don’t treat me like a fucking idiot.  Anyway, I think he got the hint after mentioning that figure for the hotel transfer and me literally cracking up laughing and saying NO.

So anyway, got to the hotel and all was good.  Diego de Almagro is about 5 mins drive from the airport (I would have stayed at the airport Holiday Inn, but it was fully booked out for a conference or something apparently).  It’s in an industrial kind of area, so nothing around.  But given that I’d been awake for some 50+ hours straight at this point, I didn’t much care.  It had a bed and a shower and a tv with hundreds of channels.  I must admit, it’s got very comfy beds.  Usually hotel beds are pretty crap, but I was impressed by this one.  Slept like a baby.  And slept through the night, so can’t comment on the hotel restaurant.  The breakfast was good though.  Coffee, juice, toast and spreads.  All I need really.  A bit expensive for what it is, but I spose that’s the price you pay for convenience.

Day 2

So got a decent night’s sleep last night.  But had to be up at 5 to get ready to go to the airport for the 8.30am flight to Easter Island.  Got dropped off at the domestic part of the terminal, since, well, Easter Island is domestic and everything.  Also not to mention I was on the straight Santiago-EI-Santiago flight, not the one that does the run through to Papeete (Tahiti).  But I go to line up to do the bag drop (since I checked in online in Sydney) and they tell me I have to check in at the international desks. *shrug* beats me.  I’m sure there’s some logic behind it somewhere. Maybe

After that ventured through security which was straight forward and then had a couple of hours hanging round the airport. There’s a small shop and a couple of coffee shops once you pass domestic security.  And a Santander ATM (thankfully!).  Everyone told me to stock up on Pesos before arriving on EI since the ATMs there have a significant fail rate and exchanging cash can apparently be an issue.  I’m not on a tight budget for this trip since it’s only 4 days, but I don’t want to get caught short either.

Anyway, then on to the flight.  Got nothing to really say about it.  Which I suppose is a good thing.  It just went and it landed.  Not much more you can ask for.  No hijinx or anything.  Watched Sherlock Holmes out of sheer boredom.  Wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I heard such bad stories about it that I didn’t bother when it first came out.  But yeah, got a few laughs.  And then just as we were coming in to land…Holy crap!  How clear is that water?!?!  At that altitude and you could see the reefs!  Damn this diving is going to be epic!

So we landed and got off the plane to a light drizzle.  Nothing to ruin a day though.  Got some photos of the plane and then give the guy the landing card before going in to the luggage belt.  Didn’t have to wait too long. Then outside to see the guy holding a bit of paper with my name on it for the transfer to the hotel.  I got greeted with a lei of flowers and thought it was cute

I’m staying at the Manavai Hotel in Hanga Roa.  I don’t think there was any spectacular reason for it.  It’s a mid-range type hotel here and wasn’t priced too badly, and it has a pool (in hindsight, that may have been the deciding factor).  The Posada de Mike Rapu or whatever it’s called looks really nice, but at almost $1500 a night, slightly out of my price range (about the same for one night there as the total cost of my side trip – including the return flights from Santiago!).  The chick who seems to be running the place (Kim) is this really awesome American lady (I think – at least she has a very strong US accent).  She gave me the low-down on where to eat, where to visit, where not to bother with and all that kind of thing.  Most useful!  So after getting the info I needed, I packed up my daypack with a towel and camera and stuff and headed down the road maybe 200m to the shore where the dive operators are to book my diving!

I’d done a bit of research online before getting here, and all signs pointed towards using Orca rather than Mike Rapu.  Suggestions were that Orca has better gear, and this far from a deco chamber, I’d rather play it safe.  Not to say Mike Rapu has bad gear or anything, for all I know they’re great.  But advice was to go with Orca, so that’s what I planned on.  Only I get down there, and walk in to the office to make arrangements and the guy (not sure what his name was) was in there having a chat to one of his mates.  Didn’t seem to want anything to do with me, like I was some huge imposition.  I mean hey, I’m sorry I disrupted your conversation with your mate, but it’s a business, yes?  Then he proceeded to get all snarky with me over me wanting to do an afternoon dive rather than a morning dive (something their website says is definitely possible).  Sure, a morning dive would be great, but I’ve got tours booked and that doesn’t allow for me to do a morning dive because of the timing.  Took a while, but he’s got me booked for a dive at 2.30 tomorrow afternoon.  So yeah, booked for a dive, but a little unimpressed with this guy’s customer service.

Then ventured down the main street for a bit to go visit the supermarket and pick up a big bottle of water and a big bottle of coke.  Yeah, even here, I can’t escape my need for sugary caffeinated drinks!  Prices aren’t cheap, even at the supermarket, but it’s the price of convenience, isn’t it?  Everything must be freighted in.  Such is life.  There’s a little internet café I saw that I’m going to have to check out a bit later on.  And a few little shops.  Saw where a couple of café’s and stuff are, one of which was recommended by Kim, so will have to check it out for dinner.  Bit lazy to do much right now, so gonna go laze by the pool for a bit!

After my lounging by the pool for a bit and going for a dip, I went for another short wander around the township just to check out where things are.  Didn’t venture far to go see moai, since I wouldn’t really understand what I was looking at, and that is, obviously, the reason I’ve hired a guide for the next couple of days.  I’ll see it all then.  Then came back to the hotel and had a nap for a while.  Yes, I know it seems silly when you’re in such an amazing place to have a nap in the hotel rather than going out adventuring, but I’m tired.  I’ve had stupid numbers of hours of flights in the past few days.  I need to sleep.  Then woke up around 7.30pm and went out for dinner.

Wandered down the main street again to the Café Ra’a.  Only right next door there’s an internet café.  So I ended up in there first to check emails, and update facebook to let the family know I landed ok.  Nothing much going on in the land of Oz from what I can tell.  I’m missing meetings and whatnot, but meh, whatever.  Internet access isn’t too expensive actually.  I think it was about 800 pesos for half an hour.  Cheaper than most other internet café’s I’ve visited in my travels, so can’t complain.  It’s a bit slow, but just don’t do what I did and try to load 5 pages at once, and you should be right.

Then went next door to Café Ra’a for food.  Kim from the hotel recommended it as one of the places I should try out.  The menu was pretty sparse, but the options looked ok.  I got the lasagne marinara.  Was pretty good.  Came with a bowl of bread and dip.  Have to be honest, I liked the dip more than the lasagne   I should find out their recipe for the dip though.  Was really good!  Getting an idea of prices around here though.  Not cheap.  I paid around US$25 for an average serving of lasagne and a coke.  And this is apparently one of the cheaper places on the island.  Still want to go out for lobster one night, just have to conveniently ignore the prices while there!  The people at Café Ra’a were really nice and attentive and were patient and understanding with my attempts to communicate in Spanish.  Might wander back at lunch one day to see if they’ve got a different lunch menu.

Anyway, back in my room right now getting ready for bed.  Got a half day tour tomorrow in the morning.  Then diving tomorrow afternoon!

Day 3

You know, one of these days, one of my moments of insanity is going to get me killed   No joke.

Didn’t get a great night’s sleep last night, woke up around 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep.  Probably jetlag.  Stayed in bed till around 7 though, then got up and went for a wander down to the foreshore to get some photos.

There’s some problems with the water supply near the hotel with the mains bursting apparently 3 times in the last 3 days.  So no water for a shower or anything.  Blows a bit, but not exactly the hotel’s fault.  This kind of crap happens.  Then wandered back for breakfast around 8.30 (yes, I found it a bit strange that they don’t even start serving brekky till 8.30am, but such is life).  You get a couple of little dishes of jam and some butter, a toasted crumpet and a slice of what I think was vanilla sponge cake, a banana and some ham and cheese.  I stuck with the crumpet and jam (which I later discovered was guava jam).  Not too bad I guess.  To be honest I would have been happy with a couple of pieces of toast and strawberry jam.  Meh.  Island life – must get used to it!

Then wandered out the front to wait for my guide to pick me up.  I had organised for my own guide and driver on this trip, because I wanted to take some good photos and didn’t want to be rushed by a group minibus type tour!  Turned out to be both a blessing and a curse!  First ventured off to the cave Ana Kai Tangata to see the bird paintings, and from what my guide said, he thinks it’s actually where the birdman race started.  His theory was that they swim out from the cave and round the side of the island to the islets to get the bird egg.  Dunno if it’s true or not (but then nobody knows if any of the theories are true – that’s why they’re theories!), but what he said made logical sense.

Then wandered around to the crater rim at Rano Kau…And so began the adventure!

I was standing at the top taking a few photos, and my guide said something about there being a boulder near the bottom that had a petroglyph of a dolphin and a few other things on it.  And me, being me, said “oh, cool!  Can we go see it?!?!”.  Now bear in mind that there’s signs at the top saying “beware, falling rocks”…But yeah, lets ignore that.  So the guide says that’s not actually a legal sign, it’s just a safety thing.  So we follow this little trail down to the jungle bit and then wander through (I’m only wearing shorts, a t-shirt and trainers, my guide has long pants, long sleeved shirt and boots…).  There’s spiky trees and evil spinifex-like grass.  So we wander around for about 15 minutes before my guide decides he doesn’t know where it is and we go to head back up.  Simple enough, right?  Only he lost the trail.  Took 40 minutes to get back up.  And neither of us took any water with us since we figured we’d only be gone a total of 10-15 minutes.  Never let it be said I’m the most organised person around!  Anyway, many cuts and scratches later, we found our way back to the top where the driver had been waiting for us.  Apparently our guide said we’d be 20 mins maximum…An hour later…So yeah, my insanity/curiosity  will probably get me killed one of these days!  And after all that, I still didn’t get to see the dolphin petroglyph!  Apparently the govt/national park people intentionally aren’t giving the location away cos they want to keep people away and not ruin it.  Can’t say I blame them.  But damn it would have been cool to find it   More on this later though, there ended up being more to the whole situation.

Then we kept driving around to Orongo to check out the petroglyphs there and see the islands where the birdman competition took place.  So the people who did that were more insane than me.  That’s some consolation, right?  Erosion from the wind and rain has caused the petroglyphs to be barely discernable to be honest.  In some places you really have to squint sideways and use your imagination to see what’s being shown to you.  Some of them are slightly more obvious and do look really cool.  The theory is that the birdman petroglyphs are kind of like signatures from the winners of the competition each year.  Again, who knows if it’s true?  But it makes some sense.  There’s 50 million places on the net that go into the history of the competition, so I’m not going to ramble on about it here.  If you’re interested, I’m sure wikipedia has something to say

So after all that, we ventured back to the hotel where I got dropped off around 12.  Got a full day tomorrow out to the other (northern) side of the island to see the quarry and moai and stuff.  Should be awesome!  Have to psych myself up a bit for diving though, which blows.  I’m a bit tired.  Hopefully should be fine though.

That was epic!  Not a huge amount of marine life, but what I saw was amazing.  Went to Anchor Reef just off Hanga Roa bay, viz had to be close to 50m!!!  One of the Garcia brothers (Henri iirc) was the guide, but he had another woman with him who seems to be doing her DM training, so she came with us as well.  There was one other regular diver apart from me, a chick from Denmark.  Anyway, so it’s a 3 minute ride in the boat out to the site.  We got to 24m max depth for a total dive time of 45 minutes.  Saw so much!  Turtles (singular turtle if you want to be technical about it ), heaps of colourful fish, sea urchins, the underwater moai, this huge coral bomb, a massive anchor (hence the “anchor reef”).  Got short of air about 40 mins in and did the last 5 mins of the dive breathing off Henri’s spare reg.  All really safe practices (safety stops and all) and good gear (though bear in mind that they use full foot fins in their rental gear and so don’t have boots, so if your feet get overly cold, plan accordingly and bring your own).  Got a few decent photos, but I really need to do some colour correction in photoshop before I stick them online.  So you’ll all have to wait a couple of weeks till I get home to see them all, since my little netbook doesn’t have photoshop installed.  And at the end of it, I saw they were selling a small book on the Underwater World of Easter Island (by Michel Garcia) for US$10 at their dive shop.  Least it’ll give me a chance to ID some of the marine life I saw!  The dive cost US$60 all up for the dive and rental gear and the “guide”.  All in all, a brilliant dive, and really glad I took the time out to do it.

Afterwards went and got an ice cream from the little shop next to the 2 dive shops which had a really good reputation as “the best ice cream in the Pacific”.  Well who am I to deny them the chance to prove their point?  Have to say, it was pretty damn good!  And possibly they have made it to the top of that list!  Then back to the hotel to nap for a bit before deciding what to do for dinner.  Might try the lobster place tonight.

So, what do I find?  Lounging around after my nap and reading through the little free pamphlet I got at Orongo today, I find out that climbing to the bottom of the crater at Rano Kau isn’t allowed.  So now I’m pissed off.  Honestly, while I may have wanted to go down and see that dolphin petroglyph, I didn’t want to break any rules to do so.  I wish my guide had of just said no when I asked whether we could go check it out.  I probably would have respected him more for saying no rather than letting me break local rules just because I asked to see something different.  But on the other hand, they really need better signage there if it’s an actual rule that you’re not allowed down.  Because right now, there’s a sign that says “beware, falling rocks”, but nothing that says you can’t actually go down there.  And since nobody told me it wasn’t allowed, there’s no explicit signage there, and I didn’t go to Orongo and get the pamphlet until after I’d been to Rano Kau to see the crater, how exactly was I supposed to know any better?  I’m more than a little peeved at my guide right now.  Because he should know better.  And I’d rather be told “no” when asking about doing something like that than to find out later I’m breaking the law.  I’ll get over being told “no” pretty quickly.  I won’t get over a massive fine or jail time quite so easily.

Anyway, after all that, I crashed pretty quickly.  I woke up for dinner, decided I couldn’t be arsed, and went back to sleep.

Day 4

The full day tour.  I wanted to sleep, but had to get up.  Since I went to bed so early last night, it wasn’t a big surprise when I woke up at 2am.  And couldn’t get back to sleep.  Stayed in bed, but was pretty much wide awake.  Got up at 8 and went to see Kim about going to see one of the Rapa Nui shows tonight (song and dance thingy).  She said the only one on tonight is at the Belgian place down near the water, so I guess that’s where I’m eating tonight!

Got picked up at 9am again and this time ventured north up along the coastal road to ***.  Here there were some fallen Moai (the statues) as well as ahu (ceremonial platforms).  Was interesting discussing potential theories with my guide and all, but honestly, I think we could have done with about half the time actually spent here.  It seemed to be my guide’s pet spot, and that’s cool…But at the end of the day, we got next to no time at other sites cos we spent so long here.

From there, we moved on to the quarry at Rano Raraku.  My guide actually knows the archaeologists working on excavating and restoring 2 of the moai in the quarry, so we first went to visit them.  Have to say this was one of the most interesting parts of my day.  Got to talk science with a couple of scientists actually working there (both English speaking – even better)!  They’re excavating the bottom of one of the moai there as it’s got petroglyphs on its back.  They’re also undergoing a restoration/conservation type project where they’re using certain geochemical techniques to help prevent further erosion and weathering.  This will help preserve the moai (and the petroglyphs) all around the island for future generations.  It’s a really brilliant idea.  So far they’ve only done a few moai, but I understand their aim is to eventually do them all.  After that intellectual discussion, we moved on and went for a wander around the quarry (both sides).  So many moai, and you can see how they carved them out of the rock as there’s a few still in there that they obviously never finished.  Very cool.  And there’s also the only kneeling moai on the entire island in the quarry as well.  Debate apparently rages as to whether this was done when they first arrived, or just before the culture died out.  I’m guessing right at the end, because if it was done right at the beginning, you’d probably expect to see more than one of them on the entire island.  Whereas at the end, maybe that was the way they were moving towards just before everything went to hell.

From there we went down to Ahu Tongariki where the 15 moai are all lined up.  Admittedly it does look cool, but at the same time, very fake.  I give previous people props for trying to restore the site, but in doing so, they really stuffed it up in my opinion.  It looks like it’s been built specifically for tourists to go “wow!” and snap photos rather than looking like a traditional religious or ceremonial site.  Just very fake looking.  Maybe others see it differently, this is just my opinion.

Then we were off to ***, another pet site for my guide.  Again, interesting, and some good discussions over various theories, but still spent way too long here I think.  There’s this big round boulder there that if you touch and sit there for 15 minutes in total silence is supposed to imbue you with wisdom or something.  With all the big noisy tour buses now arriving, the chances of even getting 15 seconds silence, let alone 15 minutes is an impossible task.  More fallen moai and ahu at this site.

Then we ventured back in to Hanga Roa for lunch which was provided by the company I hired the guide from.  Was soup, pasta and fruit.  Not bad, though the pasta did give me a slight stomach ache.  Had an interesting conversation with my guide over lunch.  Turns out he’s an ex-journalist.  And his wife used to be governor of the island.  He’s very knowledgeable, not only about the history of the Rapa Nui people, but also about the modern politics and culture on the island.  He had some very interesting insights into the conservation efforts and things like that going on, I think mainly from his time working as a journalist.

So after lunch we ventured off to ***.  (need to look up map, I really can’t remember where we went).

Then finally, late in the afternoon, we ventured to Anakena beach.  Now I’d really wanted to go for a swim here, and based on the itinerary I’d discussed when booking the guide, I thought we were going to be there around lunch time to go for a swim and whatnot.  But we got there around 4.30.  And by the time we’d gone and seen the moai, got the rundown and had a look at the petroglyphs, it was 5pm and time to head back into town.  If we’d spent less time at some of the sites this morning, the “pet sites” of my guide, then we would have had the time to spend at Anakena.  A bit peeved about that, since I won’t have time in the morning to come back and go for a swim before I have to pack up and head to the airport.

Anyway, so got back to the hotel and said goodbye to the guide and the driver.  My guide was great – extremely knowledgeable.  But at the same time, I’m still pissed off that he knowingly let me break the law at Rano Kau.  And that he constantly was snatching my camera away from me when I was trying to take photos (yes, I get that he was a journo and wanted to take photos), but it’s my fucking camera, and if I don’t want to be in the photos that’s my choice.  There’s now a ton of photos on my memory card with me shielding my face from his constant “let me take your photo” shots.  I’m sorry, but it’s incredibly fucking rude to take someone’s photo without their permission.  And even more so to just keep snatching someone’s camera away from them while they’re in the middle of taking photos without their permission.  And finally, I had agreed to a certain itinerary that was not matched.  Sure, I probably got to see some things slightly off the beaten track, but it’s not what I agreed to and I’m a little disappointed that I had to miss out on some sites I wanted to see because my guide wanted to spend more time at his favourite places.

So after that I ventured up the road to the craft markets.  What a ripoff.  While I know people here need to make a living, the prices are outrageous for what they’re selling (attempts to bargain get you almost nowhere).  Not to mention that 95% of it isn’t even made on the island.  It’s imported from mainland Chile.  How to I know?  Those little souvenir statues they sell…Most of that wood isn’t native to the island, and the stone the majority of them are carved from (onyx ffs?) isn’t found on the island either.  But they try to convince you it’s all local, which is why they say it costs so much.  Sorry, but FAIL.  I know rocks.  I gave up in the end.  I couldn’t find anything in there that I actually liked.  Which is rare for me.  So I ventured back down to the small “Easter Island Foundation” shop a couple of doors down from the hotel.  I believe a portion of the profits go towards conservation efforts on the island.  I bought a small 10-15cm high vesicular basalt moai statue for 12000 pesos.  I don’t like it that much, but in case I don’t find anything at the airport, I couldn’t very well head home without at least one souvenir!

Then back to the hotel to get ready to go out for dinner and a show!  At Au Bout Du Monde (the place run by the Belgian woman) for the show and to eat.  It’s apparently a bit fancy, so I put on clean jeans and a nice top.  Don’t know why I bothered though since when I got there, there were people happily dining in shorts and tshirts.  Must admit I was a little disappointed by the menu options: fish, salmon, fish, fish, salmon, prawns, lobster (“oh, sorry.  We don’t have any lobster right now”), fish, salmon, salmon or salmon.  Now ok, I love fish and salmon, but something else would have been nice.  And dammit, I wanted lobster.  This was my splurge night.  Don’t get me wrong, the food I ordered was superb!  Had a smoked salmon entrée, and ginger and coconut milk prawns for main.  Both were excellent, but yeah, some other options would have been nice – like LOBSTER   It wasn’t that bad price wise despite it’s reputation for being one of the pricier places on the island – think I paid around the equivalent of US$55 for the food and a couple of pisco sours, including the service charge/tip.  I’d been expecting roughly double that.

The show was actually next door to the restaurant, which I wasn’t aware of.  Which meant the drink I’d just ordered couldn’t be taken next door.  Bah.  Wish they’d have told me that earlier.  So went and watched that.  Was a bit of fun.  Like the music.  Then ventured back to the hotel when that finished and just crashed.  Gonna try and get up in the morning for sunrise – and good photos.

Day 5

So was awake at around 5.45am.  Doom.  Got up and started organising my stuff to pack back up for the flight at 1.  Getting picked up at 10.30, so didn’t have the opportunity to do much this morning.  Left the hotel around 6.30 and walked down to the moai site at ***.  Was still pitch black and had to walk past the disco.  Fun times.  Think I got some good photos, or at least I better for all that effort.  On the way back to the hotel one of the guys leaving the disco decided to have a go.  Took a good 10-15 minutes, but he eventually stopped following me and left me alone.  That’s always the least fun bit of travelling alone.  So anyway, back to the hotel to pack and grab breakfast.  And update this travel diary!  Almost 10.15 now, so I should probably pack up my backpack and head out for my transfer.

Check out was simple enough, except my guide showed up to wish me goodbye.  Under any other circumstances, I’d think it nice.  It just seemed creepy.  He wanted email addresses, phone numbers etc.  I gave him the email I use as my “spam” account.  I check it once a month or so for anything remotely legit.  I know it may seem harsh, but despite the fact he knew his stuff, I really wasn’t happy with him.  But them’s the breaks I guess.  You win some, you lose some.  Then got dropped at the airport and checked in.  Simple agriculture screening of bags before you check in – fruit and veg mainly I think.  The island doesn’t want bad things from the mainland and vice versa.

Had a couple of hours to blow since the flight was about 40 mins late landing.  There’s a few little souvenir stalls there, but prices are just as horrendous as they are at the artisinal market in town.  I did find one thing I liked though.  And was prepared to pay the price on the sticker attached to it.  But when I went to pay, all of a sudden it was “oh, that not right.  Real price twice that.  You give me twice as much money!”.  Yeah, NO.  So after all that, the only souvenir I’m coming away with is that little basalt moai statue.  Maybe I’ll find something nicer in Santiago on the way out tomorrow.

Flight was pretty uneventful – the guy next to me snoring like a log.  Kept the entire cabin awake I think.  We made up time on the way, and only ended up landing 15 mins late.  Bag came out pretty quick and got the transfer to the hotel pretty much straight away.  There’s a major football team staying at the hotel though, cos there’s kids running around asking for autographs and stuff.  Not sure which team it is though.  Ate in the hotel restaurant for dinner – burger and chips.  Sometimes you just have to do it   Was good though, so not McD’s style.

Anyway, I now have to be up in 4 hours to go to the airport for the flight out for work.  It’s been fun.  I’ll write a short summary of the good/bad/ugly on the plane tomorrow!  Night!

Day 6

So I wake up at stupid o’clock to get to the airport and check in for my international flight, and guess what?  There’s no bloody hot water to have a shower.  And it’s like 3° C outside.  Doom.  Much doom.  Got packed and waited for the transfer to the airport at 3.30am, so I could be there 3 hours early for my 7am flight.  Because, well, that’s what the airline says to do.  But I get there, and checkin doesn’t even open until 4.30am.  Bah.  Finally get checked in and through immigration, and then airside, I can’t buy a bloody coffee.  Starbucks is shut.  Dunkin Donuts doesn’t open till 6.  The restaurant doesn’t open till 6.  Oh, and the foreign exchange place is still shut – I need to get rid of these pesos!  Hopefully it’ll be easy enough to change them when I get to the other end.  Yes, I’m deliberately not mentioning where the other end is, since it’s work related, and I’ve signed non-disclosure agreements.  Joy, huh?

I’m tired and in a crappy mood *sigh*

So anyway, Easter Island final thoughts?  It was a brilliant place, and the amount of time I had there (half a day on the first day, 2 full days, then a couple of hours on the last day) was almost ideal.  I think one more full day would have been about right for me.  I would have liked to have had the extra day to do a couple more dives around Moto Nui or a bit further up the coast on one of the wrecks or something.  I think 1.5-2 full days of land-based stuff would be enough for me, but more water time is good.  My hotel?  Really good.  It’s quiet.  The rooms were great, they’d just been sprayed, so no bugs.  Everything was clean and neat.  Kim, the property manager was excellent – even in the face of the water main bursting a few times.  My only minor complaint about the place was that the breakfast left a bit to be desired.  My guide?  As previously stated, he was really knowledgeable, but I had serious issues with some of the things he did.  I wouldn’t hire him again.  The food?  Good – but you gotta love seafood, since there aren’t always a whole lot of other options!  A little overpriced, though not to the point I’d been expecting from what I’d heard, but that’s what you get for being in the middle of nowhere I suppose.  The people?  Lovely – with the exception of a couple of creeps hitting on me – but then that can and does happen all over the world.  Easter Island isn’t unique in that regard!

Lasting thought?  It was fun for the most part, glad I went, but probably wouldn’t go back again unless work took me there.  It’s not cheap, it’s small, and there’s not a huge amount to do unless you’re a serious (and I do mean serious) archaeology nut who wants to see every single statue/ahu and every single petroglyph on the island.  Some people say 4-5 days isn’t enough.  Seriously?  As someone who does have more than a passing interest in archaeology and anthropology, I still think 4-5 days is plenty.

*** refers to places I can’t remember the name of off the top of my head.  will fill in later on!

South Americaaaaaa!!!

Again!

I love my life sometimes!

Off to South America in a couple of weeks!  It’s work, but I get a few days off, so I’m not complaining. At all!

I’m doing all sorts of tricky things to avoid annoying fees on arrival.  Like travelling on my UK passport so I don’t have to get a Brazilian visa, and so I don’t have to pay the (admittedly justified) reciprocity fees in Chile and Argentina.  It’s saving me close to $400, and technically it’s not illegal since I am a UK citizen.  But hey, if I can get out of paying it, I will.  My dad’s a bit paranoid about me travelling in Argentina on my UK passport right now as they seem to be having issues in the Falklands again.  Will keep an eye on the news and if it blows up I’ll travel in Argentina as an Aussie.

Anyway, should be a good trip, even though it’s mostly work.  I get to hit up some pretty awesome places in the name of “meetings“!  Will post a full trip report upon my return at the end of April.

Then I’m home for a month before hitting up my epic Africa trip.  Still a bit pissed about the still ongoing price changes for it.  It’s not the price itself that’s bothering me, it’s the fact that I paid in full and now they’re pulling all these games saying “the prices have changed”.  Once I get back, I’m gonna post a full report on it and name names.  I’m unimpressed.  Hopefully it’ll all be worth it in the end though.

*crosses fingers for no more major quakes in Chile*

Antarctica Travel

So one of my friends put the idea back in my head about doing a trip to Antarctica.  I’ve wanted to do this for years, but always pushed it to the back of my mind, because I knew it was expensive.  A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine was talking about how they were applying for a job down there and how totally EPIC it would be to go.  And hey, I don’t disagree!  It would be epic!

That being said, I actually started to look into it all, seriously.  I’m still researching it, but this is just my preliminary thoughts on it.  If I’m going all that way, and paying all that money, I’m going to do it right.  It’s a totally once in a lifetime trip – even if I totally love it, I won’t be able to afford to do it again.  Which means that any cruise I go on will have to visit South Georgia Islands.  And therein lies the rub.

You can do an 11 day cruise from Ushuaia (port right at the southern tip of Argentina) down to the Antarctic Peninsula and back for about US$5000.  But that’s all you see.  And yeah, if you’re time limited and budget constrained, and you really just want to see Antarctica, then that’s a great option.  But it’s not for me.  If I’m going to pay thousands of dollars in airfares to get to Ushuaia, I’m going to make the most of it and go to South Georgia Island.  Which suffice to say pushes the price up.  Considerably.  To get to South Georgia Island (SGI), you have to go by boat (no flights).  The shortest cruise I’ve found so far that goes to SGI and the Antarctic Peninsula is about 20 days.  And what does that 20 days cost?  Starts at about US$12000 per person.  And that’s sharing a cabin and bathroom facilities.  If you want your own cabin and bathroom, it starts at around $20000 per person.

Now don’t get me wrong, I can totally understand why they charge this much.  They can only operate 3-4 months of the year due to the weather, so they have to make all their money in that time.  But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still insanely expensive – US$12000 is a deposit on a house!  Plus given the fact that most of the cruises leave Dec/Jan, you’re stuck flying to Argentina in “airlines will rape you repeatedly season” (aka “high season”).  And you’re basically looking at a minimum of about $16000 for a 3 week trip from Australia.  Before you take into account transfers, hotels for the inevitable overnight layovers, bar bills, tips, souvenirs…I just don’t know.

I always knew it wouldn’t be cheap, but now I’ve actually seen the numbers.  And as much as I’d love to do this, I’ve really got to decide whether I want to spend a house deposit on a 3 week holiday…Everyone thinks “it’ll be so worth it”, and I have no doubt it would be, but at what cost?  Renting for another 5 years while I save the money back up?

Vaccination Fever!

The stupidity of some people truly amazes me some days. Don’t get me wrong, I tend to think people are pretty stupid in general, but some days?  You’re ashamed to say you’re part of the human race.

If you booked a $20000 holiday to Africa, all lodge safaris and private guides and 5* service and all that (sounds nice doesn’t it? I wish I had that kind of money just floating around)…Why would you whinge and bitch about having to pay $70 for a bloody yellow fever vaccination?  And then start asking questions about whether you can bribe border officials in Kenya and Tanzania if you show up without the YF vacciation certificate?  And what the hell do you think is going to happen when you arrive back in Australia after the holiday and Australian customs demands to see your vaccination certificate (since they will ask to see it if you’ve been in Africa or South America within the previous 6 days)?  You gonna try and bribe Australian customs?  ROFL, good luck with that!

I mean seriously, the bloody vaccination lasts 10 years (I had mine years ago from previous travels to South America) and costs $70.  If you can afford to blow 20 grand on a 2 week holiday, I’d say that $70 is chump change.  Christ, people are stupid.

$70 or death?  Hmmm…Let me think!

My ‘budget’ African holiday

So I’ve been in the process of booking my next big trip. This time I’m going to Africa! I’m heading over in June for the World Cup in South Africa, but I’ve got friends there, and the tickets to the games are being provided by a friend of mine, so that’s awesome! But aside from that, I’ve been making plans to head up East Africa way and do some travelling. Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Unsurprisingly, I want to go to Uganda to see the mountain gorillas. And I want to go see the Masai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania. Now I’ll admit to a bit of naivety to begin with, but I figured, hey, pretty much the entire continent is living in abject 3rd world poverty, it should be pretty cheap to travel there. I mean it was cheap to travel around Asia and most of South America, right? So I stupidly made the assumption that it’d be cheap to travel around Africa too. Wrong.

Here’s what I’ve run up against, bearing in mind that I’m looking atbudget options, as opposed to the luxury lodges.  Prices are in Australian dollars.

Uganda: 3 day gorilla trek ex-Kampala – $2350.  That includes no meals at all and staying in budget guest houses.  It does however include the US$500 for the gorilla trek permit, which grants you one day access to the national park, and 1 hours viewing time with the gorillas – assuming your guide actually finds them.  That equates to almost $800 a day.  For a 3rd world country.  With no guarantee of actually seeing the gorillas.

Kenya and Tanzania: 14 day safari, overland, camping – $2600.  Yup, that’s what it costs to camp.  The cost of doing it in lodges is roughly 5 times the price.  And this involves driving everywhere, long days, no flights.  That’s just under $200 a day.

Hot air ballooning: 1 hour hot air balloon ride in the Serengeti – US$500.  I almost choked when I saw that.  I know it’s one of those “optional” things, but still…When you consider what I paid to do the equivalent in Egypt was US$100, I struggle to justify paying 5 times that much.

Getting around: Flights South Africa-Uganda-Kenya-South Africa – $2100.  And that’s apparently cheap, flying Kenya Airways.

So that’s it, that’s what it’s costing before I even set foot on the ground.  And it’s ok, I can deal with it.  But when you’re looking at over $7.5k for 2.5 weeks – before you take into consideration having to buy food and spending money?  I struggle to call that a budget holiday.  And it was my own admitted ignorance of Africa that bit me in the ass.  I thought it would be cheap, I mean the place is in terrible shape, but I’ve learned my lesson.  I’d hate to think what it would cost me if I was staying in hotels or safari lodges.

Thankfully my flights from Australia to South Africa have been booked using frequent flyer miles and I have a place to crash in Johannesburg at a mates place.  Cos otherwise, I would have never been able to afford to go.  It’s worked our a few thousand more than I’d been initially planning on.

Basically I just wanted to post this up as a piece of advice.  There’s really no such thing as “budget” travel if you want to see the gorillas or go on safari in Africa.  If you avoid the gorilla trek and going on safari, then sure, you can keep the costs right down…But then, that totally defeats the purpose of going to Africa in the first place, doesn’t it?

Why you should take out travel insurance!

When we were at the Central markets in Siem Reap last week, we ran into an Australian couple who were visiting for a week.  They told us a story about a colleague who was travelling with them who had an accident the night before.  They’d been at some function and cos it was raining, this woman slipped over.  When she slipped, she fell and grabbed hold of an oil lantern that had just been stuck into the ground for the event.  But when she grabbed it, she’s accidentally poured the oil from it all over herself and set herself alight with the torch.  She basically caught on fire.  So they had to medi-evacuate her from Siem Reap to Bangkok for emergency treatment and then get her back to Sydney for further treatment at the specialist burns unit at Royal North Shore.  But as we found out, the woman didn’t have travel insurance.  Now don’t get me wrong, I feel terrible about what happened to her, it’s tragic.  But she’s an idiot.  Just the medical evacuation to Bangkok from Siem Reap cost US$100k, let alone the emergency treatment in Bangkok and the additional repatriation to Australia.  And that’s going to have to get paid out of her own pocket.  She could have bought a week’s travel insurance with basic cover for AU$35.  Now she’s going to be in MASSIVE debt to cover her evacuation and medical expenses.  This ladies and gentlemen is precisely the reason you should take out travel insurance.  Let it be a lesson that shit can go wrong when you least expect it.

My problem with the kids…

I don’t think I’m a cruel person, harsh maybe, but not cruel.  But I got into an arugment with someone I was travelling with in Cambodia over my refusal to buy stuff off kids who were selling their wares on the street or in the markets.  Let’s just say I’m an academic – can’t be arsed getting into the specifics of what I do.  I do not want to perpetuate the problem of kids ditching school in order to effectively beg tourists for money.  Yeah, I know that they make more money that way, but it’s not like the kids get that money for themselves.  It goes to their families or their “pimps” (for lack of a better term).  It’s not like these adults who send their kids out then use that money to send their kids to school.

The countries where I’ve seen this issue with kids selling stuff are all third world.  The majority of the population live in abject poverty.  Call me naïve, but I believe the best way to get out of poverty is through education.  Cambodia relies heavily on agriculture for income.  I get that they probably don’t need masses of people with arts degrees.  But getting people to go to school and learn about more modern agricultural methods or a class on economics could help improve their lot in life and in the wider global community.  School could focus on the relevant needs of the people they’re teaching.  No, they probably don’t need to know linear algebra or general relativity…But a course in land management or soil chemistry might be incredibly useful.  School can be practical.  But by forcing these kids into begging from the age of 3-4, they’re not doing their kids or the future of the country any favours.

So that’s my stance on it.  I won’t buy stuff off kids on the street no matter what sob story they come up with “I need the money for school”….Bullshit.  They’re back out there again the next day with the same sob story playing it up to some sucker tourist.  I won’t fall for it.  Most of these places have some degree of free education for kids.  So that really isn’t an excuse.  I won’t apologise for my point of view on this.  I think that education is vitally important for bringing these countries out of this poverty.  And sending kids out to beg rather than sending them to class only does more harm than good in the long run.

Cambodian Wanderings

My Cambodian trip diary…

Day 1: Australia to Bangkok

Had a reasonably good flight to Bangkok.  Flight was more or less full though.  And sadly not full of nice, polite Thai people.  But full of drunken, loudmouthed Aussie bogans.  Aside from their idiocy “oh, but I’m Australian, why do I have to fill out an Australian departure card?” and “what do you mean you won’t serve people alcohol on the flight who appear intoxicated?”.  First time flyers, ok, I can understand their ignorance on some level.  But the drunken bogans who start getting verbally abusive with the cabin staff because their fall-down drunk before even getting on the plane and then get a “refusal of service” comment?  Not acceptable.  You get denied service for being shit faced drunk in a bar in Australia, why exactly do people think separate rules should apply just because you’re in a plane or in a foreign country?  Anyway, aside from idiots providing me with amusement, the flight was pretty much boring.  Arriving in Bangkok, I was through immigration in about 2 minutes.  Gave them my passport and arrival card (which you fill in on the plane) and that was that.  My bag was then first off the conveyor belt!  Sheer awesomeness!  Since I landed in Bangkok pretty late, and don’t fly out to Cambodia until early tomorrow morning, a 8 hour layover, I decided to book myself into a cheap hotel near the airport for the night so I could grab a shower and maybe a few hours sleep.  I booked a room at the Silver Gold Garden Hotel for 900 Baht a night which included a return airport transfer, so like AU$34 I think.  The transfer from the airport went really quickly and easily, the guy was easy to find, and the drive took just over 5 minutes from the airport.  The hotel is pretty basic, but it’s got hot water, a regular flushing toilet and a bed.  And to be honest, right now, that’s all I care about. Going to try and catch a few zzz’s before I have to get up at 4.30am to go back to the airport at 5.

Day 2:  Bangkok to Phnom Penh

Early wake up call today to go to the airport to catch my flight to Phnom Penh, didn’t really sleep last night, so I’m pretty wiped.  All went quickly and easily though.  Went to check in, only to find out the dumbfuck travel agent in Australia who said “yeah, all your airport taxes are included in the price of your ticket”, is in fact full of shit.  She’d forgotten to include the 700 Baht departure tax from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, she only included the departure tax for when I fly back to Australia next week.  So that was an unpleasant surprise.  Had to go and pay that and then go deal with customs – which went slowly, long lines, but was easy enough.  Inside the place is full of shops.  Pretty things like Chanel and Dior and Burberry and…Yeah, I could go on.  I’m going to wait till I fly home to buy my airport goodies.  And there will be goodies.  Bit of a walk to the gate, but that’s fine.  Flight left on time and was only about half full, so I got 3 seats to myself.  But for a 50 minute flight, who cares?  You want 3 seats to yourself on the flight over from Australia.  Got the “visa on arrival” at Phnom Penh airport for US$20.  Just be aware that you need a spare passport photo to attach to the application, so don’t forget to bring one!  The guy at the immigration desk gave me a really weird look and made me have my photo taken again by their camera setup thingy.  No clue why, he didn’t ask me anything.  Maybe I’ve still got that CIA thing on my passport?  He let me go though, so who knows.  My bag again came out really quick, so I got out fast.  I’d arranged for my hotel I’m staying at in PP to pick me up at the airport to save the hassle of bargaining for a taxi.  They were there, so all was good (unlike the no show transfer in Peru).  The drive to the hotel was amusing.  The traffic is like in Mongolia – chaos – except instead of chaos in Landcruisers, it’s chaos on moto-scooters!  As an aside, I get that not all adults want to wear motorbike helmets, that’s their prerogative, they’re making an informed choice not to.  But kids?  I saw so many small kids riding pillion on motorbikes with no helmet on.  I have a problem with that.  Anyway, got to the hotel, it’s simple but clean.  They supposedly have wi-fi, but I’ve tried connecting to it, and despite having a good signal strength, it don’t work (I have my netbook so I can keep on top of work emails  I’m missing while gallivanting about another country for a week).  There’s free internet in the lobby, but I can’t upload attachments and stuff on that.  Doesn’t really matter, I’ll find a decent internet café or wi-fi signal at some point, I’m sure of it.

Had a nap for a couple of hours and then went out for dinner.  Caught a tuk-tuk down near the river front for $1 and ate at some local kind of hole in the wall type place.  There was a good mix of westerners and locals there, so it seemed like a good bet.  I got spring rolls and Amok curry (with chicken) and a couple of cans of coke and the whole thing came to like $6.50!  The curry was much like a Thai green chicken curry, but was really awesome.  And cheap!  Then took the scenic route back to the hotel, by which time it was pissing down rain, so didn’t see much from the tuk-tuk.  Now I’m just going to crash.

Ok, serious question.  Why do people not take pens with them on the plane?  You know you’re going to have to fill in paperwork before arrival.  I had like half a dozen people, most of whom looked fairly well travelled, ask me if they could borrow my pen on the plane.  Not a big issue, just food for thought.

Day 3: Phnom Penh wanderings

After breakfast I went and visited the Royal Palace getting there by “cyclo”.  Got a bit of the backstory on the royal family, which was interesting, but the buildings themselves were a bit…Boring – much as I hate to admit it.  Went and had lunch at some restaurant that is run by an NGO to help raise money for local kids.  Good food and all (I had spicy crab meat fried rice…mmm), but the “kids” who the place is meant to be helping caused a riot.  They come in and try to sell their wares, in this case, books.  Some guy bought a book off one kid and not off another.  The kid he didn’t buy the book off had a major hissy fit and beat the crap out of the other kid.  The adults didn’t want to intervene, apparently violence is a common way of dealing with “stealing” someone else’s customer.  It broke up eventually though.

Then went out to the “killing fields” at Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre on the outskirts of the city – which was a very sobering experience.  Sort of reminded me of the shit that goes on in the world – even now.  And also my family has a tradition of military service, not all of whom survived it, so it brought back thoughts of their sacrifice as well.  Got the backstory on Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities they perpetrated upon their own people.  Nasty.  Then went and visited the S-21 prison where they kept their prisoners.  Again, not pleasant, but interesting nonetheless.  Then went and visited the Russian market for a bit.  Bought a couple of pairs of shoes (Puma and Birkenstock), a shirt, a new hat (cos I left mine on my bed at home) and a Diesel bag.  Think all up I spent $30 or so.  You can bargain, but not as much as you can in Egypt for example.  Here you’re doing well to get 20-30% off.  It was a long day, despite my lack of detail, and right now I’ve got a headache.  A pretty bad one at that.  Started  to get the headache when I was at the killing fields, it reeks there – really badly.  Like rotting garbage.  Makes you want to puke.  What went on there makes you want to puke anyway, but this was just something else entirely.  So I suppose I’m just saying that if you do happen to visit, be prepared for the smell.  Anyway, I’m just going to head down to the hotel café, grab a snack (spring rolls or something easy) and come back, take a few panadol and go to sleep.  I’d like to go out, but my head just hurts way too much right now.

Day 4: Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (and Angkor Wat!!!)

Long drive today from PP to Siem Reap on the bus.  Well not really long, 5 hours, but with all the stopping it seemed worse.  Left at 7.30am and hit the road.  First stop 90 minutes later was at some side of the road market thingy.  Kids selling fruit and random crap.  I have a rant about that later since I actually got into an argument with someone over it, it’ll go in another post.  But anyway, this side of the road place had spiders and snakes and all the weird and wacky stuff like that.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a nature lover, but I am absolutely petrified of spiders and I’m only slightly more tolerant of snakes.  So when these kids start coming at you with spiders and trying to throw them at you so they land on your shit and you can take “oh so funny” photos, well, I don’t find it “oh so funny” at all.  I damn near have a full on panic attack when spiders are around.  They think it’s funny to see some silly westerner scared of a spider.  I don’t.  But I digress, we then kept going on down (or is it up?) the road to this silk farm.  It’s a little community silk weaving farm rather than some mass production thing.  Was cool, but didn’t buy anything.  They only make scarves there, and I already bought silk scarves (which still haven’t been worn…) from Beijing last year.  And off again, next stop, Siem Reap!

Stopped at some restaurant on the outskirts of town for lunch around 1.30pm.  Ordered the Amok curry with chicken since I liked it the other day in PP.   Only I really didn’t like this one.  At all.  It was dry and almost tasteless.  So yeah, a bit disappointed about that.  Then got dropped off at the hotel (Soria Moria).  It’s nice enough.  Beds are a bit hard, but such is life.  Had a bit of time to waste before going to Angkor Wat for sunset, so had a short nap.  Then off again to Angkor Wat.  Bought a 1 day ticket for $20 (still not sure if I’m going on Sunday yet, so the 3 day ticket would be a waste right now), got the photo taken for it (cos you can’t transfer tickets) and went up the top of the hill at Phnom Bakheng temple to watch the sunset.  It was really cloudy and stuff though, so there wasn’t really a “sunset” to speak of.  It just kept getting progressively darker.  So I gave up and walked back down the hill to get accosted by the kids selling stuff again.  There was a much older kid selling books who I agreed to buy off.  He would have been 17 or so, so I didn’t have such a problem.  Bought a copy of Freeman’s Ancient Angkor and a smaller photo book which I can send to my parents (which I don’t know that they’ll really appreciate since they’ve both actually been to Angkor Wat some 30 odd years ago) for $10.

Then headed back into town to Pub Street for dinner.  Cos of my dislike for the curry I had at lunch, I decided to play it safe for dinner.  Ordered spring rolls and a Caesar salad.  And a mojito.  Was good.  I’ll probably go back to the curry tomorrow since I saw other people’s curry and they did look good.  After that headed to the night markets for a bit.  I really want a painting and a stone statue to take home.  But all the paintings I saw in the markets are screen print replicas.  Nothing original.  So I’m leaving my art hunting till Sunday when I’ve got some free time to wander more.  Did buy a Angkor beer singlet ($3) and a couple of silk cushion covers though ($2 each).  Pretty cheap I guess.  Then headed back to the hotel and had a couple of drinks at the bar.  Then went to bed, since I’m planning to go to Angkor Wat for sunrise in the morning.  Means leaving at 4.45am.  Fun, but should be worth it!

Day 5: Angkor Wat!!!

So got up at 4.30 to leave at 4.45 for sunrise.  Got a tuk-tuk which cost $4 (return trip – the guy waits for you while you go inside).  Paid some woman $1 and you get a cup of hot tea and a chair to sit on right by the front of the pond in front of the temple towers.  Was amazing!  Really amazing!  Got some awesome photos despite the really low light.  There wasn’t much “sun” to speak of, but with the clouds and the sun sort of kind of peeking through them, it made for great atmosphere.  Not really colourful as such, but definitely dramatic.  I think I’m going to hire a tuk-tuk again tomorrow and go back for sunrise again.  Get it from another perspective or something.  Means forking out another $20 for a site ticket, but I think it’s worth it.  Then had a quick wander around inside Angkor Wat before getting the tuk-tuk back to the hotel and having breakfast (and where I’m currently uploading my piccies to my netbook!).

After breakfast, went back to the Angkor complex.  First off went to Angkor Thom to check out the Victory Gate.  Smiley faces!  So awesome.  Then went inside and checked out the Bayon temple.  This is the one with all the faces carved into the stonework.  It is so amazing and just…Yeah, words really can’t describe it.  You just have to see it for yourself.  I think I’ve got some genuinely spectacular photos from this temple.  Stayed around for about 90 minutes before heading on to look at the Terrace of the Elephants (also within Angkor Thom).  Kind of cool, though not as awesome as Bayon (which became the absolute highlight of my trip).  There were people inside the temple selling stuff, and one guy who was a landmine victim was selling some of his own artwork, I saw him painting, so I knew it was original and not the mass produced crap they’re flogging off everywhere else.  I bought a small watercolour off him for $10 which will be nice to hang on the wall once it’s framed.  Also bought a “temple rubbing” for $1 which I know isn’t a genuine temple rubbing, but will make for a nice present for someone at home.  I’m actually kind of thankful I don’t need to buy anything for my parents, cos they went to Angkor Wat some 30 odd years ago (before I was born – and before all the tourists took over!) and they don’t want anything.  And my brother is too much of a dick that if I bought him anything, he’d throw it out cos it didn’t fit with his “interior design aesthetic” (he really is like that).  After that we headed off to what I’ve dubbed the “Lara Croft” temple – more accurately known as Ta Prohm.  Was interesting to see where that part of the movie was made, but more so to see one of the temples with all the jungle still growing all over the place.  Made it look really foreboding or something.  Loved it.  Then headed over to Angkor Wat and had lunch at one of the café places.  Food was mediocre, and about twice the price of food in Siem Reap town.  But you’re paying for the convenience of not having to drive back to town to eat.  The kids selling stuff here are a whole other world of crazy.  More on that later.  So after lunch, I headed back to Angkor Wat to see what it looked like in the light of day (to compare to how it looked at 5.30am this morning).  Massively crowded, but that’s to be expected I guess.  More on that later too.  Preferred it this morning to be honest, but was still nice to have a bit more of a wander around.  It started to rain then, so I headed back out and ducked for cover near one of the café’s until it was time to head back to town.  A long day of temple climbing, but one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been – let’s ignore the fact that I say that about most places I visit

Now my issue with the kids at Angkor Wat…They don’t let up.  At all.  My guide says that the Cambodian government (or their local counterpart in Siem Reap) is trying to stamp out the practice of kids harassing the tourists.  It’s full on, and really quite aggressive.  The kids will beat the crap out of each other over a sale.  It is a massively unpleasant experience.  The adults in the market stalls will try and convince you to buy their wares, but they won’t yell at you or chase you down or bang on the side of your car/minibus in order to convince you.  They won’t push you or grab at you.  The kids do.  Apparently word of mouth has been causing many people who visit Angkor Wat not to return, due to this specific problem.  And I can really see why.  I don’t mind stall holders with their “excuse me miss, would you like to buy a t-shirt/statue/whatever”, I mean yeah it’s annoying, but not enough to send me into fits of anger.  The kids on the other hand, will grab you, scratch at you, try to drag you away from their competition physically, they’ll yell abuse, throw stones at your car and basically don’t comprehend the meaning of the word “no”.  It’s vile.  I would like to return some day, but I would seriously contemplate putting it off until the government has put some kind of regulations in place to deal with the kids selling their crap.

The other thing that had me concerned – massive overcrowding.  It’s a problem in many parts of the world, but when you’ve got monuments like this, it becomes more of a problem.  I saw it in Peru at Machu Picchu where uncontrolled tourist numbers are slowly but surely degrading the place.  Too many people walking over the ground and stonework wears away the carvings and the stone itself.  It’s more pronounced in Peru because Machu Picchu has been open to the public for ages.  But in Angkor Wat, you can totally see it becoming a problem even now, despite tourists really only coming in larger numbers in the past decade since the Khmer Rouge got booted.  I saw people (mainly the Chinese and Japanese for some reason) blatantly ignoring the multilingual signs around the place saying not to touch the carvings in the stone (which is supposed to help prevent some of the wear and tear).  But people did it anyway.  There needs to be much stricter regulation of people numbers into the place, or there needs to be a far greater security presence there to warn visitors of the rules and to discipline them for breaking them.  This is of course just my personal opinion.  But I think by restricting tourist numbers (not only at Angkor Wat but also at Machu Picchu), by having a limited number of daily entry tickets, then maybe they could get the degradation of the temples under better control.  Again, just my opinion, feel free to disagree with me.

Had a pretty quiet night since I’ve been up since about 4am and was totally knackered from being out in the sun all day.  Stayed in at the hotel and went to the hotel bar for a few drinks and dinner.  Half price drinks and food till 8pm was a pretty sweet deal!  Had a pretty early night and was in bed by 11.  Still not sure of the plan for tomorrow, but a sleep in will be nice.

Day 6: Wandering around Siem Reap

Ugh.  Got woken up at 4am by my drunk roommate coming back.  Bloody annoying.  Got out of bed around 8.30 and went and had breakfast.  Ran into a few other people and decided to head out with them to the markets.  Got a tuk-tuk over to the “Central Markets” for a look around.  Had a look around and ended up buying a pair of “fisherman” pants and set of 6 pairs of wooden chopsticks which have little elephants inlaid in the wood (dunno if I’ll get them past quarantine, but they only cost $2, so if I don’t it’s not a big loss).  Then went to the “old markets” which is just down the road.  Ended up buying a silver anklet with little turtles on it.  Very cute.  Dunno if it’s real silver or not, looks like it and feels heavy enough though, but for $10 I don’t care much.  I had to talk the others out of buying gemstones.  I know how to tell the difference between reals and fakes.  It’s not a simple task, though I know enough given my background.  But the ones these guys were interested in were fakes.  After that we went and had a drink at a bar and then wandered off to a small mall where one of them wanted to visit a particular store.  We then wandered off to check out an art gallery the Angkor Wat guide recommended since I wanted to buy a painting.  All the ones in the markets I’ve seen so far are mass produced screen prints.  Not originals.  But the ones in the 2 galleries we went to weren’t what I wanted.  They seemed more like photography studio places rather than art galleries.  I love photography, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t what I wanted to buy.  Maybe I’ll find something else before I leave.  After that we headed back to the hotel and had lunch.  Hopped in the jacuzzi for a bit and then had a nap.

Went out to dinner to say goodbye to people since I’m leaving tomorrow to go to Bangkok.  Hilarity ensued when the tuk-tuk we went to get into tipped over on its side as we were getting in.  Was funny, only not funny at the same time.  Someone could have been seriously injured.  Found another one though and got away.  The guy who was in the tuk-tuk when it went over though made some nasty (and serious) comment about suing for compensation.  He wasn’t injured, his ego just got bruised.  And to say you’re going to sue for your tuk-tuk tipping over when there’s guys walking around with limbs blown off and other handicaps, well, I think this guy just needs to wake the hell up.  Ended up going for dinner at Temple Bar in Pub Street to see their dance show.  Food was alright, but the dance thing was a bit boring, so left after dinner was done (about half way through the show).  By this time it had started pissing down rain – not just a small shower, it was full on pouring.  So we kind of ran down to the night markets to finish off our shopping lists.  Only because of the weather, half the stalls were shut.  Including the one we really wanted to visit – which was a professional photographer who had their photos for sale matted and ready for framing.  Bit of a disappointment, but such is life.  I managed to pick up a painting I liked for home as well as a smaller painting which I can put in my office or something – got them for total $20.  Also found a nice drawing for $12.  Then got a tuk-tuk back to the hotel and went for a drink in the hotel bar.  At least it’s dry there!  Now I just need to pack all this stuff I bought and hit the sack.  Gotta be up at 6.30am to get the bus back across the border to Bangkok.  Don’t really want to leave, as this place is so amazing.  At least I can console myself with the fact that it’s not that far away from Australia, and flights are cheap.  So I’m determined that I’ll be back at some point when I’ve got more time to see more of the temples around Siem Reap.

Day 7: From Siem Reap to Bangkok

Early start to catch the bus from Siem Reap to the Cambodia/Thai border at Poipet.  About 3 hours (or just over).  Was all fairly painless.  Get to Poipet and go to the Cambodia border control and get your passport stamped.  Walk 200m down the road through the fences to Thai border control, fill in a Thai immigration form, pass through immigration, and you’re in Thailand.  We didn’t get any of the funny buggers that you hear of at that particular border crossing with officials asking for bribes and whatnot.  It was all really straight forward and didn’t have any incident to speak of.  You carry your own luggage across the border.  Then a 4 and a bit hour drive from the Thai side of the border (the town whose name I forgot, it begins with A at any rate) to downtown Bangkok.  Arrived around 2pm and checked into the Residence Hotel.  It’s pretty basic, but it’s alright for a night or two.  Went out for dinner at some small Thai café.  Got roast duck and egg noodles.  Not had duck for ages, so it was good.  Someone tried to convince me to go to a lady-boy show.  Really not my thing.  So went back to the hotel and pretty much crashed.  Didn’t do much today, it was just really long with all the travel.

Day 8: Floating markets and shopping!!!

So up early again today to leave for the floating markets at 6.30am (it’s like a seat in a minibus organised tour type thingy).  They’re about an hour drive southwest of Bangkok city.  It was something different to do since I’ve already seen the Grand Palace and stuff on a previous trip to Thailand.  Got a canal boat and went wandering around the markets for a few hours, buying some fresh food and then heading back to Bangkok.  On the way back we stopped at a wood carving place.  Was actually some really nice stuff there.  In particular there was an 8 seat dining table and chairs setting carved with a really nice Thai design.  I would have bought it if it wasn’t for the US$47000 price tag   Got back to Bangkok and got dropped off at the MBK mall in town.  Did some shopping, obviously!  Bought some “Ralph Lauren” work shirts and a “Dolce & Gabbana” handbag.  The shirts are made from decent quality linen and the bag is real leather, so even though they’re fakes, they’re still good quality stuff.  Then had lunch.  Ugh.  Painful.  I had the good idea of having lunch at a Thai noodle place inside MBK – all well and good.  It was a buffet – all well and good.  I get the spicy sauce to go with my noodles since I like spicy food and all – all well and good.  Here’s the rub…Everywhere I’ve been so far, even in Bangkok, when I’ve ordered spicy food, I’ve had to add extra chilli or chilli powder to it because it’s not usually spicy enough for my liking.  So I do that again automatically – just assuming that it wouldn’t be spicy enough.  Big mistake.  I added some extra chilli AND chilli powder to it.  Jesus fucking Christ it was hot!  I mean it was basically inedible.  I would have struggled to eat it without the extra chilli.  My eyes were watering, my nose was running.  It was just all around pain.  My stomach still feels like it’s got 3^rd degree burns 6 hours later!  I only managed to down half the plate before giving up and getting a mild one.  I’m sure the restaurant staff had a good laugh at the stupid westerner!  Got a taxi back to the hotel after all that, which was a bit of a ripoff, but I couldn’t be arsed arguing with tuk-tuk drivers who wanted to take me to a shop first.

Then went out for dinner at another small local café and had the soft shell crab.  Added some hot sauce and all was right with the world again.  So good!  Then went to Swensens for ice cream.  Chocolate brownie and peanut butter icecream.  Topped the night off!  Now I just have to pack.  Gotta be up at 6am to get ready to leave for Kanchanaburi at 7am.  And cos I won’t be back till 6-7pm, and I have to leave for the airport at 8pm, it means checking out in the morning and having everything ready to go by the time I get back from up north.  Joy oh joy.

Day 9: Kanchanaburi and home…

Another early start…So much for relaxing on holidays!  Got woken up at 5am by the hotel staff who wanted to give me a message from my guide who was picking me up at 7am.  Turns out they wanted to pick me up at 6.45am instead.  So wakeup was earlier than anticipated.  I’d also assumed when I contacted this driver guy that was recommended to me for this trip up to Kanchanaburi, that it’d be a private tour.  Turns out the advice given to me was off the mark.  I ended up in a minibus with 8 other people – which in the end was fine, cos they were all Aussies or Kiwis.  But still not what I thought I was paying for.  Lesson learned I suppose.

A 2.5 hour drive up north to start the day off.  First off we went to Kanchanaburi cemetery and museum which was all about the soldiers who died during the building of the bride over the River Kwai.  We kept hearing the theme song from the movie all around the town.  I’ve not seen that movie for ages, might watch it when I get home.  From there it was a short drive to the bridge itself.  Got to walk around for a bit and we saw a train going over it.  Was cool, but sad at the same time since I had family involved in WW2.  Then we headed up to near the tiger temple for lunch.  The place we were taken to for lunch was mediocre in the extreme.  Had some plain rice and chicken satay.  Not particularly good either.  We were then given the option of having an elephant ride, which thankfully everyone on the bus declined.  I’ve done it before in Chang Mai and the others had done it (or were going to do it) in Phuket.  So then we just headed straight up to the tiger temple.  Wasn’t as busy as I expected there, but was still a fair few people.  You have to hand over your camera to a volunteer who will take the photos of you so that you’re keeping your focus on the tiger’s behaviour rather than your camera.  There’s also rules about no red/yellow/orange/pink shirts as it apparently can set the tigers off.  First thing you do is take you on a “tiger walk” where the monks walk the tigers and you can walk along with them for a bit while the volunteer takes your photos.  Then you go down into the grotto.  There’s like 10 tigers there and you get to sit with them and pat them for a couple of seconds while you get photos taken (on your own camera).  They let you pat each of them.  For an extra 1000 Baht you can choose to have the tigers head put on your lap for a minute and have photos taken of that.  Not worth it in my opinion.  The photos of me patting the tigers are enough.  Then you can wander back up the hill and take photos of the baby tiger cubs – soooooo cute!!!  For a donation (you choose the amount – I gave 100 Baht) you can have your photo taken with a cub in front of their play pool.  They’re so gorgeous!  I want to take one home!  There’s a few other animals wandering around the temple just randomly.  Cows, goats, antelope…After that I visited their (really) tiny gift shop and bought a stuffed tiger toy.  Wasn’t cheap, but at least the money is going to a good cause.  Then back in the bus to head back on the 2.5 hour drive to Bangkok.  In reality it took closer to 4 to get back to my hotel because we hit traffic when we got downtown.

It was a really awesome day.  Just long.  There’s a lot of comments floating around the internet about whether the tiger temple is dodgy or not (eg. Are they involved in illegal animal trade?  Or are they treating the animals right?).  I have no idea about the animal trade issue.  If they are, it’s certainly not obvious.  As for treating the animals right, they looked well fed to me.  I’m sure PETA and Greenpeace and whoever else are always going to have a whinge about animals kept in captivity.  Maybe they could be given more freedom to roam about the temple on their own – but then that endangers the monks and the volunteers who live there.  Where do you draw the line?  I don’t have an answer to that.  I won’t go back, I didn’t like seeing the tigers chained up (even though I know it’s for safety reasons).  That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t recommend that other people go.  It’s worth it just for a look.  But to be honest, I’d rather see tigers in a zoo where they’re in a large enclosure and somewhat free to roam.  Not being chained down like they were at the temple.  But that’s just my opinion.  I’m sure others will disagree.

Back at the hotel I grabbed some dinner and waited for my airport transfer.  He showed up half an hour early, so we left for the airport early.  Traffic was actually pretty good heading out of town once you got on the motorways.  Kind of funny really, in Sydney the motorways get gridlocked without fail every day during peak hour.  In Bangkok, which has 11ty billion cars, the motorways actually have free-flowing traffic!  It’s like amazing!  Hit Swampy and got through immigration quickly (for a change).  Then wandered about duty free for a while.  Was going to buy a bottle of JD, but it’s AU$40 a bottle!  Duty free!  I can buy a bottle at the fkn bottle shop at retail price cheaper than that in Australia!  WTF!?!?!  I’m leaving my alcohol purchase until I hit duty free at the airport in Oz.  Anyhow, it’s time to get on the plane now.

It’s been an awesome trip!!!