Back again.
We went to Regent's park and relaxed in the sun for a few hours. I think we're going to her 'usual' bar tonight. Like I said, the weather has been fantastic (I hope writing this doesn't jinx it) and has added to my enjoyment of the city.
I wonder if I'd like it so much if it was winter and cold? I guess i'm not going to find out for the moment.
I'm staying in Kensington with the incredibly generous and lovely Jen, John and Jason, who are doing very well to be putting up with me for a whole two weeks (especially since I've been a ill, and have been around more than I planned to be). But they've been wonderful! A little aside for Sapient folks - have managed to catch up with Enda, which was great, but have not yet seen Graham or Justin. Actually I should ask them out tonight. It was interesting to be here for the second big round of Sapient layoffs ... sad to hear some names I knew, relieved to hear that others made it through. I'm not sure that it's all over yet. Hmmm. It seems Katya's first day in the office was the last day for many others. Must be strange.
London seems great, but like I said, I'm still not sure how much the weather has to do with my current opinion. I guess i'll just have to wait and see.
The museums are great ... spent five hours at the Natural History Museum yesterday and a day last week at the British Museum. am going to the Tate Modern with John and Jen on Sunday before we go to a play at the globe.
Also love the parks and gardens. I knew about Hyde Park, but I didn't realise how many other parks and gardens there were. I guess I was expecting more big buildings and stuff - the lack of skyscrapers makes the city far less ... claustrophobic than I think it otherwise would be.
Pleurisy and sunshine
Am now in London, enjoying the magnificent weather.
Or, should that read "I am in London, now enjoying the magnificent weather." There was less of the enjoying to start, as I was quite ill. The cold-y thing I picked up in Budapest had developed into pleurisy by the time I arrived in the UK. So spent the first week or so, pretty much bedridden. But let's move past that ...
Am now in London, enjoying the magnificent weather. I've spent part of almost every day in a park or garden of some variety. Infact I'm about to leave the house to go to a park with a friend from high school, who until a few days ago, I'd not seen in ten years. Actually, I really have to go now, so ...
Or, should that read "I am in London, now enjoying the magnificent weather." There was less of the enjoying to start, as I was quite ill. The cold-y thing I picked up in Budapest had developed into pleurisy by the time I arrived in the UK. So spent the first week or so, pretty much bedridden. But let's move past that ...
Am now in London, enjoying the magnificent weather. I've spent part of almost every day in a park or garden of some variety. Infact I'm about to leave the house to go to a park with a friend from high school, who until a few days ago, I'd not seen in ten years. Actually, I really have to go now, so ...
Books in Berlin
Berlin was my next stop after Budapest, and I must admit that I enjoyed it far more than I expected. I spent almost all my time in East Berlin, which is an amazing place to explore, since the majority of the city has been rebuilt within the last ten years - and is still being rebuilt.
It is also East Berlin which was the original city - West Berlin is actually outside of the old city borders. Went on an amazing walking tour of East Berlin (mostly, some of West Berlin as well) which went for nine hours. The guide was a British man, who used to be a history teacher and had worked for the British navy, stationed in Berlin for a dozen years, before working for the British embassy for a number of years, including during the fall of the wall. Although very British in his point of view, his knowledge of the city and it's history - both recent and ancient - was fantastic, and his accounts of families and friendships torn apart by the wall were ... they really made it real to me - brough it home to me.
Another place that did this, was the site of the book burnings by the nazi party. There is an amazing piece of art now in the square before the Humboldt library to commemorate the tragic event. It is a pane of glass placed in the floor of the square. When you look down into it, all you can see is empty bookshelves, stretching as far as you can see, if you step back slowly, continuing to look into it, you first see the bookshelved continue to stretch, before the glass becomes a mirror, reflecting the library and other university buildings. Wow.
It is also East Berlin which was the original city - West Berlin is actually outside of the old city borders. Went on an amazing walking tour of East Berlin (mostly, some of West Berlin as well) which went for nine hours. The guide was a British man, who used to be a history teacher and had worked for the British navy, stationed in Berlin for a dozen years, before working for the British embassy for a number of years, including during the fall of the wall. Although very British in his point of view, his knowledge of the city and it's history - both recent and ancient - was fantastic, and his accounts of families and friendships torn apart by the wall were ... they really made it real to me - brough it home to me.
Another place that did this, was the site of the book burnings by the nazi party. There is an amazing piece of art now in the square before the Humboldt library to commemorate the tragic event. It is a pane of glass placed in the floor of the square. When you look down into it, all you can see is empty bookshelves, stretching as far as you can see, if you step back slowly, continuing to look into it, you first see the bookshelved continue to stretch, before the glass becomes a mirror, reflecting the library and other university buildings. Wow.
Budapest (and McVeigh)
From Salzburg I flew to Budapest, first in a little baby plane (with propellers) from Salzburg to Vienna, via Linz. I then had a five hour stopover in Vienna (I've discovered that stopovers are not too bad, when you can spend them in the business class lounge, enjoying complementary food and drinks, comfortable couches and chairs, and access to the news (the first I'd really seen since leaving Bangkok).
Most of the stopover was taken up with watching the coverage of the McVeigh execution with some kind of morbid curiousity, and debating with a couple of other watchers, the validity of the death sentence (I'm against it). A strange afternoon.
Eventually my plane to Budapest was ready to go, and after some apprehension regarding being able to get from the airport to my hostel in a country where I had no hope of understanding the language, I arrived at my new temporary home. My first thought was 'I'm not in Austria anymore' (the three Austrian hostels I stayed in were all wonderfully clean and modern places), and although the first impression was one of 'oh my god' I ended up loving this hostel.
I met some really fun people and we had some great times out in the city, and staying in at the hostel. Budapest is wonderfully cheap too. I went out for dinner one night and although we both had mains, sides, desserts and lots of wine, it was still less than $10 AUD each.
Pretty cool. Unfortunately there was a coldie-fluie thing running rampant through the hostel which I managed to catch, meaning I did less in the city than I planned, I still had a wonderful time. The mineral baths were fantastic. There was one only a few minutes away from our hostel that we visited almost every afternoon.
The two cities, sitting side by side, divided by the river (Buda and Pest) are a great contrast - Buda with its hills and medieval town, and Pest with its great flat plains covered in industrial and residential zones.
One of my favourite sightseeing thingies was the statue park - when communist rule was ended in Hungary, instead of tearing down and destroying the propaganda statues, they were set aside and put on display in a special park. Took lots of photos. These structures are incredible, and I'm glad they were saved - if only to act as a lesson of how communism did not work there.
Most of the stopover was taken up with watching the coverage of the McVeigh execution with some kind of morbid curiousity, and debating with a couple of other watchers, the validity of the death sentence (I'm against it). A strange afternoon.
Eventually my plane to Budapest was ready to go, and after some apprehension regarding being able to get from the airport to my hostel in a country where I had no hope of understanding the language, I arrived at my new temporary home. My first thought was 'I'm not in Austria anymore' (the three Austrian hostels I stayed in were all wonderfully clean and modern places), and although the first impression was one of 'oh my god' I ended up loving this hostel.
I met some really fun people and we had some great times out in the city, and staying in at the hostel. Budapest is wonderfully cheap too. I went out for dinner one night and although we both had mains, sides, desserts and lots of wine, it was still less than $10 AUD each.
Pretty cool. Unfortunately there was a coldie-fluie thing running rampant through the hostel which I managed to catch, meaning I did less in the city than I planned, I still had a wonderful time. The mineral baths were fantastic. There was one only a few minutes away from our hostel that we visited almost every afternoon.
The two cities, sitting side by side, divided by the river (Buda and Pest) are a great contrast - Buda with its hills and medieval town, and Pest with its great flat plains covered in industrial and residential zones.
One of my favourite sightseeing thingies was the statue park - when communist rule was ended in Hungary, instead of tearing down and destroying the propaganda statues, they were set aside and put on display in a special park. Took lots of photos. These structures are incredible, and I'm glad they were saved - if only to act as a lesson of how communism did not work there.
The sound of ...
I caught the train from Vienna to Salzburg, and although the scenery was lovely, I could see the weather change as we moved across the country - from lovely sunny days with crisp mornings to grey drizzly coldness.
Did I say drizzly? I meant rainy - occassionally torrential.
It pretty much rained the whole time i was in Salzburg, except for one morning when I went for a walk and ended up in Salzach (a neighbouring town).
I managed to watch The Sound of Music many more times than is healthy, and left the town as soon as possible. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate salzburg. The old town was pretty, but all the lovely old buildings were inhabited by tourist type shops - from tacky crap to class. I just didn't love it there.
Did I say drizzly? I meant rainy - occassionally torrential.
It pretty much rained the whole time i was in Salzburg, except for one morning when I went for a walk and ended up in Salzach (a neighbouring town).
I managed to watch The Sound of Music many more times than is healthy, and left the town as soon as possible. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate salzburg. The old town was pretty, but all the lovely old buildings were inhabited by tourist type shops - from tacky crap to class. I just didn't love it there.
Strudel, surely there's strudel
I spent almost a week in Vienna. I loved Vienna. You could walk everywhere, and the whole city was incredibly ... pretty. And friendly, although there did seem to be an abundance of old people. Not that that is a bad thing. there were lots of young people too ... I guess it's just a place where more older travellers go too.
The highlight, I think for me in Vienna (apart from the amazing music played everywhere) was going to a concert at Stephansdom, right in the centre of the stadt - in the middle of Vienna. It wasn't too expensive, and the music was great. as was sitting right in the middle of an amazing cathedral to hear it.
The other highlight i guess what the morning I arrived. I flew into Vienna at around 5am, and caught the airport bus to the city, then walked into the stadt. Then I sat on a park bench and watched the city wake up. It was ... just gorgeous.
The museums were also great. Plus I managed to get a visa for Hungary with very little difficulty.
The highlight, I think for me in Vienna (apart from the amazing music played everywhere) was going to a concert at Stephansdom, right in the centre of the stadt - in the middle of Vienna. It wasn't too expensive, and the music was great. as was sitting right in the middle of an amazing cathedral to hear it.
The other highlight i guess what the morning I arrived. I flew into Vienna at around 5am, and caught the airport bus to the city, then walked into the stadt. Then I sat on a park bench and watched the city wake up. It was ... just gorgeous.
The museums were also great. Plus I managed to get a visa for Hungary with very little difficulty.
Last night in Bangkok ... la-la-la-la la-la la la la-la
Spent another day in Bangkok before heading to Ayatthaya, which was the Siamese capital before Bangkok. This place is gorgeous. Full of 700 year old ruins and amazing food. We (myself and a Canadian chick I met in Bangkok) found a great guest house where we got a room with a balcony over the river for 250b (that's about $6 each). We spent two nights there and spent the days and nights exploring the ruins and the town. I could easily have stayed longer, but felt I should see some more of what else Thailand has to offer.
I didn't get a chance to head any further north than Ayutthaya, but have spent the last couple of days checking out Bangkok. Kind of took yesterday 'off' - spent most of the day in a park by the river reading and practising my German. Guten Tag!
Today I went to Jim Thompson's House, then Siam Square before walking back to Khao San (about an hour). It was good to walk that - it gave me a better feel for Bangkok - for the distances and all. I also realised just how many tourists / travellers do not venture outside of the Khao San area, which is really sad as it's the least Thai part of Bangkok that I've discovered.
I didn't get a chance to head any further north than Ayutthaya, but have spent the last couple of days checking out Bangkok. Kind of took yesterday 'off' - spent most of the day in a park by the river reading and practising my German. Guten Tag!
Today I went to Jim Thompson's House, then Siam Square before walking back to Khao San (about an hour). It was good to walk that - it gave me a better feel for Bangkok - for the distances and all. I also realised just how many tourists / travellers do not venture outside of the Khao San area, which is really sad as it's the least Thai part of Bangkok that I've discovered.
Everyone is reading Alex Garland
Spent two nights at Khao Sok, before catching the bus and ferry to Koh Samui where I also spent two nights. Didn't love Koh Samui. It was just too touristy. Even though we were at the 'quiet' end of the island, at Bo Phut, it was just ... not what I wanted. It wasn't like Thailand. It felt like it could be almost any touristy seaside town.
Thankfully after Koh Samui was Koh Tao. Absolutely beautiful. Smaller and a lot less developed, and it had the most beautiful beaches. Unfortunately I don't have many photos of Tao as my little snappy camera got soaked on the way back from snorkelling one day and is no more. Snorkelling at Tao was amazing - I've never really done that before - not in nice tropical water. We had most of the day to snorkel in crystal clear waters, checking out fish and coral, before the daily mid afternoon storm rolled in. Our little boat was half flooded and my camera was in my bag at the bottom of the boat. Very sad. Very fun. At least I still have my good camera. Spent three nights at Koh Tao before heading back to Bangkok.
Thankfully after Koh Samui was Koh Tao. Absolutely beautiful. Smaller and a lot less developed, and it had the most beautiful beaches. Unfortunately I don't have many photos of Tao as my little snappy camera got soaked on the way back from snorkelling one day and is no more. Snorkelling at Tao was amazing - I've never really done that before - not in nice tropical water. We had most of the day to snorkel in crystal clear waters, checking out fish and coral, before the daily mid afternoon storm rolled in. Our little boat was half flooded and my camera was in my bag at the bottom of the boat. Very sad. Very fun. At least I still have my good camera. Spent three nights at Koh Tao before heading back to Bangkok.
I've seen where the Phantom lives
Sunday night I caught the overnight train south to catch a bus to Khao Sok National Park. The overnight train was fun, and it was so easy to sleep!
The Khao Sok is a rainforest, and other than doing some (a lot of) walking, what I did most of while there was eat, drink and watch the rain. It rained all the time. One of the locals told me that it had been raining too much in the south and that people were starting to get sick. It was a beautiful place though. The rocky things that formed the mountains were like nothing I'd seen (in person) before. It was kind of like seeing a Phantom comic come to life.
Nerdy bit here. I know Bengalla is meant to be in Africa, but this was really exactly how I'd always imagined it.
The Khao Sok is a rainforest, and other than doing some (a lot of) walking, what I did most of while there was eat, drink and watch the rain. It rained all the time. One of the locals told me that it had been raining too much in the south and that people were starting to get sick. It was a beautiful place though. The rocky things that formed the mountains were like nothing I'd seen (in person) before. It was kind of like seeing a Phantom comic come to life.
Nerdy bit here. I know Bengalla is meant to be in Africa, but this was really exactly how I'd always imagined it.
If it's all going to go wrong ... get it over with quickly
I arrived in Bangkok late Friday night and managed to lose my passport and airline ticket somewhere in the airport. Luckily when I realised this, I'd just sat down in a taxi driven by the nicest man in Thailand. He told me to wait in the taxi and he ran off. I sat and waited. Although feeling incredibly stupid, I stayed remarkedly calm. About twenty minutes later he returned with a security guy, who had all my stuff. Hooray! I guess it's kind of good to get an experience like that over and done with quickly.
Bangkok is ... dirty and crowded and ... enthralling.
The next day I spent the afternoon at Wat Po and was invited to a ceremony to see a young man become a monk. It was amazing - orange robe and all. The chanting a stuff was just incredible, and the boy's parents were just ecstatic. Chatted to the head monk guy. He's been to Australia, likes kangaroos. Spent a few months in Melbourne, too. Liked it better than Sydney. Went out that night to Patpong, which is the red light district of Bangkok and after wandering about the streets and markets, getting offers to all sorts of ... ahhh ... shows ended up at a regular kind of bar, with a great band and danced for hours.
I spent most of today on a ferry wandering up and down the river in Bangkok, checking out the city and walking around some of the less touristy areas, where I didn't see any other westerners at all, which was kind of cool.
Bangkok is ... dirty and crowded and ... enthralling.
The next day I spent the afternoon at Wat Po and was invited to a ceremony to see a young man become a monk. It was amazing - orange robe and all. The chanting a stuff was just incredible, and the boy's parents were just ecstatic. Chatted to the head monk guy. He's been to Australia, likes kangaroos. Spent a few months in Melbourne, too. Liked it better than Sydney. Went out that night to Patpong, which is the red light district of Bangkok and after wandering about the streets and markets, getting offers to all sorts of ... ahhh ... shows ended up at a regular kind of bar, with a great band and danced for hours.
I spent most of today on a ferry wandering up and down the river in Bangkok, checking out the city and walking around some of the less touristy areas, where I didn't see any other westerners at all, which was kind of cool.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
