Kostas Around The World

From Prisons to Bridges - 09May10, 18:30 SFO Time.

2010-05-11T06:41:00.017+02:00

We are running a bit behind on our posts but that's only becasue we are having too much fun..

From Prisons to Bridges - 09May10, 18:30 SFO Time.
(Where am I now: At the passenger’s seat of our brand-new Ford Mustang convertible.
What am I listening to: Our Sirius Satellite radio)

Can’t write much – it’s tough because we are actually driving South on C-1, the Ocean Drive Highway, heading to Los Angeles. More on this one a bit later..

Alcatraz
We visited Alcatraz yesterday, also known as “The Rock”. It was one of the coolest visits I’ve done and Aris really loved it. We woke up early again – this is the biggest surprise of the trip, we manage to wake up early and be out on the road without having to use alarm clocks or anything. I think it is still a combination of the JetLag (Sounds like a budget airline) and a natural “high” to discover & do as many things as possible.

10am ferry to Alcatraz, we got there using the cable-car, finally we managed to use it since on an average day it is so crowded you have to wait for a long time to catch it. The visit to Alcataz is one of the must-do’s for anyone that visits San Francisco, it has more than 1million visitors per year, a rather surprising number if you think it’s just a rock with a prison on it. Ok, it’s probably one of the most famous prisons in the world, legendary stories of escaping convicts and some Hollywood movies hype it even more. I won’t spend time describing the prison, you can see some of the funny photos below. What is really worth mentioning is the really great narration/audio tour that is included in the 26USD package (with the ferry ride) that is both entertaining and informative. As Aris said, “here they commercialize everything but you really get your money’s worth.” Welcome to the USA.

We came back, extremely hungry (as you are not allowed to take food on the island because of the rats…) and we just had to get some good food. We walked around Pier 39, a delightful place full of people and restaurants and little shops – it reminded me so much of Cape Town waterfront... I managed to convince Aris to stop at a Clam Chowder place. He went for the safer option of fish and chips (Katerina: Sydney still tops F&C, no debate) but I had the famous clam chowder, a delightful creamy “soup” that is poured in a bread bowl: “so delicious you will eat the bowl”, literally. I loved it. I wanted more. Actually I wanted more of everything in San Francisco. Everything was so nice, I was right to have it in the list of places to visit.

Happy and very full we walked around the Piers, where we discovered the Musee Mechanique the most unexpected place you could find in a place like SFO. A huge tent filled with all kinds of mechanical toys and games you would usually find in fairs. There were even some video games, even the first one I ever played. Moon Patrol and the first ever video game, you know, the tennis with the two bars going up and down and the little pixel moving around like a tennis ball, bouncing on the sides of the screen. I paused, I thought of my wonderful childhood, full of outdoor games in the “piloti’ of our apartment and basic computer games that let a lot of our imagination run free, low resolution graphics and crappy music, filled in by our self-created images & sounds. Nostalgic? Very…

Bridge. One way to happiness.
I love bridges. I started loving them the moment I first lay my eyes on Sydney bridge that Monday morning when I landed in Sydney and walked down George street. They give you a sense of presence, a feeling of connection – well, I guess that’s their purpose, to connect to places that would otherwise be inaccessible. This one is special – I’ve seen it so many times in films, in photos, spanning across the bay, its red color partly obscured by the fog in the morning, turning even redder during sunset. We got there by bus, after changing a couple of them – San Fracnsisco is overall good with public transport but we felt it could be a bit better for one of the most visited sights of the city. After the initial “Japanese rush” (that’s what I call when you get to a place and the first thing you do is take photos, as many as possible, till you are finally calming down and actually appreciating the beauty of the thing you are photographing)

[Two Japanese meet after their holidays in Europe, the one asks, “hey how was your holiday in Europe?” “I don’t know, I am still waiting for the photos to be developed”]

We walked the bridge, windy, cold, who cares, I was crossing again one of the big ones, the last one on my trip after Sydney and Brooklyn. I walked passed Aris, just like I would do on my own, looked, down, up, around at the big red columns and suspension lines and was happy just being there. Clouds low on the horizon coming in close, emotions overwhelimg me, what a wonderful place this is, what a wonderful life I have…

More Photos!! (we've got more, it's just so tough to upload!)

Climbing the hills on the cable car

Kostas with Tram Operator Mr. Wu

I’ll be a good boy, I promise

Catching-up with my reading in Alcatraz library
Alcatraz is full of plants & animalsWho watches the wathchtower?

Cozy rooms, just a bit smaller than our hostel room

3 floors of luxurious accommodation

View of Frisco from the Rock

Springtime prison

The Rock

Clam Chowder + Happy customer

“Did we order enough?”

Just like the movie!!!

Everyone has his own hero

Sea lions on Pier 39

Yes we can!

Aderfouli!!!! Look! Even the steering wheel! Remember the black OIL that made the car spin?!?

Happy. Fullstop.

We made it!!

Don’t do it man: THERE IS HOPE MAKE THE CALL! [The consequences of jumping from this bridge are Fatal and Tragic] – but at least you get a wonderful view…

Bridge beauty...

Some things are too hot to be cold

No U turn. You're bloody right, we’re not coming back (to Europe)

NEXT STOP: LOS ANGELES
Driving down C-1 to L.A in our new!!! (13miles) Mustang Convertible!

2010-05-09T07:01:00.013+02:00

24HRS – Love at first sight Saturday 8May10, 07:05 am SFO Time. (Where am I now: At the coolest hostel in SF / Downtown on Mason st.
What am I listening to: Some song from Morissey in the hostel’s common room)

Landed in SFO.
It’s been a long flight I have to say. We looked at eachother as the wheels of the plane touched down and Aris was ust being dragged out of his second consequtive 4hr sleep in the plane.
He has the potential to be a world traveler in economy class. We headed to the baggage conveyor to pick up our stuff and looked around – much smaller airport, more crowded, it was Thursday afternoon, outside the big windows a purple-orange veil in the sky was already welcoming us. How do you want to get to the hostel I asked? We had options, the BART (train/underground) or Taxi. Let’s take a taxi, it’s a bit more expensive but we can at least we can do it faster (and it’s so much more convenient if we share costs like these). “You guys looking a taxi?” asked this dude with a blue-tooth thingy permanently attached to his ear.
“Yep, to downtown” I answered back.
“How about a limo for 45 bucks”
“Last time I checked the taxi was 35”, said Mr Greek negotiator/backpacker.
“Allright guys, let me get another couple and I take you down town for 35 plus tip”
“You got it” I answered back, Aris looking at me….

So that’s a nice way to start your “backpacking” trip, right? Have you ever been into one of these long-stretched limos? It’s cool. We talked about all the things the driver had seen happen in the back over time and how this is part of a thing we’ve seen in a film – it was all there: the bar with the glasses, the square crystal whiskey container, the little lights and buttons to operate the roof, raise the divider between the driver and the rest and even the tinted windows in the back, the film slightly worn our making the light come in a little reddish/orange, only making the sunset over the highway look even better. Limo to the hostel... nice, I thought.

We got to our Hostel – which is perfectly located and spotless clean. After Latin America this just looked like a lower star hotel accommodation for me. Even Aris who is not used to this type of accommodation really liked it. Above all though it’s the positive feeling you get the moment you enter, the staff is young and smiling, they know their stuff – it all felt so familiar…!

Showers and out for a quick dinner and drink – Italian food and one drink at the OWL mingling with the local crowd. Early wake up next day – courtesy of the jet lag…!

Breakfast at the hostel was great. Super basic with abundant coffee and bagles with cream cheese, orange juice, peanunt butter & jam and fruits – what else can you ask for especially after 3 days in scrambled egg/bacon buffets in the Marriots and Hiltons of Portugal, this was a refreshing change – including doing our own dishwashing at the end. You disagree that this is the way to go, do you have a different point of view? Well that’s why you are not with us traveling I guess! 

Out and about
We headed out quite early, very happy with the fact that the jet lag offered us the chance to spend more time outdoors. We headed downtown (well, we are downtown) walked around all the major shops, bought Levi’s jeans (SF is the HQ of Levi Strauss – no they are not cheaper, but still dead-cheap compared to Europe) and then headed towards Embarcadero, slightly hungry.
Have you read my previous blog posts around the world? Well then you know what happens during lunch time when I am in a nice sunny location with a lot of people, preferably in a park or nice area. We bought two huge foot-long Subways (see photos- haha) and just laid down in the park and had a siesta. Aris reported back home (=made phone calls) and I just fell asleep under the warm sun. You could see the Bay bridge from there: wonderful but not the place I came to see. Golden Gate Bridge was still calling me.

We walked around for a bit longer and headed for Chinatown. The Chinese are an integral part of this city, since a very long time they were brought over here to build America’s great railroads. There’s even a big mural showing the workers with the message above: “Over 10 miles of track laid in one day” (Ari, how long does it take for the Greeks to do this 150 years later?) We liked Chinatown, because we like Asians – it’s simple. We took a bus to go to the Bay– I helped an old Chinese lady to get in the bus – the stairs way too high for her, her cane, made out of a tree branch was too small – she was babbling in Chinese - I felt I was helping Yoda get on a space ship.
Another lady behind me tapped me on the back: “Thank you. Wer done, you are wery good person, the ord rady is very rich” (no difference between L and R)
“You are welcome, maybe she can help me win the lottery” I said smiling back.

From the point we got of it was all downhill to the waterfront. And as we slowly headed down, feeling the sun and Pacific wind in my face I saw it in the distance: Reddish, covered in a veil of mist, waves splashing around it, was the Golden Gate Bridge. I was in San Francisco. About two years later, the circle was complete, at least that's how I felt.

An afternoon at Starbucks
Breaks are necessary, especially if you are walking around all day – we went to the local Starbucks, a busy place as people stop there to refuel, on their way to the bridge and sightseeing. There’s a lot to say about this placebut I will let some of the photos and my comments do the story-telling. After all I need to get ready for Alcatraz... Talk to you soon

Niketown - zone pressing...

Aris trying on his new jacket...

(No it's not nuclear shelter #5, it's our hostel elevator)

It's for sale!! Anyone have 14,000 USD?? (My birthday is in 2 weeks!)

Lombard Steet ('Crookedest' street)
City view

Cable-car

Wonderful cable-car ways and steep hills
It's a little downhill (Hyde street)
Wonderful parks!
Yeahm sure, have another 2 kilos of chocolate and don't forget the whipped cream (low fat of course!!)
Calling home from Ghiradelli's - you're all sleeping! (Classic trip photo)
Fisherman's Warf
Friendly Shadows
Fisherman's Warf

Wonderful cable-car!

Chinatown (obviously)
Bay Bridge (and Aris)

One more for my collection!! SanFran port clock tower!
My favourite picture so far - Hostel (self portrait)

Night out at the OWL

Tiny portions wherever we went to eat (that's my salmon)

Patrol car next to our hostel (great neighbourhood)

Yes, he's feeling lonely (but I'm doing my best to keep company)

STARBUCKS MOMENTS

Just one more please...!

This boy will make you the "sweetest" coffee (if you get my point)

Santa is on holiday in SF. He had a smoke and then ordered a Venti Caramel Macchiatto and oured in (!!) packs of sugar!

Aris taking a photo of me on the phone (after clear instruction to include the hot asian girls in the background - they just happened to be there...)

She was cute, believe me...

NEXT STOP: ALCATRAZ!!

Second leg to SFO - I need to stretch my legs!

2010-05-07T08:57:00.005+02:00

Second leg to SFO - I need to stretch my legs! Thursday 6May10, don’t ask the time, I don’t know the time zone – it’s Friday 00.42 am in GVA.

(Where am I now: Seat 29F, Flight CO018 NY-SFO.
What am I listening to: “Champagne Supernova”, Oasis – and it’s been a long time)

America! America!
We made it to New York – not that I had any doubt but it’s always interesting to have to go through immigration and customs. I got “stopped” at immigration since I didn’t have my itinerary printed out, “What do you do Sir for a living?”
“I work for P&G, you want to see my business card?” has been an answer that has always worked very well.
“And what do you do there?”
(well, that’s a bit more complicated to explain)

Aris got stopped at customs. He just looked fishy or simply the dude was pulling random people out of the queue… I ah dot wait for him for 20 mins and joked about the ‘inspection’ he had to go through (I’ll let your imagination run wild just for fun)

We walked Newark airport, Terminal C. All of it. Up and down until we felt the blood running again in our legs, and ended up in one of the waiting lounges, trying to connect to the internet. I uploaded my last post, sent a message to the hostel in SFO to inform them about our arrival time and just got up to go to the food court. We were starving.

You are what you eat.
No, not all people are ‘junk’ but there’s plenty of junk food around. Quantities are abundant, calories uncountable and the temptation for the ‘free refill’ is just too big for some people in this place. You can see it in their waistlines and faces – I guess that’s how you get the expression “junk in the trunk”.
We had some greasy Asian food recognizing that if this is the diet we will be following we better just start buying clothes a size bigger.
I thought of the airplane food, I don’t expect top quality in an Economy long-haul flight that needs to accommodate +200 people, but when I think of a similar long flight with JAL from Brisbane to Tokyo, well you get to understand why Japanese are so thin (ok, yes they are smaller as well) and healthier.

I don’t understand how a nation with such abundant food resources, variety and incredible focus on calorie counting and “fat free” meals is hitting record numbers on the scale… I will observe and let you know but for me SanFran will be much more sea food (yeah, even free refill baby on that one – I take it any time) and less pancakes and burgers. I just need to convince Aris, as clam chowder is where he draws the line – non-negotiable.

A side note: our cool Pod Hotel, the one I’ve booked for NY at the end of the trip is on the Herald Tribune international version as one of the cool place to stay in NY. For all those big spenders out there, who said cheap can’t be cool and trendy? Let’s see what it looks like in reality, but check their website and tell me what you think…!

Jesus saves (but not if you are in the middle seat)
Now this is a bit tricky to write as I don’t want to offend anyone, especially not the 120kg passenger sitting right next to me holding a copy of the latest (and greatest?) book called The Pursuit of Holiness. A calm nice man, obviously overweight, he is unlucky enough to be sitting on a fully loaded 6-hour between a hypeactive Greek and a 40 year old guy that seems to come out of a Mexican football film (he’s dressed in football gear and is listening to mariachi music through his head phones – and he’s listening to it loud enough for me to understand). What can he do but pray I guess for the flight to be quickly over.
On the other hand the well-known atheist and buddy of mine Aris is lucky enough to be on row 32 – next to a world famous (not really) soccer player of the New York Red Bulls (did you know NY had a soccer team? No? Welcome to the club) - and his boarding pass has a cool indication on it: “Exit Row”. That is the business class of the economy traveler. Only negative point: he gets the chance to see everyone going for a pee since his seat is facing the toilet. With leg room long enough to accommodate a basketball player though he cant complain I guess. I will ask him once he wakes up from his second 4hr sleep. I am so hyper, I am gonna kill him if we land in SFO and he tells me he’s tired.

My head’s spinning: the result of a screwed-up bio clock, excitement and 2 long back to back flights, all enough for any determined traveler. I need a big cup of cold fruit juice and a long walk in the streets of Frisco to get it right… Soon! (another 3 hrs to go…)

MORE PHOTOS...

Sir, please fill in BOTH I-94 AND Customs forms!!

Healthy & wholesome food on board

SO much choice!!!!

Almost there!!!!

…It all begins… again! Thursday 6May10, 10:30a.m GVA time.

2010-05-06T19:30:00.005+02:00

…It all begins… again! Thursday 6May10, 10:30a.m GVA time. (Where am I now: Seat 19F, Flight CO018 GVA-NY. What am I listening to: “Empire State of mind”, Alicia Keys – what else!?)

Yep. I am back. Exhausted and beaten up by the most intense tour of Portuguese airports (3 days, 3 airports around Portugal, 6 flights, avg. 5hrs sleep.day and working yesterday until well after midnight) I have now put all ‘that’ behind me and am now comfortably chilling out on the first Continental flight of my mini KostasAroundTheUS.

Some things just don’t change: I had to pack a bag yesterday and simply went again for that magic backpack – yes clothes get creased, you need to carry it on your back but who cares at the end? No, it is not stylish and people still look at the mid thirties guy (man, that’s me…) carrying it around– but again who cares? The excitement is the same, the smile on my face as big as always, the sense of freedom unparalleled and although you would say I’ve done more than enough flying with work the past 2 months (I think about 15 flights) this is special, as always, special, special, special. It’s not the destination that awaits me that makes it so different, although San Francisco, at the end of this long day is truly ‘unfinished business’: the last destination of the sabbatical I took 2 years ago… It’s the idea of just being away from it all, and thrown in again right in the middle of something new and different. Can a psychiatrist please tell me if there’s a name for this condition?

Some things have changed. There’s more grey hair under my old, worn-out Aussie hat that is also joining me in this trip to the New World. My hiking pants are a bit tight around the waist (…) and it did take me a bit longer to pack and load – something I used to do with no second thought on the last trip. Even my laptop’s ever-lasting 6hr battery has been reduced to 3 hours – that’s what you get for not using it on long trips and keeping it at home…

What is also different is that I am not alone this time. So apologies if the blog posts are irregular, short or simply just filled with photos but having company takes time out, especially if company is one of your close buddies from high-school. ArisA is with me doing his first trip to the US – it’s going to be so much fun. We are already missing GeorgeT, the third part of this wonderful equation that has outlasted many governments, fashion or music trends the past 20 years… but that’s what you get for deciding to get married. Obligations and priorities. We still hope to see him, unexpectedly, near the end of next week , sitting at the black-jack table besides us in Vegas, a martini in hand, just so we can remind him how a couple of good friends can cause a really good ‘Hangover’ but I guess it wont happen.

So much more to write – so many things running through my head but they will just have to wait…
Time for a break – I need the battery to post in NY and there’s still a long way to go.
Welcome onboard, the latest edition of KostasAroundTheWorld is about to take off…Thank you for joining us on another trip, please fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride – we are looking forward to your posts & comments.

Big Bird to NYC :-)

Do you call this a muffin?!

Aris preparing for phase 3 (Vegas)

…Of prostitutes and runners Friday 26Feb, 00.03 a.m.

2010-02-26T23:17:00.010+01:00

…Of prostitutes and runners
(Friday 26Feb, 00.03 a.m.)

(Where am I now: Lying in my bed in Geneva.

What am I listening to: Self Control” Laura Branigan)

Thank you.

Thank you for the first kind words and feedback on yesterday’s long-due post on Kostas Around The World. It’s wonderful to see people actually reading the stuff I write…

As I move closer to the big trip (it’s still 2 months away) I’ve decided to write a few things about Geneva daily life and the other traveling I will be doing in the next couple of month to Turkey, Sweden, Greece and who knows where else…

I woke up this morning quite early. Well technically to wake up you need to be asleep so I guess it doesn’t qualify as such since I woke up at 4 a.m and was unable to go back to sleep. I think buying a ticket to a place 12 time zones away already gave me the feeling of jet-lag. I decided to watch a film from my little laptop – yes, my trusted friend from my previous trip is still around and working and getting ready to join me in the next big adventure. As I was about to fall asleep again around 5 am I received 3 calls the one after the other from a Geneva number I did not know. The guy didn’t talk the first two times and the third when I actually shouted at him he said ah sorry, wrong number. Well idiot, let me tell you something, no matter how many times you try, I’ll still be the person that will be picking up the damn phone. It doesn’t change. It's my damn number, “Madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result” used to say my friend Albert (Einstein).

It doesn’t end there: an hour later at 6am, while I was slowly falling back asleep I get another call from the same number- this time I am gonna scream, I thought to myself-and it's a woman voice on the phone telling me in French in a shitty Portuguese/Spanish accent: “Sorry, my husband made a mistake before, I am sorry to have woken you up” Well, GUESS WHAT? You just did. AGAIN! Who the hell calls you to say they are sorry to have woken you up by waking you up again!?!?!

I fell asleep at 06.30 only to be woken up at 06.50 from my alarm…And this where the first part of the title comes in: I had arranged with Niko to go out and run this morning. I don’t know what masochistic idea got into me but after all this non-sleep this was one of the toughest runs to get started. Did I tell you it was me running towards the lake, only to be escorted by garbage trucks and looked upon by the prostitutes in my neighborhood – who is looking for a “trick” at 7am on a Thursday morning?! Apparently no one because they were all out…looking at me run in my shorts and gloves and bonnet in the freezing cold dark night. Light was just starting to break out…Welcome to Geneva...!

Our runs usually lasts about 50 minutes and we cover about 8-9km, a decent distance to build up some cardio and sweat. Why? Why on Earth do you have to wake up to run in the freezing cold? I hate gyms, I never enjoyed the confined feeling the give you and despite the fact that one can really exercise much easier and more effectively in one of them, especially if it's bad (Geneva) weather, for me it has always been about running outdoors. It started more than 4 years ago when I decided to run a marathon before I turned 30 years old and it has gone on like that since then. I think one of the biggest appeals of Geneva for me is that you can enjoy an unobstructed, safe running route around the lake without worrying about cars running you over and motorcycles blocking your way: Pedestrians and runners, RULE!

The scenery is quite rewarding at that time of day: Magic colours and light transforming from the dark blues and purples to the light greys and violet sunrise colours, birds flocking over the lake and the swans and ducks with their heads folded in their sides slowly stretching out. Just like them, the city was slowly waking up and turning into a bustling living creature, with its commuters and traffic – undaunted we ran on the pavement on the side of the road that circles the lake looking at the people in the cars, talking on their phones, putting lipstick using the rear view mirror, lip-synching to a radio song…

My favourite part is coming back, running over Mont-Blanc bridge, the last stretch before I turn and sprint to “my side” of the city where I stop to stretch and catch my breath…

I walk back the remaining 500-800 meters to get to my place cutting through the “red light” district and the sex-shops, surprisingly active even for a Thursday morning…It’s strange with the prostitutes, each of them carrying her own story, all different shapes and colors (even genders some might argue...!) they all react the same way when I fast-pace next to them: “Come, hey, hello” whatever, even if I politely decline and speed-up next to them slightly embarrassed.

But today was special. The new girl on the block, a surprisingly young and beautiful African girl, seeing me wearing my gloves, cap and running shorts in the cold, red cheeks from running and the temperature differnece, shouted from the other side of the street: “Viens cherie, je vais te rechauffer” (come darling and I’ll heat you up)

Lowering my gaze out of embarrassment, slightly amused, music in my ears and with a big smile on my face, I got home and hit the shower to get ready for work…

The city was waking up…Goodmorning.

PS: Obviously the pictures here were not take by me - so all the rights go to the respective photographers - however these images are something you would see if you ran with me through the lovely district of Paquis...!

Local Laundromat (with non-runner waiting for his clothes)

Shopping facilities...

Colours at the time of the run

My favorite: The photographer named it: "Rencontre" (Encounter)

2010-02-24T22:06:00.007+01:00

Unfinished business… (Wednesday, 24 February 2010)

(Where am I now: Sitting at my desk in my apartment in Geneva.

What am I listening to: “All that she wants” from Ace of Base)

It had to happen again. It is unavoidable. But what does it really take to pick up the virtual pen (or the keyboard in this case) and type away after more than a year of absence, after more than a year in the “fridge” of “immobility and daily routine? Don’t get me wrong, it’s been more than a year since I came back from my dream trip and even by those standards I have still managed to travel a lot: Sweden, Turkey, Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal to name a few. It’s been a year full of travel – mostly with work – but at the end, only tonight did I get that same feeling, that rush I felt constantly from the moment I booked my round-the-world ticket in August 2008. Only tonight do I get this exhilarating feeling that there’s something out there to be discovered. It looks like it was ages ago… It has been.

So tonight it was. Sitting at my desk in the office at work after 7pm, I took out my little paper with my self-made calendar and counted the days, double-checked the destinations, triple-checked the connection flights and timetables, took out my credit card, typed in the magical number and pressed “BUY”.

I have it. The last part of the trip, my “unfinished business”, my last stop in the sabbatical to fulfill the promise I made to myself to touch all continents and see the few cities I’ve always dreamt of. I am going to San Francisco in May. The last stop. The new beginning.

And so it starts all over again. It was bound to happen and I hoped for it sooner than later but this is how things are so it took more time than I thought. When I came back from my trip I had promised myself: “one big trip every year”. So here it is.

Frisco, was the one place I didn’t manage to visit during my trip. Lack of time and also another continent on the ticket made it too expensive, I vowed to visit in the near future. And the future is in May. I will be away for 12 days, a tiny amount of time compared to the big trip but I am determined to do it the “Kostas way”: Cover long distances, experience different places and people (more in the plan for both than I can say now) and just remind myself how important travel is in my life. Mind you, I never forgot it – it’s work and daily life that make some things fade away, move to the backseat of the priority vehicle when at the end they were never more important, never more relevant! I promised not to forget.

I don’t know if this is a return to the blog but I know that today I’ve felt good enough to come back to this and type away my thoughts and share them with whoever is out there.

So many things come to my mind from the previous trip and so many expectations for the one that’s coming up, for the past 4 hours I’ve had this constant grin on my face like someone that knows a big secret not to be shared with anyone.

It’s not a secret.

Kostas Around The World… is BACK! (and lovin’ it!)

“Days in Africa” (Tuesday 6th Jan 2009 – Day 103)

2009-01-08T19:09:00.019+01:00

On the way back home - in Jo'Burg international airport, this is my last post before I get to Geneva. Happy new Year. Can't wait to see you all....

(Where am I now: Mabalingwe game farm. game: wild animals)
(What is the time now: 15:40 pm on Tue 6th Jan09 , What am I listening to: The ceiling fan on the thatch roof of this amazing cottage)

Reunion
Think of the scene and add you own special music. Landing after a 12 hour overnight flight from Hong Kong to Johannesburg, I made my way through passport control, for the last “exotic” stamp on my passport: Republic of South Africa.

It was a republic 10 years ago when I last visited but since then I have already changed two passports and this is now a very different country. How time flies. Most of you that know me a bit better might have heard me talk about this place. I always talk about it with love and amazement, never forgetting to mention its incomparable natural beauty but also its crime-plagued cities and the very different way of life that the people lead because of this. More on this maybe further down but I can’t move on before mentioning just a few things: South Africa is a key link from my past, a magical place of my childhood, the reason I speak English better than the average Greek, the key root of my love for nature and traveling and above all, the place where my mother grew up and where most of my blood family currently resides. It’s also the place where my mom & brother decided to spend this Christmas & New Year’s holiday, making this destination the perfect ending to a very long, amazing trip. What more can you ask than spending time with you family after being away and “on your own” for so long?

So, how can I really describe the feeling of picking up my backpack from the conveyer belt and passing through customs and into the arrivals hall and looking around… there was no one there to pick me up.
I smiled. My family is not a very typical Greek family on “travel reunions” and that includes airport pickups or port or bus pickups for that matter. Most of the times it’s a friend that picks me up from airports (thanks George, Amalia, Ody, Vasso just to mention a few) so why should it be different now… Well I hoped it would be.

I called my aunt, “You’re here? We’ll be there in a few minutes” she said in perfect background silence, making it obvious that they were still at home. The airport is a 20 minute drive from her house so plenty of time for me to look around, feel the summer weather and above all, look at the sky which even at 7 am had this wonderful Africa blue in it…

The car arrives; they don’t see me, pass me and park at the pickup zone about 30 meters away from me. I smile and see my mother come out and head for the arrivals hall. I run behind them, backpack bouncing on my back, “Hello!” I shout, she turns around gives me a big hug, emotion written all over her face…obviously having missed me a lot. I guess so would you if your son was travelling around the world for more than 3 months. The rest I think I’ll keep to myself.
And this is how the South African part, the last part, of this beautiful story begins…

Johannesburg, Jo’burg, Egoli, also known as City of gold
What do you know about Johannesburg? Apart maybe from being the biggest city in South Africa, famous in the old days for its vast gold reserves (thus the name), it’s infamous for its extremely high crime rate but also for being the center of a lot of activism and thus oppression during the Apartheid days. South Africa has moved on from then and so has Jo’burg making it a business and financial center for anyone that wants to do business in this part of Africa. It’s still a difficult place to live, people constantly under the threat of crime that extends to losing their lives.

I can’t have the same point of view I have for the other places I’ve visited. It’s impossible for two reasons. First I’ve been here before quite a few times and I will (maybe) tell you a few stories about my childhood South Africa memories – if not, ask me when you see me. So, it is not the unfamiliar, unexpected (but still exotic, and amazing) place that described all the other destinations in my trip. Second, I won’t see it in the same way. I am not alone, family is here and we are talking about a big family: 4 aunts and uncles, cousins and the whole lot of second and third cousins that this involves… So I’ve decided to give a few snapshots of life here trying to balance between the fact that some are of more personal/family nature and the fact that, strangely enough, it is more difficult for me to describe a familiar place than something that is completely new… We visited quite a few things: Apartheid museum, markets, the Military museum, a great African dance musical called Umoja and more. However, I’ve decided now to talk to you about Cape Town… but before that, let me tell you of a very different Christmas Eve.

What does Christmas mean to you? Apart from the religious meaning which I will let all of you weigh according to your own personal beliefs, most of you would agree it is about family, sharing gifts and wishes, with good food in a cozy environment, ideally a nice fireplace and some snow outside your window while you enjoy the company of friends and family. Well it’s exactly the same over here par the snowy, cozy atmosphere. Because when I got to Gerry and Lulu Calinicos’ (my mom’s friends) place for the Christmas Eve dinner, I was in shorts and T-shirt and had my dinner in their huge, lovely garden by the swimming pool. Is Santa landing in the swimming pool, I would have wondered if I was 10-years old, now I just sat back and enjoyed my watermelon as a dessert…

That’s the cool thing about the Southern Hemisphere and I guess it would be the same whether I was in Argentina, Chile, Australia or New Zealand – the trump card here was that I was with my family.

Merry Christmas everybody and I finally managed to unload at least a small part of my luggage which was intended to be Christmas presents for my family: little porcelain cows from Japan (hey, 2009 is the year of the cow in Asia), Snake/scorpion liquor (with an actual cobra/scorpion in the bottle) from Vietnam for my cool 20+year old cousins, and a few little things for mom and George… it felt good to be able to give something different after carrying it for so long explicitly for this reason.

Cape Town, the Cape of Good Hope I will prove to you what I just said; it’s easier to write about a new place than a familiar one. My family had planned a trip to Cape Town for this Christmas season. Rightfully so, this and the rest of the southern tip of South Africa is the place where locals and tourists alike flock to, to spend their summer/X-mas holidays. Sounds like an oxymoron but don’t forget, it is summer here…

I had never visited before so I am always open to new places. It’s not easy however to travel with people when you are used to traveling on your own, a complete master of your schedule, the only person to compromise with being yourself. I had forgotten that part but it quickly didn’t matter although having to spend 4 days with mom and 2 of her sisters (aunties Jean and Avgi) plus my brother is not what I’ve been used to lately. Ultimately it is also about what you are looking for at a specific moment. I was looking for “shutdown”, no planning. I let the others take me around; it’s a nice feeling after having to schedule everything from where to sleep, to what to eat to where to go. Now it was go with the flow… Well, you know me… almost go with the flow.

Cape Town is wonderful. Full stop. I don’t care what my uncle Yianni says (“it’s shit there, the weather and everything else”) or what Lulu’s daughter Liz said (“great for my student years but I would never come back here to live”) or what her friends said (“Capetoneans are lazy, impolite and stuck up, most opportunities are in Jo’Burg”).

Cape Town is the perfect combination of mountain and sea. One of SA’s most famous landmarks (the Table mountain) resides on its side and the presence of an amazingly beautiful coastline, sandy beaches and roaring sea make it the place to be if you like the sea. Walking in that (admittedly cold water) I completed wetting my feet in all oceans of this planet. Pacific in Chile, Australia and New Zealand, the Indian and Atlantic in South Africa… Sounds weird.
The waterfront is beautiful, full of people, restaurants and bars, it gives a wonderful vibe that only makes it more fun when you think that the rest of your friends are freezing off in Europe… The architecture reminds you of old English colonial style, I thought I was in Brighton, like years ago, only difference the complexion of the people, predominantly coloreds and blacks instead of pinky-rose English and Indians.

We covered a lot of distance in the 4 days we were there using a rental car and Sheila (that’s our GPS and a completely different story so ask me)…but nothing compared to the visit to Cape Point. The place where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean…

Cape Point: 34 ̊21’24’’ South Latitude, 18 ̊ 29’ 52’’ East Longitude

It was quite a bit of a drive, about 2-3 hours from Cape Town, where else but southward. It is part of a National Park, covering a vast area of the southern tip, that includes both the Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope (did you know they are two different locations?). It’s a very picturesque area, with very beautiful landscapes and lots of trails you can also do on foot. There are even some cabins for the people that want to sleep over. As we entered the gates of the park I made a mental note to myself: “I will be back here, definitely, under slightly different conditions, maybe 2-3 couples renting a van and spending some serious time in South Africa and this place”. As you move south on the wonderful coastal road you realize as you go over hills and small mountains that the sea is on both sides… there’s a tip here somewhere you have to think. Look left and it’s the Indian Ocean, look right and it is the Atlantic! We arrived at Cape Point and parked the car.

The fact that it was around 5’o clock made our visit even nicer. The big crowd had already left and the sun had changed color into this more dark yellow, casting longer shadows on everything. Cape Point is a hill near the edge, around 250 meters above the surface of the sea and there’s a little funicular that takes you up there… (last time I saw one, I was on another continent in Valparaiso Chile.

We decided with my brother not to take it but do the 30-40 minute walk up to the top. After all, the rental car had taken away all the walking I was used to doing in previous parts of this trip. Well worth it, as you slowly climb the stairs and follow the trail, you get amazing views of the sea, roaring waves and an incredibly strong wind blowing in our face – you couldn’t even keep a hat on. (Do you like my new orangey cap I got in Jo’burg?)

Walking, climbing, taking photos, 30 minutes later you reach the edge of this continent. There’s a signpost there, just like Cape Reinga in New Zealand, showing the different kilometer distances to other cities and on the wall, right above the sea and the Lighthouse there’s one little stone with an arrow point south. It reads: Antartica… We marveled at the scenery, grasped against the strong wind and tried to cover ourselves from the bright sun falling low, into our eyes. Who cared? This is the place where two Oceans merge, this is the edge of another continent, the last one I was visiting during this dream of a trip.

Cape Town by night… courtesy of Liz. And history repeats itself. You know me. I can’t leave a place without seeing what the night life is all about. Even more so when it’s summer and the whole place is in holiday mood. As with most places though, it would be nice if you have a “local” to show you around. Innumerable number times I’ve felt “at home and at my best” when there’s someone from the town to take me out: Amparo in Cordoba, Menelaos in Buenos Aires, Katerina in Sydney, Kaori in Tokyo, they all made a huge difference on how much fun you have in a place but above all on what you experience. This time my “local” manifested in the tiny form of Liz, the younger daughter of one of my mom’s friends who spent her student years in Cape Town and as with most people was spending part of her Christmas holiday in the city.

Cape Town is a great place to go out, whether it is CBD (Central Business District, also known as “downtown” as I like calling it – I know Katerina is smiling now, because CBD is what they also call downtown Sydney, but they don’t call it “downtown”…) or Camps Bay, one of the longer beaches which is strewn with bars (there’s even a white-covered bar called Caprice, evoking strange Mykonos memories in the end of December- sorry not the same sunset though), restaurants, cafés and the occasional club. We went to quite a few places, from posh pop to grunge rock, I saw quite a bit. It’s also so easy to go out drinking when proper dinks cost about 2-3 Euros… I had a field day, or should I say night? Thanks Liz & friends.

Try it – you can’t lose if you try.
It’s one of the two biggest lessons I got from this trip. I hope to remember them and apply them in whatever I do in the future. I learned both of them (the other lesson, further down) from two women, completely different to each other, yet with such similar attitudes towards life. Lesson #1: If you don’t try it, it won’t happen. You definitely have more chances on getting something or somewhere by simply asking for it. It doesn’t need to be about business, money or serious relationships. It can be from doing bungy jumping and skydiving in the same day, to scuba diving even if you are afraid of water, to trekking 20km in New Zealand despite having to wake up AGAIN at 6am, to getting a stupid discount, to entering a venue even if they tell you it is full, to… crashing a private high-profile party. And that is what happened in Cape Town last Friday night.

We drove past this house with my mom & family around 8 o’clock and you could see there was something already going on. You could see it from the cars parked on the street (even a custom-plate BMW with “KOUKLA” as a plate – I so regret not taking a photo) to the house itself, perched up on a little hill, all lit up, music blasting away… “It must be a party”, we made the obvious observation and headed to Camps Bay where I was supposed to meet Liz and friends for “1 drink – yesterday night was too much”. We managed to go through a drink or two with her and Sarah & Dana (yes it’s nice to be in the company of girls again!). I was quite casually dressed (this is important) with jeans, white sneakers and my orange (gay/geeky?) Atari T-shirt (don’t forget my new cap) but the girls were nicely made up – summer was here after all despite the cool midnight wind. They suggested going back downtown – I agreed to join them until Fresnay where I was staying for a drop-off, I wasn’t in the mood for another late night…or so I thought.

We left Camps Bay and took the road back to Fresnay. On the way we passed that party house again… “It must be a party”, was the obvious observation again. “Let’s crash it!”, I said and they all went “Yeaaah”… We parked Sarah’s little City Golf next to some huge Land Rovers & BMWs and headed up the driveway. You could see the lights and clearly hear the music, the place was happening. Walking up we met a couple of guys that were just leaving the party – “yes the party is still on, just say you know… what’s his name, the host, some name starting with W” he said.
Great, I thought, let’s play the guessing game.
Walter. No, he said.
William. Nope.
Wilbur (!?) No.
Warren? says Dana. Yes! the guy says.
Ok let’s try it.

As we climbed the driveway entrance you couldn’t help but be amazed by the sheer size of this house, the amazingly good-looking people that were coming and going until we reached the gate where two extremely big bouncers were waiting for us. “Where’s your access bracelet?” the one asked, while I just realized that the people around me all had these paper bracelets they give out in concerts for the VIP area.
“Er, we’re friends of Warren, we’re sorry we are late” said Dana.
“And your name is…?” the bouncer asked politely but completely unconvinced.
“Dana and party of 3”, which sounded just like a table reservation in a club.
The guy looks at us, sighs, and moves aside to let us in.
The grin on my face was so wide it could barely get through the gate.
The rest is history (or a really good story I could tell some of you at some point) but this was one of the best party nights of my whole trip.

I guess my friend was right: If you don’t try it, it won’t happen for sure.

-----------------------------------------------

Four days in the bush… The “Bush”… you can’t say jungle here. Jungle is the Amazon and rainforest is a different thing. In Africa it is the bush.

This is where we have been spending the past 3 days, my last days in Africa, in a game farm called Mabalingwe. I can’t think of a more appropriate place for to my over 3-month long journey than this here, spending time in nature, with family, so close to the real wildlife. Forget zoos and enclosures. A game farm is a vast area, where animals roam freely, like a standalone ecosystem. People have built few roads and limited housing in the form of bungalows or huts or chalets or call them whatever you want, the important thing is that these areas are not overcrowded and man’s interventions are usually perfectly blended with the natural environment.

We are staying at the most amazing lodge, owned by one of my auntie’s friends. Thanks Tina. It’s a big two level house with a thatch roof, decorated in the most stylish African way and extremely comfortable. Behind it there are also 3 more bungalows that can sleep another 8 people. Friends, if you ever want to visit Africa with me, we GOT to book this place for a few days. You will love it.

Yes, the place is truly wonderful but the real highlight begins outside the low wooden/brick fence. This place is in the middle of nature. If my stories can’t convince you, the photos will for sure but at least let me describe what this place is all about.

We got here around lunch time on the 3rd of Jan, 3 cars, 10 people with fully loaded trunks full of food, drinks and “necessities”… the closest store is 30 km away so you usually want to be prepared. The place is pretty amazing with a little swimming pool and even an elevated watchtower so you can see further away in the bush and enjoy the beautiful sunrise (or sunset, if you are not the morning type)

Visitors for dinner and breakfast.
The first afternoon, while lying on one of the deck chairs peacefully reading my book, we had our first visit. A visit slightly out of the ordinary, you will agree with me…

Now how many of you had a visit during this festive season from a family of 5 elephants? Well we did, more than once.
A whole family, just approached the fence, ever so silently, we only realized it when they were 5 meters away from the house. Slowly they started picking on the leaves of the trees around the fence and also on the leftovers we had…left just outside the fence. We just looked in amazement as they gracefully used their trunks to pick up little pieces of vegetable and leaves, flapping their big ears and snorting from time to time… Early dinner was done pretty quickly for them and after cleaning up everything that was on the ground and eating a salt brick (a special supplement you can leave out for animals to eat - think of vitamins for humans, it just comes in a 25kg block!) it was time for a drink. Closest water source worth considering? Our little swimming pool. The owner of the house is smart, she doesn’t use chlorine or anything else and the elephants know it. In a demonstration of spectacular trunk flexibility the dad elephant approached the fence and without even touching it, leaned over and extended his trunk right into the pool. You can’t help but smile when you hear the sucking sound, like a big vacuum cleaner and you see the pool water moving down. It was like I was watching a cartoon. Don’t forget the trunk is the nose, the elephant has a mouth, so he then moved his trunk up, elegantly bent it and blew the water in his mouth…

Behind the brick column, 5 meters away, I just sat there watching in amazement and smiled thinking again… TIS. This Is Africa.

I woke up the next day around 9 ‘o clock, the light coming in from the window on the second floor was beautifully warm, you could see outside the blue sky, dotted with some puffy clouds. “Come down for some breakfast – Mabel is here”, my aunt said. “Who the hell is Mabel?” I thought to myself. Is it some kind of third cousin I don’t know about or what?

I put my shorts on, left my long-sleeve pyjama and headed downstairs. Having elephants outside your fence is one thing – but having a huge Kudu walking around in the garden, next to the breakfast table is something slightly more surreal even if less impressive on size. Apparently Mabel is part of Tina’s family; she regularly visits the guests to check up on them when she is not there and gets her occasional snack. I have never seen a more calm wild(…) animal, Mabel doesn’t need invitations or door-openings, she can easily, without even really jumping, get over the 1.5 meter fence, discretely approach the table and wait for someone to feed her. If you ignore her, she simply walks around the garden and chews on the tree leaves…

This is Africa, in case you forgot…

Drive in the bush, more to see but more things can happen.
We are really lucky with this place. Tina, the owner even has a modified open Land Rover for 12 people that can take you practically anywhere in this bush. The first two days, we took two long drives looking around for animals. Seeing them in their natural environment beats any well-kept zoo and being here reminded me of the last time I saw this type of wildlife, almost 2 months ago in the wonderful Sydney zoo. I remember telling myself, you’ll see it again in Africa.
And indeed we did. The queen of the trees and my all-time favourite, the giraffe was there, so were some wild boars and more elephants and beautiful zebras. You have to love Earth, you have to adore nature once you visit this place. The bush, so green and thick prevented us seeing far inside and you do need to keep to the dirt roads but the scenery was amazing. Greens and browns of the Earth, wonderful blues of the African Sky with some bright white clouds breaking in the horizon.

This morning (Tuesday) we decided to get up a bit earlier and try to visit some damns nearby where you can see hippos. It didn’t end up to be a great animal seeing day as we only saw a few Kudus and Impalas (think of Bambi but bigger). No hippos, no crocs in the water, are they all skiing in the Alps, I wondered…

Our Land Rover served us right for taking it on that shitty dirt road. I guess it was bad luck but in any case it’s never fun to get a flat tire, especially in the middle of the bush. Tough luck, the car had a spare tire but not the right tools to replace it. I wondered to myself, is the owner of the farm Greek (notoriously lacking preparation and the right equipment), evoking memories of that outrageously funny and upsetting night in Athens when after a wedding I got a flat tire with my Spitfire and remained stranded for the whole night. When I got my brother to help me we realized the jack wasn’t working properly. Remind me to tell you the whole story, it doesn’t end there.

Back to Africa now, where we called the game office to ask for some help and we received reassurance that someone will be there shortly. We were not really afraid, it was a very quiet day – after all we had seen no major animals so far – the sign however right on that spot that said : “FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY PLEASE REMAIN IN YOUR VEHICLE – Dangerous reptiles and animals occupy this wildlife area...” made me wonder. I decided to take a bottle of water and with Strati, my cousin, we walked about 300 meters to the tarred road.
Two hours passed.

I sat on the ground under the shade of a low tree, ants crawling around me, flies buzzing all over and birds singing in the background and just looked into the marvelous bush and remembered Lesson #2 “It is not a problem…” No need to worry about something you can’t directly influence at this particular moment. That was the second time in my trip I got a flat tire – last time was in Vietnam on the way to the Kao Dai temple, I sat in the shade of an abandoned wall of an army camp, looking across the road at a temple watching the Vietnamese zipping around on their scooters. This time it was only us and nature.

People from the game farm came with the right tools to replace the flat but when the guy tried to put the new one he realized it was also out of air. Now I was sure that Tina is of Greek origin or had Greek ancestors… Eventually everyone got on to their little pick up truck and headed back to the lodge. I stayed behind with my two uncles waiting for the tire (with air this time). I took a walk in the hot sun. The only sound I could hear was that of my worn-out shoes (ah where have you walked these past months) and the sound of the bush. Birds, crickets, tree branches and the occasional slithering on the side of the road reminding you that snakes and scorpions roam freely.

It is not a problem I thought again and I was once more alone in nature. Never lonely but alone, no sound to be heard, not even my never-ceasing voice and I made a promise to myself to seek out more of these moments no matter where I am. How beautiful is this sound of silence...

Happy new year everybody…

OTHER PHOTOS FROM AFRICA

Night Visit...

African Sunset

Ok, lunch is done, off we go now... (look at the little one!)

Hello, anybody out there?

Kalahari Oasis (Pit stop)

Horny guy!

"No,no, you need to grow older to reach the pool little one"

Chappies (Chewing gum from my childhood)

The queen was there! Giraffes rule!

Our wonderful lodge

Our wonderful lodge part II

District Six Museum, Apartheid reality

District Six museum - a whole area of Cape Town was leveled and it's (cloloured & black) populations "relocated"

With mom, George and... Wine!

Cape Point.

Cape Point, the corner of Africa

Table Mountain in Cape Town

Family in Cape Town

Apartheid museum - notice the two entrances (made to shock) Whites/ Non-Whites

Ostrich!!!

"Excuse me, is this where they serve breakfast?"

Jeep in the bush

No traffic lights, priority to the biggest!

Kalahari Oasis with cousins & bro

Kalahari Oasis Toilet (and bath)

Kalahari a good Oasis (it was actually a nice bar!)

Everybody visited our lodge!

THE END?!?!

Vietnam (part2): (Final curtain) Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.. Merry X-mas friends!

2008-12-19T16:02:00.015+01:00

Friends! This is it I guess, the blog has almost come to an end. Most of you are already out of the office heading back to Greece (for those away from home), the rest of you planning already the first few days of your holiday.
Same for me, it’s my last day in Saigon. Tomorrow I am in Hong Kong and the day after taking a flight to Johannesburg, to meet up with my family…
The trip of a lifetime is almost over. I don’t have the time or the energy or even the mental courage to think about this now – it will be too depressing and I still have a beautiful, sweet part, left out for the end. So I won’t say goodbye here, I just want to say thank you for keeping me company as much as you’ve said I’ve kept you. Four different people from three different countries sent me a mail the past 2 days telling me that this blog is also for me, like a diary. I realize it is and I will use it as such, amazing myself when I think “did I do all this in 3 months?”.

I leave you here with a lot of Vietnam photos that I’ve taken the past few days. Ready for the final voyage? Let’s go!

The Mekong Delta

An amazing 2-day trip to one of the biggest rivers in the world, this is the rice basket of Vietnam where the majority of it's food is produced, enough to feed 85 million people and still be the 2nd largest exporter of rice in the world. My trip took me through canals, floating markets, villages and schools, it even included a "homestay" where you get a chance to live for a night in (pretty good accommodation) with a Vietnamese family...

Crossing the Mekong to get to one of the towns...

Sunset over the Mekong River

Homestay, cooking with the family

The foreigners eating... :-)

My humble accommodation. Mosquito net a MUST!, right outside the door is the river. Blue/white curtain on the left is the shower (no toilet). Cold water only of course.

View from the window

Wake up call the next day (for those that wanted) 06:00 am, our guide took us walking to one of the villages

Ferry to cross to get to the village

Boat culture, the only way to move

Note that we are not standing (not easy to balance, now scroll up and see the Vietnamese :-) )

Welcome to Thuong Thanh Elementary school, where girls sweep the floor before the class starts and the boys help them out moving the desks around....

Our accommodation from the river side...

Toilet - no kidding, on the other side of the river

The floating market - everything can be bought as long as it is on a boat.

Kostas, Martin and Mr Hu our boat driver and guide

Early at the floating market...

The cutest saleslady in the floating market was this girl helping her dad sell soft drinks and water...!

Note the mast: Every salesman puts up on the mast the type of fruit he sells, this way you know what you are going to buy! Here watermelons

Loading a smaller boat

Now you don't need to know Vietnamese here. Our guide said: "He is supermarket. Sells eveything (note the 3rd word). Even SIM cards!"

Loading products to smaller boats

Boat traffic...!

Happy traveler

Lunch time for a little guy at one of the villages

One of the local girls... I love the dress (and her shape...) :-)

Of course it's a farm as well, they have pigs!

Even little ones!

Even bricks for houses are transported like this

Meet Jan and Lea, my 2 new friends, they live in Stockholm with their Swedish mom and Swiss (from Lausanne!) dad - I spoke in French :-)

Playing stone, pencil, paper, scissors with Jan. I could even say it in Swedish if you asked me 2 days ago!

Multiple hats, that's me, with Lea

Banana, on blue table (art)

Best coconut I've ever had! (also 25 cents!)

Kostas climbing a monkey bridge across the river

Even kids can do it (if their parents let them!) Here with our Vietnamesee guide

River is full of life, sometimes it ends up on your propeller

Fishnets. "For flying fish?", I asked

One of the few "real" bridges around

Jan checking out the other group

PHU QUOC ISLAND
You know the feeling, when you've travelled for 3 months and slept in shitty 8-bed hostels with drunk kids, except for a few days where your friends around the world kindly hosted you? Do you ever get that feeling of being fed up and when you see that you've reached the end of your trp and still have your budget under cotnrol, you say "I want something different!".
Never happened to you?
Well, this is my reaction to this. I booked this lovely place, for 2 nights, a veritable paradise on earth - I would take my girlfriend there (if she was around, if she existed!)

The restaurant: please note the X-mas tree!

My bungallow, 10 meters from the sea - I let the windows open at night, you just heard the waves...

View from my porch

Blogging, tropical style :-)

Oh my God, is that the bathroom? My own bathroom, with my own shower?! (I want to cry!)

Room...and backpack in the corner

Fishermen pulling out a fishnet at sundown

U2 - Gone... (bye everybody)

You wanted to get somewhere so badly
You had to lose yourself along the way
You change your name, well that's okay, it's necessary
And what you leave behind you don't miss anyway
Goodbye...
You can keep this suit of lights
I'll be up with the sun
I'm not coming down
I'm not coming down
I'm not coming down
'Cause I'm already gone
Felt that way all along...

Beautiful Vietnam (part 1)

2008-12-18T16:28:00.006+01:00

You thought you would get rid of me eh? Well not quite yet. I spent the whole day at the beach and after an early dinner I am sitting here, typing away, the sounds of the keyboard competing with the sound of the sea, only 10 meters away.
This post is form my friend Christina, who sent me an email today saying: I am sad your trip is finishing, because so is mine..."

Here's a collection of pictures from my first 3 days in Vietnam: Mostly Ho Chi Minh city, aka Saigon, plus a couple of trips I did, to the famous Cu Chi Tunnels and the big Cao Dai Temple… Want more? read on!

The incredible Mr Kim

What you see here is what is called a cyclo in Vietnam. It's a bicycle with a front compartment to carry people or merchandise. Cyclos are gradually disappearing from Vietnam, all thanks to "progress" that has arrivved in the form of motorcycles/scooters from China. You can buy a brand new Hon Da (chinese copy of Honda) for 250 USD. Traffic restrictions also forbid slow moving cyclos to use all the streets - if you ever visit Vietnam, take a cyclo, these people have no other income but their pedaling feet and they will soon be a thing of the past. I did the same, and never regretted it. I didn't regret the slow movement, the dirty traffic I had to "face", it was all worth it thanks to Mr Kim, my 61-year old cyclo driver, who on that day did more than 30 km pushing my lazy ass around from a bit more than 10 Euros. And I even overpaid him...

At the end of the long day, we stopped and I asked, so now you go back home? I don't have home, cyclo is my home...

Best seat in the house to face traffic - in a city like Saigon, facing a 10-ton truck on a cyclo is a true test of courage :-)

WAR REMNANTS MUSEUM

One of the most intense and moving moments of my trip so far was the visit to the War remnants museum, where the Vietnamese showcase with as much objectivity as brutality to you people could allow, all the great things that the Americans left during the Vietnam war: Burnt villages, Agent Orange/chemicals and defective births, massacred civilians and crippled, handicapped people to mention just a few. 50 years later, it just seems that no one really got the message...

Pulitzer-winning photograph, hero mother, crosses the river with her 4 children trying to avoid the Americans' fire. There were far worse and upsetting photos for me to show you - I chose this one.

What remains of the great US fighting force, a captured M48.

Big casualties in the war, were also photographers. This was dedicated from the family of a Japanese photographer covering the war.

HO CHI MINH (SAIGON) LANDMARKS

The Notre Dame cathedral in Ho Chi Minh, built by the French

Kostas (and his Kiwi t-shirt)

Saigon Post office

Post office - this is where you can call home...

The man himself Ho Chi Minh, or Uncle Ho for the Vietnamese (some say he looks like Colonel Sanders from KFC. No!, some answer back: HCM was a REAL General!)

Beautiful grandiose interiors in the Post Office

Nicest bananas I've ever tasted

Part of Xa Loi or Jade emperor pagoda

One of the Pagoda's corridors

Mr Kim, with his broken English tried to explain to me the concepts behind Buddhism and CaoDaism, here we went to pray together in one of the temples.

Lunch break - always eating food from stalls in hte street.

Hello, Operator, I have a problem with my line, can you fix it please? Sure, would 2012 be a good year?

Giac Lam temple

Kids, playing a game (i couldn't get it) but it's known, zoom in between them and you will see.

CU CHI Tunnels and Cao Dai Holy See

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to this tour of Cu CHi tunnels and the Cao Dai Holy See. My name is Mr Thong, and I am you guide for today. You can call me Mr Thong or Slim Jim, because I smoke like a chimney, eat like a bird and drink like a fish." One of the funniest guides I've had so far

I am lying under a tree, this is what I see opposite the road. The reason I am there, outside the bus is because we got a flat tire! The driver quickly changed it, and called his friend to pick it up... As with everything carried in Vietnam, it was a scooter that picked it up. If I have time I will post a section with photos of things that can be carried by scooters in Vietnam. They range from a family of 5 (!!) to a... bed frame!

Cao Dai Holy See. Caodaism is a very Vietnamese religion, a combination of Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity, an extremely interesting and colourful thing.

Cao Dai mass, each color represents a different religion...

Here I am too!

Detail from the Cao Dai main temple

Cu chi Tunnels

"How can you fight a war in this shit? It's like going hunting with Ray Charles", said Robin Williams in Goodmorning Vietnam when he was lost in the forest.

That the jungle offered amazing protection to the VC is only half of the truth - the rest is the ingenious tunnel system they had developed, already when fighting the French, before the Americans arrived, that allowed them to move underground and undetected even behind enemy lines. The Americans after bombing the whole place, still couldn't find them, so the sprayed everything with Agent Orange (a dioxin) to a kill all the plants. It's still in Vietnam's water and soil...

Getting some initial info on the tunnels

This was the most fascinating thing. Just in front of us, under our noses, a whole trapdoor, that gave access to the tunnels - you would never imagine it was there even if someone pointed it out. The VC fired from the location and as the US army aproached, they quickly made it into the tunnels. Please note the width - it is TINY. I was the only one to give it a shot and "disappear" :-)

Ho Chi Minh sandals: Made out of car/truck tire, the straps out of the inner tube rubber. Worn only by the Cu Chi Guerrillas. Different sizes exist as Slim Jim pointed out: from baby embryo Guerilla fighter to King Kong Guerrilla.

Inside the tunnels: this in enlarged tunnel, the actual tunnels had 40x60 width at maximum, people had to crawl on elbows and knees... as Slim Jim said: this is extra large, American tourist size.

Breakfast in Saigon.

Every morning, I saw this lady, she prepared omelet in a bred roll for 50 cents. Every time it was a great way to start my day...!

Note the wrapping... :-)

My next post is tomorrow when I am back in Saigon, about the Mekong Delta and the last two wonderful days I spent on Phu Quoc island.... Talk to you soon!

Exotic Macau - Day number.. who cares anymore?

2008-12-17T16:14:00.006+01:00

I owed you this one I guess. I am in Phu Quoc island, sitting at a table 10 meters from the sea and the only thing preventing me to see the carpet of stars above my head is the light of my computer screen... So, I will keep it short. Enjoy Macau!

What is Macau? It is another SAR (Special Administrative Region) like Hong Kong that used to be a Portuguese colony - Portuguese and Chinese are the two official languages, making this place so interesting: So close to China but still with such a Portuguese influence... I've posted some Hong Kong photos as well

PHOTOS

A day at the races - billions of USD each year are played on Hong Kong race track - we bet 10 Euros each... :-)

I bet for Triumph (obviously), he came in 6th!

Posing with Horsey at the entrance

Massive Gucci outdoor downtown Hong Kong

You get confused with bills? ALL these are 20 HK dollars

WELCOME TO MACAU

Of course the road is named after the famous Straight not a famous Greek!

Cool interior design: Toilet door at restaurant

Portuguese and Chinese. BANCO Tai Fung

A friendly game of I don't know what in the park.

Sweets:If you've been to Portugal (or Geneva...) you know what this is!

Famous Macau Landmark. St Paul's facade

Yes! I am also in Macau

They eat it, I wouldn't touch it. "Apparently the #1 souvenir to get from Macau"

Real stuff guys, no fakes

Macau...

Macau fortress, the Portuguese were definitely here!

Cannon, overlooking the new (ugly) Hotel Casino GrandLisboa

Kostas loading the Macau cannons (now you try putting a 10sec timer and running 30m around the wall with tourists everywhere!)

Macau tower in the distance...

Macau museum - now here's how the word tea originated. If it's Cantonese it's CHA, if Fukinese it's TEA

BOM ANO NOVO - Portuguese and Chinese happy new year! Mega kitsch!

Macau street sunset

Macau wedding couple. The longest most beautiful hair I have ever seen...

A-Ma temple (I'll tell you the story another time)

Offerings

Coils (not for mosquitoes but for insence)

Macau...

Obviously, it's clear - you spit, you pay 600 fine

Reminds you of something? Macau tower is a taller replica (about 340m) of the Aucland (NZ) tower. It's the 10th tallest free standing building in the world AND the highest bungy jump: 230 meters! My Taupo jump in NZ was...47meters. You call me chicken? :-)

One more for my collection...

Don't ask, I didn't

More photos (from VIETNAM this time) soon!

Vietnam - without pictures (day 80...too close to the end..)

2008-12-16T14:04:00.004+01:00

Where am I: Rach Gia, a city in the West of Vietnam, at the internet/post office
What time is it: Wed16Dec, 20:10 pm

No photos - I don’t have my equipment with me to upload stuff for you!
I am ok - better then ever if you exclude the mosquito bites on the legs but that comes with the territory.
The trip is slowly coming to an end. On Monday morning if all goes well I will be in South Africa, joining my family after so long.

I promise I will write again - but it will be more photos telling the story of Vietnam (and myself when I get the chance to meet you again)

I have never seen a combination of so run down people, destroyed, yet always smiling and friendly, poor yet still quite proud, maimed and injured from the great American machine but still open to foreigners and the West.

Think of polluted noisy cities with the biggest number of scooters you have ever seen, honking no stop and for no reason whatsoever, think of wide rivers with the sides covers with shacks and houses on stumps, think of families that have one room where they do everything: Eat cook, sleep, work, and dream. Think of elementary schools that are merely a cement box, with an unpaved floor, where the kids come at 0630, the girls sweep the class room and the boys lift the desks and chairs to help them. Think of food on the street and in restaurants that never costs more than 2 Euros.

Think think think...

I am off to Phu Quoc Island tomorrow (get a map), I've booked a lovely bungalow by the sea (the first and last time I've booked something above mid-level acommodation in this trip). Finally some service....!
http://www.seastarresort.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=3

Probably no internet, no phone- the only thing I am going to do is sit on the beach and listen to the waves. . And think.. where did 3 magical months go? Why can't time stand still?

The next time I post, some of you might be somewhere else to celebrate x-mas and New Years...and obviously have better things to do than check this blog.

I wish you all the best for XMAS and I hope 2009 is as wonderful and magic for you as these past 3 months have been for me...

Soon. We'll all be back together.

Honk Kong and Macau, gateways to (my next) Asia (experience)… (Day 78) PART I

2008-12-12T14:42:00.009+01:00

Four days already in crazy and unexpected Hong Kong, I am trying to gobble up as much of the city’s atmosphere (without dying from the pollution)

(Where I am now: On a Turbojet High Speed Ferry in Macau Port on my way back to Hong Kong., seat 22A)
Date: Thursday11Dec- What time is it: 19:15pm. What am I listening to: the Chinese guy serving drinks and he’s loud)

Hong Kong. What do you know about it? I admit I knew very little till I got here and obviously you can’t know everything in 4 days but think from where I came from, it’s big progress. What words come to your mind? Big, busy, polluted, financial center, special, China but not China? Well it is all of the above and so much more…

Pack ‘em up, raise them high.
After Dubai, it’s difficult to be impressed by big buildings. Even Tokyo was big but nothing compared to the huge business towers (and residential condominiums) you get to see in modern Dubai, despite the fact that you have desert all around and the area is not so densely populated. Hong Kong made me stand corrected. It’s not the size or height of the buildings that is impressive alone (it is believe me) but the way and location these buildings have been built.

Huge residential buildings rising up to 50 floors or more, the one next to each other in the most improbably places, like steep hills, rocks and whatever you can think of, it makes you wonder how they actually did it when the streets below remind you of these old neighborhoods in Athens where you can barely fit two cars side by side. You walk and look up and these towers seem to converge into the sky. And we are not talking about modern buildings- a lot of these look like they were build in the sixties. This is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. If all the above doesn’t convince you, then think about this: About 7 million people live on an area of 1100 square kilometers! I didn’t understand what dense meant till I walked around the streets.

First Impressions

“You will see, Hong Kong is very different to Japan” Kaori said on the last day before I left Tokyo. She was right. This is not about better or worse, it’s just about different. Both cities offer a lot to a person that lives there so I will not take sides (but I have made my little comparison below)

I arrived on Monday, rather late at night and took the amazing Airport Express train to Downtown, where my friend Fabio picked me up. I am quite fortunate I have to say in this trip. I am staying (on my own!) in Vanessa’s (that’s Fab’s girlfriend) wonderful studio on the 18th floor of one of these old residential buildings. It’s really great. The view is pretty spectacular, 18 floors is not that high for HK standards but it sure is for me.

We dropped my backpack and headed out for a drink. The first impression you get is that there are way many more signs in English than in Japan. After all it an official language here, even used still at courts of law. Hong Kong “belongs” to China, after the British handed it over in 1999. After a period of uncertainty that influenced the housing and stock market (no one could predict what Big Brother China would do), Hong Kong is stronger than ever (ok ignore the terrible global financial situation that has hit everyone the past year).

Until this, Hong Kong was a booming mega-polis, with super expensive real estate. So China has implemented the following amazing: “One country, two systems”, allowing significant autonomy to HK, except in areas of defense and security, continues applying English law and maintaining all the capitalistic characteristics of a free market economy. You see it everywhere. In the cars (Bentley? Ferrari? Lotus? Porsche? I’ve seen it) but also on the people. You also see a lot more foreigners (white, non-Chinese) than in Tokyo. We passed by Hollywood Rd, a standard hang out place, full of bars and restaurants for foreigners and it felt like Geneva wines and tapas: Suits holding wine glasses or pints, drinking up and chatting in English. “I’m so fed up of this type of fun and socializing” said Fabio and while thinking of Geneva in January, I couldn’t agree more with him. He jokingly said: Look at all these English and French guys, most of them are bankers without a job”, indicating that the financial crisis has arrived here as well. Not for the noodle-eating backpacker but that’s a different story altogether..

Small trip outside Hong Kong – go see Tian Tan Buddha.

Fabio is generally pretty tied up with work these days so in the mornings I didn’t get the tour guide service I got from Kaori in Tokyo– however it was also great to be a bit on my own again, in a place that was quite different but still easier to manage than Tokyo from a language standpoint. I don’t always understand the English that the Chinese try to speak but at least they make an effort. I used the metro system quite a bit. It is immaculate, fast , very modern and probably the easiest way to move around the city in rush hour. Taxis are also dead cheap. I was delighted to see that the Flag starts at 1.6 Euros, any ride in town is about 4-5 Euros, a nice déjà vu I hadn’t seen for 4 countries since I first started my trip in Buenos Aires.

I headed off for Ngong Ping which is on Lantau island (no need for ferry it is all connected with bridge even for the metro). That is where Tian tan Buddha resides. He was truly amazing. First of all to get there, after you alight the metro you take the most amazing cable car I’ve ever used that takes you through a couple of small valleys over some hills, until far in the background you see this massive bronze Buddha statue. He is the biggest sitting Buddha in the world, measuring a 26meters (34 if you add the base) and weights 202 tonnes. Pretty Amazing. I got there, climbed up the stairs and stared…

Wait a minute, this looks a bit familiar I thought, until I saw one of the signs saying that Buddhists were incredible impressed by the sitting Buddha in Kamakura/Japan, I could only smile and think, “I’ve seen that one as well last week in Japan!”

Food from hell and a wonderful boat ride.
I love the food here. Everything. We started the first day with dim sums (a Hong Kong classic) and kept on going with noodles, pork, Indian curry, even salmon at a fancy Canadian restaurant. Food is good quality and very cheap. You can have a good main for about 3-4Euros.

Unlike Japan, ordering is slightly easier because the staff speak English, you will still need an English menu or end up pointing at photos but it works ok. I headed of yesterday (Wednesday) to see some other parts of the city and get a visa for the next country I am going (can’t tell you yet…). Around 1pm I was practically starving, so I decided to try and get something to eat. The neighborhood I was in is apparently famous for its food market and street food stalls. An interesting thing worth mentioning is that Lunch break is really respected here. People take the time to have a proper (albeit a bit rushed) lunch break. And since food is rather cheap, they all eat out. I decided to chose the place based on “natural selection”. Which is the place filled with most locals? I found it. A few people queuing outside the door and through the windows I could see ONLY Chinese, office workers, students, old people. “This is it” I thought and went in and asked for an English menu. They had one. Cool

Surprise #1: I was seated on a two-person table opposite an old lady. Now, being in Geneva (and away from Greece for a while) I don’t mind at all to share a table for coffee. But when we are talking about eating noodles at a 30cm distance of the other person, that’s just a bit too close. She was nice, I couldn’t say “bon appétit” but she was also hungry. You could hear it when she was sucking the noodles out of the bowl… It’s ok to eat boodles with a slurping sound, as long as you don’t make more noise than the next person.

Surprise #2: I eat anything. I really do, ask my friends. No matter how bitter, sweet, hot, spicy or whatever, I can probably eat it and even enjoy it. So as I am looking at the menu, the waiter hovering over me, he says in broken English: “Try noodles. Honk Kong beef noodles, the king of noodles.” Why would you settle for anything less than the King, I though and said ok.

Then he says, “how spicy? Low, Medium low, Medium, Medium high, or high? Low better?”
I am thinking, no, medium is ok wondering how can they have 5 different levels…
“Medium low better, better for you” he says. Ok, I agree reluctantly thinking this is just going to be a mild dish.

Five minutes later my hot, steaming noodles with beef arrive. The King is here. It was a huge bowl (see photo) with noodle, beef, veggies and some red things floating in it. This was not beef noodles, these were the noodles from Hell. I have never eaten a hotter dish. Lips numb from the spiciness, nose running (tissues nowhere to be found) and tears in my eyes, I could barely eat the meat and noodles. The soup was simply a volcanic residue cooked in red pepper. I gave up after the first 10 spoonfuls, headed for the bathroom and washed my face and lips which by that time were completely numb. Next time, listen to the dude, he’s seen more guys get burnt than anyone…

Waterways

Now that I’ve visited quite a few cities, I love making comparisons. So Hong Kong is like Sydney. In some ways of course. Another waterfront city with different parts and islands that are connected with little ferries, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take one. I headed off for the island of Lamma which is the largest inhabited island opposite Hong Kong, a lovely little place with significantly cheaper property to rent and a laid back atmosphere.

I got there around 12, and decided to take the 1hr trail to the other side of the island. In effect, this place is two big villages, with a few house scattered here and there, and a couple of nice sandy beaches. Suddenly, you are transported away from the noise and swarms of people in Hong Kong to a lovely, little coastal town, with fresh fish restaurants, little tractors modified as little cars and green green nature all around. I found one of the beaches on the way and laid down to take a nap (my standard habit anyplace I go) and realized I was the only person on the beach at that time. The sound of waves coming and going and the sun slowly coming down turning the sky into a deep orange.

I headed back around 5pm with a ferry that had an open deck. Feeling the sea breeze in my face as we approached Hong Kong from the sea, you get to see the most wonderfully lit city skyline, I couldn’t help but remind myself just to make sure I am aware: This is Hong Kong...!

A quick comparison: Tokyo vs. Hong Kong

Taxis: Tokyo 0-1 HK
Dead cheap in HK. Always available and easy to get at any point. Drivers don’t always speak English, especially if you have to say a road name in Chinese, your accent is usually so bad, they don’t get it. I like the GPS and immaculate Tokyo taxis but frankly a 4 Euro ride in HK can take you anywhere

People – noise & respect: Tokyo 1-0 HK Ok, the Chinese are extremely noisy, cut queues, run you over with their suitcases, talk loudly on their cell phones anywhere… Fabio says the mainland is even worse! Bright exception, first day in town I am looking over my LonelyPlanet guide and this Chinese gentleman with a tweed jacket and cane ask me in excellent English: “You look lost, would you like some help?”

Pollution, Environment: Tokyo 1-0 HK Forget it. Hong Kong is extremely polluted, noisy, a lot of it has to do with the smog coming from the factories from mainland China but really I hadn’t seen so much car pollution since Buenos Aires. Recycling is a joke, as any other sustainability activity.

Metro: Tokyo 1-1 HK I have to hand it to the Chinese/HK people. Their metro is immaculate, fast and very efficient. The reason this is a tie is because Tokyo is a much bigger network. Also The Tokyoans (…) are so much better in packing themselves in the metro cars. After Tokyo, these guys here seem to have so much space around them when they say, Ah it’s full.

Language: Tokyo 0-1 HK. I like the sound of Japanese more but here everybody speaks at least some English. It was an English colony after all!

Clothes: Tokyo 1-0 HK
Obviously a rich metropolis like Tokyo has so much more to show, people are much better dressed, you don’t see rags and sruffy people. Here, in HK, everything is more normal. Also nothing comes close to the extreme outfits of the Japanese girls…

Girls: Tokyo 0-1 HK
Now, don’t fight! This is my point of view. HK girls are more beautiful. They have fuller lips, less make-up and smile back when you look at them, even to me – and I am not the Alpha male specimen at this moment with my scruffy hair and beard. Aris might have a different point of view but I am sticking to this.

So this was part 1 of Hong Kong – I stll have to write about interesting Macau – if I have some time….

I am now at HK airport, flying off in 1hour to Ho Chi Minh City… that is Saigon for those stuck in the sixties… Goooooodmorning Vietnaaaaam! (I've already landed in Saigon!)

HONG KONG SNAPSHOTS!

Incredible residential high rises, stacked next to each other

Telecabin to Tian Tan Buddha - amazing views

Kostas and Buddha (hello, peace)

Another piece for my collection

Beautiful statues surrounding Buddha (only 2 tons each)

Kostas and statues...

Overlooking the mountain

Standard Hong Kong accommodation

Little shrine on Lamma island

Beach on Lamma

Fisherman on Lamma (my favourite photo?)

Part of the trail on Lamma, great views of fishing village

Sunset, taking the boat back to Hong Kong (no filters!)

Spectacular Hong Kong from the sea

Ticket to hell (spicy food)

“It’s easy when you are Big in Japan” (and have the right company) (Day 74)

2008-12-09T02:31:00.010+01:00

On the plane to Hong Kong, over the South China sea, I am saying goodbye to 10 of the most weird, enjoyable, funny, memorable and emotional days of my trip.

(Where I am now: Cathay Pacific Airbus 340-300, flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong, seat 31C) Date: Monday8Dec- What time is it: 17:33pm. What am I listening to: Jose Padilla)

Goodbye Japan. Goodbye Tokyo. Thank you for the most crazy, incredible experience I’ve had so far. I wasn’t really planning on visiting Japan on this trip until nearly the time I booked it. It started with an idea, since Kaori would be spending a few months there doing an internship in an NGO. Then it became bigger and bigger as an idea with George and Aris planning to join. Undeniably, an irresistible combination of factors made Tokyo part of my itinerary. It wouldn’t be the same without all of them.

First of all, it is absolutely necessary to have someone that speaks and can read Japanese with you in this country. Unfortunately it is not what you would call “tourist friendly” for foreigners. Very few things are written in English and even fewer people speak the language – it would have been for me a completely different (and so much more lonely) experience visiting Tokyo on my own. Foreigners are scarce, you’d barely see some in the streets, even in the busiest of areas. No issue when you have someone that looks and speaks Japanese. I thank my luck for this – it would not have been the same place without her. You see all the previous places where “easy” for me. Australia and New Zealand are English speaking and even LatinAmerica was easy after a few days of brushing up my Spanish. This is a completely different ball (or let’s say sumo) game. Even the couple of days we spent without Kaori were a bit of a challenge: is this the right train station, is this the right food, we kept wondering…

Food for the masses.

Food… I have never eaten so well in my life. It’s the incredible combination of quality and variety that make Tokyo a culinary extravaganza, as long as you are willing to try things you are not used to having in Europe, you can taste everything from meat to fish to the freshest vegetables. I spent 10 days, I ate in places cheap and expensive, never, ever did I have a bad food experience. As Nana and Kaori say though, “You can eat anything” so my point of view doesn’t count then just ask George and especially Aris that has less experience with Asian food.

We would have stuck to noodles and pointing at photos if it weren’t for Kaori but just following (and being open to suggestions) actually rewarded us with an incredible variety of different food, cooked in amazing ways. Japanese food is not only about rice and raw fish. I ate pork and beef cooked in so many different ways, we even cooked it ourselves in some occasions. From Okonomiyaki (fried omelette with vegetables that you cook your own), to Yaki-niku (Japanese BBQ) to Udon and Ramen (Noodlles) to Gyozas and Tempura, there’s something for everyone’s palate. As long as you are willing to try and…know what you order (and occasionally how to cook it!)

Try it and you won’t be disappointed. “Japanese are obsessed with food” she kept telling us and I was looking around for fat people as you would see in the US or some places in Europe. Yes they are obsessed. Walking in the city, watching television or looking at printed adds, you get the impression that the whole Japanese society revolves around eating. Anytime the restaurants, cheap and expensive, are full, TV is all about food shows and anywhere you go there’s something to eat…

Samurai vs. Manga: 1-1

How do you bridge a centuries-old traditional society built on respect and hierarchical norms with the most technologically modern place in the world and the most extravagant, crazy-looking clothes and young people? I can’t answer that question but if there’s an answer you can find it in Tokyo. From old ladies wearing Kimonos in the Metro to the crazy teenagers with the incredible outfits and the “Hello Kitty” culture, it all comes to life in this big city. It lives and breathes modern and high-tech but at the same time you see so much respect and manners weaved in the fabric of the society, you just want to make noise or throw some garbage on the ground to see how these people will react. The city’s veins flow underground, with the most modern, efficient and fast metro I have ever seen, moving millions of people every day to and from work and leisure. “Meet you at Shinjuku station” is a euphemism, you have never seen such a busy metro station in the world, thousands of people every minute passing through its countless gates, connecting underground with shopping malls and at the same time, it is spotless, safe, clean…

Only one time I got annoyed, when we had to take one of the last trains back and I experienced “rush hour – light version” as I would call it: yes you do have the people with the gloves gently pushing you in the train and people really comply. They pack up and try to make space but at the same time the all have their little comic (manga) books, super mobile phones and mp3 players or portable game machines and they just mind their own business. And in a train full of hundreds of Japanese the only thing you could hear was… Greek.

I am really sorry, it is difficult to describe this without more photos and videos but if you want really to understand how Tokyo is, go rent “Lost in Translation”. Don’t judge the film on its story or its artistic quality (although I think it is brilliantly directed) but watch it trying to soak in the feeling that the place gives you. The lights at night, the people and their habits and the hopelessness of the foreigner visiting such a strange land. We watched it with Kaori one of the days we were there and while doing so I realized that thanks to her and my determined early-wakeup Greek friends we managed to visit and experience so many parts of Tokyo that would have been impossible otherwise.

"I'll get by with a little help from my friends…"

There I was at some point, in the metro, traveling alone to meet George and Aris that were already out on their shopping errands and I was looking around at these people, the foreign language, the clothes and styles and suddenly I felt so alone. I couldn’t imagine how this would be if I had to spend all these days alone or even in a hostel with other Gaijin (whites as they are not always favorably called by the Japanese). Seeing George and Aris took a while to get used to. After all, I’ve been travelling for more than 2 months and they were the first people I saw from my “life in Greece”. Let alone the fact that they are 2 of my best friends. I don’t need to say too much, in any case some things are better left unsaid but I want to share a couple of moments on the fact that they flew all this way to see Tokyo and meet with me.

Waking in the streets of Tokyo, the streets filled with neon light from the huge billboards, trying to avoid crashing into the hundreds of people crossing the street and still sticking out, taller and more different, I just said to them: “We are in Tokyo, can you believe it?!” And just like that other time 2 years ago, when we went to catch the sunset on that dessert dune outside Dubai, I felt that real friendship can last forever. No matter the distance or how people change, even if not everything is compatible or the same, the only thing you need to do is slow the clock down and live the moment. And suddenly the magic comes to life. Just as it was magic for me walking alone in all these beautiful places the past 2 months, it has been equally or even more fascinating to have your dear friends with you and share these moments.

Last night (Saturday) in Tokyo, we headed out with Kaori and George & Aris for one last night in town. They had a bus to catch on Sunday morning at around 8am and since the Metro stops from midnight to 5am, this meant that we would just “have to” stay up all night. After some great noodles & gyozas, we walked around and discovered the coolest bar we could expect: beautiful lighting, jazz music and so laid back, we had our first drinks there and talked. The time was already 1am when we headed off to Muse, one of the famous clubs, to check out how people party in Tokyo… (we will not comment on the place!)

As the night moved near its end, we went to get the first metro back and with Kaori heading back home, I decided to stay with them and go to the hotel. As we walked the streets of Tokyo, sunrise coming, we repeated the same thing “We are in Tokyo, can you believe it?!” knowing that this reunion is coming to an end. And what a great way to finish it, hanging out with them and staying up till the end.

Back at their hotel room, as they packed their bags and had showers I just crashed on one of the beds, looking outside the window over the huge Tokyo Municipality building in front of the hotel, sky turning blue-indigo from the sunrise, I picked up my phone and wrote this sms:

“6am, the Sunday sun is rising over the buildings of this crazy, sleepless city. We just got back and it almost seems true: this beautiful life can last forever…”

See you in Hong Kong…

TOP THINGS YOU I LOVE AND HATE ABOUT TOKYO:
- The food. Quality and Asian variety unparalleled…
- The incredible vending machines where you can buy drinks so cheap (Evian water travels to the other side of the planet and still costs half the price as in Geneva which is 80km away from the spring)
- Beautiful red-leaved trees in amazing parks in the heart of the city that take you far away from noise and crowds
- Temples and buildings…
- The most incredible city lights and billboards I’ve ever seen.
- Girls and their amazing looks and sexy outfits
- The most amazing packaging and gift wrapping even for $5 gifts
- The space-age toilets with heating and control panels more sophisticated than my DVD player.
- The most efficient and big metro system I have ever seen.

Didn’t Like: - Complete absence of garbage cans. No garbage on the street but also nowhere to throw it!
- Complete lack of English on signs and people’s vocabulary. You are bound to feel like a moron, unable to even order food.

The Force is strong with the Greek travelers in Japan!

Shinjuku park - Kaori

Red trees everywhere...

Kostas and his rice biscuits at Shinjuku park

Aris taking a nap, Shinjuku tower in the background

Greek Team :-)

A carpet of yellow leaves in the park

Yes, we launched Gucci in Tokyo as well :-)

Aris and George getting on it...

City...

Sunset over the Tokyo municipality building (hotel view)

Don't ask! Look at what 4 friends and Jap technology can do :-)

Muse club... Geroge is having his Victory cigar :-)

Japanese style photo

05:00 am, it's over, finished as they say...

5:30am waiting for the metro :-)

Japanese x-mas lights

Sushi train. Please notice the size of the tuna vs. the size of the rice (just like Geneva...)

Wonderful, amazing city lights

This is how you spell R-E-S-P-E-C-T (does your phone have "Manner mode"?)

Jap trash TV

Kaori next to Japan's only real national star!

The incredible vending machines

Temples & Fun (Day 74)

2008-12-05T01:37:00.003+01:00

(Where am I: In Kaori's 2.5x10meter apartment in Chofu)

(What time is it: 09:40am, Friday5Dec, what am I listening to: the shower...)

I guess you are expecting a text post - I can't do it - but yesterday we probably had one of the greatest days in Japan, visiting the old Japanese capital Kamakura, Temples, eating (again) great food and visiting the Park Hyatt Hotel for the traditional reunion drink! Not Lost in Translation but Lost with our best friends...

It's a straight line in order of height: Japanese family, Kostas, giraffe, George

Daibutzu Budha - wonderful!

Pause for planning the next visit!

Buddha and Greek Team

Young believer :-)

Geroge and Hello Kitty Buddha fridge magnets

Amazing colors - it's is the season for the red trees - all Japanese people come to visit the shrines.

Offerings...

Aris and amazing gardens at the temples

Hasedera temple...

Our guide posing over Kamakura city!

George is not happy, we got only two pieces of Dango :-)

Red everywhere...

Temple & cave

Mommy, I've been a good boy...

All of us have!

Fantastic restaurant - we ate Okonomiyaki..!

Kostas: Kaori, what does this say?

Kaori: ARIER! (Ahhahhahahah)

Just a house/restaurant in Kamakura

Who has the broader smile?!

Red Team / Greek team

Leaving the temples in sundown!

Adoring the city lights! Can you spot George and Kaori!?

NEXT STOP>> We don't know - Kaori has the day off from us so we will improvise!!!

Tokyo days & nights (day 71)

2008-12-03T15:51:00.003+01:00

(Where am I: In Kaori's 2.5x10meter apartment in Chofu)

(What time is it: 23:55pm, Wednesday3Dec, what am I listening to: the shower...)

Overwhelmed by images, sounds and culinary surprises (all of them positive!) I am still unable to write about all this, not due to lack of inspiration but due to lack of time... so here are some more photos from crazy, wonderful Tokyo... the rest I guess I need to tell you when I see you!

Edo museum I

Edo museum II - Aris neat the Kabuki stage

Vintage phone booth - hello can you hear me?

Small Japanese car, big Greek guy!

Jane: from rafting in Cairns Australia to Noodles in Tokyo Japan, the world is so small!

Childhood memories - AfterBurner for the MegaDrive

Standard outfit for going out in Tokyo

Meiji Temple

Meiji Temple - the duel!

Meiji Temple - another piece for my collection!

Meiji Temple - heavy lifiting

Meiji Temple

Meiji Temple - entrance

Meiji Temple (the actual thing)

Meiji Temple - big drum

Meiji Temple - The wish board!

Meiji Temple - Our wish board!

Meiji bridge - great team photo :-)

Shopping in the Hello Kitty headquarters!

Snoopy has almost a floor for himself!!!

Behave in the metro please - or just do it at home...

Tokyo tower - rush hour

Downtown - Near oopongi hills

Amazing, spectacular, surprising Tokyo girls!

Giant Post Box

Aussie hat, Japanese/Swiss Girl

Gonpachi restaurant - this is where Tarantino got the idea for the Kill Bill setup in the restaurant

Brilliant atmosphere!

Wonderful food! It's Kaori's birthday!

NEXT STOP: KAMAKURA (ANCIENT CAPITAL OF TOKYO!)

Big in Japan part 2 (with the Greeks)/ Day 69

2008-12-02T00:38:00.006+01:00

(Where am I: In Kaori's 2.5x10meter apartment in Chofu, she's leaving for work)

(What time is it: 08:45am, Tuesday2Dec, what am I listening to: Japanese radio blabber)

I am back with company!! Giorgos & Aris are already here, understandably I've been way too busy to write posts, I will jsut let you imagine how it feels to see Kaori's & their familiar faces after 2 months of travel...!

Unloading the previous cont(in)ents...

Sunset over Tokyo - 47th floor

Tokyo, a small everyday city

Tokyo, a small everyday city 2

We are quite tall for our new friends!

George and Aris, searching for the Angel...

Aris vs. Fuku poisenous fish: Only one will survive!

My childhood is on a 20meter video billboard downtown Tokyo! The Space Invaders are here!!!

Asakusa with the Greeks!

With our lovely tour guide :-)

Tokyo Reunion, 2008

Aris posing at a shrine (with little dogs wearing red robes)

Beautiful Japan...

Ready to fight (at least with the wall painting)

City lights - Ginza dsitrict

Kostas in Ginza

Aris in his new Nissan super car

More Tokyo city lights!

Happy tourists!

Fashion district - the second building is an Armani, then furter down Hermes,..., you get the picture

It's all about the money...

George is Big in Japan, the proof!

Metro commuting with Kaori (and Mikey)

Loyal friends with loyal dog!

A girl full of bright ideas!

Food!

I leave you with this last shot: This is not a DVD player, not a home cinema, it is the control panel of the toilet in the restaurant... no comments!

MORE SOON!!!!

Big in Japan/ Photos (Day 67)

2008-11-30T04:39:00.007+01:00

(Where am I: In Kaori's 2.5x10meter apartment in Chofu)

(What time is it: 111:15am, Sunday 30Nov, what am I listening to: Bossa 'n' Stones)

A photo is worth a thousand words, so here's my first book from Tokyo, Japan, the ultimate audio & visual candy place... Did I tell you about the food yet?

Kostas made it to Shinjuku station (apparently one of the busiest in the world)

Sure, I'll have a bit of everything - like I understand what I am eating or how much I am paying!

Dinner in TOKYO

Don't ask, just eat - Kaori ordering.... (thank God someone speaks Japanese)

City lights - Aussie hat (ok I took it off the next day)

City lights 2

City lights 3 - busy town!

Don't ask - I don't understand anyway

Poisonous Fugu fish - I am terrified - let's have one!

Ok, these are not sweets: This is Hello Kity and Snoopy dried seaweed (Nori) so the kids can eat with their rice!

A sucker for stories: The dog's name is Hachiko. So the story goes: He always used to meet his master at Shibuya train station (which is now one of the most popular meeting points in Tokyo). One day, his master died, so he (obviously) didn't show up. Hachiko, the loyal companion, was there waiting, forever...

People everywhere

Offical (un)Lonely Planet guide...

Cemetery, things are pretty quiet here...

Lunch time, note the little octapusses on the wall - thsi is fried balls with octapus pulp in them...nice

Prada temple - designed by Swiss architects (Lefka it's 5 floors... :-) )

Food heaven

Not a riot - just a normal pedestrian crossing

H&M queue... I am not kidding

Takeshima street, you have to see the T-shirt I bought!

Hello Kitty's message is clear: mind the closing door in the metro!

Lucky place...

More food, with Mikey

Perfect locations!

Of course we were there... :-)

Of course KAMIKAZE is the special tonight!

03:41 am - perfect weather for tomorrow says Kaori's mobile phone

Random Japanese dude...

NEXT STOP: TOKYO WITH THE GREEKS!! THEY ARE ARRIVING TODAY! (ARIS & GEORGE)

Magic, magic everywhere I look (Day 65)

2008-11-29T01:17:00.007+01:00

On the plane to Japan, just having crossed the Equator for the second time on this trip, I am writing about the beauty & magic on this planet in small and big things alike.

(Where I am now: Japan Airlines 747, flight JO762 from Brisbane, seat 42G) Date: Fri28Nov- What time is it: now that depends, in Japan it’s: 13:21pm. What am I listening to: Japanese pop love songs which I have no clue what they mean on one of the plane’s channels)
Don’t plan, just do it, even if it involves a Phantom

Probably one of the last long-distance bus rides I will have to take; I woke up for a bus at 07:30 on Thursday to go south from Paihia to Auckland – my jump base for the next big adventure, Japan. I knew I wouldn’t be able to see much in Auckland, I got there around noon, completely exhausted from the tallying up of all these bus excursions to the North. It’s funny how you can get tired like this, even without any serious going out. Auckland is just another big city or so it seemed although as always, having a waterfront makes everything a bit more special. I checked in the surf&snow hostel, completely unimpressed by its large size and lack of common areas. I already started missing the coziness and familiarity of the Mousetrap but that’s what you usually get in big cities. In any case, I didn’t care at all, I just needed a shower and a bed for a few hours, I had to wake up at 04:30 the next day to get the airport bus and head to Brisbane, my connect airport for Tokyo Narita.

All I can tell you about Auckland is that I had a very decent chicken Masala curry in one of the food courts and headed for Albert Park near the University, to lie under a lovely blue sunny sky. I took a nap for about 2 hours, after being stuffed with food and in dire need for some sleep. The park was full of people doing the same, reading books, talking, (even “ze Germans” where there) but I was too tired to care or even notice, I was already fast asleep… I can also tell you that in Auckland you can bungy jump off the big bridge in the harbor, it’s not a terribly high drop (40m) but definitely fun, all this for the price of about 60Euros, really cheap. They had a slot for 14:30 but I decided against it. Too tired to be bothered, I just wanted to hang out and do nothing. Well that was the plan in any case.

I woke up with a slight buzz from the nap and the sun that was quite warm and decided to take a walk downtown – it was about 17:00 when I passed in front of The Civic, one of Auckland’s big theaters. Big sign, very recognizable font and picture, it was just something you expect to see in London, there it was The Phantom of The Opera on tour. Until Sunday 30th of November. Don’t ask me why or how, I just went in the box office and bought a ticket – for a ticket that cost slightly less than a bungy jump I was attending The Phantom of the Opera, one of the nicest musicals and in a great seat (even though alone). “Doors close at 19:15 so you got to be here” said the cool guy at the ticket house. “Is it ok if I come like this?” I said, pointing at my walking shoes and trousers. “Dude, this is New Zealand, you can wear anything you want…” How nice, I’d hate to be the first underdressed backpacker attending such a great play…

Quickly to the hostel, a shower and off I went, nicely on time. The guy was right, you can wear anything you want. You had the standard looking (blonde, slightly overweight) Kiwi girls wearing their “dinner dresses” but also people in jeans and T-shirts. Very relaxed. I got to my seat, full of anticipation, still mesmerized from the idea that of all things, I had one night in Auckland and decided to see a play, one I’ve always wanted to. I am not big with plays. The last time I was in one was in London with mom & George, more than 10 years ago, when we visited my cousin Andrea and she had arranged for us to see Les Miserables, one of the coolest nights of my life, I thoroughly enjoyed the music, the scenery, everything.

I got to my seat. Perfect, about 30 rows from the huge stage, dead center with no one in front of me, this was a perfect spot. No one on my right either, a reminder that some things are just meant to be done alone on this trip and even though you want to share the greatest moments, this one was to be enjoyed on my own.

Have you seen the play? Do you know the story? You must be able to recognize at least part of the music. I won’t bore you with it and in any case I can’t describe it properly but if you ever have the chance to be in London or NY go and see it. It is worth every penny. Thursday night in Auckland was one of the most amazing nights of my trip so far, an unexpected turn of fortune, doing something that I couldn’t even plan before and turning out to be simply wonderful. With almost tears in my eyes, such a romantic story, such a great performance, I clapped and clapped up to the 3rd encore, thanking again my luck for having the chance to pull off this journey and being able to see so many wonderful things. “I am happy”, I thought to myself, no need to say more.

Wake up, lose your luggage and get the best cabin service you’ve ever seen in your life.
I didn’t sleep much. Too hyped from the play and unable to tell anyone about it (…) I simple stayed up until 2am, surfing a bit the internet and walking around town till midnight and then trying to fall asleep in the hostel. Impossible, I was thinking of my next stop… Japan!

I took the 04:30 am bus to the airport and was well in advance to check in for my connect flight to Brisbane (I told you I would be back in Australia…) and from there to Tokyo.
“Can you please put a HOT or RUSH sticker on my back please, I only have 50 minutes of stopover before my next flight to Tokyo?” I asked at the counter.
“Ah, I wouldn’t worry about that Luv, it will go through” she said with her Kiwi accent. Yeah right…. Memories of missed Dubai connections in Germany came to my mind… If it happens, it happens I thought to myself and wrote Kaori’s Tokyo address (obviously with Latin characters) on my bag expecting the worst.

Of course if something can go wrong it will, so after as shitty 3-hour Qantas flight with a cramped 737-400 (ok they had good breakfast) the pilot informed us that there’s “congestion” over Brisbane so we have to wait for a while before landing. I got through the landing gate in Brisbane 10 minutes AFTER the boarding had started for my Tokyo flight. Next to us was a huge JAL Jumbo jet. “My plane!” I thought. Undaunted I made my way to the Gate, people still going through. I made it, but NO WAY in hell my luggage did. 10 minutes into the huge Jumbo they told us to fasten the seatbelts. My bag is chilling in laid-back Brisbane for sure. Maybe it’s even doing a river tour for all I know. Obviously I don’t know this for a fact since I am still on the plane but I have my baggage tracking number in my pocket in any case. I also have a couple of T-shirts and underwear stuffed in my hand-luggage, since I was completely convinced that this wouldn’t work. Let’s see…

747 Jumbo jets are always impressive. From the moment you get in and glance at the staircase leading up to First class to the fact that you have a 3-4-3 seat configuration in two aisles and row numbers going back to number 60, this plane is big! This one is even more fun! First of all the cabin crew is Japanese (obviously) so immediately you get this strange feeling that you are going somewhere very different. The best part is the safety video which of course is primarily in Japanese and is a… cartoon!

Actually I lied. The best thing is the overall service. Cabin crew extremely efficient and polite, fast and responsive, sure, the fact that the plane is only half full helps but it’s the attitude that counts.

Example 1: Food. Am I in heaven? I am getting served noodles, beef and egg-fried rice, even ginger and desert. Did I mention the 2 bloody Mary’s and the Asahi beer I drank prior to lunch? I looked at the time and it was only 08:30. Well in NZ where I came from it was lunch time so bring it on! They even had Miso soup (that’s seaweed soup for those that wonder if I’ve completely lost my mind) Can’t wait to hit the food stalls in Tokyo! Banzaiiii

Example 2: Ok, this I have never ever ever seen in my life. Near my seat there are two gaijin (white…) little kids that are unaccompanied (or so it seems). You know, the typical challenge, how do you keep them busy and shut them up in an 8hour flight when they have already seen Kung-Fu Panda and whatever other cartoon they are playing on the entertainment system. Well forget the drawing pad and crayons that you get in European flights, this is JAPAN. The airhostess comes up to the little girl with a big plastic envelope of beautiful colored paper and some charts… It’s origami time!!! (you know, paper folded to make anything you can imagine) Astonished, I look at the 5-year old take out the charts and slowly start folding the papers into little birds, dinosaurs, boats whatever you can imagine.

Big deal you might think, it’s just like in Europe. No it’s not. Not when the airhostess actually kneels on her knees, on the aisle next to the kid and for the next 30 minutes she’s trying to teach the little girl on how to do beautiful origami swans, without any instructions. I am just sitting there, all smiles staring at them wondering how much magic exists in simple little things… I am completely finished off when she stands up and returns with the sewing kit from business class, passing a thread through the swans so the little girl can hang them up…

I think I am going to ask her out to dinner before I get off this plane even if her EngRish is not very good.

That’s it for now… magic everywhere as long as you have the eyes to see it.

NEXT STOP - JAPAN!!!!
(my bag is still in Brisbane)

Aoatearoa means the Island of the Long Cloud (also known as New Zealand) (Day 63)

2008-11-26T12:54:00.007+01:00

After a couple of days of decent weather I get the chance to discover the true natural beauty of NZ and understand a bit more about the magical Maori culture.

(Where I am now: The Mousetrap, last night in the cool hostel in the little town of Paihia, pop 6452)
Date: Wed26Nov- What time is it: 23:03pm. What am I listening to: Bob Marley – So much trouble in the world)

This is where New Zealand was born.
I woke up yesterday very early from the birds singing on the trees outside the hostel – they had every reason to do it, it was a nice sunny day outside and the night before this “monsoon” type rain was falling non-stop until I went to bed.

I booked over the phone a trip to the Hole in the Rock, it’s a wonderful boat trip around the Bay of Islands where you get to pass with the boat through a “Hole in the Rock” (how predictable) but also to see dolphins swimming around the bays– that was around noon.

I had plenty of time so I decided to walk around Paihia and visit the Whatanangi historical site. This is where New Zealand was born. Some history: Captain Cook arrived in the ship Endeavor in 1770. The Polynesian people, predominantly the Maori where already there for about 400 years. In 1840 the treaty of Whatanangi was signed between Britain and Maori chiefs and NZ fell under British rule. That’s the place I visited. Lovely maintained grounds and a mixture of British colonial images with Maori culture, the impression I’ve had so far from NZ is that the Maori have had it far better than the Aborigines in Australia that had been systematically exterminated and oppressed. Maori language is everywhere, spreading and used even by “whites”.
Among other things you get to see there is a giant “waka” (that’s Maori for war canoe), a Maori guest house (like a temple) and a tree planted in 1836 by the wife of James Busby, one of the men that negotiated the treaty. You will see me leaning against that tree – it’s “only” 172 years old this year…

Dolphins and bad weather… and your life through a viewfinder or screen.
Hole in the Rock was more like a hole in the water (as the greek expression goes) since the weather was quite bad and pretty windy – we could not approach the Hole in the Rock I did get however to see dolphins, 6 of them, a big family just swimming next to us playfully. It’s a nice boat ride, on a catamaran that takes you around the islands in search for dolphins. I was already happy to be in the sea again with some reasonable sunshine. And then we spotted them. Oh the excitement, everybody running on the one side of the boat, digital camera at hand, arm extended into the water to try and “capture the moment”. I followed, just for one minute.

“You are missing the point!” I thought to myself completely cut off from the side of the boat where the dolphins were swimming. I have seen it before, the past 2 months, I have even done it myself. We go to this place (no matter what it is), this site or landscape and the first thing we try to do is take a photo. Keep that camera in your pocket damn it and understand the through your own eyes, not the viewfinder what you are looking at. I remember it in Iguazu at the waterfalls. A show of roaring sound and wonderful mist caressing your face and all people wanted to do is protect the lenses of their cameras and get “in position” for the right shot. And again in Sydney, I remember it clearly happening to myself, the moment I made that turn at the Bridge to see the Opera House right in front of me, I wept from happiness and only then did I take the camera out and film those few seconds of video. I know it takes practice and determination, but it’s not the photo that lasts forever, it’s the fact that you were there. You, not your camera. You can always send someone else to take that picture or download one from the internet (just like I did for you here to see the Hole in the Rock). More on this on the trip I did today to Cape Reinga… I got back home in the afternoon and after shopping for some postcards I ended up at the hostel eating (the backpackers’ staple food) instant noodles and watching Minority Report.

Another trip, the last one in NZ: Cape Reinga.
Another early wake up today – bus picked me up at 07:15 to take us to Cape Reinga. Please get a map or look at the little one I’ve attached. We started at Paihia (bottom right) and ended up in the most northern tip of New Zealand – a 250km ride (one way) out of which half was on a gravel road and IN a river (no joke). The bus was actually a modified truck, with a bus cubicle on it, that could take us off road, on road, any road…

We passed on the way fabulous places with wondful Maori names Kerikeri (which means DigDig, because this was very fertile land in the past) and the Huhury (noisy water) waterfalls. First stop Manginangina and (what remains) of a Kauri forest. Kauri trees are the oldest trees on Earth. Some are more than 4000 years old. I kid you not, the one I am proudly leaning against is only a bit more than 500 years old and 40 meters high and you cannot understand its size or how majestic it is unless you see it with your own eyes. Again my point about the camera…

Our driver’s joke talking about sheep in NZ: These sheep you see here are a cross-breed for meat and wool. They also are special because they can eat the weeds without getting sick. We have also tried although unsuccessfully, with the Australians, to cross-breed our sheep with their Kangaroos to get some wooly jumpers…

A story for Vasilis (and not only) – love the forest, it will love you back
Once upon a time, the famous Maori chief Rata called upon all his warriors and asked for help to get the remains of his father that had died in a battle with another tribe. He said he would go and ask for the remains but if they weren’t given to him, everybody would have to fight to the death to get them back. Everyone agreed. Chief Rata undertook the responsibility to build a mighty “waka” (war canoe), so he went into the forest and found the greatest, biggest Kauri tree to make the waka. He spent the whole day trying to chop it down, an incredibly difficult task since the tree was enormous. Finally at the end of the day, the tree fell down. Exhausted, he staggered out of the forest back to his village to rest. The next day, he took all his tools with him to start working on the waka and he went into the forest but he could not find the tree he had cut. He looked and looked without success, only to decide that he made a mistake and lost the path he had originally taken the previous day.

He looked again and found yet another Kauri tree, equally big and wonderful as the previous one. He spent the whole day until sundown cutting it until it fell to the ground. This time though he decided not to make the same mistake, so as moved out of the forest the left a trail of stones behind him to make sure he finds it the next day. Again, the next day, he prepared all his tools and followed the trail he had left only to find to his great anger and surprise that the tree was back in its original place, untonuched and as big & beautiful as ever.

Furious now, he started cutting it again and the tree eventually fell but this time he wanted to see what happened to the tree, so he pretended to head back to his village and hid for the night behind some other trees to see what was going to happen. To his great amazement, he saw all the animals in the forest, even the insects and birds picking up all the little pieces of the Kauri and putting them back in place. And then he saw Tana, the forest God blow life again into the majestic Kauri tree.

“Why? Why is this happening to me?!” he cried in despair! I only want to honor my father and help my tribe. At that point a little Fantail bird came up to him (they still follow you around in the forest) and told him: “You are trying to do the right thing but you have not asked permission to cut the Kauri tree from Tana, you must respect the forest and it will help you”. Rata understood and went back and got the most precious whale bone he had that was with his family for generations and offered it to Tana. The forest God never talked to the humans but this time he told Rata that the forest will now help him. As the Kauri tree fell, all the animals in the forest gathered around to help build the waka. It was so beautiful, the birds made sure it had wonderful designs and patterns, the insects took care of the gluing, at the end it was the most wonderful waka men had ever seen.

Chief Rata and his men boarded the waka and headed for the other tribe’s village determined to win back his father’s remains. But the enemy tribe was waiting for him and ambushed him. As they approached to attack the waka, so much was their surprise and admiration for the wonderful canoe that they just stopped, captivated from the waka’s beauty and put down their weapons. The enemy chief got worried when he didn’t hear any battle cries from his men and went to see what happened only to also get enthralled by the beautiful canoe… and that’s how Rata got his father’s remains back without no one being killed… Love the forest and it will help you…

Cape Reinga: The Edge of the world and the (Underworld)
Some places are magical, you don’t need to be religious or god-fearing, they are made special by their location, their beauty or their significance. Cape Reinga is one of those. For me, simply because it represents the end of a long trek in this side of the world – by touching the most northern part of this wonderful island I am now at the “edge of the world”. Also for its beauty, the amazing green scenery and views as this is the place where the Pacific Ocean in the East and the Sea of Tasman in the West meet – it has more than purely symbolic value.

For the Maori, this is where their souls are taken. Regardless where you die, your soul is taken to Cape Reinga where it is tested to see if you were a good person or not. If you were, your soul gets wings and flies, if not it falls into the sea to be devoured by a sea monster. As the guide said:”You don’t need to believe it but you got to respect it, so no food on the Maori holy ground”. Respect.
We got there after 40km of terrible roads – this is a place only for a 4x4 vehicle (and to my great surprise for some crazy motorcycle fans!) Less than a kilometer away from the Cape, full of anticipation and excitement to be at the “edge of the world” we were completely covered by one of the most thick mists I have ever seen.
Visibility zero. Again, disappointed faces all around, ah that missed photo opportunity. Apparently what happened is very rare – it is always windy at the Cape, you get fog probably 3 days every year… I saw nothing of the great sea, nothing of the merging of the Oceans, a big white cloud had surrounded everything around me. But I didn’t care. I could hear the roaring ocean and felt the mist on my face and glasses. And at the end I was there: Latitude 34°, 25.7’ South, Longtitude 172°, 40.6’East. The edge of the world. I looked around, let the sound and humidity cover me and just imagined the deep blue sea. The rest, I can get on a postcard…

Cape Reinga - edge of the world. Latitude 34°, 25.7’ South, Longtitude 172°, 40.6’East.

A real Waka

Birthplace of New Zealand

Amazing NZ scenery

This is the most Northern toilet in this country :-)

One of the beaches on the way back(no filters or photoshop)

Sandboarding...

Cape Reinga, most northern point

This is what it looks like with goodd weather :-)

Hole in the Rock

The 90-mile beach (i need to tell you more) is a place where many people have lost their cars from the tide (this is/was a Ford Cortina)

Bay of Islands...

Maori visitor house (with visitor)

Bay of (very rainy) Islands – Pahia, NZ (Day 61)

2008-11-24T07:45:00.008+01:00

Trapped with bad weather in one of the nicest spots in NZ, I have some time to write, relax and reflect on my trip. Thanks for reading and writing your comments - I read all of them

(Where I am now: The Mousetrap, one of the coolest hostels you’ve ever seen in the little town of Pahia, pop 1,836) Date: Monday24Nov- What time is it: 15:25pm. What am I listening to: Depeche Mode – Condemnation/live)

Random people – interesting stories
After the Tongariro crossing and Taupo, I made my way north to Rotorua. I took the bus, full of envy of all the people that have either rental cars or their own vans/little caravans and really missing Argentina and it’s incredibly better bus system. But that’s for later. I left the Rainbow Lodge in Taupo to get a bus, for the first time, at a reasonable time – 10:30am – to be joined at the same trip, by a Swiss-German, Tobias (ya gennau) from some obscure village outside Zurich.

Life is good for the Swiss, he is travelling for 6 months as well – much younger than me, a telecommunications technician. Very pleasant and always fun to talk to especially when you are joking about the differences in Switzerland between the 3 different parts. Can’t remember the topic but he made a comment at some point: “In the real Switzerland, you know, the German part, we do…” Never ceases to amaze me how this country is kept together, although I have to admit he was one of the more moderate Swiss-Germans I’ve meet: I speak French, 4 weeks a year when I have to go to “them” for the army (he meant the French-speaking side)

And then there’s Dror, from Tel Aviv, a 19 year-old Israeli, already 3 months in NZ with his own newly bought (second-hand) Honda Accord touring both islands… Jealous I am. (as Yoda would say) Did you know that «(Αγαπώ μια) πιτσιρίκα» is currently the #1 hit in Israel – of course with the necessary remix and additional Hebrew verses, we ended up bugging everybody in the hostel singing it out loud. The Germans just looked over their shoulders, clearly annoyed. We just kept singing louder...

I took the bus for Rotorua with Tobi or we thought we did. As we all got on the bus the driver turns on the engine (it took 3 tries) and as he’s about to put in first gear, we hear a big “CRACK” and he ends up holding the whole gear stick in his hand. “I wonder what would have happened if we were in the middle of the highway…”, I thought to myself as we got off the bus and waited for a replacement bus.

We got to Rotorua and checked in the Funky Green Traveler, an adorable little hostel, very calm, green and with a wonderful garden – I am sorry I have no pictures of it. There was a gas/lava rock barbecue in the garden, a bit bigger than the one we have in our summer house in Anavissos. “It’s BBQ tonight” Tobi said and we went to get some steaks. It was one of the few times I was in a hostel with other people, eating out of a common “pool” of food. Yes, you do eat with other people, they are everywhere, but it’s more about eating next to them than eating with them.

I had missed that part. Last time I did it was in Cairns with James, the tall English guy. The whole process was nice, from loading a trolley with stuff (salads, beers, steaks, sausages, garlic bread) to preparing the meal, first the sausages with some beer, until the huge steaks were ready. Sweet weather, green garden, I felt relaxed and happy. I also realized how much more different this trip would be if I wasn’t alone. It has good and bad sides but eating alone is not one I cherish the most – especially if you are alone in a place for 2-3days, what can you really buy to cook? Pasta, rice, sandwiches and the occasional stake… Cooking & eating with friends is a heavily underestimated process. Now I remember why I invited people over to my place in Geneva to cook and eat on Sundays – I miss that and will definitely get back to doing it when I return. Invite your friends for dinner and cook with them. You don’t need to be away from home for 2 months like me to appreciate it.

Too tired, too drunk, too bored to go anywhere we stayed in that Saturday night – no need to see Rotorua night life, it’s the same everywhere: pubs, bars, the occasional club and a lot of English & Germans in their early twenties. I’ve given up on that part of entertainment.

Rotorua is famous for 2 things. First of all the volcanic/sulfur earth and heated springs it has, that make the whole town smell like someone is permanently on a bean diet. Second for its very strong Maori (local) culture. I did go to the spa with the other 2 guys – was very nice being in warm water of up to 43 degrees, it was just what I needed after the 20km trek with Frodo & Gandalf the day before. You always meet people in these places. 3 English girls from Brighton that work at EasyJet and Air New Zealand –and as quickly as you get to meet them, off they go to their next stop. The “dragon with the wagon” is what I remember her saying (among other ones that I can’t), a cordial way of referring to female cabin crew. We had a really good talk on the “interesting” aspects of the airline industry. Mom, at the end it was ok that I didn’t try that cabin crew training program for Qatar Airways.

Take a break – you need it, but more interesting people to meet. I decided to stay only one night in Rotorua. I should have done the Maori experience, to see their culture and music and customs – I regret that but anyway, choices. I decided to head further north to Auckland (just as a stop) and end up at the famous Bay of Islands near a little town called Pahia. Biggest advantage: it’s by the sea. Lake Taupo was great but I still miss the ocean and given the fact that I have only a few days left here, seeing the sea again was the biggest appeal.

This is “post-card New Zealand”. It’s the place they put on their TV commercials to promote the country’s natural beauty. It was a long bus ride. Two hours to Auckland and a stopover of another 2 hours to get into another bus for 4.5 hours. Long trip. I thought of the Argentina part of my trip and how fantastic those buses seem now to me. First of all, the run during the night allowing you to save on day time (and accommodation) and they are so much more comfortable. And so much cheaper. It is amazing how much more you pay in the “advanced” countries for certain services despite the quality being similar or inferior.

I checked my L.Planet guide – Pahia is a great destination for seeing the beach, swimming with dolphins and it is also a great point to take a trip to the far North of New Zealand, the tip of the edge of the world: Cape Reinga. All this of course provided the weather is not “torrential horizontal rain”. But before this – let me tell you about another person I met.

When I got to Auckland I was practically stuck for two hours at the bus terminal – a place in the middle of nowhere, at least that’s what it looked like on a Sunday morning – it was completely dead, only a few poor travelers making their way back home for the new week and some backpackers. A couple of cute Swedish girls as well…

I used the lock Kostas P had bought me to secure my backpack on a bench. This is an ingenious lock that has saved my backpack a few times already. Think of a lock that secures a zip (like all normal locks do) but that you can also attach a wire below and tie it on to something. So, a lonely traveler like me can actually “secure” his backpack while in the toilet or wherever. It’s not theft-proof but you do need a tool to cut it anyway. The problem in “modern countries” is that this is considered “unattended luggage” and you know what that means for an airport or bus terminal. Anyway, I wanted to have a burger (try Denny’s Hawaiian burger near the Sky Terminal if you are ever in Auckland…) and got to the bathroom, so I decided to lock it. A rather chubby, grey haired man was sitting next to me while I stood up to get out of the terminal. I smiled, he smiled back.

“I looked after your bag, while you were gone” he said with a big smile, as I came back and sat next to him. “thanks so much” I said without telling him about the lock.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
“Greece”, I answered expecting the expected by now level of surprise for the traveler from far away or the same level of high regard for my country of origin.
“I am Kiwi (New Zealander), 4th generation now, we came from England in 1830” he said. I smiled politely, always interested in people who have a story to tell.
“Also, my father fought in Crete with the Greeks” he said as he stared back into me, beady small blue eyes, red nose and cheeks, not from drinking but more from age. Now this is interesting, I thought to myself.

No novel to write here based on the man’s story but it’s always amazing to think about these people, part of the “British Empire”, the ANZACs (Australian New Zealand Army Corps) as they were called, being shipped to the other side of the planet to fight in a war that was so far away from their home. “He went to England, and from there they shipped him to Cairo and from there he made his way to Crete” he said. “He even owned a sort of bar in Egypt when he went back there after the fighting.”

“Sounds like a cool guy” I said, while I adjusted the straps of my backpack. Off I went into the bus – “A pleasure to have met you” I said as he shook my hand. “Good luck on your travels!”

Bay of (rainy) Islands, trapped in the Mousetrap I finally got here just before 7 pm. Pouring rain, grey sky and a lot of wind surrounded by majestic lush green scenery. I can only imagine what this place looks like on a nice sunny day. It was still impressive, the sea down the road roaring all grey and mixed up, my first aim was to find a place to stay. I’ve become so less stressed about that now. Before I used to book accommodation before I even arrange the transport to the next place, now I’ve ended up just showing up at hostels and asking if they have a bed.

I am in the Mousetrap now, a delightful small (30 beds) hostel on King Street, one of the 2 main streets of little Pahia. It’s surrounded by other bigger hostels like the YHA and Xbase, all catering to the needs of the “young backpacker” (yes ok S, I am NOT old!) this looked like a great alternative. It is. First of all the layout and décor is fascinating. It looks like an old ship inside. All walls are wooden panels, and the decoration is predominantly “navy”. Sea shells, anchors, ropes and little knickknacks from ships make this place more special than the average hostel. Also, the common areas are great, balconies and big windows make you think you are in some sort of lighthouse, just a few meters of the wild sea. I like it here, I have found peace despite it being a “German lighthouse” (Now EVERYBODY go to Youtube and search for Berlitz, german coastguard and laugh you ass off). I walked around rainy Pahia on a late Sunday afternoon, windy drizzle on my face and glasses, autumn/winter still standing strong on these northeast coasts of KiwiLand…

Monday/19:00. Rain hasn’t stopped. On the contrary it has become even more windy, preventing you from doing anything – I am trapped in the Mousetrap but I am not complaining. I had a couple of you calling me and talking today (or very late at night for you) thanks for this – it’s always good to hear familiar voices. Not too long to go on this island, I am realizing that the weather is not going to help me see all the things I wanted to (even if it was such short time). But I’ve stopped worrying about that and take everyday as it comes now. And in any case, there’s another wonderful reunion coming up just less than a week away. Tokyo with Kaori, and tow of my closest friends is going to be a blast. It couldn’t be anything else.

As the wind is blowing hard outside and the rain is hitting the windows, I leave you with this little music tune for all of you – wonderful…

PLAY IT LOUD
Discover José Padilla!
Jose Padilla – Close to You.

A Friend from the past (a post long due)
Isn’t it great to meet people you know in the strangest places? It makes you think about how small the world is, especially if your meeting place is some random, far away country. It doesn’t matter if you’ve planned it, what is important is the moment you spend with a person that you have a connection with. It gives a whole new meaning to the idea of “reunion”.
I remember the Dubai reunion with George and Ari, my two closest friends from Athens. We are a funny bunch, knowing each other from school and George & his family being friends for even longer – he was the first person I talked to in elementary school and we’ve remained friends since. And with Aris a bit later in high school but that doesn’t make the friendship smaller or less important. We’ve shared all 3 of us with our families, good and difficult moments, X-mases, legendary Easter Sundays and so many stories; they seem to be an integral part of my life. You take them out and I have no personal story to tell you. Even if we are far away, even if George spent years in England studying and in Dubai working and then all of us away doing the military service at different times, even if I’ve been in Geneva for more than 5 years – it just doesn’t matter sometimes.

Dubai was the coolest thing we’ve done – we went to see George, me on business, Aris as a tourist. We have a photo the 3 of us on a desert dune looking into the sunset – I made it into a frame for them and put a caption “Dubai Reunion” and have it as a souvenir from that time. We have yet another one coming up in less than a week. It will be called Tokyo reunion and it just makes you wonder – as at that time I remember for a moment, staring into the sunset over the sandy dunes, thinking to myself: “of all places, who could have ever imagined that we would be who we are & meet like this, here, after so many years of being together”

This posting is not about Ari & George: we’ll have time for that in Japan. This one is for another person in Dubai. Regi is a colleague that worked very closely with me when I first got my last job in P&G. He was part of the Fragrances Team in the Middle East, a team I had to work closely with as their finance guy. It was a difficult job in the beginning, being far away from it all and with a very new organization on the ground it was a challenge for me to understand also what was going on. I travelled a few times to Dubai, one of the greatest perks of my last assignment: I met so many nice people in the office and the team there treated me so well, you were bound to like them almost all. I have the fondest memories of Dubai and that team. Despite long hours, stressful work and a lot of pressure, all this now completely distant and unimportant – what really remain are the memories of interacting with the people and sharing time together. From the long phone calls trying to deal with issues to the daily lunch at the food court next to the office (Indian, Chinese, Lebanese or sandwich?) this is what I remember. Last time I saw Regi in Dubai was in June.

Fast forward a few months – think of me as a backpacker in Syndey, longer hair and a visible beard, entering the Sydney P&G office (are you crazy? – you are on your sabbatical) and meeting Regi. I used a day to visit the office – who cares? You see, Regi decided to move to Australia and took his whole family with him.

Have you ever had this feeling that everything is exactly the same but not really the same? Well think about this, having lunch at a food court (Indian yes), next to the P&G office and talking with the same person. Only difference, we were on the other side of the world, I was travelling and he was starting a new life. Everything is the same and nothing really is. You end up wondering how peoples’ lives change because they change locations (just like with my friends) and how ultimately some things really remain the same – just because the links you’ve built are strong, genuine and unselfish.

I guess I am just talking about having real friends. See you around.

Some photos...
Moustrap living room

Bad weather, it's the sea but I guess you can't see it...
Moustrap hallways
Mousetrap balkony
Moustrap kitchen
Skydiving preparation
Skydiving preparation
Taupo pizza place - DAMN good pizza (check out the toll free number)
Even Ronald the clown skydives in Taupo (you can actully get in this DC3)
The pig is sleeping - remind me to show you the video where it's SNORING
Fidel cafe in Wellington
Te Papa museum: Kostas sitting on the south island, since he can't visit it

Tongariro crossing - Epic Proportions (Day 58)

2008-11-21T08:43:00.005+01:00

(Where am I: Rainbow lodge - what am I listening to: a Dutch girl playing the guitar and singing beautifully! )

Another early wake-up call, 06:20 the bus picked me and another 3 (what a surprise) Germans as part of a group to cross the Tongarririo national park. Well at least part of it. This is one of the great NZ walks and well-deservedly so. You walk 20km through really hard terrain, ranging from desert and volcanic fields, to lakes, green forests and snowy valleys. I am not kidding, it seemed to be like an all-in-one geographical and weather adventure. From T-shirts, sunscreen and hat to polar fleece and snow boots (of course I didn’t have) this was one of the most interesting walks I have ever done – and also one of the toughest. The photos will convince you about the beauty of the scenery and also about the well deserved reputation that New Zealand has, being one of the places with the most diverse landscapes.

Frodo was cool – Ze Germans less. I don’t understand how the Hobbits did it. Shorter, barefoot and with no proper gear the crossed these paths & valley to reach (I can’t remember what). In any case this is park is one of the backdrops for the Lord Of the Rings film with Mount Doom as its key feature. I didn’t climb it – I am sure the Brotherhood of the Ring is just fine. As numerous as the Orcs were in the film, were the Germans on the track. I don’t mind but it gets a bit annoying after awhile to be +10,000km away from Europe and hear “Ya” and “Genau” as every second word. The joke is actually on them, most of them are here to practice English…

The trek was wonderful. You start at one side of the park, and slowly make your way up to a path that has Mount Doom (ok I will call it like that) on one side slowly turns into barren volcanic scenery. Did I mention these are active volcanoes? Well if the images couldn’t convince me, the smell of sulfur (who farted?) and the snow melting & evaporating into steam water definitely did the job. You climb and climb till you reach a peak – wonderful views from both sides, lakes, crystal blue little lakes on one side and steam everywhere coming from the depths of the earth. Then you start your descent – one of the most tough parts as the ground is very loose, making you slip and slide no matter the shoes you wear. Into the valley, you get blasted from the freezing wind and realize you are in a snow covered plateau. Incredible change of scenery, all within 10 long and difficult kilometers.

As you reach the other side of the ridge, a wonderful view of the side of the island, beach, islands and wonderful clouds in the background welcome you to the most difficult part of your descent.
The land changed again from dry yellow bush and rock, to more dense and green, a real forest with a stream and waterfall. How can it all be here at the same place I wondered as I slowly made my way to the pickup point, incredible pain in my legs, wonderful satisfaction written all over my face.

Leaving tomorrow – next stop north, Rotorua…

Volcanic rocks

One of the peaks! (I am blending in with the Germans - white socks pulled high up!)

Careful - GAS

Mount Doom

Peak 2

Mount Doom, other side

One of the peaks!

Long trail - +5hrs - 20km

Lakes in the mountain!

Steam! from the Earth's core the heat comes up, heats the lake water and... STEAM

Behind that mountain, above it and through the valley in front is where we walked

Snow - Frodo must have been cold!!!

My Aussie hat, resting in NZ

Magnificent views before the tough descent!

All in a day's trekking: Volcanoes, desert, snow, lakes and forest

Jump! Jump!! Day 57

2008-11-20T07:20:00.007+01:00

Where am I: Rainbow Lodge - in Taupo - what date: Thu-20-Nov, what time is it: 19:25)

I am back. And I am alive. Not that I ever doubted it but it’s not everyday that you wake up, get on a plane fly up to 15,000 feet with a German tied on your back, and jump out of a plane doing a 60 second free fall. To make things a bit more interesting I got back to the hostel, had a sandwich with New Zealand feta (no comparison) and tomato and then jumped into a lake from a 47 meter platform on a bungy cord.

Enough for one day? Yes I think, I only need to meet a cute girl now and it’s probably the one of the most adrenaline rushed days of my life.

Bakerman, is baking bread….
I remember this video clip clearly – if you don’t know the song please go check it in You Tube. I remember watching it with my brother and laughing about the words. But that wasn’t the impressive part – the video made the difference. Tens of skydivers off a plane, into different formation, floating, moving, dancing…

Then you have the war movies. The airborne units jumpers, helmets and equipment, out of the plane’s door, into the blue sky (or pitch black night), parachutes opening one after the other, a line of puffy silk clouds slowly descending behind enemy lines. Even the Germans dropping into Crete looked fascinating in the photos I saw in the ANZAC memorial in Australia…

I always wanted to do this. Always dreamt of it and here I was, tied on to Albert Schuman, skydiving instructor with 9000 dives, telling me how to put my legs out into the open door and lean back as he propelled us both downwards into one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. Jumping from 15,000 feet is pretty high, it’s about 5km above the earth, my ears popping on the way up as the plane climbed and again as I dove into the great blue of lake Taupo. 200km/hour is the speed you reach on your freefall and it lasts for about 60 seconds – too short to realize what exactly is happening. A minute later, a cord is pulled, parachute opens and up you go – onto a beautiful controlled descend. What wonderful scenery, I have no words. Breathless from the speed (and some screaming) I just looked around, mountains, lake, great green fields on a perfect sunny day. “I am like a bird – I only fly away…” I thought… Perfect landing, on the run, no bum on the grass and it was all over in less than 5 minutes… Dream of a lifetime. Done. I will be doing it again.

Are you ready to jump, get ready to jump don’t ever look back now baby….
I went for a walk yesterday at Huka falls, apparently one of New Zealand’s most impressive water sights. A waterfall and crystal blue water roaring into WGHJK river, a truly beautiful site. I would be writing so much more about this place if I hadn’t been to Iguazu. Having seen Iguazu though made this waterfall look like my shower in Geneva. Nowhere near the volume of water, the speed or the hight of the flow. At least I had to earn the view of the waterfall, it was a 5km trek through a beautiful forest before you actually reached it.

The issue was the way back. I passed from the Taupo Bungy Jump site. Now this is not something should have done because having seen the place only made me think more about the jump. It is a wonderful place. A big platform extends over the river next to a vertical drop, rock walls on the side, 47 meters above the lake. I went there this afternoon.

“Hi I am the guy that skydives in the morning and bungy jumps in the afternoon”. I did it. I have the DVD to prove it and if only I knew they were filming me I would have left you guys a message. It was truly incredible. The rush is immense and these guys are so good, you can ask them to “dip you” in the water if you want. It was a hot day, so what the hell let’s go all the way. I ended up soaking my arms and hair in the beautiful lake water. (check the photo :-) )I am not the first person to bungy jump so I won’t bore you with the experience. It is an amazing rush – in some way more intense than skydiving because YOU need to make that last big step into the open air. One, two, three, BUNGY and off I went, face down, the lake coming closer and closer! I screamed… it was great I will do it again with my brother in South Africa.

Talk to you all soon – I dont have anymore credit on my phone - so please send me emails (if you want :-) )
Tomorrow I am going to do the Tongariro Mountainj crossing – for those that like the Lord of the Rings, this is Mount Doom…! Mommy, I am fine!

And the WORLD IS UPSIDE DOWN!!!!

Amazing views at 15000ft.

Idiot, looking up (looking down is harder)

JUMP!!!

47 meters, I am halfway I think (spot the orange dot)

SPLASH!!

Getting back to Earth!

Well… it’s Wellington (Day 55)

2008-11-18T07:55:00.005+01:00

(Where I am now: Café Fidel, on Cuba Street, Wellington)
Date: Tue18Nov - What time is it: 16:53pm. What am I listening to: Some cool rock tune.)

Bloody weather!
Ok, last time I was so pre-occupied with the weather was when I got to Sydney and I couldn't enjoy the beaches and sunshine. Well, now I am not complaining about sunshine but could we at least have some stability -please?

I woke yesterday facing horizontal torrential rain. You could actually see it from the window's hostel actually hitting the walls, not the ground, an interesting scene but not when you want to go and discover the city.

Luckily by 11am it stopped so I made my way into town on foot (as always). I went to the Ta Papo museum yesterday, a must-see in Wellington, it's an amazing 5 story modern museum that has everything in it: from how Earth was formed and the fact that NZ is sitting on 2 plates that are moving against each other, to Maori traditional artifacts. Great, and oh! It's also free.
The hostel (World Wide Backpackers) has proven to be one of the nicest ones I've stayed in. It's not that it is super clean or new (it's not) but it's SMALL and people are friendly. By the time I got to the hostel it was already past midnight, I found about 6 people sitting in the garden, sipping on beer and wine – but not in a drunk noisy way, it's was so much more chilled out.

Back to yesterday: Museum, tick. Great. I walked around this city but as much as I tried I couldn't be impressed. It's not very big and it is a combination of modern glass buildings and old colonial/Victorian houses – however the vibe was not there. The one thing that strikes you is the lack of people. Yes I know that at 11am people are at work but you would expect to see some life on the streets, it almost reminded me of Jeunes Genevois holiday in Geneva (ok I am exaggerating). Nevertheless, this is a port town (ah glorious sea side) and probably 10 times more modern, 30 times cleaner, 50 times richer than Valparaiso in Chile but I haven't managed yet to smile. Neither the buildings nor the people have impressed me; my eyes have not gone wide from the architecture or the interesting sites. It just looks…nice. Nope, not a place I would live – let alone the fact that I haven't seen yet any decent-looking girls…

Ze Germans…
I have seen a lot of Germans though. They are the salt of the Earth as far as travelling is concerned. I walked by this other hostel and there was a whole discussion going on in German – 10 people, that were obviously not in the same group. Even in my hostel, more than ¾ are German. We have 2 Danes, 1 girl from Uruguay, a couple of Irish and the rest are German. No discussion about Greeks – I am starting to feel like the DoDo bird, ready to be extinct. I am always greeted with great expressions of surprise or affection: either because "ze Germans" have visited Greece (there's always a story about a family holiday in Cretre or Corfu) or because "I have never met a Greek travelling like this" as a few of the others told me. I guess the rest of the Greeks are broke having paid 12 Euros/drink in Cavo Paradiso in Mykonos this summer or just can't handle the backpacking culture.

I met Angelika, a "slightly different" German, as she also likes to think. Slightly older at 27, she doesn't fit the "year-off" German traveller who like his/her English counterpart is here for drinking. I will give them credit though – they are much better, more interested in seeing this place, not only finding out the bar with the longest happy hour. Having lived & worked in London prior to her trip, she feels that her compatriots are more narrow-minded and do not take advantage of the greatness of this opportunity (travelling). Tell me about it I was about to say – at least Germans travel. We both agreed that you see these trips completely differently if you manage to travel at an "older age". So all you people out there pack your bags and get going.
We ended up drinking beer and watching Casino Royale at the hostel's living room. I needed that after a month of travelling & living with drunken kids.

Growing bag pains (another story)
I remember the weight clearly. It was 19kg when I first put it on my back at 6:00 am on that Thursday morning in Geneva. It seemed heavy but manageable. The walk to Cornavain station was not that painful. Then I went to Latin America and Australia and maybe just like me (I feel I have gained weight) this bag has become heavier. I realized it when I picked it up from the conveyor belt at Cairns – a big red tag was on it "23KG - HEAVY – Bend your knees" it said.

It's the bloody guide books. I want to literally throw them in the water. I am carrying a Lonely Planet guide for Australia, New Zealand and Argentina! I could throw away the Argentina one – it's so out of date it's useless – but it's not mine. I could through the Australia one away but I will be back. I could throw the NZ away but that's a birthday gift. Did I tell you I am carrying another 4 books? I have Geroge Orwell's 1984 (you haven't read it? GO now), Into the Wild (a gift from Vasilis & Tania that I've read but can't throw away) a Sudoku anthology, a Science fiction anthology (crap) and Nikos Kazantzakis' Ασκητική in hard cover given to me by George G. What the hell, am I a backpacker or a bloody mobile library? I can't wait for George & Aris in Japan, get ready guys – 3kg are going back with you. I've bought NOTHING – really. Apart from 2-3 T-shirts I am carrying absolutely nothing more than the basics.

The Greeks in Melbourne and some more photos–
I owed you this one I guess but I decided not to write too much – I will let some of the random photos do the talking. Just remind me to give you the details when I see you, especially on Ilias the store owner. Never have I been thrown back into Greek reality, attitudes and mentality so quickly in my life…

Myer X-mas Parade in Melbourne

Everybody loves X-mas

Best selling T-shirt from Giagia to grandson/daughter.

Pretty big GOCC (Greek Orthodox Community Center) – big banner, no?

Could be Skoufa in Kolonaki but it is Waratah place in Melbourne!

METROPOLIS STORE From T-shirts to Tsalikis

Ilias – Proud store owner – Μπεστ σελλινγκ τ-σερτς (...), ΜΑΓΚΑΣ and ΓΙΩΡΓΟΣ

Melbourne – Salonica (sister cities)

Qui! Les Suisses sont ici aussi!

This is not Mitilini, this is Oliver Lane, downtown Melbourne.

Interview with the King of Clamms: George Kaparos.
Last question: "Do you have any tips for young entrepreneurs?" "Work hard and be good to your mother!" (hahaha)

Limnos seafood...
Not Gotham city - this is Melbourne

Beautiful, sunny, Melbourne cityline

Shrine of Remembrance – Father & Son monument connecting 2 great wars. This is a wonderful site – true testament to the guts the Aussies showed in Turkey/Gallipoli and all the other conflicts they were (dragged) in

Shrine of Remembrance – (AMF) Australian Military Forces: Greece, Crete and more…

Flower clock: Clearly not Jardin Anglais in Geneva

Melbourne: Life is too important to be taken seriously (my kind of city)

NEXT STOP: TAUPO FOR SKYDIVING!!!

Goodbye magic land of OZ!

2008-11-17T04:14:00.004+01:00

Having arrived at mysterious Wellington, and having already faced horizontal torrential rain, I am in the city enjoying a brief spell of sunshine!

(Where I am now: Melbourne Airport waiting to board QF37 to Wellington New Zealand) What time is it: 17:50pm. What am I listening to: The lady next to me talking on her cell phone.)

Not enough time!
No regrets. Never. It was part of the deal and the extensive program I had planned before I even boarded the first plane to Argentina almost 2 months ago… But you can’t help realizing the immense size of this country/continent and the unlimited number of opportunities you have as a visitor. So many things to do, I feel I just touched the tip of an iceberg, there is so much hidden below, waiting to be discovered. I will be back. I promise it to you but most of all to myself. I don’t know when or how (maybe with my girlfriend or buddies, maybe with my kids on a road trip) but I will be back. Not to see all the things I haven’t seen this time – that would be impossible – but simply to share with the people I love this great, amazing adventure that is called the Land of OZ.

As I moved out of my hostel, backpack on my back (…) I walked down the quiet Sunday sunny streets of Melbourne thinking that this is a wonderful relaxed, laid-back place that asks to be discovered. I am happy for what I’ve seen but I would have liked to see more. I am not going to answer the key question “Sydney vs. Melbourne” (sorry Katerina) simply because it would be unfair to Melbourne but I think anyway I will always be biased for Sydney. That first day I go there and showed up at the Pier next to the Opera House, I don’t think I will ever forget.

Off to New Zealand, another mystic destination and practically the edge of the International date line (I will be seeing the new day come in before anyone in the world). I don’t know what to expect, I’ve stopped planning thoroughly my every day and that is good. In the limited time I have, I just try to go with the flow and so far I have been lucky. I guess I want to see some of the Maori culture, eat fish (surprise!) and just marvel at the amazing nature this country has. That’s pretty good for the next 12 days. It also looks like the last leg of my “solo” trip, I get to see familiar faces the moment I hit the coast of Japan. I will bungy jump and I will skydive. I just want you to know this since NZ is the capital of extreme “sports”. Mom I will tell you about it AFTER I’ve done it, that way you won’t worry  (and don’t call every day to ask – hihi).

Looking back here’s the top +10 things I loved about Australia… and a few regrets (as always not in order of importance)
- Locals’ wonderful hospitality and friendliness (including all the people that showed me around or offered a place to sleep)
- Diving in the great barrier reef
- Fish & chips and fish markets
- Great Ocean Road
- Daintree rainforest
- Opera House and Harbour bridge (& climb!)
- That little roof-pub we went with Katerina and the bloody Marys I had there.
- Ivi club on George St and the amazing Aussie girls there.s
- Parks, parks, parks and joggers everywhere!
- Koorie & Immigration museum in Melbourne
- All the cool cafes & bars/restaurants in Melbourne and the GREAT & cheap Asian food

Regrets:
- Not enough time (well yes a bit of a regret...!)
- Didn’t visit Uluru and Ayers Rock one of the Aborigines holy places and great Australian landmarks.
- Didn’t take that helicopter ride over the Great Ocean Road
- That I couldn’t make all the Pommies & Micks (English & Irish) under 25 disappear.
- That I didn’t meet “Voula” in Melbourne, the love of my life (although I did meet one –she was married with 2 kids)
- That I didn’t have a couple of good friends from back home to turn this into an amazing road trip

Next Stop Wellington, New Zealand!

White-tip reef shark

2008-11-15T11:02:00.002+01:00

First of 3 posts - 2 videos from Cairns and one big one for Melbourne!

No shark cage, no nothing except 3.5 meters of water between us - but they are friendly (or so we were told...)

Swimming with Nemo

2008-11-15T10:39:00.002+01:00

I had promised you this one... :-)

Melbourne – 2 days in, another 2 days to go (Day 52)

2008-11-15T09:42:00.010+01:00

(Where I am now: Nomad Hotel, Melbourne) (What date/time is it: Sat15Nov, 00:50 am- tired but cant’ sleep. What am I listening to: Massive Attack.)

First impressions.
I like it. Not sure if I like it more than Sydney yet but I will give it a decent chance. What strikes you first of all is the weather which is very moody – I guess a bit like me lately. Dry hot air turns into a cool breeze in the afternoon and can hit you with a couple of showers. It’s not as green as Sydney and the port is smaller (or seems so). No wonderful Opera house either. No need to focus on what if doesn’t have, let’s just focus on what you can really see in Melbourne. First impression for me is that it is heavily influenced by asian populations. They told me Sydney has more Asians but here the feeling is more complete – you see it in the numerous restaurant options (I am in noodle heaven here) and also the people and bars. Melbourne is more “bohéme”, little cafés, restaurants scattered all over the place give you a much more relaxed sense to Sydney’s busy center.

I hate my hostel. It sucks. Another 300-bed place full of drunk English & Irish, makes me wonder how the hell they find any interest in flying to the other side of the planet with drinking as their one and only objective. I am tired of the squeaky beds, having to lock up every bloody thing and wondering where my ham and cheese went when I can’t find it the hostel’s fridge.
Anyway, it’s part of the things you need to face if you want to travel the world in a reasonable budget. I wish I had another person with me – we could share some of the costs and have things a bit more relaxed and civilized. But enough complaining, let’s talk about Melbourne.

Arriving in the afternoon and checking in the hostel didn’t leave me with much time (or energy from the 5-days-in a row waking up at 07:00am too go to scuba training in Cairns) so I took a walk in the city center. I discovered a wonderfully squared city center (ah wonderful South American cities) and a large Chinatown. The city has a tram system and one of the lines runs till late for free and takes tourists around the center of town. Sweet. Of course it also has a Greek town (or let’s say a big street with some Greek shops next to each other). Melbourne has 250,000 Greeks so I am bound to find my future wife here – that was part of the plan…! I don’t see it coming through though: I have less than 2 days left and the only “greek” person I’ve talked to so far is a Cypriot (actually Turk) whose grand-ma was displaced to Morphou. At least he understood a bit of Greek and gave me in English the whole story about the typical politics that minorities get into when living abroad… Let’s see tomorrow night.

Immigrants, a story worth telling..
Why do we travel? Why am I on the road for the past 52 days and what are these people around me doing? What drives people to take a bag, a suitcase, a backpack and hit the road? I guess everyone has his own reasons. I visited Melbourne’s Immigration Museum to get the rest of the reasons, beyond those that are obvious and to remember that for some people, travelling to far away places can be an extremely painful experience. Especially if there are reasons that force you to do it. Hunger, war, poverty, political issues or simply the hope for a better life. I am not referring to “immigrants-light”, people like me who had the transport company pack their things in bubble paper, had a “relocation services officer” to take care of the paperwork and a relocation allowance to make things easier.

I am talking about people like my grandfather from Cyprus who left a family of 4 (at that time) to go to South Africa, set up his own business, save money and after a while send for his family. I am referring to the thousands that have come to Australia in the past 2 centuries from all over the world, for various reasons that range from simply better career opportunities to fleeing a regime back home that would eventually take your life.

The Immigration museum in Melbourne has been one of the most emotional days during my trip. There it was all, portrayed in a wonderful way, the agony, the anxiety, the difficulties of securing passage and getting access to the country. It also made a point om Australia’s “Remain white policy” of previous times and how evidently this has changed the past decades – you just have to look around.

It’s hard to explain the feeling I got, the museum is ultimately a museum of hope, a monument to people’s dreams and quest for better life. There are interactive video sections where you can “interview” people and actually decide if you want to grant them passage to Australia. There’s even one with Greeks, the Arvanitis family, husband, wife and little Evangelia – the Australian interviewer asks: What do you do Mr Arvanitidis: I work hard ρε – my hands good work, probably reflecting the desperation of the people having to flee Greece in the 50’s. I had to reject their application. Little Evangelia is deaf, and the Australian government does not allow immigrants that will be a potential burden to Australia’s social security system. So brutally honest, so heartbreaking, I wept while pressing the APPLICATION REJECTED button.

Another section is called Origins, where regardless your nationality, you can trace back peoples’ stories from your country and their settling and contribution to Australian society. Extremely cool. Greece being one of the biggest communities here, numbering +250,000, even has the narrative piece in Greek. Photos from the past complement this great exhibition. The coolest thing though is the fact that you can access the Australian National Archives and trace back from 1929 ALL the people that have officialy entered Australia, when, which port, what ship. Amazing. There are 101 Spyropoulos links, 1 Aplas and even 1 Seimenis (my Cypriot’s family tree name)

I left the place with a strange feeling of hope for all people that dream of a better place to live and thankful I can do it under so diifferent circumstances…

The Great Ocean Road, one of the greatest road-trips.
I don’t mind using a bus to travel, even these organized daily tours have proven to be of great interest & fun. From the Aconcagua Mountain in Mendoza, to the Daintree rainforest in Cairns, the combination of great people and good guides made these trips special. The Great Ocean road trip I booked for Friday was no exception. It proved to be the best so far, again for the same reasons: wonderful scenery, incredibly entertaining and good guide, good company. But I missed my friends. I missed driving around, with them in some sort of van, music on, jokes everywhere.

Let me explain first. The great Ocean road is considered to be one of the best day trips in the world. If you want in one (admittedly long) day to combine amazing seaside scenery, rainforest, Koalas and God knows what else, you have to do it. The Great ocean road is a coastal road heading west of Melbourne that runs for about 380km taking you through some of the most amazing seaside scenery you could see in your life. Rugged cliffs, sandy beaches, roaring sea, in one of the greatest natural shows I have ever seen. And then of course you have Bernie (I am not kidding, that’s his real name) a +50year old Santa-Claus-looking (think oversize with long white beard) guide who just can’t stop making jokes about anything and anyone and really knows his stuff. You always meet nice people on these trips – usually because the average drunk pommy (see English) is still sleeping or has a hangover from the previous night’s beer drinking. I met Maria from Galicia traveling for a few months to improve her English and Søren from Copenhagen a 34-year old (yes! Finally someone older than me!) psychologist. Bro, I will tell you all about him when I see you.

We saw magical places such as the 12 Apostles, an amazing rock formation in the sea, actually sticking out (not all 12 are visible) part of Earth’s million years erosion game with the land and water. I will let the photos speak for themselves on this one, it was plain magic. This is where I started to realize that Australia is a country so huge that deserves much more of your time. And with it you should use differnet means of transport. It would be so great if I could rent a van with two good friends and tour the place with it, sleeping in it, stopping wherever/whenever we want.

I’ve got more to write! About the Melbourne Greeks most of all but that’s obviously a separate post altogether! Have a great weekend!

MELBOURNE PHOTOS (and some funnies)

Immigration Museum: The caption of the photo reads: Greek immigrants learning English on board the Patris, 1964Pretty clear message, and if you can't read, look at the picture
Beautiful Great Ocean Road

Kostas holding on to Australia as best as he can!
Bernie our guide!

Welcome to Koala land!
Royal botanical gardens. +150y old Tree (and 32y old backpacker)
Rainforest with Søren and Maria - please understand the proportions of the tree above us!

Little Anna, the daughter of the cook in the noodle place we stopped for early dinner on the way back...

Heading back to Melbourne
Food, great food in Melbourne, anyplace anytime!
He has his point of view...
Only if you are a good boy & girl!