The Travel Thread

cj the taniwha · Post by **cj the taniwha** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:38 pm

Going to Amsterdam > Berlin > Paris > Bristol for 3 weeks in summer. Never been to Paris or Berlin before so any tips for a couple of travellers with baby and not much time would be appreciated.

Would love to go inland from Byron more, Will looked after us real well when we went and visited him in Lismore, it was beautiful.

I'm in the anti-malarials suck camp cover yourself in deet too....

gnat · Post by **gnat** » Fri May 29, 2009 4:16 pm

gawd it's been so long since i was in paris CJ- years. reckon my advice would be outdated

berlin is absolutely off the hook. if you're into history you'll love it. checkpoint charlie museum, brandenburg gate- the video of the atmosphere when the wall came down is awesome. was a sea of cranes when i was there- major reconstruction. modern city but lots of history too. i went to the berlin zoo when i was there which at the time was good fun

other suggestions i have are not appropriate for babies

RGLZ · Post by **RGLZ** » Fri May 29, 2009 4:37 pm

Japan for 25 days in November woooooo!! Leaving on the exact same day as I did last year for my China adventure.

Post by **JAMESSSS** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:57 pm

Back safe and sound.

deviant · Post by **deviant** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:08 pm

pics?

Post by **JAMESSSS** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:11 pm

Gonna take a while to sort

Lil MiSbreaks · Post by **Lil MiSbreaks** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:49 pm

List of counties attended then?

Post by **JAMESSSS** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:56 pm

Thailand
Vietnam
Japan
U.S.A
Panama
Costa Rica
Nicaragua
United Kingdom
Spain
Netherlands
France
Switzerland

Lil MiSbreaks · Post by **Lil MiSbreaks** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:09 pm

Madness.

Totally awesome James.

Have you got a favourite?

Post by **system** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:52 pm

nice work jbs

gnat · Post by **gnat** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:22 pm

welcome home james

will be partic interested in hearing about central america!

got one year to get ourselves together for biiiig trip- was cuba and south america but wanna add some central america too

Post by **JAMESSSS** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:41 pm

gnat wrote:welcome home james

will be partic interested in hearing about central america!

got one year to get ourselves together for biiiig trip- was cuba and south america but wanna add some central america too

We did Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua in 3 months. Could have spent more. Would need 6 to add the rest I reckon.

Depends how you travel though I suppose.

gnat · Post by **gnat** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:47 pm

yeh won't have 6 months that's for sure. costa rica looks siiick. a month between a couple i reckon.

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:30 pm

I'm going to South America for... a while. Heading off on August 8 and coming back when my dinero runs out.

Thinking six months-plus.

Anyone been?

Itinerary so far includes Buenos Aires, Iguazu Foz, Saltar de Uyuni, Machu Picchu and various other hikes around Bolivia and Peru, beach towns in Peru, Ecuador and Columbia...

Other suggestions? Tips? Tactics?

gnat · Post by **gnat** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:52 pm

lucky bastard

don't eat the guinea pigs and do lots of blow

i'd be off my head if i was going in aug

a year's a long time to wait but it;s a big trip and will be my final one of that magnitude

ADD_Boy · Post by **ADD_Boy** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 5:07 pm

gnat wrote:don't eat the guinea pigs and do lots of blow

FUCK that made me LOL!!!

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 5:16 pm

gnat wrote:lucky bastard

don't eat the guinea pigs and do lots of blow

i'd be off my head if i was going in aug

a year's a long time to wait but it;s a big trip and will be my final one of that magnitude

Why no eat guinea pigs? Bacon onna stick!

dengelman · Post by **dengelman** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 6:52 pm

Central America is the bomb. Underrated - I recommend it to everyone. It's still quite big (just small compared to South America!)

Costa Rica is great and easy to travel, but much more developed and "Western" than many other places. That's cool if you want air conditioned buses, knowledgeable, English speaking guides, surf resorts that are busy but a bit more organised etc.

Otherwise check Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Salvador. Didn't make it to Belize (great diving) or Panama. So much variety, especially being able to go Carribean to Pacific. It's madness.

South America is mad. Will: the places you mention are all great. Be mindful that Chile and Brasil and quite a bit more expensive (think around Australian prices.) Bolivia is cheap, has heaps and heaps to do - I would recommend spending at least 5-6 weeks there. If you have time to get to Brasil (especially Rio for the hedonism and Salvador for the music, culture etc) you will love it. Other place to consider is Patagonia - one of the most beautiful places in the world. If you like hiking check out the "W" walk in Torres del Paine. Epic.

Other tip off the top of my head is you need to book Macchu Pichu walk a few months in advance and have to go with a tour. You can do alternatives to the Classic trek which you can organise in Cuzco. If you have more specific questions I'm sure many of us here would be willing to help out.

:jealousy:

Post by **JAMESSSS** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:15 am

dengelman wrote:Central America is the bomb. Underrated - I recommend it to everyone. It's still quite big (just small compared to South America!)

ALL about little Corn Island. It took us four days to get there, but it was amazing!

ghetto kitty · Post by **ghetto kitty** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:24 pm

borneo = wow.

did sabah and sarawak but not brunei or kalimantan (the indo part)

got my PADI lisence, FUN! and a wee bit scary, but totally worth it, hooked on diving now!
then went to kota kinabalu and hung out on ze islands, ate at the fish markets, went white water rafting down the padas river, FUN!
dressed up in evening wear, long gloves and fake eyelashes for my friends bday, and ended up playimng pool and watching the drag shows at the only gay club in borneo (muslim mainly)
went south to kuching (which means CAT in malay, huge statues of kitties everywhere!!!!)
travelled to border of kalimantan and sarawak for traditional longhouse adventure in a bidayhu place for the gawai festival, much tuak was forced down my throat, got blessed with a live chicken and danced till five am when i got lost in a village the size of brown alley...
then went trekking in bako national park, amazing! and hot, and full on, and jumped into the ocean and got followed by local boys sniffing glue watching us in our bikinis. cheeky!
kayaking down another river in the borneo highlands, cant remember the name, with huge limestone cliffs and jungle, and burnt my face on the hottest chilli ive ever encountered and thought i may come back with a chilli goiter.
then back up north to go to turtle island, to watch green sea turtles (30 of them that night) come to shore and lay eggies,
then set free the baby turtles into the ocean! (and yes, i cried, such a moment, relative to seeing the grand canyon)
then off to uncle tans junlge camp up north for 3 days of no runnig water or doors, for boat river treks and jungle treks,
where we saw makack monkeys, orangutangs, snakes, spiders and a whole lotta huge buttflies.
then 35 hours to get home, PHEW!

malaria - wasnt in any risk regoins but took em anyways, wont do again. malarone- natural version, for next time.
malaysia - so friendly! so cheap! so modern though and not really what we expected.
boys - cheeky! everywhere we went it was ' oh wow, i love you!, see you tommorrow!"
food - amazing, some good, some bad, wont be eating rice for a month though.
$$ - cheap amazing place to visit, good shopping but not what you go there for..
nature - awe inspiring, frightening and beautiful.

still high, and jet lagged, and may just tuck into my duty free and pretend im not home yet

Direkt · Post by **Direkt** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:37 pm

Sounds awesome GK!

Fents · Post by **Fents** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:41 pm

fuck it now i want to go back to kota kinabalu!

bassfreak · Post by **bassfreak** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:12 pm

ghetto kitty wrote:borneo = wow.

did sabah and sarawak but not brunei or kalimantan (the indo part)

got my PADI lisence, FUN! and a wee bit scary, but totally worth it, hooked on diving now!
then went to kota kinabalu and hung out on ze islands, ate at the fish markets, went white water rafting down the padas river, FUN!
dressed up in evening wear, long gloves and fake eyelashes for my friends bday, and ended up playimng pool and watching the drag shows at the only gay club in borneo (muslim mainly)
went south to kuching (which means CAT in malay, huge statues of kitties everywhere!!!!)
travelled to border of kalimantan and sarawak for traditional longhouse adventure in a bidayhu place for the gawai festival, much tuak was forced down my throat, got blessed with a live chicken and danced till five am when i got lost in a village the size of brown alley...
then went trekking in bako national park, amazing! and hot, and full on, and jumped into the ocean and got followed by local boys sniffing glue watching us in our bikinis. cheeky!
kayaking down another river in the borneo highlands, cant remember the name, with huge limestone cliffs and jungle, and burnt my face on the hottest chilli ive ever encountered and thought i may come back with a chilli goiter.
then back up north to go to turtle island, to watch green sea turtles (30 of them that night) come to shore and lay eggies,
then set free the baby turtles into the ocean! (and yes, i cried, such a moment, relative to seeing the grand canyon)
then off to uncle tans junlge camp up north for 3 days of no runnig water or doors, for boat river treks and jungle treks,
where we saw makack monkeys, orangutangs, snakes, spiders and a whole lotta huge buttflies.
then 35 hours to get home, PHEW!

malaria - wasnt in any risk regoins but took em anyways, wont do again. malarone- natural version, for next time.
malaysia - so friendly! so cheap! so modern though and not really what we expected.
boys - cheeky! everywhere we went it was ' oh wow, i love you!, see you tommorrow!"
food - amazing, some good, some bad, wont be eating rice for a month though.
$$ - cheap amazing place to visit, good shopping but not what you go there for..
nature - awe inspiring, frightening and beautiful.

still high, and jet lagged, and may just tuck into my duty free and pretend im not home yet

Awesome! Got any tips?

I'm going to Borneo next month.
Starting in Kuching and spending 3 days in Bako National Park, and a day in Kuching. May go to Semenggoh Wildlife Reserve to to see some Orangutans. Did you go there?
Then flying to Kota Kinabalu to meet my parents who live on their boat(they are sailing around the world). Will spend a week sailing off the coast of KK. Then flying down to Sandakan to visit the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary and also spending 3 days in jungle camp on the Kinabatangan River. (i tried booking at Uncle Tans but they were booked out)This area has the highest concentration of wildlife in Borneo. Hopefully I will see some Orangutans in the wild here!
I'm a keen diver (I've been diving for 18 years now) so I'm going down to Semporna to dive Sipidan Island which is one of the top 5 dive sites in the world. This will be a great achievement for me, as I'm aiming to do all the top 10 dive sites in the world and the will make 3/10 for me. I'm very very excited!

Polecat · Post by **Polecat** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:34 pm

gah! all you people make me want to travel, but I just can't decide where I REALLY want to go next. Sitting on my leave until I decide where and when. Waiting for the inspiration to strike!

Anyone know a good time to visit Japan?

GK: glad you enjoyed your holiday so much. Sounds like you had a really exciting, adventurous and fun time!

deviant · Post by **deviant** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:49 pm

Autumn or Spring for japanese travel.... both beautiful times... cherry blossom season in spring and amazing autumn colors in November.

menace · Post by **menace** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:14 am

nice pic dan .....

coming 2 melbs soon any tips ....?

ADD_Boy · Post by **ADD_Boy** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:39 am

Pc. Go during June or July (I think anyway)

A good way to do it is to arrive on the south west coast and follow the sakura.

All the infor u need.

http://www.japan-guide.com/blog/sakura/

http://gojapan.about.com/cs/cherrybloss ... stival.htm

thats if u even wanna c the sakura..

ghetto kitty · Post by **ghetto kitty** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 12:24 pm

bassfreak wrote:
Awesome! Got any tips?

I'm going to Borneo next month.
Starting in Kuching and spending 3 days in Bako National Park, and a day in Kuching. May go to Semenggoh Wildlife Reserve to to see some Orangutans. Did you go there?
Then flying to Kota Kinabalu to meet my parents who live on their boat(they are sailing around the world). Will spend a week sailing off the coast of KK. Then flying down to Sandakan to visit the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary and also spending 3 days in jungle camp on the Kinabatangan River. (i tried booking at Uncle Tans but they were booked out)This area has the highest concentration of wildlife in Borneo. Hopefully I will see some Orangutans in the wild here!
I'm a keen diver (I've been diving for 18 years now) so I'm going down to Semporna to dive Sipidan Island which is one of the top 5 dive sites in the world. This will be a great achievement for me, as I'm aiming to do all the top 10 dive sites in the world and the will make 3/10 for me. I'm very very excited!

bassfreak - yes, went to semmongoh, really good place to go to see the orangutangs, its only like 3 MYR to get in (as opposed to about 30-40 at sepilok) and they are basically living in the semi wild there, so there is no guarantee of seeing them, but we saw a mother and her 2 year old baby (so cheeky!, he was doing cartwheels down the rope and throwing dead leaves on to us and blowing rasperrries at us)and one big male...
sepilok you get closer to them but you are with about 100-200 tourists as opposed to 30-40 at semmongoh...

3 days at bako is heaps, theres loads of well marked trails to walk yourself, and gorgeous beaches, not much wildlife till dawn/dusk and not much on the trails but if you stay there youll see more, especially big proboscis monkeys, we saw one or two but were only there for a day. great jungle and extreme conditions for trekking tho, some trails you have to haul yourself up rock with a rope etc, i loved it!

uncle tans is booked out? wierd. we called a day ahead for 2 of us and it was fine, and yes i saw the most wildlife there, including orangutangs is the wild, but be warned, its sad as well. the only reason you see them on the five metre strip of jungle on each side of the war-zone like river is because there is no more jungle left for them to go to due to palm plantations.
i found it actually more sad than amazing, the river we kayaked down in sarawak was beautiful, and kinabtangan was not like that at all....tbh you wont see a glut of wildlife unless you head into the interior, even in danum valley or kalimantan but this takes time,! and more $.

sipidan by all accounts is well worth it for divers, but get your permit well ahead of time, lots of red tape around that one,
and best to research and book that before you go...i would love to do it and may go back one day for that reason, there is pretty much nothing to do in semporna but diving, so dont spend any time there apart from heading straight to sipidan!

i highly reccomend if anyone goes to borneo they should make an effort to see sarawak as well as or even instead of sabah.
there is more money in kuching than KK, its quite a modern city, was a bit suprising, but for this reason there is less of the land decimated with palm plantations and just a better vibe in general, more attention made to the tribal history of the land (this is where you go visit the real longhouses really) and generally more beautiful nature (in my opinion) the borneo highlands are breathtaking!
in sabah, we drove from kinabatangan all the way south east to tawau, and as far as the eye can see, no jungle, only palms.
this is due to big $ for these plantations, and it was sobering to say the least, especially as us westerners are providing the demand for palm oil.

biodeisel fuel is NOT more environmentally friendly, to all the hippies out there, and i wont be buying anything with palm oil in it in future.

that said, ive had many amazing discussions with locals about finding the balance between economy and environment, and anyone who wants to take their tourist $ to borneo should check out wildasia.com (i think) which has a lot of info on the eco friendly places to go.
have fun man, youll love it, sailing off the coast of KK will be fucking awesome!

if you need more specific tips im happy to provide!

Polecat · Post by **Polecat** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 12:38 pm

that's wildasia.net

[.com will get you a naughty site i think - wasn't going to check for sure at work!!!]

Dan & ADD: thanks for Japan tips!

ghetto kitty · Post by **ghetto kitty** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 12:50 pm

oh roger that PC, thanks!

and yes, im going to japan in end of feb, will be picking your brains about that more deviant etc!

edit : also bassfreak, take a variety of cash options, like travellers cheques and cash as well as card. my ANZ card got taken/eaten by the atm there of a big bank and i though i spent many hours on the phone to ANZ i was without any cash! would have been fucked if i was travelling alone, and nobody can tell me why anz got eaten but the others' westpac etc was fine.
anz gonna be hearing from kitty REAL soon.

Blaxter · Post by **Blaxter** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:00 pm

Sounds mad GK.
I'm looking at meetin the folks in London for Xmas - worst time but should be good times.
I really want to hit Cuba - now that I've got onto roll with producing music I owe myself the adventure.

ghetto kitty · Post by **ghetto kitty** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 12:56 pm

hey guys..

i got sent this link from the bidayuh longhouse where the gawai festival we were lucky enough to be a part of was on june 1st.

the picture is my friend dan, and me, dancing with the locals after consuming much too much tuak.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/ ... index_html

funny. my photos from the night are a lot less composed.

deviant · Post by **deviant** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 1:37 pm

ghetto kitty wrote:and yes, im going to japan in end of feb, will be picking your brains about that more deviant etc!.

Just make sure you go to Kyushu, we had the best time there.

http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1108.html

witty_pseudonym · Post by **witty_pseudonym** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 3:56 pm

a couple of mates landed in london yesterday.
i wish i landed in london yesterday.

elysium · Post by **elysium** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 7:52 am

The weather is shit over here if that is any consolation witty

FoundationStepper · Post by **FoundationStepper** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:02 am

deviant wrote:Just make sure you go to Kyushu, we had the best time there.

yar we did wwoofing in kyushu. was great

the area south of aso-san was the best "real nature" bit of japan we saw

deviant · Post by **deviant** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:23 pm

aso-san ftw... will post pics at some stage..... Fucking amazing.

Utsuki, Beppu, Nagasaki, Fukuoka all pretty cool too.

witty_pseudonym · Post by **witty_pseudonym** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:12 pm

elysium wrote:The weather is shit over here if that is any consolation witty

i wish it was.

ghetto kitty · Post by **ghetto kitty** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:19 pm

deviant wrote:
ghetto kitty wrote:and yes, im going to japan in end of feb, will be picking your brains about that more deviant etc!.
Just make sure you go to Kyushu, we had the best time there.

http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1108.html

fucking hell, looks gorgeous!!
time to get me a lonely planet and begin my research i think.

def up for finding myself in japanese nature, rather than only cities really.

deviant · Post by **deviant** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:23 pm

Stay in beppu and have 3 baths a day....

must eat Fugu too.

aroes · Post by **aroes** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:23 pm

atm beppu is at the top of my list

deviant · Post by **deviant** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:27 pm

yeah man... we intended on staying there for 2 days... ended up staying a week...

you can day-trip to most of the cool places from there anyways.

quick · Post by **quick** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 12:34 am

yay, just decided over the last few days that instead of buying a house, I'm gonna use my $30k+ house deposit to travel... trying to buy a house for 5 months proved no go, so it's not meant to be yet, and I always wanted to travel, so now I have a great oportunity...

1 Year or more, go as many places as I can, well mainly americas, asia and europe... cant wait, will go in October most likely...

What is max age to get UK working visa?

Hatsudai · Post by **Hatsudai** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 2:30 am

quick wrote:yay, just decided over the last few days that instead of buying a house, I'm gonna use my $30k+ house deposit to travel... trying to buy a house for 5 months proved no go, so it's not meant to be yet, and I always wanted to travel, so now I have a great oportunity...

1 Year or more, go as many places as I can, well mainly americas, asia and europe... cant wait, will go in October most likely...

What is max age to get UK working visa?

wow! big change from buying a house to traveling the world!

have fun, 30k well spent IMO

apophenian · Post by **apophenian** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:14 am

quick wrote:yay, just decided over the last few days that instead of buying a house, I'm gonna use my $30k+ house deposit to travel... trying to buy a house for 5 months proved no go, so it's not meant to be yet, and I always wanted to travel, so now I have a great oportunity...

1 Year or more, go as many places as I can, well mainly americas, asia and europe... cant wait, will go in October most likely...

What is max age to get UK working visa?

Wow! nice one steve.

I think that you can apply for the working holiday visa if you are 31 or younger... not sure tho

Polecat · Post by **Polecat** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:05 pm

quick wrote:yay, just decided over the last few days that instead of buying a house, I'm gonna use my $30k+ house deposit to travel... trying to buy a house for 5 months proved no go, so it's not meant to be yet, and I always wanted to travel, so now I have a great oportunity...

1 Year or more, go as many places as I can, well mainly americas, asia and europe... cant wait, will go in October most likely...

What is max age to get UK working visa?

Nice one. You've got plenty of time to shackle yourself to a mortgage. Go see the world and live it up. My sister moved out of home to live in London about 1.5 years ago. She loves it there and jet sets across to the continent every now and then for a weekend, week or 2 away in Poland, Prague, Germany, France etc etc So jealous!

quick · Post by **quick** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 8:04 pm

So I am looking into working visa's in Europe... Where besides UK should I apply? Would love to travel/work for months somewhere other than UK.

Thinking Switzerland or Spain or Montenegro or France or Italy... many places really... where else have peeps lived/worked for a few or more months, besides UK?

Wish I could just visit a few over there but need to apply before I go.

Polecat · Post by **Polecat** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 12:05 pm

I lived and worked in France for a year. There was quite a bit of paperwork to get that visa, and it wasn't your usual situation. I was there as a visiting scientist, so I was paid and employed in Australia, but working in France with a residents permit. I couldnt have done it without the sponsoring of my host institution.

I think it really depends on what kind of work you want to do quick. If you want the ski field it won't matter, if you want to further your career it could be work doing some home work to get a placement or job that will count to something on your CV.

apophenian · Post by **apophenian** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 2:17 pm

I think you could save on travelling costs quite easily steve:

menace · Post by **menace** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 3:02 pm

your 2 old quick for a uk visa ..they shut the gates at 30th

if i was you i would go 2 south america for 1 yr and go metal , you will not even blow 10 k