Finally I got a chance to get close and personal with the most Aussie of all Aussie animals – koalas. We spent Easter weekend on the Gold Coast and Byron Bay, catching up on some beach time, family time and wildlife. Among the fun and games was a visit to wildlife sanctuary. It made me 49 dollars poorer, but it was well worth it, so much better than the zoos. I got to hang out with plenty of koalas (who were not too entertaining as they mostly sleep during daytime) and also lots of roos who were doing all kinds of weird stuff. Being used to visitors and no fences, they were blocking pretty much most of the walkways, just laying on their backs with legs up (like cats do, but just imagine 60 kg kangaroo doing it), eating from hands (like this dude), doing yoga (and this dude) etc. In short, plenty of fun.
Got some pretty sick aerial shots of Surfers Paradise beach, too. From the top of tallest building in the area – Q1. 21 dollars well spent,especially if you have a sunny day and zoom lens with you.
There’s nothing like a nice old long weekend away to recharge your batteries, hope you had a good one, too.
Archive for the 'Travel' Category
Peek-a-boo
Published April 11, 2012 Life , Travel 1 CommentTags: byron bay, easter, gold coast, kangaroos, koalas, long weekend, Peek-a-boo, surfers paradise, Travel
SYD-SIN-CMB-BAH-DOH-KWI-DXB-MCT-DXB-MLE-SIN-SYD
Published April 1, 2012 Photography , Travel 2 CommentsTags: 100 country challenge, 99, maldives, middle east, Sri Lanka, Travel
Yay, I’m back down under, with 99 countries under belt. Only one left to go, and I still have 3 months to do it, magic.
As you can see from the title, the last mammoth trip was a biggie, 7 countries and lots of flights.
Some of the highlights: checking out some leopards from 5 meters away (in the wild) in Yala National Park, get mesmerized by Burj Khalifa (at 828m tallest building in the world) and getting lost in Dubai Mall (yes, you guessed it, largest in the world), snorkeling with sharks in Maldives, seeing green sea turtles hatch eggs in Oman, smoking shisha and drinking lots of tea in Qatar, lots and lots of elephants in Sri Lanka, hanging out for hours in Kuwait Souks (traditional markets).
Here is a quick photo journey from the trip to share with you. Have a good day.
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Oman – great expectations
Published March 22, 2012 Travel 7 CommentsTags: check list, fail, great expectations, middle east, Oman, travel tips
I’m normally not a party pooper and when I don’t have much positive to say I don’t comment at all. So this will not be about trashing Oman as tourist destination. This will be a check list that I would recommend for other travelers before heading here, to ensure they enjoy the trip (which, as you could guess, I did not).
1. Managing expectations – I was looking forward to Oman as a highlight of my trip around middle east, my expectations were high based on comments and reviews from other travelers. Whilst my bar for Kuwait or Qatar was really low, I actually ended up really enjoying the places, it was a pleasant surprise. For Oman it was the opposite, as reality did not match the standard – Green oasis in the dessert, amazing souqs, authentic…none of that matched it’s middle east neighbors.
2. Get a car. Full stop. Without it your trip will be ruined, as taxis end up costing you arm and a leg, whilst buses only ply couple of routes. Country, much like rest of middle east is built for cars, you have to drive to get to shopping, you have to drive to get to hotel, market, attraction etc, everything is spread out. I did get the car at the end, but I can not over emphasize enough how crucial it is.
3. Travel with someone/don’t stay in budget hotels. Decent hotels start at 120 dollars upwards, for 40-50d you get trouble and for 80d you can hope to get some sleep in basic room.
4. Tours are expensive, even by Western standards, most tours will set you off couple of hundred dollars a day. Just get a car and go see the sights yourself, unless you want to head out into dessert.
5. If it’s your first stop in Middle east, you’ll love it, if you’ve been to Syria, Jordan, Dubai, Turkey etc, brace yourself as Oman is nowhere near as diverse, unique or exiting, compared to some other nearby destinations.
6. Spend time, come to Oman for at least two weeks, so you have time to drive to remote locations like Salah or Matrah island, as that’s where it starts to get interesting, anything below a week is waste of time, just go somewhere else that is more compact.
So here it is, hope this helps some other would be goers to ensure they don’t make the same mistakes as me. I still believe that any experience is a good experience, but really, if you can avoid some annoying things, do it and your trip will be even better. Pura vida!
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Why you come to my country?
Published March 13, 2012 Travel 1 CommentTags: airport, arrival, Bahrain, tourism, Travel
Conversation taking place between me and immigration officer of Bahrain upon arrival.
Officer: “Why you come to my country?”
Me: “Tourism, as per landing card”
Officer: “Yes, but why you come to my country?
Me: “Just visiting, seeing sites, eating local food, spending dollars, you know”
Officer: “…(long pause, i.e. The tourist box on the landing card is there, but you’re not really supposed to tick it)”
He proceeded to check on computer if I’m blacklisted as a known operative of social disturbance or other unwanted activities. After nothing checked out and there was no reason to detain me, he was forced to let me through (with the grunt).
So much for a warm welcome. You see, Bahrain is not known to be a tourist destination. So if you’re curious and still want to see places off the beaten track, places like Bahrain, you’re in for a pickle. 99.9% of foreigners are her for work (banking, oil, construction) or just transit. If you’re neither of them, nothing works – there is no public transport to speak of (not only from the airport, but anywhere in the city, no buses, trains, trams or tuk tuks, even taxis are hard to get and expencive. There are no budget hotels or hostels as everything is built for business. There are no pedestrian walkways along most of the roads, as you’re not supposed to walk, you’re supposed to drive. There is no culture either, just shopping malls with high end Western brands, shopping is a main form of entertainment for most people.
So in short, would I want to live here or come visit again soon? Hell no. Do I regret coming here for a couple of days? No way, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into (well, kind of).
P.s. Leaving the country proved to be exceptionally easy, pre-booked taxi to airport took 15mins, check in with no queues another 5mins, security and immigration no queues again another 5mins, and that is at busy 8am. All in from hotel to my gate in half an hour. Go figure! Have time for brekkie before heading to Doha.
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Crying elephant tears
Published March 7, 2012 Travel 1 CommentTags: elephants, Sri Lanka, Travel, truth
Yesterday I went to elephant ophranage near Kandy, where dozens, may be even a hundred Sri lankan elephants reside, most of them babies or young adults. It is one of the biggest in the world of it’s kind.
As the masses of tourists got off their air conditioned busses and descended towards the closest herd, I had to think to myself, who was the real elephant in the room.
First we restrict their natural habbitat, then we poach the adults for their ivory treasures and sell them to Chinese, then we put the few suriving todlers in enclave for western tourists to come and see for 20 dollars a pop. And we chain a few of them up close, so that everyone can pat them or take a picture, that’s exactly what every elephant would want at 35 degrees heat in the middle of the day.
I am not questioning the good deeds that may be behind the orphanege, but the sad truth is out there for everyone to see. There is no win for elephants in this fight, no matter which way you look at it, it’s the circus or death.
P.s. No pictures only stories whilst travelling, will upload proper ones once back, was relying on my old IPhone camera, but it can’t tell monkey from the elephant, so not really worth sharing.
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Will Samoa be the One?
Published February 8, 2012 Life , Travel Leave a CommentTags: 100 countries, last one, samoa
I still have few months to go till my 28th July 2012 deadline for the 100 countries, but given that my next trip in march will take me to 99, I only have one country/trip left to plan. So far pacific island archipelago of Samoa seems to be the one with most brownie points.
It is independent country and member of United Nations (unlike New Caledonia, Cook Islands and other pacific bad boys); it has direct flights from Sydney that take 6h each way (do not need to take lots of holidays) and do not cost a fortune (600d return), plus it actually seems like a pretty interesting destination, both culturally (Samoans are curious bunch) as well as geographically (i.e. beautiful beaches).
I’ve spent quite a few hours researching the most exiting destination for the final country, but so far nothing beats Samoa. My ideal destination for the 100th country would have been one of the many special spots I’ve not seen yet, such as hiking in Nepal, playing with Gorillas in Rwanda or getting lost in Canadian wilderness, but those all are big trips that deserve special planning and attention, not something that is worth compromising for over few holidays left before July. Have a look at my country list, and may be you have better ideas, any suggestions welcome. Over and out.
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If the road is not challenging, it’s not worth going
Published January 24, 2012 Life , Travel 4 CommentsTags: Travel, middle east, challange, 100 countries, big trip
I’m preparing for my last big trip of 100 country challenge coming up in March, a trip that will cover 7 countries and take me to the total of 99, I can smell the finish line, but I’m not there yet.
I knew it will not be easy or cheap when approaching the end, what I did not know was that I’ll be living in Australia, upss.
In march I plan to go to Sri Lanka, several Middle East countries, such as Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and on the way back finish up in Maldives. This trip will be by far the most expensive short term (less than a month) trip I’ve ever taken, not only flights are ridiculously expensive, I have no close by countries left, and those who are left are not only far but also require visas, which unfortunately are needed for Latvians in most Middle Eastern countries, even UAE (Dubai). There was a point when I regretted not getting UK citizenship and staying proud Latvian, after having that opportunity living 5 years in London. But that weakness is over, you’ve got work with what you got.
So now my focus for next month is to get 4 tourist visas via quite complex requirements to ensure the trip runs smoothly. Wish me luck, I will definitely need it. Will keep you posted how my preparation goes. And keep traveling, world is such a beautiful place.
Tasmania without the Devil
Published January 4, 2012 Travel Leave a CommentTags: australia, devil, island, Tasmania, Travel
Prior to going to Tasmania, a tiny island (actually Tasmania is slightly bigger than Latvia, 68k vs. 64k square km, so not that tiny) off Southern Coast of Australia, the only thing I knew about was the famous little animal – Tasmanian Devil, that only lives on this island. After 7 days on the island that remained the only thing we did not see in the whole trip. Funny how it works. But here is what we did see:
Amazing beaches – Wineglass Bay, Binalong Bay and many others, white sand and deserted most Tasmanian beaches are as good as they come, with a little bit of sunshine they are the perfect place to be.
Amazing wineries – we visited 3 or 4 of them, most offer up to 8 wines for tasting free of charge, my favorite was Bay of Fires winery. Also I totally changed my opinion about Riesling. In Tasmanian cooler climate they do it very fresh and dry, nothing in comparison to sweet stuff you’d normally expect from German/Austrian ones.
Lots of animals – dead and alive. There is so much road kill in Tasmania that it makes me sad, but that is just a further proof how healthy the eco system of this island is, as animals are everywhere. On our hikes and early drives, we saw plenty of wombats, wallabies, opossums and other random things, crawling, jumping and just sitting lazily around in the wild, its definitely their territory and we are just the visitors.
Art – MONA art gallery in Hobart is privately owned and definitely in my top 3 in the world, probably only Saatchi gallery in London would come close. If you like modern art, this alone is worth a visit to Tassie.
Food – there are some top notch eateries for foodies. We had steak from Black Cow in Launceston and it honestly is as good as any top NY or London eatery.
So that’s that, I can highly recommend visit to this far out place, if you get a chance to come to Australia. Here are a few pics for the trip. Hope you’re having good start of the year!
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What do you do when you need to change a passport?
Published October 23, 2011 Travel Leave a CommentTags: 100 countries, 92, armenia, challange, georgia, new passport, south korea
If you are are a Latvian living in Australia, you spend $2000+ on tickets and sit on a plane for 25 hours (each way) to go home. My latest trip was triggered by very practical reason of not having enough free pages in my passport to travel, so I had to go home to get a new one. You see, passports are normally issued only in the country itself or its legal offices of representation – embassies. Slight problem with being Latvian citizen is that we only have about 15 embassies around globe, most of them in Europe, and from Australia, the closest embassy is, wait for it, Japan, only 10 hour flight away. I figured if I have to fly to Tokyo to get a new passport, I might as well go home and on the way add some new countries. So I did, result – 2 week holiday, 7 flights, 3 new countries and a new passport.
I already posted about South Korea stop-over, this one is about more detail on adventures in Georgia and Armenia, where I was lucky enough to spend 8 days. Georgia gets my vote, super easy to get in (no visas, quick customs), great food (khinkali, khachapuri, lobio), welcoming people (60 year old dude on marshruthka sharing his headphones with me to listen to some Georgian dance music) and amazing nature, such as Kazbeki mountain range that I explored a bit, not to the top at 5033m, of course, only to about 3000m or so, here’s a complimentary snap.
I thought Latvia has had bad run in 20th Century, but look at Armenia. Not only had they endure Genocide from Turks that resulted in death of more than 50% of Armenian population, they lost most of their territory, and now have no access to sea, no minerals underground, little arable land, two aggressive neighbours with locked borders and Armenian pride and joy, mount Ararat, sitting on the Turkish side of the border. Look but don’t touch, how cruel is that, here is a picture from Yerevan, Armenian capital with Ararat in the background.
Full set of pictures from the trip are here.
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Seoul for a day
Published October 7, 2011 Travel Leave a CommentTags: 100 countries, korea air, number 90, seoul, south korea, stop over
Friend of mine and self confessed avid reader (yes you Liesma) reminded me today that I’ve neglected my blog and my regular post is few days late. No excuses, being back home and catching up with friends is so exiting that I’ve lost track of time. So here we go.
This one is about my brief stopover in Seoul a few days ago,on the way to London. Actually Korea Air offer from Sydney to London via Seoul is amazing value and quite comfortable way to get through 22h of pure flying time. As part of ticket and 20h layover in Seoul, Korea Air gives you free hotel accommodation, transport to and from airport, plus dinner, breakfast and lunch, not bad perks.
Normally I do not count transit stops as country visits, but considering the fact that it was with overnight stay and I did actually went out at night and into town centre the next morning and explored it for a few hours, its good enough for me, so here’s a tick for country number 90.
Seoul is a funny beast, with high tech infrastructure and efficiency next to centuries old shabby buildings and tiny street labyrinths in the old town it reminder me of Tokyo a lot.
At night I hooked up with some fellow travellers and we hit a local karaoke bar, needless to say they did not seem to get many foreigners, also as we were the only costumers in the early evening, bar hostess sat down with our table to chat and otherwise entertain us. Within minutes I was called Jesus Christ, only to be renamed Orlando Bloom moments later, my other two fellow travellers were given less glamorous anime character names, lucky me Jesus. They all seemed to be multi talented as other dude from behind the bar appeared with electric guitar and mic in hand and started punching out heartfelt Gary Barlow ballads in broken English, only for us, just surreal. Ough, did I mention the sweet grandma who was so impressed with my Vibram five finger shoes that she leaned down, touched and tickled my fingers and then she insisted to hold my friends jacket for a duration of 30 min metro journey, some kind of bonding I guess, we did not resist.
So that’s my 5 minutes in Seoul, hope you’re having fun too, where-ever you are.
