To all those loyal followers, I present to you a reward:
Parkys Adventures - The Book
Of course, I will still update this blog every now and then, but for now - this is what has happened so far.
Enjoy
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Fin?
Snorkeling around the smaller islands of Koh Chang seemed like a perfect way to see the underwater scenery of the area. We paid our money and got on a boat. The wind picked up and the seas got choppy. After an hour and a half of vomit inducing, snail pace boat chugging, we finally reached our first destination. I threw myself into the water with little hesitancy and found small jellyfish encircling me.
'Strange?', I thought and kept on swimming around, hunting for the more colourful fish.
It wasn't until I had to swim through a huge swarm of jellyfish that I started to think that maybe I should be looking to head back in. But everyone else was having a great time, so my worries subsided.
Until it struck.
Kapow, a sting to my right flank, followed closely to one on the shoulder. It was at that stage I decided things definitely weren't that 'ducky'. I hauled myself on board, and just in time it seemed, as all the other snorkelers started instantly complaining about stings and such. Some came aboard with huge rashes, bigger than Ben Hur, some were. I briefly considered allowing Renee to urinate on me, but I would have rather died in terrible pain.
The stings weren't dangerous, or even severely harmful, just off-putting. It finalised our snorkeling adventure right there and then. Floating around to the other islands seemed to be just time filler as we grew more and more disappointed with our decision to come out in the first place.
The last few days have been spent relaxing on a beach, eating Tempura battered delicacies, and attempting to hunt for jobs on the internet. I had also forgot to mention - we visited the floating markets when we were in Bangkok. Took an hour to get there and was somewhat worth it to see what was so different about it all. Turns out, it is just like a regular market but you get around via boat. An interesting idea and a great way to buy some more extra crap that I dont need. Photos of that as well as Koh Chnag below:
With this final and relaxing stage of our 7 week long return to Australia, I fear and also sadly digress that this may be one of my final blog posts................
Alas, all good things must end and the show must go on. I have no doubt that I will continue travelling, however the frequency and longevity of such will not be anywhere near as extreme as what it has been over the last five years this blog has been running. As such, these posts will die down, perhaps not altogether, but less frequently for sure.
It has been a great period of life during my travels. I have been to 168 cities in 38 different countries (with hopefully many more to come).
I have seen the Colosseum of Rome, the schnapps factories of Austria, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Leaning Tower in Pisa, the Acropolis of Athens, the Pantheons of Italy and France and the Parthenon of Greece, the smile of the Mona Lisa, the clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, the fantastic green of the Northern Lights, the impressiveness of the Taj Mahal, the sunrise from the Ghats of Varanasi, the Skyscrapers of New York, the Guggenheim of Bilbao, the Coffee shops of Amsterdam, the ruins of Angkor Wat, the 1969 islands of Halong Bay (most of them), the beaches of Croatia, the bazaars of Morocco, the waterways of Venice, the mighty beerhalls of Oktoberfest, the monster in Loch Ness (I think), the cliffs of the Twelve Apostles, the Sagrada Familia of Barcelona, the poverty of Albania, the beauty of Lauterbrunnen, the fleeting glimpses of Montenegro and Liectenstein, the mean streets of South Central LA, the nice streets of Southfields UK, the Wall built by Hadrian and the Wall built by Berlin, the bars of Bruges, the amazing fireworks celebrations of New Years in Lisbon, the Dome in Florence, the villages of Laos, the Towers of Malaysia, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the Great Pyramids of Giza, the fish of the Red Sea, the border of Israel and the wonder of Petra, the bottom of a Guinness glass in Belfast, the ducks at Lake Bled, the Concentration camps of the Nazis and the Killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, the pirate ship of Sweden, the lakes of Luxembourg, the biodomes of the Eden Project, the inside of many pubs (lets not try counting them), the stadium of Cardiff, the Mountain of Matterhorn and the Mount of Maunganui, the temples of Thailand, the Cathedrals of England, the Casino of Monte Carlo, the back alley illegal beer markets of Jaipur, the Running of the Bulls, the Palace of Sintra, the Pilseners of Prague, and the islands of Greece.
I have seen these sights with many good friends and my thirst for travel has not dwindled, although my bank account has. To see the world is one thing but to experience it is something completely different, and I hope through these past blogs that consist of insights and highlights, praise and complaints, & ambitions and fears that it has been an experience you have shared also.
Lets not think of this as a final post though. I do have Australia to see, and I do have a few small / medium sized trips that I would love to get off my chest should a few extra dollars wriggle their way into my pockets. Do check in from time to time to see if any of those wishes have been answered, but until then.
Adios, Au Revoir, Vaarwel, Laters, Tam Biet, Ciao, and Pozdrav
And of course, Merry Christmas
P.S. I leave you with a parting shot taken from our balcony window only moments ago.
'Strange?', I thought and kept on swimming around, hunting for the more colourful fish.
It wasn't until I had to swim through a huge swarm of jellyfish that I started to think that maybe I should be looking to head back in. But everyone else was having a great time, so my worries subsided.
Until it struck.
Kapow, a sting to my right flank, followed closely to one on the shoulder. It was at that stage I decided things definitely weren't that 'ducky'. I hauled myself on board, and just in time it seemed, as all the other snorkelers started instantly complaining about stings and such. Some came aboard with huge rashes, bigger than Ben Hur, some were. I briefly considered allowing Renee to urinate on me, but I would have rather died in terrible pain.
The stings weren't dangerous, or even severely harmful, just off-putting. It finalised our snorkeling adventure right there and then. Floating around to the other islands seemed to be just time filler as we grew more and more disappointed with our decision to come out in the first place.
The last few days have been spent relaxing on a beach, eating Tempura battered delicacies, and attempting to hunt for jobs on the internet. I had also forgot to mention - we visited the floating markets when we were in Bangkok. Took an hour to get there and was somewhat worth it to see what was so different about it all. Turns out, it is just like a regular market but you get around via boat. An interesting idea and a great way to buy some more extra crap that I dont need. Photos of that as well as Koh Chnag below:
With this final and relaxing stage of our 7 week long return to Australia, I fear and also sadly digress that this may be one of my final blog posts................
Alas, all good things must end and the show must go on. I have no doubt that I will continue travelling, however the frequency and longevity of such will not be anywhere near as extreme as what it has been over the last five years this blog has been running. As such, these posts will die down, perhaps not altogether, but less frequently for sure.
It has been a great period of life during my travels. I have been to 168 cities in 38 different countries (with hopefully many more to come).
I have seen the Colosseum of Rome, the schnapps factories of Austria, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Leaning Tower in Pisa, the Acropolis of Athens, the Pantheons of Italy and France and the Parthenon of Greece, the smile of the Mona Lisa, the clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, the fantastic green of the Northern Lights, the impressiveness of the Taj Mahal, the sunrise from the Ghats of Varanasi, the Skyscrapers of New York, the Guggenheim of Bilbao, the Coffee shops of Amsterdam, the ruins of Angkor Wat, the 1969 islands of Halong Bay (most of them), the beaches of Croatia, the bazaars of Morocco, the waterways of Venice, the mighty beerhalls of Oktoberfest, the monster in Loch Ness (I think), the cliffs of the Twelve Apostles, the Sagrada Familia of Barcelona, the poverty of Albania, the beauty of Lauterbrunnen, the fleeting glimpses of Montenegro and Liectenstein, the mean streets of South Central LA, the nice streets of Southfields UK, the Wall built by Hadrian and the Wall built by Berlin, the bars of Bruges, the amazing fireworks celebrations of New Years in Lisbon, the Dome in Florence, the villages of Laos, the Towers of Malaysia, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the Great Pyramids of Giza, the fish of the Red Sea, the border of Israel and the wonder of Petra, the bottom of a Guinness glass in Belfast, the ducks at Lake Bled, the Concentration camps of the Nazis and the Killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, the pirate ship of Sweden, the lakes of Luxembourg, the biodomes of the Eden Project, the inside of many pubs (lets not try counting them), the stadium of Cardiff, the Mountain of Matterhorn and the Mount of Maunganui, the temples of Thailand, the Cathedrals of England, the Casino of Monte Carlo, the back alley illegal beer markets of Jaipur, the Running of the Bulls, the Palace of Sintra, the Pilseners of Prague, and the islands of Greece.
I have seen these sights with many good friends and my thirst for travel has not dwindled, although my bank account has. To see the world is one thing but to experience it is something completely different, and I hope through these past blogs that consist of insights and highlights, praise and complaints, & ambitions and fears that it has been an experience you have shared also.
Lets not think of this as a final post though. I do have Australia to see, and I do have a few small / medium sized trips that I would love to get off my chest should a few extra dollars wriggle their way into my pockets. Do check in from time to time to see if any of those wishes have been answered, but until then.
Adios, Au Revoir, Vaarwel, Laters, Tam Biet, Ciao, and Pozdrav
And of course, Merry Christmas
P.S. I leave you with a parting shot taken from our balcony window only moments ago.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
On An Island
The trip around Indochina finished in a flurry. The Angkor Complex was incredible, as predicted. The number of temple locations and sights to see in the area is incredible so we limited ourselves to the best ones. On the first day (you need a three day pass to see it all really) we visited Ta Prohm, a temple most will find familiar with that majestically beautiful movie 'Tombraider'. It has been deliberately left overgrown and looked fantastic because of it. It annoys me how a visit to a ruin site or a wonder of the world is constantly marred by large scaffolding structures, necessary to 'protect' the future of the ruin whereas at the same time undermining the very idea of what it is - a ruin. This is why I thought Ta Prohm was the best temple we saw throughout the whole complex.
As for all the photos of the kids. It is like bloody 'Lord of the Flies' throughout Indochina.
"Where are your parents?" we ask and are met with blank expressions.
The next day we woke up extremely early, earlier than the roosters even (god how I hate roosters now) and made our leisurely way out to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise over it. We were left stunned by the amount of tourists and photographers there, most of them the rudest people I have ever met in my life.
I managed to find a small spot to stand, on the edge of the filthiest lake ever mind you, before I was briefly shunted out of the way by a wannabe photographer who promptly moved exactly straight in front of me, so close I could have nibbled the back of his neck, or headbutted him. Then he stood there as if nothing was happening. Found another spot and another guy came up
"Hey man, do you mind if I stand in your exact spot for 10 minutes"
"10 Minutes! What!"
"Oh never mind" he said in a gruff and lent his camera on my shoulder and started clicking away in my ear. My left hand, my killing hand, was getting shaky. It had been a while since he was needed and he was thirsty.
I restrained, got in my squat mode and dipped out to the edge of the lake below all the kafufle.
This brings me to my next point - Facebook and Digital Cameras are literally ruining the way we respect travel. Im as guilty of it as anyone, but this realisation didn't occur as strongly until I got smacked in the face by it at Angkor. The pain shot down my spine, through my leg, across the grass and up a nearby palm tree.
Thirty years ago, visiting a temple such as Angkor (built to align with the sunrise and sunset mind you) at sunrise would be a life affirming scenario. Travellers would chill on the banks, and gaze in silent wonder. Nowadays it is all about whether one can get 'the photo' to show off and say "I've been there". Once you are done fighting people to see the sunrise yourself in a moment of solitude, the event is over and you are left empty. Upon reflection, this has happened at most of the major sites I have visited.
"Wow, the Great Pyramids" I exclaim, in awe
Polish girls we were travelling with - "Can you get our photo?" "Great, seen it, now lets go sunbake"
But....... but.........but............aren't you amazed?
Here's some photos of the day:
We had a long day driving from Siem Reap to Bangkok for our final night of the tour. It was a great trip, one of the best, and I am glad to have shared it with a great bunch of people. Below is a quick photo of the group, less the tour guide and two of the group members.
A few nights staying on in Bangkok and we are now resting it up on the Thai island of Koh Chang. The sun is glorious, and although our visit started out a bit rough (will talk about it later - too soon now, too soon), we think it will be a perfect place to finish things up prior to the trip back to oz.
As for all the photos of the kids. It is like bloody 'Lord of the Flies' throughout Indochina.
"Where are your parents?" we ask and are met with blank expressions.
The next day we woke up extremely early, earlier than the roosters even (god how I hate roosters now) and made our leisurely way out to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise over it. We were left stunned by the amount of tourists and photographers there, most of them the rudest people I have ever met in my life.
I managed to find a small spot to stand, on the edge of the filthiest lake ever mind you, before I was briefly shunted out of the way by a wannabe photographer who promptly moved exactly straight in front of me, so close I could have nibbled the back of his neck, or headbutted him. Then he stood there as if nothing was happening. Found another spot and another guy came up
"Hey man, do you mind if I stand in your exact spot for 10 minutes"
"10 Minutes! What!"
"Oh never mind" he said in a gruff and lent his camera on my shoulder and started clicking away in my ear. My left hand, my killing hand, was getting shaky. It had been a while since he was needed and he was thirsty.
I restrained, got in my squat mode and dipped out to the edge of the lake below all the kafufle.
This brings me to my next point - Facebook and Digital Cameras are literally ruining the way we respect travel. Im as guilty of it as anyone, but this realisation didn't occur as strongly until I got smacked in the face by it at Angkor. The pain shot down my spine, through my leg, across the grass and up a nearby palm tree.
Thirty years ago, visiting a temple such as Angkor (built to align with the sunrise and sunset mind you) at sunrise would be a life affirming scenario. Travellers would chill on the banks, and gaze in silent wonder. Nowadays it is all about whether one can get 'the photo' to show off and say "I've been there". Once you are done fighting people to see the sunrise yourself in a moment of solitude, the event is over and you are left empty. Upon reflection, this has happened at most of the major sites I have visited.
"Wow, the Great Pyramids" I exclaim, in awe
Polish girls we were travelling with - "Can you get our photo?" "Great, seen it, now lets go sunbake"
But....... but.........but............aren't you amazed?
Here's some photos of the day:
We had a long day driving from Siem Reap to Bangkok for our final night of the tour. It was a great trip, one of the best, and I am glad to have shared it with a great bunch of people. Below is a quick photo of the group, less the tour guide and two of the group members.
A few nights staying on in Bangkok and we are now resting it up on the Thai island of Koh Chang. The sun is glorious, and although our visit started out a bit rough (will talk about it later - too soon now, too soon), we think it will be a perfect place to finish things up prior to the trip back to oz.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Cruisin' thru Cambodia
We spent a total of 3 nights in Hoi An getting numerous amounts of tailored clothing made for us. The prices and quality were good so I went a little crazy. Too crazy one would think but it is all necessary. Not much else to do in Hoi An. It rained like a monsoon on some nights, with the river water completely flooding the road and shopfronts. One restaurant we visited showed a mark of 1.5m where the water had risen to just weeks prior.
We caught a plane from Danang airport into the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City (formally Saigon) and were met by more rain. It passed quickly and we all took a cyclo tour through the city. A cyclo is a type of tuk tuk driven by human legpower that uses the tourist as a front end battering ram. The chaos of the streets didn't help matters as we were whisked along the main roads. A great way to see the place though.
The group split up the next day and a few of us headed to the Cu Chi tunnels - a tunnel system set up by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War that houses roughly 250 km of midget sized tunnels. It is an ingenious setup; if you cant beat the enemy through conventional tactics, attack them from all sides via underground passages. The booby traps that littered the area were enough to make you wish to never have been part of the war should it have been thrust upon you. They had a few left over weapons from the war as well, and a firing range to test them out on.
Renee was worried.
The noise was deafening.
Near the end of the tour we got the opportunity to crawl through the tunnels. As a tourist, an adventurous one at that, you simply cant go to the tunnels without going through them. Picture a small hole, accessed through a stepped well, which you effectively crawl into for a certain length of time. The tunnels changed direction, went up and down and were very dimly lit.
It was torture.
How the Viet Cong survived down in those tunnels for months at a time is beyond me. Apparently, the tunnels have been widened recently as well, to allow the tourists to get through them as some used to get stuck. Stuck in a wormhole in the middle of Vietnam is not the way I want to go. Unfortunately I was hyper ventilating too much to even think of getting photos but maybe do a quick search on the net to see what they are like. This picture below might also give you a fair idea of what they used to be like.
Madness.
A public bus took us from Vietnam, across the border and into Cambodia. We arrived in Phnom Penh and took another quick cyclo tour. It is a seemingly much more westernised city to what we have seen so far. We were taken to a former jail of the Khmer Rouge regime, which was grim to say the least. After that we were taken to the killing fields; the spot were they executed alot of Cambodians based on their intellect. 'Everyone is a CIA agent' Pol Pot seemed to think and he got rid of them. This was even more grim, more shocking than the concentration camps we visited in Europe, I felt.
The trip took a more pleasing turn when we headed out into the sticks (and I mean sticks) to stay at an authentic Cambodian homestay. The family were very nice, and the kids were good at kicking soccer balls, as they tied me up for a while playing a game of passes. The country lifestyle in Cambodia is relaxed and we slipped straight into the mood of it. Waking up at 4am, then 4:30am, then 5am due to the various animals wasn't that fun mind you. This was one of the most enjoyable times on the trip.
We visited ruins, ate country food, and harvested rice.
We have now just arrived in Siem Reap, preparing ourselves for Angkor Wat tomorrow. Just had a fish foot massage which was interesting but came with a free beer so I thought it sounded like a deal.
We caught a plane from Danang airport into the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City (formally Saigon) and were met by more rain. It passed quickly and we all took a cyclo tour through the city. A cyclo is a type of tuk tuk driven by human legpower that uses the tourist as a front end battering ram. The chaos of the streets didn't help matters as we were whisked along the main roads. A great way to see the place though.
The group split up the next day and a few of us headed to the Cu Chi tunnels - a tunnel system set up by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War that houses roughly 250 km of midget sized tunnels. It is an ingenious setup; if you cant beat the enemy through conventional tactics, attack them from all sides via underground passages. The booby traps that littered the area were enough to make you wish to never have been part of the war should it have been thrust upon you. They had a few left over weapons from the war as well, and a firing range to test them out on.
Renee was worried.
The noise was deafening.
Near the end of the tour we got the opportunity to crawl through the tunnels. As a tourist, an adventurous one at that, you simply cant go to the tunnels without going through them. Picture a small hole, accessed through a stepped well, which you effectively crawl into for a certain length of time. The tunnels changed direction, went up and down and were very dimly lit.
It was torture.
How the Viet Cong survived down in those tunnels for months at a time is beyond me. Apparently, the tunnels have been widened recently as well, to allow the tourists to get through them as some used to get stuck. Stuck in a wormhole in the middle of Vietnam is not the way I want to go. Unfortunately I was hyper ventilating too much to even think of getting photos but maybe do a quick search on the net to see what they are like. This picture below might also give you a fair idea of what they used to be like.
Madness.
A public bus took us from Vietnam, across the border and into Cambodia. We arrived in Phnom Penh and took another quick cyclo tour. It is a seemingly much more westernised city to what we have seen so far. We were taken to a former jail of the Khmer Rouge regime, which was grim to say the least. After that we were taken to the killing fields; the spot were they executed alot of Cambodians based on their intellect. 'Everyone is a CIA agent' Pol Pot seemed to think and he got rid of them. This was even more grim, more shocking than the concentration camps we visited in Europe, I felt.
The trip took a more pleasing turn when we headed out into the sticks (and I mean sticks) to stay at an authentic Cambodian homestay. The family were very nice, and the kids were good at kicking soccer balls, as they tied me up for a while playing a game of passes. The country lifestyle in Cambodia is relaxed and we slipped straight into the mood of it. Waking up at 4am, then 4:30am, then 5am due to the various animals wasn't that fun mind you. This was one of the most enjoyable times on the trip.
We visited ruins, ate country food, and harvested rice.
We have now just arrived in Siem Reap, preparing ourselves for Angkor Wat tomorrow. Just had a fish foot massage which was interesting but came with a free beer so I thought it sounded like a deal.
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