Kia Ora!
= Hello! in Maori language
New Zealand has been the least amazing place so far.. :/ Quite the opposite to Sydney, I just walked through all the major sights and places I wanted to see, including the Auckland Museum (!), in 10 hours. In the picture below you see me under a legendary sailboat (Auckland is "the city of sails" and Kiwis, A.K.A. New Zealanders, are quite proud of their sailing team) that will supposedly guarantee New Zealand victory in the future. Another big boat I saw in the museum was an old, 100-man Maori war canoe. Much cooler than the sail boat but did not get a very good picture of it, as it was almost as big and trapped indoors. Another big thing here, besides sailing, seems to be rugby. I have seen so much hype about it that I will need to catch a match on ESPN or something afterwards. I'm told the All Blacks are real badasses.
Bic Mac would have cost 4,45 local money (NZD) equalling roughly 2,5 euros with a combo (meal) of 6,65 NZD or 3,7 euros. There are surprisingly few MacDonalds' here, it is not in many major cities you get to really look for one. Auckland is a bit bigger than Helsinki, but I bet Helsinki has more McD's. Then again, here they have many other fast food joints. And the local food is almost as hard to define as in Finland it seems: I asked a few times and the answers vary.. however, I did get some excellent lamb cutlet a few hours ago and tomorrow I'll try fush 'n chups (local fish 'n chips). Beer has a wide range here, some are ok but I also tasted Swedish-like water-beer, which is, sadly enough, called Export gold. Well, they do export mostly Lapin Kulta from Finland so there must be a pattern here to see..
The locals keep more to themselves here and kind of remind me of Finns in that way. Again like Finns, they are very nice and considerate every time you deal with them. And the Maori culture is seen surprisingly much in the whole national scene and they have a totally different status than many other indigenous cultures. Many street and place names are Maori names and their culture is seen as an essential part of New Zealand, even in the signs in customs they have text in Maori (don't really know what the language is called, just making up stuff here). There are lots of Chinese people here as well, it must be a matter of time as Chinatown Helsinki starts to build up.. I myself live in a remote hostel that is in good neighbourhood (is there a bad one here?), cost about the same as in Sydney but they have everything from breakfast to free drinking water (and vodka, thanks to some Swedish girls), so it was a good pick.
This is also a country of rules and regluations. Can not do this, can not do that, must do this.. they put me into customs inspection just because I had been hiking in the wilderness in the past 30 days -all just so that I would not ruin their biological party here. Ok, I was a bit frustrated at that point but the nature surely is one of the greatest wonders here. That is why I just booked hugely expensive bus tickets to Rotorua, the big Maori culture & Geothermal area. A four hour bus ride here equals a 6 hour train travel in Finland -in price! Rotorua better be worth the trouble.. I am more and more convinced that the best way to experience this country is to rent a car (they are quite cheap, actually, some 16 euros per day!) and have some money and loads of time. This is not a place for sightseeing (ok, maybe the natural park is that as well) as much as it is a place for experiences. You get the full range of activities here from diving to skiing. Anyway, about the rules, below is a picture of a bit peculiar one.
Noted a couple other funny things, like their most used traffic lights. They have three alternatives: cars east-west, cars north-south and pedestrians. The lighs make a funny Gameboy-death-like sound and people start crossing everywhere come pedestrians' turn. I was a bit confused as people walked diagonally over the crossing and some Chinese dudes went to the very middle to take pictures of the street that was still in Chinese New Years decoration! One other funny thing is that New Zealand is overall a quite active volcan area. Auckland is built ON three old volcanoes, and there is nothing that says that there could not be another one erupting right next door. Even in the museum there is a simulation about one popping out in the popular beach next to Auckland -I asked some locals how they felt about it and they just went "No worries mate, that's why we have scientists"...
Exit Australia
Last post here.. To summarize, a great country with lots to offer. One other great thing about Australia has been that I found wonder and interest in many "regular" things like the aquarium, for example. As the flora and fauna is so different here, there was loads of interesting stuff. I definately need to come here again for a longer trip with more financial means..
Best national beer tasted: Toohey's New
Best national dish: prime BBQ rib in black pepper sauce w/ fries
Best sight/experience: hiking in Blue Mountains Natural park
A glimpse of outback in the Blue Mountains
.. well, not really. A guided tour that included hiking. I am embarrassed.. But that was the choice for little money and even less time. I can recommend Ozadventures to anyone with a tight budget but urges to see and learn a lot. It was a well spent 63 AUD for a full day trip including 1,5 hour trips (one way) and lunch.
Starting out early we headed for a wildlife area to see some wild kangaroos. I got loads of useless information from the guide, so I'll share some with you. The name kangaroo came to use when white men asked the aboriginals what the animal was called. They replied with a term that meant "I do not know what the hell you are talking about" (or something similar, free translation) and that term was "kangaroo". So that is where the name came from...
Also, the Blue mountains have their name since in their area there are lots of eucalyptus trees that contain a specific kind of oil which then reacts with fine particles of the atmosphere creating a kind of fog that bends blue light especially well. Hence: Blue mountains. They took us for two 2-hour tours in the mountains and the cool tempered rainforests there, teaching all sorts of stuff about the flora, fauna and aboriginal habits there.. Won't bore your with more of them, but here is a nice picture from a waterfall/rock by the name of Witch's face. Any idea where the name came from?
And here I stand at the end of the tour in a lookout where you can see the famous "Three sisters" -rock formation. It is said that a medicine man turned his three daughters to stone as they were threatened by a big monster with unrecognizable name -and later on running away from the same monster he lost his magic wand and thus can not turn the sisters back to life. This is the biggest tourist attraction in the area, and joined to it there is world's steepest railway up the hill, some 55 degrees incline or something. Those interested can check it out from Guinness.
The last times here I will probably just lay low, eat well and go see the aquarium and get myself mentally ready for the trip to Auckland!
How to experience Sydney in 5 days
.. I don't know! This place has so many things that in that time I can merely scratch the surface. But what a scratch it has been. It was a bit of a shock coming here from Thailand where one could do everything he pleased with virtually pennies. Sydney will definately increase the budget, but then again, someone has said that you can not take it to your grave.. Note to people travelling to Australia: make sure you have the ISIC with you -it gives you great discounts here!
The BicMac index here showed 3,45 Australian dollars (equals about 2 euros) with a meal worth 5,75 AUD (3,3 euros), so in that respect it should be relatively cheap. But it is not, at least services cost equal amounts as in Finland. On the freaky side of the fast food news, they have their own MacOz, where they put beatroot -what is up with that? They seem to have it all sandwiches etc. And also, due to someone local having rights for the original name, Burger King was licensed here under the name Hungry Jacks. The actual Australian food -and beers- is absolutely fabulous! Steaks, BBQ, potatoes (which totally eluded me in Thailand) -I am in heaven! One thing that puzzles me is that how on earth Australians can be that hard party animals as alcohol is not very easy to come by: you can buy bottles from bars (or their backyard sales) or some very scarce liquor stores. Then again, there is more than enough bars.. Just made a note of it trying to find me an Australian wine with acceptable price-quality ratio.
As to the people, I like Australians. In Sydney the atmosphere is like in a laid back U.S. metropoly, the people seem frendlier and they are not as full of their own superiority: for example, at least 5 Australians I have talked to actually know some words of Finnish! And the Chinese-Japanese-Pacific influence is very strong here and it makes the atmosphere very relaxed. It is like someone took a big city and turned it to relax mode.
I took a sightseeing tour (seemed like a good place to start) and ended up in Sydney Tower (mistake with huge queues and prices and not THAT much to see), from where the above picture is taken. There is the famous Harbour Bridge behind me.
But of course, then there is THE Sydney opera house. I think I have had it up to my ears with it by now though I never entered the pricy tour inside the building not to mention an opera.. It is a beautiful, almost monumental building however and totally lives up to the reputation it has as a breath-taking landmark. It might have been even greater from above the harbour bridge or from a boat, but budget is budget and I did get to see quite enough as it is.
Then there was the famous Bondi Beach. As you can see, it was rather crowded but an experience nevertheless. Nice to see some surfing culture however unreal and merchandise-filled. The funny thing was that all the swimmers were guided to this 100-meter piece of the beach because that was all they could monitor?! There we stood, some 200 people almost hand to hand.. Maybe a time to get more lifeguards, or maybe I am missing something?
Leaving Thailand
In Koh Chang we just ate well, hung out on the beach, took a scooter ride to see the rest of the island and one day was spent on a snorkeling trip. And yes, the red meat means sunburn -too much time in the sun and not tough enough block. But such is life, it is a principle for me not to complain about sunburns. :)
Now I notice that the food is good as long as you know what you want. For me as long as I keep to the rice menu basically anything that comes out of the kitchen is good. And the street barbecue is delicious here as well! We did have to check out the Bic Mac index too as we came to town late returning to Bangkok -60 baht or about 1,3 euros with a menu for 98 baht or about 2 euros. Also, as I kept surprisingly well in my budget and even under it I decided to blow it up by ordering the suits. Cost even a bit more than 150 euros but we got delivery to Finland included so they will hopefully be there as we get back.
Now I will head to Sydney -but not before going for seconds on sights, food and maybe even the massage! And it is damn tough to leave Johanna here, I would like to take her along for the ride...
Best national beer tasted: Singha
Best national dish: Chicken with fried rice and chili
Best sight/experience:snorkeling at Koh Wai
Island paradise in Koh Chang
And then became the day that we left the thick air and crowds of Bangkok behind for some real beach life. Though we did not even get to DiCaprio's "the beach", this was enough for a Finnish guy..
After a 7-hour trip by bus, boat and taxis we arrived to the White Sand Beach of Koh Chang. Curiosity of that trip was that it cost 370 baht from the beginning (about 7,5 euros). The hostel we took was quite exotic and rugged but cheap. For low-budgeters I can recommend Bo's Independent hostel in the northern side of the beach (see picture). Basically it was a group of falling-apart bungalows on a mountainside, 5 meters from the sea (just out of the picture). The view was quite reasonable, though (the above picture).
Like a true tourist
Be a tourist, act like a tourist. We went to see Bangkok's big Grand Palace, which was actually nothing compared to the Wat next to it. They know how to build their temples here (there is gold and gems everywhere and it is there for everyone to see and touch), and though the Thais love their king the worship of the emerald Buddha statue in the temple was something else.
And a true thai tourist can not pass a thai massage or a thai boxing match either, so that had to be done. The massage was great and contrary to some guys' beliefs it was done with full clothing and there was nothing sexual about it.. The boxing match was not as eventful as one might think, but it was above all a show -not as much as a free wrestling match but in a different way with ritual dances in the beginning and a rythmic music in the background during the fight. What made the fight less eventful was that as fighters tried to score points there was no flying kicks or stuff like that but mere close contact with knees mostly.
Cheap diet country
Then a bit about what has been going on here.. it has been two days since my arrival and already a lot has happened. After not sleeping for couple of days (not due to anxiety but due to work I had to finish in Finland and the excess of coffee consumption), the body warned me with a small fever, so the first day passed mainly resting. In the night we took off to a boat cruise and a tour of the main tourist street, Khao San.
For those of you that don't know it already, I'm staying with my girlfriend here as she has just started her exchange studies in Bangkok University. She has this unbelievable deal of an "apartment", she is living in an hotel, very cheap I might add, in the 20th floor (see pic in previous post) with ROOM SERVICE giving out a standard bacon and eggs for merely 1,2 euros, for example. I'm guessing my living in Chile can not beat that.
Then, on the second day we went to the Finnish embassy to vote and stayed in teh center to look at the sights and shops. The basic stuff (pants, shirts, shoes) have all a VERY low price range, thank God I'm on a backpack trip or I would have spent a lot here. For example, genuine Adidas Superstars for 25 euros. I have not checked out the Bic Mac index yet but there is still time and might actually go do that since so far the Thai food has been very.. surprising. Sometimes it is quite good and at other times tastes like shit. Mainly I already learned that meat is not to be ordered here, better stick with the birds despite the threats of fever you guys read in the news. Anyway, later on we headed out for the night market, which is quite big and also surprisingly was not a real bargain place like most of the similar areas here.
Coming up: a trip to Koh Chang island (as Johanna has monday and tuesday off from school we'll spend a long weekend there)...
Pics from Bangkok
Here are some pics. The first one is the Siam Paragon mall, the second one is from a boat cruise we took with my girlfriend, Johanna and the third is from the balcony of Johanna's hotel (20th floor).
The first leg of the race: Bangkok
Bangkok was everything I imagined and more. There's high skyscrapers (check out Siam Paragon, the big and ubermodern mall above) and loads of shit beneath them (did not bother with a picture of that). People are very considerate, however, and surprisingly it feels very safe even in the bit dodgier areas. For example, in Rome people are animals trying to get into the metro, but here it is as easy as in Finland -no pushing, rushing or malas palabras.
It is pretty hot and the air is not that good here in the city. But man is everything cheap! This place really defines the word. And you become blind to the prices, I found myself commenting that 1,5 euros for half-a-liter beer was "quite a lot".. I counted about 30 euros per day for the duration of the trip, but it would be a challenge to spend that much on just living here. A full meal for about 100 baht (about 2 euros) makes living cheap. Still, I am a bit tempted to have made a couple of suits (measured to size) with shirts etc. got an offer of a full set tuxedo and a suit for 150 euros. Cheap as hell, but sending them to Finland might prove challenging. We'll see, the price there would be about triple and the quality is also damn good!
The route
So here´s the route illustrated as some people already reading the blog (WTF!?!) requested. This map includes the locations that I'll try to visit during the trip for a bit longer stay. Also, you have there some times that tell you when I will be and where.
At this point I am almost ready to go with two days remaining.. If U have some Q´s, you can send them to kasper.stenback (at) gmail.com -that is the address I will be using for the trip.
I will try to keep the posts short so that you can actually read them and post more often rather than writing a mile-long post every time.
Countdown: 41 hours and counting!
Blog open!
Today, on January 5th I open the blog for the upcoming RTW trip. Tickets are bought, the visa is being made and insurances are still open.. but there is still some time..
Bic Mac would have cost 4,45 local money (NZD) equalling roughly 2,5 euros with a combo (meal) of 6,65 NZD or 3,7 euros. There are surprisingly few MacDonalds' here, it is not in many major cities you get to really look for one. Auckland is a bit bigger than Helsinki, but I bet Helsinki has more McD's. Then again, here they have many other fast food joints. And the local food is almost as hard to define as in Finland it seems: I asked a few times and the answers vary.. however, I did get some excellent lamb cutlet a few hours ago and tomorrow I'll try fush 'n chups (local fish 'n chips). Beer has a wide range here, some are ok but I also tasted Swedish-like water-beer, which is, sadly enough, called Export gold. Well, they do export mostly Lapin Kulta from Finland so there must be a pattern here to see..
