The Aussie travellers thread!

[Aishas Star]

deecee; im going to Czesky Kromlov with my parents too

 

[deeCee]

I'd never heard about the place until my last trip through the baltics. Too many people mentioned it after I said I was going to Praha in October not to go there..

kataman: tbh, I don't know what I really want to see. I like to get there, explore randomly for a day, then find out what sorta stuff I can get up too..

 

[endlesseulogy]

After you get to your first destination all your nerves will go..

I've got my next mini trip planned. Prague, Czesky Kromlov, Vienna, Bratislava & Budapest .. Fun for all!

I was in Bratislava and Budapest. It's tough to come to this conclusion because there are so many wonderful cities in Europe but for me Budapest took the cake. Beautiful place! Although a cunt of a place to get around, it's all over the place. Didn't really enjoy Bratislava on the other hand, however it's a good choice if you want to visit Vienna (Accomodation in Bratislava is way cheaper and you can do day trips into Vienna as it's only about an hour over the border).

 

[deeCee]

^^ I'm glad you said that, because I have heard so many up and down stories about Budapest, I thought fuck it, I'm going to find out for myself..

Were you doing backpackers in Vienna or Bratislava? Would you recommend not staying in Vienna and just travelling over from Bratislava?

 

[endlesseulogy]

^^I found the accomodation in Vienna expensive for what you got. You can get a decent hotel/motel room in Bratislava for about the same price. It depends on what you need for creature comforts though. Personally, I can't sleep in backpacker's dorms. I actually tried it when I was in Amsterdam and I didn't even last one night! Im one of those people that need 100% silence in order to get to sleep.

 

[deeCee]

^^I found the accomodation in Vienna expensive for what you got. You can get a decent hotel/motel room in Bratislava for about the same price. It depends on what you need for creature comforts though. Personally, I can't sleep in backpacker's dorms. I actually tried it when I was in Amsterdam and I didn't even last one night! Im one of those people that need 100% silence in order to get to sleep.

Backpackers all the way for me.. Love to people you meet, and good chance I will be drunk and wont care about who is in the dorm, cause I snore..

 

[endlesseulogy]

Backpackers all the way for me.. Love to people you meet, and good chance I will be drunk and wont care about who is in the dorm, cause I snore..

Yes, backpackers are great places to meet people! Agreed there. I actually wished me and my partner met more people while in Europe.

 

[psytaco]

Places I've been:
Singapore: only stayed there for 5 days. Was enough time. Pretty boring place; expensive, clean & well ordered but not a place to go if you want to see sights or have fun.
Thailand: Been there 3 times. Love it. Friendly people, great food, beautiful country side. Been all over, from beaches, to mountains and cities. Taught English in a rural community, great experience.
Vietnam: mixed feelings - been a white male you get hastled alot to buy stuff and the people (the one's sellinng you things) can be rude. Definately alot of hustle and bustle. Quite a beautiful country though, with great food - people are pretty nice outside of a money transaction setting. Went from north to south and was there for about a month.
Cambodia: again mixed feelings. It is a very depressing and poverty stricken country. There is definately a sense of hopelessness amongst many people living there. Angkor wat is amazing. Didn't think the beaches were that good, quite dirty and alot of drug pushing going on (can be a good or bad thing). Went to Phenom Penn, Sinhokville & Siam Reap.
Laos: A very beautiful country, with some extremely friendly people. Tourism hasn't taken over there yet so now is the time to go. Very relaxed place and the locals make you feel very welcome.

I'm planning on doing an around the world trip eventually. 4 months SE Asia (Indonesia, Phillipines, Malayasia, Thailand & Vietnam maybe China too), 3 months India & Nepal. Go work in England for like 6 months to a year. Then go to the cheaper parts of Eastern Europe (save the expensive countries for when I'm wealthier), maybe see some of the middle east (like Turkey & Egypt), then 6 months in Central & South America. But all this is a long way off yet.

 

[eggman]

Have an of you been to Egypt?

My partner is bugging me to go early next year but I dont want to go.

I have never been into all of that pyramid and pharoah gear so I am finding it hard to get motivated or excited about the prospect

I'd really like to hear an honest opinion from someone who has been

 

[deeCee]

its still like the day it used to be, hasn't gone commercial at all, check out the view from the 'restaurant'

 

[CHiLD-0F-THE-BEAT]

Have an of you been to Egypt?

^A good friend of mine spent a while over there. I just pressed him for some info. to pass onto you, hope it's helpful.

Egypt is amazing because of the pyramids and all the old temples etc. Yes the country is full of beggars and everything worth seeing is packed with tourists but it's still amazing walking through a huge temple that is totally covered in detailed heiroglyphic carvings and is 4000 years old. I mean, you have to remember the pyramids are the only surviving ancient wonder of the world.

I guess the question is more why is he hesitant? If he's not interested in seeing that sort of stuff and doesn't enjoy a bit of culture clash he's probably just going to be frustrated by the people always trying to sell you things on the street and the heat...

Doing a proper (3 days) safari into the desert is very worthwhile. Oh and the Red Sea is known as one of the best diving locations in the world. Dahab is so relaxing to hang out in for a while, it's like the Byron Bay of Egypt.

I was there for a month and could have had longer easily.

 

[eggman]

Cheers. Thanks for that. I am mostly hesitant because I want to go to Belgium and Netherlands plus like I said I'm not a big artifact nut.

Having said that though it looks like I will go because I read the itinerary in greater detail last night and it seems as though there will be more on the cards than just looking at pyramids and standing around in the dirt

That first hand summary was just what I was looking for. Thanks COTB

 

[CHiLD-0F-THE-BEAT]

^Anytime, glad it helped.

 

[deeCee]

Riga

Thought I would post a little bit of my travels.

Riga is the capital of Latvia for all those that didn't know (my mum didn't have a clue where it was). It's situated between Lithuania and Estonia in the heart of the Baltics. I ended up there through 420star's suggestions as he wanted to do the shot guns and vodka tour. I was like why the hell would you want to go there. I'm so glad I did go there

Latvia is almost a 'new' country as it only gained it's independence from social rule in 1991 on which the country prides itself on.

Outside the Occupation Museum

The city of Riga itself has many things to see in its cobbled old town streets, lots of old churches, monuments, glorious buildings, history to learn and the buskers are actually decent (the old granny dancing to her own tone is hilarious). I'm a person that just likes wondering streets and this is a great place to find hidden gems. I went on a walking tour that took us out of the tourist area and into some ghetto's and dodgy russian markets. A definate experience.

For a place where an average person is below the poverty line its weird seeing Bentleys and Ferrari's in the streets. Its a case of the rich being fuck off super rich and the poor begging on the streets.

In terms of culture and nightlife everyone is rich. Riga is considered the new Krakow, a little gem that is only been discovered properly in the last few years. The only real downer is that it is completely over run with British stag parties. Krakow has basically banned stag's as most places wont take group bookings and if your out and about you wont get in anywhere and word will get about town and you definitely will be rejected from everywhere you try. Riga is not accepting of it, but it tolerates it as it brings in lots of revenue for the city, the locals hate them. If you mess about you will get the heavy had of the law. Trust me don't piss in the streets or anything because bribing the police doesnt come cheap. But at least you can do it

Some hot tips for Riga, make sure you have some cash as it's not cheap. It's comparable to the UK. A pound gets you 85 cents. A beer will cost you at least 2 lats. What watch out for the lits (Lithuanian dollars) for lats scam. Lithuanian dollars look almost the same as lats but a third of the value. If someone asks you to exchange money, keep walking, as they are trying to give you lits. If you meet some local girls in a bar and they start chatting to you (and it seems to good to be true) and they asked you to go to another bar.. Don't. As they will take you to a bar that charges you 10 times the amount if you by a drink for a lady, and the big fella at the door will enforce it. Best case is that they are legit and not working for another bar and just a free night out of you being them drinks.

In the end I didn't shoot guns because I ran out of money

 

[eggman]

It would be good to hear some more travel stories from those of you that have either travelled abroad or around this country recently.

Post pics and summaries of the places you visited.

Also if you are considering a particular area to travel, ask a question here and get some honest answers from people who have been there

 

[m4dd0g]

I vote America the worst place to travel for customs pain

I feel more comfortable walking through corridors of machine gun wielding guards in Turkey than talking to redneck xenophobic US security

 

[eggman]

I just got back from Byron

That place has gone to the pack

 

[deeCee]

how so? Commercial hippies?

 

[eggman]

Not really commercial, I support that sort of thing.

My issue was just the lack of respect that even the local community has for its own town. I am finding it hard to articulate.

Its also very bland

 

[baysieguy1]

Going to Ibiza, any tips from Aussie bluelighters

Heading over to the white isle in a few weeks, any tips on "to dos" and "not to dos" from people who have been?