aye, the buda part of budapest (i.e. to the west of the danube) is actually built above an extensive network of underground caverns that were created by the same springs that supply the thermal baths. when the romans colonized it, they actually named the area Aquincum after its' waters. and the romans knew their baths. locally though, the waters of Bük are more renowned for their healing properties.
-
Life Advice & Visual Arts
Posting Rules Bluelight Rules 🌌 Share Your Dreams! 🌌 📸 15 Years of Photo Contests 📸 -
LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari
Travel The MEGA Travel Thread!
- Thread starter Jamshyd
- Start date
aye, the buda part of budapest (i.e. to the west of the danube) is actually built above an extensive network of underground caverns that were created by the same springs that supply the thermal baths. when the romans colonized it, they actually named the area Aquincum after its' waters. and the romans knew their baths. locally though, the waters of Bük are more renowned for their healing properties.
smotpoker
Bluelighter
Some of the most desirable places I'd like to go, in no particular order are:
Greenland-It's beautiful, cold, in the extreme north, and full of Inuit Indians! I have had a strange obsession with Greenland as well as some other unusual places since I was about 5.
Pitcairn Island- A tiny inhabited island in the South Pacific who's residents are decendents of the HMS Bounty. It's really lush and has great weather, plus it's so isolated from the rest of the world it looks really peaceful.
Bouvet Island- Here it is..The most remote land in the world. Population: 0. It's a cold uninhabited slab of ice in the middle of nowhere, which draws me to it. I have heard it can cost up to a million us dollars to get there, as there aren't very many ships that gom there. But the total isolation and coldness excites me.
I am really into cold places.
Iceland- Not quite as extreme as the other places but looks awesome with all of the natural geisers and nightlife in Reykjavik. I would probably do and Iceland/Greenland trip all in one.
And I also want to visit parts of Europe; specifically any of Scandinavia and England. Maybe a little bit of France and maybe Amsterdam but that's just so I can have sex with a legal prostitute and do some legal drugs.
Jarvis Island as well. It's just a bird sanctuary but it was also an old stopping point for aircraft during WW2. It is small and facsinates me.
I am into tiny little remote places.
Greenland-It's beautiful, cold, in the extreme north, and full of Inuit Indians! I have had a strange obsession with Greenland as well as some other unusual places since I was about 5.
Pitcairn Island- A tiny inhabited island in the South Pacific who's residents are decendents of the HMS Bounty. It's really lush and has great weather, plus it's so isolated from the rest of the world it looks really peaceful.
Bouvet Island- Here it is..The most remote land in the world. Population: 0. It's a cold uninhabited slab of ice in the middle of nowhere, which draws me to it. I have heard it can cost up to a million us dollars to get there, as there aren't very many ships that gom there. But the total isolation and coldness excites me.
I am really into cold places.
Iceland- Not quite as extreme as the other places but looks awesome with all of the natural geisers and nightlife in Reykjavik. I would probably do and Iceland/Greenland trip all in one.
And I also want to visit parts of Europe; specifically any of Scandinavia and England. Maybe a little bit of France and maybe Amsterdam but that's just so I can have sex with a legal prostitute and do some legal drugs.
Jarvis Island as well. It's just a bird sanctuary but it was also an old stopping point for aircraft during WW2. It is small and facsinates me.
I am into tiny little remote places.
TheSpade
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2005
- Messages
- 37,782
I really want to visit Easter Island on my upcoming S. America trip but the cost of flights is way beyond my budget (over £1000 return for January) so doubt it will happen this time round. 
Those pictures of Mauritius look incredible, have a friend from there, tells me it's beautiful.
Those pictures of Mauritius look incredible, have a friend from there, tells me it's beautiful.
ChemicalSmiles
Ex-Bluelighter
not super far away, but this past march I had the best weekend of my life there... sorta funny how 3 blocks from the ultra gates, you will get robbed blind if you are by yourself...
CoffeeDrinker
Bluelighter
This thread makes me want to renew my subscription to National Geographic!
Jamshyd
Bluelight Crew
^ Lol, I'd say now is a good time as it seems to have come under a new administration who are using better-quality paper and less advertising than the crap NG of 2002 - 2008 (ish).
I just found out about this...
Cotopaxi, Equador
Further north, but still in South America:
Catatumbo (Lake Maracaibo Lighthouse), Venezuela: this is a phenomenon of almost non-stop lightning without thunder over lake Maracaibo.
![Catatumbo-lightning (4)[4].jpg](/community/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Flh5.ggpht.com%2F__zoKJ77EvEc%2FTBYRXoA8GgI%2FAAAAAAAAEhU%2FqJvl8PkyFsE%2FCatatumbo-lightning+%284%29%5B4%5D.jpg&hash=ecd946d49679d3f2022894990a091174)
I just found out about this...
Cotopaxi, Equador
Further north, but still in South America:
Catatumbo (Lake Maracaibo Lighthouse), Venezuela: this is a phenomenon of almost non-stop lightning without thunder over lake Maracaibo.
ChemicalSmiles
Ex-Bluelighter
woah!!! damn jam!
those last pics are awesome
those last pics are awesome
junctionalfunkie
Bluelighter
3 weeks to touchdown in Phuket. 
Is it raining a lot right now?
Is it raining a lot right now?
StarOceanHouse
Bluelight Crew
It's been raining on and off in bangkok. btw...I'm going to spend xmas and new years in koh tao. What would be the best way to get to that island? I was looking online and it says I could get a train to Chumporn and then a ferry to the island. Is it possible to book train tickets way in advance?
Perpetual Indulgence
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2004
- Messages
- 20,518
Bali
psood0nym
Bluelighter
That sounds fantastic. I've been thinking about a month long trip to Croatia next summer for rock climbing, rafting and of course lots of tripping, but a stop there on the way over or on the way back would be a dream. Thanks for posting.
I bet you could get in if you begged enough of the right people long enough or hired a Russian guide to get you in there. You could just tell probably tell him/her you want to be by yourself or alone with your friends if that's what you want. Or you could just pay off a local to do effectively the same thing.
Samadhi
Bluelight Crew
I'm hoping that we get some good weather in Early-Mid November - we're going to Bangkok for 3 nights, Chiang Mai for 4 nights and Koh Samui for 8 nights.
LiquidMethod
Ex-Bluelighter
Thank you for the info. I just go back from my trip, didn't end up doing any diving on Phuket due to the crap (rainy) weather. Did the day trip to PhiPhi and was still nice even though rainy & overcast. Koh Phangan was way too focused on partying and sleeping to think about getting into the water. I will make it to Koh Tao one day.
Everytime I go to Thailand I end up wanting to live there again. Spent over 2yrs there all up and it always feels like coming home. Admittedly the main drawcards are the food & women, and when I really sit and think about how it was living there (once the facade is lifted and you take on a few responsibilities), it's easy to remember what pissed me off everyday and to enjoy what I missed about the West.
Speaking Thai helps and can be fun to learn but for the most part the conversations are pretty inane. Most Thais are not very aware of what's happening outside of the Kingdom and most times even what's really happening inside. If you only hang out with uni students in Bangkok this may be different. The people there are definitely more friendly and approachable than back home.
I also do notice the country changing. Shit's getting pricey. Phuket I found very expensive (I spent most of my time living in Pattaya & Koh Chang - still my favorite Thai island). In Pattaya this time there were a lot less Americans & Brits around, probably due to their currency weakening against the baht. For many it's not the super cheap getaway it once was. The AUD has kept pace and they are many Aussies around. A lot more visitors from China & India (and for Pattaya especially, couples from Russia. I must've seen more white women in 3 weeks this time than I saw in a couple of years when I was living there).
I stayed for a few days in Kaosarn Rd and that place is almost straight up annoying now. I remembered it as quite a relaxed area where travelers could stroll around, meet up and swap stories. Obviously the locals saw this as a place to make baht and the amount of vendors on the street and hawkers walking around hassling you to buy random shit seems to have tripled. If you go there I recommend staying somewhere close like Soi Rambuttri and just venture into Kaosarn when you feel like eating/going out or shopping. The best designs on shirts I found to be here. Jatujak market wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Took me ages to find a stall that sold XL (and of decent quality) shirts.
The naughty nightlife scene in Bangkok may also be slowly disappearing. I'm not an expert in the area but reports show gradual reduced numbers in the bars & go-gos. The average age for visiting foreigners and expats is also getting younger. It's safe to say this side of Thailand will never disappear for good but it seems you're less likely to see older men parading their young Thai hookers around in public. (In Bangkok that is. Most of them just play in Pattaya now where anything goes.)
In Bangkok I recommend checking out the Forensic Museum in Siriraj Hospital and the Corrections Museum at the site of the old prison (both a short taxi ride from KSR). Intense stuff.
StarOceanHouse
Bluelight Crew
well, I found a really good underground club near khao san road. The club is fucking wicked. It's on the top floor of some building on Soi Rambuttri. It's pretty underground as there's really no sign at the building but if you ask people about it at ooze bar they'll show you. Anyways, I got a djing gig there this saturday! should be fun!
TheSpade
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2005
- Messages
- 37,782
I think I will move there eventually. It's such an amazing place.
Yeah I noticed this too. Some of them really don't seem to know much about anything. Really clueless about what's going on in the world or even in their own country. Saying that I did meet a few which were quite wordly, had travelled to various parts of the world and were fairly clued up too. Guess it's no different to the UK, there's plenty of clueless idiots here.
Definitely. Lovely people though I hear so many stories of people who have moved to Thailand and become quite jaded with it all because they soon see the whole thing is a facade and the people are really not as happy and smiley as you think.
Noticed a lot too when I was in Pattaya (I hate Pattaya) and wondered why you'd go there as a couple. It's perfect if you're a seedy sex tourist, completely boring for anyone else and the beches are dreadful.
I love Khoa San but I wouldn't stay there. I stay in a really good hostel (the best I've stayed at in Asia, Europe or Aus) off Sukhumvit 71 (it's called Refill Now) well away from the main tourist area. It's great, the staff are brilliant, it's quiet, there's lots of local cafes & shops nearbye, it's super modern and clean. Couldn't put up with the madness of KSR all day every day, just like to go down at night and sit in one of the street bars, have a few buckets and talk to randoms.
junctionalfunkie
Bluelighter
Wow, this thread is making me excited.... I'll be in Phuket Town in 2 weeks. I'll be there for at least a month, with weekends off, and probably a couple weeks more.
Anyone around Phuket, the Andaman Coast, or the southern islands in the next 2 months who would like to meet up, PM me. After that, I'm gonna try to squeeze in a trip to Angkor before heading to BKK by xmas.....
Anyone around Phuket, the Andaman Coast, or the southern islands in the next 2 months who would like to meet up, PM me. After that, I'm gonna try to squeeze in a trip to Angkor before heading to BKK by xmas.....
Benefit
Bluelighter
Sukhumvit's a great place to stay. You'll be right next to the BTS so you can get around easily. If you want to party, Soi Cowboy and Nana are 5 minutes away by Skytrain, city center is 10 minutes. Nice and quiet, good mix of people, not too crowded and prices are reasonable though not as cheap as staying in a shitty hostel with other smelly hippies. Lots of Japanese, and Japanese only establishments but that's cool since there are more than enough places for white people!
I fucking hate backpackers, by the way, and wouldn't stay in Khao San even if you paid me. Thai people are generally friendly and nice, if you are white. If you move there and try to open a competing business, you might find this not to be the case but they treat well dressed, presentable white visitors like me very well. I think it's totally embarrassing though to see Western tourists parading around dressed like homeless people and being proud of it!
Learning just a few phrases in Thai will go a long way, but the pronunciation is nearly impossible for me to get right. I like it here, but probably wouldn't want to live here.
Oh by the way, there are 2 Thai boxing stadiums. Lumpinee and Ratchadamnoen. Lumpinee's easier to get to because you can take the subway. Just google it. They have fights all throughout the week on alternating days. I highly recommend it. It's pricey - 2,000 baht for ringside seats. Thais pay half that. 3rd class seats are like 1,000 baht and they get rowdy. There's lots of gambling in 2nd and 3rd class and it's really interesting to watch. In the main event one of the fighters got knocked out cold.
I fucking hate backpackers, by the way, and wouldn't stay in Khao San even if you paid me. Thai people are generally friendly and nice, if you are white. If you move there and try to open a competing business, you might find this not to be the case but they treat well dressed, presentable white visitors like me very well. I think it's totally embarrassing though to see Western tourists parading around dressed like homeless people and being proud of it!
Learning just a few phrases in Thai will go a long way, but the pronunciation is nearly impossible for me to get right. I like it here, but probably wouldn't want to live here.
Oh by the way, there are 2 Thai boxing stadiums. Lumpinee and Ratchadamnoen. Lumpinee's easier to get to because you can take the subway. Just google it. They have fights all throughout the week on alternating days. I highly recommend it. It's pricey - 2,000 baht for ringside seats. Thais pay half that. 3rd class seats are like 1,000 baht and they get rowdy. There's lots of gambling in 2nd and 3rd class and it's really interesting to watch. In the main event one of the fighters got knocked out cold.