Pulling a Survivor Twist on Stevivor

Day 434, February 4, 2011.

The overnight train from Sydney to Melbourne was not too bad considering I just had a seat and not a bed. I got lucky that for the most part because the seat beside me was empty for most of the journey so I was able to stretch out a bit. That doesn’t mean I got much in the way of sleep, but it was better than nothing.

Southern Cross Station, Melbourne (img via Wikimedia)

After arriving at the Melbourne Train Station downtown, I hopped one of the infamous Melbourne trams to the suburb of Richmond where the hostel I had booked was located. Once I was settled, the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring began to take shape.

After the Temples . . .

Besides the temples in the Siem Reap area, the city is also a pretty happening place for foreigners. I don’t think I have been to a town that is as touristy as this place. Because of the proximity to the temples, and the fact that they are one of the main reasons people come to Cambodia, it wouldn’t be surprising to find out that the majority of the local population works within the tourism industry in one way or another.

Case in point: Pub Street. Yup, an entire street in this little Cambodian town is called Pub Street. They even have street signs with that name on it.

And it is probably one of the reasons that I got drunk for the first time in a very long time on this trip. I blame Val. And Lucy. And Juno.

Ah, hell. I blame everyone.

Statistics and You

Vietnam has really hit the mark when it comes to [pandering? helping?] tourists. Case in point is the plethora of options available with their “Open Tour Bus” routes. These buses are a hop on, hop off style bus ticket. You purchase a ticket with a certain number of stops and go at your own pace, reserving your seat the day before leaving. I ended up booking my ticket through The Sinh Tourist.

That in itself is an interesting story as The Sinh Tourist, formerly The Sinh Cafe, was the original company to offer this. And they did so with such professionalism, and gained such a good reputation, that dozens upon dozens of imitators sprung up. And without any sort of major copyright law, they all had the same name too. Finding the real Sinh Cafe/Sinh Tourist proved to be a challenge, but I managed. And for only $23 I got a four stop ticket from Ho Chi Minh City, stopping in Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, and Hanoi.

First stop: Nha Trang.

Koh Samet–Bangkok’s Closest Paradise

Days 303-310, September 26-October 2, 2011

Koh Samet(or Samed, I’ve seen it spelled both ways) is a small island not too far away from Bangkok. It is actually the closest island to the city and thus a popular choice among Bangkokians to head over for a weekend away from The Big Smoke. The island isn’t very big, but for an introduction to Thai island living it does a pretty decent job.

And like most islands, it’s easy to get stuck and lost in the whole doing nothing vibe.

[No] Sex, [Some] Drugs, & Country Music

Day 249-254, August 3-8, 2011

There were a couple reasons I was excited to go to Amsterdam. First, it was Pride. You always hear about the craziness of European gay prides and Amsterdam was surely to exceed those expectations(for what Pride was really like, check this post out). But I think I was actually even more excited because this would be the first time I meet another fellow travel blogger on the road, Jaime from Breakaway Backpacker.

We had been planning this for months now and it was finally here! With our apartment booked and our train arrival times happening within a half hour of each other, it was time to head off. For me, it was a 20 hour train ride from Zagreb, through Munich and onto a night train to Amsterdam. For Jaime, it was a two hour train from Antwerp, Belgium.

Delightful Dahab

The following takes place on Days 193-197, June 8-12, 2011

For Mick, Arnold, and I, the next day was fairly uneventful. As Vitaly and Ying had left the night before and with no actual tour for us, we had the day completely free. We took the opportunity to walk to the Luxor Museum to check that out as it hadn’t been on the itinerary for our tour. Finding it turned into a bit of a challenge as the road it was on was currently under construction/repair so it deceived us into thinking we couldn’t walk that way. Added a good half hour to our search.

When we did find it and went inside we were all pleasantly surprised. Sure, it was a bit smaller than the museum in Cairo(and more expensive), but it had a semblance of order. All the pieces were in their place with placards explaining their significance. It even had the mummy that had been rediscovered in a Niagara Falls museums back room.

We spent a good few hours there before heading back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the day by the hotel pool, with me meeting a family from England who gave me a few beers for free. Before we knew it though it was time to head to the train station. Arnold had the sitting train back which left half an hour before the sleeper train that Mick and I would be on.

Seville–Last stop in Spain

The following takes place on days 170-171, May 16-17, 2011.

Having a really lazy, late start to the day isn’t always a bad thing. That is, if you’re in a regular temperature city. I am not. I am in Palma del Rio, a good three kilometers walk from the train station. By being lazy, I just condemned myself to walking to the train station with my backpack in the hottest part of the day. Not the brightest move on my part I must say.

Lucky for me, there was shade on at least one side of the road for most of the way until I got to the old Roman bridge right by Kelsi’s family’s home. I was a bit sad that I couldn’t say a proper goodbye to Kelsi but her family was home and she was busy working with the kids. It was still fun to spend a couple nights with someone from back home. Certainly killed a little of the homesickness I was feeling.

Lagos–Portugal’s Paradise

The following takes place between Days 163-167, May 9-14, 2011

I hadn’t really planned to go to Lagos when I came to Portugal. I knew I would head to the south of the country, or at least Southern Spain. I just happened to meet a girl in my hostel in Lisbon who mentioned how beautiful the Algarve region of Portugal was. In particular, she raved about Lagos. A quick Google search showed a little resort town right on the Atlantic ocean extremely popular with tourists from England. Lucky for me, it wasn’t the high season quite yet so finding a hostel for only 10 euros a night was a breeze.

So, early in the morning, I hoisted up my backpack and took the metro to the nearby train station, bought a ticket and within an hour was on the train heading south.

Rushing Through Porto

The following takes place between Days 158-160, May 4-6, 2011

With a plan in mind to head to the Algarve region in a few days, I decided to split my time in Lisbon in two and head to Porto for a couple nights to check out the home of Port wine, a type of wine made by using brandy during the fermentation process. It’s amazing to drink. Highly recommend it.  And drinking it where it’s made is all the more better