Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them

Live your dream and share your passion

When you eat, appreciate every last bite

Some opportunities only come only once-seize them

Laugh everyday

Believe in magic

Love with all your heart

Be true to who you are

Smile often and be grateful

…and finally make every moment count

Follow my new adventures: http://berniesafricanodyssey.blogspot.com

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

MEET MY NEW ROOMIE, MY NEW AND LAST GROUP-NEPAL ENCOMPASSED


WEATHER: Just right sunny and 24C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Meeting my new roomie and she R-O-C-K-S

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Cant think of a single thing

WORD OF THE DAY: Feeling the LOVE

I saw another bus of people depart this morning from my window.  I wish I had an urge to trek, but it is just not in me to do so.  So again I wish thus group safe travels.  I learnt after yesterday’s breakfast surge to not go down before 9am.  I haven’t mentioned that I have had a knock on my door every morning after 8am asking if I had any laundry.  I had packed a bag last night of stuff to get washed and it was weird to think this could be the last time, well maybe one more, that I would have some-one else do my washing.  That is a sobering thought having to my own laundry again. Ughhhhhhh.  Is that a reality check or what?  So after my washing was collected at 9am, perfect timing, I headed down to breakfast and all the trekkers had left and there were just a handful of people.  Now this is how to have breakfast.  I checked in at reception about where my new room would be and if it was ready for me to make my move and it was, surprisingly attitude girl was all over it, and handed me a key telling me, not sure with a little bit of mock in there, that I was on the same floor, I was just 2 doors down from my current room.  Dang it, the bitch had kept me on the same floor.  This firth floor will be the death of me.  It was funny I actually got a message from Kate today and I replied back telling how this hotel reminded me of the one that we shared in La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, so we were at around 2900m altitude, and we were on the 6th floor of that hotel with no lift.  We were puffing there let me tell you!!

So even though reception chick is still rude, she gave me my new key and I said I’ll move my gear and then bring the old key back and get this she actually smiled!!!!!  She also mentioned that my roomie Jessica would be joining me shortly.  So I headed back to pack.  I’m going to leave a bag here of things that I won’t be needing.  Just think if I get funny looks on my ‘normal shorts and shirts’ what looks I would get if I donned a dress!!!!  OMG I wonder if that is scandalous?  I have a feeling I will not be needing dresses, cardigans, roman and ballet crocs and a whole plethora of other things, so I am more than happy to leave them for my return.  I am not sure on what our mode of transport is for the tour but a lighter bag is always a plus, especially as I am still waiting patiently for my arm to heal.  The beauty of being on the same floor I could make multiple trips without too much fuss, so maybe I got the last laugh today with reception Nazi. Ha ha ha.  I popped a sticky note on the new room telling Jessica that I was in room 520, I would hate her to come all the way up to the room to find it locked, head back down 5 flights to find no key at reception, would be a pain but as it worked I had successfully moved all my stuff and within half an hour a knock came at the door.   

I opened the door to my new roomie, Jessica, and I knew straight away that we would get along famously.  It is funny when you just know these things sometimes and being a fellow Australia is always a good sign.  I found out that Jess has been in Nepal for the last 5 weeks and she has climbed Everest and the Annapurna trek and her Tibet tour had been cancelled and she booked on this at the last minute.  Well lucky for me I say.  So we chatted for a while and before I knew it I had told her about my breakup from Zeme, my move to Ethiopia and how I ended up travelling for 20 months.  All that and I hadn’t even known Jess for more than an hour.  Goodness she probably thinks I am some sort of freak, but I tell you it felt good to speak to some-one.  We headed out for lunch at 12 and as the weather was so beautiful, we decided to look for a roof top restaurant where we could enjoy some of the sun’s rays.  We ate, we shared a beer, and I couldn’t help it I filled Jess in on the whole Zeme saga.  She must be thinking I am a real nutter by now and I apologize in advance Jess but I will make a promise and a vow that I will not keep talking about the whole sorry mess the whole trip.  I feel I have now got it off my chest and I feel like a weight has been lifted just speaking it out loud to some-one.  A stranger no more, who I have only known for 2 hours but it just felt right and comfortable.  Maybe I should have offered to pay for her lunch as a ‘Dear Debbie’ thanks.     

When you travel with people it really makes a difference.  Walking down the same street I did on my own yesterday even feels different.  I am a people person and I like to have company, so it was great to know the company I have for a roomie is a ‘keeper’.  We agreed on a lot of stuff and we seem to share the same values on things, so I think I have at least lucked out on my traveling bud.  Fingers crossed for the rest of the group tonight.  With the room change I have found that the internet connection hasn’t worked in the new room, but I’m okay with that now that I have ‘people’ now to converse with and I won’t be so reliant on my computer now.  Which isn’t a bad thing.  I just have a blog to load and that was about it. 

Jessica went to pop her washing in and get a well-deserved massage after trekking for 5 weeks, 8 hours a day (crazy) and I just chillaxed in the room till out meeting at 6pm.  So it was time to meet the new group.  Jess and I were going to compare notes on what we thought of everyone after the meeting.  From experience I have learnt that first impressions count, there is no doubt about that, but I have also learnt that it can take people a few days to come out of their shells, people grow on you, people to show their true colours etc….. so as important as it is for a first impression I certainly hold judgment now on people till at least the first 4 days.  There are always people you aren’t going to get along with, or heaven forbid people don’t like you (WHAT) but that is part of group travel and you just need to deal with it as it happens.  This is my 23rd tour in 20 months and I have to say I have been quite lucky with groups and people (a few bad eggs) and I am thankful for all the experiences I have had, good and bad.  This will definitely be the last tour for a while as I try and settle in a new country and start a new life.  I do have a backup plan and it dies involve a 2 month tour in April, but I hope that I won’t have to use that plan and finally settle down for a little while and have somewhere that I can call home……

The new group looks great.  First feel vibe is good and besides having a trekking champion in our mist (Jessica) we also have an Olympiad.  Sam represented Australia at the Olympics for synchronized swimming and it was funny as I watched back home the telecast of the synchronized swimming and thought how amazing it looked and there was a couple of Russians and their routine I clearly remember just how awesome they looked.  So I bombarded Sam with all sorts of questions and I feel proud to be traveling with someone that has worked hard to represent our country.  Being an ex-athlete (I was in the AIS for 2 years for squash) I know what sacrifices sometimes have to be made.  Satcha is our guide and we will also be having a ‘trainee’ as such that will join us for the last stage of his training which makes a group of 10 people plus Padama and Satcha makes 12.  A nice size.  We would have only had 6 if the Tibet tour hadn’t of been cancelled last week.  There is a Congress meeting on in the country and the government has closed the country and all the foreigners were kicked out, so Intrepid had to cancel their tour.  Oh well Tibet’s loss is our gain as Jess wouldn’t have been on this tour if that had happened and it has been great to have her around to help me take my mind off all the other stuff that has been going on. 

So Nepal Encompassed officially started today and I think it will be a great tour to officially finish my World Odyssey on.  So sending smiles from Kathmandu and I want to let you all know that I am doing okay. 


Monday, October 29, 2012

KARMING KATHMANDU


WEATHER: Cool and 23C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Hitting the streets

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Realizing I am actually single

WORD OF THE DAY: Namaste  

Today dawns a new beginning.  I am me and back in charge, of me. 
Messages of love and support are still coming in and it gives me hope and belief that things will be okay.  As sad as I am now, short term it is a downer, but long term I know that it is the right thing, well for now.  I am now traveling to Africa on my own terms for all the right reasons and I know (hope) that I will find love again.  When you least expect it.     

So today dawns a new beginning and I was literally nearly up at dawn.  I woke up at 5.15am and just couldn’t get back to sleep.  My brain doesn’t stop ticking and I just lay there awake.  So I get myself busy, check my internet, read for a while, watch a movie and then I got ready for breakfast and was down at the restaurant at 8.45am and there were people everywhere.  I paid my money and then had to ask to share a table as there were none left for me to sit on my own.  I think I will stick to the later breakfast time as it wasn’t as busy and between 9am and 9.15am everyone, bar a few people were gone.  I guess that’s when the day tours start and the expedition people leave.  I have a view of the hotel car park from my room and I can hear and see when a group are about to set off for the trek.  They are all rigged up in their trekking gear, small backpacks on the backs with walking sticks and the van getting all loaded up.  This morning there were 2 groups leaving and they were all getting their group photos taken.  I wish them all the best of luck and that they all make it back safe and sound. 

I headed back to my room on the bloody fifth floor and watched a movie and updated my blog, I am now UP TO DATE and it is one good thing of a self-imposed hide-out.  But I was going to get out today, I needed to leave the room, I needed to stimulate my brain and get out of my own self.  I left the hotel as the power went out at 12 noon and hot the street with no real purpose in mind.  I have seen a few jewelry shops around, so I would like to buy a bangle or a pendant while I am here.  I have seen a pendant in the jewelry shop in the hotel that I like; it is like a coin with a picture of Buddha stamped into it.  For some reason I find comfort in that which is weird as I am not really religious, but I feel something calming about owning something like it.  So with this in mind I will have a look around today, see some prices and if I see nothing similar I will go and have a closer look at that.  Weird I know when I am not Buddhist or religious, but if it gives me comfort then what do I have to lose to help me through this time.

The streets of Kathmandu are a little crazy.  They aren’t wide enough for 2 cars which is okay, as most of the streets look one way, but there really isn’t enough room for the motorbikes, a car and then people on both sides to walk in safe harmony.  You need to have your wits about you the whole time and that is just to make sure you don’t get run over by a bike or hit by a cars wing mirror as they try their nest to not hit a tourist.  When I was in the taxi when I arrived, when my taxi guy tooted, there wouldn’t be a lot of movement of the tourists to move off the road, maybe I am more aware of the tooting etiquette from Ethiopia, but if they aren’t careful they will get hit by something.  I don’t feel unsafe here.  There were a lot of men sitting on shop steps, in front of cafes, but I didn’t feel scared.  I knew some of them were talking about me as I passed, but I am growing a thicker skin to that which I will have to for my move to Africa, but I don’t think it was mean or leery.  I went into every single jewelry shop I saw and I could ask if they had Buddha pendants and I saw some shockers, but nothing like the one I had seen at the hotel.  I asked about some prices on bangles and another pendant at various shops and they don’t seem interested in bargaining at all.  It seems a flat rate and that is all.  If I saw something that I just loved, then I wouldn’t even think about it, like my bangle in Sri Lanka, but nothing had screamed to me except that pendant at the hotel.  I did buy a pair of earrings and a Buddha coin I could keep in my purse and the seller was very nice.  He asked if I lived here and I said no, and he said it looked like I did and that he thought I was from one of the embassies.  Probably because I wasn’t in anything labeled with a trekking company and no backpack in sight.  Maybe it is the environmentally friendly bag that is getting all the attention?  He gave me a discount for my smile and my laugh which was nice and that made my day.  He asked my name and when I had doubled back 45 minutes later he was there with a hello, by name, and to come back again.  Even if it was s ales pitch, it made me feel good and I’ll take what I can get at the moment.  The good thing I wasn’t under any pressure to buy anything as I will be back here in 2 weeks’ time where I have 4 days before flying out.  So I have some prices on things, I can check out the rest of the places we travel to and then I can decide where to buy.  I did like a bangle that seems to be everywhere and it was 45AUD.  So I will get it when I come back if I can’t find it anywhere else on the trip. 

I visited a large supermarket on my way back to the hotel.  Even this seemed to be geared for trekkers, with lots of biscuits, small premade packs of nuts, fruit, and lollies.  Lots of chocolate bars and other trekky looking foods that I am sure people must stock up on before they head out.  I was just after some snacks for the next couple of days and walked out with a packet of wafers, a bag of chips, some Kashmiri mix (spicy split peas, noodles and cashews) and a chocolate bar.  I find I buy a lot of snacks to eat later and never actually get around to eating them, so I have learned to not buy too much stuff. 

I stopped for lunch at a café just off the main road on my way back to the hotel.  It had all sorts of food on the menu and I ended up ordering fajitas.  As I waited for my lunch to come I sat and people watched and there are a lot of hippy looking people around.  A lot of dreads and even when I was walking the streets there are a lot of people wearing the ‘bat pants’ of all colours, hair covers of all covers with the younger people looking grungy and the older people dressed crisp in their walking gear.  Me I just had on a normal pair of shorts with a normal top and I was feeling a little out of place.  There were groups of people looking at maps, showing newly purchased jackets all looking very hippy indeed.  Am I the ONLY person who is here not to trek?  The tour I have booked on is guaranteed to go with only one person, goodness I hope I am not the only one on the trip, unless of course my guide is some super Nepali hunk that I could have a 2 week love affair (because I can) with.  OR a group of travelling hunky men to help take my mind off my newly acquired relationship status of SINGLE.  Oh if we can’t laugh about it all I will only drown in a pool of tears and nobody wants to read about that.  So, I’ll do what I do best and that is to laugh and carry on. 

Back at the hotel, I visited this jewelry shop to see how much the pendant that had caught my attention on day one was going to cost me.  I pretty much knew I was going to buy it.  I hadn’t seen it anywhere else and if you know me, to wait 3 days to buy something is just unheard of.  I had a price in mind of 85-100USD and when he told me 77USD I woo hoo’ed inside silently and asked if he had a better price.  I ended up getting it for 65USD and I could help but take a look around and I found a pair of earrings and a necklace I loved the second I saw it and left the shop 195USD lighter, well off my credit card and the saying is absolutely correct ‘nothing beats a little bit of retail therapy’. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon updating my IPod and cleaning up my laptop as I was running out of disk space, apparently.  I have had the same message popping up since I left home 3 months ago.  It was driving me nuts and while I had the time decided to do something about it.  I also deleted a lot of photos off my IPod (guess which ones) and this also freed up enough space for me to finally get cracking on continuing with my iMovie’s that I have been doing for each trip of my Odyssey.  I am up to Scotland and will get them finished and loaded probably when I get home now.  I am guessing I won’t have a lot of internet connection on this tour, but hopefully I will be surprised like I was in Africa.  We will see.  The tour officially starts tomorrow.  So I meet a new roomy and met my new group tomorrow night and I am definitely looking forward to some company again to get me out of my own head.  If we are as busy as we were on my Sri Lankan trip then that will be exactly what the ‘lurve’ doctor would prescribe and will be a great way to complete my Odyssey.  I haven’t really thought too much about this being the last journey of my whole World Odyssey but I guess it kind of is.  Even though I will certainly be doing further travel, my World Odyssey from start to finish will officially be over when I return back to Brisbane in November.  Moving to Ethiopia has its own blog that I will be devoting my time to and if you haven’t got the address yet it is www.berniesethiopianodyssey.blogspot.com   This will follow my trial and tribulations of a new culture and country and as terrifying as it is, I am looking forward to the challenge.

At 5pm I wondered about what the sunset would look like here and if I could see it from the hotel.  I had seen stairs leading up to another floor (wouldn’t that suck to be on the 6th floor).  So with camera in hand I followed them up to get to small roof top that gave me a partial view of the city but I could see another small spiral staircase that went up another level to where it looked like all the rain tanks were kept.  It certainly didn’t look like this section was for guests, so feeling adventurous and chasing that photo opportunity I followed them up and not quite satisfied there was one last staircase that took you another level and to the very top of the hotel.  After walking over some pipes and careful not to touch anything when I got to the top it was an AMAZING view.  I had missed the sunset; it had already dropped behind the mountains, but what view of the city surrounded by the Himalayan mountain range.  The sprawl of the city was as far as the eye could see and it just made me take a look around, appreciate where I was and to be thankful for all I have and to not dwell anymore onto what I have lost.  I just stood there for a good 20 minutes breathing the air and enjoying the view.  Once the sun drops out of the sky it starts to really cool off so after taking my photos I was quite happy with my day’s events and took care to not fall down the spiral staircases on my way down.             
     
I couldn’t be bothered to eat dinner, so after having a few of the crisps that tasted disgusting, eating a few of the wafers that were stale, a few cubes of the chocolate that had melted and hardened white I decided to give up, watch a movie and then get a good night’s sleep in my double bed for the last time as I will move rooms tomorrow into a twin room as it is an arrival day tomorrow for the tour.  Please, please travel gods give me a good group, a good roomy and a good tour leader.  



Saturday, October 27, 2012

MY BREAKUP DAY IN KATHMANDU


WEATHER: Cooler and 25C

WORD OF THE DAY: Breakup, single, destiny, hope, faith, sadness and relief  

THANKS TO ALL MY WATER CHARITY DONATIONS SO FAR:
Tracy Carsburg

 I’m in Kathmandu.  It sounds weird to say it.  It’s one of those destinations that you hear about, it’s tied to Mt Everest and base camp expeditions and I am here.  Well, it is no shock that I am not here to climb or trek anywhere near Mt Everest or surrounds, but I can see people looking at me when I am out and about and I know that they are thinking: is she here to climb, she doesn’t look fit enough.  I can just see it as they are dressed in the Kathmandu and Colombia trekking gear, wearing their trekking shoes with their Black Wolf backpacks and I am in a skirt with a cardigan carrying my environmentally friendly shopping bag I got in Boracay over my shoulder.  Well they can judge all they like.  I don’t care.  I am here to see the country of Nepal and there are other things to see and do than trekking and puffing up the biggest mountain, or whatever it is, in the world.  I even had one of the supervisors of the restaurant ask me after dinner one night if I was here to trek, and I said no way, and he patted his stomach and said yes it would be hard for you, what are you 100kg?  I said maybe a little more and he kept trying to guess so I just agreed, paid my bill and left.  I guess it could have been worse and he patted MY tummy.  I take it in the way it is meant, it isn’t nasty, I guess in the land of trekkers and climbers, they don’t see too many people my size.  I rekon I am probably part of a small group/percentage that come to Nepal to NOT trek.  The whole tourist section is geared for only this.  Bag shops selling backpacks, tourist outlets selling sleeping bags, a lot of travel agencies selling the trek packages, trekking shops-anything to do with climbing it can be found here.  I am HAPPY I don’t need any of that stuff!!!!

My first full day in Kathmandu was spent as a recluse in my room.  I made it out for breakfast at 9am, it wasn’t included so I paid the 465rupess which is like 5.60AUD and pulled up a seat with my book and just had a leisurely breakfast.  I was in no rush to get anywhere today.  I had plans of going for a walk later in the afternoon, there looked to be some groovy shops when we drove past yesterday and I can buy up here as I am on a jet plane home after this tour-so that is a must on my list in the coming days.  I am not too concerned about not seeing anything else as the tour takes in some of Kathmandu and then when we return back here in 2 weeks I have another 4 nights here before leaving.  If I had my wish I would have just date changed my ticket to come home earlier, but the cost was like an extra 580AUD, so it was cheaper to stay the 4 days and then head back to Singapore.  In saying that I had a spare 10 days between this tour finishing and getting home, but I date changed my ticket today and I am now connecting through Singapore (well a night) and I now officially arrive home on Saturday the 17th November.  A full week ahead of schedule, which I am over the moon about and I really think I am going to need the extra time with everything I need to fit in while I am home.  I need to clear my shipping container, Christmas is in there, I need to sort out what things I will get sent to Ethiopia, I need to spend time with friends, I need to fit in a trip to Townsville to see my Dad, try and squeeze in a trip to Melbourne (outside chance), my birthday celebrations and that is what I know I have.  I am sure the girls have a whole line up of things as well.  It is overwhelming already and I’m not even home yet….. It sounds magic!

So after breakfast I headed to my room and thought I may as well use this time to pump out a blog.  I am now only officially 3 days behind and I can’t tell you what great feeling that is.  I jumped on-line and saw that Zeme was on, so I sent yet another message that went un-replied.  I am not sure if he knows that I can see when he reads my messages and this was going to be the third day of no correspondence.  It is so unfair, but I have not been nasty, as there is an avalanche of things I could be saying but I’m not and then he finally came back and asked if I could call him.  Well my UK and Oz sim cards don’t work here, so I told him I would call him within the hour and went out to find a Nepal sim card.  I asked reception on my way out where I could find a sim place and they told me to turn left and just 100m down the road there was an internet place that sold them.  Woo hoo.  I needed to really make this call, speak to him and get the closure that I need, well at least try.  You need your passport and a photo to obtain a sim here, which of course I had none of the above, but he let me take the card on the proviso that I came back with what he needed.  So I did and he loaded me up with some credit and I was back to the hotel to make the call.  This is when I rued the day I was smart to the receptionist, being on the 5th floor is a hike and a puff and is getting me fit for….. Well it is going to do me good so I won’t complain.  I wasn’t even sure the cost of calls so I purchased 650pesos in the hope that would give me some chat time and it worked out it gave me nearly 9 minutes.  Not bad for 7.50AUD.  Needless to say it wasn’t enough, so as I had to go back to the internet place with my documents anyway, I went back, finished off the application and then purchased another 1000pesos of credit.  This will be the last credit I would buy, and I wanted to make sure I had enough.  I figured this would give me a good 15 minutes.  So back up another 5 flights of stairs and back to the room and then I finished things officially with Zeme.  He was very chatty but I really could only understand bits and pieces of the conversation, with the connection and language I was not getting a lot.  But it was enough for me, as sad as it was, it was enough for me.  I now had to tell everyone that the great romance has ended. 

And what better way to do this than via Facebook.  If you know me, you know Facebook is my life line.  It is my connection to my world and literally the whole world.  I know what is happening with the US elections through my American friends, I know who is winning any major football game from home, I know who and what was winning gold medals from my UK and European friends and anything else that is big news is always in people’s feeds.  For me it is more than that.  It is a connection to home, my friends and the people I meet.  I am able to share my photos, my blog updates and letting people know I am okay and where in the world I am.  For people that don’t use Facebook, find it hard to understand sometimes my ‘obsession’ with it, but it really is a part of my daily routine and how I keep in touch.  It may not sound like a big deal to people, but for me the final step of my breakup with Zeme was changing my relationship status on Facebook.  It may even sound pathetic to people, but for me it was like the finality of the whole thing and admitting to myself that it was really happening.  And I felt I had to do it as I was feeling I was living a lie with it telling everyone I was in a relationship with Zeme Moges when we weren’t.  It was so sad and I hadn’t really had a cry since the whole ball stated 3 days ago, and besides my breakdown in Cebu, I had not let myself just go, but open the flood gates it did and then when people’s messages came rolling in showing all their love and support, I was a blubbering mess.  But I think one needs to have a good cry, you do feel better and now I was on my own, in a hotel room in Kathmandu, but I didn’t feel alone as I had support flowing in from my friends all over the world.  You guys rock-and reading everything bought a smile to my face even though I had tears rolling down my face and I looked like a red beetroot.  I needed this and now that it is in the public domain, I feel I can now move forward with purpose, with hope and with a plan.

I know people are interested in what happened.  When you put your life on a website and your life is so transparent on Facebook you have to expect that.  I would want to know if I was following some-one else’s journey.  So I wanted to let people I was okay, know my thoughts and answer questions that I knew people would want to be asking.  I had written up something during my 6 hour layover in Singapore and today I was able to share that on my blog.  I had always promised Zeme that certain things would not go on the blog, he was always very worried about things that we spoke about and happened when we were together, and like anybody on any of my trips that may have done some ‘things’ it is not my place or business to tell the world and this was also my promise to Zeme that some things would stay private and I have stuck to my word.  By this time it was well after 4pm.  So I decided to just chill and watch some movies till dinner at 7pm when I made my way downstairs for a feed.

The power comes and goes here, just like Ethiopia, but when it come back on not all the power points work straight away.  It is so annoying and in my room there is only one plug that takes an adapter, the other plugs are some funky points like Sri Lanka.  I am sure there are adapters that can be bought and I will check with my tour leader on Sunday.  But the TV is also the US plug so I can’t charge and watch TV at the same time.  Annoying.  So needless to say I’m listening to a bit of music at the moment which isn’t a bad thing at the end of the day.  It was quite sweet when I say at a table the manager bought over a candle and lit it and then came back with an Australian flag on a small stand.  What a nice touch.  I think the reception staff can learn a thing or two from their restaurant staff that is for sure.

So that was my ‘breakup’ day in Kathmandu.  I may have been on my own, but with all the heart felt messages I received and keep receiving, I know that I am not alone.  I am so lucky and blessed to have people that care from all over the world and I may have lost love, but I know my friendships are here to stay and it is with that thought I went to sleep with a sad smile on my face. 

I loved with all my heart, stayed true to myself and I am going to make every moment in my life count.     


  

A HOP, SKIP AND 4 AIRPORTS AND 3 FLIGHT JUMP TO NEPAL


WEATHER: Airports and planes

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Everything ran to plan

BUMMER OF THE DAY: My breakup with Zeme…….

WORD OF THE DAY: Tomorrow is a new day  

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 3592km

So travel this afternoon I travel 4 countries, 3 flights and 19 hours.  I always ask who wants to be me on these travel days and funnily enough no-one puts up there hands.  My transfer wasn’t until 5.30pm and I was going to head to some of the shopping centers that were close by the hotel.  But after I finished breakfast at 10.30am and headed to my room to pack as it happened Zeme was online and we talked a little before I mentioned that I was unhappy and that we couldn’t be a couple anymore.  It was the hardest thing I had to do and there were still a lot of things left unsaid that he just wouldn’t understand.  It’s the best I could do and I will follow up with a phone call in a few days.  Damn it was hard, for so many reasons but unfortunately life continues on and me with it.  I really like this Buddhist quote:

“Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”
    
And with this in mind my journey to Africa continues.  This has not waivered my decision and it has not dampened my faith in love.  I probably should have chosen a better time as now I have 19 hours of airport and plane travel to brood on my decision or I guess I can look at the upside and think about my future, the future that I am now back in control of and the challenges that lay ahead of me, even if it all does look really scary!

I got my bag packed for airline travel once again and I had forgotten just how big my bag is when it is all done.  It really lives up to its monster name that is for sure.  My arm is still healing but it is getting better each day that passes and I need to make sure that the monster doesn’t do any unwarranted damage.  To me it weighs more than 22kg, but I haven’t bought anything new, I think it just maybe that I haven’t carried it around for the 4 weeks that I am now finding it too big.  I like the lighter travel and this realization now after nearly 20 months of traveling.  DORK.  I checked out of my room at 5.15pm and I got the same dufus guy I had yesterday checking in telling me I had 3 rooms booked when there clearly was just me.  Well it was a rigmarole again paying for the 2 cokes, one from the last stay and by the time he had all that sorted my transfer had been waiting 10 minutes.  When I got into the van and we had pulled away from the hotel I then remembered that I hadn’t paid for the late check-out.  They had a 1000peso hold on my card and the room charge was 1250peso so I am guessing that they will just charge my card to the remaining amount.  Can they do that if they don’t have my authority for the difference?  I guess they can and at the end of the day I need to pay, right. 

My flight time wasn’t till 9.10pm but with the Manila traffic so bad, especially at 5.30pm being rush hour, as if the rest of the day isn’t as bad anyways, is the reason they collected me so early.  I was fine with that, I prefer to be early and have extra time, especially when there are connecting flights involved on multiple tickets.  I was flying Jetstar Asia to Singapore and after a 6 hour layover I was flying Malaysia Airlines to Kathmandu via Kuala Lumpur.  It seemed a good idea at the time I made the bookings and I now remembered I was saving over 600AUD to do my flights this way rather than try and get it all on one ticket.  I could have saved a little more money travelling Jet Airways which are an Indian airline, but I would need a visa and I didn’t have time to get one, so paid the extra 100AUD to fly Malaysia, which has always been a good airline to travel with anyway.  The transfer took 1 hour and as we pulled up to departures there were lines of people everywhere.  So the traffic isn’t only confined to the roads I see.   After my bags had been scanned for access into the terminal, with my bags on a trolley I took a walk around the large terminal that had check-in counters on all 3 sides of the building.  I couldn’t see a Jetstar Asia counter so I went to the information desk in the middle and she told me check-in counters 14 to 20.  So I started for the counters and there was a huge line up what looked like it was in front of counter 16.  So I asked the man in front of me if he was flying Jetstar Asia and he said yes.  So I figured I was in the right line.  Lucky I wasn’t in any hurry as the line was 100 long, I swear it was massive.  I waited about 15 minutes and there were now people behind me as the line moved it snaked away to the right to counters 25-30.  I think I may be standing in the wrong line, so I asked the man behind me who he was flying and he said Thai.  Yep I believe I was in the wrong line and when I moved out with my trolley I could now see counters 14-20 and there was people checking in but no-one waiting.  What a goose!  I stood in the wrong line for over 20 minutes!!!  So I was next up and my bag weighed 22.7kg, so it was nearly exactly the same when I arrived.  It certainly felt heavier than that let me tell you.  I have been waiting for Jetstar to pull me up on the weight, as I had only paid for 20kg and my bag has been heavier than that, but no-one has batted an eyelid, so I won’t complain.

All checked in and after passing a security check point there was a departure tax to pay of 550pesos.  Gee they really grab ya with all these taxes.  I wonder if they know the rest of the world includes them now in the ticket price.  I was lucky I still had 700pesos on me, but worst case scenario they also had a cost of 13USD so assuming you could pay in US if you didn’t have enough pesos.  Once you had paid and a sticker stuck on the back of your boarding pass there was the scanner to go through.  They had a men’s line and a female line and then you were finally through to the departure terminal.  It is a full on airport and you certainly need extra time to get through everything from actually getting there to checking in and all the security.  By this time it was 7.15pm and we were to board at 7.55pm so I had some time to kill and 150pesos to spend.  I spotted some free internet, so I jumped on to see if there was a message from Zeme, which there wasn’t, and then I looked at spending my left over money.  150pesos is like 3.45AUD but I wanted to spend it and figured I better get something to eat with it as I am not sure when I will be able to get food once I get into Singapore, we arrive in at 12.30am and I am not sure what will be open at that time.  I am thinking that BK (Burger King) won’t be open at that hour and I wouldn’t be able to get my Singapore fare of drumettes and my passionfruit Iced Tea.  I was waiting in the departure lounge when I heard the call for another flight and it was heading to Darwin!!!  Of all places.  It was a good omen I thought, of things to come, not just with my flights but next on my journey.  For those of you who don’t know, I grew up in Darwin and that is also where my mum passed away in 2008. 

Our flight left on time at 9.10pm.  I like the Jetstar Asia flights, their planes are new and the arm rest is those high ones, so my leg doesn’t make them but up so high.  We were travelling on an A320 with a configuration of 3x3.  I tried to take some night time photos from takeoff leaving Manila, and it can be tricky when you are travelling at 300km an hour, but I took like 20 and got 3 good ones I believe.  I wonder if I will see a sunrise today as well?  I LOVE window seats.  It was a 3 hour and 40 minute flight and soon after take-off I had fallen asleep.  Lucky as I had a lady sitting next to me that also fell asleep, but she had the bobbing head action going the whole flight and nearly rested on my shoulder a few times.  So starts my travel day of 4 airports, 3 flights and 19 hours to get me to my final destination of Kathmandu in Nepal.        

We arrived into Singapore’s Changi International exactly at 12.30am.  I now had a 6 hour and twenty minute layover till my next flight.  Even though that sounds like a long time, it is good that the flights connect as such, so I don’t have to pay for accommodation.  I haven’t transited Singapore at this hour before so it will be interesting to see what is open at this time.  The information counter was not manned, so I wasn’t able to get my Wi-Fi codes but I was still able to check my emails and Facebook before heading down to the customs hall.  This was my 6th visit in the last 6 weeks and the customs hall was the busiest I had seen it and that was at 12.50am.  Weird.  I had to wait 25 minutes to get processed and when I was at the counter I asked the customs lady what time the airtrain stopped as I had to get from T1 to T2.  She said it stopped at 2am for 3 hours and then restarts again at 5am.  So I had 45 minutes which was fine, I knew it wouldn’t take long to get through security and out the other side.  Again I had to collect my bag as I was travelling on separate tickets but time was on my side and there was no rush, except to make that airtrain before it closed. I got a trolley for my bag, they were scanned on my way out and then I started to make my way to the train and you could imagine my surprise when I passed a Burger King and it was open.  But I was in T1 and I didn’t want to fluff around till I got to T2.  So when I got to the escalators, the monster was thrown on my back and I waited 2 minutes for the next train and found myself at T2 by 1.30am.  As I have transferred between terminals so much I have to say nothing looks familiar, each time it all looks different.  I am not sure if I am just coming in from different entries, as I am pretty good at remembering landmarks, or I am totally just losing it.  Either way on my way from the train to the main terminal guess what was open and shining like a halo-BK!!!!  Well now I was where I should be I ordered my 6 drumettes and my medium passionfruit Iced Tea and then pulled up a booth for the next 2.5 hours.  I wrote some of my blog, I updated my diary, listened to some tunes and read my trip notes for my upcoming tour as I had no idea on what I was actually doing for the next 2.5 weeks.  It doesn’t look too scary except for the 2 days of rafting on the Seti River.  I was always a little worried about this and now with a dodgy arm I am wondering how I am going to go.  I don’t want people on tour thinking I am a fattie trying to get out of doing some exercise.  The river rafting isn’t until day 10, so hopefully people will get to know me before then and know I am not a lazy so and so.  It is amazing how quick 2.5 hours could go and even though it was 1.30am in the morning those drumettes tasted delicious!!!!

The check-in counters normally open 3 hours before the scheduled flight, but when they are early morning flights this is not always the case.  I packed all my stuff up at 3.45am and thought I better go an scope the layout and make sure that all was going to plan.  My laptop was on its last juice anyway, so if I saw a power point that would also be a bonus.  So I made my way into the main hall and looked at the departure screens and I had to get to counter 9 for the Malaysia Airlines check-in.  When I got there, people were already waiting but there were no staff there yet, so I did a lap of the terminal looking for a power point and they had them but they were literally all under lock and key.  They had little doors over them and were padlocked shut.  I guess I won’t be charging anything check-in side.  I know there are point’s airside; so I will just do it when I get through.  The counter opened at 4.15am, I checked in with no dramas, security was passed, customs was cleared and I was back in to the departures.            

The departure lounge didn’t open for another hour, so I just jumped on the internet to kill some time, took a walk around and then sat down at the Orchid Garden that they have in the terminal and organized some money, got out the address for the hotel in Kathmandu, got informed on the transfer/taxi’s once I arrived and felt I was now all information’ed up.  I had some Thai Baht that I had to exchange so I tried 2 booths looking for Nepalese Rupees but they said I had to get them when I arrived, so to be on the safe side I got the baht exchanged into USD, you can never have too much USD and I should really start to look at getting my USD stash back up as it is a great currency to have in Ethiopia.  I just happened to arrive at the gate at the right time when it opened and I was the very first one into the lounge which was awesome because I was able to snag a seat that had a power point attached to it and I was able to put some life into my IPod as it was running out of juice. 

We boarded on time and left on time and were in the air at 6.50am.  I knew the flight wouldn’t be long to Kuala Lumpur but it was only a 45 minutes…..hardly seems worth all the fuss of everything for a 45 minute flight.  There were a lot of business men on the flight, so I guess they can get to KL and back in a day, like a flight to Sydney, but with passports, extra check-in times and security.  I had the seat next to me free and as we took off there was a stunning sunrise, on my side and I was able to get some great photos.  Have I told you today I love sitting at windows?  It was another great view from my window with islands, white beaches and beautiful blue waters, all that seen from 20,000ft in the air.  The flight was that short there was time to eat a packet of supplied peanuts and a glass of juice before it was time to prepare the aircraft for landing.  Wouldn’t it be nice if all flights were that long?  Speaking of flights this was my 79th flight and I was on a 737-800 with a 3x3 configuration and it wasn’t the most comfortable flight, the seats were a little pinchey and I was thankful it was only a 45 minute flight. 

We arrived into Kuala Lumpur at 7.45am and my next boarding pass stated that we had to be at our gate at 7.55am.  The good news was the flight didn’t leave till 8.55am, so I knew I had some time up my sleeve but not to furf around too much.  We came into gates B and I had to get myself to gates G.  It was nice to be on a connecting flight where I didn’t have to collect my bag and recheck in.  I felt like I was skipping a step somehow but it felt great all the same.  Some-one else was in charge of moving the monster for me.  Once I had located where my new gate I had time to go to the toilet, freshen up and then through security and into the departure lounge.  KLIA offer free Wi-Fi, so I was able to jump on and check email and FB (still no message from Z) and then we boarded and departed on time at 8.55am.

Now I used to scoff at people who asked crazy questions like what side of the plane does the Captain sit on, what side of the plane should I sit on if I want to see the Himalayas’ and I now understood why.  I have some friends travelling and they got a magnificent photo from their plane window of the Himalaya’s and I wanted one to, but was I on the right side of the plane?  It was a full flight and breakfast was served pretty much as soon as we had leveled out.  The staff were very abrupt and the way they spoke to passengers was cringable, I felt so bad, but the passengers didn’t seem to care, the staff pulled faces and laughed between themselves and I think it was the worst service I have ever seen.  They weren’t rude to me, if anything they were super nice to me considering the way they were treating the rest of the flight, probably cause I was one of few ‘white’ people on the flight.  Once breakfast was collected I curled up and slept for 3 hours till we were told to prepare the cabin for our arrival and it was at this time the captain made an announcement that we would get our first glimpse of the Himalayas’ of you were sitting on the right side of the aircraft!  That was me and they looked stunning.  What I had failed to do was have my big camera out and my little camera was not cutting the mustard of getting a good shot.  Dang it.  But to watch mountain range for the last 30 minutes of the flight was amazing and to think there were people on this flight that were going to be climbing them was crazy and inspiring at the same time.  It was a picturesque run into Kathmandu with massive green mountains with hillside terraces and homes, seeing small villages in the valleys between each of these magnificent mountains and the roads that ran along the edge of them clearly visible. 

Finally we arrived into Kathmandu at 11.10am.  There was a funny time change of 2 hours and 45 minutes from Singapore, which is weird, but there it was and I had been on the road for 18 hours and I tell ya it felt like it.  I was shattered.  Kathmandu’s airport, Tribhuvan International Airport, felt like you had stepped back in time.  There are no aerobridges here, the terminal is a ground floor affair built in red brick and there was nothing modern about this place at all.  Which surprises me, it is the only international airport in the country, there are thousands of people who visit here to climb and trek Everest and base camp and this is the welcome they get.  What looks like a Russian 1940’s airport.  I am not one to judge, but it was pretty dated.  Once we were transferred from the plane to the terminal by bus there were a few ways people could go.  We all had to fill in arrival cards (they were not given out on the flight) and then there was a local line, a line for people who needed visa’s, a line for people who already had them and then a local line who needed visa’s (this one didn’t make sense to me).  But before I went through I wanted to get some cash and I had a toilet stop I wanted to take.  The money changer was busy, there was no line as such, you just stood near the window and sort of just pushed your way into be served.  I did note that they were all men, there wasn’t one woman exchanging money at all and I got my turn and handed over my 100USD and got 8300pesos back.  Gee how good am I at my 83 times tables?  So now I was cashed up, toilet free and I was ready to clear customs.  By this time the people that were getting their visa on arrival were still in line where I was able to sashay right up to the people with visa line and got stamped straight in.  I was lucky I had time in London to get my visa, but you can do it on arrival here, it just takes time. 

Once you were through it was into the baggage collection area and here it was just as old as the arrivals hall.  All brick and not very inviting at all.  The trolleys were free (old but worked) and then it was the hurry up and wait game.  The thing with an airport like this is everything is done manually.  So the bags were slow to come out and so I had time to people watch and I just wonder how their bags make it on the flight.  Some of them were MASSIVE; I kid you not they make my monster look like a baby.  The Nepalese people are not that tall and I swear some of the bags were nearly (slight exaggeration) as tall as them.  They were all either plastic wrapped, tied up in like a kilometer of rope (or both) and clearly labeled on the outside with flight numbers and addresses.  Seriously 90% of bags were like this.  I find it funny that people all crowd around the carousel when their bag isn’t even coming yet, it’s not going to make it come any faster and I doubt if you will miss the bag if you just stood away a little from the belt.  The good thing about not having a transfer booked is that there is no pressure on you to feel bad as there isn’t anyone waiting for you on the other side.  My bag finally appeared after waiting 35 minutes.  There were still a lot of people to get theirs so I wonder how much longer they had to wait?  But I was on my way out.

I had read that there are prepaid taxi services when you come out of the terminal to the right and they were right.  I asked what the price was once I gave my hotels name and I was told 650rupees.  Intrepid notes said 400rupees but I looked around and the taxi men outside the secure area looked a little manic and for the sake of 3AUD at this point I was not going to gripe and I also saw a board behind him with all the pricing on it and I could see Thamel where my hotel was located and it said 650.  Okay, so I wasn’t getting ripped off.  So I paid and I was assigned a driver and taken to what they call a taxi here in Nepal.  The cars are small and generally Indian made Suzuki Maruti cars and very run down.  People have told me about the crazy driving of the Nepali’s drivers but my guy didn’t seem too bad and I have seen a lot worse in Ethiopia and now the Philippines.  I am staying in the tourist area and I could tell the second we hit it as you could see all the westerners walking the skinny streets as the cars and bikes dodged them.  There seemed to be a lot of souvenir places, but the shiny modern ‘buy a magnet here’ they looked older and selling more artifacting looking stuff and heirloom kind of jewelry.  I will definitely come back down here in the next few days.  There didn’t seem to be much traffic and we arrived at the hotel within 25 minutes.  I had a USD in my pocket to give him and I got a little cranky when he asked if I liked his driving that I could tip if I wanted.  I hate when they ask, but I have him the dollar which is way beyond what should be paid.  The Intrepid trip notes say that 20-40 rupees is plenty, the 1 USD works out to be 83rupees for him!  Well isn’t he lucky today.

I walked to reception and the lady behind the counter didn’t even smile.  Her first question to me was I with Intrepid.  My reply was yes and I was told that breakfast wasn’t included.  Well welcome to you too.  She just had attitude and when I was given the form to fill in I was down the other end of the counter and she left it up her end for me to come and get.  WTF.  So I got it and walked back to where I was and filled in the form as requested and just as I was signing my name she said I only had to fill in the email address section and not the rest.  Well you didn’t tell me that, so with tude come tude and in the end I think she may have had the last laugh as I got a key that had 520 on it, which meant I was on the 5th floor of a hotel that had no elevator.  Mental note to be nice to receptionist no matter how rude at hotels with no lift.  The Wi-Fi isn’t free here, so I bought a card while I was there and was offered the service of the bell boy and his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the monster lying there on the floor.  Let’s just say it was a US Dollar well spent and well- earned up 5 flights of stairs with that sucker.  Sorry buddy. 

So it was 1pm.  I am in Kathmandu and I am knackered and a little hungry.  I decided to watch some TV and just kill time till I could go and have a very late lunch and an early dinner at 5pm downstairs.  There is an indoor and outdoor area that is lovely with big carved chairs and lights and a nice little ambience about the place.  It is nice to speak English and to be understood.  Sitting there eating my dinner there were groups of people coming and going and a lot of them sounded French.  There seemed to be also a lot of Germans as well.  I was able to load my photos from my flights over the past 24 hours, get some blog done over a cold coke and then I was back to my room at 7pm with the intention of finishing a blog and uploading it, but the second I sat on the bed I was out like a light and woke up at midnight to turn off all the lights, change into my PJ’s and head back to bed. 

What a day. 
I am in Kathmandu and I am a single woman again.  I am still not sure how that is sitting with me and I have yet to have a good cry about it all, so I am guessing the next few days I will have a breakdown somewhere and hopefully I will get it done and be able to start my new and last tour with a new breath of life.  Welcome to Nepal.


Friday, October 26, 2012

IT’S TIME TO LEAVE – PARADISE


WEATHER: Hot and 31C

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: McDonalds for dinner-judge me all you want

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Leaving paradise

WORD OF THE DAY: White sand and blue waters will always be remembered

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 390km

Do I really have to leave?  I would LOVE to spend longer here but I think it would be better if you were with some-one.  It doesn’t have to be a boyfriend/girlfriend, that is another beauty of Boracay, there just aren’t ‘couples’ walking around holding hands, there are groups of guys, families and there seems to be large groups and conferencing groups also around the traps.  There is none of that ‘awkwardness’ of people feeling sorry for you being on your own even though I lost that worry months ago.  The upside of leaving means I am closer to getting to my next tour and in turn closer to getting home.  I really hope that I get a great group for this tour.  Like my Scottish group or my Sri Lankan group.  I only mention then as they are the freshest in my mind, I have travelled with a lot of amazing groups, so if they are like any of them then I will have an amazing time. 

I had to be ready at 11.45am for my security guy to walk me to my waiting transfer to take me to the ferry terminal.  Here goes the rigmarole to leave paradise-damn them.  Right on time I was walked to the waiting van for the 20 minute drive to the port.  Once we arrived there was again the organized chaos of people coming and going, but no security this time as my driver parked and led me to a counter where you had to pay a departure tax of 100pesos which is like 2.50AUD let me through the terminal and straight onto a waiting ferry.  I use the word ferry loosely as it was a local boat called Bangka.  The Bangka is a type of canoe featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull.  It had a roof with open windows and there were plenty of life jackets hanging from the roof and it looked study enough so I was just going to enjoy the ride.  I didn’t have an issue getting on the boat as such but rather the way you had to get onto it.  The jetty stairs were higher than the Bangka, so there was a rickety looking plank that was steep that you had to walk down.  I honestly wasn’t sure that the plank would hold my weight, that was how worried I was, but I looked to the seamen that were holding it steady and they didn’t look worried, so with the plank moving back and forth with the waves I crossed without falling-phew.  Me and little boats don’t mix at the best of times, but when you have to suck it up I just get the job done.  Thankfully the driver still had my overnight bag and he walked along the outside of the boat to find me a seat and I hunched over and walked through the inside already full of people.  The driver told me there would be someone to meet me on the other side for my further transfers.  They wait until the boat is full and after taking on one more couple we were navigated away from the pier and other Bangka’s and on our way back to Caticlan.  For some reason this trip seemed quicker than the arrival ferry and that was in a ‘proper’ ferry.  I think I liked this better, as the wind was in your hair and you could see where you were going and get some photos. 

We arrived to the other side and with another steep ramp to climb with my bag I was back on terra firma successfully.  I walked out and what do you know there was no-one there.  I wasn’t too concerned as I knew the airport was only a short walk away, but then I figured firstly I had paid for the transfer and secondly he may be looking for me-don’t want him to think he has lost a passenger.  So after asking 2 people I was pointed in the right direction across the road and there was a guy walking towards me asking me if I was Miss Bernice.  Yes, that’s me-where have you been?  There is nothing worse walking around looking like an idiot, but I don’t get upset, I just refocus as I know I am going to have to get used to it in Africa, doesn’t mean I will like it anymore.  So with the 5 minute drive I was dropped at the airport with an apology and a wave and I entered the airport terminal.  My flight wasn’t until 2.30pm and I was there at 12.40pm so the check-in staff asked if I would like to go on the 1.30pm flight instead.  I would love to, but I have a transfer organized for my pickup in Manila, so it really wouldn’t make a difference, but I asked if I could make a phone call and pulled out the mobile phone I had been loaned and with the All About Asia office number already pre-programmed I made a call to Julie and she said that it wouldn’t be a problem and she would notify the driver.  All this was done with no fuss and having that phone has been magic.  I need to make sure I remember to send a text message to Julie to thank her for everything.  So I was now leaving an early hour, which meant I would be back in Manila earlier which sounds good to me.  I got my usual window seat and I also had to get weighed again for the flight. 

I was flying Air Phil Express today and after paying yet another departure tax of 200pesos (they get you everywhere) we sat in the cool departure lounge to wait for tour boarding call.  The plane that wad to take us came in at 1pm, and the with the turnaround of the aircraft we were all onboard and ready to go at 1.30pm.  We moved a few meters and then we had to wait for 3 flights to come in.  Who would have thought that such a small airport would be so busy, but then seeing how many people there were at White Beach and they can only get 40 people there on a flight, there would have to be a few flights coming and going.  I was glad today I had a window as the weather as perfect and I hoped to get some good photos from the air and I wasn’t disappointed.  There were no ‘guess that song’ like Cebu Pacific have and with the flight being only 1 hour there was no refreshments offered either.  We were on an ATR70 plane that had a 2x2 seat configuration and I was sitting just in front of the propeller.  The views we had were amazing and this is why I love the window seats.  There was a family of 5 that were sitting across from me with the father sitting next to me.  The row behind us was free, so I thought about moving but then thought about the weight thing and maybe they had placed us in certain seats-as there was an announcement made before we took off to not move around the cabin unless going to the toilet due to the weight ratio.  The flight was only an hour, so it wasn’t going to kill me and he just slept the whole way. 

We arrived into Manila at 2.40pm, the domestic terminal looks so new and we were the only people to be in this section of the airport.  I feel a little strange that I am not standing in a customs line and filling in arrival forms for these domestic legs.  We just arrive, find the baggage carousel and with my bag being the second one off the rank I could see my dude standing outside the glass pane with my name-yay….. He obviously got the message of my new flight arrival.  The drive from the airport was a stop start affair in really bad traffic for 45 minutes getting me to the hotel at 3.40pm.  When I checked in the reception staff reconfirmed I had 3 rooms.  No only one.  They double checked and said 3 rooms?  Um no there is just me.  So it took them 15 minutes to work out that small problem and then they told me I hadn’t paid my bill for the coke I had last week when I was here.  Well that was because you said you would take it out of the 1000pesos deposit I had to leave, but I am happy to settle that with my bill tomorrow.  I also asked about a late check-out as I wasn’t getting collected tomorrow till 5.30pm and he told me they can’t tell me till tomorrow, WTF, so I asked how much would it cost to have a late check-out and after a few more minutes he returned and told me 1250pesos which is like 31AUD so I told them I would just pay for the damn room.  Can’t argue with 30 bucks.  While I was here I also collected my monster that I had left in their luggage room and he said that’s right the big bag.  Yep, that would be the one. 

The only good thing that came of that whole 30 minute transaction was the room they gave me on the 20th floor.  There really wasn’t a view from where I was, but it feels nice to be up so high.  When we drove down the main street of Makati I saw a KFC and a McDonalds only a few minutes’ walk from the hotel.  So I watched a movie, looked at all the crap I had to repack for airline travel tomorrow and then went and got Macca’s for dinner.  I don’t care what any of you think, but it was nice to have something that didn’t have curry, rice or minced pork for a change.  It was a busy store and when you walked in the queue there was a lady that would pre write your order on an order form and then you just present that to the cashier when it’s your turn.  Not a bad idea, so by the time people get to the front they have already decided what to have and the lines keep moving, well I am guessing that is why.  What a great idea for a busy store to keep the flow of traffic moving.  I can’t say it was the best Macca’s I have ever had, but it was food in the stomach.            

I’m not sleeping well as I have a lot on my mind, mainly where my and Zeme’s relationship is heading.  I have been so sad the last few weeks and I think if something that makes you feel that down it needs to be assessed and something done about it.  I spoke to him about it when I was in Cebu but I am not sure how much gets through with the language barrier, but I am not feeling any better and as sad as it is I think we are going to have to go our own ways.  It is such a shame when I am back in Addis in 8 weeks and as nice as it would have been to have Zeme there for my arrival, it’s not fair to him or me to continue the relationship just for that.  Handy, but not fair.  So with a heavy heart I will speak to him tomorrow and get what needs to done, done.  Life can be so fucked up at times and even though I still love him there are a few issues that cannot be overlooked and I will not let my generosity be taken for a ride.  That is all I will say on the subject.

So I have enjoyed my time in the Philippines.  There is so much to see and do and you certainly need more time than 10 days, but it was a great overview and I could see myself coming back to this wonderful country to see more of what it has to offer.    


THE GREAT ROMANCE COMES TO AN END

How sad.
Zeme and I have parted ways.
I loved 100%
I gave a 100%

So what happened I hear you ask? 
I still love him. 
I honestly thought he was my ‘one’. 
But sometimes no matter how you feel about some-one or something there are some things out of your control that happen that change the course of your future.  Not just in relationships, but work, friends, travel it can be anything.  I have said before that some details are not for the blog and the reasons behind the split will remain between Zeme and I.

But you need to keep people in your life that truly love you, motivate you, encourage you, inspire you, enchance you and make you happy.  If you have people who have NONE of the above.  Let them go.  I had to let Zeme go and it is such a shame when we were so close to starting our life together with my return to Addis in early January. 

So the question people have been asking me is what now? 
What are your plans? 
What will you do now? 
Well now that I am back in control of my own destiny (which feels fantastic) I am going to stick to my original plan and still head to Ethiopia in January.  I was always heading back to Africa well before I met Zeme.  I may have not chosen Ethiopia as my country of choice, but after being there several times now, I love it there.  I feel I can make a real difference, the people are friendly and I think I can still make a life for myself there.  It will just be a bigger challenge not having ‘a loved one’ there to help me adapt.  I am terrified actually.  It is a country where not many people speak English but I have been in touch with my guide from my first trip, Minalu-and he is happy to take me under his wing and he will help me settle in.  So I will not totally be ‘on my own’.  I will then hopefully meet his friends, I will get a job, I will meet more people, make more friends and the circle of life continues.  As my friend Christine told me when I was in LA, if things don’t work out it doesn’t mean I have failed-and she is right.  But if Ethiopia doesn’t fit, I will try Tanzania, Sudan, Kenya…..  until I find somewhere I do fit.  It will happen I know that-I need to have a little patience and that is NOT one of my greatest virtues….  I know-WHO would have thought?

So the breakup has not changed my resolve to help people.  It has not changed my plan to move to Africa.  It is all still go from my end.  What have I got to lose?  And look at what people have to gain…… I will start to find contact details for the charities I saw when we were driving around the country in March and I will touch base with my contact for the UN and see if I can get a foot in the door there as well. But I think my heart lies to work in an orphanage.  I love kids, I would love to give them confidence to tackle a future, be proud of who they are and for me to be a positive role model for them to make a change in their lives.  I think I could do that and how rewarding would that be?  But again no one knows what the future holds and you just need to roll with the punches right.     

Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets.  So, love the people who treat you right, forgive the ones who don’t and believe that everything happens for a reason.  If you get a chance, take it.  If it changes your life, let it.  Nobody said it’d be easy.  They just promised it would be worth it.
At the end of the day both Zeme and I deserve to be happy.  I wish him all the happiness in the world and if that means to be with different people, follow different paths or have different ideas for the future then I call that fate and I am okay to run with that and see where it takes me.  I know I have done everything right from my end and I have now decided to run with my gut and my heart has had to take a back seat on this one after it being the other way around for a long time.    

A broken heart will heal.  This is my life and this is how I now roll. 
Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

So I thank everybody for all their kind words, worry and virtual hugs.  If anything this has strengthen my resolve, I will become a stronger person and I am now in charge of ME once again and not reliant on some-one else on what will happen next in MY life.  I can’t believe that I even let it get that far.  I was so desperate in July when Zeme told me I couldn’t come to Ethiopia to live in September.  I was devastated and I think back now and it was quite pathetic.  I don’t know how the Elkins put up with me.  How could I let some-one make me feel like that.  Anyway I am not going to get into details but is super disappointing when I am not even getting return messages-it has been a complete shutdown on his behalf and it makes it difficult for me to get some closure and not even I can answer that question-WHY.  I always knew that firstly long distance relationship’s, suck.  But I thought this was worth it.  Secondly we have a cultural barrier, but I was happy to work through that and lastly the language barrier which was probably the most frustrating for me, but I knew once I moved there and he got better at his English and I learnt Amharic that this would be over-come no problems.  It was a short term issue for me…..

And the last question I know that everyone is thinking is my tattoo that clearly has emblazoned on my left wrist, Zeme.  I still love my tattoo, for what it meant when I got and the way it looks mixed in with my mums tattoo.  What the hell will I do now I hear you ask.  I will leave it for now, but maybe after my move I will go back to the same tattooist in Addis and get him to turn it into something else for me.  After I had Zeme written on my wrist I had an after-thought that it would have been nice to get it written in Amharic as a backup if things didn’t work out there would only be a small amount of people that would know what it said and it still would have looked cool.  Anyway haven’t you people seen LA Ink.  They can change any tattoo into anything.  But that will be down the track as it still symbolizes something to me and is still close to my heart for now. 

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.  That is where I am now and I need to run full throttle into what life will throw at me next.  This is what I have been dealing with on my own the last 2 weeks and as sad as it is, I feel like a weight has been lifted off me, I can breathe and I can see things again.  It all sounds so prophetic but that is how I feel.  So as I sit at a Burger King in Singapore International Airport writing this, waiting for the check-in counter to open for me to check in for my flight to Nepal, with music in my ears and thoughts of people in a much worse position than me, the least I can do is look up, thank my mum, my travel gods and my friends.  I have my health and I am living the dream.  Smile-as my first tear drops.  Smile for what we had. 

I loved 100%
I gave a 100%
….and I don’t regret a minute of it……
How sad…………….


BEAUTIFUL BORACAY AND HER BEACH


WEATHER: Hot EVERYDAY AND 31c

Boracay is a small island of the Philippines located approximately 315 km.  Boracay Island and its beaches have received awards from numerous travel publications and agencies.   In 2012, Boracay has been named the Best Island in the World by an international travel magazine, Travel + Leisure and I definitely see why.  As of 2010, Boracay has in excess of 350 beach resorts offering more than 2,000 rooms ranging in quality from five-star to budget accommodation.  There is also a wide range of restaurants, bars, pubs, and nightclubs to frequent during your stay.  It surprises me, I have been to a lot is islands similar to this and everything is so expensive, well not here.  I didn't get to see many prices of things while I was in Manila, but when you are paying 4.50AUD for a cocktail and I saw on a menu a lobster tail was 7.50AUD that is SO cheap and for an island that is rated in the top ten in the world I think that is pretty amazing in itself.  This would be a BIG thing to differentiate it from some of the other top ten beaches.    

Sofia Gonzales Tirol and her husband Lamberto Hontiveros Tirol, a town judge on nearby Panay Island, took ownership of substantial properties on the island around 1900 and planted coconuts, fruit trees, and greenery on the island. Others followed the Tirols, and cultivation and development of the island gradually spread from this initial beginning.  Tourism came to the island beginning in about the 1970s. The movie Too Late the Hero was filmed in 1970 on locations in Boracay and Caticlan.  In the 1980s, the island became popular as a budget destination for backpackers, By the 1990s; Boracay's beaches were being acclaimed as the best in the world. 

The name Boracay is attributed to different origins. One story says that it is derived from the local word "borac" which means white cotton with characteristics close to the color and texture of Boracay's white sugary and powdery sand. Another credits the name to local words "bora," meaning bubbles, and "bocay," meaning white. Yet another version dating back to the Spanish era says the name is derived from "sagay," the word for shell, and "boray," the word for seed.

The island is approximately seven kilometers long; dog-bone shaped with the narrowest spot being less than one kilometer wide, and has a total land area of 10.32 square kilometers.  Boracay's two primary tourism beaches, White Beach and Bulabog Beach, are located on opposite sides of the island's narrow central area.  White Beach, the main tourism beach, is about four kilometers long and is lined with resorts, hotels, lodging houses, restaurants, and other tourism-related businesses.

In the central portion, for about two kilometers, there is a footpath known as the Beachfront Path separating the beach itself from the establishments located along it. North and south of the Beachfront Path, beachfront establishments do literally front along the beach itself. This is where you will find most of the shopping.  As you stroll the beachfront path you will be approached by men selling sunglasses, pearls, model sailboats, carvings, fake watches, belts and numerous other trinkets.  There are also stalls set up selling pens, keyrings and bracelets made to order personalized with your name on them.  After dodging them you also have the tour operators wanting to sell you the activities, with laminated cards with the pictures of what they offer on them.  And lastly no tropical paradise is complete without the call for massages.  ‘You want massage’? You hear this the whole length of the walk.  Some are drumming up business to go into a beauty salon, others have the chairs/loungers right there and you can tell these women as they are all wearing what looks like a nurse’s outfit of the same colour.  They also offer manicures, pedicures and also on offer is henna tattoos and hair braiding.  I did notice when I was on the beach that none of the sellers were on the beach also.  They mustn’t be allowed on the beach which I think is a great idea.  Some of the watersport people were there, but I think that can be forgiven as their activities are water based.  There were even banana boat rides that you could do and they always seemed quite busy with people during the day. 

D’Mall is the main place where you will find what you need.  Like an outdoor shopping centre as such it runs from the main road that is parallel to the beach and travels the length of the island, all the way through to white beach and here you will find designer clothes, pharmacies, souvenir shops, travel agents, optical and dental services and upscale and budget restaurants and bars with happy hours, that run longer than an hour! 
 
Even though there are a lot of people around, the locals remember you.  I was walking along the beach on my last day and I do remember this guys as he tried to sell me a scuba (wrong person buddy) on my first day, and I was down the other end from where my hotel was and he said that I was staying at Le Soleil wasn’t I.  I said yes and he said if I still wanted to scuba I could (still the wrong person) but thanks for remembering me.  It still has that personal feel and if you are there longer than a couple of days then people do start to remember you and say hi.  This was a nice touch. 

So my 3 whole days in Boracay were amazing.
Breakfast was a little ordinary here at the hotel.  I seemed to pick the best time at around 9am, missing the early rush of deckchair hogs to the later arrival of our Korean friends at 9.30am.  I had got a bit of a routine happening where I would complete a blog (or 2) at night in my room and then I would bring my laptop down to breakfast, upload the blogs and the photos I had taken the previous day and that was the only light of day my laptop saw while I was here.  So my days were filled with beach walks and you will be happy to know that I applied SUNSCREEN each day as my skin had copped a flogging when I was in Mirissa in Sri Lanka and it had just finished peeling and even I knew I would be an idiot to go out without anything on.  Hands up who are proud of me!!!!  The beach always looked busy, but when you walked it didn’t seem as crowded as it first looked.  The northern end had hardly anyone up there when I went up there on my last day, so it was nice to get a photo of the beach with not many people on it.  There are local kids that hire out skimboards and they can be seen doing this all the way down the beach.  You basically throw a mini surfboard, thinner as well, on the small waves that hit the beach and then you jump on and go for a skim…..  It looks like it would take some practice and I saw more than a few people fall off when the board skid out from under them and they fell on their bottom. 

There seems to be a permanent black cloud that hovers down the south end of the beach on one of the surrounding mountains, but I have yet to see any rain.  The driver said when I had arrived it had rained all last week, but the weather was supposed to be okay for the days I was to be here.  I’m not sure what I would do if the weather turned sour as all the activities are outdoor save the massage places, but I am not really into them much.  Leisure activities available on or near Boracay include scuba diving, snorkeling, windsurfing, kiteboarding and cliff diving.  Boracay is the site of an 18-hole par 72 golf course designed by Graham Marsh.  Yeah, well I still wouldn’t know what to do.  There were kids on the beach that were

I was here in low season (rain predicted) so I knew that when I made a booking I just wanted to hope for the best.    My daily routine consisted of breakfast, uploading blogs and photos.  Out of the hotel by 11am, out and about till around2pm with lunch thrown in there somewhere, back to the hotel for a little rest and swim in the pool as it was so hot each day, with a book in hand I would float around in the pool for 2 hours back to the room for a small rest before heading out to what the sunset looked like for the day, I would then go to dinner while I was out and then head home around 8pm.  Not a bad little daily routine I have to say.  I don’t see any enjoyment going to a bar on your own and I really wasn’t in the mood for small talk with strangers, sometimes my whole story is complicated that you just can’t have a short version and for the daily activities I have done them all before (except scuba) but I sometimes think you need to do them with people you know to maximize the fun, I know it sounds weird, but people are so caught up in the excitement they don’t think to ask a single traveler if they want their photo or to chat to them and I think it takes away from the experience.  If there was something I really wanted to do I would do it in my own, I wouldn’t miss out but otherwise I was just here for relaxation this time.    

It rained 3 times while I was here and it was all at night time after 9pm. The good thing it seems it doesn’t last for long and so I think I may have been lucky with the weather while I was here.  Besides one night out of 4 I got some amazing sunset pictures.  It really is a true paradise here without all the bells and whistles of what small islands are normally like.  The atmosphere here was great, it had a great vibe and I know that if I had the chance I would definitely come back here again, with someone-if it be friends or for a romantic liaison, but I would come back for at least a week, maybe longer if you plan to do some of the activities. 

I spent 4 days in paradise and it was now time to face the world again tomorrow and to also do something that I have been thinking about for a while and putting off.  Knowing that I couldn’t do it anymore I have to face the cold hard facts with Zeme and my relationship and tomorrow was going to be the day. Ugh.  I feel sick.