Day thirty-nine: Melbourne, Australia

Not only am I physically on the other end of the world (juding by the central european zone), I have been so busy and overwhelmed, i've hardly had the chance to catch-up - let alone brief you on my most recent encounters...
My time in Sydney felt like I was walking through a postcard all day, every day. The Harbour Bridge and Opera House really are as pretty in real life ( I cant imagine how perfect a new years eve there would be!)as they look on tv. Although im usually awkward around animals and don't support the idea of zoos, the Taronga Zoo was a wonderful example of how preservation, research and tourism can come together to produce something worth(my)while. Manly (where I stayed with Colleen), was ridiculous to say the least; Homemade breafast at the beach (ceramic plates/cups and all), joggers and 'nordic-walkers' galore and the sound of the waves crashing in at night along with the starry sky seemed almost fake. I wouldn't have believed it had I not been there myself. The weather's been surprisingly nice. Considering this is sopposed to be the coldest part of my trip, I feel quite lucky. Sydney was warm enough at times to lay out on the beach, soak up the sun and enjoy a (rather refreshing) swim in the mornings, and altough Melbourne is a notch colder than that, I've been coping quite well! I couldn't resist being a tourist and even ended up dragging Colleen to the World Press Photo exhitbition 2008 (a little bite of reality in the midst of my travels) and the Royal Botanic Gardens all in one day! I stayed long enough to enjoy Bondi Beach on a Sunday and have lunch in trendy Newtown before I left. Havn't 'done' Sydney to the extent that I would want to - but you can't have it all, and you can't have it now!
Melbourne called and I have been staying with Alex who I met in London since Tuesday. I can't even keep track of the days anymore, it's been too fast paced this past week! After two days of exploring the city and getting to know Alex's friends and family we went to her house in Lorne (on the Great Ocean Road, two hours west of the city) and had a time-out for a bit. It was gorgeous - the serenity, the views, the silence... priceless! And so close to the city... I simply don't understand why the locals don't come more often! Back in town I managed to catch a game of Aussie rules football with Alex's uncle and was fully immersed as a die hard fan (Collingwood is the team) in todays game at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (we won 173-73 thank-you very much!!!), as well as attending a party held in my honour at Alex's parent's house with more drinks, paella/grill and desserts than the 40 of us could handle!!
The next few days are just as jam-packed with must-sees, holiday houses and shopping until i'm off to Fiji on Tuesday night.
Hope all is well wherever you may be, atleast its summer there :)
Kaja xx

Day twenty-eight: China Recap from Sydney, Australia

Before you assume-away that I'm enjoying myself too much to bother blogging, I'd like to inform you that my blog was a victim of Chinese censorship, and I could not access it to read your messages or post new ones of my own. So, on behalf of their government, I apologise for the inconvenience!

Its been a very intense few days jam-packed with physical hardships, culture shocks, sign language and surprises of all shapes and sizes.

Beijing turn

ed out to be flatter than expected, so at no moment did I feel as if I was in a metropolitan city. The newly built Olympic stadiums look stunning, although I'm afraid the city's preparation in terms of 'welcoming the world' still isn't up to par. This was apparent within minutes of my arrival, as apparently none of the tourist information staff on duty at the Beijing Int'l Airport (12 people in total) are capable of translating an address into chinese characters!

I walked on the Great Wall for over four hours, visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and some other major tourist attractions and also braved the streets by bicycle and explored the alleyways of one-story shanty towns (what is left of the old city) with newly made friends. 

I also managed to spend money in the many shopping markets in town and in western-feeling clubs that may as well be anywhere else in the world.

I roughed-it on an overnight train to Shanghai and stayed with the Bowker Family who were wonderful and introduced me to the city as well as gave me a home for a few days where I could sleep, eat, chat or simply 'chill' at my own leisure- I couldn't have asked for more fantastic hosts!

Shanghai struck me as a bustling, trendy Megacity, which apparently, in the year 2010, will be home to over one thousand skyscrapers! From Jinmao Tower (the fourth tallest building... until its neighbour is finished come 2009) I got just an impression of the extent of this building craze. Although smog covered the suburbs, what I saw was more than enough to be blown away by the sheer size and pace of the place. On my way out of town I caught the Maglev train, riding at a maximum speed of 431 km/h, it travelled over 30 kilometres in just over seven minutes! Beat that! 

If those four days in Shanghai where a taste of the future, the upcoming week could easily be one of paradise as I explore Sydney and it's surroundings at a sunny 19 degrees C. 

Kaja

Day sixteen: Koh Tao

After two truck rides and two ferry boats, we arrived to our final destination. Apparently, Koh Tao is home to only about 700 people (the majority of those being scuba instructors!) and what seems like twice as many tourists. The beach is as scenic as it gets and the water is luke warm- perfect for sitting in to watch the purple sunset. We decided to hit the bars on the first night and a select few found ourselves dancing in the ocean into the early hours while sipping on an array of cocktails. We couldn't have had a better welcome! After only a handful of hours of sleep we went on an all day snorkeling trip around Koh Tao. First stop: Shark Bay. I had a good day and got to see two sharks (about 1.5m long), fish and coral that could easily audition for Finding Nemo and, right before the end of my last dive, a baracuda, which scared the shit out of me! Our final stop was a "private island" (owned by the same guy that owns Singha beer- the best and most popular brand of beer in thailand, also the most expensive local brand). This guy most obviously knows his stuff, or he has people that work for him that do because it was seriously impressive. Now, when you're already on a tropical island, you think it cant get any better. Well, it did! It was basically two islands joined by a (natural) sand bridge and has clear, turquoise blue water. While everybody else went for an overpriced drink at the bar, I trekked it up to the view point which turned out to be worth it as the picture proves. Mr. Singha is also quite 21st century and has banned all plastic bottles and bags from his island, along with fins, as live (and I assume terribly sensitive, vulnerable) coral surround the island.

Although I applied 30+ sunscreen after every dive and kept to the shade, the underwater world kept me distracted enough to allow the sun to burn my back a little bit. Again, I lucked out and its already turning into a tan today :)

Couldn't sleep last night and found myself walking around the streets and beach in my pajamas! Maybe it's jet lag kicking in about seventeen days late...

Today is our last full day here and as we aren't counting tomorrow's overnight train, our last night with the group. We've decided to start early and are going for dinner somewhere scenic to watch the sun set infront of us and then hopefully take it from there into the night :)

THANK YOU for the many messages- they really make a difference and I don't feel as much of an idiot writing this thing! Hope you enjoy the new pictures!

Kaja xx

Day thirteen: Koh Samui

After two days in what I now percieve as hell in the worlds oldest rainforest (Kao Sok), we finally got to the beach! Koh Samui is a pretty big island off of thailand's eastern coast, so apart from beaching it and napping there's plenty to keep us distracted.
The jungle was not as exotic as one might think: mosquitoes (all day, every day), leeches (which managed to suck the blood out of 9 of us, me excluded- thank god!), fat 15 cm long black scorpions chilling outside our hut doors and monkeys (in our bathroom. yup). The other girls were even more unlucky and had to listen to rats chewing away at their chips and cookies all night long! That should help you understand why all of us are glad to be out of there!
Last night we all went to Chaweng Beach (the longest and most popular beach on the island) and had dinner at the most perfect restaurant right on the beach; pillows, low tables, torches and all. The pricelist blew us away but I decided to splurge and ended up paying 11 euros for a two course meal (with fresh fish!) and an excellent long island ice tea! We decided to get a different taste of thailand and went to watch a cabaret show featuring lady boys at their best. I have never seen anything like it and pretty much sat there in awe for two hours, singing along to all of the famous tunes the were lip-synching to.
Tomorrow we head off to Koh Tao (turtle island), a smaller island not too far away from where we are now that has an excellent reputation for diving/snorkeling. And we get to stay there for three days (our longest stay in any one place thus far! woohoo!) so we're all looking forward to settling down and lazing around a bit more.
Thai internet cafes may be plentiful but they aren't anywhere close to what we (I) would consider fast, thus picture uploading remains a difficulty (believe me, I would love to post pics from the beach and the lady boys!!!)

Having successfully avoided the midday sun, I think i'll hit up the beach again:)
and no worries - I have been religious about applying sunscreen
(not something my fellow british travellers can claim! muahahaha!)
Kaja xx

Day Nine: Bangkok (stopover)

So back in Bangkok for one night only - heading on yet another overnight train this afternoon.
Yesterday we arrived at the crack of dawn (0630). but judging by the commotion, heat and general craziness that is BKK, it might as well have been 8 pm. Nevertheless, the whole group headed out for breakfast (i spoiled myself with a plate of various fruit for about one euro and french toast!) and then we all dispersed to do whatever we wanted with thte free day.
My roomie Liz and I decided to be proactive and trekked it to the national museum where the only english tour of the week was about to start so we joined them. Turned out to be a smart call, we got much more out of the whole experience and spent some time in air conditioned rooms :) Then we headed on to the grand palace. Whoop-dee-doo. nothing special if you asked me. Youre harassed by scammers even before you enter, which made me more scared than i have been on this trip thus far. Not even lady boys at 3am were that intimidating! So that was a big let down but atleast we can cross it off of our list.
The return to the hotel was godsent and we decided to lounge around there for hours until we met the group. The schedule for the next few days seems more relaxed. We are heading to the south tonight. Two days at a national park and then off to Ko Samui and Ko Tao for some beach time :) Not sure how the internet availiblity is down there but i'll do my best.
Oh and by the way - all of you could be a little better at keeping me posted with your own drama ;)
Have a great day! Kaja xx