Serendipity

I'm back in KL again, after a wonderful week on the serendipitous island of Sri Lanka. I really had no idea what to expect - I was going simply on the basis that it was one of Air Asia's cheapest flights from KL, and I hadn't been before.
Arriving in the airport I had one of my regular blond moments on the start of these trips, walking out of the airport with a large wheelie suitcase, that a) wasnt mine and b) couldn't have been as the one I had was safely back in storage in KL. Anyway, a bit of sweet talking and I was let back in to swap bags by the helpful airline security.


The first thing you notice on leaving the airport is the number of well armed cops and soldiers everywhere, a reminder that the war has only just finished. My first stop was Negombo, a beach-side town that, although fine, would probably not be on many itineraries were it not for its proximity to the airport. There didn't seem a lot of tourists around at all, but it was fun wandering about, getting a feel for the country and watching the kids playing cricket in the fading beach light.

Next up was Kandy, Sri Lanka's second city a few hours inland by bumpy bus. While the bus station was a bit of a mess, the journey was good fun and finding suitable digs in Kandy pretty hassle free. I set myself up in the Olde Empire hotel to sample some of the faded colonial ambiance at rock bottom prices. It's amazing how quickly you adjust to hard beds and cold showers again!


Kandy was a nice manageable city built around a pretty artificial lake frequented by loads of birds including egrets, pelicans, ducks, cormorants and loads of small waders, as well as numerous locals strolling around and the odd tourist, only really noticeable in evidence at the Kandy Dance performances. It's also home of Temple of the Tooth, purported to hold a tooth from the Buddha himself. The temple itself is a pleasure to wander around in the dawn light, but gets thronged with worshipers pretty quickly.


Having sated any cultural urges, I made a beeline south for Hikaduwa, an erstwhile hippie beach resort that sounded a bit overdeveloped by now. However in reality, it was almost empty - it is low season - and still quite pretty, IMHO. I spent a couple of blissful days swimming, surfing and playing with turtles. And it was nice tasting the various Sri Lankan specialties, deviled fish curry being my favorite.


I also met my first real tourists, Tim and Sarah, an Aussie couple who had been sweethearts since sixteen (awww!) and had even been in the same playschool together! We also encountered Christopher, an American on a quest to avoid repaying his substantial student loan by endlessly studying all manner of nonsense in places like Finland and Romania, in between traveling on 5 euro a day (think lots of hitching and couch surfing).


Enough beaching, time for a bit of colonial culture and Galle, whose European influence is obvious in it's Fort and crumbling colonial Dutch buildings, many of which are well preserved. We ended up staying at the Fort Inn, a pretty nice place and run by the brother of a tuk tuk driver (seriously, he was his brother -what are the chances of that! - Sri Lanka is definitely a bit less scammy than India, or even Thailand, for that matter). It was a pleasure just wandering the streets, or the Fort walls, shared with hundreds of jolly local kids, courting couples and the Jumpers who dive precariously off the ramparts into a narrow shallow target below for a few dollars.



Regretting not giving myself longer, I was left with only enough time for a quick day trip to the very beautiful Unawatuna beach town just south of Galle, before I border the train north back to Negombo and one final sunset. The train was great fun - though a bit of a scrum to get a seat - and the combination of the clickety old carriages and friendly locals made the journey pass in no time at all.

Australian Update

Been busy with work and stuff, so havent updated in a while -
Have done some work on my wedding photography Melbourne site.
Also check out my melbourne photography blog. I'll keep this blogspot one for travel.
Not sure what to with my other wedding photographer site.

Out through Asia. Again.

After very brief stops in Dublin, Frankfurt, Munich and Singapore, I arrived in Malaysia to meet up with some friends. I hadn't been to Kuala Lumpur before, and it's a surprisingly modern city. Not cheap, but good nightlife, food and some fairly interesting old meets new, east meets west architecture.


After a couple of days the lure of Thailand was too great and I found myself in Krabi, via an overnight bus to Surat Thani (eveyone's least favourite Thai town) and a minibus. On said bus I bumped into Nick, the manager of the Nunnery in Melbourne where I'd stayed a few months back. Small world. I was on my way to meet Pat and Sarah, who are nearing the end of 2 years traveling. We stayed in Ao Nang, the ritzier side of Krabi. Personally, I prefer the more down at heal places, but the sunsets are still pretty nice.


After a couple of days we decided to head to Phi Phi, as both Pat and I fancied some scuba. It was even busier than Krabi and tough finding any sort of reasonably priced digs, but after a few days we had devised a schedule to offset the high rent by timing our wanderings to coincide with all the free food and drink going in different bars. And we found a nice quiet area of beach for daytime relaxation far from the madding and often maddening crowd. Passing on a trip to the Similian islands for cost and weather reasons, we settled for a local day's diving, which was pretty good and worth waiting for the improved conditions.


Enough beach pampering. Next up was Mae Sot, a Burmese refugee camp north west of Bangkok, and the place where Mike Cariaso from my Genelogic days was calling home for a few months. He's on his 3rd stint there helping with the kids computer education. Its a really nice setup, a lot more organised and less impoverished than I expected.


And I must admit the kids are adorable. We also did get to see some of the darker sides of the area, including a ward where amputees craft their replacement limbs, as well as the local "sport" of cockfighting. Although not near as gory as I imagined (about on a par to a boxing ring), I still think anything involving needless cruelty to animals isn't really kosher. We also got to see some of the local expat characters, who are always interesting (and usually a little odd) in these kind of locations.


All too soon my Thai visa was up (again) and it was time to move on. Tickets to Melbourne through Vietnam were cheap and allowed me to catch up with Tim and his Vietnamese girlfriend, who I had traveled with last year, as well as Sean (and his - do I sense a theme here...) who I met in Japan. Mostly we just drank lots of bia hoi in Saigon, but we did get away for a couple of days to the busy beach resort of Vung Tao. With hardly a western in site, it's certainly a different beach vibe than Ko Phi Phi!

home unexpectantly

Although he hadnt been well for a while, I was still a shock when I realised my Dad was going to die in December. Being on the other side of the world doesnt help in these situations, but I managed to rearange my flights in time and leave work for the moment, without a return date. I only just made the funeral as my flight was delayed 8 hours in Melbourne. Everything went as well as possible in these circumstances, and it was really nice seeing the family again.
When I made it back home I thought Joey was going to have a heart attack, he was so excited, but after a while he quickly returned to his favorite entity in the world.


He did accompany me on a lot of early morning walks, and the weather was surprisingly nice and sunny. If was cold but not exceptionally so, all quite pleasant, and a lot better than many Irish summers! Mulling things over, I decided to jack in the job in Melbourne, and decided to pursue a new career in photography of some sort. Somewhere. Some time. Life's definitely too short to stay doing something you really don't like.


Well there seemed little point in doing anything too quickly, what with Christmas just around the corner, so I decided to take it easy for a few days and contemplate my future. Christmas was a nice affair, nothing too high key, as you can see by the look of boredom on out two youngest participants.


Apart from several Galway trips to meet Martin, I made one trip to Dublin to meet up with Anna who I knew from Estonia. It was fun being a tourist in your own country for a change. Having decided to head back down under, and with no cheap flights to oz, I booked a one way ticket to Asia, where I planned to meet up with a couple of friends en route.

Down Under

I figured it was about time to update this blog. Well, seeing as I'm probably going to start real work for the first time in ages, if I don't do it now I probably never will. At the moment, I'm recovering from my exertions yesterday in the Melbourne mile, as well as my extractions a couple of days ago in the dental surgery. Ah yes, my gallant tooth that's been worked on now in 3 continents finally gave up the ghost, and all I've left to show from 8 dental visits is a large hole in my mouth and a larger hole in my bank balance. Still, it was fun while it lasted. Kinda.

So what have I being doing with myself for 2 months you might ask? Well, a fair bit really. Last week was spring racing, and the Melbourne cup, a good excuse to put that suit to use, now that the interviews have (hopefully!) stopped. It was a smashing day out, helped by the mid 20s sunshine. Certainly a far cry from the Galway races, even if half the crowd (and horses) seemed to be Irish.


I've also been spending time just wandering about and becoming properly acquainted with my new home and its inhabitants. While not possessing the stunning scenery of the likes of Sydney, there's still some really pretty sights, especially along the Yarra river. Some of the best fun is exploring the smaller lanes and alleyways to find hidden gems, even in the CBD, and of course the surrounding neighbourhoods, such as Carlton and Fitzroy, are great for lazy wanderings at any time of the day or night.

Speaking of Sydney, I took a break from all the job hunting and spent a few days up there. It has to be said, the beaches are truly world class, and a nice day on Coogee is hard to beat. It was great to catch up with friends and recover from all this job searching induced stress.

I finally found a home recently, after staying a bit longer than planned with Mike and Steph. I'm sure there relieved to see the back of me, but I think little Herbie misses me, even if he's too shy to say it. It was a great few weeks though, and really helped the settling in process (esp. considering my employment status).

My new location does make it easier to take advantage of Melbourne's great bar scene, though I'm not sure that's such a good thing...
Other than boozing, I've spent a fair bit of time visiting the MCG, what with Sean and the Finnish lads over to play in an international development series, as well as the Ireland-Australia compromise rules, and witnessing Buddy's 100 goals in a season (hence the crowd invasion, pictured), I hardly every seem to be out of the place.

Talking Japanese

In some ways, Japan was just like I expected it to be. Tokyo is definitely a visual assault. The city is massive, and the 1.5 hour train trip from the airport seems to go on forever. Getting around isn't too tricky, but conversing with the locals can be, especially if your knowledge of Japanese doesn’t go past 5 words. The place seems kinda familiar, in the way that New York does to a first time visitor. The amount of people, advertising and neon everywhere can't really be captured in single shots.
It's pretty incredible

After a couple of days of jetlagged wanderings around Tokyo, it was time for the bullet train to Kyoto. In contrast, Kyoto is a relatively relaxing place, with countless peaceful Buddhist temples and Zen gardens in the areas close to town. Many of which are Unesco world heritage sites. And tonnes more that probably could be. Indeed the less visited ones are actually some of the nicest.

Apart from temples, Kyoto is also famous for it's Geisha's, though most of the Kimono clad girls you see around are just apprentices learning their trade. It's surprising to see the practise still alive and kicking in the 21st century. I did manage to see a couple of real Geishas on their way to appointments. Memories of Memoirs of a Geisha.
.

Then it was back to Tokyo for a couple of days before departing for Melbourne. This time I based mysjavascript:void(0)elf in the relative tranquility of Asakusa, away from Roppongi, the main areas where foreigners go, and a bit of a nightmare IMHO. A couple of almost relaxing days and it was time to validate that Ozzie visa. With all of 2 days to spare.

Home and Sweden

Well, home at last and a well deserved break from travel and all it's associated stresses. It's always great to get home after travelling, but generally speaking the initial excitement of seeing everyone starts to pale soon enough, and the latest edition of the Irish "Summer" certainly doesn’t help.

There is the odd ray of sunshine though, and a drive through Connemara in the evening light is a good way to appreciate it. Even if it looks like some of the locals don't welcome the intrusion.

After some r+r at home, its was time for another mini trip to Sweden, which almost didn’t happen for Martin who couldn’t remember the safe place he had carefully left his passport, the day of the flight. Unfortunately, the weather in Stockholm was only marginally better than that we left behind, though we did have one afternoon without rain, and despite Martin's expression, the city was an interesting place to spend a few days.


Even if we didn't do much more than eat, drink and be merry. The old town area was especially pretty. And the locals were generally pretty friendly, especially when accosted and plied with food at 5am, and their English was quite amazing, some even having completely Irish accents to boot. Still, I can't help feeling on the whole that the Baltics offer a better deal for an extended break than Scandinavia. So after a brief stopover to catch up with Mr Dave and friends in Glasgow, it was back home and preparing to board the coffin ship. Sorry, Qantas plane.

A bit Baltic

Apologies for the tardiness of these posts...
Anyway, several months back I had planned to visit the Baltics on a trip with Martin. I expected to be back from Central America in loads of time, but as it was I ended up being in Ireland less than a day before jumping on a plane to Vilnius.
Lithuania’s capital was a lot prettier than I would have imagined.


Some of the architecture was pretty stunning, and the weather nice and balmy. Although not on my original itinerary (I'm meeting Martin in Latvia) I was glad I came. The bars and restaurants evoke a feeling closer to Mediterranean Europe than old soviet block states, and despite basic English, the locals are pretty friendly. The town is a delight to wander, and is also delightfully missing the riff raff that have descended into some of eastern Europe's nicer cities due to the likes of urine air and sleazy jet offering too cheap flights.


After Vilnius I hoped on the bus north to Riga, famed stag party capital of Latvia.
After meeting up with Martin, we hit the town, only to find that we had arrived at the one time of the year (midsummer) where it's dead quiet. Still, Riga is another beautiful Baltic capital.


And there are a few folk around, probably mostly tourists unaware of the nature of the festival. Martin was pretty adapt at herding them out. He knows every inch of Riga's lanes and alleyways at this stage.
We did happen to be here for the Russian football match, which, given that Latvia is almost 50% Russian, was a pretty big occasion.


Next stop , was Tallin, Estonia, but only for a brief stopover as we were on our way to Helsinki for a couple of days. The weather was still mostly behaving itslef, and the shortish crossing over the gulf of Finland was very pleasant.
We met up with Sean and as usual he was a great host, its great to have the local knowledge of where to go.


So after a couple of nights it was back over in force to Tallinn. Again, it's a lovely city, with cute squares and alleys and lanes winding through the old part of town. Possibly the prettiest of all the Baltic cities. Though, it has to be said, pretty chocca with tourists.


It's also got very lively nightlife, with a variety of bars and clubs keeping things going well past dawn. After 10 days in the Baltics, I think I need a serious detox.

Jouisey

Well, after 3 1/2 months in Latin America, I'm back in the garden state with Mandy, Eddie and Ally. Its weird to be back, in some ways, it almost feels like I never left.




The weather here is a tad warmer than the snow and ice that I left a while back. I insisted on breaking out the pool, and used Ally as an excuse. She seemed to like it almost as much as me. I've also been gorging myself on all things American, to fatten myself up for my time in the Baltics. And I've been replacing my well worn clothes and footwear, its actually quite nice not to have to wear the same stuff for a change. And have a pair of sunglasses that don't break in 2 days.


Apart from eating and shopping, I managed to get in a bit of drinking. Including a night out in New York, which was fun. Even if my lack of a collared shirt meant we ended up in some of the more divey bars, instead of hob knobbing it with the celebs. Like I'm used to.


Before leaving Nicaragua, I spent a day at the beautiful Laguna apoyo. Its a crater lake formed from a volcano caldera, close to Granada. It's a very relaxing place, nice water for swimming and a little kayaking in the warm sunshine. A lovely way to spend my last day in Nicaragua.

Ticas, Nicas and Matthew McConaughey

My original plan (well, as of a few weeks ago) was to fly back to the states via Costa Rica, but I decided instead to see a little of Nicaragua and fly from Managua. It meant a longish trip from Boquete. After feeding the new baby parrot, Neimis kindly drove me to the border, where I made by way by taxi and local bus as far as San Insidro, only to find out that the road to San Jose was blocked by mudslides. Plan B saw me head via the coast, and the backside breaking road from Dominical to Quepos, to sleep for the night, then up to catch the 4am bus north to Punta Arenas, another bus to Liberia, and a final bus to the border of Peñas blancas, leaving the Ticas behind.


The queues at the border were possibly the worst I´ve seen anywhere, but luckily most of the people were Nicas trying to go the other way. I met an English couple and after the heat and dust of the border, decided to share a taxi to San Juan del sur, getting there in time for sunset.


San Juan is mainly a surf town, with good beaches close by. I spent a couple of days mostly trying to get out the back, as the waves were pretty strong. I definitely need to move to a small board. Sharing the waves was Matthew McConaughey, on a boys break from his pregnant brazilian girlfriend. We met him in the pub later, and while I admit to having had a few, he was way more pissed. Quite amusing.


Enough gringofication, time to head north to Granada, the pride of Nicaragua. I have to say I'm a tad disappointed with it. It's a pretty town, for sure, but it doesn't have the wow factor I expected. Perhaps Colombia has spoiled me. Still, it has some nice restuarants and pretty churches scattered around, and the main square is very pleasant.


Theres plenty of natural beauty nearby, several lakes and volcanoes, including Nicaragua's most active, so I decided to visit it at night to see the glowing lava. It wasnt quite as dramatic as the brochures would lead you to believe, indeed the local fire dancers probably made a more impressive display.