Forever Young

With one week passed by back in Sydney, I am sitting here not ever so sure of what to write about.

On my return, I met a couple of German guys who I hang out with until Monday - this included sampling WeissWurst in a German restaurant in the city, and taking a meandering walk around to Bondi from the beach I am staying at - Coogee. There was also some drinking and kebab eating involved.

Flea arrived back in town on Tuesday, and since then we've been busy looking for somewhere to work, and somewhere to live. 1 out of 2 isn't bad, this afternoon we shift our back packs for the last time (for 3 months anyway!) and move onto Beach Street, Coogee. I'm now living just a minutes walk from the sand, and I can see the ocean from the kitchen - which sounds lovely... except for what most of us forget - Sydney has a Winter too - and it's approaching just as fast as my Thai tan fades. Thongs, boardies and T's have given way to jumpers, socks, jeans & trainers - a slightly depressing thought after 6 months of Summer.

In reality, the cool weather should make work a little more tolerable.

On Tuesday, it was Anzac day - an Australian equivalent of rememberance Sunday. However here, it's a bank holiday and also relaxes the state gambling laws - to allow anybody to play "2's up". A game where people bet freely on heads or tails - sometimes $10, sometimes $250! We left the 2's up hall before we did anything silly and enjoyed the last of the sunshine... before the heavens opened.

Four to the Floor

6 months ago, all I knew of Brunei was that it's leader - the Sultan of Brunei was once the richest man in the world before Bill Gates overtook him, and then a few others too.

3 months ago, I knew that they had some great theme park built by the Sultan for the people as a gift and that's about it.

So when landed at Brunei Darrusalem (its full name), I was pretty unsure how I'd be spending my 2 days. Luckily, the $1 bus ride dropped me in Begawan in front of the worlds friendliest tourist information guy - Danny. He let me know all there was to do and also offered a tour around the cities floating village which I duly accepted.

First I went to check in at my hostel, which seemed abandoned - so I locked my bag and decided to come back later. A visit to the Royal museum allowed me to see the most bizzarre royal carriage ever - a cross between stephensons rocket and chitty chitty bang bang - the cart is pulled and pushed along by 48 men. Sadly no photography means you'll have to go for yourself to see it!

Then on to the mosque - usually known as the 'mini Taj Mahal'. However on the way I was given my biggest scare of my entire travels... as the sky had greyed, a bolt of lightening struck a spire around 10metres from where I was standing - the noise was like artillary being fired right over my nog - I near on hit the deck! As the traffic chuckled at my nervous burst, I gathered myself and hoped that my pants wouldn't need changing.

At 4pm I met with Danny for the river tour. From the boat we could see the many palaces belonging to the Sultan - he seems to build them for pretty much all his friends and family - his one has over 1200 rooms and employs over 2000 staff to keep it running. He's also pretty much the entire political cabinet along with being fully trained to fly his own private 747 and Black Hawk Helicopter (a man with money AND his priorities sorted out!). As he and the country are so wealthy, there is no tax, medical care is all free, education too - and petrol is 50c a litre - around 20p. Except... his wealth is $14.3 billion... surely his people could have slightly better accomodation than this?!

Into the village itself, the houses are surprisingly well equipped - sat TV, Playstations and DVD players the norm. We landed on one of the board walks and was invited to visit a house. Through a hatch in the floor we were shown into the fathers quarters - a boat workshop where he makes his living.

The boat then cruised around showing us the large mosques, schools and even fire-stations built on the water. As I said goodbye to Danny I was starting to see how friendly the local people were - quite surprising as this is adverse to how I'd found Malaysia previously.

I went to play some Badminton at the hall next to my hostel, where I played, was heavily beaten by a guy called Rosle. His comiserating smiles were okay as he offered me a ride to the Jeradong playground (the theme park I'd been looking forward to visiting). Nick had already told me that half the rides were closed, although I thought maybe that had just been for maintenance. In reality, literally half of the park was shut. Sadly, the half with all the good rides in. So I paid my dollars entrance fee and stayed as open minded as possible.

Remember the first time you visited a theme park as a kid? You had a great time, with the only negative being the boring queues for the attractions. You, as well as I, would have wished to have a theme park to yourself for a day. This is one wish that I can assure you - is no fun at all. However, I did notice myself laughing with disbelief at how much of a failure such an extravagent park could be - though for a country of only 375,000 inhabitants, it's not really a surprise to see this theme park empty - along with the roads and city centre also.

Rosle, offered me dinner at his families house, which after an absolutely dire KFC earlier in the day, I was only too pleased to accept.

I took a ride home on a speed boat - once again through the floating village. For $1, I got to sit at the front of the boat while we sped through the darkened still waters. I found a large grin on my moosh and realised I got my theme park ride eventually - if not actually in a theme park.

So, on my 2nd and final day in Brunei, I embarked on a little adventure. A climb up 487 steps to one of Bruneis highest peaks. The sky was blue, the temperature was hot - and by the time I reached the summit, the huge ants crawling the rainforst floor, were avoiding the dozens of sweat droplets being fired off of me.

I took some time to chill in the afternoon, before getting trapped indoors as the heavens opened. Wet, I arrived at the bus station and moseyed back to the airport, and back toward Sydney, Australia.

Part of the Process

The girls and myself headed to the airport, their flight left at around 1pm so after an emotional goodbye I was back solo, at least for a little while.

I had no flight back to Bangkok. So I had to hope I could catch a flight on standby. Normally not a huge problem, however, after the Thai new year - they were all going to be heading back to the capital too. 1 o'clock, 2, 3, 4, 5 passed as I watched countless Gold Card members pass me by in the Thai airways queue. Luckily, I had a backup plan - Air Asia, at the other end of the check in desks, had told me there was a chance of getting on their 6pm flight. I hurridly got my name down at the first opportunity, and then told two Serbian guys that I had been chatting to in the Thai line about the flight. They also put their names down and at 5.45, we were allowed a ticket. Those guys were ecstatic with me as they were getting close to missing a connecting flight to China. After high fiving me, they bought me Burger King, the taxi ride from Bankok intl and then 4 beers on the Khao San Road before they headed back to the airport. I now know a little more about Serbia, Montenegro and Belgrade than I did before - actually - now I know something about those places. Thouroughly nice blokes though.

After sleeping off the Singha, I set off on a trip to the Siam Paragon shopping centre - a spot that I had so far missed in Bangkok. It's luxurious to say the least and puts even Orchard Road in Singapore to shame. All the usual high-price brand names are there, along with BMW, Maserati, Ferrari and (my fingers tremble as I type) Lam-bor-ghini dealerships.

After picking up a new guitar for about 10quid, a tuner for 3quid, a Singapore Rice dish for lunch and by the time I was all drooled out over the Gallardo, I headed back into backpacker central where I met a guy called Chris from Germany. We watched some Live Premiership before hitting the Khao San bucket scene again...

My last day was spent plucking strings, reading, walking, blogging and taking an early night before my flight to Brunei. So, up at 5am I made my way to the airport by midday I was in the tiniest country I've visited in Aisa so far. It was also to be the strangest...

Living Daylights

Friday saw the second of our tours ; the first had been a return visit to Koh Phi Phi, it was great fun to go snorkelling in such a beautiful place again, however the trip to Phang Na - was way more entertaining.

Most of you will have seen part of Phang Na before in James Bonds "The Man With The Golden Gun" and also some helicopter fly by's in "Tomorrow Never Dies", I got the chance to go live my childhood dream of following in Roger Moores footsteps... however dreams coming true aren't always as you'd hoped. The beach that saw Bond giving chase to Oddjob en route to his showdown with Monsieur Scaramonga... is now a market place bustling with Thais trying to sell fake pearls and other such trinkets (also read: junk) - all on a beachy area no bigger than maybe 40x30metres. Yuck. Onward to the unruined Phang Na national park.

I dived from the roof of the boat into the murky warm sea and clambered aboard the chauffered kayak. The vessels were inflatable and pretty soon I was relieved I wasn't paddling. The islands we visited, have a network of caves that are only accesible when the tides are low. The rocks are covered with sharp barnacles that I would almost have certainly hooked one edge of the boat over. Inside, by torchlight you can see hundreds of bats sleeping.

When daylight once again reduced my irises to pinholes, we emerged in one of 3 'rooms'. An enclosed area of shallow waters, Mangrove trees and huge cliff faces and a completely surreal feeling - of feeling enclosed yet still being in the sea. After two islands like this it was time for lunch and the cruise back toward Phuket.

That left only a single day in Phuket - which was spent in traditonal Thai style... beach bummin.

Ultra Marine

What is all the fuss about? I've always heard people talking about this place as if it is the definitive paradise destination - and comedy name.

I rolled into a dirty city with more neon signs than all of Bangkok barring the Khao San Road - eventually battled past the marauding tuk tuk drivers and got the bus to Kata beach. The beach was nice, white sand, lots of amenties close to hand but the hotel was awesome.

So after sharing rooms with cockroaches, views of the stars, dirty marks and stains I won't talk about... it was a full 7 days of long buffet breakfasts, lazing by the pool (a choice of 3) and on the beach, playing tennis, squash and chilling out with Star Movies and Star Sports on TV... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

On my last trip to Thailand, I was lucky enough to bear witness to one of the Thais festivals in Chiang Mai, in which floating candles were released in their hundreds into the night skies above parading streets. Then, Nick and I heard was another festival in April - celebrating the Thai new year that sounded much more fun; and this time round, I would get to take part in the festivities. Instead of just getting drunk and then making a resolution that you never keep, the Thais wash away all the bad spirits that have gathered over the year - by holding the mother of all water fights. On Wednesday night (the first evening of Songkram), I was daubed with white powder by some guys on the street. On Tuesday morning, I looked more like a Mime artist than the well tanned traveller that I am!

Time for revenge, I set out on the street armed with my 1.5 litre calibre super soaker 5000, and 4 pre-filled water bombs. As I left the Hilton with combat shorts and 3 huge fluroescent rifles, I wondered how many more times in my lifetime I might walk past suited businessmen in such attire.

Out on the streets it was time to get dirty. An 8 year old with an Uber-Uzi, supersoaker with a 2.2litre backpack pump action water fed canon was trying to rip me up on his turf, a pink water bomb in the face put paid to him. No amount of water could hide the tears. I look up and Charlie was everywhere, like when I was back in 'Nam. I ran around the corner, passed the Seven Eleven, the chick behind the counter knew I was trouble and gave me a passing glance before sliding the steel shutters down on the front of the store. I should have been more careful, as whilst my attention was diverted, two Thai women grabbed me, securing my firearms and kissing me with bright red lipstick leaving their marks firmly on my Western cheeks. The enemy would know my weakness now. Within minutes I'd taken hits from powder bombers. Little old dears trained in the old art of wet-hand-talcum-powder-slapping. Marcel Marceau eat your heart out. There was no question "there's no 'I' in team" a teacher once told me, I was gonna have to join forces if I was gonna get to eat another Thai Green Curry.

Based outside one of the rival hotels, I found all the ammo I needed, and some state of the art plastic tubs designed to offload 3 litres of H2O in the direction of any passing tuk tuk, motorcycle or cyclist. I enjoyed head shot after head shot, I even managed to sneak in a heavy shot to the back of a sealed unit carrying enemy civs in their 'going-out' clothes... my smile was too great, and in seconds, I was caught napping from behind. The deadliest weapon of them all - the hose pipe - rammed against my kidney, spraying droplets everywhere. I was finished. Man down.

***

Jerry's Final Thoughts: A lotta folks got very wet in the making of this story. You should honour their braveness by taking a trip to Thailand for a Songkram festival. You won't regret it.

The Coast is Always Changing

Wow, I was back on the night train to Surrat Thani. This time with the girls, some more beers and a different final destination. Khao Lak was the Thai area that got hit biggest in the Tsunami - taking thousands of lives and pretty much wiping out everything 1km from the waters edge. It really showed as we rolled into a very new and clean looking main drag.

We spent a morning in the main town visiting the Tsunami charity shop, market and an amazing memorial - a police boat swept aroun 1500metres from the ocean in shore where it will now stay as a reminder.

We stayed in some quaint bunglaows around 400metres from the beach - which had miraculously escaped Sumatra damage as a forest of rubber trees quite literally bounced off the waves. The next few days were a little blurry... once again, me taking another heavy dose of the Koh Phangan syndrome of waking up to do nothing but eat, lay in the sun and bathe in the sea. Oh, and drink a ridiculous amount of Banana milkshakes again.

I taught some more unsupecting Europeans the rules of Sh!thead and we spent many an hour battling away with Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades.

The time rocketed by in the eerily desolate seaside resort and soon it was time to catch the bus to Phuket where I would spend the last chunk of time in Thailand... this time... this year ???

Bang Bang

With the chance for a getaway back to Thailand before I started work, I was brimming with excitment. I hadn't realised how far away from home I was until my flight back to Thailand via Brunei. But after around 9 hours of flying I touched down in Bangkok International. Kathi was at the airport a few minutes late after getting stuck in a typical Bangkok city jam. It was great to finally meet up again and a little overwhelming to be back in Thailand after a few months back in the Western comforts of Australia!

The first day back was spent in typical backpacker style. A long sleep in, a walk around the Kao San Road (allowing me to pick up 12 new cds to bolster my iPod collection!) and then an afternoon dip in the pool, before sealing the evening off with drinks and food.

Sunday afternoon, we went to Chatuchat weekend market. I visited it before with Nick, so this time I was a little weary of the extra effort I might have to put in being with females - not so! They were quite content with looking at the dozens of miniature dogs and pups up for sale.

The following day it was time for me to finally make a return trip to the Thai Grand Palace. I missed it out last time in Thailand and it was surprisingly good to take the tour around the grounds. The weather was stupid hot and we spent most of the time ducking for shaded cover. I remembered the palace being pristinely kept, and things hadn't changed at all. The Buddha images all sparkling in the late morning heat. My camera really was working overtime.

After the Palace, we stopped by Wat Pho (again! my 3rd visit now) and saw the reclining Buddha before spending time on a street corner restaurant - lunch for 4 including drinks 250baht - around 3.50 Stirling - for everything else there's Mastercard.

We then took a Krong (a long motorboat) to Bang Yai - the last stop on a trip out of Bangkok via it's waterway. We got a great view of the different classes of Bangkok - some houses looking like derelict sheds and others looking more like a futuristic version of the White House; all within metres of each other.

Another evening at the Cabbages & Condoms restaurant and the Bangkok experience was complete.

Our final day in Bangkok was spent much like the first, and after getting laundry and some final bits and pieces, we boarded the 19.15 train to Surrat Thani - next destination - Khao Lak.

You Only Live Once

My final morning in Melbourne, Victoria couldn't have been more accutely arranged. I said goodbye and thanks to Mark before running the hire car back to 'Budget'.

I took a walk to the tram stop. The tram was a little ahead of me and I found myself sprinting to catch it. I got back to the house and packed the last of my things, took a shower, shave etc. before realising how short of time I was. My panicked final actions and a handshake goodbye to one of my house mates Chris and I was again jogging; this time with about 20kgs of stuff attached to my body. Again I got on the tram just as it was pulling away. I then waddled as fast as I could toward the bus stop for the airport... and as luck would have it - walked on this bus around 1minute before it left. At last I was on the way to the airport. I checked in with 6 minutes left to go then went and sat in the departure lounge with a room full of Samoan athletes.

I dropped my backpack off at my hostel (for the record, the first backpackers I'd had to stay at for 7½ weeks - not bad I reckon!) and then munched up some pavement as I took my customary city orientation adventure. I've always wanted to visit the Opera House since being a child so it was cool to finally see it in all it's sundrenched glory.

I then chilled out in the sunshine around the harbour and in the shadows of the huge Sydney Harbour Bridge before the days travels took their toll and had me asleep by 9pm!

The following day Flea rolled into town with her friend from back home. I met up with them in the afternoon and showed them pretty much what I saw the previous day. We finished off our introductory Sydney days eating Italian in the harbour and sipping on Wine as the sun went down.

Ooh Wee

As I wearily made my way back into Federation Square for the final time - I could've done without the magnitude of the crowd there. Unlike the opening ceremony, it seemed nearly everyone had shown up to watch the show on the Jumbo-tron TV.

After watching the first half an hour of the show, we got restless and went for a wander. The closing ceremony was vast enough to cover also the river - the metallic fish rafts this time spewing coloured jets of water, and later fireworks. I met up with some more friends, before watching the stadium fireworks from one of Melbournes ornate bridges. Mark let us in to his work building, 8 floors up overlooking the Yarra, we had a great view of the finale firework show. Again, the explosions sounded hundreds of feet above us as the skyline went apocolyptic. It was a very impressive end to my first experience of this kind. I'd really recommend a 'Games' to anyone, and it's really whetted my appetite for London 2012.

After settling some business on my final Monday, I took advantage of the couch and FoxTel digital TV and managed to watch about 3 movies and 4 episodes of South Park that I'd recorded over the weekend. My final full day in Victoria was to consist of a lot of driving so I figured I owed it to myself to veg out for the day! However, needing some fresh air, I met up with all the guys n gals I'd met here for an early 'final drink'.

At 6.55am, a time I've not frequently known on this trip, I dug myself out of my sleeping bag and trotted off to get the hire car. I stopped by St Kilda to pick up the guys and before we knew it, we were cruising down the West Coast Highway toward Geelong. First stop, Bells Beach - the scene used in Keanu Reaves Point Break (actually the first stop was for a Subway but that's kind of irrelevant). After stopping to watch the surfers emulate their favourite wooden actor, we soon found ourselves at another film set - this time Childrens TV show "Round the Twist", the lighthouse used as the families home. 1 hour later and local Cream Teas , we were making tracks around and along the Great Ocean Road. It was a joy to drive, much of it akin to the Monaco GP circuit with lots of tight hairpins and jaw dropping scenery despite the clouds that followed us most of the day.

We stopped in Apollo Bay and took a swim in the cold water before setting off for our final leg of the Road; to see the 12 Apostles.

The 12 Apostles you may have heard of as being one of the Worlds Great Wonders. The Apostles are huge stacks of rock left where the cliffs around them have crumbled into the sea. Though they are not as hardy as they might seem, as only 8 are now left standing - 1 fell just last year. Nonetheless, they are an amazing sight to see along with all of Australias other famous rocks. Upon arrival we took some drinks down and sat as the sun set beyond the Apostles. It was a truly beautiful moment.