Travel bucket lists, memories and more.

My mac was stolen about a year ago with most of my pictures. No backup. There's very few I retrieved from Cloud or FB. This one is from Padova, a couple of years ago.

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I'll dig out a few oldies.

From a cooking course I did in Vietnam. It was a miracle. I sold jesus in a turmeric pancake on ebay



Lake Titicaca



My favourite panning shot. I cant achieve this with digital yet. That was back in the analogue days. Beijing.



Kerala India



Just near where I lived in Kyoto



Last village on the way to K2



Lhasa



Tanzania



That'll do for now. Stirring up the bug.

OK I'm going to tell a story about those photos because half the fun of travel is telling stories and wondering how much your imagination is embellishing.

The pancake story, seeing as it's shrove tuesday, came about because my husband was laid up in bed with a dislocated knee when we were in Hoi An. Beautiful little spot, and the foody capital of Vietnam. A vietnamese aussie foody recommended this course so off I toddled. All students met at a cafe for a briefing, then took a boat to the restaurant and cooking school (not my photo)



First we all had a tour of the open air market which was pretty packed (not this market but I cant find my other photos



then met the 'food nazi' in the open air school (not this guy. This is a google image)



Apart from the turmeric [rawn pancake which was delicious despite looking like jesus, we made fresh rolls, including making the rice paper



Green ppaya salad and food ornaments





eggplant curry and whole spicy fish which was served up to us for lunch with a cold beer



When I got back to the hotel and told my husband all about my day he whined about his knee. How did he dislocate it? Travel is always such exciting stuff. He slipped over in the bath picking up his dropped cake of soap. True Story.

I found this when googling vietnamese beer. We went to this beer resto for dinner one night in HCMC. The place was full of what seemed to be gangsters and hookers. It was an uneventful night but the food was good and the beer was icy cold, unlike a pizza place we went to in ecuador where the pizza was cold and the beer was flat...more on that later; dont wanna HJ my own thread.



Vietnamese love their bia

Moving along to Lake Titicaca. My abuelita at a homestay. This was my third experience of high altitude sickness (once you get it you have a predisposition to it) and I felt like my brain was bubbling out through the back of my skull so she took me into her kitchen nd made me soup, as you do, and patatas bravas. What else are you going to do with almost 4000 varieties of the humble spud.

Very very poor people but so much generosity of spirit on Lake Titicaca. And they are TINY!!! The average height in the Andes is 4'8". Must be the altitude. The pressure pushes them closer to the ground.

Yes I am joking. I think it was the spanish conquistadors who gave them short genes because the Incas were quite tall.

Now THAT is one freaky deaky sized pizza oven. Big enough for both of my crazy neighbours at once.



It was actually an empanada oven but you know what they say - never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

And one for MsAus who I think said the other day she has gwinny pigs - a three story cuy house. My silly husband stuck his finger in to pat one and it bit him LOL



Gratuitous hand shot in the Amazon - I have a hand fetish



Hangin out in the kitchen again, but that's not food this time. He's dyeing alpaca and llama yarn.




Last one. Just chillin in Aguas calientes after Machu Picchu

I'm LOVING this thread -- keep the stories and pictures coming!

Sorry to hear about the photos going bad with no backup. I have a little story. I was hanging out with some new friends I met in Austin, Texas, and one of the guys (from Sweden) was on his first trip to North America and he left his camera on the bar. One of the bartenders was really drunk and started to dance on the table. Her foot hit a beer bottle, it spilled onto his camera, destroying everything. She didn't seem to notice, and moved over a bit, and he went to say something, and I kept an ear open, and heard her say something like "Nothing I can do about it" and the English girl with us protested, assuming because the guy was Swedish that she could say whatever... We both went over there (since I'm American) and I managed to get the number of the place, and the manager.

Before that incident, I'd tell friends I'd never get Facebook. But it became very convenient for travel. And to backup my pictures, if I was ever near a computer, I'd upload pictures on, that way I can access them from everywhere. If my laptop dies, it's still there. I backed up stuff, but two computers and two laptops went bad...

I hope he could claim on insurance, but hell, once your travel diary is gone it's gone. My husband did something to my photo files and I seem to have temporarily lost all my resized photos except for what I have on facebook.

I'm European so Europe is pretty much home ground. Been all around many times though favorite country is Italy. Grew up in the States and lived in Canada. Never been to the Far East though I'd love to go. Countries at the top of my visit list: Australia and New Zealand. Am in Africa at the moment (Angola) and will be going to Capetown in Friday. Love SA - fabulous country. Place I least liked to travel to were Gulf States - mostly malls in the desert, saw nothing very interesting and totally uninteresting food; hot, dusty and expensive. Loved Israel though - great food, people, places. Went on a fantastic tour under the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Fascinating place. Maybe one day I'll get to South America - only been to Brazil so far.

I'll get one more story in before my caffeine hit wears off.

China. I spent 6 months there, the border opened for independent travellers into Tibet so I spent a month there, then it magically closed just as I returned to China (it was before the 2000 olympic bid and chinese governemtn was trying to make itself look good. Anyway, I feel very lucky for that opportunity. Saw some sht there that made my hair curl, so started my 3 decade love affair with human rights activism.

I digress, as I am want to do.

Stayed in a little place clled Dali, and my favourite restaurant was called Salvador. I am not making that up, I swear. The young son of the owner asked us if we wanted something special for dinner so myself, aussie travel companion, nother aussie, two scots and and irishman asked for roast chicken dinner. He's never made one before but told us he would take us to the famous Xizhou livestock and produce market the next day to buy a chicken.





Have I said I love markets? Many wondrous things to be seen and aromas to smell.

I told these dudes they were very sun smart. No melanoma for them!



Got back to our hotel later that day and we all sat around drinking...you guessed it



Long necks were 20 cents US.

Finally dinner rrived and I swear to allah, that bird in the middle of the table must have weighed 4-5 kilos. The chinese dont kill boy birds like in the west. They castrate them so they grow extra lrge in a short period of time and eat them. Girl birds are kept for egg production.

Snout to tail living at it's finest.

Might as well put more pictures...


Here's an interesting story... I was in Germany, and since my friend was teaching for the day, I thought I'd go to The Netherlands to get us some ganja. I was always going to Venlo before, but this time I thought I'd check out Belgium by going to Maastricht. It was funny to see thirty people my age all get off at the same stop, and seeing each other at every shop (since they only sell 5 grams of weed/harsh).... On my way to Belgium, waiting at a bus stop, this girl let me know my bag was unzipped. As we got on the bus, we continued our conversation. I learned it was her last day in Holland before going back to Jordan, so I thought I'd take her out to a sidewalk cafe, drank some Jagermeister.. At about 10:30pm, she asked, "When does your train leave?" -- "Oh, it left an hour ago".. She asked if I was crazy, I said I was having fun, and that I'd get back somehow.. She gave me the names of a few bostels (hostels on a boat on the water) but they were all booked up, I only managed to see a dance floor with all the beautiful people. I had to stay up all night, then took the first train at about 6am.. After a few hours, I fell asleep and was awoken by a stop. I asked the woman near me where we were. "Frankfurt" -- I'd missed my stop, but she had a lot of questions for me, nice conversation.

On my way back to my hostel (I wasn't staying at my friends' yet, just hanging out) I fell asleep for an hour before an employee told me it was time to checkout. I asked him to add another night, he said they were booked (and I had the room to myself the entire time).. I got into a cab, didn't even put in my contact lenses, and had a taxi take me right down the road.




Hawaii... The last few trips, I've routed myself. Instead of a nine hour wait, I can buy two separate tickets. Not only was it cheaper, but I got to rest from an already long flight, and I got to see a place I'd never been to.. Waikiki Beach was very salty!



Working on a tomato farm in Bamawm, Australia... I saw this attractive woman my age at a bus stop, and I could tell she was a backpacker looking for a job, so I asked, she was, and she called and I was hired.


After leaving the farm (since they weren't paying us, and when they finally did, we got shorted) after 5 weeks, me and the girls (Robert came the day after) tried looking for a work-for-accommodation hostel, didn't find anything, so we lived here for a week -- and it was one of the best times!





Queen's Day in The Netherlands

I love the stories. I have more more MORRRRRRE. I don't actually make these up - they happened. Yesterday I wished my Nepali friend a Happy Losar. He punched me on my lymphedema arm and I pretended it really hurt. Poor guy was beside himself.

Travel stories dont just have to be about travel. Any multi cultural experience at home counts as well �� Also movies books music art food from other countries. Anything goes in this thread.

Matt, for you my new travel bug bestie. Back to my answer to your question - we're all the same. Everyone just wants to be happy

OK jumping ahead of myself here but this is story my husband told me when he got back from Israel recently. I couldnt go because 1. it was short notice and I couldnt get my dogs into holiday kennels 2. I had a health scare at the time and waiting for my specialist appointment 3. 36 hour flight for 5 days and then 36 hour flight home? Not happening. I need atleast 4-6 weeks between long haul flights.

We went to Turkey for our honeymoon. First night there I fell inlove with the place and people, the architecture, the everything about it



He said when we arrived in customs (I have no memory of this...I ws probably drunk from being served cocktails on Air Emirates) I miss heard the customs guy saying Anyone not Turkish please come forward - nd I ran up and being the queue jumper I am said with a massive smile 'we're Australian'. He burst out laughing and Turks behind us cheered, and he told us to go straight through. Huge friendship between Turkey and Aus because of our history in WWI at Gallipoli. Amazing people. I just adore them.

What a turd I must have been. I'm sure husband made that up.

I think we're mostly the same in wanting happiness.... And since mass media, I think most people think alike. People tend to like the same awful music too

You know, I've had a few instances where I saw someone in one country, then 4 months later, seeing them again. I've also made it a point to re-connect, sometimes 4-5 times with a few friends. I guess I could have gone to new countries every time, but it's the people that make the place, and if I like the place too, I rather spend my time there, instead of trying to up my count of travel destinations.

Oh, and by the way, is anyone here a Couchsurfer?

No I would never consider couchsurfing. I have a problem using someone else's toiley, and that brings me to another topic. Worst toilet experiences. These are hilarious when people start telling them.

1. India. I had amoebic dysentery. Well, public toilet dash outside of the Taj Mahal and I was instantly cured. Works so much better than big pharma, I kid you not.
2. a toilet in China. Big brave Scot I was with said the squat toilet was so bad if his foot had slipped in he would have cut it off with his swiss army knife.
3. Ooh Ooh - travelling in China with two TINY canadians and a French architect we found ourselves in a wee village out in the middle of nowhere on the way to Tibet. We were laughing that the very pit toilet we were using (yes girls do go to the toilet together and laugh about sht) an Aussie had fallen in and not been found for a day. Walking back to our room the ground was covered in snow. It was moving. Suddenly one of us turned on our led light and the ground was a tsunami...covered in maggots.
4. So many bad china toilet stories. I'll come back to them.
5. Africa. Sitting in a Tusker beer bar

we heard screams from the toilet. Everyone ran thinking a woman was being mugged or worse. She said there was a giant snake in the bog. It was a worm.
6. Same thing happened in Tibet. A guy was screaming so everyone ran. Hundreds of worms poking up through his poopie. He should have taken my advice to use charcoal tablets.

I have so many more but my mind is suddenly traumatised and gone into blank mode.

Oh I forgot. Weirdest toiley experience ever - Japan. You have a menu to press so no one hears you tinkle. Seriously. Sound of person rolling off reams of toilet paper, music, hand clapping so you cant hear them piddle; or if you dont have that, just sing loudly off key, pull off reams of toilet paper, clap away. Worst ever is the heated toilet seat in winter. If the person before you doesnt turn it off, it feels like he or she sat there for a very long time reading The Japan Times and doing the crossword. Ewww.

Or being at a gym dressing room and being undressed, and someone walks up and asks what bleach you used to get pink nipples because that's the in thing. I dread to think what someone in a gym who bends over gets asked about their bottom bleacher.

Woah! Crazy story!! Sounds like Belfast in the 70's!


I don't think its possible to get rid of the bug. I cant get as far afield now but in the last 18 months was able to get to Germany, Iceland, France and Czech Republic.

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