Travel/Overseas destinations

[newyorktiger]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

What a great read NYT. A lot of it reminds me of my 2 week stay at the Washington Square Hotel about 10 years ago. Before it was done up.

Ah, those muffin breakfasts!

I can certainly agree the Wash Dq Hotel is great - great location.. I have stayed there as well. Has a great bar.

Very European - including the small rooms, but the hotel is value for money for NY.

 

[mk33]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Time to bring this thread back up to the top


Has anyone been to the Carribbean ?

 

[Liverpool]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

mk33,
No...I haven't...but isn't the next cricket World-Cup there?
And are you going....or is anyone else on the forum going???

 

[mk33]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Would like to but need to count some pennies before hand

There would be some tour groups that do but they would be expensive and still awaiting the draw to come out.

Another website may be worth checking is wavingtheflag.com.au

 

[tigersnake]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Yeah I’ve been to the Caribbean MK. I spent a month in Cartagena, Colombia. Loved it, amazing city. Colombia has 2 big streches of coast, the Caribbean and Pacific. It’s an incredible diverse country, each major city in the different regions, Cali, Medallin, Cartagena, has different landscape, food, music, people, except Bogota where anything goes.

Cartagena is very Caribbean. People have a lot of African blood, eat fried fish, drink rum (and icy cold 30 cent stubbies) and listen to a lot of Reggae (and a local variant called Champetta). I was there for a month alone because my travelling mate did a side trip to Cuba which I couldn’t afford. I loved it, stayed in a local boarding house, made friends easily with a lot of locals. At one stage I was flat broke for a few days due to electronic hassles and some local mates shouted me everything, no problem. Incredibly beautiful people, think Naomi Campbell wherever you look, great vibe and the city is superb. It was where the Spaniards stored their gold from the whole continent before shipping it home so the whole old part of the city is fortified. They even had 2 towers at the entrance to the bay they could lift a giant chain between to knock the masts of any hostile ships. Still, Blackbeard managed to assemble 25,000 brigands and rape, pillage and steal the lot. That’s why the Caribbean has a reputation for Pirates, they were all planning to steal a slice of the gold from Cartagena.

 

[mk33]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Thanks Tigersnake good story, did you go to any of the islands and is Colombia safe with all reports of white gold on the market.

 

[Tigers of Old]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Off to Siem Reap, in Cambodia next week.
Going to have a look at the famous 800 year old temples of Angkor Wat. Supposedly quite fantastic.
Looking forward to it.

Anyone been there?

 

[FightingFury]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Wow cracking thread all!!!!!!! :clap :clap

I've spent nearly 5 years in total travelling,and even though I'm currently anchored to a supposed real job,I yearn to get out again.
I suppose the 2 last destinations I really want to see outside Australia are South America for a full 3- 6 odd months,as I have only seen parts of Mexico and Brazil,and the Carribean which I was poised to go to in 2000 before my plans changed suddenly.......even lost my deposit,which incidentally was with waving the flag who have been mentioned already.

Loved the NYC rundown too NYT :thumbsup
Brilliant.
Ive only spent 10 days there but its such an awesome place,full of nutbags and crazy colorful people and places.
Its the sort of city where you could live in for 5 years and still not see everything it has to offer.
When we were heading down Amsterdam ave to leave via the George Washington,I took a wrong turn and we ended up in Harlem,and the van stalled
I must confess I was a little spooked by the affair as there were blokes sleeping on the footpaths,and a fire burning on a terrace during a 100 deg day.
Mental note to fix the fuel line ASAP!
For any of you with foxtel,the dedicated travel channel (638 I think?) is fantastic.
I watched a special for 2 hours on Cuba the other night and it reinforced my desire to be there soon 100 fold.

 

[mk33]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Great introduction on the thread Struggles, look fwd to some more stories and views on your travels and destinations you have been too. With 5 years of travel you should have plenty to tell us where you based yourself, worked backpacked etc.

 

[tigersnake]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Didn't get to any islands MK. My trip was very much on the cheap as I was a student at the time. As I said, I couldn't afford the trip to Cuba. Hope to get there before Fidel dies and its stuffed. ^ months is a good stretch for Sth America ST, thats what I spent there and saw a lot.

I suppose Colombia is dangerous. I admit I was nervous about crossing the border from Ecuador but that just dissipated in a couple of days. I was a bit spooked at times in Bogota, but I'd go back. Aparently Medallin is scary, I only stopped for an hour driving through, but I've met people who loved it. I loved Colombia, I'd like to go back and work there. I loved Bolivia as well.

 

[hutstar]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Hi NYT,

What's the Chelsea Hotel like now?

I stayed there on my first trip to NY in 1981.
It was famous because of:
1. All the actors & poets that resided there in the 40s, 50s & 60s.
2. Warhol's film "Chelsea Girls" about the permanent residency of professional females there.

On my first night there, I was reading in bed when I heard a gun go off in the next room. There were screams and yells and police and everything. Being the hero that I am, I pulled the sheet over my head and never came out till the next morning.

I found out, later, that a gentleman had accrued a rather large tab with one of the girls and refused to pay. She shot him.

Phanto- I was there about three years ago- quite pleasant. Chelsea, like much of that area, seems to becoming more of an extention of Greenwich Village every time I am in NY, which is rarely unfortunately.

 

[FightingFury]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Great introduction on the thread Struggles, look fwd to some more stories and views on your travels and destinations you have been too. With 5 years of travel you should have plenty to tell us where you based yourself, worked backpacked etc.

Thanks Jaguar MK3:

Spent 3 months in Asia just chilling out and sailing between Malaysia,Thailand and Indonesia.
I did it a little rough and cheap but it was a fantastic experience.Travelling on 40 year old buses with Chickens as your travelling companions gives you a reality check.It helped me get outside my 'shell' as a young bloke too,as I never washed or cooked for myself at home,just work and playing footy...........did I get a rude shock!
I spent 2 years on and off in London living in Hammersmith/Shepherds Bush and Maida Vale.
In between went to nearly every country in Europe (bar Finland,Luxembourgh and Andorra) at least once.
Worked for 3 months in Belfast and met some of the most amazingly nice and friendly locals you could hope to meet.
The guys weren't bad either .
I also worked a 'season' at a bar/nightclub in Santorini on the Greek Is.
Tough work for a young single man in his mid twenties.I reckon I met people from just about every country in the world during that marvellous 4-5 months.
Im still friends with about 6 people I met while there.
I can't work out how I kept my sanity during that time,working between 7pm-4am then normally going off for after work drinks to one of the beachbars in Perissa.
Getting home around 9am then crawling out of bed in 40deg heat 3-4hrs later because it was unbearably hot inside the concrete dungeon we lived in with no A/C or even a fan
The best sunset i've seen was at Ouia at the far tip of the Island....amazingly beautiful,and all the Swedish girs loved it too ;D
Turkey still is my favorite tourist destination though.
Wonderful food,beaches cheap clothes great cities and bazzars and of course Gallipoli.The place nearly moved me to tears just being there.
After I left the UK,I travelled from Mexico to Vancouver BC via the US West Coast.
Loved most of it after the initial shock of dealing with loud boistrous Yanks as opposed to introverted Europeans.
Everything seemed 10 times the size in America too.
I must say I hate L.A as a city.....full of scumbags and try hard wannabe stars who are such pretentious wankers :thumbsdown


Stay tuned for part 2!

 

[Tigers of Old]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

Stay tuned for part 2!

great stuff Strugs :clap

 

[TigerForce]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

C'mon Bubbles tell us the REAL story..........you know behind the scenes stuff........

What really happened at Harlem, in LA and on the Greek Islands.

We want to read "STRUGGLETOWN OVERSEAS - UNPLUGGED" :hihi

 

[FightingFury]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

C'mon Bubbles tell us the REAL story..........you know behind the scenes stuff........ 

What really happened at Harlem, in LA and on the Greek Islands.

We want to read "STRUGGLETOWN OVERSEAS - UNPLUGGED"  :hihi

Funny you actually say that Forceskin.
For a while during Greece and Turkey we travelled with a guy from Chicago called Eric.
He was a non drinking Jewish boy from the suburbs of Chicago.
His head spun at Shaun and my antics whilst on tour. Anyway Eric came up with this hairbrained idea,he would film us everyday and night when we did anything remotely interesting and write a daily diary on all the mental things young Aussie boys do when given the freedom of the world at their feet.
This lasted a few weeks until he gave up.I still keep contact with him,and he still plans to write a book on our adventures.
He must get credit,as he lasted nearly 6 years on his worldwide journeys and when we met him I wouldn't have backed him to last a month.

 

[Otis]

Re: Bangkok

ToO i'm going to Thailand in mid-June for a couple of weeks

This will be my first overseas trip as an adult! :clap

I wanted to ask u, what should I expect the weather to be like in mid-June?

 

[Tigers of Old]

Re: Bangkok

Hi Otis,

So you're visiting the Land of Smiles hey?
It's going to be hot in June(it's always hot here), but this is their "hot" season.
It'll be somewhere in the mid to high 30s but it's the humidity that gets to you around April, May, June.
I suggest shorts & singlets and maybe one cotton long sleeve top and some light cotton pants. Everywhere has air conditioning in Bangers so if you wanna wear jeans indoors it's fine, but forget about jumpers.

You must be excited as it's your first OS trip .
Have you worked out in Thailand where you are going yet?
Remind me a bit closer to your holiday & I'll fill you in on a few local tips for a bargain, beer etc. 8)

 

[Otis]

Re: Bangkok

yeah our whole trip is arranged!

initially i was gonna go there with my boxing/kickboxing gym but now i'm going for leisure instead. No way i would wanna go overseas for more training! Esp in the humidity!

i'll be going with 4 other friends and staying at Phuket for 4 nights, then Koh Samui for 4-5 nights then Bangkok for 3 nights. I wanted to come back an extra day early for work, but screw work 8)

 

[TigerForce]

Re: Travel/Overseas thread

C'mon Bubbles tell us the REAL story..........you know behind the scenes stuff........ 

What really happened at Harlem, in LA and on the Greek Islands.

We want to read "STRUGGLETOWN OVERSEAS - UNPLUGGED"  :hihi

Funny you actually say that Forceskin.
For a while during Greece and Turkey we travelled with a guy from Chicago called Eric.
He was a non drinking Jewish boy from the suburbs of Chicago.
His head spun at Shaun and my antics whilst on tour. Anyway Eric came up with this hairbrained idea,he would film us everyday and night when we did anything remotely interesting and write a daily diary on all the mental things young Aussie boys do when given the freedom of the world at their feet.
This lasted a few weeks until he gave up.I still keep contact with him,and he still plans to write a book on our adventures.
He must get credit,as he lasted nearly 6 years on his worldwide journeys and when we met him I wouldn't have backed him to last a month.

Ahhh........so that's where 'reality' television started.....  :hihi

Careful Bubbles........he could've been a terrorist :nailbiting :nailbiting

 

[Tigers of Old]

Re: Bangkok

i'll be going with 4 other friends and staying at Phuket for 4 nights, then Koh Samui for 4-5 nights then Bangkok for 3 nights. I wanted to come back an extra day early for work, but screw work 8)

Been to Phuket, about 7 years ago though. Nice then. Not sure whether it's changed much.
Haven't been to Samui, supposed to be beautiful though. I'll look forward to your report in the Travel/overseas thread on both islands.
The locals & expats here in Thailand have a couple of little islands they like to keep quite from the tourists. There's no shortage of beautiful beaches here. Thailand is a great location for an affordable holiday. You're gonna have fun Otis One Kenobi