Traveling discussion

[Amp34]

Never really got that phrase tbh.

The point being half the fun is getting there... Instead of fly somewhere get a train and stop places, get a kayak and kayak through the jungle to get to the destination rather than drive, that sort of thing. Seeing all the sights only the "locals" do rather than just end up in Bangkok and all the bars straight away.

Plane travel is the worst form of traveling, us it gets you there quickly but its uncomfortable and you don't see anything. Do the same journey on the surface and you'll usually see and experience a whole lot more.

 

[Amp34]

Yeah..i still dont really get it. and long journeys are simply a number of destinations in a row, surely? Each 3 night stay was a destinastion.

ive traveled a bit and while the journeys were fine, the destinations were always the best bit.

maybe i just dont think the phrase needs be thrown about so much..

No, because you have to include that stop in the small village to refuel, the view from the window as you drive up the gravel road over the mountain, the elephant on the road forcing you to stop and wait for an hour, or that time you got stuck and had to spend 3 hours digging yourself out... Before you get to your first proper stop where you did something you wanted to. They aren't destinations or places you intended to see, just things along the way that you wouldn't have experienced if you just took the plane.

On a smaller scale its a bit like taking the side roads rather than the motorway to get somewhere in another city. Winding through a small picture perfect village in a back lane you didn't realise was there rather than just seek miles and miles of 3 one motorway.

 

[Amp34]

A good next stop I pencilled when planning a big trip was that there are only two ways to get to Easter Island. A flight from Chile or a flight from Papeetee. What you could do is go Aus-Tahiti-EasterIsland-Chile and then head round SA for a bit. From Rio you can get on a container ship to Dakar for £500, takes 7 days, and then travel overland back to the UK via Gibraltar. The only slightly sketchy but is Mauritania but you can shoot through the place on the coast in a day if you want.

Also whilst SA if you have the funds you could hop over to the Falkland islands (£400 flight + £50 a day costs) or a 10 day trip to Antartica from Ushuia (£3k+).

How much was/is the cargo ship ticket? I looked into something similar and decided against it when it worked out about twice the cost of flying to the US from here...

 

[theleg]

No, because you have to include that stop in the small village to refuel, the view from the window as you drive up the gravel road over the mountain, the elephant on the road forcing you to stop and wait for an hour, or that time you got stuck and had to spend 3 hours digging yourself out... Before you get to your first proper stop where you did something you wanted to. They aren't destinations or places you intended to see, just things along the way that you wouldn't have experienced if you just took the plane.

On a smaller scale its a bit like taking the side roads rather than the motorway to get somewhere in another city. Winding through a small picture perfect village in a back lane you didn't realise was there rather than just seek miles and miles of 3 one motorway.

The point being half the fun is getting there... Instead of fly somewhere get a train and stop places, get a kayak and kayak through the jungle to get to the destination rather than drive, that sort of thing. Seeing all the sights only the "locals" do rather than just end up in Bangkok and all the bars straight away.

Plane travel is the worst form of traveling, us it gets you there quickly but its uncomfortable and you don't see anything. Do the same journey on the surface and you'll usually see and experience a whole lot more.

I dont think i said people should fly by plane..did i?

but on the flip side of what you guys are saying, if it takes you 3 weeks to get somewhere and you only have a few days at the destination, you are also missing out. You will only get to see the boring tourist places.

I understand everyone is different, but for me....spending a decent amount of time doing non tourist things at my destination, meeting new people and doing stuff the locals do..thats the fun part....far more so than a series of extremely brief encounters on the road for example. far more so than spending a day or two at each main destination and rushing through all the tourist stops..i guess its quality over quality for me..i wanna spend the time really getting to know a place and the people...

I dunno..I just think that phrase is way overused these days. and while i understand what people are saying, i still dont get it myself.

One of my upcoming trips, work permitting, is an overland trip to china..and that sort of thing definitely is all about the journey

 

[TommyV]

A friend suggested Cairns... Said it's defiantly a place to go for backpacking.

said to head North to the national park and get to the beach and stay in a hostel. Mentioned someone about the oldest rain forest...

Know anything about the area?

Sure do.

Cape tribulation, I did a 2 day trip there from Cairns. The long and short of the place is that it's a rainforest meeting an ocean, I've not researched it but supposedly the only one of it's kind in the world.

Cairns is awesome, gilligans, the esplanade, the great barrier reef, love the place!

Although, the aboriginals are a rather intimidating bunch, literally drinking on the streets at 9am in the morning!

 

[agnes]

Yea, my bud said they are really bad and it took him longer to get used to them that the in your face poverty of some parts from SE Asia!

I got smacked in the face with a bill on Friday...

So I might have to postpone my travels by a month. My friend is on my case stating that if I get to Melbourne in Feb, it will be too late due to the summer ending...

Is it really going to get that quite once summer is done?

 

[[TW]Fox]

So I might have to postpone my travels by a month. My friend is on my case stating that if I get to Melbourne in Feb, it will be too late due to the summer ending...

Is it really going to get that quite once summer is done?

I'm trying to work out what you are asking, too late for what?

 

[agnes]

So, my mate suggested I get to Oz for around mid Jan, this will be after the Christmas/new years rush, but still allowing for time in the Oz summer for my trips.

Initially, I wanted to hit Oz in Feb, but he said this was too late as summer would be over by then. Meaning the trips wouldn't be as fun and thriving as they would have been. Is this good advice?

If I postpone my trip by a month, I will not arrive in Cairns until mid Feb. Then get to Melbourne in March. Is this too late?

 

[[TW]Fox]

I went to Melbourne in June and Cairns in July and had a great time.

 

[agnes]

Cool! He has slightly instilled a fear that if I don't make it to Oz before the end of Jan, I may as well not bother due to summer being over...

 

[TommyV]

Yea, my bud said they are really bad and it took him longer to get used to them that the in your face poverty of some parts from SE Asia!

I got smacked in the face with a bill on Friday...

So I might have to postpone my travels by a month. My friend is on my case stating that if I get to Melbourne in Feb, it will be too late due to the summer ending...

Is it really going to get that quite once summer is done?

Too late for what?

I went to oz at the start of july last year, so their mid-winter and temperatures were around 18-22 in sydney, and upto 28 up in cairns

 

[agnes]

Too late for what?

I went to oz at the start of july last year, so their mid-winter and temperatures were around 18-22 in sydney, and upto 28 up in cairns

Don't think he is talking about the temp's, mainly the scene due to it no longer being winter.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Don't think he is talking about the temp's, mainly the scene due to it no longer being winter.

I guess that depends if you are going to see what the country itself has to offer or what the GAP YAH scenesters have to offer. I went with the GF so although we used hostels we were not that bothered about what was going on within them so didn't really notice any scene.

 

[agnes]

I'm not overly fussed however don't want to be solo all the time so would be nice to join a group or 2 out there at some point. Was it ok when you went in terms of other backpackers? I will be staying in hostels as well.

Thanks

 

[[TW]Fox]

There were always people around, yea.

 

[agnes]

Cool, won't bust a ball trying to get out there for mid summer then. Would rather wait a month and save a couple of extra grand just to be a bit more safe.

 

[Hamster]

I wouldn't really want to spend too long in Cairns itself. I found the backpacking 'scene' around there a bit trashy. However, it's a good location for scuba diving trips and liveaboards. Also a visit to Port Douglas and Capre Tribulation is a must if you're up there.

 

[yer_averagejoe]

Yeah, Cairns is a bit of a hole tbh. The surrounding area (atherton table lands, Kurranda, Mossman, Port Douglas and of course, the reef (which is better done via port douglas) are nice.

 

[The Funktopus]

I'm travelling myself if working counts. I'm training to be an engineering officer for a Norwegian shipping line, so as per my location, I'm at sea aboard the Tijuca, a Norwegian flagged Large Car Truck Carrier. If any of you are sad enough to have watched that Mighty Ships on Quest, you may have seen the episode about her sister ship, Faust.

We're currently passing between Papua New Guinea and New Britain at the minute on our way north to South Korea, where we'll be calling in Incheon, Pyongtaek and Masan at the end of May, before crossing the sea of Japan, passing through the Kanmon Straits and up the inland sea to Kobe. After that it's across the Pacific to Tacoma, Washington, before heading down to Lazero Cardenas, Mexico, then we'll be transiting the Panama canal again and crossing the Carribean before heading up to several ports on the US east coast, where I'm due to sign off and fly home after nearly 4 months on board.

My travels so far have seen me join the ship in Zeebrugge in March, then sailing to

Malmo
Bremerhaven
Zeebrugge
Southampton
Baltimore, MD
Savannah, GA
Galveston, TX
Manzanillo, Panama
Auckland, NZ
Brisbane
Port Kembla
Melbourne

We had been due to call into Papeete, but because we were delayed in Malmo by a lower than expected tide for a few days, the cargo for Tahiti that the company had waiting for us in Zeebrugge and Bremerhaven was picked up by other ships, so we ended up crossing straight from Balboa at the Pacific end of the Panama Canal to Auckland instead, which took just short of 3 weeks. I was gutted, I was well looking forward to getting ashore in Tahiti.

 

[Vanilla]

I'm currently traveling!

I left in January and so far i've been to Sydney, Fiji, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

Still to go - Costa Rica, Brazil, Panama, Cuba and any other place that takes my fancy