The Travel Thread 🚗 🚢 ✈

[The Cranium]

Lord of the Rings - Sounds like Alpha....

 

[Jeremias]

Next trip I want to go to either Egypt or China.

I was in Egypt in early 2008 and loved every minute of it.

Would highly recommend it to anyone

 

[Alpha1]

Go to India, visit the most beautiful monument ever built.

 

[Mister Carlton]

I was in Egypt in early 2008 and loved every minute of it.

Would highly recommend it to anyone

I've always dreamt of being an archaeologist.

 

[blue gunslinger]

All over Oz, except for NT
Been to NZ - loved Tauranga (Eastern side of the North Island, not that far from Hamilton
UK
USA - California
Hong Kong

The gf and I have been talking about going to Canada for quite a while now. Although, that's all it has been.

Favourite part of Oz that I have travelled to is Perth, and love Margaret River. Guns, and the rest of the WA posters, you are so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country. If I was to move from Melbourne, then Perth it would be.

was magical today
First off the bat
Japan - only part of Asia worth anything. Does not smell of crap and blood, has a rich history and is an amalgamation of ancient history/culture and ultra-modernism. Cool people, awesome food, beautiful country, awesome religion (Zen) and philsophy.
Europe
Ireland is all Aussies 2nd home. So close to our own history and culture. Beautiful melancholy people. Again history and modern life melted into a beautiful timeless land
Scotland equally so. Fort William and that landscape (see Highlander the movie). Breathtaking.
France - I love it for the WW I WW II & Napoleonic battlefields. Get a bike and ride the Loire Valley from chatet to chatet
Spain - party centrale
Monaco - no economic recession here. Do the Grand Prix. That is living!
Italy - yes art culture history is OK but give me Lamborghini and Ferrari factories baby! Get out of the cities!!!!! Tuscany countryside
Greece - see Spain and fix the plumbing! Islands are over rated
Austria - heaven (see Sound of music). Great food, wine, landscapes. Great adventuring. Salzburg is heaven
Germany - serious history. Love it. Best food and beer other than Belgium. Blown away by Berlin for what happened there. Love Parade is fun. Munich is like coming home. That market and those beer halls! Chill out in Heidelberg
Belgium - food beer chocolate
Switz - the Alps (too cold). Adventuring is great. Zurich - you have to be a ubermodel to fit in
Netherlands - see Craniums write up although Queens Day in Amsterdam is awesome
Scandi - expensive but mid-summer and the Roskilde festival are to die for
Turkey- cheap and ANZAC day is a must! Grand Bazaar is impressive.
USA - New York is the greatest city by far! Never sleeps
California is great but I prefer Palm Springs to LA
America is too much like a movie or sitcom. We have seen it all before
Best place in the world
Only place I could live
Oz
Sunrise over Uluru
Sunset in Broome
The Simpson Desert
The Rainforrest near Cairns on the Karanda railway
Dawn camping in the Flinders Ranges
Spitting off the edge of cliffs Oz bite
Climbing trees I planted 25 years ago in the south west forest of Bridgetown
MCG for the GF
Lady Mac's chair Sydney
Clare Valley reds
Paddle steamers on the Murray
Canberra's war memorial
Grabbing a big wave at Yalingup and hoping the reef does not get ya!
Bragging about it at a Winery in Marg River
Dawn Service from Kings Park Perth - those hills, that river!
The bikinis on Scarborough beach
BBQ with mates in my backyard
Catching crayfish off Kalbarri
I have travelled the world but like Dorothy said
There's no place like home!

 

[Will.B.Worth.Da.Waite]

Would love to get some feedback on this - people I've spoken to re: Netherlands say Amsterdam is the place to go as it is trendy and most appealing for someone of my age.

J, I too am a university student (3rd year), so I feel that my experience might be very relevant to you as we would have similar interests being a similar age. I spent the 2nd half of 2008 on exchange in Holland (Tilburg - a student city just next to Eindhoven), and I couldn't recommend Amsterdam any higher. It's got everything you need. It's got history, beauty, culture, but also a great party side to it.

I'm not going to go into specifics, but as a uni student, i'd say hit Amsterdam before anywhere else in Holland. It offers everything. The rest of Holland has a lot of awesome stuff to see, but make sure you make Amsterdam your priority. I had a great time partying it up with my mates, and then when my parents visited me for a weekend we all had a great time exploring the city. It offers both sides. In terms of it being seedy, it really isn't that bad at all (I spent a week in a very decent hostel in the middle of the red light district and felt pretty safe). Depending on what type of stuff you're into, as a uni student i'm pretty sure you'd love Amsterdam. As everyone else has been saying, if you want specifics, feel free to ask. I've been to 23 different countries, ranging from asia to europe to africa to america so im happy to answer any questions anybody younger might have.

 

[Alpha1]

Alaska is beautiful, but the world is a gorgeous place if you have the time and money.

 

[The Cranium]

Alaska is beautiful, but the world is a gorgeous place if you have the time and money.

And it is exactly that Alpha, I have been on the road for 2 1/2 years and have only seen a small portion of what there is to offer.

But, sometimes the beauty is also in the people on our door step.

I walked into an African village a few months ago, off a beaten track looking for access roads to the main highway into Mauritania. These wonderful people had never seen a white person in the flesh before and I had children pinching me and once they were comfortable they were jumping all over me. They took me to visit the village chief, who would have his back to you as it is their custom any visitor to his lodgings was not equal. We had a big feast and stuff knows what dialect they spoke but it was very animated, they were just happy that i had taken the time to come and see them...we did photos and they remain on my wall here....such big smiles, such at ease with life and what we consider important in the world they wouldn't even know about...a very humbling experience.

 

[Mister Carlton]

Next trip I would like to travel around China.

 

[Alpha1]

And it is exactly that Alpha, I have been on the road for 2 1/2 years and have only seen a small portion of what there is to offer.

But, sometimes the beauty is also in the people on our door step.

I walked into an African village a few months ago, off a beaten track looking for access roads to the main highway into Mauritania. These wonderful people had never seen a white person in the flesh before and I had children pinching me and once they were comfortable they were jumping all over me. They took me to visit the village chief, who would have his back to you as it is their custom any visitor to his lodgings was not equal. We had a big feast and stuff knows what dialect they spoke but it was very animated, they were just happy that i had taken the time to come and see them...we did photos and they remain on my wall here....such big smiles, such at ease with life and what we consider important in the world they wouldn't even know about...a very humbling experience.

Remind's me of India, people who are so poor they can hardly afford to eat, inviting me to diiner and offering me their last piece of bread. A family of five who had nothing but that piece of bread. A smile on their face and asking for nothing in return, made me ashamed of the life I lead and changed me in a lot of ways.

 

[The Exorcist]

Done a fair wack of Australia, but will put that in another thread

Asia - ten years ago, went overland from Saigon to Istanbul.

Went through Vietnam, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran, then Turkey. Took about 10 months. Then shot up to London for a bit, Ireland & Paris.

Heaps of great stuff to see here, and some great diseases to pick, too

South East Asia - 1996

Indonesia (but haven't made Bali yet), Cambodia, Lao, Thailand.

Africa - Morocco

Europe - Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Austria.

US - New York,

All great fun. Want more of Africa & 2 get to South America, Cuba. Will do so in the next few years.

Ciao for now

 

[Alpha1]

If you want to travel in luxury through India have a look at some of these hotels http://www.amarvilas.com/Hotel/Hotel-Overview.aspx

 

[Jeremias]

Can anyone recommend a good & cheap hostel in Venice?

2 people (2 separate beds) for 2 nights.

 

[blue gunslinger]

Can anyone recommend a good & cheap hostel in Venice?

2 people (2 separate beds) for 2 nights.

Yep Near the train station you will save a fortune
There is several there and a few backpackers as well
Get a lonely planet
Great night life up there and it is a lovely walk down through the narrow streets to the heart of Venice (whish is way too touristy anyway)

 

[raikkonen]

Amsterdam is over rated. My least favourite place on my European trek so far.

Edinburgh is well worth a look. Very beautiful city, very cheap I found personally, and I was there when the Comedy festival was on, so it was thriving!

 

[Alpha1]

I love Oslo beautiful city, great country as well and wonderful people.

 

[The Cranium]

I love Oslo beautiful city, great country as well and wonderful people.

But ****ing expensive.

 

[Alpha1]

Yeah very ****ing expensive. But the natural beaut of the place is mind blowing.

 

[The Cranium]

Okay, my first exspose on Scandinavia.

This year I had the privalige of being invited to the Arctic Circle in Northern Finland.

Two trips, one in winter and one in summer.

The are is called Inari and I spent 3 weeks in both seasons at Lake Inari, which faces two borders, those of Norway and Russia.

Winter, you can drive to the most southern point of the lake and then demob the sleds and snow mobiles. Duration approx 2 hours, very hard on the body if you haven't used one before.

and the one I used was an Arctic Cat version of this one...

Safe to say, in three weeks, no electricity, didn't see one person up there, drank more vodka and beer than I can remember and 3 hours daylight per day...but we did some mad stuff up there and the Fins looked after me well. -25 Deg was the norm

Not me, but you get the picture...

Summer...you can drive all the way from Helsinki to the lake shore itself.

24 hour sun shine and awesome trout fishing.

No vodka during summer, just gallons of beer. No fridge, but they have a celler in the side of a hill.

This time, 3 weeks on a boat and yes, you get sick of fish agter a time, but to again see no one for three weeks...simply amazing.

And yes, the Northern Lifgts are ****ing amazing...

 

[XFactor1979]

i just went to Urumqi

its a dangerous place with three languages written on some of the buildings (chinese, uighur arabic and cyrillic) but its a place that gives you a perspective

the place in the xinjiang province (or chinese turkestan) to go to is Turpan or the ancient city of Kashgar.

it looks like time stood still in the shire of turpan, and you would be forgiven if you thought you were in iran or some place in the middle east if you saw kashgar, kashgar is closer to afghanistan than beijing. scary thought

 

[blue gunslinger]

Amsterdam is over rated. My least favourite place on my European trek so far.

Edinburgh is well worth a look. Very beautiful city, very cheap I found personally, and I was there when the Comedy festival was on, so it was thriving!

Amsterdam is awesome for art and culture
stay away from the touristy drug bullshit

 

[Alpha1]

Switzerland is sexy.

 

[blue gunslinger]

In what way?
Zurich if full of sexy people but hard to look good as a ski bunny

 

[The Cranium]

Amsterdam is awesome for art and culture
stay away from the touristy drug bullshit

Not bagging Worth D Wait, Amsterdam is fine as long as you avoid that tourist strip outside the main train station. The bong bar used to be called Grasshoppers, **** knows what is is now. But its a haven for every low life to target young unsuspecting tourists when they are ripped.

Better places in the burbs. Better places to relax and enjoy milkshakes. I went to a place that all the offerings were in a sample photo album, they prepared it all in front of you whist enjoying a cool beer....they even called the taxi when they heard my name was Gunslinger, he must be well known in these parts.

 

[ESKIE]

Okay, my first exspose on Scandinavia.

This year I had the privalige of being invited to the Arctic Circle in Northern Finland.

Two trips, one in winter and one in summer.

The are is called Inari and I spent 3 weeks in both seasons at Lake Inari, which faces two borders, those of Norway and Russia.

Winter, you can drive to the most southern point of the lake and then demob the sleds and snow mobiles. Duration approx 2 hours, very hard on the body if you haven't used one before.

and the one I used was an Arctic Cat version of this one...

Safe to say, in three weeks, no electricity, didn't see one person up there, drank more vodka and beer than I can remember and 3 hours daylight per day...but we did some mad stuff up there and the Fins looked after me well. -25 Deg was the norm

Not me, but you get the picture...

Summer...you can drive all the way from Helsinki to the lake shore itself.

24 hour sun shine and awesome trout fishing.

No vodka during summer, just gallons of beer. No fridge, but they have a celler in the side of a hill.

This time, 3 weeks on a boat and yes, you get sick of fish agter a time, but to again see no one for three weeks...simply amazing.

And yes, the Northern Lifgts are ****ing amazing...

Wow great stories there .. getting itchy feet reading. That photo of the lights is truly amazing ???? How;s west africa going?