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Dalsi zeme a dalsi adaptace na novou menu. Nastesti to neni tak chaoticke jako v Kambodzi kde jsou vsechny ceny v USD a Rielech. Nejradeji maji kdyz se plati v USD a vraci v Rielech. Takze nestaci hlidat o kolik se nas snazi natahnout, ale kdyz uz se usmlouva cena tak jeste jakym prepocitavaji kurzem vracene penize... Ve Vietnamu je to o dost lehci ceny sice uvadne v USD, ale 1Kc = 1000 Dongu, lehke.
Ve Vietnamu zacneme rovnou docela zostra. Ho Chi Minh City (byvaly Saigon) je metropole s 9mil lidi a 5mil motorek. A je to znat, mate problem v Praze nebo CB najit misto pro zaparkovani auta? Nezoufejte, tady maji ten samy problem, jen se snazi zaparkovat motorku. Prejit ulici z jedne strany na druhou je takove mensi dobrodruzstvi samo o sobe. Citite se relativne bezpecne, protoze mate zelenou, jdete po chodniku nebo proudite s davem? Zadne takove jistoty tu neznaji. Zelena, cervena nezajem, kdyz chceme prejit zbyva jedine - dobrovolne se vrhnout pod kola stroju a pak jistym a stalym krokem postupovat vpred, on se ten chumel trubek protroubi natesno kolem z obou stran.
Misty je elektricke vedeni a telefonni kabely tak nahustene na sloupech, ze skoro neni videt na oblohu. Saigon je velikan s plapolajicimi sovetskymi vlajkami, slogany ve zlute barve na rudych praporech a bilboardy vyobrazujicimi bojujici rolnicky lid. Na prvni pohled je Saigon metropole ktera se rychle promenuje v moderni velkomesto. Ale kdyz se dame do reci s jednim mladsim Vietnamcem, tak je jasne, ze ani Cinsky system komunismu s volnym trhem neni nijak uzasny. Nedavno tu pomohl australske rodine co se dostala do problemu a na oplatku dostal darem zpatecni letenku a nabidku pobytu v rodine v Australii...samozrejme zamitnuto (mozna by to slo, pokud by dokazal sehnat 7000USD...tak si pry skoro kazdy den kupoval losy). Volby tradicne jednou za 4 roky - 1 hlasovaci listek a pri neucasti se rodina dostane do problemu. Atd. Neni se co divit, ze jsou Vietnamci proti Kambodzanum uzavrenejsi a dokud je nepoznate lepe maji odtazity pristup.
Chceme zjistit vice o posledni valce s US a tak se rozhodneme navstivit opevneni Viet Congu. Tunely Cu Chi - pres 200km chodeb ve 3patrech. Zilo v nich 16000lidi a system propleteni, pasti a jinych vychytavek byl v te dobe pro americany neprekonatelny. Kazdopadne zit 17let v tunelech ktere misty maji jen 90x40cm nebylo asi nic moc. Nam staci zkusebne proplazit 30m aby jsme vedeli, ze toto pro nas opravdu neni. Jeste je zde moznost si zastrilet z jakekoliv zbrane pouzivane jednou nebo druhou stranou. Ve meste pak jeste zajdeme do muzea valky. Zde jsou hodne podrobne zdokumentovany zverstva co americani napachali na civilistech. Obzvlast sekce nasledku testovani chemickych zbrani se doporucuje na lacny zaludek...Expozice je vyborna, ale bohuzel ciste jednostranna a zavani komunistickou agitkou. Skoda.
Ze Saigonu jedeme dale do Mui Ne. 2h konstatni zacpy nez se vymotame z mesta a pak uz jen 4h mezi kopci s ryzovymi poli a plantazemi pitayi (draci ovoce). Nakonec dorazime do turistickeho mestecka Mui Ne. Jedna ulice hotelu a restauraci u prekvapive pekne a ciste plaze. Idealni pro jeden den odpocinku. Take pujcime motorku a zajedeme na nedaleke duny z cerveneho pisku. Moc pekne, ale mame smulu na mraky a fotky tak nestoji za nic. Alespon je sranda kdyz tu potkame cecha Zbyndu - anglicky umi jen zaklady a tak na mistni hulaka v cestine a bez problemu se domluvi.
Psali jsme ,ze Bolivijska pop hudba je ocistec jak pro sluch tak pro zrak? Nocni bus do Hoi An do teto skupiny zaradil i Vietnamskou hudebni scenu. Je hodne spatna sama o sobe, ale kdyz ji hrajou bez prestavky celou noc kdy se vsichni snazi spat je to prave peklo. Hoi An je pekne historicke mesto plne uzkych ulicek napechovanych krejcimi a sevci. Chcete kopii obleku nebo satu od Bosse, Versace nebo staci jen Next? Nic neni nemozne. Staci si ukazat a do druheho dne si prijit na zkousku. Ale pozor pri vyberu z vice nez 100 obchodu, prace nekterych krejci vypada ze jak kdyz maji problem rozeznat jehlu od nite.
V jedne zapadle ulicce objevime pravy poklad. 3 generace zenskych u sebe doma provozuji restauraci. Na WC se chodi pres obyvak a kuchyni a domaci kvasnicove pivo za 3kc je vyborne. Tradicni Cau Lau (ryzove nudle se skvarky a veprovym) taktez.
Jeden den pujcime motorku a jedeme nejdrive k Mramorovym horam. Kazdou chvilku vedle nas nekdo zpomaluje a za jizdy se nas snazi natahnout k sobe do obchodu. A hory nas velmi mile prekvapi, tolik jsme necekali. Jsou plne jeskynnich domu (dlouhe o) s oltari a sochami budhu. Seshora skrz diry prosvita slunce a vypadada to jak kdyby sloupy ze svetla podpiraly cele jeskyne. Na obed se zastavime na nedaleke plazi. Kilometry a kilometry pobrezi lemuji ciste a pekne plaze se spoustou rozestavenych resortu. Odpoledne se jedeme ztratit na venkov at take vidime neco mimo mesta. Skvely napad - jedeme a kochame se lidmi obdelavajicimi rucne a s buvoli ryzova pole. V rybarske vesnici postavene z palmovych listu na nas docela koukaji. Zde se moc turistu asi neobjevi. Nakonec se ztratime doopravdy a na mesto nas navede vesnican na motorce.
Dalsi den jedeme na vylet na ostrov Cham. Nase skupina je komplet Vietnamska! To bude srandy. Na ostrove je videt, ze turismus je zde opravdu v plenkach. Pruvodce mame jen sami pro sebe a vodi nas skrz pole a dvorky plne slepic az k chramu rybaru. Zde nas starenka co se o chram stara pozve na caj a neustale povzbizi at pijeme at muze dolevat. Pak si jdeme zasnorchlovat, ale koral u pobrezi je nic moc. Vic nas bavi Vietnamci. Nikdo neumi plavat a tak maji jednu vestu na sobe, jednu pod sebou a bojuji o preziti :) Sipka z lodi vzbudi pravy obdiv. Na ceste zpatky se presvedcime, ze asiati opravdu maji problem s rozeznavanim belochu. Holky se se mnou chteji fotit, jako ze jsem podobny G.Cloony. Na obed nas vylozi na krasne plazi a chteji po nas at je naucime plavat. Boji se ale i splyvat - beznadejne. Obed je hostina o 8talirich. Vetsinou ale morske potvory. Ryba je vyborna, ale chobotnice, sepie a krevety nam nejedou.
Cas uz se blizi a tak na Hue nezbyva tolik casu co by jsme si prali. Ale i tak stihneme projit historicke mesto a vecer kouknout na predstaveni festivalu mesta. Je to takova mensi spartakiada na hradbach prolozena sem tam ohnostrojem.
Z Hue do Hanoje jedeme vlakem. Scenerie krasna, hlavne hory ktere vypadaji jako zraloci zuby zarostle dzungli. Stoupani je tak strme, ze vidime nasi lokomotivu jak jede vedle nas opacnym smerem. Na 30min zastavime, pry jsme nekoho srazili. Ale nastesti to bylo jen do ramene a nic se nestalo! Nabidka jidel ve vlaku neni moc pestra a takove mango se soli a sojovkou (ja myslel, ze je to hnedy cukr a poradne se zakousnul) nebo vareny pukavec je vylozene nechutny. Po 14h jsme docela rozlamani a tak vezmeme prvni levnejsi hotel co najdeme.
Hanoi je co se tyce dopravy stejna jako Saigon. Jen je vse nahustene do malych uzkych ulicek. Take zajdeme na predstaveni manasku ve vode co je tu hodne popularni, vypada to pekne, ale dej to nema, takze nic moc.
Pak uz jen kratky let do Bangkoku a jsme skoro u konce. Nesmime zapomenout zminit kralovsky palac, vyborne zakonceni naseho putovani. Po Angkoru asi 2. nejlepsi atrakce co tu vidime. Obrovke budovy jsou doslova poskladany z miniaturnich detailu a zlata. Clovek nema sanci vsechno pobrat.
V noci let do Londyna a pak domu.
Tak tohle byl nejrychlejsi pulrok zivota!
Fotky az pozdeji.
New country and again new adaptation to another currency. It is not as chaotic as in Cambodia where all prices are in both USD and Riel. Of course everybody prefers to accept dollars and give change in Riel. So there is one more thing to look out for, price itself and conversion rate used between USD/Riel.. In Vietnam it's easy, prices are in USD but 1 Czech Crown = 1000 Dong (Ding Dongs as we like to call it), so 1EUR = lots of loads.
We start in Vietnam headlong, first destination is Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon). Metropolis with 9mil inhabitants and 5mil motorbikes. Do you complain about having a hard time finding free parking space in Dublin? Do not despair, same here, just cannot find a space for a bike. To cross the street is a small adventure in itself. Do you feel relatively safe because the light is green, you are on a footpath or just follow the traffic? None of these rules apply here, everything was made to ride a bike on it. So the only option when crossing the street is - voluntarily jump in front of the wheels and stride in even slow purposeful pace forward, the melee of steel and rubber flows all around while constantly blowing their horns. In some places are the electrical and phone cables so thick it nearly obscures the sky.
On the first glance is Saigon a city quickly converting into modern Vietnamese hub of everything. But when we get to know some locals and talk to them we see that not everything is so optimistic. Maybe it's the free market economy but still 100% communist style. Some examples - A local guy helped to a an Australian family that got into trouble here. As a reward he was offered a free return flight and homestay in Australia. But to leave the country was not approved, capitalist market countries have bad influence...there was a way, but it would cost him 7000USD, with a pay of 40USD/month not quite possible so the poor guy spent nearly all his savings on lottery tickets. Another example - government election is traditionally once in 4yrs - but all you get is 1 option and if you don't turn up the whole family is in trouble.
No wonder the local people are not so opened with foreigners and if you don't get to know them better they are afraid they might get into trouble.
We'd like to learn more about the war and decide to visit Cu Chi tunnels. Over 200km of corridors in 3 storeys were base for 16000 VietCong forces. Maze system with traps and other nasty surprises was for US at the time invincible. But who would want to live 17yrs in tunnels that are in some places only 90x40cm? We are happy to be out after crawling 30m. When we're finished there is an option to try and shoot from any gun used in the war. Later in the day we go to the war museum in the town. Very detailed and good exhibition shows the bestiality brought on civilian people. Section of chemical weapons testing results is not for the fainthearted. Pity that the exhibition is only one-sided and wafts with communist propaganda.
From Saigon we continue to Mui Ne. 2h of constant traffic jam and we are out of the city. Then only 4hrs along the mountains and dragon fruit plantations. Mui Ne is a tourist place with one main street full of hotels and restaurants. But beaches and sea are surprisingly clean. Ideal for a day of laziness. Then we rent a motorbike and go to see red dunes not far away. Very nice, just the sun is hiding so the pictures will be poor. At least we have some fun when we meet a Czech guy travelling here. He doesn't speak any English and vociferates at locals in Czech, and gets by better than we do...
Did we mention that Bolivian/Peruvian pop music is purgatory for both eyes and ears? Overnight bus to Hoi An moved into this bracket also Vietnamese music. It is really bad on its own, but when it's played nonstop whole night when everybody tries to sleep then it's real hell. Hoi An is nice historical town full of narrow streets lined with tailor and shoemaker shops. Would you like a copy of Boss or Versace suit? No problem, choose and come next day for a try-out. Just be careful when choosing a shop, some of the tailors look like they have problem to distinguish a needle from a thread.
In one of the small hidden streets we come across a real treasure. 3 generations of women run their own restaurant based in their home. Toilet is through the living room and kitchen but homemade beer for 10c is a real treat.
We rent a motorbike and go for a day trip to Marble mts. Sometimes people slow down next to us and try to lure us to their shop while driving. Mountains are a nice surprise. There are some cave domes with altars and Buddha statues. Through the holes from above shines the sun that creates great light pillars. For a lunch we stop at the beach. Surprisingly clean sand and water. In the afternoon we go and drive aimlessly through countryside. Great idea - along the road we can see people working their rice fields just with basic tools and cows. In one of the fishing villages are locals quite surprised to see us. Not many tourists reach these houses built from palm leaves. Here we get lost for real and must be saved by local guy on motorbike.
Next day we go for a trip to Cham island. The group is completely Vietnamese! On the island it's obvious that tourism here is very new term here. We have the guide just for ourselves and walk through the fields and people's back yards where they keep their livestock until we reach fisherman temple. Old lady that takes care of the temple invites us for a tea and urges us all the time to drink so she can fill up, how nice. Then we go for snorkeling but coral is not very good, better fun is to watch Vietnamese. None of them can swim, so one life jacket on second below them and still they nearly fight for their lives :) Head dive from the boat is met with real admiration. On the way back we are persuaded that Asian people have trouble distinguishing white people. Girls want to take a picture with me as with G. Clooney and guys with Jana! I wish, pity it doesn't work in Europe too :) We have a lunch on a great beach and the guys ask us to teach them how to swim. Good fun but they are desperately hopeless and have big fear of water even if they can reach bottom. The lunch consists of 8 plates full of sea food. Fish is great but the other stuff is not for us.
The time is running short so for Hue we cannot spare more than 1 day. Even so we manage to walk through the historical town and go to the evening festival show.
From Hue to Hanoi we take a train. Scenery is beautiful, mountains look like shark teeth growing in the jungle. We stop for 30min, we run over someone. Fortunately the person got caught only on the shoulder and nothing happened to him! The food offer variety on train is not big. Mango with salt and dried soy (I thought it's brown sugar and took a big bite) or boiled rotten eggs is disgusting. After 14hrs we're quite tired and take the first decent hotel we find.
Hanoi is traffic wise similar to Saigon. All is just happening in small narrow streets. Here we go to see a water puppet show. Very popular thing over here, show is ok but there is no plot so it's quite boring.
Short flight and we are back to Bangkok. Nearly finished. Royal palace is great conclusion to our trip. Huge halls made up from tiny details and gold. One has no chance to take it all in.
Tonight we fly to London and from there to Prague.
What a great trip! Probably the fastest half a year in our lives.
Highly recommended.
Pictures later.
Monday, 7 June 2010
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Kambodza / Cambodia
Imigracni urednici opet chteji dolar za 'namahu', ale kdyz jim Janca rekne o stvrzenku a jmeno, jde to zadarmo.
Na hranicich krome 3 stanku s jidlem neni nic. Nikdo nam nepotvrdil jestli a kdy odtud jede nejaky bus...po dlouhem a tvrdem handrkovani s majitelem auta odchazime opet oskubani a za 22.5dolaru za osobu jedeme do Kratie (bus pres celou zemi stoji 14USD). Krajina je opet uplne placata, ryzova pole cekajici na monsun vyprahla, silnice spatna, hromady vetvi oznacuji diry. Ale i tak je na co koukat - kaucukove plantaze, dvory domu pokryte susicimi se chilli paprickami a dale zavlazene ryzove pole.
Odpoledne dojedeme do Kratie, stejne jako vetsina mest v Kambodzi je spinave, plne prachu a odpadku. Nevim proc jsme meli zafixovane, ze Laos je nejchudsi zeme v oblasti. Kambodza je na tom o poznani hure (pozdeji zjistime proc). Ale jak se zatim vzdy potvrdilo neprima umera bohatstvi a otevrenosti lidi funguje i zde. Lide jsou pratelsti, smeji se na dalku a nekdy i vtipkuji. Deti jsou kouzelne, casto se priplizi ze zadu a jemne jako by jsme byli z porcelanu se nas dotknou aby zjistili jestli belosi nejsou z jineho testa nez mistni. Staci je pozdravit a zamavat a jsou stestim bez sebe. A kdyz je clovek vyfoti a pak jim ukaze jejich fotku na displeji je to pro ne uplna senzace.
V hlavnim meste Phnom Penh se zdrzime na par dni. Vetsine cestovatelu co jsme potkali se tahle smes spinavych ulic plnych chaosu moc nezamlouva, ale me se libi.
Motorka je ultimatni korab co odveze vse - 10 pytlu ryze, 20 fosen 3m dlouhych, 4lidi + 2nemluvnata, dalsi motorku + kolo nebo dokonce typka co si veze tyc a na ni kapacku...nic neni nemozne.
Mame malem ukroucene hlavy jak odmitame nabidky na svezeni od tuktuku a motorek. Priklad jednoho rana - Jeste nez si sedneme na snidani tak ridic tuktuku stoji u stolu a 50x se zepta jestli s nim po snidani pojedeme. Kdyz uz nas nebavi odmitat, staci rict mozna a uz bezi pro karu a cpe se mezi tuktuky co tu uz stali pred nim. Behem snidane z nas nespusti oci a kdykoliv se podivame jeho smerem smeje se a pysne ukazuje na svuj vuz. To vse pro 2dolary ktere mu pak dame za svezeni.
V Phnom Penh navstivime rusky trh (pojmenovany za dob kdy sem poradali nakupove najezdy soudruzi ze SSSR) kde jsou cele ctvrte stanku podle druhu zbozi. Kralovsky palac take stoji za to, zde se opravdu nesetrilo. Dukazem je treba 90kg socha budhy z ryziho zlata osazena vice nez 2000diamanty.
A proc je na tom Kambodza hure nez ostatni zeme regionu? Krome kobercovych naletu americanu ji zastihlo jeste neco mnohem horsiho. Jeden z dukazu je v muzeu S21. Jedno z mnoha mist kde komuniste umucili 21tis lidi. Celkem behem 4 let kdy se dostali komuniste k moci bylo povrazdeno skoro 3miliony lidi. Cilem byli vzdelani, vlastnici nemovitosti, podnikatele a lide z mest. Nekdy stacilo jen nosit bryle a uz byl clovek povazovan za nevhodneho pro komunistickou spolecnost a zastrelen. Jen 4 roky komunismu odsoudili zemi ke generacim zijicich v chudobe a strachu. Dnes, vice nez 30let po porazeni komunistu umi jen 60% muzu a 20% zen cist a psat! Dale odhadem 0.5% populace je diky naslapnym minam invalidnich. Casto vidime lidi, kteri maji treba jen jednu ruku a u vsech pamatek hraji kapely beznohych pro ktere je to jedina obziva (Podle budhismu lide s amputaci spachali neco spatneho v minulem zivote a jsou za to potrestani, takze od spolecnosti moc sympatii nedostanou).
Na pole kde jsou odkryte masove hroby z teto doby ani nejedeme, podle fotek se to moc nelisi od Terezina nebo Osvetimi.
Z Phnom Penh jedeme do Siem Riep. Hlavni archeologicke lakadlo jihovychodni Asie. Chramove komplexy Angkor z Khmerske rise na 3000 ctverecnich km navstivi kazdorocne pres 2mil lidi a hrave se mohou srovnavat s lakadly typu Macchu Picchu, Egyptskych pyramid nebo Taj Mahalu. Koupime si 3 denni vstup behem ktereho se da stihnout vsechny komplexy. A kdyz ridici tuktuku oznamime, ze si ho pronajmeme na cele 3dny, radost je velika (15dolaru na osobu je pritom celkem smesna castka). Je moc hodny a prijemny, ale anglicky moc neumi a na vse odpovida I wait (Ja cekat).
Popisovat kazdou pamatku Angkoru tak by jsme brzy vycerpali superlativy. Ale potulovat se sami brzo rano v polorozpadlych palacich obklopenych a prorostlych dzungli je jak prevtelit se do tel Indiana Jonese a Lary Croft (a kdyby jste nekdy premysleli kde se to natacelo, tak Harrison Ford se honil za poklady prave tady).
Angkor je proste jedna z veci ktera na cloveka udela poradny dojem. Az ke konci 3tiho dne kdy nonstop prolezame kazdou chodbu zaciname byt presyceni a jsme radi, ze jsme si nekoupili vstup na 7dni. Ve Vietnamu budhistickym pamatkam uz asi moc nedame.
Vseobecne na nas Kambodza pusobi jinak nez ostatni zeme co jsme navstivili a lidi je nam lito. Je videt, ze vytrpeli hodne a maji pred sebou jeste dlouhou cestu. Proto vetsinou i kdyz muzeme vic usmlouvat nesmlouvame a sem tam nekomu koupime jidlo nebo dame piti. Kambodzu dosazujeme na pomyslne 1. misto mezi asijskymi zememi.
Posledni vecer jeste nez odjedeme prijde dlouho ocekavany monsunovy prival ktery je tak prudky, ze dokonce zastavi vsudepritomnou dopravu. Vsichni jsou promoceni na kost, ale uzivaji si to. Obzvlast deti, kterym voda na ulici tece po kolena.
Fotky (pouze lehka ochutnavka, upload se nedari):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63585&id=1344786025&l=a878f17d05
Immigration officers again ask for a dollar for the hassle of stamping our passports but when Jana asks them for a receipt and name suddenly no fee is required.
There is nothing on the border except 3 stalls with food. Nobody was able to confirm whether and when there is a bus to inland...after long and hard haggling with an owner of a car we end up flayed and head for Kratie for 22.5USD per person(bus crossing the whole country costs 14USD). Landscape is again totally flat, rice fields waiting for rain parched, road bad - big holes in it are marked by piles of branches.
In the afternoon we reach Kratie, as most of the Cambodian towns it's dirty, full of dust and litter. I'm not sure why we thought that Laos is the poorest country in the region. Cambodia is definitely faring worse. But as everywhere the same indirect proportion of wealth and people friendliness applies here. Although the life is hard here people are friendly and never spare a smile. Children are wonderful, often they creep up on us from behind and gently as if we were made from porcelain touch us to find out if we are any different to them. A wave and hello makes them very happy. And when we take picture of them and show it to them it's like showing their favorite magic trick.
Many of backpackers we meet don't like the capital Phnom Penh but I quite like it. Motorbike is an ultimate mode of transport suitable for carrying anything - 10 big sacks of rice, 20 3m long wooden planks, 4 people + 2 infants, another motorbike + bike or even a guy with a pole with his dropping funnel...nothing is impossible.
Our necks are nearly twisted off as we refuse offers from tuktuks. A morning example - Just before we sit down to have a breakfast the tuktuk driver is at the table and asks 50 times if we hire him when we're finished. After a while we say instead of no maybe and that is all it takes to drive his tuktuk and cram in between tuktuks that were there before him. During our breakfast he would keep an eye on us, nonstop. And when we look into his direction he smiles and proudly points at his vehicle. To him it's all worth the 2USD we give him for a ride...
In Phnom Penh we visit Russian market (named from the time of Soviet Union when this was a major shopping destination) where are whole districts of stalls divided by type of products. Royal palace is very nice too, they are not short of money here. Proof can be statue of Buddha made of 90kg of solid gold with more than 2000diamonds.
And why is Cambodia poorer than other countries in the region? US carpet bombing was nothing compared to communist rule of Khmer Ruge. One of the places where 21000people were tortured to death is museum S21. Altogether nearly 3mil people were killed in just 4 years of the terror. Targets were educated, landowners, businessmen and people from cities. Sometimes wearing glasses was enough to be proof as being educated and the person was shot. So now more than 30yrs after the communism was overthrown only 60% of males and 20% of women is literate! On the top of that estimated 0.5% of population is crippled as result of stepping on landmines. And these get little sympathy from the society as according to Buddhism this means they were bad in previous life.
Next stop after Phnom Penh is Siem Riep. The main archaeological attraction of SE Asia. Angkor complexes from the time of Khmer empire visit every year over 2mil tourists. We buy a 3day entrance ticket. When we announce to our tuktuk driver that we'll hire him for next 3days joy is great (15USD per person is not very much. He is really nice and friendly guy but doesn't speak English very well. To any question he answers - I wait here.
It's impossible to describe all Angkor monuments. But to be alone early morning in the half tumbledown temples surrounded by jungle feels like being in bodies of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft (and if you ever wondered where Harrison Ford was chasing after the treasures, it was here). Angkor is one of the things that will easily impress and take your breath away. After 3days of nonstop exploring we're quite glad we didn't go for a 7day ticket as we are quite overtempled. In Vietnam we probably won't visit many temples...
In general Cambodia appeals to us in different way compared to all other countries we've visited. We feel sorry for the people. It is obvious they suffered a lot and still have a long way to go. That is probably why we don't haggle as much as anywhere else and sometimes give away food and drink to beggars on the streets.
Last day of our stay finally arrives long desired monsoon. The rain is so fierce it even stops ever-present traffic. Everyone is soaked to the bone but happy. Kids love it and mess about in knee high streams of water.
Pictures (just a light sample as upload is not working):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63585&id=1344786025&l=a878f17d05
Na hranicich krome 3 stanku s jidlem neni nic. Nikdo nam nepotvrdil jestli a kdy odtud jede nejaky bus...po dlouhem a tvrdem handrkovani s majitelem auta odchazime opet oskubani a za 22.5dolaru za osobu jedeme do Kratie (bus pres celou zemi stoji 14USD). Krajina je opet uplne placata, ryzova pole cekajici na monsun vyprahla, silnice spatna, hromady vetvi oznacuji diry. Ale i tak je na co koukat - kaucukove plantaze, dvory domu pokryte susicimi se chilli paprickami a dale zavlazene ryzove pole.
Odpoledne dojedeme do Kratie, stejne jako vetsina mest v Kambodzi je spinave, plne prachu a odpadku. Nevim proc jsme meli zafixovane, ze Laos je nejchudsi zeme v oblasti. Kambodza je na tom o poznani hure (pozdeji zjistime proc). Ale jak se zatim vzdy potvrdilo neprima umera bohatstvi a otevrenosti lidi funguje i zde. Lide jsou pratelsti, smeji se na dalku a nekdy i vtipkuji. Deti jsou kouzelne, casto se priplizi ze zadu a jemne jako by jsme byli z porcelanu se nas dotknou aby zjistili jestli belosi nejsou z jineho testa nez mistni. Staci je pozdravit a zamavat a jsou stestim bez sebe. A kdyz je clovek vyfoti a pak jim ukaze jejich fotku na displeji je to pro ne uplna senzace.
V hlavnim meste Phnom Penh se zdrzime na par dni. Vetsine cestovatelu co jsme potkali se tahle smes spinavych ulic plnych chaosu moc nezamlouva, ale me se libi.
Motorka je ultimatni korab co odveze vse - 10 pytlu ryze, 20 fosen 3m dlouhych, 4lidi + 2nemluvnata, dalsi motorku + kolo nebo dokonce typka co si veze tyc a na ni kapacku...nic neni nemozne.
Mame malem ukroucene hlavy jak odmitame nabidky na svezeni od tuktuku a motorek. Priklad jednoho rana - Jeste nez si sedneme na snidani tak ridic tuktuku stoji u stolu a 50x se zepta jestli s nim po snidani pojedeme. Kdyz uz nas nebavi odmitat, staci rict mozna a uz bezi pro karu a cpe se mezi tuktuky co tu uz stali pred nim. Behem snidane z nas nespusti oci a kdykoliv se podivame jeho smerem smeje se a pysne ukazuje na svuj vuz. To vse pro 2dolary ktere mu pak dame za svezeni.
V Phnom Penh navstivime rusky trh (pojmenovany za dob kdy sem poradali nakupove najezdy soudruzi ze SSSR) kde jsou cele ctvrte stanku podle druhu zbozi. Kralovsky palac take stoji za to, zde se opravdu nesetrilo. Dukazem je treba 90kg socha budhy z ryziho zlata osazena vice nez 2000diamanty.
A proc je na tom Kambodza hure nez ostatni zeme regionu? Krome kobercovych naletu americanu ji zastihlo jeste neco mnohem horsiho. Jeden z dukazu je v muzeu S21. Jedno z mnoha mist kde komuniste umucili 21tis lidi. Celkem behem 4 let kdy se dostali komuniste k moci bylo povrazdeno skoro 3miliony lidi. Cilem byli vzdelani, vlastnici nemovitosti, podnikatele a lide z mest. Nekdy stacilo jen nosit bryle a uz byl clovek povazovan za nevhodneho pro komunistickou spolecnost a zastrelen. Jen 4 roky komunismu odsoudili zemi ke generacim zijicich v chudobe a strachu. Dnes, vice nez 30let po porazeni komunistu umi jen 60% muzu a 20% zen cist a psat! Dale odhadem 0.5% populace je diky naslapnym minam invalidnich. Casto vidime lidi, kteri maji treba jen jednu ruku a u vsech pamatek hraji kapely beznohych pro ktere je to jedina obziva (Podle budhismu lide s amputaci spachali neco spatneho v minulem zivote a jsou za to potrestani, takze od spolecnosti moc sympatii nedostanou).
Na pole kde jsou odkryte masove hroby z teto doby ani nejedeme, podle fotek se to moc nelisi od Terezina nebo Osvetimi.
Z Phnom Penh jedeme do Siem Riep. Hlavni archeologicke lakadlo jihovychodni Asie. Chramove komplexy Angkor z Khmerske rise na 3000 ctverecnich km navstivi kazdorocne pres 2mil lidi a hrave se mohou srovnavat s lakadly typu Macchu Picchu, Egyptskych pyramid nebo Taj Mahalu. Koupime si 3 denni vstup behem ktereho se da stihnout vsechny komplexy. A kdyz ridici tuktuku oznamime, ze si ho pronajmeme na cele 3dny, radost je velika (15dolaru na osobu je pritom celkem smesna castka). Je moc hodny a prijemny, ale anglicky moc neumi a na vse odpovida I wait (Ja cekat).
Popisovat kazdou pamatku Angkoru tak by jsme brzy vycerpali superlativy. Ale potulovat se sami brzo rano v polorozpadlych palacich obklopenych a prorostlych dzungli je jak prevtelit se do tel Indiana Jonese a Lary Croft (a kdyby jste nekdy premysleli kde se to natacelo, tak Harrison Ford se honil za poklady prave tady).
Angkor je proste jedna z veci ktera na cloveka udela poradny dojem. Az ke konci 3tiho dne kdy nonstop prolezame kazdou chodbu zaciname byt presyceni a jsme radi, ze jsme si nekoupili vstup na 7dni. Ve Vietnamu budhistickym pamatkam uz asi moc nedame.
Vseobecne na nas Kambodza pusobi jinak nez ostatni zeme co jsme navstivili a lidi je nam lito. Je videt, ze vytrpeli hodne a maji pred sebou jeste dlouhou cestu. Proto vetsinou i kdyz muzeme vic usmlouvat nesmlouvame a sem tam nekomu koupime jidlo nebo dame piti. Kambodzu dosazujeme na pomyslne 1. misto mezi asijskymi zememi.
Posledni vecer jeste nez odjedeme prijde dlouho ocekavany monsunovy prival ktery je tak prudky, ze dokonce zastavi vsudepritomnou dopravu. Vsichni jsou promoceni na kost, ale uzivaji si to. Obzvlast deti, kterym voda na ulici tece po kolena.
Fotky (pouze lehka ochutnavka, upload se nedari):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63585&id=1344786025&l=a878f17d05
Immigration officers again ask for a dollar for the hassle of stamping our passports but when Jana asks them for a receipt and name suddenly no fee is required.
There is nothing on the border except 3 stalls with food. Nobody was able to confirm whether and when there is a bus to inland...after long and hard haggling with an owner of a car we end up flayed and head for Kratie for 22.5USD per person(bus crossing the whole country costs 14USD). Landscape is again totally flat, rice fields waiting for rain parched, road bad - big holes in it are marked by piles of branches.
In the afternoon we reach Kratie, as most of the Cambodian towns it's dirty, full of dust and litter. I'm not sure why we thought that Laos is the poorest country in the region. Cambodia is definitely faring worse. But as everywhere the same indirect proportion of wealth and people friendliness applies here. Although the life is hard here people are friendly and never spare a smile. Children are wonderful, often they creep up on us from behind and gently as if we were made from porcelain touch us to find out if we are any different to them. A wave and hello makes them very happy. And when we take picture of them and show it to them it's like showing their favorite magic trick.
Many of backpackers we meet don't like the capital Phnom Penh but I quite like it. Motorbike is an ultimate mode of transport suitable for carrying anything - 10 big sacks of rice, 20 3m long wooden planks, 4 people + 2 infants, another motorbike + bike or even a guy with a pole with his dropping funnel...nothing is impossible.
Our necks are nearly twisted off as we refuse offers from tuktuks. A morning example - Just before we sit down to have a breakfast the tuktuk driver is at the table and asks 50 times if we hire him when we're finished. After a while we say instead of no maybe and that is all it takes to drive his tuktuk and cram in between tuktuks that were there before him. During our breakfast he would keep an eye on us, nonstop. And when we look into his direction he smiles and proudly points at his vehicle. To him it's all worth the 2USD we give him for a ride...
In Phnom Penh we visit Russian market (named from the time of Soviet Union when this was a major shopping destination) where are whole districts of stalls divided by type of products. Royal palace is very nice too, they are not short of money here. Proof can be statue of Buddha made of 90kg of solid gold with more than 2000diamonds.
And why is Cambodia poorer than other countries in the region? US carpet bombing was nothing compared to communist rule of Khmer Ruge. One of the places where 21000people were tortured to death is museum S21. Altogether nearly 3mil people were killed in just 4 years of the terror. Targets were educated, landowners, businessmen and people from cities. Sometimes wearing glasses was enough to be proof as being educated and the person was shot. So now more than 30yrs after the communism was overthrown only 60% of males and 20% of women is literate! On the top of that estimated 0.5% of population is crippled as result of stepping on landmines. And these get little sympathy from the society as according to Buddhism this means they were bad in previous life.
Next stop after Phnom Penh is Siem Riep. The main archaeological attraction of SE Asia. Angkor complexes from the time of Khmer empire visit every year over 2mil tourists. We buy a 3day entrance ticket. When we announce to our tuktuk driver that we'll hire him for next 3days joy is great (15USD per person is not very much. He is really nice and friendly guy but doesn't speak English very well. To any question he answers - I wait here.
It's impossible to describe all Angkor monuments. But to be alone early morning in the half tumbledown temples surrounded by jungle feels like being in bodies of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft (and if you ever wondered where Harrison Ford was chasing after the treasures, it was here). Angkor is one of the things that will easily impress and take your breath away. After 3days of nonstop exploring we're quite glad we didn't go for a 7day ticket as we are quite overtempled. In Vietnam we probably won't visit many temples...
In general Cambodia appeals to us in different way compared to all other countries we've visited. We feel sorry for the people. It is obvious they suffered a lot and still have a long way to go. That is probably why we don't haggle as much as anywhere else and sometimes give away food and drink to beggars on the streets.
Last day of our stay finally arrives long desired monsoon. The rain is so fierce it even stops ever-present traffic. Everyone is soaked to the bone but happy. Kids love it and mess about in knee high streams of water.
Pictures (just a light sample as upload is not working):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63585&id=1344786025&l=a878f17d05
Monday, 24 May 2010
Laos LDR / Laos PDR
Po snidani jsme nalozeni na korbu jeepu a odvezeni k privozu. Veletok Mekong je v teto casti sveta jen o malo vetsi nez Labe. Cinane svou prehradou zadrzuji vetsinu vody a na Laos tak moc nezbyva. Byrokracie je na hranicich slusna, ale imigracni urednik se vic nez o platne vizum zajima o 1 dolar za 'prescas' protoze je nedele. Misto lodi se nas pruvodce snazi za extra penize premluvit na cestu minibusem misto lodi, je to pry dlouhe, nepohodlne, nebezpecne, atd. Kecy jako obvykle, minibus je nejspis jeho. Je mi trochu lito anglicanek co evidentne cestuji jen chvilku a skoci mu na to, vzdyt hlavne kvuli plavbe po Mekongu jsme prave tady. Reka je krasna a vlni se mezi strmymi nepravidelnymi kopci, vysoke brehy tvori hladky ostry cerny kamen (nejspise grafit, bridlice). Po 6h plavby dorazime do Pakbeng. Jedna spinava ulice plna ubytovani. Zariskovali jsme a pokoj zaplatili drive nez jsme ho videli. Ale je celkem ok, nemenene povleceni, zasuvku se spatnym kontaktem, netekouci vodu a obsluhu co se snazi pri placeni vratit min nez ma (1Kc je skoro 500 Laoskych kipu, ke vsemu ma pro nas zname cislice jen v jedinem rohu na jedne strane a malym pismem) je ani neresime. Proste typicke misto pro turisty kde neni jina alternativa. Toto je jedina vetsi vesnice na ceste do Luang Prabang, kompletne obklopena dzungli a pravdepodobne jedina se silnici do vnitrozemi. Dalsi den plavba trva 9h a probiha vicemene podobne, krajina je jeste divocejsi a opustenejsi, sem tam vidime vesnici na brehu a u ni na bidlech z bambusu site rybaru. V jednu chvili na lod pristoupi skupina mistnich se 3mi motorkami a lod je evidentne pretizena a naklani se na jednu stranu. Ale asi vi co delaji, navecer dorazime do byvaleho hlavniho mesta a horskeho kralovstvi Luang Prabang. Krasne historicke mesto s pohodovou atmosferou. A meli jsme pravdu kdyz jsme cekali uplne jiny pristup lidi, usmevavi a pratelsti i kdyz zrovna nemavate penezi. Nocni trh je maly zazrak, zadny hluk, davy a nuceni do koupe. Hromady zbozi a smlouvani je zde velmi jednoduche - malokdy zaplatime vice nez 50% puvodni ceny. Hodne se nam libi sachy vytesane vcetne krabice z kamene, ale ta vaha... Pri koupi obrazu je nam autorky diky nasi neoblomnosti docela lito. Neni moc dobry obchodnik a tak misto smlouvani sympaticka holcina zadoni tenkym hlasem: "Prosim sire, dejte mi trochu vic. Prosim." Po kazdem uspesnem obchode prodavajici vezmou trzbu a poklepou s ni vystavene zbozi - lucky, lucky (stesti, stesti).
Mirime dale na jih do cestovateli opevovaneho a nechvalne znameho Vang Viang. Auto sice nema slibenou klimatizaci, ale da se to vydrzet. Projizdime strme serpentyny nahoru a dolu, po strane je sem tam na svahu roztahla vesnicka. Bambusove chatrce na kulech - tady je videt, ze Laos je opravdu chudy. Ze by v tom castecne mely prsty sovetske vlajky vyvesene u kazde statni budovy?
Krajina je uzasna a laka k turam na kole nebo pesky. Vedro bohuzel neni jedina prekazka. Kdyz vidime jak jsou kopce strme a vse je nedostupne vubec se nedivime, ze jak francouzi tak americane tu proti Vietcongu nemeli sanci. Sem se bez silnice nedostane ani tank a tak po pechote zbyva jedina moznost - kobercove nalety. Behem valky USA shodili na Laos vice bomb (260mil) nez bylo pouzito v cele II svetove valce. 80mil nevybuchlo a zanechaly tak Laosu neprijemne dedictvi. Mimo hlavni tahy se na toaletu nedoporucuje chodit za krajnici silnice...
Vang Vieng je umele turisticke mestecko o 3 ulicich plnych jen hotelu a restauraci. Turistu je tu vic nez mistnich, ceny vysoke a ani nema cenu smlouvat, kdyz ne my nekdo jiny si to stejne koupi. Hlavni atrakci ktera zivi pres 1500lidi je reka v uzkem korytu pod vertikalnimi stenami. Nic zvlastniho, to maji i jinde. Ale co nemaji je atraktivita krajiny spojena s party a adrenalinem. Brehy po obou stranach lemuji bary a diskoteky. Kazdy dostane dusi od traktoru a plavi se dolu, kdyz ma chut na pivo, zamava a z baru mu hodi lano. Vsude ke kazdemu zakoupenemu napoji je zdarma panak...Vetsina baru ma pak jeste v nabidce zdarma nejaky ten adrenalin. Na prvni zastavce jsem sel na houpacku - 6-7m vysoka vez stlucena z prken, docela se houpe a kdyby me lide z baru nevytleskali tak se nahore nejspis otocim a misto zhoupnuti a skoku slezu. Nakonec se ukaze, ze nejtezsi cast je stat nahore na tresouci se plosince (ale salto pozadu jako mistni kluci opravdu nevystrihnu). Pak jeste jdeme na obri betonovou vykachlikovanou klouzacku. Usti nad rekou ve vysce 5m a kdyz to clovek necha poradne rozjet da se letet i 20m do dalky (hlavne nehodit placaka). Mozna by nekoho jeste mohlo zajimat, ze vetsina baru ma krome piva v nabidce opium, hasis, marihuanu a houbicky. Cele to zni jako silenost, ale kdyz se clovek nerozstrili a neriskuje pak zivot je to sranda kde potkate spoustu novych lidi a netradicne se pokochate horami kolem.
Hlavni mesto Vientiane je takova velka vesnice ve ktere neni nic moc co by stalo za zminku. Jak se jiz mnohokrat osvedcilo, obejdeme vice ubytovani a hned vedle sebe jsou dira s plisni na zdech a designovy hotel s klimatizaci a evropskou TV za stejnou cenu. Jinak doporucujeme pujcit skutr a jet 27km za mesto do Wat Xiang Khouan - mapa netreba, domorodci poradi klidne i za jizdy. Mistni umelec venoval zivot dilu kdy vytvoril park plny soch zobrazujici asijskou mytologii. Lezici budha ma urcite pres 50m na delku.
Presun na jih do Pakxe je nocnim busem, ale ne ledajakym. Ohromny dvouposchodovy bus je vevnitr uplne vybourany a zaplneny podomacku svarenymi palandami. V evrope by bezpecnostnimi testy asi neprosel, ale zde - co to je bezpecnost? Sice moc nespim, protoze palanda nema zabrany a v zatacce bych se mohl proletet 2m dolu, ale i tak je 10h jizda pohodlna.
V Pakxe se neplanujeme zdrzet a je cas po mestech take vyzkouset venkov. Chceme po ridici tuk tuku aby nas odvezl na autobusak odkud pojedeme do Champasaku. Ale o nicem nevi, tak nas vyhodi na centralnim trhu odkud muzeme jet ve vetsim tuktuku sdilenym s mistnimi. Pri cekani mame moznost pozorovat ranni srumec kolem - motorku nalozenou 3mi obrovskymi kosi durianu, holku na motorce se spoustou kachen uvazanych na riditkach, pani co se vysmrka zevnitr do trika co ma na sobe (pozdeji jeste do sukne), chlapka co jede na motorce a za sebou tahne kolecko nalozene cihlami, ...
Nase jizda je vlastne takova okruzni jizda. Ridic ruzne po meste naklada objednavky pro jednotlive vesnice, takze nakonec spolecne s nami sedi pytle ryze, mouky, fosny a ruzne tasky. A tak jak vse postupne vyklada mame moznost videt pravy venkov. Sice nam tech 40km zabralo pul dne, ale zazitek vyborny.
Z Champasaku jedeme do Nakasang. Prasna ulice na brehu 4000 ostrovu Mekongu (zde je reka uz velka) je plna obchudku a cele je to vlastne jedna velka skladka. Nejblizsi bus do Kambodzi jede az zitra rano, zustavat se nam tu nechce a tak se rozhodneme prekrocit hranice opet ve stylu. Domluvime 2 motorky (tuktuk zde neni), krosna vepredu, pak ridic a za nim my s malym batohem. Behem 5ti min jizdy na jilove ceste jsme od hlavy k pate pokryti prachem. Zastavime na fotku u nejvetsich vodopadu Mekongu a po 10ti km z motorek slezeme u zavory mezi Laosem a Kambodzou. (kdo uz videl foto na facebooku, tak link byl updatovan)
Fotky:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62492&id=1344786025&l=1d49f90ff6
One of the worlds biggest rivers Mekong is just a normal medium sized river. Chinese are holding most of the water with their dams and so Laos is left with water equal to couple Liffey rivers. Bureaucracy on the border is highly developed but more than our visas it's 1USD (for Sunday 'overtime') that interests the immigration officers.
The guide tries to persuade us to take a minibus for extra money instead of the boat. It's long, uncomfortable, dangerous, ... Blabbing as usual, minibus is probably his private business, boating down the Mekong that's why we are here! I feel a bit sorry for couple of English girls that fall for it. It's obvious they only started their travels recently and are not familiar with the tricks. River is beautiful, it undulates below irregular sheer hills, banks are made of sharp graphite rock. In 6hrs we arrive to Pakbeng. One dirty street full of accommodation. We took a risk and paid for a room before seeing it. But it's quite ok, unchanged sheets, plug out of order and no water are minor problems we learned to ignore in places like this. Just another typical tourist place where no other alternative is available. This is the only bigger village on the way to Luang Prabang, completely surrounded by jungle and probably the only one with a road connection to inland. Staff in the restaurants are trying to return less than they are supposed to - 1EUR equals to nearly 15000 Laos Kip and the only Arabic numerals are in a small print and just in one corner.
Next day the cruise takes 9hrs, landscape is more wild and desolate. From time to time we see a village with bamboo poles for fishing nets. At one point of the journey we take on board more local passengers bringing with them 3 motorbikes. The boat is evidently overloaded and inclines to the left side. But captain probably knows what he's doing, later in the afternoon we safely arrive to former capital and mountain kingdom Luang Prabang. Beautiful historical town with friendly and laid back atmosphere. And we were right when we expected better attitude from the locals - smiling and friendly even when you're not waving with money. Night market is a little wonder, no noise, crowds or forcing to buy. Good range of hand made goods and haggling is very easy even for beginners - we rarely pay more than 50% of starting price. We like a lot big chess set carved out of stone including the box, however the weight... Due to our unyieldingness we feel sorry for an artist selling her pictures. She is not a very good tradesman and instead of haggling begs with tiny voice: "Please sir give me more, please". After every successful deal the pitchers take the money and pat with it all the wares - lucky, lucky.
We head further south to (in)famous Vang Viang. Car doesn't have the promised AC but it's bearable. We go through steep windy roads up and down. Sometimes we pass a village - bamboo huts on poles. Here we can see that Laos is really very poor. Maybe something to do with Soviet Union flags hanging everywhere on official buildings?
Landscape is breathtaking and lures to be hiked or biked. Big heat is unfortunately not the only obstruction. Hills are very steep and everything is inaccessible - no wonder both French and US stood no chances against Vietcong. Without a road not even a tank can reach these villages and so the only other option after infantry is carpet bombing. During to war USA dropped on Laos more bombs (260mil) than was used in whole WWII. 80mil never exploded and left to Laos deadly legacy. In rural areas it is strongly not recommended to go for a toilet away from the road...
Vang Vieng is artificial tourist town made of 3 streets full of hotels and restaurants. There is more white people than locals. Main attraction that supports more than 1500people is a river in narrow bed below the hills. Nothing special you can see this elsewhere. But what you won't see elsewhere is the nature attractiveness joined with parties and bit of adrenalin. Banks on both sides are flanked with bars. Everybody gets a tractor inner tube and floats down the river, when you feel like having a beer just lift your hand and somebody from the bar will throw you a rope. With every purchased drink is a free shot...Most of the bars also have an adrenalin attraction attached to it. I tried a big swing - 6-7m high tower made of scrap pallets - it's shaking and I don't feel very secure, if the people down in the bar didn't cheer me up I'd probably never jumped. In the end it's really cool I just don't finish it off with a back flip like local kids. Then we try huge concrete slide with tiled surface. It vents 5m above the surface and when you let go and gain good speed it's no problem to fly 20m far (just don't land on your back). Someone might be interested in a special menu of every bar - opium, weed and psychedelic mushrooms.
The whole thing looks and is crazy but if one is a bit conscious and doesn't risk own life it's great fun where you can meet lot of new people and admire mountains around.
Capital Vientiane is just a big village where is not much to see. It pays off to walk around when looking for a room. Very often you'll find a dump next to a new hotel with AC and cable TV for the same price. In the town we recommend to rent a motorbike and go to Wat Xiang Khouan, 27km out of town. No map is required, locals will point you in the right direction (sometimes while driving). Local artist devoted his life to creation of this park. It's full of statues from Asian mythology. Sleeping Buddha is at least 50m long.
Transfer to Pakxe is via night bus, but it's not an ordinary bus. Big doubledecker is inside completely pulled down and filled with homemade bunks. It couldn't pass any safety tests, but over here - safety is not very common word. Aware of the gap next to me and possible flight in one of the bends, I don't get much sleep but it's much more comfortable 10hrs than sitting in a seat.
We don't plan to stay in Pakxe as it's time to try some countryside. We ask tuktuk driver for a bus station that services village Champasak. He doesn't have a clue so drops us at the central market where we can get a shared tuktuk. During our waiting we get an opportunity to watch morning buzzing - motorbike carrying 3 huge baskets full of durians, girl with 2 flocks of duck hanging from handles of her motorbike, lady that blows her nose inside the tshirt she is wearing (later on it's skirt), and lots more. Our ride is actually a sight-seeing trip. Driver has to pick up various stuff from around the town so we end up siting surrounded by various bags, sacks of rice and flour and wooden planks. And as everything gets dropped at the villages we get to see real rural Laos. The 40km took us half a day but priceless experience.
From Champasak we head to Nakasang. Dusty road on the bank of 4000 islands of Mekong (the river is really big over here) is full of stalls and all of it looks like a big dump. Next bus to Cambodia leaves tomorrow morning, we don't want to stay so decide to cross the border again in style. We hire 2 motorbikes (no tuktuks here), big backpack in the front, then driver, then us with with small backpacks. In 5mins we are completely covered in dust. We even manage to stop to take a picture of biggest Mekong's waterfalls and just another 10km and we are at the gate between Laos and Cambodia. (for those who saw pictures on Facebook already - some new were added)
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62492&id=1344786025&l=1d49f90ff6
Mirime dale na jih do cestovateli opevovaneho a nechvalne znameho Vang Viang. Auto sice nema slibenou klimatizaci, ale da se to vydrzet. Projizdime strme serpentyny nahoru a dolu, po strane je sem tam na svahu roztahla vesnicka. Bambusove chatrce na kulech - tady je videt, ze Laos je opravdu chudy. Ze by v tom castecne mely prsty sovetske vlajky vyvesene u kazde statni budovy?
Krajina je uzasna a laka k turam na kole nebo pesky. Vedro bohuzel neni jedina prekazka. Kdyz vidime jak jsou kopce strme a vse je nedostupne vubec se nedivime, ze jak francouzi tak americane tu proti Vietcongu nemeli sanci. Sem se bez silnice nedostane ani tank a tak po pechote zbyva jedina moznost - kobercove nalety. Behem valky USA shodili na Laos vice bomb (260mil) nez bylo pouzito v cele II svetove valce. 80mil nevybuchlo a zanechaly tak Laosu neprijemne dedictvi. Mimo hlavni tahy se na toaletu nedoporucuje chodit za krajnici silnice...
Vang Vieng je umele turisticke mestecko o 3 ulicich plnych jen hotelu a restauraci. Turistu je tu vic nez mistnich, ceny vysoke a ani nema cenu smlouvat, kdyz ne my nekdo jiny si to stejne koupi. Hlavni atrakci ktera zivi pres 1500lidi je reka v uzkem korytu pod vertikalnimi stenami. Nic zvlastniho, to maji i jinde. Ale co nemaji je atraktivita krajiny spojena s party a adrenalinem. Brehy po obou stranach lemuji bary a diskoteky. Kazdy dostane dusi od traktoru a plavi se dolu, kdyz ma chut na pivo, zamava a z baru mu hodi lano. Vsude ke kazdemu zakoupenemu napoji je zdarma panak...Vetsina baru ma pak jeste v nabidce zdarma nejaky ten adrenalin. Na prvni zastavce jsem sel na houpacku - 6-7m vysoka vez stlucena z prken, docela se houpe a kdyby me lide z baru nevytleskali tak se nahore nejspis otocim a misto zhoupnuti a skoku slezu. Nakonec se ukaze, ze nejtezsi cast je stat nahore na tresouci se plosince (ale salto pozadu jako mistni kluci opravdu nevystrihnu). Pak jeste jdeme na obri betonovou vykachlikovanou klouzacku. Usti nad rekou ve vysce 5m a kdyz to clovek necha poradne rozjet da se letet i 20m do dalky (hlavne nehodit placaka). Mozna by nekoho jeste mohlo zajimat, ze vetsina baru ma krome piva v nabidce opium, hasis, marihuanu a houbicky. Cele to zni jako silenost, ale kdyz se clovek nerozstrili a neriskuje pak zivot je to sranda kde potkate spoustu novych lidi a netradicne se pokochate horami kolem.
Hlavni mesto Vientiane je takova velka vesnice ve ktere neni nic moc co by stalo za zminku. Jak se jiz mnohokrat osvedcilo, obejdeme vice ubytovani a hned vedle sebe jsou dira s plisni na zdech a designovy hotel s klimatizaci a evropskou TV za stejnou cenu. Jinak doporucujeme pujcit skutr a jet 27km za mesto do Wat Xiang Khouan - mapa netreba, domorodci poradi klidne i za jizdy. Mistni umelec venoval zivot dilu kdy vytvoril park plny soch zobrazujici asijskou mytologii. Lezici budha ma urcite pres 50m na delku.
Presun na jih do Pakxe je nocnim busem, ale ne ledajakym. Ohromny dvouposchodovy bus je vevnitr uplne vybourany a zaplneny podomacku svarenymi palandami. V evrope by bezpecnostnimi testy asi neprosel, ale zde - co to je bezpecnost? Sice moc nespim, protoze palanda nema zabrany a v zatacce bych se mohl proletet 2m dolu, ale i tak je 10h jizda pohodlna.
V Pakxe se neplanujeme zdrzet a je cas po mestech take vyzkouset venkov. Chceme po ridici tuk tuku aby nas odvezl na autobusak odkud pojedeme do Champasaku. Ale o nicem nevi, tak nas vyhodi na centralnim trhu odkud muzeme jet ve vetsim tuktuku sdilenym s mistnimi. Pri cekani mame moznost pozorovat ranni srumec kolem - motorku nalozenou 3mi obrovskymi kosi durianu, holku na motorce se spoustou kachen uvazanych na riditkach, pani co se vysmrka zevnitr do trika co ma na sobe (pozdeji jeste do sukne), chlapka co jede na motorce a za sebou tahne kolecko nalozene cihlami, ...
Nase jizda je vlastne takova okruzni jizda. Ridic ruzne po meste naklada objednavky pro jednotlive vesnice, takze nakonec spolecne s nami sedi pytle ryze, mouky, fosny a ruzne tasky. A tak jak vse postupne vyklada mame moznost videt pravy venkov. Sice nam tech 40km zabralo pul dne, ale zazitek vyborny.
Z Champasaku jedeme do Nakasang. Prasna ulice na brehu 4000 ostrovu Mekongu (zde je reka uz velka) je plna obchudku a cele je to vlastne jedna velka skladka. Nejblizsi bus do Kambodzi jede az zitra rano, zustavat se nam tu nechce a tak se rozhodneme prekrocit hranice opet ve stylu. Domluvime 2 motorky (tuktuk zde neni), krosna vepredu, pak ridic a za nim my s malym batohem. Behem 5ti min jizdy na jilove ceste jsme od hlavy k pate pokryti prachem. Zastavime na fotku u nejvetsich vodopadu Mekongu a po 10ti km z motorek slezeme u zavory mezi Laosem a Kambodzou. (kdo uz videl foto na facebooku, tak link byl updatovan)
Fotky:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62492&id=1344786025&l=1d49f90ff6
One of the worlds biggest rivers Mekong is just a normal medium sized river. Chinese are holding most of the water with their dams and so Laos is left with water equal to couple Liffey rivers. Bureaucracy on the border is highly developed but more than our visas it's 1USD (for Sunday 'overtime') that interests the immigration officers.
The guide tries to persuade us to take a minibus for extra money instead of the boat. It's long, uncomfortable, dangerous, ... Blabbing as usual, minibus is probably his private business, boating down the Mekong that's why we are here! I feel a bit sorry for couple of English girls that fall for it. It's obvious they only started their travels recently and are not familiar with the tricks. River is beautiful, it undulates below irregular sheer hills, banks are made of sharp graphite rock. In 6hrs we arrive to Pakbeng. One dirty street full of accommodation. We took a risk and paid for a room before seeing it. But it's quite ok, unchanged sheets, plug out of order and no water are minor problems we learned to ignore in places like this. Just another typical tourist place where no other alternative is available. This is the only bigger village on the way to Luang Prabang, completely surrounded by jungle and probably the only one with a road connection to inland. Staff in the restaurants are trying to return less than they are supposed to - 1EUR equals to nearly 15000 Laos Kip and the only Arabic numerals are in a small print and just in one corner.
Next day the cruise takes 9hrs, landscape is more wild and desolate. From time to time we see a village with bamboo poles for fishing nets. At one point of the journey we take on board more local passengers bringing with them 3 motorbikes. The boat is evidently overloaded and inclines to the left side. But captain probably knows what he's doing, later in the afternoon we safely arrive to former capital and mountain kingdom Luang Prabang. Beautiful historical town with friendly and laid back atmosphere. And we were right when we expected better attitude from the locals - smiling and friendly even when you're not waving with money. Night market is a little wonder, no noise, crowds or forcing to buy. Good range of hand made goods and haggling is very easy even for beginners - we rarely pay more than 50% of starting price. We like a lot big chess set carved out of stone including the box, however the weight... Due to our unyieldingness we feel sorry for an artist selling her pictures. She is not a very good tradesman and instead of haggling begs with tiny voice: "Please sir give me more, please". After every successful deal the pitchers take the money and pat with it all the wares - lucky, lucky.
We head further south to (in)famous Vang Viang. Car doesn't have the promised AC but it's bearable. We go through steep windy roads up and down. Sometimes we pass a village - bamboo huts on poles. Here we can see that Laos is really very poor. Maybe something to do with Soviet Union flags hanging everywhere on official buildings?
Landscape is breathtaking and lures to be hiked or biked. Big heat is unfortunately not the only obstruction. Hills are very steep and everything is inaccessible - no wonder both French and US stood no chances against Vietcong. Without a road not even a tank can reach these villages and so the only other option after infantry is carpet bombing. During to war USA dropped on Laos more bombs (260mil) than was used in whole WWII. 80mil never exploded and left to Laos deadly legacy. In rural areas it is strongly not recommended to go for a toilet away from the road...
Vang Vieng is artificial tourist town made of 3 streets full of hotels and restaurants. There is more white people than locals. Main attraction that supports more than 1500people is a river in narrow bed below the hills. Nothing special you can see this elsewhere. But what you won't see elsewhere is the nature attractiveness joined with parties and bit of adrenalin. Banks on both sides are flanked with bars. Everybody gets a tractor inner tube and floats down the river, when you feel like having a beer just lift your hand and somebody from the bar will throw you a rope. With every purchased drink is a free shot...Most of the bars also have an adrenalin attraction attached to it. I tried a big swing - 6-7m high tower made of scrap pallets - it's shaking and I don't feel very secure, if the people down in the bar didn't cheer me up I'd probably never jumped. In the end it's really cool I just don't finish it off with a back flip like local kids. Then we try huge concrete slide with tiled surface. It vents 5m above the surface and when you let go and gain good speed it's no problem to fly 20m far (just don't land on your back). Someone might be interested in a special menu of every bar - opium, weed and psychedelic mushrooms.
The whole thing looks and is crazy but if one is a bit conscious and doesn't risk own life it's great fun where you can meet lot of new people and admire mountains around.
Capital Vientiane is just a big village where is not much to see. It pays off to walk around when looking for a room. Very often you'll find a dump next to a new hotel with AC and cable TV for the same price. In the town we recommend to rent a motorbike and go to Wat Xiang Khouan, 27km out of town. No map is required, locals will point you in the right direction (sometimes while driving). Local artist devoted his life to creation of this park. It's full of statues from Asian mythology. Sleeping Buddha is at least 50m long.
Transfer to Pakxe is via night bus, but it's not an ordinary bus. Big doubledecker is inside completely pulled down and filled with homemade bunks. It couldn't pass any safety tests, but over here - safety is not very common word. Aware of the gap next to me and possible flight in one of the bends, I don't get much sleep but it's much more comfortable 10hrs than sitting in a seat.
We don't plan to stay in Pakxe as it's time to try some countryside. We ask tuktuk driver for a bus station that services village Champasak. He doesn't have a clue so drops us at the central market where we can get a shared tuktuk. During our waiting we get an opportunity to watch morning buzzing - motorbike carrying 3 huge baskets full of durians, girl with 2 flocks of duck hanging from handles of her motorbike, lady that blows her nose inside the tshirt she is wearing (later on it's skirt), and lots more. Our ride is actually a sight-seeing trip. Driver has to pick up various stuff from around the town so we end up siting surrounded by various bags, sacks of rice and flour and wooden planks. And as everything gets dropped at the villages we get to see real rural Laos. The 40km took us half a day but priceless experience.
From Champasak we head to Nakasang. Dusty road on the bank of 4000 islands of Mekong (the river is really big over here) is full of stalls and all of it looks like a big dump. Next bus to Cambodia leaves tomorrow morning, we don't want to stay so decide to cross the border again in style. We hire 2 motorbikes (no tuktuks here), big backpack in the front, then driver, then us with with small backpacks. In 5mins we are completely covered in dust. We even manage to stop to take a picture of biggest Mekong's waterfalls and just another 10km and we are at the gate between Laos and Cambodia. (for those who saw pictures on Facebook already - some new were added)
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62492&id=1344786025&l=1d49f90ff6
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Thajsko / Thailand
Let ze Singapuru do Thajska je kratky, jen 2h. Imigrace to same - 2h opruzu. Rovnice Thajsko zeme tisice usmevu zde rozhodne neplati. Uniforma dela z milych thajcu autoritativni vycpane panaky kteri se ani neobtezuji pozdravit. Venku je vedro vetsi nez v Singapuru, uz vime jak se citi cokoladove figurky kdyz je clovek necha v teple. Obcanske nepokoje v Bangkoku porad jeste trvaji a tak rovnou jedeme vlakem na sever do Ayutthaya. Prijedeme v noci a tak vezmeme prvni ubytovani co nam prijde pod ruku. Venku je v pulnoci 31st a v pokoji od celodenniho paraku jeste vice. Vubec nespime a rano vstaneme uplne dehydrovani, kdyz se k tomu prida 42.5st pres den neni se co divit, ze nemame sanci doplnit tekutiny rychleji nez je vylucujeme. Janca to odnese upalem, zvraci a nevypada vubec dobre, ja preziju jen s poradnou bolesti hlavy. Nastesti hned rano zmenime hotel a mame pokoj s klimatizaci na ktere muzeme chladit zabaly pro Jancu, zustat v predchozim ubytovani tak by to bylo na nemocnici. Pozdeji se na predpovedi dozvidame, ze pro telo je ve skutecnosti 47! pocitovych stupnu. Na tohle opravdu nejsme delani.
Zmenime plan a od byvaleho hlavniho mesta Sukhothai pamatky obchazime mezi 5-10 rano, pres poledne se presouvame v klimatizovanych autobusech a vecer prochazime mesta.
Ayutthaya nas i pres vedro nadchla. Ruiny obrovskych budhistickych komplexu vypadaji jeste lepe nez kdyby byly udrzovane. Takova socha budhy zarostla ve strome nebo pagoda ze ktere roste strom nahore a je obalena koreny musi zapusobit i na toho nejvetsiho neromantika. V Sukhothaii jsme si misto kola pujcili skutr (zadny ridicak netreba a helmu pry nemusime kdyz uz je po 6 a policajti jsou uz doma) takze narozdil od predchoziho mesta je objizdeni pamatek prijemne. Ruiiny byvaleho palace zastihneme za vychodu slunce, nikde nikdo a 70 ctverecnich kilometru pamatek tak mame jen pro sebe. Co si vic prat?
Dalsi mesto kde stravime par dni je Chiang Mai. A kde jinde nez v Thajsku zajit na masaz? Hodinu se nechame valcovat ve skole slepych maseru. Nejdrive mam pochyby, obzvlast kdyz me ma mit na starost asi 10-12lety kluk, ale behem minuty neni o cem debatovat. Vi presne kam a jak sahnout a tak me chvilema poradne muci, za tu hodinu krome obliceje nevynechaji jediny sval. Vecer jedeme na nocni safari. Zoo je bezna, ale vlacek mezi zviraty se nam libi, obzvlast kdyz se nechaji krmit primo z ruky (bileho tygra jsme nezkouseli, ale pohladit si zirafu neodmitneme). Dalsi den je nabity program. Dopoledne jizda na slonovi. Oproti konovi je to poradna vyska. Nase slonice sebou jeste vede 1.5rocni slune a oba se kazdou chvilku zastavi a chteji po nas banany. 2 plne igelitky co jsme koupili zmizi behem par minut. Po jizde na slonovi jdeme na kratky trek dzungli do vesnice horskeho kmenu. Jeste zastavime u vodopadu na koupani - prvni studena voda naseho pobytu krasne osvezi. Pote nas na rozpalene korbe auta kde se neda niceho ani dotknout prevezou na obed. Treti cast dne zakoncime plavenim po rece na bambusovych vorech. Je to ok, ale pro kohokoliv kdo nekdy jel vodu nic zvlastniho. Vecer jdeme na budhisticky festival. Nekolik tisic lidi si zde zvysuje karmu pri ruznych ritualech vevnitr i venku chramu. Vse je obklopeno nejruznejsimi stanky s jidlem nabizejici lakadla ve forme vafli az po smazene kobylky a svaby. Zajimave a moc pekne, vsech 5smyslu si prijde na sve.
Po 3 dnech jedeme dale na sever smerem k hranicim s Laosem. Za zminku urcite stoji chram Wat Rong Koom. Mistni umelec venoval cely zivot tomuto dilu - bily chram se spoustou detailu venovane asijske mytologii, vse ozdobene malymi zrcatky. Bohuzel jsme se rozhodli prekrocit hranice do Laosu v organizovane tour a tak zde nestravime tolik casu kolik bych si pral. Take se zaciname uvedomovat, ze jsme tenhle vylet preplatili tak 3x. Vidina pomoci s vyrizovanim viz a nabidka komfortu klimatizace po cele 3dny nam trochu zatemnila mozek. Rozhodne je videt, ze usmevy se v Thajsku opravdu nesetri, hlavne kdyz je spravne podporite nejlepe americkymi dolary. Laos slibuje podstatne mene turismu a diky tomu vice uprimnosti.
Fotky:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62416&id=1344786025&l=e66b988344
Flight from Singapore to Thailand is short, only 2hrs. Immigration takes the same time - 2hrs of hassle. Equation Thailand land of thousands smiles definitely doesn't apply here. Uniform turns otherwise nice people into authoritative dummies that don't even know the hello word. Once through we are hit with an even worse heatwave than in Singapore. And we get to know the feelings of chocolate bar left behind the window in a hot summer.
Civil unrests in Bangkok are still going on so we decide to head for north straight away. We reach Ayutthaya in the night and take the first accommodation we find. Its midnight and outside is 31degrees and inside in our room even more. We don't sleep at all and in the morning get up totally dehydrated. If you add 42.5degrees through the day no wonder we are unable to replenish the fluid loss. Jana is down with heat stroke, vomits and doesn't look well at all. I survive only with a severe headache.
Fortunately first thing in the morning we change the hotel and have a room with AC, so can cool Jana down. If we stayed in previous hotel I'd say hospital would be the only option left. Later on when checking forecast we find out that for body the realfeel temperature is 47! European bodies are not made to withstand this..
We change our daily plans and from Sukhothai do the sightseeing between 5-10AM, then at midday move in AC buses and in the evening check out the towns.
Despite the heat Ayutthaya really impressed us. Ruins of huge Buddhist complexes look better than they probably did when they were new. Even the biggest non-romantic person must be impressed by a statue of Buddha ingrown in a tree or a pagoda with a tree on the top with roots embracing the building.
In Sukhothai we rented a scooter (no driving licence or experience necessary and helmet not required after 6 when all the policemen are finished for the day) so the sightseeing is quite pleasant. We catch ruins of former palace bathing in sunrise, nowhere nobody, 70sq km just for ourselves. What more to wish for?
Another town where we spend couple days is Chiang Mai. And where else to go for a traditional massage than to the school of blind masseurs? In the evening we go for a night safari. Zoo is nothing special, but the train among all the animals is great. We get to feed the animals from hand (didn't try it with white tiger but giraffes are very charming).
Next day is a busy day. In the morning elephant ride. It's quite high. Our elephant takes with her it's 1.5yr old baby and both of them stop every minute to get some fuel (bananas). 2 full bags we brought are gone in a blink. After the ride follows a short trek in jungle to one of the hill tribes + swimming under a waterfall - first cold water in Thailand is very refreshing. We finish the day floating down a river on bamboo raft. After we get back from the trip we decide to visit local Buddhist festival. Thousands of people increase their karma doing various rituals. The temple is surrounded by food stalls offering baits in all forms - from hot waffles to deep fried grasshoppers and cockroaches. Very interesting and enlightening night, all 5senses have a feast.
In 3 days we continue further north towards border with Laos. Temple Wat Rong Koom is definitely worth mentioning. Local artist devoted his life to creating this art temple. It's all white with huge amount of details from Asian mythology, all decorated with small mirrors. Pity we decided to cross the border with Laos on organized tour and don't have as much time I'd like to spend here. We also start to realize that we overpaid this trip at least 3x. Vision of visa help and comfort of AC bus for whole 3days dimmed out our judgement. Thai people spare no smiles, especially if you support it by US dollars...Laos promises less tourists and thanks to that more sincerity.
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62416&id=1344786025&l=e66b988344
Zmenime plan a od byvaleho hlavniho mesta Sukhothai pamatky obchazime mezi 5-10 rano, pres poledne se presouvame v klimatizovanych autobusech a vecer prochazime mesta.
Ayutthaya nas i pres vedro nadchla. Ruiny obrovskych budhistickych komplexu vypadaji jeste lepe nez kdyby byly udrzovane. Takova socha budhy zarostla ve strome nebo pagoda ze ktere roste strom nahore a je obalena koreny musi zapusobit i na toho nejvetsiho neromantika. V Sukhothaii jsme si misto kola pujcili skutr (zadny ridicak netreba a helmu pry nemusime kdyz uz je po 6 a policajti jsou uz doma) takze narozdil od predchoziho mesta je objizdeni pamatek prijemne. Ruiiny byvaleho palace zastihneme za vychodu slunce, nikde nikdo a 70 ctverecnich kilometru pamatek tak mame jen pro sebe. Co si vic prat?
Dalsi mesto kde stravime par dni je Chiang Mai. A kde jinde nez v Thajsku zajit na masaz? Hodinu se nechame valcovat ve skole slepych maseru. Nejdrive mam pochyby, obzvlast kdyz me ma mit na starost asi 10-12lety kluk, ale behem minuty neni o cem debatovat. Vi presne kam a jak sahnout a tak me chvilema poradne muci, za tu hodinu krome obliceje nevynechaji jediny sval. Vecer jedeme na nocni safari. Zoo je bezna, ale vlacek mezi zviraty se nam libi, obzvlast kdyz se nechaji krmit primo z ruky (bileho tygra jsme nezkouseli, ale pohladit si zirafu neodmitneme). Dalsi den je nabity program. Dopoledne jizda na slonovi. Oproti konovi je to poradna vyska. Nase slonice sebou jeste vede 1.5rocni slune a oba se kazdou chvilku zastavi a chteji po nas banany. 2 plne igelitky co jsme koupili zmizi behem par minut. Po jizde na slonovi jdeme na kratky trek dzungli do vesnice horskeho kmenu. Jeste zastavime u vodopadu na koupani - prvni studena voda naseho pobytu krasne osvezi. Pote nas na rozpalene korbe auta kde se neda niceho ani dotknout prevezou na obed. Treti cast dne zakoncime plavenim po rece na bambusovych vorech. Je to ok, ale pro kohokoliv kdo nekdy jel vodu nic zvlastniho. Vecer jdeme na budhisticky festival. Nekolik tisic lidi si zde zvysuje karmu pri ruznych ritualech vevnitr i venku chramu. Vse je obklopeno nejruznejsimi stanky s jidlem nabizejici lakadla ve forme vafli az po smazene kobylky a svaby. Zajimave a moc pekne, vsech 5smyslu si prijde na sve.
Po 3 dnech jedeme dale na sever smerem k hranicim s Laosem. Za zminku urcite stoji chram Wat Rong Koom. Mistni umelec venoval cely zivot tomuto dilu - bily chram se spoustou detailu venovane asijske mytologii, vse ozdobene malymi zrcatky. Bohuzel jsme se rozhodli prekrocit hranice do Laosu v organizovane tour a tak zde nestravime tolik casu kolik bych si pral. Take se zaciname uvedomovat, ze jsme tenhle vylet preplatili tak 3x. Vidina pomoci s vyrizovanim viz a nabidka komfortu klimatizace po cele 3dny nam trochu zatemnila mozek. Rozhodne je videt, ze usmevy se v Thajsku opravdu nesetri, hlavne kdyz je spravne podporite nejlepe americkymi dolary. Laos slibuje podstatne mene turismu a diky tomu vice uprimnosti.
Fotky:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62416&id=1344786025&l=e66b988344
Flight from Singapore to Thailand is short, only 2hrs. Immigration takes the same time - 2hrs of hassle. Equation Thailand land of thousands smiles definitely doesn't apply here. Uniform turns otherwise nice people into authoritative dummies that don't even know the hello word. Once through we are hit with an even worse heatwave than in Singapore. And we get to know the feelings of chocolate bar left behind the window in a hot summer.
Civil unrests in Bangkok are still going on so we decide to head for north straight away. We reach Ayutthaya in the night and take the first accommodation we find. Its midnight and outside is 31degrees and inside in our room even more. We don't sleep at all and in the morning get up totally dehydrated. If you add 42.5degrees through the day no wonder we are unable to replenish the fluid loss. Jana is down with heat stroke, vomits and doesn't look well at all. I survive only with a severe headache.
Fortunately first thing in the morning we change the hotel and have a room with AC, so can cool Jana down. If we stayed in previous hotel I'd say hospital would be the only option left. Later on when checking forecast we find out that for body the realfeel temperature is 47! European bodies are not made to withstand this..
We change our daily plans and from Sukhothai do the sightseeing between 5-10AM, then at midday move in AC buses and in the evening check out the towns.
Despite the heat Ayutthaya really impressed us. Ruins of huge Buddhist complexes look better than they probably did when they were new. Even the biggest non-romantic person must be impressed by a statue of Buddha ingrown in a tree or a pagoda with a tree on the top with roots embracing the building.
In Sukhothai we rented a scooter (no driving licence or experience necessary and helmet not required after 6 when all the policemen are finished for the day) so the sightseeing is quite pleasant. We catch ruins of former palace bathing in sunrise, nowhere nobody, 70sq km just for ourselves. What more to wish for?
Another town where we spend couple days is Chiang Mai. And where else to go for a traditional massage than to the school of blind masseurs? In the evening we go for a night safari. Zoo is nothing special, but the train among all the animals is great. We get to feed the animals from hand (didn't try it with white tiger but giraffes are very charming).
Next day is a busy day. In the morning elephant ride. It's quite high. Our elephant takes with her it's 1.5yr old baby and both of them stop every minute to get some fuel (bananas). 2 full bags we brought are gone in a blink. After the ride follows a short trek in jungle to one of the hill tribes + swimming under a waterfall - first cold water in Thailand is very refreshing. We finish the day floating down a river on bamboo raft. After we get back from the trip we decide to visit local Buddhist festival. Thousands of people increase their karma doing various rituals. The temple is surrounded by food stalls offering baits in all forms - from hot waffles to deep fried grasshoppers and cockroaches. Very interesting and enlightening night, all 5senses have a feast.
In 3 days we continue further north towards border with Laos. Temple Wat Rong Koom is definitely worth mentioning. Local artist devoted his life to creating this art temple. It's all white with huge amount of details from Asian mythology, all decorated with small mirrors. Pity we decided to cross the border with Laos on organized tour and don't have as much time I'd like to spend here. We also start to realize that we overpaid this trip at least 3x. Vision of visa help and comfort of AC bus for whole 3days dimmed out our judgement. Thai people spare no smiles, especially if you support it by US dollars...Laos promises less tourists and thanks to that more sincerity.
Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62416&id=1344786025&l=e66b988344
Monday, 10 May 2010
Sydney - Singapore
Znovu na cas vymenime rozvojovy svet za rozvinuty. V Sydney je krasny podzim, teploty kolem 25stupnu a sem tam oblacnost. Hned prvni vecer nas po praci vyzvedne Paul, dalsi kamarad z Irska co jsme delsi dobu nevideli. Je v Sydney uz 2roky a moc spokojeny. Sveze nas kolem vecerniho centra a muzeme jit na veceri a nad par pivy probrat vsechny dulezite udalosti poslednich 2 let.
Pristi den projdeme mesto pesky - botanicke zahrady, operu a pristavni most (hlavni ikony Sydney, opera neni bila ale nazloutla!), nejstarsi cast mesta Rocks a financni centrum. Vecer mame v nohach kilometry, ale zvladli jsme vse podstatne.
V nedeli se rozhodneme pro jednodenni vylet mimo mesto. Cilem jsou 2h vlakem vzdalene Blue Mts. A dobre jsme udelali, vzduch voni podzimem a nad ohromnym kanonem zpola zakrytym oblaky se tyci skalni formace zvana 3 sestry. Puldenni trek po hrane kanonu je vytecny.
Krome dalsiho prozkoumavani mesta jeste sedneme na privoz (soucasti MHD je i nekolik privozu) do ctvrte Manly. Zde jdeme na 10km prochazku po pobrezi. Manly je ctvrt bohacu a tak se po ceste stridaji lesiky, plaze a obrovske luxusni domy s prosklenymi stenami pro lepsi vyhled. I kdyz jsme jen pul hodky od centra 4.5mil mesta atmosfera je zde jak na v malem mestecku.
Celkove se nam Sydney hodne libi a i kdyz je to velkomesto jsme prijemne prekvapeni pohodou jaka tu vsude vladne.
Let do Singapuru je plny turbulenci a tak obzvlaste ja jsem rad, ze jsme konecne pristali. Je skoro pulnoc a 30st s 85% vlhkosti vzduchu, narez (kdyby jsme vedeli co nas ceka v Thajsku tak si nestezujeme, ale nepredbihejme). Vsude kolem je videt, ze zvesti o absolutni cistote a fungujici multikulture nelhaly. Napil bych se vody co mame v batohu, ale zakaz psany v anglictine, cinstine, indstine a arabstine slibujici 500dolaru pokuty me odradi.
Jen co v 9 rano vyjdeme ven jsme okamzite propoceni skrz naskrz, sem tam nas profackuje klimatizace kdyz vejdeme do obchodu nebo MHD o to je to pak venku horsi. Nekdy na nas mistni pokukuji, tak si rikame, ze asi uzaviraji sazky jestli zkolabujeme za minutu nebo vydrzime dve...Ale z mesta jsme jinak uplne nadseni. Hypermoderni velikan plny zelene a kultury. Hned na nasi ulici jsou 3 chramy - hindu, budhisticky a arabska mesita. Centrum je plne mrakodrapu ktere se prehani v originalite a extravaganci. Obklopene je jednotlivymi ctvrtemi, indickou, cinskou, arabskou a britskou kolonialni. To vse prolozene obrovskymi nakupnimi stredisky, vemte nejvetsi obchodni centrum co jste v Evrope videli nekolikrat vynasobte a mate to co je tu na kazde ulici.
Chceme se na to vsechno podivat zeshora a tak jdeme na nejvyssi kolo sveta. 152m, otocka trva 30min a tak je dost casu vse vyfotit. Pote to zkusime jeste z jineho uhlu - Bar New Asia v 71poschodi Swisshotelu ma levne dobre koktejly s poradnym vyhledem.
V patek jedeme ostrov Sentosa - zabavni centrum Singapuru. Atrakci jsou spousty, ale my sem jedeme hlavne kvuli obrovske voliere motylu a papousku, a vodniho sveta. Nekteri motyli jsou giganti, jak obe dlane dohromady. Ve vodnim svete zaciname show v delfinariu. Zadny zazrak, ale mistnim detem se libi. To takovy podvodni tunel pod akvariem je jiny zazitek. Stojime na jezdicim pasu a vsude kolem nas plavou nekolikametrovy zraloci, rejnoci, hejna ryb a pestrobarevnych meduz - skoro stejne dobre jako se potapet. Nas favorit je tvor zvany Morsky Andel - maji ho tu v akvariu co simuluje jeho prirozene prostredi - 600m pod krami Arktickeho oceanu. Je miniaturni, ale skrz lupy ve skle akvaria je videt pruhledny svitici tvor ktery ma hlavu a kridla jako andel.
Singapur je prava brana Asie a tak se mame moznost v poulicnich jidelnach pripravit na tu pravou. Nabidka je ciste asijska a nabizi vsemozne pochoutky nektere vabne a nektere nechutne. Pri vyberu ale mame vetsinou stastnou ruku a muzeme si vychutnat stravu kterou za 2 mesice nejspis nebudeme moci ani videt (Janca zatim zapasi s hulkami, ale verim ze behem par dni nebude mit problem :)
Jeste nez opustime mesto bohatstvi a luxusu kde na jedne ulici neni problem napocitat 10 Ferrari, Maserati, atd. se strhne poradna a nami dlouho ocekavana bourka. Blesky jdou za sebou tak casto, ze hrmeni ktere mezi mrakodrapy krasne duni na nekolik minut prakticky neprestane.
Fotky:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60893&id=1344786025&l=5ea63eef8a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60999&id=1344786025&l=4351fa017a
Again for a while we change developing world for a developed one. It is a beautiful autumn in Sydney, temperatures mid twenties and no rain or wind. First evening after our arrival we get collected by Paul, our Irish friend we have not seen in 2yrs. Hi gives us a tour around city centre and we are ready to go for a dinner and few pints where we can go over everything important that happened since our last night out.
Next day we do the tour ourselves by foot - botanical gardens, opera (it is not white but yellowish!), Harbour bridge, oldest city part The Rocks and financial centre. We managed most of the sights in one day and our feet are happy to be finished for the day.
On Sunday we decide to go for a day trip to Blue Mts. About 2hrs on train - we can smell the autumn in the air and just below rock formation called 3sisters we see huge canyon half covered by clouds. Half day hike on the canyon edge is great.
In Sydney we also take a ferry (few lines are part of public transport) to Manly where we go for a 10km stroll along the coast. Manly is a suburb of the wealthy people and so the coast is full of parks, beaches and huge luxury houses that have glass walls for better views. It is only about half an hour from city centre but atmosphere here is like in a small town.
We like Sydney a lot and although it is a big city we are surprised by its laid back pace.
Flight to Singapore is full of turbulence so I am really happy to finally land. It is close to midnight 30degrees and 85% humidity, very tough (if we knew what Thailand is saving for us we wouldn't complain though). Everywhere around we can see that rumours about its absolute cleanliness and functional multi culture are true. We are thirsty but wouldn't risk taking out our water as we see bans in English, Chinese, Indian and Arabian languages everywhere around - 500dollars would be an expensive drink.
We leave our place at 9am and immediately we are covered in sweat, every so often we get knocked out by A/C when entering shops or public transport - going out is even worse. Locals sometimes give us looks like if they were making bets whether we'll faint in a minute or maybe manage two... Despite this we love the city. Hypermodern giant full of parks and culture. Just on our street we can count 3 temples - Hindu, Buddhist and Mosque. Financial centre is full of skyscrapers that compete among themselves who will be more original or extravagant. The centre is surrounded by cultural quarters - Indian, Chinese, Arabian and British colonial architecture. On every corner we see the biggest shopping centre ever...
We want to see it all from above and so go for the worlds biggest turning wheel. 152m, one round 30mins and so we have plenty of time to take pictures. After this we go and try the same from a different angle - New Asia Bar on the 71st floor of Swissotel has nice cheap cocktails with great views.
On Friday we go the Sentosa island - big fun centre. From all the attractions we choose huge butterfly and parrot aviary and water world.
The show in waterworld starts with dolphin show, nothing special but kids seem to love it. The tunnel under aquarium is much much better experience. We stand on a moving belt and go around the world full of big sharks, rays, colorful fish and jellyfish - nearly as good as scuba diving. Our favourite creature is Sea Angel - living in aquarium that simulates its native habitat - 600m below Arctic icebergs. It's tiny but magnifying glass shows its beauty - transparent glowing creature with head and wings like and angel.
Singapore is true gate to the Asia and so we have a lot of opportunities to prepare for the real Asia in food courts along the streets. Offerings are typically Asian varying from delicious stuff all the way to the disgusting things. Most of the time we are lucky when choosing and can enjoy food that we'll probably hate in 2months time. Our chopsticks skill is improving every day.
Just before we leave the city of wealth and luxury where is no problem to see 10 Ferrari, Maserati, etc. cars on one street big storm arrives. Lightning happens so often that thunder enhanced by skyscrapers practically doesn't stop for few minutes.
Pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60893&id=1344786025&l=5ea63eef8a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60999&id=1344786025&l=4351fa017a
Pristi den projdeme mesto pesky - botanicke zahrady, operu a pristavni most (hlavni ikony Sydney, opera neni bila ale nazloutla!), nejstarsi cast mesta Rocks a financni centrum. Vecer mame v nohach kilometry, ale zvladli jsme vse podstatne.
V nedeli se rozhodneme pro jednodenni vylet mimo mesto. Cilem jsou 2h vlakem vzdalene Blue Mts. A dobre jsme udelali, vzduch voni podzimem a nad ohromnym kanonem zpola zakrytym oblaky se tyci skalni formace zvana 3 sestry. Puldenni trek po hrane kanonu je vytecny.
Krome dalsiho prozkoumavani mesta jeste sedneme na privoz (soucasti MHD je i nekolik privozu) do ctvrte Manly. Zde jdeme na 10km prochazku po pobrezi. Manly je ctvrt bohacu a tak se po ceste stridaji lesiky, plaze a obrovske luxusni domy s prosklenymi stenami pro lepsi vyhled. I kdyz jsme jen pul hodky od centra 4.5mil mesta atmosfera je zde jak na v malem mestecku.
Celkove se nam Sydney hodne libi a i kdyz je to velkomesto jsme prijemne prekvapeni pohodou jaka tu vsude vladne.
Let do Singapuru je plny turbulenci a tak obzvlaste ja jsem rad, ze jsme konecne pristali. Je skoro pulnoc a 30st s 85% vlhkosti vzduchu, narez (kdyby jsme vedeli co nas ceka v Thajsku tak si nestezujeme, ale nepredbihejme). Vsude kolem je videt, ze zvesti o absolutni cistote a fungujici multikulture nelhaly. Napil bych se vody co mame v batohu, ale zakaz psany v anglictine, cinstine, indstine a arabstine slibujici 500dolaru pokuty me odradi.
Jen co v 9 rano vyjdeme ven jsme okamzite propoceni skrz naskrz, sem tam nas profackuje klimatizace kdyz vejdeme do obchodu nebo MHD o to je to pak venku horsi. Nekdy na nas mistni pokukuji, tak si rikame, ze asi uzaviraji sazky jestli zkolabujeme za minutu nebo vydrzime dve...Ale z mesta jsme jinak uplne nadseni. Hypermoderni velikan plny zelene a kultury. Hned na nasi ulici jsou 3 chramy - hindu, budhisticky a arabska mesita. Centrum je plne mrakodrapu ktere se prehani v originalite a extravaganci. Obklopene je jednotlivymi ctvrtemi, indickou, cinskou, arabskou a britskou kolonialni. To vse prolozene obrovskymi nakupnimi stredisky, vemte nejvetsi obchodni centrum co jste v Evrope videli nekolikrat vynasobte a mate to co je tu na kazde ulici.
Chceme se na to vsechno podivat zeshora a tak jdeme na nejvyssi kolo sveta. 152m, otocka trva 30min a tak je dost casu vse vyfotit. Pote to zkusime jeste z jineho uhlu - Bar New Asia v 71poschodi Swisshotelu ma levne dobre koktejly s poradnym vyhledem.
V patek jedeme ostrov Sentosa - zabavni centrum Singapuru. Atrakci jsou spousty, ale my sem jedeme hlavne kvuli obrovske voliere motylu a papousku, a vodniho sveta. Nekteri motyli jsou giganti, jak obe dlane dohromady. Ve vodnim svete zaciname show v delfinariu. Zadny zazrak, ale mistnim detem se libi. To takovy podvodni tunel pod akvariem je jiny zazitek. Stojime na jezdicim pasu a vsude kolem nas plavou nekolikametrovy zraloci, rejnoci, hejna ryb a pestrobarevnych meduz - skoro stejne dobre jako se potapet. Nas favorit je tvor zvany Morsky Andel - maji ho tu v akvariu co simuluje jeho prirozene prostredi - 600m pod krami Arktickeho oceanu. Je miniaturni, ale skrz lupy ve skle akvaria je videt pruhledny svitici tvor ktery ma hlavu a kridla jako andel.
Singapur je prava brana Asie a tak se mame moznost v poulicnich jidelnach pripravit na tu pravou. Nabidka je ciste asijska a nabizi vsemozne pochoutky nektere vabne a nektere nechutne. Pri vyberu ale mame vetsinou stastnou ruku a muzeme si vychutnat stravu kterou za 2 mesice nejspis nebudeme moci ani videt (Janca zatim zapasi s hulkami, ale verim ze behem par dni nebude mit problem :)
Jeste nez opustime mesto bohatstvi a luxusu kde na jedne ulici neni problem napocitat 10 Ferrari, Maserati, atd. se strhne poradna a nami dlouho ocekavana bourka. Blesky jdou za sebou tak casto, ze hrmeni ktere mezi mrakodrapy krasne duni na nekolik minut prakticky neprestane.
Fotky:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60893&id=1344786025&l=5ea63eef8a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60999&id=1344786025&l=4351fa017a
Again for a while we change developing world for a developed one. It is a beautiful autumn in Sydney, temperatures mid twenties and no rain or wind. First evening after our arrival we get collected by Paul, our Irish friend we have not seen in 2yrs. Hi gives us a tour around city centre and we are ready to go for a dinner and few pints where we can go over everything important that happened since our last night out.
Next day we do the tour ourselves by foot - botanical gardens, opera (it is not white but yellowish!), Harbour bridge, oldest city part The Rocks and financial centre. We managed most of the sights in one day and our feet are happy to be finished for the day.
On Sunday we decide to go for a day trip to Blue Mts. About 2hrs on train - we can smell the autumn in the air and just below rock formation called 3sisters we see huge canyon half covered by clouds. Half day hike on the canyon edge is great.
In Sydney we also take a ferry (few lines are part of public transport) to Manly where we go for a 10km stroll along the coast. Manly is a suburb of the wealthy people and so the coast is full of parks, beaches and huge luxury houses that have glass walls for better views. It is only about half an hour from city centre but atmosphere here is like in a small town.
We like Sydney a lot and although it is a big city we are surprised by its laid back pace.
Flight to Singapore is full of turbulence so I am really happy to finally land. It is close to midnight 30degrees and 85% humidity, very tough (if we knew what Thailand is saving for us we wouldn't complain though). Everywhere around we can see that rumours about its absolute cleanliness and functional multi culture are true. We are thirsty but wouldn't risk taking out our water as we see bans in English, Chinese, Indian and Arabian languages everywhere around - 500dollars would be an expensive drink.
We leave our place at 9am and immediately we are covered in sweat, every so often we get knocked out by A/C when entering shops or public transport - going out is even worse. Locals sometimes give us looks like if they were making bets whether we'll faint in a minute or maybe manage two... Despite this we love the city. Hypermodern giant full of parks and culture. Just on our street we can count 3 temples - Hindu, Buddhist and Mosque. Financial centre is full of skyscrapers that compete among themselves who will be more original or extravagant. The centre is surrounded by cultural quarters - Indian, Chinese, Arabian and British colonial architecture. On every corner we see the biggest shopping centre ever...
We want to see it all from above and so go for the worlds biggest turning wheel. 152m, one round 30mins and so we have plenty of time to take pictures. After this we go and try the same from a different angle - New Asia Bar on the 71st floor of Swissotel has nice cheap cocktails with great views.
On Friday we go the Sentosa island - big fun centre. From all the attractions we choose huge butterfly and parrot aviary and water world.
The show in waterworld starts with dolphin show, nothing special but kids seem to love it. The tunnel under aquarium is much much better experience. We stand on a moving belt and go around the world full of big sharks, rays, colorful fish and jellyfish - nearly as good as scuba diving. Our favourite creature is Sea Angel - living in aquarium that simulates its native habitat - 600m below Arctic icebergs. It's tiny but magnifying glass shows its beauty - transparent glowing creature with head and wings like and angel.
Singapore is true gate to the Asia and so we have a lot of opportunities to prepare for the real Asia in food courts along the streets. Offerings are typically Asian varying from delicious stuff all the way to the disgusting things. Most of the time we are lucky when choosing and can enjoy food that we'll probably hate in 2months time. Our chopsticks skill is improving every day.
Just before we leave the city of wealth and luxury where is no problem to see 10 Ferrari, Maserati, etc. cars on one street big storm arrives. Lightning happens so often that thunder enhanced by skyscrapers practically doesn't stop for few minutes.
Pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60893&id=1344786025&l=5ea63eef8a
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60999&id=1344786025&l=4351fa017a
Friday, 7 May 2010
Fiji
Vystup z letadla v Nadi je jak rana palici - z krasneho babiho leta do tropu. BULA a vitejte na Fiji! Bula slysime denne nespocetkrat a kazdy od nejmensich po nejstarsi at uz ze zistnych nebo ciste pratelskych duvodu nas s usmevem zdravi. Usmevem se zde opravdu nesetri a vse je Fiji time (proste to nejak dopadne, nic nereste, my take nic resit nebudeme) - asi nejvetsi prekvapeni pro nas je chudoba tohoto rajskeho soustrovi. Vetsinu zeme a podnikani vlastni australani, kteri je dostali vymenou za urovnani astronomickych dluhu teto zeme, a tak mistnim nezbyva nic jineho nez se zaradit do skupiny narodu tretiho sveta. Na druhou stranu se jim neda uprit pozitivni pristup ke vsemu, tolik spokojenosti na jednom miste jsme jeste nevideli.
Za nas prvni cil zvolime skupinu ostrovu Yasawa. Koralove ostrovy a ostruvky smerem na severozapad od hlavniho ostrova Viti Levu. Nastesti nas jeden australan necha poslat sms domu, protoze jak jsme jiz minule psali do raje elektricke vedeni nevede. Zajimave jak jsme si rychle zvykli na NZ na veskere vymozenosti civilizace a ted zase opacnym smerem chvilku trva.
Puvodne jsme jeli za adrenalinem na NZ, ale hned prvni den si ho tu uzijeme vice nez dostatek. Cesta na nas prvni ostrov Nacula trva pres 5h a velika moderni lod pro 400lidi v bource na vlnach skace jak dobre hozeny placaty kamen. Dost lidi ma problemy udrzet se (zaludek, ne rovnovahu protoze vstat ze sedacky bylo zakazano).
Jak pozdeji zjistime na Fiji je velmi dulezite venovat cas a zjistit maximum informaci o resortu kam se chystate. Sezenete tu od nocleharen pro 100lidi plnych nalitych pubertaku az po soukrome ostrovy (cena zacinajici na 3500dolarech za noc) vse. A na zacatek mame aniz by jsme to vedeli stastnou ruku. Resort Nabua Lodge je maly rodinny raj, kde nas hostu nikdy neni vice nez 15. Tradicni chatky bure postavene z palem jsou tak 20m od more a tak tu stravime rovnou cely tyden. Jeste musime ale zminit jednu vec ktera narusuje jinak absolutni nirvanu - komari otravujou docela dost a bez moskytiery by to byly krusne noci. Nastesti je pres den na ne moc velky vedro. Ale jinak si uzivame tyden pohody - knizka + houpaci sit mezi palmami na plazi, pruzracna voda 29st, sem tam sebereme kokos a postupne jak se lepe seznamujeme s mistnimi vstebavame jejich kulturu. Po vecer tancime hromadne bula tance, hrajeme karty nebo volejbal. Take ochutname kava koren - koren s narkotickym ucinkem, ale po par miskach tak maximalne umrtvi jazyk, dasne a rty. Barva vody z pracky, chut nevalna, ale jak jsme videli domorodce po 30ti miskach dokaze to cloveka poradne rozstrelit.
Jeden den se rozhodneme s Honzou a Luckou co prijeli na dovcu prozkoumat ostrov z vysky a vylezeme na nejvyssi kopec (nahoru se dostanu jen ja s Honzou, holky vedro zdepta v puli cesty). Cestou zpatky se rozhodneme pro zkratku a samozrejme zabloudime. Trava vyssi nez my a tak je to docela dobrodruzo. Nakonec poslehany najdeme kokosovy haj s domacimi zviraty a vesnici kde nas odvedou zpatky do resortu. Odpoledne jdeme s Honzou snorchlovat do nedaleke Oarsmans bay. Staci zajit 5min za nas resort a clovek ma kilometry nedotcenych plazi jen pro sebe. Neco co jen tak v beznych letoviscich nenajdete.
Dalsi den se nechame s Jancou odvezt do Modre Laguny (tocil se tu stejnomenny film) kde je snorchlovani trochu jine nez vcera. Koral neni tak pekny jako vcera, ale zase je vetsi tak je tu vice ryb. Hejna pestrobarevnych rybek jak v akvariu.
Po veceri koukame na flasku vody co z ni pijeme a je plna cerviku. Ukazeme to mistnim a ty rikaji, ze tankujeme ze spatneho barelu (veskera uzitkova a pitna voda je destova, zadne prameny na ostrovech nejsou), ale cervici jsou nastesti neskodni a prestali jsme to bez jakychkoliv problemu.
V sobotu prijde den Lova. Konecne poradne jidlo! Krome komaru by si tu jeste nekdo mohl stezovat na stravu, v levnejsich resortech je jidlo hodne jednotvarne, docela dietni a porce nejsou nijak velike. Lovo je tradicni pokrm pripravovany v kokosovych a bananovych listech na rozpalenych kamenech zakopanych v zemi.
Nedele rano je silny zazitek. Dostaneme tradicni oblek sulu (zeny i muzi nosi kazdodenne zavinovaci sukni), pestrobarevne vzory sviti na dalku a jdeme na msi do kostela. Prochazime palmovym hajem a slysime fijiskou disko muziku. Za chvilku dojdeme na palouk s kuly na kterych je strecha z vlniteho plechu = kostel. V hlouccich se pohupuji fijiske rodiny a tleskaji do rytmu. Po disco ale prijde na radu hodinove kazani ve fijijstine, nuda. Nastesti nas nas patron Lulu vysvobodi a odvede na prohlidku vesnice (cizincum je do vesnice bez doprovodu vstup zakazan) a sveho domu. Domy jsou velmi jednoduche, postel a rohoz na zemi. Toaleta, kuchynka venku. Je videt, ze Lulu je na dum co postavil pysny a pozve nas bydlet sobe na zem az pry priste prijedeme. Krasne gesto.
Po tydnu na Nacule prejedeme na Waya Lailai, na lodi znovu potkame Honzu s Luckou. Skoda, ze se jim blizi konec a nemuzou s nami zustat dele. Alespon s Honzou stihneme snorchlovani na koralech na otevrenem mori. A kam se hrabe snorchlovani u brehu. Viditelnost hrave pres 25m, ryby a koraly mnohem lepsi. Netrva dlouho a vidime to za cim jsme prijeli - elegan mistnich vod reef (koralovy?) zralok. Nevelka (1.5m) a pry cloveku neskodna paryba. Po te co pruvodce zacne mavat vykuchanou rybou se behem 15ti minut objevi dalsich 6. Kdyz vidim jak je nas pruvodce objima tak se jako prvni z turistu odhodlam prolomit predsudek o nebezpecnosti a potopim se a take si jednoho pohladim. Jen je musim mit tak max do 6ti metru, domorodec se na nadech v pohode potopi 2x hloubeji a jeste se dole zdrzuje. Verim, ze si tenhle vylet Honza uzil stejne jako ja. Parada!
Navnazen snorchlovanim z predchoziho dne se rozhodnu jit jeste o stupinek dale a zaplatim si zacatecnicky kurz potapeni se 2ma ponory. Vse jde v pohode, jen mam trochu problemy s vyrovnavanim tlaku v pravem uchu a tak klesam docela pomalu. Ale hned napoprve zvladnu test ve 12m pod hladinou, vyndani privodu vzduchu a vyliti bryly (zni to dost divne vylit vodu z bryly pod vodou, ale vazne to jde) a muzeme na otevrene more.
A pripadam si jak v dokumentarnim filmu, 30m vysoka/hluboka stena koralu (videt je ale o dost dale) hraje vyraznymi barvami, druhu ryb jsou stovky. Plus dalsi zivocichove...Instruktor mi ukazuje ruzne zajimavosti. Treba prinese tvora kteremu se rika morska okurka a zacne ho hladit. Za chvilku z nej vystreli 2m proudy tenkych bilich provazku (asi spermii?). Mezi me favority patri koral co ma tenoucky cerny stonek asi metr dlouhy a na konci velky rudy kvet. A pak urcite ryba cetna jak noc s ostrou milimetrovou konturou ktera modre sviti a pulzuje jako neon! Bohuzel jako zacatecnik nejsem tak efektivni se vzduchem a kazda bomba mi vydrzi jen 40min.
Ale i tak vim, proc se lide z celeho sveta sjizdi prave sem!
Po Yasawe se rozhodneme prozkoumat hlavni ostrov. Zajedeme do hlavniho mesta Suvy. Ale nijak nas nenadchne. Od narodniho muzea jsme cekali hodne na tema kanibalismu, ktery se tu jeste pred 100lety bezne praktikoval (jeden nacelnik kmene pry sam snedl pres 800 lidi!), ale muzeum je zklamani. Lepsi expozici lze videt v kteremkoliv obchodu se suvenyry.
Po hlavnim ostrove jeste zajedeme na par dni na ostrov Mana v Mamanuca ostrovech. Ostrov je krasny, ale podcenili jsme pripravu a skoncili v resortu plnem nevyspelych spratku pro ktere je vrchol existence dobre se opit. Takze noci jsou docela divoke. Plus mame moznost zjistit jak silene svedi stipance po stenicich. Dokonce jsem prestal nadavat na komary.. Nesmime ale opomenout zminit skolu ve vesnici kterou navstivime spolecne s Lindou, holandankou co tu uci. Asi 40deti ve 2 jednotridkach 6-13let. Ne vsechny deti z vesnice chodi do skoly. Stat skolstvi nepodporuje a veskere naklady jsou hrazene z kostelnich prispevku a skolneho. Skolne je 20fiji dolaru na semestr a ne vsichni si to muzou dovolit. Co si mistni musi myslet kdyz tu vidi britske a nemecke pubertaky utracet 50-100 dolaru kazdy vecer jen za pivo?
Pred odjezdem jeste zajdeme do skoly na den sportu a her. Je to sranda a deti to hodne bavi. Jsou vylozene nadsene a fandi svym tymum co to jde, radost kdyz se vyhraje je nezmerna. Skoda, ze nemame zadne fotky, den predem se nam na kajaku povedlo utopit fotak a trvalo 3dni nez se vzpamatoval.
Na Manu a zpet nas neveze zadna velka moderni lod jako na Naculu, ale mala kocabka. Dekujeme vsem svatym, ze je celkem klidne more. Ale i tak sem tam popoletime jako hejna letajicich ryb kolem...
Honzo, Lucko v komentarich mate prostor k editaci a doplneni, tak se cinte ;)
PS: Povedlo se mi vyfotit jednoho z nejjedovatejsich tvoru planety. Nastesti je tenhle morsky had tak maly, ze cloveka nedokaze kousnout. Ale i tak jsem fotil z uctive metrove vzdalenosti :)
Foto:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59613&id=1344786025&l=1ccf4a0340
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60389&id=1344786025&l=5e7e0ded06
Exiting the plane in Nadi is like being hit with a hammer - from very pleasant mid twenties to the tropics. BULA and welcome to Fiji! Bula is said to us daily many times and we hear it from the young and old likewise, sometimes mercantile sometimes just friendly reason but always delivered with a big smile. Everything goes according to Fiji time (somehow it will work out, don't bother yourself with anything, we'll do the same) - probably the biggest surprise to us is the poverty of these paradise islands. Most of the land and enterprises are owned by Australians that get it in exchange for paying off Fiji's debts. And so the locals have very little to say on the fact that they are 3rd world nation. On the other hand we cannot deny their positive attitude, we have not seen so much happiness in one place yet.
Our first stop after Nadi will be group of Yasawa islands. Fortunately one of the Aussie guys let us use his mobile phone to send sms home, as we mentioned in one of the emails before paradise is not supplied with electricity. Funny how quickly we got used to all the civilisation convenience in NZ and now it takes a while to forget it again. Initially we went for an adrenalin to NZ and to Fiji for a rest but the first boat trip made it look other way round. Big modern ship for 400people jumps on the huge waves in the storm for over 5hrs. And we can see that quite a lot of people have a small seasickness problem. No walking or standing is allowed.
As we find out later on it pays off to do as much research on resorts as possible in advance. Fiji offers everything from shared rooms for 100people to private villas starting on 3500 dollars a night. In the beginning without even knowing we have a lucky hand. Resort Nabua Lodge is small family run paradise where was never more than 15 guests. Traditional bure houses built from palms are only 20m from the beach and we love the place so much we stay here for over a week. Although we have to mention one thing that disrupts otherwise absolute nirvana - mosquitoes are annoying and without mosquito net the night would be sleepless. Fortunately during the day is for them too hot. Besides this a week of well deserved well-being after hard travelling - book + hammock hanging below palm trees, clear warm water, from time to time we pick up a coconut and gradually we get to know locals better and assimilate the culture. We dance bula dance in the evenings, play cards and volleyball. We also try the kava root drink - root with a narcotic effects, but after few bowls the only effect we can feel is tongue and lips anaesthesia. Colour of used washmashine water, not much of a taste, but as we saw the locals 30bowls can properly knock off a big man.
We explore the Nacula island on foot with a Czech couple that are here on vacation. We hike to the highest peak of the island, but only me and Honza go all the way. Girls return half way up surrendering to the heat. On our way back we decide for a shortcut and obviously get lost. Grass taller than us - adventure. After couple hours we find a meadow with some cattle and pigs and further on a village. From here we get pointed in the right direction. After lunch we go snorkeling to Oarsmans Bay. 5mins away from the resort along the coast and one can have kilometres of intact beaches for himself. Something you won't find in usual holiday spots.
Day after we go snorkeling again, this time in Blue Lagoon (movie of the same name was made here). Coral is not so nice as yesterday but there is more fish. Like in huge aquarium. After a dinner we notice that our water bottle is full of tiny worms. And find out we have been taking water from a wrong tank (all fresh water comes from rain, no wells on the islands), fortunately the worms are harmless so we survive without any problems.
On Saturday is a Lovo day. Finally proper food (similar to NZ hangi)! Besides mosquito someone could complain about local food. In cheaper resorts is food very monotonous, quite dietary and portions not very filling. Also combination of various ingredients is very unusual, we never know whether they are just running out of it and put together whatever is left or whether it's like that on purpose (but try to mix some pineapple into your coleslaw - delicious!).
Sunday morning is a great experience. We don a traditional sulu (both men and women wear wrap up skirts), colorful patterns can be seen from distance and we go to the mass. Walking through the palm trees woods we can hear a Fijian disco music. In a while we enter a glade where on the stakes is a roof of corrugated metal = church. Fiji families in groups clasp their hands and dance. After the disco we listen to the sermon in Fiji language, boring. Fortunately we are saved by our friend Lulu who takes us for a tour of the village (foreigners are prohibited to enter villages unless invited). Houses are very simple, bed and mat on the floor. Toilet and kitchen sink outside. Lulu built his house himself and we can see he is very proud of it. He invites us to stay with his family when we visit next time - lovely gesture.
After a week on Nacula island we move to Waya Lailai. On the boat we meet our Czech friends again. Pity they cannot stay longer. At least me and Honza manage to do some snorkeling on the coral in the open sea. Way much better that snorkeling just off the shore. Visibility easily over 25m, both fish and coral much better. Not long and we can see the thing we came here for - reef shark. Not big (only about 1.5m) and reputedly human harmless. After our guide pulls out dead fish another 6 make appearance. When I see how he plays with them I decide to break the danger prejudice and dive to touch one of them too. They just must not be any deeper than 6m, how does the guide manage to go twice as deep and stay there for so long? What a great trip!
Encouraged by yesterday's trip I decide to take one more step and go for a introductory dive including 2 dives. Everything goes fine, just have a small trouble with pressure equalization in my right ear and dive down very slowly. After I manage a test 12m down below surface I am allowed to go diving with supervision on the open sea (taking out and replacing of breathing hose and goggles, funny you can pour out a water out of them while below surface).
Diving on the open sea reminds me of watching documentary movie, 30m tall/deep wall of colorful coral, various fishes and other life forms...Instructor shows me a lot of interesting stuff. Like sea cucumber, thing that he rubs and after a while it shoots out long white cords. My favorite sights were long thin black coral with big red flower on the top and jet black fish with sharp blue outline that actually pulsate like a neon! Unfortunately as a beginner I am not very effective with my air and make only 40mins out of each air tank. Now I know why so many people from other side of the world come right here!
After Yasawa group we decide to explore the main land Viti Levu and its capital Suva. Not much to see there. We expected quite a lot from the national museum, especially on the cannibalism topic that was still practised in 19th century (one of the chiefs consumed over 800people all by himself!), but you can see better exposition in any of the souvenir shops.
After main island we go for a couple days on Mana island in Mamanuca group.
Island is beautiful but we overestimated our luck with choosing of resorts and ended up in place full of teenagers. So the nights are bit wild. On the top of that we have the opportunity to find out how itchy the bedbugs bites are. I even stopped giving out about mosquitoes...The main thing we must mention is local school that we visit with Linda a Dutch teacher that currently works here. 40kids in 2classes, age 6-13yrs. Not all the kids from the village go to the school. Government does not support education and all costs are covered by church and school fees. Fee for a semester is 20 Fiji dollars and not everybody can afford it. What must the locals be thinking when they see the western teenagers spending 50-100dollars a night just for a beer?
Before our departure we go to school to watch a sporting and game day. Great fun and children enjoy it very much. They are downright excited and support their teams as much as possible, joy when they win is immense. Pity we don't have any pictures from the day as we managed to drown our camera on a kayak trip day earlier.
Our transport to Mana and back is not a big modern ship like to Nacula but a small old homemade boat. We thank to all saints that the sea is calm, even so we sometimes fly like flying fish all around us.
PS: I managed to take a picture of one of the most poisonous creatures in the world. Fortunately is this sea snake so tiny that it cannot open its jaws wide enough to bite a man. Even so I took the pictures from respectful distance :)
Pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59613&id=1344786025&l=1ccf4a0340
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60389&id=1344786025&l=5e7e0ded06
Za nas prvni cil zvolime skupinu ostrovu Yasawa. Koralove ostrovy a ostruvky smerem na severozapad od hlavniho ostrova Viti Levu. Nastesti nas jeden australan necha poslat sms domu, protoze jak jsme jiz minule psali do raje elektricke vedeni nevede. Zajimave jak jsme si rychle zvykli na NZ na veskere vymozenosti civilizace a ted zase opacnym smerem chvilku trva.
Puvodne jsme jeli za adrenalinem na NZ, ale hned prvni den si ho tu uzijeme vice nez dostatek. Cesta na nas prvni ostrov Nacula trva pres 5h a velika moderni lod pro 400lidi v bource na vlnach skace jak dobre hozeny placaty kamen. Dost lidi ma problemy udrzet se (zaludek, ne rovnovahu protoze vstat ze sedacky bylo zakazano).
Jak pozdeji zjistime na Fiji je velmi dulezite venovat cas a zjistit maximum informaci o resortu kam se chystate. Sezenete tu od nocleharen pro 100lidi plnych nalitych pubertaku az po soukrome ostrovy (cena zacinajici na 3500dolarech za noc) vse. A na zacatek mame aniz by jsme to vedeli stastnou ruku. Resort Nabua Lodge je maly rodinny raj, kde nas hostu nikdy neni vice nez 15. Tradicni chatky bure postavene z palem jsou tak 20m od more a tak tu stravime rovnou cely tyden. Jeste musime ale zminit jednu vec ktera narusuje jinak absolutni nirvanu - komari otravujou docela dost a bez moskytiery by to byly krusne noci. Nastesti je pres den na ne moc velky vedro. Ale jinak si uzivame tyden pohody - knizka + houpaci sit mezi palmami na plazi, pruzracna voda 29st, sem tam sebereme kokos a postupne jak se lepe seznamujeme s mistnimi vstebavame jejich kulturu. Po vecer tancime hromadne bula tance, hrajeme karty nebo volejbal. Take ochutname kava koren - koren s narkotickym ucinkem, ale po par miskach tak maximalne umrtvi jazyk, dasne a rty. Barva vody z pracky, chut nevalna, ale jak jsme videli domorodce po 30ti miskach dokaze to cloveka poradne rozstrelit.
Jeden den se rozhodneme s Honzou a Luckou co prijeli na dovcu prozkoumat ostrov z vysky a vylezeme na nejvyssi kopec (nahoru se dostanu jen ja s Honzou, holky vedro zdepta v puli cesty). Cestou zpatky se rozhodneme pro zkratku a samozrejme zabloudime. Trava vyssi nez my a tak je to docela dobrodruzo. Nakonec poslehany najdeme kokosovy haj s domacimi zviraty a vesnici kde nas odvedou zpatky do resortu. Odpoledne jdeme s Honzou snorchlovat do nedaleke Oarsmans bay. Staci zajit 5min za nas resort a clovek ma kilometry nedotcenych plazi jen pro sebe. Neco co jen tak v beznych letoviscich nenajdete.
Dalsi den se nechame s Jancou odvezt do Modre Laguny (tocil se tu stejnomenny film) kde je snorchlovani trochu jine nez vcera. Koral neni tak pekny jako vcera, ale zase je vetsi tak je tu vice ryb. Hejna pestrobarevnych rybek jak v akvariu.
Po veceri koukame na flasku vody co z ni pijeme a je plna cerviku. Ukazeme to mistnim a ty rikaji, ze tankujeme ze spatneho barelu (veskera uzitkova a pitna voda je destova, zadne prameny na ostrovech nejsou), ale cervici jsou nastesti neskodni a prestali jsme to bez jakychkoliv problemu.
V sobotu prijde den Lova. Konecne poradne jidlo! Krome komaru by si tu jeste nekdo mohl stezovat na stravu, v levnejsich resortech je jidlo hodne jednotvarne, docela dietni a porce nejsou nijak velike. Lovo je tradicni pokrm pripravovany v kokosovych a bananovych listech na rozpalenych kamenech zakopanych v zemi.
Nedele rano je silny zazitek. Dostaneme tradicni oblek sulu (zeny i muzi nosi kazdodenne zavinovaci sukni), pestrobarevne vzory sviti na dalku a jdeme na msi do kostela. Prochazime palmovym hajem a slysime fijiskou disko muziku. Za chvilku dojdeme na palouk s kuly na kterych je strecha z vlniteho plechu = kostel. V hlouccich se pohupuji fijiske rodiny a tleskaji do rytmu. Po disco ale prijde na radu hodinove kazani ve fijijstine, nuda. Nastesti nas nas patron Lulu vysvobodi a odvede na prohlidku vesnice (cizincum je do vesnice bez doprovodu vstup zakazan) a sveho domu. Domy jsou velmi jednoduche, postel a rohoz na zemi. Toaleta, kuchynka venku. Je videt, ze Lulu je na dum co postavil pysny a pozve nas bydlet sobe na zem az pry priste prijedeme. Krasne gesto.
Po tydnu na Nacule prejedeme na Waya Lailai, na lodi znovu potkame Honzu s Luckou. Skoda, ze se jim blizi konec a nemuzou s nami zustat dele. Alespon s Honzou stihneme snorchlovani na koralech na otevrenem mori. A kam se hrabe snorchlovani u brehu. Viditelnost hrave pres 25m, ryby a koraly mnohem lepsi. Netrva dlouho a vidime to za cim jsme prijeli - elegan mistnich vod reef (koralovy?) zralok. Nevelka (1.5m) a pry cloveku neskodna paryba. Po te co pruvodce zacne mavat vykuchanou rybou se behem 15ti minut objevi dalsich 6. Kdyz vidim jak je nas pruvodce objima tak se jako prvni z turistu odhodlam prolomit predsudek o nebezpecnosti a potopim se a take si jednoho pohladim. Jen je musim mit tak max do 6ti metru, domorodec se na nadech v pohode potopi 2x hloubeji a jeste se dole zdrzuje. Verim, ze si tenhle vylet Honza uzil stejne jako ja. Parada!
Navnazen snorchlovanim z predchoziho dne se rozhodnu jit jeste o stupinek dale a zaplatim si zacatecnicky kurz potapeni se 2ma ponory. Vse jde v pohode, jen mam trochu problemy s vyrovnavanim tlaku v pravem uchu a tak klesam docela pomalu. Ale hned napoprve zvladnu test ve 12m pod hladinou, vyndani privodu vzduchu a vyliti bryly (zni to dost divne vylit vodu z bryly pod vodou, ale vazne to jde) a muzeme na otevrene more.
A pripadam si jak v dokumentarnim filmu, 30m vysoka/hluboka stena koralu (videt je ale o dost dale) hraje vyraznymi barvami, druhu ryb jsou stovky. Plus dalsi zivocichove...Instruktor mi ukazuje ruzne zajimavosti. Treba prinese tvora kteremu se rika morska okurka a zacne ho hladit. Za chvilku z nej vystreli 2m proudy tenkych bilich provazku (asi spermii?). Mezi me favority patri koral co ma tenoucky cerny stonek asi metr dlouhy a na konci velky rudy kvet. A pak urcite ryba cetna jak noc s ostrou milimetrovou konturou ktera modre sviti a pulzuje jako neon! Bohuzel jako zacatecnik nejsem tak efektivni se vzduchem a kazda bomba mi vydrzi jen 40min.
Ale i tak vim, proc se lide z celeho sveta sjizdi prave sem!
Po Yasawe se rozhodneme prozkoumat hlavni ostrov. Zajedeme do hlavniho mesta Suvy. Ale nijak nas nenadchne. Od narodniho muzea jsme cekali hodne na tema kanibalismu, ktery se tu jeste pred 100lety bezne praktikoval (jeden nacelnik kmene pry sam snedl pres 800 lidi!), ale muzeum je zklamani. Lepsi expozici lze videt v kteremkoliv obchodu se suvenyry.
Po hlavnim ostrove jeste zajedeme na par dni na ostrov Mana v Mamanuca ostrovech. Ostrov je krasny, ale podcenili jsme pripravu a skoncili v resortu plnem nevyspelych spratku pro ktere je vrchol existence dobre se opit. Takze noci jsou docela divoke. Plus mame moznost zjistit jak silene svedi stipance po stenicich. Dokonce jsem prestal nadavat na komary.. Nesmime ale opomenout zminit skolu ve vesnici kterou navstivime spolecne s Lindou, holandankou co tu uci. Asi 40deti ve 2 jednotridkach 6-13let. Ne vsechny deti z vesnice chodi do skoly. Stat skolstvi nepodporuje a veskere naklady jsou hrazene z kostelnich prispevku a skolneho. Skolne je 20fiji dolaru na semestr a ne vsichni si to muzou dovolit. Co si mistni musi myslet kdyz tu vidi britske a nemecke pubertaky utracet 50-100 dolaru kazdy vecer jen za pivo?
Pred odjezdem jeste zajdeme do skoly na den sportu a her. Je to sranda a deti to hodne bavi. Jsou vylozene nadsene a fandi svym tymum co to jde, radost kdyz se vyhraje je nezmerna. Skoda, ze nemame zadne fotky, den predem se nam na kajaku povedlo utopit fotak a trvalo 3dni nez se vzpamatoval.
Na Manu a zpet nas neveze zadna velka moderni lod jako na Naculu, ale mala kocabka. Dekujeme vsem svatym, ze je celkem klidne more. Ale i tak sem tam popoletime jako hejna letajicich ryb kolem...
Honzo, Lucko v komentarich mate prostor k editaci a doplneni, tak se cinte ;)
PS: Povedlo se mi vyfotit jednoho z nejjedovatejsich tvoru planety. Nastesti je tenhle morsky had tak maly, ze cloveka nedokaze kousnout. Ale i tak jsem fotil z uctive metrove vzdalenosti :)
Foto:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59613&id=1344786025&l=1ccf4a0340
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60389&id=1344786025&l=5e7e0ded06
Exiting the plane in Nadi is like being hit with a hammer - from very pleasant mid twenties to the tropics. BULA and welcome to Fiji! Bula is said to us daily many times and we hear it from the young and old likewise, sometimes mercantile sometimes just friendly reason but always delivered with a big smile. Everything goes according to Fiji time (somehow it will work out, don't bother yourself with anything, we'll do the same) - probably the biggest surprise to us is the poverty of these paradise islands. Most of the land and enterprises are owned by Australians that get it in exchange for paying off Fiji's debts. And so the locals have very little to say on the fact that they are 3rd world nation. On the other hand we cannot deny their positive attitude, we have not seen so much happiness in one place yet.
Our first stop after Nadi will be group of Yasawa islands. Fortunately one of the Aussie guys let us use his mobile phone to send sms home, as we mentioned in one of the emails before paradise is not supplied with electricity. Funny how quickly we got used to all the civilisation convenience in NZ and now it takes a while to forget it again. Initially we went for an adrenalin to NZ and to Fiji for a rest but the first boat trip made it look other way round. Big modern ship for 400people jumps on the huge waves in the storm for over 5hrs. And we can see that quite a lot of people have a small seasickness problem. No walking or standing is allowed.
As we find out later on it pays off to do as much research on resorts as possible in advance. Fiji offers everything from shared rooms for 100people to private villas starting on 3500 dollars a night. In the beginning without even knowing we have a lucky hand. Resort Nabua Lodge is small family run paradise where was never more than 15 guests. Traditional bure houses built from palms are only 20m from the beach and we love the place so much we stay here for over a week. Although we have to mention one thing that disrupts otherwise absolute nirvana - mosquitoes are annoying and without mosquito net the night would be sleepless. Fortunately during the day is for them too hot. Besides this a week of well deserved well-being after hard travelling - book + hammock hanging below palm trees, clear warm water, from time to time we pick up a coconut and gradually we get to know locals better and assimilate the culture. We dance bula dance in the evenings, play cards and volleyball. We also try the kava root drink - root with a narcotic effects, but after few bowls the only effect we can feel is tongue and lips anaesthesia. Colour of used washmashine water, not much of a taste, but as we saw the locals 30bowls can properly knock off a big man.
We explore the Nacula island on foot with a Czech couple that are here on vacation. We hike to the highest peak of the island, but only me and Honza go all the way. Girls return half way up surrendering to the heat. On our way back we decide for a shortcut and obviously get lost. Grass taller than us - adventure. After couple hours we find a meadow with some cattle and pigs and further on a village. From here we get pointed in the right direction. After lunch we go snorkeling to Oarsmans Bay. 5mins away from the resort along the coast and one can have kilometres of intact beaches for himself. Something you won't find in usual holiday spots.
Day after we go snorkeling again, this time in Blue Lagoon (movie of the same name was made here). Coral is not so nice as yesterday but there is more fish. Like in huge aquarium. After a dinner we notice that our water bottle is full of tiny worms. And find out we have been taking water from a wrong tank (all fresh water comes from rain, no wells on the islands), fortunately the worms are harmless so we survive without any problems.
On Saturday is a Lovo day. Finally proper food (similar to NZ hangi)! Besides mosquito someone could complain about local food. In cheaper resorts is food very monotonous, quite dietary and portions not very filling. Also combination of various ingredients is very unusual, we never know whether they are just running out of it and put together whatever is left or whether it's like that on purpose (but try to mix some pineapple into your coleslaw - delicious!).
Sunday morning is a great experience. We don a traditional sulu (both men and women wear wrap up skirts), colorful patterns can be seen from distance and we go to the mass. Walking through the palm trees woods we can hear a Fijian disco music. In a while we enter a glade where on the stakes is a roof of corrugated metal = church. Fiji families in groups clasp their hands and dance. After the disco we listen to the sermon in Fiji language, boring. Fortunately we are saved by our friend Lulu who takes us for a tour of the village (foreigners are prohibited to enter villages unless invited). Houses are very simple, bed and mat on the floor. Toilet and kitchen sink outside. Lulu built his house himself and we can see he is very proud of it. He invites us to stay with his family when we visit next time - lovely gesture.
After a week on Nacula island we move to Waya Lailai. On the boat we meet our Czech friends again. Pity they cannot stay longer. At least me and Honza manage to do some snorkeling on the coral in the open sea. Way much better that snorkeling just off the shore. Visibility easily over 25m, both fish and coral much better. Not long and we can see the thing we came here for - reef shark. Not big (only about 1.5m) and reputedly human harmless. After our guide pulls out dead fish another 6 make appearance. When I see how he plays with them I decide to break the danger prejudice and dive to touch one of them too. They just must not be any deeper than 6m, how does the guide manage to go twice as deep and stay there for so long? What a great trip!
Encouraged by yesterday's trip I decide to take one more step and go for a introductory dive including 2 dives. Everything goes fine, just have a small trouble with pressure equalization in my right ear and dive down very slowly. After I manage a test 12m down below surface I am allowed to go diving with supervision on the open sea (taking out and replacing of breathing hose and goggles, funny you can pour out a water out of them while below surface).
Diving on the open sea reminds me of watching documentary movie, 30m tall/deep wall of colorful coral, various fishes and other life forms...Instructor shows me a lot of interesting stuff. Like sea cucumber, thing that he rubs and after a while it shoots out long white cords. My favorite sights were long thin black coral with big red flower on the top and jet black fish with sharp blue outline that actually pulsate like a neon! Unfortunately as a beginner I am not very effective with my air and make only 40mins out of each air tank. Now I know why so many people from other side of the world come right here!
After Yasawa group we decide to explore the main land Viti Levu and its capital Suva. Not much to see there. We expected quite a lot from the national museum, especially on the cannibalism topic that was still practised in 19th century (one of the chiefs consumed over 800people all by himself!), but you can see better exposition in any of the souvenir shops.
After main island we go for a couple days on Mana island in Mamanuca group.
Island is beautiful but we overestimated our luck with choosing of resorts and ended up in place full of teenagers. So the nights are bit wild. On the top of that we have the opportunity to find out how itchy the bedbugs bites are. I even stopped giving out about mosquitoes...The main thing we must mention is local school that we visit with Linda a Dutch teacher that currently works here. 40kids in 2classes, age 6-13yrs. Not all the kids from the village go to the school. Government does not support education and all costs are covered by church and school fees. Fee for a semester is 20 Fiji dollars and not everybody can afford it. What must the locals be thinking when they see the western teenagers spending 50-100dollars a night just for a beer?
Before our departure we go to school to watch a sporting and game day. Great fun and children enjoy it very much. They are downright excited and support their teams as much as possible, joy when they win is immense. Pity we don't have any pictures from the day as we managed to drown our camera on a kayak trip day earlier.
Our transport to Mana and back is not a big modern ship like to Nacula but a small old homemade boat. We thank to all saints that the sea is calm, even so we sometimes fly like flying fish all around us.
PS: I managed to take a picture of one of the most poisonous creatures in the world. Fortunately is this sea snake so tiny that it cannot open its jaws wide enough to bite a man. Even so I took the pictures from respectful distance :)
Pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59613&id=1344786025&l=1ccf4a0340
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60389&id=1344786025&l=5e7e0ded06
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Jizni Ostrov / South Island (New Zealand)
Prvni mesto jizniho ostrova kde se rozhodneme prenocovat je Nelson - nejslunecnejsi mesto NZ (ne, ze by jsme to potrebovali, kdyz jsme meli za cely mesic jen jeden destivy den). Nelson vyuzijeme jako zakladnu pro trek v NP Abel Tasman. Uz pri ceste lodi vidime, ze se bude na co tesit. Huste lesy, zatoky a laguny lemovane zlatymi plazemi. Krasnych 22km nenarocnym terenem, plaze lakaji k povalovani, ale jen co se zastavime na piknik zacnou kousat sandflies. Nektere trasy v NP maji 2 ruzne cesty podle toho jestli je priliv nebo odliv.
Dale jedeme usek Nelson - Greymouth. Scenerie jak jinak paradni, ale krome zastavky u Pancake rocks (formace utesu poskladane z tenkych vrstev sedimentu) a kolonie tulenu se nic zvlastniho nedeje. Prejizdime dost mostu 3 v 1 jak je mistni nazyvaji - 1 pruh pro oba smery, auta i vlaky.
Na ceste z Greymouth do Franz Josef urcite stoji za zminku expozice Bush. Je zde zajimavy dokument o tom jak se na NZ zbavovali premnozene vysoke a proc tu maji tolik farem kde vysokou chovaji. Kazdy rok tu postrileli pres 2mil kusu. A nez vynalezli vystrelovaci site tak skakali lovci na hrbety jelenu z helikoptery! Franz Josef je vesnicka o 2 ulicich. Hlavni lakadlo pro navstevniky je nejpristupnejsi ledovec NZ. Ale jen se koukneme z vyhlidky, proti Patagonii hodne slaby odvar.
Dalsi den zastihneme zrcadlove jezero Matheson zalite rannim sluncem a nad zemi se povaluji cary mlhy. Stesti, ze priroda nedela kyce, tohle by jinak jeden urcite byl.
Queenstown neni jen hlavnim mestem adrenalinu, ale zaroven malebne mestecko na brehu jezera Wakatipu pod vysokanskymi kopci. Vecer pri zapadu slunce vidime zelenou?! oblohu. Skoda, ze zrovna dosly baterie ve fotaku. K obedu jednoznacne doporucujeme svetoznamy Fergburger. 15dolaru nekomu mozna prijde za hamburger dost, ale verte, ze lepsi maso v housce budete shanet tezko. Muj tip je jehneci s matou.
Navecer druhy den vyjedeme lanovkou nad mesto, ale zelena obloha se podruhe nekona. Na dalsi 2 dny pujcime auto, ale kvuli Velikonocnim svatkum je vse rozebrane a tak na me zbyde jen automaticka prevodovka. Prvni jizdy jsou docela zazitek, proc to auto misto pribrzdeni vzdy rovnou na miste zastavi? :)
Na vylet jedeme ve 4. Itinerarem jizniho ostrova jsme se presne strefili do programu 2 ceskych holcin;) Martiny a Jany (Zdravime!). Cilem je Milford Sound, vzdusnou carou vzdaleny jen 30km, ale 5h cesty po silnici. Jediny vozidlem pristupny fjord z obrovskeho NP Fjordland. Jak uz jsme si zvykli, mame bezchybne pocasi. Vzhledem k tomu, ze je tu prumerny rocni uhrn srazek 7m a maximum 10.4m! docela drzost. Silnice vede mezi ostrymi vysokymi kopci. Na chvilku zajdeme protahnout nohy do dzungle a kapradi kde je uzka souteska Chasm. Presne ji vystihuje citat, ktery zni nejak takhle: 'Nejlepsi socharske nastroje nejsou majzlik a kladivo, staci jen lehky a dlouhy dotek vody a vzduchu.' Na Milford Sound jedeme na 2h plavbu podel brehu fjordu. Kilometrove vertikalni svahy kolem jsou plne vodopadu uplne zavislych na desti a nektere jsou hodne mohutne i kdyz ted zrovna nemaji prisun vody. Cestou zpatky konecne vidime ohromna stada ovci, tech 60mil nekde byt musi. Pocasi je porad krasne, ale citelne se ochladilo. Misto kratas prichazi na radu kalhoty a bunda.
Dunedin (preklad skotskeho Edinburgh) zalozeny skotskymi pristehovalci se misty opravdu podoba Edinburghu. Zastavime se u Baldwin St. coz je podle Guinessovy knihy rekordu nejstrmejsi ulice sveta, ale myslime ze jediny duvod proc tento titul drzi je, ze nikdo v Bolivijskem La Pazu nema o teto knize ani paru.
Nedaleko Dunedinu zastavime u Moeraki Boulders. Velike kameny ve tvaru koule nahodne rozsypane po plazi. Vypadaji jak draci vejce ze kterych se kazdou chvili musi neco vyklubat.
Navecer prijedeme do Tekapa. Krasny hostel na brehu jezera bude nasim domovem pristich par dni kde mame pokoj spolecne s Martinou a Janou. Hned prvni den jsem si sel od 10 do pulnoci lamat krk a mrznout na hvezdarnu a vyzkumnou stanici Mt. John (holky odradila zima v noci, ale vydatne nas tam zasobovali horkou cokoladou tak se to dalo prezit). NASA vybirala lokaci pro tuto hvezdarnu pres 5 let a nakonec se zdarilo - nejlepsi podminky na jizni polokouli co se tyce cistoty vzduchu, oblacnosti a svetelneho znecisteni. A jeste ke vsemu jsme tu jen jeden den do novu a tak nic nerusi absolutni cernou pretatou mlecnou drahou. Astronomove maji silne laserove ukazovatka s dostahem 5km a tak na obloze doslova kresli a popisuji co vse vidime. Stred nasi glaxie, Magellanicovi galaxie a souhvezdi jizni polokoule (toto na severni polokouli neni viditelne), pak jeste Venuse a Saturn vcetne svych prstencu. Zajimava prezentace provedena vtipnou formou. Clovek si pripada hodne bezvyznamny, kdyz nam ukazou nevyraznou tecku na obloze a pak je v objektivu videt seskupeni 4mil hvezd...sem tam do toho vseho proleti meteorit. Pro me jeden z nejlepsich zazitku Noveho Zelandu.
Dalsi den se rozhodneme po nenarocnem treku zajit navecer do venkovnich vyhrivanych bazenu. Jen tak si lezet a kochat se nocni oblohou, parada.
3ti den pobytu jedeme jen ja s Jancou na trek pod Mt. Cook (nekdy prezdivane hora zabijak, vyzadala si uz pres 130zivotu horolezcu). Jdeme pohodovy 4h trek udolim Hooker az pod Mt. Cook kde si u ledovce na brehu jezera dame obed. Po ceste sem tam spadne nahore lavina a naplni udoli poradnym dunenim a hrmenim. A jedna je opravdu velka, krasa. Mt. Cook i kdyz neveliky (3754m) je opravdu majestatni, jen smeknout a poklonit se. Vecer si jdu zahrat hokej na mistni zimak, ktery jsme objevili vcera u bazenu. Kdyby mi nekdo pred vyletem tvrdil, ze si na Zelandu zahraju vyborny hokej s cechy, kanadany a maorem (mimochodem vyborny hrac, absolutne se do hokeje zblaznil a nekolik mesicu trenuje kazdy den) tak bych neveril. K dispozici je komplet nove vybaveni, vsichni zavodne hrali nebo hraji a tak ma zapas slusnou uroven (netreba zminovat, ze cesky utok si vedl velmi dobre ;)
Po Tekapu uz nam zbyva jen Christchurch, pro nas nejhezci mesto NZ. Krasna katedrala, centrum umeni a botanicke zahrady mohou souperit s Dublinskymi. Vecer dame jeste rozlucku s holkama se kterymi jsme cestovali skoro 2 tydny. Martina nam predvede sva kulinarska kouzla a jeste ted se nam sbihaji sliny kdyz vzpomeneme na tu dobrotu ;)
Urcite to neni naposledy co jsme se na NZ podivali, byt to blize domu tak tu snad rovnou zustaneme!
Fotky:
Abel Tasman
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59420&id=1344786025&l=1c9d1f50f2
Lake Matheson
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59421&id=1344786025&l=cc5be3ebb8
Queenstown
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59423&id=1344786025&l=e9c86cb5ee
Franz Josef
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59425&id=1344786025&l=ccf1fb71e9
Milford Sound
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59426&id=1344786025&l=7c57b7a646
First town of South Island where we decide to stay for a while is Nelson - sunniest town of NZ (not, that we need it, in a month we had just one rainy day). Nelson will do nicely as a base to explore NP Abel Tasman. And already from a boat we can see that the trek will be worth it. Dense forest and lagoons with golden sandy fringes. Great 22km of easy terrain, beaches lure to have a rest, but as soon as we stop for a picnic sand flies make appearance and are quite annoying. Some of the tracks in the NP have 2 different routes depending on the tide.
Then we continue from Nelson to Greymouth. Scenery as usual is great, but besides stop at Pancake rocks (cliff formation made of thin layers of sediments) and seal colony nothing interesting happens. We cross quite a lot of 3in1 bridges - 1 line for both directions, both cars and trains.
On the way from Greymouth to Franz Josef is Bush museum, definitely worth mentioning. We watched interesting document about how NZ coped with a deer (not native, imported from Britain) problem and why is there so many deer farms here. Every year over 2mil deer got shot. And before shoot nets were invented the hunters were jumping on the deer backs from helicopter! Franz Josef is a small village consisting of just 2 streets. Main reason why most of the people come here is the glacier, but after seeing Perito Moreno we don't even bother to hike close to it.
Next day we catch the mirror lake Matheson bathing in morning sun light with fog ribbons lying around. Luckily nature cannot create tacky views, this would be it.
Queenstown is not just an adrenalin capital, but also a picturesque town on the Wakatipu lake just below big hills. In the evening wondering around town we see a green?! sunset. Pity, the batteries in camera just went flat. For a lunch world well known Fergburger is highly recommended. Somebody might argue that 15dollars for a burger is a lot but believe that better chunk of meat in a bun is hard to come by. My tip is lamb with mint.
Evening of next day we take a cable car up to the peak above the town, unfortunately green sunset is not on tonight. We rent a car for 2 days. Due to the Easter holidays nearly everything is gone and all we can get is automatic transmission. First attempts are quite a thrill, why does the car stop on the spot instead of just slowing down? :)
There is 4 of us taking this trip. Our itinerary matched exactly with plans of 2 Czech girls Martina and Jana. We decided to head to Milford Sound, fjord that is only 30km far from Queenstown by air but 5hrs driving. The only accessible fjord by car in the whole huge NP Fjordland. As usual we have a perfect weather - taking into account that average rainfall here is 7m and maximum 10.4m! it's nearly a blasphemy.
Road is just down below sharp hills. We go for a short walk to stretch our legs at narrow passage Chasm. This quotation does quite a good job on describing it: 'The best sculptor's tools are not chisel and hammer. All you need is light touch of air and water.'
At Milford Sound we take a 2h cruise along the sides of it. Big vertical walls around us are full of waterfalls completely dependent on rain water. On our way back to QT we finally see huge herds of sheep, the 60mil must be somewhere. Weather is still great, just temperature dropped significantly. So we change shorts for a trousers and jacket.
Dunedin (translation of Edinburgh) really bears resemblance to the original. But we don't find it as spectacular. We stop at the Baldwin St. which according to Guiness Book of records is the steepest street in the world. But I think that the only reason why it holds the title is that in Bolivian La Paz nobody knows about its existence.
Not far from Dunedin we stop at Moeraki Boulders. Big rocks in the shape of sphere randomly scattered along the beach. If anything like that existed we'd say they are dragon eggs that are about to crack.
We arrive to Tekapo in the evening. Great hostel on the shore of Tekapo lake will be our home for next few days. We share the room with Martina and Jana. Girls are bit tired but I decide to go freeze and break my neck at night at the Mr. John observatory. NASA was looking for the location for this observatory for over 5yrs and succeeded in the end - best conditions for stargazing in the southern hemisphere. Clear air, minimum of cloudy days and no light pollution. On the top of all these things we are only a day to New moon so nothing can distract the absolute blackness with blazing Milky way. Astronomers from the observatory have laser pointers with reach of 5km and can literally draw on the night sky. We can see a lot of great things not visible from our side of the earth - centre of our galaxy, Magellanics' galaxies and other constellations plus Venus and Saturn including its rings. Very interesting presentation delivered in a funny form keeps us entertained for 3hours. We all feel very unimportant, especially when we're shown a pale dot and then we can see 4mil stars gazing through the telescope...from time to time meteorite flashes across. One of the best things I saw in NZ.
Day after we just relax at the spa and can stargaze again, this time laying on our back in warm pools.
3rd day of our stay myself and Jana alone go for a trek below Mt. Cook (sometimes infamously nicknamed Mt. Killer, it claimed over 130 lives of mountaineers). Trek is easy 4hrs walk through Hooker valley. Couple times the valley roars with an avalanche falling above on the slopes, great. Mt. Cook while not very big (3754m) is quite majestic. In the evening I go for a game of ice-hockey on the local ice ring that we discovered yesterday by the spa. If someone told me that during our travels I'll play great game of ice-hockey with other Czechs, Canadians, Scandinavians and one Maori guy (by the way very decent player, absolutely fell for the game and has been training for last 8 months every day) I would not believe. I think I don't need to mention that Czech offence did quite well and scored few nice goals ;)
Our last stop in NZ after Tekapo is Christchurch, both of us agreed that the most beautiful big town in NZ. Nice cathedral, arts centre and botanical gardens can match the Dublins' ones. Last evening with girls we spent nearly 2weeks with rounds up a dinner. Culinary feast made by Martina.
Definitely this was not our last time we visited this great country. If it was closer to home I think we'd stay for indefinite time!
Pics:
Abel Tasman
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59420&id=1344786025&l=1c9d1f50f2
Lake Matheson
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59421&id=1344786025&l=cc5be3ebb8
Queenstown
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59423&id=1344786025&l=e9c86cb5ee
Franz Josef
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59425&id=1344786025&l=ccf1fb71e9
Milford Sound
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59426&id=1344786025&l=7c57b7a646
Dale jedeme usek Nelson - Greymouth. Scenerie jak jinak paradni, ale krome zastavky u Pancake rocks (formace utesu poskladane z tenkych vrstev sedimentu) a kolonie tulenu se nic zvlastniho nedeje. Prejizdime dost mostu 3 v 1 jak je mistni nazyvaji - 1 pruh pro oba smery, auta i vlaky.
Na ceste z Greymouth do Franz Josef urcite stoji za zminku expozice Bush. Je zde zajimavy dokument o tom jak se na NZ zbavovali premnozene vysoke a proc tu maji tolik farem kde vysokou chovaji. Kazdy rok tu postrileli pres 2mil kusu. A nez vynalezli vystrelovaci site tak skakali lovci na hrbety jelenu z helikoptery! Franz Josef je vesnicka o 2 ulicich. Hlavni lakadlo pro navstevniky je nejpristupnejsi ledovec NZ. Ale jen se koukneme z vyhlidky, proti Patagonii hodne slaby odvar.
Dalsi den zastihneme zrcadlove jezero Matheson zalite rannim sluncem a nad zemi se povaluji cary mlhy. Stesti, ze priroda nedela kyce, tohle by jinak jeden urcite byl.
Queenstown neni jen hlavnim mestem adrenalinu, ale zaroven malebne mestecko na brehu jezera Wakatipu pod vysokanskymi kopci. Vecer pri zapadu slunce vidime zelenou?! oblohu. Skoda, ze zrovna dosly baterie ve fotaku. K obedu jednoznacne doporucujeme svetoznamy Fergburger. 15dolaru nekomu mozna prijde za hamburger dost, ale verte, ze lepsi maso v housce budete shanet tezko. Muj tip je jehneci s matou.
Navecer druhy den vyjedeme lanovkou nad mesto, ale zelena obloha se podruhe nekona. Na dalsi 2 dny pujcime auto, ale kvuli Velikonocnim svatkum je vse rozebrane a tak na me zbyde jen automaticka prevodovka. Prvni jizdy jsou docela zazitek, proc to auto misto pribrzdeni vzdy rovnou na miste zastavi? :)
Na vylet jedeme ve 4. Itinerarem jizniho ostrova jsme se presne strefili do programu 2 ceskych holcin;) Martiny a Jany (Zdravime!). Cilem je Milford Sound, vzdusnou carou vzdaleny jen 30km, ale 5h cesty po silnici. Jediny vozidlem pristupny fjord z obrovskeho NP Fjordland. Jak uz jsme si zvykli, mame bezchybne pocasi. Vzhledem k tomu, ze je tu prumerny rocni uhrn srazek 7m a maximum 10.4m! docela drzost. Silnice vede mezi ostrymi vysokymi kopci. Na chvilku zajdeme protahnout nohy do dzungle a kapradi kde je uzka souteska Chasm. Presne ji vystihuje citat, ktery zni nejak takhle: 'Nejlepsi socharske nastroje nejsou majzlik a kladivo, staci jen lehky a dlouhy dotek vody a vzduchu.' Na Milford Sound jedeme na 2h plavbu podel brehu fjordu. Kilometrove vertikalni svahy kolem jsou plne vodopadu uplne zavislych na desti a nektere jsou hodne mohutne i kdyz ted zrovna nemaji prisun vody. Cestou zpatky konecne vidime ohromna stada ovci, tech 60mil nekde byt musi. Pocasi je porad krasne, ale citelne se ochladilo. Misto kratas prichazi na radu kalhoty a bunda.
Dunedin (preklad skotskeho Edinburgh) zalozeny skotskymi pristehovalci se misty opravdu podoba Edinburghu. Zastavime se u Baldwin St. coz je podle Guinessovy knihy rekordu nejstrmejsi ulice sveta, ale myslime ze jediny duvod proc tento titul drzi je, ze nikdo v Bolivijskem La Pazu nema o teto knize ani paru.
Nedaleko Dunedinu zastavime u Moeraki Boulders. Velike kameny ve tvaru koule nahodne rozsypane po plazi. Vypadaji jak draci vejce ze kterych se kazdou chvili musi neco vyklubat.
Navecer prijedeme do Tekapa. Krasny hostel na brehu jezera bude nasim domovem pristich par dni kde mame pokoj spolecne s Martinou a Janou. Hned prvni den jsem si sel od 10 do pulnoci lamat krk a mrznout na hvezdarnu a vyzkumnou stanici Mt. John (holky odradila zima v noci, ale vydatne nas tam zasobovali horkou cokoladou tak se to dalo prezit). NASA vybirala lokaci pro tuto hvezdarnu pres 5 let a nakonec se zdarilo - nejlepsi podminky na jizni polokouli co se tyce cistoty vzduchu, oblacnosti a svetelneho znecisteni. A jeste ke vsemu jsme tu jen jeden den do novu a tak nic nerusi absolutni cernou pretatou mlecnou drahou. Astronomove maji silne laserove ukazovatka s dostahem 5km a tak na obloze doslova kresli a popisuji co vse vidime. Stred nasi glaxie, Magellanicovi galaxie a souhvezdi jizni polokoule (toto na severni polokouli neni viditelne), pak jeste Venuse a Saturn vcetne svych prstencu. Zajimava prezentace provedena vtipnou formou. Clovek si pripada hodne bezvyznamny, kdyz nam ukazou nevyraznou tecku na obloze a pak je v objektivu videt seskupeni 4mil hvezd...sem tam do toho vseho proleti meteorit. Pro me jeden z nejlepsich zazitku Noveho Zelandu.
Dalsi den se rozhodneme po nenarocnem treku zajit navecer do venkovnich vyhrivanych bazenu. Jen tak si lezet a kochat se nocni oblohou, parada.
3ti den pobytu jedeme jen ja s Jancou na trek pod Mt. Cook (nekdy prezdivane hora zabijak, vyzadala si uz pres 130zivotu horolezcu). Jdeme pohodovy 4h trek udolim Hooker az pod Mt. Cook kde si u ledovce na brehu jezera dame obed. Po ceste sem tam spadne nahore lavina a naplni udoli poradnym dunenim a hrmenim. A jedna je opravdu velka, krasa. Mt. Cook i kdyz neveliky (3754m) je opravdu majestatni, jen smeknout a poklonit se. Vecer si jdu zahrat hokej na mistni zimak, ktery jsme objevili vcera u bazenu. Kdyby mi nekdo pred vyletem tvrdil, ze si na Zelandu zahraju vyborny hokej s cechy, kanadany a maorem (mimochodem vyborny hrac, absolutne se do hokeje zblaznil a nekolik mesicu trenuje kazdy den) tak bych neveril. K dispozici je komplet nove vybaveni, vsichni zavodne hrali nebo hraji a tak ma zapas slusnou uroven (netreba zminovat, ze cesky utok si vedl velmi dobre ;)
Po Tekapu uz nam zbyva jen Christchurch, pro nas nejhezci mesto NZ. Krasna katedrala, centrum umeni a botanicke zahrady mohou souperit s Dublinskymi. Vecer dame jeste rozlucku s holkama se kterymi jsme cestovali skoro 2 tydny. Martina nam predvede sva kulinarska kouzla a jeste ted se nam sbihaji sliny kdyz vzpomeneme na tu dobrotu ;)
Urcite to neni naposledy co jsme se na NZ podivali, byt to blize domu tak tu snad rovnou zustaneme!
Fotky:
Abel Tasman
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59420&id=1344786025&l=1c9d1f50f2
Lake Matheson
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59421&id=1344786025&l=cc5be3ebb8
Queenstown
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59423&id=1344786025&l=e9c86cb5ee
Franz Josef
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59425&id=1344786025&l=ccf1fb71e9
Milford Sound
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59426&id=1344786025&l=7c57b7a646
First town of South Island where we decide to stay for a while is Nelson - sunniest town of NZ (not, that we need it, in a month we had just one rainy day). Nelson will do nicely as a base to explore NP Abel Tasman. And already from a boat we can see that the trek will be worth it. Dense forest and lagoons with golden sandy fringes. Great 22km of easy terrain, beaches lure to have a rest, but as soon as we stop for a picnic sand flies make appearance and are quite annoying. Some of the tracks in the NP have 2 different routes depending on the tide.
Then we continue from Nelson to Greymouth. Scenery as usual is great, but besides stop at Pancake rocks (cliff formation made of thin layers of sediments) and seal colony nothing interesting happens. We cross quite a lot of 3in1 bridges - 1 line for both directions, both cars and trains.
On the way from Greymouth to Franz Josef is Bush museum, definitely worth mentioning. We watched interesting document about how NZ coped with a deer (not native, imported from Britain) problem and why is there so many deer farms here. Every year over 2mil deer got shot. And before shoot nets were invented the hunters were jumping on the deer backs from helicopter! Franz Josef is a small village consisting of just 2 streets. Main reason why most of the people come here is the glacier, but after seeing Perito Moreno we don't even bother to hike close to it.
Next day we catch the mirror lake Matheson bathing in morning sun light with fog ribbons lying around. Luckily nature cannot create tacky views, this would be it.
Queenstown is not just an adrenalin capital, but also a picturesque town on the Wakatipu lake just below big hills. In the evening wondering around town we see a green?! sunset. Pity, the batteries in camera just went flat. For a lunch world well known Fergburger is highly recommended. Somebody might argue that 15dollars for a burger is a lot but believe that better chunk of meat in a bun is hard to come by. My tip is lamb with mint.
Evening of next day we take a cable car up to the peak above the town, unfortunately green sunset is not on tonight. We rent a car for 2 days. Due to the Easter holidays nearly everything is gone and all we can get is automatic transmission. First attempts are quite a thrill, why does the car stop on the spot instead of just slowing down? :)
There is 4 of us taking this trip. Our itinerary matched exactly with plans of 2 Czech girls Martina and Jana. We decided to head to Milford Sound, fjord that is only 30km far from Queenstown by air but 5hrs driving. The only accessible fjord by car in the whole huge NP Fjordland. As usual we have a perfect weather - taking into account that average rainfall here is 7m and maximum 10.4m! it's nearly a blasphemy.
Road is just down below sharp hills. We go for a short walk to stretch our legs at narrow passage Chasm. This quotation does quite a good job on describing it: 'The best sculptor's tools are not chisel and hammer. All you need is light touch of air and water.'
At Milford Sound we take a 2h cruise along the sides of it. Big vertical walls around us are full of waterfalls completely dependent on rain water. On our way back to QT we finally see huge herds of sheep, the 60mil must be somewhere. Weather is still great, just temperature dropped significantly. So we change shorts for a trousers and jacket.
Dunedin (translation of Edinburgh) really bears resemblance to the original. But we don't find it as spectacular. We stop at the Baldwin St. which according to Guiness Book of records is the steepest street in the world. But I think that the only reason why it holds the title is that in Bolivian La Paz nobody knows about its existence.
Not far from Dunedin we stop at Moeraki Boulders. Big rocks in the shape of sphere randomly scattered along the beach. If anything like that existed we'd say they are dragon eggs that are about to crack.
We arrive to Tekapo in the evening. Great hostel on the shore of Tekapo lake will be our home for next few days. We share the room with Martina and Jana. Girls are bit tired but I decide to go freeze and break my neck at night at the Mr. John observatory. NASA was looking for the location for this observatory for over 5yrs and succeeded in the end - best conditions for stargazing in the southern hemisphere. Clear air, minimum of cloudy days and no light pollution. On the top of all these things we are only a day to New moon so nothing can distract the absolute blackness with blazing Milky way. Astronomers from the observatory have laser pointers with reach of 5km and can literally draw on the night sky. We can see a lot of great things not visible from our side of the earth - centre of our galaxy, Magellanics' galaxies and other constellations plus Venus and Saturn including its rings. Very interesting presentation delivered in a funny form keeps us entertained for 3hours. We all feel very unimportant, especially when we're shown a pale dot and then we can see 4mil stars gazing through the telescope...from time to time meteorite flashes across. One of the best things I saw in NZ.
Day after we just relax at the spa and can stargaze again, this time laying on our back in warm pools.
3rd day of our stay myself and Jana alone go for a trek below Mt. Cook (sometimes infamously nicknamed Mt. Killer, it claimed over 130 lives of mountaineers). Trek is easy 4hrs walk through Hooker valley. Couple times the valley roars with an avalanche falling above on the slopes, great. Mt. Cook while not very big (3754m) is quite majestic. In the evening I go for a game of ice-hockey on the local ice ring that we discovered yesterday by the spa. If someone told me that during our travels I'll play great game of ice-hockey with other Czechs, Canadians, Scandinavians and one Maori guy (by the way very decent player, absolutely fell for the game and has been training for last 8 months every day) I would not believe. I think I don't need to mention that Czech offence did quite well and scored few nice goals ;)
Our last stop in NZ after Tekapo is Christchurch, both of us agreed that the most beautiful big town in NZ. Nice cathedral, arts centre and botanical gardens can match the Dublins' ones. Last evening with girls we spent nearly 2weeks with rounds up a dinner. Culinary feast made by Martina.
Definitely this was not our last time we visited this great country. If it was closer to home I think we'd stay for indefinite time!
Pics:
Abel Tasman
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59420&id=1344786025&l=1c9d1f50f2
Lake Matheson
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59421&id=1344786025&l=cc5be3ebb8
Queenstown
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59423&id=1344786025&l=e9c86cb5ee
Franz Josef
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59425&id=1344786025&l=ccf1fb71e9
Milford Sound
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59426&id=1344786025&l=7c57b7a646
Friday, 2 April 2010
Severni Ostrov / North Island (New Zealand)
Popisovat krajinu Noveho Zelandu se da dost tezko. Vzhledem k tomu, ze tu maji uplne vsechno a nahustene na 3 mensich ostrovech nejlepsi prirovnani bude kdyz rekneme, ze je to mix toho lepsiho z Irska, Svycarska, trochou Norska a primesi exotiky. Asi tak nejak. Krajina je tak krasna, aby bez problemu nadchla i cloveka ktery uz neco videl. Ke vsemu jsme tu jeste chytili krasne babi leto.
U novozelandanu je vse 'Sweet As' (Na pohodu) a musime rict, ze tenhle vyraz se ujal stejne rychle jako 'Chicos' v JA.
Z Aucklandu jedeme hned druhy den na poloostrov Coromandel. Prvni zastavka je plaz horke vody kde za odlivu staci vzit lopatu a muzete si vykopat v pisku vlastni termalni bazenek. Toto se nam, ale nepostesti protoze mame zrovna priliv. Ale i tak je plaz nadherna a voda v mori tepla. Dalsi zastavka je magicka Cathedral Cove (ve filmu Narnie 2 tu decka prosli z Londynskeho metra primo do Narnie). A pripadame si opravdu jak v pohadce, jedna z nejhezcich plazi co jsme videli, staci sundat boty a tunelem se probrodit do chranene zatoky se zlatym piskem. More tu neni tak teple, ale porad se to da kdyz tam vlezla i Janca. Dale navstivime mesto bohatych Whitianga (oblibene misto kapitana Cooka), mistni si protahli more skrz kanaly az do zahrad a tak mohou parkovat sve jachty hned u domu. Prekvapuje nas, ze stromy kiwi vypadaji jak trochu prerostla vinna reva.
Dalsi den jedeme pres mesto Hobitu do Rotoruy. Lezi na jednom z nejvetsich geotermalnich poli NZ a sem tam je citit sira, po meste jsou nahodne rozmistene jezirka s bublajicim bahnem. Zde navstivime manufakturu kde opracovavaji nefrit (posvatny maorsky kamen) do krasnych tradicnich tvaru. Pujcime auto a zajedeme na prochazku do Redwood forest. Obrovsky les plny sekvoju a az 10m kapradi (narodni znak NZ), jsme z nej uplne nadseni. Oddelene stezky pro pesi, horska kola a kone. Snad nejhezci les co jsme videli.
Pristi den rano jedeme do Wai-O-Tapu. Geotermalni park zbarveny vsemoznymi mineraly, smrdici sirou, bublajici bahno, gejziry. Nejvic se nam libi Sampanske jezirko se sumici vodou a brehu ze smesi siry a zlata, jedovate zelena dablova koupel a jezero plne bublajiciho bahna strikajiciho az do 2m. Odpoledne jdeme do stanice pro ochranu kiwiu. Ptaci jsou hodne srandovni, prekvapi nas velikost, asi jako slepice.
Dalsi den je Den s velkym D! Projizdime Tolkienovu Stredozem, navstivime farmu ohromnych kraliku, kteri se pestuji pro srst stejne hebkou jako kasmir. Pokracujeme do Waitomo, kde maji zrovna mistni festival a zavody ve strihani ovci (mene nez 1min), sekani dreva, atd.
Ja si dojdu vyfasovat 5mm neopren, helmu a dusi od nakladaku a jdu 'raftovat cernou vodu'. Janca se rozhodne jeskyne prozkoumat z bezpeci lode. V jeskynich je zima, voda mezi 6-9st. Hned na zacatku se plazime 15m tunelem o prumeru 1m s tekouci vodou ke skrytemu vodopadu. Na konci je jeskyne 3x3m a pada na nas vodopad z vysky 14m. Vratime se, skocime z mensiho vodopadu a jedeme tmou a tunely asi 40min. Hlavni atrakci jsou Glow Worms. Cervi, jejichz trus diky chemicke reakci sviti a laka potravu - mame nad sebou nas maly soukromy vesmir, misty tak jasny, ze se odrazi od vody na ktere jedeme. Tisice a tisice hvezd vzdalenych na dosah ruky. Zmrzli na kost pak pokracujeme do Taupo. Mesta na brehu nejvetsiho krateroveho jezera sveta, pred 25000lety tu byla nejvetsi erupce v historii planety. Zastavime u Huka Falls, ale jedine co nas tu muze prekvapit po tom co jsme videli Iguazu Falls je cistota vody, absolutni modra (95% rek a potoku NZ je pitna voda). Je krasny letni den a tak se na posledni chvili rozhodneme pro skok padakem! 20 nervoznich minut nahoru do 4km. Janca je uplne v pohode, ale ja nejsem zrovna nejvetsi pritel letani ani vysek, idealni sport pro me. Hnede bezpecnostni trenky sebou ale nemam. Pocit kdyz se ve 4km otevrou dvere a sedite na hrane a koukate dolu se da popsat dost tezce. Zrovna tak skok a 45s volneho padu vice nez 200km/h. Skacu prvni a se mnou skace jeste jeden typek co si se mnou ve vzduchu placa, podava ruce a dela ruzne opicky, pad nam prijde dost dlouhy. Ale pote co se otevre padak si muzeme s Jancou zamavat a pozorovat ostrov pod nami. Jsou videt oba brehy a v dalce dokonce breh jizniho ostrova. Primo pod nami jezero Taupo a hora Mt. Doom, chybi jen vsevidouci Sauronovo oko. Bomba!
Navstevu severniho ostrova zakoncime ve Wellingtonu. Prijemne mesto ktere na nas nepusobi jako ostatni hlavni mesta, ale ma spise atmosferu pohodoveho krajskeho mesta. Zajdeme do narodniho muzea TePapa. Zajimave zpracovane interaktivni exibice nas zdrzi cele odpoledne. Pristi den rano uz jen plavba pres Cookovu uzinu kde nas vyprovodi stovky delfinu.
Foto:
Coromandel
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57061&id=1344786025&l=11c7632b40
Rotorua
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57063&id=1344786025&l=8007da8017
Taupo
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57064&id=1344786025&l=cdb5ab2365
Wellington
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57065&id=1344786025&l=aea4704d12
Describe the landscape of NZ is quite difficult. When you take into account that NZ has nearly everything you can find on this planet the best metaphor would be if we say that it's a mixture of the nice stuff taken from Ireland, Switzerland, bit of Norway with an exotic touch. Landscape can easily impress anybody. And on the top of all the things we have great end of the summer weather.
With Kiwis everything is 'Sweet As' and it's quite catchy, like 'Chicos' in Latin America.
We leave Auckland next day after arrival and head for Coromandel peninsula. Hot Water Beach is our first stop, place where you can dig out your own thermal bath providing it's low tide. Next stop is magical Cathedral Cove (used in making the movie Narnia 2). And it really feels like being in a fairy tale, one of the most beautiful beaches we've ever seen. Take off your shoes, ford through the tunnel and enter a sheltered beach with golden sand. Sea is warm enough even for Jana to go for a swim. Then we visit a town of Whitianga, favorite place of Cpt. Cook. Local rich families extended canals from the sea to their back yards so the yachts can be parked next to the house.
We're surprised that kiwi trees look like big grapevine and not like trees.
Next day we pass through Hobbitton town to Rotorua. Rotorua lays on one of the biggest geothermal areas in the NZ a smells of sulphur, there are ponds of bubbling mud randomly scattered around the town. We visit a jade manufacture (sacred Maori stone) where the stone is wrought into beautiful traditional shapes. We rent a car and go for a stroll into Redwood forest. Huge forest full of redwood and fern, we are absolutely blown away. Greatest forest we've seen so far with separate paths for walking, MTB and horses.
Next morning we drive to Wai-O-Tapu. Geothermal park coloured by various minerals, stinking of sulphur, geysers, etc. Our top picks are Champagne lake with sparkling water and bank made of sulphur and gold compound, Devil's bath with poisonous green color and lake full of bubbling mud squirting up to 2m. In the afternoon we visit nocturnal house full of kiwi birds. They are cute and funny, we're surprised how big they are. Same size as chicken.
Today is a Day with capital D! Making our way through the Middleearth, stopping at the giant rabbit farm that are grown for their fur equally soft as cashmere. Continuing towards Waitomo, where is currently on a local festival and various competitions like sheep trimming, wood cutting, etc.
I don a 5mm wetsuit, helmet and big inner tube and go 'rafting the blackwater'. Jana decides to explore the caves from the safety of boat deck. Caves are quite cold, water temperature 6-9degrees. We start by crawling through 15m long tunnel laying down in cold water reaching secret hidden waterfall at the end. We return jump of the small waterfall and float in complete darkness for about 40mins. Main attraction are Glow Worms. Worms that produce dropping that glows in the dark and attracts their feed. Above us we have our own small personal universe, in some places bright enough to reflect of the water surface. Thousands and thousands of stars withing the reach of our hands. Great - frozen to the bone we continue to Taupo.
Town spread on the bank of Taupo lake, biggest crater lake in the world. 25000yrs ago this was the place of biggest eruption in the history of Earth. Short stop at the Huka Falls, but after seeing Iguazu Falls the only thing that can surprise is how crystal clear the water is. Weather is great so we decide to do a skydive!
20 anxious minutes up to reach 4km. Jana enjoys it a lot, but I'm not the best friend of heights and flying, ideal sport for me. And I forgot to pack the safety brown underwear... To describe the feeling when the door open at 4km above the earth and you're sitting on the edge and look down is quite hard. Same with the freefall, speed of 200km/h lasting 45s. I am the first one to go, with me jumps another guy who gives me high5 when falling, the fall feels much longer than 45s.. Once the parachute opens I can wave to Jana and have a look at the island below us. Visibility is good and we can see both coasts of North Island and even outline of the South Island. Straight below us lake Taupo and Mt. Doom, missing just Sauron's allseeing eye. What a blast!
Visit of the North Island ends in Wellington. City with friendly feeling that doesn't have the cosmopolitan atmosphere of other capitals. National museum TePapa keeps us entertained for the whole afternoon. Next morning we cross the Cook's Strait and hundreds of dolphins see us off.
Pictures:
Coromandel
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57061&id=1344786025&l=11c7632b40
Rotorua
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57063&id=1344786025&l=8007da8017
Taupo
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57064&id=1344786025&l=cdb5ab2365
Wellington
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57065&id=1344786025&l=aea4704d12
U novozelandanu je vse 'Sweet As' (Na pohodu) a musime rict, ze tenhle vyraz se ujal stejne rychle jako 'Chicos' v JA.
Z Aucklandu jedeme hned druhy den na poloostrov Coromandel. Prvni zastavka je plaz horke vody kde za odlivu staci vzit lopatu a muzete si vykopat v pisku vlastni termalni bazenek. Toto se nam, ale nepostesti protoze mame zrovna priliv. Ale i tak je plaz nadherna a voda v mori tepla. Dalsi zastavka je magicka Cathedral Cove (ve filmu Narnie 2 tu decka prosli z Londynskeho metra primo do Narnie). A pripadame si opravdu jak v pohadce, jedna z nejhezcich plazi co jsme videli, staci sundat boty a tunelem se probrodit do chranene zatoky se zlatym piskem. More tu neni tak teple, ale porad se to da kdyz tam vlezla i Janca. Dale navstivime mesto bohatych Whitianga (oblibene misto kapitana Cooka), mistni si protahli more skrz kanaly az do zahrad a tak mohou parkovat sve jachty hned u domu. Prekvapuje nas, ze stromy kiwi vypadaji jak trochu prerostla vinna reva.
Dalsi den jedeme pres mesto Hobitu do Rotoruy. Lezi na jednom z nejvetsich geotermalnich poli NZ a sem tam je citit sira, po meste jsou nahodne rozmistene jezirka s bublajicim bahnem. Zde navstivime manufakturu kde opracovavaji nefrit (posvatny maorsky kamen) do krasnych tradicnich tvaru. Pujcime auto a zajedeme na prochazku do Redwood forest. Obrovsky les plny sekvoju a az 10m kapradi (narodni znak NZ), jsme z nej uplne nadseni. Oddelene stezky pro pesi, horska kola a kone. Snad nejhezci les co jsme videli.
Pristi den rano jedeme do Wai-O-Tapu. Geotermalni park zbarveny vsemoznymi mineraly, smrdici sirou, bublajici bahno, gejziry. Nejvic se nam libi Sampanske jezirko se sumici vodou a brehu ze smesi siry a zlata, jedovate zelena dablova koupel a jezero plne bublajiciho bahna strikajiciho az do 2m. Odpoledne jdeme do stanice pro ochranu kiwiu. Ptaci jsou hodne srandovni, prekvapi nas velikost, asi jako slepice.
Dalsi den je Den s velkym D! Projizdime Tolkienovu Stredozem, navstivime farmu ohromnych kraliku, kteri se pestuji pro srst stejne hebkou jako kasmir. Pokracujeme do Waitomo, kde maji zrovna mistni festival a zavody ve strihani ovci (mene nez 1min), sekani dreva, atd.
Ja si dojdu vyfasovat 5mm neopren, helmu a dusi od nakladaku a jdu 'raftovat cernou vodu'. Janca se rozhodne jeskyne prozkoumat z bezpeci lode. V jeskynich je zima, voda mezi 6-9st. Hned na zacatku se plazime 15m tunelem o prumeru 1m s tekouci vodou ke skrytemu vodopadu. Na konci je jeskyne 3x3m a pada na nas vodopad z vysky 14m. Vratime se, skocime z mensiho vodopadu a jedeme tmou a tunely asi 40min. Hlavni atrakci jsou Glow Worms. Cervi, jejichz trus diky chemicke reakci sviti a laka potravu - mame nad sebou nas maly soukromy vesmir, misty tak jasny, ze se odrazi od vody na ktere jedeme. Tisice a tisice hvezd vzdalenych na dosah ruky. Zmrzli na kost pak pokracujeme do Taupo. Mesta na brehu nejvetsiho krateroveho jezera sveta, pred 25000lety tu byla nejvetsi erupce v historii planety. Zastavime u Huka Falls, ale jedine co nas tu muze prekvapit po tom co jsme videli Iguazu Falls je cistota vody, absolutni modra (95% rek a potoku NZ je pitna voda). Je krasny letni den a tak se na posledni chvili rozhodneme pro skok padakem! 20 nervoznich minut nahoru do 4km. Janca je uplne v pohode, ale ja nejsem zrovna nejvetsi pritel letani ani vysek, idealni sport pro me. Hnede bezpecnostni trenky sebou ale nemam. Pocit kdyz se ve 4km otevrou dvere a sedite na hrane a koukate dolu se da popsat dost tezce. Zrovna tak skok a 45s volneho padu vice nez 200km/h. Skacu prvni a se mnou skace jeste jeden typek co si se mnou ve vzduchu placa, podava ruce a dela ruzne opicky, pad nam prijde dost dlouhy. Ale pote co se otevre padak si muzeme s Jancou zamavat a pozorovat ostrov pod nami. Jsou videt oba brehy a v dalce dokonce breh jizniho ostrova. Primo pod nami jezero Taupo a hora Mt. Doom, chybi jen vsevidouci Sauronovo oko. Bomba!
Navstevu severniho ostrova zakoncime ve Wellingtonu. Prijemne mesto ktere na nas nepusobi jako ostatni hlavni mesta, ale ma spise atmosferu pohodoveho krajskeho mesta. Zajdeme do narodniho muzea TePapa. Zajimave zpracovane interaktivni exibice nas zdrzi cele odpoledne. Pristi den rano uz jen plavba pres Cookovu uzinu kde nas vyprovodi stovky delfinu.
Foto:
Coromandel
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57061&id=1344786025&l=11c7632b40
Rotorua
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57063&id=1344786025&l=8007da8017
Taupo
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57064&id=1344786025&l=cdb5ab2365
Wellington
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57065&id=1344786025&l=aea4704d12
Describe the landscape of NZ is quite difficult. When you take into account that NZ has nearly everything you can find on this planet the best metaphor would be if we say that it's a mixture of the nice stuff taken from Ireland, Switzerland, bit of Norway with an exotic touch. Landscape can easily impress anybody. And on the top of all the things we have great end of the summer weather.
With Kiwis everything is 'Sweet As' and it's quite catchy, like 'Chicos' in Latin America.
We leave Auckland next day after arrival and head for Coromandel peninsula. Hot Water Beach is our first stop, place where you can dig out your own thermal bath providing it's low tide. Next stop is magical Cathedral Cove (used in making the movie Narnia 2). And it really feels like being in a fairy tale, one of the most beautiful beaches we've ever seen. Take off your shoes, ford through the tunnel and enter a sheltered beach with golden sand. Sea is warm enough even for Jana to go for a swim. Then we visit a town of Whitianga, favorite place of Cpt. Cook. Local rich families extended canals from the sea to their back yards so the yachts can be parked next to the house.
We're surprised that kiwi trees look like big grapevine and not like trees.
Next day we pass through Hobbitton town to Rotorua. Rotorua lays on one of the biggest geothermal areas in the NZ a smells of sulphur, there are ponds of bubbling mud randomly scattered around the town. We visit a jade manufacture (sacred Maori stone) where the stone is wrought into beautiful traditional shapes. We rent a car and go for a stroll into Redwood forest. Huge forest full of redwood and fern, we are absolutely blown away. Greatest forest we've seen so far with separate paths for walking, MTB and horses.
Next morning we drive to Wai-O-Tapu. Geothermal park coloured by various minerals, stinking of sulphur, geysers, etc. Our top picks are Champagne lake with sparkling water and bank made of sulphur and gold compound, Devil's bath with poisonous green color and lake full of bubbling mud squirting up to 2m. In the afternoon we visit nocturnal house full of kiwi birds. They are cute and funny, we're surprised how big they are. Same size as chicken.
Today is a Day with capital D! Making our way through the Middleearth, stopping at the giant rabbit farm that are grown for their fur equally soft as cashmere. Continuing towards Waitomo, where is currently on a local festival and various competitions like sheep trimming, wood cutting, etc.
I don a 5mm wetsuit, helmet and big inner tube and go 'rafting the blackwater'. Jana decides to explore the caves from the safety of boat deck. Caves are quite cold, water temperature 6-9degrees. We start by crawling through 15m long tunnel laying down in cold water reaching secret hidden waterfall at the end. We return jump of the small waterfall and float in complete darkness for about 40mins. Main attraction are Glow Worms. Worms that produce dropping that glows in the dark and attracts their feed. Above us we have our own small personal universe, in some places bright enough to reflect of the water surface. Thousands and thousands of stars withing the reach of our hands. Great - frozen to the bone we continue to Taupo.
Town spread on the bank of Taupo lake, biggest crater lake in the world. 25000yrs ago this was the place of biggest eruption in the history of Earth. Short stop at the Huka Falls, but after seeing Iguazu Falls the only thing that can surprise is how crystal clear the water is. Weather is great so we decide to do a skydive!
20 anxious minutes up to reach 4km. Jana enjoys it a lot, but I'm not the best friend of heights and flying, ideal sport for me. And I forgot to pack the safety brown underwear... To describe the feeling when the door open at 4km above the earth and you're sitting on the edge and look down is quite hard. Same with the freefall, speed of 200km/h lasting 45s. I am the first one to go, with me jumps another guy who gives me high5 when falling, the fall feels much longer than 45s.. Once the parachute opens I can wave to Jana and have a look at the island below us. Visibility is good and we can see both coasts of North Island and even outline of the South Island. Straight below us lake Taupo and Mt. Doom, missing just Sauron's allseeing eye. What a blast!
Visit of the North Island ends in Wellington. City with friendly feeling that doesn't have the cosmopolitan atmosphere of other capitals. National museum TePapa keeps us entertained for the whole afternoon. Next morning we cross the Cook's Strait and hundreds of dolphins see us off.
Pictures:
Coromandel
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57061&id=1344786025&l=11c7632b40
Rotorua
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57063&id=1344786025&l=8007da8017
Taupo
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57064&id=1344786025&l=cdb5ab2365
Wellington
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57065&id=1344786025&l=aea4704d12
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Santiago/Auckland (Chile/New Zealand)
V Santiagu je priletova hala primo na parkovisti pred skutecnou halou. Zemetreseni Santiago nezasahlo oproti Concepcion (ktere je srovnane se zemi) az tak moc, ale nektere nasledky se jeste nepodarilo odstranit. Sem tam maji historicke budovy praskliny a jsou ohranicene aby na nekoho nespadly.
Na to jak je mesto velke je hodne ciste, zadne odpadky, nedopalky ani zvykacky na zemi. Mesto je rozhodne metropole nejevropstejsiho stylu co jsme v JA videli, nevime proc vsechny pruvodce vyzdvihuji Buenos Aires ktere ma s Evropou spolecne jen znacky v obchodech. Za zminku stoji hlavne vyhlidka z kopce San Cristobal, kde je celych 6mil obyvatel jako na dlani a nad tim krasne 5ti tisicovky. A potom jeste predkolonialni muzeum, ktere nas nauci hodne o incke kulture a expozice jsou najzajimavejsi ze vsech muzeii co jsme v JA navstivili.
Jeste cestou na letiste nas mrzi, ze jsme nevedeli o tom, ze spousta letu na Novy Zeland mezipristava na Velikonocnich ostrovech. Sakra. Adios America del Sur!
Nedele 21/3 z naseho zivota diky casovemu posunu a 14h letu uplne zmizela. Do NZ jsme vpusteni bez jakychkoliv problemu (pokud nezminujeme vyborny sendvic co jsme museli vyhodit). Ve meste hned atakujeme prvni kavarnu co vidime - obycejny croissant, cappuccino a cisty zachod s toaletnim papirem, mydlem a teplou vodou, platba kartou! Tyto zdanlive bezne veci jsou pro nas absolutni VIP! Z casoveho posunu jsme hodne unaveni, bude to dlouhy den. Krome nakupu vicemene zvladneme vyjet jen na Skytower, architektonicky skvost kde se muzeme kochat 360st pohledem na mesto z 220m. Zvlastni pocit, stat v tehle vysce na prosklene podlaze a koukat pod sebe na miniaturni mrakodrapy. A komu to nestaci muze se nechat spustit dolu na lane rychlosti volneho padu. Jeste nas prekvapuje kolik je ve meste asiatu, vice nez mistnich.
Foto Santiago
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57059&id=1344786025&l=fca0797c7d
Foto Auckland
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57060&id=1344786025&l=24239f8171
In Santiago is the arrival hall on the parking places in front of the real hall. Earthquake that hit and completely raised down Concepcion didn't struck here that hard but some of it's effects are hard to fix. Some historical buildings have big cracks.
For the city of this size are all the streets very clean. It's is the most European metropolis we've seen here, don't know why all guides mention Buenos Aires, which most common things with Europe are brands in the shops. Worth mentioning is hill San Cristobal where you can see all 6mil inhabitants down below with some 5000m high peaks above. And the precolonial museum, it tells a lot about Inca culture and society and by far is most enjoyable museum in SA.
Pity we didn't know that a lot of flights to Auckland land on Easter islands...it would be a great stop. Adios America del Sur!
Thanks to the difference in time zones and 14hrs flight Sunday 21/3 has completely disappeared from our lives. If we don't count nice sandwich we had to throw out there were no problems with immigration. We attack the first coffee place in town we see - croissant, cappuccino, clean toilet with paper, soap and hot water, payment by card! These seemingly common things are an absolute VIP! We are very tired from the jet lag, it will be a long day. Besides grocery shopping we only manage to get ourselves on the top of Skytower. Architectonic beauty where you can see Auckland 360degrees from 220m. Weird feeling, standing on the glass floor and look down at the tiny skyscrapers. Who wants a bit more thrill can throw himself down on a rope. We are quite surprised by the amount of Asian people living here, there is more of them than Kiwi people.
Santiago pics
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57059&id=1344786025&l=fca0797c7d
Auckland pics
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57060&id=1344786025&l=24239f8171
Na to jak je mesto velke je hodne ciste, zadne odpadky, nedopalky ani zvykacky na zemi. Mesto je rozhodne metropole nejevropstejsiho stylu co jsme v JA videli, nevime proc vsechny pruvodce vyzdvihuji Buenos Aires ktere ma s Evropou spolecne jen znacky v obchodech. Za zminku stoji hlavne vyhlidka z kopce San Cristobal, kde je celych 6mil obyvatel jako na dlani a nad tim krasne 5ti tisicovky. A potom jeste predkolonialni muzeum, ktere nas nauci hodne o incke kulture a expozice jsou najzajimavejsi ze vsech muzeii co jsme v JA navstivili.
Jeste cestou na letiste nas mrzi, ze jsme nevedeli o tom, ze spousta letu na Novy Zeland mezipristava na Velikonocnich ostrovech. Sakra. Adios America del Sur!
Nedele 21/3 z naseho zivota diky casovemu posunu a 14h letu uplne zmizela. Do NZ jsme vpusteni bez jakychkoliv problemu (pokud nezminujeme vyborny sendvic co jsme museli vyhodit). Ve meste hned atakujeme prvni kavarnu co vidime - obycejny croissant, cappuccino a cisty zachod s toaletnim papirem, mydlem a teplou vodou, platba kartou! Tyto zdanlive bezne veci jsou pro nas absolutni VIP! Z casoveho posunu jsme hodne unaveni, bude to dlouhy den. Krome nakupu vicemene zvladneme vyjet jen na Skytower, architektonicky skvost kde se muzeme kochat 360st pohledem na mesto z 220m. Zvlastni pocit, stat v tehle vysce na prosklene podlaze a koukat pod sebe na miniaturni mrakodrapy. A komu to nestaci muze se nechat spustit dolu na lane rychlosti volneho padu. Jeste nas prekvapuje kolik je ve meste asiatu, vice nez mistnich.
Foto Santiago
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57059&id=1344786025&l=fca0797c7d
Foto Auckland
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57060&id=1344786025&l=24239f8171
In Santiago is the arrival hall on the parking places in front of the real hall. Earthquake that hit and completely raised down Concepcion didn't struck here that hard but some of it's effects are hard to fix. Some historical buildings have big cracks.
For the city of this size are all the streets very clean. It's is the most European metropolis we've seen here, don't know why all guides mention Buenos Aires, which most common things with Europe are brands in the shops. Worth mentioning is hill San Cristobal where you can see all 6mil inhabitants down below with some 5000m high peaks above. And the precolonial museum, it tells a lot about Inca culture and society and by far is most enjoyable museum in SA.
Pity we didn't know that a lot of flights to Auckland land on Easter islands...it would be a great stop. Adios America del Sur!
Thanks to the difference in time zones and 14hrs flight Sunday 21/3 has completely disappeared from our lives. If we don't count nice sandwich we had to throw out there were no problems with immigration. We attack the first coffee place in town we see - croissant, cappuccino, clean toilet with paper, soap and hot water, payment by card! These seemingly common things are an absolute VIP! We are very tired from the jet lag, it will be a long day. Besides grocery shopping we only manage to get ourselves on the top of Skytower. Architectonic beauty where you can see Auckland 360degrees from 220m. Weird feeling, standing on the glass floor and look down at the tiny skyscrapers. Who wants a bit more thrill can throw himself down on a rope. We are quite surprised by the amount of Asian people living here, there is more of them than Kiwi people.
Santiago pics
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57059&id=1344786025&l=fca0797c7d
Auckland pics
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57060&id=1344786025&l=24239f8171
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