At home

I've been home just over a week now. I've been keeping pretty quiet, just helping family with some projects. I haven't yet decided what to do next. Ive only been in touch with a few friends. 

I have lots of ideas, but I'm not sure about committing to staying.   

It seems like I was away for longer than 5.5 months, so I keep having to remind myself of that when I see things haven't changed so much. 

This year was hard on me. India was tough, getting robbed in Spain was tougher. I still want to be traveling, but I think I've lost my independent streak. So it's left me confused as to what to do next.  

Travels: Kuala Lumpur

My last stop of this trip, and really, I'm so 'over' sightseeing that I didn't do anything with a cost to it aside from seeking out a few highly recommended meals. 

To me KL is all about shopping (and eating), and since I don't like shopping it's never had a lot of appeal. But I took a look at the shops and markets anyway. 

I had already googled whether the shopping was better in Bangkok or KL and discovered that Bangkok is cheaper but KL better for brand names: both real and knock-offs. 

I've never understood people's want for branded stuff. I'm talking about all those top high-end fashion brands. 

To me it sends a message of stupidity and vanity to be buying either the fake or the real goods. I'd never want people to think I was crazy or vain enough to spend lots-of-money on an item marked Gucci, Louis Vuitton, or any other top name. Nor would I want them to think I was simply vain enough to spend less money on a knock off that wasn't what it says it is. 

I did manage to find (and buy) a Malaysian made and designed bag that wasn't pretending to be anything that it wasn't. 

Other than that I also bought some tea, as I know I'll enjoy its benefits. 

Bangkok

On Monday night I bought a ticket on a Wednesday morning flight to Bangkok. I had been unable to decide where to go with my sore toe and no ideas were exciting me, so when I saw a cheap ticket with the new Norwegian air service, I took it (Norwegian isn't new but the Bangkok service is). 

So here I am, without much of a plan.  

Oh, flying Norwegian. The service was good apart from the camp air steward who rolled his eyes when I requested a glass of water instead of paying $4.50 for a bottle. I'm also glad I didn't buy the package of meals, seat selection, and checked luggage (I just paid baggage prior, but decided I'd rather buy breakfast at the airport before boarding and sleep on plane). Anyway the guy beside me did pay, and ordered diabetic meals, but got served the same 2 meals as I and everybody else did!

No more solo travelling?

I had such a good time travelling overland from Bangkok (Thailand) to Penang (Malaysia) that early this afternoon I started thinking that maybe I should keep on travelling and forget any thoughts of going home. And then I had this afternoons bus journey from Penang to Kuala Lumpur.

I left Bangkok on Monday afternoon. The train was late departing but I didn't much mind, I had the pleasant company of British father and son (adult) who were rather enthusiastic about trains. They were going elsewhere and left after 5 hours, and then the beds were set up for sleeping. 

The train compartment, 2nd class air conditioned, was really very nice: clean, well serviced, and not crowded. The beds were very good. 

In the middle of the night more people boarded, and in the morning I was making friends with more travellers. On leaving the train we had gathered a group of 7 people and we all headed off for money exchange, food and accommodation. 

The group spilt, but we were still 4 for accommodation and dinner. I was enjoying all this company. 

I decided that before leaving Penang I needed to see some of the island and its famous beaches. So in the morning my new Korean-American friend and I headed off by public bus (#101) to sightsee, and we walked a jetty and visited the national park too. Then we had a wonderful lunch before I said goodbye to catch a bus, alone, to Kuala Lumpur. 

And then I had the bus journey. On the bus journey a 28 year old muslim Punjabi-Singaporean was seated next to me. And, aside from the little while that he slept, he spent the rest of the 6 hour journey hitting on me. It was most annoying. He agreed with almost everything about me (annoying!) he liked my eyes, thinks I'm pretty, likes my age (about 10 years his senior), likes my opinions, my tastes ... It was really very tiresome. He wanted to take me out in KL, but I refused. 

To all those people who have questioned why I'm bothered when I travel alone and I get hit on, this is exactly the reason: 6 hours, with no means of escape. Exactly. I need a travel companion.  

Photo: Georgetown, Penang.

Bangkok: love it!

Bangkok might be the centre of the backpacking universe. And as I'm heading towards home, with a head full of ideas on what to do next, it's a great place to spend a few days. I've even decided to stay in the centre of the backpacker world: Kao San Road. 

It's great. I love South East Asia. I trust Asians. I feel comfortable again. (Since my robbery in Spain I haven't been feeling too trusting). Of course, I wouldn't go hiking alone in Asia, although I think I'd probably be okay if I did so. 

I've been doing all the things a tourist in Bangkok should: getting clothes tailor made, Thai massages, canal trips (public transport and the cheapie organised by the Bangkok tourist office), being taken for a ride by tuk tuk driver (okay, the price was too good to be true and I ended up being taken to more shopping sites than tourist sites). 

And now I'm leaving Bangkok: by train to Malaysia. From there I'm flying home. 

Binge over

I met a young German who described me as a binge traveller. What an awesome description of me. I have a tendency to work for a while and then travel for a while: binge travel.

Is it a problem? I don't think so, although lots of people often do express such thoughts. 

I've never wanted to have children and I feel that if I were to stay home I'd soon be bored without having them. 

Quite simply, travelling is what I've always wanted to do. Mum has said that the only way to pacify me as a baby was to put me in a pram and take me somewhere. 

I also reach a point where the travelling doesn't excite me anymore. I look at all the exciting options a place has on offer, and they don't interest me in the least. That means that it's time for the binge to be over and to go home. 

I also get tired of travelling alone. 

Today is my last day of this binge, tonight I'm flying home. 

Norway: in some nutshells

To see some good portions of Norway without too much trouble (I'm limping again with the toe injury), I did 2 trips: Handangerfjord in a Nutshell and Norway in a Nutshell (this one as the one way Bergen to Oslo option). 

Norway seems to be spectacular no matter what you do while the sun shines and these trips are no exception. If I had to choose just one of them, Norway in a Nutshell  wins. 

The trips are basically pre-purchased tickets which allow you on a set itinerary of public transport, with some options to do more things along the way. Norway in a Nutshell encompasses train, a bus journey through 13 hairpin bends, a boat cruise through UNESCO listed fjord, the world famous Flam railway, and, if you get to do Mrydal to Oslo (as you do on the one way), you take a train through spectacular snow covered terrain and past icey lakes. 

It's not cheap, but for Norway these trips are pretty good value. 

Am I Swedish or Norwegian?

An Indian on a boat trip in Norway started a conversation with me:

"Are you Swedish or Norwegian?"

It took me a moment before I realised he was talking to me. "Me?!, I'm Australian!"  

"Oh," he replied, "well you have scenery like this in New Zealand at Milford". 

I have met quite a few people in the world who think New Zealand is part of Australia, and I wondered if that was what he meant by saying I have this. But he qualified his remark: "I mean New Zealand is so close to Australia. I hear it's  like Pakistan and India". 

Clearly this guy hadn't studied a world map. It was too much for me, I remember watching the ceremonial closing of the border gates a few months ago at an India-Pakistani border. "No," I said, it's not, we don't share a border, it's about 3 hours flight for me, even Delhi is closer to Pakistan". 

"Oh, it's like USA and Canada."

Me: "well, India and Pakistan share a border, as do USA and Canada."

Later, talking to more tourists I understood his Milford remark a bit better. I haven't actually been there, but many people compare it to Norway. And it's less expensive to travel in NZ so he's wondering why I would be here if I didn't need a visa for NZ. Many Asians are traveling in Europe because they can do so without a visa. 

European hospital tour

While I was in Peru (about 3 months), I had three accidents for which I had to go to hospital. Some of my friends at home joked about me doing a hospital tour of Peru. 

Well, I'm at in again. In Spain, I was encouraged by my fellow pilgrims to go to hospital for my knee, so I did. The treatment recommended was no different from what I was doing. For my second knee injury I went to a physiotherapist, and the treatment was worth going for. 

Now in Norway, I found myself yet again at the hospital, as I had diarrhoea for 2 days, and the stuff in my travel kit wasn't fixing me. I also decided to get the doc to take a look at my toe that I stubbed 3 days ago, as the pain has been quite severe. Frustratingly, every Norwegian I've needed to talk to so far has spoken good English, but not the doctor! He seemed to understand me well enough, but mostly talked at me in Norwegian. 

Anyway, they tested my blood, found nothing wrong but a slightly high temperature, and he told me to take Imodium, eat soup and cooked apples, and drink juices, soft drinks, and electrolytes (I've been paying attention to menus and grocery items, this helped me to understand)... And prescribed an antibiotic ointment for my toe, which the chemist explained in good English. 

All this is making my decision making very difficult. I came to Norway hoping to hike a little, even do a Glacier, but I have a very sore toe. I mostly rested the last 2 days (well, with 2 health complaints and cold rainy days there wasn't a lot of encouragement to do anything). My last sore toe (Peru, a dislocation) took 6 weeks to heal.  

Today, I feel quite well. I'm doing a sightseeing trip (Hardanger in a Nutshell) to see how capable I am. 

But really, Norway is an expensive place to be sitting around, and the weather isn't great. So if I need to rest, I probably need to go somewhere cheaper. But I hate sitting around, I want to be active, and all my options seem uninteresting. 

Btw, Norway and Australia have reciprocal health care agreements, but I still had to pay part, and it wasn't cheap (but not enough for the $100 minimum for my travel insurance excess.) The Norwegians in the queue said they also have to pay part. 

Travelling again: Norway

I stayed 6 nights in Stavanger, visiting an old friend (actually she's young, but we've been friends quite a while). It was nice to just be in a home for just a while. 

Stavanger is a really beautiful little city. Its centre and harbour front display beautiful old timber buildings on cobbled streets, and in the middle there's a little lake with a couple of swans currently displaying their new cygnets (swan chicks for those not knowing this). 

My friends took me to plenty of sights and a couple of museums. My favourite excursions were drives in the countryside, and a visit to an old Viking farm, called Jernaldergården. (Although it's only open on Sundays and we went mid week, a guy there escorted my friend and I into the main building and told us all about it, so, we were lucky). 

I also went salsa dancing! This was my first time since I left Australia. I don't travel with dance shoes (borrowed my friends), and I find its usually a lonely experience to go alone to a place where no-one knows you can dance. But, this time I was introduced to some very good dancers (and felt rather rusty in my style- or lack of!). 

In Stavanger I tried to make plans for the rest of Norway, but I know I'll change them. Firstly though, I'm in Bergen now... And it's horrible weather!