Precarious Travel Tales #2

We pick up where I am sleeping across the Hungarian border in a train carriage with a dubious lock…

It is the early hours of the morning when we reach the Hungarian border control. I am awoken by two burly, border guards grunting at me to pass them my backpack which I am using as a pillow!

The next thing I know, my limited amount of clothing is strewn about the carriage… I begin to string some colourful language together… I get the idea that even if they don’t speak English they know this is unacceptable language as they begin to empty all of my Estee Lauder face powder all over the floor, followed by other lotions and potions. This was followed by more expletives! As they leave I see the sleazy conductor loitering and looking smug, and I cannot but wonder if this is payback for my rejections???

My journey through western Europe to London (to see The Cure) and back down to East Germany was non-eventful. Unless you want to know that a night time Channel crossing is more nauseating, and induces more up-chucking than a daytime one :(

Apart from ending up near some military place, where I shouldn’t have been in East Berlin in the dark, all precarious situations seemed to be momentarily averted…

My mum was born in a little village, Trinum right as the war ended, before Germany was separated. I wanted to go there (as you do). I arrived by train at the nearest station, which was about 10 km away (I think) and headed for the bus stop. The bus would be another hour or so, I decided to walk. As I was walking, the travel books suggesting hitch hiking being relatively safe in Eastern Europe, was competing with the NEVER.EVER.HITCH. HIKE instilled into me since forever…

I decided to hitch hike, and within a few seconds of making my decision a car stopped, and I was delivered safely at my destination which consisted of not very much. The house my mother was born in was now a Christian Community/sect???

I was in two minds about hitch hiking back to the train station town, but my mind was made up when a car pulled over in front of me offering a lift. Boris and Andre, were huge. They were Russian and we communicated in the minimal German they spoke and the minimal German I spoke, and in charades!

We arrived back in the train station town but not at the train station, in the Sunday afternoon, deserted town square. Boris or Andre (I have no idea which but let’s say it was Andre) got out of the car. I went to get out… the central locking went on! At that moment I felt the blood drain from my face, I remembered why I should not hitch hike, I thought about being raped and murdered, I thought about my family and friends having absolutely no idea where in the world I was… I thought I was dead!

Boris continued to attempt small talk, mostly about the music on the radio.

I was planning how I would escape!

After a long while, Andre returned handing me a kebab, and off we continued down the hill to the train station, where I was hugged and wished well… I was never happier to get back on a train in all my life!

I have had many adventures since then. I like to think I am more travel-wise now but unfortunately I still make the odd few stupid decisions and still find myself in some precarious situations… just not so many in the same trip :)

I would love to hear about some of your adventures now, and I know there are at least a couple of you out there with a good travel story :)

Precarious Travel Tales #1

Last night on ‘The Amazing Race’ the racers went to Brasov in Romania, it took me back to when I backpacked on my own through Eastern Europe, and the troubles I had. Being vampire obsessed Brasov and Transylvania were my main reasons for going to Romania.

Back then, the Iron Curtain had just been raised and tourism was only beginning in these former Soviet countries. There were no backpackers or cheap hotels in Romania, staying in people’s spare rooms near the train station was flavour of the day. There were lots of people vying for your attention at the train station. I got robbed! I was angry with myself for not being more alert. No-one spoke English, and there was nothing really that could be done. It was at this point I really felt alone. I’d been on my own for nearly 2 weeks in Czechoslovakia and Hungary, I wanted to talk to my mum, there was no internet or mobiles back then and to book a call to Australia would take 4 days.

To top this off the transport police harassed me for my passport and money at some point of my Bucharest stay for not punching a hole in my tram ticket with the hole punch hanging from the roof of the tram by the door! Who was to know you were supposed to punch a hole??? After harassing me for an eternity (thankfully my money and passport were hiding safely in a secret compartment of my bum bag), and lots of tears from me they let me go.

I ventured on my travels through Romania, and Bulgaria and arrived in Istanbul, Turkey where I had a fabulous time. I stayed longer than I planned. I had a date with The Cure in London and needed to find a faster route than my loosely planned itinerary allowed. Air travel was not an option due to the previous robbing in Romania!!! I decided on the train through Yugoslavia, back into Hungary, on to Austria and a nice fast modern train all the way back to France and another seasick filled Channel crossing (remember we are talking pre-Chunnel).

I procured the necessary visas, and hoped a train trip through Yugoslavia would be non-eventful (there was a war on after all). There were 3 of us who boarded the train for Belgrade, two men and me. The train carriages did not lock (they were all broken). I spent about 24 hours moving carriages to escape the sleazy conductor.

Eventually we reached the Yugoslavian border post entering into Hungary. The customs official came to see my passport, he disappeared with it, and the sleazy conductor was milling about while I was stuck in the same carriage hoping and praying that my passport would be returned.  After what seemed like an hour and the train was already in motion my passport was returned to me with an explanation that the boys back at border control had never seen an Australian passport!!! Sheesh…

I found a carriage with a lock that semi-worked and managed to get a little bit of a sleep before we hit the border post of Hungary

To be continued (because there is still more precarious adventures to be had)

How it flies!

I'm talking about another week.

I had a lovely weekend in Dunsborough, celebrating one of my bestest friends 40th birthday. There was catching up with old friends and friends I hadn't seen in a week or so! There was a bus tour around the wineries, and ending at The Margaret River Chocolate Factory. Vast quantities of both wine and chocolate were consumed. There was a dinner out and dinner in, and lots of good company.

As lovely as it was I missed the little one. Two nights away and almost two full days, one of which was Mother's Day. The anxiety leading up to this weekend was awful. Boo stayed with her godmother overnight when she was 12 months old and I went to a concert (I collected her by 8am, a combination of missing her and boobs like watermelons), and another time she stayed at grandma's overnight when I went to a wedding (again collected by 8am, but that was because grandma had plans).

Boo had a lovely weekend and I'm not sure she missed me at all. I dropped her off at Guerita's birthday party as I headed down south which by all accounts was a great success. She went to the football club for lunch, went to the beach, and spent Mother's Day at various functions. I never even got a look in when I returned!

Australia Day

Happy Australia Day to my Aussie readers (and those who wish to be)! I hope you have all had a wonderful day.

It was a fairly quiet one at our place as we were all barbied out from yesterday, and a certain little person slept for a vast chunk of the day recovering, and preparing for the much awaited for Sky Show.

Advertising of the event has been prolific and has led Boo to believe there are certain pre-requisites for attendance.

So Boo armed with her Australyan flag, a car sporting a couple of Australyan flags, and tattooed to the nines (of course all Made in China) we headed off for a night at the Sky Show, Boo's first and my first in over 10 years.



I attempted my first fireworks photos, though not being in a position where I could use a tripod (even if I owned one) there was a couple of salvageable shots!



A little girl was in awe!

Sixth and Sixth

Guera tagged me for this meme back in November. Finally here I am doing it, because as busy as we've been this past week I have nothing blogworthy for you!

All you have to do, if you wish to join in, is post the 6th photo in the 6th folder on your computer (or Flickr account or phone or wherever you keep your photos).

My photos are filed chronologically, so this one is from way back in June 2004.


It's the Temple of Artemis in Jerash, Jordan (or what remains of the Temple which was built in about 150 AD).

I highly recommend Jordan as a tourist destination if you ever have the opportunity. Making up a part of 'The Holy Land' not only are there the numerous ancient Greco-Roman ruins, the Nabotean ruins of Petra, the deserted castles of the Crusades, the biblical sites (for both Christians and Muslims) which include Mt Nebo, Madaba and the River of Jordan (where Jesus is thought to have been baptised by John the Baptist), there is the Dead Sea, Aqaba, and of course Wadi Rum where Lawrence of Arabia hung out.

I 'HEART' Jordan

Boo does Kindy!

Finally!!!

Six months after realising where her slightly older friends disappeared to from daycare.

Two months after her birthday, and knowing you move to Big Kindy when you're a big 3 year old.

Two weeks after Christmas of counting down the days in desperation.

Four more sleeps after Big Kindy orientation (if you can count last night as a sleep because from 2am to 5am someone wanted to know constantly was it time to wake up for Big Kindy yet?)

The day finally dawned...

Apparently, it was fantastic except someone bit her belly button and it hurt A LOT - I'm not surprised with the teeth marks that have been left behind.

For clarification, Big Kindy is a private 3-5 year old kindergarten which is run by the same company as her previous daycare, and still offers the same care but with a kindergarten program.
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We had a lovely long weekend of beach and pool swimming, feeding farm animals and generally just chilling out in Busselton and Dunsborough.

Boo enjoyed finding abandoned sand castles for demolition!


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Woohoo, I won!!!

In all the festivities, I forgot to mention I won a DVD from over at Semantically Driven.Thanks Jen :-)

One More Sleep

For Boo there is one more sleep to Big Kindy orientation.

For me there is one more sleep to a mini-break (as the English like to say) down south.

For Boo there is one hour at the much longed for Big Kindy. She has been desperate to get there since we got back from Abu Dhabi. Tonight she is even more desperate because her best friend went there today, and she misses her *awwww*

For me there is a few days R&R. Away from the endless Excel analysis to finish off last quarters work, and away from the mind numbing 'cutting, copying and pasting' of documents in preparation for this quarters onslaught of work!

Gee I haven't even had a chance to read your blogs at work this week!!!

An update on the social life of party girl, Boo. She arrived home from daycare with another three party invitations yesterday!

Was she happy?

NO!!!

Why???

Best friend got four invitations!!!


Apparently Boo and BF are the most popular people to invite to your party!!!

Cultural differences!

I didn't forget you while I was away on holidays last month, in fact I prepared a blog in my head, I just forgot all about it!

On the first day, Boo, like any normal, curious 3 year old would, ended up with a couple of showers, when she went to the bathroom.

This is the reason why...



All female toilets in the UAE (and Arabic countries) have the requisite bottom-washer shower sprayer as a minimum. All abodes have a bidet (try explaining that to a three year old).

At some hotels they have the automated version including the attached control panel to choose on-toilet bottom-washing, temperature for said, on-toilet bottom washing, toilet seat temperature, and air drying (of course with a choice of cool, warm, and hot)???

You think all that for public toilets is a treat...

Attached above the hand basins in The Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, is



Yes, it's deodorant (don't worry its the full CFC variety for hygiene reasons). Each female public toilet contained them (my daughter likes to check out all the bathrooms), and each one had a couple of different scent varieties.

Remember this is a country where the temperatures in summer hover around 50 degrees Celsius with about a 90% humidity, and let me tell you there are a lot of people needing this deodorant (though why they would use it in a shopping mall when they don't use it at home is beyond me)!

The Wedding and Other Stuff

Roxy and Rob's Wedding was fabulous! The driver from the hospital where I used to work picked us up to take us to the church for the lovely (short) ceremony, and then on to the Hilton for the reception. It was a great chance to catch up with all my old work buddies.

The ceremony happened to finish right before the imam in the mosque next door started wailing the afternoon prayer call.


The reception was around the pool, and surprisingly the under 6 guests all stayed away (and so did those wearing kilts)!


There was a shisha tent for chilling out.


Actually its where the children eventually slept


Boo fell asleep on my girlfriend's ample bosom around 1.00am after a night of dancing, and was very impressed when the DJ played her requests, The Chicken dance and Brown Eyed Girl. And very excited at midnight when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her.

Not sure what time we finished up, but there was a handful of us sharing mint shisha, and reminiscing with the bride and groom.

Day 5
Boo became a big grown up 3 year old.


She thought the champagne brunch was her birthday party. The cake cost at the hotel cost me almost as much as if she'd had a party at home - and they couldn't even spell her name correctly!


This was followed by a trip to the Marina Mall, where we were surprised when the lights went out, and a thunderstorm began, and it began to rain! Yes all of this inside the Mall and man made! Why??? Because its the UAE, and they can! Then out come the cleaners with mops and the Caution: Wet Floor signs...

Followed up by shisha for the grown ups, and ice cream for the little one!


Day 6
Boo and I went on a camel hunt. One of Boo's requests was to ride a camel in the desert. Well, I suspected I knew where to find one in a big city.


The man did say she could sit on it, but she wouldn't go very close to it in case it spat at her!!! She was just happy to see one in the desert!!!

We took some photos.



Met some friends at the Abu Dhabi Mall for coffee as they were flying back to Wales that evening, and that made for a teary farewell. Boo had bonded so well with them both, and they had been absolutely fantastic with her.

This was followed up by an all you can eat and drink dinner with the Scottish contingent, where maybe I had a little more than my "all you can drink" share!

Day 7
We farewelled Roxy and Rob on their honeymoon to Bali, and of course there was more tears flowing, before a day at The Club with the water babies. At The Club, I managed to catch up with another couple of friends, albeit briefly but glad I had the chance to see them.

That night Boo and I went to my favourite Abu Dhabi pub, The Captain's Arms to meet up with another couple of friends, and we had a pleasant evening in the beer garden.

Day 8
Boo and I said our farewells to Chloe and her parents, and to Abu Dhabi, and drove to Dubai where we met another couple of friends at the Ibn Battuta Mall for an early lunch, before heading back to The Mall of the Emirates for coffee with yet another friend, on her lunch break.

I offered Boo the opportunity to play in the snow park at Ski Dubai, but instead she chose to have a play back at Magic Planet.

We then went to Annah's for a Vegemite Sandwich (does that sound like Day 2)??? We managed to see Grant very briefly before we headed off to the airport around 7pm, homeward bound.

NB Excuse the quality of the photos. I used RAW for the first time and they all seem to be blurring when I convert them!

The Holiday - Day 1 to 4

Finally, I find a spare moment! Boo is having sleeping issues, not sure if its related to the 5 hour time difference or the fact that she was out so late every night we were away.
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Day 1
Was spent flying, and in transit for 4 hours at the very exciting Brunei airport. Thankfully I had the foresight to pack some snacks, and Boo's craft activities as there really was nothing to do at all. Boo ran around the quiet airport for about an hour before our plane departed and then found a TV with Hi-Five, before we started the next leg of our journey.

Day 2
We arrived in Dubai and were in our rental vehicle by 2.30am local time. We had left our house 23 hours before. Despite requesting a car seat, Budget had none!

Boo was tired and the guy just kept trying to talk to her through the window, which wasn't making matters any better. He then suggested I sit her in the front seat. I am sure the look on my face was priceless, when I calmly replied that children don't sit in the front seat for safety reasons. There is also a law in the UAE about children in the front seat but no law about restraints or seat belts for them. You often see children climbing all over the back seat! He also asked why I didn't travel with anyone else to help with the baby!!!

After some much needed sleep, we negotiated the dreadful Dubai traffic. Anything goes, rules wise in the Emirates, and its even worse when you are trying to remember how to drive on the right hand side of the road.

My girl friend Annah phoned while I was negotiating roadworks on a four-laned roundabout, to say she wasn't free until after 12pm. So Boo and I stopped at the Mall of the Emirates to pick up a booster seat (it was cheaper anyway than what Budget would charge to hire one - if they had any of course).

The Mall also gave us the opportunity to check out Ski Dubai



And Magic Planet


Before heading to Annah's for a Vegemite sandwich (her husband's an Aussie) and meeting her gorgeous daughter for the first time



We drove over to Abu Dhabi in the afternoon, and spent the early evening with Roxy (the bride) before heading off to her mother-in-laws for dinner and drinks. Boo was so excited about going to a party, and having her hair swooshed up like Roxy's (Roxy is such a girlie-girl so Boo thought she was fantastic straight away)!

Boo fell asleep in the taxi, slept through the party and of course woke up as we were getting in the taxi to go home!

Day 3
Boo met her new friend for the week, Chloe. And as for 18 month old Chloe, well she became Boo's little shadow. We stayed in one of the doctor's flats, with Chloe and her parents who were out from Northern Ireland.

We all spent the day at The Club, with two little water babies.



After the two little water babies had napped, they went on a girls night for tapas followed by shisha (or hubbly bubbly or hookah). Well okay two little girls played by the sea looking for fairies with two very clucky (maternal) friends of mine, and I enjoyed a little rest with my strawberry shisha!

Day 4
The day of the wedding, and Boo headed out in the morning for her first mademoiselle manicure and pedicure. While the four ladies she was with had their manicures. One of Boo's trip highlights!

The wedding was fantastic, but I will do a separate post!

But here's a photo of us