Ok so finally this week I’ve been able to start booking things for the trip to Thailand.  The airfares, of course, came first both domestic and international.  They are booked and paid for!

We went with Thai International.  I’ve never flown with them before so it will be interesting to see what they are like, still I’ve heard nothing but praise for Thai.  I’ll be flying from here to Perth first up and spending time with family waiting for my travel buddies leave to start.  My leave starts about a week before hers!

Then on Tuesday 16 October 2007 we fly from Perth to Bangkok.

That is where the journey will begin.  That is where the journey will end.

I’m not sure why but somehow a trip just does not seem real until I’ve booked my airfare.  Once that happens I finally start to really believe that I am going.  The excitement starts to build or perhaps its just anticipation.

In typical fashion I really do not know what we will do in country.  The first couple of nights will probably be at the Shangri-La.  That will probably be booked by the end of next week.  After those ‘nice’ nights we will head up North, most likely.  There will be that ‘travel stuff’ of some description thrown in before heading back to Bangkok to fly out.  Well Cass will fly out Thursday 8 October, I’ll wave goodbye and stay an extra week or so.  I’m not sure if I’ll stay in Thailand or perhaps go to Myanmar the last week just for a brief ‘look’ at the country.  I figured the choice was to either head home and twiddle my thumbs for a week and a half there before starting work or stay longer in Thailand.

I chose to stay longer in Thailand!

My day has proven to be somewhat frustrating.  I set out with one clear goal in mind.  Purchase a daypack/backpack that will carry my dSLR, Canon 30D + lenses, my 13” MacBook and have space for other odds and ends like a guide book, snacks, water bottle etc.

Now one would think that would be an easy enough chore.  I did some research on the net first and came up with three contenders.  Lowepro, Crumpler and Tamrac.

So off I went to the shops.  Other than the Lowepro CompuDaypack do you think I could find the bags I was interested in?  The computer stores suggested I go to the camera stores.  The camera stores suggested I go to the computer stores…... grrrrrrrr.

Now the CompuDaypack is just too big.  The other score against them is that I have the Lowepro Orion Trekker II.

Lowepro Orion Trekker II

So the pack at first seems great.  I can store my camera gear in the compartment at the bottom and the ‘other stuff’ at the top.  Making access and extracting my camera when I want it without everything else including the kitchen sink coming out with it.

In practice.  Well.  It took some practice.  I took the Orion on my trip to Morocco last year.  Now at first I had to sit down, put the pack down or get my travel buddy to hold my pack before I could get my camera out.  By the end of my trip I could extract my camera while walking through a market or anywhere without utilizing any of the above methods.  My biggest problem with the bag probably seems like a small issue.  Well it is, but when your traveling having somewhere you can stick the 1.5 L water bottle so you do not have to constantly carry it starts to become an issue.

That is the one area of that bag that irritated the heck out of me.  The upper compartment is too small to carry the 1.5L bottle of water + guide book and other ‘stuff’ one normally has.  Trust me for a short 4 - 6 week trip while you can and will make do… it will start to be inconvenient.  If you get this bag and you are going on a longer trip I’d suggest looking into pouches that you can clip onto your bag to carry your water bottle other wise it is going to drive you insane!

The other major issue I had, well the biggest issue I had is that the pack leaked.  Now the hole to allow the headphones for your iPod may seem like a good idea but in practice it sucks.  I was out all day on a day trek.  While it did not rain all day there was ‘drizzle’ off and on most of the day.  Though not enough to make me concerned.  That seemingly ‘convenient’ hole for the headphones allows water into the pack.  It runs down and seeps into the bottom compartment where you are carrying your very expensive dSLR….... thankfully I had a plastic bag in my pack so was able to wrap my camera in that. If you get this pack I would suggest very strongly that you get a rain jacket for those times that you will be out in the rain.  I’d hate to see what would have happened to my camera if I’d been caught out with it in a downpour rather than a drizzle.

Back to the New Pack Decision

So for me, after the Morocco trip, I’ve scratched the Lowepro not only because looking at it, well it is too big but because I’ve found the other pack irritating.

That leaves the offering from Crumpler and Tamrac.

Now I really wish I could choose the Crumpler (The Sinking Barge).  It looks great, it’s Australian (having parents that were in business I really do believe in supporting local businesses), I’m Australian… still it has one flaw that I can see (at least looking at it online) I’m going to have that same ‘water bottle’ issue.  So that rules it out, for now, which really is a shame.

The bag I’ve decided to order, sight unseen, is the Tamrac Adventure 9.  The only reason I have chosen this bag over the Sinking Barge by Crumpler is that the Adventure 9 has ‘pockets’  on the side that should be able to carry a water bottle.  That and if I am going to trial a bag without having seen it first well it is cheaper.  Now do not get me wrong.  If I do not like the Tamrac on my trip to Thailand I will buy the offering from Crumpler for my trip to Egypt next year to trial.

It’s one thing to carry a bag that irritates you for 4 - 6 weeks.

It’s another to carry it for 12 months.  So stay tuned for my take on the Tamrac Adventure 9!

So heres the thing, I have a new toy so I thought I would share.  I brought a new laptop and this time round I have chosen to try out an Apple computer.  So I have a MacBook13” 1gb 2.16ghz processor.  I’m happy with it so far but still have to learn to drive it!

I’ve been a PC girl for the last 15+ years so tis a bit of a learning curve and I’m still at the ‘everything is backwards’ stage.  The biggest pain in the rear is having to go through and relabel all of my photos.  Tis a slow job. On the bonus side I did manage to find the disk containing the original images from my trip to Vietnam so I’ve reloaded the images on my website.  Still it is amazing the difference in the quality of the photo’s from my old camera to my new one!  I hadn’t really noticed till I went through the photo’s.

On the travel front while there is nothing new to tell regarding Thailand.  Cass can not book until about 6 weeks before the trip so tis a waiting game with a last minute dash to get all our bookings done.

Still I’ve been tossing the idea of Egypt around to some friends and it looks like that will be next years trip.  Lou, my travel buddy from Morocco, is interested in coming and Lil and Esther (who we met and teamed up with in Morocco for a few weeks) have also indicated that they are interested.  So that is starting to take shape.  In typical fashion for me I’ve already checked out airfares and general costs.  It all looks good at this stage and I’m starting to get excited about the idea of going there already!

Well that is all for now.  Hopefully I’ll have more to say regarding the up and coming trip to Thailand soon.

This place just doesn’t slow down!  I have been here 3 weeks, and there is still more to see and do!  This last week has been pretty busy, even with the rain…

Monday 25.06.07…  After attending the local district and updating the journal I attended the Alster River… Very nice.  So nice in fact that the first thing I did was find a local watering hole where I could sit on the banks of the river and watch the boats drift by whilst sampling the local brew… Ah… there is something about holidays that makes drinking beer in the middle of the day… well, normal.  Besides, everyone else had the same thought as me!  The intention was to have a quiet ale, then walk around the banks of the river and view some of the splendid houses built here.  No sooner had I finished the first beer, then the heavens opened up again for an afternoon of rain… sigh… nothing to do but have another beer… whilst sampling this, the view of Gucci, Armani, and other shops was just too much… a spot of looking at that which you can not afford was in order… besides, it was not raining in the shops and there were many arcades to explore… and there was ice cream.  The evening was spent with more festivities and beer drinking at home with my cousin, Steffan attending for dinner… and a promise to take me on a pub crawl of the Reeperbahn on Friday night…

Tuesday 26.06.07

First up was a trip to the Hamburg airport… Not for me, but for some friends travelling for a couple of weeks to Russia.  Then it was off to the garden block for a couple of hours.  My uncle Gerd had injured his back and was unable to mow the lawn… considering the amount of rain we had had over the last couple of weeks, I offered to mow it for him.  Considering the free accomodation and meals I was being given, this was the least I could do in payment.  It was also good to get out in nice weather for a change and do something physical… did I say nice weather… doh… no sooner had I finished mowing the lawn then the storms rolled in.  These were not little showers of rain that you could dodge and hide in shops… this was a full blown storm that covered Germany with gale force winds, thunder and lightning.  It would have been interesting to find a sheltered spot down at the harbor and watch the storm, however, the Elbe flooded and most of the port area was not accessable.  We travelled into Altes Land (old land) by car in an attempt to get out of the house.  The rain was so intense it was difficult to see the road.  We stopped for coffee and cake and got soaked in the run from the car to the cafe…It was still good though and worth the drive in the weather.  The storm raged through the night and into the next day…

Wednesday 27.06.07

Today we were going to go to the zoo, but with the storm still raging outside we changed our plans.  By now we were getting very inventive with things that could be done without getting wet.  There was no point in travelling to any other part of Germany to escape the weather.  It was no different anywhere else.  Instead we headed to the Speicherstadt where Minature Wunderland occupied one of the warehouses.  Minature Wunderland is a railway track incorporating minature replicas of major cities from around the world… there was Hamburg, Las Vegas, Swiss Alps… all done in minature, with over 700 trains roaming around on tracks… sounds boring?  Not at all… Houses regularly burst into flames and required the immediate attendance of the fire brigade, which would attend with lights and sirens from all over the warehouse, car crashes were regular, requiring police attendance, ships sailed in the harbour and docked into port… It took us well over three hours to wander around all the displays.  Upon exiting, the storm was abating, but it was still raining.  We had built up a hunger, visiting all those cities, so it was off to the Zipplehaus for a bit to eat… and beer, of course.  The news that night showed the extent of the storm… Yep… it was a good one.

Thursday 28.06.07…

A peak out the window… and no rain, well, compared to the other days, there was very little rain.  I caught the S-Bahn to Reeperbahn and from there made my way to the St-Pauli district… not too far to walk.  I went to the Museum for Hamburgische Geschitchte… in simple, a museum of Hamburg history.  This was an excellent museum as explanations were given in English as well as German.  I spent about three hours in the museum (ok… it was a big museum!!) and by the time I came out… NO RAIN… not even drizzle!  The afternoon was spent at the local zoo.  This zoo is said to be on par with the Berlin zoo.  It is privately owned, and the animals are not kept in cages, but rather enclosures with moats around them.  It was a great oportunity for photos!

Friday Reeperbahn… pub crawl…

It is cold and rained all day… I met Steffan and his girlfriend Maya in the Reeperbahn.  What is it that makes one think they can do a pub crawl in the Reeperbahn?  The night started casual enough… one beer, one bar… but as the night went on, I swear the beers got larger and larger!  Well, they do serve them in half litre glasses… to say we were slightly intoxicated is an understatement… and we only made it to 5 bars… By the end of the night, Steffan was wanting to sing Karaoke, and beer was starting to look like the enemy…  I made it home in one piece though and thought nothing of it.  It was a great night with live bands, entertainment in all directions… beer everywhere…

Saturday 30.06.07…....

Oh my god… crawled out of bed… then crawled straight back into it again…  the hangover from hell was thumping in my head and screaming to get out… the thought of food, especially if it was going to be raw herring, was unthinkable… I managed a cup of coffee before deciding to gracefully retreat for another couple of hours and hope like hell that the pounding in my brain would abate… the light show behind my eylids was quite impressive!  I finally surfaced at about 2:00pm, much to the amusement of my Aunt and Uncle who decided a bit of fresh air would do me good.. besides… it wasn’t raining.  Their idea of fresh air was a harbour cruise on the Elbe… I looked doubtfully at the choppy water… my god… would I be able to spend a couple of hours on a rolling boat with the remainder of the hangover from hell?  Yep… I did manage.  Actually it was very good and my hangover rappidly disappeared, leaving me with a very enjoyable cruise on the Elbe.  After that, we went walking through the Reeperbahn, with my Aunt laughing at my feeble attempts to explain where we had gone the night before…  She has a wicked sense of humour…  With a sideways glance at me (who was just starting to liven up by 6:00pm), she bought us cocktails made of rum, lime and brown sugar… I am not talking about little ones… they were big glasses.  With a grimmace I took the first mouthful… It was like glass.  With a grimace, I finished my drink… it took about half an hour to get it down, with my Aunt laughing at my attempts… nice.  I crawled into bed early with the intent of recovering and getting a good night sleep.  I lay awake until 2:00am… 

Sunday 01.07.07

We got up early so that we could catch the fishmarket at the harbour.  They don’t just sell fish there!  The markets start at about 5:00am and only go to 9:30am.  The entertainment is with the stall holders, who will do almost anything to get you to buy from them.  Half the crowd has just stumbled out of the night clubs of the Reeperbahn.  Beer is flowing freely and the food is wonderful.  You can buy almost anything here, but it is great just watching the crowd… and it is so crowded that you can not move, but are merely pushed along with the crowd… It is hard to explain the atmosphere in writing.  I would suggest if you are ever in Hamburg, to get up early on Sunday morning and experience it for yourself. 

The afternoon was spent strolling around parks and gardens, and eating ice cream.  The weather, believe it or not, was fantastic.  For the evening, we met with my cousin Nils, and went out for dinner.  After that, a local brewery… Yep.  More beer.  Good beer!!  It was another great night out in Hamburg!  And this time, still daylight when we got home at 10:30pm….

Monday 02.07.07

This is my last entry from Hamburg.  I start my trip home on Wednesday and will be in Australia on Friday morning.  I know some people will question my decision to stay in Hamburg for the whole time, but in all honesty, this place has so much to offer that it could not have been appreciated in two or three days.  The opportunity I have had to catch up with my family has been fantastic.  My cousins and I have forged new bonds of friendship and we had many fun nights out.  I know I have not written much about those nights, but they were family times and I think of little interest to anyone else.  Just know that I had a fantastic time in Hamburg.  The rest of Germany can be explored at another time. This city is enough to be a country in its own right.  The culture here is amazing.  I take home with me many fond memories, and the feeling that I have come to know this city as best as I can….  Until Australia… Goodbye for now.

Cass  

The days are now flying by and I find I have just over a week left here before I start to head back home.  The weather has not been kind and is severely restricting a lot of my movement…  Today, thankfully, the sun is shining again… for now… and I have ventured outside again.

Wednesday 20.06.07 - We travelled to Högel, the town where dad grew up. This involved driving on the Autobahn as Högel is about 150 kilometres away, not 35 as I previously believed… Whilst I am not unaccustomed to travelling at speed in excess of 200km/hr, I found the autobahn somewhat unsettling in the fact that it often narrows to a single lane in each direction, forcing you to overtake vehicles on the wrong side of the road, with very little room to manouver… I also found it a trifle unsettling, that even though we were travelling at this speed, cars were overtaking us! As we approached the town of Heidi, the autobahn was closed by police and we were forced to take quite a long detour. Apparently a cow had escaped from the local abbatoir and was wandering somewhere along the autobahn… I can understand the closure. At these speeds, there would be very little left of the cow or the vehicle if they collided.

There was not too much to see in Högel… it consisted of a pub, where dad grew up, and a couple of houses. All up, it was less than a kilometre along. We walked the distance, just to say that we had been there, and to have a break from the car. Sadly, the pub was closed… Next we drove to Friedrichstadt, also known as ‘little Holland’ because of its canals and close houses. We had lunch here, which included the long waited for beer, and it started to rain again. We then visited Hattstead near Husum. Another pleasant country town.

Being on the Autobahn is like being on a ride at the fair. It is fast and furious. There is no getting off until the ride stops… It was great!!!

Thursday 21.06.07 - St Michael Church - Hamburg…

This church is probably the most famous in Hamburg as it towers above the city and can be seen from almost anywhere. It is a great landmark if you are lost. Inside the church it is beautifully sculpted with trimmings of gold… for 3€ you can climb the tower… believe me this is not for the feint hearted or the unfit! The climb was worth it though as from the top of the tower you have an uninterrupted 360 degree view of Hamburg and the Elbe River. Even with the day overcast and rainy, the view was magnificent. In 1906, the church burnt to the ground and was rebuilt. In 1943, it was bombed, and rebuilt. Today it stands as the tallest monument in Hamburg. If you don’t like climbing stairs there is an elevator that will take you to the top… but why miss a challenge?

Thursday night was my night out with Nils and Steffan, my two cousins. We went… somewhere… I think near the Reeperbahn… We ate at an asian restaurant ‘B with a nice bottle of wine… Next was a club lounge, where a few cocktail drinks evaporated before our eyes… ok… so maybe we drunk them too… then it was off to a bar for beer… I think you can work out how the night ended…. It was raining quite heavily and we decided the best thing to be doing was drinking indoors… Fortunately because of the rain the bars were not so crowded. It was a great night out with much eating, drinking and laughing. And we got very wet… This was my first view of Hamburg after sunset!!!

Friday 22.06.07 - Reeperbahn

I started my day with touring the Hamburg Rathaus… another famous icon in the city. The Rathaus is like a town hall… there is one in most areas. Altona also has a Rathaus that is very nicely decorated. The Rathaus in Hamburg is breathtaking… painted ceilings, marble pillars, gold trimmings, and still in use… I took a tour through the building that was meant to be in English but ended up joining the wrong group and got the tour in German instead… With my head still buzzing from the alcohol of the night before, this did not seem to be a problem… maybe I just need to stay drunk to understand everyone?

At about 9:00pm, I headed into the city to watch a water fountain display, where they light up the jets of water and make them ‘dance’ to music… It was to start at 10:00pm. At 9:30, the heavans errupted with a clap of thunder, and it pored with rain again. I stayed under shelter until the rain abated 45 minutes later, and caught the end of the light show… Then… off to the Reeperbahn to meet up with Benjamin for a tour with the Davidwach

Upon entering the station, I was greeted like an old friend, with everyone welcoming me and patting me on the back… This was a worry… what was I in for? Benjamin introduced me to the chief who merely smiled at me and told me to enjoy myself… After signing the necessary paperwork to waive asny comepnsation for injury (again… what was I getting in to???) I was teamed up with Benjamin and his partner Nina for the night. They immediately apologised that, because of the rain, the Reeperbahn was quieter than usual, and they were not expecting too much trouble… I won’t go into too much detail, but the night was anything but quiet… there were drug busts, stand offs with gangs, calls to assist others, patrols of the prostitute district and more… by 2:30am, I was given a lift home by my blue light taxi… I could have stayed for the entire night if I had wished… Fortunately I was still in one piece, but I could now understand the need for the paperwork. Davidwach is the busiest police district in Europe… and they only patrol 1 sq km… It was a fantastic opportunity and I made many new friends this night.

The weekend was quiet. My aunt is not well, it was still raining, and little opportunity to venture out doors again. Sigh… The weather is forecast for rain for the next week. I am glad to have worked out the train network. It has given me much freedom, and after proving to my Aunt and Uncle that I was capable of looking after myself and finding my way home again, I have been left to my own devices for exploring the city. I still find problems with the language, but there are ways around that… and everyone understands what beer is!

Here is to more exploration… and sunny days… and beer… and ice cream… until next time… in the rain…

Cass

PS Cathy… Sorry… read the comments… forgot to close them… all done now (I think!) Having a great time and will fill you in on all the details when I get home!!