Locations

South Coast Ride Part III: On to Santiago de Cuba

We’re getting close to civilization again. More cars are passing us, which is a bit unnerving, considering the past three days have seen hardly any cars at all.

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South Coast Ride Part II: To Campismo La Mula and Motel Granma

We tried to make reservations at the La Mula campismo from Bayamo, but because it was in a different jurisdiction, we couldn’t. We had to chance it.

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South Coast Ride Part I: To Manzanillo and Villa Punta de Piedra

The ride would take us west and then south along Cuba’s coast toward Santiago de Cuba, along empty stretches of road adjacent to beautiful blue waters, and through quiet and unassuming villages.

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Bayamo

It’s the oldest trick in the book, right? You arrive somewhere and touts are telling you “lies”, that the hotels in town are closed and you should go with them to their casas.

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La Boca: A Beach Town Near Trinidad

We made reservations at a casa particular but when we arrived, she apologized and said the people who were staying there decided to stay longer, so she had no room for us.

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At the Casa de la Musica, people sit on the stone steps sipping a drink, watching the band play. When the dancing gets going, Cubans search the audience with their eyes and pick out ladies to dance with.

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Cycling Cienfuegos to Trinidad Part II

Have you ever been given an ovation by a large group of old Germans? We have.

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Cycling Cienfuegos to Trinidad Part I

Well, that’s a surprise. A spandex-clad Cuban cyclist on an immaculate road bike is riding just ahead of us. He’s even wearing a cycling helmet.

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Cienfuegos

Tidy, neat, eye-pleasing Cienfuegos. I could easily see why Brayan and Orlando, our two friends in Havana, liked the place so much.

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Getting Out of Havana. Again.

Just to be clear, you can not take bicycles on trains in Cuba.

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MISSING: One Sanuk Flip-Flop. If Found, Please Return. REWARD.

Pair of Sanuk flip-flops went missing overnight at Vinales casa particular. Suspects included any number of workers and two dogs.

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Vinales

Cockroaches, yes. Geckos, yes. Frogs, never.

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Cycling San Diego de los Banos to Vinales

The emergency foil blanket we carry with us wasn’t cutting it anymore as a rain shelter. It was a torrential downpour, and as we huddled under this thin piece of aluminium, we looked down to watch a flow of water cascading around our feet, like boulders in a river.

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San Diego de los Banos: An Unplanned Destination

I’m cycling alone in the small town of San Cristobal in search of a taxi. Yvonne sits and waits near a shop, guarding her fully loaded bike and my bags. Every few people on the street I ask where I can find a taxi; I’m always pointed down the road.

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Short Cycle to Soroa (and Our First Flat)

Even though it’s only 25 km to Soroa from Las Terrazas, it was the toughest ride for us. The hills were very steep, forcing us off our bikes to push for some of them, and it also rained a little on us.

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Cycling to Las Terrazas (and the Mariel Boatlift)

Along the North Road, a highway that runs parallel to Cuba’s north coast, we would pass through the industrial town of Mariel. Entering it was abysmal; we were greeted with a huge cement factory. Mariel, though, is more famous for the Mariel boatlift.

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Cycling Havana to Villa Cocomar

“This is what I now say to hurricanes.” With that, he raised his arm — palm down, fist out — and extended his middle finger.

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How to Get to Know a City

Each time we returned to Havana it felt more and more like home, like we were becoming locals.

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Havana – The Neighbourhoods

All of Havana is not crazy and random.

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Havana – First Impressions

I always describe Las Vegas as a shock to the senses, an over-stimulation. In a completely different way, so is Havana.

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On Bikes in Cuba

It’s an understatement to say that the bikes in Cuba are shoddy. They’re downright horrible.

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Welcome to Cuba

The old man struggles up the hill, his overflowing rear basket obscuring most of his frail body. His bicycle is swaying side-to-side as he pedals. Left. Right. Left. Right.

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A few photos from a night of footy

Last Friday we had some couch surfing guests from the US. They carried amazingly small backpacks, like they were going away for the weekend.

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In search of peace and a bit more happiness

The first rule of meditation club is…there are no locks.

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Relying on the kindness of strangers

Can you really rely on the kindness of strangers? Well, we’re 2-for-2 so far on the Great Ocean Road.

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Staying warm in Melbourne

Old Man Winter is making his way to Melbourne. Well, to be fair, it’s more like his third cousin, twice-removed that’s showing his face round these parts. Nonetheless, it’s getting damn cold!

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4 Nights on the Great Ocean Walk

A flash of panic washed over me. I quickly scanned the back of the van although, in my mind’s eye, I could already see them, stacked one upon the other, on the shoe rack at home. Yvonne’s orthotics were not going to make the trip.

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What About Me?!?

Great music – check. Beautiful images – check. Excellent cinematography – check. Philosophical musings on the state of the human condition, specifically on topics such as childhood, relationships, ego, old age, consumerism and capitalism – check.

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Who turned the heat up to Ludicrous?

The tram is air-conditioned. But the body heat emanating from the crammed passengers almost masks it. The bead of sweat dripping from the elbow cleavage of a girl, as she holds her mobile to her ear, is testament to that.

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Serenity now: A brief respite from the city

Escaping the Americans without further harm, we found ourselves back on the train, about eight hours after our arrival.

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The Race That Stops A Nation

Although yellow rose was the theme for the 148th annual, 2008 Melbourne Cup, red was the colour of the day for me and Yvonne.

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A Choc-a-bloc Weekend in Sydney

We picked a hell of a weekend to go to Sydney.

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Football Aussie Style

Last Saturday Yvonne and I partook in, what is so far for us, the most Australian of things to do. We went to a footy match.

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It’s Greek To Me

Dob in a hoon. C’mon, you got five guesses to tell me what that means.

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Phu Quoc

Our first mistake was buying plane tickets back to Saigon from Rach Gia in order to catch our flight to Australia in time. It meant that we would have to leave Phu Quoc island a day earlier than we wanted in order to make the flight.

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Independent on the Mekong Delta

As the last of our days in Vietnam – and for our travels for that matter – were winding down, we wanted to give it one last go at some independent travel as we headed into the Mekong Delta, the low-lying flatlands to the west of Saigon.

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Happy New Year from Saigon

Half-way through the night the bar jacked up its drink prices by about four times the real price, so everyone started crossing the street to buy cheap drinks at the little market and going back to the bar.

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Christmas at Jungle Beach

We hopped in and they drove us about thirty minutes down a narrow road that alternated between pavement and dirt. We passed several tiny villages and even at this early hour many locals were out cycling and walking to unknown destinations.

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An unexpected flight to Hoi An

Moving south down the Vietnam coast, Hoi An is about an 18 hour bus ride from Hanoi. Of course, we can’t verify that because we ended up flying.

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Halong Bay ups and downs

When we arrived we were greeted warmly and led to our private beach bamboo bungalow. It was absolutely beautiful.

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Fear and Loathing in Hanoi

Our time in Hanoi was a like a roller coaster and ran the gamut of emotions.

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Rice Paddies and Hill Tribes in Sapa

With the nightmare journey from Kunming to the Vietnam border behind us, we looked ahead to some trekking in the peaceful and lush green hills around Sapa.

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Dali, and from China to Vietnam

We found Dali to be somewhat of a stripped down Lijiang; touristy, but not pristine and perfect like Lijiang, rather a bit rough around the edges.

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Hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge

The gorge is said to be one of the deepest in the world and the legend is that a tiger once leapt across it while being pursued.

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Lijiang

The landscape changed as our bus drove into the Yunnan province in southwest China. Mountains and hills full of red dirt dominated the scene. We saw our first rice paddies and, on a grimmer note, our first cemeteries in China.

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Giant Buddha in Leshan

Its claim to fame is that the town was the set for the martial-arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. While I couldn’t recognize anything from the movie, it was still a quaint and pretty village.

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Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve and Songpan

A twelve hour bus ride north of Chengdu got us to Jiuzhaigou, home to a spectacular nature and scenic reserve.

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Chengdu and the pandas

Well, maybe soft sleeper isn’t that much better than hard sleeper. We got stuck with a stinky old man and a young guy who cleared his throat and coughed every two minutes, and who also liked playing music with his cell phone without earplugs.

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Xi’an and the Terracotta Army

She woke the entire carriage of sixty some-odd people and everyone was peering from their bunks to watch.

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Peace and quiet in Pingyao

The town is best enjoyed at night time, when the avenues are lit up by red lanterns hung from shop fronts and the gates and towers are illuminated with strings of white lights surrounding the edges.

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Bishu Shanzhuang and Puning Si Temple

A 5.5 hour train ride sitting in a stiff, upright chair, squeezed in amongst locals, and putting up with vendors constantly strolling up and down the aisle trying to sell noodles and god knows what else, got us to Chengde, 250 km northeast of Beijing.

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Beijing and the Great Wall of China

Aside from the tourist traps in Beijing, we spent most of our time slowly ambling about, enjoying the scenes that unfolded around us. In the hutongs it was people stir-frying in their doorways, playing badminton on the sidewalk, digging up streets to lay pipe in the darkness of the night, with nothing but a small flashlight.

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