Reflective 1

Well I am now in Prague. Got in reasonably late yesterday after catching a train from Budapest. That was quite a boring trip - I should have planned things much better. Maybe something to read would have been an idea - looking out the window for 7+ hours did not figure into my calculations.

Last night and today will be very quiet. Was pretty tired from the train ride and have found that my power adapter is not working, so all my electrical equipment is running pretty low. I have been getting by by borrowing chargers/adapters from others but I cannot keep doing that so I hit the shops this morning to find one. Eventually did and it looks like it works. It is exactly the same as the one I have only blue. Mine must be faulty.

Also found that the real estate agent that manages the property I rent is changing, so somehow I have to organise all those changes while I am here - this will be an effort.

So as I havent done much really recently, I thought I would reflect a little on what has happened so far.

I left Brisbane a little apprehensive in January but quickly settled in to travelling mode. As I mentioned earlier, my first flight I had a window seat but luckily it was over the wing. Actually ALL my flights have been the same - window seat over the wing. So my fear of heights has not been too big a problem. Unless I happen to be looking at the wing when the pilot makes a turn toward that side - then my tummy does a similar turn. Well it should be trains for a while now so that I dont have to suffer that anymore.

To date, I think that I have liked India the best, although Helsinki made a great impression (as those late night texts some of you received indicate). Tokyo comes in next. The rest, although good, are THE REST. My Indian experiences may be influenced by the extra time I spent there, and the fact that I travelled most of it with Col, Scott and Eri. I am travelling on my own, and that has some great advantages, but there are certain times when one thinks it would be good to be sharing this experience. I definitely did some stuff with them that I normally would not have done if I was just on my own. Might keep that in mind for my next trip.

Most of the places I have stayed have been pretty good too. The first place in Bangkok was pretty bad, my first night in India wasnt great either. There were others that probably werent worth what I was paying but they were all ok. Some have been great - Beijing, Prague (great so far) and Moscow come to mind. The staff at these places have been excellent. If any of you come to Prague let me know - I have been given a discount card for the Hostel. I have done the ground work - paying full price for 5 days. The next 10 days (I think - I dont have the card on me) are at 5% discount. Another 10 days after that and its 20% discount and it does go to 50% !! It is Sir Tobys Hostel if anyone is interested.

I have also made it a mission to try to get as many locals or other travellers saying GDay Mate properly. Its a bit of a trial at times but fun too. Seems lots of girls like the Aussie accent - which is a bonus !! Of course I reply by saying that I dont have the accent, they do. Recently tried (with some other Aussies) to get a group of Texan girls to say it correctly - that was an ordeal but we did a pretty good job I think.

I have been annoyed at a few things whilst away. It seems that most pedestrians I have encountered either look at the ground while walking or are looking WHERE they are going, that is, the final destination, they look right through you and walk into you. Now some of this is because I am unsure on which side of the street I should be walking, but other times it seems that because wherever I have been has been quite multicultural, which leads to people walking on different sides of the street anyway.

The traffic and driving in some places has annoyed me a little too. Australia seems so organised compared to these places. The Indians seem to think that they have to overtake anything in front of them. It gets scary when there are a line of cars, each offset a little from the one in front, checking to see if it is safe to overtake. The last car in the line usually is 2/3rds across the oncoming lane. When it is safe, the whole line tries to overtake, making it quite scary if you are in the last car.

Tuk-tuk/rickshaws are also something to be experienced. Quite often I felt that I needed to stick out a hand to keep us away from the cars/trucks/buses on either side. Im afraid no explanation will really suit here - it is something you should discover for yourselves.

But the most annoying thing has been myself. I know I have been ripped off - mainly by cabbies, and realistically I allowed this to happen. I have done some stupid things, things I would not even do in Brisbane, let alone in a foreign country, where I dont know the area or any people. At the time this doesnt bother me, but usually when I think about it later, I realise how silly I have been. Of course, I have been drunk most of these times !!

I have rambled a bit here but I am trying to upload my pics. I am putting them on my Photobucket site and will include a link - I hope it works !! Not all folders have their fotos yet and let me know if it doesnt work.

Trip Photos

so its ahoj from Prague for now.