TravelStream™ news feed for member kimbugs on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/kimbugs en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 17 Nov 2007 08:26:31 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163961540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163961540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163961540/tpod.html Sat, 17 Nov 2007 08:26:31 -0500 To boldly go where no single Ugandan woman (to my knowledge) has ever gone before

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Chiang Mai, Thailand

I must admit I was a bit apprehensive about visiting Thailand. In September, the military'd mounted a coup against then Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and imposed martial law. Being Ugandan, having lived through and survived 2 of them, the word "military coup' brings back memories of curfews, fear, gunfire, bombs, unruly soldiers looting from, raping and murdering civilians. So wasn't surprised when I received a RECORD 6 emails from my Mom expressing her concern about my plans to visit Thailand. I assured her that the coup was bloodless and news reports said that life had returned to normal. So yes, I would still be visiting Thailand.
Once in Bangkok I felt abit adventurous, so instead of hiring a taxi, I decided to make my own way to the hostel. Bus and train was fine. However, when I got out of the Salandeong sky train station things started to go a bit pear shaped. You see, in Thailand, most of the road signs are written in Thai Script!! The hostel was only 5 minutes away from station, so hadn't bothered to print off a map - thought I'd just ask for directions. Unfortunately, the Thais I stopped could not READ romanisation (i.e our alphabet) and my pronunciation was not up to scratch (okay was VERY BAD) Finally, after an HOUR, I found the hostel. It was very nice! For a tenner, I got an ensuite double room with aircon, cable tv, free internet access and breakfast!
Next day I left for Chiang Mai, second largest city in Thailand, an hours flight north of Bangkok. A bustling metropolis that seemed to have more tourists than locals. Almost everything is geared towards the tourism industry - restaurants, coffee shops, western style pubs/bars, used bookshops, Thai massage parlours, Internet cafes, Tour companies offering day treks to Elephant camps and Hill Tribes villages inc. the famous Long Neck Karen, Thai cooking schools etc. There were also numerous Buddhist Temples (Wats), one on almost every street.
There were posters of the King and Queen of Thailand all over the place. Locals dressed in the Royal colours - yellow shirts with blue scarfs. Chiang Mai is much nicer than Bangkok. In the latter, I'd been on my guard, but here it just felt.. safe? The locals were very curious about me. How come I was so dark? Where was I from? How long had I been in Chiang Mai? What did I think of it?

"Ahh I have a flen who organise day trek to see Elephant, I can get for you velly cheap. You already see elephant? Okay you see Long Neck Karen?" ...pause..."What about silk factory? Temple on top of mountain?"

Lots of commission to be made on tourists...

My itinerary for Chiang Mai was simple - ride elephant, get Thai Massage, buy fan, eat ALOT of Thai food, gorge on fruit, sleep.

I purchased Nancy Chandlers map of Chiang Mai (highly recommended - it's loaded with useful tips and is well worth the 160 baht) and walked to the School of the Blind for a massage. My masseuse was Dila, blind from birth, fluent English, very competent. Massage cost 150 baht for an hour (exchange rate is 70 baht to 1 GBP - you do the maths). For supper, I stopped by street vendor for meal - 25 baht! Mixed fruit punch - 25 baht!

Thailand is CHEAP!!!

However the danger is you literally go WILD! You know how you go to IKEA or a pound shop and think "Everything is so cheap!"
That is, until you get to the check out and realise that you've spent much more than you'd budgetted for?

Thailand is a bit like that!

When you go to Chiang Mai, you will inevitably end up on a trek. For just over a tenner, I visited 2 Hills tribes, rode an elephant, had an amazing buffet lunch, visited magnificent waterfalls and went bamboo rafting.

The Hill Tribes are ethnic minority groups found in North Thailand with their own culture and language. You've probably heard of the Long Neck Karen where the women famously wear brass rings around their necks. This distorts the growth of their collarbones and make them look as if they have long necks - which they don't. This row of brass rings do not actually stretch their necks but in fact squash the vertebrae and collar bones. A woman generally has about twenty or more rings around her neck. This neck ring adornment is started when the girls are 5 or 6 years old.

The elephants were... small! At least compared to African elephants! In Uganda when you see an elephant, you run in the opposite direction - certainly don't ride it! I admired the young men, sitting so easily on the back of the elephants necks. It certainly wasn't stable. Going downhill I had to concentrate very hard NOT to fall off!

Bamboo rafting was interesting! We perched on surprisingly stable rafts made from bamboo sticks that had been strapped together. The other river guides referred to our guide as "Lady Boy" - he was younger and kept squealing like a maniac. I think his brief was to drench the farangs (foreigners) as much as possible because he kept tipping the raft over until we were almost submerged! Luckily I was wearing a swimming costume! We ended at a secluded waterfall. The guides took off their shirts, dived off the rocks into the fast flowing waters below and beckoned for us to join them. One of the girls in my group muttered "That doesn't look very safe" She was right, it didn't. So I joined the guides and had a grand old time cavorting with them in the river!

I spent the rest of the week wandering through Chiang Mai visiting bazaars (markets) temples, factories where they manufactured silk, umbrellas, fans, silverware, wood furniture, jewellery, local eating places.

Somehow I lost track of time!

On Friday morning, I took a packed lunch and went out to Wat Umong - a temple built in caves, about 2 km outside Chiang Mai. There were loads of kids around and I wondered briefly what they were doing out of school. That is until I looked at the display on my camera which read 18 November. That couldn't be right.

A horrible thought was slowly dawning on me! The kids out of school?

I stopped a lady and asked her what day it was.

"It's Saturday!"

SATURDAY???!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

It was 2.00pm.
My flight to Bangkok was 2.40pm!
Flight to London FROM Bangkok was THIS evening!

I'VE MISSED MY PLANE TO BANGKOK!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

In a panic, I raced back to the guest house (where I was charged extra for checking out late) and then on to the airport!

All flights to Bangkok were fully BOOKED!! All Airlines!

Hyperventilate!!

A German lady, Claudia, noticing my distress advised,
"You know, you can put your name down on the stand by list! I've already put my name on two lists!"

So I did likewise. Number 12 on the One-Two Go Air list, and 29 on Thai Air. My chances of getting a flight here were VERY SLIM!

When the time came, One-Two Go Air only let 3 standby-ees on to the plane - including Claudia! Seeing my crestfallen face, she suggested we go to Thai Air and ask them to switch her name for mine! An Indian guy listening in said "I don't think they do things this way!"

We were not deterred. I was desperate.

"Let's just try and see. It doesn't hurt to try!"

I put on my most woeful expression as Claudia asked the customer services lady at Thai Air to switch names? I hadn't realised that I was muttering repeatedly "Please God, Please God, Please God" until the lady looked at me oddly. She walked off to have a word with her superior (..."Let's get rid of this freak before she blows"...), and then came back to say she would try, but it would be very difficult.
After what has got to be the longest five minutes in my life the switch was made and I was now number 8!
When the time came, they let in 20 standby-ees! YES!!!!

Everything else just passed in a blur! My holiday has finally come to an end!

SOB!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1161039540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1161039540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1161039540/tpod.html Thu, 10 May 2007 11:01:06 -0400 To boldly go where no single Ugandan woman (to my knowledge) has ever gone before

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Wellington, New Zealand

Okay, since I don't get easy internet access, long periods elapse before I can update this blog. So when I DO get access there is just too much to cram in! I guess I'll just give you guys the abbreviated version of events. If you want more, you'll just have to pop by and see me when I return from my travels! (which is soon- gasp)
Where was I last time - Ahh, Waitomo! Glow worms!
Next Stop is Taupo - the cheapest place in New Zealand for Sky Diving! It's also home to the biggest lake in NZ, Lake Taupo. It was a nice sunny day, so decided to stop off at a natural hot water stream on the way to Huka Falls. The stream has carved out little basins in the rock to make natural spa pools! Lovely, and better still FREE!
Next morning new bus driver came to pick me up - Damian. Not as nice as Buzz, but hey, can't be picky! We stopped off at the Tonguriro National Park, home to Mt Ruapehu, better known as 'Mount Doom' to Lord of The Rings Fans. The almost perfect conical mountain looks quite spectacular. We did the whole Samwise Gamgee, Frodo and Gollum thing - took loads of silly pictures. For the night, stopped off at River Valley- a beautiful adventure lodge right next to a river tucked in between huge mountains. I'd bought some peanut butter, so made peanut butter sauce (satay) for my pasta. I felt a bit like Delia Smith coz most of the girls gathered around oohing and ahhing. It's dead easy to make so didn't know what all the fuss was about! The sauce was a hit - one girl literally LICKED the saucepan clean!
Next stop was Wellington - the capital city of New Zealand. I'd been told it was windy, but didn't realise until I got there just how WINDY it really is! Good thing I'd brought my windbreaker. It's a nice city. Nice people! On the first night, Amanda the receptionist gave me free pizza! The girls and I sneaked some booze into the hostel, so by the time we went to the bar below, we were warm! I couldn't stop giggling! DJ was good and there were some local Kiwis around. One called Dennis attached himself to me. He wasn't a very good dancer so I spent most of the evening trying to get away from him. Next day I went exploring at the Te Papa museum - NZ's best (and FREE) Lots of interactive screens. It had a large section dedicated to Maori culture where I took some pictures. I learnt subsequently (overheard a curator telling another lady) that we were not allowed to take pictures and guiltily shoved the offending camera into my day pack! I couldn't delete the photos now could I?
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163337480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163337480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163337480/tpod.html Wed, 06 Dec 2006 08:43:51 -0500 To boldly go where no single Ugandan woman (to my knowledge) has ever gone before

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Auckland, New Zealand

I celebrated my last night in Paihia, just to the north of Auckland in the lovely Bay Of Islands. At Pipi Patch bar, Beth and I were checking out and rating the local 'talent'. In walked a group of well built, very good looking Maori men. Hmm! A definite ELEVEN out of TEN!!
I guess we stared so much that the guys came over to our table to chat. They were in Paihia for the weekend to celebrate their friend Troy's birthday. We asked whether they were rugby players seeing as they are sooo BIG! Yup, as a matter of fact, they were. Ben, who was sitting next to me pointed at Troy and Gerry "Him and him are in the 'All Blacks'"

Yeah right!

Beth and I moved on to the next bar, and the guys followed us. We ignored them and did the thing that had taken us there, BOOGIE! Music was a bit shite so moved on to the Light House(referred to as the "Shite" house, by the locals). On the way, we met some guys desperate to buy us drinks.
My, for want of a better word, guy, was 21 year old Dave, currently working on a building project in Paihia! I think he had been advised that in order to "pull" girls, you have to ply them with drinks! I'm a broke backpacker, so of course won't say no. Not to Smirnoff Ice! Conversation was not that great, so I looked over his shoulder scanning the club for more interesting people. Suddenly he said in an almost reverential tone, "That guy is in the All Blacks!". I turned around to see Troy and his posse entering the club. So it WAS true. They spotted me, now a familiar face and came over to join us. Dave was shitting himself. Couldn't believe he was in the presence of an ALL BLACK! Personally, I found Gerry, part of the posse, more interesting than Troy. He'd played for the All Blacks too, but also internationally in England, Canada, Australia etc. He was now an educator working in an Auckland inner city school. It took him 8 years to fit his University education around his career. Quite a humble guy. About rugby playing he said,
"I'm lucky. I can run fast and catch a ball. That's all"
Dave tried to stick it out - putting his arm around my shoulder - but soon gave up when he realised he was fighting a losing battle.
Troy wanted to go back to the chalet. Gerry asked Beth and me whether we'd like to join them for a few "drinks". I thought "Why not?" and before I knew it, we're at their VERY NICE chalet. Once there, conversation started disintegrating. Someone dimmed the lights and I realised that I was not there for just "drinks".

What were you thinking Kim?

The whole 'Groupie' thing is really not my thing!

So I asked where the bathroom was, and then out the back door and AWAY!

Not so adventurous after all!

And there ends my NZ adventure!
(of course there is more to it, but if you want to hear it you'll just have to ask me nicely)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163419980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163419980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163419980/tpod.html Wed, 06 Dec 2006 07:42:16 -0500 To boldly go where no single Ugandan woman (to my knowledge) has ever gone before

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Singapore, Singapore

The first thing that hits you is the HEAT. It's like stepping into a giant steam room! Sweat started pouring out of all my pores- T-shirt rapidly became damp and face glistened!
A Singaporean I'd met in Queenstown, NZ had pulled a face when I told him which hotel I was going to stay at, The Fragrance Blossom in Geylang. This was the Red Light District - a fact that the Flight Centre Booking agent had neglected to mention!
"It's not in the town centre; train station is about 10 minutes away. We've received good feedback on this hotel" (really??)
Admittedly, inside the hotel it WAS ok - a basic double ensuite room, hot shower and air conditioning! Definitely a step up from the youth hostels I'd been staying at in New Zealand. But on the outside there were just a lot of dubious characters hanging around, and it certainly did NOT conform to Singapore's reputation as a CLEAN city!
Location, Location, Location...
So next day, first on my list of priorities was - Find Accommodation!
A few minutes (okay hours) at an Internet Café found me backpackers hostel, Sleepy Sam's on Bissorah Street. The sleeping area was a huge dormitory with curtains hanging around each bunk bed for privacy. That would have to do for now! It was in a central location, clean and the receptionist, Jason, was cute!
Next priority - FOOD! There were plenty of food courts around selling huge bowls of rice and noodle dishes for the equivalent of ₤1. Yummy!
Singapore is a multi-ethnic society - Malays, Chinese, Indians, English, Sweating tourist's etc. What it doesn't have a lot of are black people. So I was understandably excited when I bumped into a Nigerian, Ferdinand, outside Bugis MRT station. He seemed equally as excited and asked me out to lunch. Ferdinand is a professional footballer who plays for an African team, Sporting Afrique, in the Singapore League.
"You mean there are more Africans in Singapore?"
"There certainly are! I'm going for a training session this afternoon. You can come and meet them"
Well... Couldn't pass up opportunity to meet BUFF African footballers, now could I?
When the "boys' spotted me, there were a lot of wolf whistles! Ferdinand, who seemed to be enjoying the excitement, explained that it had been ages since the guys had seen or spoken to an African woman. I felt like a celebrity. They kept coming up to talk, to the point where their coach lost his patience and yelled at them to focus on their training. They had a match the next day. We ended the day by going to watch a football game between 2 other teams in the Singapore league- Young Lions and can't remember name of other team.
Yati was arriving on the evening of 2nd November. Her cousin would give us a lift to Malaysia. So I whiled away the day sightseeing. Not much to see apart from shopping malls, skyscrapers so went in search of some green spaces like Fort Canning Park. Also visited Orchard Road, Chinatown, Harbour Front and the Esplanade area. At about 6.00pm, decided to check my emails and found one from Yati from the day before with subject, "Urgent. Change of Plan!"
It turns out that there was no space in her cousin's car for me, and could I catch an express bus to her parents' town in Malaysia. Timetable for buses was 8.00am and 2.30pm.
It was 6.00pm! No bus until tomorrow!
PANIC, PANIC, PANIC!!!
This was my predicament! In Singapore you have to BOOK AT LEAST THE DAY BEFORE to reserve a room/bed with the hostels. You don't just waltz in and expect to find an available bed. Sleepy Sam's was full. So there I was, with a heavy backpack, in the sweltering heat, trudging the streets of Singapore in and out of hostels looking for a bed for the night. It was quite frightening! Most of the hostels were unsympathetic. I briefly thought of phoning up Ferdinand, but then there was the case of the 'possessive' girlfriend... (I met her briefly the day before and she hadn't liked me at all)
Should I go back to the hotel in Geylang?
SHUDDER!
As a last resort I tried the Inn Crowd Backpackers in Little India. If they couldn't take me, I'd probably just head out and sleep at the airport. Fortunately there WAS a bed! The last one! In the boys dorm! (Groan) But beggars can't be choosers!
Next morning, I was up and away to the coach station. By 8.00 am, I was whizzing towards Malaysia!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163568780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163568780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163568780/tpod.html Wed, 06 Dec 2006 07:18:54 -0500 To boldly go where no single Ugandan woman (to my knowledge) has ever gone before

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Melaka, Malaysia

A couple of years ago, my sister and 2 kids came to visit and were given a lot of hassle by Malaysian Immigration. They didn't believe that she was just there on holiday. After all, Africans don't go on holiday, right? It didn't matter that they had Malaysian visas. After about an hour of waiting, Yati, went to enquire as to their whereabouts. Immigration only let my sister through because Yati, a Malaysia citizen, vouched for her!
Since I was travelling solo with no citizens to vouch for me, I experienced a moments' anxiety when the Immigration officer took a couple of minutes to scrutinise my passport, then my face. I leaned forward so that she could get a better look and was just on the verge of pointing out similarities such as eyes, ears, mouth.. that kind of thing... when she finally decided it actually WAS me and stamped the passport!

After Singapore, Malaysia was stunningly GREEN. In a way, it reminded me of Uganda. Take away the palm and coconut trees, add a few potholes on the roads, and you could almost be in Uganda.
Melaka was my first stop - a large city in the South West with a lot of history and culture. It's been ruled by Indians, Portuguese, Dutch, British - plus has many Chinese people - and you can see all these influences in the architecture. Beautiful!
I'd received another text from Yati saying that the family had already left for her cousin's wedding, and could I catch an express bus to Kuala Terranganum, East Malaysia and meet them there? Took the 10.00pm bus and got there at 6.00am next day. They'd rented a chalet by the sea, South China Sea I think?
East Malaysia is a very orthodox muslim area. A lady I met in Melaka had given me a crash course in the culture - don't point, bow down while passing elders, dress conservatively- so I bought a Malaysian traditional outfit to wear at the wedding. Sort of like a shapeless shift that covers up everything! And a veil. The wedding was at a beautiful white mosque built on an island in the middle of the river and appeared to be floating. Hence referred to as the "floating mosque"
My presence MAY have taken some (a lot?) of attention away from the bride and groom. Everyone was staring. Adults tried to be subtle about it, but the kids, and very old people, just stood there with mouths open. The only way to deal with it was to smile , or if it was an adult staring, raise my eyebrows (blast it, I wish I could raise just one eyebrow- looks cooler) and stare them down.
The wedding was over in minutes and as far as I can see, only seemed to have been conducted with the groom. The bride sitting to the side looking demure and pretty. We went for the reception at the brides home bearing many gifts - made from pure gold and silk! The food was great! Malays eat their food with their hands. They tried to bring me cutlery, but I wasn't having any of that. Besides Ugandans eat with their hands too - the food tastes better!
After wedding, we left for Kota Bahru in neighbouring state, Kelantan for shopping. Malaysia is made up of 13 federal states, each with a Sultan and Queen. Kelantan, one of the Eastern states next to Thailand, is reknowned for it's batiks. Kota Bahru, it's capital, is known as an Islamic City. The market was great and very cheap.

The staring! Now I know how it feels to be a Muzungu (Swahili word for 'white person' in East Africa). Everything I did was either a source of amazement or amusement! Could be quite disconcerting... but also gave me licence to do pretty much whatever I wanted...

We returned to Johor state, West Malaysia, where Yati comes from. Her parents have a lovely home with a gorgeous garden. They run a plant nursery business in nearby town, Batu Pahat, and grow the plants for the shop at home. Yati's parents are so sweet! And also very determined to fill me up with as much food as possible. On the first day, at lunchtime, there was this great spread on the table. So I asked whether we were expecting company.
"Nope, just us. This is lunch!" WOW! That was a LOT of food!

Not that I am complaining!

I returned to Melaka to visit one of the tourist sites called Mini Malaysia and Mini Asean. This has traditional homes from all of the 13 states in Malaysia and from the countries that make up ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations)- Vietnam, Kampoja(Cambodia), Myanmur (Burma), Thailand, Phillipines, Laos and Brunei. They put on a cultural music show too with colourful dancers performing dances from all over Malaysia. Towards the end of the show, one of the dancers asked me to join them on stage and dance. So I did! Was fun! After the show, the troupe invited me backstage for drinks and once there asked me to teach them dances from Uganda. The guys were so "camp" it was cute!
Returning home in the evening proved to be a bit of a challenge. The taxi driver couldn't speak a word of English and the only Malay I know is "Terima Kasih" (thank you). Communication was a problem! Lets just say I made full use of sign language and my simple map drawing skills!
After a few days, I left for Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur, or KL, to meet up with Liz. I'd specifically told her that I wanted to see HER KL - not the usual touristy places. Liz is a yuppie so she took me to all yuppie hangouts!! It was great! In the morning, went swimming in her apartments' lovely swimming pool. Then to KLCC - shopping mall in one of the famous Petronas 'Twin' Towers. This had a great bookstore called Kinokuniya. Most of the books were shrink wrapped which I found a bit odd. At a flash restaurant I ate what has got to be one of my favourite dishes, Char Kway Teow - flat noodles cooked with chicken. At the Central Market, we bought REAL fresh water pearls for the equivalent of a tenner per strand of 50 pearls! Liz later on MADE me pearl earrings!!!
Then the famous Petaling street which had loads of knock offs, fake designer watches, wallets, handbags, trainers. My friends in Customs would also be interested to know that there were loads of pirate DVD's too. Next day we went to another yuppie hang out called the Curve and met up with friend, Irene for lunch and then strolled through the Saturday crafts market. It was so nice!
I wish I could have spent more time with the girls but had to catch a bus back to Singapore for my connecting flight to Bangkok. At the bus station, I was intercepted by a couple of touts selling tickets for a "VIP bus, Going now! 4.30. VERY fast to Singapore. Gate 23." I looked at them suspiciously but was finally convinced to part with my money when they took me to a ticket booth and showed me a picture of the VIP bus! Once at Gate 23, the guys there didn't seem to have a clue of what was going on. Another guy came up and exchanged my ticket for another one. OKAAAYY.. what next? 4.30 came and went - no bus! When I asked the guy,"Where is the bus?" he held up his hand to silence me and nod as if to say "Everything is under control"
His walkie talkie crackled and he turned to me "Singapore?" then gestured for me to follow some other guy, AWAY FROM GATE 23, outside the bus station - who handed me over to another guy in black t-shirt - with walkie talkie. Black T-shirt looked at my ticket then walked off talking rapidly into his walkie talkie. I'm thinking "what the f#*K! is going on?" Stood there feeling helpless for another 15 minutes. Just as I'd decided that I'd been conned, Black T-shirt comes running back, "Singapore? Singapore?" (that's my name I guess)- he nods towards some coach. So I boarded it and away we went! It was getting dark now. For all I know, we could have been heading towards Thailand. My life was definitely in their hands!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163334720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163334720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163334720/tpod.html Mon, 04 Dec 2006 10:43:37 -0500 To boldly go where no single Ugandan woman (to my knowledge) has ever gone before

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Wellington, New Zealand

Just before I leave New Zealand behind, I thought I'd mention a couple of (what to me were) significant events
The first was the ferry crossing from South Island to the North Island!

Apart from a slight drizzle, everything was okay when the ferry left Picton, none of us suspected the events that were about to unfold!

Andy, our driver guide had tipped us on the best seats in the house, where we were guaranteed not to experience sea sickness. Oddly enough, it was just by the bar...

Xander, Swedish guy, who had been violently sea sick the day before when the group went whale watching, elected to sit with us - we all eyed him apprehensively.

As I said it was all going well - journey normally takes 3 hours. But this was not a normal journey... dum dum duummm

GET TO THE POINT KIM! (I hear you say)THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!

It started slowly - the ferry was rolling from side to side...
then up and down and
around and around!

Emily and I derived great pleasure from running up and down the length of the boat - giggling as we lurched about unsteadily like drunks (and I swear it wasn't the booze)

Xander who looked very green, just put his head down and moaned.

Then we saw the waves. BIG HUGE WAVES. Let me explain. We were on the 8th floor, and yet waves were crashing against OUR windows.

We could hear the sounds of people being sick all around us, and smirked to ourselves.

Xander seemed ok

Suddenly the boat pitched over on to it's side. One moment I was sitting in my chair - next I was on top of the person sitting in front of me. I could hear the sound of bottles breaking in the bar and people screaming. When it righted itself, I rushed over to the bar to see whether they needed help (also to see whether a bottle of lime vodka cruiser had slipped loose) but I guessed they sussed me out and said they were 'fine'

An announcement came over the intercom

"Ladies and gentlemen, in the interests of your own safety, please remain seated, or HOLD ON TO SOMETHING" Nervous laughter fluttered around the ferry. Even a tiny bit of applause.

The sound was turned up on the TV screen. Breaking news. A storm in the Cooks Straits. 17 knot winds and 9 metre swells. Pretty bad! All ferries and flights across the channel had been cancelled. One ferry currently stuck out there. That was us! My booth all cheered!
There were also reports about how the rescue services were understaffed and needed to be improved...
I couldn't resist teasing Xander with stories about disaster films like Titanic, Poseidon, the Perfect Storm! He looked positively miserable.

I mentally went through a list of people I would phone to say I loved them, just before the ferry finally capsized taking us all into a watery grave. I come from a large family so not sure I'd have enough time. In the movies it takes a while for the boat to sink - in Titanic didn't it take like 2 hours? Let me see, there was my family of course, friends.
I guess I'd have to call Jeff to let him know that I wouldn't be coming back to work...

After 4 attempts at crossing, the Captain announced that he was turning the ferry around to go shelter in a cove until the storm passed. 10 hours later, we pulled into Wellington harbour!
When we got off the ferry there were TV News crews everywhere. As soon as Chilli spotted them he began to limp! Hey, this was our chance for our 15 minutes of fame. We desperately tried to get their attention to no avail. I guess a group of backpackers were not considered newsworthy. However, if you ever see the reruns of the news reports, you will see the 4 of us behind ALL the people being interviewed, smiling and gesturing with victory signs, holding up a big notice saying "We Survived!"

Second incident...
Come to think of it, it wasn't that great! I'll save it for my next entry I promise it will be the last one about New Zealand!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163308200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163308200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163308200/tpod.html Mon, 04 Dec 2006 10:39:50 -0500 To boldly go where no single Ugandan woman (to my knowledge) has ever gone before

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Christchurch, New Zealand

Okay, I can't keep pretending that I am still in New Zealand. I am actually at Singapore airport on my way out to Bangkok (they've got free internet access at airport)
I have been in South East Asia for the last couple of weeks. Yes, haven't updated this site partly because I'm lazy, partly due to limited Internet access - especially in more rural Malaysia - but more of that later!

The journey back to Auckland was a looooong bus ride! Got to Christchurch or CherCher as the locals call it (NOT SHERSHER - you french speakers- more like ChairChair with a slight slur on the "ai") Since I had not been to church in a month, I was pretty desperate for a "church" fix. A search on the Internet revealed that NZ Pentecostal churches do not generally advertise themselves. However, there appeared to be some activity at the giant ChristChurch Cathedral, from which CherCher derives it's name. On the outside there were brightly coloured banners announcing "Anglican 2006, 150 years celebration". When I peeked inside I spotted a big choir at the front, so I went and was ushered to the front.

BIG MISTAKE!

It was the Annual Anglican Cathedral Choirs Festival, and the style was 'high'. A simple explanation for the benefit of those of you who don't know, there are several tiers in the Anglican church ranging from "high" - with more traditional forms and prayers to the "low" which is informal, less staged, more spontaneous (...fun!!) Back home I attend a "very low church". I miss good old St B's.
Don't get me wrong, I love music, choral music even - but in very VERY small doses. When a choir takes one hour to sing four lines of a song (okay I exaggerate... but you get my drift)- it is quite tasking on the brain. Ahh, it's like the hymns on "Songs Of Praise"

"The People rejoiced! Rejooooiiiiiced! Rejoiiiceeed! The people, the people, the people" (organ crashing in the background)" People rejoiiiiiiiiced! The Peopleeeeee rejoiced!"

To look at their faces, and dare I say, that of most of the congregation, the "people" were doing anything but...
I know God appreciates all music sung to Him - especially where it's sincerely meant, but I really commiserated with Him having to put up with "the people rejoicing".

I was sat right at the front of the church and could not leave unobstrusevely - so was stuck for another hour. Instead of getting my fix, I felt really guilty for harbouring such irreverent thoughts.

Next stop Kaikoura where I ate grilled blue cod that was medium rare. My stomach protested against such intrusion by bringing it back up again -the whole afternoon and evening. I guess I won't be eating sushi then. Maybe it was punishment for yesterday?
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163087100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163087100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1163087100/tpod.html Mon, 13 Nov 2006 06:59:09 -0500 To boldly go where no single Ugandan woman (to my knowledge) has ever gone before

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Invercagill, New Zealand

Okay - for some reason on this website there is no default map pin for most of the places I've visited on the South and South East Coasts of New Zealand. I guess they don't expect travel podders to go there. Not even to Fiordland!!! Hmm... I'll need to give feedback to the Administrator.
Invercagill has the widest streets in New Zealand and is setting for the rather bland film, "The World's Fastest Indian" with Anthony Hopkins in the lead role sporting a Scottish accent. I always think of Hopkins as Hannibal in 'The Silence of the Lambs'; ("Can you still hear the lambs Clarisse?") Just couldn't take him seriously as the thrill seeking, elderly man determined, against all odds, to set a world record on his 100cc 1950's motorbike i.e. the Indian

But I digress!

South Coast was a bit of a blur mainly because I picked up a book by Carol Berg from the book exchange section in the youth hostel and really got into it. Those of you who know me, know how I HATE distractions when reading. So was quite irritated with the bus stopping ALL THE TIME, to take walks. Okay so we saw a few sea lions (a bit too close for comfort) waterfalls, sheep, sheep and more sheep. I think Earl, the bottom bus driver who took over from Bloke was a bit intimidated by me - the number of times I snarled at him! "Another stop???". Every time we'd stop, he'd look tentatively in his rear view mirror and mention the next sight... I'd give a heavy sigh, fling the book down dramatically, storm out the bus, walk to the 'wonderful' sight in double time, take pictures and then back to bus! Maybe I took it a bit too far...
Fortunately when we got to the Fiordlands, I'd finished the book. We also rejoined the bigger bus which had GUYS and a few familiar faces from before. The whole of the south west coast of NZ's South Island is made up of the snow-capped Southern Alps. Fiords are beautiful deep mountain lakes carved out by glaciers. Took a cruise on one of the lakes, Milford Sound, which had spectacular waterfalls cascading down the sides of steep sided mountains. This ended in a tour of underwater observatory with starfish that looked like they had been stuck to the side of the glass window, as the most interesting item.(Yes it was THAT boring)
Then to Queenstown to begin the final leg of my NZ journey back to Auckland.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1162355460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1162355460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1162355460/tpod.html Mon, 13 Nov 2006 06:13:47 -0500 To boldly go where no single Ugandan woman (to my knowledge) has ever gone before

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Dunedin, New Zealand

The bottom bus driver guide was called Bloke.
"Er.. excuse me... did you say Bloke?"
"Yup"
Bloke is a native from Dunedin. This is a town where loads of Scots settled, and their Kiwi accent has rolled "R's" and includes words like "Aye" and "Wee"
Dunedin itself is a student town, home to the University of Otago. It's charming in it's own little way. Most of the architecture is similar to that of Edinburgh - the city on which Dunedin is based on. So loads of beautiful Cathedrals, a couple of Castles, terraced houses, etc
There were only 6 of us on the bus. All girls. 2 were best friends, so stuck together; 2 Japanese girls whose English was not really great - made for long conversations comprised mainly of rephrasing sentences and a lot of gesturing. Then there was Katy, who'd just said bye to her boyfriend so sulked for the first hour, then talked about him for the rest of the trip "Vin this" and "Vin that" (yawn)
First stop was the world's steepest street, Baldwin Street. Ran up to the top... okay.. huffed and puffed to the top. Next through the Botanical Gardens, and then a quick tour of the University. Students in Dunedin are called "Scarfies". Being mostly International students, they complain about the weather and wrap up in scarfs most of the time. Bloke pointed out black marks on the roads. Apparently, when the Scarfies are hanging out in the cold evenings, they will take furniture out of their halls, and burn them on the streets for warmth. Last month there were riots in the area. The Scarfies objected rather loudly to the Fire Brigade putting out their fires. The police showed up, stones were thrown and the whole thing turned rather ugly. Bloke also showed us famous student halls of residence, one called the "Shite House" and the other "The Fat Bottomed Girls". He assured us that these were pretty accurate descriptions for their "inmates".
Went for a tour of the Cadbury's Chocolate factory. Felt rather silly wearing those nets on our heads, seeing as we did not actually enter the factory area. At various intervals during the tour, the tour guide kept mentioning the grande finale in the purple tower - "The only one of it's kind. Even the factory in Birmingham does not have it!"
When we get to the end he goes, "Okay, now we are entering the purple tower. The Grande Finale you've all been waiting for. A chocolate waterfall!" Oh goody!!! In my mind, I conjured up images of the waterfall in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Excitedly, we entered this narrow tower and stood around a circular balcony. Leaned forward when we detected some movement and then phwooosh, a trickle of chocolate came out- for all of 30 seconds! Surely this was a prequel to the real thing. We all stood there waiting for more but apparently that was it! Tour guide herds us out, gives us some chocolate and sends us off on our merry way! Via the souvenir shop...
Wandered around town for a bit, taking pictures, eating my chocolate. It was Tuesday, bargain night at the cinemas, so watched a movie, "Step Up". Then off to my hostel which was supposedly haunted by a friendly ghost on the top floor. I went in search of the poor bugger, but couldn't find him.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1162192800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1162192800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimbugs/rtw_-_2006/1162192800/tpod.html Mon, 30 Oct 2006 04:11:24 -0500 To boldly go where no single Ugandan woman (to my knowledge) has ever gone before

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Take a group of good looking young people, chuck them on to a bus for a couple of weeks. You see each other every day, sleep in the same rooms, cook in the same kitchens... What do you get?

Big Brother

Little cliques start developing. I'm not much of a "clique" person so was a bit surprised to discover that I was part of one! It happened so subtlely. Kind of hang around together whenever the bus stops, help each other take photos. Before you know it, you've got the same people in all your photos!
The average age on the Kiwi bus is 22, so it comes as a bit of a shock to people when I tell them that actually I AM 31. This is usually accompanied by astonished gasps of...

"No way!", "Shocker!", "For Real", "You look about 25!"

Then there's the bitching...
"You'll never guess what so and so was doing last night?"
"What?... that slag who sits right up close to Damian in the bus?"
"Those girls are all slags"
"Slappers"

Most of the guys have taken to calling me "Uganda"

In my "group", there's Jo, Beth, Lauren, Becky, Stephanie. To be honest, I didn't even know we were a group until we got to Mahinapua. When they were allocating hostel rooms, the girls all wanted to stay together, and naturally since it was a 6 bed dorm - I had to be in it. I think what really made us bond together was the famous "Poo" Party. Kiwi Experience arranges this with all their groups. The team chooses a theme, in our case it was the "80's" theme, and the person who puts in the most effort with their costume, wins a prize. The first prize was the "Canyon Swing" worth 170 dollars - so really worth it!
Damian advised us not to spend more than $15 dollars on costumes. NOT Lauren. She was determined to win, having blown most of her money on Sky Diving in Taupo. She spent like $100 on her costume
Being the oldest, I was the "authority" on 80's fashion. Told them that fashion then was outrageous, bold, loud, big hair, bright colours, frilly skirts, leg warmers... "Anything went really!"
It was kind of fun picking out costumes and dressing up for the party! People really made an effort- especially Lauren. She went as Madonna - complete with the bra cones! We made it a point to mention to the judges just how much effort and money she had put in! The party was rocking! Loads of cheap booze, drunken antics! We tried to get the oldest people on the bus, Rudolf and Francesca (60's)to "flash", but for some reason they wouldn't. Lauren even had "flashing gear"! She kept telling people to ask her what the time was. To which she would roar, "Show Time" while flashing her bottom!
Was a bit disappointing to discover the next day, that the person who put in the LEAST effort won! All Sebastian did was wear a nappy and write on his back "Born in the 80's" My heart went out to Lauren! Out of loyalty, when the result was announced our "group" refused to clap for him!
Next morning, I woke up early and went out to the beach- the Tasman sea. Out of the mist, walking towards me was a man with a rifle, accompanied by his dog. I kind of froze and prayed he would pass me by...
"Oh, I'm disappointed. For a moment there, I thought you were going to strip off your clothes and run out into the sea"
He told me he was out there shooting rabbits. Personlly, I thought the AK47 was a bit OTT. Did he want to blast the poor things to smithereens!
He wandered off, and after a few minutes I heard 3 loud bangs! It was getting colder so headed back to the hostel. The old man, drove up and said he'd give me lift back. Well it was kind of far, and it was cold...so graciously accepted. There was a freshly killed rabbit in the passenger seat which he casually tossed into the back seat, along with the rifle.
When I told the girls later on, they were like,
"You got into a car with a stranger. He had a rifle. And you don't think there was anything wrong with that?"

Looks bad doesn't it?

When everyone had finally woken up, Damian drove us to the Bush man's centre with the promise of a full English breakfast! However when we got there, we were obliged to go in to the museum and watch a 30 minute video about deer hunting. Poor Beth who is vegetarian for humane reasons, had to sit through all this. Kiwi's are funny people! Whereas you can easily use darts to stop the deer, they've decided to turn deer hunting in to an adventure sport - using net guns and for the even more extreme, jumping out of a helicopter and wrestling the deer to the ground. The Musuem had a few possums, a pig trained to sit, when ordered to, a few eels, and a deer. It also had loads of sexist posters on the wall. It's only claim to fame is that Billy Connolly stopped here on his New Zealand tour. Whoopee doo!
Then it started raining!
When we arrived in sleepy Franz Josef, Damian stopped the bus in this random place, and announced cheerily
"Okay guys and girls. You can hop off the bus to take a look at the glacier"
Nobody moved!
The 5* hostel was cosy and had a lovely fire going in the lounge.
It was still raining when we set off for Lake Matheson! It's a reflection lake which means that on a clear day it gets a perfect reflection of Mount Cook, the highest peak in NZ, and Mt Tasman. Not so that day. Damian assured us that to the left, where it was grey and misty, the mountains were really there! We huddled miserably in a cafe, and bought post cards instead!
Next stop before Queenstown was Wanaka - home to the famous Puzzling World. It had an interesting toilet, maze and optical illusions. In the cafe, there were several puzzles. Kiyoko, the Japanese girl, was in her element. Whereas most of us would give up halfway into the puzzle, she would just crack it in under 5 minutes. Clever clogs!
Finally we made it to Queenstown - the ADVENTURE SPORTS capital of New Zealand. Most of the troup signed up for the bungy, so went over to watch and give moral encouragement. And believe me it was needed! Jo deliberated for about 2 minutes before she finally jumped! I don't know who was more nervous, me or her!
That night, the party was at "Altitude" Bar. My hostel was 10 minutes out of town, so after dinner I didn't really feel like walking all the way to the Town centre. Just after I'd settled in to talking with a few guys in the lounge, there came loud thumping on the window sill. I looked out and saw 2 VERY PISSED off faces.
"Get your effing ass, out of there and down to the Altitude!"
The group had come to pick me up! Well, to be fair it was our last night together. Next day I was leaving for Dunedin on the "Bottom Bus"
Altitude was loud. I got roped in with the girls to sing "Don't Cha!" by the Pussy Cat Dolls, complete with gyrations and all! I'd signed up to sing "Moving on Up", by M People but by the time I left, it still hadn't come up!
A half a bottle of wine, and 2 vodka cruisers later, we made our tearful goodbyes and I stumbled back to my hostel!
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