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A visa run to Singapore

Written by James Clark on January 21, 2012 · 7 Comments

I am spending a few months in Thailand on a basic tourist visa, which means that after one month I have to leave and reenter to start a new visa. The previous month I went to Myanmar for 3 weeks. This time around I had not planned for a new country visit, so a short trip was ok for me.

In Thailand there is the option of doing a minivan day trip to the nearest border, but I prefer to make a mini break out of this situation, so I do one of my favourite travel pastimes and start playing with the destination maps on airline websites.

AirAsia flights from Bangkok
[AirAsia destinations from Bangkok]

In the end I chose Singapore on the strength of a super cheap flight sale on Tiger Airways on top of a craving for good Indian food.

Indian would have to be in my top 5 foods, so I tend to find myself in Little India every day I am in Singapore. Little India is also an interesting place to wander, though everytime I go there the sound of loud Bollywood music and the smell of spices makes me want to go back to India proper.

[Masala Dosa feast in Little India - Singapore]

While walking around Singapore I realised that there is a serious lack of bubble tea merchants in Chiang Mai. Bubble tea is everywhere here so I was happy to be back on the bubbles (if you can say such a thing?)

[Things I love about Asia: Bubble tea and peace sign photo posing.]

Another reason I came to Singapore was to meet up with one of my friends who lives here. I found out after booking my flight that he was working in London this month. No problem. I got on the Facebook and Twitter to see if anyone was going to be around, and I saw that Dan from Tropical MBA was passing through Singapore as well.

Dan is a fellow online business guy who I have been following online for a while, so we arranged to meet up for lunch and a cafe/internet session.

[Dan @Tropicalmba - all smiles while he checks his Paypal account]

Travel is large chunk of my business life, and one of the joys of travel for me is to be able to meet up with like minded people that I may not have met otherwise. I realised afterwards that I had way more fun hanging out in a cafe with wifi (and a chain cafe at that!) talking shop and swapping ideas than I would have had walking around seeing the sites.

So I now go back to Chiang Mai, ready to tackle some online projects with my wanderlust sated for another month. After that I will be heading off to my first new country of the year: the Philippines.

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: drink, food, singapore, visa, work remotely

The temples of Bagan – Myanmar

Written by James Clark on January 5, 2012 · 7 Comments

After visiting the incredible Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon I was wondering if anything could top that in Myanmar? It didn’t take long to find out, with my next stop at Bagan.

[Temples on the Bagan Plain]

Ancient Bagan

Bagan is the site of a ruined city in central Myanmar that was a powerful capital nearly thousand years ago. At its peak there were over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas, and stupas in the city. Today there are “only” just over 2000 pagodas remaining.

The historical area covers 42 sq km on a plain by the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River. Looking out over the plain it is hard to imagine that this was once a great city. It made me wonder what would Bangkok look like if it was abandoned with only the Wats remaining. Or Rome with only churches left standing. The first photo you see of the temples on the plain, in the green space between the temples there was a city, with shops, houses and administrative buildings. Ohh to have a time machine to see what this looked like.

What makes Bagan so remarkable is that there is always a temple in viewing distance. Everywhere you look there is always a temple somewhere.

[Temples scattered everywhere]

[A cluster of small temples]

Within the historical area there a number of towns, with New Bagan, Naung U, and Old Bagan having accommodation available. Most of the budget places are around Naung U, which is where the bus from Yangon terminates. I got the bus from Yangon at 5pm which arrived at the ridiculous hour of 3am.

[Entrance to Shwe Zigon Zedi at Naung U]

There is not much to do in these towns, which is just as well as it took a few days of solid cycling to see the highlights. The roads between the main towns are paved and flat, but between the towns and into the plains many of the roads are dirt (and sometimes sand), which was test on my fitness.

[Bicycle outside temple]

In and around the temples

With so many temples scatttered everywhere it wouldn’t be possible to visit all of them. So upon passing each one I would ask myself if I should stop and have a look or keep cycling along? Many of the temples are still used as a place of worship, even some that look like nothing more than a ruin.

[Standing Buddha inside Ananda Phaya Pagoda]

[Water drain on Dhamma Ya Zi Ka Pagoda]

[Mahabodhi Temple - a replica of the Mahabodhi Temple in India]

Getting Around

For getting around the temples the choices are limited. There are no tuk tuk drivers for hire here like there is at Angkor in Cambodia, and the hiring of motorbikes to foreigners is illegal (boo!). The most popular way to get around is by bicycle. The guesthouses have bicycles for hire for around $1 a day. Most of them are of the rickety cheap Chinese variety. Be sure to test it out before cycling away.

[Sandy roads make for hard cycling]

If you are not up for the workout on the sandy roads and intense heat, there are private tours in minivans. horse and cart tours are are also available. If you are interested, a driver will soon find you at whatever town you are staying in.

[Horse and cart at Bagan]

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: bagan, blogsherpa, buddha, buddhism, myanmar-burma, temple

Shwedagon Pagoda – The cure for temple fatigue

Written by James Clark on December 19, 2011 · 10 Comments

[Shwedagon Pagoda (Paya), Yangon - Myanmar]

Visitors to Europe would be familiar with the phenomenon of being cathedralled out. This is when you visit lots of cathedrals in a short space of time, to the point that you tire of even the grandest of cathedrals. The same happens with the temples of Asia. To be templed out. Having spent much time in Thailand I have experienced a dose of wat fatigue myself. In the mysterious land of Myanmar there is a temple that will awaken anyone from the deepest of temple fatigue. Introducing the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.

The first hint for me that this is not your every day temple was while looking out the window flying into Yangon. There was a brown haze firmly stuck over the city, yet the golden stupa shone brilliantly in the morning light.

The Pagoda is a few kilometres (or miles, as they still use here) outside the city centre and it dominates the skyline. As I walked closer I realised that what I was seeing is one of the great temples of Asia; up there with Angkor Wat and Borobudur.

[To the Shwedagon Pagoda]

How old is the Shwedagon Pagoda?

The original temple is believed to have over 2500 years old. It was built to enshrine eight of the Buddha’s hairs, which were given to two merchant brothers by the Lord Buddha himself. Over the years the shrine was added on, destroyed by earthquakes and wars, and rebuilt and improved. Like the Ship of Theseus, there has been so many replacement parts over the years that what you see today is not original.

At over 2500 years old the Shwedagon Pagoda is the oldest Buddhist temple in the world. Yes, even older than the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India, where the Buddha attained enlightenment.

Speaking of Bodhgaya, within the temple complex there is a banyan tree that is descended from the Mahabodhi Temple, the same tree that the Buddha sat under.

[Banyan tree descended from the Mahabodhi Temple]

How much gold is at the Shwedagon Pagoda?

[The golden stupa]

Another question that doesn’t come with a straight answer. Trying to find out how much gold is here is an exercise in futility. An online search will give you answers from 9 to 60 tonnes, and that number is constantly changing. There is always worshippers applying gold leaf to something, and in the case when I was there, workmen adding another layer of gold to the Zedi.

[Reguilding the stupa. Don't ask me how that scaffolding works!]

Inside the Temple Complex

I easily spent a few hours wandering around the little temples within the complex. It is best to come in the late afternoon to avoid the fierce heat and to see the temple as the sun is settting.

[Temples within the temple complex]

[Prayer ritual]

[Green Guard]

So there it is, one of the great temples of the world. While I have been shaken from my temple fatigue, I pity the poor temple I visit next. This is a hard act to follow.

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: blogsherpa, buddha, buddhism, myanmar-burma, temple, yangon

New Country Day: Myanmar (Burma)

Written by James Clark on November 22, 2011 · 4 Comments

New Country: Myanmar (Burma)
Date: 19 November 2011

Myanmar Visa

Myanmar (or the artist formerly known as Burma) has long been on my to visit list. Over 10 years ago one of my good travel friends described the temples of Bagan to me in such a way that I have wanted to go ever since.

For western travellers there is an ethical debate over whether to visit Myanmar(PDF file), and on top of that the restricted internet makes for challenging travel for digital nomads like myself. I have arrived here though at a time when things might be changing, as they are in lands around the world in 2011. While the internet here is painfully slow, many restrictions have recently been lifted (such as you can now view Facebook). Then the day before I arrived Obama announced he was going to send Hillary Clinton to Myanmar.

I will be in Myanmar for a month and I suspect the internet will be slower as I head inland, and in some places I wont have internet access at all. I am concerned I might get internet withdrawals and break out into a cold sweat, but I will take this time out to catch up on some reading and make the most of my time being unplugged.

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: myanmar-burma, new country day

The joy of Yi Peng, 10000 Lantern Release Festival – Chiang Mai

Written by James Clark on November 3, 2011 · 15 Comments

Sometimes words and pictures just can’t describe events. The Yi Peng Festival was such an event for me. I have many friends in Chiang Mai who have been to Yi Peng before and told me it is one of the highlights of the year. With such an endorsement I had to see this for myself.

[Yi Peng crowd with lanterns]

Yee Ping is known as the festival of 10000 Lantern Release, a Buddhist festival to make merit. In Buddhism, merit is the accumulation of good deeds, which is carried over to later in life (or in the next life). The accumulation of good karma basically.

With so many people attending, my fellow Yee Ping veteran friends advised to go out early to secure a good patch of grass.

[Hard work waiting around for the evening to come. Drew and Cole.]

By dusk the ceremony begins, which involves Buddhist chanting and meditation. Finally, an announcement is made to light the lanterns.

[Yi Peng - Dustin and Dale lighting a lantern]

When most of the lanterns are ready the signal is given to release the lanterns. By now the lanterns are full of hot air and only require one finger to hold them. Looking up and watching your lantern float away with thousands of others was a beautiful site. All I remember is lots of laughing and cheering, as well as some ridiculously cheery Thai music in the background which would have sounded cheesy in any other context, but here it was wonderful.

[Yi Peng Lanterns]

You are supposed to make a wish when you release the lantern, but in the joy of the moment I completely forgot. Once I remembered that I forgot, I looked out in the sky and wondered which one was mine in the hope of making a retroactive wish. Good luck finding it…

[Yi Peng Sky of Lanterns]

I was so happy from the spectacle that I didn’t feel the need to wish for anything anyway. Besides, I always wish for unobtainable stuff that never comes true, like world peace, and the secrets to Google’s search algorithm.

After the first release, the remaining lanterns are lit and released, keeping the sky alight for a while longer. Fireworks are set off as well during this time, adding more light to the night sky.

[Yi Peng Fireworks]

Yi Peng is on every year around October/November and is held at the Lanna Dhutanka temple (behind Mae Jo University), just outside Chiang Mai. The event is free to attend, and the lanterns cost 100 Baht (about $3). There is also another lantern release event the following week, which is put on for foreigners. The event costs $100, which seems crazy when can see the local one for free.

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: buddhism, chiang mai, festival, thailand

A highlights of Turkish food tour in Istanbul

Written by James Clark on October 26, 2011 · 6 Comments

While in Istanbul I caught up with a travel blogger I met in Sumatra. I was on a bus from Lake Toba to Bukittinggi, and as the bus was leaving the ticket man pointed to me and said “you two both the same, sit next to him”.

It turned out that my new found seat mate writes one of the biggest travel blogs in Turkey and was on an epic round the world trip, and he had plenty of interesting tales to tell over the course of the 16 hour bus ride. I said when I eventually get to Istanbul I will look him up.

Basar gave me a little tour of the Galata neighbourhood before taking me on a highlights of Turkish food tour. I really can’t recall the last time I ate so much.

We started off with kokoreç (think Haggis in a bun, which is not as disgusting as it sounds), followed by some mussels.

[A kokoreç van in Istanbul]

Next was Meze, a popular meal of the Middle East, sort of like tapas. Bas,ar (who I suspect might be my long lost Turkish grand mother) kept ordering plates until I couldn’t fit any more. Pleas to stop were fell on deaf ears, as piles of delicious food kept arriving.

[Basar with meze.]

I like to abide the rule that there is always room for desert, but I was questioning my ability to fit anything else in after this. I carried on, and we finished the night with dondurma, the sticky ice cream of Turkey. The place we went serves extra sticky dondurma, which is eaten with a knife and fork.

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: food, istanbul, turkey

In Pictures: Fairy chimneys and churches of Cappadocia – Turkey

Written by James Clark on October 17, 2011 · 4 Comments

After driving across the dusty Anatolian plateau the entry into the region of Cappadocia is marked by a landscape like no other. It starts off with one or two fairy chimneys, then a whole valley will open up to these remarkable rock formations.

[Fairy Chimneys]

[Monks Valley - Pasabag]

In addition to the draw of this unique landscape, Cappadocia has a collection of important church caves dating from the regions Christian era. The most accessable of these is at the Goreme Open Air Museum, where there are cave churches from the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries.

[Nunnery and Monastery - Goreme Open Air Museum]

I stayed in Goreme, which has a good cross section of what Cappadocia has to offer within walking distance. A short walk from the town of Goreme is Love Valley. No guesses as to why it was called that.

[Love Valley - Goreme]

Outside of Goreme there are plenty of other valleys and churches and abandoned cave homes to explore. They are spread out over the region and public transport isn’t really an option, so either hire a car or take a day tour which will cover the best of the area.

[Camel Rock - Devrent Valley]

[Ceiling of The Church of St John]

Cappadocia is also famous for cave dwellings. Even up to the 1980′s many communities lived in caves carved out the hillsides. Most of these are now abandoned, but there are hotels and guesthouses everywhere that are built into caves and rock formations.

[Cave Hotel]

Balloon rides are popular here as well, and on a clear morning ballooons fill the sky.

[Cappadocia Balloons]

If ballooning is out of your budget, no problem – just hike up to the nearest hill and enjoy the view.

[Cappadocia Sunset]

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: cappadocia, church, goreme, turkey

In Pictures: The Blue Lagoon – Iceland

Written by James Clark on September 21, 2011 · 7 Comments

[Blue Lagoon]

I have a natural reistance to anything that is said to be a must see. When visitng Iceland you will hear this said about the Blue Lagoon. There is no escaping it. There are brochures and advertising everywhere, and the thought of not going makes you feel like you haven’t been to Iceland until you have been to the Blue Lagoon. I went – of course – and after visiting I am going to join the chorus and say, if you are ever in Iceland you must visit the Blue Lagoon.

The Blue Lagoon is in Southwest Iceland, not far from the international airport. The most striking feature of this part of Iceland is the undulating lava plains that make up this region. Upon arrival at the spa you walk through a path carved through the lava plain.

[Blue Lagoon entrance through lava field]

The lagoon water is a natural mix of sea and fresh water and contains minerals, silica and algae which gives the water its distinct blue colour.

[Blue Lagoon in the lava field]

While the water is natural, the lagoon is man made, with the water having first passed through a nearby geothermal power station, which uses the water to produce clean energy.

[Blue Lagoon Power Plant]

Around the lagoon there are buckets of silica mud which you can help yourself to and apply to your face.

[Blue Lagoon bathrobes]

When you enter the spa you get an electronic bracelet, which is the key to your locker as well as a water proof wallet. You can use it to buy drinks at the lagoon bar and the restaurant.

[Blue Lagoon Bar]

The Blue Lagoon is just 20 minutes away from the the Keflavík International Airport and 40 minutes away from Reykjavik. There are well planned tours that run from the airport, so if you are on a layover with a few hours to spare you can take a trip out to the Lagoon between flights.

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: blogsherpa, blue lagoon, iceland

Golden Circle Tour – A best of Iceland in one day

Written by James Clark on September 12, 2011 · 7 Comments

With only a short stopover in Iceland I had planned for a day in Reykjavik, a visit to the Blue Lagoon and a day trip featuring the highlights of the land. The thing I didn’t know was what those highlights were. Iceland has a serious branding issue when it comes to its destinations. Apart from the capital (Reykjavik), how many people can name another city or place in Iceland?

Even after its most famous volcano erupted in 2010, disrupting the travel plans of millions of people, can you actually name the volcano? That would be Eyjafjallajökull, which pronounced apprximately like AY-yah-fyah-lah-YOH-kuul, doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue like Mount Etna, Bromo or Vesuvius.

Fortunately once you are on the ground in Reykjavik tour options are abundant. I can’t recall a country that is better organized for tourism than Iceland is. At the airport there is information on every tour available on this little volcanic outpost.

By the time the 40 minute bus journey from the airport to downtown Reykjavik was over, I had picked out the Golden Circle Tour. This tour covers a broad selection of highlights in the Southwest which can be covered in a whole day, giving you a taste of the land of fire and ice. There are a number of tour companies that offer the tour, most of which offer the following highlights.

Kerið Volcanic Crater Lake

Think of Iceland and think volcanos. The Kerið volcanic crater lake has its caldera intact and is the most accessable crater of is type from Reykjavik.

[Kerið volcano crater]

Strokkur Geyser

Did you know that Iceland gave the world the word Geyser? Geysir is a geyser located at in the Haukadalur geothermal area. Also in the park is the Strokkur geyser, which erupts every 5 minutes or so, making it one of the most regular geysers in the world. Most tours stop for over an hour here, so you will get plenty of chances to see it go off.

[Strokkur Geyser]

Gullfoss Waterfall

The Gullfoss waterfall (“golden falls”) is a classic example of lack of marketing on Icelands behalf. How many of you have heard of the Gullfoss Waterfall? This should be marketed along with the great waterfalls of the world, yet it rarely gets a mention. It has a mercifully Anglo friendly name so it would be a breeze to promote as well. It is a sight to behold.

[Gullfoss Waterfall]

National Park Þingvellir

Iceland is home to the worlds oldest parliament, which first sat in 930. This was located within the Þingvellir national park. The Alþingi (assembly) met here and the Rock of Law was the platform where speeches were held. The location was picked as it was the most accessable location for representatives from most of the island, and the rock sits on an accoustically friendly location. What they didn’t know though was that they were straddling two continents.

[Rock of Law]

While Iceland is politically located in Europe, physically the island sits on the Eurasian and North American Plate on the the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The park features the rift valley which is a sort of no mans land in terms of continents. This is where the two continents are separating at 2.5 centimetres per year. Home sick Americans can touch this wall (pictured), which is the edge of the North American continent.

[Rift Valley - Walking along the edge of the North American continent]

Tour Details
This tour takes all whole day and there are a number of tour companies offering this tour. I went with Netbus.

You can also include a tour to the Blue Lagoon afterwards (which is highly recommended doing while visiting Iceland.)

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: iceland, tours, waterfall

New Country Day – Romania

Written by James Clark on September 10, 2011 · 4 Comments

New Country: Romania
Date: 9 September 2011

I have a tradition where I celebrate New Country Day – the first day in a country I’ve never been to. This year I have been to a number of countries for work and pleasure that I have visited previously. I have been to the UK so many times now that I don’t even think about it when I get on the train at Gatwick or the Picadilly line at Heathrow. New countries are different. I’m looking at everything around me completely aware of little details, like how the Icelandic passport control guys are wearing wooly jumpers, to seeing new country URL’s everywhere, like .is for Iceland (yes of course I would notice that). And in the case of Iceland, a new language with all sorts of wonderful accents and umlauts.

New Country Day is something you can only do around 200 times in your life, depending on what country definition list you use and if you plan to visit every country. Technically I have been to Romania before, but I am calling this new country day. I never count airport layovers as a country visit, but what about border posts? I have previously trodden on soil at a Romanian border town, though I’m not counting that. Here is what happened.

In 2006 I was on my way to Romania from Budapest. On the train I was talking to a group of other non-European who mentioned needing to get a visa. A visa? I had not considered that I would need one. Australian passports are good to go for everywhere in Europe, or so I thought. I didn’t say anything, but I was sweating it out for the next hour while the train trundled towards the border. Passports were stamped at the Hungarian border, and upon arrival at the border town in Romania our passports were taken for processing.

Moments later everyone got their passport back, except me. Another customs official came on the train holding up a dark blue passport. They found the owner (me), and marched me off the train. Everyone on the carraige turned their heads like sunflowers as I did the walk of shame. There I was, Mr Long Term Traveller who forgot to check if he needed a visa. To be fair New Zealanders could at that point enter Romania no problem (everyone loves New Zealand), but for some reason Australians were required to get a visa (a few months later Romania joined the EU and a visa was no longer required).

I was taken off the train and stood on Romanian soil for the first time. From there I was taken to the station and to be interviewed in a run down office by two customs officials. They were friendly enough, but it still didn’t stop my imagination running away in all directions. I’ve always had a fear of customs officials in small dingy rooms, which probably stems from seeing Midnight Express as a young boy. I’m surprised that movie didn’t stop me from travelling at all. Ok, I’m not a drug runner, but I padded myself to make sure I didn’t accidently tape blocks of hash to my body that morning (all clear). I once got a half an hour grilling in a small room at Newark when I entered the USA in 2001, which has added to my dislike of border crossings.

Fortunately the Romanian guys were soft on me. I was given a Romanian entry stamp, then it was crossed out in red with another stamp on top of it. From there I was driven to the motor vehicle border crossing and dumped there. The nearest town was over an hours walk away. I got back to Budapest the next day and discovered the Romanian visa questions to be so tedious that I didn’t bother applying.

It was a frustrating 24 hours, but weird things started happening after that. I went to a hostel to work out what to do next. While I was there I met a local girl who was to become my girlfriend for the next two years. Later on I met up with a guy who became a business associate and a good friend today. I don’t know when I would have come back to Budapest again, but due to not getting a visa for Romania my life changed in one day. strange how stuff like that happens.

So here I am, five years later, having another go at visiting Romania. While Romania is now in the EU, it is not in the Schengen travel area, so there is still a border control. Once again on the train from Budapest passports were taken for processing. There were few people on the train and it looked like I was the only non-European in my carraige. Once again a customs official come back on the train holding up a dark blue passport. Fortunately I was all clear. I am in Romania at last.

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: budapest, hungary, new country day, oradea, romania