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Turkey To Thailand – Kind of going home

Written by James Clark on October 19, 2011 · 1 Comment

Where I’m At: Istanbul, Turkey – 19 October 2011

Istanbul brings me to the end of my European travels for 2011. In addition to completing my annual visit to London, and attending to an offline business in Budapest, I also got to travel around Romania and Turkey.

[James and a camel in Cappadocia, Turkey]

From Istanbul I will be flying back to Thailand, which completes a round the world trip of sorts. I was in Thailand in March and since then I have I have been to Malaysia, India, Australia, USA, Canada, Mexico, Iceland, UK, Hungary, Romania, and Turkey. I can say that I’m ready to put some months in one place for a while.

Thailand

In September last year I left the house in Melbourne I was renting for nine years. I wasn’t there half of the time but it was a great base to leave stuff as I work and travel around the world. I have been without a fixed address since that time, and given that I can work anywhere I’m not compelled to go back to Melbourne yet. For now Southeast Asia is my hub of choice, and Thailand is calling my name once again. After a brief stay in Bangkok I will be heading to Chiang Mai, which is something like a second home. Along with catching up on some much neglected projects I will get to see my fellow location independent working friends who are also based there.

Of course there will be side trips planned in that time to places I have yet to visit, including Myanmar and the Philippines.

See you in Thailand!

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: food, istanbul, thailand, turkey

Playa del Carmen – An ideal home base for the Yucatan Peninsula

Written by James Clark on July 6, 2011 · 20 Comments

Being a full time working nomad I have been testing out the right balance of work and travel. Currently the one month on/one month off system is working for me. This year I have managed to spend a month in Penang, as well as a couple of months in Chiang Mai in between travels. While I was in Chiang Mai I met up with a fellow long term traveller, Derek “Wandering Earl” Baron. After a few online discussions we realised that we would both be in Mexico at the same time. It also turned out that he had a spare room for rent in his apartment around the same time I would be there as well. This is what brings me to Playa del Carmen, which will be my home for my next one month off travel.

[The white sandy beach at Playa del Carmen]

I didn’t know much about Playa del Carmen other than it is close to Cancun. When I think Cancun, I think resort town filled with American spring breakers. That is only part of the story though, and after readings Earls article about why Playa del Carmen is such a good place to live, I felt comfortable with the decision to spend some time here.

I have been in Playa a few days now and I sold on the idea of staying for a month. There is no denying that this is a touristic destination, but after scouting the town I see that the most of the tourist shops are confined to one street (5th Ave) which runs parallel to the beach. Further back from the beach, Playa is an every day working Mexican city, but with better infrastructure. There are plenty of local restaurants that are half the price of some of the restaurants on the tourist area, and there is also a Mega supermarket nearby for household grocery items.

[There is more to Playa del Carmen than Señor Frogs]

My home for the next month is a modern and spacious apartment with a swimming pool and wifi included. It’s about a third of the price of what I would pay for the same standard accommodation in Melbourne.

[Living in Playa del Carmen]

Perhaps the biggest attraction of living in Playa is its location on the Yucatan Peninsula. Basing myself here I can make day trips to highlights of the region, such as Tulum, Chichén Itzá and the Cenotes. July is also rainy season here so it is not so busy, and the rainy days (which I haven’t experienced yet) may encourage me to stay inside more and get some work done before heading off on the road again. Afterall I am actually meant to be working while I am here

Over the next month I will be visiting more of the region as well as reporting on living in this great part of the world.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: mexico, playa del carmen

Kahului Airport: Heading to TBEX Vancouver

Written by James Clark on June 8, 2011 · Leave a Comment

TBEX Vancouver A brief Where I’m At update from Kahului Airport in Maui. I’m on my way to Vancouver for the TBEX ’11 conference of travel bloggers, writers and new media creators. I went to last years event in New York and was so impressed with the amount of great people that I knew I would be back for Vancouver ’11.

So if you are coming to TBEX this weekend I look forward to meeting you there.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: tbex

Hawaii: On the road again

Written by James Clark on June 1, 2011 · 5 Comments

It’s been a while since my last update – two continents ago in fact – back in Kuala Lumpur. Since then I was back in Melbourne for 2 weeks, wrapping up loose ends from my old residency and catching up with family and friends.

As I am now officially homeless in my own homeland, it appears the ideal time to expatriate for an extended period of time. I haven’t done this since my working holiday years in the UK and Ireland. This time instead of Europe, I will be based in Southeast Asia. To get back there, I am taking the long way around, which is how I find myself in Hawaii.

[Waikiki - Hawaii]

There is a methodology to my going the long way around, apart from seeing some new places. I am using Hawaii as a stepping stone to Vancouver, where I will attend the TBEX conference for travel bloggers (yep, they have conventions for everything these days). From there it is onto Seattle and Portland, and then a couple of months in Mexico. I will also be trying out living in Mexico, renting a room in an apartment for a month. More on that later.

So I will be in Oahu and Maui for the next week, then onto meet friends, old and new, in Vancouver.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: hawaii, oahu, usa, waikiki

Kuala Lumpur – Wrapping up eight months in Asia

Written by James Clark on May 11, 2011 · 9 Comments

After eight months of travel in Asia I find myself back where I started in Kuala Lumpur. What an incredible eight months it has been. Two months in China, a month in India and three months in Thailand, punctuated by many visits to Malaysia, including Borneo for the first time.

KLCC Petronas Towers - KL
[Kuala Lumpur - funny name, cool city.]

There were so many highlights along the way, but I will resist turning this post into a best of (though now would a good excuse to show a picture of a Giant Panda from my visit to Chengdu).

Giant Panda eating bamboo

I kind of had a plan for the eight months, but like all good plans, that went out the window early on. My plan for a year in China was not to be after I couldn’t get a one year tourist visa. From China I was going to spend three months in Borneo. I may end up doing that yet, as this island had me the moment I arrived. In my first week there I had the privilege to attend a local wedding in Sabah, which included getting dressed up in traditional attire. Borneo was that kind of place for me.

[Dusun wedding party - Sabah]

My three months in Borneo was truncated to three weeks as I decided to spend Christmas with people I know in Chiang Mai. That was the biggest surprise of this trip. I didn’t think I would be back in Thailand this time around, but the Travel Gods had other plans. After Christmas I was then lured back by a coffee tour, and the fellowship of working nomads living in Chiang Mai kept me on. Spending some living time in Chiang Mai got me thinking that I could possibly base myself there in the future.

Akha coffee pickers
[With my Chiang Mai coffee dealers from Akha Ama Coffee.]

Now I am back in KL, catching up on some work before going back to Mebourne this week, where I will be returning as a visitor. When I left in September, I left a house I had been living in off and on since 2001. While I have been travelling as a working nomad since 2003, this is the first time I have travelled without a fixed address. With no current abode in Melbourne, this is just a two week visit to see family and friends, and to sort out some business administration.

After Melbourne I will be heading to Hawaii for eight days, which happened to be the first place I went to overseas. From Hawaii I then make my way to Vancouver for the TBEX travel bloggers meetup. I attended TBEX in New York last year and met so many wonderful people that I knew I would have to return. Having the conference in Vancouver was a great selling point as well, a city which I hear nothing but rave reviews for. I will also include Seattle and Portland in this trip. From there, more will be revealed .

So it’s my last week in SE Asia, and I am in KL eating everything I possibly can before I go. I’m going to miss this part of the world.

Tosai Masala - KL
[Tosai Masala and Teh Tarik in KL (H/T to regional food expert Jodi).]

If you are in Melbourne in the next two weeks feel free to contact me.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: food, kuala lumpur, malaysia, tbex

Delhi – Something Old, Something New

Written by James Clark on April 6, 2011 · 4 Comments

Location: Delhi – India Date: 6 April 2011

It’s been a while since I have woken up briefly forgetting where I am, which was how I woke up in my first morning in Delhi. Outside there was sound of sweet Indian music (the good stuff, with sitars and tablas). When I opened my eyes, the room was more peculiar than the usual Southeast Asia guesthouse style I have been used to for the last 5 months. I’m in India!

I had so much work to do leading up to this trip that my preparation involved cracking open a guide book for the first time on the flight. I noted the use of the phrase “assault of the senses” more than once in the book (bombardment is popular as well). I’m going to try and refrain from using that well worn cliche, even though it does descibe India so well.

The thing with India is there is something going on everywhere. Take for example this laneway, which was my first daylight introduction to Delhi as I left the guesthouse. There is so much detail everywhere, that I just wanted to keep following the little lanes and to find out more.

[Laneway Shrine - Delhi]

New Delhi.
I started off in New Delhi. With its wide streets and grand government buildings, it is a gentle way to start off in this city. I didn’t plan it that way. I just went in that direction as I thought I would have a better chance of finding a mobile phone shop. I ended up at Gandhi Smriti, a musuem and memorial in the gounds of the building where Gandhi was assassinated. The main house has photos and quotes from throughout his life. From the house you can follow Gandhi’s last footsteps to the place where he was shot.

[Gandhi's Last Steps]

Old Delhi
Old Delhi contains the biggest tourist attractions in Greater Delhi, such as the Red Fort and Jama Masjid. What I like about Old Delhi is the market streets. Crowded roads filled with autorickshaws, horse and man drawn carts, trucks and bikes, all trying to find a place while dodging merchandise spilling out onto the road. This is where the “assault of the senses” phrase would be inserted.

[Old Delhi Spice Market]

Food
I love Indian food, so I am going to have no problem eating my way across India this month. This typical South Indian thali set meal cost 30 Rs ($0.65usd).

[Thali Set Meal]

India For a Month
I fly out of Kolkata in one month, and apart from aiming to visit the Taj Mahal and Varanasi, this trip is a see what happens along the way type of trip. My favourite kind.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: delhi, food, india

Chiang Mai: Cafe wonderland

Written by James Clark on March 23, 2011 · 5 Comments

Having secured a visa for India, I have been happy to stay put in Chiang Mai, get some hours in for work and hang out with the large remote workers community that calls Chiang Mai home.

If there is one thing I love about Chiang Mai, it is the cafes. There are cafes everywhere, which as a caffeine fiend from Melbourne, it is probably why I am feeling at home here (that, and the $1 (approx) sticky rice and mango carts). From the side of the road street vendors to big chains, and everything in between. Most cafes have free wi-fi as standard. It’s a remote workers paradise I tell you.

On fridays my location independent associates meet up for lunch at Free Bird Cafe, which is a non-profit organization helping Burmese refugees.

When I first saw the building I knew I was going to love this place. Look at this building, it is so warm and inviting.

[Freebird Cafe]

If you are heading to Chiang Mai, drop by and say hello.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: cafe, chiang mai, thailand

I’m going to India

Written by James Clark on March 16, 2011 · 2 Comments

Happy to report that after the misadventures of trying to get a visa while in Malaysia, I now have a visa for India. I last went to India in 2007 and I had hoped to come back more than once every four years, even if only for business. So I will be back in India in April and May.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: chiang mai, india, thailand, visa

Chiang Mai – An India visa run, in Thailand.

Written by James Clark on March 9, 2011 · 5 Comments

Greetings from Chiang Mai, Thailand. This was not the greetings I was expecting to do for the rest of the year, but Indian bureaucracy had other ideas.

I went to Penang with the intention of getting a visa for India while I was there. When I applied to the visa centre, the first item on the visa application was pointed out to me:

Visa application of NON-MALAYSIAN foreigner who is not resident of Malaysia is liable to be rejected

I found out foreigners can longer apply for a visa in Malaysia (or Singapore), but you still can (for now) in Thailand.

I left Chiang Mai at the start of February and had mentally signed off from Thailand. I was thinking that it might be some time before I return to this land. Adding in the back tracking factor, I was wondering if I should just ditch the India trip all together?

The desire to visit India again and the fact that there is a consulate in Chiang Mai made my decision a bit easier. havin a bonus few more weeks with my friends in Chiang Mai sealed the deal.

Kuala Lumpur

To get to Chiang Mai meant going south to to KL to get a flight back north. Thanks to good old AirAsia, I’m becoming very familiar with Kuala Lumpur, and it grows on me just a little bit more each time.

When in KL I like to go to the Brickfields area, where you can find a good banana leaf set meal. This area is known as Little India and it has now been renovated with colourful archways, just incase you didn’t know you were in Little india with the blaring Bollywood songs everywhere.

[Little India, Brickfields - Kuala Lumpur]

KL Low Cost Carrier Terminal

As my flight was at 6.55am I opted to spend the night at the airport. I’m not good at getting up at 3.30am to get a flight, and the KL budget terminal is a great place to get some work done. There is a 24 hour food hall and Starbucks, and the Starbucks has free wifi (like most Starbucks in Malaysia). In fact the whole terminal has free wifi, so I spent the night as a work day. I wasn’t the only one with this idea. This is the food court at 2.15am.

[Food court at night]

India Consulate in Chiang Mai

I went straight to the consulate as soon as I arrived in Chiang Mai. If there is going to be another visa debacle I wanted to give myself as many spare days as possible to sort it out. The office is located on Tung Hotel Rd, which is near the train station. The consulate is in an old house and when I went there was no one in the queue. I filled out the application in what looked like the old lounge room, and that was it. Very laid back, just like Chiang Mai. Happy to be back.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: airport, chiang mai, india, kuala lumpur, malaysia, penang, thailand, visa

Penang – My (temporary) island home

Written by James Clark on March 2, 2011 · 9 Comments

Where I’m At: Penang – Malaysia.

Greetings from Penang. I have been here for nearly a month now, staying in the World Heritage City of Georgetown. I have been here several time before on shorter visits, and I always knew I would come back to stay for an extended period. I wanted to spend some time to wander the old streets of Georgetown while getting some work done in a wifi and budget friendly environment.

[Dogs on a Trishaw - Penang]

While I have been here I have been working on this site and I am going to try out a new category: Where I’m At. The plan will be a for a weekly update, reporting from “Where I’m At”. I’m still toying with the idea of calling it Where I’m At Wednesdays, as Wednesdays seems to be my least busy day for scheduled posts on other sites I run. Plus it is cool to have a day in a category name, you know.

Seeing I am just starting this, I’m going to recap my time in Penang, rather than the week that was. I came to Penang with the intention of hunkering down for a month to work on some website projects with as little distraction as possible. In my time here I have had some welcome relief of the work day from visiting friends.

On my second day here I was working away when I noticed a Facebook update from Johnny Jet (yes I can work and check Facebook news at the same time). He posted an update: “On the ferry to Penang”. Hey, I’m in Penang as well! I quickly mesaged him, and half an hour later I was down at the Eastern and Oriental Hotel where I met up with Johnny and Natalie.

[Johnny and Natalie]

For those who don’t know Johnny, he has been putting out a weekly travel newsletter since 1999. I picked up the story around 2000, so I have known him online for ages. Johnny and Natalie were on a quick stop-over on a remarkable train journey, which you can read about in Johnnys weekly newsletter.

Apart from that surprising unscheduled meetup, I have also had scheduled meetups with other friends. Two of my friends I used to work with, in Melbourne way back in 1999, are now living in the region. Paul is in Singapore, and Tasha is in Jakarta. One of our friends of this group was missing, so we took took a photo in honour of his missing in action-ness.
Missing Friend
[Paul, Tasha, (MIA Macman) and James]

During this old work mates reunion I had an overlap of friends visiting from Chaing Mai. While Paul went back to Singapore, Tasha stayed on and met up with Shannon and Paddy, who were here on a Thai visa run. Having already been here for a week, which was a week longer than everyone else, I got to play local tour guide.

Friends in Georgetown
[Maysie, Shannon and Paddy]

Living In Penang
When Johnny was here he was asking me about the cost of living for food and accommodation here. So here is a brief overview. Penang has a worldwide reputation for being a foodies paradise, and I can attest to that. I’ve had to stop myself from falling into the trap of going to my favourite food places, just so I can try out some different dishes.

Some of my staple favourites are:

—Roti Canai—

[Roti Canai and Roti Telur]

Roti Canai (plain) and Roti Telur (with egg) with dahl. What a great start to the day. Haven’t got sick of it yet. This and a coffee is 3.50 MYR (1.16 USD).

—Asam Laksa (Penang Laksa)—

[Asam Laksa]

I abhor hyperbole, so I can’t believe what I am about to say. This is possibly the best laksa I have ever had. I have been back to the same vendor numerous times just to make sure, and each time the laksa is as good as I remember it to be. This laksa is the large bowl with extra fish balls, and it costs 4.5 MYR (about $1.50 USD). This was at the Gurney hawker market, which is a big open air food court by the bay.

—Hainan Chicken Rice—
[Sorry - no photo]

I go to this run down looking shop where all they do is chicken and rice, in the Hainan style. You sit down and they bring it out to you. You don’t order because that is all they have on the menu. Brilliant. Chicken and rice is 4 MYR.

—Indian—

[South Indian Thali]

Sometimes I think I shouldn’t have Indian twice a day. The indian food is so good here though, I can’t help myself.

This South Indian Vegetarian Thali is 5 MYR ($1.66 USD). A mango lassi is 3.50 MYR ($1.16 USD). If you go the the banana leaf restaurants (where the food is served on a banana leaf), the same meal is about 4 MYR, and they tend to keep topping up your meal until you tell them to stop.

—Cendol—
Cendol

For dessert, have a go of Cendol, which is popular throughout Southeast Asia. It looks weird, but it is alot of sweetness on a bed of shaved ice, which is welcome in this heat.

—Accommodation—
For accommodation, I wanted to stay in Georgetown as I knew I could get cheap accommodation with good wi-fi. I have stayed in Georgetown previously, in a typical flophouse style place, and even that had wi-fi. I am now staying at a guesthouse with ensuite bathroom, wi-fi and a desk in the room for 40 MYR a night ($13 USD).

So this is my last week in Penang. I’m really quite comfortable here and could easily stay on, but I have to make an unexpected return to Thailand next week. Until then…

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: accommodation, food, georgetown, malaysia, penang, yours truly