Brian Thacker's Blog, page 12

Sleeping around in China.

There are certainly enough Chinese people to sleep around with, so I'm very excited that my book Sleeping Around – A couch surfing tour of the globe is currently being translated into Chinese and should be out later this year. Add that to my German and Slovenian editions and I'm slowly taking over the world. Well, China does make up almost a fifth of the world's population. China might have 1.3 billion, but they only come in tenth for couch surfing members (88,987 members) on the couch surfing website. Even little ol' Australia (which comes in at No.9) has more members with 102,760. Topping the list with the most members is the U.S. of A. with a staggering 818,753 members! Why I'm so staggered is by the amazing and continuing growth of couch surfing. When I set out to write my couch surfing book there were 150,000 members from 20,000 cities with around 1000 new members joining a week. As of today there are 3,925,150 members from 86,000 cities with, and this is staggering, over 25,000 people joining every week. Just under three years ago I wrote a blog about how incredible it was that there were 700,000 members. There's more than that just in the States alone.

When it comes to cities, Paris had been the top city for members for a long time (back then with 20,000 members), but they have been overtaken by New York (which jumped up six places) with 76,994 members. My home city of Melbourne has dropped two places, but is still in the Top Ten with an impressive 27,000 members (it's impressive when you consider that there are over 86,000 cities and are above cities like Los Angeles, Madrid, Rio and Beijing – which comes in at No.38 with 13,509 members.

A few more oldies have joined in the past few years as well. Less than three years ago there were 9,000 members over the age of 60 and now there are over 35,000 (including 778 over 80). Of the 365 languages (strangely down from the 1,268 three years ago) the most widely spoken is English with 2,776,689 speakers, while there are 152,569 Chinese (Mandarin) speakers. Now, I just have to get every single one of them to buy my book and tell their other 1.3 billion friends to do the same.

For all of Chinese fans I'll post the link to buy the book when it hits the shelves in Beijing. And for all my German fans you get a Kindle version of the book here and my Slovenian fans can get it here.

And to sign off, here's to show you how far the couch surfing website has come – they even have a rather slick promo video…

Join me in Morocco!

I'm going to Morocco in October and I'd love you to join me. I am facilitating a writer's retreat in an oasis in the middle of the Sahara desert. It's been 23 years since I last travelled to Morocco and I look forward to all those delicious tagines and couscous and mint tea and pigeon pie. Included in this incredible 12 day retreat are visits to the ancient city of Fes and iconic Marrakech and a camel trip to the giant dune of Erg Chebbi for an overnight camp followed by breakfast the next morning with a local Berber family. The actual writer's retreat (which runs for six of the twelve days) takes place at the Cafe Tissardmine guest house located in the tiny traditional Berber village of Tissardmine. As well as learning all about how to write a travel memoir you'll get to do things like sleep under the stars and in a deluxe Berber tent, eat traditional Berber food cooked on the fire, walk along dunes made by 5,000 years of shifting sands and even ride a camel into the sunset.

The retreat is run by founder and director Karen Hadfield and my workshop is just one of a series of great programs of Art Retreats in creative writing and photography coming up in the next 12 months. This is the blurb for my retreat…

'You've climbed a mountain in Kyrgyzstan with a bunch of goats or spent a year living above a trattoria in Palermo or perhaps you are planning a great adventure overseas and think that there might be a book in it. You want to write about your journey but you're not too sure how to start, what to say and how to make it interesting for other people. In this intensive travel writing workshop I will reveal how to create a good 'hook', how to structure your travel memoir, the art and craft of travel writing, ways to evoke a sense of place, how to write a compelling book proposal and how to get published. Whether experienced writers or people coming to personal narrative for the first time, participants will be able to improve their work through daily assignments, group discussions and individualized coaching from an experienced best-selling travel author.'

To find out more, including costs, travel arrangements and a detailed itinerary go to my events page here.

In the meantime here are some pics of what to expect…

The Oasis…

The desert…

The retreat…

The camel trek…

The sand dunes…

The evening's entertainment…

The evening's entertainment (part 2)…

Table service with a view.

On my recent trip to the States I went to Encounter Restaurant in the 'Theme Building' at LAX for dinner with my daughter Jasmine (although the Theme Building was built in 1961, the restaurant didn't open until 1997). I've always wanted to go there after seeing photos of the bizarre Jetsons-esque interior, with groovy bubble motifs in the ceilings, spacey retro mod tables and chairs and a ton of lava lamps everywhere. Rather appropriately we went there after a day at Disneyland (the restaurant was designed by Disney imagineers). The experience begins when you catch the elevator up to the restaurant, where you are bathed in green light and they play tiki-suave-spooky alien muzak. We got a table right by the window, and besides the groovy decor (and good food), the other great thing about Encounter is the view. LAX is one of the busiest airports in the world and you get a bird's eye view of planes landing and taking off. And, best of all, you don't feel like you are 'in' an airport – and you don't get those bloody annoying flight announcements.

Here's the Jetsons-esque interior:

And while I'm here talking about restaurants with a great view here are some of my favourite restaurants from my travels (with a view and that added something special):

The Piz Gloria restaurant on top of the Schilthorn in Switzerland has it all. The revolving restaurant (made famous as the headquarters of Blofeld in James Bond movie 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service') affords you (throw in a bunch of superlatives) views of the Eiger (made famous in the Clint Eastwood film 'The Eiger Sanction') and the Jungfraujoch and alps as far as the eye can see. Then there is the 'James Bond breakfast' (with a glass of champagne). Then after a couple of them drop into the steepest black run in the Murren ski area.

They got the name right here – this is Vertigo restaurant and Moon Bar on the 61st floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel in Bangkok. It's hard to beat this view particularly when you have a table right on the edge. The food is amazing and the waiter gives you a torch to read the menu as you sit under soft candlelight – just to make that drop look even scarier. Don't  eat here if you have a fear of heights.

Here's a view with a great story. The Cataract Hotel in Aswan, Egypt (built in 1899) sits high above the Nile surrounded by gardens and splendid views of Elephantine Island and a flotilla of Feluccas. There are four restaurants, but the best view is from the Terrace Bar – which also has the cheapest food and you don't have to wear a jacket and slacks like in their main restaurant. And it's where Agatha Christie sat to write her famous novel, Death on the Nile.

Choice! This is the view from the Skyline restaurant in Queenstown, New Zealand. After a day's skiing at the Remarkables (the peaks in the distance) you make your way up the restaurant by gondola then after the 'Taste of New Zealand' all you can eat buffet and few Marlborough Sav blancs take the scary luge ride back down to Queenstown.

You can choose from countless restaurants on the island of Santorini in Greece and they all have 'that' view. Throw in a sunset, fresh grilled calamari with a Greek salad and a couple of ouzos and you're in heaven. Then step and repeat the next night.

Yes it's a tourist magnet, but I do love the Restaurant Tram in Melbourne. And for a visitor there are great views of Victorian Terrace houses in Albert Park, the sunset on the Esplanade in St Kilda, the buzz of Acland Street and a hooker or two on Fitzroy street. And considering the tiny kitchen is moving with you they serve up a great steak.

Does anyone have their favourite restaurant with a view?

Travel highlights of 2011.

I'm only just doing my travel highlights of 2011, because my travels from 2011 stretched into 2012 and I've just got home. It was another great year of travelling adventures – although there is always never enough travelling. Highlights included visiting the colourful (and tourist free) mountain markets of north-west Vietnam, getting hopelessly lost in the backroads of central Bali, seeing the delight in my daughter's eyes as we walked into Main Street Disneyland and swimming with dolphins in the Caribbean. So, in no particular order, here are my Top Ten Travel Highlights from 2011:

Ma Pi Leng Pass, Ha Giang, Vietnam

The north-west province of Ha Giang is as north-west as you can get in Vietnam. Only a dumpling toss away from China this is Vietnam's wild frontier with secluded mountain villages and one of the most spectacular mountain-pass drives in the world. The gorge road between the delightful towns of Dong Van to Meo Vac snakes its way precariously on the edge of towering cliffs of bright green. It was good that the scenery was so stunning because you didn't notice the sheer drop next to the narrow road without safety barriers.

Dumplings, Singapore

I was in Singapore for the Singapore Writer's festival and one of my big highlights was eating dumplings at Din Tai Fung restaurant. This Taiwanese based restaurant is famous around the world (the two Hong Kong restaurants both have one Michelin star!). There are 12 Din Tai Fung restaurants in Singapore and I had to see what the fuss was all about. Well, it was certainly worth the fuss – their dumplings are hands down the best, tastiest and juiciest dumplings I've ever eaten. And, the great news is that there are three Din Tai Fung restaurants in Sydney. I know where I'll be heading when I go up to Sydney next.

Manly, Sydney, Australia

Talking about Sydney, I took Beth up to Sin City a few months back and she absolutely loved it. And with a day like we had it would have been hard not to. We began the day with a stroll through the city down to Circular Quay, then jumped on the Manly ferry across Sydney harbour (which has to be one of the most spectacular commutes in the world for those lucky enough to live in Manly) and when we got to Manly had fish and chips on the pier overlooking the harbour. After lunch we hired a tandem bicycle and rode up to North Head then all along Manly beach. We then caught the ferry back to the city as the sun dropped. it was perfectly romantic, even if I did do all the peddling on the tandem.

Disneyland and Universal Studios, Los Angeles, USA

I went to both of these 22 years ago and it was fun, but not as fun as seeing my 9 year-old daughter's face when she almost wet herself on Splash Mountain (well, she did get very wet but that was the splashing from Splash Mountain), and when she squealed with delight on the Simpson's ride at universal Studios (I did a bit of squealing myself, too, actually), or when she squeezed my hand so tight when King Kong jumped on top of the tour train on the Universal Studio Tour and when I finally, after all these years, I let her have Fairy Floss (or Cotton Candy). The dentist bill will be more than the entrance to both parks!

Cooking class, Hanoi, Vietnam

I've always wanted to do a cooking class in my travels, but never got around to it.  I'm so glad that I finally did one, and best of all, it was absolutely wonderful. The cooking school belonged to Hidden Hanoi and we spent hours (there were three of us) cutting and dicing and pestling and frying and grilling to make 'simple' street food. The spring rolls were the best spring rolls I'd ever eaten (even if I do say so myself). I did try to make the three-course meal at home, however, and it took me all day to prepare and my spring rolls looked like squashed piles of mess (although the four glasses of wine I had while doing all the slicing may have had something to do with that!).

Isla Mujeres, Mexico

This is as idyllic as it gets. There was white sand beaches, swimming with dolphins, downing margaritas as big as my head, staying at the perfectly divine Villa Rolandi hotel, cruising around the island in a golf buggy, romantic lobster dinners on the beach, Coronas in the jacuzzi, Mexican eggs for breakfast right on the water and, oh, it was also my honeymoon!

A veritable feast of feasts, Ubud, Bali

This was my third time to the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival and, yes the events are fantastic, and the venues are wonderful, and the crowds are great and Ubud is a beautiful town, but the highlight for me is the food. As a guest at the festival we are invited to banquets every single night. Every night we were presented with tables laden with local specialties including my favourites such as Babi guling (roast suckling pig), Sate lilit (minced seafood satay, served wrapped around a twig of lemongrass), Urutan (Balinese spicy sausage), Opor ayam (chicken cooked in coconut milk) and the list keeps going (and so did the size of my stomach). I staggered home every night (although the bottomless glasses of wine may have helped there as well).

Kayaking, Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

After taking the prerequisite overnight boat cruise around Halong Bay I stayed at this tiny 'resort' (see below) which I shared with four other guests. I then spent the entire afternoon paddling around (and under) the countless magnificent limestone karsts and isles that rise out of the clear waters away from the maddening crowds. I even found my own private little beach that I only shared with a few empty bottles and couple of crabs.

Winter fun in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

It was very warm winter as far as Minnesota winters go (it was a mostly around a balmy -3 instead of the usual -20), but we still did lots of fun winter things like skiing (at Welch village which is only 40 minutes out of town), tubing (which is sooo much fun and one day jasmine and I had the entire Tubing Park to ourselves – see pic below), building snowmen (or more like a snow dwarf – or whatever the politically correct term is now for small people), snow fights (Jasmine will say that she won, but I got her a beauty in the back of her head), and my favourite thing – setting off a giant box of fireworks on new years eve in a snowstorm!

Hotel Esencia, Xpu Ha (halfway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum), Mexico

Para, Para, Paradise…. Chris Martin must have been singing about Hotel Esencia. Every tiny detail was just perfect. There was the perfect white sand and warm aqua water, stunningly designed room with private pool and great little touches like an iPod full of cool latino music, brewed coffee on call, and a free minibar stocked with funky Mexican beers. The 'Mexican' breakfasts were to die for and the gourmet Mexican cuisine in the gorgeous restaurant was even better. The beach was perfectly quiet with our own little grass hut with table service for lunch and cocktails. And to top it off I was there with the most wonderful girl in the world!



And it is was so beautiful that I have to show you another shot of that beach…

I've got a few fun trips planned for 2012 (if they all come off) including Morocco, Argentina, Vietnam and Newcastle (no, not upon-Tyne but Newcastle upon-the NSW-coast.

So, do you have a travel 'highlight' of 2011 or any great trips planned for 2012?

I’m off to prison.

Well, that’s what it looks like from my new passport photo (although the tribal tattoo on my forehead came out nicely). What am I talking about – it’s looks as if I’m getting a police mug shot for every passport that I’ve ever had. And it’s the same for most people (although my girlfriend Beth manages to look cute and not on her way to prison in her passport photo). I just got a new passport because I ran out of space in my old one even though I had another six years left on it (which I really can’t complain about because it just means I’ve done quite a bit of travel – and to countries that love huge stamps that take up an entire page). Here are my other passport photos over the years and a few other ones that make me look like David Beckham…

My fat head period…

With hoop earring and strange hoop around mouth

My first trip OS passport (wow, don’t I look young and all innocent)

My first passport (okay, it’s not me but they are some impressive ears)

One shocked baby passport photo

One shocking hair passport photo

Just plain shocking passport photo

Ummm….

Here’s me looking like David Beckham – no hang on it is Becks!

Do you have a funny passport photo? If you’re game you can post it on my Facebook page here.

I'm off to prison.

Well, that's what it looks like from my new passport photo (although the tribal tattoo on my forehead came out nicely). What am I talking about – it's looks as if I'm getting a police mug shot for every passport that I've ever had. And it's the same for most people (although my girlfriend Beth manages to look cute and not on her way to prison in her passport photo). I just got a new passport because I ran out of space in my old one even though I had another six years left on it (which I really can't complain about because it just means I've done quite a bit of travel – and to countries that love huge stamps that take up an entire page). Here are my other passport photos over the years and a few other ones that make me look like David Beckham…

My fat head period…

With hoop earring and strange hoop around mouth

My first trip OS passport (wow, don't I look young and all innocent)

My first passport (okay, it's not me but they are some impressive ears)

One shocked baby passport photo

One shocking hair passport photo

Just plain shocking passport photo

Ummm….

Here's me looking like David Beckham – no hang on it is Becks!

Do you have a funny passport photo? If you're game you can post it on my Facebook page here.

My travelling year on Instagram.

Earlier this year I discovered Instagram. It's a FREE iPhone app that adds filters to your happy phone snaps and turns them into professional-looking photos that a hack like me would have no idea how to take. It's also a caring, sharing App that you can share with your Instagram friends  and, if you want the world to see your genius, send to Facebook, Twitter or Flickr. The photos are also tagged, so you can brag about where you are in the world. I took a few shots with Instagram on my trips this year and these are my favourites…

Meo Vac in northern Vietnam

Ha Giang in northern Vietnam.

Boat man in Halong bay, Vietnam.

Heavenly Valley, Mt Hotham, Victoria

Looking towards Mary's Slide, Mt Hotham.

My beautiful daughter Jasmine at Mt Hotham.

Rome, Italy (okay, I wish it was Rome – it's Lygon Street in Carlton, Melbourne)

The Mansion Hotel, Ubud, Bali.

The pool at Okiwati's Guesthouse, Ubud, Bali.

Port Phillip Estate, Red Hill, Victoria.

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore.

The I've-Forgotten-The-Name Bridge, Singapore.

If you've taken some good Instagram (or Hipstamatic) shots I'd love to see them. You can post them on my Facebook page here.

The call of Dave Gorman and Chinese underpants.

I have been a little slack on the reading front this year, but I did manage to get through a handful of travel books, including yarns about right-wing apocalyptic Christians, the origin of the word butthead, the exciting game of Kubb and Chinese underpants. Here's my list of travel books for 2011:

The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures – Louis Theroux

I enjoyed Louis Theroux's TV show 'Weird Weekends' from a few years back and this book is the follow up. Theroux (who is the son Paul Theroux, one of my favourite travel writers) embarks on a six-month roadtrip across the United States, tracking down and providing updates on some of the more interesting subjects from his show. There's all sorts of wacky folk and you could read this book having never seen a Louie show and still be entertained, moved and in some places saddened.

Awkward Situations for Men – Danny Wallace

This book was in the 'travel' section of the bookshop, but it's not really a travel book. I do like Mr Wallace and his other books, but this book is more of a collection of anecdotes about his everyday life.  They are all individually very funny, but it means that the book lacks the cohesive story that all of his other books have had. The quality of his writing still shine through, however, and it is a very amusing and enjoyable read.

Made in America – Bill Bryson

This is one of Bill Bryson's earlier books, which again isn't quite a travel book but is found in the travel section.This book, which is the based around the history of the English language in America, is part language analysis, part U.S. history lesson and is filled with anecdotes and fun facts that make it a page-turner.

Where underpants come from – Joe Bennett

Joe Bennett, an ex-pat Pom living in NZ, follows what it took to create, ship and sell a pair of men's underwear. His quest starts from a supermarket in New Zealand on to container ships coming from China. He travels to China and explores the factories and workers involved in creating all thsoe cheap underdaks. Very funny and interesting.

Between Terror and Tourism – Michael Mewshaw

The author sets out on an overland journey from Alexandria, Egypt to Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco and mostly travels with a driver/fixer in each country. Not real adventurous travel stuff – even though he was in potentially adventurous countries - but the writing is very good. Sadly though, not a lot happens – there are lots of long car rides, fading cities, troubles with travel arrangements and some ruins.

Dave Gorman vs The Rest of the World – Dave Gorman

I'm a big fan of Dave Gorman's books, and although I thoroughly enjoyed this one it's not as good as his previous titles. In this book he plays lots of games. Gorman tweeted his twittees asking if anyone fancied a game of something and he ends up playing all sorts from skittles to extreme frisbee to monopoly and Kubb. The book doesn't have the bizarre twists of his previous books, but that boy sure can write a funny yarn.

So, have you read any good travel books this year?

And the winner is…

Well, there's two actually, and after a random pick of some great photos the winners are….

…Adrianna Moore and Glenn Sutcliffe.

Adrianna is a U.S. Army Green Beret from Seattle (so I had to give it to her because she probably has a large gun) and Glenn from somewhere in Australia who threatened to send me nude photos of himself if he didn't win. Here are the winning photos…

Adrianna getting touched up in Abu Dhabi.

Glenn at a full moon party in Koh Phangang, Thailand. Glenn thought that in his drunken wisdom a pair of 50 baht (although he paid 500) glow in the dark glasses would bring out his eyes and/or get him laid. Neither of which occurred he said.

Thanks everyone for posting your pics. It was fun seeing peoples first travel snaps. I'll be running another competition soon. I'll be giving away some of my other books and Naked Man T-shirts (that's T-shirts made for my book 'The Naked Man Festival' not a T-shirt with a naked man on it).

Crazy shorts and gumboots.

There's only one week to go to WIN one of TWO signed copies of Tell Them to Get Lost. All you have to do 'Like' the Brian Thacker Travel Writer Facebook page and post a pic of yourself on your first ever trip overseas. I'll pick out two random winners on November 21st, sign a book for you then pop it in the post. It's that easy. And just to embarrass myself a little further I'm posting a few more photos from my first big trip OS. Although the pic on the right was taken almost three years after I left Australia (it took me that long to get home so it's technically still my first trip overseas). This is in Long Beach, California with my friend Chris who I met in Italy more than two years earlier. I kept warning him that I would turn up at his door one day. And I did. And although it is was over two years later I obviously still liked wearing crazy shorts and tucking my T-shirt into my crazy shorts. At least my mullet seems to have disappeared.

Here are a few more pics…

My yellow bright ski jacket does seem a little out of place with gumboots on a farm in Somerset.

Blowing my own trumpet in Kitzbühel, Austria – although I'm not sure why I'm wearing the curtains.

Oh, what a theme park! (Three years later and I'm still wearing high-top bright white runners and shirts tucked into my tracksuit pants!)

My 'wild hair' look in Hawaii (and with only two days before I got home I finally untucked my T-shirt!)

Don't forget – get those pics posted and like me. I just want people to like me…