Brian Thacker's Blog, page 15

From couch to couch around the world.

That's the title of my new book. Well, my most recent book 'Sleeping Around' translated into Slovenian. It's entitled 'Od kavča do kavča okoli sveta' which translates into 'From couch to couch around the world.' The book is published by  Založba Dovganočka (try saying that with a mouthful of kranjska klobasa). The chapters in the book are by the countries that I couchsurfed in and it was interesting to see what they were in Slovenian. See if you can figure them all out:

Čile

Brazilija

ZDA

Kanada

Islandija

Belija & Luksemburg

Turčija

Kenija

Južna Afrika

Indija

Filipini

They certainly like ending country names in 'ija'. I live in Avstralija.

Oh, and the only really tricky one to figure out was ZDA. That's the USA!

You can find the book here at www.dovganocka.com

Kavča

Travel highlights of 2010.

It wasn't a big travelling year for me compared to last year, but the few overseas and local trips that I took were full of great highlights. From staying at five-star resorts (with our own private butler) to skiing untracked powder (in Australia no less) to dining with locals in the mountains of Vietnam (oh, except the smoked pig's intestines part) to snorkelling with a dole of turtles (that's the correct collective noun I believe!). So, without further ado here is my Top Ten Travel Highlights from 2010 (in no particular order):

The Balé Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali

Fluffy slippers, private pool, cookie jars, breakfast in your own private garden and an on-call 24-hour butler. There's nothing like a bit of indulgent opulence to make you feel indulgently opulent. I 'won' a bunch of nights at any one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World (it was part of my prize for ASTW Travel Book of the Year) and we also stayed at the The Viceroy in Ubud (which was just as terrible).

Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia

I was in Byron for the Byron Bay Writer's Festival and not only was it up there with the best writer's festival that I've been to (along with the Ubud Writer's Festival), but gee it was nice to escape a Melbourne winter. I actually got to walk around in a T-shirt and didn't have to wear socks to bed.

Walking Tour of Hanoi, Vietnam

I do love Lonely Planet. Yes, I admit it. I followed exactly step by step the 'Walking Tour' of Hanoi thats in Lonely Planet's Vietnam guidebook and it was marvelous. It took me three hours and the walk took me down little side streets that I never would have found with hidden pagodas and markets and shops. I even had snacks and drinks at all the recommended places to stop and it was wonderful. I've followed the 'Walking Tours' of cities a few times now particularly when I don't have much time in a city and it really is a great way to 'discover' a city.

Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia

Less than two hours from Melbourne is our major wine growing area. It's full of rolling vineyard covered hills, boutique hotels and resorts, wonderful restaurants and, best of all, lots of free wine tasting. And even better still is staying the night at one of the boutique resorts (at Balgownie Estate to be exact). The day goes something like this: wander around vineyard, try some wine, swim in the pool and spa, try some wine, sit on the balcony with a view, try some wine, dinner at a fine-dining restaurant, try some wine, stagger back to your room. What a perfect holiday.

Swimming with turtles, Gili Islands, Lombok

Our guide on our full day snorkelling tour promised that we would see a turtle. He was wrong. We saw about twenty of them –  and lots of brightly coloured fish and coral. Plus, the boat ride was beautiful and we had a fantastic lunch on Gili Air and it didn't bother me at all that I had silly-looking goggle marks on my face all day.

Mt Buller Chutes, Victoria, Australia

It's very rare that you get a real 'powder' day in the Australian 'Alps'. Often it turns into glug not long after its snowed. But, I scored one of those days and it was a beauty. It had been snowing for a few days and even when my day of skiing began at Mt Buller you couldn't see a metre in front of you. Then, magically the cloud lifted revealing untracked powder everywhere. I spent the the day in Mt Buller Chutes (double black diamond off-piste area) skiing soft, dry powder. You could have heard my hoots of joy from Melbourne.

Campuhan Ridge Walk, Ubud, Bali

This tranquil and stunning walk on the edge of Ubud has a special place in my heart because it is where I met my girlfriend Beth. Eighteen months after we met we did the walk again. It was perfectly romantic and, best of all, not once did one of the snarling stray dogs try to tear me to bits.

Pelican Beach, Queensland, Australia

I put this beach in my list of the Best Beaches in the World. It's a little island between Harvey Bay and Fraser Island and we had the entire island to ourselves. Heaven.

Dining with locals, Son La, Vietnam

I was in Vietnam doing some volunteer work for an NGO and part of our job was to travel around the stunning and mostly untouched regions in the north west. But the best part was dining with the locals. We had lunch in a family home in small mountain village and a huge banquet (with a dance show) with local dignitaries in Son La and noodle soup (Pho) with a bunch of locals in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere that had probably never even seen a tourist.

Somewhere above Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Okay, I didn't travel very far out of Melbourne, but boy what a way to do it. I flew upside down in a 1942 Tiger Moth biplane for 30 minutes and as well as loop-de-looping we skirted the city before climbing above Port Phillip Bay for 'more than mild' acrobatics. It was such a buzz even if I did almost wet my pants and vomit at the same time.

I don't know what is in store for me travelling wise in 2011. There will be a trip to the U.S. and… who knows where else – that's what I love about travel!

Happy New Year everyone and I hope there's lots of wonderful travel experiences for you out there

A Christmas tipple?

It's that time of year when most people (well, most Australians at least) give the bottle a bit of a nudge. I gave it a good nudge at the ASTW (Australian Society of Travel Writers) Christmas party last week. Oh, my head. My self inflicted hangover was wine induced, but it could have been worse. Last month when I was in Vietnam I got quite tipsy on rice wine and I had stomach cramps to go along with my headache. My stomach cramps may have had something to do with the fact that we (about twenty of us) were all drinking the sickly sweet rice wine from a large wooden bucket. Out of shared straws. While dancing around it. It was up there with the worst alcoholic drink I've ever had. Then again, if you want to fire up your Christmas party it gets you drunk very quickly. And, if you want some other novelty drinks for your Christmas party here are my Top 5 worst alcoholic drinks of all time:

Rice Wine in a Bucket (Vietnam)

Yes, it didn't taste the best, but it was the 'bits' (no idea and too scared to ask) floating on the top that made my stomach curdle.

Kumis (Mongolia)

Kumis is the tipple of choice in Mongolia. It's fermented mare's milk and it tastes like sour milk that has gone off. The horse hairs floating in are rather disconcerting, too.

Mezcal Tequila (Mexico)

What initially began as a marketing gimmick in the 1940s the 'worm' is actually the larval form of the moth Hypopta agavis that lives on the agave plant. And yes, I ate the worm. Why mot? You're only young (and stupid) once.

Snake Wine (Vietnam)

This alcoholic drink involves the infusion of a whole snake in alcohol. It didn't taste that bad it was just the snake staring at me when it was poured out of the bottle. Plus, I thought it might help – it is considered to possess cures for hair loss. You can also get scorpion wine and lizard wine.

Black Death (Iceland)

Brennivín is Iceland's signature tipple. It is made from fermented potato pulp, and flavoured with caraway seeds. That doesn't sound that bad, but it tastes like burnt wine – which is not surprising because the word brennivín literally translates into English as 'burning wine'.

But none of the above have anything on the WORST EVER alcoholic drinks. Try serving these up to your Christmas guests:

Sourtoe Cocktail  (Alaska)

This drink is made with an actual human toe… yes a human toe! The toes are real human appendages that have been dried and preserved in salt for use in Sourtoe Cocktails. If you are looking for fame, you can become a member of the 'Sourtoe Cocktail Club' by making sure the toe touches your lips at some point while you're drinking- otherwise it doesn't count!

Seagull Wine (somewhere way up North)

Miles ahead of all the other weird and unwonderful drinks in terms of sheer nastiness is seagull wine. Made by the Inuits, it stands as a testament to the ideology of getting drunk no matter what the cost. It's easy to make at home for your Christmas party. First find a seagull, alive or dead. If it's alive, kill it. Put it in a bottle. Fill the bottle with water. Leave it in direct sunlight to ferment of a goodly while and, bingo, you've got yourself some seagull wine. Now all you have to do is travel to the very depths of despair. It'll still taste terrible, but at least you won't care.

Cheers, everyone!

Friday Brilliant Friday.

I saw U2 on Friday night and it was one of the best concerts that I have ever been to. My girlfriend Beth and I got there nine hours before the show started and I'm so glad we did. We ended up only fours rows from the front right below Bono – as in so close that I could see his nasal hairs. I've seen U2 four times now including, and this shows my age, way back in 1984. I even wore my 1984 U2 tour shirt to the concert (and I have to say that I was quite chuffed to fit into a T-shirt that I brought 26 years ago!). I've seen a few big concerts in my travels over the years and there is something quite magical about being in a foreign country with a local crowd. If I had to pick my five best concerts that I've seen overseas they would be:

Rolling Stones – The Forum, Los Angeles

This was back in 1989 when Bill was still in the band and Keith was still alive !

INXS – Wembly Stadium, London

INXS were at their peak and Michael Hutchence had the crowd in a frenzy.

Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello and Madness – Roskilde Festival, Denmark

A great outdoor festival that I wish I could go to every year.

Crowded House – Town and Country Club, London

I've seen Crowded House about 12 times, but this was just after the release of Woodface and the mostly Aussie/Kiwi ex-pat crowd went crazy.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Hyde Park, London

Up there with the best concert I've seen (although I was miles away from the stage!)

Have you been to any great concerts overseas?

Below are some of the photos that I took with Beth's little Kodak digital camera (which shows how close we were). I was quite amazed at how good the photos turned out.

Me in my 1984 U2 tour shirt (still fits!)

This is how close we were (can you see Bono's nasal hairs?)

Up close and personal

The amazing video and light show

I love this shot – it was such a fluke!

This is blurred, but it has a lovely ethereal quality about it…

My new book out now!

Okay, it's not entirely my book, but I did contribute a chapter. The book is called Red Dust & Wanderlust and it's a collection of Australian travel stories, written by members of the Australian Society of Travel Writers and edited by Lee Atkinson and Lee Mylne. This is the what they said on the ASTW website: 'The book has already reached high acclaim in publishing circles and by all measures, is an enjoyable read.' There you go. And my story even gets the first mention on the back cover book blurb (my chapter is about my visit to the Tamworth Country Music Festival):

Can a rank amateur find fame in Tamworth? Where is the true 'dead centre' of our continent? How hard is it to win an outback rodeo? These are just some of the questions members of the Australian Society of Travel Writers have tried to answer as they've traversed this vast continent. In this anthology, our writers share some of their favourite places and most memorable experiences on home turf. From far north-west Western Australia, the "anxious coast" of South Australia and the tram tracks of Melbourne, to the frontier of Cape York, and many places in between, they've discovered much about their own country. Join our writers as they lose themselves in lush rainforests, reveal the delights of small-town living, and get red dust on their boots in some of Australia's most remote spots.

That's me as Slim Elvis at Tamworth…

The book is full of great stories from some of the best travel writers in Australia and you can buy it through the ASTW website here. And it's a wonderful idea for a Christmas present…

Vietnam: The romance of parrots.

I just got back from a wonderful and very interesting trip to northeast Vietnam where I was doing some voluntary work for SNV. I flew into Hanoi and from there travelled by car up into the Northern Highlands through areas that don't get too many tourists. My job (along with marketing expert and fellow Aussie Judi from Noosa) was to get a good feel for the region then design four logos, write a few taglines and whip up a couple of brochures and a website. Also along for the ride was Phil (another Aussie and the SNV Senior Tourism Advisor for Vietnam) and our driver Chung.

Our first stop was the somewhat touristy, but charming village of Moc Chau before stopping for lunch at the less charming, but very un-touristy village of Yen Chau. We had lunch in a local's house that is also a home stay. As part of SNVs wide and varied program to help tourism in the region they advise locals on how to set up and run home stays. This one, like many in the region, was a stilted house with a large open-plan area for sleeping and eating. I wasn't exactly sure what I ate for lunch. Here's a photo. Can you recognise anything…

Actually, the food was delicious (although the five shots of strong rice wine may have killed a few taste buds along the way). Our host was incredibly friendly (hence all the shots), although he did look a little grumpy (or perhaps a little drunk) when we arrived…

Next it was the large and rather dusty town of Son La, which isn't that exciting, but does have a lovely meeting room…

We gave a presentation there to government and tourism officials from the Son La region. We talked about things like Brand Personality which translates as Tính cách thương hiệu. The problem is that sometimes the translations can be a little misinterpreted. Phil used an example for 'destination brand personality' as the 'romance of Paris'. Except the translator misheard him and told the gathered luminaries that 'a good example is the romance of parrots'. They all looked rather puzzled until one asked the translator what lovemaking parrots had to do with promoting their region.

Parrots were soon forgotten when we were then whisked away to a formal dinner (well as formal as you can get when you sit on the floor, drink copious amounts of rice wine and eat smoked pig's intestines), This was the spread before we sat down for our pig's guts…

Following our dinner we were entertained by Phil standing up in front of everyone singing a Scottish ditty. I was also dragged up, although my rendition of  'I Can't Help Falling in Love' sounded very strange because the keyboardist was playing a totally different song. We also got a local dance troupe that danced around for a while then dragged us all up to dance in a big circle and drink from a communal wooden vat of rice wine…

The next morning we hit the road early for the long drive to Sapa through stunning countryside that looked something like this…

On the way to Sapa we had another presentation in Lai Chau, which I dubbed 'Kookytown'. The small provincial outpost of a town of Lai Chau (formerly Tam Duong) was recently made the capital of the region and gigantic (and very empty) government buildings were built. As well as empty four-lane highways, massive hotels and a lake. It looked just like Canberra…

We had a couple of days in Sapa, where our biggest presentation to the heads of each eight provinces was held at the 'Light Club Disco'. And rather aptly halfway through the meeting loud music began blasting from the street so we couldn't hear a thing. The scenery in Sapa was lovely, though…

That's the rather spectacular view from my hotel room!

After Sapa we headed back to Hanoi where we worked out of an ad/design agency for a couple of days. We managed to get all the work done in time and, I have to say, it all looked really good. I'll show you when it's all finished. I was really happy with our 'taglines' as well. My favourite was the one we did for Sapa: 'Find yourself in the clouds'. We do have some stiff competition, though. I don't understand Vietnamese, but I love this local ad for KFC (although the Colonel does look a bit strange)….

Good morning Vietnam!

I'm off to Vietnam this week. I'll be doing some volunteer work for a Dutch based NGO and probably also drinking some Bia hoi. I'm not helping build a school (and if I did it would fall over in a week), but I am helping bring more tourists into the relatively untouched Northern Highlands. I'll be visiting Lao Cai and Son La province (and some other places that I can't remember), then I have to come up with creative concepts (this is where my advertising background comes in) for a logo and tagline for the Northern Highlands and three provinces. Should be great fun and so interesting to be involved help build an 'integrated brand strategy'. I've got a few days travelling around the region then a few days in Hanoi working in a design studio. It also feels nice to give something back when I make a 'living' from visiting these places and writing about them.

The NGO I'm doing the work for is SNV, which is a non-profit organisation established in the Netherlands in 1965. They have been on the ground in developing countries for over 40 years, and now operate in 35 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Balkans. SNV has 900 advisors in the field who come from a variety of cultural and technical backgrounds. So what do they do? I'll let them explain:

Our aim is to alleviate poverty by enabling those on the lowest incomes to be part of social and economic networks and so increase their income and employment opportunities. More than half of our work focuses on economic and private sector development. Alongside this, we contribute to improving people's access to basic services like water and sanitation, energy and education. We achieve both by strengthening local organisations.

They are also heavily involved in helping developing nations promote and build tourism. Again, they explain it a lot better than me:

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), tourism is the primary source of earnings for 49 of the world's least developed countries. SNV works in the field of sustainable tourism , as it can make a considerable difference in alleviating poverty. SNV focuses on all aspects of sustainability: economic, environmental, cultural, and institutional (good governance). SNV is currently promoting pro-poor sustainable tourism in 23 countries. SNV helps to create jobs for the local communities by supporting:

-enterprise development, such as product innovation and promotion;

-improving services such as accommodation and restaurants;

-protecting cultural assets, highlighting local events, and improving the production of souvenirs and handicrafts.

We also build capacities to empower local people and their communities to make their destinations more competitive.

I probably won't get a chance to blog while I'm away, but I'll fill you in about all the Pho I'll eat on my return.

Carn the Pies!

Last weekend was the AFL (Australian Rules Football) Grand Final and my team (the mighty Collingwood Magpies) won. This was their second attempt at winning it because they drew with St Kilda Saints the week before and had to come back to do it all again a week later. I would have loved to have gone to either of the games (the first game had a crowd of over 100,000), but tickets are hard to come by. I have been to seven Grand Finals before, though, and not only is it a wonderful spectacle, but also a truly unique and great 'Aussie' game (unlike that silly rugby and cricket caper). I recommend any tourist visiting Australia to try and catch an AFL game (particularly at the MCG where the Grand Final is played).

I have been to quite a few sporting events in my travels overseas and not only can it be a great spectacle, but often it is also a huge part of a country's culture. A friend of mine even wrote an entire book about travelling around the world to different sporting events (Tony Hardy – Race Around the Sports World). I've seen all sorts of  sports over the years including ice hockey (I saw the great Wayne Gretzky play for the LA Kings); road cycling (cyclists zoomed past me to the finish line on the Champs-Élysées in the Tour de France); Gaelic Football (I saw a game in Limerick – there once was man from…); kickboxing (in Thailand – and thats gotta hurt); car racing (Le Mans 24 hour race – although 2 hours was probably enough) and even donkey races in Malta. But, if I had to pick the five best sporting events that I've witnessed they would have to be:

Basketball – LA Lakers v Philadelphia 76ers (LA Forum, USA)

Okay, this shows my age, but I saw the great Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar play for the Lakers.

Football – Manchester United (Old Trafford, Manchester, England)

I've seen Man U play a few times at Old Trafford, but my favourite match was a Champions League game against Fukakarkis (or some other similarly named Greek team). It was a nil-all until the 81st minute, then in the space of ten minutes Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored.

Baseball – Minnesota Twins v Toronto Blue Jays (Metrodome, MN, USA)

Okay baseball is a little slow, but I loved the dome dogs, beers, 7th inning stretch and that organ that I've heard so many times in films.

Skiing – World Cup Downhill (Wengen, Switzerland)

This is the biggest sporting event in Switzerland and over 30,000 people line the 4.5 kilometre course to watch mad skiers scream down a hill at up to 160 kph. There's cow bells, beer and even cheese fondues.

Cockfighting - Cock v Cock (Baucau, East Timor)

Well, it's technically not a sport and the RSPCA aren't too happy about it, but it is the biggest 'sport' in East Timor. I didn't actually see any cocks fight, but it was a wonderful insight into a local culture and a 'sport' that has unchanged in centuries.

So, have you been to any great sporting events around the world?

A video of me sleeping at Byron Bay.

The lovely folk at the Byron Bay Writer's Festival have just posted a video of one of my talks from the festival (see below for the video). It's from the  'Family as Fodder' panel that I did with Tony Martin, Susan Maushart and Justin Sheedy. I'm quite happy with it – people are laughing in the right places and I only said 'um' 27 times. And I didn't doze off to sleep. The lovely folk at the Byron Bay Writer's Festival have also posted a whole bunch of photos from the festival on their Facebook page. And out of all those photos there is only one of me and its a shot of me asleep on the grass. And just so you know I'm actually not asleep, but deep in thought about my next panel. I just want to make that clear.

The Brian Thacker Radio Show.

I have my own regular travel show on the radio! Well, it's not entirely my show. I will be a regular guest on MTR 1377 with Steve Vizard on Tuesdays at 12.30pm talking all things travel (that's me in the pic on the left). This week we'll be talking about wacky festivals – which is handy seeing as I've written an entire book about wacky festivals. We'll also be talking about… I've got no idea yet. You'll just have to listen on Tuesday at 12.30 to find out. You can catch me on the wireless (if you're in Melbourne) or you can listen online here. And I'm sorry for all my new Slovenian fans – you'll have to get up at 4.30 on Tuesday morning to listen live.