onsdag 16 december 2009

Handelserikt redan!

Okej, nu ar det som vanligt mycket som har hant och som maste raporteras till hemmafronten. Vi anlande har i Fillipinerna den femte efter att ha spenderat ett par regniga dagar i Cameron Highlands i Malaysia. Det kanndes skont att antligen fa se solsken och varme, da de senaste dagarna varit kalla och blota. Efter tre sma jeepneys och en buss befann vi oss sa pa en busstation i Manilla och bordade bussen till Batangas (for andra gangen i mitt liv). Efter en lang bussresa (lang pagrund av vagbyggen vilket ledde till trafikstockning) anlande vi i Batangas, vid hamnen. Det var sen eftermiddag sa vi var inte sakra pa om det skulle ga att fa tag i en bat direkt eller om vi skulle behova sova i staden. "Romblon, jo det ar baten dar, den gar snart". Vi skyndade oss att kopa biljetter, men fick veta att alla platser var slut. Om vi ville med fanns det tva val: det fanns dyra lyxplatser, eller sa kunde vi betala en vanlig budget tur och sova i cafeterian. Jag tror ni alla kan gissa vad vi valde.

Val ombord insag vi att manga andra hade gjort samma val som vi, och cafeterian (ett hal i vaggen som salde koppnudlar) var fullproppad av manniskor. Efter att ha faststallt att det vore for hart att sova i trappan insag vi att vi kunde ga upp pa dack ich sova dar. Detta verkade vara en valdigt bra ide. Frisk luft, utsikt och senare en stjarnklar stilla natt pa havet. Dock skulle verkligheten visa sig vara nagot mindre reseromantisk. Tiden gick och snart var dieselmolnet fran skorstenen osynligt mot den blackmorka natthimmlen. Inga stjarnor inga ljus omkring oss. Utanfor relingen var enbart morker. Det var likt en seglats genom intigheten. Vinden tilltog. Sjon tilltog. Baten slog genom vagorna och havsvattenet sprutade stundom upp ombord. Jag skulle ljuga om jag sa att tankatna om olycksstatistiken bland Fillipinska farjor inte fanns i mitt bakhuvud. Efter att det blev for kallt uppe pa dack begav vi oss ater in i batens inre. Har traffade vi en ung australiensisk kille (ocksa vi namn Daniel) som var pavag mot Romblon med sin flickvan Abby (en fillipina som bodde i australien) och hennes familj. Det spelades musik, och sjalvklart akte munspelet fram. Efter en natt av spelande och San Miguel, och lite somn framat midnatt ankom vi tidigt nasta morgon i Romblon. Da familjens overhuvud (farfar) erbjod oss att folja med dem och spendera fyra dagar i Sibuyan, grann on, och se den lokala fiestan beslutade Ting och jag oss for att folja med.

Jag vill har flika in en forklaring av var restid tills dess att vi anlande i Sibuyan. Klockan tre pa morgonen hade vi lamnat vart rum i Kuala Lumpur efter att ha ankommit pa eftermiddagen dagen innan. Till flygplatsen pa flyget, till busshallplatsen pa baten. 12 timmars batfard, och nu tva timmat till, till Sibuyan. Trott?

I Sibuyan fick vi bo hos en van till familjen, som hade ett hus han inte anvande. Efter att flertalet lager av damm och spindelvav undanrojts sag det nastan ut som ett hem, och har bodde vi under var tid i Sibuyan. Vi hangde med Daniel och Abby, samt med hennes familj och sag fiestan. Gatu dansen var nog det basta. Olika stammar i kostymer dansade traditionell dans genom gatorna och pa basketplanen, ackompanierade av ett hav av trummor.

Sibuyan ar en valdigt rural o, det ska finnas nagon form av boende dar men jag sag ingenting for turister. On ska tydligen ha flest indogena arter av flora och fauna per kvadrat kilometer i varlden, och tacks mest utav djungel och sma hyddor. byarna ar sma men de framsta har hus av sten och cement, till skillnad fran resten av hyddorna runt on.

Jag har mycket att beratt om, sa jag skall forsoka fatta mig kortare.

Efter var tid pa Sibuyan, nar Daniel och Abby med familj skulle vidare till Boracay, begav vi oss tillbaka till Romblon. En man pa baten, som vi ocksa motte pa fiestan i Sibuyan, hade tipsat oss om att bo pa hans farbrors resort (vilket har betyder ett par hyddor vid vattnet), och att detta skulle vara billigare an andra stallen, sa vi begav oss dit, till byn Mapula. Vi fick veta att alla fyra rum var fulla, men om vi ville kunde vi fa bo gratis i ett hus som inte var fardigbyggt. Gratis ar godast tankte vi, och for andra gangen sag det mer ut som en "squatting camp" an ett rum, men vi var glada att annu en gang slippa betala for boende.

Da Ting garna ville lara sig dyka hittade vi ett litet dykcenter, drivet av en sweichisk fransman, som bott har i en 15 ar. Han ar valdigt duktig instruktor och vi dok i fiskreservatet vid hans hus. Vi har spenderat mesta av var tid dar. Dykningen ar bra, med mycket stora fiskar som grouper, snapper, sweetlips och aven stora stim av andra fiskar som fussilier, surgeonfish och parrotfish, for att namna nagra. Jag och han gjorde ocksa ett dyk till 45 meter (dock fortfarande ett no decompression dyk) dar vi sag stora gorgonier och fiskar, samt en gigantisk blasfisk i en grottoppning. Nar vi kom upp till 20 meter sag vi den storsta sjoormen som han nagonsin hade sett! Den var cirka 2 meter lang och helt enkelt gigantiskt. Igar gjorde vi ett natt dyk och sag massor med lionfish, en stor stenfisk, cirka 30-40 centimeter, plattmaskar, squid (jag vet inte vad vi har for specifikt namn pa svenska for squid) och mycket mer.

For ett par dagar sedan nar vi var pa fiesta har i Mapula, kom vi hem sent bara for att upptacka att vi haft inbrott och alla Tings pengar blivit stulna, samt en mp3 spelare och vart lilla schackbrade. Alla blev strort arga, argare en oss, och tva dagar senare var de skyldiga funna. Tre barn, en av dem var lite aldre. Vi fick tillbaks vara saker och det var upp till oss att valja vad som skulle handa med dem. Socialtjansten yrkade pa ett program med samhallstjanst for att hjalpa dem att andra sig (det var deras forsta brott, de var minderariga och valdigt angerfulla). Deras foraldrar tyckte att detta var for milt och att de borde fangslas for att ha skamt ut sina foraldrar pa detta satt.

Imorn ska vi  forsoka bege oss vidare for att ta oss till on Negros. Jag tankte avsluta har, da jag inte orkar skriva mer.

Tjipp!

Ps. Jag forsokte lagga upp lite bilder, men min kamera dog.

söndag 29 november 2009

Singapore och Malaysia, so far...

Hej alla, detta blir bara ett kort inlagg for att visa nagon form av livstecken och for att inte aka pa for mycket stryk nar jag kommer hem i januari.
Sa tillbaka i Asien, och det kanns lite som att komma hem. Den varma, fuktiga luften som innesluter en som en brandfillt, den kryddstarka maten och de fargglada solnedgangarna.
Pa flygplatsen i Kuala Lumpur motte jag upp med Ting och vi begav oss sa, ner till Singapore for att halsa pa en van till henne, vid namn Chau. Dagarna gick at till at utforska staden, men vi har egentligen inte gjort sa mycket annat an att umgas med Chau och hans familj. Igar ankom vi till Melaka (tillbaka i Malaysia). Nar vi steg av bussen hamnade vi mitt i Melakas forsta "Dance and Performance Festival". Detta var helt slumpmassigt, men det visade sig att det var sista dagen av festivalen sa efter att han njutit av stadens arkitektur som ar en blandning av hollandskt och kinesiskt (pa samma hus), besokte vi en natt marknad och gick upp till en kyrkoruin for att se den sista forestallningen av festivalen. Det borjade med ett dansnummer, som var lite svart att ta till sig. Dar efter var det ett vastafrikanskt tvamanna trumband, som fick alla att skaka rumpa. Kvallen slutade med ett inhemskt malaysiskt band som spelade en ambient blandning av folk music och metall (Johan du hade alskat det!). Stralkastare blandat med manljus.
Idag skall vi forhoppningsvis aka vidare uppat i landet och kanske hinna med lite vandring innan vi reser till Fillipinerna, den 5:e december.

Tjipp

(Ps. bilder kommer sen for nu har jag ingen internet tid kvar.)

onsdag 26 augusti 2009

Cykel genom Kroatien 5

Hey!

we are still alive and relaxing on the island of Hvar outside the coast around the town of Split. We will stay here until its time to go home again from split airport. Everything is very nice and i dont really feel like going back to stockholm and analys i flera variabler.... yesterday we went down a 11 kilometer downhill and decended around 700 meters to the sea and landed on the famous beach at zlatni rat. good times!

laterssss

söndag 23 augusti 2009

Cykel genom Kroatien 4

Hello!

We are back in Zadar after three days on the island of Dugi Otok and the national park Kornati. We arrived to Dugi Otok on Thursday morning and spent the day biking from the town of Brbinj to the southern part of this (mountainous) beautiful island. The plan was to book an excursion by boat into the Kornati archipelago on the next day and spend the night on a close by camping site but our plans where thwarted by the fact that no camping site existed (even though our map had a few camping site symbols scattered across the island) and the excursion boats were all full for friday. So we needed to find accommodation and also stay one day extra to go on the excursion on Saturday instead.

We did find an excellent place to stay on a vineyard in the small village of Žman. The place was run by an old man who did not hesitate to offer us his home made akvavit the first thing in the morning after the first night. He did not drink at all himself because of doctors orders, but served us up with some strong alcohol, home grown fresh figs and home made olive oil with bread for breakfast. He would not be satisfied until we all finished our glasses of akvavit. A belgian family of seven were also caught in his hospitality. After this breakfast we needed to sleep a little more, and it was not until after siesta that we set off to explore the island with lightly packed bikes and snorkeling gear. We found a salt lake and a few semi wild donkeys amongst other things.

The next day, Saturday, was finally excursion day! We left the harbor of Sali 09.30 in the morning on a small boat together with four Italians and two Slovenians that also wanted to go exploring this national park archipelago. The day was spent on deck getting some sun, checking the weird rock formations and relaxing. we stopped several times for snorkeling and swimming, and one time at the boat owners sisters house to have grilled fish and home made wine. When we finally returned back to Sali the clock had reached half past six in the evening so we had some dinner at the docks in a spaghetti restaurant. The boat back to Zadar left a few hours later and we where told that they don't accept bikes on the catamarans but we where allowed passage anyway, due to the fact that the boat was almost empty anyway.

Back in Zadar we found a campingsite to spend the night and now here we are. In a few hours a train will take us to the inland city of Knin where, hopefully, we can change trains and go to Split, back to the coast. From there we plan to visit one or two more islands before our flight back to Stockholm on Sunday. Until the next post, good bye!








onsdag 19 augusti 2009

Cykel genom Kroatien 3

Hey, again!

Im a little tired so this wont be a very long post. We are in Zadar now, arrived late yesterday evening from Mali Losinj. Today we have been checking out the town and relaxing. Tomorrow we hope to go diving/snorkeling if we can make it to the dive center 30 km from here before the boat leaves. The internet connection here is a little crappy so i cant upload any photos.. but i promise its beutiful here :)

söndag 16 augusti 2009

Cykel genom Kroatien 2

Hello again!

Now we are in Croatia. In a town called Pula on the southernmost edge of the huge peninsula called Istria. The road here has been varied, sometimes better and sometimes worse. But I will pick up where i left off in the last post.

We arrived in Trieste, Italy in the late evening, and just as predicted we needed to sleep at the train station. The night guard was helpful enough to show us a good corner and made sure that our wallets were safe (in our underwear). Well, we spent the night there and took off early in the morning, towards Slovenia. After getting some directions from another biking couple we found our way to a border control that was not on the highway. Passing through was easy and on the other side we had some freshly caught calamari for lunch (fried of course). The journy carried on over some huge hills to the town of Portoroz and the camping site for the night. Here we could enjoy our first dip in the sea. Good times.

In the morning we set our handlebars for the croatian border. The passing here was also trouble free and we just needed to assure the border guard that we didnt have any alcohol with us and he let us through. The cars didnt have to answer any questions at all. After the border we found a mountain. Good times. It was steep as hell but we are stubborn and our buttocks are hard, so we won in the end!

After refueling (coffe, greek salad and ice cream) we went for the goal of the day, another camping site. The road took us over some beutiful bridges over the mediterranean bays along the coast and soon we spotted a good site. Though actually, what we saw was the rear end of a HUGE camping site. It was like roskilde festival with malls, restaurants and fast food kiosks inside. I got lost when looking for the reception and not until 21.30 could we finally enjoy some dinner. Speaking of food, we have been having a little problem. we thought it might be a good idea to buy the gas bottles we need for our kitchen when we arrive, so we dont need to take them on the plane. Well of course they have another standard connection for gas bottles here so its been impossible so far to fire up our small, light weight camping kitchen (until today, see picture).

We have been biking a few days along the coast of Istria now, in a similar fashion, taking it slow and enjoying the views. From this town Pula that we are in now we will take a boat tomorrow at 07.00 to the island of Lošinj. From there we have no idea where to go but the plan is to reach Pag, a long island known for its moon-like landscape. Hopefully we will reach there tomorrow or the day after and start biking south towards Zadar. I will write a new post as soon as i get the chance! And as always, its great to read some comments!

//Malte







tisdag 11 augusti 2009

Cykel genom Kroatien 1

Hello everyone.

First of all, this post is in english because there are some (hopefully) international readers that will want to know about our trip. Second of all I (Malte) havent updated anything at all during the summer like Johan pointed out. This is of course not acceptable at all, but for now i will focus on this biking trip that we are on. A post describing other activities during the summer might pop up later if I feel like it =)

Anyhow, at the time of writing ( 18.28 hours 11/8 2009) we are in a small internet cafe with limited bandwith in the north italian town of Portoguaro. We have been biking for two days since we arrived at Treviso airport close to Venice. on our way we experienced sleeping on the curb, italian old ladies, disgustingly large tourism complexes along the ocean and much more, so read on!

We landed in Treviso at around 20.00 o clock in the evening on sunday. our bikes came out in broken boxes thrown on the conveyer belt, good times. it took us a good two hours to completely screw everything together and we got some help from two swedish old men who came on the same flight as us. they where self acclaimed biking experts. After this annoyance of putting together the bikes we both felt like dinner, but where to tired to go anywhere. luckily we found a place across the street from the airport where they would microwave us some tortellini bolognese. when we where fed time was around 23.00 and we where both exhausted. the plan was to sleep in the airport waiting hall so no hostel was booked. The problem was that Treviso airport dont see many flights at night so they close everything at 23.00. as exhausted as we where we just decided to sleep on the curb next to the staff parkinglot behind the airport. Excellent place by the way, I can recommend it to any broke traveller =)

In the morning, after removing insects from underneath the clothes and brushing the teeth in the airport bathroom we took off. Mission 1 was to find breakfast and mission 2 was to find either a roadsign pointing to some place on our map (which conveniently enough does not include Treviso but rather starts 20 km east of town) or find a map.

After a few twists and turns we managed both to get some food to fill our roaring bellies and to buy a map from the train station. So then we started following the map.

Not more than 3o minutes after we left Treviso train station some old ladies drove past us on their bikes, saw that we where checking a map and asked where we where going. I think... I dont speak italian at all. Anyway we tried to explain that we dont have any exact travel pland but are going to Croatia. Im not sure how much of that that actually got through the language barrier but anyway they told us to follow them. So after a quite winding tour through the north italian farmlands (corn, tomatoes and grapes, mostly) they led us onto the highway. Yep. And just pointed in one direction and said:
-Mare, siempre mare!
Which I translate to aproximately "Ocean, always ocean", meaning the road sign that leads towards the ocean. So we followed their advice, for a while but the highway gets boring real fast and we wanted to see more countryside. Roughly following the direction of the big road we managed to get by on smaller roads and tractor tracks. along the way was a trattoria where they where happy to serve up some pasta pomodore for lunch. After lunch we just kept going through roughly the same kind of landscapes until we reached the sea.

A dramatic change in landscape took place here. The hotels grow towards the sky much like the crops in the countryside, but huge and smelling of fat tourists. anyway, somewhere in this ghetto of charter tourists there was a camping site sign on our map, and after a while we actually found it. Good times.

In the evening came a huge thunderstorm, but it was over as fast as it came.

Today we have been following the coastline for quite some time, through golf courts, roller skating roads and beach access hotel complexes. Finally our map told us to turn north, away from the coast and on winding country roads towards the city of Portoguaro, where we currently are. The distance we have biked so far totals to 125 kilometers. This evening awaits a train to the city of Trieste, where we once again arrive late at night without any booked hostel or any chance at camping, but hey, travelling is all about adventure, right?