Travelling & trekking

Moonraker 5

I'm a bit of a late starter to the globe trekking thing. I never had a gap year due to financial reasons (though I did have 4 weeks on the eastern seaboard of the US by Greyhound bus between university and starting work) so while I've always had a hankering to travel, up until the last few years I've been limited to Europe (Paris and Iceland I'm very familiar with) and back to the east coast of the US. But the real adventure side has kicked in, before I settle down and it's too late.

Four weeks today I'll be landing in Pyongyang, in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, for a week long tour of the country, followed by 10 days in China.

But I'm looking for ideas for later in the year and something to match that in terms of getting out there. Does anyone have any recommended destinations or great (or even terrible) experiences they could share? Japan, Australia, Singapore, mid-to-north eastern US and large chunks of mostly western Europe are ticked. And what's your favourite destination and why??*

*Mine would have to be Iceland. It's a breath-taking country, physically unpredictable, with a chilled out, party loving atmosphere in Reykjavik and Akureyri.

thesecretagent

Lucky you!

I've travelled through Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores and Timor. I did it by train, ferry, bus, motorbikes, jeep and horse. It took four months, but I had to nip over to Singapore to re-visa, as two months was maximum at the time. I ate snake, monkey and dog, almost got attacked by a tiger shark, fought for my life in a street robbery (I mean three guys and machetes - some serious ****...), got out of a long-house fire when some poor soul didn't, abandoned ship between Lombok and Sumbawa in shark infested water when the boat went down in seconds... , got a seriously bad infected wound on my foot and physically fought my way out of hospital on Bali when they prepped me to amputate at the ankle (thank god for an Aussie patient who shouted out a translation to me as they gave the pre-med...) and managed to blag a free medical flight home when I missed my non - refundable return flight.
Great times, scary times, many great women, many terrible women... Bad sunburn, bad food poisoning - but many, many memories... -{

danjaq_0ff

I find it pretty disgusting that you ate Monkey and Dog, to brag about it in public in my eyes makes you a lesser human being.

I ignore many things but I couldn't let this pass.

thesecretagent wrote:

Lucky you!

I've travelled through Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores and Timor. I did it by train, ferry, bus, motorbikes, jeep and horse. It took four months, but I had to nip over to Singapore to re-visa, as two months was maximum at the time. I ate snake, monkey and dog, almost got attacked by a tiger shark, fought for my life in a street robbery (I mean three guys and machetes - some serious ****...), got out of a long-house fire when some poor soul didn't, abandoned ship between Lombok and Sumbawa in shark infested water when the boat went down in seconds... , got a seriously bad infected wound on my foot and physically fought my way out of hospital on Bali when they prepped me to amputate at the ankle (thank god for an Aussie patient who shouted out a translation to me as they gave the pre-med...) and managed to blag a free medical flight home when I missed my non - refundable return flight.
Great times, scary times, many great women, many terrible women... Bad sunburn, bad food poisoning - but many, many memories... -{

Thunderbird 2

Budget restrictions have meant I have always had holidays here in the UK - hillwalking and trekking with a tent on my back. I love it because I can explore and test myself in the middle of no-where with a couple of good mates. Def a sense of adventure.
Outside the UK, my only exception was brilliant two weeks in Sydney Australia while I was a student. - It was a good friend's intervention that made that possible.

I'd love to explore further afield again one day, - Italy (esp Venice as a recurring Bond location) is one I'd love to visit, and possibly Canada too.

minigeff

to some I'd suggest beachy head......

i'd like to go to venice as well one day. I've seen america, day trip to bruge with school (many moons ago i might add) and i even went to wales once, managed to get out alive though

to those who think the going abroad is a 'proper holiday' i'd suggest looking closer to home. the UK has got some amazing views in it, plus the food is great. monkey and dog? ewwww.

Moonraker 5

thesecretagent wrote:

Lucky you!

I've travelled through Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores and Timor. I did it by train, ferry, bus, motorbikes, jeep and horse. It took four months, but I had to nip over to Singapore to re-visa, as two months was maximum at the time. I ate snake, monkey and dog, almost got attacked by a tiger shark, fought for my life in a street robbery (I mean three guys and machetes - some serious ****...), got out of a long-house fire when some poor soul didn't, abandoned ship between Lombok and Sumbawa in shark infested water when the boat went down in seconds... , got a seriously bad infected wound on my foot and physically fought my way out of hospital on Bali when they prepped me to amputate at the ankle (thank god for an Aussie patient who shouted out a translation to me as they gave the pre-med...) and managed to blag a free medical flight home when I missed my non - refundable return flight.
Great times, scary times, many great women, many terrible women... Bad sunburn, bad food poisoning - but many, many memories... -{

Wow. Pretty amazing stuff!! And to a certain extent, enough to put anyone off forever! ) )

While I do have an adventurous side, I do have to confess to being a bit of a germophobe. Only a bit, but enough to force me into a reasonably clean hotel/hostel. Though I do have 22 hours on a north Korean "sleeper" train from Pyongyang to Beijing, which is going to be an experience. Granted, not one that I expect will involve potential amputations, but still...

I'm told that dog is too much of a delicacy in the DPRK, especially given the rocky food situation, so as a rule it's not served to foreigners, and that "if you don't know what the meat is, it isn't dog". So it's kimchi all the way I think. Worst thing I've ever eaten was a baby squid that was trying to make a break for it off my plate. A shot of saki, down the hatch, followed by another shot of saki, but it didn't stop me having a very vivid nightmare of it swimming around in my stomach. Still, didn't taste as bad as raw sea urchin.

As for holidaying in the UK, love that too! I've got about a lot of the country, and I think there's a big prejudice among Britons for holidaying at home, but there's some stunning places in these islands. Only last year did I take a weekend out to be a proper tourist in Glasgow, a city I've worked in, studied in and lived in over the years, and was stunned by what's been on the doorstep all this time that I had no idea about. And holidaying at home isn't necessarily cheap either! I'm planning on doing a bit of island hopping up the west coast later in the summer, and do the flight from Glasgow to Barra for that infamous beach landing, the only flight in Europe that's timed by the tide.

thesecretagent

Moonraker 5 wrote:

thesecretagent wrote:

Lucky you!

I've travelled through Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores and Timor. I did it by train, ferry, bus, motorbikes, jeep and horse. It took four months, but I had to nip over to Singapore to re-visa, as two months was maximum at the time. I ate snake, monkey and dog, almost got attacked by a tiger shark, fought for my life in a street robbery (I mean three guys and machetes - some serious ****...), got out of a long-house fire when some poor soul didn't, abandoned ship between Lombok and Sumbawa in shark infested water when the boat went down in seconds... , got a seriously bad infected wound on my foot and physically fought my way out of hospital on Bali when they prepped me to amputate at the ankle (thank god for an Aussie patient who shouted out a translation to me as they gave the pre-med...) and managed to blag a free medical flight home when I missed my non - refundable return flight.
Great times, scary times, many great women, many terrible women... Bad sunburn, bad food poisoning - but many, many memories... -{

Wow. Pretty amazing stuff!! And to a certain extent, enough to put anyone off forever! ) )

While I do have an adventurous side, I do have to confess to being a bit of a germophobe. Only a bit, but enough to force me into a reasonably clean hotel/hostel. Though I do have 22 hours on a north Korean "sleeper" train from Pyongyang to Beijing, which is going to be an experience. Granted, not one that I expect will involve potential amputations, but still...

I'm told that dog is too much of a delicacy in the DPRK, especially given the rocky food situation, so as a rule it's not served to foreigners, and that "if you don't know what the meat is, it isn't dog". So it's kimchi all the way I think. Worst thing I've ever eaten was a baby squid that was trying to make a break for it off my plate. A shot of saki, down the hatch, followed by another shot of saki, but it didn't stop me having a very vivid nightmare of it swimming around in my stomach. Still, didn't taste as bad as raw sea urchin.

As for holidaying in the UK, love that too! I've got about a lot of the country, and I think there's a big prejudice among Britons for holidaying at home, but there's some stunning places in these islands. Only last year did I take a weekend out to be a proper tourist in Glasgow, a city I've worked in, studied in and lived in over the years, and was stunned by what's been on the doorstep all this time that I had no idea about. And holidaying at home isn't necessarily cheap either! I'm planning on doing a bit of island hopping up the west coast later in the summer, and do the flight from Glasgow to Barra for that infamous beach landing, the only flight in Europe that's timed by the tide.

I prefer holidaying in a bit more luxury now. Especially with two young children. We do self catering villas with pools at the moment until they are a bit older. We've had some great breaks in the UK as well. Scotland and the Lake District are as stunning as anywhere on earth IMO. But it always works out just as expensive as going abroad.