After the Riviera we drove up to Lago di Como (Lake Como). This was the only place on the trip where we hadn't organised accomodation prior to us arriving.

When we arrived we initially used the TomTom to find us a B&B, but it kept taking us up into the hills on all these narrow streets with blind corners. We therefore instead decided to drive up along the shore of the lake and just check out whatever hotels we came past.

We ended up finding a place for a reasonable price in Argegno. It was right on the lake next to the passenger ferry and our room was facing the lake....perfect!





For dinner we drove to Menaggio a bit further up the lake. Parking was impossible because there was another festival happening so I ended up doing another illegal parking (If you are in Italy you do like the Italians).










Next morning we went down to the ferry and bought a day ticket for the central part of the ticket. This enabled us to take the ferry and hop on and off whenever we felt like it.

This meant that we we easily could get to other places on the lake such as Bellagio and Varenna. It also meant that we were able to look at the expensive villas from the lakeside.













On the way back in the afternoon we stopped at Tremezzo at one of the large villas that was open to the public. The villa was surrounded by a beautiful garden.












In the evening we were tired (and I was finally developing some sort of a sun tan evident from the sandal stripes on my feet).

After Pisa we headed to the Italian Riviera, also called the Flower Riviera. I asked Kim to find us a nice spot along the coast for lunch and she picked Lido di Camaiore.

When I was a kid I went to the italian riviera quite a lot with my parents. My mum and dad met eachother here in a town called Diano Marina, both working for the same travel company as travel companies. We used to stay in caravan parks along the coast and I don't remember the place being very busy (but I may remember wrong).

When we arrived to Camaiore we were met by beaches full of hotels (whom had each closed of an area of the beach for themselves), umbrellas and people boiling in the sun and tanning oil.



After lunch I decided to drive along the coast to our hotel in Sestri Levante...this turned out to be a mistake. After 30 kilometers full endless beaches covered in umbrellas, of dodging pedestrians and cyclists, traffic lights and people parking to go for a swim I decided I'd had enough and headed for the motorway. This part of the riviera is really not very nice and I was looking forward to go somewhere with a bit more charm.

Sestri Levante was the only place we could find accomodation. The hotel was up in the hills far away from the coast line, it was expensive and absolutely nothing special compared to all the other places we were staying during our trip.

In the evening we drove to a town called Rapallo for dinner. The city had closed off the roads around the water because of a festival, so it was really nice to sit at the water eating seafood and watch people.




After dinner we went for a walk along the water down to the area where the festival was taking place. We were sitting there for a while listening to the music and enjoying a perfect evening.

When we came back to the car to drive home it turned out that we'd received a parking ticket (20 Euros). We were parking in a valid parking space and I thought we were outside the hours wheer we had to pay....but obviously not. I'd done lots of illigal parking elsewhere on the trip so didn't feel too bad about it.




Next day it was time to explore Cinque Terre. This is a national park along the costline with 5 small villages accessible only from the ocean (There is a trainline now). We drove to the only one of the villages that can be accessed by car Monterosso and parking right next to the village area.





From here we walked down to the water. It turned out that the trains weren't running between the villages so the only access was by boat or walk. We didn't have time to walk so bought a day ticket for the boat.



While on the boat we did a bit of planning and decided to go to the furtherst village Riomaggiore first and from here walk to the next village Manarola. From here we would take the boat to Vernazza and then back to Monterosso.













Cinque Terre is a beautiful part of the Italian riviera, and although there is a lot of tourists there it doesn't feel overcrowded such as many other places. When we vere having lunch along the beached the previous day I was dreading that Cinque Terre would be as crowded as that.

In the evening we decided to drive to Portofino for dinner. We arrived there (along all these small narrow streets) around 7pm. Although Portofine if a nice place it doesn't beat the villages at Cinque Terre in beauty. The place is expensive in all respects and there isn't a lot of shops and restaurants, it is mainly fashion and expensive jewellery being sold there. Obviously catering for the Euripean rich who dock here in their expensive million dollar boats.





We therefore decided to go back to the centre of Sestri Levante and have dinner here.

When I was a child I spend a lot of summers with my parents in Italy. They used to work in the Northern part of Italy as travel guides and as a result we generally headed that way during the summer time with our caravan or with a tent.

When I was a baby my parent took me to Pisa (I have to trust them I an don't remember) and also up into the leaning tower.

Kim and I was planning to drive from Tuscany to the Italien Riviera and I asked Kim if it was ok to make a short stop at Pisa for me to have a look at the tower some 3X years later.

Our Tom-Tom navigated us by the backway into the city and within a short timefra we were at the tower. We had a look for a parking spot and literally found a spot less than 100 metres from the tower (so far pretty fortunate with the parking).

It was really cool to have a look at the tower. They have started allowing people to enter the tower again, but when we got there they next timeslot was 6pm in the evening (8 hours later) so we instead took some photos and bought some T shirts for Kims family.

Of cause we had to take the classic photos of trying to straighten the tower.





And a couple of nice ones





And then there was the silly ones








And then some photos from the beautiful architecture of the tower and the church next to it.

While Kim and I was in San Gemignano in Tuscany we spent a day just driving around in the beautiful landscape. Even though we just missed the harvest it was still really beautiful. It is full of all these rolling hills, Vineyards, Sunflower fields and old Italian houses.























Driving was fun and I could easily have spent longer time just driving around there exploring small villages etc. I would love to go back there during spring when all the flowers are out and the fields have been planted.

On the first day in Tuscany we decided to drive into Siena and have a look around.

Our first impression was that parking was going to be a problem. There was some large tourist carparks on the outside of the city walls changing an exorbant amount of money per hour. We were planning to have dinner in the city and was planning to be there for most of the day and eventually we found a spot in a parking area that didn't have any meters. There was some italian scribling underneath the sign and we hoped that it didn't say "Reserved for residents and permit holders".

Anyway, eventually we made it inside the city walls and was met by 8 storeys of escalators from the walls to the innner city (You wouldn't want those fat Americans loosing any weight while on holiday).

We went around to some of the tourist attractions and there was unbeliveable queues everywhere. We started queuing up to get into the large tower at the main square and for 30 minuted the queue didn't move. Eventually we gave up and couldn't be bothered.





Instead we decided to wander around the city looking at the old buildings and at shops which is really nice.



Siena is known for the annual horse race in the center of the city. It was amazing to look at the area and suddenly realise why the horses often go flying into the barriers when they get around the corners of the race course.

The details of the houses is incredible. Everything is decorated. A metal spike is not just a skike any longer, but a instead formed into a dragon, a snake or a swan.








In the evening we were going for dinner at an italian restaurant called 'Cane e Gato' (Kat and Dog). It was recommended to Kim by one of her colleagues who had also warned us that it was a bit on the pricey side.

At the place we were staying I found a book about Tuscany where it said that the degustation was 50 Euros (Appx $95 AUD). When we arrived we were given no menu's or any price list. The girl (Who turned out to be the daughter of the owner, who himself was in the kitchen with his wife) showed us our table.

We were told what was the degustation menu consisted of and got started. The food was quite nice...all ingredients that were in season from the surrounding country side. The pastas were home made and everything was very delicious.

At the end Kim and I was discussing what the damage was...a bit of a surprise when we were presented with a bill of 175 Euros ($320 AUD). This was a bit more than we expected.

Fortunately we didn't have a parking ticket when we got back to the car (This would have been the icing on the cake).

Another late night finishing dinner after midnight and then 45 minutes drive back to San Gimignano.

After Verona we drove to Tuscany to a small medievil town called San Gimignano. It is a very small town where in the medievil days they were competing who could build the most 'high-rises'. This means that today the town is full of all these tall towers (There used to be a lot more back in those days).






The town is full of tourists during the daytime and at night the town is again taken over by the locals including the werewolves from the surrounding area.

We were staying inside the old city walls, so for the most part we were safe except for the odd werewolf.









They also have the world champion in Gelato...normally I don't belive marketing gimmick like this, but I must admit that the gelato was very nice.



At night time once the tourists were gone it was an amazing place. The towers are rising into the night sky and I had a lot of fun taking photos of the towers just using the ambient light.

We arrived to Milan in Italy from Copenhagen in the evening. The first thing we did after landing was to pick up our rental car which was a small Fiat Panda (Never, ever rent a large car in Italy...some streets only accomodate snall cars) and then drive to our Hotel. The Tom-Tom nagigator software on my mobile phone turned out to be exceptionally useful on our trip to find our way around.



The next morning we drove towards Verona and at lunchtime we had a look at our map and noticed that we'd drive right past Lago di Gardia (Lake Garda). I asked Kim to plan a diversion somewhere for a lakeside lunch.

She chose Sirmione which is a long peninsula on the southern side of the lake.



I used to stay at Lake Garda with my parents when I was a kid. The water is bright blue and it is a beautiful place.

We then continued to Verona early afternoon and found our bed and breakfast which is about a kilometer from the city centre. The road up there was very narrow and anything wider than the Panda would not have been able to get through.

As soon as we had gotten settled we walked down into the city centre.



We had opera tickets for Aida in the old coloseum in Verona in the evening, but had to first pick up the tickets. The tickets were quite pricey so we had chosen to get ticket on the upper stairs with almost everyone else.




It meant that it was a bit less confortable and that we would have to enter early to get a good seat. But it also meant that we were sitting up higher which is better for taking photos.



The performance was amazing. There was approximately 500 actors on stage (and 4 horses) and ther used about a quarter of the coloseum as the stage.





It was a beautiful and warm night with a brightly lit full moon.





The performance finished around 1am at night and from there we walked to one of the squares of Verona and had some coffee (Places were still open).

The next morning we did a bit more exploration around Verona. Kim wanted to see the romantic balcony of Romeo and Juliet (Or Donald and Daffy Duck as I called them as they are just as real as the imaginary Romeo and Juliet)



Since we were there we also had to rub the right breast of the Juliet statue there for good luck.




In Daffy's house they also has a lot of interesting art work.







Verona is an interesting city. They have a whale bone suspended from one of the gates...apparently the legend says that it will fall down upon the first 'Just' man who passes under it (and kills him??). Unfortunately (or fortunately) it didn't fall on neither Kim or I.



The city is full of old buildings with interesting architecture

On the last day in Denmark our flight wasn't leaving from Copenhagen to Milan until early evening, we therefore decided to head into the capital a bit earlier in the day and spend a couple of hours sightseeing with my parents.

We went to a place called Rosenborg (Rose Castle) which is where the Danish royals keep their crown jewels.



It is also the place where they train the soldiers that protect the royals.



Some of the jewels are absolutely stunning. There is lots of ivory, old weapons, saddles, gold etc. everything coverved with diamonds, perls, emeralds, rubys and other jewels.















My mum and dad was waiting outside (half asleep) while we were inside looking at all the awsomeness.

While we were in Denmark we went to the local zoo called Knuthenborg. It was created by the owner of one of the big farms who had a vision to create one of Europes larges open air zoos. What is so special about this particular zoo is that you drive around amongst the animals and in certain areas are allowed to leave the car and interact with the animals.

The first place we went was the monkey area. Here we were able to walk around some of the Lemurs (Half monkeys) from Madagascar.





Driving around we also saw a number of other animals such as the asian water buffalo (which loves mud), zebras, Zobel Antelopes, Goats










Kim even found a horse her own size



We had a bit of fun with the camels. I don't know what they were thinking but they kept eating my hair and I think one of them was in love with me.







They also have some more exotic animals there such as tigers and rhinos (The wouldn't allow us to get out of our car to pet these).

Not far from where my parent live there is an open air museum displaying how people lived in the medieval time which in Denmark was the late 14th century.

For Kim and I it felt like we suddenly were a princess and a knight from that time.











Besides from houses, ships and other buildings the place also displays various handicraft, weaponry and how people battles in those times.

They have working Trebuchets there to throw massive stones (or dead animals and burning tar) accurately for distances of more than several hundred metres.



Every day they show people how they work and hurl massive stones into the water.


We tried some of the weapons. I used to be fairly alright with a bow and arrow when I was a kid. I tried the bow and arrow here and it was a total disaster.





Obviously Kim went straigh for the shoes and the furs (I am not a fur person myself):





They also had a knights tournament on while we were there. Two knights would fight using their lances which would shatter on the impact against the shields.

This weekend we went with a couple of friends to a place in New South Wales called Mudgee. This place is about 270 kilometres from Sydney on the other side of the mountains and is best known as a wine district.




On the way there we did a quick stop at Lake Windamere, famous for its dead trees in the water.




We arrived to Mudgee after about 5 hours of driving (including a couple of brief stops) and had some lunch with Chris and Yvonne. While in Mudgee we did some jump shots of Chris and I pretending to fight (obviously I did some creative editing to get to this final result).



After lunch we headed to a couple of wineries. We were immediately impressed, some of the local Cab Savs. and some of the whites were excellent and Kim and I walked away with quite a few bottles from the first couple of places we visited. The wines were also more reasonable priced than the Hunter.







Late in the afternoon we headed to the Bed and Breakfast where we staying for the night. This was a place run by an elderly couple with 4 dogs, 7-8 Alpacas, mini horses and some cattle.









Before dinner we did a quick stop to take some sunset photos. It was a very quick stop, because within 5 minutes from us arriving at the location the sun disappeared behind a thick cover of clouds and the good light was gone.



Chris and I had been planning to do some star photography of the Milky Way. The weather forecast wasn't promising, but after dinner is seemed to clear up a bit so we decided to give it a go.
We hadn't scoped out any good location so it was a bit of a trial and error to find a good place. The trick with start photography is to also include an interesting foreground subject into the photo.
The first place we stopped was next to a vineyard and although the Milky Way was reasonably clear the grapes weren't that interesting.



We therefore headed up some of the back streets. On this paddock we found this really old truck parked in an almost perfect position...it was something different.
While we were setting up dogs started barking at the property behind us and after a few minutes all the outside lights came on and a woman came out and asked what we were doing.
Chris said that we were just taking some photos and if she was alright with that.
She went back into the house, but the dogs kept barking at us. After another couple of minutes she returned and asked us to leave because we were disturbing her dogs and parents.

We were on public property so we could have told here that we wouldn't leave and that we were in our rights to be there, but sometimes it is better to not push the issue, especially when you are just visiting the area.

Instead we found an area with some trees...alright, but not that interesting and by that time the Milky Way had started setting in the horizon.

Next morning we met up with Sacha (he's driven up from Sydney in the morning) to go and visit another couple of vineries (We bought more wine).







And Aiden loved all the attention and new locations.




On the way home we were planning to stop at the Blast Furnace Park in Lithgow. As we drive into the city we passed a couple of police cars. I was going a few kilometres over the speed limit and hit the brakes as soon as I saw them. A couple of kilometres further down the road the cars came up behind me with their lights on and I thought..."Damn, I got busted", but I was really surprised when they went past me without stopping...I was even more surprised when they pulled over Chris in front of me.
He was busted for driving his car without a valid registration (he had forgotten to pay it a few weeks earlier), given a fine and they told him that he was not allowed to drive any further without a valid registration.

After the cops left he quickly went on the internet and renewed all the paperwork online so we were able to keep going.

The blast furnace is an old iron smelter dating back to more than 100 years ago when a lot of iron was dug out of the surrounding area and processed here to produce steel. It is interesting walking around the old ruins of which much of the building foundation still exists.







We also used this as an opportunity for some more fighting jump shots.

After this it was back to Sydney...

Aiden is now 16 Months and he is now able to crawl and stand up. He is slowly starting to walk (a few metres at a time) when supported by a walker but he is still not able to walk unsupported. He also likes sitting on this little car we have for him, racing around the lounge room.


He favourite foods are Strawberries, Mango, Durian and Yoghurt.

We did another photo shoot the other day with his favorite teddy called 'Scout'

The next day was spent exploring the inner city itself. Surprisingly there are not a lot of turists in Zagreb. Most of the places were went to seemed to be mostly locals. It is not loke other capital cities where you see a lot of tour groups etc. Here we sometime had the feeling that we were the only tourists.


The In the morning we explored the horse shoe shaped parks and all their buildings. These parks are have a lot of buildings such as the University and the National Theatre located in them.



This is the National Theatre with the Fountain of Life in front of it.




One of the statues is of St George slaying the dragon.




We also had a look at the Dolac market in the middle of the city.




In the afternoon we also explored some of the churches although some of them were closed for us to visit inside (Maybe because it was Sunday).

This is the St Marks church. The roof tiles show the coat of arms of Croatia and Slovenia. The church also has the Croatian Parliament located next to it so a lot of police and security looking at me suspeciously while setting up my tripod.






We also made it to the big cathedral which apparently is under constant renovation.












We also went to the Stone Gate that contains a status of the Virgin Mary that micraculously escaped being destroyed in a fire. All the locals would come here to light a candle.




In the late afternoon we went to the Strossmayer Promenade. This is a place where the local artists sell and display some of their work and also contains a rather special statue.






Aiden was very facinated by this strange man sitting on a park bench.



...And next day it is time for the long journey back to Australia.

Before heading back to Australia we spent a couple of days in Croatias capital Zagreb.

Kim had found us accomodation at the Best western which was centrally located very close to the centre of Zagreb and just across one of the big parks.

One of the advantages of this hotel was that there was plenty of parking at the hotel and it would have been difficult/expensive to park on the street otherwise.

Driving in Zagreb was a real challenge. It was full of one way streets with lots of road works. There were lots of bicycles and there were trams everywhere.




After arriving we went for a walk across to the park and square and along the way we didn't see many restaurants so I stopped at a tourist information to ask them where we should go to find a selection on places. When we went to those places later in the evening there were hardly any restaurants. There were a lot of bars serving drinks and the places were packed, but they were not restaurants.

We eventually found a place and the food was very nice, but this was pretty much the trend for Zagreb, lots of people going out for drinks, but very few people going out dining. I am not sure if this was a cultural thing or just because of the costs associated with going out.

Next day we did find the one of the old streets had loads of restaurants but still nowhere the variety we had seen elsewhere on our travels.

Next morning we decided to first visit some of the places that were on the outshirts of the inner city and required us to have transport. We first went to the Maksimir Park which also has a zoo. The park itself doesn't have much in terms of scenery and facilities although it is nice enough.











The building for the cafe (Kiosk) in the middle of the park was was in bad need of some maintenance with large pieces of rendering and paint falling off the building.



The Zoo was pleasant and they had a large selection of different animals. It was really hot in there so the zoo keeper were spraying them with water to cool them down a bit.

The most exciting specimen in the park was this lot of Homisapiens...very rare and irreplaceable.







Next was the Mirogoj cemetry. This is the oldest cemetry in Zagreb and is absolutely amazing in terms of the graves there. Some of the graves belonged to old families and I counted some that had 15 family members buried there dating back to the early 18 hundreds.







The place was huge, the really old section would have been at least 500 metres long as was very beautifully set up.



The following day we decided to explore the inner city of Zagreb. at the hotel we had picked up a "Zagreb Step-by-step" guide. This turned out to be the best tourist guide I have ever seen. It was very comprehensible and provided us with a very logical route to follow. It was so good that I was able to provide ongoing commentary to Kims video. I brough back a copy of the guide which I intend to send to NSW tourism when I am done with it.

On the way back to Zagreb in Croatia we decided to visit Lubjiana the capital of Slovenia as we had to pass through here anyway.







The old city was pedistrians only and was very nice and very clean and with small canals running through it.



There cathedral there has these amazing bronze doors.





There were a number of water water fountains and I let Aiden have a splash to the point where he was all soaked, but fortunately is was really warm so he dried quickly.



The butchers bridge is a new bridge. People who are in love put padlocks on the sides of the bridge to symbolise their unbreakable love for eachother (I wonder if they keed the key just in case or whether they throw it the river).



The Bridge also have some really special art pieces.





It is a fairly old city, so I expected a lot of stairs and a lot of carrying Aiden up and down. I was surprised as there were ramps everywhere and I didn't have to carry him once. I think it is because a lot of people use bicycles (they have a free bicycle system similar to Copenhagen).



The Tivoli park area was a really nice and relaxing area with a cute little 'Mansion' in the centre.



One of the things that amazed me was that they had a fantastic outdoor location for a permanent exhibition of photographs and artwork from different artists. When we were there is was a Serbian artist exhibiting his works and there were some really good pieces there.

Second day we went to a place called Vintgar Gorge. We weren't quite sure where to find it apart from it being listed on a not very detailed map. We punched in the closest town on the GPS and hoping that we could 'wing' it from there.





When we arrived to the town we were unable to find any any signs towards the gorge, but we did find a fign with a drawing of a car pointing left and a man walking pointing right.

We were sitting in a car so we decided to follow the left sign. This took us down this gravel logging road for a couple of Kilometres (Kim saying 'This is scary') and eventually we came to an open area with a set of stairs leading up to a building.

There some people coming down the stairs and we asked them if we were in the right place...yes we were.












Once we got up the stairs I was worried that this was going to be horrible getting Aiden through...so we asked some hikers coming out of the gorge and they said that most of the was was pretty flat and we shouldn't have too many problems with a Pram. I went a few hundred meters ahead to have a quick look and confirmed that it didn't look too bad and that there indeed were a lot of waterfalls in the area.

While there I also did some photos to be used for HDR - High Dynamic Range:







The Gorge was really nice and cool in the morning and there was a fine mist forming over the waters surface. The waterfalls, the river, the gorge and walking track itself was really amazing. There were people there, but it wasn't crowded and despite the track being really narrow it was easy enough getting through.



We walked for a fair bit to make sure we have seen the main falls (someone coming from the other direction said that the falls were fairly small after the point where we turned back) and by this time the sun had started entering the gorge and it was getting really warm.

We therefore decided to drive to lake Bohinj to go for a swim (see previous posting).

Our first impression of the area around Bled was that it was very Austrian looking (whose border is very close) with all the surrounding mountains.



Bled is this really beautiful little town at Lake Bled. The lake has a castle sitting high on the hillside and in the middle of the lake there is beautiful little island with a monastery on it. It seems that most of the area along the lake has been reserved as a public space and there is a really nice little walking track all around the lake.







Kim had found a very groovy little place for accumodation called Alice House. It was very modern and it was obvious that the owner had put a lot of thought into the looks and feel of the place.
It had this really little pleasant garden and it was really nice to just sit down and relax and have Aiden play with the pebbles and eat the strawberries.





After we had settled in the first thing we did was visit the castle (getting a bit lost along the way). I was pretty buggered after driving all morning, so when we arrived to the castle and saw all the stairs I asked Kim to check out the castle while I would check out the park in front of the castle with Aiden (Kim came back after a while and said that there wasn't that much to see in there).





After this we went around the lake and found this nice little spot with a beautiful view of the lake, the island and the castle.







When we were there they were getting ready for the Rowing worldcup week after, so the town was swarming with muscly atletes. There were a large number of Australian rowers and Kim was pretty keen to have me take a photo of some of them in case they won and were famous (I asked her if I should ask them to take off their T-Shirts too so she could better perv at them). It turned out that some of them did win gold..congratulations Aussies!!!



The Day after we went to one of the other lake Bohinj and went for a swim with Aiden. Aiden was very excited that he could be splashing without getting salt water in his eyes.

Driving to Slovenia we again chose to take the scenic route rather than take the highway to Zagreb and then to Slovenia from there. Instead we took the scenic road to Karlovac and then straight north across the border from there.

The was a very small road through a hilly landscape consisting mostly of farms and forests. A great and very enjoyable drive.

When we arrived to Karlovac I noticed a field just outside the city limits where they had deposited a lot of military hardware such as tanks, planes and artilery.

We decided to stop and have a look and it was almost like a museum, but there didn't seem to be anyone taking and entrance fee. There were also a number of bombed out buildings surrounding the field.

Karlovac was badly damaged during the war. Especially the southern part where this field was was totally destroyed. It was pretty much on the frontline between the croats and the serbs. The United nations tried to keep the parties apart, but the croats detroyed the UN observation posts.




The serbs responded with a heavy bombardment of Karlovac firing 5-6,000 grenades into the city every day (that is a lot) as well as by firing missiles into Zagreb.

One of the things on display was one very much shot up and crashed Mig 21...I would assume from the Yugoslav/Serbian Army based on the markings.




The Croatian markings were different on the other Mig21 on display.



Besides from this there were a lot of other hardware such as tanks and artilery as well as one russian missile launcher. I am pretty sure the first tank is an M84 and I think the other ones are Russian T55's.


















It was obvious that most of the equipment here had been used in action and some of the equipment was improvised and was also badly shot up such as this armoured personel car.



Afterwards we drove through the city itself and it was obvious that the scars of the war on the buildings were very visible just like in Mostar.

Ironically the main industry in Kardovac today is Arms production and they are a major producer and exporter of handguns.

Driving north from Karlovac we entered a mountain range leading us across the border. On the top we found the Slovenian border and crossed it easily.

It was now lunch time and coming down on the other side we started looking for a place to have eat. We found a restaurant at the foorhills and decided to order todays special having no idea what the price was. We decided to skip the initial soup that was part of the menu and went straight to some very solid mains. The waiter then brought us deserts as well. In total the bill came to 18 Euros including drinks...Kim called this the greatest bargain on our trip.

Not far from there we again joined up with the highway that would take us to Bled. After a while we came to the check for Road Tolls. Not knowing how it worked and not sure which lane I was supposed to be in I had to just go through the gates without paying. After another 30 kilometers we encountered we came to another toll gate and this time I decided to go through the truck/bus lane as it seemed like this one had a cashier. I asked him how the system worked and he said that I had to purchase a weekly pass (so we did). I also asked him what would happen if I didn't have a pass and he told me that I would get a 300 Euro fine...Oouch!!! But he also said that the controls were manual controls, so unless I was stopped I would be ok.....Whewww!!!

The rest of the drive to Bled was a breeze from there on. During our whole trip we used my GPS navigator extensively. Although it wasn't totally accurate all the time for these countries it would still get us most of the way and the driving would definitely have been a lot less enjoyable if we had to use a map all the time.

We had heard a lot about Plitvice Lakes before we arrived to Croatia. One of the travel shows went as far as saying 'You haven't been to Croatia is you haven't been to Plitvice'. It is also one of the first natural sites that was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.



Some of the photos/footage we had seen from there was stunning.







When we arrived to the villa we were staying in the girl who checked us it provided us with a map of the national park and said that we should go there in the afternoon and get the big waterfalls out of the way. I asked her about Aiden and how easy it would be with his pram. She said that there were some steps, that once you were down at the lakes then it was mainly flat. She also said that on the second day we should do the other waterfalls. This route was longer but flat most of the way.



We arrived to the park and sorted out the park entrace fee and figured out how the parking worked. The decent down to the lakes was a long ramp...easy with the pram.
Once we arrived to the bottom this turned into a wooden walkway. The planks used hadn't been levelled but were just raw pieces of timber and it was very difficult and very bumpy for Aiden in the pram. The narrow walkway (without railing) was full of busloads of japanese tourists whick made it even harder to get through it. We were so busy strugling with getting through the crowds that it was very hard to enjoy and take in the scenery. The walkway was constructed only a few metres from some of the smaller but more scenic waterfalls and with all the people even without the pram it would have been not so as enjoyable as it could have been.

Fortunately the walkway was fairly short and once we hit gravel walkways the going became a lot easier. By this time the busloads had also turned back the same way they came so less crowds. At the end of the circuit we came to this little picturesque lake that had these small tour boats running on it to transport people from one side of the lakes to the other.



We took the boat across to the other side and found the dreaded 200 steps (I think Kim counted 211) from the lake shore back up to the busstop for the bus that would take us back to the carpark. At this point stairs were easy as long as there were no wooden logs or crowds.

Dinner tasted extra good this evening...a massive trout.

Next morning we went back to the park and started on the second circut that had been suggested to us. Again we encountered the wooden log walkways and this time they just kept going. we saw other people with prams who were also struggling. I did have a carrying harness with me, but it was fairly hot and Aiden doesn't like sitting in it for very long so I only carried him in it for short periods of time.



The walks themselves were not that crowded, but every time there was a waterfall it was really crowded and hard to get an unobstructed view.







The walk itself was really nice and the water in the lakes has this amazing turquiose blue colour from the limestone deposits in the water.

And the water is so clear that you can see all the fish swimming around.







It is these deposits that form the lakes and the waterfalls.




The track ended up at the same lake as the day before so we had to take the tourboat across. One of the families with a pram tried to jump the queue by carrying their pram down the hill and he dropped their baby out of the pram...what a chaos, but fortunately the baby was ok.



In the afternoon when we returned to the villa we put Aiden to bed and rushed back down to the park to re-do part of the walk from the day before. It was later in the afternoon so it wasn't as crowded and we found it a lot more pleasurable.

Kim kept asking about a partucular viewpoint of the waterfalls. We were unable to find this viewpoint, but there was a particular track that was closed for maintenance and I am sure that the viewpoint is from this track.



Anyway...in terms of expectations we found that Plitvice under delivered. we found that Krka National Park was amazing, less crowded (or a least more of a local Croatian crowd) and more pram friendly.

Driving to the Lakes we decided to take the old road rather than the highway.This road crosses the mountain range and then catches up with one of the larger roads further inland. We were told that after the highway was built there was less traffic on this road, but when we got onto it, it was completely empty of any traffic whatso ever.

The drive across the range was very different. It was very scenic and the road was in great condition. The landscape was very rocky and very dry, almost dessert like with low scrubs and there were many old farms and houses that had been left probably because life was too hard up here. I would have thought it would be the typical place to have goats roaming around, but we didn't see a single goat up on the high plateau. The farms looked like they were several hundred years old. It was the typical farms you see in these areas where the farmers every year pick up the stones they see in their fields and put them to the side to eventually form a type of fence line/walls around the field. Some of these walls were several metres high for even very small fields meaning that they were very old and that it would have taken a lot of really backbreaking work to be able to grow anything up here.

After about seventy kilometres we were across the plateau and one of the first larger town we arrived to was Knin. We decided to stop here to pick up a few supplies and site down and have some lunch. Not far from the supermarket was the trainstation and here was the very nice old steam locomotive. It was built in Budapest (possibly in 1955) and was now just sitting there rusting.







Knin was also the only place on our trip where we saw a significant military presence. I later found out that this was one of the Serbian strongholds during the was and they tried to break free of the newly independent croatia in 1991 as the Republic of Serbian Krajina. As it attempted to break off from Croatia in 1991 they ethnically cleansed the area of non-Serbs and set up their own local government. In 1995, the Croatian army retook the region and the majority of the Serb population fled or was displaced. There are today still some tension in the area and there are not a lot of opportunities. It is also close to the border and strategically located so hence the large military presence.

Just outside Knin we passed this weird structure on one of the farms. It was liks a big silo, but with a large chimney on top. Next to it there was a a wooden structure with some hoisting structure in it. I have no idea what this structure was for. It could be some sort of a furnace for melting something, but to be honest I have no idea...I would love to find out what this structure was for?? Today it looks like the building is used to store cow manure. There are some vineyards in the area so this could possible provide a clue. My guess is that it was for burning limestone (plenty of that around) to produce cement or mortar.






The remainder of the drive was on a much more busy road with large trucks. We managed to get to the lakes early afternoon. Just in time to have a quick visit to the lakes...but more about that in the next post.

This Christmas Kim and I decided to take Aiden on his first overseas holiday. Our offices are closed over Christmas and New Years so it is a good time for us to travel.

We decided to go to New Calidonia in the Pacific Ocean as it was easy and reasonably priced. It is a small group of islands about 2000km from Sydney (2.5 hours flight) and is part of Frances overseas territories (this may change in the next couple of years when they vote for independence).

On the first night we went to a seafood place and had a good night out the three of us.




Especially Aiden enjoyed his new surroundings.



We stayed at Anse Vata beach in Noumea which was conveniently located in the tourist area (Although it was far from overrun with tourists).





It was really hot there, 34-38 degrees every day so it was nice to stay near the coast. The locals living inland would spend the nights on the beach in the water cooling down.







In the evening we would try out the local restaurants. Food was generally quite expensive and of very inconsistent quality. The far best we had was a place called 'Le Roof' which is a restaurant placed in the water. I had the best rib eye I've had this year and as a desert we had the best chocolate fondant we've ever had...very nice.



While there we rented a car so that we could explore the island better while bringing Aiden with us (the island is 400km long).It was beautiful with all the flame trees...brough back a lot of memories from when I lived in Kenya.






Aiden coped surprisingly well with the heat, the sun and the water. It has actually helped a lot on his ezema which is almost gone on his legs now. He didn't complain at all and in the car he would just fall asleep once the aircon was turned on and we started driving.



One day we went out to one of the islands on a day trip and spend the day there in the shade at one of the restaurants and on the beach with Aiden (Only day where I wasn't feeling 100% as I'd picked up a 24h bug from the family before we left and had a bit of fever).




It was nice going on a trip as a family with a little one. It was a bit harder to get about to take photos and especially to be really creative, but I did get a couple of chances and we did do a photoshoot on the beach one evening with some of the flash gear I'd brought.




This will be followed by some more post about some of our experiences accompanied by more photos.

Every year one of Kims friends gets someone to take some family photos. Kim told her that this year I could do some for her instead of paying for it...I needed the practice (which is true).

When they arrived at around 4pm Aiden was still asleep so we decided to do some photos in the studio first. I was soooo.. relieved because the sun was out and it would have been really difficult to do outdoor shots in the harsh sunlight.





Karens daughters are quite photogenic so it was easy to get some great photos. I rekon the oldest could get modelling jobs if she wanted.


By the time Aiden woke up and we had finished the inside shoot it was 6pm and we drove down to La Perouse. It was really windy and the sun was still strong. After moving around a bit we eventually settled for the beach where it was slightly less windy and had better light.







I took more than 400 photos on this day and most of them are pretty good. It was pretty exhausting...especially the youngest daughter was really tired by the end of the day.


The photos above are just a couple of the ones I took. I haven't had time to process the others yet so I may make a second blog post later. I took some photos of Karen as well as some where the family is together, but I think Karen would like me to do a bit of work on them first.


I also found that it would have been really hard if I hadn't had Kim there to keep a look out for how the hair was looking, positioning and constant feedback on the photos. She is actually a pretty good assistant even though she doesn't know much about the photography side.


I also realised that I need more practice with taking photos outide in constantly changing conditions, so if anyone if willing to be a 'Model-for-the-day' then let myself or Kim know...it is a win-win, you get some (hopefully great) photos and I get some practice!

Merry Christmas everyone!

2010 will be out little boys first Christmas and he is already getting into the Christmas Spirit. He is still trying to figure out what it means to be Santas Little helper.



We can't wait to see him open his presents....it may be a challenge for him to rip the wrapping paper.

This is our official 2010 Christmas family photo....new tradition for the next couple of years.

There are so many different insects and critters in our garden and they are not all spiders. Every time I do a bit or gardening I get surprised by some of the diversity out there.

I really don't mind as long as they stay out of the house, which they do...most of the time. Most of the insects are too fast to photograph, but yesterday I did spot a couple of caterpillars that were slow enough for me to pull out my macro lens and a flash.







They are actually really hard taking photos of. At that close distance there is a really shallow depth of field and the caterpillars actually move quite fast so it is impossible to use a tripod.


This means that the photos are taken handheld and that I am just holding the flash next to the camera triggered wirelessly.

Today was Aidens first visit to the hospitals Emergency Room.

When I got home from work this afternoon Kim said that Aiden had been unsettled all afternoon. He would be crying/screaming when we were holding him and initially I thought he was hot (it was a warm day). I took him to the shower to see if that would calm him down...it did a little bit.

Afterwards we had him on the bed and we noticed that he wasn't moving his left arm and leaving it limb down his side and when we touched it he started screaming...so off we went to the hospital.

We were lucky that they could take us almost right away to have a doctor examine him. He made the same observation that there was something wrong with his arm and ordered some X-Rays. The X-rays didn't show any fractures or anything (pheeeww...) so they gave him some pain killers. Aiden was so brave having his Xrays taken and being at the doctors. Once the pain killers kicked in he started moving his arm a little.



We were waiting for quite a while for the doctor to come back and when he did Aiden had started moving his arm more. The doctor re-examined the arm and twisted the elbox and bit and said "oh...I felt it pop". Aiden started screaming again, but the doctor said that the arm now should be ok and that he would come back in 10-15 minuted to check.

Surely enough Aiden was a very happy boy when he came back and we think his arm now if back to normal...he had just pulled his elbow.

Apparently it is quite normal for kids. The doctor said that he gets about two cases like that every day.

Thank you Doctor!

It is now the 1st December and the Month of Christmas has officially started. The christmas decorations in the shops here in Sydney went up a little later this year (November) compared to last year (October).

Kim and I have already bought all the christmas presents and this weekend we will put up the Christmas tree. It will be Aiden's first Christmas...he is still a bit too small to understand what christmas is...but at least he will have the photos to remember it by.




Merry Chrismas everyone!

It is now exactly one month to Christmas...the silly season has started.

Kim and I are kicking off the season with some photos of Aiden...it is afterall his first Christmas. He may not remember it later, but at least he will have some photos to look at.

Next week on the 1st of December we will set up the Christmas tree...and I will take some more photos. Already got some ideas...

Today it is Aidens Birthday....he is now 5 Months old (when you are less than 6 months old you get to have birthday every month).



He is a good/easy little boy. He is now able to keep his head up, but still unable to sit or roll around onto his tummy. He sleeps through the night and wakes up around 7.30 to get a feed. On weekends he is happy to go back to sleep so his Mummy and Daddy can sleep in.


He is very quiet when in crowded places and likes to just sit and observe (Kims dad is saying that he has got that after me).

It has taken me a long time to get this photo done. I had to wait for him to keep his head up and even then it was pretty hard to get hime to look in the right direction.

I have now finished the second portrait in the series of the four elements...just Fire and Air left. This one is "Water". The yellow blob is a Weedy Sea Dragon.




...Really helping my Photoshop skills. Not sure if anyone else thinks these photos are cool...but they are cool to make and are different from what I'd otherwise be doing.

This weekend Kim and I went to see the musical Fame at Capitol theatre with a couple of friends Audrey and John.

Most of the cast was made up of dancers from “So you think you can dance” so there was a potential for a really good performance with some excellent dancing.


Our friends had organised a babysitter for the night and Aiden was being looked after by Kim’s dad and sister.

The performance was good (but not great). I think we were expecting more singing and dancing (It was a musical) and less dialogue. The second half of the play was a lot better than the first half with more dancing.

Unfortunately our friends missed this part as she was worried about their kid left alone with the babysitter (that is kinda the point of getting a babysitter) and left during the intermission.


At the end they got everyone in the audience up from their chairs for the famous "Fame" song.


Kim and I however had a good night out…and she looked smashing!

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )

Arrival	Silam / Jungle Ops	Repeater Stations	The Competitors	Helicopter	Jungle Around Us	The Village

The Wildlife in Borneo . . .

The jungles in Borneo are really dense, dark and humid.

You will find that some of the photos look as though they have been over-exposed, but in reality, it is just the humidity in the air.






I have a photo of this at home - Glen enlarged it for me, and framed it!

Don't ask me why - I think I look rather wasted there.

Glen and I tried to race through the jungle.

The climb to the top of the mountain is rated as a 1.5 hour climb... Glen and I have done it in 26 minutes... actually I was confident that I could do it in less than 20 and so I did!

I held the record of taking 17 minutes to race to the top of Mt Silam, covering a distance of approx 4 kilometres through the jungle, up a mountain.

I was getting really fit (My girlfriend was proud of me).



This photo shows how dense and dark the jungle can be. It was so humid there... no, not because I hadn't cleaned my lenses.



You can see how muddy it is in the jungle - I became quite dirty after many trips into the jungle.



I think these trees are just as big as the Californian Redwoods. They might not be as old, but definitely just as big.



This was taken with a 300mm lens, from 1.5 metres.

The most amazing thing about them, is when they are scared, the curl up into little "marbles".

It looks like a small bug, but it is actually at least 7cm long, which is actually quite big.




I noticed in Borneo, most of the insects there were huge.

The wingspan of the brown moth was about 15cm wide - huge!

They are mostly active at night, which is quite common for creatures in the jungle.

A couple of the girls stationed in the jungles, was stationed here. Not a wise decision, considering these girls were paranoid about the insects.

(Note: in the photo below, I still had conjunctivitis) I had the red eyes for most of the trip.


Big and beautiful, don't you think? You can see how big the black moth is compared to the size of the telephone.





These plants were kind of special because each branch split into two, so by the end of it, they formed a hexagonal pattern.

Below, are plants known as the "pitcher" plant.

The pitcher plants are meat-eating plants - you have watch out not to fall into them because they will swallow you whole.



If you just believed that, you are very gullible! *laugh*

The pitcher plant, like other carnivorous plants, feed on insects.

They have sweet-smelling nectar that attract the unsuspecting insect to it.

When the insect lands, it finds the surface slippery and fall straight into the “pitcher”, where the plants juices drowns it and is digested by the plant.

You may have heard of other type of carnivorous plants such as the Venus Fly Trap, and the Sundew plants.



Yes, you see me holding the snake with a leaf.

It was a poisonous snake, and I was worried about it's venom getting on my skin.

For example a puff adder, contact with the venom numbs the skin.

I was not familiar with the snakes in Borneo, and was not about to risk it.


The tarantella was sitting inside the catering tent hunting.

Everyone was looking at it and admiring it, which was pretty amazing, considering I know many people who would willingly kill a spider in sight.

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Created: 7 Dec 2001

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )

Home 31. December 2008 10:42 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments New Years Eve 2008 31. December 2008 10:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet new years eve Share Every year both Kim and I have been in the Sydney harbour area to watch the fireworks on New Years Eve. But this year we decided to have a quiet new years eve just the two of us with a visit to the movies and then a nice dinner at home. We did however watch the fireworks from our balcony at midnight and it looked just as spectacular as previous years (I borrowed the photo above from another site). 27. December 2008 11:53 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Smiths Lake Christmas Trip 27. December 2008 11:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet smiths lake christmas trip Share Between Christmas and New year we drove with Kims family up to Smiths Lake (300km North of Sydney). We rented a house on the lake up there. We hired a tinny (small aluminium boat) a couple of days and went fishing and managed to catch a lot of breams (a lot too small to keep). Kims dad loves fishing and he quickly found out that in the morning and evening the fish were at the shore just outside the house. In the evening we cooked nice dinners and BBQ's and the cookaburras came to the balcony around dinner time to check if there were leftovers. We had a bit of fun with them as you can see. In the evenings we played Blackjack (Kim and I cleaned up) and had nice food and wine. Chong (The husband of Kims sister) showed his more feminine side. The rest of the time we spent at the beach playing in the waves and playing with Kims sisters kids. 25. December 2008 11:21 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Christmas Day 25. December 2008 11:21 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet christmas day Share Christmas day was celebrated with Kims family at her sisters house. A lot of people were there and everyone had been asked to bring some food. Kim had cooked Red Duck Curry the day before while I was preparing the Christmas Eve dinner. Again...lots of food, playing table tennis, jumping the trampoline and all the kids got to open their presents. 24. December 2008 11:16 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Christmas Eve 24. December 2008 11:16 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet christmas eve Share Christmas even was celebrated in the traditional Danish way in the evening of the 24th December. Kim and I had invited some friends over to out new house and prepared the traditional roast duck, ris-a-la-mande and large tiger prawns for entrees. It was a nice evening and we didn't finish until well after midnight and all of us were really full by the time we finished dinner. There was a couple of kid and after dinner they got to open their Christmas presents. 12. December 2008 08:31 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Kims dads Birthday 12. December 2008 08:31 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet kims dads birthday Share Every year on Kims dads birthday we celebrate with the family. Every couple brings a couple of dishes of food and we all share it. 18. November 2008 02:48 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Diving at Tulamben - Honeymoon in Bali 18. November 2008 02:48 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet diving at tulamben Share On our honeymoon in Bali I really wanted to do this scuba dive that was recommended to me by my friend Andy. It is this old wreck of a US cargo ship (USS liberty) that was torpedoed by the japanese in 1942 and then beached to save the men and the cargo. The wreck has since slided back into deeper water (during a volcanic eruption in 1962) and it now in 5 to 27 meters of water just off the coast. I did two dives on the wreck while Kim was snorkeling in the surface on top of the wreck and it is without a doubt the most amazing scuba diving experience I've had. The ship is huge and you can swim through the cargo hulls and there is an amazing variety of fish and corals on the wreck. I saw a 1.5 meter barracuda, a 1cm tall seahorse, a garden of eels and a great variety of other fish including a large school of travelly. I had my personal dive master for the day and I got him to take some photos and some video with his camera while we were diving. On the first dive we went all the way around the wreck (max depth 27 meters) and on the second we went through the wreck itself. Kim had a really good experience as well and really enjoyed the 30 degree warm water and managed to get her bum burnt while snorkeling for several hours. I think we'll both go back there if we get the chance. Click here to download video of me feeding fish Click here to download video of me diving 18. November 2008 01:34 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Bali Honeymoon 18. November 2008 01:34 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet bali honeymoon Share Our Honeymoon day after the wedding went to Bali in Indonesia. We did have some hesitation going there considering that the Bali Bombers had been executed the week before and that the Australian government discouraged all travel there. The plane up there (and back) was only 25% full so plenty of space to get a good sleep. We stayed in Nusa Dua Westin....a nice hotel although the rooms are a bit small. On the first day we slept in and later in the day drove to Kuta to have a look around and do some shopping. Later in the evening we went to Jimbaran Bay for dinner. This is a whole beach where all the restaurants have put their tables and chairs out onto the beach itself...very romantic but quite expensive compared to local restaurants. The second day we hired a car to drive us to Ubud in the hills, Monkey Forest and later in the day down to a small place called Tanah Lot. Especially the last one was very nice around sunset and we ended up not getting back to our hotel until 8.30 in the evening much to the dismay of our driver. Dinner took place near the hotel and we found that the value of the food/prices was much better here. A couple of days later we went for another drive (In between we went to Tulamben...see posting below) up to some beautiful lakes and temples up on the north of the island as well as rice paddies and we had a really nice trip despite driving with the most grumpy driver. Time was running out and Kim felt that she hadn't spent enough time shopping so the last two days were spent shopping and sitting at the pool and on the beach. One evening we booked a really nice restaurant called "The Living Room" in Seminyak and I booked the whole outdoor area (cost a fortune) just so that we could have a romantic evening in the garden just the two of us with personal waiting staff. The week was way too short and we never got to do everything we wanted to do so I have a feel we will be coming back in the future. 17. November 2008 12:40 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Wedding 17. November 2008 12:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet wedding Share On Sunday the 16th November 2008 I got married to Kim. It was a fantastic day and thanks to family and friends joining us making this a very memorable day. My day started out (Kims started much earlier) in the morning with my Best Man (Andy) as well as a number of other friends coming over to my house picking up trays, organising ribbons on cars and picking up supplies for the wedding ceremony. Kim had earlier in the morning left the house to go to her dads place to get dressed and have hair and makeup done. Once we got the call saying that she was ready we drove over to her dads place and on the way there we were stopped by the police who insisted on breath testing us...sorry guys you were out too early, we hadn't started drinking yet. At Kims place I had to bribe my way in through the door before they would let me in...all part of the tradition. Once I was let in my friends carried the trays of fruit, wine and noodles upstairs and this was the first time I saw Kim looking absolutely gorgeous in her wedding dress. We then started the Tea Ceremony where we first had to pay respect to the elders by burning incense and then serve tea to the parents. In return they would then present us with red envelopes containing money and Kim's dad also gave Kim an old bracelet and ring that used to belong to her mum. After the Tea ceremony I drove down to La Perouse where the wedding ceremony was going to take place. We were a bit early so they were still getting ready. The wind was really strong so the garden arch needed wires to stay in place etc. Once all the guests has arrived (around 40-50) Kim arrived in Nancys car with her bridesmaid (Natalie) and the ceremony could begin. Kim and I had decided and written most of the ceremony ourselves and the celebrant presented it beautifully (and very loud). After the ceremony we had some drinks and snacks with out guests and then took pictures for the next couple of hours around La Perouse and Centenial Park. Later in the afternoon we went back to our house to relax and freshen up for an hour until we then went to the Reception. We had invited 80 guests and they all arrived (more or less). People were greated out the front where they were served canabes and drinks and there was a pianist playing a piano. People were then seated and once everyone were at the tables the bridal party was introduced. After the entrees My dad and Andy held their speeches (both very good and unfortunately mostly true) and after the main courses it was the turn of KC and myself. To everyones surprise we had arranged entertainment during the evening in the form of some drummers. Everyone was given a drum and had to participate in the drumming. This also involved us dancing as part of the entertainment. This was eventually followed by us cutting the wedding cake (a tower of cupcakes) a then dance the bridal walz. Kim had changed to a more practical dress for the bridal walz and she looked absolutely stunning in it. Because I'd been sunburnt during the day my face almost matched the dress. 15. November 2008 12:26 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Moved into the new house 15. November 2008 12:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet moved into the new house Share End of October we moved settled and moved into the new house. Not without a bit of of drama as the previous owner wasn't out of the house at settlement...but by the end of the day she was fortunately gone. She was living there with three little boys (terrorists), so there was a number of smaller things that had been neglected and really needed some attention and there were a number of flaws around the place that needed fixing (it seems that the solution to every problem for the previous owners was silicone glue). Most of this is under control now thanks to my dad helping out while here for the wedding (see next posting). Both Kim and I have now moved all our things and I've put kim in charge of selecting what colours she would like the walls to be downstairs before we go out and buy furniture. We also need to get new lights downstairs as the ones there heat up and switch themselves off (cheap crap) so I may just as well do the ceiling now that I am at it. 15. November 2008 02:35 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My Dad in Sydney 15. November 2008 02:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet my dad in sydney Share My dad was in Sydney for our wedding and arrived on the 5th November just in time for us to also celebrate his birthday (We took him to his favourite steak house to get his favourite T-bone steak). It was great to have him here for the wedding as it would have been empty to not have any family members from my side at the wedding. It was also really sad that my mum couldn't come. We had just moved into the house week before so everything was still messy and there was a lot of things that needed fixing on the house. My dad was really helpful helping me out with a lot of the thing I'd never done before such as replacing tiles in the bathroom. He also changed the locks, fixed lights, painted walls, fixed doors, leaking taps etc. It gave us something to do together which was great for bonding. I just wish he'd been there a bit longer...but maybe I can convince him to come back to help me build a pergola. We also managed to do a bit of sightseeing around Sydney and it was great that he got a chance to meet Kims family. The wedding was something different for him and I think that he was pretty frustrated that he didn't know what the asian customs were (not a typical Danish wedding). He did give a really good speech at the wedding and I'm sorry to say that everything he said is true (although not everything was accurate). << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts 1 2 ... 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 ... 93 94 Older posts Home 11. October 2013 05:10 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Lucas cleaning the toilet 11. October 2013 05:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet lucas cleaning the toilet Share A couple of times now we have caught Lucas in the process of cleaning the toilet using the toilet brush. We really have to watch him, because he is quick and within a few seconds he will be in there up to his mischief if we don't watch out. 11. October 2013 05:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Aiden in hospital again 11. October 2013 05:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet aiden in hospital again Share Aiden recently ended up in hospital again...this time really bad. He had another seizure similar to the last time, but this time a lot worse and he didn't wake up from it. At the hospital they couldn't get him to respond either and he started having neurological damage symptoms. They decided to put him to sleep on a breathing aparatus and go through the whole process of CT scans, Xrays, spinal fluid examinations etc. Kim and I were really scared and I stayed with him for 4 days in the hospital until he eventually recovered enough to go home. The doctors were unable to find out why he seizure was so violent so now we are really worried that he may get another one. 11. October 2013 05:00 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Fathers Day 11. October 2013 05:00 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet fathers day Share Recently it was fathers day...the kids surprised me in the morning giving me a new coffee mug. 11. October 2013 04:28 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Little Dynamo 11. October 2013 04:28 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet little dynamo Share Sometimes we take the kids to Little dynamo to play. It is this 4 level play centre for the kids. 11. October 2013 04:23 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Sammi's 4th Birthday 11. October 2013 04:23 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet sammi s 4th birthday Share Last weekend Aiden and I went to Sammi's 4th B'day. It was held up at Mona Vale and involved a small bush walk for the kids. Some of the way Aiden and Sammi were holding hands. Afterwards we had cake and played with clay. And after the party Aiden and I went for another little walk and spotted a hug red belly black snake. 11. October 2013 04:21 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Potty Training 11. October 2013 04:21 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet potty training Share We are in the process of potty training Aiden...so far ain't working. He is reasonably happy to sit on the toilet in front of the TV...but so far he is holding it in. 10. September 2013 02:49 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments TEDx at work 10. September 2013 02:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet tedx at work Share Some time ago we had a TEDx session at work...it was great to be part of an international phenomena. I hope they will run more sessions in the future and that they will be able to get some really interesting speakers in the room. 26. August 2013 10:35 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Aiden in Fiji 26. August 2013 10:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet aiden in fiji Share Aiden is a bit of a worry...although he is a social kid he is quite scared of a lot of things and requires a lot of help doing things. Because he has been delayed on a lot of fronts including his comprehension he would like to play with the other kids but doesn't understand the games they are playing. This means that he in a lot of cases finds comfort just playing by himself rather than with the other kids. It does mean that whenever they have group games then he will require someone who can give him step by step instructions until he understands the game. Mind you when he does find someone who is interested in playing the games he does understand then it is great to see. 26. August 2013 09:54 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Fiji 2013 26. August 2013 09:54 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet fiji 2013 Share Last week we made the trip to Fiji with the kids. Kim is just about to finish her maternity leave and my work asked me to reduce my accumulated annual leave days by taking some time off so we decided to go away for a week. We stayed at the Hilton close to Nadi (we found it too far to travel with the kids to the coral coast). This is the view from our room. Aiden and Lucas had lots of fun playing on the balcony (Lucas enjoyed throwing toys off the balcony). And we did spend some time in the sand as well. And trying to teach Lucas to walk (he can almost stand by himself now). But all the swimming was done in the swimming pool at the hotel. We didn't venture out much, but on most of the evenings we would walk over to the local Marina to eat (the food was better and cheaper). One day we hired a nanny to look after Lucas (with little success as they were unable to feed him and settle him, so we still had to be there). 16. August 2013 07:57 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Centenial Park memorial 16. August 2013 07:57 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet centenial park memorial Share The other day I went for a walk in Centenial Park. For the first time I ventured into the memorial (normally there are lots of dogs and poo in this area so I generally avoid it). The ceiling of the memorial is quite pretty and I can see myself coming back to do some more photos at some stage. << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts 1 2 ... 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 ... 93 94 Older posts Home 27. April 2010 07:32 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Hunter Valley 2010 27. April 2010 07:32 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet hunter valley 2010 Share This long Anzac weekend we drove up to Hunter Valley with a couple of friends. Meeting up there we planned what wineries we were going to. Sasha had a couple in mind which was perfect as they were some Kim and I had never been been to before. The first place we stopped was Petersons...Joanne wanted to pick up some pink bubbly stuff (pink champagne). They have some wines there without preservatives which are really nice. On the way from one of the other places we drove past a new place called Noonji...sounded japanese and it was a new one, so we had to have a look at what they were doing. They had just opened up for tasting recently and as soon as we walked through the door we could tell that this husband and wife were doing things differently. We were welcomed and were told that this was table tasting, so we all sat down at the table. This was really good since it enabled us to taste five different vintages simultaneously (In other places you taste one vintage at a time). The prices were reasonable and they had a pretty good discount if you bought a case, so Kim and I ended up buying two cases of wine from here. After this we did some more sightseeing and tasting before we drove back to sydney. On the way back we stopped at a petrol station and someone has this cool car parked there. 26. April 2010 10:05 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Wingello 26. April 2010 10:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet wingello Share On Anzac day I went climbing with Andy and Dan at a new place called Wingello that we'd never been to before. Wingello is about two hours south of sydney towards Canberra. It is mostly sports climbing on ring bolts. This means that instead of placing protection you can clip pre-placed bolts. My finger is still injured so I am in reality unable to climb (pst...I did clean a climb on top rope but dont tell anyone). This meant that I spent most of the day belaying the others and taking some photos. On one of the easier scrambles I got to the top so that I could take some photos from the top. It is the first time I have tried to really try and take photos from the top and it was difficult. A lot of the photos were slightly blurred because it was hard to keep the lens steady in the available light when zooming in). Here are some of the photos from this climb that did turn out alright. Also being up high means that I could provide Dan with some instructions cleaning the anchor system. For his first try it wasn't pretty and he got the ropes in a big tangle. Eventually we got it sorted so that he could get down safely....but more practice is needed. After this we went further along the wall to so some easy/moderate climbs (16/17s). One one of the climbs Andy stuck his hand into a hole with a snake skin in it...this is his second snake incident. After this he refused to even get close to the hole (fair enough). He is now on the leader board 2:1...my incident was a brown snake crawling across my feet while belaying him years ago. Dan managed to also lead this climb which he was absolutely stoked about. We finished the climb just before the sun set and we managed to get out before just in time. The climb out was interesting at the easiest route is through this narrow and steep gully with fixed ropes and ladders (The fact that Dan was carrying his makeup bag and a 5 litre bottle of water didn't make it easier). 21. April 2010 08:59 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My nephews Porche Carrera GT 21. April 2010 08:59 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet my nephews porche carrera gt Share Today I borrowed a couple of Toy cars from my nephew Ethan. I had to promise that I'd bring them back tomorrow. I wanted to have a play with using a single bare flash right above the car as a softbox. Because the flash is hanging right above the car just outside view) it has been dialed all the way back to 1/128th power (shooting at f/32, iso 200 @ 1/250) or I'd use detail. On the side just outside view I put a piece of white paper to reflect a little light onto the side of the car. The reflective surface is a glass chopping board from the kitchen. After a while I started also using a flash on the background using different gels. I found that orange and blue gels were the nicest. The Blue as a good contrast to the yello car. With the orange gel I could create a sunset type light by letting the light fall off quickly on the wall. The background if a white wall (except for the textured background which is a black backdrop). None of the photos below have had any photoshopping done to them (otherwise I would have removed those scratches on the windshield). 17. April 2010 10:30 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Flash balancing fun 17. April 2010 10:30 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet flash balancing exercise Share Kim was kind enough to let me take some photos of her. I have been studying some flash photography videos and articles and wanted to have a play with multiple flashes around dusk. The trick is to balance the ambient light with the light filled from the flash...especially tricky as the light constantly changes during the last 30 minutes of the day. So far I only have two wireless flash triggers to was was somewhat limited (ideally I would like to have three triggers). It was really good to be able to do some experimenting. For these photos I used one flash 45 degrees to the back and another 45 degrees in front. On the back I am using a CTO gel. In the beginning I was using one on the front one as well, but when I got home to look at the photos I could see that it was too warm (Lesson learnt that I should use the warm gels on the back). On the photos here there is no gel on the front flash only on the back. I would have liked to stay just a bit longer to play, but kim was getting a bit cold. With a more time I would have been able to enhance some of the zoom effects as seen in this photo: Definitely a trick I'll be using in the future...makes for some cool effects. At lot of the photos are actually quite nice, but the two above are my preferred ones. 17. April 2010 10:23 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Week 31, not long to go 17. April 2010 10:23 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet week 31 not long to go Share It is now week 31, so only 9-10 weeks until baby is due to arrive. Kim is getting a fair bit bigger and the baby is now very active. So far things looks good although Kim is worried that the boy will be a shortie like mummy. 11. April 2010 09:44 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Water fun 11. April 2010 09:44 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet water fun Share I read this article about how to take water photos in an easy way. The photos is taken using a bare flash firing onto a white background at 1/8th power. The blue colour is because I (on purpose) changed the white balance of the camera to Tungsten. I only had a shallow painting tray at my disposal. This paint residue in the bottom of the tray creates the pattern in the photo. I also couldn't get a nice formed drop pattern forming due to the drops hitting the bottom of the shallow tray unevenly. Lessons for next time: Use a deeper tray. Make it black so that no other colours penetrate and make dure the water can reach the edge of the tray. Next time I try I will use one of the large scanpans we have...I think it will be better suited. 6. April 2010 12:19 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Tasmania - Easter 2010 6. April 2010 12:19 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet tasmania easter 2010 Share During the Easter Break Kim and I made a trip to Tasmania. This was to be our last holiday together before the baby arrives. Tasmania is an island south of Australia about 1.5 times larger than Denmark. The east coast is lightly populated and the west coast is mainly national parks and forests. We had rented a car to make it easier for us to get around and the first place we headed to was Cradle Mountains national park. This is probably one of the most iconic places in Tasmania and every Australian has seen the pictures of the mountain itself. The drive there was full of contrast. There has always been of criticism of the lumber industries in Tasmania and when you see the methods they use to cut down trees then it is easy to see why. They don't do selective cutting, they instead pretty much bulldoze whole areas which then take many decades to recover. Home 5. February 2026 16:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Cook Islands - Snorkeling 5. February 2026 16:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet We went snorkeling in the lagoon Share We went snorkeling in the lagoon 5. February 2026 16:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Cook Islands - Family 5. February 2026 16:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet Share 5. February 2026 16:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Cook Islands - Long Boat 5. February 2026 16:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet On a rainy afternoon we went in a longboat. The idiot at the back almost got all of us killed by hav Share On a rainy afternoon we went in a longboat. The idiot at the back almost got all of us killed by having no idea how to steer (that was his one job) and landed us on the outer reef. 5. February 2026 16:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Cook Islands - Boys at Black Rock Beach 5. February 2026 16:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet I also took some photos of the boys at Black Rock Beach. Share I also took some photos of the boys at Black Rock Beach. 5. February 2026 16:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Cook Island - Turtles 5. February 2026 16:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet One day we went snorkeling with the turtles in the lagoon. Share One day we went snorkeling with the turtles in the lagoon. 5. February 2026 15:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Cook Islands 2026 5. February 2026 15:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet This year we decided to travel to Rarotonga in Cook Islands. Some of the immediate family booked at Share This year we decided to travel to Rarotonga in Cook Islands. Some of the immediate family booked at the same time so that we  had some days together. 5. February 2026 15:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Cook Islands - Eating out 5. February 2026 15:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet In the evenings we were eating out. Every restaurant was facing the lagoon.Also cocktails were cheap Share In the evenings we were eating out. Every restaurant was facing the lagoon. Also cocktails were cheap, strong and flowing... 5. February 2026 15:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Cook Islands - Games 5. February 2026 15:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet Other times were spent playing games - Dark, Snooker Fuzball, building cairns and chasing crabs. Share Other times were spent playing games - Dark, Snooker Fuzball, building cairns and chasing crabs. 5. February 2026 15:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Cook Island - Lagoon 5. February 2026 15:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet The beautiful lagoon surrounds the island, so much of the time was spent in the water. Share The beautiful lagoon surrounds the island, so much of the time was spent in the water. 5. February 2026 15:02 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Cook Islands - Coupling 5. February 2026 15:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet Share << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 93 94 Older posts Home 28. July 2001 11:11 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Photo Gallery 28. July 2001 11:11 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet photo gallery Share Photo Gallery I have placed photos here - those I could not fit on the respective webpages. Schwedagon Mandalay Marionet Volleyball Created: 3 Nov 2001 28. July 2001 10:52 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments South East Asia ( 24 July ~ 24 August 2001 ) . . . 28. July 2001 10:52 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet south east asia 24 july 24 august 2001 Share I initially made plans to explore Burma and then make my way across the border into western China at Burma's only border crossing up north. I had not made any definite plans wanted to play it by ear... but in the end my trip consisted of Thailand, Cambodia and restricted areas to Burma. I was away for a total of 5 weeks and must admit that parts of my trip really frustrated me - there were many restrictions in Burma and being in Bangkok at times stressed me because of all the tourists and crowds. I really only went to Cambodia to see the magnificent Angkor Wat - actually I really did enjoy being there. I think my most enjoyable part of the trip was the days I had climbing on the secluded areas of Krabi. Burma (23 Jul ~ 5 Aug) Cambodia (6 ~ 10 Aug) Thailand 28. July 2001 10:51 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Monkeys . . . 28. July 2001 10:51 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet monkeys Share There were quite a lot of monkeys at Mt Popa. The photo above in the middle, shows monkeys that look like they are playing around. They are actually fighting monkeys and can be very dangerous because they bite and also snatch things from you. They were rather oblivious to me being there, until the flash on my camera went off. Then their attention was on me and they were ready to attack. I adopted the “monkey mentality” - avoid eye contact and move away backwards - the only way to stop the monkeys from attacking is to not look at them. 28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Burma Up North (continued) . . . 28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet burma up north continued Share Whilst I was up north, I watched a rather interesting game of volleyball. I have never seen such dexterity and agility amongst the players! It was amazing to see how flexible these guys were. 28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Mt Popa . . . 28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet mt popa Share There is a monastry on Mt Popa - a hill located 50km away from Bagan. When I was there, it was a cloudy day. I ran into a woman selling petrified wood - quite silly really, considering the place was covered with it. They must think tourists are stupid! *laugh* I managed to pick up a couple of small pieces to take back with me. As you can see, there are stacks of them around. And no... this is not a tombstone. This is actually a road sign. You would be surprised how big some of these pieces are - this piece below was actually about a metre long and 40cm wide. Actually what I found interesting were the toilets in Burma. My girlfriend tells me that squatting over a toilet is quite common in Asia. In many of the city areas, they would have toilets as we know them, and they would also have a carved hole in the ground, on which either side, one places their feet on. Toilets in the rural area are more crude than that - a hole leading into a gaping pit. However, what I found interesting about these toilets were that recycled running water was used to wash away any excrement. The water is first used for washing one self and then used in the toilets. As there were a few toilet cubicles a row, sometimes you would see the excrement from a toilet uphill go beneath you! *laugh* Very clever and environmental system, I think! Trying to grab a snooze... *smile* Like Schweddagon, most of this is real gold as well. And yes, there is a monkey sitting near my head. If you click to the next page, you will see that I have taken a series of photos of the monkeys. 28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Puppet Show . . . 28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet puppet show Share I saw the most interesting puppet show, known as the “Mandalay Marionettes” There were 2 or 3 puppeteers out the front, with a live band of musicians. Unfortunately, it was more of a show for the tourists, rather than the locals. It cost 1,000 chats or US$2 per show. 28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Burma Up North . . . 28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet burma up north Share I decided take a 20-hour train-ride to Myitkyinã *laugh* it took 20-hours to get there by train because there was only one track. It was definitely faster to run next to the train than to travel in it! We had to wait for the oncoming train to return before we could travel north. At one point, we crossed a bridge that was so rickety that I thought it would collapse any moment! Locals working in the rice fields. Locals using water-buffaloes to plough rice fields. The train travelled along the Jrrawaddy River. It would have been nice if I was able to travel to Mandalay via a riverboat down the Jrrawaddy River. It was amazing to find out that people live “on” these lakes, by building houses on stilts. This sort of housing is quite common in many parts of Asia, especially areas where monsoons quite frequently flood an area. It is also very environmentally-sound, I think, and hurts the land less. Most of the houses are made of wood. Myitkyinã is pretty dismal in rain! There is a huge drug problem in Burma, especially through the crossings into China. I have scanned a copy of a recent newspaper article about this problem in Burma. 28. July 2001 10:48 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Mandalay . . . 28. July 2001 10:48 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet mandalay Share When I initially arrived in Yangon / Rangoon, I wanted to fly up Bhamo - one of the bigger towns north of Burma. I also considered exploring Myitkyinã - a town further north of Bhamo. My Lonely Planet guide indicated that the only border crossing into China was to the east of Bhamo. My initial plans to Burma also included exploration of western China. However, I was disappointed by the military turning me back, despite the fact that my Lonely Planet guide said I could cross into China at Ruili. I decided instead to fly to Mandalay, not only because it was cheap to do so, but it saved me a 20-hour bus ride there from Yangon. I heard about a song for sailors. “To be a real sailor, the sailor would have to have been to Mandalay way upriver” I quite liked Mandalay. The photo below, is of Mandalay Hill. During World War II (20 March 1945), the British and the Japanese fought one another to gain control of the position on this hill. The photo to the left is taken from the hill itself facing east - as you can see, it has an aerial view of the whole city, and puts any oncoming enemies at a disadvantage. Control of Mandalay was important during the war, as the soldiers were able to set up artillery and attack anyone approaching the fortress. This hill was of big strategic importance. The building you see near the shrine is a monument to the British regiment who managed to take control of this hill from the Japanese. At the eastern part of the delta, a lot of logging takes place. There was a train line built that used to cart all the trees/wood for export to Thailand. The moat around the fortress is man-made. Although man-made, comes from the local river. The original fortress was burnt to the ground. The whole fortress covered an area of 2.5 x 2.5 km The design of Mandalay was quite colonial, and surprisingly, most of the streets were at 90º to one another. Overall, I found Mandalay the most expensive city to travel to in Burma. No matter what one does in Mandalay, be it explore Mandalay Hill or the city itself, the locals always had “special” foreigner prices. It really annoyed me. I tried to use local currency as much as possible. However, FEC (Foreign Exchange Currency) was more valuable and worth more to the locals. FEC is also used in China, and one tries to use local currency as much as possible. Any item you buy has 2 prices - and obviously it is cheaper to use local currency than to use FEC. I must admit, even Mandalay Hill was not that nice for the price I paid to explore it. It was also expensive just to go into the fortress. Surprisingly, I could not find maps of the area that was not more that 40 years old. 28. July 2001 10:47 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Medicine . . . 28. July 2001 10:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet medicine Share Medicine . . . My girlfriend, Arumi, tells me one sees the wares of a 'Medicine Man' quite often throughout Asia. Whether they sit by the roadside, or whether they own a shop in a building, one will see very similar items being sold around Asia. The “pellets” you see here are in fact different types of roots such as ginger or some unknown vegetable, that have been sun or air dried. You will see the antlers of various animals such as deer or even rhino. There are also skulls from different animals - some of these animals may be endangered species, but somehow you will see them being sold in these markets. These skulls are definitely not being used as “trophies” around the house! The Burmese, like many Asians, believe in using very 'natural' remedies to cure common ailments. A Medicine Man may not necessarily be a “doctor” according to western standards - that means he may not have a university degree. However, a Medicine Man, may be what we know as “witch-doctors”. Some of the remedies they know are very natural and useful. Unfortunately, not all of these remedies work. Around Asia, you will see shops or Medicine Man selling items like tigers' paws and skulls, or ground ivory tusks. Many of these are sold as cures or enhancements for the sex life. In Burma, there is virtually no wildlife left. You will even find that even tobacco is sold naturally. Not in cigarette form, but in leaf form! The laws in Burma are not quite the same as they are here. Marijuana is also sold very freely. Lotus Fruit . . . Quite often in Asia, you may see lily pads floating on the water. In fairy-tales, you hear about frogs sitting on a lily pad. You will be amazed to associate that this fruit here, comes from the flowers/plant growing out of the water near the lily pads. The yellow seeds come from the flower itself. The seeds are used often in many Asian desserts, and said to promote better blood circulation. While, the root of the lotus plant is also a delicacy. It is white when cooked, and has a crunchy texture, similar to that of the water chestnut. Mainly used in savoury meals, although used as a dessert as well. Personally, I think it is too much hassle retrieving the fruit! *smile* Created: 31 Oct 2001 28. July 2001 10:47 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Burma Religion & Politics . . . 28. July 2001 10:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet politics Share Politics . . . There is a lot of politics going on in Burma that an outsider should not get involved in - Burma is one of those countries where political opinions are best kept to oneself. In Burma, use of the Internet and mobile phones is illegal. This is the government's way of controlling the information entering the country. Even access to equipment such as laptops is illegal - the country is so poor that many could not afford such a piece of equipment. I saw many young women queueing for their rations. They were standing so close together that I thought they were lesbians! *laugh* The girls stand close together so another person cannot jump the queue by pushing in. The girls here are very young, some have barely reached puberty and are doing some very hard work. There is a lot of critique by Amnesty International, of Burma's use of young girls to provide maintenance for the roads. << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts 1 2 ... 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 Older posts Home 7. May 2008 04:28 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Engaged - Getting Married 7. May 2008 04:28 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet engagement Share As you can read further down this blog I popped the big question to Kim when we were in Rio de Janeiro at the end of our holiday. Luckily she said yes because otherwise it would have been a couple of really miserable last couple of days there. It took us almost a week to find the right moment to break the news to Kims family but as soon as we opened our mouthes and said "We've got some news for..." everyone shouted "YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED!!!". Yeah well, they must have seen it coming miles away. Even my friends Andy, Glen and Luke weren't surprised. Anyway, everyone is very happy (including me) and we are really looking forward to us moving into our own place together. So now the wedding planning has started. We have set a date (16th November this year) and we have booked the reception venue. Everything else is still up in the air but at least I've got less things to stress about than Kim who is running around looking for dresses thinking up colour schemes, table decorations etc. We still have to find a nice venue for the ceremony itself...there are plenty of really nice places in Sydney to have it but the problem is that we also have to take wind and rain into account and most public places such as parks and beaches you have to book and pay for in advance. It should be a nice wedding although we want to keep the major expenses down as we need the money to buy something to live in. According to Vietnamese traditions there is given money in red envelopes instead of wedding presents (so do not start looking for presents) so hopefully this will eventually cover some of the cost. All my friends and family in Denmark is invited to the wedding (This is your official invitation). If you happen to be in Sydney on this day then let me know well in advance. I am hoping that my Mum and Dad will make it to the wedding. Otherwise it looks like it may be a wedding without any of my family there which would be a major disappointment :-( Anyway, it looks like 2008 is turning out to be the year of change. Kim has got a new job, we are getting married and we are looking to buy a place to live in. We have 4 big changes that we want to make this year...3 more changes to go and only 7 months to make them in. Some of Kims friends are starting a Photography business so they agreed to take some engagement photos of us in Centennial Park one morning and then based on that we could decide whether we want to use them for all or some of the wedding photos. The photos you see here were taken by them and I have provided a link to their websites below where you can see more photos: Sonova Photography Sonova Flikr Photo Album Engagement Photos My slide show 6. May 2008 01:34 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments The Stables - Nothing to do with horses 6. May 2008 01:34 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet the stables nothing to do with horses Share This Sunday Andy, May and myself went climbing at the Stables up near Pennant Hills in Sydney. The area is close to another nice little area called Otherland, but the stables requires a fair bit a bush bashing to get to. The climbs are of a higher grade (18-25) but are mostly well bolted, but because of the pretty shitty rock a lot of holds have come of and sometimes this affects the grading of the climb. May is new to lead climbing but the area had got a really easy grade 14 so we decided that she should have the honour or leading the first climb of the day...she was pretty nervous and back clipped a few draws but otherwise didn't do anything too disastrous. On the 2rd climb of the day I lead this grade 19 (I think it is 16 or 17) and I did pretty well until I got to the last anchor right at the top. There wasn't a lot of hand holds and I grabbed a small ledge with a rock lip on in. While I was getting my feet into position and getting my balance right to be able to clip the anchor I felt the handhold crumble between my fingers. Everything started happening in slow motion..."oh shit, the hold is breaking away, I'm loosing balance, I'm falling how long am I going to fall". After falling about 5 metres Andy caught me on the belay (Andy, you're my hero) and I was ok...nice to see that the theory also works in practice. Andy lost a bit of skin on his finger and ankles but was otherwise ok. After resting a few minutes I went back up and completed the climb and Andy and May wisely decided to top rope the climb. Afterwards we did another couple of really nice climbs all in the grade 19 range and I led all of them and Andy and May top roped. There is not that many climbs in the area. There are two more climbs that I would go back there for but otherwise I think we've had enough of the Stables...the rock is too crumbly which makes the climbing less enjoyable as you think more about what might break off next instead of focusing on the climb itself. 2. April 2008 02:38 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Barrenjoey - Another couple of ticks 2. April 2008 02:38 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet barrenjoey another couple of ticks Share Sunday I went to Barrenjoey climbing with Andy and May. It was one of those rare days where the temperature was perfect and where we had most of the area to ourselves. Although the climbing is fairly easy at Barrenjoey I enjoy going back here time after time as it is located within the national park at one of the most beautiful spots in Sydney. I led most of the climbs on the day (trying to veen myself of TR) and Andy and May was happy following. The most memorable is a climb called Mescalito (19) with some interesting section as well as Enterprise (18) which is very enjoyable. There is generally a lot of ticks (small insects that suck your blood) there and today was no different. I got 4 tick bites. Also took a couple of videos: Video of Andy climbing Enterprise Video of May climbing Enterprise 23. March 2008 12:06 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments South America Summary 23. March 2008 12:06 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet south america summary Share We are now back in Sydney and I thought I'd write a summary of the various places and experiences. It has been a big rollercoaster ride through South America...the differences between the countries are huge. During the last six weeks I have taken off in aircrafts 20 times: Sydney to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Mexico City, Mexico City to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Sydney, Sydney to Auckland, Auchland to Santiago, Santiago to Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires to Santiago, Santiago to Lima, Lima to Cusco, Sucre to La Paz, La Paz to Iguazu, Iguazu to Santiago, Santiago to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo to Rio, Rio to Sau Paulo, Rio to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo to Santiago, Santiago to Auckland, Auckland to Sydney. In other words...I have an enormous carbon footprint this year which cannot be apologised enough for. The people in South America were extremely friendly and helpful (Except the girl at the hostel in Potosi). Most people didn't speak anything other than Spanish...but Spanish is almost my second language now (I know at least 70 words) Argentina was an interesting place. I loved the culture and the dancing. The food was bland with too much meat and Buenos Aires itself didn't have much else to offer and was a bit run down. Chile is amazing. It is really organised in Santiago and you could be in Northern Europe in terms of cleanliness. They have a really effective public transport system which is a magnitude better than sydneys (close to being as good as Tokyo). People are very friendly...but unfortynately this is also the only location in all of south america where they managed to scam Chris and I on the price of a taxi fare as we didn't know the local exchange rate...in the rest of South America they did try, but generally we paid same price as the locals (and a few times less). Again I can understand why my cousin chose to live in Santiago rather than somewhere else...it is by far the safest and most developed city in this part of the world. The food here is amazing, and you can get everything...this is the only place in South america that we saw a Thai restaurant. Macchu Picchu in Peru is incredible...it is a fantastic ride into the site and the area around Cusco has got a lot of potential. Bolivia is a country with so much potential and with people with so little ability and knowledge to tap into it. People in the North are fantastic, but the further south you get the less culture. It has been a privilege to go there and I think they will get there one day. Brasil...Beautiful by day and dangerous by night. It was fantastic to go here and I'd like to one day come back to Brasil to see other parts of the country. The economy has really taken off here...but in the process left a lot of people behind and that can be seen by all the crime and social problems. I have now set foot in 52 countries on 6 continents. As I have travelled I've noticed that the world is becoming a smaller place where no major differences in culture and language. in 10-20 years from now everyone will wear the same clothes, listens to the same music and eat the same food (Pizza). The fun and the purpose of travelling will disappear. I can see from the new generation of travelers that they are more interested in thrill seeking and dead buildings rather than people, cultures and observing and learning from differences. Pity as there is so much to learn and it will build appreciation of how lucky we are to have what we have. Where to next? I don't know...there is one continent down south that I still haven't been to and former Russian republics have got potential....otherwise closer areas like Tonga, Fiji, Indonesia etc. 22. March 2008 06:08 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Rio De Janeiro - Brasil 22. March 2008 06:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet rio de janeiro brasil Share We are now in Brasil after an overnight stopover in Santiago (The flights here in South America are fairly irregular so it can be difficult to get connecting flights without having stopovers). We hadn't booked a place to stay but at the airport the tourist information suggested renting an apartment at Ipanema. When we got there it turned out to be really basic, fairly prices and probably a friend of the guy at the tourist information. Instead we went to Copacabana beach to one of the other options we had which also was very basic and a bit far from the beach...but at least non commiting for more than one night. Later in the evening we walked around and eventually found a hotel close to the beach and cheap. It also had big mirrors on the wall and in the ceiling over the bed...and Kim and I was wondering if it was one of those hotels that could be hired by the hour. It did however turn out to be really nice apart from one evening when some of the other guests tried to get into our room because they got the number on the door wrong. The day after we went to Ipanema beach to go for a walk. It is very beautiful in Rio and especially this beach is really cool. After lunch we took the local bus to the Sugarloaf mountain. Traffic is really bad in Rio and Taxis are outrageously expensive and just as slow as the busses so it took us about two hours to get there. It turned out to be perfect. We ended up taking the lift of there just before sunset and had a fantastic view from the top. In the evening we had a fantastic meal called a Ridozio (or something like that). It was a 15 course meal (A lot more than we could eat) and only cost around 10 australian. Next day we decided to go to see the Jesus statue first thing in the morning. Again we took the local bus there to save some money (Rio is really expensive). We then took the train up to the Statue which has got a fantastic view of Rio and all the beaches. On this trip with Kim I had planning to ask her if she'd marry me. I had three possibly locations in mind..29th Feb in Santiago, Machu Picchu or at the statue in Rio. Kim was very happy when I popped the question and showed her the ring I'd gotten for her (but more about that later), so we are officially no longer boyfriend and girlfriend. In the evening we went to a restaurant called Porcao Rios which had been recommended to be by our partner in Mexico to celebrate and later we had a drink down at the beach. We didn't get back to the hotel until very late and I promised that I would never again walk back to the hotel that late at night. There were people from the slums everywhere and I didn't feel safe walking back...so next time we definitely take a taxi. In the daytime you see quite a few police cars and police officers around...but at night they are very hard to spot. It is almost like the movie 'I am Legend'...you are safe during the day, but as soon as night falls and most people have gone off the streets then the kids from the slums rule the city. It is truly a dangerous place at night...not that we were carrying any valuable on us whatsoever except for whatever cash we needed on the night, but the question is....would these kids believe that that was all we were carrying? All houses an properties in the more wealthy areas are all surrounded by big fences and cages to keep the kids out...but really...not a very comforting way to live if you cant leave your house. Another thing I noticed is that there also still is a class difference between the white/light and the black. The blacks have all the lowest paid jobs and the ones requiring manual labour. It is also the black people you see living on the street and going through the garbage every night (and there are a lot of these). So even through slavery was abolished several hundred years ago doesn't mean that everyone is equal. In the morning I had caught some sort of a stomach bug...probably from the one drink I had at the beach and was feeling really weak so we spend the day doing a bit of shopping locally and then went to Ipanema. In the evening I started to feel really weak and felt like vomiting so dinner consisted of some light vegetables followed by coca cola (The ultimate remedy for any stomach problems). Last day we slept in (ignored the hotel checkout time) and packed out stuff. I still felt a bit weak but otherwise ok (My bug lasted for two days after which I felt really weak but a dose of Imodium eventually took care of it). Next back to Santiago overnight and then back to Sydney Click here to see more photos from Brasil 14. March 2008 10:23 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Sucre - Bolivia 14. March 2008 10:23 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet sucre bolivia Share Wow, wow, wow...Sucre is everything that La Paz isn´t...it is fantastic. We took the bus from Potosi yesterday afternoon and drive through a fantastic landscape of deep canyons and high mountains and through passes of 4800 meters altitude. As soon as we arrived into Sucre we fell in love with it. Right from the start at the bus terminal they had fixed prices on taxis. We drove into town with an old gentleman that had a 1970´s Datsun. He held the door for us at the hoteland made sure we had accomodation. Oh..yeah...did I mention accomodation. Kim had booked the Hotel Real Audencia the night before and received confiemation. When we got to the Hotel they didn´t have our booking but fortunately the hotel is empty (I think we are the only ones here). They told us that it was $60 per night...Kim said that the booking we had was $45 and they agreed to this price. It later turned out that she by mistake had booked the Real Audencia in Quito Equador 2000km from here...LOL. Anyway the hotel is fantastic and Kim loves the luxery...not even Hilton compares and it is 1/20th of the price of a similar hotel. We then went to this French restaurant La Taverne...fantastic. I spoiled Kim with a 5 star meal that we would have a hard time finding in sydney...price for the two of us...less than $10. Sucre is a nice and quiet city...it is beautiful with all the old colonial white washed buildings and it is clean and not polluted. There are far less beggers and street kids and far less social problems. Everything is getting very well maintained and it is a really romantic place to walk around at night through the plazas...with people everywhere at night. We were initially planning to go back to Santiago one day early...but because this is such a nice place we stay here another night and then spend as little time as possible in La Paz. We also treat ourselves to a flight to La Paz which takes 45 minutes rather than a terrible 14 hour bus ride. Sucre is at 2800 meters altitude but probably 20 degrees warmer than Potosi (4000-4500 meters). It is so nice being able to walk around in a T-Shirt during the day and just a thin Alpaca (I´ve bought two for less than $15 each)jumper during the night. We went out to the dinosaur park. In some limestone they have found some 5000 tracks from more than 400 different species of dinosaurs. The park has only been open for less than two years and will be a major attraction once they get the place conserved and once the word spreads. We also had lunch at this fantasic Cafe Mirador overlooking the whole city...very nice. Next day we hired a guide to take us through one of the local Inca trails as well as to a small village called Potola. It was raining so in the beginning it was pretty cold and miserable but eventually it stopped and we had a really nice day on the Inka trail (by the way there are thousands of Inka Trails around the Andes...most of them still in use by the locals as the main mode of transport still is on foot). Potola is a small village west of Sucre. It is supposed to have a lot of local still dressed in their local costumes and lost of local handicraft...but really is has none of that. There was far more dressed in local costumes in Copacabana. As such for Bolivia it has got a huge potential for developing tourism...but the people there don't understand how to do it. Tomorrow...onto Santiago and then continue to Rio De Janeiro Click here to see more photos from Bolivia 12. March 2008 11:54 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Potosi, The Mines - Bolivia 12. March 2008 11:54 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet potosi the mines bolivia Share Today was a really positive day compared to yesterday after I'd written my last post. We found an excellent restaurant (much better than most restaurants in Sydney) called El Meson...and the food was cheap as. For around USD 13 we got a three course dinner that was absolutely fantastic including drinks. It was so good that we decided to go back there tonight. This morning we had to move hotel. We did try to extend one night at Hotel Eldorado...but everything in this town is fully booked. Late last night we had managed to put through a couple of bookings at other places, but the only one that came through was a local hostel...so this morning we moved there. It is a nice enough place...but the personnel is totally disinterested in providing a service (and no smiling please)...there is no heat in the room so it could be a cold night...but everything else is ok once you chase them for towels, blankets etc. The told us that we couldn't have the room until 11.30am...so in the mean time we decided to go to the mint museum. The Mint museum was really good. They had a lot of interesting items there and they provided an english speaking guide for free to explain how the silver was mined in Potosi, the historical significance as well as went through the whole process of producing silver coins which were produced in the same building (All the original equipment is still there). They also have a fantastic art collection there. We joined the guided tour a bit late, but the guide was kind enough to repeat the first part of the collection so that we didn't miss out. The highlight for Kim was when I made her a copper coin using an original minting stamp using a large hammer...she got to keep the coin as a souvernir. After a lunch at La Plata (With the thickest hit chocolate we've ever seen...the spoon could stand upright) we went down to join a tour of the mines in Potosi. It turned out that Kim and I were the only ones on the tour and the guide spoke perfect English. First we were fitted with overalls and helmets and afterwards the tour went to the miners market. I bought a stick of dynamite for around 5 Bolivianos (75 cents) and our guide gave Kim a fright when he threw the stick at her. After this we went to the processing plant where they do the first extraction of the metals from the rock. We saw how they crush the rock into a fine powder and then using various chemicals extract the metals from the rock as well as using gravity. All the chemicals and side products are then flushed into the Rio Negra where it then is washed into Paraguay and Argentina. Both BHP and Rio Tinto buy minerals from here processed in this way (It it great to see my shares at work). There are 42 such processing plans here in Potosi...because everything is working as coorporatives there is no investing in processing plants and machinery and the various plants refuse to work together although this would benefit everyone...but more about that later. Afterwards we drove up to the mine itself. We expected to be visiting a part of the mine that was no longer being used but this is not the case...the mine was fully functioning so once in a while we had to run for our lives to a location where the tunnel was wide enough for us to jump to the side when one of the small trains came zooming past. As we went further and further into the tunnels the gasses became thicker and thicker. I have never seen so many visible minerals in one location before...you could actually see the zinc, lead, copper, iron and bronce in the walls all over the place. The yellow sulphur was sitting in 2cm thick layers on the wall (but they don't mine this) and there was Albestos hanging in long threads off the ceiling all over the place and the air was think of asbestos dust. We were covering our mouthes with bandannas but running through the tunnels, the cramped places, the dust and the gasses in the air made it really hard to breathe through the bandanna (Remember that this is all happening at 4500 meters altitude where there is only 25% of the oxygen as at sea level...so there is not much air in the first place!). The miners themselves were chewing coca leaves to tolerate the gasses. Normally I would be fine, but at one point I thought I'd die and decided to not use the bandanna (I'd rather die young than die instantly)...and at this point we were still only on the first level (3 additional levels and appx 80 meters below us). We got to a 20 meter almost vertical tunnel and halfway down we took a break where we got the chance to ask a lot of questions about the mine. We also asked if the gasses became worse than here and the reply was yes. We were also told that the tunnels were very similar so Kim and I decided that we'd had enough and would like to breathe clean air...also because the mines are still working and a lot of the supporting structures are from the colonial spanish times 350 years ago the mines are really dangerous places. On the way out we say how the used an old electric motor to pull up the rocks from 80 meters below to our level and then dump it onto the trains. They actually have a champer above the level and then use a big hole in the floor to fill the trains...unsuspecting I walked across the pile 2 minutes prior to them opening up the while whereafter a 1 meter whole appeared in the floor. The whole mountain has got more than 700 mines most existing several hundred years where more than 400 of them are in use today. There is no backfilling taking place and there are no geologists or engineers working on stabilising the mines so the whole place is like a swiss cheese that can collapse any time. Each individual mine is working as a small collective of maybe 50 miners. There is no coordination between the different mines and most regard eachother as enemies. Because of this they still use old inefficient and very dangerous mining methods and equipment. If they instead coordinated their efforts they would be able to mine the whole mountain in a very modern way which would benefit the whole town and actually earn the individual miners 50-100 more money than they do today. The same goes for the processing plants as they currently don't extract the minerals efficiently and have too high production costs. They haven't even bothered exploring the area for other mining sites, but instead mine the same mountain they have done for several hundred years. The average age in the mine is 25 years old. The youngest is 10 years old and the estimated lifespan is about 10 years before dying from lung cancer from inhaling gasses and asbestos. The miners are chewing coca leaves and their eyes are blood red. On the weekend they drink 96% pure alcohol (50 cents a bottle). For both Kim and I it was real eye openers...we now love our 9-5 jobs. I think everyone should at least once in their life try and enter such a mine...but for me...never again. Was it a positive experience? Yes absolutely...I have always wanted to see these mines with my own eyes how dangerous they are. Are they dangerous...yes undescribable...I cannot describe with words what a horrible feeling it was just being on the first level of these mines. I have been in other mines and enjoyed it immensely...but this was truly scary and awful. It took several hours before I could breathe normally again from inhaling all the dust and sulpher gasses. One more night in Potosi and then we continue to Sucre. Click here to see more photos from Bolivia 11. March 2008 10:00 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Potosi - Bolivia 11. March 2008 10:00 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet potosi bolivia Share The drive from La Paz was pretty uneventful. The bus was a double decker as promised and our seat was in the front of the bus...but so was the toilet. Fortunately they kept the toilet locked pretty much the whole trip so no-one could use it (except Kim because we figured out how to fiddle the lock to get her access). Kim had bought herself a cheap headtorch so the toilet wa now lit. The drive turned out to only be 9.5 hours as opposed to the promised 14 hours so that was a nice surprise. We arrived at Potosi at 6am in the morning it being freezing cold and pouring down with rain. We got a taxi to drive us to our preferred hotel and it turned out to be fully booked. Our second preference has only got room for one night and is then fully booked (and so is every other hotel in town)...we have a booking confirmation from a hostel tomorrow as a backup but we are not sure if it has got hot water and heating. Potosi is a lot different from what I had expected. I had expected that the deeper we entered into Bolivia the more traditional it would get...but to the contrary. Potosi is another polluted city with little infrastructure...although a great number of travellers pass through the city there is no restaurants or cafes or even proper accomodation to cater for them. Someone with flair forwhat travellers desirecould make a killing here as well as in La Paz. It wouldn´t take much...proper accomodation with heating and hot water, A heated restaurant serving a good selection of western style and local dishes (NOOO...Pizza and pasta does not count) an some evening or afternoon entertainment in the form of Bolivian music and dancing. Also Potosi is totally void of any souvernirs (but also beggers etc.)...and again they could make a killing by start selling some of those lovely locally made handicrafts that we could but up near lake Titacaca. Because of the cold, the rain and the fact that all museeums are closed today because it is Monday makes it pretty depressing to here. We have however booked a tour into the mines tomorrow afternoon which should be exciting and I´d like to see the Mint museum. We are also considering what to do next before going to Brazil on the 17th...so far looks like we will go to Sucre (3 hours from here) day after tomorrow and then fly to La Paz from there (maybe even re-shedule flight to go to Rio a day or two earlier). Click here to see more photos from Bolivia 10. March 2008 08:29 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments La Paz - Bolivia 10. March 2008 08:29 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet la paz bolivia Share The bus ride to La Paz was interesting. It was a local bus so full of locals heading into La Paz 4 hours away. After about one hours drive through the high plains (4300 meters altitude) we suddenly arrived to a strait. I hadn´t studies the map properly and hadn´t realised that Copacabana was on a peninsular with no Bolivian direct access to mainland Bolivia (you would have to pass back into Peru to drive directly)...so at the strait we got offloaded from the bus and then had to get onto a smaller boat for the passengers while the bus was ferried across on a big wooden pram. Also at this strait is the only division of Bolivias Navy (I think they still hope to eventually get access to the ocean through Chile (They lost 350 kilometers of coastline in a war with Chile back in time). On the other side Kim missed using the toilet so when we stopped at a petrol station a couple of hours later we took the oppertunity...when the bus took off she wasn´t back yet...and she would have been standing there alone if I hadn´t told the bus driver that we were missing a passenger. Unfortunately it was cloudy so we could only see the bottom bits of the Huyana Potosi and Illimani (6500 meters). The drive into La Paz is stunning...they outer suburbs is totally disorganised with mud houses and mud roads...but suddenly you drive over the escarpment and see all of La Paz in a big crater below. Once we got out of the bus we were however less impressed. La Paz is a town like any other...it is full of traffic, pollution and there has been no city planning whatso ever. Once you get over the escarpment wow factor it is really an ugly city full of social problems, beggers, street kids, pollution, crime etc. Even the backpacker area is totally uninteresting and has been totally spoiled by young kids going for white water rafting, mountain biking without any interest whatsoever in the local culture. Our plan was to spend a day here and then continue down to Potosi and we decided we would spend the next day before heading south looking around and see if the city would reveal its more beautiful side. In the morning I went to the bus station to organise bus tickets and I hope I´ve got the promised ticket (sleeper bus, with toilet onboard and sitting in the front of the bus away from the toilets...but Bolivia is full of surprises...but that is part of the adventure). Afterwards wewent for a walk around the city and found a couple of nice spots but not enough to convince us that this is a city worthwhile spending a lot of time in. The witches market if full of souvernirs that are no-where near as good quality as what we saw in Copacabana, The museums were all closed on Sundays (except the music instrument museum which was interesting), and we are unable to find any decent local food in La Paz (only pizza, pasta etc.). We did however have a good laugh sitting observing people at Plaza Avaroa close to our hotel. People were out walking their dogs and they were all dressed in cute little costumes like small humans...and I thought the Honkies were crazy. I am hoping that the south is nice. I have kept Kim from buying too many things so far promising her that there would be plenty of chances...I hope that this is correct as some of the things we saw up north were really nice. Bolivia is pretty cheap to travel in (same prices as Thailand) and my dad would love it here (as well as in Peru). I could however travel a lot cheaper if I got to choose the mode of transport and the hotels...Kim gets to choose the hotels we stay in which from a local aspect is the upper range hotels (but still cheap by australian standards) and the criteria is hot water, blankets, heating, cleanetc. We have however been lucky with a couple of hostels we have found (one that we will stay in once we return to La Paz and we stayed in one in Copacabana). I think over time I will get her hardened up enough to check out the hostels first and then afterwards increase the comfort levels if we dont find anything of a decent standard...but so far it is ok that she gets a bit of comfort...it is her first backpacking/roughing trip and she is doing really well so far (getting into the spirit of finding cheap restaurants etc.). Click here to see more photos from Bolivia 10. March 2008 08:00 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Copacabana - Bolivia 10. March 2008 08:00 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet copacabana bolivia Share The bus ride from Cusco was interesting...but probably more for Kim than I (she called it horrendous). The company that we had bought our ticket from in Cusco came and picked us up at the hotel at 9.30 pm in a taxi and then drove us to the bus terminal a couple of kilometers out of town. The ticket was a direct ticket to Copacabana in Bolivia in a sleeper bus...but when we got to the station it turned out that the bus was going to drop us off 15 kilometers out of Copacabana...the guy from the company gave us a little cach and told us to use it to bribe the bus driver to drive us all the was to Copacabana. We then had a talk to the company and they agreed to organise with the bus driver to drive us all the way. The bus was ok and full of other gringos also going to Copacabana or La Paz. Kim was greatfull that the bus had a toilet and less gratefull that it was pitch black in the middle of the night and couldn´t flush...so very stinky. About 30 kilometers from the border we got dropped off by the bus (so much for the promise of a direct bus)and loaded into a minibus with far too little seating. The bus wouldn´t start so we had to get out and push. It then started to rain and there was 2-3cm of snow on the road at certain places (4000 meters altitude) once we reached the Peru border we were again off loaded and had to walk across the border...the border crossing itself was smooth although we had to wai a while for the office to open at 7.30am. On the bolivia side we then took another bus (which we had to pay for) to Copacabana about 8 kilometers away. Copacabana is a small town next to Lake Titicaca and Kim had researched hotels...but after looking where some of the other people on the bus would stay she agreed to stay the same place (after we got some towels and a heater). The rest of the day we spent in Copacabana which is a pleasant but very small place and hos got a cheap backpacker feel to it in a positive way (A lot of backpackers out searching for the meaning of life rather than partying an ruining it for others). In the evening after dinner we found a little cafe playing live music. For dinner they had these set 3-4 course menus for around $2 USD per person at the various restaurants which is a lot cheaper than a-la-carte. The next day we took a boat to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) on the lake and spent a couple of hours walking the 11 km from one end to the other (I am quite proud of Kim on this trip being happy to walk long distances with me) and then in the afternoon we took the boat back to Copacabana. On the Island I bought a jumper made from Alpaca wool for around USD $7 and Kim bought a local scarf. Back in Copacabana Kim found some really nice local jewellery so she was busy spending the rest of the evening shopping (I have told her not to buy too much because it is difficult to carry). In the morning next day we took the bus to La Paz (about USD $2 per person for a 4 hour drive). Click here to see more photos from Bolivia << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts 1 2 ... 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 ... 93 94 Older posts