Travelling the WORLD - Advice needed please

[Trufflehound]

If you go to Sabah, in Borneo, make sure you visit Uncle Tan's wildlife camp on the Kinabatangan river, amazing stuff seeing crocs, orangutans, proboscis monkeys, kingfisher and god knows what else in the wild.

I spent a week in Uncle Tan's in 1993. It was fantastic. There was a lady orangutan who hung around in the trees above one of the trails most days. One day it rained non-stop and no one could go out of the camp. The orangutan came into the trees right over the camp to see where we all were... There was also a beautiful civet that came to pilfer scraps from the garbage pile on most evenings.

On the other hand, I hope the catering's improved. When I was there the menu was rice and cabbage (sometimes with baked beans, sometimes with corned beef) EVERY f**king meal.

 

[eastlondonseagull]

I spent a week in Uncle Tan's in 1993. It was fantastic. There was a lady orangutan who hung around in the trees above one of the trails most days. One day it rained non-stop and no one could go out of the camp. The orangutan came into the trees right over the camp to see where we all were... There was also a beautiful civet that came to pilfer scraps from the garbage pile on most evenings.

On the other hand, I hope the catering's improved. When I was there the menu was rice and cabbage (sometimes with baked beans, sometimes with corned beef) EVERY f**king meal.

I quite liked the food, actually, though so did the rats. We had to string up our supplies from the ceiling and we'd still wake up every morning with teeth marks in the bags! It wasn't luxury, but that made it all the more real for me. I had a week there, too, was really cheap. Will try and dig out a photo or two!

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Here you go. Took so many photos at Uncle Tan's, the place just rocked!

Sunrise

Kingfisher

Proboscis Monkey

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

Money-wise, I'd take around $200-$400 in Amex Travellers' Cheques, distributed around your bag(s), then take the rest out from cash-points, of which I've never found any shortage, carrying around a mixture of local currency and USD - pay for smaller, regular things in the local stuff, and bigger purchases with USD.

In terms of Hostel security, it's rare not to be able to secure your belongings somewhere - take your own padlocks (ideally combination) and lock up every time you head out. It can be a hassle, but it's really worth it; I thought a hostel in Peru was pretty trustworthy (and it largely was), but had my credit card pinched. Which was nice.

 

[Weezle]

Keep it all coming. This is all really useful incredible advice.

I've just applied for my working visa for Australia. I'm now sitting down with a map deciding where exactly to go, thanks to your advice.

All opinions are greatly appreciated.

 

[NMH]

Don't carry large amounts of cash in poor - or high crime - countries, don't imagine that hiding money in your room will be okay either. Flashy luggage and bags attract attention, especially if your look says 'tourist'. Learn as much as you can of the local language and customs.

Fijians are uber-friendly. New Zealand is practically 'England down under' replete with unbelievable fjords and mountains. Australia has so much land, so many miles of beaches.

Brazil is a lively place full of happy people, even when they are abjectly poor. Great beaches, great birds. Rio is astounding, (stay on the coast/beaches though).

Never be a dumb gringo, you need to always watch that you don't trust everything into some stranger's hands.
Hope for the best, beware of the worst.
Know the inherent hazards for the area you are in. There are people who might steal all you are carrying, try to drug you, abduct you, leave you stranded. Beware 'active offerers' - people who don't know you yet oddly seem to be offering to take you around or somewhere. Do not "come with me" if you don't know enough about who that 'me' is. Hitch-hiking isn't what it used to be, it is like advertising "person available" as much as it is asking for a little transport.
There are people who will become your greatest lifelong friends. They might give you more than you could imagine, show you the best of their land and treat you like family.
Maintain humility grasshopper, while staying aware.

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Keep it all coming. This is all really useful incredible advice.

I've just applied for my working visa for Australia. I'm now sitting down with a map deciding where exactly to go, thanks to your advice.

All opinions are greatly appreciated.

Sod it then, do two years. Or three! A year en-route to Oz, one there working and then a year travelling on your way back! By the time you return, Falmer might have had a few bricks built!

 

[Trufflehound]

Sod it then, do two years. Or three! A year en-route to Oz, one there working and then a year travelling on your way back! By the time you return, Falmer might have had a few bricks built!

Having done two long trips - once for one year and once for three - I can definitely concur that three is best...

 

[eastlondonseagull]

There are people who will become your greatest lifelong friends. They might give you more than you could imagine, show you the best of their land and treat you like family.

Very very true. There are scams everywhere and so you have to be on your guard. But you will meet the most amazing, friendly people too. They'll have nothing, but they'll still offer you what they've got.

 

[Trufflehound]

Fijians are uber-friendly.

Especially the ones in Suva that try to fleece you by "giving" you their cheaply-carved tribal goods as a symbol of friendship, then get offended when you don't offer them your life savings as a return gift.

Which reminds me. If anyone in Bangkok wants to let you in on a special "once in a lifetime, today only" deal of cheap gemstones, ignore them - they are trying to rip you off. You CAN make a profit on these gems (which they insist is easy to achieve), but only if you are a jewel expert and know exactly what you're doing. The rip-off artists are quite easy to spot - they speak better English than anyone else in Thailand.

There are very similar people to this who work in Galle in Sri Lanka as well.

If you're travelling as a single bloke in Manila, beware of groups of local youths who will befriend you, invite you for a drink, then drug you and leave you penniless and naked. Also, somewhat less dangerous, beware of Filipino women who want you to marry their daughters. Having said that, besides those scams, don't be put off - the Filipinos are THE nicest people I have encountered in 65 countries and 25 years of travelling.

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Which reminds me. If anyone in Bangkok wants to let you in on a special "once in a lifetime, today only" deal of cheap gemstones, ignore them - they are trying to rip you off. You CAN make a profit on these gems (which they insist is easy to achieve), but only if you are a jewel expert and know exactly what you're doing. The rip-off artists are quite easy to spot - they speak better English than anyone else in Thailand.

Met several people who fell for that scam in Bangkok. Likewise, beware of the cigar scams in Cuba.

 

[rrruss]

Our experiences have left us pleased to be with the Nationwide as we get good exchange rates on cash withdrawals and never get charged by them. Also, their on-line banking has made life easy. We rarely use credit cards here as you need to carry your passport too and I never do that.

A combination lock with a retractable cord gives flexibility to use it in various situations. Warning - make sure you know your combination even when you are well and truly pissed! It hasn't happened to me but I have known someone sleep in the corridor until they sobered up enough to remember thier combination!!

See my website for all the info about what we had to do before leaving and to find to journal of our travels.

As for Buenos Aires, we ended up here to get a qualification teaching English. Now we are looking for work! The problem we are finding is that we are flying back for the last game of the season and out of Argentina for a month. It seems we will have moreluck on our return.

See you in BA. Right now it's 34 degrees and sunny!!

Russ

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Our experiences have left us pleased to be with the Nationwide as we get good exchange rates on cash withdrawals and never get charged by them. Also, their on-line banking has made life easy. We rarely use credit cards here as you need to carry your passport too and I never do that.

A combination lock with a retractable cord gives flexibility to use it in various situations. Warning - make sure you know your combination even when you are well and truly pissed! It hasn't happened to me but I have known someone sleep in the corridor until they sobered up enough to remember thier combination!!

See my website for all the info about what we had to do before leaving and to find to journal of our travels.

As for Buenos Aires, we ended up here to get a qualification teaching English. Now we are looking for work! The problem we are finding is that we are flying back for the last game of the season and out of Argentina for a month. It seems we will have moreluck on our return.

See you in BA. Right now it's 34 degrees and sunny!!

Russ

Nice to see an NSC link on there, sir

 

[Pat McCrotch]

Iran is pretty nice this time of year. As are Somalia, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Iraq, Albania, Mali and Israel & the Occupied Territories.

 

[Mtoto]

Disagree entirely with the earlier post about the middle east. If you're trying to see and experience the world, you can't leave it out.

It's the cradle of civilization, after all, and Jordan will give you the history - Petra's bloody amazing, especially if you climb to the high bits - and a sense of Islamic culture, while also being able to buy beer in the supermarket. Make sure you carry it home in the thick brown bags though, and be aware that the News of the World will have the best bits snipped out.

 

[Gully]

In Thailand I rapidly lost my ability to speak English and reverted to my second language, Dutch, that seemed to put the scammers off pretty quickly and they moved on to some other unsuspecting person.

Don't think that everyone who approaches you in a friendly manner is trying to rip you off, many aren't but either want to make you feel welcome or just practice their English.

I went to a suburb of Lima to a place where there are loads of art galleries looking to buy some paintings as presents. In pretty much the first gallery this old Peruvian guy came up and asked me what I was looking for, he then took it upon himself to become my guide and showed me around a number of galleries. The result was I bought some paintings as presents and now have probably the most beautiful abstract painting I have seen hung on my lounge wall as a momento of my trip. It is possible that the old bloke was on the payroll of a number of galleries and on the watch out for custom, I didn't think so at the time, he appeared totally genuine and was just one of a large number of people who made my trip to Peru so memorable.

 

[Bluejuice]

If you get the chance be sure to visit Cuba. A real experience in Havana, and my favourite location on this Earth I've discovered so far.

 

[Gully]

I really want to visit Cuba, but reckon it will have to be before Castro dies and the US takes over, then it just becomes another place for loud Texans to visit.

 

[Bluejuice]

I really want to visit Cuba, but reckon it will have to be before Castro dies and the US takes over, then it just becomes another place for loud Texans to visit.

I pray that never happens, but you are right to worry.

Get in there as soon as you can, I cannot describe how interesting the place is

 

[Gully]

Unfortunately I can't make it to Cuba at the moment due to financial constraints, these will ease in a couple of years time so it will be top of my list of countries to visit. I knew someone who went there and he was full of praise for the place, said the people were amazing, as was the scenery, however it was stuck in a bit of a time-warp (however this added to the charm of the place) and the food left a lot to be desired. He survived on a diet of rum and cigars!