Travelling the WORLD - Advice needed please

[Bluejuice]

Sounds about right.

The people are great and the streets are very safe. Havana is a true 24 hour city too. I remember sitting on the balcony of my hotel room one night at about 4am and it was as busy as day outside.

I really like the rustic charm of the old fashioned ways. And all the rust-free American cars from the 50's keep the streets colourful.

But the best thing of all is the complete lack of American influence (aside from the old cars!). No McDonalds in sight, Coca Cola only imported from Mexico. No Budweiser. True bliss in my eyes.

 

[Gully]

Probably one of the last few countries in the World not to display the worst excesses of American globalism, in fact I can't readily think of many others where you would not find it, save a few remote former Soviet republics.

 

[withdeanwombat]

For someone who don't drive i've been all around the world....

India's good,though you'd need more than 6 months,and W.Oz and the Northern Territories.

Borneo is excellent,though everyone does it,climb Mt Kinabalu.

Phillipines worth a look,some fantastic beaches,stunning scenery and genuinely friendly folk.

DO NOT MISS ANYWHERE IN NEW ZEALAND.

Fiji,excellent,local beer a bit dubious,Tahiti fantastic(brush up on your French,bathe on the black sand beaches,risk the roughest ferry ride ever to get to Bali Hai.

Easter Island,a guaranteed knockout.

And South America! I dare you to go and not want to return there!

Also go to Canada,Iceland.................and Wales and Scotland are pretty damned good,too!

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Sounds about right.

The people are great and the streets are very safe. Havana is a true 24 hour city too. I remember sitting on the balcony of my hotel room one night at about 4am and it was as busy as day outside.

I really like the rustic charm of the old fashioned ways. And all the rust-free American cars from the 50's keep the streets colourful.

But the best thing of all is the complete lack of American influence (aside from the old cars!). No McDonalds in sight, Coca Cola only imported from Mexico. No Budweiser. True bliss in my eyes.

Where else did you go in Cuba, BJ? We hired a car and spent two weeks trying to negotiate the non-existent street-signs up and down the country, picking up hitchhikers all the way to stop us getting lost. The best way to see Cuba, methinks! The people were so friendly, think we had a soldier, a priest, a doddery old pensioner, a pregnant mum, a woman with measles, you name them they were in our car, yabbering away, was ace!!

 

[Trufflehound]

Borneo is excellent,though everyone does it,climb Mt Kinabalu.

Kinabalu is a must-do, but I'd recommend anyone to take warm clothing - it may be on the equator but it's bloody freezing at the top. I ended up wearing socks on my hands as I had no gloves... Big mistake.

...Tahiti fantastic(brush up on your French,bathe on the black sand beaches,risk the roughest ferry ride ever to get to Bali Hai.

Best thing about the ferry from Tahiti to Moorea is watching the flying fish leap out of the water and glide alongside the boat - they are WAY cool...

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Kinabalu is a must-do, but I'd recommend anyone to take warm clothing - it may be on the equator but it's bloody freezing at the top. I ended up wearing socks on my hands as I had no gloves... Big mistake.

I never made it to the top

We left the Laban Ratan hut or whatever it's called at about 3am in -5C temperature, to do the final ascent, climbed in total darkness until we were apparently 100m from the summit. Then the guide told us to turn round and descend cos the weather was too bad and he feared gusts of wind made the final bit too risky. Was so not happy . The whole point was to make it to the top in time for sunrise

To top it all, the sun came out as we made our descent. But, all in all, it was a fantastic climb, 14,500 ft, quite a few people we met had got altitude sickness.

Did you do the Pinnacles in Sarawak? Amazing climb, that too!

 

[Gully]

Mt Kinabalu was amazing, did the same thing and left Laban Rata at 3am, thought I was going to blow a lung on the first hour of the climb to the summit, all those bloody steps. Met a couple from Brighton in the little rest hut then had a fairly easy climb up the flattish bit to the summit. Made it to the top about 5 minutes before sunrise, was well worth the effort, rates in my top 5 sunrises of all time!

 

[Trufflehound]

I never made it to the top

We left the Laban Ratan hut or whatever it's called at about 3am in -5C temperature, to do the final ascent, climbed in total darkness until we were apparently 100m from the summit. Then the guide told us to turn round and descend cos the weather was too bad and he feared gusts of wind made the final bit too risky. Was so not happy

To top it all, the sun came out as we made our descent. But, all in all, it was a fantastic climb, 14,500 ft, quite a few people we met had got altitude sickness.

Did you do the Pinnacles in Sarawak? Amazing climb, that too!

If there were gusts of strong wind, then maybe it was wise not to stand at the top: there's a 1500 metre vertical drop (Low's Gully) about 2 metres the other side of the summit...

Spent a month in Sarawak, but never made it to the Pinnacles. Spent most of my time there talking to the Proboscis monkeys in the mangrove forest in Bako. If you get the tone of your 'quack' right, they really do talk back to you (they're probably saying something along the lines of: "What the f*cks that bald git going on about?") - it's amazing how much amusement you can derive from watching their noses bounce up and down...

Which leads us neatly onto today's Borneo factoid: The local Malay/Indonesian name for proboscis monkeys is "Orang Belanda" which means "Dutchman". When the Dutch colonials first arrived, the locals took one look at their orange hair, enormously fat bellies and huge red noses and said: "We know someone who looks just like you."

 

[eastlondonseagull]

If there were gusts of strong wind, then maybe it was wise not to stand at the top: there's a 1500 metre vertical drop (Low's Gully) about 2 metres the other side of the summit...

Spent a month in Sarawak, but never made it to the Pinnacles. Spent most of my time there talking to the Proboscis monkeys in the mangrove forest in Bako. If you get the tone of your 'quack' right, they really do talk back to you (they're probably saying something along the lines of: "What the f*cks that bald git going on about?") - it's amazing how much amusement you can derive from watching their noses bounce up and down...

Which leads us neatly onto today's Borneo factoid: The local Malay/Indonesian name for proboscis monkeys is "Orang Belanda" which means "Dutchman". When the Dutch colonials first arrived, the locals took one look at their orange hair, enormously fat bellies and huge red noses and said: "We know someone who looks just like you."

 

[shingle]

Where else did you go in Cuba, BJ? We hired a car and spent two weeks trying to negotiate the non-existent street-signs up and down the country, picking up hitchhikers all the way to stop us getting lost. The best way to see Cuba, methinks! The people were so friendly, think we had a soldier, a priest, a doddery old pensioner, a pregnant mum, a woman with measles, you name them they were in our car, yabbering away, was ace!!

Spot on ELS, the first time that I went to Cuba did exactly the same, hired a car and went from Havana to Guardalavaca, picking up builders, women wih children and oap's with heavy shopping. It was a great way to meet the people and as said, a great way to negotiate streets in towns with non existent street signs. Am back there for a third time in April for a holiday this time, flying into Havana after getting a cheap flight on Iberia.

Thoroughly recommendable

 

[Bluejuice]

Where else did you go in Cuba, BJ?

After some time in Havana I did the tourist thing and hit an all inclusive on Veradero for some pampering. Obviously nothing like as interesting as the city, but I do like being waited on hand and foot every now and then.

Next time however I plan to drive the island, and your tale fills me with confidence!

 

[MikeySmall]

Re: Re: Re: Travelling the WORLD - Advice needed please

IMO the Footprint guides are the best.

agreed. Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Western Oz all are class.

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Mt Kinabalu was amazing...made it to the top about 5 minutes before sunrise, was well worth the effort, rates in my top 5 sunrises of all time!

 

[Commander]

Whatever you do, make sure you go to New Zealand. Fantastic place. Fiji is quality as well, you don't need that long there though.

 

[Weezle]

After lots of reading and discussion with my girlfriend, i think this is going to be the route:

Cuba (2 weeks) - Mexico (one month) - Hawaii (2 weeks) - Fiji (2 weeks) - New Zealand (One month) - Australia (2 months) - Thailand (one month).

What do you think. Are there any places that i'm really stupid to be missing? And are the time periods in each place about right?

There's so many places i'd like to go to, but so little time. I'm still toying with the idea of Cambodia and Vietnam. I also wanted to do South America but don't know if i can realistically fit it in if i'm doing Mexico and Cuba due to the 29,000 mile limit and the fact travel has to be in one direction.

Thanks for all help and advice that has been provided i've found it so valuable and i have read it all - especially the two website links provided - much appreciated to you all.

Any further ideas to help me fine tune?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I know a great place to stay in Cuba. A room in a residential house in Havana, they treated me like a long lost son. Very close to the old town and centre of Havana. Fantastic people! The woman cried when I left and told me it was like losing a son.

Baracoa in the South East is very nice to visit. Lively little seaside town/village. Isla de Juventad is also very good. You can get the ferry over from Trinidad (city in cuba) and they have a great deal to see.


Fraser Island is worth a visit, off Hervey Bay (Aus). I went on a 3 day two night camping trip with 6 others. They sort you out into groups and you have a budget for beer food etc. then transported over and given a map and left to your own devices. Largest sand island in the world. Gotta be done, sport!

 

[Weezle]

Cheers BOF. All of that sounds a must! COuld you give me the details of the residence in Havana? Me and the lady won't arrive until late in the evening, so we want somewhere to stay for the first couple of days for definite.

Do you think 2 weeks in Cuba should be enough?

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

If you can bend your mile-limit to fly into Lima rather than wherever in Mexcio you're going, I'd strongly recommend it. As far as I'm concerned, though Mexico's well worth visiting, it has nothing that Peru doesn't have several times better. Chichen Itza, Teotihuacan, Tulum etc. have nothing on any Inca site for me. Still, that's just my take - you may well find differently.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Cheers BOF. All of that sounds a must! COuld you give me the details of the residence in Havana? Me and the lady won't arrive until late in the evening, so we want somewhere to stay for the first couple of days for definite.

Do you think 2 weeks in Cuba should be enough?

I spent a month there and thought I could have spent longer. But then I took things very slowly. I think 2 should be enough, maybe an extra week would be a good idea. Try and keep the ticket flexible if you can. There is nothing worse than leaving a country that you may not go back to, without "finishing" it. I will dig out the address. They have some friends in.....damn....name escapes me, will find out. This place has prehistoric or so they say, drawings on a cliff. Some great views, caves, lively bar and a hotel to visit for the day with a swimming pool. Will find out details and PM.

God! I am jealous.

 

[defrocked priest]

My two pence:


Cuba: excellent choice and cheap.I found the off beaten track and was buying 26 oz bottled rum for three dollar U.S.Great food,fresh fish and rice two doolars U.S.Bring some sweets for the children,perfume for the ladies,lighters and bottle openers(yes) for the men.I used old Italian silk ties to bribe taxi drivers.What you might take for granted here goes a long way there.

Mexico: Take the ferry from Playa De Carmen to Cozumel,scuba divers paradise,San Miguel is the only town,complete with everything you need,internet cafes,sports bars,and Modella Expecial(cervesa).None of the locals drink coronna.Go to the other side of the island,15 km,and there a miles of beaches and fantastic beach bars like Coconuts.

Hawaii: Crime rate has tripled there in the last five years,you never hear of it because to have the press report it would deter tourism.Odd that.However,great surfing,snorkelling,scuba,and very,very Americain.

New Zealand: Nobs,ever since Lord Of The Rings,every Kiwi I've met has boasted on about it.f*** 'em,go straight to Oz,or better yet,go to Tazmania.

Oz,The west coast is fanfuckingtastic,southwestern Oz has Margaret River and the best wine district I've ever had the pleasure of sampling.Makes Wolf Blass taste like floor cleaner.

And don't forget all the countries you've listed are published by the Lonely Planet Guides.Check 'em out.

Now,bugger off and have a safe journey!