The non-party people on the party island

Thailand, Anna and “Sanuk” – Part 2

On the 3^rd of March our love affair with Bangkok came to an end. After visiting Ayutthaya we came back to our hotel, grabbed our stuff and took a cab for the local airport. We had a flight for Phuket and a room booked in Phuket Old Town Hostel. As we were backpacking, it was nothing fancy or expensive. I am a firm believer in non fancy holidays! I like to get as much as possible from a travelling experience and being in a fancy hotel just doesn’t do it for me. I like to go local, use buses, eat street food or in local restaurants, sweat, find reasons to complain like a true Romanian, and at the end of the day go to bed with a satisfied grin, marking another adventure.

The local market in Phuket

The flight was a bit of a weird experience for me. I normally love it, especially the take off and the landing, but this time I don’t know. We flew Orient Thai Airlines and it was all great, but during the take-off I kept thinking about dying. And I tried to think about something else but I just couldn’t. I mean, they were really nice and professional, no turbulence at all, everything went smoothly. However, I just kept looking outside the window, and it was dark, and the city lights were all pretty and in my mind the only recurrent thought was what if we crash… I blame it on watching “Flight” just a few weeks before our trip, although our captain didn’t sound anything like Denzel

It was good we booked our hostel in advance because we arrived late at night and the place was full. We walked around a little bit looking for a place to eat and we ended up buying fruits from the next door place. Fresh and delicious! The rooms were comfortable, we had internet, and next day the breakfast was really nice. All in all, we were ready to move on to Ko Phi Phi, and so we did

Of course, not before checking the local market and almost loosing the visa card in an atm machine… more like forgetting about it. I know, very stupid of us. Thank God we stopped for pictures and the machine started yelling at us. The local people were so so nice. Everybody in Thailand was just incredible nice.

Evening view from our beach spot in Ko Phi Phi

So from Phuket we had our second boat ride in Thailand. This time it was a big boat, full of tourists, water splashing everywhere, the sun was shining and the SPF 50 was doing its job. Delightful I call Ko Phi Phi a party island because it’s crowded, full of tourists and stray cats and not exactly what I was looking for. It was beautiful but at the same time not my thing.

Once we left the boat we stopped and looked for accommodation. We didn’t book anything in advance and I am not sorry. There are plenty places and next time we will try going from door to door. I think here we spent the most for accommodation in the entire trip, or maybe Bangkok was a bit more expensive. (400 THB for person) I like the fact that they had picture of the rooms available everywhere and you could just choose and they would take you there but if felt rushed and overwhelming. We were tired and wanted to go to the beach so we chose something fast. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t awesome either. And I like to go for awesome sometimes

After we settled in our new place we hit the beach… and no surprise here, it was full of people. Alex and I managed to find an emptier corner with very little people, no “sezlongs” and tourists; just a few boats and some locals that started getting friendly after a while. The water was transparent and everything just breath-taking. I could not believe my eyes where I was and how good it felt to be there.

Later in the day we joined the others, ate banana pancakes with condensed milk, had vanilla ice cream and just enjoyed life. Of course, we checked the local markets and while I am writing this, I have my Ko Phi Phi green sarong wrapped around me. I know I sound crazy but it smells of summer and sea and sand and holiday so I am going to hang on to it a bit more

A beautiful Ko Phi Phi cat, obviously not a stray

In the evening we “enjoyed” the fire shows present all over the beach. We first had drinks from small “buckets”, had dinner at a local place, walked around counting the cats… ok, just me… but they were so so many, and I never thought I will say this about cats, but they were kind of ugly. I did not like them, felt badly as most are strays. The locals have places where you can give money for their care but I think they would better invest in keeping their expanding population under control.

We headed to the beach bars, all of them promising the best time of our lives but for me it was just meh. The music was too loud and crashing on my ears in an uncomfortable way, the smell of gasoline wasn’t doing anything for me and the crowd of people felt suffocating at times.  I am just not a party girl, never was, never will be.

One thing I loved in the 2 days we were here was the food. Yes, I know I talk about food a lot but I am a huge foodie and in Koh Phi Phi we had some of the best street food, from barbecue to Phad Thai and soups and pancakes and fried bananas and fresh fruits and the list can go on Did I mention the fresh juices? Ok, I am stopping now

street food… Yummy!

Next day we took a boat ride to see the area around the island; we saw Maya beach, did a bit of snorkelling, worked on our tan, climbed to the Ko Phi Phi View Point. The view was breathtaking, one of the highlights of our trip. Sitting there and watching the place… Definitely one of those moments when I could honestly say “I am very happy and it’s tangible and real”.

Me happy Next week I will write about Krabi, Thai cosmetics, stray dogs and Anna

The Ko Phi Phi View Point

Thailand, Anna and “Sanuk” – Part 1

Bangkok, The Floating Market and Ayutthaya

I spent 15 days in Thailand this year and it was indeed a dream come true. While other people dream of babies, house ownership and advanced career development, I dream about seeing the world!  I mean the entire world and Thailand was very very up on my “to travel to” list. Hopefully October will mean another “dream destination” coming true.

First half of our first day in Bangkok

We arrived on the 1st of March and while I consider myself an experienced traveller, I learned that day that I am still prone to stupid mistakes. We landed at 6 am and, instead of going for a nap and wake up with new strength, we started exploring Bangkok right away and my SPF 20 protection felt like none existent. We travelled without accomplishing anything, except, in my case, a sun burn and a case of self-doubt.  For every temple we wanted to see, we were told that it’s closed at that time or for the day and of course, we were recommended more expensive ways to pass our time. After a visit to “pier 7″ hoping for a boat ride, we gave up and went back to our hotel via the Thai version of the tuk tuk.

After a few hours of sleep we woke up just in time for dinner and from that moment on, everything went smoothly. We ate in a very nice place, full of locals. We went there because it was full of Thai people looking like they were having the best meal of their lives. And it was great. We discovered EST Cola and although I am not a cola drinker of any brand, even that felt good. Maybe because it was cold and we were in Bangkok

Feed them by your dead skin!

That evening we walked around the area our hotel was in, had some more amazing food, great fish therapy for our exhausted legs, we indulged in a bit of shopping and simply got to know the place… and the 7/11 store.  :P We booked a trip for the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in the Ratchaburi Province for the next day and I went to sleep with a satisfied grin.

If you read about the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, you will find out that it’s full of tourists and you should skip it and go for another floating market. Well, I think it was lovely. I wasn’t bothered by the small jams on the canal, of the multitude of vendors and people. I think it has a charming atmosphere and our half day trip was pretty cool. Of course, by 10 am we were out of the canal and going to a small Thai village. Unfortunately I did not catch the name, but I am sure it’s very touristy as well It was included in our tour and remains one of my favourite parts of the entire trip. I loved this day. It was full of colour, happy people, and good food, and in general a sense of peace and well-being.  The only disappointment was the size of my head as none of the pretty hats would fit… well, it’s not like I can do anything about this anyway

The market

We came back to Bangkok at noon, went to the palace and the surrounding area, we saw the reclining Buddha and a few other places and by evening time, I was already in need of a nap. That night Anshu and I went to Siam Niramit, allegedly Thailand’s “must-see” show. Well, don’t go if you are tired. The costumes and the music are beautiful, but I felt asleep 3 times during the show so I guess that says it all. Of course going back to our hotel, we got lost and we panicked a little bit but everything was all right at the end.

Our third day in Thailand was dedicated to Ayutthaya. I truly believe it’s a must see if you are passionate about ruins, temples and history. I love it; truly loved it and I think I took photos of every stone and every Buddha possible. We met a Buddhist monk, well more like my friends did, I just took pictures; I found a hat big enough for my big head and at times I felt like we were intruders by stepping on the green grass and looking at the pieces of history reminiscent from an era long gone. I wonder what of value will we leave behind for our descendants to look at 1000 year from now. If our world will live to see it! For me this day was both fun and very instructive as I am was not at all familiar with Buddhism, or with the Thai history.

Ayutthaya

In my next post I will write about the party islands, as little time as we spent there, and about why I hope to return to Thailand every 2 years at least

Me happy

Happiness

Sometimes it feels like I am just beginning to live… Tonight I’ve been to the third concert in my life ever, excluding classical music… Yep, I am lame, I know but hey, Wednesday I am going to my forth so I guess I am catching up as fast as possible

Seeing Sam Sparro live made me realize why I like listening to his music so much. I loved him and I loved the crowd. I danced and laughed and jumped around and I watched people, lots of couples, both straight and gay, looking at each other with secret smiles… And it felt good being surrounded by so much happiness…

Yes, happiness… people should be like this more often, I should be like this more often

 

 

 

I really really really love this!!!

I haven’t felt inspired in quite some times. Sometimes it feels like I am so busy making a living and a career for myself that I am forgetting to actually live… Inspiration can come from many places but you need to make time to really see…

I think the people behind this video are incredible and I hope you take time to see it and enjoy the beautiful thing they did… And don’t forget to live!

By WONG FU PRODUCTIONS

 

Tangier: About Maggie

I love short getaways… just enough days to recharge my batteries and grin happily thinking about how good it feels to be young and without major obligations.

We went to Tangier to finish celebrating Dipika’s B-day and while we had a great lazy time walking around the city, the markets and the Mediterranean Sea, the best part was meeting Maggie. For me it felt like she was the beating heart of the city, with her big smile and even bigger life experience. The fact that she owns Bilbo the Cat is a bonus. I am crazy about cats and the snobbish tomcat made me smile more times that I could count… By the end of our staying he was treating Rachel with love and me with that sort of “You are my servant so I will be nice with you” attitude that I find so endearing in cats

Maggie

Maggie lives in Tangier for about 18 year now and although 3 days and 3 nights weren’t enough to capture her beautiful life story, she sure provided me enough food for thought. On her map she can mark India, Spain, Lebanon, Hong Kong, US, Canada and 10s of other countries and I found myself for many moments envying her courage and life experience. I thought Barcelona would be the highlight of my spring but Maggie and Tangier were the cherry and the cake both.

Maggie has this bed and breakfast… The house is breathtaking when you look at the details and the breakfast is one fit for the kings. Simple, tasty, fresh, homemade with Moroccan and continental flavors so well combined that I could eat and eat and eat away… A group of foodies like us, we made sure to appreciate every taste and every bite.

Going back to the house, it has a roof terrace and sitting on a “sezlong” and watching the sea is sure one of the highlights of our trip. Our room was simple and inviting. It smelled of history and if you can’t appreciate that, then maybe Maggie’s place is not for you. The tiles on the floor are different colors and she has books and magazines from different years… Those articles you never have time to catch up with… Maggie’s house is a great place for it. I loved the books, the cat., the floor, the bathtub and the shower head looking like a telephone from another day and age. And the list can go on…

We loved the house so much that none of us felt very active… We lazed around, spending very little money but with the maximum of enjoyment. Rach received a marriage proposal from a very nice older man but she realized that being the “second wife” is not one of her dreams. I borrowed a funny looking white hat from Maggie and with my pink glasses I was soon mistaken for Lady Gaga… I am still not sure if it was meant as a compliment. I also seem to look British or Australian… or maybe I am just white Be prepared with sunscreen if you visit. The back of my neck still feels a bit tender after half a day without sunscreen.

While other people enjoy the music of the cities with busy streets, I sure appreciated the calmness of Tangier and the feeling of safety I had walking around. The food is amazing and Maggie knows all the best places. Of course, everybody knows Maggie and it made us smile when people were sending her their greetings. I guess it sometimes feels good to live in a small community. Of course, being different makes you easier to be recognized… But I guess Maggie’s charm is what makes her beloved and appreciated and not the fact that she is a Scottish lady in the country of spices, leather and mint tea.

Bilbo

Maggie’s appearance and style made me think about my grandmothers. While she has the looks of my father’s mother, more prominent was the fierceness reminding me of my mother’s mother. But just a little touch, enough to make me think of what I lost and what I’ve left at home… But while in India more that often I was thinking of home, Brussels agrees with me and we have a lovely relationship

What I loved most about Maggie was her matter of fact attitude and the courage of living that so many of us sometimes lack. She is close to 68 and I don’t image that 40-50 years ago it was very easy to travel the world and make a living as an independent woman. I am constantly asking myself if I made the right decision, doubting some choices and mourning some loses. In Tangier I realized once again that it’s a stupid thing to do and I haven’t lost much in the process of growing up and discovering what I want. I also realized that while I love Brussels, I miss being challenged on a daily basis, I miss being the different one in a sea of smiling people. I am not one to settle as yet and I although admire and appreciate all my friends life choices I am not them and I will never be… I want to thank Maggie for that. Unknowingly she reminded me why I love life and travelling so much.

I guess this is becoming a bit long and as focused as it is on Maggie and Tangier, it is also a bit too self-reflective.

One last thing! Go to Tangier, stay at Maggie’s, and fall in love with her, her house and her cat. Eat sea food by the port, take a long walk through the city, encourage the local economy with a bit of very qualitative shopping and enjoy life… Don’t live it postponing the things that are important to you. The new furniture you wish to buy for your new house will be there also in 6 months. It is not worth it and it never will be. Invest in travelling… It’s the smartest thing a person can do, even if it is for 3 days somewhere close to home…

Loving life from Brussels,
Yours truly

Welcome to the Citadel of Dinant :)

I love one day trips. You don’t get tired or bored and with enough research, you can have a lovely time outside the city. We went to Dinant last weekend and I have to say… it is a beautiful place to spend the day And yes, I will go again as soon as it gets sunny and my friend(s) come(s) visiting… From Brussels there are trains every hour and a round trip is about 13 euros. You will be there in one hour and a half.

View from the citadel

Don’t eat at the “Le Bariton”. It wasn’t really bad but it wasn’t good either and if you are a foodie, like me… you will feel like you wasted your money. Better stop at the chocolate place 2 doors before and enjoy a nice ice-cream, waffles and other goodies they have there. It was divine We didn’t try the restaurants up at the citadel, we were all way to hungry to wait… but I will do it for sure next time.

To visit the citadel, the ticket is about 8 euros… You can climb the 408 steps or you can take the “elevator”… I admit, I took the elevator but I wanted to enjoy the view without struggling to catch my breath I did take the stairs down and I felt my knees cursing every 2 minutes… but the view is so amazing that it was worth it.

What else?

• Adolphe Sax was born in Dinant in 1894.  He is the inventor of the saxophone and other musical instruments.
• Because much of the town was burnt down by German soldiers in 1914, the local authorities have allowed a German flag to be flown amongst all the other European flags which decorate the bridge across the river Meuse only in the year 2000.

We also tried to visit “The Marvellous Grotto of Dinant” but we were there after 5:30 and it was too late to do it. I guess this is yet another reason to go again. I’ve read the grotto was discovered in 1904 and it is considered one of the most beautiful grottoes in Belgium. I haven’t been in a grotto since I was 5 but I still remember how it felt to look at stalactites and wonder how they got there. I wonder if it will feel the same

For more info, historical facts and pictures go here or here. You can find some of my pictures here, if the slide show decides to work at some point

Switzerland – Lago Maggiore

I have been blessed in my life with the opportunity to travel to 4 continents and over 20 countries but there is one place where I would go again and again, no matter what. I’ve been to Lago Maggiore in Switzerland thrice and I still am looking forward to my next trip. It is absolutely beautiful, so beautiful it became my picture of Heaven. If Heaven exists, than it must look like this

It’s an amazing feeling waking up in the morning to the view the lake offers. Surrounded by mountains, with a tiny trace of fog, the sun shining over the lake… it’s just breath-taking. The mountains with the peaks covered by snow make a lovely contrast with the tropical and sub-tropical plants that grow year-round due to the Mediterranean-like climate.

When I go there, I normally fly to Milan. Brussels Airlines has very good fares and you don’t need to go to Charleroi as you can fly from Brussels airport to Malpensa. From there it’s a 2 to 3 hour ride to Ticino.

I recommend taking a car trip around the lake. It’s about 66-68 km. Make sure you stop in Ascona to admire the view there. Alex told me is perceived as a holiday spot for people that wish for calm holidays so don’t plan for a week long party if you decide to go

I would love to go for the International Film Festival in Locarno. It happens yearly in August, since 1946. Imagine watching a movie in Piazza Grande that offers the largest open air screens in the world (26×14 meters), together with 8000 other people. I am not sure it could happen but what a great view it could be

Ok, my day dreaming moment is over Back to Brussels where the weather is friendly and the people even more