Mandie
Mandie Joined: June 19th 2007
Logged in: September 5th 2008
Logged in: September 5th 2008
Acutely aware of my ability to create whatever reality I want, will be interesting to see where this adventure will end up! Glad to have you along for the ride.
Love M x
"Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower" ~ Hans Christian Anderson
Travel Blog Posts
Riverside of Pai
It's been seven weeks since I arrived in the tiny town of Pai, Thailand. Apologies for not writing this blog sooner but time seems to move at a different speed here. It's the kind of speed that is slow enough to absorb the simple moments of each day but quick enough that a month goes by in a blink of an eye. This is an isolated oasis on a traveller’s journey. An oasis that sees many come in the anticipation of staying a couple of days and seeing weeks go by before they even contemplate actually leaving. It could possibly be the amount of time it takes to actually get here that deters travellers from springing out of town at any rapid rate, particularly the three hour mini-bus ride over the mountains between Pai and Chiang ... read more
Winter wonderland
I have a lot of moments here which make me feel happy to be alive - perhaps it's the natural beauty of the place, the genuine people I come into contact with or just simply doing something I enjoy in life. I have completely enjoyed watching the seasons change here too - the colours of autumn were awesome (we miss out on those in tropical Queensland!) and now we have had our first real heavy snow fall the place has been transformed into a true winter wonderland - thought you might like some of the photos! I also have a lot of moments that make me chuckle, and there is never a shortage of chuckles when I have to interact with shopkeepers! In the past couple of years Romania decided to simplify its currency and delete ... read more
Colourful Square
I was dragging my feet leaving Greece, ashamed to admit that the comfort of a developed nation had enveloped me and enticed me back into a way of life I know all too well. But there was no need to worry...futile really...as I found a spring in my step as I ventured through Sofia, Bulgaria's capital, for the first time despite my lack of sleep on the overnight train journey from Thessaloniki (I thought it a waste not to stop and check out Bulgaria given I was passing through...the harvesting in Romania would wait a couple of more days!). There is a richness to Eastern Europe culture that is missing in the clean, pristine streets of its more developed neighbours - a richness that easily captures my attention and memories of Greek luxury fade into the ... read more
A still morning
When one imagines a Greek holiday I suppose most will picture endless sunbathing, indulgence of all Greek cuisine (hmmm, olives) and possibly even a good dose of Island nightlife...I certainly tried to contain any expectations I might have given my invitation saw me trundling off to Greece in a mini-bus crammed with 15 of us...it was a story of 1 priest, his wife, their 10 month old daughter, 11 Romanian girls/ladies, a crazy old Romanian driver and me. After a 24-hour manic journey, which included a 3 hour delay at the Romanian-Bulgarian border (yep, we hadn't even made it out of Romania before encountering our first hurdle) - police papers needed for the person responsible for the minors of the group. We had to drive back to the nearest Romanian town to organise them...apparently we were ... read more
One of the many churches
I was greeted by a small Romanian clan from Pro Vita (the organisation I am volunteering for) - Mel, Mihail and Janet (Mel's English aunt) at the airport, an enthusiastic reception despite the late hour (almost midnight) as my flight was delayed by over an hour. At the car I am met immediately with Mihail booming out to me "NO NO NO, DONT TOUCH THE BOOT OF THE CAR!!" - it apparently fell off its hinges a while back and is now tied on by some rope. So we squeeze my backpack through the only backdoor that works and all pile in. We then meet a rather large traffic jam whilst trying to get out of the carpark, with all the Romanians dealing with it in typical Romanian fashion - by all beeping their horns and ... read more
No, I am not in Mongolia
Thankfully I was on a bit of a buzz after the fun I had in Switzerland so I could (almost) keep up with Jen and her friend, Dean, in the partying stakes when I met up with them in Budapest. This city is geered for the summer party season with large open clubs you'd expect to find on a Greek island rather than an inland Eastern European city. Needless to say, any sightseeing I managed during the day was done under much duress as I nursed my hangovers! And to further prove my theory that its never wise to have firm plans when travelling, I found myself in Hungary for the start of Sziget music festival after I remember being so adament to Jen that I would long be in Romania by that time so it ... read more
Zurich's Lake
If I could wrap up all of Switzerland and all the people inside it and give it a big kiss (a french one at that!) I would. I had such a fabulous time in this tiny, anally organised, breathtakingly beautiful country. Couchsurfing paella party as a start (see separate entry), the week continued on in similar fashion, with each day spent with at least someone else from the party. My trip timed perfectly with 1 August celebrations for their national holiday, which I spent quite patriotically in their capital Bern. A mini-paella reunion with about 15 of us congregating at my host Sabine's place for a BBQ, drinks and fireworks display from whoever in the neigbourhood could get their hands on them (they're still legal there!). I even faced my fear of heights by spending an ... read more
The camp ground
Words are truly going to fail me miserably I think as I try to describe what an awesome introduction I had to Switzerland at the completely random event of the annual Couchsurfing Paella Party started by one very zany Swiss guy from Gossau. Firstly, within couchsurfing anybody can start a meeting/party/gathering - all you do is list it under the meeting page with the details and people can sign up to attend. The first year Vince (the paella party organiser) did it about six people were there...last year about 30 turned up...this year a whopping 140 showed up - including me!! It had that familiar festival spirit...he had managed to convince his neighbour to let us camp in his field (for the right price of course - this is Switzerland - nothing is even cheap here ... read more
The hills are alive...
I was first greeted by fields of sunflowers and wind turbines when I travelled into Austria on the train from Krakow. First stop was Salzburg...I wanted to visit the home of the Sound of Music! In a bid to keep this blog from not being too wordy (as I am doing all these countries in one hit before heading into internet abyss of Romanian village life tomorrow), I thought I would share my two perfect moments that I was compelled to capture at the time. A perfect moment in Salzburg....a day of exploring took me around the perimeter of the old town - fantastic city and mountain views...the absolutely kitsch Sound of Music highlight tour with two enthusiastic Scottish girls for company on an otherwise reserved tour bus...thirst quenched by great drop of Austrian organic wine ... read more
Town Square
Despite the stifling heat blanketed over the city, somehow the chimes of the bell tower striking midnight make their way to my hostel as I lie there awake with sleep escaping me. Sounds slightly poetic doesn't it? Well that is exactly the effect this city has on me...it somehow has ignited a yearning to be poetic. Not originally living up to the expectation set of Krakow having the same beauty of Prague, this city has grown on me to the point that I am sad to leave. I could have easily spent another week whiling away time in this quickly evolving city from baron to haven. Poland is still cheap, even in Aussie dollar standards so you can happily indulge in delicious Polish cuisine and drinks (this is a dear home for vodka lovers!) and marvel ... read more
