bucket list

Island Life – Part One

/ Terry Heck / Leave a comment

Neil and I left for Krabi Town from Chiang Mai via plane, we wanted to get to the islands and this was the fastest (less than two days the night trains would take) and cheapest (if you go by time vs cost factors) way to get closer. We landed in Krabi. The original plan was to use this as a jump point to head to the surrounding Islands. We found a decently rated hostel that was pretty cheap for a private room. We figured out why that was, once we entered the room. The smell hit me like a cement truck barreling down the street. It smelled of durian fruit and nightmares and the bed felt like a re-purposed wooden door. For those unfamiliar with durian, it is a pungent, gym sock smelling fruit that is actually really tasty to me. The nightmares part, well, you can guess what that might smell like, I’ll leave it to your imagination. Regardless, this place was awful and Neil and I decided pretty much immediately that we would move elsewhere in the morning. We used the evening wisely, looking for food markets and seeing what was in the immediate area. Even if we found nothing, I would have been happy just not being in that room.

On our mini excursion there were strange sculptures, odd traffic lights in the shape of cave men which were holding the lights and of course, street food vendors. Now, to be honest, I didn’t take a lot of pictures from here on out, as I was still reeling from the near loss of my camera in our previous segment. That being said, sometimes it’s nice to leave all your bags and just go, without any sort of hindrance to anything that could occur. Wan’t to swim in the river? Without a camera bag attached to you, you can!

We got back to the smelly room and I am pretty sure it sucked out my soul as I slept. So with that in mind, and a good soul and body scrub needed we took off in the morning for Ao Nang, the beach resort area of Krabi.

Deciding to stay at an actual resort for one night was one of the greatest ideas we had. It allowed us to recharge, have overpriced buffet meals, swim in pools where ocean salt would not cake you body and just relax on soft, oh so soft beds. It was so nice, we stayed an extra night. We took one excursion to a few islands while here, among them the Island that they touted as where the movie “The Beach” was filmed. It was an extremely wonderful beach with pristine waters and splendid views, albeit was touristy beyond belief. A far cry from the uninhabited oasis that we saw in the movie.

Our days were ended in this area, our next stop was to be Koh Samui and will be part two of my Island life segment.

Chiang Mai and Welcome to the Jungle

/ Terry Heck / Leave a comment

When we last left off, Neil, myself and our counterparts from Germany and France arrived in Chiang Mai at our hostel “Living Place 3.”

The place was run by a man known only by “V” and his daughter Anna that was visiting from the Czech Republic. “V”, an eccentric, friendly Thai man who was equal parts kind, helpful and generous. His daughter Anna, a twenty year old girl with the same qualities as her father, tended to the front desk. Two of greatest hostel proprietors I would have the pleasure of meeting during this trip.

The hostel itself was quiet, most of the time. Our room was an eight person dorm that we had complete run of, save for a night when one other person needed a bed. There was one hard fast rule about this place, no food or drink in the rooms. Neil found this out the hard way as there was a chocolate milk that had partially spilled in a plastic bag in his backpack. He got ants, a lot of ants. Some rules are meant to be taken seriously I suppose.

Chiang Mai itself was very…..different from both places we had been already. Smaller in size than Bangkok and much larger than Ayutthaya, it was a welcome midpoint between the two. I saw many more expats and travelers here than in Bangkok, primarily because while there we did not stay on Khaosan road. Taking it’s smaller size into account as well. There was truly positive vibe here, a lot of that having to do with the people we traveled there with and the people we met. One of the things I wanted to do while backpacking in Thailand was to eat a tarantula. I was told Chiang Mai had many insect vendors, alas, I could not find my prize within the myriad of stalls available to us.

I had the worst scare of the entire trip here. A night of attending Muay Thai fights turned into a drunken, black out, can’t remember how I got back to the hostel kind of night. Then morning came, I woke up startled and in a panic, I knew something was wrong. I shot out of bed and realized that I lost my camera. I remembered we went to another hotel for an after party, but who knew where that was? I ran down three flights of stairs faster than I ever have before to see if I had left it there before passing out. No, not there either. I had no Idea what to do. I hadn’t backed up my Thailand photographs yet and half of my Europe pictures were on there as well. I was gutted, and simply wanted to cry or break stuff, I couldn’t be sure at the time. I went outside for a cigarette and tried to calm down. One of the other guests was out there already and noticing that I was sheet white asked what was wrong. My sob story was reiterated as calmly as I could. All of a sudden from behind me I hear another voice say to me “Man, I have your camera!” I looked back and saw Matt pulling my camera bag out of his scooter. Apparently he had stayed the night at the other hotel and brought it back for me. It would appear as though I have the greatest luck known to man. I hugged him as tightly as I could, almost uncomfortably so but at least I had it back. The days in Chiang Mai after that were spent ensuring I did not take my camera anywhere that may turn into a particularly un-sober evening.

We spent most of our time relaxing, eating, drinking and making new friends. We did however go zip-lining through the jungle on one day. I don’t think I have mentioned before that I am afraid of heights. It was difficult for me to trust the ropes that were holding me up, not to mention walking across a rope bridge seventy meters above the jungle floor. I did it, however, despite my entire body and mind telling me not to and I am happy that I did.

Two nights were spent in a tree house on the side of a mountain one and a half hours north of Chiang Mai. The views were breathtaking and it was quiet. A welcome juxtaposition from the cities we had been calling home as of late.

A Thai family called this place home and welcomed guests to stay with them. They fed us. Glorious, fantastic, mouth watering northern Thai cuisine.

We went on jungle treks through rivers that ended with us taking in the sight of a fantastic little waterfall. Temples were explored on the second day, along with a cave system that was attached to it. All in all there were a few of the best days I had in Thailand.

What to do When Your Travel Partner has an Expired Passport and you Leave in 3 Days

/ Terry Heck / 3 Comments

I asked Neil if his passport was good to go. His reply was something along the lines of “I don’t see why it wouldn’t be”. This was on Thursday, we leave tomorrow which is Sunday. I asked him to humour me and go grab it. Before he looked at it I requested to see it first. He handed it over and I opened it. I saw the worst possible thing I could see. It expired in July of 2015. He thought I was messing with him when I hung my head and said an expletive under my breath. I handed it back and he saw what I saw. Instant freaking out on his part, laughter on mine. I guess that’s how my brain decided to deal with the potential dream crush that Neil was facing.

We spent the night scouring the internet for information and creating contingency plans. You see, we only have one passport office within a huge distance. They are open Monday to Friday and on their website they state you can do an emergency passport request but it takes one business day. This is heartbreaking at the time because we had exactly one day, Friday, to get his passport.

During this time we went to a twenty four hour pharmacy to get new passport photos, stopped at a whiskey bar for a really amazing old fashioned, printed off our itineraries and got everything else together to make it as easy as possible to do his renewal.

The contingency plans mentioned above were varied and some were downright crazy. If you go back a few years it took so long to get a passport because all of our information had to be sent to a central office in Ottawa, Ontario. One of our plans was to have them make it there, take a flight immediately and pick it up from their central office. The other plan was to get it sent to the only office open on a Saturday, in Whitby, Ontario, take a flight to Toronto, drive to Whitby, pick it up, and skip the first flight that we would have had out of Winnipeg. Just take the flight out of Toronto to Shanghai since we were there anyway. Some less insane options were along the lines of changing all three flight for Neil, which would have been a huge amount of money, or cancel it, which neither of us wanted.

So with all the potential options in our heads we decided to be the first people in line at the passport office and take our chances and then either be golden or go with a crazy alternative.

Fast forward to Friday at 7am. Neil is still freaking out at this point, which is absolutely warranted. I was taking it a little more in stride and telling him that regardless of what happens I would work something out. I’m a fixer, always have been, and I wasn’t going to let this ruin things, no matter what.

We walked up to the lady at the office, explained the situation and made our best attempts at what could only be described as Bambi eyes. She looked up, asked how Neil didn’t know, he gave an answer. She paused, looked back at the computer, and looked back up. I wasn’t sure if she was toying with us or was looking at options. With a smile, she said it wouldn’t be a problem and that he could have it as early at 3:30pm the same day.

So for all of our scheming, worrying, looking at silver linings, making plans and Neil looking like he was on the verge of throwing up, it was unnecessary. Apparently they now print them at the office in our city and it’s a hell of a lot easier to do.

So all in all, in regards to the title of this post, you freak out for a while, work out alternative plans, get to the office and have your passport in nine hours. It could have ended much worse than it did and I, for one, am glad it did not. I really didn’t want to have to do any of the plans we came up with.

With sighs of relief from both of us, we left the government agency and went for breakfast. All was well in the world again.

Never give up hope. There are always options. Some may be pretty, some may be ugly, some may be insane, but there are always fixes to situations in life. Whether it be travel or anything else, if you want something, don’t give up on it.

We fly out at 9am tomorrow morning and are in store for a long day and a half of flights, airports, naps and excitement. I am looking very forward to all of it.

Cheers!

Two Weeks Until Take Off!

/ Terry Heck / Leave a comment

We are quickly approaching our departure to Thailand. As each day goes by I get more and more excited to embark on the trip to one of my top three bucket list destinations. Another was scratched off the list in Europe (Prague) so just one more to go. Granted, I doubt I will stop there, nor will I lose my sense of Wanderlust but it is always good to have goals.

Neil is currently enveloped in a move with his girlfriend from their apartment to a house. The move combined with his first half way around the world trip, not knowing what to expect and being on such short notice has him pretty stressed out.

The saving grace is the fact that we aren’t really planning anything. Which, if you read my last post, was the agreement we made about the trip. Essentially, as of now, we have the first hostel in Bangkok booked for four days and a tattoo booked with a Buddhist monk within that same time frame. After that we are going to take things as they come and not stress out about where we want to be. We will let the winds take us where they may and depending on who we meet things could change in a matter of a second. Split decisions are what I like, it keeps me on my toes and feels more in line with what I am like in my non-travelling life. Both Neil and I are pretty go with the flow kind of people and I think this particular quality that we share will make our stay in Thailand infinitely more enjoyable and will allow us to feel far less rushed.

I made a promise to myself to get over a fear or two of that I have while on this adventure. The main one, a fear of heights, is my primary target. I hope to, I don’t know, maybe climb up a mountain or fly around a jungle or something, no clue yet. If this goal can fall in line with the no ahead of time planning aspect then I will definitely be doing it.

I will be posting one or two more times before we leave. The next one will likely be the gear list, including pics.

Keep your eyes on the horizon! If you will be in Thailand from September 29th until October 22nd, let me know, maybe we can hang out or at least grab a beer!

It’s Official! Off to the Land of Smiles

/ Terry Heck / 8 Comments

I am beyond excited to be leaving home again on the 27th of September. Thailand has been on my list since as long as I can remember. Finally, this dream is becoming a reality.

As of right now, my very good friend Neil will be coming with me on this trip. He is just as stoked as I am. We aren’t going in with much of a plan other than get there, get to our first hostel and see where travel takes us. We know we will be spending a few days in Bangkok and that we will be heading to Chiang Mai for a larger portion of time. Renting scooters and booting it around northern Thailand is a definite possibility as well, using Chaing Mai as a base camp of sorts. Kind of a scooter travel extravaganza as it were.

That is what we will call the skeleton of the trip. Anything that happens in between will be as we go. Perhaps an impromptu flight to Vietnam? Maybe a delve into Cambodia? Essentially we do not want to overload ourselves, and have made the agreement to have slower, spontaneous travel and see where the wind takes us. I may also end up getting a new tattoo from a monk. I’m pretty sure that’s on my itinerary as of now.

Again, I am beyond ecstatic about this journey we are going to take. I’ll keep you all posted as things happen. This is one of those trips that I might just get my wish of having a ridiculous, over the top, crazy once in a lifetime story to tell; One can only hope.

So, as far as the blog is concerned over the next 3 weeks, we will talk about the process, trials and tribulations of getting things sorted and the gear we are taking as well as packing techniques and general information.

We’ll talk soon, promise! Keep your eyes on the horizon!

It’s All Greek To Me

/ Terry Heck / 4 Comments

Sorry for the delayed posting of this. I’ve been back home for a few weeks now and have been dealing with a large amount of personal issues that have made it difficult to concentrate on other things.

We left Greece three days before they closed the banks this time around. I had no idea there were any further issues until we were already out and in Germany. While there however, you almost couldn’t tell there was massive debt, a high unemployment rate or that people were struggling. We spoke to a fair number of people that said the issues Greece had to face were no where near as bad as the media makes it out to be. Granted one person was a jeweler that likely was doing pretty well for himself regardless. Another was the artist that did my tattoo. He told me that the problems were essentially caused by people under twenty five to thirty years old. Basically, they want to complain about the situations but they don’t want to work. He said that there are jobs if people want them but the youth of Greece have a very large sense of entitlement and refuse work when it is presented.

We got to Frankfurt and heard about the bank closures, the limitation on ATM withdrawals as well as lack of ability to pay by credit card and how this affected travelers on holidays. I’m glad we had the time in Greece and just as happy we didn’t get stuck there due to the issues.

Despite all of the nay-saying people have been doing over the course of this whole problematic relationship between Greece and the European bank the people of Greece were awesome, friendly, accommodating and all around pleasant to meet and speak with about anything from the issues themselves to just small talk (they do it well). The Grecian people we spoke with seem to be taking be everything in stride. It’s a mantra I can relate to given the issues I’m dealing with right now myself.

Most of our time was spent in Athens proper. Our hotel (Hotel Attalos) was small but nice and the hotel staff was great. The shining jewel of this establishment was that the roof top bar they have gave a direct view of the Acropolis on the hillside. Speaking of which, guess where we went? That’s right, the Acropolis. The attraction was busy but I didn’t feel crowded like it was in Rome. Once again, however, the other attractions that were associated with the ticket price seemed to have been overlooked by the general public. There were a total of ten or so attractions you could see and most of them had just a handful of people partaking. It reminds me of the people that go to the Louvre only to see the Mona Lisa, which is a shame and does not make a lot of sense to me. There is so much more to see and do outside of the “top” attractions in each city you visit.

We did end up taking a single day island trip to Hydra. This place was a gem, so let me tell you about it. You see, there are only two motorized vehicles on the island. One is the Ford F150 with a small water tank on the back that serves as their fire truck and the other is the garbage truck. Other than that there are boats but nothing else on land. The silence was astounding. You can hear yourself think there, which was quite refreshing.

Hyrda is filled, and I do mean filled, with roaming cats. No one owns them and everyone owns them all at once. The town as a whole takes responsibility for these animals. They are allowed in all the shops that line the coast. It was pretty nice to see something like that. Unfortunately I did not get to my camera in time to take a photograph of a man, bags in hand, calling out to the cats and the cats running to him from every direction. Out of houses, shops, alleys, bushes or whatever else they were in/on/around. Seeing a dozen cats all running at him from different directions then following him home was pretty great although for a moment I had horror movie speculations about what would happen to him as they were lunging at the bags he was carrying to get at the food.

Our seven hours in Hydra were over after a small meal at one of the many restaurants then we were back on the hydrofoil jetting back to Athens.

We only had three days or so in Greece but I would like to go back. Perhaps more island hopping or staying the entire time on Crete (which is ultra cheap by the way). I don’t know if it was because the end of the trip was fast approaching or if it was just because Greece is well, Greece, but I really liked the country as a whole. Laid back, fun, inexpensive, impressive and friendly among other things would be words to describe the form and function of Greece and how I felt while there. There are other places I need to see in my life, but Greece is on the short list of spots to revisit.

I’ll be writing about Germany next, our last stop in Europe, which had an intensely personal meaning for me to go there. It will be a very emotional post for me and likely the longest one I will write. I should have it out within the next five days or so. Bear with me, will ya? Thanks, I appreciate it.

Until next time, keep your eyes on the horizon.

Prague, my Favorite City so Far.

/ Terry Heck / Leave a comment

We got in at six in the morning by train from Krakow. We got to the hotel by tram and from the moment we stepped off the tram and crossed our first bridge I knew Prague would simply be magical, purely and truly. The area we stayed in was filled with colorful and ornate buildings. Each door was custom and different. Art was everywhere you turned, whether it was being sold by people on the street and on the Charles bridge or on the buildings and structures themselves. We were essentially outside of the main tourist area, but close enough that it was a medium length walk to the center square. Performers are everywhere, from classical instruments to side show type spectacles. One Irishman was doing a show that involved whipping his volunteer and ended with him laying on broken glass which happened to be smashed in front of us and created from the beers he was drinking all afternoon while doing his show.

The city is alive and there is a buzz in the air at most times of the day. It’s not just tourists, it’s locals too. Granted most places, even coffee shops surprisingly, don’t open until eleven in the morning. Even with that there were people out as early as six or seven jogging, commuting, talking with friends on the street. Its very active even though you would assume it wouldn’t be given the opening times. Our first days were spent walking around, sampling the Czech food, drinking beers and Cecile shopping for art and jewelry, which was great. After the hustle of Paris and the emotions of Auschwitz it was nice to just chill out for a bit.

We stayed at a hotel in the Mala Strana district. It was a pleasant, clean, well kept hotel. We had a suite instead of a regular room and it was really spacious and comfortable. The receptionist at the hotel, Eva, was simply a dream. She made phone calls for taxi’s and rental cars, got our room ready early, and made arrangements for a great many things. She was the single greatest hotel receptionist that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Truthfully the car rental we got was in order to head over the Vienna, Austria for a day, which turned into getting a hotel and staying the night. Vienna was less awesome than expected. In fact I don’t really know what I expected. I was in Austria when I was a kid and we were in the Alps back then. I figured Vienna would remind me of that. Old school houses, nice scenery and the like. It didn’t. It had almost zero old world charm and granted we were only there for twenty four hours but I expected more of it. The saving grace of Vienna was St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Now, if you’ve been keeping up with my site and blog then you already know I’m a sucker for Gothic architecture. This is the reason that this church was the highlight of this particular city for me. We left Vienna with a sense of wishing there was more to it. Again, we were there for a single day, these are my impressions based on old memories that I wish were more prevalent and the fact that we didn’t explore much other than city center. Take my take on Vienna with a grain of salt, I’m sure it’s awesome when you have more time.

The drive back to Prague however was crazy! We decided to take some back roads instead of the main highway. This was great, really great. It was like being in a rally car. I was navigating and calling the upcoming turns and whether they were sharp or not while Cecile was driving. Keep in mind that some of these roads were single lanes and you had two way traffic. It was pretty intense and absolutely fun!

We were both really happy to be back in Prague and we decided to go to a musical performance that was part symphony and part opera. It was held in an old church in the tourist district, a few minutes from the Charles bridge. The acoustics were impressive and the voice of the soprano was amazing. She had a very large range and actually managed to make me tear up a couple of times. It was overall a great and moving performance on all fronts. The same day we went to a theater show, which broke my brain. It was kind of an Alice in Wonderland story, but not actually a retelling. It was a show about how the author of the books was telling a dying child the things Alice was doing after the books, but again, not really. It was done in black light and interpretative dance. It had clowns and Jewish ghosts, was based in Prague as a setting and confused the hell out of me. I had no idea what was happening, nor did most of the others there, from the reactions I saw. It was kind of about Alice’s maturation and finding love, but again, and I cannot stress this enough, this is coming from a person that had no clue what was going on. I would recommend you stay away from shows named Aspects of Alice and for those that have seen is and can tell me what I watched please comment and tell me because I’d like to know.

Our last day was spent going through the exhibits and buildings at Prague Castle. Again, a massive Gothic Cathedral that took my breath away, more than any other Gothic structure yet. The stained glass was crisp and colorful. The architecture itself was stunning and was everything I hoped for when we stepped in the doors. Other parts of the Castle included an exhibition on the history of the area as well exhibitions on torture devices, palaces and treasures. Overall, an impressive collection of activities that took us about six hours to go through. A pleasant way to spend our last day there.

I would recommend Prague to pretty much anyone I can. It’s a great city, filled with many characters, many stories and many fun and exciting things to do. It’s fast paced and slow all at once, depending on you and what you want out of the city. It quickly became my favorite city I’ve visited due to the culture, diversity, art and sense of life you can feel there.

I’ll be posting pictures later on, as it have thousands to sort through. I will create a gallery and update you guys on it.

Next up will be Rome and just a heads up, I hated it there. More on that later.

Keep your eyes on the horizon!