(85) Days of Summer

We've been in Norway for quite some time now and adjusted ourselves to the society again. So we've decided to sum up our trip: Backpacking for dummies awards!

Best meal
Randi Helen: fish filet in garlic sauce in Goa, India
Astrid: the buffet on Fraser Island, Australia

Worst meal
RH: There are no specific meal that comes to my mind as really bad, but I had one steak in Goa that was so spicy that I couldn´t finish it, which was quite disappointing.. (and I usually like spicy food)
A: boiled vegetables in a bowl of warm water, Pushkar, India

Most beautiful place
RH: probably the islands of Thailand
A:  the rainforest outside Kuala Lumpur? or the islands of Thailand?

Best weather
RH: we had a lot of sunny days, so it´s hard to pick out one specific, but when we travelled south in      Australia to Brisbane the density was not that high - it was perfect to just sit in the park and enjoy ourselves!
A: simply going out in streets of Dehli the very first day with sunglasses and no snow

Worst weather
RH: Driving a scooter in rain and thunder at Koh Lanta, Thailand
A: hail, thunder and rainstorms (while driving a scooter) Koh Lanta, Thailand

Marina Bay

Coolest building
RH: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
A: the "boat" of the top of a hotel, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore


Best hostel
RH: We stayed in a lot of good hostels, but since Tropic Days had free internet, free dinner and free ride to the city center every day it gets a few extra points (even though my wallet was stolen here and I didn´t get to much help..)
A: Tropic Days! (free coffee, great staff and backpackers, nice beds, pool and hammocks) Cairns, Australia

Worst hostel
RH: Backpackers Travellers Inn, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Smelled weird, not too clean, tight and in a very noisy area.
A: claustrophobic rooms and dirty bathrooms, Kuala Lumpur

Best sunset
RH: at the beach in Goa while eating dinner and relaxing with my feet in the sand
A: an explosion of all kinds of colours in one sunset, Koh Lanta, Thailand

Most terrifying moment
RH: while trying to sleep and watching various unknown insects crawling in my bed...
A: while riding a camel through the desert, the guy who were supposed to hold the reigns of my camel ran off. All I could do was to hold on to my seat and hope for the best as the camel started to gallop.

Funniest experience
RH: probably the Uncle Brians´ trip in Australia, it was fun, fun, fun!
A: hm.. the biggest laugh must have been on the day trip with cousin Brad, Cairns, Australia

Gus the bus

Best coffee
RH: when we first came to the shopping mall in Cairns I bought a cup of coffee that stuck to my mind... probably not the best one, but it was so long since the last good one that I totally enjoyed it!
Also the iced mocha from Starbucks is amazing!
A: no doubt - coffee from "Café Coffee day" throughout India

Most eccentric person
RH: cousin Brad (from the Uncle Brian´s-trip in Cairns)
A: the russian (Dmitri) we ran into at the night market in Krabi, Thailand, however the boomerang lady should be mentioned.

Best nature experience
RH: snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef
A: snorkeling, Great Barrier Reef

Best activity
RH: driving a scooter in both Goa and the islands of Thailand -didn´t know where we were going, but just driving and seeing the nature, feeling the wind in my hair, smelling the scent from the trees and ending up at a beach somewhere with an ice cream and looking for seashells...
A: Jet boat, Sydney Harbour

Best shopping experience
RH: Vintage-shopping in Brisbane
A: New York! Closely followed by the cozy, vintage shops of Brisbane

Best flight
RH: Air New Zealand from Sydney to Auckland -amazing food with roastbeef salad and icecream, new music and movies, and good seats
A: Air New Zealand from Auckland to L.A. Great entertainment, great seats and great food!

Best guide
RH: C.P. -our loyal and very helpful guide for two weeks in India
A: Cousin Brad was definitely the funniest and Pat was the most knowledgeable, Cairns/Airlie Beach, Australia

Most overrated
RH: Elephanta Island in Mumbai -nothing worth seeing, just crazy monkeys

Pileh Bay

A: Byron Bay..Surfers Paradise and the Goldcoast.. VERY touristy.  (And also watching "Black Swan" on the flight to Bangkok..)

Best swim
RH: Pileh Bay at the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand -crystal clear water with white sand and surrounded by mountain rocks
A: swimming in a warm, dead volcano! Australia

Best buy
RH: i-pod nano (saved a lot on buying it in the US)
A: nearly 700 pages with "Ultimate book of bizarre lists" for 3 dollars..

Best movie
RH: probably Thor, because it was in 3D and had the incredible handsome Chis Hemsworth in it!!
A: We stumbled across "Junior" (1994) on Indian television in Goa - amazing to watch Arnold Schwarznegger being pregnant..Highly recommendable

Best museum
RH: Art Museum in Singapore
A: It was impressive with high tech and interactive exhibitions - national museum, Singapore

Best quotes
RH: "Ok friends!" -our guide C.P. every time he wanted our attention
A: "there's a transvestite in the kitchen" - Randi Helen (in a restaurant in Thailand)
     "are they on their way to a barbeque?" (we were on evening service in a church in Harvey Bay and a little girl saw us   with our bags..)

Best entertainment
RH: free circus shows at the Sydney Harbour
A: concert with indie bands, Brisbane

Best beach
RH: the one we stayed next to at Koh Lanta.. not specifically outstanding, but very quiet and relaxing
A: the one looking like a beach from computer game "Monkey Island" in Koh Tao, Thailand


Memorable moments


RH: going to the indian cinema, galloping on a camel trough the city, dancing with crazy norwegians at the disco in Goa, being stopped by the Indian police, getting a fire-stick in my lap, eating breakfast at the beach, hiding from the heat in a shopping-mall, snorkeling with reef-sharks, spotting wild koala-bears, finding a street in Brisbane were everything has an old charm, meeting up with the same people over and over, reading a book in the Sydney botanical garden, visiting the place where my parents lived, and finally being met by my mom at the airport with a box of homemade chrisp-bread with brown-cheese and homemade strawberry-jam!

A: scooter/motorbike riding in India and Thailand, having a "pseudonym" for 3 months, camel riding in India, eating out - everyday!, disco in Goa, breakfast in Central Park, looking at the stars with our busdriver somewhere in Australia, mountain hiking in India, trying to spot a platypus while drinking hot chocolate, dancing in MacDonalds, Hillsong church on Easter sunday, guy playing cello in the subway, getting lost in a indian castle and of course all the eccentric, amazing people we've been privileged to meet!

New York times..

Central Park

We arrived in N.Y. by midnight (friday) and had an interesting journey by subway to get to our hostel. At one point one of our fellow passengers decided to attack another traveller and just minutes later the police showed up and took the bad guy (NYPD blue?).

When we arrived at Chocolat hostel we discovered that the dorm turned out to be twice as expensive as we thought. We had to stick to our backpacker budget so we decided to dump this hostel and check in to another one just around the corner. Even if it was 3 a.m. in the morning, it took us 1 hour to check in (new record!). This was because of an extremely talkative receptionist - Manny, who (as many other receptionist) fell in love with Astrid's name. He loved all three of them and couldn't stop admire the name - at least till 4 o'clock when we fineally went to bed.

The naked cowboy

Next morning (backpacker style) we decided to find a cheaper hostel and mission accomplished: Broadway Hotel, just around the corner.
We stayed there for 1 night only, because - suddenly all hostels in the area were being shut down by the government. How ironic is that on our last days of backpacking? They were being shut down because the authorities wanted to use all the hostels for apartments instead. We felt like Mary and Joseph who found no place to sleep, except for a stable. Well, it wasn't that bad. We went back to our second hostel and stayed there.

Besides changing hostels we:

Times Square

• walked around in Central Park and had breakfast there along with several birthday parties
• did some shopping in 5th avenue, Times Square and SoHo
• got lost in Brooklyn while looking for a flea market. We did end up with a really cheap lunch.
• went to a broadway show - Billy Elliot the musical
• did some more shopping..
• visited the NBC studios and found a lot of "The Office" merchandise
• went to the top of Rockefeller Centre and enjoyed the view

1. May

• went to Ground Zero (before Obama) and listened to bagpipes. There were a lot of firemen, police officers and TV reporters. 
• had a decent chocolate cake
• watched people playing baseball
• listened to a guy playing cello in the subway
• ...and some guys playing banjos in tight tuxedos
• found locations from "Home Alone" and "Sex and the city"
• just hangin' out in the streets of New York..

Central Park form the Rockefeller Center

View to the Empire State Building

Eating lunch in Central Park

American Style

After a 12 hour flight from New Zealand we arrived in Los Angeles This is what happened in 4 days:

Venice Beach

Venice Beach

• We stayed in a hostel quite far away from the centre. Yet, it was cheap and we got a free breakfast. This was american style - consisting of a muffin and coffee.
• We went on a L.A. tour and saw the main attractions of the city. We almost saw a celebrity when spotting paparazzi running outside a fancy shop in Rodeo Drive (we assume it was Johnny Depp), and we saw walk of fame, the chinese theater, the Hollywood sign, Mulholland Drive, Venice Beach and a few celebrity apartments. Also part of the tour was shopping in Farmers Market (no farmers present) and the Grove. Our new favourite shop is Anthropologie
• Public transport is complicated in L.A. We spent 2-3 hours when taking the bus home. And people looked startled when they saw us since we were the only white people around. It must be unusuall that tourists find their way to the bus - so, both busdrivers and passengers were really helpful towards us.
• 1 day in Universal Studios! 

• We catched a lot of attractions and interactive rides in both 3D and 4D. For Randi the rides were disappointingly short, while Astrid was scared to death. It was particularly funny to see the pictures taken during each ride - Randi is always laughing while Astrid screams. 
• The highlight of the day was the studio tour where we got to drive through different sets. We saw Wisteria Lane (Desperate Housewives), a scene from Jaws, Juriassic Park, Bones, True Blood etc. We saw a Toyota commerical being shot and we found ourselves in a french, german and spanish street (amazingly) at the same time.We drove through the world's biggest 3D film starring King Kong himself, and a couple of dinosaurs.
• We did a lot of eating since we had a eat-all-you-can-pass (beware-it doesn't pay off, it only makes you fat). Randi lost her lasagna plate in the middle of a restaurant and the waiter was amazed that she cleaned up after herself as this was not normal. 

The Hollywood sign

• Randi spent a day visiting the Norwegian seamen's-church in San Pedro, -were her parents and her brother lived for 3 years. She ate waffles and went trough old papers finding articles about her parents. As the only remaining church playing the norwegian anthem on speakers for the norwegian boats, they played it when she was there, and it was loud! Randi also got a private ride back to the hostel from another norwegian lady who ment this was safer than taking the bus...
• Astrid spent her thursday on a remote beach, Playa del Rey, with a talkative italian guy still living with his mother. Apart from him, it was a quiet beach with no tourists as far as the eye could see.
• Later that day we took our good friend, the bus, to Santa Monica beach. We walked at the pier and strolled by the beach watching all the the bodybuilders flexing their muscles.
• (This was a big day for Astrid since this is where her big childhood crush David Hasselhoff was running around during his time in Baywatch)



Walk of fame



Shopping in the Grove



Universal Studios



From the movie "the grinch"



We witnessed some scary things in LA 



The norwegian seamen's-church



Santa Monica pier


• 
  

Aussie fun facts.

We've picked a few things about australia and it's people along the way:

- (Greyhound) busdrivers in Australia are always wearing the distinctive shorts and long socks. They're usually grumpy, stressed and have a big belly.
- bad news: wombats are endangered
- there are no dialects in Australia
- Naturally, Darwin is closer to Singapore than Sydney, still fascinating though..
- a lot of europeans and canadians work for a longer period in Australia, while Scandinavians usually just travel
- australians were obsessed with a certain royal wedding in London
- australian men NEVER cry. However, they can sweat around their eyes

SYDNEY!!

• We've been stroling up and down, back and forth in the botanical garden



making soap-bubbles

• We saw a documentary about baby elephants and orangutangs in the IMAX theatre -in 3D (and Randi met a guy from her hometown there..)
• We've seen the opera house in the daytime and nighttime, -upclose and from afar
• We've visited the local police station
• We spent a lot of hours sipping to cups of coffee in various cafe`s
• Found another vintage shop district
• We've seen at least 4 people talking to themselves



Astrid breaking the law

• Astrid faced her fear when we went on a ride in a jet boat. It wasn't scary - just fun and left us soaking wet (Bonus: a stop by a nudist beach). The jet boat performed amazing spins, waving riding and power break stops
• We've been shopping - and unfortunately not bought Australia's biggest fashion export - Uggs. It's a type of shoe and derives from the word 'Ugly shoes'.
• Seen one of the world's biggest cathedrals - St. Mary
• Randi made soap bubble magic with her hands in a public toilet
• visited (of course) the art gallery of Sydney
• we've been to a sushi restaurant for the first time - we used chop sticks during the entire meal.
• mangazing on the streets of Sydney

Astrid and the very tall palm-tree

• we've been going crazy in the boomerang shop with the eccentric boomerang woman (possibly the only boomerang shop in the world)
• spotted hundreds of bats, one rat and 2 unidientified animals
• we've attended a free circus, trapeez and street-art festival



The bat-tree

• we meet a guy in bunny costume who danced for us. When we told him we were from Norway he replied "what? You're from Nambia?"
• we've stayed in a female dorm for the first time. The hostel itself was full of dutch people trying to impress us with swedish phrases
• however, we did not run into the swedish guy we've meet in all other places on the east coast
• a guy in India told us to check out the cinema in Sydney - so we did: "Thor" in 3D with a smashing aussie in the main role. (with a scene from Norway)
• attended 3 hillsongs meetings. The eve of silent saturday, then sunday morning and an art&film festival. It was great being in a church again and worshipping with 1000's of people in Sydney entertainment center.
• we've becomed addicted to all kinds of coffee in Starbucks..

Astrid loves the opera-house!

Backsides of backpacking:

Sure, backpacking is about having fun, being adventurous and trying out new stuff. However, we gotta mention the backsides of backpacking as well. It's not like we're walking around in a eurofic condition all day long.

For starters, Randi's wallet and credit cards was stolen in Cairns and then Astrid's wallet and Mp3 player in Sydney - both in the dorm. It's not nice to find out that someone's gone through your stuff and worst of all - kept some of it. You feel kinda helpless without money and credit cards (so it's good we haven't been on our own). We're now more alert and slightly paranoid after the latest incidents. You get kinda tired of curling up in bed with all of your valuables and taking them everywhere (even the toilet) just to be on the safe side.

You also get really tired of always being around other people. You sleep with 10 people in a dorm. You always have to wait in line for the bathroom or the toaster in the kitchen. You go to bed while listening to people talking around you and you wake up to people talking still, in early hours.

Especially in the big cities, you have to walk for miles and miles to get around to all major attractions. Including sore feet, being a backpacker can be dangerous to your health when encountering new diseases in tropical areas. This has resulted in 4 visits to the doctor and 3 doses of antibiotics.

It's really nice to meet other people from all kinds of places, but we gotta admit we're really tired of topics like "where have you been?" "where are you going?" "what was the most exciting part?" "how was India?"
And you usually meet people for a day, and when you're getting to know someone - you're moving on..
Maybe we're ready to go home..?

ps. Internet is freakin expensive in the US, so we're running a little bit late with the update..