Travel

xen · Post by **xen** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 4:46 pm

Well I've been gone for a few years from SG and I doubt anyone would remember me, but I thought I'd come back and give it a try again. ^^

I stumbled by today, and noticed Grey Fox was in Japan. I recently finished a year long stay there, and headed into europe for a bit.

Anyway, point of the thread: what places do you recommend? Not so much countries, as specific sights. Also, what brought you to that country/place?

Just got back from the Tatra mountains last night (border between Poland and Slovakia) and I strongly recommend people go, amazing views and some interesting paths.

isildur · Post by **isildur** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 5:03 pm

The largest tree stump is in Kokomo, Indiana. From what I'm told it's a sight to behold.

t-storm · Post by **t-storm** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 5:17 pm

I have been an avid watcher of the show, 'The Amazing Race,' for several seasons now and in that time I've seen some beautiful locales that I must experience for myself before I die.

I haven't been to these places myself yet so I can't speak from personal experience but two places I must visit before I die would be:

1) El-Nido in the Philippines.

2) Grindelwald, Switzerland and its surrounding areas.

Abe · Post by **Abe** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 5:46 pm

someone recommend good things to do in vietnam in december.

Patchingko · Post by **Patchingko** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 5:47 pm

Eat dog.

No, really, my best friend went to Thailand for a few months and visited Vietnam and he had some dog. Ironically the restaurant he at it at had a dog tied out in front of it....

xen · Post by **xen** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 6:00 pm

I agree... dog...
Australian friend of mine from Japan (extreme traveler through Asia) told me he went to a place in vietnam where he actually had to pick the dog from a pen to have it killed and served.

TheStrife · Post by **TheStrife** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:20 pm

Patchingko wrote:Eat dog.

No, really, my best friend went to Thailand for a few months and visited Vietnam and he had some dog. Ironically the restaurant he at it at had a dog tied out in front of it....

It's like lobsters in tanks, you get to preview your meal beforehand.

Cybernetic Empire · Post by **Cybernetic Empire** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 8:32 pm

You have to question a culture that can say no to puppy dog eyes. :<

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 8:41 pm

Seriously, dog isn't that bad (big dogs, of course)...

Arashi · Post by **Arashi** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 2:30 am

Oh god, I will never ever eat dog. That's seriously the only thing I cannot stomach, or at least even want to try to.

j0hn Ayanami · Post by **j0hn Ayanami** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 4:05 am

Cow tounge is the shit.

And Guinness + smoked salmon in Ireland is a great breakfast.

xen · Post by **xen** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 6:56 am

john: can't believe you don't like cow tongue... good ole yaki niku restaurants... got me accustomed to it really quick, taste is good its just a bit tough.

the fried chicken cartilage... now thats something that took longer to get used to...
(Guess this is turning into a foreign food discussion ^^)

Abe · Post by **Abe** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 8:06 am

o god, the chicken knuckles
and the beef knuckles

x

x

Cow tongue... it's okay, but it really IS too tough for me.
The lotus root at yakiniku places is great

But seriously, is there anything to do in vietnam other than eat dog, and get clothes made for you super cheap?

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 1:35 pm

Arashi wrote:Oh god, I will never ever eat dog. That's seriously the only thing I cannot stomach, or at least even want to try to.

Does it mean you would eat snails and frog legs?

Anyway, back on topic:
I'd like to visit the US and Canada again, and I'd like to go to New Zealand. And maybe Australia. Actually I'd even like to work in these countries for a while if possible, because it's a better opportunity to travel and hear from local people about what you really have to see. I also want to work in Japan and China for a while if possible, if not I definitely have to at least visit these countries one day. And other than that, I don't really know yet. I want to see more of Europe, and I'll probably go to South America one day as well.

My parents travel a lot, so when I was a kid I had the chance to see lots of countries, and I guess that's why I want to travel so much once I get the money to do it. Anyway, if you guys are into cultural stuff, I'd recommend Italy, France, Europe in general. If you're into awesome landscapes, I'd say the best one I've seen so far are probably in the US (obviously other places are great as well, but for most of you travelling in the US is the cheapest option I guess...

). Personnally I'm a big fan of Wyoming, Utah and California. If you want picturesque small towns, go to Europe. If you want great food, well most of Europe except for England is good.

If you want awesome big cities, my selection would be NY, San Francisco, LA, and europeans capitals. If you want nice beaches, I'd say Florida and southern and mediterranean Europe. If you want nice mountains, Rocky Mountains win, Alps are second (great ski resorts in Italy, Austria, France,...).
If you want all of that combined into one country, go to France

(though you won't get awesome big cities there... Only annoying people

)

Well, anyway, this is only my opinion and obviously it's completely biased

, but hopefully some of you will find some usefull advises here!

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 2:03 pm

I'm going to mediterranean europe this winter (italy, france and spain). I'm aware I won't be able to go to the beaches, but I really don't give a shit. I just wanted to get of this shit hole for a while.

Visiting NZ/Australia is a dream I've had in forever. If only the plane tickets weren't so damn expensive.

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 3:56 pm

Yeah, flying to NZ/Australia is way too expensive

Where are you going exactly, and when? I'll probably go to Nice for a while during xmas holidays

Abe · Post by **Abe** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 6:04 pm

I hear Nice is nice in December.

HAHAHAAH I MADE A FUNNY

TheStrife · Post by **TheStrife** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 7:50 pm

Arashi wrote:Oh god, I will never ever eat dog. That's seriously the only thing I cannot stomach, or at least even want to try to.

I know you want those little dog's smoked and BBQ'd on a stick.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:06 pm

I'd say:
-Rhydaman
-Broomfleet
-Bridlington
-Maple Ridge
-Brixton

are certainly the places I'd stop off in on my world tour <3

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:08 pm

Calbrena wrote:Yeah, flying to NZ/Australia is way too expensive

Where are you going exactly, and when? I'll probably go to Nice for a while during xmas holidays

I'll be going to Nice, but only a month later (between jan 14 and 28).

j0hn Ayanami · Post by **j0hn Ayanami** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:16 pm

xen wrote:john: can't believe you don't like cow tongue... good ole yaki niku restaurants... got me accustomed to it really quick, taste is good its just a bit tough.

the fried chicken cartilage... now thats something that took longer to get used to...
(Guess this is turning into a foreign food discussion ^^)

I said cow tounge is the shit, not is shit

I love cow tounge

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:17 pm

Ward wrote:
Calbrena wrote:Yeah, flying to NZ/Australia is way too expensive

Where are you going exactly, and when? I'll probably go to Nice for a while during xmas holidays
I'll be going to Nice, but only a month later (between jan 14 and 28).

Will you be going to England at all?
I hear it's rather nice at that time of year.

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:31 pm

Sadly, no. I wish I had all the money in the world and 3 months so I could visit all of Europe.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:40 pm

London is the best cirt in the world they say

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:41 pm

I'm gonna miss amsterdam too.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:45 pm

WTF!? You're crazy?
Where the hell are you going to go?

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 10:36 pm

Ward wrote:I'm going to mediterranean europe this winter (italy, france and spain).

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 10:37 pm

He's going to go to interesting places instead?

Though you should try to convince him to go to London so that we can have SGUK#5466184123!

Ward, make sure you go to Fenochio, they've got the best ice creams evar.

And England is not worth seeing except for London, so don't listen Damien and go to Italy instead, you won't regret it

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 10:45 pm

Fenochio? I will tell my girlfriend. she's an ice cream fanatic, we'll have to go if we get the chance. Where is it exactly? Around what town?

I've really chosen that tour because we'll end up in Barcelona.

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:22 pm

Arashi, what kind of chink are you?

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:45 pm

Ward: Vieux Nice. Really easy to find

And what is your starting point, Rome?

Anyway, this should be a nice trip, hope you'll have fun

Are you going to spend some time in the Pyrénées as well?

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:57 pm

Ooooh boy. We're spending 2 days there. We'll inevitably find it. I'll tell her that one of my online correspondants told me about it (while simultaneously revealing her the full extent of my geekdom).

Yeah, we're starting at Rome, then Florence, then Northern Italy, then Nice, then Avignon (I'll sing the song, I swear), then Barcelona, then Madrid. I think I'll like it. I've been wanting to travel forever, but have always postponned it due to school or illness.

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 12:10 am

But don't worry, lots of girls actually don't mind geeks

I've never been to Avignon, I want to sing silly songs as well

Anyway, I was wondering, is there anything worth seeing in Eastern Canada?

I might go to Canada in April to visit my friend, but there's no way I'm going to spend all my holidays in Nova Scotia...

TO · Post by TO » Sun Oct 03, 2004 1:41 am

ive been lucky enough to have done a large amount of traveling as a child, being in a military family. ive lived in the UK for 3 yrs, and while there i toured all thru europe. germany, italy, france, belgium are among the places I visited. France and Germany are nice, except for the occasional rude local. The UK was ok. Its a great place to visit but a horrible place to live (too much rain and cloudy days). After my little 3 yr stint in europe we moved to korea, which was a pretty awesome experience growing up.

I really want to travel now that I'm older and would be able to appreciate it a bit more. Some places I want to go to are Japan, Switzerland, Jamaica, Canada, and the various islands of the caribbean

xen · Post by **xen** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 2:10 am

j0hn Ayanami wrote:
xen wrote:john: can't believe you don't like cow tongue... good ole yaki niku restaurants... got me accustomed to it really quick, taste is good its just a bit tough.

the fried chicken cartilage... now thats something that took longer to get used to...
(Guess this is turning into a foreign food discussion ^^)
I said cow tounge is the shit, not is shit I love cow tounge

sorry about that. ^^
Indeed it is... if its quality meat...

Damien wrote:
London is the best cirt in the world they say

I dissagree!

Passed through and stayed in Buckingham shire 2 months ago, only went to London once and it seemed to be full of prats. (speaking of which, I strongly recommend looking at british maps for funny names of places like 'prats bottom' and 'donkey town')
City is nice, but the people are much nicer when you get out of London (IMHO).

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 2:47 am

Calbrena wrote:Anyway, I was wondering, is there anything worth seeing in Eastern Canada? I might go to Canada in April to visit my friend, but there's no way I'm going to spend all my holidays in Nova Scotia...

Quebec City would be my choice (well if you stay in VieuxQuebec). It is also the area with the hottest girls around, but that shouldn't really matter to you.

Montreal, Ottawa (even though I personally find my city boring), and Toronto are also nice, but Quebec is the most beautiful canadian city I've seen. Kingston isn't so ugly, if I remember correctly, either, though I don't know what's to visit there. I don't know anything about the Maritimes, other than people having weird accents there (esp. the newfies and the acadians). Ask Undine or Toxondont about it.

Undine · Post by **Undine** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 3:34 am

Cal: http://www.novascotia.com/
http://www.novascotia.com/season/spring/

IMO, NS is way better in the fall than in spring.

j0hn Ayanami · Post by **j0hn Ayanami** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 4:15 am

There are actually only a few places I really have a "desire" to go to left in the world.

-> All over Japan
-> Hong Kong, maybe some mainland China
-> Korea
-> Singapore

I'd also like to spend a bit more time in London and travel a bit through Europe, but maybe not - I'd rather go back to Ireland sans baggage

Aiva · Post by **Aiva** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 5:22 am

I've been to, but want to go back to:
-Italy
-New York

Never been to, but really want to go to:
-France
-Greece
-Egypt
-Spain (Barcelona and Ibiza; I've been to Madrid and it wasn't all that fun

)
-Caribbean islands
-Okinawa (Japan)
-Tahiti

j0hn Ayanami · Post by **j0hn Ayanami** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 5:33 am

I'd only add those "paradise"-ish places if I was with my wife and kids. I wouldn't like to be there by myself really..

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 6:58 pm

London is nice for a day trip or something, but it's not that interesting... What I noticed is that lots of tourists just go to London for a few days and then take the Eurostar to Paris or Brussels, to then visit more interesting places in Europe. And from what I've seen Ireland ownz England. Then again maybe I'm saying that because I've been living in England for too long and I'm already fed up with it...

Ward, I'll definitely visit Québec city. About the other ones, well, I guess I've got to see how long I can stay in Canada...

Undies, if I could I'd come to NS in fall, but my holidays are too short.

The only long holidays I have are for xmas and Easter.

Thanks for the links anyway

John, if you look at Gauguin's paintings of Tahiti you can only see naked girls all over the place, so are you sure you'd like to go there with wife and kids and not on your own?

Anyway, so are we going to spend the next SGW in Okinawa or not?

I've always wanted to go to Japan, but I can't speak japanese, so I wouldn't want to go there alone or with friends as useless as I am

WaWard · Post by **WaWard** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:07 pm

Aiva wrote:I've been to, but want to go back to:
-Spain (Barcelona and Ibiza; I've been to Madrid and it wasn't all that fun )

I've heard that about Madrid as well, but I'm going to Barcelona, so I can live with it.

isildur · Post by **isildur** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 7:25 pm

I've been to beautiful Akron, Ohio. How many of you can say THAT?!?!

Magus416 · Post by **Magus416** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 8:26 pm

Not to make you feel bad or anything Aiva, but Greece is really beautiful. You have to be sure to visit smaller towns though (I was only in two) to get a better feel of the country. Athens is great and all but the Greek countryside is not to be missed.

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 7:44 am

I would highly suggest a visit to Southern Africa, I lived in Zambia, Mozambique, and often visited South Africa.

Southern Mozambique especially near Maputo is civilized but as you go North and the phone numbers in a town go to one digit then your really get to see the real Africa.

Zambia used to be one of the most prosperous British colonies and it stilll maintains a great deal of that glamour with stuff the old country clubs. The people there are really nice, and every one speaks English. Victoria Falls is one of the most impressive landmarks in the world, it is so cool, you would not believe. No matter how hard you try you can not imagine its beauty, you really have to be there.

South Africa has to be one of the most beautiful countries on the face of the planet, I would more than highly recommend going to the Cape of Good Hope near Cape Town. All of Cape Town is really nice. South Africa is awesome because its in Africa and offers all the beauty of Africa with all the benefits of a developed country such as very nice highways, and easy to find PS2 games(<---very important) to buy. Everybody speaks English so thats a real plus, and it just has its own charm that can't really be matched.

Another place I would reccomend would be London, there's so much to see there and it is just nice to see the imperial capital of the world and all the amazing sights that it holds. I didn't stay in London very long (1 week), but there is a ton to see there such as Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Street, Oxford Street, Buckingham Palace, Westminister Abbey.

Another place I would highly suggest would be the north of Pakistan. In Winter, there is some very beautiful scenery in Marie, with a really impressive Mosque in Islamabad.There is a lot ot see in Mohenjedaro, of the old Indus River Valley Civilization if you like the whole Archaeology kind of thing. Plus you can try out some of the awesome cooking there. I would not suggest going to the South unless you want to experience the real subcontinent with millions of people streaming around you in no real pattern, yet there is some kind of order to the whole thing.

But thats my spiel of places to go to.

Abe · Post by **Abe** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:34 am

oooh, Mohenjodaro

Anyway, speaking of vaguely oriental trips, I got it into my mind today that it would be cool to travel the Trans-Mongolian Railway at xmas time. You start in Beijing, make your way through Mongolia, and end up in Moscow (or St. Petersburg, if you're adventurous).

I was pricing it out though, and I don't think I can afford it this xmas.

Flight to Beijing + Train ticket + visas + spending money + meals + accomodations (for the few nights not spent on the train) + airfare from Moscow to Tokyo = like, 456,000 yen. That's like, $4000 US, or thereabouts. While I'm sure it's worth it, I won't really be able to part with that kind of money at xmas this year... maybe next year.

While i'm talking about flights to various places, flights from Tokyo to Moscow are all routed through stupid places like HO CHI MINH CITY. What the fuck is up with that?

Apparently the only way to get a direct flight to Ho Chi Minh City from Tokyo is to try to get a flight to Moscow, and then just not go any further than HCM City. If you try to get a direct flight, they route you through Seoul and like Kathmandu, and Bangkok.

Flights from London to Tokyo are 14 hours long.
Flights from Moscow to Tokyo (which are closer together) are 22 hours long. Why is this, you may ask: it does not make sense! Well, all flights from Moscow to Tokyo (that are in normal people's price range, i.e., $1200 instead of $12000) are routed through PARIS. Yes, the one in France.

xen · Post by **xen** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 1:21 pm

Abe, I'm currently staying in Poland (until tommorow ^^) and was planning on leaving for the very same trip (Backwards) this month but I've got some not so cool health issues going on.
BUT, I did some research, and you can do the trip for cheaper I think. The biggest issue with price is the flight back to Japan (or wherever) which you could avoid if you have time via another train trip. You can go 3 ways technically, trans mongolian has 2 routes I think, and then you can take the trans monchurian (sp? whatever...).
http://www.sv-agency.udm.ru/sv/trains.htm
One way from Moscow to beijing, 354USD... how insane is that? Mind you, it would go up with every stop...

The biggest issue I think, is safety. Been told by a few people that they would never trust going on those trains unless in a large group (tour or otherwise) through russia.

Abe · Post by **Abe** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 1:42 pm

Well, this is the one I was looking at: http://monkeyshrine.com/

Yeah, if I had the time, I could do like, Trans-Mongolian, Beijing to Moscow, and then Trans-Siberian, Moscow to Vladivostok. Problem is, once I got to Vladivostok, I'm not sure how I'd get back to Japan. In the summer, it'd be easy; I'd time it so I could take the ferry from Vladivostok to Toyama, but the ferry only runs from July to October. It may be workable... I'll have to look into it. Flights from Vladivostok to Tokyo (via Seoul) are about the same as a flight from Tokyo to Beijing ($900 CDN or thereabouts). But like, once you add the return train fare from Moscow to Vladivostok, bing, it'd be just as cheap to get a flight from Moscow to Tokyo via Paris.

Maybe I'll just wait until summer. It'd probably be more enjoyable in summer anyway (at least, for a first go at it).

I was thinking of taking a trip to Saipan, but that's apaprently stupidly expensive too. Do you know that it's cheaper for me to go on vacation in Beijing that it is for me to go on vacation in Sapporo, even though I could take a train to Sapporo, and I'd have to fly to Beijing?

Tortoise · Post by **Tortoise** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 6:12 pm

Pig brain should be avoided at all cost. ALL COSTS!!!

Kage · Post by **Kage** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:00 pm

China. I am in love with her.

Square Gamer

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