Having felt I had missed out on the ‘ping pong’ experience last time I was in Thailand, I told my friends that it was ‘must see’ and so we negotiated a price and began heading towards the main road where we would board the tuk tuk. Having been in the country only a matter of minutes, and within that time managing to consume several Chang beers, we were in high spirits and ready for this new experience.

On route to the tuk tuk the driver was very friendly and chatty and thinking we would all get the joke, he laughed as he asked if we would like a ‘happy ending’. Naturally, I laughed too, this is a common joke associated with Thailand that I had heard time and time again. My friends however, were less educated on the topic. Not knowing the meaning of a ‘happy ending’ my friends then proceeded to waffle on about how they ‘love’ happy endings and how they would be really happy to have a happy ending… etc etc. It was soooo funny!

I strolled down the street in hysterics, the girls nonethewiser.

They won’t make that mistake again.

After speeding along the night-lit streets of Bangkok, swerving around corners at speeds that could easily tip a small tuk tuk onto its’ side and a few funny photo’s later we arrived at our destination looking rather windswept. The venue was a dark and dingy building, with sleezy looking men and a few women with horrified looks on their faces. Where were we?!

We entered the show and were given a pitifully small ‘free drink’ (although in effect we had actually paid for it in the entrance price) and took a seat. The atmosphere was cold and eerie. Nobody spoke, everybody just watched what was happening on stage in amazement, and some in disgust.

The looks on the women who worked there’s faces were so sad. They were not happy to be there. This was entirely created for the tourist trade, which I thought was a very sad reality. How any man can find this type of show, where the women are clearly miserable appealing, I can only wonder.  There were no happy endings for the staff in this establishment.

So what did the show consist of you’re probably wondering? Well I didn’t think it was pretty, but then again I do still feel that it is a right of passage when visiting Thailand, as much of an ordeal as it did turn out to be. So here we go…

There were a number of acts throughout the show, which lasted an hour in duration before beginning all over again. God knows how many times these women would repeat these acts during one night. There was a stage in the middle of the room with two poles on it and plastic chairs surrounding the stage for the tourists. Between each act one of the girls would come out with a towel and clean the floor…now that’s glamour for you…!

So it began with a women on stage pulling a long string with coloured flags on it out of herself. The string appeared to go on forever. Then a woman came on stage with a Coke bottle filled with clear liquid (water I assume). She filled herself up with the clear liquid and then re-filled the bottle with a dark liquid- as gross as this was, it was actually quite impressive! Another act consisted of lesbian action on stage and climbing erotically on the poles, there was a woman ‘throwing’ eggs across the room into a glass and then the finale was an extremely disturbing real life sex show on stage with a Thai woman and a western man. And when I say real life, I mean real life- if you need position inspiration this is the place to come!

Watching this show, there was no romance, no sensual behavior, no emotions. It was cold and routine. The people did not seem to want to be there, they didn’t want to be doing this. It was very sad. I thought that it would be a giggle, that, yes, it might be a bit gross at times (I am a girl after all!), but that it was something we should see once in our lives and that we would have a laugh. Instead, I did not come out laughing. I came out feeling sad. Sad for the women who worked there. Sad for the women that had to do their acts time and time again because men kept throwing money at them. Sad that they are clearly forced to live a life that they do not want to lead.

So from here we proceeded to head back to Khao San road. Jetlagged and somewhat deflated after the show we decided to grab some street food and one last Chang before heading to bed ready to start the rest of our trip. It was an experience to say the least, but I’m not sure it was quite the ‘happy ending’ my friends had initially anticipated!

Hearing the ‘ping pong’ noises in the street after that had a completely different meaning…

Ping pong shows…what are your experiences?

Brenda Howarth has been kind enough to give a description of her recent 1st class experience on the A380; something I suspect I will only ever dream of. Here’s what she had to say;

‘Like Hayley, I am an aeroplane enthusiast and was fortunate to have the wonderful experience (April 25 2013) of flying to Dubai on the first leg of my trip with my niece, to Hong Kong on the a380 upstairs in first.

WOW!

What a phenomenal experience! As Hayley said, Emirates service is world famous and rightly so. We sat in the middle to suites so we could chat. We were treated like A-listers, nay – royalty. We drank enough Dom Perignon to cause a global shortage, ate caviar and drank in the bar at the rear of business. The flight attendants were wonderful, lending us their hats so we could have our photos taken behind the bar! Sleeping with a mattress and a duvet – beats sitting up any day and the sublime experience of having a shower at 39000 feet, with underfloor heating and Bvlgari amenity kits and pyjamas…where to stop!!??

What a wonderful plane. Save up your pennies and splash out on a trip in First. They collect you in a Mercedes to take you to the airport, deliver you to your destination and do the same in reverse for coming home. The First Class lounge is like a Michelin star restaurant with the same impeccable service, even at 2am! The fare to Hong Kong from London is not much more than the fare to Dubai so you have the pleasure for twice as long.

Apart from having an amazing trip on Concorde in 1977, this is the only time I can honestly say I did not want to get off the plane!’

I can always dream…

Have you been on the A380? I would LOVE to hear your experiences!

This Sunday marks the end of Oktoberfest 2012 in Munich. What a sad time for beer drinkers around the world. I’m sure the countdown for 2013′s Oktoberfest will begin Monday morning once the hangovers have subsided.

Okay, so the title of this is a bit of a misnomer. But here’s the technicality: I never would have gone to Oktoberfest in Munich, had I not been studying abroad.. Ergo, it’s a memory from a portion of my Prague trip. Following me still?

Sigh. Oktoberfest in Munich. Where to begin?

Early on in our trip, a group of people decided they wanted to go to Oktoberfest as a group. In Europe, there are these really great charter buses, one of which is Student Agency, that take you just about anywhere for really, really cheap. Since we were college students living abroad (read: on a budget), we decided the best way to get all 20+ of us in one sleeping arrangement would be to use Stoked Travel to camp. Yes, camping, in Germany, in the middle of September. It rained the entire time. But the rain did nothing to dampen our spirits. No, our campground, as basic as it was, was a freaking blast. They had tarps and pop up tents set up to keep us mostly dry while we weren’t in our sleeping tents. Our tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads were provided with the cost. Breakfast and dinner were provided each night. And, quite possibly the most important piece of information for a college student living abroad: as long as you were in the campsite, all the beer and sangria you could want was free. Free. All of this, round-trip transportation and lodging for three nights for $250. Now, it’s quite possible the guys who set this up rounded up or took a little off the top; but quite frankly, for the ease of not having to plan this trip for 20+ people, I was okay with it.

I wasn’t kidding about camping.

After arriving in Munich via Student Agency bus, we searched for a metro stop and somehow navigated the metro in Munich to our campground. Some of our group ventured off to the Oktoberfest grounds that night, but the majority of us stayed in the campgrounds to become acquainted with our fellow campers and drink for free. The next morning, we got up ridiculously early and hopped on the first bus scheduled to head down to the Oktoberfest grounds. I made the unfortunate discovery that my ATM card wouldn’t work in Germany. I guess I figured if it worked in the Czech Republic it would work in Germany. Apparently not. Luckily, Mel loaned me some money to cover beer and food purchases for the two days. We meandered into Oktoberfest, which is set up like a giant fair.

A very warm welcome around 7 am.

After settling on a beer tent to spend the day in, we stood in line until it opened at 9 am. Yes, we got there that early. Hey, we wanted a table because you cannot be served delicious German beer unless you are seated at a table! Also, the tents aren’t “tents” per se. They’re giant halls with two levels, a center stage for polka music, and extremely clean bathrooms inside.

The “tent” we decided on.

So much room for activities!

By 9:23 am, one of our friends had “made friends with security” if you catch my drift (read: he was escorted out of the tent with the entire tent applauding security). Another had already been cheered on by the entire tent for winning a beer chugging contest. I’ll leave it up to your imagination as to what other crazy stories we have from that first day. I will say that I highly recommend the pretzels and “Halloween Soup” sold inside the tents. The pretzels are especially delicious when dunked in either your beer or the Halloween Soup.

Halloween Soup!

One of our servers, Michael, is carrying 12 one-liter glass steins. Crazy, right? I could barely lift one up with both hands just to drink!

For two days, we were immersed in Oktoberfest, as celebrated by the German culture. Any other culture or subculture’s version just seems wrong to me now, although Sierra Nevada puts on a much smaller, but decent, version in Chico. Going to Oktoberfest in Munich was an experience I will never forget and one I’ll always brag about. Prost to one day making it back to Oktoberfest!

Prost! Na zdraví! Skål! Şerefe! Cheers!

Natalie is a twenty-something food fanatic. By day, she works for a non-profit, by night she dreams of becoming a domestic goddess, creating adorable crafts to gift and engineer delicious home cooked meals for fabulous dinner parties. She loves to travel, locally, regionally and internationally. Her blog is filled with her adventures in food, travel, and craftiness. With plans to go to Oktoberfest myself this year Natalie’s article is of particular interest to me and I will look forward to being able to exchange experiences and tales! 

For more from Natalie you can visit her website at http://innataliesshoes.wordpress.com  or follow her on Twitter @InNatsShoes 

It can be wonderful to see and experience animals that we might not see at home and although I still have some animal experiences left to tick off my bucket list, I do feel that I have managed to create quite a cool compilation of animal photos.

Here are some of my highlights;

Elephant mahout course, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Polar bears at St Petersburg zoo, Russia

Lion cubs at ‘Hug a Cub’, Johannesburg, South Africa

Ostrich chasing, Senegal

Snake holding in the Big Square, Marrakesh, Morocco

Forest monkeys, Goa, India

Whale watching, Rekjavik, Iceland

Accidental turtle fishing, Kerala, India

Giraffe feeding, Nairobi, Kenya

Koala bear cuddles, Australia zoo, Brisbane

Monkey forest, Ubud, Bali

Panda bears, Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland

Crocodile pool, Gambia

Elephant washing, Goa, India

Kangaroo watching, Brisbane, Australia

Tiger temple, Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Rhino’s in Senegal

However, as wonderful as many of my global animal experiences have been, I can’t help but wonder what they must think of it all? What do they think of us taken dozens of photos and posing vainly next to them? What is their perspective?

What are your views on animal tourism? Right or wrong? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Tunisia has two different types of holiday to offer, the ‘all inclusive hotel package “could be anywhere” holiday’ or the ‘backpack guesthouse “experience the country” holiday’. I’m the type of person who prefers Bangkok to Benidorm so naturally I chose the latter.

Having boarded the British Airways flight to Tunis my trip didn’t start the smoothest; we hit very strong turbulence. It was so bad that drinks went flying into the air, passengers held brace positions in their seats and my friend lost all his inhibitions and started clutching a strangers hand extremely tightly for comfort. Once the turbulence had passed, a few glasses of red wine was needed by the whole plane!

First stop on my trip was Tunis and Carth age. Tunis is a wonderful mix of Arabic and European cultures. All hustle and bustle in the medina souks (old town markets) whilst overhead stand modern towers such as the Africa Hotel. The souks are a labyrinth of stalls, shops and market stands selling everything from traditional clothes and rugs to local foods and rather strangely geckos, dead or alive!

A short taxi ride away from Tunis is the Roman ruins of Carthage. Now dilapidated, the ruins are impressive for their size and scale if not for what you actually see. Carthage is definitely a place that requires a bit of imagination to understand what it used to look like. Although if you’re willing to make the trek, the theatre is an impressive venue for live music.

A few hours walking round Carthage in the intense August Summer heat was easily enough so I decided on an afternoon stop off to the coastal town of Sidi Bou Said. With the streets lined with elegant blue and white buildings, Sidi Bou Said is a very picturesque town. Flowers are draped from almost every wall and doorway, but unfortunately it does come with an eyesore, masses of tourists all arriving on their air conditioned coaches. I wish I could go back to Sidi Bou Said out of holiday season to see what the real town is like. It’s beauty and views have inspired numerous artists, however today it’s mainly cheap tour ist souvenirs and ice cream stands on show.

I chose to stay in Gammarth on the North East coast of Tunisia. I had booked a cheap guesthouse online for £10 per night (inc. breakfast and dinner) before I had left. However I found it was an empty hotel with a swimming pool that had 2 water slides flowing into it and an empty beach 30 seconds walk away. As I would find out through my trip, the Tunisians love a good water slide! The surreal nature of my stay took a further turn when quite randomly goats and camels would meander along the beach by themselves without a human in sight.

Having concluded my stay in the North, I made my way South via the train, easy…so I thought! In Tunis the train changed platform last second without any announcement, the air conditioning on board failed (it was 45 degrees), and then the train itself broke down and I had to wait on the side of the tracks for a replacement to appear. None of the Tunisians seemed particularly bothered by these events which makes me believe this must be a regular occurrence. Finally when I made it to Hammamet, I arrived at a station with a non-existent platform with no signs, in the middle of nowhere and with my only reference that I was in the correct place an old man waving his hands frantically to get out.

The town itself has a old fort and a nice medina, but really Hammamet’s main charm is another empty beach with warm clear blue water. The Mediterranean Sea here really is warmer than you’ll find off the coast of Spain, France or Italy and it’s a refreshing change from the intense heat. Occasionally I would feel as if Tunisia was starting to feel quite normal, and then another surreal moment would happen. Yet mor e camels and goats would be on the beach, 19th century looking pirate ships would sail in the sea within view and the occasional naked old couple would stroll along the beach, quite oblivious to anything or anyone. The only real downside to the beach was the occasional begging from local children. With the beach being so empty, I would find myself having to wave them away quite frequently. Still, they soon gave up due to the temperature being above 40 degrees and their energy being reduced by Ramadan.

From Hammamet I took a local minibus a few hours south to Sousse where my guesthouse had a swimming pool this time on the 1st floor of the building. Despite the obvious difficulties of being on the 1st floor, the guesthouse had still quite impressively managed to put water slides into the pool. It all seemed encouraging on first view however I soon realised I was in the tourist central of Tunisia; the package holiday hell! Surrounded by what felt like hundreds of Russians in their luminous speedos and bikinis, I tried to organise as many day trips away from Sousse as possible.

A couple of those trips led me to Port El Kantaoui which is a little modernised haven North from Sousse. If the European influence was ever to be seen in Tunisia, it’s in Port El Kantaoui. A place where the rich leave their boats moored up and eat the fresh fish cooked in the marina side restaurants. It really reminded me of the marinas found in Portugal and Spain. The only difference being that during Ramadan, I had to wait till later in the evening to eat dinner.

The best day trip away from Sousse has to be the town of El Djem. El Djem is what a Tunisian town should look and feel like. Lots of market stalls and local shops thriving on local foods and fabrics, the odd camel and gecko, lots of noise and activity, and finally a spectacular wonder in the middle of the town. In El Djem’s case it’s an impressive amphitheater, the one they used during the filming of Gladiator. It takes 6 flights of stairs to climb to the top of the building for the amazing panoramic views and from the ground floor stairs lead underground to the slaves quarters. Many ancient wonders around the world are cordoned off with the “do not touch” or “do not enter” signs, but the thankfully and amazingly, the El Djem amphitheater is not one of these. I really could go or climb anywhere, touch anything and explore to my hearts content. I even found locals sitting on the outside edge of the building eating their lunch.

After a few more relaxing beach days and a long minibus ride back to Tunis, my time in Tunisia was over and I was traveling home on a thankfully much less eventful flight. I left Tunisia equally happy and sad from my time in the country. Sad that areas such as Sousse have succumbed to the all inclusive family package, sometimes 18-30 style resorts due to touristic demand; but pleased that I made the effort to leave my surroundings to explore and experience Tunisia’s real cultural gems, especially in El Djem.

Philip is a global traveller, trampolinist and musician. To read more from him you can check out his website at www.philipstaintonmusic.com

However, after an hour of well needed undisturbed sleep I was woken by the implausible rising heat. Blankets thrown to one side and layers of clothing removed, I pushed back the curtain to investigate why the temperature in the carriage had risen so dramatically.

My friends, still sat where I had left them over an hour ago, had their legs raised and their bags stacked on their seats.

‘What’s going on?’

I asked, curious now not only by the temperature, but also about the wet floor.

‘There’s been a flood, it was really bad, just like the Titanic!’

My friends were clearly distraught at how approximately a foot of water has spilled out from the near by toilet and flooded the entire train carriage.

‘They didn’t even stop the train!’

They proceeded to fill me in on all I had missed during my hour of sleep, and it really did sound like quite an adventure. They had turned off all of the electricity (hence the temperature rise) and nine members of staff had apprehensively spent the last few minutes attempting to force open the door to the broken toilet and the remaining staff were trying to mop up the train.

Luckily mine and my friends’ belongings managed to stay dry, although I can’t say the same for my feet!

One thing I have learnt about travel is to expect the unexpected, however my friends, being less accustomed to backpacker travel than me, were simply shell shocked by the experience, which in turn made it even more entertaining… they certainly won’t forget that train journey in a hurry.

As for the rest of the journey, we had a slightly soggy, but pleasant nights sleep.

Travel in Asia, you’ve got to love it!

Phi Phi is renowned for being one of the most beautiful places in Thailand. Guide books are filled with picturesque scenery and pictures of longboats on the shore of emerald green waters.

Many fellow travellers tell stories of swimming in the crystal clear waters, diving with the abundance of tropical fish and laying in the sun until their bodies become a gorgeous golden colour.

However, what most fellow travellers didn’t warn me of (I say most because only one person out of many had mentioned it) was the noise, lack of culture and rubbish.

Upon arriving at the island I was charged 20Baht for cleaning and maintenance of the island. I thought this was a great initiative and a really good example of responsible tourism. However, at that time, little did I know how much ‘cleaning and maintenance’ would actually be needed on the island!

Piles of rubbish on the streets and the edges of the beach have lingering smells and certainly take away from the portrayed peaceful, serene ambiance one would expect from reading the guidebooks. Black bin bags are piled high and have swarms of flies and mosquitos buzzing around them waiting for their next unsuspecting victim to walk past. Drunken tourists drop their litter carelessly onto the once clean and tidy streets. This was not what I had expected.

As I walked up the hill, about a 10 minute walk away from the main nightlife area the peaceful noises of surrounding nature had been replaced with echoing music with heavy base lines. I eventually fell asleep feeling as if I was in a nightclub, rather than the scenic hillside of coastal Thailand.

Although not being quite what I had expected, and perhaps paying more resemblance to Malia than Thailand, there is no doubt about it that there are some beautiful views here in Phi Phi. I just think it’s a shame that it has become so loud, dirty and overpopulated.

Have you been to Phi Phi? Do you think it’s heaven or a tourists hell? I would love to hear your experiences!

I wasn’t sure what I was more excited about, my up coming 2 weeks in Thailand or my first flight on the A380! Being an enthusiastic aviation fan, traveller and ex Cabin Crew I had heard wonderful things about this huge creature of the air. Onboard wifi, heaps of leg room and even water features all helped in the creation of my anticipation and excitement!

With their renowned reputation Emirates are admired across the world; their excellent service and facilities being second to none. Having most often frequented budget/lower class airlines to facilitate my travels, the prospects of flying with Emirates was both a novelty and a luxury.

As the hours to my flight narrowed, I eagerly awaited my pre-flight drinks and first sights of this double decker beauty.

And there it was, truly a sight fur sore eyes.

The enormous wings spanned across what felt like multiple gates. The fate itself was huge and alphabetical categorising of seating areas gave this flight a unique and almost overwhelming feel about it.

Take off was smooth and quiet, possibly one of the quietest I’ve experienced. Onboard the staff were impeccably dressed and the service was brilliant. I said goodbye to England as I watched the sights of London slowly disappear behind the clouds from the external camera.

And then I was here.

Here I am sat in seat 56H in zone E on the ground floor of the aircraft eagerly awaiting my meal and well deserved glass of Emirates finest wine. I think I’m going to enjoy this flight

So far I am very impressed with the A380.

Have you flown A380? If so, let me know your views/experiences!

Google plays a big role in everyday life for many, but never did I realize just how much some might actually rely on it.

I arrived at a restaurant in Moscow where I was greeted by a group of Russians that wanted to befriend us. They bought us shots of Russian vodka (tradition over there) and tried their hardest to converse with us, unfortunately much to their dismay.

Not many Russians speak any English, and I certainly did not speak any Russian. The language barrier however, was one that could be easily overcome, thanks to modern day technology and the use of Google…!

Before I knew it we were chatting away, laughing a joking and having a jolly good time. But what was amazing was that at no point were we speaking directly to each other, but instead we would type or sentence into Google translate on the i phones and show each other the result!

I have travelled a lot, and never have I communicated with people in such a way, but what a brilliant idea it was! It was such a funny night, and I genuinely felt that I made friends with these people, despite never actually talking to them properly!

This was my first ever ‘Google conversation’, and with such successful results, I really don’t think it will be my last. Modern day technology most certainly makes the world more accessible….