Lessons Learnt and Mid Year Review… God it sounds like a job? What I've Learnt in 6 months... ;)

Well its now ½ a year since I left home, can you believe that? I’ve been living out of a backpack for 6 months, been in 8 different countries, 4 different time zones, 9 different currencies and conversions, Learnt how to say “Hello, Please, Thanks, and Cheers” in as many languages. So what have I learnt over this time and what do I hope to get as the time now runs at light speed to the finish line?

Lets break it down to a few top 5 lists hey?

Top 5 things to remember as a backpacker:

Supplies ready for river "tour"

1. Toilet paper: not all places provide it, and its amazing how hard it is to explain to someone that doesn’t speak English to try and find some… So when you do check into a hotel and they have a “spare” it seems to be the first thing that goes “missing” after towels, toothbrush and the coat hangers. Not that I would ever make these disappear… *cough* J

2. Its extremely cheap to stay in Dorms and Hostels. The price you pay is sleep, there is ALWAYS someone that snore, so the second most important thing is your music player… Ear plugs can not drown out snoring as good as a nice tune.

BEER! Golden goodness

3. Ask how much it is before you buy, you learn quite quickly to confirm the price of things before buying. Some places it would be standard price all the way up to the bottle of water that’s $5, or something stupid like that. Every pub on the street has $0.50 beers but the one you walk into. Check then drink and if you come out with a lighter wallet at least you will remember that you asked before but it didn’t include the 15 shots at the bar ;)

They still clean... right?

4. Socks can be turned 4 different ways… inside and out, and on the other feet… therefor should last you 4 days yes? Or maybe that’s why my shoes are falling apart? Hmmm ill have to investigate that one.

5. Maps, I like to think I have a good scenes of direction, but in a foreign city, and you don’t speak the language it can be very very hard to explain to someone that you are staying in the “guesthouse in the dark street with a market near by called ummmmmmmmmmmmmm Sa ummmm oh crap”. A map and a finger point seems to work 90% of the time, the other 10% you end up some very interesting places.

Top 5 places in the 6 months I’ve been:

Tomb raider, Steffen Duelund!

1. Angkor – Siam Reap: Normally it’s the people you meet and the time you spend together that makes a good experience, but this palace takes the cake on it all. The temples, ruins and people living around them really make it feel special. It would be my number 1 place to recommend people to see thus far.

Happy water at 10am, sure why not!

2. Northern Vietnam: A very close second. This on the other hand is completely about the people villages and people you meet on the way. By far the most friendly, fun and kind people on earth I think. The villages we visit are literally the same they have been for 100’s of years and the people live the same way. I have no doubt that as tourist creeps into the areas around Dong Van this will all change, which is a shame but I felt extremely lucky to see it in a pure sense.

3. South Korea: National Parks, Walks and the friends I made definitely keep Korea in my top 5 with ease. Sokcho national park was a amazing place to visit with its wonderful hikes and granite cliffs where Busan the “hello Guesthouse” was nothing but fun the entire time I stayed there. The friends that joined me onwards from Busan really showed me the Korean food and made my trip a wonderful experience. It would be impossible to replicate I think.

Thumbs up, top of japan :)

4. The top of Mt. Fuji: The sunrise was one of the first things that really hit me as a special moment on my trip, it was my first real personal challenge and achievement on my trip and something that will stay with me forever. The people that helped me and I helped on the way up were the kindest I had met at the time and the experience was great.

Local Shell petrol station

5. The roads of Laos: Amazing views and the first time I had ridden a motorbike puts this up on my top the roads were rough, untidy, windy and dirt but I loved every minute of it, so much so I didn’t want to stop riding to take pictures as I was sure there was something around the corner better and often there was.
 The villages and people on the way were so nice. Even with my first motorbike accident it didn’t stray me from enjoying every minute of the trip.

Top 5 hates/dislikes in the first 6 months:

You got to fight...
for the right... to crow!

1. CHICKENS! They shall all be shot at dawn!. The bane of many early mornings and sleepless nights on trekking tours.

2. Consistently being asked if I want a Tuk-Tuk or a motorbike in Southeast Asia. Its so amazing as soon as you step out of your hotel. TUKTUK!, take 2 steps, TUK-TUK sir, 2 more.. you get the idea. You would think that if you say no to the first the second would realize the answer… but no.
Same goes for massages, Sunglasses, newspapers, post cards, fans, and anything that can be smoked…

Now in there somewhere behing all the
tour groups is a palace.. i promise...

3. Tour groups: they have to be in the top 5. Consistently disrespecting temples and places of meaning by smoking and talking loudly, pushing people out of the way, and thinking that because they come in a 40 person bus gives them the god given right to do whatever they like. They should be banned from some places, and you can see it on the monks and hear it when talking to locals as well. Yes they bring money but at what cost…? Ok that one should be in number 1 but chickens still win.

Watered down beer anyone?

4. Having to think before drinking something with Ice in: a lot of places simply don’t have water filtering and there’s some seriously nasty things you can pick up from drinking unpurified water. All I want is a ice cold coke but its contaminated by brown ice cubes L. Most places have filtered ice these days so its really not that bad…

5.The humidity: I still can not get use to how humid its been some places, Japan was bad, Thailand was bad, and Cambodia is just dam hot and the sun burns. Ive been lucky though nothing but sunshine for the most of my 6 months and I pray it stays that way after this blog J

So where to from here? Well my original plan was Africa and South America then Europe but seems ill have to rethink that. Only time will tell how far I get and what I see. So far its been a life changing trip and I look forward to sharing the next 6 months with anyone that is reading this.

Who knows where I will end up in August next year.

Till next time,

HAVE FUN!

Steffen.

P.s I wasn’t kidding about the socks or was I??? J

         

To the top and back again

From Tokyo, I moved to Kawaguchiko next to Mt Fuji,

After hearing stories from other backpackers, I decided to try and night climb the mountain to get to the top at about 4am and see the sunrise.

I left the hostel at 6pm and arrived on the mountain side just as the sun was setting.
I wasn't able to see Mt Fiji till I was already on it due to heavy cloud and the sight was breath taking once i could see the peak. I was at the 5th climbing station above the clouds when i could see the peak, and i could see how far i had to walk.




I arrived at the 5th station just as the sun set over Fuji, the path I had to walk would take me from the west side of fuji, seeing the sun set to the east side to see the sunrise again.

The climb was to be done by 1000's of people that night from every bracket of ages, the 7-10 year olds up to grand parents who i swear could almost not walk let alone climb yet they where.

The Climb was broken up into stages, marked by these stations. At each station there was sleeping beds, first aid, toilets and food drink etc. The higher you climbed the more expensive items became naturally, as getting the resources up to these stations was hard as there was no cable cars or roads up and down the mountain to resupply them.

The climb itself took me 9 hours or so, along the way I would take several stops every 30 min or so as the higher you got the less air, and the harder it was.

I met loads of people that night including a couple of girls from america that had decided to climb that night without a torch, warm cloths or food, a very expensive decision considering the cost of those items on the mountain. Never the less i helped light the way for them with a few Japanese guys for a while till after about 3 hours they purchased a touch and sped on ahead. (It was about 2oC when the picture on the right was taken at the 7th station.)

I was less than 100 meters from the summit when the sun rays started showing. Everyone on the mountain stopped, found a place to sit and took in the sight. The atmosphere and the tranquility was amazing, its was dead silent till the sun showed then the 1000+ people on the mountain side erupted into a cheer and photos and stories of the 9 hour climb filled the air.

From there it took me about another 45 min to climb the last 100 meters, the air was so thin it was like running a triathlon each step, but i did reach the summit at about 5 am and then crashed in a hut there for a few hours to sleep, while i tried to shake the altitude sickness so i could walk around the crater. But never the less it didn't help and when i woke at 7am the clouds were rolling up the mountain and you couldn't see 5 metres in front of you, so there was really no point, so i decided to go back down.

At the very top of the mountain there was a final set of huts and camps (As stated above i took a nap in one), but there was also a building with a shrine, and loads of vending machines, these reaffirm the Japanese fascination with vending machines, if they have dragged 4 of them up to the very top of Mt Fuji. I found if quite amusing.

The picture on the side if the shrine that was in one of the houses at the top of fuji.

The climb down as even tougher, i had some 5 hours of 135 degree decline down loose rubble that was like walking on a sand dune down, only it hurt when you fell :) but never the less i made it safe and sound.

As you can see in the image on the left the cloud/fog was crazy thick and this lasted all the way down from the top of Mt Fuji till the 5th station where the tree line started and the busses could drive to.






This has by far been a amazing experience and i would love to do it again one day with family and friends, it really was a amazing enlightening experience.