Jan 27, 2010

final itinerary breakdown

usa to fiji: january 31st
to new zealand: february 9th
to australia: february 16th
to singapore: march 2nd
to malaysia: march 6th*
to thailand: march 12th*
to laos: march 20th*
to cambodia: march 29th*
to vietnam: april 3rd*
to hong kong: april 12th
to indonesia: april 17th
to south africa: april 27th
to egypt: may 5th
to greece: may 13th
to spain: may 19th

*approximate dates

Jan 23, 2010

the good, the bad (many times)

the good: even with the substantial delay with the australian visa, i was happy to find out i'd still have time to get me the indian visa, since their website says it takes 5 days to process it

the bad: after i mailed the application, my passport and the fees to san francisco, they told me it would actually take 10 to 15 days to process the visa and then return my passport. it would be way too late and i can't leave the country without my passport

the good:
after losing the money i already paid, and paying yet an extra fee, i arranged so they will send me my passport back in time for me to leave the country

the bad: i'll get my passport, but no indian visa in it

the good: i did some extra research and realized there's no visa on arrival for india. it was gonna suck to get there and then find out i can't get in

the bad: without the visa or a possibility to get one, i can't go to india

the good: after freaking out for 5 minutes, i contemplated my options and decided to go to bali (indonesia) instead of india. the airfares are around the same as if i went to india

the bad: i had to cancel 2 flights and pay a fine for them

the good: indonesia is cheaper than india, and the money i'm going to save staying there should be enough to cover the cost of the fines i'll have to pay for the canceled flights

the good: from indonesia to south africa, i won't have to waste a whole day at the airport for my connection flight, which would happen from india to south africa

the good:
indonesia is a paradise

the good: beaches

the good: i'm slightly crazy, so i can go from worried to upset to desperate to calm to focused to excited in a matter of minutes!

ps: a couple of hours after i changed the plans, canceled the flights and booked new ones, i got word from the indians saying my visa was granted and it's been mailed to me already. bummer. maybe i'll try to visit them later, before the visa expires..

here's a little bali for you:

















the monkey forest (just in case you're tired of beach pictures)

--- pt ---

o bom, o ruim (varias vezes)

o bom: mesmo com o atraso do o visto australiano, eu estava feliz de saber que eu ainda teria tempo de pegar o visto indiano, ja que o site deles diz que o processo demora 5 dias

o ruim: depois que eu mandei os documentos, meu passaporte e as taxas pra san francisco, eles me disseram que levaria de 10 a 15 dias para processar o visto e depois disso, retornarem meu passaporte. seria muito tarde e eu nao posso sair do pais sem meu passaporte

o bom: depois de perder o dinheiro que eu ja havia pago, e ainda pagar outra taxa, eu consegui fazer com que eles me mandassem meu passaporte antes que eu saisse do pais

o ruim: eu vou ter meu passaporte. mas sem o visto indiano

o bom: eu pesquisei um pouco mais e descobri que a india nao da vistos no aeroporto. ia ser pessimo chegar la e descobrir que eu nao posso entrar no pais

o ruim: sem o visto e sem a possibilidade de pegar um, eu nao posso ir pra india

o bom: depois de enlouquecer por 5 minutos, eu estudei minhas opcoes e decidi ir a bali (indonesia) ao inves da india. as passagens sao mais ou menos o mesmo preco

o ruim: eu tive que cancelar 2 voos e pagar uma multa por causa disso

o bom: indonesia e' mais barato que a india, e o dinheiro que eu vou economizar ficando la' deve ser o suficiente pra cobrir os gastos com as multas que vou ter que pagar por causa dos voos cancelados

o bom: da indonesia pra africa do sul, eu nao vou ter que desperdicar um dia inteiro no aeroporto esperando pela minha conexao, o que iria acontecer saindo da india

o bom: a indonesia e' um paraiso

o bom: praias

o bom: eu sou meio louco, entao eu passo de preocupado pra triste pra desesperado pra calmo pra concentrado pra animado numa questao de minutos!

obs: algumas horas depois que eu mudei os planos, cancelei os voos e reservei os novos, eu recebi noticias dos indianos dizendo que eles ja tinham me dado o visto e que o passaporte estava a caminho. bummer. talvez eu tente ir pra la mais pra frente, antes de o visto vencer...

um exemplo de bali:
(foto)
a floresta dos macacos (no caso de voce ja estar cansado de fotos de praias)

Jan 13, 2010

(kinda) done planning

i'm finished with the planning! it's Tminus17 and i'm ready to go... as soon as i get my passport back (it's on the way to get the indian visa now)..

just to keep the flow, here's some more images:
















victoria peak, hong kong.. great view of the island.. i'll try and get a nice nightshot just like this..

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the taj mahal, in agra (india).. duh!

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the big five (leopard, lion, buffalo, rhino, elephant).. it's a hunting reference, and to me, it means "safari in south africa"!

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the pyramids of giza, egypt... duh! (part II).

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the temple of poseidon (sounion, greece)... my last stop before spain.. and then what?

--- pt ---

acabei o planejamento! faltam 17 dias e eu to pronto pra partir... assim que eu receber meu passaporte de volta (esta no caminho pra conseguir o visto da india)...


so' pra manter o ritmo, mains algumas imagens:

(foto 1)
victoria peak, hong kong.. otima vista da ilha.. eu vou tentar uma foto noturna como essa...

(foto 2)
o taj mahal, em agra (india).. duh!

(foto 3)
os "cinco grandes" (leopardo, leao, bufalo, rinoceronte, elefante).. o nome e' uma referencia de caça, e pra mim, quer dizer "safari na africa do sul"!

(foto 4)
as piramides de giza, egito... duh (parte II).

(foto 5)
o templo de poseidon (sounion, grecia)... minha ultima parada antes da espanha.. e depois, o que mais?

Jan 10, 2010

more hardcore planning

11 more hours of study and i have the outlines for another 40 days/6 countries: singapore, malaysia, thailand, laos, cambodia and vietnam.

i'm not going to be doing any organized tour (like i will in fiji, nz and oz), so it's even harder to decide where to and not to go.. but i think i made good choices..

here's a little taste:
















the sri veerama kaliamman (in singapore), is a funky looking, brightly colored temple..

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in kuala lumpur (malaysia), the petronas towers.. they where the tallest buildings in the world for a few years..

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koh samui (koh = island), in thailand.. recommended by a friend who lived there.. sounds like a good idea to me!

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near vang vieng, laos.. this is a lagoon by the phu kham cave.. reached by bicycle..

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angkor wat (cambodia).. the temple is so important it's on the cambodian flag..

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halong bay, vietnam.. 3 day, 2 night cruise aboard one of this weird boats called junks (their design dates from 200 bc).. caves and kayaking included!

--- pt ---

mais 11 horas de estudo e eu tenho o planejamento para mais 40 dias/6 paises: singapura, malasia, tailandia, laos, cambodia e vietnam.

eu nao vou fazer nenhuma turne organizada (como eu vou fazer na oceania), entao fica mais dificil ainda decidir onde ir ou nao ir... mas eu acho que fiz boas escolhas...

so' um aperitivo:

(foto 1)
o sri veerama kaliamman (em singapura), um templo meio estranho e bem colorido..

(foto 2)
em kuala lumpur (malasia), as petronas towers.. elas foram os predios mais altos do mundo por alguns anos..

(foto 3)
koh samui (koh = ilha), na tailandia.. recomendada por um amigo que morou la'... me parece uma otima ideia!


(foto 4)
perto de vang vieng, laos.. essa e' uma lagoa perto da phu kham cave (caverna).. a gente chega la' de bicicleta..

(foto 5)
angkor wat (cambodia).. o tempo e' tao importante que ele ta' na bandeira do pais..

(foto 6)
halong bay, vietnam.. eu vou fazer um "cruzeiro" de 3 dias, 2 noites em um desses barcos estranhos chamados de junks (que em ingles quer dizer entulho, e existem desde 200 a.c.).. cavernas e kaiaks estao incluidos!

--

rock!

Jan 6, 2010

@sapotb twitter

.sapo. travel blog is now on twitter.. you know, for those quick updates..
if you don't have twitter, you can always just check the side bar, right there to your right.. it will always show the three most recent tweets..

--- pt ---

.sapo. travel blog agora esta no twitter.. pra atualizacoes rapidas, sabe?
se voce nao tem twitter, voce pode checar a barra ali do lado direito.. ela sempre vai mostrar as tres entradas mais recentes..

Jan 5, 2010

fiji / nz / oz + portugues

for the last 2 days, i accumulated about 20 hours studying a little bit of my first three destinations: fiji, new zealand and australia.. it will take me a month to go through them, and as far as i planned, i'll be sleeping in at least 20 different places over this 30 days.. crazy huh?

the reason is i'm gonna be traveling with the feejee experience, the kiwi experience and the oz experience for this three countries.. they are hop-on/hop-off style backpacker buses, they have a variety of passes you can choose and usually you can travel up to a year with each pass.. but i only have a week in fiji, one in new zealand and two in australia, so i'm gonna do the best i can and visit some awesome places..

here's some examples:



this is beachcomber island, in fiji. is only 30 minutes off the northwestern coast and it takes only 10 minutes to walk around the island.. it's where the party happens!

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i'm planning on doing some canyon swing in queenstown, new zealand (the adventure capital of the world). you see that little white spot on the left? that will be me!

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and like i said, the blue mountains, in australia.. the plan is to do some abseiling (rappelling) there...

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...and from now on, i'll try to translate the posts to portuguese as well.. here we go:

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nos 2 ultimos dias, eu acumulei por volta de 20 horas estudando um pouco das minhas tres primeiras paradas na viagem: fiji, nova zelandia e australia.. eu vou passar um mes viajando por esses tres paises, e pelo que estou planejando, eu vou dormir em pelo menos 20 lugares diferentes ao longo desses 30 dias.. coisa de doido ne'?

isso porque eu vou viajar com a feejee experience, a kiwi experience e a oz experience nesses tres paises.. eles sao onibus para mochileiros, que voce pode entrar e sair em qualquer das paradas, eles tem uma viariedade de passes e voce geralmente pode viajar ate' um ano com cada passe.. mas eu so' tenho uma semana em fiji, uma na nova zelandia e duas na australia, entao eu vou tentar o possivel pra ver alguns lugares maravilhosos..

por exemplo:
(foto 1)
ilha de beachcomber, em fiji. fica a apenas meia hora da costa noroeste e em 10 minutos voce percorre a ilha toda a pe'.. e' onde a festa acontece!

(foto 2)
eu estou planejando fazer um cayon swing em queenstown, nova zelandia (a capital mundial dos esportes radicais). ta vendo aquele pontinho branco no canto esquerdo? vai ser eu!

(foto 3)
e como eu disse antes, as blue mountains, na australia.. o plano e' fazer rapel la'..

e e' isso!