PART 1 - Pub-crawling around the world - Ponyfish, Melbourne

Ponyfish in Melbourne is pretty unique in that it's located right in the middle of the river, under a bridge. 10/10 for originality there, not even Dubai has managed that one yet! It's just a walk away from Flinders Street Station and my friend Clare took me there one balmy summer's evening for a few drinks.

We descended the steps into the bar around 5pm on a Wednesday and it was already packed with people sharing platters (which looked very tasty) and drinking beers. Many seemed to be sampling the bar's own beer - Ponyfish. I'm not a beer drinker and after a few days on the dry, I felt like a wine so Clare and I ordered $8 glasses of an Aussie Sauvignon Blanc. This was served in sturdy tumbler glasses, a difference from the norm for me. Unfortunately the wine tasted awful! It really surprises me how much bad wine I tasted in Australia, given how many vineyards are nearby. It's not cheap either.

After one of Clares' friends joined us, we moved onto the Pinot Grigio, which cost the same but wasn't much of an improvement on the palate. There were a variety of people around from dreadlocked, arty types to people loosening their ties after a day at the office. There were some Irish people at the table next to us (we are everywhere!) It's a gorgeous place to while away an evening and possibly if I drank beer I would have rated it first class but as it was, I can't really. Fortunately the company was good so we passed two hours there (and I spent about $32 - killer on a traveller budget!) and I would return again - I'd just probably stick to the spirits this time.

Ambience: 9.5/10
Cost: $$$$$$$ (a bit too high for the traveller pocket but probably fair if you're earning in Melbourne)
Food: I didn't try so I can't comment but the menu looked good and the sharing platters were being devoured around us. Prices start at $10 - $15 for food items.
Location: Good and easy to reach by public transport. I must point out that I didn't see any elevator so I don't think it's wheelchair friendly
Toilets: Good, clean, and not in demand even though there are only two.
Overall: Definitely worth it for the view, try a beer instead of wine.

It's also worth noting that there are no rancid river smells which can happen in various cities (memories of Bangkok).


There own website is pretty good - although prices are not available.
http://www.ponyfish.com.au

Starting 2014 as I mean to go on.....

Another huge break in my blogging but I have very good reason. I am just waiting to board my 11th flight in less than four months, I can't count how many places I've been in each of those countries I've visited and I'm absolutely loving it, having the time of my life.

I have become an expert packer and I'm a total pro with a backpack now. It definitely took awhile but now I have it so what I need in one place is on top, or I can access it easily. Of course you can get one with all the little zips and pockets to compartmentalise but those are more expensive, no doubt about it. If you need tips on this sort of stuff I follow https://twitter.com/nomadicmatt and I find him absolutely awesome for info on the road.  I think I did ok in my original packing - two pairs of jeans,  one pair of shorts, a pair of leggings, couple of summer dresses, a rain jacket/windbreaker and waterproof hiking pants - alot of rollable items that don't crease! BRING tampons ladies, they don't seem to be available in many places in South-East Asia or Sri Lanka. If you're passing through Thailand you can buy EVERYTHING on a budget, including any pills you need for sleeplessness etc. I met a guy who arrived in Bangkok with a plastic bag, great call. Leave space, you can always buy things. The night market in Luang Prabang is great for t-shirts (surprisingly good quality), bags, gifts. You can buy hoodies in any market in Thailand. Before you leave, if you're in Europe near a Tchibo store - they have good, reasonably priced hiking shoes which have seen me through 3 mountain climb/hikes (upto 3,500m - can't vouch for above or icy conditions).

So, I rang in the New Year in Chiang Mai, Thailand beside the Iron Bridge watching more fireworks than I've ever seen (yes, even in Dubai) and a sky full of Chinese lanterns. I was surrounded by amazing people, including some family (my aunt Helen and Uncle Tony were visiting from Seoul and my cousin, Alex is now living in CM) and the whole night cost me about 8 euro, including two song-teow, a plate of food and copious amounts of alcohol. I even had a man to kiss at midnight ;)

Australia Day was spent in Perth, having a barbie beside a pool with a group of Irish people! Alot of fun but I've had more Aussie 'Straya Day's in Dubai down at Barasti. Interesting seeing a whole Irish community 20, 000km from home. Waitangi Day was fun in Wellington, less of a celebratory feel than other national holidays but some very friendly Kiwi's about nonetheless.

Chinese New Year I spent in Brisbane and it was a nice dose of culture, although I'm sure it would have been much better in Melbourne, Singapore or Bangkok.

I learnt many things about being on the road  - it's cliched to say always expect the unexpected but I can't stress it enough. There will be quibbles, mess-ups and emergencies (try overbooked hostels, buses that don't have your name on the list, running over a kerb in your friend's lovely car!!) and next time I would have an EMERGENCY fund of about $1000 (AUD/USD) for these things... but credit cards come to the rescue.

In New Zealand I've finally understood the phrase "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey."  It's the one country that taking a bus in really rewards you, I just wish I could have stopped every half hour to explore!

In Perth I had people offer to walk me two blocks to show me where I needed to get to, stop on the street for a chat, on the Gold Coast I made friend's with a cockatoo, I finally held a koala in Lone Pine Sanctuary, petted a kangaroo and on Rottnest Island I got up close and personal with a quokka, a rare marsupial with the cutest face. My experiences are increasing everyday and I honestly couldn't be happier.

I keep getting told I'm "so brave," for travelling alone (as a girl). No one seems to ask the men. This is brief but I like it - another solo female traveller
http://www.trishavelarmino.com/2014/01/an-open-letter-to-solo-female-travelers.html?utm_content=buffer25a56&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
People tell me they admire me, which is nice but really it's a little selfish and I'm ok with that. I've got to the point where I'm doing what I like in my life and I'm really embracing it. I don't regret not doing this when I was younger, now I know that you get more out of the day by getting up earlier and I'm not throwing up over the side of the boat because I drank too many shots last night and can't appreciate the dolphins. Don't get me wrong - I still party VERY hard, anyone that knows me will attest to this - I just pick and choose my times more carefully, most of the time. (There have been a few write-off days and I've been hungover in more airports in the last two months than most people have probably been in airports in the last year!)

So, I will catch up on my blogs and keep reading all of yours, but if you're going to do anything this year - book a holiday somewhere you've never been - it's not about the money - you can go 100km away in your own country and have a walking tour, and remember "Travel is the only thing you can buy which makes you richer."

A very late (but not so much for Chinese) Happy New Year.

Some cool travel peeps on twitter
@LeanItinerant
@theintlwanderer
@LiveTravelling
@Wegotwo
@Just1WayTicket

Pub crawling around the world:An introduction

"Most of my twenties and thirties I spent investing in bars." so said my uncle, Tony when I bemoaned the fact a few years ago that I didn't own a house yet. What he meant, of course, is that he partied hard and he told me he had no regrets about any of it, that it was really "Investing in memories." Although it took me a few more years to stop chasing the dirham (or dollar) it rings true with me now as I try to travel as much as possible. However, it's widely known that I'm a party girl and whilst visiting my friend Becky recently in Bangkok and discussing my travels she mentioned that really I'm just "Pub-crawling around the world," and she may have a point.

A new idea has been born, my posts will continue about various places but I'm going to intersperse them with my tales from bars in each place I visit, they aren't going to be straightforward reviews as it will be my, completely biased, take on each establishment and my night out there but I will include info on prices, location etc should you wish to find one of these places on your own trip. I would appreciate suggestions particularly for the following locations:
Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Christchurch, Auckland, anywhere in Malaysia and possibly Bali.
I will add more locations soon. Feedback is also important as I want to make this as interactive as possible, please tell me your experiences too!

I will include some of my old favourites, places you may or may not have known about and hopefully have a bit of fun with it. Of course I could create a whole other blog on this but I've enough on my plate and I think it's roots lie firmly within lilirishtravels so here we go. So there will be posts on bars from my fair isle of Ireland, Dubai, Thailand, Sri Lanka etc.

Apologies on the delayed blog posting, Christmas and New Year were spent travelling, often without the time spent to compose a blog post but there are a few in the pipeline.  So, please send your suggestions and stories, particularly of far-flung places that I haven't seen yet. I know there are some well-oiled travellers amongst you!

FIND ME ELSEWHERE - for travel tips and my reviews....

I don't post my reviews, daily thoughts etc on here... so if you'd like to find them, or know more about me, my life and the places I visit you can find me in the following places:

On TripAdvisor I'm rather unexcitingly known as TrionaM_12
http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/TrionaM_12

My handle on Twitter - for daily banter
@TRIDXB

I'm also tridxb on instagram. Most photos on my instagram are not on my blog and I also am more regular at posting there.
http://instagram.com/tridxb

I look forward to connecting with you!

An introduction to Sri Lanka

The first thing I want to say about Sri Lanka is: Be careful; you will fall in love with this place and you may never leave. Arriving at 4am on a Sunday morning may not immediately make you think this but believe me, after the first 24 hours it will already have surrounded you and made you feel a little better about things. The sunshine, the sea... even if you've managed to get as far as the mountains - there is something special about the place that I was rapt with from early on. 

People have a huge impact - those you're travelling with or those you meet. For me, the first conversation I had was with Indrani, the hostess at the hostel I was staying at - Beach Monkey in Negombo

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Beach-Monkey-Negombo/Negombo/78544?dateFrom=2013-12-10&dateTo=2013-12-13&sc_sau=avdc&sc_pos=2

It was certainly no frills, but Indrani's attitude and friendliness (even at 5am) more than made up for any lack of facilities. She is just a really warm person. I was barely coherent (see - me & airplanes etc) but she quickly sorted out my bed, deposit etc so I could get to sleep. She also said she'd make breakfast whenever I liked. Over a couple of days and a mix of Sinhalese and broken English I discovered she was from Pereniya, near Kandy and her family worked in tea plantations. Her daughter was getting married in December and she would travel back for the wedding. when she discovered that I wasn't as flush with cash as other travellers she got her son to show me to the bus station and we both took the bus to Kandy. She even made me lunch, free of charge, whilst she was making a portion for him. It was just a wonderful welcome by someone - especially since I was travelling alone.

In the hostel you'll get your bed, a mossie net and a good location. The bathroom is outside (but there are lights) and your shower probably won't be too hot but it's an absolute bargain. I stayed out of season and it cost me about 3 euro's a night! 

Most people aren't incredibly impressed by Negombo but for me it was a nice taster for the rest of Sri Lanka, the children all wanted to high-five me, residents all wanted to speak with me for a few minutes - even those who had nothing to sell. There are lots of shops with pretty high quality leather goods for a fraction of what you would pay in Europe. Cows roam the beaches - which is a new one for an Irish lass

It isn't the tidiest of places but there are stretches of quiet seaside, and little cafe's/bars line it so in the afternoon you can have your own slice of unspoiled sea-views with probably no people around. I liked it. I also had lunch at http://www.icebearhotel.com which all the guidebooks recommend. Everywhere is reasonably priced but it is helpful to know that you're getting quality, as places can vary wildly. I had a lovely fluffy omelette and the staff were very nice. I also had my first taste of Sri Lankan tea. I didn't notice a huge difference but I guess knowing it was picked nearby was pretty cool.

In the evening I headed to Lord's, which is worth a visit just to read the owner, Martin's, story. Fascinating.

http://www.lordsrestaurant.net

The food and drinks were tasty too. Here I had my first arrack cocktail - the local spirit, coconut based and pretty tasty (although even two knocked me a little off-balance!). You can have a fish pedicure and look at some art. I particularly appreciated the sax player providing some bluesy numbers whilst I dined.

So don't rush past Negombo; it's a nice introduction to this beautiful island. 

Sunrise Temple Tour

Rising at 4.15am is not something I do regularly; in fact I usually get into bed around that time. I am a complete night owl and I really like my sleep (when I can get some sleep - but that's another story). However I was excited to go back to Angkor Wat for sunrise as I'd heard it was really spectacular. April, Laura and I were fairly quiet as we got ready and got out, climbing into the tuk-tuk by 4.35am. Travelling through Siem Reap in the dark and cold, we were anticipating a beautiful sunrise.

As I mentioned in another post, we got ripped off for tea and sandwiches (USD6); the first stall open opposite Angkor Wat does a great trade but if you are there early it's probably best to bring your own food or wait til all the stalls are open. We did try to haggle but they were having none of it. When the others opened we could have gotten tea at a third of the price.

Tourists filed in through the gate in the dark and most seemed to take up a place on the right near the lake. We soon saw why this was - Beautiful pink flowers open in the dawn light. I have a photo but it really doesn't show you how amazing watching the petals unfurl is.

I think it may have been the wrong time of the year for sunrise (as it moves around the temple) and honestly I found sunset alot more rewarding. I'm not Hindu but there is an enormous sense of peace about this place, hard to believe in a war-torn land. If nothing else, you have to appreciate the architecture of the place, the craftsmanship  - sure we can build airplanes and fancy buildings, but without machinery - these temples were built. A testament to the men of that time (and women? Who knows?)

Afterwards most people headed back into town; we had booked our tuk-tuk to continue onto the other temples whilst they were quiet. You can walk it, but some are many kilometres apart so you won't get as many covered in a day so even for the fittest hikers I would recommend using a tuk-tuk or bicycle. We had also bought our ticket the evening before for sunset which included the following day (USD20) - and was enough to do the short tour circuit - (our hostel gave us a map - but this is also good)
http://www.canbypublications.com/siemreap/srtemples.htm

Guide books tell you to buy your ticket after 5pm but the office closes at 5pm so be there about 4.30!
So we continued forward to Bayon (the gates are extraordinary, I took my time looking at all the different faces, wondering what they were communicating!) We were approached by a little boy in Bayon who offered to show us around. He told us he was five, but he must have been more like ten. I asked why he wasn't at school but he didn't answer me. April indulged him and let him be her guide and of course afterwards he asked for money. He did have alot of facts and he was a darling but this really isn't encouraged - and he asked for more money after she gave him USD5. I'd imagine earning this money encourages them not to be at school so it isn't ideal. Families do live inside the grounds and have to make a living but this isn't the right way.

Some of the temples are more demanding than others  - since restoration work has been completed you can now climb to the top of Baphuon, but be careful and ensure you have excellent footwear - the steps are slippy and narrow (we went in rainy season) and people have been injured (apparently one died!) after falling off them. The only thing to break your fall is more rock - a little disconcerting!

There are other interesting sites within the walls of the city of Angkor Thom, such as the terrace of elephants, which I loved and the Wall of lepers. Also just before these there was a cafe area where we stopped for some pancakes and coconut milk. It was a little more expensive than town but really not too bad relative to Western pricing. The service was great - always with a smile! You can also buy big bottles of water along the way for USD2 (excessive price but handy when you're walking mid-morning in the sun).

There are alot of people selling their wares within Angkor Thom and around the site. Some are extraordinary. I had to travel light but one guy was painting large tile images outside Bayon and his work really was beautiful. He was charging something like USD15 for a piece. We went onward to Ta Keo and Ta Phrom, famous for portrayal in the first Tomb raider movie. It would be interesting to know if the Hollywood bigwigs contributed any money to the restoration of the temples? Much work is ongoing and most is credited to foreign investment, particularly from Japan. It is fascinating to see how the trees have uprooted rocks or grown around them - it brings another quality to the place and I hope they don't remove all of them.

We finished our tour around 12.45 (after arriving around 5am). You could get more done in the day, but it gets pretty hot around midday and we were rather fatigued (and temple-d) out. I'm really glad I did it, and I'll never forget either sunrise or sunset at Angkor Wat. I think sunrise wasn't quite so spectacular for me as I'd seen sunset first, but maybe different times of year bring different effects.

It's definitely worth reading up on the history beforehand, and also the layout so you have an idea of where you're going and what you're doing. It's also definitely worth continuing on after sunrise to beat the crowds, who seem to start arriving around 9am.

Airport Inertia

Airports are not indicative of the nature of a place and it's probably a good thing, given that I usually arrive in them woozy from lack of, or emerging from sleep, sedatives or a couple of glasses of champagne. In fact, the more I land at, the more they seem to blur into one another. This is one part of globalisation I don't like - I understand that logistics may dictate a certain amount in the design of an airport but I really think more flavour can be added to the interior design at least.

Sometimes we're treated to the stunning visual map of a city at night whilst the plane descends into land - I will never forget my arrival into Dubai in 2004 - it felt like landing on the Vegas strip. I had never seen so much neon or so many skyscrapers. Nowadays the plane always seems to come in across the desert so we don't receive the same visual impact. The airport itself is nondescript. White, more white and acres of space. Passport control is generally a nightmare - regardless of the fact that there's about 60 desks in both Terminal's 1 & 3, they are either partly unmanned or just so busy. One of my favourite life-aids comes into use here - E-gate card, which I am lucky enough to own as I have residency in the

U.A.E.

Malaga airport at least tries to brighten the mood amongst arrivals - on the way to passport control you pass a number of photographs displaying the wonders that can be reached from the airport - the Andalucian countryside in all it's glory - Cordoba, Seville, Granada and of course Malaga itself (any photos of the Rock of Gibraltar are conspicuously absent!). It's many treasures both architectural and objets d'art are covered in the exhibition. Everytime I enter I smile, because I know I'm already in Spain.

Cordoba





This year, Dublin airport - or the airport I should say closest to home (but I don't even know what home is anymore) - put on an exhibition of it's own - of Ireland's faces. Some are famous and some aren't. I appreciate what they are trying to do and given that we were an almost completely indigenous island until very recently there are certain celtic traits which are clearly visible and perhaps do suggest to one that you've landed in Ireland - but it doesn't inspire any passion in me for being home. The good thing is that if you land in Dublin on a clear day - you have already been treated to some striking scenery flying in from the Irish sea across Howth head, along Portmarnock and can even spy Croke Park Stadium in the distance.

Artwork trumps ad-work every time and for those stuck in endless terminals something to enlighten oneself on a travellator is a nice distraction - and perhaps for some an education.

I'm sure many of you have visited Heathrow, London and JFK, New York so I don't need to mention how soulless they are. I'm not a Heathrow hater though - I've been through it so many times now that I find it easy to manage and I certainly think it has improved in recent years. Security is a nightmare though, which has become a given in any international city (funnily enough I flew from Sharjah International Airport in U.A.E other day - and I didn't even have to remove my laptop or liquids from my case - perhaps not funny at all? Are Budget airlines not a threat?).

What shocks me is that in the increasingly fashion-obsessed world we're living in is that designers haven't gotten their pricey paws on this huge market? I can certainly see a Dior-Dubai Terminal or Burberry-Beirut. What bigger boost to an ego than a Terminal named after your brand? Even the First class lounges are basic, wouldn't they benefit from a Cavalli-esque makeover? Perhaps the wheels are already in motion, it really wouldn't surprise me.

What is less surprising is that aesthetics are being considered in the new airport designs. Renowned architect, Zaha Hadid is onboard to modernise and visualise a new Heathrow Airport after her deisgns for Zagreb airport in Croatia proved winning.
http://www.wired.com/design/2013/02/airport-architecture/
For me - there's still a lack of substance to these new-gen designs - as they don't reflect the surrounding countryside or culture of each place whatsoever. The design for the new Incheon airport in South Korea looks more like an elaborate flyover rather than saying anything about this wonderfully cultural country.

However I am no architect or engineer and perhaps looking for aesthetics in these functional places is superfluous. All I know is that I ensure my visa is complete before entering any of these airports (this includes filling out those blasted pre-landing cards before arrival), that my passport is handy (not buried in hand luggage), that I have shoes I can slip off, comfortable clothing, a bottle of water and a good book on my Kindle for reading on the queue for passport control. But note to those creatures of vision - we spend more time inside these buildings than outside so some attention to form would be appreciated by those who are terminally in terminals.