Future beach bumming and partying across SE Asia.

I am uber excited!! One of my really good friends from school who I haven’t seen for 6 years is going backpacking with me across South East Asia for 3 weeks this summer. I’ve been working on an itinerary for us which is looking shit hot and figured it might be useful to other folk planning a trip over there. Here’s a rough sketch for ya.

We’ll start off on a flight from Manila to Thailand (he lives in the Philippines and my mom will be moving there this summer) and spend the night at Artist’s Place which is a total artsy hostel in Bangkok. After a day wandering about the city we’ll get on a night bus to Trat and catch the morning ferry to the beautiful beaches of Koh Chang. We’ll spend a couple days lazing on the beach with drinks and going on elephant treks through the mountains. From there we’ll backtrack to Trat and chill out for the day, catch the night bus to Bangkok and party hard for a night.

The next day we’ll be on the jungle train. First stop is Butterworth, Malaysia where we’ll catch a ferry to Penang for more partying and beaching. Then we’ll get the night train to Kuala Lumpur where we’ve got some friends who will be our tour-guides and give us a taste of Malaysian life. Final stop is Singapore and we’ll probably spend most of our time beaching on Sentosa Island. I also have to go the Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom which sounds ultra cool.

From Singapore we’ll take a ferry to Batam, Indonesia and then a flight into Jakarta where we’ve got another friend to show us around. We’ll take a quick side trip to Bali with Air Asia (super cheap - only 23 quid return!) for some more beach bumming. Finally we’ll head back to Jakarta for one last night of partying and then back to Manila.

The whole trip from Bangkok down to the final stop in Jakarta, including all transport and accommodation for 3 weeks, comes to a grand total of ₤150!! How cheap is that! A major plus is that we save money by travelling at night. I may be knackered by the end of it, but it’ll be worth it. Can’t wait – I’m so excited! I’ll certainly expand on all this once we actually go, so stay tuned.

An endangered state: Christiania.

This has to be my favourite place in Copenhagen, and unfortunately it is on the brink of extinction.

Christiania is known as ‘fristaden’ or the free state. There is no such thing as ownership or government or laws. Everything is communal. Decisions are not made unless it is unanimous among its 800 inhabitants, and it works.

Christies is primarily known for its open sale of marijuana. Booths used to line Pusher Street where anyone could go and buy natural drugs such as marijuana and magic mushrooms. Nemoland was an open area filled with benches and statues and pots of flowers where people of all sorts sat with a beer in one hand and a joint in the other. Massive signs telling you to “Say NO to hard drugs” are everywhere.

In recent years, sale of cannibis has been stopped by the police, and plans to demolish Christiania are underway. This is something I strongly disapprove of.

Firstly, Christies isn’t only a place where you can buy a joint. It’s a place rich in art and culture. The graffiti is simply exquisite. My favourite piece looks like a picture that has been superimposed onto a wall of a man with a joint in his hand, exhaling a massive cloud of smoke. Beautiful paintings and sculptures are everywhere. Even the houses are works of art and are often the subject of architectural school excursions.

Art galleries and shops are numerous. People sell different arts and crafts such as home-made toothpaste, soap, candles, chairs, tables, candelabras…the list is endless. One shop called Kvindesmedien (The Women’s Smithy) consists of three women who make absolutely stunning furniture and sculptures. To see some of their work, visit http://www.kvindesmedien.dk. The site is in Danish, but it is easy enough to navigate.

There is always live music or theatrical performances. Christianites often meet down in the pubs with their instruments and hold a little jam session. There’s also a large concert hall where well-known bands often come to play – I missed Red Hot Chili Peppers by a week last time I visted!!

Again, I must stress the sense of community that exists in Christiania. Nobody owns anything in Christiania. Instead, everyone and everything there belongs to the area, and it is each and every Christianite’s responsibility to take care of it. The Citizen’s Council presides, and every inhabitant is a member and has equal say in the decisions that are made. They are also very environmentally friendly: recycling, using solar power, and cycling. There are no cars in Christies apart from the now regular visit of patrol vehicles.

And yes, the sale of marijuana is also very important. As previously mentioned, hard drugs are not sold in Christiania. As a matter of fact, anyone who tried to sell anything apart from cannibis was kicked out, and these are the junkies you now see prowling Copenhagen’s red light district.

Christiania was the only place where people could go to buy marijuana without the offer of other drugs. Think of all the young teenagers wanting to smoke their first joint. Instead of going to a place where they know of the quality and purity of their weed, they are now forced to approach gangsters.

By gangsters, I am talking about folk like Hell’s Angels who don’t make their money from selling wee clumps of hash. They’ll try to get kids hooked onto harder drugs by offering ‘free’ lines of coke. Naïve fourteen-year-olds wanting to be accepted by these tough guys won’t think twice when rolling up that note and raising it to their virgin nostrils. Oh it angers me!

The Christianites are fighting to keep their home. Sweatshirts and other various articles are on sale in an attempt to raise funds to keep it that way. Unfortunately, I don’t know if we can prevent the authorities from closing down this beloved area, but hell if we won’t try!

For more information, visit:

http://www.christiania.org/folderus/

http://www.christiania.org/main/lan.php?lan=gb

Homesick.

I don’t normally miss home. I think I loved moving out a bit too much. I left home five years ago, and I rarely get homesick, however, this is the second time I suffer of the ailment.

It’s been four years since I last spent the christmas season with my folks, and I was really looking forward to spending it with them this year. Unfortunately, due to the chaotic mess that is currently my life, I have left booking flights to the last minute, and the odds aren’t looking good.

What a downer. I just want to go home. Recently I have suffered from a touch of winter depression, and my spirits have been quite low so I’ve found it hard to get my ass off the couch and out the door. Five bouts of the flu since late September haven’t helped all too much, especially since this means I’ve fallen behind with university work so it constantly feels like I’m playing catch up. Then there’s the fact that I’ve been extremely disorganised with time, money, and everything in general.

Home is exactly what I need right now. The sun always shines down there and it’s 25C in January. My mom will take care of everything for me. There’s no need to cook, clean, go shopping, do laundry – any of those dreaded chores. Most importantly there’s plenty of moral support and tlc. And I can’t forget my gorgeous dog.

Guess I may just have to sort my life alone, up here in the miserable wet darkness that is the UK. But I’m a tough cookie, so it’ll all be fine.