phuketrichard wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2020 8:50 am

bittermelon wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2020 8:42 am Nice women in Nepal? Really? Always imagined them to be a bit buxom from all the backpacks they're hauling to the summit.

Check out @Kung-fu Hillbilly photo's, I was unaware of this until he brought it to my attention.

There some, but nothing like Thailand, Laos, Burma or Cambodia
lovely country, lovely people

Dude, the women in Nepal are better looking than Burma and Laos 100%. I'm sure there are some wonderful and beautiful women in those countries, but they as a whole they are nowhere near as pretty as Nepali girls. Nepali girls are famous for their beauty and it's obvious why. Laos ? OMG haha.

Chuck Borris wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2020 8:09 amCuba.

Possible, but currently there's only 3 islands open to tourists with another one about to open.

Personally I do aim to go to Cuba some day (it's an anomoly that I've not been there already), but when I do I want to be able to see it properly. Most certainly I want to see Havana, and that is currently off limits to tourists.

@General Mackevili
Brazil – Been twice. First time was basically Rio (including carnival) to Iguazu Falls, which was a great trip. 2nd time I went to Salvador de Bahia and around which was also a really good trip. I love Brazil and there are definitely a few more places I’d be interested to visit there. I’m hoping I’m going to get some work in at some point (otherwise I’ll be cooked at some point in the Spring) and will need a decent place to base myself for a bit if I do, and I reckon Buzios, Paraty, Florionopolis, Isla Grande etc are places you could hang out for a while. Brazil would be a good option for me subject to what’s happening with covid.

Sri Lanka – Been about 6 times. I do like it there and enjoy the food and there’s some beautiful beaches, but although it would still be a good option I’d be a bit bored after 3 months.

Egypt – been to Cairo for a couple of days and Sharm El Sheik for about a week. Sharm’s a really decent place I thought. It was about 10 years ago now and I remember thinking I’d be back, but never made it so far. I’m not a diver but the snorkelling from the beach is fantastic, and there’s usually some great deals on some nice hotels. I really did not like Cairo and was pleased to get out of there. I think Cairo has the worst international airport I’ve ever visited, and in a way I sadly thought it was fairly representative of the city. Maybe I wasn’t there long enough to appreciate it ?

Ethiopia – Not been there. Was on my list a few years back when I was getting round and seeing places and have heard great things about it. Doesn’t appeal to me now. Too much long dusty bumpy bus journeys etc.

Greece – I’ve been in the islands for the last 2 months and it’s been great. Am going from Kalymnos to Kos tomorrow which I think will be my 12th island this trip. After a few days in Kos I plan to go to Athens and get an apartment there for a few weeks (prices aren’t too bad at all). By end of Nov though it will be cold and I for one will be keen to find warmer climes (I had a couple of years in UAE about 10 years ago and have been petrified of European winters ever since).

The one I didn’t mention in the article, but which someone else raised is Mexico. I already count it as a country after a 24 hour layover in Mexico City, but haven’t seen the country at all in reality. I looked into it yesterday and I can see a trip to Baja California Sur and Yukatan via Guadalahara working, and this is currently my favoured option. Will see what happens with Covid though.

I used to get around a lot, but the last 3-4 years have just come back to SEA every time I get the chance. Apart from it being an easy place to be, it just feels in my soul now, almost like it's going home. Had seen that continuing, but this is probably as good a chance as any to see somewhere new.

@phuketrichard
Brazil is currently at about 80 infections per 100,000. It’s way down the list now and lower than many countries in Europe. Obviously it’s a risk worth bearing in mind, but as things stand I don’t see it as a red light.
Agree Sri Lanka’s a great place. Yeah, shame about Nepal but they get so many tourists anyway don’t really know why they needed a visit Nepal

@SternAAlbifrons
That’s quite a story about the elephant ! If you saw a Leopard then you are a very lucky man.

popping in wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2020 4:54 pm Hey fellow vagabonds.

What you all doing when it gets cold this year ?

Personally I reckon I'm going to stay in Greece until probably end of November.

So what do with Dec-Mar ?

Obviously things are changing all the time. In terms of SEA, I think the most likely to open to tourists is Indonesia, but that isn't happening until at least January.

As things stand, I'm looking at the following options:

-NEPAL (looks like it's opening next week with a PCR test. Could be a decent option - they have pretty ladies too)
-BRAZIL (seems to be open already with a PCR test. Could be a good option)
-SRI LANKA (talking about reopening soon, with similar requirements to Cambo but without the visa issue. Could do the job for 3-4 months)
-ZANZIBAR/Tanzanier (seems to be open already with a PCR test, but how long can you stay in Kendwa without going nuts ?)
-EGYPT (seems to be open already with a PCR test, but how long can you stay in Sharm without going nuts ?)

If you are in Greece, I reckon the two best options are Turkey or Tunisia. Both have some really great Airbnb deals going due to lack of tourists (nice apartments for around US$400 a month), both have excellent rail networks for travelling around at low cost, and you can get to both from Athens for a couple of hundred bucks. If I hadnt got the visa for Cambodia I was going to spend Christmas in Tunisia down south a bit in Sousse, and then Turkey - some amazing places around Cappadocia, maybe even see some snow. That would have taken me up to about March or April at which point hopefully somewhere like Bali or Sri Lanka would be open, with Cambodia later in the year. There you go, all planned out. No dont thank me, just glad to be of service.

^^^^ No PI, never saw a leopard or a wild elephant in Sri Lanka.
1980 and before my real wild animal days.

Thought about going back around 2002 for the national parks but didn't make it.
Some of those animal sanctuaries are nearly 2000 years old i believe. ??
Yala, where the leopards are, stems from an ancient Buddhist sanctuary from memory. ??

and yeah that elephant thing was one of those remarkable happenings that sometimes/often pop up when you are seriously vagabonding.
We were just trying to work out how to flatten all these assorted Manali fingers, balls, blocks, flat cakes etc, when the mahout walked down the beach road (Hikkaduwa) with his charge. I of course was up for the opportunity.
We never stopped laughing for about 3 years. (I bet the mahout did too, he loved it at the time)
One big foot, carefully pressed down, about 10 times. on a concrete block right beside the road. Better than trying to organise a mechanical press.

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2020 3:37 pm ^^^^ No Rich, never saw a leopard or a wild elephant in Sri Lanka.
1980 and before my real wild animal days.

Thought about going back around 2002 for the national parks but didn't make it.
Some of those animal sanctuaries are nearly 2000 years old i believe. ??
Yala, where the leopards ,are stems from an ancient Buddhist sanctuary from memory. ??

and yeah that elephant thing was one of those remarkable happenings that sometimes/often pop up when you are seriously vagabonding.
We were just trying to work out how to flatten all these assorted Manali fingers, balls, blocks, flat cakes etc, when the mahout walked down the beach road (Hikkaduwa) with his charge. I of course was up for the opportunity.
We never stopped laughing for about 3 years. (I bet the mahout did too, he loved it at the time)
One big foot, carefully pressed down, about 10 times. on a concrete block right beside the road. Better than trying to organise a mechanical press.

We tried to take the boat to sri lanka from the tip of India in the early 70s, we were refused because we were "too dirty and had long hair"

Yeah Volumes, I came down thru Delhi all the was down South on the train.
I used to dress really straight when loaded, but was a bit gnarly after non stop tough travelling.

When i got there i found they had just implemented really strict controls and checks on the ferry because of "terrorists". My "packing" was pretty casual for that part of the trip so I flew over to Colombo instead.

Serious vagabonding was so easy back then - for those of us blessed to survive all the goddammed bloody foolishness we used to get up to..

nemo wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2020 9:07 pm I like it fine right here, Nepali girls are rather conservative.

I havent been to Nepal but a mate has, and he reckons the Dance Bars in Kathmandu are full of girls with the same sort of set up as the Girly bars in KOW.