Tour Groups & Claustrophobia

Adapting to life on the road has been surprisingly easily for me. I think it’s because I live quite the nomadic lifestyle in Perth. Two weeks in and I already feel like a seasoned traveller.

I spent three days travelling through Southern Italy with a tour group I booked some months before I left. I was worried about getting lonely and I thought it would be something I would enjoy.

BUT I just do not get tour groups. The people who join tour groups are these people;

And although couples dressed in matching outfits and seeing people take photos on their iPads has become the GREATEST joy in my life, immersing myself in them made me feel way out of my element.

Now, I’m being slightly dramatic.
It’s not that I didn’t have fun, or that I didn’t like all the people but having someone tell you where you can go, sleep, eat and presenting you with a printed itinerary isn’t my idea of adventure (despite our attractive tour guide producing some weird fantasies that had an amazing resemblance the movie Ghost).

 

They just take all the uncertainty out of travelling. 

I found myself mindlessly going from day to day. There’s something addictive in arriving at a new destination and being so petrified and excited that your stomach feels like it’s going to escape from your mouth.

I did do some things that I probably wouldn’t have done on my own like;
Ride a chairlift on Capri Island,

Experience the Sorrento nightlife,

(Merry Italians flood the streets until late at night, so much so that cars don't drive down them because they wouldn't be able to get though. It's the most amazing thing to be apart of.)

Have someone with me to take this gem of a photo,

Drive down the Amalfi Coastline,

Tours arn't bad... they're just not right for me. It’s not the type of travelling that I’m falling so madly in love with.

Real uninhibited freedom has become horribly addictive and I found my feet getting itchy far too often stuck on the bus.

I’m much more of an ‘illegal Red Vespa driving’ kind of person. More of a bad ass.

Of Rome.

I remember reading that if Rome could be summarised in one word, that word would be 'sex'.

Rome lives and breathes raw sex appeal. If it was a person, Rome would be Raquel Welch or Jane Fonda in Barbarella.

Everything about Rome is designed to seduce you.

Especially the food.

I never thought it would be possible to lust after city before. Rome can have me in any compromising position she wants.

However, I find this oddly contradictory considering there are over 900 churches here and it's arguably one of the most Catholic cities in the world. They even have tour groups that consist entirely of priests. 

Rome combines two things I love, art & history and does it with such style it’s impossible for me not to be mindlessly happy here. 

I must look like a total derp because I’m just wandering from place to place smiling widely while my cheeks are stuffed stupid with pizza and gelati.

Derpy just like this;

Public transport here isn't the best. At the moment they only have one working metro line but it's so beautiful wandering the wide cobble stone streets, I don't mind in the slightest. I just wish it wasn't so damned hot.

You can catch buses to help you get around and to escape the harsh sun, plus there are just SO many tourists it's impossible to check everyones tickets and with the help of some brisk but not suspicious walking, you'll never have to buy a ticket.

If you're a hopeless stinge like me, don't pay for walking tours. So many of them are around the place, just go to a landscape that appeals to you and creep around them. You'll get to go at your own pace to the landmarks and you'll overhear some pretty interesting stuff. Like during my visit to the Pantheon today I overheard that Michelangelo is buried there AND I overheard all that for FREE.

Don't judge.

If there's one thing you should do in your life, it's visit the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Museum. It's easily been the most beautiful church I've ever been to. Covered in art and beauty and hope and everything that makes travelling amazing. I managed to take one photo but it does it NO justice;

Italy gained independence in 1861 and Vatican City gained its independence from Italy in 1929.

For me it has been the slap in the face that I've needed to wake me up and shove life down my throat. I think Rome will always be special to me now because it's the place that I've discovered my independence and it's the first time I've really enjoyed my freedom and not been scared of it.

Ah Rome.

My Jane Fonda of cities.

Le' Paris

Ahhh Paris.
The city of love.
They say that love is in the air and it certainly is but only if love ate too much asparagus and doesn't drink enough water.

Yeah, it really does smell like pee because Parisians treat this place like a public urinal.

But it doesn't matter too much because it's still beautiful.

My favourite thing about Paris is how the buildings tower over you. You can't see anything, then all of a sudden the road will turn and I'll be faced with a world famous land mark and I'll think "shit, that's the Sacre Coeur." Which happens to also be one of my favourite buildings in Paris.

They say that the dome on top of the Sacre Coeur brings hope to travellers. When you're sad or lonely or scared you see the dome and know that you're not alone because somewhere inside, someone is praying for you.

I've stayed in my first ever hostel and it's been a pleasant change to have people to talk to. I was beginning to become concerned because I've began to narrate my own life via lengthy internal monologue like JD from Scrubs.
I have already instigated a game of circle of death with the people in my dorm and impressed no one with my magic ticks.
Things are going swimmingly.

I've seen every cliché' imaginable in Paris including a girl walking the streets in heels and dripping in designer labels, carrying a poodle. I had to fight the urge to shake her hand and thank her for all the joy she brought me.

I even had a go at being clichéd myself. I rented a bike and road around the streets with a lovely Queensland couple.

In true Australian fashion, we nagged for beer until the tour guid gave in and stopped for a pint. Make sure you don't buy food or beer or anything from where you can see a landmark from, you'll easily pay 2-4 times more.

Paris is one of those places where you can just indulge in being here and the people I've encountered have been so friendly and pleasant it's great.

I'm not going to say a lot about Paris now. I'll be back here in September to meet up with Daniel, Rak & Isaac, so I've only really been here for one full day and French Monday = Australian Sunday so most things were closed.

The Search for Enlightenment

...does not end in KL and it doesn't even really start in KL.

While I'm on holiday I get to do crazy things, like this morning I had cake for breakfast and James wanted to better explain the rail system to me but I love that I can correct him.

Because I'm searching for the meaning of life, I'm longing for the day when I get that 'oh, yeah. So that's it' moment.

I catch the train to visit the KL Towers because it's their most famous landmark. As I walk through the train station I realise that it has seamlessly lead straight to a shopping mall and I am confronted with horrible images like this;

When I eventually found the towns I had my first 'meh' moment and a touristy photo;

I decide to go inside to check it out. Having no idea what I would find I was somewhat excited. HOWEVER inside KL's most popular landmark is two things;

1. A shopping mall 
2. Some asshole trying to charge you $40 to go up the elevator.

After almost being killed several times because everything with wheels and an engine wants you DEAD, I'm happy to return home.

Karen, James and James' sister offer to show me the night life and I'm all too eager to say yes.

(I tried frog for the first time and my mind played a video of Kermit singing 'Rainbow Connection' and I felt so horribly guilty.)

The four of us stay up talking at a Starbucks till 1:30am. James calls me crazy and stupidly brave for doing what I'm doing and tells me it's like when a Buddhist sheds their identity and material possessions to spend months on their own.

Because we talk about religion so much, Karen suggests going to the Batu Cave which is the Indian holy ground in Malaysia. Indians from all over the world travel to come and prey here.

There are 207 stairs that lead from the bottom all the way to the cave entrance.

"Finally," I think as I look up and notice how all the foliage reaches up towards the light, "something wholesome. Something amazing."

There's a small Indian temple in the middle of the cave and I line up to be blessed. After I prey, the Indian 'holy man' rubs ash on my forehead and wishes me a safe trip. Just when I think that I've had some kind amazing spiritual connection with this place, he leans over to me and asks for a donation.
I explain that I've already given one when I entered.
"No, this is separate," he says. "If you give me a personal donation I will make sure you are extra blessed," and winks.

This makes me notice his unusual amount of back hair, the fact that he smells like menthol cigarettes and he begins to resemble every kebab shop owner, ever.

On the way home, I see the most interesting building I've ever seen in my life. I press my nose against the window of the car and open my eyes greedily. "What's THAT building?!" I ask Karen in amazement.

"Yeah, it's so pretty huh? It's a shopping mall," and just like that, a part of me dies.

Kuala Lumpur

The only thing I knew about KL was that it was home to the worlds largest flag pole and that Australians went there to shop. The idea behind my trip isn't to indulge on materialistic junk so I had planned to experience the hell out of that flag pole and bask in all its magnificent glory!

I arrived safely and Rak's cousin Jackie picked a weary Tara up from the airport. Jackie had made a sign with my name on it, held it up and waved it around as I walked through the 'arrival gate', this made me smile a lot. She also pronounces my name as 'Terra' and this makes me smile more. 

I'm currently staying with her and Rak's family for the next few days. They've been so amazingly accommodating. My room has clean sheets, wardrobe space and even my own air-con unit so I can sleep easily at night. They've already started fussing over me and my horribly injured legs. 

This is my room, it's taken 6 hours for me to get it to this state;

and here's the view from my window;

The housing here are more like apartments or developments. A company buys the land and builds 100 identical houses next to each other.

I also this it's the funniest thing in the world that they have THIS sign;

for THIS fully grown dog;

It's nice being able to stay slightly out of the city and with local people because I feel like I get a rounder sense of KL as a place. Jackie's brother showed me how to use the rail system this morning and while we waited for the train, he warned me yet again, about pick pockets.
From what I can gather from our conversation, the people who live here just don't trust each other.

He explains that they've had the same party in government for 50 years, and that although they are a 'democracy' the government in charge at the time of an election is responsible for counting the votes... in a locked room... where no one else can have access to them.
I think we must be doing it wrong back home...

So, after learning that the people don't trust their government, each other, or themselves I was super nervous about heading into the city on my own. Every train here has a 'women's only' compartment because they don't trust their women with anyone else either.

I feel like, this would be an excellent place to pick-up but there are signs saying no indecent behaviour plastered all over the train and the dominant religion here is Islam so I'm not liking my chances.

I guess I only really did three things today;

- Got horribly lost and found myself about seven times, resulting in me becoming MASTER of the monorail, KTM, KLIA and Ampang rail system;

- Had reflexology.

- Ate. The food here is AMAZING!

For those of you who have been to Bali with me, you'll know that my philosophy on street food is,
'the dirtier the place, the better the food tastes'.
I'm basing this on the fact that there's something magical about a wok that has never been washed. It just adds and expands the flavour really.

If I'm sick tomorrow, just know it was totally worth it.

To be honest, I have no real idea where I spent majority of my time today but I only saw about six tourists and a whole heap of locals.

So tomorrow I plan to go to exploring a little more. Now that I got my head around the transport system I won't be so overwhelmed and I'll be able to get around a lot easier. I'm thinking of going to see the twin towers and then to the national art gallery or planetarium.