18 things I’ve learned from traveling to Asia and Downunder. Visiting 14 countries.

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1.       Australia: Spiders aren’t actually that scary! – When I first arrived in Australia I checked everything! I mean everything for spiders. I was sure I would die from spider bites. I read that Australia is home to all the deadliest animals in the world and I was sure those spiders would get me.
     

After around a month I stopped. I saw a few redbacks in the outback and a funnel web in Byron Bay but no spiders ever attacked me. After around 5 months I was more frightened of Crocodiles. Never saw one.



2.       New Zealand: The Lord of the Rings movie didn’t lie about the scenery! OMG! We spend five weeks in New Zealand and I loved the nature (and the people). Everywhere we went and everywhere we stopped the car was amazing and breathtakingly stunning. I wanted to be Samwise and go on a trip with Frodo across New Zealand and to this day I want to go back and just walk and walk all over the country.




3.       Fiji: Fiji Time! Everyone who arrives in Fiji will experience that Fiji is on Fiji time. Nothing gets done in “western time standards”. At our hotel, there was more staff than guests and when we came home after a long day out we still didn’t have towels. Every single member of the staff was lovely and welcoming and stopped whatever they were doing to wave and yell “ Bula “ to us whenever they saw us, but getting clean towels were a very hard task. (We were staying at the Shangri La Resort).




4.       Malaysia: Willpower is all you need and an amazing mountain guide! Turns out you can climb a mountain. All you need is an amazing guide and willpower. I climbed the Mt. Kota Kinabalu. I was not in amazing shape, I hated my body, my legs, and my life. What got me to the top was my 1.30 mountain guide who held my hand for the last 3 hours and kept telling me “not very far, just 900 meters to the top” want to borrow more warm clothes?” you want me to carry?” He was amazing! And I will remember him for the rest of my life.



5.       Indonesia,
Sumatra: Orangutans are adorable! Orangutans are probably the most adorable animal in the world. They are darlings when they are babies and still gorgeous when they are adults. And they resemble us so much. 



6.       Java: Watching sunsets and sunrises do make you happier! Whether you watch a sunrise over the temple grounds or the ocean it does make the heart smile.



7.       Bali: Hanging out with locals is more fun! My local Balinese friends took me river rafting and snorkeling in Bali and showed me all the secret places, cooked me home cooked meals and let me stay in authentic Balinese houses. 


 
8.       Lombok:  They say it takes 3 days to climb a mountain, but we beg the differ! Most people use the night on the 3rd day to reach the top of mt Rinjani but we decided to see the sunset instead of the sunrise from the top. Smart? I don’t know, but we had it all to ourselves.


9.       Flores: Here are Dragons! And they love to eat everything that comes close to them. We saw around 11 Komodo Dragons and were told that they eat eachother and everything else that comes close.



10.    Japan: Walking around dressed up as a Hello Kitty figure is normal!  When visiting Tokyo you will soon realize that wearing manga costumes, Bishõjo,  Disney onesies or french maids costumes is considered normal. And if your pet isn’t wearing clothes you are crazy!





11.    Singapore: Money can buy you happiness! In corporate, buzzing high roller Singapore consumerism is the main activity. You work hard, you pay much and you show off! 


12.    Sri Lanka: Trains are awesome! Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory I owe you an apology! Trains really are awesome. Especially the one from Ella to Kandy that displays the most beautiful scenery in Sri Lanka.




13.    Cambodia: Everyone can be a prostitute! When you live in a country where the average salary is 100USD per month and a prostitute can charge 50 USD per intercourse most women will moonlight as a prostitute. And who can blame them. If that were my life I would do the same.



14.    China: I love toilets that have doors! After backpacking a month through rural China experiencing a toilet that has walls, functioning doors and flush is heaven.



15.    Thailand: Pussy-Ping-Pong-Shows are not fun! OMG! Do not go! It was terrible seeing the sex industry at its worst. The lady did pull 6 goldfish a hamster and a small bird out of her lady parts along with 50 razor blades and 25 nails, but gosh the show is primarily young women in sexual positions doing things they obviously do not enjoy. 


16.    Vietnam: Dogs are food! When going to the market you can order and bring home a freshly chopped dogleg. The carcasses are lying in the stalls and the merchants grab an ax and start chopping off the part of the dog you want.



17.    Indien: Elephants suffer when they are used for tourism! Don’t ride elephants. Don’t touch elephants. Elephants do not like to be tourist attractions. In India, elephants are painted and transported around so tourists can take photos with them. This might seem harmless but elephant feet har not made to walk on hot asphalt. The heat created blisters inside the elephant's feet which in time will make permanent damage to its feet and make it limp which will make the owner kill them because they can’t walk.


18.    The Philippines: Being vegetarian is impossible. The Philippines love their meat. You can get almost every type of meat you want and prepared in 100 different ways. But if you do not eat meat you can have chicken. When explained that chicken is meat you can have nothing! Manila and some of the more touristy areas in the Philippines do have vegetarian and vegan options but it does require a lot of research to get food. 



To be continued for more lessons learned different places in the world.

*All photos are private and taken by me
 

Location: Manila, Metro Manila, Filippinerne

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