Worlds worst place to backpack #5

Pakistan - Hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons.





The numero uno wanted hombre in the world was recently taken out underneath the noses of the regime. A lot of questions remain in the dust and dried up blood. The dilemma backpackers face is simple.


Is this a safe country to travel or is this a safe haven for extremism?





Pakistan is situated in a very volatile region of the planet. Its bordered by Iran, Afganistan, China & India. Pretty much screwed on all sides in terms of niggly little armed conflicts and geo-politik tug-o-war.





Its safe to say that Pakistans long and windy roads are no longer the same as the famous backpacker trails of the Silk Road.









Those days are gone. Long gone are the free wandering hippies, goneski the tourism infrastructure, however loose it was back then, its looser now. The only thing left that remains from the free floating 1960s are the drugs.





Pakistans current tourism campaigns seem to be directed at all the wrong people. Theres no Flashpacker accommodation anywhere in Islamabad. Theres no party scene for those Partypackers in Karachi.


Slippery Osama had evaded the most intelligent intelligence in the world. He was a mythical figure, a mystery man, a man who was supposed to be hiding out in a cave. But nah, he was kicking it Pakistan. Living the dream with the million dollar pad, couple of attentive ladies, watching dvds with popcorn on the couch. Sounds like your average hungover day in an inner city hostel?!?


Lets not get carried away.....


Anti US and Johnny Foreigner sentiment is running at fever pitch. Coupled with the constant onslaught of Drone attacks in the countryside, its not such an inviting place at this time.





The only fun thing youll find in Pakistan at the moment is a game of cricket in the street. It could turn ugly real quick though. And never, ever, high five anyone.....


Stay cool, stay clear of Pakistan.

Freedom Camping & Backpacking

It boils down to R E S P E C T.





Respect for mother nature and the environment and respect for New Zealand and the people who live there.


If you decide to take a pee, or worse, rustle up a number 2, just outside your campervan or behind your tent, you may think nothing of it. I mean, it will wash away with the rain, perhaps even bio-degrade or melt away. Its human waste, surely it will erode into the organic waste that makes up your surroundings....





Well sadly no. Think about the collective actions of the next 63 people who camp in that exact spot over the next 2 weeks. If they all emptied their bowels into the same spot there would exist a pile of human feces or a small river of yellow pee enough to fill a couple of buckets. Empty those buckets into the soil, which leads to the river. Game over clean water.






The Department of Conservation do a great job in supplying long drop toilet facilities and even running water. All for a measly $6NZ. To blatantly ignore the good work that goes into allowing the tens of thousands of campers who visit the same areas we all do, would be a slap in the face for yourself.


One of the key things you quickly learn when out on the road traveling, is that you rely on the local environment and local people to keep it the way it is. Perhaps 10,000 people will stand in the very spot you happened to stand in and take that beautiful photo you have on your desktop. Before you drop that candy wrapper from your pocket, or take a quick pee besides those bushes, imagine for a second if even half of those 10,000 travelers who will visit that exact spot, did the same. It wouldnt be the same. The flies buzzing around that mould of human poo behind the rock would get in the photo. It wouldnt be the same for your friend who visited the year after you.





Its a messy one. The dropping of number 1’s and 2’s has become a national problem.


But there is a simple philosophy being mooted at the moment throughout the country. It seems to be one of the most logical steps towards making freedom camping work. The notion is that every campervan should have a toilet that captures waste that can be emptied at designated spots all over NZ roads.



New Zealand Tourism Website www.camping.org.nz


Its feasible. If you dont posses the means to take your pee pee and poo poo with you, then you cant camp wherever you want.


If you do, then camp where you want and enjoy one of the great aspects of traveling in New Zealand. The freedom to camp.
A clean camper is a good camper.
Camp New Zealands’ way, not your way.





Travel with a collective conscience and enjoy the freedom of camping.


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This story is funny, well kinda....


http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/4519468/Couple-left-to-cower-during-machete-attack

Worlds worst place to backpack #6

Syria - Whats with the freaky dude and all his posters?


Dont be distracted by the hotness of his wife beneath that warm fuzzy coat.  Does this mans face scare you?!





He scares me. Everytime he flashes before my eyes, I see an evil man, a man with a nasty side. His power yield certainly displays a nasty side. 
His loyal and well paid military and security forces have beaten, killed and tortured the Syrians every single time they have tried to voice their opinions publicly.





Its atrocious whats going on. It reminds me of an olde quote of Noam Chomskys, the acts of state terrorism are far worse than acts of individual terrorism.





This man is a terrorist in all sense of the word. Over 11,000 people have gone missing or are simply dead. Bells must be rung, sirens must go off. The alarm is beeping and the world pressed snooze.






Syria is a country where 22 million people live....the country has been living under a military republic since 1963. I thought those days past with the 50's and 60's but seems not.


Life is tough under the regime. Take your own laptop flashpackers as every comment anyone posts in any type of forum in a public internet domain, is recorded and viewed by authorities. Sounds like a very scared authority. One afraid of the implications social media and the internet in general can have upon a society.


Travel is restricted and watched under a close eye. Jimmy Foreigner has personal assistants, although sometimes Jimmy doesnt know about them.





Your average Syrian is lovely. Nice people with moderate standards of living in relative terms. Billy the backpacker would love wandering the old city of Damascus, the Roman ruins of Apamea and the layrinith mystery of Aleppo.


Unfortunately the people of Syria no longer use facebook. The authorities have out smarted them and are one step in front. People dont even use cell phones to send messages. Happy to say however, for those backpackers that do venture, Skype does work and is widely used as a safe channel of communication.






So Syria, with its daunting security presence and its dominating heavy handed authorities comes in at #6 on the worlds worst places to backpack.


Dont stop asking questions where those 11,000 people went......

Pack it or stack it?!

What to pack, what not to pack, that is the question!!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/4916289/The-secret-of-travelling-light

Worlds worst place to backpack #7 ..... continued....

Following on from my list of the worlds worst places to backpack, I had ranked Libya as #7. It now seems like that was a gross under estimation.

This video speaks for itself.

Mother Nature not happy

Mother Nature is rumbling....

earthquakes - check
hurricanes - check
droughts - check
floods - check
global warming - check
volcanic eruptions - check
tsunamis - check



Haiti, Chile, New Zealand, Japan.....the earth's tectonic plates have been jostling for position beneath the surface of the ground we walk upon. Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanos, floods, droughts, cyclones and storms, this world, our world, is volatile at the moment.



As volatile as it is, it is also fragile. Breaking apart, breaking open, crumbling and deteriorating before our very eyes, under our very feet.

Im from New Zealand. Its a small country. Everyone was effected someway or another by the recent earthquake. 200 dead for a small country is significant. Haiti lost hundreds of thousands and now Japan, the latest findings only hours after the quake struck is that police have found a couple of hundred of bodies on a beach. The worst is obviously yet to come when examining the death toll.



What is one to make from all this? This momentum of natural disasters. I can't help but think of the Mayan prophecy surrounding the year 2012. Next year its all meant to come to a head. The details of what was forecasted to happen on this date in the earths calendar was never recorded, only that it would signify a dramatic event or turn in the earths calendar. Reading between the lines leaves me with an empty feeling considering the Mayans were and still are one of the most respectable and intelligent races to ever grace this planet.



In the build up to this year of 2012 predictions were made that 'waves' of natural disasters would take place, presumably leading to a larger, more profound event.



Is this it?! These succession of events just a prelude of what is to come...?! Pachamama is pissed off. Mother Nature is hurting. She has awoken and she will have the last say as us humans continue to rape and pillage her soul.

This video is interesting, the guys voice is classic at the start, but hang in there..



Beware, 2011 is going to be a rocky one. If you were thinking of traveling, do it. Next year you may not be able to travel to many parts of the world, hell, even this year, a lot of the earth may not be so attractive for a backpacking destination. So dont procrastinate anymore, dont delay any of those backpacking dreams you harbour. Seize the day and get amongst as 2012 is going to be .........

Its Fair Trade Fortnight!!!

Fair trade travel. I urge you all to think about it for a moment.

Your travels are intertwined with trading with locals no matter where you are. Buying a deep fried papa rellena down the side streets of Bogota, your vegetables from mama down at the local market in Luang Prabang or your fridge magnet you bought for your granny in Rome.




Your trading with locals. Haggling, bargaining, purchasing, buying, swapping, cashing in, cashing up. The locals feel the brunt of your actions. Their livelihoods depend on where and how you spend your money. Think about it...



But does it stop there. Your purchasing power stretches further. In an ever increasingly globalised world we buy goods that have an adverse effect on someone 10,000 miles away. Think about it.....



Your down at your local Tesco......swimming through the aisles blindly, hunting for those bargain stickers, 2 for 1, half price, whatever floats your boat at that particular moment usually gets waxed into your trolley. But do you stop and think about it?! You check the label, those blueberries you bought, have come half way round the world to land on your table. An Argentinean farmer feels the impact of your spontaneous purchasing decision. The locals in the banana plantations in Ghana feel the heat of your purchasing power.



Trade is so seamlessly intertwined into our every day lives we often forget the repercussions of it all. They sell, we buy. End of. Nope, not really. Think about it.



I urge everyone to think about trade and travel. It can make or break people. Your purchasing power is mightier than you think.

Have a positive effect on peoples lives. Think before you buy....