Vang Vieng - zadnjic :))

Samo par fotk... eh, se zadn jic oglasanje iz legla razvrata...

Vang Vieng - zopet

Veliko aktivnosti, zaradi full suspension kolesa iz Spara za 15k sit totalno ozuljen po rokah in riti ter rahlo zmatran od veslanja... zato, vec fotk :) ... ps: ja vem poziram...

Vang Vieng in backpackers worst nightmare

Cas je bil za menjavo kraja. Po 6 urni voznji me je tako zaselo v Vang Vieng. Pravzaprav na prvi pogled nic dobrega. Mesto je zgrajeno ob letaliski stezi, ki so jo uporabljali americani ob bombardiranju Vietnama, Laosa ter zelo skrivoma tudi Kambodze. Po pravici povedano, malo zanimivega kar pomeni arhitekture. Se huje pa je, da tole izgleda kot najvecji backpackers hangout. In res je tako hudo kot zgleda. Meni osebno neatraktivno mesto v zelo lepi okolici (kjer je glavna zabava pocasna plovba na tubah - oz. gumah po pocasni reski navzdol in ustavljanje po raznih barih. In res je prepolno annoying backpackerjev, vseeno pa najdes zanimive ljudi... kot npr. starejsi par iz amerike, ki sta po upokojitvi sla potovat za 6 mesecev...

No, moje glavne aktivnosti tukaj so posedanje in kolesarjenje... je tudi en kup kraskih jam, ki pa niso niti pod razno tako lepe kot slovenske... mogoce tudi kaksni kajak bo padel... bom videl jutri... fotk pa zal se vedno ne morem uploadat :(

Luang Prabang

Ja, do danes zjutraj je slo vse narobe. Najprej prtljaga, potem pa se zelo annoying sosedi. Ti se hoces odpociti po vec kot dnevnem popotovanju, sosedi americani pa hocejo zurat (ok, pridejo iz zura) ob treh zjutraj. Nic ne bil problem, ce le stene ne bi bile lesene in resnicno tanke... skoraj vidis skozi... obcutek imam, da to potem se bolj odmeva. En daljsi in glasnejsi pogovor je potem sledil se cez uro, visek pa so dosegli ob petih... vglavnem... od prijetne noci potem ni bilo nic...

Zato je bil pa toliko bolj prijeten izlet do bliznjih slapov Kwang Si... ja, no 40km oddaljenih, po ne najboljsi cesti. Izlet je bil se celo adrenalinski, saj je tuk tuk dozivel nesreco... heh... guma ni pocila, ampak je skoraj odpadlo celo kolo... ocitno je os dokoncno rekla svoje. In voznik ne bi bil voznik, ce ne bi probal ali bi mu uspelo zadevo popraviti, na sreco pa je bilo na hitro nepopravljivo... Na sreco v roku tricetrt ure pride zamenjava (siguren pa sem, da pokvarjeni tuk tuk ze to popoldne spet vozi turiste). Glede slapov pa... sinje modra barva vode, zjutraj se celo nekaj meglic, prav misticno. Spodaj pa tolmuncki, kjer se da kopat... res pa je, da je voda zame malo mrzla...

Po izletu me je cakala neprijetna zadeva... na letalisce vprasat ali pritljaga je ali ni... in po dveh dneh koncno dobra novica... rukzak me caka, in cas je za akcijo :) Jutri naprej...

Torej... moje mentalno stanje se je v Luangu sedaj izrazito izboljsalo... pa se samo mestece mi je kar vsec... sicer je za moj okus le nekoliko prevec turisticno, ampak ok... je pa varno in zelo poceni...

ps: upam, da mi bo jutri uspelo poslati tudi kako mojo fotko...

Prihod v Laos in veliko razocaranje

Takole... pa sem v Laosu. V Luang Prabangu... to je dobra novica. Slaba novica pa je, da ni mojega rukzaka, niti nic ne kaze, da bo v naslednjih dnevih tudi prisel. Da grem od zacetka.

Kot prvo so nekaj zakomplicirali v Trstu, v smislu, da ne morejo prtljago cekirat do Luanga. Ok, v Rimu je potem nekoliko nekompetentna usluzbenka precekirala pritljago do Luanga, in ze tam sem imel slab obcutek. In res, grem v Bangkoku vprasat kje je moja prtljaga, oni pa da nic ne vedo in da jo iscejo. In ista zgodba se potem 4-5x ko grem vprasat. Vedno, not yet found, please come later. Vglavnem, namesto, da bi v Bangkoku na transferju prijetno pocival (je le 6 ur razlike) sem se moral ukvarjati s prtljago. Ocitno bi res moral iti ven (in pac placati se eno vizo), saj bi bil tako vsaj preprican, kje je (oz. ni). Do 10h (pristali smo ob 5:30 po tajskem casu) seveda rukzaka niso nasli... in vedno manj imam upanja, da ga bodo nasli... sicer bomo videli jutri...

Sej, cunje se dajo nadomestiti, in tukaj si bom brez problema nakupil majice, hlace in spodnje perilo. Ni mi pa vseeno za potujoco lekarno (na sreco sem imel vsaj antimalarike) elektroniko, saj sem imel tam vse polnilce in rezervne baterije, sedaj pa seveda ne morem vec normalno uporabljat niti fotoaparata... Eh, kaj mi sedaj pomaga vsa ta tehnika, ce pa ne bo energije ki bo to poganjala... da ne govorim o lucki, lonely planetu, in podobnih zadevah. Ne vem, jutri bom videl kako in kaj. Ce na jutrisnjem letu opoldne v Luang ne bo mojega rukzaka ga po moje ne bom vec videl... Vsaj ne na tem potovanju... Sicer pa sem ze gledal, kaj bi kupil... :) in pravzaprav vse razen elektronike in zdravil lahko nadomestim tukaj... sicer bom zgledal smesno, ampak ok :)

Anyway... ta neprijetna dogodivscina je prevladala nad vsemi lepimi vtisi iz Luang Prabanga. Zanimivo mestece, okoli katerega se vije Mekong. Po pravici sem danes rahlo zmatran, saj nisem normalno spal ze kar nekaj casa, pot sem pa je trajala prakticno 26 ur...

Nauk zgodbe pa je... nikdar vec ne letim preko italija ali uporabljam katerokoli italjansko firmo, se pa manj pa China Airways... Sicer pa jutri je nov dan, mogoce bo prinesel kaksno dobro novico...

Next travel destination is... #2

... south-east Asia...

Only a few days left, i'm flying on Thursday from Trieste via Rome and Bangkok to Luang Prabang. Well, it seems again one of those memorable flight journeys, which will again take more than 24 hours... nice :)

Main goal is to travel that "backpackers" circle is SE Asia - Laos, Cambodia and to finish off in Thailand.

Off course, my travelogue (as usual, slovene only) will start in a few days... I'll try also to publish photos...

Can't wait... on a road again... almost after 11 months ;)

Airline meals

source: www.airlinemeals.net

... njam... so, all that you ever wanted to know (or don't know) about food on airplanes...

Preview first-, business- and economy class dining menus and lots of pictures of actual airline meals. More than 300 airlines are represented (including staff meals), including our famous national carrier Adria Airways.

http://www.airlinemeals.net/

Well... about good and bad... Personally, i liked the food on Air France (on a way to Egypt and back) and Emirates (to Dubai). Varig (at least for short flights) is also among the best. Czech Airline did excel with huge sandwich (and you could get another one if you were hungry - not like Adria Airways, where the small doesn't deserve the name bread). I have flown the most with Lufthansa... well, it depends what you get. It can be quite tasty, but on the other hand... I remember early morning meal just prior landing to Rio de Janeiro (almost in a half sleep)... My stomach just turned when smelling eggs and bacon... Probably it was not a bad meal, just timing was completely wrong...

But ok... I don't look for great food on the flight, as "economy class" is my mode of air transport. I just need something eatable, that won't give me an extended stay on the toilet... And if somebody gives me a discount, i will skip my meals and bring my own pretzels... Just don't forget to chew them...

Trieste pier...

Water

... near the Peričnik waterfall...

Lost luggage...

I survived my first airport "adventure" since the new liquid rules were introduced. And at least on Brussels airport it was soo bad. Ok, I had to check-in my suitcase due to oversized shapoon and shower-gel, but OK...

Do you ever wonder whats going on with your luggage during air travel and airport transfer? Here is the answer...


Well... as far of statistics... Of the two billion bags checked every year, about five of every 1,000 are mishandled, and about .002 percent goes unclaimed. If your luggage gets lost and you don't claim it, it usually goes to luggage heaven aka "lost luggage capital of the world". Its interesting what kind of things people leave behind and never claim... From computers to fairy licious costume... Ok, the latter is obvious why... :)

Hand luggage...

Well... apparently there are new rules for hand luggage at all EU airports. New rules on what is permitted in hand luggage will take effect on 6 November 2006.

Here is a short instruction from our national carrier...

Liquids, gels and aerosols are only allowed in hand luggage in small quantities (no more than 100 ml per item) and if correctly packaged. The same rules apply at all airports in all 25 EU countries (departing or changing airplanes). Similar rules for hand luggage apply in the US and Canada.

The new rules cover liquids such as water and other beverages, gels, pastes, lotions and the contents of aerosol cans. Toiletries such as toothpaste, shaving cream, hair gel, lip gloss and creams also fall under the rules. So, no more taking your drinks to the airplane or transfer premises... You will have to buy overpriced drinks there...

These are the rules for liquids in your hand luggage:

1. You can only take liquids and gels in containers of no more than 100 millilitres on board the aircraft.
2. These containers must be carried in transparent plastic bags.
3. There is a limit of one transparent plastic bag per person.
4. The volume of the transparent plastic bag may not be greater than 1 litre.
5. The transparent plastic bag must be re-sealable.

You may bring a suitable plastic bag from home. And apparently most airports will have free plastic bags, at least at the beginning.

There are two exceptions to the above rules:

1. Baby food needed during the flight (hmmm... i guess parents will again need to eat half of the dose, just to check if it is OK);
2. Medicines needed during the flight.

Good thing is... You can still make purchases, including duty-free purchases, after ticket and/or passport control and on board European airline flights. Liquids and gels that you buy after ticket and/or passport control or on board will be packed and sealed for you as necessary by the shop or cabin personnel. The seal is valid for one day. If you must change planes, you may not break the seal until you reach your final destination.

To sum up... do I agree? Not really. It will just make cues much longer (especially on Ljubljana airport) and more hassle. Will I feel safer, knowing there are no "dangerous" liquids on the board? Not really... But i guess others will... Beware when making purchases on non-EU airports or non-EU airlines... If you have after the flight still one connection flight to catch, it is most likely that you will be unable to take home any of the stuff...

But OK, i'm flying this sunday to Brussels, so, i will use the last day of good-old-days... :)

Perception of beauty

... is our perception really distorted? Can photoshop really make people more beautiful?


Source: http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

Heh... there is already a parody on the video above...

Greg's digital archive includes some of his examples how digital retouch can improve photos... those are really extreme ones... and he shows that PS can distort much more than only humans...

1 November

... its an All-Saints day... the day when traffic jams near graveyards are not uncommon...