GL26 preview

26

SEE PAGE 86 FOR DETAILSWIN AN OVERLAND ADVENTURE THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST

FORBIDDEN PHOTOS The JarawaLUKE STEDMAN Globe surfer TOM MILLER Confesses

www.getlostmag.com ISSUE #26// GST INCLUDED$7.95

NYE HOTSPOTS Where will you party?

ANTHONY BOURDAINTalks food and travel

BORNEO Headhunting in Sarawak

TRANS-SIBERIANAn epic overland adventure

fantastic train trips

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Phu Quoc: an island oasisVIETNAM

5

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ISSN 1449-3543

GL26 Cover 09.indd 1 20/08/10 4:19 PM

#10 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know The first recorded usage of the word vodka dates back to 1405.

See in the New Year with some of the best party places on the planet.

Put on your party shoes and see Seoul after dark.

Take some time out to relax on Vietnam’s little-known island, Phu Quoc.

Get away from it all at the Kimberley’s aptly titled Faraway Bay.

NYE SOUTH KOREA

VIETNAM AUSTRALIA

Take a headhunting trip in the dense jungles of Sarawak.

MALAYSIA

3626

Slow down and enjoy the sunshine at Egypt’s cool coastal town, Dahab.

EGYPT

42

32

Wind your way through South Africa and Zimbabwe on one of the world’s most luxurious train journeys.

ROVOS RAIL

48

Dust off your hiking boots and walk the legendary Pilgrim’s Way in southern Spain.

SPAIN

64 8270

Climb aboard the Vodkatrain for a truly iconic train trip through Russia, Mongolia and China.

54

VODKA TRAIN

GL26 Contents.indd 10 18/08/10 3:13 PM

#10 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know The first recorded usage of the word vodka dates back to 1405.

See in the New Year with some of the best party places on the planet.

Put on your party shoes and see Seoul after dark.

Take some time out to relax on Vietnam’s little-known island, Phu Quoc.

Get away from it all at the Kimberley’s aptly titled Faraway Bay.

NYE SOUTH KOREA

VIETNAM AUSTRALIA

Take a headhunting trip in the dense jungles of Sarawak.

MALAYSIA

3626

Slow down and enjoy the sunshine at Egypt’s cool coastal town, Dahab.

EGYPT

42

32

Wind your way through South Africa and Zimbabwe on one of the world’s most luxurious train journeys.

ROVOS RAIL

48

Dust off your hiking boots and walk the legendary Pilgrim’s Way in southern Spain.

SPAIN

64 8270

Climb aboard the Vodkatrain for a truly iconic train trip through Russia, Mongolia and China.

54

VODKA TRAIN


ISSUE #26 get lost #11get in the know Russia is the ninth most populous country.

cover image credit: John Ashburne

26 NYE Places to party for NYE 32 SOUTH KOREA Seoul after dark36 MALAYSIA Headhunting in Sarawak42 EGYPT Rehab in Dahab48 ROVOS RAIL Southern Africa by train54 VODKATRAIN All aboard the

Trans-Siberian62 TRAIN TRIPS Four trips not to miss64 SPAIN Hiking Southern Spain70 VIETNAM Phu Quoc:

an island oasis76 PHOTOSTORY Forbidden photos82 AUSTRALIA Faraway Bay

12 Your Letters & Photos

14 News & Views

18 Places to Stay

20 Top Five Trips

22 Get Sorted

23 Retro Travel

24 You Wish!

90 Holiday Ideas

92 Food

96 Photography

100 Travel Job

102 Our Shout

104 Music

106 Eco Travel

108 Reviews

112 Confessions


#18 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know In 2006, Guiness World Records listed the First World Hotel in Malaysia the world’s largest hotel with 6,118 rooms.

Crazy BearBeaconsfield, UK

WHAT: The oldest building in Beaconsfield has been restored in an eccentric makeover that could have been directed by the fantasy author Roald Dahl. The main bar says it all: Italian jade marble floor and polished walnut and copper bar, two huge skylights, row of six 1930s crystal chandeliers, carved oak panelling, heavy crushed velvet curtains and polished pewter tables and stools. A white marble staircase with an elaborate ironwork vine sculpture and python banister leads to another private bar.

WHY: This is where crass and class go hand-in-hand to offer a very different place to stay.

HOW: Rooms are priced from A$621. Reduced rates from Sunday to Friday for members from A$315. www.crazybeargroup.co.uk

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places to stay

and

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#18 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know In 2006, Guiness World Records listed the First World Hotel in Malaysia the world’s largest hotel with 6,118 rooms.

Crazy BearBeaconsfield, UK

WHAT: The oldest building in Beaconsfield has been restored in an eccentric makeover that could have been directed by the fantasy author Roald Dahl. The main bar says it all: Italian jade marble floor and polished walnut and copper bar, two huge skylights, row of six 1930s crystal chandeliers, carved oak panelling, heavy crushed velvet curtains and polished pewter tables and stools. A white marble staircase with an elaborate ironwork vine sculpture and python banister leads to another private bar.

WHY: This is where crass and class go hand-in-hand to offer a very different place to stay.

HOW: Rooms are priced from A$621. Reduced rates from Sunday to Friday for members from A$315. www.crazybeargroup.co.uk

1

places to stay

and


ISSUE #26 get lost #19get in the know The oldest hotel still in operation is the Hoshi Ryokan in Japan. It opened in AD718.

places to stay

Baumhaus TreehouseGorlitz, Germany

WHAT: Forget beer, history and culture – if you’re going to Germany, stay in a tree. Built around a theme of trolls and fairy folk, the rooms have small balconies and are built 10m above the ground in the tree canopy of a recreation park. Everything about them is non-conformist, from oddly shaped beds to off-angle windows. German practicality prevails with an ‘emergency toilet’ in each room. After a hard day in the forest, take advantage of the mini-bar, well stocked with German beers. (Probably the reason for the emergency toilet.)

WHY: If you’re looking for a room with a view, you can’t go past a forest-top location in picturesque Germany.

HOW: Treehouses sleep two adults and two children from A$317. www.kulturinsel.com

Thorngrove ManorAdelaide, South Australia

WHAT: Tucked away in the Adelaide Hills, award-winning Thorngrove Manor is a fairytale setting for a romantic interlude. Its castle-like features, baroque towers and fantasy turrets are a five-star stand out. Suite options range from opulent underground to the Tower Room, atop a spiral staircase – the perfect place for a modern-day Rapunzel. Its timeless, idiosyncratic design and elaborate entrances have whimsical appeal and are supported by every modern facility, including wi-fi and en-suite spa baths.

WHY: The sweeping hilltop views and early morning mist swirling around the towers is a sight to be seen, even if you don’t stay there.

HOW: A stay in the Tower Room starts at A$760 a night, including breakfast. www.thorngrove.com.au

Wigwam MotelCalifornia, USA

WHAT: This collection of 19 unique motel units near San Bernadino on famous Route 66 were built in the 1950s and are now registered in the US Register of Historic Monuments. The concrete teepees for two or more have air-con, heating, cable TV, free wi-fi and even private bathrooms.

WHY: After driving for hours on Route 66, it’s the perfect place for a powwow.

HOW: A double wigwam is priced from A$78. www.wigwammotel.com

2 3 4

GET PLANNINGMore InformationFor a fantastic selection of weird and wonderful places to stay, go to www.unusualhotelsoftheworld.com


#26 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know During the 1920s Berlin was the third largest municipality in the world.

EUROPEPARTY PLACE:BERLIN

WHERE: Located in the northeast of Germany, Berlin is the country’s largest city and its capital.

WHY: While the bigger cities of London and Paris often get much of the attention, Berlin actually puts on one of the best New Year’s Eve parties (and definitely the biggest) in all of Europe. With more than one million people hitting the streets, this massive fun-fest is arguably the biggest outdoor event on the planet. The night’s festivities, including the fireworks (the Germans are famous for spending up big on firecrackers), are centred around Berlin’s well-known landmark, Brandenburg Gate. Be prepared to booze it up; the Germans, renowned for their drinking prowess,

definitely live up to their hard-drinking reputations when seeing in the new year. At midnight, it’s a tradition to toast those around you with a glass of Sekt (German sparkling wine). Prost!

HOW: KLM offers flights from Australia to Berlin, with prices from approximately A$2,000 return. Visit www.klm.com for more information.

HIGHLIGHTS:• It’s well worth getting a good vantage

point for the midnight fireworks – a sight not to be missed.

• Behind Brandenburg Gate is what they call the Party Mile – more than a mile of food, drink, music and raucous revellers.

• Get your fortune told (a NYE tradition in Berlin), which involved molten lead being dropped into cold water.

1

20105 NYE HOTSPOTSthe best places to party

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#26 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know During the 1920s Berlin was the third largest municipality in the world.

EUROPEPARTY PLACE:BERLIN

WHERE: Located in the northeast of Germany, Berlin is the country’s largest city and its capital.

WHY: While the bigger cities of London and Paris often get much of the attention, Berlin actually puts on one of the best New Year’s Eve parties (and definitely the biggest) in all of Europe. With more than one million people hitting the streets, this massive fun-fest is arguably the biggest outdoor event on the planet. The night’s festivities, including the fireworks (the Germans are famous for spending up big on firecrackers), are centred around Berlin’s well-known landmark, Brandenburg Gate. Be prepared to booze it up; the Germans, renowned for their drinking prowess,

definitely live up to their hard-drinking reputations when seeing in the new year. At midnight, it’s a tradition to toast those around you with a glass of Sekt (German sparkling wine). Prost!

HOW: KLM offers flights from Australia to Berlin, with prices from approximately A$2,000 return. Visit www.klm.com for more information.

HIGHLIGHTS:• It’s well worth getting a good vantage

point for the midnight fireworks – a sight not to be missed.

• Behind Brandenburg Gate is what they call the Party Mile – more than a mile of food, drink, music and raucous revellers.

• Get your fortune told (a NYE tradition in Berlin), which involved molten lead being dropped into cold water.

1

20105 NYE HOTSPOTSthe best places to party

GL26 top 5 NYE_4.indd 26 18/08/10 4:00 PM

right hand corner title

get in the know Las Vegas officially became a city in 1911. ISSUE #26 get lost #27

5 NYE HOTSPOTS 2010the best places to party

PARTY PLACE:LAS VEGAS

WHERE: The most populous city in Nevada, Las Vegas is, of course, in the US of A.

WHY: You might be thinking that New York City is the one and only place to be for New Year’s Eve in the USA. Granted, it is a mighty fine destination, but if you factor in the sub-zero temperatures, the no public boozing and the crowds crammed against barricades, then Las Vegas becomes a much more attractive end-of-year option. Promoted as the largest and longest street party in the USA, the four-mile Strip is shut down to traffic and becomes a neon-lit free-for-all until the wee hours of the morning. The midnight fireworks display, like Vegas itself, is big and bright, and is best seen

from the centre section of the famous strip. While plenty of action occurs, it’s also worth sorting yourself a ticket to one of the casino parties for a change of scene and some serious clubbing. Viva Las Vegas!

HOW: V Australia offers flights from Australia to Las Vegas, with prices starting from approximately A$1,100 return. Visit www.vaustralia.com.au for more information.

HIGHLIGHTS:• Lashing out on a VIP booth in a club

overlooking the Strip – a bottle of Dom thrown in for good measure.

• Catching some live music – 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas... Paris Hilton if you’re unlucky.

• Big breakfast buffet on New Year’s Day – your hangover will appreciate it.

NORTH AMERICA 2

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get in the know Lenin’s eldest brother was hanged for participating in a terrorist assassination attempt against the tsar, Alexander III.#54 get lost ISSUE #26

text: luke wright

images: simon bullar // luke wright

Luke Wright climbs aboard the Vodkatrain for an epic journey across Russia, Mongolia and China.

image: simon bullar

GL26 52-58 VODKA TRAIN_6.indd 54 19/08/10 4:08 PM

get in the know Lenin’s eldest brother was hanged for participating in a terrorist assassination attempt against the tsar, Alexander III.#54 get lost ISSUE #26

text: luke wright

images: simon bullar // luke wright

Luke Wright climbs aboard the Vodkatrain for an epic journey across Russia, Mongolia and China.

image: simon bullar


trans-siberian

ISSUE #26 get lost #55get in the know Eurasia covers close to 40 per cent of the world’s landmass.

THERE ARE SOME THINGS THE guidebooks won’t tell you. For one, don’t put your hands in your pockets

while viewing Lenin’s pickled corpse. Two, never ask a Mongolian if Genghis Khan had his testicles chopped off. Three, ‘the impregnable fortress braises fish rotten’ is a Chinese dish whose taste belies its name. But we’ll get to all of that later. First, let’s talk about Paul Theroux being a miserable old man.

The globally acclaimed author of 47 books, Paul Theroux is a literary legend. Read any guide on long-haul train journeys and it’ll recommend Theroux’s classic, The Great Railway Bazaar.

The man is a genius and arguably the godfather of travel writing as we know it today. But here’s the rub – he is also impossibly pompous. I say this with some authority because I recently interviewed him. What he said to me can be summarised as follows: my questions are silly and make him laugh; travel is not an interval away from home; and all travel is a hardship, a labour at best – if one doesn’t crawl to the South Pole on one’s knees, one hasn’t travelled.

The first point, I was willing to concede; perhaps my questions were silly. One nil to Theroux. On the second point, I consulted a dictionary – travel, by definition, is an

interval away from home. One all. The last point I was willing to challenge. I wasn’t comfortable with the suggestion that there’s a wrong and a right way to travel, and that the right way must involve significant hardship. As it happened, not long after the interview, an opportunity arose for me to take a train trip across Russia, Mongolia and China on a tour called Vodkatrain. On the author’s own turf, I could put to the test his ‘hardship’ theory. Game on.

I arrive in St Petersburg with the mid-summer sun still blasting in the night sky. In the parks, bikini- and Speedo- clad sunbathers laze on the grass.


#56 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know Russia borders with 14 countries.

trans-siberian

In the streets, beautiful women strut along with fat-bellied men at their sides. St Petersburg is a pretty place. With more than 200 museums, 50 theatres, cute canals and a low-rise skyline, it is known as the ‘Venice of the North’. But it’s not all cultural charms here. Perhaps as a rebellion against years of grim Soviet oppression, it’s also a city striving for all the worst of the West – think Botox, BMWs and bling.

St Petersburg is the starting point for my three-week, hop-on-hop-off train trip. Although commonly called the Trans-Siberian, the Vodkatrain route actually takes the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian lines, traversing much of southern Siberia in Russia, then branching off into Mongolia and continuing through the Gobi Desert into China. This is one of the world’s greatest and most iconic journeys. To complete it is akin to a runner finishing a marathon or a climber bagging a big peak. It is a do-before-you-die adventure that many consider the holy grail of travel.

Like summiting a mountain, travelling in this region can be difficult. That’s where Vodkatrain comes in. Operating small-group tours for the 18–35-year-old bracket, Vodkatrain takes out all the bother of organising tickets, hotels, transfers and local guides (known as honchos), but

does it in a way that feels far removed from a regular, follow-the-flag excursion. They’ll get you to the top of Everest, but they won’t carry you or your bags. From St Petersburg to Moscow, Lake Baikal to Ulaanbaatar and beyond, this tour offers a huge variety of experiences.

I somehow manage to miss the first-night meeting with my Vodkatrain companions. Instead, I wander the city’s broad boulevards and backstreets. During my walk, I meet Dave, a chubby bloke from Brisbane. By chance, he has just completed the same trip in the opposite direction. Over several beers, he gives me the lowdown. “Most important thing to remember on the train,” he says, “make sure you butter up the provodnitsas (female carriage attendants), do whatever it bloody takes!”

The next morning, I meet my 11 travelling companions: a mixed bag of Gen-Y-ers (and the odd Gen-X-er) from across the globe. With our honcho, we spend the next two days taking in the many sights. We also find time to go shopping, eat pancakes, drink heavily in a Fidel-Castro-themed bar and eat souvlaki in the wee hours. In this time, I also somehow manage to take a fall and badly injure my ankle. Advantage Theroux.

An impatient provadnitsa waiting for tourists to board.image: simon bullar


#56 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know Russia borders with 14 countries.

trans-siberian

In the streets, beautiful women strut along with fat-bellied men at their sides. St Petersburg is a pretty place. With more than 200 museums, 50 theatres, cute canals and a low-rise skyline, it is known as the ‘Venice of the North’. But it’s not all cultural charms here. Perhaps as a rebellion against years of grim Soviet oppression, it’s also a city striving for all the worst of the West – think Botox, BMWs and bling.

St Petersburg is the starting point for my three-week, hop-on-hop-off train trip. Although commonly called the Trans-Siberian, the Vodkatrain route actually takes the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian lines, traversing much of southern Siberia in Russia, then branching off into Mongolia and continuing through the Gobi Desert into China. This is one of the world’s greatest and most iconic journeys. To complete it is akin to a runner finishing a marathon or a climber bagging a big peak. It is a do-before-you-die adventure that many consider the holy grail of travel.

Like summiting a mountain, travelling in this region can be difficult. That’s where Vodkatrain comes in. Operating small-group tours for the 18–35-year-old bracket, Vodkatrain takes out all the bother of organising tickets, hotels, transfers and local guides (known as honchos), but

does it in a way that feels far removed from a regular, follow-the-flag excursion. They’ll get you to the top of Everest, but they won’t carry you or your bags. From St Petersburg to Moscow, Lake Baikal to Ulaanbaatar and beyond, this tour offers a huge variety of experiences.

I somehow manage to miss the first-night meeting with my Vodkatrain companions. Instead, I wander the city’s broad boulevards and backstreets. During my walk, I meet Dave, a chubby bloke from Brisbane. By chance, he has just completed the same trip in the opposite direction. Over several beers, he gives me the lowdown. “Most important thing to remember on the train,” he says, “make sure you butter up the provodnitsas (female carriage attendants), do whatever it bloody takes!”

The next morning, I meet my 11 travelling companions: a mixed bag of Gen-Y-ers (and the odd Gen-X-er) from across the globe. With our honcho, we spend the next two days taking in the many sights. We also find time to go shopping, eat pancakes, drink heavily in a Fidel-Castro-themed bar and eat souvlaki in the wee hours. In this time, I also somehow manage to take a fall and badly injure my ankle. Advantage Theroux.

An impatient provadnitsa waiting for tourists to board.image: simon bullar


right hand corner title

ISSUE #26 get lost #57get in the know Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital city in the world.

I limp out of St Petersburg with mixed feelings about this beautiful city. “St Petersburg,” Nicolas II, the empire’s last tsar once declared, “is Russia, but not Russian.” I would happily stay here for a week, but I’m keen for the train and to see Russia.

The Trans-Siberian Railroad, a colossal network of railways connecting European Russia with the Far East, is the longest on the planet. Over the Ural Mountains and through the vast Siberian taiga, at

almost 10,000 kilometres and spanning seven time zones, this immense feat of engineering is the backbone of Russia. It is of huge historical importance and to this day is vital to the economy of the region.

Our first train leg is a quick overnighter to Moscow. We pile onboard and settle in our berths. In a bid to give my aching foot some rest I put my feet, shoes and all, on the bunk opposite. This is when I meet my first provodnitsa and also become acquainted with the Russian word ‘nyet’

(meaning ‘no’). My provodnitsa is livid. “Nyet! Nyet! Nyet!” she screams. This first encounter sets the tone for every provodnitsa I meet from St Petersburg to Beijing. I’m certain she sends word to every hospitality worker in the land to let them know there’s a wiseguy on his way who puts his shoes on beds.

We’re greeted with a heatwave in the Russian capital. We meet our honcho, check into our hostel, eat pancakes nextdoor to a circus and begin exploring.

Moscow is an intriguing city. It’s expensive (priciest cup of coffee in the world), has serious traffic problems, and customer service is a nascent concept. But it has a very alluring air. From the crazy colours and onion-like domes of the cathedrals, to the imposing, Orwellian edifices of the Stalin era, one doesn’t need to be an architecture nerd to appreciate this place. We spend our days walking the city and visiting the must-see attractions: Red Square, St Basil’s Cathedral, the Kremlin,

This is one of the world’s greatest and most iconic journeys. To complete it is akin to a runner finishing a marathon or a climber bagging a big peak.

’’

’’

Uniformed Russians walk in front of St Basil’s Cathedral

on Moscow’s Red Square.

The legendary Trans-Siberian rounding a bend.


text: leanne walker

images: andrew marshall

#64 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know St. James was one of the 12 apostles, a fisherman who left his nets to follow Jesus.

Entering the village of Hontanas, in the Castilla y Leon province.

Leanne Walker puts on her walking shoes and takes on the legendary Pilgrim’s Way in northern Spain.

GL26_Spain 02.indd 64 18/08/10 10:03 AM

japan

text: leanne walker

images: andrew marshall

#64 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know St. James was one of the 12 apostles, a fisherman who left his nets to follow Jesus.

Entering the village of Hontanas, in the Castilla y Leon province.

Leanne Walker puts on her walking shoes and takes on the legendary Pilgrim’s Way in northern Spain.

GL26_Spain 02.indd 64 18/08/10 10:03 AM

ISSUE #26 get lost #65get in the know St. James day is on 25 July. If this date falls on a Sunday, it’s declared a Holy or Jubilee Year.

spain

WITH A STRING OF SPANISH phrases and a pocketful of euros, I stepped out one mid-

summer morning into the fresh mountain crispness of the Pyrenees. It was the beginning of a long journey, a famous one, made by millions of pilgrims over the last millennia, and in recent years by many more equipped with all the paraphernalia of hi-tech hiking gear.

My partner and I didn’t really qualify for the hi-tech category though, as I doubt a vintage four-wheeled pram with spring suspension, pulled by using a rubber bicycle tube around the waist, would qualify. We’d found it in a ditch on our second day out. “The Camino by pram could be a first,” said Andy. “Plus, you won’t have to carry most of your pack; I’ll pull it for you.”

This was not quite the way I had envisioned our adventurous pilgrimage across the north of Spain to be, but the pram did have some great advantages. It was easy to pull, and it transported the majority of our gear with less effort required from one person than that of carrying a pack.

The ‘Camino to Santiago’ or Pilgrim’s Way was created after the discovery of the tomb of St James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela in 813 AD. Bishop Godescalo was the first to make the pilgrimage in 950 AD with a group of French pilgrims, and I can pretty much guarantee they weren’t pulling prams loaded with their belongings behind them.

By the 11th century, streams of pilgrims were descending on Santiago, and priories and hospitals were founded along the 750 kilometre route to offer hospitality. Today, the tradition continues with free or budget accommodation in the many refugios (refuges) and priories spaced conveniently along the route.

From France, the Camino de Santiago employs walking trails, farm tracks and roads to cross northern Spain, weaving

through the provinces of Navarra, with its sweeping plains of wheat; La Rioja, a land of vineyards and wine; Castilla with its ancient castles; and finally to the verdant green hills of Galicia, still lost in magic and myth.

From Roncesvalles near the French border, we made our way down off the Pyrenees through woodland glades and small villages and into the 2000-year-old city of Pamplona. It was mid-afternoon and the city presented us with a labyrinth of medieval cobbled streets, empty of life except for some exhausted pigeons and two pilgrims loaded down with backpacks and bearing wooden staffs.

By design, we’d missed the famous ‘running of the bulls’ by a week, but even so, rooms were hard to come by. Pension owners shook their heads at our enquiries while casting startled looks

By the 11th century, streams of pilgrims were descending on Santiago, and priories and hospitals were founded along the 750 kilometre route...

’’

’’

Walking through a Van Gogh landscape of sunflowers (Navarra province).

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#70 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know Phu Quoc was a place of exile right up until the end of the last Vietnam War in 1973.

I ARRIVE IN CAN THO TO BE GREETED with hellish humidity. In a place like this, you leak litres by day and drink

litres by night. A young waiter from a crowded waterfront cafe beckons me to a vacant sidewalk table. I gladly accept and order a beer and a pho (noodle soup). A magazine on the table I’m sitting at has a feature article in it on Phu Quoc: a tear-shaped island off Vietnam’s south-west coast that’s only a stone’s throw from Cambodia.

The first sentence reads exactly as follows: ‘the general from [sic] of the island is of a tial screwing fish with the wide open mouth.’ I read on, intrigued about a tial (tail or tall, perhaps) screwing fish.

‘From north to the south are consecutive hills and beaches with very scenic white sand. Most of the specialities of phu quoc is rich in marine and tourist potential and was called the jade of the southern seas, and in meantime, the largest island district of Vietnam.’

I ask the waiter about the island. First, he corrects my pronunciation (Phu Quoc sounds like foo wok). Second, he knows next to nothing about the island. “I just move here from Hanoi,” he says.

I had heard Phu Quoc mentioned by other travellers and locals in my travels on and around the Mekong. From these conversations, cliches like sleepy, untouched, pristine and laidback come to mind. Later, the desk clerk at my Can Tho hotel confirms these cliches, and adds to the list: deserted beaches, lush national parks and fresh seafood. For me, ‘deserted’ is the clincher.

So, two days later I’m in the port city of Rich Gia (two hours west of Can Tho) being bombarded by teenage hawkers flogging ferry fares to Phu Quoc. Not yet high season (November to March), they’re eager for business, yet all offer the same price: 200,000 dong (A$12). Bartering gets me nowhere.

text: grant doyle

images: grant doyle

vietnam

GL26 Vietnam 06.indd 70 18/08/10 11:51 AM

#70 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know Phu Quoc was a place of exile right up until the end of the last Vietnam War in 1973.

I ARRIVE IN CAN THO TO BE GREETED with hellish humidity. In a place like this, you leak litres by day and drink

litres by night. A young waiter from a crowded waterfront cafe beckons me to a vacant sidewalk table. I gladly accept and order a beer and a pho (noodle soup). A magazine on the table I’m sitting at has a feature article in it on Phu Quoc: a tear-shaped island off Vietnam’s south-west coast that’s only a stone’s throw from Cambodia.

The first sentence reads exactly as follows: ‘the general from [sic] of the island is of a tial screwing fish with the wide open mouth.’ I read on, intrigued about a tial (tail or tall, perhaps) screwing fish.

‘From north to the south are consecutive hills and beaches with very scenic white sand. Most of the specialities of phu quoc is rich in marine and tourist potential and was called the jade of the southern seas, and in meantime, the largest island district of Vietnam.’

I ask the waiter about the island. First, he corrects my pronunciation (Phu Quoc sounds like foo wok). Second, he knows next to nothing about the island. “I just move here from Hanoi,” he says.

I had heard Phu Quoc mentioned by other travellers and locals in my travels on and around the Mekong. From these conversations, cliches like sleepy, untouched, pristine and laidback come to mind. Later, the desk clerk at my Can Tho hotel confirms these cliches, and adds to the list: deserted beaches, lush national parks and fresh seafood. For me, ‘deserted’ is the clincher.

So, two days later I’m in the port city of Rich Gia (two hours west of Can Tho) being bombarded by teenage hawkers flogging ferry fares to Phu Quoc. Not yet high season (November to March), they’re eager for business, yet all offer the same price: 200,000 dong (A$12). Bartering gets me nowhere.

text: grant doyle

images: grant doyle

vietnam


Who needs walls or a floor? The ‘always open’ Palm Tree Cafe has

pride and place on Long Beach.

ISSUE #26 get lost #71

MYISLAND

get in the know An Thoi was once a prison for revolutionaries. Prisoner punishment included squatting in the ‘tiger cage’, a horizontal cylinder filled with barbed wire.

Crisscross the Mekong for a week, darting like a drunken dragonfly from one Vietnamese village and river tributary to another, and finally hole-up for a night or two in Can Tho. That was Grant Doyle’s plan. But then he read about Phu Quoc.


#112 get lost ISSUE #26 get in the know In 1952 Hemingway went on safari to Africa where he was almost killed in a plane crash.

confessions

Award-winning American author and travel writer Tom Miller confesses to receiving Ernest Hemingway’s Nobel Prize in Literature. Well, sort of.

heavy MEdALMy Nobel Prize is bigger

than your Nobel Prize. in fact, you probably don’t have one at

all. herta Müller had to spend a lifetime of poetry and prose before, last october, the Nobel committee awarded her the prize in literature. Faulkner, Neruda, and yeats had written complex and weighty works before they won their Nobels. Not me. i received mine a far easier way.

A while back a magazine called Mungo Park sent me to Cuba to prepare a week-long series of online reports under the general heading ‘Hemingway in Havana.’ The magazine wanted me to post daily dispatches, concluding with reports from Mariel Hemingway, the actress who was born some 20 weeks after her famous grandfather’s death. She was flown in for the occasion along with her husband Stephen Crisman, who planned to film the visit. Two factotums who seemed to have no function other than to regale each other with tales of how to extract cash from errant ATMs accompanied them.

Cuba was just then emerging from its ‘special period in a time of peace’, a euphemism for the economic free-fall following the Soviet Union’s implosion. I arranged logistics along Cuba’s informally dubbed ‘Hemingway Trail’ as best I could. This included convincing Cuba’s Catholic Church to take Ernest Hemingway’s 1954 Nobel Medallion out of hiding so Mariel could see it. When Ernest won the 23-carat gold medal, he wanted to give it to the people of Cuba, off whose north coast his novel The Old Man and the Sea is set. Rather than turn the medallion over to the Batista government, he placed it in the custody of the Catholic Church for display at the sanctuary at El Cobre, a small town on the island’s southeast coast.

The sanctuary has been called the Cuban Lourdes, and remains a repository

for mementos and prayers from the hopeful and hopeless. The medallion remained there until the mid-1980s when thieves broke into the glass display case and stole it. Police recovered the medal within days, but the Catholic Church decided to keep it under wraps rather than chance another theft. I persuaded Padre Jorge Palma of the diocese of Santiago de Cuba to bring the medallion out of hiding for Mariel.

I was only too pleased to guide Mariel and her entourage around Havana and introduce her to people and places of note, especially locations associated with her father’s father. Each time we came to such a site, I would recount the conventional wisdom about it, then explain that the popular story was at odds with the historical record.

A sign at a famous restaurant, for instance, had supposedly been autographed by Ernest Hemingway, but this was a complete invention, fabricated by tourism officials after his death. He was said to have written For Whom the Bell Tolls at one hotel, when in fact he wrote most of the book at another hotel where he maintained a room to escape his growing popularity. When Hemingway’s old sea captain, then 100 years old, was trotted out as the model for The Old Man and the Sea, I noted that the real fisherman was someone else who had died early on, leaving the way open for this new public face. Mariel’s husband grew increasingly annoyed as I punctured holes in the grand myth he had come to film. At one point, he leaned over from the back seat of our rented SUV and told me, with irritation, to “shut up.”

We flew cross-country, finally arriving at El Cobre, where Padre Jorge greeted us, carrying Hemingway’s celebrated Nobel Prize.

Mariel knelt briefly and crossed herself, then received the medallion as the rest of the party watched from a distance. As interpreter, I stood a discreet few feet back and to the side. Mariel held the precious medal, absorbing its essence, then, as if ridding herself of a hot potato, she quickly turned to her left and placed her grandfather’s medallion in my hands. It weighed almost half a pound.

After many books, through decades of writing, I had received the most hallowed honor in my profession, the Nobel Prize.

I do not know what followed. It seemed as if a ray of light had come through stained glass and struck me dumb. There was something heavy in my hands that reflected the sun – I’m not sure if I held it for five seconds or five minutes. I recall sweating profusely and wearing a goofy grin. Mariel’s voice brought me out of the fog: “OK, Tom, that’s enough.” I handed the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature back to her, my brief laureate career drawn to a close.

text: tom miller

images: various

it seemed as if a ray of light had come through stained glass and struck me dumb. There was something heavy in my hands that reflected the sun – i’m not sure if i held it for five seconds or five minutes.

’’’’

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