Thailand's Floating Market

Get your sunhat and join me for a boat tour at the floating market in Thailand (metaphorically of course!) The market located in Ratchaburi is a major attraction and probably one of the most chosen day trips by tourists. HOWEVER, this automatically implies that everything is geared to tourist wishes: Souvenirs, refreshments or a photo with a snake are just a few examples. So if you are looking for an authentic experience and expect to encounter bustling Thai people who barter fruits or colorful fabrics you will be definitely disappointed by the floating market. In fact I partly was. But let’s start from the beginning.

My friend and I booked a private day tour through a travel agency in Bangkok. In the morning we were picked up at our hostel by a driver, who drove us through the Thai countryside to the market. In itself this was already quite an experience because of the nice temples we were passing by and the fact that we thought we were kidnapped (but that’s another story). So after two intermediate stops and maybe a one hour drive from Bangkok we finally reached the floating market in Ratchaburi. Some workers welcomed us at the entrance and guided us to a landing stage where a bunch of tourists were already waiting for an empty boat. After a short while and a few Thai people gesturing what we should do and were we should go (none of them spoke English), we finally ended up in a boat with the number 2. Once on the boat, the adventure began. Along with other tourist boats behind and in front of us we were taken through a number of canals. The view was actually quite nice since we were surrounded by nature which was only interrupted by wooden houses every now and then. After a while we reached the first stalls with sales people who tried to impose some Thailand souvenirs on us and the other tourists. Our driver stopped at literally every booth for a short while and exposed us to an unpleasant conversation. After all we didn’t have any purchase intentions and couldn’t escape from the boat. Now thinking about it, the perfect business model! After half an hour we backed down and bought two freshly cut coconuts from a passing sales boat as we thought this would be more authentic than coca cola cans. Another few canals later the whole experience was already over. We safely reached the landing stage where we started our tour in the first place. My résumé: as part of a daytrip the floating market is an interesting experience, apart from that not really worth doing.

Sunny Greetings

☀

Conguillio National Park- Exploring the Araucanía Region

Welcome to Conguillio National Park in Araucanía, Chile! No matter if you consider yourself an explorer or just a nature lover- Conguillio will definitely be the right place for you. The territory, which was declared a national park in 1950, is located 120 km east of Temuco and a little piece of gold in the region. As every national park, it offers you a great number of leisure-time possibilities and sports activities. After all, it’s the feeling of freedom that makes such parks so attractive, right? I personally only made a one-day hiking trip to some of the lakes and recommended viewpoints to take pictures. But I also saw people riding their mountain bikes which looked like a lot of fun. If you are thinking about staying in the park overnight you won’t be disappointed either. Official camp sides which come with electricity as well as lodges are available in the park.     

When to visit

According to the administration, the best time to visit the park is between November and March. During these spring and summer months the climate is milder which I can certainly confirm (I went in spring). Nonetheless, the website also advertises winter sports activities which is why the park could also be an option during the colder months of the years. So it’s totally up to your plans and expectations.   

How to reach

The best way to reach the park is by car. Further it gives you certain flexibility in the park as you don’t need to hike from morning to night and can save your energy for the actual hotspots. However as a tourist, it can sometimes be tricky to rent a car because of regulations (e.g. minimum age) or the rarity of car rental firms in rural areas. By law, Chile for instance demands an international driving license, however some online platforms suggest that most car rental companies don’t ask for it. I also found some forum entries saying that the police normally accepts your national license, as long as it contains a photo.

What to see

In my opinion, the park offers a wide variety of landscapes which I really really enjoyed. We entered the park at the..let’s call it “volcano- section” where you cannot only admire the white volcano in all its majesty but also walk through real volcanic ash. The very thought, that the volcano is active and erupted where I was standing made the trip already extremely existing for me (Well, I guess for the locals, a volcano is not that existing anymore). Second, you can explore some beautiful, crystal clear lakes in the park. I think I’ve never seen such a nice tone of blue and I could hardly resist the temptation of jumping into the water. Third, the territory is also covered by a wide section of green and you can hike up the hills through the forests. Another thing that is typical for the region and interesting to see is the so-called Araucaria araucana tree, also known as the monkey tree. The nut-like seeds are used by the Mapuche, the native inhabitants, for several purposes (I think they primarily used it for cooking).

All in all, the trip was great and I can highly recommend visiting it if you are in the area.

Sunny Greetings

☀

Rocinha- A guided favela tour

How would you feel if someone invaded your neighborhood, took pictures of your homes and inspected you and your belongings? These were the thoughts that crossed my mind when my friend suggested to go on a guided favela tour in Rio. I simply couldn’t understand why tourists could claim the right to turn a favela into a tourist attraction. Also the internet revealed some discussions on this highly controversial topic. On the one hand it is associated with “misery tourism”. On the other hand it is referred to as “a must see experience to broaden your horizon”. Some people even stressed that you wouldn’t truly understand Brazil’s society if you only saw the more shimmery side in terms of fancy hotels, museums or restaurants. So as you can tell from the pictures, I decided to go. Not because I wanted to point the finger at the houses, accuse the government or something like that. I just wanted to soak in the whole experience and get to know a favela outside the context of gang fights, drug cartels and weapons. 

The history of favelas

Back in the 1960s, when Brazil experienced an upturn in urbanization and a flow of domestic immigration towards the rapidly growing cities, favelas made their first appearance. The term favela refers to a type of tree which is growing on the hills where most of these “slums” are located. As a result, the first settlers had to climb the hill, cut off the trees and carry the construction material all the way up to their freshly claimed piece of land. Since living space in the cities was expensive and constantly rising, the concept of these illegal neighborhoods spread over the whole country. Consequently, a sort of parallel society emerged. Nowadays, the government believes that more than 11 million people live in these areas which have established their own infrastructures. However, the labyrinth of narrow alleys also attracted drug dealers and gangs which often grew up in these neighborhoods that they knew inside out. This way, they could easily hide from the police and expand their deceptive practices. 

The background of the tour

In the last years, the government has increasingly been intervening in these conflict zones. The police raided some of the biggest favelas and managed to dislodge the gangs which were terrorizing the residents for so long. Especially before the Fifa World Cup 2014 these Pacifying Police Units were increasingly sent to take control over the gangs and decrease criminality. Also Rocinha (meaning: little farm), Brazil’s biggest favela, is now considered pacified and therefore as relatively safe. Nonetheless, it is still not recommended to go there alone as you would definitely get lost. As these favelas show a different side of Brazil and undoubtedly fascinate a great number of tourists, several tour operators started to offer guided walking tours. The purpose of such tours is not only to raise awareness but also support the residents through the earnings (and donations for social projects).

My experience

 No sooner said than done! We booked the whole thing through our Hostel (Samba Palace Hostel in Laranjeiras) which we thought offered a socially acceptable tour. Apparently, many other tour agencies bring a big group of tourists in Jeeps as if there were going on a safari tour. And we certainly didn’t want this kind of experience! Our intuition proved to be right. The agency we took sent a local girl which was highly acquainted with Brazil’s society and friends with many residents of Rocinha. She picked us up at the hostel and drove us all the way to the favela in the Southern part of Rio de Janeiro. Instead of a Jeep, we were driven in a small passenger car and instead of being joint by another 8 tourists we were in total 4 people. We parked at the top of the main street and continued walking right into the favela. Altogether the experience was amazing: a gorgeous view of Rio, music and many friendly and welcoming Brazilians which crossed our way. Our tour guide led us to some of the hot spots in the neighborhood and taught us about history, the life in the favela and the unfair social system of the country. I don’t want to go into too many details as I’m sure that some of you still want to go on such a tour. Just let me tell you that I certainly didn’t regret my decision. Now I don’t regard favelas as crime scenes any more but suburban districts where people live, run errands and meet their friends. Also I was so amazed by the creativity of the residents and how they managed to build up a neighborhood without any help of the government.

If you are interested, check out this inspiring video which I found on Youtube:

 

Sunny Greetings

☀