The next morning I woke up early in Cosenza and checked out of the hotel. When paying the room rate, the hotel charged me 15 Euro less than what they quoted me when I checked in. Things were beginning to look up. The day had cleared a little, and I could see that Cosenza was surrounded by hills, and was rather appealing. I started to think that maybe I could stay on around here a bit longer, but then the rain returned, and I knew I’d made the right choice to move on. I hadn’t looked at the time-table of trains from the station, and am a little disappointed to find out the next train to Catania was 2 hours away. Well, I guess this is what they invented books for.

The train trip is pleasant and relaxing. The first leg of the trip I sit across from an American who had a great time in Cosenza. I guess it goes to show the benefits of planning your trip instead of winging it! After changing in Paola, the new train heads south onwards to Sicily. From what I understand after crossing into Sicily, the train splits in two, half to Palermo and the other to Catania. I couldn’t find anywhere to ask, so just hopped on.

View from moving train. Trains are great in Italy, but they'd be better if they cleaned the windows.

The train ride is scenic, with most of the way the tracks being laid right along, or very near to the coast, with barely room for any development between the tracks and the beach. Inland, the land gets very hilly very quickly, and the farmland is green and lush and is very pretty. Getting closer to the crossing point at Villa San Giovanni, the ticket inspectors come around to check tickets, and advise me I’m in the wrong half of the train for my destination, and need to quickly change at the next stop otherwise I won’t get another chance. I think it wouldn’t be a proper trip of mine if I don’t get something slightly wrong along the way.

Loading the train carriages onto the ferry

After the next station they then bring the trains off the track, and load them onto a huge ferry, which is kinda interesting to see. However you’re meant to stay in your seat, and once the train is inside the ferry there’s nothing to see at all. As I’m travelling solo and reluctant to sleep in case I miss something important, I resort to reading… until the power is cut inside the carriages. So then all there is to do is look out the window at the inside of a ferry. Boredom kicks in, and let your mind wander. Say, I wonder how they perform those service checks on fire extinguishers. Do they check anything, or just give them a little kick, like the tyres on a car? The whole crossing process takes around an hour.

My enthralling view for the ferry crossing

On the other side and out of the ferry, the good views from the train resume as we head down the eastern coast. On the left are more ocean views, and on the right is the snowcapped volcano Mt. Etna. The sun is shining, and things are looking up. I quickly find a hostel which turns out to be clean and nice (and also empty), and I was very glad to be in Catania.

After the Amalfi coast, I waved goodbye to Amy and headed South towards the toe of Italy – the region called Calabria. I’d read that this was a region of rolling hills, attractive beaches, and not too much development. I was hoping for some relaxing time in hostels in scenic countryside.

My first stop was in a town of Praia a Mare, on the coast in northern Calabria. I was planning to stay in a hostel near here, but was unable to book as I hadn’t had internet access in the past few days. At least I had its phone number in a cheesy flier that I had picked up in Napoli. Without a booking, I thought I’d ride my luck and turn up in the town and find it.

Big mistake on my behalf. The town of Praia a Mare has very little except a long beach and a few shops. By luck there were two Americans at the station who offered to help. They mocked me a little over the flier (which was, unfortunately for me, warranted), and looked at me like I was an idiot when I said I had no address or reservation. Well, they were probably right. In the end they pointed me to a local travel agent and moved on.

The travel agent didn’t know the hostel either, and the phone number of the hostel I had been turned off. Awesome. It was already 4:30pm and without a place to stay I booked myself into a hotel which cost the best part of my daily budget.

The beach at Praia a Mare

That night I walked around the town of Praia a Mare, I noticed the people were much different to in Positano. They never chose to acknowledge me, and looked at me as me with suspicion, as if they thought I was about to pick their pocket. A boring evening of watching BBC followed. I told myself in the morning I’d find this hostel.

I didn’t. I was able to email the hostel, who then gave me a new phone number to call. Surprise surprise, when I called it no one answered. This is really starting to suck. I didn’t want to spend another night of nothingness in Praia a Mare, so made the executive decision to catch the train south to the bigger city of Cosenza, where at least I had guide-book info on where to stay.

I arrived in Cosenza in driving rain. The train station in Cosenza is conveniently located (for taxi drivers) way outside of town, and I wasn’t able to work out where and how to catch the bus in. So I agreed on a taxi trip to a hostel. He dropped me at a hostel with rain still falling heavily, and then showed he didn’t have change for my payment, which drove costs up higher. Cosenza was looking worse.

The hostel wasn’t open, and I couldn’t find another cheap bed and breakfast marked in the guide-book (I was looking during the afternoon break), and I was getting soaked. In the end I dragged myself into a hotel, and asked how much for a night. The clerk said ‘Ummmm…, 50 Euro’. It seemed to me he pulled that number out of the air. It was still raining and I didn’t want to go out, so I accepted it. Southern Italy wasn’t treating me well, and I was over it.

A dreary day in downtown Cosenza

I bought my dinner in the supermarket to save money, and in my hotel room made plans for tomorrow. I’d had enough of my Calabrian adventure.

NOTE: After a few more days of reflection (and rain), I realised my experiences in Calabria were my fault, and not Calabria. Turn up to any town in Winter, and there’s a good chance of rain. Factoring in that each town is small, and not geared for tourism, I didn’t have much home hope at all for a good time. Maybe Calabria is for another time, when it’s raining far less!

In our first morning in Positano we set out to walk the ‘Path of the Gods’ (Sentiero degli Dei) between Positano and the neighbouring village Priano. I’d read online that it’s best to ask for a map for this track as it can get confusing, but the tourist office didn’t have anything. He pointed us to catch the bus up to the top of the town (an area called Nocelle), to start the walk. I thought it started in Positano, but was glad I listened to his directions.

Nocelle is another town that sits on the cliffs above Positano, but is not touristy, and very relaxed and quiet. I don’t think anything happens there. We talked to an elderly couple who helped us with directions to the start of the track, they were surprised that there was even a place open to stay in Positano at the time. They enjoyed the slower pace of life, and advised with a smile that their home-grown olives tasted better than anywhere else.

Positano and the cliffs beyond

The path of the gods was the best track I’ve ever done. Around every corner you can look up at the top of the cliffs, across the coast at the small towns tittering on the edges of steep limestone walls, or indeed over the edge of the track you’re on at the water or valley below. If it’s possible, it’s too scenic. At every turn you want to stop to tak in the views, and try to capture the whole landscape in a single photo – which never is possible. We packed a lunch, and ate it on a park bench with a stunning view across Positano and the an endless stretch of cliffs beyond it.

Through an old farm along the path

As we were in the hills above Priano (the ending destination), I began to wonder why people wanted maps. The path was clearly marked, and only one way to go. Wusses, I thought. Around the next corner we then I arrived at a 4 way intersection that wasn’t marked, and I took back my comment earlier. There was no clear way of knowing where to go, so we went down the one that looked the most worn, and headed down, towards Priano.

Warning Above Priano

It seemed like a good idea, but after a while the path got less worn, and the steps down started to fill with dirt, meaning that it was more a slope that a staircase. I slipped down one, but I wasn’t hurt, only dirty. We started questioning things when the structure of an old vineyard had collapsed over the path, meaning we had to crawl / squat our way along the path. The red marks on the stones had gone, but there were at least yellow ones, which kept me going.

The path grew less and less in structure, until it was in parts a dirt track through old farmland. It was still heading down to Priano, but I could just see it ending in a 20m drop somewhere. We couldn’t face going back up again and trying a different track, so we just pushed on.

Not sure if this is the right track, but at least it lead down

Down, down, down the track and it’s steps seemed endless. The track sometimes resembled a track, but at other times disappeared to a goat trail and we even had to climb down some small drops (around a metre). I rolled my ankle a couple more times (and noted to myself I should buy hiking boots), but we could hear the traffic of Priano, and kept pushing. Eventually we made it into a back alley of Priano – clearly at the wrong way, and was relieved but impressed with ourselves to have made it back.

Drink stop along the path.

Despite the trouble at the end, I can’t highly recommend enough making the walk to anyone who goes to Positano. It certainly beats sitting on the beach.

Positano is amazing to look at. Like Capri, all elements of the town seem to be melded together into one set of concrete. The stairs are connected to the roads, and all houses and buildings are connected to the stairs and roads. Many houses have lemon or olive trees in their backyard, which makes it all the more picturesque. From our hostel, it was allegedly 800 steps down to the beach, but would have been about 300m away in a straight line. Needless to say we only ever did the trip down on our feet.

Evening kicking in at Positano

No self-respecting Australian would call the beach in Positano a good one. The sand is black and covered in pebbles, and there’s no surf. It’s also tiny. Granted the view is great, but I started to wonder what people do here in the summer. Most of our time was spent walking the trails, which I’m writing my next post on.

One thing that surprised me is that the towns folk seem to be very friendly. It’s all too common that someone will see their friend when driving, and stop to chat with them while blocking road traffic. Only some car horns will move them on. The local bus is almost like the town meeting place, with each new local passenger gret through the bus, and quickly drawn into a conversation.

We also spent some time in the also picturesque town of Amalfi, another town along the coast. Getting there by public bus, I couldn’t help to think that the Amalfi Coast bus drivers must be among the best in the world. The roads are narrow, windy, and most of the time along cliffs. These guys are constantly throwing the bus left and right around the constant corners, honking the horn to alert oncoming traffic, stopping to reverse if there’s not enough room, all the while carrying on a conversation with a guy two seats behind him.

2 days was enough in Positano, during the day if you like walking it’s great, but there’s nothing else to do. Indeed, I went to bed before 10pm two nights in the row, which must be the first time I’d done so since I was 12.

The town scrubs up very well. Elegant and clean streets, great views of the Bay of Naples, impressive looking houses, it certainly is an appealing place. We booked into our stay at the Ulisse Deluxe Hostel, to find we were the only dorm visitors, and therefore were being put in a private room with en suite. One benefit of visiting in March. Hostel was helpful and clean.

View of Sorrento port and beyond

We decided to slightly spoil ourselves over the evening. In truth, there didn’t seem to be much else to do. After some great coffee, good pizza and the obligatory limoncello we stopped off for a gelati. The gelati joint was impressive, with masses of flavours and the walls covered with photo’s of famous customers, and the nice Italian touch of bikini girls getting covered in chocolate. My favourite was a picture of the Napoli football team coach, with comment written under it from the staff. The comments contained the words ‘Napoli’ and ’scudetto’, so I assumed that he made the big (empty) promise here to bring the scudetto to Napoli. Good luck!

The next morning we catch the ferry over to Capri. Upon arrival you think about how much of a dump this place is, with scrubby buildings lining the shore. But you can’t judge a city by its port / train station – they’re always the worst spots. Once out of the area, Capri town is very appealing and compact, with narrow paths leading around the town. The town has little buggies that are skinnier than a forklift that they use as taxi’s, or to move construction materials around (or old ladies sitting on school chairs).

A path out of Capri town, under the watchful eye of a local.

Taking some of the walking paths out of the centre of the town (to Villa Jovis, the Arco Naturale, and to the Gardens of Agustus), the views along each are really impressive and great ways to spend your time. The best was to the Arco Naturale, and then down the minor path behind it. The path has big climbs up and down, but also amazing cliff views and has a more rugged feel than the other paths. You can also check out the Villa Malaparte, which was featured in some art-house French film. Then you can tell you’re friends you saw the same house, and they may be impressed that you’ve seen this French film. But actually, you’ve just heard about it from a friend, and you’ve no real knowledge about the house, or the film. That’s what I’m doing.

The Villa Malaparte. Nice look and location, but needs some TLC.

One things that gets me about Capri (and also happens in other places), is people don’t clean up after their dogs. So there’s little land mines peppering the paths everywhere. So you’ve gotta be careful when admiring a view while walking, less you want to be cleaning your shoes with a stick. It seems the general idea is leave them there, then let the good residents and tourists walk it into the path til it’s gone. Then repeat the next day.

Oh, and the blue grotto was closed due to high tides, so missed out on that one.

Taking it in from the Gardens of Agustus

Capri is a great day trip and if you don’t mind walking around and enjoying views, it’s a great place to do it. We were lucky that we got a clear day in March, so it wasn’t too busy but still had the great views.

With my sister arriving the next day, I didn’t think she’d be that interested, so in the morning I told myself I was going up. It was a cloudy day, and the hosts at the hostel said not to go. But I wanted to go that day, or I wouldn’t. Well, turns out they were right. I caught the bus up to the car park on the mountain, to find that the national park was closed. Good thing too, I could see a whole 10 metres in front of me. The bus driver was a nice guy and didn’t validate my ticket, telling me to come back tomorrow.

So I did – in the morning before my sisters arrival. The bus ride up the mountain is great, Napoli is rather dirty and stretches on for ages, the neighbouring towns seem to be swallowed into the greater city. It was great to get amongst trees and not much else.

I was short on time, so walked quickly up to the top, around a 20 minute trip which wasn’t too difficult, even for an unfit guy like me (though of course I was short of breath). It was definitely worth it. The crater inside is interesting to see, but not amazing. Just some smoke rising out of the ground in patches. But the view was fantastic. You could see the whole city of Napoli stretching across the horizon, and around the coast towards Sorrento. Also of the peninsular the Amalfi coast is on, and some snow-capped mountains in the difference. It wasn’t too crowded up there, and getting far enough away from the nearest visitor you could be in silence, with just the wind passing by. Very relaxing.

Vesuvio's crater, with smoke rising from patches

I was going to buy a postcard up there, but they all looked as if they were taken in the 1970’s, and some cheesy ones even showing the volcano erupting. Pretty crap Photoshop jobs.

Path around the crater, and the view onto Napoli

That afternoon my sister arrived and the next day we went onto Pompeii. I knew it was a town that was covered in ash, but I never really thought it’d be as big as it is. It’s big, like, well, a town and takes a long time to walk across. Especially when you have to trek over very old and uneven paths. The people back then must have had pretty strong ankles. I was trying to look around as I walked, but then I wasn’t looking where I trod. I rolled my ankles twice before I learnt to keep the sight-seeing for when I’m stationary.

Ampitheatre of Pompeii

It’s pretty amazing, and I’m sure I would have got more out of it if I got a guide, or an audio one at least. You take photo’s of many things, but then I questioned if I was really going to look at 100’s of photo’s of old stone buildings into the future, and started taking it easy. The best was the amphitheatre, which we were lucky enough to get to ourselves for a minute. Very cool standing in the middle looking up at the stands, even though there’s no one there. They say that in the old days there was a riot in the amphitheatre, which caused a ban on events for 10 years. Some things don’t change so much over 1000’s of years in these passionate parts.

About halfway through the trip I realise I’m going to arrive in Napoli at about dusk, and I hadn’t bothered booking a hostel just yet. I had a place in mind, but it was about 20 minutes walk, and Napoli’s dodgy reputation had me worried to walk around in the dark with my ‘Im a tourist’ backpack on my back. I started considering taking a cheaper place near the train station, but realised I’d just have to change to my preferred place the next day, so decided to go the long walk.

The central train station of Napoli, and the area around it is a dump. No other way to say it. Really dirty, way too busy, homeless people around and not well signed. But I pushed on through it quickly, and things got better much faster. People swanking around in their black suits, black dresses, black tracksuits, whatever, so long as it’s black.

I arrived at the Hostel of the Sun and was amazed, this place was good. The guys behind gret me like a brother, and remembered my name upon introduction. Without asking for money, they advised on best places to see, where to go, what to do. The place also has bean bags. Napoli was starting to look good.

That night I went to a trattoria in the area of town where there’s narrow dark alleys crisscrossing each other, with vespas hurtling along them, mothers hanging out their washing and people just meandering around. At the trattoria the wait staff were middle-aged men with big overhanging guts, they yelled at each other, threw stuff at each other and messed up orders. Seriously, it was great entertainment. Food was good and with a bottle of wine the meal came to 10 euro. I walked home in the cool night, thinking how much better Napoli was than Rome. The next day I realised this was the red wine talking.

A familiar scene in one of Napoli's many alleys

But Napoli is great, it’s just a different beast to Rome. Walking the alleys is great, if you don’t mind peering into others lives, and the day trips out of the city are hard to beat. The famous archeological museum which contains many of the pieces from Pompeii and other southern Italian sites was very impressive, although disappointingly the ’secret closet’ – the room containing what the ancient Romans used to look at behind closed doors was closed for renovation.

All in all, I’ve liked Naples better than Rome, it’s just so much more manageable. It’s not as beautiful, and may not stand up as easily for repeated visits, but is definitely charming and full of life. The travel writers who put this place down as lawless and dangerous need to get some new material. Sure it has crime, but it’s not the wild west. Oh and of course, it does some mean pizzas.

I think it's against the rules to write something about Napoli and not include pizzas, so here it is

Oh, and I know the English name for this place is Naples, but Napoli just sounds nicer.

Rome is really amazing to me. I never thought I’d say this, but i love the cooler weather here. It’s a feeling I’ve missed for a long time – to be outside in the cool, but feeling warm in a jacket.

Rome is interesting and fun. The way that every inch of the city roads are lined tightly with cars or bikes, even the corners. Apartments in the city that have ridiculously tall doors, and cage elevators inside, although using these caged elevators is kinda difficult with a backpack on, they’re so narrow that you have to reverse out. Having breakfast at a bar, however bars are what I’d call a cafe, but it makes sense calling it a bar – people walk in and at the bar order an espresso. The small alleys, and the really beautiful buildings that spring up along and over the alleys. I could go on, but it’s enough for now.

An alley in central Rome - near the Trevi Fountain - by night.

The sights here are world-class. At first I thought, Trevi Fountain? Sounds a bit dull to me, how interesting can a fountain be? But it’s sculptured so well, with so many outlets, and good people watching make it a great place. St. Peters makes you short of breath upon entrance (and also after climbing the 551 steps onto the roof). Only the Spanish steps were not of much interest. I should have known by the name, how interesting can steps be?

St. Peters Square

I did my bit of culture in the museum in the Villa Borghese, which was really worth the money. I’m not going to pretend I know alot about art (I don’t), but some of the sculptures here are really amazing, and the oil paintings incredibly impressive. The best was a marble sculpture depicting a girl running from a guy who won’t keep his hands off her. She asks her father (a god) to turn her into something less beautiful, so he turns her into a tree. In the sculpture, her hands and hair are turning into leaves, and her legs turning into bark. To draw this is amazing enough, but to carve into marble is really something else. The guy spent a few good years on this one, it’s a pity that some guy like me can’t even remember his name the day after seeing his work.

Finding small little places serving cheap, good food in amongst the alleys is also fun. With espressos for less than a Euro, and foccacia’s for less than 4, they’re worth finding, and the taste is great.

Want some bread and prosciutto with that mozzarella?

The first day I was here, I went to a net cafe to check a few things, and they asked me for my ID to use a workstation. Seemed strange, but ok. The following day I was in the centre of Rome, and without anything on, so walked into another internet cafe. In there they had a sign, advising that due to terrorism laws in Italy, it was necessary to show your ID to use a workstation. ‘Hmm, I thought, so that’s why the cafe yesterday took my ID… hang on, they didn’t give it back!!!’ Great way to ruin your afternoon is to leave your license on the other side of the city. A hasty bus ride across town I found the cafe from the day earlier, and to their credit, had the ID on me. 2 days down into my trip, and I’d forgotten two important items. If I have my backpack with me by the end of my trip, I’ll be doing well.

My legs are tired after days of walking the alleys and streets. I don’t really want to leave Rome, but I could never see everything here of interest. Time to move on.

I’ve always dreamed of traveling, and I’ve done a fair bit of it. But so far, I haven’t spent more than 10 days on the road, and never backpacking by myself. And not so much of my travel has been for leisure – mostly for work in nice hotels and taxis. So it’s time that I challenged myself on the road.

I’ve enjoyed traveling in less developed countries, they seem to be more interesting, more unpredictable and exciting. But I’ve never been to Europe, and it’s time I fixed this issue. I’ll be traveling through Southern Italy, and then the South East corner of France. My reasons for traveling these areas are pretty simple:

• Of all the places in Western Europe, Spain and Italy seems the most unpredictable, the people more interesting expressive, and the landscapes more rugged.
• I’m going to be traveling in the European Winter, which when compared with the climate of Thailand that I’m used to, is kinda cold. I’m a wimp and not about to buy a few full jackets, so sticking to warmer temperatures.
• After reading “Neither Here Nor There” by Bill Bryson, I longed for Italy.
• The food (why else)

I don’t have a job lined up for when I finish my holiday, so it’s fairly important that I stay on a budget. I’ll be staying in hostels for my first time ever (bit of a late start at 27), and aiming to live on around 70 – 80 Euro a day. This will be tough, as I’m used to the convenience of food in Thailand, and i’ll have to stop buying so many snacks just cos they look tasty. But it’ll be good for me I guess.

My rough plan is to land in Rome, travel south through Italy to Sicily. Then fly up to Milan, and travel to Avignon in France. Then fly back to Thailand from Paris. 5 weeks, with roughly 4 in Italy and 1 in France.

I plan on updating this blog with stories and pics from my travels every couple of days. However I’ve decided not to travel with my laptop – it’s a brick anyway, and I want to make sure I don’t get into the habit of browsing the net on my holidays, instead of getting out and seeing things. So will be making updates from hostels, or net cafe’s.

OK, that’s all for now. I leave later tonight, and like anyone, got a heap of things to do between now and leaving including starting to pack a backpack.

The island is very big, and most of the centre of the island is mountainous and within a national park. So looking at the island from the pier you see tall jungle clad hills reaching into the clouds. This place looks cool.

And it is. I’ve given up thinking there’s going to be an untouched island in Thailand – unfortunately I think this is impossible. Koh Chang comes the closest I’ve seen, though there’s always signs of another section of forest being cleared, and apartment developments beginning. I at the moment there is a good balance between having some resorts to allow for visitors, but not putting too much strain on the island.

We checked out Lonely Beach first, but it seemed the only other things to do there was to get a bamboo tattoo and/or wear Thai fisherman’s pants. Not needing either, we decided to stay at Kaibae Beach, at the excellently named Kaibae Beach Resort. Staying at a resort named after the beach it’s on makes it easy to remember where you are (or were).

Also at the same “resort” was a few wannabe models there with their gullible boy friends, who were eager to get their bikini beach paradise photo to add onto their Facebook profile. We watched/cringed while their boy friends drooled and snapped away. Poses included the standard sitting on the beach throwing your head back, posing like a tiger and bringing their teddy bear in on the photo action. At one stage, one of the guys even crawled along the sand with his girlfriend sitting on his back. This was cringe worthy at a level I’ve not seen in some time. Great people watching.

Island coast just south of Koh Chang

Kaibae has enough to keep you occupied for the night, with some decent pubs and restaurants. We found a decent put pub across the road from the French restaurant, which wasn’t playing Jack Johnson. I liked it already. The pool table they had was fun. It seemed they had been scavenging through the garbage of another pool hall, and taken anything they could find. The two cue’s on offer either had no tip, or the tip was soft and fluffy. The table had a huge rip in the cloth near one corner, and had mounds in it big enough to turn a ball back the other way. It was everything that Thailand should always be. Informal, unpretentious, fun, and with a mosquito coil underneath it.

Working the pool table at Kaibae Beach, Koh Chang

But dodgy pool couldn’t keep us occupied for the full 2 days, so we did one of those snorkeling tours of the islands to the south. 500 baht is OK for a day trip, the snorkeling is quite good, and they also take you to a very nice beach off another island. Food is average, but you’re not there for the food. Just a tip, if you don’t want your back roasted, consider wearing a t shirt while snorkeling.

We also had dinner one night on the beach, with the obligatory fire twirlers. These guys are good at what they do, but when will they get a new sound track!? I watched two over the weekend, they both were playing the same music as the fellow fire twirlers on Koh Samet i saw last year. (The one with the star wars theme intro, then a punk version of Ring of Fire, and a few other punk tracks containing the word “Fire”). I’m not asking for a new song each performance, but at least have a few different soundtracks to twirl to.

So yeah, Koh Chang is great. But go there before the national park boundaries, and environmental conservation are ignored for the sake of a few quick baht.