After nearly a month traveling around Bolivia, I cannot tell you how relieved I was to be in La Paz with more options of food than the usual chicken and rice that seemed so prevalent throughout the country. The Star of India restaurant was recommended by a few hostel mates, listed in Lonely Planet, and popular for the worlds most dangerous Vindaloo.

The restaurant smelled delicious and its Indian flavored theme was very elegantly styled. It´s titled ¨British Indian Curry¨at the door. The table is candle lit and the service started phenomenally well. Most meals are priced 30 to 40 Bolivian. Reading the menu I see one curry that really sticks out called the Chicken Vindaloo. The long description provided warnings for this meal. With over 35 chili peppers and a serving to feed a family, it was a big food challenge. The prize is a free tshirt and pride of finishing one of the worlds most dangerous Vindaloo’s.

Feeling sick...

Knowing how spicy it’s going to be, I decided to have it with a milkshake and a bowl of rice to make the curry more edible. The bowl is about the size of the palm of my hand and as deep as my pinky finger. With a mix of rice, I go for my first bite. Flavor kicks in first and it’s quite good. Next the spice hits and surely its burning my mouth. Luckily I had the milkshake which made things much easier for me. A few bites in and my face gets a tingling sensation. My heart starts racing and I feel like I could be on speed. I could possibly run a marathon, although it would be a painful run. My legs are jumping up and down. The spicy taste gets worse for awhile and I’m already done with my milkshake and rice so I ordered a second round of both.

I started to get use to the spice and now I’ve moved on to new problems, I’m full and I have about 25% left to go and I’m feeling sick. The people at  tables around me all think I’m crazy and its already been an hour since we got there. I had to take a break and walk in circles to relax. My stomach is killing me and my body is telling me no more. I continue to take bites but every 10 minutes this time. I’m not sure how much more I could take of this. Every bite gets harder and harder to swallow. I can’t recall ever feeling like this over a meal.

The last 10% of my meal is left and I’m feeling closer to vomiting but somehow, I continued to push myself. I have a total of four bites left; which I must have been looking at  for a good 30 minutes. It seemed impossible and I nearly gave up but with only four bites left and 3 hours later, I couldn’t stop. I had to step outside for air every now and then. After about 3 hours with this meal, I had finally taken my last bite and declared victory. I could hardly walk at this point and I´m fully expecting many painful restroom visits.

Took a few videos and victory pictures. I couldn’t eat for the rest of the day. It took about a week to recover from this food challenge. I won’t go into details what I was recovering from. A t-shirt that says “I survived the world’s most dangerous Vindaloo” and having the privilege to write this article was my prize.

Watch Me Suffer

The quality isn’t the greatest because of the computer I was editing it with.

The White Lady only comes out at night, towed by a tractor to Commerce Street in downtown Auckland, just behind the train station and around the corner from Showgirls. With bright Christmas lights along her flanks like a beacon to the congregating barflies, the White Lady has been serving New Zealand’s late night crowd for more than 60 years, piling burgers high with pineapple, eggs, beets, and a series of accoutrement most would never consider atop on a beef patty.

Auckland, New Zealand is an amalgamation of cultures and foods. For backpackers, there’s excellent cheap Asian food on offer at one of the many food halls in the Central Business District. Cafes boasting outstanding coffee seem to be situated every hundred meters (tip: try the distinctive flat white). For classic New Zealand fare, any number of restaurants will offer lamb or green-lipped mussels.

But none of those are as intrinsically Auckland as a heaping burger, served in the wee hours of the morning from a trailer downtown, bathed in the neon glow of the night lights, mixing among the carousing revelers freshly emerged from the refuge of the area’s bars and nightclubs.

A word about New Zealand hamburgers: they’re probably different than what you’re used to. For starters, it’s not uncommon to find a slice of pickled beet tucked under the bun, tinging the bread pink and with a little juice running out. You’re also likely to find a bit of shredded carrot or a fried egg hiding in there. But it’s also likely to be surprisingly fresh, well-prepared and delicious. The lettuce will be crisp, the patty hand-formed. Exhibit A: The White Lady.

You’ll line up along the counter, likely behind a small group of tipsy travelers, and the first thing you’ll notice is the selection. You’ve got a choice of a dozen hamburgers, plus a selection of toasted sandwiches and even a few vegetarian options. A sign with pictures is a helpful guide for those calculating their hunger against progressively taller stacks of beef. The big one, The Aucklander, includes the works for $18.50; smaller ones, less ambitious ones are under $10.

The staff are also surprisingly helpful and friendly for a late night joint. Years of dealing with vagabonds and late night partiers can take their toll, but the crew behind the counter is patient, friendly, young and happy to have a chat between shouting out orders. They’ll even recommend a few good pubs in the area if your refueling stop is only a break in the action.

The burger will arrive carefully squeezed halfway into a paper bag. Leave it in there. You’ll need the bag as a backstop to keep all the good stuff together and from sliding out into a beefy, saucy mess. Tuck into it as best you can, adopting either the polite bites or ’shove and love’ approach. Sit on one of the upturned milk crates lined up against the wall and feel like a local.

The White Lady can be many things to Aucklanders and travelers. It’s been a source of artistic inspiration, a landmark, and much needed post-bar sustenance at only a mere stumble from a series of hostels. It’s a conspicuous and easy way for visitors to get a taste of the city’s distinctive late-night legend, and worth a pit stop on any visit.

The legendary Southeast Asia Buckets; the backpacking trail just wouldn’t be the same without it. Perhaps for the same reason Goon is to Australia. Who knew the same bucket we used as children to build sandcastles with would be used again to go into oblivion with on the other side of the world?

Thailand Buckets

Instead of a bucket set of a shovel and fork, these come with a flask of alcohol, two cans of soda, and a Redbull. It’s the adult version. Most buckets are about 150 to 200 Baht (~$5USD). The amount of straws shoved in a bucket is about a dozen with the idea that you’ll be sharing. The quantity can be overwhelming for one person and is often shared. One bucket will certainly get you there but who’s counting? The Thai version of Redbull does not give you wings and instead gives you a jet-pack. It’s a highly concentrated version of the more popular version.

Thai Bucket Vendors

The vendors are heavily competitive with their marketing campaigns. There’s a trend to adding the word ‘fuck’ to as many things as possible. The less sense it makes, the better. Trying to make any sense out of it will only make it worse.

How To Make a Thai Bucket

• First get a plastic round sandcastle bucket.
• Sangsom rum flask + one small bottle of a Thai energy drink (M-150 or Redbull) + Two cans of Coca Cola, Pepsi, or Sprite + a ton of ice
  OR
• Mekong whiskey flask (Thai Whisky), + one small bottle of a Thai energy drink (M-150 or Redbull) + Two cans of Coca Cola, Pepsi, or Sprite
  There are ton more variations.
• They do sometimes add lime.
• A ton of ice.
• About a dozen straws. Even if you’re only using one of the straws.
  

My personal favorite is the Mekong whiskey, Coca Cola, and Redbull mix. A few buckets of those and I’m good to go (for a week)! Party on!

Thai Bucket Vendors

Thai Bucket Vendors

A visit to China isn’t complete without tasting Baijiu. It’s considered a national drink of China. The beverage is a Chinese distilled alcohol. The clear color can easily be mistaken for water (I’ve done that mistake before). At about 80 to 120 proof, or 40-60% alcohol by volume, it burns right through and you will feel every drop it going down.

Baijiu is made from a variety of sources including wheat, oak, peas, barley, sorghum beans, and corn. Northern China does brew it differently than Southern China. The smell, at least for me, makes me want to gag. It has a familiar smell of paint thinner and rubbing alcohol and though I never tried drinking paint thinner, I’d imagine it wouldn’t taste much different from Baijiu.

R0010019 by nozomiiqel

It’s common to drink during family and business gatherings. Most business relationships are done in restaurants and Baijiu is almost always in the meal. Can’t hold a drink? Well, you better work on that because when you hear “gahn bay” (dry glass), it means to drink up (Same as saying Cheers). It’s considered rude to not participate in a toast group shot. Talk about peer pressure. It’s almost always taken as a group and throughout the course of a meal. The glass is then refilled started with the person who has the most money while filling yours last.

Traditionally in Chinese culture, the point of drinking is not to get drunk. Moderation is key otherwise you’ll be long gone before you can even talk business or hold a conversation with locals. It’s occasionally used to just loosen things up a bit. Baijiu is used in many festivals including the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year’s, the Lantern Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival. It’s even been the drink to have during military victories in the past.

If you’re lucky enough, try some local home brewed Baijiu with the locals themselves. If you see a pretty bottle of Baijiu, don’t be fooled – it’ll taste just as bad as all the rest. Price ranges dramatically while you could pay 10 cents for a bottle in one place, it may cost thousands per bottle for a different quality.

More Baijiu information on Wikipedia with references

Have you tried Baijiu? What did you think of the taste?

I do in fact have a second stomach for dessert. Well not exactly but it does seem that way that no matter how full I may be, I always have enough room for dessert. My limits were tested in Buenos Aires, Argentina though. A simple walk down the city of Buenos Aires will get you passing down countless ice cream parlors. It’s extremely difficult to resist and normally I don’t want to resist anyway.

With dozens of flavors to choose from in most of these places, it’s like a mission. It becomes even more difficult on those late night drunk craves (from experience). There is one flavor however that is hard to go wrong in Buenos Aires and that is the Dulce de Leche. The milk caramel flavor will have you in a daze of amazing-ness. From Dulce de Leche, you then have several more choices from Granizado, Brownie, Bonbon, and more. Regardless of the flavor you choose, you’ll have a sense of the richness of Argentina’s dairy. Thanks to the Italian immigrants that came to Buenos Aires, you’ll have a rich creamy and more milky ice cream compared to other parts of the world. Less air, more milk, and more eggs, sets you in for a high density addictive ice cream just like the Italians gelato.

He was confused why we were taking a picture of him. See that bucket of ice cream? That was hardly enough.

With so many parlors to choose from, you’ll have different opinions of which are the best heladerías in Buenos Aires. Creating this post is absoltely killing me to be honest because my absolute favorite was at Un Altra Volta combining several different flavors in a whole bucket. Nothing else compares. Say that to a Freddo fantastic and they’ll argue your ears off how there’s is the best. Close favorite to Un Altra Volta is the many local ice cream parlors I found just walking and discovering the city. Most were usually outside of the big city that I found to be the best.

That would be me taking forever to choose a flavor.

Have you had the ice creams / gelatos of Buenos Aires? What would you concider the best? Comment which flavor you liked best as well. Vote on it!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

After featuring two of their videos, Bangkok Street Party and Pulled Noodles for our weekly Film Feature, I just had to know more about them. Their Without borders, three chefs that traveled all around Asia exploring and experiencing local culture with food. I was luckily able to get an interview with them.

A quick introduction, my name is Michael Tieso of Art of Backpacking.com from New Jersey, USA. What are your names? And where are you from?

Hi Mike, our names are Chad Klyne, Clayton Klyne and Lyndon Wiebe. We are all originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We all spent a few years living in Calgary, Alberta as well, and that is where we first met. Well Chad and Clayton are twins, and they met in their mom’s womb. (They probably had bunk beds in there too.)We spent over five years abroad and all lived in Scotland, Australia and New Zealand together. These days Chad and Clayton live up on the Gold Coast in Australia, and I have settled back in Winnipeg.

Left to Right: Chad, Lyndon, Clayton of Without Borders

What is Without Borders? How did you come up with the name and what does it mean?

Without Borders is our own self funded food and travel series that we shot between Dec. 2008 and July of 2009. We went on a culinary adventure from Bali to Beijing, and ate, cooked and drank our way through ten countries and filmed our adventures along the way. It is an online travel series. We have over 35 videos in the award winning library ranging from 3 minutes to 10 minutes in length. Originally we started with ten trailers, one for each country we visited, just to give our audience an idea of what we experienced. Now we have moved onto individual segments taken from some of our favourite experiences. We have cooking segments, festival segments and various other videos from our travels. It is still a work in progress as we have over 100 hours of footage, so there are still lots more to come.

When most people think of Without Borders, the first thing that comes to their mind is Doctors Without Borders and the countless other charitable organizations that use that moniker. But for us, Without Borders was more of a statement of our lives at that time, when this project began. We seemed to lead a life Without boundaries, Without cares and without the conventional rules that most people live their lives by. We originally were thinking Chefs Without Borders, but then we didn’t want to be pigeonholed into just being a food show. Also, as it turns out, Chefs Without Borders is also a charitable organization based out of San Francisco. That would have been embarrassing. So it became Without Borders. We thought of it while we were all living in Melbourne, and I think, all living in one bedroom, due to our cheapness. Ugggh, gives me shivers just reliving that thought.

by chefswithoutborders

What was your inspiration to do this?

Our inspiration for it was simple. Employment, and we wanted become stinking rich from it. First you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the women or something like that. Our goal from the get go and even now is to get our own tv series, so we can get paid to travel and cook and have fun doing it.And, ofcourse, make lots of money off of our cookbooks and associated merchandise that comes with it. Just imagine it: Without Borders aprons, Wihtout Borders tshirts, Without Borders sweat bands,Without Borders haemorrhoid cream.(for those long journeys off the beaten track, where the there are at least to breakdowns), the possibilities are endless.Money,money,money.

Seriously though, we wanted to travel with a purpose this time round. We were 30 years old, and kind of felt like it might be our last hoorah together so we wanted to go out with a bang and do something completely different. We wanted to create an experience that would last a lifetime and we wanted to create an experience we could share with the rest of the world whether they liked it or not. Also, bad food and travel shows were our inspiration to develop something a little different. We had spent a lot of time travelling, just pissing it up, and not really seeing much of anything except the bottom of the bottle and the hangover waiting for us in the morning. We were all a little scared to return to our home land that we had been away from for so long and had no idea what the hell we were going to do when we got home. None of us really wanted to go back to the daily grind when we returned, so we put all of our effort into Without Borders to try and get our series off the ground. Our goal was to try and score our own series if possible by the time we returned to Canada, so we wouldn’t have to go back to working in kitchens again.

by chefswithoutborders

What’s the strangest thing you’ve eaten?

Strangest thing we’ve eaten? Where to begin. How about a top 5 or seven or something.Not in any order, I don’t think. You can pick and choose which ones you like, or use all of them if you want to.

Tamilok- We ate this in the Philippines. Basically they really long worms up to like 2 feet in length that are found in mangrove trees. Technically they are molluscs, but they look like worms and taste like oysters. Pretty tasty but weird, especially when your slurping them up like spaghetti noodles and start choking on them because of the length and texture.

Balut- Again, another Philippine delicacy, but also found in other Asian countries. 17 to 19 day old duck embryos still in the shell. I think17 to 19 days is more of a suggestion and best eaten at that age. Chad and I ate some in Manila that were probably around the 24 day mark, and were fully developed, and really hard to eat. Clay got off lucky in Saigon, I think his was a proper one.

Cow Penis Soup. We found this beauty on the island of Penang, Malaysia.Clayton got the privilege of eating this one as Chad and I had already eaten something horrible the day before, though I can’t remember what. The thing was probably 8 feet long. We wanted to skip rope with it, but they wouldn’t let us. Torpedo soup it was called. Normally the seamen fire the torpedo, but this time the torpedo fired the seamen… right into Clayton’s mouth.

After - Cow Penis Soup by BaronessEast

Assorted outdoor market treats, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After a long, hot day of touring around we went to the local market for some goodies. Clayton enjoyed the classic snake on a stick and Chad ate what looked to be a small fried baby sparrow(It’s mouth was still open like it was waiting for its mom to feed it some worms for breaky). I got picked to eat the crispy fried tarantula. After I shaved the hair off from its legs, I was able to eat it. Those treats had probably been sitting there for quite a few days cooking away in that 40 degree celcius temperature before we had the pleasure of eating them.

5 year old cobra. We traveled to the village of Le Mat, 7 kms north of Hanoi, Vietnam to eat some cobra. What we really wanted to eat was the heart. Unfortunately they were charging $40 US for one and that was all we could afford. We did rock, paper, scissors and I won. Good ol’ rock, never fails. It was the first time I had actually ever killed an animal, as I cut it open with a pair of scissors. They skinned the snake, removed the heart and the liver. The heart and the sliced open liver along with the blood, were all poured into separate glasses filled with vodka. That heart beat for over 30 minutes maybe longer, after it was removed from the body. I shot back the heart, and the boys each took blood and liver shots with vodka. They cooked us an eight course meal with the remainder of the snake and it was incredible.Mindblowingly good.The cobra heart is supposed to give you strength and potency and is a strong aphrodisiac for whoever drinks it. Unfortunately for me, I was once again sharing a room with Chad and Clayton that night. Uggggghh.

Lenny the 2foot Lizard. We were in Don Det, in Si Pan Don(4,000 Islands), Laos. It was my birthday and we wanted to cook something different. We found it. We went to a restaurant, and tied to a tree out back was Lenny. We came back the next day and cooked him. First they poured Lao Lao (strong whisky) down his throat to thin his blood or loosen him up or something, then they sliced the throat and roasted him on open flame to peel off the skin. After that, we sliced and diced him and made five different dishes out of him, all of which were pretty horrible, (as they used the wrong cooking methods for such a tough piece of meat) but worth trying all the same. My favourite was the warm blood stew, infused with lemon grass, lizard tail and bone, with pig’s penis. To die for.

by chefswithoutborders

E. Coli, Khon Kaen, Isaan Province, Thailand. Wow, is all I can say. Isaan is a province northwest of Bangkok on the Laos border. The land sucks for agriculture, so these people have had to eat anything they could get their hands on to survive. Anything. We tried some beauties. We had a tripe soup, made with chillies, and mud water and blood in a squeeze bottle. All you could taste was a barn. Then we tried Thai beef tartar of lack of a better word. Raw ground beef mixed with roasted rice for seasoning, fresh mint and of course more blood form a squeezy bottle.We had seen and eaten congealed blood in block form before, but blood,(pig’s. I think) in a bottle, used with casualness of a house dressing was something to behold. It was E.Coli on a plate. It tasted pretty damned good, but it was still pretty shocking. Oh, and then there was the ant eggs we ate earlier that day. They were pretty good too. Especially when they popped in your mouth.

What was one of your favorite foods and in which country?

Favourite foods? Oh man, that’s tough. Giseng Giseng, which literally means “Jump Jump” was one of our favourites. We did a film shoot at Kinabuch restaurant in Palawan, Philippines. That’s where we tried it; along with the Tamilok I had mentioned earlier. It was ground, pork, shrimp and chillies with condensed milk. In El Nido, we went to Mommy and Daddy’s canteen twice a day every day, and she made the best green beans adobo. You could never serve them in a restaurant here, as the acid discolours them so badly. They turn a horrid brown color, and you would probably get fired by your chef if you tried to send them out. But the flavour was unreal. Char Kway Tiao in Malaysia, was incredible. Anything from Thailand. Especially the smoked eggplant salad, and banana leaf salads we tried in the Sao Chingcha district of Bangkok. Bun cha from Vietnam, Nam Khao(fried rice ball salad) from Laos. Stewed turtle and Chicken Kung Pao in China. Honestly, the list is endless. Chad and Clayton probably have a lot more ot add to this, and I am sure there is lots I have left out!

by chefswithoutborders

We’ve featured the Bangkok Street Party on Art of Backpacking. Seems like you’ve had a real local experience there. Would you say you’ve gotten a better local experience because of the search of local dishes in comparison to the average backpacker?

We could not have gotten a better local experience if we had tried. Doing this project definitely opened up a lot more doors for us, in terms of getting in with the locals. We were surprised how much they loved the camera. For all the times we brought out the camera to ask if we could do a film shoot, I can count on one hand the number of times we were refused. Keep in mind we did nearly 40 or more food shoots, I believe and were only turned down 3 maybe 4 times at the most. It was incredible. Also, our drive to succeed and to do this project to the best of our ability, forced us to get out there to get that cool footage, and to come out of our shells and really make an effort to get to know everyone. It made for an incredible experience, but also made for good PR and getting the Without Borders name out there. There is no way that we would have even come close to having the same experience if we were just doing the normal backpacking circuit. Also, we took this project pretty seriously, so we didn’t have those big drinking binges that we are normally accustomed to when we backpack around. We wanted to be ready for anything, which meant we couldn’t be hung over.Very often.

by chefswithoutborders

On your website it says you guys had no filming experience prior to this trip yet the quality and editing is superb. How has the learning curve been? In summary, what are you using? What were some of the difficulties filming in the countries you’ve been?

Steep? It was a freakin abyss. The only thing we had shot prior to this really, was a skate board video filmed in Melbourne, just before we left. It’s really good by the way. The hardest part at first was actually just getting the nerve to pull the camera out and start filming. Even harder was still was talking to the camera in front of an audience. The first two weeks, we didn’t know what we were doing or even what we were supposed to be filming. We had no direction. On the last day in Jakarta on December 15th, we did our first film shoot. Chad went up and asked a local if he could show him how to make murtabak, and the guy agreed and Chad, even tried making one himself. Our microphone extension wire crapped out, so we had no boom for sound (a problem we would encounter many times), and everything had to be filmed up close to get the sound. It was nerve racking. But we did it, and it was a success. After that the jitters started to fade and we developed the cold call formula. Whereby we walk up to random street vendors or even restaurants and ask to learn how to cook the food while attempting to cook the dish ourselves. And of course, film the whole thing. In regards to filming, we learned to keep the camera still, to get b rolls or secondary filler shots, and to keep the camera rolling at least a few seconds after the person or action has stopped, so as not to miss anything. Then there was the sound. We had to practice all the time to get it just right, and of course remember to actually turn the microphone on. All of this of course, we learned the hard way. Usually afterwards, when we viewed the footage we thought would be amazing. That’s when we would discover it was unusable due to any one of the errors previously mentioned. So we kept working at it. With editing, we had to learn as we went as well.

by chefswithoutborders

We use Corel Video Studio 12. It’s a basic program, but it works quite well for us. We learned about fitting in b rolls, and transitions, and sound adjustments. The hardest part was usually deciding on which direction to take the trailers we were editing on the road. 3 heads with 3 different ideas, can lead to a lot of tension and a lot of frustration and a lot of wasted hours. Oh, did I mention we only had one computer? But before we could edit the footage, we realized we had to capture it as we went, and put all of that onto portable hard drives. We had 100 hours of footage by the end of the trip. After we captured it, we would take turns logging all of the footage. We didn’t know any other way, so we logged it to the second. One hundred hours, logged to the second. What a nightmare! After we logged for day, then we would edit. It didn’t always work this way though. Usually when we were editing a new trailer that was all we did until it was completed and uploaded onto Youtube. Sometimes that could be as much as 40 hours or more for one five minute trailer. It got faster and easier as time went by and we became more efficient. Everything did. Even after a new video was done it could still take another 4 days of dicking around and running back and forth to the internet cafe to upload it. Sometimes it took a week. Now, we all have our own computers, and we each have our own hard drives with all of the footage at our fingertips, logged and ready to go. It is a lot faster these days, and so are our internet connections. We shot with a Cannon HV30 HD camera, we used a Rhode directional video microphone, a wide angle lens, and a Manfrotto monopod, which doubled as our boom pole. We also bought a knock off steadycam which we bought from India, which I think we used a total of one time on our entire trip. Freaking waste of money!

I love watching your videos and the humor you guys add to them. Keep them coming!

Stay Connected with Without Borders by visiting the Without Borders website, Twitter, Youtube, and Tripfilms.

I couldn’t help it. This is the second video were featuring of Without Borders and for a good reason. I’ll be going back to China in the end of August and this video got me excited again for my upcoming trip. It didn’t seem to take long for them to find something to record in China. Watch as Chad attempts to make some noodles and somehow tries to communicate with them.

“Aren’t you worried about travelling alone?” It’s a question I get asked all the time. Friends and colleges who have never backpacked always ask this. “Don’t you worry about making friends?’ The answer is always the same. Of course not.

Travelling alone is the only way I can do it. I’ve tried travelling with friends, and yes, it has its benefits, seeing a familiar face every day, having someone to eat with, talk to, and do things with. But, personally, I’ve always found that a well known friend on my travels stopped me from doing what I loved. Exploring, meeting new people, and finding new things.

So today I’ll dispel a few worried thoughts about travelling solo, share a few tales, and give a few tips for those who are still concerned.

kolour knowledge by Enjoy It As Us!

When you’re travelling alone, you’re rarely travelling alone. In any given hostel around this wonderful world, there are many others doing the same as you. Exploring a new part of the world with nothing but a budging backpack and a Mack in a pack. You have so much in common with every single person. Go downstairs early enough and you’ll find a lonely German who’s going to explore the local area. Come down at lunch and you’ll find an Irish clan starting to drink. Make you way down around dinner and some lonely English girl will want to go to the local cinema. You will not be alone unless you really want to be.

backpackers by Farley Webb

The beauty about backpacking, and living in hostels, is that everyone is your friend. You sit down on a bus to travel 12 hours back to Bangkok and the person on the seat next to you is suddenly your new best friend. In a hostel in South Africa; the person in the bunk above yours is your new buddy. You’ll sit down with your beans on toast in the dining area on a cold Austrian night, and the person opposite is your dining partner. This is the beauty of the backpacker’s world. We’re all in it together. You can walk up to any person in the hostel and start a conversation. ‘Where are you from, where have you been, where are you going’. Those 3 questions will keep you going for a long time (though I warn you, after 5 months of answering this, you can start to get a little bored, so try to keep things interesting).

Classic Backpacker Girls by primaverapvr

The best place to meet people is the dining area, or anywhere that has tables and chairs. If you sit there long enough, someone will sit next to you, or across from you, and you’ve got yourself a chatting buddy.

Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to break the ice. But here are a few tips of mine on how to make friends in a backpacker environment:

Cake Fishing

Go to the supermarket, buy a cake (or make one, if you have skills). Cut a few slices, sit down at a dining room table, and wait. I guarantee you that someone will come up and make a comment. When they do, put a slice in front of them, and invite them to sit down. You now have a new friend (this is based on the sound scientific reasoning that no one can be angry after eating cake). The bonus with this is that later on in the evening when people are drinking, they’ll remember you as ‘cake boy/girl’, and offer you a drink for giving them a slice. Cake isn’t a treat, it’s an investment.

CAKES.... by Pablo D. Contreras (ilexphoto)

Sock puppets

Go down to the dining area/bar with a sock puppet on, and just have a chat to it. Someone will eventually come up to you and ask what you’re doing. Introduce you’re sock to them, and have a round table conversation (it helps to have thought up a good back story for the puppet, name, where they come from, how the evil wizard turned them into a sock puppet etc). Obviously, some people will think you’re insane. But some won’t. Or some will, and will WANT to be friends with you because of that. Either way, you’ll get people talking

Goon

In my last article, I talked about the wonders of Goon in Australia. It is the classic friendship maker. Buy a box, sit down with a few glasses, and offer one to whoever ends up next to you. They will have had a Goon night, and will tell you their Goon story. You’ll probably have one of your own too. Share, reminisce and grimace away. Then do it all again

Have a Party

Many of those who are travelling are there to have a good time. We’re young, we’re free, we’re ready to explore, and we’re ready to mingle. We’ll take hikes, we’ll go to museums, and we’ll visit art galleries through the day. And when the eve comes, we’re ready to make something of it. So make something of it. Find an interesting part of the hostel and have a party. Play some music, get some balloons and whenever anyone turns up, party along with them. My favourite place to do this is in a lift. Lift parties are epic. People have to use them all night, so you have a steady stream of party goers. Give them some drinks, give them some party food, and make them dance. You’ll have a great one. (Warning- spending a whole evening in a lift can make you feel a little sea sick or rather lift sick). You can also use dining areas, receptions, your room (if your room mates are willing), smoking areas, cupboards, sofas, or any other interesting room a hostel possesses.

lounge party at Purple Nest Hostels (Valencia) by Nest Hostels Spain

Backpackers are some of the friendliest people in the world. They’ve come to another country, wanting to see new things, and meet new people, and all of them are happy to talk to you. So please, never be worried about travelling alone.

You just had a little shiver down your spine when you read that, didn’t you? Which means one of two things- either you’ve traveled in Australia, or you can see the future, and your body is scared.

Goon is quite legendary. Not a hostel in Australia has a night where no one drinks Goon. It’s boxed wine (Plonk). Usually bought for about $10 for 4 litres. It’s cheaper than mineral water. And after drinking it you’ll realise why. It doesn’t taste good. Imagine the kind of bottle of wine you’d buy when you’re 14 and wanting to make an impression on your new ‘girlfriends’ family. Then imagine you poured the entire bottle over a mattress that someone which a quite violent flu had spent the week on watching old Jerry Springer reruns. You let that ferment for a week maybe, and then squeeze that mattress out, collecting every last drop. That’s the best way I can describe the taste of Goon.

goon! by I Don't Know, Maybe

And everyone who’s ever had it has a story to tell about it. Seriously, ask any of your friends who’ve stayed in a hostel along the east coast of Oz

“So, what’s Goon?”
“Ah” as they shake their head “Goon…goon…goon…I remember one time on Goon…”

So far science has not been able to explain the effects of Goon. It is the only alcohol known to give you a hangover before you get drunk. You get a headache, you feel a little sick, and you start hating everyone around you.

There are rules to Goon. The official way it is to be drunk is in a mug. No one knows why, but drinking it out of a real glass is not acceptable. You may also use saucepans, jugs, or anything else that will make you look quite silly.

After 10pm, any Goon left on a table is communal. Well, it sort of is. Everyone’s so drunk you don’t really remember what’s yours.

Slap The Goon! by Laura and Candice's Photos

Goon should be drunk within the confines of a drinking game. Ring of Fire is a classic, Eyes on keeps you moving, shot a minute is not recommended, but Goon is never recommending in general. You can drink Goon solo and slowly, but it’s just stupid. Goon is there to get you drunk, very drunk, very quickly, very cheaply. Even if you will regret it.

Red Goon is rarely enjoyed. White Goon is the preferred option for many people. Officially it’s wine. So with a white wine, you can get a drinkable bottle quite cheap and it gets better with price. Red wine is different; you can’t go for cheap Red. Unless you really want to forget the night and wake up next to a guy named Mandy wearing only a leopard skin thong.

Goon is made with Fish and Eggs. It says so on the bottle. But don’t get freaked out, it’s just a finishing agent. And honestly, if you’re on a travelling budget, you’ll agree that if someone told you smoking a Mars bar would get you wasted, you’d probably try it. The best part about this fact, is that when you’re drinking with GV’s (Goon Virgins), after the 5th or 6th mug, you can point this little disclaimer out to them, and see the colour on their face change rapidly.

Ice is recommended. The only thing worse than Goon is warm Goon. Some like to make ‘Magic goon’ and add lemonade, or another mixer. However Goon Cocktails are very hit and miss, I do warn you.

Slap the goon with Westend Backpackers by NomadsHostels

Some feel that goon is not enough on its own. And these are the sort of people that invented the Goon Bomb. Some of you who are more party types will be aware of Jagerbombs. Where you drop a shot of Jagermesiter into a glass of Red Bull, and down the whole thing. Well, a Goon Bomb is like that. Only with Goon instead of Red Bull. Yeah. Take a minute to think about that.

A night on Goon is different every time. But they’ll usually be blackouts. They’ll usually be incredible mistakes your friends will not let you live down. And the next morning, you will completely re-evaluate your life. It’s the vomit equivalent of an epiphany. You’ll realise where it went wrong, what you need to do, and that you defiantly will never do it again. Until the next night of course…

Some of you reading this may wonder why we do this. Pure hedonists, don’t care about your health, don’t care about the consequences, blah blah blah. And you know what, you’re maybe right. Goon will make you feel worse than most other drinks. However, you’ll also have one of the most entertaining nights on the stuff. You’ll make friends quicker than you ever thought possible. You’ll sing the words to songs you never even heard. You’ll smile all night, and you’ll enjoy it, and to me, this is what backpacking is all about. Putting your body on the line to meet people, have a great time, and do things you never thought possible.

As of October 7th, 2009; bars and clubs in the Buenos Aires Province (not city) must stop serving alcohol at 4:30am while  the venue itself must close by 5:30am. Supermarkets and liquor stores have also been affected with a no buying from 9:00pm till 10:00am. The last time this was attempted by former governor Eduardo Duhalde was in 1996 which caused a series of protests and later reverted back. Many pubs and clubs are complaining today about the new changes but no news as of yet if this is being heard.

The law was decided by the Senate of the Province of Buenos Aires and enforced further by Governor Daniel Scoili.

Buenos Aires is known for the late night partying. It’s common to go out at 1:00am or later and party away till the early morning. It’s part of BA’s custom to eat late and party late. Now with this new law, clubs may have to open earlier and locals will need to get use to eating and partying earlier forever changing it’s custom.

© paulina_dlux

My personal opinion: It’s great that their cracking down on the alcohol abuse that does tend to go out of control in the streets. However; the closing of clubs at 5:30am should be reconsidered. Let’s say worse case there’s someone drinking heavily throughout the night and his or her’s last drink is at 4:15am. Now it’s 5:30am and is forced out of the club yet he or she’s still drunk but now wondering the streets at 5:30am.

If the club were still open, this person would still be safe inside the venue. Though most venues won’t stay open much longer after 4:30am, the larger events will and people will still purchase water, energy drink, Gatorade, etc.

Will this change the Buenos Aires nightlife?