MONDOmagazine » Travelogues

A Toast to Trains

lifestyle — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:00:59 +0000

Because sometimes it just needs to be said. By Leanne Schaeken Most everyone has a preferred mode of travel, whether it is the classic autobahn, airplane, or boat. The train-without hesitation or doubt-is my favourite. Last Friday evening, as I settled in on train 79 from Toronto to Windsor, and the downtown lights blurred past, my fondness for trains, with their steadiness and gentle chug past countrysides, came back to me. A train will hardly ever lead you toward a great adventure. Perhaps it will take you to the next city or the next province, to your school or to your home. It does not have the excitement of a plane or the banality of a bus. A train ride is, simply, a delight. [...]

Digesting Japan, Pt. 1

lifestyle — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:00:16 +0000

A thrilling travel and food mini-series! Not a break-up story. By Leo K. Moncel Japan is crazy, right? Is there any other country that looms so large in the international imagination as a haven for the bizarre? Over the years, I became so used to hearing urban legends and ridiculous-sounding cultural generalizations about Japan that I started to disbelieve by default whatever I was told about it. I became certain that people were exaggerating the national character of Japan with each new conversation about it, like a fishing story. It seemed to have become a place known for extremes, used by people as a canvas on which to project their own outlandish visions. The truth about Japan, I assumed, was probably like most things in life: far more mundane than the fantasy. I spent three weeks in Japan at the end of August. Upon my return, the first thing I was asked by a lot of people was, "What was the most surprising thing about Japan?" My response: surprise that it did actually conform to almost every outlandish-sounding [...]

This Happened to me in September: A South African Travel Narrative

lifestyle — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:00:47 +0000

There ain't no awkward conversation like South African awkward conversation!

By Alex Meyers [For most of 2007, Alex Meyers worked as a volunteer for an AIDS education charity in South Africa, transplanting himself from his native Toronto. This story was written during that stay and has only now been released to the public. Enjoy! -Ed.] It was like an afternoon out of "Suburban Motel". [We at MONDO encourage references to obscure pieces of Canadiana. -Ed again.] I wish someone had been there to verify my story because by tomorrow I might not believe it happened at all. [...]

Travelepilogue: I Finally Made it to a Full Moon Party

lifestyle — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:00:59 +0000

A latter day Angkor Wat, apparently. By Claire Brownell If you've only heard of one thing about travelling in South East Asia, chances are it's Koh Phagnan's full moon party. The stuff of myths, lies, legends, and rumours. These giant monthly beach parties in the south of Thailand are a magnet for young travellers of the waste case variety. There's a t-shirt sold in Thai souvenir shops that lists one of the "Ten Commandments of Backpackers" as "Thou shalt make a pilgrimage to a full moon party on Koh Phagnan at least once in your life." And it's true: Koh Phagnan takes on a Mecca-like quality for backpackers. I met people in Laos, Cambodia, and in the north of Thailand who swore that they had finally left the south for good, who then checked their calender and — discovering the full moon was in a few days — scrambled to book 36-hour bus trips back to Koh Phagnan in order to make another party. To hear people talk, South East Asia had two wonders of the world: Angkor Wat, and full moon on Koh Phagnan [...]

Travelogue: Český Krumlov

lifestyle — Tue, 27 May 2008 04:00:28 +0000

By Sarah Redbird I had heard rumors of Český Krumlov — the quiet, southern Bohemia UNESCO heritage site situated along the Vltava River, which cradles the State Castle or Chateau Complex. I had heard it was best showcased in the fall, when the foliage of the surrounding hills frame the medieval architecture of the town centre. I had also heard that the chill imposed by the icy nature of late-September Prague was well remedied there. Having been given reprieve from my sojourn as a student at the Prague University of Economics on the mid-fall long weekend, I ventured out of my temporary home in the Czech metropolis and headed south for the hills [...]

Bangkok, Round Two

lifestyle — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:00:18 +0000

I spent half a year in Southeast Asia and all I got was this lousy life experience By Claire Brownell Stepping off a plane from Toronto, Bangkok looked like Cambodia. Stepping off a bus from Cambodia, Bangkok looked like Hollywood. It was fascinating. Everywhere Maggie and I looked, we saw landmarks of wealth and globalization that we hadn't seen for months. Look, a skyscraper! A Burger King! A highway overpass! Even the tourists looked more attractive. Look, straightened hair, heels, manicures! Walking down Khao San for the first time, the second time, was like reverse culture shock. After seeing nothing but dust and potholes for months, it was dazzling, beautiful, and mesmerizing, whereas fresh out of Toronto the first things that caught my eye were beggars jumping over puddles of garbage water. [...]

Holiday in Cambodia

lifestyle — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:00:44 +0000

Don't Forget to Pack a Wife!

By Claire Brownell In the spring of 1980, the Dead Kennedys released "Holiday in Cambodia," on Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables. It was a year after Vietnamese occupation toppled Pol Pot's brutal Khmer Rouge regime, which was responsible for the massacre of one to two million people. A commentary on the hypocrisy of young, university educated liberals who claim an appropriated understanding of poor minorities, the song suggests such people take a holiday in Cambodia and see if they still think life in the ghetto is poetic and cool.

"And it's a holiday in Cambodia Where you'll do what you're told A holiday in Cambodia Where the slums' got so much soul."

So I'm sitting here in a ritzy tourist cafe in Siem Reap, listening to Frank Sinatra and drinking a banana shake, with a krama (traditional Cambodian scarf) tied around my neck, and reflecting on the beautiful irony of that song in 2008. [...]

NYC Travelogue, Day Four

lifestyle — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Sometimes you wake up... and you can't find Nan Goldin By Jenny Bundock Due to my exposure to a freezing cold rain the day before, I was naturally the worst I had been all trip when we woke up for our final day in the city. It was eleven in the morning again, NeoCitran was in the scary water boiler and I was trying to warm up in the tub. We decided to go to MoMa since I am in visual arts, and I did want to see some photography before we left the city. We took the subway from Rockefeller Center rather painlessly to MoMa and enjoyed some of the cool stuff they have for all visitors like a free coat-check and free audio guides [...]

NYC Travelogue Continued

lifestyle — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 05:00:29 +0000

I'm 90% sure that the guy in all these photos is named "Dylan"

By Jenny Bundock (words and photos) To see the last entry in this travelogue, click this link. It won't bite. Day Two Sleeping till noon is no way to start off what you had decided previously would be an action-packed day full of adventure and learning how to ride the NYC subway. I recall getting up feeling as angry as can be, drinking a cup of NeoCitran using the dangerous little water boiler thing in our room that sputtered scalding hot water in a three-foot radius all around where you plugged it in. Drinking NeoCitran and avoiding the boiler's corner of the room would become my "every morning in NYC" ritual. After that, we used the extensive map of the transit system to figure out how to get to the Museum of Natural History > (which we decided to go to almost entirely to see the big blue whale they have hanging from the ceiling, and more importantly, get a picture of Dylan with it. If you have ever seen the movie The Squid and the Whale, you understand). We were also going to try to go to the Met that same day, as it is right near there, but alas, there were but five hours while both places were open, so the Met would have to wait. [...]

Dear Mom: So I Kind of Work in a Cambodian Brothel

lifestyle — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:00:11 +0000

Sex Tourists: Kind of Sketchy. Who Knew?

By Claire Brownell Dear Mom, How are you? My travels are going well. You’ll be happy to hear that I’ve found a job. Vietnam was quite a bit more expensive than I expected it to be, so I thought it would be a good idea to settle down and save some money for a while. I work at a bar called The Dolphin Shack in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, where I bartend and hand out fliers on the beach. My fellow employees are all very friendly and show their appreciation for my work with lots of hugs and kisses. I’m even learning sign language from the deaf girls who work here. [...]

Day One in NYC

lifestyle — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:00:00 +0000

A Story of Human Endurance in the City Coated in Kindness

By Jenny Bundock This year, over the reading week break we university students get, my partner and I went to New York City. I'm not sure how many of you have been to New York, or how many of you have gone in February, when it is cold as death and raining non-stop, but this is the New York I have come to know. Previously, my only exposure to New York came from watching all five seasons of Sex and the City. Turns out this is a terrible representation of [...]

Fear and Loathing in Vietnam

lifestyle — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Cu Chi Cu Chi Coo! By Claire Brownell My friends and I started this trip with very few concrete goals or plans. Those we did have included (1) buy a monkey and name it Korel the Warrior, (2) frequent an opium den (not even necessarily to smoke opium, just to, you know, hang out), and (3) go to Vietnam so we could start stories with "back in 'Nam." So far, #3 is the only one I've really followed through on. Unfortunately, Vietnam has been my least favourite place to travel so far. My experience can regrettably be summarized as "Back in 'Nam, I had a constant low-grade anxiety attack." [...]