igloo 3 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 So, for those who have been on one....where? For those who might go on one, where to go? I always quite fancied India myself. Anyway, hope you are luckier than these dudes! ----- When Stefan and Erika Svanstrom set off with their baby daughter on what was to be their holiday of a lifetime last December, they were hoping for balmy sun-drenched beaches and the enriching experience of different cultures on the other side of the world. The couple, from Stockholm, had only been married in November, and their four-month trip to Australia, New Zealand, South-east Asia, Japan and China was their honeymoon. But as Ms Svanstrom, 32, put it yesterday: "Our holiday turned out to be a bit more than we bargained for." Swedes are renowned for their cool, unexaggerated style. Ms Svanstrom and her 38-year-old husband are obviously no exception. They, along with their baby daughter, Elinor, found themselves living through some of the most devastating natural disasters the earth has experienced in over a century. Their honeymoon from hell started with a connecting flight from Stockholm to the Bavarian capital, Munich. The Svanstroms immediately ran into a violent blizzard which the German media dubbed "the storm of the century" and they ended up stranded at the airport while they waited for the weather to subside. "We thought things will get better," Ms Svanstrom told the Swedish newspaper Expressen. "We thought we are in love and told each other: just think of the beaches we are heading for in South-east Asia." Unfortunately for the Svanstroms, things got progressively worse. Almost as soon as they arrived in Indonesia on the island of Bali, their hoped-for sunshine was blotted out by torrential monsoon rains. In January, the family decided to cut its losses and head off to Western Australia's capital, Perth. But that city was struck by fierce bush fires hours after they touched down. Holiday snapshots taken by the family and posted on Swedish media websites yesterday showed Ms Svanstrom wheeling her daughter Elinor in a pram in what appeared to be a suburb of Perth, where she seemed about to be engulfed by a cloud of bush-fire smoke. The Svanstroms escaped to Queensland, but things got even worse. After they arrived in the city of Cairns they were hit by Cyclone Yasi, one of the worst ever experienced in the state. "We escaped by the skin of our teeth," Ms Svanstrom said. "Trees were being knocked over and big branches were scattered all over the streets." She recalled how the three of them were evacuated to a shopping centre where they were forced to spend 24 hours seeking shelter on a concrete floor along with 2,500 other people who had fled the cyclone. In Brisbane, the Svanstroms saw some of the worst flooding the city has ever experienced. Their disaster tour took the unwitting family on to Christchurch, New Zealand. They arrived hours after the city was hit by February's 6.3 magnitude earthquake. "The whole town was a war zone, we couldn't visit the city as it was declared off-limits," Ms Svanstrom said. At this point her mother, now somewhat concerned, called her. Their horror holiday was crowned in Japan, where two days after their arrival they lived through the devastating earthquake on 11 March and subsequent tsunami which struck the Fukushima nuclear-power plant, raising fears of a meltdown. "The trembling was horrible and we saw roof tiles fly off the buildings," Mr Svanstrom told Expressen. The family arrived back in Stockholm on 29 March after finally enjoying some peace at their last destination in China. "I could only laugh," Ms Svanstrom said. "Marriages have to endure some trials, but I think we have been through most of them." Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 My wife and I hired a yacht for a week and sailed on the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria in Aus. It was pretty awesome. I don't think I would choose India as a honeymoon destination myself. Great place if you both want a more adventurous holiday but if you just want to relax I'd go somewhere more relaxing! Hard to relax in a place where every 2nd person is either begging for money from you or trying to rip you off (I've been to India twice and have a love/hate relationship with the place. I love the country but hate the people). Link to post Share on other sites
Mintyjulep 0 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 That poor couple had quite bad timing really! We went to Japan for ours Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 wow....they are definitely up there for "unluckiest people award" with the guy who survived the 2 atomic bombs in WWII Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Perhaps not QUITE as unlucky but still that is one heck of a trip! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Sounds like a long holiday! When was the earthquake in NZ? Then they were next in Japan for March 11? Link to post Share on other sites
Mintyjulep 0 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Originally Posted By: muikabochi Sounds like a long holiday! When was the earthquake in NZ? Then they were next in Japan for March 11? 22nd of feb for us. so that's roughly two weeks in NZ before going to Japan. I found it quite interesting that they went to so many parts of Australia! Link to post Share on other sites
JellyBelly 1 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Wonder if they actually stayed in NZ? How much of the country was affected by it? Showing my ignorance here. Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Originally Posted By: Go Native My wife and I hired a yacht for a week and sailed on the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria in Aus. It was pretty awesome. Something like that sounds great Go Native. Not sure what I'd want to do. I suppose it would depend on who my Mr was. Link to post Share on other sites
Queen of Chiba 0 Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 I'm not really into "relaxing by the pool" holidays, never had. Want to have some adventure. India sounds good to me on that front. Link to post Share on other sites
Mintyjulep 0 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Originally Posted By: JellyBelly Wonder if they actually stayed in NZ? How much of the country was affected by it? Showing my ignorance here. I'm sure they would have stayed for a while - only really Christchurch and Banks Peninsula were badly affected - there would have been some damage in other parts of Canterbury, but not enough for towns to close up shop the way we did. Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 If I ever find someone silly enough to hang with me again Cadaques in north east Spain for the 1st few days. A white washed small fishing village with awesome tapas restaurants and bars, loft apartment looking over the harbour, Dali house just up the road. Afternoon siestas and sangria evenings. Divine place. After a few days there off to the Alps near Innsbruck in Austria for fire side evenings after days in the mountains well above tree line. Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 You been married before, pete? Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Nah just engaged. Luckily we are still friends although not close. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I gave my wife the choice of a big day or a year away! Thankfully she chose the year and we spent most of it in Indonesia & Mexico surfing and a few months in Oz as well. 13 mths in total and what memories we have! Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Originally Posted By: Queen of Chiba I'm not really into "relaxing by the pool" holidays, never had. Want to have some adventure. India sounds good to me on that front. Really depends on how you do India. If you're on a honeymoon and stay in some fancy hotel and maybe do a couple of day trips on guided luxury tours then it's pretty sanitised. If like me you do it on the cheap then it's anything but sanitised or sanitary. Without doubt the dirtyist, most polluted country I've ever been to with the most persistent bloody beggars I've ever had to deal with (and I've been to a lot of poor countries). The most annoying thing for me is that the price for just about everything is negotiable and negotiate you must if you don't want to be totally ripped off. I even met some Indians who got ripped off more than I did (yes they'll rip domestic tourists off just as much as foreign ones.) It can be a bit of fun at first but it wears you down eventually. Sometimes you just want to see a reasonable price tag and pay for it without haggling! I met a lot of foreigners in India who just love the place but prety much all of them were going through at least a few grams of hash everyday. By that stage you'll love just about anything. Although I was smoking almost that myself whilst there I never quite came close to totally loving the place . I did love the Himalayas though. On my last trip to India I spent almost a month high up in the Kulu Valley climbing and skiing the mountains there. That wasn't all bad at all. And the hash up in the mountains is really cheap! Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 What was the curry like? Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 You should go to India with your soul mate before you decide to get married. Think of it as a "stress test". A family event with him/her isn't a bad idea either if they are important to you. India's much much easier than it used to be, but it's still a bit stressful and pretty damn hot much of the year for a honeymoon. That's if you want it to be all swoony and no arguments. My missus wanted to get a diving licence so we went to Koh Tao. One of our mates worked at a dive shop there. Link to post Share on other sites
veronica 2 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 So what is it about India then? Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Loads to see and a great all-round experience while you're there. It would have been great to see the cricket there last month. Esp. since India won beating Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 @Mr Wiggles, sod India. People should go on holoday with their fiancee before they get married fullstop. If you can survive 2 weeks in the confines of each other solidly, then you can probably survive marriage. Link to post Share on other sites
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