International Mankini Challenge

With St Patrick’s Day celebrated all over the world with the drinking of Guinness and the wearing of green attire, Australian Sean Lynch (Lynchy from The Shamble on The Circle TV show in Australia) thought it a great excuse to don the Mankini on Australian National TV.

Unfortunately it couldn’t be worn as designed. Lynchy told us, “I fought tooth and nail to try and wear the Mankini in its proper form (with ‘bulge’ and ‘pubic hair out the sides’ included), but the powers that be felt that ‘it would make the early morning crowd vomit in their mouths a little bit’.”

When we asked him why he wore it, he said “there are many good causes around the world – Hope For Haiti, Live Aid, etc… but there is one cause that goes overlooked, that of the Mankini and it’s effect on other humans eyeballs. Perhaps if George Clooney spent less time ‘being awesome’ and more time promoting important issues like Mankini awareness, this crazy old world would be a better place… and more spandexy.”

We couldn’t agree more Lynchy – a call to arms to potential Mankini wearers of the world! Hopefully Lynchy’s editorial team will be more forgiving next time and let him wear the Mankini as it’s meant to be worn.

And finally … Lynchy will be appearing at the 2010 Melbourne International Comedy Festival in “The Shambles – Live At A Ballroom” from April 6 – April 18 at Trades Hall. Tickets are available from TICKETMASTER or http://bit.ly/shamlive

Latin America is not only home to the biggest city in the world (Mexico City), but also some of the most beautiful and vibrant you’ll ever come across. Big doesn’t always mean beautiful, but I believe it does with these five South American and Central American gems – three of which played host to me in the Mankini (see the mankini gallery for proof)!

Top 5 Big Cities in South and Central America

1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – there’s just so much to see and do it’s impossible to be bored

2. Mexico City, Mexico – ignore those that tell you Mexico City is dangerous (I wore a Mankini here and was fine) and enjoy the wealth of cultural activities and sights on offer

3. Buenos Aires, Argentina – the city never sleeps and nor should you if you want to fit everything in

4. La Paz, Bolivia – once you’ve acclimatised get ready to be blown away by the bizarreness that is Bolivia and the colourfulness of the Witches Market

5. San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico – a beautiful city with great live music that is safe to wander around day or night and has the beautiful Canyon Sumidero just down the road

Medellin in Colombia should also get a special mention due to its great nightlife, beautiful women and being host to a birthday I don’t remember!

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With long bus journeys, days of lazing on the beach and a lot of spare time on your hands, a good book to travel with is a necessity. With space in your backpack at a premium and fellow travellers careful as to what book they swap their prized read with, you need to make sure you’ve good literary collateral. I’ve listed below the current most popular reads on the road – in South and Central America that is.

Top 5 Most Popular Books Read While Travelling in South and Central America

1. The Millenium Series – while not widely read amongst those with English as their first language, Scandinavians and the Dutch seem to be everywhere reading these three books

2. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini’s best selling book (and now film) about growing up in Afganistan can be seen being read on many a bus in Latin America

3. Shantaram – The unbelivable story of Gregory David Roberts in india squeezes its way into the backpack despite its 933 pages. It’s nearly as big as the South America on a Shoestring Lonely Planet Guide!

4. The Alchemist – An oldie but a goodie. Some may find it a little philisophical or patronising, but open up your mind a little and take it for what it is and you’ll find it articulating things about travel in a way you wish you could

5. White Tiger – booker award winning story, and backpackers can see why, about an Indian driver

As well as the most popular I thought you maybe interested in what I considered to be the best (when I’ve not got my nose stuck in the Lonely Planet working out my next Mankini location), and so I’ve added my top 5 books to read while travelling too.

Top 5 Books I’ve Read While Travelling in South and Central America

1. The Power of One – The tale of growing up in Apartheid Africa is a little on the large size for the traveller, but well worth finding the room for. The movie isn’t too bad either

2. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – Another classic case of the book being great (I read it on a bumpy four hour bus ride in Bolivia) but the film being awful (watched it on a bus ride in Colombia)

3. Marching Powder – Illegal in Bolivia (although Coco Travel on Calle Jiminez in the Witches Market in La Paz has original and photocopied copies) and virtually impossible to get in book exchanges, the story of San Pedro Prison is not to be missed. 2010 sees a film of the book being made too

4. Three Cups of Tea – The tail of mountainier Greg Mortenson is again hard to get hold of while travelling, but worth the endeavour to read about how the people you meet while abroad can touch your life and how you can help change theirs

5. The Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer – It may sound a bit gory, and it is a little, but it’s also an intriguing real life story. I’d never heard of Richard Kuklinski before, which is strange considering he personally killed over 200 people America and beyond

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Whether you’re a seasoned trekker, occasional explorer or have never ventured into the outdoors in your life, you can’t help but have your breath taken away by these South American and Central American treks. Some are easier than others but you don’t have to be an expert to enjoy them. I event managed the Lost City Trek in Colombia and the Inca Jungle Machu Picchu trek in Peru in the mankini! So they can’t be that bad.

Top 5 treks in South and Central America

1. Lost City in Colombia – 5/6 days of great views and hard work are well worth it (and was a great Mankini location – thanks Colombian Military)

2. Fitz Roy day hike in Argentina – if the skies are clear, the ascent at the end of 3 hours hiking is a must for all. The crater lakes with the mountains in the background are fantastic

3. The ‘W’ in Torres del Paine, Chile – a 4/5 day hike can be made treacherous in bad weather. It’s a tough workout in good weather, but there are plenty of rewards

4. Valle de Cocora in Salento, Colombia – breathtaking scenery and free to do, this 4 hour trek is part of the reason I love Colombia

5. Las Cascadas in Tacuba, El Salvador – jumping off rocks into the river, swimming downstream with no one else in sight and using ropes to climb down a waterfall in Parque Imposible is one of El Salvador’s highlights

Special mentions must also go to El Mirador in Guatemala, the three day Colca Canyon trek and Huaraz (both in Peru). I didn’t trek any of these but heard great things about them all.

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Whether it’s a friend or relative from home, someone just starting a backpacking trip or a seasoned traveller, one of the most popular questions to be asked is ‘what have been your best bits?’ This question is impossible to answer. For instance how can you measure the amazing natural wonders of Iguazu Falls of Brazil and Argentina against the man made breath takers of the Lost City in Colombia or the mines of Bolivia’s Potosi?

In my opinion the only way to give an accurate answer to ‘what are the best bits while backpacking in Latin and North America?’ is to categorise your experiences. And so, find below part one of what will be a fairly large collection of my Latin and North America top fives accumulated whilst trying to rise to the International Mankini Challenge (i.e. trying to get a picture of people in Mankini’s in iconic locations in every country of the world).

Top 5 Activities in South and Central America

1. Semuc Champey in Guatemala – great views, swimming in a series of natural pools, wading into limestone caves with only a candle for light, jumping off a bridge and tubing down a river all make up a day here

2. Sailing between Colombia and Panama via the San Blas Islands – if you’ve got the stomach for it, you can live the jetset lifestyle in the most beautiful of surroundings. The boat Delphin Solo provides a wonderful way to sail the San Blas Islands

3. The World’s Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia – cycling the road with the world’s highest fatality rate provides copious amounts of adrenaline and great views, especially while wearing a Mankini!

4. Volcano boarding in Nicaragua – 45 minutes up, one minute down and reaching speeds of up to 70 km/h (in a Mankini) gets the blood flowing

5. Carnival (all over Latin America, I happened to be in Bolivia) – celebrated all over Latin America, I experienced the water and foam fight of Oruro for three days

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The relationship is not immediately obvious I hear you say. Ireland is known as the home of Guinness, liberal drinkers and happy friendly and outgoing people. The United Arab Emirates, better known by some of its member states (e.g. Dubai), is known for being a religious country where the drinking of alcohol is frowned upon (and therefore restricted to hotels in Dubai). So what’s the answer? They are, of course, the latest locations that have been mankinied as part of the International Mankini Challenge!

As a dare Mark Dunne was bet by his friends to run down busy Grafton Street in the heart of Ireland’s capital, Dublin. As the four minute video below shows, Mark won the bet! It seems he made some friends on the way too!

A great effort by Mark who is keen to mankini some other locations in Ireland and beyond. I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ll see of Mark in the luminous lycra dental floss!

Our first Middle Eastern mankiniing of a country has been achieved by an old school mate of mine, Stu Field. As Stu told me “the photos are taken on the man-made island of Palm Jumeirah in the Emirate state of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, with the famous Burj Al Arab 7 star hotel in the background, the world’s third tallest building. The others were taken at the top of the ‘Leap Of Faith’ water slide in the Atlantis Hotel Water Park also on the Palm Jumeirah. This is an almost vertical open waterslide that changes once you have descended 90ft, feet first, into a completely clear tube which runs through a tank of sharks and rays and out into a plunge pool.”

I haven’t see Stu in over 14 years and when I asked him why he did it he said “it was the first holiday that I’d had after you put the damn fool idea in my head! Seeing your pictures amused me! Though I have to admit it scared me somewhat to do this as this sort of behaviour is something that police arrest for in this Islamic state although they are slightly more relaxed her than in some other UAE states!”

Great work Stu. As you say, it takes a lot of guts to do something like this. Some people may think we’re exhibitionists, but the truth is that for the most part we’re scared to death. The attraction of what we all agree are unsightly photos at the best of times, that don’t really show any of your best side, is the amazing adrenalin rush from the danger and risk of it. I’d like to say it gets easier the more times you do it, but it doesn’t!

Click here to see Stu Field’s mankini pictures in Dubai.

Keep the pictures and videos coming everyone. That’s an amazing 23 countries in total mankinied to date. Great effort by all involved but I can’t help but suspect that there are more pictures and videos out there that haven’t yet been shared with us…