International Mankini Challenge

On a daily basis our panel of international judges are scouring your contributions for the very finest of pictures. Selection for this coveted title is based on: level of risk to life of Mankinist from offended locals, extremes of climactic conditions, remoteness of location, package size and definition, quality and originality of photographic composition and amount of fiscal recompense proffered.

Current holder: Malph – Ciuidad Perdida, Colombia

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…

Whilst scanning the world of twitter for Mankini chatter I came across a blog entry from www.loneleeplanet.com that says that “Borat’s Mankini Swimsuit a Hit in Japan”. Whilst the images of the ladies in question point to PhotoShop, it did make me smile and so I thought I’d share it with you.

The author, Reesan (and Aussie who spends his time between Australia and Japan), says about his blog that “whilst you are likely to find anything on this blog, the main theme is about exposing wacky Japan.” This claim is backed up by his blog post “Shūkan Asahi and the Mankini”, a popular general-interest magazine that is displaying some ladies in Mankini’s that is definitely genuine.

While these ladies can’t be classed as official entrants into the International Mankini Challenge, I’d suggest that next time you’re in Japan with your Mankini that you look them up!

So with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver (Canada) now upon us, could there be a better time than now to send in your own Mankini Winter Olympic pictures and videos? In the first event we have James Hurst entering the Men’s Downhill Skiing.

James was in Morzine, France, when the mankini video was taken and did the downhill in aid of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. If you like and appreciate the bravery James showed in wearing the mankini to ski in, you can donate money towards Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research by going to James Hurst’s Just Giving page: http://www.justgiving.com/James-hurst-mankini-skirun. Well done James and good luck with the fund raising.

The last stop on my epic 13 month adventure around Latin and North America was Uruguay. Famous for… Well it was going to be hard to find somewhere in Uruguay to Mankini that the world would know by sight. So I decided to do it in a place that Uruguayans would know well – the beach and surf mecca of Punta del Diablo.

Uruguay is often forgotten by travellers to South America and without meaning to be nasty, I can see why. Don’t get me wrong, the quaintness of Colonia del Sacramento is appealing but wears thin after a day. Punta del Este is good if you want a St Tropez kind of feel (and can afford it). Montevideo… well, if you’re going to Uruguay, skip the capital as it’s as dull as it is grey! And let’s just say that Uruguay is far from being cheap, especially on a backpacker’s budget. In summary, neighbours Brazil and Argentina really put Uruguay in the shade.

However the small surf and beach town Punta del Diablo (Devil’s Point) is a little gem and so with a little over a week to spend in all of Uruguay I caught the ferry from Buenos Aires (Argentina) ticking off Colonia and Montevideo quickly on the way to some beach time. While in Montevideo I’d run into national hero Jose Gervasio Artigas, or should I say his monument in the main plaza. And so upon coming across another statue in honour of “the father of Uruguayan independence” in Punta del Diablo (and actually on the point itself), my decision was made for me as to where to take the mankini picture.

Punta del Diablo is a sprawling and unplanned sleepy town of sandy roads, cabins with sea views and no street lights or signs. It’s a chilled place where crime isn’t a problem and where all the local fisherman worry about is having enough money for a beer at the end of the day – so an ideal place to relax.

So it struck me as strange that with all this surfing and relaxing going on that people mustered the energy to wander out to the point to see, put plainly, what is a very average monument. Having myself fallen into the Latin American trait of “mañana” I kept putting off the mankini picture choosing to sunbathe and read instead (after a personal tally of 18 countries you can start to get a bit blasé about throwing on the lycra). So you can imagine how pleased I was when on my last day it was overcast and everyone in town decided to go see the monument (for some reason) and sit around drinking their mate (tea popular in Argentina and Uruguay – not a friend!).

Reunited with Abbey, veteran mankini photographer of 6 countries, we waited for the worst of the human traffic to pass before I shrugged off the boardies and climbed up on the plinth to join Jose. We tried to make the pics a little more interesting, whilst not wanting to offend any of Jose’s countrymen in the process, so I hope you like them.

See the Uruguay Mankini pictures here.

Until the next time …

It kicked off in the South of France and started to gain substance in South and Central America. Now, thanks to three more fine young men (bringing the current tally to six Challengers in total), the International Mankini Challenge (IMC) is gathering pace around the world.

It takes a special kind of man to cast aside conventional clothing, concern of what others may think or say and don the luminous green thread that is the mankini. We know it’s not big or clever and we know it’s unsightly, but in a world where far too many people take themselves and life too seriously and where in the last year or so there’s been little to smile about, we’re trying to raise people’s spirits.

So I salute you Nick Ferris who wore the mankini in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, after presiding over his friends wedding. I salute you Kevin Oliver who wore the mankini to a fancy dress party in Manly, Australia. And a big salute to you Andrew ‘Chicken’ Hunter who wore a purple version of the mankini in New Zealand whilst ice climbing the Fox Glacier, canyon swinging in Queenstown and zorbing and bungee jumping in Rotorua! I know what it takes and you have my admiration. I have a feeling we could be seeing more of your exploits in the mankini soon gentlemen as we continue our quest to mankini every country of the world.

I hope seeing these great guys step up to the challenge has inspired some of you to take part and send your pictures in to us. If not, then I hope at least it puts a smile, or maybe a grimace, on your face.

Click here to see Nick’s mankini photos
Click here to see Kevin’s mankini photos
Click here to see Andrew’s mankini photos

Remember, you can follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mankinimalph and join our Facebook Group at http://tinyurl.com/lypvja, as well as follow my (Malph) exploits on STA Travel’s website. Please keep spreading the word.

I love backpacking around the world. The chance to travel to new countries, meet new people, better understand what the world actually is and undertake experiences that make me feel truely alive. Add to this the International Mankini Challenge and the last 13 months of my life have been one of the most fun, daring and enjoyable I’ve had. I also love to share my experiences and the knowledge I’ve gained with others, when asked (last thing I want to be is a travel bore), hoping it will inspire them to take the plunge and reap the benefits of backpacking. However there are three things I hear uttered by new, naive and/or non-travellers that I’m afraid drive me nuts!

1. “You’re so lucky!”

A comment that can be found on many a backpacker’s Facebook albums. Balderdash is what I say to it! Not to travel is easier than travelling and a lot of people confuse backpackers with being lucky because they’ve taken the decision and made the effort to make their dreams a reality.

“I don’t have the money”, “I’ve got a job”, “I’ve no one to go with” etc are all lame excuses as far as I’m concerned. If you really want to travel and see what the world has to offer then save money, leave your job and go on your own! I’ve met people in $80,000 of debt who’ve spent 3 years saving a travel fund and delayed repayments for a year so they can live their dream. Leaving your job is the easy part and by the time you’re back it’s likely that things will be a lot better than they are now. In fact you have have gained new skills or a new direction that elp you get a better and more fulfilling job! And backpacking on your own is the only way to travel in my opinion. You’re master of your own destiny and go anywhere you want.

In essence too many people are ready to put up barriers as to why they can’t do something rather than look as to how something can be achieved. All it requires is a change in mindset.

2. “It dangerous there”

Hearing this said is my number one pet peeve. If I’d listened to this while backpacking around South and Central America recently I’d have missed going to Colombia, the jewel in South America’s crown in my opinion – where anything you could ever want to see/do, you can here (trekking to the Lost City, the beautiful town of Salento, the Manizales coffee plantations, the salsa of Cali, the partying and stunning women of Medellin, the culture and beauty of Bogota, the extreme sports of San Gil, the Caribbean beaches of Parque Nacional Tayrona, the diving in Taganga, the history of Cartagena, the Amazon area of Leticia). and some of the nicest people you’re likely to meet).

Colombia isn’t the only country to suffer from the dangerous tag. I could name countless other countries that travellers miss out based on what they or a friend/family can remember reading in the media in the past. Unfortunately people are too quick to dismiss on this basis and don’t take the time to find out more about what a country is like now. Seemingly they then are in the habit of propagating this viewpoint until it becomes ‘fact’.

The best way I’ve found to illustrate the case for Colombia and countries like it is this. If you only believed what you read in the press about the USA then you wouldn’t go there either. Ater all, who would want to go to a country that declares war on others at the drop of a hat, where kids are all fat and shoot each other at school everyday, where street crime is rife and where you’re probably going to die in a hurricane or forest fire?

The fact is we know there’s more to the USA as information is more readily available. If people spent a little longer looking into countries where it wasn’t, they may not looked shocked when I tell them that in the five weeks I was in Colombia I didn’t meet one traveller who had either been mugged or had things stolen when there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying break the bling out, I’m saying even in your own country there are dangers, just use your common sense.

3. “Back to the real world”

What is the real world? Where is it? Why does the life you left to go backpacking have to be the real world and the one you experience travelling be fantasy? Your life is what you make it, we all have choices. If you want a conventional life with a career, house and family, then fine – good luck to you. But if you want something else, like my friend Alex who left his career as a Management Consultant behind to sail to Latin America and start a hostel in Bogota, then all the best to you in creating your new ‘real world’. You have my upmost respect.

So get your video camera out, make the best film for the STA World Traveller Intern, pack the mankini and send us the pictures!

You can also follow us on twitter and/or join the International Mankini Challenge Facebook Group.

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The birthplace of the Mankini may have been in Sacha Baron Cohen’s head, but the place that made it famous is Hollywood and the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. For a Mankini, Hollywood is Mecca. It’s the closest it can get to its creator and is the spiritual home of green lycra. For the International Mankini Challenge (IMC) the pièce de résistance would be a picture with God Himself, Sacha Baron Cohen. But could he be reached?

When you travel you have the good fortune to meet people from all sorts of countries and walks of life. If you listen when people are talking about themselves you’ll also pick up valuable pieces of information that may not only be interesting, but may prove useful to you or a friend in future. And if you don’t listen, then posting a request for help on your Facebook status or on twitter account can often help you out. I tried all these avenues to try and get hold of Mr Sacha Baron Cohen and was lucky enough to snag a friend of a friend who knew him and a mate who knew his agent, manager and publicist’s names.

Now a friend of Sacha may have limited influence with a man with a profile as big as his, but a manager, agent and publicist… If you watch the US show Entourage then you’ll know how this dynamic works between ‘E’, Ari Gold and Shauna. The manager manages the day to day affairs for the client and pushes the agent to get the best deal and opportunities for them. The agent negociates with the studios in trying to secure the roles his client wants while trying to raise his client’s equity in the movie business. The publicist on the other hand tries to build a public image of the client through various media that makes him more employable. And so I dropped these guys emails, no doubt all bigwigs in their respective agencies, doubting I’d get a response.

Arriving at LAX after 11 months in Latin America I was braced for my own ‘Cultural Learnings of America’. Coming back into ‘the modern world’ was sure to be a shock judging by how overwhealmed I felt about my first Walmart experience in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. However I had the benefit of staying with a good friend from London who now lives in Los Angeles (LA) and with him we put our heads together for alternative LA picture opportunities as back up. The list read as follows:

As well as being a fountain of knowledge on LA landmarks, my friend also works and is connected in the entertainment business. Thus over the week of my stay he’d arranged for me to play football at singer Robbie Williams house, get VIP passes to Universal Studios and go to an LA Lakers basketball match. I supplemented this by speaking to a contact of mine (before traveling I worked in sport) to get us access to the five day old VIP Hyde Lounge Staples Centre at the game where, it turned out, a certain Mr David Beckham and his LA Galaxy teamates would be celebrating the fact they had reached the Major League Soccer (MLS) final!

After taking into account the fact I wanted something synonomous with LA, somewhere I wouldn’t risk running into kids or getting lynched by security or the cops and something relevant to the Borat film, as well as would make a good picture, I settled on the Hollywood sign!

Sure, a picture with Robbie on the pitch at his house would have been cool, but he was in the UK (the chances hey?) promoting his new album Reality Killed The Video Star. It would have been rude to do it without his permission. A shot with Becks would also have been awesome, but this wasn’t the right environment and to be honest I think he gets bothered enough. I wanted to let him chill and enjoy his night with his team mates. And so I found myself travelling up Beachwood, the best street to get a view of the Hollywood sign, one Saturday. It’s a pretty residential area and home to the rich, famous and private security firms! However after some expert navigation by H, we found the spot!

Unobstructed views of the Hollywood sign are hard to get, especially ones without the rest of LA’s tourist population at your heels. But we’d found such a place. With the light fading I slipped into the straps and we picked our spot. After a couple of trial shots I stripped off and we got the shots and 15-20 seconds after I got my kit back on a patrol car rolled by… phew. Upon checking the rear mankini pictures I noticed that the label was out. After so many shots I’ve become a bit of a perfectionist and so after a brief look around I whipped the gear off again and we got some more arse shots. Boom – done!

It may not be Sacha, Becks or Robbie – but nonetheless it’s Hollywood and I’m pleased to get a shot such as this with an icon such as the famous sign.

See the pictures here.

Just a brief post to wish you all the best for 2010 and to let you know that a new Mankini unfortunately didn’t make it into Santa’s sack this year.

Undetered however, and joined by a 6ft man in a all in one blue lyra Morph suit, I played Mankini Santa to a group of fellow backpackers in San Telmo, Buenos Aires in Argentina. The pictures below are a brief snapshot of the joy brought by Mankini and Morph Santa. Who says they’re not real?!

Happy New Year!

On December 8th 2008 the International Mankini Challenge was launched. By Christmas it was still in its infancy with only France and Brazil having been Mankinied leaving a list of 16 countries(ish) left to do. Now, a year on, 15 countries in total have been visited by Mankini Malph with a further two, Australia and England, completed by you guys. So what is the Christmas message for 2009?

While you’re at home ripping open the wrapping paper hoping for the STA Travel vouchers you wanted, the new backpack or the Merrel walking boots, spare a thought for me as I sit with my new travel friends in Buenos Aires (Argentina) hoping one of them has had the forsight to buy me a new Mankini.

The old green lycra number with its loose threads, questionable stains (not my doing, a symptom of being stuffed in a backpack with random other stuff) and perishing elastic has seen better days. Travelling in my backpack and going through numerous hot washes at local Lavanderias has not helped matters. However it’s done me proud and no doubt will continue to hold its own (and mine) during the festive period, but like everyone, it needs a break at some time.

And so as you start to think about making your New Year’s resolutions for 2010 please could you please promise me one thing… that you’ll either actively join the revolution that is the International Mankini Challenge, bringing a smile (although more often it’s a grimace) to others’ faces, or that you’ll encourage others to take up the challenge by buying them a Christmas Mankini (there’s a link on the site for you to be able to do this – you’d be amazed at how often I’m actually asked where you can get one)?!

At the end of the day there are 172 countries left to do, and unlike Santa I can’t get around these all in one night and so need your help. Remember, we’ll both benefit. I’ll get the satisfaction of completing a very difficult challenge and you’ll get to see the pictures that always raise a smile on those hard days in the office.

Happy Christmas to you all and thank you so much for all your support and comments. Find below a taste of what will be happening in San Telmo, Buenos Aires this Christmas as it was last. These mankini pictures were taken at Hostel Clan in Buenos Aires in 2008 as I was acclimatising to the mankini.

So this has nothing to do with the International Mankini Challenge, but more with the funny things you see when you´re travelling – so please bear with me.

As you´ll all no doubt have seen, a lot has been written in recent weeks about Tiger Woods and his infidelity. Most recently, and following his announcement that he is to take an indefinite break from playing golf, attention has been focussed on his sponsors and whether they will continue to support him. With a reported $100m of Tiger´s income coming from sponsor endorsements and ‘only’ $23m coming from golf tournaments, their decisions are important ones to the world´s number one golfer as he looks to repair his public image and to a far lesser extent, maintain his income while out of professional competition.

This focus has sharpened in the last week with the news that Gatorade is to drop a Tiger Woods-endorsed product (though they say the decision to do this was prior to recent events), Gillette are to limit his role and Accenture are to drop him altogether.

It´s not all doom and gloom for Tiger though as sponsors including Nike, Tag Heuer, TLC Vision, Electronic Arts and Netjets have publically stated they´ll continue their sponsorship of Tiger. Although in saying that, while Tiger currently seems to be enjoying support from the majority of his backers, US media figures show `the last prime-time advert featuring the 33-year-old golfer was a 30-second Gillette item on 29 November´.

So while the majority are backing Tiger Woods verbally, sponsors don´t necessarily seem to be following that up in the way they’re using him publicly. However having seen this Accenture billboard advert in San Francisco airport on December 4th, he may well be better off without their backing at all!

If you can´t read the strapline at the bottom it says “We know what it takes to be a Tiger. Talk to us to see how we can help.” Obviously this offer isn´t now open to Tiger himself. Indeed if Tiger is to follow Accenture´s example, running away may seem the best option. And so I would beg to differ with Rick Burton, a professor of sports management at Syracuse University, who told the Associated Press “(Accenture) had tied everything in their campaign to Tiger Woods. If he’s not golfing, those ads don’t make sense.” I don´t know about you, but it seems to make sense to me!