Trip: Around the world
There are [39] stories from my trip: Around the world
CHINA | Friday, 30 Oct 2009 | Views [92] | Comments [2]
Travelling to the “roof top of the world” wasn’t one of the easiest decisions we’ve made. It’s a place of constant religious and political tension, so the Tibet
‘story’ is a fascinating one. China has always considered Tibet to be part of its Empire, ... Read more >
Tags: tibet, qinghai to tibet railway, lhasa, potala palace, dalai lama, gyantse, shigatse, sakya, everest base camp, zhangmu
CHINA | Wednesday, 21 Oct 2009 | Views [87] | Comments [1]
From Beijing we decided to head to Xiahe and as the train didn’t leave until the early afternoon we decided that I would try to
complete a communist leader tri-fector. Having seen an embalmed Lenin on a school trip and visited Uncle ... Read more >
Tags: xiahe, labrang, ganjia grasslands, tongren, xining
CHINA | Wednesday, 14 Oct 2009 | Views [102] | Comments [3]
At last we do a long overnight train journey in China...Hong Kong to Shanghai in 19 hours. We decided on the hard sleeper option rather than soft sleeper, the difference being
there are 6 beds per cabin rather than 4, a ... Read more >
Tags: shanghai, nanjing, beijing, tiananmen square, forbidden city, summer palace, olympics, great wall
HONG KONG | Monday, 5 Oct 2009 | Views [125] | Comments [1]
Unable to obtain more than a single month visa for China in Vietnam, we decided to go to Hong Kong to get new China visas. Hong Kong
was reunited with China in 1997, despite this it still holds a great deal of autonomy from the ... Read more >
Tags: hong kong, star ferry, chungking & mirador mansions, victoria peak tram, mid level esculators, skyline
CHINA | Monday, 28 Sep 2009 | Views [171] | Comments [3]
Xi'an
is a huge city in Shaanxi province at the end of the Silk Road and much bigger than we expected, although after 3 weeks in a country of 1.3 billion we should be getting used
to the size of places by now or maybe we would ... Read more >
Tags: xian, terracotta warriors, guilin, yangshuo, karsts, guangzhou
CHINA | Thursday, 17 Sep 2009 | Views [130]
If flying is cheating then call me Rosie Ruiz , the journey by bus and train from Lijiang to Chengdu would have taken the best part
of two days and had multiple points of failure, so choosing the hour long flight was an easy option.
... Read more >
Tags: chengdu, pandas, emei shan, leshan, jiuzhaigou, huanglong
CHINA | Sunday, 6 Sep 2009 | Views [160] | Comments [2]
The border crossing from Lao Cai to Hekou went smoothly, as we were the first to arrive in the morning and there were lots of friendly officials helping us through passport
control, to fill out the forms, and letting us cut in line to take our H1N1 ... Read more >
Tags: yunnan province, yuanyang rice terraces, kunming, lijiang, tiger leaping gorge
VIETNAM | Friday, 28 Aug 2009 | Views [142] | Comments [3]
The train system is recommended for travel between destinations in Vietnam, with the reunification express connecting HCMC to Hanoi. Having done so many bus journeys recently we decided that we would mix it up and pay the little extra for the train ... Read more >
Tags: hanoi, halong bay, cat ba island, lao cai
VIETNAM | Thursday, 20 Aug 2009 | Views [125] | Comments [3]
Up to Kon Tum, named the friendliest city in Vietnam and it was here we really appreciated the size of the population in the country. The description of Kon Tum sounded like
a small rural village, remote and off the beaten track. We were ... Read more >
Tags: kon tum, hoi an, hue, dmz
VIETNAM | Wednesday, 12 Aug 2009 | Views [415] | Comments [1]
From Phnom Penh we caught a direct bus all the way into Vietnam. After our Laos/Cambodia border experience we thought that this would make for a smoother ride. The journey
was nothing special, but Jo was pleased that we arrived ... Read more >
Tags: ho chi minh city, saigon, cu chi tunnels, cao dai, nha trang, quy nhon
CAMBODIA | Sunday, 2 Aug 2009 | Views [219] | Comments [2]
After a bout of travellers sickness for me, which added two extra rest days for us in the capital, we took the 4 hour bus ride west to Battambang, the second largest city in Cambodia.
Although, from the size of it you would never believe it, it’s ... Read more >
Tags: battambang, siem reap, angkor wat, phnom penh
CAMBODIA | Wednesday, 22 Jul 2009 | Views [138]
We started the day by catching a long tail boat for an hour across the Mekong in monsoonal rain. Upon arriving at the boat landing we had to make our way across five boats to get to shore, testing our balancing skills. When we had safely reached dry ... Read more >
Tags: kratie, phnom penh, tuol sleng, choeung ek, killing fields
LAOS | Friday, 17 Jul 2009 | Views [281] | Comments [1]
We arrived in the capital, Vientiane, and started to wonder if we were still in Laos or if we’d been transported to France. The streets were lined with biblioteque, boulangeries,
patisseries etc,
There was even an Arc ... Read more >
Tags: vientiane, savanakhet, pakse, tadlo, si phan don, 4000 islands
LAOS | Wednesday, 8 Jul 2009 | Views [231] | Comments [2]
Leaving the cat behind we got an overcrowded
boat back to Nong Khiaw and took in the spectacular scenery we missed during
our rainy trip north, unfortunately our bags were at the bottom of the pile on
the boat and were soaking wet by the time ... Read more >
Tags: sam neua, vieng xai, phonsavan, plain of jars, luang prabang, vang vieng
LAOS | Thursday, 25 Jun 2009 | Views [201] | Comments [1]
We said our final farewell to Thailand and crossed the Mekong river in a 30 second long boat trip to arrive in Laos (pronounced cow with an L!). After getting our visas at immigration in Huay Xay we decided to catch a bus north rather than take ... Read more >
Tags: luang nam tha, udomxai, nong khiaw, muang ngoi, beerlao
THAILAND | Wednesday, 17 Jun 2009 | Views [202] | Comments [1]
Bangkok
We returned to our ‘second home’ Bangkok and our favourite guesthouse to pick up some of the clothes and other
belongings that we had left behind. We decided to use our time to inundate you all with blogs from our time in ... Read more >
Tags: bangkok, sukhothai, mae sot, chiang mai, pai, chiang rai, chiang khong
MYANMAR | Wednesday, 20 May 2009 | Views [199]
Day 21 - Inle Lake
We started early so we could fit in a whole day trip on the lake, sharing a boat with some Swedish friends from our guest house. The longboat took us down
the 3 mile canal to get to the entrance to the lake ... Read more >
Tags: inle lake, yangon
MYANMAR | Monday, 11 May 2009 | Views [211] | Comments [1]
Day 17 - Kalaw
Having seen all that we wanted to see but by no means all the sites in Bagan, we decided that with our new found passion for early mornings we would catch the 3.30am bus to Kalaw. Ok, it was the only bus and we had no other options ... Read more >
Tags: kalaw
MYANMAR | Friday, 8 May 2009 | Views [159]
Day 12 - Mandalay to Bagan We decided on Bagan (formally Pagan) as our next destination, which is high on the list of architectural wonders of South East Asia. In the morning we awoke to find 5 other travellers making the same trip, and we would ... Read more >
Tags: bagan
MYANMAR | Sunday, 3 May 2009 | Views [225]
Day 7 - Mandalay to Pyin U Lwin After another sleepless night, with no electricity to work the air con and the hotel generator giving up the ghost so not even the fan worked to move the hot air around, we decided to leave the heat of Mandalay a ... Read more >
Tags: pyin u lwin, mandalay, moustache brothers
MYANMAR | Monday, 27 Apr 2009 | Views [329] | Comments [3]
The road to Mandalay is lined with bamboo huts, children bathing and playing in ponds, ox carts and loose cattle meandering down the road, men playing Chinlon (a version of keepy uppy with a cane rattan ball), all very idyllic. Then we hit a junction.... Read more >
Tags: mandalay
MYANMAR | Saturday, 25 Apr 2009 | Views [273] | Comments [3]
To begin our blog of our trip to Burma, our decision to go there was based on some conditions we set ourselves. We decided to go there only as responsible travellers not package tourists. We intended to stay in small family run guest houses only ... Read more >
Tags: yangon
THAILAND | Tuesday, 21 Apr 2009 | Views [232] | Comments [3]
We decided to try Thailands rail system to reach our next destination of Phitsanulok. However, unlike in Indonesia we travelled in circumstances more befitting to our status, 3rd class. We soon realised that this is a perfectly comfortable way to travel ... Read more >
Tags: bangkok, isan provence, nong khai, phitsanulok
THAILAND | Wednesday, 1 Apr 2009 | Views [247] | Comments [1]
We decided to attempt our second night journey on the trip, heading to Bangkok from Ko Tao via a 2 hour boat ride and an 11 hour bus trip. When we got off the boat in Chumporn there was a table where you checked in for the bus, so as I was waiting ... Read more >
Tags: bangkok, kanchanaburi, ayuthaya, lopburi, monkeys, death railway, hellfire pass
THAILAND | Friday, 27 Mar 2009 | Views [193]
Many people have commented on how much they enjoyed the last blog and photos, so in attempt to give the people what they want here goes.....Island Hopping, Part 2!....(like all sequels it can never be as good as the original!) From Ko Phi Phi we took ... Read more >
Tags: phuket, ko phangan, ko tao, diving
THAILAND | Thursday, 12 Mar 2009 | Views [335] | Comments [3]
Ko Lipe (Leepee) is a 1 hour speed boat ride from Langkawi and one of the most southern Thailand islands on the Andaman sea. Ko Lipe (Ko meaning Island) must have one of the best immigration halls we have ever seen. It consists of the passengers ... Read more >
Tags: thailand, ko lipe, trang, krabi, ko lanta, ko phi phi
MALAYSIA | Saturday, 21 Feb 2009 | Views [367] | Comments [2]
Cameron Highlands
We headed to the Cameron Highlands for a change of scenery, as the
name suggests they reside about 1500m above sea level where the climate is far
cooler. However, there are some disadvantages to escaping ... Read more >
Tags: penang, langkawi, cameron highlands
MALAYSIA | Friday, 13 Feb 2009 | Views [558] | Comments [2]
Melaka has
been occupied by many countries over its time, the Portuguese in the
16th century, the Dutch in the 17th century and the British from the
18th century, with Melaka and Malaysia only gaining Independence in
1957, so the architecture ... Read more >
Tags: melaka, kuala lumpur, thaipusam, batu caves, petronas towers
SINGAPORE | Monday, 2 Feb 2009 | Views [164] | Comments [2]
We arrived in Singapore and realised that neither of us had
noted down the address of the hostel we had pre booked, so that one of us could
pick up a replacement bank card. Thankfully Changi airport came to our rescue
with ... Read more >
Tags: singapore
INDONESIA | Thursday, 29 Jan 2009 | Views [177] | Comments [2]
From 'Yogya' we decided that it was time to experiment with a different form of transportation (mainly due to the fact that we had used most of our 9 lives on the roads already). Java unlike Bali has a train service, so we decided we should experience ... Read more >
Tags: jakarta, indonesia
INDONESIA | Tuesday, 27 Jan 2009 | Views [331] | Comments [4]
Our stay in Lovina was very relaxing and we spent our days lazing by the pool and chatting to other travellers staying at the hotel, it was too hot to do anything else! Just outside the hotel was a warung (small cafe selling home cooked food) where ... Read more >
Tags: java, mount bromo, borobudur, prambanan, yogyakarta
INDONESIA | Monday, 19 Jan 2009 | Views [233] | Comments [1]
The plan was to explore each of the Gili Islands, but in the end we stayed on Gili T for a week before heading back to Bali and Ubud. The journey was long (12 hours) but pretty uneventful except a small diversion off the road to avoid a monkey and ... Read more >
Tags: ubud, lovina, monkeys
INDONESIA | Monday, 19 Jan 2009 | Views [349] | Comments [3]
Heir to the Throne
Gili Trawangan or 'Gili T' as it's known to the locals is the largest of the 3 Gili islands, that said it has no motorised transport (transport is provided by horse drawn carriages that sound like Reindeer due to the small ... Read more >
INDONESIA | Tuesday, 6 Jan 2009 | Views [235] | Comments [3]
After a couple of nights in sleepy Sanur we decided to make a break from Bali and head to Lombok, as Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands we thought we would cross a few off the list before we leave, only 16,998 to go. The evening before we ... Read more >
Tags: lombok
INDONESIA | Sunday, 4 Jan 2009 | Views [203] | Comments [2]
Our flight into Bali arrived almost an hour ahead of schedule which meant that we had plenty of time to make New Years celebrations, or so we thought. Arriving in our first foreign country on New Years Eve seemed like an idilic notion and a perfect ... Read more >
Tags: bali
AUSTRALIA | Wednesday, 31 Dec 2008 | Views [161]
We're off ....... or are we? There is some debate between us to whether our journey has actually started, as we're still in Australia and it doesn't feel like the start of a 18 month trip, so we'll let you decide if this is the first travel entry of ... Read more >
Tags: darwin
AUSTRALIA | Friday, 5 Dec 2008 | Views [153]
We have one week left at work and we are moving out of our place next weekend. We are pretty much organised and ready to go. After that we have a week in Sydney staying at a friends place, then we head to Melbourne to spend Christmas with Ryan's family.... Read more >
AUSTRALIA | Thursday, 9 Oct 2008 | Views [190]
Ouch, money disappearing quickly (and not because of the credit crisis) and my arm is very very sore. With only two ish months to go, our backpacks are bought and we're shopping for all the travel gear and gadgets we need, or don't need, but want just ... Read more >
Tags: planning
AUSTRALIA | Monday, 4 Feb 2008 | Views [221]
Ryan and I have decided to leave Australia at the end of the year to spend about 18 months travelling around the world. At the moment we're just reading up about countries and deciding where to go and what to do. We don't want to do too much planning ... Read more >
Tags: the planning phase
