Flashpacking

Photos: Prague, Bratislava, Buda Pest, Vienna

james74 — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 06:16:00 GMT

Photos: Croatia

james74 — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 05:38:00 GMT

Photos: Italy

james74 — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 00:59:00 GMT

Photos: Nepal

james74 — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 03:51:00 GMT

Photos: India

james74 — Sat, 8 Oct 2011 03:27:00 GMT

Photos: Amsterdam

james74 — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 03:46:00 GMT

Photos: Paris

james74 — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:22:00 GMT

Photos: Peru

james74 — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 08:13:00 GMT

Peru

james74 — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 07:36:00 GMT

Day 2 Ballestas Islands We drive south from Lima along the Pan American Highway until mid-morning. Then, we take a boat to the Ballestas islands, a national park that contains one of the highest concentrations of marine birds in the world. There are sea lions, numerous species of birds and the Paracas Candelabra, a curious pre-Inca design on the hillside, only recognisable from the sea. We drive on to Ica, Peru's inegrowing region.

Day 3 At the oasis just outside Ica there are high sand dunes. We arrive at Nazca in the afternoon with time to visit the famous Nazca Lines. These are one of the world's great archaeological mysteries, consisting of enormous drawings and patterns etched in the desert sand. We will climb the viewing platforms near the lines for an overview of some of the drawings. There will also be time for optional visits to the nearby Antonini archaeological museum, the Chauchilla pre-Inca cemetery, or the Nazca Aqueduct, which gives an insight into the Nazca civilisation’s ingenious subterranean irrigation system.

Day 4 Drive into the Andes We turn inland from the coastal desert, climbing high into the Andes on today’s long but spectacular drive. Vicuñas can be seen along this road, as this area is Peru’s largest vicuña reserve. Flamingos are usually sited at high Andean lakes near the road. This new route is possible due to the recent upgrade of the Abancay/Chalhuanca road.

Day 5 Drive to Cuzco On the way to Cuzco we visit the unique Inca Saywiti stone and Tarawasi ruins. Glaciated summits of the Vilcabam a Mountain range and the descent into the Apurimac river valley demonstrate the dramatic contrasts of the Andes Mountains.

Day 6 Cuzco Free day in Cuzco to get to grips with one of South America’s most beautiful cities. In the centre there is the Plaza de Armas, and the Koricancha Sun Temple located in the Santo Domingo Church and monastery. Outside the town are more Inca ruins, notably the fortress of Sacsayhuaman where the Inca armies made their last stand against the Conquistadores.

Day 7 Machu Picchu For most people the highlight of the trip is the visit by train to the greatest ruin in the world, the lost city of Machu Picchu. This is one of the architectural and engineering marvels of the ancient world, in a mountain setting of staggering immensity. The Spaniards never found it; the Incas left no records about it, so Machu Picchu remains a great enigma, a city lost for centuries in the jungle.

Day 8 Aguas Calientes A free morning to enjoy the hot springs and buzz of this little town in the jungle below the ruins - or for those who want to explore more of Machu Picchu, there is the option to return for sunrise; much the most peaceful time of day to appreciate the site. In the afternoon we board the train back to Cuzco.

Day 9 Cuzco A final chance to enjoy the sights and shopping of this beautiful city

Day 10 Lake Titicaca We take a 7-hour bus ride across the altiplano, the high plains separating the Andes from the jungle. Although it is quite a long drive, it is interesting and often spectacular. There are scheduled stops at interesting sites along the route to help break up the day and all along the route we get a feeling for the immensity of the Andean landscapes. We arrive in the afternoon at the shore of Lake Titicaca and board a boat for our trip to Amantani Island. Hiking around the island offers great views across the lake, whilst the night spent with a local family offers fantastic cultural insight into lives very different to our own.

Day 11 Lake Titicaca We explore the island in the morning before boarding our boat for the approximately three hour journey to Puno on the lakeshore. On the way, we visit the ancestors of the Uros Indians, who live on islands of floating reeds.

Day 12 To the Colca Canyon Today we head off across the altiplano again. This time we cross to the south west, heading back towards the coast to the high Colca Canyon. En route we have opportunities to see vicuñas and possibly flamingos before descending into what is considered to be second deepest canyon in the Americas (the deepest, the Cotahuasi Canyon, is also in Peru). There is time in the evening for a visit to Hot Springs a warming pleasure after the chill of Lake Titicaca.

Day 13 To Arequipa An early start to view condors soaring on the morning drafts rising out of the canyon. Extensive terraces, stunning colonial churches, and burial tombs are viewed before we ascend out of the canyon on our way to Arequipa the White City surrounded by 6000m volcanoes, including near-perfect cone of El Misti.

Day 14 Arequipa and Lima In the morning we visit the huge and serene convent of Santa Catalina. Built in 1580 and only opened to the outside world in the 1970s, it offers a rare insight into the lives led by the nuns and has changed little through the centuries. There are still around 20 nuns living in the northern corner of the complex. In the afternoon we fly to Lima where will transfer to our hotel in Miraflores.

Iceland

james74 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:03:00 GMT

Day One

Less than two hours drive from Reykjavík is Eyjafjallajökull glacier, and just a little further the Sólheimajökull glacier tongue extends down from Mýrdalsjökull.

We took an easy walk on crampons up on to the ice field where a wonderland of ice sculptures, ridges and deep crevasses awaits discovery. We were provided with and taught how to use basic glacier equipment.

On the way back we stopped at the striking waterfalls, Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss.

Day Two

On the Golden Circle tour we walked around the world-famous Geysir geothermal area, a geothermal field where hot springs are in abundance, geysers explode and pools of mud bubble.

One of the Golden Circles many highlights is the Gullfoss waterfall, the queen of Iceland's waterfalls. Finally, but no less spectacular is a visit to the Thingvellir National Park.

Iceland is the original site of the oldest existing parliament in the world. The Great Atlantic rift is clearly visible, a rift that is slowly pulling Iceland apart along tectonic plates.

The Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis are a spectacular natural phenomenon, often seen dancing around in fantastic colours across the Icelandic Arctic sky.

The Northern lights are caused by the interaction of particles from the sun with the upper atmosphere near the North Pole. That creates this wonderful light effect, known as the Aurora Borealis.

I saw the lights when the cloud broke, it was a very cloudy night so we were lucky to see anything. I did book to see the lghts the night before which was much clearer but they changed the time without telling me so missed it. Oh well maybe I'll give Norway a go to see them again.

Gallery: Iceland

james74 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:23:00 GMT

Egypt

james74 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:40:00 GMT

Day 1: Visit to Egyptian Museum, Al Azhar mosque and lively Bazaar. Today we visited the incredible Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, which contains relics dating back to 4000 BC, including the fantastic riches of Tutankhamun's tomb. Here is the unique opportunity to survey the many fabulous treasures of Egypt in. Following our visit to this amazing museum we experience modern day Cairo with a visit to Al Azhar mosque, Cairo’s oldest mosque and university, and the small alleyways and streets that make up Cairo’s popular bazaar. Al Azhar mosque – Dating back to AD970, Al Azhar mosque is still a busy and popular mosque today, frequently visited by locals and thus well worth a visit. This evening we take the overnight sleeper train to Luxor

Day 2: Karnak and Luxor temples We visited the Luxor Temple and the huge Karnak Temple Complex. Built over 1500 years, Karnak is a confusion of pylons, courtyards, halls and sanctuaries. Its Hypostyle hall has 134 columns 23 metres high and 15 metres in circumference!

Day 3:

Stepping in to the New Kingdom with visits to the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut’s temple and Colossi of Memnon We arrived in Luxor in the early morning and crossed the Nile to the West

Bank. Here we went to see the Valley of the Kings, which contains the once hidden tombs of over 62 Pharaohs, including Tutankhamun, Seti I, Ramses III and IV. A discreet entrance in the hillside takes the visitor underground; a series of corridors and anti-chambers led us down to the burial chamber and sarcophagus. The walls are covered in brightly painted images and hieroglyphs - a map of the afterlife to ensure the king’s safe passage. We then drive to Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple at Dehr El Bahri. Cut from an east-facing cliff, the temple is famed for its carved reliefs and paintings, as well as its impressive proportions, best viewed from above. The halfday finished with a visit to the Colossi of Memnon and a view of the Ramesseum - a now fittingly dilapidated epitaph to Ramses II, who built

so much for his own glory.

Day 4: To Aswan; visit Kom Ombo and Edfu This morning we drive to Aswan. The journey by road takes around 4 hours however we will stop en route to visit two beautiful temples. With its imposing pylon, the temple at Edfu is dedicated to the god Horus. Although Nile earthquakes and invasions (Coptic Christians made parts of the temple in to a church), the temple at Kom Ombo still stands proud. It is dedicated to both the fertility god, Sobek, who is often shown in the form of a crocodile and the falcon god, Horus

Day 5: Time on a Felucca After breakfast we board our felucca and sail to Elephantine Island; the largest of the Islands surrounding Aswan. The island is very beautiful and even though many of the artefacts are in ruin there is plenty to see. Elephantine is Greek for elephant and it is believed that the island got its name from being a major ivory trading centre. There are also large boulders in the river near the island, which are said to resemble bathing elephants. We then visit the stunning Botanical Gardens on Kitchener’s Island full of exotic plants and trees from all over the world.

Day 6: Visit to Abu Simbel, 300 km. to the south through the Nubian Desert. Built by Ramses II the two temples are certainly some of the most spectacular in Egypt. Originally on the banks of the Nile, the temples were raised to a new site above the lake in the late 1960's, as the waters from the new

Lake Nasser rose behind the Aswan High Dam. The four great-seated statues of Ramses II now stare east towards the rising sun.

Day 7 The Pyramids at Giza We arrive in Cairo in the early morning and head to the impressive Pyramids at Giza, on the western outskirts of Cairo. Home to the Great Pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus and the timeless and enigmatic Sphinx, these great monuments to the afterlife defy the imagination. Only the throng of sightseers, Egyptian and foreign, milling around their huge foundations keep the viewer in the 21st century.

Gallery: Egypt

james74 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:14:00 GMT

Gallery: New York

james74 — Mon, 7 Sep 2009 06:11:00 GMT

Gallery: Seattle

james74 — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:43:00 GMT

British Columbia Part 2

james74 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:58:00 GMT

Returning back from the Rockies we stopped off at the Natural Bridge which is a rock bridge over a waterfall it was slightly marred by two coaches of Japanese tourists.

The drive back saw the weather turn from sunny mid 20's to rainy and sometimes snowy cooler weather. It took over 8 hours to get back to Kamloops, with the wether turning for the worse it was decided just to take the highway back to Vancouver which would knock about 4 hours off the journey if we had gone a possibly more scenic route. Instead we stopped off a Capilano suspension bridge and tree top walk. The bridge was ok but the Valley of the Giants tree top walk in Western Australia was much better.

Vancouver is quite a nice city although not too much going on. The first full day was spent checking out Stanley Park more walking around the edge of the park and its lakes and then spending the afternoon at the Auquarium. It's hard not to compare the things I've seen in recent months and the Sydney Aquarium beats anything I've seen hands down.

Something I'd been looking forward to for a while and hoping I could get tickets was watching Ice Hockey. It was only pre-season but there was only one Canucks home game on while we were in the city so I was extremely happy I could get to see it.

It was worth it and faster paced than the Baseball although I thought it would be more like the Basketball where inbetween breaks there would be more entertainment for the crowed. Each period is 20 minutes but the clock stops everytime there is a foul or incident so each period last nearly double that time. In a way you get more for your money but if the clock kept running I think it would make the game more exciting as you have less time to mess about and therefore more pressure to score. The fighting was a bit lame and looked staged more than any sense of anger etween each other. But its all an experience, its like any sport you can get good games and bad games and with my inexperience at least I don't know what I saw.

Wednesday was a day trip to Seattle, since we were so close and it was somewhere I wanted to go it seemed like a good idea. It took about an hour to get to the border where the elite of Americans patrol the border from illeagal aliens and are the last line of defense against terrorism. In reality the majority have a Hitler complex and one twinky away from a heart attack. It wasn't too bad although my humour didn't go down too well so I was glad to get out of there.

It took another couple of hours to get to Seattle and without a map we headed for the Space Needle as a point of reference, which turned out to be handy. Like Toronto and Vancouver Seattle doesn't have a great city scape, the best one includes the space needle which slightly defeats the reason for going up there but if theres a tall building that sticks out I like to see the views.

After the needle I got the monorail downtown whgich onl took 5 minutes or so and took you right into the heart of the shopping area with all the classics, Macys, Abercrombie and Fitch and others. After a quick look around and some sly purchases it was time to head back to Vancouver and try to avoid rush hour traffic. On the way back it took 5 minutes to get back through border patrol.

The final day was spent in Whistler which is 120k north of Vancouver. Its a ski town and is hosting the 2010 winter olympics, unfortunately this means they are improving the roads and digging most of them up. On the Way we stopped off at Brandywine Falls and then drove through Whistler town to Lost Lake.

There are a few tracks around the lake which during winter are used as cross country ski tracks and the rest of the year used for hiking and mountain biking. We spent another 3 hours walking (3 hours seems to be a minimum limited) although this time we got lost a little. Things worked out quite well though because we were told there was a bear o the lower track and we were on the upper track. However we were told about another bear on the golf course which was still there. I decided irrationally or otherwise to get a bit closer than other people were willing to get and although it looked at me a couple of times it didn't see too bothered by my presence.

That was the second and last bear I saw in the wild or on my own without a tour guide. With all the signs on the sign of the road I thought I'd see far more wildlife I saw some deer and Elk but no Moose or Caribou. I thought there would at least be some road kill like in Australia where 20,000 kangaroos are killed every week. Canadian animals seem far more inteligent all I saw was a skunk and chipmonk but that was it.

And that is the end of my travels for 2008...............or i it?

Alberta

james74 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 06:31:00 GMT

After Mount Robson we cross broders into Alberta the home of Jasper and Banff the best known resort towns in the Rockies. Our first day in Jasper started out at Maligne Canyon, we followed the river down the canyon which was easy enough going down, slightly more taxing on the way back up to get back to the car park.

We got back in the car and headed to Maligne Lake passing Medicine Lake which was scenic but half empty. Once at the lake we walked around half of it and then went inland a kilometer to Moose Lake which wasn't as impressive as Maligne so we headed back and continued to walk more of the main lake.

After a whole morning of walking which started about 8am to avoid other people I was ready for a rest and went to Jasper town for lunch and watched Champions League which was nice.

After lunch we went on the “Jasper Tramway Experience” which is a 3,000 foot ride followed by a steep walk from the tramway drop-off terminal to the summit of the Whistlers Mountain. Along the way, it is clear why the Jasper tourism bureau’s slogan for the park is “Wonderful By Nature”. As you ride the gonola and then hike to the top of the summit, the panoramic views of the Canadian Rockies are spectacular. We had just under two hours before the last gondola went back down and was told it took 45 mins each way to get to the summit. Thinking we were pushed for time it took 25 minutes and nearly my life, it's pretty tough going anyway but at speed its a killer. It was well worth it and we were lucky to have supurb weather.

Everywhere we went we were told it was unseasonably warm and sunny and these are the occasions it really pays dividends. We got to see Mount Robson from Whistlers which on average is only visiable 5 days a year.

The following day it continued and made the Athabasca Glacier Icewalk an unforgetable experience. On the way we saw for the first and last time some Elk on the side of the road.

The Columbia Icefield is the largest mass of ice in the Rocky Mountains. Straddling the boundaries of Alberta and British Columbia as well as Banff and Jasper national parks, the icefield stretches for more than 25 kilometres across the Continental Divide. From its melting snows and many glaciers, waters flow across North America to the Atlantic, the Arctic and the Pacific oceans.The most accessible part of the icefield is the Athabasca Glacier, a six kilometre tongue of ice flowing to within a kilometre of the Icefields Parkway. Daily during the summer, our guides lead adventurous people from around the world onto this slowly moving river of ice. It's a world few people ever see, let alone experience firsthand.

That blurb sums the day up, they offer two walks a three hour or a six hour walk which is only offered a couple of times a week. I wanted to make the most of it after missing out in New Zealand so booked up for the six hour hike, we covered about 10k but at a much easier pace than we had been doing other walks at, with constant stops and explanations of the different contours and causes for them. It was incredible and the photos speak for themselves.

That was the last day in Jasper, the following day we drove to Banff stopping of at the Valley of the five lakes for yet another walk, and then Athabasca falls.

We stopped off a Bow Lake which looks a stunning blue due to the glacial water which Lake Louise is also well known for, which was our final stop before reaching Banff town. We had already decided to get up early and go to Lake Louise the following day to beat the crowds and get some photos while its still and has the un behind it. However since we were passing we decided to stop and check out how busy it was and what was there before returning the following day.

We walked up the steep hill to Fairmount lookout which was a bit disappointing since it pointed in the direction of the huge hotel next to the lake rather than the mountains the oposite end and was also obscured by trees. There were other hikes on the otherside of the lake which we decided to do the following day hoping it would be better.

We got there about 7.45am and started to go on the 4k hike to Big Beehive lookout. It started off steep and looked to get worse. I decided I didn't want to exhaust myself again so I went back down to walk around the base of the lake. There was another walk which started the far end of the lake which I initially had no intention of taking since it was 6k one way. However, it was a gradual climb up the far mountain which could be seen in the distance from the hotel side of the lake.

The walk was called Plain of Six Glaciers Lookout so sounded like the odds were good that at least 1 out of 6 glaciers had to be worth the walk. It took about two and a half hours to get to the lookout and I only saw 4 other people. It was early but the best time to hike uphill, it was about 2 degrees when I started but mid twenties by the time I got back to the car just under 4 hours later, it took a lot less time to get back down. On the way I was constantly looking out for bears but fortunately didn't come accross one. Whilst at the top I took some photos and just as I went to leave I heard this sound like thunder, since its was a sunny day I though it was a jet plane, but when I turned around I saw it was an avalance.

There wasn't too much snow on the peaks so it was only a small avalance but it was cool to see and I managed to get a photo of it, which really just looks like a waterfall of snow. When your not used to seeing that kind of thing it's pretty cool and nice and safe since it was on another mountain.

On the way back down there were about 4 or 5 more, but I only saw one the rest were on other peaks that I couldn't see. I also passed far more people coming up while I was coming down which made me think I was not only glad not to be walking uphill in the heat but I also had the mountain virtually to myself apart from 2 other walkers infront of me and another couple who were coming down as I was going up.

After nearly 4 hours of walking just what you need next is a 3 mile walk uphill to Johnston Canyon upper falls, but we did it. It was worth it and at the lower falls there was a walk through a cave to a veiwing point of the lower falls.

To cap the afternoon off was a trip up the Banff Gondola, not quite as good as Jasper although at this point I was all walked out. There is an old weather station that you can walk to on the top of the mountain but it didn't offer too much in terms to better veiws so the trip down was the last activity of Banff and Alberta.

The next day was a welcome days drive in the car back to Kamloops.

Gallery: Alberta

james74 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:01:00 GMT

British Columbia Part 1

james74 — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:16:00 GMT

This is in two parts as I had to go through it to get to Alberta but I return for the last week of the trip.

I originally planned to drive/ferry/drive from Naniamo to Jasper until I worked out it was a 10 hour drive so decided to cut the journey up and stop off in Kamloops. On the way was a River Safari which I'd looked into to see more bears if it didn't work out on Vancouver Island. I love a good bear me so although I'd seen 19 on Vancouver Island I wanted to potenitally increase that figure. It was a great choice, although we didn't see the numbers of Bute we saw 3 black bears which is great considering all the ones seen before were Grizzlys. We managed to get pretty close since we were in a boat, which doesn't actually provide much safety since which we were in Toronto someone got attacked by a bear while in a boat.

Blue River was quite scenic too and although the bears were the main point of going on the tour the boat tour itself was worth the money and since they ran every 40 mins or so it was easy to get a seat without having to make a booking.

In the afternoon we continued our journey to Jasper which meant we had to go over/around Mount Robson. There wasn't too much snow on the peak but its claim to fame is that it is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

Gallery: British Columbia

james74 — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:51:00 GMT