Living the Dream

Planning European Summer Trek 2013

jenko7 — Sun, 3 Feb 2013 15:57:00 GMT

Just booked flights to Europe for the Northen Summer. Planning on starting in the Baltics and then heading down to the Balkans. Getting excited already!

South American Highlights - Chile (end)

jenko7 — Tue, 3 May 2011 15:53:00 GMT

In March/April/May I travelled to South America for five weeks. I started in Punta Arenas, Chile, then travelled to El Calafate in Argentina via Puerto Natales. Then flew from El Calafate to Buenos Aires before flying to Iguazu and back. Then flew to Quito in Ecuador where I joined an Intrepid Tour of the Galapagos Islands. Then flew to Lima, Peru and joined another Intrepid Tour of the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu before flying to Santiago, Chile for a few days before heading home.

South American Highlights - Peru

jenko7 — Tue, 3 May 2011 15:51:00 GMT

South American Highlights - Ecuador

jenko7 — Tue, 3 May 2011 15:50:00 GMT

South American Highlights - Argentina

jenko7 — Tue, 3 May 2011 15:48:00 GMT

South American Highlights - Chile (start)

jenko7 — Tue, 3 May 2011 15:40:00 GMT

Intrepid Tour - Road to Angkor Westbound

jenko7 — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:14:00 GMT

Recently took a 9 day Intrepid Tour from Saigon to Bangkok through Cambodia. Camodia is really cool and Intrepid is a great tour company.

Gallery: Malaysia

jenko7 — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:38:00 GMT

Kualan Lumpur and Langkawi

Gallery: Thailand

jenko7 — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:26:00 GMT

Bangkok and Phuket

Gallery: Vietnam

jenko7 — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 10:36:00 GMT

Hanoi and Ha Long Bay

arrhh Jakarta

jenko7 — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:30:00 GMT

Well Jakarta hasn't really lived up to my standards of a nice place to visit. The traffic is shocking and the smog is the worst I have ever experienced. You would not know the sky is actually blue. It is quite un-inviting with all the high walls around each block and the bomb checks the cars go through to park in a carpark. Looking forward to getting on the plane home.

Palu Langkawi

jenko7 — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:24:00 GMT

Well we decided to fly to an island off the north west coast of Malaysia called Palu Langkawi. Unfortunately we picked a crap hotel but that was our fault as we went for the cheapest one. The island has plenty of monkeys, eagles (we are staying in Eagle bay) and mosquitoes.

Hired a car for a day to drive around and see the sites. There are a small number of nice beaches but unfortunately it has been raining quite a bit. It is the wet season after all!

Kuala Lumpur

jenko7 — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:20:00 GMT

Well we have not long been in KL that we realise we don't want to spend 5 nights here. We are already looking to spend a few days somewhere else. We'll go for a walk round the city and check out the sights first of course but we would prefer to be on a beach somewhere. The best past-time here is probably shopping which was also pretty good in Bangkok.

Paradise that is Phuket

jenko7 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:13:00 GMT

Well what a beautiful few days relaxing in Phuket and finishing off with a speedboat tour of Ko Phi Phi and a couple of other Islands. Our accomodation is rediculous considering we only paid $20 a night each for our own rooms. This would be costing over a hundred at home. We have hired scooters each day we have been here for about $7 a day. I nearly had a major head-on collision within 60 seconds of getting on the thing but after a while I got the hang of it (and the traffic).

Back in Bangkok

jenko7 — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 21:04:00 GMT

Back in Bangkok for the second and third group games of the Asian Cup. Unfortunately Australia are not fairing very well so we might move on shall we?

Bangkok is an experiance and a half. It is smoggy, dirty and it smells but then again that can be said for any bog city. The Skytrain is a good way to escape all this, if for only a short time.

After a while you get used to taxi drivers beeping at you for a fare as if nobody walks anywhere in Bangkok and the Tuk Tuk drivers calling out "Tuk Tuk?" at you as you walk past. And then of course every 5 metres is a Massage parlour (some with happy endings) where girls out the front will call out "Maaasssaaaggee?" as you walk past.

And walking around at night is even more amazing with the litterally thousands of prositutues lining nearly every street in Bangkok! One alley we walked up was so quiet we had about twenty-five girls run out and nearly rip our clothes off us in the street! What an experience that was.

Game against Thailand tonight should be much more exciting. Since we are playing the home nation some people might actually turn p to the game!

Stunning Ha Long Bay

jenko7 — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:57:00 GMT

Well, what can I say. The two day tour of Ha Long Bay has left us wishing we had done the three day tour. It was awesome. The boat (a chinese junk), the food (all prepared fresh), the crew (very helpful) and the picture perfect sights.

Had great fun jumping off the boat into the waters below, walking through a huge cave and eating some of the best food I have ever eaten not to mention a spot of sunbathing here and there.

Hanoi is a really interesting place too except the humidity is rediculous! I thought I knew what humidity was coming from Queensland but I obviously had no idea what real humidity is.

Bangkok (need I say more)

jenko7 — Sun, 8 Jul 2007 20:48:00 GMT

The Socceroos played Oman today and we were rubbish. I think I'll just put that behind me. Well it was a great start to the adventure, stuck in Sydney airport for an extra 5 hours. We didn't get into Bangkok until about 3:30am and then had to get a taxi to our (not so easy to find hostel). A group of us crammed into a taxi again later on in the morning to go out to the stadium and pick up the match tickets. Interesting part of town (or out of town I should say). Anyway, fly out to Hanoi tomorrow for our tour of Ha Long Bay.

My Final Post

jenko7 — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:21:00 GMT

I have been back nearly two weeks now and am getting back into the reality of having to get up each morning and go to work rather than to Rome or Paris. It does take a few days though and getting fit again after all the drinking and eating will take a little longer. The most common question I have been asked is what was my favourite place, which is not easy to pick although Switzerland and the Jungfrau really did stand out, but so did a few other places and occasions. Here is a short list of my trip highlights.

The World Cup - The biggest party on Earth
Switzerland - Some of the most stunning views I have ever seen
St Petersburg - My favourite city because it is no ordinary city
Cinque Terra - More stunning views of one very unique place
Dalmation Coast - Paradise to rival the best Australia can offer

Maybe South America next?

All my photos can be viewed at - http://jenko.shutterfly.com/action/

Nearly at the end

jenko7 — Mon, 2 Oct 2006 20:19:00 GMT

Only a few days to go now and I'll be on my way home to Brisbane. In the last couple of weeks I have travelled to the North of England and the North of France. I have been to Manchester twice to watch Manchester United play at Old Trafford. I have also checked out the town of York, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the Lakes District National Park, Blackpool on the West coast and Liverpool - where I saw Liverpool play Newcastle United. Drove all the way down to Dover and caught the ferry over to Calais where we headed West to Le Havre then onto the D-Day landing beaches in Normandy and saw the Mont St Michel. From there down to Paris for the weekend. We stayed in Versailles where there is a large palace. Saw the sights in Paris and then returned back to England on the Monday and saw Portsmouth lose to Bolton in Portsmouth. Returned to Essex to catch up some more with my relatives before flying home for some much needed rest.

A few days of normality at last

jenko7 — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 20:16:00 GMT

Made it to England from Croatia a few days ago. From the airport I had to take a train to Farrington station, then the tube from Farrington to Liverpool Street station, where I got on another train to Colchester Station, where I got a bus into the main street of town to meet my cousin at her work. Then back on the bus to her house and into the car for the journey out to Harwich where I have been the last few days. That was after getting up in the morning and catching a taxi to Split Airport and flying to Gatwick. Who said travelling was fun!

When I got on the tube - on which I only had to travel three stations - some nutter, two carriages away, decided to repeatedly pick up one of those bags with wheels and a handle and smash it into the floor of the train. A few business men on the train approached him, although he continued. One of the train drivers then walked through to where he was and gave the all clear for the train to continue, as we where stopped in a tunnel, to the next station where security escorted him off the train.

Last night I rang the guy that was organising me tickets to see Manchester United play at their home ground. Last time we spoke he had told me I had tickets for the Newcastle game. When I rang last night I found out he had also got me tickets to the Arsenal game and the Champions League game against Celtic of Scotland. Unfortunately the game against Celtic had been played the night before! So there was two empty seats there with my name on them. I really didn't need to be reminded of these life lessons when I'm not at work.

Anyway off to London tomorrow morning to catch up with my brother breifly and a friend or two and meet up with my mate Adam again. Adam and I will drive to Manchester Sunday morning to watch United play Arsenal and stay up that way to watch Liverpool play Newcastle at Anfield before going to France on Thursday for the weekend.