http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Andy-Horsman/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Andy Horsman en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:39:42 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:39:42 +0000 Well better late than never here's the last Australian blog and penultimate blog from the Overland To Oz trip. It seems strange thinking back to how much preparation there was in getting the trip organised and here I am nicely settled into a new life in Ireland having already completed a trip that I'd been thinking about for 18 years I'm planning on carrying on blogging travels in Ireland http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Birdsville/blog-216822.html Well 3 months after arriving back home it's finally time to start writing about our adventures in Oz. I'm not sure where the time has gone eaten away by catching up with good friends visiting family and adjusting to life back home I guess. I'm now in Ireland having just got a job the first in 14 months to get me back on my feet again no longer living out of a bag but at the same time http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Mackay/blog-195067.html Well this is it almost a year on I'm finally writing a blog from Blighty It's been an amazing trip but to be honest my feet haven't really touched the ground since arriving back home. I've spent the time since visiting friends and relatives still more to go and have just got back from a cool camping trip in Dorset with friends from Hampshire. So it doesn't really feel like I've returned t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Pahang/Tanah-Rata/blog-157888.html We've done it we've finally arrived in Queensland Australia after travelling all the way from the UK without taking a single flight It's taken a sometimes hard but always fantastic nine months and one week to get here and was topped off by a great trip aboard the MV Baltrum Trader sailing from Singapore to Brisbane in 9 days. I've jumped the gun a bit in writing this as I haven't blogged Mala http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-141636.html Hi there from a hot 'n sweaty Malaysia. We're currently in Kuala Lumpur spending a few days making the most of the cheaper shopping It's strange being somewhere so modern and cosmopolitan after a while on the road AKA basking on deserted beaches in Thailand. It has a much more relaxed air to it than Bangkok. In a couple of days we're heading south to Melaka and then onwards to Singapore wh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Western-Thailand/Kanchanaburi/blog-133864.html Hi from Kanchanaburi Thailand the site of the infamous bridge over the river Kwai. We've been exploring the area after a week of complete relaxation and catching up with my parents in Hua Hin which I'll cover in the next blog in a few week's time.In the meantime my last blog left us on the way to Laos staying in the small border town of Stung Treng. This was a town that I passed through on m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Khong-Island/blog-124814.html Hi from Vientiane Laos where Danielle and I have spent a few days before heading out on the train tonight to Bangkok. We're meeting up with my parents for a bit of luxury and rr in a villa for a week the longest I will have been in one place since I left home I can't quite believe I've been away for 7 months already time is flying past. In the past few days I've finally booked the last http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-120165.html Happy New Year greetings from Pnomh Penh where we're hanging out and enjoying copious amounts of chicken amok and banana lassi washed down with the ubiquitous beerlao It's been a while since my last update which covered Tiger Leaping Gorge and trekking in northern Laos but it's been a very busy few weeks since then. Not least as I've met up with Danielle who I met in St Petersburg. Regular http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Central-Highlands/Da-Lat/blog-114681.html Hello from Viet Nam safely in Nha Trang after sitting out Tropical Storm Durian with enough food and supplies chocolate and beer to last a lifetime. The last blog ended with me just about to begin the trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge so fittingly that's where this one beginsI caught the bus with Janet travelling from Zhongdian to the starting point of the gorge where we left our packs at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/North/Muang-Sing/blog-105304.html My last update saw me just having arrived back at Chengdu after a very special trip to Tibet. However I still had 3 weeks or so before I had to be in Saigon to meet Danielle and I'd heard of an adventurous way into Northern Yunnan and was toying with the idea of taking it when I met up with Janet a Kiwi who I'd originally met in Hanoi a couple of months ago. We thought we'd probably b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Western-Sichuan-Northern-Yunnan/blog-104069.html I last left you in Lhasa about to take a trip to see some monasteries with my new travelling companions the Buddhist monk from Viet Nam Xiun his translator and friend Huong as well as Carl and Heather from the USA. Xiun had wanted visit Tsurphu Monastery a few hours northwest of Lhasa as he had a friend who lived there and so the 5 of us decided to hire a Land Cruiser and combine it with http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/blog-100924.html Well it's been a fair few weeks since my last blog update having travelled to Tibet and back I'm now in southern Yunnan China where I'm spending a few days before heading south to Laos. In the meantime I've travelled with a Vietnamese Buddhist monk taken buses with Tibetan nomads through mountain passes to ShangriLa and trekked the Tiger Leaping Gorge so it's been a busy timeTrying to ke http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Tibet/Lhasa/blog-97951.html I last left you in northern Viet Nam where I'd spent a great few weeks relaxing meeting friends and saying goodbye to others whilst taking in the sights. Well I've now made it back into China I'm currently in Chengdu which is in the southwest waiting for a train to take me somewhere I've wanted to go for many years now but more about that later.Determined to continue the theme of overlan http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Yangshuo/blog-93917.html Well it's been quite a month in Viet Nam well short of a month by 5 days and can't quite believe where the time has gone. I've spent some time relaxing in Hanoi it is possible once you get used to the thousands of motorbikes and cyclo drivers all trying to give you a liftrun you over chilling at the beach trekking in the northern highlands visiting tribal villages and getting some cloth http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-90983.html Well yet again I've fallen behind in updating my blog so apologies for that guess I've been having too much fun . I've just left China for Viet Nam to meet some good friends from home who are on their hols so writing this from hot 'n sweaty Hanoi. I'm heading back to China and Tibet afterwards to do some more travelling before finally heading south again Australiabound.Anyway back t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanxi/Pingyao/blog-87296.html What ho from Beijing As usual I'm a bit behind in my updates blame the time difference so here is the muchawaited he says adding a sense of anticipation update from Mongolia.After 7100kms of travelling from the UK I finally made it to Mongolia. Really chuffed as I've realised that I'm now over halfway to Oz Darwin is 7000kms away as the crow flies and I haven't taken a single fli http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-80740.html Wotcha from Mongolia Been here for about 10 days now after travelling through Siberia and into Mongolia I've just got back from a 7 day trip through the Gobi desert but more about that in a following entry as plenty to talk about before getting hereWe arrived at Lake Baikal from Tomsk on a short 36 hour train trip having got to know the Provodnitsa a bit better this time important whe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Lake-Baikal/blog-79594.html Well folks I've made it to Siberia. After 55 long hours the train pulled into Tomsk railway station yesterday morning just before the smell of 54 sweaty sleepy travellers got the better of us. The ride was great fun I was in the 3rd class compartment with 5 other backpackers and to be honest we made the most of the cheap beer for sale on the platform and the plentiful noodles although I http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Tomsk/blog-74343.html I've made it into Russia at long last Sorry for the lack of updates over the past week or so it's been really hectic here what with travelling and also a lack of internet cafes. Anyway I'm typing this from a place in Moscow just off of Red Square. A few of us got up early this morning to queue to see Lenin in his mausoleum and wow what an occasion As you can imagine the tomb itself i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Murmansk/blog-72568.html I've made it to the Arctic Circle Had an amazing journey to get here after spending the day in Trondheim... .When I arrived in Trondheim I noticed lots of flags up and barricades set up alongside the road they heard I'm coming to town this is very kind I thought thinking what a welcome that was But of course the King and Queen had also decided to turn up at the same time. Anyway as http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Nord-Norge/Tromso/blog-69438.html