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 north-west 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 a trip to Reting Monastery in the North-east and Nam Tso Lake - in between them both. Nam Tso Lake is 4800m above [View Full Entry]

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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 Shangri-La and trekked the Tiger Leaping Gorge - so it's been a busy time! Trying to keep with my rules of no flights to Australia, I had to either take the train to Lhasa which takes 48 hours, or the bus which takes several days - so [View Full Entry]

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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 south-west, 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 overland travel (so no flights to Oz) I re-traced my steps up to the Friendship Pass in north-east Viet Nam by taking a mini van and then [View Full Entry]

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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 lift/run you over), chilling at the beach, trekking in the northern highlands visiting tribal villages and getting some clothes made down on the coast! In between times, I said goodbye to 2 absolutely great travelling companions (more about them later) and hello then goodbye to 2 of [View Full Entry]

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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, Australia-bound. Anyway, back to China, one of the maddest, most manic, frustrating yet at times peaceful and rewarding countries I've ever visited. From the minute I crossed the border from Mongolia [View Full Entry]

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What ho from Beijing! As usual, I'm a bit behind in my updates (blame the time difference!), so here is the much-awaited (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 half-way to Oz - Darwin is 7000kms away (as the crow flies) and I haven't taken a single flight yet! It's been strange travelling through different time zones by train - changing your watch in Russia to allow for a 2 hour time difference in 1 journey, [View Full Entry]

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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 here! We 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 when she's about to lock the toilets for a 90 mins or so at stops where you can't get off!). We stayed the night at a hostel [View Full Entry]

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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 am sick of the noodles now!). There were plenty of stops along the way so we could get out and haggle with the babushkas and we struck [View Full Entry]

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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 is very austere with soldiers around making sure you keep in line and keep on walking around the glass cabinet containing [View Full Entry]

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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 I wandered around town today, I stumbled on the ceremony in the cathedral, commemorating 100 years since the last coronation there. Anyway, turns out [View Full Entry]

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