http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Andy-and-Clare/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Andy and Clare en-us Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:06:38 +0000 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:06:38 +0000 So after 12 months of travelling we are now back in Britain. We have had a fantastic year far better than we could ever have imagined. Argentina and New Zealand have been our favourite spots but we can honestly say that we have enjoyed all 14 countries that we have visited. Thank you to everyone for reading the blog and a special thank you to those old friends and new ones who we have spent time http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ayuthaya/blog-296969.html We have got well into the Laos way of life in the past couple of weeks relaxing and appreciating all the different things around us. You couldn't describe anything we have seen as spectacular but our time here has definitely been some of the best time we have spent in SE Asia. Despite all the tourists the people are very welcoming and generally the place definitely has a certain charm we haven't http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-294305.html Keen observers will spot that a river features prominently in many of this blogs photos. It is the mighty Mekong which defines this part of the world acting as a border the setting for virtually all settlements a livelihood a food source and until very recently the only real means of transportation. The river flows slowly and life moves at the same speed. Relaxing is definitely the order of the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-287586.html Hot. Very Hot. Boiling infact. That would have to be the first thing that comes to mind to describe our past ten days in Cambodia. Bring on the rainy season which is apparently just days awaySomething happened to raise the alreadyhigh temperature as we took a boat from Chau Doc on the Mekong Delta a very pleasant oddly untouristy spot to cross the border into Cambodia arriving in Phnom Pen http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-282424.html Once Ruth and Marie had headed home and taken the sun with them we spent the day looking in the 'posh' area of Hanoi looking at the Temple of Literature and Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum but not the embalmed man himself. Then it was on the Reunification Express a 30 hour train journey linking Hanoi and what the guide books call Ho Chi Minh and everyone else calls Saigon. Fortunately we split this http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-278169.html Since our last blog we seem to have crammed a fair bit in thanks in part to the arrival of Ruth and Marie on a two week holiday who have seemingly had more energy than usWe spent a few days in Chiang Mai which proved to be really relaxing. We walked around touring some beautiful temples and a fair share of markets Andy has thoroughly been enjoying shopping with three girls We also took part http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-274090.html Epic journeys both begin and end this blog...To get from the Cameron Highlands to Ko Lanta we needed 2 buses a train a plane a minibus 2 boats and a jeep. Once there it was well worth it though as we stepped our relaxing up to a new level with a week in two fantastic resorts on this laid back Thai island. With nothing to do other than swim in the 'bath water warm' pool and stroll along the be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/blog-269872.html We have spent the past 2 weeks on mainland Malaysia and have had a very enjoyable time. It is one of the first countries we've been to where you don't have to travel too far to see several different landscapes. The people have been incredibly friendly too. We spent a few days in KL visiting the tourist sites in the sweltering heat catching up with things we always seem to do in big cities shop http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/blog-264618.html The past fortnight has seen us tasting often literally our first experiences of Asia. After easing our way in with three days in Singapore a highrise shopping mall blend of East and West we flew to Sabah part of Malaysian Borneo. We spent a few days in the WW2 destroyed capital Kota Kinabalu and a couple on the South China Sea before the main event our attempt to conquer SE Asia's highe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/blog-260215.html 8 months in the southern hemisphere draws to a close tomorrow and we find ourselves asking where on earth has it gone It has simply flown.We've had an enjoyable past couple of weeks and generally speaking the sun has finally come out in Australia. I said generally though having arrived in Hobart in 30 degree heat there was snow on the hills when we left Shortly after our last blog we pick http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-253922.html The last two weeks have been dominated by wine wildlife and waves and also the opportunity to catch up with some old friends.The wine first this came in the barossa valley. One of Australia's most famous wine areas the vineyards in the Barossa are close enough together to allow walking from one to another crucial if you want to sample the wines so we had a great day strolling along in the sun http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-247776.html G'day. We arrived in Australia about 2 weeks ago now and have been enjoying exploring the South West of Western Australia. We landed in Perth and went to stay with Andy's friends Andrew and Tracey complete with 3 kids and a large dog. We had a brilliant time there mainly relaxing although we did venture to the beach on Australia day and Andy braved the 35 degree heat for a round of golf. We al http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/blog-243659.html Our 8 weeks in New Zealand have gone very fast and I'm writing this in Christchurch as we wait for our flight to Perth to begin the Australia leg of our trip. We have loved our time here it is a fantastic country and we would definitely recommend it.The last two weeks have brought more glorious weather superb views encounters with wildlife and the occasional bit of hard exercise.We met friends http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-238499.html Belated Happy New YearSince our last blog we've really understood why everyone raves about New Zealand the sun has come out and stayed out and we have seen some stunning scenery. We've spent the past three weeks with my parents and have just delivered them to the airport with just a few tears..We kicked off our time together by going on a Devine wine tour the company's pun of the Marlboro http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-234137.html After 5 months of fantastic weather in South America it was inevitable that we would eventually hit some rain and sure enough it has struck in New Zealand.In Roturua it rained this place really stinks of sulphur from the thermal action going on underneath it. Despite the rain we wandered around the mud pools and crater lakes and then headed out of town to find a natural thermal pool we had it http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/blog-228928.html Back tracking slightly...... it feels like we left South America months ago From El Chalten we had a few days of travelling to take us back over the border and into Chile for the last time. Our destination was Pucon in the Chilean lakes. The town has two claims to fame one being an immense perfectly conical active volcano towering over the town and the second being a beautifully blue lake. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-226051.html For the last two weeks we have been in Southern Patagonia arguably our favourite spot in South America and a glaciologists dream Nick Rutter you must come here. It was great to have friends Angela and Mark travelling with us for most of that time although a great shame that they were unwell for a lot of their holiday.We met them in Ushuaia on Tierra del Fuego. It is a city that prides itself http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/blog-221519.html Leaving the Lake District behind we took another overnight bus to Trelew on the coast of northern patagonia. We got off the bus early in the morning expecting to be find welsh speakers and dragon flags everywhere but it proved not to be the case. Nonetheless we did find some old welsh looking ladies dont ask me what welsh looking is where we had our mammoth welsh tea.We picked up a car and d http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/blog-217132.html When we wrote our last blog we were just about to get on a bus to Bariloche 11 days later we are still there although this is not entirely by design more on that later.Bariloche is our first stop in Patagonia the tourist capital of the Argentinian Lake District and a great place to spend some time. We are here in the month between the ski season and the summer season which has both advantages http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-215253.html Since our last blog we have been having an unusually sedate time We enjoyed our time in Villa General Belgrano and went along to the beer festival for an evening once we thought our livers had recovered from Andys birthday. There wasnt much to do in the area though we even found ourselves playing tennis a drawWe moved on to the city of Mendoza which was a pleasant city with very good f http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Mendoza/blog-212281.html