Bellcore
Matt Bell Joined: December 9th 2007
Logged in: February 10th 2012
Logged in: February 10th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
The 'Stang...
This week has been a lucky one for me. It started off when I went to pick up my rental car. I was happy with the budget option which the website said would be a Ford Focus (Americans don't do small cars) but when I went along to pick it up they didn't have any available - all they had was a Ford Mustang! Nice. I won't slag off the Focus as most of my family reading this own them but it was certainly easier to 'light up' the Mustang which of course I did at every given opportunity. Then when I got to Orlando (or Manchester as it should be known on account of it being jam packed with Mancunians) the day before the launch there was only a 30% chance of it going ahead ... read more
One of many beaches
Okay, so despite Brisbane being a really great city it was getting a little lonely. You meet some cool people but it's not like having your friends around you. The main problem was that hostels really aren't for me. They're all decent as far as hostels go but they're basically what I've been working for the last few years to get away from - no privacy, nowhere to put any belongings. You literally live out of a bag which is just hassle. To cut a long story short, rather than continuing to haemorrhage money on something that was okay I've decided to change this from travelling to an extended break and come back to England early. I'm currently in Sarasota, Florida where my parents conveniently bought a place last week (free accomodation), which is good timing ... read more
Me Arriving in Brisbane
The additional photos have now been added. I've also added a video to the "Further Plans" blog. Worth watching for a laugh. I landed in Brisbane about 5 days ago and it was instantly more relaxed. For starters everybody spoke English, the customs guy was even a Machine Head fan, the sun was shining, there was nobody hassling you for taxis, and I presumed you didn't have to crap into a hole (like in Beijing). The journey took a while as I had to fly via Hong Kong and Taipei (Taiwan) although I was just glad to be in the country after the panic at Taipei. I went to check in again as I had been told, but when the girl was looking through my passport she asked me where my Visa for Australia was? I ... read more
Mr Mao
Okay, I'll keep this one short as I'm getting a little tired. As mentioned in my previous blog I have changed my travel plans so I am now going directly to Australia from Beijing. Basically I think I have bitten off more than I chew by coming to Russia and Asia first. The language thing is a becoming a big problem - even eating is becoming an issue and things like sorting out the phone are a none starter. The culture is a shock to the system so rather than hoping it will get better I'm just gonna shoot off down under. The coldness is depressing me as well. I'm not sure if hostels are my thing so we'll have to see how that one pans out. I'm flying to Brisbane tomorrow afternoon and getting there ... read more
As I said in my earlier blog I had gone for a wander around the Forbidden City and was about to pop across the road to Tinamen Square when some Chinese girls approached me as I was taking a picture of Mao. There was a group of 5 of them, all of whom were dressed normally (i.e. they weren't prostitutes) and could all speak almost fluent English. They just looked like a group of students on a trip. They asked me if I was English and thought it was great because it meant they could practice theirs. They were all really pleasant girls, pretty much what you'd expect of a female Chinese student, and they asked me if I would like to join them as they were walking to the old town. "Why the devil not" ... read more
A Wall
I arrived in Beijing yesterday feeling like a giant and immediately people started trying to scam, ie the taxi drivers, known as the taxi mafia. I got on the bus and was impressed - all the stops were announced over the tannoy in Chinese and English. Got to the hostel which was very Chinese looking and is situated right next to the Forbidden City. I took a stroll through the Forbidden City and got non stop hassle from people wanting money for tickets, lifts (in their put puts), guided tours ("Please, this is my livelihood"), possibly a prostitute - for some reason I stand out more here than I did in Moscow. Botherances aside, I got out the front and stood in front of the picture of Mao and the whole place really does look magnificent. ... read more
The Kremlin
I've been in Moscow for 3 days now and I've only seen 2 English people, unfortunately they looked like tossers so I didn't speak to them. There are very few people who speak in English and nearly every sign is in Russian (Cyrillic) so it's really hard to know what anything is. The hostel I am in is nice, but empty other than the four girls who seem to run the place. In my room there's one layabout who seems to be the boyfriend of one of the girls, and one other person who I haven't actually met yet as he's out before I wake up and asleep when I get back. The only other people I have seen there were some Aussies who were leaving as I arrived. I'm looking forward to having a normal ... read more
Kirril's daughter Tasia
Just before I left my friend Catherine told me that I'll have days where I'm wondering what the hell I'm doing and they can turn out to be the best days of the trip, which is what happened on Thursday. I was wandering around looking for somewhere to eat and came across a British pub. As it is difficult to find restaurants or bars in Moscow (because of the different alphabet they use) and because I hadn't met an English person (and still haven't) I thought I'd pop in for a pint. As I ordered my drink the Russian guy next to me, Kirril, started speaking to me. We got chatting and he turned out to be a really nice guy. He told me his son had been to England to study and he invited me ... read more
Statue at St Pancras - big
I'm now in Moscow safe and sound. I enjoyed the train journey and would certainly recommend it. Talk about it being a small world. The first time I spoke to travellers was in Cologne station. They were waiting for the same train as me as they are doing a similar route. The Irish guy asked me where I was from so I told him Carlisle, expecting him to have never heard of it, but it turned out the girl he was with is from Carlisle. Bizarre. The standards went down somewhat when I got to Warsaw. The East station I had to leave from was a proper shithole with no signs and nobody seemed to know what train was the one to Moscow. The journey from Warsaw into Belarus was one of the most bizarre experiences ... read more
Me and Ashley
The big day had finally arrived, all the work was done. I was jobless, homeless, and carless. All that remained was to sit on a train for the next 4 days.... read more
