http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/BilsonAndBob/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from BilsonAndBob en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:14:54 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:14:54 +0000 So we arrived in Cambodia and became instant millionaires only in riel terms mind. It's the first country we've come across that happily trades in three currencies 4000 riel to the dollar 100 to the bhat an eight dollar meal and we had 3 dollars 7300 riel and 3500 bhat...work that one out.After thanking the very cheery and patient border guard he must have corrected us on our Khmer at le http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-11688.html On a couple of occasions we've crossed a border and immediately been taken by how different the new country feels to the last we had that feeling here. No hold on the first thing we felt after crossing the border was temporary blindness after making it over the wooden bridge with holes big enough to lose a wheel we'd forgotten to wind our windows up and received a full dose of insecticide sp http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/blog-30893.html We're sorry Costa Rica we didn't have enough time to devote to you we had to make it to Panama in a hurry and since you seem to be one of the easiest countries to get to in Central America you'll be first on our list when we return to this part of the world.Fortuna was our first night's stop not a bad little town it has a ski resort feel about it and is dominated by the imposing silhouette of http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/blog-30890.html An hour into Nicaragua and we came across our first problem no bridge. We were attempting to satisfy the latest phase of Rachel's seemingly insatiable appetite for all things local and crafty by visiting a pottery cooperative in the village of Ducuale Grande. After a few miles of dirt road we saw the remains of what was once the only safe way to cross the river until the fringes of hurric http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/blog-30156.html Four weeks in Mexico and our Spanish was shall we say muy poco so it was with some relief that we approached our second border and the English speaking Belize. The border crossing was straight forward enough with charges for liability insurance and fumigation then a signed declaration promising to not sell the car and after only half an hour and a quick chat with the immigration official abou http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/blog-21794.html Guns. OK they've been part of everyday life since and including America but Honduras...they seem to take them a whole lot more seriously here.We had to change some dollars into lempiras and chose one of the main banks on the central square of Santa Rosa de Copan our first stop. We enter the bank past four guards each with a shotgun and handgun neither was holstered and join the queue behin http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Honduras/blog-23555.html And we thought the Guatemalans were paranoid. Our first night's accommodation in El Salvador involved us calling through a locked gate just to get into the village the guesthouse was even more secure but Rachel struck a bargain deal again and for two nights we had the whole beachfront place with pool to ourselves. We'd earned it though the border crossing was the most hassle yet and took over http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/El-Salvador/blog-22950.html A series of hand gestures from the money changer at the Guatemalan border suggested that we'd have a bumpy ride on our way to the town of Flores. He was right. For about the first twenty miles or so we were thrown around quite a bit on a road that Cambodia would have been proud to call its own. The border crossing was again straight forward pay cash for fumigation vehicle and tourist permits th http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/blog-22949.html So we made it to Mexicohellip..us and our trusty we hope 4Runner had negotiated a relatively hassle free border crossing at Tijuana. I say relative as even at this early stage a lack of Spanish made the wheres and hows of obtaining vehicle and tourist permits all the more tricky need to get learning and quickly. We counted our blessings though and shot past the endless queues heading in the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/blog-20690.html Los Angeles and we had some work to do wersquod decided not to travel further North to Seattle Vancouver or Anchorage and began our search for a vehicle in the city of dreams. Our dream seemed to be an endless tour around hundreds of used car lots until after nearly two weeks and nearly throwing the towel in we found what we wanted if it doesn't last the distance we'll claim it was bought i http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/blog-16997.html 'What have we done' we asked ourselves as we sat eating cheese sandwiches like a couple of old biddies in the back of a campervan in the pouring rain. We'd said our goodbyes to Asia's heat and humidity and after a four day stopover in Perth had arrived in New Zealand in winter. If the truth be known we were actually looking forward to cooling off for a while. We had elected to tour the islands http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/blog-15033.html Heaven on earth with cherries on top is what it felt like arriving in Singapore having just spent 3ish months touring the sites in India. Spotlessly clean streets lined with enormous shopping plazas selling all manner of designer high street goods at amazingly cheap prices. OK cheap compared to UK standards. Nonetheless I reasoned with Bob that for entirely 'practical' reasons our budget shoul http://www.travelblog.org/blog-8903.html We have a confession to make we thought Sri Lanka would be the perfect destination for a relaxing first few weeks on the beach it has been...but it has also been so much more. History religion food geography people each has surprised us and reinforced how much we underestimated this country.We spent a little over three weeks touring just the south west and central highlands. After an 18 ho http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Sri-Lanka/blog-2412.html I wrote most of this blog before we became aware of the devastation caused by the recent Tsunami which is why there's little reference to it. Itrsquos been particularly shocking for us as many of the destinations of our trip so far have been severely affected. We've heard back from some people we met in southern Sri Lanka who are safe and well but fear the worst for the many guest house peop http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-3188.html I would have walked off but after an hour in the back of a small jeep with nine others there were six more in the front I wasn't entirely sure that my legs were still attached to my body. We were travelling between Palanpur Gujarat and Mt Abu in Rajasthan and had been stopped at the border for a routine police check. It should have been straight forward but our driver looked concerned we too http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/blog-4863.html Delhi yes Delhi...errrm...don't like it. We arrived early morning after another night train so not a great deal of sleep and with Rachel not feeling very well probably not the best preparation for one of the world's most hectic cities but still. I left Rachel to practice her angry teacher look at the ludicrously unsubtle pickpockets and went to try and book our onward tickets to Amritsar in th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-4864.html