blog by Dave OK so why isn't everybody staring at us ? This feels very strange indeed. Also it feels a little odd that we can understand everybody, and perhaps more perturbing, they can understand us. One of the other things that is confirming our exit from Asia is that its been 10 minutes since we landed and no one has badgered us for cash or tried to sell us anything random. After a somewhat lengthy wait in a ridiculously crowded immigration queue, we find our bags amongst the pile left unattended by the luggage belts. We can only assume that [View Full Entry]

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blog by Dave & Bronia Xi'an It didn't take us long to discover that there's more to this city than just the Army of Terracotta Warriors for which it is famed. It is surrounded by an ancient wall for a start - which is in itself a monument that can be climbed and walked along. It is a spectacular vision as you approach the city limits with vast elaborate watchtowers dotted evenly along its length. Inside this imposing barrier are the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower which are huge buildings of Chinese design that initially date back to 14th cen [View Full Entry]

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(blog by Bronia) For both of us, arriving in China was a dream come true. Back in 2005, when this trip was still on the drawing board and we were tossing country names about in the same casual way you toss about what you fancy having for dinner that night. Many of those initial countries like Australia, Russia, Nepal, Tibet were gradually scrapped from our world trip due to time, feasibility, political instability but the one that has remained there ever since the beginning is China. Along with India, China was the other top country on our list we were [View Full Entry]

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blog by Dave Hong Kong - Part 1 Having left Hanoi, Vietnam absolutely shattered by the relentless pace of our recent travel with Sid & Kerry, we were rather hoping that our first short stint in Hong Kong would be a little easier on the physical and mental side. We weren't disappointed at all. In fact, we both commented on how clean and efficient the airport was in comparison to Hanoi as we trundled through the airport. Bronia said that in fact she liked the airport so much she wanted to set up camp in the arrivals hall as it was [View Full Entry]

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blog by Bronia The one thing that you will have realised by the end of reading this blog is that South East Asia does not have a good bus system. A bus system it has. An extensive system it has. But a good one it does not. Since our departure from Thailand on June 11th with Sid and Kerry, we have taken you through Laos and Cambodia on bus after bus, as trains are relatively non-existent and planes are only convenient for crossing distance, not for seeing a country. So I imagine that it'll come as no great surprise to you [View Full Entry]

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blog by Dave We thoroughly enjoyed travelling Laos with Sid and Kerry and so having figured out that we had similar itneraries, we decided to stick together as a four through Cambodia and Vietnam. It's so much easier to find hotel rooms and avoid the general hassle as a foursome, plus we all get on like a house on fire. This part of our travel is pretty hectic and it would be easy to rest for too long somewhere, so having the guys with us helped keep us to our schedule. Cambodia has a dark recent history in terms of hostile [View Full Entry]

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blog by Bronia Laos is a truly fascinating and enticing country. Landlocked by five countries, China to the north, Burma/Myanmar to the west, Thailand to the south-west, Cambodia to the south and Vietnam to the east it has been subject to much invasion, political influence and international nonchalance over its history. Its long history is complicated with various invasions by the Siamese (Thailand), Cambodia and Laos over its history with ruling Kings and Tribes vying for power. It became a French protectorate at the ended [View Full Entry]

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blog by Bronia & Dave Elephant Protection Project From the island of Ko Chang we moved on to the town of Pattaya that made its name and so called 'fame' during the Vietnam war. It was in this area under the welcoming support of the Thai government that the US Army troups were allowed to be based to fight the Vietnemese. The troups, requiring rest and relaxation would head to Pattaya's coast for sun, sand and the beautiful crystal blue waters. It didn't stay innocent for long as the town quickly developed prostitution bars and gambling joints to service ot [View Full Entry]

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blog by Bronia "Sawadeeka/krap" ("hello") from Thailand - formerly known as Siam. Well we are fully into Thailand and the Thai culture now. Our guide Lucky recently gave us Thai names for fun - Bronia's is "Pai Lin" meaning a "Thai red ruby" and Dave's is "Ma-nop" which means... wait for it.... "handsome one/good angel" - don't know what went wrong there !! Our last blog left you in the north of Thailand in Umphang where we had taken you on a whirlwind tour of our first two weeks with our Real Gap volunteer group. Taking a 12hr over [View Full Entry]

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blog by Dave From our luxury surroundings in the heart of Bangkok's business centre, we moved on to meet our Gap Year project group at the fabled backpackers centre of Kao San Road. The hotel 'Thai Cozy House' was not quite five star this time, being located above a variety of food and clothing shops, but it was comfortable enough with most of the desired ameneties. The Gap Year - Work & Travel Company (www.gapyearforgrownups.co.uk) is an organisation that we found last year through an internet search when we were doing our research for the worl [View Full Entry]

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