http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Charmita and Olarse/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Charmita and Olarse en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:29:20 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:29:20 BST 5 18th JulyJuly saw Auckland host its own Film Festival which had the crowds queuing down the streets to get tickets for a load of films from around the globe we opted for a range of showings including In Bruges two Irish criminals in hiding one of whom thinks Bruges the dullest place ever not at all true methinks which was shown in the cityrsquos impressively grand Civic Theatre http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Royal-Oak/blog-302103.html NThis fortnight was the wettest of our time so far in NZ. Frequent gales black skies and lashing rain made us shiver and wish we had central heating but over here few people do it seems.We all moved house on Saturday 21st June to just down the road because the girls from whom we sublet our room were fed up of the house being so chilly as well as the mould growing on the ceiling and the o http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Royal-Oak/blog-290995.html PAt 6 a.m. I was called in for a second day of shooting for the TV advert see previous entry the price of fame huh Jobswise a temporary opportunity came up I had an interview on Monday and started on Wednesday Not standing at another bus stop on telly but being part of the Stock Broking Operations Team at a securities firm ASB Auckland Savings Bank inputting and reconciling share http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Mount-Roskill/blog-290994.html N In the supermarket Paula had found a prospectus for a college that was running a oneday breadmaking course one Saturday in the very near future. It was already booked up with 2 on the reserve list but suddenly there were enough cancellations to enable me to get a place as a present from Paula. So I spent Saturday 24th May in the company of 10 women and 1 other bloke whose wife also in http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-280645.html P The weekend Our housemates kindly took us on a picturesque drive to Waiwera Thermal Baths for the afternoon where they had a Movie Pool mostly Disney and several other outdoor pools with natural spring water up to 41 degrees The setting was amidst hills of lush green trees and it was great to be swimming okay more bathing in the outdoors.We hit the town on our first big Saturday night http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-280644.html N Arrival and first week Both legs of the flight were smooth and 27 hours after the first takeoff on Monday 28th April we landed in Auckland on Wednesday the 30th. The temperature was a warm 20 degrees better than we were expecting. We walked through the terminal towards immigration past exoticsounding airlines such as ldquoFijirdquo and ldquoPacific Islandsrdquo and got our work http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-277101.html NPWeek 1 Touched down back in Blighty on 3rd March it felt a bit chilly after several months of baking heat. Family friends Breda and Sean opened their home to us for the first two nights back feeding us with ham toasties roast dinner and all things yummy washed down with plentiful cups of tea Ah it was great to be back.Thence we went to stay in Paularsquos sister Katie and her husban http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Cheshire/Wirral/blog-255491.html P Vang Vieng was still cloudy as we departed on the bus to Luang Prabang not so far in distance but took over 6 hours due to winding mountain roads through the most scenic views we've encountered in Laos across lush valleys dotted only with the occasional hillside dwelling dwarfed by its surroundings.Luang Prabang LP 700 metres above sea level and surrounded by rolling mountains is a comme http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North/Chiang-Mai/blog-246506.html N We'd had a great time in Chiang Mai enjoying the hot weather colourful temples varied markets the cooking the massage and the food But it was time to leave and the contrast in bus between Thailand and Laos was huge everything inside was spick and span and we even had a uniformed hostess The journey took 6 hours a winding route through the hills to Mae Sot an unremarkable town in it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Ayutthaya/blog-246419.html N We planned to be 2km away from Tat Lo down the dirt track at the junction for the bus south at 8 a.m. but the time taken by the breakfast shack to produce our huge egg baguettes and halfpint of coffee meant that we arrived 5 minutes late not sure how much of the 2hour gap between buses was still to elapse. Amazingly one pulled up within a minute one of whose passengers was a man who carr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-245432.html POur bus from Tha Khek to Savannakhet had 2 motorbikes on its roof and was full to bursting. I have to admit it wasn't the most comfortable journey we've made consisting of 5 hours on a plastic stool in the aisle with no backrest. But the locals don't even think twice about travelling like this we noticed most buses were secondhand from South Korea and Japan with the adverts still on. Olde http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Bolaven-Plateau/blog-238717.html N Bangkok was founded in 1782 by the first monarch of the present Chakri dynasty. It is now the country's spiritual cultural diplomatic commercial and educational hub. It covers an area of more than 1500 square kilometres and it is home to approximately ten million people or more than 10 of the country's population. Interestingly I think Bangkok means something like Village of th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-236112.html If you are not one of our family and friends we would be really interested to know how you found our blog please email us at olarsehotmail.com many thanksN A lot of life is about doing something essentially pointless and not necessarily very enjoyable in order to feel the satisfaction of having done it. I read this quote recently in a Times article by Robert Rampton and it sums up one http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Savannakhet/blog-234923.html P We took an overnight bus to Krabi then a boat to the island of Koh Lanta then a pickup truck to Fisherman's Cottage FMC which was to be our home for Christmas and New Year.We sampled numerous delights from the Cottage menu Mussuman curry English breakfast on Christmas AND New Year's Day Bean on toast though we were delighted to get more than one and left others alone Barbecued seafoo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/blog-232187.html PWe alighted from the boat along the Mekong river onto Cambodian soil and boarded a bus which would take us to the capital Phnom Penh. On the way we caught a glimpse of everyday family life as the house fronts were open and inside visible from the road as in Vietnam. The biggest signs we saw were for the Cambodian People's Party and the only other advertising was on shopfront fridges housing http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-231492.html Hi all tried to send this by email but hotmail account would not allow it file too bigIt's only 30 seconds though...Anyway...Happy Christmas Looking forward to speaking on the 25thLove Paula and Nick. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South/Ko-Lanta/blog-229706.html N Visiting Angkor Wat is something many people have on their travel wishlists not least because of its recent shortlisting to be one of the new seven wonders of the world. But it's not as easy as just turning up seeing the temple and then going for a sundowner no sir. Because there is more than just one temple. Many more Designated a world heritage site by UNESCO the Angkor Archaealogical P http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-228451.html If you are not one of our family and friends we would be really interested to know how you found our blog please email us at olarsehotmail.com many thanksN We left central Vietnam on Thurs 22nd Nov in the same weather that we entered it i.e heavy rain. The 24 hour bus journey to Ho Chi Minh City HCMC could have been worse but we managed a reasonable amount of sleep overnight and trave http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-225323.html NThe railroad is the chief of many mechanical devices enabling us to get away from where we are to where we are no better off. So said Ambrose Bierce the American newspaper columnist satirist shortstory writer and novelist who disappeared in the early 20th century Mexican Revolution in his book The Devils Dictionary. Anyway the reason for including that quote is that I would still have http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-222252.html If you are not one of our family and friends we would be really interested to know how you found our blog please email us at olarsehotmail.com many thanksP Leaving mainland China behind us we hopped off the overnight train and strolled across the border to Hong Kong. Setting foot there brought back memories of the great time I had during my first visit with my aunt Gerry and uncle Yoshi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-221894.html