http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/DnH/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from DnH en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:43:16 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:43:16 BST The stench of rotting flesh got our adrenaline pumping as we rolled down the car windows. The cat had to be close. Behind the twisted buffalo carcass 20m from the road H could spot a pair of eyes observing us. D took a bit of time to be convinced that the cat was actually there. A few moments later there was no doubt. The big male lion emerged slowly behind the buffalo. We could hear him breath http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Mpumalanga-/Kruger-National-Park/blog-143410.html So we went to the the peak to enjoy the view and take some photos. After a 10 min steep tram ride up the hill we arrived the Peak Tower and went to the viewing area. The scenary is magnificent and it gets even better when it gets dark. We stayed for a while to take som photos. After a while a security guard told us that we were'nt allowed to use a tripod and that tripods could only be used from t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-139987.html Saigon seemed same same but different at our second visit. It's hard to point out why but it was maybe not with the same excitement we came to Saigon this time. After a 14 hour bus journey from Sihanoukville in Cambodia via Phnom Phen we stepped on Saigon soil again.Before our trip we had heard horror stories about tricky boarder crossings between Cambodia and Vietnam with people having t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-138877.html Phnom Penh PP 6 o'clock at night when we arrived is hot and sticky. At noon the heat is suffocating even though midday temperature is only around 35 celsius. It has to be experienced can't be explained. Can we please go back to Singapore for some cool air Some snow would be even better. Thank whoever for cold showers and there's nothing else to be found at least in budget accomm http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-135798.html It's not fair because there so much else to see but the fact is that most people who come to Siem Reap do so to see the temples Angkor Wat being the most famous and so did we. So when our Tuk Tukdriver who got the job to drive us from the bus station to the guest house for a lousy 1000 Riel 0.25 stopped halfway there to ask if he could be our driver to the temples the next day it w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-135265.html Sorry we thought you were going to arrive yesterday. We were waiting for you said the very friendly receptionist at Yellow House Hotel YHH in District 1 Ho Chi Minh City HCMC Saigon from now on. Now we're fully booked.What a nightmare arriving in a new country late at night with nowhere to stay Wait she said I'll make a phone call. The hotel next door have a room for you do you http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/blog-132598.html Eight am checking out from a sweaty Singapore . A couple of SG and 40 minutes later on the bus at the SingaporeMalaysia border. Now where do we find the bus to Malacca or Melaka in Malay 20 min by taxi across the border town Johor Bahru aka JB and we then had 10 min to buy a ticket and jump on the bus. PerfectAfter a 3.5hour pleasant airconned bus journey we finally arrived in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Malacca/Malacca-Town/blog-130395.html Our first taste of Asia Singapore was a gentle introduction to the culture customs and hot and sticky weather of Southeast Asia. After a 30 min airconditioned metro ride why can't London tubes have AC from the Airport to Bugis MRTstation Mass Rapid Transit we arrived at Bugis Backpackers Hostel in central Singapore.Stepping out on the street even at night was a chock. The humid a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-130394.html On the wrong sorry left side of the road again we steered north from Sydney along the New South Wales NSW coastline. Airconditioning in cars should be law in this country. Luckily we had one with in the 30 celsius heat. Nevertheless we quickly felt the urge for a dip in the ocean and maybe a wave or two.Anna Bay came up shortly after and we stopped. Tide was too low and the the small w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/blog-127882.html 23 celsius at 22.30 as we stepped of the plane in Sydney after 38 hours of continuous travel from Santiago Chile via Lima Peru and Los Angeles US was just the start of a great fortnight Down Under.Swiftly taken to our hostel in Kings Cross a slightly less seedy version of the London namesake by the airport shuttle we landed a room with panoramic views of what must be one of the most be http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-127880.html With a day to spare in Santiago we were looking for some sea and sun. Valparaiso Valpo and its neighbouring more upmarket town Via del Mar Via are just 1.5h away by bus so jumped on the bus early in the morning.Valpo is an old harbour town from the time before the digging of the Panama Canal and as such it was experiencing economic decline after the canal opened. Today it houses part of http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-122805.html Santiago has worked very well as a base to plan further trips and for H to recover from her cold. The blazing sun and 30 degrees celcius have certainly helped. As such we haven't spent too much time in Santiago but noticed a few things worth mentioning.Pharmacy seems to be the business to be in. The streets are littered with them especially downtown and we have no clue as to why. Either the Chi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-122269.html As we traded five days in Bolivia for five more days in Chile we thought we'd take a short trip away from the city life in Santiago. Patagonia would have been nice but that's a trip that takes a minimum of two weeks so we found this nice little place Pucn 11 hours on an overnight bus southsoutheast of Santiago. The main attraction was Volcan Villarrica one of South America's five most acti http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Araucania/Pucon/blog-122145.html On the 8th January we set off from Copacabana to La Paz. About halfway we had to cross a narrow part of Lake Titicaca. The routine was for passengers to step off the bus and take a small boat Bs 1.5person across the water while the bus went on a separate ferry. Well it did have room for the bus and one car. Powered by one 75horsepower outboard motor it took a while for the ferry to make http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-119514.html For some RR we took a twoday trip to Urmiri. Three hours' drive south of Urmiri is a hotel built around a hot spring totally cut off from the rest of the world. The only link to the outside is what must be the second deadliest road in the world. The deadliest road is apparently just next to La Paz. On average one vehicle per week go over the cliff there. The last three km of this 28 km r http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Belen-de-Urmiri/blog-119125.html We took a daytrip to Tiwanaku from . Inca culture is what most people seem to think about when talking about Peruvian and Bolivian history. However perhaps more important for Bolivia anyway is the Tiwanaku period. The Tiwanaku civilisation started around 1500 BC the earlier parts that is some people count the start of the Tiwanaku period as being 600 BC the temples were built around 300 A http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Tiwanaku/blog-119122.html We left Puno Peru by bus early in the morning. Two hours later we were at the PeruBolivia border. There we had to leave our nice tourist bus and go through immigration and cross the border by foot. This must be one of the more relaxed immigration controls we've experienced so far. Compared to the US it was a dream. One look at the passport a quick stamp done Not that we actually had to s http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/Copacabana/blog-117852.html Puno final thoughts on PeruWe arrived in Puno after a slightly eventful journey on the overnight bus from Cusco . We had to stop as a lorry had got stuck in a corner and our bus coudn't get past it without some serious shouting and yelling and lots of reversing uphill of course... Everyone had to get off the bus at about midnight but we refused which proved to be good as one girl got all http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/blog-116529.html So we're back after four days of high altitude pain low oxygen rain and 49.5km of hiking in the Andes. Did we pay for this Most certainly and gladly. There's a very fine line between pleasure and pain and that's what we've been walking on for four days. It's called the Inca Trail.Day one started with SAS Travel the tour operator picking us up 5.45 am at our hostel. After two hours on the b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-116528.html Stepping off the plane in Cusco was interesting to say the least. We had no idea what to expect with the altitude and everything we'd read about. The altitude itself we didn't really notice until our pickup dropped us off at the bottom of a hill with lots of steps leading up to our hostel. 118 steps and we had to rest at about every 7... The hostel still served breakfast which helped a bit.Fo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-116243.html