Japan was always going to be a big hit on the wallet, let alone after nine months of travelling with a crappy pound sterling. We had originally planned to stay for three weeks but hurried budgeting told us it would be prohibitively expensive. Reluctantly, we reduced our time to just eight days to spend in Tokyo and Kyoto with a commitment to go back when we were both earning again. These eight days however required more planning than the Queen Mother's funeral. For example, hotels. In most countries you simply find one in your budget and book it. Oh no, not [View Full Entry]

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Meeting friends on this trip has always been something we really look forward to. Spending practically every minute of every day in each others company presents its challenges! So you can imagine how excited we were at the idea of meeting and travelling with 5 friends from home throughout May. Our first contender from up north was Lou - aka Funeral Barbie. How surprised we were when she turned up in clothes which weren't black or grey!! Apparently she had a whole rucksack full of technicolour dreamcoats.... less Funeral Barbie, more Haribo Barbie! Travelling to Hanoi, in Northern Vietnam an [View Full Entry]

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Jakarta To be met at an airport is just one of those things that makes a trip so much less stressful - not having to beat off the touts, not having a pitch battle with a taxi driver to put the bloody meter on and simply not having to worry about where you are going. So to arrive in Jakarta, met by Keith (an old friend from Manchester) and whisked off to his and Haidar's apartment downtown was the perfect start to Indonesia. Not two minutes through the door (at around midnight), two buckets of freshly mixed cosmopolitans were thrust into [View Full Entry]

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Singapore gave us our first taste of Asia in the hot season - it was like walking through hot soup. No wonder the city is one big airconned interlinked shopping mall. After a couple of days and the obligatory Singapore Sling at Raffles hotel an 8 hour train journey took us to Kuala Lumpur and our hotel in the heart of Chinatown. If the future really is orange then this was like staying inside a tangerine. Sunglasses at the ready we ventured into the smallest orange shower cubicle with no window where we were expected to sleep. Oh yeah, there was [View Full Entry]

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OK. So we broke our cardinal rule. We booked the cheapest place we could find. Apparently, the Australian Open combined with Australia Day meant hotels could rob you blind. We thought we found a bargain. The website was great - the photos made it look like something out of Grand Designs. Little did we know it was more like (camp) Nightmare On Elm Street. Arriving early evening to the sound of Euro disco pounding through the floorboards of our 'room', we asked the manager how long this hell would go on for. He matter of factly replied 1am. Not a flinch. [View Full Entry]

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When we signed up for 31 days in a campervan we knew there would be some challenges ahead. The ones we feared most were: 1. Claustrophobia 2. Sleepless nights 3. No toilet or shower in the van (we couldn't afford them) 4. Bad weather meaning that we would be cooped up 5. Having to mix with committed campers 6. Argentine steak withdrawal symptoms 7. Pete not having driven for 4 years 8. Killing each other/ourselves In fact, virtually all the above ended up not figuring. What we hadn't anticipated were: 1. Campervan Envy We thought we were doing well by booking [View Full Entry]

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We had a bit of a shock arriving in Patagonia from BA as the cost of everything increased the further south we travelled...as did the wind speed! First stop was Bariloche- the Lake District of Argentina, famed for its chocolates, Swiss-style architecture and skiing. Chocolate shops were the size of a B&Q warehouse with every possible chocolate confection you can imagine. Pete managed to get pins and needles in his cheeks within five minutes of arriving! A boat trip on one of the lakes were of course beautiful etc. but the highlight were the hoards of tourists on the top deck [View Full Entry]

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Steak. Malbec. Argentina - why do you think we are still here?! Another bus journey took us from Chile to Salta, out first stop in Argentina, complete with its WAG wedding cake cathedral looking like it was covered in yellow and pink icing. At night, it looked so spectactular we think even Jordan would be impressed. It was with huge anticipation that we booked the best steak place in town for our first proper red meat experience. Fifteen minutes later, two sirloin steaks - each the sice of a shoe - arrived. We were not disappointed (we even tested the myth [View Full Entry]

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I bet you´re impressed (or disheartened) at another entry so soon! We thought we had better make more of an effort as we are in danger of forgetting stuff as we have now discovered Argentinian steaks and red wine... Firstly Bolivia - a country we almost didn´t go to because we had been reading lots about the political and social turmoil it is going through. Their socialist leader Evo Morales is pushing through radical plans in an attempt to redistribute wealth from the richer areas to the poor. Needless to say it is not going down well with the rich. We [View Full Entry]

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So its been a while since we left you with tales of condors, nuns and guinea pigs. A lot has happened since so we thought we had better fill you in on the rest of our Peruvian travels. Firstly, thanks to all those leaving both public and private comments on the blog. We are like a couple of kids checking umpteen times per day after we publish an entry fully expecting that you all suspend your busy lives to firstly take the time to read it, then appreciate our weak jokes and lastly leave a comment. They make our day. Anyway, [View Full Entry]

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