We arrived into the bustling city of Mumbai (formally Bombay) on the 2nd of July. The phrase organised chaos comes to mind when you witness the workings of such a hectic city and yet with all the noise, rubbish and extremely persistent sales men the city has a certain charm! On our first full day we were invited to play as extras in an upcoming Bollywood movie called Rascals, so we jumped at this opportunity. 2hrs later we were in the wardrobe department; the dress can only be described as bad 80s disco ware. We took part in various night club [View Full Entry]

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We left Sapa and 42 hours later we arrived in Koh Phangan in Thailand; this trip seen us avail of a night train, flight, night bus, ferry and a few taxi’s! This is what “real” backpackers do to avoid spending money on accommodation. Needless to say we deserved a holiday after that and the tropical islands of Thailand is the place to be… the trend is usually massage parlor, bar, club, restaurant, suit merchant beach and sunshine! To be honest the only exciting activity was to hire a mob-head and explore the island, the rest of the time was spent close [View Full Entry]

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We arrived into the Northern capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, on the 5th June. The city is extremely noisy and busy - it appears that you don't need breaks when you have a perfectly working horn! Our hotel was situated in the centre of the old city, where each street is decorated with its own specialty products. We spent a few days avoiding the motorbikes, visiting a few war museums, water puppet show, and Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. The humidity is high so retreating to our air-conditioned hotel was often a saving grace! We joined the organised tour and headed north to [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday 27th May. Our initial impression of the city was excellent; we made use of the Hotel swimming pool, the Thai massage and Thai cuisine... so a pretty relaxed time! On our second night the darkest cloud crept over the city and within 20 min the streets were flooded, but its been mostly sunshine since. On the weekend we got the traveling bug again and took an organised tour North to the Kanchanaburi province. This trip consisted of sleeping in a boat house for two nights and visiting a WWII cemetery/museum, hellfire pass memorial museum, the [View Full Entry]

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We arrived into Japan on the 21st of May and took the bullet train staight for the ancient capital, Kyoto. On our first day of temple hopping I was very excited to see so many Geisha walking around, at first when you see their beautiful kimonos　and pail faces you feel liｋe they are almost alien to this fast moving motropolise, however, you quickly learn that in Kyoto they are a large part of the landscape and they are actually very sweet and approchable. They giggle alot! On our second day in Kyoto we headed for a fantastic monkey reserve where after [View Full Entry]

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Once we arrived in Beijing a group of us went to the Forbidden City. The City was home to 23 Emperors and got its name because it was off-limits to commoners for 500 years. It is the largest preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China, and well worth the visit! Opposite the Forbidden City is Tianamen square which occupies an area of 122 acres; the last two days has seen this area packed with people paying their respect to the people off the Earthquake disaster. The Chinese government don't seem to like large gathering of crowds as they dispersed everyone within [View Full Entry]

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We left Shanghai on Wednesday for the beautiful canal town of Xitang. Here we had the opportunity to stay in a traditional Chinese guest house (four poster bed inculded if you dont mind!) and sample the local rice wine (smelt much worse than it tasted!) After spending a week in the busteling city it was a nice change to visit a relaxed traditional Chinese town. We then took the night train to Xi-an to visit to the terracotta warriors. The first emperor of china commissioned an army to be built in 210 BC; the sculptures were later buried with him in [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Shanghai, the largest city in China on Wednesday 30th April. Part of the trip is an organised tour with Intrepid travel which begins on the 6th May. We met the tour group of 9 people on Monday 5th for an introductory meeting, complimentary chop sticks, a stroll along the Bund area and a nice meal. We will be spending the next 12 days touring with this group. Shanghai is an interesting city; when we first arrived, I was slightly dissapointed with how industrial and commercial the city was... after a few days it was easier to see that [View Full Entry]

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From Arlie Beach we continued the bus journey to Harvey Bay to visit Fraser Island. The trip was booked through Palace Adventures, and at 6.15am we met in a room of about 60 backpackers and were split into groups of 9 or 10, given a talk about Fraser Island and what to expect in the next few days. The group was quick to bond and we got together to devise a shopping list then it was into our 4WD vehicle, get the shopping, and head to the ferry for the crossing. Fraser Island is the largest sand Island in the world [View Full Entry]

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After Alice Springs we flew to Cairns on the North East coast of Australia. Cairns had a warm tropical climate and fantastic public lagoons (swimming pool). It is a very relaxed destination and often known as the gateway to the east coast for travelers heading south, which is what we are currently doing. After a few days we boarded the greyhound bus and headed to Mission beach for a night. Close your eyes and think of a tropical beach with sand full of large coral and coconut tress bending over to touch the sand! This small town is beautiful and we [View Full Entry]

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