Going by Dragonfly

Hi everyone. Sorry we haven't written in a while, it's been nearly 3 months since the last blog and this is most likely the penultimate( for this trip anyway). Heres a quick you overview of where we have been and as usual loads of pictures. So enjoy... On landing in Cambodia we were taken by surprize by all the tourists in Phnom Pehn and the contrast with the many places around Phnom Penh that are all linked to the attrocities of the Pol Pot regime. It was fascinating and harrowing visiting The Killing Fields and S21 -The Re-education Centre. Within the 5 years of Poll Pot's regime he had wiped out 40% of his own population. From Phenom Pehn we travelled north to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor Watt. Its scale is awesome, covering ... read more

After finding there were no boats to Sulawesi for 1 month Great !! We diverted our trip to Kalimantan. We flew to the oil town of Balikpapan and jumped staright on a bus to Benjamasin(Welcome back to the world of bumpy busses). Benjamasin is the Venice of Kalimantan with impressive floating food markets and floating houses, we did a couple of boat tours here which were great such a different way of life on the waters edge (Pretty smelly too!!) We headed next into the country side and the Loksado hills to visit tribal villages and do a bit of jungle walking. On arrival at the town of Kandangan we Kind of got stranded The so called easy trip to Loxado wasn't so, as transport had all gone and the local drivers wanted a small ... read more

Thanks for the messages everyone. Keep writing as its great to hear from you. MMM the rain followed us from Nz but at least here the downpours are warm. After a couple of nights in our air con room in the beach resort of Sanur we headed for the cultural centre of Bali UbuD. This bustling market town heaved with all kind of shops and spas to take our money. We fell luck with our home stay hostel, as the owner Madi was getting married, being the natural blaggers that we are ( or was it the Madi's generosity) we ended up with an invite. A traditional Balinese wedding is a veritable feast for the eyes and the taste buds. The brides costume colours were fantastic and the Huge offerings made of coconut and fruits ... read more

We spent the end of October hitching around the Jesuit mission circuit in the santa Cruz area of Bolivia. This involved many long and dusty journeys on the back of cattle trucks, meeting lots of friendly locals and visiting small towns and villages with fascinating and often tragic histories. we passed briefly through Brasil, going on a 5 day wildlife tour into the Pantanal. I think we had been largely spoilt at Ambue Ari and so couldnt really get all that excited about seeing a few crocodiles and the odd red macaw in the distance. We did see plenty of Capybaras ( pig sized Guinea pigs) and our shack was surrounded by a swarm of thousands of bees who I watched vortex down the tiniest of holes . The highlight however of the Pantanal was galloping ... read more

After spending a couple of days in Cochabamba wandering around its never ending market (2km square of stalls) that sold everything from puppies to microwaves everything that is apart from what we were looking for. We headed off down hill towards the Foundation Angeles of Hope, in Villa Tunari, where we spent a month doing some voluntary work. Villa Tunari lies just beyond the last wrinkle of the Andes and inbetween two major rivers that run toward the amazon basin. As we found on our first night of arrival this location makes some monstrous thunder and rain storms as the hot and humid jungle air clashes with the cold air coming down the mountains. Foundation Angeles De Esperanza ( Angels of hope) consists of a school, medical centre and Dentists surgery and is involved in ... read more