http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/James-Kim/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from James Kim en-us Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:40:09 +0000 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:40:09 +0000 Crossing the boarder from Thailand to Cambodia we thought it would be relatively painless as we had decided to travel by minivan which had strangely been lsquopimpedrsquo out with a DVD player neon lights and a huge speaker system allowing us to watch several movies and listen to head banging German techno for the 7 hour journey. However this wasnrsquot too behelliphellip.While plannin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-437306.html PattayaSo after our teary goodbye with Kimrsquos friends we made our way over to the notorious city of Pattaya famous for its sleazy sex industry and home to a large proportion of Thailandrsquos ladyboys. When Kim was a child she spent 2 years in Pattaya as her dad was working there at the time so she was especially excited to see how it had changed and if all her memorable places were still http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Pattaya/blog-432018.html After an epic journey from coast to coast we made it to the island of Ko Phangan situated on the Eastern coast of Thailandhellip.it had only taken three buses a boat and a crazy taxi ride to get there. As always we were warmly greeted by a horde of touts offering hotels bikes and other useless things we didnrsquot need the second we stepped off the boat but as we had already booked our accom http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Pha-Ngan/blog-426097.html Phuket Phi Phi heading to the West SideAfter a busy week of sightseeing tourist spots and mind blowing experiences we were ready to relax and chill out for the next few weeks on the islands of the East and West side of Thailand. Although Phuket is considered to be part of the mainland it is a gateway to the islands on the West coast and was highlighted in the lonely planet as having many lux http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-425303.html So after a mad dash from Kho San road to Bangkok airport and a short flight north we eventually made it to Chiang Mai. The old city of Chiang Mai is a neat square bounded by moats and remnants of a medieval style wall built 700 years ago. It was a welcomed break from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok and allowed us to sample some of Thailandrsquos amazing culture. We checked into a superb hotel c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-422690.html Sawadee Ka hello from Bangkok helliphome to the Land of Smiles. After a hectic few days in Singapore we landed in Bangkok and realised that we had visited 3 countries Bali Singapore Thailand in the space of 3 days Whoever said the life of a backpacker was relaxing must have been lyingKim nearly cried with relief and happiness when she spotted a Boots in the arrival terminal of the air http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-422152.html Welcome to the home of the Singapore SlinghellipSingaporeOn our way to Bangkok we decided to stop off in Singapore for a few days to check out the city and its famous zoo. Arriving late at night we were relieved to find that the MRT ran until midnight which was useful as we had to catch 3 separate trains to our hostel and luckily made the last train by 2 minutes. Even though it was 1am the fir http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-418388.html Indonesia Part One Bali Hello AsiaAfter a tiring flight and a detour to Singapore we arrived in Bali Indonesia. Our first stop Kuta First impressionshelliplots of motorbikes dogs hagglers and surfer dudes. It was no wonder that Bali had been nicknamed Australasia. At the first sight of our accommodation that we were staying at that night Kim wanted to burst into tears. To say that our be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-413313.html Australia East CoastSo after a teary goodbye we waved off everyone at Manly Wharf and made our way to the airport to catch a short flight up the coast to Byron Bay. When we arrived the first thing we noticed was how green the area was as we expected it to be more sandy as it was generally hotter the further north you go.We checked into our hostel Nomads Odyssey which is a chain of hostels thr http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/blog-409133.html Weekends awayThere are quite a few nice weekends away that you can do around Sydney. The first that we did was a trip up to the Blue Mountains situated within a world heritage site two hours West of Sydney. We set off on a beautiful Saturday morning for what we thought would be a lovely drive into the mountainshellip..if only we knew what an epic trip it would be.We borrowed Simonrsquos littl http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-401884.html Days out being a touristBeing one of the most beautiful and cosmopolitan cities in the world Sydney obviously has many attractions and tourist hotspots which we wanted to do over the course of our stay and within half and hour of arriving in Sydney we were already passing the famous Opera house and Sydney bridge on the Manly Ferry.We visited Taronga Zoo located on Sydneyrsquos north shore and http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-398205.html Gud'Day MateSo after 3 months of excited anticipation we finally made it to Sydney to meet up with Kim's sister brother inlaw and newly born niece Isabella. The flight from Tasmania was a little bumpy which prompted Kim to suddenly burst into tears scared that she might never get to see her family. We touched down safely relieved that we wouldn't have to get another flight for at least 4 mo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Manly/blog-397405.html We're heading down Under Firstly we must apologies for not being in contact sooner we can imagine that you must have all been worried about our wellbeing but therersquos no need we made it to Australia about 4 months agohellip.meaning you can call of the search parties. We have just been so busy with seeing family looking for jobs and accommodation and lounging on the beach we havenrsq http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/blog-365857.html The ferry crossing to Picton was actually quite smooth so no travel pills were needed. Kim was entertained by a little baby boy sitting across from her who wouldnrsquot stop staring at herhellipJames was getting a little worried that Kim might be getting broody and was trying to distract her by pointing out the spectacular mountains and rainforest that lined the coasthellip Picton is a cosy http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-329685.html As we mentioned in the last blog we had a seven o clock start and James wasnrsquot feeling too wellhellipcheers Simon It was the day that we were travelling to Rotorua via Waitamo where we had a three hour stop allowing for activities. Our first stop was Mt Eden to get some photos of the ldquoCity of Sailsrdquo aka Auckland. Kim stayed in the bus as the steep mountainsides really tested h http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-319895.html New Zealand A land filled with sheep adventure and a nation of people obsessed with rugby The flight from Fiji was relatively event free apart from this strange woman sitting next to James on the plane. For the entire 3 hours she had her Ipod on full blast and was dancing around like she was on crack and it took several people to ask her to turn it down as it was 2am and we were trying to slee http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-319655.html From tourist to traveller Bula And welcome to Fiji. Bula Hello Welcome Cheers and at least another half dozen meanings to the word Sorry we havenrsquot updated the blog in a while we have been in the most remote areas the last two weeks and internet and mobile phone signals were not forthcoming. So letrsquos start with our adventure and what an adventure it was. We arrived in Fiji vi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Yasawa-Islands/blog-310264.html We got to the Greyhound station over an hour before we were due to depart Kimrsquos mom would have been proud at our organisation but by the looks of the queue that faced us it didnrsquot appear to be enough. Up to now we have really enjoyed our Greyhound journeys they had been efficient clean and quite rapid but Las Vegas Greyhound station took the piss Talk about shambles There appe http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Diego/blog-307766.html As we said in our previous blog we decided to change our route and pay a visit to Viva Las Vegas with the hope of making our fortune and never having to returnhelliphellip.The 7 hour Greyhound journey went fine and we are actually starting to enjoy the trips because it gave us a chance to rest from all the sight seeing we were doing. We arrived in Las Vegas early evening and we were both ins http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Las-Vegas/blog-307737.html We made to LA home of the rich and famous Our first GreyHound experience was quite good. The trip didnrsquot seem to take as long as expected and the coach was clean and even had a loo.We checked into our hostel USA Hostels located just off Hollywood Boulevard and it soon became clear that the dorm was full of girls as it looked like Topshop mixed with Boots had exploded all over the room http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Hollywood/blog-300850.html