James39
James Ryan Joined: April 16th 2007
Logged in: May 17th 2010
Logged in: May 17th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
Rainforest
June 15 Woke up early to meet Sam at the airport. Got the bus back into town and walked around while waiting to check into our room. Sam wanted to eat noodles at 8am in the morning, claiming it was lunchtime but it was more like 1am back home. Somehow I coped with stir fry for breakfast. In the afternoon we wandered around Cairns before having a nap for a few hours. In the evening we shared a curry with some friends I'd made on my Ayers Rock trip that happened to be staying at the same place as us. June 16th Woke up late and booked some activities for the following day. Sam was still quite jet lagged and didn't feel like doing much today, so sat around and enjoyed the mild weather. In ... read more
Sunrise at Uluru
The day begins with an early start so that we can watch the sunrise at Ayers Rock. Once again, this natural wonder can't fail to impress all of us. As soon as the sun creeps over the horizon we set out on a 9.4km base walk around the rock. As with last night, I'm regretting listening to my travel agent's advice in Cairns that the weather would be "cool" and that a jacket wouldn't be necessary. I have a jacket in luggage storage in Cairns that I would have done anything for at this stage. After this walk, we set out on another shorter (And this time guided) short walk telling some of the indigenous stories that related to the formation of Ayers Rock. Following this we head back to the indigenous cultural centre and learn ... read more
Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)
During my short flight I caught sight of Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). After I landed I bought some lunch and waited to be picked up by my tour company. After paying my national park fees we headed out to Kata Tjuta, where 26 dome rocks rise out of the flat desert terrain. The tallest peak, Mt Olga, rises 203m higher than Uluru. The site is very important spiritually to the Anangu people, the indigenous people in this area. After parking up at a few different vantage points and taking a short walk around The Olgas it is clear why this site is visited by so many people. As the light begins to fade we drive back to Uluru in time for sunset. The vantage point is so that the sun ... read more
Plane journey
I was amazed to find myself with three seats to myself on this flight. I also had three blankets and slept like a baby, except when we had to get off to refuel in Darwin at 2am. I arrived in Cairns and the first thing I did was go to the supermarket get some real western food, while marvelling at how easy it was to get directions to the supermarket now I was in an English speaking country. My first meal was cheese on toast (It's impossible to get toast done correctly in Asia, so cheese on toast is out of the question). I also stocked up on crumpets for my breakfast, another thing I hadn't eaten since I left home. I found myself feeling quite cold, although it was over 20 degrees and people ... read more
Singapore
The overnight bus to Singapore turned out to be a bus journey from hell. Once again, I was the only foreigner on the bus so directions kept getting lost in translation. The border crossings weren't easy, as when I left the bus I had to head off in a different direction because I held a foreign passport, and then had to find my way back to the correct coach out of about 30 possible coaches. Also, I wasn't given the correct forms when it came to the border crossings, and also I stupidly (in my half asleep state) didn't realise we were about to go through immigration and left my large bag in the bus luggage hold and hard to run back to get it when I realised... the bus driver wasn't pleased. Finally, on ... read more
Petronas towers
I woke up very early in order to beat the queues to get up the Petronas towers. A limited number of people are allowed to visit every day, so I left the hostel at 7am. Reception told me it was within walking distance, but I set off without a map presuming it would be very easy to find - how hard can it be to see the tallest building in KL? How wrong I was. I finally managed to hail a taxi at about 7.45, getting me there in time to get up the tower at 9.45 (Yes, a two hour queue had already formed!). Visitors are only permitted to go up to floor 21 - where the walkways between the towers are located. For anyone else planning on visiting KL it's a nice view, ... read more
The minibus
After saying goodbye to everyone else staying in Krabi, I boarded my minibus that would take me to Kuala Lumpur. The bus journey was 14 hours (15 with the time change) so I spend most of my day reading and trying to sleep. I was on a minibus with locals all the way to the border and the driver found it quite hard to communicate with me. They put on some Thai or Malay music for part of the journey and the whole experience was quite surreal. I hoped nothing would go wrong on the journey, I was very careful to make sure I wasn't left behind at any food stops! It was strange travelling on my own again for the first time in over a month. After lunch I changed onto a large coach ... read more
Me and Joe on our motorbikes
6th June Say goodbye to everyone and head off with Byron, Joe and Mike to Krabi. Spend all day travelling on the boat back to the mainland and then a bus all the way to the west coast. We get touted for a room when we arrive and get a lift into town and a room for 150 THB each (£2.40) which has a hot shower and a TV. Amazing value even for Thailand! Head out to watch the England vs. Estonia game and get to bed very late because of the time difference. 7th June Get woken up at 1pm by Joe and Emilio, his friend from back home that happened to be in Krabi at the same time as us. We'd slept in because we were in the basement of the hotel and ... read more
Heading out for our first open water dive
28th May Today I caught the boat over to the island Koh Tao. On the way we went past Ko Nang Yuan Island, which is actually three islands connected by sand. The island was rented a few years ago by the Red Hot Chili Peppers for a massive party as they thought it was so nice. After arriving in Koh Tao I checked into my accommodation, slept and then got up for the PADI orientation video. After this we sat out on Buddha View bar and played poker. 29th May We spent the morning in the classroom going over the theory we need to get our PADI qualification. In the afternoon we went through some essential dive skills in the swimming pool, such as how to clear a mask of water, how to switch to ... read more
Who needs a front garden when you have this?
25th May After quite a comfy train journey we take a coach to the pier and then a boat out to Ko Pha Ngan. After arriving at our accommodation (a beach hut, literally on the beach) we both crash and sleep until sunset. When we wake up I wake Charlotte too and she seems concerned - asking me where the group has gone. We're both finding it odd readjusting to not having everyone else around! After dinner we sit out on some sun loungers as neither of us feel sleepy. It's a much more comfortable temperature here than in Bangkok - shorts and t-shirt at 11pm is just about perfect. 26th May Wake up early because of the heat, our fan hardly manages to give a light breeze. I update my blog in the afternoon, ... read more
