http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Joe-N-Hawley/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Joe N Hawley en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:12:18 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:12:18 +0000 I have arrived back in Calgary after 207 days of living out of a backpack and the first thing I did was empty everything out and spread it all over the floor which felt quite satisfying at the time Tammy and Hawley are keeping the dream alive and are somewhere in Switzerland as I write this. It is nice to be home but the reality of it is slowly sinking in getting stuck in Calgary traffic upd http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-423854.html Since our last entry we have covered a lot of ground from the French Riviera to the Cinque Terre the Eiffel tower and the beaches of Normandy here is a quick recapFrench Riviera FR Cannes Nice and Monacco in 4 days. Some nice beaches and fancy clothes apparently the economic crisis does not exist hereCinque Terre IT The five villages along the Italian Riviera provide one of the bes http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-417133.html Due to the keyboard in France being quite different then what I am used to I will not be writing much Here are our highlights from the last few weeksSeville Spain biggest Catholic Church in the world famous bullfighting ring and a Flamenco dancer with the body of an NFL linebackerLagos Portugal Nice beaches and lots of partiers pour hour a meal and all you can drink within an hour http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/blog-408520.html Que Pasa We made it to Europe in one piece after a string of 8 hour flights and a 6 hour layover in the Doha airport So far we have had a great start in Spain enjoying all of the amazing architecture food and Footballsoccer. We flew into Madrid where we did a Tapas tour and tried to get used to the meal schedule. In Spain the main meal of the day is Lunch which is typically eaten arou http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/blog-402088.html We are coming to an end of our time in Asia as of May 10th we fly to Spain for our European tour. The end of our time in Thailand was a little sketchy because I got really sick apparently with Dengue Fever. This is something I would not recommend I spent most of our time in Phuket lying in bed which thankfully was at a nice hotel where we had all the amenities for about 30night. I didn' http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-396438.html We have spent the last couple of weeks touring southern Thailand and its many beaches islands and party's on offer here.Among other things we have attended a full moon party on Koh Phagnan gotten our open water PADI scuba diving certification on Koh Tao and enjoyed lots of time on the beaches and in the water. We are now on Koh Phi Phi off the West Coast and from here head to Phuket out final http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Southern-Thailand/blog-392027.html After several weeks in foreign land it was nice to arrive in Thailand and see some Western comforts. We took advantage of these in Chiang Mai as well as some activities that are popular in the area. We started off with another cooking class this time learning the basics and staples of Thai cuisine such as Curries Hot and Sour soup Tom Yum and of course Pad Thai. Even the mild dishes seem http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Northern-Thailand/blog-387505.html Heading north from Cambodia we landed in Vientiane the capital city of Laos. It is a sleepy city with lots of temples and old French architecture to enjoy so we spent a day biking around and taking it all in. Although Laos is a very poor nation average income is 200400US per year the people seem very pleasant and happy. Maybe that is because they have some of the best beer Laobeer and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-385989.html We arrived in Phnom Penh via bus from Saigon and aside from the heat everything went smoothly. When we got there in the late afternoon the temperature seemed to be still going up Our trip to Cambodia was defined by 2 things the Khmer Rouge and Ancient Angkor. Phnom Penh was the central sight for one of the most violent and horrific social experiments in human history. It was a group of radi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-382488.html A verse that is well known by backpackers and locals alike around these parts If you need to find something or somewhere you can always find someone offering the same same. But usually you soon find out it is actually same same....but different Things are never what you expect here and you can't assume anything. That being said Hawley and I had almost entirely avoided getting badly rippe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-380802.html Xin Chao Arriving in Hanoi was quite an experience it is a city with 9 million people and 5 million motorbikes. Your ears are constantly filled with the sounds of noisy engines and nonstop honking. The road rules are few and far between as the bikes seems to go where ever and when ever they want. If you need to cross the street you learn to walk at a steady pace and make sure the poeple on http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-378333.html Since our last update we have seen an entire spectrum of city life. We left off in Perth Western Australia with our beloved campervan We had a great couple of days in the Margret River area where we went on a wine tour ate some bush tukka native plants and animals including grubs and Kangaroo enjoyed more great sand and surf and toured a cave 43ft below the ground. We ended up back http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-376032.html After 2 years away we are back in Australia Last time we were here we did most of the East Coast so this time we wanted to travel along the West Coast. We flew from New Zealand to Sydney and spent a couple days there. Even though we had seen them before the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge still inspire We went out to the Blue Mountains just west of Sydney where we went on a few walks http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-371375.html After a whirlwind tour of New Zealand we are now in Australia and ready to slow down the pace a little. We had a great time on the South Island of New Zealand and did some more great hikes and walks. Our first one was in Abel Tasman National Park on the NorthWest side of the island. We took a boat ride up the coast then walked back to where the bus was going to pick us up. We misjudged our ti http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-366202.html Another entry so soon We have had an action packed week here so plenty to update we never imagined a country so small would have so much to do as long as you have the money for it. We left Auckalnd again and went south to Waitomo home of the glow worms featured in the Planet Earth DVD series where we took a black water rafting trip through the caves. We finished the day in Rotorua wh http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-361309.html Happy New Year We arrived in Auckland safely and have had a few days to settle into travel mode. Spent New Year's here and watched some good fireworks over the Sky Tower. After getting over our jet lag we headed up north to the Bay of Islands where we had a jet boat tour out to the famous hole in the rock we got a few mouthfulls of saltwater along the way but saw some great scenery. The ne http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Bay-of-Islands/blog-359816.html