Crossing the border from Pakistan was no trouble at all and I was ushered through in less than an hour, it was once I was in Iran however that things started to get more complicated. I was issued with an army officer and told that from now on for my own safety he would travel with me. This didn't make much sense because it is far more dangerous on the Pakistani side and I had no guard there, but I had no choice in the matter so off we headed. On the way to Zahedan (The first big town on the [View Full Entry]

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Pakistan Zindabad (Long live Pakistan) we all chanted as the Pakistani border guards marched back and forth swinging their feet up to touch their hats and then stamping them down with a loud slap on the pavement, all the while glaring at their Indian counterparts on the other side of the border gate. These guys are picked for their height and strength and look very intimidating marching around purposefully with AK's slung over their shoulders. After watching the "show" from both sides of the border I have to say that I felt prouder to cheer from the Pakistani side! The atmosphere [View Full Entry]

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Nepal is like India on holiday. :) It has the same Indian flavours, cows on the streets, women in bright saris, men clustered around chai shops in the morning, but they are all watered down a bit, diluted. Everyone isn't in such a hurry to get places and even though the traffic may seem chaotic it is nothing compared to Indian streets. The people are also more friendly and laid back, prone to easy genuine smiles. Combine this with some of the most stunning scenery on the planet and you have a pretty interesting place in which to spend a few [View Full Entry]

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While traveling through India I learnt a lot about myself. It is often stated that travel has this effect but from all of the countries that I have been to, India has been the biggest "test" to put it bluntly. :) I found myself in situations that I had never experienced before, and sometimes discovered that I reacted to these situations in a very different way to what I would have expected. Put simply traveling in India reveals your limits, or perhaps a better explanation is that it stretches you in new ways. How much frustration and physical discomfort are you [View Full Entry]

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Burma has suffered immensely over the last century. First there were the three Anglo-Burmese Wars with Britain. Then World War II with the Japanese and British fighting for control of Burma. Finally in 1947 Bogyoke Aung San (the father of Aung San Suu Kyi) met with the colony's executive deputy chairman of the Governor's Executive Council and signed a pact which stipulated self-rule within one year. Unfortunately Aung San was assassinated by a rival political party before this happened on 19th July 1947. There followed a period of political upheaval where the country passed from one party to another and there [View Full Entry]

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Two years on and I once again find myself starting off a year abroad in Thailand! This time I had the pleasure and privilege to travel with Clara (AKA Claz) who was my "buddy" while I was studying in Vienna. The only complaint that I came up with after 5 weeks of travelling together was that she was too nice! I'm sure if you asked her the same question she would rattle off a plethora of very reasonable and truthful complaints about me, so thank you for putting up with me Claz! :P After crashing Michael's Valentines Day in Singapore and [View Full Entry]

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After a long break from travel following my year in Europe I once again managed to escape (only for a month), and decided to explore a bit closer to home. Initially the trip to NZ was going to be relatively small with Justin and me meeting Dan in Auckland and travelling around together but when the rest of our friends heard about it they decided to join too! So it went from 3 to 10 and ended up being one of the best holidays I've been on, but now I'm getting ahead of myself... Jumse, Deadman, Katrin and I arrived in [View Full Entry]

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This will probably be my last blog for a while so I decided to give you all a break from my treacherous writing skills and instead let the story be told through the photos. Thank you for all of your comments over the last year, they definitely make all of those hours spent in internet cafes worthwhile! [View Full Entry]

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Says one man as we walk through the Grand Bazaar and are continually invited to enter different shops. Another common call is "May I help you spend your money" :P Turkish people are extremely friendly and for the most part it is very genuine. We shared many an apple tea with shop owners without spending a penny in their stores. We were given a 30 minute lecture on the ins and outs of carpet making and then got up, said thank you and left the store. The shop keeper instead of being angry with us gave us advice on how to [View Full Entry]

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Before I begin I would just like to say sorry for my title... I am quite tired after a sleepless night on the train from Ljubljana to Budapest so Im going to use that as an excuse for a total lack of creativity and imagination... :P Bled Like everyone says, Bled is one of those truly beautiful settings. It doesn't seem to matter about the weather or what mood you are in, you will always remember it as a very special place. I had wanted to visit it sometime during my Slovenia visit and when I met 3 cool guys in [View Full Entry]

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