I landed in Singapore at 6pm, checked into my hostel and headed straight to the zoo to go on the night safari. Its a lovely set up, apart from the road and pathed trail it is quite jungle like. You ride on a buggy with a guide telling you all about the animals. Theres a spot you get off and wander around to see the big cats and fruit bats. The highlight is the creatures of the night show, unfortunately it started pouring down with rain just as the show started, its not undercover so they had to cancel! The next [View Full Entry]

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I left Miri and headed for Sibu, there's not much to see or do, but its a good stop of point to get the ferry onwards to Kuching, otherwise it was an 18hr bus ride and i didn't fancy that! The ferry to Kuching was freezing, they set the aircon at arctic, luckily i had my bag with me so could dress accordingly! I've based myself at a really nice hostel here and have been going on overnight trips around the area, without having to lug my backpack with me, which has been great. Kuching's a really nice city with a [View Full Entry]

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I headed to Bario in an even smaller plane than the one i got to Mulu, but surprisingly in felt safer and the views were fantastic, i could see down on the caves at Mulu. The only way to get to Bario, the capital of the highlands, was by plane, but a few weeks before i arrived the bridge on the road from Miri was finished. The town only had 3 4WDs for years but there's already 10 times that now. The people living here seem to have mixed feeling about the road, but its not surfaced yet and its a [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Miri early, but it took ages to get to my hostel, due to the buses! I actually gave up on the last one and walked the 30 mins there in the baking heat. The hostel 'Dillenia' is lovely, really clean, lots of fresh fruit for breakfast and an extemely nice owner, who's full of helpful information. I can't believe how few travellers there are here though! I'm the only person in a 6 bed dorm. I went to Niah national park for the day with some Singaporean's on holiday. The caves are gorgeous, to get there you have [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Kina Kotabalu, Malaysian Borneo early in the morning and after dumping my backpack at my hostel, went straight to the beach! I have to admit, not the best beach and a bit smelly but beautiful all the same. After a baking hot day it poured with rain all night, I was woken at 5am by the girl sharing my room. She was leaving early to fly home and our room was flooded! My corner was fine, but her passport was dripping wet as were most of her clothes. She emailed the hostel the next day, they let her [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Hong Kong in the rain, to be told at the hostel that they'd over booked the dorm! So instead they gave me a double with an on-suite for the same price, bargain! Although i did have to share with a kiwi guy! I enjoyed Hong Kong alot more than i thought i would. I stayed in Chung King mansions, which is where all the cheap accommadation is and lots of indians live in the area so it was cheap and tasty curries for dinner. I spent my first day there wandering around Hong Kong island, its amazing how [View Full Entry]

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I was happy to leave Kunming and head to Guilin, everyone was advising not to stay there but i decided to spend the night. Guilin's actually a lovely city, although very expensive after coming from Yunnan. I spent the morning wandering along the river and round a few of the many lakes. As usual in China there were people dancing and doing Tai Chi and just generally socialising. After a lovely lunch by the river I took the bus to Longsheng, then luckily caught the last bus on to PingAn. I met a German girl, Antia, who had the same plans [View Full Entry]

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After about 5hrs at the airport (due to delays) i finally arrived in Lijiang at midnight, to be met at my hostel by the crazy but lovely mama naxi! Lijiang is so pretty, yeah its full of tourists, but if you walk down a side street you soon lose them and there's no denying its a beautiful place, lots of cobbled alleyways, cute little buildings and streams everywhere. Mama Naxi's is a great hostel for meeting people, dinner costs 1.50 and everyone gets made to sit together and share a meal the chinese way. So any worries i had of walking [View Full Entry]

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Well my 3 weeks in Bifengxia have come to an end! It was great, i think it was just enough time, as my bag starting to get mouldy and my clothes probably would have if i'd stayed much longer! 3 weeks is time enough to get to know your keepers and the Pandas a bit better. It turned out XingYue wasn't pregnant, she went from eating nothing to wanting to eat everything! Shes so funny always licking her lips! We've been allowed to stroke the Pandas occasionally when they've been distracted with food, they're really rough! We also got taken to [View Full Entry]

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I arrived at Chengdu airport to be met by a friend of my guide, her husband, daughter, mother and nephew, so it was a nice warm welcome! Sophia, my guide met me later and took me out for a welcome meal. The food in Sichuan province is really hot, but delicious, although being veggie will probably be a problem at times. I met Jon the following morning, he's the other volunteer for the next 3wks and then Sophie took us on a tour around Chengdu, to a gorgeous Taoist temple and a beautiful park. After another night in the city we [View Full Entry]

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