I have had a 'fanastico' 2 weeks travelling through Belize and Guatemala with Scott, who joined me in Cancun, I can’t believe all the stuff we have done … kayaking, caving, volcano climbs, walking on lava, sunsets over ruins and more. He joined me in rather a delicate state; I had been puking all morning from a cheap group meal on the beach at Playa de Carmen, not ideal. So we didn’t see much of Cancun, but there is not much too see, large resorts containing large Americans. We briskly headed back to Playa de Carmen and mid morning headed down [View Full Entry]

---

---

Dear lord it was 21hrs of travel time to get from La Paz to Mexico City and I really wasn’t going that far, delay after delay, but that is a distant memory after 2 weeks in traveling around Mexico. Sadly I didn’t get to see much of Mexico City; however the reports from the other people on the trip confirm I didn’t miss much. The only thing I am slightly sad about is not seeing Freda Kahlo´s house, but I will just have to watch the DVD again. I really got straight into it, after arriving in at 11pm I was [View Full Entry]

---

---

The drive towards La Paz was spectacular, over the basic houses and fields were large mountains dusted with snow. The arrival into the city was breathtaking for a couple of reasons, the city is the highest in the world (3650m), but only holds this title since China invaded Tibet, and the view of the city sprawling out down the valley below a large volcano was a sight I wont forget in a while. Sadly my first day in La Paz was a bit of a disaster due to some dodgy Turkish meal I had on arrival, so I spent all day [View Full Entry]

---

---

I have been getting stuck into the big ticket items during my last few weeks in Peru - Colca Canyon, Cusco, Inca Trail, Machu Picchu, and Lake Titicaca. The clouds cleared the day we left Arequipa, so there was a stunning view across the city to Mt Misti and other snow capped volcanos. The drive to Colca Canyon was great, finally no more desert. We made our way through the hills, tussock and other grasses with mountains peeking through. Then we hit the snow covered mountains, driving through a high pass of 4800m. Since we all sampled the Coco tea there [View Full Entry]

---

---

There was a noticeable difference after entering Peru from Ecuador; rather filthy, arid flat land, slums, crazy 70’s American cars. Our first stop was a little beach resort called Punta Sal. We were suppose to camp however I checked into a hotel will a pool, genius idea! The beach was rather wind swept and the surroundings were basically dry rocky hills. Jogging down the beach in the mornings was the highlight as there were billions of tiny little crabs scurrying around and freaky looking red faced vultures sitting on fence poles surveying the area, up to no good I imagine. I [View Full Entry]

---

---

It was a grueling 37hrs to reach Quito, yikes and to think I need to do that trip twice more when I return to NZ in March. Although I was rather shattered on arrival I managed to book a trip the following day, and thank goodness I did because it was a real highlight. It was a trip to the Otavalo markets, very famous market of the region. My private tour guide was from Belgium had been living in Quito for many years and very widely traveled so we had much to chat about. We stop at various places; Calderon to [View Full Entry]

---

---

My first day in Auckland was really in Wellington, I was up at 4.15am to nip down to the British High Commission as I needed to drop my passport off for my Visa renewal, annoyance. However the process was very quick and they assured me it would be all done in 5 days, it was actually completed in 1 day and delivered back, so much for 10 working days which is what I was originally told. On the plus side I did get to see the Beehive, hooray! After getting back I had a quick lunch with Miss Cassidy before she [View Full Entry]

---

---

I made a quick stop in Sydney, to catch up with friends and meet Tommy, Danielle and Jack's new baby. My flight from Hanoi was first class, Singapore airlines rock, I would buy shares in them their service is so good and the airport in Singapore is great for shopping, especially after a few wines on the flight. I have to say I had a very different experience in Sydney compared to the last times I have been there. My last visits consisted of partying and shopping, this time I was living and visiting in the suburbs and I have to [View Full Entry]

---

---

That afternoon before heading off for Sapa I managed to do rather a significant amount of shopping, but obviously all justified and necessary. I some how booked on a Halong Bay trip costing US$450 via the Internet, however most people I talked to where paying US$49 for 3 days 2 night, hmmm. So I cancelled that trip and booked myself on a mid priced cruise for US$70. Clearly I was up a few hundred dollars, good news for me. I found a great shop that did custom made and designed dresses, wonderful. So I got myself 3 work dresses all various [View Full Entry]

---

---

I certainly got my fair share or massages in Laos, I have had a very relaxing couple of weeks. We arrived in Changi Mai early and slightly sleepy after taking the night train from Bangkok, I spent the day visiting a few temples. I hired a tuk-tuk and he proceeded to take me to a temple I had not requested to go to, after that shaky start we were back on track. All the temples were fairly new, bright colours, highly tacky to my eye. The highlight was some road side Phad Thai delicious. I spent the rest of the afternoon [View Full Entry]

---

---