Lyds1

Alice Springs was our next destination in Australia and we flew over from Perth. We arrived to torrential rain and grey skies, so being one not to judge a book by its cover (!), I hated it instantly. We were soon informed that it was the first rain Alice Springs had seen for 13 months...a good thing for the locals, not so much for us. Apart from an awesome western themed bar, which we frequented a few times during our stay, Alice Springs didn't have an awful lot going for it. Unless of course you like aboriginals, because then you're in luck. But, it is of course the gateway to Ayres Rock, so well worth the trip. With time constraints we just did a day trip to the big red rock, which meant a 5 am ... read more

Sorry for the major delay with my blog - but backpacking is a busy past time, what can you do?! So, next stop on our trip was Australia and they certainly weren't kidding when they said it was a big country were they?...wowzer. We flew into Perth on the west coast and instantly loved the country, for me particularly the clear blue skies and boiling hot sun was a winner :) We only had about a week and a half on the west side (innit), so decided to hire a car and visit as much of the coast that we possibly could in such a short time. And we certainly did just that. Our first destination was Shark Bay, 1000km north of Perth, and that is what I call a road trip! Highlights along the way ... read more

Woke up on Christmas eve, ready to leave Thailand and Simon was ill, the worst kind of ill too...a dodgy stomach. We got a taxi to Phuket airport and I spent the journey panicking that Si was going to vom everywhere. Pretty tense half an hour and you'll be pleased to know he didn't vom...phew. He occupied the toilet for a while at the airport...whilst I enjoyed a pack of ferrero rocher, an ideal Christmas eve treat. Luckily (for me), for the first time since we'd been away we weren't seated together on the plane, so I got to keep my distance for a while longer. Simon collapsed on our bed in the hostel as soon as we arrived and I, feeling the Christmas spirit, went for a short stroll. Was slightly concerned when I walked ... read more

After our flying visit through Vietnam, back we went to Thailand. We landed in Phuket and headed to a small beach resort called Karon Beach, where we were staying for a few nights. Even though we could've been anywhere, on any beach resort, it felt good to be back in a civilised place. It was pretty quiet there, perfect for some much needed chill time on the beach :) Our first challenge was to buy some beach towels and not get ripped off, which sure is a challenge in Thailand. Our bartering skills were pretty spesh by this point, so we got them down to half the price the guy wanted - happy days. Off we went to the beach, thinking that our towels would be a super investment as we could lay on them and ... read more

Next stop was Vietnam, so back we went to Bangkok airport and flew to Hanoi. What a crazy, crazy place that was. To start with the guesthouse we’d booked into upgraded us to their hotel, which was a bonus - the rooms were more expensive but we got them for the same price, good stuff. The staff were amazingly friendly and helpful (scammed us ever so slightly, but you get used to that!). The moment we stepped out of our hotel we got harassed by a lady selling fruit…we nearly paid well over the odds for it, luckily a lady from our hotel came and rescued us and told us what we should be paying. It was a nice city, with some amazing architecture and stuff, but you have never seen so many motorbikes in your ... read more

So, after falling in love with Chiang Mai, we changed our plans and rather than spending 3 days traveling to get to Vietnam, we stayed where we were. Spent a lot of time chilling out in the sun, went to the Night Bizarre and a few other markets - just the usual. Minus one day when we paid a bargainous 8 pounds (can’t find the pound sign on this keyboard!) with another couple for a taxi driver to take us round to various animal places. We went to the Tiger Kingdom, where you can pay to go into little enclosures with tigers. You can choose which age tigers you go and see, so we chose the 4-6 months old babies (surely those ones couldn't kill us) and the big ones. Before we went in to the ... read more

Hello to everyone back home, Well, what an eventful time we've been having. We survived the 14 hour train ride from Bangkok to Chaing Mai, thanks to some nice thai food, a few beers, a packet of cards and hangman :) Luckily it was air conditioned, so pretty comfortable. It was a bit like a school trip though, when we had to go to bed by 10pm. So, up I went to my little top bunk thing....4 hours later I was still awake. Simon was in the luxury suite below, watching Ice Age on his iPod...tough. Think I slept for 2 hours in total and got woken by the lively thai people at about 6am - great. We arrived in Chang Mai and there was someone to meet us from our hotel to drive us there ... read more

So, after an emotional goodbye and a long flight seated next to the only child on the plane (we get all the luck), we landed in Bangkok. The airport bit was fairly quick and stress-free, apart from when immigration found Simon's cocaine stash...that was pretty awk. We got a taxi and set off for the Phiman Water View hostel, where we had pre-booked acommodation. From the taxi Bangkok looked like a fairly cool place...my views changed when the driver pulled over and said we'd arrived. We got out to a strong stench of dog shit, which was a great start. It was just starting to get dark and to get to our hostel we had to walk down a few side allies - tiny little paths with families sitting outside their homes cooking dinner, with their ... read more