We’re back home!! What a great year it has been. We’ve experienced so much, met so many people, learned lots of languages (well bits of anyway) and seen many sights. It’s been a fantastic trip and we’re so glad we did it. The best place we visited was, without a doubt, the Galapagos, a wonderful experience unlike anything else. For natural beauty the Iguazu falls were spectacular and Patagonia is very beautiful. Our favourite temples were Tikal in Guatemala and the nicest people were the Japanese and the Cambodians. The year just flew past but we feel [View Full Entry]

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For the last three weeks of our trip Lorna’s sister Phil and boyfriend Rob came out to join us. We picked them up at Bangkok airport and took them out to sample the delights of Thailand, namely Sang Som whiskey -lethal stuff! While in the capital we popped into the Grand Palace to see the King (who wasn’t in). Then from Kaoh San Road we took a bus out to Kanchanaburi to visit the Bridge over the River Kwai. We then decided we had done enough sightseeing and it was time to hit the islands! Our first stop was Koh Tao [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Chiang Mai in the middle of the jungle to find a bustling city full of restaurants and a huge night market. Not the oasis we had imagined but nice enough all the same. The purpose of our trip to Chiang Mai was to go elephant trekking, much the same as most tourists in this part of the country. But we knew it could sometimes be cruel so we strived to find a conservation park where we could ride elephants. We found a place called 'Save the Elephant', perfect. It didn't let you ride the elephants but we were [View Full Entry]

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We flew into Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It is quite unlike any other capital city we have been to, the restaurants shut all afternoon, the idea of traffic is a few motorbikes and the central point is an almost deserted water fountain. Not surprising for a country with a population only a little over 5 million. Despite this, well actually, because of this, it is a lovely place. The feeling is so laid back and the people so friendly. Laos is definitely not yet spoiled by tourism and long may it remain that way. So in Laos style we decided [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Chau Doc in a boat, having travelled down the Mekong River. Chau Doc is a traditional Mekong town with floating houses and people wearing conical hats (called Poem hats). From Chau Doc we went to Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as the locals call it. We visited markets, the Reunification Palace and Notre Dame Cathedral (not THE Notre Dame, obviously). On the way back from one of the markets we got in a cyclo which was very cosy and very scary, weaving in and out of the manic motorcyclists! We took a trip to the Cu Chi [View Full Entry]

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Our first stop in Cambodia was in Siem Reap, home to the many temples of Angkor. We bought a three day pass to the temples and set out to do our best to see as many as possible. On day one we did the main temples, Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, they were very impressive. We managed to fit quite a lot of temples in the next day, many of the smaller ones which were still great to see. On the last day we went to Banteay Srey, the most intricately carved one. Around some of the temples we saw wild [View Full Entry]

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Our first trip to Thailand this year! We arrived in Bangkok where we spent a few days browsing the shops, visiting Kaoh San Road and watching the football. Feeling a little tired from our travelling around China we felt we deserved a break so we couldn't wait to hit the beach. We headed down to Ko Samet where we spent just over a week doing nothing but sunbathing and watching movies in the evening. On our last night we went to a full moon party. It wasn't a big one but there was music and dancing and people juggling with fire. [View Full Entry]

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We stopped off in Hong Kong for a few days on the way to Thailand. The city has more skyscrapers than any other in the world which is clear to see. On our first day there we took the Peak Tram up Victoria Peak to get the best view of the city below. As we were staying on Hong Kong Island we had to catch the Star Ferry to get across to Kowloon. Each night there seemed to be some form of entertainment over there, either waterfalls dancing to music or building lights flashing in time to the tunes. From Kowloon [View Full Entry]

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We ventured next to Zhengzhou to visit the Shaolin temple. We treated ourselves to a nice hotel and had a hotel car drive us to the temple, it was great to be able to afford such luxuries. At the temple we saw the Shaolin monks performing their martial arts in a show, it was very impressive. We also saw young monks practicing around the temple grounds, a Shaolin monk school. The monks were friendly, some of them wanting to practice their English with us. After Zhengzhou we went to Shanghai, the best place to shop! Shanghai was much cleaner and more [View Full Entry]

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Our first destination in China was Beijing. The city is full of temples which we made every effort to see:- the newly restored Temple of Heaven with it's brightly coloured shrines, the Lama temple which is home to many monks, and of course the Forbidden City, a huge city of temples and relic museums. We visited Chairman Mao's Mausoleum in Tiananamen Square where we were ushered quickly through, past his preserved body. We also saw Mao's huge portrait hanging on Tiananamen Gate, the entrance to the aforementioned Forbidden City. The highlight of Beijing was undoubtedly the Great Wall of [View Full Entry]

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