http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Markio/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Markio en-us Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:46:38 BST Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:46:38 BST After Lawrence popped the question to Danielle most of us were only thinking one thing....stag do Best man Adam duly came up with the goods hiring a pair of cottages down in Ashcombe Devon that were complete with swimming pool a games barn and no neighbours to complain about the noise and mayhem created by the frivolities that go along with a stag do.We managed to assemble down in Ashcombe in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Devon/blog-308325.html Amongst other things the solemn promise of 80 degree sunshine and cloudless skies every day lured me out to Minneapolis to visit Sky a friend met travelling back in Santiago. Unfortunately especially given my frailties and love of hot weather I arrived during the middle of an unusually cold snap with temperatures virtually identical to those I had left behind in EnglandIf the weather wasn't q http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Minnesota/Minneapolis/blog-308308.html Having booked our flights to Riga back in November our trip East seemed to come around incredibly quickly after our last jaunt to Krakow. The usual silly o'clock start that we have become so used to saw us arriving in Riga without any problems and a first for boys club a taxi driver from the airport that didn't want to either rip us off massively or try and kill us with his dodgy driving. Resul http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga/blog-256679.html The plan was to have a uni reunion a road trip and a skiing holiday all rolled into one. It sounded like a great idea but it rested heavily on Mama and Papa Freitag's generosity as they provided not only the use of their chalet but also their car with winter tyres in order to help us get down thereSix of us James Sarah and Steve to complete the uni reunion along with my sis and her boyfriend http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/blog-251622.html January saw an ambitious boys club as rather than making a break for sunnier climes we were going to take on Poland...in January We knew that it might be a tad chilly but luckily the weather held as well as we could expect and it hardly rained at all However I think I was the only one that had brought a brolly and the light drizzle when we arrived meant that we made some Polish market vendors http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-251618.html From Veranassi two 11 hour bus journeys and a slightly out of joint back have got me to Pokhara in Nepal. Pokhara is just heaven after the hustle and bustle of India. A laid back city set on a lake and surrounded by picturesque hills and mountains just the tonic. I have reunited with a mate I met in Laos Sam with the two of us are trekking the Annapurna Circuit together. The trek is 150 200 m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Pokhara/blog-231503.html Upon arrival in Delhi I felt reasonably well equipped to deal with the inevitable scams and touts that are par for the course in this part of the world having absorbed lots of advice from fellow travelers that had already visited India. Straight away the taxi journey from the airport into the city provided me with an introduction to this aspect of travel in India as even though I'd prepaid for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-229783.html After a relaxing stop off in the four thousands islands in the far south of Laos I was headed for Cambodia. After some issues at the border over my dualnationality I was in and after bartering myself a spot on a speedboat wooden boat with huge engine and propeller strapped on back not luxury sports toy I arrived in the first major town Stung Treng. Here the journeys started to get really i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-229763.html Leaving the Western level imfrastructure of Thailand behind my journeys started getting more exciting. Firstly a two day slow boat got me into Laos and I docked in its main cityLuang Prabang. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO world heritage site with a stunning array of features both manmade and natural. I went cliff diving into the pool at the top of a many tiered waterfall and hired a very funky l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-229758.html Our intention after crossing into Thailand was to head up to the island of Ko Samui. We had flagged down a Songathaew to get us to the bus station and although the guy went via one of his ldquofriend'srdquo travel agencies where they tried to sell us some massively overpriced tickets we got to the station in the end and the tickets we bought apparently included the ferry across to the island http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-229753.html Heading north from Singapore we stopped over for a night in Melacca where it hammered down with rain but that didn't bother us too much as we had happened upon the ldquoTraveller's Lodgerdquo a plush guest house with full aircon wet room and 3 beds all for just a tenner. The three of us were definitely hoping that this was a sign of things to come In Mellaca we headed out for a great com http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Terengganu/Perhentian-Besar/blog-229750.html I flew to Singapore to meet my housemate from uni Steve and his older brother Chris as well as Emma my friend from back home in Basingstoke. The reputation of Singapore's airport had preceded it as one of the nicest in the world and when I arrived it didn't disappoint Mints and sweets were being handed out internet was on offer for free and the staff were actually friendlyThe four of us g http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-229588.html Before flying to Singapore to meet with Steve and Chris I had just under three weeks to blast up the East coast of Australia. My first stop was Melbourne and after visiting this is one city that I'm disappointed because I don't really think that I got the most out of it. Almost everyone I had met really enjoyed Melbourne but I had a kind of lethargy about me when I was there and didn't come a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-224499.html To head north from Christchurch I managed to snare myself a hire car Because a lot of tourists travel New Zealand from North to South hire cars often end up down in places like Christchurch when punters are actually looking to pick them up further North. To get the cars back up to the North the rental companies give you 24 hours to relocate the car for free you only have to put in the petro http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Kaikoura/blog-224498.html I have now reached New Zealand which is like everyone says very beautiful and lovely with great scenery although the weather can be a bit of a tester. If you hear a New Zealander complaining about the rain in England you can tell him where to shove his kiwi fruit as this is meant to be the height of summer and it has rained quite a lot...as you will hear.I arrived in Christchurch in early Janua http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-224493.html From South Africa I moved onto Sydney and when I arrived I felt like Brooks in Shawshank. The world had gone and got itself in a big damn hurry. Instead of the sedate pace of South African life there were people absolutely everywhere. It was quite weird after six weeks away from it.Anyway Sydney is cool and as I have explored the city more have really enjoyed it. Christmas Day here was actually http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-224491.html Since leaving Cape Town I've been heading east along the Garden Route via the BazBus a hopon hopoff bus service that picks you up and drops you off at whatever hostel you're staying in at the next town. I think that back home in England the BazBus is pushed pretty hard by places like STA as the only safe way to travel across South Africa. Having travelled for a little while now in South Africa http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/blog-224490.html November 2004 saw me bidding an emotional farewell to friends and family and heading off my my postgraduate travels. The initial trip that I had mooted with my uni friends Steve and Chris had fallen through I would now be meeting the Norfolk boys in Singapore for a month long blitz through South East Asia. In their absence I had decided to forge my own path which eased me into the traveling w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-224482.html Early October saw our next stop on the Boys Club European Tour and this time our numbers had swelled to 9 our biggest outing to date though with Rachel and Michelle joining the ranks for the first time it wasn't strictly boys club We had also split into three groups who would be arriving at different times. Matich Nug and Shaun were the first ones off to Spain heading out on the Wednesday mo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-212827.html Early September saw me join the Rollesby Cricket Club boys on their annual cricket tour this time they were pushing the boundaries with their first international effort and we were winging our way to Dublin.I had got myself a dawn flight out from Bristol and travelling light I had soon made my way into the city centre in order to start exploring. Blessed with good weather I was able to take in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/blog-206713.html