http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Marsie/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Marsie en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:14:00 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:14:00 +0000 Home AgainThere is a line in The Beach where Leonardo De Caprio's character snaps at his friend and says You've got to forget about Thailand. Obviously this is a problem for many people and in my endorsement of this sentiment I arrived back in my South East Asia home Ko Phi Phi two months after I had left it. I was already well over two months behind schedule and so had decided that a mere ten http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-34458.html Day Nine Halls CreekWe headed on up WA to Halls Creek to give you an idea of what this town is like it was charmingly referred to as Hells Crack by the attendant at the petrol station at Fitzroy Crossing. With hindsight I have to say that I think this is very rich coming from a Fitzroy Crossmeister...even if I was living with George Michael I would be unhappy residing there. The only thing I ca http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/blog-52844.html Another retrospective blog these things really are a labour of love. Hope your all doing well xxxxxThere is an advert running in Australia at the moment that urges people to visit 'real Australia' in Western Australia. Indeed it is a shame that the majority of backpackers miss out this wonderful part of the country focussing on the east coast WA is a bit more untouched but maybe thats part of http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/blog-47181.html As I am always so retrospective with my Travel Blogs I thought that it would be a welcome change to get one that was hot off the press I left Sydney on Saturday and felt very emotional to be leaving the City the Freak Show not my words that is Kings Cross Strip and obviously my hostel The Pink House.I have felt very much at home in most of the places I have stayed in since I have been away an http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Kings-Cross/blog-51849.html I have severe Blog Lag as one of my fellow bloggers put it...this is my Blog from when I was in Cambodia in October...I travelled from Saigon through to Phnom Penh Cambodia capital on a local bus along with eight other travelling companions people that I had met in Vietnam. Cambodia is a place where most people probably feel more comfortable travelling with a companion however if you find your http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-41110.html I have never spent Christmas away from home and was slightly apprehensive about how I would take to it. I wasnrsquot sure how I would feel for surf to substitute snow not that I actually surf and for Barbie to take the place of Turkey. However I am pleased to report that I coped with the adjustment admirably and indeed embraced it but to be honest it just didn't feel like Christmas. When my f http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-38732.html Camping is the way forward....Even though you are well prepared for the fact that your money won't go that far in Australia after being in the cash cushion of Asia....it still manages to take you by surprise somewhat. For example the bus ticket that I bought for all my travels in Vietnam..from the North to the South of the country cost 20 USA...To travel from Perth to Darwin on a Greyhound bus co http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Broome/blog-34462.html As I was only in Singapore for two days I knew I had to make the most of it despite having had one nights sleep on a porch in Phi Phi followed by a nightearly morning of drinking Whisky followed by a night of sleeping rough in Bangkok Airport. So to say the least I was slightly jadedPlease Do Not LitterI made my first social faux pas within an hour a new personal record by drinking my bottl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-27526.html I entered the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel and have to say that at first I was slightly disappointed I thought that I had walked into a downmarket Wetherspoons Peanut Shells littered the floor and there was no manager hurriedly rushing around with a dustpan and brush. To make matters worse people were adding to the mess by throwing more on the floor Totally inappropriate and ironic that in the pos http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-27678.html The 6 a.m. Monk ProcessionAt 6 a.m. the Novice Monks have a procession through the town where locals offer food to them mainly being Sticky Rice and Chicken wrapped in leaves. It is quite a lovely sight to see these young men silently walking down the road and modestly taking the offerings of food.Don't make the mistake that I did believing there were only a few monks there is a whole processio http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-23010.html One of the less relaxing expereinces however was being on the public bus between Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng.. Reassuringly there have been no hold ups on this stretch of road aptly named Route 13 for two years. However I have to say I was more than alarmed when the man sat directly behind me had a pistol in his back pocket and a rifle stacked up against the wall what ever happened to a Pork P http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-22872.html Arrived safe and sound and met up with my friends Jo and Tess who I am travelling with for the first three weeks of my 12 month adventure at the immigration queue in Bangkok which was a rather surreal experience made even more so by 20 hours of travelling We only stayed one night in Bangkok just like the song and then flew to Ho Chi Minh on Wednesday although most of the locals still refe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-24477.html For the last four weeks I have been on the island of Ko Phi Phi off the Thailand Andaman Coast the island is building a memorial garden for the victims of the tsunami and the project needs to be finished in time for the one year anniversary. I went along with the intention to volunteer for a couple of days during my time on the island which was orignially only meant to be a week but really enjo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-21859.html Less than 48 hours to go and instead of creating a 'YES NO and MAYBE' Pile I am creating myself a hangover Lovely lovely family party before I go I am very close to all my family as shown here and I think that is going to be the hardest thing about the next twelve months...including my gorgeous dogsBess and Megan... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Cheshire/blog-24472.html