http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Matt2007/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Matt2007 en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:50:48 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:50:48 +0000 Sorry it has been a long time since I filled you guys in if you can even remember who I am. After leaving Brisbane a friend who I had travelled with from Kununurra met me with his van which we drove down to Surfers Paradise. On arriving the place was packed as the Indy Car races were being held at the weekend. This gave us the opportunity to race the van around the track well sort of anyway. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/blog-373719.html Sorry about the length of this blog but I figured I would briefly explain what I had been up to in Queensland over the past month and a half. After arriving in Cairns a group of us headed North to Cape Tribulation where we climbed Mt Sorrow where Nick was covered in leaches drunk a fair amount in PJs jungle retreat tried a bit of fishing but without much luck and saw Cassowary while we were lazi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/blog-334828.html From Siam Reap I have traveled to Kratie through Kampong Cham not a lot in Kampong Cham but there was a cool bamboo bridge that they build every year in the dry season. After a night in Kampong Cham I headed up to Kratie to see the river dolphins. After trying and failing to get a picture of the buggers I gave up and just watched them from the boat. As it was starting to get dark we caught a mott http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-131142.html After leaving Perth for Kununurra I was glad to see that the weather on my arrival was nice and hot as Perth was starting to get a little chilly. I was met by the guys from the farm and given a ute so that I could get around and sort out the house that they had supplied me. To my surprise I was given a 5 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms and a kitchen to myself located about 15km outside the main to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Kununurra/blog-316618.html It seems ages since I last wrote a blog so I have provide a brief summary After working in Perth my contract is nearly up and a lot has happened since I arrived here mainly too much drinking but also a couple of road trips and a trip back to the UK for Russ and Sarahrsquos wedding congrats guys I know you are going to be very happy and then a couple of days in Dubai and then back to Oz to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Perth/blog-259632.html Ok so the blog below is quite long so for those who cannot be bothered to read it the outline is that I started in Darwin and took a month to drive down the West coast of Australia to Perth camping along the way.Arriving in Darwin at three in the morning I caught a bus into town and treated myself to a proper fry up not quite a full English but good enough. I then went in search of some accommoda http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/blog-198188.html Sorry for the late addition of this blog but the site lost the entry I had written before I could publish it so I have sort of put together a very brief overview below.After landing in Bali I moved down to Kuta the main tourist backpacker area. I stayed there for about four days and rented myself a surfboard and tried to get in some more practice in the water. Kuta was nice but too touristy for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-198168.html Hello All Sorry for not updating for a while but have been pretty busy enjoying myself After leaving Laos I traveled back down to Bangkok from Nong Kwai as this was my third time in Bangkok I decided that I should spend sometime and explore. Doing the normal touristy things I visited the palace and the lying Budda etc. I used mainly the public transport to get around so familarised myself with th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-154949.html It was a hard decision leaving Koh Tao but at the time there wasn't enough work and plus not having my own equipment I wasn't making any cash. Drinking my traveling money away at the Lotus bar I decided enough was enough and to move on boo hooo. However I did end my stay with the best six dives ever with loads of Grey Reef sharks another turtle and some excellent schools of fish Before going to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/blog-181828.html The border crossing to Laos from Chang Kong to Hayonxia was uneventful but very picturesque crossing over the Mekong in a small ferry and then getting my visa stamped before heading up a hill and well that was it I hired a bike and spent the rest of the day cycling around. I was minding my own business when a pretty drunk Lao man called me to join him and his friends underneath this house his http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-151123.html Landed in Bangkok on the 26th of March although this time it was not so much of a shock as it was landing from Heathrow. Bumped into some people in the airport and shared a taxi into town. Having done the trip once already I was bargaining hard and even impressed myself. The girls knew of a nice guesthouse away from Khao San Road which was defiantly a good thing so had a couple of beers and some http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-148777.html Firstly sorry about the spelling etc in this blog I have no spell check thing and am in a bit of a rush. Hope its not too long. Matt On my second day in Hoi An we booked onto a cooking course. We each selected three meals from the menu and then under the direction of a vietnamsse women prepard each one in turn and were allowed to eat our efforts after each one was cooked. Cooking vietnamise styl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-141977.html The bus to Saigon HCMC only broke down once in Cambodia and then totally on the border where we got our stamps and had to wait an hour for a replacement bus. Once in Saigon we found some accommodation and then I went in search of a Bia Hoi which is basically a load of little chairs and tables on the pavement at the front of a shop and then a big barrel of fresh beer which is brewed there. 2.5 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-141718.html After jumping on the bus in Bangkok we started driving to the boarder however the driver decided he diddn't want to switch the aircon on as he wanted to save petrol. It was only until we were all sweating bukets and three people had asked that he eventually switched it on. The journey contiued with some hard braking and plently of beeping and the occassional emergency stop. That was until we had http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-127171.html Hi AllSorry I havn't had the chance to update you as I have been pretty busy. After landing after 11 and a bit hours on a plane I didn't feel that bad which was good and meet up with a couple in the airport and shared a taxi into town. We then explored Khao San Road which to be fair was a bit touristy for my liking and had a couple of beers and some good food of a street vendour.The next moring w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-127167.html Right this is the first of hopefully many blog entries I hope.Nearly all packed now. Only got a couple of days till I fly and yes I am thinking what the hell am I doingThanks to all of you that made it to the pub on Friday and to everyone for my Saturday night send off. To answer your question YES I did have a monster hang over on Saturday which I was still recovering from at Sunday lunch. I hope http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-123915.html