http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Monkeys-Abroad/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Monkeys Abroad en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:49:21 +0000 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:49:21 +0000 As I mentioned in the last update we flew from Ecuador to Panama on 26 May 2009 on our penultimate flight of the trip. Leaving Ecuador marked the end of our South American leg and as our passports were scrutinised by customs officials at the airport it also became the most difficult Country to leave I canrsquot imagine who the customs staff thought we were as we just had our scruffy back pac http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/blog-430872.html Following a very slick border crossing from Bolivia to Peru we arrived in to Cusco late on the evening of 30 April. Cusco is a colonialstyle city featuring beautiful cobbled streets leading away from the numerous Spanishstyle plazas. There are plenty of museums and churches scattered around the city which can be explored over a couple of days so along with that we also visited some of the tour a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/blog-400563.html The lofty latitude of Bolivia makes it the highest and most rugged of all South American counties. Landlocked between Brazil Paraguay Argentina Chile and Peru Bolivia has some of the most extreme weather conditions around. Warm dusty days to cold windy nights mean that travellers to Bolivia have to come prepared for anything. Due to the altitude of this amazing country the weather can change http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/blog-395741.html Hola again chicos After a 7 hour bus journey from Puerto Varas in Chile we arrived safely into Bariloche on the west coast of Argentina on 5 March. The bus journey was a pleasure in itself as we were fortunate enough to drive through a long stretch of the magnificent Andes mountain range.Argentina has contributed to our ongoing passion for South America not only because of its natural beauty and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/blog-389395.html Hola Well we are now in South America after having arrived safely in to Chile from Auckland. We flew in to Santiago the capital city a thriving hub of unexpectedly western living and culture. We have just finished in Chile after spending 3 weeks there and in all honesty we have been continuously surprised by the level of development and progression both economically and socially.Santiago for http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/blog-382622.html Ok ok I know before I start wersquove Irsquove been pretty terrible at updating the blog recently Wersquove just spent the last 5 weeks in New Zealand and in absence of any other reasonable excuses wersquove basically been having way too much fun to do it before nowWhilst 5 weeks sounds like a long time itrsquos flown by during our stay here in New Zealand. We both canrsquot http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/blog-374055.html Grsquoday everyone Wersquore now officially ldquodown underrdquo and have just finished travelling down the east coast of Australia from Cairns to Melbourne.We started in Cairns on the northern side of the east coast back on 10 December. Our flight from Singapore arrived at about 8am local time and after collecting our luggage we were both surprised to be stepping out of the airport into http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-360880.html Well wersquove now reached the end of our ldquoAsiardquo trip and are looking forward to heading on to Oz tomorrow.Since the last blog update we have been via the Islands in the south of Thailand Malaysia and Singapore. Before we fly out to the ldquoland down underrdquo tomorrow we wanted to briefly update you on what we have been up to during the last few weeks in Asia. After arrivi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-352763.html Hi allSince last updating we have visited another three countries in South East Asia It's been a rather tight schedule over the past few weeks so now that we have finally reached the Islands of South Thailand we can look back and reflect on our whirlwind trip through Laos Vietnam and Cambodia.I remember saying that Thailand was the most beautiful country I had ever visited. However after hav http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-346116.html Hi Everyone We thought we would update the blog before we head off on our trip tomorrow when we leave Chiang Mai and head over the border to Laos. It's also a good opportunity to give you an update on what we've been doing over the past couple of daysweeks. We are currently in Chiang Mai staying in a wonderful familyrun hostel called Libra. Deep stayed here 7 years ago when he came travellin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-335674.html Hi EveryoneI hope you are all well. We are now in Kolkata with Deep's Aunty and Uncle. They have a gorgeous apartment in the South of Kolkata on 22nd floor overlooking the city. We have been really spoilt here and if we didn't have a flight booked for tomorrow I think we'd be camping down for much longerThe last update email I sent everyone was sent from Agra. As you know from there we got a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-329977.html Hi AllAs we have now arrived in Agra we thought we would drop you all another line with our latest news. We arrived in Agra yesterday after a 12 hour journey on the train from Haridwar an hour's car journey from Rishikesh. Although I didn't say it to Deep at the time I was secretly really worried about the train journey i.e. the toilets. Whilst it wasn't pleasant it certainly wasn't as b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-325490.html Hi EveryoneRishikesh is a wonderful place and soooo different from Delhi in every possible way. Whilst Delhi was a mix of madness and chaos Rishikesh is a tranquil and serene place with a spiritual air. Our hostel is way up in the mountains and about a 1.5km walk from the main river Ganges crossing. The suspension bridge that crosses the river is about 3 metres wide and 100m long. It's split i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-323850.html Well what can we say about Delhi...It's a chaotic mix of culture sounds sights and smells. We arrived safely yesterday morning about 6am after a good flight in from Heathrow. Luckily we had arranged for a car to pick us up from the airport and after a rather deathdefying journey weaving through autorickshaws bikes cars roaming cows and lots and LOTS of people we arrived at our hotel.As i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-322380.html With only 4 working days left the countdown has really begun...can't wait to get on that plane but will of course miss everyone http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/blog-317637.html