http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Nacho-Libre/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Nacho Libre en-us Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:17:09 +0000 Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:17:09 +0000 Well thankfully Irsquom pleased to report that a jaded traveller Irsquom definitely not after the flat experience that turned out to be my time in Vietnam I have absolutely loved being in China even if I have been travelling alone again. Itrsquos a vast and varied country with stunning scenery sprawling cities friendly locals and such a different culture to my own that though I was le http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-284858.html Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon as they used to call it before reunification is without doubt one of the craziest cities Irsquove visitedhellip anywhere. I donrsquot know if anyone has actually counted but Irsquom guessing it must have the highest number of motorbikesscooters or motos as theyrsquore known here per capita of any city in the world theyrsquore everywhere and coming at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-278233.html Over the course of this trip Irsquove found that Irsquove particularly enjoyed and been inspired by spending time in those countries at the lower end of the affluence scale and therefore on paper Cambodia should be my perfect travel destination it ranks as having just about the lowest income per capita of any country Irsquoll visit. Of more significant note though is that above all othe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-272143.html Crossing the border from Laos into Thailand reminded me of stepping from Nicaragua to Costa Rica literally a line in the ground or in this case the Mekong River marks a noticeable increase in wealth and prosperity.My entry point in Thailand was Chiang Khong a relatively unremarkable riverside border town in the northeast corner. Irsquod gotten up early to make sure I could catch the boat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-262722.html Of any country Irsquove considered visiting on this trip I think Laos is the one that Irsquove heard the most mixed reactions about hellip and they always seem to be at one of the extremes itrsquos either loved or loathed. Peaceful Unspoiled Paradise or Impossible Communist Backwater. The really annoying thing is none of this had helped me make my mind up on whether or not to gohellip http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-257536.html Therersquos such a well trodden backpacker tourist trail around much of South East Asia now that escaping the crowds whilst still managing to visit interesting areas is a difficult if not impossible challenge. One place that still seems to be slightly less discovered than the rest though is the island of Borneo. When I think of Borneo I see David Attenborough in black and white trying to be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-256172.html Well this is just a token blog to completely cheat and colour the whole of Australia red on my blog map when all Irsquove really done is spend 4 days in Melbourne and 5 days in Sydney. When I bought my roundtheworld ticket for this trip I wasnrsquot sure what I was going to be doing after New Zealand but with some free flights included in the price it made sense to put Melbourne and Sydney http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-250883.html Ha ha the revelations in the last blog certainly resulted in a fair few messages from various people for which Irsquom really grateful to you all. Thanks for the good wisheshellip things are still going well It also resulted in that particular blog getting something like 400 hits in a week which is pretty incredible given my highest ranking blog to date Peru has only had 700 hits in 5 mon http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-248386.html Irsquove been considering over the last few days whether or not I should let you all in on a secrethellip and Irsquove decided in the interest of being as honest as possible in this blog and because you'll probably realise sooner or later that I really should.You see when I wrote my last New Zealand blog I was at Auckland airport waiting for a flight... but I didnrsquot specifically m http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Yasawa-Islands/Nanuya-Island/blog-244346.html To be honest I left South America feeling a bit low. It was such a big part of the trip and was the original reason that Irsquod decided to travel so for it to suddenly be over seemed to leave me slightly depressed. I was basically suffering from a state of ldquoIrsquom not ready to finish up yet but will anything on the rest of my travels impress me as muchrdquo.But if therersquos a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-237792.html Prspero Ao NuevoYes as I reach the last day of my time in Latin America I figure itrsquos appropriate to prove that I have at least mastered a little of the language whilst Irsquove been out here. Okay so that wasnrsquot too taxing but in the interest of preserving my core group of readers back home and some of my dignity wersquoll leave it in English from here on I think.As I said i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Valparaiso-Region/Valparaiso/blog-229374.html ...here are a few photos from the last week James and I spent in Uruguay.The lemon detox thing has been completed... result I don't feel any different... well maybe a bit more in touch with my feminine side and maybe a bit less squidgy round the edges.... p But it did make coming back to Buenos Aires for Jamesrsquo last meal yesterday evening a real treat to look forward to. La Cabrera is http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Uruguay/East/Punta-del-Diablo/blog-229376.html So Ushuaiahellip the southernmost town of note in the worldhellip situated at the base of the large island known as Tierra del Fuego land of fire which forms the tip of South Americarsquos ldquoconerdquo. Ushuaia itself is a busy port town with a population of some 45000 catering for a thriving shipping and tourism industry this is of course the jumping off point for most tourist http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-227482.html Well wersquove made it. Wersquore in Ushuaia the most southerly town in the world if you donrsquot count a few small outposts between here and the South Pole. And its been a heck of a journey down here. Over 2700 miles travelled which has meant a total of well over 75 hours on buses most of which have been completed in stints in excess of 18 hours. Thatrsquos an immense amount of j http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Tierra-del-Fuego/Ushuaia/blog-224060.html Well Irsquom delighted to report that within just hours of us each taking the 4 ldquoelephant strengthrdquo antibiotics we procured at the end of the last blog normal service was resumed ldquodown belowrdquo for both of us. God bless the internet. And dodgy pharmacies who donrsquot worry about prescriptions. So fighting fit in fact feeling better than we had in weeks we decided it http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ipanema/blog-219268.html Well despite my ahem problems ldquodown belowrdquo of which I may talk more later I must say that I have absolutely loved Bolivia another 3 weeks have passed and yet again we seem to have seen and done so much. Bolivia is a very poor country GNI per capita of c1000 puts it alongside Nicaragua and Honduras as one of the poorest countries in Latin America that Irsquove visited but i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Tarija-Department/Tarija/blog-216133.html The problem with taking a break from blogging for 3 weeks is that you end up with a huge amount to recount. And this isnrsquot helped by the fact that Peru is stuffed with plenty of things to talk about and take pictures of as well as plenty of opportunities to have a spot of fun. So here we go...After jetting back from the Galapagos to mainland Ecuador some 3 weeks ago now we had a day to tr http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/Lake-Titicaca-/blog-206529.html The Galapagos Islands not many people have been able to describe the raw natural beauty and awe inspiring array of wildlife visible on these islands so I donrsquot think Irsquom going to embarrass myself by trying. But a few of the words that are currently springing to the surface of my ldquostuffedtothebrim with naturerdquo brain areDarwin finches giant tortoises boobies marine http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Galapagos/blog-203482.html Having left the scorching humidity of Panama and logically expecting to find it even hotter as I flew further south to Colombia I felt a little foolish to arrive in my shorts and find Bogot a positively chilly 15 degrees. Lack of a guidebook and not enough research meant that I had no idea that itrsquos Latin Americarsquos third highest city at 2600m and is situated at the northern tailen http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Cartagena/blog-201598.html Well immigration lady finally got bored of her magazine and decided she ought to get on with stamping the passports of the ever growing line of wouldbe border crossers. A cursory glance at mine and would you believe it a smile and I was on my way. That particular border crossing from Costa Rica to Panama is one of the more interesting Irsquove taken actually a rickety old wooden bridge w http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-City/blog-195416.html