NicolaasRoos

I almost missed my flight from Auckland to Santiago as I missed the train stop where I should have taken the bus to the airport. I was penny pinching and I could have saved me a lot of effort if I would have taken the Airport Express. But instead I took the long way and checked in only 20 minutes before departure. In the waiting area I met Matt, who I already knew from Queenstown. He was on his way back to the UK, but had one night to spend in Santiago. He was not going to sleep that night, but he didn´t know by then. Nor did I. In Santiago we had no clue where to go, so we chased some well organised German girls to their hostel at Plaza de Armas and booked our ... read more

After trying to do the North Island with Naked Bus I decided to do the South Island with Stray Travel. This is an organised bus trip, which would save me a lot of time and show me most of the attractions without having to organise everything on my own. And I would also have the opportunity to get to know people, because it is more social. I missed the bus in Picton, because I was at the wrong ferry terminal. So I took another bus to Nelson, so that I could do a day of kitesurfing there while I wait for the next bus to pick me up. The kitesurfing was great. There is a shallow beach and a lot of wind just outside of Nelson, perfect conditions for a bit of kiting. The next day ... read more

I was really amazed when we arrived in Brisbane. There are many high rise buildings and some really nice bridges, all very nicely illuminated. The city really looks like a great place. I stayed in a small hostel close to the Valley, which is the main area for going out at night. Although I booked a single room, I got a huge double room with fire place for the same price. You've got to be lucky some times. Party! The river that flows through Brisbane has a very nice walkway at its side. It's great to walk there and go all the way to South Bank, which is an area with an artificial beach and pool and several restaurants, bars and museums. I visited the Queensland museum, which is a great place to learn about wildlife ... read more

I arrived in Sydney on November 4th early in the morning. I still had a terrible cold from Ko Tao, so the flight was not great, but I managed to sleep a little. I decided to take a single room as I needed some peace and quiet. After a few days I decided to go and visit a doctor and he gave me some antibiotics, so my sinusitis was stopped. I bought a Greyhound ticket to Cairns, so that I could finally start my trip. First destination was Byron Bay. Byron Bay is an overnight drive from Sydney away and a small beachtown with several really nice beaches. I decided to stay in the YHA, which was nice and clean and had a swimming pool a nice kitchen and a good vibe. I took some surf ... read more

On Ko Tao, I went to the Big Blue resort, which is nicely located at the beach and is combined with a dive school, where I could do my Advanced Open Water course. This course is done in 2 days with 5 dives. With a small group of 4 people and our dive instructor we did a navigation, a buoyancy and a night dive on the first day. The night dive was great. There were many more divers in the water and the torch lights made it look very surreal. The darkness combined with the weightlessness makes it a great experience. On the second day we started at 6.30 for the obligatory deep dive to 30 meter and an additional fish recognition dive. We got some dive computers to play with and they are absolutely great. ... read more

The three musketeers decided unanimously to go from Pai to Laos. We decided to do it the hard way, by boat over the Mekong. In the evening a small van came and picked us up to drive us through the mountains to the border. The Thai love their sound systems, so we had some nice Thai Folkmusik the whole way. We were lucky though, because sometimes they have a karaoke system in the van and they force you to sing along for six hours.... We survived the ride and were thrown out at the shabbiest of places I had seen sofar, but it was only for a few hours, just to catch a little sleep. The next morning we got up early for breakfast and were driven to the border. After all the border formalities we ... read more

After staying another night in Chiang Mai I went to Pai, which is a small and laid back backpacker hide out. There are several hotels and resorts as well as restaurants, bars and clubs. My Dutch friends were already there and they stayed in a small resort just outside of town. It consisted of several small huts around a pool and two artificial lakes. Very picturesque. The place was run by a Dutch guy as well, so the money stays in the family. I was tired from Chiang Mai and happy to find some peace and quiet. In Pai we stayed for three days and hired a scooter to drive through the country side. One day we went to see a cave about two hours north of Pai. A river flows through it and it is ... read more

On the day of the jungle tour we were picked up by a small van. There were three canadian girls, who had just had a manicure, three spanish boys with only one bag, flip flops and swimming pants. No t-shirt and no brains. And some other people who were more fit for trekking. We started off with an elefant ride. I really like elefants and I had the impression these weren't ill-treated. although, you can never be sure. The three hour hike that followed was very easy and even the manicured canadians and the spanish retards had no problem. At the small mountain village our guide prepared a great dinner and we played a Thai drinking game with cards. After breakfast the next morning we started a 2 hour decent to the rafting site where we ... read more

Lopburi is known for it's many monkeys living in the town, although I only saw two. It's a nice place, but nothing special, so I booked my ticket on the night train to Chiang Mai leaving at 17.20 and arriving the next day at 5.00 and waited at the railway station for my train to arrive. In the night train I immediately met some fellow Dutch travellers and we were very obnoxious, sitting in the back of the train smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. I arrived in Chiang Mai perfectly on time at 5 in the morning. I think the traindriver did the best he could, because the train went really fast. I slept a little during the trainride, but I was still feeling really tired. So I headed to Julie's, which is the place to ... read more

Plans can change fast. I wanted to go to Sukhothai, but then I decided to go to Pak Chong to visit the Khao Yai national park. I had seen enough ruins and Sukhothai is most likely a great place with even more marvellous and stunning temples, but I needed nature. Therefore, I took the morning train to Pak Chong. The trainride was supposed to take 2 hours, but as the locomotive broke down it became 3 hours. I wasn't in a rush, but the train wasn't very comfortable, so I didn't want to spend the whole day there. They solved the problem pretty fast and with only an hour delay I reached Pak Chong. At the trainstation the people of Greenleaf were already waiting for me. I hadn't made a reservation, but someone else did, so ... read more