http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Oli-and-Laura/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oli and Laura en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:41:46 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:41:46 +0000 Well we have now been home a fortnight and we are still settling back into normality. We enjoyed a week getting used to being at home with no plan or sightseeing to do It was great meeting up with family and friends that we have not seen for 6 months other than on webcam Skype is fantastic. It has felt really strange trying to get back into our old routine everything feels so familiar and nor http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Yorkshire/Wakefield/blog-423132.html Day 161 St PetersburgAfter a smooth train journey from Moscow we arrived into St Petersburg at 8am. It was a lovely fresh morning with the sun shining. We are staying with family friends Mike and Sue Allen as Mike got a new job here last year. We walked down the main street Nevsky Prospekt towards their apartment which is in a great location in the city centre. It took us about 20 minutes to ar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-416876.html Day 159Moscow is the capital and largest city in Russia it has the largest metropolitan area in Europe and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world 7th largest with a population of 17 million people.After a good buffet breakfast at the hotel we got the metro into the centre of the city for some sight seeing. As soon as we stepped out of the metro station we saw the red tall walls of the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-415841.html Day 156 This morning we woke early Moscow time quite late local time 4 hours ahead. It didn't matter as we had all day on the train today. We spent our time reading playing games on the DS and listening to music on the Ipod. The train made several stops on the way where we could go onto the platform for some fresh air. One of the main stops was at Novosibirsk the capital of Western Siberia an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/blog-415667.html Day 153Today we were woken early as we had arrived at Subaatar the Mongolian border crossing. The train sat stationary at the platform for approximately 2 hours before the officials came onboard to collect our passports and departure cards. The toilets would remain locked the whole time while the train was parked it was going to be a long wait. After searching the cabins our passports were retu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Siberia/Irkutsk/blog-415242.html Day 149At 9am we loaded our bags into the grey Russian 4 x 4 minibus along with our driver and interpretor. We would be sharing our 3 day trip with Pontus from Sweden Patrik from Switzerland but lives in Vienna Austria and Marius from Lichtenstein. There were 2 backward facing seats and a bench seat facing forward for 3 people to squeeze on. We would be entertained on the journey by listening http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-415234.html Day 147This morning we left our key at reception with the lady sleeping behind the counter and headed to the subway for the last time. The subway took us direct to Beijing Railway Station where we found the correct waiting room for our train. We boarded Train K23 carriage 6 at 7am and found our deluxe cabin berths 9 and 10 which would be home for the next 30 hours. Compared to the trains we hav http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-412857.html Day 143 This morning we met up with Perdy Charlotte and Ben on the subway on our way to the Olympic Park. The Beijing Olympics was held here in 2008. Over 1.5 million people we relocated in order for the gigantic Olympic Park to be build. It is reported that China spent billions on a city makeover including extending the subway and building a new airport terminal. After seeing the whole of Shang http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-411868.html Day 140Our train was once again delayed which meant we were not going to arrive into Beijing until the afternoon when we should have arrived at 11am. An hour before arriving we noticed it was raining and the sky was very grey. Next thing we knew the sky went pitch black as if we were travelling at night or through a tunnel. Everyone was looking out of the windows in amazement as no one has ever e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-410733.html Day 137The train took 18 hours and was the longest journey we have done in a long time. Time did not drag on the train as we are all used to them now and most of us even got a full nights sleep. We were supposed to arrive at 11am in Shanghai but the very slow train was delayed 2 hours. We took a taxi to our next hotel as it was lunchtime we were able to check in and shower before meeting the grou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-410360.html Day 134 We stumbled off the sleeper train at approximately 7.30am at Xi'an and got taxis to our hotel. Luckily we could check in straight away and get a shower before going for a swift breakfast this time managing to get pancakes at McDonald's. Xi'an is one of the ancient capitals of China and was once a walled city. Now the wall separates the old city from the fast growing new parts of the city. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shaanxi/Xi-an/blog-408588.html Day 130Our overnight train arrived promptly into Wuchang at 7am. We had all managed to get some rest even if it was disturbed throughout the night. Julie stayed on the train as it was heading to Beijing as she had decided to go home due to her sister being ill. After getting some breakfast at the station we boarded a coach to take us on the 4 hour journey to Yichang to board the boat our home fo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yangtze-River/blog-407364.html Day 126 We managed a harbour tour this morning before leaving Hong Kong. An hours trip on the Star Ferry showed us the sights of Victoria harbour and explained the cities ever changing skyline.At 2pm we met our group back at the hotel and left in taxis for the Hing Hum train station. A 30 minute train ride took us to Shenzhen where we had to leave Hong Kong and cross the border into China.It was http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Yangshuo/blog-406676.html Day 123Today we left Thailand as we flew from Bangkok to Hong Kong. A taxi took us from the city to the super modern Suvarnabhumi airport where we were to get a Cathay Pacific flight at 11.30am. Despite checking the flight yesterday we were informed that it was cancelled but we could go on the earlier flight at 10.20am as we were checking in early at 7.45am.Unfortunately it was not that simple http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-404831.html Day 120Today we reluctantly left the laid back atmosphere of Koh Tao and caught a ferry back to mainland Thailand. The fast catamaran only took one and a half hours to get to Chumpon where we then got a connecting coach for the 7 hour journey to Bangkok.The weather was not good today it was stormy and wet when we left Koh Tao and it remained that way for most of the journey. We eventually arrive http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-403466.html Day 114We got collected from our hotel at 9.30am prompt and taken to the ferry port for our transport to the island of Koh Tao. We were surprised that everything was on time and went to plan today as we didn't have much hope following the disappointment with the journey time to Koh Samui.The journey was easy and painless and we arrived into Koh Tao early afternoon. Koh Tao is another island on the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Tao/blog-402663.html Day 110At 11am we were promptly picked up by a minibus to start our journey across Thailand to Koh Samui. The driver didn't drop us off at Krabi Town bus station as expected but at a private bus station where we were informed that we would be leaving at 12.30pm so we had to sit and wait for over an hour.A minibus took us on the 147km journey to Surat Thani on the East coast of Thailand. The jour http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Samui/blog-400359.html Day 107This morning we got a taxi with Richard and Laura from Devon to the ferry port as we were all going to Krabi in Thailand. The 1 hour ferry journey took us to Satun where we had to clear customs and get our passports stamped. Unfortunately they only provide you with a 15 day free tourist visa when entering the country this way. We will be in Thailand 17 days so we will have to pay for 2 extr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ao-Nang/blog-399874.html Day 104After a disturbed night sleep we set off to the port to get a ticket for the ferry to the island of Langkawi. The ferry left at 8.15am and it was full of people sitting in airline type seats for the 2 and half hour trip. After 30 minutes there was a lot of commotion on the boat as everyone was getting sea sick. Luckily we were OK and arrived safely into Kauh on the popular holiday resort http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Langkawi/blog-399272.html Day 101Today we left Singapore by bus and travelled north to Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia. The bus only had 4 passengers including us and was very comfortable. We had to get our passports stamped at the Singapore border before travelling to the next checkpoint for entry into Malaysia. Here we had to remove all our bags off the coach and carry them into the customs building. Once inside we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-398054.html