http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Paul and Emma/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Paul and Emma en-us Sat, 30 Aug 2008 17:45:31 BST Sat, 30 Aug 2008 17:45:31 BST China What a country even after talking to people about it who we'd met along the way we still werent sure what to expect What we can say after spending 3 weeks here is that its truely amazing and every single person we have met and talked to has been super friendly and helpful and every place we have visited has been a pleasure Our three week Hong Kong to Beijing trip was led by our leader http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-302077.html After flying in a holding pattern for an hour and landing in the tail end of a typhoon it was time to wipe of my cold sweats and get off the plane.Getting to the hostel was a snap just jump on a bus from the airport and in about an hour we were in the heart of Kowloon which is to the west of the mainland city and supposedly the most populated area in Hong Kong. So we checked in to our Hostel Dr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-297450.html Kho Ph Ngan We arrived on the island on a extremely wet day and spent two nights in Haad Rin on the south of the island which were also Vwet but it was nice to get cosy in our big luxury bungalow.. We originally wanted to stay in the north of the island on Thong Nai Pan Noi beach so when the weather cleared up we headed up there away from Haad Rin which was a bit more Magaluf than Thailand to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South/Ko-Pha-Ngan/blog-289754.html ThailandItrsquos such a pleasure to be here after Vietnam. no horns blaring no hassle from people at every turn beautiful clean beaches and genuinely nice peopleGetting to Krabi Thailand from Hanoi was so easy. We just hopped on a flight after one last argument with the taxi driver at the airport who was trying to get us to pay again even though wersquod paid at the rank the previous day http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South/Railay-Beach/blog-285319.html I'm writing this at the end of our time in Vietnam shortly after the Halong bay trip from Hanoi.First stop for us was Ho Chi Mihn city formerly Saigon. Saigon is a typical Asian city again and so busy with motorbikes 4 million just in the city alone and people hassling us it makes your head spin. We took a trip to the Cu chi tunnels from here which is the battle field where the Vietcom resisted http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-278282.html Cambodia six hours on a bus later from Bangkok we were at the border and teamed up with another couple to take a taxi for another four hours on some of the worst roads I've ever seen and I've been to BoliviaBut bad roads aside it was good fun watching the scenery whizz past and also watching our driver dodge hundreds of other cars motorbikes bicycles all kind of heavy plant machinery animal http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-275652.html Its good to be back in Asia the flight from Australia and then the connecting bus to bankok was a pleasure.First stop was Khoasan Road which is one street in Bangkok that is crammed full of hostels hotels bars restaurants markets and every nationality of travellerfreak in the world after dumping the bags in our room right in the middle of Khoasan road we headed out for a while until we couldn http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-274956.html After the long road trip from Broome to Perth it was time to get things in order and sell the old camper van that had been our home for two months.As it turned out selling the camper was quite easy and we sold it for 300 less than we bought it thats around 130 quid Result.First stop was Fremantle locally known as Freeo fremantle is about 30 mins drive or train from the city and is a beautifu http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Perth/blog-270753.html Well this is a long blog it has taken us 1month to travel from BroomeNorth of Western Australia to Pemberton South West Australia. Its been a great trip with many hightlights along the way take a look the photos The Ningaloo Reef was part of this trip but we was too excited and put the photos on the last blog Instead of writing everything we have done here is a few words to describe WA.. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/blog-259494.html We wasn't going to do a blog until we got to Perth but we thought the Ningaloo Reef deserved a blog off its own Our first experience of the Ninagloo Reef was from the Cape Range National Park which was amazing. It was back to basics at our beach front campsiteno electrcity no water a hole in the ground toiletFrom the site we snorkled at Lakeside Turquiose Bay we only had to swim 2550m http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Ningaloo-Reef/blog-257553.html So we arrived in Melbourne after 2 weeks on the road and was welcomed by Marcus one of our travel mates who we met in Brazil. Marcus Adele who was away for the first week kindly let us crash at their place which was just off Brunswick St in Fitzroy a cool suburb 10 mins from the CBD. Brunswick St is full of bars cafe resurants shops so it was a pretty good place to hang out for 3 week http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-251167.html It was a sad farewell to bondi road Sydney and back on the road to Melbourne. We decided to take our time and camp along the way. First stop was the blue mountains 2hrs west of Sydney then we hit the coast and headed south to Jarvis Bay via Woolongong. as we drove into Jervis Bay Paul hit a Kangaroo lucky it was ok and bounced out the backAfter this the weather turned on us and it was hea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-246041.html Since Claire Phil left it was back to the Dynamic Duo. We got back into the rountine of everyday life and started working again...well Paul lasted 4 days at Beachside Scaffolding and Emma enjoyed work working with NSW Sport Rec coaching young ozzie kids and also working at St Georges openair cinema google itInbetween workwe never did full days it was a beachlife...spending days http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-237489.html After a quick break in Western Australia we looked for some cheap flights and headed back to Sydney to celebrate the christmas and new year holidays. We arrived in Sydney and quickly sought out a house share on Bondi road two minuets from the beach we bought another car and got jobs...well I got two days work in before christmas and Emma enjoyed success as a foxtel sales rep A.K.A Door to door http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-233017.html We flew up to Darwin in the Northern territory and bought a van and started our drive down the west coast of Australia.It took a week to buy a van and decide which one slim pickings but we managed to aquire a good little motor with a house worth of gear in it including body board and a surf boardThe Northern Territory is hotter than i ever imagined and beside the intense humidity the amount o http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Darwin/blog-224193.html Well its been a long time since our last blog...the flight from Santiago was extremley long door to door it took over 24hrs and as we crossed the international date line we lost 6th Nov needless to say our bodyclocks was all over the place It took a few days to recover. The flight was also delayed 5hrs but this wasn't so bad as we was sharing the departure louge with the Killers It was ver http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-218073.html We finally left Rio for the extremley long journey to Santiago we fly out from here to Sydney. Rio to Santiago flights were extremely expensive so we decide to break the journey up by traveling via Argentina.Rio to Foz Iguazu brazil 3hr flightFoz Iguazu to Puerto Iguazu argentina 2hrs 3 public busesPuerto Iguazu to Buenes Aires 18hrs SUPER cama busBuenes Aires to Santiago 22hrs http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-216642.html We changed our plans of heading South to return to Rio. We had so much fun the first time round we decided it was worth one last visit For the first couple of days we had to sit out the storm as heavy rain battered Rio We couldnt believe the change in weather. But after a few days of hiding out in the wave hostel the sun came out and it was red hotWe did pretty much the same as last tim http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ipanema/blog-215035.html After the hectic yet laid back bustle of Rio we took the short journey of around 5 hours south by bus and boat to the beautiful island of Ilha Grande The weather was very changable from hot to cool and wet to dry but the scenery was stunning no matter the conditions. Our hostel.. www.aquariohostel.comWe spent 5 nights with our new Aussie friends Marcus and Adele Bianca and Sophia we swam snor http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Ilha-Grande/blog-213763.html After the last bus journey we cheated and took a flight into Rio We stayed in Rio for 10 days and so much fun...met some great people saw the sights laid on the beach swan in the sea had a few late nights Lapa Samba Club Fevella Funk party danced at the gay parade and watched Brazil play...its not a bad life http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/blog-210705.html