Phil
Primarily a diary to let family and friends know that I am safe and what I’m up to but also to eradicate the vicious rumours that my 7 months off work are not in fact to go travelling but it is because I’m doing a 6 month stretch in Lincoln nick
. Phil s Surfin
The plan . Central America, Asia, Oz, New Zealand .. Plan ? Who I am kidding ?
Travel Blog Posts
April 27th 2005
OK so this is it, the final blog... I now have a passport in desperate need of renewal due to the lack of space for future stamps, and enough air miles to get me to the moon and back, so maybe it is time to return home. Over the past 6 months I have had a great time, and I have been lucky enough to have been able to celebrate 3 New Years which has definitely been an added and unexpected bonus. I have also been fortunate enough to have met many incredible people, both local to the area I was travelling in and also fellow travellers, many of whom have had a tremendous affect on me and have been very inspirational. I have experienced many different cultures, religions, beliefs, and learnt an awful lot about ... read more
Northern Thailand and another New Year
Published: April 30th 2005Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai
April 26th 2005
Bangkok. Wow what a place ! What can I say that hasn’t already been written ? Well for a start I can say that the stories of being scammed and ripped off are true… that is if you are a stupid tourist with not an once of common sense or like a couple of people I have met, a stupid gap year student who lands in Bangkok on the way to Australia without the first clue about what to expect. If however you have a little bit of savvy you’ll find Bangkok a great place with lots to do and see and light-years away from the seedy, dodgy image that is sometimes projected by these fools. Right enough of my rantings on stupid people and back to my own travels… In Bangkok I did all of ... read more
April 12th 2005
From Penang in it was a ferry to the Northern Malaysian mainland then onto a mini bus up to and through the Malay / Thai border which was all very painless due to the driver stopping at the last Malay service area, where, for the princely sum of 15p I got the Thai entry visa professionally (and more importantly, correctly) typed up. I still don’t like it when you hand over your passport and money and the gadgee disappears for half an hour but I figured that if he was trying to scam me he would have asked for more money. Luckily I was right. So then I arrived in Thailand which was quite a culture shock, especially as I had got to grips with the basics of the Malay language (although it did help being ... read more
April 3rd 2005
From Singapore it was a bus trip into Malaysia and up to Melaka where we stayed in the most chilled out guest house run my Gabi a Swiss/German hippy woman and her Chinese Rastafarian husband who played reggae music for most of the day. This super chilled out vibe was only interrupted when the mosque situated across the street (and opposite my bedroom window) blasted out the call for prayer at 6am ! So, after they pulled me off the bedroom ceiling I decided it was time to go. One other amazing memory of Melaka was while sat in the local Indian restaurant a huge swarm of flying ants attracted by the florescent lights came into the restaurant and then got by the ceiling fans that were going full blast due to the very hot and ... read more
March 24th 2005
As this is the third and last time I have come through Singapore on my current travels I think it is about time I wrote about it. Singapore is a fantastic place and its pseudonym as the city of tomorrow is very well deserved, from the incredibly clean streets to the efficient MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) subway system to the futuristic Changi international airport. I now understand why the statue of Sir Thomas Raffles, the man who made the island into a bastion for the British Empire looks so smug, and quite rightly so…. Good work Tommy ! This last time I visited I initially stayed in the Little India district for a couple of days in a 20 bed shared dormitory which turned out to be a lot better than it sounds, and as Singapore ... read more
Trains, Planes, and Automobiles, and New Year 1927.
Published: March 18th 2005Asia » Indonesia » Bali
March 18th 2005
Well I was supposed to be starting my South East Asia travels again but as I had blown so much moolah in Australia and New Zealand and also suffered from the lack of mellow warm water surf there was only one solution… to head back to Bali for a couple of weeks. So after landing in Singapore I caught the MRT into the city centre, yomped to the Malaysian Railway Station, which is very unreal as it is really like leaving one country and going into another just by stepping into the station, before catching the train to Kuala Lumpur. I stayed in KL for a couple of days and did the main sites, the Petronas Towers and the Menaras tower where I did the whole lunch in the revolving restaurant again (more extreme eating) and ... read more
North Island NZ extreme rafting and extreme eating
Published: March 8th 2005Oceania » New Zealand » North Island
March 8th 2005
Picked up the ferry at Picton on the North of the South Island and sailed through Marlborough Sounds which is another amazingly beautiful area and across the Cook Strait to Wellington the capital of New Zealand on the Southern part of the North Island. Apparently the crossing was quite good which seeing as I had to go ‘up for air’ on several occasions made me realize that I’m probably not a hardened seafarer. Wellington was pretty cool and then I moved up to Rotorua which is famous for all of its hot springs and the Polynesian pools. Its pretty freaky seeing steam pouring out of the flower beds in the local park. Then went to Whakarewarewa (try saying that with your mouth full), which is a Maori village where ‘Nan’ our Maori guide explained all about ... read more
South Island NZ an adrenal gland overload.
Published: February 28th 2005Oceania » New Zealand » South Island
February 28th 2005
Well I know I have been slacking on my blog updates but this has been due to being just too busy (again) enjoying myself around New Zealand. As such I will have to give a summary of my time here in NZ, so here goes, the South Island… From Christchurch, which is so much like a quintessential English town it is unreal, I went to Queenstown known as the adrenaline capital of the world and yes this title is very appropriate as there is every extreme adrenaline activity you could ever think of as well as a lot of very crazy people also. As well as the adrenaline capital this place has also got to be the physiotherapy capital of the world and for very good reason. I noticed this at the doctors in Queenstown when ... read more
February 12th 2005
The last 2 weeks in Sydney have been great, mostly due to the fact that I haven’t had to stay in some flea pit of a backpacker’s hostel but have instead been enjoying the palacial luxury of Mark’s apartment which has a prestigious position overlooking Manly harbour. Nice ! This was because, on returning to Sydney from the Northern Territory I spoke to Mark who informed me that his flat mate had just moved out so there was a room spare in his most luxurious apartment - I did say I had been incredibly lucky since arriving in Oz didn’t I. So the last 2 weeks have been spent experiencing the sights and sounds in and around Sydney such as; surfing on manly beach (obviously); taking a show at Sydney Opera House (ok, so it wasn’t ... read more
Outback and beyond
Published: February 1st 2005Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Alice Springs
February 1st 2005
The last 2 weeks I have spent in The Northern Territory travelling from Alice Springs in the centre of Australia up to Darwin on the Northern Coast. I have to admit that this part of the trip was a bit of an afterthought as my main priority was to surf along the East Coast, but I can now look back and say that I am really pleased I experienced it, and it is one heck of an experience. When I arrived in Alice Springs the temperature was a feisty 41 C and it was going to get hotter as we ventured outback. Highlights of this part of the journey have to be Uluru (was Ayers Rock), The Olgas, quad biking around an outback cattle station, sleeping under the stars, hiking up and around Kings Canyon, and ... read more
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