http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/PhilAndShell/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from PhilAndShell en-us Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:42:43 +0000 Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:42:43 +0000 This 3 day trek did not start off that well. Firstly we had handed copies of our passports to the booking office as everyone doing a trek now needs to be registered. The van picked us up and then when they did the passport checks to make sure they had all the right people the guy at the booking office and given them the wrong passports copies. It ended up that he had lost them so everyone had to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-122677.html Today we took a trip from Chiang Mai at 7am to take the 4 hour drive through Chiang Rai and then back again. On the way up our small minivan stopped at a hot spring in which locals had made a very big tourist attraction by boiling eggs in it and surrounding it with a large market. It was interesting for about 1 minute. We continued our drive then stopped over brielfy at another temple which ag http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Rai/blog-122668.html On the morning of the 10th we were up at 5.30 to catch an early bus to the elephant santuary. We arrived at our destination about 9 and before we were even shown our rooms we were thrown into the swing of things. There were 7 other people on the course with us and we got to know them very well over the next couple of days. We were both immediately allocated an elephant and mahout a person who lo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Taiwan/blog-121812.html This morning we caught another songthaew to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep which is another temple that looks over the Chiand Mai province although it is very easy and so there is'nt much too see. The temple is impressive involving a climb up some steps and holds many buddha images. It was very busy here with people from all over the world but there were also many thai people praying. Surrounding t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-121807.html We were up early this morning to catch a flight to Chiang Mai and after been placed on a later flight we eventually arrived at Chaing Mai at about 3pm. After been bundled into the back of a songthaew a small red pick up truck with 2 rows of seats on the back we made our way to Tae Pae Gate and found a very nice and cheap guesthouse. After showers and tea we had an explore of the area which is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-121794.html Will we landed in Bangkok with no Map or Travel Guide which wasn't ideal so was on the list of priorities. Th hotel receptionist directed us to the Skytrain so we could go to the weekend market Chatuchak in Bangkok. We started to walk in the direction she had told us through the heavily polluted and busy streets though somehow still interesting to be walking around. A TukTuk driver collared http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-121516.html ....just had no time to write it up Bangkok Weekend Market River Boat ride Reclining Budha VERY GOOD Chaingmai Mountaintop temple. Waterfalls GREAT 3 Day Elephant Sanctuary and Mahoot Training FANTASTIC Golden Triangle Laos NOT GREAT 3 Day Jungle Trek BRILLIANT Koh Sumui HELL DO NOT GO THERE Ko Thong National Marine Park Snorkling and Kayaking. VERY GOOD Krabi Ka http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-121260.html Today was a long day of travelling. We left our hostel about 10am and headed into Sydney. We headed straight to the post office to post home clothes and hiking boots that we would'nt need in Thailand. Unlike England lots of none touristy shops and amenities close at dinner time on Saturday in Sydney. After having some lunch we headed to Sydney Airport. Our flight to Bangkok took nearly nine hours http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-117672.html We had a very early start this morning to catch the 6.40am ferry to Sydney followed by a train to the central station where we caught the 8.20am train to Katoomba. The journey took 2 hours where we finally arrived in the heart of the Blue Mountains. We gathered together some information food and drink and walked through the town to see the main attraction. The Three Sisters are three large and http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-116407.html Today was the last day we'd have to explore more of Sydney so we did as much as we could. We headed back to the Botanical Gardens to see how they looked in the daytime when they are not packed with 25000 new years eve revellers. The views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house were fantastic and the gardens offered a huge variety of interesting and different types of trees many different s http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Opera-House/blog-116406.html Once again we got up this morning and took the ferry to Circular Quay and again to Darling Harbour. We had planned to go the the aquarium first but the queue was extermely long and as it was open until 10pm we had then rest off the day to go back. Instead we went to the Maritime Museum. The indoor museum is free to look around and contains lots of relics relating to the Maritime history. The mos http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Darling-Harbour/blog-116405.html After a late night we opted for a late morning and again met Stu about midday. We'd decided to have a relatively easy day with a visit to Bondi Beach with a short walk to another beach. The weather was fantastic sunny and warm. The tube ride was busy and the bus to Bondi Beach was crammed it seemed everyone else had the same idea as us Bondi Beach certainly was very nice but it was also very b http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-116404.html After saying our goodbyes to Stu in the morning we booked out of our hotel caught the underground to City Quay followed by a ferry to Manly and a walk to the Summer Manly YHA. It took us a while to find and with our heavy backpacks Shelley started to get a little fed up with carrying them. Eventually we found it and it was very very nice. Basically it is a Management College that opens in th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Manly/blog-117666.html Today was a long day relaxing day not really doing much at all. We met with Stu about midday and made our way to the Botanical Gardens ready for the New Years Fireworks. When we arrived at the gardens we greated by thousands of people or more simply one massive queue Two hours later we were inside the Botanical Gardens and found ourselves a nice spot to sit and wait until the big moment some n http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-116403.html Day 54 This morning we were up at 4am to get a flight from Hobart to Sydney. We arrived at the Ibis Hotel near Syndey Airport at 9am and thankfully they let us check in early. It was nice to have some luxury at last The first thing we both did was get another couple of hours kip. Around midday we caught the underground to City Quay which was really easy. The transport system in Sydney is really http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-116396.html Day 48 24122006 After collecting our van we headed onto the Tasman Peninsula where we stopped at several coastal sites namely the Tessellated Pavement Tasman Blowhole Tasman Arch and Devils Kitchen. Unfortunately it rained the whole time which somewhat spoilt the sight seeing. It started to rain quite heavy in the afternoon so we could'nt go and explore some of the gorgeous beaches that w http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/blog-115611.html Today was a very long day as we had 3 flights taking us from Alice springs to Hobart at Tasmania. Unfortunately Phil woke up feeling unwell this morning so he did'nt enjoy today very much. We arrived at Hobart Hostel about midnight. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-115608.html Day 42 On the 18th we caughts a flight early in the morning from Adelaide to Alice Springs and the heat hit us as soon as we got off the plane. We headed straight away to collect our 'Wicked camper' which was basic but pretty cool and quite nippy even Shelley had a drive in this one. We had a brief look around Alice Springs and got all the information we needed for the next few days then star http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Alice-Springs/blog-115416.html Today we walked into Christchurch from our campsite a 45 minute walk as the weather was nice and we needed to save the bus fare money We had a few chores to do before we flew to Australia which included Phil having his hair cut desperately needed and posting some souvenirs back to the UK. We spent a couple of hours wondering around the streets and visited the citys beautiful cathedral called http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-112820.html The Great Ocean Road was a long drive 1500km from Melbourne to Adelaide stopping off at lots of cool things along the way. For this trip we had a smaller camper van but it was not very nice to drive a slight breeze would try and force it off the road Day 37 Shelley tried to get booked in on the neighbours tour at Melbourne but it was fully booked for the next few days so she was pretty gu http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Great-Ocean-Road/blog-115409.html