Richard and Helen
Richard and Helen Joined: June 24th 2009
Logged in: July 24th 2009
Logged in: July 24th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
We have been so unbelieveably busy that we have neglected our blog a lot, so i will try to fill a little bit in! We left Bangkok on a VIP bus to head North to Chiang Mai, it took ages and was rather tiring but not too bad. Chaing Mai is lovely, i think both of us prefer it to the overly busy Bangkok. We visited the many many temples (Wats) and booked a trip to go elephant riding, white water rafting, to see hill tribes on a trek, swim in a waterfall and do bamboo rafting! It was one of the best experiences of my life, it was a real dream of mine to see the elephants!! Hopefully Rich will upload some photo's of it soon. Northern Thailand is beautiful and far more peaceful than ... read more
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Set our alarms early today and packed up the huge room that had given such a contrast to the box we slept in, in Hong Kong. Headed out and picked up our deposit in Macau Pataca (which we had to spend before we left as nowhere else takes it!) Got a quick bite to eat in Largo de Senado before heading back onto the main road and catching a bus to the ferry port. (About 25p) After a ten minute wait, we jumped onboard AP1, the airport bus...well minivan (another 25p) and arrived at Macau International Airport twenty minutes later. Easy check-in and a play on the free internet in the departure lounge and we boarded our flight (upgraded to more leg room for some reason!) We both fell asleep for the majority of the flight ... read more
Today was a rather tiring day as we woke up early to walk down the largest road in Kowloon, Nathan Road, to reach the ferry port. With our rucksacks this was a bit of a mission, and although Rich was ok I have to say I was exhausted, my bag is bigger than me! We got to the ferry port, which turned out to be much like an airport, with check in etc. The trip to Macau was a little rough, but with my super strong travel tablets I just feel asleep (they seem to knock me out lol). In Macau the bus stops are very well sign posted, however very few people speak English here, instead they speak Portugese and Chinese - the people in McDonalds however are your best chance as we found they ... read more
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Second full day in HK and we opted against talking the ridiculously long walk down Nathan Road, like we had the day before. We walked halfway then jumped on the MTR (Mass Transit Railway), down to Victoria Harbour. We got a quick bite to eat and headed to the China Ferry Terminal to check times and prices for our trip to Macau tomorrow. On the way we had a look at a pretty big shopping mall which had some big name shops - far too expensive for a backpacker. We took a Star Ferry over the Harbour again (a journey costing less than 20p, which never gets old), to Hong Kong Island and got a lift up Two IFC (the tallest building in Hong Kong). We had to pretend to be interested in an exhibition on ... read more
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Although we set our alarm clocks and had good intentions of waking up early, we somehow did not manage to wake up until around 11!!! Quickly we got ready and made it out for around 12. Hong Kong is soo busy, full of people and excitement. We are staying in Kowloon and therefore decided to walk the entire length of the main road, Nathan Road to explore. The road is filled with shops of all kinds, from dried fish and other food to clothes etc. The street took about an hour and a half to walk down, but there are metro's and buses if you are tired. We got to the small ferry terminal which takes you to Hong Kong Island (the main/central part of HK) it was so cheap about $3 = 33p. Only took ... read more
Finally in Hong Kong after a long flight and stopover in Dubai. Emirates is amazing - free food and drinks for the whole journey! We both took advantage (Rich - beer. Helen - martini). Went out into Dubai to kill some time (which was boiling hot, even at 1 in the morning!) Quickly realised that there wasn't all that much to do, so we went back through passport control and found a spot to wait until our flight to HK. Jumped onto a bus from the airport and headed towards the hostel. (This was when we first realised that everyone over here is really paranoid about Swine Flu - health checks, loads of people (passangers and staff) wearing face masks, and the bus drivers can't handle money - you have to put it in a machine!. ... read more
