SteveGClaireG

Well it’s been some time since we finished our travels - just before Christmas so we guess that feels just as long ago to most of you as it does to us. However we’ve got very fond memories of our last destination, Thailand. It’s at least 4 years since we last passed through Bangkok on the way to Australia where we found it to be manic, full of traffic and all the other usual complaints. The hotel that our Laos tour finished at was nice and next to one of Bangkok’s ubiquitous elevated motorways but it was still a fair way out of town. We said our goodbyes, took a long taxi ride and checked-in to a boutique hotel in the charming, cosmopolitan, colourful. . .and infamous Patpong district. We won’t go into any details here ... read more

From Hue to Hanoi - and back to the big cities and busy traffic with beeping cars and motorbikes. After waiting around at Hue airport for the entirety of the first and only day of sunshine, it was back to cloudy skies and rain. We shouldn’t complain too much about the rain (or even talk about it too much actually) - but suffice to say that it was heavy and constant for almost two weeks which made sightseeing particularly difficult. This however, was an experience in itself. Funnily enough whilst travelling in Indonesia, Steve had said “as we plan our holidays for the dry season we don’t actually get any idea of what life is like in other parts of the year” (ie the wet season). Mmmm.., well he got his wish - when it rains ... read more

Well it seems like a long long time ago now since we were in Cambodia. We flew to Siem Reap via Bangkok at the start of October. So that means that this posting is only slightly slower than the Cambodian mail system which took 2 months to deliver our postcards..!! The flight from Bangkok was one of quite a few we took in smaller propeller planes where Claire's standard carry on suitcase simply wouldn't fit in the overhead lockers no matter how hard we tried so it had to be crammed under the seat in front of us. We liked walking along the tarmac to the small terminal building though. It was just like it was in the old days of flying (or so Claire told Steve - being that much older)! There are lots of ... read more

Java We flew from Singapore to Yogyakarta, missing the sprawling city of Jakarta except for its nicely landscaped airport. We arrived in Yogyakarta, (or Yogya, pronounced Jogja) at night and the place was busy, sort of humming with motorcycles and scooters. They were not racing around like the Italians but there was a continuous procession of them taking up the outer lane of traffic and often carrying whole families: typically mother at back cradling the baby, then father driving and then a toddler in front also gripping the handlebars. Yogya like most of Java is a colourful place due to lots of banners and posters in the streets and the colourful houses. We enjoyed getting around by becaks, the local short taxi mode of transport. These are pedal powered trishaws built for Asian and not western ... read more

This is a short blog word-wise since many of you have been to Italy and are familiar with what the people are like, the crazy traffic, the history and so on. The south is not as green, picturesque or classical as Tuscany and its associates, but in some ways this is the appeal - not to mention the abundance of seafood, particularly shellfish. In summer Sicily turns from green to yellow to brown, but with the olive plantations and vineyards, and in some areas the pine and other forests, there is plenty of green to colour the landscape. We stayed in about 10 different places in our 4 or 5 weeks and saw a lot of variety from the colourful Amalfi Coast to the unique and ancient Matera to the varied ruins and scenery of Sicily. ... read more