http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Travel-Blog/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Travel Blog en-us Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:44:58 +0000 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:44:58 +0000 From Siem Reap we caught a bus to Bangkok where we spent a few days before flying to Bali. We stayed on the Khao San Road and having just been in Laos Vietnam and Cambodia we were definitely back in the land of the 'Golden Arches' with avengeance The street was swarming with Western tourists and neon lights. Bars and stalls lined the street selling tshirts jewelery pirate DVDs and CDs hair http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/blog-430447.html Our bus into Cambodia was a welcome smooth and short journey only 6 hours to Phnom Penh and the bus conductor handled the border crossing admin for us. We stopped just over the border at a rather dodgy looking roadside cafe with a canteen style set up of prepared food in a glass cabinet. All the other tourists headed for the snack counter but we had decided that the best approach to bus journey http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-426711.html Leaving Hue we were picked up soon after breakfast on foot to go and catch the bus to Hoi An and walked through the streets in a crocodile line style picking up extra tourists from various accommodation on route. The bus itself turned out to be a really comfy sleeper bus laughable that we only had it for a 4 hour journey after the grotty night bus we had had a couple of days earlier we certai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-425817.html The border crossing into Vietnam was an experience We climbed off the bus and walked up the road to Laos customs. Inside the building we joined a scrummage of people the ones from our bus were all scrabbling to give their passports to the bus conductor who threw them over the counter to get stamped. We then waited in the crowd til they were returned one by one and passed through the crowd of peo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-423803.html Our first day in Luang Phabang was drizzley so we spent it wandering the little streets and tiny alleyways getting a feel for the place thinking that it would be better to save any sights for a sunnier day. The whole city felt a lot like a sleepy French town with wooden shutters on the windows and a sedentary pace of life. We walked to the end of the Old City where the river bends back on itse http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-421382.html We took a flight from Singapore via Bangkok to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Our guesthouse was a really great place it had a swimming pool and lovely terrace all for 3 pounds each which after the place in Singapore was a dream. We had a Singha beer on the terrace before catching a tuktuk to the night markets a huge network of stalls selling souvenirs of all sorts textiles tshirts jew http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Northern-Thailand/blog-418840.html After the Perhentian Islands we caught a sleeper train to Singapore which meant a 2 hour wait on Wakaf Baru station with literally no Malaysian Ringits to our name there are no ATMs on the Perhentians we were hoping that Singapore dollars were accepted on the train as otherwise we would be going hungry without dinner or breakfast this didn't seem promising as the man at the ticket office sai http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-415804.html Having flown back to Kuala Lumpur late at night we were picked up the next morning for our Elephant tour We were expecting a bus or minibus but a man came to drive us by car. We went first to the Batu Caves which are a Hindu place of worship on the outskirts of KL. You can see the giant gloden statue from miles around and we climbed a huge staircase next to it to reach the mouth of the cave. Ins http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/blog-414030.html We could see almost nothing of Kuala Lumpur until we touched down on the runway due to a thick heat haze sitting over the city The airport is about 45 minutes from the centre and it was very strange to be traveling on such an orderly British looking road network driving on the left on tarmacked roads with cars actually giving way After checking in to a little guesthouse we went in search of f http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Sandakan/blog-413072.html From Puerto Pricessa on Palawan we flew to Cebu City where we stayed for one night before heading to the pier early the next morning to catch a ferry to the island of Bohol. At the ferry terminal we were pretty suprised to hear cockadoodledoos as soon as we sat down various passengers had cardboard boxes with holes in at their feet and were constantly fussing over their prize fighting cocks. T http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Bohol/blog-410125.html Our last night's sleep in Manila was interrupted by the football Phil set an alarm to wake up for the Champion's League final at 2am Luckily we had a TV in our room so Elly was able to dose through it Man Utd didn't play well and lost Phil was not a happy chappy and the day did not improve much from there... Almost straight after the match had finished at 5am we checked out and got a taxi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Palawan/El-Nido/blog-407549.html Our flight to Singapore went by very quickly and we landed at Singapore Airport which is ridiculously big and slick complete with orchid gardens koi carp ponds and free internet and massage chairs. Good news as we'll be spending quite a lot of time there over the coming monthsWe flew on to Manila on a very full plane in which we were seemingly the only nonFilipino people. We caught a taxi from http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Luzon/Metro-Manila/blog-402582.html We caught an early Jetstar budget airline flight to Sydney. The descent into Sydney Airport was great with views over the harbour. Once we'd checked in to our hostel we went for an explore walking all the way down George Street to the harbour. It was somehow really surreal to be standing looking at the Sydney Opera House such an iconic building you've seen images of hundreds of times and associa http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-402574.html After leaving the relaxed atmosphere of the Sanctuary Retreat we headed south down the coast stopping in deserted Townsville the capital of Queensland for lunch before pressing on. This leg of the drive seemed to take forever endlessly long stright roads with flat expanses of fields filled with sugarcane stretching into the distance in all directions. It had taken around 7hours in total to r http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Airlie-Beach/blog-400202.html As soon as we stepped outside of Cairns Airport the heat hit us we had forgotten what 30 degree heat feels like We picked up our hire car to find it wasn't a little Manual Hyundai Getz or similar but an enormous automatic Toyota. It has a huge boot speed tracking cruise control and is generally too big and fancy for us two to be rolling up to cheap hostels in Aside from the scorching heat http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/blog-397609.html For the long journey to the glaciers we again decided an overnight stop half way was needed this time in Greymouth. We set off in the bright sunshine stopping at Iramahuwhero Point for lunch and spectacular views down the wild West Coast huge waves and weathered limestone cliffs. In the other direction you could see the snowy peak of Mount Cook in the distance New Zealand's highest mountain. A http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Glaciers/blog-393831.html From Kaikoura we drove to Nelson we arrived late and left early as it was a practical way to break the long drive to the Abel Tasman National Park. The next day we had the most uneventful day of the trip so far we drove along the coast to Marahau a tiny town at the start of the National Park. As we arrived we saw lots of kayakers setting off up the coast and we were glad it wasn't us as it was http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Abel-Tasman-National-Park/Marahau/blog-393824.html We arrived in Picton only to drive straight through and head south down the east coast to Kaikoura. Only a few minutes outside Picton we were surrounded by vast expanses of vines with tall mountains in the distance. The rolling hills and mountains in the foreground were dry and yellow rather than the lush green slopes we had been used on North Island. The coastal road towards Kaikoura was beautif http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Kaikoura/blog-391202.html We continued on our travels towards Napier famous for its high concentration of Art Deco buildings. The city itself was built almost over night in the 1920s after a massive earthquake had obliterated the original town. We explored the city through a selfguided Art Deco Walk to find some of the more interesting frontages and Elly had her first ice cream of the holiday The hostel was pretty good http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Napier/blog-391184.html After a blissfully relaxing time in the Coromandel Peninsula we headed south towards Lake Rotoiti passing through The kiwi capital of the world Te Puke. The studio at Lakestay Rotoiti where we were staying was beautiful set right on the shore of the lake. On arrival we jumped stright in the kayaks to explore a small portion of the enormous lake. It was gorgeous forest lined with hot springs http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Rotorua/blog-389893.html