My friend Chris and me departed Colombia for Peru, and a two part trip: the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and the Amazon rainforest. After a couple of nights in uninspiring Lima (and a donation to the Casino at the Sheraton) we met with our group of fellow travellers and headed off to Cuzco, arguably the tourist capital of Andean South America. The group was made up of the usual melange of nationalities, with an especially welcome sprinkling of Scandinavians this time. Scandinavians, I am finding, are generally good people to hook up with as they tend to be rather less [View Full Entry]

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My friends Jonathan (English) and Maria-Paula (Colombian) got hitched in Bogota on 4th March 2006 and this was the cause for much celebration for all concerned, and a chance for me to meet up with friends and family. A welcome break in the solo travelling, and one of the most impressive weddings I have ever attended (great food, lovely service, lavish reception, free whisky etc). Colombia was in many ways as I expected, but there was still room to be surprised by the level of sophistication of this city (hell, the bars were better than London, and I had the finest [View Full Entry]

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Just 4 days in New Zealand, and hopelessly inadequate to have a proper look around, but I still managed to have fun and prepare myself for the onslaught of gastric and linguistic difficulties that South America would herald. It's concerning that I have had no call to use my Emmergency Immodium hitherto, two tablets of which I have religiously toted on my person since I left London. They are an amusing talking point with my fellow travellers (some of whom gaze into the middle distance with pained expressions when the topic turns to tummy-rumbles), but no more than that. My base [View Full Entry]

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Part I - Sydney So, to Australia. After the of the journey there, it was only fair that I got a decent break. As luck would have it, a couple of friends from University live in Sydney, and they were being visited by another couple of chaps who I've known on and off for the last few years. This made a decent pack of us for caroousing around the nightspots of Sydney. I'd lost touch with my Syndey based chums, and had forgotten just what hospitable people they are. They also have a wonderful harbour front pad with pool, and a [View Full Entry]

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I decided before getting to Thailand that I'd had enough of city life and would head straight for the islands, and in particular, the remote island of Kho Tao, famous for its idyllic beaches and scuba diving. To this end, I booked a flight down to Surat Thani on the eastern coast, with a view to catching the fast boat to Ko Samui, staying there for a couple of nights, and then on to Kho Tao. This necessitated a night at one of Bankok's finest airport hotels, the Asia Airport Hotel, a monolithic building situated in a shopping centre / business [View Full Entry]

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OK, I've bowed to pressure and posted more photographs (for this and previous blogs). Any typos in the following blog are entirely down to the fact that I'm finishing it in Thailand, and am so relaxed that I can hardly push the keys. This may be my last blog for a short while, as the travelling continues from here on in at a rather more leisurely pace... A bit out of my way, but I felt it would have been rude not to visit Hong Kong. Perched on the edge of China, and home to countless number of ruthless capitalists, Hong [View Full Entry]

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OK, another quick update as I tick another country off the list. India, and specifically Delhi, land of the scam. Before I start, many thanks for all your comments - please keep them coming. It’s great to hear from old and new friends. I arrived tired and somewhat irritable in Delhi after a very long wait in Kathmandu airport, which involved three body searches (none of them internal, thankfully). I prepared for the swift 2 night layover by writing 'PATSY' on my forehead in Hindi and English, and heading straight for the nearest tout. He showed me pictures of accommodation that [View Full Entry]

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OK here goes - the first installment of my travel blog. I've been checking out the form for writing blogs, and have to say i'm not overly impressed. There seems to be a number of obvious pitfalls: 1. Writing a list. eg: 'Woke up, brushed teeth (not swallowing any water), got dressed, put on uniform (fleece jacket, pants with lots of pockets), unpacked bag, packed bag, went to internet cafe, sprinted to the loo' etc, etc 2. Stating the obvious. eg: 'Bungeeeee! Did a bungee jump today - very nervous beforehand! Took me a while to get up my dander!! Thought [View Full Entry]

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OK - finally getting around to sorting stuff out, and here is the first blog entry. My first experience of travelling: standing in a very long queue to get my visa for India. Luckily, this will be the only one I need, and it looks cool in the passport. I suspect that there will be many and varied queues on my travels, some of which will no doubt be accompanied by doubled over clutching of my stomache after ignoring ice cube warnings from the Rough Guides. Have booked a van from the nice people at Hertz to move my stuff (they [View Full Entry]

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