Wheels on the Bus

Well after 98 days, 17 countries, 27 people, endless laughter and a hell of a lot of alcohol Oz Bus 21 is over! It has been amazing! I'm not going to lie and say that I have loved every second because there have been times when i've wondered what the hell I am doing on a stinking bus in the middle of some random country but on the whole it's been great! I have no regrets about booking this trip on Oz Bus, yes it has been tedious at times but the good points more than cancel those out. I've seen some awesome sights from the Taj Mahal at sunrise, rhinos in the nepalese jungle, errupting volcanoes in Indonesia and New Years Eve fireworks over Sydney Harbour Bridge. By far the best part of the trip ... read more

Day 82 After arriving in Darwin in the early hours of the morning and all feeling very tired we prepared ourselves what was sure to be a stressful time through immigration and the notorious Australian customs. First stop, immigration. After nearly 3 months of panicking that Australia might not even let me in it quickly becomes apparent that they don’t really care! After taking my passport to scan the 30 second conversation with the immigration man went like this... Him: “working?” Me: “yes” Him: “in Darwin?” Me: “well all over really” Him: “here’s your passport back, have a good stay” Next stop customs. Australian customs is very strict and after being warned that if in doubt declare anything thats what I did. On the form I’d ticked the boxes saying I had medication (malaria tablets) food ... read more

Day 75 Today I decided to actually do something so I joined the group trip to Borobuda the biggest Buddhist temple in the world. It was a 90 minute drive that turned into a 3hour trip due to volcanic ash from Mount Merapi built up in the rivers that burst the banks and blocked the roads. Well we eventually arrived and after some free water we set off on our guided tour. We weren’t allowed to climb the actual temple due to a clean up operation to remove the volcanic ash so we walked round it instead. Again going to sound really ungrateful but didn’t seem anything special or even particularly big! But glad I saw it! After about an hour and a half and battling through about 50 locals flogging crap in a very persistent ... read more

Day 58 cont So after I last updated this we headed to the post office to post some stuff and grab some street noodles for lunch. Then a very exciting thing happened I found cider in a bar! Cider is impossible to find anywhere and after 8 weeks of fruitless searching there it was on the menu however it was about £3 for a tiny bottle, ah well it was worth it! After this we had a 4 litre chang beer tower which we polished off in no time before heading out shopping on the kaosan road. Picked up a few bargains then headed back to the hotel by this time we were knackered so decided against a show and had a quiet night in a bar and restaurant near the hotel. Day 59 Left at ... read more

Day 52 Left the hotel about 9 after saying goodbye to Chris who is leaving us for a few days and joining us again in Ko Samui. Very long drive up the mountains and then down again on some of the narrowest roads you have seen quite a few people were panicking but to be honest I though it was pretty cool and the views were amazing! (and these people who were scared have obviously never been in a car with a miss becky plant, then they'll know road fear!) Eventually arrived at the town of Hetauda, quiet meal in the hotel then bed! Day 53 Left the hotel early for another long drive to the town of Siliguri in India. Basically a long hot drive on shit roads on a tiny cramped bus, not helped ... read more

Day 44 cont Well after I left you the others came back from their horse ride (including cheryl despite losing the saddle!) and we headed off for lunch folowed by hiring the biggest pedalo i've ever seen! Us 6 girls peddalled out to the middle of the lake and swam and chilled for a few hours which was so good to do after so much driving and sightseeing etc. The lake and the annapurna range round it was amazing as was the weather (the nepalese tourists taking photos and weird polish men however were not so good!) so really enjoyed that. We had a free meal at the hotel that night which was a local dish od Dhal Baat (rice, potatoes, spinach, lentils and salad) not the nicest but free so not too many complaints! Early ... read more

Namaste! Day 37 Long drive to Lucknow arriving in the evening, went on the hunt for food but no luck so headed back to the hotel to eat there and drink the local vodka (which is a bout 25p a shot, bargain!) Was really tired though so a fairly early night of 11.30 but not before annoying and waking up the grumpy boys ( if you are reading this it was cheryl, not me!) Was a very weird hotel though and the staff were creepy and unhelpful, got very bad vibes and it did not help talking about the film hostel just before bed! Day 38 Thankfully left the hotel and again another long drive to the town of Varanasi on the river Ganges. Arrived about 5.30 just in time for a quick shower and change ... read more

Day 25 We checked out of our hotel about 10 (which I forgot to say before was very nice and fancy!) and headed to the lower mountain region of Darband which was a walk up the hills through trees and stuff but surrounded by a million cafes and food stalls which slightly ruined the view! Anyway bit of a hike and then some tea before walking back down to the bus and the drive to the airport. The flight left at 8.30pm and was surprisingly ok especially the inflight food which after a week of crisps was the best thing ever. Landed at 2am and after passport control and waiting for luggage made our way into the town of Amritsar and our hotel which after the luxury of Iran was a bit of a disappointment! However ... read more

I'm just going to summarise Iran as oppose to a day to day account as there was quite alot of driving and to honest I can't really remember what happened! We left early in the morning for the border us ladies looking stunning in our full on muslim gear including headscarf and my gay wizard outfit! We said goodbye to our european bus driver Martin and crossed over into Iran which was surprisingly easy just more fingerprints and luckily no searches! Got our new bus and drivers and our Iranian guide who made us feel ridiculous as she was wearing jeans, a hoody and a scarf casually draped over her head! First night we stayed in Tabriz and to be honest not as scary as we all thought it would be and everyone here and in ... read more

Hey! Sorry it's been so long but due to internet restrictions in Iran, lack of wifi and slow connections in India and the fact I've been having too much fun the blog has been back of the mind! Will update you as best I can about the last 17 days, here goes... Day 15 A long drive from Istanbul, left at 7am and arrived in Cappadocia and the town of Goreme at around sunset. On the way we stopped off at a salt lake which was a bit of a weird place made even weirder by the ostriches kept in a fenced off area, ah well! Cappadocia is a region made unique by it's fairy chimneys and caves so the landscape is really unusual and stunning! We stayed in the appropriately named flinstones hotel in a ... read more