http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Yvette/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Yvette en-us Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:30:45 +0000 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:30:45 +0000 The Last Blog Home. Home sweet Home. Questions Queries Challenges Confusion Excitement Anxiety Sadness Awe and Pride. Needless to say at the end of a trip like the one we've had a plethora of feelings and emotions come flying in from all directions. So we're back at home. Are we different Did we accomplish what we set out to achieve Was it worth all that money What have we learnt abo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Australian-Capital-Territory/Canberra/blog-115266.html Two Little Dogs and Two Big CitiesStart spreading the news I'm leaving today............We were both very excited at the prospect of spending 11 days in the Big Apple. Goodbye hostels noise bus journeys chumps and general traveling life. Hello apartment living Soho cool bars eclectic neighbourhoods New Yorkers and a new little Puggle friend called LupeWe arrived late in NYC and jumped in http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/blog-113128.html Bienvenidos Y'All So these three quotes potentially sum up our Mexico experience1. Larry South CarolinaFormer HippieDone Time for Dealing in the 60sLiving Retired Life on The Pacific Coast in Mexico to Dom Yvette your average travel punters insert southern drawlDo you guys know what all the pyramids have in common dramatic pause They're all on the same latitude And why do you thin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Oaxaca/Puerto-Escondido/blog-109872.html Ciao South America We Love You Argentina The question is ladies and gents Can you pick the missing country England France Argentina Italy Brazil Germany Answer after the commercial break......So we left the land of wind and snow and headed North to Peurto Madryn in search of the Southern Right Whales. 22 hours later and we arrived at our destination on the East coast of Argentina c http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/blog-103734.html Southern Splendour in PatagoniaIn a nutshell Patagonia is spectacular. Politically it encompasses the southern tip of both Chile Argentina that pointy bit you see when looking at a map of South America but geographically it is a stretch of land that on its western edge contains beech forests crystal clear lakes towering granite mountains glaciers and even the world's largest nonpolar ic http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Araucania/Pucon/blog-97445.html The City of God FootballHer name is Lola she was a show girl... This was the song of the day week and month and having woken up on my 32nd birthday in a barn in the Pantanals we were treated to the following over a 24 hour periodUte from the Pantanals to the bus stop 2 hoursWait for bus 1 hourBus to Campo Grande 5 hoursFlight puchase on the spot from Campo Grande to Sao Paulo 3 hour http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Rio-de-Janeiro/Rio-de-Janeiro/Copacabana/blog-96067.html Bolivian Biking to Brasilian BatsSorry MumDo not take theEl Calle De Morte' Road of DeathWorlds Most Dangerous Road to the Rain Forest I was advised by a good pal Mr C Large and told by my Mum. Well we didn't take the bus but we opted instead for a bike... But surely only a fool would spend 5 hours hurtling down a narrow track on a mountain bike with 400 feet drop offs waiting to catc http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-93009.html These Boots are Made for Walkin No this blog is not an ode to Jessica Simpson and were not strutting around a cowboy bar in hot pants and high heels here in Peru well Dom isnt anyway. In contrast were on the authentic and at times challenging backpackers trail of Peru....From our first stop in Lima a massive grey urban sprawl of 10 million with an oppresive cloudfog cover over th http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-87906.html A Spanish Dolcevita and a Footballers MeccaIt appears both Dom I took our Accounting lectures at uni just that bit too seriously as after 5 months of travel we have perfected and should rewrite the chapter about Just In Time theory.Despite our heightened awareness regarding our pending heathrowpostterroristalert experience we still were capable of sleeping in until midday on the day we http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/blog-84979.html Mighty Blighty Having spent four months tear arsing around we were both ready to hit the UK empty our ruck sacks and cool out guy The prospect of spending time with family and good friends was very inviting and I have to say I was somewhat excited on touching down in Blighty having not seen my nearest and dearest for close to two years Of course I was also excited at the prospect of int http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Derbyshire/blog-80002.html Cool Crazy Like a Banana in the Fridge So I have a theory... And it's that you can tell a lot about a nation of people by how they greet each other. For example Australian Q How you going A Good thanks Even though in the literal sense it could be claimed that our answer should be By Car or FastBritish Q You Allright A. Yes thank you. Even though every time I get asked this http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Arusha/blog-79989.html Mzungus In The MistSo we left good old Delhi at 4 am in a Rickshaw and headed for the airport having had an awesome time in India overall. Our plane journey would take us back to Honkers and then on to Nairobi via Jo'burg over 27 hours. All good fun indeed Fawlty particularly when your destination is affectionately known as Nairobbery and 1 in 3 people have been mugged or assaulted there We pens http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Western-Region/Kisoro/blog-78283.html Strawberry Lassis and Banana Pancakes A bit late coming.. but better late than neverSo the last 3 weeks of our time in India were spent in vast contrast to our first 2... No more dust 40 degree temperatures and personal driver... Bring on the serenity of the mountains hill stations rivers waterfalls and overnight buses. Yes that's right no more could we enjoy the life of flashpackers http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/blog-64681.html Ain't No Mountain High Enough The Hampta Pass Indian Himalayas After the blistering heat of Rajasthan we decided to head North to mountain country. The original plan was to head to Nepal and trek in the Annapurna range. However at the risk of daylight curfews political unrest etc we took the safer option and caught the 12 hour night bus to Manali The capital of the northern Indian provence http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/Manali/blog-64678.html The New Raj's of Rajasthan We didn't know quite what to expect from India. Leaving the comfortzone of a relaxing 3 days in Hong Kong we felt a mixture of excitement and intrepedation about our next 5 weeks Deli Belly Touts Chaos Forts Temples and a 45 degree heat wave were the main snippits of information we were armed with. Well there's nothing like taking a path lesstraveled...Our fi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/blog-61032.html Shanghai Huangzhou Yellow Mountain As you can probably tell from our ongoing eunthusiastic tales we've had an amazing time in China. This is finally our last installment for what has been an amazing but very full on 25 days But before I wrap up with the final leg of our journey I want to make a note on Chinese food. And quite simply it has been amazing. Of all the meals we've had short http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-58580.html From the Terracotta Warriors to The Great Wall in 3 Days Whilst we were loving the natural beauty wildlife and urban landscapes of south and western China by the time we reached Xian there was a mumble amongst most of us... when will we start REALLY feeling like we're in China. Well we got it. An absolutely exhilarating span of a few days hurtled us from Xian to Beijing and some of the most a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-58569.html Chengdu Never Heard of It...Amongst our Bottom 3 bus journeys was the the bus from Chongqing to Chengdu. 7 hours spent in seats for midgets with absolutely no legroom was not our idea of fun. However this aside Chengdu that well known Chinese city of 5 million people rocked. We checked into our next hotel and spent the day exploring the city with it's countless rickshaws restaurants and fl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-58559.html Gorges Mah Jong One Big Bloody Dam The more adventurous amongst us Yvette made a mangement decision on behalf of the group to take the public bus to our sleeper train from Guilin to Yi Chin where we boarded the Luxury Yangtzee River Cruise Liner. This decision was greeted with some disdain from the group but these nonbelievers were forced to eat their words you will be pleased to he http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Chongqing/blog-58553.html Trains Thai Chi Chinese OfficialsSo I've promised never to fill out Dom's custom's forms for him again. After kindly filling out both our forms on the ferry from Hong Kong to mainland China upon disembarkment our tour group were kept waiting over 15 minutes whilst Dom was interrogated in a small room by very serious and scary looking officials for an inconsistency in his name on the paper w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Yangshuo/blog-53913.html