http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/annaspannerbanana/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from annaspannerbanana en-us Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:46:34 +0000 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:46:34 +0000 Mui Ne started off as a little fishing village on the coast it lies about 4 hours north from Ho Chi Minh but the area is fast becoming a popular tourist area and there is now a lot of small resorts built along the coast line most of them are beach hut style places or similar and it doesn't feel like the area is being too spoilt by it all as they are not set right on top of the village itself bu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-30451.html glad to be backAs soon as I got off the plane the atmosphere smelt and felt different a different kind of heat and just something in the air that told me I was back in South East Asia and I love it this is the sort of place I really love travelling in. I was picked up in a cab by my hotel and driving through the streets of Ho Chi Minh city reminded me of arriving in Delhi last year but about 10 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-29458.html Originally I planned to arrive in Airlie Beach and book myself on to a boat trip leaving the next day so I'd have time to visit a few more places up the coast afterwards but I got a little side tracked by sun and beer and the chance to relax after the camping trip and bus journeys. I largely blame Andy Rich both from Bristol and Kirk from Canada for my inertia my excessive beer drinking an http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/blog-28429.html Fraser IslandNext stop on the magical mystery tour of the coast was Hervey Bay a rather unspectacular place with nothing much of a beach just a strip of hostels hotels and shops but its used a jumping ground to get to Frasrer Island and so the crowds come flocking in. After a bit of a late start due to my refusal to get a bus at some ridiculous hour in the morning after drinking and diving into http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Airlie-Beach/blog-28395.html Off to the eastI was actually feeling a bit nervous about getting back on the road again after feeling quite settled in Sydney but I also couldn't wait to get moving again and head up the East Coast. My last weekend in Sydney the sun decided to shine non stop and there seemed to be blossom out everywhere and I started to feel a real affection for the place but I had the joy of a 14 hour bus jour http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Noosa/blog-27597.html With Natalie and Joe back from their holiday and Lou and Dom back from Bali I was out of the flat and moved to a Backpackers near town between Kings Cross and Potts Point. They've managed to recreate the atmosphere of Londons Kings Cross out here almost perfectly there's just something in the air that feels the same but why they would want to do this I have no idea....... But the hostel was ni http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-25994.html Arriving in AustraliaI arrived in Sydney to warm sunshine and bright bright blue skies which disappeared after 20 mins as the sun set but I was picked up from the airport by my mate Louisa and her boyfriend Dom and whisked off to a gorgeous little restauraunt for a 3 course dinner and lots of white wine a welcome to Oz treat for me which was indeed very welcome after the past few weeks of nothin http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-24596.html I was slightly nervous as I approached Wellington as I was being picked up at the bus station by Amy and Randal. They are two of the 5 New Zealanders who looked after me on Boxing Day after being hit by the wave they all looked after me for nearly 24 hours until I was helicoptered off to hospital and I didn't think I'd ever see them again. As it turned out I came across a local newspaper article http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-21266.html Catching up13 hours of flying 4 movies and 3 plastic meals later I arrived in Auckland. It was all very confusing as I set off at 9.45pm on Wednesday 3rd August and arrived at 5.30am on Friday 5th August where did my Thursday go I didn't sleep a wink on the plane as I was right in front of the big movie screen the whole way I did manage to get a couple of hours sleep in the afternoon at my ho http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/blog-18134.html Road tripFor our last week in California Jen and I decided to get ourselves some wheels hit the road and head down the coast. We'd taken up a very kind offer from Tom the driver on our Yosemite trip to meet us and help Jen get to grips with driving in America and all the different laws and to talk us through the route to Highway 1 from the car hire place with Jen driving he took us on the route http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Santa-Barbara/blog-15923.html Yogi and Boo Boo's big adventure......Jen and I got ourselves ready for our trip to Yosemite national park on Monday the 18th July both pretty nervous and not sure what to expect we knew it would be a whole bunch of people sharing one bus for 4 days without showers but we didn't know how many or how it would all work out at all. We prepared ourselves by buying a couple of bottles of wine and som http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Yosemite-National-Park/blog-15509.html So here we are in San Francisco the first stop on the new trip my first time in America and I am loving it I arrived Tuesday afternoon after a very long but uneventful flight with a dissapointing array of inflight films I was hoping for Batman Begins War of the Worlds or ............... but instead I got 'Bridget Jones's Diary Part 2' and 'Hitch'...........hmmmm. Jen and I had got seperate http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/North-Beach/blog-14087.html Just a quick one to say............ yes its back I know you've all been counting the days. hours and minutes to see the return of the blog well you need wait no longer for here it is.......I am setting off again for further travels as my trip got cut short on December 26th in Thailand I am now going to head round the other way and visit a lot of the countries I never managed to reach last ti http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Cheshire/Poynton/blog-13190.html So I haven't quite packed my bag yet but I still have plenty of time to do it all..........arrrggghhhhI just thought I would try this out and write my first little diary entry but as I am sat in my pjamas in Brixton it's not very exciting I'm afraid. Just a big thank you to all my wonderful family and friends who have been so fantastic and sent me off in style with numerous drinks dinners an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-1950.html Well here I am in India. After my wonderful brother left arather teary eyedmeatthe airport I had a nice uneventful flight watching friends and eating curry pretty much like a Friday night at Morrish road to be honest I was met at the airport by Ankur who was holding a sign with my name on it brilliant Then I was taken to Sanjay and Preeti's apartment. Preeti is Raj's niece I think http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/New-Delhi/blog-1983.html I am back in Delhi now after my little trip down to Agra and quite atrip it was too....On Sunday night I was feeling pretty odd having left the company ofSanjay and Preeti and everyone with a chance to finally get my headaround things a bit. I had some dinner and then went up to my room and almost cried with joy to find an english speaking channel on mytv showing that classic Arnold Sharwzeneger http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-2015.html Thank you everyone for your messages and comments it is so good to hear from you all if you don't want me sending you reminders about my updates just let me know and I'll stop bugging you Well I've spent a few days in Delhi now and am feeling a lot more relaxed about being here and I have my head around things a bit more. I do keep having these weird moments where I wonder what on earth I am d http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/New-Delhi/blog-2046.html So here I am in the foothills of the Himalaya's the scenery is breathtaking and I haven't even done much exploring yet I am just so glad to be somewhere where the air is clear the air is also pretty darn cold too I can tell you I have had to buy a couple of things to keep me warm because as soon as the sun has gone down you need to wrap up warm. but when I got my first glimpse of a rocky snow http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/blog-2103.html Well I have nearly been in Mcleodganj for a whole week and I am stillnot ready to leave it is a beautiful place and very relaxing youcertainly get pulled into the laid back way of life people tend tohave here. Saying that I fly out of Delhi on Friday night so I amthinking about jumping on a bus tomorrow morning and heading toAmritsar in Punjab the Golden Temple there is meant to be well worths http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Himachal-Pradesh/blog-2156.html I can't believe its December already and I have been on the road fornearly 4 weeks now. India already seems a long way away and I do missit all the challenges and the people and the mice but it is good to behere in Kuala Lumpa. I arrived on Saturday morning after a flight viaSingapore airport. On the flight I was more than happy with Singaporeairlines when they offered me some wine after 3 week http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-2315.html