http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/cheroux/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from cheroux en-us Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:43:00 +0000 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:43:00 +0000 So here it goes. Annette 20 year old and I specified had took a whale shark tour so I joined her unfortunately we haven't seen one that day. The tour operator can explain it by all kind of reason wind swell moon but the fact is they decided to go anyway even if this was not the best condition and it was unlikely we see some. Cancelling the tour that days means losing money for him. For Ann http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-450093.html Once at Perth i wanted to relaxe so I plan to stay one week. I wanted to travel with another person for that leg of the trip so I needed time to find some other traveller heading north. For the few first night I stayed near the city center of Perth in the bar district. For some reason I didn't fit in those hostel and the people were not inclusive. Worst people were watching soccer and clubbing at http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-450089.html After Tasmania I returned to Melbourne to meet with Joe Claudette and Nina who had planned the easter weekend in great ocean road region. We visited the most popular site around our camping.Then I went back to Melbourne and work a bit on my van to improved and fix little details noted during the Tasmania and great ocean road trip. Belived me now buy everything you might need in Melbourne or Syd http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-450078.html From Australia I have to make my way back to study MBA in China. After almost 6 months in Australia I had to plan the next leg of my travel. My Australia visa was running out and low cost airline have good deal if you plan in advance. So at the beginning of July I start looking for flight to Asia and I found a good deal at the beginning of august for Kuala Lumpur KL. I also booked a flight from http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/blog-429351.html After more than 5 weeks in Melbourne I was starting to get too confortable and I was abusing my host hospitality. Also it was getting colder so I had to make a move. My contacts suggested me to go to Tasmania before it get too cold. So Just before Easter I did 7 days travelling in Tasmania to test the van and the functionnality. I was also travelling alone during that week.I took a cabin to make http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Tasmania/blog-409966.html I arrived in Australia febuary 24th. I was able to reach my parents's contacts in Australia the day before I took my flight. For few weeks I was not able to log into my gmail account so some emails didn't get through. I arrived in Melbourne at 2 am and Simon was waiting for me with a board with my name on it. I took plane so many time this was the first time someone was waiting for me with a board http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-395531.html Feb 7th I got to Lankawi Malaysia a nice island. I was well prepared. I spoke to some backpacker before and I knew a few hostel to go. Some people from the boat shared a taxi to the cenang beach so I joined them. Two swedish girl also asked to be dropped in that beach but once there they didn't know where to go. I asked the driver where were few hostels I knew and they were all around were he sto http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/blog-378289.html The trip in China finished abruptly. It was very cold I didn't meet people I was supposed to and a new year eve was not well planned. I had the chance of being with two Chineses girls who took me around Shanghai during my short stay. I had to head for warmer climate quickly. Looking at it now I should have headed south toward Thailand while I was in Kunming instead of going north in Chengdu and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-378281.html Now I am on my own. I arrived in Guilin and left my backpack at the airport luggage storage. I was a bit stressed with all the warning I got mainly from chinese I prefered travelling light for this first leg of the trip.I was planning to go directly to Yangshuo. The airport shuttle was bringing us close to the bus terminal but quite far from Guilin old town. So I didn't take time to visit Guilin. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-359953.html After HK I have spent a week in Guangzhou at a friend's house and to get acustom to China. I arrived sunday morning the 14th just in time for his brunch at is flat with other french teachers from his university. I had the guest bedroom just for me. What a difference after a week in the dormatory of youth hostel. I think the stress of arriving in China and the lack of sleep in HK did catch up. I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-359944.html I tried not to mention friend's name but for clarity of the text I will have to give some name to each of the people I met. While in Japan I made a reservation at the yesinn.com hostel. This hostel was recommanded by one of my contact in HK. Here is where the real trip began. Accordingly to my plan I bought a HK SIM card for my cell phone. In Montreal I choose to buy HTC kaiser 8925. Unfortunatel http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-355260.html The blog web site didn't save my entrie so I have to do it all over again. Now I use note pad to make sure I have a copie. Friday nov 28thI arrived in Tokyo late friday evening. Lucly I had someone waiting for me and who was offering accomodation for the week. Through a long time friend who studied in Mcgill he put me in contact with one on his japanes friend a girl that also studied in Mcgill. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-354931.html I decided to write my blog in english even if my native language is french. Please be understanding I do my best with the time available.So first things first. I negociated with my employer a sabbatical year which started november 15th 2008. My flight was schedule for nov 27th for Hong Kong with a stop over in Tokyo Japan. I have been preparing this year for more than 4 years. Originally I wanted http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Quebec/Montreal/blog-354902.html