http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/fafa/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from fafa en-us Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:18:22 +0000 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:18:22 +0000 After a long 22 years I made the journey back to Algeria for a long weekend. After many opportunties and requests from family to visit I decided to go back to attend my cousin Daya's wedding. Before leaving the UK I was told that I needed at least three dresses for the wedding day... I managed to pack 2. The flight there with Air Algerie was smooth and good the plane was quite old and grubby http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Algeria/North/blog-371298.html SingaporeI was very excited about Singapore the last time I had been was 9 years earlier. We were staying at the Pan Pacific which was really great. With only 24 hours we had a hit list of things to do shop night safari and eat chilli crab. We werenrsquot disappointed on any of these... Starting with the shopping the malls from our hotel all the way to Orchard St were incredible. We als http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-359777.html BaliBack on Bali we avoided the extortionate taxis at the airport and walked out of the parking lot with our luggage. We eventually hailed down a cab to take us to Nusa Dua which would be our home for the next night before flying on to Singapore. We got on so well with our cab driver that we decided to hire him for the rest of the day. We had a busy day planned first stop was the temple at Ul http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Nusa-Dua/blog-359772.html LombokThe fast boat to Lombok on Blue Water Safaris was a smooth ride the water was calm the sun was shining and I went to sleep for the two hour ride. When we arrived to Lombok the only way I realised it was Lombok and not any of the other islands that the boat drops off at was because I saw one of the crew grabbing my bag and giving it to some old lady who had waded into the water to get it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/blog-359765.html Seminyak BaliWe eventually arrived on the hot and humid island of Bali after a 12 hour plus 2 hour flight from London via Singapore. Throughout our journey we were reminded by fellow travellers that the execution of the Bali bombers were due at any moment and that because of this all governments were advising travellers not to visit Bali during this time. So with a little trepidation we steppe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Seminyak/blog-359741.html The focus of my long weekend in Sweden was Mads and Jakob's wedding in Ronnang. We touched down in Gothenburg with a big bump and was soon hit with fresh Swedish air and glorious early morning sunshine. We made our way to our hire cars good old Volvos put on the latest Killers album and set off for the island of Ronnang. We finally made it to our destination after getting lost several times. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Gotland/blog-323608.html Having escaped the drama of the Discovery Channel I had two free weeks until starting a new job... So I thought why not go visit my good friends in Australia And that is exactly what I did. I booked a Virgin flight and off I went what was even better is that I got a cheapo upgrade on my way out there...brilliantThe flight was a smooth 20 odd hour trip finally arriving in Sydney. My friend http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Darling-Harbour/blog-295429.html Boarding the tiniest plane Martyn and I looked forward to spending some some quality beach time in the sunshine. The hotel we had booked also looked awesome from the pics we saw on the net.... La Veranda was supposed to be a french style colonial hotel on the beach. An hour later we landed on the beautiful Island of Phu Quoc a rep from the hotel met us and another couple at the airport and we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/Phu-Quoc-Island/blog-237761.html We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City from Danang airport HCMC instantly felt more developed and although we didnrsquot feel it could be possible it was so much more chaotic than Hanoi. We had heard that if you visit Hanoi and fall in love with it this will ultimately mean that you will dislike HCMC. We were reluctantly ready to not like HCMC one little bithellipbut what do you know we absolute http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-237229.html I had looked forward to our Hoi An everyone I spoke to who had visited Vietnam all spoke romantically about how much they loved Hoi An and wished they spent longer there soaking up the atmosphere. Sadly we only had two full days therehellip there was a lot that we wanted to get through.We arrived at our hotel the Thanh Xuan it was really cheap and really wonderful. The staff were friendly http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-233424.html From Hanoi we flew south to Hue. Although only an hour away by flight Huersquos climate was very different to Hanoi. Hue was humid wet very cool in the evening and cloudy. We took a taxi to our hotel the newly opened Orchid Hotel. I had booked the ldquoromantic roomrdquo not because we were on honeymoon but because at 20 a night it was the most expensive room they had canrsquot http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Hue/blog-233199.html From Hanoi we headed to Halong Bay for an over night stay on a traditional Chinese boat called a junk boat. The hotel organised the trip for us although I had requested for us to stay on the Lagoon Explorer 2 which I had heard many good reviews about.On the way to the bay we stopped off at a commercial centre which sold traditional goods silk garden furniture jewellery and other bits. The http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-233122.html After a 10 hour flight with the very excellent Cathay Pacific we landed in Hong Konghellip Whilst waiting for our connecting flight we stocked up on Starbucks We finally landed in Hanoi a few hours laterhellip We already arranged for our hotel Hanoi Elegance 2 to pick us up at the airport. We found our driver and off we went. The drive into central Hanoi was an eye opener of what was to c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-233073.html The Royal Air Morocco flight to Marrakech was smooth and well serviced... Our long weekend of bartering and practicing French and Arabic started as soon as we stepped out of the airport in Marrakech. We were getting to an agreed fee with one taxi driver when he suddenly just walked away from us... Lucky for us as soon as he walked away another taxi driver stepped up to go through the whole barte http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Marrakech-Tensift-El-Haouz/Marrakech/blog-205173.html A Spanish WinternbspEurope raquonbspSpain raquonbspBarcelona By fafaJanuary 15th 2007Feryal Barcelona has always been a favourite city destination of mine and this trip was just as exhilarating My fellow companions Sara and Kate took there first steps into the kooky city and it is fair to say that they really loved it. We stayed in the old town in a very nice little apartment it was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-154999.html Day 1 Thursday MauiWe arrived after a very short smooth flight from the Big Island. What hit me straightaway was how much hotter it felt in Maui. The airport was bigger than I expected and it was so much busier which felt slightly strange seeing as the Big Island is larger than Maui. We picked up our massive 4x4 from the unhappy Alamo people and went on our way. As soon as we got on the ma http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Maui/blog-97340.html Day 1 Friday The arrivalAfter an 18 hr flight from London with a two hour break at LAX we arrived at Kona airport on the Big Island. As we came in to land all I could really see was lengths of black lava stone it was like landing on the moon As we came off the plane onto the tarmac the thick air wrapped around us instantlyhellip this is always a tale tale sign that itrsquos holiday tim http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-91686.html I think I have just been to the most beautiful and happy wedding ever I really wasn't into the whole marriage ceremony thing but I now think I am completely converted. My best mate looked stunning her groom was so romantic in his speech his best man delivered the best speech I have ever heard at a wedding her uncle Roy sang like Sinatra the food was good the flower girl was too cute the w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-Manchester/Stockport/blog-64495.html Hens and stags galore in Edinburgh there were loads of us having said it was still a pretty fun weekend. We went clubbing both nights Friday night we had the delight of a stripper for the Hen and on the Saturday some of us didn't get in until 6am Crazy haa ha.For anyone that has never been to Edinburgh it is beautiful go as soon as you can you really don't need longer than a weekend. I http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Edinburgh/blog-64493.html Before I came to Cairo everyone warned me of how busy this city was how easy it is to get the shts and how amazing the pyramids are... well they were all right about this place. I have never been to a busier city the roads at midday are as busy as the ones at 3am. Forget New York London Paris Cairo is the city that never sleeps. Car horns do not take a rest the sounds of prayer time rin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-35542.html