http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/gz55/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from gz55 en-us Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:39:14 +0000 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:39:14 +0000 Once again I'm playing catch up with my travelblogsJames and I spent about six days on Perhentain Kecil Island one of the two main Perhentian Islands. We arrived in early July and we would probably have spent longer there if we had not had to make our way up to Bangkok for midJuly. Nonetheless six days was time enough to recharge from the exertions of mainland Malaysia and to generally just ch http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Terengganu/Perhentian-Kecil/blog-15367.html Last week I was in San Pedro. It all seems like yesterday so far away...Belize in Central America was the stop after Miami. We stayed on Ambergris Caye island which is east of the Belize mainland. The main town on the Caye is San Pedro and if this isn't the place that Madonna sang about then the locals have done a good job in convincing people that it isWe arrived in Belize International a http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Belize/blog-8626.html Pronounced 'Nawlins'When we planned the USA part of our trip we had no idea that the New Orleans Jazz Festival weekend even existed let alone that we would arrive on the first day of it and leave on the last Skill. We also had no idea that the last few Jazz Fests had been washouts. Not this timeNew Orleans was hot and humid but not unbearably so. We only had one morning of cloud and the res http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Louisiana/New-Orleans/blog-7741.html What a welcome change it was when we got out of the airport and drove to Miami Beach. Hot sun palm trees and a wide beach that stretched for miles. I'd been a bit put off by stories of crime before arriving we even considered changing dates to spend less time there but now we were here I was glad to have the best part of four days to kick back and relax.And that's mostly what we did.The hos http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Miami/blog-8210.html Indonesia consists of approximately 17000 islands. Indonesia Map We made it to eight which isn't bad going.First stop was the island of Bali probably the most touristy island of them all. We were craving some beach action after cloudy and humid Hong Kong so we headed down to Kuta and found a nice place about two minutes walk from the beach. This was our first experience of low prices on our tr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/blog-12365.html I was having trouble finding a word to describe Singapore until somebody told me that they found it to be 'sterile'. I like that word.Singapore is also described as a nanny state it's illegal to chew gum and until recently it was also against the law to dance on tables in clubs . A plus point to this government hard line is that there is very little litter and the areas that we saw were ver http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-14262.html It was a simple overland border crossing from Singapore to Malaysia. Still early we decided not to hang around in the place that we arrived in instead getting a coach north to the nearest major town on the tourits trail Melaka. Our guide book gave Melaka a very favourable write up and although the people were very friendly I found it to be a fairly lifeless place.It was evening by the time we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/blog-15092.html Thailand 'The Land of Smiles' this is how I had heard the country referred to before I arrived. The mental images that I'd formed from this description were soon dispelled when we reached the border it would appear that the scowling and abruptness of customs and immigration officials is a global occurrenceJames and I had been a wee bit naughty as we'd crossed into a region of Thailand that th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-15368.html Cambodia is a country with an interesting and diverse if often disturbing historyIn 1975 the Communist 'Khmer Rouge' launched an offensive that eventually destroyed the Khmer Republic that had previously governed the country. The Khmer Rouge soon turned Cambodia into a land of horror. Immediately after its victory the new regime ordered the evacuation of all cities and towns sending the enti http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-15369.html Well some of them anyway there are so manyTHE BLOGS ARE BACK and now that I have some free time again you'll be able to get right back up to date. I can almost hear the screams of uncontained excitement and glee from here...An update on my current situation I've still not left SouthEast Asia due to meeting a young lady named Fern. Had I not changed my flight dates I would have been halfw http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-28399.html Bangkok was the next stop after my islandhopping and I wasn't too pleased to be back. The sun sand and sea of my previous month was now replaced with noise smog and rain.Already familiar with the city I found a very basic room for about 2GBP a night. Central location quiet shared bathroom and nothing but a bed small fan and four close walls. Perfect. It wasn't long before I'd spoken to Fern http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-29888.html 'Travelling Back in Time' is how Fern felt about our journey through Laos rhymes with 'cow'. I shan't bore you with too much history for a welcome change but Laos and Thailand are similar in some respects although urban Thailand is much more modern which I assume is due to a bountiful tourism industry.Having finished up in Northern Thailand we crossed into Laos at the nearest border which http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/blog-29889.html In what seems like a former life I can remember sitting at home and watching a TV programme that followed a woman's travels through Vietnam. And what a journey it was. She took trains to remote destinations drank ant 'lemonade' with the locals and downed a stiff drink that had a freshly removed and still beating cobra's heart floating in it amongst other unique experiences.Our travels weren't http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-29890.html It felt good to get back to the structured lifestyle of the USA after recharging our batteries in Belize. Although we didn't get out of the airport until gone midnight we had our hire car ready and waiting for us there and we managed to find our hostel without too much trouble.My first worrying San Fran incident came very early in our stay. After checking in I had to park the car about half a mil http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-9192.html I'm condensing a few different places into one blog as it'd take weeks to update you otherwise.The first stop after San Francisco was Yosemite National Park. We got up to about 6500 feet above sea level although some of the mountain peaks rose to 13k and the weather changed as we approached. The blue skies and warm sunshine that we'd become used to were replaced by grey clouds and cold rain. It http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/blog-9198.html I love Japan. I love Japan. I love Japan.The Japanese are so friendly courteous and helpful probably the opposite of us English Tokyo itself was a great place with so much to see and do but it's the memory of the people that will stay with me longest. and the women are very hot tooSome examplesArthur left his unwanted US dollar coins next to a ticket machine in the entrance hall of the m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-11455.html I'd only ever seen the Hong Kong skyline on the TV and that made it look like a very modern and clean city so when we drove into Hong Kong I was quite surprised by just how grubby and dilapidated some of the areas were. The building that housed our hostel was no better although the room itself was spick and span if not the most spacious.Nathan Road the main NorthSouth road is a mass of people http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-11941.html I am SO behind with this we left the USA on 19th May...Anyway I can still remember what happened so here goesThe last night in San Diego was a torrid one for me as I was very sick. I'm blaming the salad that I ate on Coronado Island but I'll never know for certain. The next morning the alarm went off at 7am so I dragged myself out of bed as we had to get going as early as possible. I can qui http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/blog-9570.html I'm playing catch up with these travelblogs as I've left New York partied in New Orleans and am currently sunning myself in Miami Beach. Anyway...New York was great and we managed to see and do most of the things we wanted to in a short space of time. If I go back there then I'd use the time to wander around some of the areas that I didn't see and just take in the place a little more. I'm glad th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/blog-7701.html So much to update you with as I've now been to New York and am in my second day in New Orleans BUT the internet charges are astronomical and uploading my photos takes ages...In the meantime here are some photos from Montreal inluding me with my new commando haircut http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Quebec/Montreal/blog-7575.html