jamiep
Jamie Pett Joined: March 7th 2008
Logged in: March 12th 2011
Logged in: March 12th 2011
My basic itinerary is...
March 18th-April 12th - China (click here to see my route)
April 12th-May11th - Thailand - Malaysia - Singapore (including this)
May 12th-June 1st - New Zealand (Christchurch > Auckland)
June 1st-June 23rd - South Africa (check this to see my route from Johannesburg to Capetown via Swaziland)
Travel Blog Posts
Robben Island Prison
DAY 95 - CAPE TOWN Dad seems to have taken to the habit of taking a morning stroll while he waits for me to awake from my slumber. Once I was up we headed down to the V & A waterfront where we booked our tickets for Robben Island the next day then did a little shopping. We walked towards the city centre, getting pasta on the way and visited the Cathedral as well as the biggest African craft store ever. Thousands of beaded necklaces hanging from the walls! We headed back to the hostel since I wasn't feeling so well and indeed I think I picked something up from the water during the shark dive and I really wasn't up for anything at all for the remainder of the day. I met some French speakers ... read more
Crocodile
Part three of my catch-up and my penultimate blog! This takes me all along the coast from St Lucia to Capetown. DAY 85 - SWAZILAND - ST LUCIA We got up early to set off out of the country. We met Ros (a Young Farmer from Lancashire) and James ('Iggins from South London) and we all stayed at Bib's Backpackers in St Lucia - possibly the friendliest place I've stayed at. For the afternoon Dad and I kayaked in crocodile, hippo and shark infested water! We got within feet of some crocs in our little plastic vessels. It was very pretty to on the estuary while the sun set. For dinner we bought some meat and put it on the braai (bbq) - our meal was interrupted as we went just outside to see hippos grazing ... read more
Elephant
Part 2 of my major catch-up. Basically this takes me through safari in the Kruger National Park and Swaziland. DAY 76 - AUCKLAND - SYDNEY - JOHANNESBURG The flights via Sydney were nothing special. I think I watched 5 movies or so. After my 18 hours in the air it was good to see Dad in the Jo'burg Arrivals Lounge. Went straight back to our place for the next couple of nights and had pizza for tea before having an early night since I was utterly exhausted and the time zone had changed 10 hours for me. DAY 77 - JOHANNESBURG This was pretty much a day dedicated to recovery. We went to a mall complex and watched the new Indiana Jones movie before heading back and sorted out our laundry. That's pretty much it. DAY ... read more
Tongariro Crossing
Hey guys, It's been a hectic few weeks since I posted my last blog so I thought I'd split it down into manageable bitesize chunks for your pleasure. I won't upload any pics until I get home now cos it's rather slow here but keep a look out for them next week. Here goes... DAY 71 - TAUPO I stayed an extra day in Taupo just so I could do the "best one day walk in New Zealand" - The Tongariro Crossing. I had to wake up at 5.30am to get the bus to the National Park and have enough daylight to walk. It was utterly gorgeous there. We went above the snow line so it got a bit chilly but well worth the "devil's staircase" climb. We walked past Mount Doom from Lord of the ... read more
A Long Way from Cornwall with Phil and Rosie
DAY 56 - PLANE - SYDNEY - PLANE - CHRISTCHURCH I got very little sleep on the plane from Singapore but made the most of my free calls from Australia in the 3 hours I was in Sydney airport. I was in a good mood from hearing about Manchester United winning the league! The flight to Christchruch was fine although when I arrived I had to go through the infamous immigration procedure and my shoes had to be cleaned to avoid bringing unwanted soil into the eco-system. As I left rhe airport I joined with three Swedish girls (Johanna, Sarah and Maria) to getting a cheaper shuttle bus to the city centre and in the end we ate together and stayed at the same hostel before having a nap then going out that night for a ... read more
Relaxing on Koh Tao
Wow it's been a while since my last blog and it's been very different to travel alone rather than in a group. In a way there's much less to tell you about since to be honest I haven't seen so many places or done so much and yet I've probably learnt more by having to get around by myself and having time to simply observe the culture. These past few weeks have taken me from Bangkok, to a diving course on Koh Tao, relaxing and partying on Koh Phangan, travelling down thru Malaysia and surprising Hanah on her 18th birthday in Singapore! DAY 35 - BANGKOK I didn't really get up to much as far as sight-seeing goes in my final few days in Bangkok since I really didn't feel up to it with my legs ... read more
My group on the canal in Bangkok
Hey everyone. It's been a crazy week or so since my last blog with all sorts of surreal stuff going on but I'm still loving it. Thailand has such a different vibe to China. It's called the "Land of Smiles" with good reason. I'll start where I left off.... DAY 24 - HONG KONG After spending 7 hours online updating my blog among other things I didn't have much of the day left and it was cloudy so I basically just explored a bit and got some Italian food before heading back to the craziness of the hostel to sleep. DAY 25 - HONG KONG I had another day where I was working through my to do list; sending off postcards etc (let me know if you've received one). I then decided to go to Hong ... read more
Shanghai acrobats
Hey there everyone. I've got so much to write about but it has to be in less detail than before (phew) since I want to get out an explore Hong Kong a little bit more! If you want to know anytihng in more detail leave a comment and I'll get back to you eventually! DAY 12 - SHANGHAI We arrived by train in the morning and spent the day getting refreshed, going on the internet and eating. In the evening we went to see the famous Shanghai acrobats. They were actually pretty impressive. There was good variety- from spinning plates to a motorbike wheel of death with 5 at a time. Afterwards Patrice, Shirley and I had some supper and had an interesting discussion about foreigners in China and how they're very carefully watched. It's fascinating ... read more
Me with some terracotta warriors
DAY 7 - Great Wall We got up to leave Beijing on a minibus at 8. I still haven't slept in past 8.30am on this trip which is quite something for me! We had a three hour journey to a quieter part of the Wall. The more touristy areas have been repaired and are pretty much as good as new. However to get away from the crowds we were on a section without steps but with equally beuatiul scenary. We walked for about 4 hours up and down various parts of the wall, avoiding the bit used by the military and instead bumping into an old lady with a scythe insisting with couldn't keep o the same path cos it was their land! Luckily our guide was on hand to sort that one out! We hd ... read more
Forbidden City
DAY 1 - London-Beijing There's not much to say for the journey apart from that it was tough to leave everything behind and felt like a big step but once I was actually moving on the plane I was fine. I got a window seat and managed a couple hours sleep after watching St Trinian's (which was awful). DAY 2 - Beijing I arrived in Beijing on Wednesday morning, endured a treacherous taxi journey and got to my hotel room to find I'd been given a double room with a king sized bed all to myself - I could get used to this! After having a much-needed shower I walked straight out the door and explored for the day. I went to Tian'an Men Square, saw Mao's body, went all around the Forbidden City and got ... read more
