http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/jnk106/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from jnk106 en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:59:10 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:59:10 +0000 Instead of just getting a bus from Sai Gon to Phnom Penh we'd had enough of buses by now we went by boat via a trip to the Mekong delta. The bus took us to the delta where we got our first glimpse at the mighty Mekong river actually just one of the many branches it was massive and very muddy. We were taking a day trip around the delta before going by bus the final several hundred kilomete http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/blog-165873.html On the basis of our previous 12 hour bus journeys I was expecting another night of uncomfort and torment as I boarded the bus for Sai Gon in Nha Trang. It appeared my fears were being quickly realised when immediately the woman in front of me fully reclined her seat into my legs. Excuse me I don't mind you reclining your seat so long as the seat next to you is left upright my legs dont fit i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-164224.html Out of the fifty or so seats on the bus only two are above the wheels. I was in one of them. Things wouldn't have been quite so bad had the girl in front not insisted on reclining her seat fully so that my legs physically and I'm not joking didn't fit in the space intended for them. Nick suffered the same torment. Twelve hours later I couldn't feel my feet and at 6.00am tired and delusional http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-163022.html In stark contrast to our previous adventure by bus the short four hour trip to Hoi An was a pleasure. We wound for hours along the coast and mountains receiving views of beaches in one direction and cloudy peaks in the other. We arrived feeling great. Hoi An in a small town in South Viet Nam famous for its old world heritage status centre where traditional architecture is the style and ta http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-162683.html Since the bus cost about 5 times less than the train and was actually faster we decided this was how we would travel Viet Nam. So we set out one April evening in Hanoi to embark on our first 13 hour overnight bus journey. I will say now that I am never amazed at the compassion of foreign drivers. This kind man realising we were British went out of his way to accomodate us by driving as often a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Hue/blog-160925.html Hanoi was hot like really hot near 40 degrees heatwave or something. No longer did I sweat it was my body crying from the heat. This led us all into a sense of false security since Ha Long Bay was no warmer than a cool British October we were underdressed at best. This was our first experience of the tour group going it solo would have cost countless times more and involved chartering http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-156776.html We got off the train in Hanoi shattered from a 35AM border crossing and set off on foot to find somewhere to stay. Over were the days of hostels and reservations from now it would have to be guesthouses and hotels and turning up unnanounced. For even cheaper than the hostels in China we were now lording it up with air conditioning and cable tv and privacy. We stayed in the old quater of Ha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-156326.html Yangshuo Crossing the border back to China we ran into a little difficulty with the passport control woman who was convinced that the photo of Ross when he was 15 was actually me and that we must have swapped passports or something. She actually called the supervisor who proceeded to check Ross' alternative forms of ID to prove himself. My tolerance of Chinese music especially on trains where y http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Yangshuo/blog-152476.html Hong Kong Again on our journey to Hong Kong the other occupants of our carriage did their best to avoid us or our feet. When we stepped off and the heat finally hit us. Up to this point it had still been necessary to wear a hoodie now it was hot We found our hotel in the Miradoor Mansion sister to the also infamous Chunking Mansion next door a massive crumbling block stuffed with every http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Hong-Kong-Island/blog-152475.html Shanghai Parting ways with Zander the 3 of us took a slightly less enjoyable train journey hard class lights out at 10pm music lights on 8am to Shanghai. Within 5 minuts of us arriving in our bed area there are no doors to the 'cabins' and taking our shoes off the Chinese family within had all fled and been replaced by the guard with a new set of unlucky passengers I believe money ch http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-152474.html If you ever have the time in your life to ride the trans mongolian railway then do so if you don't then make time. We had the most amazing adventure crossing the continents of Europe and Asia. The first few days we crossed through Europe and the Ural Mountains heading into the Siberean plain trees everywhere. The snow and ice made for an even more interesting trip there was a hole in the b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/blog-137456.html Xi'an After a pleasant overnight train journey to Xian we could switch the music in the cabin off we arrived in Xi'an to find unexpectantly a man waving a James Kilby sign bonus We were staying right in the centre of the city overlooking the massive Bell Tower where Ross and I actually rang the bell There was just as much smog as in Beijing and it was only slightly warmer but the city http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shaanxi/Xi-an/blog-152469.html Arriving in China was our first major culture shock of our trip until then we had spent most of our time staring out of train windows at snow or living it up in the largely European style Moscow. The train station alone was massive with waiting rooms to accomodate up to 14000 people the majority of which seemed to be amassed outside in a giant mob of which were two of the most hyperactive g http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Tian-anmen/blog-152468.html I am already in Love with Moscow. We are told its warm this week 6C however there is a biting wind 12C that freezes your face off. We've been to all the famous sights including Red Square the Kremlin St Basils Cathedral and the GUM store. Yesterday we visited the statue park to hang with retired sculptures of Lenin and Stalin mixed with new sculptures of everything from houses to ice pig http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-133124.html Everything is going well. Spent the last two days on trains with a few quick runarounds in Brussels and Cologne in between the cathedral is amazing. On the OstWest Express to moscow myself and Nick shared a 3 berth compartment with Vlad an electrical engineer from Moscow. We drank 1 litre tins of beer and shot vodka with a polish guy named Marco who we decided to leave when he couldn't sit u http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/North-Rhine-Westphalia/Cologne/blog-133066.html