http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kifandpeter/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kifandpeter en-us Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:27:58 +0000 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:27:58 +0000 Hello againSo I left it a bit of a secret of where I was off to after Palau if you read the title already you can see that I went to Malaysia with a quick little stop in Brunei just to say I've been there.After spending a couple extra days in Manila I flew to Kota Kinabalu KK as its known as. It was a nice change from manic Manila to come to a place with roughly 200000 people. It was also m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/blog-456420.html Now I am contemplating whether or not to write this blog or not. I mean do I tell you do I not I want to tell you about this beautiful beautiful place but I don't want to wreck its cozy and lovable feel. I mean it's still a noncommercialized nonsupertouristy place where the locals say hello to you as you pass by and cars stop to let you cross the street. It's so beautiful half of you read http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Palau/Koror/blog-454700.html Hello blog followers.Well here Max and I are in a new country our last country together for our trip. Well that's a half truth we're meeting up in Australia later on but I got a couple of places I want to go see first.Anyways We flew into Manila without a hitch and found a place to crash for the night. The Philippines have a heavy US influence which means we were back in the land of fast food http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Manila/blog-449844.html Hello againFirstly thanks for all the blog love I've been getting glad you guys are liking the blog. I'm just happy to share our adventures and some pictures.Anyways last time it was Northern Vietnam and Halong Bay that amazed us this time it was the central coast of Vietnam.There is an open bus ticket option here in Vietnam where you choose the number of stops along the way from Hanoi to Ho C http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-447426.html Oh my oh my this place is beautifulSo where did I leave off last time I wrote in this blog Oh right the night before getting into Vietnam. Well we got up fine and got on our early bus out of Phnom Penh. The bus ride was about 6 hrs and the funniest part was when we hit the border. We think they like to screw around with tourists mainly because we were the only white guys on the bus. So they http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Halong-Bay/blog-445766.html Hello againWell its been a little while since I last reminded you guys that wee still alive and traveling around Southeast Asia so I guess I should fill you in on what weve been doing. . .After our cultural binge in Siem Reap we decided to head south way south to find some sort of sun and beach. The weather was promising heavy rain showers for the next 3 weeks but we decided to take a chance and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-443940.html Hello again blog readersFirstly we are not dead It seems though that all the areas around us are being hit hard Vietnam typhoon Laos flooding Philippines typhoon Indonesia earthquake Samoa earthquake but Cambodia is doing ok. Well we did have a little flooding...But first we arrived in Siemreap after our super fun car ride. We got dropped off in the middle of town close to a o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-441931.html Hello againSo I guess I left the last blog off at the Bangkok internet cafe eh Well that as it turned out was our little break in our trip. You see we went back to the train station to catch a 640 train to Nong Khai a mere 13 hr train ride away. But as our luck goes with Thailand transportation it ended up being 15 hrs. But it was alright we each had our own pair of seats to curl up into http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-439542.html Sooo we may have lied a little to you guys in that last blog. See it's Max and me we're talking about we said we'ld plan for months before this trip. We got together got distracted by this that and everything and didn't really plan this trip. But that is almost the beauty of a trip like this you see we decided right after I posted the blog to wait on Cambodia and go down south in Thailand t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Tao/blog-436089.html Hello peopleI guess it's time to give you guys a little update on our little trip. Yes OUR I found Max He's alive and well and now we can tackle this continent together Woot.But I did have two and half random days in Bangkok till he came here. I can catch you up quickly.I flew in here faster than expected my 13 hr flight into Hong Kong turned into a 12 hour leisure trip I slept for most of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-434837.html HelloSo I haven't written one of these blogs in a while maybe it's because I haven't had a reason to since I stayed at home for the summer but fear not I am on the brink of my next trip I'm actually flying away in about 6 hours to Bangkok Thailand via Hong Kong and will be traveling around SE Asia with my friend Max for 4 months. Sadly this means you'll be hearing a lot less from Peter in th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver/West-Vancouver/blog-434109.html BonjourI arrived back from Madrid at 9am and as I mentioned before it was frightfully cold at 13 degrees in Brussels. I got my stuff back to my place and then went out chocolate shopping for gifts for people back home. After stalking up I went to visit my favourite ice cream place and my favourite durum place one last time.For dinner I met Claude and two of her friends whose names escape me http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-433942.html Buenos DiasI woke up early once again and caught the bus to Segovia as it would take less time than the train. As the bus was passing through the Sierra Madre Mountains I saw the Valle de los Caidos. Franco had it built by slaves to commemorate his fallen soldiers. Shortly after seeing it I arrived in Segovia.As I walked into town I passed several very old churches so I began to get the feeli http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Castile-Leon/Segovia/blog-433941.html OlaIt was too early. I got up at 330am in order to catch a bus at 430am. Irsquom sure you are asking yourself why would I get up at such an hour Itrsquos simple really. I was heading to the town of Buol. There is nothing really remarkable about the town itself. In fact itrsquos down right ugly. However the day was more significant than most. The reason I was getting on the bus was beca http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Valencian-Community/Bu-ol/blog-433940.html OlaI woke up early in the morning and caught the fast train to Toledo. The city was one of the most significant throughout history in that part of Spain and was home to Christians Muslims and Jews alike. As a result the hilltop city located in a bend in the Tajo River is a reposit of beautiful buildings and enthralling history.The early morning colours in the city were quite remarkable as I mad http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Castile-La-Mancha/Toledo/blog-433938.html OlaI joined the queues of fellow race fans on the first train out of Valencia to Madrid the morning after the race. The train ride wasnrsquot that long and they played 310 to Yuma so I watched it in Spanish and was quite entertained. Itrsquos a great movie if anyone hasnrsquot seen it. I didnrsquot see anyone tilting but I did see some windmills as I was crossing the plain en route to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-433935.html OlaAfter leaving Barcelona I headed south along the coast to Valencia. I arrived before noon and headed past the opulent buildings and into the old town known as the Barrio del Carmen where my hostel was located. It was a great hostel with single beds in each room and a beautiful two story atrium and lounge area that was one of the best ones I had ever seen.I didnrsquot stay in the hostel lon http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Valencian-Community/Valencia/blog-433929.html OlaI arrived in Tarragona around 830 or so and not much was open yet. The city was founded in 217 BC by the Romans and it was one of the most significant Roman cities in Spain.I wandered over to the Forum and took some photos before heading along the waterfront to the wellpreserved Amphitheatre. I enjoyed wandering around the site because there was no one there and I had it all to myself. I th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Tarragona/blog-433839.html OlaI woke up at the crack of dawn and hopped on the bus for the three hour bus ride to Andorra. I slept for the first hour. But I was glad I woke up for the rest of the trip. It was incredibly scenic. The foothills began and I saw many small hilltop villages surrounded by open fields. I also saw a hotair balloon gliding silently over the hills above me. As the bus got closer to the Pyrenees the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Andorra/La-Vella/blog-433838.html OlaThe next morning Steffen and I got up early and the hostel for the station. He was taking the bus up to the Pyrenees and I was taking the train to Barcelona.I got off the train at Sants the main train station and I decided to walk to my hostel which did not seem like it was that far a walk. It only took me half an hour but it was 32 degrees and humid so I was dripping by the time I got to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-433837.html