http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/mightymouse/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from mightymouse en-us Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:19:34 +0000 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:19:34 +0000 Well you would think the drama was over wouldn't you but no there was one more crisis so to speak to get through.We had the whole day in Auckland before catching the overnight bus to Wellington. We had a tired but good day in Auckland and were exceedingly happy to get on the bus to get some sleep. At about 3.00am in the morning the bus ground to a halt in the middle of nowhere. I woke to th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Wellington/blog-349495.html We departed Tioman on the first ferry out and then waited for the next coach from Mersing to take us through Johor Baru hope that's spelt right before carrying on into Singapore. We left with four friends but had to part at the bus station because there weren't enough seats. However we arranged to meet up that evening in Little India The journey was painless and efficient. We had immigrati http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/Raffles-Marina/blog-349493.html This little update is a round up for the ten days or so we spent on Tioman because as you will see we didn't do an awful lotSo following on from KL we caught the overnight bus down to Mersing. This has to be our coldest ever ever bus trip just for good measure here's another ... ever. Within the first five minutes I was shivering and had put on my jacket and socks. All to no avail we w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Pahang/Pulau-Tioman/blog-345726.html Hello This is the first time I've logged back on since arriving in New Zealand to discover the updates I did on Tioman haven't well updated. Humph How fed up am I So I'd better get on and redo them just aswelll it's raining outside ehSo we flew from Siem Reap to KL. The airport was very little and we discovered our baggage was overweight. We were flying the equivalent of Easy http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-345703.html Ok you lucky readers we have managed to find an internet 5mins walk from our beach hut instead of the hours plus walk internet we found the other day Phew for us more time on the beach So without further ado here goes for the next update Sihanoukville to Siem Reap .......... Our bus trip was eventful as ever. The first five hours to Phnom Penh saw us suffering the aroma of dead and ro http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-335359.html The next we left with Robin and took a bus trip to Sihanoukville for a few days at the beach. Wow. Our first stop was Victory Beach which is quite lovely. White beaches and turquoise seas. We went straight in and the water was beautifully warm.The next day saw us heading out on a boat trip to visit a few islands snorkel and swim. The trip included breakfast bread and jam lunch drinks etc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Sihanoukville/blog-331741.html The night before in the hotel whilst nursing an ice pack to my swollen bruised arm you taught me well mum we met a great guy who answers to the name of Robin. An ex brit who has emigrated to New Zealand and has given us a wealth of information. Anyway we all hooked up today and shared the cost of a tuk tuk around Phnom Penh.We first went to The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. Some seventeen th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-331735.html Having shaken off our touts best attempts to part us with more money than necessary we made our way out in the afternoon to explore Chau Doc. This didn't take very long and we soon found ourself retiring to a riverside cafe to enjoy the views and sunset over a long cool drink. The river is full of life. All shapes and size of boat ply their trade across the waters. No stretch is quite for more http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-331725.html Well David carried out his promise and had Anteater and I tasted some too. To be honest it was quite nice although I'm glad I stuck to then non exoctic sweet and sour pork. By the way he lived to tell the tale better than the Llama in BoliviaI have a bit of a dicky keyboard so apologise in advance for the errorsSo we departed for Saigon on a seven hour bus trip which took ten This had someth http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/Chau-Doc/blog-328517.html Dalat aaahhhh cool so cool .... I'm cold Who would have thought that eh First things first our last day in Nha Trang we visited the Oceangraphic Museum. We saw lots of brilliant coloured fish reef and zebra sharks and turtles in not so big tanks. An interesting insight was gained to more of whats hidden under Vietnams waters we must learn to scuba dive soon we are missing out on http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Central-Highlands/Da-Lat/blog-328509.html Ok so another overnight bus journey and this one was hell. No two ways about it. Same set up as before except the driver couldn't do what he was employed to do drive. His foot was on and off the go pedal and he threw the bus around at every available opportunity. I didn't let go of the little hand rails on either side of the bedseat and my Ipod played out all night long in a frustrating b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-325219.html We took our first overnight sleeper bus from Ninh Bihn to Hue which was an experience. Imagine a coach with all the seats taken out and replaced with reclining beds. Three across and two deep. At the back of the bus there are five beds two deep On this occasion our coach had a sheet blanket and pillow. As for comfort well lets see that's pretty low on the list but still we managed to cat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-325215.html Across the border into Vietnam and you are met with another one horse dusty town. The one and only bus leaves at 2.00pm to Thanh Hoa and everyone knows there's a westerner in town. The bus driver passengers and by all accounts the towns occupants are all in on the act and YOU WILL get fleeced for your tickets and pay well over the odds. We stood our ground and let the bus drive off if it had http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Cat-Ba-Island/blog-321409.html After boat race day which was exceedingly hot we left the next day to head to Nong Khiaw. There were no buses running that day because there was another day of boat races so we ended up on a Sawangtaew which is basically a cross between an oversized tuk tuk and a mini pick up van. Along both sides of the van run two pieces of wood covered with the minimal of padding which are your seats. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/East/Vieng-Xai/blog-321398.html Hey there this relaxing bug is getting too much I have finally forced myself to come down to the internet and let you know that we are still alive and wellWe are currently in Luang Prabang in Laos. What a fantastic place this is. We left Nongkhai over the not so Friendship Bridge for once the Thai people were grumpy and promplty found ourselves driving on the right hand side of the road http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-317792.html Firstly folks apologies for taking so long to update the blog. I meant to do it a couple of days ago but went down with a little bit of a cold and faced with a fifteen minute walk into town in the heat and humidity or relaxing on our little house boat watching the world go by sipping drinks well you know which option won out And I've still got my little cold so I'm getting a little fed up http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-East-Thailand/Nong-Khai/blog-314574.html Not an awful lot to report. Arrived safely from Kathmandu and our bags were already off the carousel by the time we got through immigrationWe then had an interesting trip through the highways and byways of Kolkata before arriving at our hotel. I must admit there were quite a few times that both David and I wondered where we were going to end up The traffic here doesn't seem to be as bad as http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/West-Bengal/Kolkata/blog-311601.html Sorry for the delay folks just been having a rare old time here I do have photos to put on but I can't get the technology to work here We depart to Calcutta tomorrow so perhaps I will have more luck there I will keep tryingWith the luxury of time on our side we have been quite lazy and not rushed around. We visited the Garden of Dreams on the edge of Thamel and this was really a delightful http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/blog-309642.html So we arrived in Kathmandu safe and sound. As we made our descent David looked out the window and said 'are we crashing or landing' The plane merely skirts over the tree and rice covered peaks surrounding Kathmandu. Lots of steep banking and nose diving sees you touching down all rather quickly but at least safely perhaps this a landing I wouldn't want to do in a stormSo we had a quick wal http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Nepal/Kathmandu/Everest-flight/blog-306205.html After a very hot ten hour bus journey we made it in one piece to Agra. Our hotel was by chance and basically a building site we should have known better but more about that later.The next morning saw us getting up at 5.00am to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. The gates open at 6.00am and by the time we had tickets got rid of our bags and had body searches we got in around 6.30am. Well the sun http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-304387.html