The seven hour or so bus ride to Phnom Penh was totally forgettable and uneventful which was a stark contrast to our recent journey to Battambang - thank *insert your deity here*! So having arrived in Cambodia’s capital unflustered and in good spirits we hired a chatty tuk-tuk driver called Chang (same name as the local beer) who recommended a reasonably priced hotel by the riverside, which we liked, and who insisted that he be our driver for our stay in Phnom Penh, we couldn’t refuse his cheeky charm and irreverent banter - sold. Having overdosed on Cambodia’s magnificent [View Full Entry]

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What do you know, I’m more than a little behind with my blogging, too much lazing around and enjoying myself to start typing that’s what… loads of photos to sort through, beaches to bathe on, DVD’s to digest, games to play, oh and of course places to see… so what’s new eh? Well, the next leg of our trip turned out to be one of the more memorable journeys to date, Siem Reap to Battambang via boat across the great ‘Tonle Sap’ proved to be an uncomfor-gettable eye opener. Tonle Sap literally translates into ‘Large Fresh Water River’ [View Full Entry]

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We crossed through the eastern Thai border of Poipet into Cambodia by bus, which was a long and convoluted affair. We had arranged for our visa’s to be sorted out by the hotel we were staying at in Bangkok, filled out a form, passport sized photographs attached and handed over our money, this way we were told, we would not have to wait around at the border…. hmmm, not entirely true. The bus en-route to Cambodia stops off at the Cambodian embassy/consulate in Thailand before arriving at the border and waits a good 45 minutes whilst the passports get processed, (delay [View Full Entry]

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Fully relaxed and ready to go we bode farewell to Koh Chang and caught the return bus back to Bangkok, the complete journey (both ways), including the ferry rides cost us the grand total of around $16 USD or £8, man you gotta love this country. On returning to Bangkok we decided not to stay around the Kao San Road circus this time, opting instead for the much more sedate and civilised Rambuttri Road, which is just a stones throw away from the infamous street and nestled up against a lovely old temple (Wat) - infinitely more relaxing. Claire was going [View Full Entry]

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Following a busy Christmas break visiting all you lovely folk back in sunny *cough* old England, it was with great anticipation that we set out again to complete our ‘World Tour’. Our nine months in Lamerica had been a spectacular opener, full of ancient culture, majestic monolithic ruins, colourful peoples and very special memories all of which culminated after completing the arduous Inca Trail and savouring the lofty mountainous idyll of Machu Picchu. I must confess that this leg of our journey is somewhat unfamiliar to me, or should I say that I really don’t have a clue [View Full Entry]

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The day, the big day, the beginning of the end, the end of the beginning was finally upon us and we were picked up bright and early from our hotel in Cuzco. The weeks seemed to have flown by since the 1st October when we had first entered Peru and booked the Machu Picchu expedition from our helpful travel guide Alberto. Being told then that we would have to wait over a month to get onto the official trek seemed like an eternity, so during the weeks that followed we put our pedals to the metal and took in the best [View Full Entry]

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Next on our grand tour of Peru was Huacachina, an idyllic little oasis ‘town’ nestled amongst gigantic sand dunes in Peru’s western desert area and only a short taxi drive from the recently earthquake hit town of Ica. On driving through Ica from the bus station to Huacachina, the earthquakes destructive forces were evident everywhere from the rubble piles and corrugated sheet boarding up municipal buildings to the shop fronts showing stress cracks with missing facades in the town square. We also saw numerous temporary, makeshift homes scattered along the roadside that the l [View Full Entry]

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Following our whirlwind tour of Peru (and brief foray into Bolivia) we were back in Cuzco for one final time. Cuzco, Cuzco, Cuzco, I freely admit that I thoroughly fell for all its ancient charms, peoples, history, cobbled streets, traveller friendly shops and colourful parades that seem to occur on a weekly basis here. Cuzco was the Inca’s capital city and it is believed that it was originally laid out to represent the puma, and although the invading Castilians raised the majority of its original buildings the Inca foundations are still clearly visible on numerous streets, proudly bea [View Full Entry]

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The frantic rushing about, lack of sleep, inadequate wash facilities and decent food during the humpy, bumpy night-bus journeys throughout Bolivia's unsurfaced road network had final caught up with me. I was totally wiped out during the next few days in Arequipa with some stomach bug, and as such I couldn't get out and about to enjoy the spectacular Colca Canyon which was on its doorstep, doh! We hadn't really factored it in to this journey and as so, it will have to go on my list of things to do when we next visit South America, a list that is [View Full Entry]

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Due to our close proximity to Bolivia we decided to make a dash for the Uyuni Salt Flats, this is something that Claire had been mad on doing since seeing all the amazing perspective photos on other peoples blogs, and something I wasn't really that bothered about to be honest. After eventually giving into the my ladies persuasive arguments we jumped on a luxury tourist bus and made our way around the shores of the majestic Lake Titicaca. Three or four hours out of Puno we arrived at the first destination - Copacobana "Her name was Lola.... She was a show [View Full Entry]

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