http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/monkeycopilot/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from monkeycopilot en-us Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:49:40 +0000 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:49:40 +0000 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 Cambodiarsquos capital unflustered and in good spirits we hired a chatty tuktuk driver called Chang same name as the local beer who recommended a reasonably priced hotel by the riverside which http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-285038.html What do you know Irsquom more than a little behind with my blogging too much lazing around and enjoying myself to start typing thatrsquos whathellip loads of photos to sort through beaches to bathe on DVDrsquos to digest games to play oh and of course places to seehellip so whatrsquos new eh Well the next leg of our trip turned out to be one of the more memorable journeys to d http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-277386.html 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 visarsquos 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 borderhellip. hmmm not entirely true. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-266937.html 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 R http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ayuthaya/blog-258253.html 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 lsquoWorld Tourrsquo. 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ko-Chang/blog-250570.html 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 offi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-244693.html 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 Incarsquos capital city and it is believed that it was origi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Sacred-Valley/blog-237304.html Next on our grand tour of Peru was Huacachina an idyllic little oasis lsquotownrsquo nestled amongst gigantic sand dunes in Perursquos 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 bo http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Huacachina/blog-237296.html The frantic rushing about lack of sleep inadequate wash facilities and decent food during the humpy bumpy nightbus 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 W http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Ica/Nazca/Nazca-Lines/blog-216225.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/Potosi-Department/Salar-de-Uyuni/blog-216224.html After a few days relaxing back in Cuzco following our jungle expedition we hopped on a bus and headed down to Puno near the Bolivian border destination Lake Titicaca. This is one impressive expanse of water sitting at 12500ft above sea level and covering over 8000 sq km it is both the highest lake in the world and the largest lake in South America. Fed by five rivers that flow from the sn http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Puno/Lake-Titicaca-/blog-216222.html Well hiya folks here goes again Hope everyone is good and well as you are already aware I was writing my El Salvador blog whilst waiting for the connecting flight to Cuzco Peru. Since then we have been upto a fair bit and I will write a dedicated Cuzco blog a little later but before that let me get you upto date a bit before I do more stuff and get even further behind with my blogging....We http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Madre-de-Dios/Puerto-Maldonado/blog-213462.html Hehe.. . had to get them Athlete lyrics in there... We did actually know why we were going to El Salvador and what for Claire was pretty much whacked out following her Shamanic training and we decided a couple of weeks by the coast was the order of the day before continuing our journeys through the rest of Central America. After finding a fabulous retreat in the pages of the trusty local Revue http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/El-Salvador/Libertad/blog-209859.html Hola everybody hope alls good and well wherever you are o I am determined to get up to date with this blogging lark as we have just arrived in Lima Peru today 1st October and am currently writing this whilst waiting for the connecting flight to take us to Cuzco. We have spent the last 2 weeks in El Salvador blog to follow shortly and so here I am here trying to get you up to speed on what' http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Antigua/blog-207446.html Hi again... I'm getting lazier and lazier with this my homework.... Hope everyone is good and well as per usual... Happy Birthday everyone I've managed to miss Hangs head in shame. Yes Happy Belated Birthday wishes to Carl David Jamie Matt Paul and Maz Real sorry Irsquom sure you had a blast without me though eh Well it's a little later than previously mentioned in my earlier b http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Lago-de-Atitlan/blog-201266.html Hola Hola Hola....Long time since I've done this.... Hope everyone is good and well and enjoying the summer as much as I am. You might be wondering what I've been upto over the past month and a half so I'm gonna break it down into two parts. We left the beautiful Flores Lake Peten and headed down south towards the mountainous regions of the country and stayed at Quetzaltenango or Xela pr http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/blog-193837.html Hey up everyone hows good old blighty this fine summer Is it all good Just to make you feel better I can report that it's not always fair and rosy here either. We are currently in the mountains again and I'm writing this in retrospect but we have experienced some very cold nights epic tropical storms an attack of killer hail stones the size of chick peas and I'm happy to say that I've surv http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Flores-Tikal/blog-177795.html Hey up once again I'm not gonna be writing much this time as I've written plenty over the last few blogs. Basically we headed from Tulum to Valladolid which is a small town in the central Yucatan so I was striking distance from my main Mexico must see of Chichen Itza and also the local Ek Balam Maya Ruins. We stayed at a great hotel on the zocalo called Hotel Maria De Luz which had its own swim http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Yucat%E1n/Valladolid/blog-168128.html lsquoBreathe Breathe In The Air Donrsquot Be Afraid To Carehelliprsquo and so starts the classic opening track to Pink Floydrsquos masterpiece album lsquoDark Side of The Moonrsquo. If you havenrsquot heard the album where have you been It has to be one of the greatest pieces of music ever recorded. So what I hear you sayhellip Well if this Blog entry would allow you to add a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Oaxaca/Puerto-Escondido/blog-157509.html Well here it goes the truth the whole truth and nothing like the truthhellip. Choose your weapon carefullyhellip Being a complete novice when it comes to this travel lark I must say how completely amazed I was when entering Mexico City for the first timehellip. We arrived by plane at night and the illumination from the vast expanse of lights from the city beneath us went on and on as far as http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Distrito-Federal/Mexico-City/blog-141294.html