paul2me
paul toomey Joined: April 28th 2009
Logged in: October 31st 2009
Logged in: October 31st 2009
Travel Blog Posts
I forgot something from Sydney...just the minor event of going to the Blue Mountains...well actually they are a valley like the Grand Canyon. Little fact for you! Pretty spectacular place, you get to see some Kangaroos, some valleys, some trees, some more valleys, some more trees and three sisters. Amazing stuff! Didn't get lost either, unlike some British tourist from a few weeks back...mind you if we had we could have sold the story to the Aussie press and been accused of faking the whole thing :-) After leaving Sydney we headed to Byron Bay (via coach and that's all i'm going to say on the matter). Only problem was that we arrived to find out some minor festival was going on....it was the Aussie version of Glastonbury and accommodation was a little hard to come ... read more
Been a while since i updated...and going to skip the first two or so weeks of Melbourne as it was mostly relaxing, catching up with family and generally sitting on my arse all day :-) So...Sydney. Arrived after a nice easy flight that was uber empty (whinge about the buses now biatches!) and made way to the accommodation. Nice and simple for the first day...apart from the fact that the hostel is in a dirty little part of Sydney that used to be hooker central. As the Aussies say...BONZA! Following day i got up nice and early and headed back to the airport to meet Liam. Not good...i arrived on time for his flight...but his flight did not. So sat around exploring terminal one for an hour or so...JOY! But he got here safe and sound ... read more
I arrived in Singapore via luxury coach (and it sure was luxury...we're talking first class kind of thing for little more than a tenner). I didn't have much time here though as i had a plane to catch...so i explored the area where we were dropped off. It was a street full of shopping centres. We're talking at least 10 shopping centres spread out down one street. You could find anything here...but the only thing i treated myself to was a magazine, and a milkshake. Adventurous no? Getting to the airport was easy enough...and the airport was amazing. It was basically another shopping centre. Countless shops, restaurants etc. There are even places to play PS3, Xbox360 and watch some films whilst you wait. Marvellous... ...and that is that. Asia is done and dusted...more soon from the ... read more
So, having finished up in Thailand i flew to Kuala Lumpur..little did i realise that i'd pretty much left Asia as well... I found an okish place to stay in an area called the Golden Triangle (no idea why!) and set about exploring the local area and found only shopping centres. Not Asian shopping centres though, pretty much your bog standard western shopping centres. They even had a Topshop and Topman! Wasn't going to complain too much though as it meant the chance for my first real bit of western food...needless to say it was great breaking from noodles and rice and soup lol. I didn't really do too much on the first day as i was slightly knackered from the previous couple of days...but that didn't stop me getting the attention of some local Malay ... read more
Hmmmm so it's been a little while since this thing has been updated so i will do my best to get everything down... ...First off that dreaded 24hour bus journey. Suprisinly it was ok! No problems! No flat tyre, no driver falling asleep, no nothing! The only complaint is the time...instead of the 24 hour journey i think the total time was closer to 27hours...so a case of bus fever certainly kicked in. Anyways, to Phuket...now having arrived after a mammoth journey we needed to find a good place to stay and get showered etc, so did we find somewhere uber nice. Nope! We went for the famous factor and ended up staying at a place they filmed the Beach (i can't remember the actual name, nor can i be bothered to go get my travel ... read more
It's been a few days since i did one of these and for the simple reason that i haven't really done much. Been using the time just to relax and take it easy from the hardcore traveling haha! I jest of course...well i haven't actually done much but i'll put a quick rundown of what has happened: Buddah Bar: Best bar i have been to on this trip. A very chilled out and cheap place that is run by a Thai guy who fancies himself as the next Jack Sparrow. He actually dresses up as Jack Sparrow most evenings, with a sword and a gun. On these nights he is "50% Jack Sparrow" when he drinks he is "100% Jack Sparrow!". His words not mine...and he does sway around when he drinks...which is most nights. The ... read more
Ok, now as i promised a quick bit about the bus...and surprisingly it was an ok bus journey. Didn't take too much time, the border crossing was simple and so was the bus change. Nice and easy. Only downside was arriving in Bangkok in the middle of an epic thunderstorm, got a bit wet but it looked good! Not too much to report on in Bangkok as i didn't want to spend more than i should so booked the bus for the next day to Kanchanuburi. Again, the bus journey was good...air con actually worked for once and only took two hours and met a Swiss guy on as well (sadly he isn't Roger Federer though as there are some good tennis courts nearby)! Checked into a place by the river called the Jolly Frog. Nice ... read more
So...after an uber bumpy ride to Siem Reap and the depressing day of Phonm Peng i can return to the lighter blogs :-) We arrived in Siem Reap (by we for this whole entry it's myself, two dutch and an australian) to find our names plasted on the sign of a Tuk-Tuk driver. Throwing care to the wind we jumped in his Tuk-Tuk and allowed him to take us to some accomodation. Did he take us somewhere shite that would rival that of Phonm Peng? Nope! For once a tuk tuk driver delivered! He showed us to a great place that was cheap, clean and smelt clean. A first for a long time. And the ride was free because we used the hotel he recommended. Already we liked the place. Got better though! We arranged our ... read more
hmmm...last time i wrote one of these i think i was still in Vietnam...trying to save a bit of internet money so not going to check so i may double up on some things :-) Bus journey was surprisingly good with no hassle, and the border crossing was just as easy. Canne complain for once...well i can, it was slightly bumpy haha. So i arrived in Phonm Peng at around 3ish (i think!) and set about finding a place to stay. And did we find a place...it was shite. Shite shite shite!!! It was dirty, smelly and leaky. But only for 2 nights so can't complain too much. Only for sleeping right! Grrrrrr! But the activities were gonna make things better right? Wrong! The activities in Phonm Peng are S21 and the Killings Fields. Killing Fields ... read more
Once again i'm going to talk about the bus ride...not as bad as some of the others, but to cut a longish story short kids should be given Valium and old people should be given deodorant for any bus ride lasting longer than 5 minutes... Arrived in Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh...apparently it's all down to you what the place is called) at around 8ish so didn't really get up to much than explore the local area. Uber touristy and full of westerners which was a pleasant surprise. Nice to hear some english accents for once whilst walking around instead of the usual "you want moped? marajuana?". Already, Saigon seems nicer than the majority of places in Nam. The following day i jumped on one of those cyclo things...well i didn't actually jump, but you get ... read more
