http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/paul2me/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from paul2me en-us Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:55:23 +0000 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:55:23 +0000 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Byron-Bay/blog-424506.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-423666.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-416662.html 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 Topm http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/Bukit-Bintang/blog-416659.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Phuket/blog-416652.html 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 happenedBuddah BarBest bar i have been to on this trip. A very chilled out and cheap place that is run by a Thai g http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Western-Thailand/Kanchanaburi/blog-412398.html 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 goodNot too much to report on in Bangkok as i didn't want to spend more than i should so booked the b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Western-Thailand/Kanchanaburi/blog-410477.html 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 TukTuk driver. Throwing care to the wind we jumped in his TukTuk and allowed him to take us to some accomodation. Did he take us somewhere shite http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-408448.html 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 findin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-408444.html 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 a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-406737.html Arrived in Mui Ne after a 5 or so hour bus ride...and once again it was an adventurous bus ride. Not like the others something different this time. After being cutup by a lorry our bus driver decided to return the favour...but instead of simply cutting him up he swerved and stopped right in front of the lorry and promptly jumped out. The lorry drivers having none of this also jumped out but wi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Mui-Ne/blog-405701.html Arrived at Nha Trang at 6am...6AM in the morning...way too early. But had to search for a good hostelhotle and managed to find one for 4 a night which isn't too shabby. So i checked in and now it was time to search for food and i found some mighty fine food for a good hearty breakfast...Belgian waffles with ice cream and chocolate sauce. YummyFollowing this delicious and healthy breakfast it http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-404728.html Hmmm...the next day the one after the last blog as i don't actually remember what day it is anymore started out pretty well. Did a bit more exploring of the city and i'm pretty sure i found the shop that the Top Gear guys went to. They should have a sign saying so but pretty sure they haven't a clue what Top Gear is when they don't understand light bulb the light bulb in the room wasn't wor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-403443.html So...after a nice long shower in Hue i headed to the city I was hassled at every corner for a bike ride cyclo ride into the town centre. Apparently it's very far and when showing them on the map that it's around half a mile they switch tactics to its too hot. Got to love the effort they put into this...but some of them need to understand that No means no.Anyways so i walked into town a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-402847.html After the worst night sleep known to man well until a bit later on anways headed to Halong Bay with someone i met in Laos. Bus drive there was ok...bit boring. Arrived at Halong Bay and it's raining But that didn't stop us we boarded our boat with some other people and had some lunch. Out comes some plates of squid and by squid i don't mean calamari in batter i mean whole minisquids that sti http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-402152.html Been a few days since i've done one of these so it's going to be a long one. Feel free to skip to the end or simply just go to some other site.Got to the airport for the flight to Vietnam pretty early...well i use airport in the loosest of terms. It's tiny and doesn't open until midday. Oh well plenty to see and do at this airport right Wrong But thankfully i met some fellow travelers and we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northeast/blog-402151.html Once again not done too much since last blog...mostly just chilling and saving some pennies for Vietnam...The highlight of Luang Prabang had to be the dinner on the second night. I'm quite the fussy eater and before this trip started i knew i would have to be a bit more adventurous...soi what did this lead to Some bbq goat Yep Goat The bbq goat was actually alright a bit chewy but quite tasty http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-400169.html Ok...this is the second time i've written this entry so it had better work this time. It's going to be short and sweet though.Left Chaing Mai for a 6 hour bus ride to Chaing Kong the border crossing with Laos. Not the most exciting of journeys in actual fact it was uber dull Chatted with some Americans at the hostel and met a British couple and a french woman who were doing the same trip. Afte http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-399329.html so...i have actually done this before but the site crashed and it got lost...BOOOOOOk so Sunday was going to be the chillaxing day. Sit down read my book catch up on some stuff etc. A usual Sunday just in a different country. That plan went to pot Over a game of shithead with Ashlie James and Katy we somehow managed to book a bungee jump for 2ish....EEEEKKKK No rest for the wicked th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-398238.html long time since i put something as the site was down...but here's somethingHowdy y'all so i can't update my blog today as the site seems down so i'll put in an email for today and then copy and paste this all over to the blog later.So the big adventure of yesterday was a one day trek through the mountains well personally i'd call them slightly big hills. We had to leave for the trek at abo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-397875.html