The Nepalis call the Annapurna Sanctuary trail the Heavenly Path - after spending 12 days trekking we can certainly see why! Following in Sir Ed's rather large foot steps (albeit in a totally different part of the Himalaya...) we set off on our into the heart of the Annapurna Himal - the famed Annapurna Sanctuary. Being hard core Kiwi backpackers we decided to do without the traditional army of Sherpas/Porters/Guides- using our own backs to carry our packs, and our trusty Lonely Planet and map to show us the way (as Planners map reading comes naturally of course...). During [View Full Entry]

---

---

A Traveller's Paradise (two of them in fact...) Kathmandu, what a wonderful crazy chaotic place! We stayed in the tourist ghetto of Thamel (where everyone stays) with its narrow streets (no footpaths), hundreds of colourful rickshaws fighting their way past the tiny Suzuki taxis, the locals, and the tourists. Thamel is like a hectic paradise for backpackers. Crazy busy with people and horns crammed into a small space, yet somehow peaceful at the same time with dozens of bakeries, bookshops with secondhand books, cheap art galleries, and lovely little garden restaurants set back [View Full Entry]

---

---

One World, One Dream (and just one more dumpling) - Beijing 2009... The final stop on our grand tour of the Middle Kingdom was Beijing - a place where the list of "must see" sights pretty much stretches to an entire book! We found Beijing to be a great city to visit, and despite being huge it has a really nice and friendly vibe. The sheer number of ancient Chinese pagoda's, pavilions, and temples sitting up on the hills around the city constantly reminds you that you are in the middle of China (if the ten thousand Chinese flags or the [View Full Entry]

---

---

A Taste of Ancient China. The next stage of our Intrepid Journey took us into the heart of northern China - Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces (apparently they look and sound different when written in chinese...). From Shanghai, another overnight train complete with cup noodles, chinese pop music, and squatter toilets over the tracks brought us to Xi'an - the home of the terracotta warriors (all 8,000 of them!). Aside from the sheer number of warriors (plus horses), the fact that they were buried for thousands of years, and the fact that they were discovered only by accident in the 1 [View Full Entry]

---

---

One Big Modern City and One Tiny Traditional Village - both freezing cold! Shanghai - a.k.a the Pearl of the Orient or the Paris of the east. We had heard great reviews from many and we were looking forward to seeing this super city with an interesting colonial past and a mind-boggling speed of development in recent years. Much to our disappointment, we did not particularly enjoy the place and generally found it to be a huge, cold, damp, and very muddy construction site - with a distinct lack of English (aside from the now obligatory "hello copy watch, copy handbag, [View Full Entry]

---

---

We came to Guilin on the recommendation of Simon's grandmother And we'll definitely be recommending it to anyone else who's interested! Being located deep in southern China (at least it feels like it), we got here by overnight train from Hong Kong. Walking through customs between Hong Kong and China we instantly noticed differences between the two with China being much dirtier with basically no english, and all the western faces were gone. Our 12 hour train ride in a hard sleeper carriage was surprisingly comfy and we both slept relativly well. However, peeing into a squatter toilet [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hong Kong. Well I'm not sure if there is another International City quite like it! It feels safe, has super duper (and cheap) transport systems and virtually everyone speaks English! There are hundreds and hundreds of westerners walking the streets like they own the place, probably because it wasn't that long ago that they did. This gives the city a somewhat bizarre yet familiar feel and makes it a very interesting place to visit from a social angle. If you had money (and we didn't), Hong Kong would be a fantastic place to come on holiday where you could spend up [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Adventure Begins... After a fantastic couple of days at Waihi Beach (including one last final surf) and a remarkably 'together' farewell at Auckland Airport, we boarded a plane bound for.... Melbourne baby! Yeah! Not ones to run before we walk, a couple of days in Melbourne stayng with Andrew and Kristy proved the perfect way to start our trip (and work on our tans...). We generally bludged some excellent food from our hosts (well - just Kristy...) and walked the streets checking out the sights. Did the usual touristy things - jumped on some trams, went to the Queen Victoria [View Full Entry]

---

---