*wipes brow* i fear the amount i have to say... ok. after Xi'an we took a night train to Pingyao. which is this tiny (in chinese terms...) town/city between Xian and Datong. it was a bit of a last min decision, but one we certainly dont regret! it was very quaint... old style china. lots of "attractions" but we were really there for the city itself. it was full (and i mean full) of shops selling tourist tat, but it was really nice just to cycle around or walk... the city walls were rather disappointing tho. we did attempt to walk [View Full Entry]

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whell! its been an interesting few days to say the least! weve visited the Terra-cotta warriors, the Goose Pagoda and the museum... and we walked (yes walked) the city walls. thats about 13.6km or 8.5 miles. we were exhausted...! the goose pagoda was awesome... we got lost on the way there... we walked to that too... and the map is deceptive. it looked a lot closer that it actually was. :S but we got there eventually! its been BOILING hot the past few days, weve had very little rain. which has been a change from the monsoon!!! aaand we actually have [View Full Entry]

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okokokokok... really quick update. currently in Xi'an. had what can only be described as an interesting train journey here. we took the hard sleeper option... so there are 6 beds crammed into 'cabins' with no doors. kate and i both had the top bunks. but we were right next to the aircon, so not tooo hot. they turned the lights out at 10, and turned them on at 8 so we were basically told to sleep between these hours :S there were some fidgity kids in my cabin... the little boy was quite cute and tried to practice his english on [View Full Entry]

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http://www.cookinthai.com/photo/browse.php?folder=20070613 Cookery school photos are up! there were two groups on this day, so it takes some sifting. but there are a few of kate and i ;) [View Full Entry]

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well. what can i say? Hongkong was WET. it rained all day. everyday. it was quite a cool place to visit... we stayed in Kowloon in the Chunking Mansions. full of indians!!!! quite entertaining, altho stressful. when we first arrived they pounced on us trying to drag us to their accomodation. of course we had already booked and just wanted to find our guesthouse! eventually, this really helpful guy told us that we wanted the third floor. the hostel was a hole. oh my god. weve stayed in some scummy places, but this was up there with the best. it was [View Full Entry]

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OK, so kate and i spent just under a week in chiang mai (thats the longest weve spent anywhere...) we did a Cookery Course... learnt to cook Chicken Fried rice, spring rolls, Banana Fritters and Red Curry. Sugar goes into everything... but it was a great day. we ate so much food! http://www.cookinthai.com/webphoto.php there are some photos of us on the above website, we went on the 13th June. as far as i know, they havnt been loaded yet. we also did a one day trek... which involved Elephant riding (an experience certainly... not sure if i will ever do that [View Full Entry]

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ok, so ive not updated for a while... which is a niightmare for me as weve done so much!!!! Singapore - everyone said that there was nothing much to do in singapore. and they are right - unless you know where to go, or are prepared to bum around all day. Kate and i met a girl in our hostel who had taken the time to go on the hostels website and actually look for walking tours and things to do. she then recommended a walking tour to us. we basically went to a suburb of singapore called toa payoh, and [View Full Entry]

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Whell. i thought i would update you on our adventures on Magnetic island. what can i say? 1st of June, australias official first day of winter, temperature 28 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. we spent the whole day lying by the pool, overlooking the beach. god we have a hard life! went to a full moon party at one of the hostels - its a huge backpacker/student/local event... but doesnt quite have the fame of the Koh Pa Ngan party in Thailand... we had a huge party on our dorms patio to begin with, then we caught a [View Full Entry]

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the last entry was somewhat cut short due to angry backpackers in a crappy hostel. what i was going on to ramble nonsensically about was the cute koalas we had been to visit that afternoon! *sighs* anyway, that was ages ago! since then Kate and i have done the 4WD safari on Fraser Island. we were really lucky in that we had a brilliant group of people... including a german guy who cooked the best meals... and he was really posessive about the kitchen area... would hardly let anyone touch the food until it was ready to be eaten. fraser was [View Full Entry]

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Well. as kate and i had some money off vouchers from the travel agent we booked our whitsunday and fraiser island tour with, we thought we would take full advantage of it. for $12 a night, we were sooo up for it... we didnt read the small print tho... so it was a bit of a shock when we turned the lock, opened the door and found 30 beds in the room. :S its hot, stuffy, smelly... and has only 2 fans working. so so so rough! plus, the ceiling has a few large sheets coevring it in one place... and [View Full Entry]

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