http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/twotravelbugs/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from twotravelbugs en-us Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:33:01 +0000 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:33:01 +0000 Friday 11th September 2009Breakfast in Kota Kinabalu lunch in the air dinner in Singapore. The life of a pair of international jetsettersAfter breakfast in the hostel Summer Lodge in KK we went out to the airport and returned the car. We told the agent that it would be a good idea to take it to a mechanic but he wasn't very interested.Arriving at Singapore Changi Airport we went quickly http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Singapore/blog-436954.html Tuesday 8th September 2009One of the beauties about travelling with no fixed itinerary with no prebooked accommodation with a little bit of time is that you can change your mind about what you are doing and where you are going. Its something we have a habit of doing. Like the time we took the bus to Sao Paolo to watch a football game arrived at the bus station remembered we didn't like Sao http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-435543.html Sunday 6th September 2009We must have been too early or not stayed long enough at the Kota Belud Sunday Tamu market as it was nothing like the LP described it as. For a start it wasn't huge there weren't any buffalo and we didn't see any Bajau horsemen. I think this is a case of being too well travelled a bad case of been there done that already. Markets are places that draw the tourists http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kudat/blog-435029.html Tuesday 1st September 2009 cont.We left the Uncle Tan Adventure Camp at 10am on day three of the 3D2N trip. So as you can see its not really a three day jungle adventure A quick ride up the river brought us back to the jetty where we were met by some 4WD utes rather than the minibuses that we came in. A much better ride through the plantations then we transferred to minibuses at the road. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Mount-Kinabalu/blog-435023.html Sunday 30th August 2009We had a leisurely morning as the first day of our 3D 2N jungle trip didn't start until 2.30pm. We made our way down the road from Labuk BB to the Uncle Tan Operational Base the company we are heading into the jungle with. The staff at the BB had given us an idea of what to pay for a taxi to Uncle Tans RM34 but the taxi drivers weren't cooperating they were askin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kinabatangan/blog-433960.html From Sipidan it was back to the rig to get our gear ready for the transfer back to the mainland. We had one night in the town of Semporna to wait for an early bus to Sepilok.We took the advice of some other people from the rig and stayed at Lee's Guesthouse very quickly and successfully negotiating the room price down from the listed RM70 to the generally paid RM50. There is no challenge in tha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Sepilok-Orang-Utan-Sanctuary/blog-433451.html We only had one morning three dives at Sipidan. In many ways it was a disappointment after all the hype but also in many ways it was really impressive.What we did see the coral the fish the sea life was quite spectacular. The weather that day didn't make it an easy set of dives. The sea was pretty choppy and the currents underwater were strong in places. This didn't help with spotting http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Sipadan/blog-433445.html We spent three days on the Seaventures dive rig exploring the underwater worlds of Mabul Kapalai and Sipidan.The rig was pretty basic and still smelled like a rig or ferry. It is a rusting hulk planted about 500m off the coast of the island of Mabul. It was strange walking around it I kept feeling like it should be moving like a ferry it was hard walking down the corridors in a straight line http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Mabul/blog-432258.html Mamutik is one of five islands that make up the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park just off the coast of KK. Its an easy trip out there bus or Kuni Taxi to the Jesselton Ferry terminal pick a company to go with one that shouts the loudest has the longest or shortest queue the first one in the door doesnt matter the prices are fixed and wait for the boat to leave. Mamutik is a 1015 minut http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-431542.html Day One Saturday 22nd August 2009When does your trip begin for you When you finish the last day at work When you leave home for the bus plane train boat When the plane leaves the ground When you arrive at wherever you are goingFor us our trip begins when we leave home. The excitement begins when we leave work for the last time though So technically day one was yesterday when http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-431030.html Now that I have got all the photos sorted from the previous blogs sorry for any hassle great blog site but it has the odd problem now and then I can keep going with this last blog. And include a couple of links for further info.Theres something about the last blog of a trip. It takes forever to write and publish. We're back at work now busy catching up with what went on while we were away http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Bay-of-Plenty/Whakatane/blog-393875.html Monday 13th April 2009Was there an earthquake this morning Not a huge one we would have heard about that but maybe a little one Sometime this morning the van moved like someone had come along and pushed it only without the someone pushing it. Or like there was a huge gust of wind but of course without the wind.Anyway after breakfast and some good byes we headed back off on our road trip http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Te-Urewera-National-Park/blog-393867.html Saturday 11th April 2009 The 2009 Volkswagen NationalsThe sun doesnt hit our van till quite late in the morning but Rob and Cassie behind the hedge from us get the sun much earlier. So after breakfast its straight round there for a chat in the sun. Theres a nice tree on the site next to ours shading us from the mornings warmth.The show was held down on the waterfront at the quieter end of M http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Hawkes-Bay/Napier/blog-391458.html Tuesday 7th April 2009Darkness in a DOC campsite in the bush isnt always a good thing. We lay in bed listening to stags roaring. Loudly. Getting up in the night to visit the compost long drops involved not looking at several pairs of eyes glowing in the dark at us. Not to mention the bush rustling...We were up and out reasonably early back down the forest road to Kawerau and on to Whakatane. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/East-Coast/blog-391448.html Friday 3rd April 2009Despite a day at work today was still the start of our holiday. We left the dogs and house in the hopefully capable hands of Lee the house sitter and headed off into the sunset.We got as far as Wellsford before stopping for dinner. Nothing special we got a foot long sub each Subway and drove a bit down Highway 16 to the first lookout. We ate half the sandwich leav http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/East-Coast/blog-388329.html It seems like every place we go to is our new favourite We loved San Francisco and had a great time there the memories temporarily eclipsing those from other places that have come before. We definitely needed way longer to explore not just the city but all around too but this trip to SF was just a layover on our way home from Mexico. Ahh Mexico that was probably the real favourite Not t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-340724.html Our three weeks in Mexico were coming to a close. There is still so much here to see and do maybe we should have spent the whole six weeks here. Cuba was somewhere we really wanted to visit and we had a great time there but somehow Mexico was just better. Maybe its the food maybe its the relative lack of hassles maybe its because our money is going much further. We dont regret going to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Distrito-Federal/Mexico-City/blog-340363.html Next stop on our whistle stop tour was the city of Oaxaca. We got there on another overnight bus from Tuxtla. We went straight round to our next CS host Vul but it was possibly a bit early for him. He said in his profile that he has to get up early for work...early seems to be about 9am. Not so early He runs a cyber cafe with his flatmate down in their lounge meaning the house really co http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Puebla/Cholula/blog-337839.html We left the jungle and headed for the mountains taking the bus to San Cristobal de las Casas. After the long straight roads since Cancun this definitely wasnt a book reading ride. We were twisting and turning up and down all the way. The ride was long enough to watch 2 movies all based on the same theme anacondas. In fact I think they were even called Anaconda I II and III and all i http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Chiapas/San-Cristobal-de-las-Casas/blog-336868.html Palenque...Bonampak...Yaxchillan... all hidden in the jungle all were lost for a while and have since been rediscovered. Did the jungle want to give up its secrets Did everyone really forget these places existed How can the white man claim to have discovered these ruins if the local indigenous people always knew where they wereToo philosphical OK then just read on to find out what we g http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Chiapas/Palenque/blog-333366.html