http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/twotravelbugs/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from twotravelbugs en-us Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:56:02 BST Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:56:02 BST 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 Mexico...what a contrast to Cuba. We arrived to adverts bright lights food...noisy crowded roads and the ability to get something almost without question. We arrived in Cancun on the shuttle bus from the airport then took a local bus out to our couch surfers place by the beach. That makes it sound better than it was. Not that it wasnt a nice place and that Mark wasnt a great guy and that http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/Mexico/Yucat%E1n/Merida/blog-332755.html After Baracoa we went back to Santiago for a night. Colin wanted to visit a place called El Cobre so we found ourselves another illegal taxi and headed off. This time round our car was a battered 1957 Dodge Plymouth. We took the back roads out for one or more of the following reasons a to avoid police checkpoints remember he isnt meant to pick up tourists b to show us how bad the roads http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Cuba/Oeste/Vi-ales/blog-330266.html These pictures were taken by a host of ours in Santiago Dr Pedro A Lobaina Delfino. Please do not reproduce them without permission.He was in Baracoa shortly after the second hurricane Ike hit to help his mother and her neighbours. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Cuba/Este/Baracoa/blog-329900.html Baracoa one of the most heavily hurricane hit places in Cuba. We werent even sure if we would be able to travel here. Not so much if the road would be open but if there would be services for tourists would we just be getting in the way or putting money into a region that needs it Wed heard varying reports ranging from yeah fine no problems through to its a disaster zone stay away.It http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Cuba/Este/Baracoa/blog-329891.html Santiago de Cuba...home of the best Cuban music...but could we find anyWe were met off the bus from Trinidad by a hospitality club contact Lianne who had found us a lovely casa particular a few minutes walk from the centre of the old historic district of Santiago. We had to clamber up a small spiral staircase with our packs to get to our room. Getting up was way easier than when we tried t http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Cuba/Este/Santiago-de-Cuba/blog-328243.html So we finally made it out of Havana. It took a while and a lot of hassle going out to the bus station being more pushy than we like to try and get answers instead of a try again tomorrow. Funny how when you ask more firmly suddenly there are buses leavingThe last couple of days in Havana dragged a bit as things were still slow in opening. We wandered the massive and deserted Plaza de la Re http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Cuba/Centro/Trinidad/blog-325711.html Sorry still a slow dial up connection you might have to wait for Mexico to see some pictures here please come backAh...Cuba at last...weve been wanting to come here for ages. And as soon as we do we get stuck in the city unable to escape unable to anything really. Well serves us right really we knew it was the end of the hurricane season and this year has been a bad one.The first http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Cuba/Oeste/La-Habana/blog-323216.html PICTURES TO FOLLOW THIS CONNECTION IS DIAL UPSaturday...we did it twice. Once in NZ finishing the packing making our way down to Auckland out to the airport then heading off on this adventure.The second time much more interesting and exciting was in San Fransicso. We had arranged to meet a couch surfing couple Alanna and Steve for the afternoon evening to do a bit of sightseeing http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-322091.html One night back at home after our four day dash then we took off again this time in the split. Poor dogs couldnt come with us this time either and they love camping.We stopped off at Franks place in Auckland Eurofix to talk to him about the wedge then carried on just past Cambridge. We met three Auckland kombis on their way down but didnt hang with them for long as they were going straigh http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Waikato/Cambridge/blog-260531.html Why four days Why not four months Not an especially long story. Just frustrating. Still having an adventure is what its all about. And this was an adventure but just a mild one.First some background as to why we only had four days... We had gone down to Christchurch to buy a van. Not just any van but another VW kombi. This time a 1980 ldquowedgerdquo poptop camper. Not to replac http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/blog-260472.html Ngawha Springs somewhere we'd been intending to go for a while but never quite getting around to it. We'd heard various stories about the pools and the area. So Saturday morning after work we packed up the kombi and trundled off northwards. We took a few back roads ones we'd not driven yet and possibly wont drive again. Sure usually we love taking the back roads the roads less travelled bu http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Northland/blog-246045.html The bus from Sen Monorum to Phnom Penh was a bit better than the one to Sen Monorum. Not more comfortable or anything it just went quicker and so was wilder and bumpier.Phnom Penh is a great city as far as cities go. Big noisy dusty...all the things we dont like But we still had five days there and managed to pack all but the last one had to pack our gear sometime Everywhere we staye http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-220457.html In memory of my Grandma an inspiration when it came to dealing with my travelbug. She would have loved hearing about this trip.Sorry this entry has taken a while to add. We've been in the jungle for a few days and there was barely any power let alone an internet connection. Well our hostel Nature Lodge had power most of the time only because the guy running it had set up a couple of sma http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/East/Senmonorom/blog-219765.html We made it to Kratie Krahcheh much quicker than we planned. We thought been told that we'd have to take a bus from Siem Reap to Kampong Cham stay overnight then take another bus the following morning. But...we took the bus to Kampong Cham ok but when we got there we found three other backpackers wanting to get to Kratie in a hurry even less time in Cambodia than we do so we all piled i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-218864.html More Wats. Our third day at Angkor and finally we went to Angkor Wat. We got up early and headed off with hundreds thousands of other people mainly Japanese and Korean tourists to see sunrise. Bit of a disappointment though. Angkor Wat was impressive but the sunrise was a bit patheticColin stayed outside the wat while I went inside so we could get two different views of the sunrise. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-218857.html It will be hard to find words to describe the temples of Angkor Archaeological Park. So I'll start with the boat ride from Battambang to here.Long. But also great some awesome scenery along the Sunghai River and across the Tonle Sap Lake. The river started out wide enough lined with houses and shacks people travelling up and down the river or sitting there fishing. The boat didnt go all tha http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-216727.html What a difference a more honest tour operator makes to a day out. We actually got to see what we wanted plus more.We are now in Battambang having put ourselves through another day of bus rides. Remember what we the ride down to Kampot was like the ride from PP to Battambang was worse. The bus was better much more space aircon worked but the driver...well...talk about aggressive...an http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-216067.html It took us a long time but we finally made it to Kampot. For whatever insane reason we decided not to stay in Phnom Penh just yet and head straight out of the city for the coast. So after an 11 hour flight to Bangkok a night sleeping at the airport great transit lounge nice chairs to spread right out flat on but why buff the floor at 4am when we are sleeping a short hop to PP a taxi r http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-215698.html Well this is it the end of our trip. We arrived back in the UK on Saturday morning to grey skys and drizzle.I cant remember right now where we last wrote from so I'll work my way backwards and when you come to somewhere you recognise you can stop readingWe spent the last week in Johannesburg staying with a friend. We hired a car for the week making it so much easier and cheaper to get aro http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Swaziland/blog-192567.html