Andrew Wilkins

AndyW

Andrew Wilkins

Hello, welcome to my space on the World Wide Web where I will be keeping track of the various countries and places I visit on my travels around the world! Hopefully I should have some good tales to tell and interesting facts about where I have been haha! I hope to have mastered my new camera by the end of the trip so hopefully there will be some good pictures to accompany the stories. For the members of my family reading this, I cannot promise to update the blog with the regularity Gemma did with hers but I will do my best! N.B. For the first two weeks updates may be slow as I will instead be concentrating on learning to survive on my own!! Anyway, I came across this hilarious article the other day you all must read - it is a letter of complaint sent to Richard Branson regarding a 'passenger's experience' of an in-flight meal served on his well known airline. Make sure you click through the pictures at the top as you read through the article...

article

Hopefully my experiences will not be quite as bad as this but I am sure to come across some shockers given how many flights I will be taking. I promise however not to review the in-flight meals in my blog haha!).

Write to you from Hong Kong...

Andy

Singapore...

Asia » Singapore » Little India March 22nd 2009

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AndyW

I arrived in Singapore early on the Sunday morning. It was odd to see all the signs written pretty much only in English so it felt like being in a city in the UK, albeit a slightly cleaner one, except the weather was alot nicer! I had been warned about the humidity and it was seriously hot. I took a taxi ride to my hostel, Hangout at Mt Emily which was located in Little India. The hostel was really nice, it had a nice chill out TV area, free wifi, pool tables and the rooms and bathrooms were really clean. I couldn't check in till a little later and there were several people in the TV room who were in the same boat. There was also a really nice food court just around the corner which ... read more

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap March 18th 2009

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AndyW

I arrived in Siem Reap at around 4pm after the 6hr bus trip. The bus trip wasn't too bad as the bus I was on was quite comfy and I managed to get a few hours sleep. The main reason I came to visit Siem Reap was to travel to Angkor and the surrounding temples. The guesthouse I was staying at had organised a driver for me and a guide to take me around the temples the following day. I needed to purchase my ticket in advance and if you buy the ticket after 5pm for the next day you are entitled to visit one of the temples to take pictures of the sunset. Unfortunately when I visited the clouds were obscuring the sun so no sunset, but it was still nice to see one of ... read more

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh March 17th 2009

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AndyW

I arrived in Cambodia on the Sunday afternoon but spent that lounging around the pool in the guesthouse I was staying at. Coming from Hanoi it was alot hotter here and the sun was shining! Cambodia is a pretty amazing place and Phnom Penh even more so. During the Khmer Rouge rule, Phnom Penh was evacuted by its residents as a result of Pol Pot wanting to return the country to 'Year Zero' and destroying everything which went against his wish. Pol Pot sought a return to an agrarian economy and therefore killed many people perceived as educated, "lazy" or political enemies. Many others starved to death as a result of failure of the agrarian society and the sale of Cambodia's rice to China in exchange for bullets and weaponry. People did eventually return but it ... read more

Last days of Hanoi

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi March 14th 2009

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AndyW

During one of my last days in Hanoi, I spent being very cultured and touring the museums of which there are many. My first stop was to the Temple of literature. The Temple of Literature (known as "pagode des Corbeaux" during the period of French colonisation), is a temple of Confucius in Vietnam. It functioned as Vietnam's first university. It consists of five courtyards lined out in order, entrance to the first, via the impressive twin-tiered gate, leads to three pathways that run the length of the complex. I think I managed to avoid most of the tourists as there were not many people here when I visited. It is a nice place to escape the hustle and bustle of Hanoi. I then moved onto the Vietnamese fine arts museum which houses some impressive paintings. From ... read more

Halong Bay

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast » Quang Ninh » Halong Bay March 11th 2009

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AndyW

Part of the reason I wanted to come to Vietnam was to visit Halong Bay. I first saw Halong Bay on an episode of Top Gear which I am sure many of you saw. You really have to go on an organized tour to Halong Bay and this was my first proper 'tourist experience' on this trip of getting on a bus with a number of other people and heading to the destination. While I find it much nicer to walk around and discover places on your own it was nice to be able to chat with people who had already saw alot of Vietnam. There are so many different places people tell you about on your travels to visit but it is obviously impossible to visit them all, this time. One thing I now have ... read more

Hanoi

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi March 11th 2009

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AndyW

I arrived in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, late on the Sunday and boy what a contrast to Hong Kong. There are scooters everywhere, thousands and thousands of them, together with the constant sound of horns beeping. It initially seems quite an intimidating and overbearing place but once you adjust the sights and sounds it just becomes second nature. My first adventure was crossing the road. They don't stop here, not even for red lights. You literally have to just run the gauntlet and brave it. One tip once you start to cross the worst thing you can do is stop. The cars and bikes will avoid you but you have to keep moving. Once you have mastered this only then can you move around Hanoi. They cannot drive particularly fast so it is not as ... read more

Mong Kok and Hong Kong light show

Asia » Hong Kong » Hong Kong Island March 7th 2009

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AndyW

On the last day I caught the MTR across to Mong Kok, which is basically an electronics haven. The name in Chinese means "flourishing/busy corner". The one thing I have found however is that Hong Kong is generally quite expensive but in this area things were a little bit cheaper. Laptops, Mobile Phones etc.. Annoyingly I can’t buy anything though as I already have enough to carry! It is also where the hourly hotels appear to be although it is basically just a very busy bustling area. Hong Kong is basically a woman’s dream. Shop after shop after shop, designer, boutique, sports…on every street, I think I counted three Adidas shops within the space of 200 yards.. If you come with your girlfriend, wife prepare to be broke by the end and likely to have plenty ... read more

Wan Chai, the Peak, Hong Kong Island

Asia » Hong Kong » Hong Kong Island March 5th 2009

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AndyW

After a couple of heavy days walking around (and on the pop) I decided to go just take a stroll around Wan Chai which is the area I was staying. Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It is an excellent place to stay if you plan to visit as it is central to everything. I'd highly recommend my hotel as well as a medium priced one for Hong Kong. Wan Chai is one of the busiest commercial areas in Hong Kong with many small and medium-sized companies. Wan Chai North features office towers, parks, hotels and an international conference and exhibition centre. As one of the first areas developed in Hong Kong, the locale is ... read more

Kowloon, Admiralty and Lan Kwai Fong

Asia » Hong Kong » Kowloon March 4th 2009

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AndyW

I woke up really early the next day to head over to Kowloon which is across from Hong Kong Island. I was heading for the Hong Kong history museum. Museum entry is free on a Wednesday which is cool. The museum did what it said on the tin and it was pretty interesting as obviously Hong Kong has a very varied history given it has been occupied by many different countries/empires at various times. The photos tell the story here. There were sheadloads of children there as well, but they were literally being walked around single file by their teachers haha. Very regimented. After spending most of the morning at the museum I went to Tsim Sha Tsui and Nathan Road where all the shops are. As I left my watch at home I decided to ... read more

First Stop, Lantau Island

Asia » Hong Kong » Lantau Island March 3rd 2009

Peng Chau

AndyW

Lay-ho. Ok so it has taken me a few days to get an entry up but here it is. First, the flight over was fine, on time and BA supplied a really nice meal, black pepper chicken and sticky rice. Why you would want to know this I don't know haha. I got to watch (amongst three other movies) Slumdog Millionaire, which if you haven't seen it yet then go. I thought I would hate it but it really is an amazing film. Anyway I arrived in Hong Kong on the Monday afternoon, and spent the afternoon walking around and getting my bearings. Hong Kong is very much like London except busier and the mtr (tube) is alot cleaner and you never wait more than a minute for the next tube. Hong Kong people also ... read more

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Andrew Wilkins

AndyW

Andrew Wilkins

Trip Around The World