San Francisco I didn't sleep that well and was up at 6.30 to have a nice hot shower and wash my hair. We helped Jane cook scrambled eggs with spinach and goats cheese for breakfast..yum! First we checked out these 6 Victorian houses. San Fran was developed during the gold rush then they had an earthquake and all the gas pipes burst and pretty much the whole city burnt down except for these 6 hourses that were above the flames. Then we went to Summer of Love area, Haight and Ashbury St, where free love was flowing in the sixties and where Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia lived. Now it is full of beggers, poor musicians, people with dogs and secondhand/vintage shops. We all got a piece of pizza in this little shop that has signed ... read more

Death Valley/Bishop First day of the tour we met the group and found out we were actually joining a group that had already been touring for a week and we were joining for the second week. The leader's name is Jane and she's from New York amd really into organic food. We stopped at a super market and got sleeping bags from Walmart. Then on to Death Valley, where it was hot and dry. It was so nice to walk around outside in the sun and heat and not sweat. First stop was Z point where you could see all the coloured layers in the rocky mountains. Greens, blues, reds yellows from all the different layers of minerals. It was beautiful. After that we went to Badwater which was like a big dried salt lake. It ... read more

Emily's Birthday Bash It all started after an 8 1/2 hr drive south of Cairns to the lovely Airlie beach and Whitsundays Islands. Airlie Beach provides the ideal base for Whitsundays holiday fun and adventure, where accommodation styles are as varied as the accents that can heard in the Main Street. It’s a social and lively place with restaurants, clubs and bars to party well into the night, and a beautiful swimming lagoon set in parkland overlooking the islands. We parked up at the beaches backpackers and checked in, then straight upstairs to the room to polish off a birthday bottle of bubbles then down to Magnums bar (located next door to the backpackers) for a couple of happy hour JUGS of beer and live music for the night. Chris Nadine and I drove down together. ... read more

Phnom Penh We got the Mekong Delta Bus from HCMC to Phnom Penh on Friday the 19th. The bus is pretty comfortable with tv, air con and roomy seats and they gave everyone a pastry and bottle of water. The scenery doesn't really change much and so it was a pretty dull but pleasent ride. After 3.5hrs we got to the Cambodian/Vietnamese border. Here everyone has to get out of the bus and walk through the security check, then back in the bus up a bit further then out again for immigration. We had purchased e-visas which was totally unnecessary and actually made us take longer than everyone else to get through. The bus stopped at this roadside restaurant for lunch. We had our first taste of Cambodian food and it was yummy. It was a ... read more

Hoi An - Day 1 Vietnam Airlines (VN311) Hanoi - Da Nang, Sat, November 13, 2:40pm – 3:55pm$85 We landed in Da Nang in the pouring rain where a car was waiting for us to take us to Phouc An Hotel. Our room wasn't as nice as the last one and smelt very musty with some old stains on the sheets. We decided that our time here is going to be spent relaxing as the rain is pretty limiting. It's not light rain, it's torrential! We had dinner and a few bevvies at our hotel restaurant (we were the only ones) then had an early night. Day 2 In the morning we braved the rain to go for a walk to the central markets and ancient town. Everything is very cute and old, reminding me a ... read more