Laos - 17 days I crossed the border into Laos from the Northern Thai town of Chiang Khong and took the slow boat down the Mekong River to the impressive Luang Prabang. The boat ride was quite cramped, they got a good price from us tourist folk and they knew how to take advantage of that, there were many complaints from the elderly passengers. The scenery however was fantastic, especially the second day, I felt happy as a pig in shite as I smoked a few at the less cramped back of the boat. Luang Prabang Luang Prabang has both historic and natural places of interest. The town is full of temples, from different periods of its long history and is today a very important spiritual place; I awoke at 5am to watch the locals’ line ... read more

Croatia - 1 Week As I cycled into Croatia I was surprised to feel deja vu, the mountains and the vegetation reminded me of cycled into Austria but the weather the first night was shite meaning I woke up in a puddle. The coast from Dubrovnik until Sibenik was beautiful particularly around the islands of Hvar and Korcula, I cycled north along the Adriatic coast through Dubrovnik, and then took a ferry to arrive on the island of Korcula, continued from east to west along Korcula, through vineyards and along the rocky coast, and left on a ferry to Split. Dubrovnik was another really cool medieval town, as was Split but the latter was much bigger and more developed. The nicest town I came across on the Adriatic coast was Trogir, north of Split, a really ... read more

Albania I cycled through Albania in about 4 days and 3nights and thought travelling through this country was like going back in time, with shitty roads, road-side abattoirs and unfenced oil-drilling rigs. The roads were really shit, the people were great, really friendly and hospitable yet very financially poor, the term salt of the earth rings home. I battled the roads and cycled through oil fields and saw cows hanging from trees, I was given a ride when my bike broke and shared beers with restaurant owners and evangelical christians, and the latter was so generous he even chased after me to give me a bag of food. The tourist spots I liked were Gjirokastra, a small hillside town in the south and the burial site of Skanderbeg with plaques to show off his victorious battles. ... read more

New York - 13 Months After cycling around Europe I returned to New York to live. On 5th November 2006 me and Jo flew to Las Vegas and hired a convertible mustang to get married in a drive-thru chapel. We went for a long-weekend to Niagra Falls to see an amazing natural phenomena and top see how the Americans had ruined it with the usual money-making rubbish like fast-food restaurants and a weird number of wax works museums. In April we hired a cabin in the Catskills for Jo's 30th birthday and went to see a great ice-hockey game in Boston. During this time we also visited Canada a couple of times and Puerto Rico (see other blogs) ... read more

Canada - 1 Week We flew in to Montreal for a week in Quebec so that I could obtain a visa for the U.S, I could meet the Family and to explore this part of Canada a little. We spent a couple of days in Montreal before heading north to stay with some of Jo’s family, since we had recently married. One family friend had a trophy room with many stuffed animals, from cats to bears to moose and I was disgusted but I was assured that all the animals were used for meat and could relax a little bit. Jo’s cousin had a gun so we all went out into the woods to shoot some cans Trophies nightmare The family was very welcoming and had made us a wedding cake. My favourite place that we ... read more