Julia Holloway

jholloway

Julia Holloway

I am a 54 year old woman who, together with my husband Stuart, is busy spending her kids inheritance travelling around the world! My travels include a backpacking holiday around SE Asia including Malaysia, Borneo, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. The highlight was climbing Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, meeting the Orangutans and travelling through the rainforest! It was an extrordinary experience and I loved every minute. I have also travelled in Peru, India and Nepal. Of late my husband and i have ridden our motorcycle 11,000kms around Europe visiting 27 countries and breaking down in Albania and an incredible motorcycle ride on a classic Harley Davidson across the USA incorporating the entire Route 66! We are now planning a round the world trip to include, Dubai, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand (on a motorbike of course), across the Pacific to Fiji, Hawaii, USA and home.

My final blog - Laos to Thailand and home

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang November 27th 2010

jholloway

Saturday 20th November Today we are off to the airport to fly to Luang Prabang in Laos. We don’t know what to expect but Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is supposed to be beautiful. Siem Reap airport is brand new and very swish and ours is only the second flight of the day to leave. Stacey had warned us about Laos airlines – apparently they don’t have a very good reputation – and worry was heightened when the check-in guy asked us if we would like the Emergency exit seats! Stuart asked “Why, do you think we will need them?”. I’m not sure that the check-in guy got the joke though! When we go through the gate onto the tarmac, we see our plane – the oldest plane ever – a Fokker ... read more

Angkor Wat Temple complex, Cambodia

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor November 20th 2010

jholloway

Thursday 18th November So today we are meeting Alvin our tuk tuk driver at 8.30am who is going to take us around the Angkor Wat Temple complex today. Except he is not waiting for us, but he has sent his “brother” Mr T ! We start off on the wrong foot when Mr T insists on trying to renegotiate our $10 deal. We say no and he gives up and we start our journey. First, we have to stop at the ticket office. No queues, so we get our tickets nice and quickly. The ticket service, like most things here in Cambodia, seems very efficient. You don’t need a passport photo as they use a mini camera to print your photo onto your pass. We decide to do the tour of the complex the wrong way ... read more

Travelling from Phnomn Penh to Siem Reap

Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh November 18th 2010

jholloway

Tuesday 17th November Phnomn Phenh to Siem Reap Day – I’ve lost count! We are up early to catch the “Sok Sokha Express Limousine” Bus from P.P to Siem Reap. Well it is a “Limousine” so it must be good. It costs US $9 each with a pick up right outside our hotel. Saves on getting a tuk tuk to the bus station. A very nice minibus comes to pick us up and we wend our way through the traffic to the bus stop near the passenger port on the river. It’s not quite the limousine we were expecting. It’s quite an old bus and the seats are rock hard. Still we are only on board for 6 hours so I’m sure we will be fine! After all, they have a W.C on board and you ... read more

Leaving Vietnam for Cambodia

Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » An Giang » Chau Doc November 16th 2010

jholloway

Day 28 – Sunday 14th November We are now 4 weeks into our trip and today begin a two day bus and boat trip to Phnomn Penh in Cambodia. As usual we are the last people to join the bus and get the back seats. No one wants the back seats – every time you hit a bump or hole in the road you fly into the air!! And believe me when I say that the East – West Highway is bumpy! Most of it so far appears to be nothing more than dirt track. According to our guide Winh, there are chicken holes, buffalo holes and elephant holes! The entire route is lined by shops selling any manner of weird and wonderful goods. From tractors with no wheels, coffins, face masks and sunglasses, fruit and ... read more

Saigon - The city of 5 million scooters!

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi November 13th 2010

jholloway

Day 26 – Friday 12th November The soles of my feet are absolutely black and I can’t seem to get them clean! So far in Vietnam, every hotel has a bath with shower attachment over and a hot water tank that only seems to give you enough hot water to fill the bath to about 3 inches deep. Little ladies keep following me around the town asking me if I want “a pelicure? Only US$1” but I am too embarrassed to take my shoes off! We are due to fly to Saigon today, so after breakfast and packing our bags again (this part does get quite tedious as time goes on) we are on our way to Da Nang airport, about 20 kms away. Da Nang is an old US airbase and the hangars and buildings ... read more

Beautiful, wet Hoi An!

Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Quảng Nam » Hoi An November 11th 2010

jholloway

Day 24 - Wednesday 10th November So here we are at Hanoi airport waiting for a flight to Da Nang. There should be a taxi waiting to take us to our hotel at Hoi An. It’s a bit of a cop out for a backpacker to get a taxi I know, but in order to find the accommodation we have booked, it has been much easier to ask the hotel to arrange transport. If you don’t, you normally get ripped off by a taxi driver who quotes a price and then drives the long way to your hotel so that you pay extra anyway! Generally speaking we have found the people pretty genuine here in Vietnam. They don’t seem to pressurise you when you are shopping and are prepared to barter with you over the price. ... read more

Cruising Ha Long Bay

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast » Quang Ninh » Halong Bay November 9th 2010

jholloway

Day 21 - half way through our adventure! Today we are up early as we have booked to go on a 2 night cruise of the famous Ha Long Bay, the home to nearly 2,000 islands made of limestone which emerge majestically from the South China Sea (as seen on one of the James Bond movies - allegedly!). The bus arrives to pick us up at 8am, but we then spend the next hour picking up other passengers from their hotels around the city. At one point the bus is descended upon by several uniformed men - all of whom look a bit dishevelled, but all of whom are very “jobsworth” and the bus driver is issued with a ticket for parking his vehicle somewhere he shouldn’t. It then takes him another 30 minutes to pay ... read more

Hanoi - The crazy city

Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi November 9th 2010

jholloway

Day 19 - Friday 5th November - Bangkok to Hanoi We sleep really well and we are ready to catch the shuttle bus to the airport for our flight to Hanoi, Vietnam. We decide to leave reasonably early so that we can go to the Priority Pass lounge and get some food for breakfast and a cup of coffee before our flight. The bus drops us off and leaves, but then Stuart realises that he has left his GPS unit on the bus! So we then have a mad panic to try and contact the hotel to ask them to check the bus and bring the GPS unit back to the airport. GPS unit retreived, and we can at last have a cup of tea before boarding the plane. Stacey was absolutely right. This city is ... read more

Train back to Bangkok

Asia » Thailand November 6th 2010

jholloway

Day 18 Back to Bangkok I wake up early to find that the elephants are being washed in the river. They seem to be loving it! They must be the ones that we saw yesterday up the road. We look at all the options of travelling back to Bangkok - well I say all - there is the choice of a taxi or a minibus, but we decide that the train is again the best option. It will arrive, hopefully, at about 1pm and should take about 5 hours. Once we arrive at Thon buri railway station we will have to find a taxi to another station so that we can get to the airport as we fly to Hanoi tomorrow. So we hop into the back of the pick-up truck and go to the train ... read more

Bangkok to Hanoi

Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Ayutthaya November 6th 2010

jholloway

Day 17 Relaxing by the river Our room is a floating raft on the river and I thought that it would be quite a peaceful place to be. But the walls are so thin that you can hear the people in the next room chattering (luckily they didn’t seem to do anything else but talk!), and I think that a family of birds is having a party on the roof! The plumbing system is very interesting here. It appears that when you have a shower the water just filters down through the wooden floorboards into the river below. And I think that’s also what happens to your poo too! Let’s put it this way, I am not going to take a dip in the river! On further inspection, what looked so spectacular yesterday in the dark ... read more

Joined	October 8th 2010	Trips	3
Last Login	February 21st 2022	Followers	0
Status	BLOGGER	Follows	0
Blogs	20	Guestbook	9
Photos	46	Forum Posts	1