I am about to embark on an 'almost' around the world trip, leaving Sydney in early December for Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Europe and the East Coast of the US.
After departing Tokyo, next stop on Pip's World Tour was Rome! I couldn't really have picked too more differing countries in terms of their landscape, history, culture and people. But that's what makes life so interesting doesn't it! Day 1 - was a historical sites tour. First stop: the Colosseum which was only a short walk from my hostel. What first struck me was how the Italians have endeavoured to preserve this and other historical sites, in the middle of the city whilst the rest of the city bustles on as each year goes by. This is probably quite a normal thing for most Europeans but us Aussies - with our short history - tend to notice things like this (well I do anyway!) It's hard to believe that the Emperor used to throw humans ... read more
Ok so my blog is VERY late, and I'm now in London but better late than never! Japan was almost 2 months ago now, but I have to say it was amazing. It's possibly one of the most interesting countries you could visit. I absolutely loved it and despite it being very different I could imagine living and working there. Where to start? I landed in Tokyo and spent a week there getting around with another lovely traveller, Fran (from Ireland) who was also on a round the world trip. Tokyo is as you would imagine a massive place so there's a lot of ground to cover. But with the impeccably run subway system (London eat your heart out) it makes getting around so easy. Our first stop was in bustling Shinjuku - apparently busiest ... read more
A belated Happy New Year and Happy Oz Day! Its been ages since my last entry so I'm really behind and need to update you on my travels from about mid December... After Halong Bay we decided to make a side trip into Luang Prabang in Laos. I'd heard some great reports about the place from friends and flights were pretty cheap from Hanoi so off we went. Unfortunately just before boarding the flight in Hanoi I was struck down with a massive stomach ache and was extremely ill for the first couple of days. Ha - a friend in Sydney, Rachel, told me to expect to get sick at least once whilst in SE Asia and this was certainly going to be that time! Determined not to let it get me down - and so ... read more
One of the best things you could do during a trip to Vietnam would be to book a trip to Sapa and Halong Bay. They are so different but equally rewarding and breath taking. I had never seen anything like either of these places in my life. It's really easy to book these trips out of Hanoi - there are so many tour groups that offer packages. One word of advice though, some are better than others and we did hear of some horror stories. Ours was booked with Handspan and we found them to be fantastic - definitely highly recommended. First up we headed to Sapa via the overnight train from Hanoi. At about 7am the next morning the train pulled into a small town call Lao Cai which is about as north as you ... read more
Hi everyone! It's been quite a while since my last blog. Sorry for the delay - so many deadlines, such a heavy workload! ;-) The last 3 weeks or so has been spent in Hanoi, with a couple of side trips to Halong Bay and Sapa. I arrived in Hanoi from Bangkok via Asia Airlines (similar to Jetstar) and upon landing immediately met a three lovely girls, two English and one Aussie girl. We all shared a hair-raising minibus together from the airport into town - there were a few near misses with motorbikes carrying dead pigs or caged chickens and others with very Russian looking trucks. (You wouldn't believe how MUCH these guys can pile onto the back of a motorbike). Anyway, we soon got used to the mad driving and were comfortable in the ... read more
It's my fourth day in Bangkok and I'm getting used to all of it's craziness, unreliable maps, dangerous traffic...yet underneath this there is beauty to be found. My hotel has everything I need - thank god for aircon! It's only a short walk to Khao San road and I'm loving how central it is. My first day here was spent orientating myself to the area and checking out the infamous Khao San rd, which is essentially bakpacker central. There are a lot of travel booking places, bars, markets and a fair few people trying to con you out of your money! The next day I caught the new sky train to the Chatchuchak weekend markets - the biggest markets I'll probably ever go to in my life! Here you can find ANYTHING you need from antiques ... read more
After years of talking about it and saving it's now only one month to go before I leave my life and home in Sydney for a 6 month travelling adventure around SE Asia, Japan, Europe and East Coast of the US. Ultimately I plan on ending up in London (probably around July) and finding work. I finish work here in 2 and a half weeks and I leave Sydney on the 1st of December! Admittedly, in the last week I've started having some nervous thoughts about my big travelling adventure but I guess that's entirely normal. So...where am I going? Well as I'm going to be on my own, I'm leaving my plans fairly open but my rough itinerary is - Dec 1 - fly out from Sydney to Bangkok Spend a few days in Bangkok ... read more