New York, New York! Getting into the vibe of the city that never sleeps, only a few hours after we'd hit the hay Craig was up and on his way to Central Park for some dawn photography. The rest of us continued sleeping and at a far more civilised hour made an apperance at the free hotel breakfast. Our bellies filled with cereal, watery OJ and not-so-great coffee, we headed out for a nice touristy bike ride around the flat and shady oasis at the centre of the city. I'm not really sure what posessed us to do that in the middle of a day that hit the 40 degrees mark but in hindsight it wasn't the brightest of ideas. The experience did certainly help me gain an understanding of just how big the park really ... read more

You know that its going to be an interesting day when the first thing you hear upon waking up in the morning is, "Hey... if it's ok... I might need to go to a medical centre today guys". Those of you who have loved ones travelling with me will be pleased to know that no medical interventions were actually required. And so we set out, into another ridiculously hot day (around 40 degrees celcius) to once again make the 'short' walk down to the Mall. Washington on the Independance Day public holiday was eerily empty, a different place to where Gez and I had been walking with hundreds of thousands of people just the night before! As we walked past a rather grand building adorned with lots of patriotic banners, I noticed in big letters "D.A.R.". ... read more

Once again your intrepid tourists were up bright and early to tackle the day. Craig snuck out quietly and considerately to take some sunrise shots of the falls, and almost immediately ruined his efforts by waking me up at 4.30 am with a text message announcing he was in Canada. Some hours later the rest of us woke up, Craig returned for breakfast, and we all set out with our newly knowledgable tour guide to experience the Canadian side of the falls. As we passed through Canadian customs and collected another stamp on our passports, I suddenly understood the need to announce to someone who might otherwise be asleep that I had just walked into another country. The view of Niagara Falls from Canada is simply breathtaking. Being there fairly early in the morning the place ... read more

It's 6am, the sun is already up and about and four bleary eyed travellers are not far behind it. Donning shorts and t-shirts we stepped out into the warmth of a New York summers day. Still little chilly for me perhaps, but certainly no frost here! Having consulted our trusty tourist map we decided to make the 'short' journey to catch the Ferry out to Liberty Island on foot. One hour, numerous blocks, a few grumbles and one kung fu squirrel later, we were strolling through the beautiful Battery Park. Shortly thereafter we landed a berth on the Miss Liberty and dutifully made our way out to meet the much loved lady of the city. Having paid our respects to the woman with the torch (or perhaps 'disrepects' would be more accurate for the group member ... read more

Stuck in the cycle For our last day in Poipet we were all up bright and early and walked up to the border before breakfast. It was a real eye opener to see all of the day labourers that P had mentioned, pulling their carts and lined up to waiting to be allowed into Thailand and hopefully get some worker. There were so many people with carts - both men and women, often with their kids with them. I was struck by how orderly and controlled the lines were - two straight lines of carts, no pushing etc. Apparently these people make about $1.25 or $1.50 per day. Even though it was only 7am, it was hot - I can't even imagine how much hard work it must be to push and pull a heavily laden ... read more