 Thailand |
 Laos |
 Cambodia |
 Vietnam |
 Hong Kong |
 Beijing & The Great Wall |
 Japan |
 Sydney & New South Wales |
 People at Bondi, Mardi Gras & Paddy's Night |
 Tasmania |
 Melbourne |
 Great Ocean Road |
 South Australia |
 'The Centre' |
 'Top End' |
 Queensland |
 New Zealand |
 Cook Islands |
 French Polynesia |
 Easter Island |
 Peru |
 Bolivia |
 Argentina |
 Brazil |
Madrid, Spain
8 September 2005
Business Class to Madrid is great - I really should fly this way more often! When we were checking in at Rio airport we were upgraded to BC for no reason - all we could say was 'obrigada, obrigada!' We think some other people were bumped up too, but one of the guys was really milking it and kept clicking his fingers for quicker service - really, do these people not know how to behave when let out of Cattle Class - we did have a fight with our tv screens and then realised we were pulling on the wrong bit of the seat - hope no one saw us!
Arrived at 6am, and were told we couldn't check into the hostel till about noon. So the two of us roamed the city, half asleep and looking a bit worse for wear. I'm sure people going to work thought we were coming home from the night before.
Madrid is a really nice city - lots of museums, public gardens, plazas full of cafes and restaurants, a royal palace and great shops! We visited all the sights, and also had time to relax - the weather was great too. We went to an Irish pub to see Ireland being beaten by France - this didn't help given the fact we were sitting beside a group of French who just couldn't help going on about Henry's goal...yeah yeah a total fluke! And now the trip has come to an end - flying home to Dublin in a couple of hours. I've enjoyed every minute of travelling - met really nice people and saw amazing places. It also makes you appreciate home too!
BackRio de Janeiro
4 September 2005
Arrived safe and sound in Rio - I realised when I got off the bus that when I'm carrying my rucksack, I'm bent over and look in pain - not long left with the bag. Anyhow, we had such a ball in Rio. It's a really nice city, lots to do and see plus great nightlife. You do have to be aware though that anybody could steal your bag at any time - we heard numerous stories while we were there about people being held at knife-point, and we did meet an English woman walking up the street followed by a policeman with a gun in one hand and holding on to a thief with the other. The guy had pushed the woman to the ground and took her bag - she was having none of it as her bag was stolen a month previously and she didn't want to lose her credit card again. So she gave chase and a policeman saw her, so he joined in. She was our hero for the day!
The view over Rio is spectacular - even if we didn't exactly get the best weather. The two main lookout points are at Christ the Redeemer and from the top of the Sugar Loaf. We got a few cloudy days, where you actually couldn't see Christ the Redeemer. You would see him one minute, gone the next. Sunset from the Sugar Loaf is quite impressive and the cable-car trip up there is good fun.
We were staying near Copacabana beach - it's a great beach, but the waves tend to break very near the shore like in Bondi - I did try to get in to swim, but didn't get very far - waist deep still counts! We were hoping to catch a game in the Maracana stadium, but there were none on the week we were there - did think about changing our flights by about 3 days, but everything was booked out for 1 week - so we contented ourselves with a tour of the stadium.
Brazil is the home of the caipirinha - the best cocktail ever! The one thing though you have to get used to is that they make them reallllly strong - catch you by surprise, and make you unable to pack your bag the day you have to catch a flight.
BackParaty
1 September 2005
We decided to stop in Paraty which is along the coast between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It's a really nice colonial town, with cobbled streets and brightly coloured houses. From here you can actually take a boat to a number of islands, but alas we didn't have the time and just enjoyed the town and beach nearby. Next day boarded a bus to Rio - our plan was to arrive into Rio during the day as everyone says you shouldn't arrive late a night, but sure what could we do, just hope no one came near us!
BackSão Paulo
30 August 2005
Before coming to São Paulo I hadn't really heard any good stories about the place, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a really nice city - some parts remind you of Chicago, other parts have a feel of a South American city. We arrived very early on a Sunday, so after a few hours sleep, walked around the city to check out the sights. There was a very obvious police presence in the city, which gave you a bit of confidence when walking about. There was some funky art festival on that day - it was the opening of the festival so it was free to visitors too. São Paulo has the largest number of Japanese residents outside of Japan, and one area of the city hosts a market in the evenings where you can buy Japanese food and handicrafts. It was well worth a visit and kind of strange, but great to be able to buy sushi again! The film 'City of God' was mostly filmed in São Paulo - I wanted to see it before we left but never got a chance - it's a definite for when I get home. One thing you should definitely do if you are ever in São Paulo, is to go up to the observation tower of one of the banks - it's free and it gives a brilliant view of the city!
BackParaguay
Ciudad del Este
27 August 2005
Seeing as we are right beside the Paraguayan border, we decided to visit for the day. The city at the border is Ciudad del Este and is known as a shopper's mecca. It's all duty-free shopping, so people head over in droves to pick up all the bargains. We headed over to visit a dam - it's the largest in the world, and the company offers free tours. We opted to get stamped out of Brazil and stamped into Paraguay, although you don't have to when just going for the day and you stay within 30km of the border. The bus initially drove over into Paraguay and we had to walk back to Brazil to get the stamps! It's quite relaxed unless you have a truck load of stuff or are carrying a lot of baggage.
The dam was pretty impressive - especially the 1km control room. The only shopping I did on the way back through Ciudad del Este was to buy a DVD - $1 bargain :o) Got stamped back into Brazil and now we're setting off to São Paulo - here's to a 15-hour bus journey!
BackBrazil
Foz do Iguaçu
26 August 2005
Foz do Iguaçu is the city on the Brazilian side for visiting the Falls - it is just so different to the Argentinian side, full of high-rise apartments and a feel of city life. The Falls on this side don't really have as much to offer regarding walkways over each waterfall, but you get a great view of the whole thing. There are loads of viewing platforms and some that go out into the water, and where you get absolutely soaked from the spray. I think by the end of the day I was totally Iguazued out, but thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
BackArgentina
Concordia → Puerto Iguazu → Iguazu Falls
25 August 2005
After spending the night on the bus, we got an 8am bus to Concordia in Argentina, and found out the next bus to Puerto Iguazu was at 7pm. So after sitting in the bus station (the size of your living room + dining room) for about 2 hours like total zombies, just wandered around the town. They also offered hot springs, and we were going to go, but seeing as everything normal took us twice the time to do it as normal due to lack of sleep, we didn't quite make it. The cinema also didn't open until 6pm, so that was no good. I don't think I've visited as many cafes in petrol stations in one day as I did in Concordia. Colin did get a cheap haircut - probably the highlight of our afternoon! Bus to Puerto Iguazu was like a business class seat on an aeroplane - dinner and breakfast included, so we did get a decent night's sleep.
Puerto Iguazu is the town on the Argentinian side where you base yourself for visiting Iguazu Falls. It's pretty small, with no buildings more than two stories high. Hopped on a bus up to the Falls in the afternoon - we didn't have enough time to see everything on the Argentinian side in one day, so decided to come back the next morning too.
When you see the falls it's definitely a 'wow' moment. Although, that said, I had already seen Niagara Falls and was very impressed with them. The thing about Iguazu is just the sheer length of the Falls. They stretch so far and there are just so many of them. When we came back the next morning, there were hardly any people about, which was great. You didn't have to fight your way to the front to take a photo. We decided to take a boat trip to see the Falls up close. They say you will get wet, and I saw first-hand people coming off the boat absolutely drenched from head to toe. I had a waterproof jacket with me, so that definitely helped. It was absolutely hilarious! I just couldn't stop laughing, we were all getting soaked - some more than others, and when we went through the water, I couldn't actually see anything. It was like someone had a hose right in your face. Colin brought the digital camera with him in the underwater case, so we took a few video clips. When they're up, you can judge for yourselves how much fun it looks!
The sun was out when we finished, so we dried off pretty quickly. After looking at the Falls for the last time in Argentina, we headed straight over the border to Brazil, to visit the Falls from that side.
BackUruguay
Colonia del Sacramento → Montevideo
23 August 2005
Colonia del Sacramento is another World Heritage UNESCO town - and well worth a visit. The old part of the town is really nice, full of cobbled streets, cafes and a few museums you can visit, but just basically a good place to spend some time. There are also a few beaches, but the weather was just a bit too cold to be diving in. I have to admit the night we were there, there was a Seinfeld special on TV in the hostel, and we ended up watching a good few episodes. We just spent two days in Colonia and got the bus to Montevideo.
As capital cities go, Montevideo hasn't a whole lot to offer in relation to things to see. That said, it was a nice place - it has an old quarter with numerous plazas, churches, old markets and the harbour, which is full of people fishing. A few times we ended up hopping on a local bus and just visiting areas not actually knowing where we were! Uruguay struck me as a really nice country to visit - it's really safe, the people are very friendly and in the summer, it would be nice to visit more of the south and east coast. So after a day and a half, we got a night bus up to Salto in the north, on the border with Argentina. We were thinking of crossing at Fray Bentos - the city's only attraction is an old meat market, which is now derelict and meant to be a pretty eerie place - but the guide book described the town as dull and boring, so Salto was our next destination! We decided not to stop in Salto - even though it does offer great hot springs and a nice city centre (there are only a certain amount of hot springs you can visit) - and hopped on the first bus over the border to Argentina.
BackArgentina
Buenos Aires
20 August 2005
Buenos Aires is the home of tango. There is tango dancing everywhere, along with numerous cafes, bars, BBQ restaurants that sell the best steak ever, great nightlife and an area with loads of colourful houses. Many people we have met in South America have spent most of their time in Buenos Aires - they just fell in love with the place. I really enjoyed the few days there - at the time there were demonstrations taking place - the unemployed sector were looking for an increase in benefits, so there were also a lot of police about and demonstrators with batons in their hands!
We didn't manage to get any tango lessons, but we called by to a cafe one evening, which is famous for its tango show. You are meant to have a reservation, but in our usual style, we just showed up and there happened to be a cancellation, right up the front! I thoroughly enjoyed the show - the band played a few numbers, two dancers showed us how the tango should be done, and there were also two singers. I had sort of convinced Colin to come along, but he really enjoyed it too.
A must in Argentina is to try a steak - a lot of restaurants have BBQs with everything from steak to intestines on the grill. I'm not a big steak eater at home - but I might have been converted after the food we had - although it's a whole lot cheaper here too!!
They have done up the dock area in BA, and now it's full of restaurants and bars. Two other areas we visited were Palermo and Recoleta - while in Recoleta we visited a cemetry, I know a bit morbid! - but Eva Peron is buried here, so took a look at/photo of her grave. It really remined me of New Orleans where people are buried in coffins and put in tombs that look like little houses. We also stumbled upon an interior design shopping mall - I was in heaven, but obviously didn't buy anything! I did see these amazing lights on a stall in the city centre, but Colin convinced me they just wouldn't fit in my bag no matter what way I folded them up. Palermo is full of leafy streets lined with cafes - a great place to just relax for a few hours.
La Boca is the area where they have all the colourful houses, tourist shops and tango being danced on the streets - there is a stadium here too which is the home of Boca Juniors, who Diego Maradona used to play for. He's now hosting his new chat show on TV, so there were posters of him everywhere - looking very rejuvinated with big white pearly teeth!
After 4 days in BA, we got the boat over to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay.
BackChile
San Pedro de Atacama → Antofagasta → Santiago
16 August 2005
We wanted to visit Valle de la Luna (moon valley) while in San Pedro, so went on a trip the day we arrived, which incorporated sandboarding and a trip to some salt caves. The sandboarding took place in Death Valley - the name isn't related to the sport - and we did pretty well. Although, in the movie clips we took, I fell both times in mine and Colin didn't fall at all, but in reality I spent more time on the board than off - seriously! It was really good fun - we probably had the advantage of not knowing how to snowboard - different techniques used for both, so we were told. The only difficult part was walking back up the sand dune to go again! We went to Valle de la Luna for sunset, which was quite impressive - got to see the sun set over the Andes. San Pedro is a really nice town - loads of gringos, nice restaurants and bars. It really hit us going back into Chile just how expensive it is in comparison to Peru and Bolivia, but not that expensive compared to Europe!
Caught a bus the next day to Antofagasta so we could catch a flight to Buenos Aires, via Santiago. Stayed one night in Antofagasta - didn't get to see much of the city as it was evening time, but took a walk about. When we checked the guidebook later, I think we had seen most of the highlights (basically the church and central market!) Had a TV in our room (yippee!) so watched some films in English. The next day we took a taxi to the airport - the driver was a bit mad, he couldn't speak English so in our broken Spanish we managed to figure out that he was asking if we had visited a famous place in Antofagasta, La Portada, which is an arch in the sea along the coast, 16km from the city. It just happened that the airport was 25km from the city in the same direction, so we took a detour to visit this great place, suggested as a day trip in the guidebook - I'm not exactly sure what you'd do there for the day, but it was worth a photo of Colin and our taxi driver in front of the arch!
BackBolivia
Potosi → Uyuni
14 August 2005
After a night bus to Uyuni, the next morning we booked a trip to Salar de Uyuni, and set off at 11am. There were 3 French girls, 1 Spanish girl and 1 Argentinian guy in our group, and of course our Spanish-speaking driver. The group were really helpful and translated any of the Spanish we didn't understand, i.e. 95% of it! The 3 French girls had all spent a year in a Spanish-speaking country as part of their college course, so had really good Spanish.
This trip is basically a 2/3 night trip (depending on whether you leave at the Bolivia/Chile border, which we did, or head back to Uyuni). You firstly visit the Salt Plains in Bolivia, the largest in the world, which means salt everywhere. We stopped off at an island in the salt plains, where loads of cacti grow - some of which are over 1000 years old. We also stopped at a salt hotel, which is of course made of salt! After the salt plains the environment changes drastically, we entered a national park which is all desert and rocks. The scenery on the whole trip is just amazing. There are unusual rock formations, emerald-coloured lakes, snow-capped mountains and rare wildlife including James flamingo, the Andean fox and herds of vicuñas. I thoroughly enjoyed the few days, and then crossed back into Chile at San Pedro de Atacama.
BackBolivia
La Paz → Potosi
11 August 2005
Flew from La Paz to Sucre and then hopped on a bus to Potosi. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop in Sucre, even though I've heard it's really nice. Potosi is a World Heritage UNESCO site meaning its a nice little town! We came here to visit working mines, to see how much the miners suffer I think Colin put it.
I had been told beforehand that you would have to crouch down in places and the tunnels were fairly narrow at times - I hadn't imagined what was in store for us. Before entering the mines, we were kitted out in protective jacket and trousers, wellies and a hard hat with a light. We also stopped at the miners' market to buy some dynamite, soft drinks and coca leaves. On entering the mine, I think I whacked my head four times within the first 5 minutes - I wanted to get out of there. It was fairly claustrophobic, I had a cold at the time, so my sinuses were really acting up, and the air was so difficult to breathe in - a great start to a 3-hour tour! The tunnels were all pretty narrow, if you were any way tall, you really had to crouch down, but at least the parts between the tunnels were big enough to stand in.
I don't know how the men worked in the mines - they were all coughing and spluttering and had big cheeks full of coca leaves, which don't taste great at the best of times! The whole environment was awful and safety was certainly not high on their agenda - the small pieces of wood holding up some of the tunnels looked rotten. I was glad I went to visit the mines, but I was elated when I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, literally! Working in an office with no windows would have been a luxury compared to the mines.
BackBolivia
La Paz
14 August 2005
Crossing the border between Peru and Bolivia was a bit crazy - you just have to get an exit stamp in Peru and then walk over the bridge to Bolivia to get the entry stamp and hop back on the bus. However the bridge between the two is just mayhem with people walking back and forth, together with people cycling through you, cars trying to drive across and then the rest of the people selling anything from ice-pops to sewing kits. Bus trip to La Paz was fine, booked into a nice hostel, and slept.
We actually seemed to sleep for most of the time in La Paz, but did investigate about whether or not they were still running 'tours' into San Pedro prison - apparently no tourists are allowed in at the moment, so had to skip that. Took a trip out to Tiwanaku - an important Andean archaeological site. I'm not sure how to describe it - I enjoyed the scenery on the way out and back from Tiwanaku - Tiwanaku itself didn't have much to offer.
We visited the Witches' Market - where they sold a mix of everything - I'm not sure if you could bring a llama foetus through customs though. I bought some presents at the market, nothing too crazy!
On our last day in La Paz, we booked a mountain biking trip down the 'World's Most Dangerous Road' from La Paz to Coroico. It was such good fun - I can't recommend it enough! We did get a little muddy, but that was all part of the fun. I love cycling, and this was just the perfect thing to do - and after all the fun we got to drive back up the really windy road - in Bolivia if two cars come face to face on a narrow road, they keep beeping their horns, hoping the other will just move, then they stare out their windscreen for another ten minutes and if that doesn't work revert back to beeping the horn. It usually takes about 40 minutes before one party will get out of their vehicle and verbally abuse the other driver. Then about 10 minutes later some arrangement is made and both vehicles can go on their merry way. Strange road culture - oh by the way, they also drive down hills with no engine running, never turn their lights on unless the police are in the vicinity, and turn their car off every time they stop.
BackPeru
Cusco → Puno
5 August 2005
Next stop was Puno, the gateway to Lake Titicaca from the Peruvian side. Puno is also a nice town, smaller than Cusco, but still has a lot of charm. We booked a two-day/one-night trip out to the floating islands on the lake and then stayed that evening on one of the permanent islands with a family. The floating islands are just made of reeds, and it's really fascinating how people live there - pretty good craftsmanship! When we arrived at Amantani, one of the fixed islands, we were brought by this girl up to her house. The island's streets are basically vertical, she was running ahead, Colin in pursuit, and me tagging along at the back. I thought my chest might explode. We were basically running up the side of a mountain (well it felt like that!). We had lunch with the family in a kitchen like the ones I imagine were in rural Ireland in the 1920s. They had no electricity or running water in the house, and the toilet was a hole in the ground with a hut around it. The tour group walked up a mountain that afternoon and everyone was feeling the effects of the altitude. The locals selling their hats etc were walking so quickly. After the walk I was feeling quite tired, and went to bed before dinner. The plan was to go to traditional dancing later on. After eating the soup at dinner I was feeling even worse and my nightmare started at about 9pm and finished sometime around 5am. While waiting outside for me, at least Colin got to see some great views of the stars - the skies were just so clear. Next morning as we now ran down the steepest streets ever, this local man was walking up carrying three crates of beer on his back, and he still had the energy to wish us a 'good morning'! Set off on the boat again, stopping in at another island on the way. We were fortunate to be there while there was a dancing festival on - everyone dressed in their traditional outfits. The trip ended in Puno, and we got a bus the next morning to La Paz, Bolivia.
BackPeru
Arequipa → Cusco → Machu Picchu
2 August 2005
Bus from Arequipa to Cusco. I have to mention in particular one bus journey we took from Arequipa to Cusco - firstly if the passengers feel the driver should leave and stop trying to get more passengers on, they'll tell him and start stamping their feet until he does. Also it's very normal for food sellers to be picked up along the way, feed the passengers and then are dropped off somewhere along the road. In this instance the passengers were complaining to the driver that they were hungry and they wanted him to pick up some food sellers - even though we had stopped at a food stall 20 minutes previously! So he picks up these two women who both have huge bags. They position themselves near the front of the bus - very near our seat. I could see one woman was selling bread, cheese and drinks in plastic bags. The other woman opened up her bag and rested something between the seats so she could get to work. We couldn't quite see what she was doing, but then we just saw this big knife and she was hacking away at something. The passengers all ran up the aisle and were pushing forward, dying to get some of this stuff. We still couldn't work out what it was, but there were also potatoes involved and a lot of grease on their hands. The food was handed out in small plastic bags, and they also got a side of dressing. This went down a treat, and they sold out before everyone got a piece. We realised later that she had been hacking a chicken up, as people sucked on the bones and then just threw their rubbish (including plastic bags) out the window! I couldn't stop laughing - I had this image of the bus from Dublin to Galway, a woman getting on and just hacking away at some chicken. I'm not sure how popular it would be! Colin's face was classic - giving a running comentary the whole time - good thing they couldn't speak English. He passed on the chicken.
Cusco is the city you base yourself in before heading to Machu Picchu. It is a really nice place, great cafes, restaurants and full of Americans and other tourists. It also has very high streets as we found out when we couldn't find our hostel - but we got an amazing view of the city! You really are short of breath having only walked a short distance uphill, but add on your backpack and it's a struggle. Stayed there two days before getting the train at 6am up to Aguas Calientes, the town nearest to Machu Picchu. We decided to stay there one night, and visit Machu Picchu for two days. The first day it was only the afternoon, but got to look around the ruins, and stayed for sunset. It was a relaxing day, as many day trippers have gone by 3pm, so you have a lot of the place to yourself. It was my birthday also, so it was definitely something memorable to do. Oh and we also saw Jennifer Saunders, Adrian Edmonson and their two daughters that evening. The next day we saw them numerous times, and by the time we were getting the train back to Cusco, they were in the queue in front of us and on the same carriage - no, we weren't stalking them!
I was really impressed by Machu Picchu - the fact the city was built on top of a mountain is just extraordinary - the scenery was simply amazing. If you're wondering if we did the Inca Trail - no, didn't manage to realise beforehand that it's high season!! The trail was booked out since April, so in mid-July when we decide to inquire about tours, the replies involved dates in October. Eh no, think we'll pass. Have heard mixed reports about whether the inca trail is worth doing, but it's definitely something to keep in mind.
We went up the second day for sunrise, climbed up Wayna Picchu (another mountain, which gives you great views of Machu Picchu and surrounding area), and also decided to walk to the inca bridge (slightly disappointed with that) and walked up to Intipunku, the main entrance to Machu Picchu from the Inca Trail. So after all that midday walking, we walked down from Machu Picchu. The walk down wasn't bad - don't think I would have fancied the walk up. We both slept well that night when we got back to Cusco.
BackPeru
Lima → Nazca → Arequipa
28 July 2005
Decided to stop off in Nazca to see the famous Nazca lines - one of the great mysteries of South America. They are groups of animal figures and geometric shapes drawn across a stony plain. There is a viewing platform for visitors to see the shapes, but you can only see one or maybe two from here. The best way to see them is by taking a flight - the planes only have 3 or 5 seats, so everyone gets a great view. The pilot makes sure he shows everyone on the left and then spins around to show you on the right - I'm not that great at flying, and my stomach wasn't feeling the best by about the fourth animal. I really enjoyed it though, and it was definitely well worth it. We also somehow got roped into visiting a cemetry where they found thousands of graves with mummies inside. I was my usual cynical self on this trip, but there were some interesting artefacts found and the guide was good. Colin made friends with a French woman, who we later took the flight over the lines with.
Just spent one night in Nazca, and then it was a bus journey to Arequipa, to take a trip to Colca Canyon. This canyon, one of the deepest in the world, is home to condors, and there are a few really good lookout spots you can visit to see them. They are usually about between 7 & 9am, so the guidebook suggests you get there early - hmmmm, all tours try and get there at the same time, so you are basically there with every other tourist! We were lucky, arrived about 8.30am, but got to see quite a few flying about, and they came pretty close too. Colin and myself just about made it on the tour. The day before and that morning, both of us had been suffering from altitude sickness (1. headache - the worst hangover you could possibly imagine, followed by a kick in the head, and then a hammer inside your head continuously banging away, 2. getting sick, 3. diarrhoea), and not a single painkiller to be had - I actually don't know how we survived.
Also spent a few days in Arequipa, a really nice old town - where we tried to acalimatise to the altitude (it didn't actually work, but had two days rest anyhow!).
BackSantiago → Lima, Peru
24 July 2005
Back to Santiago to catch a flight up to Lima, two days earlier than planned. Spent one day in Lima - the city has quite a mix of run down areas and also really nice architecture - visited all the main sights, which included the headquarters of the Inquisition for the whole of Spanish-dominated America for about 200 years. Colin was a bit apprehensive at the start regarding taking out your cameras etc, just from stories you hear about cities in South America, but we quickly found our way about the city by hopping on the local bus (our hostel told us it was very dangerous to get this bus and we ended up going into an area they had marked as 'dangerous for tourists'. After realising we were in the wrong place, a friendly local told us to get off, and he walked across the road with us to make sure we got the right bus back). There wasn't a whole lot to keep us in Lima, and got the bus south to Nazca the next day.
BackChile
20 July 2005
Arrived into Santiago and spent two days wandering around the city, looking at the few sights and enjoying city life for a change. Our first taste of a South American city - it wasn't as crazy as I had imagined. It also hasn't a lot to offer the tourist - took a funicular up a hill and got a cable-car down! So then decided to head north to Vicuña where they have one of the world's major astronomical observatories. This observatory is different in that it offers a hands-on experience - you get to look through a few huge telescopes to view the stars, planets and the moon. Vicuña is in desert land, so it was a change from the city. While we were there we also visited the pisco (the country's national drink) brewery - free alcohol, why ever not?!
BackAuckland, NZ → Rarotonga, Cook Islands → Aitutaki, CI → Rarotonga → Tahiti,
French Polynesia → Bora Bora, FP → Moorea, FP → Tahiti → Easter Island,
Chile
15 July 2005
Left sunny, but cold Auckland to arrive to rain in the Cook Islands - we couldn't believe it!! But it was considerably warmer, TG. Rarotonga, the main island, has a coast road of only 32km, so it was pretty easy to get around - we decided to rent a moped - you have to do a test if your licence from home doesn't allow you to drive a scooter. Colin wanted the licence as a souvenir, so went and did the test. It was the funniest thing - there were about 10 westeners all doing the test together. The four-right-turn test around a road island was extremely difficult and nerve-racking for them all ;). Good thing I pointed out to Colin just before he set off that he hadn't flicked up his stand - there might have been a few sparks flying on the way around. The police guy followed on his bike (even though there were cars inbetween him and the 10 of them!), so I'm not exactly sure how the hell he saw anything! I took the easy option, and just got a souvenir of a car licence - only had to pay the money as I have a licence from home.
The lagoon at Rarotonga lived up to expectations of a South Pacific Island, and I bought a snorkel & mask (which I later broke by some freak accident), and went snorkelling and swimming. Pity about the rain, but we also flew to an island north of Rarotonga, Aitutaki, and the weather was much better. The flight was probably one of the best bits - the lagoon at Aitutaki is much bigger than the actual island, and there are loads of smaller islands, or motu scattered about. The contrast of the turquoise water and the ocean was spectacular - we did a lagoon cruise while we were there - it was on the Sunday, and for some reason only one operator was going that day, so the ten of us and our guide had the whole lagoon to ourselves - we stopped off at four motu and there wasn't anybody else about. The weather was great - the first island we stopped off at was where they filmed one of the survivor programmes. I'm not sure if I could have spent 10 weeks there!! We also went to an Island Night - Cook Islanders perform traditional dances, girls dress in grass skirts and coconuts and guys wear some sort of grass shorts and grass covers on their lower legs. They really can shake that booty! Cook islanders are great fun, and we had a really relaxed time.
Flew back to Rarotonga for a day, before flying to Tahiti. Once we arrived my French started coming back to me, but could have been a lot better! Colin and myself bought an airpass for French Polynesia which gave us a few flights between the islands. We hadn't much time in FP so decided it was the best thing to do. The boats are just really slow and unreliable (cargo ships), but great value if you have loads of time. Arrived into Tahiti at 1am, and stayed in the airport until our flight out to Bora Bora at 8am. We were both like zombies at this stage, having not slept for so long. Definitely one of the highlights about being in the South Pacific is seeing the islands from the air. They just look amazing - and the planes are tiny - it's like a private tour!
Bora Bora certainly lived up to the expectations of expensive resorts perched out on the lagoon. Some of the big hotel chains (Le Meriden and Sofitel) have their own motu just for their resorts! We decided not to stay at these places, and went for the much better option of camping :) Still got to use the same lagoon and beach though! First day just relaxed on the beach, caught up on sleep and read books (I bought a stack in a sale in Auckland and just want to read them so I can offload them on someone else!!). Next day cycled around the island (smaller than Rarotonga), so it didn't take us long, brilliant views of the mountains and lagoon. The great thing about flying into Bora Bora is that the airport is situated on one of the motu in the north, and then you have to get a boat from there to the island. When we were leaving, our flight was at 9am, so had to be there at 8am, which meant we either got the 7.30 or 7.45 boat. The guy at the camping said he'd drop us up no problem for the 7.45 boat. The morning of the flight we were up early and had everything packed and were just waiting for our lift. We couldn't find the guy, but his friend was there and thought maybe we wanted to go on a tour (they also ran lagoon trips). We explained the situation, and when they realised the time (it would usually take about 15 minutes to drive to the port at the official 40km/hour speed limit), they got a bit panicked and just hurried us into this pickup with our bags and another mate decided to drive us. Oh My God - I think we made it to the port in about 7 minutes - overtook scooters, trucks, cars, you name it we overtook it and on the bend too - oncoming traffic were flashing their lights and beeping their horns - I was afraid to look and then the driver decides to put on his t-shirt. It was extremely frightening and extremely funny at the same time, but that's in hindsight. We screeched to a hault at the port, boat leaving in 5 minutes, and neither of us could believe that we had arrived alive.
With our airpass we were able to fly between 5 islands, but with the limited time we had, we just decided to fly to Moorea, the closest island to Tahiti. We had also planned to meet some Irish girls, who we had met in Rarotonga. The flight again was great and the weather was perfect for lying on the beach and swimming in the lagoon. Campsite was really nice - we just opened our tent and had a view of the beach and lagoon - who needs the Sofitel?!
Flew back to Tahiti a few days later - flight time was scheduled for 10 minutes, it actually only took 6 and there were four of us on the plane - the pilot just turned around and welcomed us on board and said to fasten our seatbelts! I don't think we even reached 9,000 feet - got to take good photos of the lagoon and coral. It was Sunday in Tahiti and unfortunately the 'le truck' (public transport) wasn't running around the island - just the airport to Papeete (capital) route. So we decided to hitchhike (something rather alien to Tahitians). We were very lucky and got a lift to the lighthouse/beach with a really friendly guy and his wife - bascially gave us a guided tour along the way, stopping at a lookout and spoke really good English because he had lived in LA. Stayed there for a while and then on the way back this woman gave us a lift in her pickup - she wasn't going as far as we wanted but didn't mind, as we could walk the last bit. But instead, she picked up her daughter and then continued on and dropped us right in the centre of the city - I liked French Polynesia. It was also great that we were then when the annual Heiva festival was on - traditional Polynesian dancing - a really nice introduction to Polynesian culture and then ate at the open food market held in the evenings.
Next stop was Easter Island, Chile. Ok time to switch from French to Spanish! Neither of us speak Spanish, but I bought a phrase book in NZ, and I'm pleased to say I've learnt a lot of the basics so far. Can ask questions, but sometimes the answer just puts me right off!! Easter Island is tiny - it only has a population of about 2,800 and 95% of these people live in the one town Hanga Roa. One of the famous things in Easter Islands is the moai - huge stone statues carved out of volcanic rock - it's still a mystery why they are actually here, but it's said they were made when somebody died and they stood overlooking the village for protection. Many of them have fallen over and lie face down, but groups of them are being restored, so there are some sites where groups of them are standing in rows on top of an ahu, or platform. One site has 15 standing in a row. We had three days here, before flying to Santiago. Caught up on some sleep the first day and then visited the ones nearest to the town - a great sunset spot and we weren't disappointed. The next day we rented a jeep with this other guy at our hostel who we had met in Tahiti - we got it for pretty cheap, and I'm not surprised why - it was pretty shaky (there's only one sealed road, the rest are rocks and potholes everywhere!), the windows didnt really close properly, the key flew out while the jeep was still running and we only realised when we wanted to stop, and then the drivers seat flew back and Mike was basically lying down while driving - but that all said, we saw loads of moai that day, and two volcanic craters - we climed up to the top of the crater for amazing views of the island, and managed to get back in one piece :) Third day we rented bikes for about 4 hours, cos we only wanted to visit two sites and a cave - the wind was something else - the 6km cycle to one site felt like a 60km cycle, with extreme crosswinds and the bumpiest/rockiest road in history. The wind was also against us. On the way back it was crazy - we didn't even need to cycle the wind was so strong and got back so quickly, also stopping off to look in a cave. Serious wind/sunburn after getting back - we couldn't really move our faces and had a bit of a John Wayne walk going on! One usual mode of transport here is horses - loads of people ride by on their way to work - we opted not to go by horse, but met two girls who had and said it was great. We were meant to be flying out this morning, but the worst wind/rain storm I have ever seen arrived on the island last night - our electricity went at 9pm, and the flight this morning was cancelled. We fly out at 4.15am.
BackNorth Island, New Zealand
Coromandel Peninsula → Auckland → Northland → Auckland
1 July 2005
The peninsula has a rugged coastline, beautiful scenery, varied wildlife and is basically a nice place to drive around.
One of the highlights of the Coromandel Peninsula is Hot Water Beach, where the water under the sand is boiling hot, and you actually want the sea to come in and cool you down. When we arrived at the beach there was a group of Americans there digging away with their spades, running about in bikinis trying to make a hot pool so they could all get in. It was about 10 degrees Celsius, but the sun was shining. We were both freezing with our fleeces on! But when we did find the hot water under the sand we were happy enough the stand there for a while to warm up.
After driving around the peninsula, we headed for Auckland that evening. Stayed in Auckland for one night, and then headed north to explore some of Northland. This area of NZ is quite spectacular and would require about 3 or 4 days to really see it, but we didn't do too badly in one day. Stopped off at some lovely beaches, forest walks and beach towns on the way. Unfortunately we didn't make it to Ninety Mile Beach or the toilets designed by Hundertwasser, but they're on the list for next time! Headed back to Auckland that evening (stopping off at a takeaway place to grab some dinner as it was getting late on a Sunday evening - I have never waited so long on my dinner, even in the busiest restaurant. I think our order of 1 chips and 1 sandwich took 55 minutes - we nearly resorted to eating the table).
And then we had two days in Auckland before flying out to Rarotonga. It was nice to be back in a big city, and the two days were relaxing. We visited the Martitime museum - well worth a look - they had a special exhibition on the Rainbow Warrior 20th anniversary of when the French sunk the Greenpeace boat in Auckland harbour. Really interesting, and so too was the special exhibition on Kiwi explorers in the Antarctic.
BackRotorua → Taupo → Waitomo Caves
28 June 2005
The Swoop
They say Rotorua stinks and it does when you first arrive, but you get used to the smell quite quickly. It's the sulphur in the air from the geothermal pools. We went to see some geysers and mud pools - they were fascinating. There were also a few concrete steps where you could sit down, and they were heated too. Rotorua also has a few attractions for the adrenaline junkies. We were thinking of going on this thing called 'The Zorb' - you're attached inside a big rubber ball and it rolls down the hill, or if you're up for it, you can just get in and they throw some water in too and then you roll down the hill, soaking wet. But we saw a few people do it and then decided we'd have a look at 'The Swoop' - basically a big swing. Colin's brother Owen went on it when he was in NZ, so thought it would be fun. Given the fact I definitely won't do a bungy jump, I'm not sure what I was thinking when I decided to do 'The Swoop'.
I was thinking, a swing, that can't be too bad - great, when do we go? They basically put you in this harness like in hanggliding - the two of us went together. When we got to 'The Swoop' there were a group of Irish there too all wanting to go, but they said we could go first cos they were waiting on a few friends. Ok, no probs, this doesn't look too bad. The thing with 'The Swoop' it that one of the people on it has to pull this chord to release you, the guys running it don't actually let you go. They asked before we got into the harness who would do it and Colin was like, Marian will, and I was fine about this, no probs, how difficult is it to pull a chord...given the fact I love rollercoasters? So we're all joking and laughing with the guys running it, and there's this guy taking photos which you can buy later if you like. I'm all smiles, chatting to Colin and then suddenly we're going up pretty high. Then I start to get really worried and decide to close my eyes cos it's just getting too high. Safe enough, I can't see anything. Then I open them when we stop, and I just see this speck on the ground saying '3,2,1...go'. And I'm shouting, 'no, no'. I just couldn't pull the chord, and I'm asking to be let back down. I'm really panicking at this stage and the little speck on the ground is shouting 'there's only one way down...3,2,1' and I keep saying no. I suppose after about 30 seconds, I rationalise the situation and decide well if I hold onto Colin really tight I'll be ok, so I reach back for the chord, with my eyes closed of course and can't seem to grab it so I'm searching around for it and have said to Colin I'll do it, so he gives a thumbs up to the people on the ground, and then we finally swoop. It was really good fun after we fell the first 40m, and swung back, as I realised I wasn't going to die at that stage. When we got back to the ground and I got out, my legs were shaking and the guy reassured me that I wasn't the first to panic once I was winched up 40mtrs. The Irish people on the ground were asking me how it was, I was enthusiastic -'oh yeah it's good fun'. They all went up in groups of three after us, and were all so relaxed, looking out at the view etc, I was seriously embarrassed. From the ground it looked so easy - it's so different when you're actually up there looking down.
We had a look at the photos afterwards, and Colin decided to get them - I'm sure they'll work their way onto the Internet at some stage and I can then be blackmailed for the rest of my life. I'm smiling in the first few, looking a tiny bit worried in the next few and at the top look like I'm about to cry cos I can't get down and then just eyes shut grabbing Colin's arm out of the socket. I think if I was to do it again I'd still be really scared pulling the cord!
Skydiving
So the next day we head back to Taupo hopefully to do the skydive. Luckily by 11am the clouds had cleared and the sun came out. I wasn't scared at all going to do the skydive - I suppose my thinking was that we're so high up, if I was going to fall out of the plane and die, I wouldn't realise until the last moments. I was strapped to a German guy, Pete and he was such a laugh - he was chatting with me the whole way up in the plane, and I didn't feel nervous at all. It was probably a good thing that I was near the door so we jumped out second. We got a free ground DVD thrown in with the jump, so I've something to show people at home. The fact that Pete decided when we'd jump meant I couldn't back out - the feeling of falling out of a plane and spinning around so you look back at the plane moving away from you is just surreal. It's one of the best things you can do in your life - at least once! The view was amazing - just falling and spinning around, the ground moving slightly closer every few seconds. The landing was fine, and the whole group just couldn't stop smiling afterwards. We all had such a good time.
Headed off after the skydive to visit the Waitomo Caves. Before arriving we weren't sure whether or not we'd do a tour, which usually involves abseiling into the cave, swimming, tubing down the river and exploring the caves. The weather was pretty bad - raining and cold - so we decided not to do a tour, and just go on some walks in the area. That night at about midnight we headed down to one of the walks, as it was where the glowworms would be. It was so cool to see the glowworms - something you can't actually do during the day - and we were the only ones about. The next day we came back to the same spot and went on a walk ourselves through some caves and forest. It was really good, something I didn't expect, which made it even better. After Waitomo we headed north towards the Coromandel Peninsula, firstly stopping off in Waihi for the night.
BackWellington → Tongariro National Park → Taupo
25 June 2005
Arrived into Wellington and were lucky enough to stay with Jean, a friend of Colin's from home. It was a nice change to stay in a house and be shown the sights of Wellington too. The World Press photography exhibition had just opened when we arrived so went to visit that - it was really interesting - two Irish photographers were on display. We also went to the Te Papa museum - this museum explores and interprets the heritage of New Zealand, allowing visitors to gain a good insight into the history of the country and its people. I would definitely recommend a visit if you're ever in Wellington, and it's free of charge. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there. Wellington is a lovely city - not too crowded, but loads to do and see at the same time.
We hired a car in Wellington and set off north towards Tongariro National Park. This park has one of the best one-day hikes in New Zealand, so we thought we'd give it a go. I'm not sure exactly what we were thinking or had realised that it was winter, but the day we planned to go, the weather was terrible. We called into the info centre anyhow to see if was possible the next day and realised that if you wanted to do the walk this time of year, you needed to be decked out in your crampons and pickaxes, have an experienced guide with you etc. We thought better of it and just went on two short walks in the wilderness and lashing rain. Many parks look better in the rain, according to the guidebook - yeah right, this didn't! At least we saw the volcanoes covered in snow, that was nice!
Two days later arrived in Taupo all set to book a skydive. The weather hadn't been great up to this, very overcast and raining now and again. No skydives had been operating for the previous few days - we checked the weather forecast and the next bit of sun was forecast for Thursday, this was Tuesday, so booked it anyhow. We decided to set off to Rotorua instead of hanging around for two days, and to see more sights etc up there.
BackSouth Island, New Zealand
Dunedin → Mouraki Boulders → Mount Cook → Methven (Mount Hutt) → Kaikoura
→ Christchurch
20 June 2005
After Dunedin, headed north along the coast to stop off at the Mouraki Boulders - unusual boulders along a beach. The sea has eroded some of them, but others are still perfectly formed. Interesting stopoff on the tourist trail. Then headed inland to visit Mount Cook - the sheer size of these mountains is amazing. The day we wanted to do a walk, it was really overcast and you couldn't actually see the mountains. But in the space of an hour, we drove up to the walk carpark, and suddenly the cloud that seems to be permanently hovering in NZ lifted and we could see it. It was interesting to read about experienced climbers who have been injured or died while trying to climb the mountain and some surrounding mountains. Then moved onto Mount Hutt. It was Colin's birthday, so went skiing for the day. Neither of us had been on a pair of skis in about 5 years, so you can imagine our first 10 minutes - out first task was to just get up this little bump - it took a while, but before long we were on the ski lift and skiing with a lot more confidence (or slipping and sliding on one part of the slope in my case - it was particularly icy though!). Ski holiday is definitely on the agenda. Our final stop was in Kaikoura - a hot spot for whale-watching. Unfortunately in the wintertime not as many tours go out and a storm had started to brew that afternoon, so we didn't get to go out on a trip. Something else to do when visiting NZ again. And then the final drive back to Christchurch - arrived in plenty of time for the flight to Wellington, but as we're checking in the lady tells us we're not on the flight (even though we had tickets). Qantas messed up when we changed flight schedule in Sydney and hadn't actually booked us on any flights after the one from Sydney to Christchurch, so they put us on Air New Zealand. Travelling must be mellowing me - wasn't bothered if we didn't get the flight - not my usual feeling when told you're not listed on the flight! And now for the North Island.
BackMilford Sound → Invercargill → Dunedin
17 June 2005
Southland is a really nice area to visit - loads of sheep about, and similar countryside to Ireland, although more hills about. We stayed in Invercargill for one night, and spent the next few days just enjoying the countryside until we reached Dunedin - described as Edinburgh of the South, it really had a Scottish feel about it. This city has the steepest street in the world, so couldn't miss that. It really is steep! After going up and down - took it at a leisurely pace :) - Colin decides to drive up - I really didn't think we'd make it, and given that it was quite frosty out, thought we'd start slipping back down. The journey back down was even worse - a real close your eyes moment. I managed to avoid a trip to the Cadbury factory - we stepped inside the factory shop - the smell was soooo good. No wonder everyone working there had a smile on their face.
BackQueenstown → Te Anau → Milford Sound
15 June 2005
Headed west, and camped overnight in Milford Sound lodge. We planned to do a cruise trip in Milford Sound the next day. The drive from Te Anau to Milford was spectacular. Snow-covered mountains, rivers, trees and roads. It really was breathtaking. The weather forecast wasn't the best for the trip, but we decided to head out anyhow, as rain was predicted for the next few days. Before we reached Milford, I had heard a lot about the place, but I was a bit skeptical about how beautiful a place can be etc. It is probably one of the best things I've done in NZ, and would rank highly in the highlights of my travels so far. I really enjoyed the cruise, the captain was really informative and friendly and we got to see dolphins - they came right up to the boat, and then started racing alongside. After the cruise, we headed back to Te Anau and then south towards Invercargill.
BackFranz Josef → Wanaka → Queenstown
10 June 2005
After glacier walking, decided it was time for some more outdoor activity. We were thinking of going skiing in Queenstown, but the season hadn't started yet. The scenery around Wanaka and Queenstown is amazing - especially with all the snow-capped mountains. Just took a tonne of photos. Wanaka was very relaxed, and quiet, as the season hadn't got underway. We were also there on a Sunday and a holiday on Monday (the Queen's birthday), so everything wasn't open. Saw some amazing sunsets here. Then onward to Queenstown. Just outside the town, we stopped off at a bridge bungy jump. People were jumping off that like as if they were just jumping into the swimming pool, but the bridge was 43m above the ground. Colin had decided to do 'The Ledge' bungy, 47m above Queenstown, so the next day we went up this hill in cable cars, and Colin flung himself off a ledge into complete darkness. Of course it had to happen - I messed up on filming the jump! Camera just stopped when Colin was jumping, but managed to record the girly screams afterwards - at least they're better than near crying - will explain later at the Swoop in Rotorua.
BackSydney → Christchurch, NZ → Franz Josef
May 30 2005
And so we flew east to New Zealand - the land of sheep and crazy people, or so I had heard. Not far off the mark either! They do like to fling themselves off anything higher than 20 metres!
Christchurch is the biggest city on the South Island, but it felt more like a big town. We did a bit of sightseeing here, organised a rental car, and set off three days later, heading east through Arthur's Pass. It was spectacular - the scenery was amazing, and it had been snowing, which made the whole place even better. It really showed how long it's been since I've seen any snow - couldn't wait to get out of the car! Hit the west coast in under 3 hours and headed south toward Franz Josef, to do a glacier walk.
We decided to camp in NZ, but didn't really know how cold it was going to
get. Each time we checked into a caravan park, the conversation went something
like:
"We'd like to camp tonight."
"In a campervan?"
"No in a tent."
"In a tent?!"
"Yep in a tent!"
"It's cold out, really cold out...In a tent?...Really in a tent?...It's gonna
be cold...In a tent."
Camping grows on you after a while!
The glacier walk was brilliant - we did a 3/4 day one, which meant not starting too early, and getting to see a lot. One thing I noticed after arriving in NZ is that there are so many Irish here. Didn't really notice it in OZ. We got great weather for the walk too - both Colin and myself came back with red faces - didn't even think of putting on suncream! Just got photos developed so hopefully will have them up soon. Our guides were great too.
BackKings Cross Car Market
29 May 2005
In the middle of March we bought our Ford Falcon at the car market. It didn't seem too bad when we were there, but then it's a different matter when you're trying to sell rather than buy. The first few days were quiet - one or two cars sold, but extremely cold down there - no sunlight so everyone is sitting in their camping chairs with layers and layers on, sipping tea or beer - the tradition is when anyone sells their car they buy beers for the poor souls who have to stay down in the underground car park and wait for the buyer of their car. So we had a few beers, trying to come up with ways that would make our car look like bargain of the week. Nothing was working. We had a flight booked for Monday 30 May, and by Saturday we were seriously considering changing the flight. By Sunday morning things didn't look too promising. A few cars and vans went on Saturday - more beers on Sunday - even started drinking at 10am...desperate times call for desperate measures. 6th day in the car market - Sunday 11am - a group wander by the car, take it for a test drive (the first of the week!) and have to think about whether they want to buy it. They took a few other cars for a test drive, so we waited patiently until 4.30pm and they came back and bought it!! We were finally free and could fly to New Zealand as planned. Plus points about the market - you meet great people (mostly Dutch and German), free BBQ on Thursdays, free table-tennis all the time, you get to watch TV and can start drinking as early as 9am without anyone batting an eyelid.
BackByron Bay → Coffs Harbour → Port Macquarie → Hunter Valley → Palm Beach → Sydney
20 May 2005
While travelling around Australia, we've stopped off to see some unusual structures - they are basically usually small objects just made giant size. So far we've seen the big prawn, the big mango, the big pineapple, the big oyster and Coffs Harbour is the home of the big banana - the first of the big structures (they're very proud of this!). We usually only drive 100km - 200km a day on the east coast, giving us time to stop off at random towns and beaches. It's so different to central Oz, when some days we drove 700kms in a straight line! Stayed overnight in Coffs Harbour. Next day drove to Port Macquarie, taking the scenic route, so stopping off in National Parks and deserted beaches apart from a few guys surfing during their lunchbreak!
After Port Macquarie we decided to leave the coast and go inland towards Hunter Valley - a famous wine region in NSW. The scenery itself was worth driving through and of course it's great if you like wine - unfortunately neither of us do, but did buy some wine for friends in Sydney. We did the whole, "we'd like to buy some wine for friends, not sure if they like red or white, emmm something in the affordable price bracket, emmm no we don't like wine ourselves", but managed somehow to buy two bottles and not be attacked by any wine connaisseurs tasting and spitting wine like it was a matter of life and death. I'd definitely recommend a visit to this region.
And after a tour of the vineyards, we headed back to Sydney. But couldn't go straight back before a brief visit to Palm Beach, better known as 'Summer Bay' where Home and Away is set. Of course it didn't mean a thing to Colin, but I persuaded him to stop by - even for the views and to see where all the rich people live. Took some photos on the beach and arrived safely back to Sydney...now to Kings Cross Car Market to sell the Falcon!
BackByron Bay
Headed further south and arrived in Byron Bay to stay for a few days. We both really liked this place - very relaxed, lovely beaches and amazing surfing - well we could only watch as we don't actually surf! Got up for sunrise two days in a row - amazing views from the lighthouse. We also visited a national park to see some waterfalls - good thing it looked great in rainy weather too! The scenery around these parts was really nice and such a change from the Northern Territory.
BackHervey Bay → Rainbow Beach → Noosa → Sunshine Coast → Brisbane → Surfers Paradise → Gold Coast
18 May 2005
Stopped off in Brisbane for one day's sightseeing - visited some museums, and just walked around the main city area - it's a nice place, weather was good and ended up calling into some shops - why are the sales on now??? Headed off next day to Surfers Paradise - the hot spot for the 'Schoolies' - school leavers head here for about a month between November and December - it was quiet enough when we were there. I was really surprised by the amount of highrise apartments and it was full of people in their souped-up cars trying to be cooler than the next person - found it quite amusing really - the speed limit was 30km so they couldn't really do much apart from rev every so often in the traffic jams! We saw two girls 'cruising' around in their car and they just spent their time driving around the same streets and back along the sea front. Too cool for school! Our Falcon just wouldn't fit in this place!
BackHervey Bay
Arrived in Hervey Bay in the pouring rain, and we thought it was always warm in Queensland!! Drove down from Airlie Beach, stopping off in Rockhampton - Came here to organise a trip out to Fraser Island - the largest sand island in the world and the home of many dingoes. Went out on a 2 day/1 night trip. Luckily the rain stayed off while we were there. Good fun driving about in a 4W-drive, spotted some dingoes (they shot many of them because a boy was attacked and killed in 2002), and went swimming in clear blue water (although it was kinda cold!). Attacked by ants one more time in Hervey Bay and Colin had to give a statement to the police - this Australian guy stole some stuff off these two Belgian backpackers and then ripped their tent with a knife - we were the only witnesses - all very exciting in the world of backpackers!!
BackCairns → Mission Beach → Townsville → Airlie Beach
8 May 2005
We stopped off at Airlie Beach to go sailing around the Whitsunday Islands. It was such a good trip - 2 days/1 night. The group we went sailing with were all really nice and we got quite good weather too. I haven't the best stomach for sailing, but luckily was ok for the trip. We stopped off at Whitsunday Island and visited Whitehaven beach - perfect white sand and blue sea. After we got back after sailing, we went out that night with the group. There were two German guys on the trip and they told me my nickname while sailing was 'wet shirt' - I did get fairly wet during the trip - every wave that came up on deck seemed to get me first!
BackBarkly Homestead → Mount Isa → Cloncurry → Charters Towers → Cairns 27 April 2005
After the ant attack, moved on quickly to Mount Isa, quite a big city in western Queensland. Some of the world's biggest mines are here. We decided to get the car looked at too - it had been acting up a bit. Ended up we needed a new fuel pump, so got that fitted and set off towards Cairns later that day. 100 kms later we broke down 1 km outside the next town, Cloncurry. The mechanic figured out the next day that the mechanic in Mount Isa had put the new fuel pump in upside down, so it was like we were out of fuel, even though we weren't! So we were soon on our way once we fixed that. Stopped off in Charters Towers the next day before reaching the east coast and headed north to Cairns. My parents were flying in the next day for 5 days. We camped the night before they arrived, but the next day after we collected them at the airport, we checked into an apartment - pure luxury for us!
Had a great time in Cairns - drove around the Atherton Tablelands, up to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree NP, and took a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Colin and myself both went diving and snorkelling, my mum and dad did a trip on a semi-submersible boat, so were able to see the reef, and then my mum got in snorkelling later on! It was such good fun. They flew back through Singapore and spent three days there. We headed back down the coast staying overnight at Ingham and the next day visited the aquarium in Townsville.
BackDarwin → Litchfield National Park → Daly Waters → Barkly Homestead
Drove from Darwin to Litchfield NP. Not many people have heard of this place, as Kakadu is more popular in these parts. This NP offers the best rockpools for swimming and a chance to see the most amazing termite mounds. Some of them measured over 5 metres in height. I'd say I could have spent all day just sitting in the rockpools - it was just so relaxing and the weather was great too. After Litchfield, stayed in Daly Waters on our way back to Three Ways, the turn off to go east towards Cairns. The road through the outback is pretty deserted, with about 3 stops on the way and nothing of interest to see. Stayed the night in Barkly Homestead and were attacked by ants - a change from the usual mozzies!
BackKakadu NP → Darwin
We spent 2 days in Kakadu and headed north to Darwin. It gave us time to relax for a few days - the city isn't very big, so we just drove up the coast and surrounding area. Oh and the fire alarm went off in the hostel (also YHA, so also the exact same noise at around the same time). But there wasn't any fire this time and it was much warmer outside, all huddling around the swimming pool. Fire brigade arrived and just switched it off. While the girl on duty was frantically running around to tell everyone to get up, Colin decides to stop her in her tracks to ask if it's actually a real fire or is she just getting us up - I would have given him the same look she did. The hostels are where it's all happening!!! We read later in our guidebook about a museum we forgot to go to, which had information on Cyclone Tracy in 1974 that basically destroyed Darwin and killed about 160 people. Ah well, a reason to go back again!
BackKatherine → Kakadu National Park
After leaving Katherine, we headed straight for another NP. Kakadu is mentioned by everyone who visits Oz and it's in all the guidebooks as a must see, so we were slightly disappointed when we got there. Given the fact the Wet Season was just over, some of the roads were still closed and you needed a 4W drive for some others. But that said we were still able to go on some walks, see the wetlands, see the wildlife (no crocs), and of course be attacked by so many mozzies I don't think there was any room left on my body for any more bites - they're sly, they went for me in the shower. The scenery itself is also magnificent, but next time I'm back it'll be in a Land Cruiser and staying in the NP's resort!!
BackAlice Springs → Daly Waters → Katherine Gorge
The drive between AS and Katherine is simply a straight road where you might meet some other campervans, a few roadtrains and decomposing animals. It is such a change from any other place I've ever been to, that it's interesting! We drove through a, hmmm what would you call it, a place with a famous pub, three houses and a petrol pump - Daly Waters. This used to be a stopover for the flight between Sydney to Singapore so that they could refuel. But the thing everyone goes to visit is the pub - hanging on the walls are memerobilia from every backpacker/tourist that have passed through - ID cards, underwear, embarrassing photos - basically anything you can find in your car while visiting. We also stopped off at the Devil's Marbles - loads of huge round bolders, red in colour that glow that burning red colour when the sun shines on them.
We wanted to stop in Katherine to visit Katherine Gorge nearby in a national park. We decided to go canoeing in the gorge - that was great fun, but given the fact I used to canoe and Colin used to row, our styles are slightly different. We were told there were some freshwater crocodiles in the river, but unfortunately didn't see any. We stopped off at a swimming hole (no crocs there though), and paddled up further to see some Aboriginal art. We were only allowed up to the second of thirteen gorges, as the others were still flooded from the Wet Season - I think two was enough though!
BackKing's Canyon → Alice Springs
16 April 2005
Hadn't planned to stop in Alice Springs, but we were drawn by the availability of internet access and ended up staying a day longer. Not so bad as we stopped in at the Royal Flying Doctors Service to see what they do on a daily basis. It was quite interesting and an eyeopener to see how many people live in the middle of nowhere, many of them on cattle stations. We then decided to stop in at the School of the Air - a very unusual concept for us - it shows just how big the country is. There was a class going on while we were there. They used to only use the radio to conduct a class, but now they have webcams so the children get to see their teacher during the lesson. The pupils of the School of the Air are those who live in such remote areas, they are unable to travel to a regular school - often those living on cattle stations or remote police stations. This was worth a visit too. So after seeing how big the country was, we continued our straight driving up through the centre heading for Katherine, hoping to stop off at Katherine Gorge.
BackYulara → King's Canyon
13 April 2005
Arrived at King's Canyon about 4pm, so just went to a lookout for sunset and set off the next morning on a 6km walk around the rim of the canyon. It was well worth visiting. I'm a bit afraid of heights, so was freaking when Colin walked along the edge or wanted to take a photo really near the edge. Some guys stood out on this rock that looked like it was about it break off - I couldn't even watch. Still really hot weather, but we had our fly nets, so we were sorted!
BackCadney Homestead → Yulara
10 April 2005
Yulara is the resort where you stay if visiting Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). Checked into the campsite and then headed to Uluru for sunset. As we were driving up towards the entrance to the National Park, I caught sight of Uluru and couldn't keep my eyes off it. It really is something remarkable. I think it changed colour about three times in the space of 1 hour. Quite a few people were lined up for sunset, with their digital cameras, video cameras and cameras with the biggest lenses ever - and then 15 minutes before sunset this cloud appears from nowhere and blocks the sun. A few tuts and sighs were heard among the group - ah well there's always tomorrow! We stayed for sunset and then drove around the rock. My head was hanging out the window just staring. Couldn't wait to come back the next day and see it again.
It can't be 5.30am already....nooooo...yep we got up for sunrise - met a queue of people entering the park all wanting the perfect photo - all the tour groups were piling in at high speeds so they wouldn't miss anything. The Japanese were all sitting patiently on their fold up chairs. I was just being plagued by flies. There is not a single mention in any guidebook or literature about our friends - the flies. Australian flies don't know what it means when you wack them away i.e. you don't wan't them near you. Instead this encourages them to come back in droves and try and get into any opening possible - your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your ears. We were driven demented. I think we had at least 30 flies on us at any one time - that said, it didn't make us buy a fly net until that afternoon - after walking a 7km walk around The Olgas called 'Valley of the Winds'. (The walks up Uluru and around The Olgas are closed after 8am and 11am respectively if it's over 36 Degrees that day). The day we went we started the walk at 10.30, so were walking in the midday sun followed by a hoard of annoying flies. By the end we headed straight back to the resort, stopped off at the supermarket and bought the one thing we should have bought a long time before - a hat with a fly net. We visited Uluru and Kata Tjuta a few more times over the next 24 hours, another sunset and sunrise and then headed off to visit King's Canyon.
BackAdelaide → Woomera → Coober Pedy → Cadney Homestead
7 April 2005
Travelling up through South Australia is very different to NSW or Victoria - green scenery begins to disappear and there are no signs for National Parks. It gets hotter and less populated - just open spaces and flies. Woomera was the first town we stopped in to stay the night - we had heard of this place before, as there was a detention centre set up here for illegal immigrants. We didn't see any such centre, but that said we didn't see much at all. We arrived at 7pm, so it was dark, but you would think there would be lights on in houses etc. There wasn't a light or person to be seen. It was eerie - we came upon some model aeroplanes and rockets, but that was about it. Finally we found the campsite and some other backpackers. The next day we went into the town, and still no one about - the only people we saw were two out-of-towners. Some government vehicles were being driven around (the defence forces are located there so they can test rockets and missiles in the Woomera Restricted Zone - a huge area of deserted land owned by the defence forces so they can test stuff in the middle of nowhere). I was really freaked, so we headed off to Coober Pedy. Supposedly it's so hot in Coober Pedy, that the people live underground to keep cool. It was hot. We visited this guy's house, which is built underground - part of it by hand, the other part by machine. He was very welcoming and showed us around the house - it was great and a cool 25 Degrees Celsius as opposed to the 38 Degrees outside. We visited a few of the sights and decided to keep driving till it was getting dark.
Driving when it's getting dark is actually not a great idea in Australia - it's when the animals decide to come out and run across the road - the last thing you want to do is hit them - they'd wreck your car and you'd probably kill them. The road trains (trucks that are approx 50 metres in length) roar along the roads not stopping for anything that may get in their way and they drive all night - so you can imagine the amount of roadkill - and the fact it gets so hot in SA and NT, the stench of a decomposing animal is pretty awful. I got used to seeing kangaroos, wallabies and birds, but the first time I saw a cow, it was pretty disgusting. Colin insisted on pointing these out to me, the more grusome and decomposed the better! I somehow resisted.
We decided to stop in Cadney Homestead - not famous for anything, but they do have free camping!! Set off early the next morning with Uluru in our sights.
BackMelbourne → The Great Ocean Road → Adelaide
5 April 2005
Set off from Melbourne to drive along the Great Ocean Road - this was one thing I was really looking forward to, and was certainly not disappointed. The scenery is just amazing and both of us went swimming in one of the many beaches - yay, Colin finally got in swimming! - I would have stayed there all day! The big attraction along the Great Ocean Road are the Twelve Apostles. We were kinda running out of time the day we were going to see them, but ended up getting there just before an amazing sunset, so it worked out really well. We came back the next day to see them in proper daylight. Often places of beauty are hyped up and when you actually see them they're a bit disappointing - but not this one - I was really impressed by the Twelve Apostles - they are well worth a visit. They aren't the only attraction, however, along this part of the coast, there's also The Arch, London Bridge and The Grotto and they're all worth a look. Many parts of the Great Ocean Road would remind you of driving along the Ring of Kerry on a really sunny day.
The next day we drove up through The Grampians National Park - we camped that night in the park, but it was a nightmare. We were convinced we could hear things in the bushes while putting up the tent (a lot of wildlife about) and it was dark. Then it rained all night and the wind was howling. The next morning I was attacked by a group of mosquitoes while at the pit toilets - I don't think we've left a place quicker - so when we arrived in Adelaide to stay with Colin's cousin and family we looked a bit worse for wear. It was great to be back in civilisation - hot showers, real toilets, a proper bed and not a mozzie in sight.
Adelaide is one city often overlooked by visitors because 'there's nothing to see there', but maybe that was the attraction and of course to visit Colin's relations. It gave us a few days to relax and get the car looked at before heading into the outback. That said I really liked the city - it's not imposing like a lot of other cities and very pleasant to walk around and a good place for shopping! Thanks Pat and Chris for putting us up.
And so we set off in the direction of Coober Pedy - What, the people there live underground?
BackSydney → Melbourne
1 April 2005
We decided to drive along the coast from Sydney to Melbourne. The scenery is great along this stretch - lovely beaches and full of National Parks - what else! When we set off it was Easter weekend, but that didn't really mean much to us. We didn't actually realise that this weekend was one of the most popular holidays for families to go travelling - we called up to Wilson's Prom National Park to enquire about camping - of course they were booked out weeks in advance - but they did have a few places reserved for overseas travellers - yep, that's us!
Since travelling we've mainly been camping, but we decided to stay in a city hostel while in Melbourne. We met up with a friend of mine from home (thanks for showing us around Pat!) and his friends, who are staying in Melbourne for six months. I really liked Melbourne - it's very different to Sydney, but I'm not quite sure why - it's got trams and tree-lined streets everywhere, the city seems a bit more compact and the architecture is more noticeable. St Kilda area is also very nice - went swimming there - I still haven't convinced Colin to get into the sea!
During our stay at the hostel in Melbourne, the fire alarm went off at about 5.45am, and this guy came into the room telling us to get up as there was a fire in the TV lounge. None of us were too happy about having to get up assumming it was just a false alarm. Of the four of us in the room, I was the only one who just put on shoes and a jumper and ready to leave - Colin asks have I got my passport, eh no? Better get it just in case there is a fire, so I'm there searching around for my passport and we should be outside - found it, so I can finally leave (well I did grab my handbag too). Colin leaves with all his camera bags in tow, and the Italian couple decided to leave their bags in the end. When we got outside, we could see the fire, and it was serious enough to evacuate, but luckily noboby was injured. Supposedly some guy had fallen asleep with a cigarette in his mouth in the only smoking lounge in the hostel, and had to be dragged from the room by the night manager. Four fire engines, two ambulances and the police all arrived and a camera crew arrived shortly after.
Some people outside had literally ran out when told about the fire (I think the right thing to do!) and were standing in the cool morning air in shorts, or scantly clad, but others had packed up all of their belongings, were carrying out rucksacks, jackets, fully dressed and we heard of one guy who actually ran to the kitchen to grab his food before leaving!!! I had my camera with me and wanted to take a photo, but thought it might be a bit distasteful, but seeing as others were snapping away, I joined in. So that was one of the highlights of our visit to Melbourne - the other was probably the visit to the Crown Casino and outside the Casino seeing these gas flame torches being lit on the hour between 8pm and midnight. They were amazing - a possible tourist attraction for Dublin! Colin bet on the roulette, but I was just happy to sip daiquiris and watch other people win and lose a lot of money.
BackSydney → Tasmania → Sydney
25 March 2005
We ventured to Tasmania for a week - rented a 1984 Volvo and drove around the island - it's meant to be about the size of Ireland. Hobart is the state capital, but it felt more like a medium-sized town in Ireland. We visited some National Parks, and they were quite amazing. All the beaches have white sand and clear water. We were lucky enough with the weather too - typical hot Irish weather. So after a week of lush green surroundings, lakes and mountains, we flew back to Sydney to pick up the car and set off on the road.
BackHong Kong → Sydney
19 March 2005
After spending a month in Sydney we were ready to move on and continue our travels.
Sydney was great - amazing beaches, great nightlife, a good city vibe and of course we got to finally see the renowned Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We stayed with Lisa and family for the first week while looking for accommodation (thanks a mill!), and then moved into a place in Bondi Beach (where else). Met a really nice bunch of people there - and they weren't all Irish! The job situation didn't work out as planned, so decided to do all the touristy/backpacker stuff before setting off again. Before leaving we bought a car, so had an interesting week of visiting the car market in Kings Cross. We finally opted for a Ford Falcon (unusual choice I know) - and that's how we're getting around for the next two and a half months.
BackHong Kong → Tokyo, Japan → Kyoto → Osaka → Hong Kong
18 February 2005
Zen gardens. Temples. Shrines. People cycling on the footpath. Funky umbrella holders. Capsule hotels. Heated toilet seats. Extremely friendly people. Sushi. Karaoke. Geisha. Tea Houses. Shinkansen. Realistic plastic food displays outside restaurants.
Owen met us in Tokyo and we busted out some Shinto temples, Japanese Gardens and rubbed shoulders with the Gold Card members in the Hyatt Park Hotel, where 'Lost in Translation' was set. The view from the hotel was well worth the visit, if only we could have afforded some food and drinks in the bar! But being Japan, the staff let us do a full circle of the bar & restaurant to get a great view of the city without saying a word - they are such a friendly bunch! Accommodation was Japanese-style tatami mats, but it was one of the most comfortable beds I have slept in since going travelling - that was before I tried out the capsule hotel last night though!
Took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto - Kyoto is described as having all the typical images when you think of Japan, and it does. I'm really glad I had read 'Memoirs of a Geisha' before going, as it gave me a bit of an insight into the culture and traditions of Japan. We wandered through the streets of Gion, saw a few Geisha (probably there for the tourists), took a day trip to Himeji and did the rounds of the Zen gardens.
Arrived in Osaka yesterday to get a flight this morning - we were contemplating staying in the airport, as everything is quite expensive in Japan - actually about the same price as in Dublin! But we found a nice capsule hotel that allowed both men and women to stay. Earlier that day we waited around to check into a different capsule hotel near Osaka main train station. Given the fact it was on a street with only porn dvd shops and there was also a sauna available, it really should have made us stop and think for a minute, but when the girl said 'Mens only', we moved on. Capsules are the way to go - just after you miss the last nitelink home and don't want to wait on a taxi - the perfect solution. I was on the women's floor, and a few strolled in in the early hours. This morning at breakfast they kinda looked at us - not sure if many Westerners actually stay in them, but they were also fascinated with Colin's blond hair! Wonder what they would have said if they had seen the beard! I had to take photos - it was great. They must have thought I was a bit crazy snapping away at the capsules at 5.30am this morning.
So we're once again back in Hong Kong airport and Owen is staying in Japan for another week - he left for Nara yesterday - at least he doesn't have to stoop to our level of food and accommodation anymore! He can sleep in a real bed and eat out of real delph using proper cutlery :) (Colin had a bit of a pot-noodle overload in Kyoto - back to normal now!)
That's all from the Northern Hemisphere...
Hope all good back home
BackHong Kong → Beijing → Hong Kong
7 February 2005
Just made our flight to Beijing with about one minute to spare! Arrived in Beijing and it was -4 Celsius, but no snow about. It was quite a change from Hong Kong in every respect. First day headed off to Tian'anmen Square and got my picture taken with Chairman Mao! It was so cold during the day, my six layers, hat, scarf and gloves just never seemed to be enough. I think I've got a red face and rudolph nose in every photo!
We went to see the Great Wall - started in Jingshanling and walked 10km to Simatai. There were about 15 in our group and for the first 4.5 km each of us had a local tagging along who acted as a guide (Basically they followed us along the Wall trying to sell us stuff - after 5km, our guide asked us to buy something and then she'd head off home - I was actually impressed she had lasted that long - she must have been pushing 70, so we bought some postcards.) At least the walk warmed us up and it was well worth it. That evening we met an American guy, Ben, who is living in China teaching English (he has been learning Chinese for the past 8 months - and taught us a few good phrases to be left alone when needed), so the three of us headed off the next day to see The Forbidden City and Mao's Mausoleum. I was kinda disappointed with both, but glad I went to see them - I definitely think Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum is better - he's way more life like!
We also visited two gardens - The Temple of Heaven and The Summer Palace. I really enjoyed both of these - it's a nice break from the city and there weren't many people about due to the weather. The lake in The Summer Palace was completely frozen, so we just walked across it. It started snowing a bit the last day and there was snow on the ground the morning we were leaving. Beijing is getting ready at the moment for the Olympic Games 2008 - it would be interesting to see the changes - probably one will be a reduction in spitting - there is spit everywhere on the ground, and as it was so cold, it was frozen too! Our flight back to Hong Kong was at 8am, so we got an airport bus at 6.15am - thought we'd be at the airport in no time - we arrived 40 minutes before the flight was meant to take off, didn't think we'd be able to check in, but they let us and then had to skip the whole immigration queue we were running so late. You'd think we would have learnt our lesson the first time! So arrived back in Hong Kong, went back to the same guest house, got our old room back...it was like being back home, only a little warmer: 23 Celsius! A bit of a shock to the system. Two more days in Hong Kong before flying out to Tokyo.
BackHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam → Nha Trang → Hoi An → Hue → Hanoi → Nanning, China → Guangzhou → Hong Kong
30 January 2005
Ten years ago I visited Hong Kong and I was quite impressed with the city. Ten years on and I'm even more impressed. I love the place!
So we left Saigon after 4 or 5 days there - our departure time was pushed back due to Saigon beers and getting home at 3am...I used to be able to do it. There were a few touristy things to see - took a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, a day trip to the Mekong Delta, and visited some sights around the city. It just seemed like a really big change from Cambodia.
Decided to buy the open tour bus ticket ($15) with 4 stops. We didn't want to stop in Nha Trang, but had to wait a day to get the overnight bus, so just went to the beach for the day. Got to swim in the South China Sea, which was a first, and the last of the really nice weather. Arrived in Hoi An and I fell in love with the place. It's quite small, and it's the place to get all your clothes, shoes, handbags etc made.
I hadn't planned to buy anything...3 hours after arriving I had a jacket on order (well it did get quite cold and I don't have a jacket with me!) And I bought two handbags because there was a discount on two...but one is for Lisa's wedding! (if it actually arrives home - I sent a package from Hanoi, and am wary as to whether it will actually reach Ireland). The old quarter is very easy to get around and has a French feel about it. Our accommodation was also very nice for only $7 a night, so that certainly helped.
When we were in Saigon we met an Irish couple, Stan and Jane, and basically met them the whole way up the coast. While in Hoi An, we took a trip to Son My village, where the My Lai massacre took place during the Vietnam war.
Took a day bus to Hue. The drive between Hoi An and Hue was definitely worth it. Hue didn't impress me as much as Hoi An, but it did have a certain charm, and the Imperial City was certainly worth a visit. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Forbidden City in Beijing. While in Hue, we also did a few tours - one on the Perfume river and one to the Demilitarized Zone (from the Vietnam war). I think I was beginning to get burnt out, because by that stage I was templed out, toured out, and definitely army-museumed out.
So after a 14 hour bus journey overnight to Hanoi, I don't think anyone was in the best of spirits, but I did give the city the benefit of the doubt. The fact it was lashing rain and cold certainly didn't help. Colin, Stan and Jane weren't impressed by the first evening, but I was ok. By the next evening I was ready to leave - you can only deal with a certain amount of harrassment, being beeped at and nearly getting knocked down by a moped was the last straw...only one remedy - visit a really good handbag shop! I had just sent a package from Hanoi with stuff collected since arriving in Vietnam, and then bought a whole lot more. Retail therapy really does work! The weather cleared up after two days, and we just took it easy. Our eagerness for travelling and exploring was beginning to fade, so took some time out, before burning out. We knew two people travelling through Vietnam from Hanoi to Saigon (Fin from college and Sarah, a Dutch girl we had met in Laos), but unfortunately didn't meet with either. I think we probably passed each other on night buses going the opposite way!
Decided to get the overnight train from Hanoi to Nanning, China, as we were making our way to Hong Kong overland. It worked out really well - immigration was grand, they just couldn't stop laughing at Colin's beard and comparing him with the photo in his passport! At least we got a bit of sleep, and arrived in China at 6am. For once, no one came near us asking if we wanted accommodation, taxi, moped, postcards or pineapple - yet at the same time it was a bit weird and we felt slightly lost! Our guidebook said the bus station (to get a bus to Guangzhou) was really near the train station, so when we hopped in a taxi and it started off on an 8km drive, I was getting slightly worried. We couldn't communicate with the driver and his wife, and they kept speaking to us in Chinese like we understood - it was hilarious. After a few hiccups, boarded a bus at 9.30am bound for Guangzhou, which is only about 3 hours from Hong Kong. When we stopped off at the food place, everyone was queuing up with their bus ticket (you got a meal thrown in with the price). So we're in the queue, but when it was our turn, the people serving the food just stopped and stared at us (We were the only Westerners on the bus). But we just signaled that the food they were serving was grand. Some of them stared in amazement when we used chopsticks!
All the toilets in China are of the squat variety. I don't really mind them now - they were also in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam - but when the ladies public toilets only have a 2.5 foot wall separating the cubicles, that's a different matter. I thought I had walked into the gents at the start. I did it once, and then just crossed my legs for the rest of the journey. We stopped overnight in Guangzhou, which was a nice rest from nearly two days travelling. China is quite different from the other countries, and spitting is one of the favourite pastimes. I'm still not used to this. Guangzhou has an island part to the city, and we decided to stay on this - I'm glad we did, as it was once ruled by the British and French, and therefore still has some of the same charm. Sprawling concrete apartment blocks can get to you after a while. When we got the taxi from the bus station, we just said to the taxi driver, The White Swan (it's a well known hotel near to where the youth hostel was, and less hassle when we don't speak Chinese and he didn't speak English).
We didn't realise just how posh this hotel was, so when the taxi pulls up at the grand entrance and the bellhop opens the taxi door, we have to try and explain that we're not actually staying there. I'm sure they guessed from our attire! But the guy spoke good English, and wished us well on our travels.
I didn't really email much from Vietnam, as the Internet connection wasn't that good - often you would have typed an email, and then the connection just crashed. A lot of the coffee shops in Hong Kong offer free internet, which is where we are at the minute. Apologies if I haven't replied to anyone yet, am getting around to it!
This city is a shoppers Mecca - but yet I'm not one bit tempted (my bag was so heavy from Vietnam I think I pulled something in my back - my only thoughts when travelling through China were to get to the GPO in HK ASAP - so that has put me off buying anything!). Was glad to see parcel sending was organised, like in Germany. What I wasn't glad to hear was that two days previous An Post called a strike (brings back memories from last year), and no parcels were being sent to Ireland - quick as a flash I had a label stuck over the address home, and readdressed it to my sister in England.
Hong Kong reminds me a lot of New York, but just much cheaper. We're staying in the infamous Chungking Mansions (a popular backpacker haunt). The Mansions part has a similar feel to Fatima Mansions, but it's central and relatively cheap (things in general are getting more expensive and they'll continue that way probably until South America). Our guesthouse is lovely though, really clean, and the owner offers you tasty green tea every morning!
We ventured over to Aberdeen and Stanley today.The bus trip reminded me of a day trip to Howth or Killiney Head. There are some lovely beaches - I might yet venture in for a swim.
The weather has been very foggy since we've arrived, but that hasn't dampened my spirits in any way. We fly to Beijing on Tuesday evening for 6 days and are back in HK for two days before flying to Tokyo.
Thanks to anyone who suggested some good books - in Vietnam they had photocopies of all the best sellers, for about $1.50. If you haven't read 'Memoirs of a Geisha', it's a brilliant read.
Hope all well
Marian
BackLuang Prabang, Laos → Phonsavan → Vang Vieng → Pakxe → Siem Reap, Cambodia → Phnom Penh
8 January 2005
After spending three days in Luang Prabang, we got the local bus to Phonsavan, which turned out to be a really enjoyable journey. The estimated time of between 7-9 hours actually turned out to be 6, our driver was great. He just took a racing line along the windiest road in history and used the horn instead of the brake.
The scenery was amazing, driving along the side of a cliff, and when we started off, the mist still hadn't lifted, so we were actually above the mist at one stage. We headed to Phonsavan in the first place to visit the Plain of Jars - 3 sites of stone urns scattered over the landscape - no one is exactly sure how they got there or what they were used for, but it's suggested they were used as burial urns. The next day we headed off on a tour (about 10 of us from Oz, South Africa, England & Austria) to visit the three sites. I thought they were really interesting - something a bit different after visiting numerous temples! Phonsavan is a two-horse town, so the next day we got the local bus at 6.30am en route to Vang Vieng. We were the only Westerners on this bus, because there was a VIP bus leaving later, but sure when in Rome etc!
It was interesting - our driver set off along the windy road again, driving in dense fog, but with the soothing music of the Karaoke videos, the drive was a breeze. That said, when one of the locals continually got sick, and was even getting sick when she couldn't possibly get sick any more, I was beginning to feel a bit nauseous. There was also another local in front of us with his own tape recorder playing a cassette tape of homemade songs - I thought it was funny, Colin was getting irritated! After we stopped for a short break, the girl who was getting sick for 4 hours piped up and started tucking into some local grub...probably the best thing for her as she was grand the rest of the journey. When we got to Vang Vieng, we were the only people getting off, so the crowd down the back helped load our bags off through the side window, and waved us off - Christmas Eve, 26 Celsius...it was strange alright.
Found our accommodation, and wandered about to see what there was to see - After walking a loop of three streets, we had seen everything - relaxed evening watching movies in the restaurant. We decided to go tubing for Christmas Day - basically sitting on a big rubber ring and floating down the river (check out photos & movie clips!) It was such a laugh, and that night we opted for the Christmas buffet - turkey, beef, roast potatoes, carrots and gravy - it was so good! I was seriously craving mince pies by Stephen's Day, but alas none were to be found :) Stephen's Day rented bikes and went looking for some caves - it wasn't until about 9pm that evening that we heard anything about the Tsunami, and even then we hadn't a clue about how serious the whole situation was. Many thanks for all the emails and texts regarding the Tsunami and our safety - we were lucky to be in Laos at the time. It was such an awful tragedy. We actually didn't know for at least a week how many people had been killed and what the damage was - even though we were right next door in Laos. Unless there was CNN or BBC World on in a restaurant, you actually wouldn't know anything had happened. I would imagine that the place we stayed in in Ko Phi Phi is now gone.
Left Vang Vieng on Monday - decided to kayak to Vientiane (well, you travel in a bus for about 1hr, then kayak for 1.5 hrs and then bus again for 1 hr). There was just one other couple with us on the trip - Mike and Leanne from Oz. It was really good fun though, better than just sitting in a bus - Colin and myself managed to capsize as well as go totally off course and get caught in a current - the others were fine - I know, letting the side down and all! Good banter though! When we arrived in Vientiane I was pleasantly surprised by the city - it wasn't at all like Bangkok (the only other SE Asian capital we had been in - it was more like a few small towns together). And it had the best coffee shops too :) Next day went to book our flights to Siem Reap leaving on Friday (this was Tuesday) and they were all booked out, together with the flight on Sunday and next one wasn't till Wednesday...aaaaaggggggh! So we went off to the Internet to check alternate travel - didn't fancy the idea of going back to Bangkok, so decided to fly to Pakxe, Southern Laos on Thursday and then get a connecting flight from there to Siem Reap on the Sunday. Visited the sights of Vientiane in one day on bikes, pleasant enough. They have this street and monument which are meant to look like the Champs Elyssee and the L'Arc de Triomphe...I could see some similarities! We had one emergency when Colin thought he'd thrown away one of his Provia 100 films, and my suggestion of, "maybe it's in the camera" was growled at. About four hours later he found it...in the camera.
Pakxe was small, but nice. It's also where you can get boats from to the South (Four Thousand Islands and Champasak), so we decided to go on a day trip to Champasak, to visit some Khmer ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The boat trip along the Mekong was great (teamed up with an American couple and a Swiss couple to rent a longtail, as coincidentally the regular passenger ferry ($1) wasn't running for some reason - the Americans had settled for $3 each, but we told the boatmen we were each giving them $2.50 - they grabbed it.) Rented more bikes and headed up to Wat Phou - I enjoyed it, as we hadn't visited any Khmer ruins before. New Year's was quiet! We had the option of '80s hits being pumped out of the local hospital carpark (not sure if the patients were outside too) or the Macarena at the lovely Hotel Champasak ($25/night) - we opted for a few Beer Lao to ring in the New Year!
Left Pakxe on Sunday morning and flew into Siem Reap (to visit the Temples of Angkor). Arrived at our accommodation by 10, and were back on the motos by 11am to begin our 3-day pass. (We took a moto (moped) each from the airport into the city centre - when they first suggested it we laughed as our rucksacks are kinda big and they answered, "we can put anything on a moto" and they can - I saw a double-bed mattress strapped to the back of one the other day!). I was really impressed with Angkor. There are loads of temples to visit - we rented bikes for the 2nd and 3rd days, went up for sunrise on the 2nd day, and stayed for sunset on the 3rd. Sunset on the 2nd day never happened due to a broken bike chain and a slow walk for 7km! Siem Reap is really nice - there's an area with lovely restaurants and bars - sitting outside on the street for hours. Apart from Angkor however, we didn't really want to see anything else, and left on 5th January by bus to Phnom Penh. There are a few things to see in this city, mostly concentrating on the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities they carried out (Genocide Museum and The Killing Fields). It's so strange to think that this torture and murders were being carried out during the '70s, which is not that long ago.
Cambodia is very different to Thailand and Laos due to the amount of beggars coming up to you all the time and asking for money, especially the children. It's awful to see, but if you were to give to one, you would have to give to all of them. My new word after arriving in Cambodia was 'no'. If someone said a price I automatically said no, and it worked. They reduced it immediately. The tactic I learned in Laos was that if they said $3, just show them $1 and they usually accept. I don't think either of us particularly enjoyed Phnom Penh - If I had had more time I definitely would have liked to visit Battambang and also southern Cambodia, but alas we had to move on...So today we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). First impressions - not bad, as I've heard really bad stories from other backpackers and from what I've read - have booked a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels tomorrow and hopefully take a trip to the Mekong Delta for a day. Border crossing was a breeze, and the bus journey was also very pleasant. Plan is to work our way up the east coast, stopping in about 4 other cities.
Owen, Colin's brother, is meeting us in Japan on 9 Feb, so we changed our flights - we now fly from Hong Kong to Beijing for a week and then onto Japan to meet Owen. He doesn't know yet he's bringing home loads of stuff - those damn bags are getting heavier by the day - although I heard, the bag doesn't get heavier, you just get weaker! Our arrival date into Sydney has also been moved from 7 Feb to 19 Feb.
All the best,
Marian
PS. Doesn't look like my phone will work in Vietnam
BackChiang Mai, Thailand → Luang Prabang, Laos
20 December 2004
So we spent one day in Chiang Mai, nice to relax and see a few more Temples [but Colin skipped a few cos he was all templed out :)] and we got the local bus to Chiang Rai, about 3 hours north. Bus journey was different...we didn't realise the bus had pulled in and when we did, most of the seats had been taken. We went up to the bus, assummed we'd put our rucksacks underneath in the boot, but instead the luggage co-ordinator guy suggests we just get on the bus with our bags. The bus had three seats on one side and two on the other. When I say three on one, I actually mean the size of a dublin bus seat, but meant for three people. So they put our bags somewhere down the back, and then the task of finding a seat we could fit in. Sat in a three seater, with a small Thai man on the inside, me in the middle and Colin at the isle. I didnt move for 3 hours - that said, arrived safe and sound in Chiang Rai, a much quieter city than Chiang Mai and way less touristy. Organised a two day/one night trek from there. Headed to the night market to get some suitable clothes - I'm not that good at bargaining, so I"m sure I overpaid for my t-shirts, but by the time I got to buying trousers, I had the hang of it (wouldn't like to do it all the time, exhausting work!) We were picked up the next day at 10am for the trek, brought to the longtail boat, and travelled for an hour along the river, til we reached an elephant camp. Went on an elephant ride for an hour, then had lunch, and met up with a Swiss couple (Sven and Simone) who would be trekking with us. They were pleased when we told them we could speak German, cos they were getting tired of speaking English all the time - it was good practice for us, although I'm sure we were a bit rusty!
So the four of us and two guides set off trekking...10 minutes in and we have to jump across this stream...bad news for me, I find it impossible to jump across anything, so everyone gets over safely and we're wondering what my best plan of action is...I go for the run and jump option and land a good few inches short...luckily it was sunny out so had a good 4 hours for my runners, socks and trousers to dry off. The trek was good fun, amazing scenery and got to see a few hilltribes on the way. The two guides (Simon and Rit) were a good laugh - Simon cracked jokes the whole time, but at times none of us were sure what he was saying, the Swiss couple kept saying to us they didn't understand everything, and we just told them to laugh when he laughed - safest bet! Stayed in a hilltribe hut that night, the couple who usually live there moved out for the night, and the guy cooked our dinner - the food was so good. Was pretty cold that night, but slept til about 5, and I got up for another sunrise...the upside of not being able to sleep I suppose! Set off the next day at 9am - We were all together for about the first 30 mins, but our guide Simon was actually pretty quick, so we followed him and then after climbing this really steep part, we waited for the others, but must have lost them somewhere, so headed on ourselves. We stopped off at a waterfall for lunch, and finished up in the hot spring - LUSH! Slept well that night.Chiang Rai was a really nice city, very relaxed. Next day we got the local bus to Chiang Khong, to cross the border into Laos. This bus had way more room and less people, very pleasant journey really! When we arrived in Chiang Khong, we went straight across the boarder (already had our visas), so it was pretty straight forward, and met some more Swiss girls and Italian guys at the border, who we had met at the trekking. They were hanging around waiting on their visas. The Swiss girls told us that while they were trekking they met the Swiss couple that were with us and their guide, and they were totally lost in the jungle, so they hooked up with their group...they didn't make it to the hot spring till 5pm (we had left it by 3pm).
Changed Thai baht into Laos kip - was strange, cos just had this wad of cash and hadn't a clue what it was worth, for the first two days in Laos I was just handing over thousands! Luckily I had dollars with me, cos there are no ATMs in Laos (only realised this after crossing the border!), but since arriving in Luang Prabang, it's possible to get cash advances on credit cards (Colin was a kept man for a while there :))
Stayed one night in Houyxai and the next morning got the slow boat down the Mekong river heading for Luang Prabang (takes 2 days, 1 night stopping off in Pakbeng). Met an Irish guy on boat (Kevin) whose been travelling for the past 9 months, more Swiss and a bunch of Swedes. It was really good banter on the boat, which blocked out of our minds how sore our bums were from sitting on the wooden floor for so long - one of the highlights was to watch the speed boats pass us out (you can take a speed boat down to Luang Prabang - it only takes 6 hours instead of two days, goes at about 40-50 km/hr, and everyone wears a lifejacket and crash helmet - on the second day of the slow boat, we pulled in to pick up some monks and cargo and this speed boat pulled up beside us - the average age of the passengers was 80 - it reminded me of my nana, her sister-in-law, my dad's aunt and their friend on a Sunday outing - they all had 1960s motorbike helmets on and were laughing over at us - Colin took some photos - I couldn't stop laughing). We stopped for the night in a town called Pakbeng, it's really small and all the accommodation is basic (apart from one which is called Pakbeng resort and supposedly costs between $40-$80 a night - given the fact we have paid on average $4-$6 a night, it must be some luxurious hotel - Colin said it was all booked out the night we were there!)
Set off next morning at 9.30 am with our packed lunches and now on a bigger boat with more proper wooden seats (actually it was just longer and you didn't have to stoop as low!) Stopped off quite a few times on the way to pick up locals and drop others off - the boat trip was truely something different and really glad we travelled that way. Arrvied in Luang Prabang at about 5pm, found accommodation (Phousi Guesthouse), and had a look around the city. Today we went to some more temples and enquired about going to see the Plain of Jars. This city has a real French feel to it, as it was a French colony. There are bakeries everywhere (and really really nice coffee!)There are now no flights to Phonsavan, the city you go to to visit the Plain of Jars, so it's gonna be a local bus (7-9 hours) on a road that the US warn all of it's citizens not to take...supposedly people are attacked on the road, but we're thinking more 'adventure', than 'dangerous'. Decided to take bus on Wednesday, see the Plain of Jars on Thursday and leave Friday to go to Vang Viang, and that's probably where we'll be spending Christmas. The plan is then to head onto Vientiane (capital of Laos) and fly out of there New Year's Eve to Siem Reap (Angor Wat). A lot of people we met in the last few days are doing the same route, so no doubt we'll all meet up at some stage!
That's all for now. Hope you're all keeping well!
Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Marian
BackChiang Mai, North Thailand
13 December 2004
Hi All,
Finally I've got around to emailing about our trip. It's been pretty hectic, and wanted to wait until I had some news! We arrived safe and sound in Bangkok on 29 November. Stayed in a hostel near enough to the Khao San Road (backpacker area).There are loads of bars and restaurants here, cheap food on the side of the street, which is great, even though some people warn against it. The next day we gave in our passports to organise visas for VietNam, Cambodia and Laos. That took three days, so we had to stay in Bangkok. We hadn't planned to stay that long, but didnt mind, there's loads to do and see - capital city afterall. Did the usual sightseeing things - Grand Palace, Wat Po, Floating Markets and went to a Thai Boxing match. I think Bangkok is a city you need to spend a bit of time in to actually like - the city was getting to me a bit after the first two days - probably due to the fact I couldn't sleep for the first five nights, so suffering from insomnia in a bustling city is always bad news - luckily there's always alcohol to help!
We decided to go South after the visas were ready to see some of the islands
- Ko Phi Phi (where they filmed "The Beach") and Ko Lanta, also stopping
in Krabi.
We got a flight on the Sunday. We were meant to go on the Death Railway
on the Saturday but didnt realise there's only one train in the morning
leaving at 7.45, so couldn't go on the Saturday - instead we went to the
Weekend Market - there's about 6000 stalls
- it's mad, you can buy everything here. There were cheap trainers of all
brands - so decided to get a pair of diesel ones - only that the ones I
saw, the lady told me "We have big size too - size 40"...hmmm, I take a
42, so had to shop in the men's section!She was laughing at me. We also
got stuck in this huge pet section - Colin thought it was great, I was petrified
we'd stumble across the pet rat section - I've such a fear of them which
isn't good to have if staying in Bangkok, although there aren't as many
as last time I was here. Now there's just loads of dogs wandering about.
The King's birthday was on the Sunday, so on Saturday evening there were
celebrations (concerts, food, drink) for him. We stopped off at that for
a while - good laugh, and being tall we could see everything! Actually that's
one thing since I've arrived - I keep banging my head off everything - in
the train, bus, boat, coming out of some restaurants - the ceilings and
awnings are just really low!
Flew to Krabi on the Sunday, took a day trip to Ko Phi Phi from Ao Nang to visit Maya Bay ("The Beach") and went snorkelling - it was such a laugh - Colin took a movie clip with his digital camera, as he has an underwater case for it - will put it up on the website at some stage. Good thing I had seen Finding Nemo before I went travelling - was able to recognise loads of fish (Sorry Aoife and Kate - showing my ignorance!!) Also went to Bamboo Island and went snorkelling again. In Ao Nang we were staying in huts, and you had to take a long boat over to them - went swimming the first day - mad to think we were swimming in the sea during December.
Moved onto Ko Lanta and decided to rent a motorbike - neither of us have ever driven one before so I let Colin drive - the girl at the hotel was laughing at us as the two of us were looking for the gears, brake etc. We went along the coast to the end of the island (25 km long). Stopped off at a few beaches, went swimming, called back to the town and had a look around. Nightlife not bad, but quieter than Ko Phi Phi. I think after Colin got a bit of confidence driving he thought he was one of the guys from CHIPS :)
Then set off for Ko Phi Phi, and called to a few different beaches. There's also a viewpoint where you can see the two main bays. There were about a zillion steps up to this point and it was pretty hot out, but worth it when we got to the top. We noticed there was a sign up about sunrise and sunset, so crazy as we are, got up the next morning at some ungodly hour, and walked back up the zillion steps for sunrise - not the only crazy people however, met two Norweigans up there and then the Japanese came flying up snapping away!
Got back to Bangkok on Friday and then went on the death railway on Saturday - was good fun. A long journey on a wooden train seat was interesting! Met a Dutch couple (Elisha and Sanaten), and shared a taxi with them to a museum dedicated to the building of the Death Railway during the war - got to see where it was originally built - very interesting. The Dutch couple were also very interesting, the guy's uncle had worked on the railway and he had been in a women and children's work camp for two years during the war because the Dutch ruled Indonesia and it had been invaded.
Arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday evening - travelled for 12 hours by train and were up really early on Sunday morning to see the monks collect alms near enough to where we were staying. The monks really stood out in Bangkok, maybe it's due to their bright orange-coloured outfits. There are spaces specifically reserved for monks on the boats. The boats are probably the best way to travel in Bangkok - and also the local bus is a bit of banter - we were always the only Westeners on the buses!
The plan is to stay another night in Chiang Mai and then head north to Chiang Rai to go hilltribe trekking for 3 days (have to buy some suitable clothes). It's also much cooler in Chiang Mai. We'll be going over the Thai - Laos boarder soon and hope to take a slow boat to Luang Prabang.
Have really enjoyed Thailand - loads we haven't seen, but sure can always come back - the food is great and it's certainly a place where you wouldn't starve - there are food stalls absolutely everywhere!
Hope everything is going well at home and Christmas shopping is all under control!
Marian
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