04/07/2011 - Los Angeles + Fiji

Hey,

So I am now in Los Angeles, and today is the 4th of July, which in USA is a big celebration of Independence day! it's nice and hot, seems to be just like the movies etc. etc. great fast food etc. etc. Enjoying it here, tomorrow I will go take a look at Hollywood and do all the touristy stuff.

I am currently looking into going to San Francisco on the 7th or 8th, spend a few days there before flying out to Shanghai, China!

Fiji was also awesome, very much a paradise get away place! unfortunately we only got 3 days of sun, so we were unlucky with the weather! however I had fun, and it very much was clear waters, vivid blue seas, nice coral, nice fish, mantarays and sharks! White sandy beaches, and hamacks to enjoy the scenary of palm trees whilst drinking coconut milk out of a coconut with a nice tropical flow in it!

24/06/2011 - Auckland, New Zealand (North Island)

So it's my last night in NZ, had an amazing time, campervanning has been so much fun and an awesome experience. Not sure I will be seeing such beautiful scenary for a while!
At the moment my flights tomorrow for Nadi, Fiji are not canceled due to the ash cloud which good news so hopefully everything will go smoothly tomorrow!

Will update in Fiji!

18/06/2011 - Taupo, New Zealand (North Island)

Hey,

Currently in Taupo, which is awesome and has a massive beautiful lake! We did the crossing across the volcano which was amazing but tiring, some very beautiful scenery such as the Emerald Lakes, and the Blue Lake. Only a week left until I leave New Zealand! has gone too quickly!!! but who knows after the recent volcano explosion somewhere it's ash cloud may affect my flights out of NZ, hopefully not as I would love to spend 7 days, so fingers crossed it doesn't screw up the rest of my travel plans which I'm extremely excited about!

14/06/2011 - North Island, New Zealand

Hey,

Crossed the ferry to the North Island, so I am now in Wellington which is a nice change of scenery, but still can't beat the South Islands scenic roadside views!

We plan to drive around the North Islands and do as much as possible but time is against us. A few of the people have not done skydiving before so I think they are planning on doing that at some point, but apart from that I think it's going to be site seeing, taking in the views and doing some walks!

Managed to stay clear of the bad earthquake in Christchurch, so all is still good in NZ.

06/06/2011 - South Island, New Zealand

I'm now in New Zealand (South Island), with the campervan and it's insanely beautiful and a lot of fun. I'm in Queenstown at the moment, where I did the 134m Nevis Bungy Jump which was mental!!!! We've seen some amazing sites, even dolphins and seals! The views are just stunning from the road side. We still have Glacier Hiking to do which I am sure will also be incredible, and then the North Island is all still to come.

Having a lot of fun, but don't get the chance to use the internet often so won't be able to update very often, sorry! 

See you in a few

24/05/11 - Melbourne, Australia.

I'm now im Melbourne, my final destination in Australia. It is really quite cold here, and the backpacker hostel is in St. Kilda which is a little bit out of the centre! which I found out after I walked for a good 1.5hrs with my heavy backpack and bags! Will take a few photo's and as it's cheap Tuesday today I will treat myself to a dominoes pizza tonight as it's half price! Not sure what there is to do here, probably the same as other cities, so will just walk around do all the free sites, and take some photos!

Won't be long until I'm in New Zealand (28th May) and then I'll be getting by even more hardcore in a campervan! so will have to make the most of having the luxury of a hostel and mattress! Will probably be harder to update this blog in New Zealand as I'll be in a van, in the country side and won't have access to free internet!

22/05/11 - Sydney, Australia

Spent a bit of time here in Sydney, it's very nice, kinda what you would expect from a city. The Opera House was pretty cool, as well as the big harbour bridge. Beaches were nice too, I guess Sydney is the place to be having the Beaches a short drive away and the big city so close. I also saw a couple wales in the sea from the coast, they barely peaked above the water but it still counts! they did the whole spitting water up in the air too! Had a good night out in too, made the most of the cheap goon, paid the price the next day haha.

Anyway off to Melbourne on Monday night, I hear that Sydney and Melbourne are both good, and people dinf it hard to say which is better, so I'm guessing they'll be pretty similar, and then after Melbourne I will be headed into the cold of New Zealand.

17/05/11 - Surfer's Paradise + Byron Bay, Australia

Hey,

I'm in now in Byron Bay, and didn't get round to updated the blog in Surfer's Paradise. Surfer's Paradise was awesome, luckily had some great people in my flat/dorm so that was good fun. The actual place was good too, kinda reminded me of Miami, wasn't what I expected! It had a massively long beach and then with a mini city skyscrappers next to it! Unfortunately I couldn't find work for accommodation there, but the cheapest place did pick me up in a limo for free!!!

Byron Bay is alright, similar to other places really, nice beaches, popular with surfers, and as a small town with the regular few clothes shops and some fast food chain stores. Didn't get a chance to go to Nimbun as it cost $25 AUS to do so! and didn't find any work for accommodation here either so I'm leaveing today for Sydney where I can use up some of free nights to save a bit of money!!! Saw 2 scholes of doplhins in Byron Bay which was a pleasent suprise, it was quite amazing, they seemed like baby ones too! also trekked the coast and saw the lighthouse (where the dolphins were) so that was worth it!

Looking forward to going back to a big city where it should be bursting with life, and have plenty of things to do for free!

11/05/11 - Noosa + Brisbane, Australia

So I've been in Noosa, where I slaved away for my free accomodation to save money, I was glassing at the Nomads party bar. Noosa was pretty cool, had some nice beaches where you were actually allowed in the sea, so there were a few surfers. There was also a nice scenic walk through the national park that goes down the coast for miles.

After Noosa I went to Brisbane, my first proper city! finally lots of big buildings, and life walking around, no longer on a deserted place with only one main street! so far I love it, probably because of the change of North Australia, and I'm very much a city boy. Going to walk around the city and take advantage all the free things you can do as I'm hardcoring my budget. Just applied for my China visa so all excited about that. Will be in Brisbane until Friday where I will then go somewhere south!

05/05/2011 - Rainbow Beach, Australia

At Rainbow beach, so far not seen much but doesn't look very impressive, with only 3 or 4 hostels most of which are full! Couldn't get any work so having to pay a massive $24 per night. Thinking on moving to Noosa to save some money! Staying what seems like a caravan park converted into a box office hostel. It's surprising how little there is in some of these places!

03/05/11 - Hervey Bay

In Hervey Bay, working for free accommodation, went to see arthur at the cinema and attempted to see skream 4 afterwards. Skydiving tomorrow at 7am! Rainbow beach next, think we are leaving there on Thursday!

24/04/2011 - Airlie Beach, Australia

Headed to Airlie Beach tonight, a nice little 10hour overnight bus ride. I think the place going to quite similar to Cairns, everyone seems to say its awesome so looking forward to it!

We are also going to do the Whitsunday Islands, see the amazing Great Barrier Reef and all that hype. Again...I hear good things about it so it's probably worth the insane prices that tourist offices charge! Very hard to get use to such differences after  coming from Asia!

Will update you on my next location when I arrive :)

21/04/2011 - Cairns, Australia

I am now in Cairns, Australia - where the famous great barrier reef is, but I'm yet to see it, and well Australia is insanely expensive so I have been living off supermarket homebranded peanut butter and bread! I greatly miss Asia! but hopefully I will be able to go back there in not too long! We are going down the East Coast of Australia, starting in Cairns and ending in Melbourne. The weather is apparently bad and cold down south, and we will be going to beach place after beach place! We might do Skydiving or Bunjee jumping in Australia but they also offer it in New Zealand so it's kind of hard to choose between the two, but apparently it's slightly cheaper in New Zealand!

I'm not sure what our next stop on the East Coast is, so I'll update this blog when I arrive wherever it is!

10/04/2011- Bangkok, Thailand

Good to be back in Thailand, I am now in Bangkok until the 16th of April when I fly out to Australia. Which means I will be here for the water festival and will have a seriously awesome time once again in Bangkok!

07/04/2011 - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Had a great time in Siem Reap, preferred it to Phomn Pehn. The temples were amazingly awesome..I must of taken about 300 photos that day haha. The city/town also has a good vibe and a big backpacker vibe, and draft beers at only $0.50!!!!!!!! Had many amazing pizzas too, and finally got to have an asian pancake again.

April 9th I'm headed back to Bangkok and then I fly to Australia on the 16th!

03/04/2011 - Phomn Pehn, Cambodia.

I am now in Cambodia, after a bus which was supposed to be a sleeper bus but wasn't and was like 2 hours late! so I am very tired!

Phomn Pehn seems nice, its very hot and you can tell that Cambodia is a poor country even though this is their capital city you can see much poverty. I will soon go see the killing fields, and maybe some museums, shooting range etc. And then I will decide where I am headed to next in Cambodia. Depending on time I may not jump straight to Siem Reap!

27/03/2011 - Dallat, Mui Ne and Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) (Vietnam)

So Dallat was a little bit of a disappointment after looking at google images, but nonetheless it was worth seeing! After we did the general package tour in Dallat, we headed to Mui Ne, which is a beach resort with Red, White and Yellow Sand dunes, we again did this in a package tour and saw the fairy river and had a ride on a ostrich! I then got an overnight bus to Saigon at 1am, arrived at 5am and luckily managed to find a open hotel with a room for $10. I will do the general sites at Saigon and then head to Cambodia! 

22/03/2011 - Hoi An, Vietnam. (aswell as Vien Tien (Laos) and Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay and Hue (Vietnam)

OK...so I may of forgot to update this blog for a bit! we have been very busy in Vietnam so far, we haven't been on the internet much apart from free wifi and Vietnam blocks facebook!!! However I finally remembered to update this blog!

Tubing didn't quite go to plan; I ended up having diahorrea the morning/day we were going to go tubing, so the girls went together and apparently got dropped off at the wrong start points and there was a total of 3 other people tubing! So the girls were not happy with the lack of a social vibe and a very shallow river. At first I didn't believe them but then they showed me the photo's. So after hearing that we agreed to book our bus to Vien Tien the next day. There we didn't do so much just chilled out for 1 or 2 days before taking a 26 hour bus ride (the cheapest one!) to Hanoi, Vietnam. It was at the Vietnam border we met some travellers we bumped into before who had done tubing and apparently the girls got dropped off at the wrong starting point and the real party was a 20minute walk upwards from where the girls got dropped.

Once arriving in Hanoi we booked our plans for the next few days which included 3 consequtive overnight transport. In Hanoi we walked around the city, did a tour and saw some touristy buildings and areas, i.e.Ho Chi Minh temple,.his dead body has been preserved for viewing! We then went to sapa for a day, where there amazing views of some extraordinary paddy fields. We were shown around by local village people instead of a tour guide and it was great fun to see how the villagers lived and to meet their family and eat with them. We then saw Halong Bay the next day, which is a famous attraction of Vietnam, it was very nice.

After Hanoi we got an overnight train to Hue where we spent one night, and again we walked around did a bit of touristy stuff before leaving to Hoi An, which is where I am now! In Hoi An we have walked around, been to the beach and had a night out. Tomorrow I'm headed to Dallat which is apparently amazingly beautiful!!

11/03/2011 - Vang Vieng, Laos.

Is now in Vang Vieng, Laos even after the mixup at the bus station! Tourist company double booked our seats, and the bus was full, luckily 3 people didn't turn up so we got to Vang Vieng in the end.

Vang Vienn is full of tourists, because everyone is literally here for tubing, and it doesn't seem there's much else to do apart from tubing!

Tomorrow we will be tubing, and then sometime later are headed to Vien Tien? the capital of Laos!

05/03/2011 - Luang Prabang, Laos.

Ok, so as usual things didn't go as planned. The buses to Chiang Saen/Golden Triangle/Chiang Khong were all full. Luckily we managed to find a travel agents who gave us a package deal to Laos that night, so we managed to leave the same night and had a tiring journey to Laos.We had a minibus for several hours, then a random room for a few hours rest, then sorting out the visa, and then the 2 day slow boat to Luang Prabang...however we have finally arrived and it's a awesome, chilled out place.

Over the last week I seem to have developed an addiction to daily cheap 1hr massages costing a couple pounds, and I think because of price differences outside Asia, I'm going to have to quit cold turkey and I can't see it being pretty.

We plan on staying in Laos for a around 12 days I think. In Luang Prabang I think we are going to go kyaking to the caves one day, and then moutain biking to the waterfalls another day, as well as visiting/staying with a hill tribe for a few days. Then after that we had to Vang Vienn(?) to do the renown tubing!

So far my travels have gone great and I'm enjoying every second of it!

03/03/2011 - Chiang Saen, Thailand.

We have now done Chiang Mai which is an awesome place! kept us very busy!

Now we plan on getting the 4-5 hour bus to Chiang Saen which is right up North on Thailand's Border. We plan on seeing the Golden Triangle which is where the 3 Borders meet (Burma, Thailand and Laos). After that we plan on getting the Slow Boat to Laos which takes a few days and then we plan on doing tubing in Laos.

Next update in Laos I guess!

25/02/11 - Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Hey,

I have arrived in Chiang Mai after taking the overnight train and it's very nice. It's like a chilled out version of Bangkok, plenty of stuff to do with markets and shops etc but without all the people hassle you for tuktuks and other services.

We have a lot planned over the next 5 days. Today we are sorting out accommodation for rest of our stay, as well as food and transport etc. We are then visiting a temple and then going to the Chiang Mai Night market tonight.
Tomorrow we are going to the Tiger Kingdom where we will get to cuddle and play with both adult and baby tigers. Afterwards we are planning on visiting either the Monkey Show or Monkey Sanctuary or something similar.
Then on Sunday we are doing Jungle Flight which is 7 hours of climbing through trees and zip wiring around, should be a lot of fun!
Monday we do the Elephant trek for 2 days where were we ride on elephants, feed them, bath them in the river, and then sleep in the jungle or something. Should be amazing, as we've been told Chiang Mai is the place to do it!
Then on Wednesday we are taking a Thai Cooking course for a day, where we pick our own ingredients from the markets, and then we get to cook about 6 different courses, choosing a dish for each one. I am thinking of doing Red Thai Curry paste, Red Thai Curry Chicken, Pad Thai Beef, Spring Rolls or Noodle dish, Coconut milk dish, and then some soup or something!

So it's a busy week in comparison to the start of my travels, therefore it's a bit of an expensive one, however still probably extremely cheap compared to the rest of the world!

Afterwards we head to somewhere else in North Thailand, maybe Chiang Rai, where we will do a trek with a hill tribe and stay a night with them.

PUHEACE!

22/02/11 - Bangkok, Thailand.

Hello

I have now done the full moon party and had an absolutely amazing time, as you will be able to tell from the many photos on facebook!

I have now gone back up to Bangkok (another long sleepless overnight bus journey) with Emilie and Ruth where we are going get our  Vietnamese visas. At Chiang Mai we plan on doing some elephant trekking, tiger kingdom,  monkey sanctuary, the whole shibam. After Chiang Mai we will head out of North Thailand to Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and then back into Bangkok and then whatever time we have left spend at the islands we haven't done yet.

Not much more to say, apart from having an amazing time travelling and meeting some awesome people!

Going to get a nice big breakfast as I've barely eaten because of the bus journey.

Lakunkrub

17/02/11 - Koh Phangan, Thailand.

Howdie

I've now left Koh Samui, we spent the last 2 nights in Chaweng staying above McDonalds and opposite Burger King, right on the main street, it was awesome. So obviously we had 2 crazy nights out, and the beaches there were amazing.

We then got our ferry to Koh Phangan (full moon party island) where we are staying in Seaview Sunrise which is literally on the Full Moon Party beach (naad sin?). So yeah that's awesome having the craziest party on our doorstep.
Last night we went to the pool party at Coral Beach Bungalows where some of our friends are staying, and tonight we will probably hit up the parties on the full moon beach.

The famous full moon party takes place this Saturday on 19th February, looking forward to it!
 
Been wearing swimming trunks most of the time which means I haven't usually got my camera on me, but I'll try and get few snaps in whilst I'm here.

The place seems to be a hot spot for Aussies and Canadians!

12/02/2011 - Koh Samui, Thailand

So... we bought a bus ticket from Bangkok to Kho San Toa? or something or other. But then there was a mixup and we were forced to go on the bus to Phuket (doesn't bother me as I'm sure it's all amazing). So we were on the bus for a good 15 hours or so and then get dropped off at a random spot where we then taken to another tourist office, where there was another mixup! so in the end we have ended up in Koh Samui!! which is awesome! We set off at 6pm from Bangkok and arrived at our place in Koh Samui (Lang Ma?) at around 2.30pm the next day, so it  was a good 20 hour journey without sleep!

Anyway we have a awesome hostel in Koh Samui, which is right on the beach, and you stay in the cool hay hut things! So you open your day and your blessed with palm trees and sand and the sound of the sea!!
We went into town and partied at Chang ma? (I honestly have no idea with the names, sorry!)

The next day (11th) we did our first cultural/touristy activity! we went to see some rocks, a monkey show, a few massive Buddhas, a Shiny Lady, a Mumified Monk, Waterfalls, with the little sleep I have been giving myself my memory isn't the best!

We plan on moving to the Chang ma place in a couple of days (still in Koh Samui)
When things get clearer I will try to edit this post with more details!

07/02/11 - Arrival. Bangkok, Thailand.

Arrived safely, had an awesome flight that actually had our own TVs and you got to choose what and when you wanted to watch stuff! For some reason I didn't watch much at all (I had already seen most the films, so I ended up half watching The Switch, and saw an episode of Modern Family that I'd already seen). I got 0 hours sleep, I was lucky enough to be next to an old couple who were coughing 24/7....great.

Once we dumped our stuff at the hostel we strolled the streets and after I saw the amount of stuff I wanted to buy on the streets I seriously regret packing my bag so full, so might have to throw away some clothes!

We then hit up Khao San Road? in the evening, where we had a great time hitting many bars and raving the night away, had some very funny and memorable moments! We got back to the room at 5am or so and then got up at 11am and had a lazy start by the pool...(YES OUR HOSTEL HAS A POOL ON THE ROOF!) and we are now shortly off to go see the Royal Palace and then probably go out again tonight and then do the Floating Market tomorrow!.  (Edit:) Turns out we didn't do that, went out last night again and done an all nighter and drank through breakfast and then went back to our roof pool for a bit. I will now probably try and last as long as I can before I fall asleep, and tonight is our last night in Bangkok, before we head to Phuket (I think). We are returning to Bangkok in the future so we'll be able to do the touristy sights stuff then.

I'm doing a very poor job of taking photo's, but then again we haven't visited any of the sights!

27/01/2011 - Getting Ready.

Hey,

I've just set up this blog to keep a record of my travelling. I will be trying to keep this as up-to-date as possible, but most of the time I will be out enjoying myself....instead of being on the PC updating this! However I will be on the PC in order to keep track on my uni application, so I can do this blog at the same time.
I also figured anybody who wanted to follow my travels from home could do so here!

My Travel Plans 2011:

• 5th February = London Heathrow ✈ Bangkok, Thailand & Laos & Vietnam
• 16th April = Bangkok ✈ Sydney, Australia
• 17th April = Sydney ✈ Cairns, Australia
• 18th April = Grey hound bus pass, hop on and off East Coast, Australia
• 28th May = Melbourne ✈ Christchurch, New Zealand - With Campervan to Auckland!
• 25th June = Auckland ✈ Fiji
• 3rd July = Fiji ✈ Los Angeles, USA
• July + August = Winging it in USA, but a general idea (LA, California, Dallas, Texas, DC, Baltimore, NY)
• 1st September = Dallas, Texas ✈ London Heathrow, UK
• Sept/Oct = Home & Newcastle University!

Things still to do before departure:

•   Pack backpack  
•   Get documents organised  
•   Get last jab  

Next update will be in February in Thailand!