anti-clockwise around the world...

China - Chengdu and Emei Shan

2007-11-30T15:08:00.018Z

CHENGDU

After a 20h train ride we arrive in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, another sprawling Chinese metropolis. The midday heat is intense as we leave the train station and wait for a taxi. Our first attempt to find accommodation is not successful as the hostel is full. We take another taxi to Sam’s Guesthouse, a tour operator that also has accommodation available in apartment style rooms. The staff are very friendly and helpful and they understand a high level of English, which comes as a great relief.

Outside our accommodation there is a market selling all sorts of animal parts for consumption, but also a great little street vendor selling the most mouth watering dumplings. We eat several portions for breakfast each morning. Sichuan is famous for spicy food and everything is hot and spicy, really spicy. I enjoy that from time to time, but after a few days it becomes “sore”. We have to attempt to tell them that we do not want it that hot, which kind of works sometimes.

We take nice strolls around the city and the people’s park. Every evening Nuria goes for the obligatory massage and even tries “cupping”, which looked too painful for me…We hire some dodgy bikes from the guesthouse and explore slightly farther flung areas of the city. This included the Tibetan quarter, which was more run down than the rest of the city. On the Saturday evening we need a bit of a party, and in typical tourist fashion we go to the Irish pub and then another venue. Despite the surprising amount of westerners around we don’t really converse with anyone.

We organise a couple of tours out of Sam’s, which takes a while in the queue, as it is always full of tourists trying to get permits into Tibet. The first trip we go on is to the Giant Panda research centre to see these endangered animals. The reserve is more like a zoo just for pandas but very interesting nevertheless. There were even baby Pandas in incubators on display. When we finish the tour the rain starts, in fact it was a torrential downpour.

EMEI SHAN

The next morning is an early start to get a bus the 150km from Chengdu to Emei Shan, where we are picked up at the side of the road by a local female tour guide. She helps us and shows us a couple of places and we end up with very reasonable accommodation in a nice budget hotel. It is a small village and we check out the shops and take a look around. We get up early again to take a walk around the sacred Buddhist mountain - Mount Emei, which is also a world heritage site. We take a bus up towards the summit to about 2500m, with the intention of climbing the last part and walking down, stopping at some of the 30 monasteries and Pagodas on the way. However, after a short hike up we realise the summit is covered in mist and the visibility is zero…so we didn’t quite make it to the top, but were at around 2900m of the 3099m. Fairly cold and damp in the clouds and the air is noticeably thinner at that altitude. We start the trek down and it is a mass of winding steps and small paths. It is also a Chinese holiday weekend and the

place is totally packed with Chinese tourists making the holy hike. We stop at various interesting temples and places along the way. About half way down we take a short Swiss style cable car ride above the pine forest. After more trekking we along the paths and over bridges and walkways we get to the bus station where we can get a lift back into the village. Pretty spectacular place, but way to busy for my liking.

We stay a second night in Emei Shan and try to recover after the day on the mountain. The next day we stroll around and then get a bus back to Chengdu. Somehow I have damaged my right knee walking down all the steps and am in a lot of pain the whole day. When we make it back to Chengdu I am having severe difficulties walking….Nuria opts to go for the daily massage and persuades me to try acupuncture on my knee. I am so scared of needles and have almost passed out on many occasions at the doctors, so was dreading it. We went to the usual massage parlour…well I hobbled there in great pain. With a manner of hand and feet signals, we managed to explain to them that firstly we wanted a pedicure and that then I required acupuncture for a wrecked knee and Nuria needed another massage. They came at me with the needles and I was shaking, gasping down deep breaths of air to try to calm down….they were laughing and smoking. Anyway, they stuck the needles into various pressure points around the knee and worked at it for more than an hour, burning incense to heat the needles. Afterwards I stood up, put the weight on the knee and walked out of there completely normal. No pain, no limping – I was completely healed. It was nothing short of a miracle and the best €2 I have ever spent.

The following day is our last in Chengdu, a town we have come to really adore for all the positive experiences here. We head for the large statue of Chairman Mao and the Science and technology museum which is situated behind him. We spend the rest of the day in there like 2 kids in a technology playground. It was such good fun to see the exhibitions and participate in all the rides and shows.

Late that night we stock up on noodles and head for the train station to catch the train to Xi’an. Another epic 18 hour train journey across China.

China - Guilin and Yangshuo

2007-11-30T15:08:00.001Z

After around 14 hours on the train and 3 at the border we arrive in the southern Chinese city of Nanning. We have no plan but are tired from the journey. I try to enquire about onward tickets to Guilin as we are herded into the waiting lounge. The train we were on is in fact heading to Guilin, but we were unable to buy tickets in Vietnam. There is some confusion until I meet an American that speaks Chinese and after some translation, I am allowed out of the waiting room to go to the ticket desks. I step outside into the humidity to get my first experiences in China. I have less than 30 minutes to get money and onward tickets. After trying several ATM's it becomes clear that they do not accept foreign cards. I have some chinese yen that I changed from Vietnamese Dong on the train...let's hope it's enough. I push through the crowds of sweaty people milling around the train station and head for the ticket office. It's a complete mess, there are people everywhere and about 20 counters. Having no idea what anything means, I join a queue and hope for the best. No one speaks English, so armed with the Lonely Planet Guide opened at the "buying train tickets" section, I point, use some sort of sign language and show a map of Guilin. Success, I get 2 seats for the smae train we just got off, which leaves in errmm, 5 minutes!! I sprint back to the waiting lounge where Nuria is minding the luggage and we make a dash for the train. Another 5 hours and we roll into Guilin in the early evening of Saturday 4th Aug.

We spend a couple of nights there in quite a nice hotel booked for us by the tourist agency in the train station. Of course we were ripped off by local standards, but we were so wrecked that it was of little importance. It was Saturday night so after a brief rest we head out to one of the local discos. It is a bizarre experience consisting of blaring electro-pop music, flashing lights and too many lasers and loads of Chinese teenagers bopping around wasted and drinking beer out of shot glasses. There were two other western faced people there, so we were attracting attention. After they smoked all our cigarettes, we decided to leave.

The next day we spent sightseeing and looking around the shops. Everything is so huge in this city - the buildings, the shops... After a while we stop and I take a few pictures. Noticing that two Chinese guys are also taking pictures, I suggest to Nuria that we should move out of the way. However they motion for us to move back, and it dawns on me that they are actually yaking photographs of us!! We then oblige and let them have their pictures taken with us. Quite a bizarre scene. Anyway, afterwards we head for the highest peak in the city, a pinnacle with a lot of monasteries and museums around it. We climb to the top in the sweltering heat and admire the stunning views. The topography is similar to Halong Bay, but without the water. After wards we go and check out the padogas by the lake and stroll around as the sun fades. The food is nice and cheap and good quality. What is not good quality are the products. Nuria finds a nice pair of shoes for around €2 and eagerly buys them to wear. They don't even make it the 250m back to the hotel before breaking! Chinese quality, which will be the butt of many jokes to come.

The next morning we get up and take the local bus 3 hours to Yangshuo, the classic backpacker hang out. There is a lot to do there, so we let a Chimese dude rip us off for some tours, but manage to get the accomodation at a fairly reasonable price. The first evening is spent looking around the place and going for dinner. We stumble across an underground market selling all sorts of fake designer brands. I make the fatal mistake of asking the price of a T-shirt and am told it is €90. After laughing and saying that i'm completely not interested, she then wants to give me a 'serious' price. €20 and it's mine because I am the lucky customer, she needs my business and blah blah blah. Nuria starts laughing and the woman scoldingly questions 'are you laughing at me?', to which Nuria replies that she is actually laughing at me. I try to leave but the saleswoman blocks my way out and grabs me by the arm pulling me back into the shop - quite the heavy handed sales techniques. I manage to get out of the shop and the price is now down to €5. She screams at me to come back 'where are you going? Come back you crazy guy! €2! Are you crazy or what???' We were shocked at the display and it is the worst I have experienced in Asia to date...

The next day we decide to hire some bikes and go on a self designed tour. We head off out of teh city along the river and go exploring the surrounding countryside. After several hours it becomes too hot in the midday sun and we have to head back with headaches and tiredness. After some rest we get ready for our next excursion. From the dodgy tour guide (whom we never saw again), we had arranged tickets and transport to the famous 'Light Show'. A man arrived to pick us up in a cyclo and took us there in a trailer on the back of his bike, which took ages but at least we got there. The Light Show was a local show portraying how people had lived in the area several hundred years ago. The stage was the water and the mountainous backdrop was superbly lit up, and about 500 people and even some water buffalo were involved. We had heard great things, but our expectations were way surpassed by the beauty and the emotion behind this show.

The next day we had organised a cycle and rafting tour to go to the Black Budda caves for a mud bath. The tour guide organised us bicycles while he himself followed us on a motorbike. We were joined by two Italian filmakers (who were not making a film that day). We headed off and after about 1h we arrived at the river banks where we boarded a bamboo raft and placed the bikes on the back. We floated downstream with a 'captain' at the helm steering through weirs, which was very relaxing. After persuading the guy to take us for lunch we took a break near the caves and got ready. This was pretty scary as we climbed steeply down into the bowels of the earth banging our heads and limbs in the tight spaces, but at least it was cooler than outside which by this point in the day was like an oven. After quite some time we reached the mud pools and lay down in the cold mud. It was pretty disgusting, but supposedly healthy so we had to just grin and bear it. After trying to wash some of it off we continued with the guide to another part of the cave. After some clambering around we realised that the small chinese people in front of us were trying to squeeze through a hole about 40cm high and 40cm wide. No way we thought...we are never going get through that!! We truned around only to find that the guide had absconded and basically we were left to our own devices. However, it was just a matter of backtracking and finding our way out. We buy some pictures they have taked of us in the mud pools and make our way back to Yangshuo on the mountain bikes.

After the day trip we head into the town and grab a bite to eat with the Italians before making our way back to the hotel. That night we go into the town to experience the nightlife and meet a group of Chinese who are up for a party. Needless to say it gets pretty messy. One of them explains to us that we should consider going to Chengdu to see the pandas, because he is from there and seems very proud of the place. Our plan was to head to Xi'an, but let's see what happens. At this stage we are pretty much open to go anywhere.

Vietnam - Hanoi and Halong Bay

2007-08-02T14:04:00.000+01:00

Upon arriving in Hanoi we are very tired from the journey and still slightly shocked by the crash. We take a taxi from the bus station to the old quarter and look for a decent hotel. The rest of the day we look around the markets areas in the small streets surrounding the hotel. The next day we hire a moped and drive to the train station. We try to get tickets to China, but are unsuccessful. Our passports are at the hotel and we need to show the visa to get the tickets. The hotel manager then organises the tickets for us, for a small fee of course. Anyway, at least it is arranged and we can leave on Friday evening, giving us 5 days to explore Hanoi and Halong Bay.

The following day we arrange to go on a 2 day boat cruise in Halog Bay. The minivan pickus up early and we drive 3.5 hrs to Haiphong harbour. The boat ride starts here and the next 4 hours are spent in the bay, seeing the hundreds of small island formations jutting up out of the water. It is a very beautiful place and easy to see why it is listed as a UNESCO heritage site. At lunchtime we stop at some floating houses where people live. There is even a small floating school for the kids. We have lucnch there with lots of local fish, which we see swimming around in nets beforehand. The boat then takes us to the "caves of heaven", a large underground cavern filled with stalagmites and stalagtites and lit up in different colours. It is very impressive. We expected it to be nice and cool in there, but it was not. Outside and inside was sweltering...it seems impossible to escape the oppressive heat in Vietnam. After the caves we sail on to the island of Cat Ba. After disembarking at the harbour, we still have to take a van to the main town, where we will stay the night. It is relaxing there and after dinner we stroll down the promenade. There are people selling all sorts of stuff and they even have cages full of scorpions. It's another early start the next day (getting fed up with these!) and we go back to the pier to take the boat back. The cruise lasts all morning and we stop off to swim for half an hour and refresh ourselves. Back at Haiphong we go for lunch and then take the minivan back to hanoi, an uneventful journey. Halong Bay was beautiful and we really enjoyed the short time there.

Back in Hanoi and back to the stress and smog of the city... We hire a moped again to get around. Nuria has got used to the traffic by now. She drives very well here and is very keen to zip around the streets. I drive sometimes, but it's easier to sit on the back and give directions. We get up early (again) and make our way to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, as it is only open in the morning. The whole complex consists of a museum, the presidential palace, houses and the mausoleum. The place is packed with Vietnamese people who come to pay their respects to "Uncle Ho". It is quite eerie as we walk through the chamber and observe his embalmed body in a glass tomb, guarded by soldiers dressed in white. Even though Ho died in 1969, his legend and his idealology lives on very strong in Vietnam. It is very interesting to learn about the history of Vietnam from within the country.

We are now on our last day in Vietnam (Fri 3rd Aug). After only 15 days here it seems too short, but we have seen and experienced a lot. The visa is running out and the train to China only leaves on Fridays or Tuesdays. Tonight we take the night train to Nanning in southern China, leaving Vietnam behind at the Friendship Pass.

Vietnam - Hue

2007-08-02T13:24:00.000+01:00

We arrive in Hue after a very scenic bus ride along the coast from Hoi An. After a relaxing evening we get up very early to go and see the sights around this unique and very cultural city on the Perfume River. Our first stop is the citadel and the Imperial city and Forbidden Purple City within its walls. The buildings are stunning and we walk around discovering it in the heat and humidity of the early morning. Our next stop is the Royal Mausoleums of the 19th century Emperors Tu Duc, Gia Long and Minh Mang. An impressive array of buildings, lakes, gardens, sculptures, statues, tombs and temples. Another quick bus ride and we hop off at some old well kept gardens and then have lunch. Our last stop is the Thien Mu Padoga where we observe monks chanting and feel like we are trespassing in a holy place. The last part of the trip takes us back to Hue on a dragon boat along the Perfume River. This name is certainly not apt for the state of the river nowadays.

That night, although tired from all the sight seeing we manage to make it for a night out on the town, visiting some of Hue's bars and clubs (one called the DMZ). The next day is a late start and we hire a moped to get around the city like the locals. The traffic is hectic but it's all good fun if you just keep honking the horn and drive agressively. We visit the citadel at night and it is even more stunning than during the day, as it is lit up beautifully. On the way back we run out of petrol for the moped and the only petrol station we have seen was on the other side of the city. We look around desperately and wonder what we should do. A Vietnamese guy selling stuff on the pavement beside us starts laughing and we look around. He produces a litre of gasoline from under his table and asks if we would like to purchase it. We look at each other in disbelief as he saves us from pushing the moped across town. Incredible good luck!

On our final day in Hue we visit the Dong Ba market, a hectic place full of any type of food and junk you could possibly want to buy. The smells are intense at every turn and the locals heckle for your business. Afterwards we drive to the other end of the city to pay a quick visit to the Ho Chi Minh museum. It seemed fitting to do that here as he went to school here in his early days. It's a small museum, but very interesting.

After a lot of trouble trying to get bus or train tickets out of Hue, we manage to secure places on a sleeper bus heading to Hanoi that night. The journey should take about 12 hours. Of course the bus is delayed as every journey in Asia so far and we get away about 4 hours later than scheduled. The bus is an actual "sleeping bus" with beds for about 40 people. They are designed for local people though, and I don't really fit into the bed, making for an uncomfortable night's sleep. As I lie awake listening to music, I see Nuria is fast asleep. It's about 2am and I wish I could fall asleep too... Suddenly there is a huge thud as the bus impacts with something, then another one almost immediately afterwards. I sit up and know something bad is happening. The bus veers left and then right and Nuria sits upright and we grab on to each other. After carreering down the road and swerving all over the place, the bus comes to rest about 100m after the initial impact. The driver was incredibly lucky to maintain control over the vehicle. We are at the back of the bus and look out the window to see two dead water buffalo lying in the road bwhind us. People start to descend from the bus onto the dark road outside. The front of the bus is wrecked and the bumper is hanging off. There is a hole in one side and some of the lights are missing. As we wait for the police to come, we walk back to where the buffalo are lying. It is complete carnage, so we don't stay to look at it for long. At least they died instantly and did not suffer too much. The police arrive and tell the driver he is not to continue the journey, so we pull in to spend the night. After a while the police leave and the driver starts the engine and drives on with one light. After an epic journey we eventually arrive in Hanoi around 15h, only 9 hours later than scheduled.

Vietnam - Hoi An

2007-08-02T12:32:00.000+01:00

The bus journey from Vientiane to Da Nang was incredibly long but not as uncomfortable as expected. After hanging around the bus station, we left a few hours later than expected. Arriving a the border around 4am we had to wait until it opened around 7.30am. After more waiting and standing in line for a while we left Laos and got stopped again about 1km further down the road at the Vietnamese checkpoint. It was fairly chaotic there and after filling out various forms we handed our passports over to be checked by immigration. There was some problem scanning Nuria's passport and she was escorted to a room behind the building. Of course I didn't know what was happening and just had to wait. After some intense questioning, it became clear that they knew a lot about Barcelona FC and the tone became more amicable and she was allowed to go. Shortly afterwards though our bags were removed from the bus and thoroughly searched. Eventually we were allowed to enter Vietnam more than 6 hours after arriving at the border. The journey continued and we arrived in Da Nang in the early evening. The place was totally non touristic and we stayed in one of the dirtiest hotels yet. The city didn't appeal to us much, but was a good insight into life in Vietnam. The next morning we visited the museum with the most Cham artefacts on display from that era. After walking around the city all afternoon it was time to depart for a nicer location: Hoi An, a small town about 1h south and near the beach.

We checked into a nice hotel near the old town and spent a few days relaxing. Hoi An is famous for it's tailors and getting good quality clothes made as a fraction of European prices. I got measured up for a suit and shirts, picked the material I wanted and came back to collect the clothes about 6 hours later. A perfect fit! Nuria got shoes made to order, another bargain. The next day I signed up to do the last diving of this trip. A day tour out to the beautiful Cham islands where I completed 2 dives of over 1h each. We had lunch on a lovely white sand beach and chilled out in hammocks between dives. Nuria spent the day at a traditional handicraft village and then shopping and cycling around the town. We also spent an afternoon on the beautiful beach of Cua Dai. The heat was intense and there was no respite by jumping in the water, which must have been over 30 degrees. A really nice place and only half an hour away by bicycle. The final morning was spent lazing about as the whole town was experiencing a power cut. No air con, no fans, no ATM's, no internet...nothing. We left after lunch and took a bus 3 hours north to Hue, near the former demilitarised zone that divided north and south Vietnam during the American war.

Laos - Vang Vieng to Vientiane

2007-07-20T09:38:00.000+01:00

After a couple of days in Luang Prabang we caught a minibus heading south to Vang Vieng. The journey took around 7 hours as we snaked our way through the mountains and jungles of northern Laos. There were several stops en route to take in the scenery, eat at the village market stalls, and also so that the driver could deliver vegetables to some of his friends.

Vang Vieng is a small town consisting of only a few streets beside the river. The main attraction here is to float down the river in the inner tube of a tyre. Sounds simple enough. However, there are around 10 "bars" on the way down the river, each one with different swings and jumps. The whole event is basically a pub crawl, the difference being you float from one bar to the next instead of walking. We run into the Canadians and the Dutch from

the slow boat and 9 of us sign up to go the next day. In the morning we take a tuk-tuk a few km's out of town to the start. There are aerial runways and swings and people launching themselves into the murky water at every

available opportunity. Lao kids wait along the banks of the river and hold out long bamboo poles, so that people can grab on and then they pull them to shore. The organisers request about 30 cents per jump, or it's free if you buy a beer Lao or whiskey shot. After the first few stops it was obvious that this was going to be messy, as there were around 200 people on the river. Alcohol, jumping and a fast flowing river...the safety issues were

evident. There was a great party about half way down, so we ended up staying there longer than expected. On the last jump of the day I slipped off awkwardly and flopped into the water, losing my wrist watch in the muddy river. Anyway, we lost track of time and this meant that we

actually ended up floating down the river in the dark. After some uncertainrty we clambered out before arriving in Vang Vieng and got a lift back in a tuk tuk. Needless to say it was an early night.

The next day was spent recovering and relaxing and organising our escape. The bus ride to our next stop, the capital Vientiane, was about 3 hours. Hovever we decided it would be more adventurous to kayak most of the way. There was a tour group going the following day, so we arranged to go with them. The tuk tuk delivered us and the kayaks to the Namlik river, the starting point. Our bags and the driver would meet us at the other end and leave us at the fountain in the centre of Vientiane. It was a strenuous trip, paddling downstream and hurtling through a few class 4 rapids. The stop for lunch was fantastic, with the local guids providing a full on barbecue on the banks of the river. Afterwards a few jumps itnto the river to cool off and it was time to paddle again. We arrived in Vientiane around 17h, completely exhausted and aching all over. It was worth it though and the day had been a real adventure.

Vientiane is slightly dull and for a capital city there is not much happening. After a day and a half looking around we decide to move on. Our next stop is Vietnam, so we arrange tickets to Da Nang on a local bus. There are no luxury busses for this journey, so it will be 24h the hard way. No false impressions about how this journey will be...

Thailand - Laos

2007-07-15T15:10:00.000+01:00

We arranged to get picked up by minibus around lunchtime to leave Chiang Mai and travel 6 hours to the town of Chiang Khong on the Thai - Laos border. A pretty uneventful place, but we were stuck there for the night as we had to cross the river to the Laos side the following morning. On one side of the river the Thai authorities gave us our exit stamp. Then we clambered into a rickety old boat and crossed the river in about 5 minutes. There is no bridge, but if they get one it will make the crossing less interesting. Once at Huay Xoi on the Laos side of the river we go through the border formalities again and end up waiting around for a while. We have tickets for the slow boat to Luang Prabang in northern Laos, a two day boat journey along the scenic Mekong River. The transfer to the boat is interesting as they manage to pile about 9 of us with backpacks into the back of a pick up truck. The boat is supposed to leave at 11h and we are half an hour early. It is actually 12h by the time they eventually set sail, and everyone is sweltered in the heat. There are about 80 people on board with one toilet and a noisy engine. The boat meanders along the river at a very leisurely pace and the journey is uneventful. At aroud 18.30h we arrive at the village of Pak Beng, our resting place for the night which consists of guest houses and restaurants. We check into a clean hotel for about 2 Euros and head off for dinner with some of the people we met on the boat. The locals try to sell evryone opium and grass and are fairly annoying about it. They also tell us that it is another 9-10 hours to Luang Prabang. The tour company where we got the tickets told us 4 hours, so we are hoping for a good average of the two. We head out for dinner with some people from the boat. Without warning all the electricity goes off at 22h. We thought it was just temporary, but they actually shut down the generators at that time every night. The fan in the room obviously wouldn't work, so it was an uncomfortably hot night. For 2 Euros for a double room, it wasn't bad though.

The next morning they pack the boat with over 100 people. Just when you think it can't be possible to get more people on, they squeeze on an extra few. The boat leave around 10h and we again cruise gently down the Mekong. We arrive in Luang Prabang around 6.5 hours later, so everyone was happy. We check into a nice guest house and go out to the night market and then for dinner. The next day is spent wandering around the town to the Grand palace and various temples and Buddha statues. It's hotter than ever and the heat saps our energy very quickly, making for a lazy afternoon and evening.

There's not much happening here and the excursions are similar to Chiang Mai. We'll hang around for a few days and then travel down to Viang Vieng, the tubing hub of Laos.

Thailand - Chiang Mai

2007-07-08T11:37:00.000+01:00

We arrived in Chiang Mai after a long and uncomfortable 12 hour bus journey. We checked into a cheap hotel near the city centre and checked out what we could do here. There were many options for tourists but we decided that it was time to learn something. We enroled on a Thai cookery course and a Thai massage course. In the afternoon we catch up on some well needed sleep and then make our way to the Night Bazaar. The night market is really interesting and huge. with people selling all sorts of stuff. However tempted we opt not buy anything, thinking on the weight of our bags and having to cart the items the whole way home overland... At least that theory works the first day...let's see if it lasts.

The cookery course starts early in the morning at a location just outside the city. During the day we cook 6 different dishes (soups, curries, spring rolls, salads, desserts). I also learnt to carve vegetables! When we are not cooking, we are stuffing our faces... The whole day is a real success and very enjoyable with the teachers and the other people in the course.

The next day was also an early start as we made our way to the Jera massage school. We had booked to do 2 different massage courses. Nuria took one to learn the art of Thai massage while I spent the day learning about reflexology and massaging feet. It was a long day and a lot to take in but well worth it. Apparently it just takes practice, so it looks like Nuria's feet will benefit for the restof the trip!

Chiang Mai is far from the hecticness of Bangkok and we are enjoying the more laid back attitude here. There are many tour operators offering jungle tours into the surrounding hills, so we opt to do a one day adventure. We leave the city around 8am and head 1.5h north where we reach an elephant camp. From there we climb on top of these huge elephants and ride 1 hour through the jungle. Progress was slow however, as these creatures eat almost constantly. I was sitting on the neck, so was constanlty being hit by the huge ears and it's trunk sprayed me with mud as it searched for the bananas we had. A fun ride though. After disembarking from the elephants, we hiked a short distance and then made a river crossing via a cage attached to an aerial runway. The van collected us on the other side and we were driven to the start of the short trek. We hiked for about 2hours through the dense jungle in extreme heat and humidity. I don't remember sweating that much in a long time. We stopped at a hut for a traditional dish of Pad Thai noodles and then plodded on. After walking through some difficult terrain over boulders and across streams we finally made it to a large waterfall and rock pool. Desperatly longing to cool off we all jumped in and splashed around. After thism refreshing break we heading back down the path we had come up. After 5 minutes it was tempting to just turn around and go back to the waterfall again. We then drove down to a white water rafting station and donned life vests and helmets and took a crash course on how to navigate a class 4 rapid. It was a rough ride down the river for about 1h, but exhilarating. After pulling in we exchanged the rubber dingys for the old style Thai bamboo rafts. We then continued the journey another 20 minutes downstream on these, almost ha;f submerged in the water. That night we returned to Chiang Mai utterly exhausted, but happy with our action packed day.

The following day is to be our last day in Chiang Mai, so we decide to take it easy and sort out a few things. Then we hire a moped and cruise the city for the remainder of the day. Of course we get lost but have a great time and see places we would otherwise have missed. That evening we make a final visit to the Night Markets and buy some stuff. Afterwards we meet up with a few German girls from the jungle tour, have a few beers and watch a live band in the Heaven Beach bar.

Thailand - Bangkok and the islands

2007-07-07T07:19:00.000+01:00

I arrived in Bangkok in the afternoon (26th June) and made my way to the Khao San Road. This bustling street is the main traveller area in the city, full of hotels, bars, markets and hawkers. Not wanting to spend too much time in Bangkok I arrived with no real plan on what to do, but I had a week to do it before coming back to meet Nuria. After spending the day in the city checking out the options, I decided to venture south to the island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand. The aim was to do some more diving and hit the full moon party on Koh Pangnan, an ajacent island. I signed up to stay at the Coral Grand Dive resort and to do 6 dives with them. From Bangkok I took an overnight bus for about 9 hours to Chumporn, and from there the high speed catamaran to make it to Koh Tao by 11am the next day. Too tired from the journey to dive that afternoon, I lazed by the pool and then on the beach.

The next day I awoke at 6am to check the eqiupment and go out on the dive boat. The first 2 dives were incredible with excellent visibility and numerous sharks. That proved to be the best diving over the next few days, as the visibility deteriorated with the weather. On the Friday night I met up with some of the other divers and we caught the catamaran over to Koh Pangnan for the full moon party. It was apparently the 20th anniversary and some 15,000 people were there. It was what it was...an all night rave on the beach with loads of wasted people. The next morning I returned to Koh Tao and recovered. On the Sunday I finished off the diving and relaxed. The next morning it was time to repeat the journey back to Bangkok, arriving around 9pm.

The following morning I awoke early and made my way to the airport after breakfast. Incredibly excited because I was going to meet Nuria and we hadn't seen each other since I started the trip. I must admit that I was positively nervous waiting in the arrivals hall. We meet and everything was fantastic again. That night we headed out to Patpong and celebrated my birthday in style ;) That Nuria came out to Thailand was the best birthday present I could have wished for...

The rest of the week was filled with sightseeing in Bangkok (mosty temples and the Grand Palace) and making our way around the city in Tuk-Tuk's (small 3 wheel vehicles). We also spent a lot of time shopping and barganing at the markets. The remainder of our time was spent at the massage parlour, relaxing by getting Thai and foot massages. I think that was the highlight of Nuria's time in Bangkok!

After waiting almost 4 days we collected our passports from the tourist agency. We had left them there to obtain the necessary visas for Laos, Vietnam and China. The journey can continue!!

We decided to leave the big smoke ASAP and get the overnight bus to Chiang Mai, a more cultural city in the hills of Northern Thailand.

Singapore

2007-07-07T07:02:00.000+01:00

After Indonesia I flew back to Singapore for a few days to meet up with my Irish friends Rachel and John, who are ex-pats living and working there. From the airport I headed to their flat and spent a relaxing evening catching up. The next day we spent in the blistering sun watching the Guinness Asian Gaelic Games. Not the most touristic thing to do in Singapore, but a good way to spend the day... The games were a huge success and we had an enjoyable time there. Afterwards we went over to Santosa island for a beach party, complete with buffet and live music. The party went on until about 5am. The night time temperature was pretty much the same as during the day, so very hot and sweaty on the dancefloor (which was the beach).

The next day I went around the city for a while and took the dog for a walk. On Tuesday it was time to move on again. Next stop Thailand and Bangkok.

Indonesia - Bali and Lombok

2007-06-25T10:43:00.000+01:00

After leaving Darwin I landed in Singapore about 4 hours later. Walking through the transit area I realised that this was my first time north of the equator in almost 5 months. I only spent a couple of hours there, waiting for the connecting flight to Denpasar which would take me south of the equator again. I arrived in Bali around midnight and was fairly exhausted. It hit me when I got into the arrivals hall that I was no longer in a western country. People harrassed the tourists to carry their bag to the exit only a few metres away, where they then demanded payment. I've seen this type of thing before, so I didn't allow anyone to touch my rucksack. When I exited the terminal of course I saw dismayed tourists arguing with these touts. I hadn't had to deal with this since south america and I was tired, so it was kind of annoying. I met an Aussie guy and a German guy at the taxi stand, so we shared a cab into Kuta. After about 10 minutes arguing with the cab driver over the price, because he wanted to charge per passenger. Josh (the German guy) and I searched for a hotel in the Poppies 1 area of town and found somewhere after being followed around by several people, trying to take us to hotels where they get commission.

The next day I spend walking around the town and the beach. People try to flog me all sorts of stuff on the way down the road. Not sure how many times I said no, but it felt like a thousand. This place was a tourist trap full of hawkers and touts, so I decided to go somewhere more peaceful. Josh and I got tickets to leave the next morning at 6am; destination Lombok and the Gili islands.

We get picked up at the hotel and drive about 1.5hrs to Padangbai. There we stop for the obligatory breakfast at the tour companies restaurant. We get hassled by hawkers the whole 400m walk to the ferry. Even on board they follow us up onto the deck and try to sell food and water. Now acclimatised to the way of things here, I switch off and ignore them. Shortly the ferry departs and we spend the next 5 hours lying in the sun and listening to music. Now slightly sunburnt we arrive in Lembar port on Lombok shortly after lunchtime and get on a minibus to continue the journey. The route takes us through Mataram and then the monkey forest to Pemenang. This is where we take the small boat out to Gili Trawangan, the last in the string of the 3 Gili islands. Pemenang is just a collection of a few houses and shops and hundreds of touts trying to rip off backpackers with various scams. This place was a true dump. After half an hour we finally left and arrived on the island 45 minutes later.

Upon disembarking at the beach we are met by a local who takes us to a small hotel he runs called Karisma, set back 100m from the beach. The village consists of one street with restaurants, bars and dive shops. There are also no police on this island, makingh it a hedonistic paradise. About 460 locals inhabit the island, with probably the same amount of tourists. There were the usual touts, but this time they were selling dope and magic mushrooms due to the non existent police presence. This practice would receive a very lengthy prison sentence on the mainland, but here it was accepted. There were definitely some crazy people hanging around there that had probably stayed too long...

After a few days relaxing on the beach and catching up on some sleep, I decided to start an advanced scuba diving course with Blue Marlin Dive. This would comprise of 5 dives over 3 days. 1 night dive, 1 deep dive to 30m, 1 underwater navigation dive, 1 underwater photography and a peak performance buoyancy dive. The course was fantastic and I passed it successfully. Unfortunately we didn't see any sharks this time, but there were loads of turtles and fish.

In the evenings I go up to the lookout on the hill and watch the sunset, a huge firey mass dropping into the ocean. I've seen a lot of sunrises and sunsets on this trip, but this one was the best by far. After a week on Gili Trawangan unfortunately I had to travel back to Kuta, another 12 hour journey. However I was thoroughly relaxed and had enjoyed my time there away from the hustle and bustle. I stay in Kuta for a few days more and then leave for Singapore on 23rd June.

Australia - Darwin and Kakadu

2007-06-25T05:40:00.000+01:00

After the 4 hour flight from Perth up to Darwin, I was back into the tropical climate of the Northern Territory. The humidity was overpowering as I stepped out of the air conditioned terminal to board the bus into the city. I checked into Chilli's hostel on the main drag and went out for a drink with a few guys from the dorm. The nightlife in Darwin is good and there are a lot of backpackers. I head to bed relatively early though, tired from the travel.

The next morning was an early start as I got picked up at 6am to start a 3 day tour of Kakadu national park. The park spans a vast area about the size of Wales and we are going to cover 1400km on this trip. Apart from it's natural wilderness and beauty, Kakadu is famous for the outback film location of "Crocodile Dundee". We are a small group of 9 in the 4x4 jeep. Jamie is our tour guide, and there is Gabriele, Helen and Cathy all from Australia, Dan and myself from Ireland, Kees from Holland and Mike and Sue from England.

The first day we drive several hours to the park. The afternoon is spent hiking and swimming in billabongs (small freshwater lakes). There are freshwater and saltwater crocodiles in the park, but not normally in these billabongs. However, there are signs stating that swimming is at your own risk. We all jumped in anyway and the cold water was so refreshing as it was over 30 degrees. That evening we set up camp and cooked over the campfire. The sky was perfectly clear and the stars were incredible. We slept outside around the fire in our swags. It got fairly cold at night and the temperature dropped to about 6 degrees, so the thermals were on. I woke up around 6.30am when it got light. everything was covered in dew, so it was a chilly start getting out of the swag. After breakfast we headed off in the jeep again. The itinerary was fairly similar to the previous day with plenty of hiking and swimming. We also went to an Aboriginal area with old rock art, where we learnt about the history and symbolism. We also learned about bush food and some of the group even licked green ants, a source of vitamins for traditional Aboriginals. Later we collected firewood for the evening amid the acrid smoke of a controlled forest fire. Rangers do this to stop wildfires, but it was still quite worrying.

That evening we watched the sunset at yellow river which was stunning. Then we set up camp, had a barbeque and drank some of the now infamous goon. Again the sky was clear and we stayed outside in the swags. However the next morning I awoke with a slight cold due to the change in temperature. No worries though cause I was having a great time! The third and final day of the tour was spent at an Aboriginal cultural centre. This was a chance for us to learn about the Aboriginal way of life and how they survived out in the bush. It is incredible the uses they have for everything. What looks like a forest to us is an entire supermarket for them. We also got the chance to throw spears at targets and try a hand at weaving. After our cultural session we drove on for another few hours. We stopped by the river and went on a boat cruise to spot freshwater and saltwater crocodiles. As we went down the river we spotted about 10 crocs on the banks and watched as they moved swiftly into the water. Some of them were around 3m long. No one wanted to swim here ;) As the boat pulled up to the bank we were only a few metres away from these huge reptiles, which was quite scary. We were under strict instructions from the skipper to keep our limbs well inside the boat. This was a ruke that of course no one was going to dissobey.

It was my last full day in Australia and what a way to spend it. There was only one thing that was dissapointing...I had been in Australia for almost 8 weeks and had not even seen a kangaroo in the wild. As we drove back down the road at dusk, as if on cue, kangaroos jumped across the road. Perfect timing I thought. Then there were loads of them and we almost hit a few. Luckily Jamie's driving skills managed to avoid a collision. So now i could leave Australia happy. That evening we return to Darwin exhausted, but went out for a meal and a few drinks together.

The next morning I got up and packed my stuff to leave. Next stop Indonesia. However, I had to fly from Darwin to Singapore and then back to Bali Denpasar. This would take me around 7 hours for a journey of about 2, as I could not get a direct flight.

Australia - Perth

2007-06-20T09:31:00.000+01:00

In order to use up some of the extra tickets I had for internal flights in Australia, I flew on to Perth on the south west coast. I didn't really have anything to do there, just check out the city. After arriving I went to a hostel in Northbridge, the more "happening" part of the city. It's a nice place and good to walk around, but 4 days there was enough. I used the time to chill out after the fairly hectic previous few weeks and met up with friends of friends.

Now into the final days of the Australia leg, and haven't even seen a kangaroo in the wild...

Australia - The Red Centre

2007-06-05T06:00:00.001+01:00

I left Cairns early on the June 1st to catch a flight to Uluru (Ayers' Rock), in the middle of Australia. Uluru is the Aboriginal name and since the land was given back to them in 1995, the rock is now known by both names. Flying there took almost 3 hours, again making me realise how vast this country is. Cruising above the desert it is simple to see why it is called the Red Centre. The scrubland is bright red soil and looks totally inhospitable, with no dwellings to be seen for hundreds of km's.

On the approach to land at Connellan airport I can see Uluru (Ayers' Rock) below. It looks totally out of place, standing 300m higher than the flat desert plains all around. I disembark and the cool breeze is unexpected. Upon collecting my bags I get the free shuttle bus to the Outback Pioneer Lodge, where i will base myself for the next few days. On Saturday I get picked up by Dee, a guide from Australia Adventure Tours in a 4x4 minibus. This is the start of a 2 day tour around Uluru. We firstly drive off to the Olgas, a small range of rock formations about 50km away. There we hike around for about 2hours and awe the breathtaking scenery. Along the way Dee explains the variuos ways the traditional Anangu Aboriginal people survived out here. It's all very interesting, but eating bugs didn't really appeal to me... After the short hike we drive on to the Sunset viewing point at Uluru. The car park is like a circus with tour busses everywhere. We find a place away from the crowds, open a bottle of Champagne and watch the sun go down. The rock changes colour and it is stunning to watch as the bright red hue turns to dark red and finally to black. Later that day we arrive at the permanent campsite and are allocated tents. We are then cooked a fantastic steak dinner and sit around the campfire under stars, talking and having a few beers. It is such an incredibly stary night with a full moon, so i don't want to sleep inside. Dee organises some "swag" bags (outback matress/sleeping bags). Only 3 of the group opt to sleep outside and the rest retreat to the tents. During the day it is about 30 degrees, but at night time this drops to a chilly 3 degrees. However, with the thermal underwear on and inside a sleeping bag in the swag, I am almost too warm. In fact I get too hot at one point and wake up. the moon is shining bright and I have to pull the swag cover over my face to get back to sleep. I leave it part open though, just to keep one eye on the southern cross until I fall asleep again.

The next morning we awake at 5.30am and have a hearty breakfast before driving around to the other side of the rock to watch the sunrise. Again, it is very impreesive as the silouhette becomes bright with the rising sun to regain it's startling red hue. It's freezing though and we are glad that the sun is coming up to get warm again. We then proceed to the base of Uluru, where the base walk and climb start. There are a lot of tourists clambering up the rock. However, the Aboriginal people request that you do not do this as for them it is a spiritual place with great significance. I stand at the bottom an debate to myself whether to follow the hoardes and climb to the top. It is very tempting. However, out of respect fot the Aboriginal people who inhabit the area, I opt not to. Instead I hike 10km around the base of the rock and see some engravings on the way. I am happy with my decision not to climb the rock as for me it was the right thing to do.

After lunch I go bact to the Outback Pioneer Lodge and hang out for the rest of the day and Monday morning. At lunchtime I get the free shuttle bus back to Connellan airport and board a Quantas flight bound for Perth, another 3 hour flight away.

Australia - Great Barrier Reef

2007-05-31T06:10:00.000+01:00

Before leaving Airlie Beach I visit the medical centre to undergo a check up to assertain if I am medically (not mentally!) fit for diving. The tests turn out positive and I am given a certificate to prove it. I can dive! Additionally I learn that my blood pressure is the lowest it's ever been! Just need to find out how to travel for a living to keep it that way ;) Anyway we leave Airlie and drive about 5 hours north, still on the Bruce Highway, and arrive in Townsville. It's pretty uneventful there and we just catch up on some sleep and some washing.

The next morning it's time to push on again and we drive another 5 hours to Cairns in tropical north Queensland. There is a torrential downpour most of the way up so progress is slightly slower than expected. We roll into cairns mid afternoon and check into Gilligans backpackers, quite a plush establishment. I go down to the Pro Dive shop to register for my 5 day PADI dive course starting the following day. We leave the rental car back at the depot, with an extra 2200km on the clock. Rhian and Peter go to organise their activities for the coming days. They spend 1 day out on the Great Barrier Reef where Peter does 3 dives. Then it's up to Cape Tribrulation for them for a couple of days in the rainforest, and back to Cairns for a bungee jump. Talk about packing things in! I just have to get up at 5am every day to go diving....

The course starts at the dive centre in Cairns with 1 day in the classroom learning about the theory and doing an exam, and 1 day pool training learing to do all the things we will later have to do in the open water. Our dive instructor is Oscar, a huge Kiwi ex rugby player who had played against Ulster in the early '90's, and a very cool guy. The course goes really well and I pass the exam. The only problem is that from time to time I experience difficulty equalising the pressure in my ears, making deeper descent impossible due to the pain. A problem that will reoccur until I get the hang of it through practice over the coming days. The course teaches us about the scuba equipment and all the safety aspects of diving. You always dive with a buddy. There were 5 people on our course: Kristian and Rune from Denmark, Emma from the UK and Kelly from the US. We were paired up on an ad hoc basis to practice in the pool. I won't go ionto the details, but it bascically has to do with learning the proceedure if 1 person gets into difficulty or runs out of air. There is a whole technique behind diving and all of the things you learn could save your life one day.

After the 2 days training in Cairns we are ready to head out to the Great Barrier Reef. The next

3 days and 2 nights will be spent on a dive boat 3

hours off the coast of Queensland on the Barrier Reef. This is known as a "liveaboard" and the boat provides accomodation and food and a steady supply of airtanks for the 25 divers on board. I share a room with Jerry, an accomplished diver from Northern Ireland but who has been living in New Zealand. He gives me plenty of tips. Anyway, the first 4 dives are with the instructor in order to go through the routines we learned in the pool and become competent at doing them in the open ocean. I have trouble equalising on the first dive and have to return to the boat, absolutely raging with myself. However the instructor takes me down again and I am able to catch up with the group for the remaining dives. On my second dive I see my first shark up close while I am actually in the water. Only a 2m Silvertip reef shark which poses no great threat, but still enough to make your heart skip a beat. We complete the other dives successfully and become qualified scuba divers on the second day. This gives us free reign to complete another 4 dives with a buddy, and without instructor. Thyese go remarkably well and an entire new underwater world has been opened up to me. It's fascinating and I can't believe what I've been missing out on... The only thing left to do with the instructor is a night dive. We get suited up and I am nervous as hell. From the flood lights on the bottom of the boat we can already see several large sharks swimming just a few metres below the surface. I think to myself "this is completely crazy - isn't nighttime feeding time?". Apparently we are not on the foodlist, so it should be ok... Well, that's not completely reassuring, so I make sure I go in near the end of the queue jumping into the water. Armed with my scuba gear and a powerful flashlight, we jump in and go under to explore the reef at night. Once I settle down it is one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had. We swim around at about 16m below the surface and explore for about half an our. As we wait under the water at a depth of 5m for a compulsory 3 minute safety stop before surfacing, the sharks are circling us. However, at this stage I am totally relaxed and just enjoying this amazing encounter with nature. In total we complete 9 dives over the 3 days and return to Cairns tired but incredibly happy.

I meet up with Rhian and Peter again. We have a big party night out in Cairns and meet up with loads of people from the dive school, one of whom Rhian coincidently knew from University. Small world again! Also we meet up with the Derry girls again and bumped into Thomas from Germany. Mad! The next day we got up and went white water rafting for the afternoon. I have no pictures of that, so will write about it another time. Rhian and Peter left on the 31st May to fly down to Sydney for a few days before travelling back to Belfast. We had a fantastic time together. I was very happy that they came out to travel with me and very sad to see them go...

I stayed another day chilling out in Cairns and catching up on some sleep, before it was time for me to leave as well.

Australia - Whitsunday Islands

2007-05-31T05:17:00.000+01:00

After a good nights sleep in a bed again, we left Hervey Bay early in the morning to drive 900km up the coast to Airlie Beach. There wasn't really that much to do in between Fraser and Airlie, so we decided to move on up without stopping. It was a long drive but Peter and I took turns so it wasn't so bad. We arrived in Airlie Beach around 21h and checked into a backpackers resort at the far end of the beach.

The next morning we registered for a 3 day Whitsunday Islands sailing tour. At lunctime we went down to the marina to board our vessel the "Broomstick", an ex-racing sailboat. We brought the necessary supplies which mainly consisted of beer, goon and water... The next 3 days and 2 nights were spent on board the boat with about 25 other people from various parts of the globe. During the daytime we sailed around the islands and stopped to do some snorkelling around the reef. The visibilty was fairly good and we could see many brightly coloured fish and turtles. I saw one shark, but luckily 5 minutes after we had got back on the boat. Before entering the water we had to put on "stinger suits", a full body lycra outfit resembling a thin wetsuit. The reason for this is that the water contains box jellyfish, whose sting can be lethal, so the suits were for our protection. On the second day we anchored and took the zodiac ashore. From here we walked over the headland to Whitehaven beach, a white silica sand beach said to be one of the most beautiful in Australia. We were not dissapointed, it was absolutely stunning. The sun was blazing down as we lazed around on the sand, and the factor 30 sun screen was applied every 20 minutes to avoid severe sunburn. Unfortunately we couldn't really cool off in the clear turquiose water due to the jellyfish. However we did wade around up to our knees, with stingrays gliding past only a few metres away. After a lazy afternoon we returned to the sail boat and continued on. In the evening we had a barbeque and a party to finish off the goon in style. The last day was fairly overcast and the wind picked up to make for ideal sailing condidtions. The skipper unfurled the sails and we speed off very fast in the direction of Airlie beach. Everyone was sitting high along the left side of the vessel as it tilted into the water. the right side was submerged almost to the railings and a few times it was pretty scary. We were convinced it could capsize at any moment, but I guess the skipper knew what he was doing because we got back safe and probably in record time.

After we got back to the mainland we spent a while wobbling around on our "sea legs" before going to lunch with some of the group. As we were having lunch outside we bumped into Maria, Paula and Thomas who had been with us on the Fraser Island trip some days previous. Small world, but that happens a lot going up the east coast of Australia. Indeed it has happened to me in every country i have travelled in so far on this trip. I keep bumping into the same people...

Australia - Fraser Island

2007-05-23T09:57:00.001+01:00

From Noosa we get back onto the Bruce Highway and continue north about 3 hours to Hervey Bay. This is the jump off point for tours of Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. We have booked a self drive 3 day tour of the island in a 4 wheel drive Land Rover. When we arrive we receive a general briefing about the island, the vehicles we will be using and potential dangers. For example, it is not advised to swim in the ocean as it is the largest breeding ground for Tiger sharks in the world, a species known to attack humans. Additionally there are wild dingoes roaming the island, who will continually search the campsites for food not locked away in the vehicles at night. Now we are aware of what we are getting ourselves into! After the briefing we are divided into groups. There are 4 groups with between 9-11 people per group. In our group there are 9 of us: myself, Rhian, Peter, Maria and Paula also from NI, Ben from France, Sam from England and Thomas and Cleo from Germany. We introduce ourselves to each other and then go to the supermarket and bottle shop to stock up on supplies for the next three days. We buy plenty of food and lots of beer and "goon" (cheap and nasty Australian wine in a bag). It gets dark around 17.30h, so we knew there would not be much else to do.

The next morning we get up at 6am to pack our things, store our luggage, check the equipment and pack the landrovers. This has to be done in a certain way so as not to injure the passengers inside once driving on all terrain roads. We set off around 9am to get the barge over to Fraser Island, a journey of only 30 minutes. Peter is elected to drive and he secretly enjoys that kind of stuff, so was very happy about that. We drive off the barge and set out to explore the island. We have a full tank of gas and almost 3 days to do it. We firstly cross through lush rainforest and stop at Central Station for a break. The dirt tracks are tough going and we have to navigate our way through the bumpy terrain. The first real stop is at Lake Birrabeen, where we walk down through the forest and onto pristine white sand, before jumping in the crystal clear water. After a refreshing swim we drive further onto the other side of the island and the beach. Once on the beach we can speed up a bit and make more progress. There are other vehicles using the beach and normal road rules apply. It is also an airstrip if need be, and we actually drive past a small plane that has just touched down. After a while we reach Eli Creek and dip our feet in the cool water. Shortly afterwards we reach the Maheno shipwreck, a rusted old ship blown ashore in 1935 and partly buried in the sand. The light starts to fade so we drive on up the beach to the campsite. After setting up the tents we cook a fabulous dinner, put on some music, have a few drinks and the craic, all under a sky filled with stars. The other landrovers park and camp on the same stretch and there is a "goon" fuelled party.

The next day we awake again around 6am as it was a relatively early previous night. Also, once the sun is up it becomes unbearably hot in the tents. We are not allowed to drtive on the beach before 11am, so the mnorning is spent having a long breakfast and relaxing. Then we set off up the beach again and reach Indian head. From here it is a short climb up from the beach to the vantage point on the cliffs above. From here we see sharks, stingrays and turtles in the clear waters 50m below. After admiring the beauty of the place, we walk back down and along another beach, where our vehicles are not allowed. After almost 2km we reach the "champagne pools". This is the only safe spot to bathe in the saltwater. There are secluded pools where the waves break over the rocks and fill them with the foam of the breaking wave. Hence the name. It's nice there, but after a while we get bored and walk back down the beach to the landrover. We drive around 40km down the beach to our next campsite. Tonight we camp alone and are not near the other groups. Once we started cooking the dingoes arrived and circled the camp for a while. We had to go to the toilet in pairs, just in case. There was a small party for the 9 of us and another great night's banter.

We awake to our final day on the island. It's really only a half day as we have to get the barge back to the mainland. We set off early to get to Lake Wabby, an inland lake filled with catfish. From where we leave the landrover we walk about 1.5km down through the forest and onto the sand. There are steep dunes leading down to the lake, which is a murky green colour. Some of us swim across to the other side and back for some early morning exercise. From here we move on to our final stop and one of the nicest places on the island, Lake McKenzie. The beautiful white silica sand stretches around the clearest blue water lake I have ever come across. It is just incredible to swim there and so refreshing. A very memorable last stop on Fraser. Soon it's time to make our way over the bumpy tracks, bouncing all over the place, to get the ferry. Peter did a great job of keeping it all under control though. After 360km around the island in a 4x4 and sleeping on the sand, we are pretty sore though.

Australia - Gold Coast

2007-05-23T08:45:00.000+01:00

Surfers Paradise

We leave Byron Bay and get the coach 2 hours north to Surfers Paradise, crossing from New South Wales into Queensland. The name sounds enticing, but in reality Surfers is a huge dissapointment. High rise buildings dominate the entire length of the beachfront, and what may have once been a paradise for surfets has turned into a tourist and commercial centre. Even the rips were too dangerous to surf down at the beach and the lifeguards had closed it. What a dissapointment! Anyway, we spend the night there and head out on the town to check it out. Surfers has a reputation as a party town, but as it was Sunday not too much was happening. Eager to get on the road again, the next day we hire a car to continue the journey up the coast to Cairns at our own pace.

Australia Zoo

After skirting around Brisbane we head up through the Glass House mountains to Beerwah and Australia Zoo, made famous by the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. Quite expensive to get in, but well worth it to see the crocodiles, aligators, venemous snakes, kangaroos etc. We even manage to take in a crocodile feeding session, which was very impressive. The tributes to Steve were emotional and as an avid watcher of his television shows, I was very glad I came.

Noosa

Another short drive by Australian standards brings us to Noosa and the last chance to surf the west coast, as the Great Barrier Reef protects the northern beaches and there are no surf breaks. We spend a few days in this small laid back coastal resort and get in one last surf on Sunshine Beach, after a night of partying with a mix of backpachers and locals. Peter manages to break his finger after wiping out on a particularly large wave and we seek assistance from the lifeguards. He pulls it back into position and they tape it up, advising him to get a cold beer to numb the pain. On the way back we head up onto the hill to the lookout and watch the sunset, before getting an early night.

Australia - Byron Bay

2007-05-21T00:50:00.000+01:00

I flew up to Ballina on a cheap Jetstar flight from Sydney on Wed 9th May. From there I took a shuttle bus about half an hour to the coastal town of Byron Bay. Byron is a real alternative, hippy, surfer chill out kind of town. Excellent! I checked into the Arts Factory Lodge, and stayed in a surf schack (www.artsfactory.com.au). The plan was to hang around until my sister Rhian and her other half, Peter, arrived to meet me. The waves in Byron are perfect for surfing, so I went and hired a board and shortie wetsuit. Due to the strong rips, potential shark threat and heavy break, I decided to go with a group rather than on my own. After about 4 hours in the water I had caught a few good waves, but the rips were so strong that we had to keep getting out and walking back up the beach to start again. Exhausted, I called it a day and went back to the accomodation. Rhian and Peter arrived in the evening after a mammoth 29 hour journey from Belfast to Sydney, and then on to Byron. We spent the evening in the Arts factory bar catching up and having a few beers ;) It was great to see them and I couldn't believe how strange it was to see them, so far away from home.

The next day Peter and myself both went down and hired out the surf boards and wetsuits and again went with the group. The same thing happened as the previous day, but with sorer muscles for me! Later that day the entire afternoon was spent organising the trip up the coast to Cairns.

Australia - Sydney

2007-05-11T05:11:00.000+01:00

Sydney

After the Blue Mountains I was ready for the city again so headed back on the train from Katoomba to Sydney central on Friday. My plan was to stay there until Wednesday and then catch a flight up the coast to Ballina. Luckily I knew a few people in Sydney and between meeting up with them and seeing the city I knew the time would fly in...

Firstly I headed out to the southern suburbs and met up with Barbara (FYI - the sister of my brothers' girlfriend). We met some of her friends and went on a boozy night out in Coogee. That was really great as I needed a bit of party atmosphere. The next day wasn't too constructive but Barbara kindly drove me into the city so I didn't have to deal with public transport. I checked into the YHA and dumped my bags. Then it was off down to Circular Quay and the Opera House to watch the sun go down. No better place to do this than in the Opera Bar, an obvious tourist trap that just had to be visited! There I had arranged to meet Steve and Liz whom I hiked the Inca trail with in Peru at the start of March (see older posts). In the meantime they had made it back to Sydney, so it was an excellent opportunity to meet up again. They explained a lot about the city, gave me tips on what to see in my time here, which was a great help. We went out and had a meal in Chinatown and then a beer in a dodgy Irish bar called Scruffy Murphy's. The next day I also managed to meet up with Juliana, a Brazilian girl living in Sydney, and who I knew from my time in Sao Paulo 2 years ago. So it was amazing to meet up with people that I knew from before. Thanks to all of you for making my time in Sydney so enjoyable, it was great to see you again.

The next few days were spent walking around the city and exploring and area called The Rocks, where the first British colony was set up in 1788. My self designed walking tour took me across the Harbour Bridge, around the Opera House, through the Botanical Gardens into the Central Business District and up to Kings Cross, which is fairly seedy but is worth a walk around. Another day was used to take the ferry out to Watson's Bay for outstanding views of the city skyline and all around the harbour. Apparently the best fish and chips as well. I took a walk around the headland to the lighthouse and back in the scorching sun. It had been unusually hot in the Sydney area for this time of year. Another trip took me out to Coogee again and I walked along the coast to Bondi beach, a beautiful coastal walk of 1.5 hours.

Harbour Bridge Climb

Apart from meeting everyone, the highlight of my trip to Sydney was climbing up an over the harbour bridge. This tourist attraction is expensive but very well organised and guaranteed to thrill. A guide takes a group up through the vast steel construction to the top and down the other side, providing informative radio commentary. In total there are 1439 steps to climb and some parts are quite airy so there is a good amount of adrenalin pumping. I decided to start the climb at dusk in order to be there when it got dark and the city lights went on. The tour itself takes around 3.5 hours from start to finish. When we arrived at the top the views of the city and the Opera House were just fantastic. Strangely enough, the height of the top of the bridge from the water is 134m, exactly the same height of the Bungy jump in Queenstown. Looking down, I was glad no one had a bungy cord set up there ;)

Australia - Blue Mountains

2007-05-07T12:44:00.000+01:00

Blue Mountains

After spending another few days sightseeing around Melbourne it was time to hit the road again. On Monday 30th April I got a bus ticket and took the night bus to Sydney, a journey of 12 hours. Arriving in Sydney central in the early hours I waited around for the Thai embassy to open in order to get my visa processed. I left my passport there as it takes a few days and made my way back to the train station. Destination Katoomba and the Blue Mountains, 2 hours inland. Katoomba is a nice quiet place and just the ticket to relax. It is situated on top of a plateau, so strangely all the walks start going downhill into the valleys below, via steep steps cut into the cliff face. I went on a few day hikes and saw the "Three Sisters", a famous rock formation that everyones goes there to see. Unfortunately on the second day my knee gave way and I had to hobble back to base after several hours. I limped most of the way back to Katoomba and in a momentary lapse of concentration I fell down over some loose rocks, cutting and bruising my arms and legs. A bit shaken and fed up at that stage... Spent the remainder of the time there resting up and letting the knee heal. Took a train back into Sydney on Friday lunchtime to check out the city for a long weekend...

Australia - Melbourne - Aussie rules

2007-04-30T06:47:00.000+01:00

Aussie Rules

On Saturday evening I met up with Mick and his mates to go to an Aussie rules "footy" match at the Telstra Dome stadium in Melbourne city. Apart from watching the match on Anzac day, my knowledge of the game was very limited. I thought the rules were basically that there were no rules, but it's actually more structured that that... I'll not bore you by explaining them here though ;) We went to see Carlton play Brisbane, and we were supporting Carlton. It is a rough and fast game and takes a long time (almost 2.5hrs) to complete. The scores are very high, but Brisbane just manages to beat Carlton in the final minutes (126 to 116 I think). Was interesting to see as it's a really big thing "down under" to watch the footy - there are some real fanatics.

Australia - Melbourne

2007-04-29T04:20:00.000+01:00

When I arrived in Melbourne I was happy because I knew some people here, the first place that this has happened on the trip. I stayed the first night in the city and looked around a bit.
The next day I met up with Mick Gavin and headed out to his farm near Romsey (about 1h north of Melbourne). It was nice and quiet out there and I mainly just relaxed and helped to feed the cows from time to time. One day we went shooting with rifles, but just target practice. After a few days of hanging out and watching Mick's DVD's, we headed back into the city for Anzac Day (commemorating Australian and NZ soldiers who fell in wartime). We watched the Aussie rules football on TV and had a few drinks , as the parade was already over. Mick - cheers for having me!

My next port of call was to go down to Mount Eliza on the Mornington Peninsula and meet up with David and Maisie Burson, Gwen's parents. They moved from Ireland to Australia to enjoy their retirement. After only a few days in Australia, I could understand why. Their house is great and even has a swimming pool, so I spent an afternoon enjoying that! The next day we went on a day trip down the Great Ocean Road as far as the "Twelve Apostles". It was an excellent day trip and took in some beautiful coastal scenery. David and Maisie - many thanks for your kind hospitality and for treating me so well!

NZ - Christchurch

2007-04-28T03:41:00.000+01:00

After driving 4700km around NZ in the campervan, I needed a few days in Christchurch just to chill out... Really nice city and apparently the most English looking in NZ. The centre is around the cathedral, which actually just looks like a smaller version of the Christchurch cathedral in Dublin. There is a suburb called Belfast, which I only realised after a bus drove past stating it's destination as Belfast! For a split second I felt not that far away from home... Anyway after a few days it was time to move on again, so I packed my rucksack and headed for the airport. Destination Melbourne, Australia and about 3.5 hours away on the plane. Sad to leave NZ, but finally on the way to Oz...

NZ - Fiordland and the south

2007-04-21T01:32:00.000+01:00

Doubtful Sound

After leaving Queenstown I drive around the lake and on to Manapouri, a few hours south west. This is the gateway to Doubtful Sound, one of the most remote wilderness and inaccessible areas on the South island. It was named incorrectly by Captain Cook, as it is actually a fiord... when contemplating sailing down it, he was "doubtful" if there would be enough wind to get him back out again...hence the name!

I went to an adventure kayak company as I though it would be the nicest way to see the place. Leaving ant 7.30am we first take a speedboad 30km across Lake Manapouri, past NZ's largest undergound hydro power station. Then we have to transfer to a bus to take us over Wilmot's pass and through dense woodland to the start of the sound. There we get into kayaks to travel about 15km and explore the area. In total we are 8 people in 4 kayaks. Apart from the guy who picks us up at the other end in the speedboad, we are pretty much the only people here. The silence and the remoteness are stunning. We are accompanied by dolphins near the beginning and again at the end of the trip. They swim straight at the kayak, then suddenly dive below, shaking the kayak with the swoosh of their tail fins. Too fast to get a good picture though. There was also a seal swimming next to us for a while. A true encounter with nature as it was meant to be! The day was fantastic even though it rained. (The area gets 255 rainy days per year, so the odds of getting glorious sunshine were not in our favour.)

Milford Sound

After experiencing Doutful Sound, I hadn't planned on going to Milford as it's similar scenery but filled with tour groups due to it's accessibility. Another factor was that from Manapouri it is a 280 km round trip in the wrong direction for me. However, Tim the kayak guide, had told me it was worth the drive as the scenery is fantastic (like everywhere in NZ!). Spontaneity prevails and I get up the next morning and drive there. He was right, the scenery was truely breathtaking with snow capped jagged peaks and incredible places to stop along the way. Such as the "Mirror Lakes", "Cascade Creek" and "The Divide" (see pics).

Finally I make it to Milford Sound and it's exactly how I expect it to be. Full of tourists, tour operators, tour groups, tour buses. Terrible! The sound itself (actually it's also a fiord) is pretty spectacular. The drive was certainly worth it, but hanging around wasn't....so I head south again and stop for lunch at a more pituresque place with less tourists. I drive back through Te Anue and Manapouri to head south towards Invercargill.

Invercargill, the Catlins and then north..

You can tell the Scottish/Celtic influence in the area by the street names, but even the green rolling hills, rugged coastline and weather are reminiscent of Scotland. With street names such as "Larne" and "Armagh", I was thinking a lot about Northern Ireland. I stayed in Invercargill but didn't find it that great and the weather was getting progressivly worse... The next day I drove around the coast through an area known as The Catlins. Again, outstanding scenery and hardly anyone around, just loads of sheep in the fields. The road is very windy, so progress is slow, but enjoyable. I stopped at a few places on the way before arriving in Dunedin (gaelic for Edinburgh). The jouney keeps going and I drive up to Timaru to spend the night. This is only a few hours from Christchurch, where I want to be the following day. The road to Christchurch is depressingly dull compared to the scenery the previous days on this road trip, but hey you can't have everything... Shortly after lunch i get into Christchurch, clean the rental campervan and give it back to the depot. Pretty tired of freezing in the van and roughing it, so looking forward to a hostal bed and plenty of warm showers. People too, as I haven't seen many the past days...

NZ - Bungy jumping in Queenstown

2007-04-13T02:46:00.000+01:00

After spending a few days relaxing by the lake in Wanaka, we drove down to Queenstown. This is a stunning location on the edge of a huge blue lake, surrounded by alpine mountains with the first touches of the winter snow. It's an outdoor activity mecca and you can basically do any sort of extreme sport here. There is adrenalin for sale on every corner in the form of bungy jumping, paragliding, skydiving, jet boating, canyoning, climbing...and the list goes on....

Queenstown is the home of the bungy jump...where it all started almost 20 years ago. I'd never done one before, so if I wanted to do it then this seemed like the right place...and I wanted to do one! On the way into town I stopped off to view people bungy jumping off a bridge . Getting nervous just watching these people and this was the shortest jump at 43m. The biggest jump was called the Nevis Highwire and is 134m, providing 8.5 seconds of freefall, and this was the one that I decided to sign up for. There was a 2 day waiting list, which certainly builds up the nerves as you have paid to do it, but must get through 2 troubled nights first. I must say, I really did have trouble sleeping...

The day of the the jump comes around and I go down to the office to check in and get weighed. They mark my hands, one with blue marker for the jump I am booked on, and my weight in red on the other. The weight is important as the heaviest person in the group must jump first (at 75kg this wasn't me though!).

The jump is on private ground outside Queenstown and it takes about 40 minutes to drive there. Over the prow of the hill we spy the bungy pod, which resembles a large cable car and is suspended by cables high above the gorge, with the Nevis river running below. The fear sets in as we step off the bus...It is incredibly windy and I'm not sure if I am shaking due to the cold or the fact that I am scared stiff. Probably a bit of both. We go to a viewing ledge and watch another group jumping. It looks horrendous as they plunge so far that they are out of sight for a few seconds. Now I am really wound up as I go to get fitted with a safety harness. They also weigh me again just to check, I read a one page instruction sheet on what to do and sign an non-indemnifier (i.e. if something goes wrong they are not responsible...).

The first 6 people are taken out to the bungy pod via a small gondola with a grid floor, so you can see everything as it shakes its way across the chasm. You can also see and hear the other jumpers as they scream and hurtle downwards into the abyss. I am with the next group, so we clip on and take the ride across... By this stage I really am shaking and I'm fairly certain it's not the cold weather.

Again I am forced to wait in the pod as they harness people up by weight. The pod has a part glass floor and you can now see the peole jumping right below you. Oh God! Then my name is called and I get the foot straps put on me. I move through the safety gate and sit in a dentists chair next to the jump ledge. I am feeling quite good considering, and am very eager to get it done. While strapping me up the jumpmaster quipps - "everything ok, bro?", to which I answer -"yeah, just fine thanks"... to which he replies- "you sure? You're looking pretty white". So obviously I wasn't doing a good job of hiding my fear. Harnessed up I shuffle my way to the ledge and have a small moment of inner panic..."why am I here? What am I doing?!?!" Now I am standing with my toes right on the edge and peering down into the gorge. It is a ******* long way down I think to myself.... Then comes the countdown : Five...Four...Three...Two...One...JUMP!!!! To my astonishment I don't hesitate and I push myself out and forward, diving off the ledge like I am going for a swim. Suddendly I am airborne and the ground is rushing up at me VERY VERY FAST. The wind is so strong that I can't even hear myself scream. After 8.5 seconds of freefall and almost touching the river, I'm pretty convinced it's not stopping. Suddenly the bungy has reached it's maximum extension and I slow down about 15m above the river. Ahhhh...relief....hold on...what the?...I am catapulted upwards again at high speed. Everything is spinning and I can see the cliffs around me, the pod and the sky above me and the river below...but not necessarily in that order. Wow, this is absolutely incredible I think as my heart pounds, the blood rushes to my head and the adrenalin surges through my veins. After several bounces it slows down and the safety winch is lowered with a loud bang. Finally I am taken back up to the safety of the bungy pod. It takes a while to register what I have just actually done. From a complete nervous wreck to elation within a few seconds. All there is left to do now is get back to land in one piece, via the shakey cage. On the way back into Queenstown "the jump" is the only topic of conversation on the bus.

Very glad I made the jump, just to prove to myself that I have the guts to do it. Face my fears, fight my demons and all that. However, I'm not sure if I would need to do it again in a hurry ;)

NZ - South Island touring

2007-04-07T00:35:00.000+01:00

Abel Tasman National Park

We drive from Piction, via Nelson up to Abel Tasman national park. From here we rent a sea kayak, take a quick safety lesson and paddle around the park for a day. There are very clear waters close to shore, as we stop off and go ashore some small beaches that are only accessable by kayak. The sun is out all day and the scenery is incredible, but the highlight is when a stingray swims next to us. The kayak tour is a success.

Westport /Cape Fowlwind

The drive to Westport is uneventful until we want to fill up with diesel. We don't see a petrol station for over 80km, and we are getting very nervous as we run into Murchison on the fumes and eventually find a gas staton. We were told about how sparsly populated NZ's west coast is, but now we actually experienced it. Westport looks fairly boring, so we drive out to Cape Fowlwind. Here we do a great walk along the coast for a couple of hours which leads us to a seal colony.

Punakaika

Further down the coast we reach Punakaika, famous for the "pancake rocks" and "blowholes".
The rock formation by the sea has been erroded in such a way that it resembles giant pancakes stacked on top of each other. When the tide comes in the waves shoot up through holes causing a huge amount of spray. Nice place but a real tourist trap.

Hokitika

We arrive in Hokitika, a small town further down the west coast. It is famous for crafts made from Jade, glass, wood and bone. We have a look around one of the jade factories which is quite interesting. However, it is Good Friday and most other places are closed, so there isn't much else to do here. It's time to move on and drive another 150km to the Franz-Josef Glacier.

Franz-Josef Glacier

We spend the night in the village of Franz Josef, the jump off point to the glacier. There is a small party at the camping grounds, but wasn't really in the mood to stay that long. The next day we drive the 5km up to the Glacier car park and walk the half hour to the terminal face. It rained fairly constantly and the glacier was really dirty and not that impressive....given all the hype and the fact that I'd been to Perito Moreno in Argentina, I was quite dissapointed. Afterwards we walked back and drove another 20km to Fox Glacier. We spend an hour hiking around a lake which is supposed to be the best viewpoint for Mount Cook. Due to the bad weather and low cloud we see nothing and end up gettinmg pretty soaked. Mission failed :( Nothing left to do but head further south to Haast and stay at the beach.

Haast Beach

Great place to spend the night next to the beach, listening to the crashing waves and looking up at a sky full of stars. Unfortunately breakfast was not so idyllic, as I get eaten alive by swarms of sandflies. They bite, and it's pretty sore! Forget eating...I'm outta here and on to the next place...

NZ - more North Island touring

2007-04-03T00:21:00.000+01:00

Taupo

We drive down to Taupo which is siutuated on the shores of a large lake and very scenic. From here we visit the Huka falls, which is more like a giant rapid. After wards we visit the Thermal valley, to bathe in the 40 degree water and have a wash. Very strange to sit outside in a river that almost scalds you when you put your feet in at first! Felt great though.

Hiking the Tongariro Crossing

We moved on south from Taupo to the Tongariro National Park, where parts of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was filmed. This was Mordor! The one day trek leading from Mangatepopo to Keteahi is said to be one of NZ's classic walks, so that's what we came here to do. The scenery is spectacular and ranges from alpine scrub over volcanic rock to an almost lunar landscape at the Red crater and down to the Emerald lakes. The wind is very strong and the clouds are low, but clear a few times to reveal fantastic views. It really is a classic hike and well worth the 7 hours. The only drawback was the volcanic gasses as the sulpur diffused off the mountain, which smelt like rotten eggs.

Climbing Mt Taranaki

After driving from Tongariro down to New Plymouth and spending another night in the van, we awake to glorious sunshine. Due to the unpredictable weather, we decide to ignore the pain from the previous days' hike and make our way to Mt Taranaki/Egmont. This is a huge dormant volcano rising up to 2518m. An incredibly steep and sustained climb which takes about 4 hours to the crater and the summit. The descent is slightly quicker sliding down the scree. We arrive back to the car park and are completely exhausted. Another night in New Plymouth and a relaxing morning before driving 5 hours to Wellington.

Wellington

We arrive in NZ's capital city just as the sun is dropping into the ocean for a beautiful sunset. The city is small and manageable so we park and head out to explore Courtenay Place, where the nightlife is. We have a few beers to say goodbye to Paul who is heading back to Auckland. Johnny and myself will continue in the van to the South Island.

Crossing over to the South Island

The next day (Wednesday) we go to the harbour to get a ticket for the 3 hour ferry ride to Picton on the south island. To our astonishment we are told there are no free spaces for a camper van until Sunday! It was the easter holiday weekend and we had forgotten this and had not booked in advance. Well, everyday is a holiday when you are travelling... We are desperate to get to the south island and avoid spending another 4 unnecessary days in Wellington. We check with the only other company that crosses the Cook Strait...no tickets until Saturday!! Damn! We convince them to put us on standby and wait around the terminal. Within half an hour we get the great news that we have a space and have 15mins until the ship leaves. We hurry down and drive the van onto the ferry, hardly believing our luck. From despair to elation in 1 minute....It's amazing how things change. That's why it's better not to make too many plans on the road.

New Zealand - touring around the North Island

2007-03-30T05:38:00.000+01:00

When I arrived in Auckland I had no real plan what I was going to do or how I was going to get to Christchurch by April 22nd. Upon leaving the airport I boarded a bus bound for the city centre and the driver dropped me off at Auckland Backpacker Central, the largest hostel in the city.

I checked in and went to the dorm where I met Paul and Jonny (both from Germany). They had also just arrived in Auckland a few hours prior to me and had no real plan. We went for a few beers and by the time we were finished we had decided to rent a camper van and travel down south together. We set about organising everything - a real adventure was about to begin.

Firstly we headed up north to the Bay of Islands and Paihia and KeriKeri. This is where the treaty was signed between representatives of Queen Victoria nad the Maori people in 1840....essentially the birthplace of New Zealand. It started raining very heavy, so were were unable to go out to the islands, but we did check out the treaty house and grounds to gain an insight into Maori history and culture. It was still raining, so we stopped of at the Cottle Hill Winery to sample the local Merlot. Not bad!

We then drove back down to Auckland and on to Hamilton, where we stoped off at a waterworld complex for some water activities. We drive further on to Rotarua, where there are natural thermal springs and geysers. We stay overnight at a campsite and enjoy the hot springs. The next day our trip takes us to one called Hell's Gate, named due to the high geothermic activity in the area - explosive pools of mud, boiling pools of water with steam evaporating across the landscape, and a mini volcano spouting hot mud... Very impressive, but it still hadn't stopped raining.

Fiji - Mana island

2007-03-30T04:49:00.000+01:00

Landed in Nadi and stepped off the plane into an incredibly hot and humid climate, with happy Fijians singing to us as we disembarked and entered the airport building. I decided to go straight to the remote resort of Mana island in the Mamanucas, about 1.5hrs off the coast by hydrofoil. I just wanted to spend 5 days there on the beach and relax on "Fiji time"...something that had been lacking the past few weeks. The first few days the weather was great and I was snorkelling and kayaking and lying in the sun. Then the weather turned and the island got slammed by a cyclone with the heaviest downpours I have seen in a while...

Fiji is not the cheapest place and represents little value for money, so I was not that keen to stay too long anyway. Some locals stole a few of my T-shirts from the washing line, which was quite annoying considering I hadn't brought that many with me...what was worse for me though was that among them were two really nice ones that Nuria had bought me before I left. Now Fiji was starting to get on my nerves, so I was not too sad about getting the boat back to Nadi to fly out and get back to Auckland.

NZ - arriving in Auckland

2007-03-30T04:40:00.000+01:00

After a very very long journey I arrive in Auckland. For my body it is lunchtime on Monday, but as I flew over the international dateline it is actually 4am the following day (Tuesday). I clear customs, but have to get my hiking boots disinfected due to NZ's tight biodiversity laws. What to do in Auckland at 4.30am? I organise a pick up from thr airport to take me to a nearby motel so I can sleep for a few hours, knowing that I obly have about 24 hours before i have to be back at the sirport to fly to Fiji. After some well needed sleep, I gather the motivation to go sightseeing around Auckland for the afternoon. An early night is in order and after sleeping off some of the jet lag, I get up and head back to the airport...

Bolivia - La Paz

2007-03-27T01:29:00.000+01:00

Spent the last 3 days in La Paz and was there to celebrate St Patrick's Day with all the other gringos. There was a huge party at one of the hostels so we did it in style :)

La Paz wasn't as bad as everyone makes out, but I definitely felt more unsafe there than in any other place in South America. A young girl tried to steal my camera and I stopped her, but that was the only thing that happened. However, the way people look at you and especially after dark it just feels dodgy in the streets...

Getting out...
Anyway, it was time to leave Bolivia and get the plane down to Santaigo de Chile, where I had a 6 hour wait for the trans-pacific flight to Auckland. At 13.5 hours I reckon it's the longest flight on this trip and the longest one I have ever taken. I watch a few movies and fall asleep, so it goes by quite quickly.

Boliva - the Death Road

2007-03-20T04:59:00.000Z

Mountain biking down the "World's Most Dangerous Road"

The road from La Paz to Coroico is known as the most dangerous in the world, aka Death Road. This is beacuse annually about 26 vehicles go over the edge and an accident here will end fatally, as the cliff drops over 500m into the abyss. One of the biggest attractions outside La Paz is to cycle down this road on a mountain bike, and survive to tell the tale.

We organise a tour with Gravity Assisted mountain biking, http://www.gravitybolivia.com/
one of the most reputable tour operators in La Paz. They pick us up at 7.30am and we drive up to La Cumbre (4750m) to start the ride. The road will take us a distance of 75km and we will descend a total of 3650m by the time we reach Coroico.

It rains heavily the entire day, the road is wet and muddy and waterfalls pour over parts of it. At it's widest the death road is about 3m across and we have to cycle in the left tyre track (the one closest to the edge), in case we encounter any vehicles coming up. Due to the fog and bad weather it is impossible to see the bottom of the cliff, which is a good thing. All I can concentrate on anyway is the few metres beyond my front wheel. The goggles fog up quickly in the rain and are of no use, forcing me to remove them and subject my eyes to the mud and water which pelts me in the face.

After about 4 hours we reach the bottom and everyone is (more or less) in one piece. One of the guides was slightly banged up as he fell off on the way down. Another tour member was slightly shaken, as he also fell off and his bike dissappeared over the edge, luckily without him on it...

The adrenalin was still pumping as we sat down for lunch after the warm showers, and even well into the evening on the way back to La Paz...

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Bolivia - Salar de Uyuni

2007-03-20T04:15:00.000Z

The Uyuni Salt Flats

The slat flats are an expanse of salt desert in the south of Boliva and covers an area of approx 12000km2. It is easy to organise a 2 day tour of the salt flats, as that is all there is to see in Uyuni. For the overnight stay we book a room in the Playa Blanca "hotel", which is actually made out of salt, but has no running water or electricty. A 4x4 jeep picks us up and we drive into the desert with some Israelis and a German, listening to Bob Marley blasting out from the sound system.

At this time of year it is the wet season and (although it didn't rain when I was there), a large part of the flats are covered in about 10cm of water. This makes for a very eerie experience as the clouds and mountains are reflected in the water and it is impossible to make out the horizon. We drive for several hours through the water and I am amazed that our guide knows which direction to drive, as orientation is virtually impossible in the glaring white landscape which seemingly goes on forever... We eventually reach Isla de Pescador, a lump of rock covered in 3m high cactus. Here we stop for lunch and pile on the suncream as the sun is blazing down on us. After eating we take a series of comic pictures, using the flat perspective to our advantage.

In the evening we head back to the salt hotel for a simple dinner, using candles to see what we were eating. The next day is relaxing and we stay near the hotel, taking in the awesome scenery and realxing in the sun.

Bolivia - Copacabana to Uyuni

2007-03-17T20:33:00.000Z

Leaving on the 13.30h bus from Copacabana to La Paz, we also purchase onward tickets to Uyuni and are told we will have 3hrs to wait in La Paz. No problem, enough time to have dinner and get supplies for the journey. We pay extra for a tourist bus which is more comfortable than the local Bolivian buses and has an on board toilet. However, upon arrival in La Paz we are told that the bus we should get is not leaving because of the rain (even though it was not raining). We have 5 minutes to board a local bus to Uyuni, or else spend the night in La Paz. Deciding to get the local bus, we are assured by the bus company that the driver makes adequate bathroom stops en route an that the journey will take 12hrs. In Bolivia you just have to believe what you are told, beacuse disputing it will get you nowhere... A lesson quickly learned.

What really happened: the bus breaks down 4 times during the journey and at one point we are stuck for almost 5 hours in the desert. Of course no one bothers to inform the passengers what is happening (about 30 people, primarily foreigners). At one point I am even assisting the the mechanic to hold parts of the engine, while he bangs away at it furiously. Eventually we reach Uyuni after a mammoth 25 hour journey along unpaved roads, completely destroyed and realising the way Bolivia functions (or not).

We check in to a hostel and go looking for a 2 day tour into the salt flats.

Bolivia - Copacabana

2007-03-14T22:40:00.000Z

We get the early bus at 7.30am from Puno to Copacabana, after paying the obligatory departure tax at the bus station (another scam I think). After a couple of hours we arrive at the Peru-Bolivia border crossing. We have to leave the bus to queue and get our exit stamps and are then told to walk 300m across ¨no man´s land¨ to enter Bolivia and go through immigration there. Getting back on the bus we drive the remaining 8km into Copacabana, a laid back village on the shores of Lake Titicaca. We find a cheap and chearful hostel near the main square and head out.

The town thrives on tourism, so before long myself and Al have 2 boat tickets to Isla del Sol, the ancient island of the Incas. Really beautiful place, but we spend more time getting there than we do on the island, which was slightly dissapointing. Still feeling out of breath though, as on the island we are at 4000m above sea level, and walking up Inca stairs to get a better view doesn't help... Still, Isla del Sol is beautiful and well worth the trip.

Lake Titicaca - Puno

2007-03-12T22:45:00.000Z

Friday 9th March

Leave Cusco on the early morning bus for Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at 3800m. Travelling with Al from the UK, who I met in Cusco. We take a boat trip out to the floating reed islands of the Uros Indians, of whom 1000 live on these islands made out of reeds. Incredibly interesting and quite primitive.

Peru - Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

2007-03-12T21:45:00.000Z

Monday 5th March

Day 1
Our group is picked up from the Loki Hostel in Cusco at 5.30 am to drive 2.5 hours to Ollantaytambo, from where we will start the hike to the sacred Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. The group is made up of 13 English speaking travellers. Myself, Anthony and Richie from Ireland, Katie and Claudia from the UK, Mike, Callie and Lauren from Canada, Steve, Liz, Alberto and Jo from Australia and Max from the USA. We will be led by two guides, Marcelo and Caesar, who employ 17 porters to assist with the equipment and food. After breakfast we enter the park and trek 12 km through the sacred valley, up to our camp site at Wallyabamba, about 3300m above sea level.

Day 2
We are woken at 5.30am for breakfast in order to make an early start on the hardest day of the trek. We hike up to Tres Pedres and cross over the Huayruro river. After around 4 hours hard ascent we reach Dead Woman's pass at 4200m. Every step at this altitude requires remarkable physical exertion and there is not enough oxygen to function properly, making the ascent very difficult indeed. After a steep descent we reach Camp 2 at Pacamayo, 3600m and 12km further down the Inca trail. Aussie Liz has her 30th birthday and the porters whip up a tasty cake.

Day 3
Another early start as we leave the camp around 6.45am and climb steeply up to the Inca ruins of Runkuracay overlooking the valley. A further steep climb brings us to the 2nd pass at 4000m. The descent from the pass is in the form of steep Inca steps carved into the mountainside, which are trecherous in the heavy morning rain. We descend and ascend again up and down Inca staircases and through tunnels until we arrive at the 3rd pass (3700m). The mist and cloud is thick and obscures the views as we rest in our soaked clothes. In a desperate attempt to change the weather conditions for the better, Aussie Steve comes up with an idea. We need to show our belive in the Inca gods by making a sacrifice. So Steve builds a small stone shrine and burns some Coca leaves as an offering. Hey presto! A few minutes later the sun streams through the clouds just long enough for us to feel its heat and dry off a bit. We then complete this 15km leg of the hike by arriving at the final camp of Wiñay Wayna.

Day 4

We get up at 4am in order to trek the remaining 5km to the Sun Gate and then on to the ruins of Machu Picchu. The weather is dreadful and when we arrive visibility is zero. How dissapointing after 4 days hiking through the mud and rain at that altitude. Anyway, we have all day to wait for better weather, and it improves around lunchtime after we take a tour of the ruins. We hike up to one of the peaks surrounding the ruins for a better view and it is stunning. Returning back down to the ruins we go up the other side to take the classic Machu Picchu picture. Bus loads of American and Japanese tourists arrive by bus. We feel much more priviliged though, as we got here the hard way on our on two feet. The group heads down on the bus to Aigua Calientes, where we have a late lunch and beer whilst waiting for the train back to Cusco. We get another few beers for the train ride in order to celebrate our achievement.

From Chile to Peru...

2007-03-04T23:59:00.000Z

On Tuesday Morning I took the bus 3 hours to Punta Arenas in the south of Chile. Markus, Erez and myself parted ways there and all headed in different directions. Stayed in Punta Arenas overnight and caught a flight up to Santiago, via Puerto Montt (about 3000km). Spent a couple of days sightseeing in Santiago, a really nice city with a very European flair.

On Friday it was time to move on up to Peru. So I boarded another plane to take me to Lima, with a connection to Cusco (another 4000km in total). Arriving in Cusco took my breath away literally, due to the elevation of the town. Have now just spent the weekend acclimatising and drinking Mate de Coca(Coca tea)... which supposedly is the best cure for altitude sickness. Feeling a lot better now!

Tomorrow will be the start of my 4 day trek along the Inca trail up to the ruins of Machu Picchu. It's been raining a lot, but hopefully that will clear up as sonn as we start the trek ;)

Chile - Torres del Paine

2007-02-25T19:21:00.000Z

Torres del Paine "W" trek

We completed the Torres del Paine "W" circuit in 4 days and have now renamed the national park Torres del PAIN. After over 100km of hiking with backpacks weighing around 18kg Markus, Erez and myself are completely exhausted. Leaving early on Wednesday morning we take the bus to the park and we hike up to the first camp. On Thursday we get up at 04.30h and trek up to the Torres viewpoint in the dark using head torches to find the way. This proved fairly difficult and the ground is very steep, firstly through the forest and then scrambling over large boulders. We arrive what we think is the viewpoint and it is still pitch black. The sun comes up slowly and the wind was blowing so fiercely we were freezing. Daylight reveals that we have missed our target and are actually 200m above the lake and the viewpoint. No matter, as this proves to be an even better vantage point than below. The sun shines on the Torres and turns them bright orange in the early morning. This was really spectacular and worth the effort of getting up so early. After hanging around for an hour we head back down to the campsite and pack up and move on. Following the trail down through the vally and contouring around lakes, we reach the next campsite at about 20h. A very long day and about 30km hiked in total. The evening meal is cooked on the small gas stove and we go straight to bed afterwards and sleep for about 12 hours. On Friday we awake and it is raining quite heavily, so we cut out a few km due to the bad weather and missed the Valle de Frances. We hike on to the next camp and it is a well established one and we even manage to get a hot shower. There is a feeling of being reborn after scrubbing off the dirt, dust, sweat, suncream and insect repellant. On Saturday we have another early start and trek even further up to the Grey Glacier to complete the "W" shaped trail. We hiked back to the camp and realise that we just about have enough time to hike the extra 18km to the administration to catch the bus to Puerto Natales. There is also the option to pay $22 and take a catamaran to meet the bus on the other side of the lake. Markus and I head off in a rush and leave Erez behind as he is in a lot of pain with an injured knee. He wisely decides to take the boat back. Moving quickly down the trail we arrive at our destination in 3.5 hours and everything hurts. We ask for a beer at the park administration, but are told we have to walk another 1km to the closest shop. In our weary and ragged state we couldn't even muster up the motivation to go there. We get the bus and luckily it stops at a shop on the way back so we get our well deserved cerveza there. We return to Puerto Natales and it is Saturday night...so we head out for a meal and a few drinks. The end to a really fantastic time in Torres del Pain national park.

Over the border into Puerto Natales, Chile

2007-02-19T19:42:00.000Z

Monday 19th Feb

Awake early after a terrible nights' sleep in a noisy hostel to get the 08.30h bus out of El Calafate to Puerto Natales in Chile. Travelling with with Markus (Switzerland) and Erez (Holland), who I met on the Glacier trip. The journey should take 4hrs and snakes through a barren landscape mostly on a gravel road. On the way we spot wild llamas, osterrich and condors. In the distance Chile and a view of our goal, the snow capped peaks of Torres del Paine national park. The border formalities and Latin American laid-backness delay us by almost 2hrs, as forms are filled out, exit stamps given by the Argentines and entry stamps by the Chileans. Our bags are searched for fruit and vegetables as it is illegal to transport these across the border. We arrive in Puerto Natales in the afternoon and check into a cheap hostel.

Today and tomorrow will be spent preparing for the trek we have come here to do (hiring equipment and buying food etc). The Torres del Paine "W" circuit is a must for all serious hikers coming to this region. This is a 5 day trek through some of the wildest and most spectacular mountain landscape in Latin America.

Excellent.

Patagonia - El Calafate - Perito Moreno Glacier

2007-02-19T19:37:00.000Z

Sunday 18th Feb

Spent the afternoon at the Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the largest in the world. There are wooden walkways where you can get down quite close to the front. The sound is incredible and you can hear the thunderous cracking as the Glacier moves. Huge chunks of ice break off reagularly and fall into the water below. We were lucky enough to see this three times in the three hours we stayed there, and I caught one on film!

Patagonia - El Chalten - Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy

2007-02-18T15:04:00.000Z

El Chalten is a mecca for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. So just the right kind of place for me. It's a small village with a few hostels, a supermarket and no ATM's or banks. Spent a couple of nights in a very basic hostel that is still being built.

On Saturday I hiked up from the village, past Camp Poincenot to the base of Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy. It was absolutely fantastic and the sun was shining all day with clear views of the towers. This is apparently uncommon due to the unpredictable weather in the area, so I felt very lucky. It took about 8 hours there and back, with an hour for lunch admiring the views and taking pictures. The old legs were quite sore when I made it back to the hostel in the evening. Celebrated with a steak and some vino tinto de la casa.

Got the first bus back to El Calafate at 06.30h this morning. Later this afternoon I am going to check out the Perito Moreno Glacier, about 1h west of here.

El Calafate - Patagonia

2007-02-16T20:14:00.000Z

Friday 12th Feb

Caught the 10.30h flight from Ushuaia to El Calafate in Patagonia. It only takes 1h on the plane and after landing I head directly to the bus station. I want to travel onwards to El Chalten (Fitzroy & Cerro Torre range), 4h north of here, and return to El Calafate on Sunday to see the Perito Moreno Glacier. However, the next bus is at 18.30h, so that means a 6h wait in town...Time to spend a while in the internet cafe and sort out some admin (bus tickets, hostels etc.) for the coming days.

Ushuaia - horse riding Gaucho style

2007-02-16T17:22:00.000Z

Thursday 15th Feb

Met up with Andrea from Switzerland over breakfast at the hostel. We had met at the top of Guanaco the previous day. After disussing what the options were for my final day in Tierre del Fuego, we decide to go on a 4 hour horse riding tour of the area.

Again the scenery was breathtaking as we rode out of the Estancia (ranch) in Gaucho style, through the forest, over hills, through streams and along by the lake.

When we got back to the hostel not only were my legs aching from the hike, but my ass was now hurting like hell from 4 hours in the saddle!

Ushuaia - Parque Nacional Tierre del Fuego

2007-02-16T17:02:00.000Z

Wednesday 14th Feb.

Met up with Kobi in the morning to see about getting into the national park to do some trekking. He brought Andy from NYC with him. We grabbed some supplies at the local supermercado and arranged for a minibus to bring us to the park. A$20 entrance fee for tourists, A$6 if you are Argentine, so they definitely know how to milk the foreigners.

Got a map at the entrance and headed off to trek route 4 to the top of Guanaco peak. Starting at Lake Roco it is a fairly gentle walk to where the path splits and we go uphill through the forest. Suddenly it becomes steep and strenuous for about 2km until we get out of the forest and reach the first viewpoint, sweating and breathless. Time for a break to take in the stunning scenery. It is so spectacular that half an hour passes and we realise we have to head onwards and upwards. Entering the forest again we ascend to emerge in a wet moorland than levels off as we cross it. Fairly abruptly the moor turns to stone and scree and a dusty lunar path leads to the top of the peak. After another hour of very strenuous hiking on the steep and slippery scree we summit Guanaco, 971m above sea level, where we started. The weather had been marvellous all day with bright sunshine and puffy white clouds. We ate at the top and stayed for about 45 minutes taking in the 360 degree scenery. On the left the Atlantic and Argentina, on the right Chile and the Pacific. This must be one of the few places where you can see both oceans from one point. Incredible!! The view of the mountains of Chile was absolutely breathtaking and I have never seen anything so spectacular in all my travels. After chatting to fellow trekkers from Switzerland and Israel, we start to pack up. Stopping to admire the landscape one last time, we spy a huge condor as it swoops past and lands on a distant cliff face. Incredible, it must have had a wingspan of 2m. The perfect way to leave the summit, we walk back down to the lake to catch the bus back into town.

Back in Ushuaia we celebrate the successful day with a few beers and a huge Argentinean steak each. Splendid!

Ushuaia - el fin del mundo

2007-02-16T16:44:00.000Z

"El fin del mundo - the end of the world" is probably part of Ushuaia's marketing plan to attract more tourists. However, after looking around the town it certainly feels like it. I head down to the harbour and book a tour to visit a penguin colony on a nearby island. Only 15 people can set foot on the island at any one time and no more than 45 per day in total. I feel lucky to get a space considering the number of foreign tourists in the town. In the last 10 years Ushuaia has apparently increased in population from 10000 to 60000, supported by the boom in tourism.

Back to the penguin tour. A minibus takes us the 85km to Haberton ranch where we catch a Zodiac to take us over to the island in about 20 minutes. The tour group is made up of mainly Argentinians and Americans and sitting next to me Kobi, a young Israeli traveller.

When we reach land there are about 10000 penguins just waddling around. They don´t even flinch when we walk to within one metre of them. Obviously we were moving slowly and not talking, but I was expecting a different reaction. We walked around the Island and the guide, Victoria, explained pretty much everything you need to know about penguins.Very interesting. The place is covered in penguin poo and I kneeled in some when trying to take a photo :( Felt a bit unfortunate and stupid until I realised everyone had poo on them somewhere...

After making a few stops at various points of interest on the wind swept landscape, we headed back to Ushuaia and the hostel.

Argentina - Landing in Ushuaia - Tierre del Fuego

2007-02-16T16:33:00.000Z

Monday 12th Feb.

Arrving in Ushuaia by plane is a pretty scary experience! The plane comes in over the mountains to land on a strip of concrete jutting out from the mainland, in the shape of a sideways T parrallel to the coast. The approach is close enough to the mountainous terrain to be uncomfortable... then suddenly the pilot makes a steep dive down towards the runway. Extra braking power is applied upon landing, probably to avoid over shooting the runway and landing in the sea.

Glad to be on the ground again I grab a taxi to take me to the Antartica Hostel near San Martin Av, the town's main drag. Due to the delay in Buenos Aires it is late. Time to go to sleep in order to be fresh tomorow for exploring "the southernmost city in the world".

Argentina - Tierre del Fuego

2007-02-12T17:35:00.000Z

Spent a relaxed morning in San Telmo and then got ready to leave after lunch. There was a mass exodus from the hostal this morning. After a fun filled weekend there seemed to be a feeling of "this is a mad party city, if we stay too long we may never get out...". Especially among the Irish for some reason ;)

My plan is to fly down to Ushuaia and spend the rest of the week there. Now I'm sitting at the Aeroparque in Buenos Aires and the flight is delayed by about 2 hours. Anyway, at least it's given me a change to write a few entries in this blog.

Tourist in Buenos Aires

2007-02-12T17:26:00.000Z

Spent Saturday cycling around the city and visiting the main attractions: La Boca, Plaza de Mayo, Puerto Madero, Plaza Dorega etc. Saw La Boca stadium where Maradonna used to play and the Casa Rosada where Evita stood at the balcony. Great!

Met some Catalans guys and some Irish guys at the hostal and we hung out for a while. The Hostal had organised a Barbeque for the evening and we all tucked into some of the famous Argentinian steaks and Choripan (bread and sausage).

After eating we went out to a club in Puerto Madero with about 20 people from the hostal. Pretty big party that went on until after the sun came up. Needless to say the sightseeing suffered the next day. I wasn't that dissapointed though cause I'd packed so nuch in the previous day!

The first evening

2007-02-12T17:20:00.000Z

After being shown to my room on the roof terrace of the hostal, I went to the bar downstairs to have a cold beer. The local brew is called Quilmes and tasted great. A lot of people were heading out to a club, but I decided to catch up on some sleep and went to bed instead. Knowing that I wanted to see the city the next day.

The trip has started...

2007-02-12T17:04:00.000Z

The journey finally started last Thursday (8th Feb) when I left Belfast and drove down to Dublin. I stayed at Mark's house and he and Patrick kindly drove me to the aiport at 4am. Early start and at -4 degrees a very cold one! The first leg was 2.5 hours to Madrid and then a few hours waiting for the connection to Buenos Aires. I used the time to phone Nuria in Barcelona and buy some supplies for the trip. Approximately 12 hours later I arrived in Buenos Aires where the local time was 21h and the outside temperature was 25. This was a shock to the system! As I was fairly tired by this stage I decided to get a taxi to the Hostel-Inn in San Telmo (the district famous for Tango), rather than try to figure out the public transport system.

2007-02-01T10:07:00.000Z

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