TravelStream™ news feed for member mikeandmarisha on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/mikeandmarisha en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:47:03 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mikeandmarisha/1/1232996400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mikeandmarisha/1/1232996400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mikeandmarisha/1/1232996400/tpod.html Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:47:03 -0400 M&M on tour - From sunshine to snow...

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Tahoe City, California, United States

Lake Tahoe - Brrrrrr it's cold........and one Brilliant BLONDE moment!!What a stunning place.........simply took our breath away as soon as we started driving down the valley into the South lake tahoe.... could only imagine what the views would be like when we got to the top of the mountain......Ever since we arrived in Reno we knew this was going to be a wicked skiing break...... even the gambling tables and fruit machines lined up all over the airport weren't going to put us off!   Well, Reno is supposed to be the mini Las Vegas..... and mini it was..... you could blink and miss it......only because of all the neon signs.... made my eyes blink...!!Anyway we weren't staying in Reno so we jumped on a coach and an hour and a half later we were in Lake Tahoe.  Having been told by the bus driver that they had just had 3 feet of snow in the few days previous I was chomping at the bit to get up the mountain.  Misha some what a little apprehensive but she was effectively learning skiing for the first time!Checked in our Condo...hee hee... yep CONDO, and then headed out to pick up boots and ski's (well I just had to buy a new pair..... now I have two pairs haha... sorry Uni joke) and some food from the local supermarket.  I was in my element going after all of the old American food I used to love.....!!  Whatever calories we managed to burn off on the slopes we were going to put on with junk food!! YUM YUM!!!!I have to mention one of the yummiest meals we have ever had, not just on honeymoon, but I mean ever......!!!Two words.... NAKED FISH!!!   Oh my gawd....it was the scummiest sushi restaurant that we both have ever been to..... even Nobu in London can't compete!!  We loved it soooo much that we went back again on our last meal in Tahoe.Tahoe has kind of a ranchey feel to it and the vastness of the place completely makes you feel that you are in the wilderness but at the same time being part of a small town community.  Everyone is soooo friendly and goes out of their way to help you or direct you somewhere.  We heard so much about Lake Tahoe from many people who compare it to skiing at Lake Louise in Banff, Canada.  Having been to Lake Louise my expectations were set fairly high!   The only things that didn't seem to fit into the place were the huge hotels and casinos that were over on the state line.  Lake Tahoe has a state border running through it and on California side it was wooden lodges and low rise buildings.... on the Nevada side it was 10 storey hotels with large casinos on the ground floor....... and just as we headed out to visit one of the casinos........there was a Blonde moment by Marisha...!!!    "Mike, shouldn't we bring our passports if we are going into Nevada?!?"   As you can imagine.... I couldn't stop laughing!!!!  Soooo so so funny!!  Bless!!Next day we ventured off up to the top of the mountain on the High speed Gondola.....  It was one of those mountains where it seems to go on forever and just when you are thinking that you are nearing the top.... there's another final peak for the Gondola to navigate.... well I say navigate.... it's not like you can steer a Gondola!!  When we finally hit the top we took one look back and then WHAM!!!!!!  No... not wake me up before you go go.... but the views.......simply some of the most stunning scenery we have ever seen.....  Nothing prepares you for understanding how big the actual Lake in Tahoe is!!  It's huge and also one of the deepest Lakes in the world!!We had 6 days of enjoying the views and fresh air where time simply flew by.....  I don't think even a year of skiing would ever tire us from the beauty.  It was kind of weird as on one side of the valley (California side) you saw mountains and the Lake.... on the other side (Nevada side) you could just see arid yellow and brown land with mountains surrounding..... a complete contrast of views!!   Misha took to ski's like a duck to water and was soon tearing the slopes up..... well..... as much as one could possibly tear up at 10 mph!! hee hee!We left Lake Tahoe wanting more.....needing more..... it was the one place we could both just look at each other and say nothing but realise we could be happy and settled here!!! Ah well maybe one day.... onwards to San Fran before getting back to blighty!!  Boooooo!!!!
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Los Angeles, California, United States

Los Angeles - Days after an earthquake......This whole honeymoon it seems that we have either just missed disaster or we have arrived during a disaster.First Mumbai and arriving the day after the terrorist attack all kicked off...... then arriving just after the occupation of Bangkok airport....then arriving in Oz only to have our plans changed by a Cyclone which hit the barrier reef area...... then leaving the Cook Islands just in time after a cyclone was forecasted to hit.... then arriving in LA 2 days after an earthquake hit.....!!  Perhaps someone is trying to tell us something!Well L.A. was just a stop over for us on our way to Reno and upon arrival into the US Misha got the third degree by the Immigration officer.   Of course if she had changed her surname to Fetters in time for the trip then perhaps she would have sailed right through.  Still with her quick answers and cheeky grin she soon won over the officer and into the US we were.After a problem with the Hotel and a booking that didn't exist we finally got out into LA to do some shopping ready for our skiing trip!  Felt a little guilty spending so much but hey.... you're only on honeymoon once!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mikeandmarisha/1/1232083800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mikeandmarisha/1/1232083800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mikeandmarisha/1/1232083800/tpod.html Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:02:42 -0400 M&M on tour - From sunshine to snow...

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Rarotonga, Southern Cook Islands, Cook Islands

Ground hog day.....Going back in time was a bit surreal but why oh why oh why oh why........ do they make you land at midnight on this beautiful island..... maybe they are hiding something..... maybe there's a big rubbish tip, or a nuclear warhead station..... or a drug den that you can view from the sky??  Oh well..... I'll leave my imagination to myself and tell you all about the Cooks shall I?It was a toss up between doing a visit to the Aitituki Island or doing our advanced divers course...... but at $400 each to get in a plane to see a pretty lagoon it was no contest.... especially when you can't predict the weather out here.  But it was a fine choice.   With one operator offering the trips we decided not to give our hard earned cash to a organisation that has monopoliced the market! Instead, we did some great diving and with weather changing on us after the first 3 days..... there was no better place to be when it rains and that's underwater.  If you are ever wondering what the diving is like in the cook islands then my advice is just do it!!  It doesn't have the coral colours that you could find in the Red Sea or in Thailand, and it doesn't have a huge variety of fish.... but what fish they do have are pretty cool...however, what really makes the Cook Islands good for diving is the visibility..... we have never seen anything like it.  50 metres was probably the worst but at times it was up to about 80 metres.... great for spotting the white tip reef sharks we saw swimming in the distance.   Good visibility also makes doing a course out here a bit easier because with the navigation exercises you can almost see where you are supposed to end up!We dived with a company called "Dive Raratonga" and they were brilliant (there's your plug guys) and they even picked us up from our apartments.  Not too difficult to do seen as the whole road that goes around Raratonga is about 32km altogether.   Funniest thing was that they have actually named one of the fish Tommy (picture attached).  Every time they dive down Tommy seems to find them as he knows that they are about to find him a sea urchin to consume for his dinner!!  Who said fish don't have memories!!With the rain gushing down for 6 days out of the 9 we were there all we ended up doing was snorkelling, watching copius amounts of 24 (got through series 3 and 4) and diving..... but then the oceans decided to get rough just as we were thinking about doing a couple of extra dives....booooooooo!!  Also met up with another couple from NZ who were also on their honeymoon.... Daniel and Naomi (hello) and went to visit one of the local evenings where they have the traditional Cook Island dancing.  Those girls shake their bums faster than a rabbit having sex on speed (not that I know this of course!!).One thing that did take us by surprise was the price of food.  You would spend in a supermarket here twice that of what you would spend back home..... ah well.... our budget had already gone out of the window so it was take aways and restaurants all the way!!Cook Islands certainly gave us the tranquility and peace that we so desired...... more so as there is no mobile phone coverage and very little internet coverage.  They even only have one TV channel..... pure bliss!!!
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Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand

Note to oneself... must come back here one day....Unfortunately our ticket didn't allow any time to stay here in New Zeland for any length of time and we were just here for a connecting flight to the Cook Islands.  However, flying over the south island did make us envious of those who have managed to get to New Zealand and we will definitely come back here for another holiday one day.   Absolutely stunning country from the air!Christchurch & New Zeland will keep for another day ......
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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

"I come from a land down under...."   (by Men at Work) - song reminds me of Oz!!Arrived into Sydney under a bright blue sky but one of the most uncomfortable flights we have experienced so far!  Singapore Airlines thought it would be cool to put in some metal foot rests which, when raised, dig into your shins, and when lowered, fit only one foot!!  How dumb!!  Plus I had a fat bloke sitting in front of me which meant when he put his seat back I could almost see up his nostrils!! We were both curious to see what all the hype was about people coming to Australia to work and live as we both just didn't feel the same prior to arriving here.  Our feelings were cemented a little further when we received a grilling from the Customs officer about our reasons for coming to the country for our honeymoon and more so when they picked up on the Bakshi name!  One of the strictest customs we have come across so far and this isn't even a communist country!Eventually we did get through customs and headed into the CBD area for our hotel.  Our original plan was to come to Sydney for a day and then get a flight up to Townsville or Cairns to then go out diving to the Great Barrier Reef.  More specifically the Yongala wreck (SS Yongala was a Navy boat that sank in 1911 near the Great Barrier Reef) which is one of the top 10 dive sites in the world.  However, as mother nature interevened and threw a cyclone into the area along with monsoon rains, the dive companies weren't running the trips so we stayed put in Sydney and decided to make the most of it.Then.... slowly but surely.... the Australian hype started to do it's work on both of us.....   First day we took it easy as the Swenson's meal back in Singapore took it's toll on both of us with dodgy stomachs and frequent trips to the who know what!!  The 2nd day however we had lunch on Darling Harbour with spectacular views and also visited the Sydney Aquarium, which is supposed to be the best in the world.  As you can see from the pictures they have absolutely everything on display, including one very rare flying Misha fish..... which likes waving at people!!   Strange I know!We met up with Robin and Naomi (who recently got engaged.... congrats guys) and went to some cool bars, one near the Opera House and the other in the Rocks area, and heard stories of the life they are leading which seems to be based all around the Beach, BBQ, parties and the laid back and varied life they now live.   Even just walking around the central business district (CBD) during business hours, people seemed to be smiling, strolling not rushing from A to B, and very friendly.  Maybe it's just because the sun is out.   In fact, the sun is out a lot!!  Where we struggle back home for a couple of days in a row for some sunshine, Sydney seems to have months in a row of the stuff.....  Makes a big difference to what you can do when you're not working....The next day Rob and Naomi gave us some tickets for the Thunder boat which takes people on a high speed boat ride of the harbour area with quick turns and jumps all in the aid of getting you soaked.  The guide said that we didn't need to wear the waterproofs as the ride before came back dry and the conditions didn't warrant them.   What a loser...... we came back absolutely drenched!!  Luckily it was another hot and sunny day in Sydney so we soon dried up.  That afternoon we went to Taronga Zoo which again is ten times better than any other Zoo that we have been too..... wallabies, koala's, Emu's.... you name it we saw it.   Seems a strange thing for me to say this but the bird show was unbelievable....  can't explain but you just have to see it for yourselves..... and yes I do mean real birds!!!Then came the debate over which is the best beach between Bondi and Manly, so we visited them both and decided to give the verdict to Emily (prefers Bondi), Robin (lives in Manly) and Sam (lives near Bondi).   Bondi is definitely the better Beach but a little prentious but Manly is a much cooler area to live!  But the fact that it absolutely tipped it down with rain when we are at Manly probably influenced our choice towards Bondi.   The ferry ride from Sydney to Manly is also worth the trip as the views you get of the Opera house and Harbour bridge are stunning.  Nonetheless..... both beaches you would not find back in Blighty and the fact that you can live about 10 mins away from them is most appealling!!Another thing about Syndey you can't appreciate until you come here is the food!  Not once did we have a bad meal and the choices you have in terms of what to eat are endless.  We met up with Scott and Indra (another recently engaged couple... congrats!) to have a scrummy meal at China Doll's  and could have eaten like horses.  Misha is still having dreams about the Wagu Beef!!The funniest thing we were told about Australia (comments by a Mr R. D. Clarke, address supplied) whilst we were here was about their competitive spirit!  When England's Rugby team beat the Wallabies the press just wrote the reports to defend their team but never published the score....  In fact any time their National teams lose at any sport they never seem to publish the scores.  Must send over some copies of the Sun to them when we whoop their asses in the Ashes!!! 5 days here in Syndey absolutely flew by and we were sad to leave.  Again, another place to definitely come back to for some adventure and relaxation.  Australia definitely has some pull factor in terms of places in the world you could live and is probably the only country so far on our travels that has managed to influence us.  Consider our minds changed about Australia!Next stop.... The Cook Islands.
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Singapore, Singapore

China's New year celebrations....We arrived in Singapore to the delight of the Chinese new year's celebrations and with our one night and full day we decided to make the most of it...... much to my disappointment (Mike) as I would be quite happy roaming the airport of Singapore....!  Besides, Singapore is just one big shopping mall right??  Luckily the free xbox games were full with real kids so we headed off to book our hotel and sample the sites / shopping malls!!After arriving at our 4 star hotel (for the price of a travel lodge) we soon headed out for China town, and much to our delight, the start of the Chinese new year celebrations were under way.  China town was just vibrant with market stalls and shops over spilling onto the roads with an array of colours and smells each with distinct shades and flavours.  Our mouths soon were watering and it wasn't long before Misha found the sweet stalls.  What we thought originally we just jellies and boiled sweets turned out to be delicious sweet sensations and explosions in our mouths....  Make note to self to buy some Chinese sweets in China town when back home.  We also ventured into a Chinese cafe (looked like a mini school dinner hall) for some traditional Chinese food and certainly weren't disappointed.  Wonder why the Chinese take aways don't cook it like this back home?Next day we awoke a little late and went for brunch at a restaurant called Swenson's........ never again!!  Bloody chain restaurants... we should have known better.  The worst food of our holiday by far!!   Only two ways to get rid of those horrible tastes and that is some retail therapy and a Singapore sling at Raffles.  Now... what is all this fuss everyone is making about the famous Singapore sling.  The hotel ok does look quite nice.... the bar....well, it's just another bar only it has loads of monkey nut shells on the floor, and like the Irish bars that have pints of Guinness settling on the shelves behind the bar, Raffles appears to do the same with it's Singapore Slings!!  BUT.....they taste absolute divine!  And at £15 per drink they flaming well should be!!  In true Misha style, one drink was all it took and we headed out the door to go back to the hotel via a few shopping malls.  Now, if there was one thing you can definitely say about Singapore, it is that it has hundreds of shopping malls.  They seem to stretch back for ever and all pretty much have the same shops inside them.  We must have counted 10 of each brand all in one street.  Talk about overkill.  If it wasn't for all of the Chinese and Japanese tourists, many of them would have gone out of business.  Hasten to say we didn't actually buy a single thing!One thing you can definitely say about Singapore is that it is very clean and very ordered.  Even the people all seem to look the same.  No distinct out-landish styles, no chavs, no plebs or geeks, no trendies or retros... just normal people.  Maybe we caught it on an off day but even the cars weren't beeping their horns if you stepped out in front of them (saved Misha's life twice).There is actually loads more you can do here like go to the night safari or the Zoo during the day, take a ride on the Big wheel (like the London eye only they say it is the biggest in the world) visit some of the temples and museums, Botanical gardens etc.... and why didn't we do any of them....no idea....!  Nothing really seemed to inspire us or stand out to us!   Besides.... it's our honeymoon and if we want to be lazy in one of the countries we visit... then we shall!!  :-)We did get to the airport about 6 hours before our flight......I'm telling you this Singapore airport is just so damn cool..... those of you that have been here will know what I mean! haha  ;-)
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Phuket, Thailand

Phuket - Our gateway to Phi PhiDidn't stay here as it was our gateway to get to Phi Phi but we were both grateful that we weren't staying.Bumping into what seemed like loads of chavs at the airport, whom all seemed drunk already, we had a rush to find some ferry tickets and a taxi driver that could get us to the port in time for the last ferry, otherwise a night in Phuket would have been on the cards!!Luckily we caught the ferry in time, after some fast driving by our taxi driver, and boarded the boat in the blazing hot sunshine on our way to find some nice sunny weather at last......... well....at least that was the plan anyway!!
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Ko Phi Phi, Thailand

Ko Phi Phi - New Year in Phi PhiOur original plan was to visit Phi Phi for a few days, see in the new year, do a little diving, and then head on out to another island.  We ended up staying on Phi Phi for 9 days and only left because we had to catch a flight to Singapore.Hard to explain why we ended up staying here so long but I guess it's because it had a great climate, plenty to keep yourself busy, everything on your doorstep and within walking distance, and some great diving.  Also probably because we had been on the move so much recently it would be nice to actually see what is in the bottom of our backpacks...!  We very quickly met Aoibhinn and Ronan (hi guys) and ended up having a blast on New Years' Eve with them.  They sell drinks by the bucket here and we all very quickly got merry and danced away at the beach party on the North side of the bay.  Mike ended up starting the count down (feeling very proud of himself) as the DJ's had completely forgotten that the clock had struck 12!  Then started the Lip Ferreting......(see pictures)After a passing hang over we ended up booking ourselves some diving for the week to come and were not disappointed.  Bida Noch and Bida Nai are rated as some of the best dive sites in the world and we saw so many things around 18 metres below the surface.  Turtles, sharks, barracuda, clown fish (Nemo to you non-divers)... you name it we saw it!  We also dived the King Cruiser Wreck (27 metres below) and Shark Point which were absolutely brilliant too.   The wreck dive had some great swim throughs and some of the best visibility that the instructors had seen at this site.  The boat was teeming with fish and we even managed to see many different moray eels (one of which was living in the toilet of the boat) and also the highly poisonous Lionfish and Scorpionfish.  Shark point..... well... it had one resident Tiger shark and loads of other fish but that was about it but the coral and the number of different varities of fish made this site spectacular.A much enjoyed rest and relaxtion on Phi Phi for both of us, we were sad to leave but ready to move on.  Just one more stop here in the far east before we head off to Australia.Next stop Singapore..............P.S. Happy new year to those of you we hadn't managed to talk too or email.
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Phuket, Thailand

Heading to Singapore via Phuket.  Again.... managed to plan our trip so we didn't have to stay in Phuket....phew!!
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Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok - That late Christmas feeling.....Arrived in Bangkok in the middle of the day and headed on over to one of the only pre-booked hotels that Mish had arranged before we left on our travels.  With the name of the hotel being Charlie's and situtated not far from where one can watch a game of ping pong (those of you that have been here will know what I mean) we were apprehensive about the type of place we were going to be staying in. After instructing the taxi driver on the location he seemed some what confused and ended up getting lost.  Seems Charlies isn't all that popular!Upon our arrival in the hotel it soon became clear.  A room with no windows and burns stains all over the carpet and bedding, we headed back downstairs and made our excuses and left.... not before Mish demanded a refund for the 2nd nights stay and got it!!Thanks god for Ibis hotels.  After checking in we headed on over to the famous weekend market in the Chatuchak for some Thailand bargains and were not dissappointed.  The market was absolutely huge and sold absolutely everything you could imagine!  On one of the streets there were loads of stalls selling puppies (of the pet variety, not for food..... well at least I think they weren't) and Mish was nearly sucked in by the cute faces and soft fur.  Having finally conceded that we couldn't pack one in a backpack we carried on around the very busy market to continue browsing.  Travelling through vietnam and Laos we were used to seeing the same old rip off T-shirts and watches etc on sale and this Market was no different.  There was just more of it.   Leaving the market with only one purchase we headed in the city to get a flavour of what Bangkok had to offer.  Then came that late Christmas feeling....  Bangkok's city centre was just lit up with Christmas displays and decorations everywhere and all of a sudden we both had a little Christmas feel running through us.  There also seemed to be more tourists than locals with a surprisingly large number of Japanese tourists.  They were probably here for the shopping as Bangkok is absolutely full of shopping malls.  We counted 14 on just one street.Only being in this vibrant city for a couple of days we decided to visit some of the local sites, The Grand Palace and the Lying Budha.Nothing can prepare you for the Grand Palace in terms of the size, beauty, and the spiritual vibe it gives out.  After taken many a picture and trying to gain a little understanding of the history behind the palace we finally went into the main part of the palace where you find the little green emerald budha (Temple of the Emerald Budha) and instantly we were both taken aback by the whole spiritual feel you get when gazing in this room. So much gold, gems, colour and walls telling so many stories through pictures, we ended up sitting in silence on the floors for about 20 minutes just staring all around the Temple (yes Mish was still for a whole 20 mins!).  Both feeling very ignorant and not knowing much about Budism and the History of this place, we headed to to the exit after first buying a book on Budism....  (don't worry, we're not coming back with bald heads and orange robes!).  After the Palace we headed over to the lying Budha which is situtated a short stroll away from the Grand Palace (see attached picture).  The budha is huge and is about 60 feet long.  Hard to get a good view of the whole thing as it is covered in a building and you had to walk around the edges.   Why they covered such an impressive momument we will never know.Our final evening we spent having a scrummy japanese meal and then strolled up and down the soho area of Bangkok.  Everywhere we went people wanted us in their bars to watch some ping pong or something similiar.... one even wanted us to watch a razor blade show (hmmm sounds interestingly painful).....  we were tempted but refrained as we had an early flight the next morning.Bangkok has a great history and a fantastic feel about it.  Next time we are in this area we made a note to come back and visit.  Next stop.... Ko Phi Phi!! 
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