TravelStream™ news feed for member vicksanddan on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/vicksanddan en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:38:34 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1165221360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1165221360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1165221360/tpod.html Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:38:34 -0500 Living the Dream...Round the World 2005

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Ljlkj, Vietnam

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134917400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134917400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134917400/tpod.html Sun, 18 Dec 2005 10:55:02 -0500 Living the Dream...Round the World 2005

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Phuket, Thailand

Monday 12th December 2005Langkawi to Phuket, ThailandI woke up with a poorly tummy this morning and made it worse by laughing at the mouse poo on Andreas bed that I found! We all got up with the alarm clock and as we hadn't even unpacked we had nothing to get ready so flagged a taxi down which took us straight to the Kuah Ferry port where our ferry was leaving for Satun, Thailand at 9.45am. We were in a real rush and a panic by the time we got there, it was hot, sticky and there were loads of people queueing at different kiosks. We had to exchange our voucher for tickets and hand over our passports and the workers in the kiosk were just taking ages! so then we ran to Customs where we were stamped to leave Malaysia. We ran to the boat and just made it, we actually boarded one boat and walked through into another smaller one rammed with Malaysian local people, our seat numbers were random like 1, 12, 40 and 25 or something daft, all of which were taken by other people. The baggage holder was already full of luggage and we were finding it a real struggle as there is no assistance whatsoever. We packed our bags in a stack and managed to find the odd seat, luckily the boat was air conditioned but not comfortable at all. The feature film came on, it was some kind of action film with 2 guys killing each other and it was horrific! Andrea, Lee and I went to get some fresh air and sit outside on the deck, it was only small upstairs and the wind was whacking our hair over our faces so it was difficult to keep our eyes open!The journey was only over an hour but before it had even stopped the locals were crammed up to the door pushing and shoving to get off. We waited until last and when we finally got off we had to fill in our Thailand arrival cards and wait in a 2 queue line to pass through customs again, a very slow process...As I was last through, the others were arranging our onward journey from here. Our option was to get a taxi to Satun Town, then a bus to Hat Yai and chance they had a bus from there to Phuket which would take 9 hours but we were offered a taxi between the 5 of us for 5 quid extra each that would take us directly to Phuket so we did it and it was FAB! We had a luxury mini bus, DVD player, 3 seats each, air conditioning, blacked out windows and the driver stopped for us for food, toilet breaks and ATMS, it was great and it only took us just over 5 hours to arrive in Phuket, well worth it! Lee had a hangover so slept on the backseat for pretty much the whole journey there. The bus driver was okay, he did a lot of overtaking but the bizarre thing is, the drivers on the other side move over for overtakers! Thailand appeared much cleaner than Malaysia, that was the first impression, the air was still smoggy but as we approached Phuket, we could see the lime stone cliffs just as imagined, there were many of them dotted around and it felt like the sea was really close. We'd asked the driver to stop at a guesthouse we had found in the Lonely Planet guide but he did a sneeky one and pulled over (as he said he needed the toilet) at the Tourist Information and the 'ladyboys' in their pink outfits opened our sliding door on the mini bus trying to sell us all sorts of accommodation we said NO NO NO and we had already arranged something (although we hadn't!) Andrea was laughing that much she had to get off the bus for a cigarette!We finally made it to Telang Guesthouse of which to our luck was full! They recommended another cheap alternative and even gave us a free lift there, just round the corner. It was located just in Phuket town and only 2 quid a night, it was very basic but tolerable we thought. We went for a walk after we'd dropped our bags off for some well earned food, we tried some local cuisine and had a large Singha beer to wash it down for a quid each. Our clocks went back one hour today also due to day light saving so we were whacked at 10pm so went to bed.Tuesday 13th December 2005PhuketI woke up this morning about 4.20 am as I heard something rustling in my bag, Dan switched the light on but couldn't see anything but when we woke up in the morning there was mouse poo all over the table where my bag was!! I was mortified! eeeek! We had another night here too! Andrea found it funny of course.Dan, Lee and I went for a walk into town while Andrea and Ray got ready and we caught a bright red tuk tuk to Patong Beach. The streets were really busy and it was a fab ride. As we went up the hill over the mountains we got a great view of the town and we could smell the clutch burning trying to haul us up to the top! On the other side of the mountain we could see Patong Beach where the Tsunami hit last boxing day, some construction work was still going on down some roads and the builders were hard at work but it was really pleasant and a lot has been re-developed and seemed like it was back on track and business as usual. The stretch of beach was long and had white clean sand lined with sun loungers and umbrellas and behind them, stalls where Thai Massage, manicures and food were offered. The cafes and shops along the front were lovely and we found a nice restaurant called 'Sweets' and had a full breakfast of Tea, fruit bowl, scrambled egg and bacon, toast and preserve for 60 baht, that's not even 1 pound! After a lovely breakfast we took a walk down to sit on the beach for an hour and the lads were watching a football game. We could see a huge cruise liner out on the horizon and a few other boats and in the far distance a rain storm coming our way, as it started to spot with rain we got our stuff together and then wham, down came the rain! We could no longer see the boats out at sea and we were standing under a small roof getting shelter! We ran to an internet cafe to check out some accommodation and decide our plans for the next few days while it was pouring down outside. Our initial plan was to go to Ko Phi Phi but the majority of the island has been wiped out by the Tsunami so we checked out hostelworld for a nicer place to stay in Phuket and found Jinnys, a guesthouse a 20 minute ride from the beach with a swimming pool, it was more expensive but average so we decided to book an extra 4 nights here and possibly do some island hopping or elephant trekking later in the week. We just wanted to spend our last week not moving around as we've been doing a lot the last 2 weeks and this was our best option. We were told it was pouring down with rain in Ko Samui also so this plan was our best.We stopped in the afternoon for a bite to eat and as it was happy hour and still raining we nipped over to the Irish bar, which was rammed in with loads of other little bars with high stools and big screens and had a few singha beers. All the time we are sat round, hawkers are constantly coming over to us trying to sell us Zippo lighters (the size of lunchboxes too!) and flashing nemos and alsorts so Andrea and I ended up buying a wooden frog thing for about 50p!There are a lot of little bike stalls that drive down the streets, simply a motorbike with a stall on the side of it, an umbrella attached and some food grilling. The driver stops, props up the brolly and offers food, so we decided we'd have some chicken sticks which were lovely! Also, on the subject of the bikes, they have them in the form of ice-cream men too, they play music! hee hee (reminds us of Wallace and Grommit!)At the point when we needed the loo, we had to slot 5 baht into the machine to let us through the turnstile!, they actually supplied a sheet of toilet paper which was nice of them! There were loads of 'ladyboys' around the bars tonight, mostly in short skirts and trying to pick up old blokes...nice! After a few beers we took the tuk tuk back to Jinnys and hit the sack.Wednesday 14th December 2005PhuketLee was banging on our door at 5.30am this morning to collect his bag that he'd left with us to look after last night, he had decided to stay at the hostel another night to cure his hangover! We got up at 8.30am and packed our stuff to go and ride in a tuk tuk for 20 minutes back towards Patong Beach. First thing was we took a walk to Phuket bus station and Dan and I booked our onward tickets from Phuket to Bangkok for Sunday morning at 7am, a 13 hour journey. Tuk tuk drivers are everywhere trying to get you to have a ride and they just want to drop you off at different places to get more money, they are a bit of a pain! We got the same driver as yesterday funnily enough and he took us to Jinnys. The roads were really busy today, I think there was some kind of festival on as the roads were jammed and there were thousands of people walking the streets in different coloured uniforms and golden head wear. The motorbikes are everywhere, they ride 3 at a time and even carry children and babies with no helmets, its quite frightning. When we arrived at Jinnys we were all smiles, the rooms were lovely and clean and even had a safe for our valuables and a pool, it was just what we needed after the last few nights!...a hot shower!After freshning up (It's hard work carrying these rucksacks in the heat!) we took the 20 minute walk down the local street back into the hustle and bustle of Patong, the street our hotel was located in was narrow and full of local houses who offer laundry services (perfect for Andrea as she was desperate!). We stopped for a breakfast similar to yesterday and still as cheap. We then headed for the beach as it was such a lovely day. We grabbed a few sun loungers, not your average sun lounger from Magaluf but a nice comfortable one! The people we hired the sunbeds from are so helpful, they come along and dust any sand off and even clean your flip flops for your, opening and closing the umbrella when you wish. Lots more hawkers too selling anything from lighters to t-shirts and those selling cold drinks and fresh fruit (of which the pineapple was delicious!) The beach was much busier today. Just behind the sunbeds are lots of stands doing Thai Massage and manicures. A lovely 70 year old lady Anna came over to ask Andrea and I if we would like a manicure, pedicure, hand and foot massage for 250 baht, we couldn't resist! We lay there on the floor (after they'd washed our feet) head on a pillow having a manicure and pedicure. We were there for over an hour and it was so relaxing. Anna showed us a newspaper article about her business. She was sharing her experience of the Tsunami with us. She has only been back on the beach working for 3 months, it has taken 9 months to get back on her feet. She lost everything. She managed to escape and also save an old guy who was having a thai massage at the time, he is visiting her this month. She says that business is slow and that sometimes when they are sitting around waiting for business they look out at the horizon and think about the Tsunami, she says they have regular drills now to evacuate but they have to listen to the warnings in 5 other languages first and it's too slow. She says she needs to trust her instincts and that she knows something is wrong when the birds don't come out or the weather changes. We said if the weather was nice we would go and have a massage tomorrow. It amazed me how they could overcome what they have and it was incredible...money well spent and a lovely set of nails!Lovely 'topless' ladyboys on the beach making the lads cringe was quite funny too!We sat on the beach until about 6.30pm and then went for a cold drink and took a tuk-tuk back to Jinnys to get changed. We decided we'd take a taxi motorbike back to Patong, it's only a 20 minute walk but this was fun and only 20 baht for 2 of us. The taxi bikers wear coloured vests and pick you up, it was really good fun. We went back to Sweets for a Thai curry which was nice apart from burning my mouth off, I'll have milder tomorrow. Dan had some pork dish which he tucked into quite nicely and polished off! We have promised the Indian guy we would try his restaurant tomorrow, too many to choose from and all so cheap!Thursday 15th December 2005PhuketWell, our day on the beach and a planned Thai massage were definitely out of the question today as when we got up it was tipping down with rain and was set in for the day. We had a great nights sleep though and a duvet for the first time in ages, we put the air conditioning up so I could cuddle into my duvet! Andrea and Ray sorted out their washing and we dropped it off at a local lady's house and they were told to collect it tomorrow so job done. We started to take a walk towards the town to find something to eat and the rain and muddy water was splashing up our legs, it was a miserable day! We ended up getting a tuk tuk after it beeped us and ran through the torrential rain to Sweets for another lovely breakfast in the shelter from the rain. The wind was picking up and the table cloths were flying all over the place, the plastic chairs were being blown down the street to! We didn't really have much to do so we nipped over to the internet cafe and I typed up the last travel pod and Ray and Andrea caught up on emails as did Dan. We then sat outside under cover having a coffee. As we had no choice to get wet we decided we'd utilise the pool at Jinnys and went back and just went swimming in the rain which was actually quite fun! The lady who works there was offering us umbrellas! Afterwards we got ready and took a tuk-tuk into town to go for an Indian as we'd promised the night before. The white wine we ordered came in a french white wine bottle but looked like cider and tasted like sherry so we took it back and stuck with Singha! The curry was nice and filled us up. The lads went off to watch more footy in the Irish Bar and Andrea and I browsed the bright lit up streets and market stalls for some bargains! We ended up buying a bandana each and some flashy earrings from the hawkers which was quite amusing! After that they wouldn't leave us alone which was a bit of a pain. The lads kept themselves to themselves and Andrea and I chatted the night away before returning to Jinnys to bed.Friday 16th December 2005PhuketGreat, we woke up this morning to yet more rain. Our week on the beach was turning out to be a week in the rain! We had a lie in as there wasn't much we could do! Andrea and I went outside by the pool under cover to have some tea and toast. We were offered some birthday cake from an old guy as it was his birthday so we sat chatting to a family for a bit. They told us there was a huge shopping plaza indoor with cinema that was worth a look so after getting ready we took a tuk tuk to Central Plaza. We stopped for pizza which was nice. Dan made us laugh, he ordered the biggest pizza ever thinking he could eat it all himself and spent double but only ate half! It was HUGE! He really struggled as well! The shops were same same but different (a saying here) and really expensive so we didn't stay too long before trying to get a tuk tuk back to Patong which is a nightmare, they all squabble over who is going to take who! and it didn't help when it was still pouring down with rain outside! The roads were thick with rainy mud and we sat in traffic for about 20 minutes before we'd even turned round to go back the other way! When we finally arrived back at Jinnys we just lazed about, read books and watched DVDs they select for us. We decided as the weather had been so miserable we would just have a drink and snack at Jinnys by the pool which we did...it was still raining into the night...Saturday 17th December 2005PhuketHooray!...we woke this morning and it wasn't raining! YEYWe hadn't got up until 10am so we had missed the morning slot for elephant trekking in the hills so we booked up for the next slot at 1pm in the afternoon. The sun was trying hard to poke through the clouds so we were hopeful that it wasn't going to rain. We made the most of the morning and used the pool before our 4x4 picked us up at 1pm from the hotel. The drive to the hills was about 1/2 an hour and was great as we got to see so much more, it was really enjoyable. The beaches were filling up and it was busy again with people. We stopped briefly at the elephant trekking centre and got a badge before getting into another 4x4 with other trekkers! It was only a 5 minute drive from here and literally offroading on the wet slippy mud, we were amazed we actually made it up the hills at certain points. We passed a few baby elephants on the way. When we got out of the 4x4 we could see the elephants with their riders coming up the hill ready to take us on a 30 minute trek through the jungle. We had to climb onto a platform and mount the elephant and sit on a chair, 2 per elephant. Their feet are just HUGE! Ours was the leader so all the other elephants followed ours. It kept stopping to pull branches of leaves from the trees with it's trunk. At one point it stopped for a poo and each poo was the size of a football! The wee was like a massive lake full of bubbles!!!! FunnyWe got to see some good views of the bays from the top of the hill and stopped to check out the baby elephants. When we arrived back at the platforms, we paid 20 baht for a basket of bananas and got to treat our elephant before they left, it was really cool. Their trunks are like vacuums! We had mixed feelings about the elephants. We are told that they are hunted and that our money helps to save them but I'm just not convinced.After an eventful afternoon and the sun going in, rain starting to come down we headed back to Jinnys had a bite to eat and watched the new Harry Potter, goblet of fire on DVD (rubbish quality but good film). We then went into Patong back to Sweets for one last Thai Curry with Andrea and Ray, very nice! After a drink we went back to bed as we needed to be up early to get the bus to Bangkok, our last bus journey!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134372780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134372780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134372780/tpod.html Thu, 15 Dec 2005 01:45:25 -0500 Living the Dream...Round the World 2005

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Langkawi, Malaysia

Sunday 11th December 2005Penang to LangkawiWe woke up at 4.30 am as it sounded like a big crash outside in the hall but it was actually someone throwing buckets of water outside. We managed to get a couple of hours more kip before the alarm went off at 7am. Our bus was collecting us at 7.45 am so nipped downstairs into the cafe for some breakfast. An asian girl was talking to us in the cafe and said she was also heading for Langkawi so could she travel with us (I've forgotton her name). She also told us there was an air show on and that accommodation was hard to find but we were told not to book as it would be no problem so we decided when we got there to head for a beach hut which was our plan of action....We had some breakfast and waited around for our bus which didn't arrive until after 8am and no sooner had we got on the bus we were getting off, we could'nt stop laughing as we may as well of walked it! The driver dropped us off in the middle of a roundabout as well! There we were unloading our bags, after they'd dropped out of the boot onto the floor and dodging the mopeds to get across the road to the ferry terminal! The terminal was nothing like you'd expect it to be it was small and grubby and had no organisation or anything. We swapped our tickets for passes and then handed our passes in to get on the boat (not ferry). We trudged outside and find a spot to sit on the deck with our bags. The journey time was over 2 hours so it was nice to be outside in the fresh sea air. The boat trip was great and the view of Penang with the high rise development and view of Penang Hill was really nice. The boat was only small and there were only a handful of passengers onboard too. There was a canopy outside covering the passengers sitting there. About an hour into the journey we could see lovely colourful fishing boats miles out from anywhere, the local fisherman were waving and reeling in their catch for the day. When we arrived in Langkawi we passed a few lush islands which reminded us of the ferry trip in New Zealand. As there were 6 of us we took a 30 minute cab ride to Pantai Cenang where the beaches are the best and this was where the recommended accommodation was. We got dropped off outside the Grand Beach resort where the wooden huts were. Nothing grand about it....horrible huts with ants in the bed like we'd never seen ants before! The rooms had one double bed and bunk beds. No other acccomodation down the strip had any room for us and this resort could only do the one night so we had no option but to take it! We decided that girls would take one hut and boys in the other. We dropped our bags, had a bite to eat and even tried finding something for the next few days in the internet cafe but the asian girl was right, it was full and we had no hope! After feeling really tired after the travel, it was the final straw and we just ran for it fully clothed and went swimming in the sea! The asian girl was so freaked out by us all having some fun that she took her bags and went to find a dorm room elsewhere! It was a good laugh and we needed it! We then had to book an onward ferry ticket to mainland Thailand for tomorrow so we thought we'd make the most of today, got freshened up, had tea in an outside Irish Bar and walked round to the Gecko Hostel bar for a few beers, a chat with some more travellers and the lads watched the footy. They had a few monkeys here, one of which just came over to us, jumped on my knee and fell asleep with his head on my chest, he was so cute and just like a baby! Andrea and I were the first to head back to our 'lovely hut' for some kip, we were laughing about the whole situation and hit the sack in preparation for another day of travel tomorrow!!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134294180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134294180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134294180/tpod.html Thu, 15 Dec 2005 01:31:14 -0500 Living the Dream...Round the World 2005

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Penang, Malaysia

Friday 9th December 2005Cameron Highlands to PenangThe alarm was sounding at 7am as we had to be up and walking into town to catch the bus at 7.30am. We quickly got ready and made our way down the hill of steps to the bus stop. There were another 15 or so people waiting for the bus. After 10 minutes hanging around the driver summoned us to get onto the bus. We got chatting to a few people who were also booked into the 75 Travellers Lodge so we would travel together with them when we arrived in Penang.As we had been waiting for the bus, the driver had been fixing the bolts onto the wheels or something and all the way there, we could smell the awful smell of fumes like burning rubber! It was awful!Our driver was a lunatic and was driving overtaking again on bends you just wouldn't overtake on!He turned the air conditioning off and everyone put their hands up at the same time to try and turn it off it was that cold, it was like a fridge! A local lady got up and told him to turn it off so he opened the sun roof instead...strange.We stopped off at a checkpoint on the road where an armed guard with a huge gun got and and took some locals off....everyone was trying to get a view of what was going on! 2 of them got back on and the other stayed off.When we stopped off at a toilet stop and bus station, we were stopped by a little boy charging 20 cents to use the toilet, they were disgusting and didn't even have toilet paper!!!The toilets are those horrible squat ones with water everywhere!We picked up some nibbles for the bus journey and just as we'd got back on the bus it was full from other locals getting on at the next bus station!We continued the journey for another hour or so and the bus pulled over at a bus station, Butterworth in Penang, it was dirty horrible car park and we were all looking at each other with the faces that said it all...is this it!!! Luckily it was a stop off and we continued 20 minutes or so to the main terminal in Penang after crossing the huge stretch of the South Channel by bridge. We got off the bus and one guy who thought he knew where he was going lead the way, 8 of us walking in the heat sweating to find the bus stop. One mini-bus drove up, opened the doors, it was cram packed with locals so drove off so we then had to wait for the next one. The next was had a fair few people on too but we managed to lug our rucksacks to the back of the bus. The fare into Georgetown was 1 ringit not even 20p so that was bargain and definitely an experience!...The air conditioning unit was hanging off the roof with loose wires and it seemed to be blasting on one girl on the back seat, everyone else was sweating. It took longer than we thought to get to Georgetown and all the buildings were really run down with dirty streets. We sat in traffic for so long we just got off (and what a struggle it was!) and walked the rest of the distance. The streets were narrow and busy with moped riders and there were no real footpaths to walk on. We finally saw the sign for 75 Travellers Lodge. It was recommended in the Lonely Planet and a few people we'd met said they'd stayed there too. It was situated on Lebuah Muntri, just on a back street in Chinatown. The owners were lovely and really friendly and even went out of their way to accommodate those that had no bookings. Our room was 20 ringit that's 3 pounds thirty between us which was a bargain. It was nothing special, just as these hostels go but it was fairly clean. The room was hot as it had no air conditioning but it was nice enough. We dropped off our bags and went to check out the main strip of shops and stalls and then went back to the Oriental Cafe, the hostels choice next door for lunch where we bumped into a guy called Lee from Barnsley and Andrea and Ray, the couple we had met in the Cameron Highlands at Fathers Guest House, they had taken the later bus and were staying at 75 Travellers Lodge also. We had a few beers together and decided we would travel from here to Langkawi together, a beach island off the West Coast of Malaysia. We were originally going to Ko Samui but the weather reports are rain, rain and more rain. The ferry for Saturday was fully booked so we booked for Sunday and another night here in Pengang so tomorrow we would make the most of the day and do some sightseeing together.We went to a 'fun bar' with happy hour and shared a jug of beer and then tried a lovely meal at an Indian restaurant in the town. We ate our food off banana leaves rather than plates which was really cool and the curry was lovely. After food and walking back outside into the heat it was really busy. There was a temple in our street on the way back all lit up and bustling with people. A little lady, Josie was talking to us for ages, she was trying to get us to buy tickets for a Christmas Festival and even walked us back to the hostel! (lovely really). When we arrived back at the hostel around midnight, an Indian Guy, Dr Raf was doing Indian Cobra massage and convinced Andrea and I to have one, it was really quite amusing as I've never had a massage before, it was just over 1/2 hour long and he didn't get done until 1am but it was good fun and Andrea and I had a real good laugh afterwards.As it was late, the security guy who was sleeping by the door on his 'deck chair sunbed' gave us a nod to walk nextdoor and to bed as it was late.Saturday 10th December 2005Penang, MalaysiaAs it was still dark this morning, it was around 6am and I could hear people praying and muttering outside, I lay there listening for a while. Dan was still asleep. I couldn't shift easily after the massage last night either!The shower this morning was an experience, freezing cold in a 'shed like' cubicle...lovely! We had decided to do our day of sightseeing in Penang so met Ray and Andrea for some breakfast in the Oriental Cafe first. It was 11am and no sign of Lee so we went off into the outside heat and sunshine to catch the local bus to the famous 'snake temple'. The bus was hot and sticky (air con was blowing warm air) and the bus driver was finding it difficult to understand us, it was one of the passengers that told us to get off and walk over the road to the temple. We could smell the strong smells from the insence sticks burning outside the entrance, it was really smokey! It didn't look very big from the outside so we walked up the steps, we were allowed to walk into the temple itself and have a look around. There were venomous snakes hanging from the trees inside and big gold buddhas everywhere. It was so hot outside. Dan and Ray went to check out the snake farm and Andrea and I looked around the souvenier stands. Our next stop from here was Kek Lok Si Temple but the bus didn't take us on this route so we took an air conditioned taxi for the 30 minute drive up the hill. We could see the big bronze buddha statue in the distance right up on the hill, it was huge. The taxi dropped us off in a busy street full of market stalls. As soon as we got out of the car we could smell spring rolls, fish cooking and it was really sticky. To get to the entrance of the temple itself we had to walk up loads of steps through the markets, all the market stall owners were stopping us asking us to buy t-shirts, bags and souveniers, it was a nightmare! We finally made it to the entrance, a really HUGE colourful building with separate buildings attached all with tiny detail of buddhas. It was really quite impressive. Half way up the hill we could catch a lift to take us to the foot of the great statue. It was completely made of bronze and really BIG in size, it wasn't finished either! After we'd had a walk around, looked at the pools of turtles and fish we took the lift back down (the lads walked it) and took a local bus (well actually the bus driver went specifically off his route to take us) to the bottom of Penang Hill. The hill is the tallest part of the island and you can take a tram like train up the hill. It was only 3.20 pm and the next available train was 5.30 pm so we bought a ticket each and sat in the cafe with a cup of orange tea (not sure what kind it was!) to cool down. It wasn't a long wait and we boarded our train rammed with people. The hill and track was really steep and it was so slow it took 30 minutes to get to what we thought was the top of the hill, we actually swapped over to another tram and sat on that for another 20 or 30 minutes to the top! It was worth the ride as the view from the top was brilliant, we were lucky as 20 minutes later the cloud was so thick we could'nt see our hands in front of our faces! We saw a lot of spiders up on the hill, huge ones and one web was 3 metres wide it was horrible (I'm terrible with spiders!). We saw a few temples at the top of the hill, a post office and local police station so we guessed people lived up here. There was a huge queue to get back down and a 1/2 hour wait but at least it was cooler at the top. There were monkeys roaming around freely too. On the way back down we had grasshoppers and all sorts flying in through the window, Andrea and I are both freaked out by stuff landing on us and I was just laughing so much when she was jumping about thinking something had landed on her legs! The big green grasshopper actually landed on her top! When we reached the bottom at about 8.30 pm we took the 21 local bus back to Chinatown and had a lovely cheap spaghetti bolognese before hitting the sack. We've had a great fun packed day and it's been great to see Penang. Tomorrow we leave for Langkawi.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134033540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134033540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1134033540/tpod.html Tue, 13 Dec 2005 04:40:28 -0500 Living the Dream...Round the World 2005

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Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Wednesday 7th December 2005Kuala Lumpur to the Cameron HighlandsThis morning when I opened my eyes I heard tap, tap, tap and then suddenly the biggest downpour of rain I've ever heard! It hardly stirred Dan to start with! It lasted for about 40 minutes as I lay there in the dark I had these weird feelings of flooding and that we'd be stuck here forever!!!When we woke up there was some water that had leaked onto the floor in our room and soaked the bottom of Dan's bag too.We got up, made time for our complimentary breakfast and then headed to Puduraya bus station. The air had cleared a bit and it felt a little bit fresher but it was still muggy outside. On the way to the station we saw loads of locals packed on a bus and even hanging off the side as there was no room! It was bustling as usual. We were instructed yesterday to wait outside the Indian food court for our coach and to be there for 9.30 am. There were a couple of other travellers waiting too so it was a bit of a bonus. It wasn't long before the bus pulled up, nothing fancy just a local coach for a 4 hour journey. The whole way there the sun was shining on the other side of the bus so we were lucky to sit on the other side! As the bus pulled off it was jerking so we were praying we would get there in one piece! The drive itself wasn't too bad, a bit slow in places but still we managed to overtake cars and vans on wild bends!As we approached the Cameron Highlands the roads were stepp and it was hilly and much cooler which was nice. We arrived at Tanah Rata bus station, well it wasn't really a bus station just a layby at the side of the road. As we got off the bus it just started to rain, we saw the mini bus for the fathers guest house, the guest house Liz had recommended so we chucked our bags on and drove the 2 minutes up the hill to the house. Up the steep hill it had war style bunkers for rooms and some in the main house, we had a brief look round and decided to stay in the main guest house with a bathroom for an extra pound!We were just in time getting our stuff in the rooms as it literally bucketed down with rain and didn't stop all afternoon! We had a nice cup of tea and some home made cake sitting on the sofas with the other travellers! It was such a lovely place to stay, everyone was so friendly and they had loads of DVDs to choose from. We played some games and then at 4.30pm when they started serving food we had some lovely tea as we were starving!We booked for a 1/2 day tour of the tea plantations and the 'mossy forest walk' tomorrow. We chatted to some people with a beer and then headed to bed.Thursday 8th December 2005Cameron HighlandsNeither of us seemed to sleep to well, the rooms felt damp and we had 'golf ball' sized bites which weren't nice or comfortable! some girls next door to us were screaming in the night as they had a spider in their room and some guy came out and chucked water over the lads that had come to their rescue!!!We had set the alarm for 7.30am so we had enough time for breakfast before our tour guide picked us up in the 4x4 landrover. There was only 3 of us on the tour, Dan myself and Stuart. It was starting to rain (not good as we hadn't any waterproofs at all!).We drove for about 1/2 hour through the town of Tanah Rata and up into the hills where the Sungai Tea Estate was, the largest tea plantation in Malaysia. We did this stop to keep us dry! The roads themselves to the factory were narrow and high. The clouds were low...or we were so high up, one or the other! There was row upon row of hills full of tea plantations, nicely cut and really green. It had 110 workers so far and our guide was giving us the details of the process they go through to make the different kinds of tea. We went into the factory itself to see the workers and look at the machinery they used now and before. We also went into the cafe and tried the Cameron Highland BOH Gold Blend tea for 1.50RM which is about 23p and we stood outside on the lookout watching the workers walking up and down the hills with their baskets on their backs, cutting the hedges with the shearers and flipping the leaves behind them into the basket. They get paid by the kilo so they would be there all day!We went to get a few tasters from the shop and then got back into the 4x4 and took a drive to the highest point in Malaysia. Passing through the plantations we could see the huts where the workers lived. They were like run down shacks with shared toilets outside. When we reached the highest point, it was thick cloud and we could barely see our hands in front of our faces. We climbed the lookout tower and waited for 15 minutes but no luck.We drove back down hill for about 5 minutes before the guide pulled over at the side of the road and told us it was time for our 'mossy forest walk'. We walked down the concrete road and then just followed him into this small opening in the forest! It looked nothing like a walkway at all and we were climbing and trudging through mud and rainforest! We were filthy! We were dodging tree stumps and all that was going through my mind were bugs and spiders!!! The guide was good and he was telling us about the different plants that we wouldn't get to see again and the different herbs used for chinese remedies. He kept stopping for a cigarette break gasping for breath which was quite amusing!We had a great view from the top of the cliff of the rain forest and tea plantations, it was actually quite nice. After getting to the bottom, the walk felt worthwhile and after 1 1/2 hours it was nice to get back into the car. We were really lucky as it had just started to rain again. The guide stopped for us in the town at the ATM and dropped us back at Fathers Guest House. We propped our feet up, had another nice piece of homemade cake and then booked our bus to Penang tomorrow. I rang the 75 Travellers Lodge in Georgetown and booked that also then sat down with an ice cold beer and we watched 'lost in translation' the chosen movie for tonight. We had a few more hours chilling out and then hit the sack.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133967600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133967600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133967600/tpod.html Thu, 08 Dec 2005 02:00:16 -0500 Living the Dream...Round the World 2005

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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Monday 5th December 2005Singapore to Kuala LumpurWe woke this morning 45 minutes before the alarm was due to go off as there was an almighty thunderstorm and the building was shaking! We waited for the alarm to go off anyway and got ready to leave. We were relieved it wasn't raining outside as we took the short 10 minute walk to City Hall MRT train station. People were already up at 6.30 am eating breakfast in the streets and it was lightning overhead and still really muggy. We got the train to Lavendar Street station and arrived about 6.50 am but we couldn't check our tickets in for the bus until 7am so we stood waiting, and sweating!Within the 10 minutes, the MRT station had started to get busier and more passengers arrived to take the buses and check in. We were told to take the escalator and catch one bus from outside for a 5 minute ride to get on our 'luxury' bus. The number they gave us actually turned out to be the registration of the bus we found out! They crammed us onto that bus like Sardines, but luckily it was only a 5 minute drive down the road where we saw our bus, loaded on our backpacks and were set for the journey. The bus company gave us a bottle of water and some lovely cheese biscuits...yum (not!). We were front seats 1 and 2 and the seats were spacey with foot rests and it was air con, nothing like described with massage seats but we weren't complaining for just under 10 pounds for a 6 hour journey (which turned out to be 7).As we left the bus station it had actually started to rain so we had picked a good day for travel. The journey was an experience that's for sure, firstly we almost rammed into the back of a parked taxi, I don't know where the driver was looking but an emergency stop nearly flung us forward through the window! The driver looked uncomfortable the whole journey and was driving in the middle of the road for some bizarre reason, he almost left us at Customs when we crossed the border into Malaysia too!As we left Singapore, we had to pass through immigration and 2 armed guards were guarding the doors, it felt a bit strange, they looked like statues and didn't exchange our smiles!. We got our passports stamped for leaving Singapore, got back on the bus and had to repeat the process just over the causeway at Johor Bahru and another stamp for entering Malaysia.So from here it was a 300km drive to Kuala Lumpur. We drove through MANY toll roads so made many stops, we passed through a few 'shack style' villages and on each side of the road was green hills lined with what looked like short cut down palm trees. It was overcast but still sticky outside.As we arrived into Kuala Lumpur we could see the high rise buildings of the city and in the distance, the Petronas Towers. We weren't sure which bus terminal we were getting off at so when the bus pulled up at what looked lke a mall, we were told to get off and it was so sticky. There was a group of taxi drivers sitting next to a kiosk and an open way into what looked like a market. We saw a sign for an ATM but when we eventually found it, it was out of service. A local guy sitting on his stall didn't understand me when I was asking where the nearest bank was so I gave up, went into the travel agents who told us the nearest cash machine was a 20 minute taxi ride...but we had no money for a taxi so I had to try and explain to the nice lady on the taxi kiosk who let us pay with remainder of Singapore dollars. It cost us about 30 pence! The taxi was hot and sticky with no air conditioning, the taxi driver was wearing John Lennon style shades and listening to some funky music, chomping away on Pistachio nuts. We were flinching in the back seat thinking the mopeds were going to crash into the side of the car! The traffic was manic, the streets were dirty and run down and we were worried of what was to come! We drove straight past our pre-booked hostel, the driver didn't understand stop, so when he dropped us at the end of the road, we walked back on ourselves! Our hostel was lovely, it was strange because all the other buildings in the street were nothing compared to this, it was modern, fresh and clean and our beds had thick mattresses which was nice for a couple of nights.We put our bags straight in the room and headed out to find Puduraya Bus Station to find out bus times to the Cameron Highlands on Wednesday. The streets were dirty and the air was full of dirty smog and it was hard to breathe. The paths were crooked, with unsafe grids all over the place, the people on mopeds just used the pathway to avoid the traffic on the road, horns were honking everywhere. Local buses were rammed with people.As we made our way over the footbridge to the undercover bus station, it was chocca with people. There were about 100 kiosks numbered in big letters selling tickets to different destinations, ours typically was closed today so we decided to come back tomorrow.As we walked back towards the shopping plaza near our hostel and away from the rush of Chinatown, people were trying to get us into their shops for massages, and were all competing with one another, it was quite amusing.The plaza mall was huge, lined with cheap stalls and souvenier stands. It was quite late once we'd finished looking round the shops so we walked back to the hostel, calling at the shop for water to rest our weary feet!Tuesday 6th December 2005Kuala LumpurWe had a good nights sleep last night and woke about 8.45am. We had lots to fit in today so first thing was first, some complimentary breakfast of jam on toast and a cup of tea and coffee to start the day. We headed straight to the bus station back to kiosk 87 to book a seat on the bus to the Cameron Highlands tomorrow. It was hot, sticky and again, packed with people, pushing in front of us (no manners). Owners in the other kiosks were shouting over each other waving us to get tickets from them but we were told specifically this counter as we would get ripped off, and it turns out we paid just over 2 pounds each for a 4 hour coach drive to the Cameron Highlands, bargain!We booked for 9.45am and were told to wait outside an Indian food court....Now that was sorted we took a walk to the famous Petronas Towers. We could see them from where we were and it took about 20 minutes to walk to them. Crossing the road here is a nightmare, even when the man is on green! I'm suprised we haven't been run over!We didn't get up early to get tickets to walk over the bridge as we weren't to fussed about it. They looked spectacular though, they are the tallest in the world. We cooled off in the shopping mall next to them as we were soooooo hot and sticky.We stopped in the food court for some lunch, Dan had some chips and I had some noodles with chicken (brown chicken legs with bones eeerh!) and a cracked egg on the top! I managed some of it but not all!After leaving the Petronas we had been walking for about 10 minutes and the air was muggy so we nipped into an Irish Bar for a quick cold half which was so desperately needed!We had another longer look around the indoor mall and took a walk to Chinatown to find out where the night markets were, we walked as far as the river and then back to the Hostel as it was chaotic! Around 8.15pm we headed off back out into the night to check out these famous Night Markets where you can buy all the fake designer bags, wallets and knock off clothes!. It was still chaotic outside, the local buses were so full, people were hanging on from the doors! When we arrived at the night markets, they were rammed with people, the street was lit up, there was stalls selling food, we could smell the roasted chestnuts and there was litter ALL over the floor. Just walking down through the stalls, there are bags, wallets and fake adidas trainers everywhere. Everyone is so desperate for you to buy something they were shouting 'lady come have a bag' and 'lady this would look nice on you'.We did a bit of bargaining for a couple of wallets and then took a walk back to the hostel for a nice cool shower. We had to be at the food court for 9.30 tomorrow for our bus to the Cameron Highlands.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133708400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133708400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133708400/tpod.html Tue, 06 Dec 2005 02:10:45 -0500 Living the Dream...Round the World 2005

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Singapore, Singapore

Thursday 1st December 2005Perth to SingaporeWhen we woke up this morning it was already time to get up so a good sign of a decent nights sleep. We got ready and checked out of the backpackers and within minutes our taxi was waiting outside to take us to the airport. The shuttle bus was full to the airport but the taxi actually worked out cheaper anyway between us! It wasn't too long of a wait at the airport either and the flight to Singapore was 5 hours. The plane was top class with small screens for each seat and even games, I was really pleased with the movie choices but disappointed to find mine didn't work the whole time so I had to read the whole way there in between the lovely flight food! Anyway we touched down in Singapore just after 4.30 pm and thankfully no time change. We got another stamp in the old passport and passed through to the arrivals lounge. We didn't pre-book any accommodation as we thought it would be easy enough to grab a hostel when we got here...how wrong we were! We went straight over to the visitor information centre, the guy was helpful enough but wanted us to spend $200 on a hotel! I grabbed some hostel leaflets, a $10 phone card and used the pay phone to call them up. It took me about 1/2 an hour to work out how to use the phone, there are 3 different numbers which require 3 different codes, but when I'd finally got through all the hostels were fully booked, even the dorm rooms! One lady at the last hostel I called gave us a number for a 'reasonable' hotel down the road from the backpackers so I gave that a go and luckily they had room for tonight. We decided to take it and then we would work out what we were going to do tomorrow! It was really muggy, sticky and warm which didn't help matters! The guy at the hotel told us to catch a cab so that's what we did, I couldn't pronounce the name of the street and trying to communicate with the Singaporean guy (poor bloke!) was a nightmare! I saw the name of the street and he just pulled over, dropped us off and went off and kept the change! The road was Jalan Besar and it was long, but luckily there was the hotel right in front of us and what a dive it was as well! We couldn't stop laughing, our real taste of travel life! ha ha, right next to Little India.The hotel looked like an old run down building above a couple of shops, it was nearly dark, there were people rushing around everywhere and it was really stinky so we went in. The reception was nice and cool from the air con. The guy on reception told us to check out or rooms first, we went up the bare staircase and it was a room, advertised as phone, tv, tea making facilities, ensuite...it was all of those but not like you'd imagine! We hardly had room to turn around or anywhere to put our backpacks, the tv was in a sawn off wardrobe and it stunk like a rabbit hutch! We just dumped our bags and went out to find some food, and an internet cafe to book something a 'little bit better'! We managed to find the 'Cozy Backpackers' so we booked that for 2 more nights and then went to eat, as we hadn't eaten for a while we went to McDonalds, not good we know but we were desperate travellers! The streets were lined with 'food stalls' but they were really grubby so we'll think about eating there another time! We walked as far as Bugis Village and saw all the night stalls lining the streets. It was soooo sticky and humid so around 10pm we walked back to the hotel leaving the busy streets and sticky heat outside!Friday 2nd December 2005This morning we could no longer smell the 'rabbit hutch' smell but I think it's because we'd gotten used to it! We woke around 8am and didn't want to spend any unnecessary time here so after a quick 'warmish' shower and the capture of a nice cockroach we nipped next door where Dan wanted to print something off the internet, i called the 'Cozy Backpackers' to find out what time check in was. We took a walk down the streets near Bugis Village to see what it was like by day. We could smell the food being cooked and every so often you would get a strong waft of chicken or noodles. One street we walked down was full of tiny flower stalls selling fresh flowers, right next to a really nice temple, brightly coloured and decorated, the locals were taking insence sticks and flowers and going in to worship. After a walk we took our bags, only a 10 minute walk down the road to North Bridge Road, down the street from the famous Raffles Hotel. There was nothing 'cozy' about the cozy backpackers, we didn't even notice it at first! It was a hostel right above a food shop, all the locals were sat outside and we could hardly get past to get up the stairs! The staircase was like a furness! The room was windowless but had air conditioning and we both actually fit in there! It had one toilet to share between the whole hostel and 2 showers that were shared with the kitchen...nice!We thought we could stick it out at only 6 pounds a night! but we decided to give breakfast a miss! Later during the day we took a walk down North Bridge Road where the Lonely Planet guide said the Funam IT mall was, it was a huge department store, full floor upon floor of electrical goods, from laptop computers, tv's, ipod's and latest video games. Each time we walked into one of them, the people who worked there would be getting things out to show you to make sure you would buy something! After about an hour I'd had enough! We walked back down the road, past Raffles, we decided we would go there on Sunday for a Singapore sling! We walked all the way down to the beginning of Orchard Road, the main shopping district, checking out the side stalls which were cool. We found a fab electrical shop of which Dan purchased his PSP which he's pleased with. Opposite the electrical shop was the Somerset MRT station, we had our first experience here of the transport network! It is actually really easy when you suss it out. We had to press our destination which gave us the price and then popped out a 'credit card style' pass. We had to tap it on the top of the gate (we were looking for a slot for about 5 minutes!), the light goes green then you walk through, and after the journey you queue up again, put the card back in and get $1 deposit back! The city is so clean, you actually get fined if you are caught with chewing gum so the pavements are really clean. The MRT stations are prestine, the platforms are sealed off from the lines so when the train arrives, the 2 sets of doors open, even the trains were spotless. Our train was to Lavender Station where we found the bus depot and booked our onward seats on a luxury coach to Kuala Lumpur for Monday morning, a 6 hour trip. We then caught the train back to City Hall, closest to our hostel, had just enough time to freshen up and book another night here before heading off to the Night Safari. We took the MRT to Choa Chu Kang, 19 stops from City Hall then took the 927 bus to the night safari. The journey there was an hour in total and by the time we reached it it was around 7.30 pm and already dark. Just outside the entrance was full of lifesize animals all lit up, they were fab but the pictures didn't turn out very well as it was dark. We took tickets for entrance to the safari and the tram ride round the grounds which lasted around 45 minutes. As we walked in, Dan gave a $5 donation so he could have his photo taken with a snake and a cat! We boarded the tram and it was fantastic, all the nocturnal animals came alive, we saw Rhino's, elephants, tigers, lions, hippos and all kinds of birds. We felt really close to them, Deer were roaming freely and we weren't far away from the rhino's and elephants. We drove silenty through the tropical rain forest and it's amazing what you can hear at night. We loved the night safari and it was definitely worth the visit. It was about 10.30 pm when we left and we thought the tube back would be quiet as all the time we've been rammed in stood up, it was actually quite busy...Singapore must come alive at night!When we arrived back at the hostel it was late so we hit the sack straight away.Saturday 3rd December 2005As our window at the hotel was non-existent this morning when we woke up we realised it was already 10am and we'd kind of slept in! It was pitch black so we probably thought it was the middle of the night! We got up quickly as we'd planned to spend the day at Sentosa Island. Sentosa is an island away from the City full of all kinds of attractions. Today was going to be another muggy day! We got the train or tube whatever they call it over here to Harbourfront station MRT. You can get to the island from here by bus or cable car so we decided to take the cable car over and get the bus back. The cable cars were plentiful so we got to sit in our own which was nice after being crammed into the tube. It took about 8 minutes to cross the water to Sentosa. You got a great view of the city from here although the cranes from the building work spoilt it a bit. We arrived at Sentosa and paid $32 each which is just over 10 pounds for a fun packed day including the Carlsberg Sky Tower which we went on first, a rotating 130 metre tower allowing us to get good views of the City and the 'man-made' beaches of Sentosa...lovely (not). We then went on to 'Images of Singapore' a chance for us to experience the culture of Singapore! it was kind of like a film and then we got to walk around the exhibits and stuff, Dan especially liked it at the end when the lady in a short 'santa outfit' gave us some Christmas sweets!Then we went onto the Merlion, the legendary sea monster where we watched the animated movie of why the symbol of Singpore is what it is today. We were given a 'lucky sand dollar' to pop into the Lions mouth of which we won a 'lucky prize'...a fan that looked like a table tennis bat! We then picked up a sandwich and iced tea from Delifrance also included in our cost for lunch and then went to sit in the gardens for a while. Afterwards we went onto the Butterfly and Insect Kingdom at which I didn't particulary enjoy as they were all fluttering and swooping for me! We got to see huge Rhino beetles and stuff that lives in Malaysia...not really my kind of thing, as I hate bugs!! Our last attraction was the Cinemania, 3d virtual reality cinema. It was like a simulator but a full size cinema with pods that you sit in, we got 2 shows, it was a bit tacky but fun!After using up our 'attraction vouchers' we headed off back to the bus sweating again as the heat is so intense where we caught the free bus back to Harbourfront, it was nice to get back onto an air conditioned bus. From Harbourfront we took the MRT back to City Hall and stopped for some tea at a cafe down from our road, pasta and tiger beers for 3 quid! We thought we'd take a walk round Little India tonight so after a quick freshen up at the hostel on the way we took a quick look round Sim Lim Tower, a huge 7 or 8 storey electrical superstore, they are everywhere! Dan got himself a 2gb memory stick for his playstation. The foodcourts were heaving with people. We'd read in the Lonely Planet that there was a parrot that read your fortune on the corner of Dunlop Street so we took a walk to see if we could find it but no luck. It's amazing what we found walking down the back streets of Little India, it was great. The streets were bustling, small stalls of fruit and veg spilling onto the streets, food stalls sizzling away, mad drivers and cyclists ringing their bells, insence sticks burning away, music playing. We walked past a temple hidden behind railings, a beautiful temple, we stood to get a peek in. All the locals were worshipping with their shoes lined up in front of the temple entrance. We walked all the way to the bottom of Little India taking it all in. We walked back to the hostel around 9.30 pm back to some air conditioning!Sunday 4th December 2005We got up this morning at 9.30 am after another lie in and went sightseeing Singapore!!!We purchased the CityBuzz ticket for $5 each (about 1 pound sixty) for the whole day allowing us to hop and and off where we wished!GREATWe quickly arranged our accommodation for our few nights in Kuala Lumpur as we leave tomorrow then took a walk down to Raffles to enjoy our $17 singapore sling! We have to do these things when we are travelling...apparantely it's a MUST and Liz got me mine for my birthday...cheers Liz! We also picked up some recipe cards so hopefully will be able to whip them up when we get home!We sat by the bar and chinked our glasses, and I must say it tasted lovely! Dan actually enjoyed his too! Raffles is a lovely top class hotel filled with shops like Louis Vuiton and Prada etc, very very pricey mind! The sun was beaming down and it was nice!Afterwards we waited outside the hotel for our first bus to Tang Plaza, this took us to the top end of Orchard Road, the main shopping street. It was so full of people it was like a swarm of bees! You couldn't move for people! As it's approaching Christmas, all the shops were decorated with lights and huge trees filled the main street. Literally every few shopping centres we walked past (yes shopping centres, not individual shops but like streets of 'department stores') we nipped in to cool down from the heat.We stopped in one food court for some lunch and a rest which was nice.After walking the full length of Orchard Road we hopped back onto the green line to the Esplanade then off again at Clifford Pier, known locally as the 'Red Lantern Pier' for the cruise boats and ferries. Here we saw the Merlion Statue, the half lion, half fish symbol of Singapore. We walked under the Esplanade bridge to the other side, we got some great views of the city from here and then hopped back on the bus at the 'Padang' where the City Hall and courts are located. The green was filled with white tents as this morning was the Singapore Marathon so empty water bottles were littered everywhere.We decided to stay on the blue line, top deck at the front in the cool air conditioned seats and do the full loop from looking out of the window, we could see everything it was great. We passed the Sri Mariammam Temple which was a sight! and went through Chinatown (the largest Chinatown we've seen so far). The buildings and temples were fab colours and really big! We hopped off the blue line back at the Esplanade and took the red line through Little India which looked even busier than Orchard Road was, everyone was sitting around at the sides of the road and wandering the streets. We passed churches, temples and mosques. We also passed our lovely (not) hotel we stayed in on our first night here!Across the road was packed with people so when we got off the bus we took a walk back to see what it was all about. It was kind of like a 'car boot sale' but without the cars! Sunday nights were market nights and as we passed through Bugis Village it was heaving, it was an indoor and outdoor market selling all kinds of things from fruit and veg, food and knocked off clothes! We walked around it for a while and then made our way back to the backpackers, again we couldn't get in the entrance! We had a nice shower and then packed our stuff for leaving early in the morning, it was midnight before we went to sleep.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133362800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133362800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133362800/tpod.html Sat, 03 Dec 2005 22:06:17 -0500 Living the Dream...Round the World 2005

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Perth, Australia

Tuesday 29th November 2005Had a great nights sleep and we slept through until about 8am so got up, showered and went to call a taxi at 8.45am to take us back to Alice Springs airport as the backpackers didn't do a free shuttle service back to the airport. The taxi driver was miserable and was playing tribal music quite loud in the back, very unsociable!The airport was almost empty and when we got there we thought we'd be the only ones on the plane, we'd never seen an airport so quiet!We didn't have too long to wait as we didn't arrive early so looked around some of the shops and had a pot of tea in the cafe. When we boarded the plane not long after, the plane was strange, it had 3 seats on one side and 2 on the other! Dan sat by the window this time and we got some GREAT views! The flight was nearly 3 hours, we had no headphones and no T.Vs which was a shame. When we took off from Alice Springs we could see the LOOOOONG road we drove down to get to Ayers Rock and 50 minutes into the flight we actually flew over it! It was just a strange blobby shape from the top (photo to follow as we took one out of the window!)We had snacks and a light lunch on the plane and landed in Perth at 11.05 their time, another hour and a half difference in time. Half way through the flight we could smell this horrible burning smell and the other passengers could too, I was a bit scared when the captain came out but we managed to land okay which stopped my heart from beating so fast.We hadn't arranged any accommodation in Perth so went straight over to the information board and called the 'Billabong Backpackers' hostel only a 15 minute walk from the City and a free ride from the airport. We had to wait 45 minutes but it didn't matter as the airport was air conditioned anyway. It was warm outside but overcast again :-(The backpacker bus picked us up and took us the short drive 20 minutes or so to the backpackers where we checked in on Beaufort Road. We literally dropped our bags off and walked into the city to check it out. It was really busy and warm. We grabbed some 'serve yourself' chinese grub for a late lunch, caught up on some emails and then as it was late evening we sat in the common room at the hostel chatting to Ian a guy from Essex who was travelling. We walked up the road in the other direction to the cafes, bars and shops and picked up some drinks before hitting the sack. Liz called the hostel tonight for a chat which was lovely - thanks Liz. Wednesday 30th November 2005A great nights sleep in the bunk beds, a few mosquito bites on the feet and a golf ball sized one on Dan's knee but not bad! We woke around 8am or should I say got up at 8am, the birds outside were well noisy! We thought we'd head off for the short walk into the City where we were going to spend the day (on a budget!). We were going to go to one of the West Coast beaches but the weather could'nt make up it's mind on whether it was going to rain or not. It was still really warm and humid. We walked down through the shopping district and continued the walk along to Swan River, the main attraction river that runs through Perth. Just at the bottom of the road, in front of the quays is the 'Swan Bell's it is the Millennium Project here, it's like a tall glass building with a spire and has a winding staircase inside that you can see from the outside. Just behind the Swan Bells tower was the river. As it was 9.30 am ish, people were busy queuing for tickets for the cruises down the river and to the various islands. There were numerous Kiosks with different bargains and deals trying to get customers to buy from them. We had a browse around some of the shops on the river front and then took a walk along the river bank towards Kings Park, it was quite a walk and at the bottom of the road we found that the footbridge to the park was closed off, typical! We just continued walking back round in a loop towards the city stopping off overlooking this huge pond with fountains in the middle, the city skyline was over in front of us, it was a nice spot to sit and feed the ducks some crumbs from my flapjack earlier. There was a HUGE pelican sat in the middle of the pond, head up all proud, it looked like a statue.When we walked back into town we took the opportunity to get our photo's put onto disk and we could of sworn we saw Sarah Hawkins, a girl that was in our year at school, neither of us said anything though as we weren't 100% sure!As the sun was out we sat outside a lovely coffee shop and had a nice big hot chocolate, people watching for a bit! We had a bit of time to kill, we didn't really want to spend loads of money on boat cruises and what not so we spent 3 pounds on a movie in the wierdest cinema we've ever been in to watch The Corpse Bride, it was okay more like a musical really. On the walk back to the backpackers later that day, the street was really busy, people busking playing all kinds of cool music. We nipped for some tea and took a walk in the opposite direction from the city, there was a little strip of shops, bars and cafes so we stopped for a nice cold drink in the bar before heading back to bed. We fly to Singapore tomorrow morning.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133254500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133254500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1133254500/tpod.html Tue, 29 Nov 2005 04:28:24 -0500 Living the Dream...Round the World 2005

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Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Australia

Sunday 27th November 2005Leaving Sydney, flying to Alice Springs and driving to Ayers Rock!!Alarm was sounding at 3.30 am, it isn't easy having to get up with an alarm clock now!We were pretty much ready to leave straight away so we woke Jon up to say goodbye and just as we walked out of the apartment door, there was our taxi waiting for us, good timing!It was still really dark outside and it was a lovely drive going over the bridge, seeing the city all lit up!The taxi ride was only about 20 minutes and it was quiet when we arrived at the terminal to check in. It wasn't long before a bus load of french youngsters on some kind of tour in Melbourne were getting ready to board our plane with us!I called to speak to mum which was nice, we checked in our bags and the flight to Melbourne was only about an hour so seemed to be over really quickly. As we landed in Melbourne we could see the city, all the huge buildings and it was a nice day here! Our connecting flight to Alice Springs was only a short while after so we boarded the connecting flight to the Northern Territory, Alice Springs. We were served another continental breakfast yummy! The flight was so clear, not a cloud in the sky and out of the window it looked like brown patchwork. This time we landed at Alice Springs, the smallest airport we've ever seen! We walked off the plane into the tiny terminal building. Our bags were off the carasoul in a jiffy so we collected the keys from Europcar our bargain car hire from lastminute.com and put our bags in our brand new Hyundai Accent cool and air conditioned..nice!We drove to Alice Springs petrol station to pick up some water and nibbles...it's very HOT! Then we took what I can recall the LONGEST most BORING journey ever!!! It was just one LONG road, with nothing but red sand on each side and burnt out plants! We went out of range with the radio about 60kms down the road with the journey being 450 km we had to keep talking to stay awake! We would pass the odd dead carcus of a bull or cow or even kangaroo at the side of the road! The journey there took just over 4 hours! It was a good job we had air conditioning!We arrived at Ayers Rock Resort where we were staying at the Outback Pioneer Lodge, we were sharing a 4 bedroomed dormitory with 2 chinese girls. We got our key and dropped our rucksacks in the room before grabbing some well needed lunch. We drove to Kata Tjuta National Park to see the rock itself, after all that's what we came for!The visitor centre here had the most amazing gifts, things the aboriginies (not sure if you spell it like that but I'm in a rush here!) had made. It had a great place where you could learn about the rock and what happened thousands of years ago.At 6 pm we parked up the car to watch the sunset at the rock, how amazing! another definite moment! A moment of driving for hours to get here slap bang in the middle of nowhere, everyone was out taking pictures waiting for the moment when the sun just went down and the rock went dark! Everyone had tripods out trying to capture the moment.As we left Ulura and drove back to the resort, we could see Kata Tjuta, the Olgas and the sun setting with a beautiful purple sky, just beautiful!Monday 28th November 2005Alice SpringsWell we didn't make it up in time for the sunrise! We were absolutely pooped from the travelling yesterday. We were even in bed and asleep for about 9.30 pm. The girls we were sharing the room with were in and out all night rustling carrier bags and their alarm was going off at 3 pm so it took them about an hour and a half to get ready!At least we got some sleep though.We got up about 8am and feeling slightly more refreshed we checked straight out and another red hot day, loads of lovely buzzing flies around our faces!We nipped to the supermarket to pick up some fruit and bars for breakfast and then took a short drive back to Ulura, Kata Tjuta National Park and dorve to the see th Olgas.They are huge rock formations like Ayers Rock but lumpier!!! As I was driving I could see Ayers Rock in the rear view mirror and just to the right were the Olgas it was a lovely morning. We parked the car up and took a walk to get some good pictures which was nice...apart from the flies!As we drove back past Ayers Rock it still looked amazing, it's wierd because you can just keep looking at it, it's great!We topped up with fuel to start our journey back, me driving and for the next 450km we just listened to the ipod, I'm glad we bought the speakers with us!!! I also ran over a lizard just perching itself in the middle of the road, ooops!We arrived back at the airport just in time to drop the car off and catch the free shuttle bus to Toddy's Backpackers where we got some accommodation for the night. It was only 15 minutes from the airport. Alice Springs is a bit of a dump really, not much here so we stayed at the backpackers for an $8 eat as much as you can BBQ and drink before hitting the sack with our books! Another flight tomorrow to Perth!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1132498800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1132498800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicksanddan/rtw_2005/1132498800/tpod.html Tue, 29 Nov 2005 03:55:01 -0500 Living the Dream...Round the World 2005

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Brisbane, Australia

Wednesday 16th November 2005We woke up this morning with slightly bad heads, I didn't know how Alex and Hayley would of felt as they had to be up at 6am to go diving on the Barrier Reef! We decided not to spend money on the reef as we had done the diving and snorkelling in Fiji which was second to none. We were flying to Brisbane later this afternoon so once we'd packed our rucksacks and put them in storage we went to grab some breakfast from the cafe on the street. Another scorcher of a day so hot it was uncomfortable at times. We got some postcards and sat by the lagoon in the shade writing them and reading up on South East Asia in preparation for our arrival there. At lunchtime we took a walk to the 'serve yourself' buffet and sat in the nice air conditioned mall which was sooooo nice! Dan picked up a massive mailing box for his Didgeridoo! Around 2.45 pm we got a taxi to Cairns airport where we were flying with Virgin Blue to Brisbane. We boarded our plane the only blue one, the 50th one made so we were very privilaged! We also sat front row. The flight was nice and wasn't long, as we took off we could see the blue lagoon out of the window and the view of the city, it was a really hot clear day. The flight to Brisbane was 2 hours or so. As we approached the sky was a beautiful bright purple colour and the sun was the brightest RED we've ever seen, we actually saw it go down over the mountains in the distance, it was amazing.When we landed in Brisbane, it was a cooler 23 degrees and going dark. As the plane was only small, it didn't take us long to collect our bags and off we went to catch the shuttle bus to the City Backpackers hostel at $10 each. The city was all lit up as it was dark and it reminded us a bit of New York, you could see the reflection of the buildings in the river. After dropping everyone else off on the bus first we were last off and arrived at the hostel around 8 pm. There was a BBQ on for $3 per person so Dan had his burger and after a few beers and a viewing of the Uruquay v's Australia footy match we hit the sack.Thursday 17th November 2005BrisbaneIt was a loud night last night, doors slamming and all night! I had my ear plugs in so managed to get a bit of shut eye! We decided to stay here again tonight as it's only a walk from the town so we let reception know, picked up some leaflets and took a walk into the town to get some breakfast. Corssing the road we got chatting to a local guy, a nice guy...too nice actually, he showed us some of the sculptures in the town and gave us a bit of history on the river and what not but also gave us his mobile number to give him a call later tonight as he offered to pick us up and take us to a lookout to see the city at night, a nice offer but nowadays you have to have to be careful so didn't bother giving him a call! We nipped into a cafe for some breakfast and a cup of tea which was nice. We checked out some films at the cinema as I'm desperate to watch 'in her shoes' as I've just read the book. We picked up some local papers, stocked up on water and walked over the bridge to South Bank Parklands. The grassy areas were full of school children having picnics, dressed in their matching uniforms of green shorts, t-shirts (steve irwin style!) and hats with long white socks. When we were walking in the Financial District it was full of workers rushing around, a bit like New York. Walking down ther river front we came across a beach, City Beach a blue water and real white sand beac with a lifeguard on duty! People were sunbathing and building sandcastles, very bizarre. We found a nice little spot in the park overlooking the river and read our papers. There were some really strange birds with huge black beaks just walking up and down, up and down. After a nice afternoon lazing, and walking back towards the City we came across a free exhibition 'Kylie' so we nipped in an oh i loved it! It had all the outfits from her tours, videos and music awards!We took a walk back through Queens Street Mall and back to the Hostel to freshen up and sort some stuff to post back home. We decided to catch the movie, so walked into town, it was good!!!!Friday 18th November 2005BrisbaneAlex and Hayley were due to stay in the backpackers last night but were arriving late so didn't stay up long enough to catch them so when we woke this morning we found their room number and knocked them up so they walked into town with us and our parcels, nipped to the post office and then took a walk to a little cafe in the Mall for some breakfast which was lovely. We had a good chat and catch up, they were leaving on a train for a few days North of Brisbane but were coming back and also hoping to catch up with us in Sydney again before we leave next week. We sat with them until they had to go so said goodbye and Dan and I made our way to catch the local bus to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, this is what I'd been looking forward to the most, cuddling a Koala (how sad!).The Sanctuary is only about 11km from the City so it took us about 1/2 hour to arrive there after stopping every few hundred yards! When we got there we got discount with our travel cards YEY and it was FANTASTIC, they have around 130 Koalas in total and they are SOOOOO cute! We even got to cuddle one and have a photo, (pictures to follow soon!). We saw Tasmanian Devils, Wombats, Snakes, Crocs and just loads of Koalas! We got a 50 cents bag of Kangaroo food and actually walked round the park, with loads of them just hopping around us and were able to go up to them and feed them, it was well cool! The Koalas were definitely the highlight for me! After a nice afternoon, we just managed to catch the bus back to the town where we nipped into the food mall for....Sushi! Yes Sushi, me and Dan had Sushi, I don't know what came over me but it was nice and I will deffo be eating it more often!We took a walk back to the hostel and didn't have a late night, just a couple of beers then hit the sack.Saturday 19th November 2005BrisbaneAnother noisy night last night so seemed like we'd hardly slept. We had decided to have a last lazy day here today as to not spend too much money so about 9.30 am we walked into Queen Street Mall and had some breakfast, a nice fresh apple juice and fruit salad Yum!It was a lovely roasting hot day, the hottest yet so we stocked up on bottles of water and walked over to the South Bank where the beach was. The town had a much different feel to it today with it being the weekend, much quieter and the food stalls were closed in the Mall. Just over the road at the beach though was a different story, it was packed with people taking in the weekend sunshine, people queuing up for ice creams and river taxis. It reminded us of Central Park in the sunshine after working hours in the week. We sat sunbathing with everyone else until it became just too hot so we got some lunch of sandwiches and sat in the Piazza, a kind of stadium with a big screen showing the Aussie Cricket. A few people had the same idea to escape the heat from outside. For the rest of the afternoon we sat in the shade by the river just taking it all in with an ice-cream!We took a lazy walk back into town to pick up our postcards from Brisbane and then walked back to the hostel to pack our bags, we need to leave the hostel in the morning at 3.45 am to catch our flight to Sydney.We had a couple of beers then went to bed.
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