Day 70 to 74 - Noosa/Brisbane, Queensland to Byron Bay/Nimbin, New South Wales

NOOSA: a little slice of paradise. It's chilled out, friendly, with lovely clean beaches and a river where you can hire kayaks or boats. I immediately fell in love with this little town. There were options to go out in the evening but it's not a party town so you can easily escape and just be.
Rach and I hired a kayak for an hour and had a good giggle trying not to capsize, and freaking out the locals with our awful fake accents. Rach then decided to treat herself to a large victoria sponge cake and eat it like a sandwich on the bus bench... such a sophisticated lass.
BRISBANE: after arriving with no accommodatin booked and finding room in the first hostel we went into... we immediately liked Brisbane. Rach however was a little poorly (everyone "awwww") so I ventured out on my own. Across the river from the business district and the shopping areas I found the most beautiful little walk ways and mini rainforests. I even found someone to walk around with... that's right, I wasn't a total loner :-P . In the evening we stayed in to watch Home Alone. Has it been on TV yet?? We set ourselves up for that batch of home sickness, thinking about all the classic movies they play at home on telly around christmas time :-( .
Day two was then spent wandering the streets trying to find Rach a job and randomly finding me an awesome santa outfit for the Christmas eve party in Sydney. I am going to look HOT :-) pardon my ego :-P . Then... our time was up. At 3:17pm we hugged goodbye, Rach headed of the catch her train, and I headed off to catch my bus... a little weeping may have occured. This soon passed however when I was distracted by the guy sitting with me on the bus... and not in that way girls :-P he was just very chatty and entertaining. We even shared a value meal at maccy d's when the bus stopped, which, for those who don't know, consists of 1 Big Mac, 1 cheese burger, chicken nuggets, 2 portions of chips, and 2 cokes, EACH! If that doesn't cheer you up I don't know what will :-) .
BYRON BAY: a very late arrival due to some poor lady on my bus being taken away by ambulance :-\ ... and I went straight to bed. Well... that was after getting to know my room mates, who are from Germany and appear to be about 12 years old, doing nothing but getting drunk all the time... oh fun. Luckily I had Nimbin in the morning to look forward to.
NIMBIN: The stoner capital of Australia! This is the repuation it got after some students visited in 1973 for a festival and decided to never leave... lucky for some. An hour is plenty to see Nimbin. Really it is just a street with some funky shops, odd looking people, and every other person tries to sell you cookies or mushrooms. Still worth a visit though as their are some quite entertaining characters.
BYRON BAY #2: The most happening place in Byron just so happens to be opposite my hostel and it sucks! The music is awful and songs are repeated very often. Plus the men that hit on you are not nice. The first attempt went something like... GUY1: "what time are you going home tonight" ME: "whenever my friends go home" GUY1: "you're coming to my house tonight" ME "errr, no I'm not". The second attempt was even better. As i'm standing with a friend waiting for the loo a guy walks past... GUY2: *moves in to kiss me on the lips* ME: *slap*. There was also a sudden look of shock on my face. He got the message. Someone needs to teach these guys manners!
During the day there isn't a whole lot to do here apart from surf. Or you can walk alllllll the way up to the light house. When they say it is a long walk they mean a LONG walk! Though I did get to see loads of dolphins on my walk so it was all worth it.
Now I am just mentally preparing myself for a 13 hour bus ride down to Sydney. I leave tonight and when I arrive it will be Christmas eve :-D so here is where I wish you an extremely Merry Christmas and an awesome New Year. See you all in 2012!

Day 66 to 69 - Fraser Island & Rainbow beach, Queensland

Oh My Goodness ! ! :-D

Fraser Island is by far the best trip I have done so far in Oz. It was definitely worth the 16 hours spent on the bus. After a night in Rainbow beach in an ACTUAL bed we left for our 3 day/2 night self drive safari. There were eight of us in each 4WD and by happy coincidence we were put in a group with two english girls that we have been bumping into ever since Mission beach. Each car also got three tents, cooking facilities, plenty of food and a shovel (you don't want to know why). The first day there we went to the sand blow,  and lake Wabby. It was an easy half hour trek through the rainforest and when we reached the end it was amazing. Fraser Island is the worlds largest sand island, as well as a bit of a phenomenon as a rainforest has still managed to thrive on the island. The view was even more spectacular than Whitsundays and at the base of one of the the hills is a beautiful lake you can swim in. Day two we were up early again to get to Champagne falls before the tide beat us to it. This time a much shorter walk brought us to a small enclosed beach area surrounded by huge rocks and the waves crashing into and over them created an awesome sight. The sun even came out for us to get in a bit of sunbathing. The only thing that would have improved our time there is if someone had warned me and Rach how quickly the tide came in... when you're chilled out on your towel comtemplating life the last thing you want is a cold wave to come right up over your feet and nearly drench your towel - or in Rach's case gettinf wet yourself is bad enough because having been told there were no showering facilities she decided she wouldn't need a towel, oops :-). From here we ventured to Indian Head; a huge cliff face hanging out over the sea giving stunning views in all directions... even down if your brave enough to look :-\ . We then drove back down the beach to the Maheno ship wreck for some good old group photo's as a human pyramid :-) . Finally we stopped at Eli Creek. The water was ice cold and so shallow that if you lay down in it you scrapped knees, elbows, and for girls other protuding body parts, along the bottom. This however did not stop us getting in twice to let the current pull us back out to the beach. It was a simple but fun ending to the day and also a good way to wash a good amount of sand and salt off ourselves. The morning of our final day there we went to see Lake McKenzie and here the water was so unbelievably clear you would have happily started drinking it... unless your group are looking at you like a morron for even suggesting it and pointing out how many bodies had already been swimming around in it :-( .

As well as the sightseeing, the driving and the camping was also awesome. Driving on sand is an interesting experience :-\ . There were people in my group far better at it than me but I am glad I had a go. Camping was also great fun. The food was actually and best I have cooked so far on this trip - steak, chips, and veg in a red wine sauce. It's even better when every other group has followed the suggested food list and ends up with over cooked meat and potato salad :-D . Even the occasional dingo sighting was exciting, and they only attacked camp once... tore open the bin, tore through one tent, and stole one bag of goon (wine).

Rainbow beach was nice too but it is just a launch pad for the Island, so a night there before and after the trip was all we needed.

Day 60 to 65 - Whitsunday Island & Airlie Beach, Queensland

B E A Utiful!

We have just spent two nights on a boat cruising around the Whitsunday Island and the Great Barrier Reef :-) . The island is said to be the 3rd best island in the world and it isn't hard to see why. The water is absolutely clear blue so you can see everything in it, from the brightly coloured coral to the tiny white sharks that are almost transparent. The beaches are also stunning. We had a few hours to explore Whitehaven beach and the sand is so fine it looks pure white. The sand can even be used to exfoliate, polish jewellery, or whiten teeth. I tried the first two, but the later was a bit too much for me. Having sand in my mouth, no matter how pretty, is not something that appeals to me.

On the beach we also went for a paddle to see what fish we could find and we found sharks! :-) OK so they were 1 meter long and swimming around us when we weren't even knee deep in water, but, they were amazing none the less. My travel buddy (Rach) did attempt to run after one but, funnily enough, it could swim away faster than she could run through water :-O

On the reef we were given free snorkelling gear so we could do some more exploring. I got excited last time we were out on the reef because the fish were so big... but they were TINY compared to the fish we found here. The crew actually had to warn us because a lot of people see how big they are and freak out.

The boat trip itself was also great. The crew were hilarious as well as being really helpful and informative and the others on the boat were all lovely and so much fun. The food supplied was AMAZING and there was plenty of it, so fat greedy people (like Rach and I) could have seconds and thirds :-D . There was also a good supply of alcohol going around so our last night we had ourselves a little party...

The other nights aren't really very exciting in comparison. Airlie beach is still lovely though. We got very excited at the hostel as we found our room not only had an ensuite, but had an actual bath in it :-) ... with no plug... :-\ . We have also made fools of ourselves parading around the beach and the lagoon in bikinis and a santa hat! A lot of people stared, some laughed, and some even came over and asked if they could take pictures of us... who needs performing monkeys when you have performing blondes :-) Anyway, after that embarressment I am glad to be leaving Airlie tonight... even if I am going to be getting on a bus for 16 hours :-\ get ready for that blog entry...

Day 57/58/59 - Magnetic Island, Queensland

Today you are all very lucky people because you get to read a guest blog. Which means I am feeling too lazy to write anything so Rachel, my new travel buddy, is going to blog for me :-) . Enjoy...

Magnetic island...what an adventure. We arrived to a very sticky heat at about eight at night and immediately we loved the place. Unlike the usual hostels we stay in, this felt like a proper back packers place with log cabins only yards from the beach-the place was absolutely stunning. After a quick nosy around, a good pee stop at the toilets, we headed to the bar where we sat with four danish guys who we had met previously in cairns. Unfortunately for us blondes, we were not willing to spend much on drinks, so thought a bit of innocent flirting was necessary to rehydrate us in the thirty degrees heat. A few drinks later and we all caught the mini bus/clapped out banger to a local pub where we carried on dancing until the early hours. What we soon realised at magnetic island is that its not exactly what we would call a 'happening place for night life lovers',  a night in this bar, surrounded by wilderness would certainly have been apt for every granny and their cup of coco-no offence to all the elders out there!

The second day at magnetic was proberly our most laid back since we had arrived on the east coast, I think the most energetic activity me and Cass got up to was deciding what outfit to wear for the night ahead-we are such girls! After a nice relaxing day at the pool and on the stunning beach that the hostel looked onto, we had some punch for free!!!...music to my ears! It was ladies night which meant all girls got free punch, or comically if you were a guy dressed in a ladies attire, you were also eligable for free drink. Needless to say, plenty of punch was involved, some great if not slightly concerning dancing going down by the lady boys...all in all it was a great night.

To make up for our fatty friendly/non productive day previously, Cass and i thought it was about time we hunted down some koalas, and so proceeded to go on a two hour walk up a designated route which is known for having koalas. Its often the case I have discovered that having two traveling buddies who are both blonde, isn't always ideal-especialy when we both forget its necessary to take any sort if water with us whilst climbing up steep hills at thirty five degrees...what a mare!! Fortunately someone out there decided it was highly likely that two blondes would one day partake in this trek and cleverely had a water tap at the foot of the hill-i have never been so pleased to see a make shift water supply in my life.

Unfortunately for us, we didn't spot any koalas, and instead burned about twenty percent of our body fat in sweat - sexy ladies! However it was a great day for a jaunt up to the famous fort of magnetic island...it was only when we returned that day did the adventure really begin.

Unbeknown to us, we found out after we returned to our hostel, that we would have to get the ferry back to townsville before midnight that night as our bus from townsville in the morning was before the first ferry... blonde moment numero deux!! The quickly came the realisation that we were both too tight to pay for another nights accommodation, and so proceeded to try and sleep on the ferry stations bench outside-best night of my life naaaaaat!! After the zillionth game of cards, and rehashing old stories from our previous lives in good old britain we both settled down, counted to one thousand and back and endeavoured to sleep...I can frankly say it was the worst nights sleep of my life, never to be repeated, but thank God we had each other...go team blonde!!

And so this is it, goodbye magnetic island...and goodbye from cassies new and slightly blonder side kick :-)

Day 56/57 - Mission beach, Queensland

WARNING: epic post.

GET HIGH. GET WET. GET LAID.

That is what I have done during my stay at Misson Beach. Except we did it backwards. We laid down in bed, by the pool, in the pool, etc and stayed there for nearly a day. Then we spent a day getting wet white water rafting on the Tully river. Finally we got high, 14,000 ft high and jumped out of a plane :-) .

Mission beach is very pretty and very relaxed but unless you have booked some crazy activities there isn't really anything to do. Lucky we booked the 2 day mission then :-)

White water rafting was amazing. We made it clear to the organisers that we wanted extreme, even though we couldn't afford to pay for it, and they said they would give us the most extreme guide they had. They definitely did. We took all the hardest routes. We flipped the boat sideways just for fun. We dove head first into a rapid and the guide pushed us all out the boat. Finally I volunteered to sit on the very front of the boat and ride it down a rapid. The whole day was amazing and even just the view from the boat was worth paying for. We had gorgeous sunny weather for most of the day as well as a sudden brief downpour which just added to the excitement.

Then today it got even better. We left early in the morning to go Sky diving at Mission beach. We jumped from 14,000 ft and had a 60 second freefall. It was probably the longest 60 seconds of my life, staring down at the ocean and the great barrier reef, a stunning stretch of beaches, and a rainforest. There really isn't anything I can say that would do the experience justice, only that I absolutely loved it!

Day 54/55 - Mission beach, Queensland

WARNING: miserable post.

I have no signal! This may not sound like a big deal to some of you, and you may be thinking how sad it is that we can't cope without mobile phones, but... when you need to ring to book the next stage of your trip and you don't have a landline, or pay phones, or even a town you can walk to that has signal, it is a big problem. However, the poor woman at reception has been receptive to our panicing and has rung aroung for us.
(No signal also means you can't text or ring anyone when you get a bit down and so feeling home sick is inevitable)

Moan #2 - It's raining. Now I can't complain too much because it is so hot I am still chilling in the pool in the rain, and walking around in shorts and t-shirts. However, it did mean we spent a day doing nothing, waiting to sky dive, just to get to the end of the day and be told we'd have to re-book :-( Luckily we have been able to change our plans and rebook, and we got over the fact we wasted a day totally bored out of our minds, because, at the end of the day, we are still in Australia...

Moan #3 -  The internet died for about 16 hours just after I had paid for 24 hours worth. Again this is a huge deal when you want to book accomodation and transport etc...

Day 53 - Cairns, Great Barrier Reef

What a day!

I scuba dived for the first time today, and I did it on the outer Great Berrier Reef - the most untouched part. It was amazing. The guys teaching us were so much fun and really attentive so I felt completely confident when we first went under. We were also only in a group of three whilst diving and we stuck with the instructor so my silly fears of bumping into a shark were eased.

When we wern't having our diving lesson we were given snorkelling gear so we could continue to explore the reef. The fish and coral I saw were incredible. I wasn't expecting the fish to be as big as they were, or as colourful, and if you dive down a short distance you find even bigger and even more beautiful fish. One was SO big, and had really big funny looking lips, I ended up engrossed and followed it for quite a while so I left the main area of the reef... oops :-) .

We got back on land late afternoon and the day was so amazing we were on an absolute high! That lasted until we got back to the hostel and the exhaustion kicked in. The plan was to nap, have dinner, ring my Nan for a chat, and go to bed. What actually happened was I laid down for my pre-dinner nap at 6pm and woke up the next morning. Sorry Nan, I shall have to ring you another day.

Day 52 - Cape Tribulation, Queensland

My East Coast adventure has officially started now and I kicked things off with a jungle and river tour in the Daintree National Park - the worlds oldest rainforest. What a way to start...

It wasn't the most exciting trip I have booked but it was still incredible. The rainforest was like nothing I have ever seen before and the beach at Cape Tribulation was stunning as well. We desperately wanted to go in the sea but were informed we did so at our own risk, the risk being a 90% chance you would get stung by a jelly fish, so we decided against it. We were also taken to the Wildlife Habitat where I had kangaaroos eat out of my hand and held a koala :-) . B the way, koalas smell really bad :-\ . There was also a bit of excitement when we were walking around looking at all the birds as one of the species is apparently very friendly and decided to follow us. One of the birds in particular took a liking to an american girl I met. For a while we weren't sure if she was ever going to get off the walkway as the bird seemed to have her cornered. Eventually she made a run for it, but lost a flip flop in the process. I was then volunteered to go on the flip flop rescue mission which turned out harder than I expected. At first I was concerned, from the evil started the bird was giving me, that I wouldn't get the shoe without being pecked. Secondly, once I had the shoe giving it back was a struggle as the bird had decided to follow me, meaning the owner of the shoe wouldn't come close enough to take it. We did however manage to escape in the end and she was reunited with her flip flop :-) .

Back in Cairns in the evening I met up with the girls after dinner for a drink. It was a lovely chilled out evening sitting between the lagoon swimming pool and the beach... and then the vodka came out... and then free champagne for ladies was discovered... and then...

Day 50/51 - Cairns, Queensland

Is it possible to speed in a plane? If it is then our pilot definietly did. The plane was over an hour late departing Sydney and we arrived in Cairns less than 20 mins late.

Anyway, once off the plane the heat hit us instantly. The hostel we booked is like its own little oasis not too far from town with its own pool and bar. Its beautiful. Stepping out of our room we are greeted with palm trees and other plants and then just around the corner is the pool with a rock formation and fountain. We decided to explore the rest of Cairns as we figured it must be just as gorgeous so we stepped out of the hostel and were greeted with a really big parking lot. We found the contrast amusing but we are about 20 minutes walk from town so it does get better.

Our first attempt exploring and we got lost, but then you would if you went out without taking a map, looking at any road names, or even knowing the address of where you're staying. The second attempt, the next day, however was much better. After a dip in the pool we took the free bus into town and discovered it's actually lovely here. The view from the esplanade is gorgeous and there is a free public swimming pool right next to the beach. After exploring, and falling in love with Cairns, we walked home - and actually knew where we were going this time. Then back into town in the evening for a free backpacker meal, and even more food when we found an irresistable night market.

DAY 50!

As the title of this post might suggest, it is day 50 of our adventure around the world... and we have split up.

For the next few weeks I am without the other half of my evil duo. Linda has stayed in Sydney in the hopes of getting a job and an apartment and I am jetting off to Cairns to begin a tour down the East Coast. Do not fret though, the evil twins will be reunited around Christmas and New Year :-)

For now though I am just looking forward to all the amazing things the East Coast has to offer, and hoping that my plane, now an hour late, does eventually arrive to take me there.

Day 45 to 49 - Sydney, OZ INTRO

I have now come to the end of the oz intro week and it has been FANTASTIC! I never thought I would get so attached to people I have only known for 7 days but I have met such amazing people and am really sad to leave them.

Since my last post we have had another talk at the office, this time about travelling around Oz. We have also been to the Zoo, the Blue Mountains, on a party bus, had dinner in the Sydney Sky restaurant, and spent a day on Bondi beach. The talk about travel plans got me soooo excited about all the things I could do and see that I imediately decided I want to travel first and get a job when I absolutely have to because I am running out of money. There were quite a few other people with the same idea so we are probably going to be travelling together for most of it :-) . The zoo trip in the afternoon was good fun, however seeing animals in cages in Sydney doesn't really compare to getting in the cages with them in Perth. That night was then early to bed as we had an early rise the next day. 7am we left for the Blue Mountains. Sadly it rained all day so rather than "Blue" we saw grey, and rather than "Mountains" we saw fog. We did however get to see the amazing waterfalls in all their glory, and at the end of the day we took the rail track back up the 52° slope to the top.

Once the weekend hit it was time to finalise any plans we had for the rest of our Oz adventure and just do our own thing. The evenings however were still organised for us. Saturday night we jumped on the party bus for 5 bars and 5 free drinks, where myself and another girl in the group won more prizes :-) Now I have 3 days free camper van hire to use whenever I like. Then on Sunday it was time to hit Bondi beach before having an amazing all you can eat buffet at the top of the Westfield building in the revolving restaurant.

Now all that's left for me is to print my trip confirmations and pack for my flight to Cairns in the morning.

Day 42/43/44 - Sydney, OZ INTRO

The flight from Perth to Sydney was not too long but it was in the middle of the night and rather uncomfortable so sleeping was limited. As it turns out though, this is not a problem when you have booked a week with OzIntro because its so much fun you don't have time to feel tired.

The OzIntro team picked me up from the airport, took me to my hostel, and then when everyone had arrived they took us out in the afternoon for a quick tour of Sydney. We have two guys as group leaders and they are amazing! Everyone in our group is also great and we all got along instantly. The walk in the afternoon took us to Circular Quay, the Sydney Opera House, and through the Botanical gardens. In the gardens the guys pulled out some pringles which we originally thought was a little odd and wondered if they were just planning on giving us snacks. We quickly learnt however they were to feed the birds that would land on your arm... or if you're special like me they land on top of your head! From there we went to take a ride on a jet boat and got soaked. When the driver told us we wouldn't like him by the end of the trip he wasn't joking. It was freezing cold and every time you managed to wipe the water out your eyes he would spin the boat and soak you all over again. Needless to say when we finally got back to the hostel there were queues to get to the showers. Once we were all warmed up though we met back with the group for dinner and drinks in the bar next door, Scary Canarys. It was a brilliant night. The drinks here are not that cheap but, when the bar man decides he likes you and wants to give you one free bucket of snakebite instead of charging you for two glasses, it really doesn't matter.

The next day was straight down to business. The morning was spent in the OzIntro office talking about working in Australia and the best options for us, followed by a trip to set up our bank accounts and medical care. OzIntro are fantastic at helping you get everything sorted for your trip :-) . After lunch on Darling harbour we headed off to the Aquarium to see all the pretty and scary creatures waiting for us out in the Sea. A lovely trip, but when you know you're going surfing the next day seeing sharks and sea snakes can be a little unnerving :-\ . The evening was then our first proper night out to get to know everyone. Before leaving we bought some goon (in oz thats just cheap wine in a box) and bonded over some drinking games. A popular clubbing area in Sydney is Kings Cross and there we went to Trademark, where, in an inpromptue dancing competition, I won a 3 day safari across Fraser Island :-) Sweeeeet!

The next morning I was not so happy. Turns out goon gives you a reaaaaaly bad hangover. I also discovered however that surfing is an amazing cure for said hangover. We were taken to a private beach for my first ever surf lesson. It was freezing cold, pouring with rain, and really windy... but I loved it! I even managed to stand up :-) ... just once, and then I fell off sideways, flipped my board and got smacked in the head... BUT I still stood up so it was fantastic. I would definitely try surfing again. As well as being amazing fun it was also very tiring so for dinner we've decided to head down to China town as we're all too exhausted to cook for ourselves... it's a hard life.

Day 39/40/41 - Perth, WA

Well, Perth was... nice.

Actually Perth was lovely... if you can afford it. On a travelers budget there isn't really a lot you can do so a few days is enough to just take in the scenery and have a few trips around on the train.

So the first morning I awoke in Perth and forgot where I was. Clever. I could see no sign of Linda in my room and it took me a few moments to remember I had left her in Singapore :( but then I remembered I was in Perth :) and had a friend arriving in about half an hour so I actually had to get out of bed and get a move on...

The first hour or so was just spent going through all the pictures I have taken so far on my adventure. Then we headed of to Caversham Wildlife park where I got to stroke Koalas and Kangaroos - and rabbits, but I doubt anyone else will find that as thrilling as I did. On the way out of the park we managed to hitch a ride back to the bus stop with some crazy Aussie bloke... though if I'm being honest it was more like being kidnapped and luckily arriving at the bus stop we needed. Back in the centre of Perth I had my first Kanga Banga :) and then found some random maze made of cellotape and ripped up newspaper :/ It was a little odd.

In the evening we hit the main clubbing road and Oh My Goodness! It is expensive in Perth. Too expensive. Buy a cheap bottle from a shop and drink before you go out... just don't drink so much you end up swimming in a fountain, in the middle of the night, in front of a load of apartment blocks :/

The second day was then spent recovering, before heading to Fremantle. It's only a short train ride away and it's beautiful. I noticed quite a few backpacker hostels so it's possible there are cheaper places to eat and drink here but I didn't have time to find out. Instead we walked to "Essex Street" where I got over excited, and then took a tour of the tunnels underneath the prison. They were amazing and the guide was craaaazy. Also, to be allowed in you have to do a breathalyser test and if you fail you don't get your money back... I can tell you now it's rather embarrassing to have to ask at 2 in the afternoon if you can do the test before you pay because you're not sure all the alcohol from the night before is out of your system. We then watched the sun set from the beach and it was beautiful... cold and windy, but really beautiful. Another night of cheap wine and some midnight sightseeing from Kings Park and my Perth adventure was nearly over.

Another hangover later we strolled on down to Subiaco. It's a cute little town with nice markets, quirky streets and statues. A good place to go for a chilled out day. Later in the evening, after some really good cheap steak, I left hot, sunny, Perth for cold, wet, Sydney.

Day 37/38 - Singapore

The flight to Singapore was rather uncomfortable and neither of us got much sleep. So when we finally got to bed around 3am we were well and truly exhausted.

We stayed in the Five Stones Hostel in the centre of town and it was lovely; free breakfast, free internet, free laundry, and a large telly with every episode of friends on DVD. They even gave us goodie bags with the five stones game in it too.

When we finally dragger ourselves out of bed later that morning we began our exploration of Singapore on foot. We visited China town and explored the temples and markets there, walked to the Marina Bay Sands hotel, and then onto the Fountain of Wealth. It’s supposed to be the biggest fountain in Asia and all I can say is what a disappointment.

I then went off for a walk through some gorgeous shopping complexes, along the river, past some memorials, and through Queen Elizabeth Walk. The city if stunning, and even just cutting through the underground MRT station was a treat as inside were just groups playing instruments, dancing, and taking a nap. Also, it’s so clean. In the evening I got another fabulous view of the city from the Singapore flyer.

Food and drink wise there isn’t much that is really traditional to Singapore. There is the chilli crab though which was great even though I made an immense mess eating it, and then we went to Raffles bar to have a Singapore Sling. We then finished the night in Clarke Quay drinking alcohol from an IV drip – different J

Day 35/36 - Bangkok, Thailand #2

Midday and we finally arrived in Bangkok. The hotel was only a 5 min walk from the station and on the way Linda and I picked up the suitcases we had left before leaving for our IndoChina tour adventure. That in itself was very exciting... I was reunited with my shoes.

A day just chilling out was in order so all the girls just went shopping :-) before meeting back at the hotel for our last supper. As a treat we went to the Bangkok Sky Restaurant, and since it was all you can eat we ate waaaay too much food. We also went up to the rotating platform to get a 360 degree view of Bangkok. Following this we went out for drinks in Khao San road for our last party together. The night was amazing! Lots of cheap drinks, good music, dancing, and the occassional game of spot the lady boy :-/ . Myself and another girl were then the last out and we moved from our bar to "The Club" - such an imaginative name - which was really interesting inside so I'm definitely glad we tried it. Finally we decided to head home, but not before getting commemorative henna tattoo's and getting the craziest tuk tuk driver.

Day 36 was departure day :-(

We borded out flight around 9pm and headed for Singapore...

Day 30/31/32 - Luang Prabang, Laos

The morning of day 30 we had an early start to take the coach to the UNESCO heritage listed town of Luang Prabang. As is usual for Laos now the trip took us up the sides of the mountains, so, it was seriously bumpy and windy, my ears popped a few times from the altitude, but, it was worth it because the scenery was beautiful.

For dinner, instead of going to a resaurant as normal, we went to the local market and had what mum refers to as "adventure food". Personally it is my favourite way to eat. We simply wandered around the food stalls and bought whatever looked appealing/interesting. Sadly though there were no bugs available :-( . The next day we went for a walk through the market, politely rejected all the offers for Tuk Tuk rides and prostitutes, visited the temple, and took a free boat ride to have lunch (and two for one cocktails) overlooking the river. In the evening Linda and I then dragged ourselves up the 300 or so steps of the Pousi temple to watch the sunset :-)

An early night was then in order as this morning we got up at half 5 to go sit on the side of the road and give the passing monks food. It was an interesting experience but we had to be careful as they're not allowed to look females in the eye. Afterwards we headed back for breakfast, packed, and are now on an 8 hour boat ride to Pak Being for the night. Following which we will get back on the boat and head for the Laos/Thailand border. Although it's a long journey it is quite enjoyable. Its easy to sleep on the boat, I have plenty of food, plenty of entertainment, the scenery is lush, and the company is great :-)

Day 29 - Vang Vieng, Laos

Oh my goodness. We have had the most awsome day ever!

Yesterday we arrived quite last so we had a walk around town and went for dinner and drinks. The restaurant was great as it had pool tables, movies, beer pong, GIANT JENGA, and dice to determine whether your bucket was free or not :-) . It was a great night but I won't say anymore as today completely trumped it.

In the morning we hired motorbikes and drove to a couple of caves. There was no one else around for most of the trip so it was a lovely and peaceful and a few of us found a little alcove to go swimming in. It was freeeeeezing, but very refreshing also. We also went to the blue lagoon and had another very cold swim. For lunch we went to Gary's Irish Bar for some good old english food. Gary recommended his home made pies with REAL mash potatoes and I am grateful he did because it was amazing - or as a girl on this trip says, "it was like an angel peeing on my tongue". Gary also gave us some friendly advice about tubing since we were going after lunch, and as tubing virgins he gave us free wiskey shots and free buckets of vodka red bull :-) We all love Gary :-)

As I just mentioned we went tubing in the afternoon, and it was fantastic!

For those that don't know what it is... You sit in a big rubber ring floating down the river with bars lining the banks, and each bar will throw you a rope so you can get out. The whole route is 3km and has 15 bars, with the odd swing or slide thrown in for good measure. There's also often free shots going around, spray paint with "I love Laos" stenciles, and very loud music. Needless to say there are a lot of very drunk, very happy people around. There are also some very stupid people that get so wasted they fall down the steps into the river taking one of our group with them and blacking out. No one was seriously hurt; though we were all seriously worried for this girls safety. Especially when we all assumed after her fall they would keep her out of the water and 5 minutes later we met her again on her tube continuing down the river :-\ Luckily everyone in our group was sensible enough to enjoy the afternoon without the help of copious amounts of booze.

Then at the final bar the experience got even more exciting when it started to rain... or rather, the heavens opened on us so that our drinks were filling up faster than we were drinking them. Since the bar had zero cover the best option was to jump back on our tubes and head home. It turns out home was still more than 2km down the river. So there's Linda and I, obviously way behind the others because we wanted to dance until the very last possible second, trying to hold onto each other so we didn't get lost, trying to watch out for rocks - because in a part of the world where flooding has been a problem recently the water level in this river was very low - and then trying to swim to finish the route faster. If I could, I would do the whole thing again. Even with it being biterly cold at the end, the rain stinging my eyes, and rocks hitting my back on several occasions, it is still one of the best things I have ever done, and I would seriously recommend it to anyone and everyone!

Day 28 - Vientiane, Laos

Hello and goodbye Vientiane.

After our long journey yesterday we arrived at our hotel around half 3 in the afternoon. There wasn't enough time to do much sightseeing so instead we hired bikes and had a leisurely ride a round town. Manouvering through the traffic was once again a little bit of a challenge, but I quickly noticed, to my delight, that here they do have traffic signals, and they pay attention to them :-) . After exploring we stopped on the side of the river and looked over into Thailand, and then got a couple of beers to sit and watch the sunset with. (I am going to attempt to attach a photo but it's anyone's guess if it works or not).

For dinner mum took us to a romantic restaurant with a live band :-) and all the girls in our group had a good little sing along when they cracked out the classics like Celine Dion, Dido, and Phil Collins. Drinks after were had in a bar overlooking the river, and we decided it was probably time to go when they had not only stopped serving drinks and turned the music off, but they turned the lights off too.

This morning was a fairly early start to take our bikes and do some proper sightseeing. We went to a buddist temple 'Phra That Luang' (Great sacred Stupa), Patuxai (Victory Gate), and Sisavangvong Statue. The heat beat us in the end though and we had to retreat to the hotel. After cooling down and eating waaaay too much food at the nearby bakery we got straight back on a coach and are on our way to Vang Vieng.

Day 26/27 - Vietnam to Laos

Good morning people! Today I am very awake and feeling very refreshed. Linda and I got a fabulous 13 hours sleep last night and oh boy did we need it.

After an awesome night in Hanoi, drinking pig bucket cocktails and dancing on bars, I only made it to bed at half 4 and was then woken up at half 5 as we had a long travel day ahead of us to reach the border. The journey was about 11 hours in total and so uncomfortable it hindered any attempts at sleep. Due to the border closing around 4 our driver was seriously putting his foot down, regardless of the small lanes, sharp corners, and huge holes. It was so bumpy on several occasions we literally came off our seats, and I wish I was exaggerating. When we stopped for lunch it was at a small restaurant serving local food. One thing I have noticed a lot in Vietnam is that the small local places along the roads, that is shops as well as restaurants, are simply the front rooms of peoples houses. Here it was evident when, to get to the toilet, we found ourselves walking through their living room into the bathroom they were drying their washing in. Another little surprise for us was how fresh the food was. After ordering chicken with my rice the gentleman proceeded to kill the chicken that we had seen outside, pluck it, clean it, and hand it to his wife to cook. It tasted great, and I am just glad I hadn't seen the mess the guy made preparing it before I ate it.

The hotel we stayed in was the most basic so far, and by that I mean there was no wifi, but it was not a tourist area so we were lucky to find any hotel. The best thing about this place was the view. We opened our balcony doors onto a cute little village, with the sun setting just behind the mountain. Lovely :-) . They also had bright pink toilet paper, but then only I would get excited about that.

We are now back on our coach heading to Vientiane...

Oh my goodness... just stopped for a five minute break and one of the girls spotted the cutest baby monkey just sitting in the nearby tree :-) He got quite shy when there were too many people around but when I went to the other side of the tree on my own he was more than happy to come so close I could have touched him.

...anyway, 4 more hours or so on this coach and I am now very glad I stole extra food from breakfast to put in my bag :-) . Also the ride isn't much better than yesterdays. Before leaving mum warned us that instead of "di di di di di di ding!" it would be "weeeeeeeeee ding, so maybe you need anti-sick" which translated means instead of a standard trip there are a lot of bends so you may need tablets to help with travel sickness. Luckily no one is feeling sick but she was right about the bends. We're all being thrown around a bit so I think everyone will be happy when it's over.

Day 24/25 - Hanoi, Vietnam

Once again we came to a sad part of our trip as Hanoi is where we were to say goodbye to more members of our group. However, we did gain another and I am sure we will all keep in contact after this trip.

The drive from Halong Bay to Hanoi was a short one and we arrived in time to get lunch from a street cafe. Mum also took the group for a walk through the old quater to the centre of the city. The streets in the old quater were just lined with shops selling everything from tourist souvenirs, and communist propaganda posters, to food, clothes, and bike accessories (helmets and parts). In the centre we climbed to the roof of one of the buildings for drinks and got a spectacular view of the city.

The following day we took another walk and visited the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, museum, One Pillar Pagoda, old prison, and a water puppet show. A few of us also went out for a very different lunch... I am sorry if this upsets anyone but Linda and I ate dog.

The place we went to was nothing like a standard restaurant or cafe. It seemed more like an abandoned shack with some rugs and tables thrown around. We had to remove our shoes and we ate sitting on the floor. We were given a sheet of newspaper as a table cloth and no menu. You simply ate what they put in front of you, which consisted of many different parts of the dog, cooked in various ways, with cucumber, popadoms, and sticks of lemon grass. It all tasted fine but I don't think I would repeat it.

The evening was the last supper for some so we went out for a great dinner and then on for drinks after. We made the most of the night :-)

Day 21/22/23 - Hue and Halong bay, Vietnam

A relatively short journey took us from Hoi An to Hue. Here there was an option to take a motorbike tour of the area however my money was running low so I opted out and went for a walk instead. Checking the map supplied by the hotel and noting where all the big tourist places were I headed out, in the opposite direction. I very quickly found myself getting strange looks from people as they watched this crazy tourist, who must be lost, trying not to get run over. There were no side walks, anywhere. Just very busy roads full of motorbikes lined with shops. Sometimes there was room to walk between the shop front and the parked bikes and then sometimes there wasn't :-\ Still, I survived and it was worth it to watch the people going about their everyday lives. I eventually found a supermarket to stock up on snacks but even that was a mission since no one spoke english so I just had to hold out my money and trust he'd take the right amount, which I think he did. After walking back I ventured into the normal tourist areas, took a stroll along the river as the sunset, and got lost in the market place. It was pitch black and the covers prevented any streets lights from getting in, however the smell of the fish I had walked past to get in was enough to tell me when I was getting closer to the exit.

In the evening it was much the same as always; shower and then meet the group for dinner. However tonight was Halloween so a bit of party party was going to be involved. Obviously no one had brought anything for costumes when packing their travel essentials, but then when you're me travel essentials includes make up and red nail varnish. The perfect combination to pretend slit your throat and die :-) . I did look a little strange being the only one dressed up but then I entertained a lot of people so it was worth it :-) . It was also worth it to take mum out and get her a little... OK A LOT... drunk.

Since we didn't wake up until 12 we went straight out to get lunch. Another local place where no one could really speak english seemed perfect until we realised every dish was made of shrimp and there is only so much shrimo, fish sauce, and fish skin you can eat at once. That said, the food was great, and it helped to prepare us for the 14 hour train ride ahead.

NB: overnight train survival kit = books, playing cards, snacks, water and something to put between you and the slightly stained bed sheets.

The 14 hours passed quite quickly and was much nicer than the subsequent 5 hour coach ride to get to Halong Bay. Here we were alowed a few hours nap before a boat ride around the bay and to the caves. Here our tour guide insisted on pointing out the rock formations that resembled something else, like a dragon, and a turtle. However it was a bit of a stretch when he told us the story of the woman shaped rock coming down from heaven to bath in the pool until the man shaped shadow, who had been looking up at her, stole her wings and clothes and she could no longer return, not even on the horse shaped rock. The guide wasn't quite sure what to say when someone pointed out the man wouldn't exist without the artificial light conveniently directed at the rocks. In the evening we were supposed to be going to a karaoke bar, however, where we were expecting a pub/bar with a stage and people singing, we got private rooms that you pay for by the hour and the Vietnamese equivalent of a sing star machine. We didn't stay. Instead we had a relaxed night wandering through the market and drinking on the side of the road.

Day 18/19/20 - Hoi An, Vietnam

We have now had another go on an overnight train. This one was no where near as nice as the first one. In fact, it smelled bad, the walls at then end of the beds were just glass so anyone walking by could look in on you, and, it was freezing cold. Though the temperature may have been more bearable had I not given a shivering Linda my cover thinking I could deal with the cold, and then discovering I couldn't deal when she was already asleep. I was very elated when we finally arrived and moved into a much warmer coach heading for Hoi An.

The first job here was to go to the tailors and just look at the dresses and suits that they could make. This quickly turned into Linda ordering a stunning cocktail dress, and myself and my 'wine buddy' buying ball gowns and making a pact that we will find somewhere to wear them. In the afternoon a friend and I then hired bikes and went for a cycle around the villages and to the beach. The number of cars and bikes on the roads was unbelievable and there is very little attention paid to traffic signals etc. I am now very proud of our cycling skills. I am even more proud of our motorcycle riding skills as this was the next days activities. It was slightly unnerving that you don't need a license in any form to hire a motor bike, but luckily the guy I was with had plenty of practice. He even let me try it out on my own for a bit, and for my first time I think I did very well; I made it to about 5mph, and, I turned a corner :-) The other two who came with us on this adventure were not so luckily as they almost crashed several times, but I say 'almost' so it's all good :-) We discovered on our drive the town is not very big at all but that also meant we got to see everything from the tourist centre, the coast, main roads in the middle of nowhere, a small pottery village, a fishing village, and we stopped and chatted to a local outside her house for a bit. She was very helpful and very proficient at english. We then returned in time for me to spend hours with the girls getting fitted for our dresses and then going for a Vietnamese cooking class. It wasn't one of the classes in the big restaurants tourists nirmally go. It was instead a small empty restaurant, slightly out of the centre of tourist ville, with no room in the kitchen so we were set up in the middle of the dinning room, but we got to cook a good selection of traditional foods and eat it all at the end. The guys with us quickly realised they were paying to cook their own food and once again questioned their original motivations. I however got to take pictures of them in aprons so i'm glad they came :-)

Day 15 to 18 - Vietnam border to Nha Trang

Once again the post begins with a very long coach ride. However this time there is an additional short ferry ride, before another long coach ride across the Vietnam border. The first destination was not far from the border, Ho Chi Min City, and here we gained and lost some friends. Mum took us for a walk around town and left us at a bar so we could have some fair well drinks. It was a very pretty bar inside but it was hidden down a very skanky looking back alley. Back at the hotel we said goodbye to the first departure :-( and then got ready to meet our new fellow travellers. Naturally, after dinner, drinks were involved, including buckets and flaming sambuca's, not necessarily the best idea :-\ but then when do we ever do anything sensible?

The following day we were loosing the rest of the roam cambodia group so we just had a relaxing day together. Ate local food, had local ice cream, wandered around the market, and finally chilled out in the hotel pool. In the evening we set off for our first experience of an overnight train. It was going to be a long journey so we were advised to take food with us. The obvious options being crisps and biscuits; basically snack food. Unless you are me. Then you take a large carton of orange juice, a large box of cereal, some small cartons of milk, a couple of disposable cups, and you use the straw from the milk cartons as a spoon. It was a genius plan if I do say so myself.

Our arrival in Nha Trang was an early one so naps were in order before everyone headed off to a secluded beach where we were given a steady supply of barbequed seafood and cold drinks - and I can't forget to mention it was all you can eat/drink :-) I think you can guess what came next. The night life here was great too. The bars were quite westernised to appeal to the average tourist which is good, and bad, depending on your perspective, but then when you've had enough to drink it doesn't really matter where you are. Oh... unless the club you're in has an outside terrace overlooking the beach with a couple of mini fires to add to the atmosphere... then you take notice of where you are :-) The next day was free for us to do what we like so a slow stroll around the area was in order and a good chance to chat to some locals. Then linda and I vered away from standard travelling experiences and went to KFC for hangover food - it may have been wrong but it was necessary. It was just what we needed before heading to the mud baths for the afternoon. Six of us girls were put in a warm mub bath together up the side of the mountain. It was fantastically relaxing and the view was spectacular. The three guys that came with us did not have such an awesome time since they were taken to a separate bath further down where the view was a little disrupted and all of them quickly realised they were paying money to sit in mud, half naked, with just each other. I shall refrain from naming and shaming them.

Day 12/13/14 - Cambodia to Vietnam

I am starting to think I should write my own version of the lonely island song "i'm on a boat" as "i'm on a coach". Can you guess where I am right now?
After two days of pretending we went on a normal relaxing beach holiday we are back on a stuffy coach, in the blistering heat, heading to the Vietnam border.

The last few days have been amazing though. The first night out was fantastic, filled with barbeque food on the beach, lots of very cheap drinks, being thrown in the sea fully dressed, ripping it up in the night club, a little bit of pole dancing, burgers on the walk home, and finishing the night in the hotel pool. The next morning consisted of... realising it doesn't matter how cheap the drinks are if you buy too many, trying to wash sea water out of your clothes, doing damage control with photos, disinfecting the cut obtained swinging round a wet sand covered pole, and hoping security don't recognise the people they kicked out of the pool last night. That said, the day quickly improved. We took a boat ride out to the bamboo islands for a bit of snorkelling and a sublime beach with few people, no rubbish, and perfectly clear water :-) We couldn't have asked for better. Its just a shame my pale english skin likes to go tomato red before I can put the sun cream on, i'm in a little bit of pain - also that cut on my foot isn't helping.

The evening then obviously meant more good barbeque food and more drinking. We went easy this time though. At least, some of us did *cough* linda *cough*. For now though I am saying goodbye to Cambodia and hellooooo Vietnam :-)

Day 9/10/11 - Cambodia

I am loosing track of where I am now. We have done so much travelling, seen so many different things and stayed in so many different places it is a bit of anjumble in my head. This blog was suppose to help me keep track of it all but I haven't had time to write anything. Though I can't really complain as every thing has been breathtaking.

Whilst in Siem Reap we got to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat, visit all the surrounding temples, and take a balloon ride to get a panoramic view of the temples. In the evening we went to Temple Club on Pub Street for food, drinks, and more dancie dancie :-) It was a great night again. Mum is so funny and all the other people on this trip are amazing. We're all really good friends already :-)

The morning after was less painful than in Bangkok so Linda and I joined two American guys, on a bike ride of the local town, and went to the Market to buy souvenirs. We got to experience a bit more of the flooding as the roads we were cycling along were completely submerged. It was also quite an experience cycling around what we would consider main roads, except here there is no such thing as a traffic light or slip road. So if you want to cross the road younjust have to go and trust that the huge truck heading your way is going to slow down before you become the flattened barbequed meat they sell at the side of the road.

Back at the hotel we had out next bus ride, roughly 7 hours, from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. Luckily there were a couple of stops along the way just to stretch our legs etc, and Linda and I may have eaten bugs from a cart at the side of the road. Yes I know, we are both gross, but it was thrilling :-) Our first day in this city we visited the Killing fields. This part of the trip I will leave out, and if people want to know details they can ask me another time. All I will say is it is very moving, very graphic, and I cried quite a few times. In the afternoon we did get to see some happier sights, like, the Russian market, the Royal Palace, and we walked along the river - which by the way is very full! Our meal for the evening was then cooked for us by our Killing field tour guides family, after they had us sit in the school downstairs and help the students with their English. We felt a little used :-P It was great though. I spoke to a 17 year old girl who wants to learn English to be a tour guide herself, and she is going to be adding me on facebook soon :-) Dinner was also great, more Khmer curry, noodles, rice, fruit, tarantula rice wine... oh yeah. They put live tarantulas in a bottle and then drown them in rice wine. It apparently gives it the distinctive taste we all loved... and choked on. For anyone who knows how sacred I am of spiders though should be very proud that I not only had a shot but went back for seconds. Thought, for anyone that knows how much I love alcohol its probably not that surprising. What wasn't so nice was the bowl of tarantukas they brought out. I saw the bowl... and I ran to the other side of the room :-( but I did pull myself together and sit back down. Sadly, one of the boys in our group thought it would be funny to pick up a spider and shove it in my face. I screamed so loud I made evryone else jump! He is not my favourite person, clearly, but he did let us invade his room for a movie night so I forgive him a little.

This morning then we travelled from Phnom Penh to Shianoukville (still in Cambodia), and we arrived in time to have lunch and drinks on the beach, and got off the beach in time for the heavens to open. We would go travelling during rainy season.

Now Linda and I are sat by the pool in our hotel waiting to go for drinks, then a beach barbeque and a beach party. If the weather holds up, or if not, we'll have fun either way :-)

Day 7/8 - Bangkok to Cambodia

The evening of day 7 was the start of our IndoChina Discovery tour, booked with G Adventures. We had a meeting with our tour leader, who we now call Mum and, to give you an idea of what she is like, here are just a few of the rules I must stick to for the next month (in mum's words)...

1) prostitutes are not aloud, but boom boom in your room is ok
2) on the beach please no boobie boobie
3) if we go drinkie drinkie and party party please don't hug mum - drunk hugs scare her
4) some foods might be too much for your tummy so please buy anti poo

She also keeps 'accidentally' refering to the group as G Spot Adventures :-\ and she has the worlds most adorable laugh :-) we all love her to pieces.

After the meeting we headed out to dinner and then for drinkie drinkie in central Bangkok. Mum took us to a couple of bars for shots, cocktails, and buckets :-) and then to a club for dancey dancey, but as mum reminded us "no touchy touchy". It was an amazing night, and naturally Linda and I suffered for it the next day. We were up and out by 8am, on the coach, and then off to Cambodia. Which by the way was roughly an eight hour drive. Hangover + stuffy coach = grumpy Cassie + passed out Linda.

When the drive from hell was over we were able to crash in the hotel for an hour before dinner and I have never appreciated an air conditioned room and a soft pillow more. Also, we are now in Cambodia!

Dinner tonight was free since the restaurant was actually a training restaurant. We were taken to the outskirts of Siem Reap were a charity has set up a school, clinic and resayrant to help the local community. We got to sit in on the english lessons going on the school before some of the class cook and served our dinner. Oh my goodness it was amazing! One course we were given was Khmer curry and it is the best thing I have eaten so far on this trip :-)

I am sure many of you have wondered about the flooding and if we have been affect by it yet. The answer is no. The tourist areas are well protected, and almost all roads are unaffected. However, the tuk tuk rides to and from the restaurant were interesting. The country roads are not so well protected and the water came through the floor of the vehicles :-\ Everyone was very excited by it all.

Anyway that is all for now as yet again we have an early start in the morning :-)

Day 6/7 - Bangkok

Sorry guys, but there will be no pictures for a bit since I can't upload any photos. So you will have to wait until technology and I reconcile.

Anyway, Bangkok is AMAZING!

Since Bangkok has a famous weekend market, and it was the weekend, we just had to go shopping (which i'm sure you can understand) :-) . Also the market is sooooo big we just had to spend the day there :-) . It was a tough day. When I say the market is big though that is an understatement! We started looking at one end and decided to be quite methodical and just do one isle after another. A solid plan, if it doesn't take you forever to walk the length of one isle, and if you don't get distracted by the cutest puppies in the world being sold in the middle of the market. I won't say anymore since i'm sure stories of us shopping isn't going to thrill you much. Still, we had a great day.

In the evening we met up with a friend who lives in Bangkok and she took us out to dinner. The restaurant is called Yum & Tum, and it was apparently very authentic Thai food. It was odd, but still good :-)

Day 7 was yet again more shopping as we went into the heart of Bangkok. Amongst all the gigantic, standard style, shopping malls is Platinum. Another shopping mall in a way but it has stalls rather than separate shops, a floor for each item (clothes, bags, shoes), and you pay one tenth of normal prices. Needless to say we had another lovely day :-)

Day 4/5 - Delhi to Bangkok

To say that day 4 of our trip was long is an understatement. In fact I can't really tell where one day ended and the other began.

Our sightseeing list for Delhi was fairly extensive, and got better as it went on...

Birla Mandir

Red Fort

India Gate

Lotus Temple

Chattarpur Mandir

(obviously we managed to squeeze some food and shopping in between all those sights)

...The Chattarpur Mandir was by far the best sight of the day. It wasn't originally on our to do list but as we had time to spare we asked our driver to take us to the nearest temple - and what we got was spectacular. There were almost no other tourists there, from what we could see, which made looking around so much more pleasant. We removed our shoes before entering each building and the serene atmosphere inside was exactly what we needed at the end of the day. To finish it all off, before we left one of the monks blessed us with good luck.

From there it was straight to the airport for a midnight flight to Bangkok. It was 5am local time when we arrived and we were utterly exhausted, so a very long sleep was in order before we began our Thai adventure.

Bangkok...

Sorry India, but, we love Thailand sooooo much more. The people are more polite, they're not as pushy for you to buy things, and more reliable.

After only starting our day at around 12 we spent the rest of the day being driven around Bangkok in a Tuk Tuk (three wheeled vehicles that are perfect for sightseeing as they don't have any sides to them). A couple of the places we tried were closed so we will try again tomorrow, but just driving around gave us a wonderful feel for the everyday hustle and bustle of the city.

We did however get to see China Town, the Golden Budha, Wat Thai, quite a few shops and tailors that we didn't want to go to, but it seemed the only way to get to our next destination was to just go with it and politely explain we did not want to spend £200 on a dress or suit, Wat Pho, and the Black Budha.

Wat Pho

China Town

Golden Budha

Once again it has been a very busy day, and after getting real Thai take away - and by that I mean we bought food off a stool on the side of the road and took it back to the hostel - we have completely crashed.

Overall though we can say we LOVE Thailand and cannot wait for the rest of the trip to continue :)

Day 3 - Taj Mahal

5:15 am wake up - need I say more?

Ok so I do need to say more - 5 hours in a car!! OUCH

So today was eventful. We got mobbed several times, for several different reasons, Linda got proposed to and a 12 year old boy confessed his love for me. Also, saw the Taj Mahal :)

We began with a 5 hour drive from Delhi to Agra. Perfectly uneventful until the driver stopped for a minute to grab some food. NEVER, and I mean never, wind down the car window when you're stopped at the side of the road. Scenario - I saw a child walking around with a monkey so I took a photo of him which he noticed and turned to smile, so I wound the window down to take a better picture. I then thought I'd give him some money since he was so accommodating, at which point he walked over to the car put his hand inside and demanded 5 times what I was going to give him. I then had to fight him off, plus two other men, an old man selling jewellery, and a guy with no legs who wanted Linda to marry him. Mobbing #1

The Taj Mahal was spectacular - but then who would expect anything less. We also had a very happy tour guide, who also acted as our professional photographer for the day. After taking all our photos and doing the dutiful tourist bit we sat for a rest and were set upon by group after group of school kids, teenagers, and the occasional old lady, as they wanted to have photos taken with us. Mobbing #2

Setting off home also didn't go as planned. We stopped outside an unmarked building and the tour guide asked us to follow him. He sat us in a room with some very pretty embroidered artwork and suddenly we found ourselves in the typical "My cousin has a shop… very good prices… you won't find it anywhere else…" £200 for a piece of carpet - what would Linda and I do with a piece of carpet? So we politely said we weren't interested and left. Slight mobbing #3

The rest of the ride was fine - we slept, and slept, aaaand slept. Dinner was amazing again. On the way a small boy followed me and told me he loved me, and on the way back we were invited to watch ongoing wedding celebrations - or so we thought. They actually wanted us to dance for them and were all rather excited about our arrival. Mobbing #4

After all that we are completely exhausted, but happy :)

This trip is looking up!

Day 1+2 Arrival in India

What a welcome we had... Within an hour of arriving in Delhi we found ourselves with this view...

or rather, this view...

Half way to our hotel our taxi driver tells us he doesn't actually know how to get to the hotel and will take us to a tourist information centre to find out. So Linda rings the hotel to get directions - "What's the reservation number?" ... "Oh sorry Miss we had a large group booking so we decided to give them your room too, we've cancelled your reservation" ... "Don't worry, we will refund your deposit"

Good start to our trip - stranded in Delhi where half the hotels are closed due to it being festival season, and all the men keep trying to sell you holiday packages 5 times what we were originally going to pay. Do not panic though, we have found ourselves a nice hotel to stay in :)

Dinner is served :)

Our first meal was amazing and felt quite authentic, mainly because neither of us could pronounce any of the names on the menu and have no idea what we ate :) but it tasted good and we weren't ill afterwards so a big thumbs up!

All in all, an interesting start to our adventure.

WELCOME

As many of you know, myself and Linda are running off to the other side of the world, and, as promised, our forthcoming adventures are going to be documented for all to see.

The adventure begins on Tuesday (which is in two days, eek!) so I hope you are all looking forward to the first installment of our official travel blog.

Enjoy :)